[SFS] GM-8574: 01-QUEST Into the Unknown - Part 1 (21 AUG 2017) - Table 1 (Inactive)

Game Master Jason Lillis

Obozaya grins widely as the death threats come over the comms. Death threats mean that she's doing her job properly. She never understands why every shopkeep and bartender in the galaxy keeps pestering her to take a 'satisfaction survey' every time she wants to spend some credits. Whether she's happy or not should be self-evident. Just like whether or not her shooting is on target can be quickly determined by immediately volunteered responses.

Laser Cannon: 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 - 4 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 - 4 - 2 = 16
Laser Cannon Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (4, 4) = 8

Coil Gun: 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 - 4 = 19
Coil Gun Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (4, 2, 4, 3) = 13

Nice!

Obozaya's shots have no trouble connecting with the enemy vessel, and you punch further holes in their weakening superstructure!

Just FYI on why this is taking so many rounds: The Endless Threnody is a Large Freighter, and as such is a big bucket o' hithull points. You're doing great - that round of rolls from Obozaya was huge!

- - - - - - - - - -

Endless Threnody Piloting Check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Piloting: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 10 + 1 = 26 BOOYAH!

BOOM! That's huge. :)

Iseph gets the edge on the Threnody's pilot, who looks like he's trying to back off his thrusters to keep you all in a firing solution, but can't quite make all the engines work the way he wants. Your enemy's ship rotates unexpectedly, leaving it more exposed to your gunnery!

The Threnody failed a "Back Off" check, so they have a diminished AC for this round. Engineering, then Helm to maneuver, then Gunnery. Captain jumps in anywhere. One of the +1 bonuses from your Computer has been used for this round. Let's see what you can do!

With apologies, I've been on the road all day, and will catch up more tomorrow.

QuigBOT boosting engines vs DC 14 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18 = extra moves for Iseph!

encouragement, gunnery: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

"You've been doing, lets keep this going and end this," Blu said and patted 'zaya on her shoulder.

Feeling the burst of power thrum the the engines, Iseph executes a quick turn and throttles the engines to top speed.

"Way to go, Quig!" Taking advantage of the Threnody's impairment, she deftly flies out of the radius of their opponent's main gun. "Got a clear shot for you, 'zaya."

moved the ship so that our undamaged starboard shields are facing the Threnody

'Zaya continues shooting as furiously as is possible considering that she's not directly engaged with the enemy face-to-face like she prefers. She almost hopes that the corpse fleet ship fights to the death (re-death?) because that will give her more chances to fire the guns. It's fun to shoot them, and she's not very forgiving of backstabbers.

Laser Cannon: 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 - 4 = 20
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (2, 1) = 3

Coil Gun: 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 - 4 = 11
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (4, 1, 3, 4) = 12

The Endless Threnody is still able to tag you with their starboard laser, but it's minimal compared to the damage their forward cannon can cause. Obozaya's return fire scores two solid hits against their unshielded hull, further disabling the wounded ship, and appearing to affect their starboard laser array!

1d100 ⇒ 45
1d6 ⇒ 5

- - - - - - - - - -

Endless Threnody Piloting Check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

------

Assuming that Iseph can beat that Piloting check (if not, I'll adjust appropriately).

The undead ship turns in place to try and match your current aim, and to bring its undamaged weapons in line with you, but it's clear that the heavier ship can't keep up with your lighter craft.

QuigBOT punches away at the computer to divert more power to your weapons. Engineering(Divert, Weapons) vs. DC 14: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25. SUCCESS! All 1s are 2s for Obozaya's attacks this round.

Garrr.... just realized that my last post as Quig put in waaaay to high of an engineering check. It would have worked if he had taken the +1 from the computer, and Obozaya's shots would still have hit without the +1, so it's a draw.

Piloting: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 10 + 1 = 20
even if I rolled a 1, the worst I could do is tie

That's what I figured!

Blu, jump in any time with your Captaining. Quig (hooray, wedding!) got botted to help weapons out. Obozaya, fire when ready.

I honestly feel like at this point it's a dice rolling exercise...

support, gunnery: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

+2 to gunnery atk

Hmm, good feedback. It does seem like the weapons on the pathfinder ship are a little underpowered for the amount of hit points that the Endless Threnody has. I imagine that at the table this would go much faster, but the PBP format is making it feel like it takes much longer. How can I help improve your experience without simply cutting the combat short?

I agree, at a table this probably would have taken 5 minutes, tops, but we've been working on this one battle for days. I just think that this scenario was most likely not made with pbp in mind so I don't feel there's really much we can do now other than cut combat short. which we'll now know is because of bucket of hp = no fun for pcs at this point.

