GameDay XIV "Fate of the Scoured God" [Tier 9+] (Old thread)

Game Master Chris Marsh

Ad astra per aspera

The door opens to reveal a halfling bedecked in thin, but sturdy armor. He has white hair that is loose and a bit unkempt. Below his eyes, on his face, is a covering of tight cloth. He carries a large (relative to the size of a halfling that is) rectangular case.

He quietly moves to the back side of the room, sets his case down, and hops up onto a seat.

What at first looks like an unusually tall and gangly vesk enters into the briefing, but the vivid blue and purple whorl colourations lazily drifting across her scales and her light, airy, steps mark her as a sylph, touched by the Plane of Air. A small constellation of aeon stones orbit her head, and she's wearing light tactical clothing underneath a richly appointed heavy robe adorned with runes that seem to curiously blend Ancient Thassilonian and Akitonian elements. Any number of heavy weapons are strapped to hardpoints along her back, from a massive machine gun, to a military-grade grenade launcher, to a gravitic cannon that looks to be as much science project as it is weapon.

"Morning, colleagues. Today's going to be a day for fighting, I gather! I've been waiting for a chance to punch these jinsuls right in their dumb mandibles!" she says with a predatory smile.

By all means, feel free to introduce yourselves. This one kicks off with an overseer post, so I'm just waiting on that.

Through an intrafleet transmission, all screens light up with Luwazi Elsebo's face as she addresses the gathered Starfinders.

“Starfinders, after two years of hardship following our devastating first foray into the Scoured Stars, we now stand taller than ever and are back to fighting form. Today, new recruits rally beside experienced agents and rescued veterans, coming together to form the most resourceful, prepared, and skilled organization the Pact Worlds have ever known. This newfound strength comes not a moment too soon, for the threat within the Scoured Stars is unlike any we’ve ever faced: a hostile military force known as the jinsuls, committed to our complete destruction. Stopping the Jinsul Hierocracy will challenge us more than anything we’ve done before, but what I’ve seen from our agents these past two years assures me that we are more than up to the task! Your orders will arrive shortly; for now, gather your equipment, finish your preparations, and send any messages you wish before we reach the Scoured Stars.”

Table GMs, proceed with the introduction.

Hundreds of Starfinder agents hustle throughout the loading docks aboard the ever-impressive and newly refurbished Master of Stars, the pinnacle of the Starfinder fleet. Junior agents hastily pack every docked starship with weapons, armor, spare parts, and provisions, while technical staff runs diagnostics on starship armaments and senior officers finalize flight formations and supply routes. Many Starfinders’ faces are dark with uncertainty, but the fiery resolve burns in their eyes.

Venture-Captain Arvin, a damaya lashunta man, emerges from the shifting crowd of activity, his expression hard with repressed concern. “It seems fate has made soldiers out of explorers. We’ve always prepared our agents to navigate danger and violence, but never anything like this. Still, there isn’t another organization in the Pact Worlds that I would trust more with this daunting task.” He pauses for a moment, then shakes himself back to attention. “Right, much left to do! There are still a few specialized tasks remaining that you might be able to help us complete.”

He's not kidding, there's a lot to do. If you haven't, introduce yourselves and choose a task and roll. If you have, choose a task and roll. We're the only table not playing at Discord speed, and we're the high level (i.e. complicated) table, so let's do this!

MASTER OF STARS TOUCH-UP
Fitch, leader of the Wayfinders, walks you to an airlock leading out to some of the scaffolding on the ship’s exterior. “It’s strange to not have my children aboard, but this is no time to be bringing the young ones along. Last time, the jinsul capital ships chased away our carriers. I’d love to see how their flagship holds up against ours, but we’re still not quite finished with renovations. Try to wrap up the finishing touches on this gem of a ship— I want the last thing those jinsuls see is just how brightly it shines.”
Relevant Skills: Engineering, Piloting, or Profession (electrician or maintenance worker)
Past Experience Bonus: Describe a starship encounter this PC has played for a bonus!

