Jimbles' Dead Suns

Game Master Jimbles the Mediocre

Well, Diedre's a lightweight as far as booze/drugs are concerned and already has a buzz going. So I'm not sure who was less understandable.

I meant to say something the other day, but I'm in training at work all this week, so I'm AFK a lot more than normal.

I assume we're going to join after this fight or close to?

I assume we're going to join after this fight or close to?

Yeah, Johnny and Irhok'zath are queued to join basically as soon as boots hit the ground in Ukulam. I'm sorry that you've been stuck waiting so long; I thought this last arc would progress a bit faster than it actually did.

No sweat - I'm still looking for the ideal avatar to use with Irhok'zath. All bugs available are bug-eyed, but Formians actually have almost no eyes...

After we join up all combats will end much faster, so the pace will pick up quite well.

After we join up all combats will end much faster, so the pace will pick up quite well.

Are you criticizing Diedre's handling of this battle? Hmmm?

raises an attractive eyebrow while swaying just a wee bit

Are you criticizing Diedre's handling of this battle? Hmmm?

raises an attractive eyebrow while swaying just a wee bit

"Not at all!" Irhok'zath pats Diedre's head as smoothly as possible with her chitinous claws. "But perhaps being more careful with your life choices... no need to be so restless just because you are so ancient" she smiles in a friendly manner, hoping to be helpful.

"All you need to do is sever the attraction between the nerves and they fall over like a puppet with it's strings cut. Simple."

My work situation will be demanding a little more time this week, adjusting to teaching classes remotely to allow classes to continue without the risk of spreading or catching the COVID-19 virus. In theory it should not take any more time than normal, but I expect I'll be in extra meetings and learning how to use the software features. I'll post when I can but it might be every other day.

I hope everyone else is able to stay safe.

My schedule has also been flipped upside down by recent events, as daycare has shut down but work has not, doubling my day-to-day workload. Sporadic posting will be the name of the game for awhile, but at least we're all in the same boat.

My wife's family had a pretty severe tragedy hit last night. I'm likely to be in and out of pocket all week. If, for any reason, you need to bot me, feel free.

So sorry to hear that. Hope that she (and you) have a large support network.

Sorry to hear it. Take care of your family. We'll keep you in our thoughts. Don't worry about posting until things are settled and you're mentally ready.

My wife's family had a pretty severe tragedy hit last night. I'm likely to be in and out of pocket all week. If, for any reason, you need to bot me, feel free.

Sorry to hear that, Pith. We'll be here whenever you're ready to come back; I promise not to crush Lauren with the first Yaruk she sees.

I appreciate that. As a 7ft tall jellyfish, I imagine she's quite vulnerable to yaruk crushing.

Sorry I'm so behind on posting, y'all. Paridoxically, working from home has given me so much less time for hobbies, as I'm doing dad stuff when I should be working and working when I should be updating my PbPs. I'm gonna try to get a big story update post to you today, but if I fail that, you probably won't hear from me until Monday.

I'll still be here. :)

Still here hanging out.

Okay, here's the deal - Ukulam is no joke. From the information you've aquired, you can estimate that it's at least ten days by foot to reach the lost city of Loskialua, and then at least another ten days to get back to civilization. That's 20 days of overland travel through tropical plains, jungles, and lowlands rife with deadly creatures and diseases - to say nothing of the mysterious kidnappers you're tracking - without access to outside medical care.

It's fun to catch characters flat-footed, but it's not fun to catch players flat-footed. Here's some knowledge that your characters either have or will discover before they set out that may help you prepare:

Okay, so here are some suggestions that I recommend everyone pick up:

First, though, a quick rant about backpacks. Backpacks are not designed well. Let me explain.

Both backpacks have a weight of 1 bulk. the commercial backpack increases your str. by 1 for purposes of encumberance, and a industrial backpack increases it by 2.

you have to stay within half strength modifier to avoid being encumbered. This means that you should never buy a commercial backpack, since it COSTS YOU .5 BULK!

An industrial backpack at least pays for it's own weight.

/rant

Okay, back to my suggestions, I'd suggest carrying R2E meals: they're L bulk/day, which means that they weigh the same thing as the other rations listed on AoN, but those rations specifically mention being shatty to eat for several weeks....like the journey we're about to take.

Warm environmental clothing is L bulk and gives you a +2 circumstance bonus to saves vs. heat. You can also pay more to add that bonus to a different set of clothing, like the travel clothing which gives you a bonus to saves vs. forced march.

