Starfinder Ports of Call

I'm curious though if one god has mellowed down to neutral by time of starfinder or if that is error :O Because fun implications if they have stopped being evil xD

The map has some interesting editorial choices made.

Locus-1, a medicore stand-alone adventure gets a tack, but Aristia/New Thespera doesn't...or even Nakondis, from Against the Aeon Throne #4.

Similarly, there is no map marker for Suskillon or Weydana-IV, both of which were basically the centerpieces of their own six-part adventures, but Astevint, a place you only visit in a single part of Dawn of Flame does.

But of course, the Scoured Stars gets a tack, because Society-play and "Hey remember the Scoured Stars season?!" is the thing that's most important to the current staff right now.

Also aren't the Veskarium and Pact Worlds supposed to be near-adjacent to each other? All the prior literature implies they're practically neighbors. Now Marixah and Gideron are in between them.

I'll take it, but I think this could've used a few more push-pins for a minimum of effort.

I like the Embroi Hellknight on page 118. Glad to see the 'classic' Hellknight look being embraced. Hopefully we'll see more consistency in their appearance.

Also no mention of Nejeor IV or the Gate of Twelve Suns...to me that's like not mentioning Sandpoint in Varisia.

I'm fairly certain that the galaxy map only tags locations that are actually referenced in the book. It's definitely not trying to be exhaustive.

I don't think Veskarium and Pact Worlds has ever been "direct neighbors" so to speak because Veskarium first met Pact Worlds explorers who came out of drift in first place, like without drift they wouldn't have met each other since ftl other than drift isn't as fast

I'm fairly certain that the galaxy map only tags locations that are actually referenced in the book. It's definitely not trying to be exhaustive.

Maybe they should have tried harder then.

Places not mentioned in the book (except in passing) but got a shout-out on the map:

Gideron Prime
Marixah
Great Shadar
Daimalko
Embroi

Well, I mean, three of those are linked to Drift lanes and Daimalko is referenced due to its position in Pharasma's Coil, stuff which is directly relevant to the map.

I was convinced that the CRB said the Veskarium and Pact Worlds were adjacent stars, and I've said as much on these forums and elsewhere. But what it actually says is that they're nearby star systems (Vesk racial entry, and elsewhere) and that the Vesk evolved on their planet nearest hteir star. Perhaps I and others conflated those two things.

I've got the physical book now and I can confirm that the book does not have the same abundance of typos/missing letters

Also no mention of Nejeor IV or the Gate of Twelve Suns...to me that's like not mentioning Sandpoint in Varisia.

Similarly, Scyphozoans are featured in Interstellar Species, found on Primoria, featured in early Dead Suns - but is also not included. I'm more than a little baffled.

I was convinced that the CRB said the Veskarium and Pact Worlds were adjacent stars, and I've said as much on these forums and elsewhere. But what it actually says is that they're nearby star systems (Vesk racial entry, and elsewhere) and that the Vesk evolved on their planet nearest hteir star. Perhaps I and others conflated those two things.

CRB pg. 428: "In the inhabited solar system nearest to their own, enthusiastic explorers from the Golarion System encountered the vesk..."

Though I'll add that the CRB has a bunch of little references that the broader setting has moved away from (or ignored entirely), and that the map presented in Ports of Call does make a little more sense to me, in big-picture context. By which I mean, placing the Veskarium farther out from Golarion than the labeled colony worlds it settled during the Gap.

(Also, as a practical matter, on the scale of the Desna's Path map, if Ghavaniskia was actually the closest star to Mataras, the Pact Worlds and Veskarium's green dots would overlap.)

I must undergo the Test of the Starstone Burger now.

Sometimes, I can't believe I was allowed to write this kind of thing.

Buying this right now on Roll20, not sure how I can connect this to my group for Horizons of the Vast or my other 2 groups of Drift Crashers as of yet. But looking forward to try!!

Tom

I hope I manage to restart my reviewing spree :'D But stress in life recently

I hear ya there, I have to do mod 2 of Vast review as we finished a bit ago, then Drift Crashers mod 2 soonish as well!!

The small map problem brought up of more than a few things not shown I am hoping to hash out with others where they might be and can add them to the map, super easy with a dig map in a VTT. Over in the Starfinder forums, anyone else game for that by chance? Or heaven forbit someone from the Starfinder team ??!! Pretty please with Stardrift dust sprinkled on top!! LOL

I'm a bit stunned that though changed the time is the same for drift travel after the Drift event and the new Drift lanes is the same before this event.

