GM bigboom |
I'm a brand new GM, so please bear with me if I hit a few bumps along the way. If you see any issues or have any suggestions, please definitely let me know - it would be much appreciated!
The expected posting frequency is a minimum of once per day, ideally. Of course real life intervenes and our availability to post may get hampered once in a while, which is fine. If you know you'll be absent for a few days or more, please let us know in the discussion thread along with any instructions regarding how you'd like your character to be handled in your absence. If I know I'll be absent, I'll be sure to inform the group as well.
In combat, the goal is to have at least one round of combat finish every 24 hours. Therefore, if a player does not post within a 24 hour period, I will bot the character. If you have any specific instructions with how you'd like your character botted (especially with respect to spell or consumables usage), please list them in your character sheet. Otherwise, I'll bot your character using my best judgement.
With starship combat, the goal of completing at least one round every 24 hours remains the same. To keep things moving along, I'll execute the piloting 'initiative' rolls before each round. Over the next 24 hours, each player should declare their crew action and take their rolls. Once that's done, I'll string together and list the outcomes of the engineering, helm, and gunnery phases, as well as provide the piloting 'initiative' rolls for the next round. Again, if a player does not post within a 24 hour period, I'll bot the character per character sheet instructions or using my best judgement.
Out of combat, if a player has not posted within a 24 hour period, I'll assume their character remained silent and took no action, then I'll try to move things along as best I can depending on the situation. In some cases, if it helps move things along, I'll roll perception or other 'mandatory' rolls for the group (such as saves). When taking any action, if you believe a roll may be relevant, go ahead and include it in your post. If it applies, I'll definitely take it into account!
Naboh Berrnshaw |
Interested!
Mechanic (Ace Pilot)/1
Starship roles: Pilot (+12), Engineer (+10), Science (+8), Gunner (+5)
Lysle |
Sev
Male Android Scholar Technomage 2
SP 12/12 HP 14/14 RP 5/5 | EAC:13 KAC:14 | F:+1 R:+2 W:+3 | Init:+2 | Perc:+0 Darkvision 60ft | Move:30ft | Laser rifle, azimuth +4 (1d8 F, 1d6 burn)
Technomage (Scholar) 2
Starship roles: Engineer (+10), Science (+9) Gunner (+9), Pilot (+7)
If I am in, then this will be my first PbP in well-over a decade, so feel free to treat me like a newbie.
I plan to play this character at a FLGS event tomorrow, but will be available starting 1/7/18.
GM bigboom |
If I am in, then this will be my first PbP in well-over a decade, so feel free to treat me like a newbie.
I plan to play this character at a FLGS event tomorrow, but will be available starting 1/7/18.
No worries, Lysle, so long as you're okay with having this character tied up in a PBP game for a while.
Naboh and Lysle, no need to re-post but everyone else who would like to apply, please post your character details here: CLICK
GM bigboom |
Naboh and Lysle, if you haven't already, please see my recruitment update over in the recruitment thread. Thanks!
GM bigboom |
Regarding starship roles, based upon what I see stat-wise, I've listed what I think would be your ideal distribution. Bear in mind that there can be only one captain and one pilot. There can be any number of engineers, science officers, and gunners.
Also, characters can change roles from round-to-round, although that tends to be rare and may be a bit cumbersome for players to coordinate via PBP, but it can be done!
And of course, this is my suggestion only...feel free to change this around as desired, especially if I misread anyone's stats.
Captain: Padme' (Diplomacy +6)
Pilot: Naboh (+12)
Engineer: Fixit (+11)
Science: Sev (+9)
Secondary Science: Dyukela (+2)
Gunners: Remi (+4), Id-Sinitis (+4)
Naboh Berrnshaw |
Yesssssssssss.
Padme' |
GM just to let you know b4 this adventure begins: I will use my 2 fame to purchase The Wayfinders Champion boon, and slot it.
ps. fine with my Starship role
Padme' |
So as an envoy with just a laser pistol as my only weapon...I don't want to be first or second in marching order or to go through a door ect..
I put myself 3rd in line hope that doesn't step on anyone's toes.
GM bigboom |
Having just realised that this scenario is a Wayfinders tagged one, I'm going to switch characters to the one that has the Wayfinders Champion boon.
Sure thing. Just get your character sheet up, details into the slides, and your initial post into the gameplay thread.
Twik – “The Jack” |
All done. Being last to arrive, Twik is listed as first in line for the marching order. Lacking a true melee presence, my suggestion would be for one of our Level 2's to volunteer to lead.
If there are no volunteers then I guess Twik will do it but he will lead his way - from the shadows. (Stealth +11).
