GM Mawgrim's Dead Suns campaign (group B)

Game Master Mawgrim

While Xera easily manages the somewhat risky maneuver of performing the fly-by, while the other pilot attempts to do the same as both ships weave around one another in a dangerous dance.

As the two ships fly around each other, the two gunners fire their respective weapons but neither of the HUDS in front of Orlam and Private Eye light up to indicate a direct hit.

Seconds later, alarms begin to sound to indicate critical damage to the weapons array on the port side, and the HUD interface for the turret begins to glitch out. Mysterra checks over the damage report and sees all port shields at full power, indicating that the interceptor appears to have used its EMP cannon to cause havoc with the Hippocampus' systems.

Xera succeeds at flyby Piloting check, allowing the front arc to attack at close range. Enemy pilot succeeds at flyby Piloting check, allowing the front arc to attack at close range. Private Eye attacks and misses. Orlam attacks and misses. Enemy pilot fires light EMP cannon and hits, causing the coilgun turret to glitch (-2 penalty) for the next X rounds.

I'll give a little more time for Valius to attempt an action this turn - neither the Demand nor the Encourage actions on the gunners will push their rolls high enough to hit the enemy ship, but as there is still the Taunt action, there is still time in the round to attempt that if you wish :)

Since I keep having to look it up...

Hippocampus Stats

BTW GM: I am cool with you rolling initiative for me if that speeds things up. I will always use one of the +1s from the computer.

If we lose initiative next round I will follow the green arrows. If we win I'll wait to see where the baddie moves.

Xera: If you’re ok with that, I think that’s a good idea - I’ll roll both piloting checks in the next round and move either just the enemy ship (in the case you win initiative) or both ships and you can roll whatever stunts you need to for your action. As this is the first starship combat, I’m happy to figure out what works and what doesn’t :)

Ill give Valius until the end of my day at work today to post before I will move the combat on into round 3

Round 3
3/3 computer bonuses (+1) remaining; Turret glitching (-2 penalty)

Current roles
Captain: Valius
Engineer: Mysterra
Gunner(s): Orlam, Private Eye
Pilot: Xera
Science Officer: -nil-

Xera's Piloting initiative roll: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 11 + 1 = 32

The dogfight between the two ships progresses, with the enemy ship sweeping perilously close to the Hippocampus and preparing to fire weapons before it turns away again.

Xera win's initiative for the PCs - I have moved the enemy interceptor first, performing a successful flyby. Engineering phase can still happen, and will occur as if the two ships were at their respective starting positions on the map.

Xera pulls the Hippocampus into a tight turn to try and follow the intruder.

"Think you can get away from us, eh?"

Maneuver DC 16: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31 ...turn rating reduced by 1.

Icon moved. Enemy is in our forward arc, we are in its starboard arc. I also edited the ship icons to give them a "pointy" front.

"The enemy EMP has caused our turret system to glitch. Attempting a patch, Captain." Mysterra states as she clicks away on the engineers console. It will take one action, and the DC is 11 or 12 (not sure if I round down or up.)

Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24

Suceeding. For the next hour the turret no longer counts as glitching.

"Come on baby..." Eye whispers as he fires again. When he misses again he begins to get frustrated.

Attack with node: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (4, 3, 4, 3) = 14

Valius grimaces at the damage report, glaring at the image of the enemy vessel. He hits the comms, speaking low and clear. "Do you really think that it's a good idea to go against the Stewards, you voidspawn? We're going to rip your ship apart and keelhaul you in a micrometeoroid storm!" He bellowed out, his words not exactly reflecting the face he was giving the others.

Taunt (Gunnery phase, Intimidate): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Mysterra's hands flow over the ship system HUD as she redirects power away from the seemingly affected parts of the turret controls, her patch applying successfully for now.

Xera cuts the power to the starboard thrusters while firing up the portside thrusters simultaneously to give the Hippocampus a much tighter turning circle than normal. Everyone in the bridge feels themselves begin to lean slowly to the portside of the ship as the inertial dampeners struggle to keep up with the faster turn, but eventually the forward-facing weapons have the enemy interceptor in their sights.

Valius, I'm assuming you are applying Taunt during the Gunnery phase - if this is not the case, then let me know before next round which phase it applies to and I'll move forward with that.
Edit: Never mind - that was already in the dice roll description.
Taunt duration: 1d4 ⇒ 1

As the weapons continue to fire between both of the ships, the Hippocampus' shields continue to remain at 100% as the enemy ship misses with their gyrolaser. Despite the patch applied to the turret controls, Private Eye's attack misses.

