Well, another month has come and gone, which means there’s a whole bunch of new and awesome products coming out from Paizo. But first, it should be noted that today’s your last day to pre-order physical copies of the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook, Pathfinder Playtest Adventure: Doomsday Dawn, and the Flip-mat multipack. If you intend to pick up a copy of any of them, now’s your last chance. Free copies of the PDF will be available in late August.
The Pathfinder Society’s Glyph of the Open Road
Two new Pathfinder Society Scenarios were recently released, Scenario #9-18: Scourge of the Farheavens is a tier 1-5 scenario that sends the players all the way to Iobaria, which promises to be a blast. This is definitely the scenario I’m most excited for, and I hope to pick it up soon. The second PFS release is Scenario #9-19: Clash in the Kaimuko Wood, is a tier 5-9 scenario that takes place on the border of Kwanlai and Tianjing in Tian Xia. Involving abyssal corruption, this adventure continues events in Scenario #9-12: Shrine of the Sacred Tempest, and directly contributes to the ongoing storyline of the Silver Crusades.
Near the end of May there’ll be two more scenarios for us to sink our teeth into. Scenario #9-20: Fury of the Final Blade is a tier 7-11 scenario that sees the Liberty’s Edge faction leader, Colson Maldris, up to some shifty underhanded shenanigans, involving Andoran’s corrupt elite, the Grey Gardeners of Galt, and the soul-trapping guillotines they’re known for. Turning to the Pathfinders for aid Maldris set out to lay the groundwork for a rescue plan–only to end up captured himself. This awesome-sounding scenario leaves the fate of Colson Maldris in your players hands, and directly affects the Liberty’s Edge faction’s ongoing plot. Finally, we have Scenario #9-21: In the Grandmaster’s Name, which is a tier 3-7 adventure that lets your players pose as intercepted agents of Grandmaster Torch, and perform some underhanded espionage in Druma. I don’t know about you, but I’m super excited for this mission, as my whole family loves the Grandmaster (or rather, some love him, and some love to hate him!).
While last month brought us the delightfully dark Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Nidal, Land of Shadows, this month brings us a Player Companion that looks like it’s handy for everyone. Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of the Ancients, looks like it’s going to focus on both unlocking the powers of your own ancestry, and on the remnants of ancient civilizations. I’m particularly curious about the Azlanti ioun kineticist archetype, and the Jistkan artificers. But, we’ll have to wait to find out more.
But, the most exciting new release? The Jungle of Despair pre-painted plastic minis! Like the rest of the randomized Pathfinder Battles minis, they come in four-figure boosters (with one large and three medium minis inside). You can also buy a brick (which is eight booster boxes) or a case (which contains four bricks).
Whatever you’re interested in, there’s a lot of neat stuff coming out this month. Far more than I could indulge in, that’s for sure! It’s the two pawn collections that I’m most interested in getting my hands on. That and the Scourge of the Farheavens PFS scenario. What about you? What are you most excited for from Paizo’s upcoming products? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Today we’re going to take a look at the two most recent Starfinder Society Scenarios that are currently available for purchase, and let you know we thought. Although you’ll find references to events in each that I liked or disliked, and comments about specific characters, these scenarios are not explored in detail. It’s not my intention to spoil the events in these scenarios, or give summaries and full reviews, but to share my opinions and provide recommendations. That said, if you want to avoid even minor spoilers I recommend you check out a different article. Whether you intend to use them in home games of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, sanctioned scenarios for use with the Starfinder Society Organized Play, or just want to read a nifty new adventure, we’ve got you covered! So sit back, and get ready to explore the Pact Worlds!
Scenario # 1-12: Ashes of Discovery is a Tier 1-4 adventure which takes place on an abandoned outpost in Near Space. It has the repeatable tag and features starship combat. As a repeatable scenario, this adventure can be played once with every character (as opposed to once per player), which is AWESOME and makes it easier to get some much needed experience for low level characters. In addition, it features randomized mechanical and story elements, which means that each time you play it will be slightly (or very) different. These randomized elements include what special abilities the enemies have, the atmosphere of the planet, attitudes and cultural quirks of the locals, what corporation the colony once belonged to, and much, much more. I was super impressed with how completely these randomized elements could change the scenario. I fully intend to play this one through with every character I ever make for SFS play. The only difficulty? With a scenario this randomized it’s really up to the GM to sell the environments, characters, and atmosphere. With a GM not willing to put their all into running this delightful scenario, it could fall flat.
So what’s this scenario about? Recently a corporation discovered records of a long abandoned outpost they haven’t had contact with in centuries. They’ve hired to Starfinders to head on down to the planet–cleverly named Colony-753–and have a look see. Your Starfinder will get to explore an unknown planet, deal with hazards and wildlife, befriend the locals and survive a bit of wild weather. Basically, this scenario is a wonderful example of what being a Starfinder is all about! It features Guidance, an AI created from the memories and knowledge of previous Starfinders. Unlike the other repeatable scenario (#1-01: The Commencement, which also happens to be Guidance’s first appearance), this one really lived up to my expectations. It was wonderful. Overall, I highly recommend Ashes of Discovery. I give it five out of five stars.
Besmaran whelp from SFS #1-12: Ashes of Discovery. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.
Scenario #1-13: On the Trail of History is a Tier 3-6 adventure which takes place on an unchartered planet in the Vast known as Icefront, or Izalraan to the natives. It has the Faction (Second Seekers [Luwazi Elsebo] scenario tag and features starship combat. In addition to being of great importance to the Second Seekers (Luwazi Elsebo) faction, this scenario also contributes to the ongoing year of the Scoured Stars storyline. Following a lead discovered in Scenario #1-11: In Pursuit of the Scoured Past, First Seeker Elsebo sends the Starfinders on an expedition to a planet that could have a connection to the Scoured Stars incident. Tasked with finding out whatever they can about the planet, and a relic believed to have landed there, the group must deal with a strange environment, and dangerous locals. Unlike similar scenarios, this adventure features a whole lot more than you’d expect, the mysterious introduction of what’s sure to be an important part of the Scoured Stars plot line, and some delightful moral dilemmas. Those of you who have played through #1-05: The First Mandate, will find that one of your boons might earn you an extra hint or two. Overall, this was an awesome scenario, that was very different from those that have come before. I give it five out of five stars.
A mysterious ship… Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.A Starfinder Society Agent from the Starfinder Society Guild Guide. Art Courtesy of Paizo Inc.
And that’s all for today! Thanks for joining us on our exploration of the wonderful new scenario’s available this month. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about them as much as I have. Both scenarios look like a ton of fun, and I can’t wait until I have a chance to run them for my family, or play them myself. My son’s been super curious about the mystery of the Scoured Stars incident, so I can’t wait to tell him about what’s waiting for him down the line.
Just the other day we took a look inside the covers of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game: Alien Archive. I shared some of my favourite creatures, spoke about what the book contains, and touched on the easy and adaptable monster and NPC creation process. My children and I tested out the creation system, and today, we’re going to share what they made in order to emphasize just how fun and easy it is.
Now, it should be noted, that my children are young. My daughter turned six last month, while my son turned seven last month. This means that if they can do it, you can do it.
Now, where to start?
The first step is the concept and CR. My daughter immediately decided to make a colossal rabbit which flies through space, firing laser beams from her eyes, breathing fire from her nose, and feeding off the electrical energy of space storms, starships, asteroids, and even other living beings. It’s quite big and strong, so she’s hoping to make it a CR 10 or so. And my son? He made radioactive robots! As their creators and their societies were destroyed by nuclear war, some of the robots survived the devastation. Damaged from the blast and the centuries that have passed since, these robots have broken chassis, exposed wiring, and scratched and dented frames. Their solar panels no longer work, but they absorbed a huge amount of radiation, and function on nuclear power, instead. He’s aiming for a lower powered monster, making it CR 3.
The next step is to choose the creature’s array, which is its role in combat. Although my daughter strongly debated changing around her concept to make her space rabbits spellcasters, in the end she stuck to her original concept, and made her space rabbits a combatant. My son chose the same. Once you know your array you check out the associated charts and get all of your statistics for the creature. We wrote these down, and got ready for the next step: selecting a creature type. My daughter’s space rabbits were going to be magical beasts, and didn’t need a subtype. This means they’ll be getting dark vision, low-light vision, +2 to Fortitude and Reflex saving throws, and +1 on attack rolls. Meanwhile, my son’s radioactive robots were going to be constructs, which grants his monster a -2 to all its saving throws, a +1 to its attack rolls, and some snazzy traits including darkvision and construct traits. They would also have the technological subtype, which didn’t add any new abilities.
The next step is adding a class graft, which neither of my children’s creations needed. Skipping this step meant we would next be adding any any other templates they desired, which they also both decided against.
