Hmm's SFS 2-01: Pact World Warriors (PBP Gameday VIII) (Inactive)

Game Master Hmm

Coming to a Galaxy Near YOU on August 26th, 2019! If selected, please dot and delete!

Starting us out with some pre-game RP.

You all receive a summons from Radaszam.

A quick search of the infosphere reveals that The Spinneret is a shuttle that belongs to Radazam's mercenary outfit, the Obsidian Spiders. It's a classy looking vessel. An ysoki crewman checks off each of your names as you arrive.

"Ever been to Eox before? It's a bit of a dump. Boss didn't say why we had to go there, just that we did. Get in, make yourselves comfortable. This is a sweet ride."

It is a sweet ride. Black leather and chrome predominate, but the chairs are really comfortable. As he joins you in the cabin, the crewman identifies himself. "Name's Rasca. So, who are all of you? Ever do anything with the Boss that I should know about?"

Tyus barely glances up from her datapad, which is blaring a vidstream from one of Akiton's bloodsport arenas, long enough to say "I'm Tyus. Dunno your—oh COME ON!" She is already looking at the screen again, ignoring her surroundings.

Deger sets his pike down next to his seat before sitting himself. "I'm called Deger. Joined the Starfinders not too long ago and have not met your boss." He takes in the swanky ship with appreciation.

Rasca sidles up next to Tyus, eyes on the vidscreen. "Wait? Is that the match between Magical Mu and Terminus?" He watches with you as the nuar charges and gores her shobhad opponent. "Oh, awesome! Terminus had it coming to him!" Then the show is interrupted by an advertisement.

A lashunta in sunglasses appears on Tyus's vidscreen. "Fellow concerned viewers from the Pact Worlds... Did you know that Mu is a Starfinder? Why are so many of these so-called explorers thugs like Mu, who glory in nothing but violence? Think on that, as we return you to your show."

As the vidscreen returns to the fight, Mu is chasing her opponent all over the blood-soaked sands. "Yeah! You better run!"

Meanwhile, Rasca has pulled away, a frown on his face. He turns to Tyus and Deger. "Another one of those stupid anti-Starfinder advertisements. And even worse, we missed the best part of the fight!"

An elderly dwarf couple stride in to the docking bay. Both dressed in clean, well maintained, though old and worn suits. The woman smiles and waves at everyone in a cheerful manner then turns the the male dwarf, kisses him on the cheek and whispers something in his ear. The male dwarf smiles, kisses her back. "Aye, I will make a'sure to get autographs this time!"

She then pats him on the head in a familiar and loving matter. Waves and smile to everyone else, then picks up her own tool bag and heads off to a different docking bay. You hear her shout back. "And Tell Zo! that I love him! Sometimes more than you!"

The remaining dwarf blushes a bit then turns to the others gathered. He pulls out his c-gar and its plasma end lights up. "Names Frank Gulp. Retired head of Silver Hammer Mining. Now just keeping busy wit ta' Starfinders. Razzie tends to keep me busy. But it keeps ta' dust from collecting" He offers his hand to others

A smallish (by Ysoki-standards) Ysoki walks into the docking area, he's sharply dressed though his face bares more than a few scars. He listens politely as the other introduce themselves. "I am Smek Skytower, freelance business agent. My specialty is the acquisition or return of... Well, anything if you're paying well enough." He smiles broadly.

He greets Rasca warmly, "I was fortunate enough to meet Radaszam on two occasions. The second far livelier. My team and I halted an assassination attempt on Second Seeker Elsebo," he taps the badge Radaszam presented him,"I look forward to earning my place as a Spider more directly."

Tyus, having tilted the datapad screen so Rasca could watch with her, gives it a few more seconds and then presses the power button.

She extends a fist bump to Frank’s offered hand without looking at him. ”Tyus. Also a MuMu.” fans of Mu She grins at Rasca.

Then, asking nobody in particular, ”What’s this Zadarans person like, anyway? Big personality?”

Rasca looks aghast for a second at Tyus's mispronunciation of Radaszam, but the fact that it was uttered by a fellow MuMu mitigates it a bit. "Rad-as-zam," Rasca pronounces for Tyus's benefit. "Most awesome boss ever."

