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I like this scenario, but I have a couple questions:
1) Some Computers/Engineering checks in the scenario are called out as needing the PC to be adjacent to the object in question. I assume that a PC with a class ability that allows them to attempt such checks at range (such as a 5th-level Mechanic with Remote Hack), need not be adjacent?
2) What is the big "Secret" about the Lore Guardians? This is now the third adventure I've seen them used in. I understand the importance of "reverse-engineering" them, but the adventure seems to imply that even having them present represents some big reveal, and I can't help but feel that I'm missing something.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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What's with the floor in room A2?
Clean vinyl tiles cover the floor with a neutral checked pattern commonly seen in buildings across the Pact Worlds.
A section of lighter tiles indicates a trigger zone
for the below encounter, though the PCs cannot detect any other purpose to these tiles.
So are the blueish tiles on the map visibly different to the PCs or not?
Starfinder Society Developer
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I'd say that putting down the map would be an indication to them that something is different, but only if the PC is appropriate paranoid about the different coloration. However, they'd still need to make Perception checks to note the presence of the secret doors. And there's no telltale sign that the different colored floor does anything.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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That puts me in a bit of a pickle. I don't have access to cheap color printing, especially for any map as humongous as this. So I draw them in flipover paper with 1" grid. Which works fine in most cases. But if I color in part of the floor on one room, then it really really stands out.
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Starfinder Society Developer
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That puts me in a bit of a pickle. I don't have access to cheap color printing, especially for any map as humongous as this. So I draw them in flipover paper with 1" grid. Which works fine in most cases. But if I color in part of the floor on one room, then it really really stands out.
Then don't feel pressured to color it in. No need to mark it out on the map, as the PCs shouldn't really have a sense that it's anything different. Also, there's no way to detect the flooring, since there's no trap statblock to activate it, just a DC on noticing the secret doors. :)
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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That puts me in a bit of a pickle. I don't have access to cheap color printing, especially for any map as humongous as this. So I draw them in flipover paper with 1" grid. Which works fine in most cases. But if I color in part of the floor on one room, then it really really stands out.Then don't feel pressured to color it in. No need to mark it out on the map, as the PCs shouldn't really have a sense that it's anything different. Also, there's no way to detect the flooring, since there's no trap statblock to activate it, just a DC on noticing the secret doors. :)
Yeah so this is the thing - I can't quite tell from the text if the tiles look different on the map just to indicate them to me as GM, or if they actually look different to a character who's looking into the room.
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So page 14 lists the following:
I can't seem to find that...is it actually the same page or the page after? I'm being blind as usual...
The text should refer to page 16 (subtier 3-4) and/or page 17 (subtier 5-6). The relevant text is under the Security Robot's Environmental Control special ability.
Venture-Agent, Netherlands
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The text should refer to page 16 (subtier 3-4) and/or page 17 (subtier 5-6). The relevant text is under the Security Robot's Environmental Control special ability.So page 14 lists the following:
I can't seem to find that...is it actually the same page or the page after? I'm being blind as usual...
Thanks mate! Appreciated!
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Ran this for five players at low tier. My biggest problem was how to imply the importance of the data guardians without explicitly saying they should be dragged back home (the party botched the second office firewall). The players considered the constructs as just one more monster encounter. They expected to find an arcane laboratory or something, and only grabbed the remains because I asked what they were bringing back as they were leaving. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut and docked them 1 fame. But they succeeded at both the interrogation and the creature knowledge checks, so I figured punishing them without any sort of clue would have been too nasty.
Players' biggest issue was the Core Defender robot. They unanimously agreed it was too easy. It only took a few hits before keeling over despite its fearsome appearance. 40 hp without any sort of DR or energy resistance and vulnerability to criticals made it feel like a piñata.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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Just ran it for four players at high tier. Party of 3,4,5,6, so APL 4.5; I assured them that playing up would not be an issue. And it wasn't, because most creatures were CR 3ish; the high tier just had more of them.
Whereas some scenarios put all their CR into a single horrible monster, I think this one dilutes it among too many, so that none of the creatures is really impressive.
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What I did like was that the computer challenges were written quite extensively so that it was very clear for me as a GM what was supposed to happen. If this is the new standard format for computers in scenario text, then I'm happy.
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Venture-Agent, Netherlands—Utrecht
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Squeaky clean floor, stale air, echoes. When you get to the "inhabited" places, make them look sparse: only the necessities, no more than that. No personal touches like photographs or knickknacks. Maybe an old calendar from two years ago. Maybe longer, but not ridiculously long. A really old model computer, and so on. When the players find the stash of guns, they're still wrapped in plastic or something, or the pricetag's still on them.
Maybe for funsies, and old mailbox filled with spam mail (either an actual physical mailbox, or on the computer you hack into).