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What are useful things for the players to have for this campaign?
While I'm the GM (so spoilers are not a problem), but neither I nor my players have played Starfindner before (we are veterain Pathfinder players though).
My goal is to create a short "player's guide" building on the info about Cedona, but I hope to include enough info to help them build characters that they will be happy with.
The second book can be annoying if at least half your party (preferably more) can’t pass as human via disguise. A party of all wacky non-medium races may struggle.
The second book can be annoying if at least half your party (preferably more) can’t pass as human via disguise. A party of all wacky non-medium races may struggle.
Very Good Point!
The AP puts a premium on Human (and Near Human) characters.
If you are starting Starfinder one thing I would recommend is doing a quick one-shot of the SF Scenario "Into the Unknown". This will give everyone a chance to get a slight feel for starship combat and SF combat.
Good thought! Especially because we are Pathfinder veterans.
Creating reference notes for starship combat and roles will help them in terms of that aspect of the game and you can find many "cheat sheets" online to use.
I have to see if they have updated the ones from Into The Unknown.
As mentioned before, being human helps and would probably try to restrict races to just the core races to help make it a bit easier for the second book. I'd also remind them, and I believe the book has a note about it, that they can put a point into Culture to learn a language as being able to speak Azlanti will come in handy for various parts of the adventure. I likely wouldn't have a character start with knowing Azlanti as they aren't part of the Pact Worlds so there would be no reason to know the language beforehand.
I know, but I have a player who really wants to be a Skittermander.
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The ones in the current download for ITU do have the adjusted DC's for the checks.
As GM, you'll want to make a note about how crits work for the drones at the start of the AP. They don't behave normally and will catch you off guard.
There are very few energy weapons that drop on enemies at the start of this AP compared to deadsuns and most SFS modules. If your players want to use energy weapons, they should go ahead and buy them and also buy extra batteries.
If they don't have a mystic, they should probably buy some extra healing potions as well. Most of parts 1 and 2 are pretty easy, but there are a couple of iffy ones where they're likely going to need to heal after.
You don't have a lot of opportunities to 'shop' in the AP, so you're as GM probably going to want to familiarize yourself and your players with how item crafting works and how to break down extant items into UPB's to make better gear.
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When my group played this, we had a party of a human, a half-elf, a halfling, a skittermander, & 2 ysoki.
We managed to disguise the human & half-elf easily enough. Local armor helped.
The halfling, with some disguising, got passed off as an Azlanti 'cadet'.
The remaining three used disguises to pass themselves off as a different small race, one that is indigenous to the Azlanti Empire.
Our half-elf Steward infiltrator passed the furry contingent off as part of an 'Alien Legion' squad undergoing security training.
As others have pointed out, being able to speak Azlanti during Pt.2 is a major bonus.
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When my group played this, we had a party of a human, a half-elf, a halfling, a skittermander, & 2 ysoki.
We managed to disguise the human & half-elf easily enough. Local armor helped.
The halfling, with some disguising, got passed off as an Azlanti 'cadet'.
The remaining three used disguises to pass themselves off as a different small race, one that is indigenous to the Azlanti Empire.Our half-elf Steward infiltrator passed the furry contingent off as part of an 'Alien Legion' squad undergoing security training.
As others have pointed out, being able to speak Azlanti during Pt.2 is a major bonus.
I feel like a major opportunity was missed here to have 2 Ysoki and a Skittermander in a trenchcoat...
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I feel like a major opportunity was missed here to have 2 Ysoki and a Skittermander in a trenchcoat...When my group played this, we had a party of a human, a half-elf, a halfling, a skittermander, & 2 ysoki.
We managed to disguise the human & half-elf easily enough. Local armor helped.
The halfling, with some disguising, got passed off as an Azlanti 'cadet'.
The remaining three used disguises to pass themselves off as a different small race, one that is indigenous to the Azlanti Empire.Our half-elf Steward infiltrator passed the furry contingent off as part of an 'Alien Legion' squad undergoing security training.
As others have pointed out, being able to speak Azlanti during Pt.2 is a major bonus.
We went there first - our GM shot down the idea as being unmanageable.
Good.
Now may I ask in a more general sense, what are some of the pitfalls of Starfinder character creation (beyond what specifically applies to the AP) that I might want to warn my players to avoid?
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If it's going to be a static party, eg the same 4-6 people every game, make sure they coordinate their roles especially in regards to starship combat. They're supposed to (according to the backstory) be a working ship's crew. So they need to decide who's going to be captain, who's going to be science officer, gunner, pilot, et cetera *before* making their characters. Because they'll be a small crew, they should all also pick a backup role to fill on the ship in case a player has to miss a game. And since there will be times where the best course of action in starship combat is to have everyone shooting, they should probably also all prep to be gunners. None of this is necessary for the first Starship Combat (which is hella easy), but they get more difficult and it's a lot easier for them to go ahead and learn one role (and maybe have a vague idea of another) than to either have them try to pick them on the fly in game based on skills or to try to teach them all the rules for it at once.
