Dead Suns AP by GM Cellion (Inactive)

Game Master GM Cellion

Yes XD Washing, polishing, stripping rusted parts, replacing stripped screws...

I think I'm going to actually get a personal upgrade for Sydney.

Okay, I think Isu has easily taken Grix's place as the plucky comic relief of the team!

I'm thinking I'll do the personal upgrade too. +2 to Strength for me!

I think lack of failing the previous mission has done great things for his ability to relax. Before the Drift Rock, he was last man standing in a brutal ambush... Isu's happy to have a success under his belt.

Something I was wondering: Since we haven't technically gotten into any fights where it'd matter yet, may I swap my level-up feat? I'd like to replace Coordinated Shot with Divine Blessing (Sarenrae).

Go for it Arc. We are still kinda in a transitional period.

Yay, thank you! :D

Gotta say, I'm REALLY loving this chit-chat time we've got going! It really feels like our characters are getting to know each other! :D

For me, it's the first chance I've really had to explore who Isu is beneath the soldier exterior. Yeah, it's been fun.

Assuming we don't hear from Solaria and Spectre early tomorrow, I'll start us on the next scene. Unless you guys want some extra time to chat and explore your characters?

I'm ready to go!

Sorry guys, been really busy with work and family ...

Did manage to get to see Halestorm as part of the busy-bits which was a real treat ... Back to normal now I hope. Weekends are always a bit difficult to do much in ...

Sorry, I'm back now and trying to get through a hundred email. Probably best to continue on and I'll jump in as I'm able.

Welcome back Solaria and Spectre. Feel free to chime in when you're ready to.

All in favor of Spectre's alignment becoming Evil for that phishing scam? :P

All in favor of Spectre's alignment becoming Evil for that phishing scam? :P

*raises hand*

:>

hehe

I was going to put this in gameplay, but its really a discussion topic:

I do agree Cellion that it is strange to expect players to simply WANT to do this quest and have no real incentive other than curiosity. Since Isu has no true curiosity about the drift rock origins, hopefully this bit of RP works.

Like many of Paizo's APs (and honestly all pre-written tabletop gaming), this game requires that players are willing to 'buy in' to the inherent assumptions of the story. One of the core assumptions here is that the PCs want to be Starfinders and do 'starfinder-y' things, ie. EXPLORE new and strange worlds and people while uncovering various mysteries, REPORT on their discoveries back to the Society, and COOPERATE with other agents productively.

In most of the Pathfinder APs, we've had player's guides to help set the expectations explicitly upfront. Say for example in War for the Crown, your characters want to support the Princess' bid for the throne, rather than aspiring to it themselves. Or in Curse of the Crimson Throne where the PCs have to be willing to put their lives on the line for the city even as it gets increasingly horrible. Unfortunately, with no players guide here, we didn't have that kind of guidance before hand.

From reading ahead, all I'll say is that if you try to approach this story with characters that aren't interested in exploring unknown alien races, uncovering mysteries, and stopping evil, the AP is not likely to be very compelling. This is definitely not the only time in the AP where the only obvious motivator for the party is the opportunity to discover something new.

While I could try to change it to a purely mercenary adventure where you investigate things for other people and get paid, I think that'd cut the heart and soul out of the whole concept. So instead, I'd encourage you to reconsider how you want your characters to approach the story.

At least Isu's conversion to a Sarenite will help in that regard. Once he knows there's evil that needs fightin' he'll be the one leading the charge to fight it! ;)

yeah, it's not that Isu won't be invested. He WILL be invested, once he understands what is going on. And he does care about his friends, I just thought it would be interesting to play someone who doesn't care about the Starfinder Society.

Right now all he hears is blah blah blah university, and no money. Just a bit of RP as I try to get to figure out this character's personality. Of course he will go along as the party's heavy.

Honestly I think part of this is just an honest misinterpretation of what the Society actually functions as. I'd always been under the impression that the Starfinders (and Pathfinders before them) were more like a club or a trade union for professional adventures. They don't pay YOU, you pay THEM in the form of membership dues, and gain perks like leads on lucrative ventures, networking with other adventurers, and research archives and stuff for more esoteric subjects you couldn't simply Google, room and board between expeditions as well as just the prestige and name recognition that comes with membership.

Where WE are supposed to get our money is from our adventuring, whether that's from salvaging gear, making archaeological discoveries or surveying natural resources and then selling the information to interested parties or profiting by publishing the findings ourselves, or through simple mercenary work or theft. Chiskisk gets paid by the Society because Chiskisk doesn't ADVENTURE. They are in the Society's direct employ because they do office work.

I dunno, that's sort of how I thought it worked.

