GM Jhaeman's "Dawn of Flame, Chapter Four: The Blind City"

Game Master Jhaeman

We also have 10k worth of crafting materials

Will our Hover Truck fit in the Sun Diver? The truck has its' own expansion bay, could be useful to take with us to the dark city. Mobile base. If not then maybe we convert to last storage bay on the ship into a medbay?

@Xylian: I think the Hover Truck is too big to fit into the ship's cargo bay. The truck is Gargantuan, while the cargo bay can only take stuff up to size Large. (I vaguely recall a lot of discussion in the general Starfinder threads about starship cargo space being incredibly small given the dimensions of the ships . . .)

Hani would like to stay ahead of the curve with his armor. I think for the moment, he's in a pretty good place.

Xylian, can you craft a weapon for Jin? We don't have enough in crafting materials, but that plus the cash we just distributed should do it. ... Still won't be able to do all 3 things that he wants, but I think the weapon was the big one.

As to fitting something inside the ship... we also have a motorcycle and an urban cruiser. Will one or both of those fit?

@Zharis: Yes, either the enercycle or the urban cruiser would fit (they're each size Large vehicles).

So our build point for the ship are 192 + 12 = 204? According to Jin's ship thingy website, we're at 161 BP. Quite a lot of room to upgrade. I should have some time today to look at ship stuffs.

Sounds good to me.

Add a karaoke bar!

I guess maybe we should just divide up at least part of the money so people can invest in what they want. If we give everyone 2,500 credits, then we'll still have 4,000 for the Brightlight projector and 20 MK1 serums.

Thoughts?

Sounds good.

I want to make sure you folks have the time you need to get your ship outfitted and buy the equipment you want, but I'm always excited to see what's next in your adventuring. I'd suggest trying to finalise things over the long weekend so that you can hurl yourselves into the sun once again (!) starting early next week.

It may be wise to just divide up the money.

I'm not sure how much Hani will spend at this point. so I may be able to make a loan to someone who's ready for a major upgrade.

I'll probably try to upgrade armor next time there's a windfall.

Okay, I already divided up the money except for the money we need for the brightlight projector and the serums, which are both things that will help the party for this trip. I was waiting for people to use the crafting stuff along with the money we just got (2,500 each), and was also hoping someone else would address the shipbuilding part, but if not on both of those, maybe it is time to just head out.

Ok so looking at the Sun Diver, it looks like Jin already got us the best light weapons there are.

I upgraded the Power Core, Thrusters, Armor, Shields, and Computer. Added Ablative Armor.

I spent 203 out of 204 BP, but I'm open to other things if there's anything cool yall know of that we can add to the ship. Would it be better to reduce the defensive upgrades to change the Flak Throwers to Chain Cannons? There's also the Consciousness Uplink Drive, which I believe would allow anyone with a Datajack (only Xylian, I think?) to take an extra action in combat. Xylian could fly and operate one of the guns if we need yet more firepower.

I'm... actually not sure how to link to the edited updated Sun Diver on Hephaistos... but here's the statblock.

Small Light Freighter
Speed 12; Maneuverability Good (Turn 1); Drift 1
AC 26; TL 21
HP 50; DT -; CT 10
Shield Heavy Shields 420 (Forward 105, Port 105, Starboard 105, Aft 105)
Attack (Forward) Linked Chain Cannon (12d4; 5 hexes)
Attack (Port) Flak Thrower (3d4; 5 hexes)
Attack (Starboard) Flak Thrower (3d4; 5 hexes)
Attack (Aft) Flak Thrower (3d4; 5 hexes)
Attack (Turret) Light Spore Torpedo Launcher (3d6; 10 hexes)
Power Core Pulse Orange (250 PCU); Drift Engine Drift Engine (Signal Basic); Systems Advanced Long-Range, Basic Ablative Armor, Crew Quarters (Luxurious), Mk 2 Trinode Computer, Mk 4 Defenses, Mk 8 Armor, S12 Thrusters; Expansion Bays Cargo Hold, Science Lab, Tech Workshop; Modifiers +2 to any 3 checks per round, +4 Computers (sensors only); Complement 0 (Minimum 1, Maximum 6)

