Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-06: Reaping What We Sow (PFRPG) PDF

(I both GMed and played this.)

Speaking as a player, this is a decent scenario. Fun, nice attention to details, and so on. You should really take the story with a grain of salt, as while it advertises itself as a spooky scenario, you can't take it seriously. It's pretty cheesy, but if you roll with it, it's great fun.

Speaking as a GM, this is a terrible scenario. As other people have said, it feels more like a flowchart of "if people do this, go to page X." So much space and attention is spent on eventualities that don't (or shouldn't) happen, that the entire scenario suffers from it. There's a lack of flavour text (or spread out along different paths, so you can't get everything in a single session) and direction that is really needed. It feels like the author wanted to make it a sandbox, but there really isn't enough material for it. There's some good setpieces here and there, but as a whole, it falls short.

On either side of the screen, this scenario will run short. The scenario is written for if the players exhaust all the options, and then you'd get a solid 4-5 hours of play out of it, but I think most people will finish it in 3-4. Combats are a bit disappointing, and enemies aren't a real threat (maybe it was the four-player adjustment skewing it to the easy side, but the same thing also happened on a different tier with a full party). There's certainly fun to be had, but I'd expected more from a "spooky adventure" with this much interesting background.

This scenario allows for various PC outcomes/actions but becomes quite confusing due to layout and vague writing.

A flow chart would actually have been VERY useful here.

Word choice added to the confusion. Example (modified to avoid spoilers):
"The creatures that assailed...left a clear trail back to the fields.

Here's the problem: depending on PC choices, the creatures didn't necessarily go back to the fields! In a scenario that's already very confusing this example of iffy writing needs to be avoided in the future.

Reaping is a mix of roleplay, combat, and investigation.

The first thing I should mention is that it’s not scary. Not even Goosebumps scary. It's more of a comedy than anything with the cute NPCs.

My problem with Reaping is that there was nothing interesting or innovative in the scenario, and I didn’t learn anything new about Golarion. It was very basic, not even worth my limited gaming time.

And as others mentioned, the combat was extremely easy (no one took 1 point of damage and we had a very average group), but even if the combat was more challenging, it still wouldn’t fix the scenario.

The mission (asking forgiveness from a low-level informant) itself is beneath a Pathfinder at level 4-5. I think this scenario would have been more suited to be a level 1 evergreen scenario with variations.

Played once and GMed twice.

The Pathfinders travel to Galt and seek the forgiveness of a former agent that had been left to twist in the wind during the revolution and hopefully gain enough trust to entice her to return to aiding the Society. In the midst of their endeavor, a spooky murder mystery begins to unfold.

First off, the town is given a good bit of flavor and personality. The scenario includes several small details about the town that aren't entirely necessary for the plot but enrich the roleplaying opportunities for the players. The spurned agent you're attempting to coax forgiveness from has legit beef with the Society, so it makes the players think on their toes while trying to convince her to let go of the past. The mystery is fairly by-the-book for the setting, but it's the steps along the way that keep it fun. There are opportunities present for every kind of character to shine, and several NPCs to use as foils for the player characters to strut their stuff.

While the combats aren't particularly difficult, they aren't complete pushovers for most groups, though optimized parties will make quick work of the enemies. I ran for a group of mostly newbies and a more seasoned party, and the combats kept them on their toes (though the seasoned group used some ill-advised tactics in the final fight in order to achieve that).

I'd recommend this as a lower level (read: 1-2) scenario for players, and I think it's a perfect adventure for those new to PFS. It has a little bit of everything and isn't so difficult that it will leave newcomers frustrated. Flavor trumps combat difficulty in my book, and at low levels, I'm not really going to ding a scenario for being a little bit of a pushover.

Played this today with a mid-tier group that ended up playing up with the 4-player adjustment. We certainly went the light-hearted route. One player commented "It's hard to feel scared when I'm rolling dice."

I agree with many others who say this wasn't that challenging, but it opens up a lot of possible fun. The GM mentioned some of the mechanics were clunky so I'll have to read it and perhaps run it myself to know the entire story.