GM SFS's 1-28: It Rests Beneath (Inactive)

Game Master Eric Collins - France

I did see that Korl, but since no one else picked up on it, and it was "only" Mora calling out, I let things move on like this (you did not miss anything at all).

A massive plateau on the southern continent is actually a strange alien organism.

Did you mean to give us this information earlier? The Doctor seems unaware of it, and it’s about to influence Pyksi’s bet on what it is.

That is the info' you got from Fitch.
It seems that it is from before any team was sent down to the planet.
But you can bet on that, of course.

EDIT: and you do know that Fitch is the head of the Wayfinders whose goal and dreams are to make first contact with alien species.

And to think, I just took Uncanny Pilot! This is gonna be fun :D

There are a few scenarios now, with chase scenes and such.

@Chashara: Operative's Edge gives a +1 Insight bonus to initiative and to skill checks
You must keep track of type of each of your bonuses
For example, since Skill Focus gives a +3 Insight bonus, Operative's Edge does not add to that (since it is the same type of bonus, "Insight"), thus you 'only' have +3 w. Skill Focus, not +4

Hey Folks for the next 4 days I will be traveling with limited access to the internet. So please bot me. I will be back on Tuesday. Sorry for the inconvenience.

GM SFS if you see an opportunity to do some pranks to the team by making Croaker do some illusionary sounds in Forsaken Canyon don't hesitate. Croaker might have a wierd sense of humor. The most important rule about botting my PC that I ask GM to respect is to return the PC in the same state ;)

@Chashara: Operative's Edge gives a +1 Insight bonus to initiative and to skill checks

You must keep track of type of each of your bonuses
For example, since Skill Focus gives a +3 Insight bonus, Operative's Edge does not add to that (since it is the same type of bonus, "Insight"), thus you 'only' have +3 w. Skill Focus, not +4

I was unaware that they did not stack.

GM SFS wrote:

@Chashara: Operative's Edge gives a +1 Insight bonus to initiative and to skill checks

You must keep track of type of each of your bonuses
For example, since Skill Focus gives a +3 Insight bonus, Operative's Edge does not add to that (since it is the same type of bonus, "Insight"), thus you 'only' have +3 w. Skill Focus, not +4

I was unaware that they did not stack.

Thanks for the warning, I will keep this in mind.

Where this gets really fancy is:

And the answer is Kind Of, Yes, Except:
Anything you have Skill Focus in at level 7, you can take 10 on at any time. Pitched starship battle? No worries, take 10 on that Piloting check. Avoiding AoO's during combat? No worries, take 10 on Acrobatics! Not a lot of enemies can beat your 10+19, after all.

(I'm gonna get away with a LOT during starship combats and chase sequences :D)

One of the big benefits of the "take 10" on Skill Focused skills, is that you can take 10 on your Trick Attack roll.
Which is most probably why this was added, to not "waste" the free Skill Focuses.
W. take 10 you kind of always beat the CR of your enemies and thus always trick attack.

I just added Bot rolls for knife fighting, stupid me. I was certain that I will never entertain this style of combat.

It looks like I should actually be doing 2 more damage than I added onto that roll. Total damage should be +6, +7 if photon

+3 str
+2 cha (soul fire)
+1 weapon crystal
+1 if photon attuned

Will add in next turn for sure.

Right, that's what I had counted.

