Starfinder Society Scenario # 6-13: "The Beginning of the End" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Yes, the title of this scenario is The Beginning of the End, and yes it's the next to last scenario for next to last season of the first edition of Starfinder Society.  But I'm sure everything will be fine!  I got to play this via play-by-post with my embri Mystic of Pharasma, Speaker for the Dead.  I had a fun time.  There's not a lot of amazing story, NPC, or encounter creativity on display, but it's a solid meat-and-potatoes adventure that should leave players satisfied.  There's also some good artwork and the return of an old enemy that everyone loves to hate, which is a plus in my book.

SPOILERS!

I haven't played any of the other Season Six ("Year of Fortune's Fall") scenarios, so reading the Adventure Background to this scenario was a bit overwhelming.  I'll try to boil it down: there once was a party of Starfinders that turned bad.  Led by a powerful seer named Zaheni, they schemed to get access to a rare starmetal named finitrium which would give her even more powerful precognitive powers.  The Starfinder Society eventually learned what was going on and launched an operation to stop the group, which had taken the moniker The Order of Dawning Fate.  Previous scenarios have had the SFS taking down some members of the group, but now the Order has a not-so-secret scheme called Project Dawn, which involves using a doomsday device to cause earthquakes in a particular metropolis to scare away the residents so the Order can get full access to the rare finitrium deposit that lays underneath it. (the exact sort of thing a James Bond villain would do!) The Starfinder Society has narrowed the possibilities of where the doomsday device is hidden to one of about a dozen planets across the galaxy and is preparing to send teams to each of them.

The PCs come into the picture with a briefing by Celita in the Lorespire Complex.  They're being sent to check out one of the possibilities, a city called Izdris on the planet Relthune in the Vast.  I'm not familiar with either the city or the planet, though the scenario gives some backstory indicating it hosts extensive pre-Gap ruins that have been well-preserved, making it quite the tourist destination.  One intriguing thing that Celita mentions is that she received an encrypted message from an unknown sender a few days ago stating that Izdris was the Order's target.  The message was "signed" with an apple emoji, which a veteran player will suspect means the message is from Datch, the villain of Season Two, who was apparently freed from prison by the Order in a previous scenario.  However, whether Datch has turned against the Order or this is all bait for a big trap remains to be scene.

The weeks-long journey to Relthune proceeds without incident.  When the PCs' ship lands on Izdris, they see the population is in panic: a series of escalating earthquakes have hit the city, and misinformation is making the situation even worse.  The GM is instructed to choose three "vignettes" from a list to get the PCs involved in trying to address the panic.  These vignettes are simple one-line problems where the players get a choice of two different skill checks to try to solve them--a lot like an obstacle Chase card in Pathfinder.  I think it worked well, though I could imagine some groups not realising these little vignettes aren't major plot threads to follow.

The PCs will trace the source of the encrypted message to a building owned by a news network called RelWIN.  Unbeknownst to the Izdrian populace, RelWIN was bought out by the Order and is being used to spread misinformation to aggravate the panic and get people to evacuate.  The PCs burst into a studio so see Datch handcuffed to a computer console, and three Order agents maintaining security.  The Order agents open fire on the PCs, of course, but Datch tries to help the PCs by using technology in the studio.  The battle is forgettable, but there's an excellent role-playing opportunity with Datch, especially if PCs (unlike Speaker for the Dead) had encountered her in previous scenarios.  Datch explains that she was held prisoner by the Order and forced to participate in their misinformation scheme (she is an expert at it, after all).  She tells the PCs that the doomsday device isn't far away under an old university building, but that time is of the essence as the strikes are going to continue intensifying.  She offers the PCs a deal: she'll stick around after they leave to prepare a full synopsis of the Order's activities and membership for Celita, if they agree to let her go afterwards.  It's a good, interesting decision for the PCs, with multiple plausible views, exactly the sort of thing I like to see in RPGs.  Our group agreed to the deal.

The PCs are expected to take a news enercopter on the building's roof to get to the university building, and they'll find themselves chased by another news enercopter piloted by Order agents.  We get a proper Chase with customised zones and tricks.  Our group's enercopter took a *lot* of damage, but we managed to get enough speed to simply escape the pursuit.  There were some fun obstacles in the Chase, such as avoiding cranes from construction zones, oncoming air traffic, etc.  It was notable that each enercopter was outfitted with a corona artillery laser, leading my GM to quip "It really tells you what the media situation is like on this planet if their news copters come armed with laser cannons!"

