GM S's "Ridgerock Rescue" [1-4] (Inactive)

Game Master Chris Marsh

Jupitus can carry extra gear - he's got capacity.
As long as we're not getting an answer, Jupitus would make to head into the next room. But, since this is a "someone not wanting to be found" situation, he'd check for traps.
Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

Indeed, no one answers, and Jupitus sees no reason to suspect anything with the next door, so he opens it! The storage room contains crates, construction materials, and sundries. There’s a mound of UPBs and an obviously valuable gemstone sitting atop the crates in the north corners of the room

Jupitus again calls out into the new room, "Hello? Anyone? We are not The Mongers, if that means anything to anyone here!"
Pile of UPBs and gems feels too good to be true, so once again suspecting a trap, Jupitus checks around.
Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Once, clear of traps, Zynn remarks to the others, "As Starfinders, I think it would be important for us to bring back this gemstone and the UPBs for further study. Let's pack these up."

Jupitus, leery of traps, carefully approaches, though he sees nothing amiss in the pile, but he DOES notice a faint shimmering in a section of wall. It's holographic! I accidentally revealed these already. They're the sections that look different on the walls.

Zynn, however, does! He speaks up enough in time. He sees a holographic wall behind the pile, and a monofilament wire that stretches off into it. It's trapped! Engineering to disable

"I'm not very good at Engineering, but doesn't this look trapped to you? Maybe we could deactivate it by clamping the monofilament and then releasing that catch?"

Zynn offers to aid someone willing to disable the trap.

Aid to Engineering: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

"Well, well. Can't say I blame anyone on the run from The Organisation, but these wires are dangerous," Jupitus tsks as he gets out his trapsmith's kit.
Engineering with Kit & Aid: 1d20 + 11 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 11 + 4 + 2 = 20

Heh, classic. The Aid Another roll is always way better than the aided roll :D

That's how it always goes!

Working together, with Jupitus' massive arms over Zynn's shoulders, the two safely undo the trap! There's a solid 150 UPBs, and that stone may just be an AEON stone...

"Nice find! What do you suppose all this stuff is for, anyway?"

"Nice Teamwork, Jupitus! That feels nice to find a trap and disable it without an injuries. When there is something valuable around, you can usually find traps as well."

Zynn investigates the Aeon stone and looks to see if he knows any of its properties.

Mysticism: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

"Can any of you figure out what this stone does?"

Zynn thinks it's actually soap...

Jupitus puts an arm out to prevent Zynn from lathering up the aeon stone. "No no; it's not for washing. Looks more like a..."
Mysticism to ID: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16
"I think you might actually need to ingest it? It's been a while since Magical Devices class, I must confess..." He'd pass it to anyone else who wants to check it out.

Regardless, he'd check the next door, and then move on the next room.

"I did not realize that they would trap soap in here. This is clearly a highly coveted item. The crew must not have had the luxury of bathing! Remind me to consider putting together a shipment of soap for a little extra trading after this mission."

Jupitus very clearly knows that it's not really soap....

.... It's decorative soap.

Heck checks the door in this room only to see it's an empty closet, so he heads on to the next one. The next door is also an illusory wall. Beyond is... you guessed it, a dead end.

Not trusting it, you spend some time on it, figuring out it's an illusion covering a door. the problem is that this one opens up into a large hall that goes a couple different directions, leaving you no obvious place to look for more doors.

Map updated, but how are you tackling this?

Skiratrisk grabs something long and thin from the crate of constructions supplies, and gently scrapes it along the wall as she goes, looking for it to suddenly sink into the wall.

Gorf keeps his gun at the ready, following closely behind Skiratrisk.

Skiratrisk takes a concrete and logical plan and puts it into action. Gorf stands ready over under her shoulder. Can you tell me which way you're going or put some arrows on the map?

