GM Cellion's Dawn of Flame AP

Game Master Cellion

Ordyt looks up from clipping on the reaction cannon's weapon harness and shrugs at Flint. "Whichever is faster. We're already armored up, let's just walk it rather than detach the shuttle."

Adding the Reaction Cannon & Aufies Frosthammer to Ordyt's stats

Mari nods as she stuffs more ammunition into her bag and checks over the new autotarget rifle. "Agreed. Being on the float's never been something that bothered me, anyway."

Sammad gives Marisol a wry grin in return. "Well assuming that all works as I'd like...she'd need a crew." And then Sammad resumes looking about the room for anything interesting.

Belmarniss doesn't say anything, but it's clear from her eyes that she's smiling behind her faceplate.

Belmarniss, do you think you can fly the shuttle over to the bridge and tether it for a short space walk?” asks Flint, who then turns to Ordyt and asks,”Or should we leave the shuttle where it is and chance a longer spacewalk?”

"Easy to do, but it seems the others would prefer just a straight-up space-walk. Anyone got a tow cable? Might be handy for keeping us linked in case someone misses a hand-hold or something."

”Sounds good. Let’s get back to the airlock and rig some cable,” says Flint. He heads back towards the shuttle airlock and gets ready for some EV time.

Marisol double-checks everyone's EVA gear before they step out the airlock. They had, after all, been in combat and might be heading into even more, so it paid to be careful. Nothing worse than springing a leak before people start shooting at you, she thinks.

With a last check of his life-support field and a wistful glance at the iridshell armor, Ordyt gives the others a thumbs-up and clips the reaction cannon to his harness. "Let's move, we're burning daylight."

"That's the point, Ordyt, it's only safe to land on the Sun at night."

With a stifled laugh, Flint enables his armor's seal and clips the cable onto his belt, stepping into the airlock and waiting for the others to indicate they are ready to go.

You take a short trip back to the shuttle to wheel the ship around the the front side of the Breath of Embers. After Marisol double checks everyone's environmental seals and you pull together a long cable line to stretch between the shuttle and the Breath's bridge, you open the shuttle's airlock and make the leap across to the jagged tear in the larger ship's hull.

The ship's bridge is dark and hazy with debris that hadn't pulled free during the initial catastrophic decompression. The bridge extends like a curved, multi-tiered balcony, its outer walls and ceiling bedecked with holographic projectors and curved panel terminals. Screens lie shattered, equipment scorched, and every surface is covered in ice and ash.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

Ordyt immediately posts up against the far wall with as much elevation as he can, carefully watching for any threat while his companions scour the computer banks and controls.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Searching through the wreckage, Mari finds another one of the slagged collars, like that worn by the fire dwarf they fought earlier. "Found another one of those self-destruct suicide collars. I wonder if they were trying to take the ship when the whale chomped the bridge?"

Flint tries to find the captain’s chair, then starts wiping off command screens and trying to determine if any of them have power.

Responding to Mari, he allows, ”That would certainly explain why the ship fared so poorly in the space combat.”

Sammad looks around the room briefly, then makes his way over to Marisol. He extends a hand to her before asking, "May I see the collar? I didn't get to look at the one on that fiery soldier."

"Sure, here you go," she says, handing it over to the ifrit.

Searching through the wreckage, Mari finds another one of the slagged collars, like that worn by the fire dwarf they fought earlier. "Found another one of those self-destruct suicide collars. I wonder if they were trying to take the ship when the whale chomped the bridge?"

"Self-destruct suicide collars?!" Belmarniss exclaims at Marisol's description.

"THAT'S what happened to that dwarf we were fighting? That's absolutely barbaric! Even my own kind wouldn't stoop that low!"

While the others examine the collar, she joins Flint at the consoles, trying to see if any of them are salvageable. Damage this severe could put even a starship's black box at risk!

