Pathfinder Second Edition

I was initially a bit disappointed to hear of the second edition. But after some though I realized that Pathfinder 1 has some issues and maybe a new version could fix them up. After all In some ways Starfinder has made improvements over Pathfinder so it would just be a matter of finding the sweat spot between the two.

If you had asked me a  month ago what I didn't like about Pathfinder my list would look something like this:

1. Christmas Tree Effect: Most classes need magic items to be effective. This is especially notable in that usually these items are usually the same for everybody. Cloak of resistance, Belt of physical stats, Headband of mental stats, ring of protection, amulet of natural armor and apparently a 6th item I'm forgetting.

2. After level 10 you are pretty much guaranteed success or failure. Pathfinder rewards specialization so you are either so good at a task you don't fail or the DC is so high you'd never bother to attempt it.

There are a few more but these are the big ones.

Starfinder does a pretty good job tackling my first issue. Stat booster items are rare and strictly limited. Most magic or tech items give you an ability you didn't have before and might let you do something cool like fly temporarily, or get a breath weapon. Power level of these items seems appropriate. Stat items are not needed because of the healthy increases every 5 levels.

Pathfinder 2E takes this limiting to a whole new level by introducing resonance. Each magical item usage costs resonance points on a per use or daily basis. I'm not really sure what problem this is trying to solve. CLW wands allow parties without a healer to function in 1E. Starfinder takes care of this issue with the Stamina/Rest system. 2E just nerfs healing altogether. Unless you have a cleric that wants to only use healing spells get used to having a short adventuring day.  It seems like really poor game design to me and huge step backwards from everything they've done before. Not everyone should need a healbot in their party. It sucks when that healbot is you.

After seeing 2E's solution to point 2, I'm not so sure if it's a problem worth solving. In 2E optimizing really doesn't seem possible with the Beta rules. Your rates of success are always relatively fixed. There's really no sense of progression. You hit 50% of the time at level 1 and 50% of the time at level 20. The flip side of this is that even things you've never invested in at all you still have a 30% success rate.

For me part of the fun of 1E was coming up with a character concept and then digging through the myriad of splat books trying to find the right combination of options and bonuses to make it work. In 2E you can't do this. The classes are all very rigid and any sort of bonus is very rare and often limited to obscure situations.

A lot of the class options seem to fall into this area. You get a +1 bonus when performing this rarely used skill on the third full moon of the year.I think over all the power level of 2E is much lower than 1E. Most class options felt under powered, rarely useful, or just bland and boring.

And why is everything a Feat?

Goblins as a player race? Really? Goblins, that eat dogs and children. Goblins that think written words are evil. How do they get a +2 to charisma? They are stupid little anarchist devils.

It's not all bad. I like the new action system. Bards, rogues and fighters all seem pretty good. The cleric seems like the strongest overall (probably to entice people to actually want to play a healer). The ranger options and weak and limited. Why anyone would play one is beyond me. So far they are this edition's Rogue. Paladin is pretty bad too. Alchemist is unplayable until they fix resonance. I haven't really looked at the druid. Barbarian seems ok but many of its options fall into the useless/corner case/boring categories. And Superstition, wtf were they thinking there? Being unable to use magic in exchange for a tiny bonus? The same applied in 1E but only when raging and the bonuses were good enough to make it worth the risk. This is just a terrible waste of page space.

Sadly that's what a lot of the options seem to be to me. A waste of page space. I seriously wonder if you took a level 10 character with no class feats (/ugh, shiver) and compared them to level 10 character with class feats and see the difference in performance. I think it would be very small.

Starfinder has straightjacket classes as well but at least the options are varied, useful and interesting. When you look at all of the available options and don't like any of them, the game has a serious problem.

For Paizo's sake I hope they turn things around. They've done good things in the past so I have some faith that they'll turn things around. But from looking at the the design choices so far it looks like they are trying to build a game I have no interest in playing. Which isn't so bad. I still have lots of unused character ideas for 1E and as more things get added to Starfinder hopefully I'll find that system as enjoyable as some people in my gaming group already do.

Starfinder: Creature Creation

For the last couple of days, I have been playing around with the creature creation rules in the appendices of the Alien Archive book. I decided to have a go at recreating a babau demon for Starfinder. The first step is to select an array. You may choose a combatant, expert or spellcaster array. Since the babau is described as an assassin demon, I chose the expert array since it would require a fair number of skills. The babau is a CR 6 monster in Pathfinder, so that is what I used to acquire EAC, KAC, HP, save modifiers, skill modifiers, ability modifiers and number of special abilities from the array. This results in somewhat lower ability modifiers than the Pathfinder babau and an oddly high Will save, but otherwise reasonable results. We have the option to switch save modifiers to better match the creature concept, so I switch Fort and Will.