PRAYER AND REFLECTION
Iteration-177, the enigmatic android, meets with you in a
conference room, as charming as ever. “It appears I finally get to participate in a famed Starfinder adventure! I suspect you still have some desire to seek solace with the divine before heading into battle? I too, know this desire. I’m more than happy to converse, if you’d care to sit and chat.”
Relevant Skills: Culture, Mysticism, or Sense Motive
Past Experience Bonus: any scenario featuring Iteration-177
or a noteworthy religious experience

ROOKIE TRAINING
Venture-Captain Arvin looks over a group of anxious recruits in the mess hall. “Those green agents are not ready for abattle against an organized foe. Sadly, they’re liabilities when they’re frightened. Talk them through some of your experiences, set them at ease, and help them prepare for the challenges they’ll face ahead. We need them primed and ready for combat if we’re going to win this.”
Relevant Skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Profession (any
relevant Profession skill)
Past Experience Bonus: any scenario that required you to rescue or protect someone of interest

STARSHIP PRIMING
Celita, leader of the Dataphiles, feverishly works on the mainframe in the command center of the Master of Stars. “Greetings, I’m Celita of the Dataphiles. You may haveknown me as Historia-7, though I’ve since stopped using that name due to reasons we don’t have the time to discuss. I think I’ve devised a way to artificially replicate the resonance effects of the Tear relic to help our ships stay in communication and traverse the Drift more precisely. I need you to double-check my code for errors and then see if you can shield the network from detection by jinsul sensors.”
Relevant Skills: Computers, Physical Science, or Profession (technician)
Past Experience Bonus: any scenario that featured a species descended from the Scoured Stars

SUPPLY RUN
Zigvigix, leader of the Exo-Guardians, sits before an immense cargo bay filled with crates of supplies. “They say an army marches on its stomach, but it also fights with guns and ammo! Can you take a look at all our gear to make sure it works and then load it onto the ships? Just try to keep the explosives separated from the food, please. We don’t want to have that mistake happen again!”
Relevant Skills: Athletics, Engineering, Medicine, or Perception
Past Experience Bonus: any scenario with a mission
predicated on a magical or technological item or resource

TACTICAL PREPARATIONS
Radaszam, leader of the Acquisitives, overlooks a large holographic map of the Scoured Stars system, overlaid with smaller, more detailed maps of terrain on specific planets. “I don’t know about you, but I’m keen to take this fight to the jinsuls on their home turf. We have topographic data collected from our last foray into the Scoured Stars, plus some information on fighting styles our agents have reported from past jinsul encounters. See if you can make sense of it all and formulate a plan of attack.”
Relevant Skills: Culture, Life Science, Mysticism, or Survival
Past Experience Bonus: Any scenario featuring combat with
an organized, hostile alien force.

DM's Tracker

Varuthalla could reasonably try any of these; not knowing what the rest of the party is good at, she'd naturally gravitate towards Engineering, so I'll have a go at Master of Stars Touch-Ups; but if we later determine that there's something that no one else can try, can we say she'd have taken a go at that instead?
Engineering for Master of Stars Touch Ups: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (17) + 20 = 37

"Ah, the Master of Stars, ain't she a beaut. I heard Fitch say once that the adamantine-tungsten rods fired from the rail cannons on this thing are magically compressed to be more dense than a neutron star! I'm not sure the physics holds up on that, but - man, those jinsuls won't know what hit 'em. I fought an undead ship once that we punched full of holes that way - 'course, they didn't mind a bit of hard vacuum, the cheeky undead!"
Varuthalla has a chronicle from 1-35, which features starship combat.

Supply Run

Drei roots through and directs others to root through the supplies for inventory and organization. He doesn't say a word, his directions come in the form of pointing with a laser sight, and digital messages. Rarely he uses a text to speak to communicate, but in every one of those instances, he is chastising someone.