For the above, this is harder for non-Star Shaman Mystics (though the AP fixes this slightly, later) and for Weapon Solarians, generally, to pull off, so if anyone wants to play one of those, make sure you help them into a role they can pull off so they aren't sitting on their thumbs feeling useless for 1-4 hours out of every AP volume. In my home group, I flat out told the group the Weapon Solarian would be the captain because it was literally the only role he could pull off.
The same thing is true of skills outside of starship combat. You need at least one or two people that are good with computers and machines, one or two that have at least a basic understanding of magic, one or two that have good face skills, et cetera. All the skills come up at some point.
The numbers in SF, overall, are a lot tighter when compared to PF and other 3.x/d20 systems. A +1 or a +2 bonus to something is a big deal, and a -1 or -2 penalty is also a big deal. I know I dismissed, out of hand, a lot of abilities when I was first learning the game that turned out to be some of the best options for characters.
It's going to feel 'samey' but anyone that isn't an operative or a melee character should take longarm prof at first level unless they have a very good reason not to. The difference in performance over time will be stark if everyone's running around with nothing but pistols. I, personally, don't like this, but it is what it is.
Make sure everyone remembers their ABC's. Always Be in Cover!
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Bluff, Disguise, Stealth and less valuable Intimidate, for part 2. Almost necessary to have at least 1 character with those with high modifiers.
A party benefits from heavy armor proficiency and longarm proficiency in this AP. Story reasons for the armor; damage output for the latter.
My group is trying without magic at all, and no "frontliner" - ikeshti exo-mechanic w/longarm; human envoy, double pistols; phentomite sniper soldier with barricade feat; and lashuntan operative with pistol. I believe it can be done, and if there is an AP I've seen so far where it could be, this is it.
One major difference between Pathfinder and Starfinder; "healing" is spread out between two classes - envoy and mystic. But because of the Stamina/Resolve point system, you may be able to get by through the first two books without a mystic or envoy (probably need one or the other).
Madelon can heal PCs near the end of the first book.
Once they rescue Cedona, they have a mystic in party for hp heals.
I'm intrigued with this magic-less party.
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The second book can be annoying if at least half your party (preferably more) can’t pass as human via disguise. A party of all wacky non-medium races may struggle.
I was wondering about the specificity of this. Like, do they have to just APPEAR human visually (and thus shapeshifting species like astrazoans and endiffans can easily make the grade with the right outfits), or are there things like retinal scans or DNA keys that would immediately detect non-human-ness and sound the alarm (thus necessitating you to be specifically human to pull off the disguise)?
I feel like a group as speciesist as the Aeon Guard would utilize tech that would check DNA not only to protect against non-human infiltration, but even to assure that ONLY Azlanti humans are recognized, since they think Pact Worlds humans are degenerate mongrels that don't qualify as REAL humans.
The second book can be annoying if at least half your party (preferably more) can’t pass as human via disguise. A party of all wacky non-medium races may struggle.I was wondering about the specificity of this. Like, do they have to just APPEAR human visually (and thus shapeshifting species like astrazoans and endiffans can easily make the grade with the right outfits), or are there things like retinal scans or DNA keys that would immediately detect non-human-ness and sound the alarm (thus necessitating you to be specifically human to pull off the disguise)?
I feel like a group as speciesist as the Aeon Guard would utilize tech that would check DNA not only to protect against non-human infiltration, but even to assure that ONLY Azlanti humans are recognized, since they think Pact Worlds humans are degenerate mongrels that don't qualify as REAL humans.
IIRC, there are both visual checks (obviously) and some DNA testing doors, but I think you'll have to hack those regardless unless you carry around an Azlanti hand.
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My group is trying without magic at all, and no "frontliner" - ikeshti exo-mechanic w/longarm; human envoy, double pistols; phentomite sniper soldier with barricade feat; and lashuntan operative with pistol. I believe it can be done, and if there is an AP I've seen so far where it could be, this is it.
One major difference between Pathfinder and Starfinder; "healing" is spread out between two classes - envoy and mystic. But because of the Stamina/Resolve point system, you may be able to get by through the first two books without a mystic or envoy (probably need one or the other).
Once they rescue Cedona, they have a mystic in party for hp heals.
I'm intrigued with this magic-less party.
we recently completed this AP w/o a dedicated healer, and it is possible. my 1.5 cents
1 - we had an envoy for the first book. he was killed by the BBEG. the stamina healing was really helpful, but I don't think we missed it so much later on.
2 - my PC was a mindbreaker mystic who had no healing spells beyond the mystic healing ability, which is only useful during a rest period. while she was the holder of most of the healing serums, and ended up healing characters who were injured, this role could have been performed by any PC.
3 - you don't need magical healing in starfinder. full stop. it's nice, but it's not required, and arguably not even optimal, since to get there, you'd probably want a healer mystic. the envoy healing is helpful, but b/c you can get your stamina back after a 10 minute rest, it's probably only a big help in a boss fight (admittedly, it would have been very helpful in those encounters).