[Gameday XII] Zero's SFS Intro 1: The First Test (Inactive)

Game Master Super Zero

Xeno's spell misses, but Sijasi's perfectly-aimed shot shatters the skeleton.

Po'ogaan's turn.

Initiative:
Kalhoun (SP 14/14, HP 18/18)
Thistlecore (SP 7/7, HP 12/12)
Sijasi (SP 5/5, HP 12/12)
Zaradanth (SP 9/9, HP 13/13)
Xeno (SP 10/10, HP 14/14)
Po'ogaan (SP 6/6, HP 8/8)
Blue Skeleton
Red Skeleton (-3)
Green Skeleton

Po'ogaan frowns when he spots the undead. "Can't poison them," he laments. He hops toward the dragonkin and injects his ally with a basic booster. "Take care of them for me."

Zaradanth gains a +1 enhancement bonus to AC.

The first skeleton staggers towards Zaradanth (which will provoke AoO, since you have reach). It swipes at him with finger bones that are essentially claws without any flesh to round them out.
Move and Attack. Claw: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17 for slashing damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

The next stumbles past Zaradanth and towards Kalhoun, swiping at him with its claws--though they scrape harmlessly against his armor.
Move and Attack! Claw: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15 for slashing damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

The third also moves up to Zaradanth. This time he's ready, and it it's quite able to land a touch.
Move and Attack. Claw: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15 for slashing damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

All PCs' turns.

Initiative:
Kalhoun (SP 14/14, HP 18/18)
Thistlecore (SP 7/7, HP 12/12)
Sijasi (SP 5/5, HP 12/12)
Zaradanth (SP 1/9, HP 13/13, +1 to AC)
Xeno (SP 10/10, HP 14/14)
Po'ogaan (SP 6/6, HP 8/8)
Blue Skeleton
Red Skeleton (-3)
Green Skeleton

Seeing Kalhoun under attack as well, Po'ogaan hops over and prepares another injection.

Kalhoun gains a +1 enhancement bonus to AC.

Xeno really wants to burn some bones today, he keeps flinging fire, this time at Red.
Energy Ray vs Red EAC: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Damage with Harmful Spells: 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 fire damage

"Seriously?!" he complains to himself for missing his target again.

AoO: Longsword: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Damage (S): 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Zaradanth smashes his sword into the first skeleton that rushes him {blue?), but then hisses in pain as the monster gouges him in return.

A moment later the hiss turns into an angry roar, as he makes two quick cuts with his blade, focusing on the skeleton he already damaged.

Full attack vs. blue:
Longsword: 1d20 + 5 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 5 - 4 = 6
Damage (S): 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Longsword: 1d20 + 5 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 5 - 4 = 21
Damage (S): 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
crit damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Sijasi shouts, "Hey, pick on someone you're own size!" as she skirts around blue to a flanking position.

pike, flank: 1d20 + 0 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 0 + 2 = 8 for piercing: 1d8 + 0 ⇒ (1) + 0 = 1

Unfortunately, she's not much of a distraction.

Zaradanth barely chips the skeleton as he approaches, but then he slices through its skull and into its spine and ribcage. The broken pieces fall away.

Sijasi and Xeno have less luck.

Kalhoun and Thistlecore's turns.

Initiative:
Kalhoun (SP 14/14, HP 18/18, +1 to AC)
Thistlecore (SP 7/7, HP 12/12)
Sijasi (SP 5/5, HP 12/12)
Zaradanth (SP 1/9, HP 13/13, +1 to AC)
Xeno (SP 10/10, HP 14/14)
Po'ogaan (SP 6/6, HP 8/8)
Red Skeleton (-3)
Green Skeleton

He switches targets and moves up for a clearer shot.

Pistol set to fire damage.
5’ step back as part of the trick attack

Trick attack with survival vs Green: 1d20 + 10 + 4 - 20 ⇒ (15) + 10 + 4 - 20 = 9 Trick is successful against this DC (unsuccessful if less than 1)
Trick damage (if trick worked and attack hits): 1d4 ⇒ 4

If the trick succeeds, the target is flat-footed vs. my attack.

Attack Green: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15 Shooting with the gnome pistol
Weapon damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Kalhoun, still gathering energy, steps back and fires at the skeleton that tried to attack him.

Static Arc Pistol: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20 vs. EAC
Electricity Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 5

Both shots hit. Kalhoun's shot against the already-damaged skeleton seems particularly damaging, as it starts to crumble.

Though by no means does this halt its attack! Falling forward so much as stepping, it lashes out at Kalhoun/Po'ogaan: 1d2 ⇒ 1. Harmlessly. These poor undead horrors seem to be little match for the Starfinders.
[Move] Guarded Step, [Standard] Attack Claw: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

The other one continues striking at Zaradanth. Tip, tik, tap against his armor.
[Full] Full Attack Claw: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9 and Claw: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

All PCs' turns.

