Starfinder Adventure Path #4: The Ruined Clouds (Dead Suns 4 of 6)

Announced for February! Image and description are provisional and subject to change prior to release.

Sounds great, like a cross between HPLs Nameless City and Serenity the movie and other sci-fi classics.

THERE'S A CITY AT THE CENTER OF THE DRIFT?!?!

THERE'S A CITY AT THE CENTER OF THE DRIFT?!?!

Tanelorn, obviously.

EDIT: Said in jest, but now I'm thinking about trying to do a Second Ether campaign when Starfinder comes out...

THERE'S A CITY AT THE CENTER OF THE DRIFT?!?!

Triune has to live somewhere, right?

Shisumo wrote:

THERE'S A CITY AT THE CENTER OF THE DRIFT?!?!

Triune has to live somewhere, right?

Well sure, but I kinda thought it would be somewhere less accessible than, "Hey, let's turn on the Drift engine and go see what Triune is up to tonight!"

Jason Keeley wrote:

Shisumo wrote:

THERE'S A CITY AT THE CENTER OF THE DRIFT?!?!

Triune has to live somewhere, right?

Well sure, but I kinda thought it would be somewhere less accessible than, "Hey, let's turn on the Drift engine and go see what Triune is up to tonight!"

Who said it was accessible?

Shisumo wrote:

Jason Keeley wrote:

Shisumo wrote:

THERE'S A CITY AT THE CENTER OF THE DRIFT?!?!

Triune has to live somewhere, right?

Well sure, but I kinda thought it would be somewhere less accessible than, "Hey, let's turn on the Drift engine and go see what Triune is up to tonight!"

Who said it was accessible?

Totally getting Black City from Dragon Age vibes here. Congratulations Jason! I had almost convinced myself that a month and a half was a bearable wait, and then you had to post this awesome tease that's got my mind spinning abouts again. You cruel, amazing person, you. Can't wait to read what you're cooking up here!

Jason Keeley wrote:

Shisumo wrote:

Jason Keeley wrote:

Shisumo wrote:

THERE'S A CITY AT THE CENTER OF THE DRIFT?!?!

Triune has to live somewhere, right?

Well sure, but I kinda thought it would be somewhere less accessible than, "Hey, let's turn on the Drift engine and go see what Triune is up to tonight!"

Who said it was accessible?

Totally getting Black City from Dragon Age vibes here. Congratulations Jason! I had almost convinced myself that a month and a half was a bearable wait, and then you had to post this awesome tease that's got my mind spinning abouts again. You cruel, amazing person, you. Can't wait to read what you're cooking up here!

Thanks! While I am writing the majority of this volume, the Drift article is in the capable hands of Joe Pasini, who I'm sure will live up to your expectations!

Updated with final description and cover image!

This will probably be available february 28th, same as the Map-Pack-Starship-Decks.

Living holograms!

You fools!! They're just going to put on period costumes and kill us all!!!

Players are loving the hell out of this AP so far and as a GM this is the installment I've been looking forward to the most! There's something about traveling into the unknown and finding a less advanced culture with crazy ancient ruins that makes me shout for joy.

Mid-February? We finished Volume 3 last week, 2-3 weeks is the same as 10 years at this point :) The players are going to rip me apart...

Mid-February? We finished Volume 3 last week, 2-3 weeks is the same as 10 years at this point :) The players are going to rip me apart...

If february 2018 shipping will be similiar to january 2018, it will be shipping between 13th and 23rd to subscribers, as the street date is the 28th of february.

Personally i will get it on march 1st the earliest, probably a week later here in germany.

Triune has to live somewhere, right?

I thought Triune lived in The Cloud.

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

Anybody got their hands on this bad boy yet? The suspense is killing me!

Nope, although I don't really look through them until I get the physical copy.

I have it. :)

I have it. :)

Nice! What are your general thoughts on it so far?

Unfortunately I haven't had time to do more than just flip through it. The Drift article seems interesting, though. We do get a new humanoid race, though, the kish (the character on the cover is one of them).

I'm chomping at the bit. Darn this Pending status!

A bit more on the contents:

The ship on the inside cover is a tier 6 Klokworx Prism, an Azlanti Star Empire ship, and it is used in the adventure.

The additional articles come with maps for Istamak and Alluvion, the holy city of Triune in the drift. The Istamak article also has some new kish weapons and armor, and a pageful of magic and hybrid items.

