A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-4.
The Pathfinder Society sends the PCs to the Thuvian city of Aspenthar, where they learn that div-worshipping cultists have taken violent measures to secure the ancient keys to a mysterious site out in the desert. With one of the keys in their possession, the Pathfinders travel deep into the desert to find this site and stop the cultists from bringing their destructive plan to fruition.
Written by Matt Duval
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:
For players, I think this is a pretty solid scenario. A quest with a fair amount of combat and a little bit of exploration, world lore, and mystical-whatnots. A great early adventure for a PC. Some people have noted the final encounter as very tough, but when I ran it the party managed to effectively one-shot the main creature. So YMMV.
In agreement with the handful of reviews though that note this is a lot more work to GM than it probably should be. Lots of bits of information spread between punch-out text and “GM-only” text that needs to be consolidated by the GM later, a confusing layout of the ruins, a somewhat confusing skill-challenge-as-trap, and a bit of a headache to manage the early survival/travel mini challenge.
Probably a scenario you’ll appreciate more if you run it 2-3 times and work out the complexities and confusing bits in play.
The way the puzzle was presented, there was a solution that should have worked, but an exception was written into the adventure to punish the player for thinking of that.
Spoiler:
Essentially, there's a sigil that collects the souls of your slain enemies in order to power up the final boss. So it seems like using nonlethal abilities should circumvent this. Hah, you should have known better! Didn't you realize that the sigil was the reason the enemies were instantly dying when you reduced them to zero Hit Points?! Of course I didn't notice! Enemies always die at zero Hit Points!
Another issue is that there's so much content in this scenario that my GM had to skip the final boss. We already turned him into a trivial threat, but it was just unsatisfying that way.
Those two issues are really it, but I could see the puzzle issue causing a TPK for people who aren't in the know.
Mechanically very good, slightly frustrating for the GM.
This is a bit of a weird scenario, especially for the GM. The (back)story isn't told well and there's information hidden in the page that could be clearer. Rooms are described that could've used a map, or at least a minimap for the GM to give a clearer picture of where the players are.
Aside from that though, I really like this scenario. The final combat can be dangerous as other reviewers have said, but both me and my players really liked the mechanics of it, which made it sort of a puzzle encounter rather than a generic fight. More of this, please!
In Pursuit of Water is a direct, challenging, and evocative scenario that requires more GM prep than it should. Scenes are atmospheric and interesting but a lot of guidance on how things should run is dotted around the text and GMs should plan to read this through several times to get the most out of it.
- Combats are potentially very tough, but attention to the antagonist's motivations will make them less punishing.
- It's not clear how the time-pressure is supposed to work (there doesn't seem to be any reason the PCs should fail unless they are defeated in combat, but the scenario spends many words on how they can recover from poor time-management).
- GMs need to think about how the plot can be telegraphed to the players more effectively than how its outlined in the text itself.
There are great ideas here and the scenario is fun to run, with a complex but satisfying final encounter. The story is very efficient and I managed to get through it without rushing in under 3.5 hours (in tier 3-4). I hope for a return to Aspenthar in season 3.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Pathfinder Society Quest #6: Archaeology in Aspenthar. Granted, I don't remember much from when I ran the quest over a year ago, so it might not be related. But, hey, you never know until you play or run it. Still, it sounds like fun!
Any word on the maps list? We typically run the new scenarios the Friday after release, so any advance info is appreciated.
What is the source of the place-holding artwork? IIRC placeholder art is usually from older material, but I cannot seem to locate that magic-user from the cover.
