[SFS_Aerondor] 01-18 The Blackmoon Survey. (Outpost IV) (Inactive)

Game Master Aerondor

However, if they have any obvious (potentially useful) equipment lying near the bodies, it could presumably drag that to us.

Dytabail keeps as close to cover as she can, slipping among the fingers.
Tarifa snuggles in close to a finger, well out of sight.
Rilynn also runs to the shelter of the fingers.
Gletch, making sure he is well protected, eyes up the bodies.
It is hard to tell from your spot shelting amongst the fingers, but the bodies seem to have had all their equipment and armour removed. You'd have to go over to them to check for sure though. Or you could give me a perception check from where you are if you like.

Status, bold may post
Talltree -
Karos - 16/16; 3/4RP - two rounds of actions.
Known enemies:
Pink Enemy -
Blue Enemy-
Dytabail - 7/10SP
Rilynn - 0/5sp; 9/9hp;
Tarifa - 3/12sp : Full cover.
Gletch - 4/12SP; Full cover.

Talltree follows the others to the shelter of the rocks. Double move.

Perception(if a free action): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

Talltree advances to the fingers, as does Karos.
NPCing him to not get too far behind.

The snipers do what they can to keep your heads down.
who: 2d4 ⇒ (2, 1) = 3
attack vs Dta, cover, range: 1d20 - 4 - 2 ⇒ (6) - 4 - 2 = 0
attack vs TAlltree, cover,range: 1d20 - 4 - 4 ⇒ (19) - 4 - 4 = 11
F damage, Talltree: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

One laser strikes Talltree.

Status, bold may post
Dytabail - 7/10SP
Rilynn - 0/5sp; 9/9hp;
Tarifa - 3/12sp : Full cover.
Gletch - 4/12SP; Full cover.
Talltree -1/6SP;
Karos - 16/16; 3/4RP -
Known enemies:
Pink Enemy -
Blue Enemy-

Talltree was doing a double move, not sprinting, so he should have his DEX bonus to AC.

Rilynn finally makes the first large finger stone, skirts around it and nears the bodies at the center of the crescent.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 16

@talltree, He does. Sniper hits, quite easily.

Rilynn notices the bodies. Bodies sometimes have loot on them. Odd, these ones are lacking that. Skin doesn't look too nice in this atmosphere.

We should give those corpses a wide berth, Rilynn advises the others telepathically. I don't trust anything on this forsaken world, especially not the dead.

Dytabail dashes forward one more time, to the westernmost rock. "Until we're done being shot at, those bodies are just going to lure us into the open. Let's come back to them."

"I would prefer not to end up like them, so yes, avoid for now." Tari scurries to the next finger, ducking out of sight.

Double move

Gletch motions toward the bodies. "There's something weird about those ... like they're wired into some kind of sensor array."

What do you mean by a sensor array? Some sort of proximity sensor/trigger to a trap?

"Does anyone happen to have a spotlight on them? Do you think we could use one to perhaps blind the snipers as we approach? They'd probably shoot toward the light, even from a distance."

GM: Would something like that work? I know it's a 100 ft cone, but I imagine if we point the spotlight at the snipers, we might be able to obscure their vision somewhat. Here's a roll to see what in-character I think about whether the light would dissipate too much.

Physical Science: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Dytabail has no such gear.

@Gletch, you can't tell without examining it. That is just your conjecture from what you notice from the distance.

Starfinders dash forward further.

Gletch thinks about options. I'd be happy with you making a relevant skill check to try and dazzle one for a round. Up to you about what a relevant skill check might be. Do you have a searchlight or other powerful light source?

Status, bold may post
Rilynn - 0/5sp; 9/9hp;
Gletch - 4/12SP; Full cover.
Talltree -1/6SP;
Karos - 16/16; 3/4RP -
Known enemies:
Pink Enemy -
Blue Enemy-
Dytabail - 7/10SP
Tarifa - 3/12sp :

Gletch, remaining in cover, pulls out his broad-spectrum scanning kit. "I'll see if I can detect anything off of them with this ..." He performs a scan of the bodies, seeing if any of the readings add any additional insights.

