GM Quirk's JUNKER'S DELIGHT (Inactive)

Game Master Quirk, Private Eye

Perception: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 6 + 2 = 27

Locket's bright eyes continue scanning the opponents' groups as the racers battle on.
Suddenly, he sharply draws in a breath, strising forward several paces toward the track.

"There!" he calls to Gath, pointing at the distant ridge, where Asashla and her clan watch on. "The ikeshti are up to something!"

"Be alert! Asashla's shouting into a comms and she doesn't look happy." he announces over his own comms.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Janebok is unsure what the Ikeshti are up to but decides to continue with her original plan, to overload the other competitors communication units to subtly slow down the responsiveness of their controls.

Computers: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

So it was a 21 computers to set this up and now a 29 computers to try to activate it.

Zetara doesn't want to attack anyone directly, but if it is allowed, she will do a trick attack where she pretends to be coming in for a collision with the goblin ship and pushes them more towards the junk piles, then shoots the junk pile instead, at the spot she planned ahead of time to cause a vidgame avalanche.

Attack Roll to hit junk pile: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Damage (start avalanche): 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

For the swerving in part and trying to drive them where I want them, not sure if you just need bluff for the deception part or piloting for the near-collision as it says under the combat part of the chase stuff... (or both), so here is one of each.

Piloting: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22
Bluff: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (7) + 16 = 23

If the ruling is that I can't do it because it isn't really covered in the chase rules, totally okay with that... just trying something.

With Janebok's shenanigans in full force affecting comm signals, some of you can see Asashla hold his comm device up, struggling to check the settings. Finally, he throws it across the desert in frustration.

Zetara pulls out her pistol, shooting a pile of junk in front of the goblins. They must swerve to avoid this.

Very creative! I will rule you are possibly successful. The goblins will have to make a piloting check. Should they fail, they will have a penalty to their next piloting check at the beginning of next turn.

goblin piloting check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

The goblins take a hard bounce over some of the junk, and must hit the brakes hard.

They'll take the -2 penalty next turn.

Unfortunately, the goblin sitting in the rear seat interprets Zetara's pistol shot to be a direct attack against them! He pulls out his junk laser and takes a shot at Zetara!

junk laser shot vs. Zetara with penalty for being in moving vehicle: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 3 - 2 = 11

Miss!

We will move forward with round 3 tomorrow. Uchurtai, Zetara, and Sen may decide their actions and do their rolls now if they wish. The goblins (with their penalty) and ikeshti will do theirs tomorrow.

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

"Look! They're shooting out there now! What do we do Locket?"

Gath starts to unlimber his sniper rifle without enthusiasm.

Like Gath, I have no plan at the moment.

Could I try to shove the goblins to get them even less steady?

Next Round

Zetara sees the goblin shooting at her and yells

Sorry!

Then she reaches past Uchurtai and slams on the accelerator. She was trying to throw the goblins off balance, not get shot.

Piloting (Speed Up): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

Planning a double maneuver. If Uchurtai wants to do something for the second part, he is free to. If not, spoiler of my second move below.

Nope, I was planning on speeding up next round any way.

Sen's playlist moves to the next song as she keeps the acceleration rising!

Piloting (Speed Up): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

"YOU GOT BOOST POWER!"

"Look! They're shooting out there now! What do we do Locket?"

"I'm not sure," the pahtra replies as he looks between the racers and Asashla's gang, hand reaching for his pistol.

Then he laughs, pointing to Asashla's antics atop the ridge. "Looks like Janebok's scrambled their comms."

Holstering his pistol, he says, "Let's see how it plays out."

"Oo. I bet that makes her even madder."

Gath cradles his rifle in the crook of one arm, the barrel pointed at the ground.

goblins speed up with penalty: 1d20 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 6 - 2 = 24
ikeshti speed up with sand penalty: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 5 - 2 = 4

The Ikeshti are effectively out of the race. With a roll like that, they are stuck in the sand. The goblins, on the other hand, are doing an admirable job, despite the penalties inflicted on them. I have adjusted the zones--remember, the zones are really just a way of showing your distance relative to one another, so it doesn't really matter where you are. Generally speaking, you can only interact with another racer if they're in your zone. DURING THE CHASE PROGRESS PHASE, I move Uchurtai and Zetara into the lead, with Sen and the goblins right behind.

Now is the COMBAT PHASE.

