Sorry for the double-post, but it feels inappropriate to edit my previous post for an entirely new point/issue.
In Event 3: Gunship Showdown, pgs.18-19, it says that if nobody is piloting the vehicle, the Gunnery Check DC for the Swarmship is only DC 5.
But then, much later on the next page, it says that the Swarm fleetfury attempts a gunnery check with a total +5 modifier.
I'm sorry, I'm fairly new, maybe I'm missing something, but if the DC is 5 and the Skill has a total of +5, why even roll? Why not just say that if no-one is driving, the ship hits automatically?
I don't have the AP, so I can't read the section you're referencing, but there's no gunnery check vs a DC to hit something in starship combat. As far as I know, there's a gunnery check vs AC, like a regular attack, and gunnery check vs TL for tracking weapons.
It's not Starship combat, it's a specific event with specific rules in the AP. It's basically a car-chase between a Halo Warthog and a flying gunship spitting acid.
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Sorry for the double-post, but it feels inappropriate to edit my previous post for an entirely new point/issue.
In Event 3: Gunship Showdown, pgs.18-19, it says that if nobody is piloting the vehicle, the Gunnery Check DC for the Swarmship is only DC 5.
But then, much later on the next page, it says that the Swarm fleetfury attempts a gunnery check with a total +5 modifier.
I'm sorry, I'm fairly new, maybe I'm missing something, but if the DC is 5 and the Skill has a total of +5, why even roll? Why not just say that if no-one is driving, the ship hits automatically?
There's always a chance the Swarm fleetfury could roll a 1, which is automatically a miss. But overall, the low AC of a driverless vehicle is really meant to encourage someone to get behind the wheel!
There's always a chance the Swarm fleetfury could roll a 1, which is automatically a miss.
I was under the impression that this only applied to attacks, not skill checks. The test in question is Gunnery check opposed by Pilot or a DC of 5, not an Attack opposed by AC.
Man, it's a very generous assumption that groups will calm down or subdue Susreth. I can't think of a single one of my groups that wouldn't be far more likely to blow him away.
The SDF hierarchy is not spelled out in great detail in the books released thus far. If it's something your group will benefit from, there's no reason you can't create your own structure and modify things
In Book 2 the players receive a promotion when they reach the retreat point, and are placed on special duty that will carry them through at least book 5. They are ostensibly all promoted to "Lieutenant," though it's unclear what that means in the wider structure of the SDF. You could easily change that to reflect your group's needs.
Remember that the 5th is a reconstituted battalion with a lot of volunteers being put into the field as the war is turning. The rest of the SDF is locked in brutal battle and then frantic retreat. There isn't time for a lot of orderly promotions and the usual paperworks, but there's also a lot of gaps in the chain of command. There's probably a lot of brevet promotions and the like as needs arise.
A lieutenant is the most junior officer rank (ignoring the navy for a moment, where it’s one up on ensign). You don’t become one by going through all of the enlisted ranks, it’s a separate track that you can enter right after school or switch to from almost any enlisted rank (but usually in the Army pay grades E5-6 out of 9 grades) if you’re selected. In WWII when college was rare lots of smart kids with a high school education were trained to be a baby lieutenant (my grandfather was one) or junior sergeants given a field promotion after surviving battle in a unit short on officers.
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Man, it's a very generous assumption that groups will calm down or subdue Susreth. I can't think of a single one of my groups that wouldn't be far more likely to blow him away.
My groups first reaction was "how do we calm him down?" Sent him back with the agricultural group after fixing their issue though because they didn't trust him to hold it together if they went up the mountain with him.
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For the dredgers I let them run toward my players, to give them a little bit of Starship Troopers feeling. Once they were in the trenches it become a close encounter (but I also have two melee focused characters in the group, so the melee wasn't so bad for them).
Also keep in mind that you are the DM, you are the only one in the group who knows how the adventure should evolve, so you can also change it if needed. :)
For the forced march & rest problem, you can easily pull up something to give them a little time (e.g. a SDF bombing run which attacks the forces which follow the players and give them some breathing time).
I did a similar "stunt" when the players were in Reos and wanted to help the evacuation instead of rescuing one! priest. I told them that the 11. & 15. Mech Division withhold the the swarm at the moment (in a suizidal and heroic way) and that they will buy the civilians some more days.
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Have not purchased or read any of the other parts of this adventure path, does this conflict with anything? Thank you for the help in advance
For whatever reason, none of the books even touch upon ranks. If I can get a hold of proper maps so I can run this game, I was planning to make my own, loosely based on real-life ones, with one player being the assigned squad-leader (with a rank of Lance Corporal) and another one being communication's officer - with other potential roles being decided on by the squad, but I'm going to suggest medic and engineer.
