Starfinder Flip-Mat: "Crashed Starship" [RPG]

Man, this ship crashed hard! The Crashed Starship flip-mat for Starfinder features the exterior of a starship that didn't just crash, a big chunk broke off and the rest is buried in the ground almost up to its thrusters.  The crash site design is great, with plenty of debris, some nice artistic rendering of the strained metal exterior, and the giant pile of dirt that's been kicked up.  The other side is the interior of the crashed ship, full of buckled walls, smashed equipment, and torn circuitry.  I like that there's an intriguing little underground tunnel leading away from the ship--did survivors tunnel out, or did something burrow in?  I got to play in an encounter recently on the mat, and it worked well.  A fun idea, well-executed.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 48 [RPG]

[Toilday, 30 Sarenith 4708 A.R. continued]

After finding the bodies of several slain Moon Maidens and hearing Ahalak’s prediction that the Cinderlander will strike at dawn, the Harrowed Heroes decide to continue travelling through the evening, determined to keep the Boneslayers safe.  With just days until the full moon, the seemingly-barren landscape of the Cinderlands is illuminated to reveal a hidden world of nocturnal activity: redback rattlesnakes, scrub rats, mottled lizards, and more.  Amidst the dry, straggly weeds that grow in patches here and there, short bushes with crimson leaves and more of the bottle-shaped “flask trees” dot the landscape.  And in every direction, strange rock formations, ridges, and deep canyons make travel a difficult, time-consuming affair even with the aid of experienced guides.  After covering almost ten miles, the visitors from the south decide to camp just after midnight, anxious about what the morning will bring.

[Wealday, 1 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

 

Before even the first rays of the sun are visible over the horizon, every member of the group is on their feet, fully-dressed, and ready for battle.  The Reckoner uses multiple wands and his allies use their innate magical powers to cast a dizzying array of abjurations.  But when dawn finally does come, minute after minute passes with no sign of the Cinderlander.  Goldcape uses her nature magic to speak with a snake, and the reptile confirms it hasn’t seen another “two-legged” in the immediate area.  Ahalak looks simultaneously abashed and relieved that his ominous prediction proved wrong.

Deciding to wait out the day’s heat and catch up on some much-needed rest, the Korvosans ask Hargiv to lead them to a place where they can find some shade.  The experienced survivalist finds a nearby rock formation that offers just what the group is looking for.  But just after mid-day, when the sun is at its hottest, rest is interrupted by the appearance of six-legged, bug-like monsters the size of oxen burrowing out of the ground!  One of the monsters bites Goldcape, and its greenish ichor sizzles in the wound like acid!  Anorak tries to leap to her defense, but slips and falls face-first in the dirt.  Two of the Boneslayers get involved in the fight and crush the monster with their earthbreakers before Anorak gathers himself and stuns another with a magical spray of color.  On the far side of the rock formation, The Reckoner easily holds his own against two more of the creatures.  The battle is over almost as quickly as it started, with only minor injuries from what the Boneslayers call “ankhegs.”

Once the sun begins to set and the harsh landscape of the Cinderlands begins to cool somewhat, the group set off again.  The Reckoner asks Hargev about trying to track the Cinderlander, but the Shoanti offers a rueful laugh—none can track the Cinderlander, for is he not a vengeful spirit that glides over the land?  Goldcape flies off with Rocky to look around and returns a little after midnight at about the same time the travellers reach their destination: the House of the Moon!  The silver stone shrine stands atop a low promontory in the foothills.  Although the surrounding rock has been smoothed by ages of wind, the shrine itself somehow remains unweathered, and its entire surface shimmers in the moonlight.  Two side towers attach to the central spire which rises to a height of at least a hundred feet before being capped by a glowing silvery sphere.  Even from a distance, the House of the Moon is a spectacle to behold amidst the stark desolation of the Cinderlands.

