All Rules | Downtime Rules

Isolation And Betrayal

Source Starfinder #10: The Diaspora Strain pg. 51
A common theme in horror is the loss of social safeguards. This situation happens because lines of communication and routes to safety are cut off. It also happens when those who maintain safety act inappropriately. Is the real danger the unknown pathogen loose in the colony, or the doctor who’s secretly infecting colonists with it for further tests?

Starfinder PCs don’t rely on authority figures often, but in a horror game, it’s important to hold even these rare appeals to authority at bay. When preparing your game, find ways to ensure authorities can’t be reached, are less effective in response to the menace than the PCs, or have an agenda or problem that makes them as dangerous as—or even part of—the menace. For example, Stewards might arrive in good faith to help fight the mind-controlling alien symbiotes, only for each to quickly fall victim to the invaders because one of them was already under the symbiotes’ control.

Archives of Nethys

All Rules | Downtime Rules

Isolation And Betrayal