GM Fuzzfoot's Starfinder #1-01: The Commencement - GameDay 6 (Inactive)

Game Master PJP

"Seems like a job wel done. I enjoyed that last part..they were almost worthy opponents."

"What task shall we undertake next?"

The Lasunta smiles.

"It's nice we were able to give her a new lease on life... hopefully, she doesn't have any more... 'lapses'..."

When the subject of what to do next comes up, the Lashunta shrugs.

"How about the next one on the list?"

The rat looks at the rifle with glee, but then realizes he's not so good with rifles.. "Why couldn't have been a sniper rifle.."

That makes no sense to me btw. Proficient with sniper rifles, but not normal rifles..

"Let's head over to the Acquisitives and see them next."

"Sure, why not..let's go there."

If nobody else wants the rifle I'll take it for now, maybe we need to do cold damage at somepoint

"Off to see Radaszam then!"

"Works for me. The more knowledge we gain the better off we are!"

The Acquisitives’ leader, Radaszam “The Dealmaker” (N male vesk operative), manages the deployment of the Acquisitives and his personal mercenary outfit, the Obsidian Spiders. He keeps a public-facing office for this purpose in the Nyori Palisades, a luxurious neighborhood located in Absalom Station’s transparent central dome.

The plain white doors of the office slide open to reveal a stark, dimly lit room. The chamber is bleak and expressionless in its emptiness—no vanities line its smooth black walls, and no signs of use mar its smooth black furniture. The only occupants of the suite are a bug-eyed tadpole wriggling in a glowing blue aquarium and a reptilian vesk seated behind an onyx desk.

The vesk gestures to a number of chairs in front of him, his features sharply illuminated by the light of his desk’s green holoscreen.

“The new graduates,” he greets, in a low and pleasant voice. “Good day. I am Radaszam, though since you are here, I should hope you already knew.

“I trust you are aware of our Society’s traditions, so I will cut to the point. I have a minor situation that needs resolution. One of our members, a human named Laboni, had a rather public altercation with a junk scavenger from the Spike. You might be more familiar with the scavenger than I, actually; he is a ysoki who fancifully calls himself
Ratrod. I am told he runs a popular racing competition that has, hmm, several hundreds of thousands of viewers on the station’s infosphere. For some reason, Laboni felt the need to tell him that any ‘real’ mechanic could easily beat the garbage that Ratrod and his associates slap together. Now that Ratrod has issued an infosphere-wide demand that she race him and prove it, Laboni doubts she can back that claim up.

“Embarrassing, isn’t it? Not really the sort of troublemaker that suits our Society. Perhaps she would be better suited to the bottom of a trash compactor... Well, we cannot afford to throw her out, not after so many Starfinders were lost in the Scoured Stars. Besides, we can’t let people think we are so weak that we can’t control our own members, or that we cannot stand up to a scrapyard junker. No, I would like you to assist Laboni in winning this race. Show our detractors that even the least of our Society is not someone to be trifled with.”

"Right. So, there seems to be three main things we need to do - scope out the course, scope out the competition, and build a racer..."

"Sounds about right.. We can see what we can do to help the situation. Does Laboni have a racer already or is she in need of building one? Where's the race being held?"

Radaszam gives you directions to the race’s location in Botscrap and hands them badges identifying you as Laboni’s official pit crew.

"Yes, she has a racer, but I don't know any of the details. You should not delay as you will need as much time as they can to help with the race."

"Alright, let's go!"

"I'm sure I could help her out a bit. I could take a look at the racer's electronics to see if anything could be optimized. I have some experience piloting too, and I'm sure I could give her some pointers. Is Laboni expecting us and aware of the situation?"

"Sounds like it could be fun,spending a day at the race tracks. Let's go"

"I agree. If we all put our heads together, we're sure to be able to upgrade the racer." responds the android.

Grabbing a badge, she turns to leave.

"Yes, she has asked for help."

You head to the track. Laboni, a young female human mechanic, is easy to find in the crowd due to her paisley clothes and bright white lab coat. She is in her late teens and appears sheepish about the whole debacle.

"OH! Thank you! I really need some help here!"

Laboni, to her credit, is a skilled mechanic and has worked hard to pull together a decent racer from the piles of junk in Botscrap. Unfortunately, despite her heroic efforts, Laboni’s machine is not a match for vehicles that have been tested and improved over the course of multiple junkraces. She is not a pilot and has no experience with weaponry.

