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The other reviews have definitely touched on the major pain point of this scenario, the killbox sniper encounter, and it's not something to be ignored. Most characters, especially those in the 1-4 tier, are going to be ill-equipped to deal with a vital challenge. At our table, it was a tense challenge that encouraged us to try novel things (such as firing hail mary shots at -10 range penalties) but there was definitely frustration involved too. If this had been in the 3-6 range where characters should have a broader set of abilities and equipment, or if it had been handled as a skill challenge, it would have worked a lot better.

Outside that particular pain point, the mission is pretty well structured. I liked the fact that a map was actually reused, letting us investigate and get familiar with it in a less threatening context before being plunged into combat. The goals are much less straightforward than "go here and get the thing," so it is also a great change of pace. I am a sucker for a choice with impact and meaning, and that definitely happens at the end of this mission as well, a good chance to showcase your character's beliefs and values. I would definitely rate this one higher if it weren't for the big obvious issue as mentioned above. There are good things to like in this scenario, but it's definitely held back by the huge spike in difficulty midway through.

Despite the repeatable tag, this scenario doesn't feature any alternate outcomes or variance between sessions - it will run the same path and events each time. Thus, like the Intro Year scenarios, the Repeatable tag is for accessability, not for replayability.

Lack of change nonwithstanding, this is a really nice feel-good scenario. No threats to interplanetary life, no nefarious plots to destroy the Starfinder Society, no shocking ancient secrets to unearth. Instead, the group is tasked with helping with three holiday celebrations - one is a gift-giving exchange, one is Android Pride, and other is a celebration of family (both found and blood). I especially liked the change of pace in the first scenario, which ends with a tense situation and requires a solution more complex than "shoot it until it stops moving."

Second and third scenarios follow a very similar pace, with a centerpiece combat sandwiched between skill checks. I do like especially in the third mission, how actions and choices made before the centerpiece combat carry over afterwards. It's choices like those that make the game feel more meaningful instead of a rote series of tasks to complete.

Your more heartless loner characters may feel a little out of place in the midst of all the holiday cheer this scenario aims to bring, but otherwise, it's hard not to have your heart warmed by all the earnest care and connection embodied in this scenario.

As others have stated, as a repeatable, it's not very engaging, since there's no variance in the missions between sessions. However, the purpose of the repeatable tag in this case is to ensure that everyone has a chance to get a look at the candidates for First Seeker before they vote. And as a showcase of each of their characters, this scenario does very well.

Why this scenario works is that each mission really is a teaser for how the Society will pursue the mandate of each candidate; for instance, Aurora's mission involves a performance and media-based play, which definitely has a fanbase. So for newer players, it acts a sampler platter, while more veteran players can pick up on foreshadowing on future storylines.

The mission types are good and varied, giving different skill sets a chance to shine. My complaints are fairly minimal, outside the lack of variance. Bigger Temple as a map was total overkill, and some of the in-mission rewards were a bit weird. It's definitely enjoyed fresh, so play it while you can - later, this will become a museum of what could have been.

This one went over very well in my play group. The variety of locales and interesting characters were very fun to depict and interact with, and the environments were mysterious and unsettling in the right ways. This scenario does a great job of reminding players that, despite how familiar they may be with Absalom Station, we don't fully know everything there is to know about it. I really hope that this becomes a recurring location we get to see grow and develop over future seasons.

In terms of gameplay, there's a really great mix of different challenges to overcome that test a variety of skills and toolsets. The final encounter might be a bit challenging, especially for newer players, but the equipment and handouts provided by the scenario should help on that front. I also like how some of the hazards have unforseen consequences down the line, really making them feel more impactful and meaningful than just "oh no you failed a perception check, now take a bucketful of dice as damage." A great scenario all around.

For those Starfinder Society players who find Envar Tamm's shenanigans amusing and not frustrating, this scenario is a delight. Yes, he's a dunderhead, but he's definitely shown a lot of character growth and progress since his introduction in #1-07, The Solar Sortie. This scenario also pays off the promises made in #4-02, Settling Accounts, so it's very much a reward for longtime players. Even those who haven't experienced Envar up-close and personal get a recap of what occurred so they can be in on the joke. I am very curious to see how the final decision plays out in future scenarios, too.

In terms of gameplay, this mission is spread across four different planets trying to track down both Envar and the data tags he's left behind. Each planet comes with its own unique challenges, so try to pick a good mix of locales to allow for different characters and different skillsets to shine. While the overall objective in each location is the same each time, there are slight variations in each location that provide some interest across multiple playthroughs - a nice middlepoint between #2-19, Truth Seekers' extreme variance and the "same chapters in different orders" seen in replayables like #4-04, A Waltz Between Myriad Worlds.

The only real issue for me is that a few of the locales are pretty new and don't have a lot of lore or depictions associated with them. This made making some locales harder to bring to life than others - I was able to improvise well enough to keep things going, but some locations could have stood to be fleshed out a little more.

