paizo.com Recent Reviews of Starfinder Near Spacepaizo.com Recent Reviews of Starfinder Near Space2023-10-03T20:58:28Z2023-10-03T20:58:28ZStarfinder Near Space: We Need to Talk About Veskarium (4 stars)Jhaemanhttps://paizo.com/products/btq022c7?Starfinder-Near-Space2022-03-31T02:49:31Z<p><b>Starfinder Near Space</b></p><p>After <i>Pact Worlds</i> was released, the next logical gazetteer-style hardcover for Starfinder was <b><i>Near Space</b></i>. Like the other Starfinder hardcovers, this one is pricey—-a $ 40 cover price for just 158 pages of content. It’s certainly an attractive book, however, with lots of great interior art and maps. And speaking of art, you can’t go wrong with that cover—-Obazaya tearing off a rocket launcher from an armored vehicle is pretty impressive!</p>
<p>The book starts with brief introduction, “Welcome to Near Space”, that provides a useful reminder that saying a planet is in “Near Space” doesn’t mean it’s close in any geographical (astronomical) sense to any other planet, only that there’s a sufficient collection of Drift beacons to make it a relatively brief hyperspace jump away. The rest of the introduction is an overview of the book’s four chapters: “The Veskarium”, “Worlds of Near Space”, “Starships”, and “Player Options”.</p>
<p>Chapter 1, “The Veskarium” (56 pages) is the longest section of the book. Starfinder team, we need to talk about the Veskarium. It is, quite canonically, a ruthless imperialist and expansionist military junta that committed genocide on its homeworld before invading and subjugating the native peoples of every other planet in its solar system. It then tried to do the same to the Pact Worlds. So why have I played multiple Starfinder Society scenarios where the PCs help the Veskarium (including by killing pahtra rebels in one!) and Near Space glosses over any moral or political implications of the Pact Worlds being allied with such an empire? In a sort of “dark and gritty”, morally ambiguous setting, having adventures in the Veskarium could be great storytelling—but to give it the same Disney treatment as the rest of the Starfinder setting just strikes me as a design team that hasn’t thought things through carefully. Anyway, ranting aside, this book devotes four to six pages to each of the eight planets of the Veskarium plus the mobile super battlestation called Conqueror’s Forge. The section provides a real deep dive into Vesk culture, which is really useful even if not necessarily containing a lot of surprises. The history of the Veskarium is interesting, and the section talks about the organisation of its military, economy, and more. I really appreciated how much setting lore was integrated from previous <i>Alien Archives</i> and Adventure Path volumes, and loved the little shout-out to Nakonechkin Salvage from the Free RPG Day adventures. There are a lot of adventure hooks here, and I’ve already seen some of them form the premise for Starfinder Society adventures.</p>
<p>Chapter 2, “Worlds of Near Space” (42 pages) covers twenty different planets, each with a two-page spread. I took notes on every planet, but it’d be a bit crazy for me to go through each one here. I’ll call out some of my favourites, though. Daegox 4 is a prison planet, something really useful if you need to plan a “great escape” or “jail break” adventure. On Daimalko, you could have a whole campaign dealing with the colossal monster apocalypse. Embroi is the homeworld of the embri and is secretly ruled by devils—good thing my embri character, Speaker for the Dead, doesn’t know! The Gideron Authority and the Marixah Republic were introduced in SFS scenarios, and it’s great to see them integrated here. Helfen-Thel has thousands of magical portals going to who-know’s-where, and exploring some of them could be the premise for a nice campaign formed by unrelated adventures. I’ve used the university planet of Pabaq in a campaign before, and had an adventure on Phoskar (home to giants). It’s a really nice selection of planets, with tons of adventure hooks and intriguing bits to unpack, and I’m pretty sure there’s something for pretty much everyone in the collection.</p>
<p>Chapter 3, “Starships” (12 pages) is the shortest section of the book. It includes some new starship options like a cloaking field (for non-combat use only) and a ramming prow (that does disappointingly little damage). The Gideron Authority, Szandite Collective, and Veskarium each receive a couple of pages of new ships. The Veskarium flagship <i>Conqueror of Worlds</i> receives a full stat-block.</p>
