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Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–23: Abducted in Aether (PFRPG) PDF

4.30/5 (based on 9 ratings)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–23: Abducted in Aether (PFRPG) PDF

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A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 7–11.

Among the greatest crimes committed during an attack on the Grand Lodge was the abduction of a high-ranking member of the Pathfinder Society. The Society has tracked the kidnapped to another plane of existence, where his captor is preparing to sell her prize to a host of otherworldly bidders. Can the PCs intervene and mount a rescue before the esteemed captive disappears forever?

Content in “Abducted in Aether” also contributes directly to the ongoing storyline of the Grand Lodge faction.

Written by Jason Keeley.

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Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at store@paizo.com.

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Average product rating:

4.30/5 (based on 9 ratings)

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Has some flaws but still 5 stars and fantastic.

5/5 —

This scenario has some flaws: zero-gravity rules, it has the potential to run longer than normal even for a high-tier PFS scenario, and the final encounter at high tier has nearly 40 effects you need to keep on a cheat-sheet or in your head in order to run the encounter. I think these things are worth docking the scenario at least a star.

It's still a 5-star scenario in my mind and I would run it again high tier in a heartbeat. The ambiance is fantastic, the NPCs are wonderful. The final encounter is tactically complicated and challenging and throws problems at PCs that are surmountable, but only if they think about it first.

Simply fantastic. But play it high tier if you can. Not bad for something that's basically a bunch of errands...

Love it.

5/5 —

The Cons:
There are some missing mechanics (most notably what 0 gravity means for the players, which has since been clarified on the GM boards)

It can feel a bit railroady

Oh and I'm tired of the occult

The pros:

The social part is atmospheric and very cool, and there are definitely some nice opportunities to make the NPCs shine.

Spoiler:
Personally, I liked all the vendors, but most importantly ignore the Profession(merchant) check and play up Tik.

The combats are extremely difficult, but very good. The occult aspect is well mixed onto a character that can take advantage of it, but to do so gives up some part of their power.

In my top 5 scenarios to run all time.

Overall Excellent Scenario

4/5 —

This scenario brings together a number of threads from previous scenarios, including previous specials. I played it at PaizoCon 2016, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Combat-wise, I would say it is of above-average difficulty and definitely high quality. There is one combat in particular that even an experienced and prepared party will struggle with (in my case, my character was only saved by the timely use of my endurance brand!). Equally importantly, there are a number of combats whose ease depends *heavily* on what the players do. If the players play carefully and smartly, they'll do very well. If not, they could very quickly become overwhelmed. So overall, the combat aspect of this was *very* enjoyable and challenging.

The social aspect has some good chance for what I think of as "quirky" roleplaying, in which you roleplay not so much to gain advantage but to enjoy the setting. It's fun, but it gets a little repetitive.

There are a few mechanical issues with the scenario, particularly with regards to how information is apportioned to the player. I won't go into detail here, but it's very easy to miss a rather nice story element if your GM isn't very flexible (due to how the adventure is written). It's not a huge deal, but as someone who really likes the story aspect of scenarios, it's enough for me to (in addition to the repetitive social aspect) ding this scenario a star.

Overall, I'd highly recommend it. It definitely ranks with the higher quality Season 7s.

Challenging and Interesting

4/5 —

A very interesting approach to the end of what is personally my favourite metaplot in PFS. Split into roughly 2 parts, one is very social, where players can get creative, and if they're thorough enough, can be personally damning if they're willing to bargain enough. Some results are more focused on the roleplay aspects, although everything does come with a mechanical price.
The second half is notably challenging, even with a four-player adjustment. It could prove fatal to an unprepared party, and when exploring the final location, make sure to give the players information through their knowledge checks, and be thorough in explaining what certain spell effects can do in certain situations.
As with many scenarios in Season 7, there is room for social interactions in this adventure, but there's also something for the people who love the danger, especially since the challenge almost seemed a bit much to me at times.

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Community Manager

Announced for May!
Grand Lodge
Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Well THAT is a way to wrap up the season...

Paizo Con Premier?
Shadow Lodge

Called it!

Well, still waiting for the Goblin Market.
Paizo Employee Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
tlotig wrote:
Paizo Con Premier?

Yep, this is one of our PaizoCon adventures.

Silver Crusade

Part of me wonders if there is a choice involved ^^
Liberty's Edge
Starfinder Superscriber

Well! I haven't heard back on my vounteering, but if I am Tier 1, then I'm going to have to convince somebody to run this for me at PaizoCon either early on Thursday or late on Monday! (Unless I end up scheduled to run it....)
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Possible trip to the City of Brass to cash in on a certain previous season Boon?
Dark Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.
andreww wrote:
Possible trip to the City of Brass to cash in on a certain previous season Boon?

You are reading my mind - if this is true the next thing we need is a new seeker arc and all my hopes for this season are fulfilled.

Scarab Sages
andreww wrote:
Possible trip to the City of Brass to cash in on a certain previous season Boon?

I thought this exact same thing when I read the description. Time to slap chronicles onto my cleric and barbarian so they can finish this plot hook!

Dark Archive

What... uh... what if we don't want him back? I mean, things have been relatively... nice around here lately.
Silver Crusade
TriOmegaZero wrote:
Well THAT is a way to wrap up the season...

Is it, though? I'm curious, as this would mean that either season eight is starting a month early, or we'll get left with a month lag between seasons seven and eight.

Dark Archive
UndeadMitch wrote:
TriOmegaZero wrote:
Well THAT is a way to wrap up the season...
Is it, though? I'm curious, as this would mean that either season eight is starting a month early, or we'll get left with a month lag between seasons seven and eight.

