paizo.com Recent Reviews of Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophantpaizo.com Recent Reviews of Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant2020-01-16T01:55:56Z2020-01-16T01:55:56ZPathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant: Well-intentioned but, sadly kinda boring (2 stars)Jhaemanhttps://paizo.com/products/btq01vpr?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-1011-The-Hao-Jin-Hierophant2020-01-16T01:54:28Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>NO SPOILERS</p>
<p>I played <b><i>The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></i> a few months back and, unusually for me, I can barely remember doing so. This points to either a) I was drinking too much rum during the session or b) the scenario is pretty boring. Even reading it for the purposes of this review, I still only get the vaguest recollection of what happened during the session. There are some worthwhile and admirable themes in the story, but unfortunately they just didn't come together in a way that made for interesting or memorable gameplay.</p>
<p>[Spoiler omitted]</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>NO SPOILERS</p>
<p>I played <b><i>The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></i> a few months back and, unusually for me, I can barely remember doing so. This points to either a) I was drinking too much rum during the session or b) the scenario is pretty boring. Even reading it for the purposes of this review, I still only get the vaguest recollection of what happened during the session. There are some worthwhile and admirable themes in the story, but unfortunately they just didn't come together in a way that made for interesting or memorable gameplay.</p>
<p>[Spoiler omitted]</p>Jhaeman2020-01-16T01:54:28ZPathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant: Terrible, pointless, and unbalanced. (1 star)Ultimagushttps://paizo.com/products/btq01vpr?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-1011-The-Hao-Jin-Hierophant2019-05-29T00:15:29Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>I played this at Paizocon in the high tier, and this is now my least favourite scenario I've ever played. It didn't help that my GM wasn't doing his job well, but even then it was an awful adventure.</p>
<p>I'll start with the one good thing: The investigation was okay. The only downfall was that it used a bunch of professions that nobody would ever pick.</p>
<p>The Dimension of Dreams sequence was pointless. I don't understand why it even existed in the scenario. It established some background, and nothing else.</p>
<p>The final fight was stupidly, brokenly unbalanced. 3 Psychementals, who on a failed will save remove you from the remainder of the scenario with 22 negative levels. We wound up having to teleport the 3 unconscious part members back to town, and the 5th fled on foot. Which made things worse.</p>
<p>The last part, the whole philosophical debate, reminds me of 9-01, and how philosophy and introspective conversation on that level does not belong in Society play, as it is almost impossible to properly execute. Not to mention the entire Ethereal Plane thing came fresh out of nowhere and was not explained at all. The only conscious, present party member was thankfully the party face, and succeeded at every single Diplomacy check, scoring us a victory. Somehow.</p>
<p>The entire miniplot with the flower also made no sense and was never explained. We never saw it or were granted any clues on where to find it, and in the end it's just tossed into our laps for free.</p>
<p>All in all, it was just a bad scenario. Unorganized, unexplained, confusing, and with a stupid final fight. I refuse to run this at my weekly PFS game, it is just that bad.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>I played this at Paizocon in the high tier, and this is now my least favourite scenario I've ever played. It didn't help that my GM wasn't doing his job well, but even then it was an awful adventure.</p>
<p>I'll start with the one good thing: The investigation was okay. The only downfall was that it used a bunch of professions that nobody would ever pick.</p>
<p>The Dimension of Dreams sequence was pointless. I don't understand why it even existed in the scenario. It established some background, and nothing else.</p>
<p>The final fight was stupidly, brokenly unbalanced. 3 Psychementals, who on a failed will save remove you from the remainder of the scenario with 22 negative levels. We wound up having to teleport the 3 unconscious part members back to town, and the 5th fled on foot. Which made things worse.</p>
<p>The last part, the whole philosophical debate, reminds me of 9-01, and how philosophy and introspective conversation on that level does not belong in Society play, as it is almost impossible to properly execute. Not to mention the entire Ethereal Plane thing came fresh out of nowhere and was not explained at all. The only conscious, present party member was thankfully the party face, and succeeded at every single Diplomacy check, scoring us a victory. Somehow.</p>
<p>The entire miniplot with the flower also made no sense and was never explained. We never saw it or were granted any clues on where to find it, and in the end it's just tossed into our laps for free.</p>