Unlikely to do better than that 19, but maybe the DC will be lower if I'm using a tool ...

Perception, broad-spectrum scanner: 1d20 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 2 + 4 = 23

Eh, a little better. Anything else I can observe from here?

Aside from whatever has been rigged around the bodies, you detect signs that someone dropped a credstick over there. It's passive locator beacon (caus, nobody wants to lose their credstick) shows it is in the sand near them.

Chittering in pain, Talltree scrambles to the cover of the second stone from the east.

Double move.

Rilynn hugs the inside perimeter of the stones and finds the middle finger with this latest sprint.

2x move

While Gletch scans the bodies, Rilynn and Talltree scamper forward. Karos also runs forward.

The snipers have their prey pinned down now...
who: 2d5 ⇒ (2, 1) = 3
attack Tarifa, EAC, range, cover: 1d20 - 4 - 4 + 8 ⇒ (12) - 4 - 4 + 8 = 12
attack Dya, EAC, range, cover: 1d20 - 2 - 4 + 8 ⇒ (8) - 2 - 4 + 8 = 10
You've had a bit of a chance to gauge their accuracy now, so I've started to include their to-hit bonus for you.

Between the long range and the cover of the fingers, both lasers just scar the rocks, not any Starfinders.

Status, bold may post
Dytabail - 7/10SP
Tarifa - 3/12sp :
Rilynn - 0/5sp; 9/9hp;
Gletch - 4/12SP; Full cover.
Talltree -1/6SP;
Karos - 16/16; 3/4RP
Known enemies:
Pink Enemy -
Blue Enemy-

Dytabail takes cover for the moment. "Not sure we can rest right now, did any of you want to try it?"

"I don't think we can either. I can *try* to give someone covering fire, but this is not my kind of weapon." Tari runs forward two fingers to cut down on the range a little. "Unless someone wants this, and I can use my grenade launcher."

Run forward. How steep is the hill in front of us? Will we need to climb? Difficult terrain?

Rilynn follows closely after Dytabail to the forward position. Ahead, there's nothing but open canyon between the team and the snipers.

I really don't like this, she thinks to herself.

2x move

Also, six more rounds of double moves before I can do anything to them, assuming we survive and they don't just run away after all of that.

Plan A: We're here, so let's get it over with.

This is a math problem. At +8 to hit, once we get inside medium range, even our best armored character, Tarifa is a 50% hit chance. Rilynn can be hit 75% chance, when targeted. If we take the cautious approach and do Double moves, that's at least six rounds for them to fire away, for twelve shots. Depending on who they target, as many as 8 or 9 of those would be hits. Given the duration of this encounter, if any one of us is knocked out, the character will die and need to be brought back to life later. If GM gets a run of cold dice we could be better off this way, but the opposite is also true.

If we go all-out sprints, we can halve the time it takes to reach the snipers, assuming they don't simply run away, at the cost of all but guaranteeing that each shot will be a hit. But that reduces the likely hit number to 6 from 8 or 9.

We're also competing against the vagaries of PbP. Staying coordinated will be hard. I suggest we commit to a plan and bot as necessary. First, we all get to the westernmost finger rock, find full cover, as GM said is available, to rest and recover HP. Then we all run together.

There's also the matter of healing. Rilynn has already used her only healing serum after sucking a crit. This run up the hill works best with everyone alive and able to heal themselves, when necessary. Gletch, you've got 6 healing serums. I'm sure they were well-earned and expensive to acquire, and you were smart to get them. Please consider extending at least one to the characters who have none. Rilynn will pay you credits for the exchange when this is over.

Plan B: Plan A is stupid. We are ill-equipped to survive this fight.

Even if Plan A goes perfectly, we still need to fight once we get to the snipers, assuming they hang around. One or two dead party members makes the balance of the adventure a whole lot less interesting and more expensive. We could retreat, report what happened here, and see what GM's contingency is for aborting this part of the scenario. I don't think there is any loss of honor for avoiding suicide.

