Pathfinder Society Intro: Year of Boundless Wonder

3.50/5 (based on 14 ratings)

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A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st- through 4th-level characters.

Wonder abounds! The Pathfinder Society's vaults have suddenly recieved a huge treasure trove of precious items from around the world and beyond. Much remains mysterious about these objects, from their origins to the reason the trove's original owner was so desperate to be rid of it. A group of novice agents has the opportunity to explore the troves' wonders for themselves, but not all is as it seems. After being drawn into an otherworldly realm, they must use their wits and fight to escape with their lives!

Intro: Year of Boundless Wonder is the introduction to the plot of the Year of Boundless Wonder. This scenario presents treasures, characters, and themes that will feature in Year 4's metaplot, and so it is is a natural starting point for players looking to jump into the action.

Written by Mike Kimmel

Scenario tags: Metaplot (Boundless Wonder), Repeatable

[Scenario Maps spoiler - click to reveal]

The following maps used in this scenario are also available for purchase here on paizo.com:

  • Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Arcane Library
  • Pathfinder Pawns: Traps & Treasures Pawn Collection
  • Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

    Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop

    Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Society Scenario Subscription.

    Product Availability

    Fulfilled immediately.

    Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at store@paizo.com.

    PZOPFS0401E


    See Also:



    1 to 5 of 14 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | next > last >>

    Average product rating:

    3.50/5 (based on 14 ratings)

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    5/5

    This is a repeatable that I enjoy running. Enough variety to keep the attention of both players and GM without being overwhelming. I was leary about the whole "bringing back Aslynn" thing, but thisset up the whole season perfectly.


    A "classic" by now

    4/5

    At first I did not love this scenario. But now I've run it a number of times and played it at least once, and I have to say—it's earned its spot on my "must play" list for new players. It's a simple but solid introductory scenario with some skill checks, some fights, and fun characters. Anyone who does any of the year 4 metaplot mini-arcs will appreciate playing this one first (and maybe replaying it later to catch little details you missed). Also, this scenario can run fast, and that's a good thing.


    So this one I got bit annoyed in retrospect

    2/5

    My gm did great job with running this scenario so while I did notice it first time around, I didn't really let it bother me too much. But with season 5 around I've kinda gotten annoyed about light hearted stuff finally.

    The main issue here being that I don't get why they introduced Biglock and Glovely AFTER what is supposed to be tense moment with big bad. Like... That is very much tension breaker. It just kinda makes Aslyn feel sillier. Those two also don't really have much of witch fairy tail theme going on, they feel like puppet show comedy duo, so they feel rather out of place here. (also I how is unseen servant awakened anyway? It kinda feels like two should really just be awakened chest or pair of magical intelligent gloves or maybe pair of ghosts possessing chest and gloves. Mimic plus unseeen servant duo just seems kinda random and now they are ogl'd.)


    Loot needs some rework

    4/5

    This is a fantastic scenario with great NPCs and some major characters. This scenario feels like its done the best job of setting up the full scenario from any I've Written.

    Unfortunately, it seems like the people who add loot to scenarios and APs don't talk to design. Whenever there is a wand of Specialty such as Continuation or widening, the spell that is in that wand is never called out. In APs, this causes the GM to try to find a spell that meets the criteria and that the players can use, but for org play, the item is effectively useless. It'd be nice if there was a spell or at least options listed for these so that these are usable items and not incomplete items.


    Barely 3

    3/5

    Repeatable Scenarios need variable content. There's virtually none here.

    I do really appreciate time limitations, gives value.

    NPCs are fun, although the distract the projected NPC pseudo encounter has bizarre mechanics. The rest is fun. Probably the best of the repeatable without variable content.


    1 to 5 of 14 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | next > last >>
    Paizo Employee Organized Play Coordinator

    1 person marked this as a favorite.

    Announced for August! Cover and product description are not final and are subject to change.

    For more information about the Year of Boundless Wonder, check out our announcement blog!


    Will it be repeatable?

    Grand Lodge

    Terevalis Unctio of House Mysti wrote:
    Will it be repeatable?

    Given that the product description specifically includes the Repeatable tag, I'd assume so.


    Sorry, having had 2 eye surgeries 2 months apart it can be hard to read on a screen at times.

    Paizo Employee Organized Play Coordinator

    1 person marked this as a favorite.

    Cover and map list updated.


    2 people marked this as a favorite.
    Pathfinder Adventure Subscriber

    There's a typo in the description. "recieved" should be "received"

    The Exchange

    Pathfinder Maps Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

    Pretty jazzed to see how this unfolds, both as the aftermath of Season 3 and the prologue of Season 4!


    Just picked this up and I’m bewildered by what appears to be an art order gone terribly awry:

    Spoiler:
    Zarta Dralneen, the 1e Cheliax faction representative, looks nothing like herself. 1e sources depicted her as a pale-skinned, gold-eyed, goth femme fatale, while the art in this has a fairly dark-skinned, dark-eyed woman in what seems to me to be a practical fur-lined cloak.
    Was there some appearance-altering metaplot I don’t know, or is it the mistake it seems to be?

