[SFS] GM Nefreet's #1-12: Ashes of Discovery (Inactive)

Game Master Nefreet

Greetings, everyone!!

This is the OOC Discussion Thread for the repeatable Starfinder Society scenario, Ashes of Discovery. What makes this adventure really fun is its random and customizable elements. Ideally, every time you sit down to play you should encounter different challenges and NPCs. I look forward to GMing it for you!

Go ahead and copy/paste the following details for reporting, upload your art to Slide #1, and then feel free to head on over to Gameplay to get started!

PC Name:
SFS ID#:
Preferred starship role:
Preferred starship: Drake, Pegasus or Other
Boons Slotted:
(faction) =>
(personal) =>
(promotional) =>
(starship) =>
(social) =>
(ally) =>
(slotless) => as many as you wish

[DICE=Day Job]1d20+

PC Name: Von Junzt
SFS ID#: 291669-711
Preferred starship role: Captain
Preferred starship: Drake
Boons Slotted:
(faction) => Dataphiles
(personal) => Half-orc admittance
(social) => Faction's Friend
(ally) => Dream Whispers
(slotless) => Marked Field Agent

Taking 10 for a total of 20 on my Profession (Politician) check.

Thank you for setting up a game!

PC Name:Lakritze
SFS ID#: 71203-707
Preferred starship role: Captain
Preferred starship: Pegasus
Boons Slotted:
(faction) => Second Seekers Jadnura Please shorten Second Seekers more like 2nd Seek. or similar, otherwise i get very bad associations.
(personal) =>
(promotional) =>
(starship) =>
(social) =>
(ally) =>
(slotless) =>

Day Job (Video Personality): 1d20 + 8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 8 + 4 = 14

Skills relevant for Starship Combat:
Captain: Yes, please!
Diplomacy +8+1d6insight
Bluff +8
Intimidate +8

Engineer: Nope, can't do.
Engineering

Gunner: Leaning towards nope.
Gunnery +3

Pilot: Maybe
Piloting +6 (1 rank!)

Science Officer: Maybe
Computers +5

Chief Mate: If you want me to destroy our ship...
Acrobatics +2
Athletics -1

Magic Officer: Nope, can't do.
Mysticism

So far i am the Pilot, because as a level two and having a Personal Upgrade your skills for being Captain are better, Von Junzt.
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I am terrible sorry i have no clue how to add myself to the slide.
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Not dotting until i have confirmation my Dragonkin buddy has the time for this scenario.

Noted! Reserving a seat for Ronath, the Axe-User.

Headache returning after a full night rest!

PC Name: Jim Page AKA Wei Ji The Learner
SFS ID#: 145296-708
Preferred starship role: Not really good at it, probably +4 Mysticism for Mystic Gunnery(?) or Magic Officer?
Preferred starship: Drake
Boons Slotted:
(faction) => Second Seekers (Jadnura)
(personal) => 2019 GM Boon #1E Mega-Region Online: Dragonkin Heritage
(promotional) => Scotty's Brewhouse Space Goblin Orange IPA T-Shirt
(starship) => Gen Con 2019 Boon #4 Mystic Guidance System
(social) => n/a
(ally) => n/a
(slotless) => as many as you wish n/a

[DICE=Day Job]1d20+ Ronath does not have a Day Job at the moment, as he is a Law Officer and bonded partner to Lakritze, which takes up much of his time.

This is a GREAT adventure, and I would love to play!

I should note I have GM'd this, but I would love to see another GM's take on it.

Perhaps I shouldn't take up a spot if you get 6 players. I'll sit tight.

It would be my intention to play a pregen, as I will have a new character soon to apply some chronicles to (I'm a whisper from having the Wayfinder capstone boon, which allows for me to create a Ghibrani).

This is a GREAT adventure, and I would love to play!

I should note I have GM'd this, but I would love to see another GM's take on it.

Perhaps I shouldn't take up a spot if you get 6 players. I'll sit tight.

It would be my intention to play a pregen, as I will have a new character soon to apply some chronicles to (I'm a whisper from having the Wayfinder capstone boon, which allows for me to create a Ghibrani).

In all honesty, I've both played and GM'd this, but because of the variable nature of the scenario it's always a treat to me. I'd say sign on up if you have something in mind, to be honest. If we get a bunch of folks and then you want to opt out that's cool, too.

This scenario has been out for years, so I always assume at least one player will have already gone through it.

And since the Chronicle for this won't be dated for a while, maybe you can finish your capstone Boon in time?

You would make 4, so I'm fine continuing with the briefing, and if we get more players, they can jump in the middle.

