I've been talking about what kind of setting would I make if I made my own Starfinder. The first post I detailed earlier this month, talking about an undead faction. Today, I wrote about, what can only be described as, The Evil League of Evil. Give them a read and share what you think.
That is actually a tough question.
I favor something in the Spirit of Star Trek's Federation.
You can't actually do Star Trek, largely because ships with hundreds of crew-members isn't practical for play. PCs will need/want smaller ships.
That is actually a tough question.
I favor something in the Spirit of Star Trek's Federation.
You can't actually do Star Trek, largely because ships with hundreds of crew-members isn't practical for play. PCs will need/want smaller ships.
I think you could pull off a star trek like setting, you would just spend a lot of time as "red shirts" on away missions and such, with the Enterprise or equivalent vessel sort of your "home town" that you return to.
I think you could pull off a star trek like setting, you would just spend a lot of time as "red shirts" on away missions and such, with the Enterprise or equivalent vessel sort of your "home town" that you return to.That is actually a tough question.
I favor something in the Spirit of Star Trek's Federation.
You can't actually do Star Trek, largely because ships with hundreds of crew-members isn't practical for play. PCs will need/want smaller ships.
True. This is the exact direction that Prime Directive went in.
But, what I was getting at is that Paizo is already aiming for a "Buck Rodgers" type feel. Since Star Wars was based on Buck Rodger/Flash Gordon, that path will already be well represented.
Since JBE is a 3rd Party Publisher, I was suggesting a setting that is a bit more "science" oriented, but still fundamentally optimistic.
Of course what will really make or break any new setting is a solid AP to support and develop it.
But, what I was getting at is that Paizo is already aiming for a "Buck Rodgers" type feel. Since Star Wars was based on Buck Rodger/Flash Gordon, that path will already be well represented.
Since JBE is a 3rd Party Publisher, I was suggesting a setting that is a bit more "science" oriented, but still fundamentally optimistic.
I wouldn't say I'm aiming for the same kind of setting that Paizo is. Paizo is aiming for "Golarion in Space," a generic setting where you can play any type of game that can break down if you make the suggestion too hard, "let's just go somewhere that isn't having a problem," (i.e. the way many Brits are saying, "Let's go to Canada," post Brexit.) I mean this solves CotCT, CoT, HR, and others. To me it feels that Paizo 's Starfinder setting is going to be the same way since it allows for the widest possible variety of APs. Some tech is running amuck and killing lots of people on the Red Planet, move the people to the Pluto analogue would be my first answer. Not, "let them all stay and keep being killed while a small band of adventures stops this thing."
Should I stick with Starfinder, I'm not interested in doing a generic setting. I always pick Dark Sun over the Forgotten Realms. And the same is true here. I'd want something where the standard race's home worlds and many of their former colonies are captured and the default game is to free your home.
There is still lots of room for other games within: settle a new world without much resources (ala Kingmaker), diplomatic mission to turn a warlord to your side, recruiting others to your cause, star fights against overwhelming numbers of enemies...
I mean which sounds more exciting: dying in a desperate space battle against overwhelming numbers of zombies chewing through the hull of your fighter, protecting materials your resistance group needs to build more fighters... or dying at the hands of random space pirates that wNt to make a quick buck while protecting a cargo shipment that some corporation hired you to guard? At their heart, both are guarding stuff and dying in the fight. The only difference is why your character died, for money or an underdog cause. I'll take the latter.
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Some tech is running amuck and killing lots of people on the Red Planet, move the people to the Pluto analogue would be my first answer. Not, "let them all stay and keep being killed while a small band of adventures stops this thing."
Which feels as realistic as evacuating an entire kingdom because things are bad.
Evacuating a city following an earthquake or fire is crazy. Look at the refugee crisis where they're spreading out displaced people over an entire continent. If the entire Red Planet tries to bugger off to Pluto, you can imagine the later saying "Oh, hells no!" and closing their borders.If you think people travelling by rickety boats can end in a disaster, cram people into a junker of a space freighter...
