Can we start this yet? I can wait until August 1 at 10 am EDT if not.
A third, secret thing: keep the weapon and don't let them use the illegal reaction.
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Is the Newborn described anywhere, and if so, are they adorable?
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Is the Newborn described anywhere, and if so, are they adorable?
Not really, but sure, why not, I bet everyone who looks directly at the Newborn loves it.
A third, secret thing: keep the weapon and don't let them use the illegal reaction.
Of course, totally an option, but dang I really want them to be able to use it
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Is the Newborn described anywhere, and if so, are they adorable?Not really, but sure, why not, I bet everyone who looks directly at the Newborn loves it.
Can confirm.
Source: GMing SFS 7-03. Absolutely no sanity checks, and 100% PCs just lovin' life.<_ <
> _>
In Chapter 2, there's no map of1 Little Akiton. Has there ever been one? I'm okay with making one myself (and feel like I have to just so I don't lose track of all the locations/NPCs/hooks), but it'd be nice to have a place to start.
Little Akiton has never been mapped, no.
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On page 11, in te description for area A2, the text states that a trap “triggers the first time a PC steps on one of the marked squares”, but on the map, it does not appear that any squares are marked as far as I can tell. Is there any clarification available?
Can a mod delete my post up above. Forgot to use spoiler tag and it’s too late for me to delete.
I wouldn’t sweat it too hard, it’s a thread specifically for GMs with “BEWARE THE SPOILERS” right in the subject line. If any players are reading this, it’s on them, not you.
On page 11, in te description for area A2, the text states that a trap “triggers the first time a PC steps on one of the marked squares”, but on the map, it does not appear that any squares are marked as far as I can tell. Is there any clarification available?
I came to the thread looking for the same information as you. Roll20 has maps of the book for free so I referenced how they had set up the official maps. The marked trap triggers are NOT present on the map, but are located in A2, one a square or two at each end in the center row of tiles. It looks to be an error with the marked squares not being printed. I think it's confusing because A2 on the map looks more like a control room.
They are also not the A3 traps, as those are spread between the two zones of A3 (four squares in total) and those ARE marked.
I would agree with TheCaptin above, though, to say the elevator is intended to be the area beneath A2, but on Roll20 they mark it in a random spot close to A1.
Hopefully an official response can come along and clarify those for us.
Anyone else found the animated statue to be a TPK-in-waiting? Hardness 6 and a pretty punchy attack bonus/damage line proved killer [well, total-party-defeat anyway] at level 1 for my party.
They lost 1 member KOd to two back-to-back solid hits in round 1 (no mystic in the team), then with good rolls and ok tactics (managed to inflict flat-footed & suppressed, together with a get 'em, and restricted the incoming attacks with a diff terrain quantum field) nearly broke through the construct armor before crits took out the envoy and then the soldier in successive rounds.
Without a lucky nat 20 in the first round or two to break its armor [AC too high for crits otherwise], I'm not sure this is likely to be beaten without somewhat meta play (luring it under one of the gantries or such like, which would take a little bit of set up - my team were already one down by the time the danger they were in became clear).
As the ghost couriers had already been dealt with and there wasn't really any reason for it to murder (?), I had it return to its plinth until the team eventually came around, but...
Other experiences?
Anyone notice that the rules listed for running poison mentioned in A8: Memento Chamber are different to the ones in PC1 (and CRB)?
Apparently once you hit the final stage of an affliction you lose the affliction without needing to make any more saves...
Yes, noticed last night, decided to use these ones as that avoided yet another PC KO & it's a playtest. It's a significant deviation from Core rules, which are explicit that...
If a failure or critical failure would increase the stage beyond the highest listed stage, the affliction instead repeats the effects of the highest stage.
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Anyone notice that the rules listed for running poison mentioned in A8: Memento Chamber are different to the ones in PC1 (and CRB)?
