Starfinder Society Year of Scoured Stars T-Shirt [RPG]

The first season of Starfinder Society is the Year of Scoured Stars.  The corresponding t-shirt is really cool, with the colorful SFS logo, futuristic Wayfinder symbol, and and season name in a genre appropriate font.  This is probably my favourite gaming shirt--I've worn it while GMing almost all of Season One.  And with the recent announcement that the "Year of Scoured Stars" is actually going to last *two* years in the real world, I'll get plenty of chances to wear it again.  Good thing it's held up well!

Rise of the Runelords Recap # 52 [RPG]

[23 Kuthona 4707 continued]

Having left his new allies behind, Innes Falkenrath, Paladin of Vildeis, sets off southwest along the western banks of the Skull River.  His goal: to reach the Shimmerglens and find out why an old friend named Yap is desperate to speak with him.  But barely an hour into his journey, Innes comes upon a strange sight: a young red-haired woman is snoring peacefully on the ground and being slowly tied up by ropes that seem to move of their own accord!  Noticing a tiny arrow protruding from the woman’s calf, Innes realizes pixies are at work.  He asks them to explain themselves, and they become visible.  They explain that they were “recruiting” additional help for Innes and then fly off.  When the woman awakens, quite groggy, Innes tells her what happened.  The woman gives her name as Katzumi and says she was sent by her master to live alone in the wilderness as a test of her endurance and will.  However, Katzumi seems happy to go along with Innes and finds her horse grazing nearby.  Together, the two reach the southernmost fringes of Kreegwood, almost directly opposite Turtleback Ferry.  But without a way to cross Willow River, the two travellers are forced to march ten more miles to reach the thorpe of Bitter Hollow on the shores of Lake Coal.  There, at the settlement’s lone trading post, a grubby, superstitious local takes one look at Innes’ deathly pallor and refuses to allow them to stay the night.  The fellow grudgingly promises to ferry the pair across the river in the morning.

Skull's Crossing speaks to the incomprehensible
power of ancient Thassilon

The two set a campfire just a stone’s throw away from the grimy buildings of Bitter Hollow and settle down for an uneasy night’s rest in the cold.  Wisely deciding to exchange watches, the two are not taken completely unaware when danger arrives in the form of a trio of large red-and-yellow scaled forms that look a little like dragons (but much smaller and with only two legs): flame drakes!  The drakes demand something from the travellers in a language that neither Innes nor Katzumi can understand.  When the response they seek is not forthcoming, the drakes swoop down and breathe balls of fire on the unfortunate adventurers.  Innes yells for her injured steed to flee, and it bolts with one of the drakes chasing after it and losing ground.  Meanwhile, the two adventurers draw their swords and wait for the drakes to swoop at them before lashing out with their blades.  The battle is a near thing, but the two humanoids emerge from it alive.  Even Innes’ horse returns, having escaped its pursuer.

Meanwhile, far to the north, another group of adventurers set up camp barely a half hour from their destination.  Goragar, Kang, and Artemis have journeyed to Skull’s Crossing without incident.

[24 Kuthona 4707]

In the morning, as they trudge the last couple of miles to the dam, the trio of adventurers are lost in thought.  Artemis feels the burden of having lost several allies already, but knows that his duty is to carry on.  Kang wonders whether it may be about time to quit the mud and blood of the adventuring life and return to his experiments full time.  Goragar thinks about the people of Turtleback Ferry, and how all of his battles recently have contributed to their safety.  Then, rounding a bend in the river, all three see Skull’s Crossing in its massive magnificence.  Over three-hundred feet high and spanning the width of a gorge, this bulwark from ancient Thassilon, covered in carved skulls, still holds back the waters of Storval Deep despite being thousands of years old.  But it’s also apparent that something has gone wrong: a steady flow of cascading water pours through what appears to be a recent break in the dam, and several lumbering shapes can be seen moving about on its upper reach.  Even from this distance, the adventurers come to the same conclusion: within a handful of days, the entire dam will fail, flooding the area downstream for miles.  Kang suggests evacuating the people of Turtleback Ferry, but the others persuade him to investigate the dam first.

Malugus Kreeg, the overseer of the destruction efforts,
was not as tough as he looked!

A winding stone staircase climbs the western rock face of the valley, and the adventurers decide it’s the easiest way to reach the dam.  Stakes lining the edges of the stairs are covered in skulls, all marked with the territorial runes of the Skulltaker Trolls.  Goragar remarks that it’s odd that the trolls would be cooperating with ogres, but soon the conversation terminates when the stairs end at a dark cave.  Artemis stealthily scouts ahead and sees a massive, two-headed beast arguing with itself!  The ettin hears Artemis and tries to give chase, but Kang’s bombs make short work of it.  Inside its filthy lair, underneath some furs, the adventurers discover a small treasure trove.  Further investigation shows that the cave connects to another set of stairs on its far end, and these stairs eventually lead to the top of the dam.  The choppy waters of the Storval Deep can be seen to the north, surging near to the top of the dam, while to the south is a fatal fall to a muddy lake.  A tower of skull-shaped domes sits in the center of the walkway, and the adventurers have no trouble discerning a small group of ogres near it.  Four of the ogres are hammering at the crumbling stone of the dam, while a fifth sits nearby, shouting orders.  All seem exhausted and prove to be easy prey for the adventurers:  Artemis lets loose with a volley of arrows from hundreds of feet away, and when the ogres try to charge, Kang and Goragar finish them off without suffering a scratch.

Like most of his kind, Yap is kind-hearted and good.

Meanwhile, far to the south, new friends Innes and Katzumi are ferried across the Willow River.  Halfway across, a coterie of pixies suddenly appear, asking why the adventurers took so long and why they don’t just fly over the river.  They promise to go fetch Yap.  The ferryman warns his passengers that anyone with a lick of sense stays on the Wicker Walk (a safe, designated path that leads to gnome settlements in the Sanos forest), but the two adventurers know they may need to head deeper into the trackless Shimmerglens.  They tie their mounts to a tree near the river and proceed on foot through the treacherous terrain.  Before long, another pixie appears and Innes recognizes his old friend.  Yap looks much the same as the last time Innes saw him in Korvosa, but now his clothes are rumpled and his eyes are puffy from crying.  Breathlessly, he explains his problem:  his mistress is terribly ill with misery and heartbreak, and the land around her (an area of the Shimmerglens called Whitewillow) is reflecting her anguish and pain.  Yap’s mood brightens when Innes and Katzumi promise to help, and he leads them further into the tangled trees of the swamp.

Two parties of adventurers are independently trying to put things right that have gone wrong in the Hook Mountain region.  Will their separate efforts result in efficiency or tragedy?

