Starfinder Society GM. 1,138 posts (20,645 including aliases). 43 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 12 Organized Play characters. 31 aliases. 
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Little heads up that I'll be traveling for work the next couple of weeks. Posting will likely be intermittent.
Little heads up that I'll be traveling for work the next couple of weeks. Posting will likely be intermittent.
"Sugar? They've got a bit of a sweet tooth, huh?" Mercy smirks "Shame it doesn't work like salt on snails, but maybe it could be a distraction." Sobering up a bit she adds "Punchin' seemed to do the trick to get the one in Quadrant-2 out, as rough as it was. But if they leave when spooked, if someone had some spooky magic we could get them out." "I like the idea of a suit to block 'em, and it doesn't seem out of place for a doctor's place like this. Lets do a quick sweep. If we find something that might work, we try it. If not we go to the other side of the building before the oozes start hunting for hosts on their own."
Ruha comes out of the short campaign to rout the League from the palace surprisingly fresh still. The fight after fight these long weeks and months have clearly improved her stamina. She stretches her four arms and says "I agree Zzvkgrogk. At this point, we should probably stay right here. Of all the places in Starfall, this is where we'll find the most allies willing to watch our backs, I think. Though it can't hurt to get a message to our allies in town." With Kul Inkit she agrees "I'll assume they weren't expecting to be rebuffed like this, but I can't imagine it'll take them long to muster their forces. Of course, without pretend legitimacy given by their position in the palace, they'll be scrambling to exert some control." She tries to see if she can get a message to the Mockery's agents regarding potential League reprisals before turning in for the night. It's clear the next day will have quite the grueling battles ahead.
"GUH!" Ketra grits her teeth as she flies through fake, made up glass that feels awfully sharp. Tumbling out of the window, she tucks herself into a ball before her ring of feather falling kicks in. In slow motion she drops into an elegant spin that ends with her bloody but on her feet in the shallow water. With a groan, she pulls out a potion of cure moderate from her belt and takes a quick swig as she steps back on shore.
"And Guess, if you need us to fish you out of trouble... uh, well. I think you can get in a lot of trouble. Maybe more trouble than we can resolve. Actually, definitely more." Akh speculates "Maybe we can plant you in the ground to help you evade your speculative investment victims. If you grew into a tree that would probably get them off your scent."
Akh listens to the impassioned arguments from Guess and, in a twist, says "Actually I think Melissa has it right this time. Everything we did just ended up with more people coming to kill us, and our foes were even worse. This whole 'have the super valuable thing people want while making a lot of enemies' plan never seems to work out well for anyone." Akh nods "If you want to try your luck some more with the whole crime syndicate thing, you're welcome to, but it seems extra doomed to me. And I know when things look doomed." "We've snuffed our worst enemies, and right this very moment have a few intact bridges instead of mostly burned ones. So if there's any time to disappear, it's probably now. Leaving behind a bunch of people who owe you, rather than the other way around, seems good." "A little gym on Absalom Station or a farm out in the vast are sounding pretty cozy to me."
When he gets a chance, he goes to see if he can get a cool commemorative tattoo from Shaieth. Nothing transcendentally destructive - just a uniquely cool little marking to remember this journey.
Feeling way better than I did last night, so there'll be a post shortly.
We've defeated the final boss, but there are still some interesting questions to resolve. So looking forward to Guess? getting in some last shenanigans. :)
Ruha maintains her Advice and strikes the red guard once. She calls over to Tek Makul "Under control? You could say that. If you like being under the thumb of the League."
Her strike made, she heads off to corner Tek Makul and set Yambul up for a powerful counterattack.
GM Screen: With quite uncommon agility, the two goblin-like creature try to scamper back as a wave of flame rolls off Vildran's staff. Both are singed, but only one more seriously. Morga steps up next to Vildran and gets ready with her shield, while Autumn does the same while illuminating your foes.
