Starfinder Adventure Path #34: We’re No Heroes (Fly Free or Die 1 of 6)

Can you be a little more specific?

Can you be a little more specific?

Every single asset in the PDF is cut into 5-6 image pieces, making it almost impossible to easily export into roll20 or any other VTT of choice. Previously, I could simply pull a map image out of a PDF, without the numbers, and import it into my VTT to give my players the great, colorful, detailed maps as-is. For some reason, the layout of this PDF has made that nearly impossible. Even the smaller maps are made up of two or more images, while the larger ones are in 6+ pieces of varying sizes, making it nearly impossible to properly size and lay out in roll20.

Re-posted for specificity!

Thankies, that's very odd.

In addition, text can't be selected and appears to possibly have been captured as an image.

In addition, text can't be selected and appears to possibly have been captured as an image.

OMG. You're right. What is going on with this PDF? Seriously.

This has got to be an error. This makes it unusable online.

Yeah I agree. This PDF is totally a mess. Good content, but the assets are completely unusable.

Yes, this PDF is not useful at all. As has been said, the maps are split into several tiny images and none of the text is selectable. Even tried downloading the file per chapter option and it's the same. Hoppefully there's a fix coming or it's going to make running this thru any VTT extremely difficult

Fortunately, Jason Tondro has said elsewhere on here that a fix is coming.

There is an irritating number of typos in the print edition. Hopefully future editions will undergo a more thorough editing process.

That being said, the AP is really promising. The guide and rules provided will be useful for those that just want flavor in a campaign, but don’t want to run an AP. Specifically, the nuts and bolts of buying commodities, searching for buyers, hauling, loading, and unloading, and finally selling them.

And, of course, dealing with those that want to interfere in your business.

I am mildly interested.

So long as the ap doesn't go down the Firefly path.

What, being canceled before it even gets started? :)

Freehold DM wrote:

I am mildly interested.

So long as the ap doesn't go down the Firefly path.

What, being canceled before it even gets started? :)

Too soon :(

MurderHobo#6226 wrote:

Freehold DM wrote:

I am mildly interested.

So long as the ap doesn't go down the Firefly path.

What, being canceled before it even gets started? :)

Too soon :(

takes the sky, laughs

It's a minor issue at best, but note that on page 55, in the "Downgrades" section of the Galactic Trade article, the text mistakenly references the coilgun's pre-errata cost of 6 BP, rather than the revised cost of 10 BP.

(I have not yet "audited" the BD514's BP breakdown.)

As a result of some unexpected file size issues on Starfinder APs beginning with volume #31 (The Devastation Ark part 1), we have released interactive map PDFs so that GMs can extract the maps from that PDF instead. We will continue releasing interactive maps for the entire run of Fly Free or Die and beyond.

It seems the issues with the "We're No Heroes" PDF were fixed, too.

It seems the issues with the "We're No Heroes" PDF were fixed, too.

It has for the File Per Chapter option. It seems the Single Chapter option still has text that can be neither selected nor searched.

Yip, can confirm for both that the text is now selectable. Can extract maps from the bundled interactive maps pdf. However, all the character artwork and maps within the main pdf are still split into several smaller images. Means a bit of work with gimp to get character art into a VTT, but much less work than I was facing.

I really hope these maps are a quick fix while the larger problem with the PDFs gets sorted.

The Devastation Ark PDF have also been greatly reduced in size in the new downloads.

It won't let me download the updated version of the file. When I click on it in my digital assets I get an XML page with the message "AccessDenied". Other files work fine.

As a result of some unexpected file size issues on Starfinder APs beginning with volume #31 (The Devastation Ark part 1), we have released interactive map PDFs so that GMs can extract the maps from that PDF instead. We will continue releasing interactive maps for the entire run of Fly Free or Die and beyond.

Can you confirm whether there will be a fix for the other art in the book which is also randomly separated into blocks or will this remain as-is?

Katina Davis wrote:

As a result of some unexpected file size issues on Starfinder APs beginning with volume #31 (The Devastation Ark part 1), we have released interactive map PDFs so that GMs can extract the maps from that PDF instead. We will continue releasing interactive maps for the entire run of Fly Free or Die and beyond.

Can you confirm whether there will be a fix for the other art in the book which is also randomly separated into blocks or will this remain as-is?

At this time, we are only providing the maps as separate PDFs.

Luke Spencer wrote:

Katina Davis wrote:

As a result of some unexpected file size issues on Starfinder APs beginning with volume #31 (The Devastation Ark part 1), we have released interactive map PDFs so that GMs can extract the maps from that PDF instead. We will continue releasing interactive maps for the entire run of Fly Free or Die and beyond.

