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So it might be early for this, but I really want to start throwing around ideas for what we might see for the first AP in Starfinder.
I would personally like if it started with an exploration/colonization game of a recently discovered world. Something with different factions each having their own reasons for interest, and the PCs are caught in the middle. This one planet is the focus, but others are also visited to track down leads and gather support. Great chance to showcase a fair bit of the setting, without overblowing the scope right away.
What would other folks like to see? Can we get another as iconic to the system and setting as Rise of the Runelords?
That sounds like kinda a retread of the most memorable part of Serpent's Skull or Kingmaker, but IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!
If you want something as iconic to the system and setting as Runelords, you want to look at what's as iconic to the GENRE as Runelords is to the high fantasy genre.
That's still up in the air I think, but I'm going to guess they lean towards the Space Opera style show, since it fits the class/party based system of Pathfinder most well.
In that vein, an AP that's constantly on the move, traveling from place to place and encountering adventure at every stop would be an excellent first outing. Perhaps at the start of the AP you piss off Space Cheliax or whoever, and spend a while fleeing their known space, dodging danger from both the known threat behind and unknown threats ahead.
This would simultaneously give a surface glimpse of the new political balances and allow for a loose plot like Skull and Shackles or Kingmaker to get everyone invested in the SETTING rather than any specific plot of the AP, which is pretty important for a fresh start, and is something Runelords does fairly well too given how much you travel between some of the major places and uncover important backstory elements.
My favorite moments with pathfinder have been in that vein anyway, not the actual AP plots (which run the gamut from pretty good to barely there to outright bad). Just interacting with the characters and places is a large part of the fun of RPGs of any kind.
I'm actually a little lost as to what I'd want out of this. As an introduction to Starfinder I would imagine that the first AP would be about as iconic as Rise of the Runelords, but in setting what would that be? In D&D medieval stasis fantasy it was pretty straight forward. Start as local heroes killing goblins and end up trying to stop the ancient evil from coming back. Dragons. Giants. Wizards. Its both generic and classic at the same time.
Given what we know of the setting, for Starfinder there's a bunch of things to go into an AP. The equivalent of 'The ancient evil will arise' plotline, that's honestly a little too common, is probably stopping the Galactus/Unicron thing that's coming to eat your solar system. That and grand macguffin quests to find the secret of something lends itself to exploring the setting by hopping to different planets to find the pieces of your plot advancer. But what if the goal is to show what the game can do rather than going to different worlds and staying in some place intimate. 'Conspiracy to undermine Utopia' is one way to go, like a secret Reptoid invasion, evil company that wants to take over someplace, evil AI want's souls, Space Cthulhu Cult or whatever. I assume we're thinking about group heroics for this so I think a gray morality Gundam-like space opera situation would be out of the question and saved for the Starfinder equivalent of Kingmaker or soemthing(Princes of the Universe by Queen).
Of course minor things that are sure to be tropes from somewhere will be the condiments between the meat of the endgame, like exploring a derilict ship only to find a vicious alien, insulting the alien of hats, or saving a space princess from sand worms, so no need to talk about that part. The point is that there's so many kinds of overarching threads that I can think of as appropriate freshman APs that I'm unsure of what I would desire first.
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I'd like an introduction tightly directed towards the central themes of the setting.
Sci-fi RPGs have never worked out for me and I think it's largely because they're a little unfocussed. Players usually have so many choices and options, it's even harder than usual to keep ahead of them - every time I've tried, the PCs have pulled and pushed in directions I wasn't prepared for and it always slowed down and lost drive. I suspect a better adventure writer than me would help with that a lot. :)
It will also help teach us the kinds of stories Paizo are expecting to tell there - Scifi is pretty broad.
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I'd think a good first AP would include exploring a new system/world, alien first contact, and stopping factions within the new alien race from taking over and invading Golarion's home system with an overwhelming fleet. The final part(s) could have a good opportunity for a big space battle in there.
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[Spoiler Alert] We know from the initial press release that two elements from Iron Gods are key elements of the Starfinder setting.
The best guess will be the Dominion finally responding to distress call that the Rhu-chaliks sent during the Iron Gods campaign (Pathfinder #90: The Divinity Drive, p. 63).
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[Spoiler Alert] We know from the initial press release that two elements from Iron Gods are key elements of the Starfinder setting.
An Ascended AI Deity.
The Dominion of the Black. The best guess will be the Dominion finally responding to distress call that the Rhu-chaliks sent during the Iron Gods campaign (Pathfinder #90: The Divinity Drive, p. 63).
I think this would be a good AP, but not sure if it's as "classic" a story. I think it makes a good experimental style AP since the Dominion of the Black as a biological space threat is a bit off the more classic spaceships and lasers theme. It's also something existing PF fans will be excited about, so letting us savor the anticipation a bit hoping for it and using it for AP #2 or #3 might make sense.
I completely expect to see it happen though.
I'm guessing a good old fashioned spacestation disaster.
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Well, I guess a mash-up of the old Star Frontiers Crash on Volturnus/Volturnus, Planet of Mystery/Starspawn of Volturnus (Alpha Dawn) with Face of the Enemy/The War Machine (Knight Hawks), possibly with a little Sundown on Starmist and Mutiny on the Elenor Moraes, could make a decent inspiration for an "Against the Dominion of the Black" AP. It could feature survival, exploration, contact/negotiation with alien and "core" races, a variety of foes, strange technology, mass combat, ship-to-ship combat, infiltration, and several other elements.
The Star Frontiers' sathar could only hypnotize, but the Dominion can send in intellect devourers to take over their "agents."
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I would say it would take it's cues from runelord. Each adventure would center around a different classic monster (goblinoids, constructs, void creatures that don't breathe, etc), showing how each is different in space with an overarching plot of someone/something wanting to take over and/or destroy everything. probably a corporation.