------------------------------------------------------

Director's Commentary (July 29, 2018)

I think Katzumi was a pre-gen PC lent to the player who had just lost Sir Roderick (the goblin gunslinger).

I loved the concept of Skull's Crossing--such an awesome image and place for adventure.  My only regret is that the battle on top of the dam is so forgettable.  What could be more exciting than to have a big climax with the risk of falling off?

Next Recap

Starfinder Module: "Skitter Shot" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Skitter Shot is Paizo’s Free RPG Day offering for Starfinder in 2018.  It’s a standalone, one-shot adventure that casts the players in the role of skittermanders, the delightfully friendly and (sometimes over-)helpful race of six-armed aliens that have become the game’s unofficial mascot through popular appeal.  This review is based on playing through it once and then reading it.  Overall, it’s a fun adventure that, despite a few flaws, should leave players in a good mood when they’re done with it.  It’s really hard to hate skittermanders because they’re just so darned . . . helpful!

SPOILERS

The premise of Skitter Shot is that a vesk space scavenger named Nakonechkin has hired a crew of four skittermanders to help him with his work.  When Nakonechkin disappears while exploring a luxury liner that’s inexplicably drifting in space, it’s up to the skittermanders to find him and figure out what’s wrong.  The answer turns out to be a rogue AI on the cruise ship that has turned the ship’s systems against its crew and passengers!  To save the day, the skittermanders will need to disable the AI and fight off a hostile pirate ship.

The inside front cover of the module provides the layout of the cruise ship, while the inside back cover provides a nice list of “10 Facts About Skittermanders” that should be read to players before the session.  The module comes with a full-page character sheet for each of the skittermanders (they’re Level 2) that includes an entertaining bio and high-quality artwork.  Each of the skittermanders has a distinct personality and role, which always helps to bring pre-gens to life.

The adventure itself is divided into three parts.

In Part 1, “Docking Procedures,” the PCs realize that Nakonechkin has been gone for too long and isn’t responding to communications.  They’ll have to do a spacewalk over to the cruise ship (the “Emerald Empyrean”) and force their way through an airlock to gain entry.  Apart from the risk of being struck by micro-meteteroids, this part’s pretty easy and straightforward.

Part II, “Relaxation Protocols,” is where the adventure really heats up.  The PCs have to fend off security robots who think they are “pets” and should be caged accordingly, robotic massage tables that have trapped Nakonechkin into an endless (and painful) massage, strange shadowy caterpillar-like creepers that have somehow drifted onto the ship from the Shadow Plane, a former crew member that has arisen as a cybernetic zombie, and more.  The encounters are done well and are interesting, but I did find that as both a player and a later reader that it was hard to make sense of how some of the encounters could be traced to the rogue AI aboard the ship.

Part III, “Termination Measures,” is where the PCs have to do a sort of skills challenge (complicated by radiation and electricity traps) in order to shut down the rogue AI.  There’s a problem in the encounter design for this one that is also found in the earlier encounter against the shadow creepers: only one of the four PCs has the skills necessary to succeed, and if that PC is dead or disabled, the party is pretty much out of luck!  More specifically, only the one PC trained in Engineering can disable the AI, and only the one PC trained in Mysticism can stop the shadow creepers from respawning each round.  Arguably, this could be a way for each PC to get a chance to shine, but with a little bad luck the PCs could find themselves in an unwinnable situation.  This part of the adventure also has a battle against space pirates (optional if time is short) that suffers from the same problem I’ve unfortunately found with Starfinder starship combat in general: it’s a long slog that provides more tedium and frustration than exciting thrills.  Still, it is a way to show new players what the system  has to offer.  [as an aside, the artwork for the pirate ship depicts a witch straight out of the credits from Bewitched, something that I found distracting for a futuristic SF game set in another galaxy!]

There’s then a nice little conclusion that has Navonechkin offering the skittermanders their own ship as partners in his business, setting things up nicely for future adventures in future years.  I would like to see more skittermander adventures in the future—they were fun and very different to the normal tone of the game; as long as they don’t get overused. 

Overall, although not perfect, you really can’t complain about such a well-done, professionally written and illustrated adventure that is 100% free.  It’s an entertaining, welcome addition to what Starfinder has to offer.

Starfinder GM Screen [RPG]

The Starfinder GM Screen is a gorgeous, four-panel screen with a vertical orientation.  It’s made of thick layered cardboard so you don’t have to worry about it getting worn or accidentally tearing over time.  The side that faces the players has an exciting and evocative battle scene that stretches across its entire width, featuring the Iconics in desperate combat against a horde of alien robots with starship combat taking place in the background.  Artwork is subjective, of course, but I think it’s really cool and is the sort of thing that instantly sets a space fantasy tone.

Of course, the most important part of any GM screen (apart from keeping secret stuff secret!) is the information on the inside.  Good screens have the most important and frequently-referenced information a GM needs in order to save time from flipping through the rulebook, while bad screens have a random assortment of miscellaneous charts in no particular order.  The Starfinder GM Screen has clearly had a lot of thought put into it.  Each of the four panels has a different subject: Skills, Environment, Combat, and Starship Combat.

The Skills panel has the formulae and categories for identifying creatures and magic item, the DCs for disabling devices and making repairs, and the DCs for doing Diplomacy checks.  I would say most of these things are reasonably useful, though I would have liked to have the information that is used relatively rarely (like repair DCs) substituted for information that is needed in almost every session (like how the Computers skill works).

The Environment panel has a summary of how radiation works, statistics for the hardness and hit points of walls, doors and other materials, a summary of how zero gravity works, and a little bit more.  I may be a weird GM, but the part of GM screens I use the most (at least in Pathfinder) are the materials statistics, because they come up every time someone wants to bash through a door or try to sunder a weapon.  I haven’t had many situations with radiation or zero-g yet, but I imagine it’s useful information to have readily available (both are fairly complicated in Starfinder!).

The Combat panel is the one that’s going to be used the most by most groups, and it’s done really well.  There’s a list of what type of action (Standard, Move, etc.) various things are, quick summaries of the effects of various combat actions (like charging or doing total defense), and then a full list of all the conditions in the game like being flat-footed or prone.  Conditions come up all the time but there are so many of them (35!) that few people are going to memorize them all.  It’s definitely information that will save time in a session and keep combats moving quickly.

The Starship Combat panel is the one I’ve personally found the most important since the whole system is one that’s new and very different to traditional D&D or Pathfinder.  The panel lists the phases in order, has the table for what the effects of critical hits are, and has a nice graphic that shows the different shield arcs.  Having this has saved me flipping back and forth in the book a hundred times, and I consider it essential.  My only suggestion here would be that I wish there was an entire GM screen devoted to starship combat that could include summaries of what each role can do on its phase, the DCs for the various stunts and maneuvers, etc.  But within the understandable limitations of space, the information provided has been well-chosen.