This is a weird section. Basically, we will be using a modified version of the vehicle chase rules, beginning on page 282 of the Starfinder Core Rulebook. Each turn of the race includes two phases: First, all the competitors fire their weapons at their chosen targets. Second, all the pilots attempt Piloting checks to determine their positions in the race. Any number of players can each control a single weapon during the firing phase, whereas only one player can act during the piloting phase.

However, before we get to the race, each of you can take four actions before the race, which they may use to improve Laboni’s vehicle or engage with the other racers (detailed below). You can use an action to aid another to assist each other’s rolls.
After this time, the race begins, although the PCs can still assist Laboni from the sidelines. Further information on how you can spend their actions is detailed below.

Can we take 10 again here?

My understanding is you can take 10 pretty much anytime you are not in combat (or similar distractions). So yes, that is perfectly fine here. During the race, not so much....

Thats fine, I just wasn't sure if it was diff than pfs etc..

Squee gets to work on the racer, modifying controls, armor, and weapons.. A quick tune up on the engine gains a bit of speed as well.

He can take ten and beat the DC on Computers and Engineering. So she gains all listed upgrades?

If he has time afterwards he can take 10 Investigating the Enemy, and Sabotage to beat the DC's required.

Quickly getting to work on the vehicle with Squee, the android considers 'For lacking mechanical parts, this creature is quite efficient.'[//i]

She works on increasing the reactions of the controls and the speed of the vehicle, before taking a break to head over to Ratrod's racer and quietly tinker with his controls. [i]'That should make it harder to steer this hunk'.

Cautiously she makes her way back to their car and gives it a quick once over. Noting the vehicle is lacking an energy weapon, she slaps one on.

Squee; it takes time to do something and we get 4 actions..so I think you can pick 4 upgrades out of the list. We also get 4 investigate checks on the other racers as part of this...or you can forgo one improvement to investigate all the opponents....but I think we want all the improvements we can get

I don't have any of the skills to do any of that so I'm going to start with socializing which doesn't seem to require a skill checkand see what that get us

Scratching his bone beard Revvy looks at the pile of mechanical components and wonders if he can use any of the more heavier parts to just bash in an opponents skulls ..and then remembers there's most likely a rule preventing doing just that.

As he wanders around he notices some of the competition nearby and he ambles over

"Hey, you've been doing this for long? Got any tips for a newbie?"

Squee will concentrate his efforts on the racer then granting +2 to both EAC and KAC, a +1 attack modifier, and install and kinetic weapon to go along our our energy weapon..

So it has everything but the extra -2 to penalties.. Perhaps someone else can get those.. EDIT: Looks like Turmoil can use two actions to do that with computers!

It says bonuses stack..so I think we could also just take the same improvement multiple times. Say 8 times speed for +40 speed..but more guns = more better..not sure we could fire 8 guns at the same time though..but it sounds...intriguing ;)

If thats the truth I may change my actions.. Although spreading the upgrades seems to make a more well rounded racer..

Ugh had a post and the site was giving me issues and ate it. Taking 10 on computers for the last upgrade available. Wanted to get this posted so I didn't hold up anything

-Posted with Wayfinder

"Hey, you've been doing this for long? Got any tips for a newbie?"

"Newbie? This ain't no place for a newbie."

Out from under the hood pops a small female... gnome. She winks at you and says "Name's Lemgem. Nice to meet you rookie. What sort of tips ya lookin' for?"

---------------
You current racer (after the modifications listed below):
BASIC JUNKRACER
Speed 45 ft., full 400 ft.
EAC 12; KAC 14
Attack energy weapon (–4 to Piloting)
Attack energy weapon (–4 to Piloting)
Attack kinetic weapon (–4 to Piloting)
Modifiers +3 Piloting, –2 attack
Passengers 1
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Remote Control: Laboni’s junkracer and weaponry can be remotely controlled by the PCs, allowing them to make attack rolls and attempt Piloting checks in her place.

