GM Quirk's JUNKER'S DELIGHT

Game Master Quirk, Private Eye

Welcome everyone. There are slides linked at the heading of this group. Please take special note of a couple of new spells, some equipment, and the new "junkomancer" archetype I included in the slides for your convenience.

I did send copied and pasted PM's to each of you.

We have five players, two of whom will be using characters they already played with in a short game that took place on Absalom Station earlier this year. These are second-level characters. The three new players will have first level characters. I do plan on having everyone at the same level by the middle of this adventure.

The three new players made some excellent submissions. I should note that you are not tied down to those submissions. Feel free to check out the slides linked above and go a different direction.

It appears to me that technomancers, mechanics, and soldiers should find this adventure particularly interesting.

I'll be posting more over the next few days. Let's plan to have the first posts in gameplay NEXT week. This way we can nail down characters classes.

Here's what we have penciled in:

Locket is a 2nd level pahtra soldier
Gath is a 2nd level shobhad mystic (and a native of Akiton)
Submissions:
Zetara, android technomancer
Janebok the Cold, vesk technomancer
Baron Omicron, SRO soldier

Again, at this point nobody is locked into a character.

Any feelings on whether I should seek a sixth player? I think 5 is fine.

Page 48 of the Pact Worlds book starts an interesting section on Akiton. That is recommended reading, and may provide some inspiration for your character.

Here are a few notes about how I would like to keep this game running, and what expectations I might have of you as players (don't worry, there aren't many).

I'd like everyone to know that I plan on being generous with circumstance bonuses when doing role playing or skill checks. For example, if you simply type "I let the dwarf know that he needs to come with us" and roll your intimidate check, the roll will stand without any circumstance bonuses. HOWEVER, if you type something like "YOU listen here, you smelly dwarf! If you don't come with us RIGHT NOW, my vesk friend over there is going to introduce you to his doshko!" I will likely give you a +1 circumstance bonus to the intimidate check. If you really get into it, there can be even higher bonuses.

I'd also like to plan to hand out occasional rerolls. These will result from especially good ideas that move the adventure along or solve a vexing problem. Much like one of my favorite podcasts (Androids and Aliens), we will call these "BOTTLE CAPS". When I give you a bottle cap, that means you have a reroll of any d20 roll you can use anytime.

Occasionally you may want to discuss out of character what's going on with this adventure. That's great! Try to use this "discussion" area (as opposed to gameplay) for that. I will also leave an open slide (or two) in the google doc for all of you as players to use to make notes if you wish--that might be handy, as posts here tend to get buried after a while.

For most skill checks, I will tend to use the highest roll from any of you, and count other rolls as aid anothers.

A couple of things I'll need from you all:

First, please try hard to make at least 5-6 posts per week (roughly one per day). You may do more if you wish. If you need to be away for a few days, that is certainly fine. Please let us know, and be sure your character's profile is up to date and has botting instructions.

Speaking of character profiles, as I noted, please keep them up to date with things like equipment, spells, skills, etc.

When this adventure is nearing its end, I will supply you all with a chronicle sheet that can be applied to any level one or level two Starfinder Society character. I'll probably ask for your Society information when we are closer to that time.

Finally, HAVE FUN!

A little about me: I am a dad and husband in the midwest United States (the State of Indiana). By day you will be finding me programming a community access television station at my office within the local downtown library branch.

I have been gaming since I was about 11 or 12 back in 1981 or so. Currently I have two home groups, one playing the Fly Free or Die AP, and one playing the Dead Suns AP. At my heart I am an analog gamer--I like holding dice, pencils, character sheets, and books. These times we are in have been hard on me, as there really isn't the opportunity to sit at a table with friends and do that as often as I would like. My groups have continued to play via discord and Roll20, though one has started to meet in person again this summer.

Feel free to introduce yourselves as players. Or not. I appreciate that the internet can be an anonymous place for some.

You'll have the opportunity soon to introduce your characters in game play. Sit tight.

Hi Everyone. :)

I see that we have two technomancers.

I definitely want to stick with the android idea for Zetara, but I am totally okay with switching classes, (maybe to envoy or operative?) so we aren't doubling up. Good idea, or do we think we will need more than one technomancer?

Player blurb:

I live in the western US (Utah), and work as a community manager for an online IT community. I love dice too, and wish I could play more in-person games, but haven't been able to do that regularly since I lived in New York, so I make do by playing a lot of play-by-post.

You can trust me to post regularly and not to ghost. If I don't have a lot of time that day I might just post an action, but I love storytelling, and if I have something to play off of, I like throwing in detail and in-jokes too, so feel free to set my character up for something longer if you like, and she will attempt to rise to the challenge. :) Looking forward to having some Sci-Fi fun with you all. :)

(Also, don't get too invested in my profile. It is mostly copied over from a different character, and I haven't updated it, so it definitely isn't the "real me" yet.)