- - - San reveals himself with a brutal strike of his spear, disemboweling the purple goblinoid with a single stroke. While he casts his keen eye across the foe as it dies, he fails to discern much of value other than they die to branched spears. He lands another stab on blue a moment later, leaving that creature badly injured. When then blue tries to rush around the south to try a pincer attack on the party, San takes that goblin-creature down as well with a devastating hit. Despite the sudden deaths of two of their number the other foes persist in their attack. Orange and yellow leap and scramble across the rocky slabs and swing around the wooden posts to attack San. They bite at him with sharp teeth and slash with grimy claws. Vildran and Morga each suddenly find two other horrid goblin-creatures in their faces. Morga manages to shove the one attacking her off before its jaws can get past her guard, while Vildran's wards block the other. Up close like this, its impossible not to notice the rotting stench rolling off these creatures. To the southwest, the other foe San notices earlier exits from his chamber and raises a bony club. He shouts in Necril "Kabriri will consume them! And you as well, if you survive!" before casting a spell. A ghostly, magical set of floating jaws appear behind San for a moment and then bite into his side. |||| INIT ||||
I knew Del was a Starfinder writer, but forgot or never realized it was for Fly Free or Die! Not something I usually look up. And yeah, inspiring boost has mostly just been soso when I've seen it used over the years. In this last fight where we're scraping the bottom of the HP bucket though, it'll probably be pretty good.
As Sinjin reveals his new, monstrous birdlike form, Akh gathers his coils. He reflects on the path he took to get here, full of strange and unwelcome coincidences and cruel circumstances. He thinks to the Sinjin in his memories, who was once a mentor, maybe even a friend. He'd never really known Sinjin, and especially doesn't recognize the power crazed drow now suffering from his own excesses in front of him. At the end of the day though, this is just another inevitably terrible event that needs to be soldiered through. He chooses to face it with the same morose determination that has let him survive this far. He answer's Sinjin's bold claim with "Do you think we'll just let you beat us? After we've survived everything else you concocted so far?" Akh shakes his head "I don't think so. Plus you're the one that's doomed. You're all falling apart. Less than 50% Sinjin left in there, I'd say. Also..." He flexes his coils and readies his claws. The dark energy of unraveling leaks from his every scale, and billows in a haze from his claws. He opens his maw and after an awkward pause says "...you look kind of silly." Akh reaches out with an outstretched claw and a black fuzzy haze jets out like a blade toward Sinjin.
Whoaaaa, I didn't connect the dots. It would have been so cool to have Jessica and Del in the last book.
Akh flies over in pursuit and approaches the edge of the balcony. "We didn't get to see his special phoenix tattoo. So he's probably about to use it the moment we-"
Sounds miserable! It does seem like another wave of Covid has been going around. recently.
With the way cleared by Silvia, Ketra leaps past the fallen charred chunks of table and the scorched remains of the blue sealbreaker. She rounds the corner and moves in to engage the last foe, skirting around the edge of their reach until she can lunge in.
Morga, lets say the majority of the acolytes live at home, but likely some that are from outside of Sandpoint live at the Cathedral. Father Zantus and a few other caretakers also live there.
"As for your church girl, it remains to be seen if she has any value. Convince her to work for me, in addition to her important duties at the Cathedral and perhaps that will make up for your earlier mess." He turns back to Autumn "Anything else for me?" Autumn can tell her answer hasn't particularly endeared herself to him, but it also hasn't angered him further. It'll take more work, and more buttering up, to get on his good side (if he has one). ----
Master Ilsoari Gandethus is a gaunt, tall human in a tailored suit that seems just a little shabby. He greets you coolly as you enter "Are you here to enroll a child?"
