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Starfinder Adventure Path #1: Incident at Absalom Station (Dead Suns 1 of 6)

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Starfinder Adventure Path #1: Incident at Absalom Station (Dead Suns 1 of 6)
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A Ship Without a Crew

When a brutal gang war breaks out on a docking bay in Absalom Station, the player characters are recruited by the Starfinder Society to investigate the unexpected bloodshed. Delving into the station’s seedy Spike neighborhoods, the heroes confront the gangs and discover that both were paid to start the riot and that the true conflict is between two rival mining companies battling over a new arrival in orbit around the station: a mysteriously deserted ship and the strange asteroid it recovered from the Drift. To head off further violence, the heroes are asked to investigate the ship and discover what happened to its crew, as well as the nature of the asteroid it tows. But what the players find there will set in motion events that could threaten the entirety of the Pact Worlds and change the face of the galaxy forever...

This volume of Starfinder Adventure Path launches the Dead Suns Adventure Path and includes:

  • "Incident at Absalom Station," a Starfinder adventure for 1st-level characters, by Robert G. McCreary.
  • A gazetteer of Absalom Station, by James L. Sutter.
  • Magical relics inspired by the lost planet Golarion, by Owen K.C. Stephens.
  • An archive of new alien creatures, by Jason Keeley and Robert G. McCreary.
  • Statistics and deck plans for a new starship designed just for the player characters, plus details on a new planet in the Codex of Worlds, by Robert G. McCreary.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-961-5

The Dead Suns Adventure Path is sanctioned for use in Starfinder Society Organized Play. The rules for running this Adventure Path and Chronicle sheet are available as a free download (1.7 MB PDF).

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

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3.60/5 (based on 28 ratings)

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5/5 —

A serviceable start

3/5 —

There's been a lot of words written about the Dead Suns AP as a whole. I don't want to rehash what other people have written, but here are my thoughts:

1. Requires buy-in from the players, no players guide - As it starts out almost as abruptly as Abomination Vaults for PF2. You're here to meet a dwarf about joining the SF Society, he gets murked, you get drawn into a conspiracy. If the players are disinterested, then no amount of begging by the Shirren SF Society contact is going to make them care.

2. Red Herrings - There's several red herrings floating around involving corporate bureaucratic infighting between a mining guild and a corporation over who gets to claim the Drift Rock that's never really elaborated upon and is honestly just a time-waster as there's no payoff for the group at all. I think it's better to excise this part entirely.

3. Another Red Herring - There's a character that you meet who basically disappears and is never mentioned again, except that your choice to complete the job or not complete the job may affect whether you get somebody's away message in the third AP. Was kind of disappointed.

4. The Ship Is A Deathtrap - Part 2 takes place on a derelict. Really cool, really spooky, except the players are marooned on this ship with no choice but to go forward. Good to chase the players up a tree, bad in that they probably were not prepared for this. My suggestion? Have an unethical space goblin/Wytchwyrd merchant dock with the derelict and offer medical services or consumables to the group. They will need them, if most peoples accounts of playing this AP are to be believed.

Disappointing

2/5 —

NO SPOILERS

Ok, here we go! The first adventure path for Starfinder, Dead Suns. I got to play it in a campaign that took a couple of years of biweekly sessions. My starting PC was a hyper-caffienated energy drink loving barathu envoy, B'rll'blub. He was great fun to play, but proved startlingly ineffective in combat and died later in the campaign--but it was through his eyes I first experienced what I'm reviewing today, Chapter 1: Incident at Absalom Station. In the flagged section below, I discuss the adventure in detail. My general thoughts might be summed up as: it's okay, but nothing spectacular, and with some encounters that aren't really fair to the PCs. Here in the "No Spoilers" section, however, I'm going to discuss everything in volume one that's not part of the adventure--the front and back matter.

[Cut for space: my hatred of the cover, and my description of the inside front and back covers and the author's foreword.]

The first piece of proper back matter is a twelve-page gazetteer of Absalom Station, the center for humanity in the Pact Worlds solar system (the main campaign setting for Starfinder). An interesting history is provided for the station, and I like how it cleverly integrates some concepts from Pathfinder (like the Starstone, some neighborhood names) while making it its own thing. Absalom Station is perhaps the most important location in the setting, as it holds the headquarters for the Pact Worlds government, the Starfinder Society, the Stalwarts (intergalactic peacekeepers), and more. It also serves as a natural starting location for adventures, and a probable home for PCs since it's a pretty multicultural place--a bit like Babylon 5. Although much of this information is probably replicated in the Pact Worlds hardcover, the gazetteer does a good job describing the different areas of the station and leaves a lot of room for GMs to customise as necessary for the adventure they want to tell. There are some "feel and flavour" elements that I think are missing--how do people get around (elevators? trams? vehicles?); what's it like for newcomers when they arrive (visas? security inspections? customs taxes?); and what laws are in place regarding weapons (frowned upon? side-arms only? everyone's got a rocket launcher?). This last issue in particular has proven problematic for a lot of gamers as it goes to varying real-world conceptions of what's normal for urban communities. As a complete aside, I can't help but note that the artwork of the dude on page 43 is *clearly* an intentional likeness of Jon Bernthal from Netflix's The Punisher!

