[SFS2] Battle for Nova Rush (Inactive)

Game Master cmlobue

Zlee supports his Ysoki comrade, "We aim to take over de ship. If hyu help us, you gots a place as part of de crew. If not, vell, we gots to decide if we can trust hyu. Zo pick a side."

Diplomacy, trained, aid: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

"Oh, you're looking for jobs? Not sure the captain needs anyone new to swab the decks, but maybe we could get some use out of you by throwing you at the Corpse Fleet. Or firing you out a torpedo tube, one or the other. I can..."

What the creature can, you never find out, as the deck shakes from another impact. Some kind of beam rips through the floor, leaving a hole in the cargo bay that somehow seems to both be leaking purplish-orange energy and sucking everything into it.

Spirit Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 to everyone
Basic Fort DC 18

It then sprouts tentacles and begins swinging them wildly.

Round 1 - bolded may go

Zlee (Fort save)
Hazard
Dae (Fort save)
Obozaya (Fort save)
Polly
Tick-Tick (Fort save)

Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

"Sacré bleu!" Obozaya shouts as the beam rips through the hangar.
Fort DC 18: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Fortitude: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

From his time surviving in Absalom Station's Ghost level, Zlee senses the incoming effect soon enough to avoid the damage.

His quantum field activates ◇ and forms around the impact site, making the 20 feet around it affected as if by uneven gravity effects Effect: the area is difficult terrain.

He tries to recall ways such a situation might be best addressed. ◆

Occultism, trained: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Not remembering much, he moves closer ◆ and activates his phase shield ◆, which is translucent with a ghostly image of a wolf snarling.

DC 18 Fort save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Dae takes the full brunt of the spirit damage.

Zlee dodges the energy then approaches cautiously.

Tentacles of energy burst from the hole

Void Lash vs. Polly: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Void Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 plus Grab

1=Dae, 2=Obo, 3=Zlee: 1d3 ⇒ 2

Void Lash vs. Obozaya: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
Void Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 plus Grab

It pulls the technician closer, but Obo gets out of the way. It then seems to radiate further dark energy, which laps over Polly's body ominously.

Round 1-2 - bolded may go

Zlee
Hazard
Dae (-9 HP)
Obozaya (-4 HP)
Polly (grabbed)
Tick-Tick (-4 HP)

Tick-Tick dodges, ducks, dips, dives, and dodges away into the hallway.

◆ Stride

"Woah! Grandmother's teeth! Get away from those tentacles!"

◆ Recall knowledge
Arcana/Occultism +4

Did Dae and Obozaya lose their actions?

Oops! They did not. Highlighting failure on my part.

Round 1 - bolded may go

Zlee
Hazard
Dae (-9 HP)
Obozaya (-4 HP)
Polly (grabbed)
Tick-Tick (-4 HP)

Photon attuning as a free action on rolling initiative. Not sure where I am on the map, but I assume I can get w/in 10' of the hazard in a single move.

"It's hammer time!" Dae takes a short step forward and tries to bludgeon the beastie.

Solar weapon attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Second attack: 1d20 + 7 - 5 ⇒ (15) + 7 - 5 = 17

First attack bludgeoning damage, if applicable, including 1 point fire damage: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 1 = 12

Second attack bludgeoning damage, if applicable, including 1 point fire damage: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 1 = 9

I'll wait to see if Dae's attacks work, or if anyone has successfully Recalled Knowledge, on the hazard before taking Obozaya's turn :)

There's no one left before Obozaya's turn.

Icons fixed. Dae, you are attacking the creature currently grabbed by the hazard?

No, trying to attack the hazard, if that's possible.

ETA: if it's not possible, Dae will try to get Polly loose; use the first roll as an Athletics check instead of an attack.

I was thinking of either attacking the hazard, or trying to Shove Polly out of the way, too - great minds XD I'll still wait and see how Dae's attempts go before sorting out Obozaya's actions.

Zlee concentrates and sends three paradox laced missiles of force at the tentacle thing, not knowing what else to do against it.

Force Barrage, force ◆◆◆: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (2, 4, 4) + 3 = 13

Zlee should try a Recall Knowledge about the hazard next round--I don't think anyone else is trained in Arcana or Occultism, and those seem like the most likely skills to ID it.

Dae's attacks do not seem to affect the hole in any way.

And I seem to have gotten everyone out of order. Obo is up, and then Zlee and Tick-Tick can decide if they want to keep those actions after seeing what Polly does.

With a long sigh, Obozaya decides to try and make friends with ... whatever Polly is.
◆ Stride next to Polly,
◆ Interact to change grip on machine gun to 1 handed hold,
◆ to try and Reposition Polly out of the hazard's grasp. If successful, Obo's trying to move Polly out of the grab - so like, 1 square south-east from Polly's current position.
Reposition, Athletics vs Polly's Fort DC: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
"Zlee, what the hell is this Corpse Fleet nonsense?! What are we dealing with, here?"

