[SFS] 5-12 Envar's Expeditions (Inactive)

Game Master Kludde

reflex: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

Liftt is more than happy to also lend a hand, supporting a table when an especially strong tremor strikes the cook-off.

reflex(aid): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Tarrakk tries to get the timing right, and with the right pointers of Delea and Celly he just manages to pull outu the wing before it is completely burnt.

The crowd roars what a feat, perfectly browned with not a single bit of black. Too bad the batter was runny, otherwise this would have been the perfect wing!

As it turns out, there was a single team that did manage to get the batter right, which means the starfinders come in in a very respectable second place, for which the prize is a clean spindle aeon stone.

In the conclusion of the contest, there is some room to look around the island. There is still no sign of Envar, but there is another data tag with a recording:

As the hologram activates, a lashunta man with a chef’s hat perched jauntily on his head waves cheerfully. “Hello hey, Envies and newbies alike! You’ve earned a sneak preview of a new episode of Envar’s Expeditions, featuring sunny Pakahano! Now, plebian tourists might think the City of Veils’ illusions are all this place has to offer, but the beaches here are way better than some fake holo-adventure. Check out my channel to see thrilling lava-hopping adventures, culminating in a special surprise crossover with another hit program!” He winks at the camera. “Don’t miss it!

Pakahano success! Only two more place to visit...

Celestia studies the holovid after doing a quick swim in the water.

What's this. Extreme Survival crossed with Iron Chef ... I'm fairly sure Zo!'s done that too.

She winks over to Tanila. I suppose we should find our way off this island and back to the ship. Where to next?

Liftt looks longingly back to the tropical bbq.

"Well, that was a nice break. Not often we get to relax while on the Starfinders clock!"

Jancrest nods approvingly. "While I'd normally prefer to go to Vartuarn over Vesk, I suspect we will need to peace of Varuarn after a trip to Vesk-4."

Liftt nods, while chewing on a battered wing. "Yes, of course. Vesk-4!"

Vesk-4? Isn't that the skittermander planet?

Sorry, was overwhelmed by work...

Vesk-4, says the Hellknight, who has been staring at the lava as if hypnotized all this time.

The Veskarium... needless to say, this is where the Vesk come from. As Celly notes, ones of the planets is also home to the helpful skittermander race - unfortunately, that would be one planet closer to the sun.

The data tag coordinates lead to an island called 'spinebreaker', so called because of the tall volcanic mountain range on it. The spaceship can land on a small port on the coast, reaching the base camp of the mountain climb (as it indeed seems Envar attempted the ascent) takes an hour by shuttle.

An immense mountain peak towers over the clusters of colorful tents and wooden shop stalls at its base, its tip vanishing into the clouds. The shop proprietors call out to passersby, advertising a variety of wares from climbing gear to hot chocolate, and a photo booth is positioned to allow visitors to take their picture in front of Spinebreaker.

A friendly reminder that climbing kits cost 10 credits and provide a +4 bonus on climb (athletics) checks

Oh, my my a female vesk, followed by a mechanical drone exclaims as she sees the group Look what the pahtra dragged in. [b]Sir Clifton she commands the drone start filming! The drone raises a camera and holds the Vesk (and the group in a steady shot.

Your Princess of Peaks Jiana here! Looks like we have a follow-up of last week's celebrity cameo. Remember Envar's appearance last week? Well, peak-lovers - and to new-joining Envies: hi! Thanks for joining a real channel. Let's see what these newbies have in store, and if they are anything but new corpses for the mountainside...

Celestia is actually relieved the skittermanders are on Vesk-3, not Vesk-4, which makes her wonder, is this the planet where she had encountered those magnetic sensing worms on an earlier trip? ((Into the Veskarium))

This time, she's not showing off. Now she's in her basic defrex hide armour which covers everything up but still cut to show off her curves. She also spends the credits for a climbing kit. The only reaction she gives to this Jianna is a raised eyebrow as she holds her hot chocolate.

Delea looks rather unhappy at the idea of needing to climb, but does purchase a kit. Being a bit overwhelmed by Jianna's personality, she stays quiet, hoping someone else will answer.

Tarrakk glares at the vesk wordlessly as he picks up a climbing kit from the store.

GM, any chance Tarrakk can use Profession: Wilderness Guide instead of athletics to climb?