-----
After leaving Brodert's house, you both separately try to remember the other magic users around town. Between the two of you, you recall:
"As for magical metalworkers, well, I don't know anyone who's specialized in that kind of work around town, but I know Vorvashali at the Feathered Serpent handles a lot of magical trinkets and does some work of the sort himself. You might be able to cajole him into helping you if you buy something. If you want any magic weapons though, you can always put in an order through the Armory and we'll send the message down to Magnimar for the next caravan to bring something up." While this conversation is going on, Auggie and Morga have this own chat, with her friend trying to glean some details on her long absence from town.
Ketra yelps as she's showered by burning and blackened table splinters!
Father Zantus beckons to Hemlock to temporarily take the Horn "If you would Belor. It shouldn't do too much to you. And it will take a little time to prepare a suitable resting place for it for now." Sheriff Hemlock blanches and then steps forward resolutely to take the Horn. Within a few minutes Zantus finds the lead-lined box he mentioned earlier and finds a concealed place for it to rest behind the altar that is nevertheless hard to reach without drawing a lot of eyes. The two of them return with Hemlock shivering and wiping his shaking hands on his pants. Father Zantus says "Thank you all again. I'll be relying on you to hold this in confidence, and to aid in any research when you have time. Morga, that story could hold, but we want to be sure not to create any panic. And I can already imagine how stories of cultists wanting revenge could quickly pick up momentum." Hemlock nods "I'll do what I can to increase patrols nearby without any official statement." While Hemlock heads out to return to his duties, Zantus returns to Vildran's earlier question. "I believe it was Martin. Martin Cardenal." He smiles to Vildran "And of course you're welcome back to pore over my records and help the research. Twice as many eyes will make the work that much quicker. Otherwise, I will get in contact with you all if I learn anything interesting." ----
---- With Zantus taking the Horn off your hands, you have some time to get reacquainted with Sandpoint after your long absence and meet up with friends, family and people who might buy your various magic items. From your new perspective, it feels almost like a whole new town.
"Kul-Inkit first is a good idea. Though Yambul, I wouldn't be so confident... she may be looking *for* a son even if you aren't actually the guy. Just be polite." The edges of her eyes wrinkle in amusement.
For Akh Extremely accurate (and cute).
"If I remember what the Baron said right, there's a party every day Yambul. But I do think we'll meet the Baron there today." Ruha shakes her head at the wastefulness.
With a few words of welcome, you settle in to the deck of the sloop and your thoughts turn to your adventures thus far and the impact they've had. Art rushes about with Bastiano's assistance, unmooring from the pier and pushing the sloop off into the bay before unfurling the sails. A stiff wind catches the fabric soon after and you glide your way out and into the open ocean. The sky ahead is dark, mottled with clouds, and the sun has fallen below the horizon. The wind that propels you onward feels unpleasantly cold for the season. And yet the most unpleasant feeling sits somehow lodged in the back of your minds. The Horn of Rust now travels with you, its resolution your responsibility. You can't help but sense it when you sit too close to the backpack you've stored it in. A prickly, unwelcome presence. A reminder of how close Meitremar came to calling this great evil into the world. You may be returning to Sandpoint after only a few weeks, but you are returning far more wise to the dangers of the world, your skills honed by experience and flush with treasures found along the way. You recall the tales of Sandpoint's heroes in years prior. The adventures that they underwent. And now... you have your own stories to tell. ----
The ocean voyage is rough this time around, the waves carrying the small boat and testing Art's skills to keep the course correct. It is with relief that you see the first of the long chain of islands that parallel the coast of Varisia down toward Sandpoint. On the second day Art points out the island where you first stopped and saved Ordwi from her dero attackers. Luckily no such ocean-faring deep dwellers appear this time around to attack your own ship. A day and a half later and with seas finally beginning to calm, you spot the town in the distance. Sandpoint, the Light of the Lost Coast... or so some visitors call it. The ruins of the Old Light greet you, and soon enough you find yourselves approaching the bustling harbor. In comparison to Iron Harbor, Sandpoint is a metropolis, with several ships in a variety of sizes and dozens of people hauling in the catch of the day to be sold in the market.
