Cellion's page

"We're really keeping the treasure barge? It's so... so..." Akh looks around "So excessive. We called the last one the Last Chance, so we should call this one the Second Chance." Akh doesn't at all seem enthusiastic about giving away the Last Chance, but he acquiesces if the rest of the group is willing.

"We'll run out of Chances eventually, but we haven't yet. So it seems appropriate."

Rūha returns to the group with wine bottles in hand. She shrugs "I can't help but think we haven't found the bandits that were originally holed up here, nor the cultist's collaborators. Maybe there are answers down that hole. Or maybe that was all of them." She steps over to the hole and shines a flashlight down into it. "Spooky."

Return to the town where it all began and unravel the Seven Dooms that would bring its early end!

When a beleaguered guard washes up in Sandpoint's harbor with tales of horrors, betrayal, and a terrible new affliction, the call to adventure sounds once more in the Light of the Lost Coast. In the far north of the Kindred Coast, Sandpoint's newest adventurers will be tested, and prove themselves as heroes. For little does anyone know, but heroes will soon be desperately needed. The legacy of the Lost Coast runs far deeper, and older, than anyone can imagine, and that legacy is about to come due. While the town of Sandpoint has seen more than it's fair share of trials over the years, none of those have prepared it for the sinister threat that lies beating in the deep, dreaming of Seven Deadly Dooms!
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What is this?
Welcome to this recruitment for a combination Rusthenge and Seven Dooms for Sandpoint double-feature adventure played in PbP here on the forums. This is a 1-12 Pathfinder 2E adventure that takes Sandpoint's newest budding adventurers on a journey up Varisia's coastline to uncover a dire legacy from the time of ancient Thassilon, before returning to their home town as seasoned heroes in time to protect it against Seven Dooms that have been set against it. While there's a healthy dose of investigation and weaving your way through tense factional situations, much of both of these adventures involves delving into large dungeons to confront the deadly creatures and figures that lie within. Expect very classic adventuring themes and some nostalgia and references for those who've played in Sandpoint before. (There's no requirement to have played previous Runelords or Sandpoint adventures before, but it may be more fun if you have).

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About Me:
I'm an experienced GM here on the boards, having run several APs in PF1E and Starfinder, including a couple that have now run to completion and freed me up to tackle something new. I've run much less PF2E in PbP (though I've certainly run it for my home group), but have plenty of experience with the system. I run consistent, reliable games that stay close to the source material, but still expand it around the characters that the players bring to the table. To that end, I like GMing for players that engage themselves with the setting, narrative, and the stories brought by their fellow players.

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Recruitment Details:
As I do for all my games, I am planning on running a game with a steady pace, with 1 GM post per day every day including weekends. I expect players to keep up 1 post per day minimum - though you're welcome to post more often in response to your fellow players. From my experience, play-by-post lives and dies on posting momentum and player engagement. If you think you cannot keep up 1 post per day for several years (barring major conflicts and vacations and all of life's usual trials), this isn't the game for you. Additionally, I'm looking to pick up team players who are looking to not only engage with the adventure and myself, but also with their fellow players. Please keep these requirements in mind before applying.

I am looking to recruit 2-5 additional players, as I have several spots that are possibly already filled. I am aiming for a final party size of five or six to allow for the inevitable attrition. See below for specific requirements. Please read the Players Guide for Seven Dooms for Sandpoint for more set up and information regarding the adventure.

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Nirin considers Arc's impassioned argument for what seems like an incredibly long time, long enough for the detonator to float down to the floor and roll to a stop. Eventually Nirin answers "I know of this Stellar Degenerator you speak of as well as the Ark above. Mortal contrivances of no greater significance upon the fabric of time. That they may wipe out entire civilizations is simply the result of the cascade of mortal decisions that produced them. The normal functioning of things, if you will. The Starstone is entirely different in nature, eternal, touching more than you perceive." Nirin softly shakes its head "Than you will ever perceive. From such a perspective, you cannot appreciate the mistakes being made." Nirin listens to Arc's attempt to speak of time and fate with a parent's patience for a child's stories.

