Pathfinder Society Scenario # 2-24: "Shadow's Last Stand, Part II: Web of Corruption" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Web of Corruption finishes the two-part story started in # 2-23 (At Shadow's Door).  In that scenario, mysterious forces affiliated with the Shadow Lodge launched an attack on the Grand Cathedral in Almas to capture Pathfinder Society leadership.  The PCs presumably intervened and rescued those at risk, and now in this scenario they have to finish the job by bringing those responsible for it to justice.  In my review of the earlier scenario, I criticised the blunt and clumsy execution of the Shadow Lodge, which was a great premise in principle, but I thought it should have been more like the subtle smear campaign leading to a big reveal like the Year of a Thousand Bites in Starfinder.  I think this second half of the story is better than the first, as it better mixes investigation and role-playing in with the action.  It shows the Paizo writers were getting better in these early seasons, even if they weren't quite at the standard they would reach in later ones.

SPOILERS!

Web of Corruption has a long but relevant background section on Dorianna Ouidda, the Almas Shadow Lodge cell leader who uses her secret alter ego as The Spider to run a secret slave-trading business.  Dorianna has long had a seething grudge against the Pathfinder Society and wants to destroy it, so she's launched a crusade to publicly undermine the organisation in the city by using her role as "upstanding member" of the Peoples' Council to besmirch it.  Dorianna and The Spider would have been a perfect use of the Vigilante class, had it existed when the scenario was written!

The adventure gets underway with a briefing from the rarely-seen Venture-Captain Alissa Moldreserva.  The scenario is carefully (though perhaps unnecessarily) written in such a way that it can be run before Part 1, so the briefing leaves out any specific mention of the Grand Cathedral and instead refers only to the general slander against the Pathfinder Society and the need to stop it before the group is run out of Almas.  Moldreserva explains the Society has it on good authority that Dorianna Ouidda is actually The Spider, but the problem is proving it.  This is where she needs the help of field agents, especially because Dorianna is scheduled to give a major speech before the People's Council in 48 hours.  If proof of her treachery isn't presented to the Council before then, it may be too late to ever save the Society's reputation.

Act 1 ("The Investigation") has the PCs hitting the streets to see what they can find out about The Spider.  This part of the scenario is handled pretty well mechanically, as it's not the usual "make one check and you're done" thing.  Instead, there are effectively three buckets of information, and each successful check reveals the top layer of the category--so the PCs can dig deeper into other layers of that cateogry or try a different one.  But with a Diplomacy (Gather Information) check taking 1d4 hours (per the Core Rulebook) and the adventure on a clock, the PCs need to be smart about how much time they spend.  It's also a nice opportunity for those PCs who have feats or class features to speed up Gather Information checks to get some value from them.  It's also fitting that Andoren PCs get a bonus on the checks--make those backgrounds count!  One thing I especially liked is the scenario's paragraph-long description of several NPCs for the GM to choose from that can be used to feed the PCs various pieces of information; it's always better for role-playing to have an idea of who a PC is talking to, and I'm not always the best at improv-ing a non-generic NPC on the spur of the moment.

Act 2 ("The Plot Thickens") has the PCs visit (in any order) three locations linked to The Spider that they learned about in Act 1.  Some careful persuasion, intimidation, or enchantment is necessary to get the proprietor of Jarovar Investments to admit he's an accountant and money launderer for The Spider's slave-trading business.  An ambush by dhampir fighters awaits the PCs if they board the Sailswift, the vessel The Spider uses to traffick in slaves.  And at a theatre cleverly titled The Captive Audience, the PCs will certainly be surprised when the eccentric director reveals himself as a doppelganger and attacks! (it turns out The Spider arranged for the actors to be charmed/enslaved and for it to become a secret brothel).  There are various pieces of evidence at the three locations--not all of them obvious--that the PCs can collect.  The more they have, the better, because persuading the People's Council that one of their own is a criminal mastermind won't be easy.