Next steps are creature type and subtype grafts, in this case, outsider and demon. The former provides darkvision and some save and attack bonuses, while the latter provides certain immunities, energy resistances and the ability to summon allies. Skipping over class and template grafts, we get to the assignment of special abilities and promptly crash into a brick wall. The Pathfinder babau has a number of abilities not covered under its grafts, including spell resistance, damage reduction, spell-like abilities, natural weapons, multiattack, feats and its unique protective slime ability. However, a CR 6 monster only gets two special abilities according to the array. I believe there is some sort of error here, since there are plenty of monsters in the Alien Archive with far more special abilities than are indicated in the arrays. So, I decide to drop the multiattack, since the babau prefers to use melee weapons anyway. I also drop the feats and spell-like abilities (except summon which is granted by the demon graft). I keep the SR, DR and protective slime ability from the Pathfinder stat block.

Demon, Babau  CR 6
XP 2,400
CE Medium outsider (demon)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60ft.; Perception +13

Defense  HP 80
EAC 18; KAC 19
Fort +11, Ref +5, Will +5
DR 10/cold iron or good; Immunities electricity, poison;
Resistances fire 10, cold 10, acid 10; SR 17

Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee spear +15 (1d6+11 P) or claw +15 (1d4+11 S)
Spell-Like Abilities [CL 6th]
1/day - summon allies (1 babau 35%)

Statistics
Str +5; Dex +1; Con +3; Int +0; Wis +0; Cha +2
Skills Stealth +18, Acrobatics +18, Athletics +18,
Sense Motive +13
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, telepathy (100 ft.)
Gear cold iron tactical spear with durable fusion

Ecology
Environment any
Organization solitary, pair or gang (3-6)

Special Abilities
Protective Slime (Su) A layer of protective slime protects a babau's skin. Any creature that strikes a babau with a natural attack or unarmed strike takes 1d8 points of acid damage from this slime if it fails a DC 18 Reflex save.

Overall, it seems to be a reasonable build. The protective slime ability loses some of its effectiveness because the hardness of advanced materials used in Starfinder is too high to be damaged by the acid. Also, the loss of many of the spell-like abilities did nerf the creature a bit. I might be inclined to give some of those back. One weird observation I did make, the choice of how to assign the ability modifiers seems to have very little effect. The save and skill modifiers are set independent of the ability modifiers that apply to them. Only the damage bonus to melee attacks and initiative modifier change depending on ability modifier assignment. It certainly speeds things up, but is somewhat counterintuitive and makes the assignment of ability scores rather pointless.

-Rognar-

Starfinder: Earth and the Cthulhu Mythos

As we prepare to start our first Starfinder campaign in a few weeks, I have been thinking more about the Starfinder setting. There are a lot of pretty cool things in there and I will talk about a few of my favourites in later posts. Right now though, I am going to discuss the planet Earth and its place in the Starfinder universe. We know that Earth exists in the Pathfinder universe. There are at least two APs I am aware of in which characters either travel to Earth directly or encounter evidence that ties to Earth. The version of Earth described in these examples is not necessarily our own, but it is certainly a reasonable facsimile with historical figures, places and events in common with our world.

This relationship becomes more interesting when you consider that the Cthulhu Mythos is very real thing in the Pathfinder/Starfinder universe. This implies that the authors of the Mythos; H.P. Lovecraft mainly, but also August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, Ramsay Campbell and others, exist in the universe and that, rather than being fiction writers, they are actually seers and oracles. Their writings are not merely pulp stories, but are, in actuality, prophecies. So consider for a moment, the number of Great Old Ones who slumber in the dark recesses of our world. Cthulhu sleeps in the city of R’lyeh, somewhere in the depths of the South Pacific. Tsathoggua languishes deep under the American plains in the lightless cavern of N’kai. Ithaqua stalks the Arctic wastes and Gla’aki watches from a murky lake in the Severn valley of Gloucestershire. Still others, Atlach-Nacha, Zoth-Ommog, Y’golonac, Einhort, Cthylla and Ghatanothoa may be found hidden away in forgotten tombs underground or deep below the waves. Most of the Great Old Ones on Earth came from elsewhere and many are imprisoned by the Elder Gods, awaiting a time when “the stars are right” to escape their incarceration.


Now, consider that the period of “present-day” Golarion corresponds to the time when WWI is being fought on Pathfinder Earth. I won’t spoil where this information comes from, but suffice to say, a little research into Pathfinder APs will reveal it easily enough. This would also be the time that Lovecraft began his writing career. At this point, we come to “the Gap”, the millennia-long period of lost memory that even the gods won’t discuss. All we know is that some time during that period, Golarion disappeared, to be replaced by Absalom station. We do not know when this period began in the time reckoning of old Golarion, but it is intriguing to consider that a connection between the Gap and some cataclysmic event leading to the escape of so many Great Old Ones, as foreseen by the great oracle of Providence. It should be noted that Nyarlathotep is now a core deity in the Starfinder universe. What role did the Crawling Chaos play in the events obscured by the Gap to earn such a prominent place in the new order?

