[SFS] GM Bigrin's Table 1 - The Commencement (Inactive)

Game Master bigrin42

In the scrum of the starting line, and with unfamiliar controls, it was difficult to get a bead on the racers you wanted to hit. The others didn't seem to have that problem. Maybe it was just that in the close confines it was harder for them to miss if they weren't choosing a specific target. Ratrod, however, had his target locked, and Laboni's racer shuddered at it was pounded by the ysoki's modified flak cannon.

Radrod and Nyizin took the lead, roaring from the starting line at full throttle. Laboni, Orsis, and Velocity ground together at the start, then separated, each scraping a wall or junk pile and getting off to a slow start. Velocity's shot against Lemgem seemed to have blown one of the gnome's overclocking circuits, because she sat at the starting line slamming her fists down on the console.

Round 2 actions, please

Xerric realizes quickly that perhaps her reaction was in haste and not one to cheer on that terribly rude Nyizin again dons her team colors and starts cheering, "Go team Radrod! Then nudging a nearby Vesk, he smiles and quips, "I helped build that racer!"

Bodo not taking kindly to Ratrod firing at us fires back hit: 4 - 1 + 1d20 ⇒ 4 - 1 + (11) = 14 vs EAC.

Satisfied with the halfling's rotten start, REMO turns his attention from Lemgem to Ratrod. "Let's get him out of the picture." He also aims the reactor cannon at Ratrod and fires.

Attack vs KAC: 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (19) + 3 - 1 = 21

Kis wrestles with the controls as the racer rattles along.
Pilot (Kis): 1d20 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 6 + 4 = 16

Ratrod is hit several times, but managed to keep both his speed and his obstacle avoidance at full throttle, swerving around several piles of junk laying int eh middle of the track. Then, as Bodo hit him with the energy weapon, Ratrod's cycle seemed to become even more agile. Everyone else moved forward at full speed, except for Lemgem who was moving slowly as she tried to both drive and fix her systems at the same time.

Round 3 actions, go!

”Bodo, did you see that? Ratrod seems to be recovering power from the energy weapon hit.”
—
Pilot (Kis): 1d20 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 6 + 4 = 27

Bodo fires at Velocity this time hit: 4 - 1 + 1d20 ⇒ 4 - 1 + (18) = 21 vs EAC

REMO nods at Bodo. "Good idea. You take care of Velocity, I'll take care of Ratrod."

He takes aim again at the ysoki's junkracer.

Attack vs KAC: 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (17) + 3 - 1 = 19

Hooray!

The two leaders opened up on each other, and then were blasted by pretty much everyone else. Veering, both Ratrod and Nyizin crashed into the same junkpile, slowing down significantly. Everyone else blasted forward at full speed, closing the gaps.

Round 4, go!

REMO shakes his head. "I should have been focusing on boosting our speed instead of hobnobbing with the racers."

He takes aim at Ratrod's racer again and fires.

I can't quite tell. Which token are we on the track again?

Attack vs KAC: 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (13) + 3 - 1 = 15

Xerric looks at his feet and notices a giant foam finger with the team colors of Velocity. Picking it up she waves it above her head, "GO TEAM VELOCITY! With a name like that they can't lose!

Pilot (Kis): 1d20 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 4 = 19

Bodo fires at Velocity again hit: 4 - 1 + 1d20 ⇒ 4 - 1 + (12) = 15 vs EAC

Your token is the human female named Laboni

Ratrod's composure cracked as three separate cannons hit him at the same time. The ysoki caromed off a junkpile and into the side barrier, coming to a dead halt. Lemgem and Nyizin also failed to avoid track debris and slewed to a halt. Despite taking hits, Orsis and Velocity kept up the speed, with Laboni whooping as she passed Ratrod, taking 3rd place, with a little more than half the track to go.

Round 5, can you close the lead?

Seeing Ratrod out of the running, REMO turns the cannon on the android.

Attack @ Velocity vs. KAC: 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (12) + 3 - 1 = 14

Bodo fires at Orsis hit: 4 - 1 + 1d20 ⇒ 4 - 1 + (8) = 11 vs EAC

Xerric continues to cheer on Velocity, while looking around for her original team colors again just in case.

Pilot (Kis): 1d20 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 4 = 19
sorry for the delay, we were traveling today

Velocity took some hits and veered into the wall, coming to a complete stop as he tried to whel his junkracer back around to face down the track. Orsis now has the clear lead, dashing out in front, with everyone else strung along behind him. Laboni is holding second place, despite a rather hard hit from Ratrod. Lemgem finally got her racer under control and closed the gap from the tail position, looking to overcome Ratrod shortly.

Round 6, it's anybody's race!

