[SFS / Farol] #01-25 - The Beacon Code Dilemma (Inactive)

Game Master Farol

This is a discussion thread for Beacon code dilemma. It is 3-6 scenario with a repeatable tag.

Please provide the following:

Player Name/Alias:
Character Name:
Character Level:
Organized Play # / Character #:
Perception Modifier:
Initiative Modifier:
Day Job Roll:
Faction:

Player Name/Alias: Shifty
Character Name: Blinky 'Bamboozle' Bluegum
Character Level: 4
Organized Play # / Character #: 826-725
Perception Modifier: +8
Initiative Modifier: +8
Day Job Roll: Prof (Archaeologist) 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21
Faction: Exo G

Slotted boon: Elite Hireling - LS/Myst/PS
Faction: Pact World Defender.

Player Name/Alias: Mjolbeard
Character Name: Szama
Character Level: 4
Organized Play # / Character #: 177216-707
Perception Modifier: +1
Initiative Modifier: +4
Day Job Roll: Profession (cook): 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 2 = 16
Faction: Acquisitives

Boons
Faction: Acquisitives Champion
Ally: Ebaki's Debt
Social: Live Air Celebrity
Personal: Nufriend Skittermander

Player Name/Alias: Jim C
Character Name:Guiseppelin Ba'drys Olyvia Nandell Eve Shirley, or 'Joe Bones'
Character Level: 4 (now)
Organized Play # / Character #: 56565-711
Perception Modifier:+11
Initiative Modifier: +3
Day Job Roll:Profession (Surgeon): 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (12) + 17 = 29
Faction: Second Seekers (Jadnura)

Will slot boons later...need to level ;-)

Player Name/Alias: Keith Smith (phaeton_nz)
Character Name: Ayoka Quonx
Character Level: 3 (Mechanic-2 Mystic-1
Organized Play # / Character #: 124312-719
Perception Modifier: +9
Initiative Modifier: +1
Day Job Roll: vidgamer: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (7) + 17 = 24
Faction: Dataphiles

Missed this.

Have not GM/played this before. Blinky is an Archaeologist so

- Museum visiting
- Book reading

"How much culture can a koala bear?"

It's one of my favorites to GM so ... I'll just follow everyone else.

Huh, cool. When I reviewed the scenario it looked intriguing and have some neat graphics.

I will kick the gameplay tomorrow, giving time for others to introduce themselves.

In the meantime could everyone say if the PC that you are playing has the following boons:

- High Society Influence (Royo) (Starfinder Society Scenario #1–05: The First Mandate).

- Dream Whispers (Starfinder Society Scenario #1–16: Dreaming of the Future).
- Chronicle sheet from Starfinder Adventure Path #1: Incident at
Absalom Station.

- Starfinder Insignia (Starfinder Society Quests: Into the Unknown)

Player Name/Alias: Joey Martin
Character Name: Elwin
Character Level: 3
Organized Play # / Character #: 73425-702
Perception Modifier: 2
Initiative Modifier: 2
Day Job Roll: None
Faction: Dataphiles'

I have not played or GM'd this scenario and... all the options sound good to Elwin. He'll go with a good book this time. :)

Szama has not played in any of those scenarios/APs

Ah, many characters that I know! 1/3 of the the helpful nufriend brigade and the cigar smoking koala. I'm probably playing Fexia (who has worked with Blinky before) who is a lvl 5 Soldier, but I'm checking with my ongoing group to see if it's possible that Garcon might be available who is my lvl 3 Skittermander Biohacker... who has played with Szama and Joe. I'll figure that out this evening and post the relevant details. Neither PC has any of the mentioned boons. Those who have are well out of tier for this by now.

- Dream Whispers (Starfinder Society Scenario #1–16: Dreaming of the Future).

Blinky has this one.

Ayoka has none of those.

