Outpost III - GM Valen's It Rests Beneath (Tier 1-2) (Inactive)

Game Master Lysle

Consulting the digital map provided by Dr Motressi, Elisan attempts to keep Gava headed along the most efficient path.

Navigation: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14 Just confirming, Navigation is an application of the Piloting skill?

Just confirming, Navigation is an application of the Piloting skill?

Confirmed. The scenario calls out that specific skill for navigation in this section.

Maximus hops on the bike behind the dragon-person. "Us musclebound menaces need to stick together!" he cries. "CHAAAARGE!"

"Oh wait where's that map?"

Untrained Piloting: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

+4 if the navigator's aids that help with survival also apply to piloting checks to navigate?

Am I going to have to go on my own vehicle? Or is there room for one more on the buggy?

+4 if the navigator's aids that help with survival also apply to piloting checks to navigate?

RAW, the tools only help on Survival skill checks for orienting.

Am I going to have to go on my own vehicle? Or is there room for one more on the buggy?

You can ride in the buggy. It holds 4 (3+pilot). CORRECTING SLIDE.

Gava makes very good time across the difficult terrain, only to realize that the rest of the party is no where to be seen. Circling around back, he finds that Kalvarnix has awkwardly managed to get their enercycle stuck, buried in a patch of loose sand after having charged ahead at the ryphorian's suggestion.

With the delay, it takes the party five hours to arrive at the area marked as a "dry river bed" on the map, that Maximus eventually recalls having on hand. The party arrives at the top of a ridge, which descends steeply into a 10-foot deep gully.

Below, a long, shallow depression winds across the plateau. Like the rest of the region, it is entirely covered in a gray, shell-like substance. The research team has labeled this region as a dry riverbed, though it is not entirely clear, as you look around, if there was ever water here. Small crater pock the area, existing along side deep furrows in the ground.

You also spot a large, green-skinned quadruped with a flame-colored crest and massive bony projections below, breaking up some of the ground in this area and consuming it. Around it lies mangled, metal wreckage, clearly the remnants of prior attempt at setting up a working scanner in this area.

Terrain Rules: The small crater walls on this map rise to a height of about 4 feet, providing cover to medium-sized or smaller creatures. Descending the ridge on foot requires a successful DC 17 Athletics check. Alternatively, a PC can drive a vehicle off the edge of the ridge, though doing so without damaging the vehicle requires a successful DC 15 Piloting check, and the vehicle lands 10 feet away from the ridge (plus an additional 5 feet for every 5 by which the PC’s Piloting check exceeded the DC, if the driver desires). Failing this Piloting check deals damage to the vehicle equal to its collision damage. If the PCs land a vehicle atop a creature, treat it at a ram action (Starfinder Core Rulebook 279) that then shunts the vehicle into the nearest available space.

Map now up on Slides with each vehicle indicated. If your PC leaves the vehicle, go ahead and add your PC token when you post.

PCs may act

Am I going to have to go on my own vehicle? Or is there room for one more on the buggy?

You can ride in the buggy. It holds 4 (3+pilot). CORRECTING SLIDE.

V'lorus scrambles onto the buggy, seeing everyone else already seated and hangs on. Upon arriving at the dried riverbed, the group notices a creature.
Life Science: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

Unfortunately other than the fact that it was large and green, V'lorus didn't know anything about it.

“Hold on to your hats! And your lunches!”

Pilotin’: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Gava drives straight off the edge of the ridge, the vehicle floats in the air for a second, seemingly in a slow motion, before landing perfectly down on the “riverbed”.

He keeps driving, preparing to align the vehicle to the creature for a ram action, but pausing to give his colleagues a small window of opportunity to disembark if they so wish.

“You damn beast! That’s someone’s propriety you are eatin’!”

"Wait!" Elisan calls out upon seeing the beast. "That's a crest-eater - a creature native to Kasath!" He continues excitedly.

"They are predators, that spit
a corrosive substance strong enough to dissolve bone. A crest-eater is able to track any prey unfortunate enough to be struck by the acid," the kasatha explains over the comms.

"It is extracting mineral nutrients from the ground. The only way to secure the area will be to drive it away or kill it," he says with a hint of sadness.

Upon hearing the information, V'lorus will draw his arc pistol and set it to stun. {Could we knock it unconscious and bring it elsewhere once we get the tower set up?}
due to range, only Elisan, Gava, and Dr. Rosilia, V'lorus prefers using telepathy over his voice.