Id-Sinitis |
Starship roles look good to me! Also, my sheets and headers are now up to date.
Remi of Castrovel |
The slide currently has the two operatives in front - so should we expect to lead the way in stealth mode? We each only have 6 SP, so we will probably need some healing over the course of the mission.
Id-Sinitis |
My best role is as a spellcaster, but if we really need someone with more health in front I can take the lead.
Sev+ |
My best role is as a spellcaster, but if we really need someone with more health in front I can take the lead.
Same here. Sev's combat specialty is longarms enhanced with spellcasting. However, I will move Sev to the front. (Actually, I thought I had, but now realize that the arrow was pointing to the front, not the back.)
GM bigboom |
No need to slot that. Once you've played the required number of adventures, you then earn the personal boon. After that, you slot the personal boon into the new character you create that is one of the races that the boon allows you to select. Did that make sense?
Id-Sinitis |
Crud, in hindsight I should have purchased some faction boons. I wanted the Improved Drift Engine and First Contact Step-In before this adventure, but we'll make due. @GM Can I pick up those boons after this adventure? Also, does online play qualify for the Worldwide Explorer Boon?
Sev+ |
No need to slot that. Once you've played the required number of adventures, you then earn the personal boon. After that, you slot the personal boon into the new character you create that is one of the races that the boon allows you to select. Did that make sense?
It does. Thanks!
GM bigboom |
Crud, in hindsight I should have purchased some faction boons. I wanted the Improved Drift Engine and First Contact Step-In before this adventure, but we'll make due. @GM Can I pick up those boons after this adventure? Also, does online play qualify for the Worldwide Explorer Boon?
Yep, you can buy boons at the end of an adventure and usually at the beginning of one as well.
As for the Worldwide Explorer Boon, no, it unfortunately doesn't count for online play: CLICK
Remi of Castrovel |
Since it took a bit of clicking around for me to remember where the revised starship combat DCs live, I'll drop a link here so I don't have to go hunting again: http://paizo.com/starfinder/faq#v5748eaic9w55
Naboh Berrnshaw |
"Sorry Captain, there's nothing I can do until we get in a better position."
No action this round
I'm unclear on this. I believe party members can change positions relatively freely between rounds (whether it's a Move action behind the scenes that's usually unused, or a Quick action to select a different control screen). So if there's a working weapon in firing range, Remi can use it. Is there a ruling on this somewhere?
And I realize it's a moot point right now since the Pegasus doesn't have an Aft weapon.
Remi of Castrovel |
I guess I just answered this in gameplay, but I could have fired any weapon if we had one that reached where the enemies are. Each weapon can only be fired once per round. Since you can only switch roles at the start of the round, once I"m committed to gunnery for this round there's nothing I can do.
We do have seven crew members, so I'm not too worried. If it turns out they're too agile and we can't keep in them in range of the laser cannons, I can switch to another role.
Sev+ |
Remi of Castrovel wrote:"Sorry Captain, there's nothing I can do until we get in a better position."
No action this round
I'm unclear on this. I believe party members can change positions relatively freely between rounds (whether it's a Move action behind the scenes that's usually unused, or a Quick action to select a different control screen). So if there's a working weapon in firing range, Remi can use it. Is there a ruling on this somewhere?
And I realize it's a moot point right now since the Pegasus doesn't have an Aft weapon.
Do the starship rules prohibit a player with no other action in the round from being able to aid Aid Another (Core, pg. 133)? If not, allowing Aid Another in starship combat ensures that a player will usually get to do something each round although I could see the potential for it to get out of hand with a large crew (like ours). Perhaps limit Aid Another to only one or two players per check in a round?
GM bigboom |
Technically, anyone can change their starship role to anything other role at the beginning of the round before the engineering phase, as long as the 1 pilot only and 1 captain only rule is adhered to.
In PBP of course, we can't always really logistically stick to this timing so we adapt it just as we adapt other mechanics as best we can to make things workable in a PBP setting. So when it comes to starship combat via PBP, I'm not really fussed about it. If Remi spontaneously said in her post, "I'm switching to science to run an additional scan, and here's my computers roll..." then I'm going to allow it in PBP. Via VTT or in a face-to-face game I would require the player to inform me before the engineering phase started as per the rules.
PBP has obvious limitations, so I'm pretty confident in saying that all PBP GMs stick to the rules as best we can and where we need to compromise due to logistics, we will - so long as we're all still having fun, it's all good!
As for other questions:
- Yes, Remi could have fired any weapon from her position at the weapons console, but there are no rear arc weapons on the Pegasus. In fact, if Remi wanted to, she could've said 'Me FIRST! HA!' and fired the turret weapon before Id had a chance...leading to an escalation in a PBP weapons firing posting race!
