PbP Gameday VI; Starfinder Society Quests: Into the Unknown (Inactive)

Game Master rooneg

Mobius: You are unable to identify the creature

Rik: Sure, you have time to do stuff before the encounter, there was a fair amount of time between the storm and the attack

Mobius and Rik both notice something shiny sticking out of the sand off to the north of you (the pale yellow square on the map).

Still waiting for Oraeth to act before the creature gets it's turn.

Oraeth scrambles backward, antennae flaring in alarm and fires off a quick shot as he goes.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
Trick Attack: 1d20 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 9 + 4 = 30
Semi Auto: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 1d4 ⇒ (3) + (4) = 7
5' move away before shooting

Mobius relays the information to Oraeth and Tammeriv. "There's something behind you. It's covered in sand but something's definitely there. Go check it out while we keep this - whatever it is - busy."

Readying an action for Kadlos. My parents are in town, and not sure I'll get to post later.

Kadlos springs away from the creature, and fires his pulsecaster pistol at it's hide...

Pulsecaster Pistol ATK: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Pulsecaster Pistol DAM: 1d4 ⇒ 2

After Mobius successfully withdraws and Oraeth connects with an epic Trick Attack shot the creature turns and lunges at Rik, biting at him with a truly disturbing looking mouth that seems to practically hum with sonic energy.

Bite: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19

It connects for Slashing: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 and Sonic: 1d3 ⇒ 1

Ok, everyone else can take a turn now, since there's only one enemy...

And I see Kadlos already has, his shot goes well wide of the beast.

Mobius takes out his laser rifle and fires at the strange looking beast.

Laser Rifle: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 6

Tamerriv goes against her instinct to wade into the midst of conflict, unwilling to allow a potential second attacker to surprise the party from behind.

Activating her Solar Hammer, she moves cautiously closer to the object pointed out by Mobius until she can identify it or verify that it is not dangerous.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20 Blindsense

Readied Action to attack with Solar Hammer if the object proves to be cantankerous.

Graviton attuned 1/3

Rik is surprised by the bug's lunge, and receives a nasty blow. He decides to flee like a rat, at least to a safer spot.

Withdrawing.

Mobius' shot connects with the creature, which rears back in pain.

Tamerriv gets close enough to the object to realize that it's some sort of Tactical X-Gun, seemingly attached to part of the wreckage from the ship. It's partially covered in sand, but you can presumably fire it if you're so inclined.

Rik withdraws safely.

Still waiting on Oraeth. I'll give him a bit longer due to the forum weirdness that's been going on, but if he hasn't moved by the time I get home from work today I'll bot him.

Ah, so it is dangerous. But in a good way. :-)

At Mobius's direction, Oraeth jogs off with Tamerriv to examine what turns out to be some kind of massive weaponry. He quickly examines it to see it of it operational and safe to fire and projects telepathically to Tamerriv, "It seems safe enough and operational. You might want to take the lead on this one. I'll try to keep it occupied."

Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Computers: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Oraeth manages to get the X-Gun cleaned off and operational.

In the meantime, the beast jumps at Kadlos and tries to grab him with it's massive jaws!

Bite: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13

It comes close, but just barely glances off Kadlos' armor.

You're all up again!

Yessssss!

Tamerriv slides into the firing harness and aims the weapon at the giant bug.

X-Gun: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

Damage unspecified. I'll let the GM roll it for me.

Rik catches his breath for a second, then takes out his pistol and aims at the beast.

"There you are!"

A weird projectile comes out of the pistol... or so it seems. Those who've been closely looking might swear it seemed to come out of Rik's hand instead... In any case, it hits the monster right where its head should be.

Casting Magic Missile as a full action.

Magic Missile: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (2, 1, 1) + 3 = 7

Mobius activates his Combat Tracking, targeting the lone creature they are fighting. "Alright M.I.C.H., you know the drill. Get me stats regarding that creature."

Laser Rifle: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 1

He looks at the rifle in his hands and tries to shake it carelessly. "C'mon! Work. Darn it! Work!"

Mobius and Tamerriv both hit, and Rik's magic missiles sting in for their usual reliable damage.

The Tactical X-Gun does d12 damage, so in this case it's:

Tactical X-Gun: 1d12 ⇒ 6

That makes a total of 14 more damage so far. Still waiting on Oraeth and Kadlos.

Sorry all - forum weirdness + toddler care + ramped up work = delightful posting time.

Kadlos scrambles backwards in a hurry, hoping that he'll never come that close to another alien's mouth again...

Full withdraw.