Next up is "Relics of Golarion", a four-page-long collection of new magical items that have historical links to the now-missing planet. The writer clearly knew their Pathfinder lore, as there's a rich evocation of setting elements in the backstory to each item. In terms of actual usefulness, many of the items are too expensive or too high-level to be useful for most PCs, but I liked the falcon boots (allowing a PC to make a sort of personal gravity field so they can walk on walls or ceilings, even in Zero-G) and the (perhaps overpowered) chained weapon fusion which gives any melee weapon the reach property! I liked the section, though as a timing matter I think it was probably too soon and the space should have been devoted to making Starfinder more its own thing instead of tying it so closely to Pathfinder. New readers can be turned off if they feel they can't get the full story without playing an entirely different game.

A bestiary-style "Alien Archives" introduces 7 new creatures, with each receiving a page. The line-up is: akatas, bone troopers, driftdead, garaggakal, rauzhant, vracinea, and void zombies. The artwork is really strong here, though I don't see much in the way of creative ideas here (and a couple of just updates of Pathfinder monsters). Five of the seven appear in the adventure proper, which is a nice way to save word count there.

Finally, there's the "Codex of Worlds", a one-page description of a planet ripe for adventure that's located somewhere outside of the Pact Worlds system. This issue's entry is "Heicoron IV", an ocean planet with rival civilizations. Although they share a common ancestry, one has adopted to living on floating cities while the other has made the depths their home. There's a "first/early contact" situation for explorers. A classic SF concept that could have appeared (budget-willing) on Star Trek. It's not easy to design a world in one-page, but I liked what I saw with Heicoron IV.

The pattern established in this first issue of the AP persists in subsequent issues, with each including a setting element, a bestiary section, some player-facing character options, and a one-page new world. It's worth noting these volumes are also much shorter (just 64 pages each) compared to first edition Pathfinder APs, making them less of a value for the budget-conscious.

SPOILERS! (for the whole AP):

On to the adventure! This starts with a two-page campaign outline that offers the GM a rough idea of what's in store for the entire AP. In short, Dead Suns is going to be a planet-hopping adventure. The PCs start on Absalom Station in Chapter 1, head to Castrovel in Chapter 2, on to the Diaspora in Chapter 3, a gas giant in the Vast in Chapter 4, an artificial moon in Chapter 5, and then a massive Corpse Fleet flagship in Chapter 6. This is an AP meant to show off themes of space travel and exploration, not one about laying down roots or deep involvement with NPCs and communities. The plot itself concerns the lurking danger of an epic superweapon called the Death St--I mean, the Stellar Degenerator--capable of destroying entire worlds. I'll get more into that in reviews of later chapters.

Part 1 of Incident at Absalom Station is "Absalom Gang War." All of the PCs are meant to be new (or returning) visitors to Absalom Station interested in joining the Starfinder Society (an organisation devoted to exploration, scholarship, and first contact). That's a reasonable premise, but I *really* wish Starfinder did AP Player's Guides like Pathfinder does--they make great advertising tools and help players better immerse themselves in a campaign's premise.

Anyway, I think starting a campaign off with some drama and action is a wise choice, and that's what we get here, because the moment the PCs step off their shuttle and into the docking bay, they're caught in a firefight between two rival gangs! The Starfinder agent meant to show the group around (a dwarf named Duravor Kreel) is killed in the crossfire. I joked with my GM for months after because this is done in a heavy-handed way. Instead of Kreel being killed in the opening descriptive text (before the PCs can do anything), he's required to be killed in the first round of Initiative (no matter what the PCs do, and with no attack or damage roll required). But my PC had a rescue plan! Oh well . . .

With Kreel dead and the gang members dispatched (or fled), the PCs will eventually come into contact with the shirren Chiskisk, a higher-ranking member of the Starfinder Society. Chiskisk is concerned that perhaps Kreel's death wasn't simply a "wrong place at the wrong time" situation, and asks the group to investigate his death as a sort of audition to become members of the group. The investigation aspect is handled pretty well, I think, with five different columns for Gather Information results on different topics and lots of room for creative GMs to flavour how (or from whom) the PCs are getting the info. The PCs will quickly understand that the two gangs fighting in the docking bay (the "Downside Kings" and the "Level 21 Crew") were essentially proxies hired by two rival mining companies (the "Hardscrabble Collective" and "Astral Extractions"). The mining companies are enmeshed in a legal dispute over who gets to claim ownership of an asteroid-sized chunk of rock found in the Drift that had been towed back to Absalom Station by a mining survey ship named the Acreon. As all of the crew of the ship were dead on arrival, Absalom Station's authorities have placed the ship and the Drift rock into quarantine some distance from the station.

That info reveals what the gangs (and their mining company employers) were fighting over, but it doesn't yet explain the nature of Duravor Kreel's death. To get more answers, the PCs need to visit each gang's headquarters and see their leader. The adventure handles this part well, with diplomatic and violent approaches accounted for, and some good characterisation of the NPCs. Busting up gang members isn't exactly intergalactic SF action, but every Starfinder has to start somewhere! Assuming their investigation goes well, the PCs should learn that, in fact, Kreel was an intended victim by one of the gangs--he was a board member of the Hardscrabble Collective and so a hit was put out on him by Astral Extractions out of fear he would also get the Starfinder Society involved in the legal dispute. It's a mystery that has a satisfying conclusion, and gives the PCs an early sense of accomplishment.

