Additional GM Resources

Cheliax Embassy, The Disappeared Absalom's Ascended District Scenario Type: social/espionage, 2 challenging combats

Primary success condition: Obtain all pertinent intelligence on the disappearance of Ambassador Zarta Dralneen. Secondary objective: Do so without alerting the embassy’s security detail.

Please bring: Handouts provided by scenario, additional handouts made by myself or other GMs on the Paizo GM Discussion thread, a stopwatch or timer, a few sheets of scrap paper for the decipher portion. May also want Mission Impossible soundtrack. Oh yeah, and dice. Additional Information

Special notes: This mission is easily failed in a variety of ways, ask players to bring their most relevant characters playable for the scenario. The party will need a combination of skills (mostly Bluff, Stealth, and Disable Device) and combat prowess for the Devils and Animated chairs. It is implied in the Getting Started section that after the mission briefing the PCs had a few hours (I just say 8) before entering the embassy to prepare for the night’s mischief. Allow them full use of this time to prepare spells if possible, shop, and do whatever research they desire.

Also, within the embassy at certain points I think the GM should describe the various doorways having those nameplates for the rooms like the ones you see in hotels and government buildings everywhere. My reasoning is that several times the author seems to assume that the players know what is behind certain doors, when for all they know it’s a broom closet. I will put suggested names for each room at the right of the top of each room’s box.

Scroll of Disguise Self School illusion (glamer) CL 1 C Casting Time 1 standard action C Components V, S Range personal T Target you Duration 10 min You make yourself—including clothing, armor, weapons, and equipment—look different. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller, thin, fat, or in between. You cannot change your creature type (although you can appear as another subtype). Otherwise, the extent of the apparent change is up to you. You could add or obscure a minor feature or look like an entirely different person or gender.

The spell does not provide the abilities or mannerisms of the chosen form, nor does it alter the perceived tactile (touch) or audible (sound) properties of you or your equipment. If you use this spell to create a disguise, you get a +10 bonus on the Disguise check. A creature that interacts with the glamer gets a Will save to recognize it as an illusion.

Elixir of Hiding: +10 competence bonus on Stealth for 1 hour

Venture Captain Ambrus Valsin

Discussion: Ambrus introduces the mission parameters, GM should take care to make it exceptionally clear to the PCs that the three relevant data are WHO is behind Zarta’s disappearance, WHERE she has gone, and WHY she was disappeared. Failure to find relevant intelligence on any of these criteria fails the primary objective, and it has been frequently noted on the GM Discussion thread for this scenario that PCs had trouble remembering all of the information they were required to find, thus failing the mission despite getting most of the intel back to the Grand Lodge without complications. As a reminder, I will write the answers below (obviously do not share these with the PCs) WHO: Tancred Desimire, seeing Zarta as a strong rival, has arranged for her disappearance. This intel is gained through the combination of Zarta’s cipher left for the PCs in her study and the Prisoner Receipt stored in Internal Security: Receipts locker (His numbered seal is on the receipt, which corresponds to his ciphered name on Zarta’s note) WHERE: She has been taken to Citadel Vraid (a Hellknight fort), also detailed in her Prisoner Receipt WHY: She has been charged with treason, specifically selling Cheliax state secrets to the Pathfinder Society. The (falsified) evidence against her in these allegations is in Evidence Locker #23 (which the players are directed to by the Prisoner Receipt) Special Actions: Loot: Deadline:

I would allow players to roll Knowledge (Planes, Religion, or 2 Scrolls of Disguise Self (CL 1) Ticker has Nobility) to remind them about Cheliax’s affinity for Devils and 2 Elixirs of Hiding not started what Devils are like generally (silver weakness) as this is assumed to 1 dose of shiver for Ailena Hospar be common knowledge both for players the average resident of Golarion. Spy Door Guard Vanius Gestanian

