PbP Gameday VI; Starfinder Society Quests: Into the Unknown

[GM Garrett]

A thread for out of character discussion.

[Grisnaught]

Hey so at the moment I've got 3 character ideas I drafted up to work with though I can create another if our team needs it. I just really enjoy making characters and am willing to play any class.

1) First idea is a Shirren mechanic, xenoseeker theme, using a combat drone this character is designed like a battle medic. I set them up to play with the interesting needle gun weapons though would need clarification from gm on certain aspects of the hitting teammates with health serum darts.

2) Second one is a Android Technomancer, mercenary theme, built for medium to close range combat and a focus on damaging and illusion spells.

3) Last idea was a Vex Soldier(cliche but effective), spacefarer theme, with the armor storm specialization. Increadibly tanky and in your face with the use of heavy weapons and fist mixed.

[Tamerriv]

.

[the_infidel]

I've got a Human Mystic created that I'd like to use.

[Mobius Caslan]

I plan to use my Human Scholar Mechanic with an Exocortex for his AI. I'm thinking of making him an explosives enthusiast. =)

[Grisnaught]

I guess depending on our other two I'll go either my Tank:

Init +7|SP 12/12|HP 13/13|RP 3/3|EAC:15 KAC:17|F:+6 R:+2 W:+2|Str:+1,Dex:+2,Con:+4,Int:-1,Wis:0,:Cha:0|Artillery Laser, Azimuth +3 (1d10F, critical burn 1d6)
Skills:

Spoiler:

Acrobatics+1, Athletics+4(1 rank), Engineering+3(1 rank), Physical Science+3(1 rank), Piloting+2, Stealth+1

or my Technomancer;

Init+7|SP 5/5|HP 9/9|RP 5/5|EAC:14 KAC:15|F:0 R:+3 W:+2|Str:0, Dex+3, Con:0, Int:+4, Wis:0, Cha:-1|Tactical Semi-Auto Pistol+3 (1d6P), Survival Knife+3 (1d4S)
Skills:

Spoiler:

Acrobatics+3, Athletics+4(1 rank), Computers+8(1 rank), Culture+5(1 rank), Engineering+8(1 rank), Physical Science+8(1 rank), Piloting+7(1 rank), Profession Mercenary+3(1 rank), Stealth+4(1 rank)

One thing we should keep in mind is what roles we will fill on a starship. We'll need roughly Captainx1, Pilotx1, Science Officerx1, Engineerx1, Gunnerx2

[Jason Lillis]

Dot! I'd like to play as an Envoy, likely Xenoseeker theme but that's still TBD. My preference would be to captain with this character, but he'll also have some other applicable skills that could work in other roles.

Character option 2 is an Operative, likely Ace Pilot, so would clearly fall into Pilot role.

Thanks!

[ithuriel]

I'm working on a Damayo Lashunta operative. Something to the effect of a corporate detective gone outlaw over a mission he ethically could not follow through on. As far as roles, pilot +8, engineering +7, computers +7.

[Tamerriv]

I think we've found our...well, you're going to be busy, I see. :-)

[Grisnaught]

So we could do starship crew like this:

-Jason's Envoy as Captain
-Ithuriel's Operative as Pilot/Engineer/Science Officer
-Mobius's Mechanic as Science Officer/Engineer/Pilot(though memory module make make him better pilot)
-Tamerriv's Solarian as Gunner 1
-My Soldier as Gunner 2
-Infidel's Mystic as Engineer/Science Officer (depending on stats)

That should round out our crew class wise and role wise.

[Tamerriv]

Tamerriv buzzes her approval.

[Kadlos - 8574-703]

This is Jason's Envoy character. I'll populate all the details tonight, but in short he is a courier of information packages, and tries to get each delivery through with a minimum of fuss or mess, preferring deception when combat can be avoided, or non-lethal options whenever combat is necessary. Dead bodies are a pain to clean up.

Looking forward to captaining!

[the_infidel]

Mystic Stats & Skills:

STR 10 DEX 10 CON 12 INT 10 WIS 18 CHA 13

Bluff +5
Diplomacy +5
Disguise +5
Intimidate +5
Mysticism +8
Perception +8
Sense Motive +8
Survival +4

Seems suitable for captaining and....not much else on the ship?

[ithuriel]

Trying to absorb the game and rules as I continue reading, and generally I like and get everything. However, the computer rules section are a hot mess aren't they? Say I want to make a hacker character. I can't figure out a computer price until I understand the whole section, decide exactly what I want the computer to do, what tier those abilities will be at, what devices it might be connected to, how much those other devices cost, and then go through figuring out percentages of the base price of the computer for each add-on thing I want it to be able to do. Yikes. Not an easy introduction to a new player on that front.

