Outpost III: GM Kate's Forbidden Tides (Inactive)

Game Master Kate Baker

Mu, the underwater pike avoids the -2 penalty to attacks that a regular version would have.

Atticus, I'm not sure if that question is directed at Suulhu-Huur, but she does not have that information.

The Arniselle Lodge has a good supply of underwater weapons, and you can purchase an underwater version of any weapon up to Level 8.

It's a thirty-mile journey to the site.

The route to the AbadarCorp mine passes by the Starfinder Society’s mining operation, where they began by mining a mineral known as clophirium used in early Drift engine designs, but the facility now mines a variety of natural resources. The mine is operated principally by morlamaws, and the Society ensures that the majority of the profits go to the workers, since the Society is mindful of the harm that can be done by outside groups taking a planet’s natural resources. For now, careful negotiations between the Society and the nearest trench cities have kept the arrangement beneficial to everyone involved.

The former AbadarCorp mining operation is set down in one of the deep trenches that crisscross the sea floors of Arniselle. The submersible can’t go into the trench itself without getting stuck, so you'll have to get out and swim down for the tightest portion of the journey.

It was for Suulhu but nevermind

Physical science: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (10) + 18 = 28
Computers: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (2) + 18 = 20

Atticus spends him time on the trip scanning the sea bed for possible valubaal minerals or other items of interest he can include in his report and to sell to various different corporations.

There's signs of seismic activity here. Its pretty common here so hopefully the Abadarcorp miners will have accounted for it. Some hope. Looks like theres nothing but basalt down here, who they hell needs quite so much of the damn stuff. Too much effort to mine it and not enough profit in it.

Dusty seals up his armor EP and draws his bayonet-fitted pistol. "Guess it's time to dig up this 'Eternal Source,' whatever that is."

Any way to recall knowledge on the Eternal Source?

"I don't know how much information there is on the 'Eternal Source' but I recently learned a nifty little spell that might help."

It's called Akashic Download. Kate, if I use the spell, what skill would I roll to know more about it?

Physical Science: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (16) + 21 = 37

Mu looks around as she agrees, "We better watch ourselves. This place is full of seismic activity."

Compucast nods, trusting in his colleagues skills with the equipment. He too seals up his armor, making sure his new additions are functioning before joining the crew exiting the vessle.

Wheeler zips up the wet suit and seals his armor with a sigh So basalt, no signs of life and heading into narrow trenches that might kill us in a chaotic lurch of seismic activity. Ah how I've missed field work.

The loose-limbed brakim that is carrying the bulk of the filming equipment grins goofily at Wheeler. "Pity on the lack of life, but we should get plenty of good candid shots from a vibrant crew like this. Sarcasm always makes for great video!"

You exit the submersible and head for the trench. Suddenly, two enormous crabs pop out, and they look angry!

Reminder: you are underwater. If you don't have a swim speed, you can walk along the bottom at half speed or succeed at a DC 10 Athletics check to swim at half your land speed.

Initiative
Atticus
Bluuuuu
Wheeler
Compucast
Dusty
Mu
Yellow Crab
Red Crab

Everyone is up!

Bluuuuu's face is pressed to the portholes for much of the journey, enthralled by the aquatic sights. As they lower to the trench's edge, he follows the other's lead and seals his armor.

I don't mean to add to the sarcasm, but in my experience a lack of life is often soon followed with a presence of undead or robots. But perhaps this will be an exception!

Life science: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (1) + 18 = 19

Giant crabs people, be careful
If I get more than that just tell me something interesting about them.

Atticus points at the southernmost crab and broadcasts, Focus fire, get that one!

He then swims down a little, losing himself in the detritus of the ocean floor so that he can surprise the crab before popping a bullet at it!

Atticus can take 10 on his trick attack stealth roll for 34, I am going to assume the scenario has no CR15+ creatures in it so will assume trick attack should always work barring shennanigans. His target will always be flatfooted to him and he will generally make it flat footed to everyone else if he hits. Atticus doesnt provoke when he fires small arms and his movement doesnt provoke from his trick attack target if he declares the target first. He always does this if he is threatened and wants to get away

Underwater semi auto pistol vs FF KAC: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (1, 2) + 4 = 7
Trick damage: 4d8 ⇒ (1, 4, 6, 2) = 13

life science: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (7) + 16 = 23
"Indeed.." agrees the Vesk technologist.
I'll go for special defenses/immunities/resistances

Small darts of force dash from his fingertips and into the southern creature.
MM full round,harmful spells: 3d4 + 1 + 3 ⇒ (1, 3, 3) + 1 + 3 = 11

Dusty swims effortlessly toward the nearer crab and fires a rippling pulse of sonic energy.

