AFlashInTime's page

Hey folks. Sorry I went and did the thing I said I wasn't going to do right before I did it.

This is my first time logging into Paizo since my last post, and my second time visiting the website (reading about Paizo accountability).

I don't know, things just kinda broke for me for a while. Since my last post I've IRL gotten a promotion at work and my wife had a baby, so positive things (albeit busier and with less sleep). I just got super burnt out on ttrpgs and pbp. Might still be, but I figured I'd put off making this post for about 5 weeks too long.

Being totally honest it's been a relief not to have to remember to get on and post, so unfortunately this isn't exactly an announcement that I'm back and ready to start posting again. Not sure if when you said "take all the time you need" you all intended for it to be "indefinitely", but that's where I've been. I'm sure I'll come back around to doing pbps at some point but I don't have a time table right now. I'll check back in and see how you all want to go ahead- if folks want a shortened chronicle for book 3 and just call it that's an option, finding another GM of course would be understandable, or I can just see about pming you all sometime between now and the end of 2022 (but seriously, it might still be a while yet).

Sorry again for the total lack of comms. Hope you all are well!

Hey folks!

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.

Thanks for your patience.

Hey folks,

My apologies for not keeping you updated; this is my first time logging onto Paizo's website since the last post almost two weeks ago. Since that time

Most of my days have been somewhere on the scale of emotionally draining to exhausting.

To say I need a break is sort of stating the obvious, since I haven't been posting in over 10 days. I guess what I'd like to say is I need a planned break, which I guess what this post is announcing.

When I first started a six-part starfinder AP with you all back in late 2019 (wow), I knew going into it that it would be a multi-year endeavor. It pains me a little bit that we're just now almost to the part about the sun that the AP is actually about, unless you're just here for the semi-organized crime fighting, but I just haven't had the energy or inclination to make anything close to routine posts (as you might have noticed).

That being said, I do want to say that it is my intention for this to be a break from posting rather than an early conclusion to the AP shortly after the start of book 3. If or when we decide to call it a campaign (hopefully after the conclusion of book 6), I do not intend to leave you all hanging without a goodbye or a thank you (not to mention a chronicle sheet) after all this time.

I really have and do enjoy running for you all, but real life just is making that not feasible for me right now. Assuming you all are willing, I'd like to get back with you in the second half of July and just see how things go for me and my family in the interim. This is a totally made up date, but I'll plan on checking back in on or by July 20.

If you'd prefer to discontinue participating in the campaign or try to find another GM, honestly I understand. I think we have a really good group that deserves a better ending to the story than leaving off here.

I'll poke around here for a day or two to let everybody see this and respond (assuming you all aren't also in the middle of taking week+ breaks) and the probably take a break until that ~July 20 time frame when I'll plan on checking back in.

Thanks everyone.

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.

Excited to get to the casino!

Not at all - thanks!

I'm also on vacation. I have (some) access to internet but posting with me will be sporadic (more sporadic than normal lately?) until the latter half of next week.

Without getting too spoilery or too ranty, this AP has been sort of funny for me to read and run. Like you thought you were signing up to play an AP involving strange alien technologies, maybe some planar travel, and delving deep into the mysteries of the sun, but it turns out you actually were signing up to play an AP that revolved around interacting with/against organized and semi-organized criminal groups!

Seriously, you've got the Sunrise Collective militia and the Brass Dragons in the first book; the Brass Dragons again, Mama Throsh's Bloodshots/Cryo-Gentics, and briefly the Sirocco gang in book 2; and now it looks like we're starting out book 3 with a casino that's (shockingly) actually a front for a criminal enterprise. And along the way you semi-legally came to occupy the burned out husk of an old athletics club on the literal edge of the most lawless of the bubble cities, made "friends" with an ikeshti gang leader who owns basically a dinosaur, and Kit's spending his spare time in a literal underground vehicle chop shop.

Who knew the Burning Archipelago was so lawless.

Thanks, everyone.

