Starfinder (Redshift Rally)

We’re No Heroes

Spoiler Free

[EDITORS NOTE: If this is your first experience with the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, you may want to consider starting with my previous review of the Core Rulebook. -dc]

So, I’ve been on the road a lot more than usual for the last year. One of the results of that is that it’s been WAY too long since I’ve sat down with Starfinder anything, so as soon as I saw Redshift Rally I knew it was something I needed to dig into. “I wonder if there will be new rules for racing?” I ask myself. Wait, there doesn’t need to be new rules. All the rules they use during the races already exist. They even dig a bit deeper with the sleep deprivation rules that I don’t think I’ve ever used in any game that has anything like them (because similar rules do exist in other games.)

As always, I’ll be doing my best to remain spoiler free, and as always I never consider the back cover synopsis as a spoiler, which is a great way to sum things up:

It’s the 30th anniversary of the Absalom Run starship race, and to celebrate, the organizers have greatly expanded the event… and the prize money! When an accident in the qualifying heat takes an accomplished pilot out of the race, the heroes must step in to help starship manufacturer Redshift Revolution against the machinations of their dastardly competitor Terminator. In a series of rallies over land, across sea, and through the air, the heroes will face off against alien threats, try to win over the media, and most importantly, beat the Terminator racers across the finish line!

“Redshift Rally” is a complete Starfinder adventure for 7th-level characters written by Jessica Catalan, and features details on the history of the Absalom Run and its current competitors, a pair of weird alien creatures, new spells and vehicle upgrades, and a new archetype perfect for players with a need for speed!

So with that out of the way, let the races begin. But begin in what? One of the first things after designing a new character (if desired) is for the players to collectively design the Redshift Revolution X-66 using the rules in the Core Rulebook and the Starship Operations Manual, although there are default stats in the book as well, and there are additional modifications allowed to your ship before most races.

Each race in the Absalom Run Rally is separated into a certain number of phases, with each phase providing opportunities and challenges for the players. The challenges require different skill checks that can be made by any of the players on the crew and at the end of each phase, the player actually piloting the X-66 may roll a Piloting check to increase (or possibly decrease) what is called their Rally Score. For all intents and purposes, your Rally Score is just a numerical way to determine your placement within the individual race and the rally as a whole. The results of the choices and checks made during each phase can, and usually will, have an impact on your Rally Score or the piloting check at the end of the phase.

Each of the five races in the adventure is incredibly unique, as are the requirements to succeed at them. But what happens in between the races is every bit as important as the races themselves. Players will have the opportunity to interact with the other teams and with members of the media, aboard the mobile space station called the Pit Stop.

Because this is a standalone product, there is a bit more flexibility in its formatting of it. Chapter one contains the introductory matter and the first part of the adventure, which is almost introductory stuff itself. The real adventure starts with Chapter two that has the first four races in it. Chapter three is mostly full of events that happen onboard the Pit Stop in between the races, and Chapter Four concludes the adventure with the final race and everything that happens after. 

Next is a five page in-game editorial look at the competitors by retired racer, and popular sports commentator, “Awesome” Ace Avarin. This is an absolutely fabulous bit of character building and exposition. Long time readers may know that I’m a huge fan of Scott Sigler, and this piece has the same excitement and enthusiasm that comes in the form of The Galaxy’s Greatest Sports Show in his Galactic Football League series. It’s not often I care about the background NPCs in an adventure, but seriously Paizo, you need a loose series of standalone adventures all connected by these media personalities. 

Then we move into the Adventure Toolbox, which starts with a History of the Absalom Run. In any other adventure, this would have fit just fine. But, after the astonishing bit of commentary preceding it, felt very much like a missed opportunity to give a similar sort of treatment to a similar sort of information. After that we got a new Archetype, The Racer, followed by a list of “Spells of Movement” that I am unclear if they are new spells or just compiled from previous sources. That lack of clarity is a bit unusual given how clear it normally is. For example, there are two new vehicles presented next, and a list of new vehicle modifications with a note about finding more information in the Tech Revolution book. The book then closes out with a pair of big scary new monsters that appear in the adventure. How big, you ask? Sorry, that would be a spoiler, and I promised no spoilers.

This is an interesting adventure. It 100% could have been pitched as a full six-part Adventure Path, but works perfectly well as a standalone. But I will say that the pacing could feel a bit off depending on how your players handle the between-race shenanigans. Another approach for a creative GM to take would be to ignore almost everything but the races and just run your own campaign adventures in between them, letting the characters make their own way to each race. 

Regardless of how you want to run Redshift Rally, it’s a terrific time and well worth picking up. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go look for some Hanna-Barbara Wacky Races videos.

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