Incubation Prime (Inactive)

Game Master Jelloarm

Re: RobotGate - Zhor got botted and tried to take down the robot already. Whole party is up now (given that I'm letting Glitch and Jink retcon the additional attacks they made after Glitch's shot would have taken the robot down), so going to keep on the current situation as it stands - Glitch shoots down the robot, party is now up. Just keeps things cleaner and doesn't require branching retcons to make everything work out.

And for the future, I need readied actions to have targets and triggers clearly laid out - like "I will shoot the first hostile target I see" or "If the wizard tries to cast a spell, I will shoot him." If you don't have a trigger, it would be a delay and wouldn't interrupt anyone's turn.

Cool.

Sorry >_<

No worries :) S!&! happens, and as long as we're all committed to playing for fun, that's all I'm worried about.

I'm back guys. Still not a lot of energy but I'm getting caught up.

If any of you guys are in Canada, Happy Thanksgiving!

Those of you in the US, Happy Columbus Day (or Happy "Guy Who Was Looking For China and Ended Up In Puerto Rico" Day).

I thought he went for India.

/historynerdon "Was looking for India and ended up in Hispaniola" (Haiti/DR)
/historynerdoff

When Columbus arrived in the West Indies, the sailors complained that it "didn't look like China." His response was basically "Maybe it's India then." From then on the natives were referred to as "Indians."

You're right that it was Hispaniola he landed at first; I didn't use that though since more people know where Puerto Rico is. But it was China he was looking for.

Knowledge(History) read: can use Wikipedia

He formulated a plan to seek a western sea passage to the East Indies, hoping to profit from the lucrative spice trade.

But Zhor is right too. The german wikipedia reads: Das Ziel seiner ersten Entdeckungsreise war eine Hafenstadt in China, das im damaligen Sprachgebrauch zu „Indien“ gezählt wurde.

Translation: The target of his first exploration journey was a harbour town in China, which was counted to India in those times.

More a fan of "Native People's Day" here, mostly because Columbus' legacy just keeps shaping more and more to look like "Look at this thing that I found! Obviously all of these other people here already had nothing to do with anything." And the fact that the holiday was invented by Italian-American communities as a PR manuever in the early 20th century.

Aaaaaanyways, that aside: Post coming later today. Thanks for the patience and being the sort of people who will have a history debate while the GM is away

A guy on another thread said "I will celebrate Columbus Day by wandering into my neighbour's house and declaring I live there." :)

Real Life is being real tough right now. Please bot me until further notice. Thanx.

Hang in there - hope we get to see you back soon!

Standard attack: +8; 1d4+9
Full round: +4, +4, 1d4+9, 1d4+9

Least. Inquisitive. Party. Ever.

I'm a big fan of the spanish inquisition. I even brought the instruments. But there is no one around to use them on. :P

Sorry, but its busy in RL and I have a hard time imagining where we are at the moment and develop ideas what to do. Even the obvious thing, to check the computer didn't come to mind.

No worries - I 100% get RL being busy. I'll confess, there was a touch of writer's block that slowed things down on my end a little, too.

That said - onwards!

On the topic of RL being busy...

I'm gone at a convention this weekend so I am not going to be likely to post much. I'll just leave you here in this spooky cavern - what could possibly happen, right? Posting an update here is my number one priority if any of my games run short and I find myself with some surprise time on my hands - s*&!'s about to start getting good.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I've thrown a lot of data at you guys here, and with the slow-moving pace of PBP games I know it can be tough to look back and go "So... wait, what are we doing again?"

Feel free to chime in with any OOC questions if you would like reminders or clarifications. I'm quite fond of this ragtag little group of outlaws and want to help you guys have fun in this game - and also to feel like you have the chance to know wtf is going on.

Who was the “original” contractor to us? Who officially hired us, and I don’t mean the “silent partner”; Kindu, Sharumi, or someone else?

Who exactly did Sharumi work for, as in her employer? Could she have been killed off by her actual bosses for snooping around where she wasn’t supposed to be?

Who or whom is/are the biggest biotech players on Prime?

Does my “boss” have any dealings with biotech?

Awesome questions. I'll also say that Glitch's IC post is also spot-on, so that is worth referencing as well. Thank you Glitch :)

Who was the “original” contractor to us? Who officially hired us, and I don’t mean the “silent partner”; Kindu, Sharumi, or someone else?

You were hired officially by Entertainment Unlimited, Inc, A Subisidiary Of The Aspis Consortium.

Who exactly did Sharumi work for, as in her employer? Could she have been killed off by her actual bosses for snooping around where she wasn’t supposed to be?

See above question - as far as motive, well, that idea is certainly within the realm of possibility?

But no, I will not confirm campaign BBEG motives yet ;)

Who or whom is/are the biggest biotech players on Prime?