 

But before the visitors can approach, their path is blocked by a group of six Moon Maidens emerging from the shadows of nearby rock formations.  The leader, a woman named Tekrakai, demands to know why tshamek would dare approach a site sacred to the Lyrune-Quah.  When told that the visitors are seeking a Truthspeaker, Tekrakai confirms that Truthspeaker Akram is expected at the House of the Moon along with many of her tribe in just a few short days, when the moon is full—but that dangers from within and without may make that impossible.  She explains that a deadly, territorial beast has claimed the shrine as its lair, and that several Moon Maidens have died trying to drive it off.  And perhaps even worse, the Cinderlander has been in the area, hunting those making the yearly pilgrimage to the shrine.

Anorak earns Tekrakai’s trust by recounting the discovery of the bodies of her slain kin and turning over the trophies they wore.  The Reckoner offers his help in slaying the beast in the shrine, explaining that he and his allies are powerful warriors—something the Boneslayers confirm before formally turning their wards over to the Lyrune-Quah.  Tekrakai offers puzzlement as to why all the foreigners but one (Yraelzin) wears the mask of an insect, and The Reckoner explains they are also battle trophies earned by slaying cunning assassins.  Tekrakai is clearly in no position to turn down such sorely-needed assistance, and agrees to a combined assault—one that will begin immediately!

 

Through magical means, The Reckoner turns completely invisible and approaches ahead of the others, planning to launch a surprise attack.  The entrance to the House of the Moon, a thirty-foot-tall archway, is framed by carvings of the long peacock-like tail feathers of an immense star monarch butterfly.  Through it, The Reckoner sees a large gathering hall decorated with religious symbols and imagery, including a massive starknife made of white stone measuring twenty feet from tip to tip!  Resting in the back of the hall is a massive red beast with a stooped-over back, six beady eyes, and tiny wings.  But The Reckoner’s plan of a sneak attack go awry when the head of his war-maul accidentally bangs on the doorframe, alerting the beast to the presence of danger!  The beast rears up and unleashes a terrifying roar that seems to shake the very foundations of the shrine.  Anorak responds instantly, conjuring a huge fireball in the chamber that burns the beast and blackens the white-stone starknife.  The Reckoner rushes in and the Moon Maidens soon follow, surrounding the beast.  Goldcape conjures ice spears that somehow thrust out from the solid stone floor, impaling the beast and flipping it over onto its back!  The stunned beast gets to its feet and tries to bite The Reckoner to stave off more devastating hammer blows, but the clever warrior has prepared by using a wand to conjure illusory duplicates.  When Goldcape calls forth yet more magical ice spears, the beast is slain.  “We are invincible!” shouts Yraelzin, exulting in a victory that was almost bloodless on the attackers’ side.

Tekrakai and her band are overjoyed that the House of the Moon can be readied for the coming assembly, and quickly forgive an apologetic Anorak for the scorching of the chamber.  Talk turns to how to stop the Cinderlander.  Tekrakai says her people are nomadic and could come from any direction, so it’s not feasible to provide escorts to all of them.  Yraelzin continues his newfound penchant for relying on the Harrow, and has Goldcape draw a card; when the vanara draws The Fiend, pictured as a giant devouring worm, Yraelzin interprets it to mean that if the group seek out Cindermaw, they’ll encounter the Cinderlander as well.  But The Reckoner is dismissive of Yraelzin’s skill at Harrowing, and asks Tekrakai if she has any ideas.  She speculates that if a Moon Maiden travelled alone, posing as a messenger, that could lure the Cinderlander out of hiding and perhaps into an ambush—but such an idea would be extremely dangerous.  Goldcape says it sounds too dangerous, and the group should just wait for Akram or go find Cindermaw.

 

Although flush with a victory that will surely improve their standing in the eyes of the Shoanti, the Harrowed Heroes continue to have difficult choices to make.

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

GM Commentary

I did a much better job in these recaps describing the unique flora and fauna of the Cinderlands than I did in sessions.  I always find it difficult in-session to remember to describe vegetation and wildlife, or to do so in a way that makes it interesting instead of something that's just met with a shrug.  It's a good reminder that all GMs, no matter how long they've been running games, have strengths and weaknesses.

I don't remember exactly why the Cinderlander didn't strike, but my guess is he observed the *extensive* magical preparations the group went through and decided to bide his time for a better opportunity.  He's not stupid, after all, and fighting a fully-buffed group of alert adventurers would have been a losing proposition.