Apparently once you hit the final stage of an affliction you lose the affliction without needing to make any more saves...
Yeah I noticed it as well, this might be a case of this affliction bending the rules, though personally I expect the combat to be pretty fast.
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Anyone else found the animated statue to be a TPK-in-waiting? Hardness 6 and a pretty punchy attack bonus/damage line proved killer [well, total-party-defeat anyway] at level 1 for my party.
They lost 1 member KOd to two back-to-back solid hits in round 1 (no mystic in the team), then with good rolls and ok tactics (managed to inflict flat-footed & suppressed, together with a get 'em, and restricted the incoming attacks with a diff terrain quantum field) nearly broke through the construct armor before crits took out the envoy and then the soldier in successive rounds.
Without a lucky nat 20 in the first round or two to break its armor [AC too high for crits otherwise], I'm not sure this is likely to be beaten without somewhat meta play (luring it under one of the gantries or such like, which would take a little bit of set up - my team were already one down by the time the danger they were in became clear).
As the ghost couriers had already been dealt with and there wasn't really any reason for it to murder (?), I had it return to its plinth until the team eventually came around, but...
Other experiences?
My group just recently took it down, it did not help that in the first round of combat I crit and took out their healer in one hit.
Eventually, this was taken down by a lot of smaller hits that managed to get through the hardness, and the solider was pretty lucky as the creature had an awful reflex save, thus the area fire caused a critical failure.
It died shortly after the construct armor was gone... maybe for this playtest, going with a hardness of 4 might have been better.
The envoy really struggled to hurt it, but with the envoy's get'em and the mystic's anthem, the group actually had decent static bonuses to damage.
I guess this is the encounter that shows you that having a big old melee weapon like a doshko can be worth it.
My group did not consider that flying away or running away was an option, but the enemy essentially spawns in front of them, and it is easy to fall into panic mode once a player gets dropped.
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In Pathfinder, Hardness 6 isn't that big a deal because most of your martials will be rolling a minimum of 1d6+3 (1d8+4 or higher being more realistic) for damage, meaning most non-crits have a decent chance of doing at least a little damage. In SF, though, only melee specialists - and that's probably just gonna be your solarian, if you have one - get static bonuses to damage, meaning the majority of the party is going to be limited to a flat 1d4, 1d6, or 1d8 damage. That's a huge problem when you have to deal at least 7 damage to do anything at all.
It died shortly after the construct armor was gone... maybe for this playtest, going with a hardness of 4 might have been better.
In Pathfinder, Hardness 6 isn't that big a deal because most of your martials will be rolling a minimum of 1d6+3 (1d8+4 or higher being more realistic) for damage, meaning most non-crits have a decent chance of doing at least a little damage. In SF, though, only melee specialists - and that's probably just gonna be your solarian, if you have one - get static bonuses to damage, meaning the majority of the party is going to be limited to a flat 1d4, 1d6, or 1d8 damage. That's a huge problem when you have to deal at least 7 damage to do anything at all.
I think I'll go the Hardness 4 route when I run this for my table.
Any damaging crit (so rolling a 4 on most ranged weapons, or 3 with envoy Get 'Em) breaks the armor and removes the hardness and extra AC, that's more likely for some groups than running up 18 points of damage if you don't have a patient or lucky solarian or operative.
The statue is also a bit slow. If everyone kites it with one move away and two shots (8 per round from the party), there's a 33% chance every round of someone in the party scoring a crit, further reduced by the chance of rolling 3 or below, and making the armor going away in one hit. Hopefully that happens before its likely double strike and single strike routine (with a decent chance to crit) puts someone down.
It's reflex save is quite bad, maybe trip it and run/gun is the best tactic for some groups.
Any damaging crit (so rolling a 4 on most ranged weapons, or 3 with envoy Get 'Em) breaks the armor and removes the hardness and extra AC, that's more likely for some groups than running up 18 points of damage if you don't have a patient or lucky solarian or operative.
