|
Dart starts with the gnome Lemgem.
"Blessing of the Drinkless God to you on this fine race day! Have you heard about the grudge between Ratrod and Laboni? I find myself in the camp of the underdog of this bout"
Dart tries to gauge the gnomes reaction and see if she has any leanings one way or another. And will press the issue if it looks like there is something he could do to gain some favor.
Charli arrived late to the LemGem party, but she comes bearing a set of Brethedan Bubble teas that she brewed up! “Hey, you must be LemGem! When Dart and I heard that there was a gnome in the race, we just had to meet you! Do you like tea? I brought some from my stand, the Poshkettle...”
Charli pauses to look at LemGem spherical vehicle. “Whoa! That is the coolest thing I’ve seen so far today! It can be hardly called a junkbot! Is she a sweet ride?”
|
Kaylee succeeds at a total of 3 of her 4 checks, for a net total boost to your vehicle's speed of 15ft!
Orsis plays the role of a suave "cool dude" who is clearly racing for the attention. He's definitely a good pilot, and Kima thinks she recognizes him from underwear commercials on the infosphere somewhere in the last few months...but other than getting bogged down with him hitting on her, the conversation doesn't net any gains (as far as the upcoming race is concerned, at least).
Dart and Charli approach Lemgem. A short conversation 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. She is bubbly and happy and always wanting to try something different with every aspect of her life - she wants to live so that nothing is ever the same once she's done something once. You're pretty sure her driving during the race will be highly erratic which might give her a speed boost (or maybe even a speed penalty) at every turn!
Because you're being so friendly with her (i.e. blew the DC out of the water), you find yourselves with two options. You can either suggest a dangerous modification that will cause her engine to blow up at the start of the race and remove her from the competition entirely, or you can get her to ally with you against Ratrod (since allying with someone else and aiming for 2nd place instead of 1st is something she's definitely never tried before)!
Actions Used So Far:
Kaylee - Free + 4
Kima - Free + 2
Mikkazuki - Free + 1
Dart - Free + 1
Charli - Free + 1
Ch'aya - None
+1 Piloting
+15' Speed
|
|
Charli is not the Blowing Up type, and she's pretty sure that straight arrow Dart isn't, either. "Hey, LemGem, you're tired of ol RUTrod, right? Want to join forces? I have more tea, and we got Strawberry Machine Cake's new album, so we can rock out to tunes while we do it!"
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
”Hey, are you Velocity? I’d love to meet you and learn more about you. I brought tea if you’d like any.” Charli studies the beautiful android, hoping to figure out more about what motivates them.
|
|
Charli talks with Velocity, who does very much enjoy the tea Charli brings with her. After just a few minutes of talking, Charli comes to realize that Velocity is an exceptional pilot, but is a horrible engineer! Velocity has, in fact, never won a race—they have mostly sought entertainment by shooting at other racers during previous competitions.
Velocity is itching to drive something faster but does not have the expertise to make it happen. If someone from your pit crew were to do anything to make their racer better, Velocity would pledge themselves to help you out against Ratrod and the others, and try for a 2nd place finish behind your race vehicle!
Actions Used So Far:
Kaylee - Free + 4
Kima - Free + 2
Charli - Free + 2
Mikkazuki - Free + 1
Dart - Free + 1
Ch'aya - None
+1 Piloting
+15' Speed
+ Lemgem Ally
+ Velocity Ally (pending)
|
|
Charli waves Mikka over. ”Hey Mikka, this is my our new friend, Velocity. Did you know that they are wonderful at shooting other drivers? But their racer isn’t very fast. Can you help them?” She grins, and whispers conspiratorially, ”I bet if they can go a little faster, they can shoot Ratrod more!”
|
Mikkazuki frowns a moment, then comes over. I really should talk to her about etiquette. I haven’t given permission for her to shorten my name. On the other hand, she has proven quite helpful.
BOB is following behind.
Smiling at Velocity, she puts her fist over her heart and says “I am Mikkazuki. How may I help?”
After hearing the plan, she agrees to look over Velocity’s vehicle.
|
|
Charli, please make me your choice of a Culture check or a Profession check if you have anything military-related.