<p>All in all, it was just a bad scenario. Unorganized, unexplained, confusing, and with a stupid final fight. I refuse to run this at my weekly PFS game, it is just that bad.</p>Ultimagus2019-05-29T00:15:29ZPathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant: A sweet investigation messed up by a broken combat (3 stars)Ascalaphushttps://paizo.com/products/btq01vpr?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-1011-The-Hao-Jin-Hierophant2019-03-21T10:46:45Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>I played this yesterday at high tier with a 4-player party. We rather enjoyed the investigation phase of the scenario, although I did feel that it was a bit hard to guess in advance what skills would be called on when going to a particular part of town. Given that you have limited time to investigate, it's kinda a "worker placement" kind of game and spending a phase at a location only to find out you don't have the trained-only skill needed to succeed there is a bit of a bummer. I did think the scenario made a gallant effort not to make Diplomacy the solution to every talky challenge, without making it useless either.</p>
<p>Where it breaks down is the combat part of the scenario. We had a comparatively strong party but the balancing on the high tier final fight is just bonkers. I seriously wonder if this was playtested. It feels to me like the author took the CR from the bestiary on faith and just said "hey this adds up to the right CR/EL for the tier so print it". Well, the bestiary really has it wrong when calculating that CR.</p>
<p>We managed to beat it through a lot of lucky dice, disciplined teamwork and a very strong party. But it's really the sort of encounter that sends the message "you'd better be powergaming because you need it to survive what almost looks like a writer cheating with monster design".</p>
<p>I rather enjoyed the scenario's story, it's got clever connections between setting lore and the PFS storyline and really lets Pathfinders be explorers more than murderhobos. The pacing feels natural, and you have nice agency in how to carry out your investigation.</p>
<p>But the monster is crazy. As a player it kinda feels like playing with a juvenile GM on a power trip designing a monster to kill the PCs by just slapping together mechanics that have crazy synergy and then saying "I can give it whatever CR because I'm the GM". I'm saying this a bit forcefully, maybe it wasn't malice, but it just breaks the boundaries of good monster design and balancing so much, it throws you out of the game. You're not playing a tough combat (which would be enjoyable), you're trying to survive a cheesing author. (Or an author who blindly believes in CR without testing.)</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>I played this yesterday at high tier with a 4-player party. We rather enjoyed the investigation phase of the scenario, although I did feel that it was a bit hard to guess in advance what skills would be called on when going to a particular part of town. Given that you have limited time to investigate, it's kinda a "worker placement" kind of game and spending a phase at a location only to find out you don't have the trained-only skill needed to succeed there is a bit of a bummer. I did think the scenario made a gallant effort not to make Diplomacy the solution to every talky challenge, without making it useless either.</p>
<p>Where it breaks down is the combat part of the scenario. We had a comparatively strong party but the balancing on the high tier final fight is just bonkers. I seriously wonder if this was playtested. It feels to me like the author took the CR from the bestiary on faith and just said "hey this adds up to the right CR/EL for the tier so print it". Well, the bestiary really has it wrong when calculating that CR.</p>
<p>We managed to beat it through a lot of lucky dice, disciplined teamwork and a very strong party. But it's really the sort of encounter that sends the message "you'd better be powergaming because you need it to survive what almost looks like a writer cheating with monster design".</p>
<p>I rather enjoyed the scenario's story, it's got clever connections between setting lore and the PFS storyline and really lets Pathfinders be explorers more than murderhobos. The pacing feels natural, and you have nice agency in how to carry out your investigation.</p>
<p>But the monster is crazy. As a player it kinda feels like playing with a juvenile GM on a power trip designing a monster to kill the PCs by just slapping together mechanics that have crazy synergy and then saying "I can give it whatever CR because I'm the GM". I'm saying this a bit forcefully, maybe it wasn't malice, but it just breaks the boundaries of good monster design and balancing so much, it throws you out of the game. You're not playing a tough combat (which would be enjoyable), you're trying to survive a cheesing author. (Or an author who blindly believes in CR without testing.)</p>Ascalaphus2019-03-21T10:46:45ZPathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant: Fun RP stuff, but wtf combat? (4 stars)Serisanhttps://paizo.com/products/btq01vpr?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-1011-The-Hao-Jin-Hierophant2019-02-18T04:11:49Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>I ran two slots of this at Con of the North, one in each subtier. I played it in 8-9 subtier prior to running.</p>
<p>The enjoyable:
<br />
