SFS 4-01 Year of the Data Scourge Intro (KS) (Inactive)

Game Master phaeton_nz

After returning from a successful mission for the Starfinder Society, or arriving as new recruits, you are on your way, via train, from the spaceport to the Lorespire Complex.

The deep rumble of the train as it skims along its metal track creates a pleasant bass line for the sounds of the cityscape. The car’s glass and metal walls shield the interior from the roar of traffic outside, but the faint howl of sirens and cab horns occasionally pierces this sanctum. Cradled safely inside the car, passengers murmur in private conversation or play muted vidfeeds on their comm units and datapads. The familiar click and whir of assistant machines fills the aisles.

”Aha, yes… people… again…” Inovu mutters, smoothing out his enormous mustache and straightening his Steward badge. Having recently returned from an extended foray in the Drift with only his fellow Starfinder as companions, the lashunta slowly re-adjusts to life among civilians.

You may as well introduce yourselves and could you please add if you are Starfinder recruits (new PCs), rookies (played The First Test, For the Factions or the Commencement only) or slightly more experienced (played anything else).

Jyskos stares into the Datapad he has in front of him, checking the latest news he missed during his last mission away and shaking his head remembering the White Ysoki who he had to work for first time out. #3-19 was the only scenario he's played

"Well, I guess it's back to normal now" he says aloud, but more to himself than anything as he swipes a few messages away, settling into the train seat.

Well here we are This organisation says most of the right things Lets see if they are ready for me The new recruit looks around the train and decides to try get an outsiders view of society

So what do you know of the Starfinder Society the Young woman asks of her fellow travellers

A ysoki in dusty tan second skin armor scuttles into the room. He shucks a backpack almost as big as he is and perches on it. "Hi, all. I'm T|, but I'll answer to Tik if you have trouble with the tongue click. Just got back from a trip to one of the Liavaran moons...one thing to say about the Society, you never know where you'll end up. Or what you might have to do once you get there. I've definitely had worse experiences." He gazes into the distance for a moment, then shakes his head. "Sorry. Memories."

"Let's see, it was 'T|' then? Quite right, quite right." The lashunta nods vigorously, now seeing that other Starfinders were on the car with him. "I go by Inovu, and I liaison between the Starfinder Society and the Stewards. Nice to see my linguistics courses are coming in handy." He gives the ysoki operative a wink.

"Good partnership, too. The Society's mission puts it in the delicate position of first-contact situations more often than most other Drift-savvy companies, so it's good to put a diplomatic foot forward when possible. Hopefully your foray to Liavara's moons were less bleak than my search for the Struggle's Scholar, which hardly had what I'd call a desirable outcome."

Inovu's only other Chronicle is 1-04: Cries from the Drift.

Muted sounds project from the Kalos dark purple station wear as he nod's to the assembled Starfinders,
"The names Darkvoid Batoida, well code name really. You can call me Dee Vee in a pinch. If there's one thing I've learned it's that there are a lot of scary things out in space. I plan on scaring them back. Space pirates for example! They're a superstitious and cowardly lot."
He carried very little on his person.

"Tchk! I had to deal with pirates last mission out, too. Other ysoki, followers of Grandmother Rat. Scariest thing I've seen in the Society, though, was right here on station--some idiot smuggled in Swarm components, and that ended about as well as you'd think."

T| has played 2-01 Pact World Warriors, 2-21 Illegal Shipment, and 1-16 Dreaming of the Future, and has GM credit for 1-01 The Commencement and 1-32 Acts of Association.

Jyskos looks up at the mention of Space Pirates, "Better not mention that to them then..."

"Hi fellow Starfinders, I'm Jyskos Arabath, it's great to meet you, I've had to deal with Datch, so I'm hoping that doesn't happen again."

The Drow stands up and puts his hood down so his white hair flows down. He carries a cane and has a pistol strapped to his thigh.

Looming far larger than the others, the next arrival has to duck and squeeze to get through the doors from one car to this one. His long, sinuous neck dips down to slide his head in first, eyes scanning the space for a moment before he pulls his bulk through, his wings expanding slightly once there is space for them.

His golden scales have a notable red tinge to them and his head is fringed by a frill of horns.

Though he is rarely mistaken for a Vesk, Dragonkin are common enough in the Pact Worlds that most will recognize Sturmvanger for what he is.

He seems deep in silent communication with the slender woman who follows him.

He realizes he's come in in the middle of a conversation and quickly catches up.

"Sturmvanger. I have not faced pirates, yet but have had to perform diplomatic duties. And fought a ghost," says the slightly experienced starfinder.

1-04 Cries from the Drift and 1-32 Acts of Association here.

The ysoki looks up...waaaay up...at the dragonkin. "Sturmvanger, isn't it? You wouldn't know me--I was detached to help out Chiskisk with another delegate, and they told me about you and your team. Quite the experience, sounded like."

