A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1–4 (subtiers 1–2 and 3–4).
A shipment of relics on its way to Minkai vanished somewhere in the Forest of Spirits, a dense woodland home to kami and spirits of all sorts. In search of the missing shipment, Pathfinder agents travel to a remote village, where they uncover secrets of this enigmatic forest. This scenario features a wide variety of options for encounters and reasons for the vanishing, making for a fresh experience on mulitple playthoughs.
This is my favorite repeatable of Season 1. Most importantly, it feels like it was designed to be repeatable, so nothing feels forced about the interchangable elements, and the interchangable elements actually matter.
I've played it once and GMed it twice. This is the one that I carry around in my Pathfinder bag in case I need to GM a game on short notice.
Christopher Wasko did a good job establishing the setting and "feel" of the adventure, which gives the GM enough to work with. The random "quirks" in the adventure reward GM prep for how to incorporate them, but players have to improv personality changes on the fly with their random effects. Fun if it works, but some players might not play ball.
The story and gameplay (via combat and skill checks) are ok, but not spectacular, in my opinion. The overall story of what's going on-- the forces causing the events at hand-- can't really be learned by the PCs as written, which makes the adventure a little empty. If you have leeway to adjust the scenario, it provides a good basis/setting for storytelling.
As usual, the editing isn't great. The most significant error is that one of the "foibles" that can be imposed has literally no effect when played in PFS:
Spoiler:
The "reverent (mauled to death)" foible imposes "weakness 2 against natural attacks", but natural attacks don't exist in 2e.
I really enjoyed the setting, would love more Tian Xa stuff. But I never felt like the story made much sense... And I think a lot of stuff is left up to the GM to just kind of make up, like the entirety of the town the PC's visit. The ending feels a bit forced as well, since things just kind of randomly works out... So that left a bad taste in my mouth. Of the scenarios I've done so far, this one sadly was my least favorite, even though I really enjoyed the Forest of Spirits setting.
I don't have much to say on this. It's solid and fun. I can see people that want to use a katana will want to play this one. Everything about this I just found solid: story, combat, roleplaying. I wish I had more to say and that's why I can't rate it higher but I can't rate it lower either.
We're going to be running these in November at our local store, and I'd like to know if I need to have them order maps for me, or if I've already got them.
The street date for Pathfinder and Starfinder Society scenarios, with occasional exceptions for winter holidays, is the last Wednesday of the month. So this month, it's October 30th.
As for the Maps:
Flip Mat Classics: Village Square (B side)
Flip Tiles: Forest Starter Set
Flip Tiles: Forest Perils Expansion
Organized Play Lead Developer