Act 3 ("The Unveiling") has the PCs arriving just in time to interrupt Dorianna's speech.  To persuade the Council that she's a crook, the PCs need to make a certain number of successful Diplomacy checks (the exact number depending on the number of PCs and the subtier they're playing at).  Each piece of evidence they've obtained gives them a particular bonus on a check, and the GM is explicitly authorised to add a small role-playing bonus.  It's a solid way of handling a social encounter, though I find the whole thing undermined by the fact that there's no limit to the number of retries the PCs can make--so effectively, they cannot fail.  And, Dorianna doesn't have any dialogue or arguments to counter the PCs.  This would have worked really well as "social combat" or using something like the verbal duel rules from Ultimate Intrigue (if it existed at the time, of course).  In any event, Dorianna is likely apprehended by guards and led to her quarters--but she kills them and drinks an invisibility potion!  The PCs have one last fight (which shouldn't be too hard; she's a bard and alone) before finishing the scenario.  In her quarters, they'll find loads of evidence to incriminate her as well as a captured Pathfinder Venture-Captain, Amenopheus.

All's well that ends well, and the Shadow's Last Stand two-parter is indeed stronger in the second half than the first.

Starfinder Society Scenario # 2-24: "Cornered Rat" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Cornered Rat is the last scenario in Season Two, and the penultimate adventure in the "Year of a Thousand Bites" (which concludes in a multi-table Special).  Set for PCs of Levels 9-12, it does a nice job of giving such high-level field agents some recognition.  I played it via play-by-post (at low subtier) with my first SFS character, a drug-addicted Solarian named Troivayan.  The scenario didn't make a big impression on me while playing it, at it seemed like a pretty standard space-dungeon crawl.  Reading it for the purposes of this review, however, I can see it contains some nice touches, like numerous callbacks to previous scenarios, a well-implemented skills challenge, a bit of old school mapping, and an interesting final battle.  Plus, it's Luwazi Elsebo's final briefing as First Seeker!  I think with the play-by-post games, I'm often just so focused on posting my PC's actions and moving on with my day that I don't really take in the big picture of an adventure, and Cornered Rat is a good example of one that's better than I realised at the time.

SPOILERS!

First things first: wow, Datch has a cool backstory!  A poor physical talent in a school for assassins, she realised the only way she could win was through manipulation and making her fellow students look bad (even if they weren't).  In short, Datch became the ultimate character assassin, destroying reputations, using blackmail to coerce people, influencing entire communities through social media botfarms and trolls, etc.  I had known the general idea of "Year of a Thousand Bites"--that Datch was behind a smear campaign against the Starfinder Society--but I never put the pieces together that her doing so was just to provide AbadarCorp a "dangerous enemy" that she could then use to gradually work her way up in the organisation.  As this scenario starts, there's about to be a vote of no-confidence in AbadarCorp's current executive archdirector, and Datch has positioned herself to be the natural alternative (all while seemingly keeping her hands clean!).  It's all an effective commentary on modern politics and really excellent storytelling.

From the PCs' perspective, things start with a briefing by Luwazi Elsebo.  She explains that SFS agents have discovered the location of a hidden installation in the Diaspora established by Datch and currently inhabited by several worshippers of Lao Shu Po ("Grandmother Rat", the deity worshipped or feared by many ysoki).  Luwazi wants the PCs to lead a strikeforce into the installation to find information they can use against Datch in the upcoming AbadarCorp vote.  The briefing has some nice bits about this being Luwazi's final briefing, and the PCs being amongst the most senior field agents in the Society, a sign that this mission is of the utmost importance to the SFS.  The mission here shows the fruits of what happened in # 2-20 ('Shades of Spite'), where the PCs impressed a ysoki master assassin enough to gain information about the location of Datch's installation.  Throughout the scenario, there are references to several bits of lore from Season 1 and Season 2 scenarios, and the GM is instructed to highlight these for PCs with the relevant Chronicles--I really appreciate the efforts at continuity.

