This thread will be used for notes on House Rules as well as other meta-gaming decisions used.
The first is that I believe the RAW description of Comm units as lacking cameras is wrong. If our current technology can put sophisticated and easy to use cameras in cell phones, I expect the Starfinder world can manage it as well. I interpret the scanners described are higher quality and used by professional journalists and scientists to take higher resolution pictures and videos than can e achieved by a simple comm unit. They also have dedicated memory and are harder to hack.
I also want to note issues with the way the adventure path is plotted. People who are considering running this campaign might want to take note.
Right off the bat, I have noticed an issue with the first episode, with the assignment to pick up a load of fruit and deliver it from Castrovel to Akiton. The path says that when the PCs get to Qabarat and contact the fruit merchant, he has the fruit all ready to ship and warns that the fruit will spoil unless delivered in 6 days.
It typically takes up to 6 days to get from one place in the Pact Words to another using the Drift. So far so good.
But the merchant would need time to assemble the fruit, so he would have to be notified of the earliest the freighter could reach the market, which would be one day after the freighter leaves.
But what if it takes 6 days to get to the market, instead of one. Then the fruit has been sitting idle for 5 days and the PCs would need to transport it in 1 day or lose the value of the deal. One could assume the fruit is stored in a cooler that keeps it from spoiling for up to six days, but then it would seem the PCs could keep the fruit cool in the cargo area and avoid the spoilage issue.
My suggestions is that the PCs notify the merchant when the leave for Castrovel, acknowledging that it might take up to 6 days to get there. So the merchant will not assemble the shipment until he gets word that the PCs have arrived. He might start getting it ready if they haven't arrived by the 5th day, assuming they'll make it by the end of the 6th day. But this might be risky in case the PCs don't get there at all.
So the PCs arrive, call the merchant and then have a day to wait for the merchant to get the fruit into crates and on his loading dock, at which point the PCs can pick it up and the adventure can continue as written.
This would give the PCs a day to shop, sight see, etc. which might be a good thing as a chance to role play as a group without threat of combat. An industrious GM could even plan an encounter that could net the PCs some cash with which to purchase some extra gear, or cost them if they get hurt or have to pay for something damaged.
Another issue to be aware of is the geometry of the crates of fruit. Best not to try to follow the information given in the AP about total number of crates and their size as indicated in the drawings.
The drawing suggests that 4 crates fill a normal map square (5'x5' square). The trailer on the map has 32 squares so it can hold 128 crates, assuming they are optimally arranged.
The AP says the shipment is 50 tons with each crate weighing 50 lb. That works out to 2,000 crates. So if there are 128 crates per layer on the trailer it would take over 15 layers, which would rise 40 feet or 8 map squares high. That is pretty unlikely.
Incidentally, 50 pounds of fruit is roughly a bushel of produce, which is 1.25 square feet. At this size, you could fit 16 crates in a 5x5 square and 160 in one layer on the truck. So 2000 crates would require over 12 layers which would be 15 feet high, much more manageable. But then the crates would be smaller than pictured on the map. The map makes the crates look about 2.5 feet across. The picture on page 4 makes the crates look smaller, but it also depicts the trailer as much shorter than it it.
So I'd suggest you list the crates as about 1.25 feet cubes, weighing 50 lb, and leave it at that.
Also, don't get into the weights and sizes and just let it be known that the crates will fit on the truck and will be stacked three crates high and are small enough for a goblin to grab three and cart them away on a motorcycle.
One last issue with the first section. On page 7 it goes into much detail that is designed to determine how long it takes the PCs to load the crates onto the truck. It says, "This task takes 16 hours of labor, but with two hovercarts, the PCs can cut this time in half. PCs might be able to further reduce this time by, for example, casting hoverdisk (Starfinder Character Operations Manual 136) or similar magic to move additional cargo, counting as a third worker and reducing the overall time to 5 hours."
This makes it sound as if shaving a few hours off this tast can make a difference. But when you add the drift trip, measured in days, and events at Akiton, this really doesn't matter. So I would hand wave the stuff about the number of hours it takes to do the loading and just assume it takes 8 hours. Since the crates must be transferred to the ship later, it will take another 8 hours and so it makes sense to assume that it will take about around 20 hours between the start of the operation to load the produce and when they are ready to take off. Allowing for the usual 1-2 hours to get into orbit, you're talking a day.
So playing the first part as written and awarding experience points, I've reached the point there the characters should be advancing to 2nd level, but since I have six PCs instead of four, the characters need a little more experience to level up. I've been working on coming up with a simple scenario that could give the characters some experience and also get a little income, since the plot of the game insures they PCs don't make any credits on their first freight shipment.
