[SFS] GM Berggen's SFS-01-01: The Commencement

Game Master Berggen

From his vantage point half-hung on the hole in the ceiling, Gardam yells out. "Morvruul! To your left! Wait, no, my left! Under the bucket! What, can't you see it's tracks? They're right there!"

Morvruul his shoulders, all of them. "I'd toss a grenade if I had one. But, I am no hunter. I am merely a merchant."

Jelly attempts to use the debris around the room to fashion a cozy nest, and tries to make it similar to the nest they found in the wall. She explains quietly as she works, "Seems it likes enclosed spaces. Maybe we can make it feel more at ease by making it a new nest that isn't in the wall. If this works, it could even double as a carrier."

Nest Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

Great idea Jelly.
Children what does it like to eat?
Everyone please be calm the creature is panicked and may attack if provoked. And I think uncovering its nest may have provoked it already.
Jelly when you have the new nest ready lets try to lure it with food to it.

Jelly hearing Gardam's frantic directions builds the nest very close to where the creature is currently hiding. As she finishes, she notices that the creature seems to be eyeing the nest curiously.

"It eats everything!" the kids shout from the other room.

Hearing the kids' comment, Jelly backs away from the new nest while trying to look as un-tasty as possible.

Funfreemy doesn't have the appropriate skills for this situation, so he cheers his allies on.

Gardam climbs down from the ceiling. "I will attempt to speak blargh to it," the kish says very seriously. He crouches behind the nest and tries to impersonate the thing's call as best he can.

Survival to tame: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Gardam approaches a little too quickly and the creature burrows deeper into the pile of bins.

"It would seem that you need to brush up on your 'blargh'." Morvruul suggests to Gardam.

Recalling that Fitch had requested the party to report in, the witchwyrd types out a quick text to Fitch, using his extra set of hands. The message states, "Unknown, mouth-based life-form discovered on E-Deck. Apparent source of sabotage. It reportedly eats everything--with the apparent exception of children. Shall we exterminate with extreme prejudice?"

You receive a quick video message from Fitch. She looks alarmed. "Exterminate!? No! This is a great opportunity to make new contact with alien life. Try to capture it safely, and we'll have some xenobiologists check it out!"

"Capture?" Morvruul replies, seemingly surprised. Then, he nods knowingly. "Oh yes, I see now. Vivisection."

The witchwyrd picks up a piece of debris and with one of his many hands, he dangles it towards the nest. "Oooh, Chompers!" he hollers towards the pile of detritus. "I don't speak, 'blargh', but I do have bait!"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

Nikon would like to use his token spell to create another one of the creature just in from of the Jelly's make shift container. Not sure if token spell can do that though

Gardam has now flattened himself to the ground behind the enclosure and has stuck a finger through the nest into the enclosure. He wiggles the finger around attempting to recreate a worm or lure.

Survival: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

I don't believe these rolls are relevant at this point, but I have nothing else and think Gardam's stubborness is funny.

Morvruul is able to coax the creature into the cage with bait. The fake looking copy of the creature created by Nikon's token spell seems to ammuse the creature, as it starts to chuckle. Realizing the lures have worked, Gardam quickly closes the door on the cage.

At this point the starfinders are able to check the rest of the area, finding no other threats.

Kieu Kein shows up just a few minutes after you've captured the creature happy to see his children safe and sound. "I can't thank you enough for making sure my children were safe!" He walks over to Morvruul and enthusiastically uses two hands to shake any free hand he can find. "It's not much, but I want you to have this!" After digging in a pocket, he produces a mk1 ring of resistance.

You are able to send an all clear signal to Fitch, who will send a crew down to repair the damage and some xenobiologists down to collect the creature.

Great job team. We are becoming quite skilled at this. Now what do we do?

Just one ring? Does this creature not realize that I have four hands? Morvruul muses to himself. Waiving the Starfinder engineer away dismissively, the witchwyrd begins to frantically search the room for any new or advanced technologies, but frowns when he realizes that the most exciting prospects have been gnoshed on by "Chompers".

As he walks by the caged-creature, the witchwyrd sticks his tongue out at the alien creature. However, as per tradition, his mouth is completely covered and thus, the gesture likely goes unseen.