The Reckoner rolled a natural 1 on his Stealth check trying to sneak into the House of the Moon, which led to some great drama.  Occasions like this are why I keep natural 1s as automatic failures for skill checks as a house rule--they make things interesting!  (The Reckoner's player responded by investing in special abilities so he could Take 10 with particular skills even during combat, which I think is a fair trade-off)

The Red Reaver was defeated handily.  At this point, the group was clearly more than a match even for the toughest opponents in the Cinderlands, and really only struggled when it came to surviving the climate!

Starfinder: "Spell Cards" [RPG]

I'm not usually a fan of player-oriented card decks (like item cards) because I find them cumbersome to use and usually incomplete.  Thus, I only got the Starfinder Spell Cards box because I subscribe to the entire line.  However, playing through the Liberation of Locus-1 recently, I pulled out the box as an experiment and was pleasantly surprised.  Characters in Starfinder have a lot fewer spells to worry about than their Pathfinder equivalents, and it was easy for me and another player to quickly assemble a full spell deck.  From there, flipping through our personal decks was much faster than looking up the spells in the Core Rulebook (something I'm pretty good at!).  

Every spell in the Core Rulebook is in the deck, with longer spells getting the double-sided treatment and shorter cards having the same graphic on the back.  The cards are numbered alphabetically and contain all the information that is in the book, so they can be a complete substitute.  The only complaints I can make sort of come with the territory: if multiple players have the same spell, you'd need multiple box sets; for spells outside the Core Rulebook, you'd need to have the supplementary deck; and if the box gets tipped over, it can be a pain to get a bazillion cards back in order (something that happened to us just the other night).  Overall though, I'm happy with the product and will likely keep using it.

Pathfinder Society Scenario # 9-14: "Down the Verdant Path" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I played Down the Verdant Path at high subtier with my completely-randomly-generated multiclass gnome Jilla.  I had no idea what to expect, but it ended up being the perfect scenario for her.  It's a cleverly-written, memorable scenario that really makes the most of a part of the Golarion setting we don't often get to interact with.  I'd certainly recommend it.

SPOILERS!

Down the Verdant Path has a pretty cool backstory, though I have to admit I don't think I got any of it during actual gameplay (it's likely it was there and I just wasn't paying attention).  The gist is that decades ago, a flamboyant First World gnome sorcerer named Azure was punished by one of the Eldest for trying to steal some of the plane's treasures.  The punishment took the form of draining Azure of color and exiling him to Golarion, where he would presumably die from the Bleaching.  However, Azure didn't give up, and instead quested to find a way back to the First World and finally (recently) discovered a portal from the Verduran Forest in northern Andoran.  Azure can feel the palette bag (containing the colors stripped from him) just on the other side of the portal, but knows it's guarded by members of the Wild Hunt--a band of legendary fey hunters.  So Azure has decided to wait, hoping that with a little luck a band of adventurers would come by and be willing to assist.  And as a fey, Azure's luck is pretty good!

The PCs get involved when the Pathfinder Society hears reports of strange weather patterns coming from that area of the forest.  Venture-Captain Brackett sends them via boat to the town of Bellis to meet a local (retired) agent, a gnome herbalist named Falbin.  When they arrive, the PCs find Falbin arguing with a stately woman (secretly a janni) named Jamila.  Both Falbin and Jamila are NPCs who appeared in previous PFS scenarios; I remember Jamila way back from # 0-3, Murder on the Silken Caravan!  (and there are some good additional bits for PCs who have the relevant Chronicle sheets)  Anyway, Falbin and Jamila plan to accompany the PCs to the site of the bizarre weather disturbances.  On the way, the two speculate about what's causing it.  Falbin thinks it's a problematic group of local druids, while Jamila thinks it's a planar rift.  The fun part is that the PCs can wager on which theory they think is most likely (betting gold pieces against minor magical consumables), and gather clues (through skill checks) to support their side.  It's a novel idea and good for some early role-playing.