I’ve used this screen in about a dozen sessions.  There are categories of information I forget are there (like the summaries of conditions) that I’ll use more once I get to know the screen better.  There are also still little bits of info that aren’t on the screen that I wish could be there (like the range increments of different weapons, or the formula for how grenades work, etc.) and some categories of information that *are* on the screen that are really unnecessary (like how much damage different sizes of falling objects do).  However, no GM screen can have everything or be perfect for every game.  On the whole, I’m very satisfied with the Starfinder GM Screen and would recommend it highly. 

Starfinder Combat Pad [RPG]

The Starfinder Combat Pad is a handy way to keep track of initiative, round-by-round effects, character conditions, and more.  The basic concept is that the product is a double-sided pad that can be written on with a wet or dry erase marker.  There are then two sheets of little magnets, each of which can also be written on, that can then be arranged and re-arranged to indicate what round it is, whose turn it is to go, etc.  The package comes with the pad and then two sheets of magnets, divided by colour for PCs, enemies, and NPCs, with additional arrow magnets to indicate what round it is.

The main side of the pad, used for traditional tactical combat, will be very familiar to anyone who has used the Pathfinder Combat Pad.  As the picture indicates, there’s a place to keep track of each character’s initiative and what round it is, but also a lot of room for miscellaneous notes—something that is quite handy.  I’ve used this side of the pad in about a dozen Starfinder Society sessions and I’ve found it works well in organizing and keeping track of things.  My only complaint would be that the magnets aren’t *quite* as magnetic as I would like, and they sometimes get shifted around or even fall off if the pad is bumped or held vertically.

The other side of the pad is designed for starship combat.  This side is less useful because there’s not really character initiative in Starfinder starship combat, as everyone just acts (in any order) in the phase corresponding to the role their PC has taken on the ship.  The pad could be used to track who is in what role, but even then it doesn’t detail whose on sensors vs. who's piloting in the Helm phase, for example.  The space for notes is probably more useful as a GM could keep track of what systems on an NPC ship are damaged, etc., but a sheet with more information that is better laid out (perhaps with tick boxes or shield arcs, etc.) would be better.  I don’t really use this side of the pad during encounters.

Overall, I’d rate the Starfinder Combat Pad as a decent buy that’s useful for GMs who haven’t already made custom means to keep track of the information they need during encounters.  One side of the pad is definitely more useful than the other, but it’s always handy to have room for notes.  Oddly, the product comes with way more magnets than is necessary, and I’m not really sure what the intent is there.  It’s not a product that’s as great as it could be, but it’s okay for what it is.

Pathfinder Tales: "In Red Rune Canyon" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

In Red Rune Canyon is a four-part series of free Pathfinder web fiction (available here) that serves well as a prequel to the novel Called to Darkness.  The short story is set in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords and features Kagur, a brave warrior loyal to her tribe (the Black Lions) and her adopted brother, a frost giant named Eovath.  The story is full of exciting action scenes and develops the bond between Kagur and Eovath nicely, which is something that makes the novel better.  It’s a worthwhile read.

SPOILERS

The story starts with Kagur and Eovath as part of a hunting party trying to track down a creature responsible for murdering members of other tribes.  The creature’s trail leads to the forbidden Red Rune Canyon, a place known for strange magic and phenomena as (I think) it borders the Worldwound.  Later parts of the story feature a tense and exciting battle against ghouls and then the appearance of some kind of demon that kidnaps Eovath!  Kagur has to bully a captured ghoul into helping find her brother.  The concluding battle against the demon is done well and is satisfying.

One of the things I really liked about In Red Rune Canyon is that it shows the kinship between Kagur and Eovath while at the same time subtly hinting to Eovath’s dissatisfaction with is “adoption.”  This is a major theme of the novel and I wish I had read this short story first.  I’ll also note that there’s some really good artwork for Kagur.

Overall, this isn’t a mind-blowingly original piece of Pathfinder fiction, but it’s a solid, entertaining read.

Rise of the Runelords Recap # 51 [RPG]

[22 Kuthona 4707 continued]

Sir Roderick always thought of others before himself.

For the first hours of the journey, the walk back from Fort Rannick to Turtleback Ferry is uneventful.  As they near the bridge to cross from the western bank of the Skull River to the eastern bank, however, three of the adventurers realize the waters are raising rapidly: a flash flood!  Sir Roderick yells out to a pair of locals who are fishing from the bridge and they turn to see a wall of water dozens of feet high coming towards them—they panic and run for cover.  Several dozen yards downriver, a mysterious traveller is making his way north when he hears the shouts of the fishermen.  The figure, an extremely pale man wearing heavy armor, spurs his warhorse forward to investigate.  The adventurers on the west side of the bank move safely away, while the fishermen and the newcomer on the east side do the same: the bridge is washed away in the tumultuous waves as the river overflows its banks by several feet on either side.

Although no one is hurt near the bridge, Kozen presciently notes that the surge could prove catastrophic for the residents of Turtleback Ferry.  With no easy way to cross the river now, the adventurers push through trackless underbrush on the western side of the flooded river, while the mysterious figure keeps pace on the eastern side.  Soon, the lights of Turtleback Ferry come into view, and screams echo through the night.  Panicking townsfolk are struggling to get to higher ground as the rushing waters rip away smaller buildings.  The town church is still standing, but near one building Tillia Henkenson and some children are trapped in an old rowboat that’s threatening to capsize as waves slam it repeatedly into the side of a house!  Kang’s dragonfly wings emerge as he flies over to help, but before he can get there a giant aquatic snake emerges from the waters and snatches a little girl in its monstrous jaws!  Artemis and Sir Roderick react instantly, however, and kill the snake with arrows and gunfire before it can swallow the child whole.  Kang catches the girl and leads her and the others in the boat to safety.

The locals have many legends about the origins of Black Magga, 

but none thought to see its fury firsthand.

But the night’s danger is far from over.  What first appears to be a massive black tree is being carried along by the flood waters, but just before it hits the church it submerges, and then, with a thunderous roar, it emerges and can be seen as the terrible lake monster the locals know only as Black Magga!  In terms of sheer size it’s the largest creature any of the adventurers have ever seen, a gargantuan monster with a serpentine neck supporting a reptilian head and a body made of a mass of wriggling tentacles.  Black Magga looms over buildings of Turtleback Ferry and begins wreaking havoc, smashing everything and everyone in sight.  The creature breathes a thick cloud of foul-smelling vapor over the area, driving Kozen insane!  Artemis’ streaking arrow crumples upon impact with Black Magga’s rubbery skin, while Sir Roderick fires his last bullet only to have his musket misfire.  Goragar takes up a battle stance but is too far away to attack.  Black Magga suddenly darts its long, serpentine neck forward and bites Sir Roderick almost in half!  The monster spits the body out to be lost amongst the floodwaters.  Artemis runs to escape, but the confused Kozen simply stands there, babbling.  The poor dancer from Magnimar dies next, quickly crushed to death by one of Black Magga’s tentacles.  Then, as quickly as it appeared, Black Magga dives deep into the waters of Claybottom Lake and disappears!

