tt's The Elsebo Way

Game Master therealthom

Hi, guys! I guess we can continue here in the discussion thread. Regarding builds and gear -- I might ask you for references if I don't have the sourcebooks for a particular class feature or feat or piece of equipment. Sometimes I am just too lazy to go look things up myself. No slights intended.

As stated earlier we're starting at second level. 2000 credits of wealth. Bog-standard SFS starting stats. All Paizo SFS sourcebooks accepted.

Here. I'm supposed to be finishing a submission for another ad tonight, but, honestly, I'm having trouble getting enthused about it.

Think I'll start working on my mechanic.

I have the core book here at my elbow, but most of my build will be done referencing Nethys' Starfinder site. Just easier to click than flip and search.

Checking in...character background is the only thing that remains to be done. I believe all the statistical data is sound.

hustonj's mechanic, here.

I was surprised by some of what I found on Nethys, and how well it pieced together what I had in my head, without any of it being especially negative!

Quite a bit of customization based on the site's contents.

Zephyr is in pretty good shape mechanically, and I have a basic backstory; depending on the first adventure, I can write up a reason for him to be in the starting location based on his love of flying through the Drift.

Same. I've only played 1-05 and 1-18 from season 1 so almost all of this is new material to me. I don't know how it begins but expect we get introduced to the Starfinders soon enough. Never can be lurking somewhere on Absalom, and I do also have an idea for backstory.

Well hello there, thanks for the admission!

For a level 2 character i have this to offer, a weird mix of soldier and technomancer i came up with some time ago.
The longterm idea is to make things go boom.

I'm open to adapt though and only ever played 1 or 2 scenarios already some time ago.

Remember, we're using SFS build rules, but these are NOT reported games!

We have

Ace Pilot Android Soldier (Pilot ship role)
Cyberborn Android Operative Hacker (Sensors ship role?)
Cyberborn Dwarven Mechanic (Engineer ship role?)
Tinker Human Vanguard (no specific ship role)
Xenoarchaeologist Half-Elf Envoy/Mystic (Captain ship role)

A Solarion that hasn't checked in.

and you.

The Solarion might qualify, but the ship role we're missing is a lead gunner.

The mechanic is also a pretty good medic. He fixes things. Pretty near anything, it seems.

Small tweak for Zephyr. I figure carrying around a heavy weapon might be off-putting in some social situations, so I changed the weapon fusion to "glamered" so it can look like a backpack when not in use.

As a pilot from Alluvion, Zephyr has come to Absalom Station to learn more about the Organics and hone his flying skills in new and different starships. He has heard there is opportunity for grand adventure for a being of his...other talents...as well in this *Starfinder* organization, though he is a bit literal and wonders what is so special about finding stars as opposed to, perhaps, planets or moons.

In any case, he is a new arrival to the station, though he has some minor spaceship and infantry combat in his recent memory banks, and he is looking to join this organization if it promises to provide the adventure he craves.

Remember, we're using SFS build rules, but these are NOT reported games!

We have

Ace Pilot Android Soldier (Pilot ship role)
Cyberborn Android Operative Hacker (Sensors ship role?)
Cyberborn Dwarven Mechanic (Engineer ship role?)
Tinker Human Vanguard (no specific ship role)
Xenoarchaeologist Half-Elf Envoy/Mystic (Captain ship role)

A Solarion that hasn't checked in.

and you.

The Solarion might qualify, but the ship role we're missing is a lead gunner.

The mechanic is also a pretty good medic. He fixes things. Pretty near anything, it seems.

Unnamed Solarian checking in. Whats the role? I can probably put some points into it, I haven’t finalized anything yet.

...the ship role we're missing is a lead gunner.

Gunnery Check = 1d20 + the gunner’s base attack bonus or the gunner’s ranks in the Piloting skill + the gunner’s Dexterity modifier + bonuses from computer systems + bonuses from the captain and science officers + range penalty

All clear, will rework the character a bit to fill the gunner role.
Might make some other changes, but probably going for a Bobbie Draper thing :D

Cyberborn Android Operative Hacker (Sensors ship role?)

Oy!

But yes, with a goodliest computers skill, I make an excellent SCIENCE! officer.

Mind you, since Ops get all of the skill points, I put 2 into Pilot, which, with mah goodest Dex, also makes me a MAXed gunner. So whichever. ^_^

Yes, many Operative builds provide ample capability at every ship role except Captain. Hackers especially so. Most Spy Operatives can easily cover the Captain skill set.

Heavy weapons and armor (and spells) are the big gaping hole in Operative capabilities.

Solid Computer and Engineering stats tend to more rare than solid ranged combat builds.

Solid Computer and Engineering stats tend to more rare than solid ranged combat builds.

I've played several characters that do these things and yeah, super useful. Even my melee Solarian was an Engineering build. I'm breaking from tendency with Never.

Is starship combat a thing in Season 1?

Honestly, not sure.

Better prepared than not, though.

My history includes a scholar hacker operative (AP), an icon spy operative (what I've played of Season 1 was with her), and a colonist explorer operative (home brew on the boards here, that failed). My first experiment was an Envoy Surgeon, but I honestly don't remember where/when I played him. I've also looked at Soldiers a couple of times, but never had them be what the group needed.

Not that anyone asked.

Small tweak for Zephyr. I figure carrying around a heavy weapon might be off-putting in some social situations, so I changed the weapon fusion to "glamered" so it can look like a backpack when not in use.

That is a GREAT idea!