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Thoughts on 3PP Starfinder in general:
It really sounds like Starfinder will be a setting as much as a ruleset. GMs selling a Starfinder game to their players will likely focus on the setting as much as the rules, otherwise they'd suggest Star Wars Saga/ Edge of the Empire, Firefly/Serenity, or one of the myriad generic sci-fi RPGs.
A 3rd Party Starfinder book that assumes play not in the Starfinder setting seems tricky. It works against one of the major selling features of the game, like buying Numenera and using the rules for another setting. It forces a choice between the official content and the 3rd Party stuff.
And it might be tricky depending on how setting specific the Starfinder options are. At one of the panels they were talking about a stellar mage that uses the orbits of stars to cast spells and such...
Were I to do some Starfinder content/setting, I'd go off to the side of the universe. Unlike Golarion, it is pretty easy to just make a new region that's independent but still part of the larger whole. Galaxies are pretty big in that way: you can have a setting of dozens or even hundreds of stars tucked away in an unseen corner.
A region of the galaxy would work. A stellar neighborhood. Less a whole new setting and more a personal solar system.
As a worldbuilder at heart, I like a solid hook for my settings or regions. In this case, I'd probably build around some kind of astrological phenomena or anomaly. The equivalent of a space sargasso that makes travel difficult, or encourages people to stay. A nebula that messes with hyperspace or a black hole that strands people passing by.
Evacuating a city following an earthquake or fire is crazy. Look at the refugee crisis where they're spreading out displaced people over an entire continent. If the entire Red Planet tries to bugger off to Pluto, you can imagine the later saying "Oh, hells no!" and closing their borders.
If you think people travelling by rickety boats can end in a disaster, cram people into a junker of a space freighter...
Which is an adventure path in itself. I mean heck, that would like a great first adventure in that adventure path. It would work really well with several evil powers (like, I don't know, a cybernetic undead faction and a whole bunch of space nazis, just to grab a wild example) taking over all the main races home worlds, driving away those that don't want to live under cruel rulers. You'd still be dealing with the implications of this decades to come. Some would risk life and limb to fly back in there and get more people out that couldn't in the the early waves. That sounds like a great early adventure, doesn't it. Some might even call it ... the iconic adventure for the setting ;)
But still, staying in the killing zone never felt like a smart options to me. Potentially dying trying to get to safety makes more sense to me than definitely dying by staying in a war zone. Fight or flight: if the danger is more than I can handle, I'll run; option C of "stay put" doesn't sound appealing.
It forces a choice between the official content and the 3rd Party stuff.
Pathfinder does that know. And I am sure that there will be those that will instantly say "no" to it just because it is a Compatible Product and not from Paizo. And to be honest, that is one of the reasons why I am not committing to it at this time. I don't really relish being told yet again how I am "ruining the game."
Which is why I am only talking about what I would do in my own home game at this point. This might end up being for sale; it might not. I really can't say for sure at this time. But if I do support Starfinder, this is what we are doing...
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What I would love to see is 3PP doing adventures (and setting material) for a world / system. Each one being a different world (as opposed to a different dungeon).
So as the players are blasting off to parts unknown from Absolom station, you can fill up that galaxy with 3PP Worlds.
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I don't know about everybody else but I feel that Starfinder will actually let more 3pp stuff happen because the setting itself is so much more wide open for creating new stuff. Aliens, technologies, worlds, starships, space empires, wars, lost colonies, etc.
Whereas I had always dabbled in Pathfinder, I am totally in for Starfinder. I am looking forward to it, and seeing what everybody creates for it.
I hope it finds great success.
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Whatever JBE releases under the Starfinder license, I hope it is a great success.
I am hoping that the core rules encourages more 3PPs to jump in with their own worlds, races, and histories/lore; groups playing in Paizo's core setting/APs could easily end up side-treking or full-on adventuring in 3PP, especially when all it takes is a misaligned/damaged hyperdrive or wonky navigation, or flying around the sun at luminal speeds, or the transporters dropping the party into a mirror universe...
