The transport bounces heavily as it makes its way down the broken, pot-holed road from the capital city of Brinnoa to Camp Cavalier. The engine whines loudly, straining to keep up such a high speed in this difficult terrain. Even with such loud mechanical noise, the winter wind makes its presence known, buffeting the transport with heavy blows as if toying with the multi-ton machine. There are no windows, but the dim yellow dome light flickers with each jolt, allowing the occupants just flashing glimpses of one another. The air is stuffy and pungent, as the few dozen passengers crammed in such a tight space generate quite a bit of heat and stench.
In peacetime, this wouldn’t be a terribly odd collection of folks anywhere on Suskillon. Some humans, a few shirren, and quite a number of other races, old and young alike. Many are wearing Suskillon Defense Force patches on their civilian clothes, but some are clearly not Suskill. Almost all are carrying some form of firearm. Most fidget nervously, sitting in silence. Many of these new recruits have lost friends, family, parents, and children in the six months since the invasion began. Now they are finally joining the fray, answering a call to rebuild the ranks of the lost Fifth Battalion. Even more omnipresent than the stench of sweat, the nervousness in the air is palpable. These people have heard the stories of what the Swarm did at the Battle at Stone Sea.
Six months ago, the Swarm breached the planet’s orbital and aerial defenses and touched down at Stone Sea, a large freshwater lake surrounding a dormant volcano. The Fifth Battalion of the SDF was closest to the site of contact and held the Swarm back long enough for the SDF to mobilize other battalions to the area. Stories of the battle have already reached near-mythical heights, as most members of the Fifth Battalion were killed in glorious, terrible combat.
Since then, the SDF has fought a losing battle against the Swarm. Though Suskillon is a friendly trading partner with the nearby Pact Worlds, the planet’s government has yet to officially request aid, with many afraid that the Pact Worlds will claim their planet as a protectorate in “payment” for such help. However, that hasn’t stopped volunteers and mercenaries from other systems (including the Pact Worlds and the Veskarium) from journeying to Suskillon to join in the fight against the invasion. The Swarm is relentless, though, and it has already overrun nearly half of the planet. However, over the past few weeks, Suskillon has enjoyed something of a respite as the Swarm appears to have ceased its near-daily attacks.
The transport suddenly lurches to a stop, the engine seemingly sighing in relief as it returns to a low rumbling idle. Many of the recruits stand up, but the doors remain closed. Outside, the sounds of activity become clear. More vehicles moving about, indistinct shouting, as well as the odd burst of artillery fire. For almost fifteen minutes, nothing happens. The recruits slowly begin talking to each other, introducing themselves, reminiscing about their homes, their reasons for fighting, and trading rumors they’ve heard about the Swarm and the war effort.
Go ahead and introduce yourselves. You four are seated near the middle of the transport, 2 each on either side of the center aisle.
Welcome, soldiers, to the 5th Battalion of
the Suskillon Defense Force! The SDF is
a unified military for the entire Suskillon
system, whose mission is the defense of our home world of
Suskillon and any outlying regions, by means of deterrence
and direct conflict when necessary. You have chosen an
exciting and dangerous time to join the SDF, as Suskillon
needs every capable hand to drive back the ravening hunger
of the Swarm.
Use this thread to talk strategy, purchases, or other ooc and meta topics. Topic 1 of course, is party make-up. Who are you?
If you have AP19, you can find the player's guide on pages 38-45. If you'd like me to snip just those pages out and send them to you so you can more readily avoid spoilers, I'd be happy to.
Character creation guidelines
Since this is not SFS, you best believe almost everything is fair game. Race, class, gear options, just run it by me before you fall in love. The only thing I'll cut right up front is ring of fangs and the cheesy strength-build stellifera. You can make other kinds of stellifera if you want.
- No evil characters. You've signed up to defend the Suskillon system from invasion.
