I got a little sick of seeing this string of horrible rolls, so I gave you a couple gimmes there. Hopefully things will turn around in the actual race.
I may be a priest of Sarenrae, but I'll offer a prayer to Desna for a little luck! ;)
Anyone ever seen any Tom Slick cartoons from the old George of the Jungle? This reminds me a bit of how those cartoons would unfold. A race track with some unusual gimmick, a group of racers, with one good guy (Tom Slick <yeah!>) and a villain who always tries to cheat to win.
Beware: The writers create some horrible puns.
I'm ready, but I'll be busy until later tonight (Eastern Time, US). I'm teaching in the evening now, M-TH, for the next 4 weeks.
I'm pretty swamped with exams right now, but by tomorrow evening I should have more time.
Guys, I know you've been waiting, but I'm really exhausted right now. So I will get to this by Monday night.
No worries! Get some rest, man! ;)
According to an important religious text, even God rests one day out of seven, so take the time you need.
Sleep is good. Take your time.
Test Post
For some reason, I can't preview posts; this is just me checking if I can submit them...
It seems to be a site-wide issue at the moment.
Well, at least that means somebody's working on it.
There is no Knowledge (local) skill in Starfinder. Perhaps Culture would work?
There is no Knowledge (local) skill in Starfinder. Perhaps Culture would work?
Right, my bad. Force of habit. Culture it is.
We still really haven't come up with a conclusion on how we wish to split up loot between us. I like the idea of splitting cash six ways and using the extra share for incidental expenditures. Unless anyone else has objections, Thuldas can act as party treasurer, collecting all the credits, selling off unwanted loot, and managing unallocated party funds.
Both ideas are fine with me. I haven't considered using our pay yet for items, but once our initiation tasks are done, it will be useful to upgrade armor or weapons. Keeping a share for group expenditures such as cures and such is a good idea.
@Thurdas - Works for me
@Stell - One observation - Given the tiny amount one gets for selling items you just can NOT afford to buy new armour or weapons very often.
Personally, I wait until we get something a couple of levels ahead of us that is actually significantly better than what you already have and then buy it. Plan to upgrade once every 4 or 5 levels or so
Guys... really tired today and having a hard time concentrating. I'll make a post either in the afternoon/evening or after midnight.
@ Void GM: No problem.
@ Wint: point taken, but if our income will rival the income we each typically get for completing a SFS module, there should be enough for upgrades and better armor and weapons more than once every 4 or 5 levels. The SFS version of Stell is already to 2nd level and she has had enough income to support purchasing Kasatha microcord armor and several new weapons. I think it's worth it, since she has nothing much else to spend money on. Meanwhile she is better protected and has more damage options. For completing 3 modules, she earned over 2000 credits.
In this campaign, when we get some good armor, we don't have the option to buy it. We will just decide who gets to wear it and we won't have to pay for it from our individual cred sticks. So I'm not sure it makes sense to hold off on purchases the way you describe in this type of campaign. Of course, the GM will probably reduce the money we get accordingly, but I think it's risky to delay getting better armor and risk taking serious damage in a fight or delay getting better weapons and risk being ineffective in battle just hoping for something better eventually.
Sorry my posting has been sporadic this week. It was a busy week and I have been processing the bad news out of Florida and reactions to that. Since I am a teacher, I'm pretty empathetic toward the violence toward school children and teachers.
Having a bit of fatigue, but we should be able to get back to normal hopefully.
Our day shift person has disappeared since Thursday and we've all been pulling extra hours. But she's supposed to be back tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
I'm putting another post together now.
We never decided who got the armor from winning the race, did we? Stell, I'll claim it if you don't mind so I can have more protection while running around to heal people in melee.
That's fine with me.
Jolting Surge: This part is a bit weird... I'm not sure if armor is intended to count as an "electrical device" though all armor can be sealed against vacuum and includes a basic comm unit.
