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Well, there's definitely this, at a minimum.
Vibrant Green Prism (Level 9): Highly prized by Azlanti pilots and astrogators, a vibrant green prism aeon stone is linked directly to the Aeon Throne on New Thespera. If you plot a course to New Thespera and succeed at the required Piloting check while this aeon stone orbits you, you can travel through the Drift from anywhere in the galaxy to New Thespera in only 1d6 days.
That tells us that they aren't hapless, in terms of improving their travel network.
If you want to reinforce the idea of superior Azlanti technology, there's also no reason that common transit in the ASE couldn't be done with ships with a Drift rating better than 1. (Obviously, if you do this with combat ships, they'd be weaker in combat if built by proper BP rules, but there are a dozen ways to work around that for building NPCs to support the world).
Yeah they basically have their own version of Absolom Station Drift capabilities but more tightly controlled. The Azlanti Imperial Fleet also has ships stationed in every sector they control, so every system has it's own mini-fleet that can hold the line while waiting for reinforcements.
I also seem to remember, though I might be wrong about this, that there's a way to link ships for Drift travel. This means you only need one or two ships with a good Drift rating to bring a fleet in for a fast attack.
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As Hammerjack suggested, I recommend giving most Azlanti ships Drift 2+. It solves the problem while also reinforcing the notion that Azlanti society has a higher baseline technology level.
Thanks. That gives New Thespera kind of a Rome feel. All roads lead to it, but travelling to somewhere else takes a long time.
Still doesn't explain why the Azlanti settled in the vast instead of near space but whatever. Maybe near space didn't exist back than.About the idea of giving them better drift ratings. Maybe all starship lines should get a special bonus. Azlanti ships have better drift, Veskarium ships a bit more HP, etc.
The Azlanti fled to New Thespera during or just before Earthfall, so it was thousands of years pre-Gap. Things like Drift travel didn't even exist. I do think the Azlanti should probably get some kind of travel bonus, at least to systems they control.
It is correct that they were Interplanetary, but not interstellar, before the drift, according to the history in back matter of AtAT book 2.
Still doesn't explain why the Azlanti settled in the vast instead of near space but whatever. Maybe near space didn't exist back than.
I feel like they were expanding under flawed logic at first. That the closest systems to their territory were the most important to control. Despite that the drift means the closest systems, in the drift, are the most important. By the time they realized otherwise they were stretched a little thin and couldn't change their minds.
Alternatively, they like being in the vast. Betting on their defenses being better than an invaders, relying on vibrant green prisms to get reinforcements to a hot spot faster than an invader's reinforcements can.
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Isn't part of the point of Against the Aeon Throne's that the Star Empire doesn't have as good Drift travel as the Pact Worlds, which is why they haven't mounted an invasion yet, and the experimental Drift Drive would give them that capability, which is why it's so important to retrieve it from them?
Well, there's definitely this, at a minimum.
Vibrant Green Prism (Level 9): Highly prized by Azlanti pilots and astrogators, a vibrant green prism aeon stone is linked directly to the Aeon Throne on New Thespera. If you plot a course to New Thespera and succeed at the required Piloting check while this aeon stone orbits you, you can travel through the Drift from anywhere in the galaxy to New Thespera in only 1d6 days.That tells us that they aren't hapless, in terms of improving their travel network.
If you want to reinforce the idea of superior Azlanti technology, there's also no reason that common transit in the ASE couldn't be done with ships with a Drift rating better than 1. (Obviously, if you do this with combat ships, they'd be weaker in combat if built by proper BP rules, but there are a dozen ways to work around that for building NPCs to support the world).
With those aeon stones to get home fast it is to their advantage to stay in the vast. Invading militaries would have a much harder time coordinating attacks and their strategic speed on defense greatly enhanced.
Isn't part of the point of Against the Aeon Throne's that the Star Empire doesn't have as good Drift travel as the Pact Worlds, which is why they haven't mounted an invasion yet, and the experimental Drift Drive would give them that capability, which is why it's so important to retrieve it from them?
I think you are on the money. They are literally years away from mounting a full bore invasion once they work out the vulgarities of Drift travel. And it's not JUST going to be the Pact Worlds. The Vesk homeworlds are in their sights too.
Isn't part of the point of Against the Aeon Throne's that the Star Empire doesn't have as good Drift travel as the Pact Worlds, which is why they haven't mounted an invasion yet, and the experimental Drift Drive would give them that capability, which is why it's so important to retrieve it from them?I think you are on the money. They are literally years away from mounting a full bore invasion once they work out the vulgarities of Drift travel. And it's not JUST going to be the Pact Worlds. The Vesk homeworlds are in their sights too.
It is interesting to consider the way that Triune and its church effectively hold the reins of "cosmopolitical" power in their hands. Using its monopoly on the construction and placement of Drift beacons, the Church of Triune determines which planets are Near Space planets and which ones are Vast planets. The church also controls the operation of these beacons. If, for some reason, the church decided to deactivate certain beacons, it could shift a star system from being a Near Space system to being a Vast system. They'd presumably only be able to do this with Triune's blessing, but still, that shows how much influence the god and its followers have.