The surly, ticked-off goblins are still looking for someone to shoot at.

to hit vs. Sen with penalty for being in vehicle: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 3 - 2 = 14

The goblins narrowly miss Sen!

You may all do an action in the combat phase. I should note that Asashla is taking his toys and going home. He is leaving the race. The two Ikeshti are attempting to push their vehicle out of the sand.

Sen swerves away from the shot.

"Wha-HEY!" she telepathically barks to the goblins. "That is NOT very sportsmanlike!" she chides as she does a spin near the goblins' vehicle and flashes her thrusters to catch them in the blast!

Zoomboard Thrusters (Python-Series Hydra Cannon): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 81d6 ⇒ 3

All it does is leave a somewhat cool-looking singe-mark on the paint-job.

The goblins scream in fear as Sen's cannon blasts at them. Perhaps they won't shoot again. But who knows--goblins are unpredictable.

Anyone else have anything to do here? I'm thinking this will go one more round. Some bold strategies have certainly paid off.

My strategy depends on whether the goblins are within 130 ft of me.

Janebok speaks into the mind of the goblin leader "Only warning shotsss have been fired ssso far. The firssst was only to trigger the avalanche. Let usss keep it that way."

Telepathic message.

Zetara is totally going to give the goblins the consolation prize of her matching fine pistols with real faux-woodgrain handles, complete with a complimentary holster! ... They can't stay mad for long, right? :)

"Ooo! I thought Sen was going to crash into the goblins there! She's really good, Locket!"

No action right now..

Oh, in case it wasn't clear, no combat for me. I don't think I can when we aren't in the same zone anyway, but only interested in slowing them and protecting myself, not killing anyone.

"Ooo! I thought Sen was going to crash into the goblins there! She's really good, Locket!"

Yes, clearly I was displaying my agility and skill by leaving a mark on the goblins' vehicle without hurting them or the vehicle itself to psych them out, and definitely didn't miss by a wide margin! It was all intentional! :P

We're in the home stretch! The goblins have run a good race, and they are attempting to finish strong!

It's time for pilot actions. The goblins are going to attempt the "speed up" maneuver.[/dice]

piloting check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

The goblins have their cycle tuned up extremely well. They shoot forward!

[ooc]Success! They immediately move on zone forward, and will move one forward later as well. Sen and Urchurtai/Zetara may do their actions.

Arrgh! They keep catching up! How do you want to play it Uchurtai? Something tricky, or just zoom out of here?

Uchurtai turns back to Zetara, revs the throttle and says, "Let's gun it."

Piloting: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Uchurtai turns back to Zetara, revs the throttle and says, "Let's gun it."

[dice=Piloting]1d20+7

Assuming this is a "speed up" maneuver, which will probably win this for you. You all have rolled quite well! Let's see where this ends up, and let Sen roll for her final maneuver.

Sure is!

"Come on, Locket, let's go meet them at the finish line!"

Gath begins to sprint toward the race's end, but then slows down to wait for the pahtra before continuing at a hurried, but more companionable, pace.

Sen, seeing the race is well in hand now but still competitive as heck, pushes her zoomboard one last time, blasting her thrusters in time to the music!

Piloting (Speed Up!): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

"YEEAAAAAAAH!" she telepathically cheers as the adrenaline reaches its peak!

Uchurtai, with Zetara in the back seat, roars toward the finish line, handily beating Sen and the goblins.

From somewhere, you all hear MUSIC.

The goblins are not without their pride. They look toward Sen, then push their cycle as hard as they can, their hope to capture second place.

Doing a couple of straight piloting checks. The high roll will take second.

pilot check, goblins: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
pilot check, Sen: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

Sen squeezes everything out of his drone, pulling ahead in the home stretch.

Bomguzzle is furious, but honors his deal. "Fine, you can have that old wreck. I'm not so sure you'll come out alive--who knows what's in there!" Turning to his fellow goblins, he says to them "let's get out of here. When we get back to camp, you two will have to take another bath!"

Uchurtai brings the cycle to a stop with a flourishing skid. He roars triumphantly, giving Zetara a hearty clap on the back, nearly knocking her off the cycle in his enthusiasm. He was a merc, sure, but first and foremost he was a Shobhad, and few things exemplified his people more than racing through the dust.

As Sen crosses second he laughs, ”Hah! Seems like bike beats zoomboard. Not that it was doubtful, of course.”

