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Hi folks,
with Starfinders focus on exploration and new worlds, I would LOVE to see an AP where the players are part of the crew of a larger exploration vessel which is headed to explore new worlds.
Where the ship itself (and it's crew) is one of the main stages of the adventure and where you travel from exploration to exploration.
This would also give the opportunity to flesh out the starship rules and how a crew works together etc.
It also makes the starship a real "5th character" and starship combat and their outcome would matter (because you are stuck on this ship and can't simply get a new one or repair it in a dock).
What do you guys think? Would this have potential? Would it be fun?
(Of course you can put in an overarching story which unfolds while the players explore new destinations, worlds etc.)
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Yeah this would be a problem.
But while you can always "fast travel back", you still need the long time to move back to the point you were before, so this is something to consider.
Also you could add some space anomalies which prevent the "fast travel" in specific areas (think of the briar patch in Star Trek: Insurrection or the expanse from Enterprise. Maybe this could also be the major plot of the AP? Something meddling with the drift?
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I think space kingmaker might work better for an exploration themed adventure path.
As Ixal points out, once you're done with one system and move on to the next, why not spend 1-6 days going to absalom for supplies, rest, and relaxation?
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I wouldn't have a problem with the players went home to Absalom for refit, resupply etc.
The main idea would be to make the ship a real base of operation and it and it's crew a central/vital part of the AP instead of "a special rule system for one encounter per book". Something the player call home and work on to improve and tinker to their style.
(I only have the AotS AP and there space combat and the ship was very underwehlming)
I wouldn't have a problem with the players went home to Absalom for refit, resupply etc.
The main idea would be to make the ship a real base of operation and it and it's crew a central/vital part of the AP instead of "a special rule system for one encounter per book". Something the player call home and work on to improve and tinker to their style.
(I only have the AotS AP and there space combat and the ship was very underwehlming)
And that's easy to do, and possibly the only way for PCs to be 'in control' of a huge+ sized ship.
Whether it's kingmaker in space, exploration of the vast, or just a tweak to how a more regular adventure path functions, I would like that as a change of pace to the usual starship system.
Here's a radical idea: You're the crew of a non-Drift-capable generational ship. Each adventure is a new system that the ship encounters. At the end of each adventure, the PCs go into stasis for decades until the computer declares the next emergency.
New drift beacons are created and spread out across the Vast all the time. The campaign could easily be about looking for new drift beacons and exploring the regions around them.
You're looking at a campaign that is going to use the Drift heavily, because it takes a long time to reach these locations. But it doesn't take so long returning back to Absalom Station.
So what you're looking at is a mix of Drift and exploring new regions of space adventure path.
(Responding to Alangriffith)
Sure. I was thinking in terms of home campaigns (or 3rd party publishers). As a Paizo AP, it's just kind of a non-starter, so might as well think outside the box.
But to keep pondering it, to work with in the published setting, you're going to need to abandon the Pact Worlds (like Attack of the Swarm). Whatever system you're from, being able to reach Absalom Station from anywhere in less than a week becomes less valuable if AS isn't home. (I'd suggest an all Azlanti Star Empire AP, except they have their own workaround to get ships home quickly.)
And even then, Drift travel means that no matter where you're from, home is just a few weeks away. So we still need to abandon the Drift.
New idea: The PCs are scouts for a generational ship developed by a non-Drift-capable society. (Explaining the presence of core PC species hits another wall, but this is just mental noodling in a message board.) Over the course of the AP, they work their way up the ranks of command.
Book I: A calamity strike the PCs' home system, and the first adventure is devoted to getting to the generation ship, getting as many other people there as possible too, and getting it running before the clock runs out before the big disaster. Heck, scale it down and maybe we're talking about an independent colony that discovers a big "progenitor ship" hidden and forgotten on the moon. It was constructed pre-Signal, so it has no Drift capability. Instead, it has an engine that jumps to other planes (though, not a shadowdrive, since we've had that AP already). Cuts interstellar travel down to a couple of months, at the cost of having to deal with flying a ship through the Maelstrom, or the Elemental Plane of Air. Maybe a rescue operation from the Pact Worlds manages to save most of the population, but the PCs (and their entire supporting cast) get left behind -- no room. It's the Maelstrom Warper or nothing.
Initial goal of the AP is just to get this ship back into realspace to reconnect with some Drift-capable friendlies. (Of course, further complications ensue.)
Yup! That's right! An Outer Plane-hopping AP!
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Another idea for this:
The players will not have the BP for a Huge ship at the start. So they could start out as a specialist team onboard a bigger "exploration cruiser" which has a hangar with their "personal shuttle".