I think that's actually kind of right Arc.

Oddly, while it *is* a kind of trade union, it (if we're to believe the structure of Starfinder Society organized play is accurate) works mostly as an information gathering and cataloging organization. One that has an active membership of adventurers that investigate leads on their behalf. The adventurers are paid based on the missions they undertake and the finds they bring back. In exchange for generous pay after each mission, the adventurers get to keep absolutely nothing of what they come across, and get very little in the way of direct credit for any findings.

On the other hand, this is my guess based on how the real world org-play Society works. There's surprisingly little in the AP or in the rulebooks on how the Starfinder Society actually functions. At least not at the individual-adventurer level.

Geez 14 new post?! You all have been busy. ...or I'm just slow

Well technically if you aren't checking once a day, you are slow. :D

So I have enough funds to get jump jets, an armor upgrade.

I've long been trying to figure out what to put into my Android Upgrade Slot, and I think jump jets sound perfect. Any reason these wouldn't work in my upgrade slot? Anything else I should consider instead of jump jets?

Jump jets are A-OK Spectre.

Jump jets are cool!!!

Jump jets are cool!!!

Damn straight, they are! I'm gonna get a set myself when I have the credits and the right level! Then Arcalinte will REALLY look the part of an avenging angel!

Jump jets purchased! I'm liking the idea, especially on my droid. :)

Honestly I don't know how much I can LOL at the Harry Potter reference given how determined J.K. Rowling seems to be to drag her own masterwork down with these weird updates and revisions like how apparently Voldemort's snake was a Thai woman and that milking her he talked about wasn't snake venom like we all thought when we read Goblet of Fire, plus the fact that she's totally fine with that jerkface Johnny Depp being in her latest movies. *shrug*

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

How many credits do I have left after purchasing that Personal Upgrade? I know I've spent 1,400 so far, but I wonder if I have a few extra for things like datapads or stuff, even if I don't have enough for a weapon or anything.

As someone who hasn't followed anything Harry Potter related since about 2010, I think I'm going to pretend everything you just said doesn't exist. :>

As far as credits are concerned, that's 100% up to you to track Arc. (And I'm counting on you to not fudge things here!) I'd guess you have a good bit of credits left over (based on nothing but how much other people were able to buy), with a datapad and other supplies well within your budget.

I'm fine with any station. We should probably revisit assignments now that we have a few levels under our belts.

Here are my potentially relevant skills.

Computers +13,
Engineering +10 (+14 vs. traps),
Perception +6,
Physical Science +9,
Piloting +10

On another note, is it worth my putting more points in piloting? Sydney is better, though it might make sense to have someone that can take over if something happens to her?

You should keep a running total of credits in your equipment list in your alias! But I spent at least 2000 just recently

Okay, looking back through the thread it looks like we started with 2427 credits from our looted goodies and the ambassador's reward. So subtracting 1400 from that for the personal upgrade, I still have 1027 to spend! Time to do some shopping!

EDIT: Okay, I have the things I KNOW I'll want, Infrared Sensors for my armor (Darkvision!), an Entangling fusion for my sword, and that still leaves me with about 467 credits. Is there any disposable stuff I should consider investing in? Those medpatches were literal lifesavers aboard the Acreon, and I feel like if I don't have some stuff to help out in case of emergencies I'll be letting the team down...

Sydney can do whatever. Her computers and engineering skills aren't bad

Solaria will but a radiation badge 100 credits ...
She will get some gills implanted .
and get a jet pack too if its possible, as climbing isn't her forte.
she will add some medical stuff including serums, anything to help against poisons and disease ...
and a spare battery pack..

I will do the sums soon to make sure its all possible....

Any suggestions as to what I should invest in? I'm tempted to upgrade my gear like a better tent and backpack, and maybe a cot and sleeping bag, but I'm not sure if you all want me to buy and carry some expendables for the team...

Serums of healing? We would use those since we don't have other ways to restore HP right now.

I think jet packs are still a little out of your price range (3100 creds IIRC), but the rest of that stuff sounds great Solaria. I'll do my best to remember you have a radiation badge, but you may want to prompt me sometimes. That's definitely one of those things thats tricky for a GM to always keep in mind.

Serums are a great fall back option for emergencies, but they're pricy for what they do. Its a shame there's no cheap HP healing item. Though I guess that's why Starfinder has stamina instead.

Sorry, I'd hoped to figure out what I am before combat...am I Engineering or Science Officer?

Okay, I got all my shopping done and am now down to 1 credit!

