Luke Spencer's page

As a lone watcher staring down the vast weekend, I salute those of you who have been freed!

Given the amount of fire Paizo has been under in the last few months I think it was the right call to respond to open concerns from one of their freelancers posted on the blog of one of Paizo's more well known former employees. If they'd let it sit and fester it would've just been more damning to their already damaged public image. Overall this move has probably done more good than bad in the eyes of their most important stakeholders.

I don't believe that this is something intentional, mainly because it isn't affecting any other Paizo products that I've seen. My best guess is that because these books are prepared well in advance of release, the issue was simply missed until the first book dropped, and they haven't rectified it yet. I'm assuming that at worst this will continue for the entire AP but I sincerely hope that is not the case.

That being said, it is ABSOLUTELY an issue that must be fixed and ideally rectroactively corrected. I am of a similar opinion that I would rather save £50 and buy the PDF on release than get a product slightly early that is borderline unusable for my purposes.

Gonna just throw a +1 in here for getting the pdf image issues fixed for the next AP at the very least. Separate maps are helpful but don't solve the underlying problem.

Frustratingly the PDF image issues are persisting, at this point I can only assume it will continue for the entire AP. Conceptually this AP is great but the amount of effort required to extract images for VTT use has moved this from the AP I was most excited about to the one I'm least excited about. Otherwise the stuff in this book is pretty cool!

Any new Copaxi lore? ;D Or terrifying lore implications in new creatures?

Nothing particularly new with the Copaxi other than art. There are some pretty unpleasant and creepy monsters in this one though!

Not having this book is destroying me, anyone got a hold of it that can give me their thoughts? Any fun/interesting monsters?

Albatoonoe wrote:

Counterpoint, in a world with magic in it blasting even a small portion could awaken some slumbering horror or enrage the fey. Also, there is a difference between a naturally occurring disaster and just incinerating a portion of forest on a whim. Geez, might as well just repeat the colonizing of the Americas and ruin ecosystems across the board for convenience. Learn to live with nature, dingus.

How do you think a colony is build exactly? That also includes large scale deforestation and other destruction.

Thankfully this could easily be bypassed with magic, shaping the colony into the environment rather than destroying it.

Also while I assume there will be deforestation (if the colonists are in a forested area) the assumption is that you have charted the area you're building in first. You have to explore the site to determine the risks before you start work, and blowing it up incurs the chance that you may destroy a valuable resource. Properly surveying an area is both straightforward and wouldn't take that long, both in universe and from meta perspective so there's really no downside to it.

Luke Spencer wrote:

Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:

... wut?

That is the exact definition of hurting it.

Doing strafing and bombing runs is not exploring.

I do find the idea of archaeologists calling in a B-52 to clear the forest around their digsite very entertaining, but yeah that's not how you access a potential area of interest, think of all the relics that might get blown up!

The PCs are not archaeologists, they are colonists. And if a forest is in the way of a new colony, the forest will be gone soon.

You massively overestimate what damage a small explosion does to a planet, namely none.
Find a site you want to explore? Let your starship hover over it, clear a small space near it and touch down with a shuttle. And if you run into any trouble you order the VI on board of the ship to support you.

There are plenty of historical examples of colonists destroying large amounts of culture history, and wildlife through poor practice. I'm British, I would know. Why would you bomb a site when you don't know what's there? You could wipe out an endangered species, destroy valuable and rare resources, or ruin a site of importance to the colonists. That being said I would expect travel to be less of an issue in this game than Kingmaker, you can always parachute/rappel out of a ship to the area you want to explore and make sure it's secure before exploding a landing zone.

... wut?

That is the exact definition of hurting it.

Doing strafing and bombing runs is not exploring.

I do find the idea of archaeologists calling in a B-52 to clear the forest around their digsite very entertaining, but yeah that's not how you access a potential area of interest, think of all the relics that might get blown up!

Am I remembering incorrectly that maps and assets from new PDFs were going to be made more compatible with VTT for those of us who are stuck playing in isolation? I've been terribly excited for Fly Free or Die, and I eagerly downloaded my digital copy the moment it became available - only to find it's going to be an utter nightmare to run for any of my digital groups.

