[SFS 1-16] [Gameday VIII] GM Cellion's Dreaming of the Future (Inactive)

Game Master Cellion

"Oh... They Missed. Keeping power on the Weapons!"

Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

With the enemy ship visible, Hermena banks around the target, keeping the asteroids to her starboard flank while preparing to evade any attacks.

Evade - Piloting DC 13: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

"Hit them hard. Take the fight out of them."

Encourage turret gunner.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 + 1d6 ⇒ (16) + 8 + (3) = 27

"Your wish, ... "

Burn swings the turret to track the River Rat and presses the firing button again.

"I will try to directly target their... weapons."

Target system (weapons): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

Round 2 - Open Spoilers for Details

Current River Rat Status:
Shield Damage (F/P/S/A): -5/0/0/0
HP Damage: -18
Glitching weapons
----

You guys move second! I've moved the River Rat.
The River Rat's crew gets reckless and attempts a flyby of the Loreseeker!
RR Piloting: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
And its so-so pilot doesn't manage to swoop by fast enough, provoking an attack from the Loreseeker.

"Come on we got this! Power to the weapons."

Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13 Oops, those are the rolls I'm use to.

"Burnham, burn them." Basalt amuses himself as he encourages the gunner.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 + 1d6 ⇒ (14) + 8 + (6) = 28

He keeps the comms open. "I am pleased to know that you were telling the truth, Mr Smiles. The way you keep your ship in our sights makes me believe you really want us to succeed.... at destroying you."
No game effect. Just having fun.

"With pleasure, sir."

"I believe their weapons are... malfunctioning. I will try to repeat the effect."

Target system (weapons): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

It seems we all have some problems with the dice.

Easily outmaneuvering the ysoki's attempted flyby, Hermena maneuvers the Starfinder ship around the nearest asteroid. "I'm following them as best I can, but I don't know if I can keep us hitting their forward arc from here."

Evade - Piloting DC 13: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Round 3 - Open Spoilers for Details

Current River Rat Status:
Shield Damage (F/P/S/A): -5/-5/0/0
HP Damage: -23
Glitching Sensors
----

You guys move first!

"Oh, No good no good. Next one will get us..." He says as he gets to work on the shields. "Diverting power to shields Captain."

Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (19) + 12 = 31

"Keep it up, Burnham. You're doing great."
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 + 1d6 ⇒ (8) + 8 + (2) = 18

"Hey, Mr Smiles, you doing ok over there? I'm starting to worry about you. You want to surrender before you break down?"

Troy first looks at Snik and then to the status of the shields. "I will divert the shields. I am going to... balance the power of the shields and the distribute it evenly."

Balance: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Hermena banks back to the left, trying to keep the compromised starboard shields away from the ysoki's turret.

Evade - Piloting 13: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

"See if Hermena can keep them in an arc and support that shield."

Burn continues tracking the Rat and fires again.

Coilgun, BAB, dex, computer, encouragement: 1d20 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 10 ... damage: 4d4 ⇒ (3, 2, 2, 4) = 11

Round 4 - Open Spoilers for Details

Current River Rat Status:
Shield Damage (F/P/S/A): -5/-5/0/0
HP Damage: -23
----

River Rat has gone, you guys go second!

"Quit letting them hit us!" Snik says as the ship rocks and he attempts to bring even more power to the shields.

Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

"Burnham, let's finish them off. Blow them out of the sky."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + 8 + (6) = 20

"Doing my best, Stonie."

Burn unleashes another kinetic energy projectile at the ysoki's ship.

Coilgun, BAB, dex, computer, encouragement: 1d20 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 18 ... damage: 4d4 ⇒ (3, 4, 2, 1) = 10

"I will try to disable their... engines. Maybe we can get a... clear shot that way."

Target system (engine): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Hermena maneuvers the Loreseeker to stay in the enemy's compromised port arc, all the while weaving to avoid incoming fire.

Evade - Piloting DC 13: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Round 5 - Open Spoilers for Details

Current River Rat Status:
Shield Damage (F/P/S/A): -5/-5/0/0
HP Damage: -33
Engines glitching
----

River Rat has gone, you're up!

"They're almost finished. Hit them again."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 + 1d6 ⇒ (14) + 8 + (2) = 24

"You are almost finished aren't you, Mr Smiles? Tell you what, I'll just leave this channel open in case you want to surrender. How's that?"

