GD VII: Redelia's Scoured Stars Invasion (SFS, tier 5-6) (Inactive)

Game Master Redelia

"I am as prepared as I can be. Almost."

Tolar pulls out what looks like a black stuffed spider and squeezes it. You here a blast of music from all around then it stops. He puts the spider away.

"Now I am ready."

Alarms and scanners begin to go off all at once as they try to keep up with all of the information. The Starfinder Society’s fleet has identified five locations where clues about the whereabouts of surviving Starfinders are most likely to be found.

Please refer to Handout #2 on the maps link at the top of the page. You can complete and visit in any order.

While in the Scoured Stars system, the Tear resonates with the Drift engines of the Starfinder vessels in unexpected ways; as the massive ships spread out across the trinary system, they create a network that allows individual ships’ Drift engines to make short jumps in a matter of hours.

The Scoured Stars consists of three star systems, Agillae, Bastiar, and Callion, which revolve around a common barycenter. There are one or two missions available in each system as detailed below.

• Agillae: Agillae is an orange dwarf star with five planets, all of which are terrestrial planets in the star’s habitable zone. Recon and evacuation missions 1 and 2 take place in the Agillae system.
  
• Bastiar: The largest, brightest, and most massive of the three stars, Bastiar is a yellow dwarf star with eight planets—five terrestrial planets, a gas giant with more than three dozen moons, and two ice giants. Recon and evacuation missions 3 and 4 take place in the Bastiar system.
  
• Callion: The smallest of the three stars, Callion is a red dwarf star with two small, tidally locked planets whose orbits are synchronized so that they are always on the opposite sides of the star. Recon and evacuation mission 5 takes place in the Callion system.

the maps link is not up quite yet, but will be in just a few minutes. I also will soon post in the discussion thread a few other things you need to be aware of.

Technological Mystery might lead to some cool weapons. I'm glad they flat out say there is something for us poor skill-less people to do.

Lets go do that one then. And while we're there establish an order to visit the rest.

"GROUP HUG " Life bubble the party (including chkchk. Because why not). "I don't want anyone getting infected by some alien fungal spores because they had to stop and water the plants. "

Justin will also cast Might of the Ecendroth on himself. Between that and his bulk lifters his effective strength for carrying stuff is 20.

"Do we want to go in broadcasting our location as a rescue team? On the one hand, I'd hate to walk within half a kilometer of a hidden starfinder that didn't know we were there. On the other hand, it would give away our position " he hmmms at the kasatha and tne nuar "On the other other hand, bringing things to us has some upsides, its not going towards some of the greener members. " he sighs. "We're the adults here we are in SO much trouble..."

between mystics not having a lot of spells, Keskodai being there for the haste spells for the bosses, and specials avoiding the 15 minute work day I'm mostly going to be plunking away with my pistol and saving my spells to get conditions off of you if you acquire them.

that's three votes, so we'll go with it.

Plugged into a nearby communication station, Historia- 7’s eyes blink rapidly as she collates data from many teams across the Starfinder fleet. She snaps out of her technological trance and fully opens her eyes. “Greetings, Starfinders. I have assigned your team to a mission on Agillae-5. Our scans indicate that many Starfinder starships from the previous expedition crash-landed on the same spot on the planet, forming an enormous concentration of wreckage that spreads out for miles on the otherwise barren planet. Investigate the ships, locate any survivors, and retrieve any useful data from the ships. We don’t know what caused so many ships to crash-land on the planet, so exercise caution during the investigation.”

OK, guys, the next part is structured in a slightly unusual way. It's a sequence of rounds in which you can do specified skill checks. It is to your benefit to succeed at different checks, not to have several of you succeed at the same check. You may use aid another. These checks are only available for one round.

phase 1: Shortly after you begin the descent to the planet’s surface, you receive a communication request from Venture Captain Whiskan. ”There are…….gravitational anomalies…...Turn back now…..”

sense motive: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
computers: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (13) + 19 = 32
culture: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (12) + 17 = 29 +4 higher if i have time to use a datachip.

"That message is over nine months old, do you think the anomaly is still there? If so is it a weapon? "

mutters under his breath starfinderships aremade tocrash they could still be okay....

I may have misunderstood the initial challenge, are we each allowed only one check? Grav isn't particularly good at any of the above, but he'd try his hand at assisting with Sense Motive or Culture, and definitely culture if only allowed one roll

assist sense motive: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (16) + 0 = 16
assist culture: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

"Ship based power sources can run for years if intact, I think it could be legitimate. How does it check out on the scanners? Can we figure out exactly where it is or try to match a voice print from an old file on record of the Good Venture Captain to see if it's legitimate?

"Could the abnormalities cause such a discrepancy in time? What if they believe it's been longer than 9 months! I just hope we're able to find someone, at least to send their souls to the Lady of Graves."

"Hey, I'm all for buzzing in loud and proud! Given how many Starfinders could have been scattered over all of these systems, it could take us months of combing the areas quietly and we still might not find everyone. I say let 'em know we're here, and we mean business, and hopefully it'll help them come to us. If we bring in some bad stuff with the good, well, then we'll just have to deal with it. So keep your eyes, ears, and sensors peeled."