When the elf poses his question, Morvruul responds, "I believe we have a vesk to see. Perhaps, he will provide us with more profitable opportunities."

"I have heard these vesk are mighty warriors. Hopefully he will have bigger game for us to hunt. The feather duster was big but not dangerous enough for my tastes," Gardam says reflectively.

The Starfinders make their way to the headquarters of the Obsidian Spiders. A receptionist sends you to Radazam's office to meet him.

The plain white doors of the office slide open to reveal a stark, dimly lit room. The chamber is bleak and expressionless in its emptiness—no vanities line its smooth black walls, and no signs of use mar its smooth black furniture. The only occupants of the suite are a bug-eyed tadpole wriggling in a glowing blue aquarium and a reptilian vesk seated behind an onyx desk. The vesk gestures to a number of chairs in front of him, his features sharply illuminated by the light of his desk’s green holoscreen. “The new graduates,” he greets, in a low and pleasant voice. “Good day. I am Radaszam, though since you are here, I should hope you already knew.

“I trust you are aware of our Society’s traditions, so I will cut to the point. I have a minor situation that needs resolution. One of our members, a human named Laboni, had a rather public altercation with a junk scavenger from the Spike. You might be more familiar with the scavenger than I, actually; he is a ysoki who fancifully calls himself Ratrod. I am told he runs a popular racing competition that has, hmm, several hundreds of thousands of viewers on the station’s infosphere. For some reason, Laboni felt the need to tell him that any ‘real’ mechanic could easily beat the garbage that Ratrod and his associates slap together. Now that Ratrod has issued an infosphere-wide demand that she race him and prove it, Laboni doubts she can back that claim up.

“Embarrassing, isn’t it? Not really the sort of troublemaker that suits our Society. Perhaps she would be better suited to the bottom of a trash compactor... Well, we cannot afford to throw her out, not after so many Starfinders were lost in the Scoured Stars. Besides, we can’t let people think we are so weak that we can’t control our own members, or that we cannot stand up to a scrapyard junker. No, I would like you to assist Laboni in winning this race. Show our detractors that even the least of our Society is not someone to be trifled with.”

Radazam slides a pack of pit crew badges over the table. Each of the badges is marked as the Starfinder Society team.

“Now that Ratrod has issued an infosphere-wide demand that she race him and prove it, Laboni doubts she can back that claim up.

Ah! So, the vesk wants us to terminate the ysoki? Simplistic, but effective. Morvruul muses as he listens to the vesk's explanation.

“Embarrassing, isn’t it? Not really the sort of troublemaker that suits our Society."

Interesting! So, he wants us to terminate the human, too? Duplicitous, but necessary. The witchwyrd subconsciously rubs two of his hands together.

“Perhaps she would be better suited to the bottom of a trash compactor..."

So, make it look like an "accident"? Challenging, but doable.

“No, I would like you to assist Laboni in winning this race. Show our detractors that even the least of our Society is not someone to be trifled with."

What?! The Society will expend resources to back up the unsupported claims of its most junior of agents?! A smile forms, unseen, upon Morvruul's face.

Most fortunate, then, that I, Morvruul, am now among those junior agents. I need only make some boast, make known some whim, and the whole might of the Starfinder Society will be sent to back me up!

"Bwahahahahahahahahaha!" laughs Morvruul as he accepts one of the crew badges from the vesk. "Of course, we will accept the task. After all, what won't the Society do to help one of its own?"

Gardam, too, is confused as to the motivation. "So you want us to not reprimand or punish the hot-head who has hastily overcommitted the warriors of the Society to a frivolous game, but instead to... aid her in backing up her foolish claim?" Gardam shakes his head. "On Istamak, such foolishness was a way to be exiled from a warband and become a lump in an arochor. This station truly is a silly place."

Nikon recalls what information he has on this ratrid
Culture: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

Nikon recalls hearing about an upcoming junkrace. Apparently some nobody mouthed off to Ratrod, the reigning junkrace champion. People know that trash talking really gets under Ratrod’s fur and wonder whether there will be more harsh words exchanged before the race.

