Rando's Starfinder 2018 - Zothune (Inactive)

Game Master rando1000

Remote Hack (Ex) - 5th Level
You can use your custom rig to attempt Computers and Engineering skill checks at a range of 20 feet...

I did actually take note of Remote Hack in making the decision; I'm glad you brought it up. It seems a very low-powered ability for 5th level, especially given modern technology. At 5th level, you can configure a tech-thing you're already carrying around to remotely access a computer? Like, couldn't anybody with hardware level programming skills and a wifi capable system do that now, assuming the computer in question had some sort of external communication capacity? And 20 ft?

And also, other starships can be hacked, already, and a distance of further than 20 ft. So we KNOW the tech to control computers at range is common in the setting.

I'd be more than happy to let you switch this out for a different ability and just assume you can do something similar with skill usage anyway. Though, I would point out, actually piloting a ship remotely seems quite difficult, and when I decided to let Esh try it, I took into account that he can do magic things with computers.

Nations of The Meridian Parallel

Not everything has a real description to it, but there should be enough there to give you an idea of what those nations are like. I have some campaign seeds in mind too, and I'll post them here later to see what you people might like. We can hash out the details from there, and I'll probably put up a Recruitment thread if not enough of ya'll are interested. I'm happy to have at least some, though!

Uret Jet, can I play a female human pirate? What level? Where do you recommend she comes from? Is this straight Pathfinder?
SV

I like being the good guys, anti-heros are fine.

I do prefer robust characters (higher point buy) and you can make the challenges as tough as you like.

I don't like mediocre or sub par characters as some sense of "you're nobody" ugh ..I saw a requirement for D&D 3.0/3.5, 63 points total. 10/11/10/11/10/11... I think my head started hurting.

I like Epic Fantasy point buy (25 points).

Well, I'm not going to jump on any bandwagons right now. I get on an airplane Thursday morning, and will be restricted to my phone for all electronic communications (and may not have quick and easy recharge time) until I get home in the wee hours of 3 Aug.

I was going to make a cut'n'paste announcement in all my games Wednesday night. Time for the World Jamboree put on by the international Boy Scouts! I get to spend a couple of weeks helping people enjoy themselves on the archery range. Only (roughly) 120 people WORKING on the archery ranges. On visitor days, combined attendees and staff is expected to peak at over 65,000 people.

I do like third-party fun, but I know that can be a pain if you don't have the vast supplies of them I do. Then again, Pathfinder now has a Sorcerer with infinite healing. So...not sure how I can break things more than that. I have a couple of classes I'd like to try, but I can make things work with pure Paizo.

I don't mind how you do points, so long as it's balanced. I'll work with whatever. If you do wanna roll them bones I'd suggest using Focus and Foible to prevent anything too horrible happening.

I like the idea of Null. A nation of Kitsune is fun.

Are we using Pathfinder's pantheon, or do you have some of your own?

I've yet to fully consider the gameplay rules or character generation, this is all still in the early stages after all. I don't even have a campaign outline made yet you know? I'll be taking these suggestions into account however, and I'm open to suggestions.

Pirates can be found all along the coastlines, but they're particularly present near Sheiland.

It's alright about not wanting to jump into things straight away as well, I know that we also have our captain absent for some time too. As said, this is mostly to gauge some interest and see where I can go from there. I would like to eventually have a headcount of who's up for it to decide if I need to open a recruitment thread of course, but it's not a presssing issue just yet.

Null was a fun nation, one of my particular favourites. Though now that you drew attention to it, I see I forget to put down they had a secondarily prevalent human population... Ahem; Kitsune in this region resemble Fennec Foxes, and their human forms are dark skinned much like the human population.

Regarding pantheons, I did have stuff in mind but I didn't want to overly complicate things. For the most part you can assume similar pantheons, but I'll write out particular important created dieties later on. Just note for now that gods dealing with the elements have a strong presence and worldly influence. You'll notice that in contrast to conventional geography the southern polar region is a boiling hot volcanic region in contrast to the ice cold north.