Hey folks!

A bit about me:
I’m a college student in Humboldt County, CA, studying forestry. I’ve been playing Pathfinder for more than half my life at this point, and tabletop RPGs are near and dear to my heart.

In terms of character thoughts, I’ve got a few. The SRO courtly knight I had submitted previously would be fun to play, certainly, though the lack of power armor at these lower levels would fundamentally change the build and theme of it. I’ve also got an idea for a hylki (the red-skinned humans of Akiton) soldier, going for a sort of wasteland survivalist theme.

Hi all! Glad to be here. I agree that those expectations are reasonable and to abide by them.

I am Jason, a postdoctoral researcher in infectious disease in Pittsburgh. I have a one-year old who loves listening to stories about dragons and I have been enjoying TTRPGs in person and online for ~4 years now. My roots are in Indiana. GM, what part of Indiana are you in?

Janebok is currently a technomancer and I do kind of like that aspect of her concept. However, I am willing to switch for party synergy. I think having two technomancers wouldn't be ideal as it's most fun for everyone to have something that they are uniquely good at and needed for.

Hi all! Glad to be here. I agree that those expectations are reasonable and to abide by them.

I am Jason, a postdoctoral researcher in infectious disease in Pittsburgh. I have a one-year old who loves listening to stories about dragons and I have been enjoying TTRPGs in person and online for ~4 years now. My roots are in Indiana. GM, what part of Indiana are you in?

Janebok is currently a technomancer and I do kind of like that aspect of her concept. However, I am willing to switch for party synergy. I think having two technomancers wouldn't be ideal as it's most fun for everyone to have something that they are uniquely good at and needed for.

I am in Fort Wayne. I've lived here pretty much all of my life.

AS FAR AS CLASSES GO, one thing to remember is the possibility of multi-classing. While often not the ideal way to go, in a short campaign like this it could be fun.

Janebok seems like a "desert nomad" type who could be very comfortable adventuring in and around Khefak Depot on Akiton. I hope there's a way to use his concepts.

Welcome aboard, Zetara, Simeon and Janebok! I'm looking forward to trawling the junkyards of Akiton with you all.

When it comes to class/character choice - I say to go with whatever you'll enjoy the most.

Locket is a holdover from another of GMQ's adventures. I'm playing around with some concepts, so he's likely to be far from optimal. He's a little bit of a sour puss (no pun intended), so please don't take it personally! ;)

A word of warning - my posting times may be a little out of sync as I am based on the East coast of Australia, but it generally shouldn't cause any problems.

By way of introduction, I am a high school teacher, with two young children of my own. PbP is my only source of RPG gaming these days.

GM, how would you feel about me playing a shobhad? They're the four-armed nomadic giants that are one of the indigenous races of Akiton. Thinking about some sort of soldier that wields two very large melee weapons.

Okay, it is official. I will choose a different class for Zetara, and get back to you guys soon on what it is. I need to read a bit about the adventure first. I didn't see a player's guide though... is that only a Pathfinder thing?

What I know so far, just from the blurbs online is that we are desperate for work and get jobs as laborers either in a junkyard or retrieving something from a junkyard. In my mind I was kind of picturing the spaceship junkyard type place where Mal found Serenity in the Firefly series... that sort of thing?

Anything else I need to know, and if so, where would I go to get basic information without giving away the overall plot (unless that isn't an issue)?

GM, how would you feel about me playing a shobhad? They're the four-armed nomadic giants that are one of the indigenous races of Akiton. Thinking about some sort of soldier that wields two very large melee weapons.

A shobhad would be fine. In fact, we already have a shobhad mystic in the group. Another would be fine.

Here are five races that are indigenous to Akiton:

1. Contemplatives
2. Ikeshti
3. Ysoki
4. Shobhad
5. Hylki humans (treat as humans as far as rules go, hylkis tend to have a red tinge to their skin).

Okay, it is official. I will choose a different class for Zetara, and get back to you guys soon on what it is. I need to read a bit about the adventure first. I didn't see a player's guide though... is that only a Pathfinder thing?

What I know so far, just from the blurbs online is that we are desperate for work and get jobs as laborers either in a junkyard or retrieving something from a junkyard. In my mind I was kind of picturing the spaceship junkyard type place where Mal found Serenity in the Firefly series... that sort of thing?

Anything else I need to know, and if so, where would I go to get basic information without giving away the overall plot (unless that isn't an issue)?

