[SFS 1-12] GM Cellion's Ashes of Discovery (Low Tier) (Inactive)

Game Master Cellion

The green elemental swoops past it's teammate and dives towards Goggles (Provoking an AoO from Entropy and Goggles for movement). Its windy appendage smashes Goggles in the face for 7 points of bludgeoning damage.

"Ow! Hey!"

Sadly Goggles does not have a melee weapon out and does not threaten. I am assuming that these critters are tiny creatures and therefore have a reach of 0' which is why they entered my square. So I could shoot from an adjacent square without provoking. If this is NOT true I will have to re-do these actions.

So I will guarded step and then shoot.

Goggles steps carefully back and then unloads with his laser rifle.

Lazor (vs. green): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 1

*beep!*

Once Skeek is out of the line of fire, Spider-Pig shoots at the elemental.

Laser Rifle vs. Green: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 1

Woot! Two hits for 1 damage each! :)

Keskodai uses a telekinetic projectile spell to hurl something on the wind!

telekinetic projectile@green: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15
telekinetic projectile damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

I'll bot Mincey and skip Devi since I don't have botting instructions for her.

Devi Will save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

Naboh, Goggles and Spider Pig each unleash a rain of fire on the elemental that attacked Goggles. All three connect, and the lasers and electricity overwhelm the creature! It writhes for a moment and then evaporates.

Entropy directs a VERY potent mental blast at the exiled Wofu. It clutches at its head, but seems to shake it off, at least partially. (Taking 8 damage)

Keskodai, noting that one elemental was already eliminated, directs a telekinetically controlled rusty knife (obtained from the pile of junk equipment) at the remaining elemental. The weapon strikes it solidly!

Mincey dashes past Devi to take up the spot Goggles vacated and slashes in stealthily with her knife! But unfortunately, her swing swishes through empty air.
Melee Attack (knife, tactical): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Damage(S)(knife, tactical): 1d4 ⇒ 2
Trick Shot (Stealth): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14
Damage(S)(knife, tactical with Trick Shot): 2d4 ⇒ (2, 4) = 6

The exiled Wofu points at Entropy, directing the remaining elemental. That elemental dives forward (Entropy and Devi can make AoOs on it) and it tries to assault Entropy with a windy limb! Assuming it isn't knocked out by any opportunistic attacks by the party, its attack connects, dealing 5 points of bludgeoning damage.

The exiled Wofu follows up by sending another wave of mental energy out, this time directed at Entropy in blind retaliation! (5 damage, Will DC14 for half) Though, its concentration on the spell doesn't seem to be very good!

||||Round 2+3||||
Naboh (7/8 HP)
Mincey
Exiled Wofu (8 damage)
Red Windbro (4 damage)
Devi (3/8 SP)
Keskodai
Entropy (1/6 SP, either 5 or 2 more damage depending on save)
Goggles (0/6 SP 7/8 HP)
Spider Pig (7/10 HP)

Everyone is up!

Keskodai casts 'mind thrust' on the exiled Wofu.

Mind Thrust DC 15 half: 2d10 ⇒ (3, 3) = 6

S'cuse me, coming through!

Naboh squirms past Goggles for a better shot on the Wofu. He does not have time to dial in his Combat Tracking, but takes the shot anyway.

Pulsecaster: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 5

"Dammit, I can't see nothin' from over here!"

Skeek takes out his custom rig and begins sending commands to Spider-Pig.

Spending a standard action to give Spider-Pig a move action.

*BeeEEeep.*

Spider-Pig goes over to the wall and deploys its climbing claws. It climbs up the wall until it can see over all the Ysoki in the middle of the room. It then fires at the figure in the far doorway.

Laser Rifle vs. Wofu: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Laser Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Will save DC 14: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24 -2.

"Battle of the minds it is."

Entropy Guarded Steps away from the wind creature and uses it's last level 1 spell to mind thrust the exiled Wofu. Mind Thrust DC 15 Will for half: 2d10 ⇒ (7, 7) = 14

Keskodai's mind thrust assaults the exiled wofu, leaving it open for Naboh's pulsecaster shot. The combined mental and physical assault proves too much of the creature. It wobbles for a moment on its feet and then collapses.

Entropy sends its own mind thrust at the remaining elemental, which is quickly overwhelmed by the psychic energy. It dissipates with a windy whisper.

