[SFS 1-26] [Outpost III] GM Cellion's Truth of the Seeker (Inactive)

Game Master Cellion

What do you mean? That was an 18 and a 19. I almost can't roll any higher.

You "had little difficulty", meaning, it was really easy for you :)

Ganondwarf rolled his eyes at the fighting continuing, pulled out the serum of healing he just got, and plopped a squat on the chest of the fallen fighter, forcing the serum down his throat.

"You all really need to learn to be chill or you're doing a large disservice to solarians."

Healing: 3d8 ⇒ (5, 2, 3) = 10

"That makes sense. You attack us and its our fault that we defend ourselves." Saryn turns his focus on the idiot solarian.

Longsword: 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 8 - 4 = 19 Magic Slash Damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

Longsword: 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 8 - 4 = 18 Magic Slash Damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

"But you shouldn't play into their stereotypes by Killing them! That's not helpful at all!" Ki retorts at the bloodthirsty Lashunta.

Seeing this has gone from self-dfence to near slaughter Ki does not attack further.

Full Defence

"What!? Those aren't padded weapons they're using and, if not for my armor, you'd be all high and mighty over my sliced up corpse right now."

Seeing the leader drop, and with the one in the Blue mask being neatly handle by Saryn, Jaqweh decides to attempt to stun the Purple bandanna wearer. He quickly points out the flaw in that one's stance also so that maybe Rayraj will have an even easier time hitting him.

pistol, Get 'Em: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 5 + 1 = 16
damage, non-lethal, Cold: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Swift act to set the merciful fusion seal to non-lethal. Move act for Get Em on Purple

Saryn delivers a clean pair of strikes against the blue-scarfed initiate, sending her stumbling back from the assault. Meanwhile Jaqweh narrowly misses the purple initiate with a shot from his pistol. The show of mercy from Ki and Rayraj leaves the remaining two initiates wavering, their conviction in their cause not nearly as strong as their leader's.

When Ganondwarf resuscitates Kan-Zal, the two other initiates attempt to retreat toward him. If you allow them, they dismiss their solar weapons to pick a woozy Kan-Zal off the sands and immediately start to retreat. Once they're a hundred feet away or so, Kan-Zal regains enough coherence to shout out "I'll have my revenge on you devils. Don't think you're safe! You're- you- yer... urk..." He trails off.

Clearly the effort has exhausted him.

Out of Combat!
If you wish to pursue and finish them off, you certainly can. They're weakened enough that we wouldn't have to play out the rest of such a combat.
-----

Pausing here to give you a chance to react and rest if desired.

The dwarf sighed and tossed the empty serum at the nearest bin as he rose to his feet again. "Lad, I kicked yer ass with no effort, spared yer life, and am letting you walk away even as you insult me with yer inability to check yer ego. We are not bad guys, but... He gestured towards the empty serum container. "I don't have anymore of those. So seek revenge if you feel it's a good day to bleed to death."

Intimidate: 1d20 + 9 + 1d6 ⇒ (10) + 9 + (6) = 25

Ray clicks off his daggers and chases after the initiates sending them off with a kick at the dirt, "I welcome your next failed attempt little Kanny. Better bring some stronger friends next time."

As he approaches the group, he dusts off and presses his jacket, "Well, that was a surprise. Think we should message the master and let him know that his teachings are falling on deaf ears or await their return? I'm not sure this is the last we've heard of them on this little jaunt."

He looks at Saryn, "You alright mate? Just a wee scratch right? We should keep moving. Good ol'Jad and that ship captain ain't going to wait."

He bounces off humming and making fighting noises reliving...or imagining a fight with the initiates.

Jaqweh looks up from his comm device where he was finishing a quick report on their assault to the Constabulary with a cc: to the local authorities.

"Saryn, do you think you can make it to the ship and rest there? Or do you want to rest here and now before we press on?" he asks his fellow lashunta.

Saryn is more concerned with the additional dents and scratches made to his already battle-worn armor than to himself. "A few minutes is all I need." Took me to 0 stamina. No actual HP damage.

You take a brief break for Saryn's sake, during which time Jaqweh files his report. As you journey back through the desert to return to the Crucible, Jaqweh gets a message from the local authorities thanking him for the information and promising to follow up. It's only a few minutes after that that you get contacted by one of the elder monks at Pradulex Monastery. The monk apologizes very gravely for the outrageous actions of the initiates and promises that they'll be sure to be punished appropriately.