"We need to slow down Orsis!"
--
Pilot (Kis): 1d20 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 6 + 4 = 24

"Agreed." REMO takes aim at Orsis' racer and fires away.

Attack vs KAC: 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (9) + 3 - 1 = 11

Bodo also fires at Orsis hit: 4 - 1 + 1d20 ⇒ 4 - 1 + (4) = 7 vs EAC

The entire pack opened fire on Orsis, and the lashunta crashed, wavering slightly but still managing to move forward slowly. Everyone else moved forward at full throttle, except for Lemgem, the gnome getting so caught up in her targeting that she grazed a junkpile and had to recover.

This could be the last round!

Thought I posted this already, but I don't see it anymore.

Pilot (Kis): 1d20 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 6 + 4 = 23

Bodo fires at Orsis again hit: 4 - 1 + 1d20 ⇒ 4 - 1 + (14) = 17 vs EAC

Xerric starts cheering louder, "GO ORSIS! I mean go Kis, I mean go Orsis, KIs!"

REMO focuses down the digital sights and blasts at Orsis' junkracer once again.

Attack vs KAC: 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (14) + 3 - 1 = 16

Given the PbP format, sometimes little things get forgotten. I thought I'd mention it here and give you the decision, but at the beginning of the race, Nyizin gave you a tip on how to get a 1-time burst of speed at the risk of permanently damaging your engines (double speed for one round, 50% chance of permanently halving your speed). It could make the difference here. Do you want to use it?

I was thinking we should use that right at the end. I've had a hard time seeing what is going on with the map, so I wasn't sure how close we were to the end. I'm up for trying it.

Yes, at the very end

I agree. The risk of wrecking our speed is too great. Unless we start lagging fatally behind, I say use it on the final round.

Given that Orsis can win it all this round if you don't go past...button it is!

Edit, well if the piloting roll had been better, you'd have won. As it is...

The leaders of the race were unsurprisingly buffeted by a hail of blaster and flak cannon fire. Orsis was hit three times, and he slewed into the barrier. Laboni was hit twice, and her engines whined as she scraped the opposite barrier...but then Kis pushed the bright blue button that DJ had installed. Laboni was nearly scraped from the junkracer as it jerked underneath her. Kis could barely keep it on the track as it bucked and spurted forward. The engines made an awful shrieking noise and gouts of black smoke began shooting from them, but somehow Kis managed to keep the machine moving forward.

You are only 200' or so from the finish line, but the rest of the pack is closign fast. If it hadn't been for Nyizin's trick engine, you would be in the back of the pack, but as it is you have a fragile lead. Can you succeed and bring home the prize?

Well, can you?

REMO turns to the ysoki. "You can do this, Kis. Bring it through."

REMO turns back to his controls and takes aim one more time at the junkracer coming up behind them.

Attack vs KAC: 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (19) + 3 - 1 = 21

Bodo fires at whatever racer is about to beat us hit: 4 - 1 + 1d20 ⇒ 4 - 1 + (16) = 19 vs EAC

Xerric looks utterly surprised and holds up race paraphernalia in Kis' team colors in one hand and Velocity's in the other. She shrugs and tosses both over her shoulder before disappearing into the crowd and back to the pit.

Okay, that's twice my piloting post has vanished. I made one last night, but now it is gone.

Pilot (Kis): 1d20 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 4 = 13

You guys barely wade it!

Despite the weapons exploding all around her, Laboni hung on and Kis drove the racer, wobbling badly on its front wheel, across the finish line. Ratrod, zooming past a stalled Velocity, screamed across the line in second place. moments later, he was followed by Orsis and Nyizin. velocity managed to get his racer over the finish line in 5th place, and Lemgem's souped up engines gave out on the final curve, forcing her to push her junkracer across the finish line.

The crowd went wild at Laboni's victory, as the announcer shouted in disbelief. As Laboni wheeled the junkracer back to her pit area, she had a wild grin on her face. "We did it! well, you did most of the work, but that was amazing!" She looked over to see Ratrod fuming on his junkracer, staring hard at you. "I'll be right back."

Laboni went over to the ysoki and said something, sticking out her hand. Ratrod stared at it for a moment, then slapped it with his paw, saying something back and nodding towards Kis. The two were deep in conversation for a moment, then Laboni came trotting back over.

"I apologized for being a smartass, and told Ratrod I wanted to quit the Starfinders and do this full-time. He agreed to have me on the circuit, in mostly remote driving races, but only if my driver comes with me. What d'you say Kis? Want to take up junkrace piloting full time for a while? Just until I build up my own skills, right? I mean, the rest of you are welcome too. You were amazing, but he won't take me unless Kis comes to. We're a matched set. Please?"