Caloo already looked into this all the way back here, but it was under spoiler, so to share with the class:

You look into what biotechnic research is happening on planet, but catch a peculiarity - the currently open biotech shops are purely consumer-grade stuff, but just seem to be creating and installing fairly common tech, not researching or creating new tech. You don’t recognize any of the technicians who are creating anything - so they’re not ‘household names’ in biotech.

Bonus round: Caloo was also asking about physical science movers and shakers, so:

Looking into the physical sciences, though, you find something even weirder: you see a picture of a reasonably well-known scientist, Tenzo Hyshi, a human scientist with a focus on studying mystic and technomantic spellcasting variations when employing rare elements as reagents and materials. However, you heard a few years ago that he had died of radiation poisoning - and the picture claims to be of ‘Ren Obo,’ a technician at a simulated reality entertainment complex towards Prosperity’s center.

Does my “boss” have any dealings with biotech?

As far as you know, Slivvy's dealings are primarily in the sale of batteries - though cutting costs through things like "indentured servitude" like Jink is completely in her morally questionable wheelhouse.

You're welcome.

One question I'd like to ask ooc is about our camera squirrel. Is he still with us? He was with us in Longshot's cave but has fallen silent since then. I'd like to question him a bit, as he was working with Shurami.

He has been staying in Longshot's cave with her - being chased by giant monsters seems to have gotten the taste for adventure out of his system for the time being. He's taking a break with your crazy hacker halfling.

Blask wrote:

Who or whom is/are the biggest biotech players on Prime?

Caloo already looked into this all the way back here, but it was under spoiler, so to share with the class:

Past Keeper wrote:

You look into what biotechnic research is happening on planet, but catch a peculiarity - the currently open biotech shops are purely consumer-grade stuff, but just seem to be creating and installing fairly common tech, not researching or creating new tech. You don’t recognize any of the technicians who are creating anything - so they’re not ‘household names’ in biotech.

Bonus round: Caloo was also asking about physical science movers and shakers, so:

Past Keeper wrote:

Looking into the physical sciences, though, you find something even weirder: you see a picture of a reasonably well-known scientist, Tenzo Hyshi, a human scientist with a focus on studying mystic and technomantic spellcasting variations when employing rare elements as reagents and materials. However, you heard a few years ago that he had died of radiation poisoning - and the picture claims to be of ‘Ren Obo,’ a technician at a simulated reality entertainment complex towards Prosperity’s center.

I also asked Longshot about this little mystery:

Caloo Ch'Micia wrote:

"Oh! I just remembered something I've been wondering about, and you seem like the right person to ask. Do you know the names Ren Obo and Tenzo Hyshi? Take a look at this," Caloo says as he pulls up the infosphere page he had found back at Rotgut when he was researching the local science scene.

"See, I know this is a picture of Tenzo Hyshi, who's supposed to be dead, but this is saying his name is Ren Obo."

"Never heard of 'im," says Longshot, peering through her goggles curiously. "Says he's working at Worldspinners? That's some ritzy sim-world playground for the rich - he ain't doin' half bad for himself if that's his gig."

Alright, I think that's more or less the end of "The Keeper's Cave-Based Story Refocusing." Thanks for playing. ;)

I do believe that is the bulk of the story information that you guys hadn't as of yet uncovered, plus a good bulk to help set the stage for the next few story lines.

Just to pull back the curtain a little on how this is organized behind the scenes - this game is by far the most sandboxy I have ever run, partially because I am literally making it up as we go in many cases. I put a good amount of work into knowing what the big plot points are, but it's not like I have any designed dungeons or encounters - with the slower pace of the PBP game, I'm using it to just stay one step ahead of you. Not going to lie, the wonderful monster builder tool at https://sfrpgtools.com/monster-builder has been my main weapon at whipping up the griggorim and the enemies.

Think of it like this - if a pre-written adventure is "railroad-y," what's going on here is I know where all the potential stations are, but I don't lay down any track until you start chugging away in that direction.

With that said, you now have a lot of places and people that might be worth exploring - talk amongst yourselves and figure out what you want to pursue next and I'll whip up our next set piece. It might be a little delayed - I think I'm coming down with some sort of bug, so I might go dark and recuperate for a day or two - but I'm looking forward to helping you guys uncover the next layer of tangled webs of Incubation Prime.

re: What's next

1) We "agreed" to do a job for Slivy, Jink's boss/former boss.
2) We know the name of someone who know's something about this plot (Tomaska the Kastha that runs Rotgut)

Anyone else have a concise set of "what next?"

1) We "agreed" to do a job for Slivy, Jink's boss/former boss.

"Volun-told"

Probably the job for Slivy has to be done next.

So we have two for "do the job for Slivvy", so if we get one more person in agreement, my next post would be getting you guys out of here, crashing for the night (presumably with Longshot, unless someone objects), and then to the port for Slivvy's job.

