Starfinder Drift Crisis: Actual Play Premiering January 17!

The Opulos Corporation is proud to invite you to the maiden voyage of its brand-new starliner, the Void Empress! This ultraluxe starliner features state-of-the-art accommodations and amenities for 7,280 passengers to enjoy a truly transcendent experience. Shop between the stars in the Commerce Plaza, enjoy twelve soaking pools designed to accommodate 80 different species, or eat at one of our 34 galaxy-class restaurants before taking in a show at one of our five theaters! A trip aboard the Void Empress is one you'll never forget!
–promotional material for the Void Empress, presented as Exhibit A12

"It was the third day of the voyage. M'wife and I had just finished breakfast and were headed back to our room. That's when… it happened. Suddenly, the ship went sideways, and everythin' went dark for a moment. When I came to, the power was out. That's when things started getting really weird."
–sworn testimony from passenger "Quick," presented as Exhibit B34

Hi folks! I'm Alex Speidel, Paizo's Organized Play Coordinator and now, apparently, a professional streaming GM. Today, I'm thrilled to announce our newest Starfinder actual play! Starfinder Drift Crisis is an eight-episode adventure in which four brave souls aboard the Void Empress experience the Drift Crash up close and personal. These heroes must work together to survive the first moments of the Drift Crisis and make it home alive. Along the way, they'll encounter mysterious creatures, haunting obstacles, and end up facing off against an influential foe

I was so excited to put this adventure together for you all, and I can't wait for you to see it. To whet your appetites, I wanted to share a couple of my goals with this liveplay.

First of all, I wanted to make sure this series was approachable to as many people as possible. There are some TTRPG fans who aren't fully immersed in the world of Starfinder, so I tried my hardest to ensure that you don't need to know anything about the Pact Worlds to enjoy the story. Also, the episodes are about an hour each, so you don't have to devote hours of your time or worry about falling too far behind. My hope is that everyone from my parents to diehard Starfinder fans will be able to watch the series and have an awesome time.

Second, I wanted to show off the tools GMs have available to them already. As a Paizo employee, I have access to some of the best artists and cartographers in the business, but I started as a Starfinder Society GM, frantically drawing maps with wet-erase markers on blank grids. As a result, aside from character artwork for our PCs, all the art you'll see is art you can use right now. Every map is a Paizo Flip-Mat, every NPC or enemy is pulled straight from an adventure or rulebook, and even the adventure pitch comes straight from the pages of Starfinder Drift Crisis. My goal here is to show GMs that you don't need a fancy setup or hours and hours of free time to create your own campaign. We've provided everything you need to tell a story with your friends already!

Before I go, I want to introduce you to our wonderful players! I'll let them introduce their characters in episode 1, so this is just a taste.

• ChelseaBytes (she/her | Twitter | Twitch) brought such a fantastic energy to the group from the very start of session 0. I could immediately tell that she was going to be a leader for the group, and she quickly took charge in and out of character. I loved her character concept from the start, and anybody who has worked customer service will immediately relate to her.
• James Rodehaver (he/him | Twitter) will be a familiar face to fans of Dragons & Things from the GM chair. As a player though, he brought something I never expected. If you're not absolutely ready to throw down for his character by the end of this adventure, I don't know what more I can do.
• London Carlisle (he/him | Twitter | Website) was the first person to send me his character concept, and I knew we had a winner already. I think every group needs an anchor to keep things centered, and his smooth-talking, fast-thinking character is just the mix this group needed.
• Michelle Nguyen Bradley (she/her | Twitter | Website) was the person I was most excited to play with, as I was most familiar with her work, and she knocked it out of the park. She took on the challenge of playing a brand-new class, and the absolute nonsense she got up to is unparalleled. I can't wait to be able to talk about the end of this campaign.

I hope you'll join us for this wild ride on a nightmare cruise ship! I'll be posting insights from the GM chair after the episodes, so be sure to follow me on the social media platform of your choice for behind-the-scenes gossip. See you in the stars!

Alex Speidel
Game Master, Starfinder Drift Crisis
Twitter | Mastodon

Starfinder Drift Crisis premieres January 17 at 6pm Pacific time and will run for eight, one-hour episodes. It will air on our Twitch and Youtube channels simultaneously, and be posted to our YouTube channel immediately afterwards.