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Questions on one of the chronicle boons:
Particularly this sentence:
You can use this boon only if your character has a Reputation Tier of 3 with the Wayfinders faction or a Reputation Tier of 4 with other factions.
1. Does this mean you can only receive this boon if your character meets those requirements or can only use this boon once your character reaches one of those Reputation Tiers?
2. Does "Reputation Tier of 4 with other factions" mean all-factions Reputation Tier 4 (sum of reputation) or reaching Reputation Tier 4 with an individual faction other than Wayfinders?
Starfinder Society Developer
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1. No, you benefit from this when your character reaches that Tier, regardless of when they receive this Chronicle sheet.
2. Sum of all factions, as per how All Factions is handled in the Guide. So if you specialized in Wayfinders, you get it early. Otherwise, you get it when you hit Tier 4 overall.
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Just finished my first read through and I really like it. First off I love the Morlamaws. Second the fact that they're worshiping Zon-kuthon is awesome. I'm really looking forward to playing up the creepy, unnerving cult vibe. Kate will one of the many, many times you run this be at the Bookwyrm con in Fresno? I'm hoping to make it up there, and would love to play on your table.
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Alright, I've done my initial read through and I have some questions.
1) "A PC who learns this information knows where on Absalom Station to purchase underwater weapons (Starfinder Alien Archive 69.) While such weapons generally cost 10% more than a regular version of the weapon, a PC who succeeded at this check can purchase such weapons at the base weapon’s normal price—many kalo manufacturers on Absalom Station are on good terms with the Manta Corps and want to help however they can."
I assume that this effect lasts only for this scenario since it is not on the chronicle, is that correct? Secondly, can a GM take advantage of this discounted purchase price when purchasing items after the scenario has been run (but before another scenario credit has been applied to the character.)
2) The underwater special property states, "Underwater: A weapon with this special property that is used underwater ignores the –2 penalty to attack rolls and deals full damage."
In the underwater rules section it states that "Most attacks made underwater take a –2 penalty and deal half damage. Attacks that deal fire damage do only one-quarter damage. Attacks that deal electricity damage take a –4 penalty rather than a –2 penalty...Thrown weapons are ineffective underwater, even when launched from land."
How does the underwater special property interact with weapons which deal fire damage or electrical damage. Do they deal full damage instead of one quarter or half, do they both take no penalty to attack rolls?
What about thrown weapons, there's several places where an underwater starknife is listed, does an underwater thrown weapon ignore the last sentence, "Thrown weapons are ineffective underwater, even when launched from land."
I understand that these are general rules as the handout is basically cribbed verbatim from page 405, but its not cleared up by the underwater special property completely, so I figured I would ask here.
3) Not exactly a scenario question but since this hasn't been out for that long I figured I'd ask here as to avoid spoilers on the main forum. Morlamaw have the following "Cold Resistance: Morlamaws are accustomed to swimming in icy water and have cold resistance 5." Is this intended to stack with one other form of cold resistance as Shobhad and Ryphorians does, or is this meant to only be greatest applies.
That's all I have for right now but will continue to read.
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Starfinder Society Developer
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Alright, I've done my initial read through and I have some questions.
1) "A PC who learns this information knows where on Absalom Station to purchase underwater weapons (Starfinder Alien Archive 69.) While such weapons generally cost 10% more than a regular version of the weapon, a PC who succeeded at this check can purchase such weapons at the base weapon’s normal price—many kalo manufacturers on Absalom Station are on good terms with the Manta Corps and want to help however they can."
I assume that this effect lasts only for this scenario since it is not on the chronicle, is that correct? Secondly, can a GM take advantage of this discounted purchase price when purchasing items after the scenario has been run (but before another scenario credit has been applied to the character.)
This effect only lasts for the scenario and you can note the purchase on your Chronicle sheet, indicating the 10% discount as part of the scenario. GMs can also take advantage of this between scenarios if they so choose.
As for the other questions, those aren't strictly related to the scenario and should probably get asked to the Starfinder Design Team in the rules forum!
