Starfinder Society Scenario # 5-14: "Ghost Level Delve" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Ghost Level Delve is a Starfinder Society scenario for Levels 1-4.  It's the first Season Five scenario I've played, and I experienced it through play-by-post at low subtier with my fun journalist character, Vitellius Korpopolis.  The scenario is well-written and makes a smart connection to the aftermath of the Drift Crisis event.  It provides some intriguing hints to some of the mysteries of Absalom Station for experienced players while being perfectly approachable for new ones.  Although the overall tone may be a bit too light for my personal taste, I can respect a quality scenario and Ghost Level Delve is certainly one of them.

SPOILERS!

The premise to Ghost Level Delve is that, after the Drift Crisis, Absalom Station has been flooded by thousands of refugees that threaten to swamp its capacity to house them.  Rather than turn them away, one possibility is to allow them to settle in the so-called "Ghost Levels", an area of the Spike that has always been barred to inhabitation (or even organised exploration) because of the dangerous, bizarre creatures and ecosystems reported to lie within.  But with the recent crisis, the Starfinder Society has pushed to be allowed to start clearing the "Ghost Levels", and the PCs (in a briefing held by Zigvigix and Harmony of Many) are assigned to the task.  The Starfinders are instructed to aid a new community called Fullbridge which is located right on the edge of a Ghost Level.  It's a strong and interesting adventure hook. (because I'm still way behind on storylines, this was my first experience with Harmony of Many and the Advocates and Manifold Host factions; I'd like to learn more)

A taste of action comes immediately, as the PCs encounter a group of lashunta refugees being menaced by the "Bulkhead Bruisers" gang.  My skittermander Steward character, Officer Swizzers, has a neat boon for fighting gang members, but alas, she wasn't present.  The gang toughs can be dealt with through old-fashioned combat or driven away through intimidation.  Fullbridge itself is led by a dragonkin named Lourvictrix, a former Knight of Golarion.  There are a variety of skill checks the PCs can make here to help the community with everyday issues that have arisen (moving supplies, getting electrical systems operating, etc.) and some brief but flavourful NPCs to interact with.  The GM will just need to supply some of the description of the tasks, as the scenario doesn't go into much detail.

The heart of the scenario starts when the PCs are approached by Lourvictrix with an urgent request: her bonded partner, a fellow former Knight of Golarion named Elymilra, has gone missing in the Ghost Levels.  Good thing there are Starfinders around!  This is the set-up that could lead to a generic dungeon crawl, but the writer did a nice job changing things up.  There are some non-combat encounters (a "hexoglin" that can be persuaded to stop chewing on power cables and a jububnan who needs help with a coming-of-age ritual), some intriguing exploration (especially a telepathic vision that a barren planet may have once occupied the place where Absalom Station does now!), and of course some hazards and foes (strange crab monsters called "vurchyras").  Elymilra is found unconscious near the latter threat, and I like how, if the PCs are forced to retreat from them and leave her behind, she dies!  Rarely will scenarios actually impose failure conditions.  Assuming all goes well, the PCs can return with Elymilra to Fullbridge and help petition for the refugee community to become fully recognised.

As I said, I enjoyed the premise to Ghost Level Delve and liked the variety of plot elements it featured.  I'd be happy to explore the Ghost Levels further, and see what else can be unveiled about the Gap!

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 66 [RPG]

 [Wealday, 29 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

 

In the supernatural gloom caused by the uncanny black tower that looms over them, The Reckoner and Goldcape talk about what to do next.  The Reckoner’s sapient armor, Plate, says they have to intervene to save Korvosa from living in permanent shadow!  Goldcape is more reluctant, but is persuaded that the danger to the city warrants the tower being investigated.  She earns the concession that they’ll enter in the morning so everyone will be at full strength.  Oddly enough, during the conversation, Anorak has been completely silent.  When the invisibility he cast on himself during the vescavor swarm attack finally wears off a dozen minutes later, the others see his eyes are vacant!  Could his mind or soul have been drained away when, as “owner” of the box, he destroyed it by placing it in the bag of holding?  The others drag Anorak to safety and then, at Plate’s suggestion, heap piles of rubble in front of the tower’s lone door to make sure nothing else emerges.

 

But as the improvised barricade is being assembled, it seems the presence of a massive black tower suddenly arising in Trail’s End hasn’t gone unnoticed by those across the river!  Four Gray Maidens, mounted on hippogriffs, are streaking tower the tower from Castle Korvosa.  Eager for a fight, The Reckoner uses an array of wands to prepare himself, while Goldcape conjures an ettin out of pure magical energy!  Once the Gray Maidens get close enough, Goldcape starts summoning bolts of lightning, knocking one of the riders and her mounts into a spiral they can’t recover from.  The other Gray Maidens circle the tower once and then fly back toward the city at top-speed, obviously having been briefed that a direct confrontation with the Harrowed Heroes is sure to end in utter defeat.

 

Once the Maidens have fled the scene, Goldcape buries the slain hippogriff while The Reckoner recovers its rider’s weapons and armor.  One of the few remaining Varisians in Trail’s End, a farrier named Giorgio, gathers the courage to emerge from hiding to ask what’s going on.  Goldcape speaks with him and shares what she knows.  When the two agree that Queen Ileosa may see the tower as a challenge to her reign and that its mere presence poses a threat to Trail’s End, Giorgio agrees with Goldcape’s advice that the remaining residents of the little community should leave for their own safety.  Giorgio says his people know the ways of the road and will be gone at first light.  Goldcape gives Giorgio a letter to show to Jasan Aldern in Harse if they need a temporary place to stay.

