Bruf's page

Ahh ok that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying and for the tip. I’ll definitely play this one again if I get the chance.

Like Selene, I started a new character at 2nd level (Beltalowda #236648-703) thanks to the Scoured Stars Survivor boon. To clarify, I played 1-99 with Bruf, he has the actual chronicle. So does that mean Bruf gets extra XP or Beltalowda does? The boon on 2-00 seems to indicate that Beltalowda would get the XP but only if I'd played this scenario with him. I am happy to be wrong though, as getting extra XP for Bruf would be great.

Either way, hopefully I am catching you in time. My basement flooded last night, so I have been dealing with the fall out all day.

LOL. Nice! This is all going into the backstory for futher adventures of Tyler and his chaperone, Bruf. Thanks again for running this awesome scenario. We got through, what? 8 missions? including two very difficult starship battles? That's way more than I imagine we could have done at a table in person.

I had a fantastic time. Thanks for running this fun and challenging scenario!

boon: 1d20 ⇒ 7

Aww, I thought we still had another day or two to finish up. Well if it matters, I can knock Orange out again and let Twich do her thing. In fact, why would Twich ready to fire a shot with her pistol last round when instead she could trigger the device?

Bruf thrusts a power armor boosted kick down at the horror climbing up behind him, then finishes his ascent to the top.

punch: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 201d10 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19

athletics to climb: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

"Get ready with whatever that device does. I am guessing he'll be climbing up over that ledge in a moment." he says in encouragement to his Ysoki ally as he stands beside her, ready to defend her.

Oops, sorry about then entangle! I saw it, but completely forgot as I typed up my post.
Hmm, I guess I made the mistake again of assuming that SF was more like 1st edition PF than it may actually be. I've always just interpreted the 2nd level version of the Flight spell as functionally identical to the Levitate spell from PF. I see now that they left out the last half of a key sentence from Levitate: "You cannot move the recipient horizontally, but the recipient could clamber along the face of a cliff, for example, or push against a ceiling to move laterally (generally at half its base land speed)."

I am honestly a little baffled as to why they would leave that half of the sentence out. If they really do intend that 2nd level Flight somehow prevents lateral movement, it makes the spell incredibly limited in usefulness, and opens up weird defensive uses of hovering an inch off of the ground and then saying you are immune to bullrushes!

Personally I was thinking of it in terms of the spell effectively making them weightless and having them move like the zero gravity rules. So I was assuming that once the casters ascend up high enough to reach the top, that it would be a simple matter of reaching out with a toe and pulling their body forward with a step and walking. Apart from the 5' square mechanics of combat, is there any reason they can't be just an inch away from the wall as they ascend, so they can easily grab hold with hands or feet once at the top? You seem to agree with that, it was just a matter of whether that 5' step from midair onto the ledge was a full move action or could be part of a full stride. Given our time constraints it is probably not worth arguing over a few squares of movement. Sorry for the distraction! Let's kill these things and move on :)

I think the problem we are having is the action economy of having to move to the oozes (1 action), picking them up (2 actions), climbing (3 actions), and attacking them (4 actions). But hopefully now that have started getting on top of these platforms it will force them to have to come up after us. Then we can finally get them onto these things to zap them. So Bruf will climb up the mesa while shouting taunts over his shoulder to keep orange coming.

"C'mon, you gross breakfast cereal mascot reject! Come and get me!"

athletics 1: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25

athletics 2: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17

OK the first check should get me 20' up, then the second gets me up the last 10' and then I will move away from the ledge so it has to fly/climb up for line of sight.
@GM/Twich, any reason why Twich can't move more than 5' laterally with her move action? If she wants to attack first, she certainly can, but I think we need to get away from the ledges to force it to come up to us.

Ouch ysoki are heavier than I thought. I thought they were like halfings so ~30 lbs. I was estimating ~5 bulk with gear. The max I can manage is 5.5 bulk without becoming encumbered. Ah well. It seems more important to get up on these pedestals and make them chase us up there, so I will go the reposition route and forego the attack.
@Twich, I have moved your mini and mine, hopefully leaving you enough actions to levitate up the tower. Of course if you don't want to be moved, let me know.

Thanks! Although couldn't I just pick up twich? As a small creature I doubt she counts as too much bulk. Also I just realized there is a compass on the map and N is to the left. I have been referring the the bottom right hand corner as SE this whole time, which explains some of the confusion I think.

