This thread is to note incorrect or potentially missing information in Alien Archive.
Page 47, Elder Elemental: Melee is misprinted as "multiattack." It also forgot to add in the Strength modifier to damage, should be 4d6+19, not 4d6+11.
Yes. This should definitely be errata for the Alien Archive. The elder elemental on page 47 should have Melee slam +24 (4d6+19 B).
Hit Points should be 180 (not 145).
This is important to fix because it will affect any summoning stat blocks too which rely upon the elemental stat block. So any 6th level summoning spells which summon a CR 11 creature will need to have the correct melee attack and Hit Points as well.
What is really strange is that Deployed is described as a property you would put on a launcher/tracking weapon (and it has a limited number of shots). However, at the end of the Deployed description, it specifically says that "Deployed weapons can't already have the limited fire special property"?
Huh - this doesn't seem to make any sense. Shouldn't launchers (such as a torpedo launcher) be able to swap out torpedos for drones? I think this must be an error - it would only make sense that deployed should work with limited fire weapons? I can't imagine changing a non limited fire weapon to deployed, it just seems wrong.
Trying to use the new Tech Revolution Mech rules to build a Mech. Thought I would try to duplicate the Aeropa Mech on p. 120 as an example.
The frame has 1 slot, the upper limbs 2. Total of 3 slots. But the weapons add up to 4 slots?? Not sure what I am missing but it doesn't seem to add up.
The Save for FORT shows +9, but the frame only gives a +8 bonus. Not sure where the extra +1 is coming from (the save for REF looks right, +8 from the base and +2 from the hoverpad lower limbs = +10).
Nearly finished this book and the most recent encounter was the closest I’ve ever come to a TPK in Starfinder. I have been running the same group of PCs since Dead Suns. Now at 14th level, there are five characters. So I do adjust some encounters to rebalance, since APs are normally set up for 4 PCs. But in this case, I left the encounter as is - no change.
encounter:
BRYVATHS (2) - the effects from the temporal disorientation were already affecting 2 PCs (-4 to Will saves), and the technomancer lost all his 4th level spells. The first Bryvath cast Cinfusion which worked on the 2 melee characters, the second Bryvath cast dominate person on the parties operative, and chaos ensued. 2 confused characters attacking party members, the operative attacking one of the confused characters, the only two unaffected PCs were able to fight and take out one of the Bryvaths, but ended up going unconscious soon after from Bryvath #2. It took a long time for the cinfusion to end, and the operative to finally succeed at a will save and stop attacking the solarian. The soldier finally “acted normally” and was able to get in a critical hit to finish off the 2nd enemy. 3 PCs are essentially out of resolve points, and the final encounter is looming. I am afraid to spring the Izu deamon on them and just do the final Siiv drone only.
This was a VERY challenging encounter. I know it’s high level but wow was this difficult!
Does the Twinsoul get 4 attacks (2 regular, 2 etherial) with a full round action, or only 2 (on its current plane)? Not sure how to interpret this one as it’s unclear how it works. Any help/suggestion appreciated.
It was definitely not a hard encounter for the PCs. I would say it was closer to CR2 or CR3 at best. (I think if I had 3 operators fight them immediately after, then that might push it higher.)
I tried a lower level encounter. A Level 2 Mech against 5 PCs (who were also level 2). The level 2 Mech was tough to hit with a 19 EAC and 20 KAC (they were used to hitting AC 13 opponents). The PCs resorted to some other tactics, such as spells and one PC tried to climb the mech. I had him make some acrobatics checks to get into position, and an athletics check to start climbing. Then I had the mech make a grapple attack (rolled a 20) to grab the PC, so then the mech threw him 40 feet away and he took some falling damage.
The Mech was hitting the PCs pretty easily, with a chainwhip for melee, and either a flamethrower or sonic shotgun from range. I did not like the action economy for the mech - All these weapons but only really able to use one. I think some additional rules to allow more might work (auto target or other action). I understand the operator functionality, but I really didn't want 3 people operating the mech as it seemed like it would be too imbalanced (because after the mech goes down, now you have 3 more enemies to deal with).