Plan C: Parlay???

Are there alternatives? At this point I vote for Plan A. We're here. Dying is always a possibility.

Three notable plateaus rise along the western edge of this long canyon. The ground slopes up at regular intervals, making for steep but manageable climbs to the next-highest platform. Eventually, the highest rise begins to connect to the top of the canyon walls, almost 120 feet above the canyon’s base. Larger boulders and mineral outcroppings litter the plateaus, providing areas of concealment within the areas of gradual ascent.

No skill checks required to go up

Given the level of cover you have, I'm pretty happy with you all marshalling in the lee of the closest of the fingers and taking a little time to plan your approach. From the lee of the closest fingers, it is roughly 400' travel to get up to the snipers. That would be four rounds if you run.

Sorry, been having a lot of technical problems as of late and falling behind in some games.

Two possible contributions to plan A:

1. I can use my Fabricate Tech ability to create a spotlight, which I could use to dazzle one of the shooters. Technically, I could create a couple of them, I suppose. Problem is that being dazzled only gives a -1 to perception & attack rolls, so not sure it's worth it.

2. Being small, I could run behind one of you for some measure of cover. If I run for 2 rounds (240 feet) and then double move, on round 4 (assuming I'm still alive) I can summon an air elemental. The air elemental can whirlwind them up on round 5. But, again, that involves us surviving to round 5.

Also, even with the lack of proficiency penalty, it might make sense for someone with a good dexterity to provide covering fire with that rifle.

(If you're willing to give her a healing serum, Dytabail is down for that plan. She took Diehard, so if she goes to 0, she can stabilize and get to 1 HP, and has enough resolve to do that twice. She also has Ferocity, so if she goes down to 0 again, she survives until her next round, and only dies if she doesn't heal in that round.)

Two possible contributions to plan A:

1. I can use my Fabricate Tech ability to create a spotlight, which I could use to dazzle one of the shooters. Technically, I could create a couple of them, I suppose. Problem is that being dazzled only gives a -1 to perception & attack rolls, so not sure it's worth it.

2. Being small, I could run behind one of you for some measure of cover. If I run for 2 rounds (240 feet) and then double move, on round 4 (assuming I'm still alive) I can summon an air elemental. The air elemental can whirlwind them up on round 5. But, again, that involves us surviving to round 5.

Also, even with the lack of proficiency penalty, it might make sense for someone with a good dexterity to provide covering fire with that rifle.

I'm not apposed to having some characters volunteer to be meat shields. Rilynn has a full arsenal of magic missiles to use if she can get within 100'. Tarifa has a grenade launcher... We have good ranged options once we get close enough to use them.

Gletch moves and takes cover as best he can to get to the furthest of the rock formations. "Here, I have one out that you can grab from me ..." He holds out the healing serum to Dytabail.

"I also have two healing serums."

What's the soil consistency like here?

Given there is a partially buried cred-stick, I'm guessing there is a rocky/sandy 'soil'. Probably debris left over from previous glass cyclones.

"I like Plan A, but I also don't like getting killed," Tari says with a wry grin. "I can shoot the grenades from here, I just won't have a great chance of hitting what I'm aiming for,"

"If we can make us even slightly harder to hit, that would be a help. I actually think running is not our best option because we are sitting ducks at that point. But not running means we get shot at more often. Hard to choose between those options.

"If we don't mind going slower, we can make it harder to hit us along the way. Total Defense gives a +4 to AC, but it is *much* slower because it's a standard action. Or we can alternate who runs and who provides covering fire."

"Like, I stay here and grenade vaguely near them, everyone else runs. Then someone up ahead shoots with this rifle, while everyone else runs ahead and I catch up. Maybe Gletch moves slower, but tries to dazzle them. Make sense?"

Rilynn backs into a crevice in the rock, affording her full protection from the western edge of the canyon to rest.

