A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 3rd- through 6th-level characters.
The Pathfinder dig site near the Tskikha iruxi enclave in the Blackwood Swamp was, for some time now, considered one of the safer Azlanti ruins to investigate, to the point that it was used as field training for groups of initiates. Having been cleared out years ago by agents, the site was an archeological treasure trove for learning of the elemental magics of ancient Azlant. Something has gone wrong though. The elemental planes have changed in ways that scholars are, even now, struggling to understand, and the latent power within those ruins has manifested. It's been weeks since anyone has heard from the initiates currently on site or the iruxi allies nearby. The Pathfinders must race against time into the bizarre magics wrought by the elements to rescue the Blackwood lost.
I agree with the other reviews here. For something that's a time sensitive scenario, it sure does run long. It just seems like there's too much to do in the supposed 4 hour time crunch of an average scenario. I could see this one having worked far better split into two scenarios closer to the feeling of the Opal of Bhopan series.
In any case, the combats featured some very interesting creatures, and the combat didn't seem particularly over-tuned. Thank goodness.
Our GM made it very clear that there was a hard time limit, but going into this without that clarity would likely have resulted in a failure.
Overall, good combats, fun roleplay, but not enough mechanical clarity and WAAAAY too much to do in a 4 hour period.
From a GM perspective this one was mostly clear and easy to prep. The handouts are useful, most of the information is there, it's just that after running it, some of the main mechanics of the scenario feel a bit off:
1- The mechanics of a hazard are somewhat unclear
2- There are a lot of skill challenges (which I do like!), and they generally all tie in well with the scenario. Yet the final (really broad) skill challenge seemed awesome, but felt a little disappointing when I ran it.
Spoiler:
The skills are all to get to the rifts. But the fact that the party just knows how to close something of such magnitude without any information, description or even so much as a knowledge like check, just doesn't make any sense to me.
Finally, for a time-sensitive scenario, this one runs strangely long. A lot is happening, but it's mainly due to the combats. They are evocative and reasonably challenging, but
Spoiler:
all enemies are relatively tough, and/ or rely on kiting, which naturally lengthens combat.
. Loved the high tier BBEG encounter: Those monsters are cool!
All in all I did absolutely enjoy running this one. Highly recommend, especially the high tier.
We played this high tier. At first I was a bit skeptical, but I warmed to the scenario near the end. It does a thing I like, which is having an ending that feels tense and climactic (even if you're not super high level). Not that many low level scenarios manage to have that epic finish feeling.
Overall difficulty felt right to me, some of it was easier and some of it was harder but not unfair. There were a couple of points that I think could have been better.
One was the pacing: you're on some kind of timer, but as player, you have very little insight on how much time you have and how important various things you could be spending your time on really are. So you're being asked to make very blind gambles, which doesn't feel that meaningful to me.
There's also the hazard at the end. What annoys me about it is -
Spoiler:
There's a mechanism to "restore elements to it" that prevents it from making attacks with that element, but instead it just has to use a different element. So that doesn't really accomplish anything unless you do it six times. This seems like a variant on something I've seen in hazards before, where you can do some action to prevent it from targeting *you*, but it doesn't target fewer people, so it's just going to hit someone else.
Compounding this, the hazard strikes only non-elementals. Just... because. It's being guarded by metal elemental (because). I feel like this is a big obvious missed opportunity for an interesting combat gimmick. What if the hazard *did* also target the elementals, but at first there was a big chance they'd resist the attacks? Then you could remove the energy types those elementals were resistant to, turning the hazard more against them.
In the end you can kinda see why the whole thing got in motion, but it's kinda missing a "why was this here in the first place" satisfying discovery.
That's starting to sound a bit negative, so I wanna emphasize that it was a fun and exciting adventure, especially towards the end.
I give this an extra star for returning to the ruins in Blackwood swamp. It's a nice throwback that made the plot more appealing.
Other than that, unfortunately, the plot is not very memorable. Rescue mission is fine but the final reveal felt anticlimactic and random. More elemental fights. There's now wood and metal, we get it, no need to rub it in.
Combats were fine, although last one gave the party a pause because of the odd mechanics. Fine overall.
As I'm sure folks will eventually notice and point out, I feel it's worth mentioning that this scenario does include a subplot in which the PCs encounter and aid a transgender character in pursuit of achieving gender affirmation. I know this because I, as a trans person, wrote it. There's been a question as to whether this was included to meet some kind of quota; in actuality, it was included because it's a subplot I asked to be able to write and create, because it matters to me. If there's any quota to be met, it's an amount of 'some; because we exist, and are valid, and deserve to be seen'.
The subplot was really well handled by our GM, and I guess because it was really well written.
Having the opportunity to help a fellow Pathfinder with extremely important life matters and seeing them really benefit from our actions was rewarding IMO. Should happen more often actually. It feels more personal and thus more satisfying than usual sidequests.
Small note that apparently I can only see the last 2 reviews, even though my own still appears when I check my profile. Even though I cannot see it here
There are two introductory PFS adventures set in those ruins that are repeatable (you can play them more than once, using different characters each time).
I've got to say, the two kobolds in this scenario has been my favorite rendering of the 2e kobold. I've not cared for the 2e kobolds so far, but Bruno Cesar's versions have more personality and actually make me like them now.