I'll give another day or so for Orlam to attempt to attack the enemy ship before moving us to round 4.

Orlam opens fire, trying to track the fast-flying ship, but having difficulty doing so.

Gunnery Check DRR: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Laser Cannon Damage DRR: 2d4 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3
Includes +1 to attack roll from ship's 'floating' modifiers

My apologies! Didn't realize you were waiting for my roll. I must have gotten screwed up on the phases. Not that it matters anyway... *sigh*

No problems at all Orlam :) was away from computer for most of today as well, so didn't get much of a chance to post til now.

Round 4
3/3 computer bonuses (+1) remaining

Current roles
Captain: Valius
Engineer: Mysterra
Gunner(s): Orlam, Private Eye
Pilot: Xera
Science Officer: -nil-

Xera's Piloting initiative roll: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 11 + 1 = 25

The critical damage alarms on the bridge of the Starfinders' vessel cease their bleating as the EMP's effects wear off of the turret controls. The incterceptor darts sharply to the starboard side, sweeping past the Hippocampus again in a tight flyby attack and unloads another volley of gyrolaser fire at the freighter.

Everyone is back up now - Xera, you may do whatever rolls you need for your piloting. Mysterra, your Engineering phase action will occur as if both ships were at their starting points for the round.

"Diverting extra power to the guns, Captain."

Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21 Succeeding.

Each damage die that rolls a 1 this round is treated as having rolled a 2 instead.

Eye smacks the console in front of him, "I said come on!" He fires again and his method seems to work.

Attack with node: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (1, 2, 3, 3) = 9

With Mysterra's action that will be 10 damage.

"Aha! Now I got ya!" Xera chortles.

She pulls the ship to port and then turns to starboard, coming up on the enemy's starboard flank.

Evade DC 11: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

+2 to AC and TL. The enemy is in our forward arc; we are in his starboard arc.

Orlam finds the enemy ship again in his sights and again tries to shoot it down with the laser cannon.

Gunnery Check DRR: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
Laser Cannon Damage DRR: 2d4 ⇒ (4, 3) = 7
Includes +1 to attack roll from ship's 'floating' modifiers

Taunt During Piloting Phase: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

"You call that a flyby, you rank amateur?! My great-grandmother with carpal tunnel and arthritis in all of her fingers could do a better flyby than that! My great uncle's emissions are more dangerous than those puny lasers you're spitting at us!" Valius continues to berate their opponent, rather enjoying the opportunity to be inventive with his insults.

Taunt duration: 1d4 ⇒ 3
Enemy ship affected by Taunt(piloting) for the next 3 rounds.

With Valius hurling insults down the comms at the pilot of the enemy ship, the dogfight continues as the interceptor fires its gyrolaser during its flyby attack. Mysterra's HUD blares with an alarm as the diagnostics show the rear sections of the shield are fully depleted and the hull has begun to take damage from the enemy vessel.

Wheeling the freighter around to give chase to the faster craft, Xera maneuvers the Hippocampus into an easy line of sight and allows for Private Eye to give the interceptor a taste of its own medicine as the weapons array confirms a direct hit to the rear of the Deathglider.

Mysterra directs power to the weapons array successfully. Xera successfully Evades, increasing AC/TL to 16/16. Valius successfully Taunts for 3 rounds. Private Eye attacks and hits for 10 damage. Orlam misses.

Round 5
Current roles
Captain: Valius
Engineer: Mysterra
Gunner(s): Orlam, Private Eye
Pilot: Xera
Science Officer: -nil-

Xera's Piloting initiative roll: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 11 + 1 = 14
2/3 computer bonuses (+1) remaining

The enemy ship has won initiative this round - Xera, it's your move first :)

Round 5

Could you also include a summary of our ship's shield strengths? And HP?

"He's right in front of us. Making another pass..."

Flyby DC 16: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

Flyby stunt: Our Forward Arc weapons may now fire as if we are shooting at range 1 and are shooting at the Port side of the enemy (which we hit a few times).

"Here we go! Let him have it!"

