A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 3rd- through 6th-level characters.
The Pathfinder Society has sent the PCs to the city of Oppara, capital of Taldor, for a clandestine meeting with Gloriana Morilla, a trusted ally who bears dire news. She reports that Venture-Captain Muesello has gone into hiding following a strange series of crimes during which the perpetrators used wayfinders, the magical compasses that are among the Pathfinders' most iconic tools. Perhaps more troubling, these wayfinders each bear signs of Muesello's unique tinkering, and all of the crimes have targeted the assets and allies of Grand Princess Eutropia Stavian, the nation's new monarch.
With the crime spree steadily escalating and Muesello suspiciously evading her agents at every turn, Gloriana Morilla needs a group of skilled Pathfinders to investigate the recent crimes and track down the wayward venture-captain.
No Time for Treason is part of the ongoing story of the Year of Shattered Sanctuaries. It is the first scenario in a two-part arc detailing the events befalling a Pathfinder Society lodge in the nation of Taldor. Other arcs explore other locations across the Inner Sea. While the arcs can be played in any order, it is recommended that players experience the scenarios within each individual arc in order.
Written by Rigby Bendele
Scenario tags: Metaplot (Shattered Sanctuaries)
[Scenario Maps spoiler - click to reveal]
The following maps used in this scenario are also available for purchase here on paizo.com:
Dunno what to say about this one; nothing really stands out. I guess they can probably play more into the comedy of villains try to impersonate pathfinders but couldn't get it right...
Amazing lore/setting, decent investigation, still a bit bland
Played this one the other day; We fell just in the high tier.
The mystery was okay (seen better, seen worse), though the callback to #2-13 is obvious and there was no real surprise. Yet I like that the investigation is at the heart of the unstable Great Power that is Taldor. It did a good job showing the powder keg that is Oppara, and I wonder if we're going to see more of that in later seasons (writing as we are nearing the halfway point of season 5). I've always been a fan of Gloriana Morilla and her storyline ever since she became head of the Taldor faction, so I certainly hope so.
I did like the skill encounters: They felt different, they were varied in required skills, and made it possible for nearly everybody to participate at the same time.
What I slightly dislike is the low number of combat encounters: I'm all for the possibility of skipping a combat (it gives other people the ability to shine, and it's cool to prevent or defuse a situation), but in this case that leaves only a single combat encounter, which feels a bit disappointing.
What I really dislike is unfortunately a gripe with the general Season 3 metaplot, so I guess that's on campaign management (not on the writer): Two-parters are generally geared towards a single mystery that needs to be solved over 2 adventures. It's meant to be solved in part 2, even though in most cases you are pushed towards solving it from the start before hearing "we'll contact you again soon" seemingly halfway through the mystery, which the taste of a meh-quality cliffhanger. Having played all of the season 3 multi-parters, only one part 1 felt actually satisfying, and it's not this one.
I agree with Checkmonkey. This scenario falls extremely short as a mystery. It has some fun, quirky NPCs and it is entertaining to interact with them – but never in this scenario did I ever feel like the roleplay was truly rewarding, and the “mystery” left a lot to be desired. Every NPC basically gives you the same vague information (and not enough information for you to really act upon - outside of following the railroad exactly as the author has set for you). You get a list of points of interest: go from point A, to point B, to point C – but all roads lead to point D, E, and F with no room for intrigue or other possibilities. As a player, I felt like I was just getting yanked around without any real player agency at all. Plus, if that wasn’t enough, there’s actually an NPC working with your party who has a seemingly super-sophisticated spy network (and who gets even more info for your party while you sleep), so I really didn’t feel like our party was needed at all. Why did we need a spy network Paizo? Couldn’t we have just found out the information on our own so we felt like we’d done something? Deus Ex Spy Network was not fun. Give the PCs a reason to exist!
Also, this is a pet peeve of mine, but Paizo or its authors seem to have a habit of making their villains a bunch of incompetent idiots. This scenario was no exception. The villains are perpetrating what equates to a bunch of juvenile pranks for the most-part. They never felt like they were a real threat, came up with some hair-brained schemes, and were weaklings in combat to boot. Is it too much to ask that we match wits with competent villains every once in a while? Instead we get the Aspis Consortium, the Onyx Alliance, and these guys (who are probably the worst of the bunch)…
A number of reviewers have rated this scenario up for the extensive RP options – but I feel like this is indicative of the lack of good RP options in a number of Society scenarios, at least as of writing this review. We’re so starved for good roleplay that any roleplay at all is considered a big bonus, even if (as I mentioned earlier) the RP doesn’t lead anywhere.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this scenario. Even if you’re interested in playing Pt2 of this Taldan 2-parter (which actually is a good scenario), I’d recommend skipping this scenario and just going straight to the sequel. You won’t miss anything – outside of a railroad masquerading as a mystery.
I can understand what the author was going for in this adventure. I belive they wanted more mystery than combat. Unfortunately the mystery boils down to going to a few locations and making skill checks for a story that everyone at the table immediately guessed from the first location. It never felt like there was any danger for either ourselves or any NPC during the scenario. For those reasons I can't recommend this adventure to anyone who's not attempting to be a completionist for season 3.
I completed this scenario in about 3.5 hours. This scenario features more social encounters and skill checks than it does combat. The mystery plot was intriguing, although the outcome wasn't surprising, but overall it was good.
Plot spoiler:
The Pahtfinder Society was being framed to by a false-flag operation to harm its reputation with the authorities
I like the division of skill DCs into Easy, Standard, and Hard in the sidebar on page 5. The text was easier to read and required less space than normal. I also like how It offer guidance for GMs on setting DCs of checks that players may wish to attempt, and GMs inform players which skills are more difficult than others. It would be great if this became standard in future scenarios!