CREW

Captain (Zharis)Acrobatics +10 (2 ranks), Athletics +7 (2 ranks), Bluff +16, Computers +12 (7 ranks), Diplomacy +15, Engineering +16 (7 ranks), Mysticism +5 (1 ranks), Piloting +7 (1 ranks), gunnery +8 (7th level)
Engineer (Hani Makoa)Computers +15 (5 ranks), Engineering +18 (5 ranks), Piloting +7 (3 ranks), gunnery +7 (7th level)
Gunner (Jin Goei)Acrobatics +12 (7 ranks), Athletics +15 (7 ranks), Piloting +6 (1 ranks), gunnery +9 (7th level)
Gunner (Tulgram Coldforge)Bluff -1, Computers +4 (1 ranks), Diplomacy -1, Engineering +4 (1 ranks), Piloting +1, gunnery +6 (7th level)
Pilot (Xylian Xuuvats)Athletics +4 (1 ranks), Computers +17 (7 ranks), Engineering +16 (7 ranks), Piloting +11 (7 ranks), gunnery +11 (7th level)

Engineering vs DC 25 to avoid damage: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25

As for crafting for Jin: the weapon he wants is lvl 9 and Xylian can only craft up to level 8 =(
If we level up in the dark city, he'll be able to craft one then!

Thank you Xylian!

Jin also wanted a MK2 personal upgrade... can you make one of those?

Other than that, I think we are ready to move forward. I don't think selling our extra stuff at this point will change much, since Starfinder sales are for 10% of worth, so unless anyone wants to buy anything before we leave, we're good for now.

Actually, with regard to Adamantine Weapons, which Jin also suggested... DM, am I allowed to get Adamantine plating for my claws? That seems like it would be a good investment for the money I just got, since it allows us to ignore hardness up to 30, and we've run into that problem many times.

(Moved some items we aren't selling to the storage tab on the loot sheet.)

also, looks like we have more UPBs listed on the storage tab, so I think we have double what we thought.

Also, Hani, can you repair the Elite Deckhand Drone that we found? (see loot sheet)... that might help if we get into a space battle. I'm happy to aid, but I think you have the highest Engineering bonus, and thus the best chance at it.

@Xylian: Thanks for doing the ship!

@Jin: Can you adjust things so the ship link takes us to Xylian's modifications?

@Zharis: Sorry, I don't know off-hand of anything like plating for natural weapons. (someone may be able to correct me--there's a lot of stuff out there now!)

@Everyone: Sounds like you're almost there! Please make all necessary adjustments to your respective sheets, and we'll get going in Gameplay again in 36 hours.

@Jin: Can you adjust things so the ship link takes us to Xylian's modifications?

It's been updated - also upgraded PC stats on the crew tab.

Thanks Jin!

Have we arrive arrived or is it still a travel away?

You're pretty much there--but it's not too late to turn back :)

How do temporary Hit Points work in SF? Should I spend them before Stamina of before regular HP?

You take them right off the top, before deducting any excess from stamina points (and then regular hit points once stamina points are gone).

Darkness and light are a particularly important part of this particular adventure (as Otlo warned), and we need to track it as precisely as possible for . . . reasons. I know there are ways to add a transparent light effect in Google Slides that sticks with a character token, but I don't know how it's done. Do any of you happen to know?

I did it for Xylian and Zharis who have the light coming from their armor... let me know if you want Xylian's to be a different color because it beats magical darkness as well or something.

(Also, let me know if you want me to explain how, or if you just wanted it done.)

Xylian will have the Brightlight Projector set up as 50' radius and the normal Light Projector set up as 100' cone.

@Zharis: Awesome, thanks! Yes, if explaining isn't too much trouble, I could use an upgrade to my PBB GMing skills :)

Xylian... you have an additional light projector, or are you talking about the one on my armor?

GM... cool. At work, but will write out instructions after.