"Their shields suck, but their ship can absorb a lot of damage. "

If they're going to run away, maybe someone else should jump on the aeon caster next round.

Troy fiddles around with his console again. "Maybe we can fully... disable their engines."

Target system (engines): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

"Alright, that wasn't so bad. Diverting excess power back to the Guns."

Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28

Not yet ready to let the rats off the hook, Hermena guides the Loreseeker around the asteroid base, positioning the ship alongside the enemy's compromised port shields. "Alright gunners, let's make this one count!"

Evade - Piloting DC 13: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Final Round - Open Spoilers for Details

Current River Rat Status:
Shield Damage (F/P/S/A): -5/-5/0/0
HP Damage: -42
Engines malfunctioning
----
With their engines crippled and defeat clear on the horizon, the River Rat depowers its turret and tries to hobble away as fast as possible!

(You can chase and finish them off or let them go. Either way...)
Combat Over!

"Let them run. They will spread the word of their defeat by the Starfinders and our fame will grow."

Basalt sends a final message. "Mr Smiles, we are sorry to see you go. Make sure to call ahead next time you're in the neighborhood so we can prepare a better welcome for you."

Troy steps away from the science station. "That went... well. That was a great team effort. What are we going to do now?"

"We contact the Silverbrew clan and possibly investigate the mine a bit."

Hermena frowns. "Not much can grow in the asteroid belt, but the Diaspora is known to be fertile ground for grudges. I'm not sure it's a great idea to let them escape when they've clearly expressed a wish to do us harm. That said, they tried to lure us into a trap before, so maybe cutting our losses here makes sense."

She turns to Troy and nods towards the scanners. "Now that we've rid the base of its squatters, can we get any more information about the layout from our scanners?"

Troy nods to Hermena. "That does sound like a good plan. I will scan the astroid... immediately."

With blinding speed Troy pushes some buttons and looks at his screen, waiting for the results.

scan: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

The defeated River Rat slinks deeper into the Diaspora, Mr. Smiles probably holding his breath that you don't call his bluff and finish him off. Once the River Rat is gone, you turn your attention to the abandoned mining base. A scan of the base reveals it to be empty of life signs, but you do detect a large storage area full of mineral readings - likely the stolen cargo!

You contact Silverbrew clan with news of your success against the smugglers and hear back over your ship's long-distance comms. "You got those smugglers? Darn if we aren't glad to hear it! That oughta teach those skulking thieves to keep away from what isn't theirs! Now, as promised, we'll send you nice folks the chunk of that tablet we kept our hands on." The dwarven matriarch takes a deep sigh. "And then we'll get to sweep through our mining base for any surprises the smugglers left. They probably wrecked the place..." Composing herself, she finishes with "Nothing for you to worry about though, we'll take it from here. Thanks again Starfinders!"

-------

With your task done, you start heading back towards Absalom Station. A few hours in, the Venture Captain contacts you over long-distance comms. "Starfinders, we just received the tablet fragment from the Silverbrew clan. One down, two to go!" He turns more somber "I have some unfortunate, but not unexpected, news. The smugglers had stolen the other two tablet fragments, with the Clan retaining the last one, right? I thought there might be a chance that the Clan's mining base would still hold the others. Unfortunately, it looks like that isn't the case. The smugglers must have already offloaded those fragments to someone else in the Diaspora."

"We still have two other leads from the dream fragments. See slide 2. What do you want to try to tackle next?"

What about that first one?

"Whatever you say Captain."

Looks like forums have been down a good part of the last 24 hours, but I don't think anyone is deeply attached to which quest you tackle next? :>

Venture Captain Arvin's visage grows thoughtful. "This one was the hardest for our team here to decipher. The first poem seems to refer to the machine-driven world of Aballon, with its reference to being 'brought close to the sun'. The 'shadow of a false-made tower' likely alludes to the Towershadow sub-district of Striving, one of the megaplexes on that planet. And a 'made real one' could be any of the planet's many artificial inhabitants..." His brow furrows. "It seems that the tablet fragment is in the possession of an individual, and one hiding out due to some lies or legal trouble against them. That's our current theory, at least."

