Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–06: Hall of the Flesh Eaters (PFRPG) PDF

It's a dungeon crawl, with everything that comes with that designation. But it's so much more. It explores a new part of Golarion. It promises a potential for later return to the area.

The encounters were interesting, and could be deadly if the PCs aren't careful.

The encounters are oddly laid out- depending on how the PCs proceed, they may be able to either avoid the bossfight entirely, or substantially weaken him by destroying a lot of his minions.

This might be my favorite scenario of Season 6.

Originally posted at Throat Punch Games, a new idea everyday!

Product- Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–06: Hall of the Flesh Eaters
System- Pathfinder
Producer- Paizo
Price- ~$ 4
TL; DR- A short dungeon crawl. 87%

Basics- Time to go to the Shackles! Among the Gloomspires rests Sevenfingers' treasure hoard. A new finding by the Pathfinders will allow the explorers to find the proper shifting island where the hoard is buried. Can the Pathfinders survive the island the treasure is hidden on and explore the dangerous depths of the cavern below it?

Theme or Fluff-This adventure was a fun one, but the fact that it was in the Shackles or dealing with pirates wasn't a main focus. It is more of a dungeon crawl. But, the dungeon isn't that large, so it's hard to get going as you're done before you almost start. It's fun, but you will have to add your own pirate focus to get the theme of a dungeon crawl for pirate treasure to come through. Also, this is the first part of a few adventures on this island. There is a record screeching halt in one area as the map basically give the equivalent of an invisible wall to hid the next adventure. This will be filled in in later adventures, but I really don't like having to tell my explorers not to explore! 4/5

Mechanics or Crunch- As I said in the theme, this is mostly a dungeon crawl. Before the Dungeon is a short above ground section, but there is not much to do after an encounter happens up there. In the dungeon there are some unique events and traps that make some of the later encounters more interesting. The encounters that do happen are well balanced. But, as a dungeon crawl, it's pretty short and easy. 4.5/5

Execution-What is here is well done. I like the spacing of the text, the maps, and the general layout. I've written before that I would like more description in these encounter blocks, but that is a general issue I have with all the PFS documents. 4.5/5

Summary- This is a short, fun dungeon crawl. It's pretty linear, but that doesn't make it bad. If your players want to start some adventures in the Shackles, this isn't a bad adventure to start a quest line off of. I would have liked a bit more as it felt short, and a down to business party will get through this in less than two hours. As a GM, it ran smooth, and my party had fun. That's the mark of a good adventure. I don't like invisible walls in an RPG, but I am curious what the next adventure will be. 87%

Perspective: played once, read the scenario afterward

This scenario is easily one of the best I've played. The atmosphere (with a good GM) is fantastic, the lore/setting/history is interesting, the fights are varied with different challenges to handle (at five players in subtier 1-2 it was the perfect level of difficult but not impossible for my group). While this is mostly a hack and slash adventure, there is at least the possibility of an interesting negotiation with one NPC.

The real beauty of this scenario, however, is that every character has an important role: be an *actual* Pathfinder--you need to actualy explore and report (and cooperate) to deliver to the VC some actual material that might end up in a Chronicle. This means actually paying attention to the environment, logging tidbits of discovered information and encounters, and, well, being a Pathfinder.

I honestly can't wait to go back to the Gloomspires and do it again.

Just like Avatar-1 below, I too played this scenario on the higher tier while adjusted to fit a party of 4, though with a different group. With a level 3 fighter, a level 3 summoner, a level 3 sorcerer and a level 5 witch who was wearing heavy armor – don't ask me why – we set sail to our destination. First things first, the location and the atmosphere during the entire scenario were outstanding. It literally felt like a real exploration, one where danger literally lurks around every corner. I initially had some issues seeing it as a 'Gloomspire' and honestly still do, but the description of the dungeon and its many rooms easily made up for that.

The encounters were lethal. I struggle to find a better word to describe just how dangerous they were. Luckily my eidolon was expendable and was left standing with 1 hp a few times, just so I could dismiss her before it was too late. If it wasn't for some lucky roles, a stupidly tanky eidolon and witch we would not have succeeded in this scenario. I'd even go so far as saying that if the witch hadn't rolled above a 14 eight times in a row and successfully dazed the BBEG, we would probably have flat-out died in the last fight. Challenging would be an understatement.

The secondary objective of this scenario though was a bit disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it's something pathfinders should all do, so that aspect makes sense. The execution however, feels more like the players are tasked to do so instead of their characters. It breaks the immersion and not every player avidly takes notes. Luckily I'm one of those people, so that never was an issue for our party. That and the GM literally pointed out it had to be done, but that he'd be lenient to some extend: I didn't have to draw every map. A few words were enough.

Overall, this was a great dungeoncrawler with a lot of tough fights. The role-playing is a bit lacking, but the encounters and scenery make up for that more than enough. Even though our party wasn't exactly ready for this and I missed the role-playing aspect, I still had fun. It wasn't the best scenario I've ever played and based on the difficulty I would like to warn relatively new players to either stay away or to bring a very well-prepared group. As for me personally, I can't wait to return to this location and to continue exploring where we left of, though I would prefer to see a bit more role-playing next time around.

Played at high tier, 4-player adjustment. I think we did so well only because we had some specialty characters that suited this scenario so well.

This scenario has some really strange things going on. It's a bit like the issues that First Steps 2 had, but on steroids.

The setting never really feels like you are where you're told you are - at the Gloomspires. The maps just don't resemble anything like it.

The secondary success condition (from what I understand) is bizarre - it's the kind of thing you might only coincidentally do, relying more on what you do as a player rather than as a character. If you're the kind of player who is better at taking mental notes and reporting verbally, you might get penalised for it.

Overall it's not a bad scenario, really, but it's pretty straight and narrow, and I'd recommend at least one character who's gone down the optimised route a little here. Level 1 characters new to PFS should steer clear.