GM S's "Invasion's Edge"

Game Master Chris Marsh

Welcome! I'll start the instant the table is legal.

Each of your personal comms pings you to muster for atrip to Akiton. It's an exciting time. You're a new agent, and so is the lodge there. It's a three day trip, so you'll have plenty of time to get to know your fellow agents!

We begin NOW, and I'll advance once all 6 are checked in.

A kalo wearing carbon skin armor hand-painted in a careful foliage-camouflage pattern and carrying a long-barreled rifle slung over his shoulder stands flipping through a nearby terminal. A glance over his shoulder shows an infosphere messageboard dedicated to hunting. The current page is titled Rarest Akitonian Game. Noticing others have arrived, he looks up and says "Think we're likely to have enough free time for an excursion while we're there?"

"I suspect not," a sad looking android replies half-heartedly. "If I'm on the mission, I can only assume it was a last-minute emergency, or they'd have found a better option. I'm Proxy-83959. As you can see by my name, there were approximately 83,958 androids deemed better at my job than me, but hopefully I will not disappoint too badly."

Laughing head nod to all the two- and three-number Society folks I play with. If nothing else, I hope this character helps me finally memorize my Society number. :D

Also, still building the character, so can't describe any of his gear or anything yet!

A tiny white ysoki carrying a scattergun bigger than she is enters, talking on her comm unit.

"Hey Tony, I'm back on Akiton for a bit. Yeah, I've got this thing I gotta do for a few days, but give me a ring after that. Yeah, I can fit in a job or two, no sweat."

She hangs up without saying goodbye and looks at the rest of the assembled agents.

"How's it going, I'm Pipsqueak, you know, the little ysoki with the big mouth. Or the big gun. Depends on who you ask, right? It's nice to be on Akiton again, I've been on the Station for too long."

She takes a seat on a chair and puts her feet up on a table.

A flying green shirren, wearing a second skin, with twitching antenna lands in the room. She casts light to show her ability.

Using her mouth to express her greetings. "I am Étoile marcheuse. I may reach you throught telepathy in the future, while I may not be the most discreet person you will find in a group."

After the interplanetary voyage, the shuttle lands in the Sloughscar Hills of southern Akiton, a region of rocky hills that hold numerous rifts, crags, caves, and cliffs. As you disembark, you enter a maze of temporary prefabricated buildings amid a flurry of activity and construction. You receive a brief wave from the izalguun First Seeker Sarmak, who is briefing a more experienced team of agents on a detailed operation, and then are greeted in a more personable fashion by Zizenzi, the lodge’s administrator and hopeful venture-captain. Zizenzi wastes no time on preamble and begins briefing the Starfinder agents immediately.

“Welcome to Akiton, Starfinders!” Zizenzi begins enthusiastically. “Things are busy here as we get this new lodge up and running, so I’m going to need you to get to work right away! Just leave your non-essential gear here and I’ll see its stowed in your assigned housing unit.”

Zizenzi leads the way deeper into the chaos and away from the shuttle, gesturing wildly as they speak. “Right now, we’re preparing to explore a massive, crashed starship dubbed the ‘Wreck of the Returned’ that First Seeker Sarmak believes is connected to the return of the First Ones. The First Ones are ancient and powerful beings who could be a threat to the Pact Worlds! No one’s seen the First Ones in a long time, but we have explored First Ones sites in the past and I promise you, they were not a benevolent people! We believe that exploring this starship wreck will give us much needed insight into the First Ones and their plans.”

The shirren looks off into the distance for a moment before refocusing on the matter at hand. “But first things first! We have a Starfinder lodge to establish and that means you get to roll up your sleeves and lend an appendage, as the humans say! Are you ready to get started?”

As you continue your introductions, Zizeni gives you a list of tasks that need doing. You need to do them both, but they can be in either order:

Rovuur smiles at the mention of scouting a path through the Akitonian wilderness. Maybe there will be a chance for a little hunting after all...

I'm fine with either order, but Rovuur is definitely more excited about the second one.

