Pathfinder Society Scenario # 10-98: "Siege of Gallowspire" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Siege of Gallowspire is the conclusion to an eleven-year-long campaign, which is something incredible itself.  The scenario offers two modes of play: Soldier (slightly harder than a normal scenario) and Champion (much harder than a normal scenario).  There are also no four-player adjustments.  An interesting feature unique to the scenario is that each player can bring three other PCs along as Aid Characters--these PCs aren't run in the traditional way but (off-screen) contribute to the success of the mission by taking a supporting role.  However, Aid Characters can be put at risk and even die!  I think the idea was to allow players to have a final send off to more than just one PC, but I tend to find aid mechanisms in these specials a bit clunky and usually unnecessary.  Apart from that, the scenario is well-written and elegantly structured--even at 107 pages(!), it's easier to navigate than a lot of specials I've seen.

As the formal capstone adventure for Pathfinder First Edition, a lot of PCs are probably going to die (mine did--though he got better!).  However, it's not a pure meat grinder (at least at Soldier level)--which is a good thing, because I still see a lot of life in PFS1 and plan to keep playing until I've experienced all of it.  I got a chance to play Siege of Gallowspire with my half-orc paladin, Trokkus, at a Subtier 10-11 table at PaizoCon AP in 2019.  It was definitely a memorable experience.

SPOILERS

As the name implies, Siege of Gallowspire ties into the events of the Tyrant's Grasp adventure path.  The Whispering Tyrant (the legendary lich, Tar-Baphon) has finally escaped his fortress/prison at Gallowspire.  However, he left behind a potentially devastating collection of unholy servants who are now conducting a dark ritual to create an army of undead to serve their master and sweep over the Inner Sea.  Almost the entirety of the Pathfinder Society has been assembled to storm Gallowspire and stop this from happening.

In mechanical terms, the scenario is structured as having three substantive parts.  In each part, tables will face a "primary encounter" which, if they win, counts as one success reported to the overseer.  Once a certain number of successes are reported, the entire room moves on.  There is a (real-life) time limit to each part of the scenario and if this is reached, the game advances as well but there's an impact on Chronicle boon rewards at the end.  In addition to each part having a primary encounter, there are also two sets of optional encounters to be run at the discretion of the GM if their table is quickly mowing down the opposition.  Each of these optional encounters also contributes a success to the overall part.

Part 1 is the general briefing and mustering.  Unlike some specials which give the PCs some skill checks to do to accomplish minor tasks (and earn small advantages) while mustering, that time is taken up with filling out the Aid Characters sheets.  The briefing, delivered by Marcos Farabellus and Siege Lord Wynsal Starborn, is short and straightforward.  The stakes are clear.  I do find it interesting how much the Pathfinder Society has moved into a general "do-gooder" group from its much less idealistic Season Zero roots.  This seems to match the entire setting's gradual shift to a more black and white "good vs evil" morality from an original view that was much more cynical or realistic (depending on your point of view).  Anyway, the actual mission into Gallowspire will be led by Venture-Captain Shevar Besnik and Silver Crusade leader Ollysta Zadrian.

Part 2 covers the Pathfinders' difficult approach to the crater that now exists after the prison was destroyed during the Whispering Tyrant's escape.  Foul necromantic energies from the release have corrupted and altered the landscape and created a sort of unholy jungle.  The primary encounter for each subtier is versus some kind of plant monster that's a couple of CR above the subtier.  For my group, it was a tough battle that lasted longer than I expected and made clear to me that my poor paladin was outmatched!  After the primary encounter, there's a role-playing encounter with Sarenrae-aligned orcs of the Burning Sun tribe.

Part 3 is a long section of the scenario that sees the Pathfinders venturing into the catacombs underneath the crater.  There are a lot of advantages (and risks) to be gained by using the Aid Characters.  The primary encounter for each subtier is against either oozes or constructs (or both at the same time).  For example, my subtier 10-11 table fought an augmented alchemical golem and something called "gravesludge" at the same time.  After the primary encounter, there's a sort of skills-challenge to disable wards that Tar-Baphon had left that bar further descent into the heart of Gallowspire.  Successfully bypassing the wards allows entry into the Silent Shrine, which makes good use of the Arcane Library Flip-Mat.  There's a second primary encounter here versus monsters that aren't (as far as I can tell) really themed across sub-tiers.  There's some free-form exploration here and a chance for PCs to get some "Clue Successes" by figuring out more about the ritual that is being conducted while realising that there's also a powerful holy relic (a statue of Chaldira Zuzaristan) hidden somewhere below.

Part 4 has the cool idea of alternative pathways for the Soldier and Champion tables.  Soldier tables go with V-C Shevar Besnik to try to retrieve the relic, while Champion tables go with Ollysta Zadrian to disrupt the necromantic ritual.

The Soldier mission (which is what I played) was set in a cool underground canyon with cliffs overlooking a river of negative energy below.  This is the big climactic encounter of the special, and the encounter is both epic as a descriptive term and in mechanical terms: each subtier faces a monster at least 4 CR over their level.  At subtier 10-11, we fought a nasty advanced nightwing that made excellent use of its flying ability to make life hard for melee characters.  I learned (with the "aid" of a very snarky player) why every PC needs to have ranged weapon alternatives.  My poor paladin died in this battle, but in a suitably epic way, and fortunately I had just enough prestige to bring him back.  It was awesome.  

The Champion mission requires the destruction of a massive pillar that pulses harmful necromantic energies each round while lending particular advantages to its evil defenders (most significantly to stop cheese, the pillar makes the defenders immune to the dazing condition and makes their Touch AC the same as their regular AC--I wish there were more things that did in this in PF1!).  These encounters are 5-6 CR over subtier!  Champion tables at the highest subtier (15-16) get the choice to take on an even crazier challenge, which the GM is required to tell them goes beyond epic: and it turns out to be against the freaking CR22 Grim Reaper!  Whether your PC lived or died, that would be a pretty cool story to be able to tell as a player.

To add to the epic, cinematic feel of the final battle, both Shevar Besnik and Ollysta Zadrian are killed.  They had a fitting send-off, and I thought it was an effective story device.

After enough successes (or the time limit is reached), an earthquake starts to swallow the remnants of Gallowspire.  Players can volunteer to have their PCs die in a suitably cinematic way if they want them to have a heroic (though narratively delivered) ending here.  The conclusion text is short and sweet.

Overall, I really enjoyed Siege of Gallowspire.  I probably would have been even more impressed if I had been playing since the beginning of the organised play campaign (instead of just the past few years) and if I had more invested in the Whispering Tyrant storyline.  I guess one could say that the scenario essentially amounts to a dungeon crawl, with one scripted encounter after the other.  Sometimes that would bother me, but for something like this, it seemed appropriate.  I hope this scenario is something everyone who loves PFS gets to experience at some point.