GM S's "Disaster at Dreamlink Labs" (Inactive)

Game Master Chris Marsh

Kazi takes a moment to translate any interesting or unusual text for his allies that might not speak Aklo.

Helianthoides walks over to the hatch and cracks their knuckles, prepared to lead the breach. "We are ready when you are."

Kazi translates, though most of the text are instructions for use and identification for various readouts and lights.

Helianthoides then opens the hatch into what looks like a laboratory. This long laboratory is dimly illuminated by red lights flashing on some material analysis instruments lining the wall. Blood streaks the floor, pooling below the corpse of a lashunta scientist. Reinforced storage canisters of varying sizes fill the lab. One is knocked over and a bluepurple gas seeps from a crack in its glass.

Four black, suckered tentacles of null light spring into existence behind Helianthoides. The manifestations writhe as they survey the carnage. "Be careful," they unnecessarily warn their companions.

While able to see reasonably well in the dim, flickering, red light, they remove a flashlight and activate it before moving forward. Their larger dragonkin form forces them to squeeze uncomfortably close past the mysterious canisters.

Jewel also draws forth her flashlight, letting the light quickly scan the area before settling on the dead lashunta. "Well crap. This can't be good. Looks like this place had visitors before us, and they weren't of the friendly variety."

She says this, then draws her pistol from its holster. A silencer is attached to the barrel of the weapon. "Better safe than dead, right?"

"See if the computers recorded anything?" they suggest as they move over to what appears to be a large door.

"Oh, hey. Good idea," Jewel replies, doing a mental 180 as she goes from looking for danger to sating her curious technical mind. "I bet there's all kinds of juicy tidbits on this..."
Computers, if needed: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Helianthoides and Jewel both venture in, curious for details. Both should make a Will save DC 15...

Will (E) vs. DC 15: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Will save vs DC 15: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Sigh...

Suddenly everyone sees Jewel just... kinda stop. She's not paralyzed or in stasis. She seems to be zoning out...

"Jewel?" Helianthoides asks when they sense the ysoki stop moving. A moment after looking back to see the operative zoning out, they activate their environmental protections. "Is it the gas?"

When Helianthoides says her name, she snaps out of it.

”So, that was weird. Let’s see if it happens again, shall we?”

Pipp takes out his flashlight and mimics Jewel’s movements.

Will save if needed: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Pipp mimics Jewel, and upon getting within 10' of the cannister also blanks out until jarred back to reality.

Rolo casts detect magic to see if the mysterious canisters are radiating an aura of magic. He attempts to recall if there is any want to prevent the canisters from harming his companions.

Rolo doesn't think they're magical. They also don't look... dangerous? The effects quickly wear off. Looking around there's little of note. One of the functioning material analysis instruments holds a two-inch long, diamond-shaped shard of purple crystalline material. A handwritten note taped to the control panel reads “Please return shards after you exit the dreamscape!”

Maybe there's more with a Perception check? If not, choose a door.

"Whoa. That was a heckuva vivid trip."

When she spots Rolo looking around with his magic eye she decides to help out by looking with her regular eyes.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Pipsqueak seems distracted.

Jewel makes a solid pass of the room, discovering only a commercial medkit, sprayflesh, and a cellular stimulant spell amp.

Rolo takes his time and looks around the room for anything of interest and then he listens both within and without.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

"Good finds, Jewel," they say. "The way this room looks, we will need emergency medical supplies. Shall we go through here?"

The only door I see is the double door to the right of my token.

Oops, correct. My bad.

Rolo doesn't pick anything else up in the room, so Helianthoides approaches the door. It opens to a hallway down which a trail of blood streaks across the cold floor.

"Well that's not good," Jewel says at the sight of the blood trail. She once more draws her pistol. "But I think we could all see the signs that something bad has happened here. Let's follow that trail. It'd be nice to find a survivor."

A null-light suckered tentacle manifests and waves protectively in front of Helianthoides as they advance into the hallway. They pause at the first door. ”Check in here or follow the blood?” they ask.

Not sure it’s possible with a manifested shield, but if so, current Exploration Activity is Defend.

"I don't like the sound of leaving our back to an unopened door" Kazi says, summoning his own magical shield to raise.

Rightly worried that something terrible happened, the party raises shields and inches into the hall. Go ahead and update the map. If your actions warrent dice, go ahead and roll them.

Pipp moves up and assesses the damaged room.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

Heliantiodes strides into the hall. They pause to examine the door while the others decide on their next steps.

Pipp, not sure where you're checking based on the map.

Helianthoides hears nothing at the door, and decides to open it. This storage room has been thoroughly ransacked. It's a mess in here.