-Rognar-

BLS in Calgary

Last Saturday night was a big night for metal in Calgary, with Sabaton returning to The Palace and Black Label Society playing at the University of Calgary. I already had a ticket for BLS before I was aware Sabaton would be in town, but I saw Joakim and the boys from Falun last year, so I was happy with my choice. BLS had Eyehategod and freakin' Corrosion of Conformity opening for them. I would've paid to see CoC as a headliner. Sadly, I missed pretty much all of Eyehategod's set waiting in line to get through security. That's what you have to put up with when you take in a show at the U. Nonetheless, the rest of the show was amazing.

Fronted by the immortal Pepper Keenan, CoC played a solid set that leaned heavily on their classic albums from the 90s. I especially enjoyed Vote with a Bullet, Albatross and Who's Got the Fire. Now I'm really hoping for that on-again, off-again Down reunion.

Then it was time for Black Label Society, with frontman and guitar god, Zakk Wylde.

Zakk Wylde is an absolute madman, pounding his chest and his guitar in equal measure. BLS played for over two hours with many songs bleeding into one another such that at times you weren't sure what they were playing. The set combined songs from their new album Grimmest Hits with an excellent selection of older stuff, especially from the albums 1919 Eternal, The Blessed Hellride and Mafia. It was at times poignant, such as the performance of In this River in tribute to the late Dimebag Darrell. Other times, it was sheer madness, especially when Zakk went on a ten minute guitar solo playing Fire It Up while walking through the crowd with a train of roadies following behind him carrying his audio cable aloft. The virtuosity of this man cannot be overstated. He is arguably the greatest heavy metal guitarist in the world today. Great show and one more thing off my bucket list!

-Rognar-

My favourite things of 2017

Let's face it, 2017 has not been a great year. Our friends to the south seem to be going through a bit of a rough patch right now and nerves are frayed everywhere. Still, it's not all bad and in this little corner of the internet, we like to concentrate on the positives. In that spirit, I am going to highlight my favourite movie, music and game releases of the year.

Movies:
I saw quite a few movies this year. Some were very good (Wonder Woman, Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol.2, Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049). Some were enjoyable, but flawed (Justice League, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Kong: Skull Island). Some were immediately forgettable (The Dark Tower). But for me, the best movie of the year was...(drumroll please)...Logan. Man, did this movie speak to me. Having recently entered my second half century, I could feel every ache and pain Logan endured in his daily life. I don't have an adamantium claw that keeps getting stuck, but my knees are shot and I have an old shoulder injury that hasn't stopped hurting in five years. The struggle of dealing with an increasingly demented Charles Xavier and an uncommunicative "daughter" resonated with own life navigating fatherhood and aging parents. Logan was gut-wrenching, but I was feeling every minute of it. A superhero movie for Generation X.

Music:

It wasn't a great year in music, although seeing Sabaton in concert was certainly the highlight for me. As far as new releases go, I am going to divide up my picks into three categories, both because they cover the three kinds of music I love most; rock, metal and country, but also because the three best albums of the year fit this categorization. In the rock category, you have to look at newcomers, Greta Van Fleet. This foursome made up of the brothers Kiszka (Josh, Sam and Jake) and drummer Danny Wagner are the reincarnation of Led Zeppelin. I'm not kidding, these guys really sound like Zeppelin. Listen to Highway Tune or Safari Song from their 2017 double EP From the Fires and you'll swear you were listening to some unreleased Led Zeppelin B-side from the 70s.

In the metal category, wow, 2016 was awesome, huh? Metallica came back with a vengeance. And speaking of vengeance, Avenged Sevenfold had a pretty awesome album drop too.  Wait...oh right, this is 2017. Hmmm, Mastodon had a new album out that some people liked I guess. Kind of slim pickings this year. For me, I will go back to that Sabaton tour and a little known band from Finland called Battle Beast that opened along with Leaves' Eyes and damn near upstaged the headliners. My metal album of the year is Bringer of Pain by Battle Beast.

As for country, it was Chris Stapleton all the way. Following up his 2015 chart-topping debut Traveller, Stapleton released two albums in 2017; From A Room: Volume 1 and From A Room: Volume 2. It is from this second 2017 release that I select my 2017 Song of the Year: Scarecrow in the Garden, a haunting ballad sung by a farmer in West Virginia lamenting the state of the land today compared to when his father and grandfather worked it, and his fear that the biblical End Times may be coming soon.

Games:

We've all been waiting for this one and really, is there any doubt? The game release of 2017 is, of course, the Starfinder Core Rulebook. Not only is this the biggest new release by Paizo since the original publication of Pathfinder, but it has also been a source of much speculation regarding a future new edition of the game. Could the game mechanics of Starfinder serve as a template for some future Pathfinder 2.0? Now that would be cool!

May we all have a safe and prosperous 2018.