Or did I miss something?

Hoping a designer will pop in here to explain or get a live reply at one of the live PAIZOCON panels.

Tom

I'm a bit stunned that though changed the time is the same for drift travel after the Drift event and the new Drift lanes is the same before this event.

It takes 7 days to traverse an entire drift lane, modified by downtime activities and a higher rated Drift engine. But it also takes 1d6 days to reach Absalom Station. So the utility in drift lanes is mainly for outbound traffic. This also creates some really perverse incentives, e.g. Vesk ships jumping without a drift lane from the Veskarium to an intermediate location, then 1d6 jumping to Absalom Station, followed by 1-7 days back to the Veskarium system.

I really would have preferred they do away with the "1d6 to Absalom station", or at least modified it so that there were multiple hubs (eg 1d6 days to Vesk Prime, 1d6 days to New Thespera, etc.)

As it stands it's just a cosmetic difference. Plus the drift lanes only link from Absalom and the Veskarium to various Ports of Call destinations (does Xibion really need its own dedicated single-destination drift lane?)

Some Drift Lanes similar in scope to those in Star Wars like the Hydian Way, Corellian Trade Spine, or Rimma Trade Route would have added a lot of needed flavor to this feature.

This also creates some really perverse incentives, e.g. Vesk ships jumping without a drift lane from the Veskarium to an intermediate location, then 1d6 jumping to Absalom Station, followed by 1-7 days back to the Veskarium system.

Two issues with the last part of that leg: (1) the Prosperioloa drift lane chain starts at Verces, not Absalom station, so you'd have in system travel from AS to Verces added on that, and (2) the map of Prosperiola, but not the text in Port of Call, has Marixah between Verces and the Veskarium, rather than between the Veskarium and Great Shadar. I'll post a thread in SF forums asking for clarification on that one.

Loving the Port maps :)

Tom

The map has some interesting editorial choices made.

Locus-1, a medicore stand-alone adventure gets a tack, but Aristia/New Thespera doesn't...or even Nakondis, from Against the Aeon Throne #4.

Similarly, there is no map marker for Suskillon or Weydana-IV, both of which were basically the centerpieces of their own six-part adventures, but Astevint, a place you only visit in a single part of Dawn of Flame does.

But of course, the Scoured Stars gets a tack, because Society-play and "Hey remember the Scoured Stars season?!" is the thing that's most important to the current staff right now.

Also aren't the Veskarium and Pact Worlds supposed to be near-adjacent to each other? All the prior literature implies they're practically neighbors. Now Marixah and Gideron are in between them.

I'll take it, but I think this could've used a few more push-pins for a minimum of effort.

I like the Embroi Hellknight on page 118. Glad to see the 'classic' Hellknight look being embraced. Hopefully we'll see more consistency in their appearance.

With the way the drift used to work actual physical proximity had basically nothing to do with how "close" things were with drift travel. So with the reshuffling it is not surprising if the "geography" of travel has changed.

Physical proximity is still irrelevant for Drift Travel.

Odd, for some reason a lot of the art looks like it's had compression issues for me.

Quick Question for those who have the book, has ANYTHING been added in to make the Evolutionist have more/better options, or in anyway made them actually better than they were (not asking for any information other than the above). Just wanting to know because as it is, they feel like the Shifter did at release... not viable due to the negatives (vastly to me) outweighing the positives on 3 of the 4 options. If the Vital Niche wasn't as good as it is, I would almost say another Oozemorph in the making lol. Sad thing is, Vital kind of encourages a Melee only kind of play (which, for a class that is supposed to have ranged blasts, they are penalized to use them, especially any of the special abilities or other Niches).

Anyways, sorry for the longer than it should have been comment, but since I saw we have some new races (Yay for those choices, by the way!), I really am curious to see if any improvements were a part of this book.

Thank you in advance.

Ports of Call does not touch on evolutionists at all. The book you might be hoping for is Starfinder Enhanced.

However, there is a 3PP supplement newly available at Infinite here, A Port to Call Home Instance 01: Atuity Character Options, by Sasha Laranoa Harving, that includes a fungus-themed alternate class feature for the evolutionist, if you're interested.

But I truly want to thank the writer who came up with the best spell in XFinder history. Capricious cats, which lets you summon invulnerable cats to sit on people and purr, or just annoyingly get in the way of enemies. It brought me a lot of laughs and my wife and I are obviously going to flavor it as our cats.

