Alledisil's Starfinder Quest - Into the Unknown

Game Master Alledisil

Laeshin deftly navigates the asteroid field, narrowly avoiding some of the larger rocks.

Just as you clear the worst of the asteroid field, a large vessel of rusted metal slips from behind an enormous asteroid. The front of the ship resembles a stylized skull with crossed bones beneath - a clear indication of space pirates!

"Is that a skull & crossbones I see, Mr. Sefel?" Aazanar leans forward from the captains chair to get a better look at the viewscreen.

"Battle stations everyone! Look alive!"

I assume space combat is coming now... working on a good taunt. :)

I don't suppose they'd be open to negotiations? Hokhuckx makes a noise similar to a telepathic sigh. Of course, pirates aren't quite known for their diplomatic nature.

Culture to recall knowledge about Besmaran pirates

"Is that a skull & crossbones I see, Mr. Sefel?" Aazanar leans forward from the captains chair to get a better look at the viewscreen.

"It is, but I can't verify their association precisely."

No culture ranks here.

Map is uploaded to the header!

The pirate ship matches the data you recovered from the Endless Threnody's main computer. It is a medium transport called the Lawblight.

Datasheet:
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Speed: 6
Maneuverability: Average (turn 2)
Drift: 1
HP: 70
Shields: Basic 30
Forward Weapons: Coilgun and heavy torpedo launcher
Aft Weapons: Gyrolaser
Turret Weapon: Coilgun

Important
You were prepared for this assault as you knew how they liked to pounce from the asteroids, matching the notes you obtained from Exegara's datapad. You can move your ship up to 4 spaces in any direction, for free, and start with any facing.

Once you're moved, I'll go ahead and start starship combat!

Bonus Helm Phase
Position/Facing Adjustments: Turn L, Backward 4, Turn L.

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Round 1
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Laeshin Piloting: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 1 = 12
Lawblight Piloting: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 9 + 1 = 15

Laeshin you move first.

Laeshin lets the engines idle for a moment, floating motionless while he waits for the enemy to come to him.
Helm - Round 1:
Idle: No Movement.

The Lawblight pounces, firing a massive torpedo and a barrage of coilgun fire!

Forward 6, Turn R.

Coilgun: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24
Coilgun: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23 hits for4d4 ⇒ (1, 4, 1, 4) = 10 damage to your forward shields!

Heavy Torpedo Launcher: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22 misses!

You expected the sudden torpedo based on what you saw of the Endless Threnody and the Unbounded Wayfarer. By hewing so close to the asteroid, you managed to make it crash harmlessly. Don't expect that to work again, though... Their engineers can quickly tune their targeting algorithm.

Gunners, take your shots! Engineer, you may want to boost weapons.

At her engineering station, Kultha feels the impact of the pirate vessels weaponry and hisses.

She quickly routes couplings to their own armaments, attempting to maximise their power;

DC16 Engineering Check: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

As power banks rise she grins;

"Veapons maximised Kaptain! Haf at them!"

Weapons Augmented - Damage die natural 1's are instead treated as 2's

Looks like with the data we have we don't need a scan

"Targeting their weapon systems captain!"

Computers, target threnody weapon system: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26

It doesn't matter because they are resolved simultaneously, but CRB 317 indicates that Gunnery Phases occur in the same order as Piloting Phases. I.E. we were supposed to have taken our Gunnery Phase after they had moved, but before they had fired... I think it is to give the enemy gunner the advantage of knowing what our action will be.

Yep, they do technically resolve in initiative order, but trying to track the board-gamey Starship combat through PBP and keep people posting in order would really drag it out and make it take too long per round. I think it's safe to assume that once the ships are moved, shots are going to go off regardless of what the other ship does.

Hokhuckx turns the turret to fire, unleashing a coilgun shot.

Gunnery: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (2, 4, 2, 1) = 9 10, then.

Round 1

Since only one weapon was fired this turn, Aazanar takes control of the ship's forward laser, and takes a shot.

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

"Ehh... well, I tried."

Hokhuckx's shot rings true, blasting into their forward shields and severely weakening them!

I misread the data sheet before and what I was supposed to give you. So to correct that: you also know how their shields are distributed. After that shot, all four arcs currently have 5 shield points, with the forward having a maximum of 15.

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Round 2
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Laeshin: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 6 + 1 = 13
Lawblight: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 9 + 1 = 21

Laeshin, you move first again.

The Lawblight's engineer rushes to restore their shields.
Eng: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25 6 points regained, all to forward.

Round 2 - Helm
Fly: Forward 2, Turn R, Forward 2, Turn L, Forward 2, Turn L, Forward 2, Turn L.

Lawblight: Forward 2, Turn L, Forward 4, Turn L.

The Lawblight's coilgun fires out!

