Top five repeatable scenarios to run in PFS, IMHO


GM Discussion

Scarab Sages 4/5 5/5 **

First off, this is just my opinion. If you feel different, please KINDLY let me know how you would order what in the comments.

Any GM that does PFS has been there. Here come a bunch of new faces to PFS, and they expect you to GM something. What to do? You have GMed most of the 1-5s, so you probably won't get credit, and some of those can be pretty unforgiving to new players. Well, you play a repeatable more set to lower-level play, and hey, you get credit for it too! Now which ones?

I would order the best repeatables thusly:

5)we b4 goblins.
Great scenarios if you have new players without characters of their own. Especially if they aren't sure if they want to continue. It lets them act like crazy goblins, and it's fun. It really only has one downside, it doesn't introduce The society and explore, report, co-operate. That being said, it only gives 1 prestige, and it has you playing evil goblins, not the non-evil pathfinder society.

4) First Steps Part 1
Great scenario. Introduces investigations (Auntie Baltwin), Problem solving (the chest in the docks), traps (Amenophus's basement), and combat, introduces some big faces in the society, involves explore, report, co-operate, and does it all compotetly. Really, the only strikes against it are that it is't terribly exciting, and that GMs may need to fudge some dice to avoid a Leoford Crit on a new player. . .

3) House of Harmonious Wisdom.
Check it, you get a mystery, some moral quandaries, some skill checks, a real sense that you are doing something and not just running errands, and it all works well. I don't know what more to say about this one. GMs will need to fill in some of the gaps that the scenario doesn't provide, but it is still solid. And you get a pretty great boon at the end.

2) Confirmation.
Traps, skills, mystery, combat, you get everything you get with first steps, only you get it with the backstory of the pathfinder society and the emphasis on explore-report-cooperate. Really, the only downside is if bullheaded players rush the Minotaur the first time. Also the final fight can be tough if the PC party isn't balanced well.

1) Wounded wisp
My favorite repeatable scenario, and one of my favorite scenarios period. It introduces role-play, talking to NPCs, a mystery, problem-solving, a history of society including why it is bad to hide information. . . It's just great. Plus, it's got a great boon at the end, plus the level 3 cont flame item that overcomes darkness. . . Simply great for new players. Really encapsulates what PFS is about I think.

Silver Crusade 4/5

I actually prefer the Consortium Compact to the other level 1 replayables. I know The Confirmation and Wounded Wisp are more educational for new players, but Consortium Compact is just more fun. Players get to be creative in how they handle the challenges, so it varies more than the others every time you play it. I've played it 3 times and GMed it 4, and always had fun.

As for non-replayables, some of my other "go to" low level scenarios to GM are:

Assault on the Kingdom of the Impossible - The first scenario I ever GMed, and still a favorite. I just love the opening encounters, though it's mostly pretty standard after that. Bonus points for being easy to run on short notice, even without maps drawn, because it's a short enough scenario and the maps are easy to draw, so you won't run long.

The Disappeared - Just a fun scenario. Seeing the players' reactions and creative solutions to parts of this mission makes it seem less repetitive than it really is.

Frostfur Captives - Goblins are fun. Be sure to look up the "goblin marching song" on the forums that didn't make it into the publisehd adventure.

Rise of the Goblin Guild - One of my favorite NPCs in a PFS scenario.

Black Waters - Another very interesting NPC. If the GM plays him up, along with the setting, this can be a fun little horror adventure.

Honorable mention:

Portent's Peril - I had so much fun playing this at Gen Con last year that I GMed it twice in the couple of months afterwards. I can't really call it a "go to", because the final map is such a pain to draw, but I'd love to have another go at running it.

Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps Subscriber

I'm not really a fan of Wounded Wisp, I have to say! There are too many call-outs to older NPCs, there's a puzzle I don't much like... Confirmation is probably my sentimental favorite (yes, there's a puzzle, but it's not nearly as arbitrary IMO), but I think I'm with Fromper. My favorite introduction for a new player would probably be the Consortium Compact now.

It's not as educational but it's fun. And new players tend to be too busy figuring out how to play to really retain many of the specific lessons, and what the heck his this chronicle sheet thing anyway? What do you mean I have to use an ITS? I don't care if I fill out a cover sheet correctly! Etc.

5/5 **** Venture-Agent, Netherlands—Utrecht

All evergreens have a few flaws, IMHO.

I've only played First Steps once, but I had pretty fond memories of that. It's sort of in the same boat as Wounded Wisp, in that the tasks are all solved in the same way and after the first time playing, you'll have seen pretty much everything on offer.

Confirmation has a brutal final battle. That thing's not cool. Every time I play it, I've seen Janira eat a crit and be inches away from death. Also, the enemies are pretty boring, IMHO.

Wounded Wisp is too story-heavy. Experienced players will immediately know what to do and it kind of loses its charm.

Consortium Compact is kinda the same. There are different approaches, but doing two out of three still limits you in inventiveness. There's lots of opportunity to roleplay and different tactics, but after two replays or so that also runs thin. It's a lot more work for the GM to prep, but having like 7 tasks already makes a big difference. You can even transplant some enemies from other areas (if they make sense) so you won't have to prep 7 combats for nothing.

Tome of Righteous Repose is a fairly good middle ground. My biggest stumble block is that the the mission briefing and what you're actually doing is so connected from each other. "We found a book, let's look! Oh, there's a place here, let's investigate!" And then you're supposed to do some tasks that are never mentioned in the briefing and the GM has to struggle to work in the narrative. The good thing is that the actual tasks are pretty minor, and the dungeon crawl is an ideal way of making a repeatable adventure. Not too much story to get you going or you'll get bored with it on replays, and enough variation in (actually interesting) enemies that encountering them multiple times is still fun.

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/55/5 ***

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Honestly, my favorite repeatable is Gallows of Madness.

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