A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st- through 4th-level characters.
When both digital databases and Guidance fail to identify a traitorous Starfinder from the Society's past, Royo dispatches agents to delve into the Starfinder Society's long-neglected archival records for answers. Research the past, uncover clues, and explore a hidden chamber located within the Lorespire Complex itself!
This is the fourth scenario in the ongoing story of the Year of Redemption's Rise. While it is recommended you begin with Intro: Year of Redemption's Rise, the remaining scenarios in the Year of Redemption's Rise can be played in any order.
This scenario is very much broken up into two halves - the series of skill checks in the first half, and then the mini-dungeon exploration in the second half. Both halves of the module are meant to serve the same function, however: to serve as a bridge between the events past and recent scenarios (such as #5-08, Boom Block Gambit) to the upcoming Season 6: Year of Fortune's Fall metaplot. In terms of foreshadowing and introducing the major players of Season 6, it does that plenty well if the players pay attention, and the fact that it's in a 1-4 tier scenario means that anyone can see these clues ahead of time before Season 6 really gets rolling.
The major downside to the focus on foreshadowing is that the mission is kinda left without a payoff. The players are able to unearth plenty of clues and potential leads, but they aren't followed up within the scenario itself - a cynical player might feel a bit miffed that the reward for all their hard work is a pat on the back and a big neon sign pointing to Season 6. The lore aficionados will probably be salivating, on the other hand, so that's a very subjective experience.
Additionally, the two halves of the scenario are a bit disjointed - the only thing the skill test section and the dungeon crawl section have in common is the foreshadowing. Doing well in one doesn't carry over to the other, for instance. Taken on their own, both halves are very well-constructed: there's a lot of potential ways to make progress on the skill challenges, while the dungeon has a good mix of exploration, traps, and combat challenges appropriate for this level range. But as a whole, it felt to me like slightly less than the sum of its parts.
The first half of the module is rough; a lot of vagueness as the players try to figure out what the writer of the module wants in order to move the adventure along. Very little direction towards the players and very little description. Its up to you to ask questions and come up with suggestions to try and get something to stick. It is a lot like throwing jello at the wall in the hopes that something sticks.
The module is the best when it sticks to a standard dungeon delve. Trying to piece together the mystery is frustrating as there is no information to put together. Just lots of tedious questions that give very few answers. It's worth playing through just knowing that it's going to frustrate you at times due to a lack of information.
This was an enjoyable and fairly straightforward scenario.
There is a bit of a funky mechanic involving an NPC and GMs should read this carefully to understand how it should play out, but then the rest of the scenario is fairly traditional.
The combats were pretty reasonable, and the use of traps (and in logical places) made this feel akin to a classic (small) dungeon crawl.
In the end the player ended up with a lot more questions than answers and I am hoping this is just setting the stage for a sequel.
Played this at GenCon today and the society sheet says that we receive the Achievement Point boon: Call a Cognate. The GM wasn't sure what this was or where it was located and I cannot find anywhere on the site by searching.
It should be downloadable in the Boon Store; under the My Organized Play tab, click on Boons. Then check under the Starfinder section, under Chronicle Boons IIRC.