Art moors the sloop in a spare corner of the docks and with surprising spryness gets everything in order for you all to disembark. He offers "I may not have been swingin' swords out there, but I'm glad to have been 'a service in this little adventure. I think we all earned a little rest too. And Bastiano, if ye don't have somewhere else, I'd be glad to have an extra pair of hands on my next trip." He grins crookedly to your team "Don't be strangers now." As for yourselves, you disembark unsteadily after days at sea. The entirety of Sandpoint hums with activity, familiar, comforting, and yet somehow different after your long absence.
Ruha dodges, but still gets stabbed by an array of metal bits. After Yambul has his turn with the healing wand, she asks for a few taps herself.
"Quite a lot of explosions we managed in about ten seconds. Lets hope this place is as sound-proofed as Saoria was saying." She glances at the gear coming out of the safe "It would have to be a *very* good tailor Zzvkgrogk. Maybe with a few extensions. And well... it does look a little gaudy." "Should we go and tell Saoria the news? Of the completely random and baffling lab accident that led to an exploding golem?"
Ruha maintains her Advice and...
"Well, the town pup always liked a bone with a bit of something on it to gnaw, back in Roslar's Coffer. Maybe this is the same idea."
Rūha makes sure she has her defensive buffs active as well as a heroism. With Yambul ready with his falchion and Zzvkgrogk with pistol in hand, she reaches over and quietly turns the knob to ensure the door is unlocked. If it is, she swings it open with force and rushes into the room.
Nothing else I'm aware of, but maybe I missed something.
GM Screen: While most of you settle in to rest, Morga rolls up her proverbial sleeves for a long night treating two of the victims. It's in the early morning hours when her Great-Aunt wakes. She shudders with pain, not quite able to summon the strength to cough, but still manages to give Morga a faint smile as her eyes focus. Her words are little more than whispers, though she uses them to reassure the younger dwarf - to tell her not to worry, that she's endured worse before in both illness and loss, and that she's proud that her distant grandniece had grown so capable. The beginnings of a story begin to form - something about Morga's mother in her younger years - but the story fades from Hilga's lips before it even gets going. It seems it's simply too much effort. She contents herself with a simple "It warms my heart to just have you here. To know... we weren't forgotten. We'll talk more... in the morn." before she drifts back off into a troubled sleep.
----- Those of you who rested over night wake groggy late the following morning. Both San and Autumn feel quite a bit worse , though one look at the others infected puts their current state of weakness into sharp perspective. As for the infirmary, between Morga's determined treatment and alternating shifts from Ordwi and Elsie, several of the patients seem to be doing a little better. The same cannot be said for Morga's Great-Aunt, who clings weakly to life and no longer rouses from her rest. Despite the best treatment, her age has left her too vulnerable, especially with the disease progressed as far as it has. It seems likely she will not last another night. -----
While not objectively better in all respects, in practice Enhance Weapon definitely overshadows Supercharge Weapon. At low levels, adding +1 to attack rolls and applying to multiple attacks already makes it superior (though keep in mind Enhance Weapon requires touch range, so it may have a higher action cost depending on positioning). At higher levels Supercharge Weapon could hypothetically pull ahead due to stacking with the weapon's existing dice, but in practice the damage added, even while heightened, compares unfavorably to even cantrip damage (Supercharge is 3d6 damage at 5th rank for one attack, while telekinetic projectile is 6d6 damage, both costing the same number of actions). Supercharge ends up being absolutely awful, to a degree that makes me think they intended for it to be a single action instead of two.