The statue is also a bit slow. If everyone kites it with one move away and two shots (8 per round from the party), there's a 33% chance every round of someone in the party scoring a crit, further reduced by the chance of rolling 3 or below, and making the armor going away in one hit. Hopefully that happens before its likely double strike and single strike routine (with a decent chance to crit) puts someone down.
It's reflex save is quite bad, maybe trip it and run/gun is the best tactic for some groups.
Yep, it's very beatable with half-decent tactics *if you know about it* (or roll well in initiative & have some TTRPG experience I suspect). My table were not expecting it, didn't roll especially well for init, and were a man down dying 2 on the far side of the statue before they had a chance to realise they were in a "boss fight". With how the map is, it could easily be the second combat encounter ever for some groups and there's no warning signs.
Does ** spoiler omitted ** have Mist Escape? It seems like that NPC isn’t given enough information to run correctly.
Can a mod delete my post up above. Forgot to use spoiler tag and it’s too late for me to delete.
I am also confused about how to run this creature. Given that it is required to be destroyed in order to save some of the NPCs, it would be nice to know how the NPCs can destroy it. Do they need stakes or sunlight? Does Absalom Station's artificial light count as sunlight? What time of day does the meeting occur?
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There are lot of weird editing problems in pdf huh.
Like Elevator pcs arrive looks like its supposed to be small room close to A1 while A11 is supposed to be room where pcs fix up the fusebox (why there would be chair and computer desk inside elevator?) and chapter 2 has lot of "here is quest giver, then five pages later the actual quest)
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To the comment above, yeah the animated statue is probably too hard for some parties who don't have a hefty damage dealer. It looked very dicey for our party until they landed a lucky crit. I think Hardness 6 should be avoided at 1st level to be honest.
Is anyone else utterly confused by some of the maps in Paizo adventures, especially ones that where north points anywhere besides up? And there are some other issues with the bank heist (pages 31-35) that left me confused:
-biometric locks get bypassed by "an employee's information"? Meanwhile, if you find an employee's badge you can bypass the "mechanical lock"? Both statements confused me
-"Ramps" (plural?) in the office area (E2) lead to the "lower levels" (areas E3 and E4), but there is no clear connection between the two on the map. (The lower levels are superimposed over a street scene which I think it has no relationship to. I'm imagining the street artwork isn't there and this is simply a lower floor that is deeper than "the basement.")
-"Automated sentries" patrol the vault, but there is only one who patrols.
-In the office area (E2), a "locked steel door to the southeast" blocks the stairs to the basement. The map has a door in the southWEST. And "the basement" looks like a single room. The "basement's" relationship to "the lower levels" is not explained.
-At the safes "the protection-class security robot enters the area from the south." This makes no sense: there is no point farther south from the safes. There is a small space that is from the south if North on the map pointed up, but it's pointed to the left. I will have to assume it approaches from the space on the map, which is actually from the west. And still I find it doing nothing while the party deals with the very dangerous 60-foot laser hallway just around the corner to be a bit hard to justify. (NOTE: I'm going to have it appear from behind a secret panel after they start dealing with the lock for dramatic effect!)
Oh by the way, on page 29-31, for there to be any believable way for there to be conflict between the goblins who are [/i]legitimate shippers[i] is for there to be legitimate fear on all sides that there are people who steal or rob shipments on those docks. Just a little reason for conflict that the module neglected.
(This is sort of a rant, but I'm usually writing notes in the adventures to make sense out of them more than I'd like! Grr.)
I found I had to read and re-read the entire chapter to make heads or tails it, and it required some heavy lifting on my part to work it into a usable state.