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Engineering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Computers: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Marisol Welkin wrote:

Searching through the wreckage, Mari finds another one of the slagged collars, like that worn by the fire dwarf they fought earlier. "Found another one of those self-destruct suicide collars. I wonder if they were trying to take the ship when the whale chomped the bridge?"

"Self-destruct suicide collars?!" Belmarniss exclaims at Marisol's description.

"THAT'S what happened to that dwarf we were fighting? That's absolutely barbaric! Even my own kind wouldn't stoop that low!"

While the others examine the collar, she joins Flint at the consoles, trying to see if any of them are salvageable. Damage this severe could put even a starship's black box at risk!

Perception: 1d20 + 6d1d20 + 6d1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + (6, 17, 9, 13, 11, 5) + (10, 17, 4, 9, 7, 20) + 6 = 138

Sammad grimaces slightly, remembering that unpleasant scene. "Trust me, you were better off not witnessing that..."

Sammad looks at the collar, turning it over in his hands several times. "This thing would be almost pretty, if not for its...purpose."

Flint finds that while some of the consoles are live with energized wiring, none are functional. Belmarniss inspects the consoles and comes to the same conclusion. The databanks are badly damaged as well, but it's possible a diligent salvage operation could extract some data from them using specialized equipment for the job. Not something that you have on hand, unfortunately.

Oddly, you don't find anything that appears to be indicated as the ship's black box.

(Where to next?)

There's just two rooms left in the pressurized areas, I think we should check them out next, then the two that are in vacuum.

Clearly disappointed at not finding a way to steer the ship from the bridge, Flint perks up at the notion of additional pressurized rooms, saying, I thought we had visited all the pressurized rooms already, Mari. Are there more?”

I thought the port door from A7 was showing signs of vacuum on the other side....maybe I misunderstood.

Flint looks at the damage to the structural integrity of the ship and shakes his head. ”Well, if we can’t route command functions here and we can’t field repair that gash, it looks like we need to move on. Shall we work our way down the port side of the ship?” he asks.

Ack, I think you're right. I mean the remaining rooms in the fire portside. Sorry

Putting away his reaction cannon and drawing his frost hammer, Ordyt positions himself by the next doorway.

Captain Flint suggests, ”Let’s do a flyby of the port side of the ship to see what caused the depressurization. If there is a big enough hole for us to get in, we can stop and enter. Failing that, we can go to the port aft airlock and go in that way.”

He heads back to the shuttle unless there is another suggestion that someone else would like to make.

Sammad secrets the suicide collar into a pocket. "Perhaps with some proper analysis, it could be a lead to the dwarf's employer. This mysterious 'General'..."

He turns in response to Flint's statement. "Let's get going. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can return to Far Station and report back."

"Agreed," Mari says, before turning to Belmarniss. "How you holding up, Bel?"

"No worries on that front, Sammad, I think they'll find us instead."

She frowns that her technical skills aren't enough to salvage information from the computers.

"Agreed," Mari says, before turning to Belmarniss. "How you holding up, Bel?"

"I'm functional. Not at peak performance, but with this crew at my side, I imagine I'll be fine. Let's get flying!"

OK! Considering the wrecked state of most of those rooms, time for a summary.
-----
Starting from the front of the ship and going back...

After taking the shuttle around the the port side of the Breath of Embers, you spy a number of large tears in the hull, as well as a smaller one that you missed on your earlier in the chamber (Area A8)directly port from the kitchen. Considering that that chamber has already depressurized, you affix a tow line between the shuttle and the edge of the small tear, then use the shuttle's thrusters to gradually pull the tear open far enough to physically enter.

Inside that chamber (A8), you find a long room filled with alcoves containing bunk beds. Between some of the beds are the tattered remains of bright red curtains embroidered with scenes of a city wreathed in flame. Most of the curtains are torn, some entirely missing. Each of the bunk beds has a footlocker integrated into its base. Most of those lockers are empty, but you find one that's locked shut.