Canteens are necessary, obviously.

We should pick up a navigational map or two of the region, if we can get them.

I'm going to pick up the following stuff:

*industrial backpack (cause I need my hands free) -25 1 bulk
*20 days of R2E meals -20 2 bulk
*2 suits of Warm Environmental clothing -20 L bulk x2
*Tent, Mobile Hotelier -50 1 bulk
*Canteen x2 -2 L bulk x2

Neither backpack costs you any bulk if you're wearing it. And you can go all the way to .9 on your bulk limit without being encumbered.

I have life bubble and every intention of casting it every day.

There are a couple of cheap items that can give a total of either +6 or +8 to the orienteering checks we should probably get.

Unfortunately, I have to go to a funeral this morning. My wife decided at the last minute that she needs me there with her. I will be out of pocket all day today I think.

Oh also there's an aeon stone that is 0 bulk and means never having to buy or carry food. Worth it if you have the money.

Diedre will pick up the clear spindle aeon stone (245 cr) that Lauren is referring to - it satisfies food and water requirements.

She'll also pick up a commercial backpack (25 cr) and a mass-produced tent (2 cr).

And if she can cast life bubble then Lauren will have become Diedre's new bestest friend. :) :)

Aeon Stone, Clear Spindle
Level 1; Price 245; Bulk —
Description
This aeon stone sustains you by negating the need for food or water.

---

And here's the absolute cheat item:

Moon Crystal
Source Alien Archive 3 pg. 69
Level 3; Price 200; Bulk L
Description
A moon crystal is luminous, raising the light level by one step in a 10-foot radius. It also provides 4 days of environmental protections as if it were armor, and it can be activated and depleted in the same way. The crystal can also sense when you need its protection and activate itself even if you’re unable to take actions. As a standard action, a creature holding a moon crystal can determine the remaining duration of its environmental protections. As the duration nears its end, the light in the crystal dims, and the crystal goes dark when its magic is fully expended. The crystal then crumbles to dust.

With both Entiren and Lauren able to cast Life Bubble (which lasts for days per level, so 3 days per casting at our current level), we should be able to protect the entire party with the spell at all times. This would remove almost all of out spell slots each day that the spells are cast if we were to initially cast them all on the same day. I would be fine with this however.

Life Bubble also targets "up to one creature/level, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart", so two castings can take care of the whole group.

True! It had been a while since I had looked at the spell in any real level of detail, and had forgotten that.

The mass-produced tent will give you 8 hours of environmental protection per charge and comes with a 20 charge battery.

There's also this armor upgrade, which turns each day of environmental protection into 4:

Thermal Regulator (Hybrid)
Source Starfinder #14: Soldiers of Brass pg. 17
Item Level 1; Price 150
Slots 1; Armor Type Any; Bulk L
While activated, a thermal regulator reduces the severity of dangerous temperatures by two steps for its wearer. For example, severe cold becomes comfortable, while extreme cold is reduced to cold. A thermal regulator can be set to protect its wearer from cold or heat, but not both simultaneously. The regulator consumes the attached armor’s environmental protections, but at one-quarter the rate of having protections fully activated.

I have 4 first level slots and a spell cache. Usually, my spells are my fall back to using a rifle, regardless. I really don't mind blowing the slot, as it makes this entire trip a lot easier (both on us as players and on the GM). If I cast it every day, the entire group is covered by day 2. If Entiren is willing to cast it the first day, I can just maintain it every day from there on, as I'd rather he keep his slots for heals after that. I have every intention of casting it every day.

I also really really recommend we get a Navigator's Tool Kit and a Navigational Map of Ukulam (or at least the region(s)? we're heading to). For 100cr, that's a +6 to all the Orienteering Checks, which will probably double our chances of not getting lost.

I'm definitely buying a clear spindle aeon stone, some batteries, and maybe a couple other things, but I need to figure out how much I have to spend, first.

Actually, now that I think about it, wasn't I already casting life bubble every day? I know I took the spell after leveling at the end of the Drift Rock and I took it because our environmental protections were so short and that whole experience was a pain in the ass. I thought when we got back from that, I already said I started casting it every day just so we wouldn't be caught out like that again? My google character sheet has a note on it that I have one less spell/day than I'm supposed to. I am pretty sure it's from that.

I can just maintain it every day from there on, as I'd rather he keep his slots for heals after that. I have every intention of casting it every day.

