STR +0, DEX +3, CON +0, INT +3, WIS +0, CHA +0, Athletics +4, Computers +8, Engineering +10, Life Science +7, Medicine +7, Profession +12, Stealth +5, Survival +2 | CONDITIONS: none
Sorry guys... had a friends' birthday yesterday, and I was too tired when I got home.
"Hey... nobody's running the missile turret. Anyone mind if I try it out?"
Skeek activates the targeting system on the console and hits the fire button.
"Cool! That's a lot of exhaust for a small missile."
Gunnery (Missile):1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
I'll switch back to engineering next round if there is any damage to fix.
GM: I have the "Hero of the Stars" boon that gives the ship a heal of 5xTier if reduced to 0 HP. I suppose I should slot that, though hopefully that won't be necessary. I'll create a thing at the top of my sheet.
Mincey, "engine" is OK, as I'll take that as targeting the creature's propulsion. As a living starship, the systems are normally: Weapons, Propulsion, Heart, Brain.
@ GM - Thanks. Just wanted to make sure she didn't need Life Sciences to conduct scans or targeting.
Whelp Builds Plasma (Divert power to weapons):1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10, but fails.
No PC engineering actions.
Helm Phase:
Devi attempts to demand better performance from the ship's crew, but after a 30 second tirade realizes that her microphone wasn't turned on. Unsuccessful Demand
Keskodai does his best to identify the creature but finds he can't quite recall exactly what it is, beyond the fact that it's likely a Besmaran Whelp, a type of massive space monster.
Mincey targets the creature's massive tail with the Drake's scanners, helping to analyze weaknesses and provide telemetry to the weapons systems. (Next attack from the Drake that hits the Whelp has a crit range of 19-20 and will apply critical effect to propulsion if it's successful)
Naboh sends the Drake into evasive maneuvers successfully!
Whelp Evasive Maneuvers, Piloting:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
The Whelp successfully does the same as it speedily narrows the gap between itself and the Drake. It takes up a position on the Drake's starboard side!
Gunnery Phase:
With the Whelp just outside of the Drake's forward firing cone, the coilgun isn't able to aim at it. Goggles casually sends one of the Drake's missiles at the beast from the turret, but the missile fails to get a target lock and careens off into space.
The Whelp returns fire of its own by opening its mouth wide and spewing out a glowing glob of plasma!
Plasma Breath:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15 Plasma Breath damage:3d4 ⇒ (4, 3, 1) = 8
The plasma just barely hits! It impacts the starboard shields and sends reverberations through the Drake.
Current Drake Status:
HP: 70/70
Shields (F/P/S/A): 15/10/2/15
STR +0, DEX +3, CON +0, INT +3, WIS +0, CHA +0, Athletics +4, Computers +8, Engineering +10, Life Science +7, Medicine +7, Profession +12, Stealth +5, Survival +2 | CONDITIONS: none
"Whoa bot, that thing spits plansma balls from it's mouth! Probably some sort of bioelectric capacitance combined with a hydrogen-eating matabolism. I'd love to get a sample... But right, recharging shields now."
Goggles returns to the engineering console and starts making adjustments.
Divert Power To Shields DC 13:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20
That should restore 6 points to our damaged starboard shield. This is basically what I expect to be doing for the rest of the battle, so someone else will have to operate the missile launcher.
Pilot +13 Engineer +11 Science +9 Gunner +6 Captain I+0/D+0/B+0
Right. One Flyby comin' up. Watch your stitches and cinch your britches!
Using one of the Trinode bonuses. I think that leaves one left.
Flyby, Trinode:1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 12 + 1 = 18Hooray for the Trinode!
Naboh banks lazily, taking a head-on approach to the space-beastie. He pilots as if he's going to fly right down it's throat, giving the forward gunners a good long shot, but at the last second dodges down, skimming along the length of the critter and flying out the other end.
If the Flyby is successful:
Take your shot, cousin!
