Starfinder-Dead Suns ala Fabian (Inactive)

Game Master Fabian Benavente

Action 2

"Do you think this is where they drilled into the rock?" Zadie asked over the comm channel. "Would they have laid down the metal plating?"

Action 1:

Kamiya cringed as the void zombie floated to the ceiling. "Are we taking all the bodies? That thing was a crew member after all. Their family deserves to know what happened, right?" But the lashunta made no move towards the body. She had no desire to touch it even if it was dead.

Action 2:

Do you think this is where they drilled into the rock?" Zadie asked over the comm channel. "Would they have laid down the metal plating?"

Kamiya shook her head. "I think it would have taken a longer period of time to line these hallways with metal than the crew would have had. I mean, a lot of work went into making these tunnels. And why line some and not the others?"

The lashunta looked at their other options to explore. "Let's go east and see if there's any better information down that lined tunnel before going south."

So this northern tunnel leads straight out into space? No door, no barrier? This tunnel wasn't extended on the map included in the recap, was it?

Action 1
"I still support the idea of returning all the bodies. I do think we need to be very careful though - the last thing we want is to introduce these parasites to the station."

John paused. "I need to know just how resistant to my artillery laser these things are. I'm all but out of shells. I'm going to shoot it once, in the... tongue. Everyone back away."
@Fabian is there a roll to check to see how much Fire resistance these things have? I know you've generous with the shells, but John should be using up (at best) his second last clip by now.

Action 2
John took the time to look at the point where the metal cladding met space.
is this a situation where someone has "finished" the tunnel? I'd expect some sort of stabilising lip in that case. Does it look like the tunnel went further and was "cut" through? Still remembering this rock is suspiciously smooth and regular. Also: does it meet the outside at 90 degrees, suggesting it was dug in or at an angle suggesting that it was either dug out or the outer edge was new.

John paused. "I need to know just how resistant to my artillery laser these things are. I'm all but out of shells. I'm going to shoot it once, in the... tongue. Everyone back away."

"If it means you staying between me and bad things out to eat me, you are welcome to use my rifle," Robert offered. "I won't even charge you the bullets."

Robert himself was more interested in the two tunnels with their metal walls. Something old uncovered by the Acheron's crew? Or something they had laid down by themselves, for some strange reason? Either way, it seemed much more fascinating than the remains of the dead crewman...

Does the metal finish look like a recent job (something the crew might have done for some reason) or has it been here for who knows how many centuries? I got the impression it was the latter, but you didn't actually say...

... although on the other hand, he might have some clues on his body as well. Once the android had had his fill of fun, Robert gestured at the corpse, using the same little trick he employed to move himself around in space to gently lower the body back to what they had chosen to see as the floor. Then, giving the disgusting tongue a wary look, he quickly went through the suit's pockets for anything useful the corpse might still have on him.

Use Token Spell to tow the body to where we can reach it, once John has had his fun, and take a look to determine cause of death and go through its pockets... credits are always nice, but more interested in clues.

OOC:

The northern tunnel just ends into space and it seems like it would have continued but the 'rock' was sheared at that location. It does not end at 90 degree angle.

The void zombies are NOT fire resistant.

The metal job does NOT look recent at all.

I have one vote to go east (and Robert sort of agreed)...

Questions?

Game on!

The void zombies are NOT fire resistant.

Looking back, I totally derbed there... NOT resistant, you said, and I still went with my original assumption that since the Akatas were... oh well, glad we got that sorted out in the end ;^)

Fabian Benavente wrote:

The void zombies are NOT fire resistant.

Looking back, I totally derbed there... NOT resistant, you said, and I still went with my original assumption that since the Akatas were... oh well, glad we got that sorted out in the end ;^)

Yes, the akatas are fire resistant but he void zombies are merely incubators.

The 'tongues' eventually eat the bodies and transform into full grown akatas, something that could happen to a couple of people currently on the Drift Rock... :)

Action 1
John watched the smoke evaporate in three dimensions from the burned end of the tongue. "I'm going to risk extrapolating from a single case and say not very resistant." Quickly the Android switched weapons. "If nothing else it'll be nice not to have to brace versus recoil without gravity."

Action 2
John indicated the tunnel end. "We had something like this on my derelict. Something sheared straight through here. Look, the end of the tunnel isn't finised; someone could hurt themselves. And not at a 90 degree angle. I think this tunnel went on and something just sheared through the rock - and tunnel - like a scalpel through flesh. Didn't someone say that the outside of the rock was smooth?"