Daph-9: +1 Pilot modifier, +5ft to speed, added energy weapon to ours Gave Ratrods vehicle -4 piloting
Squee: +2 to both EAC and KAC, a +1 attack modifier, and install and kinetic weapon to go along our our energy weapon..
Raia: ???? I didn't understand what you meant by last upgrade
Revvy: fact finding

William: no actions yet
Qaru: no actions yet

"Well how to win would be nice" Revvy says with a grin

"..but I'm sure you wouldn't give you that away?..no? Can't blame a guy for trying..."

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Revvy..one of Laboni's pit crew. We're here to help her win against Ratrod. But to be honest, winning the race would be nice..but right now I'd just settle for now loosing to Ratrod. Someone should take down that guy a peg or 2. Do you have any insight in that? Weak spots? Maybe he's blind in his left eye and we can easily hit him on that side..or sneak up on him and pass him more easily or something? Maybe we can work together and team up against him? Do you know anyone else who would be willing to help us gang up on him?"

While the others sprint to work on the racer, Qaru finds a nice place in shade, and sits down to observe the competition.

So spending one action to observe all competition
Sense motive, take ten: 10 + 7 = 17

Afterwards, he walks over to the racer, staring at it in puzzlement. He has no understanding of engines nor vehicles, and no idea how to work with them. But he knows the universe will provide. So Qaru meditates next to the vehicle, and waits. And blocking off the voices of mundane world, he hears a pitched noise coming from the scrapyard - the whine of a turbo-charged battery. And thinking this would be a useful addition to the racer, he installs that into the weapon system.
Perception, take ten: 10 + 7 = 17

Two actions left. Note that Qaru can easily succeed in the upgrades, but has zero chance in sabotage. So if we could change the actions, perhaps Squee or Daph-9 could use some of their actions in sabotage instead?

Can upgrades be applied more than once? If not, I don't think there is much I can contribute...

@William - Yes, I believe they can be applied more thn once.

Qaru discovers that tThere are five other pilots in the competition: Lemgem, Nyizin, Orsis, Ratrod, and Velocity.

@Qaru - you can make a DC 15 Sense Motive check, or examine their opponents’ vehicles with a DC 15 Engineering check for each one of the competitors. For each successful check, you can ask one pertinent question about the pilot’s skill or about the vehicle the pilot is driving (depending on which roll you made). Or you can ask me to just give you something useful if you aren't sure what to ask.)

@Revvy - make me a diplomacy check, please.

In that case, I will spend my four actions improving the racer's speed by 10', and giving it an additional +2 on Piloting checks.

Diplomacy: 1d20 ⇒ 18

I'm making Sense motive checks, taking ten to succeed always. I really don't know what to ask, so tell me something good :)

If the upgrades can be applied more than once, then I spend my remaining two actions to give yet additional +2 on Piloting checks

Sorry, I was going of Squee's comment about only 1 upgrade being left.

So Raia's 4 actions: 1 action each to upgrade each of the 3 weapons to do an additional -2 penalty to enemy piloting, final action to gain +1 attack.

Revvy and Lemgem hit it off nicely! She considers an alliance, and finally accepts. Lemgem agrees to take second place and does her best to weaken the position of racers ahead of Laboni’s vehicle.

"Oh, and watch out for Ratrod’s energy absorption ability!"
Once per round, Ratrod may absorb a successful energy attack against him and convert the Piloting penalty imposed by the weapon into an equivalent Piloting bonus.

Qaru and Revvy spends some more time trying to scope out the other racers.

A short conversation with LemGem reveals she is obsessed with continual alterations to herself and her racer, to the point where her vehicle modifications skirt the bounds of common sense.

Nyizin, a femal Ryphorian, is still bearing the scars of the fight that killed her dragonkin partner. You think Nyizin is a racer with an death wish. She seems intent to win.

Orsis is a stoic, dark-haired lashunta who looks unfairly good in black and gold. As you approach, you think he is trying to read your mind.
MR: 1d20 ⇒ 19
Luckily, it is mostly an exercise in vanity, and he is not offended by you. Maybe spending some more time with him, you could try to get some hints or tricks. (Diplomacy check if you want to pursue this).

Ratrod is a ysoki with mottled gray-and-white fur. He has a showman’s personality to match his icon status. People in the Spike consider him something of a hero to the ysoki-dominated Scrap Union. You sense that you might be able to put him off his game with soem trash-talk (intimidation), but that could hurt you if he gets the lead.