Obo grabs Polly and drags them away from the hole. The tentacles stretch and continue their hold.

However, it does grant an opportunity to Polly, who gets themself free on their own shortly thereafter.

Round 1-2 - bolded may go

Zlee
Hazard
Dae (-9 HP)
Obozaya (-4 HP)
Polly
Tick-Tick (-4 HP)

same as before with the recall knowledge

Zlee should try a Recall Knowledge about the hazard next round--I don't think anyone else is trained in Arcana or Occultism, and those seem like the most likely skills to ID it.

He tried that on round 1 and got a low roll. Can you keep attempting after a miss? If he can, then he'll do that first, with a +5 Arcana or Occultism.

Was it possible to attack the tentacles? That was Dae's aim--to go after whatever was holding Polly.

Was it possible to attack the tentacles? That was Dae's aim--to go after whatever was holding Polly.

I don't think attacking the hazard will do anything. GM said:

Dae's attacks do not seem to affect the hole in any way.

You can repeat Recall Knowledge checks only as long as you continue getting at least a success. Once you fail or critically fail, you have exhausted your knowledge of the topic.

The physical attack failed to affect the hazard in any way, whether it targeted the center or the tentacles.

Tick-Tick has never seen anything like this before.

Round 1-2 - bolded may go

Zlee
Hazard
Dae (-9 HP)
Obozaya (-4 HP)
Polly
Tick-Tick (-4 HP, 2 actions)

"I don't know what that is. I'm keeping away from it!"

◆ Stride
◆ Take Cover

Zlee tries to connect things he learned living on the Ghost Level to this strange tentacle thing.

Lore (Ghost Level), trained: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

"Hey, Polly--what is that thing?"

Zlee doesn't recall anything like this happening in the Ghost Levels.

Polly doesn't seem to be any better informed, based on their scream of "I don't know, just keep it off of me!"

Round 2 - bolded may go

Zlee (2 actions)
Hazard
Dae (-9 HP)
Obozaya (-4 HP)
Polly
Tick-Tick (-4 HP)

Thinking ahead to my next turn - could Obozaya's Warfare Lore be used to ID this thing? It's some kind of Corpse Fleet weapon, right..? I dunno, feels like we've hit a wall ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ It's not the kind of hazard that violence solves, and we're drawing a blank on what skills to use XD

The only thing I can think of is to patch the hole and hope that keeps it out.

Yes, Obo, that would be a fair use of Lore.

Just start fiddling with it like any other trap. What could go wrong?

Zlee has some experience with mystic religious ideas. He reasons the corpse fleet might be using some dark ritual magic.

Religion, trained: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7 to disable the hazard.

Spending a hero point, if we have them.

Religion, trained: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Yes, one hero point each.

Zlee begins to disrupt the void energy. He can tell that it is helping, but there is more work to be done.

More tentacles appear and try to grab some of our heroes.

Void Lash vs. Zlee: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
Void Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8 plus Grab

Void Lash vs. Dae: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19
Void Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 plus Grab

It gets hold of two, drags them closer, and emits some more harmful energy that only Dae is in range of.

Spirit Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Basic DC 18 Fortitude

Round 2 - bolded may go

Zlee (-8 HP, grabbed)
Hazard (1 success)
Dae (-18 HP, grabbed, Fort save)
Obozaya (-4 HP)
Polly
Tick-Tick (-4 HP)

Obozaya takes a moment to dredge up whatever she can recall about esoteric Corpse Fleet weapons. ◆ Recall Knowledge to try and ID the hazard with Warfare Lore.
Warfare Lore: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

Seeing Zlee making progress undoing the magic of this thing, Obozaya will try and follow suit.
◆◆ Trying to Disable Device; I'm guessing Magic skills work? And for some reason lvl 1 Obo is Trained in Nature XD I imagine that this is Obozaya, like, pulling out traditional Veskarium nature mumbo jumbo; like some "Hocus pocus" nonsense XD IF the Recall Knowledge indicates a different skill would work better for Obo, she'd use that; assuming I can just use the same dice rolls and change modifiers if, like, idk Stealth can be used to disable the Hazard.
Nature: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

SIGH, also Hero Point Rerolling, with a Ghost Goblin Ale t-shirt.
Nature: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 3 + 1 = 21

DC 18 Fort save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

Dae goes down hard.

Obozaya recognizes that there is nothing natural about this hole, but realizes that he can sabotage it by wrenching some of the broken floor parts that it is anchored to.

Switching roll to Athletics, which allows a check.

The energy from the Corpse Fleet weapon knocks Dae unconscious.

