Dead Suns, Books 3 to 6 (Inactive)

Game Master DoubleGold

As you are about to leave the temple, Chiskisk gets to your position with your ship unboards and meets you outside the temple. It looks like the Cult of the Devourer is behind this, I need you to track them down please. I'm willing to pay 2000 credits to each of you. You will need to travel to Diaspora, but beware there are space pirates between here and there on an asteroid. Discuss starship roles

cult of the devourer is behind what?
I'll take Pilot

I will be science officer

@Cadan: The Cult of the Devourer is behind despoiling an ancient Elven Temple, whilst searching for information about some extremely dangerous alien technology (hints of which were uncovered on a strange object called 'The Drift Rock'). Their group at the Temple was defeated, but before that happened, they sent the data that they had uncovered to another Cell of the Cult... which we need to track down, if we are to have any hope of stopping them.

I guess I will be Captain?

thanks for the recap. I GMed book 1 and played part of book 2 but it had been a while.

are we pretending that this particular combination of players played the first two books together or do we have some other explanation?

"Let's go to Diaspora. Space Pirates are nothing new to me."

Arnold nods.

"Right then. Helm! Please set a course of the Diaspora."

"Will do."

does anyone have questions before we take off?

I'll take gunner.

So it seems I will be the second gunner. I still need to finish up with my equipment choices given that I needed to redo my ability points.

"So, to the Diaspora!"

Can we spend one post on introductions? Pls, write a few sentences about your PC. I've read through your stats yet have no idea who my fellow agents are.

Saratur looks at the ship with dismay, yet another long and boring trip within the locked space with 5 agents. He is a large half-orc around 7 ft tall with broad shoulders. His hair and beard are of brown color but have a lot of grey in them which is not weird given that he is in his mid-forties. His face and hands are covered with scars which is proof of him fighting as a gladiator when he was younger. His most famous bout was against a Shobhad in Akiton, the fight was very bloody but he was victorious. In his later years, he lost a bit on his strength and dexterity but proved out to be a great trash talker.

His physical appearance might not be the smoothest which is a result of many fights yet he has a certain charisma to him and proved out to be an inspiring warrior.

As his weapons of choice, you saw him fighting with Xenolash or for a medium range fighting, he uses a starknife with returning fusion on it.

His body is covered by Lashunta ringwear.

Roggi is tall android with lots of gadgets on him.
"Guys I didn't introduce myself. My name is Roggi! I like to study and explore. My biggest interests are magic and technology."

Llanope is a medium sized recluse of an android. Focused on their armor they rarely look up or pay attention to anyone around them. When on the ship, they sit themselves at a gunner station and wait.

"This chassis is Llanope. This armor is Llanopes. This gun is Llanopes."

The armor and gun in question are a battle harness powered armor and a tactical x-gun heavy weapons system. Both are well taken care of and show regular polish and fresh paint.

Winterborn Ryphorians look like this.
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/41/39/ce/4139ce616a6eaa4e81b251f4cfec043f.jpg
https://static2.paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9280-T riaxian.jpg
They have a thin layer of pale fur.

Cadan is a Summerborn Ryphorian, so he looks like that but with no fur, and skin that is more bronze-colored. Essentially he is heat-resistant. I'm not sure he actually has hair anywhere. The picture from Alien Archive (that I can't find online) is pretty hairless.

Cadan is a humanoid of average height and slender build. He packs a laser pistol and an ice-carbine rifle and wears Lashunta Tempweave with a jetpack. He also sports a Steward Officer badge that looks worn but polished.

"The name's Cadan, Cadan Xera. I'm a pilot and I carry the authority of the Stewards with me. I'm looking forward to putting a few Pirates out of commission; if we can't talk 'em into coming in quietly first. But I've yet to meet a Space Pirate that'll do that when they think they have even odds." He leans back in his chair. "In a firefight I'm a decent aim with my carbine and I know a fair bit of mumbo-jumbo that can even the odds in other ways too" he finishes with a wink.

Hey GM, can we add any starship boons from chronicle sheets of any of our characters to the Sunrise Maiden?

Saratur walks towards Llanope and pats him on his back. "Wow, that is some hard shell you got here Llanope. It reminds me of some crabs I used to catch when I was younger. Damn, I got hungry by thinking of that."

He shakes Cadans hand: "It is good to meet you Cadan. I like you, you look like a good Ryphorian, the world is always in need of those. I remember fighting along one Ryphorian, he showed some resistance to cold. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough and got struck by an axe."

Half-orc nods to Roggi: "A pleasure is mine friend."