Two encounters await the PCs when they get to the university building.  The first is against some Order robots; robots be robots, and the encounter will be pretty forgettable even though the artwork is interesting.  The second one is the big climax, as the PCs take on Kebzec, a drow mechanic (and a founding member of the Order) with some cool unique augmentations.  He's accompanied by a pair of goons, one of whom I memorably caught with a critical hit using my soul surge spell for 12d8 damage!  After the battle, there are some additional (possibly painful) complications to shut down the doomsday device and stop the earthquakes.

Although the overall plot is a bit cheesy (with the idea of trying to force the evacuation of an entire metropolis to "secretly" mine a rare metal underneath by using an earthquake-generating device), the scenario had some good, straightforward action and some quality role-playing with Datch.  I do wonder though, if it wouldn't have better to have had a more dramatic or foreboding ending to really set the stakes high for the last scenario of the season.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 91 [RPG]

[Moonday, 10 Arodus 4708 A.R. continued]

 

Secure in The Reckoner’s safehouse, the Harrowed Heroes plan long into the night.

 

[Toilday, 11 Arodus 4708 A.R.]

 

The ringing of handbells in the street outside wakens everyone at dawn.  Goldcape sneaks out, invisibly, to see what all the clanging is about and learns it’s a horse-drawn cart to collect the bodies of those killed overnight by the terrible blood magic curse still striking down victims across the city!  Sadly, Mifeg—the homeless woman the group had some contact with months ago—is one of the deceased.  Goldcape returns to fill the others in on what she’s seen.  But although bodies may continue to accumulate as long as Ileosa lives, the group agree to plan their strike on Castle Korvosa carefully instead of acting rashly.

 

Goldcape decides to walk to Old Korvosa to check on Sergeant Clenkins and the other members of the rebel cell she organised there.  The vanara is recognised by friendly House Arkona soldiers at the bridge and waved across.  Although the perpetual gloom of the nearby Black Tower puts a damper on things, she’s surprised to see how much the city’s most notorious slums have improved in recent weeks!  Rubbish has been hauled away, no gangs roam the street, and there’s even early signs of new construction.  But curiously, her rebel cell is nowhere to be found.  There’s no sign of violence or disorder in the abandoned building, but it looks like everything other than Goldcape’s personal gear has been packed up and moved out. 

 

She decides to learn the rebels’ fate by directly asking the most important man in Old Korvosa: Glorio Arkona himself!  In Arkona Palace, after having her identity confirmed through a quiz from Glorio’s majordomo (apparently shapechanging assassins are a risk), Goldcape is immediately brought to meet the artistocrat in a well-appointed salon.  Glorio is welcoming and flattering, and explains that Sergeant Clenkins and his troops found it “unnecessary” to maintain their protection of the Black Tower after the forces of House Arkona arrived.  Instead, Glorio explains, they’ve joined the siege of Castle Korvosa.  Along with refreshments and a gift of platinum coins, Glorio hints that, should he become leader of post-war Korvosa, he would offer her a major position of responsibility: Commandant of the Sable Company Marines!

 

After leaving the palace, Goldcape realises she’s near Vencarlo Orisini’s old fencing academy and decides to pay a visit to her mentor.  The two speak carefully in case spies for the Queen are listening in, but Goldcape subtly confirms that the mission to Scarwall was a success while Vencarlo talks about rebuilding the academy with the aid of a wealthy student.  He welcomes Goldcape to stop by for lessons anytime.  Goldcape says her farewells and makes it back to The Reckoner’s safehouse in the early afternoon.

 

Meanwhile, Protosilaus and The Reckoner haven’t been sitting idle!  Leaving Lorien and Yraelzin behind, the two walk to a particular alleyway not far from the safehouse to meet with one of The Reckoner’s informants.  In this case, that informant is Xoza, a dandasuka in the employ of House Arkona who is magically-bound to spy for The Reckoner!  Xoza reports progress on the three tasks assigned to him by The Reckoner before the Harrowed Heroes left the city for Scarwall.  First, Xoza reports a (not-so-stunning) revelation: the vigilante Trifaccia was an efreeti agent of The Queen!  Given that Grau Soldado took care of that problem some time ago, the information is now of little value.  Second, Xoza was charged with learning what House Arkona was planning, and again the little spy has information that may be too late to be of much value: the aristocratic family has entered into an alliance with the queen of the xill from the Black Tower.  In exchange for military support, House Arkona lets the xill implant their spawn in the bodies of captured Ileosan loyalists!  Third, Xoza says his third task (to find out Glorio Arkona’s weaknesses) faltered due to  the man’s security and that, as far as he knows, Glorio is just a human.  But The Reckoner gets a hunch that Xoza has doubts about that, and presses him to reveal not just what he knows, but what he suspects: that Glorio is a rakshasa!  Xoza doesn’t seem able to articulate exactly what that means or what the differences are between different kinds of rakshasa, but insists the only weakness of a “true rakshasa” is a blessed crossbow bolt. The Reckoner asks Xoza to next look into finding information about the Queen and her new seneschal, the bloodmage Togomor.

