Starfinder Module: "The Liberation of Locus-1" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

 

The Liberation of Locus-1 is a 64-page entry in Starfinder’s adventure module series.  Designed to take characters from level 4 to 7, it can be run as a standalone adventure, a natural follow-up to Junker’s Delight, or as a replacement volume for an adventure path.  I played it with my fun characters Nixxer and Professor Kipe and thought it was a solid adventure even if those PCs didn’t quite fit what the story expected.  As the title indicates, the adventure centers around Locus-1, which is a scientific space station orbiting a mysterious “metastar” in a recently-discovered star system.

 

First up, let’s talk about art.  The cover is solid, and it’s nice to see the Sunset Maiden again, but it would have been even better to have Locus-1 depicted as part of the action.  That’s because, inside the book, there’s not really a good exterior shot of what the space station looks like!  I find this a common problem with Paizo books—minor NPCs get artwork, but key settings which are hard to describe in words are left to the imagination.  As for the interior art, it’s okay, though a bit cartoony and undetailed for my tastes compared to the hyper-realistic art in the Core Rulebook.  The interior maps are well-designed, but they are *large* in scale and a GM will need to prepare accordingly (more a concern for an actual tabletop game than for a virtual tabletop one).  It would be nice to have a visual representation of the Locus System to go along with the written description in the gazetteer.

 

Speaking of the gazetteer of Locus-1 and the Locus System, that’s the first piece of back matter.  In eight pages, we get a well-written history and overview of the star system and the space station built to investigate the mysterious metastar at its center.  There’s some particular good bits I like, such as a small Starfinder Society lodge and a bar called the Hard Stop that tries to present itself as a classic “seedy cantina/dive bar” but can’t pull it off because Locus-1 is just too civilised!  The setting has all the elements that would make it a great “home base” for the PCs: it has basic infrastructure, good NPCs, isn’t overwhelming by having information spread across a dozen books, and it supports some interesting adventure hooks.  In other words, it’s easy to envision a campaign set entirely in the Locus System.

 

The second piece of back matter is the “Adventure Toolbox” (6 pages).  This starts with a page of weaponry that utilise special Locus crystals that give a weapon a special property: Healing.  In short, blast someone with one of these, and they heal hit points instead of taking damage!  They’re limited use, of course, but still pretty neat in concept.  The section then moves on to an Alien Archive, with three new creatures.  There are two playable races whose homeworlds are in Azlanti space: gathols (hulking but frankly forgettable mountain-dwelling humanoids) and tromlins (dinosaur-humanoids that will surely meet a burning desire in some player’s hearts).  The third new creature is mindshroud rays, which can attach themselves and take over a humanoid’s body—they’re probably more a story aid then a direct threat.

 

Onto the adventure!

 

SPOILERS!

 

The adventure hooks for The Liberation of Locus-1 are a bit sketchy.  There are a few short ideas on reasons the PCs might have come to the station, but this is an area each GM will have to expand on their own because it doesn’t really matter from the adventure’s perspective.  Instead, this is one of those adventures where the PCs are in the wrong place at the wrong time and simply get drawn into a course of dramatic and dangerous events.

 

Part 1 (“Four Alarms”) starts with a bang, as the PCs are in a marketplace on Locus-1 when suddenly a dinosaur crashes through the area, goaded on by a pirate!  An exterior window gets shattered in the fracas, causing a hull breach and exposure to vacuum that threatens to suck nearby civilians outside!  The module divides the situation into four separate “Events” and explains how the order they’re ran can be rearranged depending on the PCs’ response.  This is smart because it keeps the action from becoming overly scripted and rail-roady.  The encounters are very detailed in terms of terrain, hazards, enemy tactics, and other special considerations, which helps give each one a special feel.  In other words, the writing was done carefully instead of lazily.  Various NPCs intervene in the encounters, which is important to establish Locus-1 as a “real” place instead of a cardboard background for the PCs to run rampant.  The overall goal of Part 1 is to introduce the PCs to Locus-1, some of its key NPCs (including its ruling Science Council), and to give the impression that life on board may be far from sedate.

 

Part 2 (“Chaos System”) consists of four mini-adventures that can be presented in any order (though there is a natural progression to them, it’s again good that the GM can be flexible depending on what the PCs do).  Before the adventures are described, several pages in this Part are devoted to helping the GM continue to introduce the setting, major plot points, and how key NPCs adjust their attitudes depending on the PCs’ interactions with them.  It’s an intelligent way of integrating a lot of material.  As for the missions, the first one is “Research Recovery” and has the PCs leave Locus-1 to travel to the planet Tyru, where magic is unstable and the weather is awful, to recover some data from a research station that was recently destroyed.  The second one is “Mining Camp 001”, and this is where the PCs may first learn that the Azlanti Star Empire is interested in the Locus System as well.  The action takes place on the planet Godrum, where the Azlanti are using android slaves to mine crystals.  There’s a lot of great detail to reward careful planning on the players’ part.  Alas, I think my group accidentally/on purpose blew this planet up!  The third mission is “Pirate Problems” and sees the PCs confront the pirate group responsible for the drama in Part 1.  They’ll have to repulse an ambush on the station (I like how civilians can accidentally be hit) and engage in a starship battle against the pirates’ flagship.  This leads naturally into the fourth mission (“Besmara’s Head”) which sees the PCs storming the pirates’ base in the Locus System, a floating asteroid in the shape of a skull!  This is the longest mission, as the base has several surface chambers and catacombs to explore and multiple encounters. In effect, it’s a big “space dungeon”, but one that’s done well and is interesting.

 

Part 3 (“Battle for Locus-1”) is something I can review only as it comes across on the page, because my group didn’t play through most of it.  The premise is that Locus-1 has become the target of the Glaive of Remulis, an Azlanti destroyer, and ordered to surrender.  Most members of the ruling Science Council are ready to capitulate, but one member thinks the attack can be repulsed if the station’s Locus array (some high magic/tech) can be activated.  It all looks very exciting, with the PCs expected to hold back waves of Azlanti troopers as they simultaneously work furiously to get the Locus array activated and then engage in battle with the Azlanti destroyer.  It also looks like a big GMing task, as there’s a *lot* to handle.  The reason my group ducked out of it was that we were playing mercenary types and this part of the adventure was designed for straight-out heroes.  Most adventures hedge their bets by offering some sort of reward, but this one didn’t, so our group thought fleeing for their cowardly lives was the most profitable outcome!  I know this disappointed the GM, but it really wasn’t his fault—we were having a blast but wanted to stay true to our characters’ motivations.

 

Anyway, that’s The Liberation of Locus-1.  I definitely recommend it for some of the best Starfinder adventure design the game has to offer.