Yesteryear's Truth - Ghibrani Race

GHIBRANI RACIAL TRAITS

Ability Adjustments: See Subspecies.

Hit Points: 4

Size and Type: Ghibranis are Medium monstrous humanoids.

Desert Stride: Ghibrani can move through nonmagical difficult terrain in deserts, hills, and mountains at their normal speed.

Reciprocal: Ghibranis receive a +2 racial bonus to Diplomacy checks.

Subspecies: Ghibrani belong to one of two subspecies: Husk or Membrane. All ghibrani start with -2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma at character creation. Ghibrani Husks receive a +4 racial bonus to saving throws against radiation effects. Ghibrani Membranes gain an extraordinary flight speed of 30 feet with average maneuverability. Until a Ghibrani Membrane is 5th level, they must end their movement on the ground at the end of each turn or fall. Additionally, Ghibrani Husk are hardy and resilient (+2 Constitution), while Ghibrani Membranes are lithe and more graceful (+2 Dexterity).

Low-Light Vision: Ghibranis can see in dim light as if it were normal light. For more details, see page 264 of the core rulebook.

REFLECTIVE JACKET Level 2

MAGIC ITEM (WORN) Price 850 BULK L

This scaled and fur trimmed leather jacket made from the hide of a sand brute functions as a travel outfit (Starfinder Core Rulebook 230). Once per day as a reaction, when struck by an attack from a weapon in the laser group, you can make a ranged attack against the EAC of an enemy within 15 feet. If it hits, you deal an amount of fire damage to that target equal to the damage you took. This ranged attack doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity.

Session Zero - STARFINDER, Dead Suns AP

Last night was our first session. A point of origin, to what will be at the least, a year long journey into this latest roleplaying game. Everyone enjoyed themselves and were content with their character creations. Their Starfinder recruiter is Duravor Kreel. The old dwarf stood before a hologram of a planet that appeared to have been ravaged by some disaster; there is very little water and no obvious

greenery. 

“Greetings, Starfinders, err... I mean prospective applicants” he says, without turning. “You are looking at Elytrio, a newly charted planet in the Vast. While you might dismiss it as a lifeless rock at first glance, it still has mysteries to plumb. The starship that discovered it was attacked by some kind of orbital defense system when it got too close; the vessel didn’t have the firepower to respond, so the crew made a prudent retreat. But we Starfinders don’t let these sorts of things go.” He pauses before continuing. “I’d like you to take a starship, travel to Elytrio, and discover all you can about it. If you find any inhabitants on the planet, do everything in your power to make peaceful contact with them. If the place is deserted, try to locate information about who might have built those defenses. Once you’ve got something interesting, report back to me here at the Lorespire Complex and by then I should have my answer to your admittance for membership. Any questions?”

Crew of the Pegasus, Explorer; Science Vessel
Science Officer- Twenty, Android Operative
Captain- Cassie, Elf Mystic
Pilot- Xan, Human Solarion
Engineer- Ketch, Ysoki Mechanic
Passenger- Z'idhul, Barathu Solarian

An unexpected journey through the Drift, lasting 25 days, the crew found themselves isolated as the automations of the starship demanded no warranted attention to those aboard. Boredom was a constant companion while mounting imaginations of attacks from those that lurk within the hyperspace dimension. No attacks came as the Pegasus reached its destination of the targeted jump. Receding out of the shadow of a nearby moon, an orbital drone defense platform, suddenly squawked to the comms. The robotic voice crackling in an alien language. The tone of the message was strident, and surly recognized as a warning. Drones were launched from the platform as the Pegasus engaged in its first starship combat. A few rounds, and the crew punched through the shields and ripped into the hull, disabling its sensors and temporarily severing its wireless link for combat operation.

The combat was slow but steady as the rules and phases were introduced. The characters were coming into their own as they assumed their roles. As we become more aware of the tactics and responsibilities, I ascertain the system will be more streamlined and engaging.

The group withheld any salvaging attempts on the platform or collecting floating debris for research, and began its decent toward the planet. Landing upon Elytrio, an hour into their overland travel, they were set upon by a stalking beast.