But as Protosilaus and The Reckoner leave the alleyway, they hear angry shouting nearby to the south.  It seems that the rebel forces loyal to Kroft (the “New Korvosan Guard”) and the forces loyal to Glorio Arkona (his enlarged “Palace Guards”) are pushing, shoving, and yelling.  And watching ominously, just behind the Arkonan side, are a contingent of the four-armed, flame-red insect-like xill, surely ready to intervene with lethal force at the least invitation!  The Reckoner pulls the leaders of the two sides away from each other and learns that they’re arguing about a boundary dispute stemming from an ambiguously-drawn map.  He’s able to calm the situation enough that the leader of the Arkonan forces agrees to return to the palace and verify the map with the majordomo.  On the walk back to the safehouse, The Reckoner says that immediately after taking out Ileosa, they should go after Glorio Arkona!  Protosilaus grins disturbingly at the notion, and The Reckoner continues by explaining that they can’t give the man any chance to seize power, and that allowing the xill to implant their eggs in captured loyalists is surely a sign he’s evil.  Protosilaus shrugs and replies, “or just pragmatic."

Once everyone is back together, they plan their next steps: Yraelzin and Goldcape will visit Jeggare Library to check the castle blueprints (stashed there long ago by Goldcape) against the maps provided by Sabina to see if the latter are indeed accurate; meanwhile, Protosilaus and The Reckoner will do some long-range reconnaissance on the castle to determine if their current plan for entry is viable.

The research part of the plan goes off without a hitch, as the blueprints are exactly where Goldcape left them (in the “Fungi of the Mwangi Expanse” shelf) and, after an afternoon’s comparison, seem to support Sabina’s veracity.  On the way back from the library, Yraelzin and Goldcape run into a strike organised by the city’s dockworkers.  Seizing on a rare opportunity provided by the rebellion (trade unionism is illegal in Korvosa), the dockworkers are threatening to stop unloading grain shipments for the rebels unless they’re guaranteed bargaining rights in whatever regime follows Ileosa’s!  Goldcape tries to explain to the strike’s apparent leader just how important the grain shipments are, but has no luck, even when she name-drops The Reckoner (it seems like Blackjack is the “people’s champion” to this particular dockworker).  Eventually, Goldcape sends a message to the rebels camped around Castle Korvosa about the situation, and their commander, Sir Gyrad Tolgrith, comes himself!  Tolgrith’s reputation precedes him, and, after Goldcape explains the situation, he’s able to give the needed assurances to get the ships unloaded.  Interestingly, the well-respected leader pointedly refused to answer Goldcape’s question about which of the three rebel faction leaders he supports.

 

The surveillance part of the plan also provides valuable intelligence.  Protosilaus conjures a magical invisible flying eye that he can somehow see through, and sends it on multiple journeys in and around the castle.  The witch-doctor learns that the group’s originally-planned incursion site (a salon on the fourth floor) is the barracks for a contingent of Red Mantis assassins—one of whom spots the eye and sounds the alarm so another can dispel it!  But Protosilaus always has another spell, and is able to conjure more eyes to continue the reconnaissance.  He’s unable to see into the throne room or the queen’s bedroom due to the stained-glass windows, but is able to discern the shape of  . . . something . . . in the latter.  A look into the armory and Sabina’s room doesn’t provide confirmation that there really are secret doors as Sabina said, but the sight of a corpulent imp raiding the kitchen and barbed monsters in the mess hall support her story about Ileosa consorting with devils. 

 

Still, the crucial question remains: has Sabina provided the group with everything they need for a surgical assault or instead simply set the bait for an irresistible trap?

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GM Commentary

One of the areas that a GM in a campaign like this really has to exercise judgement on is the control of information.  I like it when PCs are smart and plan ahead with things like reconnaisaince, the recruitment of spies, divination magic, and so forth.  But it can be challenging to decide what their efforts should yield.  There's a balance between not giving them enough (leading to discouragement--"that was a waste of time, I guess we're supposed to just attack") and giving them too much ("hey guys, here's the adventure with room key and encounters, just read it yourselves").  A couple examples where I had to exercise that judgment came in this session, with Xoza (a player-favourite NPC) who had been spying on Arkona for weeks and the magical floating eyes used by Protosilaus to check out Castle Korvosa.

