The Scoured Stars: Campaign Mode Tweaks

[John Mangrum]

Howdy all; I'm going to be running the Starfinder Society Scoured Stars scenarios for my home game, playing through, well, just about everything, eventually. For now, we've just recently kicked off and are most of the way through Into the Unknown.

We're playing in campaign mode, but as GM I'm not worrying about keeping it Starfinder Society Guild-legal. This frees me up to make some tweaks along the way! Obviously none of this applies to guild games, but if there are any other GMs out there following the same path, maybe my notes will be useful. (And I'm interested in notes from other GMs too!)

For the record, my campaign's PCs are a gang of misfits (who mostly wouldn't be allowed at convention games):

Bate Chewed Ton, a draelik dream prophet mystic originally from the Burning Archaepelago on the sun, and who may have fried his brain with too many psychotropic plants.

Clink, an ysoki roboticist mechanic from Akiton, technical owner of the team's starship, the Starfish, and borderline criminal.

Kel'vardon, a drow ace pilot operative on the run from Apostae.

Lynarra Obos, a damaya lashunta corporate agent envoy from Castrovel (and actually an astrazoan with multiple identities).

"Roya" Ilyich Byczek, a withered human borai death-touched soldier who never takes off his space suit, insists he's human, and insists he was originally a "cosmonaut" abducted from a world no one's ever heard of called "Earth."

TACO (Tactical Arcane Combat Organism), an android biotechnician technomancer who was "born" in a crime scene in the Spike on Absalom Station just over a year ago.

For now, I have one change to share, followed by a general question.

Into the Unknown: The Endless Threnody
I ran quests one through three without ever really worrying about whether the adventure's backstory was technically "possible" by the rules. After my PCs successfully dealt with the Endless Threnody last week, I finally took a minute to check and, gladly, it all made sense! (The Lawblight wrecked the Endless Threnody's shields and Drift engine, but the latter's mechanic must have used the Hold It Together action to keep the freighter going just long enough to escape.)

But one item drew a lot of PC attention: the scout craft the Endless Threnody carried. This became an issue because for a while my PCs really wanted to bring the scout craft along with them to intercept the Endless Threnody, and they got to examine it closely after it was impounded following Exegara's arrest. I ended up statting up the scout craft, so here it is for you! (As a note, to make everything strictly by-the-book, remove two of the Endless Threnody's cargo holds and replace them with launch tubes.)

The scout craft ends up being a cockpit strapped to a Drift engine and a wildly overpowered engine. One PC aptly described it as a "beefed up escape pod."

EOXIAN SCOUT CRAFT
Tier 1/4 Tiny Interceptor
Speed 6; Maneuverability perfect (turn 0); Drift 1
AC 13; TL 12
HP 30; DT —; CT 6
Shields Basic 20 (forward 5, port 5, starboard 5, aft 5)
Power Core Micron Ultra (80 PCU); Drift Engine Signal Basic; Systems basic computer, budget short-ranged sensors, mk 1 armor
Modifiers +3 Piloting; Complement 1 (no life support)

And now, a general question. This has been percolating in my brain particularly since the release of #1-25: The Beacon Code Dilemma. Namely, how does everyone picture the Lorespire Complex itself?

There's a nice piece of preview art floating around of what must be the complex (I think I saw it on the Paizo Twitch stream going over Absalom Station), and I find myself really intrigued as to whether that concept art is still "canon." There's a couple of inconsistencies to reckon with, primarily that the Lorespire Complex in the illustration appears to be outdoors (complete with clouds and rolling countryside), which suggests both that it's A) in the Eye, and B) that the Eye is really big. But game text consistently places the Lorespire Complex in the Ring, which then calls into question just what the PCs' home base really looks like. And to that end, what is the Lorespire? Is it a separate structure that lends the campus its name (but isn't otherwise ever mentioned or described), or could it be an alternative name for one of the known structures on campus? Personally, I've decided the Lorespire is another name for the Hall of Discovery, though my same train of thought could just as easily identify it as the Archives instead.

Anyway, thoughts?

[Charli Poshkettle]

John Mangrum wrote:

And now, a general question. This has been percolating in my brain particularly since the release of #1-25: The Beacon Code Dilemma. Namely, how does everyone picture the Lorespire Complex itself?

There were some gorgeous pictures of the Lorespire revealed in the episode of Paizo's Starfinder Wednesdays that dealt with the Lorespire. It aired September 12th, 2018, with Robert G. McCreary as your tour guide.

Myself, I see the Lorespire as a sprawling complex of buildings, only one of which is the actual Lorespire. I loved it so much that I placed my character's rickety little tea stand, the Poshkettle, opposite the Lorespire complex.

"Poshkettle Tea! Serving the Lorespire since 314 AG!"