| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
The HP problem exists in every d20 game - it's also true that someone tied up and threatened with a sword should have the same fear, but a level 10 wouldn't.
And the licensing issue is written into the background so you don't have to worry about it. Why waste more than a single sentence at a table to cover licensing for weapons? Just say, "Your PCs go off and acquire the license and buy the gun." Ensuring a PC has all the proper paperwork isn't fun. Don't dwell on it. Don't waste game time doing it.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
It's a good thing it's just a game and not real life.
And, you know, no 10th level mercenaries in the adventure.
As long as you remember those things, you'll do fine. :-)
96 pages instead of the paltry amount this one received.I really hope the next SF AP is the traditional AP length.What do you mean?
66?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
It appears the player's get no XP if they don't kill Jabaxa and her crew, if they learn all of the details they can from her, should they receive XP as though they defeated them in combat?
Also the same thing happens with Clara-247 (no apparent XP if they don't kill her), should the PCs also get XP as though they defeated her if they convince her to ally with them?
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I would say the 'HP problem' is less a problem with the rules and more a problem with expectations. The veteran soldier mentioned above is probably a level 3 warrior, not any higher. (Remember King Arthur and his greatest knights are often described as being about level 5.) A thoroughly tied up level 3 warrior would be subject to a CDG, so an automatic critical hit. NPC's don't get maximum HP on the first level, either. This level 3 warrior would thus be expected to have about 17 HP.
Damage with a longsword held by a low level character is probably 1d8+2 or so. The CDG would make that 2d8+4, which averages to 13 damage. The damage probably won't be enough to make the level 3 warrior unconscious. However, the fort save as part of the CDG would be DC 10+damage, so on average 23. A level 3 warrior has +3+CON on a fort save, so it's doable, but unlikely to succeed. And this is a level 3 warrior, which very few ever reach. Most are just level 2, with about 11 HP.
|
|
It appears the player's get no XP if they don't kill Jabaxa and her crew, if they learn all of the details they can from her, should they receive XP as though they defeated them in combat?
Also the same thing happens with Clara-247 (no apparent XP if they don't kill her), should the PCs also get XP as though they defeated her if they convince her to ally with them?
In general, PCs should receive the same amount of XP for avoiding combats as fighting in them.
Clara-247 actually awards XP twice. You get XP for defeating her in the ship battle and then again when they find her later.
|
I like the setting of Starfinder but I am actually running it in a different system. Level systems where hit points go up with level never made sense to me. two people tied up and being threatened with a shot from a pistol should both equally be worried for their lives even if one of them is a 10th level mercenary. With a hit point system the pistol that does 2d6 is very deadly to the 1st level character and barely a scratch to the 10 level mercenary.Real world veteran soldiers and mercenaries do not look at a pistol with little concern.
Just to be clear, a 10th level mercenary who is tied up is helpless. Not only will he take 2d6 from the tiny pistol (which will hit him for certain as a coup de grace) but he will have to make a Fort check equal to DC10 + the level / CR of the person firing the gun, or die. With every shot, that's the save or die effect in play within Starfinder. This is not an optional rule.
You will observe that in every case, no matter how high in level the mercenary, there is at least a 5% chance of death, even if the one firing the gun is a deaf Centenarian in a wheelchair...
Just sayin'...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I guess now we know why the headsman's axe sometimes took 2-3 swings. Those victims were high enough level to have more HP than a single swing could do!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I guess now we know why the headsman's axe sometimes took 2-3 swings. Those victims were high enough level to have more HP than a single swing could do!
And they made their Fort save vs. a CDG.
|
Contributor
|
| 21 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hi, everyone!
I decided to go ahead and make a player's guide for my group. I figured there might be a few people who could benefit from it, as well, so I'm sharing it here.
I tried to make this as helpful as possible while still being spoiler free. That said, I highly encourage GMs to review this thoroughly before giving it you your players, so you can make sure it doesn't include anything you don't want them to see.
Here's the link to the location on Google Drive:
Unofficial Dead Suns Player's Guide
If you see any problems, let me know, and I'll make corrections.
I really hope the next SF AP is the traditional AP length.What do you mean?
I'm assuming they mean closer to 50+ pages than 30+ pages for each chapter. :) I'ts understandable that Rob and team went this way, but I am curious how it'll shake out at my table for purposes of a biweekly game.
Hi, everyone!
I decided to go ahead and make a player's guide for my group. I figured there might be a few people who could benefit from it, as well, so I'm sharing it here.
I tried to make this as helpful as possible while still being spoiler free. That said, I highly encourage GMs to review this thoroughly before giving it you your players, so you can make sure it doesn't include anything you don't want them to see.
Here's the link to the location on Google Drive:
Unofficial Dead Suns Player's GuideIf you see any problems, let me know, and I'll make corrections.
