GM Quirk's JUNKER'S DELIGHT (Inactive)

Game Master Quirk, Private Eye

Ack! Sorry, site didn’t give notifications that there were new posts. My apologies for the missed actions.

Botting Gath.

Gath loads up his sniper rifle and shoots the hulking golem.

shobhad horizon striker, tactical (large): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
damage: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5
Miss.

Locket's attempt to trip the creature doesn't quite work--this is a truly massive thing, and doesn't go down easily.

Sen's zoomboard thrusters do scorch the golem.

Of course this draws the ire of the golem, who immediately reaches out to smash Sen.

This thing has reach. This is an AoO

to hit: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26
damage: 1d8 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Ohhhh. That had to hurt...

Round 4. Bold may go.

1. Janebok
2. Zetara
3. Uchurtai (-16)
4. Junk Golem (-2 to AC from charge)
5. Senk (-15)
6. Gath (-21)
7. Locket

Zetara blanks her mind to aim and shoot again.

Attack (Sniper Rifle): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Bludgeoning Damage (force, penetrating): 2d6 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4

The bad luck streak continues. I'll leave it to the DM to determine why.

Uchurtai squares his stance and tries, yet again, the hit something. He fails.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Using Bolster Resilience, giving me DR 1/ for 2 rounds. Also, I think this is the worst luck I've had rolling on any PbP character, bar none.

Janebok sees Sen join the ranks of the heavily-injured and hisses loudly to some of her allies "While I am sure you are all mighty warriors, your clossse proximity to the ssslow-moving, melee-limited, low-intelligence threat raises your probability of death much more than necccessssary." To put her own words to action, she raises her rifle and fires then moves away from the golem.

Fire: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Dam, P: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Senkuviene shrieks audibly as the golem's strike knocks her off her zoomboard and causes her to crash into the ground.

That wiped out literally ALL my Stamina!

She doesn't move for a moment, giving the impression that the worst has happened, then she moves a bit and pulls herself away from the scene.

"I...I'm okay..." she manages, though her tone indicates she is very much NOT okay.

I agree Uchurtai. You are most unlucky. The good news is that you're due for a good hit. Oh, and as you'll notice, just about everyone is doing poorly hitting this thing.

The golem continues to creep forward, stopping to whack Locket.

to hit: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15
damage: 1d8 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

There is a thud as its fist hits Locket.

[ooc]Round 4. Bold may go.

1. Janebok
2. Zetara
3. Uchurtai (-16)
4. Junk Golem
5. Senk (-15)
6. Gath (-21)
7. Locket (-10)

Oh, I tried keeping at range but the golem came and found Locket! Now just trying to create an opportunity for every one to get some space to work with.

Locket grimaces as his kusari-fundo clatters off the golem.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have long dwell on his poor aim as the creature steps forward and pounds him.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, the pahtra sets his weapon twirling again. Sliding a step away and to the side, he sends the weight singing toward the golem's legs once again.

Trip vs KAC +8: 1d20 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 4 + 4 + 2 + 2 = 28 ICM (trip) + trip property + flanking with Uchurtai

Sorry, that was a guarded step and an attack.

Sen stands back up and pulls out her gun, shooting at the golem in the back.

Pulsecaster Pistol: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 101d4 ⇒ 2

Gath sidesteps closer to Sen for a clean line of fire. He raises the sniper rifle again and sights in on the golem's head.

shobhad horizon striker, tactical: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15 ... damage: 2d4 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5

This thing might be a little beyond us. It's got a reasonably high AC, probably a ton of HP, and it hits like a Mack truck. We could consider running away.

OH! Mysticism, what's it: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
That won't get me much.

Neither Gath or Sen can hit the thing, but Locket expertly wraps his weapon around one the golem's legs, and with mighty yank, the thing goes down.

It's now prone: If you are lying on the ground, you are prone. When prone, you take a –4 penalty to melee attack rolls. You also gain a +4 bonus to your Armor Class against ranged attacks but take a –4 penalty to your AC against melee attacks. If you are knocked down in zero gravity, you’re off-kilter (see page 276) instead of prone.

Round 5. Bold may go.

1. Janebok
2. Zetara
3. Uchurtai (-16)
4. Junk Golem
5. Senk (-15)
6. Gath (-21)
7. Locket (-10)

"Bigger they are, harder they fall," Locket grunts as he topples the golem.

"Try to put some distance between you and the metal man," he calls to his companions.

Sorry, I knew prone would be a complication for the ranged attackers, but thought it worthwhile to buy some time for those caught up close to try to get away.

I am content with a strategic withdraw before someone goes down.

What's the consensus... do we want to give up? I wish we didn't have to... it isn't that we can't hit it... we can. We have.

It is just that the DR makes it impossible for our crappy weapons to actually do anything to it. Only a couple of us have the ability to do more than the DR in damage, but obviously half the time we won't. Meanwhile, he has such high bonuses, he can easily smash level 2 characters.