Wow, that thing's fast. It's got half again our top speed. Let's find out how manueverable it is.
Whelp Charges Plasma (Divert power to weapons):1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9, but fails.
Goggles restores 6 points to starboard shields!
Helm Phase:
Keskodai goes to encourage the gunners, but finds them too concentrated on their own aiming to listen.
Naboh goes for a flyby and successfully executes the tricky maneuver, providing an opening for Mincey to fire!
Whelp Attempts to Maneuver tightly:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24
The Whelp successfully executes a tight turn to follow after the Drake. It comes up close to the starboard side, massive eyes casting a yellow glow through the viewports.
Gunnery Phase:
Mincey's attack on the flyby is a success, dealing 4 points of damage!
Entropy-002 doesn't have a clear shot with the forward facing coilgun due to the position of the Whelp.
Devi fires a missile at point blank range, to devastating effect! The resulting explosion deals 22 points of damage!
Crit damage effect:1d100 ⇒ 90Critically damages heart Crit damage effect:1d100 ⇒ 73Critically damages heart. Heart is now 'malfunctioning'
With a reverberating roar, intense and low enough that tremors run through the ship, the Whelp raises once of its massive claws and attempts to slam it into the starboard side.
Claw:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13 Claw damage:3d4 ⇒ (1, 4, 2) = 7
The claw slams against the starboard shields, making the lights aboard the Drake flicker. But they just barely hold! Goggles' efforts were right on time!
Current Drake Status:
HP: 70/70
Shields (F/P/S/A): 15/10/1/15
STR +0, DEX +3, CON +0, INT +3, WIS +0, CHA +0, Athletics +4, Computers +8, Engineering +10, Life Science +7, Medicine +7, Profession +12, Stealth +5, Survival +2 | CONDITIONS: none
Round 3
"Dammit I just fixed that shield!" Skeek curses, as he works madly on the engineering console.
"Okay, gimme a minute... probably fried all the secondary power leads to the proton conveter... AND broke the containment shell around the ionic displacer, which is now contaminated... you know how hard that thing is to fix? There, how's that?"
Divert Power to Shields DC 13:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24
STR +0, DEX +3, CON +0, INT +3, WIS +0, CHA +0, Athletics +4, Computers +8, Engineering +10, Life Science +7, Medicine +7, Profession +12, Stealth +5, Survival +2 | CONDITIONS: none
Keskodai - Iconic Mystic wrote:
Support gunners!
Hey, Keskodai: you need to specify which crew member you are aiding with your demand action. It only affects one of us, not "all gunners." Those rolls are probably fails, so it doesn't really matter that much, but FYI the Demand action can only ever give a bonus to a given character once per battle (so fails don't count). The encourage action, on the other hand, can be used over and over.
Pilot +13 Engineer +11 Science +9 Gunner +6 Captain I+0/D+0/B+0
@GM, I gather that only the ending position matters for gunnery. I think that makes sense in retrospect. If so, is it reasonable that the Aft gun took a normal shot and the Forward gun took the Flyby shot? Seems like we did a difficult maneuver successfully and lost one of our better weapons for that round.
Hang on, I'm gonna try and keep our better weapons trained on it, but it's faster and more maneuverable that we are, so be ready for anything.
Back Off DC13 for a Tier 2 starship, I auto-success with +12 Piloting.
@GM, I gather that only the ending position matters for gunnery. I think that makes sense in retrospect. If so, is it reasonable that the Aft gun took a normal shot and the Forward gun took the Flyby shot? Seems like we did a difficult maneuver successfully and lost one of our better weapons for that round.
Makes sense to me, I didn't think about the order of actions. Assume the Whelp took an additional 8 damage last round.Extra critical effect:1d100 ⇒ 26Its natural weapons are impaired! (Glitching)
Round 3 Results (spoilered for readability):
Engineering phase:
Whelp tries to Hold it Together!!!:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10, but fails. Its chest region pulses with leaking (possibly radioactive) plasma.