"That the Starstone must not remain here in the hands of Golarion's descendants is an un-deniable truth, I am afraid." It smiles faintly "You speak of convincing me not to act to avert catastrophe, and yet I can see you yourselves will not sit idly by and allow the potential ruin you anticipate to fall as it may. It is contradictions like those that make mortals interesting. And terribly annoying."

"Very well. I find I have lost my appetite for forcing the issue. " Nirin draws a black, rune etched blade out from what seems like a portal on the surface one of its wings and effortlessly stabs it into the floor. "You seek a few more moments, as mortals always do. You will have them. But I leave behind Skyndi, one of my two swords. You will take him, and by seeing him remember that you must endeavor to make this right, or I will return again to ensure it."

Lets do a Navasi, since both of you could benefit a lot.

Harlan waves off any adoring fans. There's more to be done, and telling tales can wait for after everything that needs to be demolished has been. He looks over the remaining missions and comments "We're suited to brawling. How 'bout that outpost on Agillae-1? Should be a clean one."

For what it's worth, I will be posting a recruitment for Rusthenge into Seven Dooms in the next week or so, if y'all want to wait for that.

Will: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (13) + 15 = 28

"I expect we will have to deal with both, but I'd suggest the demon first. Given what it feels like she just tried to do to me, we would do well to make sure she can't try it a second time." Ruha shakes off the lingering traces of enchantment magic.

Really good ideas both of you, thanks! I do think ultimately just the direct OOC buy-in is the best move, with some adjustments to the set up depending on preferences. The exorcism spin sounds really fun.

So far I've read through Chapter 1 and am concerned about a narrative inflexibility built into it as written. The first chapter presents Abstalar's desire to contact Nualia's spirit to forgive her for her misdeeds. This goal is integral to the resolution of the chapter because it's only through being forgiven that Nualia reveals the threat of the Seven Dooms. Also most of the interesting drama in this chapter comes from factions in town that would oppose bringing back Nualia's spirit.

The problem is... what if the players/PCs don't agree with Abstalar? I think it's not out of the question for players/PCs to fall on the other side and say her crimes far outweigh any of the town's cruelties toward her.

As a GM, if the players don't agree with the thrust of the narrative, you can still entice them with gold or the ever useful "well, that's how the AP goes" to get them to go along with it, but I would much more like to transform the adventure to work with their viewpoint instead. However, Chapter 1's "forgiving Nualia" elements feel so load bearing... I'm not sure how best to adjust it, especially the Influence encounter at the end where the players have to personally find ways to forgive her.

Any thoughts on what might be a good way to change this?

----

On a related note, I think Burnt Offerings is a tricky way to tie into this AP. This AP assumes a very particular resolution for Nualia at the end of Burnt Offerings, and one that (from my experience running or playing or reading campaign journals) is often not the way the book ends at the table. I've seen several redeemed Nualias, captured Nualias, escaped Nualias that return in Book 2... people LOVE not killing her. And the AP is written such that killing her isn't mandatory.

The entire premise of Chapter 1 of this AP is that Nualia is definitely dead and definitely still full of vengeance. By going Burnt Offerings -> Seven Dooms you either massively reduce the allowable possibility space for the resolution of Burnt Offerings, or you have to totally overhaul this Chapter 1.

Rūha nods to Chaance "No more stories than most, and mostly more mundane than your own, I'm sure. I was just an ordinary teacher, after all." then mentions to Rhor "And I'm very glad I found you all on this journey. I certainly would not be doing even a hundredth of what we've accomplished together, on my own."

She waves a pair of hands defensively at Zzvk's barrage of questions. "I'm afraid it's nothing so elaborate. Brain all intact, as far as I know, and no special missions to change the future. If we're subscribing to the theory that I'm here for a reason, it's as Longdreamer said - things have to happen the way they've already happened. Or something along those lines."

"Who is 'her'? Well that would be-" Rūha catches herself, thinks it over for a moment longer, then pats Zzvkgrogk on the head "Actually, that would be spoilers."
----

Back in Iadenveigh, Rūha happily spends the night at the High Home. Just the acknowledgement from someone seems to have lifted her spirits. Eventually however, the missing Redfang does begin to concern her "Given the time it took us, I'm surprised he isn't back yet."

