A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 7–11.
The Aspis Consortium and Vanji Prospectors’ Guild may have allied to extract valuable minerals from the tropical Kaava Lands, yet their endeavor also threatens to release a fiend sealed beneath the nearby ruins. The Pathfinder Society and its new friends have strangled the operation economically, causing most of the workers to abandon the dig. However, a dedicated corps is trying to dig out one last lucrative (and perilous) haul before evacuating the site. The PCs range deep into the jungles alongside their grippli allies to stop the Aspis—and perhaps confront the same fiend imprisoned millennia ago.
Contents in “The Ghol-Gan Heresy” also contribute directly to the ongoing storyline of the Exchange faction.
This one felt very rewarding. For my group, this came as the capstone to a plot that began in Champions Chalice and carried through Signs in Senghor and Bloodcove Blockade. The entire series repped out as being challenging mechanically and providing excellent role play opportunities for the local favorite faction, the Exchange.
They walked into things feeling invested in the fate of the Kaava Lands and with their own vested business interests to protect. The choices they had to make at the end resulted in lively debate and returning to the familiar locale of Champions Chalice Pt 2 only this time twisted with the Fiend nearly escaped was VERY cool.
One of the encounters presented a sort of conundrum and logical trap that I have never seen before and watching the party unravel it was very old school. It is always fun watching a well optimized party completely knocked off their game plan and this scenario accomplished that so Well done.
The final encounter was very flavorful and epic and the poor grippli in peril helped to raise the stakes and create a sense of panic even as the party was at no point in actual peril.
I played this scenario yesterday on the high-tier with 4-player adjustment. Storywise it picks up where we last left of. We had clues of a big threat slowly awakening, but as it turns out the Aspis is involved due to their careless nature. Of course it’s up to us to save the world and, at the same time, make some money on the side and improve relationships with other groups. It makes sense, it’s solid and it works.
The combats are a bit tricky though and can certainly be described as challenging. You need some specialised characters to deal with certain effects and one of the combats roughly halfway through the dungeon can really give players a run for their money. We struggled a fair bit and took quite some hits, but we managed to live through it all. That particular fight was arguably one of the more challenging fights I’ve had in the past few months.
And then you get to the final encounter. The stage is magnificently set. The place oozes atmosphere and both the enemies and your NPC companions really add to the situation. I like the idea behind that fight. It works, but the issue for me was that the combat was far from challenging. What should have been an epic struggle of preventing a really powerful evil from breaking free, felt like a walk in the park almost and didn’t feel quite as epic as it could have been. This is especially the case after that hard fight earlier on. I can understand why the author opted for this sequence of events, but it’s a little awkward.
In the end I have to say I loved the scenario in terms of diversity in encounters. One of them featured something I have never seen before, which is a nice twist. The storyline and the moral decision at the end, as well as the choices the Exchange have to make, are solid and effective. It’s just a shame that the final showdown was significantly easier than I expected and was a tad disappointing. That said, it’s a solid scenario and a good conclusion for this storyline.
(based on 3 ratings)