    Dark Archive

    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
    keftiu wrote:
    Just picked this up and I’m bewildered by what appears to be an art order gone terribly awry: ** spoiler omitted ** Was there some appearance-altering metaplot I don’t know, or is it the mistake it seems to be.

    That would be extra weird because you can see Zarta on the cover(she is that lady in year of the boundless wonder banner, she kinda got bob cut in 2e)


    CorvusMask wrote:
    keftiu wrote:
    Just picked this up and I’m bewildered by what appears to be an art order gone terribly awry: ** spoiler omitted ** Was there some appearance-altering metaplot I don’t know, or is it the mistake it seems to be.
    That would be extra weird because you can see Zarta on the cover(she is that lady in year of the boundless wonder banner, she kinda got bob cut in 2e)

    Same character - is that supposed to be her? She seemed significantly paler in 1e.

    Dark Archive

    Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
    keftiu wrote:
    CorvusMask wrote:
    keftiu wrote:
    Just picked this up and I’m bewildered by what appears to be an art order gone terribly awry: ** spoiler omitted ** Was there some appearance-altering metaplot I don’t know, or is it the mistake it seems to be.
    That would be extra weird because you can see Zarta on the cover(she is that lady in year of the boundless wonder banner, she kinda got bob cut in 2e)
    Same character - is that supposed to be her? She seemed significantly paler in 1e.

    Maybe she started to relax and started sunbathing after she decided to give up on her noble title claims and focus on working for dark archive?

    Just to confirm, iirc this was her new 2e art, was this same art ye are talking about?

    RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

    Is there any reason this wouldn't yet be showing in my digital content as a PFS VO? I'm definitely logged in and can access all the other org play scenarios I should be able to through Digital Content, but this one's not there yet. Is this a me issue or has it perhaps not been added yet for VOs?

    Paizo Employee Organized Play Coordinator

    dien wrote:
    Is there any reason this wouldn't yet be showing in my digital content as a PFS VO? I'm definitely logged in and can access all the other org play scenarios I should be able to through Digital Content, but this one's not there yet. Is this a me issue or has it perhaps not been added yet for VOs?

    We haven't run the asset grant yet today, that'd be why. If you're on the Venture Officer Discord server, I usually post there when we're starting the grant (usually afternoons Pacific time on release day).


    2 people marked this as a favorite.
    CorvusMask wrote:
    keftiu wrote:
    CorvusMask wrote:
    keftiu wrote:
    Just picked this up and I’m bewildered by what appears to be an art order gone terribly awry: ** spoiler omitted ** Was there some appearance-altering metaplot I don’t know, or is it the mistake it seems to be.
    That would be extra weird because you can see Zarta on the cover(she is that lady in year of the boundless wonder banner, she kinda got bob cut in 2e)
    Same character - is that supposed to be her? She seemed significantly paler in 1e.

    Maybe she started to relax and started sunbathing after she decided to give up on her noble title claims and focus on working for dark archive?

    Just to confirm, iirc this was her new 2e art, was this same art ye are talking about?

    Here’s her 1e art and the portrait from this scenario. Same dress and skull necklace, wildly different people wearing them.

    Between this and Outlaws of Alkenstar, I’m curious: for art buys of canon characters, are references of their existing art not provided?

    Dark Archive

    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

    Huh. It kinda looks similar to her 2e art from pathfinder society field guide, but like... She has less annoyed looking expression and yeah much darker looking skin. It could be lighting I guess, but you wouldn't be able to tell that from picture

    Its weird yeah because necklace's design and similar hairstyle implies artist has seen the other picture, so maybe its really supposed to be just lighting thing or contrast setting on someone's computer caused shenanigans? .-.


    CorvusMask wrote:

    Huh. It kinda looks similar to her 2e art from pathfinder society field guide, but like... She has less annoyed looking expression and yeah much darker looking skin. It could be lighting I guess, but you wouldn't be able to tell that from picture

    Its weird yeah because necklace's design and similar hairstyle implies artist has seen the other picture, so maybe its really supposed to be just lighting thing or contrast setting on someone's computer caused shenanigans? .-.

    See, her Society Guide art is still absolutely recognizable as her, but the art in this product looks like a woman from Garund. It’s not really recognizable as the same person at all.

    As I mentioned, OoA likewise had an art error that radically misrepresented someone’s ethnicity. If it happens again soon, I’ll make a thread about it - it’s a weird issue to have repeatedly.

    Dark Archive

    Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

    Easiest explanation is likely computer contrast settings. Like artist's contrast settings differ from the person requesting art, so there was mix up as result?

    Since all three pictures have really different style of art, its kinda hard to tell from the third(the one's that most off from other two) whether facial features are just artist's style or if artist was going for different ethnicity. (eye color is sadly one of those things that changes most easily between different artists just like how trying to have character with sevenfinger with different artists is hard ^^; )


    1 person marked this as a favorite.

