Pathfinder Society Scenario # 7-99: "Through Maelstrom Rift" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Through Maelstrom Rift is definitely different than your average PFS scenario.  It can only be run by four- or five- star GMs, so you don't see it offered everyday.  It also uses special pre-gens that are very different than your run of the mill races and classes!  The backstory to the plot is a bit opaque and confusing, though the adventure itself has some interesting encounters and role-playing opportunities.  It's an odd scenario, but a memorable one, and worth signing up for should you see it offered.

SPOILERS

Through Maelstrom Rift takes place entirely on the elemental Plane of Air!  The adventure revolves around a tower that has become the focus of chaotic planar eddies from a breach of the dimensional walls with another plane, the Maelstrom.  The breach and resulting eddies are causing major disruptions in that area of the Plane of Air, and the PCs are tasked with investigating and solving the problem.  There's a fairly involved backstory behind the crisis that involves lingering magic from the ancient imprisonment of Ranginori (an elemental lord), an artefact called the Untouchable Opal, a "naunet protean" called the Rift Spinner, a group called the Concordance of Elements, and more.  We're clearly not in Golarion anymore!  There's a lot of setting lore here that was brand new to me as a player (and subsequent reader) of the scenario because I haven't done much with the game's planar cosmology, but, fortunately, grasping the nuances aren't crucial to understanding the general thrust of the scenario.  I will say in the scenario's favour that at least some of this semi-convoluted backstory has some player-facing content so it's not a GM-only thing.

The pre-generated PCs are a fascinating collection of custom-made adventurers tailored to the plot.  Each is given a full backstory and motivation, and there are several points in the scenario where particular named PCs are given special opportunities or role-playing interactions.  The pre-gens are mechanically a really fun lot as well, ranging from a kineticist water mephit to a pyrausta bard and much more in between.  I signed up late to the scenario and was assigned a janni (genie) aristocrat named Jamila, and I can't tell you how nerdishly happy I was to realize that this was the same character from PFS # 0-3, Murder on the Silken Caravan (and her backstory references the events of that scenario)!  I'm a sucker for surprising continuity.  My favourite of the pre-gens is "Octaris", who is actually someone impersonating the intended recipient of the mission invitation and has to use various means to disguise the fact that they have a different set of powers.

The scenario starts with a briefing in Armun Kelisk, a metropolis on the Plane of Air.  A member of the Concordance of Balance (a group dedicated to building peace and relationship between the elements of air, water, fire, and earth) named Ashasar delivers the briefing.  He assigns the PCs to charter an airship, travel to the site of the planar eddies, investigate, and, if possible, set the matter right before returning home.  The briefing itself is fairly standard apart from a quirky bit with an air elemental chef serving "bubble halo pie" and other foods.  There are knowledge checks to acquaint players with the basics of the Plane of Air, though I still found it hard to get a sense of what the place was like.  I guess some things are best learned through experience.

As the PCs journey from the briefing to the docks, the GM is given a handful of little vignette encounters to help provide some flavour to the city.  I really like things like this.  They don't take long and there's nothing on the line, but they give players a chance to role-play and enjoy feeling like different settings are more than just different names.

Finding an airship captain willing to take the PCs to the site of the disturbance is a role-playing and skills encounter.  The good side of this encounter is that the various NPCs captains are well-described, have very distinct personalities and ships, and the choice impacts the plot later on.  The downside is that the skill checks are pretty easy and no guidance is given to how many PCs can attempt them, whether re-tries are possible, whether a character can try another skill if they've failed on an early attempt, etc.  Setting the boundaries are crucial to make a skills challenge like this workable (and not trivially easy).

After a few days in the air, whatever airship captain the PCs chose tells them that the ship has gotten as close as it safely can.  The captain provides the PCs with a smaller vessel (I guess the aerial equivalent of a rowboat) so they can approach the eddies without risking the entire airship.  This is where the fun really starts, as, after a day or two of travel, a sudden incredibly violent wind completely smashes the PCs' ship and throws everyone overboard!  Important cargo (like rations, charts, and a special magical gift provided by the captain) fly off in various directions.  The PCs, for their part, are also flung randomly into the sky and get their first taste of the joys of the subjective gravity of the Plane of Air.  Some of the PCs have natural or magical flight and will be fine, but others have to decide what's "down" and "fall" towards it in order to move, but unless they roll well on Wisdom checks, they're likely to drastically overshoot.  All of this occurs with the added complication of a group of "comozant wyrds" (air elementals) taking an interest in the debris.  It's an encounter like nothing else I've ever played in PFS, as the PCs have to reorient themselves, recover whatever cargo they deem is most important, and either negotiate or fight the wyrds, all while falling through the air!  It's very cool and original.

After dealing with that problem, the group can make their way to the source of the problem.  The Tower of Contemplation contains several rooms that can be investigated for insight on the cause of the planar eddies.  There's a weird elemental (instead of undead) haunt that has to be neutralized before exploration is safe, as it deals constant damage and will otherwise weaken PCs substantially before the scenario's big conclusion.

In order to set things right, the PCs need to enter a portal to the Maelstrom.  They'll end up on a cool island floating in the chaos (beautifully represented with the Extradimensional Spaces Map Pack).  There's a backstory link to Runelord Azlanist and ancient Thassilon here, which (as much a fan as I am) might just be over-egging the pudding.  But anyway, the PCs need to defeat Rift Spinner (the naunet protean) and either fight or free a pack of elemental wysps that are also present.  Each round, the Maelstrom's influence produces a rippling "warpwave" that has very negative effects (usually) on a randomly-chosen PC.  I enjoy complications like this in encounters.  Once the opponents are defeated, closing the rift still needs to be done--and it's not easy or automatic, as failing skill checks causes more warpwaves and four failed skill checks result in the rift becoming permanently stuck open.  I appreciate real consequences for failure.

Unlike many scenarios, there's a nice conclusion here.  Ashasar wants a full debriefing from the PCs, and specifically calls upon any PCs who are being quiet.  It's another little thing I like, as players can't just lurk and hide from the role-playing.

All in all, there's a lot to like about Through Maelstrom Rift.  It has some interesting encounters, solid writing, great pre-gens, and a very different setting to the norm.  It'll hold special meaning to fans of planar adventures or the PFS storyline about elemental shenanigans.  It's definitely worth playing for a chance at something different.