Pathfinder Society GM. Starfinder Society GM. 191 posts (208 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 17 Organized Play characters. 
There is kinda sorta a Gadgeteer archetype already in PF1. It's the Scavenger archetype for Investigator from Blood of the Beast.
Search Posts
Another theme for the Impossible Lands Mini-AP = Bounty Hunters. And stack on whatever background theme that is going on in the background, brewing tensions between Nex and Geb, criminal organizations, a talking psychic dog, etc. As long as there is going to be dancing in the end fight.
Impossible Lands theme, someone is trying to start a war between Geb and Nex. Book 1 starts with the PCs in the Mana Wasteland, in a little town, maybe next to a "food railroad" between the trading towns between Geb and Nex. Bad things happen. PCs investigate. PCs get hired by the Grand Duchy to troubleshoot. Appendix about Mana Wastelands. Book 2 brings the PCs to a city in Nex. James Bond stuff happens. PCs journey to city in Geb. Learn that neither Nex or Geb are the bad guys. They need to head to Jalmeray. Appendix about land trade routes and smuggling. Book 3 pits the PCs against the big evil mastermind in Jalmeray, who plans to profit from a war between Geb and Nex. PCs need to head back to the Grand Duchy where diplomats between Geb and Nex are meeting. Stop the assassination attempt. Appendix about war profiteers, diplomats, or assassins. It's a old trope: stopping war between two powerful nations.
Rules on advertising. Finally we can have the Mad Men meets Starfinder AP.
Junk Sword: You are automatically proficient with this melee weapon, and you add 1-1/2 times your caster level to damage rolls with it (in place of a Weapon Specialization bonus). A junksword functions only for its creator, and once created it cannot leave your hand. Should you wish to sheathe it, the junksword obliges by collapsing into a wreath of junk that surrounds your hand like a glove. I do agree that Weapon Focus wouldn't apply to this, but versatile focus would.
Lunar Weapon Solarians!
So this is the adventure where the Junkmaster Technomancer shines! All the junk spells!
Space Pirate AP is where they introduce rules for space shanties.
Dancing spooky scary Vesk skeleton!
Time to establish first contact protocols.
Awesome news!
Time to burn your SINs (System Identification Number) and wear some Holoskins. Also, your ship is gonna need a new license plate.
I ran into this problem in book 1 when I had three players. Give them one or two supporting NPCs at the start of the adventure. The fight with the 2nd doppelganger (CR 3 encounter) is going to be rough. They can pick up further friendly NPC recruits in the adventure.
It be cool to unlock: Background boon - Displaced Russian Soldier. Future gunslinger PC concepts. "We're not in Moscow anymore.."
Very cool story. A Cyberpunk AP in Apostae would be great. Dark elf rival houses, demon cults and demons representing modern-day sins, outside corporations trying to muscle their way in, orc sprawl gangs, half orc activists for a better life for orc kind, abyssal tiefling mutants, alien horrors in the depths of the planet, cybernetic opponents, biopunk horrors and fleshwarping genetics, Winter Council elven sabotage, and Shadowrun missions.
I highly recommend using spell chips and spell gems. You could pretty much almost replicate a spellbook using your datapad with spell chips for utility spells. This allows you to focus on combat spells for your known spells. (You could also re-flavor the spell chips as program Apps and AbadarCorp as the Google Play App Store).
A good example of VI would be Joi from Blade Runner 2. The Doctor from Voyager is a better example of a VI that became an AI. There's also Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda which got a good example of an AI and the AI's android avatar.
So far, looks good. If you're a space marine and know that there are Swarm on the planet. Sometimes the only option is to bomb them. Exterminatus.