I know you got that other table going so maybe to help them since i think they're behind us is when you feel they've got a good grip on how starship combat works maybe flavor it up with a good shot pierced a fuel cell and the ship exploded or something. Especially if they manage to roll a crit. Gotta make sure it's long enough that they can feel the threat of the ship at full strength but not too long that they get bored.

that all being said, and i hate to say this, the only solution I see for us here is to either finish the combat or easy button it over since, baring some miracle for the Eoxians (is that what they're called?), we've won.

we could ram them :)

Obozaya continues to fire away with everything that can reach the enemy.

Laser Cannon: 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 - 4 = 9
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5

Coil Gun: 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 - 4 = 9
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (1, 2, 3, 1) = 7

::bares teeth intimidatingly at the dicebot::

I think that the space combat feels artificially longer than most other combats, because there's only one step of shooting going on for the whole round, and there's a rhythmic order that has to be observed. In a normal, non-space combat you've got a bunch of different people doing different things on their turn, all or any of which can do something to impact the state of the encounter. In ship combat, only really one of the steps actually makes progress toward resolving the encounter, so instead of taking 1-4 rounds like most combats, it gets stretched to double or even triple that.

As others have mentioned, in person around a table you can streamline these phases with everyone going rapidly in sequence, like playing a game of Captain Sonar, but when the medium tends to dictate a rate of a post or two at most per day, it really piles up the time. I'm not sure there's anything which can be done about it, though, except to re-skin all space fights to something more like Battlestar Galactica or Babylon 5, where everybody is in their own fighters doing their own attacks, and giving everyone the opportunity to make progress. I'm not sure the rules currently support that sort of play style, though.

EDIT: You know, upon re-reading the comment for typos, I think Starfinder space combat in person would be really cool if instead of following the rules, people just broke out a copy of Captain Sonar and played it until one side or the other won. The player-winning bias would be handled neatly be the GM playing one side all by themselves :P

Thanks for the thoughts, all. While I feel a little limited by the spirit of Starfinder Society play, I agree that starship combat - as written - isn't what PBP was built for. In addition, I'll agree that I'm not writing up the damage you are doing in a more flavorful way - mea culpa there. Let me chat with HMM (VC for PBP) to see what she's hearing from others running tables online. For now, I'd like to A) learn more about Captain Sonar, and B) call an end to the space combat - y'all are plenty maneuverable, and have more than enough HP to make it through without further damage to your ship. We'll advance tomorrow.

Part 3: Boarding

The Endless Threnody drifts just outside the forward viewport. The enormous Corpse Fleet starship bristles with bone spurs, and a baleful red lens at its fore resembles a swollen and bloody eye. Crackles of dark energy leap across the bone spurs, discharging from teh ruined ship's necromantic power source.

With a burst of static and a flash, a blue-hued hologram of Venture-Captain Arvin appears at the Loreseeker's communications station. "Excellent work. Looks like you've incapacitated the Endless Threnody, but not pulverized. I need you to board that vessel, access the main computers at the bridge, and recover the coordinates of the missing Starfinder vessel's crash site.

"That energy signature looks dangerous, and those discharges can damage your hull. Dock at the cargo bay at the rear of the ship and make your way forward to the bridge. Wear space suits if your armor can't protect you from vacuum - there are a few suits in a storage locker aboard your ship. Eoxian ships do not have life support and are often exposed to space. Questions?"

Obozaya, being an aggressive combination of inquisitive, opinionated, and ill-informed about a great deal of subjects, has many questions a lot of the time. None of them, however, are relevant right now. The marching orders are simple to understand: suit up, step up, and smash faces until the others find the information they need.

"Sounds good to me," she says, cracking her knuckles, neck, back, and any other joints that will pop, as she readies herself for dishing out a beating on a much more personal and intimate scale than spaceship dog-fighting can provide.

Iseph pulls the Loreseeker up to the rear of the Threnody. The gaping holes in the hull make docking a little tricky, but not impossible. "Captain Arvin, do you have any orders regarding the Threnody's crew?"

She opens the buckles on her seat to rise and heads to meet the others.

As the crew gathers, she gives the vesk a hardy slap on the shoulder. "Nice shooting. Let's get what we need and get out. I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary."

are we able to scan their ship for their crew complement? I'm just curious how many hostiles we need to be prepped for.

"Blu, did you want someone to stay with the ship?"

"No," he says simply as he stands from his seat to ready hinself. "standard security measures will be enough. If any of those Eoxians are still... alive, we need everyone on hand to deal with the threat."

Suit prepped and pistol fully loaded, he waited for the others to begin the boarding.

Iseph nods and closes the valves on her suit to seal it against the vacuum of space. She also checks to make sure her pistol is fully loaded. "Ready."

"Ooooooooh I've never been on an Eoxian ship before!" Quig exclaims, pressing the button to close the seals on his suit. As it hisses into place around him, his voice continues, coming out of the speaker on the front of the helmet. "This should be fun!"