Checks: Diplomacy, Bluff, or Intimidate (DCs:20) will get you in the door and directed to the Reception area. Special Actions: A bribe of 10 gp lowers the DC by 5, and allows for another attempt if the Loot: Deadline: ticker check is failed. none not begun

Addict Secretary Ailena Hospar

Checks: Diplomacy (DC:20) or Intimidate (DC:25) to ‘see the ambassador’ leads to Ailena pawning the party off on her superior, the Night-Watch Captain Anstrella Trelax. Special Actions: Loot: Deadline: Any mention of Zarta leads to poorly feigned ignorance of her former employer’s very existence. A None Ticker has trivial Sense Motive check lets the party know that she is lying, but she doesn’t much care if the not yet party is deceived. Denying Zarta’s existence is standard Chelaxian procedure in these cases, and she begun is just towing the party line.

Giving Ailena the dose of shiver reduces the check DCs by 10. Some GMs may prefer to have other functionaries in the room to require a Sleight of Hand check to give the dose. I think this scenario has enough Skill checks as is personally. Chelaxian Night Watch Captain Anstrella Trelax

Discussion: This is possibly the first ‘auto-fail’ available in the mission, and it isn’t even a check. Anstrella will ask for the intelligence documents, and if the party decides to give them to her she will show them the door. I would prompt a low DC Sense Motive check if a player even thinks about acceding to her wishes. (Success reveals that she plans on booting the party and taking credit for the intelligence coup) Also, it doesn’t mention retries for the social checks, but nor is she blocked out for purposes of a subdual so I would assume they are allowed. Checks: Diplomacy (DC:20) check to arrange an appointment with the Ambassador leads to Anstrella dispatching a lower functionary to take the party to area A2, a secured waiting room. Special Actions: Loot: Deadline: Intimidate will not work on her at all. Bluff isn’t mentioned, but if properly role-played I think could None Not yet suitably replace Diplomacy. begun The check’s DC is lowered by 5 if the speaker is ‘obsequious’ (meaning humble) A2, A4, A5: Waiting Area, Ill-Used Hallway, North Gallery

Discussion: This is a good point to explain the rules about strikes and the ticker. Also the 60 minutes begins at this point, basically at the moment the door to A4 cracks open. Take care to explain the three keys, one to this room’s doors (the one still in the lock on the A4 side of the door), another key in a similar style (it goes to Zarta’s rooms), and an odd key in the shape of the Asmodean cross. As the party is never told where they should even be going, I think a cryptic bit of help from the shadowy ‘Zarta loyalist’ could get them on the right track. Maybe just a small tag tied to the appropriate key saying ‘SW rooms’. In A4 they can plan their way through the North Gallery. Checks: To make it through the North Gallery unobserved requires Perception checks as follows: Perception DC:10 – gets to the Ballroom being used for the Gala; DC:15 – gets to the Kitchen; DC:20 – gets all the way to the Gardens Special Actions: Loot: Deadline:

The party face can make a single DC:15 Keys to Room A2 (waiting room), A14 (Zarta’s Ticker begins. Can take Bluff check to get the party straight to sitting room), and A17 (Asmodean cross key fitting 1 minute for the Bluff, the garden in 1 minute by acting like into woodcarving that summons stuff and reveals or 2 minutes per they are on legitimate business. her study) Perception check. A3, A6, A13, A16 – Security Offices, Kitchen, Foyer, Playroom

Discussion: I refer to these rooms as the Useless Rooms. Several have potential strikes or worse.

