Apologies for lousy posting rate, but work is busy again. I'm reading the gameplay, but I haven't really got the time to write a meaningful post. But I'm here :)
Cool beans all. Anything else you want to do on Absalom Station? Shopping or anything else?
Astrianna wants to give the noqual to the HSC (and make a big ol PR stunt out of it) and do some shopping.
I need to look over the equipment list, hopefully I'll have time to do it today
Let me know if you guys have anything in particular you're looking for, there are some interesting new options that popped up in the Pact Worlds Campaign Setting book that I've just read that none of the online srds seem to have updated with yet.
One new theme that might be of interest to Prospero-4 is a Cyberborn Theme that is focused around augmentation.
As I look over the Themes it strikes me that I don't like having an ability boost tied to theme. It's a purely mechanical boost to an otherwise very flavorful aspect of character creation.
Personally I know it would make me conflicted in choosing a theme where I might like one theme for flavour, but the stat boost it provides doesn't fit what I want my character to do mechanically.
So I think another house rule I would institute is:
Themes do not provide any ability (or modifier) boost. In compensation characters will be built with 12 point buy rather than 10 point buy. (6 point buy rather than 5 point buy if you're going with my ability modifier only house rule too).
I would have gone with 11 point buy instead of 12 point buy but odd numbers in ability score just irritate me as you guys are probably well aware now! So it's more powerful, but only slightly (11 points vs 12 points overall) and it serves to make the math cleaner and gets rid of the conflict between crunch and flavor that themes present right now.
What do you guys think?
oh and I found a google doc with all the Pact World themes in it. Check it out:
Let me know if you want to pick a different theme for your characters.
Hmmm, the space pirate theme is pretty cool, but I'm still absorbing the main rule book so I think I'll stick with Cueta as is.
Cueta also needs to do some shopping, but it doesn't have to happen on-screen.
So, I'm finding SF equipment to be a bit weird. Why is a doshko, tactical 240 credits (1d12, unwieldy) while a Swoop hammer, tactical is 3360 credits (1d10 / knockdown / reach, unwieldy)? Is the reach, an effect that only happens on a 20, and bludgeoning damage really worth 3000+ credits and -1 damage on average per hit?
Is it worth paying 2060 credits for a Machine gun, squad, (1d10P / 60 ft / 40 rounds / automatic) over an Artillery laserm azimuth (1d10F / 120 ft / burn 1d6 / 20 charges / penetrating)?
Note, the fact that Cueta's basically a 3/4 BAB PC and I think that makes full attacking not as good an option, so I'm focusing on unwieldy weapons, at least for melee.
Though I could be wrong about not focusing on multiple attack weapons...
Hrm, well, reach is a property that is not dependent on critical. You just have a 2 metron reach at all times, plus unlike Pathfinder you can also use it to hit something 1 metron away too.
So what you're getting for the swoop tactical hammer is reach plus the Knockdown special effects on crits. Which is pretty good since you don't have to confirm crits and there's no saving against your enemy just being knocked prone.
I think single attack melee vs multiple attack melee are both perfectly viable choices with multiple attacks probably being just a bit better at low levels.
Multiple attacks really pull ahead against very low armored enemies and later in the game when martial characters and operatives start getting extra attack character features. But I really don't think the AP is going to get far enough for it to really matter. Plus you probably have access to some great self buff spells and general magic utility to compensate.
I think the machine gun and the artillery lazer are just two very different kinds of weapons and it's up to you what kind of ranged shootiness you want Cueta to engage in. Single shot, automatic, Blast, sniper weapons all have pretty different feels to them.
So basically don't worry about it, do what you think is fun and if you want to revisit some character choices then we can figure it out later. Brand new systems are fun!
Went over the equipment list but didn't see anything Astrianna would use. She really should get some new armor but the instead of getting the Carbon Skin (Graphite) I think she'll wait until level 4 and get the Lashunta Tempweave (basic).
Going to buy 3 Mk1 healing serums to replace the ones we used and subtract the 150 credits from our group loot.
If anyone can think of cool or useful Spell Amps they want to buy just tell me!
We could probably use some Medpatches. They are 50 space-monies like the Serums, but they provide a skill bonus to deal with Poisons and Diseases and stuff (that's probably the most important part at least). Seems like they could be handy - and I'd rather have them and never use them then need them and not have them!
In the pile of 'hope we don't ever need but nice to have' I'm thinking some food supplies. We have plenty of space on our new (well for us!) shiny (heck yeah! We're also buying polish!!) spaceship so I'd say lets just drop ~100 creds and have a crate or two of rations. They are quite cheap so that would get us plenty of stuff.
There's two sorts available - processed cardboard and the actually nice stuff. I suggest a mix between the two. The actual rations for emergencies and the instant fancy noodles for when we can't be bothered to cook. Also useful morale boost when s%#% hits the fan.
A field ration is prepackaged food that can easily sustain you but lacks flavor and visual appeal. Field rations generally consist of chewy, brownish blocks of processed nutrients, which contain enough moisture to provide a day’s worth of water intake. While it is possible to survive for weeks on nothing but field rations, it’s not a pleasant experience.
