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Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-01: The Cost of Enlightenment (PFRPG) PDF

2.90/5 (based on 36 ratings)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-01: The Cost of Enlightenment (PFRPG) PDF

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A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-5.

The Qadiran city of Qaharid is famous for its turquoise mines and fine pottery, yet it is also the center of worship for the monks of the White Feather. Most recently, the cult of Roidira has identified Qaharid as a pilgrimage city, and the once innocuous cultists have begun exhibiting truly strange behaviors. Society contacts recognize these actions as a sign that the Roidirans have uncovered some extraordinary secret in the wilderness nearby, and it fall to the PCs to speak with witnesses and track down the cult's discovery.

Written by Katherine Cross.

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Society Scenario Subscription.

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See Also:

<< Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-24: Raid on the Cloudborne Keep (PFRPG) PDF
<< Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-25: Unleashing the Untouchable (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-04: The Unseen Inclusion PDF Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-05: Call of the Copper Gate PDF >>
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2.90/5 (based on 36 ratings)

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best played at low tier

2/5 —

I have GM'd this at both tiers.

This scenario sets out to tell a different kind of story to the usual fare, and that is to be applauded. You're not chasing a mcguffin, or after a particular bad guy. This is a quest for knowledge.

There are good opportunities for roleplay - the midsummer Sarenite holiday can be lots of fun.

But there are two big problems with the scenario's execution.

1. the scenario flip-flops between establishing success based on what the players say, and based on the results of skill checks. The latter undermines the former, because in some encounters it doesn't matter what you say if you get a good roll. To some extent this is a problem with the game system, but when you want to encourage creativity and thinking on the part of the players forcing them to then make a skill check that is the arbiter of success is, in my opinion, a mistake.

2. as others have noted, there is an encounter in the high tier that is broken. It's just too lethal, as a result of the set-up, a template, and tactics. It killed a PC in my high-tier run, and did so in a manner that felt unfair.

If I could give different star ratings for the high and low tier I would, but since I can't the bad encounter at high tier makes this a 2-star review. I hope that PF2e either does away with simple templates for monsters, or does a better job of adjudicating their impact on CR.

If only zero stars were possible

1/5 —

I played at a table of 5 this past weekend. The mod got 5 thumbs down. To me, it was, by far, the worst mod I have ever played in. I would rather do general dentistry than play this mod.

My regional VC officer asked me to run it. To be fair, I read through the mod, wondering if the mod had any redeeming values.

A second read through revealed, indeed, it was bereft.

If you like forcing your players to parrot meaningless gibberish back to you: go ahead, enjoy the mod. Ridiculous, inconsequential, pretentious, politically correct, drivel.

Specific comments: The entire mod seems to have been whipped up in about 90 minutes. The encounters are entirely run of the mill, with nothing memorable. No attention to environment, creature, tactics, items.

The only sop in the mod seems to have been a plug for the new occult classes. One minor spin, that no one will use, or care.

The final combat uses a hackney meme that has been done time and time again.

Ms. Cross had previously jointly participated in House of Harmonious Wisdom, a module I greatly enjoyed, but I will definitely think twice before playing her mods again.

In short:
If your group *likes* roleplaying, not rollplaying;
Enjoys reciting verbal spewage as the way to "win" the mod;
Wants limp combats;

Well - go ahead. No doubt you'll love the mod. Otherwise.....

Respect is Due

4/5 —

This has the potential to be a really cerebral scenario, the author deserves serious credit for giving players an opportunity to discuss core philosophical topics at the table. The scenario also offers some good roleplaying scenes, in the time-honoured PFS manner of impressing the VIP at the dinner table. The scenario has two weaknesses - a lack of guidance for GMs who aren't interested/familiar with the basics of epistemology, and a lack of meaningful combat for players who feel their characters can't contribute to a scene about abstract ideas. Overall: refreshing but with room for improvement.

Hard to run

1/5 —

This one caused me a lot of problems when trying to run it. My players tend to enjoy role play rather than role dice, and I had a lot of trouble trying to get them into the spirit of the game, especially since I found it quite confusing myself.

I recommend extra prep time and a group of players who are philosophy majors.

Stuff poorly explained...

3/5 —

I've both GMed and played this.

GMing it was difficult because some of the players focused on aspects of the scenario that weren't explained at all in the text. It almost seems like they had to cut the scenario short for word count reasons.

I think it would have been much better expanded, explained better, and maybe put into a two part scenario.

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Sovereign Court
1 person marked this as a favorite.

The usual request for a list of maps?
Paizo Employee Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I am posting in most of the discussion threads for Gen Con adventures, noting which published map products appear in each adventure. Note that a final list is not yet ready for this adventure. Once we’ve locked in those maps in the development process, I’ll post an update here.
Paizo Employee Pathfinder Society Lead Developer

Maps Appearing in Pathfinder Society Scenario #9–01: The Cost of Enlightenment:

  • Flip-Mat: Seedy Tavern
  • Map Pack: Desert Sites

    • Ooh, something on the white feather monks? Could have some lore stuff.
    Paizo Employee Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
    PannicAtack wrote:
    Ooh, something on the white feather monks? Could have some lore stuff.

