Pathfinder Society Scenario # 10-12: "Breath of the Dragonskull" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Ugh.  I played through this at low-tier and was not a fan--I think it's one of the worst of the Season Ten scenarios.  It's one of those scenarios that tries, awkwardly and unsuccessfully, to redeem goblins to get them ready for PF2.  It has a "Pathfinder Junior" sort of tone, with no consequences and a simplistic plot.  In my opinion, this one is safely skippable.  They didn't even both to update the placeholder cover, which is maybe fate's way of telling us something . . .


SPOILERS

Breath of the Dragonskull is best understood as a product of a very specific moment in Paizo history.  PF2 was just about to come out, it was going to include goblins as a core race, and some sort of justification had to be given for the radical change in setting lore that changed goblins from almost universally despised pyromaniac psychopaths to loveable, socially-acceptable scamps.  Unfortunately, this was not a change that had been foreseen and developed over time, nor was it the subject of some sort of major story arc in an adventure path.  Instead, all of the heavy lifting was dumped onto PFS Season 10--and that's why we have multiple scenarios in the season that suddenly include perfectly nice goblin tribes.  It's frankly bizarre, as if learning that brain-eating zombies aren't so bad--you just have to get to know them!  Breath of the Dragonskull is a good example of this issue, but it has several additional faults to boot.

The scenario starts with a briefing by Venture-Captain Jorsal.  He tells the PCs that he's received a letter from the leader of a village called Mishkar in Iobaria.  The letter indicates that the village is being threatened by raging forest fires, and urgently asks the Pathfinder Society for help.  This scenario is a sequel to # 9-18, Scourge of the Farheavens, in which the Society apparently promised to aid the villagers of Mishkar.  So, with little more to go with, V-C Jorsal arranges for the PCs to get teleported to the outskirts of the village.

When the group arrives, they see a town in chaos.  Fire and smoke is everywhere, villagers and goblins are trying to fight the fires, but a troupe of centaurs seems to be attacking.  Before doing anything else, the PCs have to deal with the centaurs--either through violence or diplomacy.  They can then head to the village and help stop the flames from engulfing the town, or visit the (apparently nearby) centaur encampment.  The choice seems an obvious one, but the scenario treats them as equally acceptable.  Indeed, there are no consequences for going to the centaur encampment first and the town second--I guess the fires weren't that dangerous after all!

When the PCs go to the centaur encampment, they'll have a chance to parlay with Kaana Korag, their leader.  It seems they're convinced that goblins have set the fires, and they want the villagers of Mishkar to turn the goblins over for justice.  During negotiations, fires break out in the encampment and the PCs can earn some goodwill (and awkwardly dropped loot) by making some skill checks to help put out the flames.

When the PCs go to Mishkar, they'll be greeted by a cool bearlike eidolon of the village's "god-caller" (summoner) and meet goblins from the nearby Dragonskull tribe.  Apparently, all it takes to save the town from imminent destruction are a few skill checks by the PCs.  The leader of the Dragonskulls explains that they've always used fire to carefully maintain the health of the forest (by burning sick trees, etc.), but one day an old stone monument in their own village caught on fire and started burning everything around it.  The PCs are asked by the leaders in Mishkar to accompany the goblin chieftain back to his village and stop the "burning stone" from spewing additional fire into the forest.

So the PCs head into the burning Finadar Forest.  I thought the issue of smoke inhalation was handled well, as each PC has to make a check before each encounter or be fatigued.  Encounters in the forest include wolverines and a chance to rescue a personality-free druid who was trapped in a "flame-shrouded bower."  Dang druid, this fire has been raging for (according to the scenario) two weeks  now--you really need to prep more create water and spam as needed!

Once they reach the goblin village, the PCs will realise that an ancient cyclopean monument was somehow reactivated and it's responsible for spewing burning skulls--essentially, small fire elementals.  By destroying the flaming skulls and deactivating the monument, the PCs save the day.  There is some potentially interesting negotiations afterward where the PCs are supposed to persuade the centaurs that the goblins weren't responsible for the fires.  However, it doesn't really matter, because even if the PCs utterly fail on the Diplomacy checks, the centaurs grudgingly leave the goblins alone.  Actually, one of the interesting things about this scenario is that the PCs aren't really needed--even if they fail on all the skill checks to put out the fires in the village or the encampment, nothing bad happens to either.

I'm a Negative Nancy in this review, but there's really just a lot about it that irks me.  The "goblins are great" ret-con, the safety rails everywhere, the story deficiencies, and more.  It has the sort of plot and tone and lack of real danger or consequences that would make it a perfect fit for a sort of "Kid's Track" adventure designed for pre-teens.  But for an adult, it just comes across as kinda dumb and cheesy.