The Society is expecting trouble, so although the PCs are leading the strike force, several vessels are being sent with them into the Diaspora.  When the fleet approaches the asteroid where the installation is supposed to be located, a starship battle against several drones begins.  I'm a well-known critic of starship combat in Starfinder, but this one has some nice touches: hexes full of asteroids that have to be evaded (but can provide cover), fixed turrets providing alternative targets, and the interesting ability to direct other ships in the SFS fleet to attack certain targets.  Once the battle is won by forcing the enemy drones to pull back, the idea is that the PCs' ship will land on the asteroid while the rest of the fleet provides cover against further drone attacks.  In game, this translates to a fixed in-game countdown--90 minutes--for the PCs to get in and out of the installation; and if they exceed that timeline, they automatically fail the mission!  High-stakes make for good gameplay, and several later bits in the scenario explicitly take certain #s of minutes (and if the PCs are in the lazy habit of taking a 10-minute rest after every battle, this will come back to bite them).

Although the Society knows they're on the right asteroid, the actual entrance to the installation is hidden.  This portion of the scenario is a 5-step skill challenge as the PCs need to land safely, avoid falling debris from the starship battle, locate the entrance, maneuver across the asteroid in limited gravity, and unlock/blast through the doors.  Each of of these steps is accompanied by direct damage or negative conditions on a failed check.  A good mix of skills are used across different steps, and this isn't a skills challenge where one single Operative makes everyone else redundant (multiple successes by different PCs are necessary for the group to succeed).  It's a strong example of how to do a skills challenge right, and just needs a good GM to add a bit of colour in describing the events and their outcomes.

The next part of the scenario involves navigating the interior of the complex.  Here, the writer (Mikko Kallio) did something really interesting.  Instead of the traditional room-by-room crawl, the PCs have to navigate a literal maze!  Players who remember the "good old days" may make an actual pencil-and-paper map, because every wrong turn and dead end takes a fixed amount of time (usually five minutes) from their ongoing 90-minute countdown.  In addition, many intersections and dead ends have traps (explosives, toxic spores, flying daggers, etc.) or encounters (Laoite cultists, a "troll factory", etc.), so PCs who are poor at navigating the maze will find themselves more and more worn down before they finally get to the center.  It's also the first time I've really seen the potential of the flip-tiles, as the GM just needs to lay down the designated combination of tiles for the area/intersection where the encounter takes place (because drawing the whole thing on a flip-mat would be agonising work and lessen the point of it being a maze where the players can't automatically know where they are in relation to where they've already been).  I really liked the unique (for modern gaming) premise and execution.

Success in navigating the labyrinth leads to the installation's inner sanctum (and a very cool map!) where the PCs will encounter the master assassin Dispassion, Datch's former instructor.  Dispassion is willing to tell the PCs about Datch if they can defeat him.  He's a high-level Operative with some unique special abilities relating to having shadowy puppets that he can switch positions with and make attacks with.  As a very mobile foe, he'll avoid the "cornered and full attacked every round" problem, though I don't thing he really has enough pure offensive power to defeat the PCs (unless they truly got worn down on the way in).  Once defeated, Dispassion spills the beans about Datch before triggering a self-destruct mechanism that will consume the asteroid in a fiery explosion!  (the PCs' escape is hand-waved, however)

All in all, Cornered Rat is one of those scenarios that rewards looking beyond the surface.  It's a solid segment in the "Year of a Thousand Bites" and nicely sets up the big finale to come.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 89 [RPG]

[Sunday, 9 Arodus 4708 A.R. continued]

Somewhere in the depths of Castle Scarwall, the Harrowed Heroes find themselves face to face with flaming, ghoulish apparitions of ash and smoke!  The Reckoner destroys three of the monsters in short order, but a fourth slips past him and charges Yraelzin!  Lorien slashes at the creature and slows it down just enough for Yraelzin to finish it off with a magical spray of razor-sharp shards of ice.

