Pathfinder Society GM. Starfinder Society GM. 324 posts (1,701 including aliases). 26 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 21 Organized Play characters. 3 aliases.
Well I said a post on Friday, but it's Monday, so that was sort of close...
Anyway, we're back! New Gameplay post is up, the interesting lashunta is featured in artwork on the slides, and the party has another decision to make!
Regarding post timing, there's still a fair amount to do here, so there'll be a few days this week that I already know I won't be able to post during. My goal will be once every ~48 hours or so for the next few weeks (hopefully daily but tbd on timing) as I begin re-incorporating PbP into the routine.
After recovering valuable DCI information stolen by the Brass Dragons (in book 2), at Nib's direction the party set out to meet with the Corona Artifact Divers to secure a ship said to be capable of flying into the sun (and, even more impressively, coming out again). After a meeting a the Divers' HQ, the party made their way to the Vestrani Gaming Complex, said to be run by the intimidating Vestrani cartel, to find Lurian "Lu" Straza, the inventor, pilot, and now-former owner of the Sun Diving starship, after betting and losing the ship on a bit of a gambling bender at the Gaming Complex. After meeting up with Lu and (unrelatedly) performing a memorable musical number at the hotel/casino/resort's restaurant, the party has agreed with Lu to attempt to reacquire the ship from the Vestrani cartel. Rather than trying to find and steal the ship back, the party has agreed to try to seek out the Vestranis and make a deal.
***And now, back to the show***
The party returns to the Gaming Complex with Lu to get the Vestrani's attention to work out a deal. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, upon re-entering the lobby, the concierge calls out as the group enters.
"Oh good, you came back rather quickly. I've been directed to offer you all a one-hour complementary spa visit, on the house. Now that you're back, I think it would be worth your while to go over there as soon as you've checked back in."
Perhaps noteably, Lu does not receive a complementary spa access code. Still, she encourages you to use the invitation.
"This has to be about me and the Diver. This might be their invite to talk," she says in a hushed voice as you enter the main casino floor.
If/When the party decides to make your way over to the spa, the worker at the desk notes your voucher's access code and directs the party to a side room toward the back.
Inside the room, you all are met by a female damaya lashunta dressed not as a spa worker, but in lashunta tempweave armor with a laser pistol at her side.
She smiles as you enter, and you hear her voice in your mind.
"Ah, hello! So glad you could make it. My name is Taza, and I work as a security and acquisitions expert here on staff at the Vestrani Gaming Complex. You'll forgive the meeting place, but this is sort of an impromptu 'office' for special guests, like yourselves, who aren't on the payroll... yet, right?"
She lets out an audible laugh and smiles again.
"On the behalf of the Vestrani, I'd like to let you know we're interested in hiring some professional security, like yourselves, unaffiliated with the Vestrani Gaming Complex for a mission of some sensitivity. I need you all to guard a shipment of freshly mented Vestrani chips for the casino! The Gaming Complex sources our chip-sticks--ha--from a legitimate and certified credstike processing facility outside of the Burning Archipelago. They're shipped into the Burning Archipelago and are then transported by truck to the Gaming Complex, where we load them with chips for the enjoyment of our guests.
"We vary the shipping routes to prevent heists--even though the chips don't have value loaded onto them, the encryption process is a closely guarded secret, and there are always rival organizations trying to make trouble in the cut-throat casino, gaming, and hospitality business. Still, our last few shipments have run into some... issues en route, and I suspect someone might be tipping off troublesome outside organizations to the routes we're using. This is where you come in!"
She extends her hands and spreads them out, to indicate 'all of you', before smiling and continuing.
"If you accept, I'll send you directions to meet up with one of our trucks in the Brass Bazaar tomorrow. I can offer you all 5,000 credits up front if you take the offer, and 5,000 more credits if the shipment makes it safely to us here. Normally the shipments have Vestrani security, but since you aren't on the payroll, this will help us see if there's a leak somewhere in security. If all goes well you'll have a nice easy trip from there to here, you'll have our thanks and can get back to gaming!"
She closes with a smile as she asks, "What do you think?"
With about one hour to spare in local time, I made my own 20 July deadline.
I'm just about ready to dip my toes back into the cool pool at the base of a waterfall that is PbP. I'll plan on having the next Gameplay post for the campaign be Friday, 23 July, along with a little "refresher" paragraph at the start so everybody's reminded where we are.
Since the party's checking their weapons and going into the casino through the front door, tomorrow I'll plan on posting about all of the ways to win wealth and fabulous prizes inside the casino. Maybe you'll even find that pilot you're looking for, too!
Out of character-I'm sorry my posting schedule has been such a disaster this month. Hoping to finish this one out with you all with a stronger posting schedule than once per week. (Real life has been kind of ridiculous.)
Thanks for botting/dragging me along during my absences.
Hi, friends! Sorry for the past six weeks or such a challenge for regular posting from me. I'll try to be back to a post every day or two going forward.
Kit and Puzzle combine their fire to non-lethally take the plant down! Those that can see into the darkness notice the plant slump down as the threat is eliminated!
Combat over!
Ferrah, the khizar Xenowarden, is ebullient that you managed to take the plant alive! They offer their profound thanks for dealing with the threat and ensuring the safety of the Floating Gardens. They begin contacting other Xenowardens to safely relocate and replant the rare specimen.