<p>The artwork is a bit rough in spots in Chapter 4, “Player Options” (34 pages). The section starts with a single page of options for each of the following races: damais, embri, ghorans, hobgoblins, ijtikris, osharus, pahtras, skittermanders, and vesk. Some of the options, such as the feats, aren’t race-restricted. Everything looks reasonably balanced, though some are just too minor to be even worth taking. Five new character themes are introduced: bureaucrat, giantblood (I like “hurl debris”), prisoner, quartermaster, and stormrunner. Of the five new archetypes (assassin, battle leader, commando, doshko specialist, and mediator), I thought the assassin was interesting but that the save DCs were •really• low, and the battle commander was excellent. Next, there are six pages of new weapons, shields, and armor. Nothing stood out to me, for better or worse. The book ends with a couple of pages of spells—-one of them, <i>defrex harness</i>, seems overpowered.</p>
<p>And that’s <b><i>Near Space</b></i>. The production quality is high, the artwork is generally really good, and the writing is strong. Although pricey given its limited page count, it’s a pretty good book overall.</p><p><b>Starfinder Near Space</b></p><p>After <i>Pact Worlds</i> was released, the next logical gazetteer-style hardcover for Starfinder was <b><i>Near Space</b></i>. Like the other Starfinder hardcovers, this one is pricey—-a $ 40 cover price for just 158 pages of content. It’s certainly an attractive book, however, with lots of great interior art and maps. And speaking of art, you can’t go wrong with that cover—-Obazaya tearing off a rocket launcher from an armored vehicle is pretty impressive!</p>
<p>The book starts with brief introduction, “Welcome to Near Space”, that provides a useful reminder that saying a planet is in “Near Space” doesn’t mean it’s close in any geographical (astronomical) sense to any other planet, only that there’s a sufficient collection of Drift beacons to make it a relatively brief hyperspace jump away. The rest of the introduction is an overview of the book’s four chapters: “The Veskarium”, “Worlds of Near Space”, “Starships”, and “Player Options”.</p>
<p>Chapter 1, “The Veskarium” (56 pages) is the longest section of the book. Starfinder team, we need to talk about the Veskarium. It is, quite canonically, a ruthless imperialist and expansionist military junta that committed genocide on its homeworld before invading and subjugating the native peoples of every other planet in its solar system. It then tried to do the same to the Pact Worlds. So why have I played multiple Starfinder Society scenarios where the PCs help the Veskarium (including by killing pahtra rebels in one!) and Near Space glosses over any moral or political implications of the Pact Worlds being allied with such an empire? In a sort of “dark and gritty”, morally ambiguous setting, having adventures in the Veskarium could be great storytelling—but to give it the same Disney treatment as the rest of the Starfinder setting just strikes me as a design team that hasn’t thought things through carefully. Anyway, ranting aside, this book devotes four to six pages to each of the eight planets of the Veskarium plus the mobile super battlestation called Conqueror’s Forge. The section provides a real deep dive into Vesk culture, which is really useful even if not necessarily containing a lot of surprises. The history of the Veskarium is interesting, and the section talks about the organisation of its military, economy, and more. I really appreciated how much setting lore was integrated from previous <i>Alien Archives</i> and Adventure Path volumes, and loved the little shout-out to Nakonechkin Salvage from the Free RPG Day adventures. There are a lot of adventure hooks here, and I’ve already seen some of them form the premise for Starfinder Society adventures.</p>
<p>Chapter 2, “Worlds of Near Space” (42 pages) covers twenty different planets, each with a two-page spread. I took notes on every planet, but it’d be a bit crazy for me to go through each one here. I’ll call out some of my favourites, though. Daegox 4 is a prison planet, something really useful if you need to plan a “great escape” or “jail break” adventure. On Daimalko, you could have a whole campaign dealing with the colossal monster apocalypse. Embroi is the homeworld of the embri and is secretly ruled by devils—good thing my embri character, Speaker for the Dead, doesn’t know! The Gideron Authority and the Marixah Republic were introduced in SFS scenarios, and it’s great to see them integrated here. Helfen-Thel has thousands of magical portals going to who-know’s-where, and exploring some of them could be the premise for a nice campaign formed by unrelated adventures. I’ve used the university planet of Pabaq in a campaign before, and had an adventure on Phoskar (home to giants). It’s a really nice selection of planets, with tons of adventure hooks and intriguing bits to unpack, and I’m pretty sure there’s something for pretty much everyone in the collection.</p>