Another bit of advice for any GMs looking to run this one. Spoilers for final boss encounter: You may want to give some thought for how the vulnerability of the Vloriak demon in the final encounter functions, since *as written* it is utterly self defeating. It has the following:
Restoration Vulnerability A vloriak suffers agonizing pain when a creature or object recovers from a debilitating effect in its proximity. The first time in a round in which a creature who is affected by a negative condition and is within sight of the demon reduces that condition's value, the demon takes 3d6 mental damage and cannot Lick Rust on its next turn. The problem here is the idea that ANY condition with a value that gets reduced causes damage to the vloriak. This includes: - The vloriak uses its paralyze spell and makes a hero stunned 1. When they reduce their stunned condition, the vloriak will take damage.- The vloriak downs a player character and they become dying 1. When they reduce their dying condition by any means, the vloriak will take damage. - Meitremar uses the horn's stinking cloud. A hero that becomes sickened and then clears the condition will cause the vloriak to take damage. - A vloriak that uses its intimidation bonus to demoralize will take damage when its victim recovers from frightened 1. It is very easy for the Vloriak to take damage every round through no purposeful action from the party (though keep in mind it can trigger only once per round), and in practice it is all but impossible for it to defeat any PCs because their successful recovery checks while dying will likely finish it off.
I know the common wisdom on these boards is that summons provide enough small tactical advantages that they are worth the spell slot, but where I've used them and players I've GM'd for have used them, they really have never been much beyond "fine". They cost a lot of actions and almost always a top rank slot. In exchange you get maybe a flank, maybe a body blocker, maybe a small amount of damage and hopefully a cast or two of a lower rank spell. In practice it's rare you can get all of these. The best recent use of a summon at one of my tables was a 2nd rank where the summon got in a 1st rank heal and one successful hit over 3 turns. Pretty effective, but it cost 5 actions. Those 5 actions could hypothetically have been a 1st rank heal and 3 bow strikes for basically the same effect without taking a 2nd rank slot. So it's not as though this summon was somehow massively over performing, and that's with a lower level summon where ranked spells are comparatively weak and the level gap on the creature is smaller. That makes me feel as though there's room for a little more potency in the summon without rocking the boat. Also, as someone who played a lot of SF1E, please no summon templates. That was a clunky and deeply unsatisfying system, almost as bad as the polymorph forms system from the same game.
GM Screen: Back at the chasm, Gurga pokes her head around the corner "Ooh? All dead? All cut to pieces and spread so they don't get up again?" At the good news, she organizes a few boggards to return with ropes made of some kind of strong but slimy weed and tosses a rope around the corner for you to navigate your way back. The return trip is no less hazardous than the way initially across, but working together you get around without any mishaps.
Gurga pats you all on the butt (except for the shorter Morga, who gets a pat on the back) as she chatters excitedly with the other boggards. She speaks up to you in common as well "Very very good news! Now Queen can come back and boggards can rule caverns again. Our new friends have done a great victory. Will you stay? Queen will surely have a feast for you." When Vildran has a free moment he identifies the two wands - one a wand of create food and the other a wand of sound body (both 2nd level).
Akh nods knowingly to Velgo's comments regarding Guess?'s transformation before the group leaves "Guess?'s emotional core is steady, solid, locked perpetually on target, so that makes sense. The target is money by the way. I think of it like the hard golden center of an everlasting slobberstopper." He waves a claw goodbye and heads off to plan out the details with the rest of the crew.
If Akh's mouth could water, it would have begun watering at the thought of a astrozoan-sized marshmallow. He considers trying a lick just in case, but ends up resisting with some difficulty. It wouldn't do to scare off this collaborator, no matter how potentially delicious they may be. "Well, maybe after all this is done, I can become your disciple. A little gene modification never hurt anyone." Akh muses, very certain that gene modification would probably have some nasty side effects, but that he could also handle them when they arrived. "But for now, we have our show to run! Good luck with your part."
Ruha considers even buying a fancy outfit, but thinks to the stories the group has heard of Kevoth Kul, as well as considers the difficulty in finding something that might be tailored to fit her, and dismisses the notion. "If you think about the way his palace operates and the whole idea of this being a feast, I think you all need a bib more than you need fancy clothes. Except for Yambul of course. He should bring his princely best." To Zzvkgrogk she'll add "By the way, do you mind if I hold onto Casandalee? After our last discussion with her, I'm starting to think she might need more frequent chats to help recenter her in the current place and time as best as possible."