Oraeth stays away from the beast and makes an attempt at a trick attack:

Trick Attack: 1d20 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 9 + 4 = 26
Semi Auto: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 1d4 ⇒ (5) + (1) = 6

The beast roars in response, shifts over a bit and unleashes a line of sonic energy, catching both Tamerriv and Oraeth.

They both take Sonic: 4d4 ⇒ (3, 1, 1, 1) = 6 (DC 12 Reflex save for half)

Oraeth Reflex: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Tamerriv Reflex: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

So you each take 3 sonic damage.

You're all up again!

Seeing the "special K" bullets don't have the puch they had in the past, Rik tries to shoot his ordinary ones and see what can be done.

Semi Auto 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Damage 1d6 ⇒ 4

Tamerriv fires up the X-Gun again.

X-Gun: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19 Damage: 1d12 ⇒ 4

Mobius continues to shoot at the beast. Gee, I hope I don't get in the way of that.

"It's time we take this beast down."

Laser Rifle: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Oraeth puts a little distance between him and Tamerriv then fires off another shot.

Trick Attack: 1d20 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 9 + 4 = 20
Semi Auto: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

I cant alter the map on my phone. Move me 20' to the left please.

Kadlos pulls his pistol on the beast again, hoping (somewhat against hope), that it’s minor power can cut through the beast’s hide...

Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

...but after running away, his aim is way off!

Ok, Tamerriv brings the X-Gun to bear once more, staggering the beast with it. Everyone else doesn't seem to penetrate it's armored skin.

The creature responds by pouncing at Tamerriv and trying to bite the insect:

Bite: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20

It connects, doing Slashing: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8 (it doesn't seem to do any sonic damage this time)

You're all up again!

"Argh! His armor is too strong! M.I.C.H., find me a weak spot." He takes another shot at the beast.

Laser Rifle: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 5

Kadlos primes his pistol and fires again...

Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1

...and manages to give it the barest zap with his pulsecaster.

"Oh, by Pharasma's bones, don't let it's attention come to me..." he curses.

Tamerriv winces as the giant beast slams her hard, but perseveres and fires again.

One more hit like that could kill someone. I can't let that happen!

Using Communalism to roll twice.

X-Gun: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4 X-Gun: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13 Damage: 1d12 ⇒ 5

I hope that's enough.

She's knocked off her aim by one of the bug's flailing limbs, and the shot goes wide.

SP 0/8, Graviton attuned 3/3, Communalism 0/1

"That frikin' thing... die!"

Rik shoots once more, hoping his pistol hears him.

Semi Auto 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Damage 1d6 ⇒ 2

Oraeth turns back to fire again but slips on the uneven terrain. When he slips his hand flings up and the shot goes up in the air.

Trick Shot: 1d20 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 4 = 22
Semi Auto: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Kadlos connects with this shot, but it doesn't seem to do any meaningful damage. It does distract the beast briefly, letting Tamerriv connect with a heavy blow from her Solar Hammer (the X-Gun would have triggered an attack of opportunity, since it's a ranged attack), killing the beast!

If you like, you can salvage the X-Gun and bring it along.

After the fight, you proceed on to the wreckage, a few hundred yards away. The ship doesn't look good. Wreckage is strewn all over the place and just judging from the exterior view you'd be surprised if there were survivors.

What would you like to do?

Hey, a noncombat skill I actually have!

Life Science: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17 (Technically +5 with -5 to DC, but I don't see that it makes a difference if I'm trained)

Hang on. I've seen these before. It's a skreebara. If we... she borrows a knife from someone ...just provide a little pressure...here...yes.

She proudly shows a handful of beautiful crystals that she removed from the carapace.

These are valuable. Everyone will get a share of the sale.

This is not just metagaming -- Shirren are communal by nature, so the thought of keeping it for herself only would be foreign to her.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Tamerriv will salvage the X-Gun, but melee is her specialty so if anyone else wants it they should take it.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

"This spaceship... it has been attacked. It seems to have crashed itself when trying to dodge, like that time on Boondaloo when I tried to dodge a Yog Morrh's charge by jumping over it and I got its horn stucked in..." endless going on, you know...

Meanwhile, Rik will spend another Resolve to regain Staminia, if this can be done twice on the same day.

Oh! Good call, Rik. I'll do that too.

Oraeth settles back into some shade from a rocky outcropping while Tamerriv harvests crystals from its carapace. His ears are still ringing from whatever that thing did and he needs a moment for it to pass.

Oraeth whistles low, "Now that is one way to wreck a ship. Taken out by coilguns or rail guns if I had to guess." He looks he wreckage over for a moment then continues, "Well that doesn't look like the kind of thing a crew walks away from, but we might find out what happened if the bridge still has any power. Let's do it." Oraeth helps to lug the X gun across the rough terrain to the crash site.

