Starfinder Drift Crisis GM Diary: Episode 2

Welcome back to the GM diary! If you missed the first chapter, head over here; if you haven’t watched Episode 2 yet, what are you waiting for! I got to hang out in the live chat for this one which was really fun, I’ll definitely stop by for future episodes as I can.

I don’t have as many “big thoughts” about this episode as I did the first one. I considered it sort of the second half of the opener: we’ve caused the Crisis, the ship is clearly in trouble, but let’s ratchet up the tension. I don’t want anybody relaxing for even a moment. We’re cutting power, we’re giving you a villain at the top of the ship, let’s go go go! No time to wait around!

Random Thoughts

• Gary is the funniest robot in the galaxy. The number of absolute banger lines Jim dropped during this stream is too high to count. His alignment is Lawful Lawful and he is in charge. I want a “Gary’s Best Lines” compilation on YouTube after this thing is over.
• Tahm is just the perfect calming voice for this group. He’s always got a drink ready to go, and London is so quick on his feet and so caring. In a crisis, Tahm’s on my list of people to stick near, no question.
• Lemme tell you something about Chelsea: she is a fantastic improviser. Every time I threw an NPC at her, she immediately gave them a name and decided who they were. Most of the time this is great! It means I don’t have to come up with stuff if she’s doing it, and it makes her a great scene partner. Other times it means she renames NPCs I’ve already named, like Quick & Jewel who got a surname because of her. But hey, who am I to complain, it’s a collaborative story!
• Speaking of collaborative stories, Michelle opening the door with her disguise abilities is the perfect example of doing this. I knew she had gone in hard on the Disguise skill and related feats, so I wanted to give her the chance to show them off. As a result, I made this panel able to be defused with Disguise! It’s easy. GMing is collaborative; let your players show off their cool toys!
• I had planned to have the players fight a cargo creep in the storeroom, but we didn’t end up having time for another combat, so I cut it. Maybe they’ll run into it later, who knows.
• Fashion check! This week’s shirt is my favorite piece of Voidmerch (but not the only one I’ll be wearing). It’s been my go-to GM uniform for a while now, though it’s starting to show its age.
• Don’t forget about Serion Vex, the security guard. He’ll show up again eventually…

What can you expect from Episode 3? Well, the lower decks are now without power, so the players are going to have to contend with that. Maybe there are some generators around? Sure would be a shame if someone had already taken control of them though…

Tune in next week!