Starfinder Society Scenario # 2-00: "Fate of the Scoured God" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I GM'd Fate of the Scoured God for a Subtier 3-4 table at PaizoCon AP in 2019.  It's a hefty chunk of packaging (92 pages!), and stressful to digest and prep within just a few days' time.  But all of that aside, it offers an all-around solid experience that concludes the Season 1 meta-story in a very satisfying way.  There are several memorable moments in the special that do justice and pay off well a lot of little threads inserted throughout the previous 39+ sessions.  My only real complaint is that it very closely follows the model of the previous special (# 1-99) and that can give it a familiar feeling.

SPOILERS

Fate of the Scoured God is the capstone event for the extra-long Season 1 of Starfinder Society.  In it, the threat of the jinsuls and the future of the Scoured Stars system will be conclusively dealt with.  The plot of the scenario is pretty straightforward: the Starfinders have assembled the largest fleet they can to invade the Scoured Stars with the hopes of defeating the jinsul's leader (the divine herald Dhurus).  In terms of gameplay, the scenario is divided into four main parts (plus an introduction and conclusion).  In the first two parts, each table gets to choose between various missions to help soften the jinsul's defenses.  In the third part, they engage in starship combat to clear a path to the jinsul's planetary stronghold.  And in the fourth part, (depending on subtier) they help stop Dhurus draining the god Kadrical's power or fight Dhurus himself!  The entire structure of the special (including aid tokens, house conditions, etc.) is *very* similar to the previous Starfinder special (# 1-99, "The Scoured Stars Invasion")--perhaps too similar.  On the other hand, it is a solid formula and I definitely had a good time reading and running it.

At the beginning of the session, as other folks are getting themselves sorted out and seated ("mustering"), players who are ready can do some brief (1-2 minute) role-playing and roll a skill check to help get the Starfinder fleet ready to move.  Some of the resulting rewards are actually really handy, and PCs with the right Chronicles can boost them even further.  Once the tables are ready, the briefing consists of Luwazi Elsebo and Jadnura explaining the mission.  It's all very reminiscent of the first special, but gets things started quickly.

Part 1 ("Surveillance") allows each table to pick from one of five missions and then, when they complete it, to move on to another.  After a certain number of successes by tables, additional missions open up in Part 2 that tie in to the missions successfully accomplished in Part 1.  It's the same concept used in the previous Starfinder interactive special, but it makes sense and works well.  "Ground Force Intel" has Ziggy sending the PCs to surveil a jinsul ground camp to document their tactics and resources.  Several skill checks are available, and the results both affect whether the mission is completed successfully and what happens when a jinsul patrol comes by.  "Data Theft" has Celita sending the PCs to sneak into a jinsul data-processing station to steal intelligence on supply lines.  There's several skill-check based phases of the "heist", though success or failure only affects a trivial amount of abstract damage that the PCs may take from automated defenses before they battle some security robots.  I'm not a fan of skill challenges where the result is foreordained and success or failure doesn't really matter.  "Recovery Efforts" has Naiaj sending the PCs to investigate the wreckage of a Starfinder ship for clues as to the attackers' tactics.  It's probably not a big surprise when the bodies of all the dead Starfinders suddenly animate as undead and attack, but that doesn't mean it's not fun.  "Scout Hunt" has Arvin sending the PCs on the starship combat option, which is to stop a jinsul scout ship from escaping.  I liked this one as it presented something different--the enemy ship isn't trying to fight, it's trying to hide, and if it evades detection for a certain number of rounds, it succeeds.  "Captive Interview" has Radaszam asking the PCs to interrogate a jinsul who claims to have come over to the Starfinder side.  Clear instructions (and the penalty of Infamy) ensure this doesn't get into physical abuse territory, which I appreciate.  There's a fun moment when, after getting the info that there's a spy among the Kreiholm Freehold working for the jinsul, the captive's body suddenly convulses and, in a surge of energy, is filled with demonic energy by Dhurus.  That's one way to liven things up!

Part 2 ("Into the Action") is comprised of five missions that groups can choose from, with each mission becoming available after a successful resolution of the corresponding Part 1 mission. "Paratrooper Strike" is a mission to air drop near an enemy camp to take out some jinsul officers.  The terrain can have a major impact here.  "Starship Raid" is a starship combat encounter where the goal is to disable a jinsul transport ship that's being escorted by an assault craft.  I liked that the mission is on a timer (the transport will enter the Drift in 10 rounds)--it reminded me of some old X-Wing computer game missions.  "Scanner Defense" is an original type of mission.  It's a sort of tower defense encounter where the PCs' goal is to use fixed weapon emplacements to deal 500 hit points of damage to an abstract "horde" of jinsuls.  But there are also individual jinsuls infiltrating the tower that have to be fought off as well.  My players didn't choose this one, but it looks like it has a fun (though challenging) mechanic.  "Trench Assault" sees the PCs trying to assist a Starfinder ground force that's under heavy artillery fire from a jinsul fortress.  A set of skill checks are necessary to approach the fortress safely, and then there's a battle inside.  I wasn't very impressed by this one--the approach element is weirdly abstracted, and then there's only 1 jinsul in the entire fortress when the PCs arrive.  Sort of undermines the verisimilitude of the scene.  "Stop the Mole" tasks the PCs with tracking down Tsimtsara, the nelentu traitor who has been spying for the jinsuls.  The mission takes place in an urban area, and finding her is a bit goofy (apparently PCs can just stumble upon a "trail of hair and discarded fungus tendrils").  Tsimtsara herself shouldn't be much of a challenge against 4-6 PCs.