Just two miles south of Bellis, the weather and landscape suddenly turn freezing cold and studded with junglelike growth.  Soon after entering the unnatural area, the group encounters a father-and-son pair of giant intelligent frogs.  This was a really fun encounter, as (assuming someone like Jamila casts speak with animals) the frogs have hilarious banter as the father tries to persuade the son that humans are a "healthy snack option".  It's really cute, and the sort of slightly skewed theme of the First World in the scenario starts to become really apparent.

After another mile's travel through increasingly tropical conditions, the group arrive at an abandoned elven settlement called Deepstead.  There, they meet the completely hue-less Azure and learn (through some really well-written dialogue) about what's going on.  Jamila and Falbin plan to start working on a ritual to close the portal, while the PCs are tasked with entering and trying to bring back Azure's palette bag.  To enter the portal, a PC has to give up something meaningful to them--my PC sacrificed her rolling pin.  Once in the portal, a skill we don't see come up often in Pathfinder Society games becomes important: Swim!  The PCs are instantly immersed in freezing water on the shores of a wintry forest, and the longer it takes them to get out of it, the more nonlethal damage they'll be taking (and the longer it'll take them to join the encounter that's about to start).  

As the PCs get to shore, they'll be peppered with arrows from the first member of the Wild Hunt, a vanara ranger sitting on a tree branch about ten feet off the ground.  This encounter was a good one, as traditional melee combat wasn't an option and I don't think any of us PCs had much in the way of ranged attacks.

The area of the First World the PCs find themselves in is called Whirlwood, and it features incredibly rapidly-changing seasons: from round to round!  The seasons have different effects in combat, and were another memorable way of making it clear that the PCs were far from the Inner Sea.  Soon the group will find an area of the Whirlwood called Heartgrove, where they can see a dozen or more bindle bags hanging high up on tree branches.  One of them must be Azure's palette bag, but which?  To make things harder, there's a nasty plant monster guarding the trees (that, at high subtier, release some hallucinogenic spores that really messed up our group).  And then to make things worse, the other four members of the Wild Hunt arrive!  It's all fun and games until it's a near TPK, and this encounter nearly got there.  And in an ironic twist, anyone trying to run away from the Heartgrove simply enters it from another direction: it's a fey realm, after all!  (there's a trick to getting out that the PCs might learn during the encounter)  The good news is that the members of the Wild Hunt argue and bicker amongst themselves, and there's a fair chance they'll spend time fighting each other as well as the PCs.  I imagine that with the changing seasons and multiple NPCs, this is a challenging encounter for the GM to run.

Assuming they survive the battle, the PCs can retrieve Azure's palette bag and return to the frozen lake to take the portal back to Golarion.  They'll find their sacrificed item comes back to them, but with a randomly-rolled twist; for example, Jilla's rolling pin now cries like a baby when left alone!  The epilogue features a meeting with Ashasar, leader of the new Concordance faction, who tries to recruit the PCs (as does Jamila).  

I thought Down the Verdant Path was a blast.  It definitely had a fey-themed flavour, which I imagine is a hard writing challenge.  The encounters were maybe a touch more difficult than I would like, but I guess by Season 9 most PCs were pretty pumped-up combat wise.  I definitely have some fun memories of the game, and Jilla's crying rolling pin won't ever let me forget it . . .

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: "Cathedral" [RPG]

I got a great opportunity to use the Cathedral flip-mat over the weekend while running The Demon Within.  One side is a nice, big interior shot of a classic church interior: pews, an altar, columns, an office, and some storage rooms.  It's very well-detailed, and I don't really have any complaints.  I could quibble and say a staircase leading down (presumably into a mausoleum or something) would have been a good add, but really it's a great layout.  The other side is a sort of "mirror image" of the cathedral if it had been desecrated and the site of a bloody ritual.  It's much darker (and I like how the squares are illuminated if they're next to the torch sconces) and there's a massive trail of blood coming from the front doors to some sort of ritualistic sacrifice/summoning circle.  It's very cool.  I think I would probably prefer having a completely different cathedral on the flip-side, as I could always add the spookier elements like blood trails, etc.  But overall, this is a solid and useful purchase that gives the GM a handy option anytime the PCs visit a temple, a cultist's headquarters, a town hall, etc.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 47 [RPG]

[Moonday, 29 Sarenith 4708 A.R.]

