Scoured Stars AP: Part 4

Spoiler Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Scoured Stars Adventure Path. 

See the Scoured Stars Adventure Path: Index page for links to all of my campaign journal blog posts for this AP.

Part 4: On the Trail of History

We played Part 4 over two sessions due to time constraints.  

Session 1

Last time, our heroes discovered records in the Athaeum showing that eight groups had left the Scoured Stars system at some past date. Later, eight relics were sent out along those same trajectories. First Speaker Jadnura had found one of these relics, which had opened up access to the Scoured Stars. If the Society could find another, then they might be able to use it to reach the Starfinders trapped in that system.

A planet called Icefront lay along the path of one of these migrations, so the team was sent there to try to learn more about the relic and the people it was following. As they prepared for their mission, they learned from Ykris (who they had befriended during "The First Mandate") that a Triaxian megacorp named Frozen Trove was thought to be doing clandestine research in the area.

Scenario artwork and minis
for the izalguuns

When the Starfinders reached Icefront, they learned that it had a similar climate to Triaxus, and was currently in its long winter phase. It was inhabited by a species of Large bipeds with four arms, the lower pair of which was sometimes used for faster locomotion. Their ship was hailed by Dr. Monsylkis, the verthani leader of a Winterharvest research facility. Their talk with her was interrupted by the appearance of an unknown starship, which immediately attacked. 

This narrative starship combat was a more evenly-matched battle than their first one (see Part 1), but the PCs held the upper hand the whole time. The enemy's all-out attack failed the first round, while the PCs inflicted 2 hits (out of 5 HP). The next round, the enemy managed to hit, and their vandal drones did additional damage to the ship before the engineer neutralized them. After that, the unknown ship had to spend its turn repairing damage, which left it slightly more vulnerable (regain 2 HP, but its Threshold lowered by 1). They finished it off in the fourth round, with their ship still at 2 HP (out of 5). (See the Conversion Notes below for starship star blocks.)

Dr. Monsylkis, who was just as surprised by the attack as the PCs were, offered to help repair their ship, and give them a tour of her facility. They were accompanied at all times by the doctor and two other base personnel: Farvenzi, the dragonkin head of security, and Spinjack, the ryphorian chief of operations. The tour was an investigation encounter to learn more about the facility before Spinjack insisted that they go on their way. Some keys discoveries included:

• Some of the genetically engineered plants produced here were designed not for agriculture, but to reverse-engineer other companies' pharmaceuticals. Other plants had a strongly addictive effect on the lab's research animals.
• The computers and personal gear of base personnel was surprisingly expensive for a nonprofit.
• The facility included a climate-controlling weather station, which was used to provide a consistent, stable environment for their experiments. However, the scientists were abusing its use by trying to stave off the effects of the beginning of spring.
• Dr. Monsylkis seemed to be perfected sincere and dedicated to her research, while Farvenzi and Spinjack seemed to be hiding something. (The dragonskin and ryphorian were also oddly in sync with each other, suggesting they were a bonded pair with telepathy.)

Dr. Monsylkis was not able to provide any of the information the Starfinders sought about the relic that was sent here, but suggested that they talk with the izalguuns, the species that the PCs' scanners has picked up. The party decided to do this, got directions, and set out.

Soon after their entered the forest, they heard the sound of a fight. They found two izalguun hunters trying to fend off three agitated megafauna--a sort of long-necked giant sloth. They went to the izalguun's assistance, but the beasts proved extremely dangerous and hard to hurt, so both izalguun were badly mauled, and one survived only because the PCs finished off the last beast in time to give the hunter prompt medical attention. (The other had been down for a couple rounds longer, and was beyond help.)