That's a fantastic guide, by the way! Beats mine to shame I created for my players.
|
Contributor
|
That's a fantastic guide, by the way! Beats mine to shame I created for my players.Hi, everyone!
I decided to go ahead and make a player's guide for my group. I figured there might be a few people who could benefit from it, as well, so I'm sharing it here.
I tried to make this as helpful as possible while still being spoiler free. That said, I highly encourage GMs to review this thoroughly before giving it you your players, so you can make sure it doesn't include anything you don't want them to see.
Here's the link to the location on Google Drive:
Unofficial Dead Suns Player's GuideIf you see any problems, let me know, and I'll make corrections.
Thank you very much! I hope people find it useful.
Hi, everyone!
I decided to go ahead and make a player's guide for my group. I figured there might be a few people who could benefit from it, as well, so I'm sharing it here.
I tried to make this as helpful as possible while still being spoiler free. That said, I highly encourage GMs to review this thoroughly before giving it you your players, so you can make sure it doesn't include anything you don't want them to see.
Here's the link to the location on Google Drive:
Unofficial Dead Suns Player's GuideIf you see any problems, let me know, and I'll make corrections.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Paris! (^-^)
Your Friendly Neighborhood Dalesman
"Bringing Big D**n Justice to the Bad Guys Since 1369 DR"
Well done, Paris. My only thought is that backgrounds are a little redundant with themes.
I was thinking about making "Focused Themes" for my game. One or two backgrounds for each theme that are a little more specific to the AP than those presented in the CRB. Though a few of your backgrounds would work well as a focus for a Themeless character.
|
Contributor
|
Well done, Paris. My only thought is that backgrounds are a little redundant with themes.
I was thinking about making "Focused Themes" for my game. One or two backgrounds for each theme that are a little more specific to the AP than those presented in the CRB. Though a few of your backgrounds would work well as a focus for a Themeless character.
Thanks, GM.
My focus was on tying backgrounds to the AP without limiting options for the future chapters. The problem I've had with campaign traits in the past is that they are often tied to very specific people, places, or situations. If those people, places, or situations don't feature in the current adventure, then that trait isn't doing anyone any good. My intention in writing them the way I did was to give GMs and players ideas, using specific references as examples, that will hopefully be more applicable throughout the campaign.
I also didn't want to choose specific rules mechanics. Primarily, I haven't had a chance to play with the rules enough to know what bonuses would be most effective without creating imbalances. I wanted to leave the options open for the GM (i.e., "me" ;) ) to decide what works best in the moment.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Thinking about it the other way around. I think you could add a "Suggested Theme" to each of your backgrounds. That doesn't limit people's choices, but gives players a clue for how to integrate their background with their character mechanics.
Gang Affiliation - Outlaw
Corporate - Icon?
Law Enforcement - Mercenary
Mining - Starfarer; etc.
I think it is helpful to give players an idea for why a "Xenoseeker" (for instance) is part of the campaign, and what sorts of roleplaying hooks might apply to those characters.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The Academic background read so much as scholar to me that I didn't even think of xenoseeker applying. Thanks for pointing it out! You can definitely highlight a few themes that work for each background. Bounty Hunter might be in a Gang or part of Law Enforcement. Pilot might be Corporate or from the Mining Background.
Maybe we should hold an "open source player's guide" collaboration and everyone posts their player guides so we can create the Uber-player's guide to Dead Suns. :D
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Wouldn't that be the Core Rulebook...
Thanks, Paris, this is going to be very helpful.
I have uploaded a new version with suggested themes. I also made changes in each background's description to show how each of those themes might apply. You can use the same link as above to get it, but for ease of use, I've reposted it below:
Agreed! Thanks, Paris!
|
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
At the risk of opening a can of worms, I thought Paris' work was so good and useful to all GMs and players, I *ahem* improved its appearance.
If Paizo (or Paris) wants it down, they only need ask.
Link is here: Snazzy Looking Unofficial Dead Suns Player's Guide_REVISED
|
Contributor
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I fixed a tiny typo, but Paizo.com crashed before I could delete my previous message and link. Ah well.
IT'S SO PRETTY!
Seriously, that looks really nice, Steel_Wind. I'm a little concerned about its adherence to the CUP, because Paizo hasn't posted what images are allowed. I'll leave that up to the staff to decide, though.I'll just say that I'm glad I got to see what you did with it. I was hoping someone with layout skills would improve it!
One rumor that I have heard about this is that Priest (or similarly devout followers) of Undead Hating religions such as Pharasma, Iomedae, or Sarenrae might be a problem.
If that is true, should that be mentioned in a Player's guide?
