Starfinder Society: Ethical Anthropology

Please note - This blog includes some real-world critiques and history references that shape why some Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society scenarios feature the narratives they do. This blog also has some spoilers for Starfinder Society Scenario #1-13: On the Trail of History. The major spoilers are hidden behind a spoiler tag, but there are some thematic spoilers in the blog’s main text.

Good? Read on!

When I first participated in Pathfinder Society, one of the selling points was that the Society was a league of archaeologists—just like me! Granted, the Pathfinders are sword-swinging, spell-slinging scallywags who tend not to show much respect for their host cultures, all while endeavoring to find the most exciting treasures in pursuit of fame and public acclaim. Fortunately, that’s not how real archaeologists behave, right?

…Right?

The answer’s complicated. While the fields of modern anthropology and archaeology have come a long way, there have been and still remain plenty of valid critiques. Anthropology students learn about the rather cavalier excavations of the 18th and 19th centuries (and in some cases into the 20th and even 21st centuries) that celebrated impressive finds while destroying irreparable context; the prejudiced lenses through which early, predominantly white, anthropologists studied unfamiliar cultures; and the ways in which biased studies and unrefined processes erased swaths of archaeological evidence, downplayed (or misinterpreted) other societies’ accomplishments, and shaped foreign perceptions and policies in a way that othered and hurt the people studied.

Through exposure, we also learn to parse the ways in which popular culture like Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider highlight the destructive and treasure-hunting elements while largely ignoring the delicate research that forms the foundation of archaeology. This “pulp” archaeology is a mixed bag. On one hand it builds excitement for travel and archaeology. On the other hand, it glorifies the violence, looting, destruction, and egos that have caused so much damage. No matter how loudly one shouts “This belongs in a museum,” it won’t repair the wreckage a pulp archaeologist leaves in their wake.

So that’s a lot of baggage tied up in anthropology, and by extension, that baggage is an element that the Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society alike inherit. When we tell stories about studying Thassilon, sneaking around the remains of Shory cities, or recovering a lost relic from Sarkorian ruins, we’re tapping into that same pulp archaeology context. And those are moments that invite self-reflection. Is my character understanding this culture filtered through the character’s (or my own) perspective? How does this unfamiliar culture view my daring swashbuckling deeds through their ancestral lands, and will my chronicle of this adventure feature my voice or theirs? Should I have cast fireball into that room decorated with millennia-old murals? And y’know, sometimes the answers are “But there were zombies” and “I’m an adventurer,” and one of the big reasons we play tabletop roleplaying games is to be awesome by using our PCs’ class abilities.

As the lead on the organized play campaigns’ creative content, though, I’ve made it my business to weave in some of the big questions and controversies from the past centuries of anthropology. Fortunately, from a strictly narrative perspective, these questions and controversies make for some excellent stories; there’s little denying that pulp archaeology’s exciting. But the PCs’ actions also have consequences, and I do hope that the dilemmas we include in scenarios are an opportunity to empathize and tackle tough choices while in a safe environment. And at the end of the day, even if the in-world Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society aren’t good-aligned organizations, they sure as heck don’t surrender their moral compasses when in the field.

And that’s the bet that Thurston Hillman and I took more than a year ago when we brainstormed Starfinder Society Scenario #1-13: On the Trail of History. The adventure involves the PCs traveling to a distant planet to solve an important mystery, and the investigation ultimately leads to contact with the planet’s native sapient life forms: izalguuns, six-limbed beings believed to be quite primitive and simple by the few scientists stationed on that world (and also izalguuns are appearing in the upcoming Starfinder Alien Archive 3). But not only do the izalguuns have their secrets, but they also present a choice during the adventure.

Illustration by Graey Erb

[Deeper spoilers and consequences for “On the Trail of History”]

The izalguuns are one of the species that left the Scoured Stars system untold generations ago, fleeing the supernatural force that inhabited that system. Although once very sophisticated technologically, the izalguuns settled on this new planet, purposefully chose to live simpler and more secretive lives, and now use their advanced technology in more subtle ways. While the izalguuns are amenable to helping the PCs solve the mystery that inspired the adventure in the first place, this people wish to live in peace and solitude.

That creates quite the conundrum to academics like the Starfinders. On one hand, honoring the izalguuns’ wishes costs nothing. On the other hand, such an advanced and previously under-appreciated alien species represents a bonanza of academic renown for the enterprising ethnographers willing to publish their findings about the izalguuns anyway. At the end of the adventure, the PCs have to make that choice: respect or glory? If the PCs choose to respect the izalguuns’ wishes, that’s great, but choosing to out the izalguuns’ secret existence to the galaxy earns the PCs a special and lucrative boon on the scenario’s Chronicle sheet!