Action 2

"Where did they find this rock again?" Zadie asked. "Did the log say? Did they find it like this, floating, or were they the ones who cut off a chunk to bring back with them?"

Turn 105 – Sheared Straight Through

Read the OOC.

Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?

Game on!

Action 1

"Could the Drift have done that? Just cut off a chunk of ... something?" She shuddered. "I know that the Drift is powered by planestuff, but I thought it would take the unused bits around the edges. Can you imagine if it sheared off a piece of Absalom Station?"

Action 2

Reflexively, Zadie raised her laser pistol and shot at the thing approaching them.

azimuth laser pistol 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17 damage 1d4 ⇒ 3

Just read the bit about the Drift (pg 290), and suddenly this whole quest makes more sense. I was thinking of the Drift as being a physical location in this universe, not another plan of existence. This is what you get when you play with somebody who doesn't take/make/have the time to read these books all the way through.

Action 1

Oriana pondered what John had deduced about the "end" of the tunnel, and what little she knew about the strange plane known as the Drift. "The stories to say that Drift travel tears pieces off other, seemingly random planes. I'd never really thought about what that meant. But what would you call the "edge" of our universe? How would a technological process know what was "unused"? With a handful of planes to choose from, and those being infinite in size, the chances of part of our little section of it being affected would be very tiny. But if somehow the Station, or Idari, were torn apart...." she shuddered, and unconsciously hugged herself with her four arms. "I wonder if that's what happened to Golarion..."

Shaking herself a little, she said, "I suppose that's why interest in this rock is so high. Not only could it be from anywhere in the universe, it could be from any plane as well. It could be unique in our plane. But those akatas - those are from our plane, right? They didn't come from here originally - those would have come from the void somewhere, right?"

Action 2
mysticism untrained: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
Oriana had no idea what they were facing, but her mote had transformed into her staff before she even needed to think about it. "What is that?" she cried.
photon attuning. Hold action, full defence

Action 2:

Kamiya gasped as yet another unknown and terrifying creature appeared. "How do we hurt it? Maybe an incendiary grenade? That way we don't have to get close to it."

Action 2
"Time for some empirical observation!" screamed John, raising the Artillery Laser at the wraith and training the beam through it. The wraith, however, proved surprisingly agile in zero gravity, and all John proved was that rock melted when subjected to extreme heat.
attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9dam: 1d10 ⇒ 9

Action 1

Engineering: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12 A likely futile efforts to figure out what the metal used to make the walls is... unless it's actually something everyday and doesn't require a check at all.

Shaking herself a little, she said, "I suppose that's why interest in this rock is so high. Not only could it be from anywhere in the universe, it could be from any plane as well. It could be unique in our plane. But those akatas - those are from our plane, right? They didn't come from here originally - those would have come from the void somewhere, right?"

"That they exist on our plane doesn't mean they can't on others as well," Robert said, shrugging his shoulders, peering intently at the metal walls, wondering just what kind of hand or claw or tantacle had worked the metal. And what other, even more interesting relics they might find, deeper in.

Action 2

"What is that?" she cried.

Mysticism: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22 This good enough to get some vulnerability/immunity info on the thing in addition to the name and origin?

"A soul bound to its now-dead body by the combination of strong psychic trauma and the unpredictable energies of Riftspace," Robert muttered, eyeing the creature nervously. "Not something to make the entity more inclined to listen to reason. You'll do it a service by destroying its body, the chain that keeps its soul anchored to this level of reality." The technomancer frowned in irritation. All these encounters were getting in the way of him having a chance to explore these ruins properly. He looked around, wondering just what he could use against this particular foe.

Energy Ray: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20
Energy Ray, damage: 1d3 ⇒ 3 Using fire, unless the Mysticism roll suggests electricity or acid would be a better idea. I think cold would once again be a silly idea.

Not seeing anything particularly promising, Robert fell back on tricking the second laws of thermodymanics - absolute in the world of macro physics perhaps, but something that could be ignored on the quantum level. Sweat beaded his brow as he forced his mind to process the equations to instigate local chaos on the quantum level, to create heat by draining away cold from a small volume of space... space that just happened to be located at the chest of the driftdead's chest.

A thumbnail-sized area on the creature's chest bloomed white-hot for a brief moment, searing into the corpse's tinder-dry flesh before the strain on his brain forced Robert to gasp for breath and cease his efforts.