The slender woman following Sturmvanger is dressed in a pristine white lab coat over laying a pant suit of some shimmering red fabric. Her red snake eyes and wickedly pointed ears mark her as having some definitely infernal influences. She practically slithers her way into the train car, curving movements and flowing steps. Under her coat at her hip a squirming mass of something living. She gives a long look at Sturm, seemingly stuck in responding to him.

She takes a seat in an empty bench seat and absent-mindedly flicks her long, forked tongue out to get a better taste of the air, before recognizing the scent of fellow Starfinders. The standard issue gear oil has a very distinctive smell. She looks over as Sturm introduces himself, and snakes her way over as well. Extending a hand tipped in long black and red claw-like nails, she hisses, Seggas Yakan, You can call me Dr. Yakan, Mistress Seggas if you're feeling forward, or just Seggas if you prefer."

She stops for a moment and reflects about what has been said so far, "I've been on, well, what was ultimately three different diplomatic missions. Had to deal with a place that was cloning the same man uncontrollably. I'm still annoyed the Society didn't let me recruit for a massive double blind genetic study. How often do you have near 100 exact genetic copies? It would have been PERFECT for studies, PERFECT I tell you!" She stops for a moment, very near the brink of monologuing. After a second she takes a deep breath and calms down, waving off any concerned looks Sturm gives her. "But it seems like the society is gathering a lot of us here, any idea what could be happening?"

1-12 Ashes of Discovery, 3-17 Clone Batch Catastrophe, and 1-32 Acts of Association here. She is level 2, and I'm going to finish updating her character sheet today/tomorrow.

T| waves a farewell to the dragonkin and tiefling as they exit the train. "See you around! Safe travels!" He looks around. "Anyone else getting off here?"

Jyskos looks up at T| after sitting back down. "Hold the door Tik, I think I see a couple more who look like fellow Starfinders getting onto the train. Sorry the tongue click is too much for my language too by the way, Drow don't really have clicks like this naturally!"

A tall, bulky ghoran flashes into view, covered in odd splotches of black and purple and carrying only a single pistol. They rush into the train car, nearly rolling in as they do so. "To think, I used to be so great at navigating the forests back on Ghorus Prime and now I can't even get around a city without getting lost and nearly being late. Oh why are cities so confusing..."

They turn their head to look at the drow holding the door "Oh thanks! Sorry, I'm not exactly the best with technology so figuring out all the maps to get here was confusing. I'm Arboreal! Back home they also call me Blightborn because well, I guess I was caught in the middle of some kind of strange mystical poisoning of the forest I was living in. But don't mind the rot, I'm perfectly okay!"

Everyone on the train car can easily notice the very enticing, very delicious, smell of fine aged wine coming off of Arboreal as they move through the train car and take a seat.

Arboreal's only chronicle is Intro #1:The First Test

The train abruptly jolts to a halt with a jarring screech. All electronic feeds and holoscreens flicker and shut off at once, as if controlled by a master switch. For a moment, a roaring silence replaces the city’s constant symphony. An insistent beeping pierces the air and the train stutters, rolls a few feet, then jerks into stillness once again. A palpable hum fills the train car as dozens of crimson lights blink in frantic, random patterns. The helpful machines patrolling the aisle or hovering near the ceiling twitch and spark erratically as the train suddenly lurches forward again, now accelerating at a frightening speed.

Any android or anacite PCs, please make a Will Save.

As computers, constructs, and machines stutter and malfunction around you the train itself accelerates dangerously out of control, threatening to detach from its track entirely.

Cue the following music Monorail to Disaster

The control panel for the autopilot is located 120ft away. Please act as if you were in combat rounds. What would you like to do?

Jyskos looks up annoyed as train screeching to a halt and his Datapad flickers off, mid-way through his reading of the latest contract.

Just as he is about to get up, the train jolts back to life and he is pushed back into his seat from the acceleration.

Jyskos realises he needs to take control of the situation even if he has no idea what is going on.

Move Action Get up and stand on the seat
Standard Action Bluff Check to help people feel calm.

"COMMUTERS!" Jyskos shouts from his viewpoint on the seat while raising his palm and showing his Starfinder Insignia coming out of his hand. "I need EVERYONE to remain calm, and please stay in your seats while we sort out the situation. Trust me, if anyone who can deal with the situation it's us Starfinders."

He pauses to see if he has the attention of the carriage, "We don't want to release any details yet, but if you could remain calm and seated, we will deal with this shortly. Thank you."

Bluff Check: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30

Wow, nice to nail the first check.
Also, love the Thunderbirds theme GM, highly approve!

Tik grabs up his pack and pushes towards the control station while Jyksos attempts to talk the crowd down.

Move action to pick up pack; Move action to move up to 30'.

For a moment, Arboreal panics. "Oh no, did I break something? I've always been bad with computers and stuff and now the whole train is malfunctioning the minute I step in? Okay... gotta make up for this somehow. Protect people..."

They stand up, and assess the situation. Upon seeing Jyskos standing on a seat and talking everyone down they stare down at the brand new Starfinder Graft on their hand and realize that Jyskos is right, as a new Starfinder as well they need to protect people less trained for this.