All it would take for the systems of the Azlanti Star Empire to become Near Space systems is for the Church of Triune to place a sufficient number of Drift beacons in the necessary locations. An interesting question that some residents of the galactic community might already have asked is why this hasn't already happened? Does the fact that each of Triune's constituent personas originated in the Golarion system mean the god is biased toward the Pact Worlds? There could certainly be many in the galaxy who think so, and it would be hard to dispute their claims.
I have also seen discussions here about the implications of factions sabotaging or destroying Drift beacons. They are technological devices and capable of destruction. Even if doing so is incredibly risky or difficult, there are likely to be some who view selective (or even total) disruption of the galactic transportation system as a worthwhile objective.
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I imagine some higher-ups in the church are aware of this, and probably make sure the ASE is on the bottom of the priority list for new beacons.
It's worth noting that in Near Space, it mentions that the Veskarium didn't get the secrets of Drift travel AT ALL from Triune's Signal, needing to brute-force interplanetary travel to reorganize their empire Post-Gap. It was only when Pact Worlds explorers discovered them that they were able to reverse-engineer Drift engines of their own, that they then used to invade the Pact Worlds, kicking off the Silent War.
Considering that went on for at least two CENTURIES before the Swarm War superceded it, it would not surprise me if the more organized branches of Triune's faith learned the lesson to be more careful with sharing their god's gifts.
Yes, the omission of the Veskarium from Triune's list of beneficiaries caught my attention too, adding to my case that at least some important people of the galaxy could justifiably conclude that Triune and its church favor the Pact Worlds. That and the fact that the Starstone just somehow facilitates far more efficient return trips to the system. Yes, someone might argue, the Azlanti's have their Aeon Throne, but that wasn't an apparently "by design" element of the Drift travel system the way that the Starstone was.
From the beginning, I have also been interested in the witchwyrds and their planar aperture drives, along with other ancient spacefaring species with FTL technologies predating the use/creation of the Drift and Drift engines. These societies may or may not have benefited from the addition of the Drift to their list of travel options, but one thing would remain certain -- they remain independent of Triune's hegemonic control of interstellar travel.
I have been using these implications in the development of a campaign subplot, based on ideas from the Dark Matter tv series, that involves the PCs in the accidental possession of information on the design of aperture drives and the desire of every power player in the galaxy to get their hands on it.
Does the Church of Triune actually wield a monopoly on Drift beacons? Or are they just the most active in placing them?
It seems to me that denying Drift access would actually go against their belief, they'd be more likely to clash with governments that want to limit Drift travel (and beacons).
Yes, they do. See page 291 of the Core Rulebook. The setting lore does paint Triune and its church as benevolent information seekers interested in expanding interstellar communication and exploration, but vested and/or conflicting interests within large organizations can corrupt the best of intentions. The setting lore does make mention of conspiracy theorists who point to evidence that Triune's motives may not be entirely altruistic, which I take to mean that the door is left open for GMs and adventure authors to [insert plot hook here].
They can get fast to their homeworld, but travel to their colonies takes ages as all of them is in the vast. Makes one wonder why the ASE settled there first and not in near space.
Just for clarification, the Azlantis originated from Golarion, traveling via magical portals that somehow collapsed behind them, stranding them on New Thespera, where they remained for thousands of years--plus or minus the relatively rare extraplanetary jaunts enabled by high-level magic. More on this is available on page 39 of Escape from the Prison Moon.
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As a GM I'd likely treat systems nearby to the center of the ASE in the same relational bands as Absalom Station. This may not be entirely how the lore states that things work, but it might appease sensibilities.
That said, I wouldn't say no to a generic map from Paizo showing locational relationships.
As a GM I'd likely treat systems nearby to the center of the ASE in the same relational bands as Absalom Station. This may not be entirely how the lore states that things work, but it might appease sensibilities.
That said, I wouldn't say no to a generic map from Paizo showing locational relationships.
I would definitely double-plus this request. I have made a few attempts at creating one for myself. My most recent attempt is my favorite so far. I took a high-res image of the Milky Way galaxy and started placing systems on it in Photoshop. Blue dots for Near Space systems and purple ones for Vast systems. Without spending too many hours scouring the various published sources again, I'm doing my best to infer the relative positions of different systems to each other, combined with a bit of my own whimsy and logic.
I would definitely double-plus this request. I have made a few attempts at creating one for myself. My most recent attempt is my favorite so far. I took a high-res image of the Milky Way galaxy and started placing systems on it in Photoshop. Blue dots for Near Space systems and purple ones for Vast systems. Without spending too many hours scouring the various published sources again, I'm doing my best to infer the relative positions of different systems to each other, combined with a bit of my own whimsy and logic.
