therealthom's SFS 1-16 Dreaming of the Future (Inactive)

Game Master therealthom

Gonna try for another clever here

Voldresk realizes as they traverse the terrain that it is becoming less likely that they'll simply be able to cleat their way to their destination. So he holds fast to his allies and begins fiddling with the tow cable of his vacuum rappeler module. It's quick and dirty but maybe just maybe it'll help them cross with less difficulty.

Using the now jury-rigged device he steps to the side of the group and manually fires it off to the ground about 40feet forward, pressing a switch the makeshift hook attempts to anchor the ground offering everyone a handhold line to pull themselves across.

Engineering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Again lemme know if this doesn't work, trying really hard to utilize what I can to not make trash rolls cause otherwise i'm deadweight here. I figure given he's a mechanic he could quickly make a quick and dirty rigging for the typically only zero-g device like that.

Joro is an expert at tying knots, so they ensure that everyone is affixed to each other and any anchor points they happen to find along the way.

Profession (Fibercrafter), Aid Another: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19
Result is 11 less if I have to use Acrobatics instead

Voldresk's improvisation pays off, and the party is able to advance safely.

HA! That's actually mentioned in the scenario as a tactic that does better than aid another. That's a guaranteed success! (But it won't work again.)
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Idir and Joro still to roll for round 2. Can roll to add to or supercede Lola's acrobatics or try something else.

Idir tries to keep powering through the wind.

Athletics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Voldresk's improvisation pays off, and the party is able to advance safely.

HA! That's actually mentioned in the scenario as a tactic that does better than aid another. That's a guaranteed success! (But it won't work again.)
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Idir and Joro still to roll for round 2. Can roll to add to or supercede Lola's acrobatics or try something else.

Oh a handhold is a guarentee success? Nice. Kindnof out of ideas with my own limited gear kit, but I'll see if I can think of anything while at work tonight.

Hmmm. I swear I didn't see Joro's post last time I posted.
Two successes is sufficient.

Lola and Idir both make valiant individual efforts, but working alone is difficult.

Knitter Joro tries more fibercaft wizardry to hold the party together, but he's come to the end of his line.

Voldresk's grappling cable gets the party close enough that they can claw their way on their stomachs over the last stretch of ground to reach the tunnel entrance. Thankfully, the entrance is shielded from the wind and after short rest you're all ready to continue.

Descending a short distance into the tunnel you reach the liquid methane. It fills the tunnel and you must swim to go deeper toward the core.

Soon you reach another challenge. The tunnel splits. Which way should you go?

Four more team skills challenges. For the first one, roll Perception or Physical Science. Only one of you needs to succeed.

Lola is grateful to make it through the storm. Now she struggles to spot anything helpful about the path forward.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Knitter Joro tries more fibercaft wizardry to hold the party together, but he's come to the end of his line.

You are an honorary Joro.

Joro examines the tunnel to determine the best direction to choose.

Physical Science: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Idir's eyestalks swivel around slowly and he listens intently for signs of movement.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Voldresk examines the structure to try and determine how the liquid methane flows naturally and what that might mean for both continued passage ways and any potential safety issues going forward.

Phys science: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Knitter Joro and Voldresk agree that the left tunnel will lead deeper. And it does. Success

A few more splits are successfully negotiated and farther down you find your path nearly blocked by a rockfall. The current through the obstruction is strong enough to indicate the tunnel will open again on the far side. Engineering or Strength check, please.

engineering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

Voldresk looks at the blocking structure and figures with the right leverage they could probably open a pathway, or potentially collapse it in a safe manner.

It's amazing how much muscle you can build fighting with needles and yarn.

Strength: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

"So, who wants a scarf made out of titanium alloy cable line?"

Voldresk develops a plan and Knitter Joro provides the muscle to send a number of large stones tumbling downstream. The party is able to continue.

Team Success!

Beyond the now-opened rockfall an eddy deposits you in a circular chamber. Strange glowing runes on the walls provide dim light as you swirl slowly along the wall, driven by the eddy.

Third challenge is a Culture or Mysticism check to decipher the runes.

Lola remembers some things about these runes that she learned when she was a slave and was forced on an operation to acquire some magic tablets from a museum.

Culture: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

The runes give directions to 'the Dreamer's Bed' or 'Resting Place'.

Third Team success! The next challenge

Confident they're on the home stretch, the party pushes out of the chamber and back into the main current.

Their confidence is short-lived because the current grows faster and turbulent. It turns and spins the party members and threatens to dash them into the tunnel walls or impale them on the occassional stalagtite and stalagmite.

Last team challenge. You can try either a higher Acrobatics check or lower Fortitude save.

Idir mostly follows along quietly.

"No, no thank you, Joro...I don't think I'd be able to stand up if I wore it..." he comments about the titanium-knit scarf.