Part 2 is "Ghost Ship." The PCs have a few days of downtime to explore and establish themselves on Absalom Station--something that's good for role-playing, even if the GM knows they won't be staying there long. They're then invited to a meeting with Ambassador Gevalarsk Nor, the necrovite (a type of undead) ambassador from Eox! Friendly chatting with evil undead is something some players will have difficulty swallowing, but the premise of Starfinder is that Eox is a full member of the Pact Worlds and that although some people find them distasteful or suspicious, they're generally treated decently. It definitely makes for an interesting meeting, as the PCs learn that the ambassador has an offer for them: he wants them to investigate the Acreon and the Drift rock, and report what they find. It turns out that Ambassador Nor is the mediator between the ongoing dispute over who should get to claim the rock. He's willing to pay well, and he offers additional payment if the PCs bring back to him personally a particular container in the ship's hold--though he won't reveal what's in it! I can't argue with a "What's in the box? Don't open the box!" mystery.

Assuming the PCs agree, they'll get their first taste of the game's starship combat rules. The shuttle they've been loaned is attacked by a single-seat interceptor piloted by an android assassin (hired by whichever mining company the PCs seemed most adverse to). I'm on the record as loathing starship combat in Starfinder, but at least this one is quick and easy, and serves as a straightforward introduction of the rules to players new to the game. As is often the case, I am annoyed that whether the PCs win or lose this starship combat, there are no real consequences, as the adventure assumes that the PCs take lifeboats to get on to the Drift rock (I have no idea why this "professional assassin" wouldn't just shoot down their lifeboats, and the adventure provides no explanation either).

Exploring the Acreon plays up to the classic science fiction "ghost ship" trope. The crew are either dead or vanished, and the PCs need to figure out what happened to them. Their investigation is hampered by the fact that some space goblins from Absalom Station broke into the quarantined ship earlier; I like how they can be simple foes to neutralize or made short-term hirelings (my group chose the latter option, because we needed all the help we could get!). The answer to what befell the ship's crew comes pretty quickly: the movie Alien. Here, they're "akatas", but they look and act very similar to Ripley's foes, complete with the egg-laying-in-human-host bit. Frankly, I wouldn't have minded an answer that was more creative and original. On the other hand, the "what's in the box?!" mystery has a great reveal. When I played, our group didn't open it because the Ambassador said not to and we wanted to get paid. But if a group does, they see there's a dead body inside--and the body opens its eyes and speaks! In short, the container contains an undead "bone trooper" who was being smuggled into Absalom Station by Ambassador Nor. This can turn into a combat or a role-playing encounter, but either way I think it's a creepy-fun answer.

Part 3 is "Phantoms of the Drift" and sees the PCs exploring the Drift rock itself. A well-concealed cave leads to a hidden complex of chambers with technology far in advance of what the Pact Worlds has. The PCs won't know this now (and even as a player, I never realised it until preparing this review), but the Drift rock is actually a small sheared-off portion of the Stellar Degenerator itself! While exploring, the PCs have to survive the android assassin who comes after them in person, some zombies (crew members from the Acreon infected by the akatas), a security robot, and more. They'll also be attacked by a driftdead (a new creature from the back matter's bestiary) that was once a space explorer named Moriko Nash--who died 75 years ago! It turns out Nash was the captain of a starship called the Sunrise Maiden that encountered the Drift rock decades before the Acreon. In a touching bit, the PCs find Nash's last recording that details her fate and gives an ominous warning that something is hunting her.

The PCs probably won't have realised it, but once they landed on the Drift rock and started exploring, their shuttle is remotely activated and flies back to Absalom Station, leading them stranded. This is a contrived (and to my mind execrable) excuse to force the PCs to find another way home. Of course, they'll find the Sunrise Maiden in a hangar bay, the ship intended to be their real home for the rest of the campaign (and the subject of the inside front and back cover). But first, they have to deal with what killed the ship's former captain.

The big boss of Incident at Absalom Station is a new monster called a garaggakal. It's a CR5 monster with a bite attack that does 2d6+9 damage, a special "Leech Life" attack that it can use (a limited number of times per day) to instantly do 5d6 damage that it then gains as temporary hit points, and an EAC/KAC high enough that PCs will probably hit it only 25% of the time. Oh, and if PCs barricade themselves in a room somewhere to rest and heal, it can pass through walls to get them! In short, it's a TPK waiting to happen, as evidenced by several posts in the forum. My experience as a player was exactly the same, although the GM took pity on us and had it act in ways that allowed us to eventually beat it. Frankly, I'd rather suffer a TPK than get a pity win. But in any event, placing the garaggakal there was a terrible decision idea by the adventure writer. I guess I can chalk it up to the difficulties with appropriately scaling difficulty in a brand new game, but I feel like just eyeballing what it can do versus what four average Level 2 PCs can do shows it's likely to be a big problem that leaves a sour taste in the mouth moving forward. And that's where the adventure concludes--there's not an epilogue, because the action starts up immediately in the next volume of the AP, right when the PCs leave the Drift rock.

