[SFS] 6-09 Ridgerock rescue - Jan 2024 (Inactive)

Game Master Kludde

Ebon opened a channel to the enemy ship and said, "Now who's got nowhere to run? You were mighty smug about destroying a starship on the ground. When the starship is fighting back, yer sucking coilgun rounds. Ha, ha, ha!!!"

Taunt action during the enemy's gunnery round.
Intimidate: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Balok tries to help Ebon.

intimidate: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

"Ah attack us again we dare you!"

You guys don't have to stick to the same stations all the time. The Drake has plenty of guns to fire! Beside the coilgun, it also has pretty powerful missiles.

Yonkers again manages to get into the blind spot of the enemy vessel, that gets taunted a lot by Balok and Ebon. Chance does more than just talk, and fires the coil gun at, stripping the port side shields and hitting the engines again

Crit: 1d100 ⇒ 61

Yonkers luck seems to have run out as the enemy vessel limps on, but does outmaneuver the Thunderbolt

Yonkers moves first this round

--(Round 3)--
Engineering
Helm: Starfinders move first
Gunnery
-
---
Balok
Ebon Doone
Bonkers
Yonkers
Chance
---
Enemy Ship - S down, 19 dmg

"Engineering. Give me everything you got. Let see if we cannot outrun this ship for now."

Yonkers attempts to slide away from the enemy.

Slide Maneuver DC 13, Piloting: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

I am sliding the ship 10 hexes away and pivoting it 60 degrees after its final move. If Engineering fails its check (or tries something else) then we can claw back two hexes of movement. :)

Bonkers smiles, "You got it wildman!"
engineering, divert power to engines: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

Ebon moves to the gunnery controls and prepares to fire the turret gun.

He waits for the best moment to fire. I'll want to see the map after the enemy moves.

Balok moves to a gun and waits for the ship to be in range.

I'll fire when Ebon does. I'll fire the coilgun unless no one is firing the missile launcher

Ebon's in the turret where the missile launcher is. If the coilgun can't fire on the ship, Balok can move to aft gun if the enemy is behind us.

Yonkers makes a smoothsliding maneuver, but the enemy doesn't seem to do fancy stuff, it just turns around and flies into the Thunderbolt head-on!

laser Cannon: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 42d4 ⇒ (2, 4) = 6

Their shot misses completely though, that gunner must be on pesh or something.

--(Round 3)--
Engineering
Helm: Starfinders move first
Gunnery
-
---
Balok
Ebon Doone
Bonkers
Yonkers
Chance
---
Enemy Ship - S down, 19 dmg

I don't believe we ever got a roll for Ongie as science officer doing a scan of the enemy ship. I'll make a roll using Onglie's listed stats. It may not matter, but let's see anyway.

Ongie's scan, Computer bonus: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 10 + 1 = 30

Assuming that's a success, add 5 for the Balok's manual reallignment of the scanners. DC = 5 + 1-1/2 × the tier of the starship being scanned + its bonus from defensive countermeasures. I'd estimate that to be no more than 10 which means we would probably get all the information available.

Chance is already at the coilgun, so Balok can fire the missle launcher.

Ebon starts for the turret but yields to Balok and returns to the captain's chair. "Balok, use the information from the scan and hit 'em with a missile right up their waste disposal port! If ya miss, I'll give those pointy ear of yours a good yank!"

Demand action, Intimidate, computer bonus: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 7 + 1 = 12
Balok can tell that Ebon's threat is empty. Another low intimidate roll.

"Chance, fire at will. Let's show 'em what it means to take on a Starfinder starship!"

Both gunners can add a +1 computer bonus.

Balok fires the coilgun.

"Hit blast you"

attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

damage: 4d8 ⇒ (4, 5, 3, 7) = 19

Ongie scans the ship and report They only have a forward gun, so stay out of its range. Starboard shields are still down, and their shield are much weaker than our anyway. Their engines are almost destroyed!

Balok fires the coilgun, but misses almost as badly as the enemy ship.

Can I get an action for Chance?

---
Balok
Ebon Doone
Bonkers
Yonkers
Chance
---
Enemy Ship - S down, 19 dmg

Another coil gun at enemy ship hit: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 1 = 9 dmg: 4d4 ⇒ (1, 2, 1, 3) = 7

Lucky thing in space no one can hear derisive laughter from badly failed attacks. But if the enemy's shields are down, then maybe Chance hit.