----

You take the autocab back to the Crucible without any further incident. You locate the berth corresponding to the Void Scholar and make your way over. A kasatha with dark skin outstretches his arms as he walks down a ramp exiting the starship designated as the Void Scholar.

"Hello! I am Kahir, and this is my beautiful ship, the Void Scholar. You must be the Starfinders I spoke with earlier. You look a bit dusty—I guess monastery life isn’t for everyone." Chuckling, he continues, "I suppose we should be on our way to check in on Jadnura. I hope you have nothing else to do here on the Idari? Jadnura’s been there for quite some time, and I'm eager to see that all is still well."

Once you're on board, Kahir explains "Our destination is a currently unnamed system in Near Space, where not all that long ago, I came across the stellar phenomenon I mentioned - a black hole frozen in the midst of consuming a star. Within that system, most of the planets had long ago been reduced to rubble. Interestingly though, on one large asteroid that remained in orbit around the event, I found a temple to the deity Ibra. Curious, no?"

"Jadnura wished to view the event from that temple, so I left him there with plenty of extra supplies and oxygen. He should still have plenty of each... but isolation like that has its own dangers."

"True. There is such a thing as too much peace and quiet."

"Sounds like peace in chaos," Ray muses as his eye trail off to an event to his past. He continues, "Such an event reminds me of my time in the pit but I'll spare you all those details and suggest for us to get moving as I am eager to see event for myself."

Once you're all on board, Kahir sets off. The journey through the Drift is (3d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 6) = 9) reasonably swift considering the distances involved. When the ship emerges at its destination, you're immediately invited by the Captain to come to the bridge and view the scene from the main viewscreen.

The black hole swirls like a galaxy, absolute blackness rimmed on all sides by vibrant red and violet stellar matter that surrounds it like an aegis. Long trails of stellar plasma surround the void like an octopus' arms, their trails occasionally drifting across your line of view of the core of the black hole. All in all, its an awe inspiring but unnerving view.

While you're watching the event, Captain Kahir navigates toward the large asteroid. He opens comms with the temple when you get close, but gets no answer from below. "A little concerning, but not unexpected. Jadnura mentioned his meditation may hold his attention for days at a time. We may be better served if you go to visit him in person. I'll keep trying to hail him in the mean time."

He angles the ship and matches its velocity to the asteroid, then slowly decreases the distance until the ship's landing arms settle on the asteroid's dead, rocky surface. Once the Captain has checked through his ship's systems, he looks to you all. "Alright, this is where I dropped Jadnura off. If I understand correctly, the temple is around 30 minutes by foot in that direction." He points with his arm. "I'll remain here. You should be able to reach me by comms should anything happen."

Alright, any preparations you'd like to do before heading out?

Just activating enviro-seals before going out.

Jaqweh expresses his admiration of Captain Kahir's piloting skills especially given what must be significant and unusual gravitational forces. Then he checks his gear, cleans his already spotless weapon, and activates his seals.

"Ready when you are."

sorry i had posted, must have got eaten.

Ki boards the starship and spends much of their time trying to 'help' the merchant's crew. As they re-enter real-space they move to a viewing screen to take in the unique beauty of the Solar phenomenon, their eyes and mouth wide with glee. Being reminded they have a job to do by their fellows, Ki bounds over to them, weapons cinched to their armour.

"Ki Ready to help!" they say brightly, likewise activating their environmental seals.

The environmental shield bubbles pop up over Ray's sensitive bits. He gives Captain Kahir a salute and strolls out of the ship to join the others.

As the stellar winds sweep across the barren rock, Ray swings around his guitar and plucks a dark somber cord, "Whew, welcome to nowhere. Population...us...."

The scene of them entering the system sounds really amazing. Was there a picture of it in they book per chance?

That's what I was hoping for as well Rayraj. Unfortunately, no pic on the black hole event! I imagine it looks a little like this though, from the description.

With your environmental seals up, you exit out the Void Scholar's airlock and onto the rocky, gray surface of the asteroid. You note that there's no atmosphere on this barren hunk of rock, but despite the small size of the asteroid, there is low gravity.