Overall, both as a player and a reader, I felt some disappointment with Incident at Absalom Station. There were some bits I really enjoyed (the investigation and dealing with the ambassador, for example), but the plot afterwards was pretty basic: a ghost ship followed by a space-dungeon crawl that I've seen a million times, in Starfinder Society scenarios and elsewhere. I was hoping that the first AP for the game would really hit things out of the park (like Rise of the Runelords) did for Pathfinder, but that just isn't the case. And the big boss encounter made it clear that the writers' expectations of what an average group can do is not realistic.

Good starting adventure, but not that good intro

3/5 —

So I'm having bit of problem with these reviews because I'm doing them while running the final book, so by now players' reactions and such isn't super fresh in my mind :p But at least my impressions have had time to age.

The adventures premise of "your contact got killed that ropes you into plot between two factions competing for same thing" and gags involved in it IS interesting.... But have no relevance to rest of the plot at all, so it all feels kind of... Irrelevant?

If Dead Suns is structured like a scifi action adventure movie, this book is essentially pre credit roll intro thing. Like Indiana Jones stea- err finding that golden idol and having it stolen by his evil counterpart. Except instead of lasting 5-10 minutes, it lasts for one sixth of the story.

(that said, actual adventure is fun, I like use of akata and stuff in the drift rock in itself, but its weak overall plotwise when you look at the ap as whole. It does have interesting stuff like potential enemy you can turn to friend and I do like idea of drift rock's discovery setting you up on grand journey. Though this book has several moments of straight up railroading that feels unnecessary or like if it could have been written around differently)

P.S. Gevalarsk Nor is the best npc of this ap. I do find it bit of mixed bag in how its kept secret for gm what his subplot is actually about, but I do like it you can reasonable figure it out by paying close attention through entire ap.

I expected so much more from Paizo then this...

2/5 —

While I generally do not play published adventures, Incident at Absalom Station is exactly WHY I don't play published adventures.

Without spoiling too much of the plot, IaAS is a railroady, contrived adventure that tries to be a murder-mystery but was written by someone who clearly had no idea how to write a murder-mystery.

The book kicks off with the players being newly recruited Starfinder Society members that arrive only to see their Society contact get gunned down in front of them. What follows is a paint-by-numbers story of corporate intrigue that drags on for much longer then it needs to be. Five minutes of dice rolling and roleplaying, and most intelligent players will have found both the main suspect and the motive. But because the writing is contrived, the party still has to trudge through largely pointless filler and no, you cannot call on the Starfinder Society to help speed things up (remind me why we joined these guys again?)

After the initial mystery resolves itself with an unsatisfying bit of Deus Ex Machina, we get to the second half of the adventure, a fairly standard dungeon crawl. Other then the fact that the encounters as written are not balanced for a standard party of four level two adventurers, this actually isn't all that bad. And yes, there is errata available that makes the dungeon encounters more manageable. That one was on us.

I will not elaborate on the ending other then it is fittingly unsatisfying for an adventure that had little player agency and was horribly contrived almost from the get-go. For a company that had been writing adventures for 14 years before Dead Suns dropped, Paizo's first outing into the Pact Worlds should have been better then this.

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Zaister wrote:
Steel_Wind wrote:

For my part, the every-other-month aspect of the AP is forgivable. The 64 page decision layered on top of that is not. And yes, it really is a problem.

We have an AP volume that I've read cover to cover five times over the past week. I've been working on significant ways of lengthening it - because it is plainly too short. That doesn't make it bad. It's mostly pretty good, actually.

But it is too short and pretending it isn't does everyone a disservice.

Too short by what measure? Personally, I don't mind, actually that the adventures are shorter than what we are used from Pathfinder APs. I'd be happy if an AP isn't a two-year commitment for my group.

But how can an adventure be too short by an absolute measure, especially when it's just one of six parts?

I think it's reasonable for people to have come at this expecting a "Starfinder AP" is "like a Pathfinder AP but for Starfinder". This product line didn't spring out of a vacuum - it seems to me that comparisons with PF are inevitable (especially in the context of the post Steel Wind was replying to).

Having said that, I personally prefer the shorter, snappier feel. I sometimes feel some PF AP instalments drag a bit. Even if this was bulked up to 96 pages down the track, I'd be hoping a lot of that expansion went towards expanding the backmatter articles).
Liberty's Edge
Zaister wrote:
Steel_Wind wrote:

For my part, the every-other-month aspect of the AP is forgivable. The 64 page decision layered on top of that is not. And yes, it really is a problem.

But it is too short and pretending it isn't does everyone a disservice.

Too short by what measure?

Because if you game weekly for a 4-6 hour session, and start Dead Suns sometime in the next 3 weeks or so, your group is going to catch up to the point where you can't run your Dead Suns game because you will have played to the end of the released material.