The bunk beds lack any kind of sheets or bedding, and there's a distinct lack of any personal items around the room.
----

You continue through a buckled and torn open door to the fore of the ship and find yourselves within a small bathroom of sorts. While there are multiple stalls with sonic sinks, mirror and sonic showers, each stall is incredibly cramped for a medium sized creature.

Finding nothing else in the bathroom facilities, you head back outside and make your way towards the aft of the ship. A grievous tear lies on the central port side of the ship (A6), almost entirely destroying that chamber. What little remains is visible even from the outside - tangled remains of infirmary beds, a surgical table, and transparent shelves. Anything that wasn't anchored down to the floor has long since drifted off into space through the massive rift.
----

You enter the port-side cargo bay (A2) only to find it an almost perfect mirror of the starboard side one. The only major difference is that it lacks the large cargo lifter exoskeleton you found on the starboard side. Otherwise, both this and the starboard side were quite bare and devoid of any cargo.

Culture: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

When he gets to the restroom, Flint looks at the layout quizzically, then chortles, ”Whoever designed this never had to use a restroom themselves—I give them credit for trying, though.”

Culture: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Sammad takes in the bathroom, but Flint beats him to making the obvious observation. "They must not employ biologicals, which isn't surprising, for beings from the Plane of Fire. And given that dwarf's attitude, I'm especially not surprised..."

Finding no evidence of a secondary bridge on the ship, Flint asks the others, ”So, what is our best option to gain tactical control of the ship? Should we try to rig something from engineering, or is our only option restoring rudimentary bridge function somehow?”

He looks to both Belmarniss and Mari primarily, as they have been the ones to show most technical aptitude (so far).

When they discover what appear to be the crew quarters, Belmarniss takes a crack at the sealed footlocker.

Engineering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

She finally manages to get it open, followed by a surprised yelp as its interior depressurizes in her face!

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

She gets so entangled in the clothes, keeping her from getting out of the way in time as the bottle of brandy shatters in her face.

"MY EYES!"

Once she recovers her footing, she makes an upset sound when she sees the label of the broken bottle and one of the Ignan speakers in the band translates it for her.

"Aw, I wasted good booze!"

From everything you've seen so far, Marisol and Belmarniss can both conclude that the ship is far from being ready for action. Its power supply is capable of maintaining life support and not much else, and much of its navigational and control equipment has been utterly destroyed. It'll take serious work to get it in fine enough shape to fly once more.

While the shuttle is too small to tow a ship of this size, you suspect the only option will be to tow the ship back to a shipyard of some kind for work and further study.

(Up to you if you want to check out anything else again inside, or if you want to head back to Far Station)

"Was the fire dwarf not biological? He seemed to be flesh and blood to my eyes." Ordyt posts himself by the door and keeps watch, nervously rubbing his thumb over the activation switch of his new hammer.

"Whatever we do, let's do it quickly. We should contact our new friends at the Institute and let them know the ship's cleared."

Belmarniss' accident with the footlocker draws a bemused chuckle from Ordyt. "You alright? Who've have thought even the gear lockers would be dangerous here..."

Flint moves over quickly to Belmarniss to determine if she is injured, but quickly backs off when he can see she is just somewhat embarrassed.

”Good thinking, Ordyt,” replies Flint. ”Now that we have cleared the ship, let’s have the Institute send out a tug and not a rescue squad. In the meantime, we can work with our new friend in engineering and see if we can get the propulsion set to neutral so the ship won’t fight the tow,” he concludes.

Once they are back in atmosphere, Flint adds, ”Well done, all. This wasn’t quite the rescue mission we were hoping for, but we worked well together. I know I wouldn’t have made it without your help.” Turning to Sammad, he adds, ”Any time you want, I’ll serve on your ship if I can have a crew this fine.” Looking at Belmarniss with a lopsided grin, he adds,”If only we had something to toast our success with...”

"What are we going to do about the others? The stowaway 'lorix' thing and the creature obsessed with the power cores?"