    This is a fun adventure from many perspectives, yet it's especially exciting from a lore perspective.

    Silver Crusade Contributor
    2 people marked this as a favorite.

    More work by Katherine Cross! ^_^
    Grand Lodge
    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    John Compton wrote:


    This is a fun adventure from many perspectives...

    Fun would not be an adjective I would use for this scenario.

    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    thzero wrote:
    John Compton wrote:


    This is a fun adventure from many perspectives...
    Fun would not be an adjective I would use for this scenario.

    Sooo..... I've begun to prep this scenario for this weekend. So far, I am really impressed by this. So looking forward to running it! If this is what Season 9 is going to be, we are in for a season-long treat!!!

    I think I will be providing my players with a slightly spoiler-ish warning. This is not a scenario for murderhobos (thank goodness!). I'll be giving them a 'heads up' warning, advising them to bring PCs with strong skills and RP options, rather than the usual combat wombats. I gave similar warnings for Ungrounded But Unbroken and Bid For Alabastrine, and I think it helped to set expectations, which otherwise might be a problem with these non-standard adventures.

    Suggestion for other GMs running this:
    Instead of simply reading/paraphrasing the visions at the end, consider printing them out, and sharing each vision only with the PC who views it. That way, during the final debriefing there's more RP as PCs share the visions they saw with the other PCs, as well as the NPCs. That way, players will be less likely to skip the RP by just saying, "yeah, we tell her what we saw". Just a thought.

    It's a shame that this scenario doesn't have a higher rating (right now). I look forward to giving it a very positive review after I've actually run it! I suppose that any scenario that steps outside the box like this one does risks polarizing ratings, though.

    This is the first time that Katherine Cross's name has come to my attention, but after this, I'll definitely be watching for her work! I love her style!
    3 people marked this as a favorite.

    This scenario felt like being forced to listen to a 1st year philosophy student after a bad breakup. Painful.
    Damak wrote:
    This scenario felt like being forced to listen to a 1st year philosophy student after a bad breakup. Painful.

    Finally got the chance to run this, and it was wonderful!!! All my players enjoyed it, several declared it to be one of their favorite scenarios, and two of them said it was one of the most enjoyable sessions they'd played in a long time!

    Bravo, Katherine Cross! 5 star review posted!
    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    Amanda Plageman wrote:
    Damak wrote:
    This scenario felt like being forced to listen to a 1st year philosophy student after a bad breakup. Painful.

    Finally got the chance to run this, and it was wonderful!!! All my players enjoyed it, several declared it to be one of their favorite scenarios, and two of them said it was one of the most enjoyable sessions they'd played in a long time!

    Bravo, Katherine Cross! 5 star review posted!

    to each his/her own i guess, but i ran into another player a few days after the game and he put it in his bottom 5 PFS scenarios. and he has played nearly ever scenario available.

    Horizon Hunters
    2 people marked this as a favorite.

    I'm not sure whether or not this would be a good place to ask, but would it be legal now if my character wants to switch his patreon deity to Roidira?
    Silver Crusade
    onlin wrote:
    I'm not sure whether or not this would be a good place to ask, but would it be legal now if my character wants to switch his patreon deity to Roidira?

    As far as I know, she's not listed as a PFS legal deity in any book in the Additional Resources. Which makes sense, both in game and out of game. We don't have her alignment or domains, so how could you choose her as a patron for a cleric or other divine caster? And in game, the events of this adventure make me think that she "left" Golarion, and is no longer accepting worshipers.

    Sovereign Court
    2 people marked this as a favorite.

    Holy crap this scenario sucks. I hope that what we got was the result of lots of editing or something 'cuz it's all over the place and there are some large leaps of logic from the cryptic phrases the players hear to the conclusions they have to draw at the end.
    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    Fromper wrote:
    onlin wrote:
    I'm not sure whether or not this would be a good place to ask, but would it be legal now if my character wants to switch his patreon deity to Roidira?
    As far as I know, she's not listed as a PFS legal deity in any book in the Additional Resources. Which makes sense, both in game and out of game. We don't have her alignment or domains, so how could you choose her as a patron for a cleric or other divine caster? And in game, the events of this adventure make me think that she "left" Golarion, and is no longer accepting worshipers.

    I think we'd need an AR update or something similar to worship her with mechanical benefits (like Cleric/Paladin spells, etc). But there's nothing to prevent a non-Deity-dependent PC from worshiping her (with no mechanical bennies).

    My Rahadoumi Spiritualist has actively converted to her worship after this exposure. Roidira is her kind of Goddess! ;-)
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