A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 5th- through 8th-level characters.
The Pathfinder Society is invited by Mayor Deyahi to take part in a special traditional ceremony known as the Festival of Fire! This ceremony has been performed for generations and is always an honor for the group of warriors chosen to defend the sacred bonfire. While it's expected that there will be several spirits and undead appearing throughout the evening, what Niishan is unaware of is the fact that an unknown figure has been watching the ceremony for its entirety, waiting for the time that the warriors are weak enough to make their move. With the Pathfinders appearing to fill this role, they see their chance to attack and make Niishan feel their ancient wrath. It's up to the PCs to hold off this villain and the other spirits, ensuring that the ceremony is successful and Niishan remains safe!
Written by Jacob W. Michaels
Scenario tags: Repeatable
[Scenario Maps spoiler - click to reveal]
The following maps used in this scenario are also available for purchase here on paizo.com:
Firelight is a strong story based repeatable with an equal mix of combat and skills. This was played at subtier 7-8.
The strongest part about firelight was the story and the supporting artwork. Firelight is one of the rare repeatables where it actually makes sense that it’s repeatable. It’s the first repeatable that I’d want to play again.
Even the preparation for the trial (with skill challenges) made sense, although I did not enjoy taking care of children yet another time (at this point my character had taken care of children 3 scenarios in a row. Pathfinders = Babyfinders).
The combat did have a unique feature but otherwise it was fairly mundane. If the combats were more unique, this would be a 5* scenario.
Overall: A great story that you’d want to experience again. (8/10)
Arcadia is a great place for adventure, and this is a lovely little scenario. I enjoy #1-06 Lost on the Spirit Road, but it has its issues that make it a little challenging to run. Protecting the Firelight feels like a great evolution of the repeatable. In some ways it feels like what Lost on the Spirit Road was trying for, but with some nice innovations and a bit more polish.
I particularly love seeing the return of familiar faces, and the chance to make new friends. The skill challenges are fun, with plenty of nice roleplaying opportunities. The fights are nicely done, with the final battle especially being suitably epic, challenging, fun, and rewarding. I hope we see lots more of the characters and the setting!
I'm not sure how the repeatable elements will truly feel, but the combats were intriguing with some interesting combinations of monsters and environment, and I can totally see every party really approaching this one differently. As far as repeatability goes, that's all I can ask for!
Overall, combats were difficult due to tactical/environmental reasons that won't outright kill players with the use of "Gotcha!" mechanics, and the skill challenges seemed fair overall. No complaints!
Great story and with plenty of variety when playing this szenario again
I have to admit, I really like this scenario! The story about the explorers and founders of the city and the fire watch is absolutely gripping enough for an oneshot. I particularly like the little detail that the previous fire guards were always 4 players, but in the PFS scenarios you have tables with up to 6 players. This has been solved really well here. It's only a tiny little detail, but I think it's great! I also like how the players gradually find out more about the background story.
The scenario was really well divided into two parts, preparation and the subsequent fire station. The first part has a lot of room for wonderful roleplaying (if you get involved), but you don't run the risk of going overboard here either.
Even the second part of the scenario, which definitely offers more action, still leaves a little room here and there for individual roleplaying.
Both halves of the scenario also offer enough interesting variants that a repetition provides a sensible change of pace. Depending on what the group does in preparation, there are different bonuses for the rest of the game; it's great that each variant feels different!
Even the final game offers completely different tactics depending on which variant the DM chooses.
All in all, an absolutely great scenario; I even think it's the best scenario so far in Season 5 and that even as a replayable, thanks for that! 5 stars from my side!
