[SFS/Shifty]Skitter Shot (Bravo) (Inactive)

Game Master Nik B.

"I got it!" Quonx yells as one of his shots finally grazes the target.

Laser: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 5 + 1 = 21
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 1

Nako lays a huge hit in and the robot spins in a circle, but then Quonx little graze stops the spin as the robot fizzes pops and burns - crashing in a flaming heap.

***

A feminine and soothing voice is heard echoing through the ship:
“Attention passengers, this is M2, your ship’s artificial intelligence. Scans indicate that a handful of pets have escaped their cages and are running loose. If you spot one of these errant animals, please contact the nearest porter robot. Thank you.”

You open the door and can see a hallway that is quite pretty but slightly tacky in that 'cruise ship' kind of way. He can see several sealed doors in the hall.

"WE'RE NOT PE-... Wait a minute... what if it doesn't think we are pets and there really are pets that broke loose in here? Maybe captain is in trouble and being mauled by ferocious puppies?"

No longer needing help deciding who to smash, Nako remembers her position in the chain of command. "OK... lets check all of these doors and make sure none of em are gonna asplode. Then we go through everywhere on the ship 'till we find captain! Gree?"

She walks straight up to the first door and points. "Dakoyo, check this door! Please. Thank you!"

Nako seems to have a hard time giving orders with the same emphasis as the captain. No matter how hard she tries.

Recommending SOP for doors:
Nako orders Dakoyo to check for traps.
If there are traps, Nako orders Quonx to disarm.
Nako tests the door.
If the door is locked, Nako orders Quonx to unlock.
All orders followed with 'please' and 'thank you.'

Quonx roll his eyes at the way Nako tries to emulate the captain. Still he stands by to do his bit.

Lol, I say Dakoyo checks with take 20. That will make it quicker for the GM to move us forward

"Nufriend EmmTwo! We are not pets, but here to Help! Please help us find the pets that have gotten out of containment. My name is Dakoyo, nufriend! Do you prefer Emm, EmmTwo, or Two?" they offer hopefully while working with the rest of the team!

"How thoroughly do you wish me to check the door? I mean, I could take DAYS figuring it out but I don't think the Captain has that much time if he's in trouble?" Dakoyo inquires as they space out a little bit.

There's this neat aspect of the 'oneness' of doors and how they always seem to come together in a cosmic unity, separating for a time before rejoining in closure once more...

I'm okay with T-20 if allowed, just that someone is going to have to Help Dakoyo remain focused in the here and now...

Seems like this is a pretty decent SOP :) On a side note - situationally you are on a pleasure barge/cruise ship, the type where kids run around sticking fingers in things - traps should be few and far between :p

Dako checks the doors, takes a minute on each to be reallysure.

He can hear nothing beyond the door on the port or far end, but behind the starboard door he can hear muted conversations. Nothing seems to have a trap.

Gaz pulls out their mirror and admires himself in it.

Dashing! Helping and looking dashing while doing it!

He swishes his cape and fixes his fur a bit, following along in the back and not paying much attention.

Gaz looks amazing still - the universe is clearly safe.

Dakoyo will point with his mid-left hand at the door that he heard conversation from, motioning with his two lower right arms at the door in question, pointing at it with the pointy fingers from the other two left hands emphatically!

"Now what is beyond that door? It could be anything until we open the door, then it is only a single state. Once we open the door we have defined the state the room is in through our action. Should we open it at another time the state would be different. Also the order of opening will affect the state the room will be in. I say we open the first door in one, two, now!" and Quonx opens the starboard door

"Hello! Did you see our captain? Also, can you tell me in what state you where in before I opened the door?"

A bit nervous about the prospect of being forced to actually interact with people who aren't the captain, Nako slowly begins to tap on her drums.

"Um... hey guys... need some help?"

The door seems to be firmly locked from the inside, and you suspect barricaded shut.

Quonx's speech becomes lost in the jumble as the door decides it simply wont be playing.

You can hear the sound of surprise and alarm from within.

