Pathfinder Society Scenario # 10-07: "Mysteries Under Moonlight Part 2" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I ran this at high-tier using the four-player adjustment.  Although I would recommend people going through  Part 1 (# 10-05) first, it's not really that big of a deal if they don't.  Part 2 stands well on it's own, and is probably a better overall adventure.  The scenario writer was thoughtful about how different groups might approach the challenges involved, and provided lots of sidebars to help GMs customise things.  There's also a good mix of different types of encounters (both combat and non-combat), and a pretty cool set-piece finale.  Overall, I appreciate Mysteries Under Moonlight, Part 2: The Howling Dance much more then I thought I would on an initial skim.  It's a very professional, meaty, complete scenario.

SPOILERS

The scenario starts about a week after the events of Part 1, in which the Pathfinders successfully cleansed a malevolent taint infecting several of the monuments in Magnimar.  But although the symptoms have been dealt with, the cause still remains: an evil fey lurking in the heart of the Mushfens (swamps) outside the city.  Tulvhatha, a twisted will-o'-wisp, has taken control of the Glade of Silver Sparks (a sacred site dedicated to Ashava) and turned it into an unholy source of power.  The opening briefing, by Sheila Heidmarch, charges the PCs with venturing into the Mushfens and wresting control of the Glade of Silver Sparks from Tulvhatha.  Present during the briefing (but regrettably not illustrated) is an NPC from Part 1 named Luvyire.  Luvyire offers Ashava's blessing to the PCs, which manifests on the night of the full moon as the ability to transform into a celestial werewolf!  This ability stays with the PCs throughout the scenario, and in an un-jaded group could be seen as pretty awesome--both cinematically and for the mechanical benefits of DR, bonuses to natural armor, speed increases, etc..  The scenario's author anticipated that some PCs might not want even a temporary, beneficial "gift" of lycanthropy, and set out a nice sidebar for what happens if all the PCs refuse (with a mix of positive and negative benefits).

The first encounter starts once the PCs have entered the Mushfens and (presumably) transformed into wolf or hybrid form with the full moon.  That jerk from Part 1, a "supernatural investigator" (Inquisitor of Abadar) named Theodorus catches the PCs shifting and attacks, thinking they're evil werewolves.  My PC almost attacked Theodorus in Part 1, so I didn't feel too bad for the poor schmuck.  His uppance came even if through an understandable mistake on his part.  I'll note in passing here that the author did a nice job describing the "feel" of the Mushfens

Venturing further into the Mushfens, the PCs come across a kidnapping in progress!  A swan maiden is being abducted by a pack of custom-made "Lurkers-in-Twilight" (Lurkers-in-Light corrupted by Tulvhatha's presence).  This leads to a classic Chase, but lessons learned from previous appearances of Chases in scenarios are applied here.  The Chase is fast-paced, well-described, has a reasonable number of choices, and has a good spread of consequences depending on the PCs' success.  At high-tier, and with the bonuses from wolf form, it's probably a touch too-easy (only one PC needs to succeed on each obstacle, with the others' results serving as Aid Another), but I don't think anyone at the table minded too much.

When the PCs catch up to the Lurkers-in-Twilight, there's a battle to rescue the swan maiden (unless they were terrible at the Chase, in which case she's already dead!).  They don't do much damage, but they can potentially blind PCs--and that could create major problems for a character for the rest of the scenario!  PCs who accepted the blessing would still have Scent, however, which lessens the problem somewhat.

I really liked the next encounter, even if it's only tangentially relevant to the scenario's main plot.  The path the PCs need to follow leads them into the territory of a pack of dire wolves; but the wolves' leader, Riverfang, has become twisted into an undead creature called a vukodlak.  However, this doesn't have to be a combat encounter.  The PCs can plausibly just sneak past, or, more likely, convince Riverfang to back down and leave the area by persuading the rest of the pack to turn against him.  Encounters that offer genuine combat and non-combat options are always appreciated, and this is a good opportunity for role-playing in the middle of what's an otherwise action-heavy scenario.

The next bit was equally as good, though for a different reason.  It's rare in Pathfinder Society for PCs to get a chance to share their backgrounds (and especially secrets) in an organic way.  But this scenario instructs the GM to ask each player, before the game begins, to write down their character's greatest fear.  By the time this encounter arises, most players will have forgotten doing it, which makes it very effective when a haunted mist brings visions of that fear to the character's mind!  Mechanically this operates as a haunt; it's not likely to really hurt anyone (a PC gets two saves before there are any negative effects), but I like the concept.

The climactic battle against Tulvatha comes next.  The setting is large and a pain-in-the-butt to draw, so GMs should try to do it beforehand.  As a will-o'-wisp, Tulvhatha is naturally invisible and immune to most magic, and because she's close to the corrupted holy site, she gains fast healing. In effect, she doesn't do much offensively but can gradually wear PCs down while bobbing and weaving and healing up from the occasional strike that does land against her.  I remember it was a long, challenging fight that (I think) resulted in the death of one PC before they finally managed to kill Tulvatha.

The conclusion is solid, and I appreciated that there was some role-playing and a description of subsequent events.  The Werewolf's Resilience boon is pretty sweet, even if it's a one-time only thing.

Overall, I can't really think of anything bad to say about Mysteries Under Moonlight, Part 2: The Howling Dance, and I can think of plenty of good things.  I'd definitely recommend it, even if the lead-in from Part 1 is a bit weak.