Every single asset in the PDF is cut into 5-6 image pieces, making it almost impossible to easily export into roll20 or any other VTT of choice. Previously, I could simply pull a map image out of a PDF, without the numbers, and import it into my VTT to give my players the great, colorful, detailed maps as-is. For some reason, the layout of this PDF has made that nearly impossible. Even the smaller maps are made up of two or more images, while the larger ones are in 6+ pieces of varying sizes, making it nearly impossible to properly size and lay out in roll20.

Everything about this adventure looks fun as hell, and I can't wait to run it for my players, but now I'm not sure how. Why was this changed? Is there a separate maps file coming?

I'm noticing the same thing, it even covers most if not all of the text so I can't copy segments for handouts or GM notes. Quite frustrating honestly and hoping there's a fixed version available soon.

I'm squealing right now, space Kingmaker has finally arrived!

I'd imagine big corporations actually benefit from the Free Captains in a way, since only bigger corporations can afford the exorbitant protection fees (I think this is from Pact Worlds). That means that smaller and mid-sized companies whose growth could threaten the megacorps down the line are also subject to the threat of piracy which eats into their profits and slows their growth. Plus I imagine Broken Rock could easily function as a neutral ground for under the table dealings that corps don't want others knowing about. All you'd have to do is pay a Free Captain a large sum of credits to take you and bring along enough company mercs to ensure your safety.

Master Han Del of the Web wrote:

That's a fun way to argue! Let me try!
That wouldn't stop the Free Captains!

Do you have a point? Guess not. Not surprising really...

The Hellknights don't negotiate with pirates anyway and are fanatically devoted to order. They would certainly blow up the base, no matter if it kills civilians or not.

There is no logical reason why Broken Rock has not been destroyed, invaded or at least blockaded besides "Paizo wants pirates, so here they are".

pg. 156 of the Pact Worlds book states "to many Pact Worlds governments, the mere existence of [Hellknight Citadels] is a dangerous provocation." I'd read this that the Pact Worlds don't just sit idly by while the Hellknights use their massive death ships in Pact space.

thecursor wrote:

The Free Captains exist because once you take them all down, another dozen rise up in their place. This is because we know poverty exists in Starfinder and as long as there is inequity, there will always be people desperate enough to correct that inequity with whatever opportunity they can grasp.

Just like in the real world: Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.

Poor people usually don't have access to starships (unless you really play with starships being essentially free).

I doubt people desperate enough to become pirates have any moral qualms with stealing a ship.

Okay as a bit of background for this, I'm currently running two Starfinder campaigns based around the idea of starting up a colony on a planet in the Vast, and in the process I've made a lot of notes and spent a lot of time reading through Pathfinder APs, the forums, and 3rd party stuff and I wanted to put everything I've discovered and learned into one big document. After spending a good few hours doing just that I decided that maybe I should share it for people who wanted to run similar campaigns but weren't sure how to go about it.

So with all that out of the way, here's my first draft: CLICK HERE.

It's still a very rough, no frills version and it's far from unfinished because it doesn't really have any content past what I would consider 'book 1' of a campaign, but it's a culmination of my observations and things I've learned. That being said I'd absolutely love to hear people's thoughts and feedback on the contents of this monstrosity I've created, and if you decide to actually use some of my advice I'd love to hear how it goes for you!

I've read through the whole thing, but I still dont know what the robot thing on the cover is?

From the Starfinder Wednesday I believe Joe Pasini said it was a Jinsul, though I agree the appearances don't really match up.

I wonder how the starting equipment will work.

I doubt there will be any special rules for this in the AP, but it makes no sense that members of a military force are limited by both credits and level for the armor and weapon they are given.

I might've imagined this, but I believe it was said somewhere (on one of the Paizo Con panels I think) that the PCs or at least some of the people brought on to fight the Swarm are mercenaries. It would make sense that the PCs were hired as independent contractors in terms of explaining gear limits. I also remember hearing

which lends credibility to the idea that the PCs aren't necessarily 'proper' military. The planet where this AP takes place also isn't a member of the Pact Worlds so they likely don't have the same levels of military and technological access to equip their grunts with high-level tech. I believe the planet was described as 'space Australia' so I wouldn't expect it to be a tech powerhouse with an elite military.

