Pathfinder Society Scenario # 0-18: "The Trouble with Secrets" [RPG]

 

NO SPOILERS

Because this is a retired scenario, I incorporated it (at low sub-tier) as part of a regular home campaign for four PCs.  I changed the opening a bit, but left the core of it essentially unchanged.  From that experience, I can see why it was retired--it's very deadly!  And although the backstory is really

interesting and holds promise, the actual gameplay turns out to be a very generic mini-dungeon delve.  As there's no enduring addition to setting lore, The Trouble with Secrets is now just a curiosity as best. 

SPOILERS

The backstory may be the best part of The Trouble with Secrets.  After a Pathfinder named Harkus was slain by a vampire and arose as undead, she retained just enough humanity to seek out a fellow agent (and former lover) named Bossell for aid.  Bossell agreed to help find a way to turn Harkus back, but secretly arranged for her to be bound and experimented on (with even a total dissection planned) in a basement under the Sothis Lodge.  Furious at the betrayal, Harkus managed to break free of the restraints and savage the research team until Bossell slammed a stone door shut and trapped her inside.  Bossell then proceeded to cover up the incident entirely, sealing over the entrance to the basement and doing his best to forget about the whole thing.  Now, decades later, Bossell is a senile old man allowed to stay at the Lodge out of respect for his past service.  But when his assistant finds an old journal about mysterious experiments in the basement, the idiot decides to go investigate--thus unleashing the still-undead and still-peeved Harkus!

From that premise, there are a lot of great directions the story could go.  Unfortunately, the writer chose a pretty poor one.  Harkus kills the assistant and secretly ventures into the streets of Sothis to mentally dominate and recruit pit fighters to help guard her basement lair.  She then returns to her secret hiding place under the Lodge and . . .well, does nothing, really.  Essentially, she's sitting there as the scenario officially begins and the PCs are briefed about trouble and disappearances in a newly-discovered vault under the Lodge.  That's how a great backstory filled with pathos and betrayal and vengeance is turned into a traditional "explore old crypt and kill stuff" mission.  There are five main chambers to the underground vault and thus, predictably, five encounters.

First up, in the vault's antechamber, is a battle against the dominated pit fighters and the hyenas that (apparently) they train for battle.  The pit fighters are fighter/rogues and will try to ambush the PCs, but this is pretty much a cakewalk.

Next up is a statue hall and, giving truth to cliché, two of the statues turn out to be animated objects and attack.  Yawn.

The third chamber is where we get the first hint that of what's really going on, as vampire spawn burst in to attack.  This does serve as good preparation for the PCs to get their act together before fighting the real thing.

The fourth chamber is actually a pretty well set-up encounter.  It involves more pit fighters, but they're using archery and firing through murder holes.  The PCs have to figure out how to reach them before they get turned into pin cushions.

Last up is Harkus, the vampire.  Man, she is tough!  At low sub-tier she has six levels of fighter, wields a greatsword, and has an AC of 27.  Her tactics are also smart--dominating a party's strongest member and then attacking any arcane spellcasters in the group.  One of the reasons I chose this scenario is that a PC in my group is a Vampire Hunter (the class from the Vampire Hunter D book) and I wanted to give him a chance to shine.  But instead, a near-TPK was in store for the group and they had to withdraw.

And that's the scenario.  I guess to its credit one could say it plays very quickly, contains a map that's easy to draw, and isn't one that requires enormous prep by the GM.  I love the cover art, and there are some opportunities in the adventure for the PCs to learn about the cool backstory.  On the whole though, The Trouble with Secrets is best left just like Harkus--buried and forgotten.