[SFS] GM Bigrin's Table 3 - Enter the Ashen Asteroid (Inactive)

Game Master bigrin42

It's been a crazy busy week at the beach, sorry for the delay.

"Look out! Big bugs inbound!" Talc shouts as he pulls out his tactical baton and moves up beside Harrac. Once in position he swings and tries to show Harrac how to hit it.

"This isn't any time for fooling around Harrac! Shoot it already!"

Tactical Baton: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

GMPCing Jena

The three lice swarm the nearest target - Talc - and deliver several painful bites. One of the dog-sized creatures climbs up his body and attaches itself to him with eight claw-tipped legs. Talc could feel the creature's mouth working at the armor covering his stomach.

Rei steps up next to Jenna and repeats her actions, taking a shot at the northernmost critter with her rifle.

laser rifle, azimuth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
dmg: 1d8 ⇒ 2

"Get out of the way Jena!" She shouts knowing full well she missed the shot on her own accord.

Jena yells, "Stop eating my friend, he's for me to eat lat... er.. he's my friend!" she aims her rifle at Tal... er bad guy trying to eat him.

To hit: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

She might as well be aiming at Talc as her shot ricochets off the floor next to Talc.

"My bad!"

Harrac joins the others in focusing his attention on Talc's new friend, "hang in there Buddy!"

Solar Weapon: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
Dmg: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Bleed: 1d1 ⇒ 1

Photon Attuned 2

"What the hell!?" Talc exclaims as the thing attaches to him. "Get off me!" he retaliates as he bashes his baton into the creature twice.

Tactical Baton: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 6 - 4 = 19
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Tactical Baton: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 6 - 4 = 21
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Jena's shot missed, the giant slug caroming off the stone archway. Rei, unable to drawa line of sight on Talc's attacker, switched her aim to the one nearest her and blasted it with laser fire...which did absolutely nothing. Talc and Harrac focused on ridding Talc of his houseguest, and with the pilot's final blow of his baton, the creature fell away.

The remaining two creatures continued to attack Talc, biting and chewing at his armor. Talc could feel his environmental protections weakening as they damaged his suit and him.

Harrac shifts to the south of Talc to try and stay out of the way of the ladies, "I can try and blast them all in a few seconds, it's going to hurt anyone near me though! Can you slide over a bit buddy?"

Solar Weapon: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
Dmg: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Bleed: 1d1 ⇒ 1

AoE within 10' of me next turn.
Photon Attuned 3

Rei shouts out, oblivious to the pain Talc is suffering. "Good job drawing all their attention Talc! Way to be a team player! Just hold out a bit longer!"

Rei lines up her sights again, taking blast at the northernmost creature.

Rei Round 2
laser rifle, azimuth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
dmg: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Talc shifts as Harrac asks him too, shouting "Just get them off me already!"

He continues to slam the baton onto the creature again, the first strike critical and the second completely inaccurate.

Crit Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 6 - 4 = 22
Damage: 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (3, 1) + 2 = 6
Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 6 - 4 = 3
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

GMPCing Jena again

Rei fires again at the northern vermin, but once more it appears to absorb her laser fire with no damage. It is almost as if these creatures that live in the molten core of an asteroid are immune to the effects of heat and fire! Talc and Harrac smashed blows into the creature on the pilot, and manged to finally kill it with some well-aimed blows. Jena aimed another point-blank shot at the remaining vermin and blew off one of its many legs. The creature continued to rasp its mouth parts on Talc's suit, but did not manage to penetrate the armor this time.

Harrac continues his dance around Talc, nodding his head as he calls out, "Grab your partner, dosey doe, swing them 'round and don't let go!" Unfortunately, he's so focused at not stepping on Talc's foot that he ends up slamming his blade into the rocks.

Solar Weapon: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Dmg: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Bleed: 1d1 ⇒ 1

AoE within 10' of me next turn.
Photon Attuned 3

"For f*%!s sake Rei, remind me to teach you how to fire that thing!" he shouts at the inept android as he continues to smash the creature with his baton.

Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (2) + 6 - 4 = 4
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (16) + 6 - 4 = 18
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

life science: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

"I'm not sure that I am firing this wrong, as my last shot clearly hit. It just appears to have done no damage. Perhaps I should swing my gun aimlessly around in the air, like you?"

Rei drops her rifle (to the ground, not the lava) and pulls out her survival knife as she approaches the creature from the flank, waving and flailing the knife in the air in an attempt to mimic Talc's maneuvers.

Rei Round 3
atk survival knife: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
dmg: 1d4 ⇒ 4

"I am not sure this is working, but I have added your attack method to my databanks"

"You sure you're using the right end Sparky?" Jena yells as she fires her rifle again.

