PLAY-BY-POST GAMEDAY VII: SFS 1-99 The Scoured Stars Invasion (subtier 1-2) (Inactive)

Game Master FiddlersGreen

Discuss tactics, cheese and life aspirations!

Howdy. I've got to do my update on gear, but should be pretty close to what I have in there already. Tactics aren't crazy. Alejandro likes not killing and his weapons of choice are a variety of pistols.

So when people talk about cheese my mind almost immediately goes to Gruyere Cheese. Why this specific cheese? Because my wife had to watch an older movie for her history on film class, the title being The Return of Martin Guerre which sounds close enough to the cheese to trigger it in my mind. Thanks weird film class... thanks.

But personally, my favorite is muenster cheese. Which I always pronounced munster but apparently it can also be pronounced moonster. Craziness.

★ Male LG Vesk Mercenary Solarian 2 | SP 16/16 HP 20/20 | RP 3/3 | EAC 15; KAC 16 | Fort +4; Ref +2; Will +3 | Init: +2 | Perc: +4, SM: +0 | Speed 30ft

★ Active Conditions: None| Active Bonuses: None

★ Starship Skills: Diplomacy +7, Piloting +6, Profession Mercenary +9 | Roles: Captain, Pilot, Gunner

★ ----------- ★

A rather large, pickled-coloured Vesk enters the room. He is wearing a slim coat which accentuates his more muscular body. His gaze crowds the room as he observes everyone silently, before speaking.

"Is this crew which I have been assigned to? Good. This will do. You're not like the toughs from Vesk V, but stay behind me, follow my lead - and I promise you - victory shall be ours on this day!"

He reaches behind him to adjust the large tactical pike adorned with memorabilia on his back.

"I am Captain Rahdokama of the 74th V-battalion. I have been sent as an ambassador from the empire to find our missing soldiers who succumbed to the Scoured Stars Incident."

The brute swiftly picks out a seat in the room and takes it.

★ ----------- ★

Hey guys, it's me Tealk. I don't have much experience with PbP, as this will be my first time playing it. I hope I don't slow down the game too much. I am currently making sure I have all the formatting done right on my info sheet.

Mechanically, my Vesk is a Solarian. He specialises in debuffing enemies with radiation, and assisting allies by taking hits in melee and supporting with co-ordinated shot. He will gladly take the hits for you, only if you promise to help him up afterwards.

Got Alejandro updated and ready to go.

He can run any of the ship sections except Science Officer. He's best at Captain (+7 to all 3 skills), but with a small crew that seems to be the first slot to be skipped. Thus he will probably end up as a gunner due to the need of more than one of those (plus his only starship boon is a boost to a laser weapon). But he might also bounce around to whatever is needed each round.

Monday, August 13, is my wedding anniversary, so I will most likely not be able to post at all that day. Also, I will be traveling Thursday, August 16 to Monday, August 20 and may have very limited internet access. Please bot me as needed.

Checking in.

My posting will be sparse during the day Monday-Wednesday due to a new firewall at work. I can no longer post at lunch unless I do so from my phone, but will try to post at least once a day - it just might be late in the evening.

I've added my PC - Shaan Poloo - to the thread. GM, would you please remove Abraham Z. from the active player list whenever you get a chance?

This is my first time building a Starfinder character and I'm still pretty green with the system so I would appreciate any suggestions/changes that anyone may have. Also, I haven't bought any gear yet - any suggestions for that are welcome too. I have 1 chronicle of credit already, so I have a bit more than the usual 1000 credits to spend. I have no weapons, armor, or gear yet.

Shaan is a Vesk Soldier with both Str (16) and Dex (14), so I'm assuming that I should get both a melee and ranged weapon, but not sure which is best. If we have Starship stuff to do, his only relevant skill will be piloting (but I assume I can also do Gunnery even without a skill?).

Correct reference gunnery which actually also uses the pilot skill rank (1 at lvl 1) + your dex modifier so you should be decent at least at gunnery.