-Rognar-

Pathfinder's strange treatment of spears

The spear is arguably the most effective melee weapon in human history. Simpler to use than the axe or sword and cheaper to produce, the bulk of virtually every army from antiquity to the development of gunpowder has been comprised of spearmen. Probably the most iconic of history's spear wielders were the Greek hoplites.



The hoplite spear, called a dory, was 7 to 9 ft. long with an iron, leaf-shaped tip and counterbalanced with a bronze butt-spike. It was intended to be primarily a melee weapon, wielded with one hand in conjunction with a shield. Yet this iconic weapon does not exist in any form in Pathfinder. The only one-handed, hafted stabbing weapons in the core rulebook are the shortspear and the trident. Obviously, the trident is something different, but what is a shortspear? It is described as being three feet long and may be thrown. This description is close to the iklwa, the short, stabbing spear of the Zulus,



but definitely not the Greek dory.

The other two types of spear in Pathfinder are the "spear" and the "longspear", both of which are two-handed melee weapons. The former is 5 ft. long, while the latter is 8 ft. long and both may be braced against a charge (although 5 ft. seems too short for such a purpose). Most importantly, neither may be used in conjunction with a shield, without the assistance of a feat. Also, there is no entry corresponding to what we typically think of as a pike. The longspear is about the length of a hoplite spear, but a pike is 10 to 25 ft. in length. Perhaps, if the longspear was extended to 10 ft. and the spear to 8 ft. and made into a one-handed melee weapon, we would have a more realistic treatment of this most important and underrated weapon.

-Rognar-

Iron Gods - The final showdown

We conclude our Iron Gods adventure path - spoilers ahead.

After a day to recover from the devastating battle against Ophelia, the party returned for the final showdown against the mad AI Unity. They entered the interface centre which housed devices called mindmelders that would allow them to enter the Godmind, Unity's virtual domain. Casandalee agreed to accompany them into the Godmind and would fight beside them. Upon entering the mindmelders, they found themselves standing on a balcony of a cathedral overlooking an idyllic pastoral tableau. Guarding the entrance to the cathedral, a pair of angelic figures. They offer to accompany the party to their audience with Unity. Deciding to play along for now, they follow the angels into a large open nave. The great walls of the structure were alive with digital codes and cyphers constantly changing and moving. In the centre of the nave was a colossal ice linnorm who watched the party intently, but did not immediately attack. Nonetheless, the party felt threatened by the massive dragon and began to prepare for battle. The linnorm and the angels responded in kind and battle ensued. The linnorm started it off with a frigid blast of cold breath, catching the entire party in the cone of frosty death. Several party members were seriously injured. Still they fought on. Casandalee put up a wall of force, giving the party a brief window to concentrate on the angels and heal up, before turning once again to the linnorm. Relentless laser fire, combined with deadly spell and melee attacks eventually brought the beast low.

At this point, a large radiant angelic figure coalesced, seemingly out of thin air. It was flanked by four lesser beings, similar to the angels they had just defeated. They knew immediately that this was Unity. It congratulated them on their success and offered them great power if they joined him. The company responded with an immediate attack. Unity stepped up and tore into Casandalee, the former lieutenant that betrayed him. Meanwhile, his bodyguards engaged the rest of the party. The fight was intense, but timely successful resistance against a couple of Unity's more powerful spells proved the difference. Unity was destroyed and he and his guards and the entire virtual realm shut down. The company was shunted back to the interface centre, although Casandalee was not among them. For a few moments, they celebrated their victory. When the monitors in the room came to life and Casandalee's face appeared, they cheered. However, the festivity was short-lived. Casandalee said something was wrong. Unity was not destroyed. She worked intently to get internal systems back online in order to locate the AI. Eventually, she located it in a powerful robot chassis and it appeared to be searching for something, possibly allies. Augusto was able to locate the robot and the party quickly teleported to its location in order to finish off Unity once and for all.

Unity had installed itself in an overlord robot, a powerful frame with a force field, slashing claws and an integrated laser rifle. The mad AI had added a couple of potent additions of its own, a vorpal battleaxe and a gravity bomb launcher build into its one large eye. Nils opened up with his deadly laser fire, which passed effortlessly through the force field and blasted the robot chassis. Unity responded by tearing into Nils with claws and axe, badly mauling the inquisitor that had caused him so much misery over the last few weeks. Nils was down, bloody and hovering on death's door. At the same time, Unity launched a gravity bomb at Targus and Smangtooth. Both were slammed for massive damage and Targus was entrapped in a sphere of force. It was Smangtooth's turn. The enraged barbarian tore into Unity with her adamantine-toothed chainsword. The force field held momentarily, but the onslaught was too great and sparks began to fly as metal bit into metal. Augusto added his magical prowess, slippery Targus quickly escaped his confinement to join the fray and Hala worked tirelessly to keep his comrades from joining the Choir Invisible. The battle was brutal and a couple of the company almost didn't make it out alive, but finally the killing blow was struck. The robot collapsed in a shower of sparks and the evil AI god Unity ran out of options.

