The Starfinder Society & The Lorespire Complex

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

It has certainly been an exciting and successful launch for Starfinder and the Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild. With Gen Con 50 behind us, the Organized Play team thought it was a good idea to take a bit of a look at the organization that defines our living campaign: the Starfinder Society.

Starfinder Society History

Much of the established background for the Starfinder Society can be found in the Starfinder Core Rulebook and the Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide. Both of these resources provide overviews of the Starfinder Society, with the Roleplaying Guild Guide focusing more on recent events and serving as a direct lead-in to our current story line: the Year of Scoured Stars.

Sufficed to say, the Starfinder Society is reminiscent of the Pathfinder Society of old. In fact, much of the Starfinder Society is based on incomplete notes and hidden records relating to the Pathfinder Society. Both organizations are, for example, based around the concept of exploration, with the Starfinder Society having begun as a group keenly interested in exploring the mysterious event known as the Gap. The first Starfinders explored a galaxy made recently accessible thanks to the advent of Drift travel, seeking to chart the temporal edges of the Gap and figure out what they could about this setting-defining event. The audacity of such an endeavor brought many interested parties into the Society's fold, and during these early years, the Society flourished.

When it became evident that the Gap was not something that could be solved with a few decades of research, the Starfinder Society branched out to other avenues of exploration. They strove to reconnoiter the very fringes of reality and beyond, bringing back alien technologies and filling servers with the records of previously undiscovered species. This renaissance of exploration, involving far more organizations than just the Starfinder Society, brought with it a terrible price: the Stardust Plague. This pathogen slew millions across the Pact Worlds and led to strict quarantine rules for any operation partaking in extra-solar expeditions.

Expect to see more light shed on the Society's history (especially that of the Exo-Guardians faction) in this month's scenario, Starfinder Society #1-04: Cries from the Drift.

Starfinder Society Leadership

The Starfinder Society is divided into several tiers of leadership that largely departs from its Pathfinder Society predecessor. The various venture-captains form the informal base of leadership within the Starfinder Society. These experienced Starfinders tend to the numerous Society lodges in the galaxy and present field agents with their missions.

The Forum is an elected body of Starfinders that manages the Starfinder Society as a governing force, voting on the allocation of resources, the elevation of Starfinder field agents to special positions, and finally, holding a vote to decide the future direction of the Starfinder Society in the form of the First Seeker. Unlike the masked Decemvirate group from Pathfinder Society, knowledge of the Forum's membership is open information. Sufficed to say, several faction leaders, venture-captains, and even some notable Starfinders are members of the Forum.

The First Seeker is the elected leader of the Starfinder Society, and it's this person's proposed initiatives that shape the current overarching mission for the Starfinder Society. As we have discussed in previous blogs, the First Seeker gives us an in-setting reason to transition between the storylines our seasons present. When we had our first meetings about establishing what the various roles meant for the Society, I remember (alongside John and Tonya) explaining the First Seeker's term as being a temporary position, which they abdicate once their stated mission is complete. Many First Seekers have died in pursuit of their respective missions, and for those who succeed… well, that depends on the specific mission and temperament of the given First Seeker. In our final pitch for this concept, I equated a First Seeker's departure as being like the “The Long Walk” from a certain post-apocalyptic comic series—I think only Erik Mona caught that reference.

The previous First Seeker was a kasathan named of Jadnura, who led the Starfinder Society on its disastrous mission into the trinary star system known as the Scoured Stars. Following the disappearance of Jadnura, the Society held together under the leadership of its current nominated First Seeker, Luwazi Elsebo. Expect to see some movement on Luwazi's (as well as our overall season's) major storyline in next month's scenario, Starfinder Society #1-05: The First Mandate

Finally, we have the enigmatic assembly of uploaded intelligences known as Guidance. This amalgam of uploaded Starfinder consciousnesses, makes its debut in Starfinder Society #1-01: The Commencement. Beyond its role in that scenario, as well as its current refusal to fully declare Luwazi Elsebo as First Seeker (she is only the nominated First Seeker, after all), there is not much to say about Guidance right now.

Insidious finger tapping...

The Lorespire Complex

The Lorespire Complex is the home of the Starfinder Society on Absalom Station, not to mention the organization's primary base of operations. Thanks to the effect of the mysterious Starstone, Starfinders from across the galaxy can return to the Lorespire Complex in only a handful of days. Much of the Starfinder Society's success is directly related to maintaining this prime real estate onboard the Pact World's most important installation.

Countless chambers and meeting halls fill the Lorespire Complex, including well-known areas like the First Seeker Ilyastre Memorial Museum, or the formal Skyreach Room gala hall. The Lorespire Complex also houses countless Starfinders and visiting dignitaries in pristine dormitories. Beyond the eponymous spire, other structures cover the greater campus. The Archives contain the Society's incredible wealth of physical assets, along with vast data vaults ostensibly under the watchful eye of Historia-7 and her Dataphiles. The Hall of Discovery houses the elected Forum and First Seeker during their regular debates and meeting to steer the Starfinder Society. Other less known—or simply avoided—installations exist on the grounds of the Lorespire Complex, including the holding cells of the Adamantine Bastille, the mystical communication devices of the Communion Vaults, and the deadly proving grounds known only as the Perplexity.

Well, I hope that this additional insight into the Starfinder Society and its base of operations proved useful. I for one can't wait to share more news about our upcoming plans and scenarios in the weeks and months to come. Look forward to our next Starfinder Society blog, where I talk about a scenario that really proves why space can be a dangerous place...

Until next time!

Thurston Hillman
Starfinder Society Developer