STR or Engineering

Gaz jumps forward.

I'LL HELP!

and pulls on the door.

str: 1d20 ⇒ 1

He does not in fact help. He does use the door to make dramatic poses and flexes though.

Nako checks the door (hard), then points to it. "Quonx! Unlock that door! Please! Thank you!"

Str: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

If that STR check opened it, Nako doesn't notice and is busy trying to give orders badly, like a first mate should.

"HELLO NUFRIENDS! We're NOT HERE TO HURT YOU! HI! COULD YOU OPEN THE DOOR PRETTY PLEASE SO WE DON'T HURT YOU OPENING IT?" Dakoyo shouts Helpfully! over the racket the team is making with an eager happy grin.

The door gives way!

Smooth wooden flooring and paneled walls give this chamber an air of elegance that is immediately countered by the obvious mess and rank smell of body odor and other foulness. In the aft part of the room is a bar made from real mahogany. In front of the bar are several stools and behind it is the nonfunctioning husk of a bartender robot and an unmarked door. Half a dozen tables and accompanying chairs are pushed against the forward wall to make room for makeshift cots.

About a dozen ragged people of various species look upon the clutter of Skittermanders and brandish various implements and improvised weapons, a lashunta woman (Pictured in slides) pointing a laser pistol at you - she seems to be holding her nerve, but the rest are on the edge!

You have a few moments to decide how you want this to go!

Gaz jumps forward and flaps his cape with his lowest two arms so that it mimics flapping in the wind.

NEVER FEAR! GAZIGAZ AND HIS CREW ARE HERE TO HELP!

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

His middle arms give finger guns as his top ones slick his hair back.

That's right, you are being helped by Gazigaz himself! By the way, have you seen our captain? We wanted to help him to.

Quonx is still selecting the proper tool for the job when Nako pulls it open. Dejected he stares at the humanoids in the room, but then a smile starts to grow on his face "Oh, and we can also help with the pets. Unless the pet is a cat, then it might be dead. Oh, that rhymes!"

"Nufriends!" Dakoyo beams proudly. "Like my clutch-mates have stated, we are here to Help! There's no need for weapons now, is there?

Dakoyo will take a chance and put away his needler VERY slowly!

Diplomacy aid: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

"Did you know that ancient primitive cultures thought living in their own filth helped them become healthier, when in reality it was the cause for even more illness? It wasn't until more modern sanitary methods came along that ideas like bathing that wasn't self-grooming that it was discovered that sanitation was very Helpful!" Dakoyo adds with a toothy smile. Why do these people smell like they haven't bathed in days?

"Yes! Our captain came over and then we came to help and then the ship said some pets have gotten loose! We can help with that! Although if you know where our captain is that would be really helpful. Big vesk... captain's hat?"

Diplomacy aid: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

Nako tries to 'hide' her Doshko, but being longer than she is tall it doesn't work so well. Upon noticing this problem, she quickly begins tapping at her drums.

The woman applies the saftey catch and lowers her weapon. The rest do the same.

The other inhabitants of this room include the 11 other passengers: an elderly male human, a young female human socialite, two middle-aged male human vidgamers, two fastidious shirrens from Absalom Station (both female), a female kasatha with a cybernetic arm, a drunk male ysoki, a matronly female vesk, a melancholy agender android, and a male bleachling gnome. They are all quite scared and many
don’t believe they are going to make it home.

One lies on a pile of blankets, badly wounded.

The Lashunta speaks up - "Are you the rescue party? We haven't seen anyone else come through, so we haven't seen your Captain. The ship's computer has gone mad, the injured crew member is Locke Linler - do you have a doctor?"

"Rescue party?"

Nako looks back at her 'crew' with a huge grin. "Of course! We're helpers!"

She jumps up and down with excitement, then points at Dakoyo. "And Dakoyo here is a great doctor! He'll make nufriend Locke all better. Then we go find our captain and fix this computer too!"

