We creators are not unlike vampires. We drink in the tears, anxieties, and joys of players and GMs alike seeking desperate nourishment. Thank you for your kind words. I think I can speak for all the writers, developers, artists, editors, etc. when I say I’m so glad you’re enjoying it.
Are you comfortable with me sharing this when it’s done on social media? I personally think this is awesome. Great work. The hex version looks super cool.
I literally listened to this song over and over as part of a playlist while writing volume two. Love it!!!
Have you read volume two yet? I was hoping that one would satisfy at least a bit of what you crave, as I set out to really capture what I love about Starfinder in it.
If they took out a corpse lease, guaranteeing their body parts to a broker for instant credits, their families don’t have much to say about it. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to dispute a modern probate, but even today, signed agreements about what one wishes to do with their remains are hard to overturn. See Starfinder Armory for more info about corpse leases in the necrograft section.
Oh man. That looks like a space winnebago. But somehow boxier. This made my partner and I laugh so hard.
I've been a bit reticent to respond more here (as the ship's original designer before my work was handed off to development), at the risk of sounding defensive. But I love this conversation and want to engage with our fan base more, so go easy on me. I see your point and was aware of the risk when taking this approach to designing the ship. But if it helps, here's a couple thoughts I've had: 1. I really think the ship has the qualities of a hero ship. Perhaps it is less attractive than others (though beauty is in the eye of the beholder), but if you look closely at the design, you'll see a few rooms that might remind you of those in your own home. At the same, time, it has a ball turret up top that looks a little like those from WWII-era planes. I've also heard lots of players in my Starfinder games complain how far away some ship designs place the thrusters from the engine room. So you'll notice I placed em all right up front. I suspect engineers, science officers, and mechanics throughout the Pact Worlds actually love the EJ Sledgehammer. Everything they need to make the ship run is basically right behind the bridge! In my mind's eye, the Oliphaunt was always a bit like a B-52 bomber someone decided was obscure enough they could stick a cutting edge cargo hold in, just before someone else (the PCs) stole it and made a home out of it. But you know, with VTOL thrusters on the side that could rotate for vertical lift. (I sort of detest starships that I don't think can land and take off. So my original ideas for the thrusters being on the side came from a desire to explain how the ship transitioned from horizontal to vertical movement.) I'll admit, even I didn't think the final product would have as many straight edges as it does. I envisioned a bit more hull space around the interior layout, similar to that shown by the Sunrise Maiden in my own notes and maps. But you have to remember that there's a lot of artistic interpretation that happen when writer, developer, and artist join forces. Overall, I love the way the Oliphaunt looks now, because it looks, to me, like the ship itself has character, and I always envisioned the ship as a member of the party. Sure, it probably has a lower charisma score than other members of the party. But it's dependable, faster than it looks, and resilient (you'll see how resilient in the volume I wrote). These were all characteristics of the old pickup I learned to drive in. To me, roaming around my farm as a teenager, it was a hero truck, despite the hundreds of scratches and dents all over the body. :) If the Oliphaunt doesn't look like a hero ship to you, I support you embellishing and modifying it to look like something you believe is heroic. That's the beauty of roleplaying games. The GM can always build or expand upon original ideas. We're on the same page there. 2. I once rode down the side of a Colorado mountain in a rusted-out van (I think it might have been a Volkswagen?) with no side door, no headlights, and no back seats. As the driver wove down a craggy path, dodging trees and rocks, he insisted that going more than 40 mph was necessary to avoid being stuck in the mud. My friends and I sat on toolboxes while bracing against anything we could find as we desperately tried to avoid falling out the open hatch. I thought for certain I was going to die that night. But hey, here I am. That experience probably informed the Oliphaunt's design. If you step back and look at the ship from afar, it looks a bit like a warhammer. The bridge placement puts the crew members literally on the edge of the hammer. If the pilot makes a mistake that drives front of the ship into an asteroid, there's a possibility that choice could wipe out everyone. This "living on the edge" theme is something I wanted to capture, and I think Jason and the artist nailed it. 3. I hope my insights are helpful. I had a ton of fun designing this ship, and I hope you all enjoy exploring the galaxy in it! Cheers.
If I were y’all, I’d stay tuned and hold out a bit before you make any judgments from the first volume alone. Some of the later volumes in FFoD do some really interesting things with that BP system, IMO. #34 just set up the dominoes.
This pretty much captures the thought process Jake and I shared when designing it. In fact, the first paragraph of the ship’s description indicates as much. The Sledgehammer has an engine forward design that makes it fast, but less attractive to consumers. So Reisora set out to make tech that would not only change the hauling game, but turn the ship’s sales around.