To Hit, Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 5 - 2 = 15
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

As you toss jaded banter about, no one but Talc and Jena actually managed to hit the creature. Rei still isn't sure what it is, but she has decided that using laser weapons on it isn't going to work out. The creature continues gnawing at Talc, this time crushing his left leg painfully.

Harrac grins over at Rei, "that's EXACTLY how Talc does it! Do it again!" He redoubles his effort when he notices that Talc is about to fall, "if you fall, buddy, we may just push you in the lava - you're too big to carry back up!"

Solar Weapon, Flanking: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 6 + 2 = 26
Dmg: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Bleed: 1d1 ⇒ 1

Rei imitating Talc

Rei continues to mimic Talc's movements. "Maybe if I scream in agony while I strike, it will improve my performance."

With that she lets out an overbearing howl while thursting her survival knife once more towards the creature.

Rei Round 4
Atk Survival Knife, Flank: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 3 + 2 = 19
dmg: 1d4 ⇒ 3

"This seemed more effective. Registering this technique into long term storage"

Talc continues to flail as he tries to land hits on the damn things trying to eat him. He screams in frustration more than pain, wanting these parasites gone quickly.

Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 6 - 4 = 19
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (2) + 6 - 4 = 4
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

I'm back...but apparently Huggles isn't. GMPCing Jena again

The group went to town on the last of the vermin, crushing it and splattering its mangled remains all over the walkway and Talc.

With the creatures out of the way, and four of you to do the work, you managed to hook the chain on the crucible and secure it, then knocked the crucible free from the rock is was fused to. Looking inside the crucible, you see the desiccated remains of a dwarf in archaic, charred explorers gear. The corpse has a slightly melted amulet around its neck, with the visage of a stylized boar's head.

---------------------------------

The climb back up the chain was easy enough and then Rei managed to dunk both crucibles into the lava and raise them to their places on the Solarian Stone. Arcane energies engaged as the system converted the mass heat into power, and the rings surrounding the stone hummed into motion. Apparently the mystical energies provided by the stone also affected your comm systems, because suddenly your communications network was filled with static.

Rei uses the computers to confirm that the Solarian Stone system was now online, and hovered her hand over the button to fully engage the system.

Harrac assists the others as they fix the crucibles, he keeps handing Talc very small pieces of fabric to wipe the gore off his suit. It amuses him to no end but the others don't seem to get the joke.

Once they're able to bring the system online, Harrac steps close to the window and stares out in amazement. He barely registers the static as he holds up his hand and feels his mote settle on his palm. He looks between the two Solarian power sources and wonders if he can figure out an upgrade.

He stands there, entranced until Rei hits the button.

Glad to finally be freed of the pests, Talc collapses to the walkway. After spending ten minutes to catch his breath and heal up, he nods that he is ready to move on.

Talc looks at the dead dwarf and his fancy gear. He points to it and tries to place it, but then remembers he knows nothing about culture or mysticism to help out.

Piloting: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

"I don't know anything about that creature, what's wearing or why's he's here, BUT that reminds me of the time back on Solstace 7 when I had autopilot on that day. You know I don't normally like autopilot, but that silent assistant to hold the course and keep the plane level while I consulted my charts or programmed the FMS or uh, ate a sandwich. I'd been on for 14 hours straight and I had to get at least some relief, a few moments to relax and decompress."

"ANYWAY, so like I was saying. We're leaving Solstace 7, right? We do a scan of the surface and find some locals who are wanting to make contact. Pop 'em up on the screen and DAMN if they don't look a lot like that one did."

He scratches his head at what happened next. "Shame the captain told us to high tail it outta there. I guess I woulda known more had we stayed."

Standing and watching the Stone, Harrac is certain that it holds more secrets for him. He steps out of the control complex and moves to the center of the chamber as the Stone powers up. Mesmerized, he looks at the stone, weighing the balance between photon and graviton energies contained in the giant sphere. He gazes into the infinity of the cosmos through that sphere and the cosmos gazes back.

Once this scenario, as a free action at the beginning of his turn, Harrac can choose to gain 2 attunement points instead of 1. This insight fades at the end of this adventure.

As the stone powered up, the lights in the complex came fully up, and the computers in front of Rei showed that all of the complex's systems were now fully functional.

"Well, I do not believe we came all this way to not turn this guy on. You all ready to see what this does? This is called science. You should be happy to be a part of this"

And with that, Rei engages the master switch.

Rei looks around at everyone not moving.

"So hey guys, the systems powered on now. That means doors will open and close. Talc - think you can pilot us over to that door down the main corridor?"