One rumor that I have heard about this is that Priest (or similarly devout followers) of Undead Hating religions such as Pharasma, Iomedae, or Sarenrae might be a problem.
If that is true, should that be mentioned in a Player's guide?
It might be something for players to be aware of, but I think it comes down to an overall awareness of certain aspects of the campaign setting for all PCs, not just Pharasmins, etc.
It's no spoiler for the AP to make sure players understand that Eox is a fully recognized member of the Pact Council. Whether people like undead or not, the Eoxians are legal citizens. The PCs' interactions with representatives from Eox have to be viewed through that lens.
I realize that, but I was thinking of a character thinking he has to obey a "higher" law (because he knows the doctrine of Pharasma from Pathfinder).
Such and act will result in the character's arrest and probable execution, and that could easily derail the campaign. Why not head that problem off by warning prospective players?
It's not that Priests or devout followers of Pharasma are the problem. Those characters will find plenty of fulfillment if they are not Evil kill-undead-on-sight types.
Don't you mean the "Good kill-undead-on-sight types"?
I think "Chaotic" might have been more accurate.
For the last part of the AP you have to work for a specific Undead, you also get to kill a f#~* ton of undead.
So yeah, this is the sort of thing that would have been really, really f#*%ing useful to put into a player's guide, and not assume people are going to read a throwaway line in he Core Rulebook (Eoxians are legal citizens) and make sweeping changes on how they view Undead based on that, instead we gotta wait for Alien Archive or Pact Worlds or Dead Suns 3 explaining this.
|
Contributor
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The adventure assumes that the PCs may not react to certain undead in the most constructive way, but it doesn't do anything to discourage those acts. GMs are simply told that certain actions will have repercussions later in the AP.
That said, the PCs have an opportunity to meet members of the Eoxian delegation early in the adventure. That will be the time when the GM can explain to the players how the undead are involved in Pact Worlds society and that PCs are not necessarily encouraged to kill all undead on sight.
It's not that Priests or devout followers of Pharasma are the problem. Those characters will find plenty of fulfillment if they are not Evil kill-undead-on-sight types.Don't you mean the "Good kill-undead-on-sight types"?
It's so easy to use a Veil spell to make those types kill a bunch of innocents. They're my favorite new clients.
|
It's not that Priests or devout followers of Pharasma are the problem. Those characters will find plenty of fulfillment if they are not Evil kill-undead-on-sight types.Don't you mean the "Good kill-undead-on-sight types"?
Nope. Good people respect the dignity of sentient undead beings.
The alignment chapter is very clear that only demons and angels (and other outsiders) have hard-coded alignments.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Nope. Good people respect the dignity of sentient Non-Evil undead beings.It's not that Priests or devout followers of Pharasma are the problem. Those characters will find plenty of fulfillment if they are not Evil kill-undead-on-sight types.Don't you mean the "Good kill-undead-on-sight types"?
FTFY
FTFYNope. Good people respect the dignity of sentient Non-Evil undead beings.It's not that Priests or devout followers of Pharasma are the problem. Those characters will find plenty of fulfillment if they are not Evil kill-undead-on-sight types.Don't you mean the "Good kill-undead-on-sight types"?
Broken record much.
|
|
FTFYNope. Good people respect the dignity of sentient Non-Evil undead beings.It's not that Priests or devout followers of Pharasma are the problem. Those characters will find plenty of fulfillment if they are not Evil kill-undead-on-sight types.Don't you mean the "Good kill-undead-on-sight types"?
Not all undead are evil. The alignment chapter is very clear about that.
And only respecting non-Evil life? That is not Good at all. Neutral at best.
FTFYNope. Good people respect the dignity of sentient Non-Evil undead beings.It's not that Priests or devout followers of Pharasma are the problem. Those characters will find plenty of fulfillment if they are not Evil kill-undead-on-sight types.Don't you mean the "Good kill-undead-on-sight types"?Not all undead are evil. The alignment chapter is very clear about that.
And only respecting non-Evil life? That is not Good at all. Neutral at best.
Um, yeah, I'm ptretty sure you can be Good and not respect Devourers, they eat people's souls.
It's not as big a deal as you make it out to be. There are way more people with distorted concepts of Pharasma due to no information in the Pathfinder CRB then you might realize.
|
|
Um, yeah, I'm ptretty sure you can be Good and not respect Devourers, they eat people's souls.
*rolls eyes* Quit equivocating. Just because some undead are monsters, doesn't mean they all are.
Um, yeah, I'm ptretty sure you can be Good and not respect Devourers, they eat people's souls.*rolls eyes* Quit equivocating. Just because some undead are monsters, doesn't mean they all are.
Uh, it's not "some", it's the overwhelming majority.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Can we move the discussion about undead in Starfinder to another thread?
Thanks!