Scout whirs down next to him, and the ysoki turns toward the robot. "Don't be ridiculous, of course we can shoot them. I'm not even sure they count as alive!"

As you approach the enemy ship, Iseph expertly closes the gap, dodges a number of bone spikes laced with the necromantic energy of the ship, and successfully docks with the Endless Threnody. Arvin's hologram nods in approval, then turns to Iseph. "If you think they can provide further intel, you're welcome to try capture and coercion to get it. If not, they are part of the Corpse Fleet - no one in the Pact Worlds will stop you if you destroy them."

- - - - -

You breach the exterior doors of the Eoxian ship, and find yourself looking into what is (likely) a cargo bay. It is mostly empty, as the crew seems to have already used their few supplies to patch up their ship. There's what appears to be an interface for a computer, and QuigBOT quickly steps up to jack in and see what he can find about the ship...
Computers Check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
...and after a few moments' work, the background hum that you've been hearing in the passageways up ahead reduces significantly. "Somethin's putting out energy up there that we don't want to run afoul of while fightin' in those corridors," the Ysoki shares. "I took care of most of it, but watch your step."

- - - - -

The branching corridors inside the Endless Threnody are not made of solid bulkheads of metal and plastic, but of a lattice of enchanted bone and steel. A metal grating on the floor provides stable footing, but the walls have gaps large enough to fit a fist. The passages split and recombine in a manner eerily reminiscent of being inside a giant rib cage. However, it is pitch black inside, and unless your eyes can see in darkness, you'll need some source of light to know what's further down each hall.

There are three passageways ahead of you: one on the left, one on the right, and one straight ahead. They appear to run parallel to each other, deeper into the ship. What do you do?

Iseph pulls her pistol out as she flits about the room, checking to see if anyone is coming to intercept them. "It may be best if I take point. I can see in the dark and am good at being silent."

She turns to the ysoki. "Quig, does the computer have a layout of the ship? Is one way better than another?"

Obozaya's voice crackle's over her comm unit. Kssht "There's no air, so we should all be good at being silent, right?" Kssht She recalls something unfortunate she learned early in her career: in space, nobody can enjoy the enemy's screams. Or something very like that, anyway.

Kssht "But even if you can see in the dark, that won't help the rest of us when we inevitably run into trouble. Do we have any flashlights or anything on the ship?" Kssht

A quick check of the locker just inside the Loreseeker's airlock reveals a set of four fully charged flashlights.

Quig dives into the computer further...
Computers Check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
...and he finds a path from your current location to the bridge, the most likely location of the coordinates you seek.

"lets hit the bridge. Hopefully we'll find the info and we can get off this floating graveyard. 'Zaya, if you would be so kind as to lead the way," Blu says and motions towards the hallway Quig pointed out.

ha! good point about vacuum!

Iseph smiles and nods. "After you."

Quig grins. "Do you think we'll meet any resistance along the way? Maybe some valuable resistance? Oooooooh, I could buy Scout a stun gun!" He falls into the middle of the pack.

Kssht "They've proven their desire to have us shuffle off their immortal coils at every turn so far. I wouldn't expect that to change now." Kssht

Having come as close to wit as she can without hurting herself, 'Zaya clicks on her flashlight. Light source in one hand and doshko ready in the other, the Vesk mercenary dutifully leads the way pointed out to her by those with the directions.

The no air/sound thing begs the question of whether the cool factor is worth the hassle of not being able to converse with the rest of the crew without some kind of workaround :P

i just assumed we had little com links in our helmets.

We do, I was wondering about the usual, undead crew who chose not to have an atmosphere in the first place. Unless they're all telepathic, it's got to be really annoying to not be able to talk directly to the other crew. And, sure, they can have helmet comms too...
but it seems sort of silly to have to resort to that on your own ship, dunnit?

ah... well the obvious answer is magic *waves hand magically*

Technological Magic! :)

1d4 ⇒ 1

As Obozaya leads the group down the hallway, you all catch a glimpse of something moving at the edge of your light sources. It's strange to operate in vacuum, if you haven't in a while. Normally you might hear something approach, or the scrape of boot on floor, but not here - not on this ship. At the end of Obozaya's flashlight, you see a skeletal figure approaching cautiously, the claws it counts as fingers flickering in your electric light. It opens its mouth in a soundless hiss as it sees you approach, when suddenly a familiar voice cuts into your comms. "Couldn't just leave well enough alone, could you?" Exegara sneers. "No matter - not like you'll make it off our ship anyway, and we'll have shiny new Starfinder vessel to use to leave. Crew - ATTACK!"

Round One!
Blu Maria
Iseph
Enemies
Obozaya
Quig

Tabletop updated above!

good, he's in range. Move action to use get 'em (+1 morale atk), standard attack.