"Why climb when we have a perfectly good shuttle... and chutes?" muses Liftt. But he too engages with the well-to-do vendor-of-important-climbing-gear.

Jancrest eyes up the mountain suspiciously. Then she heads off to talk with Jiana. "Well, princess.. have you been up to the top of Spinebreaker? Got any hints for us?"
diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

I think it's a matter of honour ... at least that would be how I believe the Vesk would see it. Celestia says quietly to Liftt Anything else would be classed as ... erm ... cheating

She then follows Jancrest to see what Jiana has to say and to back up her fellow counsellor.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19

Tanila purchases a climbing kit.

and +1 climbing kit for me

K'ssatak-Sul remains silent and it is impossible to understand any emotions behind the mask.

Jancrest eyes up the mountain suspiciously. Then she heads off to talk with Jiana. "Well, princess.. have you been up to the top of Spinebreaker? Got any hints for us?"

Hints, hah! At least you admit you don't know what you're doing, unlike that null-brain Envar. Say hi to his corpse from me, if you're still daft enough to take the ascent. It's pros only here, so if I need to give you a tip, just go home! She does a double-take to the camera, which Sir Clifton is still rolling.

With that, she starts livestreaming some trivia questions, checking in every now and then to harass the group, putting them in as bad a light as possible.

At this point, you can try and attempt the ascent, or try to knock down the princess a peg. For the latter, I need a Bluff check to throw her off her game, a Culture check to recall climbing history, or Physical Science check to know mountain geology

To climb, athletics checks are needed, and I need three successes to advance a segment. Instead, it is possible to replace an athletics check to aid another adventurer, using Perception, Survival, Physical Science or an appropriate Profession Check (of which Wilderness guide is one). For a successful check you can assign a +2 to another character.

Celestia looks up at the towering mountain. Yes, she remembered Vesk 4, where the gravity was three times station normal. This wasn't going to be easy. Still ...

culture: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29

Delea helps someone else who is climbing by trying to point out some good handholds.

auto succeed at aid another using survival

Is anyone good at athletics? GM, just to be clear, is athletics the only primary skill, or are there others (even at a higher DC)?

Jancrest looks suitably unimpressed with the princess. Making sure she is on the livefeed she comments loudly to Celly.

"A true professional would offer advice if they knew it. Only someone lacking in self confidence would act like that."

bluff: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21

While Jancrest stays to deal with the cameras, Liftt - still buzzing from the chut-jump a planet back is keen to show off his stuff. Surely he wouldn't normally be quite so show-offy?

athletics, kit: 1d20 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 7 + 4 = 21 GM pile on the aids!

Celly actually recalls a thing or two about the Spinebreaker peak, such at the risk for altitude sickness, the three-stage approach and the need to be aware of sudden volcanic eruptions. Showcasing this knowledge actually seems to unbalance the Princess of Peaks somewhat, and she throws an utterly embarassing temper tantrum right on the live feed, causing a terrible disturbance in the infosphere, as if a million viewers unsubscribed at once. So cringe.

Lifft begins with making good progress. Aided by Delea, he manages to set a trail across the lower parts of the ascent.

Yeah, athletics is the only check... it can be used untrained, and there's a +4 to be had with the climbing kit, plus aid anothers. DC is 23 (!), DC for aiding with checks is 20 (so it's not a pure aid another, but a skill check that gives +2 if successful). Also, failing the climb check does not come with a risk of falling.

Tarrakk will aid Liftt's athletics checks with survival. Tarrakk has +18 to survival, so he will aid on a 2 or higher.

Survival aid: 6d20 ⇒ (17, 2, 12, 16, 1, 2) = 50

Tarrakk is a master of survival, and makes finding the right path up that much easier.

Still need two more climb successes. I've set up a tracker to spot progress

---
Total climb successes: 1
---
---{Climb round 1}--
Delea - Aid success (Lifft +2)
Lifft - Climb success (1/3 needed)
Tarrakk - Aid success (Lifft +2 -> can divert to someone else?)
Celly
Tanila
K'ssatak-Sul
---{Climb round 2}--
Delea
Lifft
Tarrakk - Aid success (Lifft +2)
Celly
Tanila
K'ssatak-Sul
---

AFter making the first part of the asscent, Liftt gathers his thoughts and checks his equipment.

Listening to the advice provided by others, he starts to plot the next stage of the route...

athletics, kit: 1d20 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 7 + 4 = 30
"That princess was not as tough as she thought... or maybe she never thought of this route!"