Perception: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (3) + 23 = 26 +4 with scanner

A halfling dressed in varying shades of blue, grey, and black walks in. He smiles and nods to the group. His voice carries a quiet calm that suggests confidence.

"Hail and well-met indeed, friends. I’m Stees, Stees Tillbridge. I’m your… well… support person is probably the best term. I can do about anything, and help you do anything beyond that. It’ll be a pleasure working with you, I’m sure."

Stees walks to the group of rookies and calls them to attention.

“This is a big mission, and you may not feel ready for it. I have some news — we never really feel ready, even when we are. And you’re ready. You’re Starfinders.”

He continues, citing his early experience protecting and guiding a VIP during a mission on Absalom Station. SFS 1-32 Acts of Association

Intimidate: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (9) + 18 = 27

Varuthalla immediately delivers a masterclass that only a seasoned Starfinder can give.

Drei, it was maxed out. Let me know if you'd like to try another.

I was actually shooting for Master of Stars Touchup, not Supply Run; Drei can still crush Supply Run, I think? :)

"Sorry-sorry-sorry I'm late. My handler's off on another mission & I completely forgot that I'd gotten a message about the mission." says a qhorlu with an iridescent shell as she hurries into the room."What did I miss? Hopefully not too much."

Omni pauses, then ends up in a conversation with Iteration-177, reflecting on her recent brush with the birth of the new godling & how she ended up wielding Shelyn's glaive in combat (I suppose that it was also Zon Kuthon's blade as well).

Culture with a Mystical boost for Prayer & Reflection: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (4) + 17 = 21

Varuthalla waves at the familiar face of Omni. "Oh, hey, they're letting you do missions again? Good to see you," she jokes to her colleague.

In a quiet moment, with her voice pitched low just for Omni to hear, she'd ask, "hey, I meant to ask - are you hearing...things? After the Aucturn mission? Feels like that damned planet's talking to me, even after, the, uh...well, the..." she trails off, but then mimes an explosion with her hand.

I GM'd Omni through 7-03 Aucturn Asunder, and gave my GM credit to Varuthalla, so they've maybe never met 'on screen,' but hey, they were in the same mission, in spirit XD

It's not that Omni turns to face Varuthalla - with three eyes facing in all directions, 'facing' isn't really a thing, but Omni nods. But her attention focuses on Varuthalla.

"Yes! No. Maybe? After drinking the ichor, it was more like visions than hearing things, though there's a lingering tune, hovering just beyond the range of my hearing - I feel it. Until I sleep, then it haunts me. I almost remember it when I wake. Though new equations appear on my shell from time to time - things that don't make sense - unequal equalities. It's like there's a missing element that will make things make sense once it manifests. And then there's the spirit from the blade..."

She shrugs.

An avalanche of limbs, weapons, fur, scales, and thunderous footfalls interrupts the conversation as a blue-furred skittermander riding a dinosaur bursts into the room. "Howdy, nufriends!" exclaims the skittermander as he quickly doffs and dons a ten-gallon hat with his one free hand while pulling his mount to a halt. "I'm Huckleknuckle, the chaos cowboy of Vesk-V." His other hands are full with a capture pole, some sort of flail, a shield, and the reins, his arms wrapped in D-Suit as they jut out from the sides of a tactical vest.

"My apologies for the delay," he says as he climbs down from the dinosaur. "There was an incident upon arrival when one of the docking bay workers was harsh with my sweet Underthunder here and she reacted… well, we rescued her a little while back from the private menagerie of some DragonCorp exec who got himself assassinated, and she's not quite done transitioning from cruel captivity to normal life, so she doesn't take kindly to mistreatment. But I got Radazam to vouch for her, and the doctors expect the worker to make a full recovery, so we were given clearance to proceed!"

"Like I said, I'm a chaos cowboy. I take the chaos we find in the field - and boy howdy do we find a lot of it - and wrangle it from where we don't want it to where we do. I hear we get to wrangle some Jinsuls on this mission and that sounds like a dee-light! I can't stand those ornery spider-freaks. Looking forward to putting their particular brand of chaos under my boot!"