Full action move and trick attack vs red, take ten to trick with Acrobatics vs CR 12 or less.

Attack vs EAC (flat-footed): 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 12 + 2 = 22
Damage (sonic): 1d8 + 4 + 4d8 ⇒ (2) + 4 + (7, 2, 1, 2) = 18 plus off-target

Life Science: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (6) + 20 = 26
Special Attacks

Mu charges the Red Crab with her merciful pike. "Hey crab, shoo! I don't wanna hurt you!"

As a Nuar with hydrojets, she takes no penalty for the charge.

Merciful Advanced Pike in water: 1d20 + 12 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 12 - 2 = 11
Piercing Damage: 2d8 + 13 ⇒ (6, 8) + 13 = 27

Mu shows how much she didn't want to hurt the crab by missing it entirely.

Mu has coordinated shot, so a +1 to the ranged attack for anyone not providing cover!

Wheeler grunts over comms Is this what the computers call no life!

Wheeler swims to a good vantage point and draws the trailblazing Cathode cannon as he does.

Giant Enemy Crab - focus fire on this red one - Yeah that's the spirit Mu!

Advanced Cathode Cannon, Trailblazing and Entangling + Get Em vs EAC: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 15 + 2 = 192d12 + 10 ⇒ (3, 4) + 10 = 17

Improved Get Em

D'oh! Looks like I missed the action starting while typing my last post

Bluuuuu is surprised to be proven correct so quickly, but jets towards the nearest crab as quickly as he can, drawing out the gifted pike as he move, the barathu tightens his muscles At stabs out at the creature.

Swift action to use Early-Stage Adaptation to add another 6 damage to his attacks this round. Will recharge in 1d4 ⇒ 1 rounds

Attack v KAC: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 14 + 2 = 34 for Piercing damage: 2d8 + 16 + 6 ⇒ (2, 2) + 16 + 6 = 26

Maybe they are undead crabs?!? Bluuuuu thought-yells back to Wheeler

There were a few successes, so between you, you know that they have no special defenses, they can grab with their claws, they are very good at charging and take no penalties to attack, and they are good at working together and have reduced penalties to full attacking a target grabbed by another crab.

The Starfinders immediately move into action, everyone successfully striking, except for Mu, concerned about the crabs. The crabs appear to be alive, not undead.

The red one strikes at Mu with a large claw!

claw!: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19
ouch!: 1d8 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15

But it can't connect with the bull. The other swims out and attacks Dusty!

claw!: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22
ouch!: 1d8 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17

But just barely misses!

My dice seem to like you. Everyone up!

Initiative
Atticus
Bluuuuu
Wheeler
Compucast
Dusty
Mu
Yellow Crab, -33 hp
Red Crab, -61 hp

Atticus swims forward to get a good bead on red. I'm sure I said attack the yellow one!

Shoot, co-ordinated shot: 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 13 + 1 = 19
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (6, 5) + 4 = 15
Sneak: 4d8 ⇒ (3, 4, 8, 3) = 18

Dusty spins in the water to avoid the crab's claw, then thrusts back in return with his bayonet. "Sorry, I only take crab claws with butter and chives!"

Full action trick attack (no move) against yellow with his sword cane bayonet, take ten trick with Acrobatics vs CR 12 or lower.

Attack vs KAC (flat-footed, underwater): 1d20 + 12 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 12 + 2 - 2 = 32
Crit Damage (piercing): 4d4 + 14 + 8d8 ⇒ (3, 2, 2, 3) + 14 + (6, 1, 3, 4, 6, 1, 6, 8) = 59 plus Bleed: 1d4 ⇒ 1 plus off-target

Bluuuuu moves closer to the crab, getting beside Mu before striking twice at the crustacean His Hit-and-Run style allows him to take a Step or move up to half movement while full-attacking

I understand your concern Mu. But the crabs seem less willing to give us the same courtesy!