"all right guys, it's alone. Lets make quick work of it before more show up." blu says before taking a shot of the walking skeleton.

attack: 1d20 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 1 = 6
damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4 F

Having been thoroughly annoyed by the ship-to-ship combat, Iseph is itching to finish these guys. She sprints forward, almost a blur, and fires with her tactical pistol.
trick attack:full round action, does extra damage if Stealth beats opponent's CR+20

Stealth: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18 that's a fail, no extra damage
Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16 Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2 P

Unfortunately, it's only a grazing shot.

Blu's shot goes wide, striking the wall and releasing a shower of bone shards. Iseph has better luck, scoring a grazing hit on the advancing skeleton.

It approaches in a rush, slashing wildly with clawed hands...
Yellow ATK: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
...but the claws can't quite connect with the nimble android.

Quig, on the periphery of your darkvision, you catch movement in the darkness on both your flanks - two more crew on one side, and one on the other, rushing forward in the darkness!

Quig and Obozaya, then Blu and Iseph before the enemy!

Obozaya moves up to the animated bones harassing his comrade. She rears back for a massive swing with her prized weapon, only for the very end of the unwieldy weapon to get stuck in one of those fist-width gaps in the walls.

Doshko Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 1 = 6

Kssht "Whoever built this ship needs a smack upside the head," Kssht she complains belligerently over the comms as she untangles the weapon from the wall.

"Uh-oh," Quig mutters, drawing his pistol. "We got more gross dead guys comin' in at our three and nine, folks. Scout's gonna take on one side, I'll hold the other...jerk's hiding behind the corner..." He steps forward, not wanting to get cut off from the rest of the crew. Pistol raised, and aims down the hall toward the lurking undead.

Move: draw pistol. None: 5' step. Standard: ready an action to shoot red once he's around the corner. Scout shoots at green.

Scout shoots green: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Quig's readied shot at red: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

Probably neither hits...if they do, each does 1d6 P.

Iseph draws her blade and goes for the creature's chest.
swift action draw with upgrade slot, attack

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13 Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
looks like a miss

Her knife seems to pass through his clothes and part of his skin, but doesn't do any damage.

Quig: Just a quick heads up - there's no more 5' step. It's now a move action called "Cautious Step." I'll back you up 5'.

Obozaya's doshko cuts over the head of the skeletal crew member, and Quig & Scout's shots both go wide of their target. Iseph slashes at the crew member in front of her, and (actually does) chip away at the bone there.

Blu is up, then enemies!

Blu singles out the first skeleton, wanting to focus on the threat in front of them before moving towards others.

move action = get 'em, standard = attack

attack: 1d20 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 1 = 3
damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1 F

oi these rolls

YIKES!

Blu draws everyone's attention to the skeleton in the hallway in front of you, but it's tough to stay focused when the other crew members swarm forward!

Yellow ATK vs. Obozaya: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20 - HIT!
Blue ATK vs. Blu: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21 - HIT!
Green ATK vs. Blu: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 - MISS!
Red ATK vs. Quig: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15 - HIT!

Yellow DAM vs. Obozaya: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Blue DAM vs. Blu: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Red DAM vs. Quig: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Obozaya, Blu, and Quig each get slashed by the claws of the approaching enemy, with Obozaya receiving the worst brunt of the attacks!

The party is up to respond!

Whoops! Thank you!

"Ouch!" Quig yelps as the skeleton's claws graze him. "Scout, help us out, please!" He keys something into his arm computer, ducks under another swipe, and then darts to the south. "Cap, we gotta get back with the others!"

Scout zips over Quig's head and fires off a shot at the skeleton engaging Obozaya.

Quig: commands Scout as a move action, takes a guarded step south. Scout: flies up toward the ceiling in the middle of the hallway, fires at yellow!

Attack yellow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Pieces of the wall next to Obozaya blast outward. "Bad Scout!"

Obozaya, annoyed from being hurt, growls at the pattering of bone fragments belting her armor from the missed bullet. Steadying herself, this time she's aware of the dangers that the incomplete walls present for her doshko forms and her swing is much more controlled.

Doshko Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 4 + 1 = 18
Doshko Damage: 1d12 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

If this kills the enemy, I'll use a move action to get back to blue.

Obozaya crushes the skeletal crew member with her doshko!

3 remaining - Blu and Iseph can resolve when ready!

actually it's guarded step, not Cautious Step. but at the end of the day it's just a renamed 5 foot step i think.

Feeling overwhelmed by the oncoming undead horde, Blu takes a careful step back, guarding his mild retreat before returning focus to the undead crew. Focused so much on protecting himself he only has time to fire his pistol.

hopefully i'm not provoking since i'm technically still next to green

attack vs. blue[/dice: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18
damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4 F

You have cover from it, and Blue they have cover from you, due to the corner of the wall. No AoO!

Blu sneaks back around the corner, before leaning out to blast at one of the skeletal crew for a direct hit!