"You've got nothing to fear from Underthunder here, just treat her kindly and she'll love you soon enough. Isn't that right, UT?" Underthunder seems to be ignoring Huckleknuckle at the moment, and looks instead at one of the rookies and growls.

"Hey! What did I tell you?" Huckleknuckle moves in front of Underthunder to face her, puts a hand on each side of her snout and leans in close. "Only. Eat. The people. I tell you. To eat. It's important!"

Underthunder's only response is to lick Huckleknuckle's face. "Aww, I can't stay mad at you!" Huckleknuckle coos as he pats her kindly on the snout.

"Anyway," he says as he turns back to the group. "What are we up to now? How can I help?"

I fixed the Boon Link. Sorry about that.The party begins to pull together and coalesce into a team.

Omni takes the lead with Iteration-177, and walks away feeling all the better about preparation.

***********************************
Remaining options
MASTER OF STARS TOUCH-UP
Fitch, leader of the Wayfinders, walks you to an airlock leading out to some of the scaffolding on the ship’s exterior. “It’s strange to not have my children aboard, but this is no time to be bringing the young ones along. Last time, the jinsul capital ships chased away our carriers. I’d love to see how their flagship holds up against ours, but we’re still not quite finished with renovations. Try to wrap up the finishing touches on this gem of a ship— I want the last thing those jinsuls see is just how brightly it shines.”
Relevant Skills: Engineering, Piloting, or Profession (electrician or maintenance worker)
Past Experience Bonus: Describe a starship encounter this PC has played for a bonus!

STARSHIP PRIMING
Celita, leader of the Dataphiles, feverishly works on the mainframe in the command center of the Master of Stars. “Greetings, I’m Celita of the Dataphiles. You may haveknown me as Historia-7, though I’ve since stopped using that name due to reasons we don’t have the time to discuss. I think I’ve devised a way to artificially replicate the resonance effects of the Tear relic to help our ships stay in communication and traverse the Drift more precisely. I need you to double-check my code for errors and then see if you can shield the network from detection by jinsul sensors.”
Relevant Skills: Computers, Physical Science, or Profession (technician)
Past Experience Bonus: any scenario that featured a species descended from the Scoured Stars

TACTICAL PREPARATIONS
Radaszam, leader of the Acquisitives, overlooks a large holographic map of the Scoured Stars system, overlaid with smaller, more detailed maps of terrain on specific planets. “I don’t know about you, but I’m keen to take this fight to the jinsuls on their home turf. We have topographic data collected from our last foray into the Scoured Stars, plus some information on fighting styles our agents have reported from past jinsul encounters. See if you can make sense of it all and formulate a plan of attack.”
Relevant Skills: Culture, Life Science, Mysticism, or Survival
Past Experience Bonus: Any scenario featuring combat with
an organized, hostile alien force.

DM's Tracker

Touch-Up
Piloting: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (6) + 21 = 27

(Assming it's ok to try a second one,) Varuthalla greets Radaszam as an old colleague, and tries to offer her help with Tactical Preparations.
"I learned a thing or two from Operational Readiness Joro, when we were storming the defensive fortifications of the Vault Lord. Let's see what we're working with here..."
Culture: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (15) + 19 = 34
I'm saying 7-09 Clutches of the Vault Lord counts as a "scenario featuring combat with an organized, hostile alien force."

I don't see why not... especially given the actual make up of the special.

Drei wordlessly moves in to help, giving a good show:

Varuthalla has much to offer, assisting overviewing the Society’s default plan of engagement.

*********************
STARSHIP PRIMING
Celita, leader of the Dataphiles, feverishly works on the mainframe in the command center of the Master of Stars. “Greetings, I’m Celita of the Dataphiles. You may haveknown me as Historia-7, though I’ve since stopped using that name due to reasons we don’t have the time to discuss. I think I’ve devised a way to artificially replicate the resonance effects of the Tear relic to help our ships stay in communication and traverse the Drift more precisely. I need you to double-check my code for errors and then see if you can shield the network from detection by jinsul sensors.”
Relevant Skills: Computers, Physical Science, or Profession (technician)
Past Experience Bonus: any scenario that featured a species descended from the Scoured Stars

Omni takes a stab at checking Celita's code, though she hopes that someone with better skills will attempt it as well so that she can aid them.

Physical Science assist check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Stees slides a chair next to Omni and peers over the screen.

“We’ve got this, Omni. That's a good start. Let’s see how far we can get on this together…”

Computers: 1d20 + 20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 20 + 2 = 26 Includes Omni’s assist

Huckleknuckle moves to check in with Radaszam. "Hey chief, thanks again for vouching for Underthunder! Can I help with the topography assessment?"
Survival: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27

As preparations wind down, a stillness settles over the crowd of Starfinders gathered on the command deck of the Master of Stars. First Seeker Jadnura, flanked by nominated First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo and the android Iteration-177, steps forward to an elevated captain’s platform and looks out over the assembled agents. Jadnura’s resonant voice carries across the assembly. “Starfinders! Today we gather not merely as explorers and scholars, but as defenders of the galaxy. Ever since the jinsuls ambushed our rescue mission into the Scoured Stars, they have assailed us and our allies at every turn. The danger the jinsuls present to our friends and homes cannot be ignored. We now know that they intend to awaken the divine being responsible for trapping our first expedition into the Scoured Stars. We know that this scheme threatens not only the Scoured Stars but all the space surrounding it. This leaves us with one mission: break the jinsul fleet and drive them from the Scoured Stars, putting an end to their depredations once and for all. Today we march to war!”

The Starfinders disperse to their ships and launch into orbit, assembling into either tactical strike formations or vanguards surrounding the larger vessels. The fleet’s synchronized screens flash to life, showing Luwazi Elsebo from her own command station. “We are ready to approach the Scoured Stars system from the outer orbit of the Agillae system’s star. The majority of our fleet will stay together to protect our supplies and support our ground troops, while our field agents are to scout the system and find the most strategic places to engage the jinsuls. Kadrical’s divine herald, Dhurus, is the head of the snake: find where he is hiding so we can direct our full forces against him. Once we close in on him, we can face down Dhurus on equal footing and end this conflict.”

Luwazi nods to the camera. “Stick together, support each other, and stay the course. We live or die as one today. Good luck, Starfinders. Fleet—activate Drift engines now!” The screen shuts off, and each formation of starships surges forward as a unit, vanishing into the Drift.

The Starfinder fleet emerges from the Drift as a single force, the three suns of the Scoured Stars burning brightly against the surrounding void. Moments later, onboard computers ping with streams of incoming data detailing nearby jinsul ships, planets with concentrated industrial activity, and further commands from the First Seekers. Several files emerge on the captains’ screens: briefings of locations where field agents could find useful information about how best to target the jinsul fleet’s weak points.

Table GMs, Part 1 has started.

Just before it's time to head out, the team combines to get some priming done! Pleased with your review, Celita outfits the
Starfinder fleet with better weapons-tracking software for
targeting jinsul ships.

Several files emerge on the captains’ screens: briefings of locations where field agents could find useful information about how best to target the jinsul fleet’s weak points.

Sorry, long day at work. First mission with 2 votes wins!]

Varuthalla is 91% Soldier, but the other 9% is Operative - and as a high-dex shooty Soldier, she's not bad at sneaking. So, she'd vote for one of the first two, Ground Force Intel, or Data Hack. I'm down with whatever, though - probably the only thing she wouldn't be able to contribute much to is the last mission, Captive Interview.

Vote for sneaking as well.

So #1 or #2?

Sorry, I meant #1

"I've never been accused of being quiet or sneaky but I'm sure I can find some way to help with it!"

