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

Game Master Nik B.

I'm just RP'ing, anybody can go if they think they have high enough scores to succeed at the obstacle or chase actions. I'll try for one of them if no one goes for it.

Vyviane can't do anything more as a captain unless there's another obstacle that she can talk her way around. The Chase action for the captain is only once per chase... Sadly it didn't help the 16 from Rastar as that would have counted as 2 successes if it worked.

Vyviane tries to pull up the comms channel, but quickly realizes that the other ship has made the current connection one way only. She tries to open a second line, but it takes some time to get that open and even moreso if she was to unilaterally force the connection. "I agree a few well placed fabrications would likely help us here, but I need some time to be able to even start communicating them."

She takes a quickly look at the read outs for the ship, before adding a few orders. "Chorizal, flight pattern delta would be good here, and Rastar, you should have an opening to take a shot in 30 seconds, assuming they don't change course suddenly."

At this point the badness of my dice is legendary, but I'm happy to try something rather than just waiting

I can try a computers check.
computers: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 15 + 2 = 23
"Right! just need to reconfigure the console... switch to multi spectral sweep with full visualization... aaaaaandOk that might do it.

J'Shun, fires another warning shot from the ship's particle beam. Covering Fire

Gunnery: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 9 + 2 = 13

Map & slide up

The Drake emerges from the chase in 'generally' good condition.
1d100 ⇒ 551d6 ⇒ 5
-10% SP, -10% HP. Heavy antimatter missile launcher - wrecked.

After vanishing for a few minutes into the clouds, the X-64 drifts into view at the edge of the gas giant’s atmosphere. Sensors reveal that its engines and power core have given out due to strain from the chase. Just as the Starfinders’ ship approaches the disabled vessel, a massive beast emerges from the atmosphere. Crystalline protrusions and gigantic tentacles ring the creature’s glowing maw, which closes on the helpless X 64. Electrical arcs coalesce on the creature’s crystals as it turns its attention toward the larger starship. The sensors chime: “Obstacle detected.”

Elinva Petrilus still lives, and the X-64 is mostly intact. She sends a garbled transmission to your starship, apologizing for her rudeness and begging you to rescue her - “I think—if you hurt it—maybe it will leave me alone! It’s my only shot! Help!”

***

Starship combat

Helm Phase
Captain, Chief Mate, Engineer, Magic Officer

I jinxed everyone!

"Aw, that was just some teasing between friendly rivals. No need to apologize," Chorizal says. "Besides, we'll be in trouble if we don't bring that ship back."

He pushes the drake a bit closer to the creature to make sure all the guns can get to it but turns at the last moment, assuming their guns have better range than whatever natural attack the beast has. He'll need to keep it at a distance.

He also flies in an erratic manner to make them hard to hit.

Piloting (Evade): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18

gunnery: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

"On it!" Rastar fired up the targeting computers and blasted away at the monster from max range.

"Ok sure yes this is well not fine but ok anyone have any gum?"
Nadia tries to get the antimatter torpedo's online.
engineering: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 14 + 2 = 23
A conduit somewhere in the ship ruptures sending a rumble though the deckplating
"And some ion tape?"

Helm Phase
Nadia realises the damage to the HAML is unlikely to be repaired.
DC36.

Helm
Captain, Pilot.

Initiative creature not moving this round

Gunnery
Captain, Gunner.
Rastar fires off the PPB - closeish, but nocigar.
J'Shun -

The Novaspawn fires back.
Attack 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26
Damage 8d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 2, 4, 2, 6, 3, 6) = 29
A large portion of your frontal shields is wiped out.

J'Shun (Gunner) and Vyv (Capt) up

So the HAML can't be fixed?

"We need that missile launcher, Private Belluno."

J'Shun, fires the light particle beam and coilgun.

Light Particle Beam vs. AC: 1d20 + 9 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (4) + 9 + 2 - 4 = 11
Damage: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 2) = 11

Coil Gun vs. AC: 1d20 + 9 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 9 - 4 = 22
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (4, 4, 2, 4) = 14

We have three +2 bonuses we can use every round from the ship's computer. Can we retroactively use them. J'Shun, is taking one of them, but there are two left. If Rastar's shot is close let's add it to his.

I think the DC Should be 32, 20+ 1.5*tier. Still I'll need 16 or higher to make it and it will take 3 rounds to finish it. Wrecked is bad news. Are those special rules for the scenario? I thought a weapon critical is applied to an arc with turrets counting as in all arcs. Oh I guess that would mean the missles would be borked no matter what arc youj roll.

The damage is probably from the chase sequence. We took a few hits and rolled moderately to poorly.

Vyvaine takes a look at the damage reports and grimace. Their best weapon was likely to be out of commission for this fight unless Nadia worked some miracles. She instead focuses on what she can do for the time. "Right, Rastar, good shooting but you can do better, Chorizal you're piloting is as smooth as ever, but watch the flanks and keep an eye on the thruster fuel reserves. They're low from that chase. J'Shun careful about firing willy-nilly."