The next step they found the most fun: selecting special abilities and your creature’s attack forms. Their array and CR will determine how many abilities they can choose. In addition, some abilities are free. It should also be noted that this number is a guideline, and can be altered as necessary to make your monster concept come to life. The special abilities you can select include things like feats, universal monster abilities, and statistic increases. You can also select abilities that show up in other stat blocks.
So what did they choose? Well, our space rabbits already have darkvision and low-light vision from being a magical beast, but my daughter was very intrigued with the idea of giving them blindsight (voltage), which would allow them to detect and see electrical fields to a range of 60 feet. If she did choose to add this, it would count as one special ability. Attacks are necessary to the creature, so the natural attacks it would receive (a piercing bite and laser beam eyes) would be free of charge. Other free abilities creatures receive is anything that they require to survive in their environments. For our space rabbits this means they need immunity to cold and a vacuum, as well as the no breath ability. Because of her CR she’d get a third immunity, so my daughter chose electricity.
Which brings us to our second special ability! Space rabbits would get a breath weapon which shoots out a super heated blast of energy–fired from their nose, of course! She also contemplated taking the swallow whole ability, but was undecided. This would be their third ability, if she chose to select it. And lastly, they’d need a supernatural fly speed so that they can move around in space. Luckily, movement speeds (within reason) are also free. That left her with three abilities. Her chart suggested having two, but, as mentioned, you can go over within reason (or under, for that matter). There was one other ability my daughter thought they needed: the ability to land upon and leave planets safely. After all, how could they escape a planet’s gravity with only a 60 ft. move speed…? We left my daughter to mull this over, and moved on to help my son.
So what did our radioactive robots need? Well, unlike the rabbits, they didn’t need any special abilities to survive in their environment, nor did they need a fancy move speed. Just walking was fine. As a construct, they would already have plenty of immunities and snazzy traits, so he didn’t want to add to that. The robot’s natural attacks would be a slam attack. Originally this would have done bludgeoning damage, but my son adores the idea of them broken and crackling with electricity, so he decided it does bludgeoning and electricity damage. He also gave it the arc critical ability. To represent that the robots are already broken open and damaged, he gave them a weakness: vulnerable to critical hits. The first special ability he knew he wanted to give them was an aura of radiation. Due to their minor CR, it would only be low level radiation, which he thought was a little disappointing–especially since they would be found on a radiated planet and the PCs would likely already have their armour’s environmental protections up (which would make them immune to low levels of radiation). We decided to revisit the radiation levels later, and continue on with planning. For their ranged attack, he decided that they would shoot out a beam of their internal nuclear energy–an attack against EAC which would deal fire damage. He wants them to explode upon destruction, so we gave them the self-destruct special ability, but we were torn on whether to make it deal fire or electricity damage–fire to represent their minor nuclear explosion, and electricity to represent their sparking, glitching exposed wiring. In the end we decided to make it deal fire. There was one other thing he wanted to make his robots do: spark with electricity when touched in melee combat. We decided that this would do only minor damage, just a single zap of damage to anyone touching them with a manufactured or natural melee attack. And that was it! He was happy.
From there we chose which skills each creature would be best with, a simple step which was over in a flash. Then you select spells and spell-like ability–if your monster has a spell casting class graft or a special ability which grants them casting. Neither of our creatures did, so all that was left was to put it together and check it over.
DEFENSE HP 165 EAC 23; KAC 25 Fort +14; Ref +14; Will +9 Immune cold, electricity, vacuum
OFFENSE Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (Su, good); thermal flight (speed 6; maneuverability good (turn 1)) Melee bite +21 (2d8+18 P plus swallow whole) Ranged eye lasers +19 (3d4+10 F) Offensive Abilities breath weapon (70 ft. cone, 11d6 F, DC 17, usable every 1d4 rounds), swallow whole (1d6+15 F, EAC 23, KAC 21, 41 HP) Space 30 ft.; Reach 20 ft.
STATISTICS Str +8; Dex +5; Con +3; Int –2; Wis +2; Cha +0 Skills Acrobatics +24, Intimidate +19, Survival +19 Languages Sylvan (can’t speak any language) Other Abilities no breath, thermal flight
SPECIAL ABILITIES Eye Lasers (Ex): Galactic rabbits can fire laser beams from their eyes at a range of 120 feet. Despite having two eyes, both laser beams must be directed at the same target, and function as a single attack.
Thermal Flight (Su): Galactic rabbits can use the thermal energy stored in their stomachs to achieve incredible bursts of speed for a short time. This enables them to land upon and take off from planets without difficulty, and reach speeds equivalent to that of a spaceship. A galactic rabbit cannot activate thermal flight if they have used their breath weapon within four rounds. Once activated, the galactic rabbit gains shields as if it were a starship (20 shields, split evenly between its four quadrants), and a fly speed of 6 hexes (good maneuverability). This flight speed lasts for a number of minutes equal to the galactic rabbits CR (10 minutes for adult galactic rabbits). After activating thermal flight, galactic rabbits no longer have enough thermal energy to utilize their breath weapon, or thermal flight for 24 hours.
ECOLOGY Environment space Organization solitary, pair, or herd (2 galactic rabbits with 2–6 galactic bunnies)
GALACTIC BUNNY CR 4 XP 1,200 N Large magical beast Init +5; Senses blindsense (electicity) 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +15
DEFENSE HP 50 EAC 16; KAC 18 Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +3 Immune cold, electricity, vacuum
OFFENSE Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (Su, average); thermal flight (speed 4; maneuverability average (turn 2)) Melee bite +12 (1d6+9 P plus swallow whole) Ranged eye lasers +9 (1d4+4 F) Offensive Abilities breath weapon (40 ft. cone, 5d6 F, DC 13, usable every 1d4 rounds), swallow whole (1d4 F, EAC 16, KAC 14, 12 HP) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
STATISTICS Str +5; Dex +3; Con +1; Int –2; Wis +0; Cha +0 Skills Acrobatics +15, Intimidate +10, Survival +10 Languages Sylvan (can’t speak any language) Other Abilities no breath, thermal flight
SPECIAL ABILITIES Eye Lasers (Ex): Galactic bunnies can fire laser beams from their eyes at a range of 90 feet. Despite having two eyes, both laser beams must be directed at the same target, and function as a single attack.
Thermal Flight (Su): Galactic bunnies can use the thermal energy stored in their stomachs to achieve incredible bursts of speed for a short time. This enables them to land upon and take off from planets without difficulty, and reach speeds equivalent to that of a spaceship. A galactic bunny cannot activate thermal flight if they have used their breath weapon within four rounds. Once activated, the galactic bunny gains shields as if it were a starship (4 shields, split evenly between its four quadrants), and a fly speed of 4 hexes (average maneuverability). This flight speed lasts for a number of minutes equal to the galactic bunnies CR (4 minutes for galactic bunnies). After activating thermal flight, galactic bunnies no longer have enough thermal energy to utilize their breath weapon, or thermal flight for 24 hours.
ECOLOGY Environment space Organization solitary, litter (2-6), or herd (2 galactic rabbits with 2–6 galactic bunnies)
Galactic rabbits look surprisingly like their mundane counterparts—on a much large scale. Although capable of flying through any environment, galactic rabbits prefer to live in the void of space. They survive on electrical energy, and are capable of seeing it from great distances. They can devour any sources with electrical fields, including electrical devices, starships, satellites, asteroids, and even other lifeforms. They can also absorb it directly from space storms. Electricity is digested and stored as thermal energy in their stomachs. This thermal energy can be released in a superheated exhalation shot from their constantly twitching nose, or used to power extreme bursts of speed.
Although quite rare, galactic rabbits can wreak havoc on technologically advanced planets and starships and are often attacked with extreme prejudice when spotted. Because of their modest intelligence, Xenowardens often befriend galactic rabbits. In most cases, this is to protect them, or raise them as companions, while more violent xenowardens use them as a weapon against their enemies, releasing them upon corporate satellites, and exploitive colonies.
It is unknown how galactic rabbits came into being, although their ability to understand the language of the fey makes most scholars suggest that they are a beings of the fabled First World, or perhaps the result of fey experimentation upon the galactic rabbit’s mundane cousins. Whatever the case, galactic rabbits are here to stay, and are capable of procreating incredibly rapidly. Their offspring, galactic bunnies, are capable of living alone after only two months, and are full grown within a year. Galactic rabbits live for centuries, and can go for extended periods of time without feeding. They are capable of birthing two litters of young a year, if given even electrical currents to feed off of. Although this can easily overrun a planet, the galactic rabbit’s fondness for space means that this is rarely a problem. Even a horde of well-fed galactic rabbits cannot overpopulate the infinite solar systems.
There are rumours that a galactic rabbit exists deep in the Vast, so large it can devour an entire planet, and swallow the largest of starships whole. These rumours are unsubstantiated, and no reliable source has ever reported or proven such claims.