This good enough to get some vulnerability/immunity info on the thing in addition to the name and origin?

I just hope they're not like ghosts in Pathfinder that are only hurt by magic weapons (and take half damage from them), because I don't think we have a thing that can hit it, unless Oriana's staff counts as "magic".

Round 2

"A soul bound to its now-dead body by the combination of strong psychic trauma and the unpredictable energies of Riftspace," Robert muttered, eyeing the creature nervously. "Not something to make the entity more inclined to listen to reason. You'll do it a service by destroying its body, the chain that keeps its soul anchored to this level of reality."

"Do you think that's the thing that came out of the rock onto the ship?" Zadie yelled. "The thing that was worse than the akatas? Remind me again why we came over here?"

Can we tell from what it's "wearing" if this is an Acreon crew member or not?

Turn 106 - Driftdead

Read the OOC.

Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?

Game on!

will save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Oriana clapped two hands over her years, still managing to hold onto her staff and the wall behind her. It dimmed the awful noise just enough to help her from completely losing her mind.

She could tell that her staff would have little effect on the ethereal creature....but maybe fire would. However, that would roast almost all her friends as well. I need to move back... Using her hands to steady herself, she kept her staff up and moved slowly past the creature, trying to get behind it.

I want to move around behind the creature - basically so a 10 foot blast of fire would get the thing, but nobody else. Withdraw, full defence- whatever will help minimize AoO as I move through its threatened space.

Oh no! Not **** confusion!
will: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

So I take it the Incorporeal trait was the only thing Robert's roll was enough to leaern about?

John bit his lip till. Fluid filled his mouth. 'Not... over the radio...' he realised, as he felt his control start to slip. He acted as much from instinct as from rationality, levelling his cannon straight into the guts of the thing and holding down the trigger.
att: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 7 - 4 = 23 dam: 1d10 ⇒ 7 Nooooo.... my crit.....
att: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 7 - 4 = 10 dam: 1d10 ⇒ 5

The rock wall behind the creature melted and ran like slag as the beam played over - and through - its face. The ghostly head looked even more ghostly afterwards, but John reeled as the creature's counterattacks slammed into his armour.
Can't back up, so Full Attack! 2 AoOs. Can it do 2 in Starfinder? I think it can.

Will save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23 Lucky... proper post coming later, but now I know I can at least do what I want, running away included ;^)

Will 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

"Got ... to get out ... or we'll end up like the morons from the Acreon," Zadie panted. "Draw it out.... Can't get a clear shot in here."

She took another shot around John, then started to push herself back along the metal-plated corridor.

azimuth laser pistol 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23 damage 1d4 ⇒ 2; Acrobatics vs DC 20 to move full-speed along wall back toward D3 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

Robert blinked his eyes as he felt the effects of the creature's moan. For a moment his mind wandered, but then the body-monitor programs running in his neural processor nodes kicked in, demanding his attention as they detected the sudden changes in his higher brain functions. When the warnings themselves were not enough, the programs introduced changes of their own, seeking to limit the external influence's effects by means of electro-chemical white noise.

He came to with a start, to be greeted by detailed reports of the sonic attack's effects on the electrical activity of his brain, prompting his attention in his virtual vision. With an annoyed thought the technomancer dismissed the message, flagging it for later attention, and fixed his eyes on the creature trying to savage the android with its claws. He realized that the thing was only loosely attached to the material plane, and thus highly resistant to most forms of damage. But there was one thing that should work on it – a direct projection of force... and he had a fair idea how to manifest it. An interesting thought experiment he had been working on for a while now, although never quite perfected.

'Well, nothing like the threat of bloody murder to focus one's attention,' he thought, calling for his memory management programs to retrieve the mathematical formulae he needed from his research project storage and got to work.

Magic Missile, full round casting: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (2, 1, 1) + 3 = 7 Force damage, so should work well against this thing

'Let's see...' Murmuring the complex equations that would manifest pure energy in the form of lances cast at the target of his choice, Robert could feel the strain on his brain as he tried to master the new technique. Something he had succeeded in a few times in the past, but never reliably. Because while the point of the reality manipulation might be the projection of force, the really difficult, mind-twisting part of it was the way the effect defied causality. Not, as many practitioners seemed to believe, an attack that never missed. No, the point of it was that the attack was only launched after it had already hit its target. Thus, the cause followed the effect, making merely documenting the intended effects of the equation difficult as language itself rebelled against properly expressing how it worked.