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Follow up question: "A PC who learns this information knows where on
Absalom Station to purchase underwater weapons (Starfinder
Alien Archive 69.) While such weapons generally cost 10% more
than a regular version of the weapon, a PC who succeeded at this
check can purchase such weapons at the base weapon’s normal
price"
The way this is worded seems to imply that only the PC who makes this Culture check can obtain the discount, is this the correct interpretation or can anyone purchase if one PC makes this check. I'm not sure that it matters a ton since anyone can take 20 on this Culture check if they have access to the Absalom Station infosphere but in case they don't realize/don't want to.
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how do you know if you are tier 3 with a faction? i am a wayfinder and am level 5 almost 6 so dont know how to figerout my tier.
Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide 1.0 page 24. It depends on your reputation with that faction, not your character level.
and where are the race stats for the Morlamaw?
If you succeeded on that part of the mission your GM should have given you a sheet with the Morlamaw’s stats and abilities on it. (It’s an additional page in the scenario pdf.)
Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West
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I've just been watching a table of players (including my wife) here at DunDraCon thoroughly enjoying themselves playing through this, with Kate as their GM. They're still playing, but I have no hesitation in recommending this scenario to everybody (especially if you are lucky enough to have Kate run it for you).
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Just reading through this one and prepping for a couple of weeks. Those poor Manta Corps! I liked them, but I also like the surprise in store for the PCs. I do have to admit it seems a bit strange that the SFS would send a team of 4-6 landlubbers to an aquatic world to investigate the disappearance of 4 elite experts on aquatic combat/exploration operations, but I'm willing to suspend disbelief :)
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how do you know if you are tier 3 with a faction? i am a wayfinder and am level 5 almost 6 so dont know how to figerout my tier. and where are the race stats for the Morlamaw?
You need 25+ Reputation with the Wayfinder faction; assuming you're level 5, nearly 6, just go back and add up the rep you've earned on your previous Chronicle sheets. If it's 25+, congratulations! If not, play a few more games, then congratulations!
Contributor
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Just reading through this one and prepping for a couple of weeks. Those poor Manta Corps! I liked them, but I also like the surprise in store for the PCs. I do have to admit it seems a bit strange that the SFS would send a team of 4-6 landlubbers to an aquatic world to investigate the disappearance of 4 elite experts on aquatic combat/exploration operations, but I'm willing to suspend disbelief :)
I was sad about the Manta Corps too. Regarding the PCs going on this mission, Fitch alludes to this briefly, but the PCs are among the most experienced agents that the Society has available to send on assignments. (This is only the second 3-6!) They probably do have more aquatic agents they could send, but they went for overall power and experience instead since they now suspect the planet to be dangerous.
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I think that's the big disconnect people tend to forget right now. You're right - if it were up to the Society, they wouldn't send a party of L3-L6 characters, after their aquatic combat experts went dark. But every team they had ready to go (and a few they didn't) went into the Scoured Stars, and your team is what we have available for the mission at hand.
You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want.
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Hey, scenario author here! I'll definitely be watching this thread if there are any questions that I can help with. I'll be running this one many, many, many times myself, so I'll also chime in with anything I notice in my own games.
I have a minor question about their creature type.
Why are they designated 'monstrous humanoids'? I get the 'monstrous' part, despite their being utterly adorable. But outside of basic bilateral symmetry, which most mammals share, there's really nothing 'humanoid' about them. There must be a good reason for the designation....
(BTW, I tried to put that behind a 'spoiler' tag, just in case, but the How To Format Your Text button hasn't worked for me since the website update.)
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Contributor
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The creature types are laid out in Pages 132-133 of Alien Archive if you want to see the definitive characteristics. I went with Monstrous Humanoid since the other aquatic creatures I was comparing to had that designation (kalos and wrikreechees). Other examples are formians, haans, and shobhads. I felt like the morlamaws fit that group better than Magical Beast, which includes urogs, electrovores, and crest-eaters, and don't seem to really wear clothes or use weapons, though they can certainly be intelligent.
