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I remember playing through a mystery scenario, and we found the culprits almost immediately. We didn't have definitive evidence, but their testimony was unbelievable. So one of our players wanted to flex their skills by Coercing them into confessing.
Our GM gave us an error message. "I really want to allow that, but I have to stick to the scenario as written, and there's no written outcome that anticipates this."
Having reviewed the rules, this is very wrong. PFS does require the scenario to be run RAW, but it also expects the GM to adjust the adventure as required. This includes fixing obvious rules typos/errors; reskinning monsters that trigger phobias; and resolving players' creative attempts to bypass challenges.
Edit: Actually, now that I think about it, I remember the quest giver telling us not to threaten witnesses without evidence. So Coercion was a bad idea. This is still a problem I've run into with GMs in other scenarios though. "You all made it to the end in record time, but the author made a typo when copying the chase rules, so everyone takes damage, and you miss a Treasure Bundle."
Venture-Captain, New Zealand—Christchurch
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This is still a problem I've run into with GMs in other scenarios though. "You all made it to the end in record time, but the author made a typo when copying the chase rules, so everyone takes damage, and you miss a Treasure Bundle."
I don't want to risk derailing the thread, but my view on this type of incident is that it's a GM issue, not a PFS campaign issue.
I get frustrated with reviews that read like, "this scenario SUCKS! It's terrible that X Y Z happened, it wasn't fun at all!" when clearly the issue was how the GM ran things.
Sadly that's potentially bound to happen, too, in a global campaign with hundreds or thousands of GMs. But those are opportunities for GM education, as well—good examples of how PFS can help people to improve as GMs.
I get frustrated with reviews that read like, "this scenario SUCKS! It's terrible that X Y Z happened, it wasn't fun at all!" when clearly the issue was how the GM ran things.
You're telling me! :D
Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
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Having reviewed the rules, this is very wrong. PFS does require the scenario to be run RAW, but it also expects the GM to adjust the adventure as required. This includes fixing obvious rules typos/errors; reskinning monsters that trigger phobias; and resolving players' creative attempts to bypass challenges.
In the last few months, GMs were given much more flexibility in handling such things.