The trio continue searching the first floor of the haunted fortress for any signs of the dragon they believe is the fourth and final spirit anchor that binds the chained spirit and keeps the curse from being lifted.  Unlike the slow and careful, room-by-room searches of previous days, this time the group moves speedily, throwing open doors and moving on quickly.  Lorien makes sure The Reckoner doesn’t dawdle, and Yraelzin expresses his full support for the new approach.  Still, the group can’t help but ruminate over some of their curious findings, such as an Orcish message scratched into a wall that reads “Ukwar Lives—We Die!”  Yraelzin relates that, while in Urglin preparing to come to Scarwall, he learned of a small tribes of orcs called the Deadwatchers that see it as their duty to stand watch over the castle.  Ukwar was an ancient chieftain of the Deadwatchers.  As the group explore, discussion is also had about the group’s fallen member—Anorak.  The decision is made to try to bring him back to life, and Yraelzin successfully reads a magical scroll to do so.  He starts to fill the confused, newly-alive dwarf in on everything that’s happened since the fatal battle against the banshee but The Reckoner interrupts to hurry the group along—his magical protections dwindle with every minute!

The explorers decide to try some of the rooms off the castle’s interior courtyard.  One room, an old livery, contains thick swaths of shadowy cobwebs that turn out to hide monstrously-sized pallid caterpillars!  Anorak, bereft of spellcasting powers since his revival, decides to charge into the midst of the foes armed only with a borrowed battleaxe!  The worms’ bites drip with acid that converts the dwarf’s flesh into shadowstuff!  Quickly overwhelmed, he goes down and only Yraelzin’s stabilising magic keeps him alive.  The Reckoner and Lorien are able to dispatch the beasts, and the latter is also able to heal some of the dwarf’s wounds.  The Reckoner uses a wand for further healing, observing that its magical power is almost depleted.  Time, it seems, is not in the Harrowed Heroes’ favour!

 

Soon, the group enter a large chamber, perhaps once a stable or kennel, that has been gutted.  Wooden partitions that may have been stalls lie shattered and burned, leaving only divots in the walls, floor, ceiling, and a few stone support pillars. The floor is a tangle of broken beams, dung heaps crawling with vermin, and the occasional gleam of polished bone. The whole chamber is shadowy and dim, the darkness an almost palpable thing.  Dead, on the floor, is the body of Laori Vaus.  Here, the Harrowed Heroes find what they’ve been searching for: a massive but sleek, dark-winged serpent moving with speed and grace: an umbral dragon!  The resulting battle will be remembered only as a blur of fangs, magic, and flashing blades, because the epic aftermath blocks out all else: with the dragon’s destruction, the floor of the chamber collapses!  Anorak’s foot gets stuck in debris as he tries to flee with the others, and when the ceiling caves in, the dwarf is crushed to death!  The curse of Scarwall is no mere legend, and the dreadful fate of all who enter is hard to escape.

The final battle against the chained spirit is a mere footnote, as The Reckoner dispatches it easily.  When the tremors begin again and the entire castle beings collapsing, it’s almost as if Anorak’s spirit shows his allies what to do.  Lorien’s windwalking magic allows the three heroes to survive a cataclysm that buries Anorak’s body, nightmares uncountable, and, finally, the curse of Castle Scarwall forever.

And with the connection between Scarwall and Ileosa’s Crown of Fangs broken, the Tyrant Queen of Korvosa has become vulnerable. 

 

The end has begun.

-------------------------------

GM Commentary

This was the last session of Chapter Five, and a lot happened in it.  Moving quickly because of The Reckoner's predilection for having constant protection from short-duration, wand-cast buffs, the group expended some precious resources to bring Anorak back from the dead (he was killed by a banshee a session or two previously).  It was then the other players and myself realized that Anorak's player was secretly intent on bringing in a new PC, and so started having Anorak do more and more reckless things.  After another combat left him in negative hit points and he was healed up, he then died in a later combat in this same session.  It's a frustrating thing for the other players when they're working very hard to keep a party member alive and that player has a new shiny toy he's obsessed with and doesn't really care about the current one.

I don't honestly remember much about the battle with the shadow dragon.  From reading the forums online, I know Laori Vaus became a lot of groups' favourite NPC--but she only really appeared in a couple of sessions in mine (since The Reckoner turned down the alliance when the PCs first arrived at Scarwall) and she entered Scarwall alone to try to find Serithtial (with random rolls determining her fate inside).  It's another good reminder that you just never know what to expect when running an AP.