Zharis, cool auras ) Btw, I didn't say, but I really liked how you solved the problem with that warship. A real rogue trader! )

Xylian... you have an additional light projector

Correct.

Okay, so to make the see-through shape, you make the shape, then choose fill color, then add a custom color (using the little plus sign), and that should have two sliders on it, one for the color and one for how opaque/transparent it is. Slide it until you can see through it to the degree that you want to, then click OK.

To attach it to one of the people, make the shape first, then right click on all the people and select "bring to front" so that they are in front of the giant shape rather than behind. Then you can move the circle behind the character you want to attach it to... it should give you some guide lines to show when you have it in the middle, or you can adjust it with Arrange > Align after they are both selected. Then click the circle, and shift-click the person so they are both highlighted, and choose Arrange > Group. That will make them move together.

Added the 100-foot cone of light as well, but wasn't sure how wide to make it. The end is 40 feet wide in the one that is on there, but if anyone finds what size a 100-foot cone is actually supposed to be, I can change it.

@Zharis: Many thanks! I've saved those instructions.

Note: I made the giant circles much larger because I think I screwed up the first time... they are a 50 foot radius, not 50 feet total... which makes me think that the 100 foot cone should be larger too, but honestly not sure how wide to make it, so leaving it. Just be aware that whatever Xylian is looking at, up to 100 feet, is also going to be clearly in the light.

At least we're still near the ship so when we're done here we can fly out to the nearest hospital to heal.

Hello everyone!

I'm going away for two weeks, and I'll be without internet at all. This is a yoga and meditation retreat with complete disconnection from the outside world. I will be in touch from May 15, I will start playing from about the 16th. I tried to reduce the number of games to a minimum (without starting to play new oneshots for some time), with such an eye that after returning I only needed to read a couple of hundred posts, and not around a thousand, as it could be with my usual 15+ games at the same time. So I think I'll switch back on quickly!

Don't lose me, I will definitely come back and continue playing!

PS Feel free to bot Tulgram. Formulas, as always, are in his character sheet. He will always identify a new creature and then beat it in the same way as he can't hit the target during this fight .)

PPS It's a bit of a pity that my journey coincides with such an interesting moment in our game, because I adore Lovecraft's horrors in Paiso games... but I hope you haven't finished everything in this book by the time I get back.

Space dwarves do yoga?

No worries Tulgram--at the pace of PBP, there'll still be plenty of adventure left. Have fun!

@everyone: An early heads-up that I'm also going to be away for a week at the end of May without Internet (a wilderness survival/remote first-aid course).

I wonder if not having a caster is gonna start to hurt us. We all just kinda smack things.

While were at it, I'll be away May 6-11 celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary with a little vacation.

I'll try to make sure my bot instructions are updated.

Xylian contemplates, briefly, using his fire extinguisher on one of the fire skeletons.

How doth the shamblers, weakest of beans, hit Xylian, highest of ACs?
Fort 1: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Robofist 1 vs KAC: 1d20 + 8 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 8 + 2 - 4 = 26
P Damage 1: 1d10 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 10 + 2 = 22

Robofist 2 vs KAC: 1d20 + 8 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 8 + 2 - 4 = 11
P Damage 2: 1d10 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 10 + 2 = 16

Experience Points (Instalment # 27)

Are the fire skeles still burning out there or is the purple flames gone

I think once they're destroyed, they stop burning.

Science is foiled again.

Does repairing the hull take long enough for a long rest?

Had to do a bit of research on this one! It looks like PCs doing hull damage repairs on their own takes 5 hours, which can be reduced with successful Engineering checks. So not quite long enough for a long rest.

Hey guys! I'm back, I've dealt with most of the most vital things that have accumulated over the two weeks of my absence, and I'm going back to the games (by the way, the retreat was amazing!). As I expected, there are several hundred messages waiting for me on the forum, which I will read smoothly. The deadline for returning to absolutely all games is Saturday. I hug everyone! See you in gameplay thread .)

Returned to civilisation, will get things started again in about 24 hours.