Sir Tolgrith is an NPC from the 3.5-era module Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale.  Bloodsworn Vale is an important aspect of Korvosa's history, and although Tolgrith isn't mentioned in Curse of the Crimson Throne, I thought it would make sense (and be fun) to include him in a cameo role since the module had been completed by a group of PCs in my Magic Mirror/Roots of Golarion campaign.

Starfinder: Alien Archive 3 [RPG]

 Paizo released its third Alien Archive for Starfinder (first edition) in 2019, continuing the initial annual release schedule.  I rated the first two as excellent, if pricey.  Now, (too many) years later, what do I think of the third one?  I’ll make up my mind as I write the review!

 

Let’s start with the cover: a shining valkyrie, an insect-like jinsul, and a little plant-creature raxilite (I think?) stand on rampart, firing outward.  It’s okay, but doesn’t wow me.  The inside front-cover and inside back-cover have the standard decorative map of the Pact Worlds system.  There’s then a two-page table of contents and a two-page overview that has the usual (but useful) “How to Read a Creature Stat Block”.

 

The core of the book is, of course, pages and pages of new species: each of the 66 gets two pages of coverage.  I’ve talked before how Starfinder has concise stat blocks, so there’s always lot of room for lore development.  I think the artwork is okay, but a step below what appeared in the first two books.  I obviously can’t go through each new species one by one, but I’m going to call out a few that I found especially interesting.

 

·       There are twenty new playable races.  The animals-as-humanoids trend is strong, with brenneri (otters), dromada (kangaroos), expraksa (birds), hanakan (velociraptors), ijtikri (squids; these were everywhere for a while!), morlamaws (walruses; a great import from SFS), and telia (turtles).  Having played the game for a decade, I tend to think that most of the choice of race is cosmetic because the special racial abilities are few and fairly minor.  My preference would have been fewer playable races but more depth and meaningful differences between them.

 

·       Along with morlamaws (above), I was really happy to see some of the creatures introduced in Starfinder Society make it to the big time!  Jinsuls and izalguun are other imports.

 

·       Similarly, some of the creatures from Free RPG Day materials make an appearance, like animated armor and stridermanders.

 

·       A few entries that really stuck out to me: Drift natives (time-eaters that are great for GM plots), ferrofluid oozes and living holograms (I’ve fought these a million times in scenarios now!), quantum slimes (love the doubling effect), shakalta (playable race; twin-souls in one body, so must multiclass!), thorgothrel (intelligent oozes that believe in de-evolving all humanoid life—fun motivation!), rendalairn (a CR 25 colossal death orb!)

 

After the entries, there’s a substantive ten-page feature that introduces Creature Companions to the game.  How this works is that each PC is allowed to purchase one Creature Companion.  At base, a Creature Companion can only take one move action each round.  A PC can take a feat to trade their standard action in a given round to their Creature Companion (or, at Level 4, take another feat to give up just a move action so their Creature Companion can have a standard action).  I *really* like this, as it intelligently alters the action economy to keep “pets” from overshadowing other PCs—while still making them situationally useful.  Several example Creature Companions are given, as well as some new gear (I think the environmental field collar would be a must-have).

 

There’s not a lot that’s worth discussing in regards to the nine appendices (20 pages), with “Creatures by Terrain” and “Creatures by Pact World” the only ones I would consult other than the Universal Creature Rules.

 

That’s Alien Archive 3.  I don’t think it’s a must-have.  But now that the prices have come down, it’s a much better deal for 160 pages of material than before.

What I Read (2025)

 BOOK LOG 2025

1 January 2025: Avatar by John Passarella.  “Angel novel.  Solid, could pass as an ep.”

6 January 2025: Worlds Without End by Caroline Spector.  “Shadowrun novel.  Ancient elf tries to stop return of mysterious evil.  Very different than one would expect of the setting, but not bad.”

9 January 2025: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.  “Norton Critical Edition.  Interesting how much early interpretation differed from later.”

11 January 2025: The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins. “Ok murder-thriller, but predictable.”

15 January 2025: The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith.  “Strike novel.  Very enjoyable.”

28 January 2025: Two Faces of Liberalism by John Gray. « Excellent defense of minimal ‘modus vivendi’ liberalism. »

18 February 2025: Collapse by Jared Diamond. “Workmanlike writing, but impressive coverage.”

22 February 2025: Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff.  “Genuine surprises with a hard edge, a real page turner.”

15 March 2025: Initiation by Carla Jablonski.  “First book in Timothy Hunter series.  Liked Trench-Coat Brigade.”

8 April 2025: The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith.  “Strike book about a cult.  A bit over-complicated but still good.”