Ah. Elwin has the one from the First Mandate. That was his first scenario. :)

Nope to all 4 for Joe...oh well ;-)

Ah, many characters that I know! 1/3 of the the helpful nufriend brigade and the cigar smoking koala. ...

Just to bring everyone on the same page. The skitterforce was playing through frozen ambitions arc, run by Shifty (player behind Blinky). Ayoka joined when DebugAMP skitter left so it is actually 1/2 of shitterforce (or 3/5 ;)).

Anywho gameplay posts have been made. Slides are up, and you should have access to them.

Did I say this evening yesterday? Something something no plan survives first contact with the enemy...

Garcon reporting for duty!

Player Name/Alias: DebugAMP
Character Name: Garcon
Character Level: 3
Organized Play # / Character #: 4249-703
Perception Modifier: 8
Initiative Modifier: 3
Day Job Roll: Mixologist: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 7 + 1 = 24
Faction: Manifold Host

1 Museum visiting
2 Browsing through files
3 Book reading (Cocktail recipe book would make this a 1)
4 Literally anything else
5 Dreaming (That would require Garcon to sit still)

Ok, we have everyone on board so I move us forwards.

Interestingly it seems like there are 4 people that never played this scenario (including myself) ;)

I changed the strategy and instead of picking places that were of interest to you, I picked based on the boons. I find that maintaining contact with NPC is an interesting aspect, and makes the game more personal.

Anywho, you need to pick: Pegasus or Drake and pick your PC's position. There will be no starship combat, but there will be a hazard piloting the ship and some of the checks would have to be done by pilot, gunners, science officer etc.

Pilot +11
Engineer +10
Science +7
Gunner +6

Prefer Drake

Let's see....
Pilot +8
Engineer +10
Computers +11
Gunner +lol you gotta be kidding!

Since everybody is doing it.

Pilot: +4
Engineer: +11
Computers:+11
Captain: +4/+5/+0 (B/D/I)
Gunner: +6

Joe is fine with any ship.....so will defer.

I'd prefer Pegasus, but Drake would be fine too if folks feel like we need the firepower

Pilot (Ace Pilot): +12
Captain (B/D/I): +10/+7/+3
Mysticism: +8
Gunner: +8

Pilot: Imma crash you
Captain: Ummm... aid gunnery or science officer?
Engineering: "Helping"
Computers: +7
Gunner: +5

Given we have multiple people who are likely going to be in the gunnery seat, I'd say Drake in order to make sure everyone is actually doing something.

Engineering +14
Computers +11
Pilot +5

I think it's obvious

Ok, Drake it is then.
The pilot role is the most crucial and can't be shared
Pilot: Szama

Drake tier 4 stats are in the slides, remember about the +1 bonuses from the computer.

Btw. I really like the dynamic of the team so far, good RP folks!

Only purchase I needed to make was to refill my explosive darts and hope I don't have to use them again.

So based on rolls.... ummm...

Joe: Computers/Computers
Elwin: Computers/Computers
Blinky: Attack assist?/Nothing
Ayoka: Engineering?

By a quick check, I'd say Szama is by far the best at Gunnery and should probably take the shot, so Garcon will assist as well. For the second action she'll definitely be going for the pilot role, so I guess Garcon can help out with computers? Also, can Garcon pass out drinks to give people skill boosts here? They last for 3 rounds and give +2 to all skill checks. If so he'll give one (or more) to Szama.

I was tracking Szama was the pilot for the activity, so can't be the gunner.

Gents, as much as I love zero-g fights I have very little experience in rules around them. So if you hear me say something that sounds absurd please let me know.

I don't think i've only done one zero G fight and that was some time ago... I'll trust your judgement. :)

Ok, some explanations:

- To detach from the cable you need to spend a move action.