Would gladly take the +2 EMP pistol. I know Zzvk was also thinking about getting one for the various robots we've encountered. I'll take a look over the loot list tomorrow.

Rūha is silent as Longdreamer speaks to her particular situation, but she can't help but tear up a little when the giant star monarch offers her best wishes. "Thank you." she thinks back to her as she takes flight.

It's only after Longdreamer is gone that you can hear Rūha clearing her throat from behind her mask. "The way these things usually go in the vids, you're not supposed to contaminate the past by bring in anything that's not supposed to be known. On the other hand, if a giant all-seeing space butterfly thinks its fine to divulge, then I suppose it'll be alright." She looks to the rest of the group with an apologetic shrug "As you might have surmised, I didn't arrive here by particularly conventional means. Or even unconventional means, like those ancient kasatha aboard the Divinity. I found my way here, to Golarion, by what seemed like an accident. Thrown into what, to me at least, is the distant past."

She's quiet for a moment before continuing. "Longdreamer seems to think I was chosen to come here. That's a reassuring story, one where things happen for a reason. Religions get built on stories like that." She smiles with the corners of her eyes "On the other hand, it could also be true. And if it is, I'd be negligent if I didn't step in the ensure things happen the way they need to." She closes her eyes "Oh dear, I really did just sound quite full of myself, didn't I?"

Hazl waves away Ordyt's rifle as it becomes clear Bel's about to unlock the cabinet. She groans at the news you bring her "So that wasn't just delusional rambling from my jailors then."

Bel cracks open the cabinet with little difficulty, finding a veritable bounty of equipment stored within.

"They scooped me up when I was investigating what was supposed to be a private docking bay for the rich and famous in Stellacuna. Turns out a couple dozen Legion soldiers were using it as a staging ground. I think they would've just killed me there, but an efreeti among them thought I could be 'convinced' to help them." She snorts "After they had some trouble with that, they took me here instead. A month ago, by my best reckoning. Since then, it's been the usual song and dance of all authoritarian sorts. They were confident enough that they even let slip a few things..."

She pauses for a moment with a scowl and then continues "There's a huge fleet striking the Archipelgo, is what I gathered, but the whole operation's just a distraction. Here their big boss Khaim's been working on a project for their Patron Malikah. I don't have all the details, but it involves a lot of efreeti, legal experts, engineers, and programmers, just judging by the others that were in the brig and now aren't any more. Most were taken through the Planar Gate, but I heard that some instead went to something called the Wishing Engine, somewhere far below."

When you ponder how the Station looked from the outside, you realize that "far below" must correspond to the strange distorted end of the station, which seems to be under the influence of the sun's core. Hazl adds "I also know their high command is literally high - it's somewhere on the upper floors of this station."

With Mari's help, Bel swaps the records on the force field maintenance log, then opens up the force field to Hazl's cell. There's no sign of any alarms or alerts, so it seems to have gone OK (probably).

Over in Interrogation, Hazl steps forward. Without the distortion of the force field, you can see her much better. The woman is well muscled and has a stern gaze, with deep furrows on her forehead and cheeks that suggest she spends a lot of time maintaining a worried frown. Right now she's looking like she's seen better days - she's sporting an array of old and new bruises and burns, and is clad only a loose shirt and pants. She's sweating badly in the heat of the Crucible, heat that you haven't had to worry about in your armor. You look at the readout and see it's currently 165 F. The fact that Hazl is surviving under these conditions suggests that she may have some heat-mitigating augmentation or trait.

Hazl stretches, winces at her wounds, and asks "What's your story? I sure as hell wasn't expecting a rescue here." She looks around the room and points at the cabinet at the western end of the room "If anyone can help get that unlocked, I saw them store my gear in there."

Yep Ordyt, we can assume you're checking in with "home base" regularly. I'll let you know if there's some kind of action at the ship OR if you don't hear from them for whatever reason.

Uzmat gazes somberly at the two fallen foes as the three of you discuss their loyalties. Flint searches the two bodies, finding an assortment of gear (see below). The more technical members of your team would consider Flint's plan to switch the "malfunctioning cell force field" notices in the system around to be possible, but probably tricky. (It'll take a computers check to attempt, from the Brig Processing computer).

