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Question about the mechanics of the race boon from this scenario:
It's just like previous race boons except you have to donate credits and check boxes after scenarios. You don't get access to the race boon until all the boxes are checked. OK, that's an interesting way of doing it.
Do you have to have the boon slotted for each scenario in order to check a box? It's a Personal boon with no exculpatory text, so it would appear so. That means if you played the scenario with a character who already has its Personal slot filled (with a race boon or the like) you can't slot the boon and can't check boxes.
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I presume it works the same as the Skittermander boon, meaning it's only "slotted" once you've earned it and it's attached to that character. I'm willing to be wrong though.
My question, to which I presume the answer is "no," but I know I'll get asked: can a player donate more credits to check more boxes?
(also, Hemlock is my new second-favorite NPC, behind a certain Ysoki)
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The race boon in this scenario is poorly implemented.
The *cheapest* it would be is around 3000 credits if you happened to encounter this scenario at exactly the start of 3rd level. If you didn't encounter it until later in the upper subtier range, then the cost would be significantly higher (approx. 2x...and even less worth it than at the 3000 credit level).
So, what's the mechanical reward reason that upper-level players are being penalized for the same scenario boon (proportional wealth tax or not) that lower-level players earn much more cheaply in an already overpriced Starfinder economy? The proportional cost doesn't really work.
Why isn't it a straight checkbox boon like regular RSP boons or capped at a low (or even fixed) per-checkbox cost...like forgoing dayjob, etc.?
Like many things on Starfinder chronicles (including all of the gear on this chronicle), it is of low utility. But, I guess that ensures it will be suitably rare (read: rarely redeemed).
So, when players finish this scenario, they get:
- an unwieldy, expensive race boon
- a mundane, lighting trinket
- the typical chronicle items that they could buy without them being on a chronicle, except for the rebreather that they would probably never buy anyway before personal upgrades and better basic armor or other critical purchases. And, by the time they could afford an optional rebreather after more important purchases, they wouldn't need it on a chronicle @ level+2.
Cynically, the most interesting thing to do with this chronicle is to pay for the overpriced Khizar then suffocate it by making it wear the filtered rebreather that provides fresh air and filters out all the CO2. ^_^
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Additional question is if I GM and apply the chronicle to the character that has this one, can I also make the 10% donation from the received credits, or do I need to play the character to check a box?
For this question, I found the following in the society guide:
A GM can earn the rewards or benefits associated with any of her character’s current boons, as long as those boons could have been slotted during the course of the adventure. The GM chooses which boons would have been slotted in this manner after running the scenario. This can also apply to “out of table” boons like Digital Presence or Worldwide Explorer.
So I guess that is allowed.
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As I'm running this next Wednesday, has there been any clarification concerning the race boon and the Personal Slot of the character that earns it? Can any character that has earned the boon spend the money (meaning that it is personal only when applied to make the race) or only characters that slot this boon as a Personal Boon (meaning only core and legacy races can unlock this).
I know for sure that this question will come up at the end of the session, and I would like to answer it for them. I myself hope it is done like Xalxe assumed, but any clarification would be appreciated.
Contributor
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Prepping to run this in not-enough-time days.
The above boon questions are still out there, plus several more.
1 - Aballon has a thin atmosphere (CRB 396), meaning that most PCs will need to be making Fortitude saves every hour unless they're wearing armor environmental protections (or are guarded by magic). As such, I'm expecting my players to do just that. This sort of eliminates a bunch of the hazards from the scenario, doesn't it?
I did several word searches hoping to find something scenario-specific stating that Gullet had a breathable/normal atmosphere to tempt PCs into not using their environmental seals, but couldn't find anything. I even looked into the CRB and Pact Worlds entries for Aballon and Gullet to no avail. As such, I can't "add" anything to the scenario to lull them into not doing this.
Scenario threats 100% neutralized by this:
- All inhaled versions of the monochromatic sickness during the scenario
- The Vracinea's paralyzing scent ability
- Exposure to sickness via contaminated water during the final encounter
- The Gloomwing's pheromones supernatural ability
IMHO as a GM, that's a lot of work by the author that PCs can simply ignore by being prepared. And yes, I am taking into account that the scenario takes place over 3 days and not everyone will be wearing level 3 armor, but that's around the level where most of my PCs got rid of their second-skin/hidden-soldier gear.
2 - There are no notes or suggestions as to the placement of the Vracinea, so GMs will have to wing it unless there was a mark missed?
3 - Can players begin to check off boxes towards the Khizar boon on this chronicle, or do they have to wait for their next game? The boon from Skitter Shot had specific language excluding the sheet on which the boon was earned, but this one does not, hence the question.
4 - Not a big deal (or even a question), but no stats are provided for the Sharpwing. This is the first scenario in a long time that I've seen not provide a full appendix for GMs, especially since there's almost a completely blank page between appendices 1 and 2.