Why? I can't find anything on the rules but my reasoning is that armors and clamps used in vacuums are optimized for safety and features like immediate release might not be there to limit accidents

- When you float in space with some speed you can:

1. Crash into an object in your way (that requires no action, you move with given speed and if that movement makes you bump into something you stop and roll Acro/Athletics DC20 to determine if you are off-kilter or not)
2. Grab to something (like handholds on the debris next to which you are floating). That requires a move action, you need to make Acro/Athletics DC20 roll, in both cases you stop but it determines if you are off-kilter or not.

So in Elwin case: he wanted to stop and he stopped with his first attempt but he is spinning around (off-kilter) but has a second action ready.

===========================

In your situation:
- Blinky has stopped
- ELwin made his action so he stopped as well
- Joe is clamped to the wall
- Szama, Garcon are floating and if they will not stop they will crash into Elwin/wall

If Ayoka stops her flight and pulls on the rope, she would force a stop from Szama and Garcon (for them it will be like they would hit into something since the cable will stop them from going). So 1 Ayoka action can cause every other candy on the string to force-stop (and roll DC20 check to see if they stop nicely or begin to rotate).

Now, from what I see floating in a vacuum might cause attacks of opportunity, so if you fly by the monster it will get an extra attack on you. On top of that, you can't do guarded steps in zero-g...

Is it better? or did I make it even worse? ;)

-

Farol,

I think you have the rules about Zero G down about as well as anybody TBH. And the rules on the 'carbiner/clamp' works....I would use the Gear Clamp in Persona litems....so your view of how a clamp to detach as a move action has merit.

I know that my and DireGM's lodges allows the Gear Clamps to work to allow 'dropping' the rifle to still stay on you, and as a move action (or part of one) to retrieve the rifle, as long as the gear clamp is on the rifle and uses a spot for accessories.

On the Zer G additional thoughts.

I would also say that both Blinky and Ayoka can take '5 foot steps/guarded steps'. Ayoka can fly (I am making the assumption they have Average Maneuverabilty, as it doesn't exactly say), though right now she can't hover (has to at least move 5'...she needs 5 ranks to hover with average maneuver).

For Blinky as long as they stay 'on a rock' they can use their climb speed to do a 5' climb/guarded step. Though by the rules they need 2 hands to climb, but can cling by 1 hand if they want to manipulate something. One thing by the rules I have never agreed to though is if you have a climb speed you should not be flat footed...but by SF rules it is a one sentence rule "While climbing or clinging to a wall, you are flat-footed." Honestly...The DC for Blinky is stupidly low (I would say slope of 45 degrees (DC5) -5 for Zero G....so DC 0) with a +8 to athletics because of the climb speed. Because of that at a table I ran I would allow a climb speed character to not be flatfooted while in zero G (unless there is some other hazard/issue that greatly increased the DC), and would probably allow them to 'climb' with 2 legs and 1 hand....but Zero G has ALWAYS been table variations of the rules since SF has started...since they are SOOO messed up :-)

And I think I am done with my rambling....

Thanks Farol :)

I agree with Jim - you've got a pretty good grasp of it - I think it's one of those corner areas we don't see very often despite being a spacefaring game.

Jim the other fun one is that creatures with a Climb speed can always take 10 whilst climbing too, that gives him a 25, and 'you are not flat-footed while climbing'.

@Jim - thanks for speaking up, yeah what you say sounds reasonable so we can go with that.

Thanks for telling me that @Shifty.....I had to go look through the additional movement rules in the tactical to find out that you can take 10 and are not flatfooted...never remember reading that originally when I started to play my uplifted bear--and I have seen so few people play races that can climb. And as we all know....the Starfinder book isn't the best....laid out in rules being in the exactly right spot.

Ok, I botted Szamas action, to push the fight forwards.

I PM'ed them to learn if everything is ok. I saw them posting in other threads 2 days ago, so maybe those were just particular days that were harder.

For sure Jim! One of the great parts about PbP is the ability to be able to digest rules and read up in slow time, which I find an awesome way to learn. I'm almost at 120 tables GMd and still find interesting things :)

Aiming to be the first 5 Nova in the Southern Hemisphere...!