Your group will be not playing Dead Suns weekly; or, you will be adding material to the campaign in an effort to prevent this result. If a GM has to do that, that's a consequence of a product design that is unprecedented at Paizo.

This hasn't been a problem with any AP release so far really. It wouldn't have been a problem if it was 64 pages monthly. It wouldn't have been a problem if it was 96 pages every other month, either.

But it IS a problem with 64 pages every other month - because there is not enough meat on the bones of this particular cow.

That's why.

Quote:


But how can an adventure be too short by an absolute measure, especially when it's just one of six parts? That just doesn't make any sense to me.

Because the issue is whether there is enough meat on the bones of the cow to prevent people from "catching up" to the release schedule. That's a particular problem in a RPG genre where there are so few alternatives to the official AP.

Quote:


Also, don't you think that calling the publication schedule "unforgivable" is maybe a bit harsh?

Harsh? Harsh is an emotional word or conclusion. If it were to be used fairly, it would have to be assessing the emotional impact of the word it purported to quote.

Except I didn't use that word you are "quoting", did I?

Because you are putting quotes around a word I didn't say, in regards to a another word I also didn't use.

While my language might have that conclusory meaning - when you start putting quotes around a word that I didn't say concerning another word I didn't use, you are cherry picking dishonestly in an effort to manipulate emotions. This is especially so given the other darts and laurels I made concerning the game which you chose to ignore.

When you put quotes around a word I didn't use because the word you prefer to quote has a different emotional effect - you are being dishonest. I happen do it for a living and I well understand when somebody is employing those tools against me. Stop it.

If you can't make your point without distorting and twisting other gamer's words - don't make that point at all. I know spin when I see it; that was spin.
The Exchange

I know this just came out and all, but are there plans to restock the print version of this? I was going to try ordering it, but it's already Unavailable...
Prismatic Codex wrote:
I know this just came out and all, but are there plans to restock the print version of this? I was going to try ordering it, but it's already Unavailable...

Yes. It's on backorder, although it's likely to be a few months away (issue 2 is likely to release before issue 1 is back in stock).

Steel_Wind wrote:
When you put quotes around a word I didn't use because the word you prefer to quote has a different emotional effect - you are being dishonest. I happen do it for a living and I well understand when somebody is employing those tools against me.

Can I ask what your job is? :o

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A DJ maybe, since he's an expert on spinning.
4 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Steel_Wind wrote:

Because if you game weekly for a 4-6 hour session, and start Dead Suns sometime in the next 3 weeks or so, your group is going to catch up to the point where you can't run your Dead Suns game because you will have played to the end of the released material.

Your group will be not playing Dead Suns weekly; or, you will be adding material to the campaign in an effort to prevent this result. If a GM has to do that, that's a consequence of a product design that is unprecedented at Paizo.

I'm not sure at all the expectation for adventure paths is that it's the standard for gaming groups to play along as they are published. In fact, I belive, that only a tiny minority actually do that.

I'm also sure that even though my groups play weekly, we almost certainly would not be able to catch up.

Steel_Wind wrote:

Except I didn't use that word you are "quoting", did I?

Because you are putting quotes around a word I didn't say, in regards to a another word I also didn't use.

Well you said A is forgivable, B is not, which is really not that different from saying B is unforgivable, isn't it? But I didn't use the quotes to indicate a verbatim citation, for that I'd use the QUOTE tag. It wasn't meant that way, and I apologize if it looked like that.

Liberty's Edge

will the backorder be first edition, or a reprint, with errata, etc?
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I'm almost positive it will be an identical printing.

Pretty sure they've ordered it already, which means no time for collecting errata, let alone including them.

Although I haven't heard anything official as to whether it will be a revised printing - that's just my guess.

I'm pretty sure it'll be the first, they ran out before anyone else even got their first issue.
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Steel_Wind wrote:
Starfinder, unexpectedly, has an XP track that has abandoned the Medium Track and has reverted to the Fast Track (and only the Fast Track) in part to cover up the fact that an AP volume is ~32-33 pages of adventure, instead of ~48-50.

[citation needed] on the "in part to cover up" portion.

Liberty's Edge
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Steve Geddes wrote:


Can I ask what your job is? :o

I'm a lawyer (litigator). I cross-examine people for a living :)

Zaister wrote:


I'm not sure at all the expectation for adventure paths is that it's the standard for gaming groups to play along as they are published. In fact, I believe, that only a tiny minority actually do that.

I'm also sure that even though my groups play weekly, we almost certainly would not be able to catch up.

Based on the existing data sample, I agree with you. I don't think that *currently*, most groups play an AP as they are published. I agree that only a tiny minority do that right now, too.

But there is a reason for that. It's because there are many, many alternatives to attempting to do just that. With Paizo, Beginning with Age of Worms and moving forward, GMs have TWENTY-TWO complete APs to choose from, rather than start, say, Ruins of Azlant, right away.

And a Pathfinder AP takes a great deal of time to play, too. So yes, the chances of this being a problem in their other AP lines are small.

But once upon a time, when Age of Worms was first released in the pages of Dungeon, it was expected then (hoped, even) that hundreds of subscribers would be playing as the issues were released, and there was a danger that some might catch up.

And some did.