Radioactive Robot (Patrol Class) CR 3 XP 800
N Medium construct (technological) Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +8 Aura radiation (15 ft., DC 13)
DEFENSE HP 40 EAC 14; KAC 16 Fort +3; Ref +3; Will +1 Immunities construct immunities, electrified exterior Weaknesses vulnerable to critical hits
OFFENSE Speed 20 ft. Melee slam +12 (1d6+7 B & E; critical arc 1d4) Ranged nuclear beam +9 (1d4+3 F; critical burn 1d4) Offensive Abilities self-destruct (1d6+3 F, DC 12)
STATISTICS Str +4; Dex +2; Con —; Int —; Wis +1; Cha +0 Skills Athletics +8 Languages One local language (can’t speak any language) Other Abilities mindless, unliving
SPECIAL ABILITIES Aura of Radiation (Ex)
Due to the devastation of nuclear war or extremely radioactive environments, radioactive robots have absorbed extreme levels of radiation, and have evolved the ability to produce, store and redirect this energy without being harmed by it. A radioactive robot emanates low radiation out to 15 feet.
Electrified Exterior (Ex)
Radioactive robots are broken and damaged, and spark with electricity. Making physical contact with a radioactive robot can cause electrocution. Any creature that succeeds on a melee attack against a radioactive robot with a manufactured or natural weapon—even if this attack does not harm the radioactive robot—takes 1 electricity damage.
Self-destruct (Ex)
A radioactive robot is highly unstable and self-destructs when it is reduced to 0 HP, dealing an amount of fire damage equal to 1d6 + the robot’s CR to all creatures in a 10-foot-radius burst. A creature can attempt a Reflex saving throw to reduce this damage by half. This ability destroys any technological components that could have been salvaged from the radioactive robot.
Radioactive Robot (Enforcer Class) CR 7 XP 3,200
N Large construct (technological) Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +14 Aura radiation (30 ft., DC 17)
DEFENSE HP 105 EAC 19; KAC 21 Fort +7; Ref +7; Will +4 Immunities construct immunities, electrified exterior Weaknesses vulnerable to critical hits
OFFENSE Speed 30 ft. Melee slam +18 (2d6+12 B & E; critical arc 1d6) Ranged nuclear beam +15 (2d6+7 F; critical burn 1d6) Offensive Abilities self-destruct (1d6+7 F, DC 15)
STATISTICS Str +5; Dex +4; Con —; Int —; Wis +2; Cha +0 Skills Athletics +14 Languages One local language (can’t speak any language) Other Abilities mindless, unliving
SPECIAL ABILITIES Aura of Radiation (Ex)
Due to the devastation of nuclear war or extremely radioactive environments, radioactive robots have absorbed extreme levels of radiation, and have evolved the ability to produce, store and redirect this energy without being harmed by it. A radioactive robot emanates medium radiation out to 15 feet and low radiation for an additional 15 feet.
Electrified Exterior (Ex)
Radioactive robots are broken and damaged, and spark with electricity. Making physical contact with a radioactive robot can cause electrocution. Any creature that succeeds on a melee attack against a radioactive robot with a manufactured or natural weapon—even if this attack does not harm the radioactive robot—takes 1d4 electricity damage.
Self-destruct (Ex)
A radioactive robot is highly unstable and self-destructs when it is reduced to 0 HP, dealing an amount of fire damage equal to 1d6 + the robot’s CR to all creatures in a 10-foot-radius burst. A creature can attempt a Reflex saving throw to reduce this damage by half. This ability destroys any technological components that could have been salvaged from the radioactive robot.
ECOLOGY Environment any environment with high levels of radiation Organization solitary, pair, unit (3-4 radioactive robots attempting to complete a similar objective)
Radioactive robots are found in places where nuclear war or high levels of radiation have destroyed technologically advanced societies. The few robots who survive such destruction are battered and broken—sparking with electricity form their exposed, tattered wiring and circuitry. These robots have absorbed the radiation around them, and use it to power themselves. Mindless and glitching they wander aimlessly, sometimes attempting to continue their original purposes, and other times corrupted to the point of senseless violence. They never wander far from their radioactive environments.
Radioactive robots can be found in localized areas of devastation, like the ruins of exploded nuclear reactors, or the wreckage of crashed starships that were once powered by nuclear engines. They can also be found in large swaths of territories that have high radiation levels, like the desert wastes of a planet destroyed by nuclear war, or natural phenomenon. They are a common sight on the ghibrani homeworld of Elytrio, which was devastated by thermonuclear war, and Jasterax, a planet in the Vast wracked with fierce storms of radioactive rain.
I hope you enjoyed reading about our creations as much as we enjoyed making them. My kids and I had a blast, and they couldn’t be more proud with what they’ve developed.
Have any creations you’d like to share with us? Let us know in the comments!
Today on d20diaries we’re going to take a look at an awesome supplement book for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, the Alien Archive! This book has a hardcover, and clocks in at 159 pages. It’s got an American cover price of $39.99, which means that if you’re Canadian (like myself), you’re looking at a cost of around forty-five to fifty dollars for the book online, or up to sixty in your local game store. There’s a sequel in the works, Starfinder Roleplaying Game: Alien Archive 2, which is due out in October, though I’ve heard little more than that about it.
At it’s core, Starfinder Roleplaying Game: Alien Archive is a book of monsters. Like Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary, you’ll find a ton of monsters to fight and ally with inside this book, as well as some new player races. With that being said, there are a lot of differences between the Alien Archive and the many Bestiaries available for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. For starters, it’s shorter, with a typical Bestiary being around 325 pages in length, compared to the Alien Archive’s 159 pages. But, that’s only scratching the surface. The Alien Archive is also easier to use, and much more adaptable, than any Bestiary I’ve ever read. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
The Alien Archive features lovely cover art by Remko Troost, which shows off some of my favourite creatures inside the book–the dragonkin and the skittermander–as well as a robot. The inside front and back covers feature an image of the Pact Worlds, although it’s faded looking, instead of shiny and bright. After that we come to the table of contents.
The Alien Archive has sixty distinct monster entries inside it, many of which have more than one stat block or variation of that creature, making the actual number of foes inside larger than it seems (around ninety four). Of these, twenty-two are playable as character races. Each of these player races is differentiated from the other entries by a star beside their name, which is really useful for quickly referencing player options.
Combatant icon, which denotes creatures that excel in physical combat.
After the table of contents we reach the introduction. This is where we learn how the races are oriented, and how to read a stat block. While most of this is basic information that only a player new to d20 games with need to read, some of the information is quite important.
For starters, each of the stat blocks inside the Alien Archive is sorted into one of three categories: combatants (which excels in physical combat), experts (who are most effective with skills), and spellcasters (who rely on spells or spell-like abilities). These categories are represented by an icon in the left margin. These images are easy to distinguish and provide a quick and easy way for GMs to realize the role each monster plays in combat, which makes it super easy to find the type of creatures your looking for, or to quickly discern a creature’s tactics.
Expert icon, which denotes creatures that rely upon their skills in combat.
There’s also a few interesting things to note about the stat blocks themselves. Very few of the creatures inside have Resolve Points and none have Stamina Points. A creatures ability scores aren’t listed, instead, their stats show their ability modifiers. This is a simple change that will make it easier for GMs–especially new GMs–to handle unexpected situations (like unlisted skill checks) in combat. Not all of a creatures feats are listed in their entry. Instead, only feats that grant new combat options will be shown. Feats that grant static bonuses (like improved initiative, or skill focus) are already factored into the stat block and will not be listed anywhere at all. This really streamlines the stat blocks, and makes it easier to find important information fast. Similarly, not all of a creature or NPCs spells will be listed in a stat block. Instead, it only features their most powerful spellcasting options.
Spellcaster icon, which denotes creatures who utilize spells and spell-like abilities during combat.
In addition to information provided in this chapter, I’d like to point out a few other things of note. Every one of the bestiary entries in this book is two side-by-side pages long. These entries include information on the creature, where they’re found, their use throughout the Pact Worlds, and their society–if they have one. Many of the entries include more than one stat block on a theme. For example, the Aeon Guard entry gives us stats for a CR 3 rank and file soldier, along with a CR 7 specialist, capable of working without support for weeks and months at a time. Similarly, the apari entry features the both the hive-like apari, and it’s tiny, bug-like constituents. Some entries include many stat-blocks, or simple grafts that can be added to a featured creature to make it into other versions. Examples of this include elementals, which are statted out by size and have grafts which apply the elemental abilities themselves (including air, earth, fire and water), and dragons, which have one age category statted out, rules for making other age categories, and grafts which can be applied to determine the dragon’s colour (including black, blue, green, red and white). In fact, as you’ll soon discover, grafts and templates are a common sight in the Alien Archive, and are used to great effect. Many of the archive entries introduce new gear or consumables. My personal favourites include the shadowstaff found on the draelik’s entry, and the bone cestus of the crest eater.
