Find out Next Time, on Starfinder Society!

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

It's safe to say that John Compton and I can get a tad excited about campaign storylines. When we first sat down to start hashing out the first wave of Starfinder Society scenarios, we came up with a huge list of ideas that pulled from popular Pathfinder Society scenarios, common sci-fi tropes and more. Of these ideas, perhaps none stood out more than one fateful thought I threw into the mix after reading about Eox: "What if we have the Starfinders take part in a reality TV show?"

Welcome to Starfinder Society #1–09: Live Exploration Extreme! Written by Paizo's own, John Compton, this scenario had one of the most attention-catching premises that we came across during the time when we sat down to pitch the 2017/2018 scenario roster. I knew it was a success when during the process, we went through discussing each of the scenarios, got to this one, and John ended the conversation with a quick "Ok, I'll write this one."

Well John, after so many times writing scenarios for you… THE TABLES HAVE FINALLY TURNED!

Joking aside, Live Exploration Extreme is an important scenario for several reasons. First off, it's back to basics in terms of being a Tier 1–4 scenario. Second, it brings the Starfinder Society back into the mysterious false moon of Salvation's End that we last explored in Starfinder Society Scenario #1–00: Claim to Salvation. Finally (at least for what I can describe in this blog), this scenario brings the idea of celebrities and icons to the forefront of Starfinder. I would highly suggest that if you have a character with the Icon theme or are even slightly interested in dabbling in the realm of "stellar celebrity" that you give this scenario a shot!

Much of what occurs during this scenario is a spoiler-filled minefield, so rather than talk too much about the plot, I want to talk about media overload. A camera crew accompanies the PCs during most of this adventure, and if that weren't enough, the PCs need to put on a good show in order to impress influential Society allies (who may or may not have an exclamation point in their name, similar to the title of this scenario). Be aware that this scenario plays off a lot of tropes of modern reality TV, replete with moments for PCs to embellish their combat actions to set up "just the right shot" or even take some time after combat to privately reminisce (or harshly critique) the actions of fellow party members inside "the booth." More than most scenarios, Live Exploration Extreme is about consent; the goal is to have a fun time and not have players feel out of place because of themes or rules of the scenario. The scenario makes sure to spell this out to the GMs, so for players concerned about the potential media and social overload associated with reality TV, I would still consider giving this scenario a shot—after all, sometimes it's the one quip from the character who's said nothing else the entire episode that defines a show! This scenario has no scenario tags.

Looking ahead to March, we have Starfinder Society Scenario #1-10: The Half-Alive Streets and Starfinder Society Scenario #1-11: In Pursuit of the Scoured Past which I've just finished my development pass on. While I want to keep all those secrets until next month's preview, I think both scenarios include some standout stories that should engage new and veteran Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild players. Past these two (yes, next month begins our publishing two scenarios per month) we start getting into a wide array of new scenarios that lead into the quickly approaching convention season…

Speaking of convention season, I think I need to get back to development! There's a lot of exciting stuff coming up in just the next few months. Also, be on the lookout for a post in the coming weeks discussing our season transition and plans taking us past the summer convention season.

See you on the other side of the Drift.

Thurston Hillman
Starfinder Society Developer

PS: Special shout-out to Paizo's Customer Service Manager, Sara Marie, for helping to inspire this month's scenario. I first discovered the joys of combining reality TV and tabletop RPGs when I played in her Survivor-themed game during a past PaizoCon. Of course, I may have rose-tinted memories of that game because of how many times my character managed to snag the immunity idol…