Most basic thing to understand is that an NPC or monster's ability scores don't affect any of its other mechanics - they basically exist just for show.
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As a thought, you could adapt the Plagued corruption from PF 1E (Horror Realms) using the Starfinder corruption rules from SF AP #10.
I've notice little details (which are actually probably simply explained by the production timing) that make that "Starfinder is an imperfectly recreated multiverse" fan-theory intriguing.
There's one android NPC in an adventure who can cope well with being disassembled, but... er... they're unusual.
Necromancing because I've reached this adventure in my home game. I have comments! 1. I'm left wishing we knew a bit more about the modern Hellknights. Why? Because this scenario features the Order of the Pyre, which, according to Starfinder materials, is no longer listed among the major Orders. Instead, the new Order of the Furnace seems to have taken their place. Unfortunately, we don't know anything about the Order of the Furnace beyond the class abilities they receive from the Star Knight archetype. Which leaves me wondering: What distinguishes the Order of the Furnace from the Order of the Pyre? Does the Order of the Furnace have different goals than the cult-hunting Order of the Pyre? (Or, as a tiny voice in the back of my head keeps asking, should the Order of the Pyre presented here have just been folded into the Order of the Furnace?) 2. My PCs really enjoyed Iteration-177's dinner party and interacting with the Hellknight officers. Since it looks like the Starfinder Society will be returning to Athaeum under the leadership of its new First Seeker in future seasons, here's hoping Paralictor Kelria returns for a level 10-12-tier showdown.
Great. Thanks!
Officially allowed for use in the Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild. You can play 'em for organized play credit, in other words.
Without getting into spoilers, it looks like we're going to retroactively discover that she was ultimately behind several Season 1 scenarios as well.
As it happens, Return of the Runelords does propose a "canonical" answer to what happens to the Rise of the Runelords and/or Shattered Star PCs, who become known as the Sihedron Heroes. Long story short... Return of the Runelords:
Before this AP begins (which, like yours, takes place a decade after Rise), the Sihedron Heroes attempted to tap into temporal energies to trap the Runelord Alaznist. Messing with time backfires, and they end up imprisoned in temporal stasis in a hidden demiplane, all memory of their identities and deeds erased from living memory. Rescuing them is a significant element of the AP. The Return of the Runelords Player's Guide has more info.
I want to start out by saying that I don't think this is necessarily a problem that falls on Paizo to solve, but I do have a problem, and if I don't comment, then all I do is help guarantee that the problem never gets solved. And, for me, it's a big enough problem that I'm on the verge of cancelling all of my 2nd Edition Pathfinder subscriptions, so I feel I really ought to shine a light on it. The issue is that I run my games using VTTs, so the quality of Paizo's art and maps and the ease with which I can extract it from the PDFs has always been a MAJOR selling point for me -- not just to run those adventures but also to build a visual archive to enhance the *rest* of the Golarion games I run. But now, without any clear cause, that's all come to a stop with the PF2E line. I used to use an old version of Adobe Acrobat, which was fine, but over the years slowly lost the ability to keep up. But then I switched to a program called PDF Candy Desktop, which was/is absolutely great for this purpose. I'm naming the specific software so anyone who cares to can test this themselves. When attempting to extract images from PF2E PDFs, without fail, the program works perfectly at first, but then hits *something* a few pages in that causes it to hang, making it impossible to continue. The "few pages in" varies from one PDF to the next but is always consistent within each individual PDF. Switching from "one file" to "one file per chapter" doesn't work to bypass the issue. First off, it isn't always an option, and secondly, the problem just reoccurs--get a few pages in, then freeze and can't grab anything past that. I'm going to use Pathfinder Adventures 151 (Extinction Curse #1) as a specific example, but this problem has been absolutely consistent with every PF2E product I've purchased -- Core Rulebook, Bestiary, and all of the adventure path books. Only the Extinction Curse Player's Guide worked fine, and I suspect that's because it's so short it may have escaped whatever formatting issue is causing this behind the scenes. Here's a breakdown. Extracting images from the entire book as one file: The program extracts images through page 7, then hangs. Extracting images from each chapter as its own file: 000 Front Cover: Works A-OK
Importantly, I have *not* encountered any hint of this problem with any PF1 or Starfinder PDFs--including SF PDFs being produced concurrently with PF2E. (SF AP #12 had problems with its image files, but that's a separate issue and didn't become a recurring problem.) Of course, I can still go through the PDFs in Acrobat Reader and individually grab each image, but that's a slower process that generally results in a huge loss of quality for any art that incorporates masking layers (i.e. anything but maps and half- and full-page illos). I suspect there's something hidden in the formatting of the PF2E overall layout design that's choking this program. But, not being able to examine those PF2E files myself, that's as far as my diagnosis can go. I really hope I don't come off as angrily slamming my fist on the table and demanding fixes from Paizo here, but the truth is these files have lost their main utility for me, so like I said, I'm on the verge of cancelling my PF2E subscriptions here. And who knows, maybe someone else out there is having the same problem.
