A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 7–11.
Part of a Numerian relic once thought scattered to the winds has found its way back to the savage land of super-science, and the Pathfinder Society must track down the component if they are to unlock the device’s secrets. Clues point to the economic hub Chesed, where only the descendants of a shattered clan can share where their revered ancestor buried the strange artifact. Can the PCs brave the troubled city, evade the vigilant agents of the Technic League, and survive a trip into the Numerian wastes?
Content in “Returned to Sky” contributes directly to the Year of the Sky Key metaplot as well as the ongoing storyline of the Exchange, Liberty’s Edge, and Silver Crusade factions.
Written by Anthony Li.
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.
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This scenario offers a fun RP section at the beginning with interesting NPCs and social situations, as well as unique and flavorful encounters. While the creatures appear intimidating at first when preparing the game, the combats run very smoothly. Add on one of the most rewarding chronicles in PFS (imo), and you have a scenario that is a delight to play and to run.
Ran this at the low tier. Party mix was barbarian, cleric, rogue, hunter and bloodrager.
Firstly, if you don't like the technology stuff stay away from this one. Nuff said.
Secondly, the party had troubles in the first half because although we had a lot of really good role-playing I don't think the hints are strong enough in the briefing to put characters in the right direction and because of that we overran on time.
The combat encounters are quite nice but at low tier were a little easy. The boss fight would have been suitable but we had an over optimized grapple monkey who did sort of spoil it. On the other hand I was pleased because otherwise the fight would have taken us well over our allotted time.
Before I start anything on this scenario, I actually love the tech mix in this season, and if you are not a fan, then you will not like this one too much.
The beginning RP portions, can drag on or be a delight dependent on party makeup. If you have a party lacking finesse or a small amount of charm, this can make later situations more difficult, but not impossible. once the work is in Chesed is done, the scenario hits a rail line.
The combats are challenging and fluid, and can cause wrinkles if unprepared.
one preparation note:
It is an absolute must to either purchase or have access to the Tech Dungeon flipmat in my honest opinion, otherwise that drawing is just merciless, and if you have the Iron Gods Pawns set, it will help out also, a lot of the robots encountered in this scenario can be found there.
Timewise, you might run over, but with a decent story like this one, and good combats, who's going to complain? Not me, that's for certain.
Pew! Pew! First, if you are Anti-Tech – stay far away from this one…
There, now that that’s out of the way. Be prepared to bring your A-Game!
I have played this and run this, both at high tier, 6 player tables:
This takes place in the heart of Technic League territory with all that implies in Season 6.
You get a good bit of role playing and free-flowing investigation with a few options (and plenty of room for improvisation) through the first half of this adventure. The NPC’s are varied with different motivations and characterizations. I ended up having a lot of fun from both sides of the GM screen with a certain young dwarf.
Once you enter the second half of the scenario, be prepared! It starts off with a bang, literally, and then evolves into a highly challenging high-tech dungeon crawl of the first order.
This really is a well crafted all-around scenario worthy of helping close out the season with call backs to a few earlier sky-key scenarios.
Pros:
-Good mix of Role Play and Roll Play
-NPC’s with some depth to them
-Really strong combats with well designed high-tier foes
-Moves forward the Season’s main plot line
-Provides an appropriate work around for not having the Technologist Feat, while still empowering anyone who invested in it
Cons:
-Both times we played this, the same accidental rail-road happened. Instead of really exploring the city to pick up key pieces of information both the group I played with and the one I ran bee-lined for the primary NPC named in the mission briefing. This short-changes the first half of the scenario and essentially kicks off a clock that forces the PC’s hand.
-Easy to miss out on some of the faction-boons completely.
Ran a tish long but nothing too terrible. The prep is pretty reasonable for a 7-11 and the printouts at the end are extremely helpful (though the
Spoiler:
forcefield mechanic
doesn't have a PRD link nor was it on the stat-block). A good mix of in and out of combat that requires good roleplay vs just rollplay. Reasonable use of sandbox while still providing guides and pretty good characters. Pretty great for a first scenario.
Is this supposed to be available for general purchase before premiering at PaizoCon? I remember it was an issue last year with the PaizoCon premiers....
How easy would this be to incorporate this scenario into the Iron Gods adventure path?
It should be pretty easy to incorporate. The Technic League plays more or less the same antagonistic roll in PFS Season 6 as it does in Iron Gods.
Lord Fyre wrote:
How central is the Pathfinder Society to the plot? I.e., can they be excised without making the adventure pointless?
Honestly, not very. If you change the quest giver to someone related to the PCs it would work pretty well. While the adventure is written with PFS in mind, the Society is only a framework for the narrative. The mcguffin the PCs are being sent to retrieve, however, is integral to Season 6's metaplot and doesn't really have a place in the Iron Gods. So replacing that with something more suitable for the AP would make sense.
How easy would this be to incorporate this scenario into the Iron Gods adventure path?
It should be pretty easy to incorporate. The Technic League plays more or less the same antagonistic roll in PFS Season 6 as it does in Iron Gods.
Lord Fyre wrote:
How central is the Pathfinder Society to the plot? I.e., can they be excised without making the adventure pointless?
Honestly, not very. If you change the quest giver to someone related to the PCs it would work pretty well. While the adventure is written with PFS in mind, the Society is only a framework for the narrative. The mcguffin the PCs are being sent to retrieve, however, is integral to Season 6's metaplot and doesn't really have a place in the Iron Gods. So replacing that with something more suitable for the AP would make sense.
Thank You. I feel that Iron Gods needs more Technic League presence. So anything that increases their screen time before the big confrontation in Book 5 is a good thing.
Spoiler:
... not to mention, more of a push towards Iadenveigh (as opposed to going straight to Starfall) at this point in the AP could be helpful.