Oooh, fennec foxes are cool.

I've always enjoyed Elemental deities. Which elements are you going for? Class 4? Chinese elements? Expanded list?

...periodic table so we can summon Titanium Elementals...

Is Meridian your "Common"? If not, what is the most universal language?
SV

Pfhah! That's hilarious, I love that. In the sense of this world, the four classics: Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire. They all have their influences in the world, some more preveleant then others in certain areas such as fire in the deep South and water in the farthest North. I have some ideas on that, I'll hash then out later.

Meridian is indeed what you could consider to be the 'common' tongue, though I believe in Pathfinder it specified that common is just the most common language of a particular area. Usually it's actually Taldane, a remnant of their once powerful influence. It's much the same With in the Parallel, Meridian being what remains of what was once a wide reaching empire.

James "Joyride" Maxwell wrote:

Remote Hack (Ex) - 5th Level
You can use your custom rig to attempt Computers and Engineering skill checks at a range of 20 feet...

I'd be more than happy to let you switch this out for a different ability and just assume you can do something similar with skill usage anyway. Though, I would point out, actually piloting a ship remotely seems quite difficult, and when I decided to let Esh try it, I took into account that he can do magic things with computers.

Sounds good to me!

Thematically, if it doesn't take the spotlight from another character, I'd suggest a choice of Gadgeteer or Hacker from the Operative Specializations.

Up to you, how much the Mechanic would get. Maybe one of the skill focuses, and something...
There Exploits... Utility Belt & Elusive Hacker seem appropriate.

I'm thinking Gadgeteer. Less direct competition with Esh.

Since we're all sharing...

I've been toying with the idea of what a social media platform for RPGs would look like.

I like the multi-context comment.

Cut'n'paste for all my games.

Thursday, 18 July, in the wee hours of the morning, I get on an airplane and leave for the international Boy Scout World Jamboree. I'll be 1 of the roughly 120 people working on JUST the archery ranges, helping the attendees have some fun.

I will have only my phone for electronic access, but AT&T has wired the dickens out of the facility, and a signal should never be my problem. Power on the other hand . . .. There will be a limited number of places to plug things in (compared to the tens of thousands of attendees) and no safe place to plug something in and walk away from it, which means time spent charging is time spent NOT doing any of the things people are there to do.

I am going to try to check in and cover anything I should cover, but I don't know for sure how well it is going to go.

I won't be home again until 3 August.

Actually, part of the reason I've been less responsive the past little bit is I've been getting ready to go. Still have a lot to do, honestly.

If you need to bot me to keep the story moving, BOT ME.

(Okay, so I made it Sunday night instead of Wednesday night.)

Here we go. For the most part you can assume there's a lot of bleedover from the Gollarian pantheon, though they may have different names. When I was writing out the Elemental Pantheon I realized that they truly would be perfectly neutral, at least when it comes to matters of morality. Much like normal elementals.

Oh, and take these for a gander and see what you think;

If none of these meet your tastes, I can always rack the brain for a few more.

Sharlavaka, so competitive... can't even allow me the lowest Init. Sheesh!

Heh, you think he's being competitive, take a look at my initiative.

*Cries silently*

Not into the "curse" thing, otherwise... Cool beans!

Edit: Curse is OK, so long as it isn't an "undead module" thing, you know... Waves and waves of different undead, with crazy freaky-deaky.

But, if it's a curse and we have to quest to do something, find something, that's cool.

Heh, you think he's being competitive, take a look at my initiative.

*Cries silently*

Damn, one upmanship! Hurrah!

Thanks guys, for making me look good!

Uret, I like piracy and #4.
SV

I believe James and I have weighed in on Uret Jet's campaign seeds but no one else has. Guys?

Number 4 sounds appealing to me. However, given my absence after the 23rd, I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to play in it.