<li>The players enjoyed the lore elements of the scenario that were relatable to their prior play experience and the cargo cult feeling of the situation.<li>When transparently run, the investigation piece was really enjoyed by the players.<li>A lot of elements felt novel and interesting to me as a GM.</p>
<p>The painful:
<br />
<li>The 8-9 subtier final encounter is not well balanced, but this is largely the fault of Bestiary 5 throwing balance out the window. Psychementals are improperly CR'd at best. Putting 3 of them in as "mooks" is somewhat inappropriate for this subtier.<li>The scenario required a lot of prep due to the amount of if->then logic and organization of the material.<li>The investigation can be difficult to convey transparently without simply describing the mechanics.<li>There was not enough care put into including guidance for a very likely scenario regarding Lin Fen Hai - namely, any abilities that might result in the combat ending somewhat peacefully without her being able to return to town.<li>One item has not been addressed in the GM thread still regarding the investigation piece, where one of the locations has twice the text of some other locations and significantly more information that's relevant to the investigation, but provides no mechanical benefit. I maintain that this is an error by omission.</p>
<p>Ultimately, I had two good tables for the scenario as the players took the mission to heart. Sincere and successful efforts were made to subdue and talk to Lin Fen Hai after she attacked - one party had 2 Slumber-capable characters and the other had Ritual of Reparation. Zero guard deaths later, both parties found themselves in the position of having adequate reason to be able to attempt Diplomacy checks and adjust her attitude as a result. Both tables struggled with the final encounter, but the 8-9 table definitely was the worse-off for it. </p>
<p>I think the author had a good scenario here and the challenges with it likely come in at the development level.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>I ran two slots of this at Con of the North, one in each subtier. I played it in 8-9 subtier prior to running.</p>
<p>The enjoyable:
<br />
<li>The players enjoyed the lore elements of the scenario that were relatable to their prior play experience and the cargo cult feeling of the situation.<li>When transparently run, the investigation piece was really enjoyed by the players.<li>A lot of elements felt novel and interesting to me as a GM.</p>
<p>The painful:
<br />
<li>The 8-9 subtier final encounter is not well balanced, but this is largely the fault of Bestiary 5 throwing balance out the window. Psychementals are improperly CR'd at best. Putting 3 of them in as "mooks" is somewhat inappropriate for this subtier.<li>The scenario required a lot of prep due to the amount of if->then logic and organization of the material.<li>The investigation can be difficult to convey transparently without simply describing the mechanics.<li>There was not enough care put into including guidance for a very likely scenario regarding Lin Fen Hai - namely, any abilities that might result in the combat ending somewhat peacefully without her being able to return to town.<li>One item has not been addressed in the GM thread still regarding the investigation piece, where one of the locations has twice the text of some other locations and significantly more information that's relevant to the investigation, but provides no mechanical benefit. I maintain that this is an error by omission.</p>
<p>Ultimately, I had two good tables for the scenario as the players took the mission to heart. Sincere and successful efforts were made to subdue and talk to Lin Fen Hai after she attacked - one party had 2 Slumber-capable characters and the other had Ritual of Reparation. Zero guard deaths later, both parties found themselves in the position of having adequate reason to be able to attempt Diplomacy checks and adjust her attitude as a result. Both tables struggled with the final encounter, but the 8-9 table definitely was the worse-off for it. </p>
<p>I think the author had a good scenario here and the challenges with it likely come in at the development level.</p>Serisan2019-02-18T04:11:49ZPathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant: Kinda Good, but Sort of Pointless? (3 stars)eddvhttps://paizo.com/products/btq01vpr?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-1011-The-Hao-Jin-Hierophant2019-01-24T22:19:01Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>This one was far too one note for my tastes. </p>
<p>It was all role-play and investigation, the pacing was far too slow with nothing all that interesting to break it up. The scenario had a little bit of intrigue to it, but also struck me as casting the players in an unmistakably uncomfortable situation roleplaywise that the scenario seems to want you to just accept and move past which struck me as odd. </p>
<p>Also, for a modern investigatory scenario, there was still shockingly little for martials to do (which given our table did a solid FOUR HOURS of investigation was frustrating, I basically didn't pick up a dice for much of this one). Outside of the singular combat at the end, there was little for a member of a martial class to engage with. Especially since the big reveal at the end, while shocking, is basically a Year 0/1 style "woops the plot twist is that there was nothing to see here" plot twist. </p>