In gratitude, they offer you three void palm seeds from the downed plant. They advise you not to plant the seeds without first consulting the Xenowardens.
(With a little bit of asking around, you determine the value of a viable void palm seed is about 3,000 credits each! This does potentially pose a moral quandry, however, because any sold seed is no longer under your "supervision" as is, but void palms take years to grow to maturity.)
(We'll continue onto the gaming complex in the next post!)
Having identified all of their opponents, Kaixik lets out a targeted scream of rage at Karelite and the vesk bouncers/goons!
Telepathic scream text:
As a standard action, you can broadcast a jarring telepathic screech into the minds of nearby enemies. You can use this ability on one target creature per character level, all of which must be within range of your telepathy (Kaixik's is 120 feet). If you succeed at an Intimidate check (DC = 15 + 1 per target + 1-1/2 × the CR of the highest CR target), all targets are shaken for 1 round, plus 1 additional round for every 5 by which your result exceeds the DC. This is a mind-affecting effect. Once you have targeted a creature with this feat, that foe is immune to this ability for 24 hours.
Intimidate:1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19
Well, that won't do it.
Perhaps K was having too much fun in the conga line. Rather than have his scream be heard as a terrifying yell of anger, he seems to have come off as an excited partygoer...
Summoning both his psychic abilities of persuasion and his years spent working in marketing for AbadarCorp, Kaixik engages Mr. Smiles in conversation (regrettably verbally since I don't think I can do 120 feet of telepathy across ship-to-ship comms).
"Greetingsh Misshter Smilesh!" Kaixik clacks out cheerfully through his mandibles. "And hello to Crank, Stock, Shell, Shuffle, and Breach ash well. Thish is the Shtarfinder vesshle exploring theshe ashteroids on the behalf of Ulrika Clan Holdingsh. Would you happen to know the locashion of any rare mineral diposhits? We can pay sheveral thoushand credits for informashion on ashteroids with a composhition of greater than five pershent of any of the following: trishite, psycite, anabolax, obtanium, unobtanium, ununobtanium, phosphorus, nickle, prisite, hylaxium..."
Bluff:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18
Kaixik knows absolutely nothing about physical science but is hoping these ysoki don't either. Some of his "mineral" descriptions might arouse suspicion, however.
You're not missing anything; this is sort of as crazy as it sounds on the surface.
Is something else at play here?
Did Nib just hear about this super ship and is trusting you all to figure it out, because she doesn't actually have a plan to stop her life's work from being ruined and/or plundered by either pseduo-treasure hunters or a mysterious organization from who knows where, or both?
Re running PbP fights, I do feel sometimes as the GM you just sort of fluff up a summary of the last combat round. For example, "Rani hits with her pistol, but Deckard's shot goes wide. The creature roars and bites at Conrad!" *dice dice*
Especially on longer combats (like ones that go 10+ rounds and over two weeks IRL), it gets hard to keep bringing funny innovative things to say because normally round 9 just isn't as exciting as round 1, unless somebody's about to die, so I try to dramatize the dramatic and get through the rest.
I also agree with Revvy that I try not to have more than two groups of enemies breaking up a combat. Otherwise a single round can take nearly a week, and that's with timely posting.
To be honest, despite running SFS PbPs since summer 2019, I still wouldn't consider myself anything like the experts that have run dozens upon dozens of scenarios, organize specials, participate in most of the game days, etc. I originally started PbPing when having an infant made it challenging to get to my weekly gameday and then kind of kept going through the pandemic, but I just find that I feel busier now than I did then, for whatever reason. With one exception for a scenario I just really like, the Dawn of Flames AP is the only PbP I've GMed since last August. Even having two going at once now feels like one too many sometimes, and I haven't played in more than two as a player, either.
All of that to say that if you find something that works for you, definitely do things how you like them.
Hey folks, I'm back! I should be good to post daily-ish going forward, and I'm absolutely going to update Kaixik to level four very soon.
Also it seems like there are a lot of Discussion posts I need to read that I think might have something to do with running PbP games. I'll comment either via an edit or (more likely) in a separate post later on.
I'm spoilering a few sentences below that contain a quick summary of what was going on in real life for me. Feel free to read; the spoilers aren't to keep anything private (otherwise I wouldn't post it), but I totally understand if people want to keep their "real life with crappy medical situations" and "Starfinder" spheres separate.
Medical stuff:
Last week my father received a very challenging and unexpected cancer diagnosis. Most of my "free time" outside of work over the past week has been researching various treatment plans/options and working through that situation. We now have the treatment plan figured out as much as we can for at least the next couple of months, but it became all consuming for a bit there.
Demoralize: As a standard action, you can use Intimidate to cause a creature within 30 feet of you to become shaken for a number of rounds. This is a sense-dependent ability. The DC of this check is equal to either 10 + your opponent’s total Intimidate skill bonus, or 15 + 1-1/2 × the opponent’s CR, whichever is greater. If you succeed, the target is shaken for 1 round. The duration increases by 1 round for every 5 by which the result of your check exceeds the DC.
It's worth noting that "telepathic scream," which is an Intimidate check, is different in game mechanics than using Intimidate to demoralize via a telepathic scream. I love this game/character.
I'm back, mostly. Expect an actual game play post from me in the next 24 hours, and I should be able to resume daily-ish posting for the foreseeable future (this also applies to any games I might be a player in - you know who you are).