Things that do look more human-y, like verthani, sarcesians, and ryphorians get the Humanoid type instead.
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Regarding underwater weapons: since they appear in Alien Archive, are only players who have the book allowed to buy them? (I would assume an in-session waiver might be appropriate, but then there's the issue of what happens to the weapon afterwards if they don't have the book and decide not to get it).
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Just noticed that Teltham's tactics talk about him using mystic cure on himself, but under his spells listed, he doesn't have that. I'm going to give my PCs the benefit of the doubt and assume he doesn't have it, unless told its omission is a mistake.
I noticed that too. I found it strange that he's the only Morlamaw in the scenario who doesn't have Mystic Cure, so I assumed he was intended to have the first tier of the spell and cast it once.
I'd love a clarification on this before running the scenario again.
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I recently ran this and ran into an interesting interaction between the Morlamaw's Skewer special ability and Attacks of Opportunity.
The PC's were moving to get away from the melee Morlamaw's so they provoked attacks quite often. This triggered the skewer effect. What happens when they are skewered exactly, are they moved closer and that movement attempt ends? Or are they moved closer but can continue movement after getting moved closer. I ran it as a opposed strength roll, if the PC won the strength roll they could continue moving after they were pulled back, if not they ended the movement adjacent to the Morlamaw. I also noticed that the morlamaws can chain together skewers to move creatures quite effectively as a group. I had two of them pop a Haan PC out of an airlock for a couple rounds.
I guess the succinct question is whether the skewer ability stops movement.
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Hey, scenario author here! I'll definitely be watching this thread if there are any questions that I can help with. I'll be running this one many, many, many times myself, so I'll also chime in with anything I notice in my own games.
I really enjoyed playing in this!
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Contributor
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But with the haan being large, should the Morlamaw's skewer actually moved me out of the air lock? I advanced the point that because I could brace across the 5' doorway, I could not be pull out, but the GM determined I could be moved.
Was the GM correct?
Great fun by the way. Zenithar did a great job!
Really, this is just one of those corner cases that a GM has to adjudicate at the table, which effectively means however the GM rules is correct. I think it would be reasonable to rule it either way.
And I'm glad to hear that people had fun playing!
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Thanks. When I thought of it after I earned the boon at GenCon 2017, I ran it by Hmm and she like it too.
While playing this table, we introduced our characters. Someone who was playing a completely different game at the game store we were at came over and said that he really likely my character name and background!
Really, this is just one of those corner cases that a GM has to adjudicate at the table, which effectively means however the GM rules is correct. I think it would be reasonable to rule it either way.
And I'm glad to hear that people had fun playing!
Fair enough. Hopefully something that can be considered in the future as a large player character is not a common character.
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Contributor
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Quick question about Appendix #2 on page 21:
Throughout the scenario, all morlamaws are presented with the "Skewer (Ex)" ability, but not on this page. Is this intentional? If so, is there a recommendation on what to tell players who inquire about this after chronicle sheets have been handed out?
Thanks!
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Quick question about Teltham.
On page 13/14 - his full stat block shows him at LN
However on page 15 under event 1, he is listed as NE.
Given he is her favored follower it would make sense if he was NE.
Event 5 on page 18 also make it look like he is more in the NE camp.
It does make a bit of a difference in how he is played (and how far into the cult he has sunk, which is apparently pretty far).
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Contributor
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I didn't write the playable morlamaw, but I imagine that was intentional. There are definitely examples of PC versions of creatures not getting all of the monster abilities in Alien Archive, such as Grays not getting Probe or Sleep Paralysis and Formians not getting Death Grasp.
Teltham is quite dedicated to Oshessa and Zon-Kuthon; I've been role-playing him more on the evil side.
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Venture-Agent, Netherlands
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@Kate Baker
I'm going to run the scenario and I've loved reading it!
