Welcome to my PbP game for SFS Scenario 1-02: The Fugitive of the Red Planet! I hope you have a blast playing!
Before we start, I would to lay down some ground rules. (In spoiler tags to not take up space. Also, based heavily on GM Kuey’s rather extensive and detailed rules.)
1. This discussion thread is open for all OOC matters, so no ooc tag needed. For OOC matters in the gameplay thread, please use the [ ooc ] tag.
2. Please post at least once a day on weekdays and once over the weekends. If you are going to be away, please let me know in advance if possible, and we can work something out. Otherwise, if you go missing, where necessary, I will bot your characters for the sake of keeping things moving. Thus, a good idea is to leave botting instructions for normal combat (with dice rolls) and some commonly used non-combat skills in your profile page. Separately, please forgive me if I’m a little slow at times, but I will try keeping to the once a day posting myself.
3. If you have any disagreements over some of my GM calls or interpretation of the scenario, please bring it here to the discussion thread or, even better, pm me.
4. If you have played and/or GMed this scenario before, please do not metagame or spoil the plot. And please let me know.
5. It might have to go without saying, but just in case, you should keep track of the game, including referencing the map on google slides. I understand that there are times where it is inconvenient to do so. In these cases, please be as specific as you can as to where you wish your character to move, what actions to take, etc. If you regularly have issues with accessing the google slides, please let me know and we’ll try to work something out. (Incidentally, Android and IOS has a Google Slides app in case you work off mobile devices.)
Normal Combat
6. Once surprise (if any) and initiative is determined, for the group of characters who can take actions, I will resolve actions in posting order, NOT initiative order unless you specifically and clearly state otherwise. It causes massive headaches if we try to follow initiative order. Also as much as possible, I will group enemies together.
Rolls and Skill Checks
7. I will do your initiative rolls, as well as perception rolls for the purpose of determining surprise (if any). It really does help PBP run smoothly.
8. On knowledge checks for general information, I would usually put them in spoilers with the necessary DCs. Just go ahead to roll, and I'll trust that you would resist reading them if the roll fails (or least not to metagame ). (Don’t forget that you can make knowledge checks untrained for DC10.) There might be exceptions for plot-critical information though, where I might explicitly ask for knowledge checks. As for knowledge checks to identify creatures, I’ll put the most basic information in spoiler as well, i.e. identity and creature type. If your roll would reveal more, I’ll provide in the next post. If you wish, you can ask for what information you want, e.g. DR, resistances, special attacks, etc.
9. On skill checks where team efforts can happen, e.g. hacking a terminal with computers or influencing the attitudes of NPCs with diplomacy, please be explicit when making rolls whether you are attempting the check on your own, or whether you are aiding. There might be situations where only one character is allowed to attempt the check (and the rest to aid) – I’ll state so if that’s the case.
10. On skill checks in general, if I feel you have roleplayed well, e.g. gave a good description of what your character does to search for a trail, came up with creative ways to befriend a hostile NPC, gave a very rousing speech, I would give bonuses, or even waive the DC altogether. :)
Roleplaying Matters
11. The maps and handouts link (at the top of the page) would display all the maps, handouts, pictures, etc as the scenario progresses. The most current page would be right on top, while previous ones would be left there for your reference.
12. Please have your full character information up on your character's profile page for my vetting. Also, please have your stat block updated with the key information. For examples, feel free to look here, here or here. There’s also some templates for these, such as GM Hmm’s excellent one found here or one I tried to make based off of that combined my personal statblock styling, to be found here. But also feel free to create your own!
13. Finally, playing by pbp provides many advantages compared to face-to-face games, the chief one being having the time and space to flesh out your thoughts and actions. So please make use of this and have posts that are more than simply dice rolls. :)
Alrighty, now that that is out of the way, there's a couple of clerical things I need from you guys.
- First, please Ninja-dot the gameplay thread. (There are more detailed explanations there)
- Next, head to the maps and handouts page and fill in the information there.
- Last, please answer/give me the following things:
Player's forum handle:
Character name:
SFS#:
Race/Class(es)/Level(s):
Slotted boons:
Day Job Roll, if any:
__________1. Are there any special rules, boons, or corner cases I should know about with your character?
2. a few sentences about what kind of person your character is, such as 'Why are they in the Starfinders?' or 'What makes them tick?'