"I gave Typhix my word that we would see the cores, at least, repaired. I think I can convince him to play nice with the DCI so they can do their work. If we see the stowaway again, I'm shooting it out of the sky-unless anyone objects to that."

"Flesh and blood things can still lack biological functions similar to yours and mine if they're from other planes, Ordyt. They tend not to follow the standard rules of biology and evolution due to the high saturation of magical energies endemic to such environments, and that colors their thought processes as well. You can see that in the design of this ship as well. Many of the functions normally handled by mundane technology in our own vessels instead utilize magical components."

Though her faceplate hides it, it's clear Belmarniss has a grumpy expression under it that only gets worse when Ordyt and Flint make light of the recent indignity.

"I'm going to need to rest to recover from that. We're just lucky there's nothing else on this wreck that needs fighting, else I'd be in real trouble," she replies bluntly. "We can toast with coffee when we get back to Far Station. I'm starting to get a caffeine withdrawal headache, and the combination of harsh light on my eyes from Typhix's 'gift' and broken glass and brandy in my face is only making it worse. At this point I'd just be happy to grab said stowaway and twist his smug little head off."

Sensing that Belmarniss is not in the mood for more good-natured ribbing, Flint responds, ”Coffee sounds great—I’ll buy as soon as we get back.”

”As fo the stowaway, I am concerned he could make more trouble for us, so disabling him if we see him again is the right call,” Flint says, nodding at Sammad and adding, ”Although I am sure there is some DCI scientist who would be happy to listen to his endless drivel, at least for a time.”

Mari yelps and jumps back from the explosively decompressed liquor, and then looks at everything else in the room with a suspicious eye. She stays quiet through most of the discussion about what to do next, but her ears perk up at the mention of coffee. "Yes please! I couldn't care less about what winds up happening to that annoying little creature but if he's between me and a real meal I'll help Bel put him out of our misery."

OK, Considering the slightly open ended state here, I've done my best to synthesize your comments in character into actions. Shout if there's something I've missed.
------

As you discuss your next steps, you make your way back to the shuttle. Sammad puts in an update to his message to Dr. Taeress Suloro and the rest of Far Station, letting them know that the ship is relatively safe but will need a tug to bring it back to Far Station. While there's no guarantee that the message will go through, you're heartened to see that the earlier message managed to send during the intervening hours.

In fact, you see a brief message in return from Dr. Taeress - acknowledging (with relief) that you're still working on the ship.

While you wait for further word from Far Station, you head back into the Breath of Embers to search for Borix, figuring that you'd all be safer off if you knew where it was (hopefully in some kind of sound-proof container). Unfortunately, your tour of the ship reveals no crystalline impish creatures. If Iorix is here, it's doing an exceptional job of keeping itself hidden. You're still searching when Sammad alerts you that the shuttle's sensors have picked up a ship arriving from the direction of Far Station.