Rasca shakes Frank's and Smek's hands warmly. "I remember you!" he says to Frank. "You were that miner on Zo's show, what was it... Live Textploration Ice Cream? Anyways, you were so funny!"

Then he turns back to both Frank and Smek. "Hey you should tell Tyus here what kind a boss Rad-Dad is! Personality the size of Sun!" Then he pauses. "Makes me kinda wonder what he and Zo! will be like in the same room, eh?"

Frank smiles and laughs with Rasca. "Yeah! Tha 'twas me. My first job witta Starfinders and already I'ma famous. 200 years diggin' dirt on a distant 'roids may pay well, but donna get yer names in lights!"

The rest of your party arrives and you all have an uneventful trip, enjoying the excellent snacks that Rasca provided for you en route to Eox. You're not quite sure how, but you don't even go through customs, because Zo's team awaits you in the Eoxian spaceport and whisks you off.

Zo!'s complex is a multistory subterranean facility with floors dedicated to film sets, employee amenities, and cavernous boardrooms. You meet with Zo!, Eox's foremost media mogul, in one such meeting area, furnished with a large round table and multiple wall-mounted flat screens.

“Frank! Smek! Oh, and you brought such cute friends to play with me!” Zo!, an undead elebrian, rubs his skeletal hands together and turns his rictus grin to Radaszam. “Excellent work, you truly are the Dealmaker! My viewers will love these agents you've assembled! Oh who are these new lovelies?”

Deger bristles at being called cute. Then his jaw drops open.

"Viewers?! Vhat exactly is it ve are doing here?"

I prefer nordic dwarves to scottish ones so I'll be replacing 'w's with 'v's. If it gets annoying to read let me know.

Zo!'s jaw drops. "Oh... he doesn't know! Oh, that's precious!" He turns to Radaszam. "I've come to love dwarves. Such solidity, with that forthrightness that you can't fake... though goodness knows I've tried!"

Deger scowls at the Eoxian. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here or you'll feel the solidity of my fist. Can someone tell me vhat's going on now?"

Radaszam nods, briefly showing his teeth, then gestures toward the empty seats across from Zo!. “Before we get too carried away, I need a moment to explain the situation.” Radaszam sighs wearily as he takes a seat barely appropriate for his large vesk frame. “We thought our troubles were over after the Scoured Stars business. We were wrong.”

“Allow me to elaborate!” Zo! excitedly explains, seizing a remote. The screens behind him flicker to life, and the undead mogul spins around in his chair for a better view. Radaszam buries his head in his hands as the video plays.

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

The Starfinder Society emblem appears on screen as a deep, confident voice narrates: “The Starfinder Society, a group dedicated to the pursuit of truth and knowledge—or so they say.” The music dramatically flares as the voice-over continues. “What does this fraudulent organization really stand for?”

The camera pans over a fleet of Starfinder starships engaged in vicious fleet-to-fleet combat with unseen attackers. “Today, the Scoured Stars; tomorrow, your system. Where exactly will these hells-bent-on-conquest soldiers stop?” The scene then changes to that of a shirren, faction leader Zigvigix, dancing in a crowd, their torso and arms crammed into a Strawberry Machine Cake T-shirt. “While Starfinder operatives carry out secret wars across the galaxy, Society leaders embezzle funds to purchase VIP concert tickets. What is their true agenda?”

The screen transitions to grainy footage of Venture-Captain Arvin emerging from the Lorespire Complex, his hand raised to block the flash of cameras. “Society leadership refuses to elaborate. But the question remains: does this group have any place in the Pact Worlds?”

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

"As hatchet jobs go," Zo whispers to you, "this one is quite excellent. Look at how they use your own successes against you. That's quality work."

A half-dozen similar ads play as Radaszam shakes his head. “As you can see,” Radaszam grumbles, “We're facing a multimedia smear campaign. The First Seeker is working through legal channels while Celita locates the source of the commercials. But there's a way you can help.” Radaszam catches Zo!'s eye and nods.