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16 does 4d4 ⇒ (2, 3, 2, 4) = 11 damage to your port shields!

Sefel abandons the science officer station and heads to a gun.

"Heavy laser... this ought to pack some punch."

heavy laser canon attack: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 2 + 1 = 12
heavy laser canon damage: 4d8 ⇒ (7, 4, 2, 7) = 20

Kultha holds steady at her station, concerned that the Daytripper's shields have taken a pounding.

The vest-tech re-routes some power-cables, torquing the couplings;

DC16 Engineering: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

When the power fails to re-route, she hisses, traces the fault, then cracks a panel with her custom rig;

Invoke Exocortex Memory Module to re-roll failed check

DC16 Engineering: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

Restore 6 points to Port shield (back up to 10) and 1 point to Forward shield (up to 11 points)

"Port shield restored to 66% Kaptain! Forward at 55% and holding!"

Hokhuckx swivels the turret, firing off another coilgun blast.

Gunnery: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (1, 2, 1, 4) = 8

"Heavy laser... this ought to pack some punch."

I think you mean heavy missile launcher? The heavy laser is to forward and does not have a shot this round.

Sitting at the gunnery console, Aazanar is not able to bring a gun to bear on the enemy. He returns to the captain's chair.

"Come on, Laeshin! Get it in front of us, or I'll send you outside to patch holes!"

GM: Can I affect the ship's Initiative rolls with the demand/encourage actions?

If yes, next round Demand DC 21: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21 ... just barely!

the forward guns cannot be aimed? Okay, got it

"I'm sorry captain! I'm doing the best I can, but the Day-Tripper isn't quite as maneuverable as the Skull-Crusher was... and the enemy pilot is good, really good. Laeshin complains over his shoulder, eyes locked to his console.

Upon hearing their manoeuvabilty woes, Kultha chimes in over the comms;

"I kan re-route power to the engines... Give us more speed if necessary?"

Next round of course ;)

@Aazanar: Yes, the captain can Demand for any d20 roll during any phase, but only once per person per combat.

@Sefel: The only guns that can be aimed are the turrets.

The Day Tripper's coilgun shot connects, killing their port shields and dealing some minor hull damage!

Sefel's missile just barely misses and crashes harmlessly into one of the asteroids. 4 missiles left!

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Round 3
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Laeshin + Demand: 1d20 + 6 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 6 + 1 + 4 = 30
Lawblight: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 9 + 1 = 24

The Lawblight moves into position, skirting an asteroid to protect her own flank.

Forward 2, Turn L, Forward 2, Turn L

oy, it really has been too long since I read the starship combat chapter... starting a re-read tomorrow

Round 3 - Helm
Turn In Place: Turn L x3

Round 3

Kultha feels her ship turning hard to face the enemy, and nods knowing weapons will be key now.

She quickly routes couplings to the Day Tripper's weapons systems, attempting to maximise their power;

DC16 Engineering Check: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

As power levels rise she grins;

"Veapons again maximised Kaptain! Blow them avay!"

Weapons Augmented - Damage die natural 1's are instead treated as 2's

The Lawblight's captain did not expect the Day Tripper to stay within their forward firing range, but will take the opportunity she's presented.

The intercom crackles to life and you see a heavily tattooed and pierced human female's face.

"We don't want to damage your ship too much to salvage, so stay still! Let us kill you quickly!"

Just then a torpedo is launched from the Lawblight, along with a barrage of coilgun fire.

Coilgun: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16 hits!
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19
for 4d4 ⇒ (1, 4, 2, 1) = 8 damage.

Torpedo: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19 hits for 5d8 ⇒ (2, 1, 1, 3, 4) = 11 damage, for a total of 19 damage to the forward arc. Your forward shields are now depleted and you take 9 points of hull damage (76 remaining).

The coilgun fire disrupts the Day Tripper shields enough to allow the torpedo to break through and detonate right on the hull, causing significant hull damage!

Hokhuckx accidentally fires as the torpedo hits, falling out of his chair.

Gunnery: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (3, 2, 4, 4) = 13

Climbing back into the seat, Hokchuckx sees his shot flying dead center to the enemy ship. Er, shot fired, captain.

The Lawblight's captain did not expect the Day Tripper to stay within their forward firing range, but will take the opportunity she's presented.

Uh, nor did I. I thought we won initiative. What happened there?

Aazanar had switched back to Captain to help Laeshin with Initiative, and has already gone this round. And since Kultha has done the engineering action that leaves all the remaining guns to Sefel. He can only fire two out of the remaining three.

"Sefel! Get that Heavy Laser and that Missile Launcher on that bastard!"

Sefel, please full attack with both weapons.