After this we come to the meat of the book: the Alien Archive itself. There are a ton of cool creatures in this book, and even some that I wasn’t sure I’d like on first perusal, I ended up really enjoying. Some of my favourites you should check out include the asteray, a CR 12 fey which is to space what mysterious water creatures like mermaids and nixies were to the oceans and waterways of golarion. I also adored the caypin, a CR 6 aquatic tentacle beast with eyeball mouth worms which can detach and explore their surroundings, before returning to the caypin’s face. Seriously cool! Electrovores were a fun, low level challenge I also really enjoyed, as were the radioactive fey, hesper.
Mixed amongst the monster entries are twenty-two playable races. Each entry features two different CR stat blocks representative of their race, a bunch of interesting information on their societies and home worlds, and a side bar which include the rules for playing them as a race. Although many of these were ‘humanoid shaped’, with arms and hands or some sort, there were some which were not, most notably the jellyfish-like barathu. This was just awesome to see, and I really enjoyed it! Some of the races and monsters from old Golarion were up for selection, including contemplatives, drow, and space goblins but many were brand new. I honestly loved a TON of these races, but my favourite new additions are dragonkin, ikeshti, sarcesians, and the cheerful skittermanders.
Curious about the playable races available in this book? Well, look no further! The Alien Archive includes:
Barathu: highly adaptable jellyfish-like race who float like blimps through the sky
Contemplative: telepathic creatures with massive brains and atrophied little bodies
Draelik: green, nihilistic, gaunt humanoids with ties to the negative energy plane
Dragonkin: large bipedal dragons who form a close bond with their soul-mate
Drow: dark-skinned, demon-worshipping, evil elves–a fantasy classic!
Formian: ant-like humanoids who live in hives and are resistant to sonic effects
Space Goblin: comical little runts with big heads, and bad attitudes. You know you love them!
Gray: small, hairless humanoids with bulbous heads and telepathic powers who abduct and experiment on other beings for unknown reasons
Haan: large insectile humanoids who can spew fire and create buoyant balloons of webbing
Ikeshti: small lizardfolk who live in desert wastes and can squirt blood from their eyes
Kalo: aquatic humanoids with wing-like fins who live in freezing cold waters
Maraquoi: primitive simians with prehensile tails who have exceptional hearing
Nuar: strong minotaurs with pale skin, a great sense of direction and an affinity for complex patterns
Reptoid: cold-blooded reptilians who can assume the appearance of specific individuals
Ryphorian: trimorphic elves who have adapted to the generations-long seasons of Triaxus
Sarcesian: large humanoids who can survive in a vacuum for a time, and grow glowing wings of energy in the void of space
Shobhad: large, four-armed, nomadic giants who are ferocious and quick
Skittermander: small, furry, six-armed humanoids with a cheerful disposition who love to lend a helping hand
Urog: large, crystalline magical beasts with meticulous minds, a lack of tact, and a resistance to electricity
Verthani: tall, long-limbed humanoids with black, orb-like eyes and skin capable of camouflage
Witchwyrd: terribly mysterious interstellar merchants with four-arms who are capable of absorbing force from magic missiles and launching them back at their enemies
Wrikreechee: amphibious, humanoid, filter-feeders who look like a mix between bugs and mollusks
Past the statistics for all those snazzy new aliens we come to arguably the most important part of the book: Appendix 1: Creating Races and NPCs. In Starfinder, monsters and NPCs–even those with class levels–are created differently than PCs. Within these fifteen pages you’ll find simple, easy to use instructions on how to make any kind of creature you can imagine. To use some options you’ll also need access to the Starfinder Core Rulebook, which shouldn’t be an issue, as if you’ve purchased the Alien Archive you probably own the Core Rulebook it already. And if you haven’t? Well, you really should! Haha.
My kids and I gave making monsters a try and found it very simple and easy to use. It makes use of a few handy charts, some simple templates and your creativity. That’s it, that’s all. For those of you more interested in the nitty gritty, I’ll give you a quick rundown. First: a concept. Figure out what you want to make and what CR. Next? Pick an array. That means deciding if it’s a combatant, expert or spellcaster. Then you look at the chart for that category. Each category has two charts for it, which give you the all the stats you need to make the monster. These numbers are the actual values you’ll be using, so you won’t need to do any calculations. These values include everything from ACs, and hp, to the amount of damage they’ll do with ranged and melee attacks. In addition, it lists how many extra special abilities they’ll be able to select later on.
Once you’ve got your stats you need to select your monster’s creature type from a list. Each of these will grant your monster a slight variation to its statistics, as well as a few other static abilities (typically related to its vision types, and innate immunities). For example, aberrations gain darkvision 60 feet, and a +2 to all Will saves, while fey gain low-light vision, +2 on Fortitude and Reflex saves, and a -1 to all attack rolls. Simple and easy. Once you’ve got your creature’s type applied, you pick out it’s subtype. Not all creatures will have one, but if they do, it will grant them some extra traits. Give your monster the cold subtype and they gain immunity to cold and vulnerability to fire. Give them the demon subtype and they gain immunity to electricity and poison, resistance 10 to acid, cold and fire, the ability to summon allies, and telepathy. Slightly more complicated than applying a creature type, but still easy.
What’s next? A class graft. Now, not all monsters will have a class graft, but many intelligent NPCs you make will. This is essentially a quick and easy way to give your creations access to class abilities. So, how does it work? First, you choose the class you want them to have, then you check out the class graft. This will have a requirement (for example, envoys need to use the expert array), a few adjustments (like which saving throws they get an extra bonus to, and which skills they’re best at), a quick formula for giving them equipment, and a helpful chart. On this chart you look up the CR you’re aiming for and check out which abilities you’ll be applying. Now, this isn’t the full class abilities, but rather a few of the best abilities, which the creature will be able to use. You’re not literally applying a whole class here, but just the selected items on this list. For example, if you’re making a CR 1 mystic, the chart tells you to select one first level connection power and one special ability. Pick those out and you’re done. If he’s instead CR 11, the chart tells you to select the first, third, sixth and ninth connection powers, mind link and telepathic bond. Done and done. Although not overly complicated, this is the most difficult step involved in monster creation.
Once you’re done with your class graft (if you’re adding one) you can choose to add a simple template. These are available later in the Alien Archive (in Appendix Three) and include choices like fiendish, giant and two-headed. These grafts are as easy to use as the creature type ones are, and take barely any time at all to add. There’s also some other templates found in the Alien Archive which can be chosen.
The next step is to select your monster’s special abilities. Depending on their array and CR they’ll have a number between one and four that they can choose from. In addition, some abilities are free. These abilities include things like feats, universal monster abilities, and statistic increases. You can also select abilities that show up in other stat blocks. If you’re like my son, you’ll want to make radioactive broken robots, so you could select an aura of radiation as one ability, the ability to shoot blasts of electricity as a second, construct immunities as a third, a vulnerability to critical hits (to represent their broken chassis), and have them self-destruct upon their destruction. If you’re like my daughter, you’ll want to make colossal sized flying space rabbits who shoot laser beams from their eyes, breathe fire from their noses and can survive in a vacuum. Yes, that’s seriously what she made. So pick up a breath weapon as your first ability, a ranged natural attack as your second, as well as immunity to cold, vacuums, and the no breath universal monster ability. This is also where you’ll decide what kind of attacks your monsters will use. Maybe the aforementioned radioactive robots have a slam attack with the stun critical ability, or perhaps their slams do bludgeoning and electricity damage. (My son’s pretty fond of both at once). And the flying space rabbits? Their bite attacks do piercing damage, and perhaps they can swallow you whole. But their laser beam eyes? Definitely fire damage.
Once you’re done with the special abilities, you can select your monster’s skills. Your array chart already gave you the skill points you’ll have, and how many you’ll be good at, but now’s the time you choose which skills those will be. This is a simple step, and will be done in a flash. Then you’re onto selecting spells and spell-like abilities (if your creature happens to have them from a class graft or a special ability you’ve chosen). If it does you check out a simple chart to see what you’ll be adding by CR, make your spell selections and away you go. If you happen to be making a CR 2 creature with Spell-like abilities, they’ll have two 0 level spells usable at will, and two first level spells each usable once per day. If they instead are CR 16, they’ll have two third level spells usable at will, four fourth level spells usable three time a day each, and two fifth level spells usable once a day each. The chart works the same for spellcasting, but with different numbers. Again, only the most powerful spells will be added into your stat block. Your CR 15 creatures won’t have level one spells available, since they’ll be much more likely to use their third fourth and fifth level spells during battle.
And now it’s time for the last step: checking it over. Take a gander at your creation and make sure it lives up to your concept.
And you’re done! It may sound complicated, but it’s actually very easy to use in practise. Even my kids, who are only six and seven, managed to make something fun, balanced, and unique in a short amount of time.