Proxy-83959 nods. "Well, I'll do my best, of course. But do we think the First Ones are back now? Here? In this ship?" He looks anxious -- he may not be cut out for this.

"We probably should set up the boundary markers first, right? In case any of them are out there, they'll know not to come in here?"

"Finally, my first mission." Excitement rings in her voice as Anæja quickly boards the ship bound for her assignment.

She spends the next few days wandering through the shuttle or observing operations open to her, quietly taking mental notes of everything she’s allowed to learn. As the destination draws near, she approaches the others and introduces herself.

"Anæja Edsdóttir. It’s my first mission, and a pleasure to work with you!"

During the meeting and scanning the list of tasks, she nods in agreement with her fellow android about setting markers.

"Placing boundary markers will definitely help deter intruders. It's better to be cautious than caught off guard."

"I doubt they're back NOW. But you will be some of the first to collect anything first hand."

Proxy-83959 nods.

Ah, that's explains why they called me! We're bait to draw out the First Ones so the more important Starfinders aren't killed unawares! Well, I feel better at least knowing why I'm here now...

Étoile marcheuse says " Finish the installation. The exploration can wait some hours, even if I feel I has been trained to explore the wreck of my first mission."

The new Starfinder lodge is surrounded by a network of boundary markers that form an automated alarm system. Each boundary marker releases a signal that deters wildlife from approaching and automatically scans and identifies anyone (or anything) passing by. Whenever something unauthorized passes by the boundary markers, it triggers an alarm.
This alarm system is an important defense against the robots and other creatures released by the Wreck of the Returned into the surrounding Sloughscar Hills. A robust system requires a variety of expertises:

INSTALLATION
Athletics, Crafting, or Labor Lore: to install boundary markers, Nature or Survival to find optimal placement locations
Diplomacy to keep everybody encouraged and working together. Network:

CALIBRATION
Acrobatics: to make minor tweaks to marker positioning
Computers or Infosphere Lore: to program the network
Piloting or Survival to calculate optimal alignments.

TECH CHECK
Acrobatics or Athletics to test how much the markers can shift without compromising the network
Computers or Thievery: to find errors in the network’s programming
Deception or Stealth to attempt to fool the boundary markers
Perception: to discover gaps in the perimeter’s coverage.

Round 1 (Installation Only)
Anæja: Go
Étoile: Go
Pipsqueak: Go
Proxy-83959: Go
Rovuur-Ulthool: Go
Luke_Parry: Go

GM Only Link

Proxy-83959 starts working on calibrating the boundary markers. Despite his general poor self-image, he works quickly, using his ability to communicate wirelessly with the machines.

Computers (trained): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Anæja proceeds to calibrating one of the boundary markers.
CALIBRATION: Computers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

It seems that the markers' calibration program is unfamiliar to her, or perhaps she ran the wrong diagnostic tests to determine the correct parameters she needs to adjust.

"Yeah, you definitely want a marker right here. Otherwise, someone small could slip by between those two trees right there and avoid triggering the alarm. Not that I look for that kind of thing."

Pipsqueak gets to work on an installation.

Crafting: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Proxy, Anaeja, the init block says "Installation Only". I don't think we can do calibration checks yet.

Rovuur uses a lifetime's experience dealing with dangerous wildlife in unfamiliar countryside to identify the best locations for boundary markers.

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Proxy, Anaeja, the init block says "Installation Only". I don't think we can do calibration checks yet.

Thanks, I miss that. Either way, I will still use the same skill check.

Yes, apologies. EVERYONE will attempt an Installation check, the Calibration, etc. I just posted them all at once for ease.

Rovuur-Ulthool and Pipsqueak set a high bar as their installation efforts are on point and well executed.

INSTALLATION
Athletics, Crafting, or Labor Lore: to install boundary markers, Nature or Survival to find optimal placement locations
Diplomacy to keep everybody encouraged and working together. Network:

CALIBRATION
Acrobatics: to make minor tweaks to marker positioning
Computers or Infosphere Lore: to program the network
Piloting or Survival to calculate optimal alignments.