Epilogue: Casandalee took over control of Divinity and with the groundwork done by Unity, soon ascended to godhood. Her own personality as well as the installation of certain AI-modifying devices which the party had collected along the way led to the moulding of Casandalee's divine profile. She was lawful, with an interest in artifice and the void. She also saw herself as the patron deity of androids and other synthetic beings.

Fin

-Rognar-

Iron Gods - The Divinity Drive 2

We continue our Iron Gods campaign journal - spoilers ahead.

Sensing a need for haste, the party decided to move on without seeking out Deacon Hope. They found another monorail station which provided them access to the security deck. They battled undead security personnel in the monorail hub, interrogation centre and surveillance control room, before moving on the security administration area. This area was guarded by several director robots. After destroying them, the company assaulted the control centre. A pulsepounder golem stood guard outside, but despite its fearsome appearance, it proved little threat to the party.

Once inside the control centre, the company encountered one of Unity's top lieutenants, a noqual golem robot called Bastion. Combining the magic resistance afforded by its noqual construction and two integrated gravity rifles, the towering robot proved a powerful opponent. Nonetheless, Nils' laser rifle once again proved equal to the challenge and Bastion was destroyed.

Sensing that his lieutenant was defeated, Unity finally made direct contact to the party by way of viewing screens in the control centre. He offered them the opportunity to join him, before promptly destroying the computer controls. It was time to confront Unity.

Casandalee provided the party with instructions on how to get to the command deck, which would lead to the computer core and the virtual realm where Unity awaited. They battled a group of cyber-gargoyles, priests of Unity, for control of the command deck, then defeated an ancient vortex dragon who served as mercenary and astrogator in support of Unity's plan for world domination and ascension to full godhood. The last defender standing in the way of the party's final showdown with the mad machine god was the high priestess, the cybernetically-enhanced leader of the gargoyle cult named Ophelia. Protected behind a wall of four evaluator robots, she fired at will with her rail gun. Nils responded with his laser rifle, but Ophelia was prepared and she had cast protection from fire on herself. Meanwhile, the rest of the party battled the robots in melee. Switching to his zero rifle, Nils was able to do some damage, but Ophelia had cold resistance as well, so it was slow going.

As Ophelia's situation grew more desperate, she cast a quickened irradiate spell to devastating effect. Jols and Hala suffered massive radiation poisoning and Jols was killed. Luckily the party had a cardioamp available which pulled their deceased comrade back from the jaws of death. Still, both stricken party members were gravely ill. The rest of the party finished off Ophelia and they retreated for some much needed rest and magical healing. Unity would wait for now.

-Rognar-

Starfinder - Character creation 2

Since Kolrez is a mystic, alignment and deity are defining aspects of his character, so some thought has to go into making these decisions. I wanted Kolrez to be most at peace among the stars, so Ibra, god of the cosmos, seemed the best choice. Ibra is true neutral, so I decided Kolrez would be also.

At this point, I should say a bit about gods in Starfinder. Some of the gods are familiar from Pathfinder. These include Iomedae, Sarenrae, Desna, Abadar, Phaerasma, Zon-Kuthon and Urgathoa. Other Golarion gods such as Asmodeus, Calistria and Lamashtu still exist, though in different and less powerful forms. In addition, there are many new gods and goddesses, some adopting portfolios previously held by other gods of Golarion, while others are completely new such as Triune, god of artificial intelligence and Oras, god of evolution and natural selection. Although the Dark Tapestry, which played such a large, though indirect role in Iron Gods, is not mentioned by name, the Outer God, Nyarlathotep is now a core deity with responsibility for conspiracies and forbidden magic.

At 1st level, mystics select a connection, which is very similar to an oracle's mystery class feature from Pathfinder. A mystic selects only one connection which provides insight bonuses to certain skills, bonus spells and class abilities with increasing levels. For Kolrez, I choose the Star Shaman connection which gives him Piloting and Perception as associated skills as well as the Walk the Void (Su) ability, allowing him to survive exposure to vacuum without harm. As a 1st level mystic, Kolrez also gains Healing Touch (Su), allowing him to heal an ally up to 5 hp/level, once per day. Finally, like in Pathfinder, the character starts with a feat at 1st level. I choose Great Fortitude.

All that remains is to choose spells, skills and equipment and Kolrez is ready to go. Both the mystic and the technomancer have a 0-6 level spell table. Kolrez starts out knowing 4 0-level and 2 1-level spells. He also gains an additional one from his connection. He selects Mystic Cure and Lesser Remove Condition as his 1st level spells and gains Shooting Stars (Magic Missile for mystics) as his connection spell. This makes him a formidable healer with a bit of offensive magic thrown in as well. For skills, Kolrez takes Piloting, Perception, Sense Motive, Mysticism and Diplomacy. The skill list in Starfinder has a lot of overlap with Pathfinder, although there has been a fair bit of streamlining. For example, the Mysticism skill now incorporates both the Spellcraft and Knowledge (arcana) skills as well as any Craft skill needed to make magic items.