The PCs (lower left) come across a battle between izalguun hunters
(yellow and green bases) and megzoloths (Huge pawns)

After the fight, another group of izalguun approached, led by an elder named Naarma who, unexpectedly, spoken flawless Common. She thanked the Starfinders for their efforts to save the hunters, and rewarded them with a paid of tactical knives and three thermal capacitors--another surprise, given the way the PCs had been told tat the izalguuns were "simple and quaint" creatures. The PCs had many questions, but Naarma asked them to come with her to their tribe's home before answering any of them.

The fight with the megafauna (megzoloths) proved very challenging, as they were high CR for this level, with high AC, attack bonuses, and damage. Because the players were struggling to inflict damage, I reduced their HP by a third, and let the PCs stabilize one of the fallen izalguun when someone reached its side the round after it was dropped to 0 HP (which normally kills anything lacking Resolve Points). After the session, I compared the encounter with the original SFS scenario (#1-13), and found an error in adapting that scenario for the AP: In the original, the PCs face 2 megzoloths at levels 3-4, or 3 at levels 5-6. The AP version makes this part a 4th-level mission, so there should have only been 2 of the beasts. The final fight (next session) appears to use the correct subtier's stat blocks, but I'll be comparing both versions more carefully in future scenarios in this AP. (Note also that the AP does not include any scaling adjustments, as it assumes a party of four PCs. However, in the original, a party of 4 players would have a third izalguun to help balance the fight.)

After the battle: 3 dead megzoloths; 1 dead and 1 dying izalguun.

Session 2

Naarma led the Starfinders to her camp, which was composed of temporary shelters and earthen ziggurats, and populated by izalguun using archaic-looking tools and wearing furs. A closer look, however, revealed that the camp was laid out to optimize access and defense, and the izalguuns' gear incorporated advanced materials. 

Naarma took them inside one of the ziggurats, where the PCs discovered she had pharmaceuticals on par with those of the Pact Worlds, and that the building seemed to be a disguised starship medical bay. The elder showed them an izalguun patient suffering withdrawal symptoms from ingesting some of the plants modified by the Frozen Trove research station. She believed she had identified how to treat the addiction, but lacked the resources to keep pace with the station's output. The elder was cagey about how she knew so much about the station's activities, and how much she knew about the artifact the Starfinders sought. But she was willing to share what she knew on one condition: that the Frozen Trove outpost be removed from this world, which her people call Izalraan. They agreed to this, thinking that Dr. Monsylkis, at least would see reason.

While resting at the camp, the party watched some izalguun playing a sport involving passing a discus. Sasha and Zzyssa asked to join in, and their athletic abilities allowed them to each successfully score a point in the game, gaining the other players' respect. The team captain even took Sasha's rifle and tinkered with the sights to give a bonus to hit targets with cover. [This was a temporary advantage, lasting the duration of this adventure.]

Soon enough, the Starfinders had to return to the research outpost. As they approached the weather station, the security guards there hailed them, claiming Dr. Monsylkis was inside and wished to see them. This was an obvious lie, and one of the PCs noticed one of the three guard talking into his comm unit. But the party went along with the ruse long enough to get better positions for fighting back. The PCs took a few hits but quickly killed or knocked out all three enemies. [The security guards were not a serious threat, being a few levels below the PCs, and outnumbered, but were there merely to soften up the Starfinders before the final battle.]

However, the guards' bosses had been alerted. The Starfinders soon spotted the dragonkin Farvenzi flying towards the weather station from the main installation, with her rhyphorian partner Spinjack on her back. Because the PCs had defeated the guards so quickly [in less then 3 rounds], they had a moment or two to prepare for this next fight. 

During that first fight, Gambit had found the scaffold tower easy to climb, but had trouble holding on when shooting, and fell off. [Their climb speed negated the need for an Athletics check, but an Acrobatics check was needed to keep their footing on the icy tower while doing any other actions.] While waiting for the dragon to arrive, Gambit climbed the tower and tied themself in place so they wouldn't fall.. Meanwhile, the others spread out along the walls and courtyard.