Sure thing :)

Ship Status
HP 39/40
Shields Basic 20 (5/5 forward, 0/5 aft, 5/5 port, 5/5 starboard)
Systems All fine

"Diverting power to the shields." Mysterra announces as she clicks away on the console.

Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14

"Restoring aft shields."

Restoring 3.75 shield points to our shields. It should all go to our aft, since the others are still at full. Correct? Also, not sure if I round up or down. Up?

"Aft shields functioning at 80% efficiency."

I believe our shields should now be Basic 20 (5/5 forward, 4/5 aft, 5/5 port, 5/5 starboard).

The alarms sound, indicating their ship is sustaining moderate damage and the kasathas is eager to end this battle quickly. But first he needs to manage a decent shot! Taking a deep breath, Orlam fires again as Xera presses another close attack run on the enemy ship, but curses under his breath as his shots again go wide.

Gunnery Check DRR: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Laser Cannon Damage DRR: 2d4 ⇒ (1, 1) = 2
Includes +1 to attack roll from ship's 'floating' modifiers

Ouch! I am getting no love from the dice in this battle...

"Atta girl."

Eye keeps up the pressure. "It's alright Orlam, I'm sure you could take that guy in a scrap on the ground."

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (3, 2, 3, 3) = 11

Taunt During Engineering Phase: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

"Your piloting is trash! Your shooting is trash! My cousin's infant daughter could patch a subsystem better than you!" Valius continues to berate and shout at them, seeing that right now Mysterra had all of the Engineering down. Though something nagged at him about this. He wasn't sure what, but it seemed off for them to attack now.

The restoration value of the current PCU is 3 as values are rounded down unless specified by a specific rule, I believe. So your aft shields are 3/5 right now.

With Mysterra pushing the power core to restore the shields as quickly as possible and Valius launching another torrent of abuse down the communications line, Xera maneuvers the Hippocampus into another flyby maneuver against the smaller ship as it instigates a similar maneuver.

Both Orlam and Private Eye fire at the ship, and Private Eye's HUD lights up with another direct hit. The jubilation is short lived, as another shudder from the rear of the Hippocampus is followed by sparks flying from the power systems, indicating that the Starfinders' ship has been damaged once again.

Mysterra succeeds in diverting power to shields, raising aft shields to 3/5. Valius attempts to Taunt during the Engineering phase and fails. Xera succeeds at a flyby stunt. Private Eye attacks and hits the enemy vessel, dealing 11 points of damage. Orlam attacks and misses. Enemy attacks the Hippocamus and hits, dealing 5 points of damage (3 blocked by shields)

Round 6
Current roles
Captain: Valius
Engineer: Mysterra
Gunner(s): Orlam, Private Eye
Pilot: Xera
Science Officer: -nil-

Current Ship Status
HP 37/40
Shields Basic 20 (5/5 forward, 0/5 aft, 5/5 port, 5/5 starboard)
Systems All fine

Xera's Piloting initiative roll: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 11 + 1 = 26
2/3 computer bonuses (+1) remaining

As the two ships continue to fly around one another, the interceptor attempts another flyby, but the tactic is now familiar to the Hippocampus' crew, and the gunners manage to get the interceptor in their sights as it flies past.

And that is a failed fly-by from the interceptor. One of the gunners may make a free attack against the interceptor.

Xera wins initiative, so I have moved the enemy ship. The pinkish colour is the movement from Round 5, and the red is round 6 (hopefully the mess of arrows isn't too confusing).

Mysterra's fingers don't pause in their efforts, even as sparks begins to fly.

"Damaged in the aft quadrant again, Captain. Aft shields down. Rerouting power to shields."

Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

Success. Restoring three shield points to our aft quadrant again.

"Restoring aft shields." After a moment of these silence she announces, "Aft shields functioning at 60% efficiency."

Private Eye holds down the trigger.

Free Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (3, 4, 2, 1) = 10

Attack with node: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (2, 1, 2, 1) = 6

Xera pulls the ship around behind the enemy.

Enemy is in our forward arc; we are in its starboard arc.

"Stupid guy has barely scratched us. You gotta give him points for persistence though."

Evade DC 13: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17

Actually, GM: is there any point doing an evade if the enemy already fired with a flyby attack?

"I think there is something wrong with my targeting computer." The kasathas grumbles to anyone listening as his last shot goes wide. But then Xera maneuvers the ship perfectly to give Orlam another chance at firing on the enemy ship, and the soldier takes advantage, doing his best to track its flight and anticipate its movement.