<p>Chapter 3, “Starships” (12 pages) is the shortest section of the book. It includes some new starship options like a cloaking field (for non-combat use only) and a ramming prow (that does disappointingly little damage). The Gideron Authority, Szandite Collective, and Veskarium each receive a couple of pages of new ships. The Veskarium flagship <i>Conqueror of Worlds</i> receives a full stat-block.</p>
<p>The artwork is a bit rough in spots in Chapter 4, “Player Options” (34 pages). The section starts with a single page of options for each of the following races: damais, embri, ghorans, hobgoblins, ijtikris, osharus, pahtras, skittermanders, and vesk. Some of the options, such as the feats, aren’t race-restricted. Everything looks reasonably balanced, though some are just too minor to be even worth taking. Five new character themes are introduced: bureaucrat, giantblood (I like “hurl debris”), prisoner, quartermaster, and stormrunner. Of the five new archetypes (assassin, battle leader, commando, doshko specialist, and mediator), I thought the assassin was interesting but that the save DCs were •really• low, and the battle commander was excellent. Next, there are six pages of new weapons, shields, and armor. Nothing stood out to me, for better or worse. The book ends with a couple of pages of spells—-one of them, <i>defrex harness</i>, seems overpowered.</p>
<p>And that’s <b><i>Near Space</b></i>. The production quality is high, the artwork is generally really good, and the writing is strong. Although pricey given its limited page count, it’s a pretty good book overall.</p>Jhaeman2022-03-31T02:49:31ZStarfinder Near Space (5 stars)Mimskihttps://paizo.com/products/btq022c7?Starfinder-Near-Space2021-10-25T10:51:56Z...Mimski2021-10-25T10:51:56ZStarfinder Near Space: Overwhelming amount of lore (5 stars)CorvusMaskhttps://paizo.com/products/btq022c7?Starfinder-Near-Space2021-06-07T18:24:41Z<p><b>Starfinder Near Space</b></p><p>:'D Welp i think original reason why I didn't review this yet was that "so much content to review" and... Yeah no way I'm going through everything in detail this time either.</p>
<p>So this book does several important things: Flesh out Veskarium, set up plot hooks, introduce and expand on several worlds in Near Space, introduce a LOT new species that will eventually get fleshed out in alien archives(hopefully, because wow this book introduces lot of them :'D I hope writers won't forget about some of them)</p>
<p>Veskarium section provides lot of information that really shows how LE Veskarium is. Aka how imperialistic, unfair, and dehumanizing they are despite their claims to egalitarianism and efficiency. They also introduce lot of mystery to Veskarium, there is civilization in their sun as well, they have suspicious projects going on in several planets and on top of that, several planets have mysterious ruins or sign of precursor species. (oh and besides their extinct "jackal faced arthropod" neighbors, I'm amused that judging by one pic, their other neighbors were basically serpentfolk. Hope they are still alive, though I do think its delicious plot hook that gm could decide "nah they are still alive" and "nah they are all dead" or even "nah they are all undead now" ;D ) Basically lot of really delicious plot hooks and good job at making Veskarium even more punchable.</p>
<p>(all of these are making me want more throrough timeline for Silent War events though x'D Like how many emperors Veskarium had in that 200+ war period)</p>
<p>Anyway, because of my sanity I want to avoid going full detail for rest of the book(otherwise I'd probably be going way past word limit... I have basically been reading the book for entire day in preparation for review and now I just want to be done with writing this x'D), I'll just list my top 4 favorite worlds in the book: Daegox 4, Nemenar, Pholskar and Ulthen(last one is super creepy in fascinating way)</p>
<p>Hmm what else... Well now that I know Marixah Rebublic is apparently LG I went back to tread read them and... I guess I can sort of see it? It IS apparently really nice place to live in. They still come across as shady and like they have an ego though when it comes to foreign politics...</p>
<p>Oh and realized that since Embroi is ruled by malebranche, that is our first world in starfinder ruled by quasi/demi god :D</p>