When I did my gear I took a look at the iconic gear list for the envoy when I first started and pretty much cut and past it all, trading out 1-2 things. This got me a really good start for my first session. I'd also suggest at least 2-3 different 'types' of damage when it comes to weapons. My last crew had an issue when most of our weapons were lasers and we faced a fire immune enemy... whoops. :D

Astrator is here, but I am still wrapping up leveling him and purchasing things. I am not quite as fast or competent with that process in SFS as PFS.

@Alejandro- Astrator learned that lesson very well and bought a hunting rifle... I am still surprised that we didn't TPK

Zeth is here and ready to go. First game of SFS so this will be fun.

Astrator! Good to see you again. I picked up a semi-auto pistol and a stun-gun to provide that option as well.

Looking forward to playing with you. I am somewhat new to Starfinder Society. I have played this guy once before but its been quite a while so I might be a little rusty on the rules.

In my limited play I did decide that in ship combat Piloting was pretty important so Rig is an ace pilot and uses his engineering memory module to gain Skill Focus Pilot. So starting out his skill in Piloting is +11.

I hope he is not a 1 trick pony in that. :) He is a good engineer and a decent shot with longarm proficiency.

I don't care if he is a 1-trick pony, +11 is awesome and piloting is very important from what I've seen so far. The helm is yours*!

*unless someone comes in with a +12. :P

Hi all, sorry to be late to the party - yesterday was my wedding anniversary so no space for Starfinder. I've updated my PC - using the suggestions to take the same gear as the iconic soldier. I did exactly that except that I upgraded my armor since I had more credits available (due to having played a pregen once before).

I should say that, while I'm experienced at both Pathfinder and PbP, I'm pretty new to Starfinder and still getting the hang of the rules. I appreciate your indulgence of any questions I may have or any stupid moves I may inadvertently make.

Two quick questions: is SFS like PFS in allowing you to freely rebuild your character up to level 2? I looked in the Guide but couldn't find an answer.

And I'm confused by the differences in how factions work in SFS. The pregen I played the first time I played slotted as a Wayfinder. If I want access to the Second Seeker boons that may be available in this scenario, can I slot a Second Seeker boon? Do I need to have "bought" that beforehand?

Will go ahead and post in the gameplay thread now and again sorry for any delay I've caused.

Shaan, the factions work a little differently in Starfinder.

Generally, to gain prestige with a faction, you need to have a boon for that faction slotted, and you can only slot one faction per adventure. You get your first faction boon for free, but can buy more for 2 prestige each.

Fortunately, the pre-level 2 rebuild is still in effect, so you can still freely rebuild your character and select another faction boon if you didn't like your first one.

Make a post in the gameplay thread once you have yourself slotted, and feel free to ask if you have more questions. =)

Ok, well I guess I'll go ahead and try out the Second Seekers then and slot my SS boon for this adventure. Thanks for the guidance.

Another question: I can't seem to find any Starfinder images to use for my PC. When I edit the PC on the paizo My Organized Play page, the only options I see are all the Pathfinder ones. Any suggestions for how to get myself a Vesk looking image (other than just taking a Nagaji or something like that)?

I mean, mine looks like a turtle. There aren't many options for Vesk at the moment...

I mean, mine looks like a turtle. There aren't many options for Vesk at the moment...

Right, but I'm not seeing any options for Starfinder at all - just Pathfinder options, so I thought maybe I'm looking in the wrong place?

I am travelling this weekend. I should still be good for a couple of posts, but probably not my usual 2/day. I'll be back to normal monday night.

I'm very sorry that I haven't been able to post. Between anniversary, travel, and the site crashing, I haven't been able to stay on top of the game but will get caught up now. Thanks for your understanding.

In the intro, Shaan received the following benefit, which also applies to all of us, but I don't know enough about Starfinder's equipment options to have an idea of what it would be good to use it for. Any suggestions?

Traveling with family to vacation all day tomorrow and was just in a car accident. We are all ok but shaken up. Will be Sunday or Monday before I can post and will likely be erratic for the next week.

