Pathfinder Society Scenario # 0-08: "Slave Pits of Absalom" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I played Slave Pits of Absalom at PaizoCon AP 2019 using the Iconic Gunslinger.  It's a scenario that very much fits the norm for Season Zero scenarios: it's on tight rails, the combat encounters are solid (and occasionally deadly), and the morality of the story (especially with the faction missions) is sometimes more grey than black and white.  It's also a very fast scenario to run (I'd guess around 2-3 hours) and not one that will tax the GM at all.  It's not a particularly amazing or memorable scenario, but it's perfectly fine for a few hours' gameplay with little prep.  Hence, I'm giving it the score of average.

SPOILER

The briefing is *very* quick and to the point: Osirion's ambassador to Absalom is an important contact for the Pathfinder Society, and his wife, Lady Anilah, has just been kidnapped!  In order to improve their standing with the ambassador, the Society is going to try to find her, and quickly.  The PCs are told that a possible lead is a "grit den" (grit is an illegal drug that sounds a bit like PCP) in the Puddles district of Absalom where a junky who earns cash by assisting in the slave trade can be found.  Unlike most later seasons, there's no time for questions--indeed, if the PCs try to ask any, they get yelled at!  I found it awesome (and funny), and I really like the Venture-Captain: a fiery and definitely no-nonsense Galtan named Alissa Moldreserva.  I'd like to see more of her.

The name of the grit den is the Second Chance, and when the PCs arrive, there is a full-blown brawl going on.  Yes, it's a cliché, but I think every fantasy RPG player should get to experience a bar brawl now and then.  As is traditional in such things, if the PCs stick to fists then no one bats an eye--but if they draw weapons, then the bartender draws a scimitar and sics an angry dog on them!  Either way, once the PCs win, they'll find a grit addict named Fredrik who admits he was hired to kidnap Lady Anilah and sell her into slavery through a local slave merchant.  In true Season Zero fashion, the PCs miss out on a hefty chunk of change at the end of the scenario if they don't steal the grit den's strongbox from behind the counter.  I sometimes think the Society and the Aspis Consortium weren't too far apart in those early days!

The name of the scenario is the same as the in-game nickname for a large slave market in Absalom.  At this time in the setting's history, the slave-trade is fully legal in Absalom--though, of course, the nobility are exempt from being bought and sold.  The PCs need to (quietly) break into Pildapush's Chattel, an import/export house for slaves, and persuade or browbeat (or otherwise beat) the merchant into confessing that a Taldan spy hired Fredrik to kidnap Lady Anilah (hoping to embarrass the ambassador, since Taldor and Osirion are major rivals).  The merchant says Lady Anilah has already been sold to a Katapeshi slave ship currently moored at the docks.  The scenario actually does a good job of providing an array of information depending on how well the PCs do at changing the merchant's attitude.

If the PCs weren't discreet about breaking into the merchant's shop (which, knowing PCs, is fairly likely!) the official security guards of the slave district arrive and order the PCs to leave.  And if the PCs don't comply, then the city guard arrive; and if the PCs still resist, the GM is instructed that this simply results in the PCs' death or imprisonment (with the latter likely resulting in their being sold into slavery for being a petty thief!).  It's hardcore!

What the PCs won't know is that, prior to interrogating the slave merchant, he already took out a contract on Fredrik to silence him and anyone he talked to (including the PCs).  This means the PCs will get ambushed by a quintet of halflings along the docks.  It's not a particularly dangerous encounter, and mainly serves to soften the group up for what's next.

What's next is raiding the slave galley, which is crewed by gnolls!  The foreman of the ship fights on the main deck and uses a whip to try to knock PCs overboard, while the captain of the ship fights below deck and uses (at high tier) a magical greataxe.  A crit with this thing is going to do 9d6+24 points of damage, so even at Tier 4-5 some bad luck could easily end someone's day!  Chances are, however, that a modern party of six Pathfinder PCs is going to be okay.    After these two quick battles aboard the ship, the PCs find Lady Anilah and can call it a day.

It's obviously a very quick and compact scenario that has four combat encounters and just a little role-playing in the form of interrogating the slavers for more information.  I would definitely encourage GMs to use the faction missions, as they at least give the PCs a little extra to think about and could add a fun element (a couple of the missions tend to be in opposition to one another).  I think of a scenario like this as the "beer-and-pretzels" computer game equivalent for Pathfinder.  It won't take much time or deep thought, and it's easy to run with little prep right out of the gate.