So, the message is to…sell out foreign cultures for money and academic tenure?

No. Choices have consequences, and scenarios have reporting notes. Remember those check boxes that the GM fills out when reporting played scenarios on paizo.com? We examine that data to help shape the campaign’s stories and future scenarios. When Thursty and I devised this scenario, we agreed that the izalguuns would make for a good playable PC race in Starfinder. I also convinced him that this would be a good opportunity to see whether the Starfinder Society would be as upstanding as First Seeker Luwzi Elsebo would hope.

So, we formed a pact. In 2019 I would check the reporting data and write a blog about ethical anthropology and On the Trail of History. If the reporting data showed the Starfinders had revealed the izalguuns’ existence to the Pact Worlds in order to profit off the discovery, scores of academics would travel to that planet to study the izalguuns and violate the boundaries the izalguuns had established. The izalguuns would know that the Starfinder Society had betrayed their trust and forswear dealing with the Society ever again. On the other hand, if the Starfinders respected the izalguuns’ wishes, there may come a time that their more adventurous kin would want to explore the galaxy and join the same organization that showed such integrity before.

That’s right: the reporting data would determine whether or not izalguuns would ever be a playable race in Starfinder Society.

[The Results]

You made us proud.

A very clear majority of groups reported respecting the izalguuns’ wishes by keeping their culture and technology a secret. More than a year later, the first izalguuns have traveled to Absalom Station in the wake of the Society’s victory at the Scoured Stars, and these aliens are joining the Starfinders ranks even now.

Beginning on August 28th, the street date for Starfinder Alien Archive 3, izalguuns will be an always-available playable race in the Starfinder Society campaign! As always, you’ll need a copy of the book in which they appear, as they’ll be appearing in the Additional Resources list.

And to answer a likely question: yes, this is the type of event we might repeat in the future, but probably not for a while longer, and probably even then it would take a slightly different form. Does that mean you should be exuberantly ethical in all of your choices in Starfinder Society? Certainly my inner anthropologist would love that, but I encourage you to play awesome characters of diverse backgrounds and with diverse perspectives because that’s part of what makes the game fun.

Over the course of the Starfinder Society campaign, the team’s enjoyed including more opportunities to review reporting data, incorporate players’ ideas and PCs into the stories, and overall encourage a more “living campaign” feel. Seeing this particular story to its conclusion has been especially exciting, and we’re equally excited to consider how your choices in this adventure might affect future scenarios.

If you’re interested in exploring more archaeological themes and controversies, I encourage you to check out the following adventures. Their spoiler tags include modest spoiler information, so peek at your own risk!

[Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-14: Faithless and Forgotten, Part 2: Lost Colony of Taldor]

This scenario tackles the way in which nation states have sometimes used archaeology—either by funding expeditions or by creatively interpreting independent findings—to reinforce their own dominance or historical narratives. Cheliax hopes that the Pathfinders will conclude the adventure site was once a Taldan colony, reinforcing Cheliax’s claim to the surrounding territory.

[Pathfinder Society Special #8-99: The Solstice Scar]

This story’s premise begins with a “civilized” expedition stealing a sacred relic, believing it more important that the relic be kept in a museum rather than remaining in the hands of its “primitive” creator culture.

[Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-08: Birthright Betrayed]

Calhadion Vernisant’s leveraging historical connections to fuel his own political career is less immediately archaeological but is nonetheless an illustration of how underhanded individuals can reinterpret and re-present the past in order to further a modern agenda.

[Pathfinder Society Special #10-00: The Hao Jin Cataclysm]

One of the tough realities of archaeology—and to an extent anthropology as a whole—is that ancient sites don’t always wait around to be found. When a large building project or impending environmental shift means that an area might never again be accessible, it calls for salvage archaeology: a speedy triage of the sites and accelerated excavation to recover and preserve as much information about the doomed sites as possible. In the case of the Hao Jin Tapestry demiplane, the whole place is quickly collapsing, and part of Season 10 is based on the principles of salvage archaeology.

[Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-14: Debt to the Quah]

No matter how professional the organization, there are invariably some bad actors. This adventure addresses the academic and ethical abuses performed by a Pathfinder in Varisia. His destructive exploration, desecration of bodies, and outright misrepresentation of the culture that built the site in question haven’t just wrecked an important tomb; he’s also threatened future expeditions by offending the local cultures. And like in the real world, someone has to repair those bridges and offer reparations.

Join us next week as the organized play team previews the upcoming offerings.

John Compton
Organized Play Lead Developer