Attack v KAC: 1d20 + 14 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 14 - 4 = 22 for Piercing damage: 2d8 + 16 ⇒ (8, 1) + 16 = 25
Attack v KAC: 1d20 + 14 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 14 - 4 = 21 for Piercing damage: 2d8 + 16 ⇒ (3, 4) + 16 = 23

Mu gazes with alarm at the claw in her face. "Not the face! Not the face! I make money with that face!"

Merciful Advanced Pike in water, Get Em: 1d20 + 12 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 12 - 2 + 2 = 19
Piercing Damage: 2d8 + 13 ⇒ (2, 7) + 13 = 22

Mu has coordinated shot, so a +1 to the ranged attack for anyone not to whom I'm not providing cover!

Realising that he won't reach the red crab, Compucast weighs up his options and decideds to help Dusty with the yellow one.

attack(claws): 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 9 + 2 = 12

But the flow of water, or maybe it was the example of the experienced Mu, puts him off his stride and he slashes at nothing but water.

Atticus can't quite hit the slippery crab!

Dusty skewers Yellow, just barely taking the crab down!

Bluuuuuuu proceeds to hit the red one twice, which takes down that crab!

Out of combat!

Wheeler nods Nice shooting everyone. But let's not dally. This place could try to kill us at any moment.... He swims faster for the goal.

"Agreed!" says Compucast into his coms link. "On the plus side, I suspect these crabs are apex predators. There are not likely to be other creatures nearby that are a threat to us."

He looks down the crack. "At least, anywhere they could reach."

Does the crack look big enough for the crabs?

Atticus reloads his pistol. Agreed, lets get on with this. When we get back I am going to have a word with our contact about the faulty sensors on this submersible.

That is somehow a comforting thought. Bluuuuu thinks to Compucast.

The barathu looks around. Is anyone injured?

"Faulty sensors? I'm just going to check on them. This doesn't seem right." Mu double-checks the sensors on their submersible.

Computers: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (15) + 22 = 37

Does she find anything odd?

The sensors seem to be totally functional. However, Mu notices something odd. As Compucast lowers himself into the trench to investigate, he suddenly disappears from the sensors' readings.

Compucast sees the front door of the mine. Pillars of black stone rise from the depths of a trench, creating a forest of spires that rise up to roughly fifteen feet off the trench floor. A deeper tear extends into darkness along the northern end of the area. A carved cavern past the deep dash has a multitude of hazard symbols, indicating the presence of dangerous chemicals and heavy equipment beyond. The door has many warning labels in both Common and Morlamaw listing the dangerous chemicals and heavy equipment on the premises. It is locked. Engineering check for someone to open.

Compucast approaches the doors, looking for guard posts or automated defences. He then tries the door.

engineering: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

This adventure has a truly enormous map (sorry to anyone who GMs it!), so I have the whole thing on Slide 5, but we'll use zoomed-in sections as we go through it, as on Slide 6.

Compucast easily opens the door. A nicely furnished lobby has AbadarCorp logos patterned onto the walls and furniture. The room contains oversized chairs, a low table, and a receptionist’s desk that is cleared of items except for a datapad set into the surface of the desk, protected from the water that fills the room by a covering.

Atticus swims over to the reception desk and checks out the datapad. Being a suspicious rat and noting how it is just sitting there, out in the open, all tempting and everything, he first examines it for traps or hazards before trying to access any of the data.

Perception: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (4) + 20 = 24

If it looks clear...

Computers: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (15) + 18 = 33

Dusty swims slowly into the room, his whistle echoing inside the faceplate of his armor. "Made by morlamaws, for morlamaws, I suppose." He takes out his broad-spectrum scanning kit and sweeps the area.

Perception (scanning kit, ocular implants): 1d20 + 16 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 16 + 4 + 2 = 26

The halfling then follows Atticus over to check out the datapad.

While the two smaller party members examine the desk, Bluuuuu carefully maneuvers with his hydrojets to take a defensive position near the far door in case anything emerges.

