 
Sign in to create or edit a product review. I played this at high tier and had a great time. The story is great and typical for the land of the linnorm kings. Fights were tough but fair. The only reason that this does not get the full 5 stars is because I think the writer tried to put too much into the scenario. Even without the optional encounter the GM had to rush us through the last encounter because we had no time left. I played this with together with The Degraded, I was the demon-hating ranger archer. I have wanted to play this scenario for a long time with that specific character. She is an elf with the tanglebriar demonslayer archetype and a background in Kyonin, so this scenario should be perfect for her.And that made it all a bit too easy for me. But that has nothing to do with the scenario itself. So what about the scenario? It gives a good impression what Tanglebriar is about, with interesting environmental effects and though fights. I really liked the first and the optional encounters, because both are challenging and use some things not often seen. However the map used in the optional encounter is too small for the encounter. Using the regular forest flipmat for this encounter would have been better. The final encounter has a lot going on for the GM. Unfortunately most of that is just scenery and high-level PCs are probably aware of that. A few twists (class levels on the mooks? and removing some hazards) would have improved the final combat, while reducing the burden on the GM lower. I rate this scenario a 3: the Tanglebriar background is very good, which would warrant a 4, but that is offset by the things mentioned above. I recently GM'ed this again and have played it ages ago. I ran this for a party of 4, APL exactly at 3.5 and they decided to round that to 4 -> high tier. The scenario is straightforward, but quite fun if the GM plays up the whole Jumanji theme. My players embraced the fun and were properly scared by the encounters, even thought it is now season 8. I played this at high tier with 4-player adjustment. (6 players, APL 5) Note that I do not read reviews for scenarios that I am about to play as I think it spoils part of the fun. I might change that after playing through this one. I had high hopes for this scenario. I really love The Before the Dawn scenarios and a follow-up can only be a good thing, right? "NO!" This scenario caused my first character dead. It is not that this is the first character that died (I had 5 deads before), but it is the first time that the scenario caused a character to die. My opinions on the encounters
The second and third encounters are great, they make a lot of sense in the location and adventure. Despite the fact that my tripper monk could not trip that much I liked these encounters. The last encounter is also a waste of playing time. Why: because there was no fun. There was only: what more shenanigans can we pull of to defeat the writer. In my opinion PFS should not be: who can pull the weirdest trick out of the big hat. That way we get into an arms race, which nobody will win. I don't mind the occasional hard scenario. There is hard mode for that, we have spoilers like Bonekeep has. It would have made sense to include a warning at the start of the scenario. Last combat:
My monk can get to a plus 20 on acrobatics. I rolled mediocre to get past the BBG without provoking and contemplated to use my reroll on that acrobatics check. The GM asked me what the highest number was that I could reach with a natural 20 on the roll and told me flat out that I should not use my reroll, because I would fail anyway.
The BBG managed to exactly hit my AC of 27 (according to the GM later with a +20 to hit modifier) and proceeded with a grapple check (grab), which it could only fail on a natural one because of insane modifiers. One round later I was dead, thanks to grapple to do damage, constrict damage and most importantly of all: no chance to get loose, even with a good escape artist modifier. No, we did not drink from the fountain, we failed the knowledge /spellcraft checks to figure out what it does and were not prepared to drink from a source of water that the archeologists, who had been compelled had been drinking from. Let me end with the good things about this scenario:
I GMed this in the standard campaign at low tier for a six person party, including The Degraded and Quentin Coldwater. You can find their reviews below. Starting with a 3 score I adjust that for +1: Setting potential
-1: Unfortunately not
Thoughts on the serie
Other than the location on Golarion they might have been completely separate scenarios. Having played and GM-ed several other three of fourpart series (Shades of Ice / Scions of the Sky Key / Destiny of the Sands / Devil we Know / Faithless or Forgotten / Quest of Perfection) this series ranks the lowest in connection between the scenarios. I GMed this in the standard campaign at low tier for a six person party. Starting with a 3 score I adjust that for +1: What the F is going on!
