Showing 6 blog posts from June 2017
A Game of Boons
As previously announced in interviews and at our PaizoCon panel, Starfinder Society is changing up the Roleplaying Guild's handling of boons. Boons are non-standard rewards granted on the Chronicle sheets you get for completing Starfinder Society scenarios and sanctioned content. For all you Pathfinder Society veterans out there, the current boon system involves finding special boons on a Chronicle sheet and mentally keeping track of them throughout the course of your character's career. The existing system allows for a character to accrue a lot of boons over the course of her career, but it also requires a lot of tracking on the player's end. Did you remember that your second Chronicle sheet gave you a +1 circumstance bonus to negotiating with gnolls from western Katapesh? (John likes using that one as an example, a lot. He also wants me to remind Pathfinder Society players, that six seasons later, that boon is still relevant!)
Earth, Fire, and Shoanti
In the final months of the Year of the Stolen Storm, the Pathfinder Society has secured all but one piece of what it needs to destroy an artifact and unleash a powerful force of good. As we gear up for this finale, the organized play team is gearing up for Gen Con—all three Pathfinder Society scenarios, three Starfinder Society scenarios, a Pathfinder Society multi-table interactive special, a Starfinder Society pregenerated character special, five new Starfinder Society quests, a huge portion of the Adventure Card Guild's new season, and several dozen new boons for distribution at conventions over the course of the year. Of course we have precious few weeks to go before those start arriving in Gen Con GMs' downloads, and there are several exciting scenarios coming out this week.
Your Personalized Armory
I had the pleasure of working on this month's highly anticipated Pathfinder Player Companion release, Adventurer's Armory 2. It had been a few years since I developed a player companion, and I was excited for the chance to tackle the follow-up to the most popular product in the line to date, Adventurer's Armory. No pressure, right? Luckily, I wasn't going it alone. As discussed last week, the inimitable Ron Lundeen did a thorough pass on the book before it ever hit my desk, leaving me that much more time to really delve into the most exciting elements of the project.
Meet the Iconics: Quig
Born to a poor family barely eking out a living in the small settlement of Estuar on Akiton, Quig Dexel developed a fascination at an early age with the various water-purification plants that skirted the nearby polar ice caps. Spurred by this curiosity, he taught himself the basics of engineering by stealthily tinkering with valve-control mechanisms and reverse-osmosis regulators until he was old enough to work for one of the shady syndicates that controlled the flow of water out of town. Initially hired as a de-icer, he made sure that the storage tanks' outflow lines didn't freeze over during the cold nights. Though he worked odd hours, he was able to make friends by helping his coworkers when their shoddy flamers malfunctioned.
Cybernetics and Augmentations
A common trope of many science fiction stories is the ability of characters to be able to improve themselves with science, often in the form of cybernetic enhancements. In the Starfinder Core Rulebook, these kinds of augmentations fall into a few broad categories—cybernetics, biotech, and personal upgrades. Cybernetics and biotech are handled using roughly the same rules, while personal upgrades have their own system.
Take the Plunge!
Let me guess, another adventurer scared of getting a bit wet are we? Beneath the sea there's another world waiting for those brave enough to challenge the depths. And you're not wrong, it can be scary down there if you're not prepared. Unlike any other terrain on the face of Golarion, venturing underwater constantly reminds you that you're as out of place as the proverbial fish out of water. Krakens, lusca, and worse swim circles around you while you're still worrying about little things like breathing. Looking for a bit of help? Well, you've come to the right place!