- Aid another is called out as a specific Captain action labelled 'Encourage' so I would rule that only the Captain is in a position to roll an Aid Another check. I'm open to changing this interpretation tho if someone spots something written somewhere that would contradict this. If so, do let me know!
GM bigboom |
Sure, you could all have figured out the same numbers by looking above, but androids in sci-fi are well-known for re-stating the obvious!
And in some cases, non-androids as well! CLICK!
Remi of Castrovel |
I don't know, call me old fashioned but I still like it better when a person parses and shares info out loud, even if we could read the numbers ourselves. Even an android can give a human touch. ;)
Naboh Berrnshaw |
Um ok u all seem set on focusing on the Platform but I'm counting multiple guns trained on us fire without hindrance.
Sorry if I misinterpreted. You are Captain after all. I'll follow your orders as best I understand them.
Last thing I heard from you was asking for opinions and saying "Good job everyone! keep pouring on Remi..keep firing at the Platform."
I think the consensus is that our best bet is to take out Mama in hopes that the drones will be neutralized.
Padme' |
Padme' wrote:Um ok u all seem set on focusing on the Platform but I'm counting multiple guns trained on us fire without hindrance.Sorry if I misinterpreted. You are Captain after all. I'll follow your orders as best I understand them.
Last thing I heard from you was asking for opinions and saying "Good job everyone! keep pouring on Remi..keep firing at the Platform."
I think the consensus is that our best bet is to take out Mama in hopes that the drones will be neutralized.
Yeah u are kinda misinterpreting...As a (novice) player..it appears we would be better trying to knock out those drones as they come out or they'll over-whelm us..However, I'm not certain on the math..(guess I could crunch a few numbers but what fun is that?)..As a PC...Padme' may have her doubts...but she trust her crew ..so she'll go with their recommendations without hesitation most times...even if she has reservations.
My worry is meta...will we knock the platform out before there are 5-6 drones firing at us? We took the less armored and armed vehicle and decided to face off with this Bad boy..(I know partly my order too but I had plenty of support)...This platform still has plenty of HP..and 6 more drones to launch..so yeah kinda worried..
But, hey dying in a space battle will be just as fun as winning a space battle! That's why we play the game..!
So if you're worried about me not being happy that's not the case. I'm just not as sure on the attrition Math as the rest of you seem to be.
GM bigboom |
Hey guys, I did some asking around with other GMs and I've got some additional info for you all that may or may not help your decision making. Will post in the gameplay thread
Naboh Berrnshaw |
That does make a difference. Thanks for the extra effort. And it lends credence to the theory that the drones are adrift without Mama to control them.
Captain Padme', I await your orders. :-)
Naboh Berrnshaw |
Can I assume that Sev's signal jammers would break this encounter and are not effective to disable or degrade the drones?
GM bigboom |
This topic is a bit meta considering that we're still in the middle of the combat encounter and the party hasn't scanned the drone's special abilities yet, but it won't affect the outcome so it's okay to talk about it in parallel with the ongoing encounter.
I would say that the signal jammers would have an effect and I'd have to have a think about how significant it would be because there is grey area (in my mind) in terms of how the drone descriptions would interact with the signal jammer description. But the issue is, the jammers have a range of only 12 miles. Your ship would have to constantly stay within 12 miles of either the platform or a drone to have any effect.
While Starfinder doesn't define how wide a hex is, I would rule that space combat distances are far, far greater than 12 miles. I actually looked up distances of those big guns on real life naval battleships (which are now obsolete due to aircraft carriers) and from what I can tell, those guns already have a max range of more than 12 miles (in this example, 24 miles). So I figure if the range of naval warfare on a planet's ocean is already longer than 12 miles, then space combat is going to be many multiple orders of magnitude greater than that. At the very least, if two objects in space are 12 miles apart or closer, they would have to at least occupy the same map hex, which isn't allowed in combat.
We'd probably have to be in some kind of in-game cinematic sequence rather than combat to fly a ship as close as 12 miles to another ship then maintain that distance. Something like the 2:37 mark of this clip (which would be so awesome in Starfinder!!): Star Wars Clip
Anyways, this is my 2 cents on the topic...I definitely had a think about it when Sev originally brought it up. Do let me know if you have other thoughts though...or happen to find anything definitive about Starfinder space combat ranges. That would be good to know!
Naboh Berrnshaw |
I would concur on distances. Twelve miles is nothing on an interplanetary scale.
Would be good to get Official Word from Paizo at some point, though.
GM bigboom |
RAW, you could try to argue it that way. But the platform's drone launch ability says that it controls the drones, which potentially conflicts the Automated special ability. I believe RAI, the drones will cease to function after the platform is disabled.