Out of character, does the "where we are in the AP" make sense? In summary, based on the stolen DCI data and the cryptic communication between 'S' and 'J', it seems like some very likely nefarious organization out there is looking for something/someone inside the sun (at least, that's what Nib thinks). Maybe related to "Noma". Nib's proposal is that you find a way to borrow/use this new sun diving ship (hey look, it's the title of book 3 of the AP: "Sun Divers") to start exploring around inside the sun to find whatever it is the probably nefarious organization is looking for before they do, and before the Corona Artifact Divers can, too.

@Blue Eyed Devil: This is fantastic. We're just starting book 3 - definitely stealing! Thank you!

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.

Thanks, everyone.

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.

Hey folks!

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.

Hey everyone, I'm back. I should be able to maintain mostly daily posting for the foreseeable future, so let's wrap this one up!

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.

Well, when it rains, it pours. Sorry for dropping off the face of the earth, but now this week I had a family medical situation come up that's required a lot of time and energy, and I haven't been able to get around to getting a solid post together. Trying again "tomorrow" (aka later today, since it's now almost 1 am where I am) but thank you for your patience and understanding as I work through this.

Hey folks, sorry for dropping off the face of the earth. I had a family medical situation come up this week that's required a lot of time and energy, and I haven't been able to get around to getting a solid post together. Trying again "tomorrow" (aka later today, since it's now almost 1 am where I am) but thank you for your patience and understanding as I work through this.

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.

Thanks for hanging in there!

Oh man, no worries. Stay safe!

Well, it seems I mis-applied the line and damage while stable rules for this combat.

Revvy, thanks for pointing that out on the "line" weapon description. Since Wyrd didn't take damage, the line would have stopped and not damaged Nomyra/Kit. This would have allowed Nomyra to keep her last RP.

And Dennis, you're correct. I carried over the rules of taking damage resulting in RP loss from when the bleed happening before stabilization, but as you said, that only knocks somebody from stable to dying and doesn't burn an RP right away.

Since we've been playing the PC turns in basically any order instead of going in strict turn order when it comes to effects, I believe Nomyra had two RP when the grenade went off, but Vedrir's stabilizing would've prevented the loss of one because it stabilized Nomyra. Then, it turns out Nomyra didn't actually take damage from the line, so she would be at 5 HP and 2 RP remaining after Kit's serum.

Apologies for the errors on this one. Even after two and a half years of Starfinder, I really haven't used the death/dying/stabilize rules on very many occasions beyond buring RP to stabilize and get back in the fight. I think I've really had to use them five times or less, and between this fight and the end of book one, this AP counts for probably half of those times.

Hi everyone!

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.

No rush, just confirming I'm still awaiting a direction for the party to kick off the next room!

Hey everyone. I'm just totally wiped out again. Will plan to update tomorrow.

Hey everyone. I got busy today and didn't have time to get the lower level post together, since it looks like that's where the party's going. Should be up tomorrow!

Yeah, it's been a pretty distracting week. I've been trying to check the post and provide updates as people contribute to gameplay (admittedly relatively brief updates, if I'm frank), but I haven't been worried about it if people haven't found time to put much into posts. Hope everybody's staying safe/sane out there!

Hey folks,

I'm still checking this daily, but just wanted to let you know I was around if you needed any OOC info. Once the party proposes/agrees on a direction, we'll move ahead (no rush!).

Also Vedrir this is a steam mephit. With the 20 you can basically just look them up on the internet because you'd know all of the relevant info.

Hey folks I forgot to update. Everyone can go ahead and take their turns - the guy's going to range attack Nomyra and not move from behind cover. He'll just go twice tomorrow.

Planning on updating tomorrow. Thanks for patience!

Ready Wyrd? If so I'll plan on kicking off in roughly 24 hours.

Ready when you all are! Tomorrow, Friday, Saturday...

After concluding the conversation with Mama Throsh (and ask any questions you want), you all level up to level 4! It's getting late in the day, but you now have a solid lead on where the data was transferred. It's recommended you head back to DCI and brief Nib on developments so far before setting off again (leveled up) tomorrow.