Assuming a 10 minute rest, spend 1 RP to recover SP

"That makes sense if we can force them out of their positions, and cause them to not attack. But if our tactics are unsuccessful it allows the enemy to focus fire on fewer targets. Maximum speed and spreading the damage around are the advantages of Plan A. How many grenades do you have? Can you launch one at them now to see how they react?"

"I've got a full set in my launcher (6), but no extras. I'd rather not let them know we have something like this until we have to."

If it's possible to spend the 10 minute rest, Tari will definitely spend 1 RP for SP, but I don't know if we have that full amount of time.

"It may be possible to use token spell to raise a cloud of the loose soil here, to give some limited cover. It would mean that Gletch and I would have to bracket the rest of you, though."

"I...I will lead the way. My past experiences help me handle a bit of pain and I can't let anyone go down. At worst if I start taking too many shots I can fall back a step and let someone else take point. Once at least one of us makes it to them and our magic missile artilleries are in range...they won't have the luxury of taking pot shots." Kharos says agreeing with the plan.

"It may be possible to use token spell to raise a cloud of the loose soil here, to give some limited cover. It would mean that Gletch and I would have to bracket the rest of you, though."

"I don't like the thought of you and Gletch being exposed while the rest of us are hidden.

"Gletch, would you be willing to share a healing serum with both myself and Kharos? Then everyone would able to heal themselves at least once while we assault the canyon rise.

"If any one of us falls, the rest must keep going. Speed is our best chance."

"Indeed." As soon as we know if we are doing the token spell, Dytabail is ready to rush.

(Tarifa, I would argue that running is our best option because for a couple of us, it is the only option. A lot of classes aren't proficient in longarms, so I at least have nothing else to do until I get up to them.)

I would rule that token spell wouldn't work for that, or I'd have been doing it earlier.

If we're waiting 10 minutes, I will also recover my SP

Gletch passes out a healing serum each to Rilynn and Kharos, then grabs one in each hand for himself. "Okay, lets's get up there ... Kharos, I'll run behind you as best I can."

It lets you lift things slowly, so I was thinking of lifting up some of the soil and letting it fall. It was a long shot, though.

I'm going to say at the moment, a ten minute rest is not open to you. There are active snipers pinning you down. If you stay still too long they are likely to try moving a bit to get a bead on you.

Token spell is too weak to provide you cover. One cubic foot of dust you could move possibly, but that is not enough to make a significant impact on people attacking you.

Moving to get a bead on us works to our advantage, doesn't it? That means they have to get closer.

I'd also forgotten that we're in vacuum, so that cubic foot of dust (and probably much less volume than that...a cubic foot of rock dust weighs a lot) wouldn't stay lofted if tossed up.

I'm going to say at the moment, a ten minute rest is not open to you. There are active snipers pinning you down. If you stay still too long they are likely to try moving a bit to get a bead on you.

This is actually good. At best, they're firing at long range into partial cover. We should wait until they fire, otherwise they'll get free reaction shots against us without the benefit of any cover.

Rilynn tries to prepare herself mentally to run directly at snipers in an open field. There's no calming the fear. All that's left is to do it.

"The next time they shoot, we all move at once."

On the next shot, Rilynn breaks cover and charges the sniper nest at a full run, trusting her fellow Starfinders at her side.

So are you all staying in full cover for the moment to allow those who want to try and recover sp?

If it works out that way, yes.

I'm good with waiting but am definitely keeping watch for the snipers to move. When we get ready to move, I want to do the stereotypical thing of "holding up a hat" to draw fire against something innocuous.

I'm ready to rush, just waiting to figure out if I am first or somebody else is.

Okay after a minute or so....

But you have had sufficient time for any swapping of serums and using them that you want to do.

Status, bold may post
Talltree -
Rilynn - 0/5sp; 9/9hp;
Tarifa - 3/12sp
Gletch - 4/12SP;
Dytaball - 7/10SP
Karos - 16/16; 3/4RP -
Known enemies:
Pink Enemy -
Blue Enemy-