[ooc]@Gogglez: can you walk me through all these actions?
-- Gogglez --
• Move Action to make the Barricade
• Swift Action to drop to the ground
• "passing" the Standard Action to the Drone
(but it is a Move Action to open pet carrier for the Drone, so, if it is in the carrier, you cannot make the Barricade - so, I'd allow you that knowing this you'd have at least opened the carrier and probably gotten the drone out before, seems logical?)
-- Drone --
• how does it get out of the carrier? Nothing specified, right, so just part of its move?
• Move Action to go up (see below *)
• Standard Action to shoot
* the drone's move action:
- you want it to leave from 0 to go up to + 30 ft.
It cannot in one move.
It has 30 ft. move and two rules you need to know are:
-- if you want to change direction while flying, it costs you an additional 5 feet of movement to turn 45 degrees
-- if you want to ascend, it costs you an additional 5 feet of movement for each square that you move upward
So, to go up 6 squares it will cost you 12 squares, plus any turns you might need to make
I would advise you to do as follows: have the drone exit you in a straight line but at an angle, so it can rise 3 squares (counts for 6) but going out 3 squares (though the 2nd diagonal counts double)
Anyhow, the idea is that it moves out and up, enough to be able to aim at the top of the tower, which is like a pyramid so you have L.O.S..
So, I made another Drone where I think it should go (at +15 ft).

Also, where you place it, if it could have reached there, it would be beside the shird and thus provoke an AoO.

So, tell me what I have wrong etc..

The drone was already out of the carrier keeping the birds from harassing me from earlier. Also, yeah, leaving the carrier just takes 5ft of movement. I didn't specify how far it was flying out to guard me earlier, but I did forget that ascension took more squares.

Just have it double move so it can land somewhere at the top to help out Pyski, thanks!

Okay, I forgot you said it was out.
But I would have let you get it out anyhow, as I said.

So, you're okay with it flying up a bit, shooting--
--and then moving up and shooting again next turn?

(why do you need to go land up on top? To Full Attack?
(There is not much room up on top... might have to squeeze)

Yeah, it needs to land to full attack, so double moving to get into a good position is probably the best action. It's tiny, so I'm hoping it can find a spot, if not, then I'll just stick to having it hover and fire 1 shot a round. Sorry for the confusion, but 3D combat on a unique map layout is throwing me off here.

No problem at all!
3D in Paizo games is always a nightmare anyhow.
There's only one square up there, so even if it does not end up being squeezed (don't know if you can choose to do so in SFS, would have to check) it'd provoke.

Ok, it'll just fly around and fire 1 shot a turn for now then. Thanks!

The shirds squawk at the drone!

At what level does the drone get perfect fly?

Level 1 as per the errata/faq. Anytime you get the flight upgrade twice, which hover drone starts with.

You know what I miss? Bones. Those were nice.

Were I not melee, that would have been the first bird dealt with. There just wasn't a good way to be up there with it. That platform is quite the trap.

No worries! I figure between the knife and the guns we’ll have it down and then Pyksi can lend a rubber chicken-style hand to the fight below.

Yup, from a rubber chicken farm toO. LOL

@Baròleg: (thanks for the head's up before, I was in Pathfinder mode)
Hey, I have now switched totally into Starfinder mode... I realized that when I DMed my tabletop Pathfinder game a few days ago (the last Pathfinder campaign I play) and had actually written out in my scenario for the PCs to attempt either Acrobatics or Athletics checks! Felt a bit like an idiot.

@Gogglez & all: okay, seeing the Hover Drone has perfect maneuverability made me recheck the flying rules and I missed that you can hover automatically without attempting a check which I had seen and thought it was a free but not seen though you can hover as a swift action instead of a move action if you succeed at an Acrobatics check (there is no penalty for failure) so the shirds would have had to hover w/o a roll as a move or attempt it as a swift w. a roll (easy to make for them), but, in any case, they get no full attack.
I messed up, sorry.
So I checked the three attacks that were made, and the two hits that landed were on the first attacks of each bird (and both 2nd attacks missed) so it actually changes nothing.
And the attacks that missed Baròleg, well, the 1st one would have hit w/o the -4.
So, my mistake actually benefitted you so I am not retconning it.
Sorry for that.

Yep, making a hover drone made me discover that no flying creature can ever make a full attack without falling.

Okay, let's have Pyksi succeed @ a Fort' Save!

I sure was not expecting this...

I keep ignoring the rules about dying because I figured it’d be a while before my “back row” character had to deal with it. Oh well!