Innes Falkrenrath knows his kind are
suspect in the eyes of many.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the river, Kang is helping the mysterious traveller (who gives his name as Innes Falkenrath) usher the locals to safety.  By the time the alchemist realizes Turtleback Ferry is being attacked by a veritable lake monster, he’s too far away to intervene.   When Black Magga is gone, Kang helps to ferry his allies (and Kozen’s body) over the river and they find refuge at the church.  Father Shreed, Tillia, and several other residents are inside, having set up a makeshift hospital on the top floor of the stone structure.  Father Shreed expresses alarm that perhaps the dam to the north, Skull’s Crossing, is damaged and that things could be even worse next time if it’s not repaired.  He is saddened and further alarmed when told that the Order of the Black Arrows have been almost completely wiped out, with only one survivor found (Artemis’ now-unconscious cousin Fillias, who occasionally murmurs something about “finding Lamatar”).  With the worst the night has to offer behind them, the others are introduced to Innes, and several of the adventurers notice he wears the holy symbol of Vildeis, a powerful empyreal lord dedicated to the destruction of evil everywhere. Artemis announces his intention to head to the dam to see why it didn’t control the flash-flood, and the others agree to go with him in the morning.

[23 Kuthona 4707]

In the morning, the floodwaters have receded somewhat and, for the first time in weeks, the rain has stopped.  In the bright light of morning, several townsfolk see Innes clearly for the first time and are frightened by the realization that he has vampiric ancestry!  The adventurers, however, don’t even blink.  They take all of the treasure from the battles against the ogres at Fort Rannick and place it inside Sir Roderick’s house, and even go so far as to track down the body of Kozen at the cemetery to strip it of possessions!

Pixies have boundless energy and enthusiasm.

The group, reconstituted with the addition of Innes but the loss of Sir Roderick and Kozen, sets off north after taking a ferry to the western bank.  On the way, Kang asks Innes about his background.  Innes says he’s from Korvosa, but that for now he’d rather keep the rest to himself.  Kang talks about his plan to never age and live forever, an idea that sounds appealing to Goragar because the half-orc would never have to lay down his arms.  As the adventurers reach the edge of the Kreegwood, they hear an odd buzzing sound.  Suddenly, four creatures appears instantly just a handful of feet away.  Pixies!  Tiny, two-foot-long humanoids with wildly colored gossamer wings begin flying in figure-8 patterns all around Innes, chattering excitedly and rapidly about how Yap is looking for him and wants him to come to the Shimmerglens.  Innes explains to his new companions that Yap is an old friend he rescued from slavery in Korvosa years ago.  Artemis says the Shimmerglens (a foreboding swamp known to be full of unpredictable fey) is the wrong direction from where they’re going. Innes is forced to make a hard choice.  He promises to catch up to the others as soon as he can, but expresses his intent to find out why Yap needs to see him so desperately.

A total victory at Fort Rannick has been marred by the sudden death of two party members at Turtleback Ferry.  The surviving adventurers remain unswerving in their dedication to discover what’s happening at Skull’s Crossing.  What could cause one of the legendary relics of the ancient empire of Thassilon to suddenly fail?  And will the adventurers, diminished in number, be able to do anything about it?
---------------------------------------
Director's Commentary (July 23, 2018)

This session has the big Black Magga encounter, a scripted scene in the AP that is really interesting because it's not about victory--it's truly about mere survival!  Black Magga is way too tough for PCs of the party's level at this point in the campaign, but he fights for only three rounds before submerging into the water.  Unfortunately, three rounds is enough for him to wreak a lot of havoc, as we saw from the deaths of Sir Roderick and Kozen.  It was a bummer to see Sir Roderick go, as he was a fun and interesting character with a lot of potential.  Kozen's loss wasn't a big deal, on the other hand, because his player had already decided he'd be leaving the campaign so she could introduce a new PC (Innes).  Nonetheless, Kozen's death was "real" and unscripted--a tragic fate for a nice dancer from Magimar.

I'm not generally a fan of players abandoning viable characters in the middle of a campaign (either by having them leave or by discouraging teammates to raise them from the dead when possible) because it causes story disruption and adds to my workload.  But Kozen's player was pretty new to the campaign so I was willing to make an exception.  As fate would have it, unfortunately, Innes' fate wouldn't be a good one--we'll see why very soon.

I was really skeptical of the Shimmerglens subplot when I first read the AP, and I still am to some extent.  It just doesn't really fit thematically with the rest of what's happening and kind of gets dropped in out of nowhere.  Nonetheless, I had a surprisingly fun time role-playing Yap the pixie!

Next Recap

Pathfinder Society Scenario # 30 [# 1-02]: "The Devil We Know Part II--Cassomir's Locker"

NO SPOILERS

When people who have never played an RPG speculate about what it's like, they probably think of something like The Devil We Know Part II: Cassomir's Locker, an adventure where the PCs run around some generic tunnels fighting some generic monsters on a mission to recover a generic piece of treasure.  Having played in the scenario and then read it, I find very little to recommend it.  I suppose, at a stretch, it's serviceable as a sort of "combat only" adventure to quickly introduce combat rules to new players, but there are much better introductory scenarios available.  Frankly, this is the sort of thing that most GMs could quickly come up with on the fly given some random encounter tables and a bit of imagination to flesh them out.  It's forgettable and completely skippable.

SPOILERS

A PFS Venture-Captain named Hestia Themis gives the briefing.  A noblewoman named Countess Arieta Patrizia was kidnapped and taken to the sewers below the city.  Although Patrizia managed to escape, she eventually succumbed to the disease and wounds she incurred as part of her ordeal.  Before she died, she described her kidnappers as derro (mad creatures who live underground and kidnap humans for slavery or experiments) and said there were many more captives.  In addition, she saw a strange artifact transforming normal rats into giant-sized versions!  The mission that Themis gives the PCs is to descend into the sewers, seize the artifact, and free any captives found along the way.

The rest of the scenario takes place entirely underground, and is structured into two Acts.

Act I has the PCs exploring the sewers.  There are a few combat encounters here that can be triggered in any order.  There are the typical things one might expect: giant spiders, a couple of traps, diseased water, etc.  The substantive encounters include cultists of Groetus (the God of the End Times), which has a tiny bit of tie-in to the previous scenario in the series.  One of the cultists is even Dalirio Teppish's twin brother--like in a soap opera, I didn't even know Dalirio *had* a brother, much less a twin!  It could be an interesting twist, but it doesn't really amount to anything besides a quick combat.  At some point during their exploration of the sewers, the PCs will find a hatch leading further below.