Hazl nods from inside her cell "Born ready. Don't know who you lot are, but I've right had it up to here with these Legion people." (See handouts for a pic of Hazl.)

Wow Guess?! Looks like the dice roller REALLY wants us to get this barge :D

Akh continues to run interference, this time idly commenting on how much empty space there is inside him for snacks.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20
Intimidate: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21

Rūha tosses her inferno grenade into the mix to finish off the last of the malevolent worms, then sighs with relief when Nargin doesn't reform. "Well done, all of you. We're lucky that he was so overconfident. Had he taken the first moment to escape rather than stand and fight, I'm not sure we could have blocked him. And then we'd have to deal with surprises later..."

During the remaining sweep through the tower, Ruha offers aid to the others and a few remaining inspiring moments of advice, until the whole place is clear. Upon completing the sweep, she stands and stretches as she comments "Without Xoud to worry about, it almost seemed easy. Do we want to break the bottle to guarantee his defeat, and then head back to Iadenveigh?"

Yep, the efreeti is definitely going down to Flint's attack

Downside of multiple people having slow posting rates + an NPC ally is so much botting...

Sammad rallies the team forward and fires! (get em +2 vs. efreeti)
Zero Pistol: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25 Damage (C): 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (4, 2) + 5 = 11
Mari follows with her own attack.
Zero Rifle, Combat Tracking, Deadly Aim: 1d20 + 17 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 17 - 2 + 2 = 33
Cold: 1d8 + 11 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 11 + 5 = 21
Meanwhile Uzmat swoops in to keep the other foe busy. He trips the azer, or at least tries to.
Trip: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (2) + 25 = 27

Flint Reflex: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Ordyt Reflex: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Flint takes the blast to the face, while Ordyt dodges much of it, and thanks to Bel's intervention, both suffer only minor burns (4 dmg and 2 dmg after resists) Meanwhile, the azer drops his tools and draws his axe from his belt, slashing at Uzmat and finding nothing but air.

|||| INIT ||||
Bel
Flint (4 dmg)
Ordyt (2 dmg)
Sammad
Uzmat
Mari
Efreeti Lieutenant (92 dmg, get em)
Azer Guard

"To Glor-" Noemy's about to cheer to Maq'la's jest, but remembers she's supposed to be staying quiet to not draw attention to Yorah. She instead whispers "Bet you one silver I kill more zombies today!"

Melissa, let me know exactly how much you needed to borrow so I can deduct it.

After the rampant inedibility of the "refreshments" Akh turns to the new complication with not a whole lot of charity in his eyes. He speaks into comms "Annoying. What if we just ate her?" He leaves that for a moment before adding "She probably tastes as awful as everything else. Bland."

Akh ponders what she's said, to see if there's any obvious flaws in her explanation.

Culture: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (16) + 15 = 31

Upon Rhor's explanation, Ruha comments "I haven't kept track, but surely we've already accumulated quite the hoard of Xoud's precious treasures. And with his robotic favorites broken, we may have already reached the critical threshold to release his spirit."

KN Eng (suit): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33
KN Eng (cylinder): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16

She gestures to the bin of fancy tech, a scatterlight suit and some others. "Zzvkgrogk, I think you're right about the globe. Perhaps Xoud used it to take notes before his death. Perhaps notes as to what he was doing in this particular lab." She holds the globe aloft and presses the button to turn it on.

I expect most things don't get playtested. It's not the first time we've had a ridiculously powerful option slip through.

Melissa's mention of pretzels sends Akh's mind into memories of better, far tastier places. Like Absalom Station. Not for the first time he contemplates if there would be some easy way to blow this whole place up so their bad ideas couldn't spread.

I'll be intimidating, but not sure if we're actually going to bid on anything, per discussion.

Hmmm... the big problem is I elected a bunch of items and I don't have nearly enough credits to actually buy them. Not sure if we'd really get enough even if we retconned that we liquidated all our loot.

I picked items on the assumption that they'd be part of the same scam as the barge.

"Yes? It's me. The large metallic object in your area. If you think being used as an EMP shield is degrading, wait until you hear about people hanging clothes off of you."