In addition to the previously mentioned items, I upgraded my backpack and tent (now they're Industrial and Mobile Hotelier respectively), purchased a mess kit, canteen, cot, bedroll and sleeping bag, along with the aforementioned books (2 non-religious ones that will stay on the Sunrise Maiden, along with my own copy of The Birth of Light and Truth, Arc purchased a second one since Isu took his first copy! :P), 4 Serums of Healing, Mk 1, 2 batteries, since I now have gear requiring it, a lighter and I think that's everything.

Isu, make sure you note you've got a copy of The Birth of Light and Truth now! ;)

Gimmie that imaginary point back :( QQ lol

sweet!

Gimmie that imaginary point back :( QQ lol

Lol. I'll take back the demerit if you promise to read important spoilers next time!

D: I already read a lot for work

Ahh, this weekend is going to be busy for me. In-laws are coming to town

I'm so tired, guuuh! It's Fall but it's still so hot outside QQ

Lol Sydney. I'd be happy for it to stay hot (or at least warm) all the way through January. Unfortunately, its gearing up to be pretty cool by the end of the week where I live.

--

As a bit of an anecdote based on Isu's comment in gameplay: I didn't have a good appreciation for how tactical and teamwork-reliant starship combat could be until I played in the Starfinder Society special (1-99) that came out recently. There's a combat in there against two enemy ships that both hit like trucks. Initially, we did the standard PbP strategy of everyone posting independently and taking basic actions: engineer ups shields, gunners gun, pilot evades. And we started getting trounced.

Realizing we'd be dead pretty soon, we ended up doing a bunch of strategizing OOC in order to work out the best positioning and how to best use our available shields and stay out of the worst firing arcs for the enemy ships. It ended up still being dicey, but we pulled through.

All I can suggest for this current starship combat is that you discuss your plan before committing to your actions. Make sure everyone is on board with potential positioning etc. Of course, this requires a lot of posting activity! But if I see you guys are still working out your actions, I definitely won't end the round early.

So I wouldn't consider such talk metagaming or anything. These rounds last an unspecifed amount of time, and we are in full communication with each other during the fight, so we should have plenty of time to figure out a plan.

It all comes down to initiative, in my opinion. If we win initiative, we can position against their weakest arc. However, how can we do that realistically in the PBP environment?

Perhaps the first thing that should happen in PBP is the initiative, followed by the piloting checks to move. And then, all the other players can go in any order. This is because until we know where we are in relation to the other ship, it is impossible to know what intelligent actions to take.

Sydney has the best piloting score (+12 Pilot) so I think she should stay as pilot. BUT, her computers and engineering are +10 so she'd be a good Science Officer or Engineer.

Solaria has the best Diplomacy (+10 Diplo) which is the only ship skill she really excels at.

Arc (+8 Diplo) is in a similar spot at Solaria. He would be a good back-up Captain.

Spectre is a jack-of-all-trades and can fit into piloting (+10 Pilot), engineering (+10 Engin), or science officer (+13 Comp). Spec is best for the Science Officer chair.

Isu is a soldier so the ideal position for him is at the highest damage-dealing weapon. He would be okay as a back-up pilot behind Sydney and Spectre (but Spec has that +13 Comp which is hard to pass up on)

Ted has +8 Comp, +8 Engin, and +7 pilot so he can do most roles. If he wasn't afk, I would put him in the Engineering seat.

In an ideal world, this is what I would choose:
Engineer = Ted (+8 Engin) Boost guns
Captain = Solaria (+10 Diplo) Boost Engin
Pilot = Sydney (+12 Pilot) (+1 Pilot Ship bonus)
Science Officer = Spectre (+13 Comp) (+2 Comp Ship bonus)
Gunner (turret) = Isu (+4 Str) (+1 Ship bonus)
Gunner (adjusting gunner) = Arc (+3 Str) (+1 Ship bonus)

With our current situation, I would recommend:
Engineer = Sydney (+10 Engin) (+1 Ship bonus) Boost guns
Captain = Solaria (+10 Diplo) Boost Engin
Pilot = Isu (+5 Pilot) (+1 Pilot Ship bonus)
Science Officer = Spectre (+13 Comp) (+2 Comp Ship bonus)
Gunner (turret) = Arc (+3 Str) (+1 Ship bonus)

That being said, it's just a game and people should play what they want to play :p

I agree we ought to take positions best suited to our skills. I took Engineering because I think level 2 Ted didn't have that good of an engineering skill.

I am going to be maxing computers...I'm happy to take that slot.

I would suggest that to speed up combat (for example on the weekend or if someone is AFK) we could have a default action set. For example, Engineering could be Divert power to shields. If that action isn't needed, we could just skip that person, but it could be life/death if we skip people. But I do want to keep forging ahead.

I like these suggestions.