If i could only make one check I'd make the computers, but the nature of the skill check seemed to be a reaction on the knowledge check and sense motive.

It is indeed only one action per person. This is happening in rounds, almost like combat, but with skill checks. I'll take Justin's computers check, because it's clear he would have tried that if he only had time for one. I'll also give you credit for Grav doing the culture check rather than aiding, since that's the one with a higher bonus. Can one of the rest of you handle that culture check?

Culture: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (16) + 16 = 32 Chk Chk taps the dice

"Time dilation on that level would take a black hole with roughly 120 solar masses ... a repeating message seems more likely. But with the year we're having I'm not ruling anything out... "

Sorry, posting was down during my one window to update. Looks like we got all the skills covered?

Reynold frowns in response to the recording. "Only one way to find out. If there's a chance they're still alive, we should investigate."

Mr. Peabody would aid with computers.
Using hireling in place of my roll and auto aid.

"Agreed. The message is 9 months old. Caution is called for but it suggests the initial danger has passed."

3 successes so far
Sensor Readings: The ship’s sensors indicate nearby gravitational anomalies, and the ship starts gently shaking.

Would this apply? Reduce DC of kn Physical Science about strange new worlds or features of space by -5

physical science: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

"The data is false. Maybe with some tweaking we can get better results."
Tolar manages to improve the reading albeit with more trial and error then you might expect.

Grav does his best to keep control of the ship, periodically looking away to scan the ship's horizon and the planet below

Assist perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (18) + 0 = 18

"Uh, guy's I don't think this is entirely normal, if anyone sees anything let me know and I'll try to angle this beast to give you a better view"

Kesk's highest bonus is on Perception, that's what I'll tackle.
Perception +Aid: 1d20 + 17 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 17 + 2 = 38

"These shakes we are feeling, I think it's coming from our own engines! Any anomalies on our computers?"

OK, just waiting for a computers check from someone who has not yet rolled this round (so that would be Justin and Reynold); if you can't make it let me know and I'll move us on.

"Keskodai's got all those eyes one of them will see something... Lets see this planets got a bit of a bulge, pretty standard geology, g = G * M / r2 ... " Its' emailed to everyones com unit and pops up on Grav's screen as an archery game so he can visualize the math

computers check: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (18) + 19 = 37

"You know, since we're going down anyway we could just turn the engines OFF and then turn them on to stop. I think he can take a few seconds of shaking "

total: 6 successes

Loss of Controls: The ship starts shaking uncontrollably and barely responds to controls.

Only one of you can do a piloting check or an engineering or melee attack roll. One other of you can do a computers check. Those of you not taking one of the primary checks can aid on one of them.

Piloting- You can steer the ship—albeit with great difficulty.

Engineering or Melee attack Roll- You can implement a quick fix that momentarily stabilizes the ship

Tolar for lack of anything better to do tries to kick things until they jostle back into shape.

Tbh this seems foolish, I hope the melee DC is lower then the engineering one.

flat melee roll: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19

"Oi, lets get some interns on this...they die in a fiery ball of flame if we do... one of you get the percussive maintenence I'll use a lil more finesse" whaps the computer "a LITTLE more"

Computers : 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (7) + 19 = 26

"Hey, someone's hacking our piloting through our com system. WHY are those even physically connected? I'm Gonna try to get it out but just in case, any of you have any experience flying by wire? "

Aid Another (Piloting): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
"IF anyone is in control of the helm now, I've got my eyes on the screens to find our way down."

Computers: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12
Piloting: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18

Reynold leaps into the pilot seat and starts pulling against the hijacked steering system, veins popping in his neck as he strains. ”Great, mystery solved. Let’s make sure we get to tell the tale rather than join the other wrecks. Any way you can stop the hijacking?”

"Sometimes your only purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others... " he hops on his own com rather than the ships "Attention starfinders , if you don't like the idea of a malicious A.I. computer virus piloting your ship to its fiery death either land the ships manually, avoid this area, or please hold for an effective countermeasure.... "

Ok, Justin succeeded at the computers check. You could only try one of the other checks, and only once, so Tolar's attempt failed.

successes: 7

Sudden Acceleration: The ship’s engines stop working altogether, and the ship starts rapidly losing altitude.

Engineering- You can manually activate some of the thrusters to decelerate.

Piloting- You can ride the winds in the planet’s atmosphere, causing the ship to fall at a gentler angle.

"Oh good. This was the plan I came up with. Which one of you did i... it was the virus wasn't it? Alright all i need is a wrench and a stop watch, 1 1,000 2 1000 three one thousand... "

ping ping ping WHOOOOSH

engineering check: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (11) + 18 = 29

"Niaj, if we don't make it issue the next group slide rulers "

Piloting: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30

His face contorted with concentration, Reynold flips the ship into manual piloting and in-atmo air resistance modes, rigorously handling the joystick to try and bring the craft to an easy landing.

Blaring Alarms: The ship’s computer issues the following message: “Landing gear functioning at 50%. Collision imminent, brace for impact.”

Engineering or Piloting- can activate the landing thrusters at full power.