"Acid, you say? Not so sure if I want to get near it with all our scientific gear, then! Feel free to shoot at it!"

Gava starts tapping the steering wheel, considering his strategies.

"Sure, knock it unconscious and we'll drag all its tons behind the vehicle somewhere. When we arrive there, we'll use the remains to set up a tent! Or if you happen to have a starship in your pocket capable of lifting that freak, might as well ask them to blast it from up there. Those craters sure look like they could use some company!". Gava’s feeling a little upset from not having his mount around.

A subdued Maximus pats Kalvarnix. "No worries. Learning something new is hard. It's not like I was great with those maps, anyway."

Eventually, he peers off in the distance. "Huh, those are--"

Life Science: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

"--yeah, the whole acid thing. Hey Kalvarnix, do you think we should get out here?"

"That might be wise. Don't wanna risk the poor enercycle." Kalvarnix pats the enercycle like you might an old dog, then gets off.

Life Science: 1d20 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 4 = 11

"Hmmm. Ain't never seen one of those before. It might be safer up here, Maximus. You can shoot at range. But if you want to go down, I can help you it over."

Kalvarnix is size large. Can they glide down and then pick up Maximus to deposit him safely on the ground?

{Yes, in retrospect it was a rather dumb question to ask. Still though, it is a bit of a shame that our only two options are to kill or scare it away...and I do believe scaring it will be harder than to kill it, unfortunately.}

"It was not a dumb question," Elisan assures V'lorus. "The sentiment is noble. I thank you."

The kasatha sighs in resignation. "But I have no means of frightening it away. Unless someone else has an idea, I fear we have no other choice... it is a dangerous creature and will kill us if we are not careful."

Rosilia leans out of the buggy to get a good look at the creature.

Life Science: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Rosilia gets out of the buggy and draws a pistol. "I have a sedative we can use to knock it out once it gets tired enough, if we wanted to try that. It probably wouldn't be enough to take it down on it's own, but maybe once it's already taken a few hits?"

The crest-easter looks up at the approaching vehicle with cautious interest, its jaws continuing to chomp down upon a mouthful of minerals.

PC seeking to avoid combat may attempt to change the crest-eater's attitude by making a successful Survival check. If successfully coaxed in this manner, you suspect that you could probably about three hours of time before the creature returns to the area.

Kalvarnix will try to aid another on the survival check if the party desires to go that route. They will try and make sure they are between the creature and the rest of the party if possible. "Be careful everyone. Seems dangerous."

If Kalvarnix is able to, they will help Maximus down the cliff if he so desires before moving to protect the rest of the party.

survival to aid: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 or not

Gava is ready to start combat as soon as everybody else has positioned themselves - he has a +11 to survival to Handle Animal, but what would keep the creast-eater from destroying the new tower? Unless it wasn't actually responsible for destroying it in the first place...

Maximus slowly tries to climb down the slope. Athletics: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11

He... might roll down the hill a bit.

"I am reluctant to take the creature's life purely for expedience." Elisan mutters. "If there's another way..."

"Dr Mora mentioned the damage to the previous tower appeared to be from a meteorite." He stands up in the buggy to better examine the "river bed" and the area around the crest-eater.

Does there appear to be any resemblance between the area currently being escavated by the crest-eater and other crater pocks and furrows?

Gava parks the vehicle in a straight line towards the crest-eater.

"It’s an exotic species irregularly introduced in this here environment, prolly creating all sorts of unbalance. I have no qualms in disposing of it, and I don’t believe it will accept us placing our scanning equipment on its feeding ground. It is endangering the mission. Unless any of you have a solution that will permanently remove this beast from here, I will be forced to kill it. Feel free to leave the buggy if you don’t agree, there will be no hurt feelings from my end.”

He is ready to ram.

"Please, Gava, allow me to try; crest-eaters are revered by my people," Elisan requests. "If I am unsuccessful, be ready - the beast will have left no other recourse."

The kasatha swings from the buggy to make the final approach on foot. Should Gava allow, he approaches slowly and tries to lure the crest-eater away.

Survival: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

If Kalvarnix is able to, they will help Maximus down the cliff if he so desires before moving to protect the rest of the party.

This makes sense to me.

Should Gava allow, he approaches slowly and tries to lure the crest-eater away.

