[RD][SFS] 2-06/2-08: The Stumbling Society (Inactive)

Game Master Andrew Harasty

Rocket waits his turn and then fires up his jetpack zooming through town gathering flags in order of convenience.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29

Obstacle course. Wonderful. Diz thinks. He gets up and begins to go through the paces, though his movements are a bit wobbly after their host's drink.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25

Not fully appreciating how the kiirinta’s drink had affected her, Hermena leaps at the chance to demonstrate her agility.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15

This always happens to Hermena - decent in combat, but the minute a social encounter starts she can’t roll above a 5.

Distracted from the conversation because she's subtly snooping around, Officer Swizzers is late to realise a race has started. She does her best to catch up.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29

If that's a failure, I'll use my slotted "Live Air Celebrity" boon to re-roll it.

After the toast you show off your skills to the assembled kiiniras. Viper, Rocket, Swizzzers all impressively complete the course. Where as Diz, slightly tipsy from the toast does well enough, but Hermena finds the course for small creatures very difficult for her large size.

Botting Thomagar
Thomagar Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Thomagar Athletics: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12

Thomagar finds himself very taken in and stumbles though the course drunk. Although amusing some of the younger ones, does not really impress Nerii and the other leaders.

"That was impressive. But now it is time for Death Match." Chants and cries of Death Match echo though out the assembled kiiniras. The central area is clear and a large ring forms around the center. After a few moments a decorated table is brought to the center, along with tokens and cards.

"This is Death Match, the game is simple..." Nerii goes on for a few minutes explaining the somewhat bizarre and sometime contradictory rules of the game. "I challenge each of you to a Death Match"

The game is more of wits and subterfuge and requires a bluff or sense motive to out maneuver the opponent.

Viper raises an eye at the mention of a Death Match and is not entirely against sending them to meet their makers, but is also alright with it just being a card game.

Bluff 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
Flat effect, they get -2 to their sense motive.

Curious title. D'yzliit thinks as they observe their cards.

I will play this action card to construct a floop inside the ocean cone.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21

Rocket scratches behind his right ear as he plays the hand he's dealt.

Sense motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

"What's this card do again?"

Hermena sits down at the Death Match table, hopeful that the drink will affect her mental agility less severely than her physical agility.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Sorry for the absence. The new year's celebrations kind of got away from me. Thanks for the bot.

Not used to the consumption of alcoholic or other mind-tampering substances, Thomagar's head is still reeling from the drink earlier, and the convoluted rules of Death Match isn't helping. Nonetheless, despite the spinning room, he grits his teeth and makes the best effort to bluff his way through the game.

bluff: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (9) + 15 = 24

Officer Swizzers is just too darn nice to be much of a cardshark.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Although impressive with physical prowess, none of you seem to grasp the true subtleties of Death Match. Thomagar got a sense of the game and did quite well until Nerii took him out with a Royal Fizbin combo. (The odds of that happening were un-calculable. )

Nerii relaxes. "Well it seems that you Starfinders are worthy, though you have much to learn from each other. We like this idea of Cooperation and if you can get the Reflectors to Cooperate as well, I will be willing to cede our stash of weapons as long as the Reflectors do as well"

"Good, we will ensure that happens" Viper offers, keen to get the cold war thawed and the weapons back [b]"We shall talk to the Reflectors"[b]

Ready to spread the good word of the First Seeker!

Do you know who is in charge of these 'Reflectors' D'zyliit asks. We hope they will be as reasonable and generous as you, but knowing more may ensure all can Cooperate.

You are given coordinates to the Reflector's camp. And you start making you way to parley with them.

On your way there you get a comms message from Saivessa. "Hey, it looks like that platform had one already launched one last crate before we got here. It was in orbit and now seems to be heading towards you. I suspect that the locals are going to be racing there as well. I suggest you get there first again"

Seems like as good as place as any to meet the Reflectors. As you get a trajectory analysis you make your towards the general area of the landing. As you get close, flares can be seen in the distance as a signal that it has landed.

Survival checks to see how quickly you make your way to the new landing sight

If we can reach that crate first, one less set of items to convince these 'Reflectors' to give back to us. Diz 'says' as he tries to navigate closer to the crate.

Hermena: you are the tallest of us. Can you see a clear path?

think the sarcesian is our best Survivalist, so D'zyliit will attempt to Aid her with the Helpful Telepath feat (rather than give a +2, Hermena can instead roll twice and take the better result).

Survival Aid: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

Hermena peers through the underbrush, scouting a way ahead for the party. ”I think I can get us there before the Reflectors, but if someone has a way to contact the Builders and get them to hold off their own approach that would be helpful.”

Survival: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28
Survival: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16 use higher result as per Helpful Telepath, result does not include any Aid Another bonuses.