    Art quibbles aside, there's something interesting about Zarta here: she's LN now! Having just read an older scenario yesterday where her Faction Mission was "steal a lizardfolk egg so we can raise it to be a pliant slave," I'm glad she managed to turn over a new leaf in the intervening decade or so.


    3 people marked this as a favorite.

    As I recall... Season 7's Faithless & Forgotten trilogy set the major outlook/goal change...

    The only clue that the new art is meant to be Zarta is the rough approximation of the Society Guide clothing...

    RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

    Alex Speidel wrote:
    dien wrote:
    Is there any reason this wouldn't yet be showing in my digital content as a PFS VO? I'm definitely logged in and can access all the other org play scenarios I should be able to through Digital Content, but this one's not there yet. Is this a me issue or has it perhaps not been added yet for VOs?
    We haven't run the asset grant yet today, that'd be why. If you're on the Venture Officer Discord server, I usually post there when we're starting the grant (usually afternoons Pacific time on release day).

    Thanks, Alex. I am on the server but aside from Announcements don't tend to watch things too closely, and I'd just never run into this before, I guess just due to luck. Now I know, thanks.

    Silver Crusade

    2 people marked this as a favorite.
    CorvusMask wrote:

    Easiest explanation is likely computer contrast settings. Like artist's contrast settings differ from the person requesting art, so there was mix up as result?

    Since all three pictures have really different style of art, its kinda hard to tell from the third(the one's that most off from other two) whether facial features are just artist's style or if artist was going for different ethnicity. (eye color is sadly one of those things that changes most easily between different artists just like how trying to have character with sevenfinger with different artists is hard ^^; )

    As someone who comms art a lot *sigh* yeah


    Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

    I figured that the 1e Zarta used a lot of makeup to make her face so pale and eyeshadow to give her that hollow look.

    Now she isn’t following the Cheliaxian fashions.

    Still, it is a very startling difference.


    BretI wrote:

    I figured that the 1e Zarta used a lot of makeup to make her face so pale and eyeshadow to give her that hollow look.

    Now she isn’t following the Cheliaxian fashions.

    Still, it is a very startling difference.

    I mean, this would be less "Zarta was chasing fashion trends" and more "Zarta was in whiteface for all of 1e."

    She also looks like herself in the 2e Society Guide, so I'm pretty willing to consider this one an outright mistake.

    Grand Archive

    3 people marked this as a favorite.
    Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
    keftiu wrote:
    BretI wrote:

    I figured that the 1e Zarta used a lot of makeup to make her face so pale and eyeshadow to give her that hollow look.

    Now she isn’t following the Cheliaxian fashions.

    Still, it is a very startling difference.

    I mean, this would be less "Zarta was chasing fashion trends" and more "Zarta was in whiteface for all of 1e."

    She also looks like herself in the 2e Society Guide, so I'm pretty willing to consider this one an outright mistake.

    Eric Mona once talked about it during a panel during a convention...

    yes, it' sthat hard. They have tried sending color palettes for the skins, but this ended up having a negative effect, with artists going more often *against* the color palette sent. It's really hard to understand.
    And more often than not, the more problematic ones will also tend to send the art super late, and make it impossible to ask for redraws or even to have time to fix it without delaying the book.
    (That talk was from a couple years ago, but seems like it's still a thing.)

    Liberty's Edge

    Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

    The required maps for this lists Pathfinder Pawns: Traps and Treasure Pawns collection as optional. I could not find any reference to this in the document. Any ideas where this is useful?

    Paizo Employee Organized Play Coordinator

    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    StalkingWolf wrote:
    The required maps for this lists Pathfinder Pawns: Traps and Treasure Pawns collection as optional. I could not find any reference to this in the document. Any ideas where this is useful?

    There's a sidebar on page 6 titled "Optional Pawns," which I will reproduce here for you:

    Spoiler:
    Quote:
    You can use pawns from Pathfinder Pawns: Traps & Treasures Pawn Collection to better represent the features of the vault. You can use a 4x4 “Large Treasure Pile” pawn to replace the orrery in the center of the map. You can also use the various chests to indicate areas where the PCs can Explore the Vault of Boundless Wonder for treasure, or simply to add flavor to the map. If you don’t have these pawns, you can substitute other tokens, pawns, or miniatures. Alternatively, you can use the Flip-Mat on its own and describe the additional features to your players instead.

    Liberty's Edge

    Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

    I totally missed, that, thanks Alex!

    Paizo Employee Organized Play Coordinator

    1 person marked this as a favorite.

    Heads-up: the PDF for this adventure was updated today. Nothing changed about the adventures, but initially there were only five player slots on the sign-in sheet instead of six. This has been corrected!

    Dark Archive

    Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

    Random question - it looks like S4 will have mini meta threads much like S3 did for the five national factions, but this time themed around the items the Society came to possess after the end of the last season. Is it possible to find out how many of these there will be in S4?

    Radiant Oath

    This adventure takes about two hours, in-game, but gives the PCs items to use. These items have the invested trait, meaning they only provide benefits if the PCs start the day with them. So the scenario is just teasing people?

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