Pathfinder Society Scenario # 6-99: "True Dragons of Absalom" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

True Dragons of Absalom is a rare PFS scenario to be found offered for play, as it can only be run by 5-star GMs.  I was lucky enough to get a chance to play in a game at PaizoCon AP in 2019, and it was a memorable experience.  There's a couple of big things that sets the scenario apart.  First, it was written by Thurston Hillman, one of the best PFS writers in the stable.  Second, instead of regular PCs, everyone plays a pre-gen kobold!  The scenario has memorable NPCs, some really clever encounters, and makes good use of the setting.  I think a couple of the plot premises might be a bit shaky, but otherwise it's an all-around winner.  If you get a chance to play it, seize the opportunity--it might not come around again for a while!

SPOILERS

The PCs are members of Absalom's Sewer Dragon tribe of kobolds, a group that has a mutually-beneficial relationship with the Pathfinder Society.  The PCs are ordered to traverse the sewers and find Hats, a (hilarious) otyugh who says he has an important captive.  The "briefing" proper starts when the PCs meet Hats' prisoner--Venture-Captain Drandle Dreng!  Dreng explains that enemies of the Society known as the Onyx Alliance have been building a portal to the Shadow Plane in the sewers nearby.  Dreng says the Onyx Alliance will clear out all perceived threats in the sewers, including the Sewer Dragons, and that he needs their help to stop the portal before it's too late.  Dreng himself, however, was badly hurt in a battle against the Onyx Alliance, so it's up to the kobolds to save the day!  It's a fun, original concept for a briefing and one thing that's particularly cool is that with a sufficient bribe (one of the PC's magic hats) Hats will join the kobolds for the first half of the adventure.

Finding the portal isn't hard, but overcoming the defenders is far more challenging.  In addition to several fetchling rogues, there's a shadow mastiff whose baying can easily send some of the PCs fleeing in panic.  I remember it being a hard but fun encounter that made good use of sewer terrain to complicate things.

The next encounter is the most clever in the scenario, and makes excellent use of the fact that the PCs are kobolds.  The idea is that the PCs know that Onyx Alliance reinforcements are on their way so it's time to switch from offense to defence and build some traps!  There's a wide variety of traps that can be built (with successful skill checks) and there's a really fun, cooperative strategy element involved in figuring out how to best funnel the incoming waves of attackers and destroy (or at least soften them up) before they get into combat range.  I wish more scenarios could contrive this sort of "reverse dungeon crawl".  It was used perfectly here.

Soon after the portal is secured, it opens from the other side.  It turns out that the Sewer Dragons are going to have to venture forth to the Shadow Plane to figure out how to close it.  I thought it was a bit unrealistic that a handful of sewer kobolds would tackle a mission like this, but I placed that thought to one side and moved on.  The rest of the adventure takes place in Shadow Absalom, a dark and fascinating alternative version of the city.  The scenario does a great job making the place feel strange and somewhat creepy, and good GMs (and they better be good if they have 5 stars!) will be able to add to the atmosphere of the setting.  After some open-ended exploration and information-gathering, the PCs will be approached by a member of the Light-Weavers' Guild (an organisation opposed to the Onyx Alliance) who explains what needs to be done to permanently close the portal.  It turns out that the PCs need to take on an umbral wyrmling dragon!

The confrontation with the umbral dragon takes place, quite cinematically, at the top of a massive spire.  Getting to the spire holds some additional challenges (traps and potential encounters).  The wyrmling, Shadrixis (cool art!), can actually be negotiated with to give the PCs what they need to close the portal--but it's far more likely that a battle ensues.  It was a thrilling, difficult battle.  Afterwards, the PCs can close the portal after jumping through one last time.

The pre-gen kobolds all come with backstories and full-colour art, and they were fun and distinctive.  The scenario has a sidebar for GMs that gives some guidelines on how far is too far if players decide to go crazy with running PCs with an evil alignment.  There's a pretty cool boon for completion that allows you to play your kobold once the next time you need a 4th level pre-gen for a scenario--I'm saving mine for a special occasion.

I thought True Dragons of Absalom was a real treat.  It continued to advance the long-running storyline of the Onyx Alliance, had some original encounters, and provided a unique opportunity to see life from a kobold's perspective.  If I get another 100 or so tables under my belt someday, I'll return the favour and run it for another group!