[SFS]Vamp By Day's PbP 1-31, Treading on History's Folly (Inactive)

Game Master VampByDay

Culture Check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

"Well, lets take a look around to see if any of this camping equipment is either useful or might reveal any information."

Henderthane will look around to see if she can find anything out.
Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

Apparently I have a knack of typing my posts when you are updating Vamp. And don't catch your post until I check back in.

Magnus starts to look around as well. Moving carefully around the footprints, Magnus moves to the tent.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

Magnus looks around the tent and easily sees that written on it off to the side is the phrase "Property of Jadnura-if found please return to the Starfinder Society." Inside are a few sleeping bags, some lanterns, and a small portable atmosphere generator (allowing the atmosphere inside the tent to be habitable.) The devices have long since run out of power.

Henderthane meanwhile finds some tracks (coming in from a different direction than the PCs walked in) stop briefly at this campsite before moving on (towards the tear chamber). These tracks belong to a medium-sized humanoid (most likely something human, lashunta, android, or similar-shaped.) Given the lack of dust settling in them, the tracks seem to be recent. The tracks also indicate the individual had a long stride or seemed to be walking quickly.

Baxter leans in, and takes a photo of the note and gear. he them moves over to the tracks for another photo, in both cases he puts a small laminated card, with "Kinetic Cool Investigations" printed in bold on the front, in the frame to use at a scale. 'Going to miss direct access to the agency resources for this'

Hireling's Physical Science: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20
Engineering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

There is some static, then a comunication audible from Henderthane's com unit, "Looks like the footprints must be recent. Judging by the fissures with and without dust, there are frequent moonquakes here that would disrupt them." The voice sounds like it belongs to a Skittermander.

"Thanks, Steve, I was thinking there was something, but couldn't quite figure it out. Seems a little strange to set up a camp so near the exit, though the frequent quakes might have changed that. It is even more strange that Jadnura would abandon his equipment."

Henderthane and the rest of the team recall that Jadnura mentioned that he returned to the ship ‘as soon as he found the tear.’ Evidentially that was quite literal as you presume that’s why he didn’t break down his camp.

engineering: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25
Ph science: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15

"We should pack these up. At the least Jadnura will want them back." notes Compucast. He starts to do just that.

He nods to Rosalind as he does so.

"I agree. The real question is,... more recent than Juanura? And if so... who is still here? We didn't pick up life signs from the ship. But they missed the mould too, so the rock here may have blocked them.."

"Do we want to take the time to pack this stuff up now or on our way back?"

"Let's keep an eye out for whoever made those tracks. Hopefully they're friendly."

As the team sit around debating what to do with the campsite, they hear an odd rumbling. At first it seems like a moonquake, but then, strangly, bits of rock animated by a strange green energy dislodge themselves from the wall and form some sort of rough approximation of a humanoid creature. They immediately swing their arms out as if to attack.

Look to the slides listed in the header for the combat map.

Compucast:<-----Initiative Here
Enemy Blue
Henderthane
Magnus
oo*ah*floo*oh*zha*heed*
Enemy Red
Baxter Higgs

It is a mysticism check to find out what these things are.

Compucast steps back.

"We are peaceful.." he tries, in as many languages as he can get through. Guarded step
diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

It seems Compucast's pleas fall on deaf ears as the creature steps forward and attacks. Not only does it seem like the thing wasn't move by his words, it might not have understood him at all.
1-Henderthane 2-Compucast 3-Magnus: 1d3 ⇒ 3
Magnus

Attack: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18
damage: 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Bold May Go
Compucast:
Enemy Blue
Henderthane
Magnus
oo*ah*floo*oh*zha*heed*
Enemy Red
Baxter Higgs

A yellow axe forms in his hand as Magnus steps up and takes a swing at the creature that smacked him.

KAC attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Damage: 1d6 + 1d4 + 9 ⇒ (2) + (2) + 9 = 13

Don't forget Magnus has Coordinated Shot- When you are threatening a foe with a melee weapon, any ally that has line of sight to that foe without you granting that foe cover gains a +1 bonus to ranged attack rolls against that foe.

Magnus’s Attack hurts the creature, but perhaps not as much as it should have.

Bold May Go
Compucast:
Enemy Blue -8
Henderthane
Magnus
oo*ah*floo*oh*zha*heed*
Enemy Red
Baxter Higgs

Henderthane will utilize her challenge and trick attack ability with her polarity gauntlets.

Stepping forward (might provoke)

Trick Roll: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (15) + 21 = 36
Attack Roll: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29 vs EAC, flat-footed if trick was successful

Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7, Electricity
Critical Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Trick Damage: 3d8 ⇒ (8, 5, 7) = 20

Demoralize: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (4) + 19 = 23

If Trick it successful, I will choose to make the target flat-footed

the creature indeed does get an AoO because Trick Attack lets you Move your speed, not Take a move action for things like guarded step. Stupid rules minutia. That is, unless Henderthane has the operative exploit that lets her turn off AoOs of creatures she tricks.

