SFS 1-18 The Blackmoon Survey: Outpost II (Inactive)

Game Master Revvy Bitterleaf

The operative advances, a bit like Mec-01, and also takes position in the ruins. He tries to take cover and observes once the spell will be cast. This should work if there is a sniper.

As he walks ahead of the group, he listens to Ella's plan.

Stealth: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0

"Aye, Ella, 'tis seems a decent plan. Though I might as walk either right behind it or close to it, this armor and my natural--gait--seems to be unfit for hiding and sneaking."

With that he will wait for Ella to set up the illusion and walk ~10-15 feet behind it, maybe hopefully seeming like a 2nd security guard in a spread out patrol.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

Mute takes up a position with optimal fire after he finishes surveying the canyon and readies himself for the attack.

Stealth: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (12) + 14 = 26

Again, he does this after the take 20 if you allow both. I'm also good with the range as I got 250ft of sniper range.
I forget how cover works, if I take a penalty to full then I will go partial.
And pardon my earlier comment on my stealth bonuse. I wasn't aware of the nerf they did to the operative bonus.

I thought I had a post up earlier today, but turns out..I didn't. so trying again

@Stroidjumper; If you go for total cover you can't attack back since you are basically behind a wall and would try to fire through it to something on the other side you can't see

Stroid jumper joins the others inside the ruins

After you get ready Ella summons an holographic image of
I assume someone in your party - so it isn't someone just appearing out of no where - who isn't Baragh since he's walking behind the illusion and isn't someone who's still visible since that means there would be 2 of them and isn't Ella since she needs to see where the illusion goes so theoretically she's still visible as well..let's go with Stroidjumper
Stroidjumper sneaking around one of the ruins and out into the open.

Followed by Baragh a few steps behind who spots a slight movement way, way in front of you at the far edge of the canyon as a shot goes of

Going to rule that the move to set up the sniper range counts as studying the illusion since you are spending the entire move action looking at it closely

Since you are paying close attention you notice a small impact near fake Stroidjumpers feet and Baragh notices an impact a few feet away from his own feet.

init
You guys
Enemy

After seeing shots being fired and having a glimpse of what appears to be two snipers at the end of the canyon. Vecro starts running with high speed towards the red pillars trying to position himself in such a way that the red pillars would be between the snippers and himself. As a Solarian run, you can see that his movement leave a smudge of light behind him.

I am entering photon mode.

While running he screams toward the dwarf:

"Take cover Baragh!"

Given that I am running I am flat footed. Just putting it out there.

Is it possible to fire against the green one with a laser rifle from where I stand?

If I calculated it right we are above 700 ft from the snipers. Azimuth laser rifle has a range of 120 ft so we are 6-7 times beyond the range which makes the shot with a modifier -12 to -14. But if I recall correctly you may try to shoot up to 10 increments of a range. So you are in the range, just very improbable one.

Mute sees Vecro make a break for it. He thinks real hard but shakes his head with resolve.

He touches his comms, "I don't see any way around it, we all need to break for the pillars. Vecro and Baragh, head out your speed and take up defensive positions (Total Defense for the boost in AC against shots) while Mec, Kaeon and I make full speed for the pillars. Elle, my dear, I would be honored if you would continue to think about me and keep the illusion up as long as you can."

Mute prepares himself for the sprint of his life once he sees Vecro and Baragh take their places.

Once the others have begun moving out, Ella leaves the safety of the ruins and walks out towards the pillars. She pushes the holographic halfling ahead of her until the spell fails. Then she begins running out towards the pillars.

Even though Baragh is a dwarf, he has upgraded his legs to get 30' movement. Running allows for 4x movement, so that would be 120' movement. These squares are 30' so that would be 4 squares of movement, with me being flat footed. If I am wrong, please put me wher you feel I should be located.

Baragh notices the puff of dust from the ground as the sniper missed.

" Let them focus on me....get to where you can attack them!"

With that, Baragh decides that beating feet against the ground is the best way to engage them.

Reading back, I didn't see what the white circle was on the main large map....do we know?

@Mec-01; what Vecro said. If you are wondering if the red stones in between block line of effect;

Five tall, tapering stone stalagmites rise from the ground like fingers. Holes varying from pinprick shafts to fist-sized gaps mar the surfaces of each digit. The western rock is the shortest, at roughly fifteen feet in height, while the remaining stones reach about thirty feet into the air.

Game mechanics;
The snipers are almost 120 feet up so until you get closer to the stones they (and you) can fire over them. Once you get next to them -
Two Medium creatures or one Large creature should be able to gain total cover from each of the larger fingers, while additional creatures seeking shelter at the same finger can benefit only from partial cover.