Can you confirm whether there will be a fix for the other art in the book which is also randomly separated into blocks or will this remain as-is?

At this time, we are only providing the maps as separate PDFs.

I don't think he was asking for the artwork a separate files, but rather for it to be correctly integrated in the PDF. Currently, each piece of artwork in the PDF is a puzzle of tiles, and you can even see the thin white lines separating these tiles if you look close enough.

Is this all fixed up yet? VERY leery of buying this PDF for such a cool sounding adventure.......

If not then hopefully soon please

Thanks

Tom

Is this all fixed up yet? VERY leery of buying this PDF for such a cool sounding adventure.......

If not then hopefully soon please

Thanks

Tom

Not absolutely fixed. You can copy and select text now, and most of the maps are in a separate pdf that you can extract them from easily (all except the very last one for some reason). All character art and stuff within the AP pdf is still split into several smaller images so a little bit of work is needed to extract them. If all you need is the text and maps tho, you're golden.

Can't you make a screenshot of the pdf and then cut the images out?

Can't you make a screenshot of the pdf and then cut the images out?

Sure, and that's what I ended up doing. Usually I run an image extractor which pulls everything out in a couple of minutes. It's not a huge deal, just extra work for me

Ixal wrote:

Can't you make a screenshot of the pdf and then cut the images out?

Sure, and that's what I ended up doing. Usually I run an image extractor which pulls everything out in a couple of minutes. It's not a huge deal, just extra work for me

What program are you using to do the image extraction tricklet? I use NitroPDF.

A little program I found on Reddit an age ago. This one: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_RPG/comments/35lp3s/my_favorite_image_i n_any_paizo_product_to_date/cr5saf9/

Using pdfextract on linux is what I use to extract all images from a module when prepping a VTT. With the art being all cut up into pieces this is... trying.

A little program I found on Reddit an age ago. This one: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_RPG/comments/35lp3s/my_favorite_image_i n_any_paizo_product_to_date/cr5saf9/

That's the one I use too. Needs a bit of manual work, but is usually great. I also modded it a bit to have different use cases (once I found that some small Icons I wanted to extract was removed by the "remove all images smaller than X" line of the script).

I use PDF Candy Desktop, which is cheap, versatile, and usually excellent for extracting images (but for unknown reasons fatally chokes on 2nd Edition Pathfinder PDFs).

Thanks gang, looks like I'll wait til the Starfinder team fixes this all, jumbled pictures in a PDF is not a complete product, nice that they have the extra map PDF though.

Tom

Thanks all, those are some good alternates to NitroPDF, I'll try them out and see if one works better than what I'm using.

How is this adventure? Anyone feel like writing a review? Considering purchasing it but want to know a bit more.

tricklet wrote:

Ixal wrote:

Can't you make a screenshot of the pdf and then cut the images out?

Sure, and that's what I ended up doing. Usually I run an image extractor which pulls everything out in a couple of minutes. It's not a huge deal, just extra work for me

What program are you using to do the image extraction tricklet? I use NitroPDF.

Can't you just use the print key and MS paint? Or are the PDFs protected against that.

Svardi Eagle-Eye wrote:

tricklet wrote:

Ixal wrote:

Can't you make a screenshot of the pdf and then cut the images out?

Sure, and that's what I ended up doing. Usually I run an image extractor which pulls everything out in a couple of minutes. It's not a huge deal, just extra work for me

What program are you using to do the image extraction tricklet? I use NitroPDF.

Can't you just use the print key and MS paint? Or are the PDFs protected against that.

You can (In fact I had to for this pdf) but you often have to manually remove text, and sometimes images are overlaid on sidebars and it makes the picture look a bit naff when you've got 1/3 of the background a different colour. Image extractors get rid of those issues and are generally just faster.

Why has nobody brought it up there is anacite killer roomba in bestiary?

How is this adventure? Anyone feel like writing a review? Considering purchasing it but want to know a bit more.

Short review without spoilers I can do.

I'm currently running two groups through this, though currently only a session in for one of them. Second group starts this Saturday, it'll be interesting to see how they deal with things compared to the first group.
It's a nicely put together adventure, with some avoidable combat if you talk your way round it. The characters are interesting and there's a couple of moral choices to make that really encouraged the roleplay in my group. Influences are obvious - if you like sci-fi like Firefly, maybe a bit of Farscape, there's opportunity for many references.
There's no starship combat in this book, but there is a bit of vehicular combat which has the potential to be a very memorable encounter.
There's a new trading subsystem which changes how Build Points are handled. You no longer get them automatically to upgrade your ship, you need to do trade runs to earn them. Legitimate trade as well as smuggling is possible and it looks like a well built system so far - haven't needed to use it yet. It's also completely ignorable if your group isn't interested.

