Starfinder Society December Previews

Celita was busy, as usual, but her colleagues had requested—begged, more accurately—that she attend their holiday gathering. She would never prioritize discussing trivial subject matter while intaking excessive amounts of nutrients above completion of her duties in the Cortex, but she knew it mattered to the others, so here she was.

Now, she stood inside a cramped Downlow apartment watching a crowd of her acquaintances squabble over plates of food and colorfully wrapped gifts. Zigvigix—Ziggy, she reminded herself, feeling an odd flutter in her cardiovascular system—had entrusted Celita with a solemn duty: record the gathering with their datapad. She agreed that a chronicle of this event would make a perfect addition to the Archives.

Truthfully, Celita had never attended a party like this before. In Kuthonas past, most of the other Starfinders were either out on maneuvers or bogged down with solitary tasks of their own. She had spent last year in her pajamas, watching the Newspark parade accompanied by cold Castrovelian takeout, and the Kuthona before that had been a marathon of endless data entry and review. She panned the datapad around the room and zoomed in on Fitch, who lifted a parcel wrapped in silver paper out of the reach of the ysoki children swarming around her. They grabbed for the gift with insistent paws, their voices rising into a barely intelligible din of “please” and “it’s mine!” and “you opened the last one!” Celita sighed. Everyone else but her seemed to know exactly what to do, and how to react to the surplus of food and gifts presented to them, but she had no frame of reference for this situation. At least recording duty gave her a convenient excuse to blend into the background. She moved the datapad’s camera lens away from Fitch and toward her other colleagues who sat scrunched together on a threadbare couch. Arvin and Ziggy chatted amiably, occasionally offering each other morsels from their overloaded plates.

“Try a cookie,” Arvin gestured to a platter full of colorful sugar cookies on a nearby table, grinning proudly. “I made plenty.” Panic skittered over the lashunta’s face as he scanned the food-laden tables for his contribution. “Wait a minute…I baked two batches. Where did they all go?” He asked.

“Mmmph,” a muffled voice spoke through a mouthful of cookies. “Sorry. Over here.” Naiaj huddled on an armchair in the corner clutching the cookie tray. Celita refocused to capture the gnome’s ridiculous outfit. Naiaj wore an oversized, hand-knitted sweater of bright green wool decorated with a gaudy pattern of snowflakes and red bows. She’d pinned a matching bow, probably from one of the wrapped gifts, into her short white hair. She caught Celita’s eye across the room and blushed, embarrassed at being caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Point that thing somewhere else, would you?” Naiaj growled in her usual gruff voice. Conversation died down as everyone enjoyed their food, and Celita quickly ran out of interesting subjects to catalog. Her stomach twinged, and she realized her blood sugar was low. Now that the group was settled, she could gather the requisite calories for herself. Without warning, someone shoved a plate at her. She fumbled with the datapad, dropping it in surprise, but a scaly hand appeared to catch the device before it hit the floor. It was Radaszam, who had appeared out of nowhere and now studied her through narrowed eyes. He crossed his arms in disapproval.

“Eat,” he commanded, “or you will have no energy for the games.” Celita recalled that holidays in the Veskarium often centered around competitive games, and she paled at the thought of playing harcoló or hoverskate racing on an empty stomach. “Exactly,” Radaszam said as if reading her mind. “I’ll take over recording duties for now.”

Celita gripped the plate in both hands and wandered toward the couch where her colleagues sat. No, not only colleagues, she thought; they were also her friends. She cared about them, and if they didn’t return those feelings of endearment, they would have never included her in this gathering. Feeling a bit more relaxed, she perched on the arm of the sofa next to Zigvigix. Their antennae twitched as they sensed her presence, and she felt the warmth of their telepathic voice fill her mind.

“Are you having fun, Celita?” Ziggy asked.

“Yes, I think I am.” She admitted. She took a bite of savory casserole. “Mmm, who made this?” Naiaj raised a hand to claim responsibility for the dish. Next, she sampled Arvin’s cookies, which were sweeter than she normally preferred but still delicious. After she set her empty plate aside, she felt a wordless mental nudge from Ziggy. They clutched a tiny box in their clawed hands and held it out to her.

“Is this for me?” Celita asked, feeling heat rise in her face. It was uncomfortably warm in the tiny apartment with everyone crowded in here. Fitch’s climate control system probably wasn’t built for this kind of load, she thought.