I'm spoilering a few sentences below that contain a quick summary of what was going on in real life for me. Feel free to read; the spoilers aren't to keep anything private (otherwise I wouldn't post it), but I totally understand if people want to keep their "real life with crappy medical situations" and "Starfinder" spheres separate.
Medical stuff:
Last week my father received a very challenging and unexpected cancer diagnosis. Most of my "free time" outside of work over the past week has been researching various treatment plans/options and working through that situation. We now have the treatment plan figured out as much as we can for at least the next couple of months, but it became all consuming for a bit there.
A few weeks pass. You all, now full DCI members, are largely left to your own devices outside of maintaining security for the DCI main building. You do manage to track down Balto Darkheels in the Verdeon bubble, the halfling romantically involved with the half-orc woman who Kerschu called the "poor gray-face lady," identified as Seven Fingers Malley from her personal comm unit's notebook app. Balto is horrified to hear of Seven's fate, though he feared the worst when she went missing investigating the recent trouble in Asanatown. Nonetheless, Balto thanks you for giving him closure.
The legal status of the Eos Athletics Club technically remains unresolved. DCI's small but capable legal team looked into the property and found it was officially owned by an organization called the Malikah Group, despite its occupation and operation by the Brass Dragons. However, no one from either the Malikah Group or the Brass Dragons shows up to prove ownership and dispute the rampant criminal activity that took place there, which even a few of the more powerful merchant organizations in Corona were beginning to take note of. While no official legal rulings, such that they are in Corona, have been made, the DCI has claimed provisional ownership. While still very much in need of repairs and very hot, it provides a place in Corona with more space than your rooms at the DCI and gives Kit a workshop to indulge in all kinds of mechanical tinkering.
Puzzle does glean a little bit more information from reading through the Ignan tomes. Now knowing that a "Malikah Group" possessed legal ownership of the Eos Athletics Club, the name of the newest and largest book, Burning Ascendance of the Malikah, certainly stands out. It's still not clear if the books' contents, and the group apparently named after the "Malikah," is an efreeti legend from which the organization draws its heritage, or if it refers to more contemporary events.
Puzzle also learns more about the Jalusann family history. The book primarily recounts the history, at least until the gap, of the Jalusann family of efreeti who lived in the City of Brass on the Plane of Fire. The family included many strong warrioers, who allied or were hired by many different competing warlords and would-be-conquerors in the many campaigns waged across the Plane of Fire. Near the end of the book, the Jalusann family's Brass Dragons suffered a military disaster, wiping out the efreeti family leadership and paving the way for a lowly ifrit member of the family named Meiji Jalusann, almost certainly the woman you just defeated, to assume control of the Brass Dragons. The book ends with an old efreeti saying, "No fire burns as hot as the one that starts within." While on the surface the saying appears to be innocent encouragement meant to kindle passion or focus, a deeper understanding of efreeti culture reveals its true meaning: no betrayal stings like that from within the family, and no hatred rages like that of a spurned community member.
One morning, you receive an urgent communication from Nib to meet at DCI headquarters as soon as possible. As you arrive in one of the DCI conference rooms, you find Nib rocking back from heel to toe in excitement, muttering to herself and saying "The ship can go into the sun..." She pauses mid-sentence and puffs out her cheek pouches. "Will they let us use it, I wonder..."
Finally, she seems to take notice that you have arrived. “The Corona Artifact Divers," she spits out. "I’ve heard they have a starship that can go into the sun... You need to talk to them. But you mustn’t tell them why. If we can use their ship, you could be the first people to find a real bubble city inside the sun, maybe this mysterious 'Noma' mentioned in Jalusann's comm logs, and make contact since... well, maybe ever! But we can’t risk the Divers finding and probably looting the place before we have a chance to survey it.”
Nib pulls out a datapad and taps on it. “The Corona Artifact Divers' headquarters is in the Brass Bazaar. I just sent you directions; they're probably not too far from your new place in Corona, right? I’ll start making preparations. It’ll take me days, at least. If you find a way to get to 'Noma,' we’ll supply you with the rest of what you’ll need!”
M Human (Taldan) Fighter 5; Hero Pts 2/2; AC 22 (24 w/ parry); HP 70/73, F+12, R+13, W+11, Per+13
Status:
HP 55/73?
AC 24 or 25 (+2 Parry | +1 Inspire Defense and 2/- physical)
Hero Points 2/2
Marilus would have drawn his blades when the party was tracking the Grinning Goblin, just in case something like this happened. Also, would it have been possible to get Marilus 18 HP worth of healing overnight? I clearly forgot but he wouldn't have in-character.
Marilus looks at the Grinning Goblin in disgust. He waits for any protective songs or magic from the party before he raises his blades in a defensive stance and advances straight toward the gigantic wolf-demon, shouting as he goes.
"We are trying to get back at the person who hurt you! Go bother her instead and stop this!"
A courtier shirren wearing a dark blue suit of regimental dress armor 'speaks up', but can only be heard in the listener's mind. A pistol and survival knife are in a belt on his waist.
"Oh, how exciting! Hello, Smoky, and greetings, everyone. My name is Kaixik (ka-ICKS-ick), but you can call me "K" if that is easier for you to say, if you prefer to verbalize sounds through your mouth parts. It is a pleasure to meet you all, and I look forward to cooperating on this soon-to-be-revealed task with all of you!"