5 - (Another minor question, but...) I know absolutely nothing about the Ravai. However, it struck me as odd that a fey with apparent fire/sun themes would be living(?) on the Plane of Shadow in order to learn about Iziphis's travels and the Shadow Gate. Is there any more to Radiance's backstory to be had (especially since they share the name of the blade my Wrath of the Righteous character is currently wielding in the Abyss)?
Thanks very much in advance!
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Contributor
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Addendum to #1. Rules-savvy players might even just pick up an Environmental Field Collar as a supplement to their armor, too.
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Contributor
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Something I didn't catch in my initial prep last night...Hemlock makes food for the PCs several times during the trip. Unless the PCs think to pack protein shakes and water inside their suits, they're either going to be mighty hungry or will have to turn off environmental seals sooner or later.
This seems to be a little disconnect between the setting and scenario, but I think I've figured out an easy fix.
The fatigue ends when the creature returns to a normal atmosphere.
Becoming fatigued while eating could be remedied when they turn their environmental protections back on. I'm going to resist the temptation to explore whether or not fatigue brought on by a thin atmosphere goes away instantly or has to be combined with 8 hours of rest, too...I don't feel like being that kind of GM to my players.
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New question:
6 - How many hit points is Radiance supposed to have when the PCs rescue them? The scenario says, "[t]he ravai Radiance (see Radiance below) huddles within the cage, too weak from their ordeal to call out," but they are immediately thereafter listed with full hp. Radiance's health is clearly a concern in the scenario ("They prefer to fight far removed from the PCs as they worry about their allies’ safety should they die and trigger their implosion ability,") so I suspect PCs might want to use the cache of healing serums they find on their new fiery fey friend. The question is, how much healing is needed?
On a totally separate (and admittedly sleep-deprived-whining) note, I wish enemy/NPC weapon ranges would be included in stat blocks. I know we're spoiled as GMs compared to the early seasons of PFS v1, but having to look up the range of an ifrit-class flamethrower sort of negates the convenience of having (almost) everything else already in the scenario (and makes running "cold" more difficult...not that I would ever in a million year recommend this particular scenario for a GM to run on short/no prep)!
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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I don't think the scenarios have fully adjusted to the adventuring paradim of "PCs have been gas drowned asphixiated shot into space and dunked in gunk so often they sleep with their environmental protections on". much less put it on every time they're exploring.
It's a common problem. It seems a lot of authors fall into one of the following traps:
- Forget about environmental protections at all.
- Come up with flimsy excuses why you can't use them. ("Yeah, you have to go to the party without environmental protections. What do you mean your kalo can't breathe air?")
- Come up with "armor-piercing" hazards. They often forget about life bubble.
- Write an anti-tech spell that's supposed to be a mild debuff in combat, can deactivate environmental protections, making it a level 1 or 2 "save or die" spell when used in vacuum encounters. The AR taskforce passionately hates these.
- Write a problem that's only a problem if you can't fly. Like a monster with only melee attacks in a high tier, when the entire party might have Force Soles II.
- Write a mid-tier problem that requires flight when half the party can't fly yet.
I've opened a thread to brainstorm better ideas for the frustrated scenario writer :)
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Something I didn't catch in my initial prep last night...Hemlock makes food for the PCs several times during the trip. Unless the PCs think to pack protein shakes and water inside their suits, they're either going to be mighty hungry or will have to turn off environmental seals sooner or later.
I don't know if that's true. (Or if the systems even been thought out that far)
Armor seals don't have to be a 20th century air tight space helmet or even something like star lords disappearing re appearing helmet. It can also be force field based protection (like what Drax slaps on to tether himself outside the ship and start gunning THE VESK WAY)
Armors are listed as being good for up to their item level days. That has a required secondary power of being able to eat drink and...well the less we think about that the better. Jadnura was meditating alone on a planet for a week or so with just a spare oxygen tank.
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I ran this today and found a fairly elegant solution for all the environmental condition issues (the creature abilities AND the thin atmosphere). It's not explicitly written, but it worked pretty well.
When we got to the top of Gullet but before they started down, Hemlock looked over everyone's armor and then I explained about Aballon's thin atmosphere, fatigue conditions, and then Hemlock explained how long the trip would take:
-3 days to the bottom
-an unknown number of days exploring at the bottom
-at least 3 days back up (depending on how fast you climb)
"So that sounds like a problem for you dudes with the second skin - but don't worry. Once we get about a day down, the air thickens up nicely. Lots of awesome CO2! And oxygen, if that's your bag. Just make sure you save some juice for the trip back up."
This had two effects:
1) The 3rd level characters didn't have to worry about making checks all the time.
2) Everyone turned off their environmental protections after the first day, so the creature abilities really did have an effect.