Pathfinder Society Scenario # 9-10: "Signs in Senghor" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Ok, the caffeine has kicked in so it’s time to write a Pathfinder review!  I played Signs in Senghor online through play-by-post.  It didn’t make much of an impression on me, but reading through the scenario, I can see it has all the elements for a solid adventure.  It has an interesting plotline, great artwork, interesting NPCs, strong attention to detail, and some exciting bits.  Perhaps playing it a little bit at a time over the course of several weeks kept all these elements from coalescing for me.

SPOILERS!

Signs in Senghor is set in the Mwangi Expanse.  The backstory is really interesting, as it ties into the ancient cyclops empire of Ghol-Gan.  Apparently, a type of powerful evil spirit called an asura was imprisoned by the Ghol-Gan.  Now, millennia later, the seals keeping the prison intact have started to weaken and blasphemous tablets called the Twelve Rites detail a way to set the asura free.  It’s a very trite plot in a way (great evil is about to be set free and the good guys need to stop it!), but the scenario gives it an interesting spin at least.  I think the scenario must tie into some others in the season, but I haven’t played much Season 9 and can’t confirm one way or the other.

The scenario starts in the city of Eleder with a briefing by Venture-Captain Finze Bellaugh.  Bellaugh explains that the Pathfinder Society would like to expand its activities in the region.  But this is difficult due to the Aspis Consortium’s stronghold in nearby Bloodcove.  If the Society could gain influence in the city of Senghor, however, the Aspis grip over trade in the region would be weakened.  Reports have recently come in that the Aspis is conducting operations in the forbidden ruins of Boali, a city across the bay from Senghor.  So V-C Bellaugh wants the PCs to travel to Boali, find proof of Aspis activities there, and use that proof to persuade the leaders of Senghor to ally with the Pathfinder Society against them.  It might be slightly convoluted, but it all holds together.

A cool-looking Pathfinder named Mirian Raas provides the group with transport to Senghor and tells them that from there, they can take a fishing boat across the bay to Boali.  Why Raas doesn’t just drop the PCs off there, I don’t know.  A variety of skill checks allow the PCs to speed up the trip across the bay, and although they don’t know it at the time, the time it takes them impacts the difficulty of later challenges in the scenario.

Once in the ancient, ruined city of Boali, the Pathfinders will quickly pick up the trail of the Aspis Consortium.  The city is overrun by boggards, and they present the first combat encounter in the game.  Afterwards, the PCs will find a member of the Consortium named Gideon Wren who has been left behind by his fellows (in a vault containing some of the tablets of the Twelve Rites) because he’s stuck in a cunning and ultimately deadly trap!  The PCs presumably extricate Gideon from the trap in exchange for information, but how long it takes them to get him free (and how wounded he gets in the process) affects the difficulty of the next encounter.  I thought having an enemy member trapped and in need of rescue was a clever and original plot point.

But just a few minutes after getting out of the vault with Gideon, the Pathfinders encounter an enormous three-eyed winged frog beast called a mobogo (the pic verges on the silly).  This is supposed to lead to a chase scene (with the PCs getting chased), though I think the scenario needed to do a better job explaining that this was not the sort of thing that should be fought.  Anyway, there’s a good variety of skill checks and a good array of consequences depending on how well the PCs do in the chase.  The scenario incorporates a lot of attention to detail which I appreciate, but there might even be too many little bonuses and penalties to keep track of.

Once back in Senghor, Gideon can provide the name and location of his boss in the consortium—a woman named Shinri Dells.  She’s an aasimar monk/sorcerer, and fights the PCs with several low-ranking Consoritum members.  I don’t recall this fight being particular difficult or memorable.  There’s also an optional encounter if the scenario is running fast that involves a fight against some tripurasuras (a type of shapechanging lesser asura, I guess).  We didn’t do this encounter, but it’s nice for the GM to have options depending on how the game is going.

The finale is a skills challenge to try to persuade the leaders of the city to back the Pathfinder Society over the Aspis Consortium.  This plays out in a familiar way, with each leader having a distinct personality and set of skills that are useful in persuading them.  Still, I thought it was handled well.

Overall, the scenario makes use of all the core elements of gameplay: skills, role-playing, and combat.  The storyline is solid, and the setting is interesting.  It’s perhaps not outstanding, but definitely worth playing.