-Rognar-

Starfinder - Character creation 1

The much-awaited Starfinder Core Rulebook is finally available at your FLGS and I have my copy. This will be my first in a series of posts on the new game. I will be looking first at character creation. The first step in this process is to conceptualize your character and select your race, theme and class. Pathfinder players will certainly be familiar with race and class, but theme is something new.

Starting with races, there are humans, androids, two subspecies of lashuntas, kasathans, ysoki, vesh and shirrens. Anyone who has played the Iron Gods AP will have some familiarity with androids, kasathans and lashuntas, although the lashuntas have been altered somewhat. The ysoki are simply space-faring ratfolk. The vesh and the shirrens are your obligatory reptilian and insectoid races respectively. The other Pathfinder races such as elves, dwarves and halflings are not core races, but it has been hinted at that they will be introduced later*.

Classes are mostly self-explanatory. They are envoy, mechanic, mystic, operative, soldier, technomancer and solarian. The envoy is the party "face". The mystic and technomancer are the cleric and wizard respectively. The operative is the rogue, while the solarian is a sort of space monk, like a Starfinder jedi.

Themes are aspects of your character that reflect background and/or motivations. The options available in the core rules are ace pilot, bounty hunter, icon, mercenary, outlaw, priest, scholar, spacefarer, xenoseeker and themeless. Somewhat counterintuitively, there are no restrictions regarding combinations of themes and classes, so it is possible to have a priest mechanic or a mercenary mystic. Clearly some combinations will require exotic backstories. The purpose of themes is to provide a starting ability score bonus to one stat and a few minor boons to the character as he gains levels.

I decided to try out the character creation procedure by making a kasathan spacefarer mystic named Kolrez. After making those preliminary decisions, it is time to get to the number-crunching. The point buy system is a bit different in Starfinder as compared to Pathfinder. You start with straight 10s, then adjust your ability scores based on race and theme modifiers. Kolrez gets +2 STR and WIS and -2 INT for being a kasathan and +1 CON for being a spacefarer. So his starting ability scores are: STR 12, DEX 10, CON 11, INT 8, WIS 12, CHA 10. You have an additional 10 points to spend on a 1-for-1 basis, although no ability score can exceed 18 at this point. Note that ability modifiers are the same in Starfinder as Pathfinder. With that in mind, I distribute my additional points to improve CON, INT, WIS and CHA as follows: STR 12, DEX 10, CON 12, INT 9, WIS 18, CHA 12. You cannot transfer points from one ability to another.

Next, we look at hit points (hp), stamina points (sp) and resolve points (rp). Stamina points represent general toughness. They are lost first and relatively easy to recover. Hit points indicate actual capacity to endure injury. Resolve points represent willpower and are used to activate certain class features and regain resources such as stamina. None of these points are rolled, all are fixed based on your character race, class, ability modifiers and level. At 1st level, Kolrez gets 4 racial hit points and 6 class hit points for a total of 10 hps to start. At 2nd level and each level beyond, he only gets the 6 class hps. Stamina points are based on class and CON modifier. Kolrez starts out with 6 class sp and 1 CON sp for a total of 7 sp. Finally, resolve points are equal to half your level (minimum of 1) + modifier of your key ability score. Since Kolrez has WIS 18, he gets 4 + 1 rps.

In my next post, I will discuss class features of the mystic, gods and alignments.

-Rognar-

*Edit: There is a section in the back of the core book which provides some information on Pathfinder races for those wishing to use them to make Starfinder characters.

Iron Gods - The Divinity Drive 1

We continue with our Iron Gods campaign - spoilers ahead.

The party headed up to a cavern known to both Casandalee and the Technic League that provided entry to the buried spaceship. Zernebeth could only provide limited information as to current League activities within the structure since Zaidow had been very secretive and his only confidants were now deceased. Still, the company was confident they could handle whatever lay ahead.

That confidence would be tested almost immediately, however. As they passed through a glaucite door in the wall of the cave, they entered a large assembly bay. Awaiting inside was a fully-functional annihilator robot. The annihilator immediately attacked, strafing the company with its twin chain guns. As the party scattered and dove for cover, Smangtooth charged forth. What followed was a display of martial prowess that will go down in the annals of Golarion lore. Braving the annihilator's plasma lance, Smangtooth darted beneath the massive robot. Her chainsaw cut deep into its structure, overcoming first its force field and then its armour-plating. The adamantium teeth ripped at its interior components, cutting power conduits and overloading circuits. Before it could respond, a second slash of Smangtooth's chainsword cut through its tail, severing the plasma lance. As it staggered and collapsed, Smangtooth thrust her chainsaw once more into its smoking ruin and the annihilator was destroyed.

