A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 7-11.
In the naga-ruled nation of Nagajor in southern Tian Xia, the Pathfinder Society finds itself caught between feuding factions in a remote village. Forced to choose a side, the decisions of the agents involved could determine whether or not the Society gains access to a valuable religious artifact considered sacred by the village's nagaji population.
Written by Alex Greenshields.
This scenario is designed for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, but can easily be adapted for use with any world. This scenario is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
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An incredibly well done jaunt into an obscure Tian nation without coming across like a safari. I’m smitten with this adventure, which casts the PCs as kingmakers in a naga gang war over who will rule a small trade town. Both sides are flawed - the traditionalist is young, inexperienced, and one of her few allies is Lawful Evil, while the reformer is openly motivated by naked profit - and each had a cool mercenary champion leading their forces. This scenario is exceptional!
I wholeheartedly agree with and endorse everything they both said.
This scenario was surprisingly easy to prep (even moreso because it's a Tier 7-11, which normally take more rather than less time), and was a blast to run for a fun group.
This one is going on my "Favorite PFS Scenarios to GM" list!
Almost everything about the scenario.
The story was good, and it's a "sandbox" that works in the allotted time. The combats vary from speedbump to challenging and are set up in such a way that both tactics and feats matter, the combats feel fairly original and creative while still being fairly manageable to prepare as the GM. The nice part is that neither group feels like the perfect choice for a given group.
The bad:
There isn't anyway to come to a third solution, choose A or B. Also, there's what I'd assume is an odd artifact of the editing process where the party is given some gold at the beginning, with no real reason/way to use it later.
The ugly:
If your party is basically 2 languages it's going to be a struggle. (Though this can be mitigated fairly easily).
Overall, I felt like this scenario encompassed exactly what I want out of a scenario. Decent to great (party/GM dependent) roleplay opportunities and interesting combats.
I give 0-3 stars for crunch, and another 0-3 for fluff.
Crunch: 3 Stars
The encounters were varied, appropriately challenging, and used interesting and sensible tactics. Beyond this, the final encounter was (a) more than two enemies, so action economy advantage was not heavily skewed in the players' favor and (b) composed of a variety of enemies that synergized well tactically.
The social/knowledge aspects were sensible with appropriate DCs for the tier. There wasn't a lot of skill use out of combat, but I don't see that as a big enough issue to deduct a star.
Fluff: 2 Stars
The story was solid, involving meaningful player choice. The setting felt alive and detailed. The NPCs were interesting and had distinct personalities. The theme was more about economics than another archetypal 'heroes vanquishing evil' trope-fest. There could have been a bit more in the way of an investigation or social encounters, but the story still hangs together quite nicely.
This thing better be based on the Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name, or I'll cry foul! Otherwise, it's like naming an adventure "A Tale of Two Cities," and then it turns out to have nothing to do with a revolution. Or naming one "Moby Dick," and having no ships or whales in it.
If it gets anyone to pick up Dash, it's well worth it. Also, I think of the PFS scenarios like the modules in Dungeon where it was totally okay to plunder titles from other works. It's not theft, it's a hommage.
This thing better be based on the Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name, or I'll cry foul! Otherwise, it's like naming an adventure "A Tale of Two Cities," and then it turns out to have nothing to do with a revolution. Or naming one "Moby Dick," and having no ships or whales in it.
Dashiell who? This is an hommage to the great Bruce Willis movie "Last Man Standing"! :)
This thing better be based on the Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name, or I'll cry foul! Otherwise, it's like naming an adventure "A Tale of Two Cities," and then it turns out to have nothing to do with a revolution. Or naming one "Moby Dick," and having no ships or whales in it.
Dashiell who? This is an hommage to the great Bruce Willis movie "Last Man Standing"! :)
Oh, dear. I hope you meant that to read as an homage to the Kurosawa movie Yojimbo? Or the Sergio Leone movie A Fistful of Dollars? (Yes, Last Man Standing was an authorized remake, but.... the greatness, it does seem to descend from Kurosawa's adaptation of The Glass Key)
Season: Tian Xia featuring Society adaptations of Kurosawa greatness seems like a reasonably iconic choice... The Seven Samurai was well adapted, hopefully this will be as good :)
I don't know where that came from, but it's been fixed and the PDF will be updated as soon as the web team has a chance to do so. We'll send out an email about it once the change goes live, which should be later today.
The PDF of this scenario has been updated (emails informing those who have already purchased it should be going out soon) to correct an error in the first act (in the low subtier, the correct number of enemies is now shown in the creature statblock; in the high subtier, the creature's special attack damage has been modified).
Hey Alex, I have to say I really enjoyed this scenario. The flavor was cool, the plot didn't have an easy answer (like real life sometimes), the fights were tough, (very tough) :-) and I thought you captured the feel of Nagajor so that the PCs could experience it.
Oh, dear. I hope you meant that to read as an homage to the Kurosawa movie Yojimbo? Or the Sergio Leone movie A Fistful of Dollars? (Yes, Last Man Standing was an authorized remake, but.... the greatness, it does seem to descend from Kurosawa's adaptation of The Glass Key
You mean "Kurosawa's adaptation of Red Harvest." Miller's Crossing was the Coen Brothers' adaptation of The Glass Key.
There is a box next to the chronicle boon Lore of the Lotus Annals, which grants two kind of bonus, while the text do not mention about checking the box.
The bonus can be used only once or at will?