Act II is a little more interesting, and is loosely based on the fact that Seattle and some other real cities are actually built *above* earlier settlements, the abandoned buildings of which still exist below!  The fictional city of Cassomir has
something like it, and soon the PCs find themselves exploring abandoned buildings whose upper levels are abruptly cut off by the "ceiling" of the cavern.  It's a really evocative concept that could have been a great setting for an adventure, but little is made of it here.  Instead, the PCs will encounter rats (dire rats or rat swarms), mites, and, in the "big conclusion" (for Subtier 3-4 at least) a single derro!  The cheesy "artifact" (whose origin is unexplained) is just sitting in a room to be scooped up.  It's all very bland.

I think I was particularly disappointed in this scenario because the entry for derro in Classic Horrors Revisited was so fantastic at establishing them as these bizarre, creepy, frankly terrifying creatures whose predilection for kidnapping and thirst for experimentation make them the stuff of nightmares.  But in this scenario, the derro is just waiting around in a room with a giant rat, fights, and dies.  There's very little done with a potentially cool setting and antagonists.  More, there's almost no opportunity for role-playing, with only the faction missions livening things up a bit.

Overall, The Devil We Know Part II: Cassomir's Locker is an eminently forgettable little dungeon crawl.  I'm glad Pathfinder Society scenarios have evolved in a much better direction!

Pathfinder Tales: "Called to Darkness"

NO SPOILERS

Called to Darkness is one of those books that I wanted to like more than I actually did.  It has a lot of elements that, taken in isolation, are really good: exciting action scenes, a strong female protagonist, a fascinating setting we've never seen presented before in Pathfinder fiction, etc.  But unfortunately, I found that the whole was less than the sum of its parts.  The plot sometimes drifts into shaggy dog story, with a "this thing happens . . . then this thing happens" approach reminiscent of a D&D campaign that consisted solely of random encounters and then a big battle at the end.  It's not *that* simplistic, and there are definitely some redeeming features in the book.  It's just one of those where you have to take the good with the bad.

A free short story prequel to the novel is available on the Paizo website, and it'd be worth reading before the novel:

SPOILERS

This is a revenge story.  In a fantastic first chapter, we see how almost an entire kellid tribe is gruesomely murdered (Game of Thrones style!) by a frost giant named Eovath that they had adopted (or enslaved, depending on one's point of view).  The only survivor of the massacre is Eovath's "sister by adoption", a young, fearless warrior named Kagur.  After recovering from terrible wounds, Kagur sets off after Eovath on a quest for vengeance, accompanied by the almost-elderly shaman (named Holm) of a neighboring tribe.  Their pursuit of Eovath takes them on an epic journey, as the frost giant has been touched (metaphorically speaking) by Rovagug, the god of destruction, and he has some terrible, mysterious mission underground.

About a hundred pages in, I realized this was a book about the Darklands! (the Underdark, for Forgotten Realms afficionados)  I'm not really sure how a creature the size of a frost giant is able to navigate easily through the Darklands, but his trail leads the heroes deeper and deeper through the stranger and stranger layers of the underworld.  There's battles against wraiths, mysterious spores, a centipede brain mold thing (Seugathi), and more.  Alliances are also made underground, first with serpentfolk in the market city of Sekamina (which was interesting to see represented in fiction) and then a tribe of orcs in a part of the Darklands called the Vault: a vast underground cavern that has its own ocean and even type of sun!

Eovath has made an alliance with a group of xulgaths (a sort of bipedal lizard) who reside in an ancient temple in order to make war on the various orc and other tribes that live in the Vault.  So although the first two thirds of the book are a chase with several action scenes against various threats, the last third of the book is an exciting infiltration of the temple that eventually leads up to a massive battle scene between the opposing armies of xulgaths and orcs.    It's done very well, and the epilogue is surprisingly sweet.

I think my disappoint with Called to Darkness comes from a few different reasons.  I didn't fine the portrayal of the Darklands nearly as mysteriously exhilarating and uncanny as some sourcebooks made it sound.  The characters of Eovath, Kagur, and Holm are all fairly one-note, with little range or depth.  Many of the action scenes are unnecessary in terms of plot advancement and read like padding.  I know one shouldn't have too high of expectations of RPG tie-in fiction, but I've read other Pathfinder novels by authors that could have done a lot more with the source material here.

So all in all, I'm definitely of mixed feelings about the book.  I think it's still worth reading, but I wouldn't make it a priority.

Starfinder Dice: Dead Suns [RPG]

It took ages for me to capture this picture!

Obviously, I’m a sucker for branded products.  How many times in my life am I going to play the Dead Suns adventure path?  Once. Well, I might as well have the Dead Suns Dice Set then!  This set comes with a standard set of 7 dice (d4, d6, d8, two d10s, a d12, and a d20) with a bluish-purplish background (don’t trust me on color!)  The borders around each number are quite busy with little markings that I don’t really know how to describe (allegedly they’re “suggestive of vast galaxies and nebulae”), but frankly they don’t have a particularly “space adventure” vibe to me and seem closer to ancient Aztec or something.  The highest number on each dice is a black hole (maybe a nova?).  Frankly, the design looks a bit amateurish to me compared to other AP dice sets.  On the other hand, everything is clearly legible and functional.  I wouldn’t buy them as dice for dice sake, but if you’re a collector like me or just need a new set, they’re fine.

As a side note, I love how the back proclaims they are “100%-official Starfinder Dead Suns Adventure Path dice.”  What would 75% official dice look like?

Starfinder Dice Tray [RPG]

If you’ve used the Pathfinder Dice Tray before, you’ll be instantly familiar with the Starfinder version as it’s exactly the same apart from the color and logo.  If you haven’t, I’ll quickly recap the features: this is a pleather collapsible tray about the size of an A4 sheet of paper.  It stores flat and then snaps together at the corners to make a dice tray that fits nicely on the table with room for your extra dice.  It’s not fancy, but I’ve used this one for a couple of dozen sessions and it’s held up well with no visible signs of wear and tear.  And, unless I fumble my Dexterity ability check, the dice stay in the tray.  Apparently, collapsible trays like this in various sizes are commonly used by business travellers for keeping keys and wallets in one place in their hotel rooms, so you can find cheaper, unbranded versions online elsewhere.  But then, how will people know you’re a Starfinder nerd?