The Alien Archives have the following creatures:

• Acrochor, CR 8 Medium animal – a kind of serpent
  
• Atrocite, CR 10 Medium outsider – agents of the Devourer
  
• Eohi, CR 6 Small animal - looks monkeyish
  
• Kish, CR 4 Medium humanoid – descendants of an ancient civilzation
  
• Living Hologram, CR 8 Medium incorporeal(!) construct
  
• Rebuilt, CR 7 Medium aberration – including a template graft
  
• Writher swarm, CR 9 Fine plant swarm
  

A bit more on the contents:

The ship on the inside cover is a tier 6 Klokworx Prism, an Azlanti Star Empire ship, and it is used in the adventure.

The additional articles come with maps for Istamak and Alluvion, the holy city of Triune in the drift. The Istamak article also has some new kish weapons and armor, and a pageful of magic and hybrid items.

The Alien Archives have the following creatures:

• Acrochor, CR 8 Medium animal – a kind of serpent
  
• Atrocite, CR 10 Medium outsider – agents of the Devourer
  
• Eohi, CR 6 Small animal - looks monkeyish
  
• Kish, CR 4 Medium humanoid – descendants of an ancient civilzation
  
• Living Hologram, CR 8 Medium incorporeal(!) construct
  
• Rebuilt, CR 7 Medium aberration – including a template graft
  
• Writher swarm, CR 9 Fine plant swarm
  

Are the Kish statted as playable? They seem like a potentially interesting option and they also look cool as hell!

Yes, they are. The get the usual "Racial Traits" sidebar for playable races.

I’m very interested in the Atrocite and Kish - what interesting abilities do they have?

Hmm, I'm liking so far this book better than the last ones, but I do feel like they could have made new alien culture feel more alien.

I mean, picture for Chamber of Renewal uses several symbols we use on Earth(white cross on green background, yellow triangle that has biohazard symbol and yellow triangle that has electricity symbol)... Like pretty sure artist was told what to draw, but wasn't told to draw it for context of "ancient alien machine"

More I read though, more questions I have like

I’m very interested in the Atrocite and Kish - what interesting abilities do they have?

That book looks great, lots of possibilities for encounters in Istamak.

However I'm a bit lost on the amount of knowledge the players are supposed to have on the Nejeor system and Nejeor VI: how much of the adventure background can they know with knowledge checks? Istamak seems to be kind of a unknown territory to them: can they know anything about it before landing?

Why does this not already have the Chronicle sheets available?

So is the Rebuilt more like Virus (90's sci-fi/horror cult classic starring Jamie Lee Curtis) or Dead Space, or something both new and terrifyingly adorable by Dominion Standards?

Its what happens when medical equipment malfunctions and puts body back together incorrectly.

I must admit I find that hilarious. almost like the scene in Mars Attacks when the Martians put that ladies head on that dog's body

Very minor nitpick: The menu sidebar on page 63 is from the Temple of the Twelve. but as that page is the coming soon secion, it makes no difference to the adventure itself.

Zealotux, I would assume they know next to nothing about it. Pure Terra Incognita. Play up the strangeness and alienness for all you can.

I was wrong, rebuilt are horrifying.

I was wrong, rebuilt are horrifying.

Kek :D

Again, I humbly submit: Why are the chronicle sheets not released at the same time as the AP's? Very frustrating. I've got a game that is following these as they come out, and we are constantly having to wait to know what the Chronicle sheets are for SFS. Since this AP was immediately sanctioned for SFS play, then the sheet should be figured out and released at the same time as the AP.

Again, I humbly submit: Why are the chronicle sheets not released at the same time as the AP's? Very frustrating. I've got a game that is following these as they come out, and we are constantly having to wait to know what the Chronicle sheets are for SFS. Since this AP was immediately sanctioned for SFS play, then the sheet should be figured out and released at the same time as the AP.

Due to internal timing on when I got these files vs. what other tasks were on the go, the sanctioning on this document has to wait a bit longer. As always, our priority is making sure that our monthly Society Scenarios get out the door on time. Since we've just made the change to two scenarios per month, some items had to slide as we re-adjusted schedules and arranged to bring on new help; sadly, sanctioning for this adventure was one of those items.

I'm working on it, however!

Brilde Phelon wrote:

Again, I humbly submit: Why are the chronicle sheets not released at the same time as the AP's? Very frustrating. I've got a game that is following these as they come out, and we are constantly having to wait to know what the Chronicle sheets are for SFS. Since this AP was immediately sanctioned for SFS play, then the sheet should be figured out and released at the same time as the AP.

