[SFS] Dead Suns, Book 6: Empire of Bones (Inactive)

Game Master Nefreet

I know in my initial post I was only allowing Core Rulebook races and Kish, but this player is bringing his SRO that he played in the first 3 books before his campaign ended, so he'd actually be the only in-character connection that the group has to the broader storyline. And I thought it would be hilarious to have 4 Kish, with virtually no real understanding of tech, to work alongside a technological creature ^_^

But yes, please feel free to tweak anything you wish to make your characters enjoyable and effective.

Cool!
That's my dream, to play an SRO
Happy to be around one.
(used to love playing Droids in Star Wars)

Oh, trust me - I certainly wasn't complaining; I agree, having four tech-naive PCs, and an all-tech PC is an interesting dichotomy :-)

Hello all, I will be playing the SRO mechanic

May the 4th be with you ^_^

And also with you!

@Robotic Droid series-2, going with call sign RD-S2?

The 4th? NO! That's with us four.
Seeing how he is placed, it is more like the Return of the 5th!
Welcome!

*waves*

"Oh my word, who let him out..."

Alright, I have updated Thrym; with his new weapon build, he has the same damage output, but now targets EAC, and even when full attacking through cover, he still has a +15/+15 to hit, so I am a lot happier :-)

Will be gone for PaizoCon Thursday thru Tuesday ^_^

Hopefully can start that week I'm back. I'll do an introductory/bring-everyone-up-to-speed post probably Thursday next week.

If everyone can have their background posted in Gameplay by then should be an easy rollout!

I'm excited!

Have fun @ PaizoCon!

(I think all is up to date for Kush, I'll go over the character sheet to learn about the things he can do etc.)

Updated the skill matrix with Botamo's info

OFF TOPIC

Friends! This question is not on the topic of this game. But we have here gathered experienced players and GMs, so... If you can tell me how it works, I'd appreciate it! Many thanks )

Added my 2 copper

Answered.

Also, I'm working my 4th day out of 6 back-to-back twelve hour shifts. Apologies for the slow start =\

Feel free to banter in character ^_^

Thank you all! It's cool that JJ came and put everything in its place. I consider it a success :)

Oh. My. Gosh.

You all have the most perfect avatars for this game.

I did my best

Especially Kush aka Pallid Mask aka The King in Yellow ))
I'm playing Strange Aeons now (finishing book 5), can't stop thinking about this.
Something dark awaits us between the stars... for sure!

"NO... Not the worms, no!!!"

Just got home, right now, and was listening to a radio show about H. P. Lovecraft's life

Not even to the first combat yet and I'm rolling around laughing at this interaction!

Kush has Healer's Bond (connection ability) which is a "free" permanent Status spell.
He can cast it on three people (1 per 3 levels) so my idea is that it is always up, by default, on Botamo, Shandi & Thrym.
He will use it on our robotic friend if needed.

One thing though:
If a target leaves the plane (including via Drift travel) or dies, the spell ceases to function for that creature.
So, GM, does that mean that if Kush re-casts it (it is "free" - just costs a Standard - and "at will") when in the Drift, it lasts while in the Drift? (since that is the same plane)? And then just re-cast it when leaving? (I mean, of course, when Kush remains in the Drift with the target, and exits at the same time).

I have the link to the Status in my avatar bar.

If you're all leaving the plane together, as you hopefully always will be, I'd imagine it would stay active.

I have trouble finding information on touch spells in the CRB.
According to page 501 in Legacy Conversion, it says they are vs. EAC - does that apply to non-Legacy converted?
And what about "holding the charge", does that exist or not? (or do you just lose your spell if you miss?).
I've not been able to find much about it one way or the other.

It does target EAC.

I assumed you held the charge, but maybe I'm still thinking Pathfinder. I'll see if I can look it up later (or if anyone else finds it first, please feel free to post it here ^_^)

Did a quick search on my phone and it seems several people have asked but no definitive answers. My GM gut says it should be same as PF.

I will try to find out more.
I have no problem at all with losing the spell (or holding it!) in this game.
I am mainly trying to figure out how it works « legally » for me as a GM in SFS.

To clarify:

The order of operations that I am looking at is:

Gunner: Shoot Action (fires main gun)

Captain: Orders Action (inspires Gunner)

Gunner: Broadside action (fires all weapons in one arc)

So you are not, technically, taking the same action twice...

To clarify:

The order of operations that I am looking at is:

Gunner: Shoot Action (fires main gun)

Captain: Orders Action (inspires Gunner)

Gunner: Broadside action (fires all weapons in one arc)

So you are not, technically, taking the same action twice...