Can Korl try a first aid via medicine to help? Even if it's aid another for a +2?

Since it was most probably going to be down to Pyksi's Fortitude rolls, I rolled for her/you (just to speed things up, especially is several rolls were needed).

@Korl: Yes I was thinking of letting everybody attempt that (First Aid via Medecine, which can be done untrained, for the DC15, to give a +2 to her Fort Rolls.).
Since, by the rules, it only states you can stop Bleeds via First Aid.

Also, I am not sure there is a way to stop the Acid via Healing (the rules state that "through the application of any ability that restores Hit Points" you can stop a Bleed, but there is nothing like that for Burning - and acid-like Corrode or whatever it is called is like Burn but w. acid)... but Pyksi made her save (yay!) so we do not need to go there.
And, just to nitpick, the description of this effect in the scenario makes it quite lethal actually:

At the start of each of its turns, the target takes 1d4 acid damage. At the end of each turn, the target can attempt a Fortitude saving throw (DC = 10 + the amount of acid damage taken that turn). On a success, the effect ends.

Meaning there is no other way to stop (as written) other than a successful Fort' save... and said Fort' save can be attempted, so, can you roll Fort' when unconscious?

On another note, I had a quick look at your sheet, Pyksi, to see your Fort bonus, when I was going to roll for you, and thus saw a problem:
You have +1 Fort' but I saw you have 12 CON (so that is +1 from CON +1 from Halfling = 2 ; correct?).
Should you not have +2 Fort' Save?

...you are completely right! I must have missed that.

last Cashara shot it was 17+3 against KAC - shooting through a friend. However, she didn't include + 1 from Get'em.
I counted the Get'em, so that was 21-cover... which is a miss (((
(thick hide on the Beast)
I have been looking through the CRB and online, and have found nothing dealing with shooting vs. Large or bigger creatures.
It seems that per the rules it is still +4 AC.
But I think that is because there are no real rules for 3D combat... so, I will count that as partial cover (only +2 AC).
Which means it is a hit.[/ooc]

So: retconning Cashara's shot as a hit before (5 damage).
And thus only partial cover (+2 AC) when shooting at the Beast through friends, since it looms up above you (10 feet tall as well as wide and long).

Keep on going Korl!
This is an Epic Encounter for you... but you guys have already injured it badly.

So, Cashara...
I have not gone over your entire Character Sheet, but:
• as an Operative (check that site out and check your character), you get the fact that your specialization grants you the Skill Focus feat (in your specialization’s associated skills, and you gain a free skill rank in each of those skills at each operative level (this does not allow you to exceed the maximum number of skill ranks in a single skill).
So, being a Ghost, your Associated Skills are: Acrobatics and Stealth.
Thus you have free rank + Skill Focus in both Acrobatics & Stealth.
That is: 1 rank + 3 class skill + 3 Dex + 3 Insight = +10
You should mark that down.
Thus, your rolls for this round are:
- acrobatic jump: 1d20 + 10 = 15 (you do not have +1 from operatives edge since that is an insight bonus, and does not stack w. Skill Focus which is insight too)
- stealth for operative trick attack: 1d20 + 10 = 26 BUT you also have another +1
Since the Ghost states that When you use Stealth to make a trick attack, you gain a +1 bonus to the skill check.
Thus 26+1 = 27

Results:
• Acrobatics: 15 (let's see that below)
• Trick Attack: 27 (that means it is successful and you Trick the Beast)
• Attack: 18 (that's correct ; but, since you have Tricked the Beast, it is Flat Footed, meaning it has -2 AC, which means that you HIT! (yay)
And you do 7 damage

MY THOUGHTS:
I think you are trying to jump over Gogglez and land where I put the orange scribble, to the right, correct?
If you do that, well:
• Jump is Athletics, not Acrobatics, so you'd only have rolled a 9
• you do not have a running start, so the DC is 2 x the number of feet you are attempting to jump horizontally, thus 2 x 15 (you are correct re. the diagonal) = DC 30 (meaning that even w. a 20 on your die, you only get 24, and would still be subject to If you fail by 5 or more, you fall prone even if you don’t take any damage from the fall.
(no need to jump over Gogglez, since he is an ally, you can pass through him).
SO--- DO NOT DO IT
Instead, make your move action to follow my orange arrow to the left. No roll needed to do so (I said one move gets you out and to an adjacent square) AND you get a +2 from Flanking and help Baròleg flank).
Is that okay?