This way the players can use their "non-drift personal shuttle" in the beginning and later during the AP they will get the command about the main ship (which they already live on). They still have the "personal shuttle" for off-board missions, but also the big ship for space travel.
@John Mangrum: I don't see the problem with "Absalom Station is just a week away". It's quite the opposite, it's a good explanation for ship upgrades (the players travel home to refit and resupply their ship) and crew rotations.
The main idea for the AP wouldn't be "you are out there alone, survive!" but more "This ship is your home, take it to new frontiers".
It shouldn't be a pure exploration AP, but more a "Star Trek" like one, where the players get attached to their ship and it becomes part of the party.
Also there are enough possibilities to deny a "fast travel to AS" like: Drift anomalies (players were sent there to investigate), sabotage (your Drift engine is damaged, you have to find exchange parts in this pre-spaceflight society planet, while finding the saboteur), the planet will his a cataclysmic event in the next 7 days and you are the only ship in this area etc.
Ah, I see. Good AP to run when a Starfinder RPG: The Vast sourcebook is released.
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...I would LOVE to see an AP where the players are part of the crew of a larger exploration vessel which is headed to explore new worlds.
I, too, would love to see this AP. No promises, but we have talked about it!
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I already started to write something like this for my group. My goal is to build something of a framework, where you have "episodes" which don't have to be connected, but instead the connecting part is the crew of the ship and it's development (which maybe then at some point lead to a "multi-part episode/finale). Think of the classic SciFi shows like Star Trek.
So the question is: who will be faster? ;D
A episode where the PCs come upon a merchant trying to sell them cute little alien pets.. who end up becoming a pest (like cloning themselves).
A episode where the PCs encounter a god-like being who kidnaps them and forces them to entertain it.
A episode where one of the PCs get their shirt ripped open and fights a Vesk, one on one, on a desert planet.
Lots of desert planets that look like Utah.
A episode where the PCs need to do a space walk and fix the ship.
A episode where the PCs arrive on a planet that resembles 1920s Earth and fight bootleg gangsters in a Chicago-like setting.
Can't forget a good ol' time loop episode.
So, not an AP but they did just list a store page for the upcoming Starfinder Galaxy Exploration Manual, due out April 2021, and one of the listed features is "GM tactics & advice for running exciting open-ended space exploration campaigns", so something up this alley, at least.
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We are doing this in my group right now. The idea is that we are on a scientific expedition to explore the reasons for the Gap, and as a result we are not to operate the Drift drive on the main ship in order to provide consistent data. We are essentially moving out from Pact World space on 'impulse' systematically and seeing what happens, dropping drift beacons along the way. There is a very large crew aboard the ship, and the PCs are not in absolute command.
We are doing troupe-style play where every PC makes a 7th level, 5th level, and 3rd level character. Two are supposed to be crew members, while one can represent another interest that has found its way on board*. The groups can be mixed together, or used in parallel, depending on whats going on. So sometimes you are in command of the away team, and sometimes you are the red shirt. We have only done a few sessions with this configuration and its going well.
I think the issue we're running into immediately is that the original concept was each session plotline would be self-contained, like an TV episode, and pulling that off in a TTRPG setting is no easy task.
We had a pretty cool starship battle where a lot of the side characters with Piloting skills got pulled into smaller fighters as gunners, whether they were any good at it or not.... Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
*Mine is a Teifling Bureaucrat from Hell.
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...I would LOVE to see an AP where the players are part of the crew of a larger exploration vessel which is headed to explore new worlds.I, too, would love to see this AP. No promises, but we have talked about it!
DON'T YOU DO IT! DON'T YOU GIVE ME HOPE!
I could also see this working in something like a "Space Kingmaker, in Space" style of game. One thing to keep in mind is that, in the Starfinder universe, ships actually travel faster than information does after a certain point. Drift travel can't send messages, at least not that I recollect, so making the PCs at least marginally responsible for the place/s they visit in their big exploration ship puts some pressure on them to not simply fly back to civilization.
I believe the drift article in dead suns mentions that you can send messages in the drift, only they are exactly as fast as a ship, and are completely unsecure. They probably also have x1-x5 ratings. No idea if ships can send/receive while traveling though, or if such messages go to a specific destination, or to anyone listening.
So, any important message is probably sent by courier, not a transmission.
Silly question, but what time scale is the campaign operating on? If the main ship is not using its Drift drive, it should take years to get to even the closest adjacent star system from its starting point. Does the crew spend intermittently long periods of time in stasis?
This is a great question. I'll have to ask the GM. He may have to come up with something to make this all make sense LOL.