This scenario is very much broken up into two halves - the series of skill checks in the first half, and then the mini-dungeon exploration in the second half. Both halves of the module are meant to serve the same function, however: to serve as a bridge between the events past and recent scenarios (such as #5-08, Boom Block Gambit) to the upcoming Season 6: Year of Fortune's Fall metaplot. In terms of foreshadowing and introducing the major players of Season 6, it does that plenty well if the players pay attention, and the fact that it's in a 1-4 tier scenario means that anyone can see these clues ahead of time before Season 6 really gets rolling.

The major downside to the focus on foreshadowing is that the mission is kinda left without a payoff. The players are able to unearth plenty of clues and potential leads, but they aren't followed up within the scenario itself - a cynical player might feel a bit miffed that the reward for all their hard work is a pat on the back and a big neon sign pointing to Season 6. The lore aficionados will probably be salivating, on the other hand, so that's a very subjective experience.

Additionally, the two halves of the scenario are a bit disjointed - the only thing the skill test section and the dungeon crawl section have in common is the foreshadowing. Doing well in one doesn't carry over to the other, for instance. Taken on their own, both halves are very well-constructed: there's a lot of potential ways to make progress on the skill challenges, while the dungeon has a good mix of exploration, traps, and combat challenges appropriate for this level range. But as a whole, it felt to me like slightly less than the sum of its parts.

It's no surprise that the themes present in this scenario can rub people the wrong way, especially when your players are tasked with making something right when they personally didn't do anything wrong. I totally respect and understand that someone may not feel comfortable being asked to put themselves in that kind of situation, even in a fictional setting.

If you plan to run this scenario as a GM, you are given a narrow line to walk between emphasizing and illustrating the harm that has been done versus making it sound like its the fault of the four to six Starfinders currently sitting at the briefing table. If it looks like it's going too far one way or the other, try to make it clear that yes, harm has been done, but this is a chance in good faith to repair some of the damage that's been done. Not all, as there's no way to undo the years of pain suffered in a four-hour scenario, but it can be the first step towards a better, kinder Starfinder Society.

Players should try to come at this scenario not as having to bow and scrape and beg for forgiveness, but instead, see this as an opportunity. An opportunity to be kind to a person and a group that has not seen kindness in the recent past, and to do right where there had once been done wrong. This is not your standard "go into the ancient tomb and find the geegaw of whoozywhatsit" mission, and that's a good thing. That's a chance to see the universe from a new point of view, to put your characters and players in a new set of shoes and ask - what do you do in this situation? What kind of Starfinder are you?

As others have pointed out, this one definitely works a whole lot better if you've played 1-03, Yesteryear's Truth beforehand, so I strongly encourage you to play/run that one first before this. However, the mission briefing does have enough of a description to understand the context for what's going on for those who have not played in that scenario before.

The big selling points here are the environmental hazards/skill tests and the creepy atmosphere. This one definitely has some unusual challenges that the party has to deal with in order to meet their objectives and find success, so inventive solutions and having the right tool to solve problems is very rewarded. The theming also ramps up in the second half very well, building to a good emotional climax once the players understand the full story of what's going on.

The main failure here are in the combats - they're simply too easy. I ran this for a table of 4 players but forgot to apply the scaling encounters, but even then my party simply was not challenged by them. The first proper combat encounter is straightforward to deal with and not a huge threat, whereas the final encounter doesn't carry enough gameplay menace to deliver on the build-up throughout the back half of the scenario. Admittedly my players were well-built and were smart about dealing with the challenges beforehand, but the hazards and environments leading up to the fights were more dangerous then the fights themselves. That's what holds this one back for me.

Personally, this is the kind of repeatable I dislike - when there's very little incentive to actually replay the scenarios, try something different, and experience something new. Each of the four quest vignettes are good to okay on their own, showcasing alternate realities of the Pact Worlds, but we don't get a ton of time to really investigate any of them besides a cursory glance before getting pulled along to the next. None of the quests interact or feed into each other in any way, so there's a complete lack of coherency in tone or approach. The low level of investment might mean it was good for new players, but they won't know what all is going on in these alternate realities that makes them significant, really raising the question: Who is this for?

I very much respect how this module can feel like a bait & switch - we're expecting to see the return of everyone's favorite pink-haired dunderhead, but instead you're cleaning up his mess after he completely bungled first contact. Thus, this is indeed a very RP-heavy scenario. However, I found the setpieces of going around and interacting with the locals very fun to depict, and my party was constantly cracking up at seeing the consequences of Envar's actions. I do also like the examination of how the sudden intrusion of the greater galaxy affects the culture and society of the people, though the effects of it might go over players' heads if they're just focused on their primary objective. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I certainly hear the criticisms of others and encourage you to take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

This scenario was the first mission I ran at our local lodge that uses the Vehicle tag. Despite the tag, however, the vehicles in this feel rather... perfunctory? The fact that players have access to them doesn't really affect how they tackled the challenges in this mission. My players really had to go out of their way to make them relevant, either as using them for mobile cover or for hit-and-run tactics, neither of which the module accounts for.

The main thrust of the adventure, documenting an unusual geological formation, works well enough on its own. But I can't help but feel that most of the encounters would have gone pretty much the same way if we'd handwaved overland travel.