The long-distance hauler that the scientists of Far Station recruited for the task of slowing and then returning the Breath of Embers is barely up to the task, but eventually the wayward ship's trajectory is reversed and you find yourselves heading back toward the Sun!
-----

~~~ BOOK 1 - PART 1 END! ~~~~

-----

The Far Station's wide open mess hall is abuzz with activity. Already, you've had to fend off half a dozen eager scientists looking to get your personal impressions of the Breath of Embers and its mysterious technology and even more mysterious denizens. It wasn't until Dr. Taeress showed up to snap at her juniors (and seniors) to give the adventurers some breathing room that the scientists backed off.

Now, the Doctor waves you over to the same seats you took a few couple of days ago - when you were fresh from your successful dogfight against the Inferno Whale. She takes a seat and flashes your group a jaunty grin. "Glad to see you're all looking stellar. Coffees." She points over your shoulders at an aide coming along with a tray of coffees for your group. "If there's one thing a lab caf is good at making, its coffee. And boy do we go through a lot of it." She leans back, waits for you to take your first sips.

"Rather than have you tell the story a hundred times to everyone, I figured it'd be best to get the gist all at once. Sorry for the crowd." She waves to the dozen scientists hovering nearby to hear your tale. "From Sammad's message, you found a lot of trouble, and a lot less 'first contact' than we were hoping to find. How was it?"

"Doctor Taeress, I would be happy to give you an overview of the mission, but others in the crew are much more qualified to go over the details." Deferring to each of you in turn, Flint continues, "Perhaps Ordyt can describe the tactical considerations of the hostile encounters, Mari and Belmarniss can review the technical challenges we encountered, and Sammad," Flint turns to his fiery friend with a flourish, "well, Ambassador Sammad Al-Fayir likely has quite the lively discussion planned on the proper disposition of this ship--once it has been fully studied, of course."

Mari sips her coffee quietly, then returns the nod from Flint before she addresses Taeress. "I'm glad to write up a full report, plus the relevant data from my exocortex, but the short version is this: that ship is full of some incredible stuff. A lot of it was too damaged or complex for us to analyze in the time we had, but I think the DCI can probably learn something useful. One additional complication is just how a lot of the tech on that ship is literally magical. Bel can give more insight into that aspect than I can. That is, frankly, not my realm of expertise."

Seemingly done, she leans back and takes another sip, before lurching forward again. "Oh! The ship's systems make really dangerous assumptions about the environmental tolerances of its crew and passengers. Don't send anyone aboard without contained thermal suits or protective magic, or the climate control may try to burn them to death."

"The ship was very likely stolen from its creators, they may have something to say about its 'disposition' as well." Ordyt glances at Sammad and Flint. "I'm not saying it can't or shouldn't be studied, but I think that's something that should be kept in mind."

Mari sips her coffee quietly, then returns the nod from Flint before she addresses Taeress. "I'm glad to write up a full report, plus the relevant data from my exocortex, but the short version is this: that ship is full of some incredible stuff. A lot of it was too damaged or complex for us to analyze in the time we had, but I think the DCI can probably learn something useful. One additional complication is just how a lot of the tech on that ship is literally magical. Bel can give more insight into that aspect than I can. That is, frankly, not my realm of expertise."

Seemingly done, she leans back and takes another sip, before lurching forward again. "Oh! The ship's systems make really dangerous assumptions about the environmental tolerances of its crew and passengers. Don't send anyone aboard without contained thermal suits or protective magic, or the climate control may try to burn them to death."

Sammad chuckles. "Or just send an ifrit, if you've got any to spare."

"The ship was very likely stolen from its creators, they may have something to say about its 'disposition' as well." Ordyt glances at Sammad and Flint. "I'm not saying it can't or shouldn't be studied, but I think that's something that should be kept in mind."

Sammad takes a stern expression as Ordyt speaks. "Ordyt is right. We encountered a warrior, dwarf-like but fiery. He said that he worked for some 'General', before trying to kill us-and almost succeeding." Sammad reaches into his pocket and takes out the collar he found on the bridge. "He wore a collar like this-it vaporized him when we inflicted the final blow, before we could get information. I don't know how it works or who made it, but your facilities should be capable of giving a proper analysis, I think."