 

In full knowledge that, come morning, she and The Reckoner will enter the tower and perhaps never come back, Goldcape leaves a note for Anorak explaining what happened and flies quickly on Rocky to drop off Blackjack’s costume at the safehouse (along with instructions to Sergeant Clenkins to forward the trunk to Vencarlo Orisini if she never returns for it).

 

[Oathday, 30 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

 

In the morning, as The Reckoner and Goldcape are getting ready for the ominous task ahead, Goldcape receives a mental message from Yraelzin: “I’m with the Brotherhood of Bone at the skull-topped tower on the shores of the crater lake.  Laori is endlessly entertaining!”  Goldcape tells The Reckoner the Brotherhood of Bone are a small sect of the faith of Zon-Kuthon (the god of pain and shadows) opposed to Kazavon, and must be the allies The Harrower told her about.  She adds that one of them will betray the other.  But The Reckoner is more interested in the present than the future, and only nods as he goes to investigate the only entrance to the black stone spire.  The tall door is located in an odd-shaped recess and emblazoned with a bas-relief of people having their skin and muscle torn out of their bodies by unknown forces.  The Reckoner’s keen eyes discern faintly glowing magical runes around the edges of the door—a magical trap!  As neither of the pair are trained in trap removal, they try a variety of things to discharge it harmlessly, but none work.  Finally, Goldcape hits on the clever idea of conjuring the magical simulacram of a mite—a small, three-foot-tall, blue-faced fey, and instructing it to touch the door.  When the mite does so, an incredibly powerful surge of foul necromantic energy completely drains the life from the creature.  But the runes no longer glow, indicating the trap is in abeyance.

The Reckoner pushes the heavy stone door inwards to reveal a vaguely diamond-shaped room with ceilings almost thirty feet high.  The dark stone walls seem to absorb light, as do two triangular pools filled with what looks like roiling ink.  In the center of the room stands a waist-high pedestal that has a round platform mounted on it; the platform has a sharp, needle-like projection pointing to one of four arcane symbols along the edges.  Before The Reckoner can venture far to explore, an enormous, bat-like creature shaped from utter darkness descends from the ceiling to attack!  With one bite, The Reckoner feels the chill of the grave and notices some of his defensive magics vanish.  But his heavily-enchanted silver battle-maul leaves deep sizzling wounds on the creature as it rages in the guttural Infernal tongue, “Trapped! Return Home!  Mortimont!”  In seconds, the creature lies dead at The Reckoner’s feet.

When it’s safe, Goldcape joins The Reckoner in the interior of the tower.  She can discern the pools of liquid and the pedestal mechanism are magical, but not how they function.  The four symbols, however, are apparently planar sigils—one for the Material Plane (where the platform is pointing), one for the Ethereal Plane, one for the Abyss, and one for the Plane of Shadow.  Empty squares indicate that perhaps other sigils could be added.  The Reckoner surmises that this entire tower could travel between planes!

 

One door stands closed across the oddly-shaped chamber.  Goldcape stays back some distance as The Reckoner carefully opens it to reveal a small chamber filled with obsidian chests etched with words in exotic tongues.  At first glance, the room seems safe, but seconds later a ghostly presence emerges from the very walls of the tower, its face and clenched fingers delivering a silent message of utter rage.  Then, the silence is broken by an unearthly wail of heartbreaking tragedy.  The Reckoner claps his forearms to his ears, staggering from the overwhelming assault to his senses, but he remains standing.  Fortunately, the potentially-fatal sound has ebbed by the time it reaches Goldcape and Rocky.  But The Reckoner’s reliable battle-maul proves far less effective against this new threat.  The banshee plunges a ghostly hand into his chest to squeeze his heart!  He collapses, dead, until Goldcape uses her most powerful magic to get his heart beating again!  And with a cry, she sends Rocky to swoop in and help The Reckoner battle the insubstantial menace.  With an enchanted talon, Rocky adds to the damage The Reckoner has already inflicted and tears away the last wisps of semi-corporeal substance that formed the undead being.  It slowly dissipates.

“I would be dead without you! That was a close-run thing!” says The Reckoner in gratitude to Goldcape.  He uses a wand to heal his wounds further, and then the two investigate the obsidian chests.  Between the two of them, they can only discern the words on one of the chests—written in Infernal, it says “Blasphemous”.  The Reckoner decides to open one of the other chests, and finds a morningstar, a longbow, and a longsword.  When the other three chests are opened, they reveal similar contents.  Goldcape can discern that all the weapons are magical, and that one of the chests contains a holy weapon.  Concerned that the others could be evil or cursed, Goldcape conjures another mite to place them all in a canvas bag for safekeeping.

 

The Tower of Passage has been explored, with near fatal results.  But now a new question arises: what should be done with it?

---------------------

GM Commentary

I think I may have adapted some of the layout and foes in the tower from one of the optional side quest adventures for Curse of the Crimson Throne presented in the Pathfinder comics.  I added all the material about the plane-shifting ability of the tower.