Hey guys, any news on whether the orders have started shipping yet?

Hi there,

As the title states it seems my SFS adventures haven't spawned yet despite being available for purchase. Is this an error?

Are salamanders playable? Regardless, what geniekin (or other playable race) is in this book, if any?

What's your favorite aspect of the Brass Bazaar?

I haven't finished reading the Brass Bazaar section just yet, but there is an Anacite-run shop which sells robotic toys that is quite entertaining.

Has anyone received your subscriber PDFs yet?

I am fortunate enough to have my copy! I'll do what I can to answer questions but I haven't had much more than a skim through so far.

Luke Spencer wrote:

HTD wrote:

Have any subscribers received their PDF copy yet?

I have mine!

What are the new monsters' type, subtype, size and CR? Are there any new playable races?

Hopefully we'll see the geniekin as playable races in these books, makes sense with the general elemental theme. If the gazetteer is about a planet with ties to the plane of water maybe book one will have Undines?

Is there a Twi'lek-esque creature in the background image, just underneath the main NPC's gun? Or is it just me?

If you up the number of creatures in encounters it will make a big difference on the challenge level. Action economy is a powerful tool for GMs and it forces players to think more about how they handle combats. Sure they could nuke one enemy down in a round, but then the other enemy at full health gets essentially a free round of attacking, buffing, or to call even more reinforcements. If the players spread their damage they might end the fight quicker but they're more likely to use up extra resources. I know it doesn't seem like it makes much of a difference but it's much more effective than number boosting.

The other way to make things more difficult is to lean towards a more Tucker's Kobolds approach. Don't use the tactics in the book, make your creatures smart and mean. Have them set up traps and hit them with guerrilla attacks that chip away at your party's health and resources. Make things chaotic and don't allow the party too much breathing room.

Are any of the new aliens from the Veskarium?

Just one:

Can somebody answer these questions:

-How much population has "Madelon's Landing"?
-What kinds of Atzlanti starships are in the article?

Thank you!

Population of Madelon's Landing:

Azlanti Ships:

Love the story from these, but I have to admit I get equally as excited if not moreso to see all the extra worldbuilding content in these books. The Starfinder universe has to be one of my favourites so far!

Doesn't have CR either, which for an NPC would mean the same thing as level, functionally.

If you're referring to the named NPC's detailed in the world descriptions, they're left deliberately vague so that you can decide an appropriate CR to give them in your campaign.

What planets are the Races from?

What is your favorite Planet based on what you've read so far?(for everyone who has the PDF)

Man the wait for this book is killing me, really hoping my copy is one of the earlier ones to ship so I can get my hands on some pact worlds goodness!!

Order gone through! Now the painful wait until I get my hand on the pdf...

I'm really excited about everything in this book! Personally, I hope it's mostly/all new content rather than legacy stuff. I think it would be better if there was a book dedicated specifically to stuff that is carried over from Pathfinder (races, magic items etc.). Either that or spread the old stuff thinly through new books to allow more focus on expanding new content.

Question.. have we an undead player race?

It's coming in the Pact Worlds harcover in March.

I personally really like the monster creation rules, in PF I felt overwhelmed trying to create monsters because I felt like there were so many moving parts involved. Now with SF rules I can follow a step by step process and have the monster I imagined without having to worry whether or not it's balanced. Whilst I do agree that streamlining the classes for npcs can be a bit confusing and sometimes irritating, I don't mind too much because it does make creating encounters faster (once you're familiar with the mechanisms that is) since you don't have to build full PC statblocks. This is all my personal opinion though and I do see why people might not like it.

It makes more sense if you imagine ship AC like character AC, it's not just whether or not a shot pierces your armor but how hard you are to hit. A ship with high AC might be just absorbing the hits, or they might be dodging the shots in which case shields would only need to take effect if the ship was actually hit. Alternatively you could argue that the computer detects incoming attacks and only puts up shields if the attack is likely to cause damage.