Aid (Survival) 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

Survival (aiding unless it's a group test thing/we need more then 1 results in a round): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

Not one particularly experienced with the wilderness, Thomagar still does what he can, keeping his eyes open.

survival, aid: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (4) + 0 = 4

Swizzers will Take 10 to aid Rocket on Survival in case we need more than one successful check.

You make good time to the Crate Drop Zone. You can hear the flutter/buzzing of the Reflectors close by. You have about a minute to prepare.

"They probably won't listen to us, but we should still try to work things out peacefully . . ."

Swizzers draws her compliance flash rays and tactical baton to provide nonlethal means to subdue them if conversation fails.

"We will give it a shot - see if they are interested"

Nothing particular to prep

"Shame we didn't get to keep that mine layer we found in the original stash..it would have come in handy right about now"

Rockets scratches his right ear as he looks at the rest of the party
"Anyone wants me to pop some smoke to give us some cover?" before making sure his blasters are fully loaded and charged.

Other then using a smoke grenade I can't think of anything particular I can do with a minute of prep time

Hermena reloads her rifle and sighs. "If we still had my grenade I might have been able to set up a a booby trap for anyone trying to grab the crate... hey, maybe there's another one in this box that we could use!"

Can I search the crate for loot? Also, I'll ready an action to turn on my force field if the Reflectors attack.

The create contains the following weapons
corona laser rifle (longarm),

The flutter-buzzing gets louder and closer, as well as snapping of twigs and branches. They are rushing towards the clearing. About half a dozen kiiniras enter the clearing. Their leader (white token) telepathically sends the following: "Interlopers! Stand aside and allow us access to our divine Gift. You shall not impede us again!"

They hold a moment on the line waiting for a response, but before any of you can say anything a huge burrowing insect bursts from the ground in front of the kiiniras and plucks one of them out of the air and looks to snap at the others.

You hear cries of "Tiraka!" and panic as the kiinira focus on the immediate threat

Everyone may act since this round the kiinira reflectors will be focusing on the Tiraka, unless Viper-6 wants some Infamy.

The Last Drop

Group conditions:
Round 1

Viper-6 - dmg

Reflectors (purple) 5 Remaining

D'yzliit - dmg
Thomagar - dmg
Hermena - dmg
Rocket - dmg
Officer Swizzers - dmg

Reflector Leader, Vixis -

Tiraka

Photon mode 1

Thomagar sheathes himself in stellar energy but holds back initially, not wanting to harm the kiinrias. Until the humongous insect bursts out, providing both teams with a common enemy.

"We need to take that down quickly!"

His path blocked by the crates, he nonetheless moves as far as he can as he pulls out and flings his starknife at the large creature.

tactical starknife vs KAC, photon mode, range penalty: 1d20 + 13 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 13 - 2 = 13 slashing dmg: 1d4 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 12 + 1 = 15

Requesting to keep Thomagar's charge lane free into next round so that he can close in quickly for melee.

Viper hisses at the Reflectors - "We will deal with the crate in a minute, don't touch ANY of the items"

She then gets to work on the 'Tiraka' - the sound of bullets firing heralds her arrival into combat.

Trick attack - Stealth Take 10 (Tricks CR 10)
Attack 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19 vs FF KAC
Damage 2d6 + 3 + 4d8 ⇒ (5, 3) + 3 + (5, 4, 6, 2) = 28
+Flat footed to everyone

"Just to check...we are still trying not to kill anyone here right?" Rocket asks over the humm of his battery charge as it powers up before firing the blaster he's currently wielding from a distance.

Rocket points his blaster at the big creature and squishes the trigger in rapid succession

To hit EAC big one: 1d20 + 13 - 4 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 13 - 4 - 4 = 19
non-lethal F damage if hit: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
To hit EAC big one: 1d20 + 13 - 4 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 13 - 4 - 4 = 19
non-lethal F damage if hit: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

I believe the 'tiraka' is a fair target. D'zyliit replies dryly as he gets a reading on the insect interloper. Though if it is a sentient species too, I am at a loss.

Move action to use the Microlab to scan the 'tiraka' (they seemed to be referring to the bug when they said that word, right? Or am I misunderstanding). Result of 35 to ID - Diz's primary concerns would be if it is a sapient and intelligent creature (so maybe try not to kill it), and afterwards what defenses it may have.

Standard action to fire, with a -2 AC biohack added. If the scan results shows this is a sapient creature, the attack would be at a -4 as he shoots nonlethally

Attack v EAC: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31 for Acid: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (1, 3) + 3 = 7

Eyes wide in surprise, Swizzers nevertheless reacts quickly and tries to take the giant insect down without killing it.