“You're going to turn the tides of public opinion in your Society's favor,” Zo! gushes, bouncing in his seat, “by competing on my show, Pact World Warriors!”

I prefer nordic dwarves to scottish ones so I'll be replacing 'w's with 'v's. If it gets annoying to read let me know.

Well Frank is more Appalachian, but close enough. Though same let me know if it gets too annoying to read.

Franks takes a pull on his c-gar while listening to Zo! and Radaszam. "Well, ta'last show did well'nuogh. Pop Maxwell always said Whats good is t'gold if y'aint got any buyers! And I am game t'give it a'go"

He looks over his companions then chuckles a bit. "Though I doubt we be measure'n bore heads this time"

Smek greets Zo! with a formal bow and smile, "It is good to see you again Zo!. When you had talked about appearing in one of your productions I never thought it would happen so soon." He turns to Radaszam, "Of course, we'll carry ourselves with the decorum the situation demands."

After the video players, Smek's whiskers bristle in frustration. "If it were any better and I'd think you had a camera in it Zo!", Smek smiles trying to lighten the situation, "So we have a mysterious detractor, and our counter is going to be... What is Pact World Warriors again?" He glances between the Vesk and the undead.

Tyus, bouncing on her heels with excitement, suddenly stops and stares slack-jawed at Smek, before looking around at everyone else as if to say “can you believe this guy?”

Well Frank is more Appalachian, but close enough. Though same let me know if it gets too annoying to read.

I've got an Appalachian accent myself and yeah, kinda close. I wasn't really calling you out personally though, more the stereotype.

"I don't know vhy ve care vhat other people think but that's above my pay grade anyhow. I also vant to know vhat this show is about."

An android woman with grey skin inlaid with faintly glowing blue circuits walks in, typing to the bronze hoverdrone that flies beside her. Her metallic hair is styled into cables in a manner reminiscent of dreadlocks, and she wears an emerald green set of freebooter armor. The drone is decorated with bronze wings and blinking red lights. She gestures to one of the swanky chairs, waiting for her drone to pick a seat before sitting in a chair next to him.

Instead of engaging with the other Starfinders immediately, she listens to their conversation while playing a vid-game on her datapad. When the ad comes up on Tyus's screen, she rapidly changes her vidscreen to display the game. After a few seconds, she backs away, giggling, and puts on a pair of headphones. The drone emits a metallic facsimile of a laugh, its lights flashing in time with the sound. A few minutes later, she takes out the headphones. The lashunta from the earlier smear ad speaks from her datapad. "Fellow viewers from the Pact Worlds... Did you know that Starfinders are explorers? Why are so many Starfinders explorers who return in glory? I like Starfinders."

"Another ad for my collection, once I have time to go back and clean up the audio, that is." the android says, smiling to the group. The drone beeps in approval. "I should probably introduce myself, because we are meeting for the first time. I'm Rose-5, and this is Spinning Falcon." The drone twirls around in happy circles, "Bee boop boop BOOOP!"

When Frank Gulp makes the comment about mining not getting his name up in lights, she projects a hologram made of glittering lights from the surface of her data pad: "FRANK GULP". "It's pretty easy to make text appear as flashing lights. I can show you how, if you'd like."

When Zo! shows the smear campaign ads, Rose-5 eagerly records them all for later editing. "Wow, that's quite the collection, Zo! Thanks."

When Zo! mentions going on Pact World Warriors, Rose-5 speaks to Spinning Falcon. "Did you catch that last bit? You're going to be a star!"
"Bee Bee boop bop?"
"Mr. Zo!, Spinning Falcon hasn't heard of Pact World Warriors. Can you tell him more about his role? Also, do you want me to be on your show as well?"

Frank pokes a the lettering above his head. "Tha's kinda ya. But the missues already says me head is t'big for m'helmet already." With that thought he suddenly remembers his primary mission. From his suit, he pulls out a hologrpahic photo of Zo! in circa 100 AG clothing with the caption: The Lone Guardian of the Soul. He holds the photo up to Zo!. "Hilda asked if I could get ya to sing this. T'was her favorite show of yours. "

"Oh, Hilda asked if I could sing this?!" Zo! looks pleased. "It's been a long time since anyone asked me if I could sing that particular theme song..."