Demand, Chorizal: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (12) + 16 = 28 If an after check demand doesn't work then Vyviane auto succeeds on encouragements

She then looks at the damaged shields and gives a sigh. "Nadia, I'm going to need a miracle from you or this fight will go south in no time flat. I'm loathe to do this, but fix those shields and try do SOMETHING about that launcher! THIS I ORDER!"

Orders, Engineering: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (1) + 13 = 14
Wish I had a reroll here, dang.

I didn't know that is how the Orders action worked. That's pretty handy, if you have high bonuses in multiple skills.

@Nadia - yep 32 it is, good catch. The damage was a result of the Chase (not combat) and it just specifies one system is wrecked so I took it to apply to one weapon rather than a facing (and also ruin the whole turret). Luckily it was just the weapon and not power core or engines. I agree that's pretty harsh.

@J'Sun & Vyv - I'll take the demand for this round, and with the computer that turns Rastar into a 'hit'.

@Rastar - 10d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 5, 5, 4, 2, 2, 6, 4, 5) = 39

J'Shun and Rastar manage to get some guns onto the target!
22 is the magic number!

***

R2 Helm Phase
Captain (Vyv), Engineer (Nadia).
Captain - Demand (Fail)
Engineer -

Forgot to specify the Orders were for round 2! Whoops. Trying to roll ahead of the rolls she'd be modifying

I worked it out :p

To speed things up, but also potentially confuse them, here is my initiative roll for next round.

Piloting: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31

I suggest Chorizal take a +2 bonus every round and the other two bonuses can be taken by the gunner's since on of us will probably start using the Broadside action.

engineering DC 32: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 14 + 2 = 35
"Ok ok there we go, JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER"
So one thing I'm somehow not clear on after all this time, do I keep rolling checks or does it just eat up my next 2 actions to finish the patch?

Each round you can roll to repair the system by one step based on the Wrecked DC - so it would now be Malfunctioning, not Wrecked, for one hour. You can continue to try repair each round, or stop and do something else.
The bad news is your frontal shields are almost entirely blown out so an Engineer or Sci Off is probably going to need to do something about that... :)

So, we can fire it, but we'll take a -4 penalty. I think it's still worth doing since we can use a +2 bonus to offset the some of the penalty. How about Raster fires the Missile launcher and J'Shun and do a Broadside with all the rest of the weapons.

Piloting
The creature is staying in place - Chorizal, you can move as you'd like, then we will move to Gunnery :)

Let me know when done.

"Well this is less entertaining," Chorizal says as the creature doesn't move. He gets a little closer then turns their port side toward the beast to give it some fresh shields to gnaw on.

Piloting (Evade): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (16) + 16 = 32

He also flies in such a way as to make them a difficult target.

Rastar switched to the missile launcher as J'Shun had requested, grumbling about tracking systems and latent firing solutions as he lined up the shot.

gunnery: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 11 + 2 = 22
missiles, speed 8: 10d10 ⇒ (5, 4, 3, 4, 6, 10, 7, 1, 7, 2) = 49

The missile slams into the creature!

Roll %, you triggered a crit threshold :)

"Fire," J'Shun yells at the ship's viewscreen as he sees the creature's port side now wide open to be attacked.

Light Particle Beam vs. AC: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 9 + 2 = 27
Damage: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 6) = 12

I think Rastar's attack takes a -4 penalty because the missile launcher is still malfunctioning, but he can add a second +2 to his roll and J'Shun will take the last +2 since we had three available.

20 was the number, so it works

J'Shun lands a shot.

The creature unleashes a blast once more!
Attack 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18
...but it goes wide.

Engineering phase
Engineer & Captain
(Vyv and Nadia)
Enemy 2d20 ⇒ (9, 13) = 22

"Ok whose feeling luck?"
Spending a resolve point to OVERPOWER!
engineering DC 27: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 14 + 2 = 31
"Power diverted to shields, weapons, and engines! Give 'em hell sir!"

5% of 250 means 12 points back to our forward shields. We are flying a tier 8 Drake, correct? We were down to 7 I believe, so that puts us at 19 in that quadrant now.

You had 40, it did 29

***
Nadia works some miracles in the Engineering room!

R3 Helm Phase
Captain (Vyv)
Pilot (Chorizal)

Initiative
Enemy 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (15) + 20 = 35
The creature looks set to come after you now it is angry...

Dang! I forgot to roll initiative at the end of my last post.

Piloting (initiative): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21

Piloting (evade: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (12) + 16 = 28

Chorizal tries to keep some distance from the beast and keep their port side to it to keep the strong shields and weapons in its face.

Vyviane takes a look at the controls of the ship and gives a nod, "Good job, Nadia, we could use that. Rastar, I know the missile launcher is still pretty much not working right, but I know you can still shoot with it. Give it hell."

