A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-4.
After the volcano Droskar's Crag erupted over 700 years ago, destroying many nearby cities in a cataclysm that would come to be known as the Rending, the dwarven empire of Tar Khadurrn fractured and eventually collapsed. Recently, a group of prospectors discovered a mountainside entrance to what they believe to be a sprawling dwarven complex, but they retreated from the dangers they found within. They have reported their discovery to the Pathfinder Society's lodge in Ulfden, and the Society is preparing to dispatch a group of agents to enter the mountain and learn what they can about the ruins within.
Written by Jacob W. Michaels
Scenario tags: None
[Scenario Maps spoiler - click to reveal]
The following maps used in this scenario are also available for purchase here on paizo.com:
First PS scenario I ran for a group, and my first GM'ing in a few years, so maybe it was me but I found this to take more like 4 hours as opposed to other reviewers who did it in ~2. Maybe if I went back now it'd go by faster.
Do agree it's a good mix of RP, Combat, dungeon-exploration, and puzzles. Something for everyone.
Also agree the hazard is confusing (shockingly common for PS scenarios!) and because of the non-linear options there's not necessarily a climatic combat.
One point I don't think I saw in other reviews- there's a lot of historical details laid out in the descriptions of the dungeon's architecture. Sadly it wasn't clear to me how to really give players that info unless someone specifically had dwarven or architecture-ish lore. It'd have been really helpful if there was a means to give all PC groups the background of what's going on in the dungeon.
I agree with a previous review that this seems almost like a scenario intended to demo the game to new players. Of course it actually is an intro for 2-3 more Society scenarios in the same setting, but I think more could have been done here.
The Venture Captain NPC is an interesting character, or could have been, if she did anything more than just give you your briefing at the start like every other VC in every other scenario.
The NPC's encountered during the adventure could have been interesting, but they're just kind of... there.
The puzzle in this one isn't completely nonsensical (unlike the "puzzles" in some Society adventures) and the way there are clues for solving it scattered around is nice. I can see some parties getting hung up trying to solve it all at once and never moving on to finding those clues, though.
Don't know what to say about combat balance. When I played it we had one level 4 character and then everybody else was level 1, so that may have thrown off the balance. The party also made judicious use of a consumable at the start of the last encounter. Without that and a whole party at level 1-2 perhaps there would have been a feeling of actual danger.
Enter is a short scenario that has a mix of everything in it.
Perhaps the best use of Enter is to teach new players the game. It’s a railroad, very sparse, and it runs very quickly (2 hours). As a matter of fact, most of the scenario is spent in the exposition and background of the adventure.
At subtier 3-4, the combats were extremely simple, hardly any damage taken and over in 1 round. The biggest worry was making sure everyone could take an action.
The puzzle was solved via skill checks, I don’t remember it being especially easy to solve without players knowing lots of Golarion deity knowledge.
I’m noticing a huge amount of variability between tier 1-4 and 5+ scenarios. Tier 1-4 scenarios are too easy and level 5+ scenarios are often too hard. It would be nice if they could be in between.
”The worst part of the adventure”:
The worst part of the adventure is that you start the adventure trying to free captives and then find out some loggers that you help at the start of the scenario, already did your job of killing most of the Duergar. lol.
Overall: A short, very generic scenario that is unfulfilling at the end, except maybe to quickly grind out some XP.
With a player's point of view, I had a couple of issues with this scenario. My opinion is surely made based on my DM's presentation of it.
The plot was somewhat engaging with an obvious backstory (of which mostly went over my head me knowing nothing about Golarion lore)
It had a few good non-combat obstacles but also a boring one involving dozens of repeated skill checks.
A second issue was the very enclosed spaces where combat happened. We had 6 players and a summon fighting 4 enemies in a 5ft corridor, multiple times.
Difficulty itself felt balanced and had a good amount of npc interactions. The puzzle went smoothly since the group luckly reached the puzzle room last with the rest of the dungeon's knowledge in hand. I could see it being the first room visited and being quite confusing.
The adventure took a bit too long and the session had to be stretched beyond the expected time in order to finish it.
Previous reviewers have mentioned the nice balance of skill challenges and the like for the scenario, and that is a reasonable assessment.
However, when a party of low-tier characters that have been pushed into higher difficulties due to adjustments approaches this scenario, it goes from a 'promising scenario' to 'painful head-ache inducing slog'.
The scenario started off decently enough, but '11' points makes it Hard Mode for L1 characters and strongly suggest that this scenario NOT be played with a L1 character (despite it being a 1-4 scenario).
Sure, the difficulty might increase at L2+, but the characters won't be so fragile that they are falling down nearly every encounter inside the plot location (and that's not with horrible dice rolling).
In addition, there was confusion on a particular puzzle that was EERILY reminiscent of PFS1 #7-02, and like that experience this was migraine-inducing as well.
As always, in the event I GM this scenario, that review will be appended after this section.
Pretty much (except the bridge); under the Hazard line on Page 12, it says, "The moldy area is marked on the map." Everything in the thicker white line in that area is covered.
Horribly written scenario. Too difficult and very prone to TPK. Mechanics absolutely unclear. We were supposed to rest and we were not being told about it. It's needs to be rewritten considering the player experience.