"Huh. I would have thought the Captain would have come in here to help you... unless the AI was misleading him and being notHelpful." Dakoyo muses as they make their way over to Locke, pulling out an antique stethoscope and applying it to various locations of the injured crew member's body.

"Hmm. Hmmm. One of his hearts doesn't seem to be beating.... wait, most humanoids only have one, don't they?" he begins...

Medicine: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

"Well, let us hope that Ibra will allow us to come closer together, so that we may help nufriends!"

Spending a Resolve Point, getting everyone into 30' radius, Channel 2d8 all allies (including passengers and crewmember)

Channel: 2d8 ⇒ (6, 7) = 13 Everyone regains this many HPs...

There is a palpable wave of relief washes over the crowd.
Locke comes to, slowly.

"It has all gone wrong. Recently, Trendsetter Excursions attempted a bold experiment outfitting, the Emerald Empyrean, with a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence. The AI was granted control over every aspect of the trip including all of the vessel’s onboard computers and robots, that allowed for just a skeleton crew to keep things running smoothly, but the AI, M2, has developed a major glitch."

"Due to an unprecedented math error in its programming, M2 decided that the ship’s intended destination would not be relaxing enough for its passengers and rerouted the Emerald Empyrean to a section of empty space outside of the Pact Worlds system"

"When we realized something was wrong, it was already too late. M2 had already maneuvered the Emerald Empyrean out of the Pact Worlds and into Near Space, where it would take days for help to arrive. In the meantime, the AI grew increasingly erratic, shutting down portions of the ship and slipping sedatives into the food to keep the passengers “relaxed.” The AI even directly attacked the crew members
who attempted to repair her computer core".

"And so here we are"

He looks like he will now be stable, but will require ongoing medical care at a proper medical facility

"Hmmm... I wonder if captain ate some of the food? Well, looks like we gotta go fix the 'puter core, gree?"

Yes indeed! We can help by fixing it! And Captain may be there!

"nuFriend Locke, how does the AI represent themselves? Was their programming to be a guardian angel for the crew?" Dakoyo asks with a sudden burst of possibly related insight. Emerald Empyrean, 'em em' or 'M2'.

"I am sure I can improve on the AI!" Quonx adds, smiling from ear to ear Captain never let me work on the core computer of the Clutch

"Where is the bridge? she asks, suddenly all business at the prospect of tinkering with an actual AI.

"Yeah! And what's in the rest of the rooms?"

She tests the door to the port side of the ship as she asks. The one she's next to on the map.

"The AI was supposed to be benevolent and run almost everything, now it is trying to kill us all."

***

Nako tries the door on the far side.

Wooden panels line the walls of this cozy room, and an emerald green carpet covers the floor. Two wooden tables, each adorned with a deck of shiny playing cards, are surrounded with comfortable chairs. Two digital dart boards hang on the forward wall in the other corner. A holo-billiards table, its holographic balls glowing serenely, occupies one of the aft corners. A closed cabinet stands in the final corner of the room.

"Oooh, we need to come back here once we have found the captain to play some games! First let me check out that cabinet!"

Gaz picks at the cards while Quonx checks the cabinet.

Preeettty...

Sorry, per earlier - the bridge is at the very front of the ship

The closed cabinet contains augmented reality goggles and gloves that function with the dart boards, allowing players to throw all manner of digital projectiles; half a dozen holocues for the billiards table; and a jantz set ( jantz is a chess-like board game played with elaborate glass pieces)

Quonx also spots a REALLY shiny and well-made dart, it looks amazing, so well balanced - certainly made by space-Elves or something.

"Hmm. It may be trying to kill everyone because it's been given conflicting orders that all have the same level of priority?" Dakoyo pauses for a moment, then scratches his head with his upper right arm before shrugging. "I'm not an engineer, I'm a doctor dangit!"

This DOES give him an idea, though! A Helpful idea!

"Quonx! Hey Quonx! They have a battered bartending robot in here, maybe it was given instructions on how to help the crew relax?" he offers before bounding off to join the rest of the team in the 'game room'

He pauses for a moment and looks back to the survivors. "Maybe you should put some things in the doorway and close the door until we come back and give six our-sized knocks on the door? That way you're safe but not open to further attack and we can help even more with exploring!"