Radazam nods approvingly to Morvruul, before letting out a sigh and looking sternly at Gardam. "You see, if one of your hunters has hurt themselves, you tend to their wounds to help them heal and get back to the hunt. The Starfinders have a reputation for looking after our own, and it gives our enemies pause before they pick a battle with any Starfinder. Laboni is still practically a child, so this time we come to her aid. Understood?"

Jelly nods in agreement. "Back home, when the small orcs began their raids, we learned quickly that showing weakness to the enemy was an effective way to put a target on our backs. No matter our disagreements and internal conflict, when we faced a troop of marauding small orcs, we were one. So let's show this Ratrod the strength of the Starfinders" Jelly is ready to go whenever.

To herself, Jelly thinks, And I can't wait to take a look a these "junk" racers. They can build whole horseless carts out of trash? Gotta see it to believe it.

Gardam pauses thoughtfully at Radazam's chastisement. "Protecting children against their own foolishness is wise. I submit to you as the superior mind and warleader - and will endeavor to teach this child the same." Gardam kneels before Radazam briefly, before standing back up. "Now - to defend the Society from it's own members' foolishness!"

Ok let’s go help our fellow Starfinder
More like save them from their own stupidity

The starfinder make their way down to the racetrack in Botscrap. The track winds through a junkyard. Some early onlookers have already arrived, camping out on prime spots on top of the junk piles with the best views.

As you approach the pit crew entrance a robot approaches you. "Hello pit crew. Please listen to these rules and then agree to a complete waiver of all legal rights in the case of accidental death or dismemberment during or before the race. Racers and their pit crews are to build and improve their vehicles from the available scrap around the racetrack. Vehicles built at previous junkraces can return. Racers can fire upon other competitors during the race, but firing into the audience is grounds for immediate disqualification. Racer weapons must be nonlethal and may affect only opponents’ vehicles. Your silence has been registered as acceptance of terms of service. Please proceed inside." And with that the pit crew doors slide open.

Inside you see half a dozen junk racers in stalls around a bay. A young woman wearing a lab coat over a paisly dress sees you and waves. She stands by a vehicle that resembles a dune buggy. When you approach her she sighs a little "I'm Laboni and you must be the Starfinder Agents Radazam sent! Thank you so much for coming. I seem to have really gotten myself into a pickle here. These other racers have such nice looking racers, so I think I'm pretty outclassed right now."

Looking around, you see the other racers.

• *Lemgem, a gnome with blue hair covered in piercings, tattoos, and augmentations. Her round racer resembles a beetle of some sort, and looks heavily armored.
  
• *Nyizin, a scarred winterborn rhypohrian. Her racer resembles a pickup truck and bristles with cannons.
  
• *Orsis, a stoic dark-haired damaya lashunta. His racer has oversized tires and heavy plates strapped to the roll cage.
  
• *Velocity, a beautiful android with silver hair and skin. Their racer is aerodynamic and looks a little too clean for the junkrace.
  
• *Ratrod, an ysoki with mottled gray-and-white fur. His racer is bright orange and has a heavy duty rollcage.

The race starts in a couple of hours. Characters will have time for five actions apiece. Obvious actions available to the characters are to Improve Laboni's Junkracer (skills that can be used for this include computers, engineering, perception, and physical science), Investigate the Enemy (skills that can be used for this include sense motive and engineering), Sabotage (this would require both stealth and technical knowhow to execute. It is also strictly against the rules...), Socializing (a character may forego any of the checks above to socialize with their opponents).

Jelly pats Laboni reassuringly. "No sweat, friend. We seem outclassed for now. Let's see if I can do anything to fix that."

Jelly attempts to improve Laboni's racer.

Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Jelly finds a really good looking piece of junk. It's so nice as a matter of fact that it's not really junk.

Laboni's Junkracer:
Speed: 40'
EAC: 10
KAC: 12
Attack: energy weapon (-4 to piloting)
Modifiers: +2 piloting, -3 attack

Jelly can improve the speed by 5', either modifier by +1, either AC by +2, install an energy weapon or kinetic weapon, or increase the penalty an existing weapon applies by -2.

