Pathfinder Society Special #6-99: Under the Eye of the Mantis

There's a lot to like in this special. I was a bit worried when I saw there were four acts, but the acts weren't necessarily too long. The plot was relatively coherent, even if it had some strange bits and pieces (supposed to be fighting one thing but end up fighting something else, kinda, for example). The scenario is crammed to the brim, but not overflowing too badly.

There were nice innovations, like explicitly "no roll" sections that reward roleplay and asking good questions, but also give options for people who just want to roll.

I said there's a "but" coming, so here it is: the thing I'd really like to see, and this is feedback for seasons 5 and 6 in general, is "simpler storylines." The "best" specials, in my opinion anyway, have relatively simple storylines and not a lot of noise. This one had a coherent storyline, but it still nearly got lost in the noise.

I'm pretty torn on this one: I prefer it over Salt of the Ocean (way too much going on there) but it's not as good as Blessings of the Forest or King in Thorns (simpler storyline). If I could give it half stars I'd probably give it 3.5 stars for the novel approaches to some parts of the scenario.

That all.

You understand the plot!

Longer review coming later, but this was a welcome change compared to the rest of Season 6. There were roleplay elements but no subsystems. There was humor but no long box-text segments except for the house GM sections. There were combats but far fewer ones than past specials, and even at the highest tier, our group finished almost all of our combats and had time to spare.

Plus, some spicy romance?

5/5!

I played 6-99: Under the Eye of the Mantis at Gen Con 2025 as a 7th-level tank monk/druid, and I'm seriously considering if I ever want to play a special again.

To clarify, with the exception of one PC, everyone I interacted with during the special was wonderful. I have serious concerns about the design of specials, and some specific points on this one. I've played several specials, and they may not be for me. If you play a low-level tier, you don't get any plot relevance to your activities, and if you play a high tier, you never finish combat. Since you don't finish combat, high-tier tables don't use as many resources, and the special provides lots of healing and refreshing, so High-Tier combat is entirely pointless. The PCs don't get hurt or tired, and the enemies don't get defeated.

This is worse as a Tank, because preventing damage doesn't matter, and this scenario seems designed to hate on shield-users.

Every special I've played, the PCs (and often even the GM) have agreed that completing challenges quickly is more important than having character interaction and exploration, or even planning. This is fine in combat, but it makes social encounters (of which I had two in this session) meaningless. Rather than showcase the unique worldview of a Red Mantis assassin who works and flirts with Pathfinders, Social encounters are relayed at speed. "I roll diplomacy, did we get enough points yet?" Lore-building descriptions are also wasted. The opening to this adventure spends a while describing the ship Pathfinders are traveling on, then asks any questions. Aside from the fact that it's big, the other details don't matter, and asking questions about the ship will only slow the group down. Specials incorporate the worst parts of Multiplayer video games into tabletop. "Skip Cutscene" is encouraged!

Specific to this adventure, any PC who might need convincing that their God or ethics allows working with assassins is absolutely wasting the table's precious time. This is juxtaposed [Major Spoiler] against an offer from the villain. The PCs could take a bribe of gold (allowing them to earn more than ten treasure bundles) in exchange for a point of infamy and letting the villain go free. I'd be interested in exploring this a regular scenario, but in a special, it's outlandish to expect the PCs (who are probably strangers) to debate the morality of such an option. I consider this to be a mistake, worthy of errata.

As mentioned above, taking quick turns is essential in a special. However, every special grants minor bonuses to the players. This makes players need to recalculate math on the fly, without a dedicated reminder like the bard players. As specials are often played late at night, I've completely given up on reminding players of their +1's. [Minor Spoilers] This adventure has the worst version of these bonuses I've ever seen, however. A boon in the adventure gives +1 circumstance to AC and Saves against the rogue Red Mantis Dispatch. However, even in a single encounter, some enemies are Red Mantis, and some are not, so players who remember have to constantly ask the GM if they get the bonus or not to calculate their AC and Saves. Being a circumstance bonus to AC, it doesn't stack with my shield, so, late at night, midway through the adventure, I have to recalculate if my shield is worthwhile when it's providing only half the normal bonus.

All specials seem to hate on shield-users. There's always plenty of HP-restoring, and some focus and spell slot restoring, but I never see any shield repair. Also, the spell slot restoration in this adventure gives "one slot of your highest level restored." As a Multiclass druid, at level 7, I have one 2nd-level slot, and one 1st-level slot. No one is going to be much impressed by damage or healing of those levels, so I prepare utility. I chose Gentle landing (feather fall) and spider climb. Well, early in the adventure, I used gentle landing. Then, I got a restore of my 2nd-level slot. In the future, could "one slot of your highest level restored" become "one spell slot of your choice is restored?"

There is one part of this adventure I want to praise. [Major spoilers] In what I think is act two, the party might find a Tavern (?) with the inside obscured by steam. Moving in, it becomes clear that the place filled with wood objects made out of dryads, and metal objects made from other living creatures. No one is in the place, it's haunt/hazard. This is a wonderfully spooky place, and I wish there was more about how and why it was created, or a choice to be made about its future. This one encounter left me wanting more, and so I loved it.

As a special, I rate this 2/5 (below average), but I rate specials instead of scenarios as a 1 or 2/5.