@Baragh; the circle is to indicate where the strange mass near the base of one of the rocky protrusions is (discernible even from a distance, its coloring different than the reddish stone and sallow dust of the canyon).

Looking forward Stroidjumper (or possibly Mec-01) sees that the unidentified mass at the bottom of the red pillars looks very much like a pile of 3 bodies I've added a circle to the overview map with the body pile's location

Vecro starts running with high speed towards the red pillars trying to position himself in such a way that the red pillars would be between the snippers and himself. As a Solarian run, you can see that his movement leave a smudge of light behind him.

Baragh notices the puff of dust from the ground as the sniper missed.
With that, Baragh decides that beating feet against the ground is the best way to engage them.

Once the others have begun moving out, Ella leaves the safety of the ruins and walks out towards the pillars. She pushes the holographic halfling ahead of her until the spell fails. Then she begins running out towards the pillars.

Mute runs forward full speed Even when he sees that the others are not following his suggestion of taking a standard action to to go full defensive and just straight out run?

Moves
Baragh - started 20 ft in, full round ran 120 - now at 140
Vecro - started in ruins, full round ran 120 - now at 120
Ella - started in ruins concentrated as a standard to move illusion, 1 move of 30 - now at 30
Ilussion of Stroidjumper at max range of 60 now
Stroidjumper - started in ruins, full round run - now at 120?

Still go act
Kaoen, Mec-01
Enemies

Yes, 120ft. Plus full cover on arrival if possible.

Putting Combat tracking in activity, the android tries to hit the green sniper.

Laser rifle azimuth: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 5 + 1 = 21

Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 1

I let you estimate the minus.

The operative remains in the covered protection of the ruins.

Kaeon remains in the covered protection of the ruins I'll assume full cover

Putting Combat tracking in activity, the android tries to hit the sniper in the green shirt
From your current location with a azumith laser rifle with a range of 120ft that's a -12 to hit
but his shot hit the edge somewhere far belong his intended target

The opponents divide their fire, one shooting at Baragh
To hit EAC Baragh: 1d20 + 8 - 6 ⇒ (10) + 8 - 6 = 12 vs flatfooted
while the other shoots at the rapid closing Vecro
To hit EAC Vecro: 1d20 + 8 - 6 ⇒ (11) + 8 - 6 = 13 vs flatfooted

Barghs armor resists the hit but Vecro runs straight into the laser
F (laser) damage Vecro: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
but the impact is minimal

init
You guys
Enemies

Damage:
Vecro: 2

Moves
Baragh - started 20 ft in, full round ran 120 - now at 140
Vecro - started in ruins, full round ran 120 - now at 120
Ella - started in ruins concentrated as a standard to move illusion, 1 move of 30 - now at 30
Ilussion of Stroidjumper at max range of 60 now
Stroidjumper - started in ruins, full round run - now at 120
Kaeon - in ruins - at 0
Mec-01 - in ruins - at 0

Solarian didn't even slow down after being hit by the laser. You could see that his solarian armor consumed the shoot and didn't let it out. Or maybe you didn't see it, who knows.

Vecro keeps running like crazy, pike wielded in his hand and he reaches the second pillar where he finds total cover behind it.

Mec-01 you are most likely hitting only on 19 or 20 from such distance.

The android decides to run forward to the next cover.

The operative stays still under cover. But the things will run soon.

Baragh just keeps pounding the ground as fast as his augmented legs will take him.

With open coms to his allies, you can tell that Baragh doesn't seem to be out of breath much. "I once heard a quote that was supposedly said by a famous dwarf...something about 'We dwarves are natural sprinters, very dangerous over short distances'...HA! With these legs made for sprinting, I PROVE that!"

With that he covers another 120' at a dead run....pun intended.

Being closer, Baragh just barely keeps a side eye to the pile of bodies, especially if it starts to move.

Running up beside Vecro at full speed for full cover, Mute lets out a giggle and whispers, "Well we're having fun now."

Please tell me that I'm in range next round.

Ella sprints to the closes pillar to try and take cover.

Run 120 feet

Mute I think you run 1 box to far, as you were one 30 ft square behind me.

Vecro laughs at the dwarf joke and speaks with a voice a bit tired: "Mute, how many bullets do you have in your rifle? I am trying to count when they will have to reload. Lookout at those pillars, we might be facing more than only 2 snipers."

Vecro keeps running like crazy, pike wielded in his hand and he reaches the second pillar where he finds total cover behind it.

Stroidjumper runs next to Vecro at full speed for full cover

Ella ignores her hologram and sprints full out.

Both Mec-01 and Kaeon leave the safety of the ruins behind as the sprint as fast as they can.