As there appears to be some potential "tension" between the actions of Gava and Elisan, I will wait for all the other PCs to act before resolving this check. (In other words, I see only 1 vote to attack, 1 vote to try peaceful alternative, and I am unclear as to how the rest of the party is swaying.

The crest-eater is not currently making any aggressive moves.

"I would be happy to capture it an study it more. Maybe we could see how it adapted to it's environment." Rosilia pipes up. "Although I suppose it would be easiest to see that via dissection rather than direct observation... Yeah, killing it might be the best option."

{If we can avoid combat, it would help us in case we run into future problems, like ammo shortages or lack of spell slots. I believe we should try to have it leave.}

So...if I understand the posts above, the vote is now 2 for combat, 2 for peaceful alternative and 2 voted unvoiced?

“I’m telling you: if we set up the scientific devices in here, that stupid beast will come around and destroy it all - they don’t care for strange smells on their turf! They never do. When we have to drive back here to fix things up, you bet I’ll be aiming for all the potholes we find on the way… but if you want to solve it with love and the peace, be my guest, I’ll be right behind. I’m not one to mud things up.”

Gava is resigned to wait for someone to handle animal it away. Unless the whole party has their hearts set on it, he’d rather not risk combat - he’s seen people get hurt because they didn’t want to hurt the monsters.

Sorry for repeating: just to confirm, further on the point raised above by Gava, is it possible to tell if the craters, furrows and area around the destroyed scanner appear similar to the aftermath of the crest-eater's meals? (ie. does it look like the crest-eater caused the meteorite-like damage?)

Crest-eaters are large, strong, and, at times, aggressive. The party is able to conclude that the creatures almost certainly caused the destruction of the equipment Mora and her team had left behind here previously.

Maximus is picked up before he rolls too far, and stands up. "Thanks for the help! Oof. Well, at least the shirt is okay. Not a lot of...rubble here." He brushes off his shirt, but nothing is displaced.

I believe our esteemed GM is already aware, but I ran this a couple of weekends ago. So I wasn't planning on voting. That said...

"Whatever y'all decide. I'm no fan of death, but I can cause it just the same. My plasma lash has a merciful seal if y'all want to try and make it unconscious instead of dead. 'Though I don't know what we'd do with it." Kalvarnix says with a slow drawl looking sad.

I believe our esteemed GM is already aware, but I ran this a couple of weekends ago. So I wasn't planning on voting. That said...

I dispute a number of the characterizations above, including the use of the term "esteemed". ; P.

Nevertheless, I was looking for some manner in which to break what appeared to be a "tie" without violating the sanctity of player agency and will accept "Maximus' opinion" as the "tie-breaker."

Dr. Rosilia-14, Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
Elizan, Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Gava, Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Kalvarnix, Initiative: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (15) + 0 = 15
Maximus, Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16
Valorus, Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Crest-eater, Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

COMBAT BEGINS

All PCs are up!

Rosilia runs into the open which is probably a bad idea and fires a dart at the creature.

Needler Pistol, Minor Inhibitor, 2 range increments: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 4 - 2 = 13, 1d4 ⇒ 4 + a -1 on attack rolls, I don't think there's a save?

“Time to get down to business!”

Piloting to Ram: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20
Colision damage to the Crest-Eater (Reflex DC 10 for half): 8d4 ⇒ (2, 3, 2, 2, 4, 3, 4, 4) = 24
Collision damage to the vehicle (minus hardness 5): 2d4 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5

V'lorus will cast Supercharge Weapon onto his Static Arc Pistol. He will jump out the back of the buggy.

Rosilia's dart fails to pierce the crest-eater's tough hide.

Reflex (DC 10): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
The surprised beast fails to get out of the way of the oncoming buggy!

COMBAT ROUND ONE Cont'd

PCs in bold may act

Maximus
Kalvarnix
Valorus
Dr. Rosilia-14
Gava
Elizan
Crest-eater -24 HP

Kalvarnix is going to rush on up next to it (double move) while drawing their plasma lash and deactivating merciful in the process (swift) as they don't want to be executing the poor thing after the fight.

In my defense, I didn't say what kind of esteem we hold you in. It could be high esteem, but it could also be low esteem... that's still esteem!

After getting planted at the bottom of the slope, Maximus hustles toward his new friends. "I'm coming, I'm coming! Hold your horses, doodles! Or... your buggies, I guess. Heh!"