Both Acrobatics and Fortitude aren't my strong points...

Rather try with a +3 than a +2 so fort it is lol

Fort: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

Boldresk, no stranger to the rigors of a long day tries to simply power through the ripping tides of the current, or failing that use his considerable bulk and tough body to break the structures that might impale his squishier comrads.

Lola is much more nimble than sturdy, so she tries to play to her strength.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

If she had gone with the Fort check, the result would have been a 3, so sorry, Lola is no help. :(

Joro toughs it out.

Fortitude Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

Lola and Idir become disoriented in the swirling liquid methans, but Joro and Voldresk maneuver them and occasional absorb a bad impact for them. The current eventually slows down and the party finds itself gently sinking in the dark cavern of the liquid core.

At the edge of the tunnel you just exited, Lola spots a trio of glowing runes gradually growing dimmer as you sink. Using them and the instructions from the eddy cavern runes, she orients herself, and knows which way to go.

Apparently swimming in liquid methane is hard. You all need to make individual athletics checks to swim. You've come through the tunnels in very good shape and for your successes you get +4 on the athletics roll.

Athletics: 1d20 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 3 + 4 = 20

"Good thing I stayed abreast of my swimming. It's just like I'm back in the water - free as if I could fly."

Joro gains his footing on a rocky outcropping, barely breathing hard. The outcropping is attached to a much larger roughly spherical rock. Through the murky methane he can see the concentric circles of some ruined foundations.

Core surface,
Down a set of stairs, purple runes create a force field, holding back the liquid methane.

"Well, this is strange. The gravity is normal here, and the sandstone is clearly not native. Practically a beach, compared to the rest of this place."

Athletics, circumstance bonus: 1d20 + 5 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 5 + 4 = 29

Lola confidently kicks and pushes on the methane with her arms, heading in the direction the runes suggest.

athletics: 1d20 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 4 = 9
Voldresk seems to have some issues after the lengthy swim.

Lola and Voldresk land beside the Joro. The vesk is tired after his swim, but the human feels fresh.

Voldresk is fatigued. Idir?

Idir kicks with his powerful legs to try and force his way through the liquid.

Athletics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Idir lands but is also quite tired. Fatigued

This outcropping shows obvious signs of erosion. Strange semifluorescent plant life has started to grow along patches of the ground and on the walls of the ruin. A large hole in the sandstone lies to the west, and shimmering inside the hole appears to be a force field made of purple runes. To the south, a set of rough sandstone steps lead to another force field, this one holding back the liquid methane.

The surface of the rocky core can be explored in short order. The sandstone ruins that you landed near are the only point of interest.

Can't remember if I posted this publicly. Gravity is normal once you are on the core. Maybe it's magic. North is up on the map.
So, down the hole or down the stairs?

You spoilered it to Joro, who announced it to the team.

Joro would like to look over the force field to ensure that there are no surprises when they look around, but votes to fully explore the ruins first.

The ruins only cover about a quarter acre (.1 hectare) and can be searched in less than an hour. The walls and floor are quite bare. The sandstone has been scoured down by the constant motion of liquid methane, presumably over centuries.

Look at slide 3.
The forcefields are below the core surface and you can tell that the area beyond the forcefields is devoid of liquid methane. Is it air? Is it vacuum? Is it something else? Who knows, but at least you won't have to swim down there.

Down the hole or stairs, dim light is provided by more of the purple runes on the sandstone walls. Strange semi-fluorescent plant life has started to grow in patches along the floor and on the walls.

Voldresk looks over at Idir, then the rest of the crew giving a tired huff. "If I've learned anything in my time as a soldier, it is that you should not go into the unknown exhausted. Let us rest for a while and allow Idir to regain his strength." The vesk would not openly admit that in his age he too would enjoy a moment to sit after such an arduous trek down into the core of the moon, but it's clear from his body language he isn't doing to well either.

"Unlikely as it may seem an ambush or an unknown trap could incapacitate us quite easily."

Eight hours rest is required to relieve the fatigued condition. Let's say it took 6 hours to get down here going with gravity. You're on a 24 hour clock if you're in first level armor. :-)

Eight hours rest is required to relieve the fatigued condition. Let's say it took 6 hours to get down here going with gravity. You're on a 24 hour clock if you're in first level armor. :-)

6,8,6 gives us 4 hours of wiggle room, and Idir and I are pretty shot with fatigue

Fatigue comes with a -1 penalty on most rolls. If we can rest and still have enough time for returning through the methane, then let's rest. Would it take longer than 6 hours to get back through the methane since we are going up against gravity? If we don't know for sure, we should allow more than 6 hours for return. But if swimming is needed for part of that, anyone with fatigue would be a serious disadvantage, so there's that.

