Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–12: Scions of the Sky Key, Part 1: On Sharrowsmith's Trail (PFRPG) PDF

I liked the flavor of this, I loved how it transitioned from "by way of bloodcove". The scene, the NPCs were all great. I am enjoying a taste of the Aspis Consortium as well from bloodcove into this scenario.

I was highly disappointed in the combat. I played this on the higher tier, and I don't think we made it into the third round (or out of the first for the most part) in a single one of the combats, except the last one. I am guessing the only reason we made it into a third round at the end was that there must have been planned events that were supposed to happen periodically through the fight.

At best, the combats were speed bumps.

As mentioned above, though, the RP and the flavor keeps me from giving it a bad rating. Its a good start to the 3 part series.

I've only run this scenario.

This is a great start to a new series. With all the enjoyment of Goblins, Kobolds don't get nearly enough love. This scenario was fun to run, and uses lots of creatures that players don't see often.

My only complaint is that the players had difficulty following the exchange between the 2 NPCs in the early 'second mission briefing' section.

I only played this as a back to back at a local Convention, fortunately with the same GM (who was excellent).

The scenario had a nice mix of skill and combat challenges, leading off with a heavy role-play encounter that introduces the exotic Mwangi Expanse and the local politics of the region.

There were a variety of combat encounters, and the outcome of each contribute to the secondary boon conditions. I especially enjoy series scenarios and while this one is a bit of a softball (the final fight is the only real dangerous one, but it's just a number of creatures that do little damage), it serves as a good introduction to the area. I had a great time, aided by the Gm's willingness to really give each NPC personality.

I will say that as a stand alone, this scenario is a bit MEH, but the second part is amazingly fun and memorable that it's worth playing through it to make it to part two.

I ran this at a convention a couple weeks ago, both parts one and two concurrently.

As the GM, I enjoyed this for the interview mechanic at the beginning where the players must finesse their way through what could easily be a difficult social encounter (Depending on party makeup). The combats were varied, and though my party didn't find them to terribly difficult they did have a couple close calls.

My only quibble was the "delays" mechanic. Or more accurately, not the mechanic itself, but that there is nothing in the text during the first encounter to indicate the party should be in a hurry. Even one "delay" might have a significant impact later in the scenario! I ended up adding a bit of text to the commanders speech at the end to indicate "there was not a moment to waste" just to amp the players up a bit.

Once past that little bit, everything else fell into place well.

Personally, I’m a big fan of the idea of multiple scenarios being one complete story arc. In the past I’ve enjoyed the Quest for Perfection and the Destiny of the Sands series, so I was looking rather forward to this scenario. I was not disappointed.

From the moment we started until the very end, this scenario felt like a rollercoaster-ride. There was not a single part I didn’t like. The whole convince a certain NPC part was rather neatly fleshed out. It was not the typical ‘just do a diplomacy check’. Instead you’re more or less forced or challenged to use different skills in order to get your point across. I actually really enjoyed the fact that non-face characters could contribute meaningfully while still staying true to their personality.

The fights, there are plenty, are pretty exciting as well and they’re all significantly different. One is a straight up encounter and another is your party being ambushed by a scary foe even with decent perception checks. The third features traps and the last one is wave after wave after wave. On that note: if you’re a level 1 character playing on high tier like I was, you really have to be extremely careful during that last encounter. There are a few spells that can instantly remove you from this plane of existence.

That said, I had a blast playing this scenario and not once did I feel bored or distracted. I was completely immersed and I am tempted to say that this was the best first part of a trilogoy of secenarios I’ve played thus far. I can only hope that the next two parts maintain this level of excellence and do not suffer from the typical weak part 2, pretty meh to decent part 3 issue that plague its predecessors.