Looks like Skiratrisk is heading down the West corridor first? Just based on token placement. We don't really have any reason to think any way is better or worse than the others, so, whichever way works :)
Jupitus follows along. Despite his big frame, Jupitus can be quiet and stealthy when called for. But, we're trying to find someone and make friends, so he's trying to be detected. "Hello? Ongie? We're Starfinders, here to help!"

It doesn't take long to find one hologram, and then another... Whoever has been setting these up doesn't seem very inviting...

In the interest of PbP momentum, I've revealed all the fake walls in this hall.

Do we see some doors now? If so, Skiratrisk will try to go through the one her token is at.

"Someone sure likes holograms. There's a fine line between 'reasonable security measures' and 'paranoia.' I hope that this Ongie isn't on the wrong side. Although, I have heard people say that it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you..."

Zynn follows the others keeping fairly quiet, but mostly unobservant.

Stealth: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

We can assume everyone sees the ones I've revealed.

Skiratrisk walks through the "wall" to find another hallway. This one also seems to have no purpose, so again the party uses the prope technique, and discovers another holographic wall, lending more evidence to Jupitus's worry.

As a shirren, I assume Skiratrisk has blindsense (vibration) - is it plausible that she could sense the mismatch between visual input but no vibrational input, to tell which walls are holographic? I dunno, just thinking out loud.

"I'm no computer expert, but, holograms don't run on zero energy. There must be some sort of control centre or power station here, no?" he thinks out loud, to the group.

Jupitus moves ahead to the newly-revealed door at the end of the hallway. He'll check it for traps (given the atmosphere in this place), politely knock, and then open it (in the order:D)
Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

Not a bad thought. That'd be pretty potent. I'll dodge the question and assume the stick method works well enough :-)

Jupitus knocks, and with no answer, enters... to find yet another hallway.

"Someone must have been having a sale on hallways!"

Skiratrisk presses on, certain that there must be an actual room somewhere.

”That or they went to the Hall Mall.”

The next wall leads, finally, to a room. It's a big one at that! This large room has a second, smaller room nested at its center, with one-way windows that hide its interior and ceiling-mounted weapons at each of its walls.

Seeing the foreboding room, Jupitus remarks, "And what was this facility used for, previously? Prison? Weapons testing?" He will cautiously look for threats, and if it appears safe, warily head in to inspect the centre chamber.
Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

Jupitus enters..... and nothing happens. Seems safe.

Is it possible to tell what's up with the weapons mounted on the ceiling? Do they seem to be active, powered, controlled, etc? Jupitus feels uneasy about having ceiling weapons, lol.
If it's possible to disconnect or otherwise render them inoperable, that would be good to know ... but I am hesitant to do so, in case these defenses are useful? What does everyone else think?

Jupitus carefully, slowly, approaches the guns. He stops when he thinks he can get a feel for their condition. The bad news is that they look operational. The good news is that they're short range flame throwers. Jupitus would be shocked if they were effective beyond about 15'.

Well, that's good news - and it looks like that 15' radius is even helpfully marked on the floor :D Jupitus would point this out to the rest of the team. Finally, he'd knock on the door to the centre room once more, hoping to finally find this Ongie we're looking for. Sounding slightly irritated at all of the repetition, he'd say, "Hello, we're not Mongers, we're here from the Starfinders trying to help one 'Ongie.'" If there's no reply, he'd open the door, or try and crack, it if it's locked.
Engineering, if needed: 1d20 + 11 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 11 + 4 = 21

Speakers in the ceiling crackle to life, and a high-pitched voice echoes through the area. “HOLYCRAPWHEREDIDYOUCOMEFROM‽ Nasty little sneakies have gone hunting for the wrong furry friend! Now Baazo the Defender will make sure you don’t go no further!”

The flamethrowers start powering up, but there's a window of opportunity. The party gets a surprise round. You can, as a standard action, keep trying to calm the creature on the speakers down. Jupitus, that IS your standard action, and I'm giving you a+2 to the roll.

