A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 7-10.
During a routine investigation on the false moon of Salvation's End, the PCs encounter an emissary from the vault's mysterious guiding intelligence. Directed to stop an ongoing invasion of another vault, the PCs find themselves caught in the middle of a conflict that could determine the fate of the false moon. Only through the PCs' actions can the machinations of the mysterious Vault Lord be halted.
Written by: Matt Duval
Scenario tags: None
[Scenario Maps spoiler - click to reveal]
The following maps used in this scenario are also available for purchase here on paizo.com:
This is a very complicated mod to run. Lots of creatures, lots of special abilities and tactics, lot of timed events. Even if you are prepared its easy to get lost in the mod when running it, one way or another. Our group did not have any computers or engineers, except for hier lings. But since you cant use a heir ling in combat your kind of screwed. Without engineering or computers you have a few scenarios where you are screwed. Their are also several shut down mechanics that take you out of the fight and then; well its not fun having to sit on the side lines while everyone else is engaged. ITs got a few fun spots but with the auto shut downs I just didn't enjoy this one.
This scenario could have been a 5-star scenario, because it does a lot of really cool stuff. Unfortunately there are also some annoying bits that didn't have to be this way.
I really liked the story, environment, reveals, and the general mood of craziness piled on craziness. It really feels like epic high level adventure.
Where it loses a bit IMO is this:
- Monsters in high and low tier were quite different. This makes the GM's job harder than necessary while players get to see only half the content. In Starfinder scaling a monster up or down a few levels is much easier than Pathfinder 1 so having entirely different monsters seems really unnecessary.
- A monster that's got "lower CR than it's stats indicate because it moves slowly" together with a lot of other monsters that hamper the PCs' action economy. This is Pathfinder 1 style fiddingling with the numbers to squeeze more out of your CR budget that we don't need.
- Several success conditions that hinge on you asking exactly the right question (reading the author's mind) just after a big combat. I really don't like this because that's the moment when peoples' attention is all over the place, they're tracking character resources, considering healing options, and generally blowing off steam a bit. This isn't supposed to be some kind of concentration test, it's a game that we might be playing to unwind after a long day at work.
Those things detract a bit and I think they were unnecessary. But they're not really terribly bad and the rest of the scenario is still really good.
I played this in low tier at an online convention. Mechanically it was fun to play through, and my party found the fights challenging, but not lethal.
It seemed like the GM had a lot going on "behind the screen," in the second and third encounters, but it led to compelling fights with interesting changes and set pieces. It feels like the kind of scenario that really shines with a GM who has plenty of time to absorb the intricacies, but could flounder if they're running it cold or without ample prep time. Luckily, my table had the former!
What really makes this scenario stand out for me is the lore reveal.
On the identify of the Vault Lord:
This the Starfinders' fifth foray into Salvation's End, and we finally get to learn a bit more about its Guiding Intelligence, and the Vault Lord - and what a doozy that info is! I have said before that Starfinder is as its best when it can leverage the mountains of awesome Paizo IP in the whacky techno-magical future setting that Starfinder enables, and the Vault Lord is a great example of that.
The Vault Lord is a test subject that realized they're in a sim?
Cool story!
The Vault Lord is a super intelligent floating brain that realized they're in a sim?
That's bonkers; I love it!
The Vault Lord is a super intelligent floating brain that is brainwashed into believing itself a reincarnated Runelord from Lost Golarion?!
11 / 10, A++, would play again!
Can't wait to play through the next installment of the Salvation's End arc!
My experience: I GMed this for a party playing in the lower level range.
Flavor's great--the environment's amazing, as is usually the case with Salvation's End. There are some fun stories to tell during the exploration portions, a big reveal, and it's overall just a lot of fun.
The combat encounters are interesting, but if you get a party with stronger PC builds, they probably won't be challenging.
The one downside from my perspective as a GM is that the maps were good stylistic fits, but poor fits on the details. What's supposed to be a wide-open room is represented by a pair of narrow rooms with a big wall down the middle. The notations on another map were confusing and potentially incomplete. I ended up having to make some judgment calls on what was supposed to go where, and I did some photoshopping to make the maps fit the descriptions better: the kind of thing you might use a marker for in person, mostly. It's not a showstopper, but I definitely had to think about it in advance.
Overall, it's a more-than-solid entry in Season 3. Everyone had a good time. I heartily recommend this.
(based on 5 ratings)