Velocity is a beautiful android with silver hair and skin. They have self-modified to have both masculine and feminine attributes, and have decorated their clothing, eyelids, and lips with bright, colorful patterns. While the android is a very good pilot, they struggle with engineering and have never won a race—they have mostly sought entertainment by shooting at other racers during previous competitions. They might be coerced into an alliance, but it would likely conflict with Lemgem's aid, and would require you to help them boost their speed.

Seeing what ou have done with the racer, Laboni is excited. "Oh, yeah!" she shouts. "I will certainly have a chance now. What will you name it?"

----------------

YOUR JUNKRACER
Speed 55 ft., full 400 ft.
EAC 12; KAC 14
Attack energy weapon (–8 to Piloting)
Attack energy weapon (–6 to Piloting)
Attack kinetic weapon (–6 to Piloting)
Modifiers +7 Piloting, –1 attack
Passengers 1
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Remote Control: Laboni’s junkracer and weaponry can be remotely controlled by the PCs, allowing them to make attack rolls and attempt Piloting checks in her place.

Daph-9: +1 Pilot modifier, +5ft to speed, added energy weapon to ours Gave Ratrods vehicle -4 piloting
Squee: +2 to both EAC and KAC, a +1 attack modifier, and install and kinetic weapon to go along our our energy weapon..
Raia: upgrade each of the 3 weapons to do an additional -2 penalty to enemy piloting, gain +1 attack.
Qaru: Observe all (sense motive), upgade a weapon, +2 piloting
William: +10 speed, +2 pilot
Revvy - social information

Prior to the start of the race, the vehicles set up at the starting line, and they take off when given the signal. Laboni is technically piloting her vehicle, but since she lacks the necessary racing skills, she needs your help to compete.

Each turn of the race includes two phases: First, all the competitors fire their
weapons at their chosen targets. Second, all the pilots attempt Piloting checks to determine their positions in the race. Any number of players can each control a single weapon during the firing phase, whereas only one player can act during the piloting phase.

Actions during each of the race phases occur simultaneously, so there is no need to
determine an order or initiative.

Phase One: All racers may fire their weapons by rolling a ranged attack roll against their target competitor’s vehicle EAC (for energy weapons) or KAC (for kinetic weapons), with a bonus or penalty equal to the vehicle’s attack modifier. Each weapon can be fired only once per round. Successful weapon attacks impose Piloting penalties that last for the rest of the turn.

Phase Two: Once all the weapons have been fired and the relevant Piloting penalties have been applied to each driver, each racer must attempt a DC 16 Piloting check, modified by the vehicle’s Piloting bonus. Success means the vehicle moves at its
full speed along the track (for the purposes of this race, assume a junkracer’s full speed is equal to the vehicle’s speed × 10). Failure causes the vehicle to crash into piles of junk on the sidelines, forcing it to move at half speed (the vehicle’s speed × 5) on the circuit; failure by more than 10 points causes the vehicle to get stuck and not move at all for that round.

The Track: The racing circuit is 3,000 feet long, and whoever crosses the finish line first is the winner. If multiple vehicles cross the finish line on the same round, whoever is farther across is the winner; if multiple vehicles tie for this distance, the race is a tie.

"Guys...don't use the energy weapon on Ratrod it might power him up instead of disabling him..some sort of energy absorbing mesh around his engine..blast him apart with the kinetic guns. Oh..and if at all possible, try to avoid hitting Lemgem - the gnome. She's on our side."

Just checking..we can split the tasks of shooting and piloting between us..or is there 1 remote controller and only one of us can do stuff? I have a +4 to shoot..but no piloting skill

1 pilot, 1 gunner per gun. If anyone is feeling left out, they can run Lemgem's racer.

Revvy takes control of the biggest - or only- kinetic gun with a wide grin on his face.

After the racers take off he draws a line of fire to Ratrods vehicle and pushing the fire button

To hit KAC: 1d20 - 1 + 4 ⇒ (12) - 1 + 4 = 15

Squee takes the helm of Laboni's racer..

Piloting: 1d20 + 10 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 10 + 7 = 36

"PEDAL TO THE METAL!!"

Just want to be clear and make sure I'm reading this correctly in the CRB. My understanding is that when firing vehicle weapons we use whatever out normal ranged modifier would be, and then the penalty for the weapon? So BAB + Dex? Not that this applies to this character, but what about size bonuses?