A map in Starfinder would technicaly look like this, no matter where you are
Crude, badly drawn map
Its not quite accurate as it implies that in order to get to the vast you have to go through near space which is not the case. I also left out intra system travel (would be on the same dot as Absolom Station).I have the impression that many people, including authors, struggle with the concept that physical distance does not matter.
Which is the thing I find interesting about drift travel. Physical distance does not matter at all. The next system over could be in the vast, and a system across the galaxy could be in near space.
I'm pretty sure the Azlanti didn't realize this when they started expanding, but it's also possible that they did it on purpose. They simply have a higher number of faster drift drives and use that to defend their systems in the vast. Faster communication and faster travel than invaders, at the cost of slower trade traffic.
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Yes, they do. See page 291 of the Core Rulebook. The setting lore does paint Triune and its church as benevolent information seekers interested in expanding interstellar communication and exploration, but vested and/or conflicting interests within large organizations can corrupt the best of intentions. The setting lore does make mention of conspiracy theorists who point to evidence that Triune's motives may not be entirely altruistic, which I take to mean that the door is left open for GMs and adventure authors to [insert plot hook here].Does the Church of Triune actually wield a monopoly on Drift beacons? Or are they just the most active in placing them?
It seems to me that denying Drift access would actually go against their belief, they'd be more likely to clash with governments that want to limit Drift travel (and beacons).
Could you be a bit more precise? The only thing I see on that page is
While Near Space worlds tend to be closer to the galactic center (and, incidentally, to the Pact Worlds) and the systems of the Vast tend to be farther out, the true difference between the regions lies in the density of so-called “Drift beacons.” These mysterious objects, sometimes spontaneously generated and sometimes placed by priests of Triune, help navigation systems orient ships in the Drift.
That doesn't sound like a monopoly at all. It doesn't say "only the Church", it's just that they're well known for it. Drift beacons also seem to pop up spontaneously. And other people could presumably also place them. There isn't a religion requirement for the level 6 spell to make a temporary beacon either.
I think the Aballon section of Pact Worlds mentions a Triune temple that carefully preserves the secrets of manufacturing drift beacons. Other than that temple and presumably Alluvion in the Drift, I don’t think there is evidence of beacon production capability and know how.
Note that 2/3 of Triune’s component gods came from the Pact Worlds system (and I’d say probably Brigh but we don’t know for certain), so it’s not outrageous to believe it’s a secret of the church held only in their holy city in the drift and their major temple in their own system of origin. The rest of the galaxy only gets spontaneous generated ones or from those sources.
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That's interesting, I didn't notice that before. Sounds a bit like Dune-style spacer guild.
On the other hand, the Aballon section also talks a lot about "what people think Triune's plan is", indicating that the Church might not have such a clear agenda itself. We don't actually really know all that much about how the Church of Triune is organized, whether it's political, whether there are dissident Triune priests who decide themselves where to put beacons and so forth. And of course, there's the beacons that just pop up without being placed by the Church. Are they Triune doing some of that themselves, are they a deniable activity by a dissident wing of the Church, or is it the work of some other organization that also knows how to make them?
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My take on Triune's faith is that it's a bit more like 80s-90s hacker style "information wants to be free" kind of thing, with followers believing everyone has a right to travel the galaxy and communicate freely. Some believe that this technology should be used in a responsible way to create a stable universal order (Lawful Neutral take on the faith) while others focus more on personal liberation (Chaotic Neutral take).
I would be quiet curious to know what Triune's faith's explanation for why the Vesk didn't get the signal is. Because there's only two options, really; either Triune intentionally didn't send it to them, or Triune tried to send it to them & something stopped them from getting it.
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I would be quiet curious to know what Triune's faith's explanation for why the Vesk didn't get the signal is. Because there's only two options, really; either Triune intentionally didn't send it to them, or Triune tried to send it to them & something stopped them from getting it.
Vesk 1: "Whats that?
Science Vesk "an amazing signal from an unknown entity. The implications are astounding!
Vesk 1 "Can I hit things with it?
Science vesk "No but you can..."
Vesk Tosses the print out in the trash. Hits it with his flame Doshko. "Neerrrrrrds"
Well the book's specific wording is "Though Triune hd broadcast the secrets of Drift travel to the entire galaxy in 3 AG, the All-Code's Signal had mysteriously failed to reach the Veskarium."
It's worth noting that pretty much the first thing they did when drift capable ships were introduced to them was to get their hands on some and to apply the tech to their own ships.
I suppose it's possible they're dumb enough that they didn't recognize it's value in concept, only after seeing it in practice, but when the book says the signal failed to reach them, I'm inclined to believe the intent is that it failed to reach them, not that they failed to capitalize on it.
And even if that is what happened I'd imagine that the church would be PR savvy enough not to make that the official line.
I'm inclined to believe the intent is that it failed to reach them, not that they failed to capitalize on it.
In my professional opinion I concur, for they had many more cultures than just the dominant vesk inside their home system when the signal was sent out.