A quick clarification does come to mind:
Event 4 - "Oshessa soon follows to confront the PCs once they have dealt with Teltham, bringing the devoted cultists listed with her in the description of A8.
Event 5 - There is no mentions of these devoted cultists anywhere...where do they go? Or are they just out for plot reasons? Because if PCs defeat Oshessa, those cultists will want revenge...
I was thinking they might be in A6 (waiting for the fight to be over with the serpents?) or A7 (helping Oshessa out?)
More importantly, do they come into the final battle and help? They are devoted after all!
Did anyone else come across this issue?
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Contributor
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Hey James, I’m glad you enjoyed reading it! Yes, you want to try to get the devoted cultists in the room (whichever room it is) when the battle with Oshessa happens. I’ve had that battle happen in four different locations now, so it can be tricky, but she is kind of an odd opponent on her own if she doesn’t have backup. Sorry that’s not more definitive, but everyone moves around a lot in this!
I wouldn’t have the cultists attack the PCs if they manage to corner Oshessa alone and defeat her. They’re devoted to her, but kind of directionless without her.
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Venture-Agent, Netherlands
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Hey James, I’m glad you enjoyed reading it! Yes, you want to try to get the devoted cultists in the room (whichever room it is) when the battle with Oshessa happens. I’ve had that battle happen in four different locations now, so it can be tricky, but she is kind of an odd opponent on her own if she doesn’t have backup. Sorry that’s not more definitive, but everyone moves around a lot in this!
I wouldn’t have the cultists attack the PCs if they manage to corner Oshessa alone and defeat her. They’re devoted to her, but kind of directionless without her.
Awesome! Thank you for clarification :)
(I am quite partial to poisoning people and I find putting that as a sticker on my GM screen is a little less bloodthirsty...so this scenario ticks all the boxes on that front by using my personal favourite)
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Contributor
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(I am quite partial to poisoning people and I find putting that as a sticker on my GM screen is a little less bloodthirsty...so this scenario ticks all the boxes on that front by using my personal favourite)
A GM after my own heart. :) I wrote the poisons for Pathfinder Player Companion: Potions and Poisons and for Starfinder Armory.
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Venture-Agent, Netherlands
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Battle report:
Went rather quickly, they missed a few clues but the sheer amount of Zon-Kuthon references meant they figured it out.
They were quite surprised when Oshessa revealed herself to be Zon-Kuthon so upfront and asked for volunteers (Event 5)...she got one...I injected him willing 3 times and he only failed 1 fort save (damn him)! The rest of the PCs wondering what to do about this development until Teltham burst in and then we have a very squished fight with 4 large creatures and 5 medium PCs (including 1 Kalo player) in her chambers.
We did come across a rather unique problem actually. One of my players was an early-stage Barathu which has no land speed, so he couldn't move underwater unless he got the item/upgrade to give him a swim speed (he got it, which lead to some hilarious results...imagine jellyfish with boosters)
Overall was an awesome scenario and loved running it! (Not sure my PCs agree on my choice of a French accent for the Morlamaws but it said accented common so that's what I went with)
Does anyone else have a funky accent they used?
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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The sea serpents have "venom" that deals dexterity damage. How does that relate to the poison rules in the CRB?
1) Do things that help against poison, like Antitoxin, help against venom?
2) Do you take automatic HP damage when exposed to venom, like you do with poison?
3) This venom does dexterity damage. Is the dexterity poison track also involved?
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Starfinder Society Developer
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The sea serpents have "venom" that deals dexterity damage. How does that relate to the poison rules in the CRB?
1) Do things that help against poison, like Antitoxin, help against venom?
2) Do you take automatic HP damage when exposed to venom, like you do with poison?
3) This venom does dexterity damage. Is the dexterity poison track also involved?
No to all of the above. It's ability damage that's not associated with the standard Starfinder poison rules / Dexterity damage track. This was an intentional decision on my part as I didn't want the PCs to end up getting inflicted with poison in such a remote location so early in the campaign.