With a third level caster, Life Bubble lasts for 3 days and takes care of 3 creatures.

I also really really recommend we get a Navigator's Tool Kit and a Navigational Map of Ukulam (or at least the region(s)? we're heading to). For 100cr, that's a +6 to all the Orienteering Checks, which will probably double our chances of not getting lost.

It's impossible for the PCs to know, but Irhok'zath also has a bunch of gear to survive and hang around Ukulam (although Entiren already surpasses her Survival bonuses even without specialized gear), though more of those would be helpful.

Yes. I cast it on Day 1, It covers 3 of us. I cast it on Day 2, it covers the next 3. Then on Day 3 I go back and re-cast it on the first 3 and so on (assuming there are 6 of us, I can't remember).

Technically, every third day I could have not cast it at all and on Day 4 recast it on the first 3 when it expires, but then I'd have to keep track of which day it is every time we end up in combat, and I'm far too lazy for that. The benefits are worth just burning the slot every day to me.

As far as money split. The funds we've received up to now, including the most recent stipend should probably be split with the original members of the group (including those that aren't present).

So divide the most recent credits by 6.

At the very least, Diedre would insist that Aureum get a share.

That would divide by 5 instead.

Yes. I cast it on Day 1, It covers 3 of us. I cast it on Day 2, it covers the next 3. Then on Day 3 I go back and re-cast it on the first 3 and so on (assuming there are 6 of us, I can't remember).

If you cast twice on day 1, that gets the whole party till day 4 - you can recast once on day 3 for half the party and once on day 4 for the other half, and keep the schedule more or less like that, so you'll have full spells in some days. You can also cast twice on days that nothing happens, before going to sleep, in hopes that nothing takes place at night.

The party could always grab some Life Bubble spell gems...

There are 4 characters together, one being assigned and a secret character - a Vincent Valentine if you will, or slightly more obscure reference but one of my favorite characters, a Bleu.

I don't want to try to keep track of whether or not I have full spells on a given day, and I don't want to risk blowing 2 spells on a day and then end up needing them that day. Seriously, it's both easier and worth it for me to just blow a single spell slot a day on it and call it done.

As far as money split. The funds we've received up to now, including the most recent stipend should probably be split with the original members of the group (including those that aren't present).

So divide the most recent credits by 6.

At the very least, Diedre would insist that Aureum get a share.

That would divide by 5 instead.

Jehir hasn't been with us (even botted) since we left the Drift Rock and isn't coming back, so I don't think he should get a cut of anything at all at this point. The 2,500cr isn't for things we already did but a stipend to buy equipment for the mission we're about to go on. I'm absolutely fine with 'pouring one out for our homey' Aureum, for RP reasons, but I was really more concerned about whether or not the new people were going to have what they needed. That's why I asked about the cut.

3,200 credits split 4 or 5 ways won't help much individually, but you might consider using it to buy an advanced medkit for 2,700 credits. All four main characters can use Medicine, so that's a lot of Aid Anothers to reach those high DCs.

I'm doing fine on Irhok'zath, since building a character at a higher level allowed me to get almost everything I wanted, instead of having to pick and choose from random loot.

I am likewise good for gear and made sure to set aside some money for anything needed.

I've fallen behind on posting getting my end of term grading done and I'll be busy for the next day with prepping for the new course.

I will get Miraj equipped as soon as I can.

We discussed having splitting loot with an extra share for spending on things beneficial to the group. I don't have time to try to find a post that declared what we decided. On my profile, I have a note as the last credits received as "Split of sold loot (6000 split ? ways)" Anyone have a record of how much each PC got from that?

Also how many ways are we splitting the latest income: 700 credits from Ailabiens 21:2 and 2500 from Chiskisk. Or is that how much each PC gets after splitting it?

Once I have these numbers, I'll set out to get some useful gear. Miraj already has a configurable outfit with most of the environmental clothing options. He'll probably stock the medkit with anything that can help us deal with disease and some more serum's of healing. After that he'll see if he can upgrade his armor and/or weapons.

I'm sorry that I was away for a few days, I could have saved you guys some trouble regarding your cash flow:

Recent payments (700 from Ailabiens 21:2 and 2,500 from Chiskisk) are scaled to be split among the four "current" members of the party - Diedre, Entiren, Lauren, and Miraj.

Jehir is literally on another planet at this point; I wouldn't be concerned about maintaining a share for him. Aureum is also on another path, but she's still a member of the Society and, if anyone inquires, they'll discover that Chiskisk is making sure she is compensated for work done.