R2E
These self-contained “Ready-to-Eat” pouches contain a day’s worth of nourishing entrées and side dishes, plus a portable snack or dessert. Each R2E also includes disposable utensils, a single-use flameless ration heater, and an accessory pack containing breath freshener, a disposable cup, a napkin, seasonings, and drink powder. Each R2E has a shelf life of one century, and the pouch is made of a durable, easy-seal material.
I'm also wondering if we should buy a lock to put on the door of our spaceship. Juuust so no-one steals this one as well :P
We could also purchase a pair of Mobile Hoteliers which are just fancy climate controlled tents. We don't *need* them really but they could come in handy! Also, amusingly, they should be space-proof (as with armours). I'm sure we can do something fun with that!
There's one cool magic item that we can actually afford. The Charge Cloak is basically a 1/day battery charge replacement (up to 4 power). If you had one you could, for example, squeeze one extra shot out of that laser pistol when you really need it. Or you could use it to power that broken down machine just the one time you need it! Really handy for something (probably) and cheap enough that I wouldn't feel bad never really using it.
As a tiny bonus, if we get marooned, it would extend the climate control time of a fancy tent by 50%.
So!
Summary of my suggested purchases:
3x Medpatch for 150c
60x Field Rations & 40x R2E for 100c
2x Mobile Hotelier for 100c
1x Charge Cloak for 200c
Total cost: 550c
And possibly a Simple Lock for 100c :P
@Themes - I think I mostly picked mine (Xenoseeker) to make Life Science a class skill. And then I picked up Skill Synergy to do that anyhow ...
But I'm not sure what else Leila would have. Hmm. Xeno-archaeologist maybe?
Good stuff regarding weapons.
Reach and adjacent attacking is pretty sweet, especially for a low stamina front liner like Cueta. Speaking of, I think her last feat will be spent on toughness, unless anyone has other ideas that could be useful for a front liner.
I could only spend all my credits on a swoop hammer and not have enough for a gun, so I'm going to hold off for now, but I'll be back for that one soon!
I'm considering buying either Jump jets (1000) or Brown force field (1600) armor upgrades.
The team might benefit of Merciful fusion seal (lvl2 - 396cr) in case we need to take something down without killing.
Spell amps that could be useful:
Remove Condition, Lesser
Share Language
Restoration, Lesser
Prospero, it looks like the party cache includes a brown force field, so you can have both!
Oh, right. Forgot about that. But Prospero doesn't have enough upgrade slots for both.
Actually, I not sure if I have enough for the force field anyway. There's one from armor, and one from being android. But I don't know if those could be combined into two slots to fit the force field.
Plus, maybe Cueta would find the force field useful herself, especially if she was planning to stand in the front line.
@GM: Yes, the cyberborn archetype looks interesting. I could switch into that, if change was allowed.
Also, I agree the stat bonus is an odd one. Somebody in teh internets pointed out that it's actually useless, the ability increases working as they do. So I'm cool for changing that, or removing it altogether.
@Leila: We actually already have 3 med patches! We can buy more if you want. Field Rations are a GREAT idea. I totally forgot about food, which is odd because I'm usually anal about those kinds of things. I'll buy all this stuff if you want us to have 6 medpatches.
@Prospero: Like Cueta said, we have a brown force field which you're free to use. Otherwise another Jump Jets (Leila has one) wouldn't be a bad purchase. We'll get the Merciful seal too, that sounds really useful. We already have some lesser restoration spell amps but we can pick up the other two amps you suggested as well.
@GM I'm good with Astri's archetype. If you want to give us another ability point so we don't have uneven numbers I'm all for it!
So we will be purchasing:
60x Field Rations & 40x R2E for 100c
2x Mobile Hotelier for 100c
1x Charge Cloak for 200c
Jump Jets 1000c
Merciful Seal (Lvl 2) 396c
Spell amp of Share Language 300c
Spell amp of Remove Condition, Lesser 300c
Cueta we have money to spare if you want some weaponry, or you're welcome to the auto target rifle in the group loot.
Anything else friends? Also please tell me if you don't want any of the items on the list, and Leila please tell me if you still want the 3 medpatches.
Hmh I missed that we already had a few patches. I'd say let's pick up some extra ones if there's nothing cooler to be had at the moment. Just in case :-)
@Prospero-4: I see no reason why the Android upgrade armor slot cannot be combined with armor upgrade as you wish.
@everyone: Alright then! Everyone rebuild your character with 12 build points rather than 10 and no ability bump from theme! You can also switch your theme out at this time if you wish.
Is there something you guys else you want to do on the station or ready to move on also?
Astri wants to have a PR event with us giving the Noqual to the HSC miners, but I doubt we have time to do something so formal. So if we could just go by their headquarters and hand it over and she gets it on video that would be enough.
If you feel like moving things along we can just say we gave it to them and start our trip to Castrovel.
Edit: Okay restated Astri.
Str 0, Dex +2, Con 0, Int +2, Wis 0, Cha +3
Basically she has a +2 to int now, and 3 extra skill point. Put two ranks in Computers and one rank in Stealth. She also gained a new language, which is Goblin.
