GM Badblood's Rat's Repentance (Starfinder #3-19; Tier 1-4, Quest, Repeatable, Vehicle) (Inactive)

Game Master Lance K

As George cannot fly he decides to land on the eastern coast.

Considering the new information about the position of the coral pools I have changed my character's starting position. :)

"I am sure that there is a lot to explore here and possibly some danger as well so everyone be careful."

"Octavii, you can fly and that I think is going to be very useful here."

Rattus and Max are riding together in one of the buggies and the rest of the team is in the other. Rattus notices that the buggy may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts.

Rattus nods as the buggy hums along.

"This thing isn't too bad! I might have to get one!"

Max shrugs at Rattus' comment. "Eh, not bad I guess if you have a need for one," he says, his eyes continually scanning the area. When they reach their destination, he offers his rope to help lower the group but accepts to use Dawnfriend's cable.

Octavii takes some of the compound, flies down and over the indicated rock pools, drops the compound in, then circles the rock pool to see what happens

All the coral pieces in the pool grow into what looks like identically sized and shaped stalks within minutes of Octavii dropping the hypernutrients in.

George 09-23 ponders where Datch hid her code.

"Perhaps we were too literal when we thought that the coral would spell out the code. Maybe if we look at a slice of the coral under magnification the code will become apparent."

"Otherwise, X marks the spot and there is a clue at this location and the coral pool is simply a marker."

George 09-23 turns to the party's only flyer.

"Octavii, could you break off a piece of the coral? I would love to examine it once we get back. I am sure that the professor will have all the equipment that we need back at his lab."

@GM Badblood - Would the Life Science skill give my character any clue at how to proceed beyond this obvious step? I am hardly a Biologist myself. :)

That's the problem .... I'm not sure I can reach down enough. I daren't get my wings wet

He does take pictures of the phenomena.

I guess that the shape the coral has taken fits some sort of lock ... or something. I don't think I can describe it in musical terms

He ponders a bit more.

I might be able to hook it with my cello bow but ... I'm not sure I can break it or lift it

Liftt ensures that he takes a really good photo of the coral.

"What about the arrangement of the coral. Each piece is identical, but how they combine? Can you see anything from the air?"

No one can really get a good look at the coral from where they are currently positioned.

Have moved Octavii to his current location

"Alright. I think it is time to move a bit closer so we can see what is going on."

George 09-23 moves when the others are ready.

I moved his icon on the map but I am assuming that we will all be moving down together.

With the cable attached, Dawnfriend helps hold it for people as they climb down, then follows them. He slips and slides a bit, not being particularly athletic, but eventually makes it to the bottom. "What have we got here?" He looks into the basin.

There's a geyser of slimy fluid as purple tentacles erupt from a mass of coral. One of the tentacles swings at Dawnfriend and covers him in a sticky sludge that begins to eat through his armor and burn his furry skin.

Tentacle, vs EAC: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23
Acid: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Surprise Round - 1 move or standard action
Monster
Dawnfriend -10
George
Octavii

Octavii fires his Solar Ray at the creature.
sr: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22 cold: 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6 PA=1

George 09-23 tries to recall what this creatures is before taking any actions.

Life Science: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

@GM Badblood - If possible I would like to know the reach of these tentacles and how many attacks this creature has on a typical (non-surprise round). :)

Monsters have the same number of attacks you do generally. Normally large creatures have 10 ft reach but there are always exceptions.

The creature is a ghelarn, a non-native invasive species. They secrete a sticky liquid in a wide radius around their bodies which can entangle and immobilize their prey.

Octavii blasts the ghelarn with a cold ray, freezing one of the thrashing tentacles.

Dawnfriend shrieks, then whacks at the tentacled creature with his battle staff. "Stop it! Stop it!"

Battle staff: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
Battle staff damage(bludgeoning): 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

George does not relish the prospect of being glued down by this tentacled monstrosity. He takes a chance and tries to put some distance between himself and the monster.