I actually intentionally focused fire on orange so that it would stay down, but it seems that Starfinder regen doesn't work like (1st edition) Pathfinder like I assumed it did. I was thinking that if we overkilled it, it would take several turns before it could regen enough to pop back up, giving us time to carry the unconscious body up to the platform. If these things guaranteedly pop back up every round, we need to just focus on getting them to the devices so we can actually kill them. Trading fire with an unkillable monster is pointless.

"Sarangari is right! The only way to kill these things is to lure them up to the platforms! Everybody fall back to the platforms and make them chase us up there!"

I will fire a shot at orange to drop it again, and hopefully lure it towards me. I am going to head for the SE platform.
@GM, since Twich is currently levitating and effectively weightless can I easily just pull her with me? Basically if I can, it will just cost me 10' of movement to step N and grab her, then movign SE to the platform and begin climbing. As a reminder my hands are free since my gun is mounted in my power armor.

shot: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 202d8 + 8 ⇒ (8, 4) + 8 = 20

[b]"Hmm, these things really really fast! I'll give this one a good coupla blasts to make sure it stays down! Then probably best if you let us bring it up to you, Twich. You just focus on hovering up to the top of one of these towers. We'll bring the bloody things to you."

Targetting orange with both, to make sure it doesn't pop back up on us again in a round.

attack 1: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 13 - 4 = 262d8 + 8 ⇒ (2, 1) + 8 = 11
attack 2: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (4) + 13 - 4 = 132d8 + 8 ⇒ (7, 3) + 8 = 18 hopefully it is an easy target when it is unconscious!

okay lets try this again. Full attack on orange, with red as back up

attack 1: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (8) + 13 - 4 = 172d8 + 8 ⇒ (4, 4) + 8 = 16

attack 2: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 13 - 4 = 202d8 + 8 ⇒ (5, 7) + 8 = 20

@Selene, careful, we just learned that these things are completely immune to acid.

I could be mistaken, but I am pretty sure that you don't take full attack penalties to hit when you do full auto. At least I hope you don't. I personally hate the way that full auto works in SFS.

Bruf will continue to try to cauterize these walking wounds.

Targetting orange. If he dies I'll switch to whichever one Steel just wounded with his burst.

attack 1: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 13 - 4 = 142d8 + 8 ⇒ (3, 4) + 8 = 15
attack 2: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (2) + 13 - 4 = 112d8 + 8 ⇒ (2, 8) + 8 = 18

Okay hashing out a plan sounds like a great idea!
Hardness 10 and 100 HP??? Even with our penetrating weapons that is gonna take multiple rounds to bring down a single pillar, and that's if me and Steel focus fire and ignore attacking the enemies. So I vote we ignore that approach, especially since it looks like our casters both have Flight as a spell! Nice!
The second level version I know is only Levitate basically though, so it'll take a little while for you guys to get up there, but it's a heck of a lot more reliable than your +0 climb checks. As for the lateral movement once you are levitating, if you get close enough to the ground, me and Steel could probably ferry you over to the next platforms easily enough.
Also don't forget that we each got 2 rounds of prep time, so Selene you should have a round to cast fly and start ascending the NE platform prior to combat. Twich, you should still have both prep rounds so you could probably rush the SE or middle platform and start levitating up to the top of it. You might even lure one of these bad guys up to you for the chance to 1-shot it with the successful skill check!
Meanwhile it seems like Steel and I are best off handling the killing/scoring of some blood. Then we have the climb checks to be able to climb up and hand it off to each of you and/or hand it off when doing the ferrying idea.
Sound good?

Ouch! Even the SE area isn't a ramp? Wow, getting our smart characters able to pass those difficult skill checks, to first pass athletics checks to climb is gonna be a real pain!
@Twich, Selene, scale of 1 to 10, how do you feel about being tossed? :P

@GM, I am confused by the map as to where the ramps are. Are they just the shaded, rubbly looking areas alongside some of the platforms? It looks like there is a ramp leading up to the SE platform, and maybe one underneath the blown up image of the enemies leading up to the NW mesa, but is there a ramp right next to us where Ailuros is leaning? I'd just like to get clarification so we can plan how to get on top of these platforms once we have the blood.
As for actions, I believe I should have at least a move action (or two?) left from the prep rounds, so I would like to move out into the open where I have placed myself on the map. Then for the first actual combat round I would like to do a full attack on orange.

"Don't worry, Mr. 177, we'll protect you!" Bruf says as he stands and strides out into the open to watch for threats.