Celestia was feeling a bit vindictive so, as soon as she could, Celestia got hold of her techie hireling and asked her to find a recording of that outburst and put it on a repeating loop for her personal enjoyment and passing around her friends.

And if she gives us any further trouble, I'm putting it on the infosphere

She then sighs, shoulders her backpack and begins the ascent.

athletics: 1d20 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 4 = 15
athletics: 1d20 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 + 4 = 10

K'ssatak-Sul helps to choose the right places to drive the hooks and generally choose the right route.
Aid by Perception both rounds:

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

Too late you remember that embri are shellfish and their world is dominated by underwater life...

Climb: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
climb: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Kit included

would casting spider climb count as cheating?

Yes, you can use spider climb - it will give you a climb speed to another +4 to the athletics (so +8 if you have a climbing kit). It isn't considered cheating.

Celly attempts to follow Lifft, but does not display the same climbing agility as the Shirren.

Lifft climb on, making sure the group comes along, and with his progress they've almost made it across the lower parts of the slope.

One more success needed to get to the upper part. I've added two more round, so go ahead and roll

---{Climb round 1}--
Delea - Aid success (Lifft +2)
Lifft - Climb success (1/3 needed)
Tarrakk - Aid success (Lifft +2 -> can divert to someone else?)
Celly - Climb fail
Tanila - Climb fail
K'ssatak-Sul
---{Climb round 2}--
Delea
Lifft - Climb success
Tarrakk - Aid success (Lifft +2)
Celly - Climb fail
Tanila - Climn fail
K'ssatak-Sul
---(Round 3)---
Delea
Lifft
Tarrakk - Aid success
Celly
Tanila
K'ssatak-Sul
---(round 4)
Delea
Lifft
Tarrakk - Aid success
Celly
Tanila
K'ssatak-Sul
---

athletics: 1d20 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 4 = 16
athletics: 1d20 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 + 4 = 20

Liftt continues to be impressed with his own abilities. Perhaps too impressed..

athletics, kit: 1d20 + 8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 8 + 4 = 19 Plus any aids

"Oh... this is a bit more difficult up high..."

Perception R3: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
Perception R4: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Climb: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
climb: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

With the help of Tarrakk and K'ssatak-Sul, Lifft and Tanila manage to make progress to the higher parts of the mountain, just short of the peak.

Not advertised on any of the climbing brochures is the presence of wild bobcats, who look to be ready to run their claws through the starfinders.

I'll need an Intimidate check to scare them off

Jancrest says over the radio. "Put me on the external speakers Liftt."

Reluctantly the shirren turns on his external audio. What follows is the most horendous series of snarls, hisses and shrieks that even Liftt is somewhat worried.

intimidate: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25

"How did you..." he starts.

"I like watching nature documentaries. " is the slightly too quick reply. "You should watch them with me sometime."

Liftt pales further. Or maybe it is just the cold.

Tarrakk growls at the bobcats.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17

Celestia hisses and snarls at the bobcats, sounding like an angry tiefling.
intimidate: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

She then grins over to Jancrest. That was impressive. I think that might even make Chrissy nervous

The bobcat run away at the sound of the -rather aggressive- snarling. Up here, the peak is getting a lot colder, but eventually the group makes it to the top.

There was no frozen body of Envar to say hi to, but close to the summit, a data tag can be found, with another holographic recording:

A lashunta man in brightly colored climbing gear, his helmet tilted at a rakish, impractical angle, waves as the hologram activates. “Hello hey, Envies and future fans! You’ll never believe what I’ve been up to: scaling the tallest peak in Near Space! That’s right, on an all-new episode of Envar’s Expeditions, I reach the heights of Spinebreaker, and I’ve gotta tell you… it’s a hell of a view. Catch the show as soon as it drops by subscribing to my channel!”

Well, fortunately going down is easier than going up...

There is one destination left, the Bustling Waterways of Peace of Varturan. A little sorer and back on firm footing, the group takes a rest from mountaineering aboard their ship, as a greenish-blue planet comes into view.

The data tag signal leads to the seaside town of Gruddonar. Gruddonar consists of hundreds of buildings on stilts hundreds of feet above the shore, connected by swaying rope bridges.

