GM SFS's 1-19: To Conquer the Dragon (Inactive)

Game Master Eric Collins - France

Finally back and mostly settled! I'm traveling again starting Thursday, but I'm checking back in and hoping to move things along.

GenCon was amazing. I wrote the SFS multi-table special, and seeing it played at that scale was so unbelievably rewarding. Tons of GMs and players came to shake my hand, one gave me a handmade jinsul mini as a thank you, and one of my players gave me a cash tip because he said my table was one of the most fun TTRPG experiences of his entire life. Also got to dive into 2E, which I really like!

Cool! )))) That sounds GREAT!

Or else you never left home, but made a great Bluff roll right now! xD

Rewards for writing is super ))) - sadly, we poor PbP folk were not able to play your multi-table (though I think I'm supposed to GM it for the Paris, France Con' in November).

Id, you were at -17 SP before taking this 1 damage, is that it? (so -18 now)

Id, you were at -17 SP before taking this 1 damage, is that it? (so -18 now)

I thought those that were injured took a 10-minute break before we left the main part of the ship. When did Id get hurt after that?

Not all did. Drakzul yes. But Huckle and Id did not, I believe. And they are tracking their damage in their avatar line (since Id's went down again w. the latest damage, the number I saw first did include the 1 dam from the first breath attack - I was not sure if it had been updated or not).

Yeah, Id should be down 23 SP (33/56). The two breath weapons were reduced to 1 and 6 damage.

Thanks Id.
(I'm also traveling around, so a lot on phone which is not the best!)
But not now, and next week in Berlin, but more normal days.

No problem at all for using the ready an action, and the first Mind Thrust prepared.

And let us all smile at Slyther, who is back in Chaos, drinking a nice Coke!

Do we even stand a chance in this fight? I'm thinking about running? We'd probably be better off if we had six level six's or if Tier 2, Six level 8s, I know things adjust, but against a Dragon it'd be best to max out the tier everyone could be in.

It's fine. Just ready attacks.

It is a bit of an original combat in that the dragon is hard to spot (for now at least, but, since I believe Goose would recognize a fellow Ghost Operative's Cloaking Field, at least you now there's a time to this) and that she can fly up and about (no ceiling, open sky) and is free to move (and her move is a lot faster than yours).

Hey, you're tackling a dragon!

Still... I have to ask : the dragon seems to have a lot of actions in one round ? The text suggests haste and she seems to have some kind of operative trick.

The tactic is kinda flavouful and i like it. That being said, breath weapon is not a full attack, so no dice on the extra move, neither it is an operative weapon (nor any kind of weapon actually), so you shouldn't be able to use the mobility offered by trick attack. Shouldn't we have a window of opportunity every even rounds ?

Am I wrong ? I may be. I know monster kinda break the rules sometimes.

Agreed. I can't even use haste after a trick attack. From what I have read (RAW), haste only works after a full attack.

Regarding the breath weapon, my guess from the way its gone down is that there is an intermittent cool-down period. From what I surmise, we have been royally and totally butt-f****ed on how well the breath weapons are recharging.

Secondly, the dragon can do this all day. Couple that with the ability to get all 4 of us in the cone EVERY round without leaving itself vulnerable. If it was more than 50' away from Id on that side of the map, how the hell could it still get the rest of the party unless that cone is 100' or more long?!?

My recommendation is to get everyone into the adjacent room and seal the door. I will stay out and play cat-and-mouse until you guys heal up. I can't last forever but I have a cloaking field as long as the dragon does. Well, unless the dragon has some uber blindsense that can see me from a football field away.

Sure, let's go with that !

There was a secret door the dragon came out of, right?

the dragon seems to have a lot of actions in one round ?

So far, no. The past couple of rounds:

she seems to have some kind of operative trick.

So far you have only seen the Cloaking Field

But she might have more tricks up her scaled sleeves.

I know monster kinda break the rules sometimes.

That will probably come this round. One special thingie she has.

I can't even use haste after a trick attack. From what I have read (RAW), haste only works after a full attack.

No. You have to re-read:

From what I surmise, we have been royally and totally butt-f****ed on how well the breath weapons are recharging.

I did roll a 1 twice in a row... that does validate what you are saying.

Secondly, the dragon can do this all day.

No. I've been clear, that Cloaking Field has a timer, and said so since Goose has the same one so easy for him to know.

Couple that with the ability to get all 4 of us in the cone EVERY round without leaving itself vulnerable. If it was more than 50' away from Id on that side of the map, how the hell could it still get the rest of the party unless that cone is 100' or more long?!?

You will now see she does (cannot?) send her cone out every round.

Yes, she opened a door in the wall.
To a cargo hold.

Doing this all day means it could, technically, use a breath weapon on all of us every few rounds and then fly out of our reach and hide.

I know the cloaking field is limited, but 10 rounds of breath weapons doing 30 points of damage on all 4 of us while cloaked softens us up so that not much will be needed to finish us off.

I'm not arguing you are not playing it technically correct. What I am saying is that for a party of 4 at this tier, that is beyond challenging and into the stupidly brutal in my humble opinion.

Theoretically the dragon could recharge every round while cloaked.

If the dragon is hitting us while flying high, does the ship and/or our surroundings give us any cover that would benefit our Reflex saves?

You were unlucky with the cones so far, but it shouldn't be this regular.

I gave a bonus on the first attack, but the other two cones were coming down from above, so I didn't for those (and the whole bridge is on an angle too - makes it all easier!).