I was thinking that the squad leader would get the "Get 'Em" Envoy Improvisation (and likely a ceremonial pistol of some kind), the communication's officer'd get the "Skilled Linguist" Envoy Expertise Talent as well as a custom "Eidetic Memory" (which does nothing except as a narrative excuse for perfect recall) feat (as well as the luxury of having to carry a heavy backpack eadiocommunications device), a potential medic would get either the "Inspired Medic" Envoy Expertise Talent or the "Field Dressing" Biohacker Theorem (as well as a handful of stimms and medkits and probably some combat drugs), and a potential Engineer would get a Mechanic Trick or Gear Boost (and a set of tools).
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thanks all for the interesting things to consider while running this AP ... as GM, im the only one of my group with actual military background
And I feel the need for a solid grounding in logic and tactics ... so I had to take upon myself to draw up actual maps the region from the start
so the players being sent out on their first mission can understand the lay of the land ... and encouraged them to try resisting the cold without armor protection at first, so they get a feel for it
as for the rank structure, the players squad included;
an outlaw who enlisted to get a pardon
a mercenary grunt who has survivor guilt
a phentomite scout/mechanic the excels at tracking
and lastly, a wild warden technomancer "plant creature"
so ... we role played up their "2 weeks of basic training" prior to the start of the story ... and each was provided a "score" (based on arbitrary things I added up, but players dont know that)
And the mercenary scored highest ... and was promoted to Squad Leader ... aka PRIVATE FIRST CLASS ... enlisted rank 2
and the other (2) were close behind in points and promoted to PRIVATE (each) ... enlisted rank 1 ... and each given a few special items for their class role (which works out best anyhow, since they are new to star finder and the real life youngest of the group)
finally, the "convict" was singled out as "beneath" them on rank structure ... rank 0 ... with no chance for promotion, just a full pardon ... and other team members were warned to "watch out that he doesnt turn on you or try to run off" (which fits his Lawful Evil alignment very well)
so far, has made for some interesting inter-party gossip ... and added to the realism and "internal conflict" for the players
I'm working on creating maps / handouts for the players before they head off on their overnight Patrol ... and another for the Long Slog
thinking of letting them move across the map in (1 hour) increments or something relative ... so they can choose to stick to the roads (reduced to 75% movement due to clogged roads) or risk following their wild warden or scouts advice, and venturing off the roads on trails to try and get better speed and avoid the random swarm patrols harassing those on the road ways
.. all the while doing cold weather checks each hour ... survival checks to avoid loosing their way in the blizzard(s) ... and trying to manage their fatigue before they are all exhausted.
Long time reader, first time poster - I had a question about the hanger in Section J of the AP. Many parts of this section mention an element of time cost, such as 'each attempt takes about 10 minutes'.
If the PCs don't trip the alarm in J1 the patrolling robots might come about. But if they do and the bots are scrapped are there any other repercussions to this mounting time? Is it simply to make the players feel the pressure as the Swarm get closer?
A few failed checks can quickly add up to half an hour so I wasn't sure if anything else should be going on. Thanks in advance!
Personally, I would suggest a few changes after running it (last night, ran my group through) ...
Explain initially their goal is to clear the hangar of threats and figure out how to get to / power up the star ship, while the survivors wait in the hall (maybe the priest says this?)As for timing, ignore all of the quoted "x minutes" ... first, players need to get the power back on ... and start the refueling.
However long that takes, just count the rounds and make them feel as if a sense of urgency (as in ... the swarm is only minutes behind them, as they moved through the city to the space port)
then, soon as they have the fueling started ... kick off the final event.
Then I started a "10 round" count down timer ... and each round, moved the survivors towards the ship ... 3 rounds to load the cargo ... and tracking were all players were ... and mentally moved the swarm towards them ... but round 2 they were attacked
meanwhile, each round I had the engineer make a ENG check ... to keep the fuel lines manually connected ... and if he failed DC:20, I rolled some d4 non-lethal cold damage ... if he failed by 5 or more, 2d4 ... and another check at DC:15 or this round doesnt count towards the (10) needed to fuel the vessel.
this kept them busy, fighting off the "endless" stream of swarm ... and shock/awe as the beasties used acid to destroy every door in a few attacks ...
made for great tension and game play.
It also helped that at this point, they had not had an 8 hour rest since they left Fort Gallant -- so they were all out of Stamina, Resolve and stimpaks before they blasted off the planet.
The Swarm Fleet Fury ... is listed as having a Light Torpedo Launcher and the story implies it only has 5 shots then has to flee combat.