Acrobatics or Athletics- You should brace for impact!

Engineering check : 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (6) + 18 = 24

Justin cranks on the landing gear for a second, to open up the valve, then spots a spinning shaft. He quickly duct tapes one to the other in a makeshift belt, which whirls around a few times before snapping off...

"Lets hope that worked "

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24

With nothing more to offer as Justin kicks the landing thrusters into high gear, Reynold tumbles into a doorway and braces himself for collision!

"By the gods... I stopped putting attention to the infovids before take-off years ago! How do you assume crash landing position? Elbows between the knees and neck behind the ankles? And what do I do with Chk Chk... Reynold... Please don't crash! If you do, NO ONE will send you to the Lady of Graves at least for another nine months!"

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

" Elbows between the knees neck behind the ankles and kiss your thorax goodbye... "

Tolar grabs on to several somethings.

Athletics: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30

"This is exiting yes?"

"Landing gear at 50%? That's not so bad, talk about a glass half full! I've done more with less, but everybody hold onto something, just in case"

Grav takes the pilot seat back and readjusts the chair before taking a firm hold of the controls and attempting to angle the ship to land on the functioning side of landing gear like an ice skate

piloting: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21

Due to your skills as a team, you are able to manage a rough landing that does not do any damage to your craft (or to any of you).

After ‘landing’ the ship, You enter the starship graveyard complex and discover that some of the starships have fused together to form interlinked complexes across the surface of the world. The entire area has low gravity.

Shortly after entering the strangely fused structure you spot a group of Starfinder survivors huddled together. The Starfinders stare at you for a moment and then attack, their mouths opened in silent screams but not producing any sounds.

bold may post:
Grav
scholar
guards
Justin
Tolar
Reynold
operative
Keskodai

I'll get the map going soon, everyone, but I'll be posting this before it's quite ready.

We didn't come here to have a tea party. Before leaving the ship Tolar has his pike and Screamer ready. And activates the life support on his suit.

"New planet to explore. Suit up until we know the atmosphere is safe. And arm up because something wanted these ships to crash."

Guys, I'm going to go into mechanics here a bit more than I would at an in person game, since back and forth conversations are so hard. Even if you do lethal damage to one of the enemy Starfinders, you will still have a chance to stabilize them. I don't want you to grind to an absolute halt here like my table did when I played this.

assuming we have somebody who can dedicate themselves to reliably stabilizing when it's needed we could probably get away with going in lethal as the most expedient way of dealing with them so we can then figure out why they aren't being themselves. Unless somebody wants to take an honest swing at diplomacy hoping they aren't in some kind of weird compulsion affect and are simply not sure who we are

Site seems to be back up, so I'll try to figure out how to make and add my token and take my action. for general Marching order purposes Grav typically moves to the front and shepherds the other members behind him, except when a party member who proves a capable scout and lookout is willing to stand at his side

Grav tightens his grip on his tactical Doshko and mutters over the open channel (his enviro protections are up (in addition to the life bubble)) "I was afraid of this, something's clearly wrong if we can't hear them, but we won't be able to figure out what if they're working against us... COVER ME!"

Grav charges the starfinder in the back left "red circle"
Melee Attack /w Doshko vs KAC: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23
Damage: 2d12 + 15 ⇒ (11, 5) + 15 = 31

[ooc]Any Adversaries I'm adjacent to that can be shot without me granting cover to them (coordinated shot) get a +1 attack bonus. If he hits with the melee strike, Grav will have a +2AC bonus vs any adversaries that are not adjacent (close combat)

Grav hits the android hard, and the android almost falls over from the blow.

The android takes a step back and then sends two hard pellets of magic slamming into Grav.
MM damage: 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (1, 1) + 2 = 4

The two guards both swing their tactical batons at Grav.
attack: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 8 + 2 = 23
attack: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 8 + 2 = 11
Neither is able to hit him.

bold may post:
round 1:
Justin
Tolar
Reynold
operative
Keskodai
Grav (-4 SP)
scholar (-31 HP)
guards

Justins drops his semi automaic pistol and pulls a smoke grenade out of his cheeks as he moves up. He'll ready an action to stabilize the first starfinder to drop.

"Break them now we'll fix them later "

Grav will certainly use step-up-and-strike to follow the android and attempt to hit him with his gore attack (which could interrupt that spell I guess)

melee attack Gore vs KAC: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28
damage: 1d3 + 18 ⇒ (2) + 18 = 20

You might need to adjust accordingly for the swings at me that missed if they'd need to move to hit, startign to see how SUAS feat can be a pain for PBP, sorry

Watching for a moment in stunned silence as the nuar hurtles into melee, Reynold glances at his other colleagues. "Well...you heard him!" He points his static arc pistol (set to stun mode) at the blue guard. "Get 'im!" he says, firing.

Move "get 'em" on blue guard, standard clever attack.

Bluff vs. Feint DC (expertise): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19
Bluff reroll (Convincing Liar): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29
Attack vs. Blue EAC (Coordinated Shot, Get 'Em, flat-footed): 1d20 + 7 + 1 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 7 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 22
Damage (E, nonlethal): 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8