1 Resolve spent to restore Stamina
Piloting: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21
Is this X gun something that needs a proficiency? I didn't offer to fire it before because I thought I'd take a non-prof penalty.

Yes, you can burn resolve for stamina multiple times in a day. And the X-Gun is (I believe) a heavy weapon, so I suppose Tamerriv should have had a non-proficiency penalty, but I'm not going to go back and fix it now ;-)

Let me know if you want to do anything outside the ship, or if you want to proceed in to it.

I'm ready to enter the ship.

Rik doesn't want to take more risks (pun intended) today, so he scries magically just in case...

Will cast Detect Magic.

Kadlos breathes a heavy sigh of relief. Too many combats. I always figured there’d be danger, but I’m better at duping the sentient than fighting something more mindless...

He steps up to the ship, and prepares to help open the hatch, if it even still moves.

Hearing the needed info from his companions, Mobius starts logging down the details in his exocortex and proceeds to go to the ship.

Ok, Rik's detect magic picks up nothing of consequence, and you eventually make your way into the ship. It takes some work to get through the airlocks, as they've been damaged severely in the crash, but you eventually make it work.

The ship itself has clearly been looted. The Corpse Fleet ship clearly took what they could, and not much is remaining beyond the bodies of the crew members. The main computer has had a number of components removed, and is low on power, but as you inspect it you do notice a number of interface ports in the shape of the Starfinder Society insignias you retrieved earlier.

When you insert one of the insignias the computer briefly flares to life again, displaying a data file from the ship's logs. The file contains the following interesting information about the worlds they had recently explored:

• A wasteland planet called Elytrio that displayed signs of scattered technology.
• A sentient asteroid called Lamentia teeming with morlock “children” in the Vast.
• A massive space station called End of Bright Things stuck between the orbits of two blue dwarf stars.
• A stormy, oceanic world called Wealdriad, with upthrust columns of basalt piercing the storm-tossed ocean’s surface.

The final location’s coordinates are too damaged to display, but the computer has enough power to open a slot containing a salvaged item from the lost location, an iridescent spindle aeon stone.

This brings us to the end of the 4th quest. I'll kick off the 5th quest, which picks up as you leave the planet, tomorrow.

Tamerriv is saddened by the loss of life.

Still, they chose to be here. At least they had that. And better to die doing what you desire than to live as a mindless drone.

She catalogs the identities of the fallen crewmembers in order to report their demise back to the Society.

"Ah, poor people..." Rik's voice sounds genuinely sad. "At least they died for what they believed in, and indeed they did a good job. All this info is precious." He walks till he's just beside one of the corpses. "Good job, my friends. Now rest, you earned it."

Rik turns away from the body.

"This reminds me of that time at Narla'an..."

Oraeth covers his nose and mouth in the presence of the dead, "I wonder why the Corpse Fleet doesn't recruit found bodies like this? Seems like they would want to increase their numbers."

When Mobius flicks through the log he nods with a faint smile, "These exploration sites are intriguing aren't they? But we still don't have a clue what got them all killed unless it was just bad luck with pirates."

"I wonder if we might have a way to return them to their families or loved ones? If our ship has storage space, we could turn down the environmental controls to make sure it stays cold enough to preserve... what's left of them, anyway. Grisly work, to be sure, but perhaps some comfort for them."

Kadlos goes about finding a way to make a sled of sorts to haul the bodies back to the Odyssey.

You eventually manage to transport the Starfinder Society crew member bodies back to the ship, and take off, intending to contact your Venture Captain as soon as you reach orbit. While blasting off however...

A warning klaxon blares, and the ship lurches. The asteroid field around the world of Ulmarid is more agitated than on the descent down to the surface. Although it’s not clear what has caused the anomalous activity, what’s certain is that you must reach safer altitude before a more serious collision occurs.

As before, the pilot should please give me a Piloting check to avoid the asteroids, the Captain (DC 10 Piloting or DC 17 Diplomacy to add +2 to the Piloting check) can assist and Science Officer (DC 15 Computers check to add +2 to the Piloting check) can try to track down the most dangerous asteroids via the sensors.

Tamerriv straps in and doublechecks the location of the nearest escape pod.

She broadcasts to the crew,

I just want to tell you all good luck. We're all counting on you.

Happy to help, but my relevant skills are pretty low comparatively.

Mobius seeks help from M.I.C.H., as he tries to maneuver the ship past the asteroid field.

Piloting: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

Piloting: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

"Easy does it, Pilot - we'll be out of this in no time."

Computers: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

Remember that I'm out of town. About to start a 15 hour drive, then work after that. Will be posting again from Monday evening.