Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-10: The Crocodile's Smile

I just wrote an 8,000 character review that the Paizo website then caused me to backtrack too far.

Because I'm not rewriting it again:

TLDR - Influence was good with breaks, but 8 rounds was way too long and players stopped RPing after round 6, which hurts DCs. Scenario was structured so morally good PCs have no reason to move the story ahead as they were told to behave, and were told not to go into the manner without permission and didn't have a strong reason. The players perceived a time pressure (which made sense) and rushed through missing clues that would have helped the rest of their party come along. The arc for the BBEG was really well done and a shame that my players rolled badly.

Paizo did the thing where North in the PDF doesn't correspond to up and that is a massive GM cognitive load. There were as many small bonuses in this scenario as a confusing special - every influence NPC seemed to have something including one that had a bonus to an influence skill you couldn't use on that NPC. The lower map doesn't say where the PCs start and has windows and a door but is supposed to be an underground hidden place.

The PFS reporting means that a failed check kills two reputation regardless of how non-lethally or redemptive the players choose to make it. The secondary conditions really don't even give the GM latitude because it is run as written. The chronicle items you can get at low tier are almost all level 1 and 2 things any character can get with no discount, so it is just extra GM paperwork.

Awesome story, engaging plot, but it felt more like paperwork than playing pathfinder and had some logical holes that required serious railroading - which isn't fun for a GM or players who are trying to roleplay (which is the huge strength of this)