"I recognize that doesn't leave you much to go on. So you'll need to keep your noses to the ground for any further leads. I'll keep in contact with you as well, in case we glean anything else."

"We’re sending you via shuttle to Towershadow, where you’ll have to figure out for yourselves who our 'made real one' is and where they might be hiding. Time is of the essence, as anything the Dreamer predicted may not stay true for long. Any questions before you depart?"

Basalt tries to figure out who or what the hiding figure is.

Culture: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Snik jumps on a computer to see if any outstanding warrants for Andriods in the Striving.

Computers: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27

Burn frowns as he tries to puzzle out the clue. "I don't know. Aballon's all I can figure out. 'Made real one' almost makes me think it existed before and was then made real. Maybe it's an AI that just got a body after a lifetime in the ether."

Culture, untrained: 1d20 ⇒ 8

Republished here for convenience:
A made real one runs for fear of untruths
A piece of the prize stolen brought close to the sun
Under the shadows of a false-made tower

Troy looks at Snik and then turns to Burnham and nods. "That could... very well be the case. The poem could indeed refer to one of my fellow... kin. But why run for untruths? What kind of... lies or rumors could be so bad that they... make you run away?"

"Are there circumstances that we should be... aware of in this Towershadow?" Troy looks at Arvin with mild concern. "Do we need to... arm ourselves?"

"Maybe they've been framed?" Hermena says with a shrug. "I'll admit I haven't worked with artificial intelligence all that often, so this is a bit out of my depth. Will they take credits if we need to grease a few palms? What kind of materials would help us move through an AI-dominant society?"

"Don't worry about it, if you don't want to pack. We'll see you home safe."

Burn pats his reaction cannon.

Basalt and Burnham are left scratching their heads at the mysteries of the first dream fragment, but Snik's quick search does turn up something interesting. An outstanding "Palladium Alert" for an android believed to be hiding out somewhere in Striving. The alert notice mentions that the android is under extradition request to stand trial for a supposed charge of murder on Verces. The alert notice provides a name "Lerecti", but few other identifying details.

The Venture Captain overhears Snik's findings and comments "That does seem a good place to start. You may be able to learn more if you investigate in person. Towershadow is one of the less safe locations within Striving - but by the standards of the Pact Worlds, I'd expect little trouble. There's an artificial atmosphere within that section of the megaplex, so it serves are one of the few locations where non-synthetic life can life normally. You shouldn't need anything more than your armor and whatever tools you already have. Though a sidearm is always a sensible precaution."

---

You exchange the Loreseeker for a simple shuttle, and after a few days, the shuttle reaches its destination. At first blush, Aballon appears a blasted wasteland of a planet that—once the full brightness of the Pact World's sun falls upon it—quickly shows itself to be covered in glittering metal cities. The shuttle goes through a set of blast doors into a city built inside and around what was clearly once a massive silver tower.

Before long, you find yourselves disembarking onto a broad promenade packed with creatures of all types, SROs, androids and other synthetic entities rub shoulders with organic travelers visiting Towershadow for trade or tourism. The atmosphere here is breathable, for the convenience of Towershadow's many organic guests, but beyond its reinforced dome is the large majority of the inhospitable planet.

Looks like it'll take some sleuthing to track down "Lerecti" and check if they're the "Made-real One".

You have a few different options to try to gather information here. Computers, Diplomacy, Survival, or a relevant Profession skill, are all viable options. Each PC can make one of these checks. I've already applied Snik's earlier roll as one success.

Troy walks up to a terminal and uses the search terms "Lerecti" and "Made-real one". "Let me see if I can find anything... interesting."

computers: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Troy finds Aballon's local infosphere a tangled web of obscure and obtuse pages, many filled with nothing but white machine-code on a black background. He's pretty sure at least one of the pages he stumbled on was an advertisement for 'exotic experiential viruses'. Unfortunately, he's not able to find anything on Lerecti or the Made-real one.

Leaving it open for the rest of the party to give it a go. Since I might not have been clear, Snik can also attempt this check.

The amenable dwarf talks to people trying to find out where this Lerecti is located.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + 8 + (2) = 16

After being unable to successfully find anything useful in the countless number of pages from the local infosphere, Troy joins Basalt.

"I was hoping to find... information of either Lerecti or the Made-real one. I was... unsuccessful. Maybe one of these people knows... something."