In the depths of the Acropolis of the Thrallkeepers, The Reckoner and Goldcape reach an accord on how to share the treasures found in a secret vault.  When, along with Yraelzin, they return to the first floor of the complex by levitating up the shaft of emerald light, they see that Anorak has arrived!  The dwarf enthusiastically shares that he’s had an important vision—but that relating it will take time, and that he wants to wait until later.  The Reckoner recounts what he, Goldcape, and Yraelzin experienced in the Acropolis.  After telling about emerging from the globe with the Thrallkeeper’s Mark and a newfound sense of power, The Reckoner asks Anorak if he feels like taking a risk.  The dwarf is keen, so the group return below.  But when Anorak places his palm on the globe, he finds it much harder to return from the vision of soaring amongst the stars!  Although he’s able to tear himself free and emerges with the Mark, he also knows there’s something evil and terrifying inhabiting the Acropolis.  Remembering the Harrower’s prophecy that he will encounter a foe that cannot be defeated, he tells the others that it’s time to leave.

 

When the group return to the first level a second time, they notice the dark waters of the pools are sloshing and churning.  The Reckoner is curious about what happened to Krojun and his men, but with no sign of them, the group head for the exit before realising there are areas of the Acropolis they haven’t explored yet.  They backtrack and start searching, staying well clear of the pools.  Some areas of the complex are impossible to reach, as ancient rock falls have collapsed corridors, but some chambers remain intact.

 

They find the walls of one room are decorated with six life-sized bas-relief carvings that depict a diverse collection of priests, each adorned in billowing robes covered in Thassilonian runes.  An intricate scripture winds around the carvings, coiling across them and along the walls like an immensely long tangle of ribbons.  Several ancient skeletons, some clad in hide armor or clutching Shoanti weapons, lie scattered around the room.  Goldcape discerns that the runes are enchanted and some type of trap—but only for those capable of understanding them.  Thus, in this case, ignorance of history has had the ironic effect of protecting the group.  Goldcape writes a warning on a piece of parchment in case other explorers enter the room in the future.

 

Another room looks like a shrine of some type, displaying a brilliantly colored bas-relief carving of a woman with six wings and a serpentine lower body.  The coils of her lower body wind in and out and around a large seven-pointed star, and tiny shards of gemstones embedded in her tail make her scales glisten as though with moisture, but in more places, chunks of the carving have cracked or crumbled away, giving the depiction of the serpentine woman a strange but undeniable look of age and decay.  After confirming that there are no traps, The Reckoner breaks off the shards of gemstones even though they’ll only be worth a handful of gold sails in Korvosa.

 

The group then return to a previously-explored chamber that contains a similar statue holding a whip in one hand.  Having already identified it as a potent magical weapon against chaotic beings from other planes, Anorak wrenches it free.  But when he tries to hand it to The Reckoner, the dwarf realises he’s actually tucked it into his own belt!  Suspecting the item may be cursed, Anorak reluctantly places it back on the statue.

 

Having explored every nook and cranny of the Acropolis, the group decide to leave.  Anorak’s curiosity gets the better of him, and he tries to disturb whatever seems to be lurking in the pools by throwing stones and even an enchanted torch into the wall—but gets no result.  Outside, Goldcape uses her new mask of the mantis to see in the dark and discerns that Krojun and his men headed to the southeast, while the Bonekeepers’ (and the group’s two horses) headed to the west.  The Reckoner wants to try to talk to Krojun, but the prospects of a wearying march into the nighttime dangers of the Cinderlands persuades him to reluctantly start setting up camp.