Yakman wrote:

Arutema wrote:

Wrath of the Righteous spoilers:** spoiler omitted **

As the campaign setting in general assumes no APs have happened yet, they are still canonically demigods unless GMs want to run a game set after the APs in question.

EDIT: missed that we're in the Starfinder forums talking about their post-gap status.

I don't think anything's been said yet, probably to keep AP spoilers out of the Starfinder line.

the pathfinder campaign setting is an advancing setting (at least in part) - future APs dealing with Cheliax will be in the wake of the Glorious Reclamation, for instance.

The Starfinder setting assumes at least one AP took place.

But that is all we know.

This is incorrect. While it does advance in some areas somewhat the only APs that are assumed to have occurred whole cloth more or less at this point are the original 3, I haven’t seen anything dealing with the Glorius Reclamation and it’s effects outside of HR and HV. Basically don’t assume any AP or Module has occurred until its events start getting referenced in later books.

And I haven’t seen anything in Starfinder reference any of the APs occurring, and I don’t think they will.

Well there's the:

I don't have the book yet (they won't stock them where I live till the 31st) so I gotta ask, what're the skittermanders all about? I do hope they're more Stitch than Gremlin, cuz I don't especially feel like using something that cute and fuzzy as a baddie

They're a species of little fuzzballs that don't understand the concept of permanent governance, they can cooperate to achieve a goal but don't get the idea of having someone always in charge of them. They're also pretty much the most helpful race in the galaxy, they just really love helping people! They don't really make very good bad guys I gotta say, though the babies have a weird worm mouth coming out of their stomach which is real freaky.

What's the deal with the Draelik and Wrikreechee? I don't think those have ever been mentioned before Starfinder, so they're the biggest unknowns of the new PC races. We saw a Wrikreechee on Ninja Division's Kickstarter, although I don't think a Draelik has been shown anywhere.

Draelik are lumpy pickle-looking dudes who are mixed up in some weird negative energy plane stuff. Wrikreechee are just mollusk people who lived in an ocean under ice until like 50 years ago when the pact worlds explorers found them.

Well, what is their "thing". Like, Endbringer devil, what end it brings, some sort of apocalyptic one or what?

Endbringer devils are basically living spaceships, they get summoned into space full of devils and then plummet onto a planet and send an army out, then go full-on titan mode and start crushing everything. They don't have any rel propulsion though so once they land they can't leave the atmosphere, just get re-summoned to hell and then back into space when they're next needed.

avr wrote:

You'd probably need to use different basic stats to avoid the problem. D&D's 6 aren't carved in stone for every RPG, and I'd argue that for a SF RPG you could probably leave out strength entirely and probably break up dexterity into a couple of stats.

Exactly. But instead of work out a better attribute system, they just copy/pasta'ed from pathfinder and here we are again, with a stat which was already weak in a fantasy setting full of magic is even worse in a setting full of super advanced technology.

It was entirely in their power to avoid this obvious issue. This isn't supposed to be a Pathfinder setting, it's supposed to be it's own RPG.

And yet here we are. It's disappointing.

This is the point where I have to disagree with you. Starfinder was, from the very beginning, designed to be a system that Pathfinder players could jump into with some basic rules familiarity whilst also being more accessible to new players who haven't seen Pathfinder or other d20 systems. Whilst I agree that they didn't give strength much in the way of extra utility, they couldn't remove strength or mix it with another stat because then they'd be breaking one of their own design goals. However they could've made strength more relevant, the stat still had to exist in the same general format.

In your opinion, what could have been done to make Strength a more useful stat? I see where you're coming from but I don't personally see how you could make it useful when technology and magic in most cases makes it obsolete. I can see why the other stats would be useful in a setting like Starfinder, Dex is for reflexes and quick aiming, Con is your resilience, Wis is your instinct and street smarts, etc. Strength is only really how physically powerful you are which is a much less relevant stat when there are robots and powered suits that can do all the work for you. I'm curious as to how you think it could be a more useful stat.