3. I listed it earlier, but just in case, Do you mind if I occasionally bot your character for combat or a skill check? I'd want to try keeping things moving quickly if needed.
4. As related to number three, What are your usual actions in combat?
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Forum Handle: GM Fuskee
Character Name: Fuskee
SFS#: 130411-701
Race/Class/Level: Ysoki Mechanic 2
Slotted boons: Hero of the Stars (starship boon), Faction's Friend (social boon), Starfinder Insignia, Marked Field Agent, Star Sugar Heartlove (slotless boons)
Day Job (Vidgamer):
1. I'm a Ysoki and I'm cute so things aren't allowed to attack me. ;) Nah nothing of importance.
2. Ysoki is an ex-space pirate *wink wink* who joined the Starfinder Society along with the Acquisitives as a venture to make some big money. He's an ace pilot who lives fast and drives fast, which means he blows through his money fast, and that means he comes at a price. As long as the credits are there he's your best friend, your drinking buddy and your pilot all at the same time. He's got an Exocortex with an AI that mostly assists him in the same way Ironman would get assistance from Jarvis so he's quick and dangerous, combined with his tiny size he's something to fear. Lucky for everyone, Starfinder Society missions always pay credits so they'll never have to see his bad side. ;)
3. I don't mind you botting as much as you want. Every once in awhile I'll forget to check in and I don't mind just doing whatever the group needs at the time.
4. Combat Tracking ability is a move action that lets me get +1 on my attack rolls against stuff so it's usually that and then shoot with my laser rifle. For Space Combat, pilot the heck out of whatever I'm driving and get right in their blind weapon spots.
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Forum Handle: Paizo Fan
Character name: Moktargarn, Garn for short
SFS#: 13696-702
Race/Class/Level: Vesk Soldier 1
Slotted boons: None
Day Job: None
1. Garn is non-lethal damage only. He refuses to kill.
2. Garn was born into a Vesk military family. Those who weren't in a command position were often military heroes. In his first battle, however, Garn found that although violence wasn't an issue, killing was. Disgraced, his family fired him into space with an ultimatum; either come back willing to kill or never return.
With that ringing in his ears, he headed for Absalom Station. He learned of the Exo-Guardians and their mission and decided to train as a Starfinder and immediately signed up with them.
3. No problem at all.
4. Close into range of his pulsecaster and shoot them. In melee, use his taclash to trip his enemy.
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Player's forum handle: JAF0
Character name: Glitch-702
SFS#: 52335-702
Race/Class(es)/Level(s): android technomancer /1
Slotted boons: none
Day Job Roll, if any: none (there are dayjobs in sfs?... I have to read more I missed this completely)
1. Are there any special rules, boons, or corner cases I should know about with your character? nope
2. a few sentences about what kind of person your character is, such as 'Why are they in the Starfinders?' or 'What makes them tick?' Joined SFS hoping to find a fix for the glitches that cause her physical and verbal tics.
3. I listed it earlier, but just in case, Do you mind if I occasionally bot your character for combat or a skill check? I'd want to try keeping things moving quickly if needed. Please do, though i will try to keep you informed if something comes up that will delay my posting.
4. As related to number three, What are your usual actions in combat? azimuth laser pistol from range, spells at close range, flight if in melee.
Yup as long as you have a trained profession skill!
Also on a different note, Fuskee I know what some of those boons are but if you could get the details of them to me or in your profile that'd be great! But don't worry about finalizing them just yet, I forgot, but we'll have time during the scenario.
Moktargarn, something is wrong with the link to your character sheet. It keeps sending me to a blank paizo page. If you could fix that or get a copy into your profile, I'd be grateful.
And last but not least, don't forget about your faction boons! They are extremely important for you to receive both credits for completeing your mission, and the first one's free!
We'll be getting started Friday, unless everyone is checked in and raring to go earlier.
Yup! After that they cost the listed prices, but the first champion boon for a character is free, or you'd never earn any fame to be able to buy any boons!
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Sorry for arriving late!