Due to internal timing on when I got these files vs. what other tasks were on the go, the sanctioning on this document has to wait a bit longer. As always, our priority is making sure that our monthly Society Scenarios get out the door on time. Since we've just made the change to two scenarios per month, some items had to slide as we re-adjusted schedules and arranged to bring on new help; sadly, sanctioning for this adventure was one of those items.

I'm working on it, however!

I appreciate the response. Are you going to go ahead and produce the Chronicle sheets for the other two at the same time similar to #3, or will it be on a one-by-one basis?

Shisumo wrote:

Jason Keeley wrote:

Shisumo wrote:

THERE'S A CITY AT THE CENTER OF THE DRIFT?!?!

Triune has to live somewhere, right?

Well sure, but I kinda thought it would be somewhere less accessible than, "Hey, let's turn on the Drift engine and go see what Triune is up to tonight!"

Who said it was accessible?

Now i'm imagining a wacky side path where the adventurers find out where Triune (one any other god) lives, and decide to ding-dong-ditch them for luls.

Thurston Hillman wrote:

Brilde Phelon wrote:

Again, I humbly submit: Why are the chronicle sheets not released at the same time as the AP's? Very frustrating. I've got a game that is following these as they come out, and we are constantly having to wait to know what the Chronicle sheets are for SFS. Since this AP was immediately sanctioned for SFS play, then the sheet should be figured out and released at the same time as the AP.

Due to internal timing on when I got these files vs. what other tasks were on the go, the sanctioning on this document has to wait a bit longer. As always, our priority is making sure that our monthly Society Scenarios get out the door on time. Since we've just made the change to two scenarios per month, some items had to slide as we re-adjusted schedules and arranged to bring on new help; sadly, sanctioning for this adventure was one of those items.

I'm working on it, however!

I appreciate the response. Are you going to go ahead and produce the Chronicle sheets for the other two at the same time similar to #3, or will it be on a one-by-one basis?

... one month and waiting...

Still no chronicle sheets for #4, which has been sanctioned and out for...almost two months now.

Brilde Phelon wrote:

Again, I humbly submit: Why are the chronicle sheets not released at the same time as the AP's? Very frustrating. I've got a game that is following these as they come out, and we are constantly having to wait to know what the Chronicle sheets are for SFS. Since this AP was immediately sanctioned for SFS play, then the sheet should be figured out and released at the same time as the AP.

Due to internal timing on when I got these files vs. what other tasks were on the go, the sanctioning on this document has to wait a bit longer. As always, our priority is making sure that our monthly Society Scenarios get out the door on time. Since we've just made the change to two scenarios per month, some items had to slide as we re-adjusted schedules and arranged to bring on new help; sadly, sanctioning for this adventure was one of those items.

I'm working on it, however!

All parts of Dead Suns mentioned as legal (sanctioned) in SFS in special document in Additional Resources.

I understand that creating one page so important as Chronicle Sheet is a lot of balancing work, especially for the adventure book as large as 64 pages and it can take even two months in case of Dead Suns Part IV.
But what about such small thing as related switch/option in paizo event reporting form? Looking how in-time they create such entries for SFS/PFS scenarios each month - why Dead Suns 4 and 5 entries are absent?

Why is it necessary at this point to report DS IV let alone V? It is reasonable to have a level 7 character at this point but definitely not a level 8. Seeing as you can apply credit of IV to a level 8, where is the rush? You can't even utilize a level 9-10 chronicle. You would apply it and then get to stare at it for who knows how long until they come out with 7-10 scenarios. Which, after attending Paizocon, I suspect will be another several months at least, if not until 2019. I believe they have more pressing matters during the 'con season'. Come June 27th, DS IV actually becomes relevant.

Why is it necessary at this point to report DS IV let alone V? It is reasonable to have a level 7 character at this point but definitely not a level 8. Seeing as you can apply credit of IV to a level 8, where is the rush? You can't even utilize a level 9-10 chronicle. You would apply it and then get to stare at it for who knows how long until they come out with 7-10 scenarios. Which, after attending Paizocon, I suspect will be another several months at least, if not until 2019. I believe they have more pressing matters during the 'con season'. Come June 27th, DS IV actually becomes relevant.

It is necessary because my VO cant close ended event for couple months - because I cant report.

This.

I can understand your point Fedor

Now that a 5-8 has come out, the need for the chronicle and reporting this has in fact become a need. I pleasantly request that this be addressed as soon as efficiently possible. Though, I do understand that this is 'con season'.

Sanctioning for Adventure Paths is handled by our Organized Play team. If you haven't done so already, I'd recommend heading over to the Organized Play forums and mentioning this issue there. They pay a lot more attention to those threads than product threads like this one. :)

Thanks Robert