Goggles successfully diverts power to shields, restoring 6 shield points to the starboard side.
Helm Phase:
Keskodai calls out his demands, but once again his allies seem too focused to pay attention.
Mincey tries to target the creature's damaged chest region with the ship's sensors, but at the last moment her finger slips and she ends up ruining the tracking data!
Naboh backs the Drake off adeptly, lining the creature up within range of the forward coilgun.
Whelp attempts a tight maneuver!:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21
The Whelp loops around tightly once again, aiming for the weakened section of shields.
Gunnery Phase:
The Whelp, somewhat cunningly, stays clear of the coilgun once again. Entropy-002 isn't able to line up a shot. Meanwhile, Devi fires a missile that skims past the whelp's massive body and out into open space.
The Whelp tries clawing again against the ship's shields!
Claw vs. starboard:1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 3 - 2 = 4 Claw damage:3d4 ⇒ (3, 1, 4) = 8
Having learned his lesson from last time, Naboh manages to back the Drake off at the last moment. The massive claw swing blasts through empty space!
Current Drake Status:
HP: 70/70
Shields (F/P/S/A): 15/10/7/15
STR +0, DEX +3, CON +0, INT +3, WIS +0, CHA +0, Athletics +4, Computers +8, Engineering +10, Life Science +7, Medicine +7, Profession +12, Stealth +5, Survival +2 | CONDITIONS: none
Round 4
"Hey, he didn't hit us! Nice going guys!" Skeek shouts.
"That means I got time to... Come on you stupid polarity converter... where's the... Oh, that should be at 900 cycles at least... beryllium sphere at full spin... Oh, good! Okay, you should have some extra juice for the weapons!"
Divert Power to Weapons DC 13:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26
"Keskodai"Male NG shirren priest mystic 4 | SP 28/28 HP 30/30 | RP 6/6 | EAC 16; KAC 16 | Fort +3; Ref +2; Will +8 | Init: +1 | Perc: +11, SM: +4 | Speed 30ft | Communalism 1/1; Healing Touch 1/1 | Spells: 1st 4/4; 2nd 3/3 | Active conditions: None
'Oh, now I understand how this Captain position works! Encouragement is what you crew need??? Well, dear gunner with the big turret that does so much damage maybe I can help you!'
Encourage Turret, gunnery check DC 10, for +2:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Dice bot is not in favor of him in the captain seat! ;-)
"Ha-ha! Did you see that, crew? Wow, I'm good!" - Devi smiles, exposing her fangs harder, and you evident that she more and more likes this 'shooting gallery'.
Space Combat Wrap Up
Despite Naboh struggling to pull off another high complexity maneuver, Devi manages to get a target lock with the Drake's missiles and delivers another powerful blast. Dealing 14 damage! And delivering another two critical effects, one to the heart (from Mincey's targeting) and another to 1d100 ⇒ 42 the whelp's long tail.
Grievously injured, the whelp pulls free of its entanglement with the Drake and tries to escape. It trails plasma behind it as it limps towards the moon of Colony-752. While its still quite fast, it remains within range of the Drake's coilgun for quite a while, giving you ample time to finish it off if you wish to.
"And stay away, fishey!" Mincey yells. "Guess it didn't likez gettin' shot at too much."
Mincey looks over the controls of the science station. "Now, I believe dat weeze wuz lookin' for sum lost outpost." she says as she mobilizes the ship's sensor arrays. "Maybe I kin helps us findzit."
Computers to scan for landing site:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
Pilot +13 Engineer +11 Science +9 Gunner +6 Captain I+0/D+0/B+0
Eh, let it go. We got no use for a dead space critter, and it's just tryin' to live its life. I got a cousin, back on Akiton, pulled a thorn out of an Assembly Ooze and made it his pet.
Heh, come to think of it, that cousin also says he's a "Juddi Knight" or something, with mystical powers. Always wavin' his hand at me, sayin' "You don't want that pastry, friend." Yeah, yeah, I do want that pastry, ya nut! He's always been a bit off, that one...