Surprise!
Jupitus: Diplomacy at +2
Gorf: Standard Action
Skiratrisk: Standard Action
Zynn: Standard Action

Zynn, who is still out in the hallway, hears the threat and draws out his solarian blade as he looks around for trouble.

"Don't get yourself burned!"

The lashunta looks around to find where the voice is coming from and if he can get to Baazo

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

Jupitus throws up all six arms in a palms-outwards "don't shoot!" gesture, and says, "Oh, wait! I'm sorry to have caught you unawares; I've been yelling hello and knocking on doors for the past fifteen minutes! We're Starfinders, not Mongers, and we're here to help. Definitely no need for flamethrowers!" He points at the symbol of Hylax on his cassock, and then gives his best charming smile (which is mostly just baring teeth and mandibles, and may or may not be charming, or a smile.)
Diplomacy+2: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 6 + 2 = 23

"You say you are tail-friend protectors, not pursuers?" The flamethrowers power down.

Zynn looks around, but can only conclude he's either in another room or in the control room here....

"Buuuut.... just in case, if they think they have a rat in a trap, they haven’t seen the sort of fun Baazo can have!”

Surprise!
Jupitus: Success!
Gorf: Standard Action
Skiratrisk: Standard Action
Zynn: Perception

"Hylaxian here too! And a Starfinder! We're just here to talk and see if we can help you!"

Diplomacy to aid: 1d20 ⇒ 13

"Uh, yeah. What they said. We ain't here to hurt nobody. We want ta help! Heck, some o' our folks even met Ongie's kin!"

No one left to aid this round, and who knows what will happen after this round, so I'll try a primary check.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (16) + 0 = 16

The door to the central room opens. Out walks a yellow-furred skittermander]. He looks you up and down. It takes a while, especially with Jupitus.

"Sooooo. What's your game?"

Zynn focuses and then comes in to join the conversation and positively influence the skittermander. "I am not sure what you mean by game, but I am Starfinder Zynn and we're looking for someone called Ongie. Sooooo, what's your game, my yellow furred friend?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (16) + 13 + (1) = 30

"Then let's GOOOOOOO Come on. I'll introduce you."

He immediately sets off northwest.

“Oh!” shouts the skittermander, a look of understanding suddenly dawning on his face. “I know you’re not here to do the hurting, but my tail-friend doesn’t! We’d better hurry, or there’s going to be a big boom and burn!”

"We'll come quickly, then!"

”Yes, here we come. Lead the way.” Zynn follows the skiddermander.

The corridor ends in a sturdy steel door that has been polished to a reflective gleam. The door suddenly buckles and bends as a rumble followed by a loud explosion sounds on the other side. A flash of heat surges through the corridor, and a thick acrid smoke flows from the newly created bends in a door that once stood flush to its frame. Unceremoniously, the steel door falls forward, revealing a burned and ravaged room inside.

Everyone rushes into the room, but there's no body. Ongie is nowhere to be found...

Searching the room is a standard Perception check. I'm working on the lake house all day today, i.e. no wifi until late.

"I am Jupitus, of Nchak. It is a pleasure to meet you, Baazo!" Jupitus is quite pleased with talking down a fight, and with a little skittermander, no less. (Interstellar Species had a bit in the trox write-up about how trox feel protective of sktitermanders, after seeing how easily they are taken advantage of, so I am imagining Jupitus's protective instincts kicking in!)
"Big boom and burn..? Tell me, Baazo, is Ongie, ah, alright? Only, we've noticed a nasty trap, plus, well, all of these holographic walls. I understand she's hiding from some scary people, but. Is she alright?"

In the empty room, he'd take a look around, but mutters something to himself about getting lost in your own holograms.
Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

Zynn looks around, both for traps but also for anything of interest.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

"We seriously hope that she is fine. Baazo, does her absence seem a bit concerning to you?"

"Does she often blow her room up?" Skiratrisk checks the room for any tracks from the missing Ongie.

Survival if allowed: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25