- Have some personal connection to Suskillon. The population is majority human, minority shirren, but other races come and go along with the trade to the Pact Worlds and Suskillon's own space exploration. Whether you were born and raised here, or your true love died in the Battle at Stone Sea, or your mercenary career brought you here looking for glory, there's a reason you're now fighting the good fight.
- Do not post in the main gameplay thread until I ok your character concept. Send me a DM of your character's motivations and personality. The more I have to work with, the more I can weave you into the story.
- Character avatar selection appears to be broken currently, but when it's fixed start thinking about what image you want as your character.
I know there's no larger map (yet) of the galaxy. I don't have any of the older pathfinder sources either, so I was wondering if we know the shape of the galaxy and where the PW system lies in it?
I assume its a spiral galaxy like ours, and since Golarion and the system as a whole is an analogue to our own solar system, it stands to reason that it lives on the outer fringes of one of the arms of the galaxy. But if there's a reference for this anywhere, I'd be interested to know.
So my main "Scoured Stars" PC (the one I played 1-99 with) has leveled up past the point where I can continue to play some of the newer scenarios that offer the Segment boons with him. Will the eventual payoff for these boons be character-specific or "account-wide"?
Any chance of getting the SF Conspectus as a pdf? There's some cool art pieces of different locations on Absalom that haven't been released in other products yet.
Note: Character knowledge recalls will be PM'd to you instead of shared directly on the gameplay tab, so you'll have to communicate it to the other players in your own words, and during combat you'll have to wait your turn to shout out anything important you've figured out.
Telepathic communications and the like will be public.
Before I attempt to run Dead Suns, I wanted to see if anyone would like to join in the Starfinder intro quests. They're a great way to introduce all the systems in the game, and before I commit to running an AP, I wanted to make sure the GM stuff I've set up works out in an actual game.
If you're interested, please make sure your character sheet is updated and reply with their race/class. Only level 1 characters are allowed. Please keep it SFS legal, so only core races (unless you have the appropriate racial boon). We'll be adhering pretty close to RAW (with the FAQ/errata taken into account). I don't really like to get heavy into homebrew until I've played with the systems as presented to know what really works and what doesn't, and getting the SFS credit will be a nice bonus!
I will make every effort to post at least twice a day, more frequent on US evenings. I expect players to post at least once a day, and to alert me prior to an extended absence, but I understand emergencies happen. Please provide botting instructions in case you are absent and we need to move the game along. If you do not, I will take what I see as the most appropriate actions for your character at that moment, minimizing the use of non-rechargable consumables where possible so as not to waste your hard-earned credits.
Maps will be on Google Drive, and I plan to only allow players viewer access, as I've had trouble with vandalism in the past on Drive. If it turns out that isn't working great, we can revisit.
Planning to start play Friday 2/23, 9pm EST if we have at least 4 players.
I am a Starfinder Superscriber, so I'm expecting to get the 15% discount on paizo pdfs... however my shopping cart is not showing the discount on any of the 5 items in there. Could you take a look for me?
I have a 1st printing pack of Rise of the Runelords Deck 4 (Fortress of the Stone Giants) and was wondering if I could exchange it for a 2nd printing pack.
I opened the box, but the cards are still in their shrinkwrap. I'd happily pay shipping for the exchange.
I got a gift card for amazon for my birthday, so I decided to get some PACG decks. Loving the game so far (halfway through deck 2). But alas, I received 1st printing decks, which do not match my second print base set at all.
Is anyone willing to trade 1st for 2nd on the packs below?