(I suppose I should mention that I have to cheat once to fit everything in: I'll be scaling 1-38 up one level past its maximum tier.)
Phase III 1-24: Siege of Enlightenment (Team B)
1-30: Survivor's Salvation (Team B)
1-35: Rasheen's Riches (Team A)
1-27: King Xeros of Star Azlant (Team B)
2-04: Future's Fall (Team A)
2-00: Fate of the Scoured God (big crossover finale) That's the main blueprint; currently we're about to wrap up Dreaming of the Future, so the players are in the process of creating their Team B PCs. Depending on where our lives are at in the future, we plan to continue through Year of the Thousand Bites. So far, Team A would only return once for a old-favorites episode, with Team B stepping into the forefront, and maybe even a Team C to take on the low-level, scene-setting scenarios. Still some of Thousand Bites yet to come, but by the end Team A should be in the right position to make the jump from "tv" to "movies" by entering into the Devastation Ark adventure path.
Here's the planned series of events for my 2-team campaign. These cater to specific PCs (Team A has a heavy mass media focus), but also maximizes the payoff of story-based ("your GM will tell you if this is important later") boons. Phase I
Quest: Into the Unknown
1-03: Yesteryear's Truth (Team A 2nd level) (here we inserted 1-00: Claim to Salvation as a "clip show episode" featuring the Iconics) 1-04: Cries from the Drift
1-10: The Half-Alive Streets (Team A 3rd level)
Quest: Dreaming of the Future (Team A 4th level)
1-06: A Night in Nightarch (Team A 5th level)
Phase II
1-12: Ashes of Discovery (Team B 1st level)
1-13: On the Trail of History (Team A 6th level)
1-28: It Rests Beneath (Team B 2nd level)
1-17: Reclaiming the Time-Lost Tear (Team A 7th level)
1-08: Sanctuary of Drowned Delight (Team B 3rd level) 1-99: Invasion of the Scoured Stars (big crossover mid-season finale) More later!
I'm having my home game players create two separate teams to catch all the story threads (and so we can run the multi-table crossover events). What's interesting is that one faction's subplot includes a late scenario that the main group will have leveled out of by the time it comes around -- but once you read the adventure it makes perfect sense that the team who's been chasing that thread all campaign wouldn't be assigned to the mission.
I used Into the Unknown to kick off a whole Scoured Stars home campaign (I followed ItU with The Commencement), but for your specific purposes, know that scenarios #S1-03: Yesteryear's Truth (levels 1-4), #S1-21: Yesteryear's Sorrow (levels 3-6), and #S2-13: Storm of the End Times (levels 1-4) are direct follow-ups on the Unbounded Wayfarer's recovered data. Y's Sorrow is in turn a sequel to Y's Truth.
Makes sense to me.
An answer: Vanity boons don't really provide any mechanical benefit. And now a question: In the Kozmos club, it's possible to notice that each of the verthani bartenders has an X-shaped scar on their palm. Was there something more here?
I confess that sometimes, in the wee hours, I wonder about shirren physiology. Particularly hosts.
The Starfinder Society scenario #1-16 introduces the city-state of Vanos on Verces (this is not a spoiler). Presumably an upscale Outlaw Kingdom, we know it's located in the temperate zone and locked in a state of permanent twilight. However, it doesn't appear on the map in Pact Worlds, so beyond those hints there's no telling where Vanos is located in relation to its neighbors. Personally I've tucked it in the elbow of that mountain range northeast of Athalo, between the mountains and the large lake, more-or-less right at the mouth of that river tributary. Anyone else plunk Vanos on a map? Anything official I've missed?
*Biting on a trembling, white-knuckled fist* ...Yyyeeeeeesssssssss...
Noticed a change from last month: Used to be the store wouldn't let me add the scenarios to my cart, since I technically already "owned" them - now it looks like I could go through with a purchase. Which suggests the system isn't registering my bonus subscription?
Third month running, and supposedly fixed after last month; seems like there's some kind of lingering problem.
What's the word on the October scenario subscriptions? Those gone out yet?
Huzzah! Thank you.
Has there been any progress on this issue?
SFS #2-07 and #2-08 haven't unlocked for me. If I'm reading the general thread right, they should have and I need to open a thread to note it, so here I am! (Second month in a row...)
Not sure what the underlying issue is, but: I extract the images from Paizo's PDFs for use in a virtual tabletop. (Lately I use PDF Candy Desktop Pro.) However, when it comes to AP #146 and #147, the program now gets a few pages in (page 28 in #146 and page 6 in #147) and hangs, making it impossible to grab the rest of the images. This is not affecting the Starfinder releases from the same months.
Got it. Thank you!