Going to Dragon Con next weekend starting next Thursday so posting will be sparse at best. Back Tuesday week.

Fiddler... any chance you could remove me from the active characters/players?

Thanks

Traveling all day with wife and baby. Likely will not be able to post until sometime tomorrow. Please bot as needed. Thanks and should be about to return to a more normal posting schedule (assuming the site cooperates). Thanks for your understanding.

I am going out of the country for the next 2 weeks, and will have very limited access to internet. I should be able to post once a day, but there may be some days I can't make that happen.

More importantly, the next 48 hours is all travel and will be tough to me to post. Please feel free to bot me as needed.

Thanks for the heads-up.

FiddlersGreen - I sent you a PM and am waiting to hear back from you before I post further. :\

Due to a mistake on my part that was only partly caused by the site issues I need to drop out of this game. I regret causing problems for the team. I wish you all the best.

Hello, everyone! While I'm not 100% on all of the details involved, I've been asked to come over and fill in for Fiddlersgreen to GM your table.

It will take me a little bit to get my new copy of maps and handouts together and added with your team's info. But - since I don't want to slow your progress, we'll just pick things up "theater of the mind" style for the time being!

I'm going to catch myself up on where you are currently at, and should have a GM post up soon!

Hey Dire, thanks for the fill-in. There's actually a "map" up for the vehicle chase which shows which zones the 2 vehicles and the worm are in. I'll leave that map up for your use.

Edit: Nevermind, I see you've done your own map.

Heya Fiddlers. Sorry about not replying until now. I saw your slides which helped me get mine together - thank you for that! Admittedly, I just grabbed the map/slides pack from another GM's table. ^^;

Take care!