Part 3 ("War Over Bastiar-5") puts a hard stop to all the Part 2 missions.  The jinsuls have been pushed back to their stronghold, the planet Bastiar-5.  If the Starfinder Society fleet can punch a hole through the defending armada, ground forces can take the fight to Dhurus himself.  There's a cool moment where Fitch unilaterally decides to provide the necessary distraction by taking the Master of Stars straight toward the planet.  The whole convention then gets to vote whether they want to  join the flagship in its seemingly-suicidal mission, or take advantage of the sacrifice to look for a weak point in the defenders' formation.  The result of the vote determines how difficult the resulting starship combat will be.  Getting the Master of Stars operational has long been a Season 1 subplot, and it's paid off well here.  One of the things I really liked about the starship combat encounter was that there was a table of random events that would happen every round.  One of the results, for example, would be a gunner at one table damaging a jinsul vessel being fought on an adjacent table--it's a fun and fast way to further the feel of this being a joint endeavour.

Part 4 ("Kadrical Rises") starts with a cinematic description of how Ailuros, the divine herald of Kadrical formerly known as Iteration-177, enlarges in size to battle Dhurus in a tiered pit full of jinsuls.  It's one of those things that can come across as cool or as cheesy depending on taste.  Ailuros gives it a red hot go (as they say Down Under) and weakens Dhurus, but ends up getting whupped because Dhurus has several devices directly siphoning the slumbering god Kadrical's powers.  Jadnura yells for the Starfinders to rush into the pit to defeat Dhurus in his weakened state.

There are three missions the PCs can choose from here (moving on to another if they finish it quickly).  "Ground Control" asks them to secure a landing site, but to do so they'll have to hold off some jinsuls on attack vehicles.  I'm glad my PCs didn't choose this one, because the last thing I'd want to have to worry about at this point in the special is something like vehicle rules.  "Perimeter Siege" has PCs ostensibly trying to overcome jinsul fortifications at the edge of the pit.  Really, it's just a forgettable battle against a jinsul mystic and a couple of summoned devils on the Tech Dungeon Flip-Mat.  

The third mission, "Rising God", is the real climax of the of the entire special, and hopefully every table gets a chance to experience it.  The set-up varies dramatically between subtiers. At the two lower subtiers, five jinsuls operate devices to fuel Dhurus' ascension, and a "dream monster" animated by Kadrical's consciousness is in a confused condition in the center.  Defeating the dream monster is the real goal, but it doesn't attack unless attacked first, and PCs can capture the devices and use them to weaken and then destroy it.  When I ran this, the problem was that this isn't made clear to the players.  So instead of trying to destroy the dream monster to win the encounter, my players started attacking the jinsuls.  There's this line in the scenario: "One jinsul stands at each device, using full actions each turn to control it unless attacked."  In the rush to prep and run the scenario, I interpreted this as a collective statement (if the jinsuls are attacked, they fight back) rather than as an individual statement (if a jinsul is attacked, that jinsul will fight back).  The statement is somewhat ambiguously worded, but the difference ended up being pretty major (fighting 1 or 2 jinsuls at a time versus fighting all 5) and I feel badly I didn't catch it at the time and go with the more player-friendly version.  The PCs in my session got bombarded by magic missiles and one of them got killed before the rest retreated.  Middle tiers battle ooze-like drops of Dhurus' blood, while the high tiers get to take on the divine herald himself!  I don't know how tough he turned out to be, but it sounds fun to battle the big guy (and is worth a special boon on the Chronicle).

The Conclusion sees Jadnura giving up his claim as First Seeker to stay behind in the Scoured Stars system to commune with Kadrical and ensure the safety of the area.  Luwazi Elsebo also announces her intention to step down, once a replacement is chosen.  There's a brief but effective epilogue that nicely sets up Season 2: a vicious smear campaign in the infosphere is turning public opinion against the Starfinders!

Overall, I'm really impressed with the design and writing of Season 1 and its conclusion in Fate of the Scoured God.  Several story threads are expertly woven throughout the season and come together nicely.  I actually tend to think the core storyline here is better and more interesting than in many of the Starfinder APs.  Although this special can feel a bit samey with the previous one, it offers an all-around excellent experience.