It was a small number though and - well - it was D&D 3.5. There was lots of others modules to play for 3.xx before taking into account the wealth of material from previous editions of the game. So, viewed in this context, not a big deal.

With Starfinder, matters are different, There is precious little SciFant to draw upon which fits the rules or the setting. Indeed, there is, in comparison to the wealth of material for D&D, comparatively none for SciFant settings, and even not all that much for Sci Fi either.

So in order to play the new game everybody seems to be buying, people are going to either have to make this stuff up on its own, or the desire to play the AP (and a handful of PFS scenarios) will be comparatively much higher.

So while your observation of what people actually do with D&D and Pathfinder is spot on correct, I don't think it holds in the case of Starfinder and the dearth of material the community has in comparison to the embarrassment of riches we have to draw upon to easily port adventures for FRPGs.

And that's a problem, in my view.

Distant Scholar wrote:
Steel_Wind wrote:

Starfinder, unexpectedly, has an XP track that has abandoned the Medium Track and has reverted to the Fast Track (and only the Fast Track) in part to cover up the fact that an AP volume is ~32-33 pages of adventure, instead of ~48-50.

[citation needed] on the "in part to cover up" portion.

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2uid3?Starfinder-XP-Progression-Fast-Track-is-t he#16

Me. I'm the citation. That's my conclusion. I can look at the product and do the math (and I have). Seems to me there was a good reason that Pathfinder created a Medium XP Track and switched to it as the default speed in its Pathfinder AP lines. Leveling under the Fast Track was seen as too fast for the tastes of most players and GMs who were playing D&D 3.5. It didn't linger near the "good" part of the game, the so-called "sweet spot" where more play of APs typically took place, too.

We know how long it takes to level under the Fast Track and with the base XP rewards by CR. We've known that for about 16 years. After changing the rules in Pathfinder to the Medium Track, Starfinder changes it back to Fast *only*? Without an explanation? Why ever, would that be?

You know my view on the explanation for it, at least.

I believe that the length of the AP volumes has a lot to do with that. If the game was defaulting to Medium Track instead, yes, the Dead Suns AP as currently written would end up at ~10th based on XP, not ~12th. I think there are issues there in terms of marketing that Paizo preferred to avoid. They aren't wrong for making that decision; it's not an Evil Plot. But it is a good marketing reason to reverse course.

Now, it may ALSO be that the belief with Starfinder among Paizo devs is that the sweet spot in the game is not so clearly staked out at the 5th to 9th level zone as it is in Pathfinder, so they want people to reach higher levels, more quickly. While I doubt this, I admit the possibility that it might be so. I suggest there might also be utility in changing the default leveling rates to players to provide a different game experience for players than they are used to in Pathfinder, too. The list of other additional potential reasons is not closed.

Which is why I suggest the motive was only "in part" to cover up the potential "level shortage" a Medium Track might create in the official AP, as opposed to the reason.
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Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

I agree that with Dead Suns being the only AP available right out of the gate, probably more people will be "playing along". I also think that the bi-monthly schedule still will be fast enough for most groups.

I do not disagree that the shorter adventures may be a reason for changing to the fast XP track. But your entitlement of Paizo having to give us a reason for the change rubs me the wrong way, and I feel it's a bit disingenuous of you to insinuate that Paizo are "covering up" that adventures are shorter, when this was explicitly called out when Starfinder was first announced.
Liberty's Edge
Zaister wrote:

I agree that with Dead Suns being the only AP available right out of the gate, probably more people will be "playing along". I also think that the bi-monthly schedule still will be fast enough for most groups.

I do not disagree that the shorter adventures may be a reason for changing to the fast XP track. But your entitlement of Paizo having to give us a reason for the change rubs me the wrong way, and I feel it's a bit disingenuous of you to insinuate that Paizo are "covering up" that adventures are shorter, when this was explicitly called out when Starfinder was first announced.

I am not suggesting they covered up the length of the AP volumes -- but now that you are on the subject, to be blunt, they didn't exactly trumpet it either.

Look up and read above. Where is the mention that the book is 64 pages? As a longtime customer of Pathfinder AP, don't you think I might reasonably expect it to be 96 pages, too?

I put it to you that most of Paizo's customers will anticipate that it is 96 pages, and not 64.

[Moving on.]

No, my use of the word "cover up" part relates to the level range provided by a 6 volume ~32 to 33 page adventure path, as opposed to one where it is 48-50 pages of adventure.

Most Pathfinder APs go to 16th-17th level. If you reduce the adv length by a third, you'll get 10th to 11th, based upon the same leveling rate per adventure page over the long haul of the AP.

Paizo's first Pathfinder AP, Council of Thieves, went only to about 12th-13th level. Customers complained. Paizo never did it again. (For my part, I was okay with it.)

Switching to the Fast Track allows the developer to address that problem presented by less text to provide a greater level range over the pages that have been allotted to it.