Sammad then hands the collar over to Dr. Taeress. "The mysteries of this ship are even greater than you, or we, suspected. It should be approached with the utmost caution, Doctor. For yours, and everyone on this station's, sake."

"I have very little to add," says Flint, respecting Sammad's discretion in not mentioning his family connection to the ship, continuing, "other than to emphasize that this appears to be a ship launched before its time, and we might expect someone else to come looking to reclaim their property."

"To that end, Doctor, how are the repairs going to the Radiant Fire? How soon will she be spaceworthy? asks Flint, obviously concerned about his ship.

The surrounding scientists take notes on their datapads as you each tell your parts, which Dr. Taeress sips at her coffee with a thoughtful frown on her face.

After Sammad speaks, she says "A ship stolen from its original owners, designed to be used by creatures native to the plane of fire, and yet packed with technology and magic unlike any of the designs we've seen trading around the Burning Archipelago..." She taps a finger on the rim of her mug. "And at the same time, the ship emerged from the sun, when a perfectly good portal from the Plane of Fire was sitting right nearby. A stranger chain of circumstances would be tough to think up."

"As well as what might be an Azer, the warrior you described. Did you get a sense for what side our azer was on? The original owners of the ship or the side of the thieves?"

"And the General he mentioned. There's no shortage of military minded groups all over the Pact Worlds and beyond, and as a rule they're a pain to deal with. If this 'General' doesn't want us to have the ship, we'll have some trouble one way or another. Hopefully they don't realize we've got it."

She looks over the slagged collar that Sammad hands over "Hm! It may be destroyed, but its obvious even from the remains that there was a strange design at work here. An insurance policy. Maybe we can work out where it came from using what internals remain unscathed."

"What other technology did you find? As much detail as you have." The scientists lean in eagerly to start categorizing the finds.

"As for your Radiant Fire, Captain, it'll take another couple of days to get her all fixed up. You're more than welcome to stay here in the mean time. In fact-" She raises an eyebrow at the scientists hovering around. "-I think we're not about to let you go until we squeeze you for all you're worth." She winks at Flint, grinning.

Carefully considering the encounter with the Azer, Flint says, "He seemed to be working with the fire salamander creature in damaging the ship -- specifically an airlock to what we later found out was a luxurious escape pod. He called us Pact-Worlders and spoke of giving an icy death to the traitorous alien thief, so I assume he wasn't on the thief's side."

Continuing, Flint says, "Although the Azer was much more interested in fighting than talking, Sammad managed to wrest a bit more information from him." Turning to Sammad, he adds, "He gave you his name, Koshnar of the 28th, and said he was personally trained by the 'General' as you have already told us."

"If he said anything after that, I didn't hear it, because he 'spoke' to me first with that hammer of his and I didn't wake back up until the end of the battle," Flint concludes with a wry smile.

Drawing the pistol he got from the locker and putting it on the table, he adds, "This is an example of their technology--I assume it is a laser pistol of some kind, but I haven't had occasion to fire it yet."

"This hammer, specifically," Ordyt adds, unslinging the frosthammer from his back and holding it up for the others to see.

Hoping to get some input from Belmarniss, Marisol and Sammad as well, but in the mean time:

Dr. Taeress turns the pistol over in her hands before casting a sharp gaze over the hammer. "Now that's fascinating. This is definitely Plane of Fire manufacture. But its not any of the actual manufacturers I recognize." She takes a deep swig of coffee. "Azer are known to be skilled forge-masters, engineers and craftspeople. Maybe this General has their own supply chain..."

"Either way, while this is exotic tech, its also within the realm of what we've seen before from the Plane of Fire." She sighs, visibly disappointed. Her sentiment seems to be echoed by the other scientists. "Nevertheless, maybe detailed scans and analysis would reveal something that isn't obvious from a visual inspection." This pronouncement seems to put a vigor back into the crowd.

"I know you fought hard to get some of these things, but we'd like to study them. Once we're done, if they're not a particularly critical find, you're welcome to keep them."

Sammad gives a quick nod to the Doctor. "Keep them as long as you need, Dr. Taeress. I'm certain my compatriots would appreciate the new weapons, but your crew stand to gain the most from them."