Rei motions for the party to get moving towards the far door in the back. When they get there she pushes Harrac forward. "Now you do something useful and peer your head in there."

Harrac takes his time moving across the platform, overwhelmed by the sheer scale of what surrounds them. When they approach the doors, he nods to Rei and draws his starknife before trying to open them.

Perception Doors: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Rei thumbs the control for the door opening, then moves down to join the team. As she did, the doors opened to reveal two enormous figures, half covered in rubble from where they had burrowed into the floor. One stirs, then the other, rising up out of the ground with enormous hammers. The burning light in their desiccated faces shows the necromantic forces that have kept them mobile all these years.

Harrac drops the starknife as his mote races down his arm and coalesces into a bright blade.

He dashes ahead to position himself within range of both of them, preparing to attack either if they move against him. As he moves he calls back to Talc, "So as I was saying last week, you can't turn a ho into a housewife. Hos don't act right. There's hos on a mission, an hoes on a crack-pipe.

Hey ho how ya doing, where ya been? Probably doing ho stuff cause there you ho again." That last is directed at the creature looming over him, "Pardon me, coming through."

Diplo: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12 - Should be 8

Photon Attuned 2 (thanks GM)

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 Should be 9
Sense Motive: 1d20 ⇒ 10 Should be 19

Note to self - Call the knife back later.

[b]"WOAH Big ugly!"[b] Jena yells, unfiltered obviously by her surpris as she pulls her rifle out and fires a quick shot!

To Hit, Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 5 - 2 = 6

oof

Botting Talc

Talc, wasting no time at all on pleasantries, started shouting about "inverted Klein bottle maneuvers" and pulled his pistol. He began pulling the trigger, and bullets spanged off of basically everything that wasn't monster.

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
1d6 ⇒ 1

The undead creatures lumbered forward, mauls raised, ignoring the ill-aimed attacks. Both of the assault hammers slammed into Harrac, nearly driving the vesk to his knees. Harrac lunged upwards, his solarian blade carving deeply into the first of the creatures.

Harrac keeps his feet, barely. He focuses his attention on the cosmic power flowing through him and around the room. He thinks about the giant sphere they just activated and wills his mote to harness that power. With a blink, a ball of energy briefly materializes around Harrac, burning both creatures. He takes a short step toward the others, crying out, "Calgon! Take me away!"

Supernova: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 4) = 7
10 foot radius, DC 13
Guarded step
Unattuned

"Oh no, this looks serious. Talc, I hope your teachings pay off"

Rei begins to flail aimlessly before bringing her hands together. She flexes her chest as her shoulders appear to quickly open releasing 3 balls of glowing blue energy which rocket towards the closest beast striking it true.

Rei Round 1
Full round action - Magic Missile
dmg: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (1, 3, 3) + 3 = 10

"AMAGAD THERE'S ANOTHER!" Jena shouts, while firing blindly at the creatures.

To Hit, Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 5 - 2 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

"Nice! Keep at it!" Talc shouts as he focuses in on his target, taking his time on the next shot.

Ranged attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Suddenly, everyone gets into the rhythm of things, and the lead beast is felled by a barrage of bullets and magic. The second one takes the full brunt of Harrac's supernova, and as the solarian cools down from his expended energies, the half-blinded undead creature swings wide.

"HOLY CRAP I HIT!" she exclaims, excitedly loading another round and firing. "Suck it you ugly... thing... or.. is this some relative of yours Harrac? They seem to be angry at you.. Ex-wife or something?"

To Hit, Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 5 - 2 = 9
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

In her excitement, she didn't notice when the sights were bumped against her belt, slightly jarring them and throwing them out of alignment. "What the... stupid gun, I knew I should of spent the extra credits on the polysteel sights. Damned things are out of alignment again!"

Harrac's stands in shock that the beast fell, unable to speak for once. He takes a guarded step to the other one and slashes at it, ineffective in the moment.

Solar Weapon: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
Dmg: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
Bleed: 1d1 ⇒ 1

"Stay focused. The fight is not yet over. Have you not learned from Talc? Try screaming in agony before you attack."

Rei lines up her sights and fires with her rifle.
"ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!" She shouts while firing.

Rei Round 2
Atk Laser Rifle, Azimuth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
dmg: 1d8 ⇒ 8

"Talc! Its not working!"

Talc continued to fire at the large creature, hitting it cleanly in the chest.

"What's the matter with you guys? This thing is as big as a hab unit!"

Ranged attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

The creature laughed at your feeble attempts to harm it, right up until Talc's shot caught it in the chest. the undead creature glared at the pilot, then hefted its maul and slammed it into Harrac. The vesk felt his ribs crack under the blow, and it was all he could do to remain conscious and upright.