I'll poke at Leila's build tonight I think.
There's not much she needs to do on the station before leaving. Maybe help Astri edit that footage? But that can be done on the ship anyhow.
Moved the extra points into Dex. Seemed most useful!
Also swapped over to Xenoarcheologist.
Work being mean. I hope to get caught up tomorrow.
All purchases made. You can retro RP if you wish!
Ok, I'm switching to cyberborn theme. And putting the new stat increase to CON (increasing stamina by 3 points).
BTW, have we had the change to heal all damage and recover RP and recharge batteries since leaving the rock?
Ok, if P-4 is able to combine his own and the armor's slots, and if no one else wants the force field, he can take it. (then he would have no need for the jump jets, yet)
Yup. You had a whole night of rest between the Ambassador and Starfinder meetings and did all your shopping. The current scene is happening on your way to leave the planet for Castrovel.
Our purchases cost us 1546 credits.
------------------
Current Group Loot
------------------
3490 credits
800 UPBs
Industrial Backpack (with good dwarven lock but no key) containing:
Duravor Kreel's identification documents
1x engineering tool kit
7x medpatches
1x gear clamps
10x serums of healing mk 1
2x Spell amps of Lesser Restoration
1x Charge Cloak for 200c
1x Merciful Seal (Lvl 2)
1x Spell amp of Share Language
1x Spell amp of Remove Condition, Lesser
1x Backup generator armor upgrade
1x Autotarget Rifle (Holy Fusion Seal (5th Level))
1x Arc Emitter
-------------
In Ship Storage:
-------------
Freebooter armor I (android sized)
60x Field Rations
40x R2E
2x Mobile Hotelier
Welp soon we'll know if the Vesk is CR 2 or 3 :P
Also! I forgot that there's one more thing we ought to buy! Plenty of spare ammo. It would be annoying to run out.
And I know I've been tracking it poorly. So it would feel good to have a giant stash so accuracy on that front doesn't matter too much ^^
Sure! Astri carries a spare battery on her but if you want more ammo just tell me what you want and how much it costs!
Seems like everyone is really busy right now!
Yep, sorry. This week won't be 70 hours at least!
Mm sorry!
Got a post up now at least.
And don't worry Leila will get right back at trying to shoot the vesk once she can trick attack again properly!
Post tomorrow
Ok, next round is up (round 4, not 3)!
Also I started the process of 'reporting' the first Volume 'cause why not? Who wants credit? I think I need the following information.
1. Player/Forum Name:
2. Character's Name that you want the chronicle applied to:
3. Character Faction
4. SFS character number#
Oooops I can't read, sorry about confusing the rounds.
I don't do society stuff because I'm a horrible shut-in of a human being, but I'm glad you're reporting it for others!
Personal confession time. I've never played a tabletop rpg on a real table. It's all play by post. I don't even own a real d20!
I don't have a starfinder society character either! (Though on a side-note you don't actually need to go out and poke at people for that. I've seen plenty of pathfinder society pbps and some starfinder ones too!)
And yeah looks like we don't need to bother with the Vesk anymore. Let's hope the mage has crappy flat-footed AC!
I only play pbp these days (well, there's the occasional, like once a few months game with some faculty, but that group rarely meets).
Not a society player, so I don't need credit. Thanks though!
Sorry for inactivity... work got crazy again. I hope it'll cool off next week.
But I'm happy to receive the chronicle! Here's the info:
1. Player/Forum Name: -Karma-
2. Character's Name that you want the chronicle applied to: Humpfree Bog-rat
3. Character Faction: Acquisitives
4. SFS character number# 96960-702
Going for the middle road between pursue and let be! Hopefully that roll should at least let her smack an automatic door in their face or something :P
They called us chummers! Now I'm all warm and fuzzy inside :)
And I also realized I completely forgot about that proposed box-o-ammo. Hmmh...
If we get
5 Batteries
90 small arms rounds
75 long arm rounds
it would cost
300+120+225c
I'm not sure if that's an excessive pile of money to spend on ammo or not... Maybe I'm just paranoid.
Thoughts?
I keep track of my own ammo and assume batteries get recharged when we return to civilization. It's up to the GM how much we want to track ammo as a whole?
I'm gonna set the ship AI to talk only in Shakespearean English.
Who wants to bet how long before our GM tells us that feature "mysteriously" broke or we get flung into a black hole.
I have no objection to bothering ye with a lot of forsooths. We'll see who cracks first!
As for ammo... Honestly the level of tracking you guys are doing right now is good. Battery recharging is perfectly alright even if you go back to your ship let alone town.
I've got three batteries of my own, but will happily dip into a party supply if Cueta runs through them.
^Oh lala. Wait, is that a space vape?
Yeah seriously they didn't mess around with Professor Muhali.
Yeah she looks like the perfect image on an sci fi aristocrat. Neat!
Paizo goes crazy with the art and it just makes sense to share it.
Leila. I'm not sure where your culture and computers check was aimed, Professor Muhali?