But work it did, thankfully, as three finger-thin lances of energy briefly converted to a physical form, like icicles of perfectly clear ice manifested in front of Robret's outstretched hand, then streaked forward to strike the undead in the chest, tearing both its physical form and its spiritual essence.

Sorry for the 'confusion' but I swear I didn't make it up. :)

John: what are you firing with?

Robert: yeah, the incorporeal trait is what you learned/know.

Kamiya? Are you not fighting the ghost? :)

Questions?

I intend to recap later tonight.

Game on!

Artillery laser.

will,DC11: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

Kamiya recognized the creature's attempt to penetrate her mind with its hideous moan. She shook off the effects and aimed her pistol at it. It was now too late to use a grenade as it had gotten too close to some of the others. The others were in the way but she thought she could get a shot off by aiming over them. Sadly she was mistaken.

She had no desire to get trapped by this thing so after firing her weapon, she started to move herself backwards along the wall.

laser pistol: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Turn 107 – Laser Cannon

Read the OOC.

Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?

Game on!

John saw through the haze in his vision that Orianna had moved around behind the creature. Desperate not to hit her he took his time and backed up, anchored himself, aimed and shot. The laser played over the right side of the creature, and at one point sizzled past Oriana close enough that had there been an atmosphere she would have felt the heat.
guarded step and shoot
attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17 damage: 1d10 ⇒ 7

Oriana finally had herself in the perfect position. Making sure that she wouldn't scorch John, she concentrated on the photon energy she'd been attuning herself to. Even here, in the Void, on a drift rock, the universe was balanced. But she could manipulate that balance, just a hair, and create dramatic effects. Bracing herself against the wall behind her, she took a deep breath, then released the energy into a flare of solar energy. It lashed out in all directions, burning all that it touched, then faded into nothing.

damage: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 2) = 7

What happens when the fire hits the metal walls?

The thing is dead enough that I think I'll save Robert's few spell slots for further encounters.

Pleased to see the undead menace steadily weakening, Robert turned back to the more elementary reality manipulations, manipulating quantum thermodynamics to add his more meager ember to the bonfire Oriana was directing against the driftdead.

Energy Ray: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Energy Ray, damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1 Well, should still be 1 damage halved ;^)

With Kamiya and John between the business end of her laser and the ghost, Zadie waits for a clear shot.

Kamiya cheered when Oriana struck the undead with a burst of fire. "Way to go, Captain Grandma! You show it who's large and in charge. It's got nothing on you."

Inspiring Boost to Oriana to give her back stamina points. It should give her 8 stamina points back from last turns damage

sorry but once more time got away from me; I'm actually messing with a video capture software to upgrade my old VHS tapes to digital format.

I should be able to update my three games tomorrow during the day.

Game on!

I'll be away from home this weekend, so I won't be good for anything except quick posts until Monday.

Turn 108 – The Rest of the Crew

Read the OOC.

Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?

Game on!

John was actually hoping to rest up before combat - happy to spend a resolve point to get stamina back.
"I need better armour." muttered John, shoving himself back into the rock wall next to Robert as the Laser appeared in his hand as if by magic. In the airlessness of space the beam was invisible - but the sudden explosive heating of a line of flesh across the void zombie's flesh was not! Tiny glowing specks of flesh and suit floated through the void.
attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17damage: 1d10 ⇒ 5

John was actually hoping to rest up before combat - happy to spend a resolve point to get stamina back.

Yep, no problem. I'll go ahead and retcon that.

Anyone else want to spend an RP or chug down a healing 'potion', just let me know.

BTW: I'm going to be away from home this weekend and will probably not be able to post until Sunday evening/night.

Questions?

Game on!

Action 1:

This little venture out to the Acreon was taking its toll on Kamiya. She had seen things on the ship and on this rock that she never could have imagined before now. And now she couldn't un-know what she'd seen. The very real possibility that she may become one of those void zombies weighed heavily in the back of her mind. "I need a rest before we continue." And a moment to gather my thoughts in case we run into more hideous creatures out here.

Action 2:

Kamiya pulled out one of her incendiary grenades. "Everyone fall back so you aren't caught in the blast!"

Kamiya will throw the grenade behind the void zombies so that they get caught in the blast and we don't. Since she's not aiming at anything specific, does she still need to roll her attack to hit?

