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Enter the Social Arena

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

The Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild is kicking its campaign storyline into overdrive with this month's scenario, Starfinder Society Scenario #1-05: The First Mandate. This scenario is the first in an unofficial multi-part series of adventures that slowly peels back some of the mystery surrounding the Scoured Stars incident. Of course, any good mystery needs a strong cast, and this month's scenario also introduces several new important NPCs to the campaign.

Illustrations by Sebastian Rodriguez

Fellow staffer and editor extraordinaire, Lyz Liddell, took up the challenge of writing this important scenario. She not only produced a strong story, but she also introduces us to a cast of unique characters that we will be seeing more of in future scenarios. The First Mandate begins with the PCs attending an important gala, where First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo intends to announce the future mission of the Starfinder Society in the wake of achieving a significant recovery from the events of the Scoured Stars. Radaszam "the Dealmaker" stands beside Luwazi, offering the services of his private mercenaries and the Acquisitives faction in ensuring the announcement occurs off without incident.

Here's a quick look at the tags that accompany this scenario:

  • Faction (Acquisitives)
  • Faction (Second Seekers [Luwazi Elsebo])

The art I'm including here showcases two of the major NPCs introduced in this adventure, but rest assured that there are several more. For veteran Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild participants out there, you'll note that The First Mandate takes a lot of cues from a well-known Pathfinder Society scenario, namely Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-09: The Blakros Matrimony. As the author of that venerable scenario (wow, I'm getting old) I obviously had reservations about passing this outline on to any freelancer, but I can safely say that Lyz did a fantastic job of bringing a scenario that incorporates social influence—and some other explosive encounters—to the far future!

I suspect that players and GMs alike will start concocting all sorts of theories about the ongoing campaign storyline after playing this adventure. I also anticipate some "theory crafting" of the motivations for some of the new NPCs—especially our blue-skinned android displayed in this post. Along with my usual request of "please leave a review—they really do help," I also encourage our campaign participants to post their opinions in a spoiler-marked thread in the Starfinder Society boards. One of the things that the organized play team really enjoys seeing are some of the "conspiracy theories" regarding campaign storylines. I suspect this scenario will throw some gasoline onto that slowly growing fire of the Starfinder Society storylines.

Come back next month, when we preview our next scenario Starfinder Society #1-06: A Night in Nightarch, our first scenario at Tier 3-6, and our first look at the nefarious drow of Apostae!

Until then!

Thurston Hillman
Starfinder Society Developer

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Tags: Organized Play Sebastian Rodriguez Starfinder Society Starfinder Society Scenarios
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Paizo Employee 5/5 Starfinder Society Developer
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Bwahahahaha, I honestly can't wait to see people's reaction to some of the stuff we're doing in this scenario!
Grand Lodge 4/5
Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

I should go give this a skim tonight, just to see what mayhem Thursty is up to.
2/5 5/5
Starfinder Charter Superscriber

This sounds great--I'm excited to see the season story starting to develop.
Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

There seems to be an issue with the link to scenario 1-05 at the beginning of this blog. When I click on it, I find myself at the generic main page instead of the page for SFS 1-05.
Paizo Employee 5/5 Starfinder Society Developer
David knott 242 wrote:

There seems to be an issue with the link to scenario 1-05 at the beginning of this blog. When I click on it, I find myself at the generic main page instead of the page for SFS 1-05.

Looks like the links I inserted got a bit of a "..." cut-off. I'll ping the web team about it.

Liberty's Edge 1/5 5/55/55/55/5 ** Venture-Captain, Illinois—Fairview Heights

Question

Spoiler:
If Alien Archive isn't sanctioned by the time I run this tomorrow night, the players who gain access to any AA items via their chronicle sheet can still purchase and use them, correct?
Paizo Employee 5/5 Starfinder Society Developer
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Freedom Snake wrote:
Question ** spoiler omitted **

Answer:
Until the additional resources gets updated, assume that any of the Alien Archive items listed on the Chronicle sheet for this scenario are valid for play.
Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Do SFS or PFS ever grant access to items that players cannot legally purchase (whether normally or via that Chronicle sheet)?
Paizo Employee 5/5 Starfinder Society Developer
David knott 242 wrote:
Do SFS or PFS ever grant access to items that players cannot legally purchase (whether normally or via that Chronicle sheet)?

You can expect them to.

I know for sure that we'll be releasing some Chronicle sheets in the future to allow for "less common equipment". The Alien Archive additional resources should give you some hints when it goes live.
Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

But even if an item is not otherwise allowed, wouldn't a chronicle sheet still give a player access to whatever is listed on it?
Paizo Employee 5/5 Starfinder Society Developer
1 person marked this as a favorite.
David knott 242 wrote:

But even if an item is not otherwise allowed, wouldn't a chronicle sheet still give a player access to whatever is listed on it?

Absolutely.

Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Thurston Hillman wrote:
David knott 242 wrote:

There seems to be an issue with the link to scenario 1-05 at the beginning of this blog. When I click on it, I find myself at the generic main page instead of the page for SFS 1-05.

Looks like the links I inserted got a bit of a "..." cut-off. I'll ping the web team about it.

Thanks! It looks like they fixed that bug.

Scarab Sages 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Netherlands
Thurston Hillman wrote:
Bwahahahaha, I honestly can't wait to see people's reaction to some of the stuff we're doing in this scenario!

Why gave Thursty the evil hat again?

Liberty's Edge 1/5 5/55/55/55/5 ** Venture-Captain, Illinois—Fairview Heights
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Just got home from running this at our LGS and this was a lot of fun. Group had an APL of 3 with 6 players (3,3,3,4,2,2) and it challenged them. It’s hard to say much without spoilers, but the social-combat was much better than my last experience with it (PFS To Seal The Shadow) and I was greatful for that. The NPCs were a well-crafted blend of personalities and how they were utilized was appropriate and relevant.

Spoiler:
The PC android misread the clue about Royo, so went up flashing circuitry and flaunting technology. They totally missed the word “analog” and it was priceless. Later, the Envoy failed the perception check for the trap and also failed the reflex. As if they hadn’t felt enough pain, the same android failed his stealth check and perception check searching for the surprises on stage and was within 15’ of all 5 surprises (standing on the center square). The assassin was next on initiative. Way too many d6 later, we had a Soldier in some pretty serious pain. They all had a great time tonight, despite missing both the secondary success condition and Acquisitives bonus condition, although I suspect few parties will unlock the entire chronicle sheet. Everyone at the table ended up crossing off one use of their Faction’s Friend boon from The Commencement tonight.

This scenario was a great blend of skills overall and the way the social interactions worked out, almost everyone had a way to contribute, even if they didn’t have a lot of social skills. Well done!
4/5 5/55/55/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Minnesota—Minneapolis
Freedom Snake wrote:
This scenario was a great blend of skills overall and the way the social interactions worked out, almost everyone had a way to contribute, even if they didn’t have a lot of social skills. Well done!

I’m happy to see this.

When I first read the Blog, I feared that it was going to be a scenario completely dominated by Envoys and Operatives.

Given the tags, I would like to replay it on my Technomancer character.
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