Starfinder Society Scenario # 5-03: 'Combatant's Concerto: Fugue of the Traitor' [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I played Combatant's Concerto: Fugue of the Traitor via play-by-post with my Steward PC, Officer Swizzers.  The scenario is the third in a series (following # 3-11 Into the Veskarium and # 4-06 Prelude to Revolution) that deals with the rebellion on Pulonis ("Vesk-6"), a world where the native pahtra are trying to free themselves from the Veskarium.  I heavily criticised the first two scenarios for forcing the PCs to effectively take the side of the occupation.  This one is better in that regard and has a stronger story, even though it still has some flaws and perhaps tries to do too much (and could easily run overlong).  It's a good scenario in terms of mixing plenty of role-playing with some combat.  Overall, it doesn't quite clear the bad taste in my mouth from the first two in the series, but at least it didn't make the situation worse.

SPOILERS!

Fugue of the Traitor ties strongly into the first two scenarios in the series.  Ixthia the Unbreakable briefs the PCs that their mission is to assist Miiyu, the Near Space pop star who is secretly the leader of the Pulonis Liberation Front.  Ixthia doesn't know what form of assistance she needs, so the PCs will need to find that out themselves.  Two bits in this introduction really annoyed me.  First, Ixthia gives each PC a stack of "blue squares" that was "old tech found in the vaults" that can be attached to all of the PCs' equipment, allowing them to completely ignore electromagnetic interference that ravages Pulonis and makes electronic equipment unreliable.  I hate it when writers pull something out of nowhere that undermines a key setting feature (and, I *like* it when PCs have to struggle/improvise to make do when they can't use their favourite shiny tech).  Second, there's an odd bit where a cook asks the PCs if they liked their meal, and if they say yes, the cook gives them grenades and healing serums!  I find these *very clumsy* loot drops annoying; it's even worse here, because if the PCs instead insult the cook, Ixthia then gives the PCs the very same stuff.  A scenario should at least respect the consequences it sets up (aka, don't ask the PCs to make a check if you're not willing to let them fail).  Ok, deep breath Jhaeman!  It gets mostly better from here.

The PCs arrive on Pulonis just in time to locate Miyuu at a concert she's giving.  Again there's some meaningless checks for the PCs to get coded instructions to meet her at her hotel room.  There, they meet her entourage, which also serves as the inner circle of the Pulonis Liberation Front: her grizzled pahtra bodyguard Vokuvi, the scholarly pahtra Eshga, a vlaka field medic named Renvir, and an ixti priest named Alfey.  Miyuu explains the reason they've requested Starfinder Society support is that they plan to venture out into the planet's remote Holy Lands to locate an ancient bunker there that would serve as the perfect headquarters for the resistance.  However, once Miyuu sends the others way, she reveals the *real* reason she's requested SFS assistance: one of her inner circle is a traitor!  She says she knows one of the four is a violent extremist trying to undermine her efforts to purge the radicalized pro-terrorism faction from the resistance movement.  But, she doesn't know which one of the four is the traitor, and thought having outside assistance that she can trust (dubious to me, given the previous scenarios) would be a good idea.   It's a really strong story premise.  (coincidentally, my last SFS review--Bounty # 7--involved a celebrity who had a traitor in their inner circle!)

The next part of the scenario covers the multi-week journey into the Holy Lands.  Dangerous and potentially lethal weather is why the area is so unpopulated, and this poses multiple challenges for the travelers.  Event # 1 is a small skills challenge as lightning strikes hit the barge they're travelling on.  If the PCs do well, they impress Renvir and get some information from him about his past (in the form of a handout--you'll see a pattern soon).  Event # 2 has the barge stopping in a small town, and the PCs tasked with getting the precise coordinates of the bunker while the others load supplies.  It's another skills-focused challenge, and if the PCs do well, they impress Alfey and get information from him.  Most of the subsequent weeks-long overland journey into the Holy Lands is hand-waved, apart from one night when the travellers' camp is attacked by fiery flying balls called "Hungry Lights".  Vokuvi's cybernetic leg is scripted to malfunction during the battle, and if the PCs are able to assist him, they learn his background.  Event # 3 involves The Shriek, a powerful magnetic storm that flings razor-sharp metal fragments and unexploded munitions from a crashed vesk ship.  The PCs are tasked with getting a probe to function so they can gather data on it (which is their ostensible reason for being on the planet if questioned by the Veskarium).  The Shriek is dangerous though, and poor Alfey is killed by it!  If the probe is launched correctly, the PCs impress Eshga and she gives them a statement.

At this point, the PCs should have enough information about all the members of Miyuu's inner circle and enough clues to figure out who the traitor is and confront them.  Never trust bookish types (I am one), as the radical violent extremist is revealed to be Eshga!  She arranged for Alfey to be murdered because they had started suspecting the truth about her.  But in a nice twist, Eshga didn't kill Alfey directly; she did it by manipulating Renvir into thinking Alfey was the traitor and about to assassinate her.  The scenario has a nicely-written scenario for how all of this plays out (including what happens if the PCs accuse the wrong person), and earns major bonus points by including a picture and role-playing tips for each of the NPCs.  In one-shots like this where the PCs need to deal with several NPCs simultaneously, it *really* helps if they can put a name to a face.  (I will say I feel some sympathy for Eshga--it was the Starfinder Society that killed her brother by blowing up his ship in Into the Veskarium!)

The last part of the scenario has the PCs reach and explore the bunker, which was a pre-Gap, pre-Veskarium occupation pahtra military research facility.  I think this part is actually somewhat anticlimactic given everything else that's already happened in the scenario.  Or, it may be "abandoned complex as dungeon crawl" that Starfinder adventures struggle with.  In addition to some traps and robots, though, I have to admit the final battle is pretty cool: mechs!  Presumably inserted to tie into the release of Tech Revolution, the scenario has the PCs awakening an automated guardian mech and realising the only way they can possibly defeat it is to jump into mechs of their own.  A handy rules cheat-sheet to mech combat is included to help keep the scenario from stalling out as everyone tries to figure how the rules behind running them.

There's a lot of content packed in Fugue of the Traitor, and this is one that the GM should prepare for ahead of time and make sure it's run in a slot that allows some breathing room.  Although I have some quibbles (and grudges against its predecessors), overall it's a good scenario.