Spending PP to replenish shields seems great, but I rolled a 1 and a 2 on consecutive turns, so the shields were not helping. In the end, the PCs were able to successfully take it out. Three of the PCs were out of stamina, but only one got into HP damage. I think the challenge of a level 2 mech vs 5 level 2 PCs was probably fair and appropriate.
Building the Mech was very complex. I would recommend a table similar to a PC Class that shows BAB, HP, hardness, Saves, etc. trying to add it all up with different formulas for various things is a bit overwhelming. I spent a few hours trying to set it up in a spreadsheet just to make sure the calculations were working.
Wording for this is confusing:
<i>When resupplying ammunition, the grenade launcher selects any combination of grenades whose levels do not exceed that of the grenade launcher + 2.</i >
my calculations for a level 8 mech grenade launcher, any combination of grenades would not be able to exceed 8 + 2 = 10. To me, that would be 10 level 1 grenades, or 5 level 2 grenades, or 3 level 3 grenades, 2 level 4/5 grenades, or just one level 6/7/8/9/10 grenade.
But then it gives examples which seem to contradict this statement:
<i>For example, a mech with an 8th-level grenade launcher could carry five mk 3 frag grenades (level 8) and four mk 2 cryo grenades (level 10)....</i>
Wouldn’t 5 mk 3 frag grenades (level 8) be 5x8=40 which far exceeds the 10 calculated above. And four mk 2 cryo (level 5) would be 4 x 5 = 20, which again exceeds the 10 calculation above?
Well, the new society additional rescources came out today (7/16/20). Several of the Witchwarper Near Space spells are not allowed for society play. Verdant Code (as I expected - probably needs to be at least 2nd level) and Planned Obsolescence.
Also note that the Enshrouding Gloom [Paradigm Shift] was also not allowed.
Looking at the Errata, this still isn't in there. which makes me wonder if they really did want the Witchwarper Bonus Spells to be based off Wisdom (and not Charisma)? Not sure why something like this (if it's a misprint) would not be listed in the Errata?
Just received these today. They are fantastic! So many options to build almost anything for Starfinder. Glad I started a subscription as these will be used for countless adventures!
A fun Witchwarper character would be one that is slowly going insane. All the alternate realities are driving you mad, yet you continue to add levels to Witchwarper taking over any other class/archetypes as you slowly go down the rabbit hole....
I was confused by the Verdant Code spell. Because it’s in its own section, and not with the others spells, does this mean only Ghorans can cast?
Specific to Witchwarper class:
Level 1 - I like Acidic Mist and Junk Shards. Both work well with the “alter reality” concept of the Witchwarper. I will utilize these spells a lot. If Verdant Code is available to all, this is also a great option.
Level 2 - Personal Gravity is interesting, but only targeting self may really limit it. Dampening Field and Alter Enhancement are cool and work well in many situations.
Level 3 - Polar Vortex seems VERY powerful. I will be surprised to not see people take this spell. Feels like it should be a 4th level spell to me. Planned obsolescence is very intriguing, but 3rd level may be a bit of a reach. To me it seems like 2nd level may be more appropriate.
Level 4 - Modify Outcome seems like a good spell, but not worth a 4th level slot. All you get to do is reroll a failed check. There is no guarantee of success or a bonus. There are lots of other abilities characters can get before this that do same thing. Given that a Witchwarper won’t get 4th level spells until 10th level, it seems late to me.
Level 6 - summon drift beacon seems very powerful and certainly appropriate for a very high level spell. But who has ever played a 16th level character? If I ever get there, it will be awesome!
My group were also all new players. We started with Dead Suns. There were 5 of us, so we each decided to take turns being the GM. Someone ran book 1, then someone else book 2, etc.
If we had a guest, they could play the GMs character, otherwise the GM could run it. It's been a lot of fun. we've been playing every other week for a little over a year. Each session is about 3 hours long. So it's been about 81 hours over 54 weeks (27 sessions). We are halfway through AP 5. It's been about 18 hours to complete each book in the AP. I'd say three more sessions and then onto the final book AP 6.