A3: Security Offices – It is empty and only leads to the Foyer (where the PCs REALLY shouldn’t go), and is also constantly supervised by Ailena Hospar in A1. Being seen by Ailena at this point would likely qualify as a strike. A6: Kitchen – the chef requires a DC:25 Bluff to not get a strike, and the only benefit of the kitchen is that the party can get hors d’oeuvres platters. A13: Grand Foyer - Walking into this room at all is a strike. The party would need to come up with something (‘a clever ruse or distraction’) the writer didn’t think of to avoid that fate. On the GM Prep thread a Summoner sent her Medium Elephant eidolon through the room and the party snuck around the other side while the dignitaries gawked. Without a solid plan like that this room is a mission failure waiting to happen. A16: Now that faction missions have been nixed, this serves no purpose. The flavor is cool (if seedy, or perhaps Sade-y) but I would discourage the party from wasting precious minutes taking 20 on a Perception check. If one PC does, sure, so long as the rest are using that time wisely. Special Actions: Loot: Deadline:

Player creativity in the Foyer. none Variable, more likely to consume strikes than time. A7: Grand Ballroom Amara Li

Discussion: This room is probably the biggest time-sink in the mission, with a whopping 10 minutes spent on SUCCESSES for the checks. Having some ruse such as hors d’oeuvre platters lowers it to 5 minutes, but this is still a pretty high time cost compared to Bluffing your way through the Gardens, which takes 1 minute to get to the staging area. That said, if they want to come here it’s their choice. Checks: Stealth (DC:15) or Bluff (DC:20) gets the party across the room in 10 minutes. Each party member failing one of these checks costs an additional minute. While not specified, I assume the author intended ‘across’ to mean from North to South into A12 (the Southern Gallery). The PCs may specify another direction, such as the Gardens (A8) or the Grand Foyer (A13), but this would be a waste of their precious, precious time. You could tell them that the doors to these two areas are tasteful stained-glass paneled doors (actually upon re-reading, that is actually in the scenario anyways), and then describe what is seen through them. Smart players will certainly want to avoid them, as both A13 and the patio area of A8 the doors from A7 open to are crowded with mingling revelers. Special Actions: Loot: May take  By having a clever ruse, such as holding platters, having butler uniforms, arranging a None 10 distraction, or other suitable chicanery the party may move from one side of the room to the minutes other in only 5 minutes. Every party member will need to succeed a Disguise or Bluff check + check (DCs:20), every two members failing said checks earns a strike. failure penalties  Amara Li is in the Ballroom. The mission briefing seems to indicate that approaching her , or 5 directly is a superlatively bad idea. If it seems a party member is doing so, you could say minutes something like “She looks at you pointedly with a warding glance.” + strikes  I would say talking directly to any NPC beyond ‘Excuse me’ including Amara (other than for failed the Bluff checks) could be considered a strike. checks. A8: Gardens revelers

Discussion: This area is pretty straightforward, the PCs need to make Stealth or Bluff checks to get across. If they play it slow and safe a failed check has no stated penalty, but I think 1 minute is appropriate. If any party member fails the quick way it is a strike. In this section each party member must make their chosen checks individually. Checks:  Stealth (DC:10) check allows a PC to sneak across the gardens in 3 minutes. Failing this check does not have any stated penalties, and it is implied that strikes would not be the penalty if there are any. I would say for each PC failing this check the party is penalized another minute. It isn’t likely that there will be any failures however. Unless someone dumped Dex and hasn’t taken the Elixir of Hiding I see no reason they couldn’t just take 10 and get across.  Bluff or Disguise (DCs:15) checks to promenade across the gardens as revelers take only 1 minute. If some characters are more comfortable in shadows than guise, they may make a quicker stealthy dash across the gardens using the promenading PCs as a distraction. This is a Stealth (DC:15) check and also takes 1 minute. Special Actions: Loot: Deadline: None Nothing really notable here, though some parties may try something 3 minutes + 1 min./failed check OR 1 creative not thought of by myself or the writer. minute + a strike if anyone fails a check A9: Staging Area servants

Discussion: This room the PCs can just walk right through without risking time or strikes. From here the PCs can progress into the Servants’ Passage (A10) or directly into the South Gallery (A12). Make sure to read the bit about the South Gallery door being the only door in the room seeing use. This will probably be enough encouragement to get smart players into the Servants’ Passage, which is a more viable path to Zarta’s Quarters. Checks: None required Special Actions: Loot: Deadline:

If a party member wishes, they can palm some accoutrement of the servant class Potentially 1-2 rounds, no strikes (a wine bottle, food platter, a tablecloth, etc.) with a DC:15 Sleight of Hand some props for unless the party does check. This will give a +2 circumstance bonus on Bluffing servants (if they coming off as something incorporate the prop into their lie), but incur a -2 penalty on stealth checks. It a servant later. outlandishly stupid also eliminates the possibility that the PC carrying such an item is approached by another servant to be given a task in the Southern Gallery. A10: Servants Passage Vacant

Discussion: Nothing doing here, it’s a straight shot from the staging area (A9) to the part of the South Gallery (A12) nearest the PCs immediate objective, Zarta’s rooms. This hallway also grants access to the two functionally identical Servants’ Quarters rooms (A11). The hallway is unoccupied. Checks: None! The passage is 90 feet long, so calculate rounds spent if you’re feeling nitpicky. I assume double-move rounds if the players aren’t performing any other time-consuming actions or being observed. Therefore 2 rounds if everyone moves 30 feet/round or 3 if they are at 15 or 20 ft./round. A11: Servant's Quarters (x2) Vacant

Discussion: There are two functionally identical Servants’ Quarters rooms. In either room PCs may grab some servant livery, which will later allow them to make Bluff and Disguise checks (to impersonate a servant) with a +10 circumstance bonus (which stacks with the untyped bonuses from Disguise Self and similar). This burns 5 minutes, but requires no checks immediately. Recall that Disguise and Bluff checks are inherently opposed rolls and therefore needn’t be rolled unless and until the disguised PC interacts with NPCs. I’m not sure where I stand on the cost/benefit analysis of taking these disguises. At this point the party is through every Bluff and Disguise check required until after retrieving the intelligence from area B2. The benefits will only come into play when the party is returning to the waiting room (A2), and honestly only if the players cut through the Grand Ballroom on their return, at which point it will potentially cut the time to cross the Ballroom by…5 minutes. Essentially the players spend five minutes they MAY later recoup, but will not (so far as I can tell) net any time whatsoever. It would make sense if the party were strike poor but time rich, except that strikes reset once the party reaches Zarta’s Sitting Room anyway. Special Actions: Loot: Deadline:

Taking the servant livery Servant disguise 5 minutes A12: South Gallery servants

Discussion: This place can be a real hassle if the party decided to go through it directly from the Staging Area (A9) or from the Grand Ballroom (A7). If they are coming from the Servants’ Passage, however, it’s a cakewalk. I will therefore make two Checks sections. Checks from Servants’ Passage: To time the crossing to (or back from) Zarta’s door takes a Perception (DC:10) check. A failure on this check costs 1 minute per failure, and successes take only 1 round. Opening the locked door has no check if the party remembers/realizes that they have the key already, otherwise it is a Disable Device (DC:30) check. There are no listed penalties for failing this check, but I would probably penalize 1 minute per failure as the character has to duck back out of sight and re-time the approach. Checks from anywhere else: Intimidate (DC:20) checks part the sea of servants. I would say that if the party clumps together, a success for any is a success for all in this room. After all, you just need one scary dude in front and everyone else can just say “I’m with beefy.” This method of crossing takes 5 minutes. If someone is disguised as a servant, they can make it to Zarta’s rooms in only 2 minutes without making any skill checks. But, if they did not think to bring a task-oriented prop (such as a tablecloth, or food or drink to serve), there is a coin-flip’s chance (per PC so disguised and ill-equipped) that an annoyed servant will come out of the woodworks to appoint them a task. At this point the PC will need to make a Bluff (DC:15) or Sleight of Hand (DC:20) check to weasel out of their affected occupation. Failure means that particular PC will need to play a waiter around the Ballroom for 5 minutes. (The party needn’t, and likely shouldn’t wait up for them.) Special Actions: Loot: Deadline:

If given a task by a servant, the player may spend one of the party’s strikes none 2 rounds – 5+ minutes on just ignoring them. A14: Zarta's Sitting Room Vacant

Discussion: The sole purpose of this room seems to be flavor, and some solutions to faction missions the PCs are soon to encounter. [sarcasm]We all know how important those faction missions are these days.[/sarcasm]

Checks: Perception (DC:10) to notice the nude pics of Zarta. The way the description of this room is written I don’t think you need to roll to notice the bucket of varnish propping open the door to Zarta’s Bedchamber (A15)

Special Actions: Loot: Deadline:

None I can think of. None. Well, some hot pics of Zarta I suppose. They don’t have a listed gp value, but some of my characters might be inclined to take them home. 1-2 rounds tops, unless the party really feels like burning two minutes to take 20 on a Perception roll. A15: Zarta's Bedchamber Devils

Discussion: This room houses one of the two (well, technically three) encounters in this mission. In the low tier the imps are pretty manageable, although if the players didn’t take any silver weapons they can get pretty hosed by the fast healing + DR combo. In the high tier the bearded devils can be exceedingly dangerous, ESPECIALLY if no one brought some silver weapons along. Checks: Perception (DC:15) to notice that the Asmodean star necklace worn by the nymph in the woodcarving on the eastern wall is actually a keyhole matching the Asmodean cross key received by the party earlier. Actually unlocking the secret door is what makes the devils appear. Special Actions: Loot: Deadline: It is relatively common for a party member to cast detect magic on the woodcarving. Unfortunately, None Fight there are no stat blocks for the door or explanation of exactly what mechanism brings the devils into length + the room. I can think of three explanations and corresponding GM actions in response to detect rounds of magic or similar for the high-tier (though only 1 for the low): other actions 1. Zarta has cast lesser planar binding on these devils in the past, and bound them by their oath performed to attack whatever non-Zarta entity next opens the door to her secret study. The actual spell in room. has worn off, but not their oaths. If in low tier the imps can be in the bedroom already somewhere and are simply invisible as per their at will ability. Therefore a well-aimed detect magic will find two faint auras of illusion, and a successful Knowledge Arcana (DC:18) check will let the PCs know there are invisible creatures with them in the Bedchamber. (Glitterdust, detect invisibility, etc. would all work as per normal) In the high tier the bearded devils could be in Varisia for all we know, but are keyed to an alarm spell of the mental variety that has been made permanent via permanency. In this case a faint aura of abjuration and a moderate aura of Universal would be detected, Spellcraft (DCs:18 and 24 respectively) to identify the alarm and permanency. If this is the case the bearded devils may use their teleportation ability freely. (They could also just as easily be waiting inside the Secret Study and require no such alarm.) 2. For the high tier this door actually has the Summon Monster VI magical trap attached. Type magic; Perception DC 31; Disable Device DC 31 EFFECTS Trigger proximity (alarm); Reset none Effect spell effect (summon monster VI, summons 1d3 (2) Bearded Devils) In this case the Bearded Devils cannot use their teleportation. 3. Hand waving. The door has no magic on it whatsoever, or if you like there is a moderate aura of conjuration on it that can be identified as Summon Monster VI with Spellcraft (DC:26). As in solution 2, the Bearded Devils may not teleport.

There is one other special action I can think of that actually gets around the encounter entirely, though it is only rarely even possible. If the party has a 5th level Cleric or Druid they could just Stone Shape the wall next to the woodcarving out of the way. A17: Zarta's Study vent

Discussion: Make sure you have some form of stopwatch available from this point onward, as any deciphering done by the players should take from their ticker in real time. Many parties thus choose to split the party, which seems sensible. As it turns out, it isn’t unless whoever goes through the vents can handle the Animated Chair(s) on the other side. But whatever, that’s the players’ problem. The conspicuously capitalized Clue letters in the note are, in order: “Vent, Lion, King, Scales, Centaur” The only letters missing from the ciphered text that the players will have any use for are L, F, and Q. The last letter of the ciphered text looks like an ‘h’, but corresponds to a deciphered ‘s’, but a ciphered ‘s’ is a ‘d’. Explain to the party that the last letter is garbled as Zarta was apparently interrupted in her writing.