Baragh covers another 120' at a dead run....pun intended, but doesn't notice any of the bodies in the pile moving

Both enemies take aim at Baragh and fire their blasters
To hit EAC Baragh: 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 8 - 2 = 24 vs flatfooted
To hit EAC Baragh: 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 8 - 2 = 16 vs flatfooted
According to your stat line that means both hit vs flatfooted EAC
F (Laser) damage for Baragh: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
F (Laser) damage for Baragh: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

init - start of round 4
You guys
Enemies

Damage:
Vecro: 2
Baragh: 11

Moves
Baragh - started at 140 - now at 260 - flatfooted
Vecro - started at 120 - now at 240 - full cover behind pillar
Ella - started at 30 - now at 150 - flatfooted
Stroidjumper - started at 120 - now at 240 - full cover
Kaeon - started at ruins - now at 120 - flatfooted
Mec-01 - started ruins - now at 120 - flatfooted

Stroidjumper should be near the pillar as well with 2 full runs, there's a slight issue with diagonals but at this range let's just ignore that for now

Please tell me that I'm in range next round.

.. I assume within range of your sniper rifle you are 16*30 ft away from them. Which mean that if you spend a move to get your sniper range of 250 you are shooting at them with a -2 from your current location

Vecro after taking a few deep breaths makes a run for it to the last cover. You can see that his whole body starts to emanate with light and energy sometimes cracking the cover of darkness that surrounds his armor.
Full attunement now.

After getting behind the stone, he says through the comms: "That was their 3rd shot."

Revvy, correct. The armor I changed into for this mission is Defiance series (+5/+8), with a +1 from Dex, that makes me 16/19 without being flat-footed. So you hit with both.

With two solid hits hitting him in the chest, Baragh makes a slight detour to near the dead bodies, still mostly running dead sprint.

The goal was to get to a rock where at least one of the snipers couldn't get a bead on me (i.e. shouldn't be able to get a shot). It looks like I would still have to move more than 2x move, but less than 3x, so I would still be "running" and flat footed to the north sniper. I believe the south most can't do it without a decent reposition. If I am not correct, then I would have moved more south and try to use the southern face of the northern red rocks to keep their LOS down.

Over the coms Baragh suggests an idea. "If ye all gave me covering fire, I might be able to get up to at least one of them to keep them from firing on ye all when we move up. What do ya all think about that?"

Mute grits his teeth. Frustrated that the enemy has gotten so many shots off and his companions have taken some. He comms to Mech and Kaeon, "Can you two lay down fire for the fighters? I'm taking one of these chumps out.

Mute takes a knee. Lining up a shot, he let's out a breath and squeezes the trigger on his rifle.

Laser vs EAC on Green Sniper: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 3 - 2 = 111d8 ⇒ 3

The android runs until he arrives to the stone.

The operative follows the android in his run and also arrives at the red stone.

Ella races to join Mute at the base of one of the pillars. She unslings her laser rifle and prepares to lay down cover fire.

Vecro after taking a few deep breaths makes a run for it to the last cover.

With two solid hits hitting him in the chest, Baragh makes a slight detour to near the dead bodies, still mostly running dead sprint, before taking cover behind a pillar.

Mute takes a knee. Lining up a shot, he let's out a breath and squeezes the trigger on his rifle. But his shot goes up too high and overshoots his intended target by a bunch of feet.

The android known at Mec-01 runs until he arrives to the stone.
The operative named Kaeon follows the android in his run and also arrives at the red stone where both of them take up cover.

Ella races to join Mute at the base of one of the pillars. She unslings her laser rifle and prepares to lay down cover fire.

With everyone safely huddled behind the pillars you don't notice any shots being fired your way.

init
You guys
Enemies

Over coms, "Can anybody lay down covering fire? Not to actually hit these pronks, but at least to allow me to cover the distance so I can get to them...so you all can advance?"

Baragh looks over to the pile o'bodies. Wondering something.....

GM, with my strength (18) and my dwarven ability to still move at speed when encumbered, could I pick up one of the bodies to use as an impromptu shield to give me cover?

Mec-01 takes his rifle in hand and, after having shown him his intention, says to Baragh: Now

And his fires at the green enemy, having cover from one side.

Laser rifle azimuth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Kaeon feels he has to act the same to allow Baragh to run forward. He also fires against the green one to get a total cover from the red one.

thunderstrike sonic pistol: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Mute spits seeing his shot misses and runs forward full speed past the pullers and falls prone(+4 AC), readying his rifle for the next shot.

Ella follows suit, trying to lay down cover fire for Baragh to move forward.

Covering Fire (DC15): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

GM, with my strength (18) and my dwarven ability to still move at speed when encumbered, could I pick up one of the bodies to use as an impromptu shield to give me cover?