Someone pushed the FILK button!

An undead film crew comes out of the closets of the meeting room, and one of them shines a spotlight on Zo! He drags Frank in the spotlight with him, as a ghoul band strikes up a guitar solo.

♫ It's all the same, only the dates will change
Everyday, it seems we're wastin' away
Another place with dangers unforetold
You fight all night just to get back home

I'm a showman,
On a bone stage I preside
I want you (want you) dead or alive
Want you (want you) dead or alive
Oh I preside, dead or alive
Still preside (still preside) dead or alive
Dead or alive, dead or alive, dead or alive, dead or alive ♫

____
Source: Bon Jovi's Dead or Alive!

“Ahem. Perhaps it is time to get back to the mission briefing?” Radaszam says, getting up to shoo out the undead musicians. “Zo! and I believe that a good showing on a prime-time game show might undermine this attempt at slander.” Radaszam explains. “I handpicked you to compete as a team. If you can impress Pact Worlds viewers enough, that'll be the distraction we need to get the time to figure this whole situation out.”

"So... you all want to know about Pact World Warriors?" Zo! beams. “Pact World Warriors is an action-packed game show filmed here in my megastudio. It will star all of you! Two teams compete in a series of death-defying challenges. The winning team earns eternal adoration from millions of fans—and a cash prize!” Zo! whispers to Rose-5, "Both you and Spinning Falcon need to take part!"

He claps. "Any other questions? I love questions!"

A lashunta, wearing a green jacket and dark brown pants, sitting in the back casually watching speaks up. Yeah. What kind of death-defying challenges? And what kind of cash prize? 'Warriors' kind of sounds arena related. Are we gladiators now?"

One at a time each of the others receives a telepathic, "Names Kemashi. If we're doing this together you may as well know that."

"You want to know what are the challenges are?" Zo! waves a bony finger at Kemashi. “Oh, no, no. That's a surprise. A Pact World Warrior must think on the fly, roll with the punches, expect the unexpected!” Zo! gesticulates wildly as he speaks.

Yay, we've all checked in now!

Smek chuckles as Zo! breaks into song, An eternal showman...

Smek looks at Radaszam, "Understood, create a flashy diversion to buy time. Will there be security in the camera crew? Judging from the slander footage our opponent has onsite access to our missions, we could be fueling the fire with raw, uncut, behind the scenes footage reveals true Starfinder intents...", he mimics the anti-Starfinder announcer's tone before turning to Zo!, "I love surprises! To capture our expressions at each challenge broadcasting gold... Do we at least get to know is this direct competition like a race? Or parallel, watching each other and then trying to beat times or scores?"

Frank blushes as Zo! sings. "Well aye. I'd think Hilda will appreciate tha' too."

"I'm glad to participate as well," says Rose-5. "Spinning Falcon is much more capable at combat than I am. I'm curious, though--you said that you love questions but then your answer to the questions about what to expect is that everything is a surprise. Do you love questions because you love being enigmatic? Is this one of those social situations like when a person buys someone else a gift and asks them to guess what it is but actually doesn't plan to tell them what it is?"

"I vould say that's probably the case Rose." Then Deger turns to Radaszam, "But it doesn't really matter vhat this show asks us to do. If these Starfinders are as capable as the others I've met, ve vill do just fine. Let's get it over vith."

Radaszam thinks for a moment about the other team, then snorts dismissively. “Probably a bunch of celebrity wannabes, but don't underestimate them. I don't have any intel on your opponents.” He glances pointedly at Zo!, who gives a wide-grinning shrug in return.

Zo! laughs and claps his hands. "Ooh, great questions! Some of these challenges will be indeed a race. Others may be parallel, but you'll always be aware of that other team, and the delicious competition they bring!" Then Zo! puts a finger to his non-existent lips. "As for your question, Rose-5, I am not telling!"

WHAT YOU KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:

Based on the result of a Culture or Diplomacy check, you might know more about the program Pact World Warriors. You learn all of the information whose DC is equal to or less than the result of their check.