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I'm not sure what JBE's position is, but if I'm playing sci-fi lite/sci-fantasy Starfinder, I'm hoping at least one 3PP decides to explore a non-/less-objectively Good vs. Evil setting.
For example, undeath can be Evil when taking the usual moral shortcuts and sacrificing/defiling innocent souls. But what if there are other paths to undeath? It would have to be more difficult and time-consuming (or eveyone would be doing it), and still present an avenue for corruption/sliding/falling into evil, but why not neutral undeath or at least little-e evil? Perhaps undeath is the only way to save an entire planetary culture, and they did it willing without sacrificing innocents or committing terrible acts? They could still have regret for the limitations of their undead state, the slow stagnation of the culture and growth, ostracism by other races and deific concerns (even their own gods), loss of their homeworld, etc... but they wouldn't all have to turn to Evil.
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I'd also like to see a collective consciousness race, but not as rapacious intractable villains like the Borg. Again, they wouldn't have to be good, but why would they have to be Evil or evil? Sure, many sophants/sentients would find the partial or complete loss of individuality totally unacceptable... but many would also find certainty, purpose, total acceptance, and ultimate community in the Collective. The Collective, with it's immense perspective and distributed/RAID nature, could often afford to outlast/out-endure other races and civilizations. It could also be highly selective in recruiting key individuals, offering vast knowledge/resources/desires as benefits and enticements, and only force-assimilating as a last resort. Why use overt force when the Collective could covertly manipulate opposition to defuse the threat, or turn it towards a third-party? Why raid and devour like locusts when they could manipulate trade and treaties to their own benefit, especially if they can make allies or defense partners by doing so?
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Whatever JBE releases under the Starfinder license, I hope it is a great success.
Thank you!!!
I am hoping that the core rules encourages more 3PPs to jump in with their own worlds, races, and histories/lore
Judging from Vic's words here, I am quite sure they will. I have full faith in Paizo.
I'm not sure what JBE's position is, but if I'm playing sci-fi lite/sci-fantasy Starfinder, I'm hoping at least one 3PP decides to explore a non-/less-objectively Good vs. Evil setting.
... Perhaps undeath is the only way to save an entire planetary culture, and they did it willing without sacrificing innocents or committing terrible acts?
I personally very much against "good vs evil" and do hope that alignment does not have a mechanical component in the game, even if it is kept for a shorthand to describe a character.
As I have said before, these posts are for some theoretical future home game. It might get published; it might not. I am not committing myself, since I have over committed myself in the past and I am trying not to do that in the future. Also, I don't have a final clear vision as to where I want to go at this time. The basic Empire/Rebellion model is my starting point, but I want it more complex than that. The Rebellion side is obviously sympathetic to all gamers and and is a logical starting point for any game. Having said that, I want the Empire to not be clear cut evil. Take the Evil League of Evil as an example. That name is a very rough sketch of what I want. I mean, sure there is going to be warlord tyrant that hires space orcs to savage anyone that stands in their way. There is also going to be a more reasonable warlord that will take care of the people in his/her domain. There are going to be corporations that outright deals in slaves or simply treats their employees like slaves. There will also be corporations that believe their empowered people work harder and produce better results, resulting in higher profits. All the other sides are going to be the same way.
I am also deviating from the Empire/Rebellion model in ways I haven't discussed yet openly, and frankly I am not sure exactly what form they are going to take yet. Posting these is helping me work through my various ideas to form something cohesive. I do know I am borrowing from RuneQuest and 13th Age some and am incorporating the idea of factions/icons. I think they work well and help invest players without having to have them become masters of the setting before their first game. Doing this lets a player make a meanful contribution to the game with little information. For example, a rebellion space pilot can have a contact inside the Evil League of Evil on the sheet and use it to get a safe harbor to stop over and refuel before striking the cybernetic undead. Something like that.
Today in my ongoing series, What Kind of Setting Would I Make, I look at some of the alien races we'd create and how we would use the core book races in our setting. Give it a read.