Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–10: The Wounded Wisp (PFRPG) PDF

Played this scenario this evening. Party was rogue 1 / ranger 1, thassilonian wizard 1, druid 2, gunslinger 2, gunslinger 1, and a sorcerer 1 / oracle 1.

This is a scenario perfectly balanced between role play and combat. Everyone had a great time. It is the sort of scenario style I would like to see more of in PFS even through to the more challenging levels. I would like to see more from this author.

The only thing that stopped me giving 5 stars was that it was stillt very bouncy from one set of clues to another. A straight progression would have been better.

Perspective: Player and GM

An adventure that sets out to give the PCs and players a good grounding in both Pathfinder Society and Absalom lore - and succeeds.

The first reveal may leave PCs questioning whether they have been setup, even though it is to their advantage. A nice enigmatic start from Drandle. Then there are several clues to follow up on to piece together the solution.

There is quite a lot of investigation information and lore so you may need to pace it right to avoid overwhelming new players in one hit.

A tip: Redo the first two handouts in more readable format. As presented they are long with densely packed scratchy font.

The amount of info and lore you need to absorb is a lot for the GM to work with to make it flow well. Add to that the random elements adding several options and the multiple handouts - and you need to prep more than normal for a low level scenario.

I GM'ed this yesterday for a table of 5 (mesmerist 2, rogue 2, cleric 1, cleric 1 and cavalier 1). We had a blast.

I really liked the way the story allowed me to introduce several key concepts in Golarion history that not all players know about. The scenario contains a lot of role-playing opportunities, but needs a GM who is willing to cater to that and embellish the NPC's a bit.

Once you know the story a replay won't really give another experience (like Murder on the Throaty Mermaid does). There is replay value in role-playing another method to go about the problem at hand with another character. Compared to the first steps series this scenario (and the Confirmation) is a big step forward. It is a connected scenario and not just some errands and replaying will give you some different challenges every-time. I also liked the light connection with the Confirmation.

Final note: keep on making scenarios that allow GM's to tell the historic legends from Absalom / Golarion.

I played this scenario last night and I didn't really know what to expect. All I knew beforehand, is that it is supposed to be a scenario that should serve as an introduction to the Society. To me this means a mixture of interaction, fighting and solving puzzles. When I look back, I have to say that this scenario not only delivers on all these fronts, but also completely and utterly blew me away. It far surpassed each of my expectations and, above anything else, was rather enjoyable too.

There was plenty of opportunity for interaction, be it with friendlies or with potentially hostile NPC's. New players should be shown there is a wide variety of social encounters as well as the fact that there are numerous ways of going about those particular instances. This scenario easily provides that lesson, while not being too 'easy' for veteran players either.

In my case one of the NPC's offended my character, a worshipper of Calistria, a few times too many. Needless to say, this quickly escalated out of control since neither wanted to back down, but it also made everyone on the table smile and laugh. It helped us crawl into the skins of our characters and showcase their personalities. In other words: this scenarios provides enough potential to role-play.

The fighting was pretty fun and challenging as well. In fact, I would say the optional fight is pretty lethal and should definitely not be underestimated. The other encounters are a bit of a mix and will look a bit random. Normally I would say this is a bad thing, but in this case it makes sense. You as a party go to completely different places, so naturally you'll meet different opponents. Seeing as this scenario is more or less an introduction for new players, it's a good representation of different ways you can end up in a fight. It also showcases that there is a wide variety of opponents you can potentially face, and that every fight can (and most likely will) be different. Seasoned players might find it a bit too random though.

Lastly there's the puzzle-solving. It's hard to comment on this topic without giving away too many spoilers, but I did like the puzzle. Instead of solving one puzzle at a time, you literally spend the majority of the session gathering (vital) clues to solve a single puzzle. It's not too hard, but also not too easy. I personally rather enjoyed it. It's nice having to go multiple places in order to find the solution to a problem you're facing. It's not as straightforward as is the case in other scenarios.