"This is my contribution for First Choices. Normally the gift exchange is random but…well…I wanted you to have it.” Ziggy gently deposited the gift in her open palms. Celita marveled at the intricate wrapping of gold foil paper and silver ribbons. She untied the bow gently, not wanting to destroy Ziggy’s careful work. She removed the wrapping paper with careful fingers until a plain box sat in her palm. “There’s a flap you pull to open it,” Ziggy directed telepathically. Celita opened the box, revealing a sunburst-shaped pendant strung with a delicate chain of braided silver.

“My project this year was jewelry making,” Ziggy explained in a rush, their words colliding into each other and flooding her mind with jittery energy. “One of the best things I made was this necklace. Oh! I almost forgot. You can push the button there and…” Celita used a finger to apply pressure to a tiny mechanism on the underside of the pendant. She gasped as a holo bloomed above it, displaying an image of a shirren with their arm wrapped around an android’s shoulders. Both faces lit up with smiles as they stood together, a perfect island in the frenzied crowd that seethed all around them. She recognized the image instantly from her trip with Ziggy to the Strawberry Machine Cake concert. Celita felt waves of emotion crash over her, one after another in a merciless tide, and she staggered under the weight of them. She was drowning. How could she respond to such a kind gesture? What should she say? Her eyes darted around the room, taking in the sight of the coworkers who had become her friends, and maybe even something approaching family, all laughing and talking together. Others were exchanging gifts and embracing. There was so much joy in the cramped apartment that she felt like she might explode. It was overwhelming, but it wasn’t entirely a bad feeling. Celita took a deep breath to collect her thoughts and exhaled, knowing what she had to do. She clasped the necklace around her neck without deactivating the holo, so that the image that encapsulated her relationship with Zigvigix broadcasted out into the world.

“Thank you, Ziggy.” Celita beamed at the shirren and grasped their claws with both hands. “This is the best gift anyone’s ever given me.”

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Wait, reader, you still have a present to unwrap! As a special gift to you, the Starfinder Team would like to share these Pact Worlds holidays to add a festive note to your campaigns.

Newspark: Believed to originate with the early abolitionist movement, today many androids throughout the Pact Worlds celebrate Newspark. Traditionally, celebrants plan a parade incorporating homemade floats, outrageous outfits, and loud music. The parade stops at various homes and businesses along its route, receiving gifts of food, drink, or conversation from the residents. Newspark is also a popular date for acquiring and showing off new personal augmentations. Though the famed Absalom Station Newspark parade begins at the end of Kuthona and lasts into Abadius, the celebration isn’t traditionally tied to a date. Instead, androids plan Newspark gatherings to spark joy in difficult times, and some of the greatest Newsparks in memory occurred during periods of economic depression, war, or other strife.

First Choices: This shirren-innovated holiday centers around the exchange of gifts, specifically, creations that epitomize your personal style, favorite hobby, or most recent experiment. Groups of friends, and sometimes even strangers, gather for a show-and-tell of these items. While reciprocal exchange isn’t unheard of, the most common format involves a grand choice-buffet accompanied by games to decide who ends up with which gifts.

Reunion: An Akitonian holiday that developed in the first century AG emphasizing generosity and kinship despite economic difficulties and great distances, as a result of the thasteron bust and mass emigration to find work elsewhere. Traditions include sending the gift of a message to distant family and friends, then gathering to enjoy a meal with those in your immediate circle. Traditionally, Reunion Day meals were prepared with cheap ingredients, ingenuity, and lots of love—resulting in outrageous dishes that many Akitonians choose to keep on the menu for ironic or nostalgic reasons.

Left to right, Scaranis by Mark Molnar and Millie by Beatrice Pelagatti

We’ve got two brand new scenarios lined up for this month. First, SFS #3-13: Silence at Outpost 634 takes PCs to a remote outpost to relieve a group of Starfinders on a long-term research mission. Unfortunately, there’s no sign of the research team and our heroes must piece together what happened to them before it’s too late. This adventure, designed for PCs of levels 1–4, was written by Emily Parks.

Next, Guidance sends a group of experienced Starfinders to retrieve a data fragment on Eox, causing conflict between the Society and the sinister Corpse Fleet. SFS #3-14: Fleeting Truth: Hollow Lies, written by Jessica Catalan, is an adventure for levels 9–12.

We hope you enjoy this month’s scenarios and holidays. For those who plan to celebrate: have fun, be safe, and enjoy yourselves. Downtime between missions is important!

Check back this afternoon for more preview goodies, this time of the Pathfinder Society variety.

Happy Holidays,

Jenny Jarzabski
Starfinder Society Developer