It's not a "cover up" like Watergate. It's to "cover up", like a hole in the plaster of your wall. It papers over the hole; it "covers up" the problem.
Community & Digital Content Director
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Folks, can we please take the discussion of the overall release cycle and size of the Starfinder Adventure Path to this subforum? While relevant to Incident at Absalom Station, it's not explicitly about this individual adventure.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

Steel_wind, you are a passionate member of this community and have served it well, and I very much appreciate it. You are also a lawyer, and so you know the importance of word choice =)

Anyhoo, before too long, methinks there will be a dearth of adventures, mayhap folks will even create their own and share!

[[Sorry Chris was typing the same time you were typing!]

Okay after looking at the art some more I just gotta say it.

Garaggakal. Onesies.

There is not so many maps in module but any idea if there is plans to have interactive maps in pdf format also available as there is in many pathfinder modules?

I'm brand new to GMing, with Starfinder being my first game. I was wondering, where do I buy the maps that are in this book?
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
William Allen 416 wrote:
I'm brand new to GMing, with Starfinder being my first game. I was wondering, where do I buy the maps that are in this book?

As far as I can tell the maps from Incident at Absalom Station are not available for purchase, so you'll be either enlarging them and printing them out or sketching some reasonable facsimile onto a flip mat.

Yes, on maps - Is there any avenue of getting the "player view" version without the markers (numbers, letters, etc.) on them? Or do I need to dust off the old Photoshop fingers?
Liberty's Edge
Frames Janco wrote:
Yes, on maps - Is there any avenue of getting the "player view" version without the markers (numbers, letters, etc.) on them? Or do I need to dust off the old Photoshop fingers?

A simple copy+paste of the image from the PDF into GIMP will show you that the layer being copied is separate from the layer with any lettering of numbering on it.

In short, no need to dig out Photoshop for that purpose.

Fixing up the unfortunate crop at the top of the Fusion Queen map, however, will take a good long while in Photosop to recreate the 1/3rd of the top row that has been cropped from the map. Because of the encounter setup and wall placement, you can't just crop out the rest of the affected Row as the NPC is literally fighting from that exact position.

It's a rush to get these products printed for Gencon and consequently, errors do happen.
Steel_Wind wrote:


A simple copy+paste of the image from the PDF into GIMP will show you that the layer being copied is separate from the layer with any lettering of numbering on it.

Thanks for the tip!

The Exchange

Just curious as to what happened to the Interactive Maps we've come to expect with the Pathfinder Adventure Paths? Will we see them return? I appreciate Steel_Wind's suggestion on GIMP but I sure miss those interactive maps. :-)
Lantern Lodge Customer Service Manager
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Note: As the physical number of copies of AP #1 have dwindled in the warehouse and we take stock of our warehouse after Gen Con and August shipping, we've been able to uncover enough extra copies to cover folks who have subscribed to the Starfinder Adventure and requested backordered copies of AP#1. If you have questions about this, please take them to the August shipping thread:
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ugj5?August-Gen-Con-2017-New-Release-and-Month ly
Scarab Sages
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Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

Is there going to be a Player's Guide PDF like for the Pathfinder APs? I do like the adventure except for ...

Movie plot spoiler:
Stellar Degenerator?? really..why didn't you just call it the Starkiller...I'm definitely changing it in my campaign...the name just doesn't roll off the tongue

Nope, no player's guide.
Scarab Sages
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber
Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:

Nope, no player's guide.

Unfortunate for the simple fact that it is assumed that the players are assumed to be there to join the Starfinder society? Why? What in their past warrants it. Why are they even together?

I always liked options -- with attendant traits or in-game bonuses to give the players.

If the character creation had a system like Fate or Traveller or Cypher that brings the companions together during creation that could help as well.
Scarab Sages

The callbacks to Golarion items and organizations are great, but did this AP really need the blatant reference to real-life politics in Absalom Station?
The Exchange
RocMeAsmodeus wrote:
The callbacks to Golarion items and organizations are great, but did this AP really need the blatant reference to real-life politics in Absalom Station?

Where is this reference?

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Mactaka wrote:
Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:
Nope, no player's guide.
Unfortunate for the simple fact that it is assumed that the players are assumed to be there to join the Starfinder society? Why? What in their past warrants it. Why are they even together?

Reading this makes me feel like a grognard. "Back in my day we made up our own back stories and reasons to be together. And we didn't get bonuses for it neither!"

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GeneticDrift wrote:
RocMeAsmodeus wrote:
The callbacks to Golarion items and organizations are great, but did this AP really need the blatant reference to real-life politics in Absalom Station?
Where is this reference?

The "Strong Absalom Movement" mentioned in the society section is an ethno-nationalist movement that wants to kick all of the non-Golarion-based species off of Absalom Station, with fringe elements that engage in "xenophobic terrorism."

I can see some parallels to things going on in the United States right now, and that's all that I'll say on the matter.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
Hill Giant wrote:
Mactaka wrote:
Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:
Nope, no player's guide.
Unfortunate for the simple fact that it is assumed that the players are assumed to be there to join the Starfinder society? Why? What in their past warrants it. Why are they even together?
Reading this makes me feel like a grognard. "Back in my day we made up our own back stories and reasons to be together. And we didn't get bonuses for it neither!"

True. But a good player's guide also helps with expectation management. For example, warning people from being a priest (or similarly devout follower) of undead hating faiths such as Iomedae, Phrasma, or Sarenrae might have been a good thing.

