RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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In prepping this adventure, I found there wasn't much to do. No handouts, no mini-rules systems to learn. Nothing really except the option to add some spicy flavor for my players.
Anyone that's read the first page of this scenario has probably thought about that episode of Firefly called Jaynestown, where the population of a small town is convinced that a visiting criminal was actually their savior. In the show, they play a rather infamous folk song called "The Ballad of Jayne Cobb," also known as the "Hero of Canton" or "The Man they call Jayne." You can find that scene and specifically the song on Youtube.
Anyway, I had entirely too much time on my hands and decided that having a song in the same vein, but with Talbot, thasteron, and Tasch, as the focus would be a perfect addition to this scenario. What follows is my finalish draft of the "The Ballad of Reynald Talbot." The plan is to sing this to my players when they enter Digger's Dive. Feel free to embellish, include, or whatever with this at your tables!
(Sung to the tune of 'Man they call Jayne')
Talbot.. The man they call Talbot.
He turned dust into diamonds and soil into gold,
He saw what we had so he gave us some more.
If devils are real, Asmodeous is to blame,
but we have an angel and Talbot is his name.
The mega corps came and started mining,
looking for thasteron.
It was that mineral they used,
to make their fuel,
found right here on Akiton.
It was the blood of our world that made them rich,
and the hands of our men that dug the land,
But when Drift ships sailed, the mines failed,
and they left us to die in the sands.
He turned dust into diamonds and soil into gold,
He saw what we had so he gave us some more.
If devils are real, Asmodeous is to blame,
but we have an angel and Talbot is his name.
Now our town of Tasch ain't much,
it's humble, like you and I,
So we prayed and we prayed,
and one day were saved,
when Talbot came from the sky.
He heard the people lamenting,
And he offered his hand as a friend,
Then he entered the mines, and there he did find,
A way to make our ore good again.
He turned dust into diamonds and soil into gold,
He saw what we had so he gave us some more.
If devils are real, Asmodeous is to blame,
but we have an angel and Talbot is his name!
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RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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With the assistance of my father (on his banjo) I got this space-folk-song recorded. Here's "The Man they called Talbot", as a standalone track off Table Variation's podcast.
Feel free to download it use it in your games if you'd like!
Venture-Agent, Nebraska—Omaha
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The ranged attack bonus of the miners should be +5
There are some other clarifications and errata in that thread, as well.
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Contributor
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With the assistance of my father (on his banjo) I got this space-folk-song recorded. Here's "The Man they called Talbot", as a standalone track off Table Variation's podcast.
Feel free to download it use it in your games if you'd like!
As always, Walter, you are awesome! I'll be using this in a couple of days!
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Contributor
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So, in my final read-through before running this tomorrow, I noticed an omission (that I'm hoping won't come up when running this, but since it's still a possibility...)
If the negotiations in location with AbadarCorp go well for the PCs, but Talbot escapes in the end (either with the stolen item or without it if the PCs offer him a "head start" in exchange for handing it over), how are GMs handling how that affects the chronicle sheet boons?
The Development section on page 17 suggests that it is covered in the Conclusion section, but it does not appear to be so.
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Can anyone guess what the point of the energy field that separates the bar in half is? It must take energy to run, and I know it lends a little SF touch to a traditional Western setting, but I just don't fathom the purpose.
Unrelated: has anyone had Talbot make a run for it once he reaches the mine entrance? I'm trying to predict whether I'll have to keep in mind Survival checks to track him down, how long it would take him to escape Tasch, and when to just call it that he has escaped.
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
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Can anyone guess what the point of the energy field that separates the bar in half is? It must take energy to run, and I know it lends a little SF touch to a traditional Western setting, but I just don't fathom the purpose.
Unrelated: has anyone had Talbot make a run for it once he reaches the mine entrance? I'm trying to predict whether I'll have to keep in mind Survival checks to track him down, how long it would take him to escape Tasch, and when to just call it that he has escaped.
He was about a round from that when I ran it. But then he's out of cover, and the party's guns finally brought him down. I also got a little sloppy on his movement & actions on that last round, as his tactics were mostly done.