This seems incorrect ... as the light torpedo launcher listed in CRB does not have "Limited Fire 5" ... so in theory does not run out of ammo.
Which is correct? was the CRB wrong and light torpedo launcher do have the "limited fire 5" ? or was it simply an over-sight in this AP? or maybe its a unique version of the launcher weapon?
Pretty sure the CRB is wrong in this case. It should follow the pattern of other launcher weapons and be limited fire 5.
But the CRB light torpedo launcher only does 2D8 damage, while for the same BP a high-ex missile launcher does 4D8. It seems pretty clear to me that the Light torpedo launcher trades damage for being unlimited fire (the only other difference from the high ex is 4 missile speed, which is hardly worth half damage for the same BP.
I find that unlikely. Every other tracking weapon that I know of is limited fire. Arguing balance for the light torpedo launcher is a bit out there when direct fire weapons also exist.
I think 4 hexes of missile speed is worth a fair amount of potential damage trade off, given it's a 20% better chance to avoid point defenses and can often be the difference between one attack roll to hit on this turn or two attack rolls hoping to hit on the next turn.
That said, I'm only 60/40 in believing it's more likely they forgot to include limited fire.
The coilgun shows they really didn't put that much thought into weapon balance, in addition to your examples of poor editing.
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It doesn't matter if the Core Rulebook light torpedo launcher has limited fire 5 or not.
Its only weapon is an organic torpedo launcher, which a fleetfury can fire only five times before it loses its offensive capabilities.
Even if a standard light torpedo launcher can be fired indefinitely, a fleetfury's light torpedo launcher cannot.
Just wanted to share one thing I added to the early portion of adventure that has worked well. In addition to the 4 PCs, I had Midnight Squad start with 2 NPCs: one a criminal who took the pardon to fight and another a classic terrible squad leader who is simultaneously gung ho and a coward. Terrible (and a little scary in his incompetence) in combat, but then a tyrant outside of it. After the first fight the criminal gets into a physical fight, PCs got to chime in and settle it down, and when they regrouped at Highway 12, had the corporal turn the criminal in for assaulting a superior officer. She was hauled off. I'll let the dice decide, but planning on having him die as soon as a dredger can make it happen.
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I did something similar. Mine were a matronly ysoki whose entire family has been killed by the swarm, a shirren who was a simple merchant that is guilt ridden because he believes that the swarm followed the shirren to Suskillon, and a young vesk female who came to gain fame and glory. The idea is that they would soon die which would help show the level of danger that comes with war.
The Organized Play chronicle sheet for part 1 gives access to the Terminus Wild, a Tier 3 starship.
It also says that "you can only slot this boon in a Tier 5-6 scenario".
Was "5-6" intentional or should it have been "3-4", to match the tier of the starship more closely? Mostly, characters have a starship that's around their own tier -- so I'm not sure why a level 6 character would want to choose a tier-3 starship.
Hey, I'm about to run this and noticed this same issue on the Chronicle. Any word on whether it was intended to be 3-6?
I had the Players start on Absolom station and choose one of the Beginner box premade characters to start the campaign. The box set was enough to whet their appetite for adventure since we were all new to the game, myself as GM.
Once they finished the starter adventure, it was enough XP to almost take a couple of the characters to 2nd level. Meanwhile, I would drop hints, via news broadcasts, that the Swarm was moving to invade the Suskillon system out in the Vast.
They finally defeated the Robot Dragon on Absolom, then 2 of the players were recalled back to duty. The Vesk Soldier and the Android Operative in question received inactive reserve orders to report to 5th Battalion.
I made it a point that the Lashunta Technomancer was called to assist her former Alma-mater University of Brinnoa, to aid in the research of ways to defeat the Swarm. Getting there the fastest way was to enlist into the SDF via an military transport.
The Ysoki Mechanic had heard rumors of the SDF offering bounties to collect from skip-tracing deserters. So he also enlisted to get there in the fastest manner possible.
I tied the Human Envoy into the plot by telling her the best way to grow her online following, was to go to Suskillon as a Combat Journalist to cover the war with boots on the ground. So she also too enlisted to get there in the most expeditious manner.
Next I told the Shirren Mystic that Combat Medics would be needed to treat the wounded, while in the combat zone. He also enlisted to get there in the quickest manner possible.
So that included all 6 characters from the beginner box and provided the back stories as to why and how they all got to Suskillon. Since they were flush with victory as a team from the encounters on Absolom station, it was easy to get them all to go.
From the point of their transport reaching Suskillon, I slowed the time table down somewhat. I had them all go through Basic Training, (8 weeks long). Of which I broke down each week as follows. Along those lines, they also picked another member to join Midnight Squad. This being a Kasatha Solarian.