Kis thought for a moment, then grinned. "Been waiting all my life for this, actually. let's do it!"

In a short time later, after you had helped Laboni stow her control rig and push the junkracer onto its transport, a race official wearing the uniform of one of Ratrod's Salvage Union mercs wheeled over a bin. "The boss sent over some extra gear for you, as a concession. He didn't think you'd mind payment in gear as well as credits." on top of the box were several credit sticks, and inside was a set of graphite carbon skin armor, a racing helmet, and some control couplings that looked to be state of the art. Laboni grabbed the helmet and couplings, and then snatched half the credsticks, shoving them into a pocket.

"The rest is yours. Thanks for helping me out back there. You not only saved my rep, but got me the job of my dreams. Thanks a lot!"

"Great job out there, guys." DJ pauses for a moment, "So, ah, who wants to tell Radaszam we lost to members?"

"I will tell him," REMO offers. As they're leaving the track, REMO pauses by the halfling and her trashed junkracer. With a completely deadpan expression, he calls to her, "I hear the Silkweavers are looking for spider herders. It may be more your speed." He then strolls nonchalantly away.

#micdrop

Great job team, now onto our next mission. And then Bodo high fives each of his teammates that are up for it.

So, where to now? You've done Acquisitives and Dataphiles. Two more left

Time to track down Ziggy, before heading into space. After we check in with Radaszam of course.

Sounds good to me. Check in with Radaszam and off to Ziggy.

Radaszam seemed happy with your success. Apparently he got a com from the Salvage Union, Ratrod's crew, expressing satisfaction with the outcome overall, and he was able to develop a rapport with them.

He still seemed exasperated by the whole thing, but your efforts went a long way towards calming the situation, improving the status of the Starfinders on Absalom Station, and gaining valuable contacts in the underworld. Not a bad afternoon's work!

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It didn't take long to find Zigvigix, though the shirren leader of the Exo-Guardinas wasn't in a lofty tower spire, or fine set of offices. Instead, you found the shirren sitting on a park bench in the Downlow, a poor, but trendy area near the spire. Garbage littered the area, and Zigvigix seemed to be staring at an undulating metal sculpture covered in graffiti. Zigvigix was heavily augmented, and was forking a snack of some kind of grub from a paper packet into its mandibles. At the tremor of your footsteps, it looked up and a squeaky voice spoke in each of your minds, "Hello new Starfinders, and Congratulations! My speech name is Zigvigix, but you can call me Ziggy if that would be easier for you. Care for some candied ricegrubs to celebrate your graduation?" He held the paper bag out for anyone who feels up to the challenge.

"When you are ready, I have two assignments for you. The first is to help me secure a new headquarters here on Absalom Station. I've been in talks with our station protectors, and the Stewards were kind enough to give us ownership of a building whose former occupants left station suddenly due to the presence of an alien entity that took over the building and kills anyone that steps inside. The Stewards say that if we want to deal with the alien presence and clear out the warehouse, then we can have it. Once the alien is gone, I have agreed to return the cargo housed there to the former owners, less a small salvage charge, and we can renovate it to our needs. So, go in there and dispose of the creature so we can get started!"

He stood, and it was clear from posture and the scarring on his chitin that the shirren had been grievously injured at some point in the recent past. "My second request is a bit mundane, but I would like for you to buy two..." It looked down at a credit stick in its hand and seemed to be thinking for a moment, then continued, "no, just one copy of the brand-new Strawberry Machine Cake album, Star Sugar Heartlove!! which is out today, and give it to Historia-7 when you see her.m She is the head of the Dataphiles, so you should meet her today, if you haven't already. I wish I could do this thing myself, but I...I have trouble standing for long periods of time these days. Thank you very much!"

Any questions before you go?

REMO shakes his head at the offered food. "I do not eat." He tilts his head slightly. "Music? Is it music about food?" He nods. "Yes, that is simple enough. Where is this warehouse located, and what is known about the creature residing within? Are there different steps we should take if it is intelligent rather than animalistic?"

DJ grabs several of the ricegrubs and begins munching happily. "Killer alien, huh? That shouldn't be too hard."

"Is today the Star Sugar Heartlove!! release day? Cool. I'd lost track of it."

Bodo speaks privately to the group. I say we five-finger discount a few copies of the Star Sugar Heartlove

"What?! You want to steal from musicians? No way."

Xerric takes a candied rice grub, "Thanks!

After hearing the current situation, "Well although I think the new Strawberry Machine Cake allbum is far, far more important - can you tell us anything about this alien entity? What makes it alien? Is it a group of human squatters?

She looks at DJ, "I think we're supposed to buy it."