I added the collapsing building climax.  It was something I remembered vividly as a kid the first time I defeated the big bad in Ultima III and was shocked to realise I had to escape his castle as it started to collapse all around me.  I know the "building falls down when evil is destroyed" is something of a cliche, but I thought it would still be dramatic here and would make a clean ending to Chapter Five and set up Chapter Six nicely.

Starfinder Society Scenario # 5-03: 'Combatant's Concerto: Fugue of the Traitor' [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I played Combatant's Concerto: Fugue of the Traitor via play-by-post with my Steward PC, Officer Swizzers.  The scenario is the third in a series (following # 3-11 Into the Veskarium and # 4-06 Prelude to Revolution) that deals with the rebellion on Pulonis ("Vesk-6"), a world where the native pahtra are trying to free themselves from the Veskarium.  I heavily criticised the first two scenarios for forcing the PCs to effectively take the side of the occupation.  This one is better in that regard and has a stronger story, even though it still has some flaws and perhaps tries to do too much (and could easily run overlong).  It's a good scenario in terms of mixing plenty of role-playing with some combat.  Overall, it doesn't quite clear the bad taste in my mouth from the first two in the series, but at least it didn't make the situation worse.

SPOILERS!

Fugue of the Traitor ties strongly into the first two scenarios in the series.  Ixthia the Unbreakable briefs the PCs that their mission is to assist Miiyu, the Near Space pop star who is secretly the leader of the Pulonis Liberation Front.  Ixthia doesn't know what form of assistance she needs, so the PCs will need to find that out themselves.  Two bits in this introduction really annoyed me.  First, Ixthia gives each PC a stack of "blue squares" that was "old tech found in the vaults" that can be attached to all of the PCs' equipment, allowing them to completely ignore electromagnetic interference that ravages Pulonis and makes electronic equipment unreliable.  I hate it when writers pull something out of nowhere that undermines a key setting feature (and, I *like* it when PCs have to struggle/improvise to make do when they can't use their favourite shiny tech).  Second, there's an odd bit where a cook asks the PCs if they liked their meal, and if they say yes, the cook gives them grenades and healing serums!  I find these *very clumsy* loot drops annoying; it's even worse here, because if the PCs instead insult the cook, Ixthia then gives the PCs the very same stuff.  A scenario should at least respect the consequences it sets up (aka, don't ask the PCs to make a check if you're not willing to let them fail).  Ok, deep breath Jhaeman!  It gets mostly better from here.

The PCs arrive on Pulonis just in time to locate Miyuu at a concert she's giving.  Again there's some meaningless checks for the PCs to get coded instructions to meet her at her hotel room.  There, they meet her entourage, which also serves as the inner circle of the Pulonis Liberation Front: her grizzled pahtra bodyguard Vokuvi, the scholarly pahtra Eshga, a vlaka field medic named Renvir, and an ixti priest named Alfey.  Miyuu explains the reason they've requested Starfinder Society support is that they plan to venture out into the planet's remote Holy Lands to locate an ancient bunker there that would serve as the perfect headquarters for the resistance.  However, once Miyuu sends the others way, she reveals the *real* reason she's requested SFS assistance: one of her inner circle is a traitor!  She says she knows one of the four is a violent extremist trying to undermine her efforts to purge the radicalized pro-terrorism faction from the resistance movement.  But, she doesn't know which one of the four is the traitor, and thought having outside assistance that she can trust (dubious to me, given the previous scenarios) would be a good idea.   It's a really strong story premise.  (coincidentally, my last SFS review--Bounty # 7--involved a celebrity who had a traitor in their inner circle!)