[ithuriel]

Computer Tier II: 250
[Upgrade] Artificial Personality: (10%) 25
[Upgrade] Self Charging: (10%) 25 (1 week battery)
[Upgrade] Miniaturization x2 (10%) 25x2 = 50 (Bulk of L)
[Countermeasure] Firewall (20%) 50
[Module] Secure Data, average 10
410 Credits

As far as I can tell a Comm device may be simple enough to not require the Control module and a range module which lets you control devices remotely only functions if you installed part of the range module on the device to be controlled. So it seems like it would be pointless to buy it in advance, with the idea of hijacking things you find in the mission. Or maybe you get the other component and can install it on the fly with skill checks? Not sure.

Also this computer is probably too pricey for a starting character, but I was trying to work out a general budget to have an idea.

[GM Garrett]

Honestly, you basically don't need to own a computer for any of the adventures I've read so far. Maybe this one is different (not reading it till I've had a chance to play in it tomorrow), but I doubt it.

If you want to be able to hack (which is most of what you end up doing with computers) you just need a hacking kit. 20 credits and you're good to go.

[ithuriel]

That seems weird. I thought a hacking kit was meant to use with your computer to hack. Like it was a set of scripted attacks or location anonymizer for example to help you on your hacking attempts.

I guess I could see it being used alone if you had physical access to the system you were trying to hack- like inserting a thumbdrive full of code. If you were trying to hack something remotely, through the infosphere or whatever I'd think you need your own computer at that point. But I've barely scratched the surface so I'm kinda common sense guessing.

Btw- I had missed some skill bonuses from race and class so pilot may end up being as high as +12.

[Garrett's SFS Pregen]

In literally all cases I've encountered so far in SFS play you do in fact have physical contact with the system you're trying to hack. Perhaps that will change as you go up in levels, but it certainly seems true for the early stuff.

SFS doesn't seem so big on the "sit in your apartment and hack the gibson in a building somewhere else in the city" sort of hacking, more like the "we broke into the place and got in a fight and then our hacker messed around with the computer for a while to turn off the $CENSORED so it wouldn't $CENSORED us" kind of hacking.

[ithuriel]

Ah, ok. Sounds like Star Wars in that regard.

[GM Garrett]

Just a reminder that I'm planning on kicking this off on Friday. If you don't have your character figured out yet you have a few days left to do so!

[Tamerriv]

Squee!

[Kadlos - 8574-703]

Kadlos should be pretty much ready for this first adventure!

[ithuriel]

Looking forward to it. I'll finish off equipment and transcribe the sheet to an alias this afternoon.

Heads up- Fridays are the day where I have only about 2 hours availability. I'll get in but might not be too active that first day.

[GM Garrett]

Ok, I've kicked off the gameplay thread. As soon as everyone's had a chance to introduce their characters I'll start the actual briefing.

[the_infidel]

Ah, crap. Thought we were starting 6 October. I'll get my character into final order this evening...

[Tamerriv]

I'll be out most of Saturday the 16th with limited access to post. Please bot me as necessary.

[Oraeth Antaeres]

It took me longer to get this profile copied over than I thought. I'll have to post in the game thread tomorrow, but I'll be there. Not really finding any avatar to work for this one. I'll go without.

[GM Garrett]

No worries if people aren't quite ready yet. I pushed up the start date since we seemed to have an enthusiastic crew of players and no particular reason to wait, if people need a day or two to finish things up that's fine with me. I'll hold off on moving forward with the mission briefing until everyone's posted in the gameplay thread.

[the_infidel]

GM Garrett,

I hope you don't mind but I'd like to withdraw. I had a few unexpected acceptances in other PbPs, and I don't want to spread too thin. As we haven't kicked off and its a society scenario, I figure it'd be easy to swap someone else in. If that's a problem, let me know and I'll see through the commitment. Thanks!

[Oraeth Antaeres]

Final review of ship roles:

Captain: Kadlos (Envoy) Bluff +8 , Diplomacy +10, Intimidate +4
Pilot: Mobius (Mechanic) Piloting +10
Engineer: Engineering +
Gunner 1: Grisnaughts's Character (Soldier) Ranged Attack +?
Gunner 2: Tamerriv (Solarian) Ranged Attack +2
Science Officer: Computers

Oraeth can take either computers or engineering at +7. Depending on what is more priority. Ship computer will run the other.

[Kadlos - 8574-703]

Kadlos would encourage Oraeth towards the Engineer console, at least initially.

[GM Garrett]

the_infidel wrote:

GM Garrett,

I hope you don't mind but I'd like to withdraw. I had a few unexpected acceptances in other PbPs, and I don't want to spread too thin. As we haven't kicked off and its a society scenario, I figure it'd be easy to swap someone else in. If that's a problem, let me know and I'll see through the commitment. Thanks!

That's fine. We've got plenty of players.

As for everyone else, looks like it's just Grisnaught who hasn't chimed in. I'll PM him, as well as whoever our final backup player is, and if they want to jump in today that's fine, otherwise I'll kick off the briefing and we can get going. They can always drop in later if they miss it.