Out of combat!

Entropy rubs some of it's bruises.

"I recommend we take a break. See if there is anything here of value. Then investigate the rest of the base."

Taking a 10 minute rest and spending 1 RP to regain my stamina.

Nice teamwork, everyone. Nice, nice.

Now that you have a bit more time to examine the screens that circle around the edges of the room, you can see each of the chambers you were in shown on the screens. Some rooms you don't recognize are also visible: crew quarters, some kind of security room, and a hydroponic farm that still seems to be functional.

Additionally, the terminals around this room appear to be unsecured.

"Yes, yes! What now?"

Googles moves forward to have a look in the next room.

Hang on there, Goggles. This is the command center. Maybe we can take advantage of it.

Naboh examines the computer that looks mostly likely to be part of the control system.

Computers: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

A little help, maybe?

Mincey begins fiddling with the controls.

Naboh and Mincey begin working on the computers, easily bypassing an elementary password protection. Within the computers' databanks, you find a wealth of information on the outpost. Additionally, you find the controls for the sealing stones keeping the elementals trapped here (though you note that you've already freed each of the elementals that comprised the security force).

Digging into the databanks, you find that the colony had cataloged and tracked a variety of deep-space threats from this outpost. The data is (of course) well out of date now, but one of the final entries describes the approach of a space-leviathan to this system. The outpost sent a probe up to gather information on it, and when the probe returned, it brought with it a rogue strain of the Stardust Plague.

The outpost realized too late that they had been infected and they lacked the resources to treat the plague. Instead, they chose to isolate themselves to prevent the plague from passing to the native creatures. The Stardust Plague being what it is, it swiftly killed everyone on the outpost, and a last minute mutiny (that ultimately failed) seems to have damaged the outgoing signal antennae and prevented the outpost from sending messages home.

The outpost's leader, "Hazvra", left a final farewell message on the databank, along with a removable datadisk containing the outpost's findings thus far.

From what Naboh and Mincey can tell from the security cameras and the computer records, there are no more threats lying in wait in the outpost, so you can explore at your leisure.

Entropy 002 shows great concern.

"Could the plague still be active?"

"What are the symptoms of this plague?" asks Skeek. "We may already be infected!"

Skeek tries to determine if the group is at risk.

Life Science: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

You were very confident about the plague, guys. I will join the question - what are the symptoms? Can we quickly check if we are infected? And if not, then get the hell out.

I'm a pilot, not a doctor, but seems t'me that if the plague was still active it would have taken out our poor departed Wofu here by now. Hey, how about a moment of silence for the aliens who sacrificed themselves rather than infect the indigenous natives?

After that, ready to move on. Probably check out the small room, then the hallway?

Goggles assesses the notes left behind regarding the rogue strain of the Stardust Plague. He concludes that the strain was passed exclusively between living beings through bodily contact and close proximity. The probe bringing back a sample of the leviathan initiated the epidemic. The lack of any disease symptoms on the Wofu suggests that the Plague has long since died out without any new carriers.

Naboh takes a look at the small room to the south-west, finding that the tight room contains little beyond an imposing desk seemingly made of dark wood (actually plastic) and a small chair. Atop the desk lies a steel lockbox, partially open, its locking mechanism melted by laser fire.

Inside the lockbox are a variety of small, ceremonial weapons, mostly daggers and shortswords gilded and engraved with imagery of dragons in flight. (The total value of these items is 400 credits). Additionally, a bundle of handwritten letters, a few of them burned, appear to be addressed to various locations and individuals on Triaxus.

Hallway also revealed on the map.

Is that 400 credits worth of stuff small enough to fit quietly and unobtrusively into a ysoki's cheekpouch? Asking for a friend. ;-)

Everyone ready to check out this hallway?

Funny story. I used to play D&D 5.0 at my local store similar setup to PFS but with less rules. One day the GM's girlfriend plays and is playing a rogue. She scouts ahead, Finds a valuable gem, and takes it without telling the party. The GM let her keep it. I quit playing 5.0 after that. Actually all of the GMs and many players were fudging what rules there were so it was the straw that broke the camels back. Luckily PFS and SFS just give you the credits/gold at the end. Usually anyway. A couple of early PFS scenarios screw you out of gold if you don't randomly go out of your way to find loot.

