A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st- through 4th-level characters.
Since the defeat of Aslynn, the Waterfall has become more of a staple around the Grand Lodge, starting to hold strange, isolated meetings with leadership and seemingly putting together some plan. Her most recent request is that a team of Pathfinder agents journey to Hwanggot and meet with the underworld dragon, Valashinaz as a introductory team. Venture-Captain Yi Da Som arranged the meeting through Valashinaz's kobold assistant, Purepurin. Unfortunately, between then and the PCs arriving, Purepurin forgot about them in the midst of pickling recipes from goblins and creepy crawlies invading the vaults! It's up to the PCs to help Purepurin bring Valashinaz's vaults under control while she summons the dragon to ensure these introductions go off without a hitch!
I ran the low tier on this. I think a lot of the fun of this adventure is the situations, not the combat, as most of them were lacking. The chance to be silly, and have a laugh with players is a plus, however a lot of it is pretty straightforward and ‘Hey go here to do this’.
I gave it a 4 star because I believe if your group is up for a little diversion and not too serious game, then this is pretty good. Is it the most in depth experience? No. Are the combats difficult? No. Are the combats way too easy? Also no.
I feel like adventure breaks lore seen in treasure vault
Like umm... What happens in this one? Bunch of shenanigans that distract you from doing your mission which are all kinda random and reliant on stuff like "npc gives semi long speech, then leaves before hearing you out". (also whats up with all the rats? It kinda feels like the minor joke about ratcatcher in treasure vault was expanded to "apparently rats are major invasive problem in dragon's vault" or something? It feels extra weird when implication was that kobolds' ratcatcher is doing really good job regarding them and Ziik doesn't even show up here. I kinda feel like Purepurin is less compelling in this adventure than in treasure vault book because uh... Who like npc who forces pcs to do things because they just didn't listen? Like I always saw Purepurin as more clumsy than kinda dumb? Well at least her art is nice due to retaining kobold mean edge
I'm still not super fan of "since goblins are core, now they are everywhere globally" thing (I kinda liked how in 1e the avistani ancestries were uncommon and tian xia had their own common ancestries) but the spicy chicken challenge just seems randomly thrown in because its supposed to be funny. Could it at least has been spicy dog meat or something?
I ran this at a con, and when one of the newbie players wanted to start a wholesale slaughter of both the goblins and the kobolds, I was disappointed when the other players talked him down.
This doesn't work. What is a reasonable premise for a scenario goes off the rails because of the plot contrivance that the seneschal of a powerful dragon... just forgot about the whole thing. It's not good writing and as an attempt at humour it's entirely toothless. Purepurin is a creative mistake.
Spoiler:
The combat encounters are largely against inconsequential vermin. We're presented with hermit rats, but we are not explained what a hermit rat is. The final combat encounter is against some robbers who just kind of show up without any explanation or description and will be defeated in approximately two rounds.
A bizarrely large amount of words is dedicated to a YouTube sketch scene about a goblin chili tasting competition. This doesn't really serve any point in the story, merely to add a goofy and out-of-place interlude to the scenario.
Likewise, a scene where Purepurin communicates with the dragon Valashinaz by magical apparition runs overlong and non-interactive, but when the legendary dragon herself shows up at the very end, that's noted just briefly. These lowbie Pathfinder agents meet an actual ancient dragon, and it's given the dramatic weight of "thanks, bye".
It is a unique strength of the organized play campaign format, from Living City through Living Greyhawk to earlier Pathfinder Society, to present the illusion of a wider world, a living world, a world larger than life. These cartoon plotlines and desperately unfunny attempts at humorous characters are inimical to that.
This was a funny little romp, with some memorable characters. I can't ask for much more from a low level scenario, tbh!
Disconnected at times, sure, but a great time all around. My table very much enjoyed this one. My only concern is that the hazards are a bit too damaging for a table of pure level 1 characters. Bad rolls could easily end this adventure early in that regard. Otherwise, the combats are fun with some well-flavored monsters and nothing here is too easy or difficult otherwise!
Looks interesting. I look forward to PFS venturing into Tian Xia again.
However, this blurb is seriously not good. 1-4 scenarios should sell to the first-timer crowd, but this is a pile of proper nouns that say nothing to anyone who hasn't been playing the campaign for a while. If you're not an old hand at Pathfinder Society, this is word salad. I cannot use this. I have to rewrite it before I can offer the scenario as a public game, and because I don't run in a primarily English-speaking environment, I have to do it twice.
Looks interesting. I look forward to PFS venturing into Tian Xia again.
However, this blurb is seriously not good. 1-4 scenarios should sell to the first-timer crowd, but this is a pile of proper nouns that say nothing to anyone who hasn't been playing the campaign for a while. If you're not an old hand at Pathfinder Society, this is word salad. I cannot use this. I have to rewrite it before I can offer the scenario as a public game, and because I don't run in a primarily English-speaking environment, I have to do it twice.
“Go to a distant land for a diplomatic meeting with a dragon, aiding their kobold helper” is the gist of it.
“Go to a distant land for a diplomatic meeting with a dragon, aiding their kobold helper” is the gist of it.
Yeah, but the blurb is like the trailer for a movie. It tells the players why they want to play this and not the other fantasy game for the inexplicably more popular game system in the same time slot. It has to sell the adventure. That takes more than just the facts. Writing that takes effort.
“Go to a distant land for a diplomatic meeting with a dragon, aiding their kobold helper” is the gist of it.
Yeah, but the blurb is like the trailer for a movie. It tells the players why they want to play this and not the other fantasy game for the inexplicably more popular game system in the same time slot. It has to sell the adventure. That takes more than just the facts. Writing that takes effort.
Do your players need to see the blurb though? They just need to see the aforementioned, "diplomatic meeting with dragon and kobold assistant."
the goldmonger low tier only does +1 damage with its 3 Str on unarmed (adding no Str to damage on the pick). The experienced goldmonger adds only +2 damage on for its 4 Str on pick. Also, neither of them have the fatal d10 trait. Are these accurate numbers?
Pathfinder Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
This is a rather exciting publication from Michelle Kim. I brought it to my store location, and our local group found it to be a charming scenario. We completed it in about 4 1/2 hours, hitting every possible encounter along the way. It's a solid encounter for organized play!
