Starfinder Adventure Path # 1: "Incident at Absalom Station" (Dead Suns, Chapter 1) [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Ok, here we go!  The first adventure path for Starfinder, Dead Suns.  I got to play it in a campaign that took a couple of years of biweekly sessions.  My starting PC was a hyper-caffienated energy drink loving barathu envoy, B'rll'blub.  He was great fun to play, but proved startlingly ineffective in combat and died later in the campaign--but it was through his eyes I first experienced what I'm reviewing today, Chapter 1: Incident at Absalom Station.  In the flagged section below, I discuss the adventure in detail.  My general thoughts might be summed up as: it's okay, but nothing spectacular, and with some

encounters that aren't really fair to the PCs.   Here in the "No Spoilers" section, however, I'm going to discuss everything in volume one that's not part of the adventure--the front and back matter.

I guess the natural place to start is the cover, and I kind of hate it.  The whole grungy, metallic art design leads newcomers to think that Starfinder is a gritty, serious science fiction game when it's a more moderate example of "science fantasy".  The character art is okay, but it's not even clear what she's holding--it kinda looks like a sword, but the hilt is oddly cut-off (so as not to show the monster's face in the background) and instead of a blade there's a skinny robot's hand.  I have no idea what it's supposed to be.  I think they should have followed the model of the first several volumes of the first edition Pathfinder AP line, and placed an Iconic on each cover and take every advantage of Remko Troost's fantastic art for them.

The inside front cover gives stats and a little background on a freighter that the PCs will encounter, while the inside back cover gives an interior layout.  It's fine, with my only critique that it devotes a crazily unrealistic amount of space for crew comforts compared to actual cargo space.

There's a two-page foreword written by Rob McCreary.  It's mostly just an explanation of what an adventure path is and an overview of the issue's contents.

The first piece of proper back matter is a twelve-page gazetteer of Absalom Station, the center for humanity in the Pact Worlds solar system (the main campaign setting for Starfinder).  An interesting history is provided for the station, and I like how it cleverly integrates some concepts from Pathfinder (like the Starstone, some neighborhood names) while making it its own thing.  Absalom Station is perhaps the most important location in the setting, as it holds the headquarters for the Pact Worlds government, the Starfinder Society, the Stalwarts (intergalactic peacekeepers), and more.  It also serves as a natural starting location for adventures, and a probable home for PCs since it's a pretty multicultural place--a bit like Babylon 5.  Although much of this information is probably replicated in the Pact Worlds hardcover, the gazetteer does a good job describing the different areas of the station and leaves a lot of room for GMs to customise as necessary for the adventure they want to tell.  There are some "feel and flavour" elements that I think are missing--how do people get around (elevators? trams? vehicles?); what's it like for newcomers when they arrive (visas? security inspections? customs taxes?); and what laws are in place regarding weapons (frowned upon? side-arms only? everyone's got a rocket launcher?).  This last issue in particular has proven problematic for a lot of gamers as it goes to varying real-world conceptions of what's normal for urban communities.  As a complete aside, I can't help but note that the artwork of the dude on page 43 is *clearly* an intentional likeness of Jon Bernthal from Netflix's The Punisher!

Next up is "Relics of Golarion", a four-page-long collection of new magical items that have historical links to the now-missing planet.  The writer clearly knew their Pathfinder lore, as there's a rich evocation of setting elements in the backstory to each item.  In terms of actual usefulness, many of the items are too expensive or too high-level to be useful for most PCs, but I liked the falcon boots (allowing a PC to make a sort of personal gravity field so they can walk on walls or ceilings, even in Zero-G) and the (perhaps overpowered) chained weapon fusion which gives any melee weapon the reach property!  I liked the section, though as a timing matter I think it was probably too soon and the space should have been devoted to making Starfinder more its own thing instead of tying it so closely to Pathfinder.  New readers can be turned off if they feel they can't get the full story without playing an entirely different game.

A bestiary-style "Alien Archives" introduces 7 new creatures, with each receiving a page.  The line-up is: akatas, bone troopers, driftdead, garaggakal, rauzhant, vracinea, and void zombies.  The artwork is really strong here, though I don't see much in the way of creative ideas here (and a couple of just updates of Pathfinder monsters).  Five of the seven appear in the adventure proper, which is a nice way to save word count there.

Finally, there's the "Codex of Worlds", a one-page description of a planet ripe for adventure that's located somewhere outside of the Pact Worlds system.  This issue's entry is "Heicoron IV", an ocean planet with rival civilizations.  Although they share a common ancestry, one has adopted to living on floating cities while the other has made the depths their home.  There's a "first/early contact" situation for explorers.  A classic SF concept that could have appeared (budget-willing) on Star Trek.  It's not easy to design a world in one-page, but I liked what I saw with Heicoron IV.