Akh is quite happy to hear that there's an expert shapeshifter and illusionist here to make the plan a bit more convincing, but the steep price tag gets him thinking those hologrenades might be just as good. Nevertheless he comments "Nice to meet you of course. You can impersonate two people at once? Is that two people in different locations? If so, how much would it be for you to teach that. Imagine if we could do this entire mission while I have another copy of me here at the bar enjoying some nice laid back snacks? And there's no such thing as NEVER right? Even I would fold for some nice marshmallows." "And yes, Jaraduk is right that we will handle the fighting. But it's not out of the question that there will be some serious danger. Are you okay with at least slipping away from a megalomaniacal drow with magic powers?"
"You can't believe so many jobs could go wrong one after another and think it isn't a brenneri plot?" Akh nods, as if this is an obvious conclusion.
Ruha slowly shakes her head at the torment Casandalee still seems to be suffering from. Now with a little distance from the Scar of the Spider, she'd been hoping the AI would be able to recenter herself. This instead made it seem like that wouldn't be possible while the trauma of Unity's treatment of her still rests. She withdraws inward, gripped by a concern about whether that's the way it should be... or if she should be doing something else. She resolves to spend more time talking with Casandalee to see if she can help. By the time she rejoins the conversation she's a little behind. "Uh, yes. Zzvkgrogk undersells Unity more than a little with that description. Worse than a bad piece of technology, it is an entity that has perpetuated some great cruelties here in Numeria while remaining behind the scenes. Silver Mount is its home." She shakes her head "As for your son, we've been to Torch. If you can describe him, maybe we can recall if we met him." She eyes Zzvkgrogk skeptically. It seems a stretch to just assume Yambul would be the son of such a prominent figure.
Ketra dashes forward, vaults one-handed over the shoulder of one of the golems, and then delivers a stab to its back.
For her part, Ruha feels exhausted with the day's proceedings. She makes a mental note to check in on Saoria at the Red Reaver the next day to see how the drug-brewing doctor has fared in light of the doctoring of his supply. Otherwise Ruha settles in to rest for the night.
"Well, you've got fire Garret and that seems like that'll keep them at bay. The question still stands though on whether we strike now or wait for them to lead us onward." Ketra queries the team "What do you think?"
Akh downs the tea offered in a flash, after which he rolls the teacup around on his prehensile tongue with all the dexterity his defective necrograft can muster. He periodically pauses to comment on Eska's story "The Golden League was my home and owners for a long time before I woke. They're quite picky with their tools. You must have been as good as they said if they weren't willing to give you up. For me I started thinking for myself and then fell into a vat of marshmallow and that was enough for them to deem I was too defective to serve any use. Maybe you should have gradually made your tattoos more and more mediocre so you got out of the limelight." He flips the cup off his tongue and seizes it with a precise click of his claw "But making cool tattoos is something you should be proud of. Whether they were used for murder or not, it sounds like they were amazing." He floats over and gets a handful of sugar cubes that he starts popping one by one into his maw "Anyway. You got away and you're alive. How would you like to also stop worrying about Sinjin coming at some unknown time in the future? That's kind of what we'd also like. And we have a plan to make it happen."
Count me in as disliking the review restriction. I've written quite a few reviews for adventures I've either run or played, and those reviews have been pretty serious examinations of the material on offer. Of my reviews, probably less than a third are for adventures I bought through the Paizo store. Humble Bundle-sourced pdfs, borrowing adventures from friends, or even being a player in an adventure someone else is running would all be disqualified from posting reviews if this goes through. That means basically far less reviewing from me. Surely there's a better way to eliminate "troll" reviews than this. |