The next part of the scenario covers the multi-week journey into the Holy Lands.  Dangerous and potentially lethal weather is why the area is so unpopulated, and this poses multiple challenges for the travelers.  Event # 1 is a small skills challenge as lightning strikes hit the barge they're travelling on.  If the PCs do well, they impress Renvir and get some information from him about his past (in the form of a handout--you'll see a pattern soon).  Event # 2 has the barge stopping in a small town, and the PCs tasked with getting the precise coordinates of the bunker while the others load supplies.  It's another skills-focused challenge, and if the PCs do well, they impress Alfey and get information from him.  Most of the subsequent weeks-long overland journey into the Holy Lands is hand-waved, apart from one night when the travellers' camp is attacked by fiery flying balls called "Hungry Lights".  Vokuvi's cybernetic leg is scripted to malfunction during the battle, and if the PCs are able to assist him, they learn his background.  Event # 3 involves The Shriek, a powerful magnetic storm that flings razor-sharp metal fragments and unexploded munitions from a crashed vesk ship.  The PCs are tasked with getting a probe to function so they can gather data on it (which is their ostensible reason for being on the planet if questioned by the Veskarium).  The Shriek is dangerous though, and poor Alfey is killed by it!  If the probe is launched correctly, the PCs impress Eshga and she gives them a statement.

At this point, the PCs should have enough information about all the members of Miyuu's inner circle and enough clues to figure out who the traitor is and confront them.  Never trust bookish types (I am one), as the radical violent extremist is revealed to be Eshga!  She arranged for Alfey to be murdered because they had started suspecting the truth about her.  But in a nice twist, Eshga didn't kill Alfey directly; she did it by manipulating Renvir into thinking Alfey was the traitor and about to assassinate her.  The scenario has a nicely-written scenario for how all of this plays out (including what happens if the PCs accuse the wrong person), and earns major bonus points by including a picture and role-playing tips for each of the NPCs.  In one-shots like this where the PCs need to deal with several NPCs simultaneously, it *really* helps if they can put a name to a face.  (I will say I feel some sympathy for Eshga--it was the Starfinder Society that killed her brother by blowing up his ship in Into the Veskarium!)

The last part of the scenario has the PCs reach and explore the bunker, which was a pre-Gap, pre-Veskarium occupation pahtra military research facility.  I think this part is actually somewhat anticlimactic given everything else that's already happened in the scenario.  Or, it may be "abandoned complex as dungeon crawl" that Starfinder adventures struggle with.  In addition to some traps and robots, though, I have to admit the final battle is pretty cool: mechs!  Presumably inserted to tie into the release of Tech Revolution, the scenario has the PCs awakening an automated guardian mech and realising the only way they can possibly defeat it is to jump into mechs of their own.  A handy rules cheat-sheet to mech combat is included to help keep the scenario from stalling out as everyone tries to figure how the rules behind running them.

There's a lot of content packed in Fugue of the Traitor, and this is one that the GM should prepare for ahead of time and make sure it's run in a slot that allows some breathing room.  Although I have some quibbles (and grudges against its predecessors), overall it's a good scenario.

Pathfinder Tales: "A Passage to Absalom" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

A Passage to Absalom is a four-part Pathfinder Tales story that can be ready for free on the Paizo website (https://paizo.com/store/pathfinder/fiction/tales/serial/aPassageToAbsalom) or as an e-book for just $ .99 (https://paizo.com/products/btpy8qg6?Pathfinder-Tales-A-Passage-to-Absalom-ePub).  It features Jeggare and Radovan (protagonists of several Pathfinder novels by Dave Gross) on a sea voyage.  This one has a "drawing room mystery" vibe, but there's some fun dialogue and action to keep the pace up.  If you like these characters, this is one worth seeking out.

SPOILERS!

I must confess: I'm writing this review too long after having read the story, I read each part of the story too far apart and got lost, and my notes are sketchy.  My general impression is that it starts off with a somewhat slow pace, but picks up in Chapter Two when a merchant gets poisoned at a fancy dinner.  Jeggare gets to play Hercules Poirot and question each witness to the death before announcing his verdict when the ship docks.  But who the killer was, and what their motivation was, I have no recollection: so this is a Spoilers section with very few actual spoilers!  If were giving stars on the quality of this review, I'm afraid it'd be a 1.  But the story itself is surely much better . . .

