A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1–4 (subtiers 1–2 and 3–4).
In the heart of the River Kingdoms, revolution and turmoil boil just beneath the surface. The PCs are called to investigate rumors of an old, abandoned Pathfinder Lodge, but discover that their investigation leads them into a firestorm of danger and intrigue. What starts as a simple task becomes a revolution sweeping a nation, and the PCs' actions will inevitably shape the future of an entire kingdom.
Written by Kalervo Oikarinen.
Scenario tags: None
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
I was very tempted to give this scenario four stars: there are great role playing opportunities, good loot drops, room for combat or negotiation, and a seemingly simple adventure that spirals into something impactful for the world setting. Sounds great, right?
Unfortunately there are enough drawbacks to the scenario that I just don't think it merits four stars. The combats and hazards that do exist are lackluster at best. The hazards aren't well written and require some GM adjudication as to how they were supposed to function, the enemies are relatively weak (even for all level 1 parties), the book itself is rife with typos and grammatical errors, the social encounter mechanics feel awkward, and the game is so full of player choice and 'if then' statements that it is annoying to track and adjust for. As a GM I believe a game should be fun to play AND fun to run, and while I did like seeing how my friends would choose to resolve conflicts, the constant shifting and altering of encounters was irksome. Using Roll 20 to run the game means having to constantly adjust lighting depending on certain checks and circumstances which is a pain.
Spoiler:
For instance, PCs can be brought before a group of people rather than finding them on their own. In my mind, if you are brought to talk to someone, you don't generally stand sixty feet away from them... especially if a mutual friend is introducing you. So for what is likely to be the hardest encounter in the scenario, the strongest enemy in the scenario (a full caster) is almost immediately neutralized. Your PCs might not choose to be introduced, but given that it is part of their mission directive and the introduction falls into their laps, many teams choose to just go... especially because the people are characterized as open and friendly (both times I've run it this was the group decision). Further, with a good enough check, the PCs gain the effect of an invitation even if they don't go immediately. The only mandatory combat is also easily trivialized with the right class combinations... so that wasn't great.
I came away running this adventure very happy, it combines elements of roleplay that I wouldn't expect to see play out in a society scenario just because of the complexity of the information the PCs would need to be able to play it out.
This adventure pulls it off very well and I would highly recommend this and I look forward to running it again someday.
If I had a gripe, it would be that one of the maps has a very complilated set of mechanics dealing with several map elements that have special rules, but the map is wide enough that it isn't necessary to interact with them. It felt like it complicated the encounter more than necessary during my prep. That is not enough for me to not recommend this adventure highly though.
This scenario takes multiple unexpected turns and I love that. The combats were only so-so, but the story and the general feel of the scenario make it one of my favorites.
I have only experienced it as a player but I suspect that it takes a fair amount of prep to GM well.
I think a GM could run this scenario four or five times and still be surprised by what players do in it. That's a strong endorsement of a scenario, but it's not perfect.
Player goals are a bit ambivalent: Dig up information on an old Pathfinder lodge (typical enough) and also keep an eye out for the political situation (less typical). The first task is straightforward, and the party can mostly deal with it by following a pretty short railroad; that's fine, and there's a tantalizing discovery by the party. However, the political plot after that begs the question of whether the Pathfinder Society *should* be involved in this situation at all. The scenario can be resolved in several ways, but all of them involve explicit participation in national politics; the provided text from the Venture-Captain about what the party should do is far too hands-off. Shouldn't Smine care about the Society's values and at least express them?
The bigger problem with the scenario is the editing, which is a mess. On page 7, searching PCs find object A (obviously valuable treasure) and object B (a container with a consumable item), specified to be worth 1 Treasure Bundle altogether. One page later, the GM is told that object A is worth 2 Treasure Bundles. Should a PFS GM, sworn to inerrantly obey the scenario text, rule that the container is worth -1 Treasure Bundle, which resolves this discrepancy? That is, A+B=1, A=2 --> B=-1. Nope, the GM references on page 32 *double counts* this, and it's worth 3 Treasure Bundles.
Moreover, one of the NPCs the party can fight is specified to use a spell illegally:
Spoiler:
The text says that Nalla uses Telekinetic Projectile with her sling bullets, but this spell only works with loose, unattended objects. Rules as written, she must first dump her bullets on the ground with an Interact action; I doubt many GMs notice this.
A hazard the PCs can encounter has an invalid stat block per the Core Rulebook: its routine does not specify the number of actions it gets on its turn. I think this is a typesetting issue, as the Routine entry has the [one-action] glyph, rather than the text "(1 action)" as the CRB says. Yes, this is a minor issue, but it's the exact thing that editing is supposed to catch. The PFS GM guidelines do not give GMs any leeway to correct obvious typos or mistakes if they pertain to "mechanical elements", which is the only thing that makes this a problem.
Not much to say other than my group quite enjoyed it. There is a fair bit of flexibility in tackling the different encounters and really allows the player some creativity in how they want to handle things. It feels like one of the few scenarios I've encountered where the players can make a big impact in the world, and I've always welcomed that.
Developers - it would be super helpful in these scenarios if you would add a treasure bundle summary/w award conditions for GMs at the end of the scenario for quick calculation and to move along the chronicle process quicker. Super annoying if you forget to jot notes during the running then have to go back and count what the players earned.
Please keep this as non-official. There seems no description that I found on the Paizo pages - but the following maps got mentioned when I added a slot to warhorn
maps used according to warhorn:
Maps used: Pathfinder Map-Pack: Palace, Ruined Village
I've purchased it searching for a political scenario. Found a total mess. The mcguffin is annoying, the combats are pointless and the political intrigue plays out itself. I thought... Perhaps it's an oportutinty for a bard to shine but...no! Everybody foolishly trust you for no reason! Please, make interesting political scenarios. I love merchant's wake. I love blackrose matrimony. This is just some lazy excuse to feel "political". That is not the way. I ended up purchasing #1-07 and it's far better. We don't want to kill spiders for no reason. Without a true sandbox there's no point in making some "political flavored" adventure. Please take more seriously that kind of stories.
Why do the Veteran Guards have Longswords as ranged weapons on pg. 28? That has to be an error where it should say Melee. That are they need ranged weapons.
This was a fun campaign, but the PDF for this adventure was rife with problems ranging from grammar problems and abrupt sentence structure, to misleading / incorrect treasure bundle information. The beginning of the adventure also starts off without enough information to really help the players understand all of the things they can do, so make sure you put in some extra effort wrapping your head around it all so you can present it to your players in a clear way.
All in all, this adventure felt pretty sloppily put together and didn't have the polish I would have expected.
As I have not bought it myself but have played it. This is a decent scenario that can have some slight challenge to it. I have fun playing it though there can be a bit of weird travel things with it that can break up the narrative and gameplay, not that bad though. Good RP.