As far as leveling, I'm ready to restart whenever everybody has time to level. Obviously don't want to rush anybody, but do we think next Monday (21 September) is a good date to restart? Could be sooner? This is in addition to the continuing convo with Mama Throsh, which won't affect leveling time.

Let me know!

Just a quick reminder that for purposes of a 10-foot reach, two diagonals count as only 10 feet! Looks like there are still a few people besides Nomyra within chomping range.

I mention it because Wyrd said he was moving away from the plant, and he did, but he's still in biting range.

Big Tola leads unlocks the door, revealing an cool (in temperature) office. It has a long desk with a computer terminal and an oversized but aging executive chair. Behind the desk is a view screen playing a trivid of Cryo-Gentics’ services in a silent loop. To the east is a kitchenette, and to the west is an area with a couch and low table. A clear-doored refrigerator nearby holds a multitude of beverages.

"Computer's all yours. I could show you what's on it, but you wouldn't trust it without going through it yourself anyway. I haven't even looked since this morning."

Computers checks! Go ahead and make two.

Also, is there anything else here you want to check out?

Your characters actually don't see that giant B2 in the middle of the room. This PDF has been a pain to extract maps from, so it's just going to be there. There also will probably be some other rooms number later, too. Thanks for understanding!

Holding off for a sec on posting in Gameplay because it's the weekend and I'm hoping Revvy will have better luck connecting soon.

Kit, we can say it persists for the 10 minute chunk of the that the attablossom uses.

Hope you're staying cool, Revvy!

My bad! Second-1's chronicle has been re-added to the folder with Skitter shot circled at the bottom of the boons section.

As an aside, I saw Thursty put something out (on Twitter?) about how he wished some of the repeatables could have had places where the current season storyline could be included. Like on this one, maybe it is Datch who sabotaged the ship during season 2, but in season 3 it's replaced by whoever is mucking things up in that season. I thought that was an interesting idea for how to keep the repeatables a little more fresh, and I agree that the quest packs don't really seem to flow very well, at least in my experience.

Again, let me know if anybody sees anything else that needs correcting!

Scenario has been reported and the chronicles are here:

Link

Thanks again for playing, everyone! Let me know if there's anything off with the chronicles so I can correct. Thanks!

Aaaaand we're back!

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!

Happy posting!

Hey folks,

I can't remember if I've done this before on here (maybe I have), but I'm going to ask for a 2-4 day break before we dive into the Corona bubble and go check out Cryo Gentics. The next part requires a bit of set up (which I totally could have already done, but alas, have not), and for a variety of reasons this past weekend and now start of this week have just been super great for getting this PbP campaign set up.

I'll plan to resume Gameplay posting in the latter half of this week (Wednesday-Friday, probably) and go from there. Thanks for understanding! Once we get into Corona things should be able to move along more of their own momentum, I just haven't been able to prioritize the set up to get it where I want it yet.

And, for those of you in the Corporate Interests game, I'm planning on pushing through on that one. It's basically a combat and then we're done.

So I think currently we have:
-Wyrd and Vedrir saying go straight to Meltdown to talk to Mama Throsh
-Puzzle saying go to Cryo Gentics to try to recover the data

Just giving it another day-ish to allow Nomyra and Kit ample opportunity to express an opinion (or others to change their minds) since this will open certain doors (and potentially close others) depending on the choice made.

And just to be clear, this is not the GM asking "are you sure". Just letting everyone chime in before one of the options is taken (and I figure on a Saturday/Sunday there's not a huge rush).

There is 100% no need to have the ACN-1 upgraded before Gen Con, and I'm curious how some of the Starship Operations manual works.

And, actually, I reread things again after book one, and it turns out the next time you might need a starship is at level, uh, in the next book at level 5 so you can hold off on upgrading the ACN-1 for quite a while if you want.

