The members of the up-and-coming rock band Neon & Noqual are all set for the career-making opportunity to play at the Pact Worlds' biggest concert venue! But when their rickety starbus breaks down with mere hours left in the journey, the musicians will have to pack up their instruments and hitch a ride or two through the asteroids of the Diaspora. Will the power of music help them get to the gig on time, or will they miss their shot at making it big?
This short Starfinder adventure written by Luis Loza is intended to be completed in a single session and includes four 4th-level pregenerated characters whose backstories and motivations tie closely into the plot of the adventure. This adventure can be easily incorporated into various virtual tabletops, run off of digital devices, or printed out and played at a table.
This is an amazing mod. It's a great time and has flashbacks to Jem and the Holograms; Galaxy Rangers, Barbie and the Rockers, and all the 80's hair bands. You will have an extraordinary time trying to get the band on the road so they can make it to the show on time. It has a lot for everyone and if you lean hard into the "Almost Famous" vibe you will have the role playing experience of your life!
It's campy, cool and a lot of fun. Don't miss out on this one and give it a try as it is one of the best modules the Starfinder society has to offer.
Band on the Run is the first in a new series of "One-Shot" adventures for Starfinder. Designed to be played in one sitting, they're essentially Starfinder Society scenarios without the shared premise that everyone's a Starfinder. Using the provided pre-gens, this opens up the story possibilities in a fun way. I got to play this adventure via play-by-post and had an amazing GM that made it a real blast. I could see something like this as a good way to get new players into the game, especially since they wouldn't have to deal with the paperwork and explanations of Organized Play. The one downside of this idea is that Band on the Run, at least, really requires a GM and group that are into the role-playing. A group that takes a long time to warm up (or just wants to roll dice and kill stuff) probably won't get much out of it. I should mention the artwork, which is excellent.
SPOILERS!:
The premise of Band on the Run (that song is going to be stuck in my head for ages now) is that the 4th Level PCs are members of a rock band named Neon & Noqual that's looking for its big break. When another act drops out of the Out of the Nest festival at Songbird Station, Neon & Noqual is hired for the slot--but they've gotta make it there in time! Unfortunately, the band's starship clunks out on them in the Diaspora, and they've gotta find a ride or repairs quickly or lose their chance at the bigtime.
The scenario starts with the PCs and their ship on a small asteroid that features little more than a diner. (Obviously, Starfinder is far from embracing hard SF!) Once inside, the PCs need to talk someone into helping them, but the staff and diners are completely uninterested. Although it doesn't necessarily appear to be on the surface (and I didn't notice it while playing), this is a total railroad because the only way forward is for the band to supplant a malfunctioning jukebox and play a live gig to impress the locals. There are some skill checks involved, but as is unfortunately common in Starfinder, it doesn't really matter whether the PCs succeed or fail--the plot moves forward all the same as they're offered a ride to Songbird Station by a vesk named Kardyn.
Kardyn is a sneaky fellow and when he announces he "just needs to make one quick stop", the reason for his willingness to help out becomes clear. He needs backup for a dicey criminal deal. The resulting encounter against some forgettable thugs takes place in a Zero-G setting, which unfortunately really bogged down a really fun adventure to that point. Once the PCs help Kardyn escape the battle, the getaway ship is chased by a flotilla of gangsters. Kardyn pulls another double-cross by using an escape pod to strand the PCs aboard a damaged vessel. There's a cinematic bit where the PCs need to make some skill checks to get the ship moving and avoid the gangsters (and a massive "diaspora wyrm"), though again success or failure on the checks still gets the PCs to the same place: Songbird Station!
Here, the group need to persuade, bully, or physically subdue a rival band named Snowfall Renaissance that plans to take Neon & Noqual's slot. I like that there are a lot of different ways to resolve this conflict. Afterwards, it's time for the big show! Depending on some more skill checks, the PCs might launch the band to stardom or get booed off the stage (memorialized forever on "total fail" playlists on the infosphere--that bit made me laugh).