Initiative:
Kalhoun (SP 14/14, HP 18/18, +1 to AC)
Thistlecore (SP 7/7, HP 12/12)
Sijasi (SP 5/5, HP 12/12)
Zaradanth (SP 1/9, HP 13/13, +1 to AC)
Xeno (SP 10/10, HP 14/14)
Po'ogaan (SP 6/6, HP 8/8)
Red Skeleton (-8, bloodied)
Green Skeleton (-6)

Confronted by the undead, Po'ogaan attempts to tumble away.
Acrobatics to Tumble: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

That will provoke.

Despite his inartfulness, he manages to put some distance between him and the walking bones. He then hops to his feet and joins his allies to the south.
Move

Claw: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

The skeleton swipes at Po'ogaan as he moves, but doesn't connect.

Zaradanth spins and slashes at the skeleton threatening his allies, while continuing to act as a wall between his team and the other undead.

Full attack vs. red, shift to green if it drops:
Longsword: 1d20 + 5 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 5 - 4 = 20
Damage (S): 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Longsword: 1d20 + 5 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 5 - 4 = 15
Damage (S): 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

And reduces both of them to piles of lifeless, inert bones.

When the last skeleton drops, Zaradanth looks around warily for any other threats. "Is everyone okay?" he rumbles, flexing his injured leg carefully.

Woo, soldier did his job of being the meat shield! Zaradanth will want to rest to regain SP while the others search the room.

Thistlecore holsters his weapon and kneels to examine the bones.

“That was unexpected… and so is this. Four eyes and wings. Hmm… what else can you tell us?”

Life Science to see what I can learn about the creatures from their skeletal debris.
Life Science: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Kalhoun will try to assist in the examination.

Life Science, Aid: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Po'ogaan conduct his own field autopsy.

Life Science: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Thistlecore and Kalhoun note that the finger bones are quite long, and the joints bend both ways.

It looks like these creatures were crushed to death when the wall collapsed. The bones don't seem quite as old as everything else down here--they may have been explorers themselves.

Thistlecore turns to the team for a moment.

“Who’s carrying that toy we found? Didn’t it have four eyes and fingers that bent both ways? Maybe that is what the inhabitants looked like.”

He gestures toward the recently re-deceased piles of bones.

“Or maybe I should say look like since these creatures don’t seem to have been down here very long… they’re younger than the artifacts we found.”

The doll's fingers are inconclusive as they aren't articulated. It does have the wings and eyes, though. The climber's glove does seem designed for fingers that bend both ways.

Thistlecore turns the toy in his hands, paying attention to the face and the wings. Then he turns his attention to the glove.

“These feel connected, but the timeline bothers me.”

He holds up the glove and the toy. “These and the other artifacts we found are much older than those,” gesturing to the bones. “It seems we’re in a place with a lengthy background and a recent recent history.”

Thistlecore cocks his head quizzically. "Is it possible there are live inhabitants our scans missed?”

"Maybe if we keep looking, we can find one!" Xeno has this positivity in his words and continues looking around for clues.

”Maybe if we keep looking, we can find one!”

Thistlecore chuckles, his facial petals rippling with a moment of humor.

“That could be, Xeno, but I don’t think we’re going to find one down here…”

He joins Xeno in the search.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

There doesn't seem to be anything else to find in the infirmary.

The broken wall to the north reveals a room lined with cracked shelves, with several more lying broken on the floor. Multiple piles of other debris have been pushed into the corners. A door exits to the east.

Zaradanth squeezes into the small room to the north, and tries to search the debris without causing any further damage.

Perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (11) + 0 = 11

Po'ogaan explores the room.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Thistlecore follows Po’ogaan out of the storage room and into the smaller chamber.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

“Find anything yet?”

Sijasi takes a quick look around the infirmary as she checks up on her partner.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24

And in the smaller chamber.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

The store room looks like it once held a variety of climbing equipment. Most of it clearly hasn't been in operable condition for some time, but as Sijasi is sifting through the rubble she finds a grappler in workable condition, along with 60 feet of adamantine alloy cable line.

In the small pace north of there, a row of ruined lockers line the eastern wall of this cramped room. A door leads southwest. The northwestern wall bears what may have been another door now completely demolished.

Most of the locker doors hang from their hinges or are missing, except for one, which is locked.

Thistlecore also finds a faded brochure. This laminated trifold brochure features bright, colorful text and photographs of humanoid figures in climbing gear dangling from ropes or exploring large caves. Unfortunately, due to the item’s age, it is difficult to discern exactly what the humanoids look like. However, the Starfinders can still learn a few things from the text, which is written in an unfamiliar language.

First, many words contain symbols that look vastly different from the other letters in them. Each of these symbols is made up of four tightly grouped dots and dashes in a square formation; each one has either a dot or a dash at each formation’s corner, ranging from all four dots to all four dashes.

Finally, the broken wall opens back to where the Starfinders came in, and the stairs back towards the surface.
After they spend a little time examining the brochure, though, they hear something unexpected: someone else is coming down the stairs!

Random: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Culture: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

Thistlecore carefully picks up the tri-fold and runs his finger over the text. He turns it so both he and Zaradanth can see the text and confer on it.

Culture #1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Culture #2: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

“Yes, you’re right. The symbols aren’t punctuation. But I think I see how they work now.”