Quick question.

Thinking of using this as my intro to Starfinder.

Other than the CRB and Bestiary 1, which books will I need to run this?

Do I need all currently released core books (armory, bestiary 2+ etc)?

Thanks!

The book says you might also benefit from having Alien Archive 2, Character Operations Manual, Armory and Pact Worlds

however, that is simply for a more comprehensive look at all the rules employed. With what you have you don't really need much else. You can also check aonsrd.com which tends to be up to date on most rules.

I really liked this book, I'm planning on running it as soon as it gets sanctioned so until then I'm gonna hold off on any in-depth criticism

The book says you might also benefit from having Alien Archive 2, Character Operations Manual, Armory and Pact Worlds

however, that is simply for a more comprehensive look at all the rules employed. With what you have you don't really need much else. You can also check aonsrd.com which tends to be up to date on most rules.

I really liked this book, I'm planning on running it as soon as it gets sanctioned so until then I'm gonna hold off on any in-depth criticism

Thank you very much!

Will definitely look at picking them up. They're already on the list but hobby funds etc are a bit tight at the moment.

Wanted to make sure it was playable with what I had plus maybe one or two additional purchases before grabbing it as it looks a lot of fun!

Holy crap, I just tried to get an image out of this for something unrelated and it is a complete disaster. Almost entirely unusable for a VTT, still.

We were thinking of running this, but I don't think we'll be able to if this is what the image extraction experience ends up as. We were thinking VTT, but hell, we can't even do in-person gaming well with this.

That makes me very, very sad. :(

Are we expecting this to be fixed at some point?

Holy crap, I just tried to get an image out of this for something unrelated and it is a complete disaster. Almost entirely unusable for a VTT, still.

We were thinking of running this, but I don't think we'll be able to if this is what the image extraction experience ends up as. We were thinking VTT, but hell, we can't even do in-person gaming well with this.

That makes me very, very sad. :(

Are we expecting this to be fixed at some point?

Here is our most recent statement on Adventure Paths for VTT use.

I really don't understand all the hubbub. I'm running this on Roll20 with zero issues and having some of the most fun that I've had in my 20+ years of GMing.

Thank you to Jason and all of the authors and developers for the good times. I'll be sure to put up a review once we've completed volume 1. We're about to head into part 3.

I do appreciate that new campaign mode sanctioning means you can give these chronicles to more wide range of characters including final chronicle being giveable to level 13-14 as well :O

For in-person games, what have you all done with maps in the APs? Do you use a VTT and then have players use their minis on a screen? I'm trying to get some best practices for in-person sessions.

Am I remembering incorrectly that maps and assets from new PDFs were going to be made more compatible with VTT for those of us who are stuck playing in isolation? I've been terribly excited for Fly Free or Die, and I eagerly downloaded my digital copy the moment it became available - only to find it's going to be an utter nightmare to run for any of my digital groups.

Every single asset in the PDF is cut into 5-6 image pieces, making it almost impossible to easily export into roll20 or any other VTT of choice. Previously, I could simply pull a map image out of a PDF, without the numbers, and import it into my VTT to give my players the great, colorful, detailed maps as-is. For some reason, the layout of this PDF has made that nearly impossible. Even the smaller maps are made up of two or more images, while the larger ones are in 6+ pieces of varying sizes, making it nearly impossible to properly size and lay out in roll20.

There's a simple solution to this. Download "TokeTool" go to File > Open PDF and it will separate all the images from the PDF individually.

Then (if they are segmented images), you can drag-drop them to paint and line them up like a puzzle, easy-peasy.

You're welcome.
- jrock9430

Struggling and dissapointed trying to use the BD514 map on the virtual tabletop system I and my all over the country players use.

After an hour of trying and failing to get the grids of the ship to match the VTT, we realized the GRIDS ARE NOT SQUARES....seriously. Not only are the grids not truly square, but the 'not squareness' is not even consistent across the map, so adjusting for it with ratio tweaks is a failure too.

Of course problem would be solved or ignorable if the ship had been included in those interactive map pages with the adventure, but for some reason is not...

Have had issues with Paizo maps like this before, and becoming increasingly disheartened by my purchases in the last year.

Mark Norfolk wrote:

The 'desperadoes make off with a super starship' is giving me a 'Blake's Seven' vibe.

Aaaand now I'm hearing Dudley Simpson's wonderful theme...

Which can be found here