I'll sort out what to do tomorrow evening. I -might- have a character I would like to play (a mechanic). I will dot in with the mechanic for now, though I will decide for sure what to do tomorrow.

I'm in if you still have room. I'll have my character ready within 24 hours.

Hey - also interested. Have only played two SFS scenarios (with pregens) before so very new. Have a mystic thats 90% built. Can post tomorrow morning if there is still room.

I've played this one plenty. If necessary, I can bow out so that others can get in.

That's 6 by my count ^_^

Can someone confirm the following with me:

You can make any change you want to a Society character (including race, class, etc.) as long as they haven't leveled up yet, right?

With that in mind, I may make my "ghibrani", but give it a placeholder race, and change it in a month or so when I have all of the Fame in place.

That would work in any other case, but "Capstone" Boons can only be applied to a character with 0xp (it is an annoying exception).

So if you think you'll earn your Wayfinder's Capstone in the next couple weeks, that would work, because it would be dated before this Chronicle.

EDIT: Is there a higher level scenario I can run for you online? I'm not far from my 4th Nova, which was actually the impetus for putting this table together.

Would be great if we can sort the roles for Starship Combat before we really start.

I have played this scenario once and also gamemastered it once. And yes it can be very fun depends how much time you have for roleplaying and how much luck you have in Starship Combat.

I provided i think all the skills needed for the different rolls and well i am always for giving the role of the Pilot to hightest ranks in Piloting and then the highest overall bonus for Piloting!

Captain: Only one player
Pilot: Only one player
Engineer: As many as we want
Gunner: One Gunner per weapon
Science Officer: As many as we want
Chief Mate: As many as we want
Magic Officer: As many as we want

Regardless of role besides Passenger who does not take part in combat:
Open Crew Actions instead of any Crew Role action!
Open Crew Actions and how they work on Archives of Nethys

That would work in any other case, but "Capstone" Boons can only be applied to a character with 0xp (it is an annoying exception).

So if you think you'll earn your Wayfinder's Capstone in the next couple weeks, that would work, because it would be dated before this Chronicle.

EDIT: Is there a higher level scenario I can run for you online? I'm not far from my 4th Nova, which was actually the impetus for putting this table together.

No, I'm actually waiting for the 5 fame from an AP that I am running here on the Paizo boards. I either need that, or 3 more scenarios (along with the games I am GMing for Outpost and some for an online con this weekend).

Right now I sit at 30 fame. In the next month I'll be at 40, and shortly thereafter I should have the requisite 45.

LAKRITZE:

Put me down for engineer. I am going to go with the dwarf engineer (Cletus) I already dotted in with. He'll be fun in this adventure.

I won't be able to play after all. Sorry. Have fun all.

Roles for Starship Combat so far:

Captain: Von Junzt or Lakritze but Von Junzt has higher bonus in relevant skills
Pilot: Lakritze only one willing to take this role so far
Engineer: Cletus only one willing and so far the only one qualified
Gunner: Ronath or Lakritze and Ronath is better with boon by using alternate skill for Gunnery
Science Officer: Lakritze maybe
Chief Mate: No volunteers
Magic Officer: Ronath maybe

Hey, this is MauveAvengr - hope it's not too late to join in. Let me know and I'll post in the gameplay thread. Very new to Starfinder so please be patient!

PC Name: Sisyar
SFS ID#: 215382-701
Preferred starship role: Pilot
Preferred starship: Unsure
Boons Slotted:
(faction) => N/a
(personal) => N/a
(promotional) => N/a
(starship) => N/a
(social) => n/a
(ally) => n/a
(slotless) => as many as you wish n/a

Roles for Starship Combat so far:

Captain: Von Junzt or Lakritze but Von Junzt has higher bonus in relevant skills
Pilot: Sisyar higher bonus then Lakritze
Engineer: Cletus only one willing and so far the only one qualified
Gunner: Ronath or Lakritze and Ronath is better with boon by using alternate skill for Gunnery
Science Officer: Lakritze most likely
Chief Mate: No volunteers
Magic Officer: Ronath maybe

Let me know and I'll post in the gameplay thread.

You're in! With Dax dropping out that makes 5, which coincidentally happens to be my preferred number of players.

If you need any assistance with Starfinder's rules, PbP or Google Slides, let me know!

Von Junzt will work the gunner to the bone!