With confidence at an all-time high after Smangtooth's victory over the annihilator robot, the company moved on. They would soon encounter a small group of Technic League operatives led by a technomancer named Sila Desaulis. She explained that her group had become trapped here when some force had taken control of all the robots in the ship. The exit was blocked by the annihilator robot and a large section of the deck was being irradiated by lethal radiation. She was happy to hear that the annihilator was destroyed and she was eager to leave. She offered the group a gravitic key which they could use to start up a graviton reactor that the annihilator had been guarding. It would allow them to power up a monorail transport to explore deeper into the ship.

The group took to the monorail to a deck called Habitation Pod 1. The deck appeared to be a self-contained jungle environment, complete with appropriate flora and fauna as well as flowing water and high humidity. As they exited the monorail station, they were immediately set upon by several dwarf-like humanoids (lashuntas) riding dinosaurs. Though tough, the lashuntas were quickly dispatched. The party moved on, bypassing a small village with more lashuntas and eventually arrived at a water-pumping station. Inside, they found a service elevator which they took to another deck.

This new location turned out to a recreation deck. After battling several viper vines in an overgrown section of a park, they entered a market square. Dozens of humanoids wandered about talking idly to one another in small groups. Though at first glance they appeared human, upon closer inspection, they were revealed to be androids. They made brief acknowledgements of the party and would reply if addressed, but they seemed remarkably unperturbed by the rough-looking adventurers that just appeared among them. They also offered little insight when questioned, mostly referring repeatedly to someone named Deacon Hope and some future event they called the "Great Advent to Come". Although they did notice a small number of the androids seemed to pay a bit more attention to them than the rest, there was little to alarm the group and they quickly got bored.

Leaving the square, they found a holotheatre. Perusing the selection of available holovids, they found little of interest, although it was clear most of the library had been rather crudely deleted. Looking around, they found a passage to a backstage area. What they found was a nightmarish abattoir of humanoid body parts and viscera strewn about and arranged in a depraved artistic display. A pair of interlocutor kytons, attended by a pair of sacristan kytons were adding to the carnage. The disgusted company slaughtered the vile fiends. They would also find a shrine to Unity and an android creche guarded by more kytons and a particularly powerful kasathan fighter who wielded two chainsaws. With the minions destroyed, it was time to find this Deacon Hope.

-Rognar-

Iron Gods - Palace of Fallen Stars 4

We continue with our Iron Gods campaign - spoilers ahead.

With the party refreshed and prepared, and the dybbuk still weakened by the previous battle, round two turned out to be anti-climactic. The dybbuk was quickly dispatched and the company was ready to take on the Technic League. They located the secret door to the tunnel and made their way to the Technic League compound. After dispatching a couple gearsman battleguards manning the entrance at the other end of the tunnel, they began searching for a stairwell leading up.

Following a brief, but tense battle with a pair of tarry demodands in a geothermal reactor room, they found a stair. It led up to the courtyard of the complex. They used dimension door to cross the courtyard without drawing the attention of several human and robotic sentries and slipped in through the main door of the Technic League headquarters. Through scrying and communication with Zernebeth, the company had a pretty good idea of the layout and made a rapid advance toward the main tower where they expected Ozmyn Zaidow to be found. They battled several gearsmen and a powerful iron golem, but it only took a few minutes to make the top of the tower.

Smangtooth broke through the door and Ghartone, Ozmyn and a myrmidon robot awaited.

The mymidon blasted away with its laser rifle while its quantum lashes slashed at Smangtooth. Ghartone supported the robot with fire bombs and Ozmyn cast spells while invisible. Ozmyn quickly found himself out of allies and temporarily blind. He had no choice but to teleport away.

Frustrated by the escape of their quarry, the party set about looting Ghartone's remains and Ozmyn's chamber. After a couple of minutes, the party heard the sound of screaming from the stairwell. Following the sound, they burst into Zernebeth's chamber. Ozmyn had returned and he'd brought allies. A woman and several kytons surrounded Zernebeth, preparing to kill her while Ozmyn watched and waited for the party. Most powerful of the kytons was an interlocutor named Krimox the thrice-flensed. He was a collaborator with the woman, Gryne Rasik, another captain of the Technic League and ally of Ozmyn.

Early on, the fight went well for the party. Smangtooth's chainsaw and Nils' laser rifle managed to gravely wound the kytons and Ozmyn. However, that allowed Rasik to successfully affect Smangtooth with a flesh to stone spell. There was a moment of shock as the half-orc barbarian turned into a fierce-looking statue. The desperate battle resumed around the petrified half-orc; laser fire, slashing claws, blades and spells. In the end, the company prevailed, Ozmyn Zaidow was slain and Zernebeth was rescued. With cooperative leaders on the throne of the Black Sovereign and in the office of commander of the Technic League,the party was now ready to take the fight to Silver Mount and the mad godling, Unity.

-Rognar-

Iron Gods - Palace of Fallen Stars 3

We continue with our Iron Gods AP - major spoilers ahead.