He takes a sip of his drink, then glances quickly around the room. "Doctor, there is a matter that I would speak with you about in private. Would you be amenable to that, once we have finished this discussion?"

*groans in frustration as my attacks keep sucking*

I move to take the dice roller out into the woods and beat it with sticks.

While blasting "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta" in the background.

On the plus side, this is something I appreciate as a GM: "Yay! One of the villains survived an encounter and can show up later!"

Looking forward to the grudge match against Jalusann!

Hope I transcribed that right. My music theory's kinda rusty.

i am literally tuning my guitar as we speak to try and sound this out

Drawing a blank here. I've never been good with puzzles.

Me neither. Obviously the measure is the key to unlocking the computer, but I have no idea how to actually use it.

I used to be all-in on marching band and playing guitar and piano and sax and whatnot, but I got away from it years ago and am very very rusty. I admit to being stumped.

I used to be all-in on marching band

this is one of the least surprising things i have ever learned about you

Do we have stats on the commander’s sword? Flint handed it to Ordyt, but someone else might be able to use it better...

I don't think you guys checked earlier, but its a Yellow Star Solar Brand.

Ordyt's capable of wielding it, but anything dealing fire damage is right out as far as he's concerned. Looking forward to another level/gear up session.

I don't need it either: I got my junksword!

As an FYI: a few hours ago, I very suddenly developed several symptoms of covid-19, so I'm getting tested in the morning. I will try to keep posting but, y'know, I don't feel super great right now. I am supposed to have results by the end of the weekend.

Take care and be safe, Mari.

Sorry to hear it Mari. Hopefully you can take some time to rest and recuperate while isolating in the mean time. I'm hoping if that's what it is, you end up with a light case and don't expose any family members!

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. The test sucks, I do not recommend it, but I am feeling okay at the moment.

Please, stay safe and get well! We will be here when you are feeling better!

Flint wants to be involved somehow in taking down the commander, but he is not subtle with these kinds of things. Maybe he hangs out nearby, ready to charge in if the stealthier ones get spotted?

Bel, did you read the adventure before playing? Because that's at least the third time you've remembered something that never happened in this campaign (because I changed it from the as-written plot beat in the AP). It's OK if you have, so long as you can keep knowledge separate.

To be fair, it was a while ago. I had to go back and check because I didn't trust my memory.

Speaking of which: y'all, it has been just a bit over a year since we started, and we're still going strong. This was my very first game on the forums and I've had a blast playing with you all.

Yeah, we almost died in that first whale encounter and then we'd have missed out on all of this!

To be fair, it was a while ago. I had to go back and check because I didn't trust my memory.

Exactly. I just didn't take the extra step and check because I wasn't sure how far back to go.

Marisol Welkin wrote:

To be fair, it was a while ago. I had to go back and check because I didn't trust my memory.

Exactly. I just didn't take the extra step and check because I wasn't sure how far back to go.

OK good to know. Must have just been coincidence!

Speaking of which: y'all, it has been just a bit over a year since we started, and we're still going strong. This was my very first game on the forums and I've had a blast playing with you all.

Yeah, at the risk of tooting our own horn too much, this has been one of the best groups I've seen in PbP. Happy to hear that you're having a blast :)

Yay! Let’s sell some stuff and buy more med serums! Does anyone have a good handle on the loot?

Looks like a no on the running loot-totals. I can get us a tally but it'll have to wait until after work tonight.

Ordyt's shopping list is pretty basic right now; he wants (5) binders for 25cr, a Mk1 Healing Serum for emergencies (50cr), and a Holoskin (500cr).

The idea being that he wears the Brass Dragons armor, but uses the holoskin to disguise it as less obtrusive merc armor. That way when he inevitably fails the Disguise check he seems like a Brass Dragon guard disguised as a different kind of guard, instead of seeming like an adventurer disguised as a Brass Dragon disguised as a different merc! Foolproof!

Okay, this isn't comprehensive because I was checking old posts between calls but here is what I found (haven't done up all the math yet):

Ordyt has the grenade launcher and all of the grenades, plus the two nanite hypopens. So as far as he's concerned you are all welcome to the lion's share of what's left.