Speak now or forever hold your peace.

Eh, lets do it. We don't have any other ideas.

Nilan would like to order a Tactical Rotating Pistol

No lie, I was flipping through my copy of Armory a week or two ago, saw the illustration and went "Huh, that would probably be perfect for Nilan."

All the stuff for level 4, I don’t really see myself using. Can I trade in my current armor for 47 credits +500 of my own credits to purchase Vesk Overplate I ?

How about an own means of transport? Police Cruiser Level 4

Or Mk4 Ring of resistance.

Overplate is a level 6 item, and the mark 4 ring of resistance is a level 14 item - so one is a "not yet" and the other is a "definitely not yet." ;) Less of "can it be afforded" and more of a trusting the Paizo devs to have the level system in place to keep the game balance in place.

Does Blask have a personal upgrade? Get a +2 enhancement to one stat (I'm guessing strength) and then a random level 1 item for utility.

...I'm open to the police cruiser. That's a bold choice of item. You up to that being Glitch's level 4 item?

I just went for crazy stuff and obviously didn't have a grip on the level stuff when I read the MK number as level. But the being bold part has a nice touch to it.

Would be interesting to know how big the city is and how many police cars there are one their way already, to get an idea if we could do that in principle. The parking in the middle of the way in front of the donut shop to blend in we can pull off. ;)

I’ll take the +2 STR along with a

spark runner Knife

Nilan Milarne wrote:

Nilan would like to order a Tactical Rotating Pistol

No lie, I was flipping through my copy of Armory a week or two ago, saw the illustration and went "Huh, that would probably be perfect for Nilan."

The picture in the Armory amazing. Also, Nilan will be getting a Handcannon at some point.

Guys: I've been having internet connectivity issues the last few days. My connection has been going out for long periods. I'm hoping that the problem is over but I can't say for sure.

I'm going to try and get caught up but since my window for posting may be limited I will handle threads that require short posts first.

Trying to calculate my Vesk Claw damage.

1d3 for base

Strength 20/+5

Hammer Fist give 1.5 STR on unarmed = +2
Hammer fist gear boost = +2
Racial ability gives 1.5 level = +4

Total is 1d3+13

Does all of this stack?

Ugh, yikes, yeah, I remember looking at this and it's effing complicated because I think a few of the things don't stack and fail to interact in weird ways.

So my calculations and reasoning:

Hammer fist calls out that it does not work with any abilities that specifically boost unarmed strikes - and the vesk claws specifically call themselves out as an unarmed strike? So I believe that you can be operating at either the Hammer Fist damage bonus (which would be a 1d4+10 to damage - Strength +5, plus additional .5 strength +2, plus melee striker +2, plus weapon specialization +1 (it's only half level and rounds down)) or the racial weapon specialization at 1d3+11 (strength +5 plus hammer fist +2 plus vesk weapon specialization +4). To my reading, Hammer Fist doesn't stack with the racial claw ability, and the claw specialization and regular weapon specialization don't stack.

At level 4, your vesk claw ability is going to start outstripping the hammer fist and keep heading upwards from there - I think the advantage of Hammer Fist would be to put something like a a weapon fusion on it so you have some added versatility in order to, say, have Ghost-Killing Fists in addition to your every-day "tearing things apart with my bare-hand" claws.

Hey guys, hope the holiday season isn't hitting any fellow Americans too hard. I've been pretty swamped with work and family/friend obligations, so it's been super-busy here and tough to get updates as regularly as they deserve or as good as they could be, but I'm just letting you guys know that I'm committed to keeping this rolling as long as you guys are.

I have family over tomorrow night, two different family dinners and then friends in from out of town - but I'll push to sneak away and respond as much as I can to whatever you guys put up.

No worries. Have a happy Thanksgiving.

I read the interaction of hammerfist with the vesk claws the same way that you did.

It's why I didn't go hammerfist on my vesk soldier.

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I will get back to you on items shortly

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I also actually need to finish my lvl up to 3...

I worries. I work holiday grocery retail and my next month will be utter HELL. I’m still here despite the lack of posting at times.

So...

Cybernetic Dex Upgrade Mk1 please.
And a Tactical Baton.

I need to read up on the rules first. I have no clue what the options are at the moment.

I am now slightly panicked as to why my item request is favourited :P

Starship Combat

I will suggest using the Duo-node PC on the two gunners.

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GUNNERY CHECK
Attempt a gunnery check for each weapon fired against a target (except for linked weapons, which are resolved using one action and a single gunnery check; see the sidebar).

Gunnery Check = 1d20 + the gunner’s base attack bonus or the gunner’s ranks in the Piloting skill + the gunner’s Dexterity modifier + bonuses from computer systems + bonuses from the captain and science officers + range penalty

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I have added our path and distance to the map

Caloo will get two Level 2 items: