[SFS/Shifty] The Vast Experiment (A) (Inactive)

Game Master Nik B.

Vyviane, sulking in the gunnery chair, looks back at J'Shun. "If you'Re going to be in the Captain's Chair AT LEAST KNOW THE SPECS OF THE SHIP! We don't HAVE a counter missile bank! One more slip up like that and I'm mutinying and taking the captain's chair by force!"

She instead pulls up the Heavy Laser Cannons that they have instead and fires at the ship that Chorizal just tried to ram.

LASER CANNONS AHOY! Computer bonus: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 8 + 2 = 23
Damage: 4d8 ⇒ (2, 5, 3, 3) = 13

Sorry, missed this last development, but Helix is happy to be engineer.

"Lieutenant Isafira, do no question my authority on the bridge. Regardless if we have a counter missile bank or not I ordered you to FIRE."

"J'Shun, I DID."

Rastar then Enemy attacks :)

Rastar, fires the mining laser.

Mining Laser vs. AC: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 7 + 2 = 21
Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 4) = 9

I posted, I swear I did!

The two shots impact on the port side of the pirates, cracking the shields and scorching paint.

They return fire!

Light Buster Canon 1d20 ⇒ 6
Shadowbolt projector 1d20 ⇒ 1

Both shots go wide.

***

R2
Engineering Phase
Enemy 1d20 ⇒ 8

Helm Phase
Piloting 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16

A dire round for the enemy!

"Target their engines, maximum firepower, Lieutenant Isafira!"

Intimidate (Demand): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18 Fail :(

Helix redirects excess core power to the ship's weapons systems!

Engineering: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (6) + 17 = 23

Chorizal piloting check for init :)

Sorry. Starship combat is one of those things that I do just irregularly enough that it takes me a bit to get into the rhythm.

Piloting: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32

R2
Helm Phase

Fly evasively - Piloting 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34

The enemy ship flies in a wide arc to come back for another pass!

Your ship to move now :)

Izzip attempts to divine more information about the enemy ship. Magic Officer role, using Scrying as a scan action.

Mysticism DC 5 + 1-1/2 × the tier of the starship being scanned + its bonus from defensive countermeasures: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (7) + 20 = 27

CORSAIR TIER 7
Idaran Mirage
Medium transport
Speed 8; Maneuverability average (turn 2); Drift 1
Crew complement: 6*.

AC 21; TL 18
HP 85; DT —; CT 17
Shields Medium 90
Current Shields (forward 25, port 20, starboard 20, aft 25)
Power Core Arcus Maximum (200 PCU)

Attack (Forward) gyrocannon (3d10; 5 hexes), light ship tether (2d6; 1 hex),

MORE INFO AVAILABLE

*Living crew complement, but you aren't picking up any life-forms on board the enemy ship

"Hold on, I'm going to try to get behind them!" Chorizal says. He yanks down one control while shoving another forward.

The inertial dampeners strain and everyone is thrown against their harnesses and there is a moment of weightlessness as the ship's forward momentum stops entirely before shifting backwards.

Piloting (Backoff): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19

That's a fail by 5 or more so we just stand still and take a -4 to AC and TL.

Chorizal curses the ship, it's makers and all their ancestors in Vesk.

Piloting (next Round's Initiative: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16

Did the scan tell us what their normal shielding is or what it is now since we blasted their port side last round?

Oops - Port side is currently 10

****

Gunnery Phase

Gunners go!

Rastar was tacking the enemy ship as Chorizal flung them through space. As soon as he got an opening, he fired, trying to bypass the enemy's shields and gut them with the mining laser.

mining laser: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 7 + 2 = 27
damage: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 4) = 5

Vyviane slides over to the controls for the aft mounted rail gun and starts to line up a shot with the enemy on their tail and mutters something about J'Shun not having enough sugar to counter his vinegar.

Rail Launcher: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 8 + 2 = 30
Damage: 2d8 ⇒ (8, 8) = 16

"HA! TAKE THAT YOU POMPOUS CONTROLLING "ADMIR- *cough* uh, pirate!"

Both shots slam into the enemy ship - the mining laser burrows through the shield partially to score the hull.

Light particle beam 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29
Damage 3d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 2) = 5

Plasma torpedo launcher (3d8; 20 hexes)
1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29
Damage 3d8 ⇒ (2, 2, 8) = 12

Your front shields are impacted by two direct hits!

***

R3
Engineering Phase
Enemy 1d20 ⇒ 3

Helm Phase
Piloting 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21
Science 1d20 ⇒ 20

Chorizal - your move!

"Bring us around, Captain Chorizal. We must make use of our ram!"

Intimidate (Demand): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24 Fail again, better try something else next round.

Chorizal tries to squeeze a bit more performance out of the system to tighten the ship's turn radius.

Piloting (Maneuver): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29

Close but not quite. No consequences for failure.

He can't quite get it to work so he makes a wide loop to get their head toward the target.

Piloting (initiative for next turn): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25

The Pirate vessel pulls right in - nose to nose!

Gunners go!