Polly moves toward the pahtra and tries to stop the ... well, 'bleeding' isn't the right word, but it gets the point across.

Medicine: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

And successfully stabilizes Dae, despite all odds.

Round 2-3 - bolded may go

Zlee (-8 HP, grabbed)
Dae (-19 HP, grabbed, prone, stable, wounded 1)
Hazard (2 successes)
Obozaya (-4 HP)
Polly
Tick-Tick (-4 HP)

Tick-Tick scowls and rushes to Dae's unconscious body. "If I die because you all decided not to leave this alone, I'm gonna be pissed." He then grabs onto Dae.

Athletics if needed: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (9) - 1 = 8

◆ Stride
◆ Stride
◆Grab

I don't think I can act at the moment.

You can if either Tick-Tick or Zlee restores at least 1 HP.

Escape, unarmed attack bonus: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Religion, trained: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Zlee tries to break free from the tentacle. He chants a prayer to Zon-Shelyn, alleged to be part of the new deity's successful liberation of the Newborn from the grip of Nyarlathotep.

Zlee can't escape the tentacle directly, but he manages to use the power of his god[dess] to disperse the rest of the energy from it. The hole vanishes, leaving only damaged deck plates and five creatures worse for wear.

Zlee (-8 HP)
Dae (-19 HP, wounded 1)
Obozaya (-4 HP)
Tick-Tick (-4 HP)

Polly remarks, “Guess I owe you one!” They agree to let the group pass without ratting them out.

They agree to let the group pass without ratting them out.

Too late for Tick--Tick--he's already been ratted out!

Tick-Tick looks down at the unconscious pahtra and then looks to the others with an uncertain expression. "Uhh...does anyone know how to fix this?" he says, unceremoniously releasing Dae. He then holds up a clawed finger, "Also, I'd like to point out that my point, several seconds ago was not proven incorrect."

Obozaya pats down her armour, checking for a medpatch, a medkit, or a single rank in Medicine; upon coming up empty on all, she shrugs at Tick-Tick.
I guess, even though the adventure doesn't outright say "you must play this with Chk Chk, Dae, Iseph, and Navasi" it's probably still a good idea ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

"You know," Tick-Tick says, mirroring the shrug, "we didn't look around the infirmary earlier."

Obozaya slings Dae's unconscious form over her shoulders in a fireman carry, and then turns to Tick-Tick. "I'm not optimistic, given the condition of the rest of the ship...but it's the best shot we'd got. Lead on!"

Zlee brings his medkit to attend to Dae.

Medicine, trained: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

Healing: 2d8 ⇒ (7, 2) = 9

Dae sits bolt upright and grabs their comm unit. They set the camera to selfie mode and worriedly examine their face before relaxing. "Oh, thank the gods! Not even a singed whisker! Oh, and, ah, thanks, Zlee. That thing packed quite a punch."

With Dae vertical again, the team returns to the infirmary, where they locate a commercial medkit, two commercial medpatches, and a bone serum.

Discuss!

I wrote an introduction for Zlee but I apparently did not submit the post or else the goblins got it.

Zlee is a Vlaka, a humanoid race with wolflike features. Their homeworld, Lajok, was orbiting a dying sun, so most Vlaka became interstellar nomads. Zlee lacked his kins' gregarious tendencies to work in groups and stayed on Lajok, living off supplies left behind, doing his best to survive and relishing the solitude.

Then, the sun miraculously revived. Zlee was affected with flecks of light in his fur that can grow into bright light, something he tends not to show off. When Vlaka started returning to the world, Zlee took his leave and ended up at Absalom Station. Lacking in employable skills, he gravitated down into the slums of the Spike, slipping closer and closer to a life of crime. He also found himself drawn to the mysterious Ghost Levels.

Then the planet Aucturn hatched which transformed the Ghost Levels with openings into other dimensions. Zlee found himself drawn or blown into the Ghost Levels. An indeterminate amount of time later, he stumbled out, only vaguely remembering what happened, but finding himself capable of strange powers resembling spells, powered by his connections to anomalies of every sort.

Not sure what to do, he found his way to the Starfinders, where he learned his powers were known as those of a witchwarper. They tutored him in controlling them and convinced him to work as a Starfinder. His first mission was aboard a vessel called the Nova Rush.

He used a Starfinder advance to equip himself and set off. He struggles with the concept of cooperation, as he has always been a contrarian and a loner. It doesn't help that his experiences have left him with a number of ticks and strange mannerisms.

@JW Pregen: you may want to consult with the GM about your character. Glancing over what is in your profile, there are two different ancestries (Pahtra and Vesk) and features of two different classes (Solarian and Operative) and something that appears to be from Pathfinder. Might need a review of character creation.