I'm thinking about pretending to be dead, via deception and see if it flies off. Lower credits beats -2 levels via raise dead. I get raised am I considered level 3 for tier purposes or still level 5?

That's not an issue here but trick attack is not a full attack. Full attack is its own action. Unless there's a faq somewhere which says that trick attack is a full attack, no extra move with haste.

Anyway, thanks for the clarifications and sorry for asking.

@Huckle Jim: Negative levels "only" give you a negative (-1) in a bunch of things.

@Drakzul: You are right, Full Action vs. Full Attack. So Haste "only" adds speed.
No problem about asking, please.

@Goose: So far, your serum has not been in play since while using X-ray vision, you can’t attempt sight-based Perception checks beyond 60 feet but, after that, I do not believe this will do anything at all vs. the cloaking field.
Sense Through lets you see through obstacles, objects, barriers etc., right?
And the field is a way of distorting light and sound to stealth.
So it does not seem that X-ray works vs. this.

GM - If that is how you rule on the X-ray, then that is that.

Can I walk back my last round or has that train left the station?

In the interim, I will post my actions assuming I can't use the x-ray serum.

@ Drak - you scored a crit with a fire damage weapon. You can reroll the damage again and add the critical component as well. Some weapons give bonus damage or other conditions with a crit. NICE!

Traveling until Sunday, bot me as necessary to keep the encounter moving. Same tactics as my last post for when we thoughts we’d encounter the dragon.

GM - If that is how you rule on the X-ray, then that is that.

Well that is what is written in the description of the serum: that it passes barriers and such, and cannot go past 60 feet.

It is not a see invisible or such.

This dragon, for example, has Sense Through also, but limited to "Snow".
Meaning that it could see through the snow storm and not have miss chance etc., whereas you would have it.
But no snow storm w. the 4 player adjustment (which removes that problem for you, as well as the high wind problem).

Oh yes forgot, range on my rifle is 40 feet, cause he will probably be beyond range 1 obviously.

Can't tell... is the dragon visible or cloaked right now?

Visible, it reappeared beside Id-Sinitis when it attacked (and it cannot "Sniper" since it did not do a ranged attack, and it cannot move after its attack either, so no Stealth for now).

Quote:

GM - If that is how you rule on the X-ray, then that is that.

Well that is what is written in the description of the serum: that it passes barriers and such, and cannot go past 60 feet.

It is not a see invisible or such.

This dragon, for example, has Sense Through also, but limited to "Snow".
Meaning that it could see through the snow storm and not have miss chance etc., whereas you would have it.
But no snow storm w. the 4 player adjustment (which removes that problem for you, as well as the high wind problem).

Makes sense. I humbly bow to your wisdom. :D

Not Wisdom, really, it's just reading and re-reading the things to try and figure out how it works.
I had never read X-Ray serum.
And it is funny, because the Dragon does have this "Sense Through (Snow)" ability, that I had never seen before!

Just keep your serum and don't cross it off your chronicle.
I'm sure Goose knows better than us how it works.
(I think it is quite powerful to see through a door or a safe or whatever, have to check the thickness of things).

Epic final ! Loved it !

Well, that was a grand finale!
Ha ha, what a crit!

Since the adventure is over, and there is just a little mop up and an epilogue, let us get the following going.

FYI, the Dragon's specially invented skill:

Dragon Operative (Ex)

Norys has learned to use her innate draconic attacks with precision and dexterity. She can use her trick attack with her natural weapons. She does not add her trick attack damage to her attacks, but her target is still flat-footed and she can use her debilitating tricks.

So... I thought this would either end this round with Mind Thrust and a failed Save, and hits, or maybe go on for a couple more rounds if she could heal.

So--
REPORTING NOTES
If the orbital bombardment destroyed White Sands Lodge, check box A. If the Starfinders impressed Tefarian Mel, check box B. If the PCs impressed Aralyx, check box C. If the PCs impressed Jaxter, check box D.
So you get boxes B, C, and D

PRIMARY SUCCESS CONDITIONS
If the PCs defeated Norys and recover Zafeldrin’s data, they succeed at their mission and each earn 1 Fame and 1 Reputation for any factions associated with their currently slotted Faction boon.
Check that (though there is dragon brain matter to clean from that datapad)

SECONDARY SUCCESS CONDITIONS
If the PCs accomplish at least four of the following tasks, they each earn 1 additional Fame and 1 Reputation for any factions associated with their current faction boon: discover at least one beacon in area A, discover all beacons in area A (cumulative with the first goal), identify the Dragon Legion monolith, impress one or more guests you got impressed ALL guests! So you got four you needed...

BAD THINGIE YOU AVOIDED:
If the PCs fail to defeat the Diamond Glow during the starship combat, the PCs do not receive the additional Reputation from the secondary success condition, though they can still earn the additional Fame.
But you won the space battle!

__________________________________

Here endeth the adventure, and here are your Chronicle sheets.
Tell me if they are okay.

I wonder... Were the eoxian cristals the reason for the suicidal shirren ?

Nice commentary

Nice commentary

Thanks!

eoxian cristals the reason for the suicidal shirren ?

Yes.

Scariest villain EVER!!!!

Do we need to make our Day Job rolls here?

I can't recall if we've done that already or not.

I left that open for people to add their amounts (I initialed the box).
But, yes, you can roll here or just roll at home, as you wish.

I will wait for our traveling Id-Sinitis to tell me if his Chronicle Sheet is okay, and then do the reporting.

Wow, what a finish! Nice shot, Goose!

Chronicle looks good, thanks for running!

Reported.

Will close the thread down in a couple of days.

Thanks all!