Vyviane looks over at J'Shun. "You know, constant demands doesn't help anyone. You're just going to either burn everyone out or make it so your screaming gets ignored. If you give me a turn in the captain's chair, I could probably show you a thing or two."

Gunnery: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 8 + 2 = 20
Damage: 4d8 ⇒ (6, 5, 1, 6) = 18

Helix shifts focus and diverts power to shields!

Engineering: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (17) + 17 = 34

Rastar continued to slam the enemy with blasts from the mining laser. The low-level frequency resonance was starting to give im a headahe, however.

mining laser: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 9 + 2 = 26
damage: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 5) = 10

The two shots punch into the enemy - sparking through the shields and visibly damaging the hull.

The enemy retaliates -

Light Ship Tether 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 14 + 2 = 20
Hit.

Gyrocannon
Attack 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18
Damage 3d10 ⇒ (9, 1, 5) = 15

Your ship is lit up by the enemy - but most concerningly, a large chain and anchor has now locked onto your ship, holding you in place! Are you about to be boarded!?

As a special engineer action, an engineer can attempt to sever or dislodge another starships anchor with an Engineering check (DC = 15 + 1-1/2 the anchoring starships tier). If they succeed, the effects of the anchoring weapon special property end.

As a special stunt, a pilot can attempt to shake free of an anchor with a Piloting check at the same DC. If they succeed, the effects of the anchoring weapon special property end and the starship moves up to half its speed. If they fail, the starship moves in a straight line, though no farther than the range allowed by the anchoring weapon.

***

R4
Engineering Phase
Enemy 1d20 ⇒ 7

Helm Phase
Piloting 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25
Science 1d20 ⇒ 13

Chorizal - a tie, but they have the higher mod - your move!
You can attempt to break free of the chain per above, or let the Engineer have a go

Vyviane, taking back over her (at least to her) rightful place in the captain's chair, takes a few seconds only to take in the status of the ship. "Right, Dr. get that thing off us, Chorizal, I want you to ram them, and ram them HARD! J'Shun, handle what every you were thinking about handling at the Science Station. Izzip, some divining about what they're going to do next would be great. We can get over this, I promise, the enemy isn't that strong!"

She gives Chorizal an especially hard look. "I mean it about the ramming. Slam right to a layer of hell!"

Demand, Inimidate DC 27: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18

After a moment she realizes that J'Shun had left the captain's channel on mute and nothing she'd (and likely he'd) been saying was getting through to anyone. "J'Shun, you had the mute on your voice channel! No wonder you were being so quiet!"

At point blank range, Rastar could hardly miss and he made the best use of the mining laser that he could. Unfortunately, the rocking of the ship caused him to rip right through some outer plating and not really get to the enemy ship's core like he was hoping.

mining laser: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 9 + 2 = 27
damage: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5

Nose to nose as they are, Chorizal tries to get them nose to tail. He shoots past the enemy and tries to flip the Summersword Renown along the x axis, grabbing some assistance from the computer to do so.

Piloting (Flip and Burn): 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 12 + 2 = 22

But only manages to get them back to back.

Piloting (Next Round's initiative): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29

The chains and anchors on the ship confound Chorizal, who is unable to break free of the grapple...!

You still end up in base to base contact
The enemy takes advantage of the opportunity to attack as you get confounded and fly through them.

Gyrocannon
Reaction 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30
Damage 3d10 ⇒ (10, 6, 6) = 22

The aft shield of your ship takes a hammering.

***

Gunners/Engineer go!
You are still tethered and base to base

J'Shun, takes control of the rail launcher and fires it point blank into the enemy ship.

"Prepare to repel boarders!"

Rail Launcher vs. AC: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 8 + 2 = 21
Damage: 2d8 ⇒ (6, 1) = 7

Let me know if his attack roll exceeded the enemy's AC by 5 or more.

Actually, looking back at our older posts I see Vyviane rolled a 30 for her attack with the rail launcher. That had to be at least 5 over their AC and would result in 1d8 more damage.

Rail
A weapon with this property launches a massive adamantine-alloy spike designed to effortlessly pierce a starship’s hull. For every 5 by which the gunnery check exceeds the target’s AC, the rail weapon’s damage increases by the amount listed with this special property. Rail weapons require exceptional amounts of energy to operate, and their ammunition lacks any homing capabilities. As a result, a rail weapon can be fired only with the shoot and precise targeting gunner actions, and the attack does not benefit from any science officer actions.

Seems like the captain should be botting peeps. Just to help keep things flowing:
Dr. Helix tries to Realign and fire the engines so that they burn through the tether holding the two ships together.

Botted Engineering: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (13) + 17 = 30

Seems like the captain should be botting peeps. Just to help keep things flowing:

Dr. Helix tries to Realign and fire the engines so that they burn through the tether holding the two ships together.

[dice=Botted Engineering] 1d20+17

Yep, this is what I would have done!

Rail additional damage 2d8 ⇒ (8, 1) = 9

**

The enemy ship sparks as the shields get penetrated by the mining laser once again and the rail launcher slams into (but doesn't penetrate) their aft protections.