Piloting initiative, round 4: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (4) + 13 - 4 = 13

With a terrifying miss, the Starfinders seem to lose their advantageous position, though the enemy ship seems almost shocked it is still flying, seeing as how sluggish it reacts.

I'm going to assume the enemy loses init on this one, in which case it will just move forward two spaces

---
Balok
Ebon Doone
Bonkers
Yonkers [beat 13 or move first[/ooc]
Chance
---
Enemy Ship - S down, 19 dmg

Piloting: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

@DM Kludde - Alright. I have moved your ship forward two hexes.

Yonkers slows the ship down (to a speed of 4) and he attempts to slide the ship to allow a shot (or two) at the enemy's starboard flank.

Piloting,Speed 4 or less,Slide Manuever DC 13: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 7 + 2 = 10

Alright people. This is the dice roller I have come to love. ;) If the captain wants to try to demand better performance than this check will pass and I will adjust the ship accordingly. Otherwise it looks like a mulligan to me this turn with both ships being out of each others arcs.

@Ebon - It is up to you to try to be scary. ;)

Well, the turret can blast fire into any arc, so you're still at the advantage

Balok kicks the gun and tries again.

"Frakking thing!"

attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

damage: 4d8 ⇒ (4, 6, 6, 8) = 24

The shot goes wide off to the side.

"Dank farrik!"

Bonkers sits up sharply."Ah, screw it.." He changes screens and tries to launch a missile at the enemy.
a wing and a prayer: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
damage if it hits this round: 4d8 ⇒ (6, 1, 8, 7) = 22

"If we lose to these jokers, they'll probably sell the ysokis as lab rats for rogue cybernetics experiments, so better make this good. Just sayin'."

DC 18
Intimidate: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

That should provide a +4 bonus to the piloting check. The Stunt DC is 14 so I think we're good.

Another Turret at the enemy hit: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 1 = 16 dmg: 4d4 ⇒ (4, 2, 4, 3) = 13

@Ebon- The stunt DC is 13 actually. The +4 bonus turns the failure into a success. I have changed the position of our ship on the map. We are firing on their starboard shield and they are in our front arc. :)

Ebon moves the Thunderbolt to the flank of the enemy ship. After Balok misses, Chance and Bonkers hit with double effect, blasting the enemy ship into a thousand pieces.

Combat over!

Ongie breathes a sign of relief, and for the first time she seems to put some trust in the Starfinders. “I, ah, seem to have been hasty in my assessment of your abilities. Please, let us get out of here and I can give you the information you want while we make our way to Absalom Station. I only have one request in return: my father Roget is a hostage of the Order on Kortus IV. Promise me that the Starfinder Society will help me rescue him, and I’ll tell you everything I know.”

@GM Kludde - I don't know if a rescue is part of the scope of this mission (or another). If we can do it now please let us know. :)

"I cannot promise anything but the Pathfinder Society is certainly willingly to entertain any reasonable request for your cooperation and this seems reasonable to me. We can certainly strongly recommend it and see if we can help you with it in any way we can."

"Honestly, I think that they will honor your request. Do you know where on the planet they are holding your father?"

You're actually free to promise help, but rescuing Roget is outside the scope of this mission

Ongie seems to content with that answers, and while on their way back to Absalom station she explains the situation with the Order:

My father is on Braerton, but I haven't been able to have contact with him in a long time

“The Order, that's the people that the folks in my hometown know as the Mongers, and what you Starfinders seem to call the Organization, are actually a group of cutthroat criminals called the Order of Dawning Fate. You can search all you want for that name, but you won’t find much information about them. As far as I can tell, most of the people who work for them don’t even know that name. They think they’re working for crime bosses, government agencies, corporations, charitable foundations—whatever cover suits the Order’s current needs. These dupes are the rank-and-file minions of the Order. The others—the ones who know what they’re a part of and who they work for—they’re the true agents of the Order of Dawning Fate. They’re fanatical. Zealous. Almost like it’s a cult or a religion or something.”

“It took me a long time to puzzle things through, but I’m certain that the one calling the shots in the Order of Dawning Fate is someone named Zhaneni. She’s a witchwyrd—one of those tall, four-armed folks with innate magical ability. What’s more, Zhaneni is a precog, so she can see her enemies’ movements before they happen. That’s why I’ve had to keep moving from planet to planet, that’s why I can’t figure out a proper way to rescue my dad, and I bet that’s why they’re always one step ahead of you lot. When your enemy can see the future, the deck is stacked against you, you know?“ Ongie shakes her head and sighs. “Zhaneni’s followers are fanatical. I don’t know what they see in her, but it certainly gives her an edge to have a whole legion of folks who will fight and die at her command.”