Also, feel free to share what you learned from Lemgem with the group, assuming Dart doesn't want to blow up Lemgem's vehicle (in which case it'll be an opposed check between you two as to which option happens).
|
|
Ch'aya is able to boost your vehicle's piloting, attack modifiers, and adds an extra on-board Kinetic Weapon!
Mikkazuki, by coming over and helping fine-tune Velocity's maneuverability (piloting modifier), has earned the android's cooperation - they will now ally with you during the race along with Lemgem!
Charli speaks with Nyizin, who refuses the tea, not wanting to intake any food or drink that may affect her mind (such as the caffeine present in tea). Because of Charli's knowledge of Triaxian culture, she is able to determine that Nyizin was a member of the Skyfire Legion, where a Ryphorian is paired with a Dragonkin at an early age, and the two form an empathetic and on some level psychic link to one another. Nyizin's decorations (as well as the unstable black-market mods made of dragon bone and elemental energies that cover and fill Nyizin’s vehicle) tell Charli that Nyizin is still in mourning over the loss of her dragonkin partner. Nyizin says that she wishes to win a race to honor her fallen companion but Charli can tell that Nyizin is secretly hoping to race until she herself is killed, and can join her companion in death.
Nyizin declines to ally with you, but she becomes friendly enough at Charli's delicate approach and explains how one can overload a junkracer’s engine. This modification allows you to press your engine during the race and double your speed for one round, but there is a 50% chance the engine could have an internal malfunction on the next round that permanently reduces the vehicle’s base speed by half for the rest of the race.
Actions Used So Far:
Kaylee - Free + 4
Ch'aya - Free + 3
Charli - Free + 3
Kima - Free + 2
Mikkazuki - Free + 2
Dart - Free + 1
+2 Piloting
+1 Attack
+15' Speed
+1 Kinetic Weapon
+ Lemgem Ally (Info on Ratrod's special weapon)
+ Velocity Ally (Piloting boost)
+Overload Boost Option
|
|
What a devastating story.
Charli hugs the former Skyfire Legion officer. “Nyizin... I am so very sorry for your loss. Still, there are other ways to honor the fallen. Have you considered joining the Starfinder Society? You could explore, meet new races, and maybe even name a discovered world after your fallen friend.”
She packs up her tea. “Maybe we can share a drink after your race, and discuss some memorial options together.”
|
|
Dart is with Charli, "It is long an honorable tradition in the pits to find allies for the grand matches. Limits what you need to focus on in the opening rounds."
While Charli introduces Mikkazuki to Velocity, Dart stares at Loboni's racer a bit and pokes at the targeting system
Dart play with the buttons a bit, but gets distracted to the noise they make and makes a quick little song from them.
After Mikkazuki comes back, Dart quickly steps away from the racer. "Shall we continue down the list?" And goes with Charli to the Vesk
After listening to Nyizin's story, Dart nods in respect. "May you find the glorious salvation you seek and Kaydin Kalin keep you."
"Shall we talk to the Lushunta?"
Heading to the last pit, Dart lets Charli take the lead.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
At Dart’s suggestion, Charli looks at her racing list of the racers, and then grins. “Sure we can talk to Orsis. This time, you get to carry the tea.” Charli hands her pack of bubble teas to Dart, thinking about what they already knew of the Lasunta.
“He’s the good looking one that flirted with Kima, wasn’t he? Though... I guess I can’t blame him on that one. Kima is gorgeous. If I were a lashunta, I’d probably have asked her out on a date too. Still, I’m hoping that you and I can get more information.”
Charli approaches and looks up at Orsis in his black and gold uniform. The lights glint off the uniform, and there’s clearly gel in the hair because it’s all shiny. Wow. He’s so tall and... distracting. Easy on the eyes, though.
“Hello Orsis! Dart and I’ve been meeting all the racers. Would you like to chat for a few minutes? I have tea!” Then she asks, “So, how did you pick your look? That black and gold theme is gorgeous on you.”
|
Kima will seem amused at the attempt to get her perspective on things, and keys into he does indeed care about his image. She will attempt to talk up his recent performance not only in the races but also his modeling career.
Trying for Empathy from Orsis, DC is either 20 or 10+Bluff
Kima will look a bit surprised at the small pink creature (i.e. Charli) pops around with tea.
