A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1–2.
More than 400 years have transpired since the Pathfinder Society began in a humble tavern that has quietly weathered the centuries without incident. When a routine errand there uncovers a clue left behind by one of the founding Pathfinders, it’s up to the PCs to solve a puzzle whose pieces are scattered across Absalom—and whose prize dates back to the Society’s darkest years.
"The Wounded Wisp" is an evergreen, replayable scenario designed to help introduce players to the history of the Pathfinder Society and Absalom’s greatest sites.
Written by Thurston Hillman.
This scenario is designed for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, but can easily be adapted for use with any world. This scenario is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Product Availability
Fulfilled immediately.
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I played this once and have read it for GMing in the coming weeks, so this review is a bit from both sides of the screen. As a player, the story is really good, with lots of interesting NPCs to interact with, and in some cases to ask for help later. The location really provides some great Society lore, and the entire plot gives interesting insight into the early days of the Society. Having said that, the NPCs were all encountered early and together, making it a bit hard to keep everyone straight later on. However, this format did draw everyone in to roleplaying, even the folks who tend to be more combat-oriented.
The combats were challenging - some mechanically, and some from a moral point of view. I found myself facing a member of my own religion with conflicting aims - which gave my PC a moment to shine and some interesting notes on my Chronicle sheet.
As a GM - I love the way the evergreen randomness provides for different experiences each time. Even with the puzzles, PCs will have to go through the process to figure things out, and combats can change completely between runs.
I ran this Saturday and plan to run it again tomorrow night. there are some great variables that will keep thing scenario fresh much longer than The Confirmation, though this does make GMing it slightly more difficult.
I loved the story, the fluff and how so many of the NPCs preach the tenets of the Society. I used several of them to make an example of a regular player who goes full murderhobo every scenario. it's great to have a scenario that promotes investigation and diplomacy over murder.
the only downside I encountered was my group Saturday wasn't very roleplay heavy, so we finished this is just over two hours. had I know it was going to run so short, I would have brought the Confirmation along with me as well. I put the shortness partially on me, as I could have coaxed a bit more out of them.
the combats weren't too tough for new characters, even playing the high tier was relatively easy. it's great to see recurring NPCs, especially Dreng, who is the best VC to run in my opinion.
I'm looking forward to running this many times. great job, Thursty!
I just wrote up a long review and the preview function kicked me back to the front page and ate it, so I'm not doing it again. Good adventure, good starter, lots of replayability, work on your posting system.
The cover art is not final, and the mockup we have for this season's scenarios is the junkyard stylin' gargoyle that you see there—doesn't necessarily mean there's an Iron Gods connection.
The cover art is not final, and the mockup we have for this season's scenarios is the junkyard stylin' gargoyle that you see there—doesn't necessarily mean there's an Iron Gods connection.
Heh, sorry. I guess I just didn't notice it before and my group just fought him last week so it stuck out. Thanks for the quick reply Liz!
Alrighty, now that I've got that out of my system. I can't wait for everyone to get a chance to play this. I'm hoping it fills a niche similar to the Confirmation, but is different enough to let them compliment one another.
So did you all forget you were releasing this today and just went home early for New Years? I mean I like the bar as much as the next guy but come on now. :-(
@Duncan don't worry it will use at least 2-3 out of print flip mats
@slothsy Thanks haven't ever actually been waiting for a scenario before. Usually other PDF stuff I have looked for on day one (Ex: player companions) releases early to mid day (thus would be out by now). So it is good to know this "delay" on scenarios is normal.
That said my original comment was mostly tongue in cheek
Still it is a little disappointing. It's getting late over in my timezone and being New Year's Eve I have to be heading out soon. Not sure why but I really was looking forward to giving this scenario a glance today.
Regarding the scenarios' time of release, scenarios typically release around the close of Paizo's business day, which ends up being somewhere in the 5–8 pm range, local time (Pacific Standard Time). This is how things have gone for virtually every release since I have worked here—and possibly before.
This month's scenarios are finished and should be showing up on the website shortly.
Thank you for all of your hard work. I plan on using this for my first GMing attempt.
“I’m sure you all know that in time travel, we work with the past, present and future. But you may not know that there are different verb tenses that can be used with each of these. Before we can tell a story about the past, we need to master the verbs in the present. And there are four different types of present tense verbs. How many types are there, recruits?”