So given that your characters have scanned enough to learn of these special abilities, you can assume that your characters know that taking out the platform will take out the drones as well.
Naboh Berrnshaw |
@GM, I'll take the success, but as I read the Flyby rules the DC should be 22 (assuming Yellow is a Tier 1 ship). Are they Tier -1?
GM bigboom |
This goes back to the Starfinder FAQ again and how it has overridden the CRB and lowered pretty much all starship-related DCs. Look at the Stunts DC section which states: 'For the flyby stunt, the DC of the Piloting check equals 15 + 1-1/2 times your starship's tier'
So the DC has been lowered AND it has been changed from the enemy ship's tier to your ship's tier. As a result, your DC is 18. Padme' and Naboo...errr I mean Naboh displayed some excellent team synergy with the stunt this round!
Naboh Berrnshaw |
Woot! Need to get the SRD website updated with this new info. I keep forgetting.
GM bigboom |
RAW, you could try to argue it that way. But the platform's drone launch ability says that it controls the drones, which potentially conflicts the Automated special ability. I believe RAI, the drones will cease to function after the platform is disabled.
So given that your characters have scanned enough to learn of these special abilities, you can assume that your characters know that taking out the platform will take out the drones as well.
Just FYI, I just noticed a bit of text in the scenario that I missed earlier that specifically stated that once the platform is destroyed, the drones cease to operate. So never mind my previous statement...it's clear RAW!
GM bigboom |
Hey Sev, I just wanted to commend for your interesting out-of-the-box thinking with those signal jammers. The more I think about it, the more I liked your idea, which I should've handled differently. For example, with your signal jammers on, I could've imposed a dice penalty to an enemy ship every time Naboh executes a fly-by stunt on that enemy ship. I'm going to keep this in mind when I run future scenarios!
Sev+ |
Hey Sev, I just wanted to commend for your interesting out-of-the-box thinking with those signal jammers. The more I think about it, the more I liked your idea, which I should've handled differently. For example, with your signal jammers on, I could've imposed a dice penalty to an enemy ship every time Naboh executes a fly-by stunt on that enemy ship. I'm going to keep this in mind when I run future scenarios!
Thanks for the encouragement, GM! Opportunities to try and think out-of-the-box is one of the reasons why I love pen & paper rpgs. Your ideas for how the signal jammers could have effected that battle are clever. I also liked your earlier idea of piggy-backing on the platform to prevent it from communicating with the drones, but even then there is a chance that the signal could get through (I knew Sev had only Tier 2 jammers and by the time scans revealed the abilities of the platform and drones, the battle seemed close to completion.
The RAW don't seem to contemplate starship "grappling"--a fairly common scifi tropes--which could conceivably been done through the use of tractor beams, grapple cables, or grapple arms (like in Outlaw Star). Likewise, they don't seem to support collisions--an even more common scifi trope--that even appeared in a popular
It seems like there remain some untapped opportunities for a rules expansion in the near future.
Sev+ |
Hey Sev, I just wanted to commend for your interesting out-of-the-box thinking with those signal jammers. The more I think about it, the more I liked your idea, which I should've handled differently. For example, with your signal jammers on, I could've imposed a dice penalty to an enemy ship every time Naboh executes a fly-by stunt on that enemy ship. I'm going to keep this in mind when I run future scenarios!
Thanks for the encouragement, GM! Opportunities to try and think out-of-the-box is one of the reasons why I love pen & paper rpgs. Your ideas for how the signal jammers could have effected that battle are clever. I also liked your earlier idea of piggy-backing on the platform to prevent it from communicating with the drones, but even then there is a chance that the signal could get through (I knew Sev had only Tier 2 jammers and by the time scans revealed the abilities of the platform and drones, the battle seemed close to completion.
The RAW don't seem to contemplate starship "grappling"--a fairly common scifi tropes--which could been done through the use of tractor beams, grapple cables, or grappler arms). Likewise, they don't seem to support collisions--an even more common scifi trope--that even appeared in a
It seems like there remain some untapped opportunities for a rules expansion in the near future.
Twik – “The Jack” |
I’ve just realised the Twiks pistol damage should be 1d6 not 1d4 that I rolled. Too late to edit now and instead of cluttering gameplay, I’ll just roll it here.
pistol damage: 1d6 ⇒ 5
GM bigboom |
Hey, I got a cousin that dances like that!
Naboh has a cousin for everything... you should buy a hireling faction ally boon and RP the ally as one of Naboh's cousins!
Naboh Berrnshaw |
I have shamelessly stolen this personality aspect from here.
How does one purchase a hireling fation ally boon?