Oh, sure, yeah you could choose two of either "Shoot", "Fire at Will" or "Broadside".

But you still couldn't fire the same weapon more than once in a round.

Alright. I see where we are differing - I am not firing the same weapon twice, per se - I am firing it once, and then firing everything in an arc, that happens to include the same weapon.

If you can't do that, the ability is pretty useless (I mean, you might as well just have the Captain make their own gunnery action to shoot), but I am happy to accept that ruling.

I understand what you're saying, but the limitation isn't on actions; it's a limitation built into the weapon itself. If multiple gunners can't fire the same weapon more than once, I don't see how the same gunner could.

Likewise, if you had two forward weapons, you couldn't combine "Fire at Will" and "Broadside" to fire the same two weapons twice.

But I'll ask over in the Rules Questions Forum just to see if there's a different consensus.

EDIT: HERE is that thread.

I too would say the rules state that you cannot fire the same weapon twice even in this case.
"Orders" only gives a person another action, it does not say you can fire a weapon again. So there is no specific rule changing the general rule of not firing a weapon twice.

Just because the it you can't do that, the ability is super far from being useless.
You can have the Engineer both Divert (or Overpower) and Patch in the same round ; a Pilot pull a Stunt plus Full Power etc.

*shrugs*

I think we can agree to disagree, but as I said, I am going with the GM's ruling (since it is, after all, his game!).

I have not been shy in this, or any other thread, about my loathing of starship combat :-P

In Campaign-mode runs that I GM, I will still allow people to do it (acknowledging that I am *only* doing it because it is Campaign-mode, to avoid confusion).

Funny coincidence: I, too, loathed Starship Combat (which Botamo can confirm!), but for a period of exactly one year.

I then reattended the same annual Convention where I had played my first SFS session, and ran the Into the Unknown Quest series.

On the last day of the Convention I had two brand new players who'd been playing D&D all weekend and wanted to try something new. I turned on my "cheerful ambassador" mode and did my best combination of running the game, explaining the rules, and introducing them to Organized Play.

After the first of the two Starship Combats, one of the players stated that she really enjoyed it! I was sort of shocked, given my many months of griping and groaning (a point I never voiced at this table). But it was during the second of the two Starship Combats where I really changed my view:

She was teaching another new player how to do it! After the game concluded, she and her friend admitted they'd been apprehensive about playing Starfinder because they'd heard that Starship Combat was a drag, but they both agreed it was their favorite part of the Quests!

It really helped change my attitude towards Starship Combat, and I don't loathe it anymore.

I think your "one giant gun" strategy will still help wipe the floor with these guys, even if you can only fire it once a round ;-)

Funny coincidence: I, too, loathed Starship Combat (which Botamo can confirm!), but for a period of exactly one year.

Can confirm.

And ya I think were gonna be just fine with that 20d6 beast your firing. seems we'll average 2 crits a round. Either me or Kush can also fire the auxiliary weapons. I can also use Orders effectively on Shandi to get to do fun stuff like evasive flyby's or flyby back offs if someone gets on our flank.

Botamo is currently GMing Book 3 for me so I'm betting that bigger guns are going to be hard to come by when we get to Book 5 ^_^

Ahhh it just makes me feel less bad about the beefing up of encounters I’m planning later on hehe

So, gunnery phase in round 1 skipped?

Oh! No, I just skipped you. Sorry!

Feel free to attack with the forward Aeon Caster ^_^

Okay (just did not see the Gunnery phase announced - was not bolded).

It was a combination of distractions: waiting for Shandi to post, and Thrym posting out of order.

The result was me posting Helm Phase and Gunnery phase together, since Thrym had posted and I'd forgotten you were also a Gunner.

I realize you have a turret that can fire regardless of facing, and this fight will probably be over soon, but let's keep posting in order.

I can't think of another way to handle high-tier Starship Combat. Posting out of order works well at low level, but it breaks down after 6th.

Will post late tonight. Today is going to be a looong day >.>

As you can see, not only is Shandi good at hiding, but so am I too )) I'm sorry, I hope you have bot me in previous turns. Today I will read everything and return to the process.

I was just about to ask! Glad you're well!

Seconded; It’s happened to me before where you think your not gone for long and come back to lots of posts to catch up to.

Tell your friend that Kush has level 10.

My best pbp-combat performance ever *facepalm* Sorry!

Apologies to the rest of the party, but I have to be nice to Thrym. He's GMing my first session of PF2, and I don't want to risk my first PC dying from a Crit in the opening encounter ^_^