Player's forum handle: Wildfire Witch
Character name: Vahni Dahawan
SFS#: 273085-701
Race/Class(es)/Level(s): Human Solarian 1
Slotted boons: Welcome to the Society (Elixir of Renewal), Second Seekers (Luwasi Elsebo) Champion
Day Job Roll, if any: Profession (streamer) +10
__________
1. Are there any special rules, boons, or corner cases I should know about with your character? No.
2. A few sentences about what kind of person your character is, such as 'Why are they in the Starfinders?' or 'What makes them tick?' After the Scoured Stars incident, Vahni and their family spent the ensuing chaotic weeks frantically trying to track down their sibling, Smoky, who may have gone on the expedition. As it turned out, they did, and as a consequence Vahni almost immediately joined the Starfinders to find them. Working as a relatively unknown VidGame streamer on Akiton with their solarian powers only recently awakened, Vahni maintains an optimistic mindset, always trying to talk things down before resorting to force. They're easily excitable, bubbly, and a genuinely nice person, with a major case of Chronic Hero Syndrome. However, Vahni can still be genuinely enraged by evil purely for selfish reasons: they can understand and help the man who's stealing or killing to feed his family, but not the one who's doing it to feed his drug habit. Likewise, although they don't particularly like the Eoxians, Vahni makes an effort to understand them and not leap to conclusions simply because one is involved in a heinous act.
3. I listed it earlier, but just in case, do you mind if I occasionally bot your character for combat or a skill check? I'd want to try keeping things moving quickly if needed. Not at all!
4. As related to number three, what are your usual actions in combat? If diplomacy has failed and combat has begun, Vahni will fire off a warning shot with their pulsecaster to show that they're still willing to use nonlethal force, but if their opponents persist in using lethality Vahni will reluctantly charge into melee with their longsword. Vahni generally stays attuned to photon mode, and only uses Supernova if all of their allies are out of range and there are two or more enemies (or a single enemy they know is vulnerable to fire) within range. Before attacking an enemy that's clearly on their last legs, Vahni will give them one last chance to surrender before taking a guarded step back and shooting them with their pulsecaster. If they're forced to kill, or if they feel no particular inclination for why they should let someone live (note: only the case for truly heinous people), upon the resolution of combat they will immediately attempt to contact local law enforcement if possible to clear up the situation before they, their companions, or the Society gets into trouble.
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Player's forum handle: SolidSteve82
Character name: Vandor Draak
SFS#: 274351-701
Race/Class(es)/Level(s): Human Envoy 1
Slotted boons: Second Seekers (Luwasi Elsebo) Champion
Day Job Roll, if any: None.
__________
1. I don't believe there are any special rules or other considerations with Vandor.
2. Vandor was largely raised on a smuggling ship, so he's a bit of a scoundrel. He has a fascination with old things and prefers using "old fatshioned" projectile weapons to energy weapons. He joined the Starfinders for two reasons, to find his mother who was lost during the Scoured Stars event, and to hopefully find some clues to destroy an ancient relic of his grandfather's before it becomes sentient and destroys the galaxy (There's a very detailed background on his character sheet here.)
3. Feel free to bot away, I anticipate being able to post once, if not more, daily. But, like everyone, I do have a lot going on more often than not so don't hesitate to keep the game going if I'm a little slow.
4. Vandor doesn't like combat, so usually he starts by finding some cover and attacking from range, probably picking off weak looking targets or giving allies cover fire. When feeling threatened he uses Not in the Face and tries to retreat to safety.
Also, newbie question, but if I am posting using the messageboard alias of my character, how do I give it an avatar image. It's probably simple, but I can for the life of me figure it out. I can do it for my default avatar but I can't seem to find the messageboard settings for my character's profile.
That actually can be pretty hard to find on your own. The board divides and handles organized play aliases separately from other aliases, so you've found how to change regular aliases which is great! To change your pfs/SFS characters' you'll have to go to the my Pathfinder Society tab at the top and, once signed in, scroll down to the characters section and hit the edit button on the right. Then there will be a button in the middle of the page that let's you pick a profile image.
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My Slotless boons don't really make a difference unless otherwise stated in the scenario, I don't think. My starship boon allows me to restore hitpoints if our ship's hull ever reaches 0 which is super handy, but only usable once. My social boon allows me to gain fame with my faction even if we fail the mission.
Also I will be slotting my Acquisitives faction boon as well. :)
We're just missing our Mystic, right?
Yup, Blurhy has checked into the gameplay thread but hasn't checked in with his character yet. He has a couple more days still.