Adventure Deck 3 - Hook Mountain Massacre
Adventure Deck 4 - Fortress of the Stone Giants
Adventure Deck 5 - Sins of the Saviors
1st printing package open on the top, while 2nd open on the side, for the easiest way to tell the difference. All of them have been opened, but the cards themselves are still in their cellophane, so they should still have that new-card smell :-)
(x-posted to BGG)
Full Name
Splittooth
Race
Tyrannosaurus | HP 15/15 | AC 19; Tch 13; FF 16 | F +3; R +3; W +1 | CMB+4; CMD 17 | Speed 40 ft | Init +3 | Bite: +4 (2d6+4) | Perc+6
Strength
14
Dexterity
16
Constitution
10
Intelligence
2
Wisdom
15
Charisma
10
About Splittooth
Male Human Druid 4 (Blight Druid)
CN Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +7
Languages Common, Druidic
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DEFENSE
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AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 18
(+6 armor, +2 shield, +1 Dex)
hp 35 (4d8, +8 Con, +4 favored)
Fort +6 (+11 to stabilize), Ref +2, Will +7
Defensive Abilities Heart of the Wilderness (-16 hp to kill)
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OFFENSE
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Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee MW Scimitar (cold iron) +8 (1d6+4/18-20)
Melee Scythe +7 (2d4+6/x4)
Ranged Sling +4 (1d4+4)
Base Atk +3; CMB +7; CMD 18
Special Attacks Omen (1/day, swift action intimidate)
Domain Darkness
Prepared Spell List Druid (CL 4, Concentration +7): *Domain
2nd - barkskin, blindness/deafness*, rime frostbite, rime frostbite
1st - entangle (DC 14), longstrider, produce flame, sleep*, snowball
0th - create water, detect magic, know direction, light
Spells per Day: (4+1/3+1/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/ DC:13+spell level)
Scrolls: none
________________________________________________________________________
STATISTICS
________________________________________________________________________
Abilities STR 19, DEX 13, CON 14, INT 7, WIS 16, CHA 7
Feats Diehard, Enforcer, Blind-Fight*, Rime Spell
Traits Adopted (Boar Resilience), Omen
Skills Acrobatics -3, Appraise -2, Bluff -2, Climb +3, Diplomacy -2, Disguise -2, Escape Artist -3, Fly -3, Heal +3, Intimidate +6, Knowledge (Nature) +4, Perception +7, Ride -3, Sense Motive +3, Stealth -3, Survival +7, Swim +3 Armor Check Penalty -5
SQ Spontaneous Casting, Woodland Stride, Vermin Empathy, Night Hunter (6/day), Wild Shape (1/day)
Combat Gear wand of cure light wounds [45/50], wand of obscuring mist [50/50], potion of cure light wounds, acid flask (x3) Other Gear MW scimitar (cold iron), sickle, club, dagger (cold iron), sling, bullets (10), MW dragonhide breatsplate, shield (heavy/wooden), outfit (cold-weather), backpack, bandolier (x2), rations (trail/per day)(x3), spell component pouch (x2), bell, candle, chalk, charcoal, fishhook, string, flint and steel, parchment, sewing needle, signal whistle, oil (flask)(x3), tindertwig (x2), smokestick, earplugs, spring-loaded wrist sheath (x2, loaded with wand of cure light wounds, wand of obscuring mist), 7,425 gp
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Bonus Feat Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Heart of the Wilderness: Humans raised in the wild learn the hard way that only the strong survive. They gain a racial bonus equal to half their character level on Survival checks. They also gain a +5 racial bonus on Constitution checks to stabilize when dying and add half their character level to their Constitution score when determining the negative hit point total necessary to kill them. This racial trait replaces skilled.
Nature Bond (Ex): A blight druid may not bond with an animal companion, but may either call a familiar as a wizard of her druid level or select from the Darkness, Death, and Destruction domains in addition to those normally available.
Nature Sense (Ex) You gain a +2 bonus on Knowledge (Nature) and Survival skill checks.
Night Hunter (Su): As a standard action, you can blend into the shadows of the night, becoming nearly invisible. As long as you are in an area of dim light or darkness, you are invisible (as per invisibility) to creatures without darkvision. This ability lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your cleric level (minimum 1). You can use this ability for a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.