With time now to talk, Anorak enthusiastically shares with them the content of the visions that led him to temporarily leave the party.  It started, he said, with a dream about a strange rock circle in the Cinderlands.  When he awoke in the middle of the night with an almost overwhelming urge to travel there, one of the Boneslayers recognised his description and said it was close by.  Anorak relates he spent hours sitting in the rock circle, scalded by the heat and utterly bored.  But when he began to nod off, he found himself in a dreamlike representation of the recent past.  He was in the markets during the group’s brief stay in Janderhoff when he noticed a curious secret door down one of the corridors.  But in the dream, instead of bringing a non-dwarf with him as he actually did, Anorak went alone.  The temple he found wasn’t a lonely, dusty, forgotten place—it was a rich, vibrant display of dwarven culture and the spiritual strength of his ancestors!  A statue of Torag’s son, Trudd, embodiment of the strength of the dwarven race, seemed to call to Anorak.  When Anorak moved closer, carvings on the wall next to the statue became vivid and seemed to move!  The carvings first represented a map of Varisia, but as Anorak watched, it was as if his eyes were zooming in to the Cinderlands.  He saw the orc city of Urglin and could even make out thousands of tiny figures representing each inhabitant.  But then other figures—larger—began to surround the city, and Anorak realised he was watching armies of giants put Urglin under siege!  In the vision, days began to pass, and soon the orcs were overwhelmed and defeated.  The giant conquerors enslaved the orcs and thus added even more numbers to their army before setting march south—and eventually, attacking Janderhoff itself!

 

With bloodthirst in his eyes, Anorak tells the others he wants to travel toward Urglin and see if there’s a way to stop the giants before it’s too late.  The others, however, are not so sure—both because the armies of the north are reputed to be quite powerful, and also because the major resistance action in Korvosa is less than two weeks away.  But no conclusive decisions are reached, and the explorers set up camp for the night, knowing the Boneslayers promised to return at dawn.

 

[Toilday, 30 Sarenith 4708 A.R.]

 

In the morning, a thick layer of reddish-black dust covers everything, spread by an intense ash storm that started overnight and is still going strong.  The fine, gritty ash stings the eyes, clogs the nostrils, and seems to get into everything—even canteens and cook-pots!  When the Boneslayers emerge from the swirling winds with the group’s horses, they are impressed that Anorak and The Reckoner have obtained the Thrallkeeper’s Mark.  But as the ash storm could last several more hours, the Shoanti recommend not travelling in such treacherous conditions.  The newcomers to the Cinderlands agree, and retreat to the shelter provided by the entrance of the Acropolis.  

 

While waiting out the storm, Goldcape asks Yraelzin to send someone a message through his sending spell.  Nearby, Anorak tells Ahalak and the other Boneslayers about his vision of giants marching through the Cinderlands and tries to enlist the Shoanti in the fight.  But Ahalak says the Shoanti know full well there are giants in the northern reaches of the Cinderlands, but that they have provoked little concern: giants are slow, clumsy, and easily evaded.  And because the Shoanti are nomadic peoples, they can outrun and outwit the giants without the concerns that “wetlanders” have about their fixed cities.  Afterwards, The Reckoner talks to Ahalak about Krojun, but the Boneslayer says the ways of the Sklar-Quah (Clan of the Sun) are as mercurial as the sun.  When The Reckoner mentions the strange globe below the ground in the Acropolis, Ahalak makes it clear that whatever lies within should not be spoken of.

 

Six long hours pass, and it is well into the afternoon before the ash storm finally subsides.  When asked, Hargev estimates the House of the Moon is about two days’ journey away.  Other possible destinations are considered, with Goldcape urging an immediate visit to Cindermaw’s hunting grounds, saying that the Harrower told her she should be swallowed by the great beast.  But for now, at least, the group sets off for the House of the Moon.  They cover barely four hours before it starts to get dark, and decide to take the risk of travelling at night, counting on the waxing moon to provide enough light to walk by.  But after just another hour’s march, Anorak and The Reckoner stop the party short: they’ve seen bodies just ahead, covered in the mounds of ash!  A cautious investigation reveals them to be female Shoanti warriors—Moon Maidens of the Lyrune-Quah (Clan of the Moon).  The Reckoner notices they’ve been killed by red-hued crossbow bolts and that the bodies are quite fresh.  Learning this, the other Boneslayers look truly frightened for perhaps the first time. “The Cinderlander!” shouts Ahalak.  “He will strike at dawn.”