Once you’re done with the first appendix you move on to the second, which focuses on summoning creatures. Much like the monster creation process, this six page section makes use of charts and grafts, although this is infinitely simpler and easier. Each time you gain access to a summon creature spell you select four specific creatures that you can summon. But what are the options? They’re awesome is what they are! Balanced, thematic and adaptable all at the same time. So what do you do?
First, head on over to the elemental statistics. These will be the base stats for all summoned creatures. The level of summoning spell you’re using determines which size stat block you’ll be using. Then, check out the charts and select what you’re summoning. Is it an aeon, agathion, angel or archon? An elemental? what about a protean, robot or shadow creature? Depending on what you choose it will allow you to select either an elemental or summoning graft which you can then apply to the creature. These grafts are simple and easy to use. And that’s it! You’re done. Get summoning. I, for one, can’t wait.
Which brings us on to our third appendix: simple template grafts. This is two pages of simples grafts, which I already mentioned when I spoke about creating monsters. In addition to their use for monster creation, NPC creation and summoned creature statistics, you can also use these templates to quickly alter existing creatures into new creations.
Past this is our fourth and final appendix, which focuses on universal creature rules. Here you’ll find a listing of the common abilities that the different monsters in the Alien Archive have, which also happen to be abilities you can choose to give your monstrous creations.
So what’s left? An index which sorts the creatures by CR for ease of reference, and an advertisement at the back of the book.
That’s it. We’ve come to the end of the Alien Archive.
And what did I think?
I highly recommend this book for players, even if just to have access to the plethora of fun races, but for GMs? This book isn’t recommended, it’s necessity. You need it for the monsters inside, and you need it for the monster creation rules. Lucky for us, this book is just awesome! I’m supremely happy to own it.
And now it’s time to say goodbye!
But before I go, I want to hear from you! What’s your favourite creatures and races from the Alien Archive? What have you made with it? Let me know in the comments!
Well, hello, world! Today’s a big day around the d20 Diaries family, as we’re celebrating our fiftieth post! That’s right. Cue the happy, cheering crowds!
Thank you, thank you… Hold your applause.
We’re still new around here. d20 Diaries is still in it’s infancy. There’s plenty more features we hope to add in the future, and more stories we hope to share. There’s a pile of articles waiting to be fleshed out, and many, many more adventures to be had. So for us, fifty is a BIG DEAL.
So while I drink my celebratory slurpee, and my kids bicker over what I should write about next, let’s all raise out drinks and let out a cheesy ‘CLINK’ sound. Cheers, guys!
Thanks for reading. We appreciate it more than you know!
This past week my brother and sister-in-law came over for our weekly game night–an event which hasn’t occurred in weeks! Can you say ‘thrilled’? So while all of our kids settled in for a late night of Scooby-Doo cartoons, the adults dusted off our Mummy’s Mask characters and settled in to play!
The Mummy’s Mask Adventure Path is a six part campaign which begins with Book 1: The Half-Dead City, and continues with Book 2: Empty Graves, both of which take place in the town of Wati. The Mummy’s Mask Player’s Guide is a free download on Paizo’s website, available here. If you intend to GM the Mummy’s Mask Adventure Path, I highly recommend picking up the Mummy’s Mask Pawn Collection, which has over a hundred awesome and unique minis to go with the campaign. You’ll also get a TON of use from the Mummy’s Mask Poster Map Folio. Trust me, by the end of Empty Graves your map of Wati will have had one hell of a workout. Mine’s already covered in a ton of numbers and labels I’ve added in permanent marker, to help my players keep track of the many locations in this quirky city. Mummy’s Mask is also the subject of many other neat (but not necessary) game supplements, including Mummy’s Mask Face Cards, Mummy’s Mask Item Cards, and a gorgeous Mummy’s Mask Dice Set by Q-Workshop, which I’d love to get my hands on. Heck, you can even play Mummy’s Mask as a card game (Pathfinder Card Game Mummy’s Mask Base Set), or listen to it as an audio adventure (Beginning with Pathfinder Legends Audio Adventures: The Mummy’s Mask: The Half Dead City). Seriously! There’s a ton of Mummy’s Mask supplements out there, and if that doesn’t tell you Mummy’s Mask is a fun, popular adventure path, I don’t know what does. Other than, you know, me. Haha.
We last left of our adventures in Wati with a cliff-hanger. My group’s characters had just finished participating in a wonderfully fun auction at the Canny Jackal. They had finalized their purchases, selected some choice buys to wear immediately, and scheduled delivery for the other items at their inn, the Tooth and Hookah. They spent a bit of time worrying over Salal, the ancient slave girl they witnessed sold, and a bit more time socializing and hob-nobbing with the many colourful characters in attendance alongside them at the auction.
Artwork by Onionholk discovered on Pinterest which inspired Arc Goodstorm’s appearance.
Arc Goodstorm, my husbands awkward, plant-obsessed witch, chatted with a local coffee plantation owner, Basif Iosep, while Arc’s guest at the auction, a pregnant gold-digger by the name of Pahetti he had only met that morning, tried her best to flirt with the other eligible bachelors in attendance. Arc hadn’t bothered to dress up for the auction at all, although his date did convince him to purchase her new clothes, jewelry and perfume for the evening’s festivities, in addition to purchasing her an object or two during the auction itself. On his back, Arc carries a deep, heavy basket filled with soil and luscious plants, which he tends with care. His rabbit familiar, Mischa, lives inside the basket, and a sarcastic silvanshee named Kal follows him around most of the time, mocking him and his friends. And his dates. And everything, really. Except the rabbit. The silvanshee LOVES his rabbit. So while Arc chatted, Pahetti flirted, and his rabbit twitched its nose, Kal heckled the surrounding nobles, and cast irritating cantrips at them when no one was looking.
Artwork similar in appearance to Nazim Salahadine.
In another part of the room, Nazim Salahadine, my brother’s undead-hating catfolk cleric of Pharasma, chatted with Menya the Whip, a local, up-and-coming armoursmith who Nazim had decided to sponsor. Nazim looked like an overgrown persian cat, and was dressed in some of the finest attire one could purchase in Wati. Bedecked in silks, gems and expensive perfumes, he cut an interesting figure!
Kasmet, my sister-in-law’s catfolk rogue, was similarly attired in the finest ancient Osiriani-inspired fashions. With her revealing white linen dress, collar of gold and blue beads, and her bracelets, anklets, and armbands, Kasmet looked like Bastet herself, pulled through time to the Canny Jackal. Kasmet chatted with her date–well, the date she and Nazim shared–a pregnant peasant woman named Manat whom they had met that morning at the Insula Mater. Manat quickly won them over with her down-to earth attitude and complete lack of shame. While she and Kasmet spoke, Manat stuffed her face with the finest food she had ever tasted, while wearing the finest clothes she would ever worn. The clothes had been a gift, from Kasmet and Nazim to Manat, which Manat only accepted on the condition that she be allowed to sell the clothes afterwards, which would feed, clothe and educate her family for months to come.
Thus arrayed around the room, there was a sudden knocking at the front door. Ahteb and Hamapetra, the most eye-catching of the Canny Jackal’s many servants, moved to open the door–only to have it smashed in by six zombies. With the servants pinned to the ground and dying under the heavy doors, the zombies poured into the Canny Jackal… And we had stopped.
You see why we were so excited to get back into the game!
We picked up this week with the zombies pouring into the Canny Jackal, spreading out to attack the various nobles and adventurers that my players had grown to love over the past few game sessions. Some nobles were prepared to fight back, of course, like Teos Okhenti, a bastard of House Okhenti who moved immediately to protect Yuya Mahfre, who openly hated him despite his many shameless attempts to flirt with her. Most panicked and screamed. Luckily, there were a few other capable combatants in the room at the time, including Sigrun Firehair and her mysterious companions known only as The Twins, all of whom were members of the Daughters of the Desert adventuring group.
My players leapt into action to protect their pregnant guests and help those in need around the room. Ah, but this battle wasn’t so simple! Crawling hands, shifting crowds, panicking guests and collapsing scaffolding all worked to complicate this fun, dynamic encounter. My personal favourite part? Their pregnant guest Manat stood unworried at the back of the room, filling a massive bowl with as much left overs as she could carry.
In the midst of this battle, the group could hear cries of “More!” and screams of alarm from outside in the Sunburst Market, and deeper into the showrooms of the Canny Jackal, so at its conclusion they took a moment to heal themselves, and ensure their guests were safe, before hurrying on to the next nearest sounds of panic.