<p>Starship/equipment/alternate starship options/spells do have cool stuff overall as well, though I do hope this book is open to errata. I mean there is that one evocation cold spell that apparently doesn't have spell resistance that confuses me because of that xD Change it to conjuration creation at least!</p><p><b>Starfinder Near Space</b></p><p>:'D Welp i think original reason why I didn't review this yet was that "so much content to review" and... Yeah no way I'm going through everything in detail this time either.</p>
<p>So this book does several important things: Flesh out Veskarium, set up plot hooks, introduce and expand on several worlds in Near Space, introduce a LOT new species that will eventually get fleshed out in alien archives(hopefully, because wow this book introduces lot of them :'D I hope writers won't forget about some of them)</p>
<p>Veskarium section provides lot of information that really shows how LE Veskarium is. Aka how imperialistic, unfair, and dehumanizing they are despite their claims to egalitarianism and efficiency. They also introduce lot of mystery to Veskarium, there is civilization in their sun as well, they have suspicious projects going on in several planets and on top of that, several planets have mysterious ruins or sign of precursor species. (oh and besides their extinct "jackal faced arthropod" neighbors, I'm amused that judging by one pic, their other neighbors were basically serpentfolk. Hope they are still alive, though I do think its delicious plot hook that gm could decide "nah they are still alive" and "nah they are all dead" or even "nah they are all undead now" ;D ) Basically lot of really delicious plot hooks and good job at making Veskarium even more punchable.</p>
<p>(all of these are making me want more throrough timeline for Silent War events though x'D Like how many emperors Veskarium had in that 200+ war period)</p>
<p>Anyway, because of my sanity I want to avoid going full detail for rest of the book(otherwise I'd probably be going way past word limit... I have basically been reading the book for entire day in preparation for review and now I just want to be done with writing this x'D), I'll just list my top 4 favorite worlds in the book: Daegox 4, Nemenar, Pholskar and Ulthen(last one is super creepy in fascinating way)</p>
<p>Hmm what else... Well now that I know Marixah Rebublic is apparently LG I went back to tread read them and... I guess I can sort of see it? It IS apparently really nice place to live in. They still come across as shady and like they have an ego though when it comes to foreign politics...</p>
<p>Oh and realized that since Embroi is ruled by malebranche, that is our first world in starfinder ruled by quasi/demi god :D</p>
<p>Starship/equipment/alternate starship options/spells do have cool stuff overall as well, though I do hope this book is open to errata. I mean there is that one evocation cold spell that apparently doesn't have spell resistance that confuses me because of that xD Change it to conjuration creation at least!</p>CorvusMask2021-06-07T18:24:41ZStarfinder Near Space: More Like This (5 stars)Jason Belterhttps://paizo.com/products/btq022c7?Starfinder-Near-Space2020-04-14T22:45:56Z<p><b>Starfinder Near Space</b></p><p>Everything Leon said, give me more with this mix of indepth fluff and some crunch to support it!</p><p><b>Starfinder Near Space</b></p><p>Everything Leon said, give me more with this mix of indepth fluff and some crunch to support it!</p>Jason Belter2020-04-14T22:45:56ZStarfinder Near Space: A highly original fiction fluff shot in the arm to Starfinder's universe (5 stars)Leon Aquillahttps://paizo.com/products/btq022c7?Starfinder-Near-Space2020-03-28T15:52:58Z<p><b>Starfinder Near Space</b></p><p>I love Starfinder. I've been supporting it with subscriptions since the core rulebook came out — but I have to admit I found Pact Worlds a bit lacking in imagination. Part of this is probably because they were dealing with legacy content (Distant Worlds already basically declared who lived where and what the worlds were like). </p>
<p>But with Near Space the Starfinder writing team has been able to spread their wings and go a bit crazy, and the delivered product is fantastic from end to end. </p>
<p>Art - 5/5, love it, each Veskarium world's description is riven with detail and great art. Seeing how Skittermanders interact with their Vesk overlords will help me to describe them in future encounters. I suspect that instead of viewing Skittermanders as cute, cuddly carebears, my players will now wonder if there are Skittermanders nearby if that means that Vesk are too. I want that art of Conqueror's Forge in a gas cloud as a wallpaper or poster. </p>
<p>Worldbuilding - 5/5, again, the Veskarium is just as interesting of a place as the Pact Worlds, and you could build an entire campaign here and never leave the system. The dynamics of Vesk-6 I found especially interesting, as I think the Pahtra/Vesk conflict has a lot of potential for some great plot hooks. The rest of Near Space has some fascinating locations as well, my favorite being the Dyson Sphere and the Toe Jam & Earl-like planet of Orry.</p>