Imma do the same thing for mah sniper rifle. =)

Time was short this weekend. I'll try to get my initial game post written late tonight or early tomorrow morning. (US east coast time)

Looks like we may have just completed our (backstory) mission together, so we may know each other somewhat. Let's figure out what kind of mission we just survived together so we can RP the return to Absalom Station...

To save time and effort in the discussion thread, let's say this was your first mission as a complete team. It was a supply mission to the outer extents of the Pact Worlds system. You took a taciturn group of Stewards and supplies out to a base tunneled into an asteroid near the L4 point of Aucturn. They wouldn't talk to you, "Need to know. Operational safety." You returned with a an even more silent group of Stewards, including one who seemed to be catatonic. They didn't seem to be worried about operational safety so much as shell-shocked.

Typically the longest in-system missions would be about two weeks. This one took nearly a month. The mission profile had you running dark and on the float for about a week on either side of the asteroid rendezous.

You've been cautioned never to talk about the mission again.

If I'm ever famous, you'll understand the mission.

More interestingly, each of your characters might want a little more backstory. Poach an adventure from one of your SFS characters, or make something up. You'll know when you need it.

Just because the mission described in the preceding post was your first as a complete team, doesn't mean you don't know each other. You might have met on other missions or during training.

Sorry, i'll need a bit more time, unexpectedly very busy this week.
Hope i can do everything some evening during the next days or at the weekend latest.
I'm looking to tweak my character a bit more, so it fits well into the group and the gunner role.
Not sure if i stay Vesk atm.

Also the site was having hickups again, so it took the wrong alias as player character for the gameplay thread.
Could not delete it either, but seemingly it didn't post anyway.

Ah no, now i can see it posted.
I did not see that post when i tried to make it and for several hours later, until i checked just now.

No worries, Veda. The great thing about these SFS modules is you can always catch up and jump back in when you have time.

Ditto on the no worries, Veda. I had a busier than expected weekend too. I started the game with the intention of stalling with RP while I finished my prep.

No need to wait to post! We don't want to get too far behind the for-credit group, and they have all already posted to Gameplay. Just jump right in!

They're just posting intros to each other. I haven't given them an initial post yet.

Work and home life are trying to stomp me into the ground. Posting likely to be slow for a few days.

Team Roster:

Brother_Guiness ... Z-4 Zephyr, android Soldier

hustonj ........... Lorne Skyjumper, dwarf mechanic

Therenger ........ Never Steelheart, human vanguard

Neil Spicer ...... Jaeric Kem, 1/2-elf envoy

Atlas2112 ....... Allison WhiteAngel, android Operative

Hayato Ken ....... Veda, vesk soldier/technomancer

JackHaus ........ shirren solarian

Still waiting on HK and JH to post in game thread. I'll use that as an excuse to cover the inevitable delay while I dig up your background information for the skill checks.

Doing my best to do that over the weekend, i meant to tweak some things with the character, since that character was made for an AP with very specific requests, like everybody being from Near Space.

I might just jump in at the danger that race and other things could change though :P

No worries. I have some stuff to do too. We're on a slow roll right now.

If you want to wait to join the party, I have a plan to introduce you later.

My reprieve wasn't much of one. Yesterday was a disaster productivity- wise at work. I will try to get you guys a post a day until normal posting resumes, hopefully on Friday.

I'm enjoying the PC interplay. Ready to move on with the gala when your preparations are complete.

I'm enjoying the PC interplay. Ready to move on with the gala when your preparations are complete.

I'm ready to proceed.

Gm? Can we get a what-what?

Sorry, guys. Internet problems at the house. Verizon is supposed to come tomorrow afternoon.

So we dont know what to try to impress them yeah?

I imagine that we can make a good guess, like Never with Zo. It makes sense.

Also, do we have to actually do a thing to roll the check? Or can we just talk shop? Like, a mechanic could build a car to impress someone, but if they just said something smart like "Ever since the XP-38s came out the older models just aren't in demand" then I'd be impressed by that too in the same way.

Include a roll as part of the round. RP will only get you so far. DC is kinda high for our level but we can do help actions if we work as a team. We're not as smart as our characters are at most of these things.

Yeah, I get the roll to either make an impression or try to make small talk.

But with everybody in this group looking down, there's some other information I'm missing before I try anything.

You've got multiple rounds to make a good impression. A successful small talk round can be a good start. You'll know for sure what subjects will impress in subsequent rounds.

Just a suggestion.

Oh and thanks for your patience the last few days.

Already posted that I'm swapping targets for now. I'll stick with that for now, too.

Scene mechanics question: Does the GROUP need 4 influence with a target, or does ONE PC need to get to 4 with that target for it to count?

Gm, just fyi it looks like I ninja'd year post.

Indeed you did, Atlas.

hustonj, it's a team game; the party needs to score four. I think it'd be really tough for one PC to do it.

Also, I've only listed skills that you know, by small talk or experiment, will work. There are other possibilities for influencing each of the guests.

Moving the skills discussion over here. Therenger has the right take; only specific skills will work on each guest. I've listed the skills you know will work in the status block. Each guest has 3-4 possible checks. Some you've learned by guessing and just trying a skill successfully based on the guest descriptions. Others you've discovered via small talk.

Got it. I figured describing a fight might count as a mission oriented skill, but I just didn’t know which one to roll for it.

Are we ready for the next round?

If there isn't a skill that applies to describing the combat, perhaps you can just call that small talk instead...With a Sense Motive modifier of -2, that roll becomes a 13.

Seems fair enough.

Sorry for the delay, gang. As usual, work.

Sorry. I lost track. I thought my round 5 failure was a round 6 attempt. Going back and looking, I see it wasn't.