Pathfinder Society Scenario # 10-04: "Reaver's Roar" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I ran Reaver's Roar at low tier using the four-player adjustment, with each player running a pre-gen.  The session turned out better than I thought it would from my first read-through, as this is one that could get off the rails very quickly if the players make the "wrong" decision  On the other hand, after such a big build up, the combats turned out to be far too easy.  I do appreciate the incorporation of interesting setting lore, the inclusion of a puzzle (something we don't see often in PFS scenarios) and some opportunities for role-playing.

SPOILERS

Reaver's Roar takes place in the nation of Lastwall, the final stop for crusaders working to contain the evils of the Whispering Tyrant's undead hordes.  When the Inner Sea World Guide was published several years ago, a small town in Lastwall named Roslar's Coffer received a capsule description about how it had become the territory of a red reaver: a huge, monstrous demonic beast attracted to things of beauty.  In this case, that thing of beauty was a temple to Sarenrae located near the village.  In a nice bid to continuity (and preparation for the setting to be updated in the game's second edition), this scenario involves the PCs rousting the red reaver from Roslar's Coffer and recovering some holy artifacts in the temple.

The scenario begins with a joint briefing from Venture-Captain Shevar Besnik and the leader of the Silver Crusade, Ollysta Zadrian.  The mission the PCs are given is fairly straightforward: travel to Roslar's Coffer, find the temple known as the Bastion of Light, and figure out a way to banish or kill the red reaver.  A lot of references are made to how the red reaver has somehow become incredibly strong and that perhaps things within the temple could be useful in defeating it, and GMs better hope that their players take the hint for reasons detailed shortly.

The journey to Roslar's Coffer is uneventful.  The writer does a good job describing the place, and how the villagers have gradually withdrawn, leaving abandoned homes and stores, within about a 1 mile radius of the temple.  A local dwarf historian can provide the PCs with directions and the layout of the temple, but the rest is up to them.

Here's where things get dicey.  As the PCs approach the temple, they'll see the red reaver chowing down on some orcs that are also trying to get into the temple.  But this is no ordinary red reaver: it's been given mythic levels and other templates to make it, at both subtiers, a CR 17/MR 2 creature!  The idea here is that the PCs are supposed to see this beast and be so intimidated by it that they run for the safety of the temple using the Chase mechanics.   The two potential problems with this set-up occur if the PCs don't take the hint and try to fight the red reaver (after all, PCs are warned about terrible monsters by villagers every day).  The first possibility, of course, is that they could all get killed in a battle that is highly unfair; a TPK just an hour into a session isn't exactly fair.  The second possibility is that they could kill the red reaver and win the scenario right away--despite the creature's appearance, it doesn't really deal out that much damage and I know there are some PFS groups with super-optimized characters (hold monster with a high DC and a coup de grace can kill a lot of things!).  Either way, it's a risky gambit for a scenario.  Fortunately, the group I ran it for went with the Chase option.

The Chase itself is fine, though I still find it hard as a GM to incorporate the skill checks in a natural and organic way so that it doesn't feel too "gamey." I didn't like how the success conditions of the Chase were implemented: basically, they just give the PCs more or less time inside the temple before the red reaver breaks through the (off-camera) barricades the PCs are assumed to put up.  My suspension of disbelief was broken in having to imagine that a mythic red reaver with a Strength of 32 couldn't break through some hastily-barricaded wooden doors and windows.    In addition, even if they somehow do terrible on the Chase, the PCs are still given plenty of time to do everything they need to do in the temple.  Finally, it wasn't clear to me how to convey to the players, using in-game language, how much time their characters thought they had left.  It all felt very forced to me.

Once inside the Bastion of Light, the PCs have to deal with a few things while searching for the holy item they've been sent to recover.  First, there are fungal spore pods that can sap PCs' Constitution.  Second, the red reaver can make a single attack through the floorboards or a window (mechanically this is treated as a trap).  This was interesting because there's a "Gruesome Mangling" special effect that can result in a character losing a limb!  Third, there are bands of evil orcs from the Twisted Nail tribe rummaging through some rooms.  In an interesting move that I've never seen in PFS before, some of these threats are placed normally in particular rooms but the GM is given an optional "bank" of traps and orcs to place in whatever rooms they want in order to keep up the tension.  I'm a bit torn by the idea, because I like empowering GMs to customise the scenario for how the session is running, but it could result in some GMs making things easier or harder than others and thus violating the PFS principle that GMs can never add, remove, or alter encounters.

A good role-playing opportunity within the temple is a severely injured orc warpriest of Sarenrae named Uirch.  The PCs can fight him, of course, but if they offer him enough healing he'll help the PCs with information or (with the four-player adjustment) even help them fight.  The thing that's a bit odd, as pointed out in the forums, is that Uirch is described as terribly injured and the GM is told that the PCs need to give him 35 hit points worth of healing to gain his trust, but Uirch has the warpriest spells prepared to completely heal himself.  And, to boot, he's sitting right next to a magical healing font that could put him to right.

Above, I mentioned that there is a puzzle was included in the scenario.  Puzzles are hard to do well, but I have to give the writer credit for this one.  It involves finding and placing a series of symbols in the right order within an ankh.  Figuring out the placement of the symbols requires understanding their relevance to the religious doctrines of Sarenrae, and some real depth and attention to the setting lore is displayed (or developed) here.  And for the "we hate puzzles" crowd, an option is given to just brute-force the thing and take a time penalty (I think the time penalty should be longer given how much time the PCs have in the temple to begin with, but that's a minor quibble).

At some point, the red reaver busts into the temple for the big final showdown.  This was disappointing when I ran it.  There are so many buffs available within the temple, and so many magical ways to weaken the red reaver, that the battle became laughably easy.   In my session, the creature got killed in two rounds and never even scratched a PC--and that's with everyone playing pre-gens!  PCs who do everything right within the temple to buff themselves and weaken the red reaver should be rewarded with an easier battle, but not a trivial one.

To wrap up this review, I think Reaver's Roar is a real mixed bag.  I like how it picks up a hook from a sourcebook and runs with it, the puzzle was done well, and the general premise of "PCs under siege" was fairly original.  On the other hand, the red reaver could either be way too hard or way too easy and much of the scenario felt forced and unrealistic.  The germ of something really good is here, but just hasn't quite ripened.