A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-5.
As a repurposed prison, the Sandswept Hall Pathfinder lodge in Sothis is an imposing target for thieves, yet an enemy operative recently broken in, stole valuable property, and escaped into the sun-scorched deserts of eastern Osirion. The PCs are the best disposed to follow the culprit's trail. Be warned, though, for the Scorpion Coast is the battleground of powerful elemental tribes that have assailed Osirion's frontier with cruel sandstorms and deadly force for millennia.
Content in The Sandstorm Prophecy also contributes directly to the ongoing storyline of the Scarab Sages faction.
I think 4 & 5 stars should be reserved for the obviously great games. So there isn't anything wrong with this product. It worked out fine for us! It just isn't going to be as loved as some of the most talked-about modules in PFS.
Non-spoiler review
Overall, the game is a chase, but it covers 3 modules so don't expect a resolution here in part 1. Instead, you're going to ask questions, gear up, and make decisions about your pursuit. Then, you'll start the adventure and quickly stumble onto some groups that will aid you or hinder you. How you handle them and the challenges they put before you will determine how your characters head into part 2.
The adventure is fun. It seems like you can negotiate or fight your way through some obstacles, so both styles of play are to be recommended. The NPCs don't just blurt out all their secrets, so there are different factions you can side with, or be fooled into siding with. We had 2 tables of this game running at the same time (low tier & high tier) and each table picked a different side but each table also felt that their decision was "right." Granted, one group was able to find a lot more info than the other group was, so there may in fact be an objective "good" side to uncover, but for the most part it was fuzzy and down to debate. I think the module author should be proud to have created a scenario where various groups feel like they've done the best option, and yet they are completely different choices.
I played a paladin, and there are some gray/difficult areas here. At one point, two factions were butting heads, and black & white ideas like "Detect Evil!" are not useful. There are issues with desecration of sacred ground, racism, non-violence, and diplomacy. (In some cases, even if you want a certain solution, you simply won't get it unless your character was built to be good at that. Some people may hate that their role play must be backed up with good die rolls, but I liked it. We wanted a peaceful solution, but even with huge diplomacy bonuses, we were really struggling, and kind of nervous about the outcome. To me, it felt like our character builds were important. You are only going to unlock the options that you are actually good at.)
In conclusion, I'd say it was a fun, simple romp. There are some elemental challenges as you'd expect from season 8, and some good fights or negotiations, depending upon your skill. I don't yet see the bigger plot for season 8 here, but there is a trickle of information. Finally, I'd like to give you a tip. It's hardly a spoiler, and I've already hinted at it, but I'll spoiler this tip just in case. This is my suggestion about what types of characters to bring to this session:
Spoiler:
This is not the module for a "jack of all trades, master of none." If you intend to fight, bring someone good at fighting. If you intend to be skilled, be very skilled. If you intend to talk, you better be charismatic with lots of ranks in diplomacy. At least at the high tier, my impression was that characters who are average at a lot of things will feel mostly useless, while someone who is very good at one thing will at least get time to shine.
Meta-talk
This meta-info isn't much of a spoiler, but it does reveal one tiny bit of info in the introduction, so if you're hard core, take a pass on reading this. However, I include this because multiple people in my group said loudly "Are you kidding me?!?" at the start of the adventure, and yet I'm fairly sure the module was not intending to be unfair (I haven't read it). So, protect yourself. Get informed:
Spoiler:
When we heard that we would be journeying into extremely hot regions, many of us had memories of another trilogy, where you go into extreme weather and take environmental damage if you are not prepared. So, being smart, we asked how much gear we needed. In character, we asked the Venture Captain NPC, "Will we be gone for months, or days? Should we get entire wands of Endure Elements, or just a single scroll?"
Our GM shrugged and said "ehhh... you're chasing someone, you don't know...."
So, we bought wands. We bought hot weather outfits. We did everything we could, since it seemed like we might be crossing an entire desert. We told the GM what we were getting, he seemed fine with it, and then he spoke the read-aloud text as the chase gets underway: "After two hours of travel, you reach your first goal."
We were like, "Holy cow ARE YOU SERIOUS?" We blew 2 prestige and extra cash to buy specialized gear for a 2 hour walk? None of the players had the Golarion map memorized, so none of us had any idea of the size of the landscape we were covering. The Venture Captain NPC has got to know the local region, right? He could have hinted that it was days of hiking instead of weeks or months, at least.
Spoiler discussion
Here are a few things that appear to be difficult or broken in the module. This is probably mostly useful for GMs.