I got sidetracked working with the Alien Archive NPC creation system. I've been working on a spreadsheet that automates the process to quickly create a character sheet for each NPC, but it's taking a bit of time. I should have more post up soon.
The NPC Cecil is specified by the AP as agender and the book uses the plural pronouns for this character. Example:
"Horizon has come to turn in his latest bounty to Kaden; the only trouble is, he’s got the wrong gnome. Cicil Nightshade is a bit of a con artist, but they haven’t been able to convince Horizon of the truth."
I understand that in English, this may be the trending solution, but as a writer, I find it jarring and my mind starts searching for what group has not been able to convince Horizon of the truth.
Many sentences can have pronouns that refer to an individual and also pronouns that refer to a group. For example, "Scherzo saw the group coming her way and she radioed her crew to warn them of their approach."
But if Scherzo were agender and the plural "they" were used in place of "she", the sentence would read, "Scherzo saw the group coming their way and they radioed their crew to warn them of their approach." Suddenly it's very confusing. Maybe English will work out ways to avoid confusion, but since this is a fictional world that has come to terms with agender, generally, I will invent some agender pronouns that will be used generally when speaking of agender characters.
he/she = hesh (rhymes with mesh).
him/her = herm
his/hers = hirs
Characters are leveled up to 2nd level. The extra encounter was interesting to run and proved quite challenging. It not only provided the needed xp to level up but provided some income with which to pay for some basic supplies like ammunition. The regular AP encounters will follow.
So in the first round of the melee with the hobhounds, I found what I consider to be a flaw in the Universal Monster Rule for the grab ability.
The problem with the rule is that it allows a creature that is much smaller than the target attacked to grapple the much larger foe, which prevents movement and actions that require both hands and imposes a -2 penalty on most actions.
When a creature grabs an opponent with a bite attack, if it beats the KAC by at least 4, the rule says it grapples the opponent. But I believe when the creature with the grab ability is smaller than the target, the result should only be the entangled condition.
Entangled
Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 275
You are ensnared. Being entangled impedes your movement but does not entirely prevent you from moving unless the bonds are anchored to an immobile object or tethered by an opposing force. You move at half speed, you cannot run or charge, and you take a –2 penalty to your AC, attack rolls, Reflex saving throws, initiative checks, and Dexterity-based skill and ability checks.
Grappled
Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 276
You are restrained by a creature, effect, or trap. You can’t move, and you take a –2 penalty to your Armor Class, attack rolls, Reflex saving throws, initiative checks, and Dexterity-based skill and ability checks, except those made to grapple your opponent in turn or to escape a grapple (see Grapple on page 246). In addition, you can’t take actions that require two hands (or other limbs) to perform. You can’t make attacks of opportunity.
You can’t use Stealth to hide from the creature grappling you, even if a special ability allows you to hide when you normally couldn’t. If you become invisible, through a spell or other ability, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your check to escape being grappled, but you receive no other benefit.
I would allow the person entangled to use the same rules for freeing himself from the condition as for breaking a grapple.
Regarding the previous post: I checked the Pathfinder rules for the universal monster rule for grab. It has the following:
Unless otherwise noted, grab works only against opponents the same size category as the creature or smaller.
I think that's a better rules than stated above. So since the hobhound is medium size and Orion is large, the hobhound cannot grapple or even entangle Orion.
Since posting the previous entry, I came across a new Universal Monster ability called Attach which sounds like the ability that should replace grab when a creature uses the grab ability on a creature that is larger than itself.
When I leveled up the characters to third, I realized I should not have been using the cloaking field exploit with Shasta until she is 5th level. It did not play a significant role in any melee.
I also noticed that the Uplifted Bear race has a size of 10 feet but a reach of just 5 feet. I'm not sure why an enlarged human gets reach but an uplifted bear, who stands around 9 to 11 feet tall would not have the same reach as other humanoids. Anything is possible and perhaps the uplift process resulted in shorter than average arms. The reach of a human arm from one hand to the other when arms are outstretched horizontally is about the same distance and the person's height.
Anyway, I'll be playing Orion as having five foot reach and I gave him a reach melee weapon, a pike, so he has the option of a 10 foot reach.
The story is in book 2 now. The book assumes the characters use the same name for the ship, the Oliphaunt, that the research team used for it. That seems like asking for trouble, since I'm sure EJ Corp would search ship logs for the name, as would Sinjin. I also ruled that the transponder code had not yet been set so this allowed the crew to set it and fake some ownership credentials. Seems reasonable. The story assumes the PCs can return to Absalom Station without fear of immediately getting recognized as a stolen ship, so this seems like one way to accomplish that.
Characters are 3rd level now.