As the writer of the second volume, I know we discussed it, and sometimes some details that could be helpful get cut for space. My interpretation as a freelance writer is that EJ is scared of how public acknowledgment of the Oliphaunt’s theft could hurt their stock shares. Sinjin, as a notorious crime boss, prefers to handle matters of revenge on his own rather than utilize law enforcement. So my interpretation is that the theft was never reported, though that does mean no one is looking for it. It just means that the PCs don’t have anything to worry about from Absalom station security. Again this is just my impression, but one I know I’ll be using when I GM this. I’m sure the developer, Jason Tondro, could speak more specifically. I know at least in my adventure there was text that addressed this specifically, but I believe it was removed for copyfit. At the end of the day, there’s only so much room on a page. I think going to Absalom is pretty risky, but only with regard to avoiding notice of the Company and the Golden League. I encourage GMs to encourage their players to consider how they plan to stay under the radar. But in general, they should still be able to go where they want.
:o I WOULD DIE FOR THAT YSOKI Knowing that ysoki, she’d probably be into it. Hope y’all like this one! It was a hoot to write, even if it probably took a few years off my life.
What Company would that be? The nickname for the company the PCs start the AP working for is "the Company." :D
I’m glad you enjoyed the article and the gear! I had a lot of fun writing these items and the fringe science lore. Big thanks to Jason Keeley for all his development help.
Congrats to all of our new team members and those with new titles and responsibilities. I love our team and the awesome work we do! Also thanks to Aaron and the marketing team for their help compiling this announcement!
Who knows what the future holds for those who walk the path of the Rain of Embers? But I'd like to think that things are moving in a positive direction for Meleeka and anyone willing to learn from her.
In my first draft of the quest, I actually implemented a type of funneling similar to what you’re suggesting (I placed a group of acolyte guards right outside the chamber). In playtesting, I found that players felt this was too linear and resulted in feeling like they were being railroaded into a fight. Also, the additional encounter threw off the standard XP budget for a quest. So, after some deliberation and consulting with Michael as well as a few other OP writers, I made a design choice to lean in to a less linear adventure design, and allow for players to retrieve the statue in a number of ways which are all addressed in the sidebar at the end of the adventure. While it’s suggested that the main way to complete the quest is to complete the challenges and then fight Meleeka, if a group of PCs is crafty enough, they can resolve things in their own way and the quest is modular enough to handle it. So the presence of multiple paths to complete the quest is not an oversight, but designed to allow for PCs to bypass the challenges or attack Meleeka early if they wish. Heck, I even wrote a note to Michael that said if the PCs are good enough to sneak past Meleeka on the way in, bypass the traps, and sneak by her again on the way out, they should be rewarded! After all, they’re the heroes and should be encouraged to use creative problem solving and immersive roleplay. Personally, I think its pretty cool that the GM is enabled to give the players the freedom to be creative, but I absolutely respect your opinion and will consider it thoughtfully when designing adventures in the future. Also, I’ve GMed this three times now, and the PCs haven’t attacked Meleeka when she brings out the statue once. So, I suspect the mileage on how much she gets attacked as soon the statue is revealed varies quite a bit. If anything, the only disappointing thing about the scenario is that my PC Monk cannot learn Blazing Talon Surge or Explosive Deathdrop! Maybe that will see light in a future product! Stay tuned, true believers! You never know exactly what surprises we have in store!
I was having the kind of writing day yesterday where you need to write 3,000 words but only 500 came out. As I ubered home, I read this post and was reminded how lucky I am to write for Organized Play and how amazing our fans are. This post brought a huge smile to my face. Thanks so much for all your support. Really glad you enjoyed the quest. I'm hoping we can do more with some of the material here in the future too! Big shout out to Michael Sayre for all his work as developer on this quest. Cheers! EDIT: I also ran this for Michael and some other Paizonians a few weeks ago and we had fun, too. Took us about an hour and 20 minutes.
This is my favorite thing. Ever.
The fact that Leo is an editor makes those OH's even betterPerhaps those OHs are the things they edited out...? The secret of my Teamwork chat tirade is that I was at GenCon working as a member of setup crew last week, and had just posted a picture of our progress in the editor chat. While laying floor tiles, my phone began chanting this ancient and forbidden spell from the depths of my pocket, clearly choosing Lyz as its target. (We still have no idea how it was able to so easily @ her, twice.) I didn't realize there was an issue until Adrian told me my phone was going rogue in chat. I think Judy was deeply concerned something terrible had happened to me. This was embarrassing enough on its own, but was even funnier given I had accidentally pocket-texted several lines of gibberish to Kate Baker on Facebook a few days before. I wish I could blame my cat, but this was all me. Needless to say, I lock my phone before putting it in my pocket now.
Hmm....who is Leo? An enigma wrapped in a mystery.
While I loved my giant-slaying barbarian from the Playtest (there is nothing like tanking an ankhrav while your party goes swimming in quicksand), all of the changes made to the game as of late have me super excited to put together a champion build (let's go liberator!), as well as a multiclass fighter/sorcerer. I am always asked to GM by my friends, though, so I'll probably have to explore these options through NPCs unless I can convince one of my colleagues to run for me.
Critical Update: I purchased a raincoat. Thanks for the kind welcome, everyone! |