I would recommend the Deadsuns AP because there are plenty of podcasts and streams out there that have played it. It gives you as a GM lots of ideas on how the encounters might take place, and how to handle them. I have only listened after we finished a book - to avoid spoilers. But now that I am running one of the APs, it gives me lots of material to help focus and know what rules we'll need to know for each session.
Also, to bump up the difficulty (since we are a group of 5) we've either added some extra enemies, or bumped up some HPs, or added a few additional encounters involving backstories. Since as written it's set up for 4 PCs.
So at level 6, you can spend a resolve point to give a bonus to damage (with get em and improved get em). However, this bonus only lasts for 1 round. I’m not sure it’s the most efficient use of a resolve point. Is adding another +2 (if one PC hits) or +4 (if 2 PCs hit) or +6(if 3 PCs hit) in a round going to really make a difference?
I feel like you pretty much are forced to take “extra resolve” as a feat or “clever improvisation” as an envoy improvisation, just to be able to use this ability enough to make it meaningful. I’ve never had a battle last only 1 round, 4 to 6 rounds seems more likely.
If using the 1 Resolve Point worked for the entire combat (each time you use Get Em/Improv Get Em), would that be game breaking? I was considering changing this for our group, but want to see if this might be a bad idea?
So the PCs made it to the Sihedron Circle at the base of Rimeskull. The dragon attacked, and most of the party fled (teleport or dimension hop) - leaving the gnome bard all by himself.
RIP: Baxnarlo
Male Gnome Bard
Adventure: Sins of the Savior
Monster/Enemy: Arkrhyst
here is a 30 second video of the event: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/316216746
This was my first ever SFS adventure. I enjoyed the scenario - lots of variety, with different ways to handle the quests. Starship combat was cool too.
Spoiler:
the night club scenario was very cool - with a lot of different ways to pull off the heist. I enjoyed freeing the androids too as a bonus opportunity.
Our ship stayed well clear of the turrets, so we didn't get to see much of what they do.
We took care of the stolen evidence quest pretty quickly with some good diplomacy/intimidate, as well as a few good rolls.
I think this adventure was well written, with a lot of cool scenarios you can run. Our GM was pressed for time, so we had to rush the last encounter a bit (new players - slowly going through the adventure), but overall we had a great time.
It does look really cool and adds a sense of "this is OUR spaceship" to the group. The players really get a lot out of it, much more than just a "map". I have used both sides of the map (exterior and interior) for several encounters. I do find it very useful.
There are not a lot of maps that get used over and over again, but this is definitely one of them.
Guess it depends how you value credits. If you want to buy a bunch of cool stuff (armor, weapons, upgrades) spending a lot of serums may be tough.
If you end up using healing 20 times during the course of an adventure, you can spend 20 x 2 x 50 = 2000 credits on serums. Or only spend 100 CR on the Medkit, with skill pt and feat investments (and a few medpatches). Anyway, the investment can save you a lot of CRs so you have more to spend on other stuff. Seems like a reasonable trade off.
Certainly spending 2000 CR is not everyone’s ideal way to deal with healing.
It does seem ridiculous how good the blitz soldier is compared to all other types. You get two bonus feats essentially, 1st improved initiative. 2nd you get “Fleet” increasing your base speed 10 feet - but, it’s BETTER than Fleet, since there is no restriction on armor worn (normally the Fleet feat only works for light or no armor). You get +10 base speed with NO restrictions. I think this soldier type seems way too good, and I will never see any other type of soldier in my games.
Lastly, if you multiclass, the blitz soldier is extremely powerful option, granting you these feats plus more (weapon prof, armor prof, etc). I have a feeling every character class will take a level in blitz soldier. It just doesn’t seem like it makes sense Not too.
Minor Psychic Power lets you cast a spell 3 times per day. Psychic Power gives 1 spell per day. Using a feat does seem like a big investment to cast a minor spell only once per day. As a GM, I think I might allow the 3 times per day, otherwise not sure anyone would ever take this feat? Also, you have to be at least 4th level, so by then, the spell list you can select from does seem insignificant. One 1st level spell per day? Wow. Most casters have at least 4 first level spells by then. And it’s the same field, you can’t change it or pick another.