It's exciting to have another telepathy-communicating character! Kaixik speaks almost exclusively telepathically, and can do so at a whopping 120 feet! He gets bonuses to skill checks when he does so.
Player Name/Alias: Dan/AFlashInTime
Character Name: Kaixik
Character Level: 4
Organized Play # / Character #: 8601-709
Perception Modifier: +8
Initiative Modifier: +0
Day Job Roll: Profession artist:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17
I will be leveling this character before we start play.
It's me, Kaixik, aka AFlashInTime! I'm playing as an envoy/phrenic adept, but I don't do really anything related to being a normal envoy in combat. No stamina boosts, free move actions, etc. Instead, I telepathically scream at opponents with my extra-extended telepathy range of 120 feet to intimidate them, which I then follow up by casting spell gems or shooting my gun. This will be great!
Basically, play whatever you want. I'm level four, but this is one of my more unusual character concepts. For people that play in my Dawn of Flame game, I think I discussed this character concept with you all after book 1. Well, we're all going to get to live this out together.
Sorry! 3,000 credits was for the second half, the whole book total should be 5,000 credits.
Your total character wealth (purchase price of item + free credits - consumables used) should be about 9,000 credits or so once you finish leveling up. If that's substantially off, let me know and I will adjust going forward.
Hey folks, some things came up that I needed to take care of at work, so I spent a good part of the weekend on that and not, unfortunately, on Dawn of FLame, so it'll still be a few days before I have that update for you all.
In the meantime, enjoy 3,000 credits each from a combination of DCI payments and the cumultive selling of the gear found throughout the second half of the book!
Sorry for the delays - some things came up with work that I spent most of the weekend on and am just now looking at this for the first time since Saturday. Will update with your trek to the lower level tomorrow, probably evening!
Yes, you're all level 5! Also I'll have notes on Puzzle's notes and some happenings around the Burning Archipelago before the next update (TBD) that might relate things back together.
One of the complaints that I've read others have had about the AP is that Dawn of Flame takes a little bit of time to get around to the "main story" of the AP (not that what you've been doing isn't the main story, but you're on the sun working for an organization interested in contacting cultures that live within the sun, so...).
I suspect this could feel especially long in a play-by-post that we've spent the past ~16 months on basically doing (comparatively) "normal" types of adventuring. We start off with a mysterious ship and a whale from the plane of fire for a month or so, and then we transition to civil unrest and gang politics for over a year.
With Kit's new ride parked outside the Corona linecrawler station, the party makes their way to the address provided by Nib in the Stellacuna bubble. "It's my favorite restaraunt for special occasions. You'll love it!," the note read.
You all arrive at The White Rat, an upscale eatery recognizable by its logo of a well dressed white female ysoki holding an apple with a single bite missing. Inside, you see Nib and Dr. Taeress from Far Portal Station already seated.
"Welcome, and enjoy!" Nib exclaims as you sit down. The meal comes soon, comprised of the finest Akitonian cuisine and spirits. Over the richly spiced meal of grain, yams, and fermented insect meat, Nib offers a toast:
"Twice now, you’ve gone above and beyond in assisting the institute, not to mention this fine-looking person before you. You’ve demonstrated all the cunning of Grandmother Rat and the strength of Round Papa. The DCI—nah, the entire Archipelago—needs more like you. Cheers!"
She waits to listen to your story of how you managed to track down the data, nodding and encouraging throughout. At the end of the retelling, she comments, "You’re clever enough to know that I’m about to ask you for more. We’re still combing through the data you retrieved, but I have to tell you, I think that we’ll need you again soon. And, if for those of you that are scientifically inclined, I'd like you to work for the DCI as more than just security. We can provide you with resources, pay, and lab space for any research itches you need to scratch. And, in addition to all of that, is there anything else the DCI can do for you?"
With Vedrir's magical enhancement and Wyrd and Puzzle's help, Kit manages to break through the computer's encryption with the aid of the computer idol!
Once inside, Kit hacks further into an operational data module beyond a firewall. Inside, Kit finds the entirety of the lost DCI data! There is also a short exchange of messages between "J" and "S", sent from this location to an unidentified starship shortly after the museum heist.
J: The DCI data has been delivered, as promised. This is the most extensive database of inner-solar phenomena in the entire Pact Worlds. I expect my name will not be forgotten when the findings are briefed to the General.
S: Of course, ifrit. The efreet have informed me there should be several promising leads here. The General will no doubt be pleased. Perhaps we'll even finally manage to locate Noma.
Secondary information on this module details Jalusann’s, and the Brass Dragon's, recent actions. They contain plans to radicalize the Asanatown lashunta "to distract and divide our foes." The Brass Dragons also sought to radicalize lone lashuntas in other bubbles and then blame them for orchestrated attacks in various areas of the Burning Archipelago.
Also included are plans to collaborate with "Mama Throsh's Bloodshots" to steal files from the Deep Cultures Institute dealing with solar anomalies in an attempt to locate bubble cities inside the sun. In addition to operational plans and planning, Jalusann also records, for an unclear recipient, her suspicions that "the azer slave" is reporting back to their “mutual employer” on her actions. The files also contain communication logs from somebody called "Dosc" to an unidentified recipient, but no actual messages.
Adapted from the scenario description: The Starfinder Society has entered into a partnership to develop a brand new line of starship. To start this endeavor, the partnered corporation requests the Society retrieve an important scientist from a research station in the Vast. Content in The Vast Experiment is an ongoing series of adventures set in the Year of Exploration's Edge.