Even if our luck were better, I think we would be losing. I guess I join the vote to leave, unless someone has a great idea for a different way to take it down... chainsaw its legs off and then beat it to death while it can't move? Oh yeah, no chainsaw. That won't work. :)

Zetara was tempted to move in to beat it to death now that it was down, but even with it down, it was too tough for her to do more than dent it with her sword. She sighed. She would have to retreat. ...After one last shot.

Attack (Sniper Rifle): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Bludgeoning Damage (force, penetrating): 2d6 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3

Shaking her head as her bullet pinged off the junkbot, she climbed down and moved away.

If we ran around off the edges of the map, we could kite it to death while I shoot my energy ray cantrip at it and others fire guns and hope for luck. But if we are restricted to fighting on the map, then yeah it'd be a problem.

Janebok holds her distance, ready to fire at the golem if it gets within her 30 ft range.

Readied action for energy ray.

Though a warrior til the end, Uchurtai knows that the greatest warriors still know when to reatreat. He pulls back, getting away from the brutally powerful golem.

Withdrawing.

"Bigger they are, harder they fall," Locket grunts as he topples the golem.

"Try to put some distance between you and the metal man," he calls to his companions.

"Okay, Locket." Gath obediently starts to back up, but keeps his rifle trained on the golem.

Taking the hint, Sen jumps back on her zoomboard.

"SCRAMBLE! THAT WAY IT'LL WASTE TIME TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO TO CHASE!" she calls as she blasts off around the junkpile.

Kusari-fundo twirling in a flaming orbit, Locket keeps a warchful eye on the toppled golem while his companions back away.

Deftly snatching the spinning weight once theybare clear, he coils the weapon and begins his own retreat.

"Best we clear out," he calls over comms. "Don't wannna meet the same fate as the proverbial curious cat."

"What fate was that, Locket?"

Knowing he's faster then many of his comrades, Gath keep his rifle trained on the golem while he continues to back away from the metal menace slowly.

"And what's a cat?"

Imagining cats are not native to Akiton, and are luxury items on Absalom Station.

Fair points!

"Just a saying I heard once - 'Curiosity killed the cat,"[/b] Locket explains.

"A cat is a type of animal... how about we sort this out later?"

Gath is a shobhad of limited experience. :-)

"Okay, Locket." Gath agrees easily, sure that his friend will remember to explain later, even if Gath forgets to ask.

As they all retreated from the area, Zetara asked

What now?

Sen sits down on her zoomboard once they've escaped to catch her breath.

"We visit either the Trashhunters or Unbrood and scope if we can get the other two parts first, I guess."

Janebok breathes hard in rasping hisses, not used to running in gravity. She leans hard on her staff, wheezing. "If and when we revisit thisss hossstile, we mussst coordinate better."

I do not believe coordination was the problem. Our gear is suboptimal.

Zetara arbitrarily chooses the Trashhunters and heads in that direction.

"We *tried* to coordinate...I wanted it to chase me so you could shoot it from behind..." Sen complains.

"Maybe we should have tried to make friends with the golem first." "I'd rather be its friend." Gath mumbles to no one in particular.

I do not believe coordination was the problem. Our gear is suboptimal.

Zetara arbitrarily chooses the Trashhunters and heads in that direction.

"I've got the gear of a great shobhad hero, and it kicked my butt. Cordination must have been the problem."

"We *tried* to coordinate...I wanted it to chase me so you could shoot it from behind..." Sen complains.

Gath pats the shirren on the shoulder. "You cordinated great, Sen. Maybe we'll try that trick in our next fight."

Gath is such a sweetheart!

"Thanks, Big Guy," Sen says, giving him a thumbs up. "So! Which of these coves we scopin' first? Trashhunters or Unbrood?" she asks more broadly to the rest of the group.

"Maybe we should have tried to make friends with the golem first." "I'd rather be its friend." Gath mumbles to no one in particular.

Locket grunts and reaches up a hand to pat Gath's forearm as they walk. "Don't think it's much interested in making friends," the pahtra murmurs.

Zetara arbitrarily chooses the Trashhunters and heads in that direction.

"Not much difference to me," Locket says, pointing his chin in Zetara's direction. "Looks like she's headed for the Trashhunters. Best we go with her."

We can assume that you all had a chance to take a 10 minute rest and do any additional healing you wish to do. Trashhunters, you say...we'll get that started tomorrow night.

Thanks for the reminder, GMQ. With all the fun RP I forgot about those very important things. I'll spend the resolve to recover stamina. Who else is hurt and needs HP healed? We might have to ration the cures. I've got 1 cure light (1d8+2) , and my healing connection (10 hp)

"Okay. Trashhunters. They're the goblins right?"

Murkk and Qesh slow you down just a little and remind you of a few things about Trashunter territory. Murkk does most of the talking. "Remember, you're looking for an electrolytic capacitor. I'm sure the Trashunters were talking about how they found one not long ago. Also, you probably won't get much trouble from the Trashunters unless you're an Unbrood ikeshti or you try to take something valuable that's in plain sight."