He notices Tyler, with his head down, thoroughly engrossed in his video game, tagging along with him. "Tyler, buddy, it's danger time. Why dontcha go show the nice robot your game?" With a shrug, the teenager complies, walking over and taking a seat next to Ailuros and showing him the addictive, mind-numbing game known as Doot, Doot, Magic Flute.

With a small smile, Bruf turns back and sees the approaching gloopy bugs and opens fire.

attack 1: 1d10 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (6) + 13 - 4 = 152d8 + 8 ⇒ (4, 8) + 8 = 20
attack 2: 1d10 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (9) + 13 - 4 = 182d8 + 8 ⇒ (8, 5) + 8 = 21

Bruf will reach into his pack and retrieve his serum, then gently pour it into the mouth of the divine herald.

healing: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Crap, I think we all forgot to actually take advantage of that perk! Thanks for checking the loot on the pervious encounters, I just wanted to take advantage of free healing if available. I have a mk 1 serum of my own we can use if no one has a better option. Can I tell from my medicine check if 1d8 would be enough to restore consciousness?

"When all this is over, you got it!" Bruf replies with excitement.

I will definitely spend an RP during the rest to regain stamina and grab one of those high capacity batteries, swapping one in to put me back at full ammo and keeping the partially charged one as a back up. If no one wants the other battery, I'll happily take that as well. For these 2 rounds of prep we have, I will first take a look at Ailuros.

medicine: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

"Oh man, he's still alive! He's beat ta hell and will probably need more powerful magic than we have to get him back to fighting shape, but I think we could at least wake him up!"

have we found any serums of healing in our loot so far in this scenario?

Tyler snickers and makes a comment about the big, strong soldier sleeping on a bed full of stuffed animals, but Bruf is oblivious to any sarcasm and is instead overjoyed that he can share in his bounty.

"Of course! I even have a limited edition Hashukayak plushy! It's purple with polka dots!" his excitement wanes as he adds in a defeated tone, "Mom made me put it in storage though, cuz it's life-sized--even though that's the best part!"

Bruf starts to laugh as he realizes he's playing whack-a-mole with the Jinsul everytime it pops its head up to swing at him.

"You're toast, buddy. They had to ban me from the arcade cuz I racked up so many tickets and bought ALL of their stuffed animals."

punch 1: 1d20 + 11 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 11 - 4 = 211d10 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18
punch 2: 1d20 + 11 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 11 - 4 = 121d10 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

reflex: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

Bruf finally remembers to sidestep as the walker came barreling through on its last pass. As it collided with him, stumbled and toppled to the ground, the bus driver couldn't help but smile with satisfaction as he dusted the debris from his power armor.

As the jinsul poked his head out from the wreckage, the vesk quickly reacted with a couple quick jabs of his own which he punctuates with a taunt rejoining Sarangari's, "Yeah! You heard him? You're messin' with the Vesk Brothers now!"

He flashes an enthusiastic thumbs up to his fellow Vesk Soldier over the the heap of twisted metal between them, completely oblivious to any previous sarcasm from his teammate.

punch 1: 1d20 + 11 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 11 - 4 = 201d10 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18
punch 2: 1d20 + 11 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 11 - 4 = 201d10 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11

Over his shoulder he calls out to Selene and Twich, "Go ahead and conserve your spells, without their stompybot, these two are no match for us."

Since these guys have massive cover, I'd recommend Harrying fire or Covering Fire since either one is against a flat AC 15 and can make me and Steel even harder to hit, or help us to land our blows. Either way, we are definitely in mop up mode as they pose very little threat to us right now, and we still have several more fights to get through today it seems.

Cool, sounds good to me.

I have to admit it was pretty satisfying taking multiple stomps and remaining standing, while it took itself down.

reflex: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
Bruf was too busy throwing Tyler out of harms way to get himself to safety. As Selene escorts him away, he offers a very appreciative wave and nod. Then he turns and vengefully unloads more laser fire at the walker.

attack 1: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 13 - 4 = 142d8 + 8 ⇒ (8, 7) + 8 = 23

attack 2: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 13 - 4 = 292d8 + 8 ⇒ (6, 2) + 8 = 16

Bruf pushes Tyler behind him and levels his artillery laser at the lumbering walker.

full attack. The penetrating feature of the artillery laser should bypass 6 points of hardness.