Also on the "what happens next" question, you have basically two options at this point. One is to go to Cryo Gentics where the data was transferred to and investigate there (and you've heard the place has a Bloodshots affiliation), and the second is to go to the "Meltdown" where the Bloodshots are supposedly headquartered. Either one seems like a viable options, I just need to know the group's preference so I can send you off on the direction of your choosing!

No worries! This is a 100% unique-to-this-scenario thing, as far as I can tell.

Apologies, I should have made this more clear.

So the Remorhaz is flying around fighting a drone with "not real" missiles/plasma cannons, etc. So when you're shooting at the drone and being shot at, the ship isn't actually taking damage.

Separate for that, for a reason that isn't explained, the Remorhaz is flying around in this simulated combat with its shields turned off. Even though the simulated combat shouldn't involve anything that should damage the shields, out of character it seems a bit... unusual for me for any ship to be out in space with its shields down just because they don't expect to need them.

So when Second-1 "restored shields", you were restoring simulated shields in response to the simulated weapons attack. Now that you've realized you're flying around without real shields on (Which 100% isn't your fault, because why would you be flying with shields off? Who would even need to check that since shields default to always on in every other piece of Starfinder literature? Regardless, I didn't explain the situation properly.), Ozelle has turned on the shields. "Turning on the shields" is an action that can only be performed by a science officer that appears to have been made up specifically for this combat, because I've never heard of needing to turn them on for any other starship combat.

Sorry for the confusion!

Just real quick, let me know if you need a TL;DR version of events as they're happening in the game. We've entered the "investigation mini-game", and given how much I'm having to keep track of with the PDF open in another window, I could imagine it might be confusing (or at the very least time consuming) for all of you. No rush/pressure, just wanted to make sure we're all on the same page as the epic story/mystery unfolds!

Sorry for not replying Puzzle - I just remembered this was here and it sort of got overcome by events. I think the standard would've been to just take control of the arms (sort of like "pick up the gun" only with a standard?) and then use them next round. I admit that I was sort of adapting a "trap/hazard" from the book that didn't really translate to PbP that well (or maybe it would have, but here we are), so the rules were a little squishy on this one.

Also I'm planning to post an actual update tomorrow, hopefully in the AM (so some time about 8-12 hours from now) - got later quicker than I thought it would tonight!

Regarding "preview", I try not to let it affect my in-character decisionmaking. If I decide I'm assisting or being the primary on a check I'll make that decision myself before rolling. I've never actually had a conversation about it in PbP, but I thought the preview button was more there to make sure the post looked right and allow you to make decisions/roll more dice on the basis of actions your character already decided to perform (the one that comes to mind is rolling extra damage for a crit), rather than check dice rolls and then assign them to future actions (if I'm understanding the conversation so far right - maybe I'm not). I don't know if this is the same type of thing as making a series of skill checks, but like I wouldn't roll an attack, check preview, and then if it was a high number decide retroactively that shot was at the BBEG, or (conversely) if it was a low number decide that shot was actually at the lightly-armored minion.

In any event, in this instance (not surprisingly given the Survival check had a DC of 17) it doesn't affect anything one way or the other. Interesting thing to discuss though.

Hey folks,

Check my math here, but I think Nomyra is at 1 HP. Starting at 21/21 SP and 25/25 HP, in post 1038 she's hit with a longsword for 8 and is critted with a pulsecaster for another 9. Then last round (post 1098) she was hit with jolting surge for 7, then in my most recent post (1108) she got hit with robot arms (10) and another jolting surge (11). My math works that out to 8+9+7+10+11 = 45, which is one less than her 21+25 total SP/HP combined, putting her at 1 HP.

Just wanting to make sure I didn't miss something and that we were all on the same page as the combat progresses. Please let me know if I messed up somewhere!

I was going to try to do a quick update before work, but the party is going everywhere at once! I'll be back this evening, US time (12-16 hours from now) with a comprehensive update for everyone!

Short post tonight but should have more tomorrow. I assume you're all good to go to A7?