M Human (Taldan) Fighter 5; Hero Pts 2/2; AC 22 (24 w/ parry); HP 70/73, F+12, R+13, W+11, Per+13
If a little bit of ret-conning is okay, Marilus would prefer to sit out the meeting with the constable. One because he's trying to avoid current members of the Celestial Menagerie before he's able to jump ship, and two because he avoids law enforcement in Escadar due to some unresolved issues in his past. He's happy waiting back at the inn to see how things go, unless there are reasons for him to maybe be waiting in the lobby or right outside.
I'm the aforementioned new player. Really looking forward to jumping in and gaming with all of you!
Right now I'm listening the the soundtrack from The Greatest Showman for inspiration and reading through the player's guide to figure out what exciting and totally fleshed out character you'll be meeting in ~48 hours.
Sounds good. It's only a move action to move out of the pool so you can do something else with the standard if you want. You mentioned inspiring boost, which would be fine.
Battery 1 [8/20], Battery 2 [20/20], Heavy [Clip 1-6 40/40]
"Ah, containment fences down. This is more the Castrovel I'm used to," Orrian comments, adjust his rifle on his shoulder. "Better get there as fast as we can."
As the party picks themselves up after their most intense plant-related combat ever, Vedrir and Puzzle check on the barathu. Unfortunately, the pod adjacent to the plant is highly acidic, and has gotten well on its well to digesting the unfortunate former shop owner. There is nothing left that can be saved.
A few minutes after the plant drops, two security specialists--a male suli and a female ifrit--from the Brass Bazaar Merchant's Alliance (BBMA) arrive on the scene.
Commenting on the destruction to the tent and the 10-foot-tall plant lying dead in the middle of the street, the ifrit thanks you for being in the right place at the right time.
"Thank Sarenrae you were here when you were, or this could have been a lot worse. It's unfortunate what happened to Daln, and Daln's shop, but this... moonflower, did you call it?... shouldn't have been here in the first place if he couldn't control it."
The suli takes over. "Since you're new in the Brass Bazaar, you probably don't know the BBMA has a standing reward for individuals who perform extraordinary actions against troublemakers in the market. This qualifies as much as anything I can think of," he says, pulling out a credstick. "There are 1,000 credits on here. Consider it the BBMA's thank you for a job well done protecting the lives and property in the Bazaar. We can take it from here. Good luck on your travels."
Party gains 1,000 credits! And because this is the day of interruptions, the Meltdown post will be the next post. Coming soon, probably!
Kit, Puzzle, and (especially) Wyrd's attacks both deal effective damage to the plant. Nomyra's and Vedrir's attacks don't hit.
The plant takes a little bit of additional damage from Wyrd's lingering attack at the start of its turn. Still blocked by Nomyra and having trouble hitting with the vines, it focuses its whole attack on a bite!
With a swift combat manuever, Nomyra manages to escape the plant's maw and continue fighting the plant from the outside! Kit hits wit his shot, doing mostly effective damage. Puzzle, Wyrd, and Vedrir's shots all miss, and the plant seems to have shrugged off Wyrd's blinding attempt.
The plant once again attempts to bite-whip-whip Nomyra as she's keeping it from the people shooting it.
With a little help from his friends, Kit overcomes the computer's security measures relatively easily. The computer contains business records detailing the (seemingly legal) work of Cryo-Gentics, with a series of payments to and from various entities in the Corona bubble. Among these entities are several small-to-moderate payments from Cryo-Gentics to the Meltdown for "waste disposal/scrapping". The last activity on the shown on the terminal occurred yesterday during normal business hours--hours before the break in at DCI--and includes seemingly routine inventory and payment processing updates for activity noted earlier in the week.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Vedrir glances into the refrigerator and notices it contains a variety of drinks, about half of them intoxicants. Stashed on the bottom shelf are numerous packs of meat snacks, imported from the Veskarium. Additionally, on a small table in the corner is an engineering speciality toolkit for working on environmental systems.
Still standing by the door, Big Tola speaks again. "So you've got what you wanted, yeah? That's all I know. Let us go, and please promise you'll go easy on Mama. None of this is personal, with... wherever you're from. We're just trying to get by out here."
If you're ready to go, please make a choice and open one of the spoilers below. It might be worth noting that the ikeshtis were shooting at you with pulsecaster weapons, which only deal non-lethal damage. Big Tola was caring a lethal semi-auto pistol, but never fired, and one ikeshti did take a lethal swing at Nomyra with a sword when they were prone on the ground.
In any event, if you're choosing to remain in the office to look around (on the computer or elsewhere) for a while longer, feel free to either make a choice now or defer it until you're ready to leave.
If you let Big Tola go and promise to 'go easy' on Mama Throsh:
Big Tola nods with relief. "Thank you. Whatever Mama did, she did to help protest people like us from people out there who're a lot worse. Look over there," she says, pointing to a crate in the warehouse labeled Coffee Beans. "Keep that, as a gift between friends who understand each other. Also, uh, if you're going to go to the Meltdown, don't go in the front door. It's got a battery hooked up to it that'll hurt a lot."
If you choose to retrieve the box, you find it contains not coffee beans, but 10 doses of hyperleaf.