Also Cellion you mentioned possibly wanting to houserule grenades, is that still on the table given the erratas made in the new SF Corebook?

EDIT: adding up all the credits and various items that aren't weapons and armor we're taking in 4,950cr. Weapons and armor coming later!

Flint could wear one of the sets of Golemforged Brass Dragon armor as a disguise. He would still want to be a bit removed from the meeting so he isn’t recognized...

@Ordyt and everyone else: I probably mentioned it earlier, but my plan is to enforce the CRB changes as soon as we finish Book 2. So the discounts on grenades and medicinals will be in effect then, as would the other changes. This should make grenades in general more affordable in case you want specialized ones. (Note that the Starfinder FAQ page is now showing all the updates for the 3rd printing of the CRB, but Archives of Nethys has not yet updated)

As for houserules to grenades, I would be happy to add a rule that you can apply weapon specialization to grenades. If you guys are interested, its as much a buff to grenades in your hands as it is a buff to the foes that will use them. Either way, I would probably add in the rule at the start of the next book.

Okay, after selling all the weapons and armor we get another 3,816cr which gives us a total of 8,766cr

Seem fair to have everyone else get 1,948cr while Ordyt gets 974 and keeps the grenade launcher + grenades?

Thank you for doing that!

Thanks Ordyt!

Flint restocks his supply of Mark 1 Medical Serums (buying 4 for 200 credits to get a total of 5 serums).

P.S. Flint is saving up for a special item he can't afford yet, so if anyone wants a loan of some credits in the meantime to get something useful, he can assist.

Trying to decide between Fire Resistance 4 for 1,900 credits, or a 30 foot line of cold damage for 1,420.

Went with fire resistant skin, sold the autotarget rifle, and switched the sniper scope to my acid dart rifle.

BTW Flint, haven't heard from you in a week-ish in RotRL!

BTW Flint, haven't heard from you in a week-ish in RotRL!

Guiness is fully present, just being quiet and letting the sneaky types try to work their magic. Looks like it is time for him to step up now, though!

I was really rooting for you guys to succeed at the deception, but between some low rolls and low bonuses, it just wasn't fated to be. Unfortunately it sometimes happens that way.

Oh dear. Oh dear.

We f***ed up.

Is it just me or do we seem to have a LOT of pyrrhic victories in this campaign?

We f***ed up.

Is it just me or do we seem to have a LOT of pyrrhic victories in this campaign?

If she was willing to drop a fireball in a full bar, she would have done it with the Dawn Patrol as easily as with us. Still, a more peaceful resolution would have been preferable...

Is it just me or do we seem to have a LOT of pyrrhic victories in this campaign?

Be careful counting your victories before they hatch :)

Also, I really like this campaign because it presents a lot of situations where a guns blazing approach has consequences. If you remember midway through book 1 there were a few "encounters" out in the streets with Sunrise Collective soldiers harassing non-lashunta. You guys managed to deal with those nonlethally and saved a lot of people that way. Overall I'd say you've had a good track record so far in comparison to how badly some things could have gone!

We're getting to the level will collateral damage will be hard to avoid, between higher-level magic and more powerful explosives it won't be good for any NPCs caught in the crossfire.

If the Brass Dragons and/or Malikah Group really are planning a conquest of the Archipelago things will probably get a whole lot worse before too long.

I don't know if it's just because we're at the end of the book or what, but I'm feeling wildly outclassed these last two fights. Jalusann was rolling a +13 which was hitting Ordyt on a 3 when he needed a 13 to hit her back. And Nurleth not seeming "meaningfully injured" after 4-ish hits on her is really discouraging.

Is there something huge that we missed? I don't know why a fully rested party on their first (only?) encounter of the day is getting their clocks cleaned so casually, or what we can do about it other than flee.

She could be a recurring villain who will flee when the Dawn Patrol arrives. Not every foe is meant to be defeated upon first meeting them, but this would be two in a row we would be missing...

I feel really bad for you Sammad. Great roll and good thinking to intimidate her. Unfortunately, it was a misread on her intentions - she doesn't need to data chit intact.

Does Flint hear the news about the Dawn Patrol getting to the bar? If so, he may encourage Sammad to run back there while he tries to block Nurleth from following...

Does Flint hear the news about the Dawn Patrol getting to the bar? If so, he may encourage Sammad to run back there while he tries to block Nurleth from following...

Yep, you guys are all hearing any exchanges with the Dawn Patrol.