But the spell description says:
Alternatively, you can instead touch an electrical device a target is wearing (or a target that is an electrical device, such as a robot) with your hand, gaining a +2 bonus to your attack roll.This seems to suggest that you have to choose to touch a worn electrical device rather than the target itself. Which would mean that you have to identify the object as an electrical device (or touch the object and hope that it is). So I'm going to rule that you don't get the +2 to hit unless you are targeting a device (or that device is blatantly obvious).
I would assume armor doesn't count as a worn electrical device - if armor counts, why not a held electrical device, like a weapon?
The reason I specified was that one of the gangers was described as having some sort of device (capable of holographic projections) but I wasn't sure which one it was or if they all happened to be wearing such devices.
You are allowed to hold the charge in Starfinder (p. 271) so you can try again next round.
Oh, sweet! I did not know that; it makes my build substantially better.
Oh, sweet! I did not know that; it makes my build substantially better.
Yeah, it took me a while to find it. It was in the combat rules, not the magic rules.
Of course they'd leave it in the combat rules. At some point I'll need to make myself an exhaustive list of all the spells delivered by touch attack.
On an unrelated note, will the content from the new Pact Worlds book be permitted in this campaign? There's a lot of neat, thematic stuff in there, but I mostly ask because there's a spell by the name of junksword that is just tailor-made for Thuldas.
Oooh! A new book I have to buy!
Probably will... But I have to go get it. :)
Of course they'd leave it in the combat rules.
From the discussion of PF2, it seems that Paizo is REALLY proud of how well laid out and clear the Starfinder rules are.
An assessment that I'd personally significantly disagree with :-(
The reason I specified was that one of the gangers was described as having some sort of device (capable of holographic projections) but I wasn't sure which one it was or if they all happened to be wearing such devices.
BTW it was blue that had the device.
Guys: I want to ask you to do two things.
1. Some of you are doing this:
I would much prefer you to do this:
That way I know the damage type and which AC to compare your roll to without having to remember which weapon you are using or checking your sheet.
2. Please put the stats for your weapons on your sheet... not just your attack bonus and damage, but the other stats too like bulk, ammo, and especially, range.
Earlier in this battle I Dawn took a shot at the ganger off the edge of the map and I said to myself "Is that in range? Let me check." I didn't feel like hauling a book out or searching for the SFSRD so looked on Dawn's profile. No range listed.
Then I thought, "Wint has a laser, I'll look at his sheet." Nope, not there either.
"Maybe Thuldas has a laser pistol?" He doesn't, but he has a starknife and the range isn't listed for that. "Iolas?" no ranges listed on Iolas' sheet either. In the end only Stell had any ranges listed on her sheet.
If you do the work now it saves time later on.
Because Stell was the only one that had this information, she wins a prize: When Stell goes "home" (wherever that is) there is a dusty box of small arm ammo behind the couch. Who knows how long it's been there?
Added the pistol info as a spoiler on my profile. Sorry for the previous inconvenience!
I'll be in DC today, so I'll post this evening.
Okay, guys. At this point the first scenario is complete. It took a bit longer to go through than I expected, though that's mostly my fault.
How do you guys feel like we are doing so far?
I've been having fun so far. This is my third time through the Commencement though (having run it once and gone through bits of it in a Dead Suns game), so I'm ready to move on to different scenarios! :)
I haven't run the Commencement before, so I found it fairly exciting. I'm on board with whatever we do from here!
So, I suppose this is a good time to divy up some loot. I've been keeping track of the credits we earned and spent as a group - each character has earned 247 credits since the beginning of the scenario. Additionally, Thuldas is carrying an additional 165 credits in surplus party funds (in case we need to bribe another creepy mortician).
We've also acquired a frostbite-class zero rife and a standard datajack .
I'll take the datajack, but only if no one else is interested - I've already taken a lion's share of the loot this scenario!