If you don't let Big Tola go or don't promise to 'go easy' on Mama Throsh:
Big Tola shakes her head. "You should. Big Mama doesn't just go around killing people, but she'll defend herself. And her family."
But since some people just authored a special at GenCon that ran today, I don't expect things to pick back up in game until around Monday. The last post is a little bit of a lore dump, but it's a brand new bubble for you all to explore!
Nib nods and clears her throat. "Good luck going into Corona. For folks that haven't been around the Burning Archipelago very long--like you--that bubble isn't as safe as beautiful Asanatown here. The solar shield over there is a bit... off. Malfunctions, sometimes, or is just weaker than the other bubbles.
"So, some things you need to know. First, it's over 100 degrees over there, so most of you," she glances at Wyrd before continuing, "Will need to have your environmental protections up, or you'll be getting dehydrated fast. Those'll also help with the low levels of radiation in some of the parts of the bubble. Plus the whole thing is always bathed in this orange-yellowish hew. Not really any true blues, greens, or 'cool' colors in Corona.
"Second, in places like this, getting from one place to another inside a bubble is pretty easy. Once again, Corona's not like here. Despite being built on mostly functioning alien or god-created technology that's older than literal dirt, the place is a dump. There's no 'government' in charge of everything over there; it's mostly powerful merchants and their private security forces. So as you can imagine, nobody really cares about building codes or city planning, so there are buildings and streets just built on top of each other in a bunch of different ways. Navigating via your comm unit isn't always a viable option. The place's managed by a bunch of merchants that run the 'Brass Bazaar', not surprisingly managed by a lot of creatures that aren't bothered by fire. Assuming the Bloodshots or some other gang doesn't jump you at the linecrawler station, if you get lost or stuck, the folks at the Brass Bazaar will usually help out 'tourists' for a price. Be careful what that price is.
"Last, the DCI would be happy to credit your accounts with 1,500 credits, total, along with the mk 2 healing serums, just in case you need to pick up anything on the way. And the linecrawler tickets are on the Institute, too."
Nib stifles a yawn. "It's late, or early, and it's hard to get anywhere fast in Corona. Leave as soon as you can, but maybe take a few more hours to get ready," she glances at Nomyra. "Since they wore those silly gang insignias, they'd have to figure we'd try to track them down. Wore 'em anyway. Stupid, but that's one thing we've got going for us. Hope the ones they didn't send over here are stupid, too."
After resting and preparing: travel interlude
The trip over to the Corona bubble via Dawnshore is relatively uneventful. Leaving the Corona linecrawler station, an orange-yellow haze covers crowded streets. Before you is one of the entrances to the Brass Bazaar, the massive and anarchic market made up of hundreds if not thousands of haphazard stalls that sprawls across much of Corona. The market has several layers arranged like a crater composed of irregular tiers, much of it far newer than the ancient structure supporting it. Merchants on spires and balconies sell wares to traders naturally capable of flight or in flying vehicles. On the labyrinthine main levels, sales carts and tents of fireproof composite or metal fiber nestle between larger operations. Sublevels offer some respite from light and heat, but these bear more risk of other energy-related mishaps.
Nearest to the linecrawler station are several stalls selling food and refreshments, as well as others offering hovercycles for rent or purchase, as well as tours/transportation by "certified local" guides. You know that Cryo-Gentics is tucked away in an industrial part of Corona on the other side of the Brass Bazaar, but it's up to you how to go about getting there.
Revvy, "1-1/2" in Starfinder is "1,5" or "1.5" aka "one and a half" or "3/2".
As for Alice, sure, feel free to bring her along for computer checks aiding and however you want to reflavor things. We're probably not going to be doing starship stuff or a bit, so this is a good way to keep her "on stage".
And enjoy your strategizing. Remember to keep "close the door" on your list of back up plans... :p
Welcome to the Dawn of Flame Adventure Path Book 2: Soldiers of Brass!
After almost two weeks, you're starting to get a feel for the Deep Cultures Institute. Your accommodations have proven tidy and servicable. Nib and her fellow academics brought a small array of fine food and drink from across the Pact Worlds to supplement the normal fare available in the dorms.
In the wee hours, the institute is usually quiet. However, this morning, a deafening claxon sounds throughout the residential block. An automated voice accompanies the racket, announcing, “Security breach in museum complex.”
As abruptly as it began, the alarm stops. After a few moments of silence, another voice sounds over the internal comms. It says, “This has been an unscheduled test of internal security systems. Had this been an actual emergency, the alert you just heard would have been accompanied by further safety instructions. Please disregard this test.”
You recognize the voice as different from the automated voice which has periodically accompanied Institute-wide announcements.
A few moments later, your comm units vibrate with an incoming call request from Nib.
A sleepy looking female ysoki appears on your screens. "Okay, ow. That’s… Is thi… oh, it’s on! Hello? Hey, crew, you heard that, right? Well, lemme tell you, the DCI’s supposed to schedule any alarm tests to avoid things like startled staff members falling off stools and risking losing hours of work and the results of delicate experiments. So, uh, could you go to the museum and check that out? I’ll be up as soon as I can.”
Disclaimer: This has nothing to do with our Dawn of Flame PbP.
I was messing around with the "psychic" character concept, and I came up with something that I think has the potential to be really interesting. Is it optimized? Absolutely not. Is it useful in society play? Maybe. Let's go on our journey together.
