A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 7–11.
Liberty's Edge faction leader Colson Maldris was so certain that Andoran's elites were ruining the country that he took drastic action, allying with the Gray Gardeners in a plot to kidnap several of them and bring them to Galt. Though the Gardeners promised Maldris that they would grant these individuals a fair trial and carry out any executions without the use of their infamous soul-trapping Final Blades, their word was not to be trusted. Now all of Maldris's kidnapping victims are scheduled to face the guillotine. Maldris has sent a desperate plea for help to the Pathfinder Society, hoping for aid in freeing his victims from this terrible fate. However, Maldris's efforts to lay the groundwork for a rescue plot have seen him captured as an enemy of the revolution.
Not only does it fall to the PCs to prevent an international incident, but the fate of this faction's leader also lies in their hands.
Contents in Fury of the Final Blade also contribute directly to the ongoing storyline of the Liberty's Edge faction.
I enjoyed playing this mod but I can see how some of the potential problems that other reviewers describe could easily become trouble. I think the key issue is that it’s a 7-11 mod, so it asks you to accomplish some challenging things, and fight some difficult fights. On the other hand, you have 7-11 level characters, so you should have a pretty diverse collection of tricks to throw at your problems. If you have the right sorts of tricks, then things can go pretty smoothly. If you don’t have the right tricks (or if the one character that has the right trick gets whacked over the head at the wrong moment) then things can be very rough.
For example, the one reviewer describes a near TPK. That fight is tough. If you have a couple of characters that are bad at making that kind of save, or have trouble punching through that kind of DR and resistances, then it can be really tough. On the other hand, there’s at least some chance that you can figure out what’s coming, and if you make the right preparations then the fight is significantly easier. It’s going to vary a lot from table to table.
Another thing that went a little differently for my party was that we didn’t have a good face character for doing diplomacy and knowledge: local during the information gathering part of the scenario. We did have some magic that helped us with scouting and observing before we rushed into danger. I’m not sure how much to credit flexibility of the scenario vs. flexibility of the GM but we were able to do some amount of making up for what we didn’t have with skills and powers that we did have. I do feel like there were some interesting links to characters from other scenarios (which I like to see) but we missed some of that due to not having a very socially savvy party.
I’m actually thinking of using a GM Star to play this again. I felt obliged to play my high level Liberty’s Edge character the first time through. I think playing my Arcane Trickster, who has the social skills we were lacking, would open up the opportunity to try some different tactics and I’m curious to see how different things might go. We’ll see whether or not I come back agreeing with the reviewer who said this scenario is too railroad-y.
Blade is an investigation scenario with combat and a little roleplay.
Blade is a very bad "epic finale" story arc for Liberty's Edge, especially when compared to what other factions are getting (Salvation of the Sages). Salvation is satisfying, this sucks and is only slightly better than Rivalry's End (the last scenario of the Shadow Lodge).
In terms of railroads, this scenario had the saddest, most pathetic railroads in it (which was perhaps the GMs fault). Maybe we didn't do things "as intended" but we:
1) Magically lost 6 hours of time "because of the story".
More examples of railroad (spoiler):
2) They were able to escape with the prisoners and the final blade when there was only 1 door and we had the prison surrounded, and a spy network setup in the city. An entire mob gathered at the execution site before we even KNEW about the execution. Ridiculous.
All the work we did in part 1 felt like a waste of time.
And then we had a finale where the success is based on one die roll. The chronicle is railroaded as well, with a predetermined outcome.
Sorry, this was disappointing. I feel there is bias against Liberty's Edge with everything from Madris' stupid decisions, ineptness, your ability to save him, and the quality of this scenario. My character was Silver Crusade so that didn't bias me.
Detailed Rating:
Length: Medium (3 hours).
Experience: Player with 6 above average PCs at subtier 7-8.
Sweet Spot: TBD.
Entertainment: Was OK until there was railroad after railroad "for the plot". (4/10)
Story: Very basic and not what you call epic. A little twist. (5/10)
Roleplay: Some depending on your approach. (6/10)
Combat/Challenges: The first encounter is probably too hard (I think our GM softballed, one will save only) and the last encounter was too easy and success was based on initiative. (5/10)
Maps: Good. (7/10)
Boons: Compared to scenarios like Salvation, bland and not great. (3/10)
Uniqueness: There aren’t many rescue missions. (8/10)
GM Preparation: TBD.
Overall: The biggest railroad I've played yet and a disappointing arc conclusion for Liberty's Edge. (4/10)
This scenario goes quickly from deep investigation to FIGHTING!!! The second encounter ALMOST killed us all, but my Oracle managed to plane-shift away, while the GM was nice to the dominated bloodrager, and just made her pay for a body recovery, not a raise dead. Everyone else died. We were a party of 5 not super-optimized characters. Other scenarios with almost same group had been cakewalks. But second fight spams the group with will save after will save after will save. And when the bloodrager fails the first save v. domination, well... I got lucky the only save I failed was to think my allies were not my allies, so I left them all to die. Not super keen on a surprise round where two casters start out with dominate. If you wanted to be that much of a jerk as an author, they could have started casting domination from where they were, so I guess it was generous of the author to give us a whole round before the spells actually went off.
If you're a min/maxed party of 6, you will probably do just fine. Or if you've somehow been warned of the encounter and get off a couple buff/protection spells, but that was not our group...
"A fellow Pathfinder in trouble? Of the Edge? We should make ready to go rescue him! Gamin! How are we for a road trip?" inquires an eager young man imagine someone akin to Jonathan Frakes sans beard.
From the hip of the well-dressed and charismatic performer, a metallic voice sighs.
"Rae, we're Seekers now. We can't just take whatever little mission the Society gives us, we have to do the big important things. It's a shame, I hope someone steps up to help the guy, those Final Blades are total arsewipes from what I hear!"
*Sigh* "Yes, yes, I'll be there for the Major. I will do my utmost to sway him from his current deviant path. In the interests of Liberty's Edge, it is best that we present a unified face, after all. It is my prayer that he will listen to those who saved his life."
*Sigh* "Yes, yes, I'll be there for the Major. I will do my utmost to sway him from his current deviant path. In the interests of Liberty's Edge, it is best that we present a unified face, after all. It is my prayer that he will listen to those who are about to save his life."
Know when you have the best bargaining. It doesn’t always work with fools but it helps.
On the other hand this does give me an excuse to rampage through Galt, so yay!
Are you joking? Galt is the only place that has the right idea! Wrong target, though. We need to shift their focus to Cheliax. The only good non-halfling Chelaxian is a dead one.
Colson dammit. Course am gon'ta stand wit ye. We all make our mistakes: burn a few villages near Andoran, join in with ol' Darsielle du Moire, etc. It's how wez own up to dem that makes a man. Or one offem watzamacallits...wimmen? Pesky brain-box not good innit.
And I yam purdy anxious fer stabbin' to boot. Heh, boot. Watta way to stab! *idly wiggles his blade boot*