The pattern established in this first issue of the AP persists in subsequent issues, with each including a setting element, a bestiary section, some player-facing character options, and a one-page new world.  It's worth noting these volumes are also much shorter (just 64 pages each) compared to first edition Pathfinder APs, making them less of a value for the budget-conscious.

SPOILERS! (for the whole AP) 

On to the adventure!  This starts with a two-page campaign outline that offers the GM a rough idea of what's in store for the entire AP.  In short, Dead Suns is going to be a planet-hopping adventure.  The PCs start on Absalom Station in Chapter 1, head to Castrovel in Chapter 2, on to the Diaspora in Chapter 3, a gas giant in the Vast in Chapter 4, an artificial moon in Chapter 5, and then a massive Corpse Fleet flagship in Chapter 6.  This is an AP meant to show off themes of space travel and exploration, not one about laying down roots or deep involvement with NPCs and communities.  The plot itself concerns the lurking danger of an epic superweapon called the Death St--I mean, the Stellar Degenerator--capable of destroying entire worlds.  I'll get more into that in reviews of later chapters.

Part 1 of Incident at Absalom Station is "Absalom Gang War."  All of the PCs are meant to be new (or returning) visitors to Absalom Station interested in joining the Starfinder Society (an organisation devoted to exploration, scholarship, and first contact).  That's a reasonable premise, but I *really* wish Starfinder did AP Player's Guides like Pathfinder does--they make great advertising tools and help players better immerse themselves in a campaign's premise.

Anyway, I think starting a campaign off with some drama and action is a wise choice, and that's what we get here, because the moment the PCs step off their shuttle and into the docking bay, they're caught in a firefight between two rival gangs!  The Starfinder agent meant to show the group around (a dwarf named Duravor Kreel) is killed in the crossfire.  I joked with my GM for months after because this is done in a heavy-handed way.  Instead of Kreel being killed in the opening descriptive text (before the PCs can do anything), he's required to be killed in the first round of Initiative (no matter what the PCs do, and with no attack or damage roll required).  But my PC had a rescue plan!  Oh well . . .

With Kreel dead and the gang members dispatched (or fled), the PCs will eventually come into contact with the shirren Chiskisk, a higher-ranking member of the Starfinder Society.  Chiskisk is concerned that perhaps Kreel's death wasn't simply a "wrong place at the wrong time" situation, and asks the group to investigate his death as a sort of audition to become members of the group.  The investigation aspect is handled pretty well, I think, with five different columns for Gather Information results on different topics and lots of room for creative GMs to flavour how (or from whom) the PCs are getting the info.  The PCs will quickly understand that the two gangs fighting in the docking bay (the "Downside Kings" and the "Level 21 Crew") were essentially proxies hired by two rival mining companies (the "Hardscrabble Collective" and "Astral Extractions").  The mining companies are enmeshed in a legal dispute over who gets to claim ownership of an asteroid-sized chunk of rock found in the Drift that had been towed back to Absalom Station by a mining survey ship named the Acreon.  As all of the crew of the ship were dead on arrival, Absalom Station's authorities have placed the ship and the Drift rock into quarantine some distance from the station.

That info reveals what the gangs (and their mining company employers) were fighting over, but it doesn't yet explain the nature of Duravor Kreel's death.  To get more answers, the PCs need to visit each gang's headquarters and see their leader.  The adventure handles this part well, with diplomatic and violent approaches accounted for, and some good characterisation of the NPCs.  Busting up gang members isn't exactly intergalactic SF action, but every Starfinder has to start somewhere!  Assuming their investigation goes well, the PCs should learn that, in fact, Kreel was an intended victim by one of the gangs--he was a board member of the Hardscrabble Collective and so a hit was put out on him by Astral Extractions out of fear he would also get the Starfinder Society involved in the legal dispute.  It's a mystery that has a satisfying conclusion, and gives the PCs an early sense of accomplishment.

Part 2 is "Ghost Ship."  The PCs have a few days of downtime to explore and establish themselves on Absalom Station--something that's good for role-playing, even if the GM knows they won't be staying there long.  They're then invited to a meeting with Ambassador Gevalarsk Nor, the necrovite (a type of undead) ambassador from Eox!  Friendly chatting with evil undead is something some players will have difficulty swallowing, but the premise of Starfinder is that Eox is a full member of the Pact Worlds and that although some people find them distasteful or suspicious, they're generally treated decently.  It definitely makes for an interesting meeting, as the PCs learn that the ambassador has an offer for them: he wants them to investigate the Acreon and the Drift rock, and report what they find.  It turns out that Ambassador Nor is the mediator between the ongoing dispute over who should get to claim the rock.  He's willing to pay well, and he offers additional payment if the PCs bring back to him personally a particular container in the ship's hold--though he won't reveal what's in it!  I can't argue with a "What's in the box? Don't open the box!" mystery.