Harrac begins weezing as a rib tickles his lungs. He swings hard at the monster's leg, nearly falling over in the process, "one more hit guys! Then Talc can pilot me to a medic!"

Solar Weapon: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14
Dmg: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Bleed: 1d1 ⇒ 1

Photon Attuned 2

"I'm trying. I followed all your previous teachings!"

Rei lines up her sights again and takes another shot. This time her shot follows Talcs, hitting the undead creature in the same previous spot as Talcs, right in the chest.

Rei Round 3
Atk Laser Rifle, Azimuth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
dmg: 1d8 ⇒ 5

Rei's laser blast caught the last beast in the neck, and the undead gleam in its eyes faded as the damage overcame the necromantic energies holding it upright.

On the opposite side of the doors is a holographic projector showing Droskar's symbol.

The projector can be removed with a Engineering check

Beyond the doors is the interior of the asteroid, which looks as if no space was wasted. Carved into the rock are dozen of buildings, tunnels, and arches. Laboratories, manufacturies, warehouses, and housing units line every available space. Many of these are partially buried, or in a state of near-collapse, ransacked at some point before they were abandoned. It is an explorer's smorgasbord...and your clock is ticking.

Exploration time. Make any 1 skill check you think is appropriate for how your character might attempt to explore. A success is great. A failure...well that might not be so good for you. Let's get one round of checks from everyone, and then go from there.

Talc walks up and slaps Rei on the back. "There you go! That's what I'm talking about!"

Turning to Jena, he adds "Try looking at your target next time, it helps."

Talc imagines in his head that he has a personal mobility jetpack and how fast he could explore this place. Lamenting he does not, he crouches down to start looking for signs of tracks, recent activity, or any significant detail that could help them.

Explore - Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Harrac looks down at the fallen beast, nudging it with his foot to make sure it's dead. He pulls out a Mk 1 Serum and drinks it as he waves to the others, "that was fun." He sits and stares down into the lava for a few minutes, preparing himself to move on. Spend 1RP for SP.

Inside the asteroid, he looks around, amazed at how cramped it is, "people lived here? I feel like it's going to fall on top of me at any moment!" He spys what seems to be an office looking down on where they're standing and starts to climb up to it. At one point there was an arch leading to the door, but that has since crumbled to the ground. Gathering himself, he leaps across the space.

Serum: 1d8 ⇒ 6
Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
16/16 SP, 13/20 HP, 2/3 RP

Satisfied with her shot, Rei comments "According to my databanks, this is a prime opportunity where a so called 'one liner' may come into play. Right Harrac? Let me try. Ahem, Sorry, but I like my undead.." Rei pauses deliberately.

"Extra dead"

And with no other emotion, she moves onto examining the projector. "I think this might be useful. Let me see if I can separate this to bring back with us"

engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Rei easily dismantles the hologram and carries it in her pack before moving into the main hall.

"Well, there is a lot to take in here. We are on a time limit. What do you all think is the best way to approach this?"

Rei pulls out her datapad and begins number crunching, trying to determine if the best course of action is to split up, or stick together and perform more thorough searches.

computers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

It does not take long before her datapad begins beeping and then quickly putting up the dreaded "plaid screen of death". "Damn, I think I carried a 1 here wrong and overloaded the drive capacitors. My datapad has gone to plaid. I'm all out of ideas here."

Talc finds signs of a large conflict followed by a hasty exit. Many of the marks look similar to the ones left on Harrac's armor by those undead creatures you just fought.

Harrac climbed up to one of the top tiers of buildings overlooking the main square of the asteroid complex. From that vantage point he was able to better direct the others in their searches.

Rei wandered about the area, trying to find a place to connect her datapad, but none of the terminals she found was active.

2 successes so far

Piloting: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29 Ask and ye shall receive.

Having found signs of a conflict and a retreat, Talc knows there is more to the story here and recalls his expedition to the distant moon Vericos where they were supposed to simply drop off supplies to a mining company. When they got to the colony to find it desereted, he was directed by their search leader to fly the ship in a specific grid pattern to cover as much territory in the least amount of time. He calls out to his companions "I've got this boys and bots! Follow my lead everyone! Rei, over there. Jena, over ther. Harrac. Uh. Keep doing your thing man."

Using the knowledge from that search, he translates those techniques to continue his search of the area before him, using directions from his copilot Harrac to steer him in the right direction of course.

Harrac smiles as Talc finds his zone. Once he realizes Talc is performing a classic grid search he turns to examine the asteroid itself. He knows there needs to be a source of water and some way to feed the inhabitants, but seems flummoxed by all the rock. "There should at least be pottery," he mutters to himself.

Physical Science: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11