+1: It gets explained
-1: Encounter strength
I played this in the standard campaign at high tier with a four person party. Starting with a 3 score I adjust that for -1: Lore
I GMed this in the standard campaign at low tier for a six person party. Starting with a 3 score I adjust that for +1: First act
-1: Five foot hell
-1: Encounter strength and aging
I played this at high tier with a five person party. Starting with a 3 score I adjust that for +1: Background
+1: BBEG
-1: Map
Minor Spoiler:
So we have several buildings on the compound and we are forbidden to go into some of them? Really? Where do you think the macguffin can be found?
Having two seperate locations would have helped: place the forbidden buildings somewhere else on the island and let the PCs find that (or be told that it exists once they have proven themselves) I played this at low tier with the 4-player adjustment. Starting with a 3 score I adjust that for +1: Kaer Maga
-1: Mediocre Investigation
+1: Memorable Combat
-1: Tian Xia link?
I ran this today for a table of 6 PC's in the low tier. We had a heck of a good time, even though one player wasn't that interested in the social side of this scenario (he still enjoyed himself). I really liked the fact that the players were looking for a time when things would start to go wrong. They were continuously second-guessing everything, to a level where I had to step in and say that they should not overthink matters. The NPC's all had marvelous backgrounds and were easy to bring to life. With the help of some cheat-sheets it was rather easy to keep track of all the moving items, as I had a sheet for each NPC. Yes, there are a lot of moving parts in this scenario and it is one of the few times where I bring out my GM screen to hide my notes. But I really, really like the fact that this scenario is not about combat, has a believable premise and an enemy who is not killed at the end. My feeling is that the combat has no place in the scenario and that it would be better if it was replaced by an intermezzo in the scenario. Perhaps a hunt for everyone involved that chanced upon a dangerous beast? After the second or third event we lost a bit of pace because things start to be repetitive, this might be circumvented by such an intermezzo (that could even have an impact on the results) I played and GM'ed this scenario This is a solid scenario that works great if the table likes to roleplay. The combats are rather easy, but they all make sense within the scenario (if you ignore the optional encounter). It is a nice sandbox scenario and I had a lot of fun running it. I played and GM'ed this As a player I felt this scenario was a string of unrelated encounters and unfortunately my opinion did not change when I ran the scenario. Which is a pity as the travel from A to B could have been made a lot more exciting with some relations between the encounters that are obvious for the players. That would have increased the feeling of being watched / chased and improved the scenario. I played this I really liked this adventure, it has a bit of everything: great atmosphere, need for roleplay and a tough combat that is not as straightforward as it might be. The plot and background are obvious from the start, while the solution to the issue at hand is not obvious. I think the scenario could be improved by staggering the roleplay more through the scenario, instead of clumping it all in one act. However that is a minor nitpick and does not prevent me from giving it the full reward of 5 stars. Going in for this scenario my expectations where high: I have played Serpents Rise and had a blast. This is a 5-star exclusive, so I should have at least as much fun, right? Wrong... The author crammed a lot of combats in this scenario, meaning that our GM had to be liberal with his GM'ing (calling combats early) and even then we barely finished within the 5 hour mark. At the start of the scenario there is opportunity for roleplay (with a wonderful NPC!), but after that it is mainly a lot of combat. I do note that other reviewers imply that the last combat can be a social encounter, but we did not see it. What I really liked about Serpents Rise is that I felt that each pregen got an opportunity to experience character growth. With this scenario I did not feel that, which is a shame. All in all I would have preferred to play another scenario with one of my own characters rather than playing this one. Especially when it is a 5-star exclusive I do expect more. I ran this scenario yesterday for The Degraded at a tier 5-6 table. And I agree with both him and Ascalaphus that this special is fun and is not as bad as some reviewers want you to believe. Yes, there is some moral shadiness in the beginning of the special, but the table with the Paladin solved that admirably. After that there are several encounters that the players can either choose from or select randomly. At my table the players choose randomly and we had a good mix of role-playing, investigation and combat encounters. The auction stays weird in my book: it took us GM's a bit to figure out how to do this and we choose to let the GM's portray the NPC's. I think that did not work as well as it could. After that there is a load of fighting. Since we might have spend too much time on the previous acts the fighting did not last very long, which is a good thing. If we had allowed for enough time for all the fighting at the end the RP parts would have been much shorter (and therefore less fun). The scenario as written is a good closing of season 4, fitting with the theme of the season. It could have explained more regarding the involvement of certain factions. I have played Year of the Shadow Lodge and GM'ed Legacy of the Stonelords and would rank Race for the Runecarved Key behind Legacy of the Stonelords and before Year of the Shadow Lodge. Paizo has improved their specials over the years! A more detailed opinion on the acts, contains spoilers:
Act 1 (opening in the cathedral) is nice, but more exposition on the Key would have been nice. The characters are obviously interested why this macguffin is important, so give the GM something more to work with. I liked the sandbox nature of this act Act 2 (ambush the aspis): I loved the look on my players faces when first the wizard appeared and a round later there suddenly was a charging bulette! (and I picked this tier because I had just the right miniature). At the paladin's table one of the characters made a forgery that stated that the consortium owed the Temple of Abadar a considerable sum.... (the Paladin did not know this) Act 3 (weed out the opposition): great act, enough choice. Act 4 (auction, chase and fights): auction is weird and we as GM's should have given more OOC explanation. The cultists in the cathedral are tough while they should have been a speedbump. The chase was good, especially the advice to the GM's to be flexible with the skills used and that it is better not to tell the players what skill they can use The assasin is tough, but she should be. We ran out of time because the speedbump took too much time, causing the focus not to be at the epic end fight but at the speedbump. I narrated the opening of the gates and explained that behind them the charging Heidmarch's came to the rescue
I played this yesterday in a party of 3 + pregen in high tier. We had an investigator, channeling cleric and a bard and were helped by Jirelle. So there was an abundance of social skills in the party. Thinking back I think we were just a bit too good for this scenario, everything was rather smooth and therefore it felt a bit bland and not challenging. Was that a fault of the scenario or the GM? Not at all! The scenario is almost only role-play and allows for a lot of player interaction. However it lacked some tension, a feeling that we could have failed. Maybe the Venture Captain just picked the exact right team for the situation and there was no chance to fail, but for us it wasn't a scenario where you manage to succeed against the odds. The odds were stacked in our favor from the start. So what do I take away from this scenario: that it is probably a lot more fun with a party that is less fit for the challenge as you are then really forced to think out of the box and get into weird situations. We did our job expertly and smiled, but besides the smirking and joking over certain items and paintings in a bedroom there was little laughter to be had. Verdict: a strong 4 stars: I love scenario's that have lot of role-playing opportunity.
I GM'ed this yesterday for a table of 5 (mesmerist 2, rogue 2, cleric 1, cleric 1 and cavalier 1). We had a blast. I really liked the way the story allowed me to introduce several key concepts in Golarion history that not all players know about. The scenario contains a lot of role-playing opportunities, but needs a GM who is willing to cater to that and embellish the NPC's a bit. Once you know the story a replay won't really give another experience (like Murder on the Throaty Mermaid does). There is replay value in role-playing another method to go about the problem at hand with another character. Compared to the first steps series this scenario (and the Confirmation) is a big step forward. It is a connected scenario and not just some errands and replaying will give you some different challenges every-time. I also liked the light connection with the Confirmation. Final note: keep on making scenarios that allow GM's to tell the historic legends from Absalom / Golarion. I played this scenario recently with a party with an APL just beneath the high tier mark. We where very glad that we played low tier. The scenario placed us in a temple complex we needed to search through, and the first scene the GM painted for us when we where below ground was enough for us to look around and check if there where no children within earshot. A couple of very tough combats later we emerged successfully aboveground. We came very close to some gruesome deaths on our side and we luckily had some boons to burn to avoid just that. I loved that this scenario really had us at that marvelous point where everything could have gone wrong and some good combat-thinking from our side saved the day. All in all a scenario with hard combats, a deeply disturbing frame and little to no roleplay. I would not like it if all scenario's where like this, but once in a while it is tremendous fun. What would have improved my rating: I would have liked it better if more background could be found without knowledge checks. Although we had good knowledge skills we botched some rolls and did not get the big picture. When we where busy with chronicles the GM and some players that I GM for in a Dragon's Demand game confessed that they had not heard from Mike Shel before. I casually dropped that he is also the writer of Dragon's Demand and that I was not surprised at the brutality of the scenario... |
Pathfinder Society GM. Starfinder Society GM. 1,106 posts (14,602 including aliases). 19 reviews. 3 lists. 1 wishlist. 24 Organized Play characters. 13 aliases. 