Anorak's player was absent this session, which is why the character was incapacitated.  (I always try to come up with semi-plausible reasons a PC can't participate)

It was a good thing they detected (and cleverly discharged with a summoned creature) the trap on the door; it was a CL13 harm spell, and 130 hit points of damage could ruin someone's day!

The first foe in the tower was a nightwing nightshade, while the second was a banshee.  Both are pretty nasty foes, especially given the PCs' levels and number.  Goldcape used heroic recovery to keep The Reckoner from becoming "dead dead"!  The rewards in the chest were pretty sweet, and I think the holy weapons were used until the very end of the campaign.

Starfinder Module: "Skitter Warp" [RPG]

 NO SPOILERS

 

Skitter Warp was Paizo’s Free RPG Day 2022 release for Starfinder.  It continues featuring the skittermander crew of the salvage vessel Clutch, with pre-gen PCs at Level 5.  I ran it live tabletop for my son’s birthday.  The adventure features some excellent artwork, the return of some familiar settings and NPCs from previous Free RPG Day offerings, and solid writing.  There’s actually a lot packed in it, which means (depending on how much role-playing occurs) a group might be harried to complete it in a normal 4-5 hour slot.  If you liked the previous adventures in the serious, you’ll like Skitter Warp too.

 

SPOILERS!

 

In some ways, Skitter Warp is a sequel to Skitter Crash, as it’s also set on the osharu planet of Varkulon 4 and features a return of the Helix Lyceum and NPCs like Ponatia.  At the same time, it’s also a tie-in to the “Drift Crisis” event.  In an interesting twist, one of the normal group of Skittermanders—Nako—isn’t a playable PC, and is instead replaced by his namesake Nakonechkin (their vesk boss).  As we’ll see, the reason for the swap is a fun one that might be a good surprise to the players.

 

Part 1 (“Into the Danger Zone”) starts with a little freeform role-playing, as each PC is aboard the Clutch and gets a chance to describe the fun little memento they picked up from Varkulon 4 during their latest salvage job (Nako is still planetside helping to gather the last of it).  But then it’s right into the action, as the Drift Crash strikes, hurtling the planet and the orbiting Clutch into a strange miasma.  The Drift Crash threatens to become a literal starship crash, and the PCs have to make some skill checks to keep their ship aloft.  If they fail too many of the checks, their ship will have reduced shields for another threat posed by the miasma: a type of ghost ship called a derelict shade.  It’s a cool foe for a starship combat, but again Paizo doesn’t have the courage of its convictions and even if the good guys lose, all it means is the PCs take some damage to stamina points (which they can promptly regain with a 10-minute rest and the trivial expenditure of a resolve point).  Having played Starfinder since its beginning, I really do think one of its weaknesses is a demonstrated reluctance to let genuinely bad things happen to PCs.  Anyway, after the battle, the PCs get a transmission from Headmaster Kiodea at the Helix Lyceum request an urgent visit.

 

Part 2 (“Golden Siege”) has the Clutch descending to the surface of Varkulon 4 and its crew realising that the effect of the strange cosmic storm has been radical!  Planar energy has surged randomly throughout, changing the landscape, building, and even inhabitants.  The area around the Helix Lyceum was struck by good-aligned planar energy, and its residents have become quasi-angelic beings!  However, those in some of the surrounding areas were struck by infernal or umbral energy and altered accordingly.  Upon landing, the PCs have to fight off an “infernal nilothera” (a good call back to Skitter Crash where they fought a normal one) before meeting with Headteacher Kiodea.  He explains that the city-university has received a threatening transmission, and plays it for the group: on screen is Ponatia, but his head now bears curled ram’s horns and his face is twisted with rage as he vows “vengeance” on the Lyceum.  Hundreds of wrath-filled foes soon surround it, and the PCs are tasked with three missions to aid in its defence.  They can do the missions in any order, with the one they choose to do last altered to be a little bit harder.  One mission involves escorting civilians to safety past some corrupted umbral-infused osharus.  I liked how stealth (instead of combat) was a legitimate option for success.  Another mission, fortifying the Lyceum’s defenses, is purely skills based.  A third mission is a straight-up fight against some undead (bone trooper) osharus.  Once the missions are over, Headteacher Kiodea say he may have a true solution to the problem: he’s identified the precise source of the planar contamination, and if the PCs douse it with a mystical cleansing oil, the corruption should abate.

 

Part 3 (“Spring of Evil”) has the PCs travelling to the source of the contamination (the Acavo River), fighting a warmonger devil and (hopefully) avoiding a sinkhole trap before the big climax.  Not only must they face “Evil Ponatia” (a fiendish mystic) their friend Nako is present as well—but she’s full of hate and immediately attacks!  I love the artwork they gave for her.  Smart PCs will have one of the group who’s trained in Mysticism immediately attempt the ritual to reverse the corruption, because otherwise they’ll have a knock-down fight on their hands.  Once the corruption is reversed, Nako and Ponatia return to normal, and the crew of the Clutch can head off to another adventure.

 

Playing these Free RPG Day adventures on my son’s birthdays over the years has been a happy and memorable experience, and I should thank Paizo and the author (Jason Keeley) for the opportunity.  With Second Edition Starfinder in the works, I’m not sure whether or not the crew of the Clutch will return.  I think they’ve got a lot of adventuring left in them, so I hope so!