Saratur smiles seeing his alies and says: "Lets get this trip over with. Maybe pirates will provide anough entertainement during the trip."

With that he walks toward the entrance of the ship, carrying his belongings with him.

Cadan returns the handshake firmly. "It is good to meet you also. I'm sorry to hear about your friend."

"Thank you, the fighting in the pits is not an easy business. Accidents happen very frequently."

Saratur smiles faintly.

"Let's not dwell on the past and try to come back in one piece from this mission."

The Starfinders introduce themselves and set off. Just 33 Hexes away are the space pirates. They open a channel. Surrender your ship give us all that you have or we will destroy it and steal all your stuff.

Llanope turns slightly from the gunner position to address the others.

"Can Llanope give them ammo to recycle?

Llanope readies the ships weapons.

over the ship intercom
"Not yet, ya-nope. But if past experience is any indicator, it won't be long..."

to the pirate ship
"This is Steward Officer Cadan Xera aboard the Sunrise Maiden. Piracy is illegal throughout Pact World space. Stand down or we will be forced to destroy you."

I don't think it applies here, but Cadan does have the ability to use Diplomacy for the Demoralize action

Cadan begins humming a tune.
It won't be long
It won't be long
It won't be long
'til I blow up your ship
to the tune of It Won't Be Long by the Beatles.

"K'Klacklun to the bridge." comes a panicked cry over the comm system. "I realize that I have yet to conclude a full diagnostics of the communications system of this vessel, but I seem to have caught an audio transmission from someone threatening to... 'destroy us'!"

"By Hylax, please tell me that I am mistaken!" the voice continues. "After that awful business down on the planet, I had hoped that we could avoid further violence. When Chiskisk asked that we track down those dreadful cult members, they had never said anything about having to engage them in combat. And I had hope that their comment about pirates had simply been a poor attempt at humor!"

"I say, my carapace is still aching from the last time this ship was engaged in a scuffle. And it took me weeks to finish all of the repairs." the shirren engineer continues on. "Surely, you don't intend to engage in a firefight now--not when I finally have everything back in near working order!"

Sorry, hadn't realized that we had started. Still need to make a adjustments to level up this PC, but for the purposes of starship combat, his modifiers will all increase by +2 (skill rank + bypass)

"Surely, you don't intend to engage in a firefight now--not when I finally have everything back in near working order!"

To make it more explicit, K'Klacklun has assumed an Engineer role.

Also, stats have been updated, but I still need to review/update equipment.

over the ship intercom
"I full well intend to engage in a firefight if these pirates don't stand down." Cadan gives an anxious look at Arnold the Captain I hope our captain agrees with my assessment...

Half-orc shows up at bridge a bit later than the rest of the crew, seeing and hearing Cadan, K'Klacklun and Llanope to took there post already.

He looks outside watching the pirate ship and says with a calm voice:

"Captain seems to be asleep, lazy Borai! Prepare agents! Pirates don't approach ships if they have not made up their minds."

Saratur goes to the bridge turns on the comm system within the ship and yells angrily:

"Roggi, Arnold move your sorry bodies to the battle stations! If you will be late for the combat, you will be cleaning the hull of the ship without the environmental protection!"

Using his intimidating voice: 1d20 + 15 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 15 + (1) = 18

Given that Saratur was half asleep himself the threat didn't sound very convincing.

Well 2 and a 1 maybe I used my bad luck for the fight :P

"Yes, sir!" Roggi runs to the computer, ready to scan enemy ship.

Does anyone want to aid Saratur? intimidate or diplomacy does in fact work here. And the DC is 20.

over the ship intercom

"Not yet, ya-nope. But if past experience is any indicator, it won't be long..."

to the pirate ship
"This is Steward Officer Cadan Xera aboard the Sunrise Maiden. Piracy is illegal throughout Pact World space. Stand down or we will be forced to destroy you."

I don't think it applies here, but Cadan does have the ability to use Diplomacy for the Demoralize action

Cadan begins humming a tune.
It won't be long
It won't be long
It won't be long
'til I blow up your ship
to the tune of It Won't Be Long by the Beatles.

Saratur was talking to the crew, not the enemy, but I was talking to the enemy in the post above. I'll go ahead and roll a Diplomacy check. If you want me to roll Intimidate instead, my modifier is +6 instead of +10

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

If you would prefer me to pre-emptively roll a skill check I imagine I'll need instead of letting you tell me what I need to roll, if anything at all, then let me know.