Week#1 was an inoculations and paperwork week with the characters doing vital yet menial tasks of the sort.
Week# 2 was Strength Training week. The characters were Physical Trained with Calisthenics, Weight Training, Circuit Training, and various other physical activities. It culminated with a Modified Strength Check. And the players were scored within thier recruitment class as to how well their Strength score roll went.
Week#3 was training based off of Dexterity. So the Obstacle Course and Known Distance shooting range was in order. Once again having the players making a modified Dexterity role at the end of the week to score them as recruits.
Week#4 was Constitution based training. It was all out in the field as they preformed daily hikes/ forced marches with issued military gear. At the end of week 4 they preformed a 25 mile forced hike, (Constitution check,) and were scored again per their class.
Week#5 they hit the classrooms, to determine their Technical know-how when it came with dealing with technologies from the military.
And again at the end of the week they had a test based off of Intelligence to score them within their class.
Week#6 they were thrown back in the field to test their Survival skills. It included Orientation and Map Reading, patrolling, stealth, camouflage, cover, and concealment. That concluded with a Wisdom modified check. Then of course they were scored within the class.
Week#7 was to be a Charisma based test. The party learned Customs, Courtesies, and Close Order Drill. I used real military examples of what to do in certain situations. Such when to salute and not to salute a Superior Commissioned Officer. Flag Etiquette. So on and so forth.
Week#8 was remedial, Military Occupation Specialty Selection, and Class Graduation. Through this whole 8 week period of "Boot Camp" I gave them all just a little taste of what it is like to actually join a real military. I played their Drill Sergeant in the best Lee Ermry Jr. Impersonation that I could muster. And for being such good sports, I guided them to pick an MOS that would provide either an extra Skill or Feat depending on how they placed within their class.
I also had all of them make a Culture roll based on the Attribute of their choice to determine what their military rank would be coming out of boot camp. A chance to shine and show their character's forte to the higher chain of command.
That final 8th week the Swarm actually hit planetside and it was then that the Fighting 5th Battalion held off components of the Swarm at the battle of the Stone Sea. The players spent the next 2 months learning their MOS.
Only to be all sent to 5th Battalion as new replacements for the Fighting 5th Battalion losses.
And so the story began in that manner. They each had a job and assigned role within the squad. They had a hierarchy within their squad and as well throughout the military structure in general. They each had their personal reasons for being there. They had their shared military experience via boot camp to bind them as an organization. And they also knew who was to be their featured enemy.
So that is how I chose to start off this Adventure Path. What do you all think about that?
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so... ran session. added an additional dredger to the 1st combat, and i think that added a bit to the dire nature of the scenario. the 'long march' CANNOT BE RUN BY STARFINDER RULES. it is a guaranteed TPK even if you don't have a dwarf [as my party did]. It's a really good idea, but you will kill your whole party if you play it by the actual rules.
Session 1 kicks off tonight!
I was going through the Long March stuff, and it's going to be brutal... did other DMs consider that the PCs overland movement is halved b/c of the snow?
It seems like that might be overkill for Level 1 PCs...
The description of the terrain doesn't mention snow, but describes the land as "empty, dry brushlands with small plateaus and hillocks". It is below zero temperatures, the sky though is described as "cloudless and the bright sun beats down."
The "snowstorm" rules detailed on the sidebar are optional.
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Session 1 kicks off tonight!
I was going through the Long March stuff, and it's going to be brutal... did other DMs consider that the PCs overland movement is halved b/c of the snow?
It seems like that might be overkill for Level 1 PCs...
The description of the terrain doesn't mention snow, but describes the land as "empty, dry brushlands with small plateaus and hillocks". It is below zero temperatures, the sky though is described as "cloudless and the bright sun beats down."
The "snowstorm" rules detailed on the sidebar are optional.
you are correct: the AP does say that snowstorms are discretionary.
but, the 1st encounter is described as "This encounter takes place near some snow-covered hill banks."
Snow comes up repeatedly in the encounter descriptions. it's pretty clear from that flavor text that the Brinnoa/Sahtor regions are snowy areas.
Ultimately, I ended up cutting down on the number of fortitude saves after a player said, rightly, "this isn't fun"
he was, of course, playing a dwarf.
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just started off Book 2.
The starship combat at the end of Book 1 was pathetically simple for the PCs. It would make more sense to transplant it to Book 2 AFTER the gremlins have damaged the Terminus Wild. The PCs are a level higher, but the ship's probably critically compromised, and it gives stakes to the outcome of the battle.
I think I'm going to tell the players that we are running the starship combat again (only 3 of the 5 could participate in the initial battle) and see how they do - and I'll give them some extra credits as a result.