<p>Still a lot of the ideas here were excellent and I enjoyed that in comparison to some other recent adventures it was not terribly overdeveloped.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>This one was far too one note for my tastes. </p>
<p>It was all role-play and investigation, the pacing was far too slow with nothing all that interesting to break it up. The scenario had a little bit of intrigue to it, but also struck me as casting the players in an unmistakably uncomfortable situation roleplaywise that the scenario seems to want you to just accept and move past which struck me as odd. </p>
<p>Also, for a modern investigatory scenario, there was still shockingly little for martials to do (which given our table did a solid FOUR HOURS of investigation was frustrating, I basically didn't pick up a dice for much of this one). Outside of the singular combat at the end, there was little for a member of a martial class to engage with. Especially since the big reveal at the end, while shocking, is basically a Year 0/1 style "woops the plot twist is that there was nothing to see here" plot twist. </p>
<p>Still a lot of the ideas here were excellent and I enjoyed that in comparison to some other recent adventures it was not terribly overdeveloped.</p>eddv2019-01-24T22:19:01ZPathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant: Great Premise, Rough edges. (3 stars)Matthais777https://paizo.com/products/btq01vpr?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-1011-The-Hao-Jin-Hierophant2019-01-22T12:51:35Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>Okay, so things I liked:</p>
<p>Tons of awesome roleplay opportunity. You'll have to be very flexible as a GM to handle all the different characters, and I feel like maybe some of the locations could have been dropped to give other area's more fleshing out (Like, maybe drop the weavers to give the fisherman a name? That kind of thing, it felt weird to have my team visit all these cool people but some places randomly had nothing for me to work with.)</p>
<p>Things I didn't like.</p>
<p>That final combat. [Spoiler omitted]</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>Okay, so things I liked:</p>
<p>Tons of awesome roleplay opportunity. You'll have to be very flexible as a GM to handle all the different characters, and I feel like maybe some of the locations could have been dropped to give other area's more fleshing out (Like, maybe drop the weavers to give the fisherman a name? That kind of thing, it felt weird to have my team visit all these cool people but some places randomly had nothing for me to work with.)</p>
<p>Things I didn't like.</p>
<p>That final combat. [Spoiler omitted]</p>Matthais7772019-01-22T12:51:35ZPathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant (1 star)Damian Westhttps://paizo.com/products/btq01vpr?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-1011-The-Hao-Jin-Hierophant2019-01-19T23:49:04Z<p>This was by far my least favorite scenario I've ever played. That was the general consensus from the table as a whole. I've played roughly 170 of the PFS scenarios, and I've never before about walked out on the table. I only stayed not to leave my team shorthanded. It seems like everything about the adventure is setup to make it as vague, convoluted, and unfun as possible. As a bard, who should be good with most skills, I still was finding the who investigation rather infuriating. It seems like the author (haven't read it, just played) thought people were going to naturally find things out and instantly know things that they had no right knowing. </p>
<p>One of the 2 combats wasn't bad at all, but the second one was just a bonkers. Maybe doable, but was extremely rough with what they could do.</p>
<p>I really would prefer to give this scenario 0 stars if I could.</p><p>This was by far my least favorite scenario I've ever played. That was the general consensus from the table as a whole. I've played roughly 170 of the PFS scenarios, and I've never before about walked out on the table. I only stayed not to leave my team shorthanded. It seems like everything about the adventure is setup to make it as vague, convoluted, and unfun as possible. As a bard, who should be good with most skills, I still was finding the who investigation rather infuriating. It seems like the author (haven't read it, just played) thought people were going to naturally find things out and instantly know things that they had no right knowing. </p>
<p>One of the 2 combats wasn't bad at all, but the second one was just a bonkers. Maybe doable, but was extremely rough with what they could do.</p>
<p>I really would prefer to give this scenario 0 stars if I could.</p>Damian West2019-01-19T23:49:04ZPathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant: Wonderful Fun (5 stars)Greymisthttps://paizo.com/products/btq01vpr?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-1011-The-Hao-Jin-Hierophant2019-01-16T23:44:21Z<p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>Jess ran this for us at Orcacon. An extremely enjoyable scenario, with investigation, surprises, role-playing, and a potentially nasty fight. I'm looking forward to running this at my local game store.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-11: The Hao Jin Hierophant</b></p><p>Jess ran this for us at Orcacon. An extremely enjoyable scenario, with investigation, surprises, role-playing, and a potentially nasty fight. I'm looking forward to running this at my local game store.</p>Greymist2019-01-16T23:44:21Z