Pathfinder Society Scenarios used the Challenge Points system into Year 7 to adjust difficulty. Early Scenarios need some adjustments to work with the Challenge Points system.

The Challenge Points system has been replaced by easier and harder adjustments written into each Scenario beginning during Year 7. It is reproduced below for reference.

---

Challenge Points

The GM adjusts each adventure before play begins, following the steps below:

Calculate Challenge Points

To calculate the number of Challenge Points the party represents, take the following steps:

1. Record the lowest allowed level for a PC to play at this table of the adventure. For example, in an adventure written for PC levels 3-6, the lowest allowed level is 3.

2. Record each PC's level.

3. Convert each PC's level to Challenge Points. The number of Challenge Points that each PC contributes is based only on their character level. Use the following table:

Table: Challenge Points

For example, level 1 is the lowest level PC allowed at an adventure for levels 1-4. In that case, a 2nd-level PC is at the lowest allowed level + 1 and therefore contributes 3 Challenge Points. A party of five PCs levels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 4 would contribute 2, 3, 4, 6, and 6 Challenge Points, respectively.

4. Add up the party's Challenge Points.

5. Add pregens (if needed). If your table has fewer than 4 PCs, use the following chart to determine what level of pregens to add, and how many additional Challenge Points.

Table: Adding Pregens

* This table is only legal if all players at the table agree. While we expect this "hard mode" playthrough experience to be satisfying, we want to caution you that, as the adventures are designed for a minimum of four players, they will be more difficult than normal.

Determine the Level Range

Parties with up to 15 challenge points always play in the lower level range. Parties with 19 or more always play in the higher level range.

Parties with 16-18 play in the higher level range only if they have 4 or fewer PCs. If they have 5 or more PCs, they play in the lower level range. This allows small parties of high level adventurers to play in the higher level range, while large parties of low level adventurers play in the lower level range.

Mentorship and PC Level Bumps

To provide low level players a more fun and fair experience, PCs at the lowest allowed to play the adventure (such as a 3rd-level PC playing in a Level 3–6 Scenario) gain a temporary boost when playing in the higher level range called a "Level Bump," to represent the higher-level PCs’ mentorship and support. Apply the following adjustments:

• Increase every DC the PC has by 1.
• Increase the attack modifiers, attack damage, spell damage, saving throw modifiers, skill modifiers, Perception modifiers, and AC of the PC by 1.
• Increase the total hit points of the PC by 10 or by 10%, whichever is higher.

Apply the relevant adjustments to the PC's animal companions, eidolons, and familiars as well. If a value is already increased by applying the adjustment to a PC (such as a familiar's save modifiers and AC), do not increase the value a second time. Remind higher-level PCs to apply any Mentor Boons they might have purchased as well.

These adjustments are less beneficial than gaining a level, yet they provide the PC more survivability and more opportunity to contribute to the adventure experience, reducing the degree to which higher-level PCs might overshadow these less experienced Pathfinders.

Adjust the Adventure

Once you’ve determined the level range and Challenge Point total, apply the proper modifications to the adventure to provide a fair challenge.

Level Range: Nearly all encounters list two different sets of creature statistics, one for each of the two level ranges the adventure is designed for. The adventure often also refers to important skill checks and saving throws in room descriptions or during events, listing one DC for the lower level range and one for the higher level range. In each of these cases, use the numbers, creatures, and other information listed for the selected level range.

Scaling: Within a level range, the scenario will also contain instructions for adjusting the difficulty of the scenario based on the total Challenge Points. These scaling instructions are generally found in "scaling sidebars" but might also be in the text of the room description or encounter.

Early Scenarios: Some early scenarios were written before the Challenge Point system was fully developed. If you are GMing Scenario 1-00 through 1-11 or Quests 1, 2, or 5, consult Converting Early Scenarios below.

Converting Early Scenarios

Scenarios designed for “Number of Players”

Scenarios 1-00, 1-01, 1-02, 1-03, 1-05, Q1, and Q2 use a “number of players” adjustment, instead of the CP system. If you are playing one of the following Scenarios, calculate the CP and determine the level range as normal, then, consult the appropriate table below to determine which adjustment to use.

Table: Lower Level Range Adjustments

Table: Higher Level Range Adjustments

* Challenge Point totals of 12–13 and 23–27 allow the GM to make a choice between two options that provide a similar degree of challenge. However, each Scenario varies slightly in the differences between these two options, and the GM is encouraged to select the option they predict will be a more fun and fair challenge for the group. (Parties often prefer options that give the PCs more monsters to fight.) You can pick between the options individually for each encounter.

Scenarios Missing a CP 16-18 adjustment for Lower Level Range

Some early Scenarios have no scaling option for lower level range party with a CP of 16-18. If you are GMing a table of one of the following Scenarios and the party of 5 or more has a CP of 16-18 use the CP 12 adjustment, and apply a Level Bump to the scenario.

• Q5 The Dragon Who Stole Evoking Day
• #1-04 Bandits of Immenwood
• #1-06 Lost on the Road Spirit
• #1-07 Flooded King’s Court
• #1-08 Revolution on the Riverside
• #1-09 Star-Crossed Voyages
• #1-10 Tarnbreaker’s Trail
• #1-11 Flames of Rebellion

Level Bump for Adventures

Scenarios and Quests are designed to challenge PCs whose average level is the lower of the two levels in a given level range (i.e., Level Range 1–2 is built to challenge 1st-level PCs, and Level Range 3–4 is built to challenge 3rd-level PCs). Normally, when the Challenge Point total determines that the group’s overall power is equivalent to the higher level in a Level Range (e.g. 2nd level in Level Range 1–2), the scenario’s scaling will adjust for this.

However, sometimes it is necessary to add a Level Bump, such as when the Scenario’s scaling is based on the number of players, or if the Scenario lacks a low tier 16-18 scaling.

Applying a Level Bump is a simple calculation:

• Increase every DC listed in the Scenario by 1.
• Increase the attack modifiers, attack damage, spell damage, saving throw modifiers, skill modifiers, Perception modifiers, and ACs of all enemy creatures by 1.
• Increase the Hit Point totals of all enemy creatures by 10 or by 10%, whichever is higher.

These straightforward adjustments make the adventure slightly more challenging for higher-level groups, though the adjustments cannot account for the more powerful abilities and spells that higher-level foes would likely have.