"Zhaneni has some sort of machine that the Order calls Project Dawn. It enhances her psychic powers beyond what normal precogs can manage. Her visions are far more detailed and accurate than should be possible. I’ve sketched out some theories about how Project Dawn works, but I can’t really make heads or tails of it because I don’t have what they use to run the machine: a starmetal called finitrium.

“Finitrium is what brought the Order to Kortus IV. It is one of those rare elements that we call starmetals. If you touch it, it can let you see into the future—only a fraction of a moment when it’s in its raw form, and multiple possible futures, but if you can refine it, the visions become clearer, more accurate, maybe even easier to direct or control—this is all theoretical, see? As near as I can tell, the Order has figured out how to refine the finitrium they’ve been mining on Kortus IV, and they use it to power Zhaneni’s machine. I think she’s able to see months into the future—maybe further—if she has a steady supply of finitrium.”

"The Order first discovered finitrium on Deepwater Prime. I’m not sure where, but I do know that the supply was slow and unreliable. Once they figured out how to use the finitrium, the race was on. They took over my home quick as could be and made the whole colony dependent on them—folks work in the mines and folks obey, or they die. But Braerton’s finitrium supply is played out. Their usefulness is at an end, if you get my meaning. I’m certain the Order will try to get rid of the evidence—the mine, the miners, even the colony itself. If we don’t help the people of Braerton, they won’t survive the Order’s purge.”

On the way back, Radaszam (@dealmaker) chimes in with another video conference on an encrypted channel. He seems satisfied with the rescue and the huge step forward in information gained, but also concerned:

“If Ongie’s information is correct, and I have no reason to believe it isn’t, we’ll have only a limited time to get ahead of the Order of Dawning Fate. We finally know who they are and what they’re after, but they apparently have a machine that predicts the future, and they’re close to supercharging it with a whole new supply of finitrium. We’ll keep Ongie protected, and I’ll have her tell her story to the Dataphiles and the First Seeker so we can get cracking on some predictions of our own and figure out Zhaneni’s next move. Stay ready and stay sharp—the Society will undoubtedly need you again soon.”

That's the end of this scenario! You can go ahead and roll day jobs, while I report and prepare chronicles.

I need RPG Chronicles information for Bonkers and Balok - I can't create a chronicle for you otherwise, so please fill in ASAP

"Actually, I think we can promise Starfinder help for your father. The Starfinders stated we should offer you protection and any other reasonable measure needed to secure your cooperation. In fact, they already know about your father's location and your concern for his safety can be assumed. We can try to send them a message alerting them to your father's situation. I believe the Starfinders would gladly dispatch a team to locate your father and take him to safety. You can make the request yourself and we'll send it to HQ as soon as possible."

Ongie probably knows the limitations of drift beacon communications and the fact that there is a even chance that the message will take longer to get to Absalom Station than the Drake, but if it gives better odds that the message will get to them faster than by starship travel alone, it would be worth the attempt.

Ebon adds, "I'd be glad to join with others in a rescue mission although I'm sure the Starfinders have more capable agents for such a mission."

"Yes. I am sure they will help. This is something they can't ignore for sure."

Oops. Will fill in the RPG Chronicles stuff in just a minute!Thanks for running!

Yonkers takes out his trusty shovel and begins looking for buried treasure.

Day Job:

Profession: Archaeology: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25

@GM Kludde - Thanks for running and especially for the help during the space combat. :)

Oh, no profession here. :)

Profession (Bounty Hunter): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

When the mission ends, Ebon thanks everyone for a good mission. He checks his bounty board and quickly finds a lead on a wanted scam artist.

Thanks. It was fun.

profession farmer: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

I have chronicles up here (except for Balok - I'm still missing info). Please let me know if everything is ok! Thanks a lot everyone for playing!

@Balok: please notify me once you've added your info. I can't generate a chronicle until then

Edit: Balok now added, I managed to retrieve PFS info from the reporting system. The next time you get a photocard of RZMR scorning you!

Momo! Thanks again for running and thanks to all for playing. Fun group!!

Chronicle Received. Thanks.

sorry thanks for running! Got it