"She does have a point, it is going to look absolutely dashing crossing the finish line with the rest still far behind you. Brings some sophistication to the races instead of the insult slinging that's been going on."
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
While passing through our pit, Dart mentions, "LemGem just told us that Ratrod's Energy weapon not only will mess up our guidance, but seems to improve his in the process. Something about leeching energy data telemetry gnome gnome gnome... In short, us bad, him good."
|
|
Improve the vehicle by improving the targeting algorithms and adjusting the controls so that they are easier to control while piloting the vehicle.
Mikkazuki finds some parts that can be replaced with lighter weight components without losing any strength or stability. She quickly makes the adjustments.
Mikkazuki puts a thin layer of conductive materials around vital components, making the vehicle less susceptible to energy attacks.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Dart is able to boost the engine's speed to 60, and Mikkazuki is able to increase your attack modifiers as well as EAC!
When the three socialites among you go to chat with Orsis, you are all probed by Detect Thoughts, because Orsis thinks all three of you are totally hot, and he really wants to know what you think of his sweet ride, and his sweet jump-suit, and that sweet underwear commercial he was in last month, and also to see if you'd want to come back to his place for a sweet party after the race is over with!
After only a few minutes of talking with him, Charli, Kima, and Dart are quite certain that he's at least half a good of a pilot as he claims he is, especially when making flashy moves and dodging weapons-fire (i.e. his ACs are rather high at the cost of having no weapons of his own). You get friendly enough with him that he starts telling stories of epic races he's been a part of on Verces, Akiton, and even in the Diaspora! These stories give you several tips and tricks that translate into a +2 insight bonus to your vehicle's piloting modifier!
Actions Used So Far:
Kaylee - Free + 4
Mikkazuki - Free + 4
Kima - Free + 4
Charli - Free + 4
Ch'aya - Free + 3
Dart - Free + 3
+2 Piloting (Mods)
+2 Piloting (Orsis)
+2 Attack
+2 EAC
+20' Speed
+1 Kinetic Weapon
+ Lemgem Ally (Info on Ratrod's special weapon)
+ Velocity Ally (Piloting boost)
+ Overload Boost Option
|
|
Dart boosts your vehicle's piloting a little bit more!
In the meantime, Laboni reveals to you what she's been working on:
She is a decent engineer and is good with computers, but is a horrible pilot. However, since she's the one who challenged Ratrod, she has to be the one inside the vehicle. As such, she built three "remote control stations", so that one of you can actually fly your junkracer, and two others of you can fire one weapon each, while she's just a passenger in the vehicle!
Start figuring out who you want where!
|
|
Laboni looks over all the work you've done and wipes her brow. "You know, this is almost more your racer than mine now...I think you all should be the ones to name it, too!"
Actions Used So Far:
Kaylee - Free + 4
Mikkazuki - Free + 4
Kima - Free + 4
Charli - Free + 4
Dart - Free + 4
Ch'aya - Free + 3
Base Vehicle:
Speed: 40ft / Top Speed: 400ft
EAC: 10 / KAC: 12
Ship Modifiers: Piloting +2, Attack -3
Passengers: 1
Weapon: Energy Weapon (A hit vehicle takes a -4 to its next Piloting check)
Upgrades:
+3 Piloting (Mods)
+2 Piloting (Orsis)
+2 Attack
+2 EAC
+20' Speed
+1 Kinetic Weapon
+ Lemgem Ally (Info on Ratrod's special weapon)
+ Velocity Ally (Piloting boost)
+ Overload Boost Option
Current Vehicle Stats:
Speed: 60ft / Top Speed: 600ft
EAC: 12 / KAC: 12
Ship Modifiers: Piloting +7 / Attack -1
Passengers: 1
Weapon: Energy Weapon (-4 to target's next Piloting check)
Weapon: Kinetic Weapon (-4 to target's next Piloting check)
Special: Overload Boost Option (double speed for 1 round, 50% chance of half speed for rest of race afterward)
|
|
Musing on the issue, Mikkazuki suggests "Lugnut? That starts with an L and has something to do with vehicles. If we want to put some humor in it, call it the Left-handed Lugnut."