So we start with a shirren (I picked the courier alternative racial build) so we get limited telepathy (LT) 30 ft and blindsense (vibration) 30 feet. More on that later. First level we take the feat Extended Telepathy, which boosts our LT to 60 feet. I picked envoy for the base class, but what's most important is taking the phrenic adept archetype. Thanks to our psychic insight bonus feat we get +2 insight bonuses to all of the social skills when we communicate via LT, so at first level for Shirrens I had a diplomacy bonus of +13 (1 rank, 3 class, 4 Cha, 2 racial (cultural fascination), 2 insight, 1 theme).
At level 2 we get our first level of phrenic adept. This extends our LT by 60 feet, so now we have LT with a 120-foot range! Also the second part of Extended Telepathy kicks in, and we can make a mysticism check against DC 15+(1 1/2*CR) to communicate telepathically with anything that has a language even if we don't share it. A cool perk.
For feats, telepathy is our theme. My favorites after reading through them:
-3rd: Telepathic scream. Make Intimidate checks against a number of creatures per character level within range of your LT which is 120 feet. Success means everybody's shaken, which is extended if you beat the DC by more than 5, 10, etc. Our envoy will have added Intimidate to their skill expertise by 3rd level.
-5th: Helpful telepath. Does cool things within the range of LT (which in society play is effectively the entire map). My choice was making an enemy roll twice and take the worst of two attack rolls in the next round against a designated ally.
A quick break from feats to point out at level 6 we get Phrenic Senses, which allows us to make more mysticism checks to use sort of an arcane sight-like ability for emotion/fear and a few other types of magic as well as gaining blindsense (emotion) 30 feet when phrenic senses are active. So that's sort of interesting.
More feats:
-7th: Telepathic spy: We can make a sense motive check (and they have to fail a will save) to "overhear" telepathy within our huge 120-foot LT range. It's sort of like detect thoughts only it's always on for everyone within 120 feet and only works on telepathy.
-9th: Focused sense: This isn't telepathy, but it does get us blindsight instead of blindsense. The feat reads: "as a move action, you can gain blindsight (using the same sense as your blindsense) with a range equal to half that of your blindsense until the beginning of your next turn." Currently that means we only have 15 feet of blindsight with either vibration or (sometimes) emotion, but at level 10...
-10th (bonus feat from the Fire Starters Boon): Psychic Sense. Here we gain blindsense (thought) with a range equal to our LT, or 120 feet. Combined with Focused Sense at level 9, at the cost of only a move action (per turn), we can have blindsight (thought) 60 feet, which I believe is the biggest range of blindsight you can get in society play (Kalo get it as a default sense but only at 30 foot range, and I don't think it can be extended).
So that's all really cool! It's probably not as useful as just yelling "get 'em" and healing stamina, but it's unique!
But, you say, Envoys aren't good at Mysticism. And it's cool to have all of these telepathic abilities and have really high bonuses to social skills, but what can this character do in combat?
This is where I got a little creative (read: almost certainly made suboptimal choices).
The envoy class has an alternative class feature in the COM called Magical Expertise. This changes our (almost undoubtedly better) skill expertise ability out for the ability to cast very, very limited spells. Like through level 3 we have a single 0-level spell that we can cast 3/day. It's terrible, but we can skin/flavor them as "psychic" abilities! But it does give us Mysticism as a class skill and lets us use our expertise die with it (at the cost of losing it for sense motive, which hurts a little).
Also, before we give away almost all of our useful envoy abilities past level 1 for the... let's call them situational phrenic adept abilities, we do get a single envoy improvization. Rather than healing stamina, get 'em, or feinting, I just decided to keep going all in on this weird psychic/magic concept and take "spell gem understanding". Now our envoy can cast any spell gem no matter the class list (mystic, technomancer, witchwarper) with a caster level equal to envoy level. So even though our casting is garbage, we just use spell gems (and really probably spell chips) to cast any spell we want. Magic missile? Overheat? Mind thrust? Charm Person? Yep times 4! Is this strategy potentially prohibitively expensive? Maybe!
We also get a handfull of spells from phrenic adept at the mid-high levels (like level 8 and 12), so there's that.
So, this character probably isn't, uh, "good" overall. But it's the only character build that I've ever heard of that can get LT at 120 feet, effectively get blindsight 60 ft (temporarily, eventually), actually be a really good face character out of combat, and do a bunch of whacky magic things and buffing/debuffing in combat (at the cost of every other useful ability, most of which are better than what we got). So it might be both unique and not terrible!
Anyway, that's my psychic character concept that I'm probably going to try to do in society play. I see a lot of GM credits coming onto this thing so he can actually afford spell gems when he plays once per level.
I scanned all of them into one PDF document instead of individual ones, but didn't want to spend time splitting them up and resaving them. Everybody should be there, but please let me know if you have trouble accessing or have any other issues.
I also forgot to have people roll day jobs. Just add in whatever number you get in the blank.
Councilwoman Norivahr nods at Puzzle and Kit as the group walks, then sighs. "And we are lashuntas, Zeylan. Everyone on the council is, as are 5/6ths of the people living here! But we were elected by everyone, to address the concerns of everyone. If you had any idea how to address the psychic anxiety that we all feel, you would have said so. Instead, you hired these Brass Dragon individuals--how you were able to afford all of them, I'll never know--and played on people's fears while staging a coup."
I'm assuming introductions already took place during the rescue.
