Pathfinder Society Scenario # 5-21: "The Merchant's Wake" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I got to play The Merchant's Wake via play-by-post with my Groetus-worshipping, doomsaying, filth-encrusted oracle Makras Vekker (he was certainly not the right choice given the premise of the scenario, but I didn't know!).  The scenario is a substantive, well-written one with some real meat on the bones--I'd be surprised if many live groups didn't struggle to finish in the normal five-hour slot.  There's a lot of role-playing in this one, and the scenario provides the GM with plenty of support to make it manageable.  The action scenes are done well and fun to play (even if a tad on the easy side), and there's plenty of attention to setting lore.  Overall, I think it's a winner.

SPOILERS!

In a departure from the norm, The Merchant's Wake doesn't start with a briefing from a Venture-Captain.  Instead, the PCs are directed (by letter) to attend (as representatives of the Society) the wake for a woman named Zarmina Bahjari.  Zarmini was the mentor for an important PFS figure, Trade Prince Aaqir al'Hakam.  Many players will recognise al'Hakam from previous scenarios, and this one provides (the GM, at least) a lot of information about his personal background.  Zarmini hand-picked al'Hakam and set him on the path to his current position, and he loved her dearly.  There's a bit of fun to be had at the beginning about appropriate clothing for the characters to wear to a wake in Katheer (the capital of Qadira, a nation inspired by classical Arabian themes).  Makras was forcibly given a bath, if I recall!

The bulk of the scenario takes place at the luxurious mansion in Katheer where the wake will be held.  After the PCs pay their respects to al'Hakam, another reason for their being sent is revealed.  Although family members would be culturally forbidden from doing business at a wake, al'Hakam knows several other influential merchants will be attending--and wants the PCs to help him make contacts to expand his trade network.  This plays out as the PCs attempting to earn "Influence Points" with the five different merchants available through the use of social skills and (hopefully) some quality role-playing.  This sort of situation will be familiar to most PFS/SFS players, but it's done really well in The Merchant's Wake.  Each of the NPCs has artwork, a thorough description of motivations and personality (for the GM to work with), interesting relationships with the other merchants, and a way that additional favour can be curried with them by handling a little task or errand (like planting something embarrassing on a rival).  Two of the merchants, Temel Passad (a prophet of Kalistrade) and Metella Rauger (a dwarf from the Five Kinds Mountains) hate each other, and the PCs will probably be forced to pick a side (they first appear in # 5-01).  Another merchant, Jakti al'Alwar (an inquisitor of Sarenrae) may seem unimportant at first, but he actually has murder on his mind, as the PCs may soon learn.  Anyway, it's a model for how these sorts of social influence challenges should be handled.  The GM just needs to keep a close eye on the clock to make sure it doesn't consume too much game-time.

After some general mingling, a cleric of Pharasma named Umut begins the formal funereal ceremony while standing over a bier bearing the shrouded body of Zarmina.  But what nobody knows is that Umut was actually murdered on her way to Katheer and replaced by a cleric of Urgathoa, the goddess of disease and the undead!  After "Umut" finishes her invocations and leaves, Zarmina arises as a mummy and attacks!  It's a fun surprise and way to start an encounter, even though I don't imagine it will be a challenging one for the PCs.

After dealing with the body, al'Hakam asks the PCs to make sure the grounds are otherwise secure.  While they're dealing this, they'll receive notes from one of the merchants that they influenced the most, asking for them to negotiate a deal with al'Hakam.  But while this is going on, al'Alwar has his assassins attack one of those merchants!  Now, the exact reasons for this aren't clear to me--al'Hakam is a Sarenite, a member of the Cult of the Dawnflower, and for some reason believes two of the other merchants are enemies of the Cult--but it's not clear why.  And as the target is screaming for aid, to add to the drama, waves of zombies from a nearby cemetery (animated by the Urgathoan) begin to assault the building!  In a clever use of modified Chase rules, the PCs need to speedily overcome the obstacles of the zombies to stop the assassination--the longer it takes the PCs to intervene, the more likely it is that the assassin is successful.  I thought it was a well-done sequence.

The last phase of the scenario is when the PCs are sent to the cemetery to figure out what's going on.  It's there that the disguised Urgathoan will either lure the PCs into a trap or be discovered for who she really is.  She may be accompanied by some skeletons, but the PCs will still likely outnumber their foes (a common problem in PFS) and win handily.  There's then some information a GM can use to craft the epilogue depending on what happened with the various merchants.

I thought The Merchant's Wake did a nice job sprinkling the heavy role-playing with some exciting doses of action.  It's definitely one worth running or playing, just as long as adequate time is set aside.  It confirms my suspicion that no matter where Pathfinder Society agents go--the opera, a coronation, or even a wake--trouble is sure to follow!