"The easiest way to win a race is to eliminate any competition." notes Morvruul. Holding a copy of the racing roster, three of Morvruul's hands immediately form into fists and begin to shake.
"Nyizin... so we meet again, eh?" he mutters quietly.

Unless someone attempts to stop him, Morvruul plans to go full-on sabotage. Undoubtedly, not the best plan, but it is totally Morvruul.

Gardam, having no clue about what is happening in the junkyard, starts to look for the biggest, shiniest pieces of scrap around.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

"Is this good?" he yells from a few hundred yards away, holding up what looks like a piece of a spaceship wing. It is not, in fact, good.

"The easiest way to win a race is to eliminate any competition." notes Morvruul.

"Uh, if by 'eliminate any competition' you mean be 'be so fast that no one is close to being competition', then I agree." Jelly is starting to think that Morvruul might not have the most accurate moral compass, but she's determined to give him the benefit of the doubt because she wants to think the best of the Starfinders.

Jelly will improve the speed of the racer.

Morvruul eyes the dwarf. Does she suspect? he ponders. In an effort to not arouse suspicion, he looks over the junior Starfinder's junkracer.

Engineering to Improve Speed: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

"Clearly, a re-routing of the fuel injection system would result in a significant increase in efficiency." he notes quickly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an old... acquaintance... to see to."

Funfreemy will try to upgrade the ships speed as much as possible
perception: 5d20 ⇒ (2, 2, 9, 2, 17) = 32 Add +5 to each check.
7, 7, 14, 7 and 22 to upgrade ship. Wow, such low rolls on the junkracer, hopefully we have a chance.

Looking around at the piles of materials around her, Jelly shakes her head in amazement. They call all this 'junk'? It's so useful still! The Pact Worlds are even more advanced than I thought if this stuff is considered waste. I'm gonna post a picture on Spacestagram. People back home are not gonna believe this.

As Jelly continues to work on the racer, she strikes up a conversation with Laboni. "So, are you excited to pilot this thing once we get it blazing fast?"

Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

I guess trying to converse distracted her too much XD

Nikon inspect the competition to see if he can find any glaring weaknesses. Then he will help Jelly with improvements to the racer.
Ratrod and Lemgems cars if I get the choice
While looking at our competition I noticed...
Engineering: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Engineering: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
I expect these three improvements I made will help us win
Engineering: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16
Computers: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
Physical Science: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Morvruul heads off, believing that he has an old score to settle with Nyizin. Trying to avoid watchful eyes, the witchwyrd moves silently.
Stealth: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Oh, wow! He did it!

Using his many hands, the Starfinder turned saboteur attempts to decouple the capacitors from the junk racer's gyro-stabilizers.
Engineering to Add -4 Penalty to Piloting by Nyizin: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Oh, well. It was worth a try.

Believing himself to be successful, the "merchant" returns to his fellow Starfinders. "Nyizin will no longer be a threat to our success." he declares. "My only regret is that she will not know, until it is far too late, that it was I, Morvruul, who brought about her ruin! Oh, to see her face as her vehicle crashes and burns alongside the track! Bwahahahahahahaha!"

"Now," he says, rubbing a couple of his hands together, "what do we know of the other competition?"

Nikon surveys the competition and looking at the opponent racers he determines their speeds and weaponry.

*Lemgem's racer has a speed of 50', and a basic kinetic weapon.
*Nyizin's racer has a speed of 50', a basic energy weapon, and an upgraded kinetic weapon.
*Orsis's racer has a speed of 50', and a basic kientic weapon.
*Velocity's racer has a speed of 45', and a basic kinetic weapon.
*Ratrod's racer has a speed of 55', and a basic energy weapon.

The Starfinders work hard to improve Laboni's racer, improving the speed from 40' to 65' (one from Funfreemy, one from Jelly, one from Morvruul, two from Nikon).

Jelly has 3 actions remaining, Gardam has 4 actions remaining, Morvruul has 3 actions remaining.

When Jelly asks Laboni about driving, Laboni lets out a little squeak. Jelly did notice that there's a remote control module in the car that could be used to pilot the racer from the pit area though.