As you set off, it isn't long before you see evidence of the Trashunters. There are deep dents in sheets of metal. You see partially melted chunks of plastic. There are scorch marks on the ground. Things are stacked awkwardly and appear ready to topple at the slightest touch.

Most of all, it's apparent you are being watched as soon as you wander into Trashunter territory. There are goblins peering at you through stacks of tires, or from behind panes of transparent aluminum.

Zetara adopts her upbeat voice.

Hey guys, come out to trade with us! And by the way, what happened here? Looks like someone tried to melt the whole place down.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

She smiles at some of the goblins... You do know that aluminum is transparent, right?

Janebok looks at the dents, scorch marks, and melted chunks. She tries to determine what might have caused this...

Engineering?: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Pausing to take in the various patches of destruction, Janebok considers what might the aim of such work might be.

The conclusion is that whatever happens around here is far to random to have any rhyme or reason. There could be honest work happening--perhaps someone merely breaking down larger pieces of metal to more easily transport to a scrapping facility.

Other instances may simply be a goblin doing some destructive experimentation on something he found.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Zetara attempts some direct communication with the curious space goblins. Two of them speak quietly to one another, then point you further along the path.

More tonight.

Senkuviene waves from her zoomboard as they approach.

"Howzit!" she calls to them.

Zetara nods thanks, and moves in the direction that the curious space goblins pointed out.

Walking another 10 minutes, you all see the following:

A tower of metal cylinders rises forty feet into the sky, casting a long shadow across the ground like an accusing finger. The top wobbles slightly from a breeze, but against all expectations, the spire seems stable.

You hear a chirping sound from just beyond the tower. You see at least four goblins ahead.

Engineering: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27 (pass)

Wow, what a tower. Are those all starship power cores? Amazing. Did you all build this, or just one of you? I admire it.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17 (fail)

Earlier...

As the party treks toward the Trashhunter lair, Locket abruptly stops in his tracks.

The pahtra grimaces, mutters something particularly colourful, and walks a short distance away. His back to the group, shaking his head, he is clearly agitated.

"Just realised a left my pistol behind back there," he murmurs over his shoulder. "Give me a sec.."

Locket folds himself to the ground and, closing his eyes, sits in cross-legged stillness for some time.

10 minute rest

Opening his eyes, he stands, dusts himself off, and rejoins the group. Composed once more, he us ready to continue the journey, sans-pistol.

Now...

Locket glances around warily as the group pass further into the goblin territory.

"Don't much like this," he mutters.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

"There!" he points out one of the goblins ahead. It is clutching a bundle to its chest. "What do ya make of that?"

Senkuviene offers her own pistol to Locket.

"Here, you can use mine until you get yours back. My zoomboard's thrusters can fry stuff just fine."

She looks up at the tower in awe.

Engineering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

"They ARE starship power cores! That is LATERAL PRIMO!" she exclaims. "I wanna do STUNTS on it!"

Then Locket directs her attention to the goblin clutching something.

"Chek-chek, Locket...Ambidexter, maybe? Trying to hide what we're scoping for?"

...

Then Locket directs her attention to the goblin clutching something.

"Chek-chek, Locket...Ambidexter, maybe? Trying to hide what we're scoping for?"

"How'd they know what we're looking for? They're goblins. It's probably a grenade."

Gath waves an empty hand toward the four. He gives them a big canine-laden smile. "HI! Like Zetara said, we're here to talk and trade."

Perception 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Perception 2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

Killing it tonight.

The item one of the goblins is holding fits the description of the electrolytic capacitor given to you by Murkk and Qesh.

The goblins are standoffish, though they seem to respect Gath's approach.

They started off unfriendly, Gath's diplomacy roll moved them one notch better to "indifferent".

"Trade, you say? what you got to trade? You don't look like you got much to trade. We don't want no credits! No place to spend 'em!"

You hear the chirping noise again. It is at this point that you notice another one of those toads you fought earlier. Perhaps it's a pet of these goblins.

See slide #2.

Gath nods. "Okay, no credits. What do you like? Maybe we can get that."

We have some bottled water and blankets, or maybe we could help you out with something you are stuck on? We're pretty good at figuring things out.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

"Yeah! We're friends of Murkk!" Senkuviene adds.

"No no no! We want TECHNOLOGY! Computers! Tools! Maybe some UPB's!"

The long and short of it is that the goblins would like a piece of technological gear or a hybrid item worth at least 200 credits. I will go ahead and add weapons or armor to this as well. They'll also take UPB's, at least 200. You think they'll give you the electrolytic capacitor with such a trade. Creative approaches are, of course, welcome. Or, you could just fight them...

Going to offer an item in the group loot, but if anyone objects, I am fine with being ret-conned.

Oh, okay... we don't have any computers on us, but how about a good gun? We just found a really good one. What do you have to trade us?

x1 Tactical Semi-auto Pistol (each with 9 small arm rounds) [Level 1; Price 260; Hands 1; Proficiency Small Arms; Damage 1d6 P; Range 30 ft.; Critical —; Capacity 9 rounds; Usage 1; Bulk L; Special analog] ... will that work?