That would be because the template I used for the pregen was a vesk character, and I haven't finished updating it.

Replacement pinch-hitter Obozaya reporting for duty!
I'll update stats line to 2e in the coming days.

Ready to post.

I'm sorry, everyone, but I'm going to need to withdraw from this game. It turns out they never released the pregen I want to play, and I don't have the mental energy to make another character right now.

GM, can you please remove me from the list of players and characters?

Hello all, I submit this mechanic for approval.

If Zlee's odd dialect is distracting, let me know and I can tone it down a bit.

I just think he sounds like he wants a really nize hat.

Indeed! I might work that into his persona.

Who's the round token on the map?

Question for the GM:
Mines are placed specifically in a square, however the detonation happens in a "10ft burst". Is your ruling that the burst is centered on one of the four vertices of the square it is in, or it is based on all four vertices of the square?

When it detonates, you choose a corner to be the source of the explosion.

Who's the round token on the map?

Those are the pirates entering the room.

JW Pregen wrote:

Who's the round token on the map?

Those are the pirates entering the room.

I don't think so--this looked like Iseph, not a ysoki, and it was nowhere near the doors. In any case it's gone now.

Maybe the ship is haunted. :)

Pirates are already on board? I thought this was a pirate ship and the space battle was pirates vs Corpse Fleet. Did I miss something?

What Brinn thinks and what is actually happening may not be the same.

I know Brinn is frustrating. They're meant to be. Maybe there's a virtual intelligence nearby who will be more helpful to its nufriends.

Sorry for my delay in posting, but one of our cats passed away and it's been a tough few days. I'm going to be posting as soon as I can catch up on what has happened. Thanks for your patience.

I'm sorry, Zlee.

There's a rope and a guardrail! What more could safety inspectors want?

Besides, they're pirates, and the Pirate's Code (apart from being more what you'd call guidelines) doesn't include anything like OSHA.

Although the sarcesians are supposed to be civilizing the Diaspora now, so now I'm imagining a sarcesian swarmship coming up on a Free Captains vessel: "Attention, Bloody Vengeance! Heave to and prepare to be inspected!"

Happy holidays, for those who're into that!

Happy winter to all!

Im curious on your thoughts GM on how the mine mechanic gets back mines.

...For every 10 minutes you spend in exploration mode, you regain 2 mines; this doesn’t prevent you from participating in other exploration activities...

This seems like I could be engaged in anything that wouldn't qualify as encounter or downtime and every 10 min I'd get 2 mines. Is that correct?

If so, how much time has passed since our last battle?

10 minutes for this exploration sounds reasonable. The two repairs explicitly take 1 minute each.

Sounds good.

Sorry Dae. I don't have a way to heal.

One might consider the places in the ship one has already been and not thoroughly searched.

Surprisingly, I did not see this before I posted.

PFS provides a choice of free items, which usually includes some healing magic. Does SFS offer the same? I seem to remember having the option to take a medpatch but looking now in the Lorespire SFS guide I don't find anything.

I can't find a specific post to point to online, but, I am 90% sure I remember Alex saying at GenCon at the launch that Starfinders don't get provisions.

Yeah, I vaguely remember a message of 'no extra stuff' for SF2S as well.

Correct, no provisions, no extra hero points for running many games. Apparently even campaign coins don't have an effect here.

Yeah, though, on the running games and campaign coins front, they have aid that they are currently discussing what it will look like for SF2S. So, there will likely be a system that rewards GMing and campaign coins, it just hasn't been decided yet. Admittedly, there has been no further development on those fronts that has been announced.

That said, I think that provisions is a flat no.

Campaign Coins, and other accessories, are officially back on the table, now! They updated the Accessories Page to make it clear PF2 and SF2 perks are in line now :)

Good to know, thanks!

I must be remembering something provided by a scenario and mistook it for provisions.

I'm happy to surrender the medpatch that Tick-Tick picked up if it is needed to heal up before we move on.

Thanks for letting me join and thanks for GMing!

Thanks for running!

Downtime check Warfare Lore: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

That looks like a big nothing. There are worse times to roll a nat 1, though.

Thanks for the table, everyone, and thanks for running, cmlobue! A pleasure as always :)
Life Science Lore Earn Income: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Ha, well, would you look at that XD

Bit of a swing from the dice module, there.

Performance, trained: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Earned Income

Thanks, all.

Zlee, it looks like you still need to fill out the RPGChronicles signup sheet (linked in the header).

Zlee, Captain Concierge needs you to enter some data in the >ship's computers< to complete the transfer of command.

For everyone else, Chronicle Sheets are >here<.

Done. Sorry for missing that.

The chronicle looks good. Thanks again for running, and thanks to the rest of the players for a fun game!

Reported, and Zlee's chronicle added to the link above.