Pathfinder Society Scenario # 7-07: "Trouble in Tamran" [RPG]

 NO SPOILERS

I recently played Trouble in Tamran via play-by-post.  It’s a carefully-researched and well-written scenario that ties strongly into the season meta-plot and PFS lore.  The artwork, maps, and handouts are all attractive.  Importantly, there’s plenty of room for different groups to approach some issues in different ways.  There’s a lot of meat to the bone of this scenario, and if I have any complaints, it’s that I imagine a live table-run of the scenario would almost surely go overtime.  Still, I certainly recommend it as long as there’s no rush to finish.

SPOILERS!

Trouble in Tamran has a pretty involved backstory.  The Aspis Consortium, a long-time rival of the Pathfinder Society, has launched a quiet war to undermine the PFS all over the Inner Sea.  In the city of Tamran in the country of Nirmathas, this attack has taken the form of intercepting shipments to the Ashen Lodge (the Society’s headquarters in the city), spreading rumours that the PFS has allied with Nirmathas’ mortal enemy Molthune, and allying with another group with a beef against the PFS (the Church of Razmir) to rough up any reinforcements the Society sends into the city.  The PCs come in at this point, assigned to help former Sczarni faction leader Guaril Karela discover why his (smuggled) shipments to the city keep getting intercepted.

The scenario does a great job incorporating story points from previous adventures.  One of the creeps recruited by the Aspis Consortium to cause trouble in Tamran is Madreki Gael, an old foe of Guaril Karela.  The leader of the Aspis mission is Zurnzal, a major foe in Season 6 (and players who have the Chronicle from # 6-98 may get a bonus in the scenario).  The reason the Church of Razmir is happy to cooperate with the plan is because of what the Society did to its temple in Tamran in the module Masks of the Living God.  That module contains a gazetteer of Tamran, and several locations and at least one NPC from it are integrated here.  By sheer coincidence, I happened to be running Masks of the Living God online at the same time as I played Trouble in Tamran, and it was a kick to see the city from dual perspectives.

A major part of the first half of the scenario has the PCs investigating different leads to try to figure out what’s going on: why the shipments have been stopped, who’s spreading the rumours about the PFS, etc.  This is handled perfectly, as different leads are connected to locations and NPCs that are quickly and concisely described, giving a GM just enough to work with for quality role-playing while not overwhelming them with detail.  No single lead or clue is mandatory, but instead it’s a cumulative accumulation of knowledge that, when analysed, will hopefully lead to the right conclusion.  To keeps things interesting, the GM is given two encounters to insert at dramatically appropriate times.  One is an ambush by Razmiran-infiltrated militia, and the other is a really clever frame-up where the Church plants Molthuni coins on the PCs.  Overall, I thought the investigation section was handled well, and I always appreciate it when a scenario gives the players some flexibility in how they go about solving a problem and the GM some flexibility in deciding when to place some obstacles in their way.

When the PCs next meet up with Guaril Karela, he says he’s been able to learn that the cargo thieves must be operating out of one of the abandoned forts near the city—but there are four of them, and he doesn’t know which one is being used.  The PCs can use the clues they’ve gathered as a sort of real-world logic puzzle to eliminate the forts one by one until only the correct fort is left.  Or, if they didn’t happen to gather enough clues (or interpret them correctly), they can brute-force a solution by manually searching all the forts—but each wrong guess gives more time for the defenders in the right fort to prepare (making the encounters a little harder).  Again, a very clever way of handling things.

The last part of the scenario involves attacking the right fort and learning who’s behind the Society’s troubles in the city.  The encounters here involve some clever illusions (that certainly worked on my character), more militia and Razmirans, and a cool skinwalker (Zurnzal’s apprentice) named Cetenna.  Assuming they succeed in the battles, the PCs will discover various handouts that explain the Aspis Consortium’s involvement and plans (a good way of ensuring that all the background isn’t something only the GM becomes aware of).

When I was playing it, I don’t think I appreciated Trouble in Tamran as much as I should have.  I’ve played too many Season 0/Season 1 scenarios where the group get one vague clue and are then expected to rush off after it, but by Season 7, scenarios are far richer and more intelligent.  Play-by-post also has the unfortunate side-effect of making it hard to remember what was uncovered days or weeks earlier.  But reading it for the purposes of this review, I can see how well-constructed the scenario is.  It should offer a satisfying experience for players, whether they’re interested in role-playing, puzzle-solving, or combat.