I’ve been having a bunch of fun. This was my second time doing the commencement but it’s been altered enough that it felt fresh. I’ve especially liked all the little details here and there. I’m certainly looking forward to other scenarios.
so far so good ✌
Not having to stick precisely to the plot as in SFS allows a bit more leeway to improvise. I didn't change that much though mechanically. I added a few more options in the junkrace, and expanded the options in the "Faking Ceren's Death" part slightly (though it turned out you didn't need those). The reward from the Happy Dragon Tian Kitchen was a bonus.
Ha, that was a fun little bit. Looking forward to patronizing Happy Dragon Tian Kitchen between excursions. I'm sure they'll make that money back eventually.
I am very happy with the adventures and the company. We seem to have a balanced party with good chemistry between PCs and between players. Looking forward to something new. GM role playing and instructions have been excellent.
@Thuldas: could you break down how many credits each person received (after keeping out a share for the group fund) from each sub-section of the adventure? I'm keeping track in my profile of income and expenses, so I'd like to itemize what we've gotten so far.
Once I have a clear idea of cash at hand, I'll consider making a purchase to either upgrade Stell's armor or maybe add a weapon to her belt.
Iolas or Thuldas should take the datajack, as they have the highest bonus to Computers. Dawn will take it neither of them want it.
I would like to find some useful drug or poison that Stell can use with her needler pistol. The core rule book doesn't have much to offer at low level, just id moss. Is there a drug that could have a chance of knocking someone unconscious, something along the lines of Pathfinder Drow Poison? If so, is it available to first level characters and if so, at what cost?
@Thuldas: could you break down how many credits each person received (after keeping out a share for the group fund) from each sub-section of the adventure?
You bet yer space-britches I can!
Post #137: Wayfinder Faction Task Reward
+400 cr. total, +66 cr. per player, +70 cr. party fund
Post #251: Madame Wong's Happy Dragon Tian Kitchen Reward
+100 cr. total, +16 cr. per player, +20 cr. party fund
Post #252: Exo-Guardian Faction Reward
+400 cr. total, +66 cr. per player, +70 cr. party fund
Post #440: Acquisitive Faction Reward
+400 cr. total, +66 cr. per player, +70 cr. party fund
Post #547: Bribing Doc Grimmwald
-100 cr. total, 0 cr. per player, -100 cr. party fund
Post #606: Dataphiles Faction Reward
+200 cr. total, +33 cr. per player, +35 cr. party fund
Net Session Income
+1,500 cr. total, +247 cr. per player, +165 cr. party fund
Thuldas can take the datajack. I might like the cryo rifle unless anyone objects.
I don't think anyone else can even use the cryo rifle. Take 'em! Enjoy that sweet sweet loot.
I think you're the only one proficient with the rifle, so go for it!
The game "Savage Worlds" has an interesting suggestion for down time to help flesh out characters with stories from their pasts. It suggests the GM select a PC and have the PC randomly determine the sort of story to tell, after which the player must role play it.
The four possibilities suggested are:
1—Tragedy: Describe a tale of tragedy or misfortune from your hero’s past, featuring one of his Hindrances if possible. If the teller has a dark secret of some kind, hint strongly at it, drop clues, or otherwise give the rest of the group a glimpse into your hero’s dark side during your narrative.
2—Victory: Tell the group about a great victory or personal triumph in your adventurer’s past. How did it affect him afterward? Was there a reward?
3—Love: Speak fondly of the character’s greatest love—lost, found, or waiting on him back home. What is her name? Where does she live? Why is the traveler not with her now?
4—Desire: Tell a tale about something your hero wants (or already has). It might be a material possession, recognition, a political goal, or even a trip he wishes to take to some amazing destination.
Just a suggestion, but if we're to be a team, it will be fun to learn more about the backstories of each character.
I like the idea, I’ll have a post up soon for Iolas. Maybe rolling a d4 could be interesting.
I rolled earlier and got Victory. I'll try to think of a good story and post it later today or on Monday.
Guys, I've been getting over a throat infection that slowed me down a lot more than I expected. Hopefully I will get things back to normal this weekend.