[SFS/Shifty] #2-21: Illegal Shipment (D) (Inactive)

Game Master Nik B.

Tik shoots again.

Miss chance, 1=miss: 1d5 ⇒ 4
Laser attack vs flatfooted EAC: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Stealth check for trick attack: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29

Laser damage, including trick attack: 2d4 ⇒ (1, 1) = 2

The creature is still 20' up - Xoni can recover the starknife in the mist - move to the object, move to collect

Xoni goes after the starknife.

Alejandro passes Istilnar some medical aid.

Hei realises height has advantages and swings in the mist
Miss chance 1d100 ⇒ 100
And lands the blow.

Tik shoots and misses.

Istilnar pauses the toxin for a moment - and pulls out a gem.
Red still alive
Will need a second save next round, two consecutive to clear the toxin

R2
Xoni - acted
Soryn
Heiuxin - acted
Alejandro - acted

R3
Tik - acted
Istilnar - pending standard
ENEMY

Red 25

Istilnar, peers into the mist and prepares to defend himself against another attack.

Istilnar, will take the Total Defense action as his standard and stay where he is next to Alejandro.

Soryn opens fire!
Attack 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Miss? 1d100 ⇒ 3
The bullet misses in the fog.

***

The creature moves out of reach then fires a barb at Heiuxin.

Attack 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24 vs KAC
Damage 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
+DC14 Fort save.

Now at 25'

Party up!

R3
Xoni
Soryn
Heiuxin
Alejandro

R4
Tik
Istilnar
ENEMY

Red 25

Fortitude Save: 1d20 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 1 + 4 = 19

Istilnar, begins to feel normal again as the affects of the poison wear off. He coughs violently one for time, but then steadies himself.

So is he totally back to normal or does he just stop at his current level of the poison track he is on?

Istilnar is stuck on his current condition, it just doesn't get worse. Clearing the condition (non magically) will require two nights rest or a full 24 hour rest, per stage. Lucky for getting some anti toxin in!

Alejandro moves up to actually see the damn thing.

So it has total concealment at 25 feet up? Ouch!

He points at it and is about to yell to shoot, but notices his injured ally. "Hey there bud, the injury doesn't look so bad from here. Shake it off and hit the critter again!"

Move, use Inspiring Boost to give Heiuxin more than 7 Stamina back (10 total, but any extra is wasted).

The ysoki squints into the mist and shoots again at where he thinks the antecursor flies. His laser heats nothing but the dense Fogtown mists, though.

Miss chance; 1=miss: 1d2 ⇒ 1

Istilnar, tries to use the mist to his advantage and lurk in the shadows again as he moves back toward the Swarm creature.

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 6 - 2 = 5

The lingering effects of the poison continue to plague him though and he coughs again revealing his presence. With no other choice he raises his plasma claw and fires on his nemesis.

Plasma Claw vs. Red EAC: 1d20 + 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 - 2 - 2 = 6
Miss Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 45
Electricity/Fire Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Alejandro - Creatures within 10 feet have concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance) against their attacker. Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance) against their attacker. Unfortunately, the super tall dragon with the reach weapon meant the thing rose in the air a bit more.

Istilnar tries sneaking and shooting - no luck on either front.

Alejandro tries helping his friend.

Tik has missed in the mist.

Xoni hurls her starknife at the swarm individual, but she has trouble targeting it in the mist. "Talevet," she swears in frustration. She glances at Alejandro, reaches over, and draws the pistol the envoy proffered. "Thank you," she says as she switches off the safety and aims at the nasty.

Tactical Starknife vs. KAC: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12
Damage, piercing: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
1-30=miss: 1d100 ⇒ 10

If Xoni can, she will just reach over and draw Alejandro's Semi-Automatic to use next round. If that is not available, she'll draw the laser.

Xoni can't get the shot to land... starts looking for a sidearm.

Fortitude: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Heiuxin, feeling inspired by Alejandro's encouraging words, shakes off the effects of the Swarm's poisons before they can truly sink in I hope. Not willing to give up the hunt quite yet, she leaps into the air, flapping her wings to raise up through the mist and strike at the antecursor furiously before floating gently back down to the ground.

Flying 5ft straight up (I think that's possible? Please let me know if I'm wrong.) and attacks

Prototype flame doshko: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13 Calibrated damage (F): 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Hei swings and misses, chasing the creature higher!

***

Soryn opens fire!
Attack 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15
Miss? 1d100 ⇒ 21
The bullet misses in the fog again

***

The creature moves out of reach then fires a barb at Heiuxin, continuing the dance.

Attack 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24 vs KAC
Damage 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
+DC14 Fort save.

Now at 30'

Party up!

R4
Xoni
Soryn
Heiuxin
Alejandro

R5
Tik
Istilnar
ENEMY

Red 25

Alejandro motions to the pistol on his belt, ”Take the laser. Make it count!”

He aims and fires the pistol.

Get em and shoot. All allies get +1 to hit it.

Anchoring Semi-Auto Pistol vs. KAC + Get Em: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 5 + 1 = 23 for Magic/Piercing + W.S.: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

miss on a 1: 1d2 ⇒ 1

Fortitude: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Heiuxin snarls with pain as this barb sticks and the venom courses into her body. She pushes through the pain, though, and flies up once again to strike at the antecursor.

Prototype flame doshko: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 Calibrated damage (F): 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Fly 10ft up and take another swing, then allow myself to fall back to the ground.

Istilnar, tries to slip into the shadows created by the mist and then move directly underneath the fleeing Swarm creature.

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 6 - 2 = 17

Lifting his plasma claw over his head he fires it into the mist again.

Plasma Claw + Get'em vs. Black (Flat Footed) EAC: 1d20 + 2 - 2 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 2 - 2 - 2 + 1 = 15
Miss Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 14
Electricity/Fire Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3

1d5 ⇒ 5

The creature falls from the sky as the doshko finds its mark, landing with a sickening thump.

Heiuxin now feels somewhat disorientated and vague as the poison works through the dragonkins system.

Sluggish The victim takes a –2 penalty to Reflex saves and Dexterity-based ability checks, attack rolls, and skill checks; the DCs of her spells and special abilities decrease by 2; and she becomes flat-footed.

The poison runs for four rounds (that was R1), you need two consecutive DC14 saves to prevent further damage

Sorry I keep forgetting to roll for concealment! Thanks for rolling some successes for me there!

Fortitude R2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Fortitude R3: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Fortitude R4: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Uh oh!

Heiuxin powers down her doshkos and stows the weapon as she staggers toward the dead form of the antecursor and draws her survival knife. She kneels down, grips one of the Swarm's wings and saws through the base to collect her trophy. Meanwhile, the poison continues coursing through her veins, and by the time it has run its course, she is near ready to collapse.

Alejandro rushes over and points his pistol at the bug's head area and pulls the trigger a few times... just to make sure.

"Guh, nasty fight there. Seemed like it could see us perfectly and we were just shooting wild into the fog. Good hits Heiuxin, probably the only reason it dropped."

He slaps a fresh magazine in and slowly reloads his half-empty one as he looks over the critter's body, "So how are we gonna track these buggers back to their home?"

Uh oh indeed - does anyone have sufficient Medicine skill or another Anti-tox they could jam into Heiux to at least pull the R2 check off?

Istilnar, does not... sorry.

Tik rushes over to the poisoned dragonkin, pulling his medkit from his crowded pack. "Nice work! Let's see if I can keep you up, here."

Medicine check to Treat Poison, R2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Uh-oh....

The ysoki has trouble getting everything out of his kit in the fog.

Medicine check to Treat Poison, R3: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
Medicine check to Treat Poison, R4: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Alejandro pulls out a medpatch and slaps it on, ”Can’t hurt to try the auto option.”

Med check to treat poison: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30

I'm going to have to get some of those supplies....

Heiuxin is spared the worst by Alejandros quick thinking.

Current states
Heiuxin:
Sluggish: The victim takes a –2 penalty to Reflex saves and Dexterity-based ability checks, attack rolls, and skill checks; the DCs of her spells and special abilities decrease by 2; and she becomes flat-footed.
Stiffened: The victim loses her Dexterity bonus to her Armor Class, and she can’t take reactions.
Staggered: The victim is staggered but can take purely mental full actions.

Istilnar:
Sluggish: The victim takes a –2 penalty to Reflex saves and Dexterity-based ability checks, attack rolls, and skill checks; the DCs of her spells and special abilities decrease by 2; and she becomes flat-footed.
Stiffened: The victim loses her Dexterity bonus to her Armor Class, and she can’t take reactions.

Can we tell roughly where the creature was coming from, and where it was heading to?

You suspect that it it is hanging around here then the hive probably isn't far off - might be a time to examine the place and the buildings (and Perception when doing so)

Istilnar, begins to move stealthily deeper into the warehouse.

"Their hive is here; stay together and keep your eyes open."

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 6 - 2 = 21
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

He continues to hold a spell gem of Confusion in one hand and his plasma claw in the other.

GM, are we in the warehouse yet? The map kind of looks like it, but from the description of the start of the fight it sounded like we were still outside.

Alejandro says, ”Hold onto the laser pistol, might need it later.”

He looks at his injured allies, ”Take a short rest before searching alright?”

Ten Minute rest sound good all?

Once that is settled he looks around for swarm-sign.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Xoni points the laser up, saying, "Thank you. Lasers are not the best weapon in the fog, but ..." Her words are cut off but two creatures falling and landing nearby, one dead, the other struggling with the nasty swarm poison.

She hovers and watches as the others try to help boost Heiuxin's system to fight the poison. She tries to help as she can.

Medicine, aid: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Medicine, aid: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12
Medicine, aid: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
If it is not too late. I had to work most of yesterday and today.

When Alejandro lets her use his laser, she puts her two top hands together in a gesture of thanks. She checks the battery level and keeps it in her lower left hand, ready to fire. She retrieves her starknife before she starts to look around the warehouse.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

You are outside in the warehouse district - per the map there are a few stalls etc that you were inspecting, and a large warehouse in the corner

"On the east side of the courtyard, several office buildings loom in silence, closed for renovations with small air-reclamation offices hiding at their bases. A large warehouse with a logo for Dreamways Inc. has an entrance west of the courtyard. A long-closed line of market stalls runs waiting to be demolished as the courtyard renovation continues."

In the mist you find the remains of a couple of previous victims.
Alejandro and Xoni find the discarded equipment of several unfortunate victims the Swarm intruders came upon. These victims have since dissolved into a pile of rather terrifying bio-sludge that the Swarm entities appear to have begun bringing back to their nascent nest. The pile of gear includes a set of graphite carbon skin armor, two mk 2 serums of healing, and a recovery aegis.

Istilnarthey notices signs of the Swarm all around the Dreamways warehouse and blood trails from victims and creatures taken by the Swarm.

You are outside in the warehouse district - per the map there are a few stalls etc that you were inspecting, and a large warehouse in the corner

You can take a 1m mins rest - indicate if you are doing so :)

Sadly, the condition of the two poisoned Starfinders will take a while to recover

"On the east side of the courtyard, several office buildings loom in silence, closed for renovations with small air-reclamation offices hiding at their bases. A large warehouse with a logo for Dreamways Inc. has an entrance west of the courtyard. A long-closed line of market stalls runs waiting to be demolished as the courtyard renovation continues."

In the mist you find the remains of a couple of previous victims.
Alejandro and Xoni find the discarded equipment of several unfortunate victims the Swarm intruders came upon. These victims have since dissolved into a pile of rather terrifying bio-sludge that the Swarm entities appear to have begun bringing back to their nascent nest. The pile of gear includes a set of graphite carbon skin armor, two mk 2 serums of healing, and a recovery aegis.

Istilnarthey notices signs of the Swarm all around the Dreamways warehouse and blood trails from victims and creatures taken by the Swarm.

"Let's do a quick recon through the office buildings. If I were a particularly sly Swarm creature, I'd make sure that the trail led somewhere other than where I was building a new hive."

Tik has a look at the offices and notes that they are all locked. Tik can see inside that they have computer terminals that probably link to the environmental scrubbers dotted around the courtyard - if you got in you may be able to turn them on and clear the market area of fog.

There is no sign of swarm around the offices, perhaps they aren't that smart - or perhaps they are too much of an apex predator to even care...

Istilnar, will take 10. I suggest Heuxin takes the recovery aegis.
Istilnar, will take one of the healing serums.

"I am convinced the Swarm's nest is there." Istilnar, points to the Dreamway's Warehouse and beings to head toward it stealthily.

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 6 - 2 = 10

When he hears Tik's report about the environmental scrubbers he changes directions and joins him at the offices.

"If we can remove this fog it will give us an advantage when we face the Swarm again."

Engineering to break into the offices

Xoni lays reassuring hands on the shoulders of the poisoned Starfinders. She wishes she had something that could help them recover, but sympathy is all she has to offer.

She inspects the sludge and shudders at the thought of the swarm filling the station with such tragedies. She picks through the remnants of possessions, not wanting the equipment to go to waste and knowing that locating the families of the owners might be impossible. Her hidden soldier armor is better than the lightweight suit of graphite carbon skin, so she leaves it for others.

She shows the aegis of recover to Heiuxin and Istilnar. "I believe this may make it easier to recover from the poison." She leaves the item for them to discuss.

Edit She shows the remaining serum of healing II to the group and says, "I believe some of you already have serums, although perhaps not as strong as this one. I have two already. Who else has need of a serum? Perhaps some who have a Mark I serum could trade up and one of us without could have the weaker serum in case of emergencies during combat. We could always play Solid Liquid Gas to see who gets it."

She has no skills useful in dealing with the locks on the offices with the controls for the air supply. The only technical skills she learned during her training as a soldier were in piloting starships. Computers and other devices are as mysterious as magic to her.

Alejandro tries to help with the lock, ”We need to get in there.”

Engineering (t) Aid: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Tik pulls an engineering tool kit from his pack and takes a crack at the lock, assisted by the envoy.

Engineering check, including Aid Another: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 8 + 2 = 13

"Tough lock. Heiuxin! Want to have a go?"

Fortunately, Engineering is an INT-based skill.

Between you all you manage to slip the lock and get in there. Turning on the fans makes a ton of noise, but the upside is that in a minute or two the marketplace is drained of fog...

"That's better. Feign an attack, retreat when they engage, and draw them out where we can see them?"

So, if I understand correctly, the effect of the poison will last a while, but at least it's not getting any worse for now? That works!

Heiuxin thanks Alejandro and the others for their help in stopping the poison from...well, she didn't like to think about what it might've done. At any rate, in her own slowed pace, she follows the others, offering advice or assistance as she's able in picking the locks into the office. As the fog clears, she nods sagely. "Good. That'll take away one of their advantages at least. Now, let's return to our hunt! We've got a nest to exterminate."

Istilnar, heads for the entrance to the Dreamway warehouse. He reaches into his coat's pocket and replaces the spell gem he had in his hand with a different one. Summon Creature level 1

"Istilnar and Heiuxin, you should probably keep back--more of the Swarm poison won't treat you well. Soryn and Xoni can take the lead. Can either of you use that armor we found?"

So, if I understand correctly, the effect of the poison will last a while, but at least it's not getting any worse for now?

At the moment your condition has stopped deteriorating, so as you say, it won't get any worse for now. If you get re-afflicted though that would be #badnews. Assuming no further poisoning happens you will begin recovery with bed rest.

***

Xoni takes the lead.

The warehouse doors slowly open revealing an old disused office space the emergency lighting 20-feet up cast the area in a dim light. The air scrubbers in the building hum gently and have cleared out the pervasive mist.

The Swarm has clearly been converting the warehouse. Under the dim lights, some of the walls and floors look almost alive with accumulated biomass. Whilst most of the wall is visible, there are numerous sacs with bodily fluids and a greenish slime. There is also soot and dirt everywhere with small pods and sacs in corners, and dead vermin attached to biological apparatus that appear to be drawing their biological material away. Cabling runs across the floor and deeper into the warehouse - but you notice it is fleshy (?!)

A single swarm creature is gathering goop from some of the sacs, and so far hasn't noticed you.

Any offensive or overt action will trigger initiative.

Area is DIM light

Heiuxin holds her doshko ready in one hand. In the other, she holds her comm unit, ready to turn on the flashlight function whenever the need arises. She stands toward the back Tik suggested.

Istilnar, lingers in the rear with Heiuxin; his darkvision allowing him to see into the warehouse despite the dim lighting.

Alejandro slowly turns on the darkvision feature on his armor then reaches down to grasp a grenade.

Hitting more than just the critter can't hurt in here.

He whispers to his allies, "Can you see if it has wings?"