BAB +0, DEX bonus +0, so I can sit this one out :) Of course, I'll help if there's anything surprising happening. Or, can I use aid another for shooting or piloting?

I don't suppose I can use my exocortex for this. :-P

Grabbing the controls of their big cannon, Daph-9 twirls around and sites in the one with a death wish. "Hey, this is kind of fun. That should slow her down."

Energy weapon vs Nyizin (-8 to Piloting): 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (17) + 3 - 1 = 19

Remembering what Lemgem told them about Ratrod's ability to absorb energy weapons, Raia fires the kinetic one at the ysoki's racer.

Kinetic weapon vs Ratrod: 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (14) + 3 - 1 = 16

It looks like this section references chase rules in the core rulebook, and then completely ignores them! Everything looks different, starting with this race is shoot first, then drive rather than otehr way around. I would say based on the text, no aid another, and probably nto much in the way of external aid either since you are working remote control and not actually on the vehicle.

As the racers approach the starting line, you get organized around your remote control station. Laboni climbs aboard and eaves at you. Lemgem gives Revvy a wink and straps in.

The announcer starts off by introducing the contestants. You realize you still haven't given your junkracer a name!

"In position 1, we have The Monster, piloted by that most flamboyant Lemgem! In position 2, Orsis is operating a spherical racer, Rolling Thuinder!" Parts of the crowd cheer as each racer is named.

"In Lane 3, let's give it up for Nyizin on Smooth-As-Snot! It's a sleek racer, and as many of you know, Nyizin lost her companion in the last race, and means to win this one for the lizard! Perhaps at any cost...."

"Look at the guns on Lane 4, folks! It is the pretty-bot Velocity driving his/her craft, the Glass Cannon! Not 1, not 2, but 3 weapons are visible on that one."

"In Lane 5, another heavily weaponed junker, the ... um.... well, it doesn't have a name, but we ALL have hear of her pilot, the upstart, Laboni!" Some cheers, some jeers, and a fair amount of laughter is heard.

"And finally, needing no introduction, but as he pays my bills he'll get one anyway.... Ratrod!" The crowd goes wild. "Of course, Ratrod is flying his customary Blue Steel, and today has some punishment to dish out."

"And the count down has started! Place your bets, folks! And remember, no shooting from the stands!"

"BEEP.... BEEP.... BEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

And your off!

Out of the gate, there is an immediate flurry of activity as each racer starts with a jolt!

Round 1. Phase 1 (Weapon targets)
Energy Weapon A (Daph-9) - targeting Nyizin, scored a 19
Energy Weapon B (???)
Kinetic Gun (Revvy) - targeting Ratrod, scored a 15

Round 1. Phase 2 (Piloting)
Squee - 36

Is anyone on E-Gun B?

I missed that Revvy was already on the kinetic gun. So change Raia to the other energy weapon, she'll fire at Orsis. Roll was a 16.

The announcer continues to describe the race.

"Look at 'em go, folks! Right out of the gate, weapons firing! It looks like Ratrod shot Laboni, and Lemgem hits Ratrod, driving him into the wall! Velocity targets Lemgem, Laboni and Nyizin, hitting every time, and causing Lemgem and Nyizin to colide! Orsis tries to pull ahead, but Laboni hits it with an energy blast, spinning it on the wrong axis. Laboni pulls ahead! She is now at the 500 ft mark! In second place is Nyizin at about 375', and Velocity at only 200'. Everyone else is still stuck at the start! This race looks over before it even starts!"

Round 2 rolls?

Turning her weapon back on Nyizin, she fires another round. 'Would like to get some more distance from that one' she considers.

Energy Weapon (-8): 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (14) + 3 - 1 = 16

"Hold together baby!! Shake and Bake!!"

Piloting: 1d20 + 10 + 7 - 8 ⇒ (1) + 10 + 7 - 8 = 10 Burning my shirt re-roll here
Piloting: 1d20 + 10 + 7 - 8 ⇒ (15) + 10 + 7 - 8 = 24

As Daph fires her weapon at Nyizin, Raia decides to hit the next closer racer, Velocity. "Wow, good driving Squee, this thing's fast!"

Energy weapon vs Velocity: 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (19) + 3 - 1 = 21

Do these weapons have range increments we need to be concerned about?