In the showroom warehouse they discovered the owner of the Canny Jackal, Minnothet, being attacked by a zombie, while the coffee merchant Basif Iosep protected his mistress, Lady Nubumshaset, from another. Splitting up to better protect the nobles worked well–for a time. Unfortunately a nearby sarcophagus burst open a few moments later, revealing the mummy of Amadjawat the Many Veiled to them in all her undead, angry glory! Luckily, only Kasmet and the nobles suffered under her fear aura, leaving Nazim to shout his ululating battle cry and hurry into battle, with Arc following close behind with his magical lighting spear in hand.
Throughout this rolling series of encounters, the Fateway Five, as our trio of heroes is known, saved other nobles from zombies and rescued the ancient slave-girl Sallal from being abducted. After ensuring the Canny Jackal was safe and looked after, they headed out into the city of Wati–only to see MORE undead terrorizing the populace.
Nearby a terrified man hurried to unlock his door while two zombies closed in on him. Nervously he fiddled and fussed… and dropped his keys. Further away, the familiar sight of Mila Ansretti, a travelling merchant who they had befriended during our first play session and who had been a recurring character since, stood in the market surrounded by four zombies, with only a pair of market stalls and her wits to protect her. The many severed hands of thieves tied to the Pillar of Second Thoughts twitched with unlife, while in the distance they could see The Abadaran Sanctum of Silver and Gold, and the Nethysian Temple of Arcana Unbound both under assault. The other way they could see the holy, white crocodiles being devoured by zombies–their keeper apparently having decided to leave them to their fate. And further away? They could hear the screams of the terrified residents of Wati. The dead had risen!
The rest of the session turned out to be a fun, dynamic series of battles, where our heroes saved familiar faces, made new friends, and brought the dead back into undead. When they had finally cleared the Sunburst Market of dangers they spoke with the nearby churches in order to coordinate a plan to save Wati, and investigated a nearby wagon accident. There they discovered wagons had been smuggling corpses from the Necropolis into Wati, when the dead had suddenly burst out of the wagons and killed the drivers and camels. Although this showed them where some of the undead had come from, it didn’t explain how they had animated, or where all the other undead had come from. Unfortunately, as they were investigating the wagons, the corpses of the wagon drivers stood up, and the broken pinned down bodies of the camels twitched to life. Or, more accurately, unlife. Fighting off the zombies and dodging zombie camel bites was a ton of fun, and when it was over my players were left with an imposing sense of doom.
Something had made the dead rise. And then, right before their eyes, the freshly killed had risen again.
By then it was late, and the time had come to wrap up for the day. So we tidied up, collected our children, and said goodbye.
They have some time to think on their plans before we play again this week, and I can’t wait to see where they decide to visit next!
See you next time!
Jessica
And remember, if the dead come knocking, don’t open the door!
Today we’re going to take a look at the two most recent Starfinder Society Scenarios that are currently available for purchase, and let you know we thought. Although you’ll find references to events in each that I liked or disliked, and comments about specific characters, these scenarios are not explored in detail. It’s not my intention to spoil the events in these scenarios, or give summaries and full reviews, but to share my opinions and provide recommendations. That said, if you want to avoid even minor spoilers I recommend you check out a different article. Whether you intend to use them in home games of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, sanctioned scenarios for use with the Starfinder Society Organized Play, or just want to read a nifty new adventure, we’ve got you covered! So sit back, and get ready to enter the Drift!
Scenario #1-10: The Half-Alive Streets, a Tier 1-4 scenario for the Starfinder Society.
Scenario #1-10: The Half-Alive Streets is a Tier 1-4 adventure which takes place in Absalom Station. It has no scenario tags and does not feature starship combat. This lovely little scenario sends the PCs on a hunt throughout Absalom’s Freemarkets to track down the creator of a new series of biotech augmentations which the Pathfinder Society would like to make accessible to its agents. Unfortunately, the creator is unknown, and the only lead comes from a shady contact of the Society’s, Julzakama, a vesk pawnbroker first introduced in Quests: Into the Unknown. In addition to the wonderful recurrence of Julzakama, this scenario also involves AbadarCorp, and the shirrin Philt, so anyone who has played through Scenario #1-02: Fugitive on the Red Planet and earned the AbadarCorp Respect boon, will want to slot it for this scenario. There’s plenty of wonderful new faces in this scenario as well, including a ysoki pawnbroker named Dot, a vesk ‘barber’ who specializes in scale and horn detailing named Katazoa, a burly medicinals saleswoman named Isidre, a verthani technomancer named Chryson, and a halfling family in need of your player’s help. This tidy little mystery is great fun, and a has a bit of a horror vibe to it. However, its got a bit of a horror vibe to it. It would definitely freak my kids out. Overall, I give this scenario four out of five stars.
Scenario #1-11: In Pursuit of the Scoured Past, a Tier 3-6 scenario for the Starfinder Society.
Scenario #1-11: In Pursuit of the Scoured Past is a Tier 3-6 adventure which takes place on the library planet of Athaeum which constantly teleports throughout the galaxy. It is of utmost importance to the Second Seeker’s Faction (Luwazi Elsebo), and is strongly tied to the Year of Scoured Stars metaplot. In addition to Luwazi herself, this scenario also includes Royo (a ysoki who dislikes digital records) and Iteration-177 (and android member of the Apis Consortium), both of which are characters introduced in Scenario #1-05: The First Mandate. Anyone who’s earned the boon High Society Influence (Royo) should definitely slot it. New characters and organizations introduced include the axiomite Curators of Athaeum, and the Hellknight Order of the Pyre! Rife with wonderful roleplaying opportunities and a delightful cast of characters, this scenario is a blast! How can it go wrong? Right?! All in all it was a fun scenario, and certainly unique. The major downside is that it’s a relatively high-minded plot in this one, so if you’re just after a fun romp, or you’re playing alongside children, I would recommend a different scenario. Overall, I give this scenario three out of five stars. If you’re particularly interested in the Scoured Stars Incident, or a big fan of roleplaying (like I am) I’d increase the rating to four out of five stars. It should also be noted that there is a Mission Faction Note missing at the end of this scenario. This line has been copied from the Paizo website and is shared below:
“If the PCs succeeded at their primary mission, they further goals of Luwazi Elsebo in uncovering the truth behind the Scoured Stars incident. Each PC earns 1 additional Reputation with the Second Seekers (Luwazi Elsebo) faction, in addition to any other Reputation earned as a result of completing this scenario.”
Thanks for joining us today on our exploration of the new scenario’s available this month. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about them as much as I have. Now it’s time to go out, join a game, and get playing!
Jessica
Maija from SFS #1-10 The Half-Alive Streets. Illustrated by Priscilla Kim. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.
Loomarch from SFS #1-11 In Pursuit of the Scoured Past. Illustrated by Priscilla Kim. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.
The Glyph of the Open Road, Sigil of the Pathfinder Society.
Another week has passed, and another of our OutPost games has come to an end. It was an oldie, but a goodie, from way back in Season 0. Scenario #06: Black Waters was an absolute delight. Put on by GM Shieldbug, the best GM I’ve ever had the opportunity to play alongside, my kids, my husband and I all had a ton of fun! Black Waters is designed for 1st to 5th level characters, and was written by Tim and Eileen Connors. In it, the Pathfinder Society sends its agents to the Tri-Towers Yard, an elite academy for the children of Absalom which was destroyed and flooded by an earth quake a decade ago. During the quake the school collapsed into an undiscovered necropolis, and the Pathfinders have been itching to get at the ruins ever since. Kept out of the mass graves by the (understandable) sentimentality of the influential parents whose children died in the tragedy, the Pathfinders have bided their time. Now known as the Drownyard, the Pathfinders are finally granted a chance! Sent to retrieve a magical ring, this scenario is more than just a dungeon delve. It’s got a surprisingly wide cast of entertaining characters to interact with, from influential noblewoman Lady Dacilane, to a gardener who is more than he appears, and the spirits of the dead themselves. I highly recommend this one!
Five lucky Pathfinders were chosen for the job, including my husband’s character: Enzo Jeggare, a Chelaxian occultist with a splendid moustache and a habit of summoning a dog to battle on his behalf. My daughter played Bunny Paras, a two-tailed kitsune druid with a fondness for dinosaurs and rabbits. Bunny Paras owns a rabbit breeding farm and is a vegetarian. In addition to her many pet rabbits, she has a pet parasaurolophus named Paras, who loves to dance and toot out rocking tunes. My son was paying Senton, an Ulfen ranger better known as Mr. Ice who fled south to escape the continual cold of his homeland: unfortunately, he’s still freezing anyway. I played my wood kineticist, Everbloom, a kitsune who grew up alone in the wilds and views life and death as just another fascinating part of existence. More than a little aloof and uncaring, Everbloom comes off as way nicer than she actually is. The final character was Tera Fosham, a veiled ifrit oracle with clouded vision whose healing touch and blessings were invaluable on this adventure. For more information on Enzo Jeggare, Bunny Paras, Paras and Mr. Ice, check out the following blog posts (Joining the Pathfinder Society and Signs in Senghor: Part One and Part Two) where I talked about their backgrounds, creation, and their first adventure playing Scenario #9-10: Signs in Senghor. To read about our adventures playing Black Waters, check out the gameplay thread, here.