+1 vote for #1

Zigvigix, the shirren faction leader of the Exo-Guardians, points at a screen depicting a green planet blemished by stretches of brown and ashen land. “Our scans show lots of jinsul activity here on Agillae-2. The planet is habitable, but it looks like the jinsuls stripped most of the vegetation to fuel their war industry. If I were a jinsul, I’d use the cleared terrain to run formation drills and test ground vehicles.”

The shirren’s antennae bounce with glee, at odds with the seriousness of the moment. “But of course, I’m not a jinsul, so you’re going to see if I’m right! I’ll scramble their sensors long enough for you to sneak down there, find whatever you can about their troop organization, and get away as fast as you can. Don’t attract too much attention, or you might have to fight the whole army by yourselves!”

Zigvigix provides you with coordinates to a clearing within the remaining marshland where you can land your starship without notice. From there, make your way westward on foot to a massive jinsul war camp....

Option 1 would've been my vote as well.

As Zigvigix predicted, the jinsul camp is furiously active: infantry platoons run battlefield-training exercises, engineers test-drive various vehicles, and officers catalog artillery weapons and other large armaments. You can gather strategic intelligence by spying on the camp and documenting the jinsuls’ tactics, resources, and defensive measures.

These tasks can be completed in any order, and I'll allow some leeway for creative solutions using skills or resources not presented so long as an appropriate skill check or consumption of resources is involved. Each task takes about 10 minutes, and most tasks do not allow support via the aid another action unless specifically stated. Anyone not attempting a task can take a 10-minute rest instead.

DM's Tracker

As a sylph, Varuthalla is a natural in the air. She'd go for the High Ground option (but still try and remain undetected, of course.)
Acrobatics to Fly: 1d20 + 23 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 23 + 8 = 50
+8 for having perfect maneuverability.

“I’ll head in and take a closer look. Give me about 10 minutes. I’ll meet you back here.”

He heads smoothly into the underbrush. When he gets closer to the jinsul camp, he touches a control on his sleeve. His whole body shimmers for a moment, then mostly vanishes as he engages his cloaking field.[/ooc]

Stealth for Closer Look: 10 + 24 = 34 Using specialization skill mastery (automatic 10 die roll) and cloaking field

@GM — I don’t know if this will come into play too, but… “halflings reduce the penalty for using Stealth while moving by 5”. If nothing else, it’s a fun story point.

Drei carefully sneaks around and uses his scope view the camp from a distance.

Perception: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (15) + 23 = 38

Omni's career means that she engages in a lot of field work, so she's learned a decent amount about Navigation, making use of her Navigator's tools.

Survival using tools: 1d20 + 17 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 17 + 4 = 24

Three of the agents breeze their way through Ziv's mission, but just before declaring success Omni hits a snag.... but a patrol approaches! You can each make a stealth check.

Stealth: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (14) + 22 = 36

Stealth: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (2) + 21 = 23

Omni's not the stealthiest snail out in the verse, that's for certain.

Stealth check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

But today might be the day when her stealth-sense kicks in.

"Hmm, let me see if I can find a better vantage point out there."

survival: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (8) + 15 = 23

Laying low the party just barely goes unnoticed. Omni may have fumbled the recon, but the quorlu definitely stays out of sight. Eventually the patrol leaves, giving you a window to finish the mission. [ooc]You need one more success to complete the mission.

DM's Tracker

Survival: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (9) + 13 = 22

[Dice=Survival]1d20+13

Since the team only needs one more, and you can Aid Another on this mission... Just sayin'

Stees aids on the terrain navigation.

“What about over there, to the left?”

Survival: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (1) + 18 = 19

Edition confusion.... checking. Nope, nat one is not an autofail. You beat the DC.

Working as a team the Starfinders complete the mission and book it back to base. It's a great start, but there's a lot left to do.

I'm fine just working our way down the list, but will roll however other folks decide since I'm replaying.