You may also finalize your boons!

Whole Team

Zo!'s staff arrives to collect the contestants as soon as you are ready. They immediately start applying makeup and glitter to all of you, prepping you to look fabulous!

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Frank, Smek, & Kemashi only

Before you exit the boardroom to begin filming, Zo! crooks a bony finger at Frank, Smek, and Kemashi. "May I have the attention of you three for a moment?" Not waiting for an answer, he whisks you three into a nearby prop room. There Zo! leans forward. "I have a “vested interest” in my friends' success, so I have some little extras for the three of you. Here is a selection of quality gear provided by my myriad sponsors. Be sure to talk them up during the show! Happy sponsors, happy you, amirite?"

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Each of you three can select up to three pieces of gear from the Subtier 1–2 lists below.

Ghouls in poofy party dresses parade the gear before you, while jaunty music plays!

Subtier 1–2 (Armor):

Culture: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

As the team is getting camera ready, Smek talks about a few of the episodes that he's seen or caught clips of. "Zo! I love your planning team 'Combat Karaoke'?! Creative, exciting, so... Zo!..." Smek will talk out the rest of the spoilers except the last, he'll tell the team about the leaked challenges outside of Zo!'s earshot if he can.

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

"Zo! the reason you get the best, is because you treat like the best. Thank you, we'll make sure your audience gets an action packed episode. You just make sure the Starfinder look fab?" Smek offers a flashy backflip into a bow as he talks about 'action', and offers a pawshake with the closing question.

He suits up the Vesk Brigandine, "Excellent fit...", holsters the Subduer, and places the serum in his check pouch. "Thank you again Zo!"

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Once the team is re-united Smek will make sure to reveal the last bits about the leaked challenges. "So, are we ready to be famous? Any last minute plans or ideas?" His whiskers quiver with anticipation.

Frank looks over what Zo! offers. "Well me suit seems good enough, but that roto' i' nice" Also listing to what Smek recalls about the show. Frank pulls out some black "clay." He shapes it a bit then wraps it around some red short "pipe."

Frank's Prepared grenade is currently Incendiary Grenade, Mk 1

He then pockets the healing serum. Hearing about the cooking. "Well, I am a mean cook of weevils. "

Culture: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18

Tyus, overwhelmed by the excitement of being on one of her favorite streams, suddenly blanks on all the things she knows about it. It doesn’t help that she becomes immediately envious of the special attention Zo! gives to others in the group.

As she recenters herself, she turns a small worry stone (her spell cache) over and over in her hand. That’s okay—I’ve been underestimated before. I’ll show ‘em!

Being a dwarf and a Starfinder, and not having been offered any shiny new things, Deger is already in his armor and ready to go. So, he waits while everyone else suits up. Standing off to the side he closes his eyes and looks to be meditating or something.

As soon as the others start mustering back together he goes back to his grumpy act. "Vell let's get this nonsense over vith."

Culture: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Rose-5 tries her best to recall anything she knows about the challenges they may face on the show, but comes up with nothing. Since everyone else either got called to the side by Zo! or seems absorbed occupied by their own thoughts, she puts her headphones on again and goes off into a corner of the room. After a minute or two of mouthing the words of what's she's listening to, she quietly starts to sing along with a cheesy romantic ballad, while Spinning Falcon emits an old-style electronic music accompaniment. "When I look out into the stars/I know that somewhere/ you are thinking of me/For all this love that's truly ours/nothing can take it all/ away oooh you'll see/Not this long and lonely Drift/No time or space can form a rift/As I soar off now into the Vast/I promise you our love will always laaaast..." Her singing is mostly in-key, but it is flat and devoid of emotional expression.

When she sees the others returning from their conversation with Zo!, she snaps back to the present, shuffling awkwardly and rushing back to the center of the room. "Aah, right. Did you have a good chat?"

Kemashi straightens his jacket but otherwise seems ready to go. He listens to Rose sing. "Not bad. Warming up for the show? We're going to need someone for that karaoke match!" He looks around studying each of the others.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Well, I'm ready to get this done. Anyone else?