Having gotten a few minutes rest and hearing that it probably won't die of some horrible plague Entropy 002 checks the SE door for traps.

perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Lol Naboh. Yeah, mechanically I think a ysoki could fit it all in. But I'm just imagining all the pokey bits are not exactly going to be 'unobstrusive' :>

Entropy checks the door at the end of the corridor to the south-east. From looking at the security cameras earlier, you know that the security room is beyond this door (control system for the security cameras). As far as you can tell, there are no traps in the corridor or on this door.

Inside the lockbox are a variety of small, ceremonial weapons, mostly daggers...

Skeek has a look at the weapons.

If the daggers have the same stats as a survival knife, I'll take one. But if they are archaic I won't bother.

"What do you think he meant about 'becoming the guardian?' The big space shark thingy was the guardian, right? Why would you want to turn into one of those?"

"And none of that explains the permanent storm over this place. That has to be artificial. But what causes it?"

Skeek has a look at the security room.

"Let's see if we can look around the rest of this place before we start opening doors."

computers: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

@Goggles: These daggers and shortswords are more artistic than functional, in addition to being archaic.

I'm going to assume Goggles meant that he was accessing the computers in the Control Room (the biggest circular room) rather than heading to the security room. I've also labeled the remaining rooms on the map, as you can see their general contents from the security footage.

Goggles checks through the computers in the Control Room for any more information on the storm, but finds them curiously absent of any mention of the mega-storm. There are occasional mentions of normal ice-storms, but nothing of this magnitude.

As far as you can see from the control room computers, the remaining rooms in the complex consist of a small medical bay with some computer equipment, a cramped set of crew quarters, a security room that has controls for the security cameras (possibly with other control capabilities as well), and a large hydroponic farm.

Looking over Goggles' shoulder at the screens, Mincey notes, "I don't see no signza aliens in dem rooms. Da yooze, Goggsies?"

Pointing at the display of the medical bay, she says, "Lookz like we couldz find sumptin to salverage in dair, dough."

"And if there was some kind of weather generator holding the storm in place, you would think we could see it."

"Let's see if we can find this other security room. Maybe there are controls there."

"As good a place as any. Let's investigate."

Entropy 002 waits until everyone is ready then moves into the hallway.

Mincey draws her knife. "Let's go!" she says with remarkably clear pronunciation.

Moved everyone into the same room at least. Ready to go.

Mincey, you feelin' okay?

Let's go!

Mincey, you feelin' okay?

Let's go!

"Sure, Nabohz. Nevah bettah! Whydju ask?" Mincey replies.

Lol Naboh and Mincey!
Looks like interest in both the security room and medical room, so I'll resolve both.
------------------------------

The door to the medical bay slides open at Mincey's touch and you all see that a large medical bed fills the majority of the room. A plastic shelving unit containing an assortment of vials and tools curves around the southern wall of the chamber.

A small computer terminal built into the cabinet is labeled with simple diagnostic charts on its chassis. The terminal itself seems to be broken, making no response when you power it on.

The shelving unit is in slight disarray and many of the vials and jars are empty. You spot a few lying discarded on the floor as well. Nevertheless, not everything is ruined. You can gather four Mk1 Serums of Healing, two basic medkits, and four medpatches. Much like the equipment you found earlier, the medical supplies are bulky and inefficient, but fundamentally functional.

Within the medical cabinet, you also spot some shakily scrawled written notes in a physical notebook.

-------------------

The Security Room features panels of electronics that wrap the entire circumference of the thirty-foot-wide room. The walls and ceiling are plastered with bulky monitors. Half of them appear to be damaged or non-functional, while the rest display flickering views of the rest of the complex. A computer terminal in the room clearly provides control to direct cameras, or deactivate them entirely.

A second arcano-technological terminal seems to have a circular array of disklike stones inscribed with various symbols. Its interface reveals that it is used to direct bound air elementals serving as outpost security. While at some point it may have been capable of forcing the existing security forces to stand down, it currently loops repetitively through error messages and long overdue tithing requirements to the Plane of Air.

Mincey grabs the serums, medkits, and medpatches, shoving whatever she can into her mouth.

Looking over the notes, she says while the items are just loosely in place, "My cnnt mahk hends or twahls uv dneez. Ind dah a dwoctah in dah houd?"