I think it's outside the rules, but sounds somewhat feasible to me. So let's go with the rule of cool..as long as you don't attempt to run with it (running while holding out something in front of you doesn't seem like it would be very effective) and I think it would be most effective if you'd use 2 arms to do the carrying, let's say if you want to use both arms +2 bonus, if you only sling it over one shoulder and use one arm to steady it for +1 bonus - and I'll even let you run since your a dwarf ;).

I'm fine with you doing so, but don't expect other GM's to give you the same bonus in the future

Also, just to give you a bit more of description on the bodies;

The bodies of the three security officers lie sprawled near the base of one of the stone fingers. A quick glance at the bodies reveals that they’ve been picked clean of useful gear, including environmental protection armor. The resulting exposure to the elements has puckered their skin and allowed the toxic atmosphere to swell portions of the bodies with necrotic tumors.

Mec-01 fires at one of the enemies but forget about cover working both ways and his shot goes of too much to the side as he has to avoid the pillar he's next to.

Kaeon fires at the same enemy but has the same learning curve as Mec-01

Mute spits seeing his shot misses and runs forward full speed

Dropping prone is a swift action in Starfinder, you can't run (= full action which doesn't allow any other actions including swift) and take a swift to drop prone. ..unless you use run as a description and only used a single move (I can't remember where you started on the map, but I think you were behind one of the most right pillars..so that's more then 1 move)

Ella provides excellent cover fire
+2 AC vs a selected ally = Baragh vs next attack against him

init
Baragh - to confirm his action (I'll NPC Vecro in to move up behind Baragh if he hasn't posted himself yet)
Stroidjumper to check if he ran full speed ahead and is now the closest party member to the enemies ..or did a single move and dropped prone somewhere else

Baragh moves over to one of the bodies, mentally saying a prayer to Iomedae for the poor soul and a prayer to the body for the protection it is about to convey and promising to return the bodies to the base camp with full honors.

With that he drops his reaction cannon--remembering to come back to get it once the threat is over--and hefts the body up in a 2 handed grip. With that he attempts to move farther, going for the most northern sniper.

"Keep up the covering fire, going for the north one. Once I get close enough start focusing on the southern one, as the north one will have me to deal with."

So, Move Action to move to the bodies (probably at least 5' away, if not 10' or more), Free Action to drop the reaction cannon, then Standard Action to pick up the body in a 2 handed grip. I am definitely visible to the northern sniper, looks like the southern one is completely up to your call.

Baragh is mightily surprised as he drops his reaction cannon and goes to pick up one of the bodies to use as an improved shield to find out that someone placed a set of improvised explosives near the bodies which is triggered by his proximity.

Fire damage: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 1) = 8 (reflex save DC 12 for half). It explodes in a 20ft radius which is just Baragh right now.

And to add insult to injury one of the snipers who was waiting for someone to break cover also takes a shot
Readied attack To hit KAC Baragh: 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (5) + 8 - 2 = 11

But the sudden explosion seems to be distracting as his shot misses by a few yards

init
Vecro Stroidjumper to confirm action

Reflex: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

Sigh....using my shirt reroll, +2 for being 2 nova GM
Reflex: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15 So 4 pts

Baragh is able to dodge most of the blast...most.
"Yargh....these snipers are getting me VERY mad...."

With that he picks up the biggest 'piece' of body (if the bodies got shredded that is) and gets ready to head forward.

Damn, I thought falling prone was a free action but oh well. Full action for full speed but I guess I will loose 30ft and only run behind the piller. I was near Elle to start.

Vecro seeing what have happened runs toward Baragh to pull him back behind the cover.

This is tricky as this is not fully double move, so if I can I would like to reach out the dwarf and pull him behind the pillar. Up to GM if I can this turn. I am leaving my icon on a place to determine if this is possible. If not than I am moving next Baragh, and stay fully covered to give support if needed, next turn.

I was thinking about mentioning the bodies getting shredded to be honest, but that seemed mean ;) Also it doesn't mention anywhere that the bodies get damaged by the explosion..so you're just holding a slightly more blackened corpse now

init
You guys

@Vecro there's some realy weird stuff with moving party members in that as far as I can tell until they drop unconscious it takes combat maneuvers (or the use of special powers and things) to move them which I'd rather not get into since why would he resist you trying to move him - but he's still very bulky and heavy, etc so let's go with you moving next to him and staying fully covered.

Damn, I thought falling prone was a free action

If it makes you feel better it is in Pathfinder and I used to think so as well..when I played through this scenario I tried to do the same thing ;)

Yeah I was certain that our dwarf was thrown in the air. What is more I wrote my response some time and didn't see that other people posted. So scratch that. Let's assume I stayed behind cover waiting for the right time to move.

However an image of dwarf carrying a burned body, trying to move forward while a solarian pulls him the other direction could be funny :D

Just to start fresh;

init
You guys
Enemies