Game Master S's "The First Mandate" (Inactive)

Game Master Chris Marsh

Spacey turns it on like his life depends on it. His knowledge is impressive, especially as he touches on his own expertise. Iteration-177 is absolutely enthralled!

Ooh, interested about our organization are ya?

Begins rant about the Scoured Stars incident, hoping I can keep it's attention for long enough.

Culture: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Unfortunately, Zed makes no headway....

There's no time to wallow in self pity though. Royo slides over and whispers, "Hey, I just got the information about the bombs, and I've got good news. I know the make. They're very stable, so straight up smashing it works well!"

The party looks about, still not sure who could possibly be the assassin. No one stands out.

Wait a second.

The First Seeker takes a final sip of her drink and puts it down.

It's got to be

She shakes a couple of hands, and gives a few well placed smiles.

It's got to be.

There is movement in the AV booth to get ready for her announcement.

THAT'S IT!

It clicks, intuitively. It also means the gravity of your plan sinks in. If the person in the AV booth is the assassin, and her technique is bombs... then you've got to do the ONE THING YOU SHOULD NEVER DO!

You've got to SPLIT THE PARTY. Bomb disposal and assassin "handling"

Someone set us up the bomb! Spacey exclaims. He decides to head to the AV booth (where he once made out with a girl in high school, but that is a different story T10 bluff for 9).

Noble-44 whispers ”bomb”.

Half the party moves to intercept the assassin. Half the party to disable the bombs.

Everyone puts everyone else's life on the line by being glory hogs.

Hostiles: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
The Knight of Tides: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (10) + 0 = 10
Noble-44: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21
Zed: 1d20 ⇒ 18
Spacey: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
Smikk: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
Navasi: 1d20 ⇒ 12

Team Assassin

Spacey's bluff lasts only long enough to get her attention. It immediately loses that attention though as she's about to go back to SOMETHING on the controls for the stage. "Excuse me, I have to get ready for the speech, you can't be in here!"

Assassin: Say what?
Navasi: Go
Gideon: Go
Spacey: Go

Team Bomb Disposal
you're not yet sure what they look like, and you're not entirely sure the assassin won't notice you. Perception check to find a bomb. If you want to be subtle about it, include a Bluff or stealth check.
The tech is a little tricky
Noble-44: Go
Zed: Go
Smikk: Go

Bomb Disposal

Noble utters the quietest prayer to Savain ”Guide my mind and hand that I may prove your greatness and perform my tasks with perfection.”

Luckily the lighting of a party often lends to shadows and Noble uses those to the best of his ability.

Stealth: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

Bomb Disposal

Zed walks away from Ykris after being fairly annoying, carrying a drink. He'll walk along the wall over to one of the tables and hide under it, looking at the stage.

Stealth: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

post edited to reflect the second being Perception and not Stealth again. Both at +4.

Zed doesn't find any, and his lack of subtlety puts the assassin on edge. She's got a thermal detonator!!!! It looks like she's going to grab it and detonate everything! Thankfully Noble-44 finds a bomb worked into the floor of the stage. Now that the party knows what they look like, perception to find them gets a +2. bomb added to map

Team Assassin

Assassin: Say what?
Navasi: Go
Gideon: Go
Spacey: Go

Team Bomb Disposal
Perception check to find a bomb. If you want to be subtle about it, include a Bluff or stealth check. To disable a bomb, get next to it, then attack it kinetically, disable it, or engineer it.

Noble-44: Found a bomb!
Zed: Nope
Smikk: Go

Spacey tries to ID the baddy
Life Science: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

She's a reptoid from the planet V! Reptoids are masters of disguise and deception, who use their shapechanging abilities to infiltrate countless other societies, impersonating influential individuals and seeking positions of power within their target culture. The number of reptoids hidden within any given society is unknown, as in addition to their exceptional espionage and infiltration skills, the creatures also have psychic magic that allows them to cover their tracks and ensure cooperation from their enemies. Ask a question!

Special defenses please

Whatever armor she's wearing, but they've known to be evasive and their shapechanging brains are better at resisting mind control.

Spacey says Fear is the mind killer and casts mind thrust on the baddy.

2d10 ⇒ (10, 4) = 14

DC15 will save for half

Then, Spacey dumbly walks up to stand next to her, gun drawn.