<p>Most importantly though, I never felt like any of the write-ups of the Veskarium insulted my intelligence. The book doesn't shy away from pointing out that some Pahtras really don't like the situation on Vesk-6, or that hey, Skittermanders are in fact the Grotz/Goblins/Gretchens of the SF universe. </p>
<p>Mechanical Options - 5/5. I'm glad someone on the team clearly thought that not having +STR Pahtra was a missed opportunity. The Vesk, Skittermander, and other Veskarium races all equally got showered with variations as well to bring them out of their shells. Or pouches. Whatever Skitters have. </p>
<p>Gamemastering Mechanical Options - 3/5. This is the only place I felt was lacking a bit. I would have liked some fleshed out Veskarium NPC blocks akin to the ones provided in Pact Worlds Chapter 3 "Supporting Cast". I wouldn't have needed a whole 12 pages like Pact worlds, but I have a good idea in my head of what say, a Pact Worlds mercenary or criminal is armed with, and what an Aeon Guard infantryman is armed with. I have no idea what your average Level 3 Vesk infantry is armed with, though if I had to hazard a guess it would be a Peacekeeper's Aegis, a Doshko, and some sort of Laser weapon and 2-3 pages devoted to the Veskarium's military make-up in that respect would have been nice. </p>
<p>I consider almost every Starfinder splat a must-buy, but to be honest if you had to pick between Pact Worlds and this, I'd pick this. That's how good it is. Probably the best splat I've read in a good long while.</p><p><b>Starfinder Near Space</b></p><p>I love Starfinder. I've been supporting it with subscriptions since the core rulebook came out — but I have to admit I found Pact Worlds a bit lacking in imagination. Part of this is probably because they were dealing with legacy content (Distant Worlds already basically declared who lived where and what the worlds were like). </p>
<p>But with Near Space the Starfinder writing team has been able to spread their wings and go a bit crazy, and the delivered product is fantastic from end to end. </p>
<p>Art - 5/5, love it, each Veskarium world's description is riven with detail and great art. Seeing how Skittermanders interact with their Vesk overlords will help me to describe them in future encounters. I suspect that instead of viewing Skittermanders as cute, cuddly carebears, my players will now wonder if there are Skittermanders nearby if that means that Vesk are too. I want that art of Conqueror's Forge in a gas cloud as a wallpaper or poster. </p>
<p>Worldbuilding - 5/5, again, the Veskarium is just as interesting of a place as the Pact Worlds, and you could build an entire campaign here and never leave the system. The dynamics of Vesk-6 I found especially interesting, as I think the Pahtra/Vesk conflict has a lot of potential for some great plot hooks. The rest of Near Space has some fascinating locations as well, my favorite being the Dyson Sphere and the Toe Jam & Earl-like planet of Orry.</p>
<p>Most importantly though, I never felt like any of the write-ups of the Veskarium insulted my intelligence. The book doesn't shy away from pointing out that some Pahtras really don't like the situation on Vesk-6, or that hey, Skittermanders are in fact the Grotz/Goblins/Gretchens of the SF universe. </p>
<p>Mechanical Options - 5/5. I'm glad someone on the team clearly thought that not having +STR Pahtra was a missed opportunity. The Vesk, Skittermander, and other Veskarium races all equally got showered with variations as well to bring them out of their shells. Or pouches. Whatever Skitters have. </p>
<p>Gamemastering Mechanical Options - 3/5. This is the only place I felt was lacking a bit. I would have liked some fleshed out Veskarium NPC blocks akin to the ones provided in Pact Worlds Chapter 3 "Supporting Cast". I wouldn't have needed a whole 12 pages like Pact worlds, but I have a good idea in my head of what say, a Pact Worlds mercenary or criminal is armed with, and what an Aeon Guard infantryman is armed with. I have no idea what your average Level 3 Vesk infantry is armed with, though if I had to hazard a guess it would be a Peacekeeper's Aegis, a Doshko, and some sort of Laser weapon and 2-3 pages devoted to the Veskarium's military make-up in that respect would have been nice. </p>
<p>I consider almost every Starfinder splat a must-buy, but to be honest if you had to pick between Pact Worlds and this, I'd pick this. That's how good it is. Probably the best splat I've read in a good long while.</p>Leon Aquilla2020-03-28T15:52:58Z