PC Name: Cletus Gravelfinger
SFS ID#: 278101-709
Preferred starship role: Engineer
Preferred starship: Drake, Pegasus or Other: Drake. We'll die less.
Boons Slotted:
(faction) => Exo-Guardians
(personal) =>
(promotional) => T-shirt reroll
(starship) => Hero of the Stars
(social) =>
(ally) =>
(slotless) => as many as you wish Starfinder Insignia

Day Job w/ professional clothing: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 7 + 1 = 27

Mystic, Envoy, Mechanic, Vanguard and Witchwarper.

I do believe that is about as balanced a party as anyone can hope for ^_^

Captain: Von Junzt

Pilot: Sisyar
Engineer: Cletus
Gunner: Ronath
Science: Lakritze

Is everyone good with these roles?

I don't think I've ever seen a great way to do Starship Combat via PbP. Some GMs have everyone roll and spoiler their results, but that gets messy when one person's actions depend on others.

What I do is break down the phases into an Initiative order, like this:

Azlanti Ambush, Round 1

Phase 1: Engineering
Phase 2: Helm
Phase 3: Gunnery

Engineers & Magic Officers are up! Captain & Chief Mate may also act!

Captain gets to assign the ship's +1 to any three checks per round; If you always want to dedicate them to the same rolls (such as Piloting, Initiative, Gunnery) then you can declare that, too.

I will roll the Piloting checks to determine Helm Initiative order. If the Captain wishes to buff/debuff either pilot, just do so during the Engineering Phase so I know to adjust any rolls.

After the Gunnery results I will proceed to the next round, but if anyone wants to switch roles (such as Cletus jumping over to Science, Lakritz jumping on another gun, etc.) then just post that you're doing so at the beginning of the round.

Roles looking good.

I am not convinced that you can use the computer bonus for Initiative but as you say.

Let's go with those roles, and if we need to switch out or move that is an option. :)

I am not convinced that you can use the computer bonus for Initiative but as you say.

I believe the turning point in favor of it working was when the Character Operations Manual was released. Prior to that, some GMs argued you couldn't apply any bonuses or penalties to the Initiative check. There wasn't much support for either side, but the new Magic Officer role and the Precognition Crew Action clinched the argument in favor of it working:

2. Helm

Each starship’s pilot attempts a Piloting check. The pilot with the lowest result must move his starship first...

...As they move their starships, pilots can attempt additional skill checks to perform dangerous maneuvers

There is no distinction between a Piloting check rolled for Initiative, and a Piloting check rolled to perform a Pilot Action.

In general, an ICM adds a flat circumstance bonus to one or more starship combat checks, decided just before the check is attempted. An ICM has a number of nodes; each node grants its bonus to one starship combat check per round.

ICMs don't restrict which starship combat checks they can be applied to, either.

On a success, you grant the pilot a +2 circumstance bonus to their Piloting check at the beginning of the helm phase to determine piloting order.

And this made it clear you can indeed apply bonuses to the Piloting check for Initiative.

Which would also imply that penalties can apply as well, such as those from a Captain's Taunt. Which I think gave the Captain role a little more desirability. Prior to COM, the Captain was universally loathed as the least useful role in starship combat.

I think the original confusion stems from the distinction between "starship combat checks" and Crew Actions. The latter is what you are choosing to do for your turn, and the former is the actual d20 roll to determine the result of your check. Rolling for initiative is not a Crew Action, but it is a Piloting check, and I feel like those GMs who disallowed any bonuses or penalties on Initiative simply thought they could only be applied to Crew Actions.

And that line of thinking probably originated from the rules for Critical Damage:

Crew actions involving the system (except the hold it together and patch engineer actions) take a –4 penalty.

Malfunctioning Engines do apply a –4 penalty to a Pilot's Crew Actions, such as Stunts, but not Initiative, as that is not listed as a Crew Action.

Just one of those academic rules discussions that has evolved over the years ^_^

Well, first time one of my posts vanishes!

Summarizing what I thought I had written yesterday:

I’ll demand from the gunner in the first round (can’t fail the check) and encourage every round after (can only fail rolling a 3 or less) until the combat is over.

Computer bonuses: +1 gunner, +1/+1 to pilot

If there’s a second gunner: +1 gunner one, +1 gunner two, +1 pilot

I don't have much experience with starship combat. Just tell me when to go and I'll go!

I'm buffing the gunner, should I wait for the gunnery phase, or can I roll now?

I don't have much experience with starship combat. Just tell me when to go and I'll go!

No worries! We'll try to help as best we can.