TECH CHECK
Acrobatics or Athletics to test how much the markers can shift without compromising the network
Computers or Thievery: to find errors in the network’s programming
Deception or Stealth to attempt to fool the boundary markers
Perception: to discover gaps in the perimeter’s coverage.

Round 1 (Installation Only)
Anæja: Go
Étoile: Go
Pipsqueak: Crit (2 Points)
Proxy-83959: Go
Rovuur-Ulthool: Success (1 Point)
Luke_Parry: Go

GM Only Link

Étoile marcheuse inspects the different location, before using her craft to install the boundary marker.

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Whoops. Hard to believe I get paid to read! But this explains a lot about Proxy.

Proxy-83959 gives a sudden start as he realizes that it's too early to calibrate the computers at this point, as they haven't even been installed yet. He looks crestfallen, realizing again this is why he's here and who he is, instead of more impressively numbered Proxy.

Will do Crafting instead of Computers, which has the same results.

The party shows that they may b e new, but they're still agents!

INSTALLATION
Athletics, Crafting, or Labor Lore: to install boundary markers, Nature or Survival to find optimal placement locations
Diplomacy to keep everybody encouraged and working together. Network:

CALIBRATION
Acrobatics: to make minor tweaks to marker positioning
Computers or Infosphere Lore: to program the network
Piloting or Survival to calculate optimal alignments.

TECH CHECK
Acrobatics or Athletics to test how much the markers can shift without compromising the network
Computers or Thievery: to find errors in the network’s programming
Deception or Stealth to attempt to fool the boundary markers
Perception: to discover gaps in the perimeter’s coverage.

Round 1 (Installation Only)[b]
Anæja: Go
Étoile: Success (1 Point)
Pipsqueak: Crit (2 Points)
Proxy-83959: Go
Rovuur-Ulthool: Success (1 Point)
Luke_Parry: Go

GM Only Link

Anaeja picks some markers to install on the place, making sure they are stable and at the right spots.
INSTALLATION: Crafting: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Navasi does her level best to keep everyone motivated and on task, leading them in rhythmic work songs!

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11.

Unfortunately, her attempts fall flat.

Only Navasi struggles, but it's okay as the team as a whole does an outstanding job.

Yes, apologies. EVERYONE will attempt an Installation check, the Calibration, etc. I just posted them all at once for ease.

Rovuur-Ulthool and Pipsqueak set a high bar as their installation efforts are on point and well executed.

CALIBRATION
Acrobatics: to make minor tweaks to marker positioning
Computers or Infosphere Lore: to program the network
Piloting or Survival to calculate optimal alignments.

TECH CHECK
Acrobatics or Athletics to test how much the markers can shift without compromising the network
Computers or Thievery: to find errors in the network’s programming
Deception or Stealth to attempt to fool the boundary markers
Perception: to discover gaps in the perimeter’s coverage.

Round 2 (Calibration Only)[b]
Anæja: Go
Étoile: Go
Pipsqueak: Go
Proxy-83959: Go
Rovuur-Ulthool: Go
Navasi: Go

Points: 6

GM Only Link

Going to the console, working on a device to program the network.

Computers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Navasi attempts to make minor tweaks to marker positioning.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16.

"All right, look, I know what what the manual says, but I swear, you'll get better results if you tune it three degrees off."

Piloting: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Rovuur moves nimbly around the area, adjusting the markers as directed.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

It's less impressive than the installation was, but it's still pretty effective. Only Rovuur struggles to make the requisite adjustments.

CALIBRATION
Acrobatics: to make minor tweaks to marker positioning
Computers or Infosphere Lore: to program the network
Piloting or Survival to calculate optimal alignments.

TECH CHECK
Acrobatics or Athletics to test how much the markers can shift without compromising the network
Computers or Thievery: to find errors in the network’s programming
Deception or Stealth to attempt to fool the boundary markers
Perception: to discover gaps in the perimeter’s coverage.

