A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-4.
In the ruined cyclopes city of Min-Khadaim, the Pathfinders search for answers into the disappearance of one of their own and the nature of a dangerous ritual. As the Pathfinders delve ever deeper into Iobaria's lost past, will they find the answers they seek, or will they uncover even greater dangers than those that have already been unleashed?
Written by: Tineke Bolleman
Scenario tags: Metaplot, Vigilant Seal
[Scenario Maps spoiler - click to reveal]
The following maps used in this scenario are also available for purchase here on paizo.com:
I really like the setup, but many areas feel like text is just missing, and sentences feel but incomplete. I get the impression, that this one has received some significant changes in development and the final result, while not being bad... just feels like some explanations are just missing.
For example, why bother naming NPCs if you don't even include their ancestry?
I can still recommend this one, but it likely needs the GM to fill some of the blanks and just make a call where certain things are.
The somber turn from 2-01 to here was an excellent bit of plotting. No longer is this the hopeful band of explorers hoping to make history - no no, now we are just hoping to get in, get out, and not die in the process.
EVERYTHING FROM HERE ON IS SPOILERS FOR THIS ADVENTURE
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This is a standard dungeon crawl with a twist and the way the set pieces are lovingly laid out builds the tension the whole way through the event.
The novelty of actually being chased out of the dungeon at the end was very cool and exciting (especially since it allowed me to use said lovingly laid out set pieces against the party!).
My one and only complaint is that the puzzle having two layers was a real challenge to convey to players and the punishment for being bad puzzle solvers being combat really slows the session down.
Still that one complaint aside this was an incredible time.
This scenario had a interesting story but it was a complete MESS in execution.
There were massive editing mistakes, like copy and paste Errors, and missing skills to roll. The riddle is just plain unfair if you are not having English as a primary language.
Now to the worst part:
The Chase:
The skillchecks are FAR too hard for requiring a success on average per PC. THIS IS NOT FUN, especially with only 2 Skills (sometimes 3 per skill) and requiring a roll of about 10 on an invested character.
THIS DESING is discouraging a lot of players in my lodge and it SHOULD NOT BE USED AGAIN.
For the story and encounters I would give 3 stars, but this skillchallangedesign will remove 2 stars for a final total of 1 star.
I have run and played this at low tier. Overall this is a good scenario, it has a nic mix of exploration, combat and diplomacy but there are some issues:
1. Some of the combats are pretty rough, especially at certain Challenge Points. This is exarcerbated by the map change to use the god awful tles in the first encounter creating confusion.
2. There are also a lot of combats. Three mandatory encounters, one optional and one which you might provoke are a lot for a 1-4. Expect this to run fairly long.
3. There is a puzzle. Puzzles are fine but this one has some issues around how it uses language.
4. There is a chase. The appearance of a chase in 1E was often met with groans. 2E chase rules are better. Unfortunately this doesnt just use the base rules in the GMG and instead it adds it own variation. Unfortunately these variatiions are poorly explained and the chaase was significantly changed in development. Despite the issue being raised in the GM forum there has been no dev comment on how it is supposed to be run. This, unfotunatley, seems to be the default now with issues like this just left to hang. I can appreciate that the covid situation creaes pressure but these sorts of issues shouldnt take too much time to resolve.
5. There are other editing issues as well such as the attack stat blocks for the low and high tier hound not changing.
Overall I did enjoy playing and running this and would have given it 4 stars if not for the issues created in development. I would give it 3.5 if I could.
Um, has anyone noticed one tiny little missing detail in the PDF? I'm never good at hiding spoilers, so here's as non-spoiler I can get:
Page 17, Item 4, line 2. There's a DC listed but no indication what stat is to be rolled against it. If this was posted somewhere else, please forgive, and link.
Um, has anyone noticed one tiny little missing detail in the PDF? I'm never good at hiding spoilers, so here's as non-spoiler I can get:
Page 17, Item 4, line 2. There's a DC listed but no indication what stat is to be rolled against it. If this was posted somewhere else, please forgive, and link.
Thank you.
Somehow that entry got deleted. I intended it to be Survival, but I do not know why it is missing. I am assuming a developer intended to change it, but I do not know what they intended to change it to.
Page 39 of the scenario that list the treasure bundles goes from level 3 to level 6. The scenario is a 1-4. Not trying to nit pick just wanting to let the powers that be know that it needs another run by editing.
Leaving blank reviews or just "Good, but..." is a waste of your time and ours. It serves no purpose for Paizo or potential players/GMs and generally ignored given the lack of any usefulness. It only serves the purpose of pushing the overall rating up or down without context. Please don't do it. Thx
Somehow that entry got deleted. I intended it to be Survival, but I do not know why it is missing. I am assuming a developer intended to change it, but I do not know what they intended to change it to.
Any word on what it turned out to be? When we ran it, we used Fort Save, it seemed to make sense and is something every character should be at least trained in. When we run it again, we'll use Survival.
This was a fun adventure, except for the puzzle, which didn't make any sense.
Spoiler:
The puzzle relies on finding hidden words in translated text. For instance, the word "Throne" has one in it, and the words "of our" has four in it. The problem is that the words are translated from Cyclops into common, so it shouldn't maintain any of the letter combinations that english does.
Have some mercy on foreign players. It would also avoid most of the bad reviews we have here.
It is something that was already brought to attention in Season 0 of PFS1 and I thought noted by the powers that be. It is sad to see it again. And extremely frustrating when everybody is tired and wishes to make some progress.
Currently tossing bombs in this adventure.
I am enjoying the fights and the whole tone of the setting.
It's my first PfS game, something I wanted to try forever.
