Starfinder Society Scenario # 2-04: "Future's Fall" [RPG]

 

NO SPOILERS

I ran Future's Fall via play-by-post at subtier 7-8, using the four-player adjustment.  It's really a whopper of a scenario, with a densely-written text full of skill checks, conditional events, lots of things to track, and a big, complicated encounter (which is really cinematic!).  It continues and develops a long-running SFS storyline.  I really liked the scenario, but it tested me to the limits when it came to preparation and keeping everything in order.  I wouldn't recommend it for the inexperienced.

SPOILERS!

The scenario starts on Salvation's End, the mysterious artificial moon that has been the subject of Starfinder exploration since the campaign's very first scenario.  In a cool and completely sensible idea, the Society has decided to open a new lodge there from which to launch missions.  Kunoris Vex, a drow, makes his first appearance as a new Venture-Captain.  Vex explains to the PCs that some encrypted Pact Worlds and Veskarium signals have been detected in one of Salvation's Ends myriad vaults, and that he wants an experienced team to investigate.  In a nice twist (that makes perfect sense given technology), Vex will stay on comms during the whole mission in case the agents need advice (and mechanically, he can help with certain skill checks, and is also a good GM tool in case the PCs need some help getting back on track).

Once the PCs get into the vault, they'll see it's a simulation of Akiton--but not necessarily the one they're familiar with.  This is an Akiton that has undergone decades of terraforming for atmospheric regeneration.  Another oddity will strike them quickly, when they're almost immediately attacked by predators native only to a distant world in the Vast!  These "Arquand drychens" are interesting and reasonably-tough foes.

The group will soon come to a nearby settlement named Buyer's Remorse (excellent map!).  Buyer's Remorse is an old mining town that was once used to extract thasteron, a pre-Drift travel starship fuel.  But in the vault simulation, Buyer's Remorse is in full operation and occupied by a Veskarium garrison!  In this part of the scenario, PCs are expected to visit various locations in Buyer's Remorse and talk to NPCs to figure out what's going on.  Mechanically, this occurs throughout a couple of phases where each PC can make one skill check in order to gather "Data Points"; but they want to avoid standing out too much and earning "Suspicion Points."  PCs can stick together or, for much more efficient coverage, split up to cover more ground quickly (one of many rebukes in gaming I've found to the "never split the party" mantra).  One challenge though is that some of the locations have a *lot* of content and other locations have very little, and sometimes what it takes to earn Data Points is fairly non-intuitive.  There are some fun little anomalies, like Vesk warriors wearing costumes from a children's safari show, or a VR headset that flashes "Exciting Experience" over and over.  In a fun twist, one of the locations holds a "Starfinder" who actually is a Starfinder--an agent lost on a previous mission in Salvation's End, and now with completely different memories.

What all the information collection will reveal is that this vault simulates a future where the Pact Worlds has collapsed due to an event called the Data Plague, which completely wiped out all hi-tech devices in the system.  But because the plague was isolated to the system, other forces--like the Veskarium--stayed at full military power and moved in to take over.  In this simulation, after the Veskarium took over the system, they outlawed any other race from using Drift travel--thus, the resumption of thasteron mining.  But in the past few weeks, mysterious invaders have been attacking Buyer's Remorse, proclaiming themselves agents of the "Vault Lord."  Obviously, the simulation wasn't designed for this!  The important thing to remember about the vaults in Salvation's End is that they may involve simulated environments, but that the people involved are very, very real--even if they've been kidnapped from who-knows-where and brainwashed.  The PCs need to figure out how to help the inhabitants of Buyer's Remorse.  It's a great plot, and I appreciate the richness of detail the writer put into the scenario (even if it can be a little overwhelming at times).

In the middle of a meeting with the local Veskarium military governor of Buyer's Remorse (in which the PCs may or may not be successful in convincing her she's in a simulation and needs to evacuate), the army of the Vault Lord attacks in force.  This is a complicated battle, as there's a lot going on.  Attackers arrive in different waves, the PCs are expected to continue gathering Data Points (weird!), fixed events can happen in certain rounds depending on what happened in previous rounds, and more.  There's some really exciting things that can happen, like siege tanks appearing, buildings exploding, and more. The PCs can even call in artillery strikes, which is awesome!  I had to make a round-by-round list and populate it with the various things to remember, as the scenario has stuff happening all the way up to Round 15 (wherein the town collapses and everyone who hasn't evacuated dies instantly!).  Running this all through play-by-post was a big undertaking, but fortunately my players were great and stuck with it.

And then, when the big battle is over and the players probably think they're pretty much done, there's a whole additional encounter waiting for them.  They need to escort civilians across a wasteland to the vault's exit as the landscape is being gradually swallowed by incinerators!  Again, a pretty cool and cinematic example of encounter design.

Assuming the PCs live to tell the tale, it's clear this Vault Lord is going to be a major problem for further exploration of Salvation's End.  I for one am really looking forward to experiencing what happens next.

My overall thoughts on Future's Fall is that it's a great scenario, but one that needs to be run by an experienced GM and in a setting that doesn't have strict time constraints.  It could easily have been modified to be a two-part scenario.  Still, it's definitely memorable and worth playing.