Crit 1d100 ⇒ 28 - their sensor array seems damaged!

The tether is broken by Dr Helix and some skillful engineering.

***

They return fire at your aft.

Light Particle beam
Reaction 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15
Damage 3d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 4) = 12

Plasma torpedo
Reaction 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28
Damage 3d8 ⇒ (3, 3, 6) = 12

The aft shield of your ship is struck by a torpedo!

***
R3
Engineering Phase
Enemy 1d20 ⇒ 19

Helm Phase
Piloting 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28 So close!
Science 1d20 ⇒ 18

The enemy ship tries turning about!
Piloting 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15
But just drifts.

Chorizal, your move

Vyviane takes a look at the ship's status I'm assuming that the engineering check was enough to decouple the two here, and gives a nod. "Well done Doctor Helix, now can you see about fixing or shields. Izzip, I want future telemetry on their next moves if you can, but if you have a better idea, go for it. Chorizal, you have free reign of the helm. J'Shun, you're an amazing gunner, now keep gunning them down. Rastar, the mining laser is our best source of consistent damage. Keep up the good work, and we'll weather this just fine!"

Encourage, Diplomacy DC 15: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15
Demand is a bit too unreliable, so the tamer +2 is probably better.
EDIT: and now we get to answer whether a nat one is always a failure or not. I would know for either version of pathfinder, but not for starfinder.

The ships are uncoupled

A 1 is an auto-fail only on an attack or a save, so with a +14 modifier you just autopass

Chorizal hauls on the yoke and even leans in his seat to try to tighten the turn radius on the ship.

"Come on you bucket of high tensile strength materials and electronics!"

Piloting (Computer Bonus): 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 12 + 2 = 26

He isn't quite able to do it but he does bring them around to face their opponents.

Piloting (Initiative): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23

Nice!
You've taken a bit of a pounding - I hope someone is tracking your shields :)

Gunners go!

Traveling this weekend so putting up my turn in advance. This will be in the subsequent engineering phase.

Helix nods to Vyv. ON it! He funnels power into the shields.

Engineering (divert to shields): 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (15) + 17 = 32

"All right, now we've got them on the ropes. Keep it up and let's put these guys away."

mining laser: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 9 + 2 = 26
damage: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 5) = 10

The enemy ship is in our port arc so J'Shun will fire the light plasma cannon and I'll bot Izzip so that the cannon can reach the enemy since it is out of range.

Izzip Mysticism (Eldritch Shot): 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (8) + 20 = 28

"Keep her steady, Captain Chorizal. We'll give her a broadside!"

Light Plasma Cannon + Ship's Computer Bonus vs. AC: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 8 + 2 = 23
Damage: 2d12 ⇒ (5, 5) = 10

I can calculate how damaged our shields are later this weekend.

The enemy ship sparks once more as the shields cave and the hull takes more hits.

Crit 1d100 ⇒ 34
1d4 ⇒ 1 Fore/Turret

***

They return fire at your aft.

Shadow Bolt
Reaction 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22
Damage 1d10 ⇒ 7

Plasma torpedo
Reaction 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27
Damage 3d8 ⇒ (1, 4, 3) = 8

***
R4
Engineering Phase
Enemy 1d20 ⇒ 13

Helm Phase
Piloting 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21
Science 1d20 ⇒ 4

The enemy ship tries evasive actions...!
Piloting 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17

Chorizal, your move

Izzip, will do a precognition action in an attempt to boost Chorizal's piloting roll.

Mysticism (Precognition): 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (13) + 20 = 33

That's a +2 bonus to your piloting roll, Chorizal.

Vyviane gives a look at the two ships and the glitching ship hull/shields display. "DAng we're flying blind. Chorizal, keep us on evasion patterns if you can, Izzip, thank you for the divination feed out, keep it up!"

"Dr. Helix, see about getting our shields fixed and if you could take a look at the captain'S info readout too that'd be great!"

"Finally Rastar and J'Shun keep shooting them down, they can't be in much better shape than we are!"

J'Shun Encourage: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34

Chorizal takes Vyv's advice and sticks to being hard to hit for the moment, but he also starts to try to line up for a killing blow.

Piloting (Evasion): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24

Piloting (Initiative): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

Chorizal positions up...!

Gunners go!

Chorizal's evasion roll should be a 28 from the ship's computer bonus and Izzip's precognition bonus.

"Fire!"

Mining Laser + Ship's Bonus vs. AC: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 8 + 2 = 18
Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8

Leaving the heavy laser cannon for Rastar.

"Hey, boss, you know it's considered rude to just take toys away from someone without asking, right? I wasn't done with that."

Rastar grumbled about the intelligence of some idiots being higher than present company as J'Shun shut him out of the mining laser controls. Quickly he switched screens, but fumbled with the controls as he familiarized himself with the new system.

heavy laser: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 9 + 2 = 12
damage: 4d8 ⇒ (5, 4, 7, 1) = 17

Thanks a lot!