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book series)
Douglas Adams
Regarding the scenarios' time of release, scenarios typically release around the close of Paizo's business day, which ends up being somewhere in the 5–8 pm range, local time (Pacific Standard Time). This is how things have gone for virtually every release since I have worked here—and possibly before.
This month's scenarios are finished and should be showing up on the website shortly.
Regarding the scenarios' time of release, scenarios typically release around the close of Paizo's business day, which ends up being somewhere in the 5–8 pm range, local time (Pacific Standard Time). This is how things have gone for virtually every release since I have worked here—and possibly before.
This month's scenarios are finished and should be showing up on the website shortly.
Re: Page 26 top left
A sincere thank you so very much for doing this. This should keep the evergreen fresh.
Regarding the scenarios' time of release, scenarios typically release around the close of Paizo's business day, which ends up being somewhere in the 5–8 pm range, local time (Pacific Standard Time). This is how things have gone for virtually every release since I have worked here—and possibly before.
This month's scenarios are finished and should be showing up on the website shortly.
Re: Top-most magic item on chronicle sheet
Thank you for taking the time to think this through. This particular aspect of the game can be a huge nuisance and this should help clear things up.
Alrighty, now that I've got that out of my system. I can't wait for everyone to get a chance to play this. I'm hoping it fills a niche similar to the Confirmation, but is different enough to let them compliment one another.
Thank you. From what I have read so far you have done an excellent job.
Reading through this it almost feels like First Steps and the Confirmation had a baby that inherited the best traits of both its parents. I'm really loving the potential for roleplay that this scenario seems to offer. I just hope I can do it justice when I run it next week.
I'm not sure I am as pleased with this as I was the Confirmation - some parts of this are just needlessly complicated and could have been drastically simplified and still be as re-playable. Especially part B - that's a lot of resource for very little table play time.
Is Onyeka Chaotic Good or True Neutral? Her stat block says one and her description says the other. Either one is legal (wouldn't have been in 3.5, which almost threw me for a second) but they're radically different in how they behave beyond the narrow confines of her description.
Edit: Also, I believe from context that Fimbrik has a cane in his hand, not a can. ;)
Is Onyeka Chaotic Good or True Neutral? Her stat block says one and her description says the other. Either one is legal (wouldn't have been in 3.5, which almost threw me for a second) but they're radically different in how they behave beyond the narrow confines of her description.
Edit: Also, I believe from context that Fimbrik has a cane in his hand, not a can. ;)
In Response:
Onyeka should be neutral--largely tied into her present low-pity/patience style of Sarenrae worship and past events.
Yeah, this needed a more thorough edit before getting put up. Hopefully that happens relatively soon. Otherwise our VC will have to add a few sticky notes to the pages as to what's what.
By the by, the cover page with all the layered images is such a huge file that the game shop's printer can't handle it; it's an older one that wants to cache the page before printing it and it's too big for its memory. XD Actually the file in general could be optimized to be a lot smaller than it is, I think; I'd try running it through Acrobat to shrink it down but I don't know if the security features would allow it.
Is there a reason why the taven that the Pathfinder Society was started in, in PFS 5-08 The Confirmation, is named The Pigs Paunch and not The Wounded Whisp as it is in this scenario?
Is there a reason why the taven that the Pathfinder Society was started in, in PFS 5-08 The Confirmation, is named The Pigs Paunch and not The Wounded Whisp as it is in this scenario?
A few other things that would be helpful. Only one is really an error though.
Error: Tomb moving?:
The map and Section C have the tomb of Arkath the Stonemason in the Eastgate, but the note the players find says Ivy district. It would be nice to get that fixed.
Where is Dreg?:
It would also be helpful to know where Dreng is (players ask this sort of thing). I stuck him in the Docks 'a street corner far from the Grand Lodge'. I guess he can move around and keep the ever green feel going.
Timing:
Is it anticipated that the whole adventure takes one day? Or that the team rests in the middle. It would be kind of nice to set expectations here. It first comes up in the Wisp when folk overhear about Sir Reinhart's intentions - I guess this is kept loose so the team can stop and heal if necessary? I just had the patrons reply with different times, as nobody is too sure about exactly when he's going to try. As this is a module that new GMs might want to run, extra guidance on this would be helpful.