Pathfinder Society Scenario # 0-07: "Among the Living" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I ran this scenario at low subtier.  Among the Living is one of those scenarios that presents very specific threats in a very specific (and admittedly artificial) context.  I think it's a scenario that could be very exciting if players get into the spirit of it, but if they don't, it could seem repetitive and boring.  I enjoyed it, however.

SPOILERS

If you needed to sum up Among the Living quickly, the phrase "zombie apocalypse at the opera" would be a good start.  It all starts in the backstory, when a cult of Zyphus (a fairly obscure god of unexpected tragedy) figures out that the lost Zyphus Stone (a powerful magical artefact) has been buried for the last six millennia underneath an opera house in Taldor's capital city of Oppara.  The leader of the evil cult, a cleric named Fel Bustrani, tricked a Pathfinder named Bodriggan Wuthers into helping him excavate the bedrock under the opera house to find the artefact.  Once the discovery was made, Fel Bustrani promptly murdered Wuthers and started planning a way to feed souls to Zyphus.  By using the Zyphus Stone to turn anyone murdered in its vicinity into zombies that can then spread out and circulate their infection, Fel Bustrani hopes to turn all of Oppara--and perhaps beyond--into a charnel house.  And the date set to spark this event is the night a new opera premieres--an event that the PCs will be in attendance for!

The PCs get a quick "flashback" briefing (a method used sometimes in Season Zero that we don't really see anymore) explaining that they've been charged with finding out what happened to Wuthers, the missing Pathfinder.  Wuthers had written letters saying he was working on a dig at the opera house, so it's a natural place to start the search.  The problem for the Pathfinders is that the opera house, a converted temple to Aroden known as the House of the Immortal Son, is tremendously exclusive.  Although Wuthers spent months of cajoling to gain access to enter and permission to dig, there's no time to replicate his strategy.  Instead, the PCs are given tickets to the premiere of a new opera and instructed to slip away at some point to search the basements and see if they can discover any clues about Wuthers' fate.

If handled well by the GM and the players, this can be a really fun "fish out of water" experience for many PCs used to blood and fire more than dressing up in elegant formalwear and trying to make small talk with the upper crusts of Taldan nobility.  There are even some (very minor) penalties to social checks if the PCs don't splash out the cash to buy proper attire.  The scenario doesn't say whether armor or weapons are allowed in, so I'd expect different tables may make different decisions on the question.  It would have been good if the scenario presented some capsule NPCs and little vignettes to help with the role-playing.

The action starts near the end of the show in a scripted moment when a horde of zombies flood into the hall and start tearing the crowd into pieces.  Strangely, the module gives the GM absolutely no guidance on what to do if the PCs try to slip away earlier in the performance to investigate--which is exactly what they've been instructed to do.  Anyway, there's definitely an exciting and cinematic backdrop to this first encounter as the PCs (who may be unarmed and unarmoured) have to fight off several zombies and try to regroup and figure out what's going on.

The next three encounters can happen in any order and at the GM's discretion as to location within the opera house (which, it should be noted, is extremely large and difficult to draw!).  The PCs will encounter a group of nobles being attacked by zombies and potentially rescue a fun NPC in the form of the clingy, self-absorbed Magistros Sebastus Hustavan.  They'll also have their first encounter with clerics of Zyphus and, from subsequent interrogation or letters found on bodies, get a sense of what the cult's plan is.  These three encounters are pretty similar in nature, so it might come across as repetitive but (hopefully) feeds into the "there's so many--what do we do!" panic of zombie movies.  I should note that at low tier the battles are against "normal" zombies and clerics, which makes sense within the story, but that at higher tiers the combats can include battles against monster zombies, like zombie bugbears or even a zombie megaraptor!  These were apparently smuggled into the opera house by the cult (for . . . reasons?), but they must seem pretty random to PCs who encounter them.

One aspect of the module that is necessary from a gameplay perspective but comes across as rather forced in terms of story is that Fel Bustrani is able to use the Zyphus Stone to erect an impenetrable force field around the opera house, meaning there is (quite literally) no way for the PCs to escape short of finishing the adventure.  I'm not sure why the thought that an ancient magical artefact could turn corpses into zombies is fine to me but that having the same artefact also make force fields is the point where my disbelief has been stretched too far, but there you go.

The big finale takes place in the basement as the PCs confront Fel Bustrani and his minions.  It's a tough battle, as the PCs have to cross a greased cavern to attack, Fel Bustrani uses cause fear to send melee-types with low Will saves fleeing, and he has a couple of minions to protect him.  I remember it being a near-thing when I ran it, and I was relieved it didn't degenerate into TPK territory.  I should also mention that the cultists are armed with heavy picks, and x4 crits can be nearly instant death to low-level PCs if the GM's dice are hot.

After defeating the cult's leader, the PCs will discover that the Pathfinder they were sent to rescue died weeks ago and was one of the zombies destroyed earlier.  Not all stories have happy endings, but the PCs can console themselves that they stopped a zombie apocalypse from erupting.

Overall, I liked Among the Living despite its flaws.  It cleverly puts a classic horror trope in scenario form and having everything happen at the opera was a fun twist.  PCs who specialize in battles against undead (Paladins, for example) will have a field day, while those who are mind-affecting specialists (like Mesmerists) will find extra challenges.  Everyone may have to muddle through with improvised (or smuggled in) weapons, adding an extra layer of challenge and necessary creativity to the mix.  It's definitely not a deep or meaningful scenario, but it's a fun, memorable way to spend a few hours.