attack 1: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 13 - 4 = 262d8 + 8 ⇒ (1, 3) + 8 = 12
attack 2: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 13 - 4 = 282d8 + 8 ⇒ (6, 1) + 8 = 15

Excellent! I can do another Flyby and we can try to finish them off.
@Steel, you'll get to use the twin lasers (and the particle cannon if you want to spend another RP) this round, and you'll get +2 from the fleet and +3 from the computers (on both attacks if you make 2). You also get to pick which arc you blast. I'd go for front and bank on them assuming we'd come in from behind or the side this turn, but it's really just a guess.
I am going to keep our Port side facing them since that is our best shielded side, and it looks like we won't get any shield regen this turn unfortunately.
@Twich, with Divert a bust for this turn and the glitch not hurting us, what do you say we target their systems? We can hope for a 19-20 crit, plus inflicting more critical damage to their engines will undo their patch and knock it down to malfunctioning, giving their pilot -4 to checks and preventing push actions. That should be enough to make them easy prey.

flyby: 1d20 + 18 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 18 + 1 + 4 = 30

Yes, at this point I think that keeping the upper hand in initiative is critical, however to spare the use of the computer bonus can we use the Master of Stars Touch Up bonus from our prep missions so we all get +4 to our non-gunnery rolls this turn? Might as well use the benefit we earned since it is only usable in Starship combat. Then we can give the +3s to Ayoka and a couple to Steel.

with flyby you can use the weapons from any quadrant so use that twin laser rather then the laser net. Also thanks to the scans we know a 23 definitely hits! No need for a reroll needed at all!

Ahh, okay, that makes sense. Thanks for providing a little insight!

Okay I think our best bet is to do a flyby on them, since their missile ignores evasive maneuvers

flyby: 1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 18 + 1 = 20
Holy crap, I will use a shirt reroll with one of the ship's +3s
flyby: 1d20 + 18 + 1 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 18 + 1 + 3 = 25
@Steel, you'll get to pick your target again and you can fire whichever weapon(s) you want, so whatever Selene's scans say is the weakest we should go for. It is crucial we inflict more critical damage on them. Don't forget you get +2 from the fleet, one +3 from the ship's computer (sorry I had to use the other), and you have a reroll. I think we should use Allied Offensive for the aid token. Please, God, give us a crit!
Best I can do defensively, is get our port side to face them, so let's pump the port shields as much as possible.
@Twich, please balance the shields to move the aft shields to our port. With 10 from the Ayoka's divert power and 12 from balancing we should get our shields up to 34.
That should be enough to soak a hit, but after that our shields are basically toast. The silver lining is that they should hopefully be running low on ammo. If they have the usual 5 shots, we will only need to survive one more nuke and then they're only offense is front facing weapons. With luck we can then just keep from letting them get behind us and whittle them down.

I think the reroll is more helpful, and I have a good chance at the flyby check, so let's save the Honorbound bonus for the reroll. Holy crap, they had three gunners take shots at us? I take it there is no 4-player adjustment for this? Man, this encounter is brutal. At least Life Support doesn't hurt us just like the Captain bonus didn't help. We need to be pumping all of our shields to the front, we are getting demolished.

piloting for hazard flyby check: 1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 18 + 1 = 35

Success! Ok now let me figure out what kind of shenanigans I can manage.

Yeah, I think she could really use it more that most of us.

Crap, I get it now. I previously read up on how turn 0 works, but I see now you are right that you still need to move first, then turn (I was turning first, then moving). Crap, I don't like my position as well any more. With a speed bump I could do it, but I think we need shields more than speed, and going for another flyby puts us in danger of its dangerous forward facing weapons.
@Selene, please use a +3 ship bonus for Ayoka.
@Steel, you should have a +3 as well as the +2 fleet bonus on your attack.
@Twich you've got a +3 as well, although I doubt you need it.

Ok I am going to use Maneuver to drop our turn radius to zero, pull back and take advantage of our longer range and higher speed. That should force them to either flip and burn in place, make a wide arc turn, or just fly away. Either way if my calculations are correct it should leave them in our front arc and within our 20 square range no matter what.
So I don't need an engine boost, nor a piloting boost, so that leaves us able to divert power to regen shields, balance the shields, and scan again to see where the crit landed and how bad their shields are.
Unless you've got rerolls or something, we probably shouldn't broadside this round since our odds of hitting with the broadside and range penalties won't be great.

maneuver: 1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 18 + 1 = 39

@GM, didn't you say that because of the fleet presence we get +2 to all gunnery checks? Wouldn't that make the Twin Laser a hit?
@Steel, it looks like we can bank on their AC being either 21 or more likely 23 with evasive, so I would use those rerolls from the Honorbound boon if you see yourself come up short. This guy has more shields & HP than us, and higher damage than us, so we need to make every shot count.
@everyone, don't forget we have bonuses from the prep missions at the beginning (listed on slide 4). We are fighting an uphill battle with this one, so we need every advantage we can get. The level 3 Starship Priming in particular seems really potent, so as soon as we break through their shields somewhere we should invoke that one to deal critical damage and start to disable them.

