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So, I was (and frankly still am) very excited about Starfinder and the release of the AotS AP. And though I like the way it runs out of the box, for my own personal flavor of the campaign, in my head I had imagined it having way more of a Starship Troopers/X-Com/Borg feel.
In a tabletop campaign I'm currently running, and also a forum-based PbP version, that's exactly what I'm doing.
However, I'm finding that some of the brief history of Starfinder had to be modified in order to give the Swarm a bit more mystery and oomph, to make it this implacable enemy I want them to be.
In particular, the Swarm are supposed to be a nigh-unstoppable, world devouring species with a hive mind. So if they had the opportunity to invade both the Pact Worlds and Veskarium systems back in 291 AG, why have we 1) not seen more of them since, and 2) not seen significant devastation in either system as a result of this invasion? After all, the Swarm was this implacable force that drove a two and a half century long period of hostilities to put aside their difference and make peace. Furthermore, if this event was merely 25-30 years ago, why are the Pact Worlds and Veskarium not doing anything about bolstering their own defenses and researching Swarm stuff to prevent what they likely would see as an devastating eventuality, seeing how the Swarm simply will not stop coming?
I thought that didn't make sense in how I was to envision the Starfinder timeline.
So, in my version, I decided that the Swarm invasion of 291 AG had to change. The Swarm would not have invaded either of the Pact Worlds system or Veskarium directly, rather it would invade a contested world in the Vast that the two governments were skirmishing over. Eventually (details need to be fleshed out here) the two governments decide that they were both on the losing side, and that they needed to band together to stop the Swarm from encroaching any further, and they are forced to bombard the planet, rendering it (hopefully) lifeless and uninhabitable, even for Swarm components. They cover up the incident and place warning beacons against visiting that system.
This would've been in my mind a better way to introduce the Swarm for the enormous threat that they are.
However my trouble now is to fill in the necessary details, and make these details fit with the remainder of the timeline.
1) What exactly happened on this planet? What made the two governments decide they needed to band together? What forced them to destroy the planet?
2) How much information should be revealed? In order to keep they mystery about the Swarm, what should be known to the players regarding how the end of the Silent War came about in this case? And how can this secrecy be kept and justified?
I am also doing some home brewing to this AP.
Given the theme and PC setup, I'm in the process of changing it to a high level AP (7-18ish) as well as trying to make it a multi table AP.
Thoughts on how to go about this are welcome.