If Uran Jet is willing to consider a character from me once I'm back, I'd love to play.

various opinions, no visible consensus hey. Not to worry though Tamrat, I'm just getting things set up first, You'll likely have time to join in next month too.

Regarding the curse for #1 no it's not an undead curse. Of course, undead can show up anywhere for any reason, but it's not that type of campaign.

~1 reminds me of a campaign a friend did, called the Dust, where a massive sandstorm had sealed off a relatively small area. Water and food management were big deals. Dunno if that's what you're going for, but 1 appeals to me.

In order, my preferences are #1, #3, #4, #2.

As far as characters, are you allowing all Paizo class materials? What races are available? Can we go a little weird (templates, that sort of thing)?

Uret, I'm thinking Ranger. If I were to want to swap out Tracking and/or Wild Empathy for something else (as a pirate, she's not going to be your typical woodland savant), would you be okay with it?
SV

1: James, Sharlavaka, Rando
2: SV
3: Rando
4: SV, Tamrat,

Only counting Rando's first two options for the sake of simplicity, it seems that #1 is in the lead with #4 right behind it.

I'll call for a final vote between just those two, and please jut pick the one you prefer most. If it'll help your decisions, #1 is a more dedicated campaign with a clear endgoal, while #4 is a more open-ended adventure at least at the start.

Regarding materials used, I'm open to anything currently published by Paiso, though I may deny things on a case-to-case basis. You can tell by going through things which races are the most common in his world, in particular Humans and Dwarves have the largest presence. Planestouched races have a strong presence too, due to how closely tied the elemental planes are with he material here. Doesn't mean there's no chance at being anything else on their lists though, come at me with one you want to play and I'll tell you where they might be from. hell, even Androids crop up from time to time... For classes, please use archetypes if you want to change features.

Uret, which campaign seed (#1 or #4) starts us at a higher level? I'd probably vote for that.
SV

I don't know yet.

I refuse to Monty Hall it, so I'll stick with Door #1. Level's pretty irrelevant, to me - I prefer to start at level 2 or higher, but I'm good with whatever.

SerpentViolet, you might wanna look at the Freebooter Archetype.

A group I barely know in a setting I know effectively nothing about? Yeah, give me a solid plot to start. We can talk about sandbox activities after I know more about the setting.

#1

And, yeah, there are sailor archetypes for most classes.

I looked at Freebooter and I liked it; I had already chosen Sky Stalker. Now if I could do both... I like how fast swimmer replaces Woodland Stride.
SV

Count me for #1 as well. Heal-y type bard, maybe? Not 100% sure.

Good traction on #1, enough I should probably start putting plans in order. I promise to set up a propper discussion thread and such so I don't clog this one for much longer, when I have that all in order.

Now, regarding this game... I wonder if it's be overkill to try and target the creature with ship weapons...

Count me for #1 as well. Heal-y type bard, maybe? Not 100% sure.

Looks like we're both choosing type. <snicker> (Rando practically always plays healers and I favor Rangers/female characters.)

Now, regarding this game... I wonder if it's be overkill to try and target the creature with ship weapons...

Rules are so iffy on that. Weapons do x10 damage, but...how do you attack? The ship is greater than Colossal; In Pathfinder I'd give it a -8 to hit, maybe an additional -2 penalty (starship weapons use computers; the computer can't lock on to something that small, in an atmosphere, effectively) and then still the 50% miss chance. Other games I've played have worked roughly this way: small chance to hit starship to character, but if you do hit, you basically just win.

OR you could treat the ship's guns like a hazard, giving it, say, a +15 attack bonus (counting tier as CR) for 6d10 damage. In this scenario, you're much more likely to hit, but you don't hit with the bulk of the damage (basically it's easier to wing something with the weapon but not hit it square on).

Opinions? I saw a lot of discussions on the topic, but RAW on it is very limited from what I can tell.

Which is more fun and dramatic? Rule of cool wins.