*wheeze*

Maximus double-moves.

Elisan hesitates as he is struck by the realisation of the inevitable. Murmuring a Kasathan proverb of forgiveness, he draws his pistol and slowly closes the distance to the crest-eater on foot as Gava whizzes by on the buggy.

Move to draw followed by move.

Enraged at being struck, the crest-eater attempts to rip apart the metallic machine in front of it!

Melee (bite), full attack: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (3) + 13 - 4 = 12
Damage (P) plus Con: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Melee (bite), full attack: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 13 - 4 = 29
Damage (P) plus Con: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Damage (P) plus Con: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Hmmm. Subtracting hardness, the second attack did an additional 14 points of damage, which reduces the buggy to 0. Destroyed.

I don't see any rules about passengers taking damage when a vehicle is destroyed, so no damage there.

COMBAT ROUND TWO BEGINS

All PCs are up!

"Bugger."

Maximus says, "It's just a thing, we're all okay... chill out, it'll be all right!"

The ryphorian steps toward the crest-eater (move action, takes the crest-eater from 30 feet away to 20), and he stares long and hard at it.

Mind Thrust, DC 15 Will save for half

Mind thrust: untyped damage: 2d10 ⇒ (2, 10) = 12

V'lorus will fire his supercharged weapon at the beast but not before moving to a more favorable position.
Against EAC: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Electric Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3
extra damage upon hit: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 1, 6) = 14
(All non lethal because V'lorus did not have the action economy to switch out of stun)

Hmmm. Subtracting hardness, the second attack did an additional 14 points of damage, which reduces the buggy to 0. Destroyed.

CORRECTION: The buggy has taken 4 points of damage and is quite functional (though it could use a new paint job)!

Crest-eater, Will save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

With its strangely not-as-animalistic-as-one-would-think mind assaulted by the ryphorian, the crest-eater reels in pain, but perhaps not as much as Maximus may have thought.

The shock delivered by the shirren fizzles as the shot strikes the crest-eater's head where tiny fragments of reflective compounds acing like thousands of solar panels harmlessly deflect the discharge.

COMBAT ROUND TWO Cont'd

PCs in bold may act

Maximus
Kalvarnix
Valorus
Dr. Rosilia-14
Gava
Elizan
Crest-eater -30 HP
Buggy - 4 HP

Rosilia runs forward and fires again, once more modifying the dart. Hoping that she just missed and not that it has DR against piercing.

Needler pistol, Minor Inhibitor: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6, 1d4 ⇒ 1 + a -1 to attacks

Gava moves the vehicle back, almost running over Elizan, and prepares to ram again on the next round. “Keep the way clear, but try to keep it there!”

Elisan skirts to the side of the buggy, ducking behind the crater. Using a free hand to dislodge a cloud of dust and rubble from the back of the crater as he moves, he slips around the other side to fire his laser pistol.

Trick attack (Survival) +Explorer: 1d20 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 9 + 4 = 25 DC20+target's CR
Bonus damage on success: 1d4 ⇒ 4 and target is flat-footed

Azimuth laser pistol: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Flame Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4

Neither the dart nor the laser beam connect with the crest-eater.

COMBAT ROUND TWO Cont'd

PCs in bold may act

Maximus
Kalvarnix
Valorus
Dr. Rosilia-14
Gava
Elizan
Crest-eater -30 HP
Buggy - 4 HP

Kalvarnix will strike at it twice hoping to take it down before it takes the buggy down. They will pay careful attention to how the damage feels to see if it has any resistances or damage resistance toward them.

Entropic Strike 1
Attack vs EAC: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 6 - 4 = 17
Acid damage: 1d4 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Entropic Strike 2
Attack vs EAC: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 6 - 4 = 3
Bludgeoning damage: 1d4 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

The dragonkin wounds the crest-eater. The creature retaliates!

Melee (bite), full attack: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 13 - 4 = 24
Damage (P) plus Con: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Melee (bite), full attack: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 13 - 4 = 14
Damage (P) plus Con: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Its teeth chip through scale!

COMBAT ROUND THREE BEGINS

PCs in bold may act

Maximus
Kalvarnix - 9 SP (Must make Fort Save (DC 13) or -1 Con)
Valorus
Dr. Rosilia-14
Gava
Elizan
Crest-eater -38 HP
Buggy - 4 HP