There is no player's guide for this, though I did provide some chunks from the back of the book on the google slides.

Basically, the idea is that all of you have been matched over the infosphere as looking for work on Akiton. Things have been coordinated for the five of you to share transportation from the huge trench city of Maro to Khefak Depot.

Man, Akiton's just such a cool setting that I can't make up my mind. I'll probably have settled on a concept by today or tomorrow. Hopefully.

Thanks for being flexible, Zetara! I really appreciate it.

Yeah Janebok does like the desert and is something of a wanderer, but always with a specific goal in mind. She's very driven.

Ah I lived in Indianapolis and then Bloomington for a long time. Been around Fort Wayne plenty of times but never spent very long there.

Zetara is now an Operative, and I think that the profile is complete, but I'll go over it the morning to make sure.

Theme: Xenoarchaeologist
Template: Stewards Infiltrator
Operative Specialization: Spy

Her cover identity is unemployed xenoarchaeologist, trying to scrape together enough cash to go on the next expedition/dig ... And she totally loves xenoarchaeology, and that identity is part of who she is, but she is also working with the Stewards to collect information about the exploitation of sentient species, with a personal emphasis on catching people who participate in the android slave trade.

... I liked this part: operatives have this trick thing they can do, and hers is based on the bluff skill, so she's going to be doing the equivalent of telling people "look behind you!" and if they fall for it, she bashes them for extra damage. :)

Current dramatis personae:

1. Locket, pahtra soldier
2. Gath, shobhad mystic
3. Zetara, android operative
4. Janebok the Cold, vesk technomancer
5. Baron Omicron, SRO soldier

Of these, I think Simeon (Baron Omicron) seems like he's considering changing. Your in a very good position to choose just about anything.

With Zetara's switch to operative, this suddenly seems like a very balanced group of adventurers, err, I mean "cheap labor" in Khefak Depot!

I'm narrowing it down to a few concepts. The first is keeping with my SRO, though switching him to a melee-based technomancer, making heavy use of Junk spells (junk sword, junk armor, etc.) His general concept would be a robot that gained sentience and now thinks he's the baron of some patch of desert. The other is a hylki human soldier, focused on recon, survivalism, and ranged combat.

The main determining factor for me is the weight of ranged vs. melee combatants in the party.

I am planning for Janebok to be ranged, if that is helpful to know. She's a low-gravity vesk, so more dexy than strong.

If it's helpful, Locket has some ranged ability, but as an acetic warrior, has invested in unarmed/melee attacks.

On the subject of ranged attacks, I had picked up some shuriken when levelling, but at the time had forgotten that Special Weapons required their own unique proficiency feat. GM - would it be an issue if I swapped the purchase out for a starknife instead (and adjusting credits spent, of course)?

If it's helpful, Locket has some ranged ability, but as an acetic warrior, has invested in unarmed/melee attacks.

On the subject of ranged attacks, I had picked up some shuriken when levelling, but at the time had forgotten that Special Weapons required their own unique proficiency feat. GM - would it be an issue if I swapped the purchase out for a starknife instead (and adjusting credits spent, of course)?

No problem.

Alright, here are the stats for my shobhad switch-hitter soldier, Uchurtai! Alias will be up before the end of the day, hopefully.

And the alias is now ready!

Awesome!

GM, is there starship combat in this adventure? If so, we could discuss what roles we would each fill.

There is not starship combat in this.

There is a sequel to this adventure arriving in stores late this month. My guess is that there WILL be starship combat in that. IF we continue, and IF there is starship combat, I won't let it define the campaign. I'll also drop a hint so someone can make sure they have a few levels of pilot at that point.

I think we're just waiting for the fifth player to check in (Gath, the shobhad mystic). He's in another one of my games that is just ramping up again, so I hope he'll see my messages and links and join in by the this weekend so we can get started Sunday or Monday.

I'm still kind of new to SF rules. It seems standing up from prone doesn't provoke in SF. Do I have that right?

I think Janebok is all ready, btw. I just need to buy ammo.

I'm still kind of new to SF rules. It seems standing up from prone doesn't provoke in SF. Do I have that right?

That is correct - only 3 things provoke:

- leaving a threatened square
- casting a spell (or spell like ability) while threatened
- using a ranged attack while threatened

In checking some old messages in another game, I see that our mystic, Gath, is out of town and has spotty internet for a bit longer.

Everyone sit tight.

I think I may still post something in game play. We just won't get hot and heavy into the story until he comes along...

Hey, everybody, I'm glad to be part of the game. I should have good internet for 36 hours, but then I will be traveling again. Will be back to normal the 14th.

Sorry about holding you all up.

