First Steps, then S0?

[Shifty]

Being recently of a mind to 'do my part' and some GM'ing, I also had a thought that it would be nice to have a bit of an exploration of some old school gems in Season 0. The determined retronaut within me wonders what us 'newer kids' may have missed after beginning in S3.

I was considering running a bit of a themed offering, beginning with First Steps (as this will likely involve new to PFS players too) and then going on a museum tour of the highlights of the early season.

Would anyone care to offer up a suggested 'roadmap'?

I've heard the following are all quite good :

0-01 - Silent Tide
0-04 - The Frozen Fingers of Midnight
0-05 - Mists of Mwangi
0-07 - Among the Living
0-08 - Slave Pits of Absalom
0-16 - To Scale the Dragon
0-24 - Decline of Glory

Though obviously they aren't in level order etc.
Any other 'must see' mods?

Do you have a "Man you guys HAVE to play X!" Scenarios you'd suggest?

(And are there any traps apart from stat blocks being a bit outdated in places?)

On a side note, GM Credit sort of vexes me.
I have a L6 and L2 character, the level 2 has done Rise of the oblin Guild, a T1-5 module, if I now GM it, which character gets the credit?
Didn't think the 2 could have the chronicle twice, and the L6 is out of tier.

Or do I need to generate a new character to dump the sheet onto?

[Finlanderboy]

I like black waters. I think thats lotsa fun.

spoiler:

A good Dm can make this whole scenario creepy with the shcool and crazy wizard(I almost tpked the group with color spraying the party because they were stopping him from getting to his daughter+ghouls). Plus the surprise at the end

You can assign it to a third character

[Shifty]

Thanks for the suggestion there, I reckon that could be quite a fun caper!

Also noted about the sheet, I'll start rolling more characters :)

On a side note, I wonder if it is possible to pick 'themed' series of Scenarios...

If I had a group with a penchant for playing Pirates, I wonder if there'd be enough nautical themed scenarios to keep the party almost always ship bound for a lengthy period, maybe with a stop off to the Mwangi or something for a real 'pulp pirates' feel.

It almost looks as though you could cherry pick the outdated material to come up with a whole new take on the seasons :P

[Finlanderboy]

You could do a theme of here to there with them. I am not that famalair as I have been playing less than a year.

But you could do throaty mermaid as an in betweener. I am sure there are more, but I am not aware of them.

[Shifty]

Yeah I had the pleasure of playing that scenario just yesterday, was pretty good fun!

[Netopalis]

Personally, I'd just mix those in with your other scenarios; most of them are fairly short and easy, in my opinion. I would especially not recommend them for a new GM, unless that new GM is familiar with 3.5 and has quick access to the 3.5 Monster Manual.

Whatever you do, though, I highly recommend skipping The Many Fortunes of Grandmaster Torch. It's a Season 0, and is the lowest rated scenario of any season. Feel free to go read my review and see why. :P I think that it's just proof of how much PFS has changed since its early years - the page limit combines with the very different alignment of the Pathfinder Society as it was imagined in Season 0 to make a rather uncomfortable scenario.

[Shifty]

Wow, that sounds like a pretty bad scenario :p

[Dominick]

Among the Dead is a good second part scenario. Its a ROUGH sequel.

[nosig]

I rather liked "The Many Fortunes of Grandmaster Torch" - but I played it with a good judge, back in season 2.

[Pirate Rob]

I really like "The Many Fortunes of Grandmaster Torch" as well, but it does require a flexible GM and party that is willing to not only cooperate with the root of their problems but owe him a favor to get things done. I've you've got a party of do-gooders who think the Society is supposed to be the good guys and aren't a bunch of scheming, grave-robbing smuggling, thieving adventures then you're going to have a problem.

Also I quite dislike "To Scale the Dragon" and wouldn't recommend playing it.

[nosig]

Pirate Rob wrote:

I really like "The Many Fortunes of Grandmaster Torch" as well, but it does require a flexible GM and party that is willing to not only cooperate with the root of their problems but owe him a favor to get things done. I've you've got a party of do-gooders who think the Society is supposed to be the good guys and aren't a bunch of scheming, grave-robbing smuggling, thieving adventures then you're going to have a problem.

Also I quite dislike "To Scale the Dragon" and wouldn't recommend playing it.

I also really disliked "To Scale the Dragon" - again because of the Judge (this time a very poor judge). I did run it later, and ... it is not as good as many other season 0's.

[Shifty]

Noted on both the above, sounds like "To scale the dragon" does not come highly recommended :P

[Caderyn]

All scenarios are variable based on the judge and the party to be honest, I played the many fortunes of grandmaster torch as a rogue in my 3rd or 4th PFS game ever and it was one of the most fun experiences I have had in PFS to date.

I would recommend Silent Tide, The Many fortunes of grandmaster torch and then some time later (say when they are level 4-5) Delirium's Tangle with the same PC and Judge if possible you will find it a much better way to play all 3 of those (there is a good bit of roleplaying interaction you can put into those 3 parts).

I havent yet played to Scale a Dragon but it comes highly recommended by some of my friends so I am definately looking forward to it.

[Shifty]

Thanks for the suggestions Cad :)

[DjIo]

I've ran all those except 16 and 24. Being someone who only got into pathfinder last year i really like the season 0 missions. It was a good stepping stone for me. Mists was i think my favorite. I eventually want to run all the season 0 but i am looking for a closer gaming location to my new house that isnt just a card/baseball shop.

[Fromper]

Am I the only one who actually liked To Scale the Dragon? I guess I just had a good GM/group that night, especially since I was playing it with a PC that I've mostly quit playing because I just don't like that one much any more.

[Sir Darius Silverbolt]

No,I had a blast with To scale the Dragon but I like just about all the Season 0 stuff and even the cancelled ones.

[Matthew Pittard]

I had my character die quite horribly during to Scale the Dragon so it dosnt have a fond place in my heart :)

Its not a bad scenario at all.

[Chris Mortika]

Someone else has observed that while "Silent Tide" is a terrific adventure, there's a scene in there very reminiscent of the Osirion encounter in First Stps 1. I would wait to run Silent Tide.

02 - Hydra's Fang
03 - Murder on the Silken Caravan

Also good.

[godsDMit]

Im not a Decline of Glory fan, but the others you list are all pretty fun in their own ways.

[Chris Mortika]

Seth, I treat "Decline of Glory" as a sandbox. We know what all the NPCs are doing, we know the time-table, and then we let the PCs go play, trying to disrupt the plans of the bad guys. It usually goes off the rails almost immediately, but Tim H. gives us a lot of support there.

I've seen it run rigidly, with a GM who wouldn't let the PCs improvise. It didn't look like the players wre having as much fun.