Sigil of the Scarab Sages, a faction of the Pathfinder Society.
After wrapping up that wonderful game, my kids wanted to immediately begin another one, but my husband had other plans. Knowing he was only one adventure shy of a reaching level two, my husband suggested I GM them through another scenario this weekend, and my kids agreed. I spent some time thinking about what my kids love best about playing Pathfinder. Fulfilling faction goals, of course, which means missions that have importance to the Scarab Sages and the Dark Archives. My daughter loves adventures that contain animals and cute things. Definitely nothing with lycanthropes. My son loves missions where he gets to interact with colourful characters, and make friends. Also? Turns out he loved messing with the Aspis Consortium, which he saved his good pal Gideon Wren from. And my husband? Something he’s never done before. And surprisingly, he showed interest in missions regarding the Shadow Lodge. Awesome! So after a ton of sifting, reading and sorting through the scenarios I own, I made an absurdly long list of potential scenarios we could play, and set to work reading. In the end, I decided to run us through an old scenario from Season 0 intended for Tiers 1-7: Scenario #14: The Many Fortunes of Grandmaster Torch. Why, you might ask, did you choose to run that old thing? Well, for starters, Grandmaster Torch is an important character to both the Shadow Lodge and the Scarab Sages, so I definitely wanted to ensure my family got to meet him before we played later scenarios which might involve or mention him. Second, this scenario takes place in Qadira and involves the illegal smuggling of Osirian artifacts, a topic which would interest both my son and daughter’s characters, as they are members of the Scarab Sages. Third, it involves retrieving the stolen relics, all of which have magical properties, and turn out to be more dangerous than originally thought–aspects which could interest my husband’s character, who is a member of the Dark Archives faction. Fourth? This scenario has a lot of roleplaying opportunities, not just with your venture captains and Grandmaster Torch, but also with the people around each of the relics, and the people who possess them. And lastly, although this scenario might seem to be pretty straightforward, there’s actually a lot of ways that players who think outside the box could shake up or alter how the encounters are supposed to take place. And if there’s one thing my family’s good at, its coming up with crazy plans and ideas that no one’s accounted for. In short, I thought they’d have a blast.
And I was right!
The sigil of the Dark Archives, a faction of the Pathfinder Society.
We began our adventure with a short introduction to it’s setting: Qadira and the city of Sedeq, followed by our mission briefing with Venture-Captain Yasmin Kal’al (complete with pictures, of course!). From there we set out into the city, to track down the smuggler Matzal Chaim and determine who he sold the relics to. Bunny Paras and Mr. Ice were also interested in who his inside contact was within the Osirian Cultural Ministry, without whom the relics would have remained out of his hands. They found Chaim, and came up with a good plan to corner him, but he noticed them and fled into a bathhouse. While our Iconic filler character and Mr. Ice watched the outside entrances an exits, Enzo and Bunny Paras chased him into the bathhouse, and cracked out a bunch of wonderful skill checks to avoid slipping on wet tiles, pushing past crowds of bathers, jumping over baths, and seeing through stream. Enzo nearly slipped and fell on the tiles, while Bunny Paras was thrown off guard when she had to slip past a group of naked bathers who fled from Paras in a panic. In the end they caught up to their target, but they were too late. He had run into a private bath and was cut down by the guards–guards working for the notorious information broker, Grandmaster Torch. Lucky for them, Torch had the information they were looking for and was willing to part with it–for a price.
My kids had a blast interacting with the ever-creepy Grandmaster. My daughter immediately began trying to purchase other, non-related, frivolous objects from his associates for her rabbit farm (a giant rabbit statue and planter, anyone?), while my son offered Torch a whopping two dollars for the information. Hearing the price was 3,000 gold pieces, Mr. Ice sure was surprised! He bargained for the information by offering favours and was rewarded with four names–one for each person who had purchased one of the stolen statuettes. Mr. Ice promptly asked for more information on them, in exchange for another favour each. Grandmaster Torch was more than happy to oblige. With that information, my son set out to learn more by offering MORE favours, but was interrupted by Enzo Jeggare, who had to drag his companions out of the bathhouse before they agreed to any more favours and absurdities. Clearly, his companions had never dealt with anyone unscrupulous before! Not trusting the Grandmaster, Enzo himself led the group through the streets of Sedeq to find each of their targets.
Although it’s expected that the PCs will have to engage in four or five combat encounters during this scenario–some groups might manage three or four–my family managed to use quick thinking, cunning plans, distractions, summoned creatures and childish optimism to complete three of those encounters non-violently. That left only two battle encounters for the entire scenario. A real feat! The battles all went well, but weren’t particularly difficult for them. But in this scenario it was the interactions and roleplaying that really shined. Everyone had a BLAST.
After completing their mission and some minor interactions with their venture captain, the group was given an invitation to have dinner with Grandmaster Torch–an event which Enzo accepted with some trepidation, Bunny Paras was happy for, and Mr. Ice was over the moon. Seriously. He was SUPREMELY excited. In the end he decided that Grandmaster Torch was his second favourite NPC, and he wanted to make him his best friend–alongside Gideon Wren, of course! Mr. Ice invited Grandmaster Torch to his upcoming birthday party, and the group bid him farewell.
And so our scenario came to an end. As their third scenario, they got to spend some time levelling up their characters to level two, and purchasing gear. And which adventure will they go on next time?
I’m thinking… Scenario #7-10: The Consortium Compact! It’s a low level, repeatable scenario involving the Aspis Consortium that I think my kids will rally have a ball with!
It’s been a while, but I finally got my hands on a Starfinder flip-mat! Which one, you might be wondering? The most important one, of course! We’ve been using a hex grid at my house for starship combat while playing Starfinder, but it’s terrain from another game. Admittedly, brightly coloured grass, hills and some trees is not exactly an atmospheric location to be making fancy piloting maneuvers and firing our laser turrets. But, Starfinder Flip-Mat: Basic Starfield has come to the rescue! This mat is gorgeous, folds well, can handle markers, and has two different sides: one is black with white stars, while the other is more colourful. We’ve tested it out a few times and honestly, couldn’t me more thrilled.
Which brings me to the next wonderful product I finally got my hands on: Starfinder Pawns: Starfinder Core Pawn Collection. Now, there’s other pawn collections out there for Starfinder: Starfinder Pawns: Alien Archive is another beauty, but I knew that if I only invested in one pawn collection, Starfinder Pawns: Starfinder Core Pawn Collection would be it. Why? For starters, it has ships. SHIPS. No longer will we fly around a random leucrotta or demon mini while travelling the stars! Oh, no! We’re upgrading to a gorgeous Idaran spaceship! Second? The races. With over ten different minis for each of the core Starfinder races, many of which contain multiples, this Pawn Collection has you set for player characters, NPCs and enemies of all kinds.
My son’s favourite pawn from the set: The Thaumtech Omenbringer!
In addition to the core races represented, there’s also a mini or two for each of the legacy races, as well as a few select Starfinder races from other sources, including the haan, elebrian, grey, and contemplative. The icing on the amazing star-cake? A few drone minis for all those mechanics out there! My son adores all the ships inside, but his favourite turned out to be the Thaumtech Omenbringer, an ominous looking Eoxian ship made of bone and magically enforced steel.
My daughter’s favourite was certainly more expected: the cutest and cleanest looking ysoki in the set: The ysoki Star Shaman. And myself? I’m actually a big fan of the stealth drone, which turned out to be a cute little dog-bot!
Come on! You know you want it! Haha.
After sifting through the pawns with my kids and finding them a new home in a shoe box, we had a ton of fun picking out which minis would be our Starfinder characters. No longer will Hoponisa be using a kobold mini, nor will Vishkesh and his drone be represented by a kuo-toa and a stirge! We couldn’t be happier.
Do any of you own the Starfinder Core Rulebook: Pawn Collection? Got a favourite mini you want to share? Let us know!
Well, April’s here and that means rain and puddles and flowers all around. Or it should, anyway. Instead, we’ve got another cold snap and some snow where I live. But soon! Oh, SOON it will feel spring-like outside! Eventually…
Whatever the weather, Spring Break and Easter have just come to an end for us, and my kids are back in school. My son’s more than a little put-out with this situation, but my daughter’s thrilled to get back to Kindergarten and have some fun. Plenty has happened for us this past week, and it’s been more than a little busy. My daughter obsessively loves rabbits, so Easter is her favourite holiday. In fact, the only thing she likes better than Easter is her birthday, which also passed last month, so this time of year’s always a little bonkers. Aside from Easter events, egg hunts and dinners, we also took my kids to get their picture taken with the Easter Bunny at the mall, and tried to squash in enough time to pick up a gift for my kids. My daughter ended up picking out her own Easter gift when she discovered a children’s stuffed chair–that was a pink rabbit. She’s quite pleased with the gift, and sits in her rabbit chair constantly.