9 April 2025: Showdown at Centerpoint by Roger Macbride Allen.  “Last in the Corellian Trilogy.  Average.”

18 April 2025: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. « Features the most insipid protagonist ever. »

9 May 2025: In Good Company by Gary McKay.  “Story of an Aussie platoon commander during Vietnam.  Interesting how little has changed tactically in many ways.”

9 May 2025: The Outsider by Albert Camus. “I need to think about this one.”

15 May 2025: The Walrus & The Warwolf by Hugh Cook. “Ridiculous but fun and different style of fantasy.”

18 May 2025: Breaking the Dark by Lisa Jewell.  “Infuriating fan fiction that tries to ‘fix’ everything ‘wrong’ with Jessica by making her a bland #mumlife carbon copy vision of ‘stable’ and ‘happy’”

22 May 2025: The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu.  « Starts off amazing, but then gets really silly. »

1 June 2025: If This Book Exists, You’re in the Wrong Universe by Jason Pargin.  “Hilarious and awesome; have to get the others.”

1 June 2025: Gerald’s Game by Stephen King.  “Overlong epilogue, but good.”

23 June 2025: Newton by I Bernard Cohen and Richard S Westfall (eds).  “Norton edition.  Good coverage of many topics.”

30 June 2025: X-Men: Watcher on the Walls by Christopher L Bennett.  « Post 9-11 security state theme, handled well. »

30 June 2025: No Bikinis on the Front Yard: My Lighthearted Stories in the Army by Larry Patrick.  « Very funny and I learned a lot.  Proud of my dad! »

9 July 2025: Silver Linings by Katrina Nannestad.  « Well-written. »

20 July 2025: Spirit of the Crocodile by Aaron Fa’aoso and Michelle Scott Tucker.  “Great YA book about Torres Strait islanders.”

29 July 2025: Delores Claiborne by Stephen Kingston.  « Draws you in immediately! »

10 August 2025: The Surface Trials by HM Waugh. « Surprisingly good. »

23 August 2025: Middle English Lyrics edited by Maxwell S Luria and Richard L Hoffman. “Hard to read—literally!”

4 September 2025: Westfallen, Book 1 by Ann and Ben Brashares.  “Solid YA time slip novel.”

14 September 2025: The Hall-Marked Man by Richard Galbraith. « Latest Strike novel.  Excellent. »

15 September 2025: Oak-Leaf Bearers by John Flanagan. « Fourth Ranger’s Apprentice book.  Exciting large scale battle scenes! »

27 September 2025: A Slowly Dying Cause by Elizabeth George. « New Lynley novel.  Disappointing flat mystery, though some good Havers bits. »

5 October 2025.  Muhammad: Biography of a Prophet by Karen Armstrong. « Hagiographic and relentlessly apologetic. »

6 October 2025: The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan.  « Elliptical story about cycle of terrorist bombings in India.  Ok. »

8 October 2025: They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran.  « Interesting spin on Black Lagoon-type horror tales. »

9 October 2025: Frog: The Secret Diary of a Paramedic by Sally Gould.  “Readable and heartfelt.”

12 October 2025: The Koran trans. by N.J. Dawood.  “Boring and repetitive.”

18 October 2025: Stop Screaming, I’m Scared Too by Rod Henderson.  « Well-written and heartfelt account of an Army aviator’s time in and after service. »

14 November 2025: Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress.  “Re-read of one of my all-time favourites.  Remains thought-provoking and resonant, now more than ever.”

24 November 2025: Inversions by Iain M Banks.  “Clever tale told in two different settings with subtle links between them.”

3 December 2025: Descent of Angels by Mitchel Scanlon. “Tells origins of Luther, Zahariel, and Lion, but doesn’t appreciably tie into Horus Heresy.”

11 December 2025: A Study in Ashes by Emma Jane Holloway.  “Third book in The Basketville Affair.   Good but overlong.”

14 December 2025: Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by Jason Pargin.  “Fun and clever.”

17 December 2025: Dark Mirror by Craig Shaw Gardner.  “Angel novel.  Good characters, but pedestrian plot.”

20 December 2025: House of Secrets by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini.  “Enjoyable, fast-paced kids’ adventure book.”

22 December 2025: The Ghost Machine by James Lovegrove.  « Firefly novel.  Ok, but afraid to push storytelling beyond established boundaries. »

25 December 2025: The Christmas Market Murder by Peter Boland.  « Really satisfying classic locked-room mystery. »

27 December 2025: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.  « Fantastic story and love poem to the 1980s geek culture. »

29 December 2025: Lair of the Crystal Fang by S.A. Sidor.  “Really strong Arkham Horror novel.  Makes we want to check out more.”