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View Full Version : DM Help First time Starfinder GM, need help with encounters for a homebrew campaign



Arkhios
2018-03-14, 05:32 AM
(No, I'm not a first-timer as a GM over all, only with Starfinder)

So, first things first, I'm planning a campaign set in alternative post-apocalyptic earth, using the Starfinder rules. Part because I want to see how the system plays out, and part because I'm quite fond of d20 systems and just can't be arsed with learning a non-d20 system :P

Playable Classes are limited to: Envoy, Mechanic, Mystic, Operative, Soldier, Technomancer

Playable Races are limited to: Android, Dwarf, (Space-)Goblin, Halfling, Human, (Half-)Orc, and Half-elf (reskinned and renamed as Synth, as there are no elves).
Please, just accept that this is how I want the campaign to be. I'm not interested in arguing whether or not those races and/or classes are restrictive or whatever.

Anyway, the game is intended to start on-ground. The PC's are part of a Scavenger Caravan, in search for scarce technology to upgrade and repair their currently flightless spacecraft. (It's capable of floating a few meters above the surface, but not higher, so it's basically just a "hovercraft" for now).

As a story hook, there's this global shadow-organization that seeks to maintain control over recently discovered magic, and sees the non-human (anything that is not a human, an android, or a synth) races as abominations and hunts them down, as well as "rogue" magic users, who do not belong to their organization.

The shadow-organization is also inadvertently responsible for the current state of the world, and attempts to keep that a secret from the people. Anyone who would learn the truth are hunted down and executed on sight.

What I'm looking for, is some help with designing the encounters along the way. While I said I'll be using Starfinder, I'm more interested in the encounters' strategies rather than the gameplay mechanics. I can figure that out on my own, I think, as soon as I can wrap up a general concept for an encounter.

If you need more specifics about the setting, please ask.

Also, if mods think this post needs to be elsewhere, please feel free to move it.

Telok
2018-03-14, 10:24 PM
Take note of all the pc, npc, critter, and item levels. Tons of DCs are calculated on 10 or 15 + 1.5*level.

Decide how you want radiation to work and interact with armor. By the book all armor provides immunity to low radiation levels and +4 on saves otherwise, level 7 armor is immune to medium radiation and +6. Still, with the new poison rules 5 failed saves will kill a pc and 3 fails will cripple the character for a while. Radiation is 'save every round'.

Compare vehicles to doors and walls. By default a small car is about as durable as two interior wooden doors. First level characters have a very hard time breaking light fixtures.

Check the carrying and lifting rules. They work fine for medium size bipeds carrying personal equipment. If you decide that creatures have bulk then a Str 18 horse is over encumbered by a 190 lb person, if they don't have bulk the halfling can bench press an armored orc but two normal humans can't lift a couch.

Read the Life Bubble spell. Realize that it says that air, gas traps, extreme temps, and other environmental stuff isn't a concern. If you want those sorts of things to matter then just ban the spell from the start.

Arkhios
2018-03-14, 11:35 PM
Take note of all the pc, npc, critter, and item levels. Tons of DCs are calculated on 10 or 15 + 1.5*level.

Decide how you want radiation to work and interact with armor. By the book all armor provides immunity to low radiation levels and +4 on saves otherwise, level 7 armor is immune to medium radiation and +6. Still, with the new poison rules 5 failed saves will kill a pc and 3 fails will cripple the character for a while. Radiation is 'save every round'.

Compare vehicles to doors and walls. By default a small car is about as durable as two interior wooden doors. First level characters have a very hard time breaking light fixtures.

Check the carrying and lifting rules. They work fine for medium size bipeds carrying personal equipment. If you decide that creatures have bulk then a Str 18 horse is over encumbered by a 190 lb person, if they don't have bulk the halfling can bench press an armored orc but two normal humans can't lift a couch.

Read the Life Bubble spell. Realize that it says that air, gas traps, extreme temps, and other environmental stuff isn't a concern. If you want those sorts of things to matter then just ban the spell from the start.

Awesome, that was quite helpful. More of these please :smallbiggrin:

Also, ideas for encounters in savage wilderness, abandoned cities and/or buildings, ruins of the old civilizations (tech level before the apocalyptic events was somewhere around the same as seen in Dredd (the movie) and Fallout (the game series)

Mutated monstrosities, robots gone haywire, bandits, wild beasts, criminal (and otherwise villainous) organizations, and of course other travelers with similar predicaments.

Telok
2018-03-15, 02:00 AM
Oh, yeah. The pc/npc wonkyness. I forgot that.

So you can build npcs with the pc rules. Or you can use the rules in the back of Alien Archive and elsewhere to build them. PCs tend to have significantly more hp, about the same ac, and significantly lower to-hit than the chart built npcs. Soldiers are closer in to-hit and damage to the monsters due pretty much only bab. The system strongly encourages max dex, near max prime class stat, and a 14+ Con. It also makes those values easily attainable through the suggested point buy and stat arrays. Essentially the most fragile classes get 10+ hp a level.

Monsters and chart built npcs have higher attack bonuses than an equal level soldier can acheive but about 10 hp a level. They also tend to have one to three 'expert' skills that will be about equal to a totally maxxed and focused pc for the same skill, plus two 'good' skills at 5 less than that. The precise math is 9+ 1.5*level for the expert skill, so a +24 at 10th level. Which is equal to a max class skill pc on a maxxed stat, a +4 stat enhancer, plus a class bonus or a race bonus + feat. An absolute best pc will be at +26 or +27 after stacking race, class, stat, stat enhancer, and a miscellaneous bonus or two (feat and class bonuses are both insight type and don't stack).

The justification for this setup is that mind controlled pcs are rather ineffective at pc vs. pc combat while mind controlled npcs just decimate one another. While the skill thing makes contests a roll-off at best for the pcs and stacks the deck against them otherwise. It also plays merry hob with things if the party ends up switching between pc style npc fights and chart built npc fights. You can avoid that since you're not running an official module.