As for the goblins... Yeah, I just put it down to Torgo being racist with a bias against goblins and an itchy trigger finger (someone forgot to tell him it's not SF1e anymore, and that even then they were often just misunderstood); he's not exactly described in the most flattering light to begin with. In short, he shot before even thinking to talk to them. It is worth noting that by this point Little Akiton should be under lockdown, and you could hypothetically take that to mean people are already starting to get crazy about buying the essentials, much like how people have a tendency to go nuts and start clearing out toilet paper at the slightest whiff of any kind of supply chain disruption.
The biggest problem with chapter two is the freeform nature of the event chains, as one needs to ensure that certain events happen before the initial lockdown is lifted.
I'm surprised so many people are having trouble with chapter 2's organization. Having everything sorted by location made sense to me, as it's a sandbox where event triggers can happen completely out of order or not at all. Is it because everyone is so used to linear adventures from Paizo? Are people not reading the whole thing before running it?
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its because its not consistent, its not "all locations and then all quests" its "some locations, quest, then back to locations oh and back to quests" back and forth.
It would be easier to read if it was either or, like if it was "all locations and quest givers and then all quests" or "location followed by quest it gives then another location"
Just like player characters, an NPC's cantrip rank is equal to half their level, rounded up.
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For the final boss, it might make sense to split the ability to return home from the regeneration. My group was beating up on a regenerating enemy who stood up and spawned one of those bubbles.
I allowed my players to separate the connection between the midwife and the reactor while it was knocked out/regenerating, as killing it was not in the cards, the group simply could not do this type of damage.
Actually, sanctification is not something SF2 classes can get right now, that certainly makes it harder to deal that kind of damage at that level.
The final area was pretty hard for my players.
its because its not consistent, its not "all locations and then all quests" its "some locations, quest, then back to locations oh and back to quests" back and forth.
It would be easier to read if it was either or, like if it was "all locations and quest givers and then all quests" or "location followed by quest it gives then another location"
I ended up making a flow chart to track what plot threads are happening in chapter 2. While it is a sandbox there are several events that happen in linear succession or are triggered by other events. The module details things like: "this event unlocks after 3 jobs have been completed or the road blocks have been lifted" before describing any of the jobs. I have had to do the flow chart for other Paizo products, most recently Redshift Rally.
Is anyone else utterly confused by some of the maps in Paizo adventures, especially ones that where north points anywhere besides up? And there are some other issues with the bank heist (pages 31-35) that left me confused:
-biometric locks get bypassed by "an employee's information"? Meanwhile, if you find an employee's badge you can bypass the "mechanical lock"? Both statements confused me
-"Ramps" (plural?) in the office area (E2) lead to the "lower levels" (areas E3 and E4), but there is no clear connection between the two on the map. (The lower levels are superimposed over a street scene which I think it has no relationship to. I'm imagining the street artwork isn't there and this is simply a lower floor that is deeper than "the basement.")
-"Automated sentries" patrol the vault, but there is only one who patrols.
-In the office area (E2), a "locked steel door to the southeast" blocks the stairs to the basement. The map has a door in the southWEST. And "the basement" looks like a single room. The "basement's" relationship to "the lower levels" is not explained.
-At the safes "the protection-class security robot enters the area from the south." This makes no sense: there is no point farther south from the safes. There is a small space that is from the south if North on the map pointed up, but it's pointed to the left. I will have to assume it approaches from the space on the map, which is actually from the west. And still I find it doing nothing while the party deals with the very dangerous 60-foot laser hallway just around the corner to be a bit hard to justify. (NOTE: I'm going to have it appear from behind a secret panel after they start dealing with the lock for dramatic effect!)Oh by the way, on page 29-31, for there to be any...
I am also having trouble figuring out the ramps. I am just connecting the stairway on the east in E2 to the eastward one in E3. given it's apparent proximity I might add that the PC's can cut or blast through the basement wall in E5 to the lower levels. There is a vague blue outline around E3 and E4 that seems to be indicating that it is independent of the rest of the map but I would have liked a dividing line or a rocky, or given that we are on a space station tech metallic pipe sort of boarder surrounding the lower levels of the bank branch.