Arboreal moves to stand up from the bench then if any passengers around look like they have fallen over or injured in some way, Arboreal moves up to 30ft towards the nearest one to try and help them recover.

Seeing Jyskos's dft handling of their fellow passingers Darkvoid double moves towards the control panel.

Feeling the jerk of the train thrown them just as they were settling into their seat, an emerald ijtikri quickly rights themselves. "Not sure that would have happened if this was Veskarium tech. Hmmm."

They then move 30ft towards the front, looking towards Aboreal, "Is anyone hurt that I could assist you in helping?"

"My word! Inovu blusters as the train lurches menacingly. He brushes spilled coffee off the front of his armor before standing up and following Darkvoid towards the front, bellowing to anyone who didn't hear Jyskos, "Nobody panic! Just stand aside and we'll get to the bottom of this!"

Move action to move towards front, Standard action to convince bystanders to clear the way.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Round 2:

Once someone reaches the control panel, make a computers check to hack into it. A second computers or engineering check is then required to override the controls.

The train continues to accelerate but your actions are avoiding a panic so the way is still clear to the panel. How far did Darkvoid get in a double move?

Tik continues towards the console. "Make a hole, sophonts!"

Moving 60'; currently 30' from the console.

40ft...
"Never fear citizens starfinders have things well in hand."
He double moves again for a total of 80' of progress.

Arboreal continues to hold their ground near the frightened passengers, making sure to keep their morale up knowing any stray sparks or machine malfunctions stay away from those who cannot defend themselves as well. "Don't worry, my fellow Starfinders will stop this train and I'll make sure none of you get hurt!"

Jyskos continues his Bluff on the Passengers.

"Don't fear citizens, please sit in your seats and put your heads between your knees and brace. Thank you for your continued patience. We will provide updates as we know more."

Bluff: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19

Darkvoid moved 80ft in round 1. He only needs to single move to reach the console then could use a standard action this round to hack into it

Darkvoid moved 80ft in round 1. He only needs to single move to reach the console then could use a standard action this round to hack into it

Kalo's only have 20ft base speed...so Darkvoid is moving 40ft as a double move each turn...

phaeton_nz wrote:

Darkvoid moved 80ft in round 1. He only needs to single move to reach the console then could use a standard action this round to hack into it

Kalo's only have 20ft base speed...so Darkvoid is moving 40ft as a double move each turn...

Yes that is correct. Sorry I wasn't clear. The 40' was the double move.

Ah .. I think I understand it now

Round 3 - The train continues to accelerate.

”All well and good, we’ll get this slow this locomotive soon enough!” Inovu says heartily as he trundles along after the other Starfinders towards the cockpit.

Double move action to get 50 feet closer to the cockpit.

Scuttling forward practically on all fours, the ysoki reaches the control console and pulls a hacker kit out of his pack.

Move action to move; move action to draw an item. I don't think I can do that as if I'm drawing a weapon as part of a Move action.

Interesting point. I don't see why weapons are special in that respect so I'd say, yes you can

Computers check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

However, the normally-dextrous operative fumbles getting the tool kit out of his pack.

Arboreal being especially bad with technology and computers opts to maintain their position and stay on guard should any of the usually helpful machines start to go rogue.

Zee Zee goes and braces on the floor near a group of passengers, using her vet training to continuing attempting to administer first aid and trying to calm nerves with a soothing voice as she keeps an eye on what is going on with the computers at the front of the train.

Profession Veterinarian: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15

Darkvoid and Jyskos to post

Jyskos will continue to make sure people are following instructions and watch over the crowd carefully while also bracing themselves just in case.

"Make way citizens, Make way! This little hiccup will soon by cured"
Darkvoid double moves to toward the controls once again. Which puts him there for next round.

Round 4 - The train continues to accelerate.

"Oh now let's see interociter, interociter where did they put that on this layout again..."
computers: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Unfortunately Darkvoid has problems finding the interociter. Maybe someone else has better luck.

Huffing and puffing from the sudden exertion, Izzip finally makes it to the front car of the train. "What... can I do... <gasp> ... to help?"

Full action to reach the front of the car, due to a late start and slow movement speed.

Computers check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

"An intero-what?"

Arboreal, seeing two of their fellow Starfinders fumbling with the controls as the train continues to accelerate, grits their teeth. Their leaves start to droop as the train continues to speed down the track. "Well, we're certainly looking more and more doomed. I suppose I'd been cheating death this long already..."

Arboreal is just going to total defense at this point since they have little else they can do to help the rest of the group disable the mechanism

"Arboreal, try to keep the passengers calm. We don't want them crowding us." Not that it'd make me do worse...piece of junk.

Zee Zee also is unsure of how to help the others with the train, so she continues to work with those around her, putting ice on bruises, and rubbing the backs of two small children who seem terrified by the speed.

Profession Veterinarian: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

Zee Zee is about as effective with the train as a block of wood, so just helping people stay calm and brace for impact.

Jyskos yet to post for the previous round

Round 5: The train reaches the tipping point. Can disaster be avoided this round?

I'll allow two computer checks per round to get control by the same person.