Starfinder Bounty # 6: "Songbird Rescue" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

 

Songbird Rescue is the first of the Starfinder Bounties (short, 60-90 minute adventures) that I’ve been able to play in person.  I really like the premise for the story, and there’s strong artwork and clever use of one of the flip-mats.  There’s actually a fair amount packed into the Bounty, including combat, traps, lots of opportunities for skills, and some role-playing.  Given all this, and that it’s designed for Level 1 PCs, it would make an excellent adventure to introduce new players to Starfinder.

 

SPOILERS!

 

I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of dead or forgotten gods.  It’s amazing to think that there could be a time when a god has thousands or even millions of followers, but that over time, cultural shifts, and new religions, worship in that god could dwindle to the point where few if anyone remembers them.  And it’s not unrealistic, as plenty of examples can be found in the real world (there’s a memorable H.R. Mencken quote about it).  All that leads into why I find the premise behind Songbird Rescue really interesting.  The bulk of the adventure is set on Yashu-Indiri, an airless moon around Bretheda, that is littered with shrines to dead and forgotten deities.  An android named Sharaphine is part of an order of mystics that maintain some of the shrines when she suffers a terrible accident when one collapses on her.  After spending three days digging herself out, she finds herself emerging at the base of a shrine to Zyphus, the god of accidental death, disasters, and tragedy!  Epiphany strikes, and Sharaphine finds a new patron.  Immediately, she engineers “accidents” to kill the others in her order and then hatches an even crazier plan: she assembles a device (a “calamitter”) to foul the navigational landing systems of ships approaching Yashu-Indiri to create “accidental” crashes!  It’s a pretty cool backstory to the adventure.

 

The Bounty starts with the PCs aboard Songbird Station (a performance venue/school/temple to Shelyn) in the Diaspora.  There, they’re hired by a kobold cleric of Shelyn named Kivi to set out on a rescue mission to Yashu-Indiri.  It seems that a Shelynite named Nairon Shalorrh piloted her shuttle on her usual bimonthly visit to the moon, sent out a transmission when she was approaching it, and then hasn’t been heard from since!  The PCs are given a rainbow-coloured vessel named Vivacity and promised a couple of hundreds of credits each when they return.

 

Sharaphine’s “calamitter” wreaks havoc on the Vivacity’s nav systems as it approaches Yashu-Indiri, forcing a crash landing.  This takes the form of a multi-round skill challenge.  A good GM can make this pretty exciting, even if the worst consequences (failing every round of the challenge) is only a couple of dice of damage and the fatigued condition.  (Then again, at Level 1, that could be a big impact). 

 

After surviving the crash, the PCs find their way to Kivi’s nearby shuttle—a scene perfectly presented by the Crashed Starship flip-mat.  Here they encounter Sharaphine and her posse of anacite wingbots.  The artwork for Sharaphine is excellent.  After (presumably) defeating her, the PCs can begin excavating the shuttle, and that’s where they may meet the most dangerous thing in the Bounty: an electrical trap that could do 3d6 damage—it’s not likely to actually kill any PCs (Resolve Points in Starfinder make that practically impossible), but it could certainly knock one out.  The missing cleric, Kivi, is badly hurt but still alive.  The PCs need to tread carefully here, as skill check mishaps here could very well kill her.  There is where there’s a chance for some role-playing.

 

Having hopefully rescued Kivi, the PCs need to locate the “calamitter” and disable it before repairing their ship and setting off back to Songbird Station.  This only takes a couple of skill checks (that can be repeated without failure), so shouldn’t be too hard.

 

I can’t think of anything to complain about with Songbird Rescue—so that must mean it’s pretty good!

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 65 [RPG]

 [Wealday, 29 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

 

For Ralph Blackfeather and Anorak, dawn brings not just a new day but the sound of screams!  Changing quickly into his guise as The Reckoner, Ralph has Plate make him invisible as he investigates.  A woman on the street is obviously the source of the screams, but she’s unable to do anything but point in the direction of the house across the street from The Reckoner’s safehouse.  Inside, a body has been torn to shreds, blood is everywhere, and the place has been thoroughly ransacked.  Anorak follows The Reckoner inside, and they realise they’re looking at the work of xills! 

 

Both come to the immediate conclusion that the xills must still be after the mysterious box given to Anorak by the unnerving “baker” Mortimont.  The Reckoner wonders aloud how the xill could have tracked the box, as his safehouse has robust protections against divination spells.  He says keeping it in the safehouse is too dangerous, even if the xill can only sense its approximate location, and that they should get rid of it by taking it somewhere with windwalk.  Anorak’s mind turns in a more devious direction, as he suggests putting it somewhere they wouldn’t mind the xill attacking—like Castle Korvosa!  But The Reckoner says that could make things worse if Ileosa got her hands on it.  The two discuss why a passage to the Ethereal Plane could be so valuable (if that is indeed what the box contains), but neither knows enough about the Ethereal Plane to say.

 

Once back outside, the two see that neighbours have come out from nearby buildings—seemingly wanting to help, but scared now that there’s little in the way of law enforcement in Korvosa.  The Reckoner offers his condolences and some money to help the woman who found the body, and Anorak tries to gently ask her some questions, but she’s in too much shock to be of any help.