"And Puzzle, we have been trying. I don't know how long you've been in Asanatown, but we've held years of conferences, the best scientists from accross the Pact Worlds have visited and studied the issue, even that Deep Cultures Institute opened here with their theories about life inside the Burning Mother. Nobody can prove anything! Until there are more scientific breakthroughs, or Sarenrae herself intervenes, it's just a fact of life that comes with living here. If you can stop it, well, please do something about it!"
After walking through the entire complex, the group winds up back at the room used for Zeylan's emergency broadcast.
Councilwoman Norivahr and the rest of the council begin an emergency broadcast to Asanatown. In it, she announces brave heroes have struck back against the Sunrise Collective, resulting in the capture of Zeylan and the defeat of his co-conspirators, as well as the restoration of Asanatown's rightful government. She calls on the remaining Sunrise Collective members to disband immediately and pledges that Asanatown will move forward together, lashuntas and other races alike. She also pledges that finding an answer to the psychic tension that lashuntas feel will continue to be the council's top priority. Several minutes later, medical personnel arrive at the Horizon House and begin tending to everyone's wounds.
Within an hour, Nib and Dr. Taeress both appear, offering their profound thanks and congratulations to the party for your effort in restoring order to Asanatown. After Nib announces the party not only rescued the council, but also was present at the Far Portal when it descended into the sun, Councilwoman Norivahr pauses. "Maybe you are the people to do something about this psychic resonance. Please, look into it further." The council offers their profound thanks to the party again and wishes you the blessing of Sarenrae on your future journeys.
On the linecrawler back to Asanatown from the "So, now that there can be a DCI, I can offer you a job there! We have a lot of new data to go through after this Fire Portal and psychic pulse incident, and I have a feeling we might need people like you all to help pursue some of those leads. Besides, the Asanatown council just asked you to look into it. What a great place to start!" Nib also promises free room and board in the guest rooms at the DCI headquarters building for as long as the party is on the council's payroll.
Over the next few days, the councilors reopen Asanatown to the other bubbles in the Burning Archipelago. This event, combined with broadcasts showing Zeylan in custody, is enough to convince the rest of the disheartened rebels and mercenaries in Asanatown to stand down or flee. The Collective soldiers that remain face arrest and prosecution, including banishment or time in penal facilities away from the sun. The party also receives a note that the council tracked down where the party's starship was docked at Dawnshore Spaceport. As a token of their thanks, the bubble of Asanatown would like to cover upgrades to the ship to aid the party in their exploration of the psychic pulse in the future!
The council offers enough resources to upgrade the ACN-1 to a tier 3 starship!
Is it wrong that whenever I check the Gameplay posts I hope that the squox is still alive so it can keep biting Vedrir? Normally I really cheer more for the PCs than the "bad guys" (despite playing all of the "bad guys" when I GM :P) but the mental image of this aggressive attacking squirrel-fox creature biting the kasatha over and over is just really funny to me.
Kate, I'm sure not being able to go do Guest of Honor events in person is definitely a downer. Not that the two are comparable, but I was really looking forward to going to Origins and voicing Ehu at the first running of 3-00 (which I'd worked out with the RVC), which is now on an indefinite hold and probably won't actually happen. I hope this doesn't come across like I know anything, because I don't, but I try to focus on the positives about what hasn't changed, what we can still do, all of the extra time I'm getting to spend with my family, and so on. This whole situation sucks, but I keep reminding myself that it's when, not if, we get out on the other side.
Regarding 2-10, it is repeatable! I definitely don't have a problem with people replaying (that's why there are repeatables, and nova replays, and jadnura replays, and have "I play a lot" replays been officially implemented yet?). I have three folks from other games express interest (with a 3 and two 4s), so pending Farol and Revvy we'll have 5-7 players. If we get up to seven I'll probably break it off into two tables (probably high low but maybe both will be low) and post on Flaxseed for filling out the tables.
--This hopefully will be the last 2-10 update posted here from me. I'll reach out in about a week on it with a link. Back to your regularly scheduled Dawn of Sun AP!--
Also, I described the shot as a "thunderous clap of thunder". What's next, a flaming ball of flame? An acidic dart of acid? Icy bolt of ice? High quality world describing here, folks.
Battery 1 [8/20], Battery 2 [20/20], Heavy [Clip 1-6 40/40]
On the way over
Orrian turns his head to Ceolor, smushed between Lenleath and the door in the crowded Ysoki-driven vehicle.
"What got me into the Starfinders? Wanting to see new worlds. I grew up on Castrovel, but was always looking for a place that I really fit in. Lots of people with my heritage feel the same way. I like the outdoors and helping others out, so I thought I might become one of those colony specialists that go out into the Vast and help people looking for a new life get their colony up and running. Maybe even stay if I found one I liked.
"Anyway, the Starfinders were planning this big expedition to the Scoured Stars, so I signed on to get some first hand experience. Wish I never would have gone. A year later after being trapped and watching people die in the worst circumstances, the Society shows back up and brings the survivors home. Since then I've gone on several missions; actually pretty successful ones. Don't plan on going back on any grand expeditions any time soon though, and thankfully nobody's asked. But the people aren't bad, and sometimes I even get to work outside."
Orrian looks around the crowded cab and then out the window, the run down streets of Little Akiton offering little better than the inside of the cab. He sighs. "Could be worse."