Spacey brings about the little death, but total oblivion doesn't come just yet. Will: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13. Nevertheless she screams in agony as her mind is scrambled!

Team Assassin

Assassin: Say what?
Navasi: Go
Gideon: Go
Spacey: Big spell

Team Bomb Disposal
Perception check to find a bomb. If you want to be subtle about it, include a Bluff or stealth check. To disable a bomb, get next to it, then attack it kinetically, disable it, or engineer it.

Noble-44: Found a bomb!
Zed: Nope
Smikk: Go

Smikk sees the covert gesture from Noble-44 and takes advantage of his smaller stature to attempt to covertly disarm the bomb.

Stealth T10 for 15
Engineering T10 for 22

Smikk takes action right away and finds the bombs of simple construction. He easily defuses it!

Spacey brings about the little death, but total oblivion doesn't come just yet. Will: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13. Nevertheless she screams in agony as her mind is scrambled!

Team Assassin

Assassin: Say what?
Navasi: Go
Gideon: Go
Spacey: Big spell

Team Bomb Disposal
Perception check to find a bomb. If you want to be subtle about it, include a Bluff or stealth check. To disable a bomb, get next to it, then attack it kinetically, disable it, or engineer it.

Noble-44: Found a bomb!
Zed: Nope
Smikk: Defused!

"Subtle," Gideon grumbles. His hammer materializes just in time for him to smash it in the assassin's face. Charge using Stellar Rush (no penalty).

Gravity Hammer @ Assassin: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Photon Mode: 1 point.

Gideon maintains the rather rigorous distraction of the assassin. His hit is solid, and her wounds are severe enough that she switches from detonator to weapon on her hip, a vicious looking dagger.

Team Assassin

Assassin: Say what?
Navasi: Go
Gideon: Hit
Spacey: Big spell

Team Bomb Disposal
Perception check to find a bomb. If you want to be subtle about it, include a Bluff or stealth check. To disable a bomb, get next to it, then attack it kinetically, disable it, or engineer it.

Noble-44: Found a bomb!
Zed: Nope
Smikk: Defused!

Navasi moves up to join the fray, and attempts to disarm the assassin from the thermal detonator.

vs. KAC + 8: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Navasi makes a solid attempt, but the assassin is too competent to let it happen.

The shirren scares her the most, so she stabs at Spacey with everything she's got: ATK: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15 for DMG: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Team Assassin

Assassin: ATK
Navasi: Go
Gideon: Go
Spacey: Go

Team Bomb Disposal
Perception check to find a bomb. If you want to be subtle about it, include a Bluff or stealth check. To disable a bomb, get next to it, then attack it kinetically, disable it, or engineer it.

Noble-44: Go
Zed: Go
Smikk: Go

Spacey realizes he shouldn't have gotten close, and does that 5 foot guarded electric slide step thingy Boogie woogie woogie, then blasts the Assassin with another Mind Thrust

2d10 ⇒ (7, 2) = 9

DC15 Will for half

Zed'll move up to the stage after seeing that a bomb (!!) was found and try to find the other ones.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

He will ping over to Smikk, "Found one over here!"

Engineering-Disable: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

Noble-44 whispers some praise and then attempts to locate again as well. Even with the assassin 'distracted' by a hammer to the face, he'll attempt to hide his actions to ensure no outside influence.

Stealth (take 10 + 12) = 22

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Engineering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Spacey keeps thrusting into her mind Will: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 2 = 11, and again the shirren's magic is too powerful!

Zed finds another bomb, not bothering to be subtle anymore. Don't forget you know get a +2 for finding them as you know what they look like. Also, you shorted yourself a +4 Perception. Unfortunately, he can't seem to work it. Thankfully Noble-44 is on it!

Meanwhile, Iteration-177 sees what's up, and decides NOW is time to act. He hustles over to the northern door of the AV room and opens the door. His shock registers as a single raised eyebrow, but he seems to be getting a weapon out...

Team Assassin

Team Bomb Disposal
Perception check to find a bomb. If you want to be subtle about it, include a Bluff or stealth check. To disable a bomb, get next to it, then attack it kinetically, disable it, or engineer it.

Noble-44: Disable
Zed: Find
Smikk: Go

Forgot to try Perceptioning: Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13 nope

"Be with you in just a minute, Iteration," the Knight intones. His hammer smashes into the assassin's gut with the force of a freighter.