The two return to the safehouse, where Anorak begins memorising spells for the day ahead and The Reckoner doffs his guise to become Ralph Blackfeather once again.  Ralph walks to the Burnt Honey Inn, just down the street, and, over breakfast, tells Goldcape what just happened.  She says they have to get rid of the box, and suggests putting it in a bag of holding and filling the bag up with rocks until it explodes.  As they’re talking, the magical silver raven she sent to Harse recently returns with a message: “Our shared friend thought it safer for me not to know where he was going. But he promised to be ready when the time comes.”  Goldcape is not satisfied with the answer—she wants to know where Vencarlo is.  She asks Ralph if he could arrange a meeting with Kroft to find out, but Ralph explains about the Black Ship and how difficult it is to reach.  Goldcape tries to send Kroft a note using the silver raven, but the raven soon returns, having been unable to deliver the message.

Anorak soon arrives.  The three spend the morning trying to find a map of the Hold of Belkzen.  First, they try Bookmaker.  The squeakily-voiced proprietor, Costa Serimus, explains that he doesn’t have a map, but he does have a rare scholarly work on the area.  Goldcape is allowed to look at the index, and sees there’s even an entry for Scarwall.  The problem is that the book is quite costly—almost a thousand gold pieces!  Goldcape and Anorak argue about whether the dwarf should contribute to buying the book (since the vanara didn’t contribute to purchasing the magical contract to bind their dandasuka spy), until Goldcape has had enough and buys the book herself.  Still without a map of the area, the trio reluctantly walk south to Eodred’s Walk and enter Basha’s, a small map shop whose proprietor Ralph believes is selling fraudulent “treasure maps.”  When he raises this suspicion with Basha, the cranky old man is (or feigns to be) outraged, and refuses to sell anything to the group until Ralph promises not to spread the “scurrilous rumor” any further.  Basha claims to have a map of the Hold of Belkzen (“made by a Pathfinder!”), and, although Ralph is dubious of its provenance, the group ends up buying it.

 

As they’re in the shop, Goldcape receives a sudden mental message from Yraelzin.  “How close are you?  Lots of orcs.  Made deal with Kuthites—we’re ready to go in when you arrive.  They’re an interesting bunch!”  Goldcape sends as long a response as the spell allows: “Leaving soon, bringing maps.  Where are you? We windwalk.  Where meet? What Kuthites? Anorak don’t want deal.  Arrive soon.”  The trio discuss their travel plans, and settle on leaving tomorrow from Trail’s End and starting with a teleport to Janderhoff.  Complications ensue regarding the power of Anorak’s magic to take only a limited number of creatures.  When Rocky, Anorak’s new familiar, and The Reckoner’s horse are factored in, the spell simply won’t work.  The solution seems to be to ferry everyone to Janderhoff (and beyond) by Anorak casting the spell multiple times, which will leave him dangerously low on his most powerful types of magic.

 

The trio split up and spend the afternoon making their final preparations for departure.  The Reckoner returns to Old Korvosa, finds Xoza, explains that he’ll be gone for several weeks, and tells the spy to spend some time investigating Trifaccia, some time on learning Glorio’s plans and weaknesses, and, if time allows, more about the Commander of the Gray Maidens.  Goldcape makes arrangements with Sergeant Clenkins to continue training the members of her resistance cell; Clenkins promises the troops will be ready when called upon.  Anorak visits The Reckoner’s safehouse, collects the mysterious box and The Reckoner’s horse, and magically travels to Trail’s End.  Soon, Goldcape and The Reckoner are there as well.  The largely-Varisian village is now nearly empty, with most of the residents having departed for more promising destinations.

It’s late afternoon when Anorak explains to the others that he thinks the best way to keep the box from being detected by the xill is to place it within a magical bag of holding.  Acknowledging it could be dangerous (since the box itself could contain an extradimensional pocket), he says he could do it himself, out of range of the others or any civilians.  The snag is that Anorak doesn’t want to use his own magical bag, deeming it too valuable.  Instead, he wants to use Goldcape’s magical bag which is less-powerfully enchanted and cheaper to replace if something goes wrong.  Goldcape initially refuses, but Anorak promises that if the box destroys the bag, he’ll lend her his own magical bag and pay for the full cost of replacing her original one.  Goldcape eventually, and reluctantly, goes along with the plan, and removes everything from her magical bag.  Anorak then removes everything he’s wearing (except his armor), chains himself to a stout tree, has the others move to a safe distance, and places the mysterious box in Goldcape’s magical bag.

The results are immediate, and cataclysmic.  The bag and the box seem to implode, and in their place stands a massive tower of purest black marble!  The tower somehow casts an uncanny shadow a full mile’s radius around it.  But of more immediate danger are the hordes of gibbering, toothy insects that pour forth, straight for Anorak!  They swarm all over the dwarf, somehow chewing holes even in his mithral armor, before Goldcape recognises what they are and how to stop them.  The vanara calls upon her mastery of nature magic to send several freezing spears of ice at the creatures, freezing them in their tracks.  Apart from his damaged armor, Anorak is largely unharmed.  Goldcape raises a curious question after recognising the insects as daemonic swarms from the Abyss—what would creatures from such a place be doing in a tower said to be linked to the Ethereal Plane?