One last thing here: when you move with a creature's reach, you provoke an Attack of Opportunity.
But you provoke BEFORE you leave the place you provoke. In this case you would provoke leaving your square. BUT, since the buggy gives you cover, and in SFS any cover prevents AoOs... you are safe from that.

_________
Another thing you should change, later, we can talk about it, is have 3 odd numbers in your stats.
I (or someone else) can explain why that is counterproductive.

Ok, I think I understand all this a little, thanks.
But I may need some time to wrap my head around it

It’s not super easy to explain by writing.
Check Archives of Nethys a bit
Ask questions
We can try to help go over things

Thanks
But I may be going over it at leasure

No problem
But you should try to check out the basics of the Operative

I will

And, since it is hard to have intentions etc. come across, do not take this in any way as criticism of you, it is just to help you make sense of all these rules, and not miss out on things for your character.

It is a help and learning experience
Not a
'Hey, your doing things wrong, fix it'

Ya, I understand.

Since there might be vehicle movement, here is my take on AoOs:

the general rule is:
Cover and Attacks of Opportunity
If you have cover relative to an enemy, it can’t make an attack of opportunity against you.
so, if you are in the buggy (not the bike) you do not take AoOs since you have cover
but, the specific rule (and specific trumps general) is (my bold):
Vehicles provoke attacks of opportunity while driving, and when you are in a vehicle that’s driving, you similarly provoke attacks of opportunity if you take any actions that would normally do so (including making ranged attacks) unless the vehicle provides total cover.
So, if you drive in the buggy, then you are subject to AoOs.

And, of course, the vehicles themselves are subject to AoOs (but you don't have to pay for them, and you hope the Starfinder Society has a good insurance policy).

WELL DONE!
And nice rolls... (that was 3, or 4, crits?!)

I really was afraid I'd kill at least one.
It's Melee Attack is a bite @ +13 (for 1d6+7 P), which means +9 / +9 in Full Attack.
And w. 8 to 13 damage, it could have killed several of you.

My biggest fear being if I rolled a Crit', because 16 to 26 damage would have been a sure death for several.

To be honest, from the start I decided I could toss you a +2 Circumstance bonus if things went sour... but I never did, so you really won this one fair and square, no punches pulled!
(as I said, I rolled randomly to see who to attack, so I would not favor you, nor focus too much on one... but ending up rolling for both attacks on the same person twice!).

That was one scary fight!

That thing hit like a truck and the rider on the damage was not fun either. I'm always on the fence about full attacking and that pushes me a little bit back on the side of not, I probably would have hit on a single shot with all the bonuses.

Solid fight! I think we'll all definitely need to get patched up now.

I honestly thought you'd ace one of us. That thing was vicious. Baròleg will have a limp for at least 3 adventures.

Dice-bot had a love/hate thing going on, it was either crit or miss.

That was a CR 4 monster!
Putting its stats up on the Slides.

That thing does con damage on top of hitting like a freight train? Looks like Mr. Tondro wanted to kill some PCs when he wrote this, haha. I'm not sure if Korl feels braver or dumber for having tried to go toe to toe with that thing.

150 Cr. for a 6 person Mobile Hotelier tent (and per the rules it says nothing about tripling bulk!).
I'll start getting those for my characters.
Rarely used... but really cool when needed!
Thanks.

@Cashara: no problem at all. I just hope the things that came up are time consuming, and not hurtful.