"If anyone needs my help tinkering with anything, let me know. Otherwise, I'm going to see how much juice I can get out of this engine."

Engineering to increase speed: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

"From what you have told me, our vehicle should be plenty fast enough to win this race." notes Morvruul. "That is, provided, the other racers don't blow our racer to bits."

"If most of the other racers have kinetic weapons, then I suppose I should install some reinforced plating." suggests the merchant. "That is, before I go and deal with the others."
Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

The witchwyrd is so intent on eliminating the competition, that he fails to make sure that the rivet gun is fully-loaded, before he uses it to add the plating to the junk racer. On a break, he goes and tries to get a sense as of potential strengths and, more importantly, weaknesses that Lemgem may have.
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

Believing the gnome to be a suitable target, Morvruul approaches her. "Greetings, Lemgem, is it?" he says in a saccharine voice. "My name is Morvruul. I am but a humble merchant, hoping to find potential sponsors for my goods. I understand that you are a racer of some reknown?"

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

It takes a little bit, but Gardam is eventually able to get a way better idea of what "useful" parts are, and begins to bring over actual usable materials.

I'm not clear on what we've already improved, but I'd get our speed up to something absurd and then start stacking our ACs.

Well if my calculations are correct and they usually are we should have the fastest vehicle in the race now. However do we have a capable driver? I am an average pilot at best do we have someone better who can drive the car remotely leaving our driver to worry about the weapons?

I assume its piloting skill to operate the racer remotely. Can the weapons be fire remotely too? By a different person? Is this considered cheating?

"If it's a race, more speed doesn't hurts, but I suppose getting hit does."

Engineering to increase KAC: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
Engineering to increase EAC: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

"If riding one of these things is at all similar to strangling out an arochor while it tries to shake you, then this should be an easy feat for me to accomplish," Gardam says confidently.

Funfreemy chimed in in discussion that me and Morvruul have +7s each, so one of us? I think I'm probably a strong gunner at +4, too.

Will everyone have something to do during the race? Should we just pack the ship full of guns with the three successes I got?

As Morvruul approaches Lemgem he hears metal blasting from her boombox as she wrenches on her vehicle. "Merchant? Sponsors huh? You realize this is a junk race where we all just pick up crap from the ground and weld it onto our racers. Honestly, I'm just here to have rock out and have fun." Morvruul gets the sense that with her carefree attitude, it might be possible to convince her to ally with the Starfinders or goad her into making risky gambles to try to beat the Starfinders.

"If you can take junk and make it seem of value, then you could easily sell anything. Most consumers are simpletons, really." Morvruul comments. "Tell you what, you get that junk racers going as fast as it can go, show my potential customers that you really know how to 'rocket out', as I think you put it. I don't care how you do it. Weld on some starship boosters, throw a grenade in the fuel tank, think outside the box."

"But, if you can make yourself the fastest gnome on the Station, even for a moment, then you'll have proven that you can be a true asset to my business and I can parlay that success into a VERY lucrative promotional deal for you. You will have your choice of any future ornamentarions or augmentations that you can imagine." the witchwyrd suggests.

"What do you say?" he asks with a broad, obscured smile.

Bluff: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

Satisfied in gnowing that the gnome will gno longer be a gnuisance, Morvruul swings by Ratrod's pit, to consider what threat the champion's racer may pose.

Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Armed with in information about the chief opponent, he returns to the other Starfinders in order to make final adjustments to the racer based on his observation.

Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

"Trying to get sponsors into this scene? Hah... Well, it seems like as good of a day as any to take a risk on moving up in the world. I'll show your sponsors something to be proud of!" Lemgem cackles a bit before getting back to wrenching on her machine.

As Morvruul examine's Ratrod's machine, he realizes that Rathad has a capacitor system that can absorb an energy attack against his racer and turn it into a little boost. Additionally, it has decent armoring. EAC of 12, KAC of 14

Could I get a clarification on what Gardam and Morvruul have improved with their most recent actions?

Based upon what he has learned, Morvruul decides to add a kinetic weapon to Laboni's racer.

Sorry, work's been kicking my ass. Let's put an additional energy weapon, one more boost to speed (to get us to 80, right?), and a boost to EAC.