"That's quite the conundrum then..." (definitely regretting not going back to at least get some magic weapon scrolls!)

GM Cellion wrote:

@Flint: Pinned has "You cannot take any action that requires the use of any of your limbs, but you can always attempt to free yourself, usually through an attack roll or Acrobatics check." Do you have an ability that lets you attack w/o limbs? I swear we talked about this before but I'm not finding the post.

(If an attack roll will work better, he will try that next round. His bonus for that is +18, though I think the pinned condition takes that down by 4)

I did end up using your earlier first roll as an attack roll to grapple (+18-4). Unfortunately you have to beat KAC+8, and that's a hard target to hit.

Akh drapes himself around a nearby elegant jewel-inlaid column, half his mind distracted by a thought that these gems look decidedly like Froot Gushers. He glances at the frazzled dancers and Melissa chatting with them before offering "I don't think I'm good enough to convincingly dance at the center of this, but I could pretend to be a ribbon if you think that'd help. It probably won't, but you never know. Maybe the audience will be distracted enough that they don't notice the missing dancer."

Acrobatics +17 is good but not great at this level.

When Guess? makes his offer Akh adds "Estriar here is very good at convincing people to do things."

Rūha heads out together with Zzvkgrogk. "Obnoxious. I thought I'd met the pinnacle of arrogant in the faculty at UniPed, but this one is giving those old colleagues a run for their money." She shakes her head "You don't think ghost Xoud will try to feed them in our absence, or worse, release them? I'd hate to see that wave of worms ready to ambush us when we round a corner."

Real talk, I can't believe how worthless disarm has been in this AP. The few foes that have been strong enough that disarming makes any sense have either had natural weapons that deal just as much damage or multiple backup weapons. Disarming this guy twice and he's still basically firing on all cylinders is a real bummer.

Mari reasons that while there will likely be ships entering and leaving the bubble, engaging them to steal a tablet or passkey would likely betray your position and bring down the defensive ships upon you. And Ordyt knows from when you entered Ezorod that the bubble extrudes a portion of itself to engulf any incoming passengers. There's no guarantee of being successfully engulfed if you tried to piggyback, though it's certainly an option.

Since this may be obvious to your characters:

Over in your hold, you can hear the tablet you recovered from Noma vibrating.

Usually you can't trick attack on the same turn as drawing a weapon in SF, right? Since it takes at least a swift action.

Akh, not exactly liking the switchblade look on the assassin, stows the LFD screamer and then tries to disarm the fellow of his knife.

Acquire Armament (disarm) w/ get em: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (20) + 22 = 42

He grabs the knife with his tongue. "Second favorite?"

Ilor leans in from the side as Bel starts steering the cloaked ship toward the Crucible. "You want to try that fancy thing the Anassanoi gave us, boss?"

Earlier:
As the group descends down the long stairs, Ruha speculates "Leading down below the tower, it seems. It makes me wonder... given how well secured the labs above were, and how out of the way this tower is, why the need for all this? Was there something that absolutely had to be done underground?" She shakes her head "Worms, flies, daemons. It's fitting you'd want to keep such things from the light of day, I suppose."
---
Now:
Ruha calls upon her strange connection to once again coat her clothing in a hexagonal shimmer. (barkskin for 90 mins)

"You're more than welcome to it Rhor. We might find a good use for it here."

While she answers, Ruha looks over the door the group just came through and the one heading further westward, then peeks out the corridor where she spies another. (are these doors air-tight like the ones upstairs? Is the door to the west normal or airlock style?) She returns to join Yambul at the westward door "Given all of Xoud's interests, I'm starting to wish I had something more effective against swarms of all kinds." She swaps her autograpnel out for a couple of grenades, just in case the next room is the fire ant colony study chamber.

"See, not that hard Maq'la! You just take the stabby bit or the smashy bit and go for it!" Noemy cheers Maq'la on.

Nice Zephyr!

Sorry for the delay!