More than anything else, it will be a tour of the solar system.
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I doubt Paizo will go this route, but I'd love to see a sci-fi take on the classic Castle Amber module for D&D. PCs find themselves stranded on a derelict ship, only to find that that they have to contend with a crew driven mad by isolation and the invasion of evil creatures, and have to find a way to find and free the chief engineer from his hibernation capsule so that he can repair the ship and take them home.
I'd love to see something involving the Dark Tapestry.
The best thing about space games is that, the space! Perfect for sandbox style games. By its nature and what the bigwigs say most APs are railroady, so will be interesting how they balance
On the plus side it can be very very absalom-station centric, which they don't do with pathfinder APs
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I like that it's set in Future Golarion... I'd almost like to see it as an 'introduction' to Space.
Something that starts near the Launchpad of New Sandpoint and introduces you to all this new world and technology, and end book one getting on a space ship for a grand tour.
Something kind of familiar... that becomes new and exciting.
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I like that it's set in Future Golarion... I'd almost like to see it as an 'introduction' to Space.
Something that starts near the Launchpad of New Sandpoint and introduces you to all this new world and technology, and end book one getting on a space ship for a grand tour.
Something kind of familiar... that becomes new and exciting.
"New Sandpoint" would be an excellent planet name.
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"New Sandpoint" would be an excellent planet name.I like that it's set in Future Golarion... I'd almost like to see it as an 'introduction' to Space.
Something that starts near the Launchpad of New Sandpoint and introduces you to all this new world and technology, and end book one getting on a space ship for a grand tour.
Something kind of familiar... that becomes new and exciting.
The colonists argued about the name, but finally decided it fit for a desert planet. Then after they had settled some natives with blue within blue eyes warned them to stay out of depths of the desert because of these giant worms... and one kid who studied ancient history and myth perked up and asked "Were they purple?"
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I noted that the whole Golarion is gone and there's a missing gap in time background is similar to the anime One Piece. In One Piece there is a Century of missing information in the past where there is no records of what happened during that time and a bunch of mysterious artifacts that allude to pieces of the history but otherwise people are scared of researchers digging too deep. So here's an idea for Adventure Path #1;
Space is basically the last wild west of the galaxy so the outer fringes of what has already been explored would be places full of bounty, danger and lawlessness. But also the remnants of failed attempts at conquest, exploration or thievery. Have the party find a clue to the location of the treasure of the system's most notorious space pirate. His last words during his execution: "You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place. Now you'll just have to find it!", so you'll have to fight your way through rivals and pirates to find the next clue to the final treasure, which some rumor holds secrets of Cipher Period (I'm calling it the Cipher Period from now on) and what really happened to the cage of Rovagug. Meanwhile worshipers of Rovagug want the treasure for themselves and hope to find something to clue them in to the location of their lost god.
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Well, there was mention of Tzitzimitls...
Treasure Planet
I imagine that it would be a combo of Blade Runner/ Aliens initially then some Star Wars/Star Trek as it gets off Absalom Station.
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I hope they don't do another Carrion Crown with a "tour of sci-fi". A different flavor for each book, only barely connected, would not be awesome. Example:
Book 1: Blade Runner
Book 2: Aliens
Book 3: Star Trek
Book 4: Star Wars
Book 5: Mass Effect
Book 6: Warhammer 40K
Don't. Just... don't.
I hope they don't do another Carrion Crown with a "tour of sci-fi". A different flavor for each book, only barely connected, would not be awesome. Example:
Book 1: Blade Runner
Book 2: Aliens
Book 3: Star Trek
Book 4: Star Wars
Book 5: Mass Effect
Book 6: Warhammer 40KDon't. Just... don't.
Though I would kill for a full length campaign with a Mass Effect feel.
I hope they don't do another Carrion Crown with a "tour of sci-fi". A different flavor for each book, only barely connected, would not be awesome. Example:
Book 1: Blade Runner
Book 2: Aliens
Book 3: Star Trek
Book 4: Star Wars
Book 5: Mass Effect
Book 6: Warhammer 40KDon't. Just... don't.
YMMV.
I love Carrion Crown, and get bored with a lot of APs that are just varying progressions of the same kind of enemy.
"Oh yay. Now I can fight Storm Giants instead of Marsh Giants. Yippee."
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Though I would kill for a full length campaign with a Mass Effect feel.I hope they don't do another Carrion Crown with a "tour of sci-fi". A different flavor for each book, only barely connected, would not be awesome. Example:
Book 1: Blade Runner
Book 2: Aliens
Book 3: Star Trek
Book 4: Star Wars
Book 5: Mass Effect
Book 6: Warhammer 40KDon't. Just... don't.
Agreed. They need to pick a strong theme and plot direction and stick with it.
I think something in the spirit of Dino Riders could be quite interesting.
EDIT: Come to think of it, that would make a great explanation as to the wreckage in Numeria.
Seems an appropriate point to make a TV series quote...
"DINOSAURS! On a SPACE SHIP!"
I think something in the spirit of Dino Riders could be quite interesting.
EDIT: Come to think of it, that would make a great explanation as to the wreckage in Numeria.
Yes yes YES! I always wonder if anyone else had seen that show. I had a couple of the toys as a kid. Heck, I based my dino-riding jungle dwarves off of the concept, and I remember building custom dinosaurs out of LEGO for my minifigs to ride.
I think something in the spirit of Dino Riders could be quite interesting.
EDIT: Come to think of it, that would make a great explanation as to the wreckage in Numeria.
But we already know why there's all that wreckage in Numeria.
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But we already know why there's all that wreckage in Numeria.
Of course we know, it's because Lisa Stevens got the She-Ra DVD set for Christmas.