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

GM's Commentary

Anorak's player was gone the previous session, and I justified the character's absence through the bit about the vision.  I thought the vision worked well as it provided both some insight into what happened in Janderhoff and raised the stakes of the threat of the Runelord-directed army of giants sweeping down from the north.  I think dilemmas make good role-playing and drama, and here the PCs had to decide whether to stay on their present course or try to help out at Urglin.

Despite the trouble in getting them, I don't think The Reckoner or Anorak ever actually used the magic of the Thrallkeeper's Mark.  Sometimes there's just too much to keep track of, especially at higher levels.

I love the concept of the trap that was fortunately not triggered because nobody spoke the language.  It has an in-game component and an out-of-game component.  The in-game component is that the character is studying the trap intently.  The out-of-game component is that the GM is instructed to keep saying "it'll take just a little while longer to understand".  Once the player/PC finally loses patience and moves to leave, they realize they're stuck there and can't tear their eyes away!  It's clever.

I thought it important to foreshadow the Cinderlander some more, and the end of the session made a good cliffhangar.  I think I also wanted to make sure there was some long-range combats instead of the typical "everyone fights in a broom closet" type of encounter design.

Starfinder Adventure Path: "Dawn of Flame, Chapter 3: Sun Divers" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

I've been fortunate to have a great group of players to run Dawn of Flame via play-by-post, and Chapter 3 of the AP was where I felt I could repay them for their patience with the previous two instalments (that mostly involved dealing with forgettable terrorists and gangs).  In Sun Divers, we really get into some deep exploration and intriguing world-building.  It's a memorable adventure, and definitely different than anything I've run before.  Let's get into it, shall we?

I love the salamander warrior on the cover--great art, and it fits perfectly with the overall colouring and art design of the AP.  The inside front- and back- covers provide information on a Tier 6 light freighter called the Sun Diver.  No spoilers here, so I'll just say it's well-described and interesting (especially with multiple decks you ascend vertically rather than the standard "flat" horizontal compartment interior layout we usually see in Starfinder).  Inside, there are four pieces of back-matter.

First up is "Noma" (8 pages), a gazetteer of a mysterious bubble-city inside the sun!  My notes say it's "delightfully weird", and I think that's a good descriptor for a city inhabited only by inscrutable constructs conducting unfathomable experiments from sector to sector of the city.  It's perfect for some classic Star Trek-style investigation of "strange new worlds", though the GM may need to add a bit of mechanical "crunch" to flesh out the flavourful descriptions.  The entry also introduces some new technological items; I love the concept of "polyfluid" weapons and armor, which allow the user to switch the damage type of a kinetic weapon (B, P, or S) or the DR the armor provides with just a swift action.  Perfect for adjusting to different threats in the middle of an encounter.  Finally, a new theme is introduced: "Tinker".  The premise is good, but the actual benefits are pretty minor and highly situational (like the vast majority of themes).

Next is "Criminal Organizations of the Galaxy" (8 pages), a useful overview of adversaries a GM can employ in homebrew campaigns.  We're introduced to the Abazobaris (a vesk crime family sort of like the mafia), the Disciples of Grace (a group of reptoid slavers that pose as a religious group--clever), the Golden League (a legacy group from Pathfinder; fairly vague and generic); the Ixo Syndicate (a sort of Old West "company store" mining operation--interesting, though limited in geographical scope), and the Verdant Shield (ecoterrorists with the interesting twist that they've been secretly taken over by a hacker who's only out for money).  Overall, there's nothing spectacular here, but it's a useful introduction.  The entry finishes with some new gear, much of which would be worth it for a stealth mission: micro taps, surveillance jammers, a thief drone, etc.

This issue's "Alien Archives" (8 pages) introduces six new creatures: djinni (basically the nice opposites of efreet), ghuls (undead corpse feasters), photonic anomalies (natural hazards for starships), protocite reclaimers (constructs that recycle broken robots or building rubble), protocite speakers (not really useful outside a very specific context), and wysps (surprisingly friendly and likable despite their alignment).