Gunnery Check DRR: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Laser Cannon Damage DRR: 2d4 ⇒ (2, 3) = 5
Includes +1 to attack roll from ship's 'floating' modifiers

"There's nothing wrong with your targeting computer! You can hit him Orlam! ...Probably!" Valius encourages the gunner as he fires.

Encourage Orlam (Diplomacy): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

@Xera: Since the attack from the enemy’s flyby still occurs within the gunnery phase (it’s a little abstract, but I think starship combat assumes that all of these actions technically take place at roughly the same time), increasing your ships AC/TL is still definitely worth it if you don’t have the opportunity to avoid all of the enemy weapon arcs. In this case, it failed its flyby roll and has to use its end-of-movement facing to determine which directions it can fire from.

On a side note, I’ve a hectic day of work ahead of me today (as we have a public holiday coming up on Monday) so I’ll get a post out this evening when I get home to resolve everyone’s actions and move into next round where applicable.

The two ships continue to fly past one another, sweeping and firing weapons at each other. The sensors on the Hippocampus indicate that the enemy ship is attempting to try and keep its unshielded sectors away from them as best it can, but Xera's masterful handling over the flight controls keeps the interceptor in their gunners sights. While Orlam misses again, unable to quite lock onto the smaller ship, the turret HUD shows another green confirmed hit against the unshielded aft.

Private Eye deals 11 damage to the enemy ship. Enemy ship cannot fire due to failed flyby.

Round 7
Current roles
Captain: Valius
Engineer: Mysterra
Gunner(s): Orlam, Private Eye
Pilot: Xera
Science Officer: -nil-

Current Ship Status
HP 37/40
Shields Basic 20 (5/5 forward, 0/5 aft, 5/5 port, 5/5 starboard)
Systems All fine

Xera's Piloting initiative roll: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 11 + 1 = 19
2/3 computer bonuses (+1) remaining

The enemy ship wins initiative, as the pilot has a higher number of ranks in Piloting. Xera, you get to move first.

Last round I restored 3 shields to the aft quadrant, and I don't see them hitting us, but our shields reads 0/5 for aft. Did I misunderstand something?

Mysterra continues to restore our damaged aft shields.

"Further restoring power to shields, Captain."

Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22 Success. Restoring 3 shields.

If we were at 3/5 aft shields we're now up to 5/5. If we were at 0/5 aft shields we're now at 3/5. All other shield quadrants remain full.

Sorry, that was a copy/paste error on my part. You were on 3/5 aft shields, and so are on 5/5 now.

"Excellent, Mysterra," Valius confirms to her as he looks at the statistics. At least it seemed right now that they were winning this skirmish. Still he had no stomach for destroying the vessel if they could avoid it, especially since he'd want to get some answers.

"Eye, I want you to target their engines. Hobble them and prevent them from escaping," Valius directs the gunner firmly.

Demand Private Eye (Intimidate)[/dice: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

This should give Private Eye a +4 modifier on his next Gunnery check. Not that he really needed it as awesome as he's rolling.

"Uh, you got it," Eye says as he points his weapon in the general direction of their foe's engines.

Attack with the computer and Valius' help: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (1, 1, 4, 2) = 8

If we actually want to target the engines I think the science officer has to lock us onto it.

"I got him in sight now... damn! He's quick." shouts Xera

Flyby DC 16: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12

Flyby stunt fails.

Orlam tries to track the enemy ship, but he loses it as they arc around, taking it out of visual.

Looks like with the failed flyby and the ship is not in our forward arc, I won't get an attack this round. No big deal though, since Orlam has been highly ineffectual anyway! :) Nice shot, PI!

As the ship's steering slips momentarily out of Xera's control, the smaller ship appears to take advantage of this and performs another sweeping flyby past the ships aft thrusters before speeding in the opposite direction from the other ship. As Private Eye and the enemy ship fire their weapons, Mysterra watches as the aft shields are shredded once more and the lighting on the Hippocampus' bridge flickers as the hull is impacted by several blasts from the enemy gyrolaser. Eye's HUD likewise shows another direct hit against the smaller ship.

Orlam is correct, he will not get a chance to fire this round unfortunately. Private Eye hits the enemy ship and deals 8 damage to its starboard arc. The enemy ship attacks and hits, dealing 8 damage to the aft arc (5 to shield, 3 to hull points).

