A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 5–9.
The Lands of the Linnorm Kings derive its name from its leaders, each of who can rule after slaying one of the massive, draconic linnorms that inhabit the region. Centuries ago, when a warrior set out to slay a dragon of her own and carve out a kingdom, she returned not with a linnorm's head but that of the local linnorm king. The lone witness insisted she had used ice magic and Irriseni witchcraft to kill the king, an accusation that led to the warrior's execution. It's said that even today, the so-called Jarlsblood Witch prowls the land and snatches up lone travelers.
Not all believe these tales, most notably the warrior's descendants. One serves as a member of Taldor's Ulfen Guard and has contacted the Society to make a deal: exonerate his defamed ancestor in exchange for intelligence that could shape Taldor's future and avert a disaster. It's up to the PCs to embark into the frozen Lands of the Linnorm Kings to solve an ancient murder mystery, though there's far more at stake than honor.
Contents in The Jarlsblood Witch Saga also contribute directly to the ongoing storyline of the Sovereign Court faction. This is one of several scenarios that also set the stage for and directly tie into the upcoming War for the Crown Adventure Path.
The Jarlsblood Witch Saga was a fantastic adventure! I GMed it twice recently and both times we all had a blast! The adventure begins with a nice amount of role play with interesting characters around a centuries old mystery in a great setting. There was just the right amount of creepiness and mystery to always keep the players wondering. Little by little the adventure grew in scope and by the end as the truth was coming out, the adventure had reached epic proportions! The final boss battle was truly memorable. My players loved it! Afterwards, one of them came up to me and told me that this was one of the best adventures he had ever played. GMs will want to spend some time prepping it and learning the story well, but if you do, it is well worth it. It is an amazing adventure with a great story and memorable characters. I recommend this scenario highly!
This scenario ticks almost all of the boxes for me as a player and as a GM. It has memorable NPCs, it has a story that is engaging that the PCs learn about during the course of play (unless they choose to go off half-cocked, but that's on them rather than the scenario), balanced combats that are still fraught with danger (in answer to those who sometimes worry that PFS combats aren't "hard enough"), optional encounters that make the scenario adaptable to different play styles (and time slots available to GMs), and a potentially epic climax that story-oriented PCs will likely never forget!
If I was *forced* to find something to nitpick? When I played this, my character wanted to learn the "original" name of the disgraced family, but that bit of information couldn't be found.
In an already-great season of PFS adventures, this one is an early contender for my favorite of the year!
A note to GMs - make sure you review the investigation mechanics and how they interface with the finale of the scenario carefully! Trying to "wing" those parts will likely be frustrating to you and also slow down the pace of play big-time!
I have played and run this, both times at high tier. It falls into the common structure a lot of PFS scenario's have had over the last few seasons, a substantial investigation portion followed by a combat section.
Both are well done. The investigation has lots of places to visit and people to talk to. It can feel repetitive and really does rely on the GM to inject the flavour for it and you also need to keep it moving quickly. There is a substantial amount of material in part two. I would have liked to see more imagery for the locations and NPCs and some more details to help characterisation of the NPCs.
One issue that did crop up was handling the PCs looking for specific information. The mechanics allow the PCs to seek out information at different levels of obscurity which doesn't work well when the players are looking for information on particular events.
The combat section of the adventure is suitably challenging, especially at high tier. There are a couple of issues with the stat blocks and unprepared or marginal parties are going to struggle. I recommend not playing this with one of those APL7.6 groups forced to play up, especially if you only have 5 players.
We were fortunate at the end to score a gunslinger crit when I played. When I ran the final opponent ate a spirited charge lance crit. I can see parties with less luck finding life much more difficult.
Overall a definite recommendation although once again we see another common season 9 theme, status conditions. Come prepared to deal with them.
The story, lore and combat encounters were well done. Everyone at my table, who were very experienced players, felt the scenario was dragged down by the tedious gather info/diplomacy minigame. Overly long repetitive skill check aren't why many are coming to the table. If this portion of the game is run as written you will have to hand wave much of the exciting role-play and combat if you want to finish on time. Seriously examine how your players can get the info they need to get without boredom ensuing.
The story itself is great. The combats are great. When I run this again I will not take as much time with the gathering of info. The NPCs may be more..talkative.
I have a level 6 Ulfen PC from the Land of the Linnorm Kings who NEEDS to play in this one. Bigotry against witchcraft is a major theme for her.
Spoiler:
She's a witch but refuses to admit it, tricking her family and friends into thinking she's a wizard. She really does study magic so she can return on day to help fight against the evil witches from Irrisen, just like she told her family. But the fact that her power comes from a patron familiar, rather than just studying spellbooks, is a source of great shame for her.
Noticed the armor in the chronicle sheet that the armor reward in 8-9 is incorrect. Both the 5-6 and 8-9 state +1 armor, but the 8-9 is +2 armor. Even the price is wrong. It's just a straight copy and paste.
Organized Play Lead Developer