"...nufriend Locke, do you have a floorplan of this vessel so we know what rooms are which, or could you tell us? It would make it easier so we don't accidentally open a bad compartment!"

And then, like the fellow fuzzy friends, the purple one is helping explore the game room. "Hey. Hey Quonx! What do the goggles do?"

Nufriend Locke gives you a sketch of the ship and marks the various rooms of note.
"The AI is located down in a concealed area in the lower deck. Proceed past the cabins to the rear wall, there is a fake wall there that is normally accessed only by the crew"

The passengers get ready to barricade the door again once you leave, and to listen for the six knocks.

Nako looks over the stash from the cabinet and grabs anything that looks like it may be useful in the quest to provide extra help.

"OK... so past the cabins..." Nako walks down the hall looking at each door trying to decide if it is or isn't a cabin.

"...to the rear wall." Again, Nako looks around trying to decide if this is the rear. Finally she just prods at the wall trying to figure out how to open it.

"Let me try them on! Oooh! Now when I throw something it seems as if I'm throwing a beer keg!"

Quonx fiddles with the setting "Now I'm throwing eggs! Ooh, now I am throwing a curved stick!" Quonx ducks suddenly "It seemed to come right back at me when I threw it!"

With a sigh she puts the goggles back, but then she sees the space-elf-dart. "I think I will keep this with me, now let's see if we can find the AI."

Nako moves forward and opens the next door to the room beyond.

The circular chamber contains two rows of reclining seats curving around a central space. The ceiling appears to be made from a dome of transparent aluminum, but panels covering the outside of the dome block the view. Four pedestals, each topped with a large chunk of onyx, are evenly spaced around the outside of the room. Doors lead forward and aft.

It is REALLY dark in here though, and your torches don't seem to illuminate as far.

"Hmmm... sure is dark in here..."

Nako pulls out her flashlight, hoping it will help, then begins to move forward. "Captain? You in there? We're here to help!"

Perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (17) + 0 = 17

Nako pushes forwrd with his light - It beautifully illuminates the figures of six nasty looking creatures and creates cool shadow puppets at the same time.

R1
ENEMY (Acted)
Gaz
Nako
Dako
Quonx

Physical Science: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Quonx crawls in with the others. When the darkness is pierced by the flashlight he calls out "That is interesting! This darkness is not natural, it is magical. Do you see that shadow swirling there? I think the darkness is connected to those onyxes. Someone with knowledge of mystical things can probably disconnect them!"

Upon seeing the weird creatures she shouts out "What are those!?" she moves forward while drawing her laser rifle and starts to track the orange creature

Gaz pouts at the darkness.

How can i make a dramatic entrance without proper lighting!

Upon seeing the creatures, Gaz EEPS! and pulls his weapon.

Who are you! Be you friend or foe! If friend, we are here to help! If Foe, please go away!

"Hmm. It's like the darkness of space, but at the same time the magic is there... and that connection there..."

Dakoyo's 'Take 2' roll for Mysticism is 14.

Mysticism (Shut the things down): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27

"Did you know that in ancient times some cultures were so terrified of the dark that they personified their evil deities as manifestations of everyday and common occurances? They would attribute the spoiling of milk not due to being left out without refrigeration to 'faeries' and 'sprites' and not the fact that it needed to be chilled." Dakoyo rambles as he works at the thing.

"Umm... guys? Dark smokey things? Can we turn the lights back on?"

Nako holds her Dosko menacingly in 3 hands, her flashlight firmly in 2, and taps her drums nervously with the last one.

Readied action, if one of those things attacks, Nako will try to chop down the red one in front of her.

Readied Doshko Chop: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
Fire Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

@Quonx - They are Shadow Creepers, you may have 3 bits of info.

Dako moves in quickly and shuts down an Onyx, the room seems fractionally less dark, the creatures seem quite annoyed!