I never received the notification e-mail, the scenarios aren't in my downloads, and since I have a subscription, I can't add them to my cart.
Yep, same boat here.
Not to subscribers.
Great! Thanks.
The last of my four ongoing subscriptions won't "kick in" until late August; will I still receive this month's Starfinder scenarios at that time?
On a similar note, will 1-98 Into the Perplexity ever be released in PDF? Doubtful. (Thurston Hillman discusses 1-98 in the thread below.) https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2v6qw?Reportable-but-not-obtainable-Starfinder
I have no inside info, but my guess is that it'll be released after Origins (June 12-16).
Quick but big lore question regarding the Year of Scoured Stars: The Godwall: In terms of the season's events, when did the Godwall first appear? Its existence seems to have taken the Starfinder Society by surprise, but if it never manifested before the Scoured Stars expedition (at least, within recent-ish history), why did starfarers need (or, at least, knew they needed) a Tear to reach the system?
Kishmo: It's purely a lack of personal time of late that's prevented me from posting my own "P.A.Q." (Personally Asked Questions) about some of the big lore from this season, so put me down as well as wanting a big lore dump from Thurston. The one element in particular I have a lot of questions about (which I'll save for the GM Discussion subform, when I get a chance) is the Godwall itself...
Any news? ETA 16 minutes later: Aha! Just went through.
And over in Starfinder Society (avoiding spoilers), there's a budding romance going on between two recurring NPCs of seemingly disparate species that no one bats an eye at.I think it's adorable. Very, very true.
I get the sense that romantic pairings between bonded ryphorians and dragonkin are pretty uncommon, but not unknown. And over in Starfinder Society (avoiding spoilers), there's a budding romance going on between two recurring NPCs of seemingly disparate species that no one bats an eye at.
Level 21, right! Meant to say that, not 41.
If anyone wants my own headcanon: It seems to me that Sparks is located at the "base" of the Spike, cradling the Starstone Reactor close to the heart of Absalom Station. While Sparks may extend downward at the core of the Spike, around the reactor it also expands to the Spike's exterior to incorporate starship drydocks. (Of all the Spike districts, Sparks also has the highest security and seems to rub elbows with the wealthy most often.) Below Sparks, we head into Downlow, the middle-class district that's been "gentrified" from the slums of the lower districts. Wealthier folks from the Eye and the Ring still come down here, even as they turn up their nose, but security grows thin. Finally we head into Botscrap and Conduit, which could be arranged any which way; both have problems with creatures creeping up from the Ghost Levels, both are neglected industrial slums, etc. One could easily make the case that Botscrap could sit above Conduit, or vice versa, or that they could be entwined around each other in a 3-dimensional maze. Dunno!
I posted a version of this over in the Starfinder forum, where it promptly died a red shirt's death, but maybe over here, where Absalom Station plays a much more central role, some folks will have thoughts. At any rate: Has anyone put any thought into the geography of the Spike? At least, where the various neighborhoods (Botscrap, Conduit/Pipetown, Downlow, and Sparks) are in relation to each other? I ask because in SFS we have a number of scenarios that take place in full or in part in the Spike, including one where the exact time needed to move between the Lorespire Complex and a specific location in Sparks is important. So far, it seems like we have a dribbling of details (the Spike consists of hundreds of levels, the Ghost Levels are apparently concentrated in the bottom half, which then suggests (since Level 41 is inhabited) that the levels count from the Ring down to the gravity generators at the tip, etc.), but personally I could really make do with a side-view map of Absalom Station. So, anyone know of any obscure data drops about the Spike, or have any headcanon?
Has anyone put any thought into the geography of the Spike? Specifically, where the various districts of Downside (Botscrap, Conduit, Downlow, and Sparks) are in relation to each other and the Ring? (It seems to me that Sparks may be at the "top" of the Spike, nearest the Ring & Eye, but beyond that it seems to be anybody's guess.)
I assume the thought behind it is that the Master of Stars is such a technological patchwork that it's filled with incompatible systems (even to a degree after the refit). Power up a Pact Worlds standard Drift engine in that ship, and three other systems that came from the Vast go down. Replace them, and now no one on Deck E is getting hot water. Etc. I imagine chasing down these cascade failures is what Fitch and her team has been up to for most of the last 2+ years, and now it's down to "We have a war coming, we've found a Drift engine that can finally get everything online, or we can go back into drydock for another three months to replace this, that, and the other. Hell with it, get me that Drift engine."
Seconding the thanks for fixing the images in the last two issues, but must note that the map of the Excoriation Combine Jezail in the inside back cover of SFAP#14 still needs help.
I've noticed that the PDF was updated to fix the over-compressed images (Thanks!), but the inside cover map of the starship is still undersized. (It's the only undersized image left at this point.)
Seconding the call for attention to the undersized images, which is now an ongoing concern and no longer limited to the maps.
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