The strength of Band on the Run is that it has a really fun, original premise. Although the core gameplay is only average, good role-players can really make it come alive--the group I was in sprinkled in all sorts of homage song titles and lyrics. It was definitely different than a standard Starfinder Society scenario, and I'd love to see more of Neon & Noqual.
Just finished GMing this for my friends. It's a spectacular short adventure! Well paced, original, very flavorful and exciting. I particularly loved the various musical references and the characters (and their backgrounds!).
The whole thing plays like a great episode of a cowboy bebop style story but for musicians. Absolutely super!
This is probably now my favorite one-shot of all time. I absolutely love the theme of a "battle of the bands" style adventure. Not only that it really showcases roleplaying opportunities that are available in a sci-fi setting that aren't as readily available in a fantasy setting. Maybe I'm a bit biased since this is the first game my group has played in person in the last two years, but this was amazing. So much thematic moments. From the first scene "Jukebox heroes" to the scrappy unlikely combat all the way to Songbird station. Each moment was very memorable. The group of people I played the scenario with leaned in hard on the musician front. We had five players. Since there were 4 premades the last player picked one of the pregens that are used for Starfinder society. They ended up playing the "Social Media/Self-appointed Manager" for the band. It was a great addition.
I hope to see more one-shots in the Starfinder setting that are as highly thematic as Band on the Run.
How long is a "single session?" Is that scenario length (4-5 hours) or quest / bounty length (1-2 hours)?
Thanks in response for your answer!
Hmm
I think it was 3-4 hours in case of oneshots, but not sure why I remember it being like that
We find it depends. If you are playing a live-play and trying to entertain others with a lot or roleplay it is 3-4 hours. If you play it Society-style (efficient and for yourselves) it is more like 2.
Huh, I hope this sanctioning document is sign that future campaign mode only APs and such will also follow similar "you can give it to character of any level" style :'D
Gotta say, 193 mb is a fairly impressive file size.
If the One Shot line continues to be larger than normal, I hope ways to keep download size smaller are explored. Like having the art asserts as a separate download.
In this case though, the adventure itself is over 50mb. The pregen file is over 60.
While the file is fairly excessive for such a small document, it seems to be the result of extremely high resolution pages. In contrast to the other scenario I ran at PaizoCon online (Beacon Code Dilemma), the map images remain very crisp and clear when scaled for a useful play area.
I would suggest that Paizo separate pdfs into a normal resolution booklet and a high resolution map package in the future rather than oversampling the text or including blurry maps. But given only the two subpar options, I can work around oversized files more easily than generating missing detail on what should be a map.
My assumption is that the root cause is Paizo using this one-shot adventure as promotional material, so they're including the high-rez images for streamers and the like.
I am fairly certain this Technomancer is missing 4 skill points.
Computers +13 (4 ranks +3 class skill +4 INT +2 insight from skill synergy), Culture +8 (4 ranks +4 INT), Mysticism +8 (4 ranks +3 class skil +0 WIS +2 insight from techlore), Physical Science +12 (4 ranks +3 class skill +4 INT +1 theme), Profession +9 (4 rank +3 class skill +0 CHA +2 insight from skill synergy), Sleight of Hand +10 (4 ranks +3 class skill +3 DEX), Stealth +9 (4 ranks +3 DEX +2 race), Survival +2 (+0 WIS +2 race)
A 4th level Technomancer with an 18 INT should have 32 skill points (4 x [4 skill points per level + 4 INT]) but it only has 28 skill points.
It's quite possible I'm missing something, but I can't figure it. I would recommend 4 ranks in Engineering as the Ysoki get a +2 racial bonus for a total of +13.
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Just a note, the sanctioning documents have not been updated yet. As per this blog post the adventure now awards 2 Reputation with your chosen Faction.