Akh looks desperately around for the mentioned snacks, but sees nothing that properly impresses him. He despairs for a moment, then composes himself to float over to Guess?. He settles into a position floating right behind Guess?'s shoulder as he addresses Taelarnis. "Please tell me you agree that the honey is critical. Tea isn't the same without it." He shakes his head. "Oh, Estriar, are you telling him about the life extension soup? We can't share any details, but if you're feeling like your telomeres are getting a little hairy, you might end up feeling relieved if you take Mr. Estriar up on his offer."

He shares several other life-extension buzzwords as Guess? does most of the talking.

Life Science: 1d20 + 13 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 13 + 4 = 35

Mysticism: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25

Akh had been bracing himself for the teamaster to substitute honey for some kind of flavorless dust that vaguely remembers it might have once been near something sweet, but is instead pleasantly surprised to see the agave syrup. It seems even some Kalistocrats could not resist. "Yes. The honey is critical." he intones as he exerts all his will not to lick the syrup out of the tiny jar.

He stirs several drops in. Perhaps some ritually important amount. Perhaps just enough to satisfy his taste buds.

I've been pretty dissatisfied with Starships in SF1E, but I'm also far from confident that Paizo will execute them well in SF2E. They do know what the issues are, but their track record on "additional" rules systems has not been great based on my own personal experience. Generally they tend to be undertested and therefore end up with some big holes in them. I've been pondering how to overhaul SF1E's starships for years on and off without really reaching a satisfying result, so it seems like a tough nut to crack.

The recent discussion has got me thinking again, so here are some of my own pain points and preferences:

We definitely need lighter weight rules for Starship combat and (especially) construction.
Part of the reason that starship building gets assigned to the one person who cares in SF1E is that the rules are complex and difficult to implement into a viable ship design. There's not just a barrier to entry in understanding how they work, but a barrier in knowing how to make a good ship with them. Worse, they're entirely separate from the normal rules. It's like having to learn a whole additional game. And on top of that, you may use these rules one out of every 10 sessions, so they're never fresh in your mind. While Waterslethe's suggestion to split up that barrier to entry by having each person "build" their own station is good, I think it'd be even better to just simplify things down. Less customization, less math, easier to remember and play.

When I say simplify, I'm thinking:
- Ship frames that give you all the stats you need for the ship (likely scaling with tier), so you don't have to do any math or work out the right balance between investing in one feature over another. Basically, your team chooses if you want to be fast and weak, slow and strong, or how tricksy your ship is.
- The option to slot a few things in and out on each frame, such that building a starship is 5-10 choices that can be discussed at the table rather than between sessions. You'd pick a weapon for each mount, then add several utility "units" or "systems", that would primarily give your ship new things to do in and out of combat, above and beyond the baseline.
- Starship roles that each have a few good qualitatively impactful (and therefore memorable) actions each, with fewer actions that require die rolls to resolve.

Starship Stats should probably be independent of character stats
I hate getting into a starship combat in SF1E when playing a solarion. You just feel like such an obvious second-string contributor. One solution for this is to just make roles that work for all 6 of the attributes. But that just pigeonholes your character into the role that matches their class. A technomancer might want to do magic, but not always be the engineer or science officer. You could also make roles flexible, allowing multiple skills or attributes to work. Ultimately though, I found myself gravitating toward just divesting character stats from starships entirely. It gives people the most flexibility to pick the roles they like to play, and allows them to not need to reference both their character sheet and their starship sheet at the same time.

"Tactical" starship combat is utterly uninteresting against single targets in open space, and that probably won't change if Paizo sticks to compatibility with PF2Es normal combat system
Imagine in PF2E that 50% of combats were a single PC Fighter, specialized as an archer, vs. a single enemy archer in an open field. That's SF1E's starship combat in a nutshell. There's no real decision making. You point your biggest gun at the enemy, aiming at their most damaged quadrant if you won initiative, and fire.

If you want one-on-one dogfights to be fun, the starship combat rules need to have proper dueling mechanics that add some play/counterplay and tension. The current system of firing arcs and flight movement absolutely does not accomplish this. There are TTRPGs that do dueling well, and generally what I've seen is that the keys are: the ability to attack and defend on multiple fronts (HP, morale, or other resources, and the individual status of limbs/systems), the ability to choose variable levels of risk when you take actions, and the existence of actions that counter other actions so you're encouraged to not be predictable or rely too much on any one tactic.