On the personal front, I'm an engineer who lives north of Boston. I'm a contemporary of our gracious GM. PbP is my sole gaming opportunity. I've been around the Paizo boards for many years now.

I'll let Gath speak for himself in the next post.

Let me say right now -- Gath is not super-optimized. By which I mean not at all. He was originally made for GMQ's homebrew and character seemed way more important than stats.

Gath and Locket are friends on Absalom Station, where Gath's family lodged after leaving Akiton. Here's the description from his character sheet.

Big, shambling, and slack-jawed, with a oversized, tusked lower jaw broader than its cranium, the four armed shobhad does not give a first impression of intelligence. Its armor, surmounted by a fiber-rope harness from which hangs a large openly displayed knife, a huge spiked club, and the long rifle slung on its back, coupled with its size, do provide a a definite impression of menace.

When it opens its mouth to speak, it confirms the absence of great intelligence, but belies the impression of menace. Its speech is slow, deep and softly gentle. "I'm Gath. Where's your favorite place?"

Gath's proposal to Locket, that they go to Akiton, might have sounded something like this.

"Locket, you know I've been thinking about going back to Akiton for a while. I want to see the world where I was born and grew up. Well started to grow up. We left when I was so young.

I've got enough saved up to pay for the trip, will you go too? Mr. Fattail says he knows a place where we might be able to get a job there.
Thak and Goldenarms don't want to come. They're too busy. And I can't find Senk to ask her. "

Notes:
* "enough saved up" -- means he has nearly exactly the fare for the ship, probably not enough to buy food, if it's not included in the fare, definitely not any kind of reserve to live on once you're there.
* "Mr. Fattail" -- ysoki importer, and owner of the seedy warehouse on Absalom Station where Gath works as a day laborer
* "Thak and Goldenarms" and "Senk" -- companions from Gateway to Absalom

Very nice, Gath.

I have had a surprise family obligation this weekend. I'm hoping to get things underway in game play tomorrow night. Gath's post puts me in the mood for some role playing.

Thing about what your character would order at an Akitonian truck stop on the outskirts of Maro as you wait for your ride to take you to Khefak Depot.

I have made a post in game play.

Have fun!

Hey, I've been waiting to jump in because you said that just a couple of people were the first to arrive, so I assumed I wasn't there yet. Is that incorrect? Are we all there, or should I just jump in and describe my arrival?

Yes. Jump in anytime. We'll move forward tomorrow night.

Not trying to offend Zetara for no reason but am trying to initiate RP interactions. The problem is, Janebok isn't very friendly and a vesk technomancer who hasn't spent much time outside the Veskarium has very specific ideas about androids and the ALF.

Leaving for Vegas this morning and won't be back till tomorrow night, so I won't be able to banter until then. If the group moves somewhere, Zetara will go along, of course.

I think this may be a slow week posting-wise. I'm headed for Gencon middle of the week--I'll be presenting a seminar regarding the work I do with young people at the library I work at.

I'll get one more post in tonight regarding the arrival of your driver. I'm hoping that all of you might find time for a post or two this week, but otherwise no pressure.

This game will develop quickly next week. I promise you, the rewards will be there!

I'm back. Looks like you've been busy. I'll try to catch up and post by tomorrow night.

Welcome back Thom!

Hope the trio went well. We saved you a seat. ;p

Just returned following a successful Gencon.

We will move forward tomorrow (Monday).

I enjoyed the banter!

GM, I think I'm a little confused here. Has the questgiver already contact us and is planning on meeting us in Khefak Depot? Or are we just there for our own reasons right now?

Yeah, I got the impression that we were meeting together to take a job rather than just to get transportation. However, happy to move forward with it either way.

I think the idea was you were headed to Khefak Deport because work is plentiful there. Some of you may have plans to work at the same theater/restaurant/venue, or perhaps some of you may may have plans that are separate from the others.

You were matched for purposes of transportation.

Moving forward, I thought it might be fun to do sort of a retrospective of several episodes of the old American sitcom Cheers. Some of you will be bartenders or waitstaff. Some of you may have other jobs, but might like to spend your off hours in the Khefak Depot version of Cheers.

I'M KIDDING.

Let's see what opportunity presents itself. I think you'll like what's about to happen.

Androids probably make good bartenders. :)

This is one of those times having two large characters is going to make this tough. I don't think there will be too many of these instances, though occasionally there will be a close squeeze.

Ok thanks for clearing that up, GM! I'm sure I mixed something up. I can definitely work with that.

Been having a tough few days and my posting motivation has been really low. Things are looking more up today so I’ll get my action up tomorrow.

Sounds good. This is the weekend, so there is some expectation of slow posting. Bottom line, tomorrow is great!