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Player's forum handle: Blurhy
Character name: Leo
SFS#: 145543-701
Race/Class(es)/Level(s): Android Spacefarer Mystic (Star Shaman) 1
Slotted boons: Wayfinder Champion; Welcome to Starfinder (Spellgem Cache)
Day Job Roll, if any: Lab Technician (+6)
__________
1. Are there any special rules, boons, or corner cases I should know about with your character?
Not that I know of, no.
2. a few sentences about what kind of person your character is, such as 'Why are they in the Starfinders?' or 'What makes them tick?'
An android made long ago to be nothing more than a corporate slave, he is antiquated in appearance with his obviously fake, synthetic skin and his blue eyes that both glow and hum softly. He has problems asserting himself, a bad habit he picked up long ago, and at best might raise his voice only to stumble over his words in awkward tension. His difficulties with socializing don't hide his biggest personality feature, however; and that is his incredible optimism. A dreamer and chronic idealist, Leo's fortunate salvation has colored his perspective on life rosy, even when straight logic might disagree. He's not benevolent or wholly selfless or anything though; he just believes things will always work out for the best... usually.
Leo first became a Starfinder to join the crew of Wayfinders that saved him and had become like a family to him. However, they were lost to the Scoured Stars Incident and the Godshield. So Leo now has a couple of major goals:
- To experience the vastness of the universe that he never knew, experience all of its wonders and glories, and at the end of it, choose one of those infinite places to call his home.
- To recall the missing portions of his memory.
- To get past the Godshield somehow in order to find out if his previous comrades still live.
- To take up the legacy of the Wayfinder team that saved him and became his family by continuing their mission as Starfinder Society Wayfinders: to explore, travel, and discover.
- To prove to the rest of the Society that the Wayfinders are not brash and reckless daredevils who only exist to put everything at risk, but the Wayfinders are like the team he knew: idealistic, hardworking, brave, and good.
More information on all this can be found on his Character Profile, where I have a full Biography (Linked Here).
3. I listed it earlier, but just in case, Do you mind if I occasionally bot your character for combat or a skill check? I'd want to try keeping things moving quickly if needed.
I don't mind at all. Have at it!
4. As related to number three, What are your usual actions in combat?
Leo's main goal in combat is to provide back-of-the-line assistance, whether by keeping his teammates alive, debuffing the enemy, or doing auxiliary skill checks or something. He's very rarely a frontline brawler, mostly because he's pretty easily intimidated by imposing figures and other figures of power or authority (a rollover trait from his upbringing as a lowly laborer).
just post with LEO in gameplay and GM can remove your forum handle to the inactive players list.
Thanks, that is exactly what I would have recommended!
Since everyone is here should we look at getting started?
Also please don't forget your tokens, initiative and perception modifiers on the Google slides page!
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All done! Sorry didn't see the link to that slide. :) OH and yes, on top of my missed Acquisitives Champion boon I also need to slot my Welcome to Starfinder boon, Tattoo of the Starfinder.
If anyone needs the boon you can get it here: Welcome to Starfinder Boon
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Awesome! So excited! Seems everyone is ready-to-go.
Also, I updated Leo's "Bot Me" information in his Character Profile Page to provide more explicit combat guidance. It's a lot easier to follow and more comprehensive/detailed than my original botting information.
Soon, I'll also include non-combat Bot info.
Cheers!
You guys are totally free to read what's in the spoilers, by the way. The letters are just kinda lengthy so I decided to spoiler them.
Also, I have a question: how will this session be recorded for when I bring Vahni to an IRL table?
I'm not sure I get what you're asking here. When we finish here, I'll make up a PDF of your chronicle and report the game on the Paizo website here, same as if you were playing face to face.
Ah, I see. So you'll digitally sign the chronicle, eMail (or something else) it to us so we can print it, then report it normally?
Yup, though I still need to figure out that digital signing thing.
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I usually print them off and then scan them in with signatures and everything written in but you can also just digitally sign them by typing in the text using the Edit or Tools function on Adobe Acrobat, or whatever you use to open up PDFs.
Having a legitimate signature isn't really a big deal since anyone who really wants to check if a chronicle is legit can just look up the session on Paizo to make sure the GM reported it.
This weekend was busier than expected! I'll get a post in in the next 12-14 hours. Sorry about that.
Really don't worry about it! Your family and their well-being should definitely take priority!