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Can anyone guess what the point of the energy field that separates the bar in half is? It must take energy to run, and I know it lends a little SF touch to a traditional Western setting, but I just don't fathom the purpose.
Ambiance, mostly. Maybe some sound dampening, like the glass or cloth dividers in some restaurants.
I did manage to get Talbot out of the cave on one run through, but without a meaningful way to escape they just ran him down.
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Unrelated: has anyone had Talbot make a run for it once he reaches the mine entrance? I'm trying to predict whether I'll have to keep in mind Survival checks to track him down, how long it would take him to escape Tasch, and when to just call it that he has escaped.
Huh, he actually escaped in the game I just ran. Reached the mine exit and had a couple of rounds of head start on the PCs (and was completely unharmed thanks to holographic duplicates). They took a couple of long-range shots but missed due to range increment issues. I had to assume that the locals in Tasch would shield him or get in the way of pursuing PCs, and called it there. Fortunately, I have awesome players and they weren't too miffed that they lost out on the fame and reputation.
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Contributor
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For the Pitfalls mentioned in page 5, the Culture/Profession pitfall triggers if the PCs fail by 5 or less. The Diplomacy pitfall triggers if the PCs fail by 5 or more. Are both of these correct? Or is one of them in error?
^ Bump.
Asked this in the "First Wave Clarifications" thread - still awaiting a reply.
Can anyone guess what the point of the energy field that separates the bar in half is? It must take energy to run, and I know it lends a little SF touch to a traditional Western setting, but I just don't fathom the purpose.
I ran it as a sound barrier/ambience, and also threw in some flavor that the energy fields had scenes from Maro infosphere stations and "sportsball" games playing, even though everyone was ignoring them in favor of the banjo player and the drinking.
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Can anyone guess what the point of the energy field that separates the bar in half is? It must take energy to run, and I know it lends a little SF touch to a traditional Western setting, but I just don't fathom the purpose.I ran it as a sound barrier/ambience, and also threw in some flavor that the energy fields had scenes from Maro infosphere stations and "sportsball" games playing, even though everyone was ignoring them in favor of the banjo player and the drinking.
That's clever--wish I'd thought of that. One of the things a PC Operative did for their Trick Attack (they could use the Computers skill) was get the energy field to strobe on and off to distract the enemy. It was a nice touch.
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In feedback, one of my players made a really good point that (depending on where the PCs are and what kind of weapons they're holding), Talbot might be a lot better off getting out of the cart. That way he could double-move to get out of the mine faster (instead of the 30' speed of the cart) or could move and do total defense (to move at the same speed of the cart but with a higher AC bonus). The real value of the cart is in running people over :)
Did anyone else's PCs think the mining uniforms they found in the locker were a hint they should try to disguise themselves as miners? Mine tried it but got unceremoniously blasted when they approached Talbot. I'm not sure if it was an intentional red herring or not, but it was fun.
My group did that - use the mining uniforms to disguise themselves - and we did it successfully.
But, then again, we also managed to disarm the Extremely Loud trap so they had no idea we were coming.
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Did anyone else's PCs think the mining uniforms they found in the locker were a hint they should try to disguise themselves as miners? Mine tried it but got unceremoniously blasted when they approached Talbot. I'm not sure if it was an intentional red herring or not, but it was fun.
Mine were too busy looking through the MSDS paperwork in the locker to care about the uniforms.
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
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Did anyone else's PCs think the mining uniforms they found in the locker were a hint they should try to disguise themselves as miners? Mine tried it but got unceremoniously blasted when they approached Talbot. I'm not sure if it was an intentional red herring or not, but it was fun.Mine were too busy looking through the MSDS paperwork in the locker to care about the uniforms.
It's just called SDS now. And I totally missed those being in the lockers. Ah well...
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Thank you Walter Sheppard! I am so using your song in my session Thursday. One thing, Soundcloud is telling me it can't play the track. I will sing it if I must but I would much rather use the track.
I have to agree with this sentiment. We will be playing this tomorrow and I am so using this little prop. Thanks Walter!