If introducing robust one-on-one combat rules is not reasonable (probably because it tends to be complicated), then the best solution is to have far more complex objectives and arenas. I've been playing Lancer recently, and one of its strongest features is that most encounters have "defeat all foes" as only a secondary or backup objective. This means players are constantly challenged to approach encounters differently, adjusting their loadouts or focusing on different tactics. Leaning into this approach as "default" for starship combat would do a lot to keep it fresh even with a simple ruleset and fairly open hex maps.

Alrighty, that's the two of you who are most active chimed in, so unless Astrid's really looking for a denouement, I think this is where we'll end things. I'll leave this open for a short while so the others have a chance to see what's going on before the game gets set inactive and disappears from their list.

Earlier:
Akh's long-range microphones perk up at the sound of 'drug laced sourdough starters', but he quickly reasons that it must be just as twisted as any other Kalistocrat culinary escapade.

He nods when Guess-as-Estriar explains the situation. "When it comes to tea, I know a couple of things. Not my favorite beverage, but I'm sure I can drink better than these Kalistocrats. Plus, if its poisoned to take you out of the contest, I'll be able to handle it!"

---
Now:
Akh has adjusted his holo-garb to look a little pearlescent in addition to being porcelain. He floats through the teahouse and then settles at the table, folding his coils in an ungainly pile behind him. He wafts some tea vapors from wherever the leaves are being held towards himself.

Culture: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (17) + 15 = 32

While his instincts are telling him "grab that tea before these worthless Kalistocrats can waste it" he follows as many of the correct mannerisms as he can remember regarding the ritual bowl cleansing.

Flint's code phrases beamed back to the Archipelago get no response, which Mari and Bel explain is likely because the Radiant Cathedral (like the rest of the Archipelago) lacks the specially tuned communications equipment that allows messages to be sent through large portions of the sun's plasma without degrading. Instead, several days later while eating dinner, Flint gets a response beamed directly (and magically) into his head.

He hears Don's voice echoing "Efreeti have taken the Archipelago. Only Dawnshore still free. Holding out for now. Our friends planning way to bypass blockade. What's your status?" and senses that he can send back a mental message of 25 or fewer words that will unerringly reach Don.

Over the following few days, your own team, the DCI trio, and a team of anassanoi engineers work together and slowly but surely get the Torrent operational. Nib is the one to finish fixing the last set of relays from the inside of a maintenance crawlspace. She pops her head out and gives a grin "That'll do it! If we messed something up, well, you'll be turning into a fireball one way or another out there. But I'm sure it's just fine, since you two-" She twitches her nose at Bel and Mari "-checked all my work. Now get going! You lot have an efreeti general to take down and some twisted plans to wreck!" Taeress nods and adds "If all we've seen in the Legion communications here is accurate, the Crucible should be lightly guarded, as most of their forces are committed to the Archipelago. Once they know you're there though, they might bring some portion of their fleet back to box you in. You probably won't have long to strike. Not that I'm an expert or anything." Ilor crosses his arms and comments "Nah, you've got it exactly."

Ilor steps forward and says "I'm willing to go with you lot, and so are a few of the Anassanoi from the unit I was leading a few weeks ago. They want to strike back against the efreeti, and who am I to deny them? Of course, they're not exactly trained soldiers, so I'll leave it up to you if you want to take them along."

Ilor is an 8th level Soldier, the three anassanoi recruits are 6th level Operatives, all good at Stealth, and with one each good at Culture, Engineering, and Diplomacy.

Considering Arc's dangerous position and the Christmas holiday holding everyone's attention, I'll hold off on moving us forward for a bit. Have a great holiday all!

As an alien blooded character, Rūha treats radiation as two steps less severe, bringing this radiation down to 'low' for 1 con drain if she fails her save.
Fort vs. radiation: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Rūha shields herself with the massive bulk of the autograpnel as a pulse of what feels like heat washes over her. Radiation. An ever-present danger, but not one she'd expected to experience here. When the wave passes, she raises the cannon up to fire, only to find Xoud slipping away.