Interestingly, the creature seems unaffected by Henderthane’s fierce demeanor.

Attack: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33
Damage if hit: 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Compucast:
Enemy Blue -39 (bloodied)
Henderthane
Magnus
oo*ah*floo*oh*zha*heed* <——-initiative here
Enemy Red
Baxter Higgs

my post got eaten. Ua placed grappling vines. As henderthane moved up, I'd like them placed 5ft back. DC 17 Reflex or be entangled. Afterward, DC 17 Acro or 15 Str to get out.

mysticism: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22

Blue Reflex: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Red Reflex: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

Red moves up and pounds the plant that grappled it’s companion.

Attack: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33
If hit-Damage: 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12
End of turn, Reflex save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

It Still is not entangled.

Compucast:
Enemy Blue -39 (bloodied)
Henderthane
Magnus
oo*ah*floo*oh*zha*heed*
Enemy Red
Baxter Higgs <————Initiative here

Compucast steps back guarded step and draws on the knowledge of the Vesk imperium. Many years ago, the imperium made a pact with some black dragons, and a fragment of the knowledge gained still sits with him.

Drawing on the latent power of the moon, Compucast pulls the acid out of the ash on the nearby surface and directs it at the blue elemental. Or red if blue is down by the time Compucast acts

vs EAC: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

But his aim is way off. A nearby bit of tunnel dissolves.

Baxter will look at Blue rais his left hand pointing like his fingers are a gun and drop his thumb. "Bang'

Mind Thrust DC 16 will for half: 2d10 ⇒ (2, 3) = 5

He steps back

Baxter will look at Blue rais his left hand pointing like his fingers are a gun and drop his thumb. "Bang'

He steps back

Biggs fingergun seems to to nothing whatsoever.

Red switches targets to the one that hurt him worst last round.
Entangled Attack 1: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19
Damage if hit: 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
Entangled Attack 2: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21
Damage if hit: 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Bold May act
Compucast:
Enemy Blue -39 (bloodied)
Henderthane
Magnus
oo*ah*floo*oh*zha*heed*
Enemy Red
Baxter Higgs

Magnus' axe flares as he continues to swing into the creature in front of him.

KAC attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27
Fire damage: 1d6 + 1d4 + 11 ⇒ (3) + (4) + 11 = 18

With a massive chop from his flaming axe, Magnus fells the blue foe.

Bold May act
Compucast
Henderthane
Magnus
oo*ah*floo*oh*zha*heed*
Enemy Red
Baxter Higgs

"These are undead spirits animating elemental matter."

nothing more for mu turn

Trick Roll: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (12) + 21 = 33
Attack Roll: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9, Electricity
Trick Damage: 3d8 ⇒ (2, 4, 4) = 10
If Trick it successful, I will choose to make the target flat-footed

The blue creature turns its attention to the biggest combat threat, Henderthane
Attack 1: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20
Damage if hit 1: 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13
Attack 2: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16
Damage if hit 2: 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Bold May act
Compucast
Henderthane
Magnus
oo*ah*floo*oh*zha*heed*
Enemy Red
Baxter Higgs

Compucast steps up and touches Magnus's axe.

"Strike with the power of the Vesk!" he mutters.

Casts supercharge weapon. Extra 4d6 damage bonus on your next attack

Since it has been 24 hrs, I’ll assume Biggs is in delay
Bold May act
Compucast
Henderthane
Magnus -Supercharged weapon (+4d6)
oo*ah*floo*oh*zha*heed*
Enemy Red -19 HP
Baxter Higgs -Delay

Trick Roll: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (14) + 21 = 35
Attack Roll: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6, Electricity
Trick Damage: 3d8 ⇒ (2, 7, 4) = 13

The second Haunted Elemental drops down back into a pile of Rubble. After the dust settles, Magnus He made the perception check earlier finds a Knapsack that was apparently hidden by some fallen rocks, which the Undead Elementals had unearthed. The Knapsack says "Property of Jadnura" and has the following stuff:

2 mk2 healing serums
An advanced Medkit,
2 beacons
A grappler
A Laser Drill
Portable Gangway
Survival Straw
50ft Smart Cable.

Also, it is fairly easy to follow the fresh tracks out of the camp, whenever you are ready.

Compucast continues putting away Jadnura's camp site. "We should definitely take it with us - there are some odd things happening here."

Looking through the equipment he ads "The first seeker was certainly well prepared. I'm surprised he found the time for a solo expedition though."

"I'll carry one of the healing serums, as I am pretty mobile and can deliver it if needed."

As she speaks, Henderthane will take some time to rest while the others collect the campsite.

taking a 10 minute to recover stamina

"I believe I have found recent tracks heading into the cave further," Ua broadcasts telepathically as it is bent over seemingly sniffing the floor of the caves with no nose. It's bulb of a head lighting up as it broadcasts its thoughts.

The party can take a 10-minute rest unmolested. You can also pack up the tent and supplies and leave them for pick-up later if you want.
They are somewhat heavy.