We had two opportunities to get some d20 gaming in this week, although we had hoped to get three in. This past Tuesday my kids sifted through their many, many, MANY characters and took a look at the adventures that each adventuring party was in the middle of or about to embark on. They decided to each pick a group and we’d play one on Tuesday, and the other on Friday. My son chose our aptly named ‘Jungle Characters’ while my daughter chose our much beloved ‘Goblin Characters’ who are about to finish up We B4 Goblins! (which is a FREE download and great fun, so you should definitely click that link! Haha). Deciding we’d start with the Jungle crew, I cracked out my old Dungeon Magazine, Volume #136, and we got right down to playing a modified Tensions Rising. Unfortunately, we ended up busy on Friday and didn’t have time to play our trouble-making goblins, but we did find time on Saturday to begin our second adventure with our Starfinder characters! We embarked on an important Wayfinders mission to Elytrio with Yesteryear’s Truth. Full details on our play sessions this week will appear in an upcoming post, but for now, just know that we had a ton of fun!
In Starfinder news, Pact Worlds was released last week, which we’re itching to get our hands on in my house. Seriously. Even my husband wants that one! And today it just became sanctioned for Starfinder Society Play. Nearly everything in the entire book is an option. Now, if only I owned it… There were also two new Starfinder Society Scenarios released, which I did splurge on. Scenario #1-10: The Half-Alive Streets is a tier 1-4 mystery involving a lethal bio-tech augmentation that sets the PCs loose on Absalom Station. While Scenario #1-11: In Pursuit of the Scoured Past is a tier 3-6 that sends the PCs to the library world of Athaeum, where they’re on the hunt for information about the Scoured Stars Incident. Also joining you? Some Hellknights from the Order of the Pyre! How could it go wrong? Neither of these scenarios involve starship battles.
Later this month the volume five in the Dead Suns adventure path will be released: The Thirteenth Gate. Dead Suns begins with Volume One: Incident at Absalom Station, which I’ve found great fun. They’ve also announced the next Starfinder Adventure Path. For those of you who don’t know, Starfinder Adventure Paths are going to be of varying lengths. One six-part series, followed by two three-part series’. This means that once Dead Suns wraps up we’ll be treated to Against the Aeon Throne, which is a three volume series that begins at level one with The Reach of the Empire. This Adventure Path pits the PCs against the Azlanti Star Empire which I’m absurdly excited for! Afterwards we’ll get to play Signal of Screams, which begins at level 7 with The Diaspora Strain. I’m particularly interested in this one as it strikes me as a horror themed space adventure which is just AWESOME. I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
As for Pathfinder, the second volume of War for the Crown, Songbird, Scion, Saboteur has been on game shelves for a while, but volume three, Twilight Child, is due out later this month. If you’ve been reading my blog lately you’ll know that I’m super excited for this campaign, although I’m not yet lucky enough to own it. Last month Merchant’s Manifest came out, which admittedly, I’m not very excited for. But, later this month a sourcebook on the creepy nation of Nidal is released. Called Nidal, Land of Shadows, this IS a book I’m thrilled for. I’ve always been drawn to this ominous place and I can’t wait to see what they do with it. The Pathfinder Society has two neat scenario’s out this month. The first is Scenario #9-16: Fallen Family, Broken Name, which is a series of five one-hour quests that take place in Isger and revolves around the now deceased Irrica family who were said to command some kind of supernatural forces. Sent to discover this weapon and the family’s secrets, this scenario sounds like a lot of fun. Plus, if I’m being totally honest, I’ve never had the chance to play in Isger before. This scenario is intended for tiers 1-5. The second scenario recently released is Scenario #9-17: Oath of the Overwatched, which returns to the constantly cursed Blakros Museum and directly involves the Dark Archives faction. I’ve been a big fan of this series of scenarios from way back during Season 0, so I’m desperate to play this one! Intended for tier 5-9, this one’s going to be tricky!
In other news, my whole family’s been loving their play-by-post campaigns they joined for OutPost. My children and I finished one of the scenarios, Scenario #45: Delirium’s Tangle, over a week ago, and my daughter immediately set out to bring her beloved oracle, Lady Naysha into another adventure. She has since joined up in a game of Scenario #5-08: The Confirmation, alongside one of my husband’s new characters. Meanwhile, my son’s forgetful wizard, Fuzzzy, alongside his pet owl, Bobby, joined up to play Master of the Fallen Fortress, a free Pathfinder Module which is sanctioned for Pathfinder Society play. Lady Naysha and Fuzzzy were both previously introduced in this blog post. My character, Juno Berik, has yet to join another game. For those of you curious, our escapades in Delirium’s Tangle can be found here. My husband has had such fun playing his occultist Enzo in our still ongoing Black Waters adventure, that he made three new Pathfinder Society Characters. Toban Tangletop, an eccentric gnomish chef and inquisitor of Shelyn is joining Lady Naysha on her Confirmation; Ruslo, a roguish Varisian slayer who fights with a grappling hook and has a bone to pick with the Aspis Consortium is playing alongside Fuzzzy and Bobby in Master of the Fallen Fortress. And finally, Jeb Barlo, a water kineticist swamper from Wartle, has just begun to tackle Scenario #0-23: Tide of Morning. One of my Starfinder characters has also completed one of her OutPost games: Aurora Vim, a stylish and vain ysoki envoy with a chipper attitude and an ego bigger than a starship. Better known as Rora, this quirky little ball of fun just made a name for herself by tracking down a fugitive on Akiton and saving an entire town in Scenario #1-02: Fugitive on the Red Planet. To read about her adventures on Akiton, check out the completed gameplay thread, here.
And, in anticipation of Pathfinder Playtest, we’ve been reading Paizo’s previews of the new ruleset on their blog. Recent articles include information on critical hits, critical failures and a system that they’re calling the four degrees of success, and a rogue class preview. But, my personal favourite? The details they shared about those beloved pyros: goblins! Colour me intrigued, Paizo!
I hope, like us, your last week has been full of fun, and the glorious sound of rolling dice.
, sanctioned scenarios for use with the Starfinder Society Organized Play, or just want to read a nifty new adventure, we’ve got you covered! So sit back, and get ready to explore the 
!
. I shared some of my favourite creatures, spoke about what the book contains, and touched on the easy and adaptable monster and NPC creation process. My children and I tested out the creation system, and today, we’re going to share what they made in order to emphasize just how fun and easy it is.
is currently available for preorder!
, you’ll find a ton of monsters to fight and ally with inside this book, as well as some new player races. With that being said, there are a lot of differences between the Alien Archive and the many Bestiaries available for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. For starters, it’s shorter, with a typical Bestiary being around 325 pages in length, compared to the Alien Archive’s 159 pages. But, that’s only scratching the surface. The Alien Archive is also easier to use, and much more adaptable, than any Bestiary I’ve ever read. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
which contains over three hundred pawns.
Well, hello, world! Today’s a big day around the d20 Diaries family, as we’re celebrating our fiftieth post! That’s right. Cue the happy, cheering crowds!
, both of which take place in the town of Wati. The Mummy’s Mask Player’s Guide is a free download on Paizo’s website, available 
, which has over a hundred awesome and unique minis to go with the campaign. You’ll also get a TON of use from the 
. Trust me, by the end of Empty Graves your map of Wati will have had one hell of a workout. Mine’s already covered in a ton of numbers and labels I’ve added in permanent marker, to help my players keep track of the many locations in this quirky city. Mummy’s Mask is also the subject of many other neat (but not necessary) game supplements, including 
, 
, and a gorgeous 
, which I’d love to get my hands on. Heck, you can even play Mummy’s Mask as a card game (
), or listen to it as an audio adventure (Beginning with 
). Seriously! There’s a ton of Mummy’s Mask supplements out there, and if that doesn’t tell you Mummy’s Mask is a fun, popular adventure path, I don’t know what does. Other than, you know, me. Haha.
and 
My daughter’s favourite was certainly more expected: the cutest and cleanest looking ysoki in the set: The ysoki Star Shaman. And myself? I’m actually a big fan of the stealth drone, which turned out to be a cute little dog-bot!
. Dead Suns begins with 
, which I’ve found great fun. They’ve also announced the next Starfinder Adventure Path. For those of you who don’t know, Starfinder Adventure Paths are going to be of varying lengths. One six-part series, followed by two three-part series’. This means that once Dead Suns wraps up we’ll be treated to Against the Aeon Throne, which is a three volume series that begins at level one with 
came out, which admittedly, I’m not very excited for. But, later this month a sourcebook on the creepy nation of Nidal is released. Called 
d20 Diaries 