A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st- through 8th-level characters (subtiers 1-4 & 5-8).
The Pathfinder Society dispatches its best agents when it receives word from the Woodsedge Lodge of a mysterious anomaly in the magical pathway known as the Maze of the Open Road. Travelling through the maze, the agents find themselves a world away from home. Only by learning the source of the anomaly can the Pathfinder Society hope to regain full use of one of its most important tools for transportation. However, a secret that spans an unfathomable amount of time rests at the heart of the dangerous expedition.
Loved the premise of this one. Loved the story. Love it for the potential it has!
Combat, combat, combat, combat, combat. A few skill checks sprinkled here and there, a diplomatic encounter or two (if you're lucky!) Mostly just combat though. And some interesting ones, but the repetitiveness wears one down a bit.
Still, five stars for the idea and the creativity behind the story, just would love to see a greater diversity of tasks and roleplay.
This product will premiere at Gen Con Online 2021 (September 16-19, 2021) and will then be available upon request to conventions and other supported events. It will go on sale to the general public in August of 2022.
As far as characters & story are concerned, how will they be linked?
I think playing these to find out is kind of the point, no?
I suppose I may not have asked the question correctly, so let me rephrase it.
If one were to not participate/GM in 1 of the 2 adventures, will they be missing significant amounts of the story? Will we actually need to play both in order to "complete" the Year of Shattered Sanctuaries/Year of Data Scourge stories?
Starfinder & Pathfinder 2e are not compatible. If one were to participate in the Starfinder quest, will there be any sort of reward for a Pathfinder 2e character & vice versa? How will the chronicle sheets work?
If one were to participate in the Pathfinder 2e quest, will one need a Starfinder character for some part of the plot? Vice versa?
I can understand if the questions cannot be answered at this moment or without spoiling anything, so if that's the case, no big deal. My point is that there are GMs & players who do not play both Pathfinder 2e & Starfinder (Preferring one over the other), so I am just curious as to how much of the plot, rewards, etc is lost if these players do not participate in both games.
I got the impression from earlier descriptions that you would have a meaningful experience from just one or the other. I'm considering trying to find the 2E pregens as I'm curious enough to see how it goes.
If one were to not participate/GM in 1 of the 2 adventures, will they be missing significant amounts of the story? Will we actually need to play both in order to "complete" the Year of Shattered Sanctuaries/Year of Data Scourge stories?
This year's specials are completely outside of the ongoing metaplots and are a self-contained story. You do not need to have played any of the Year of the Data Scourge, Year of Shattered Sanctuaries or any other scenarios to understand the story of these specials.
Yrrej86 wrote:
Starfinder & Pathfinder 2e are not compatible. If one were to participate in the Starfinder quest, will there be any sort of reward for a Pathfinder 2e character & vice versa? How will the chronicle sheets work?
If one were to participate in the Pathfinder 2e quest, will one need a Starfinder character for some part of the plot? Vice versa?
The specials are two halves of a complete story. You will not need a Pathfinder character while playing the Starfinder special or vice versa. I will not guarantee that you will achieve complete emotional catharsis without playing both halves, but it is not technically required. I cannot say more at this time.
Yrrej86 wrote:
I am just curious as to how much of the plot, rewards, etc is lost if these players do not participate in both games.
No in-game rewards such as treasure bundles or credits will be lost by abstaining from one of these specials. They are two separate events for gameplay purposes.
I'm trying to figure out if it is possible to sign up for this at more than one convention!
2-99 had no repeatable tag, but had limited repeatability (by tier).
Does anyone know if that is the case here? And if so, does anyone know what the replayable-tier breakdowns are?
Per the Description provided at GenCon
"This is an interactive special that is replayable once at each level range (level 1-4 & 5-8) with content that leads directly into the events of Starfinder Society #3–99: Perils of the Past (scheduled for Saturday 2 pm)."
This was the best pathfinder special i have participated in. Would be the best special, except I liked the Starfinder half a tiny bit better. You hit homerun this year. Great job all.
Since it is impossible to leave reviews for this until August 2022 (why?), I will leave my points here after having run it yesterday (and keeping spoilers out of it):
It is definitely worse than last year's special!
Parts 1+2 (which really could have been one part since there is no real distinction between the parts / missions): Nothing really interesting happens most of the time, there are not many missions that are anything but combat, no indication / handout that tells groups which ones to do other than randomly, etc.
Part 3: This is almost a complete waste of time - Talking to the new NPC is nice, but all the skill checks in the end don't really amount to anything - and they don't even matter! There are no consequences for not making the rolls at all.
Part 4 finally had some player agency, in the choices they made for the waves. But the fact that the final battle can be cut short but other teams being faster was kind of a bummer.
Overall, I think if a player doesn't know Starfinder and thus doesn't get any of the references, this is a VERY mediocre experience.
Is there a written version of the Boon somewhere for playing this scenario that's not in the ACP purchase tab? I'm worried if I pick it up on the character that played the scenario, it will be locked to that character.
If it is instead like the System Traveler Boons, where a character downloads it then applies it to another character, that'd be ideal.
What does the wording say?
This scenario was effectively Hard Mode for our table this past weekend -- our only healing was two characters with not very good Medicine and a character with even worse Medicine using Battle Medicine.
Appreciated the characterization and involvement of various faction leads, and hope to see more of that in the future.
Question about the "Glyph" tag: When it comes out in August 2022, can it be run by any GM, or only those with a certain amount of glyphs? Asking because I'll be scheduling.
Question about the "Glyph" tag: When it comes out in August 2022, can it be run by any GM, or only those with a certain amount of glyphs? Asking because I'll be scheduling.
The glyph tag does not restrict, it indicates that GMs who run it will accrue credit toward the requirements of 5 Glyphs (that is it counts as one of the "specials" needed).
Organized Play Associate