As Pilot, you occupy the most involved role on the ship (and one of the two only required roles; the other being Gunner). You will get to act during Phase #2: Helm. The actions available to you can be found HERE (just scroll down a bit). Your ship has a Speed of 8 hexes (unless the Engineer chooses to increase your Speed and succeeds), and your turn radius is 2 (meaning you have to move 2 hexes forward before you have the option of turning right or left). Ideally, you want to position your best guns aiming at the enemy, but sometimes you might want to aim your weakest shields away from them instead. It's very dynamic and no single tactic works best in every situation. Your available Stunts are diagramed on that link, and most of your Piloting DCs will be either 13 or 18 (10+3 and 15+3, respectively).

But I know that's a lot of text at once, so feel free to ask if you have any questions!

I'm buffing the gunner, should I wait for the gunnery phase, or can I roll now?

You can roll now, if you wish. It certainly helps speed up combat if more people act when it's convenient for them.

What's the best strategy here? Looks like we have to go first. So move forward and use the 'evade' maneuver?

-Snip-

Ah some new thoughts i will introduce to my local lodge.

Cletus mom is just like the mom from Korben Dallas always able to call her son wherever her little boy is.

Wow, calling across the Drift.

Well, it was a recorded transmission that arrived at an inopportune time! :)

Of course that timing, that's a special talent every parent acting like a mom has.

Fair let's not bend the setting too much. I don't know how communication from Near Space to Pact Worlds works in this setting

But transmissions must travel through space.
Although only as slow as light. ;)

Yikes! But you did hit, it only has a TL of 11.

For round 2 Von Junzt is switching to gunner 2 and taking the coilgun - he’ll stay there until we run out of missiles, then revert back to captain.

He also has a +4 to gunnery: +2 dex, +1 BAB, +1 computer

So the bonuses for next round are Gunner, Gunner and Pilot?

Just let me know, Sisyar, whether you want the +1 to go to Initiative, or your Crew Action.

I’ll say Initiative

Target evaded (+2 AC, +2 TL), and I was calculating numbers incorrectly because of a Gross Conceptual Error.--was using the total score of my Mysticism modifier not the skill ranks.

Honestly, if I had made that realization earlier I'd probably let someone else shoot and I'd be flailing away at something else -- Ro was not kidding about being mostly pants in space.

EDIT: Didn't even look at Chief Mate because Ro has a -4 in Acrobatics (due to size and no skill ranks). These are the sorts of learning things that make us better as a person but hurt at the time. Hopefully it doesn't screw us.

Might have to shift to Magic Officer next go. Feeling all the dumb right now.

Yep just missed by 1. About to update for Round 2 now.

So Von Junzt is the main gunner? That's very unexpected!

I suggest anyone who can, do an open crew action to boost his gunnery roll: Prioritize Calculation (Open) or Range Finding (Open)

Oh. Wow. Thank you. I was completely unaware of those.

LINK for anyone interested.

Well Lakritze would also land on a +4 gunnery check with help from the computer (+2 DEX +1 rank in Piloting and +1 from the ship).

Should i switch to Captain and try a Demand? I am better at Diplomacy (+8+1d6) instead of only +8 for Intimidate.

Chief Mate can also use Athletics. And there should be time to remove the armour? So you don't have to include the armour check penalty. Timeframe for Starship Combats rounds is weird. But failed checks for Chief Mate do hurt.

Magic Officer acts in Engineering phase and can boost Inititative, 'Scan' or well i don't think we need to have +5 hexes range for one weapon.

Regardless of role besides Passenger who does not take part in combat:
Open Crew Actions instead of any Crew Role action!
Open Crew Actions and how they work on Archives of Nethys

*cough*

Important quote for Open Crew Action:

Taking an open crew action counts as your action during a starship combat encounter.

Lol. I did read that you posted that, but in my head at the time I think I thought you were talking about Minor Crew Actions.

GM fails their Intelligence check =\

This game does not have a deadline like the Outpost IV games.

I am okay with a slower approach right now and coordinating our roles and abilities because well we don't have a good gunner.
Taking our time for roleplay is also nice but only okay if the whole table has the patience for slowly approaching the encounters of the scenario.

You did not try that link? I am too curioous and would have clicked on that link.

Ouch?

I like to think of myself as curious, too. Like I said, I misidentified your post earlier, thinking you were talking about Minor Crew Actions, of which I am already familiar, so I did not feel the need to click your link.

When Von Junzt posted about Prioritize Calculation and Range Finding, two terms I was unfamiliar with, I immediately investigated the SRD, and then felt the need to share that information with anyone else similarly unfamiliar with those rules.

Pacing must understandably be free form in PbP, as it is rare for everyone to be on the same schedule. Some days I'll post 18 times a day. I can't expect everyone else to keep up with that.