Move action which will likely provoke an attack of opportunity.

Dawnfriend smashes apart the coral surrounding the ghelarn, leaving a mass of quivering tentacles. The wounded animal does swipe at George with a tendril as he retreats away. On the other hand, because they stayed near the creature, Dawnfriend finds his feet sticking to the slime all over the ground near the creature.

Tendril: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29
Acid: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Three more of the creatures burst out of hiding!

One scrambles towards the action, while the one fighting Dawnfriend continues to swing at him and hits with both tendrils.

Tendril: 1d20 + 10 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 10 - 4 = 18
Acid: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Tendril: 1d20 + 10 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 10 - 4 = 20
Acid: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Round 1
Green Ghelarn
Black Ghelarn -13
Dawnfriend -24 St, -3 Hp, Reflex DC 11 or entangled
Purple Ghelarn
Max
George -7
Rattus
Lifft
Cyan Ghelarn
Octavii

Reflex save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

Dawnfriend continues to whack intently the one that's attacking him.

Full attack
Battle staff attack 1 vs. black's KAC: 1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (8) + 3 - 4 = 7
Battle staff damage (B): 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Battle staff attack 2 vs. black's KAC: 1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 3 - 4 = 4
Battle staff damage (B): 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Dawnfriend swings his weapon at the monster but fails to land a solid blow. The skittermander continues to fight in the slime and starts feeling his feet stick to the ground.

The reflex save is every time you end your turn in the slime that these things produce. Those that can fly are able to avoid it, but they should state how high up they are flying and make Acrobatics checks when required.

Another Ghelarn slithers up to Octavii and lashes out with an acidic tendril, leaving some corrosive slime on his suit.

Vs EAC: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22
Acid: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Round 1
Green Ghelarn
Black Ghelarn -13
Dawnfriend -24 St, -3 Hp, need another Reflex
Purple Ghelarn
Max
George -7
Rattus
Lifft
Cyan Ghelarn
Octavii -8

George 09-23 sees another three pop up as if one was not bad enough.

"Concentrate on the damaged one. We need to take them down one at a time."

George launches a trio of missiles into black.

Magic Missile: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (2, 4, 3) + 3 = 12

at black

Rattus fires his auto pistol at the creature.

attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

"Will do!"

Antennae twitching in worry, Lift aims his laser and fires twice in quick succession at the mass in black.

attack vs EAC, full attack: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 7 - 2 = 16
F damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4
attack vs EAC, full attack: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (5) + 7 - 2 = 10

Seeing the creature come out of the coral and attack, Max moves closer to assist.

Trick attack (stealth): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18 (DC 20 + target's CR) Success = Extra damage and flat-footed
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 8

Ranged attack vs EAC (black)(static arc pistol): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
Damage (E): 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Crit Damage (E): 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

The creature collapses as George's magic missiles strike it in unison. With that creature defeated, the other Starfinders direct their attacks at a monster that came bursting out of a cluster of bright green coral. Despite firing past his optimal range, Rattus manages to get a direct hit. Lifft follows up with a blast that melts away some of the ghelarn's slimy flesh. Finally, Max sends a bolt of energy that arcs throughout the creature's slimy body, causing the tentacles to begin smoking. Despite the damage that it took, the ghelarn is still alive and it looks angry!

Full attacking is a -4, unless you have something that changes that. Also, note the range on your weapons. Rattus had a -2 to hit either adjacent foe, although he did roll well enough to hit anyways.

Another large aberration slithers towards the group, its slimy tentacles quivering and spreading acidic slime around its disgusting body.

Round 1
Green Ghelarn -22
Dawnfriend -24 St, -3 Hp, need another Reflex
Purple Ghelarn
Max
George -7
Rattus
Lifft
Cyan Ghelarn
Octavii -8

Octavii flies away from Purple, arcs around, then fires his Solar Flare at Purple.

sr: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10 cold: 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7 PA=2

The ghelarn takes a swipe at Octavii as he flies away. Octavii fires a shot at the monster but misses.