"No parasites? Us, or something completely different?" She mulls over his parting words as she steps up to look at the books. Turning out to be spellbooks, she furrows her brow. "As a ghost, perhaps he has a ghostly set of spellbooks in addition to these? Presumably he must, if he means to prepare his spells while suffering from his newfound lack of physicality. Or maybe the transformation into ghost freed him from that need."

CLW x6: 6d8 + 6 ⇒ (1, 6, 1, 4, 1, 7) + 6 = 26

You can take 10 and open that spoiler up!

Flint does find that the Legion communications grid in Khalannal has just enough strength to reach the Archipelago, and while it's not designed to do so, your team is able to retune it to send a message to the Radiant Citadel. This is a far cry from your own ship-board comms, which were unable to transmit far through the sun's plasma.

Reflex: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

Crisped up but still standing, Rūha immediately offers advice to the rest of the team to help them pick out the best moments to attack as they converge on the ghost. She then runs west to be further spread apart for any potential lightning bolts and readies her autograpnel.

(Advice up for +2/+2)

Yep, you can definitely transfer Popoko over to your new ship. For the new ship, you won't have the siccatite matrix weakness. The base Legion tech handles stabilizing the solar shields better than the prototype tech created by Lurian and the DCI, so it ends up less prone to self-destructive failure. The solar shields otherwise function the same as they did for the Breath.

Ordyt's got the stealth rules.

While you can take Nib and Taeress along, they're not going to insist, and they're not particularly great at any role (as their skills are mostly in life science and physical science). You can take Ilor along if you'd like, he could be a backup gunner. You can also take one or more anassanoi volunteers with you to fill any remaining spots you need, though they're not particularly skilled.

This GM forgot the correct location name in their post above. The Crucible is the name of the Legion's command center, not the Citadel. Must be Mass Effect on the brain :)

Taeress responds to Flint "Data? We were routing the enemy positions out to the anassanoi during the fight. I didn't realize there was more in there. Unfortunately, with the Breath destroyed, I think we'll have to get to the source of that feed you sent us to investigate further." Together with the two DCI scientists, you make your way back up the Spire to check on Commander Gorchak's system.

Commander Gorchak's system remains unlocked and you're able to start perusing the massive collection of data, communications and other logs. A full breakdown of Khalannal's defenses and peoples is one of the first databases you uncover, documenting the city's layout, strengths and weaknesses. You also find a full record of the operation, from the Legion's initial cordial contact with Khalannal, to their attempts to enlist the aid of the anassanoi through various trade agreements, to their attempts to drive a political wedge into their society, until General Khaim finally authorized an invasion. It seems that the Legion's initial plan was to ally with the anassanoi in exchange for technology, transport out of Khalannal, and knowledge of extra-solar society. The Legion was looking to leverage the anassanoi's powerful telepathy as part of a long-range "weapon" that sows doubt and discontent in a psychically sensitive populace. With the uncooperative anassanoi, their plan changed, as did the nature of the psychic resonator's output.

Within Commander Gorchak's logs, you slowly piece together Khalannal's role within their overall mission. The Resonator was to destabilize and disorganize the Archipelago, drive internal strife and discontent, and pit the various factions within the Archipelago against one another. This was all in advance of the Legion's arrival to the Archipelago, where they planned to sweep in as a stabilizing, peacekeeping force that would seize control.

It's clear however from the various logs that complications both in Khalannal and elsewhere had caused that plan to evolve. It's equally clear that seizing control of the Archipelago is not the Legion's end goal, but just one stepping stone in a greater mission, whose details are seldom mentioned.

As you work through all this information, Bel and Mari crack the encryption on Gorchak's high-secrecy communications. Three messages prove by far the most important, both from 1 week ago, just before Khalannal was liberated.

Rūha tears herself free of the beast's jaws and launches a counter-punch of her own. (And adding stunning fist, DC22 Fort or stunned 1 rd on hit)

Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14 Damage (B): 1d10 ⇒ 7

When the edge of her stiffened hand only meets golden fur, she switches tactics. She grabs a hold of the fur and uses it as leverage to tumble over the aurumvorax and to its other side as a distraction!

Acrobatics (tumble through): 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (2) + 21 = 23
Hero point reroll: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (19) + 21 = 40