The hungry creature, appearing as a scaled lion, surprised a few during the encounter. Our android, the silicon based lifeform was taken down, but not before the indigenous fauna received multiple hits from numerous projectiles. A roll of 9 damage from Xan,finally felled the volatile beast. As Twenty was revived, they came into proximity of a non threatening hunting party. Appearing more curious than distrustful, the beetle-like aliens led them back to their tribe housed within a network of cave systems against the bluffs of the wasteland. They made it to their destination after having weathered through a fell wind carrying otherworldly strange crystals upon the wind currents. Initially having thought to be a type of castrolvelan fireflys in the far expanse, but no, these were sharp crystals with debilitating encumbrance upon hemorrhaging under the skin.

Next week we will bring further clarity to the Husk Ghibranis and the one creature who stands out in far contrast, equipped with wings and a dermal exterior appearing membranous over chitinous. Meanwhile, the starfarring party is further away from their initial but indented target. A large energy output was discovered coming from a fully functional city in the southern hemisphere. The readings indicate the city has a level of technology that is comparable to that of the Pact Worlds (albeit slightly outdated), and contains life forms of some kind. It seems like the best place to fulfill the mission Duravor has sent the party on. The destination however is encased within a half-mile radius of an unknown but powerful force field.

art source

Starfinder House Rules

This week I will be unveiling the Dead Suns Adventure Path to my group. Below are House Rules you may find useful for your spacefaring group. This will likely be the highlight of my career as GM, a benchmark to all of the skills I have sharpened and honed on a weekly basis while at the helm since 2012. 

STARFINDER HOUSE RULES

1) Increase point buy to 11 points. (p18)

2) Allow dropping stats below 10 to recover points on a 1-1 basis, with no attribute going below 7 after all modifiers.

3) Everyone gets perception as a class skill. (p134)

4) The "Penetrating" weapon property ignores an amount of hardness equal to 3*IL. (p181)

5) The healing from the Mystic's "Healing Touch" ability can be split up as needed. (p84)

6) The Mindbreaker Mystics "Mindkiller" ability costs a resolve point. (p87)

7) Remove the "Disproportionate Revelations" rule. (p104)

8) Solarians can use Cha in place of Dex for AC and Reflex saves when using Solar Armor and Cha in place of Str for attack and damage rolls when using the Solar Weapon. (p100)

9) Mechanics can repair their drone at any time by spending 10 minutes to restore either 10% HP (25% with the Repair Drone mechanic trick) or the result of their Engineering check, whichever is higher. (p72)

10) Weapons, armor, and other items can be upgraded, paying the difference in the cost. (p235)

11) Attack rolls for thrown weapons can be done with either Str or Dex. (p240)

12) When calculating the DC for thrown weapons (including grenades) use either Str or Dex. (p181)

13) Power Armor uses the better of its strength or yours. (p203)

14) Serums of Healing can also be technological as nanite injections. (p225)

15) Starship sensors can detect things up to 10 range increments away. (p301)

16) All skill bonuses apply to starship role action skill checks and a Drone can contribute. (p322)

17) Replace starship skill DCs with the following: (p319)

10+2*tier -> 10+1.5*tier

15+2*tier -> 15+1.5*tier

20+2*tier -> 20+1.5*tier

10+3*tier -> 25+1.5*tier

18) Any equipment a PC owns that comes with a battery is automatically recharged to its full number of charges between encounters. The same applies to any individually purchased batteries a PC owns. It is assumed that PCs have access to free recharging stations within the Lorespire Complex or from their starship. Starships, unless otherwise noted, can recharge batteries. If a session involves a starship, and the PCs have access to the ship, they can use the recharge station onboard at no cost. The current number of charges on a battery does not impact the sale price of an item. Any items that are sold with a battery (such as energy weapons) must be resold with the associated battery, regardless of the battery's current charge. The current number of charges on a battery does not impact the sale price of an item. Any items that are sold with a battery (such as energy weapons) must be resold with the associated battery, regardless of the battery's current charge. Update the Pulsecaster Rifle (Starfinder Core Rulebook 176) statistics as follows: Capacity 20 charges, Usage 1.

Dungeon Painter Studio

Often enough with Adventure Paths, your find a description for an area without the accompanying map. It's not intended to be a combat encounter. APs rarely, if ever, provide maps for encounters intended to be resolved through roleplay. As a GM, never underestimate the eagerness of PC's to shed blood. Dungeon Painter Studio is an essential tool for creating maps quickly with minimal effort.