Round 2 (Calibration Only)
Anæja: Go
Étoile: Success
Pipsqueak: Success
Proxy-83959: Go
Rovuur-Ulthool: Fail
Navasi: Success

Points: 9

GM Only Link

"Calibrating, calibrating..." she remotely calibrates the installed markers, hoping that she has the right parameters to adjust and align properly.
Computers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Computers (trained): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Proxy-83959, watching the others succeed relatively easily, gets flustered, and struggles to calibrate everything.

Proxy struggles a bit, but otherwise the party is largely successful. How successful? Only testing will show...

TECH CHECK
Acrobatics or Athletics to test how much the markers can shift without compromising the network
Computers or Thievery: to find errors in the network’s programming
Deception or Stealth to attempt to fool the boundary markers
Perception: to discover gaps in the perimeter’s coverage.

Round 3 (Tech)
Anæja: Go
Étoile: Go
Pipsqueak: Go
Proxy-83959: Go
Rovuur-Ulthool: Go
Navasi: Go

Points: 10

GM Only Link

Navasi attempts to fool the boundary markers!

Deception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13.

Pipsqueak starts ducking and weaving around the markers, pushing them with as much precision as she can.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

"Now let's see if the installation and calibration worked." Anaeja tinkers with the sensitivity of the instrument and its ability to distinguish movements from unregistered and registered entities from its database.
Computers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Étoile looks at the code in the network’s programming.

"This is so intersting."

Computers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Then, his brain got caught elsewhere.

It was a strong start, but the testing isn't exactly airtight. Étoile however, bumps some of the equipment. Crit fail has consequences if you want to use our Hero Point.

TECH CHECK
Acrobatics or Athletics to test how much the markers can shift without compromising the network
Computers or Thievery: to find errors in the network’s programming
Deception or Stealth to attempt to fool the boundary markers
Perception: to discover gaps in the perimeter’s coverage.

Round 3 (Tech)
Anæja: Success
Étoile: Crit Fail
Pipsqueak: Success
Proxy-83959: Go
Rovuur-Ulthool: Go
Navasi: Fail

Tech Points: 1

GM Only Link

Rovuur moves about the field, carefully prodding at the markers.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Proxy-83959 continues interfacing with the computers, not moving as numbers and other data run through his head and flicker across his field of vision.

Computers (trained): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Étoile however, bumps some of the equipment. -1 point Thankfully Rovuur and Proxy both make good work.

Fortune favors the skilled. You've made great work so far and can likely test it a bit more. Not a gimme from the GM, there are 4 rounds!

TECH CHECK
Acrobatics or Athletics to test how much the markers can shift without compromising the network
Computers or Thievery: to find errors in the network’s programming
Deception or Stealth to attempt to fool the boundary markers
Perception: to discover gaps in the perimeter’s coverage.

Round 4 of 4 (Tech)
Anæja: Go
Étoile: Go
Pipsqueak: Go
Proxy-83959: Go
Rovuur-Ulthool: Go
Navasi: Go

Tech Points: 3

GM Only Link

Navasi continues to attempt to fool the boundary markers!

Deception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15.

Proxy-83959 continues testing the computers, the tension easing of his shoulders. If this is all that's required, no wonder he was invited to help.

Computers (trained): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Anaeja increases the instruments sensitivity to see if it can differentiate intruders and winds.
Computers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Shaking off her feeling of unfocus, Étoile marcheuse takes a second look at the data.

Computers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

Rovuur continues moving about the area, prodding various makers as his allies call them out so they can check the response.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

Just before the other tasks start requiring your attention, you feel that collectively you've secured the perimeter, so it's back to prepare for some scouting.

On your way back you bump into a young yoski agent driving an enercycle. Society or Starfinder Society Lore for more

She stops to chat with you for a few minutes, then wishes you luck and departs to continue her mission. She’s friendly, upbreat and eager to answer any questions you may have about the mission (though she can't be more experienced than any of you.)

Pipsqueak says hello in ysoki.

Society: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Society: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19 w Dubious Knowledge

"So, how is your work here so far? Encountered any problems as of late?" she asks the ysoki.