Mystics or Technomancers are good picks for Riftwardens (but honestly any other class can represent the Riftwardens). Riftwarden would probably be a themeless background with a focus on mysticism as their bonus skill, or Paranormal Investigators theme. I would recommend using the Akashic lore from SF to help support your Riftwarden spellcaster (drawing upon the wisdom and guidance of elder Riftwardens). So spells that deal with the Akashic are ideal. Look at spells that Riftwardens had in 1e and that should kinda give you an idea on what type of spells they might have in SF. The spells mentioned earlier in the forum are also idea. Also don't just be dependent on spells. In SF, there are weapon fusions like Anchoring, Spellthrower, Dispelling, Bane, Ghostkiller, Dimensional Disruptive, etc. that can help support a Riftwarden character (who doesn't need to be a spellcaster). Riftwardens in SF are more or a less a watchdog organization, and probably anti-Drift lobbyists in politics. Their classical enemies, the Blackfire Adepts, are likewise a terror organization made up of Witchwarpers and their associates.
I highly recommend Interface Zero.
In Dead Suns book 4, the Ruined Clouds, there is a Drift encounter. In Signal of Screams book 3, Heart of Night, the adventure takes place in the Shadow Plane. In Dawn of Flame, it deals heavily with the Plane of Fire and the Sun. The AP also introduces plenty of plane-touched races. In Against the Swarm book 5, Hive of the Mind, you enter a mindscape.
Test your might!
I'm going to put my pet carrier armor upgrade in my shield.
That last one is book 6 of Return of the Runelords. Mmhm.
I would recommend the following products that are great for a time travel adventure in the vein of Doctor Who in SF. Doctor Who - The Time Traveller's Companion from Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd. (great rules on different types of time machines, rules on time travel, and rules and information on Gallifrey) Time Traveler's Codex from Green Ronin (again, great ideas to mine for time traveling adventures.) Rise of the New Thassilon from Paizo (information on the Dimension of Time, Stethelos, and Tawil at’Umr).
Legendary Games makes decent modules (Wanted in the Wastes, The Legendary Planet Adventure Path). Fat Goblin Games and Rogue Genius Games also makes great tool kits for GMs (Pirates of the Starstream, 8-bit Adventures Awesome Androids and Space Bounty Hunters, Starfarers Companion, Bloodspace and Moondust). I'll also recommend Stroh Hammer (tons of awesome augmentations), and Everyman Games (Advanced Skill Guide).
Deathburger is a great artist! Good choice! Also love the lingo, Cutter reminds me of Planescape Looking forward for more content.
I would love rules for picking up vehicles and thowing them. Funny enough, the giantblood theme got a special ability that allows you to throw things called hurl debris. But you're limited to a maximum bulk of your Strength modifier +2 and the item must be unattended or readily torn from the environment (at the GM’s discretion). A standard car's weight according to google search is 2,871 lbs (round it down to 2,870). To estimate bulk, as a general rule, an item that weighs around 5 to 10 pounds is 1 bulk (and every multiple of 10 is an additional bulk). So a standard urban cruiser would be 287 bulk (GM's discretion). So you would be able to maybe lift and hurl pieces of a vehicle.
A episode where the PCs come upon a merchant trying to sell them cute little alien pets.. who end up becoming a pest (like cloning themselves). A episode where the PCs encounter a god-like being who kidnaps them and forces them to entertain it. A episode where one of the PCs get their shirt ripped open and fights a Vesk, one on one, on a desert planet. Lots of desert planets that look like Utah. A episode where the PCs need to do a space walk and fix the ship. A episode where the PCs arrive on a planet that resembles 1920s Earth and fight bootleg gangsters in a Chicago-like setting.
Still running Pathfinder 1e. We're on book 2 of Strange Aeons on the roll20 because of Covid. So that's like more months or maybe a year of PF1e.
Asmodeus: The Devil always collects. Sarenrae: Brighter days ahead. Abadar: Doing well is the result of doing good. Gorum: By iron and blood.
Granny Innkeeper, "Oh! Um.. hello. Um.. who would you be?" Celestial, "I am the Most Courteous Majordomo of Mercuria, the Golden Heaven of Apsu, the Maker of All!" Granny Innkeeper, "My! Well.. good for you. Would you like a cup of tea?" Celestial, "..... yes."