Thistlecore points to some specific areas on the brochure.

“What if they’re a written way of expressing something not spoken? They seem to function like modifiers or accent marks to support the words they appear with.”

One particular area of the brochure draws his attention. After running his fingers over it a couple of times, he mouths a word. “Khy… Khyyas…no, Khyyros. Khyyros. I think they called the planet Khyyros. See this? I think it says, ‘Khyyros’s Best Spelunking…’ which would explain the climbing gear and lockers and such. We’re in a tourist destination.”

His cultural curiosity kicks in, and he completely focuses on translating the brochure.

Kalhoun does not have the ability to open the locker, but he does have the ability to draw his pistol and cover the door in case whatever is coming is hostile.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Zaradanth squints at the (relatively tiny) brochure in bafflement, and keeps an eye on the exits. When he hears noises on the stairs, he says quietly, "Let's hope these are more tourists coming, and not something dangerous." The dragonkin had cleaned and sheathed his sword while resting, but takes up a position where he can shield the others and, if necessary, fill the entrance to the room with a gout of flame.

Engineering: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Xeno easily tinkers the locked door and finds a mk 1 ring of resistance inside.

"Ha! Neat!" he exclaims in happiness and keeps the find for himself.

Po'ogaan allows the others to rifle through the debris and remnants. Upon hearing someone or something approaching, he cocks his head.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

And grips his needler pistol.

Sijasi steps up behind her partner, keeping the pike hidden behind his back. She readies an action if the incoming people are hostile.

Thistlecore turns the brochure in his hands, quietly musing over its contents. “An amusement space. We’ve been exploring a spelunking park. Amazing.”

… says quietly, ”Let's hope these are more tourists coming, and not something dangerous.”

Something about the phrase “more tourists” jolts Thistlecore from his cultural exploration.

He looks up and notices the team in ready positions with hands on weapons, looking out into the entry chamber. Apparently I missed something important…

He stows the brochure, draws his pistol, and moves to a position in Zaradanth’s shadow. “Mind if I join you?”

Using Scurry to share one corner of Zaradanth’s space.

A group of half a dozen creatures approaches cautiously. Each is humanoid with facial features that resemble a bat’s, though with four eyes and a ruff of pale featherlike fur around their neck. They carry no sources of light into the cavern, and only two of them are wielding obvious weapons, but have yet to take an aggressive stance. They stop a safe distance away, seemingly unsure of what to do next.
(Image added, though it's the same image as on the cover so you've seen it before.)

The others are dressed in tattered clothing and carry battered equipment. They hide behind the two that are armed with rifles.
They don't seem to have expected to find anyone down here. They really don't seem to have expected to find a group of aliens down here. They definitely don't seem to have expected to find a group of aliens pointing weapons at them down here.

One of them issues a string of nonsense syllables.

Correction: Thistlecore moves next to Zaradanth. I forgot he doesn’t have Scurry yet.

Thistlecore listens as the new arrivals speak and tries to make sense of their tone.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

“The one speaking seems to be the leader. I think he’s asking us a question.”

Thistlecore slowly puts his weapon away and tries to look non-threatening.

“I’m, uh, not a talker. Can someone figure out how to communicate with them?”

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (5) + 0 = 5

Zaradanth's size and military-style gear makes it hard for him to look non-threatening, but he leaves his weapons stowed, and tries to look friendly.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (17) + 0 = 17 (to aid...probably Kalhoun?)

Xeno will Recall Knowledge with Life Science +10. Reduce the DC to identify a rare creature using Life Science by 5.

"Hmmm... Xeno tries to identify the creatures if they are familiar to him.

Kalhoun will slowly holster his pistol, steps forward with empty hands raised, and try to establish communication.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

At first, he is just trying to establish that the Starfinders don't want to fight.

These are humanoids, and they clearly meet the definition to be categorized as people, but Xeno doesn't recognize them. Their wings look vestigial--they probably can't fly unassisted. This group looks like they've been living rough.

The leader repeats the same unintelligible question, but slower and louder.

They seem a little more relaxed as weapons are put away.

In addition to Diplomacy, Survival can be used to influence them.

Perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (14) + 0 = 14

Sorry, not going to be much help here except for that aid I rolled above. But the people with useful skills are still alive and healthy to try them, so that's a win for the dragonkin.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

Xeno does not recognize the creature. Perhaps the alien is more alien than he can know. When the leader speaks, Xeno notices that he also blinks one or more of his eyes in a seemingly deliberate fashion.

Life Science: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

"Look, when they communicate to us, they deliberately blink. It looks to me that is is part of their language!" Xeno shares his discovery.

Xeno’s insights give Thistlecore an idea. Maybe I can connect with something other than language.

He steps forward and tries his survival skills to help.

Survival: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22

Sijasi leaves her pike leaning up against Zaradanth as she steps forward to help Thistlecore. She blinks her eyes deliberately and points to them. <I hope I didn't just call their leader a snozzberry.>

Survival to aid: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

The aliens' curiosity seems to be starting to overcome their apprehension, and they step a little closer to the Starfinder. They seem interested in Xeno's skills and gear.
Progress!