Pathfinder Society Scenario # 6-10: "The Wounded Wisp" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

The Wounded Wisp is one of the most played PFS scenarios, and it's easy to see why: it's fantastic!  Perfect for newcomers to PFS but fun for veterans, the scenario is designed for low-level PCs who may be on their first or second adventure.  It reveals some intriguing history of the Society, has great NPCs to bounce role-playing off of, and has a strong story.  As a repeatable, it also has several randomised elements.  I played this a long-time ago via PbP, and had an enjoyable experience.  This is one to put high on the "to-play" or "to-run" list.

SPOILERS

The introduction is fun.  The PCs are directed to a particular street corner to receive an urgent mission briefing.  In the middle of pouring rain, a beggar approaches--but it's Dreadle Dreng in disguise!  Apparently, all he wants the PCs to do are walk to a nearby tavern, the Wounded Wisp, and get  a particular vintage of wine for him from the cellar.  Dreng is a notorious eccentric (and one of my favorite V-Cs), so although it's an odd request, it's not unprecedented.

Inside the Wounded Wisp, the PCs are told by the owner that she can lead them into the cellar once things quiet down, but for now they should have a drink and relax.  This is an opportunity for the PCs to do some role-playing with any of a quartet of well-described NPCs--a couple of whom (Janira Gravix and Yargos Gill) appear in previous scenarios.  The Wounded Wisp is the place where the Pathfinder Society was founded four centuries previously, and it has remained a favorite watering hole for members of the group.  The NPCs all have some useful skills that the PCs could drawn on later in the adventure if they need help, but for the most part this is role-playing just for the sake of role-playing--and that's a good thing!  I think, too often, recent scenarios "gamify" every role-playing encounter by making it a skills challenge.  These conversations with NPC Pathfinders really help portray the PCs as part of a long tradition and a warm fellowship of (mostly) like-minded seekers.

When they walk down to the cellar to obtain Dreng's bottle of wine, it turns out that the exact bottle he wants is actually a lever that opens a secret door!  The secret door leads to the private sanctuary of famed Pathfinder Selmius Foster and his assistant, Adolphus, members of the Society who were part of the founding generation.  However, the sanctuary was compromised in an earthquake a decade ago, allowing some of Absalom's subterranean monsters to enter.  The exact nature of the threat is one of the randomised elements of the scenario.  After the battle, the group can look around the sanctuary.  The big find is that Foster and Adolphius left various notes indicating their belief that another of their contemporaries, Eylysia, was hiding some of her discoveries.  Adolphus compiled various clues he found as to where Eylysia might have hidden this cache (all of this is conveyed via handouts), and it looks like the PCs have a mystery to solve!

One of the leads left by Adolphus directs the PCs to the Wall of Names, a curving wall of black glass where fallen Pathfinders have their name, date of death, and greatest accomplishment (or how they died) recorded.  Eylysia recorded some false names on the wall (a pretty crappy thing to do!), but the false names contain vital leads to help the PCs get on the track of her secret vault.

One of the clues leads the PCs to a mausoleum where the bones of Arkath, a stonemason who had worked closely with Eylysia, are stored.  In a really well-done randomised element, the necropolis is patrolled by a cleric of one of four different faiths.  Each cleric is given a distinct personality, motivation, and reaction to the PCs.  Combat is possible but not inevitable, which is a good way to allow different groups to achieve their goals in different ways.  Once the PCs access the right vault and find Arkath's bones, they'll uncover a hidden Pathfinder's Coin that contains a secret message.

Another clue leads to the house of a gnome illusionist named Fimbrik, a long-standing member of the Arcanamirium and friend of Eylysia.  There's a bit of fun to be had with programmed illusions and a summoning circle before the PCs find some more clues towards discovering the location of Elyysia's secret vault of records.  I find it a bit far-fetched that Fimbrik has had the same house for nigh-on 400 years, but I guess that's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

In the final sequence, the PCs travel to the Starstone Cathedral and visit the Shrine of the Failed, where those who took the Test of the Starstone (to attain divinity) and biffed it are memorialized.  As the last clues are deciphered, somewhere nearby, a Mendevian crusader named Sir Reinhart is charging his steed toward the great chasm only to fall to his doom!  It's a lovely touch.  Anyway, the clues are enough for the PCs to find a secret door that leads to Eylysia's hidden vault of discoveries she didn't think the world was ready to know.  But it turns out that the Pathfinders aren't the only group after these secrets--in another randomised element, another group (either Aspis, Devil's Claw mercs, Harbingers, or Norgorberite cultists) has followed the PCs and launches an ambush.  It's a fun and original setting for the big ending.

After surviving the ambush, the PCs can return the files they've discovered to Dreng.  And unlike some scenarios, the group get to find out details of what they've worked so hard to find!  In a clever touch, they letter receive a letter (in handout form) from Ambrus Valsin explaining one of Eylysia's big secrets, and alternate letters were made for Season 6, Season 7, and Season 8 because each leads into a season-specific story arc.  It's rare to see conscious attention to updating scenarios for later seasons.

There's a lot to love about The Wounded Wisp: it has several excellent opportunities for role-playing with well-developed NPCs, it reveals intriguing details about the history of the Pathfinder Society, it involves interesting settings like the Wall of Names and the Shrine of the Failed, and the combats provide a nice break from the mystery/puzzle solving.  It's a model for how to do a repeatable scenario with randomised elements.  This scenario was an instant classic, and it's easy to see why.