When it seems not everyone understands, she sighs and says "There is no such thing as a Left-Handed Lug Nut. There are differences in sizing, threading, and other things but even the tool you use to tighten them doesn't need to be different based on which it your dominate hand."
"Guess that was too obtuse though...bummer!"
|
|
Speed: 60ft / Top Speed: 600ft
EAC: 14 / KAC: 12
Ship Modifiers: Piloting +7 / Attack -1
Passengers: 1 (Laboni)
Weapon 1: Energy Weapon (-4 to target's next Piloting check)
Weapon 2: Kinetic Weapon (-4 to target's next Piloting check)
Special: Overload Boost at Pilot's option (double speed for 1 round, 50% chance of half speed for rest of race afterward)
Speed: 50ft / Top Speed: 500ft
EAC: 12 / KAC: 14
Ship Modifiers: Piloting +6 / Attack +1
Passengers: 1 (Lemgem)
Weapon: Kinetic Weapon (-4 to target's next Piloting check)
Special: Every round, Lemgem rolls a 1d4. On a 3 or 4, her vehicle speed increases by 10 (top speed +100) which resets at the end of the round.
Tactics: Lemgem will fire at whoever is ahead of or closest to the Lugnut (except Velocity) and will voluntarily slow down if she is about to pass the PCs.
Speed: 40ft / Top Speed: 400ft
EAC: 10 / KAC: 14
Ship Modifiers: Piloting +13 / Attack +4
Passengers: 1 (Velocity)
Weapon 1: Kinetic Weapon (-4 to target's next Piloting check)
Weapon 2: Kinetic Weapon (-4 to target's next Piloting check)
Tactics: Velocity will fire at whoever is ahead of or closest to the Lugnut (except Lemgem), preferring to fire at multiple targets, and will voluntarily slow down if they is about to pass the PCs.
Speed: 55ft / Top Speed: 550ft
EAC: 14 / KAC: 16
Ship Modifiers: Piloting +10
Passengers: 1 (Orsis)
Weapons: None
Tactics: Orsis just races, focusing on winning at all costs!
Nyizin - GM Controlled
Ratrod - GM Controlled
~~~~~
Each round, all weapons are fired first. Once "damage" is applied, pilots make their checks. A success on the check means your vehicle moves at its top speed. A failure on the check (by less than 5) means your vehicle moves at half of its top speed. A failure by 5 or more means your vehicle stalls and moves 0.
Once everyone (except Kaylee) is ready, we will begin!
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Putting on her remote control glasses and gloves — mainly because they look cool — Charli gets ready to shoot the Kinetic Gun. Practicing a moment with the sites, she nods to Kaylee and Dart..
“I am so ready for this. My only target is Ratrod. Let’s turn his vehicle to Swiss Cheese. What about you two? Are you ready?”
|
|
I'm working to see if I can automate a MS Excel spreadsheet to do all the calculations to where I can just plug in the results and go from there, but if not I'll do it by hand and then post a "dramatic race result" post. If it takes more than 10 rounds, we'll roll more!
|
|
Weapon 1 - Energy (-4 to Piloting)
Weapon 2 - Kinetic (-6 to Piloting)
Boost
Boost
Boost
Boost
Boost
|
|
Kima: Since you're using Orsis's stats, you don't add your dex, so all of those will be -1 when I run the calculations.
Ch'aya: My apologies, but since it would just be you rolling dice for a NPC's thing, I'm going to bot you for this last thing here.
Kinetic Weapon 2:
Look for the race results (and the scenario wrap-up) to be posted in a few hours!
|
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
As all six vehicles lurch into high gear, Velocity is the only one to land a hit, their kinetic weapon striking Nyizin causing her to slow down a little bit, which turns out to be a very good thing! Because of all of the necromantic add-ons the ryphorian has on her well-armed racer, she can give herself a 20ft (200 max speed) boost every other round at the cost of dropping both her ACs to 5 for those rounds. Velocity's hit is enough to make her engine stall! Lugnut and Lemgem share the lead with Ratrod right behind them!