Rise of the Runelords Recap # 50 [RPG]

[21 Kuthona 4707]

Having won a second tremendous victory over the ogres occupying Fort Rannick, the adventurers take stock.  The wounded are healed, the enemies looted, and a safe, warm place is found for the sick and feverish Fillias Lahs (who occasionally murmurs something about “Commander” and “Lamatar”) to be tended to by his cousin Artemis while the others explore the rest of the keep.  Shalelu pulls Goragar aside and tells the half-orc she’s leaving: the person she was hoping to find is almost certainly dead.  Goragar asks who it was, and Shalelu tells him about Jakardros Sovark, a man who was essentially her step-father before he suddenly abandoned her after her mother’s death.  Shalelu explains that she hasn’t seen Jakardros in almost two decades, and wanted to finally confront him.  Goragar says that if anyone discovers anything, he’ll let her know.  She says she plans to spend a few weeks in the area before heading back to Sandpoint.

By the middle of the afternoon, a thorough search of the first level of the inner keep has been completed.  Most of the rooms have been wrecked and defiled by the ogres, and exhibitions of their grisly hobbies are everywhere, such as the corpse of the keep’s priest of Erastil displayed as if he were eating his own intestines.  Only the library of the Order of the Black Arrow still holds anything of value, and the adventurers collect a few tomes on the Hook Mountain region and its inhabitants.

The search continues on the keep’s upper level.  A chapel has been turned by the ogres into a grotesque mockery and the furniture in many rooms splintered into unrecognizable bits of wood, cloth, and glass.  But in a large chamber decorated with longswords and stuffed animal heads on the wall, Sir Roderick finds a hidden compartment in the base of a shattered wine cabinet!  Inside are a pair of soft green leather boots; a jewellery box containing a silver locket, which itself contains a single golden hair that Kang identifies as nymph hair; and a coffer containing dozens of love sonnets written to someone named “Myriana”, said to be so beautiful that the moon itself was “blinded when it spied her dancing on the tarn” and who is the “truest grace to know Whitewillow’s soft embrace.”  Kozen recognizes the name Whitewillow as a part of the Shimmerglens where the planar walls between this realm and the First World are said to be thin.  But speculation focuses on the name “Myriana”—it sounds exactly the same as the name of Artemis’ wife!  The searchers bring the sonnets to Artemis, afraid of his reaction, but are relieved to discover his wife’s name is spelled “Miryana” and that subtle clues in the sonnets point to it being a completely different person.

As the adventurers prepare to search the the keep’s basement, discussion is had about what Turtleback Ferry will do now that almost all of its protectors have been slain.  Sir Roderick says he’ll never abandon the village, and talk turns to how the expert musketeer is perceived by the more common members of his race.  Locked in conversation, the explorers are surprised to descend the staircase into the basement to find a chamber decorated with gauzy silk curtains, lit by warm braziers, and infused with the scent of sweet incense.  “How lovely of you to come,” purrs the seductive voice of an aristocratic-looking woman with fire-red hair, alabaster skin, high cheekbones, and an elegant, fashionable dress.  Ignoring the questions coming from Kozen, Goragar, and Sir Roderick (all of whom she dismisses as mere servants), she focusses all of her attention and charm on Kang.  She gives her name as Lucrecia, says that her master, Mokmurian, could use someone clever and powerful enough to destroy “those loathsome Kreegs”, and offers to show Kang a life the likes of which he never thought possible.  But Lucrecia has badly miscalculated: Kang is completely immune to her’s, or any woman’s, charms!  Once he’s found out as much information as he can, he rebuffs her coldly.

Lucrecia, miscalculated, fatally.

Lucrecia shrugs and then transforms into half-human/half-snake creature just like the one fought atop the Shadow Clock weeks ago in Magnimar!  She pulls out a wicked looking dagger, but Sir Roderick doesn’t hesitate to open fire again and again at point blank range!  “You ruined my dress!” Lucrecia shouts as blood and gunpowder mix, and with a hurled curse she places the goblin into a mystical sleep!  Before she can do anything else though, even escape, Kang hurls a single bomb.  When the smoke clears, Lucrecia is quite dead.

A search of the lamia matriarch’s chamber uncovers a long-forgotten secret door leading into a natural cave system.  The adventurers realize the corridors are clearly too small for ogres to have traversed it, and decide to leave it alone.  They return to the first floor and rest for the night.

[22 Kuthona 4707]

Loading up a spare horse with Fillias and several bags of treasure, the adventurers begin their return journey to Turtleback Ferry.
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Director's Commentary (July 16, 2018)

The "Myriana"/"Miryana" thing was completely unplanned, and a true coincidence.  It was pretty funny at the time.

I had Lucrecia pick Kang to work his wiles on because he was the most visible leader of the group.  But her attempt was doomed to failure, as Kang has never shown the slightest whiff of romantic interest in anything other than alchemy set.

Next Recap

Starfinder Bottle Opener [RPG]

And now the moment you've all been waiting for . . . Jhaeman reviews the Starfinder Bottle Opener!

Cayden Cailean may not have made it into the future, but you can drink to his legacy with this black bottle opener featuring the Starfinder logo in white lettering.  On my oath, having duly purchased and used said product, I attest that it successfully opens (beer) bottles.  And if you're like that guy from Memento when it comes to losing stuff, put all your keys on the fully-functional key ring.

Act now, and you'll get two for the price of a pair!

RealmsToowoomba Recap # 72 [RPG]

[20 Flamerule 1372 continued]

In their room, Mellia and Cain discuss Gideon’s offer to accompany them to Startop Mountain.  The two agree that Gideon and the other members of the Oracle’s Circle are not prepared for the dangers they would face.  They decide instead that Gideon should be asked to prepare a safe place for Allia once she’s rescued.  As a response to Mellia’s earlier comment that she might take up a vocation as a priestess of Kossuth some day, Cain gifts her with the ability to cast some minor healing magicks.

[21 Flamerule 1372]

In the morning, Mellia casts her usual protective ward to detect if anyone is scrying on her.  Minutes later, she detects the fact that a dark figure far to the east is watching her.  Realizing that it’s Allia’s kidnapper, Mellia has a fake conversation with Cain about how close they are to finding the Crown of Horns.  When the scrying is concluded, Mellia and Cain go downstairs and find Gideon, Liliath, and Procul prepared to depart.  Gideon is surprised to hear the request to improve the defences of the Oracle’s Circle for Allia’s return, but says that, although he’s not an abjurer, he’ll do his best.  The newcomers then depart via teleportation scroll.

After breakfast, Rufus leads everyone to his campsite outside of the village, where a small field of pipeweed plants have suddenly sprung up.  Mellia reiterates the plan to travel to Nesme and destroy an evil cult of the Frostmaiden there.  Rufus offers to volunteer as the group’s advance scout, and mentions confidently that he could destroy the entire city if necessary.  Mellia encourages him to only perform a reconnaissance, and he says he’ll return by evening.  After casting a spell, he and his dog, Sheila, step into a nearby silverbark tree and disappear.