[Rik'Tik'Tichek]

Hi! This is Jereru with his Ysoki Technomancer, and I've been summoned as a replacement here. If you're okay with it, I will go straight to Gameplay :)

[Oraeth Antaeres]

Rik'Tik'Tichek wrote:

Hi! This is Jereru with his Ysoki Technomancer, and I've been summoned as a replacement here. If you're okay with it, I will go straight to Gameplay :)

Congrats on the best Ysoki name I've seen so far :)

[Rik'Tik'Tichek]

Oraeth Antaeres wrote:

Rik'Tik'Tichek wrote:

Hi! This is Jereru with his Ysoki Technomancer, and I've been summoned as a replacement here. If you're okay with it, I will go straight to Gameplay :)

Congrats on the best Ysoki name I've seen so far :)

Thank you :P Always thinking of Nezumi when I see Ysoki.

[Kadlos - 8574-703]

Apologies all. I'm on the road and internet is spotty. I'll be able to update tomorrow evening.

[GM Garrett]

Kadlos - 8574-703 wrote:

Apologies all. I'm on the road and internet is spotty. I'll be able to update tomorrow evening.

That's fine, thanks for the update.

[GM Garrett]

Kadlos - 8574-703 wrote:

Apologies all. I'm on the road and internet is spotty. I'll be able to update tomorrow evening.

Hey Kadlos, any word on this update? I'd like to get this encounter moving...

[Tamerriv]

Thanks for the clarification on Stellar Mode, GM. Wow, that's really poorly written in the CRB. I still think there's a case to be made for gaining your first point in round 2, but I'm more than happy to play it as you say.

[ithuriel]

As I mentioned earlier on Fridays I work, come home and sleep then go back to work the same night. This week that was followed by a college football game, kids soccer game, and then a date night before I finally crashed. Sorry for the delay. This weekend was more of a scheduling error than a plan and I was zombie shuffling by the end. ;)

At least I hit something when I wasn't rolling!

[GM Garrett]

No worries, I just wanted to move things along a bit. There are five segments of this adventure, and we're not even through the first one yet! If we could wrap this fight up in the next day or two that would be great, if only because the next segment is largely space based and it can take some time to get into the swing of space combat in a PBP.

[GM Garrett]

FYI, please make sure you've worked out who you want to take each role in space combat. I know we had most of that hammered out, but there was one more player when those discussions happened, and I'm not sure if that will change anything.

[Tamerriv]

Tamerriv's best skill for space combat is Diplomacy +3. She would make a passable Captain (Diplomacy +3, Bluff +1, Intimidate +1) or Gunner (Gunnery +2). She is vaguely aware that engines and computers exist on a starship.

Can I throw my Solar Weapon at the enemy ship? :-p

[Kadlos - 8574-703]

I had planned on taking Captain, but if diplomacy is your best skill then maybe I should take gunner. I can pull a +3 on Gunnery, though i'm much better at Diplomacy (+10).

[GM Garrett]

One thing I've picked up from the few Starfinder space combats I've played in or run. Keep in mind that having multiple gunners can be a good thing, and that there's nothing that prevents you from taking a pc from a role that's not as helpful (at that moment) and having them run a second gun for you. Most ships have 1 main gun (usually in a turret), and you want your best gunner there, but they also often have secondary weapons, and being able to fire them makes an enormous difference in your damage output.

The other roles range from critical (you absolutely want a pilot at all times, for example) to situational (do you want your captain handing out a +2 bonus to your one gunner, or would it be better to just have them shoot another gun?). Don't assume that just because you initially put someone in a role that they need to stay there.

[Tamerriv]

GM Garrett is right. When I said "passable Captain" I meant it with emphasis on "passable".

Since I don't particularly shine at any of the roles, I'll choose last.

[ithuriel]

Not to say anyone has to take these roles, but these are the ones best suited by skill level. Then anyone available could move over to be the other gunner.

Captain: Kadlos (Envoy) Bluff +8 , Diplomacy +10, Intimidate +4
Pilot: Mobius (Mechanic) Piloting +10
Engineer: Rik (Technomancer) Engineering +9
Gunner 1: Tamerriv (Solarian) Ranged Attack +2
Science Officer: Oraeth (Operative) Computers +7

[Tamerriv]

Looks good to me, ithuriel. I would only add Gunner 2 as an option immediately. In a different game I was Captain, but moved to Gunner after a couple of rounds of being not very effective at anything.

[Rik'Tik'Tichek]

Rik agrees.

[Tamerriv]

I find it annoying that Culture is a Trained-only skill. It's used for

A culture’s customs, laws, government, leaders, prominent inhabitants, legends, religion, history, and related topics

which are all things that I, a random commoner in 21st century Earth, know something about. Some more than others, but I'm likely to beat a DC11 check on those topics pretty regularly. Especially if I have access to the Infosphere.

And a DC20 check to decipher a simple message in an unknown language? Yeah, I can probably do that 5% of the time.

I think I'll houserule that in my games.