Can anyone guess what the point of the energy field that separates the bar in half is? It must take energy to run, and I know it lends a little SF touch to a traditional Western setting, but I just don't fathom the purpose.
When the Shobdan shouted from outside, I had all of the patrons of the bar run to the other side of the force field and close it behind themselves, before the players knew what was going on.
The patrons also started taking bets on who would win - and had one individual start to make popcorn.
Starfinder Society Developer
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Recently, this scenario received an updated version. The email incorrectly matched the updates with another scenario we intend on updating in the near future. For clarity's sake, here's the compiled list of updates to this scenario.
Page 5: Under the Pitfall for Diplomacy (Gather Information) updated the beginning of the text to read: "If the Diplomacy check failed by 5 or less..."
Page 11: Updated the Subtier 1-2 ysoki ambushers to include the correct EAC of 11.
Page 15: Updated the ranged attack bonus of the Subtier 1-2 miners to +3.
Page 16: Updated Subtier 1-2 Reynald Talbot's static arc pistol ranged attack bonus to +8 down from +10.
Page 16: Updated the ranged attack bonus of the Subtier 3-4 miners to +5.
Page 16: Updated Subtier 1-2 Reynald Talbot's thunderstrike pistol ranged attack bonus to +10 down from +15.
Huh, he actually escaped in the game I just ran. Reached the mine exit and had a couple of rounds of head start on the PCs (and was completely unharmed thanks to holographic duplicates). They took a couple of long-range shots but missed due to range increment issues. I had to assume that the locals in Tasch would shield him or get in the way of pursuing PCs, and called it there. Fortunately, I have awesome players and they weren't too miffed that they lost out on the fame and reputation.
Talbot escaped when I ran this, too. The PCs didn't hit him until all (4!) of the duplicates got taken down. Talbot took out the PC Operative in the second round, while the sharpshooter soldier (played by a 12-year-old) jumped in the cart with him. The other three PCs got fixated on the miners for some reason. Talbot jumped off the cart when he got to the trapped zone and made a break for it with his speed. The soldier in the cart biffed a couple of rolls to get out of the cart. The PC Mystic revived the PC Operative, who chased Talbot down but was dropped again moments before Talbot stole their ride and drove off.
To their credit, the PCs called the AbadarCorp agents to report Talbot's escape and I gave the NPCs a chance to catch him before he got back to Tasch. Rolled high, so I said they got him, but weren't willing to give the Starfinders the McGuffin (after a failed Diplomacy check).
Is anyone else confused about Talbot's escape? It says if he's alerted he get's in the mine cart and rides it to the entrance. The rail system isn't set up for a strait shot out of the mine. He'll have to stop at several intersections and switch the track direction.
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Is anyone else confused about Talbot's escape? It says if he's alerted he get's in the mine cart and rides it to the entrance. The rail system isn't set up for a strait shot out of the mine. He'll have to stop at several intersections and switch the track direction.
Presume that these futuristic mine cart systems have an electronic routing capability that automatically switches the rails to the proper orientation as the cart nears.
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But, then again, we also managed to disarm the Extremely Loud trap so they had no idea we were coming.
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Has anyone actually had Talbot use the Charlatan's Stone in game? It seems to be pretty powerful, if you used it correctly. But there's nothing in the scenario to indicate that Talbot uses it either offensively or defensively. Are there stats somewhere for that artifact?
Or is it just a MacGuffin? "Beyond the scope of this adventure?"
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Venture-Agent, Texas—Houston
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Has anyone actually had Talbot use the Charlatan's Stone in game? It seems to be pretty powerful, if you used it correctly. But there's nothing in the scenario to indicate that Talbot uses it either offensively or defensively. Are there stats somewhere for that artifact?
Or is it just a MacGuffin? "Beyond the scope of this adventure?"
That said, the Stone doesn't have any impact in combat.
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I'm gonna assume it takes too long to use like that, otherwise just turning your space suits into mercury or something would be a one touch one kill option.
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Venture-Agent, Texas—Houston
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I'm gonna assume it takes too long to use like that, otherwise just turning your space suits into mercury or something would be a one touch one kill option.** spoiler omitted **