She holds out the notes to Naboh, assuming that he might be able to make out the notations and references therein.

medicine: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

"Grim. Recording his attempts and failure to cure the plague. All the doctor could do at the end was ease their suffering. And her own."

I think we are healed but if not this is a good time to use what supplies we have.

The metagamer in me wants to use a serum to heal my last 1 HP of damage, but in-character Naboh would save them.

Naboh checks the monitors for any useful information (Take Ten as needed on Computers), then works to shut them down, more to tidy up than anything else.

Crew quarters next, then Hydroponics?

it currently loops repetitively through error messages and long overdue tithing requirements to the Plane of Air.

Skeek looks at the terminal. "Tithes to the Plane of Air?" he asks questioningly. He thinks for a few moments, then snaps his fingers!

"Hey! Maybe that's it!" says Skeek. "The storm outside could be because the guys here in the base never paid their tithes, 'cause they were dead! So the boys over there in the plane of air conjured up a storm to try and get them to pay!"

He looks over at Entropy.

"What do you think? is that possible?"

Skeek doesn't have Mysticism.

Skeek turns back to the computer and logs in, trying to find out what this "tithe" was supposed to be, and how it was supposed to be paid.

Computers Take 10: 10 + 8 = 18

Goggles, that's brilliant!

Naboh stops trying to shut down the computers and help Goggles.

Computers, Aid Another: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Mysticism, Aid Another: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (9) + 0 = 9

The information he needs about the Plane of Air is just beyond his reach.

Mysticism: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

"Plausible. There may be more records around. Paraphernalia for a ritual to make contact."

Entropy 002 starts casting Detect Magic in the rooms we enter. And keeps an eye out for possible proof of Goggles' theory.

perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

"So you tink dat dat storm is due to some accountin' air?" Mincey asks Goggles.

Naboh and Goggles work together to get past the endlessly repeating error messages on the terminal, bypass the login, and try to dig into the terminal's file structure. Unfortunately, most of the contents have been corrupted or overwritten with fault logs. Details on what the tithe was or how it worked are not available, though the two of them note fragments of ancient digital messages exchanged with some force on the plane of air.

Despite the lack of detail, it's clear that the ex-owners of this outpost still owe some debts to a force on that plane. This information would probably be of interest to the Skyfire Legion.

Entropy can tell that Goggles' theory doesn't sound unreasonable, but they don't find any other proof one way or another.

---------------------

Continuing on to the remaining two rooms:
The crew quarters are densely packed with tall bunk beds, their synthetic fabrics faded to white but otherwise intact. The room has the appearance of having been searched through. The beds have clearly been shifted and the covers are bunched up and untidy. A few personal items lie scattered around the room, but nothing of particular value or interest.

Heading down to the final room, you enter into a fifty foot wide domed structure with a transparent ceiling. Looking directly up, the storm swirls turbulently above. Rows of fresh greenery line the southern and northern sides of the chamber, looking and smelling surprisingly good. A few of the plants are heavily laden with vegetables, for the most part kinds that are readily available in the Pact Words.

Entropy doesn't detect anything magical lying about in these or any of the previous rooms.

"Ya don't tink dairz any hidden passerages round here, do yaz?" Mincey asks, scanning the area.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Culture DC15: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21

Hey, I got a cousin who's a fancy chef out there on Triaxus. I recognize some of this stuff. The vegetables here are almost entirely varieties native to that planet, from hardy Phytotubers to brightly colored Valsweets. He makes a mean Plomeek Soup, I gotta tell ya.

Or was that my other cousin...?

Naboh does a cursory examination of the room, just in case.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Finding nothing I assume, he notes his readiness to continue on.

Mincey searches through the outpost in hopes of finding any hidden passages but doesn't uncover anything new. Naboh similarly doesn't find anything hidden in the Hydroponics chamber. The two of you feel fairly confident that you've given the complex a good search.

"It looks azziff we soitched 'very inch a dis place. 'Spose we go back and tell da natives dat da place is clear and 'bout da plague an'all?". Mincey suggests.

I think so, cuz.

"Do we want to stay here overnight to rest? Remember the storm was very dangerous on the way here."

"Do we want to stay here overnight to rest? Remember the storm was very dangerous on the way here."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. And before we leave we should make sure we get as much data as we can download out of these computers. I'm not sure what else we can do as far as our mission is concerned."