Starfinder Bounty # 7: "Voyage on the River Between" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I played Voyage on the River Between via play-by-post, using the Iconic Soldier, Obazaya.  I wouldn't say this is a stand-out adventure in any way, but it's a perfectly pleasant way to spend an hour or two.  The story is a bit pedestrian, but there's plenty of opportunities for role-playing, multiple skill usages, and a combat that should be doable for Level 1 PCs.  I tend to prefer lore- and setting-heavy adventures, but if you want to introduce new players to the game, this Bounty is very accessible and they won't feel lost about what's happening or what they're supposed to be doing.

SPOILERS!

Voyage on the River Between sees the PCs hired to be bodyguards for a famed athlete (a "brutaris" player) named Visavra.  (for Starfinder Society games, the hook may need to be adjusted slightly to make sense.)  Visavra, a sarcesian, has been convinced by her friends to finally take a holiday.  Visavra has decided to go on a sort of river-cruise with a couple of her friends (a dwarf named Cyrus Skyshatter and a human named Desir Anbali).  Only, this is no ordinary river and no ordinary cruise ship: the adventure takes place in the Diaspora asteroid belt on the River Between, a magical river encased in a forcefield that connects many of the larger asteroids, and the ship (the Watani) is a special private-charter luxury liner that can adopt a submersible mode!  However, what Visavra (and the PCs) don't know is that she's about to be the target of a kidnapping & ransom attempt and one of the villains is part of her entourage!

The Bounty starts with three short events, each of which poses a simple skill-based challenge and an opportunity for the PCs (if successful in dealing with most of the problems) to impress Visavra--a factor that influences how she acts in the adventure's climax.  Event # 1 sees a drunk pilot corkscrewing the Watani through a turbulent part of the River Between, potentially injuring passengers unless the PCs can take over the helm with a Piloting check or help the NPCs keep their footing.  Event # 2 has an extravagant banquet interrupted by a pack of curious "glotters"--otther-like mammals with glowing fur--who swarm the ship searching for food.  PCs are given several skill options for shooing the glotters away before the meal is ruined.  Event # 3 has the ship running into (literally) a Diaspora wyrm, a massive serpentine creature.  PCs have to leap into action (with Computers or Engineering) to activate the ship's emergency systems to protect hull integrity.  As part of, and in between these events, there's actually a lot of opportunities for little moments for the PCs to get to know Visavra and her friends--indeed, I imagine that for some groups, this Bounty could run overlong if they really get into the RP.

When the ship docks, the PCs only need to escort Visavra safely to her hotel to finish their task. Cyrus assures Visavra she's safe and the bodyguards can be dismissed, and here's where it's important whether or not the PCs impressed her.  If they didn't, she agrees, and the PCs are figuratively flat-footed when there's an ambush!  The assailants are dwarf pirates under the banner of the Skyshatter clan.  It turns out that Cyrus had been roped into into the kidnap/ransom plot by his parents and feels tremendous guilt about his role in the matter.  Assuming the PCs save her from the kidnapping plot, Visavra rewards them with three weeks in a luxurious resort!

That's the Bounty.  Like I said, nothing astounding and a bit too Saturday morning cartoon (like most Starfinder) for my tastes, but there's nothing wrong with it.

Pathfinder Society Scenario # 5-02: "The Wardstone Patrol" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

The Wardstone Patrol is an interesting and thought-provoking scenario.  Set in Mendev, no one will be surprised that there are battles with demons--but the real story involves how those battles change who we are as people.  In other words, this is a deeper scenario than the standard set of combat encounters, and role-playing choices definitely alter how the storyline progresses.  I think in the hands of a good GM, this one can really pop and be a memorable adventure.  I'd recommend it.

SPOILERS!

The Wardstone Patrol centers around an NPC named Ilivan.  Ilivan is a half-elven crusader who has lived a turbulent life.  He grew up in Erages, the town set aside for half-elves in the elven nation of Kyonin, and like all half-elves there, faced discrimination and treatment as a second-class citizen.  He joined the elven military, where the discrimination continued, before drifting into life as a smuggler in the shores of Lake Encarthan.  Finally, he found a purpose in life as part of the Mendevian Crusade and was even knighted for his bravery in battle.  But now, after nearly twenty years of constant fighting, Ilivan has seen so much carnage and depravity that he has become cold and cynical.  The PCs spend the entire scenario in the company of Ilivan, and the story revolves around whether or not they're able to reach him emotionally to put him on a better path forward.  If they can't, another brave knight effectively falls prey to the endless onslaught of the Worldwound.  The scenario contains several paragraphs of text detailing Ilivan's background, how to role-play him, and how to track (through "Empathy Points") whether the PCs are getting through to him.