Ventnor wrote:
GeneticDrift wrote:
RocMeAsmodeus wrote:
The callbacks to Golarion items and organizations are great, but did this AP really need the blatant reference to real-life politics in Absalom Station?
Where is this reference?

The "Strong Absalom Movement" mentioned in the society section is an ethno-nationalist movement that wants to kick all of the non-Golarion-based species off of Absalom Station, with fringe elements that engage in "xenophobic terrorism."

I can see some parallels to things going on in the United States right now, and that's all that I'll say on the matter.

However, it is neither a new nor an American problem. Similar movements shown up throughout the histories of many nations.

Lord Fyre wrote:
Ventnor wrote:
GeneticDrift wrote:
RocMeAsmodeus wrote:
The callbacks to Golarion items and organizations are great, but did this AP really need the blatant reference to real-life politics in Absalom Station?
Where is this reference?

The "Strong Absalom Movement" mentioned in the society section is an ethno-nationalist movement that wants to kick all of the non-Golarion-based species off of Absalom Station, with fringe elements that engage in "xenophobic terrorism."

I can see some parallels to things going on in the United States right now, and that's all that I'll say on the matter.

However, it is neither new nor an American problem. Similar movements shown up throughout the histories of many nations.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I can also see how someone could read a political message into that particular part of worldbuilding.

Would it help to think of it as a Superhero reference? Wonderwoman versus the bad guys?
Liberty's Edge
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RocMeAsmodeus wrote:
The callbacks to Golarion items and organizations are great, but did this AP really need the blatant reference to real-life politics in Absalom Station?

Well, at least it isn't Irofang Invasion's foreword.

Sovereign Court
Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
Lord Fyre wrote:
Hill Giant wrote:
Mactaka wrote:
Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:
Nope, no player's guide.
Unfortunate for the simple fact that it is assumed that the players are assumed to be there to join the Starfinder society? Why? What in their past warrants it. Why are they even together?
Reading this makes me feel like a grognard. "Back in my day we made up our own back stories and reasons to be together. And we didn't get bonuses for it neither!"

True. But a good player's guide also helps with expectation management. For example, warning people from being a priest (or similarly devout follower) of undead hating faiths such as Iomedae, Phrasma, or Sarenrae might have been a good thing.

Why? There is nothing particularly wrong about being a part of those organizations. It might even prove valuable in the later installments.

I do agree that players need to read up on the setting material, though. They should understand that undead-hating organizations don't murder ambassadors in cold blood.
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I liked the Ironfang forewords.
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KingOfAnything wrote:
Lord Fyre wrote:
Hill Giant wrote:
Mactaka wrote:
Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:
Nope, no player's guide.
Unfortunate for the simple fact that it is assumed that the players are assumed to be there to join the Starfinder society? Why? What in their past warrants it. Why are they even together?
Reading this makes me feel like a grognard. "Back in my day we made up our own back stories and reasons to be together. And we didn't get bonuses for it neither!"

True. But a good player's guide also helps with expectation management. For example, warning people from being a priest (or similarly devout follower) of undead hating faiths such as Iomedae, Phrasma, or Sarenrae might have been a good thing.

Why? There is nothing particularly wrong about being a part of those organizations. It might even prove valuable in the later installments.

I do agree that players need to read up on the setting material, though. They should understand that undead-hating organizations don't murder ambassadors in cold blood.

Pointing out that playing a follower of one of those faiths would lead to conflict at various parts of the AP would have been a good thing to note in a hypothetical guide.

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Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Paladinosaur wrote:
RocMeAsmodeus wrote:
The callbacks to Golarion items and organizations are great, but did this AP really need the blatant reference to real-life politics in Absalom Station?
Well, at least it isn't Irofang Invasion's foreword.

What about Ironfang Invasion's foreword?

Zaister wrote:
Paladinosaur wrote:
RocMeAsmodeus wrote:
The callbacks to Golarion items and organizations are great, but did this AP really need the blatant reference to real-life politics in Absalom Station?
Well, at least it isn't Irofang Invasion's foreword.
What about Ironfang Invasion's foreword?

It is very well written and encouraging.

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

RocMeAsmodeus made it sound as if it was more political than what was perceived as political in the Absalom Station gazetteer. But I can't find anything of the kind in that foreword.
Zaister wrote:
RocMeAsmodeus made it sound as if it was more political than what was perceived as political in the Absalom Station gazetteer. But I can't find anything of the kind in that foreword.

Issue 3, Assault on Longshadow.

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Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Hm, I don't know, did people actually take offense at that?

Would not surprise me -_-
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Ok then, but enough of that, it doesn't realy belong in this product thread.
Zaister wrote:
Ok then, but enough of that, it doesn't realy belong in this product thread.

Or on these messageboards. Paizo have asked us not to discuss real world politics at all on the site.

Scarab Sages
Steve Geddes wrote:
Zaister wrote:
Ok then, but enough of that, it doesn't realy belong in this product thread.
Or on these messageboards. Paizo have asked us not to discuss real world politics at all on the site.

It is for this exact reason that I was hoping that Paizo would move away from political references in their products.

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