Both Johnny and Irhok'zath have received payment from other sources; all six current characters should be at roughly the same net worth.

So, 3200 cr for the group. If we divide by 5 (allowing for a group fund), that gives us 640 cr each.

Diedre will also pick up:

Sticky Bomb Grenade II
Screamer Grenade I
Frag Grenade II

Thank you, with what I already had on me that puts me at 2606 credits in my pocket.

Lauren will...

• Sell her Pulsecaster Pistol +25
  
• Buy a Static Arc Pistol -750
  
• Buy a Clear Spindle Aeon Stone-245
  
• Buy a Mk1 Ability Crystal (Dex) -1400
  
• Buy 3 Batteries (@60 ea) -180
  
• Buy Bedroll -15
  
• Buy Lighter -1
  

That leaves her at 40cr. I highly recommend, even with Entiren's bonuses us getting the two items for orienteering checks I mentioned earlier from the group fund.

I agree with Lauren about getting at least one of the two items using money from the group fund.

I'll try and get a post into the gameplay thread at some point tomorrow morning.

So I'll assume the 6000 credits we got from selling equipment found on the drift rock was split 7 ways, so we each would have gotten 857 credits. Adding the 640 to that from this latest income, Miraj has 1497 credits + 1664.7 credits in the bank: 3161.7 cash on hand.

I'm going to outfit Miraj before reading on in the game play thread. Then I'll get caught up with the new characters.

Vesk Brigandine I Armor 750 cr, L
Xenowarden's Boots 80, L
Plant Shield Amulet 300
Deoxy pellet 250, L
Backpack Industrial 25, 0
Mass Produced Tent 2, 1
Aeon Stone, Clear Spindle 245
Small Rounds Ammo (30), 40
Sniper Rounds Ammo (25), 75

If he sells a few items he doesn't need, he'll have just enough for a personal upgrade augmentation.

I'm going to post this now and review what kind of total bulk he has to deal with. Then I'll post on the game play thread this afternoon.

Did we decide what we're doing with the other items found on Twonas and his gang?

Items:
two sets of freebooter armor I
two azimuth laser pistols w/ nearly full batteries,
two tactical batons,
an inferno knife, and 100 credits.

Freebooter Armor 1: 750 new, 75 sold
Freebooter Armor 1: 750 new, 75 sold
Laser Pistol: 350 new, 35 sold
Laser Pistol: 350 new, 35 sold
Baton: 90 new, 9 sold
Baton: 90 new, 9 sold
Inferno Knife: 2100 new, 210 sold
Credits: 100

If sold, all would be worth: 1898
Divided 5 ways: 380 credits

Miraj would like the inferno knife as part of his share, leaving him 170 credits.

Correction: Cancel the Vesk Brigantine I Armor. Instead, he'll take one of the freebooter armor I as part of his share of the Twonas gang take. This adjustment means he has 839 credits in cash after shopping. Might add one or two more things with this extra cash.

Before I finalize my purchases, I realize Miraj might not need special equipment to deal with the heat. As part of his conversion to a summer-born rhyphorian, he gained fire resistance 5. I believe that might mean he can endure a certain degree of hot environments without needing to make fortitude saves. Is that correct?

If he doesn't need a thermal regulator and a dozen batteries, he can save a fair amount of credit or spend them on other things.

If it helps, this post holds a back and forth on this topic, with no official ruling:
Does Fire Resistance protect / helps against Heat (enviroment)?

My take is that the non-lethal damage caused when one fails a fortitude save is fire damage and hence not taken by someone with 5 points of fire resistance.

Before I finalize my purchases, I realize Miraj might not need special equipment to deal with the heat. As part of his conversion to a summer-born rhyphorian, he gained fire resistance 5. I believe that might mean he can endure a certain degree of hot environments without needing to make fortitude saves. Is that correct?

I would rule that you are correct - Miraj is effectively immune to "very hot conditions", which is the technical term for the heat danger in this part of the world.

EDIT: I noticed the post you linked is from the PF1 rules forum. In Starfinder, the nonlethal damage from very hot conditions or severe heat is typed as fire damage, which removes that particular ambiguity.

Thanks. I'll update my purchases and detail them and the bulk listings. Miraj will probably take advantage of the offer of food and tent, just as a precaution. He has an ad on stone to eliminate the need for food and drink, but he might lose that.