A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 7–11.
The time has come to strike down the vile Korholm Agenda, the faction of the Aspis Consortium that launched a staggering attack against the Pathfinder Society a year ago. The Agenda’s leader has allied himself with one of the most powerful men in Thuvia, and together they are on the cusp of pitching the entire region into a brutal war of conquest and greed. The Pathfinder Society has placed its trust in the PCs to stop this internecine conflict. To do so, they must confront the Korholm Agenda’s leader in his own domain.
Content in “Ageless Ambitions” also contributes directly to the ongoing storyline of the Sovereign Court faction. Content in this scenario also ties into a special metaplot element from Pathfinder Society Special #6–98: "Serpents Rise." Players who have completed that special event are encouraged to bring its Chronicle sheet when playing this adventure.
Written by Luis Loza.
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I ended up playing this scenario on the high tier with a group of 4, while I myself was level 4 and the only caster. Thankfully my mesmerist has a fair amount of shutdown potential, so I thought it would be okay. Turns out, I was partially right. What I could see, I could shut down. The enemy that I couldn’t see, killed me. I’m glad our paladin was successful with his breath of life scroll.
I think that’s also an adequate summary of the encounters. They pack quite a punch and can really dish out a ton of damage. You shouldn’t underestimate the potential this scenario has when it comes to killing characters. That said, it’s still a fair scenario. The fights are challenging, but not overly harsh. Had I been level 9, I wouldn’t have been instantly dead for instance. I would have still taken a nap while bleeding out, but that’s what happens if you’re squishy and get surprised during the final encounter.
The storyline is okay. It’s not terribly exciting or unique, and it almost feels like three different ideas where just tossed together to form one scenario. In the greater scheme of things it makes sense, but doesn’t really make for good storytelling. I also wish the small description of the scenario would have mentioned some other NPCs. That way I would have brought a different character who had previously met the princess.
The Sovereign Court indeed faces a tough challenge to get their boon. I succeeded, partially because I was lucky that I was a face character, partially because there was another party-member with high modifiers on certain skill checks. Given the particular strength of the boon, I do agree it’s something that players have to earn and that it shouldn’t be an easy task. However, I think the DCs are a bit too high, especially due to the circumstances that make it a bit harder.
Ageless Ambitions can be a rough and more specifically painful scenario. At the same time, you need to be able to succeed at some skill checks. It’s a nice mix of things and both sides of this coin are challenging. In the end I will recommend the scenario mostly for those who like challenging combats. The role-playing opportunities are there, but not extraordinary, which for me is a tad disappointing. Regardless, if you’re going to play this scenario, be sure to come prepared.
Title says it all. I had the feeling the events unfurled around us without us having to do much, so I got to lean back while my party took on the encounters one by one... or so I thought.
In the end my oracle and his wolf animal companion had to work hard to keep everyone on their feet, and while we managed to get by on high tier (no 4-player adjustment), the GM did tone down some of the encounters for the sake of RP.
I think that a well-prepared GM can throw some serious hurt on the players in this scenario, so if you like that (like me), by all means! There are some rare enemies to be found.
Its a tough cookie this one. Both for players and the GM. Lots of options on the monsters/NPCs.
But its a rewarding tough cookie. I had a lot of fun playing it and we had a lot of close calls.
Excelent scenario for the experienced Pathfinder.
Would not recommend for players who have their first character just turn lvl 7.
This scenario was a blast to play. It felt a bit like 24: the terrorists are gonna do stuff all over the place, and you have only so much time to stop them and limit casualties.
The enemies come fast and furiously in this one. We wanted to get to places early and intercept enemies before they struck, but the scenario doesn't really allow that to happen (which was a bit annoying). Instead you're challenged in how fast you can react to enemy moves and neutralize them, because they have more things lined up for you. We were feeling almost overwhelmed. It was epic.
In addition, enemies were rarely-seen but appropriate monsters and NPCs built well enough to put up a real fight. I approve.
The one thing detracting from a 5-star rating here is the Sovereign Court mission. It's practically impossible. There's a significant likelihood that it'll fail due to random dice rolls of the GM without the players being able to prevent it.
Even if there is a chance for the players to try to do something, it basically requires the Sovereign Court characters to spend all their actions on that instead of on fighting. It felt like the writer assumed that SovCo PCs are non-combatant Face characters who needed something to do in combat. For "action prince" PCs it comes down to a choice such as "will I fulfill my Tank/Striker combat role or work on my faction mission", which was annoying.
I don't think faction missions should be written as "either you cooperate with the party, or you work on your own goals". I don't think they should require splitting off from the main action, rather, they could involve the faction PC taking the whole party in another direction or picking a different angle.
I had a lot of fun playing this in the high tier, and running it for the local players as well. The encounters are extremely challenging, depending on the party makeup. GMs need to brush up on sniping rules (and how the final encounters breaks them) to make sure it remains at the appropriate difficulty.
Good use of monsters that are not so common in pathfinder scenarios, and not complicated to run with.
Is this more of a tear the aspsis apart confront or more of a socialite encounter? Bronze house reprisal's blurb made it sound more hackey slashy than it was.
I'm going to guess (given info from other scenarios) that this is going to be a hack and slash, similar in some ways to Vengeance at Sundered Crag. But obviously I'm not the one with the actual answers.
Is this more of a tear the aspsis apart confront or more of a socialite encounter? Bronze house reprisal's blurb made it sound more hackey slashy than it was.
Spoiler:
Like many adventures, there's lots of room to use skills in interesting ways. This does, however, have ample opportunity—even necessity—to "problem-solve" with violence.
Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