Last, in the "Codex of Worlds" (1 page) is a moon named Elao that orbits a gas giant in the Vast named Irtanza.  Elao is a lush jungle world undergoing a radical transformation as crystalline structures have started consuming more and more of it.  It would be a good setting for a homebrew adventure.

Okay, on to the adventure!

SPOILERS!

If you read the non-spoilerly section above, you probably put two and two together and realised the adventure was going to involve taking the new ship, the Sun Diver, into the new sun city, Noma.  The premise for my campaign was that the PCs are a group of scientist/explorers sponsored by an academic consortium from Near Space, and have been sent on an expedition to investigate the Pact Worlds' sun.  Here, that idea finally starts to pay off, and I found Chapter 3 the best part of the first half of the AP.

Part 1 ("Securing the Sun Diver") has Nib from the Deep Cultures Institute reveal that there just might be a way to actually get to the mysterious "Noma" whose coordinates deep inside the sun were discovered at the end of Chapter Two.  Nib says a member of a rival organisation, the Corona Artifact Divers, has developed a prototype ship called the Sun Diver that can allegedly survive a journey into the sun and back.  The PCs make a quick visit to the HQ of the Corona Artifact Divers and interact with a fun osharu NPC named Pahdric to learn more.  It seems that the inventor of the ship, a woman named Lurian, has been spending most of her time at a casino called the Vestrani Gaming Complex in the nearby bubble-city of Verdeon.  

When the PCs get to the casino, Lurian's location isn't obvious.  The PCs need to track her down (which may take a few days), and when they do, they'll learn that she's deeply in debt to casino and that it's holding onto the Sun Diver until she can pay off her debts.  The most straightforward way the PCs can help Lurian achieve this is to gamble, and gamble well!  The casino is fully fleshed-out with a variety of games suitable for different skills (there's even something for the more athletic PCs to do), and there's enough staged incidents (an assassination attempt, potential recruitment in a heist, a performer who needs a PC as a last-minute fill in, etc.) that the sequence never devolves into simply rolling dice.  I thought it was fantastic fun and very open-ended (the PCs can even try to break into the garage and just steal the Sun Diver), but I can see how some players think it goes on too long.

Part 2 ('Into the Fire') assumes the PCs have obtained the Sun Diver.  I really like the concept of the vessel, and it provides a logical reason why the PCs are the centre of the story, which is something some adventures struggle with (here, there's only one ship, after all!).  The ship has a sort of "yee-haw!" cowboy voice for its AI, which was a lot of fun to role-play.  Anyway, into the sun!  One of the things that's done well is that for every day of travel, the Sun Diver takes Hull Point damage that can't be repaired--so the players get more and more nervous as they see their ship slowly disintegrating before their eyes, knowing that the further they get into the sun, the longer the journey back out will be as well.  I think it added a nice sense of foreboding (along with the fact that no one can come help if they run into trouble!).  

The bulk of this part of the chapter is exploration of Noma.  As I said in the non-spoilerly section above, I thought this was some good world-building.  Some of the sectors need some fleshing out (and maybe the GM should add an encounter here or there to keep things exciting), but for the most part the adventure ran well as written.  It's really good to have some genuine, curiosity-driven exploration in a game that can unfortunately sometimes devolve into "encounter-encounter-encounter-boss" type of gameplay.

Part 3 ('The Core') starts when the PCs reach The Core, the sector of the city that records the results of all the experiments going on in the other sectors.  Here, the PCs will realise that, only some weeks before, another expedition landed and partially looted the place before leaving.  However, that expedition (a scouting team from General Khaim's forces led by a commando salamander named Sulphrax) overlooked something: a horacalcum tablet.  Assuming the PCs recognise its value, they've found a valuable key to another location even deeper in the sun (which leads into Chapter Four).  But Sulphrax and his troops return to Noma for a second search, and a big firefight is inevitable.  I would have preferred a different climax, as the timing is too coincidental and the PCs still don't really get any insight into what's going on behind the scenes.

And that's Sun Divers.  Overall, I thought it was great.  If you can keep your players' attention through the first two chapters of the AP, this is where it starts to get really good.