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NO SPOILERS
I ran this at Subtier 3-4 using the four-player adjustment. There’s a really nice mix of combat,
role-playing, and investigation in this one. It’s a darker story that’s told really well
and opens up some new possibilities for future SFS storylines. And although it is a more complex one to run
as a GM, it’s definitely worth it.
SPOILERS
During their initial briefing with Fitch, the Wayfinders
Faction leader, the PCs learn that their mission involves the ocean-planet of
Arniselle, located in the Vast. Over a
century ago, the Starfinder Society set up a lodge on Arniselle as a staging
area for further explorations, but eventually decided to withdraw and abandon
the base. Now, however, the Starfinder
Society is in desperate need of a mineral called clophirium in order to rebuild
its flagship, The Master of Stars. Arniselle was known to have extensive
clophirium deposits, so, several weeks ago, the Society sent its special
aquatic-operations team, the Manta Corps, to Arniselle to reopen the old lodge
(it's submerged underwater). However,
the Manta Corps haven’t reported back, so the PCs’ job is to find out what
happened to them and if the lodge is salvageable.
It’s a classic adventure hook (“we sent in a team; they
never returned, so now we’re sending you!”) with the nice twist that the PCs
need to prepare themselves for an underwater mission. I do think it’s kind of funny that a random
assortment of PCs are sent to discover what happened to an elite aquatic
special forces team, but I can suspend disbelief—these things happen all the
time in fiction. The Manta Corps appear
briefly in # 1-04 (“Cries From the Drift”), so having players who were in that
scenario adds a bit to the story here.
As an aside, I really liked how Fitch’s briefing kept getting
interrupted by her kids (who just won’t go to bed)—it added a nice touch of
humor and most working parents will sympathize.
The more personality and depth the NPCs have, the better.
The journey to Arniselle through the Drift is interrupted
only by the appearance of a Xenowarden ship broadcasting information about
endangered flora and fauna. There’s some info about renkrodas that I
assume is a hint for an upcoming scenario, much the way the encounters with the
Manta Corps back in # 1-04 was for this one.
Unfortunately, there’s not really any way for the PCs to interact with
the Xenowarden vessel or this information, so it just kind of sits there. I think the writers need to do a better job
with Drift travel in order to bring out just how weird the dimension is and to
avoid the “5d6 days pass and nothing happens” syndrome. It doesn’t need to even be space combat—perhaps
a skill challenge to repair part of the ship, talking down a passenger with
cabin fever, etc.
Once the PCs arrive on Arniselle, they have no trouble
finding the sunken lodge. The entire
rest of the adventure takes place there.
This scenario has a structure that is different than most in that it
combines room-based exploration with an overlay of events that trigger in
sequence. This requires additional
preparation by the GM, because the necessary information to run a given
encounter may be scattered in different parts of the scenario (I’d suggest
preparing a flow-chart of some kind to keep track of when different events
trigger). Anyway, the lodge is now
occupied by a race of sentient walrus-like creatures call morlamaws. The morlamaws are a religious sect that
worship a local deity of endurance named The Weeping Knight. They’re friendly and allow the PCs to come in
and look around, saying that the Manta Corps did visit but then left without
explanation. One room contains an
encounter with some old, malfunctioning Starfinder Society security
robots. In a really nice bit of writing,
the robots will stand down if any of the PCs can show them the SFS ID hologram
they could have implanted during # 1-01 (“The Confirmation.”). Making little things like that useful instead
of forgotten about is what allows boons to feel worthwhile.
After doing some exploration of the lodge, the PCs will start
to gather some clues that point to a more suspicious explanation of what
happened to the Manta Corps. And during
triggered events like a dinner and a sermon on The Weeping Knight, the PCs may
start to realize what the rank-and-file members of the sect don’t know: the The Weeping Knight is actually
Zon-Kuthon, the evil god of pain, suffering, and darkness! An attack by sea serpents gives the PCs their
first taste of underwater combat, and one of the things I really liked about
this was that what’s at stake isn’t just the usual winning or losing but that
one of serpents is thrashing and will destroy a display case containing sacred
objects (and a datapad with clues to clophirium deposits) unless the PCs act
quickly to stop it.
An event then triggers soon after the battle that involves
the sect’s leader, Oshessa, inviting the PCs into her private quarters. Oshessa knows full well that the Weeping
Knight is really Zon-Kuthon, and she wants to convert the PCs. But her attempt is interrupted by her senior
lackey bursting in through a secret door shouting “The Starfinder is dying!” It turns out that Oshessa poisoned three of
the four members of the Manta Corps (feeding their bodies to the sea serpents)
and is now torturing the fourth to try to get her to convert! Obviously, a battle breaks out and it’s a pretty
good one that could go either way (Oshessa’s poison glove is particularly
dangerous). What the players I ran this
for didn’t realize was that “The Starfinder is dying!” was a literal statement
(not just cinematic fluff), and that if they don’t get to the Manta Corps
member within ten rounds, she dies—and that’s just what happened. Again, I’m in favour of anything that adds a
sense of urgency to combat.
Assuming Oshessa and her flunky are defeated, the PCs have a
chance to convince the other morlamaws (who didn’t know what their leader had
done) to assist the Starfinder Society in finding the clophirium. If they do, the morlamaws become a playable
race, which is pretty cool. They’re not
going to knock anyone’s socks off mechanically, but players who are in to the
RP aspects of gaming have earned another interesting option.
All in all, I really liked this scenario. It has a nice feel to it, as the PCs
gradually realize what’s really going on in the Lodge. I like darker storylines, and those kalo
getting murdered and fed to sea serpents is pretty nasty! There’s a really nice mix of role-playing in
this one as well, as several morlamaw NPCs are given distinct
personalities. I think my only critique
is that the way the events cascade tend to take away PC agency: no matter what
clues they do or do not gather, Oshessa’s flunky is still going to burst into
the room contrivedly shouting “The Starfinder is dying!” and give up the whole
charade. It removes that interesting
dilemma for players of when/how/where to confront the cultists with what they
think is the truth. Still, this is a
great scenario with a satisfying story.
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