Gravity Hammer @ Assassin: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Photon Mode: 2 points.

Gideons hammer strikes just a split second after Spacey's spell. The crunch is a clear indication of her death. The body hits the ground with a thud, and the detonator rolls away, safely.

With the assassin defeated, the bomb disposal is done without stress or haste!

First Seeker Elsebo still plans on giving her speech, but there's a bit of a cause for celebration first (obviously.)

First, Radaszam congratulates you and offers you compensation for acting as unofficial members of his mercenary league during the event. You check your datapads to see a gift, an advanced Diasporan rifle marked in the sleek black design of the Obsidian Spiders mercenary group.

The dignitaries you've impressed also take turns congratulating you on a job well done. The only hold out is Ykris, who seems to not be overly impressed with everything that has just transpired...

Strictly speaking you have TWO rounds left to impress him. Rather than drag this out, the entire party added together has two rounds to make 3 successes. If you can coordinate the plan, one person can post it all. Once done, we can enter the denouement.

Spacey T10s on Sense Meowtive for 18 to learn about Ykris.

Spacey gets a bit of insight. While the rest of the room is giving high fives, Spacey moves in to actually focus on the lone dignitary not overly impressed by the group. He learns that it respects anyone knowledgeable enough to hold a discussion about its work in cybernetic and biotech augmentations (Life Science or Medicine). He's also willing to let a curious person feel what it's like to host...

Spacey smiles at Ykris. Interesting gathering don't you think. Did you know that epitopes can be used in HLA match making for transplantation purposes, and possibly platelet transfusions?

T10 medicine for 17

My dad actually discovered epitopes use in transplants. For more info, look at http://www.epitopes.net. I'm such a proud boy!

That's AWESOME!

Spacey begins to turn things around. It's almost like the celebration around is less important. Ykris goes back and forth about HLA matching and it's potential as a database on the infosphere.

Two successes remain

Smikk approaches Ykris and Spacey to jump into the conversation.

On the subject of transplants, Ykris, do you ever find that there are some hosts that won't accept you? What is the experience like for the host? I wonder if it's at all similar to having an AI built into your head. I suppose what I'm getting at is, I'd be very curious to experience what a host of yours is experiencing. If you're open to it,
I'd be willing to host you for some time.

Know that his conversation attempts didn't really go anywhere before, Noble-44 makes the overture that he'd be willing to see what the host/symbiotic relation feels like. Perhaps it'll feel the same as when Savain blessed him with his presence.

2d20 ⇒ (12, 3) = 15 Slowly, surely, the party wins over Ykris. Just then, the rest of the gathering begins to clap as The First Seeker takes the stage.

“I had planned for this evening’s announcement to be an exciting one, but I’ll admit this is not quite what I had in mind,” the First Seeker begins, her smile wry but determined. “Now I find my resolve only further galvanized."

“As many of you know, the First Seeker has the privilege and the responsibility for choosing the direction of the Starfinder Society’s research efforts. I have refrained from setting such a direction while we regroup and rebuild—an undertaking which all of you here have made possible. Also, the fact that Guidance has not yet chosen to formalize my election is another matter, but not one the Society can risk dwelling on. Now that the Society is again in a position to reach for the stars, I am pleased to formally announce the focus of our efforts during my tenure. Thanks to the tireless research of my associate Royo, we have identified a lead on understanding the Scoured Stars incident. And so, the Starfinder Society will continue researching the Scoured Stars, in the hopes of reuniting with our lost colleagues and better understanding this phenomenon."

The First Seeker meets your eyes in the crowd, adding, “And I already have highly qualified agents in mind to undertake the first mission!”

There is a moment of surprised quiet over the room, and then the guests, starting with Ykris, begin to applaud in force. Iteration 177 regards the elected First Seeker with an indiscernible expression, slowly joining in on the applause. Royo nods enthusiastically, taking in some of the fanfare for his role in the announcement. Naiaj frantically appends work orders, noticeably perturbed by some news she has just received. Zo! actively backs away from the assembled group, still enthusiastically clapping but also making desperate calls to acquire televised rights to all Scoured Stars related endeavors.

Congratulations! Job well done Starfinders! Will do reporting and chronicles shortly. For your actions, choices, and successes you have earned both respect and favors.