There usually is. July more often than not has no scenarios.

Dark Archive
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Kidnapped?

I mean, I guess he was kidnapped, after a fashion... I suppose...

Anyway, really excited to play this one, just sad I'll have to wait until after PaizoCon for it...
Dresden10589 wrote:
What... uh... what if we don't want him back? I mean, things have been relatively... nice around here lately.

I know that if it comes to a vote I'll be voting for his predecessor/replacement. But yes, I feel we probably should collect the soul even if we don't want him around.

Paizo Employee Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
Keirine, Human Rogue wrote:

Kidnapped?

I mean, I guess he was kidnapped, after a fashion... I suppose...

Anyway, really excited to play this one, just sad I'll have to wait until after PaizoCon for it...

I'm with you on the "kidnapping" bit. Writing product pages is a strange balancing act between providing enough information and not spoiling earlier adventures.

As for PaizoCon, all of the May adventures (including this one) should be available at PaizoCon. The listed date is the street date.
Silver Crusade RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I've never really understood the dislike for certain NPCs in PFS. Sure, Zey is an unmitigated ass, but he is our unmitigated ass! :)
Lantern Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4

YES YES YES YES YES.

SHE'S BACK.

}:)
GreySector wrote:
I've never really understood the dislike for certain NPCs in PFS. Sure, Zey is an unmitigated ass, but he is our unmitigated ass! :)

Have you met his replacement? People's experiences may differ but she introduced herself to our party by pointing out the party alchemist isn't a real spellcaster. I hope she never goes away.

Paizo Employee Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
3 people marked this as a favorite.
p-sto wrote:
GreySector wrote:
I've never really understood the dislike for certain NPCs in PFS. Sure, Zey is an unmitigated ass, but he is our unmitigated ass! :)
Have you met his replacement? People's experiences may differ but she introduced herself to our party by pointing out the party alchemist isn't a real spellcaster. I hope she never goes away.

My dwarven cleric of Nethys in Mummy's Mask loves accusing the party investigator of the same faux-magic failures.

Hopes for Sorrina with very mild spoilers for #7–13:
I hope that Sorrina Westyr comes across as mostly sympathetic and helpful. That was certainly the reasoning behind having her freely share her spells and knowledge in the second half of #7–13.
John Compton wrote:
p-sto wrote:
GreySector wrote:
I've never really understood the dislike for certain NPCs in PFS. Sure, Zey is an unmitigated ass, but he is our unmitigated ass! :)
Have you met his replacement? People's experiences may differ but she introduced herself to our party by pointing out the party alchemist isn't a real spellcaster. I hope she never goes away.

My dwarven cleric of Nethys in Mummy's Mask loves accusing the party investigator of the same faux-magic failures.

** spoiler omitted **

Yes, sorry if I overstated things a little bit. I do think that part of what makes her charming when she's being crass is that there's a lot of very nice and interesting aspects to her as well.

Spoiler for 7-09:
That's not to say that Zey's interactions with 322 weren't poignant but as far as 7-13 is concerned I was impressed for how effectively the author managed to portray a well rounded NPC in the span of a single scenario with respect to Sorrina.
Grand Lodge
Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber
DubiousYak wrote:
andreww wrote:
Possible trip to the City of Brass to cash in on a certain previous season Boon?
You are reading my mind - if this is true the next thing we need is a new seeker arc and all my hopes for this season are fulfilled.

As of today's blog, consider them fulfilled. :)

Hmm, I wonder if this might also link to Jairo from Slave Master's Mirror. I have that boon and the Karamoss one sitting on the same level 11 character. Maybe I will get something out of both of them before he reaches seeker status.
Grand Lodge
Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps Subscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

If they bring him back then my home Wifi password will become outdated... I'm sure we could just throw him in one of Zarta's vaults for safe keeping and midnight visits....
John Compton wrote:
tlotig wrote:
Paizo Con Premier?
Yep, this is one of our PaizoCon adventures.

Yup, apparently i am running it all of the times *grin*

Paizo Employee Editor
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Now that I have finally fully decompressed from PaizoCon (and having a guest stay with me for close to a week), I can bring up some points that tlotig and I discussed during the convention. He was running this scenario multiple times and had a lot of good points and questions, which I'll try to answer here.

These are tips/answers for GMs, so I guess I'll put them in spoiler tags.

Spoiler:

What if my players ask Sorrina for stuff to trade at the Bazaar?
Sorrina is just as uninformed about how the Bazaar works as your players, but if they are insistent, she can give them a small pouch of unusual coins from around Golarion. These pieces of currency are antiquated and unusable in a regular marketplace, but handing over the pouch to one of the Bazaar's vendors can sweeten up any deal they are trying to make, granting a +2 bonus on one Diplomacy check (or other skill you see fit).

My players seem a bit lost as to who to talk to at the Bazaar and they don't really trust Tik
If your players seem like they are just itching for a fight, try to steer them toward the interaction with Yetakerinos, who sends them to get beaten up by aether elementals. (PS, sorry about that.) Otherwise, there's a lot of merchants clamoring for the PCs' attention, so any one of the shopping encounters could come to them!

Hey, the maenads' confusion ability sure sucks the fun out of the game!
Yeah, I would limit the length of that ability to like a minute, instead of the full hour. Or even have it end when the combat does.

This was my first Pathfinder Society Scenario and I'm very pleased with the reaction it has gotten so far! If you have any questions for me, don't hesitate to ask!
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