Round 8
Current roles
Captain: Valius
Engineer: Mysterra
Gunner(s): Orlam, Private Eye
Pilot: Xera
Science Officer: -nil-

Current Ship Status
HP 34/40
Shields Basic 20 (5/5 forward, 0/5 aft, 5/5 port, 5/5 starboard)
Systems All fine

Xera's Piloting initiative roll: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23
2/3 computer bonuses (+1) remaining

Xera wins initiative again for the PCs :) I've moved the ships back to the centre of the map for ease of using the space again. The pink-ish arrows indicate the enemy's round 7 movement, while the red is for round 8.

"Divertin auxiliary power to shields." Mysterra remarks calmly, as he fingers fly over the console.

Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13 Passing.

"Aft shields regenerating, Captain... Aft shields functioning at 60% efficiency."

Restoring 3 shields to the aft, leaving us with 3/5 shields.

"Looks like she's running. Let's see if we can get a parting shot in."

Maneuver DC 16: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

Xera pulls the ship around in a tight turn, following the exhaust trail of the fleeing ship.

It's in front of us and range is 11. Best I could do. No penalty for the coilgun but the laser is -4 to hit due to range.

Do you have a rank in computers Orlam? If so maybe you should switch to Science and try to lock on to it. That-4 will make it a rough shot. Alternatively we could switch and maybe I can overcome the penalty.

Intimidate (Demand Private Eye, Gunnery): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

"Mister Eye, send the fleeing bastard a parting gift to remember us by," Valius demands the gunner as he watches the visual representation of the ship on his instruments.

Orlam frowns at the retreating ship, and does his best to send a parting shot in its direction, though his lock is almost negligible in strength. The kasathas shoves aside the controls in frustration. "Bah! Face me with a blade next time and we will see who is victorious!" He growls angrily at the fleeing vessel.

Gunnery Check DRR: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (2) - 2 = 0
Laser Cannon Damage DRR: 2d4 ⇒ (2, 1) = 3
Includes +1 to attack roll from ship's 'floating' modifiers and -4 for range

No Computer skill, and I'd rather you have all the bonuses you can get PI, since my shooting has been terrible so far anyway - this round being no different, apparently... *sigh*

Private Eye nods at Valius' order. Over all Eye is impressed with his ability to take command.

Attack+bonuses: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (4, 1, 2, 2) = 9

Valius, you can only use the Demand action once on someone during a combat, but with your bonuses and the roll itself, using Encourage would have succeeded as well so we will go with that :)

With the enemy ship flying away from them, both Orlam and Private Eye make an attempted shot at the fleeing ship. Neither HUD lights up with the indications of a direct hit, however.

Round 9
Current roles
Captain: Valius
Engineer: Mysterra
Gunner(s): Orlam, Private Eye
Pilot: Xera
Science Officer: -nil-

Current Ship Status
HP 34/40
Shields Basic 20 (5/5 forward, 3/5 aft, 5/5 port, 5/5 starboard)
Systems All fine

Xera's Piloting initiative roll: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 11 + 1 = 16
2/3 computer bonuses (+1) remaining

Xera, you get to move your ship first as the enemy has won initiative this round. The enemy ship is attempting to escape, so the choice to pursue is up to you all :)

"Enemy is attempting to flee. Diverting auxiliary power to the engines."

Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21

Increasing our speed by 2 this round.

"Yeah, that's it... she's still pulling ahead though."

Evade (in case it matters) DC 13: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30

Don't think there's anything I can do as a pilot that will help us catch up. :(

"We'll just have to make the next shots count."

Attack+computer: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (1, 4, 2, 4) = 11

Seeing that the enemy is in his sights again, though perhaps not for long as the ship attempts to flee the fight, Loram sighs and tries to lock on again, though doubt has crept inexorably into his mind - not a good thing for a soldier, he realizes with a growing anger! Shoving aside such thoughts, he focuses on his job and fires the laser cannon at the fleeing vessel.

Gunnery Check DRR: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Laser Cannon Damage DRR: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 4) = 7
Includes +1 to attack roll from ship's 'floating' modifiers

Though he misses again, and quite badly, Loram refuses to allow his frustration to vent again. Doubt and self-pity are beneath him. His failure and mistakes will be used to make him stronger, the kasthas vows silently to himself.

Wow, the dice are seriously hating me in this space battle...