AoO Vs. EAC: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
Acid: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

I believe that actually hits, +1 EAC from armor, and +1 EAC from DEX.
Also, how high up is Octavii flying? Just five feet off the ground?

The green Ghelarn charges towards Dawnfriend, its massive body gaining speed as it reaches out towards him with a devouring tentacle. Luckily for him, the monster gets one of its tentacles stuck in a cluster of coral and gives Dawnfriend the opportunity to dodge out of the way before the tendril comes down on him.

Charge Attack Vs. EAC: 1d20 + 10 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 10 - 2 = 11
Acid: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Round 2
Green Ghelarn -22
Dawnfriend -24 St, -3 Hp, need another Reflex (from last round)
Purple Ghelarn
Max
George -7
Rattus
Lifft
Cyan Ghelarn
Octavii -18

Someone messed up the map. I noticed that my icon was shifted two squares down on the map as were all the other icons. I shifted all of them (including the bloom markers and monsters) back to what I think is their correct positions. Have a look to see if your token is in the right position. :)

@Octavii - Generally when I play a flying character I generally include an elevation icon next to it on the map. I use the Word Art (under the Insert tab) and write it out (say +10 feet or simply +10). There must be other ways to do it but that has always served me well in the past.

Dctavii's weapon range is 60ft and he is trying to stay outside their attack range. He's at a 10ft altitude at the moment and will be climbing to 15ft next round

Reflex save (from last round): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
With that failure, I think green's attack would just barely succeed (as opposed to just barely miss), and so I'm at -11 HP.

Dawfriend lifts three of his hands, which begin to glow with an orange fire. Two hands hold firm on the battle staff, ready to whack again if needed. With his final hand, he draws his static arc pistol to be at the ready.

The glow from his hands spreads a healing warmth through this body.

Move action: Draw pistol. Standard action: Cast mystic cure on self

mystic cure healing: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

Dawnfriend, are you aware that spell casting provokes?

Large creatures normally have 10 foot reach, and I'm 15 feet away along the diagonal, so I thought I was safe. If this is an exception, then I misjudged and am fine triggering the AoO.

Yes, there was an old rule in Pathfinder that reach weapons didn't threaten the second diagonal. They actually changed that five or six years ago though, and it never worked that way in Starfinder, so it does threaten.
I'm not going to count that previous attack as hitting you though, as I missed that and you were good enough to point it out.

Dawnfriend begins casting a spell, but misjudges how far the ghelarn's tentacle can reach and loses the spell as the tendril strikes him. The ghelarn continues spewing more of the sticky slime, which

AoO, vs EAC: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21
Acid: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

The entangle effect continues indefinitely, but players can spend a move action to make a Reflex save to wipe the slime off. They also need to make an additional Reflex save after failing the first one if they continue standing within 10 feet of the creatures.

The monster in the purple shell slithers towards Octavii and swings a tentacle at him.

Tendril, vs EAC: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24
Acid: 1d4 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Round 2
Green Ghelarn -22
Dawnfriend -24 St, -12 Hp, Entangled, needs additional Reflex save
Purple Ghelarn
Max
George -7
Rattus
Lifft
Cyan Ghelarn
Octavii -25 St

Lift continues to drain his battery as fast as he can, sending bolt after bolt of energy into the green Ghelarn.

attack,full attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
F damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2

attack,full attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
F damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1

Rattus fires at the one near Dawn and moves near Max.

"Hang on Dawnfriend!"

green

attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Round 2
Green Ghelarn -22
Dawnfriend -24 St, -12 Hp, Entangled, needs additional Reflex save

if it's ok, I'll use Watch your step to give Dawnfriend a +2

George scans the battlefield after the last volley of attacks. He then launches a missile at the heavily wounded Ghelarn (Green) and two more at the fresh Ghelarn (Purple) who is engaged with Octavii.