Cadan, if you try to intimidate them then in that round you will not be a pilot. THe only drawback

I don't think we are in combat yet, so I should be fine

Okay fine, but it looks like you are on a mission to destroy the Azlanti. We will be patrolling near the planet when you get off in case they chase you, and if they have goods, I'd like to split them with you if we find Azlanti ships in space.

"Wait. Azlanti? Who said anything about Azlanti?" in his confusion, Cadan speaks over the comm channel to the other ship.

He turns off his comm and says over the ship comms. "What do you think, crew mates?"

Half-orc stands and goes to grab a drink from the kitchen.
When going back he comments:

"They need to be cracked, they might not know where they are or who they are fighting with."

Well then, it is agreed. Did I say, Azlanti? I meant Cult of the Devourer. Asteroid K9204. They then give you coordinates. Any Questions?

I don't know that we answered them yet.

"Asteroid K9204? What's there?"

can we roll any know. for Asteroid K9204?

"Hmm, Asteroid K9204! Let me think!"

I had to avoid confusion, which is why they gave you the location of the Asteroid. By the way, I'm think of this com as being like Startrek, you are on face intercom, so talking with each other in the room means they will hear you too, so unless you turn it off and on for private conversation, they hear everything.

Here is what you know about the asteoroid

Officially designated K9204, the asteroid is less than a mile in
diameter and is made up of treacherous rock- and ore-infused terrain. Jagged cliffs cover the asteroid’s surface; in fact, there’s only one relatively open area of any size on the entire asteroid. The asteroid is dense enough to provide low gravity and is enveloped with a thin
atmosphere.
You land on the Asteroid
This narrow pass is flanked by a sheer rocky wall to the north and a more slender—though just as tall—rock formation to the south. A deep pile of silvery ash sits in the cleft between the cliff and a stepped outcropping. Otherwise, the rugged ground is pockmarked but flat.

Saratur observes the asteroid with it's surface made up of rocks and ore-infused terrain and asks:

"Roggi can you scan for life sources on this rock? It would be good to know the direction that we should be heading."

Roggi starts the scan.

computers: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (20) + 15 = 35

oh wow, okay. I never read that anywhere and imagined something more like Serenity or Star Wars. I've always assumed we're distributed throughout the ship and have to use headsets to talk to each other. And a comm to talk to the other ship

Starfinders find life signs, but they land not too close to it all, as they risk being shot down.

You land on the Asteroid Sniper's Cove
This narrow pass is flanked by a sheer rocky wall to the north and a more slender—though just as tall—rock formation to the south. A deep pile of silvery ash sits in the cleft between the cliff and a stepped outcropping. Otherwise, the rugged ground is pockmarked but flat.

"Can you scan that ashy stuff from here, Roggi? What's out there?" Cadan asks as he makes his way to the ship's exit. He checks his weapons, drops the bipod arms on his rifle and then sticks it on his back before drawing his pistol.

He waits by the door, not opening it yet, wanting to know if it's safe to go out, and what might be waiting for them.

"Our mission is to find that devourer base, subdue the cultists, and figure out if they transmitted the information to any other cells. So try not to damage any computers or comm equipment, okay?"

After the landing Half-Orc goes to collect his things. He stands next to Cadan waiting for information of the path is clear.

"You said the name is Sniper's Cove huh? I wonder what can await us."

The second phrase was said with a sarcastic tone. Saratur pulls out the starknife and keeps it ready.

"Let's try to come back in one piece."

"Ashy stuff! Let us see!" Roggi continue with scanning.

computers: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (17) + 15 = 32

Llanope loads up the power armor and readies weapons. Stepping up to the door, the android asks "Ready to engage. Shall Llanope take front?"

if no objections Llanope will begin to make his way out onto the astroid.

After the scanning Roggi comes out.

Saratur walks out as a 3rd person from the starship, looking around for any threat.

Roggi scans the area, there are life signs here but you landed.

perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29
perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 20

Cadan looks around, then nods to himself.
"There's a sniper here all right. He doesn't belong to the cult of the devourer, though."

Cadan surveys the rest of the landing area. After a moment he points, "We can get around him if we go that way."

where is he relative to us? Does he see us yet? Maybe we would prefer to take him out.

team, see both spoilers. The second one suggests that if we go around him we can trick some of the cult members into getting gunned down by him. That's a little off

After thinking for a moment, Cadan adds "If we can sneak up on him and subdue him, it would be nice to know who he is and what he's doing here." He smiles "I know a trick or two for extracting information."

"I like it. Let's surprise him ourselves. There needs to be a reason for him to be here."

Says Saratur eagerly.