Answers may lie past the heavy stone door located in an odd-shaped recess in the exterior of the tower.  But at what further cost will those answers come?

--------------------------

GM Commentary

We had a lot of fun with Basha and his map shop.  There's only a line or two in the Guide to Korvosa about him, but I took the reference to treasure maps and really hammed up the premise that he sold dubious and outright-forged work.  He was a memorable NPC, and makes some return appearances during Chapter Six.

As I've often mentioned, the story continues even if the PCs dawdle.  Having Yraelzin make an off-screen deal with the Brotherhood of Bone is part of this idea, and we'll soon see the group's reaction when they finally arrive in Scarwall.

That journey was fated to take longer because the PCs had a panoply of mounts, animal companions, and familiars with them.  I always enforce the limits of magic carefully, as it helps players see that the larger their ranks become, the more complications can ensue.  (In other words, getting a new familiar or a guard dog might seem cool, but if it means the group can't teleport or wind walk somewhere, the trade-offs become apparent)

Long before the campaign started, I had entertained my son with the tale of the players in Rise of the Runelords stuffing a bag of holding full of thousands and thousands of silver coins (from a dragon's hoard) until they exceeded its weight limitation and it exploded, swallowing up a good deal of the party's stored treasure!  Thus, he was very aware of the dangers of magical bags and very reluctant to let Anorak use Goldcape's bag for his experiment.  As was unfortunately too often the case, the adults in the group automatically thought their ideas were better than the kid's, and was often the case, they were wrong.  Opening the box normally would have conjured the tower (which provided a passage to the Ethereal Plane, which is why the xill were set on having it) and then closing the box would have vanished the tower.  But placing the extradimensionally-linked box into the bag of holding resulted in the destruction of both the box and the bag, with the tower now permanently fixed in Trail's End!  To this day, if players in any of my campaigns go to Korvosa, they'll see the mile-wide supernatural shadow cast by a strange black tower just outside the city . . .

Starfinder One-Shot # 3: "System Takedown"

 NO SPOILERS

 

System Takedown is the third of the “Starfinder One-Shot” series of short adventures designed to be ran in a single session.  Although sanctioned for Starfinder Society play, the one-shots come with pre-gen characters and the story doesn’t involve the Starfinder Society.  I ran System Takedown live for my kid’s birthday and thought it was a solid adventure with a couple of really fun elements. The Level 5 pre-gens have nice artwork and connections to the other party members to draw upon for role-playing, though I do find the earlier style of Iconic character sheets (with brief descriptions of how their class abilities, feats, and equipment work) much more useful in actual gameplay.  I also think the listed playtime of 3-4 hours is probably optimistic, though of course, every group is different.

 

SPOILERS!

 

System Takedown is set on the pahtra homeworld of Pulonis, known to the occupying Veskarium empire as Vesk-6.  The PCs take on the role of rebels on a mission to bring down a corrupt and particularly brutal Veskarium regional consul named Shethris Nazriar.  Although they’ve obtained evidence of his numerous crimes, the rebels know that anything they put on the planetary infosphere will be quickly scrubbed.  Thus, the only way to get it out is to infiltrate a military communications facility in a remote jungle and use its emergency planetary broadcast system to send it directly to everyone!  In other words, it’s a bit of a combination of Han Solo’s mission on Endor to capture the remote shield generator facility in Return of the Jedi and the crew’s mission to broadcast the Alliance’s crimes in Serenity (Can’t Stop the Signal!).  In a fun twist, the entire mission is being live-streamed by the resistance and the GM is given scripted comments from the stream’s “audience” to share at particular points in the story; the PCs get minor bonuses if they follow the (randomly determined) suggestions of the audience.  I didn’t do a great job with it, and it might be an idea that actually works better over a virtual tabletop or play-by-post, but I really liked the idea. 

 

The adventure starts with the PCs approaching the outpost through the jungle and having to figure out a way to get inside.  The approach is guarded by roving patrols of Vesk guards and automated defence turrets.  A patient group can study the defences and learn the overlapping routes of the guards and area of coverage of the defence turrets, and sneak through the gaps to reach the entrance door.  Or, they can do what my players did, and just attack!  Either way, once at the door, there’s a challenging hack.  In another nice addition, the PCs on the ground are supported by a remote communications/computer specialist who can aid with advice or even hacking (though it takes longer).  Overall, it’s a detailed and well put together encounter.

 

The interior of the base consists of seven rooms.  There’s the usual fight against robot guards (first “Incapacitator Robots” and later the much more common observer-class security robots), a trap (spinning force blades), a non-hostile NPC for a bit of role-playing, and an (optional based on time) fight against a shadow mastiff.  The main encounter has a good premise: in the communications room, the PCs face an entire system shutdown and have to quickly achieve a certain number of Computers checks in a set timeframe while simultaneously battling the robots.  I’m a big fan of time-sensitive encounters that combine combat and non-combat challenges and force the party to make strategic (and sometimes hard) decisions on where to focus their efforts.  In another fun addition, Consul Nazriar has learned of the group’s intrusion and sends them mocking messages throughout their time in the facility (though the messages get more and more panicked as the PCs make progress).