Magic Missile vs Green: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Magic Missile vs Purple: 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (3, 2) + 2 = 7

@GM Badblood - Please move the one Magic Missile vs Green over to Purple if Green is already down. :)

Sorry, I've been a little sparse on details because of how busy things have been. We went on vacation and then the whole family ending up being sick right afterwards, so I've been a bit preoccupied.

Dawnfriend, on second thought, forget about that second Reflex save. The ghelarn's entrapping sludge is a 10 ft. emanation, and I don't think it hits the second diagonal.

I'll give you a little more information from that Life Science check earlier. Ghelarns are aberrations and they are an invasive species. They are predatory creatures with an animal-like level of intellect. They have an entrapping slime ability, with they use to immobilize prey. They spew the slime in a ten foot radius around their body and anyone ending their turn standing in an effected square can be affected. Initially it entangles their prey but can completely immobilize their prey if they continue standing in it. The team has seen that these creatures need this ability because they move kind of slow.

Lifft knicks the green ghelarn with his second shot. Rattus moves towards Max then fires a round off, but it bounces off the rock hard coral the creature has around its body. George then lets loose with a barrage of missiles. The green ghelarn lets out a high pitched shriek as it takes a fatal blow from a missile.

Round 2
Dawnfriend -24 St, -12 Hp, Entangled
Purple Ghelarn -7
Max
George -7
Rattus
Lifft
Cyan Ghelarn
Octavii -25 St

Did Octavii get skipped?

If so:

Octavii, taking the hit and looking rather battered, spirals up to 15 feet as well as moving five feet away from the creature (Purple), before firing his solar ray.
sr: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20 cold: 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8 PA=3

Did Dawnfriend get skipped too?

Nope. You are at the bottom of the round 2. Octavii moved and fired a shot in the first round.

Save that for next time then

With only one target left, Max takes a few steps closer and fires.

Trick attack (stealth): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32 (DC 20 + target's CR) Success = Extra damage and flat-footed
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 7

Ranged attack vs EAC (static arc pistol): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Damage (E): 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

There are actually two targets but only one logical target for now and that would be purple. :)

Max sneaks around to the creature's side and gets a shot that gets it in the softest, most vulnerable looking part on its monstrous body. There is a foul stench as the electricity burns its slimy body. The farthest ghelarn slithers towards the team as fast as its tentacles body can carry it, but still doesn't get close enough to strike at any of its prey.

Octavii flies away from the creature and fires a ray of cold at the monster. The attack shatters the coral and kills the tentacle covered horror.

Round 3 - Time to mop up!
Dawnfriend -24 St, -12 Hp, Entangled
Max
George -7
Rattus
Lifft
Cyan Ghelarn
Octavii -25 St

Liftt watches the depressingly depressed state on his guns battery and continues to fire, hoping to finish off the last of the Gelarn's

attack vs EAC: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 7 - 4 = 10
attack vs EAC: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (4) + 7 - 4 = 7

But he does little more than add sound effects.

Rattus moves and fires at the last one.

"These things are tough!"

attack auto pistol: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

+2 to Dawnfriend on Reflex if needed

George 09-23 lets loose another volley of missiles.

Magic Missile: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (4, 2, 4) + 3 = 13

Dawnfriend's three free arms begin flying across his body in an attempt to clear himself from the slime that coats him.

Move action: Clear slime for Reflex save.
Reflex save: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 + 2 = 24

While about half of his arms clean his fur, the arm holding the pistol fires a shot off toward the remaining ghelarn.

Static arc pistol attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21
Statis arc pistol damage (E, nonlethal): 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

"Fortunately, we've been able to concentrate our fire. Let's finish this last one off so we can figure out what Datch left for us here," Max says as he turns to face the last creature. Hoping to draw it away from Dawnfriend, he moves back towards the vehicles before firing.

Trick attack (stealth): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15 (DC 20 + target's CR) Success = Extra damage and flat-footed
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 7

Ranged attack vs EAC (static arc pistol): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Damage (E): 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4