Kemashi, let me know what gear you picked!

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

After the briefing, production staff lead you deeper into the megacomplex. Several flights of stairs and a few elevator rides later, you arrive in a large hexagonal room crawling with camera drones.

Various mini-sets form a mismatched still life. To the west, a raised circular platform housing a comfortable white couch stands in front of several vidscreens. A long newscaster’s desk occupies the area to the south. Two undead chat animatedly in front of a green screen in an open area to the east.

A spectral woman turns to a pale, gaunt man with clawed hands. “Are you ready to meet our contestants, Quell?” The woman’s breathy voice echoes through the chamber as a skeleton hoists a microphone in front of her ghostly lips.

“I died already, Lethea! I can already positively taste their excitement, and hesitation, and fear! Ah, and that piquant touch of nerves. Simply exquisite.” Quell winks at a nearby camera.

“Well, here they are!” Lethea announces. “We’ve brought both teams together for an exclusive meet and greet. Be on your best behavior, contestants. Our audience cheers loudest for living challengers, if you catch my drift.”

Quell and Lethea are pictured on Slide Two!

“Yes, let’s meet our contestants! We have two delicious teams today, the Raucous Rivals and the Starfinder Six!” Zo turns to the Starfinders. “Unless you want something else as a team name?”

The rival team has five people on it: an angry looking halfling woman, a classy looking damaya lashunta male, a large female vesk with a stealth drone, a male pahtra, and a cheerful looking android.

Zo! walks straight up to the halfling woman, who is proudly wielding guns larger than she is. “Anyway, let’s meet some of the Rival Team. Here is the pixie of pugnacity, Mia Moxie!”

Mia Moxie rolls her eyes as Zo! calls her the ‘pixie of pugnacity’, but her real glare is reserved for all of you. “You sure these are our competition, Zo!? They look greener than the protein shake I had for lunch. We’ll eat you bozos alive!”

Do any of you approach any of the rival team, or introduce yourselves to your hosts?

Frank takes a pull on his c-gar and then holds it up like a torch. As if eying the wind. Then putting it back in to his mouth he steps forward "[b]I think I hear t'wind? Or is that just a wee lass tha canna only blow hot air? I can give ya a dish to eat, if ya donna choke on ya'own words![b]"

Rose-5 answers Kemashi, "Thank you. People rarely say nice things about my voice. But these songs are very catchy. I got a Strawberry Machine Cake album recently and I liked it a lot. Then I started looking for similar artists. If you like this type of music, it would make sense for us to spend time together and present samples of songs so that we can efficiently grow our music libraries. That would also be an effective way to assess the possibility of developing a friendship based upon common interests."

After a quick count of team members, Rose-5 says, "Excuse me, Mr. Zo! Should we not be the Starfinder Seven? There's Spinning Falcon, Kemashi, Frank, Deger, Tyus, Smek, and also me."
Failing to "catch [her] drift" entirely, Rose-5 says, "I was also wanted to say that I'm sorry that you all have to deal with anti-undead prejudice on your own show. The audience should cheer loudly for you too. Living or not does not a person make."

And then when the other team comes out, she replies to Mia Moxie, "Well, hello there! Spirited competition you are, then! I'm Rose-5, and this is my traveling companion, Spinning Falcon. This is the part where we do the trash talk, I see! Unfortunately, you haven't given me much to work with yet. I'll have to wait to see you fail first. A word of advice though--anger clouds the higher functions of the mind. If you wish to perform well at these contests, I recommend calming down. Many breathing creatures find taking deep breaths to be an effective means of re-centering concentration and reducing emotional interference. If you wish to assist me in insulting you by increasing your probability of failure, by all means continue to allow your inaccurate hypothesis that we will be an easy team to defeat to annoy you."
The ghost of a smirk briefly lights up Rose-5's otherwise stony face as she completes her introduction.

Zo! watches Spinning Falcon fly around his head and nods. "The Starfinder Seven it is then!"

"Trash talk, Deger says, with a harumph. "My dear Aiti used to say vhen I vas a boy, 'actions speak louder than vords'. Ve vill see who is the bozo."