You traverse the rough surface without too much difficulty, sticking to the floor of a wide canyon that Kahir mentioned would take you right to the temple. Just as you see a rise in the distance with what looks like a grey stone building, you notice two massive globs of plasma rising up from crevices in the trail ahead.

The globs turn and twist, pointing superheated extremities in your direction. They begin rolling through the air toward you... and it's unlikely their intentions are friendly.

(A DC17 Mysticism check identifies these as a type of Outsider called a Solar Wisp. For every 5 by which you exceed the DC, you can ask to learn more about one category of info, from offenses, defenses and special abilities)

|||| INIT ||||
Rayraj
Ki
Jaqweh
Saryn
Ganon
Solar Wisp Blue
Solar Wisp Red

Bold are up

Saryn moves forward and readies to swing at the first to come within reach.

Longsword: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21 Magic Slash Damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

@GM, they both look red to me. Should they perhaps have a border around them? I didn't want to simply add one, in case it mattered for their initiative order or something else.

Jaqweh doesn't know anything about these beings, but he guesses that if they're made of hot plasma then cold rays probably at least work. He points this out to his teammates, then fires his borrowed weapon at the one closest.

Get Em on the southernmost one.

Pistol, Get Em: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 5 + 1 = 7

Well, it might work if he hadn't gotten distracted by a smudge on the pistol's grip. How the blazes did that get there? I just cleaned it!

Second Nat 1 attack roll in a row! My other was in Gallowspire!

Closing distance to get in range, Ray produces a sonic rifle from under his jacket. He levels his rifle taking careful aim and studies his target:

Mysticism: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

He calls out, to the teams bewilderment, "Alright GM, tell me these beasties' weaknesses and special attacks so we can kill them and get on with it!" Ray winks a Ki who probably thinks his nufriend is off his rocks.

He holds his attack while he waits for insight.

That's right, breaking that wall.
Good find on that image, Cellion. Probably as close as even they could get it.

Indeed, Ki does look at Ray as if they had been shaken by something strange "Ermm, did you forget to switch your protections for your head?" They comm over as they rush across the space - part to split up in case the creatures rush them and part to get distance from the Tiefling.

Levelling their reaction cannon they fire at the southern creature marked by Jaq.

Attack vs KAC: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23 for Piercing, Magic: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

Rayraj knows that solar wisps are a type of elemental and are therefore immune to many (Bleed, critical hits, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning) afflictions that would affect living creatures. They're also immune to fire and the intense internal environments of a sun.

They're vulnerable to having their heat sapped away (cold damage). They can engulf creatures in their path, trapping them within their plasma and rapidly burning them to death.

---

Oops, I forgot to put colors on them. They're now color labeled.

While Saryn readies to attack, Ki's reaction cannon slug impacts the blue tinted solar wisp. The impact knocks some stellar matter out of the creature. Jaqweh's shot hurtles into the void.

|||| INIT ||||
Rayraj
Ki
Jaqweh
Saryn (readied attack)
Ganon
Solar Wisp Blue (get 'em, 13 dmg)
Solar Wisp Red

Bold are up

Armed with new knowledge from the other side of the wall, Ray says to the team, "No worries mates, I haven't lost it. As you can probably tell, don't hit these things with fire. If you've got cold weapons, use them. And stay away from them, you don't want to get hit by them."

With the info conveyed, Ray pulls his trigger. Everyone can feel the bass from the wide barrel of this blunderbuss looking rifle:

T.S. Sonic Rifle vs Blue's EAC: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11
Sonic Damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Ganon looked back and forth between his weapons, realized none of them were particularly useful, and started up his usual grumbling as he reluctantly powered up his axe. "I don't have anything that's not really fire."

He gestured at one of the elementals, sighed, and puffed up his chest. "Hey, you! You don't want any of this.'

Intimidate (Rattling Presence): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

The two advance upon your group, giving off a wave of heat and light as they get close. Saryn swings and lands a blow on the blue tinted solar wisp, but that doesn't seem to slow it. It advances upon him and soon the plasma is all around! The red solar wisp does the same to Ki!