I am also wondering how the armor / vacuum of space should impact natural attacks? If you are a Vesk, you can't really bite or attack with claws if wearing a space suit / helmet. A Nuar couldn't really use horns / hooves? Should natural attacks not be available if in space? I'm not sure the core rulebook really answers this question, but it would seem to limit natural attacks. I'm not sure they would make sense in the vacuum of space.
I received a set of minis on 9/21:
Dwarf Soldier (hero)
Drone (flying - with clear peg to mount)
Outlaw - gang boss (Ferani Nadaz - DS AP)
Android hired gun (Clara 247 - DS AP)
Ysoki gang leader (Jabaxa - DS AP)
Many of the feet have excess on the bottom that needs work to be able to stand them up / mount.
I also received 5 “bases” that are very thin plastic wafers, nothing like the bases pictured in Kickstarter. Kind of disappointing.
So far to date I have 11 minis. Many, many more expected.... hopefully someday.
My original book might be a misprint. I don't have any bonus 1st level spells listed on the table. They only start to show up for level 2 and beyond. I wonder if this was an errata that I missed.
Assuming the Technomancer has Magic Missile and the Mystic has Mind Thrust, they should be spamming those in combat against really difficult foes. Presumably the 1st level Technomancer can cast that 4 times as a full round action, dealing 12d4+12 (42 avg) damage in 4 rounds....
Just curious how a 1st level Technomancer can cast a 1st level spell four times (if level 1 character). I understand they get 2 known spells as 1st level, plus they can use the spell cache ability to cast it a third time. Not sure what else would allow a 4th to come into play?? Can you explain?
Name of PC: Thorsun
Class and Level: Half-Orc Paladin 7th level
Adventure: Fort Rannick
Cataylst: Hookmaw Kreeg
Battling a few Ogres in the corridor, the noise alerted Hookmaw Kreeg to intruders. Hookmaw moved to the door and readied an attack if the door opened.
Thosun, the half-orc paladin was firing arrows down the corridor with his back to the door. It seemed like the ogres in the corridor were close to being finished off, so a wizard in the party decided to open the door. He was immediately attacked by Hookmaw, survived, but ran off. Blocked by everyone else in the corridor, Thorsun the half-orc paladin tried to fire some arrows at Hookmaw. But the close proximity, reach, and attacks of opportunity lead to a few massive blows and Thorsun was slain quickly.
The wizard deeply regretted his actions, and will be forever wondering, why oh why did I open that door?
as a GM, I only had one foe to attack, so there were no other choices. I didn't realize the paladin was so low on HP, and the final blow did 20 points of damage (when he only had 3). The player forgot to heal himself with "lay on hands", otherwise, would have likely survived. This was the first time a player ever died with me as GM.
Three mistakes were made that all helped contribute to the death of a PC:
1) going off on your own (opening a door) - wizard
2) not using lay on hands to heal (swift action) - paladin
3) using a bow in melee (attacks of opportunity from Ogre) - paladin
YES! I have made a lot of the terrain myself. Built the Glassworks with some cardboard. Made the Catacombs with my own generic dungeon tiles. Built Thistletop as well with generic tiles.
The Skinsaw Murders stuff was all built with generic "popsicle stick" wooden floor tiles (lumbermill, sawmill, Manor, Townhouse) as well as the Graul house/barn. Made some "corn fields" for the farms along the way. The clock tower I built myself too and came out very nice.
Fort Rannick I built using some pdf terrain I printed off and stuck to cardboard. All were easy to do, just took a little time, but since we only play about once per month, there was plenty of time to get to it all. Players have really enjoyed the stuff so far.
I am a new GM, running RoTRL with an experienced group consisting of:
Dwarf Wizard - metal school of magic
Dwarf Fighter - melee focused
Gnome Bard - lots of skills and buffs
Half Orc Paladin - focused on archery
Human Cleric - luck and travel domains
1st session ended just before the Glassworks, where we will pick up sesson 2. The festival games really helped the characters "bond" and get them all introduced to one another.
Starfinder Society GM. 32 posts (162 including aliases). 1 review. No lists. 1 wishlist. 3 Organized Play characters. 