With nothing immediately threatening or enlightening in the ransacked storage room, Helianthoides leads the others down the hall.

Helianthoides skips the tedium of searching to move down the hall. You can't see much more from your current position.

"Well, we aren't getting any younger."

Pipsqueak moves toward one of the doors that hasn't been explored yet.

the door automatically opens on the ysoki's approach, revealing more hall, more choices.

"It looks like the blood trail leads this way," they say, pointing to the left.

You have my permission to move Helianthiodes ahead whenever anybof you want to move beyond the last post so they can stay in the front.

The party creeps further in. Turning "north" you can see the official airlock. There's a human corpse splayed out near the lock. From here it's impossible to tell cause of death.

A room to the east has an open door, red light pours forth.

"Let's check the door on the right first" Kazi whispers, waiting for Helianthoides to lead the party forward.

"Nearest door first, agreed."

Jewel holds her pistol at the ready, happy to have her own personal Dunklezahn-like pritector.

I took the liberty of updating tokens on the map

Helianthiodes scans what he can see in the red lit room through the ajar door before pressing both doors open.

As you're making your way through the corridors describe to me how you're exploring...

"Lead on. I'm right behind you!"

Rolo follows near the back of the party where he is frequently casting detect magic. He is looking for anything that gives off an aura of magic.

Jewel moves quietly, fully expecting that when someone inevitably finds danger that she'll benefit from having kept a low profile.

The null-light tentacle continues to weave sinuously over Helianthiodes' shoulder like a watchful snake as he moves into the room.

Defend. I've put my exploration activity at the beginning of my tagline.

Kazi moves carefully along, renewing his magical ward every few seconds.

Defend/Repeat a Spell with shield spell (though will switch to Search if this takes long enough to be a danger of that being fatiguing.

This room is a mess—equipment is knocked over and smashed, cupboards emptied, materials scattered on the floor, and crates ripped open and rummaged through. The corpses of two shirrens lay dead on the ground, improvised weapons close at hand.

A freakish, nasty looking creature looks up from the corner. Clearly you interrupted it. It speaks a single heavily sibilant word in Aklo. "DIE!"

That's when you see a pair of dog-sized and bloated mites

Occultism: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Nature: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Helianthoides: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Jewel: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21
Kazi: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Pipp: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 2 = 12
Pipsqueak: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
Rolo: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

ROUND 1:
Jewel: Go
Rolo: Go
Helianthoides: Go
Pipp: Go
Nature to ID: TBD
Pipsqueak: TBD
Occultism to ID: TBD
Kazi: TBD

Rolo moves right in past Helianthoides and casts Eldritch Lance on the Aklo speaking bug!

A condensed beam of mind-assaulting eldritch energy burst forth from the dark spaces between the stars and fire, but misses its target.

Range Spell Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
Mental Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 3) = 5

The beam flies past the thing and slams into the wall behind it. This time it's not a word so much as a hiss.

ROUND 1:
Jewel: Go
Rolo: Miss
Helianthoides: Go
Pipp: Go
Nature to ID: TBD
Pipsqueak: TBD
Occultism to ID: TBD
Kazi: TBD

**************
TACTICAL MAP

All four null-light tentacles manifest in a burst as Heliantiodes notices the alien and the two giant space mites. One of the longer, suckered tentacles wraps around their right arm as they move into the room. "Maybe if our mother wasn't from Absalom Station, I would know what you said," they hiss back. "But it didn't sound friendly!"

Fast as a blink, they lash out with the tentacle in their hand at the rust colored mite. The air warps in a large bubble around the arthropodic creature. The black tentacles change to a burning yellow-white light, and one of the tentacles fires a line of light at the same mite.

◆ Stride
◆◆ Binauric Assault vs. Red
Strike: Graviton Solar Weapon (T): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Bludgeoning: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
+ Creature’s space and all adjacent squares are Difficult Terrain for that creature
Strike: Graviton Solar Flare (T): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Fire: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

↺ Nimbus Surge (reach 10 ft, trigger: move action, manipulate action, or ranged attack): Photon Solar Weapon (T): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Bludgeoning: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11 + Fire: 1 = 1

In barely intelligible Common it spits back, "I'll eat your heart!"

Helianthoides immediately smashes one of the mites, and nearly ends the other in the blink of an eye!

ROUND 1:
Jewel: Go
Rolo: Miss
Helianthoides: Kill + Hit
Pipp: Go
Nature to ID: TBD
Pipsqueak: TBD
Occultism to ID: TBD
Kazi: TBD

**************
TACTICAL MAP

Pipp strides forward and says “Get ‘em!”

Stride and 2-action Get Him giving everyone +1 to hit and damage until my next turn.

attack with his pistol: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 6 + 1 = 201d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5