Checks:  Perception (DC:10) – discovers the “fan letter” on the back of Ambrus Valsin’s portrait  Linguistics (DCs: 15, 20, 25, etc.) – if rolled by a player deciphering the letter this check will grant an additional letter (not present in the actual ciphered text of the letter) at 15 and another additional letter for every 5 in excess of this base DC. As noted above, the only letters included in decipherable texts down the road that Zarta did not include are L, F, and Q so those are the best choices for rewarding successes of this check.  Intelligence (DC:10) – figures out that the garbled text at the end of Zarta’s fan letter is a code. This check should only be prompted by the GM if the players really have no idea what’s going on with it. If they have figured out it’s a code, but not what it corresponds to I might say something like “The pattern of the punctuation seems familiar.”  Disable Device or Strength (DCs:15) – gets the grating off of the ventilation shaft

Special Actions: Nothing I can think of. Loot: In a valise the party finds: Tier 1-2: 50 gp Tier 4-5: 600 gp, 4x opals (worth 300 gp each), hat of disguise, improved ring of climbing Both tiers: paperwork for Zarta’s ready-made false identities, dust of disappearance, cloak of elvenkind Deadline: Probably just a few rounds, plus any real-time deciphering if the party chooses to do that now. B1: Ventilation Shafts Clues

Discussion: In the shafts the message spell cast by Amara Li cannot pierce the stone. The passage is 3ft x 3ft, so small characters may be able to walk comfortably down it as if it were a narrow hallway, medium creatures are squeezing through on hands and knees, and Large-sized critters are right out. It is low-light conditions. The party should go LEFT, RIGHT, RIGHT. This corresponds to following the LION (rather than the banner), the SCALES (rather than nothing at all), and the CROWN (rather than the spear). At the end the arrow of the centaur points to another vent. Checks:  Disable Device (DC:15) allows the party to open the grate into the records archive. It is not explicitly stated that the party can use a Strength check (DC:15) instead as per the first grate, but I think it safe to assume that they can. After all, a party without Disable Device trained would auto-fail at this point otherwise.  Dexterity (DC:15) allows the party to remove the grate without it falling loudly into the next room (after succeeding the Disable Device check). This has no mechanical benefits other than not freaking out the PCs. Special Actions: Loot: Deadline: none While not explicitly stated in the scenario pamphlet that small-sized characters may It takes 5 minutes to move normally, the dimensions of the ventilation shaft are stated as 3x3 ft. To me, traverse the ventilation that says they can. In this case I’d allow a Small character to get to Room B2 in 1 shafts, plus an additional minute. Not that this is necessarily a nice thing to do, if a Halfling triggers those minute/ wrong turn. chairs on his lonesome they could be in big trouble.

B2: Records Archive Animated Chairs

Discussion: There have been a lot of questions about this room in the GM Discussion thread, so I’ll address them here.  Animated Chairs do not intentionally kill people. They knock them unconscious and move on. After all, the Chelish would probably like to question anyone determined enough to get into the Archives about their employers and motivations.  Players MUST obtain not only the Prisoner Receipt document, but also the evidence against Zarta in Evidence Locker A23. To do otherwise is a failed mission.  The player handout map of the room is posted ‘on an easel in one of the aisles of the room.’ Checks:  Perception (DC:15) allows the players to either find any relevant documents within a given cabinet or determine that there is none in 3 minutes. Getting a Perception roll of 20+ reduces this to 1 minute. Failing the check still gives the players any relevant information or confidence that none is within the cabinet, but takes 5 minutes. Special Actions: Loot: Deadline:  Personally, I feel that if the players already have the prisoner receipt in hand and 300 gp jade 1-5 minutes/ have deciphered enough of it to know that the relevant evidence is in locker A23 amulet/ cabinet specifically, they should automatically be able to spend 1 minute getting it rather animated searched + than needing the possible 3-5 minutes through Perception checks. chair battle rounds