"Looks like we're in good position. Unloading all I've got on them!"

heavy laser canon attack: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 2 + 1 = 18
heavy laser damage: 4d8 ⇒ (8, 7, 8, 4) = 27

missile launcher attack: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 2 + 1 = 20
missile damage: 4d8 ⇒ (4, 7, 8, 2) = 21

We did win Initiative. Meaning they moved first, outting their back againt the wall.
It wasn't ideal, but Laeshin was ordered to keep the enemy in our forward arc, combined with the terrain, and our relative maneuverability indicated to me that turning in place was the best solution. I was concerned that trying to dog-fight there would have left us where the enemy could get behind us.
I'd have tried evasive maneuvers...but I'm afraid to try a stunt in the Day-Tripper, the DCs are high enough I'm more likely to fail than succeed.

As an aside I've not being wilfully ignoring the suggested tactics from Aazanar of all hands to the guns - just figured that Kultha's skill would be better served fixing or augmenting. Apologies if I've skewed the balance of the fight in their favour.

Sefel, this would be a "Fire At Will" action, meaning you can fire any two weapons in any arc at a -4 penalty to both. Luckily, you barely managed to hit them with both shots!

After Hokhuckx's shot lowered their shields, Sefel fires a missle and a laser blast directly into them! The ship takes massive damage from the combined assault. Another torpedo slots into place, meaning you have 3 left.

And just like that, you deal 3 critical hits!
Crit: 3d100 ⇒ (28, 89, 2) = 119
Their Life Support, Sensors, and Power Core are all now glitching. Another barrage like that, and they're done for.

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Round 4
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Laeshin: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 6 + 1 = 22
Lawblight: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 9 + 1 = 13

The Lawblight captian is overwhelmed by the massive momentum swing. Hastily, she orders her pilot to flyby the Day Tripper for a point-blank attack.

Demand DC 18: 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 8 - 2 = 21

Despite her obvious panic, her words force the pilot into action, and he attempts the maneuver.

Flyby DC 18: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

6 Forward, Turn L

As the Lawblight passes the Day Tripper, a torpedo is shot out at your aft!

Torpedo: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

but it misses harmlessly! Apparently the weapons targeting systems have been compromised...

Laeshin, your move!

Round 4 - Helm
Fly: Forward 2, Turn L, Forward 2, Turn L, Forward 2, Turn L, Forward 2.
Laeshin guns the engines as the enemy pilot begins their flyby, swerving left in a long arc to bring them back into view on the starboard side.

"Nice work, Laeshin!"

It's a little too late to encourage Laeshin's initiative roll, but that's what I was planning to do, so I don't feel that it would be right to switch roles now. Instead I'll use encourage on Sefel.

"Nice shot Sefel! Let's have another one like that!"

Encourage DC 15: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12 Nope...

Sefel & Hokhuckx: If you plan to fire only one weapon, make it one of the big ones, the heavy laser or the missile. Both deal 4d8 damage. Lave the coilguns for when you full attack at -4 to hit with two weapons.

"Kultha! Try and bring our forward shields back up!"

The heavy laser isn't available in Round 4's Gunnery Phase, it is locked forward and facing them would have exposed an unshielded arc to enemy fire (which I wouldn't have already known would miss during my Piloting phase in a FtF game).

Got it. Looks like the GM applied the -4's for my last full attack with the big guns. While the heavy laser isn't available, I assume missiles are.

missile launcher attack: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 2 + 1 = 7 Doesn't matter what I fired with that roll :/

If we can't use the heavy laser, the only things left are coilguns, correct?

Gunnery: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Doh.

Round 4 - Engineering

Kultha acknowledges Aazanar's command, and sets about rechanneling power to the shields;

"Acknowledged Kaptain. Attempting regeneration of shields now..."

DC16 Engineering: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

All 7 points onto Forward Shields. Now 7/20...

As the shield banks rise, the vesk-tech flashes a hard smile to herself;

"Forward shields now at 35% Kaptain. Hull integrity holding at 89.4% sir!"

The Lawblight fires its turret!

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16 hits for
4d4 ⇒ (1, 2, 3, 4) = 10 damage to your starboard shields.

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Round 5
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Laeshin: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 6 + 1 = 25
Lawblight: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 9 + 1 = 30

Laeshin, you move first this round.

Round 5 - Helm
Stunt: Evade (DC 16): Forward 2, Turn R, Forward 4, Turn R, Forward 2, Turn R.
Piloting: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 (Failure, but not by enough to suffer penalties...)

The Lawblight circles slowly, skirting an asteroid as they attempt to repair the worst of their damaged hull, simultaneously taking potshots with their coilgun.

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16 hits
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
for 4d4 ⇒ (1, 3, 1, 3) = 8 damage for your starboard side. Your shields are now depleted there and you take 3 hull damage; you're now sitting at 73/85 HP.