Auto Encourage on Rastar, meaning he should be rolling without an minuses.

crit: 1d100 ⇒ 65

Rastar smiled at Vyv's words. It was always nice to work with a professional. And not just a professional lunatic. He lined up the tracking again and sent another missile into space.

attack: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 11 + 2 = 31
damage, missiles speed 8: 10d10 ⇒ (5, 10, 4, 4, 9, 4, 2, 2, 9, 10) = 59

You posted at the beginning of the combat that we took a 10% reduction on shield points and hull points after the chase, so I assumed that meant our shields were down to 36 points in each quadrant at the beginning of combat.

"We have it now."

J'Shun, clenches a fist and shakes it at the ship's viewscreen before slamming another of his four fists down on the button to fire the light particle beam.

Light Particle Beam vs. AC: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 9 + 2 = 31
Damage: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 1) = 12

Damage will be 13 thanks to Nadia's Overpower action

Actually, since you haven't moved yet, J'Shun might be able to fire more of the ship's weapon systems depending on where the creature moves.

This time the creature DOES move, rushing your ship - it's tentacles surging with energy (which looks concerning) dragging the prototype starship with it.

It blasts the side of your ship

Attack 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26
Damage 8d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 2, 6, 6, 6, 1, 1) = 33

It gets smashed with a missile and the J'shun nails a perfect shot.

Crit Rastar
1d100 ⇒ 55

Crit JShun
1d100 ⇒ 34

***
New slide up!

The blasts clearly upset the creature who decides these meals are too spicy - it spits out the X-64 and begins moving away quickly and mere moments later a heavy cargo freighter emerges from the Drift.

Decals of fanged predators, skulls, and flames adorn the ship’s hull, though it has no readily discernible weapon systems. A shirren appears on the viewscreen. “This is Captain Isheksh of the Eager Meditant, representing Terminator. I thought we might have company at our little rendezvous, though I was not expecting… whatever giant creature it is that our sensors are warning us about. It seems you have the situation under control, so let us cut to the chase. Are you ready to hear out my employer’s offer?”

"I am Space Admiral J'Shun Kay, first son of Clan Summersword, House Davion, line of Atsu, born in fire! Speak now or forever hold your tongue."

J'Shun, then mutes the audio on the comm system and turns to face Nadia. "Get those shields back up to maximum. We may be facing another fight soon."

Captain Isheksh lays it out - "Terminator wants the X-64. If you allow Terminator to take it into our possession, then Terminator agrees to provide the Society with its state-of-the-art engine schematics for your new vessel. Redshift Revolution might seem like a decent choice, but the Society could end up disappointed in the lack of true innovation. On the other hand, if Terminator’s research team can dissect the X-64, we would cement our place as the unparalleled leader in starship engine designs. The decision about who you ally with is yours, make the smart choice"

What does everyone think? If we don't agree to their deal we might have to fight them.

On the internal comms, Rastar said, Aren't we supposed to return it to Absalom Station? Those were our orders, right? These guys are just pirates. We kill pirates."

VC Briefing
Naiaj continues, “I don’t like corporate espionage, but we desperately need top-notch engines for our starships. Once we have the X-64’s location, we’ll send you to retrieve it. By the way, we haven’t formalized our relationship with Redshift Revolution yet. If Terminator makes a similar offer to work with the Society, I expect you to consider all options. I leave the choice to your professional judgment.”

My GM guidance is it is up to you, and the choice probably comes down to balancing things you found out about the two companies during your investigation and rumour mill phases with how you feel about 'finders keepers'

We gathered this information earlier.

Redshift Revolution is a well-established starship manufacturer that predates the Gap. Terminator, on the other hand, is only about 40 years old but has achieved great success in that relatively short time.
15+:
Redshift Revolution dominated the Absalom Runs for many years, but for over a decade, they’ve finished behind Terminator, which has caused a new generation of eager engineers at Redshift Revolution to lead the company in a more innovative direction.
20+:
Terminator’s success largely stems the cutthroat tactics and business savvy of its founder, Jacen Wither. Her sole focus is to win—and make money—whatever the cost. Her tactics infuriate Redshift Revolution’s old-fashioned corporate board.
25+:
Terminator might soon face a dilemma—Jacen Wither nears retirement, and rumor has it that several of the company’s major customers have started looking elsewhere. Wither’s offspring are desperate to ensure Terminator’s continued success, but they squabble endlessly over the company’s future.

Yep so up to you :)

Votes?

J'Shun, votes for Redshift.

Rastar would be very offended to allow Terminator to basically snake this one out from under them. They were ordered to bring the X-64 back, and that is what he wants to do

Just waiting for a majority :)

Nadia agrees that it would look bad for the Society to deliberately screw up this part of the security job, but has no problem letting the test pilot go if she want's to leave the company.

When it becomes clear that you have rejected Terminator’s offer and stuck with Redshift Revolution, the Eager Meditant cuts off communications for a full minute. Then, Captain Isheksh hails your ship to express his disappointment and begins to turn his ship around to head home.

Elinva Petrilus cuts back into the comms channel "Hey Starfinders, this was nothing personal to you, how about you let me go with Terminator aboard the Eager Meditant - what was done was between me and Redshift, they didn't deliver on promises - and well Dezros did, he understood me, it's love."