Escape Amb. Hans Thomsen

Discussion: This section begins once the party has all of the relevant intelligence documents. From the Archive it is another five minutes back through the ventilation shafts. Frankly I disagree with that arbitrary figure, as the length of the shafts is 100 feet and if there are already movement rules for squeezing (half speed). Even assuming the party’s movement speed is normally 20 ft/round AND that they are not using double moves, is should only require 10 rounds through the shafts, or 1 minute. But, scenario as written says 5 minutes. Whatever. What really annoys me is that the scenario also says it requires a full 15 minutes from Zarta’s rooms back to the waiting room, unless the party has the servants’ disguises and can make it across the Ballroom quickly. That is utter nonsense. I’ve calculated it out, and if the party goes back to the waiting room in the following route: {SITTING ROOM  SERVANTS’ PASSAGE  STAGING AREA  GARDENS  NORTHERN GALLERY  ILL-USED HALLWAY  WAITING ROOM} the entire route requires about 3-7 minutes. The only way it even approaches the 7 minute figure is if the party plays it safe in the Gardens and in the Northern Gallery, which they have no need to as their strikes were wiped clean when they reached Zarta’s sitting room. So, what the scenario says takes 20 minutes should take about 4-6. Alright, venting over. ------For running this section the basic points are: At 20 minutes remaining (40 minutes elapsed) Amara starts messaging the party that the Ambassador is getting restless and she is going to try to retain his attention. At 10 minutes remaining (50 minutes elapsed) she says he’s leaving the party. At the 60 minutes elapsed mark the ambassador is in the waiting room, and the party has a 5 minute grace period to meet him there, but must now succeed a Bluff (DC:20) check to make an excuse for their absence or the guards are summoned. Beyond the grace period, the guards are in wait (appropriately) in the waiting room. You may now refer to the Blown Cover section of the pamphlet. Note that the ambassador’s name is never actually given within the scenario pamphlet. I named him Hans Thomsen, after the Nazi ambassador to the United States during World War II. After all, the Chelaxians are pretty racist, imperial, and into the occult. I thought it fit. Review of Scenario

It has been said by several GMs that they have a love/hate relationship with this scenario. I can certainly commiserate with that. The storyline is incredible, and the ambiance even more so. This mission fully utilizes the tropes of espionage fiction without being cheapened by their familiarity. It is well incorporated into the Golarion setting, and the NPC interactions seem sensible.

That said, mechanically there are a lot of issues. Several actions take far more time than even makes sense (such as the five minute passages through the ventilation shafts, or 10 minutes to cross a crowded ballroom), and check DCs do not have any scaling for the 1-2 tier. The servants’ uniforms are described in the scenario pamphlet as being really useful, but I think they are worse than useless by the time you get them. Also, as noted before, there isn’t any information on just how that woodcarving is summoning devils. Some will also complain that the cryptology element requires player intelligence rather than character skills. Frankly, I’m not too concerned with that but I can understand their position.

All in all, this is one of my favorite scenarios of all time. It demonstrates that even great missions have flaws in their design.

Additional GM Resources:

Player Handout #1: (deciphered) Seal Codes – Image by Russell Akred from the GM Discussion thread of this scenario Player Handout #3: (deciphered) Prisoner Receipt Document – image by Russell Akred from the GM Discussion thread of this scenario Next page: time/strike tracking sheet by Russell Akred from the GM Discussion thread of this scenario