I spent too much time looking for random maps like the above image, cutting/pasting with paint.
I spent a shorter amount of time creating the map featured below. Better still, I choose the grid size and instantly match it up wit my virtual tabletop grid with zero issues.

If you need the Bodega for Dead Suns, download it here Google Drive

You can purchase the software here Dungeon Painter Studio

Taking 20 goes over the software here Taking 20 Youtube

How to prolong your Dead Suns Adventure Path

Many people say the Adventure Path for Dead Suns is too short. Incident at Absalom Station has 31 pages of adventure content. When you compare that to the average 50 page of Pathfinder content, it may seem decidedly so. However, I see a lot of roleplay opportunity and information gathering, especially so for when the adventures visit a locale for entertainment and nourishment. With the right amount of pacing, there is a lot going on within those pages.

If you are still unconvinced, then I would highly suggest the inclusion of Starfinder Society content. There are quite a few pdf's ready to dive into. With the range of available tiers based on APL (average party level), you can most assuredly spread out additional content through the varying volumes of Dead Suns. I recommend this option and I will be adding this into my game.

Mass Effect- The Citadel had you exploring the dizzying levels and pathways of side tracking. If you will recall, Commander Shepard needed to go shopping. As the Captain of the Normandy, Shepard needed to add some things to his aquarium before he could save the galaxy. You never know, you may just pick up on a distress signal from a nearby star system.

The Starfinder Society features invaluable content, especially so with the beginning amount of content available for this new roleplaying system. With those pages, there are numerous starship encounters and planets to land upon. Extending your AP, your crew arrives at Dock 94 of Absalom Station, perhaps they recently apprehended a fugitive or brought back salvage from a crashed vessel. Further still, after the events of the first encounter within the AP, the party views a list of missions available to earn credits. The society pdf's are reasonably priced and are a resoundingly successful option for your game.

Message Manager for Maptool

For too long, one of my players would succeed on that knowledge or perception roll and garner that highly sought for information, relaying to the party. Yet that apprised individual did so as an echo.. every time. Everyone would hear what the GM said first and the player would either repeat it or say "Yeah, what he said".

That gm manipulation takes away from perhaps those quiet ones at the table or someone's moment to roleplay. I'm terrifying guilty of this. I strive to correct this.

I have the message manager setup now for book 1 so that I can send private messages when someone rolls culture, diplomacy, computer and intimidate. Even if multiple players roll, I can send each player there own level/tier of information gathered. Those apprised but selected few adventurer's can then confer with each other, as well as the group, on what they learned. There are multiple information unlocks at 10+,15+, 20+, and 30+. The lowest and highest gathers will each have there moment, rather than the GM encroaching on the player's moment to shine.

Don't worry GM, you'll sparkle too, just read that room's description out loud and that italic flavor text just under that creature's name.

Plo's Message Manager

I dragged the file onto the map. You will see an open book icon appear. Click on it and look at the selection tab/window. Hit the Yellow macro button that reads Msg.managr. You should see the messages pane appear. You can move it where you like. I dragged it over as a tab next to the chat window. Add your messages and when ready, send to those players connected on Maptool. Simple to use when you can click rather than type.

Maptool Spotlight on Starfinder

Maptool is a highly customizable and free virtual tabletop for roleplaying games. I was able to launch my online Pathfinder group because of it and have been playing weekly since 2012. Given that long of time and the numerous adventure paths that I have run (Curse of the Crimson Throne, Jade Regent, Iron Gods, and Hell's Rebels), I thought it was about time to hang up the well worn gm hat. Not so, a fan of mass effect, Starfinder has caught my eye and I'm hooked. Another exciting endeavor, I present my macro showcase for Incident at Absalom Station, Dead Suns- book 1.

A member of my rpg group built the framework for Spaceship Combat. By setting the facing of the starship token, flight paths along the grid are highlighted. The macros help keep track of things like shields, health, and piloting checks. I'm fortunate to have a great group of people who look forward to my game.

This is the beginning of my path into Starfinder, documenting the detailing highlights and building processes of weekly gaming. My hope is to create a small community/network of followers who use maptools, or those interested in using the virtual tabletop. I have all of the tokens and macro commands finished for book 1. I plan on running this soon and will add the other books into the program. Everything is looking great. The anticipation is mounting as I finish up Hell's Rebels, Breaking the Bones of Hell- book 6.