 

The climax is great and foreshadowed well through the “livestream chat”.  Having realised his career is over, Consul Nazriar steals a freaking mech and tromps down to the base to confront the PCs as they emerge!  A Huge-sized mech is a memorable boss fight, and Nazriar is given enough of a personality that there’s plenty to work with in terms of threatening banter.  Despite its threatening appearance, the mech actually isn’t that tough, but it does have some cinematic abilities like firing volleys of missiles or grabbing creatures and hurling them into the air.

 

The epilogue is written well: the rebels still have a long way to go, but have improved things in one area of the planet.  I’m also happy the PCs got to be rebels, after some of those Starfinder Society adventures where the PCs are expected to take the Veskarium’s side!  Anyway, I thought System Takedown was a well-written adventure and would provide a good experience to new and experience players alike.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 64 [RPG]

 [Moonday, 27 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

This summer has proven to be a rainy, windy one in Korvosa.  Ralph and Goldcape brave the elements to talk to Xoza, their dandasuka spy.  Xoza says he asked around about Trifaccia, as requested, and heard there was a (probably staged) altercation in the Shingles the night before.  The little gnome-like rakshasa says working as a double agent is a lot more fun than watching Anorak craft all day, and that he wishes “that dwarf” would do something really exciting like open the mysterious box!  Ralph asks Xoza how he’s been getting across to the main part of the city from Endrin’s Isle since the only bridge is blockaded, a question that’s answered by the dandasuka transforming into a gillman (and then back) with a snap of his fingers!  Xoza is sent to see if he can find out anything else about Trifaccia.

Goldcape and Ralph decide to visit Hedge Wizardry.  Ralph, as The Reckoner, uses his usual trick of having Plate turn them invisible and then quickly scaling the barrier on the lone bridge out of Old Korvosa.  Goldcape, however, first tries flying Rocky on a long circuitous route to come into the city from the south.  She sees the massive statue of Queen Ileosa built on Jeggare Isle, and notices that, perhaps oddly, it’s facing about 285 degrees to the northwest.  The sight of a few Gray Maidens guarding the southern gate and walls of Korvosa lead the vanara to believe that it’d be too risky to come into the city from that direction.  She makes the long circuitous trip back to Trail’s End, leaves Rocky with one of the ever-dwindling Varisians there, and then swims across the Jeggare, using her nature magic to draw upon the mystical aspect of the frog!  When Goldcape and (a disguised) Ralph finally meet up, several hours have passed.  Goldcape purchases several magical scrolls from Phaeton that will allow her to turn Rocky into a handheld statue and back.  At Goldcape’s suggestion, the two then hurry to the University of Korvosa in the hopes of doing some research, but find, with it operating under summer hours, the Jeggare Library has already closed for the day.

Trying to make the most of their remaining time in the city as they wait for Anorak to finish his days-long magical ritual, the pair decide to see if they can talk with Grau Soldado.  Ascending to the Shingles, they find a community celebrating its freedom—no Gray Maiden patrol has dared set foot in the sprawling rooftop shantytown for days.  The Reckoner discreetly asks if anyone knows the whereabouts of the “Burned Man”, and ends up talking to the aptly named “Skeevy Jay.”  Skeevy Jay, knowing The Reckoner’s reputation for keeping his promises (and utter fearlessness when it comes to fighting the Gray Maidens guarding the bridges and gates around the city), asks the vigilante if he could arrange safe passage out of Korvosa.  Skeevy Jay is frank that he and his pals (“Hal Five-Coins” and “Mr. Forget-Me-Not”) have been stealing from nobles and are on the run from the Cerulean Society for “unauthorised theft.”  The Reckoner replies that he’ll think about it, but first he wants to meet with the Burned Man.

As the sun sets, Grau makes an appearance.  A completely-changed man from the drunken sad-sack he was when they first met him, Grau’s grim, battle-scarred demeanour has earned him a place as leader of the resistance in the Shingles.  He talks with Goldcape and The Reckoner about Trifaccia, acknowledging that the new vigilante is likely a fake working for the Queen—but that his deceptions have been effective in stirring up discontent against the rebels.  When asked to throw his support behind Kroft, Grau is dismissive, saying the former leader of the Korvosan Guard is too cautious and careful—people are dying in the streets!  He compliments his visitors on their raids on High Bridge and North Bridge, saying that striking fear in the Queen’s minions is one sure way to get them to loosen their grip on the city, just like he did in the Shingles.  Grau asks again for the Harrowed Heroes to throw their support behind him instead of Kroft, saying “Who do you want at your side? Someone who gets the job done, or someone who looks pretty in a skirt?”  Realising that it’s unlikely they’ll persuade Grau to join up with Kroft anytime soon, the two steer the conversation to how dangerous Glorio Arkona is.  After explaining that Glorio is really a rakshasa, The Reckoner manages to convince Grau not to ally himself with the aristocrat, despite whatever semblance of order he’s managed to bring to Old Korvosa.  Before Grau leaves, Goldcape asks him where he got the burn scars that cover part of his face.  He explains that in the last battle for control of the Shingles, the Queen’s new “seneschal” teleported in, and the bloatmage unleashed some terrible fire magic.  It was fortunate, Grau explains, that after he was blasted off a catwalk, he was found and hidden in the Temple of Sarenrae to recover.