OK, so Saryn and Ki are potentially getting engulfed. You can choose to either dodge out of the engulf attempt with a Reflex save OR you can get an AoO as the solar wisp approaches, but not both. If you succeed at a reflex save, you move to the nearest open spot and can take your actions normally.

|||| INIT ||||
Rayraj
Ki (potentially engulfed)
Jaqweh
Saryn (potentially engulfed)
Ganon
Solar Wisp Blue (22 dmg)
Solar Wisp Red

Bold are up

Ray maneuvers around to the other side of the elementals and shouts, "Hurry up out of there, I'm not loosing anyone today!

He then lines up a shot:

T.S. Sonic Rifle vs Blue's EAC: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
Sonic Damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

Ray had a tiny celebration from the extra flair in his shot but started kicking the ground when he saw that it didn't do anything extra.

Saryn stands his ground, slashing at the creature even as it encroaches upon him.

Longsword: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19 Magic Slash Damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Longsword: 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 8 - 4 = 11 Magic Slash Damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
pinned

Huh, Ray has an A.I. named 'Gee-em' that responds to voice commands. Nice.

Seeing the Dwarf fail to intimidate them, Jaqweh falls back on helping his teammates and shooting.

"Let's finish the Blue-Fire one if we can!"

Get 'Em on Blue.

Pistol vs Blue EAC, Get Em: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 5 + 1 = 14
Damage, Cold: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

The dice hate me. I don't know why I bother.

Graviton 2

Seeing the creature come towards them, Ki begins to glow with a soft violet light - mixing nicely with the aurora going on around them, feeling the powers of Gravity speed them up, they attempt to jump out of the way of the Solar creature.

reflex: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

"Argh! help" Seeing Gannon's weapon ablaze, Ki drops their spark knife to the dwarf's feet before scurrying away from the blazing creature. They then focus ont he creature trying to burn Saryn.

If you're ok with it as I am next to Gannon - Free action to drop my Spark runner Knife to Gannon then guarded step and fire

Attack vs KAC, deadly aim: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25 for Piercing, Magic: 1d10 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Ganon ignored the offered weapon for the first attack as he didn't think he'd be able to pick it up without getting attacked. "Oh, this is not going to go well at all."

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Saryn, keep in mind that while pinned, you can't take any actions requiring your limbs, except to attempt to escape. No big difference here since your attack for the turn ended up rolling low.

Moments before being swallowed, Saryn buries his longsword into the solar wisp. But the blow isn't enough to dissuade the elemental. It rolls over him and draws him into its dense core, where he's burned by the plasma roiling around him. The rest of you see that the blue wisp is very weak, debilitated by all the weapons fire.

The blue solar wisp turns back blindly towards the way it came and encounters Rayraj along the way. It quickly attempts to engulf him as well. The red solar wisp rolls over Ganondwarf and Ki once more, trying to suck them into its plasmatic interior.

Saryn remains engulfed and pinned this round. Rayraj, Ganondwarf and Ki are potentially getting engulfed as well. As before, you can choose to either dodge out of the engulf attempt with a Reflex save OR you can get an AoO as the solar wisp approaches, but not both. If you succeed at a reflex save, you move to the nearest open spot and can take your actions normally.

Fire damage dealt to Saryn at the start of his turn: 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

|||| INIT ||||
Rayraj (engulf?)
Ki (engulf?)
Jaqweh
Saryn (pinned inside blue, 24 dmg)
Ganon (engulf?)
Solar Wisp Blue (61 dmg)
Solar Wisp Red

Bold are up

I see now. I was confused by the -4 penalty to attack. Saryn would still have taken the AoO.

Acrobatic: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14
Even with my bonus its still just almost

Ray dives out of the way, "Not this time, you fiery bastard."

He then turns to see if he can finish the elemental:

T.S. Sonic Rifle vs Blue's EAC: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25
Sonic Damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

reflex: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

With the violet glow building to its strength, Ki is able to dive out of the way of the rolling elemental and backs off. Despite the closeness of the elemental they focus on the one engulfing Saryn hoping to take it dow and help their nufriend.

Attack vs KAC, dealy aim: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27 for Magic, Piercing damage: 1d10 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

AOO: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

The dwarf stood his ground for all the good it did him. Engulfed in flame, but not taking as much damage as others might have, he grinned madly. After all, it would be a lot more difficult to miss when it was around him.