Spoiler:
The module has a blind spot for some edge cases. In our group, we attempted to use diplomacy on the encounter with the female researcher. The DCs were too high and we failed. However, failing to be diplomatic did not not convince us to murder the researcher. She seemed innocent or at least ignorant. So we simply refused to do what was asked. The GM said, "You have to do something." And so I suggested we just leave. The GM suggested that would result in a failure of everything because the module had no handling for players who 1) cannot make the researcher relocate, and 2) refuse to murder her.
Also, my previous comment about "bring someone really good at something" might be even more important than I hinted at. The module has a few areas where a TPK is very possible, and the only way out of it is to be really good at something. For example, the sandman fight, with three sleep auras? The best way to beat that is to be an elf, or to have a really high will save. Likewise, the final fight involves a high AC flying target with DR. The best way to beat it is to have a brute who can reliably do 15+ points of damage each hit.
Some of those issues go away if you have 6 or 7 PCs, just due to sheer number of options. We had 4 PCs with no ability to fly, and twice found ourselves with multiple people down.
This module rewards players for having gear. Please remind players to gear up, even if you don't give specifics. Simple things like rope & rations help, but cool things like ways to fly will obviously be useful in a module about air elementals. And if they have no big damage dealer, then they need a pile of healing.
Last comment, in regards to that healing. In the final fight, the elemental has whirlwind form, and my GM tells me that the tactics insist that it be used as the opening attack. Whirlwind is too powerful at this level, and should necessitate a TPK. Hence, healing. Lots of it. And therefore, please be fair and use the standard action to activate it. Don't turn it on for free (supernatural abilities need a standard to activate). The elemental will still have a move action and can scoop up someone nearby and drop 'em, but that'll be limited by the single move action. Also, air elementals don't get to move upward at full speed. They're half speed like everyone else. It's only the old D&D 3.5 rules that allowed elementals to fly upward at full speed. So as you go around the battlefield scooping up targets and dropping them, remember to keep those limitations in mind. Note: once the whirlwind is activated, it doesn't need to be re-activated every round.
As for the dangerousness of the whirlwind, here are some things to know. It does not provoke AOO no matter what. It can move by people, and they get no AOO. It can move into a target's square to pick them up, and they get no AOO. See the rules for whirlwind at the back of any of the Bestiary books. The whirlwind isn't limited to a number of attacks -- just limited by movement. So if it has a full round to act as a whirlwind, that means it can double-move over probably everyone, and then fly as high as possible and release them for falling damage. (If the players don't know to ready actions as their only way to hit this thing, you probably should give 'em a hint around the 2nd time they're getting picked up.) And don't forget that there are two saves before a PC is picked up. The first save determines if the PC takes damage. Only if they fail that do you then do the 2nd save, to determine if the PC is picked up. EDIT: What I just wrote is wrong. According to the monster rules for whirlwind, you must make the 2nd save even if you made the 1st. They function independently. That makes the whirlwind more scary! Watch out.
Tip: Never pick up a target and keep them in the whirlwind. Always fly as high as you can on that turn and drop them. If you keep them in the whirlwind (maybe hoping to fly higher on the 2nd turn), then on their turn they can grapple the whirlwind. If they win, one of the rules of grapple is that you cannot move, and cannot "let go" of the grapple unless you win a check. This means a PC might put the air elemental into what is effectively a stun lock, due to an edge case in the grapple rules. So pick up, drop. Pick up, drop.
This is very interesting are there going to be a set of three part scenarios that go with Earth and Water as well?
In Response:
Each of the elemental planes features in several different scenarios, and we're providing a roughly equal amount of screen time to each. In some cases—as is true for the Planes of Air and Fire—a lot of that spotlight occurs in multi-part series. Earth and Water have some unifying themes, but they're currently scheduled as independent adventures. I find making too many multi-parters makes adventures difficult to schedule, so I endeavor to limit it to adventures that really call for that treatment.
Something about that first sentence seemed a bit wrong to me while reading and after some consideration i guess there´s a "n" too much in "broken in" if i´m not mistaken.
Something about that first sentence seemed a bit wrong to me while reading and after some consideration i guess there´s a "n" too much in "broken in" if i´m not mistaken.
Or a missing Present Perfect auxiliary verb "has." Though in that case "stole" needs to be changed to a Past Participle as well. Given that the rest of the paragraph is in the present tense I'd go with the second option.
I hope one day we'll get a Superdungeon involving the Scorpion Coast and Rovagug. After all, the Rough Beast does have a cult of worshipers in Osirion who would just love to release a new Spawn of Rovagug. :D
I find it odd that there are no reporting instructions in this scenario. I can't find any information directing GMs to report which tribe the players side with, or if they negotiate in one encounter where that is a very valid option:
Qiarah:
I would think the decision to negotiate or attack Qiarah would have important consequences based on which tribe the players side with.
Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