Among the belongings acquired from the Technic League captain killed in the ambush at the Night Market was a commset. The commander of the deceased captain, seeing that a dangerous new player had arrived on the scene, decided to use the commset to contact the party. She turned out to be Zernebeth, the recently-deposed leader of the League, someone desperately in need of allies at the moment. Seeing an opportunity to reclaim her position, she made a deal with the party, offering her assistance (or, at the very least, acquiescence) for whatever the party was intending, in exchange for removing Ozmyn Zaidow, the current leader of the League. Realizing how much easier it would be to take on Unity without interference from the Technic League, the party agreed. During the discussion, Zernebeth mentioned a secret entrance to the League compound from a tunnel under the palace. Since the Mockery had already explained how taking down the Black Sovereign would disrupt the Technic League as they struggled to regain control of Starfall, it became clear that their next step would be an attack on the palace.

The next day, they made their move. The main hall of the palace was open to the public and so they entered to do a bit of scouting. After wandering about aimlessly and unchallenged for a few minutes, they decided to initiate a confrontation (a fairly typical modus operandi for the company). They approached a pair of guards claiming to be on a diplomatic mission and seeking an audience with the Black Sovereign. When one of the guards left to inquire as to the availability of the Black Sovereign, Nils took it upon himself to go invisible and surreptitiously follow. Nils followed the guard upstairs, noting the presence of many guards including a squad of hill giant shock troops. The eventual destination of the guard was not an audience with the Sovereign, but rather, the office of the guard captain, a man named Ghartone. It was a name the party had heard before, a captain of the Technic League. Ghartone was consulting with a small group of robed clerics of some sort and told the guard to report back that the Black Sovereign was currently unavailable.

Meanwhile, another group of black-cloaked clerics attacked the rest of the party in the main hall. They made short work of them, and upon closer inspection, it was revealed that they were oracles of Zyphus and all were aged men. After a good laugh about a bunch of Zyphus-worshippers tripping on their hems and falling on Targus' sword (Zyphus being the god of accidental death), they reunited with Nils and headed off in search of Ghartone and the Black Sovereign.

There were many battles as they fought their way through the palace; palace guards and battle mages, hill giants and even a catoblepas. But eventually they found themselves in the main throne room. Arrayed against them were numerous guards, including elite gargoyle troops as well as Kevoth-Kul, the Black Sovereign, Tek Mekul, his cousin and second-in-command, Kul-Inkit, the Sovereign's Consort and Ghartone with a pair of gearsman battleguards. Smangtooth, sensing an opportunity for a grand gesture and knowing something of the ways of barbarian cultures, challenged the Black Sovereign to a duel. Kevoth-Kul could not refuse and the battle was on. It was a hard fought contest and both combatants suffered grievous injuries as sinew, flesh and bone gave way to great sword and chainsaw. When Kevoth-Kul fell, there was a moment of silence as the shocked onlookers stood in disbelief. Then Tek Mekul stepped forth and congratulated Smangtooth. He said Smangtooth would have the honour of selecting the successor from the qualified candidates, himself or the Sovereign's Consort. Smangtooth hesitated as she wanted to claim the crown for herself. The guards began to decide among themselves who they supported and in the absence of a clear successor, they sought to force the issue. The guards began to fight among themselves and during the chaos, Ghartone ordered his battleguards to fire upon Kul-Inkit.

One rocket struck the consort and knocked her down. Seeing this, the party knew that Ghartone (and by extension, the Technic League) wanted Tek Mekul to take the throne. Therefore, they decided to aid Kul-Inkit. They directed attacks at Ghartone and the gearsmen, while Kul-Inkit fought Tek Mekul. When the smoked cleared, Tek Mekul lay dead next to his cousin, the gearsmen were smashed and Ghartone had escaped in the confusion. No doubt, he would return to the League to report on the events that had occurred on this night.

The next day, the party took advantage of the chaos gripping the palace and the city itself to search out the dungeon and find the secret tunnel to the League compound. While down there, they uncovered the treasure room. Though somewhat depleted, it still held much wealth and Smangtooth (still grumbling about not ascending the throne the night before) cleaned it out completely. Moving on, they came upon a great inverted ziggurat which contained the remains of all the previous Black Sovereigns. They began searching this great chamber for a secret door when the restless spirit of the first Black Sovereign attacked. Given the power of the person in life, she returned as no mere spectre, but rather, a true undead horror, a dybbuk. The party fought hard, but the pain touch of the dybbuk was a fearsome attack and the incorporeal nature of the monster made it difficult to damage. Still, they were close to defeating it when it succeeded in casting dominate person upon Smangtooth and ordered her to kill Nils. Nils went invisible and fled the palace with Smangtooth in hot pursuit. For two days, the cat and mouse game continued through the streets of Starfall while riots raged around them. It was only after several attempts that Hala was finally able to successfully cast break enchantment and free Smangtooth from the domination. Time for a reckoning with that dybbuk.

-Rognar-