Spontaneous Casting You can channel stored spell energy into summoning spells that you haven't prepares ahead of time. You can "lose" any prepared spell in order to cast any Summon Nature's Ally spell of the same spell level or lower
Weapon and Armor Proficiency Druids are proficient with the following weapons: club, dagger, dart, quarterstaff, scimitar, sickle, shortspear, sling, and spear. They are also proficient with all natural attacks (claw, bite, and so forth) of any form they assume with wild shape (see below). Druids are proficient with light and medium armor but are prohibited from wearing metal armor; thus, they may wear only padded, leather, or hide armor. (A druid may also wear wooden armor that has been altered by the ironwood spell so that it functions as though it were steel. See the ironwood spell description) Druids are proficient with shields (except tower shields) but must use only wooden ones. A druid who wears prohibited armor or carries a prohibited shield is unable to cast druid spells or use any of her supernatural or spell-like class abilities while doing so and for 24 hours thereafter.
Vermin Empathy (Su): A blight druid can improve the attitude of vermin as a normal druid can with animals. Vermin have a starting attitude of unfriendly. The blight druid can also improve the attitude of animals and mindless undead creatures that were formerly animals, but she takes a –4 penalty on the check unless the animal or undead has a disease special attack.
This ability replaces wild empathy.
Wild Shape (Su): At 4th level, a druid gains the ability to turn herself into any small or Medium animal and back again once per day. Her options for new forms include all creatures with the animal type. This ability functions like the beast shape I spell, except as noted here. The effect lasts for 1 hour per druid level, or until she changes back. Changing form (to animal or back) is a standard action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity. The form chosen must be that of an animal the druid is familiar with.
A druid loses her ability to speak while in animal form because she is limited to the sounds that a normal, untrained animal can make, but she can communicate normally with other animals of the same general grouping as her new form. (The normal sound a wild parrot makes is a squawk, so changing to this form does not permit speech.)
A druid can use this ability an additional time per day at 6th level and every two levels thereafter, for a total of eight times at 18th level. At 20th level, a druid can use wild shape at will. As a druid gains in levels, this ability allows the druid to take on the form of larger and smaller animals, elementals, and plants. Each form expends one daily usage of this ability, regardless of the form taken.
At 6th level, a druid can use wild shape to change into a Large or Tiny animal or a Small elemental. When taking the form of an animal, a druid’s wild shape now functions as beast shape II. When taking the form of an elemental, the druid’s wild shape functions as elemental body I.
At 8th level, a druid can use wild shape to change into a Huge or Diminutive animal, a Medium elemental, or a Small or Medium plant creature. When taking the form of animals, a druid’s wild shape now functions as beast shape III. When taking the form of an elemental, the druid’s wild shape now functions as elemental body II. When taking the form of a plant creature, the druid’s wild shape functions as plant shape I.
At 10th level, a druid can use wild shape to change into a Large elemental or a Large plant creature. When taking the form of an elemental, the druid’s wild shape now functions as elemental body III. When taking the form of a plant, the druid’s wild shape now functions as plant shape II.
At 12th level, a druid can use wild shape to change into a Huge elemental or a Huge plant creature. When taking the form of an elemental, the druid’s wild shape now functions as elemental body IV. When taking the form of a plant, the druid’s wild shape now functions as plant shape III.
Woodland Stride (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, a druid may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at her normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. Thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion, however, still affect her.
BACKGROUND:
Silverback is an older human male with long hair and beard...though it is difficult to tell his exact age. A great silver streak runs down the back of his uncovered head. He wears a dragon hide almost as if they were his own skin.
It is almost time to leave this 'civilization.' Who knows how much longer it will even be here?
He nods at the instructions, but seems content to keep his own company for now.
Silverback is a reincarnated druid, who in his past life brought a frozen calamity upon a world, ending all life that it might be reborn. He belongs to a dark druidic tradition that seeks to cleanse the land of the blight of civilization through death. He believes the end of the current age is at hand, and often will endeavor to help it along, believing that the fittest will survive to repopulate in the new spring that is to follow the coming winter. He believes that magic will have no place in the new spring, and that it is an abomination.
Silverback once attended an opera in Oppara. He has a secret love for the opera, and can't reconcile this love with his thought that all civilization is bad.