The scenario starts at the Pathfinder Lodge in Nerosyan (Mendev's capital city) with a briefing from Venture-Captain Jorsal.  He explains that he wants the PCs to take part in a patrol along the border of the Worldwound under the command of Ilivan.  It seems there have been a series of attacks on the wardstones that have weakened the nation's containment of the demonic armies.  I would normally remark that this doesn't really sound like a job for Pathfinders, but the scenario smartly anticipates this objection by having Jorsal explain that in Mendev, the Society is tolerated only because of an agreement with the Queen that all Pathfinders will volunteer some of their time to take part in the defense of the realm.  It makes sense.

The patrol takes the PCs along the River Road, following the bank of the West Sellen River (a natural border).  Soon, Ilivan and the PCs come to an abandoned village, but out in the middle of some fields they see a heap of bodies and a group of commoners struggling with one another.  Ilivan adamantly refuses to intervene, assuming the villagers are cultists and outside the scope of his mission.  If the PCs follow orders, they might bypass this encounter entirely.  What's really happening, however, is that body-possessing demons called vermleks have taken over some of the villagers and are planning to torture and kill the others.  This is the first situation where the PCs might be able to gain an Empathy Point through their interactions with Ilivan.

Whether the PCs intervened or not, their patrol next takes them to Fort Portolmaeus.  The fort has recently come under heavy attack, and a cavalry sortie fell into a trap and several soldiers were taken captive.  This is explained to them by the fort's commander, and short-handed, she requests Ilivan and the PCs mount a rescue expedition.  Ilivan accepts the task in her presence, but once outside dismisses the notion as foolish--the prisoners are as good as dead, in his mind, and going after them is naïve.  I'm not sure how much it intends to, but the scenario raises some really interesting moral and practical issues.  I think we're supposed to see Ilivan as being unduly cold and callous, and the PCs are expected to try to persuade him to come along on the rescue out of compassion for his fellow soldiers.  But one could also reasonably take the perspective that the PCs are outsiders, dropped into a complex situation that the battle-hardened and experienced Ilivan is an expert in, and that following his orders is not only the lawful thing to do, but the most pragmatic thing to do.  In a way, it encapsulates the difference between Lawful Good and Lawful Neutral alignments.  PCs have a tendency to think they automatically know better than everyone else, but what if they're wrong?

Whether the PCs decide to mount a rescue or not, they'll face some additional challenges, including demonic wasp swarms and mind-altering rageweed spores.  If the PCs do go after the captives, there's a battle against an intimidating brimorak demon and his dretch minions.  The scenario certainly "gets" the depravity of demons, as the dretches use coup de graces on the prisoners every round unless and until the PCs stop them!  If the PCs have gained enough Empathy Points with Ilivan that he accompanies them on the rescue, he actually heroically sacrifices himself to stop demonic reinforcements from arriving.  However, on the branching path where the PCs decide not to mount a rescue, Ilivan feels mounting shame (and rage) and decides to slay those who witnessed his inaction by attacking the PCs!  Definitely a twist, and potentially an interesting fight versus a mounted lance-expert if the GM knows how to run one.  The epilogue to the scenario of course depends on which choice the PCs (and Ilivan) made).

I'm not sure I like "Empathy Points" per se, as it seems a bit too "gamey", but the general idea of focusing the adventure on how the PCs are influenced by, and influence in turn, Ilivan was really good.  His background and personality show a more realistic side of soldiering than we usually see in Pathfinder.  If anything, the story concept might have been better in a module or AP chapter, where the PCs get more time with Ilivan.  The other elements of the scenario were strong, so I'd definitely recommend it.  The Worldwound: Hard Choices in a Hard Land!