Barathus engineers!
Technically speaking, called shots are not a thing, period. There are specific maneuver that alter how location-based criticals work, but there is no way to just go "I make an attack, and it automatically hits this spot and does extra effects". I agree, the called shot action only allows you to pick a component for system damage. So PCs/NPCs on the ground can't use line weapons to attack the mech's operators. But what about mechs wielding line weapons attacking other mechs? Do their line weapons attack the mech and the operators?
In the section of Special Mech Actions. Called Shot (Standard Action): The mech expends either 1 PP or 3 PP and makes an attack against a single mech. If the attack’s damage causes system damage, the operator can choose which component
In the section of System Failure Helm: The helm represents the cockpit or control center where the operators reside, and the helm’s system failure doesn’t directly impede the mech but instead threatens one or more operators. When the helm gains the malfunctioning condition, half of the operators (rounded up) take bludgeoning damage equal to 1d8 damage times the mech’s tier; they can attempt a Reflex saving throw to halve the damage (DC = 15 + half the mech’s tier). When the helm gains the inoperable condition, each of the operators takes the bludgeoning damage above (Reflex half). In addition, the operators’ controls become unreliable; the first time each turn that an operator uses a full action to pilot the mech, there is a 50% chance that the mech does not gain an action. Either effect lasts until the beginning of the mech's next turn.
It would also be nice to have rules for weight of vehicles. We already got length and weight for starships in the Core Rulebook. For example, how much bulk is a Basic Enercycle?
Another interesting thing. A PC not in a mech can't called shot a mech's helm. Does that mean their line weapons can't harm the operators? And instead just harms the mech?
This teaches me to pay better attention to a dead beaten horse.
Found the ruling in the playtest. So the cockpits are located in the helm of the mech. Enemies that wants to harm the mech and the operator would need to declare a called shot and spend 3 PP to attack that location. So if the enemy uses a plasma rifle and fires at that location, they could harm the mech and all of the operators. In fact, if they deal enough damage to bring the mech to system failure, they could deal additional damage to half operators (rounded up) in the helm.
I would recommend checking out Asians Represent Podcast, which is currently doing a review on Al Qadim.
I encountered this problem before in a session, but with PCs attacking a vehicle. Player had a line penetrating weapon with adamantine rounds. Ruled that the player has to reduce the obstacle's hit point total to 0 if they wish to have the line effect to continue forward. In this case, the obstacle is the vehicle (the vehicle's hit points). Line effects are blocked by obstacles (walls, doors, etc) unless there is no obstacles to block them. The special material and penetrating effect just reduces the hardness and makes it easier to destroy the obstacle. If the obstacle is destroyed by the line effect, the line effect would continue forward. If a mech was reduced to 0 hit points, it be the same as a wrecked vehicle. That line effect should reach the operators. _____________ The question is, where would the operators be located in the mech? In a vehicle, that's a easy answer to determine which square on the map grid. Does the line effect only inflict damage to one operator, two operators, or all operators?
There is already companion robots, the Domestic Drone. But more Domestic Drones would be pretty cool.
Or maybe there is nothing before the Gap. Everything is a simulated reality.
Some thoughts - more items drawn from the Pact Worlds and their cultures
I actually like the idea of house ruling that TIMs are free and it gives PCs more options in Starship combat. Which Starship combat needs. More options for PCs. The only way to determine if it is upsetting the game balance math, it would require play testing.
Each mech gains Hit Points equal to their base HP value, granted by their frame. At tier 1 and every tier thereafter, a mech gains additional hit points equal to its HP Advancement multiplied by their tier. So it should be hit point advancement x tier + base frame hit points.
For this kind of campaign, note taking is going to be very important. I would recommend PCs take plenty of notes. Also recommend a brief last session recap before each session.
I imagined you could be a stellifera wearing light armor, wearing standard size powered armor, riding a huge mech, while operating a colossal mech.
|