Action 1

Zadie took the opportunity the downtime offered to experiment with zero-gravity, pushing herself off from the walls, floor, and ceiling to gauge how far she might go. "Anyone else worried where those space goblins got off to?" she asked.

Action 2

Zadie needed no encouragement from Kamiya to stay close to the wall and the way out. Inching out from behind Oriana, she took a shot at the zombie attacking their captain.

Move 1 square down; azimuth laser pistol 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 damage 1d4 ⇒ 2

Quick post as promised... did the ghost-thing have any loot?

Energy Ray: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Energy Ray, damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1

'Easier said than done,' Robert thought as he did his best to launch himself backwards and up by kicking away from the ceiling to get clear from the path of Kamiya's grenade while trying once more to manipulate temperature on the quantum level to create heat from the frigid cold of space.

Action 1

Zadie took the opportunity the downtime offered to experiment with zero-gravity, pushing herself off from the walls, floor, and ceiling to gauge how far she might go. "Anyone else worried where those space goblins got off to?" she asked.

Oriana sat up, startled. "I had already forgotten about them! Surely they are just near the entrance, waiting for us, right? Can we hail them on comms? Zadie - can you reach them?"

Happy to rest!

"No! Not more of you!" Oriana thrust herself backwards, away from the creature, even as Kamiya recommended the same.

retreat, full defence, photon attuning

Action 1

"Yeah, 'waiting,'" Zadie scoffed. "Picking the rest of the Acreon clean, more like." Half-heartedly, she tried to page the goblins. "Hey! Where are you little scroungers? This rock is crawling with things that want to kill us; if you want to stay safe, I suggest you stick with the group instead of you guys wandering off on your own."

Turn 109 - Grenades

Read the OOC.

Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?

Game on!

Oh, come on! Max max max!

Unable to get away from the creature, Oriana swung at it, knowing that if they didn't kill it soon, it was going to tear her throat out.

attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

is John in 0 stamina even after resting?
John drifted backwards from the blow, just managing to catch himself before being propelled out of the cavern entirely. Gritting his teeth against the pain he once more brought his laser to bear. The beam sizzled through dead flesh, all but amputating a leg, but the dead man seemed untroubled.
guarded step back 5 and shoot
attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19dam: 1d10 ⇒ 2

Wait, a grenade does 1d6 damage? I just lost faith in modern explosives ;^) I know that's a kiddie grenade for lowbie characters, but... I'd rather limit availability than call a firecracker a proper weapon.

Also, that critical... ouch.

Robert watched with some concern one of the void zombies tearing into the Kasathan woman's body with its claws. That looked like a real bleeder, that hit, and while it was fine someone other than Robert himself was the target, a few more of those kind of swipes and there wouldn't be many more people to soak up the damage. Meaning it might be Robert who would be in the first line. And that just wouldn't do.

The technomancer derected his will once again into producing heat to attack the zombie trying to savage the android - and, incidentally, being closer to his own self.

Energy Ray: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19 Focus fire on the more seriously damaged enemy
Energy Ray, damage: 1d3 ⇒ 2

A small patch of torn skinsuit on the zombie's chest flashed into momentary brilliance, searing the skin beneath before the universe caught on to the anomaly and saw to the proper dissipation of the unnatural concentration of heat.

is John in 0 stamina even after resting?

Yes, because you were hit both in Rounds 1 and 2. :(

Ow! Just checking. John's now got a reason to upgrade his armour, at least!

Action 1

Zadie's smirk at the others said I told you so. "You guys should be careful," she warned the goblins. "Those cat-things hatch out of those bits of rock that are all over the Acreon. Why do you think the crew left the ship and came into the rock?" She switched off the mic. "Nasty little vermin," she muttered. "I hope something does eat them."

Action 2

Did we ever make a Knowledge check on these zombies to know what they're immune to? If they're like Pathfinder zombies, they're immune to bludgeoning damage, but I don't suppose Zadie knows that yet.

Zadie was alarmed to find herself up close and personal with one of the hideous tongue-creatures. "You weren't supposed to bring it back here to me!" she objected to Oriana. "I can't shoot it when it's in my face!"

She released the petrol gun, which floated in the vacuum next to her, to draw her baton. A flick of wrist extended it to its full length, and the same motion carried through as she delivered a stinging blow to the zombie.

Drop pistol; tactical baton 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20 damage 1d4 ⇒ 2