Assuming the PCs agree, they'll get their first taste of the game's starship combat rules.  The shuttle they've been loaned is attacked by a single-seat interceptor piloted by an android assassin (hired by whichever mining company the PCs seemed most adverse to).  I'm on the record as loathing starship combat in Starfinder, but at least this one is quick and easy, and serves as a straightforward introduction of the rules to players new to the game.  As is often the case, I am annoyed that whether the PCs win or lose this starship combat, there are no real consequences, as the adventure assumes that the PCs take lifeboats to get on to the Drift rock (I have no idea why this "professional assassin" wouldn't just shoot down their lifeboats, and the adventure provides no explanation either).

Exploring the Acreon plays up to the classic science fiction "ghost ship" trope.  The crew are either dead or vanished, and the PCs need to figure out what happened to them.  Their investigation is hampered by the fact that some space goblins from Absalom Station broke into the quarantined ship earlier; I like how they can be simple foes to neutralize or made short-term hirelings (my group chose the latter option, because we needed all the help we could get!).  The answer to what befell the ship's crew comes pretty quickly: the movie Alien.  Here, they're "akatas", but they look and act very similar to Ripley's foes, complete with the egg-laying-in-human-host bit.  Frankly, I wouldn't have minded an answer that was more creative and original.  On the other hand, the "what's in the box?!" mystery has a great reveal.  When I played, our group didn't open it because the Ambassador said not to and we wanted to get paid.  But if a group does, they see there's a dead body inside--and the body opens its eyes and speaks!  In short, the container contains an undead "bone trooper" who was being smuggled into Absalom Station by Ambassador Nor.  This can turn into a combat or a role-playing encounter, but either way I think it's a creepy-fun answer.

Part 3 is "Phantoms of the Drift" and sees the PCs exploring the Drift rock itself.  A well-concealed cave leads to a hidden complex of chambers with technology far in advance of what the Pact Worlds has.  The PCs won't know this now (and even as a player, I never realised it until preparing this review), but the Drift rock is actually a small sheared-off portion of the Stellar Degenerator itself!  While exploring, the PCs have to survive the android assassin who comes after them in person, some zombies (crew members from the Acreon infected by the akatas), a security robot, and more.  They'll also be attacked by a driftdead (a new creature from the back matter's bestiary) that was once a space explorer named Moriko Nash--who died 75 years ago!  It turns out Nash was the captain of a starship called the Sunrise Maiden that encountered the Drift rock decades before the Acreon.  In a touching bit, the PCs find Nash's last recording that details her fate and gives an ominous warning that something is hunting her.

The PCs probably won't have realised it, but once they landed on the Drift rock and started exploring, their shuttle is remotely activated and flies back to Absalom Station, leading them stranded.  This is a contrived (and to my mind execrable) excuse to force the PCs to find another way home.  Of course, they'll find the Sunrise Maiden in a hangar bay, the ship intended to be their real home for the rest of the campaign (and the subject of the inside front and back cover).  But first, they have to deal with what killed the ship's former captain.

The big boss of Incident at Absalom Station is a new monster called a garaggakal.  It's a CR5 monster with a bite attack that does 2d6+9 damage, a special "Leech Life" attack that it can use (a limited number of times per day) to instantly do 5d6 damage that it then gains as temporary hit points, and an EAC/KAC high enough that PCs will probably hit it only 25% of the time.  Oh, and if PCs barricade themselves in a room somewhere to rest and heal, it can pass through walls to get them! In short, it's a TPK waiting to happen, as evidenced by several posts in the forum.  My experience as a player was exactly the same, although the GM took pity on us and had it act in ways that allowed us to eventually beat it.  Frankly, I'd rather suffer a TPK than get a pity win.  But in any event, placing the garaggakal there was a terrible  decision idea by the adventure writer.  I guess I can chalk it up to the difficulties with appropriately scaling difficulty in a brand new game, but I feel like just eyeballing what it can do versus what four average Level 2 PCs can do shows it's likely to be a big problem that leaves a sour taste in the mouth moving forward.  And that's where the adventure concludes--there's not an epilogue, because the action starts up immediately in the next volume of the AP, right when the PCs leave the Drift rock.

Overall, both as a player and a reader, I felt some disappointment with Incident at Absalom Station.  There were some bits I really enjoyed (the investigation and dealing with the ambassador, for example), but the plot afterwards was pretty basic: a ghost ship followed by a space-dungeon crawl that I've seen a million times, in Starfinder Society scenarios and elsewhere.  I was hoping that the first AP for the game would really hit things out of the park (like Rise of the Runelords) did for Pathfinder, but that just isn't the case.  And the big boss encounter made it clear that the writers' expectations of what an average group can do is not realistic.