While I fully understand the time and space for which this was written, I don't think it's withstood the test of time. The RP intro is okay, definitely a unique setting that illustrates how different the Pact Worlds is from your default science fiction setting. The Space battle is kinda meh, as is the second encounter. The final boss does have a unique mechanic that I appreciated, though. Ultimately the story does end on a cliffhanger, but it is one that is being followed through on instead of left to dangle.

The real limiting factor on this one nowadays is having to run it with the level 4 pregens instead of letting people use their established Society characters.

This mission gets a bit of a bad rap, but it's honestly one of my favorites. It has enough of a hook on its intro to make it feel different from other basic "go get the thing" missions, the conflicts are straightforward and meaningful, and there's a unique but not overly complicated mechanic later as part of the final encounter. It's not world-defining or earthshattering, but it a simple meal executed well. As others have said, if you're looking for a first mission to play or especially to run, I can recommend this one with ease.

This is a repeatable scenario done right - enough variation in theme and detail that each playthrough feels different, even if the overall arc is the same every time. What I especially like is how the variations tie into each other both mechanically and narratively, producing a web of different conspiracies and secrets to unfold.

Now, with all these options for what players can encounter, that does mean things can be a little complex to run. Preparation for this one is essential, so you're not referring to a stat block for a different encounter or using the wrong ability for a given encounter. Take notes, use printouts, draw mnemonics, or whatever tools work best for you to organize and access information quickly and efficiently. It's this level of complexity that means I can't give it full marks, as it would be incredibly difficult to pick this up and run it on the fly, compared to other scenarios.

This was my first Starfinder Society Scenario I ran as a GM after several levels of playing, and even after having played and ran more missions, this is still one of the best. Maybe a contender for the best 1-4 tier mission available.

The objective starts off fairly straightforward, at least so it seems, but then it becomes apparent that more is at play. This scenario really feels less like a mission and more like a decision, an actual choice and dilemma for players to come to grips with what their characters would do in this situation.

A big big ask on this one for the GM is the portrayal of the main character the party interacts with. Hitting the right emotional tone when depicting them is essential to making the character believable and relatable. The GM has to strike a balance between obsession, fear, and vulnerability that you don't often see in Starfinder Society missions. Players who aren't as interested in role-play, or GMs that struggle to find their voice might not find this one as engaging.

One downside to this scenario is that, if there's at least 1 reasonable and decent person in the party who can make some skill checks, then almost all combat goes out the window after the midway point. For those who get engaged in the story and want to feel like their choices matter, that can be a good thing, but that can leave the second half of the story a bit unstructured. Especially for those more martial-oriented characters who just want to smash and shoot.

The final message is incredibly heartfelt and gorgeous. Diego Valdez and Jenny Jarzabski really knocked this one out of the park. Play and run this scenario, you will not regret it.

This one definitely feels like a call-back to the sort of shenanigans that players can get up to in #1-13, especially since Strawberry Machine Cake and all the various machinations surrounding the Pact Worlds' music scene are the focus here.

This one has a lot of moving parts and putting all that intricacy on display for the players can be a challenge for a GM, but the flavor and lore of all the performers and cultures on display is a real treat. At the same time, that level of intricacy can make it even harder to adapt to creative solutions for the players. During the second half of the mission, I had to come up with a decent amount of stuff on the fly to give the players information that sensibly would be available in-universe:

The skill checks were good and varied, and I do like that most of the tests had at least two ways to complete them. But there are a *ton* of these tests that have to be completed, and tracking where the party has and has not been, which tasks and events have been completed and which were failed, and where all the PCs are located within the Ruby Theater did call for some table aids to help everyone stay on track.

A slight disappointment was that there's not a lot of call-backs to #5-06, despite taking place in the same location. There's not a tangible reward for playing these two in order or even on the same character. Only two NPCs recur between that scenario and this one, and their appearance is basically a cameo. It can give players a warm and fuzzy feeling, though.

Running this scenario is a lot different than a dungeon crawl or a bug hunt, but it was a hell of a lot of fun to play and a hell of a lot of fun to run. Also, for GMs that like to add their own flavor and personal flourishes: not all of the 20 performers are given write-ups, so if your play group has a few icons in it or you want to come up with your own band, feel free to have them cameo!

In summary, it's a lot of fun to run, especially if your crew gets in on the melodrama, but it does require a bit more preparation and plate-spinning on the GM's side compared to some more straightforward missions.

As a creepy scenario, this one definitely has plenty of potential. A GM with strong environmental storytelling skills can really ratchet up the paranoia and fear of encountering something unpleasant in low-visibility conditions. Emphasize the ick factor of all the biological conversions happening as well.

In terms of overall design, there's a decent mix of combat, social encounters, technical challenges, and a dilemma for the PCs to choose between that might have impact on future events, for those who like meta-stories and repercussions.

One thing to note is that the combats in this one are a challenge, and may be overwhelming for a group of 1st level characters and / or novice players. Especially the final encounter; encourage your players to think tactically and make the best use of their skills. And as other reviewers have noted, there is not a 4-player adjustment on said encounter, meaning a smaller party could get demolished.