Zetara dismounts the bike, flashing a smile to Uchurtai, since smile flashing seemed to be a good thing to do with emotional sentients.

Then she gives her matching pistols to the goblins that were driving.

Good race! Here's a consolation prize. Sorry you thought I was shooting at you. Hope these lovely guns make up for the misunderstanding.

The guns were next to worthless, really, but she had talked them up before, and they might actually be worth something to a goblin, so it was probably a nice thing overall.

Running at Gath's side, Locket reaches the finish area shortly after the racers arrive.

"Nice riding," Locket says to the racers. Turning to Sen with a smirk, he adds, "Good to see that thing is useful for more than terrorising the Gateway locals."

"Yeah, that's how I met Sen." Gath is momentarily distracted, then returns to the present.

"Great racing, guys! Maybe you should get on the circuit in Downlow." Gath grabs Sen and tries to hoist the shirren unto his shoulder.

Not sure Gath's strong enough to accomplish that without help.

The goblins are not without their pride. They look toward Sen, then push their cycle as hard as they can, their hope to capture second place.

Sen squeezes everything out of HER drone, pulling ahead in the home stretch.

Bomguzzle is furious, but honors his deal. "Fine, you can have that old wreck. I'm not so sure you'll come out alive--who knows what's in there!" Turning to his fellow goblins, he says to them "let's get out of here. When we get back to camp, you two will have to take another bath!"

Sen does a jump, copters her zoomboard for style and finishes with a Frontside Skyrocker for the landing before the goblins cross the finish line.

"Hey, primo racin' there, glinties!"[b] she says as they exit their craft, offering them high-fives as they pass. [b]"Really pushed our rigs to the limit!"

Uchurtai brings the cycle to a stop with a flourishing skid. He roars triumphantly, giving Zetara a hearty clap on the back, nearly knocking her off the cycle in his enthusiasm. He was a merc, sure, but first and foremost he was a Shobhad, and few things exemplified his people more than racing through the dust.

As Sen crosses second he laughs, ”Hah! Seems like bike beats zoomboard. Not that it was doubtful, of course.”

Sen puts her hands on her thorax and leans towards Uchurtai, making a buzzing sound with her mandibles not unlike a humanoid's "raspberry."

"Just wait till next time, Bikerboy! I'll soup this plank up with some dog salvage bits and wide-bore vapor trail ya!" she says in a teasing tone.

Running at Gath's side, Locket reaches the finish area shortly after the racers arrive.

"Nice riding," Locket says to the racers. Turning to Sen with a smirk, he adds, "Good to see that thing is useful for more than terrorising the Gateway locals."

"Aw, you were rubberneckin' like the rest of them!" she says, giving Locket a jocular punch to the shoulder. "I'm just. That. Primo!"

"Yeah, that's how I met Sen." Gath is momentarily distracted, then returns to the present.

"Great racing, guys! Maybe you should get on the circuit in Downlow." Gath grabs Sen and tries to hoist the shirren unto his shoulder.

Not sure Gath's strong enough to accomplish that without help.

It probably is, Sen's pretty light!

Sen gives a little squeak as Gath lifts her up, then she laughs.

"Thanks, Old Mate!" she says. "You can scope the whole junkyard from up here!"

Gath smiles and looks around. Suddenly he realizes that Uchurtai and Zetara actually won the race. He needs to celebrate with his new friends as well as his old. He puts points to the others and puts Sen down. Then he lumbers over to the android and shobhad.

"Great race! You guys were fantastic." He knows he can't lift Uchurtai, so he settles for slapping on the shoulder in a shobhad's comradely fashion. Then he reaches for Zetara to lift her ....

"Awww," Sen says as Gath puts her down. She liked being tall. But she lets it go so Gath can make the REAL winners feel special!

While he does that, she sidles over to Murrk and Qesch.

"What do you think is gonna happen now that the two big-bosses seem more p!ssed than ever? You ain't gonna get murked when you try goin' home after this, are ya?"

Murkk and Qesch are quite pleased by how things turned out. Murkk is relieved that there were no violent deaths in this conflict. "When we find AMAZING things in that wreck, we'll lead ALL of the goblins and ikeshti in the Midzone in a peaceful consortium that welcomes all. Bomgozzle isn't my favorite goblin on Akiton, but he has his uses. That Asashla though--she has a temper. I'm not sure she'll ever make peace."