As the racers come around the first turn, a flurry of weapons fire is exchanged! Ratrod hits Kaylee's controls, throwing her off her game a bit and boosting Ratrod! Fortunately, both Dart and Charli hit Ratrod and mess up his controls an equal amount! Meanwhile, Lemgem and Nyizin exchange hits, but it's not enough to slow Lemgem down (although she adjusts her engine output voluntarily because otherwise she would pass the Lugnut). Lugnut and Lemgem continue to share the lead, with Velocity coming up into third place just barely ahead of Orsis and Ratrod!
Into the third leg, Dart hits Ratrod but only with a glancing blow. Nyizin also grazes Kaylee's controls but not enough to affect her skilled piloting. Nyizin's second shot does severely hamper Lemgem, however, while all other weapons fire goes wide! Lugnut pulls ahead of the pack, with Ratrod closing into second place! Velocity pulls up into a tie for third with Lemgem!
Now into the fourth section of the race, the weapons are almost all dialed into their targets! Ratrod and Nyizin both hit Kaylee again, throwing her off-kilter! In return, however - Dart, Lemgem, Velocity, and Nyzin hit Ratrod - slowing him down too! The Lugnut stays in first, with Velocity pulling into second place. Nyizin's speed boost pulls her into a tie with Ratrod for third!
Only 1,200 feet from the finish line, Kaylee kicks in the Lugnut's overdrive, but a direct hit from Nyizin's kinetic weapon throws her controls off, which slows the Lugnut down and prevents an easy victory! Velocity comes to the Lugnut's aid, though, and shoots both Ratrod and Nyizin - though neither hit is damaging enough to slow either one down. The Lugnut clings to a close lead as Nyizin is right on your heels in second with Ratrod in a close third!
Coming into the home stretch, the weapons fire is fast and furious! Ratrod and Nyizin hit Kaylee's controls, but this time she's ready for them and keeps everything running smoothly! Dart, Lemgem, and Velocity hit Ratrod but aren't able to slow him down. Velocity also hits Nyizin with a glancing blow but not enough to affect any of the control schemes of her racer. In the end it's all about the vehicles' raw speed...and here they come, across the finish line...
In First Place...
In Second Place...
In Third Place...
Lemgem and Velocity tie for Fourth place, and Orsis comes limping across the finish line in last.
Race Stats in MS Excel (in case you want the sheet that I used to run the race)
The crowd goes wild at the exciting race and finish! As the racers (or in the case of the Lugnut, passenger) exit their vehicles, you get a call on your personal comms from Radaszam indicating his satisfaction with how things turned out, especially as you (and he from his office) witness Laboni approach Ratrod and offer apologies for her previous statements. It's clear that the ysoki’s pride still hurts, but the gesture compels the Salvage Union to offer Laboni some extra payment in the form of collected gear, on top of the race’s prize money. In addition, the Salvage Union makes a public offer for Laboni to become a regular on Ratrod's show! This twist in events provides the Starfinder Society with valuable contacts in the Salvage Union, leaving Radaszam both exasperated and vaguely amused at the result. Laboni then comes bouncing over to you, giving each of you a big hug and also almost all of the winnings from the race - 400 credits and a set of graphite carbon skin armor!
~~~~~
Once all four faction leaders report to Guidance, the Society intelligence summons your team back to the Lorespire Complex. once again presents itself in a holographic form—this time taking on the appearance of a wizened male korasha lashunta—to congratulate you on your successful missions. It goes on to state that in the aftermath of the Scoured Stars incident, the Society needs skilled agents more than ever, and that it sees potential in each of you as you start your new careers as fully fledged Starfinder field agents.
~~~~~
Your Primary Success Conditions: To satisfy the mission requests of three of the faction heads.
Your Secondary Success Conditions: To satisfy the mission requests of all four faction heads or to convince Ceren to aid the Dataphiles.
So long as the PCs have completed the primary success condition, each PC receives the Faction’s Friend boon on his Chronicle sheet. If a PC accepted Guidance’s subdermal implant, he also receives the Marked Field Agent boon on his Chronicle sheet. Finally, if a PC purchased a copy of Strawberry Machine Cake’s newest album for 50 credits, he also receives the Star Sugar Heartlove!!! boon on his Chronicle sheet.
~~~~~