Gaz asks a question, but can tell they aren't nufriends!

Will let you resolve the info requests etc before moving to the enemy resolution

Since Gaz can tell they aren't Nufriends, he squeeks in terror.

Get that one! The creepy red one! Squish it, not nufriend, not nufriend!

Add getem to Nako's attack and anyone else who targets the red one.

Gaz provides some leadership to his friends!

The creatures attack and their violence is immediately checked by a flaming doshko as the red one is smashed.

They seem set on mauling Nako to get at Dako!

Four attack Nako.

Attack 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Damage 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Attack 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Damage 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Attack 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Damage 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Attack 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24
Damage 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

The last one clambers over the chairs and tries chewing on Gaz.

Attack 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Damage 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

R2
ENEMY (Acted)
Gaz
Nako
Dako
Quonx

R - dead.
O
Y
G
B
P

resistances, highest AC (EAC or KAC) and something interesting please

Quonx starts tracking green and fires a shot, hitting it straight in the face "Why are you attacking us?"

Laser, targetting EAC: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 4 + 1 = 17
Damage (F): 1d8 ⇒ 3

Looking exhausted from the barrage of attacks, Nako tries to carve herself an escape route.

"They hit fast..."

Super Flaming Doshko Strike vs Green!: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

She then takes a guarded step back, to form a small phalanx with her friends.

Status:
SP: 0/18
HP: 16/16

Nako swats another one, smashing it to the deck.

Quonx switches targets zaps another as his original target is slain.

R2
ENEMY (Acted)
Gaz
Nako - attacked
Dako
Quonx - attacked

R - dead.
O - 3
Y
G - dead
B
P

Discussion goes here :)

Flying interstate to a course tomorrow around noon - will pop up on the radar once I'm down there and all settled in. Will be there 17 days and MAY experience the odd posting outage.

Posts just in the evening at the moment - hoping to get some more downtime in the mornings, but this course is a bit consuming :)

I will be offline this weekend because I am enjoying a city trip with my wife. I will be back on Monday.

We're on a 'night phase' at the moment, so my post tomorrow may be late/nixed.

All going well here though! Half way through the training.

Back home again - thanks for bearing with me, sorry for the janky pacing, but now I am home and have reliable internet I am a happy person!

My online presence will be less than usual for the next two weeks due to a family vacation. Please bot me if you are waiting for me.

I am going to be at GenCon from Tuesday 7/31 until Monday 8/6.

My posting and updating will be sporadic during that time-frame, and permissions are given to 'bot' me as needed.

As we are in the closing frames of the scenario, can everyone kindly ensure they have provided their PFS details on the slide in the 'Maps and images tab'? (Slide 2)

I was *initially* going to put this on my -701.

Unfortunately, I played them after Gen Con, so they cannot (by org rules) be a valid target for the chronicle.

Fortunately, my -702 can use the credit AND it makes the mechanics a bit easier -- checkoff versus trying to figure out Day Job.

Credit is for levels 1-2 right? Assuming that is correct, my info in slide 2 is accurate.

1-2 is correct :)

I'd say this has ~24 hours left.

Info filled

Does anyone need their sheet super urgent ahead of the GameDay?

I do not, as far as I know?

*was trying to keep Starfinder characters 'in the clear' because there's a charity convention they are going to in a few weeks...*

All good - just checking! :)

Nope, I'm all good. Not playing this guy till slot 2.

I don't need the chronicle at short notice.

All good!

Here are the sheets though:

HERE

Thanks for participating!

Thanks so much for running! Was lots of fun! Can this be assigned to any faction or does this one not earn faction reputation?

Thanks for running this Shifty! That was fun!

Thank you very much for running and for bearing with those of us that were at conventions and the like.

Always fun to sit at one of your PbP tables!

@Debug yeah non specific - just gets the two fame.
@GPC Glad you had fun!
@Dako - thanks for putting up with me being dragged 600 miles away from home to attend a training activity for 17 days and only having cruddy wifi and one posting window a day for a while...!