Yeah, I love that in PBP you can learn new things about the rules in almost every game.

Btw. Szama did not respond, I hope that they are ok and all. For now, I will bot them.

Good luck with that 5 Novas Shifty!

For sure Jim! One of the great parts about PbP is the ability to be able to digest rules and read up in slow time, which I find an awesome way to learn. I'm almost at 120 tables GMd and still find interesting things :)

Aiming to be the first 5 Nova in the Southern Hemisphere...!

That is an impressive accomplishment! Good luck!

Shifty...doing it half way around the world from where Paizo is, that is well beyond a simple accomplishment!

Getting those 10 nova tables in is a right tough nut tp crack...glad to hear you are getting there!

The specials sucked to get in PF1 as well, but they’ve done a bit of work on SFS for what qualifies and that has improved things.

The killer is the rubric - I’m the only VC for about 800kms (500 miles).
I’ve got my one Online evaluation done but need to fly to the next ones. The further problem is these closest VCs don’t play much Starfinder so having them evaluate is a bit of a charade but I’ll take it :p

I heard that you could do an Discord/roll20 game with another VC and that would count. That is technically how I got 2 of my 3 in......my first was a 'surprise' by Jared Thaler....the third was done by Mike Bramnik...which I often run IRL Games with in Bloomington.

Lol yeah I scored one off Tyranius.

I suppose I should start thinking about my fifth Star.

You’d have to be pretty close by now with 4 Stars? Running for 5 Nova too?

The traveling part sounds a bit absurd, to be honest ;)

When you get your 5th Nova Shifty you need to get yourself some hut in the desert somewhere in the middle. Then the next person that would wish to play a tabletop game would have to cross a desert and get to a town where they would ask for: '5 nova Shifty'. After completing few quests for the townsfolk (clearing some basement out of pig-sized rodents), catching dangerous snakes and spiders they would guide that lost soul some more into the desert ;)

Still trying to get my fourth, but I'd like to try for the fifth nova. Way things are going through, it'll all have to be done online.

The traveling part sounds a bit absurd, to be honest ;)

When you get your 5th Nova Shifty you need to get yourself some hut in the desert somewhere in the middle. Then the next person that would wish to play a tabletop game would have to cross a desert and get to a town where they would ask for: '5 nova Shifty'. After completing few quests for the townsfolk (clearing some basement out of pig-sized rodents), catching dangerous snakes and spiders they would guide that lost soul some more into the desert ;)

You know what? With the requirements to hit that 5 Novas, this does not sound too outlandish. :)

Actually no it doesn't. I thought the....'evaluations' were going to 1) be impossible 2) stupid hard, 3) annoying. Okay.......I still think #3 is there...but 1 and 2 weren't a problem.

That being said. I do have 'issues' with getting evaluations from some people who might not have the years of experience I have had in GMing (umm...at least 36 years ....the 2 earlier years are 'iffy') RPGs....been around since Red Box D&D. I understand the reasoning, but it just feels weird....

I know my main failure....ability to do voices/accents. Sorry...but I have maybe 3 'voices' I can do...my normal, a higher pitch of my normal, and a gravely version of my normal. Just can't do any accents. ;-)

The evals are just a pain. We were supposed to have a con here in Sydney in three weeks but we just got a rona outbreak which will almost certainly derail it. It was supposed to be my next two evals as an RVC and another VC were coming.

Annoyed.

I'm going to get to one of the other VCs to get my eval, then resign as VC. the VC that replaces me can do my last eval. My VL is amazing and is all across Starfinder so at least I know that would be an eval from someone with actual system mastery.

Heading for a few days off down in Kentucky. I might or might not be able to have a good connection....so assume between Monday morning (EST) to about Wednesday late afternoon (4-5 PM EST) I might not be able to post oftentimes....