Lola is willing to wait while those suffering fatigue from the effort of swimming rest up. She will use the time to study what she can of the entrance area of the ruins.

As much as Idir is nervous about the time they're spending, he can't deny that trying to kick his way through that liquid methane was taxing on his hooves.

"We...should at least make sure we're resting productively, right? I can collate data or something..."

"Let's review our information," Lola says. "The dream told us, 'The Herdsman sails on / The prize you seek inside / A shadow awaits.'"

"We were also told, 'Other dreamers built a mausoleum here for one of their ascended kin. Several dreaming devices were placed within. It must be those devices that Whisperer of Solar winds wants us to find.' And then we were advised to consider why we needed to find the map pieces when the Whisperer also knew of the location."

"If this is a mausoleum and 'a shadow awaits,' perhaps the shadow is a ghost or haunt of one of those in the mausoleum. Perhaps the map pieces are needed to give a restless spirit what it needs to finally move on."

Lola sets out the collected map pieces. First there is the long slim piece of stone. Then there is the fragment sent by the mining group. Finally, there is the fragment taken from the safe on Verces.

"Maybe each piece fits into a slot that activate or deactivates something. Any other ideas?"

This has been a long adventure (in real time terms) so I wanted to remind us of the clues and objectives. Let me know if I'm missing anything important.

I think you have summed up admirably.

Idir strokes his chin.

"Hmmmm...that seems the likeliest hypothesis, given what we have so far," he says as he pulls out his comm and thumbs through a downloaded basic spellcraft manual to see if Lola's on the right track.

Fast Retrieval (Mysticism): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

Three stone fragments and a prophecy, it's not much to go on, and Idir's reference can add nothing to Lola's theory except an alternative explanation that fitting the entire tablet together may open a portal through which shadows, shades of the dead, or psychic projections from the outer planes might enter the physical world.

Eight hours later, the party is refreshed and ready to go.

What fun is that for a hardworking DM who never gets to kill anyone? :-)

Lola checks her gear and then says, "Let's go. We've been working toward this moment for months now. Let's solve this thing and get home."

She heads toward the ruin, looking both north and west toward the central area with the stairs.

Voldresk nods once their rest is over checking his weapon and motioning to the others to lead the way.

Joro whips up a sedative to make sure everyone gets the proper rest despite sleeping in their armor in a hostile environment. With no camp to set up or clear and no time to cook, they choke down some cold rations before moving on.

"Hey, they don't call these 'rat bars' because..."

"No, they call them that because they were invented by ysoki spacers," Idir replies matter-of-factly. He shudders a bit at the implication...he wondered if some survivalist entrepreneur with more money than morals had ever considered dromada bars...

"Yes, let's make the most of the oxygen we have left."

Lola leads the team down the crude stairs (at the south edge of the map) into the tunnels below. The concentric pattern of the ruins above is repeated down here.

Although the purple runes flash as you pass through, the purple force field parts for you. On the other side you find there's breathable air in the tunnels and your gear is dry of any traces of methane.

On this level the round central room has another very finely constructed staircase that delves deeper into the core.

Idir notes the change as they move past the force field.

"How convenient. We'll at least be able to replenish our breathable air in here while we investigate."

He begins looking around the chamber.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Lola looks around the central room. "Anyone want to see where this stairway leads?"

Just to be clear, the stairway goes down. What is above the central area?

Lola skirts the edge of the hole to try to get into the central room. When she tries to cross the threshold, the runes on the inside walls, floor and ceiling of the central room flare yellow and a yellow forcefield blocks her passage. The impact unbalances her and for a long heartbeat she teeters for a moment on the edge of the rift, before recovering herself.

She reaches a tentative hand out and earns another, much fainter flare of yellow from the runes inside the room and the air in front of her fingertips also flares and pure focre blocks forward motion.

Ahh. There are more than one sets of stairs.
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Joro and possibly Lola searched the ruins on the surface (Apr 25) while Idir and Voldresk rested. The surface ruins are utterly barren and eroded. There is no staircase in the central room of the ruins on the surface. The only way forward is to descend through the hole, or take the rough southern stairs that lead to the first level of tunnels.
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After resting, Lola started exploring. (Sunday) Because there was nothing to find on the surface, and to move things along I retconned her post slightly in my Monday post with "Lola leads the team down the crude stairs (at the south edge of the map) into the tunnels below.... "
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You are in the tunnels now. Outer perimeter walls and ceiling are native stone. Inner walls, ceiling above the central round room, and all floors are the imported sandstone. The finely crafted staircase in the central round room only goes down.
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The hole continues down through the first level of tunnels, but there doesn't seem to intersect another lower tunnel.
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The runes provide dim purple light. Please let me know if you're using a supplementary light source or have better than normal vision.