Oh, that was me! I wrote Shulgi Station, and spent time going through the Starfinder forum's reviews of previous spell lists when trying to think about what sort of spells to include in my entry. I wanted spells that were totally weird and based on the lore of Shulgi Station, but also spells that people might want to use in their home games and Society play.

I wrote that spell when my own cats were bugging me as I was trying to write, and then I started giggling like a maniac as the spell came to me and I scared them all off.

Hmm

PS You can also tell that I was the person who wrote Shulgi Station because of the presence of a librarianocracy as a governmental form. You're all very welcome!

Ports of Call does not touch on evolutionists at all. The book you might be hoping for is Starfinder Enhanced.

However, there is a 3PP supplement newly available at Infinite here, A Port to Call Home Instance 01: Atuity Character Options, by Sasha Laranoa Harving, that includes a fungus-themed alternate class feature for the evolutionist, if you're interested.

Thank you very much for the information Sir, it is appreciated immensely.

You're welcome!

Just saw a review say "Stuff is spread haphazardly, with very little regard for anything that makes sense. (if the Veskarium is near space, then most of the galaxy is near space)". For clarity, near space & the vast isn't based on distance, but just how many Drift Beacons are in that region.

I think what that reviewer missed is that a map of the Starfinder galaxy would have had no meaning until Drift lanes were introduced. Before the Drift Crisis, the only relevant positional information for any solar system was accessibility from Absalom Station in the Pact Worlds (and that isn't really based on stellar geography but on Drift beacons). But now, if another solar system is at the other end of a Drift lane from yours, that solar system is actually your neighbor in a meaningful sense.

"Stellar cartography was irrelevant until Ports of Call" is a smoking hot take in a galaxy where the Swarm clearly expands linearly rather than randomly, and the Azlanti as well. If drift travel worked consistently for everybody, then the Azlanti sphere of influence would be spread out in pockets all over the maps, as would Swarm infestation.

Sorry, not buying it.

Harassing posts removed.

"Stellar cartography was irrelevant until Ports of Call" is a smoking hot take in a galaxy where the Swarm clearly expands linearly rather than randomly, and the Azlanti as well. If drift travel worked consistently for everybody, then the Azlanti sphere of influence would be spread out in pockets all over the maps, as would Swarm infestation.

Sorry, not buying it.

I think physical location was more of a limit on finding other solar systems than traveling to them once found -- so a key point in each solar system's history would have been whenever they found either the Pact Worlds or any Near Space solar system. Once any civilization has located the Pact Worlds, they would have had every reason to focus their aggression there, as that system is "closest" to every other solar system in the galaxy, at least in terms of traveling to that system.

And the Drift lanes do not really change that very much.

John Mangrum wrote:

I'm fairly certain that the galaxy map only tags locations that are actually referenced in the book. It's definitely not trying to be exhaustive.

Maybe they should have tried harder then.

Places not mentioned in the book (except in passing) but got a shout-out on the map:

Gideron Prime
Marixah
Great Shadar
Daimalko
Embroi

Some of those have been fleshed out in other books, though.

Also, some fictional maps just throw out semi-random names for potential inspiration and plot hooks for later players and GM. In fact, I was looking over the map of the universe from an old setting book of a certain venerable Role-Playing game about sailing ships through space, and tucked away in a corner of that map is a lone, unremarkable planet called Golarion....

EDIT: Hmmm, I may be wrong on the officialness of that map. I need to look farther into it...

Does anyone else think the Outpost Zed population is exceedingly high??

Over 400k people living in a place only about a kilometer in diameter feels quite off.

I always imagined it having a smaller population due to the art from the Against the Aeon Thrones

Does anyone else think the Outpost Zed population is exceedingly high??

Over 400k people living in a place only about a kilometer in diameter feels quite off.

I always imagined it having a smaller population due to the art from the Against the Aeon Thrones

That would appear to be a slightly higher population density than Absalom Station has, and the latter seems to be slightly "flatter". The population figure given would be at odds with the statement that large portions of Outpost Zed are "abandoned", but I would be comfortable with the idea that most of its population do not want to be recognized and counted by authorities from the Azlanti Empire.

If we do not get a 'go to Golarion World because evil shenanigans but feel free to have fun in the meantime' scenario for year 6.
I will be very sad and thoroughly disappointed.

I hope these start making their way to foundry too! I love playing pf2e on that platform