Tyler gets on the comms and delivers a devastating, "Whatever." in reply to the Jinsul ship before Bruf shoos him back to his seat and switches to internal comms, "Yowza, that was a powerful hit! Turns out I shoulda waited til after the scan! Well at least we know to make sure not to hang out in front of this bastard. I think we better start regenerating those shields, this is gonna be a tough fight. That, or we need to keep scanning them and watch for where they are leaving their shields weakest. I've got the advantage now so I'm gonna do a strafing run and give your pick of targets, Steel! If the dogfight turns against me, I will make sure to put some distance between us."

pilot for Flyby: 1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 18 + 1 = 32

I'm pretty sure that you have to declare the computer bonus before you roll, but it looks like even if the GM allows that, it won't be enough to turn that check into a pass for Ayoka since the DC would be 19 for our tier 6 ship. In the future, I am definitely on board though with Ayoka taking one of the +3s since her skill is pretty low. Either way though I realized as I looked at the map this morning with rested eyes that the speed boosted path was a terrible plan. It would have put our rear facing them which would have been really stupid after pumping up our front shields, so I am kinda glad we failed that engine boost check! Also just clarifying that this means I am officially flying evasively this round (I can't fail the piloting check required). So that leaves all three of the +3s this round for Steel and Twich, which is perfect if you go for the Broadside, Steel.

"Alrighty, crew, let's show 'em what we're made of! Looks like we are nice and close already, so For now, I'm gonna head right for 'em and give you a great shot, Steel. Speed and efficiency matters, so I'd say we give 'em a full broadside right off the bat. Twich, full power to front shields and then let's focus on winning the battle of information. Let's scan their ship and find out as much as we can about their weapon placements and shield locations. Ayoka, get those engines humming. On the next pass, I could use that foresight of yours, Selene. This guy seems to be a heck of a pilot!"

First, a friend pointed out a rule I'd completely overlooked in the rule book (CRB p 302): it turns out you get a free shield balance at the start of combat, where you can shift the shields around to protect a quadrant right off the bat. We have to leave at least 10% in each quadrant so our most extreme option would be 70/10/10/10. So let's shore up our front shields so we can face them head on and use our beefy twin laser. I will need to outmaneuver this guy for that, so in the future I would greatly appreciate the piloting boost. I may need the computer's +3 boost as well, we'll see. Either way I am not worried about range, so if the GM is cool with it, I'd say a scan is the better bet right now. If Selene and Twich both scan and we get lucky on rolls, we could learn right away where their weak side is. I'd like to to a fly by if Ayoka can boost the engines, otherwise I will just fly evasively and set up a fly-by for next round. As always these are just suggestions. Who is going to take the three +3 bonuses from the ship computer this round? I'd vote we give Steel at least one of the bonuses to make sure the twin laser lands.

I see the merits of both options. I think that if we are fast and smart, we can manage to help Fitch, and still get down to the planet soon.

With the target illuminated, Bruf spins up his artillery laser again and fires off a couple shots from the top of the table.

shot 1: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 13 - 4 = 282d8 + 8 ⇒ (5, 6) + 8 = 19
shot 2: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (2) + 13 - 4 = 112d8 + 8 ⇒ (4, 4) + 8 = 16

Well, crap. Let's see if we can rush thru this and another encounter then!

punch 1: 1d20 + 11 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 11 - 4 = 271d10 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19
miss chance: 1d100 ⇒ 80

punch 2: 1d20 + 11 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 11 - 4 = 261d10 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
miss chance: 1d100 ⇒ 2
retry: 1d100 ⇒ 52

Bruf closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and then does his best impression of the monks on the kungfu holovids.

As a move action, I am going to use Adaptive Fighting to gain the Blind-Fight feat.

punch: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 281d10 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
miss chance: 1d100 ⇒ 38
2nd try from blind-fight: 1d100 ⇒ 82

LOL, I love that reaction.