Rufus and Sheila emerge from another silverbark into lightly-forested plains several miles west of Nesme.  The pair walk east until Rufus sees the River Surbrin and establishes a secluded campsite in a nearby thicket of trees.  After transforming himself into a raven, Rufus then flies towards Nesme.  A great deal of activity is clearly going on.  The city’s fortress on the western bank of the Surbrin, which had been largely destroyed in the past by repeated attacks by trolls, hill giants, and other monsters of the Evermoors is being rebuilt with large blocks of stone moved towards the city on long ramps of ice!  The damaged walls of the city itself are also being rebuilt, although for now they’re buttressed by the melting remnants of the dome of ice that recently shielded the city from a siege of undead.  A new bridge, made of ice, connects the western fortress to the city, and several patrols of the Riders of Nesme, clerics of Auril, strange armoured bears, and winter wolves can be spotted throughout the city.

After a careful sweep to identify the city’s strengths and weaknesses, Rufus then follows some of the clerics of Auril (dressed largely in blue and white with snowflake insignia) back to what could be their main temple: a squat stone tower to which a tall spire is being added.  Without hesitation, and still in the form of a raven, Rufus circles the tower and then calls upon his powers over nature to control the very wind itself and form a tornado!  The tornado rampages through the blocks around the temple, killing pedestrians, destroying wooden homes and businesses, and causing general chaos. 

The fortified stone temple itself resists the incredibly strong winds, and within seconds a priestess of the Frostmaiden manages to dispel Rufus’ feat.  Defenders pour out of the temple—clerics, elite guards, and armored bears to find and confront their attacker.  Seeing a lone raven circling the tower after the tornado, and suspecting it is a spy or a shapechanged attacker, one of the clerics orders it destroyed.  Rufus nimbly dodges a brace of arrows, but is pelted by a cylinder of ice pellets summoned by one of the clerics.  He lands behind the needle-like spire to give himself some cover from the attacks and then continues his assault by summoning massive elementals of fire, air, and earth with orders to “kill, and have fun!”  The elementals smash into the defenders, and Rufus continues to easily avoid any arrows that fly his way.  As the clerics had prepared their spells for undead, and not an attack by divinely-granted druidic powers, the decision is made to retreat within the stout walls of the tower.   Two of the temple guards are slain during the combat but the rest of the defenders safely withdraw inside.  The summoned elementals try to follow, but are repelled by protective wards.  Seconds later, a thick sheathe of ice covers the entire temple.

Rufus realizes that the defenders have relied upon a powerful Aurilite relic known as Icedawn’s Tear, which legend holds was the last teardrop shed by Auril as a mortal before embracing her destiny as goddess of winter.  Rufus knows of its power to control the weather and conjure thick walls of ice, but he learns firsthand of another of its powers when a massive explosion of steel-hard ice emanates from the temple!  Although not seriously wounded thanks to protective magicks wisely cast earlier, Rufus decides to transform into an eagle and fly back to his campsite.  Once there, he prays to Silvanus for additional spells in order to continue his assault on the temple, but is rebuffed.  The Lord of Oak expresses his displeasure for his follower’s rash and ill-considered actions, which are viewed as having provoked the risk of war with the Aurilites while simultaneously taking scores of innocent lives and achieving nothing towards the preservation of nature.  Although unrepentant, Rufus is filled with the knowledge that all but the most trivial powers will remain barred to him until he atones for his transgression.

Back in Longsaddle, Ralkin goes to some length to track down a bear trap.  After finding out that the last one at Sixhorn Select Wares had just been sold, he finds the purchaser (the head of the Dosteril family) and persuades the man to sell.  Elsewhere, Cain and Mellia decide to burn down Rufus’ pipeweed grove, and are strongly affected by the smoke.  Markus begins writing a book titled “The Legend of Markus Kassul III”  Wrex continues his observations of the inhabitants of Longsaddle.

That evening, Rufus is surprised to see another halfling step out of a tree near his campsite.  Syd introduces himself as a fellow druid and a worshipper of Silvanus’ ally, Sheela Peryroyl.  Syd says he’s been sent to help Rufus find his way back into the good graces of his deity.  Rufus, however, remains glib, irked by his loss of power while believing he’s done nothing wrong.  When Syd tells Rufus he should pray for forgiveness, Rufus takes a deep draw of pipeweed and proclaims “that’s how I pray.”  Syd says that smoking is not prayer, but self-indulgence. Travelling through trees, he takes Rufus and his animal companion with him to Silverwood.  There, in a hallowed, moonlit grove, Syd collects saplings while Rufus continues smoking.  When Syd is finished, he has a thick bundle of saplings and tells Rufus that the symbol of his reconciliation with Silvanus is to plant each sapling, one for each innocent life taken in the reckless attack on Nesme.  “Sure, let’s get it over with,” Rufus replies.  However, Rufus refuses to dig the holes for the saplings unless Sheila is allowed to help him.  Although Syd says the penance is for Rufus and must be carried out alone, Rufus angrily replies that he won’t accept Syd’s help if Syd won’t accept Sheila.  “Then come find me when you’ve changed your mind,” Syd says.  Rufus leaves, and starts the long journey on foot to the High Forest, intending to find his old friend and druidic mentor, Faeved Jaementhe, to get to the bottom of this problem, once and for all.

That night, in Longsaddle, Mellia and Cain talk in their room.  Mellia tells Cain that in Thay she learned the importance of overcoming her fears and that there’s something she needs to face before continuing their quest to Nesme and Startop Mountain.  She says she needs to overcome a fear that arose after she was assaulted as a tavern-maid years ago: the fear of being intimate with someone again.  She says that she cannot overcome this fear alone, and that, as she’s comfortable with Cain and not afraid that she’ll hurt him, he would be the perfect person to help her.  “What is it precisely you would like me to do?” Cain asks.  Mellia sighs, raises her eyebrows, and leans up to kiss him.

[22 Flamerule 1372]

When Mellia and Cain awaken in the morning, sharing the same bed, they see that in the fireplace a small, winged imp is cavorting in the flames.  The mephit, a being from the elemental plane of fire, flies over and lands on Cain’s shoulder.  Cain says that, someday, he himself will turn into a powerful creature composed of fire, and Mellia says that is an admirable goal.  After she helps the blushing Cain put on his armor, the two head downstairs.

Cain explains to Markus that the mephit is harmless, but, unbeknownst to the others, the mephit communicates with its master in a strange language and constantly begs to be allowed to burn things.  Urist, the only one of the adventurers to realise that Cain and Mellia have had a liason, warns the latter to stay away from her man (Markus).  Mellia confirms that Markus isn’t her type.  Mellia casts a spell to communicate with Rufus telepathically to see if there is any news from Nesme, and the halfling replies that he has angered his god and won’t be available anytime soon.  After Ralkin finishes his meal of insects, the adventurers head to their campsite outside of the village to continue their planning.