After the rest, the party presumably moves on. The tracks seem to coincide with Jadnura's map that leads to the 'Tabernacle with the tear' (which is clearly marked on the map.)

After about twenty minutes of walking you reach the 'Tabernacle with the tear' area according to Jadnura.

This carved chamber features a small alcove in the southern wall with a stone altar. The top of the altar is carved to hold a massive gemstone or other angular object. Cracks spiderweb across the walls and ceiling. The footprints of a booted humanoid clearly mark a path from the eastern entrance to the southern wall and altar, then back again to the northwestern wall, where a large crack in the stone leads to another chamber.

It's not clear from the red text, but essentially you are in a chamber with an entrance and an exit that requires a bit of squeezing. There is a small alcove area that is largely empty now, but looks like it once held some large gemstone or something. The footprints go from where you are, to the alter, then proceed out the other end of the chamber. There is something in the alcove, but it is not the gemstone that it was clearly designed to hold.

As I cannot fail the survival check...

"I sense that the footprints become closer together, this indicates that the individual slowed down and made much more careful, deliberate movements."

engineering: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27
"Take Care" whsipers Compucast, urgently.
"The rocks here are unstable. This area has been badly affected by the moonquakes."

He thinks hard to Uafluro. Can you pass on messages to us all while we are in here? Keeping sound and vibration to a minimum will be important.

Perception rocks: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18

Magnus will pack up the tent and place it off to the side before leaving. He grabs Jadnura's knapsack with the remaining items. Magnus takes a minute re-centering himself. entering back into Sidereal Influence- Diplomacy.

Magnus nods to Compucast at the revelation about the rocks.

Seeing nobody else wanting to enter the room, the warrior-vesk moves as carefully as he can into the area, looking at the other alcove - but staying in the existing footprints.

perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24
Engineering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Henderthane will telepathically communicate with her allies.

"Let us proceed very cautiously one at a time, looks like Comp is heading first, I will be happy to follow next."

Perception to look into the Alcove: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

As long as people are cautious and take their time, there seems to be no danger of collapse. You think that if some REALLY loud music were to play, like say, Drow Death Metal at full volume from a Malware-infected comlink, then that might trigger the collapse though. :P

When Compucast and henderthane Get to the Alcove, they find that there is an indent that was clearly meant to hold some sort of 2-foot-long angular object. Your map indicates that this is where Jadnura found the tear. However, in the Alcove now is a set of plates with a strange symbol on them. They look like they might be a symbol or holy symbol. There is no dust or dirt on them, and the dust around them is disturbed, as if they were placed in the alcove fairly recently.

Look at page 2 of the slides for the holy symbol.

Compucast considers the puzzle in front of him.
mysticism: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18
"How odd. They are not the standard holy symbols of any god I have heard of. And they don't look like a variant either."
He tries to identify the plate after muttering a cantrip to check for magic.
mysticism: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

"They also appear to have been left after ... presumably the tear... was taken."

He takes care to keep his voice low as he speaks.

religion based mysticism: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

"I'm not familiar with this symbol either."

Mysticism: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22
Mysticism: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (19) + 12 = 31

"I do not recognize that symbol. The plates however are lawfully aligned rune plates, mark two."

Hireling Mysticism: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18
"Henderthane, the symbol is not of any deity or variant of a deity that I know of."
Henderthane's com unit blips quietly with the sound of the Skittermander's voice.

Telepathically to her companions.
Well, it seems that whatever entity is behind these, that their purpose is the protection of those that are steadfast in their support of Law.

Sooooo, what's the plan? Are you moving on? Taking the RunePlates? Just going to stand in the chamber for the rest of the adventure?

I'll take the rune plates, then we'll move on I guess.

You have to squeeze through the exit on the opposite side, but luckily, that part of the cave is stable and you can squeeze through without risk of collapse.

A long rocky passage leads deeper into the moon, then ends abruptly at a smooth stone wall. Carved glowing glyphs adorn the wall and create a high-pitched hum, but no obvious exits lead away from the passage.

Baxter moves into the room. Unconsciously he broad casts to Uafluozhaheed :I think I have seen this before, but where:

Culture: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

:It id right there...:

Culture: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

Broadcasting to all of my companions:
Hmm, well this is what I could tell:
The runes bear a strong resemblance to Terran, and you think you can piece together a rough translation:
Something about greeting outlanders.
We have Something something passionate but friendly debates
Something about a moratorium on speaking religious
And finally about legal ramifications for speaking such things.

As the party party gathers the runes to examine them, around a mass of glowing green gossamer threads emerge from the wall, until you see a green, translucent creature. The being’s upper half looks mostly human (head, two arms, torso), except it has four eyes. However, it has four legs instead of two. It floats there, and it seems to radiate a sense of calmness. It seems to wish no ill will. After a moment of looking at everyone, it speaks in a strange language that no one understands.

After it becomes clear you don’t understand him, he points to himself, then points to each of you. Then holds out its hand.