A press copy of the Starfinder Core Rulebook was provided for the purposes of this review.
Over the years Paizo Publishing has carved a successful name among tabletop roleplaying fans, releasing dozens of Pathfinder rulebooks, supplements, full campaigns, and modules.
Starfinder represents Paizo’s first entirely new roleplaying system since Pathfinder’s release in 2009. In many ways it’s a science-fiction version of Pathfinder, expanding onthose rules (which is itself largely based on D&D 3.5e) while adding a few unique twists of its own.
I headed toward the flickering torchlight down the tunnel, motioning for the others to stay back. I rounded the corner and the cave opened up into the entrance to an old temple – just as the Zhent thug had described.
A pair of guards near the entrance were playing cards. I stumbled onto some loose rocks and the nearest one glanced up. I felt a rush of adrenaline before I remembered I was still disguised as the man we had interrogated outside the cave.
“Walter!” he called out. “What are you doing? I thought you were going into town with the others?”
I had to act fast. “Ah yeah,” I stammered, gradually calming myself. “I forgot something. Hey, those brutes – the guards, are acting really weird.”
“The orogs?” He replied. “What are they doing?”
“I don’t know but they’re starting to get violent. Get out here and help me with them!”
We went back and forth a few times. I briefly entertained trying to pry some more information out of him (Zellan was indeed here, somewhere) but didn’t want to press my luck.
Finally the guard relented. He and his buddy got up to investigate. I mentally called out to my friends that they were coming down the tunnel. I made sure to avoid making physical contact as they brushed past me.
The fighting erupted almost instantly. Bryseis conjured up several magic missiles, slamming into one guard, and Halfred unleashed a hail of arrows. The Zhent fell, and the other turned to run, shouting about the alarm. T.I.M. smashed him with the mace as he ran away, directly towards me.
I reached out with my mind, but the man’s eyes were wide with fear. The same man I’d just spoken with seconds ago. He was in full flight mode and barreled into me, even after I manifested my psychokinetic glaive and slashed at his legs. I held my ground, bracing against the cave and shoved him backwards.
He gave a sudden scream, and for a moment I questioned how hard I hit him. Then I heard a sick sizzling sound as his face began to melt. The melting flesh cascaded down his body, choking him before he could even scream.
As he dissolved into a messy puddle I glanced back to see Korinn retract her arm and nod solemnly at me. I took a moment to realize that a few weeks ago I would’ve been horrified at this brutal display. Now it was just business as usual.Continue reading “D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 17 Recap”
Halfred’s bow sang out, and the Zhentarim thug gave a startled gasp as an arrow sunk into his shoulder. He glanced around wildly, perhaps noticing for the first time he was the last one in his group alive.
My mind probed into his, grasping and shaping his fear like a piece of clay. “Throw your weapons down if you don’t want to be cut down like your friends,” I intoned menacingly. “The information you provide could spare your life.”
The young man blanched, eyes wide. He spared a fearful glance toward the cave entrance, then met my gaze. He threw down his weapons.
“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me! Just let me go,” he whimpered.
“Smart man.”
We spent a bit of time shopping in Mirabar, one of the largest cities we’ve seen in this adventure. There were some solid magic items to be had, namely some Mithral Armor (half plate) and a Sentinel Shield.
Since I plan on multi-classing into paladin next level, I was all over that armor. I sold as much loot as I could, and still had to borrow a few coins from Bryseis, who just won the damn lottery from selling the pearls from Drufi’s helmet.
We strode into the tavern, smelling of smoke and seawater. We hadn’t so much as sat down after our trip from Hundelstone before we were forced to deal with yet another giant-related crisis here in Luskan.
At least this time the giants were already dead. If only every city had a powerful conclave of wizards to defend them.
With evening setting in we opted to unwind at the local tavern and canvas the locals for any pertinent information before turning in for the night.
Despite what must have been a terrifying attack just hours ago, the tavern was full of patrons. I suppose everyone deals with terror in their own way.
“T.I.M.,” Halfred whispered excitedly, “this is where you challenge them to a drinking contest!”
T.I.M.’s eyes lit up in a familiar way. He ambled to the middle of the room and shouted in his disarmingly friendly voice, “I challenge everyone in this bar to a drinking contest!”
Halfred practically clapped his hands in glee. “A drinking contest! Who’s in?” In an instant several older dockworkers, who looked like they practically lived here, accepted, their faces plastered with devilish grins.
Bryseis wasted no time and began collecting bets from curious onlookers, turning the entire event into a spectacle before I had any chance to react.
Our dragonborn sorcerer confidently walked up to the group, shotglass already in hand. “Oh, I’ll take you up on that,” she declared with twinkle in her eye.
I’m not totally thrilled with “Storm King’s Thunder” thus far. The linear intro in the beginning was, well, incredibly linear. Now that we’re braving the wide open world I’m finding it way too wide open.
T.I.M. made an alarming noise that I recognized as ‘danger.’ We looked up and saw three men repelling down the nearby cliff, their actions muffled by the raging river beside us.
Before I could shout a warning I heard a crackle of energy behind me. A white light exploded from all around us as a powerful blast of lightning surged from Bryseis’ fingers and slammed into the middle figure. He dangled helplessly on his rope, and I swear I saw the inside of his skeletal structure while electricity arced through his body.
T.I.M.’s eyes lit up and he raised a steady hand. Another of the attackers suddenly seized up, and also dangled precariously. Korinn laughed devilishly as I saw a translucent hand gently untie the knots holding the figure up. He plummeted a dozen feet to the ground – right into the waiting opening of Korinn’s Bag of Holding.
The Summer of vacations and reschedules continues! Just a small one this week. Instead of our usual Friday evening session, we’ll be going live tonight with “Storm King’s Thunder” at the same 7pm Central/10pm Eastern time. Catch us on YouTube as always.
I will try and get the recap up Friday morning.
We should be back to our regularly scheduled programming after that.
Tabletop gaming website Roll20.net released their quarterly report for Q2 2017. They break down some interesting stats on who’s playing what on the website.
Unsurprisingly, Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition reigns supreme, representing 52% of all games and over 62% of players. D&D is still the grand-daddy of tabletop RPGs and D&D 5E has been incredibly well received and nicely supported through regular campaign books and supplements.
Furthermore Roll20 has begun releasing official modules to D&D 5E campaigns, letting DMs purchase a ready-to-play adventure that can last 100 hours. We’re taking advantage of one right now in our “Storm King’s Thunder” campaign, and you can see my review of the Roll20 module “Curse of Strahd” (written and video). More Roll 20 Reviews coming soon! Continue reading “Over Half of Roll20 Players Play D&D 5E”
