Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-16: A Star’s Journey

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Product– Starfinder Society Scenario #1-02: Mystery of the Frozen Moon

System– Starfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price–  $5.99 here https://store.paizo.com/pathfinder-society-scenario-7-16/ 

TL; DR– Most of the map wasn’t used.  73%

Basics- Where’s Star?  An ally of the society has gone missing.  Can you find him?  What took them?

Mechanics or Crunch: The adventure is balanced, but there just isn’t much.  The players have a fight with some intro monsters, a small puzzle, and then a final skill challenge.  Those are all balanced, but it needs more.  Give the players and GM more to do. 4/5

Theme or Fluff– The story here is light.  The story shows something new, but even that is small. The characters meet something new, but then that’s about it.  Even the reason why Star is missing really isn’t explained, just solved.  That’s all due to the time constraints of the new adventures.  What’s here is good, but it needs more.  4/5

Execution: What’s here is good, but it needs more.  The standard Paizo polish is on display, but It needs more.  This adventure used the exact same map as the last published level 1-4 adventure.   That’s not great as almost ALL the level 1-4 use that, but then again, most of that map didn’t have stuff to do in it. No descriptions of anything.  Couple that with a small gripe about names, and this was five bucks for less than two hours of game.   3/5

Summary-Everything here is ok.  The encounters are ok. Social is ok. Puzzles are ok.  It just too short.  The goal is 2-3 hours.  This is maybe 1 hour if you don’t mess around.  I do online gaming and even with tech issues, a biobreak, folding sourdough, and wrapping up after, this was two hours.  The fact that most of the map lacked descriptions is also a major issue.  I can get past the map being reused again, but the fact that it’s not even covered makes this a problem.  Add more to these adventures.  Nothing is bad here, but it just needs more.73%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Starfinder Society Scenario #1-02: Mystery of the Frozen Moon

~ fineyoungmisanthrope ~ Leave a comment

Product– Starfinder Society Scenario #1-02: Mystery of the Frozen Moon

System– Starfinder 2nd Ed

Producer– Paizo

Price–  $5.99 here https://store.paizo.com/starfinder-society-scenario-1-02-mystery-of-the-frozen-moon/ 

TL; DR– Good, but length hurts product and story.  83%

Basics- What’s on the moon?  A new moon has been discovered, and there are ruins there.  What else could be stirring on the frozen moon?

Mechanics or Crunch: This adventure has a decent mix of combat, skills, and some social.  There are multiple NPCs that you get to know.  They don’t do much, but they help set the scenes for future adventures.  The combats are simple. There really are only two.  There is one major skill challenge as well.  I don’t hate this, given the design philosophy of the Starfinder society now.  It’s short, but there are the key pieces I want.  5/5

Theme or Fluff– There is a lot of story in a small package.  The story is light, but the adventure sets the stage for the future.  You meet multiple characters.  Those characters are there to help you learn the next pieces in the next adventures.  That’s again, not bad, but aside from some social, two combats, and a skill challenge, the story is light.  It does end on something big, so it works well enough.  4.5/5

Execution: Paizo is losing the Paizo polish to the internet.  The adventure features new creatures, as in any good Star Trek adventure, as they explore a new planet.  But it’s missing pieces, like pictures of the major NPCs.  I can’t find pictures of somethings anywhere.  Also, this adventure is 6 bucks for about 2 hours of RPG.  That’s kind of a lot for missing pictures of one of the two things you fight.  4/5
Summary– This adventure is good, but the changes in Paizo’s organized play are hurting the product.  The short adventures are ok, but it means there is less here.  I also have fewer physical products to look at or show the players.  Those changes hurt the product.  I enjoy the story and adventure, but the constraints hurt the product.   83%