Players - because this is a "timed" special scenario, some of my normal "table rules" (especially #1) won't fully apply, but I wanted to share them with you nonetheless!

~~~~~

My "Table Rules" -

0 - RL > Game. No other rules trump rule 0! :D

1 - I'd like it if everyone posted once a day Mon-Fri. Friday night through Sunday night is eh-whatever (I am in US Eastern Time, for reference). I'll try to post when I can over weekends, but I know people have lives and won't always be online, so no worries.

2 - If you don't post in the middle of an "action" scene for a day, you get skipped once (or botted if your action would be super obvious or you leave a note to me or another player "proxying" your character). If you don't post a second time, you get "botted" by me to do something simple (usually just attack or aid another). If we get into the 3-5 range, I'll probably drop you a line off-list to see what's up. If it goes on too long...well, I hate dropping people from games, but it unfortunately happens :(

3 - When you've got a saving throw to make, roll that first before posting anything else.

4 - Feel free to roll perception and sense motive whenever you want, and if you have a reroll, feel free to use that anytime as well.

5 - Have fun! Rule 5 trumps all other rules! :P

Also, please post the following information in this discussion thread:

Player Name/Alias:
Character Name:
Character Level:
Organized Play # / Character #:
Perception Modifier:
Initiative Modifier:
What is your favorite color:
What is your quest Day Job (if any) Roll:

Thank you all very much!

Thanks GM. I am super abbreviated in my posting at the moment as I am in rural africa for the time being. Once a day posting is all I can really do for right now. Once I am back stateside (next tuesday) I should return to more descriptive posts and I'll get the details you asked for then.

Thanks!

Player Name/Alias: Pete H.
Character Name: Alejandro Carlos
Character Level: 1
Organized Play # / Character #: 123584-701
Perception Modifier: +4
Initiative Modifier: +2
What is your favorite color: blue... I mean yellow... aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!
What is your quest Day Job (if any) Roll: None

Player Name/Alias: Abraham Z.
Character Name: Shaan Poloo
Character Level: 1
Organized Play # / Character #: 100198-701
Perception Modifier: +0
Initiative Modifier: +6
What is your favorite color: to find the grail...
What is your quest Day Job (if any) Roll: None

No worries Astrator, take your time! You wouldn't happen to be in Tanzania by any chance, would you?

Congratulations, team on your first success! Boo-YAH!!!

I am actually in Ghana doing medical humanitarian work at the moment. I have never been to Tanzania, though it’s on my list (I have been to Africa many times, but never seen any “African” animals).

Very cool! I asked only because a friend of mine got hired to teach there a couple of months ago, and had recently mentioned that a bunch of new teachers and doctors had arrived in town.

Stay safe down there, and let me know if there's anything I can do to help your interaction with this game!

Heya!

So, I need to get player/character/etc. info (as described above) from three of you, still, so we can report this table upon conclusion of the special!

Also, I think now is a good time to do player boon rolls! Because this is a big event, there is a 10% chance for everyone to win a boon for each table you play or GM! A roll of 19 or 20 wins, and for SFS tables, a 1d2 determines which of the two boons you earn.

To keep things fair, my modus operendii is to roll for everyone at once, in alphabetical order with myself last. So, good luck to all, and here we go!

Alejandro: 1d20 ⇒ 9
Astrator: 1d20 ⇒ 19 - Winner!
Rahdokama: 1d20 ⇒ 9
Shaan: 1d20 ⇒ 8
Zeth: 1d20 ⇒ 9
GM: 1d20 ⇒ 11

Congratulations Astrator! You win a boon! Let's find out which one it is now!

1 - Emergency Resupply (starship boon)
2 - Mining Laser (starship boon)

SFS Player Boon: 1d2 ⇒ 2

Nice one! In order to make sure we get your boon to you, I'll need your email address (you can send it to me in a private message if you don't want to post it here).

Okay, enough yapping from me for one night. Back to the action! :)

gustafson.k@gmail.com

Player Name/Alias: RxGus
Character Name: Astrator
Character Level: 2
Organized Play # / Character #: 273096-701
Perception Modifier: +0
Initiative Modifier: +3
What is your favorite color: Lime Green
What is your quest Day Job (if any) Roll: Comp Programmer: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

I’ll get that info up a little later today! I’ve been busy with a big product at work so I apologize for lack of posting! If I’m slowing things down feel free to continue to bot me.

As a reminder, I still need information from Zeth and Rahdokama for your chronicle sheets!

SPECIAL FACTION NOTE:
Completing this scenario contributes directly to the First Seeker’s goals. Each PC earns 1 additional Reputation with the Second Seekers (Luwazi Elsebo) faction, in addition to any other Reputation earned as a result of completing this scenario. Alternatively, PCs can instead put this additional Reputation toward the (newly available!) Second Seekers (Jadnura) faction.

Please let me know here if you would like this extra reputation put towards Luwazi Elsebo's Second Seeker faction, or Jadnura's Second Seeker faction. Thanks in advance!

PS: If you slotted a different faction boon than the one in your character's icon on here, please also let me know that, too!

Edit: Highlighted some stuff above ~50 minutes after my original post - namely that there are now two different "Second Seeker" factions to choose between.

PPS: Overseer GM Tyranius (and the online VO Team) would like to know what you thought of the Special:

After Action Report for Scoured Stars Invasion for both players and GMs!

Alejandro will keep his Wayfinder Champion boon slotted and take the bonus reputation with the Second Seekers.

Thanks for running, GM! I really had fun and I apologize to you and my fellow players for the number of times I was absent. Playing SFS in PbP helped me get a better sense of its flavor, and its differences from PFS, from the couple of times I've played it tabletop. Looking forward to doing more!

p.s. I'll remain loyal to Luwazi, for now, for the extra Reputation.

Player Name/Alias: Tealk
Character Name: Rahdokama
Character Level: 2
Organized Play # / Character #: 159547-702

What is your quest Day Job (if any) Roll: Soldier. Take 10 for 19.

I would like mine slotted for Jadnura's Second Seeker faction please!

Thank you so much for finishing off with us. Special thanks to Fiddlers aswell! You guys have been awesome!

Astrator will keep his dataphiles boon, but is super excited about the starship boon and the boon he rolled for!