Fighting Farvenzi and Spinjack
(pawns) at the scaffold tower

Farvenzi landed in the courtyard between the nearest wall and the tower, allowing her to threaten both Gambit and Sssami, who stood in the courtyard. Zzyssa rushed into melee with the dragon, flanking her with their fellow hanakan. Meanwhile, Sssami retreated out of melee reach to hurl spells, and Sasha kept up firing her rifle and directing her teammates [using get 'em]. The Starfinders focused fire on the dragon--the biggest threat of the pair--and knocked her out within a few rounds, though she mauled a couple of the PCs pretty well before she fell. Spinjack refused to surrender, and moved around the compound as best he could while fighting, until he was cornered and killed. 

[I forgot until a couple rounds into the combat that dragonkin are immune to fire, and a couple PCs had been using laser weapons. I decided to just ignore the immunity, because it was a tough enough fight without try to retcon that.]

While the Starfinders were still binding their wounds, disarming their fallen foes, and tying up the unconscious dragon, Dr. Monsylkis arrived on the scene and was quite upset by the violence. The PCs presented their evidence that Winterharvest was a Frozen Trove front, that her research was being used for nefarious purposes, and that the local wildlife was being harmed as a result. Their persuasion resulted in the verthani scientist not only agreeing to leave the planet with all her staff, but asking about how to join the Starfinders' organization instead.

Another view of the fight. The red die tracks Gambit's height on the tower (3 squares = 15 ft.) while the Glyph of the Open Road die is a reminder of Sasha's get 'em target. 

In thanks for the Starfinders' help, Naarma provided them with a handwritten star chart showing the location of a moon orbiting another planet in the same solar system. The relic they seek was sent to a secret facility hidden inside the moon. However, the site was designed so that the relic would never be found, so the PCs should proceed with caution. She would not elaborate further, but expressed her hope that the izalguuns' technologically advanced status would remain a secret. The Starfinders pointed out that they would have to report everything to their superiors, but promised to recommend that her people's wishes be respected. 

The team was true to their word when they returned to Absalom Station to report to Luwazi Elsebo. The nominated First Seeker agreed, and showed some concern about Frozen Trove. She felt it likely that the megacorp would eventually learn the Starfinders were responsible for foiling this operation, but hoped they would refrain from retaliation rather than risk drawing more attention to their illegal activities.

During downtime, the PCs heard reports of more attacks across Near Space and the Vast, from mysterious ships matching the description of the one that attacked them near Icefront. These raiders seem to be scouting dozens of systems. 

Next time: Our heroes will return to the Izal system to attempt to recover the Scoured Stars relic from the izalguuns' secret repository.

*****

Conversion Notes: See my post about Part 1 for a discussion about converting Starfinder Society ships. This time, the party chose the Pegasus, which has an improved Computer bonus at this tier. Stat blocks for Tier 4 starships are as follows: 

DRAKE (TIER 4)

Average DC 16; Hard DC 21

HP 5

Skill Modifiers +1 to any three checks per round

PEGASUS (TIER 4)

Average DC 16; Hard DC 21

HP 5

Skill Modifiers +2 to any two checks per round; +4 Computers; +1 Piloting

And here is my converted start block for the ship that ambushes the Starfinders' ship upon their arrival at Icefront:

UNKNOWN STARSHIP (TIER 4)
Average DC 16; Hard DC 21
HP 5; Threshold 2
Skill Bonus +12

Special Abilities
Vandal Drones: When this weapon does a hit to a ship, the shrapnel animates into drones that continue to damage the hull. Each successive round, the struck starship suffers 1 additional hit until the engineer makes a Hard engineering check or the pilot makes a Hard Piloting check to remove the drones. 
Self-Destruct System. 

 

Note: This ship's  original stat block includes the Reversible quality, which gives a bonus to Piloting for the Flip and Burn stunt. Given the more abstract tactical positioning of narrative starship combat, this ability has no effect.