"Hey... our sensors aren't picking up you guys, either. I'm starting to wonder if something in the trench isn't blocking them." Mu swims easily down with the crew, and then moves forward with the group. "Hey, this spacious enough to have a party in! I like it!"

Atticus verifies that there are no traps and then logs into the computer, easily cracking the password. There are four applications of interest: mail, calendar, security logs, and the temperature controls for the facility.

"I wonder if there is a pump here. Having all this equipment protected from water but in a water filled area... you'd expect an airlock." muses Compucast.

Did the outer door appear to be built like an airlock at all?

He looks over the shoulder of Atticus. "While invasion of privacy is normally frowned upon. I suggest looking at the mail."

Wheeler makes sure he has his gun out at the word that the sensors don't work in the trenches That means pretty much all of our information we had on denizens in the area is inaccurate. We need to be prepared for the possibility that there are hostile walruses present.

He looks over Atticus' shoulder and nods Email and Calendar...who knows they may have accidentally left us a gift. Or if it's Datch a well-placed taunt...

Atticus hunkers down and grouses a bit at the back seat drivers. He starts by trying to access the secuity logs.

Computers: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (17) + 18 = 35

The front door did not look like an airlock.

Atticus gets to work on the computer. Since it's play-by-post, I'll give you all four apps right now.

Mail: The mail logs don’t reveal anything unusual; the stored messages are fairly mundane and generic to any business, with no detail about the mining operation itself. The last messages were sent one year ago and were generally canceling services and arranging for transport. The messages indicate that a starship named The Golden Meteor was contracted to pick up mining equipment.

Calendar: The calendar also shows no appointments in the last year, though the receptionist did keep the calendars for two other people: the General Manager Datch and the mine supervisor Farimther. The program doesn't show specific appointment, merely when blocks of time were scheduled.

Security: The security logs show that the front door was opened a few moments ago when you came in but wasn’t opened for a year prior to that.

Temperature: The temperature controls indicate that someone has been adjusting the water temperature in the facility quite recently and continuously for the last two years.

Look, its that Datch person again. I wonder what we did to piss them off? Why would someone keep mesing with the water temperature?

Which direction are they messing with the temperature and can w reverse it to put it back to regular?

It's been adjusted both up and down, though altogether the temperature has stayed much colder than most creatures would like it. You can start warming the water up.

Suddenly, there is an earthquake! Those of you who have been to Arniselle before know that they are very common here.

Mysticism: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (17) + 18 = 35

"That earthquake is being caused by magic, not science. Wanna bet that we have company somewhere around here?" Mu looks at the temp controls. "How about a little heat?"

"And there is a backdoor somewhere. " notes Compucast. "Or someone has been left here for a year or two. I'm guessing some type of portal. Interesting."
physical science: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25

He eyes up Mu. "Are you sure. Eathquakes are common here...It would be powerful magic that could cause an earthquake."

Physical science: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (12) + 18 = 30

Atticus looks around, Yes, definately magical, we should probably find out what is causing it and put a stop to it!

Dusty swims up to avoid the tremors in the ground. "Seems like someone hunkered down here after they shuttered the place, working on something away from prying eyes for a year. We've been seeing Datch on the news, so my guess is it's this Farimther character. Shall we press on?"

"Yeah, let's book and clean up whatever mess Datch has so kindly left for us." Mu inclines her head to the door. "You open it, I go through with my Pike."

The calendars, did Datch and the direct mine manager seem to have a lot of meetings together - or at least at the same time? Bluuuuu asks as he steps to the side of the door.

"Before we head in... if whoever has been here has been adjusting the temperature down... why don't we turn it up before progressing?" suggests the vesk with a scarily toothy smile.

Hrm. So someone is remotely managing the temperature but has not been using the facility itself...or at least has not had to LEAVE the facility itself. What could be happening here.

Junior nods and takes the datapad bringing it to Wheeler who uses it to turn the temperature up to say 110 degrees F?

We need to hurry. If someone is creating earthquakes on purpose it could be to trap us down here as a failsafe for the project.

Wheeler takes his engineering tools and approaches the sealed room trying to force it open if need be.

Take 10 on Engineering with Trapsmiths tools for 29 + 1d6 ⇒ 1

"Not quite. They just didn't leave through the front door." corrects Compucast. "I'm sure there are other exits, even if just for safety."