The signal can be tracked to a large plaza, which stands on two-hundred-foot-high stilts at the center of a network of rope bridges, connecting it to other buildings and plazas that spread along the coast.

Music fills the air, shifting from one genre to another as the musicians around the plaza alternate performances. Tourists in beach garb sun themselves on the hammocks lining the plaza’s edge. To the east, a massive twine ball sits on a pedestal at the other end of a bridge, with a holographic sign reading “See the Galaxy’s Largest Ball of Twine!”

There's no sign of the data tag. Some person must have taken it, which is going to take some asking around.

I need a diplomacy check

Liftt eyes up the twine ball. "Wow, that is something..." he sighs.

"I wonder how long that took to make? And if the local twine manufacturer sponsored them..."

Jancrest sighs slightly. "Liftt, focus. Allowing yourself to get distracted is one of your triggers. Stay in the moment. We are looking for Envar, or whoever took his tag.."

She offers a smile to one of the passing locals. "Did you see a Lashunta man here recently? Any idea where he spend most of his time? Or who else may have been asking about him?"

diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

Once Celestia has looked after her aching legs, she stands and takes a 360 panorama of the view as well as making a commentary about it. Once she is done ...

And that's my first podcast showing we made it. In your FACE Jiana!

Later ....
Varturan .... home of the Brenneri, We've been here before, well at least I have. I wonder if some of Dr. Mekkisan's favourite diving spots are nearby. Have to check them out.

Later on, she is with the others on the boardwalk, gazing at the Ball of Twine, while just dressed in a loose cotton shirt over bikini. She too goes asking about the datatag.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23

Diplomacy assist: 1d20 ⇒ 10

All signs rather quickly point to a busking brenneri on the town square, who is playing soothing note on his saxophone. The name of this guy is well-known: he is Dako “Bluepaw” Seiriss, a local talent on the saxophone who is busking on the plaza so often that he is considered part of the furniture. The brassy humming of saxophone notes carries far over the plaza, where Dako is playing a song in one corner. Once he finishes, he stop for a break and a breath of air, and with a laid-back voice says “What’s flowing, anemones?”

When asked about Envar, he says “That dude’s a wild cat. Bounced off the Civic Center roof like he had wings.”

A real cool hopper that one, and in tune with the music he plays a couple of notes to accentuate what he just said (or to demonstrate what music is). At any rate, it is really smooth Had no money, but gave me his bluey thing to show his appreciation.

"A bluey thing?" asks Liftt.

"How would you feel about swapping that for some real credits?" he asks.

Then pauses and does a double take. "And what was he doing on the Civic Center roof?"

Delea is glad to see Liftt's solution. willing to contribute if credits are needed

It's Envar ... goodness knows. So ... you do classical?

"Show us this bluey thing."

We need this thing, we're looking for this person because his mother thinks he's in trouble. We would like to purchase this item on a barter basis according to the rules of a fair deal.

Yeah, bluey thing. Envar had the blues, so say Bluepaw says, pronouncing blues in a way only a musician can.

A true musician doesn't sell out he adds when Lifft proposes to buy it but beat me in a jam-off, and I'll let you have it! That sounds like a fair deal to me.

He toots a few few notes to emphasize his words. This isn't going to be easy.

It looks like the audience is already there. There's a bunch of nerdy looking people with white nametags that read 'The 31st Annual Environmental
Engineering Convention' who seem to be on break in the plaza, looking to relax.

The duel consists of two rounds, during which you must collect as much applause as possible. There are six roles the PCs can take on, each requiring a successful skill check. There must be at least one lead vocalist or instrumentalist. With the community’s advice, untrained PCs can attempt Profession (musician) checks during the challenge, adding their Charisma to their d20 roll

The possible roles are:
Backup Dancer: Acrobatics or Profession (dancer)
Backup instrumentalist or backup instrumentalist: Profession (musician) or Profession (singer)
Composer: Culture or Profession (composer)
Crowd pleaser: Bluff or Diplomacy
Lead instrumentalist or lead vocalist: Profession (musician) or Profession (singer)
Stage effects: Engineering or Mysticism

The audience is mainly scientists, who seems to be here because they appreciate the natural surroundings

The only skill out of that list that Tarrakk has is culture. Since the crowd is mainly scientists, Tarrakk attempts to conpose a song that focuses on topics that scientists would appreciate combined with the natural surroundings. The first song will be titled, "The Science of Nature".

Culture: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29