Pathfinder Society Scenario: "Special: Race for the Runecarved Key" [RPG]

 NO SPOILERS

Race for the Runecarved Key is one of those scenarios I really wish I had been able to play at a convention.  Normally, I'm perfectly happy with play-by-post, but Race for the Runecarved Key is clearly designed for a live event--it features props, actors (real or conscripted amateurs) to depict major NPCs,  a competitive environment, call-outs to individual players for particular achievements, and more.  As one of the very early multi-table interactive specials, the scenario definitely doesn't have the more formulaic template that Paizo later adopted for Pathfinder and Starfinder.  It's not perfect by any means--characters of good alignment in particular may find it problematic--but it's definitely fun and worth playing.

SPOILERS!

Unlike modern specials, Race for the Runecarved Key doesn't have any mustering activities.  It just starts with a main briefing once all the players are seated.  The scenario takes place in and around Magnimar, as Venture-Captain Sheila Heidmarch explains that the Pathfinders have been assembled to help the Society obtain an intriguing artifact at a public auction.  It seems that, while dredging stone in the harbor, laborers for the city's Golemworks discovered what looks like a giant key etched with ancient Thassilonian runes.  The city has decided to auction it off, and Heidmarch believes that purchasing it would help the city accept the relatively-new Pathfinder lodge and, of course, potentially pave the way to some amazing discoveries.  Heidmarch, however, doesn't intend to play fair at the auction.  She wants the Pathfinders to find out everything they can about potential bidders and then undermine them so that the Society's bid is more likely to succeed--and she says she'll disavow knowledge of their activities if they get caught!

Act One takes place at a pre-auction gala hosted at the Cathedral of Abadar (which is running the auction).  The PCs are charged with learning the identities of potential bidders, how serious they are about bidding, and what resources they have at their disposal.  Through skill checks, PCs can try to peek at the guest ledger (with a limited real-time duration to look at it depending on how high the roll is!) and then scope out the crowd to see who the serious competitors might be.  There's a lot of role-playing potential in this part of the scenario as the PCs interact with various NPCs, and the scenario gives the GM plenty to work with in terms of each NPC's motivations and personality.  I wish there had been artwork for each of the major NPCs, as I find that always makes these "chat to five NPCs in quick succession" sections of an adventure run much more smoothly.  (our group split up to talk to different NPCs simultaneously, which probably did not make life easy on the GM--especially with play-by-post) I liked that one of the NPCs, an agent of the Aspis Consortium, tries to insult the PCs and provoke them to violence so they get kicked out--I imagine that wouldn't be too hard for some characters.   The scenario makes excellent use of setting lore by tying many of the NPCs to established Magnimar organisations and institutions.  As an aside, one of the fun things that is supposed to happen in a live running of the special is the reveal of a giant prop key--I don't know how such a thing was made, but it's certainly a fun idea.

Act Two is one of the problem sections of the scenario.  Having realised that the Aspis Consortium plans to bid, Heidmarch instructs the Pathfinders to effectively knock them out before the auction even starts by raiding a caravan that is transporting their funds into the city.  In other words, the PCs are essentially asked to become highwaymen.  The fact that this is not only illegal but likely to lead to the death of hired (and neutrally-aligned) mercenary caravan guards and potentially even Varisian wagon drivers makes it, to me, a clearly evil act.  I know in later seasons that scenarios sometimes go too far in the *other* direction of making Pathfinders into "Golarion world police", but a better balance has to be struck.  Maybe if it had been characterised as a non-lethal heist of clearly ill-gotten gold, the gist of the premise could have been maintained.  Anyway, I had my character sit out this part of the scenario for alignment reasons.

Act Three gives the players a lot of options and takes up the bulk of the special.  Each table is offered one of eight missions to complete to try to disrupt other potential bidders (and if they finish the mission with time left, they can go on to another one).  For example, they might try to trick a superstitious bidder into thinking he's cursed so he runs away, impersonate debt collectors so another potential bidder turns over his money, blackmail an aristocrat with proof (or forgeries) of an illicit affair, etc.  The missions are all designed well with plenty of flavour, and I especially like the range of skills that can be used and that player creativity is encouraged.  There's still some moral issues with many of the missions, but at least the PCs are instructed by Heidmarch to "try not to kill anyone important".

Act Four is the auction itself.  It has a fun competitive element, as each table will have accumulated a certain amount of "auction notes" depending on their performance, and the table that wins the auction receives special acclaim from the auctioneer (role-played by the Overseer GM).  I imagine it's a  moment with a lot of clapping and good-natured booing from the losing tables.  (although not obvious to the players, the auction is rigged so that none of the NPC rivals can win.) Of course, things are never that easy for the Pathfinder Society, as the Runecarved Key is snatched by cultists of Lissala who crash into the cathedral!  There's a short battle and then a Chase through the streets of Magnimar using the GameMastery Chase Cards deck.  I know a lot of players don't like Chase scenes, but I always find them a nice change of pace from normal encounters and a way to make skill challenges exciting.  Even once the key is recovered, however, the cultists don't give up that easy, as they summon waves of demons.  Tables can "tap out" at anytime between waves, otherwise they keep fighting higher and higher CRs of demons until they die! (or the Overseer GM has to call time)  I've never seen escalating waves like that used in a scenario before, and I wonder how many groups quickly got over their heads.

For the Conclusion, Heidmarch acknowledges the victory that comes with obtaining the key, but observes ominously that dark forces have surfaced in Varisia.  I imagine this leads into the Season Four meta-plot.  Back in the real world, the table that amassed the most "Key Points" (which have been secretly tracked during the entire session by table GMs) in each subtier gets a special Chronicle.  There's really a lot in Race for the Runecarved Key that I think would make it a blast to play in-person that just can't be replicated online.  Although it displays a skewed morality that makes certain PCs challenging to play within its framework, I still had a good time with it.