Full round to do two attacks (w/ multi-weapon fighting)
attack # 1 w/ compliance ray flash pistol: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20
attack# 2 w/ compliance ray flash pistol: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
damage # 1 (fire, nonlethal): 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
damage # 2 (fire, nonlethal): 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

"Well, that's a freebie." Hermena mutters to herself as the giant insect bursts from the ground. She snaps her assault rifle into position and takes two shots at the beast. Use Focused Fire to make a full attack with a ranged weapon, so I can make both attacks with a –3 penalty instead of a –4 penalty as long as they both target the same creature.

dispelling accelerator rifle 1 attack 1: 1d20 + 9 - 3 ⇒ (10) + 9 - 3 = 16
Piercing damage: 3d4 + 8 ⇒ (2, 1, 2) + 8 = 13
dispelling accelerator rifle 2 attack 1: 1d20 + 9 - 3 ⇒ (16) + 9 - 3 = 22
Piercing damage: 3d4 + 8 ⇒ (2, 3, 3) + 8 = 16

Viper's shot does distract the beast and puncture's the beast

Since you are first, The flat-footed will in in effect this round

Thomagar lashes out with his star knife but misses before setting up for his charging assault.

Rocket, seeing the nice juicy target lets fly a hail of blaster shots burning the creature.

The good Doctor's bolt sizzles and degrades the armor more of the creature.

Officer Swizzers lets fly a flurry of shots and hits both times.

Hermena is not as lucky with only one her shots hitting the weakened beast.

Vixis takes a shot at the beast.
Vixis, neutriad pistol: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17
pitsol damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11 B;

The reflectors move around and harry the creature, but the creature turns it attention to you and leaves them alone to rumble up to Thomagar

Tiraka bite: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (7) + 16 = 23
Bite damage: 2d6 + 12 ⇒ (5, 3) + 12 = 20 P

Hmm after 100 points of damage this round and 5 HP left

Another hail of shots and Thomagar's strike put the creature down swiftly.

The remaining reflectors lower their weapons as their leader speaks telepathically: "So are you are here to claim these for your Builder Allies?[b]"

[b] The Last Drop

Group conditions:
Round 1

D'yzliit - dmg
Thomagar - dmg
Viper-6 - dmg
Hermena - dmg
Rocket - dmg
Officer Swizzers - dmg

Reflectors (purple) 5 Remaining
Reflector Leader, Vixis -

Tiraka -- 100 dmg, -2 AC

"No, we are here to claim these back for the Starfinder Society"

"Your war with the Builders is over. We are also here to untangle some understandable misunderstandings, it seems both of your groups are trying to follow the philosophies of the Society but have only had some of the Societies wisdom to do it with - we shall share with you the rest of it"

"And I'm sure if we all sit down to talk things out, there will be no need for further violence." Swizzers holsters her pistols.

I'll Take 10 on a Diplomacy check to Aid Another if needed.

The leader who introduces himself as Vixis. "What is the Starfinder Society, is that the name of the God with the unknown name? Are the Builders willing to lay down their gifts?"

”Yes,” Hermena says, trying to sound conciliatory without fully lowering her weapon yet. ”Though the Society is more of a creed, a way of life instead of reverence to an entity. We explore the universe and try to learn about the many peoples that inhabit it, while striving to maintain harmony and cooperation. These tools were delivered to you... prematurely, without the right staff to oversee our introduction to you and the Builders. We have already spoken to the Builder leadership, who agree to an armistice mediated by the Society to de-escalate this conflict. We know you have lost comrades, but we implore you to consider peace and mutual benefit the best course forward for all of our factions.”

Vixis ponders your words. "You have shown the need to aid us even after we attacked you. Though even then I hear that you use less lethal methods than the Builders. If what you say is true about Nerii, then we too are willing to put aside our disagreements to become a part of your Society"

The remainaing caches of weapons is secured and peace has been brought to between the kiiniras factions. However you get the impression that the see The Starfinder Society as a religion.

Saivessa lands and reclaims the creates while a few festivities of reconciliation start to occur. Many rounds of Death Match are played though as you watch the rules seem to change to incorporate the new goals of Explore, Report, and Cooperate.

Thomagar is given a deck by Nerii as a gift and looks forward to seeing new challengers from other members of the society.

Reporting back to Fitch, she is quiet happy that the crates were recovered peacefully, though a little concerned about the potential mysticism that may be created around the Society.

Agreed leader, D'zyliit says to Fitch But I think we were uncertain how they would react to more agressive corrections. Perhaps now that the firearms are not in play, a better deprogramming team can correct them about our group's nature.

Thomagar stands at the porthole staring down silently as the planet slowly shrink and diminishes. He holds in his hand the deck from Nerii. Having just come out from his sabbatical, he is pleased that he has managed to play his part in bringing peace to the two warring groups. But he can't help but worry over the premature interstellar introduction and the mystical misinterpretation of the Society, and the potential imbalances that occurs.

Finally, he sighs and lets it go, acknowledging that every action would always cause another imbalance elsewhere. Balance is merely an illusion of constant imbalances correcting each other.

---

"I certainly hope so. I've found that people tend to hold onto their beliefs long past their accuracy has been debunked and the utility has been negated. So I certainly hope so."