I do believe that this scenario is a good way to introduce new players to Pathfinder and more experienced players will still feel tested by the puzzle. It is an enjoyable scenario, but I'm not quite sure how much replay value it has. That is mostly due to me not knowing how much variation the scenario offers when it comes to puzzles and opponents, but I've been told there is some. I guess the only way for me to find out is to play this again at some point. While I now know what we're supposed to be doing, I also know that I'll certainly be having fun as well. And isn't that what a scenario should be all about?

---- May 18, 2015 Review as a GM ----
CURRENT RATING: 4 Stars

I GM'd this scenario yesterday as a CORE scenario for seven players. While not the ideal number of players, it was a fantastic group, ranging from experienced PFS players (some of whom had already played Wounded Wisp non-Core, two of whom were from my group in my below player review) all the way to a player who was playing his first Pathfinder game EVER. All PC's were level 1.

While this scenario needed quite a bit of prep work, I feel it was well worth the time put in. Now having read the scenario and worked with the content, I feel it does a much better job of making the players feel valued and putting them on an exciting and mysterious adventure than my own player experience let on.

I have a big problem with scenarios (whether it is in the writing or the GMing) that give the impression that the pathfinder PCs mean little to the VO NPCs involved in sending them on their missions. As a player, Dreng's task and Heryn Gale's reactions made it seem as if us "novices" were absolutely getting messed with, like the whole thing was a big joke or Pathfinder hazing prank.

After having run it as written, I can't really see how it could ever be run the way that I experienced as a player. The differences were minor and subtle in their execution, but by really paying attention to the actions, demeanor and written instructions for these two NPCs, I had my players feeling like they had been picked for something special rather than simply being screwed around with or messed with by Dreng and Gale.

The encounters, even with seven players, gave some measure of challenge. The mystery and clues felt much tighter, made more sense, and flowed from piece to piece more logically in this game than when I was a player.

By the end, a few of the players were excited to pursue Confirmations for their PCs, based on Dreng's glowing recomendations and words in the ear of Kreighton Shane (a nice touch, Thursty). A few more were eagerly seeking out slots in the scenario that Valsin promised their PCs, on our local PFS Warhorn schedule. Seeing them with smiles and noting their excitement after the end definitely made me want to come back here and update my review.

Overall, I still hesitate to give this scenario a full five stars. The main reason for this is that I still feel the scenario is INCREDBILY lore-heavy, especially for what will likely be among a new player's first couple of delves into PFS, this being an 'evergreen' level 1 to level 2 replayable scenario.

That being said, with careful prep and good storytelling, this one can absolutely be a winner and player-favorite. Well done, Thursty!

---- Jan 14, 2015 Review as a player ----
INITIAL RATING: 3 Stars

I was one of the players at Wakedown's table, from his posted review. Overall, I agree with what he wrote. In addition to playing the scenario, the group had a discussion afterward about the scenario itself with Wakedown.

Overall, I thought the story and lore presented in this scenario were extremely detailed. While I am impressed by this, I also feel that for an 'evergreen' scenario, the setting, objectives and details involved are hyper-specific to Season 6. Currently, I feel that much of the story is lost on anyone who isn't extremely well-versed in the current lore and storyline of PFS. In addition, I suspect this scenario will not age well, given how much of it is rooted in advancing Season 6 story, rather than providing a truly evergreen 'first outing/final exam' as in the Confirmation.

I think the only time I would choose to run this scenario over the Confirmation would be if I had a group of veteran players who were interested in getting their characters integrated into the current Season 6 storyline. For a random group, a group of new players or just for players interested in having a social game of PFS, I would absolutely choose the Confirmation instead.

Having covered the story and lore aspects, it is the game play itself that I really feel falls flat. There was nothing that grabbed me. The combat encounters felt forced and disjointed, especially the very last one. Also, while I understand the randomly-generated nature of the encounters has some influence on game balance, my own encounter-experiences in the scenario widely fluctuated from "this is silly and trivial' to 'this is frustrating for a level 1' to 'wow, that is far too strong for a fresh level 1'. Some more attention to the mechanics of the encounters and some balancing would be greatly appreciated.

Overall, I give the author credit for the rich story and lore elements which greatly enhance the CURRENT storyline. I just feel, however, that the wider player-base would be better served by having the effort that was put into the encounter/puzzle detail, reasoning and mechanics match that of the story writing.