Attack: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Ouch. Unfortunately Rayraj, its a reflex save not an acrobatics check to avoid.
I'm going to hold off on botting to give Jaqweh and Saryn a chance to act.
---
Rayraj gets swept up into the blue solar wisp, getting charred in the process. However Ki comes to his rescue (and Saryn's too) with a powerful cannon shot. With another chunk of plasma knocked free, the blue wisp dissipates and its victims are dumped to the ground.

Rayraj quickly follows with a shot at red that resonates a bunch of plasma loose. This doesn't dissuade the red solar wisp, which picks up Ganondwarf mid-swing and engulfs him within the plasma (Since you're pinned, you can't make attacks while engulfed)

|||| INIT ||||
Rayraj (10 dmg)
Ki
Jaqweh
Saryn (24 dmg)
Ganon (engulfed/pinned, 10 dmg)
Solar Wisp Red (13 dmg)

Bold are up

Jaqweh takes a guarded step away from the burning ball and tries to steady his aim....

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Damage, C: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

His eyes momentarily catch sight of his prosthetic left arm. The memory of having his arm literally burned off by another foe made of fire cause him to begin shaking and his shot once again goes wild.

Yep, it's official. The dice hate me.

Saryn charges at the remaining ball of plasma and swings his sword at it.

Longsword: 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 8 - 2 = 16 Magic Slash Damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
charge

(Since you're pinned, you can't make attacks while engulfed)

Oh. Thought it was a -4 to attacks. Oh well.

Well poop, but I am a demon and born of fire so if that's total damage, it's 5 less. And if it doesn't like electricity, It can have this.

Electrostatic Armor: 1d6 ⇒ 5

TY for the reminder Rayraj!
Ganondwarf, its both a -4 to all attacks (including grapple checks to escape), and it stops all actions that require your limbs, except those to free yourself.
---

The red solar wisp continues rolling through the air, this time moving to engulf both Saryn and Jaqweh like a giant burning auto-roomba.

Ganon remains engulfed and pinned this round. Saryn and Jaqweh are potentially getting engulfed as well. As before, you can choose to either dodge out of the engulf attempt with a Reflex save OR you can get an AoO as the solar wisp approaches, but not both. If you succeed at a reflex save, you move to the nearest open spot and can take your actions normally.

Fire damage dealt to Ganon at start of turn: 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

|||| INIT ||||
Rayraj (5 dmg)
Ki
Jaqweh (engulf incoming?)
Saryn (24 dmg) (engulf incoming?)
Ganon (engulfed/pinned, 22 dmg)
Solar Wisp Red (18 dmg)

Bold are up

Reflex: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21 Finally.

Jaqweh jumps away as quickly as he can, the ball of fire truly freaking him out. He gathers his wits and points out a weakness in how it moves across the terrain.

Get Em on Red

Pistol v EAC, Get Em: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 5 + 1 = 17
Damage, C: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Grapple Escape: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Ganon struggled to escape, his fire resistance quickly starting to be tested. He almost opened his mouth to say something plucky, but thought better of it.

Ray picks himself up to pat off the remaining plasma scorching his jacket, "Most certainly will be in need of a tailor when this is done.

He raises up to shoot the remaining elemental:

T.S. Sonic Rifle vs Red's EAC: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11
Sonic Damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Saryn stays in the path and retaliates against the ball of gas.

Longsword: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 8 + 1 = 26 Magic Slash Damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
get'em

Finally free from dodging a roiling ball of plasma, Ki sees their friends in trouble and hefts their cannon, firing off two quick shots to take them down.

Multi-attack vs KAC: 1d20 + 12 - 3 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 12 - 3 + 1 = 21 for damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Multi-attack vs KAC: 1d20 + 12 - 3 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 12 - 3 + 1 = 13 for damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Oops, I missed that Ganon also has fire resistance! I've fixed the damage totals in the init tracker.

Saryn manages an accurate slash before he gets engulfed, and Ki blows another chunk of plasma out of the creature. Unfortunately the solar wisp manages to hold itself together... with two of your allies still trapped inside.

The wisp swings out a lash of plasma at Jaqweh, landing a single blow (Dealing 12 fire damage) before the wisp attempts to flee back westwards with its "meal".

|||| INIT ||||
Rayraj (5 dmg)
Ki
Jaqweh (12 dmg)
Saryn (36 dmg) (engulfed)
Ganon (engulfed/pinned, 14 dmg)
Solar Wisp Red (61 dmg)

Bold are up