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Quick clarification, but I'm assuming the morlamaw's suffer the standard -2 to hit while in the water (but as their tusks are piercing, they do full damage). Is that correct?
Especially with the creatures attack bonus given in the text and not really able to be back calculated I think this is an area that others might also be confused.
Take the creatures listed in A8/A9 for example. Do their stat blocks take into account that they are underwater (and thus the -2 is included in their bonus), or should I be giving them that penalty?
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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It's not super-clearly spelled out in the Starfinder CRB, but I would say that their tusks don't take any penalties;
Land-based creatures usually have considerable difficulty when fighting in water, as it affects a creature’s attack rolls, damage, and movement (see page 137 for more on swimming). The following adjustments apply whenever a character is swimming, walking in chest-deep water, or walking along the bottom of a body of water.
(...)
Attacks Underwater
Most attacks made underwater take a –2 penalty and deal half damage. Attacks that deal fire damage do only one-quarter damage. Attacks that deal electricity damage take a –4 penalty rather than a –2 penalty. Melee attacks that deal piercing damage deal full damage. Thrown weapons are ineffective underwater, even when launched from land.
Morlamaws are aquatic creatures, so this passage doesn't apply to them 100%. And saying "most" attacks implies "not all".
To understand that we need to look back to Pathfinder. I know, they're supposed to be separate games, but let's face it, it's a first edition of a new game, there's a lot of things that aren't quite as standalone as we'd wanted. Lots of things the developers assumed were obvious or that they'd put elsewhere but we need to look back to the game's parent to fill in some blanks.
In this case, Pathfinder also had somewhat confusing underwater combat rules. They start out with "Land-based creatures can have considerable difficulty
when fighting in water." Hey, that looks familiar doesn't it? There's quite a few [aquatic] or [water] creatures in Pathfinder that don't do piercing damage, like Water elementals. Were they intended to always do only half damage? That makes them rather feeble. But look at that opening sentence: "land-based creatures". Those penalties were never intended to apply to water elementals!
Years later (shortly before Starfinder) they wrote Aquatic Adventures, which contains this clarification:
Creatures with a natural swim speed from the aquatic or water subtype don’t take these penalties with their inherent natural attacks.
(Although that leaves druids wildshaping into marine animals in a strange position.)
Note that this is also the book that turned Off-Balance into a more recognized situation which proved useful for Starfinder's zero-G combat rules. So we can see a lot of intent in this book that helps us understand how Starfinder underwater combat is probably intended to work.
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TL;DR - Morlamaw tusks take no underwater combat penalties because they're natural weapons of aquatic creatures. Orshessa's injection glove should take a -2 penalty to hit but do full damage (piercing).
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And now for my latest dilemma.
The team is a little light (five persons, and more social/skills than heavy firepower). They have worked most of the way through, and triggered event E.
Things go according to script, Teltham comes out and we end up in a big fight.
But they are being worn down much faster than they are wearing down their underwater adversaries (not really that surprising really. It is a beast of a battle with four large creatures with reach and no real melee in the SF group). One of them pulls out a smoke grenade and tosses it and they flee back into the airlock.
So the smoke grenade... I just went with it working as per normal, I figure you get underwater flares, so why not a smoke grenade, and they needed the break.
They head back into the main room and start trying to talk the other morlamaw around.
So I'm in two minds here. No way are the other morlamaw going to fight Oshessa, but there is going to be some pretty hard evidence against her once they get to the inevitable 'there was a secret door with a dead Starfinder behind it'.
Obviously one of her tactics is actually to do this in reverse to the PCs. But there is nothing mechanical to support how this type of situation is supposed to be resolved. And it is not like she has any skill with diplomacy.
We are currently at the point where she is about to emerge through the airlock into the main room, which is full of her followers and the PCs.
It might all turn to custard but at the moment I'm kind of leaning toward Oshessa being exiled, along with her core three followers. This would see the team succeed in the mission, but with reduced credits (effectively no credits for A8 or A9).
Does that seem like a reasonable outcome?