The Reckoner finds Skeevy Jay and his friends, and they negotiate a price for safe passage out of the city.  Hal Five-Coins hints that he’d happily throw in with “Goldcape’s Gang” over in Old Korvosa, but the vanara flatly refuses.  The thieves are told to wait nearby, and The Reckoner returns to his safehouse to talk a plan over with Anorak.  The dwarf says he could simply teleport them out of the city, but they’d have to wait until tomorrow.  The prospect of a magical escape from the city sounds ideal to the thieves, and they quickly agree.

[Toilday, 28 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

In the morning, Anorak tries to teleport the thieves to Kaer Maga, but they end up in the workshop of a very-surprised cobbler in Janderhoff!  Fortunately, no harm was done.  A second casting works as intended, as the group appear in Kaer Maga in the dimly-lit, cluttered shop of esoterica run by a vampire!  The undead proprietor doesn’t blink as the group’s sudden arrival, and remembers Anorak perfectly.  As the thieves slip away into the City of Strangers, Anorak politely refuses an untoward proposition from the vampire and teleports back to Korvosa in order to get back to work on his mysterious magical ritual.

Meanwhile, Goldcape and Ralph Blackfeather spend the morning in the Jeggare Library, finding it largely empty of students and patrons.  The librarian looks extremely nervous when Goldcape asks if the library has any blueprints of Castle Korvosa, and explains that they were all removed some months ago.  But Ralph has a hunch she’s keeping something back, and he and Goldcape look through the stacks just in case.  There, in a collection of books on local Korvosan history, Goldcape finds a dusty tome containing sketches of the castle’s layout!  She tries to copy the sketches onto a sheet of papyrus, but the results are nearly incomprehensible.  Ralph suggests either stealing or hiding the book.  Goldcape utters a simple spell that reveals abjuration magic on the windows and doors of the library, leading her to suspect that an attempt to steal a book could set off some sort of alarm.  The two agree to hide the book on an out-of-the-way shelf (“Fungi of the Mwangi Expanse”) so they can look at it again later.  As they leave the library, the idea of seeing if Bookmaker’s would have maps for sale comes to them.  The proprietor does indeed have some hidden away, but only for a dear cost: 900 gold pieces.  Unable to come up with the money on the spot, Goldcape and Ralph offer 200 gold pieces as a deposit.

On a lunchtime break from his lengthy ritual, Anorak heads down to Eodred’s Walk and sees one of the shops is a smouldering ruin.  He soon learns the location was Trapper’s Hole, bowyer and fletcher Jope Chantsmo’s shop.  Jope is sitting behind the wreckage, staring despondently, his livelihood destroyed in the space of minutes.  Anorak is able to glean that the shop burned sometime in the middle of the night, and was surely arson—probably from the scattered rioting that has erupted now that the Gray Maidens have lost day-to-day control over the city’s streets.  Anorak tries to console Jope and offers help, but the man only mumbles about it being time to start over elsewhere as he starts trudging toward High Bridge.  Anorak finds Phaeton Skoda and they commiserate over the tragedy.  Not long after, Goldcape hears what happened and also tries to comfort Jope.

Over supper in the Burnt Honey Inn, Goldcape, Ralph, and Anorak are surprised when a small creature flies through the window and lands on Anorak’s shoulder!  Looking like a cross between a bird and a reptile, the leathery-winged creature has needle-like teeth and a long tail ending in a diamond-shaped vane.  Anorak’s magical ritual was to gain a familiar!  But unlike Plate (The Reckoner’s excitable sapient armor), only Anorak can hear what his familiar is saying.  The dwarf magus names his new friend Eldritch, and quickly learns that the little creature has a foul mouth and homicidal tendencies!  Goldcape is outraged that this was what the group spent days waiting for when thousands of lives are suffering every day under Ileosa’s reign!  Everyone commits to leaving for Scarwall the very next day.

That night, The Reckoner and Blackjack (Goldcape) carry out a plan to appear together in the Shingles.  Their goals are twofold: first, to try and lure Trifaccia into attacking; second, to provide plausible evidence to House Arkona that The Reckoner is trying to persuade Blackjack into supporting it.  Trifaccia never shows up, but the residents of the Shingles are enthusiastic to see two of the city’s greatest heroes teaming up.

[Wealday, 29 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

In the early morning hours, just before dawn, Ralph and Anorak awaken to screaming outside The Reckoner’s safehouse!

 

If Cressida Kroft is correct, Ileosa’s recent reclusiveness is a sign she is planning something big.  But days have now passed since the Harrowed Heroes originally planned to depart for Scarwall.  Has the delay allowed for better preparation for the mission, or simply brought the people of Korvosa closer and closer to utter ruin?

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GM Commentary

The building of the giant Ileosa statue is foreshadowing for some really fun stuff in Chapter Six.

I was happy with Grau's evolution, and how he presented a plausible alternative to Field Marshall Kroft (he could be Wolverine to her Cyclops!).  The role-playing also revealed more about the Queen's new bloatmage seneschal, Togomor. 

Goldcape's player was (I think justifiably) outraged that so much time had been spent (in terms of sessions and in-game days when the city is suffering) just for Anorak to get a familiar.  The delay had major consequences, and I don't remember the familiar being particularly valuable.  I did have some fun role-playing Eldritch and his desire to murder the other PCs.