Bruf lets out an angry howl as he sees Selene get barraged with laser fire. "Vesk brothers activate!" he says to Steelscales as he rushes into the darkness to get in the sentries face and force it to target him.

Best way I can see to keep Selene safe is getting both of these bots in melee. Single move up to red and punching. I will jump or climb on to the table, whichever is better.

athletics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18
power punch: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 281d10 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
miss chance: 1d100 ⇒ 15

With all of us hurt, I third the vote for using the healing token.

Bruf fires at the same target hoping his shots find their mark.

attack 1 (accounting for cover): 1d20 + 13 - 4 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 13 - 4 - 4 = 172d8 + 8 ⇒ (6, 2) + 8 = 16
miss chance 1 (low bad): 1d100 ⇒ 58

attack 2 (accounting for cover): 1d20 + 13 - 4 - 4 ⇒ (3) + 13 - 4 - 4 = 82d8 + 8 ⇒ (3, 6) + 8 = 17
miss chance 2 (low bad): 1d100 ⇒ 11

"Ew! What is up with these Jinsuls and their love of insects! Stay back, Tyler, I'll protect you!"

Tyler was just as oblivious to Bruf's heroic declaration as he was to the fact that he was in danger at all. He'd gotten bored ages ago and started playing more Doot, Doot, Magic Flute (thankfully with headphones in after everyone had to insist that it's piercing music was not conducive to their stealthy mission, which itself was met with a giant eyeroll). So now he trundled along behind the starfinders with his head down, thoroughly engrossed in his addictive game, while gunfire erupted all around him.

Meanwhile the energy core on Bruf's shoulder-mounted artillery laser spun up and fired two penetrating laser bursts at the nearest robotic sentry.

full attack on red

attack 1: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 13 - 4 = 102d8 + 8 ⇒ (8, 7) + 8 = 23
attack 2: 1d20 + 13 - 4 ⇒ (9) + 13 - 4 = 182d8 + 8 ⇒ (7, 8) + 8 = 23

Nice! Love the write up and a nice office reference. Tyler will auto aid Selene's intimidate check in phase 2, it seems like she could use an assist.

I glanced over everyone's sheet, to help move along the discussion for strategizing these rolls. All of this is just a suggestion, I am certainly not looking to boss anyone around. Also I am assuming from the GM's write up for this compared to the scouting mission, that there aren't penalties for failure, we are simply trying to achieve the most successes at one attempt each per phase.

For Phase 1, it looks our best bet is for Selene and Twich to get all cultural with one of you the primary and the other an autoaid. Meanwhile Steelscales can attempt to aid my +5 Survival with his +1 on a defaulted Survival check, for a longshot at a second success.

survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

For Phase 2, Tyler can attempt the intimidate check but he doesn't speak Jinsul so it'll be at the harder DC. Still he's an autosuccess on aiding if you want to take the lead, Selene. Steelscales has a great chance of aiding on Intimidate as well. Alternatively, Bruf can do his bus driver schtick (+9) if aiding Intimidate isn't necessary and/or we want to try for a second success (possibly with Steelscales aid).

Phase 3, with Selene's auto aid, Tyler can distract at +14. And with Steelscales auto aid, Twich can break in with +17.

Hi! I'm Tyler! Pretty weird to have a human child like me running around, huh?: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14

Phase 4, Acrobatics +13 is definitely my best option here. You guys could all aid me pretty easily for a practically guaranteed success, or you could try to aid each other on perception and try for a double success on this one.

Bruf does parkour in power armor!: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21

Phase 5, yay piloting! Bruf's got +18 there, so should be all good, and even better with a defaulted piloting check for aid from my fellow Vesk. And Twich, the computers check should likewise be a breeze for you with a chance for aid from Selene.

Bruf steals the keys to their raddest bus: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (18) + 18 = 36

OK I definitely don't have great skills for this. Tyler's skillset doesn't include disguise sadly. I can't do Culture at all, Disguise would be a +1, and Survival is +5. So my best effort would be aiding Survival, or aiding Disguise. What does everyone else have for the relevant skills?
Also if it helps, my armor is Laborer Frame, which is based on and designed by Anacites, which are pretty insect-like, like Jinsuls. (The armor is described in Alien Archive 2 pg 11, which itself says that the armor is designed after an Anacite Laborer, which is described in Alien Archive pg 10.)