Mellia explains that Rufus will not be joining in on the assault and provided no information about the city.  The group discuss the need to protect themselves against magickal cold attacks, and Mellia adds that she can turn some of the party invisible and create an extradimensional hiding place for others.  Mellia reminds everyone not to carry a bag of holding or Heward’s Handy Haversack into the hiding place, citing what happened to Eve and Bearos.  Markus suggests that the group should still send a scout first, especially to determine if Rufus did something that has placed the city on alert.  Conversation is also had about how to deal with the artifact that the Aurilites are rumoured to have, and Markus suggests transporting it to the elemental plane of fire to destroy it.

While Cain’s mephit assembles a massive bonfire in the background, the adventurers settle on a tentative plan: the group will teleport in while invisible, focus their attacks on the priests, and ignore other targets if possible.  Before lunch, the group runs through drills to practise getting out of the way of Mellia’s fireballs.

Starfinder Society Scenario # 1-13: "On the Trail of History" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

On the Trail of History is an excellent scenario that definitely increases the difficulty level from previous Starfinder Society scenarios.  I ran this for four players at Subtier 3-4, and there were multiple encounters that left them walking a fine line between life and death--which is the kind of tension that SFS has been lacking.  In addition, the plot and NPCs are really interesting, even if there is an investigative element that is overwritten given the context of the adventure.  Overall though, this is a strong scenario and worth playing as part of the "Year of Scoured Stars" meta-plot.

SPOILERS

In a fairly routine briefing with Luzwazi Elsebo, the PCs learn that they'll be following up on a lead (discovered in # 1-11: "In Pursuit of the Scoured Past") to helping figure out how to bypass the golden shield that has trapped so many Starfinders in the Scoured Stars system.  The PCs will need to travel to a planet out in the Vast called Icefront and see if a mysterious relic can be found.  Icefront is thought to be largely uninhabited, but is home to an agricultural research station operated by Frozen Trove Labs.  PCs who slot a particular boon will quickly get the suspicion that there's more to that research station than meets the eye. (unlike the previous "High Society Influence" boons from # 1-05, I thought the inclusion of Ykris here was a bit out of left field since he doesn't appear in the scenario and players probably won't even remember who he was).  So far, this sounds like a pretty standard SFS mission.

Things change when the PCs have a starship combat encounter with a mysterious ship on their way to Icefront.  The combat is expected (any time PCs get to choose their ship, there's inevitably a battle), but what's exciting is that the enemy starship is *tough*.  The resulting encounter is the closest I've ever seen to a defeat for the PCs during starship combat in an SFS game, and even the little twist at the end (the enemy ship having a self-destruct system) was great.  I'm intrigued by the origin of the alien vessel, and it's a thread I'm looking forward to seeing develop in future scenarios.

After getting into orbit around Icefront, the Starfinders will be contacted by a Dr. Monsylkis, the director of the Frozen Trove Labs research station.  Monsylkis invites the PCs to visit the facility, and since they don't have any other clear leads on how to track down the relic, they'll presumably agree.  The plot concept here is that the station is indeed up to nefarious ends (conducting illegal experiments for commercial exploitation), something that Monsylkis' has no idea about.  From the amount of detail given to the station and the in-depth information about how the PCs can discover the truth, it's clear the writer intended this to be a major thing for the Starfinders to focus on.  After reading the scenario a couple of times and running it, however, I still don't really know why.  The PCs are sent there to look for a mysterious, ancient alien artifact, and don't have a particular reason to care if a corporation is doing some illegal genetic modification of food.   At least in the game I ran, the players had no idea they needed to be actively searching for evidence while there.  In any event, the PCs get kicked out by station security if they investigate too much or too well.

Dr. Monsylkis gives them directions to the nearest band of Icefront's presumably-indigenous sentients, a race of bipedal lizard-like creatures with four arms named izalguuns.  The PCs have a chance to aid a band of izalguuns in a battle against some massive slug/mammoth creatures and be invited back to meet their leader.  I really like the clever writing here: based on their equipment, tribal society, and hunter-gatherer lifestyle, it's easy to assume that izalguuns are the typical unsophisticated "primitives" of so much first-contact fiction.  But actually, izalguuns possess technology just as (or even more) advanced as the Pact Worlds; they just choose not to use it in order to live more in tune with nature!  They even speak flawless Common, something that was definitely a surprise when my players heard it.  There's some good opportunities for role-playing while at the izalguun camp.  The bottom line the PCs will soon learn is that the izalguuns can give them information about the relic, but only if they persuade or force the researchers at the Frozen Trove Labs station to close up shop and leave--the scientists have (unintentionally) created an intrusive strain of plant life that is wreaking havoc on the local ecosystem.

When the PCs head back to the research station, the final encounter of the scenario takes place. The Starfinders are ambushed by two waves of Frozen Trove loyalists: a few low-CR security guards followed by an interesting high-CR duo consisting of a dragonkin soldier and his bonded partner, a ryphorian mechanic.  This was a near TPK when I ran the session, but it was within the bounds of fair play and was really exciting.  I wouldn't want every scenario to push so closely to the redline, but a generally higher degree of challenge is welcome as far as I'm concerned.  I especially liked that the PCs are watched and studied earlier in the scenario so that the ambushers can prepare custom tactics depending on what they notice.

Once the ambush is overcome, the PCs can find Dr. Monsylkis (who had no idea of her subordinates' actions) and try to persuade her to leave, with various results depending on Diplomacy checks.  In a nice touch, the PCs can also force her to leave at gunpoint by taking a point of Infamy.  The conclusion of the scenario is also strong, as the PCs have to decide whether to reveal the izalguuns' possession of advanced technology to the world (giving a true and accurate report of their findings as explorers) or conceal the truth (in order to protect the izalguuns).  It's a solid, believable moral dilemma without an obvious right answer, something I always appreciate in scenarios.

Overall, there's a lot to like about On the Trail of History.  The story is interesting, the combat encounters are tense and exciting, and there's lots of opportunity for role-playing and decision-making.  I do think the middle section (the exploration of the station) wasn't properly integrated with the PCs' mission.  I'm not sure what I think about another element of the scenario: there is an enormous amount of attention given to skill checks and skill check modifiers (some that persist throughout the entire session); on the one hand, I really liked the added detail and how various PC actions were accounted for and rewarded; on the other hand, it was almost too much cognitive load and too much to keep track of as a GM.  I'm sure a good middle ground can be found between the two extremes.  Anyway, it'll be fun to see where this storyline heads next.