Vari-13 is also very pleased with the outcome. [b]"Soon we will know the secrets of the Stellar Flare. Let's let Murkk finish her work here, then we can decide on when to enter. I think a good meal is certainly in order why we wait." The android then breaks out more of the vac-packed bread, crackers, peanut butter, jelly, and spreadable cheese.

Zetara, having judged Gath to be especially gentle and harmless long ago, allows herself to be lifted up, signalling victory with her arms and calling out "Whoo-hoo!" in an elevated tone, because that is the expected behavior. She then pats Gath on the shoulder and says "Thanks, Gath."

Janebok moves slowly toward the finish line, limping and leaning on her staff. When she gets there, late to the celebration, she nods "Excccellent. We will be able to proccceed with our work."

Are you fully functional, Janebok? Is the limp from a recent injury?

Murkk and Qesch are quite pleased by how things turned out. Murkk is relieved that there were no violent deaths in this conflict. "When we find AMAZING things in that wreck, we'll lead ALL of the goblins and ikeshti in the Midzone in a peaceful consortium that welcomes all. Bomgozzle isn't my favorite goblin on Akiton, but he has his uses. That Asashla though--she has a temper. I'm not sure she'll ever make peace."

Vari-13 is also very pleased with the outcome. "Soon we will know the secrets of the Stellar Flare. Let's let Murkk finish her work here, then we can decide on when to enter. I think a good meal is certainly in order why we wait." The android then breaks out more of the vac-packed bread, crackers, peanut butter, jelly, and spreadable cheese.

"She needs to get laid," Sen comments. "Terminal."

She accepts some of the offered food from Vari-13 and starts assembling a sandwich.

"PB&J...I feel like a sprog again!" she says before she starts nibbling on it.

"Ohh, Food!" Gath puts Zetara back on the ground and soon fragments of Vari-13's vac-packed bread, crackers, peanut butter, jelly, and spreadable cheese are dribbleing from his mouth and oozing down his chin.

"Meals taste so much better when served with victory," Locket observes. "Thanks for the spread," he adds to Vari-13.

Glancing sidelong at Gath, the pahtra times his strikes to snatch up first crackers, then cheese, then bread, then peanut butter from between - and around - his shohbad friend's burrowing hands.

Murkk and Qesch busy themselves with the key, making minute adjustments and taking readings with other small pieces of equipment. Finally there is a low, resonating hum all around the wreck, a POP!, a ZAP!, and a flash, and the force field is down.

Murkk is so excited she can hardly contain herself. "I want to go in, but I think all of you have first salvage rights. Just save me something good...anything shiny, zappy, or pokey is good enough for me!"

Murkk, Qesch, and Vari-13 will camp out near the airlock while all of you do some initial exploration. All three are available should any of you need anything, or have any questions before you enter the Solar Flare.

There is a new map #2 that shows the airlock.

Shiny, zappy, or pokey. Got it. says Zetara as she approaches and then enters the airlock, looking around.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Locket nods. "We'll let you know if we find anything," he assures Murkk.

He joins Zetara in the airlock, inspecting the area.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Gath shoves a last handful of crackers and food-like cheese spread into his maw and follows Zetara and Locket. After a few steps he turns around. "Thanks for the food, Vari." Then he turns around again and walks to the airlock.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

As Zetara steps in, she notices the following:

Ahem. From the description in the book:

This cubical airlock measures 20 feet on each side to allow
for the movement of large cargo. Thick metal doors provide
the only exits, though the one leading from the vessel has
one demolished hinge that causes the door to hang open. The
other is sealed shut. There’s a control panel on the northern
wall, but it and the area nearby has been recently scorched.
Bits of metal and plastic lie scattered across the floor.

The scorching is likely from Murkk's key, which arced electricity when it finally worked.

...

This cubical airlock measures 20 feet on each side to allow
for the movement of large cargo and shobhads. ...

Fixed that for you.

Gath puts his shoulder to the hanging door and tries to push it open wider.

Are you fully functional, Janebok? Is the limp from a recent injury?

Janebok shakes her head. "Not injured. I hatched in a low gravity ssstation. High gravity is a chronic problem."

Zetara examines the control panel to see if there is a way to access, or override it.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

One of her processors must be malfunctioning though, because the whole thing just looks like an unintelligible jumble to her.

The door is sealed, but there is a control panel in here that might get it open.

She touches the door to see if it is motion-activated, but other than that, she waits to see if someone else wants to try.