Sharlavaka, vaporizing the creature from the ship is more dramatic, but at -10 Idk if you'd need a nat 20. As I figure it, Tamrat's gunnery is +10. This thing is probably EAC 20 or better. (From Thalin's miss and Isis' hit I'd say between 19 and 25.) I'd go with singing him, repeatedly. Lesser damage seems fitting because the thing is hard to shoot anyway from being invisible.
SV

Up to you bossman, otherwise I can get the ship out of here or wait for Tamrat to enter is AFK hiatus and pick him up when he 'suddenly decides he needs to help pilot the ship.

Campaign news: As it seems a done thing, I'm working on the map for Ulnswhere, and after that what will be your first stop. I'll probably continue to make maps so long as I have notice of where you'll be going. Good practice for me.

Up to you bossman, otherwise I can get the ship out of here or wait for Tamrat to enter...

The choice of which action to take is yours as the player in control. If you choose to do the attack with the ship, let's do the Hazard option for +15/6d10. Note that this WILL cause damage to the immediate environment, and a critical failure could be dangerous for other creatures in the area (ie the PCs).

Campaign news: As it seems a done thing, I'm working on the map for Ulnswhere, and after that what will be your first stop.

Where in the area of the campaign would be most likely to have an institute of higher learning? If I go with my bard, I'd like to use the old "Bard College" concept from 1E for background; ie coming from an actual school of training for bards, vs. some sort of roguish type.

Hazard option? If I was to attack, would I be tossing a 1d20+15, or would I be rolling as if I was a gunnery officer?

@Campaign: Ulnswhere has never been considered much of a 'cultural' capital itself, a land that was mostly isolationist even in it's best days. The neighboring nation of Elinlitroi however, and to the further west Null, are both nations with a strong respect for the arts. For a bard's college to be formally trained your best bet would be 'Vaso's University for the Philosophical Arts' located in Ruln. I imagine a bard of the college would be aware that a large portion of the university was lost during a tragic fire that swept through much of the Palace district, which is also rumored to have taken Queen Maya's life. It's for this reason that Regent Kal Osiru is currently in power until they can find a proper heir to inherit the throne. This event was only a few years prior, and much of the affected areas are still in ruin.

OOC: Ulnswhere is a monarchy. If we pull off ending the curse I want to be knighted!
SV

Hmm... We'll see, now won't we? ;)

I should mention though, that it's officials of Elinlitroi that have put out the request for aid, not Ulnswhere.

In my personal experience, demanding a knighthood from a monarch does not end well.

...my scars have many stories to tell.

Hazard option? If I was to attack, would I be tossing a 1d20+15, or would I be rolling as if I was a gunnery officer?

CRB 292: "However, starship weapons are never precise enough to

Using the Hazard attacks and damage table on 285, that would be +15 for 6d10. As I had said, RAW is really iffy on how to handle ship vs. character, in some places treating it as completely impossible, in others making offhand suggestions like "treat it like a deadly hazard."

@Campaign: Ulnswhere has never been considered much of a 'cultural' capital itself, a land that was mostly isolationist even in it's best days. The neighboring nation of Elinlitroi however, and to the further west Null, are both nations with a strong respect for the arts. For a bard's college to be formally trained your best bet would be 'Vaso's University for the Philosophical Arts' located in Ruln.

Noted, I'll read up on/consider Elinlitroi/Ruln.

I should mention though, that it's officials of Elinlitroi that have put out the request for aid, not Ulnswhere.

Monarchy, Monarchy with a Regent--whatever.

Relevant side-information regarding Imperial Osknia that I told SV but may be of use to others.

So, Esh, are you going to land the Exsilium on stable ground and shoot her weapons at the beast?
SV

Is anyone having trouble accessing specific parts of the forum? I was getting ready to at least set up a discussion thread, but I keep getting knocked to Paizo's homepage.

Is anyone having trouble accessing specific parts of the forum? I was getting ready to at least set up a discussion thread, but I keep getting knocked to Paizo's homepage.

Tell me how to set up a discussion thread and I'll try it.