Pathfinder Society # 9-20: "Fury of the Final Blade" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

 

I got to play Fury of the Final Blade with my half-orc Paladin, Trokkus.  The scenario takes place in a country I find really interesting but have hardly ever adventured in: Galt.  Galt is Golarion’s analogue to the French Revolution, but as the title of the scenario implies, the guillotines here take not just your head, but your soul!  Although my PC wasn’t particularly well-suited to the scenario, I think it’s well-written and well-designed.  It’s open-ended and allows for some player creativity, develops an NPC arc that had been in progress for years, and is fairly original in terms of plot and gameplay.  These later season PF1 scenarios tend to be steeped in lore, rich in plot, and carefully written.  Fury of the Final Blade is no exception.  It’s definitely worth playing, and perhaps a must-do for members of the Liberty’s Edge.

 

SPOILERS!

 

Major Colson Maldris, long-time leader of Liberty’s Edge, may have gotten (literally) in over his head.  Tying in heavily to # 9-02, we learn in Fury of the Final Blade that Maldris’s plan for the recalcitrant and corrupt nobles of Andoran to face justice in Galt has gone dramatically awry.  Not only are the nobles going to be executed without trial, but Maldris himself faces the chopping block!  Venture-Captain Eliza Petulengro (amazing artwork, but with a personality that doesn’t match) sends the PCs in to Isarn to rescue the Andoren nobles and, if possible, Maldris.  The stakes are high, because if the PCs fail, the Pathfinder Society, Galt, and Andoran could become locked in conflict, and the Red Revolution could spread.  Pretty cool set-up for an adventure!

 

The PCs arrive in Isarn the night before the executions are scheduled, so they don’t have time to rest and need to get into planning the prison break immediately.  There’s lots of options available in terms of preparation, such as trying to time guard patrols, steal uniforms, etc., and this part is fairly open-ended. The scenario is actually a bit confusing on the time element, because in one place it says the group has time to conduct two investigations to prep for the prison break, but elsewhere it gives the specific number of hours different tasks take (without telling the GM how many hours are available).  I like how the prison has sensible precautions in a fantasy world; for example, you can’t just teleport in or easily scry to discern the facility’s layout.

 

The scenario features a cool villain—a Gray Gardener mesmerist named Citizen Dread—along with some tough foes like sakhils and (potentially instantly deadly) banshees.  More, the PCs are likely to rouse the ire of mobs of Galtans, bringing the troop rules into play.  The whole sequence of events can play out differently depending on the PCs’ actions (something every scenario should envision), down to the question of whether the PCs think Maldris is worth rescuing at all since he’s been disloyal to both the Society and to Andoran.

 

In short, Fury of the Final Blade presents lots for the players to work with.  There’s plenty of room for role-playing, combat, strategy, and moral debate, all in the context of a solid story and development of a major NPC and faction.  Putting all of that together in one scenario isn’t easy to do!