@Entropy: You probably pull up some basic information on the 'space fish' from the Drake's databanks once you take time to search them. Feel free to open the spoiler above for when you all first encountered the whelp.
With a final missile from Devi, the whelp convulses and tears apart, spewing plasma out into space. It's quite the light show of crackling energy. Slowly, the plasma disperses and the remaining bits of whelp-flesh hurtle onwards towards the moon.
While Naboh brings the Drake closer to the planet, Mincey brings up the scanners and quickly locates the co-ordinates included in the data-set from the Skyfire Legion. Mincey's scan of the potential landing location shows a horrible ice storm covering the location of the outpost and extending for miles in all directions. Based on the scanner readout, trying to land the Drake through that mess would be exceedingly dangerous. On top of that, it seems the ice storm is unmoving and unfading... waiting it out won't be a possibility. Seems like a trek overland will be necessary.
You descend through the icy-cold atmosphere and land the ship far away enough from the edge of the storm to be comfortable it won't be caught in it or damaged while you're away. When you look out the Drake's viewports, a landscape of rock, ice and snow awaits you. The air looks hazy and seems slightly green-tinged.
According to the readouts from your scanner, the outpost is a few miles away to the south-east.
Pilot +13 Engineer +11 Science +9 Gunner +6 Captain I+0/D+0/B+0
Naboh looks out the viewport.
Well, that looks inviting. I got a cousin, a researcher on an ice moon. She says the trick to keepin' warm is to find someone who you like, tell 'em they're real pretty, open up a bottle of wine,...eh, maybe this isn't the right place for that particular story.
Anyone with Survival skills want to try a check to see what's potentially waiting for us?
Mincey reviews the ship scanners and looks out the viewport, trying to get an idea of what the party may be in for as they travel to the lost outpost. "Lookz like tings are gonna be gettin' a bit chilley! Hope zat yur space suitz gots heetahs!"
Both Mincey and Devi know that normal armor and space suits will serve well to protect against the cold temperatures and thick atmosphere outside, as long as the environmental seals are properly engaged. If they aren't the cold is likely to sap away at a person's strength quite quickly, while the atmosphere would make it hard to breathe.
The Drake lacks short-range high-accuracy scanners, so if there are any hostiles out there, Mincey wouldn't be able to pick them up. Looking out the viewports, nothing alive can be seen out there.
Let me know of any preparations you make before you head out.
"Ize twavel prwitty wight!" Mincey says as she stows her needler pistol within a cheek pouch before securing the seals on her armor. "Letz getta gettin'!"
With everyone prepared and the environmental suit protections up, you leave the Drake and head out into the icy tundra. The trek overland is slow going, at least until you figure out how to take advantage of the planet's low gravity to bounce between hard-packed icy surfaces. Once you learn that trick you make good time, approaching the massive grey and white storm to the south east.
About half an hour in, Spider-Pig suddenly spots a glinting in the distance and its insistent chirps draw everyone's attention. Soon, you all see it. Two iridescent, glowing humanoid shapes skating speedily across the ice. At first they keep their distance, skating in circles around you, but then they proceed inwards.
As they approach you can make them out in greater detail. Nine feet tall, these humanoid creatures have luminescent skin, two long legs ending in fronds, and long thin arms with three fingers on each hand. Most striking is their head, a glowing mass with a pitch black opening that irises open and closed, along with three long eyestalks. Each of the humanoids wears elaborate skate-like structures on their frond-feet, and also has a shimmering toga-like wrap covering their upper torso.
(What are these things) Life Science DC20:
You are certain from their behavior that they're intelligent aliens, but you're equally certain that they aren't known at all in the Pact Worlds. You're not certain exactly what kind of alien they are.
The two glowing humanoids approach slowly and cautiously.
Perception DC15:
They seem to be excitedly watching Naboh, Mincey and Goggles.
"Keskodai"Male NG shirren priest mystic 4 | SP 28/28 HP 30/30 | RP 6/6 | EAC 16; KAC 16 | Fort +3; Ref +2; Will +8 | Init: +1 | Perc: +11, SM: +4 | Speed 30ft | Communalism 1/1; Healing Touch 1/1 | Spells: 1st 4/4; 2nd 3/3 | Active conditions: None
"Chk, Chk, first contact!! This is incredible!"
Keskodai then concentrates on the aliens and starts to draw symbols representing Pharasma in various cultures and tries to communicate via his religion with them trying to make clear that he is a priest of Pharasma.
F Half-Orc Solarion Gladiator | EAC 14 ; KAC 17 | HP 13/13 SP 8/8 RP 2/3 | F+3 R+1 W+2 | Init +1 | Perc 0 | DV 60' |
Devi walks ahead of the group, moving with slow, gentle steps, so as not to frighten the humanoids. Her hands uncovered and she clearly demonstrates that there is no weapons and any evil intentions. Using a Voice Amplifier, she consistently speaks words of greeting in three languages (common, orc, celestial) and then, pointing a finger at herself says "Devi". After this, in turn, she points to each of her companions, calling them by name (trying to pronounce the words as clearly as possible), and then points with a finger in the direction of the humanoids and with a smile shakes her head, inviting to a response representation.
At first, the natives seem startled by your attempts to communicate, especially when each of you starts speaking. When Keskodai starts making signs in the air or in the ice, they almost bolt.
But Devi's attempt at calm and patient diplomacy manages to calm them down and soon they stand not too far away from you all. After a few repetitions from Devi, the two alien humanoids begin bobbing their eyestalks and humming. Their mouths iris open and closed and you all hear a strange language coming from them.
"Wofu Wo WoFU WoFu WOfu WoFuWO? WoFuWoFu WOFUwo WofuWo Wofu Shu Po WoFu." One of them points upwards towards the sky, in imitation of Devi's earlier pointing. The other one points at the three ysoki in the group, then starts bobbing its eyestalks faster. It continues with "Shu Po WoFu? WoFu Wofuwo WoFUWO! GoguFu! MiFu! NaboFu!"
Sense Motive DC12:
They're excited. You think one of them may be asking if you've come from the sky. The other one seems to be expecting something from the ysoki in the group.
Mysticism DC15:
Though the creatures' language is incomprehensible, the phrase "Shu Po" stands out to you. This primes you to notice that one of the gestures they make with their left hand is strangely similar to a superstitious hand sign common among followers of Lao Shu Po more than a hundred years ago. You suspect these natives have some knowledge of Lao Shu Po as a deity, though if they are followers, its likely that they follow their own unique version of her rather that what's known of the goddess in the Pact Worlds.
Not sharing a language, if you want to try to communicate with these two you'll need to use hand gestures or other nonverbal communication. You can convey simple ideas with a DC15 Culture check. I've given you one success 'for free' from Devi's awesome Diplomacy roll to convey your names. Dramatically messing up this Culture check may cause the aliens to interpret your actions as hostile.
"Keskodai"Male NG shirren priest mystic 4 | SP 28/28 HP 30/30 | RP 6/6 | EAC 16; KAC 16 | Fort +3; Ref +2; Will +8 | Init: +1 | Perc: +11, SM: +4 | Speed 30ft | Communalism 1/1; Healing Touch 1/1 | Spells: 1st 4/4; 2nd 3/3 | Active conditions: None
mysticism:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
"Oh, look I think that although the creatures' language is incomprehensible, the phrase "Shu Po" and one of the gestures they make with their left hand is strangely similar to a superstitious hand sign common among followers of Lao Shu Po more than a hundred years ago."
Keskodai looks at Chk Chk and all of you and continues "I suspect that these natives have some knowledge of Lao Shu Po as a deity, though if they are followers, its likely that they follow their own unique version of her rather than what's known of the goddess in the Pact Worlds."
