As Zigvigix predicted, the jinsul camp is furiously active: infantry platoons run battlefield-training exercises, engineers test-drive various vehicles, and officers catalog artillery weapons and other large armaments. You can gather strategic intelligence by spying on the camp and documenting the jinsuls’ tactics, resources, and defensive measures.
These tasks can be completed in any order, and I'll allow some leeway for creative solutions using skills or resources not presented so long as an appropriate skill check or consumption of resources is involved. Each task takes about 10 minutes, and most tasks do not allow support via the aid another action unless specifically stated. Anyone not attempting a task can take a 10-minute rest instead.
Closer Look:
Attempt a Hard Stealth check to creep closer and identify markers of jinsul officers.
Distant Observation:
Attempt a Hard Perception check to spot weak points in the jinsuls’ earthworks and battle formations.wwwww
Forensic Analysis:
The border of the devastated marshland is riddled with evidence of felled trees and slain dinosaurs—victims of the jinsuls’ violent colonization. Attempt a Hard Life Science check to find forensic evidence of the jinsuls’ most common firearms and how they harm living creatures, as well as what natural resources the jinsuls are harvesting for building materials or fuel.
High Ground:
Attempt an Average Athletics check to climb a tree and document the marching patterns being practiced. Anyone capable of flight can use Acrobatics instead, but it's harder since flying doesn’t afford as much natural cover.
Navigate Terrain:
Lead the party to an advantageous vantage point with a successful Hard Survival check, which can benefit from aid another.
Zigvigix, the shirren faction leader of the Exo-Guardians, points at a screen depicting a green planet blemished by stretches of brown and ashen land. “Our scans show lots of jinsul activity here on Agillae-2. The planet is habitable, but it looks like the jinsuls stripped most of the vegetation to fuel their war industry. If I were a jinsul, I’d use the cleared terrain to run formation drills and test ground vehicles.”
The shirren’s antennae bounce with glee, at odds with the seriousness of the moment. “But of course, I’m not a jinsul, so you’re going to see if I’m right! I’ll scramble their sensors long enough for you to sneak down there, find whatever you can about their troop organization, and get away as fast as you can. Don’t attract too much attention, or you might have to fight the whole army by yourselves!”
Zigvigix provides you with coordinates to a clearing within the remaining marshland where you can land your starship without notice. From there, make your way westward on foot to a massive jinsul war camp....
As you proceed through the Shadow Sea to the spot Shan suspects houses an aglian enclave, another giant jelly emerges from the depths and attacks you! It's like you can't catch a break!
Once you and Shan set out to find the aglians, you reach the Shadow Sea in [dice=2d3[/dice] hours.
When you arrive, the lights built into your armor and comm units—as well as the running lights on the wavecutter begin to dim.
The area and range of nonmagical light are halved in the Shadow Sea, and such lights can provide only dim light at best. Magical sources of light provide only dim light but with normal range.
All is not entirely dark, however; magically glowing patches of coral reefs and bioluminescent seaweed twinkle in the distance like a star field, emitting light that still penetrates the darkness.
Shan looks on as Angel searches, “You did see that giant hole in the reef on the way in, right? You think that’s good for an ecosystem? To pump it full of mutagen and sever it from its lifeblood?” Shan catches herself. “Sorry. Actually, that’s not the half of it. This boat and all the other Terra bases run on power cells the Company harvests from seaweed forests— same forests the aglians live in, if I’m right.”
I’ve kept track of aglian sightings as we crawled over this particular reef. They always come from roughly the same direction, and there were more of them at a certain point a few hundred miles back. That’s not too far from what the grunts around here call the Shadow Sea—a stretch of ocean whose waters are too dark to be natural, even at this depth. Let's go!"
Just before it's time to head out, the team combines to get some priming done! Pleased with your review, Celita outfits the
Starfinder fleet with better weapons-tracking software for
targeting jinsul ships.
Boon STARSHIP PRIMING:
Once during the adventure, the PCs gain a +2 bonus to ALL starship combat gunnery rolls, and those attack does not consume ammunition in the case of a weapon with the limited fire property.
or
A PC can select any one successful starship weapon attack to count as critical damage if it deals Hull Point damage, even if the die result isn’t a natural 20.
Okay, sorry everyone. Now that I'm through the first week of school, bandwidth has returned.
Angel and Chip work together to repair the pump. Terra-5 is no longer in danger of destruction! And for that, the party earns 1,600 XP
Shan breathes easier, "Please, I cannot thank you enough, but I must ask that we reach out to the poor aglians. I also want to make sure we document what EJ was doing here. They'd commit genocide to terraform this place into a credit mine. They can't get away with it. First contact, then leave this planet. Deal?'
I don't see why not... especially given the actual make up of the special.
Drei wordlessly moves in to help, giving a good show:
Boon TOUCH-UP:
Fitch shows you some of the inner workings of the Master of Stars, which help you better understand other starships... Once during the adventure, the PCs gain a +4 bonus to all non-gunnery skills check during a starship combat.
Varuthalla has much to offer, assisting overviewing the Society’s default plan of engagement.
Boon TACTICAL PREPARATIONS:
The PCs can reroll any one skill check while in the same location as a fleet.
OR
Once during the adventure, while in the same location as a fleet, the PCs can instead activate this reward to gain a +2 bonus to each of their initiative checks for that mission.
OR
During a single encounter in the same location as the jinsul fleet, the PCs can activate this reward to remove any extra enemies or challenges provided by the jinsul fleet.
*********************
STARSHIP PRIMING Celita, leader of the Dataphiles, feverishly works on the mainframe in the command center of the Master of Stars. “Greetings, I’m Celita of the Dataphiles. You may haveknown me as Historia-7, though I’ve since stopped using that name due to reasons we don’t have the time to discuss. I think I’ve devised a way to artificially replicate the resonance effects of the Tear relic to help our ships stay in communication and traverse the Drift more precisely. I need you to double-check my code for errors and then see if you can shield the network from detection by jinsul sensors.” Relevant Skills: Computers, Physical Science, or Profession (technician)
Past Experience Bonus: any scenario that featured a species descended from the Scoured Stars
I fixed the Boon Link. Sorry about that.The party begins to pull together and coalesce into a team.
Omni takes the lead with Iteration-177, and walks away feeling all the better about preparation.
Earned Boon PRAYER AND REFLECTION:
You gain significant insight into Iteration-177’s
understanding of the divine and share a portion of his
intuition.
A PC can gain a +2 bonus to any one Mysticism,
Perception, or Sense Motive check within the Scoured Stars.
This allows the PC to count as being trained in Mysticism for
the duration of the adventure.
OR
In place of the reward above, a PC can add a +1 bonus
to any one saving throw while within the Scoured Stars.
***********************************
Remaining options MASTER OF STARS TOUCH-UP Fitch, leader of the Wayfinders, walks you to an airlock leading out to some of the scaffolding on the ship’s exterior. “It’s strange to not have my children aboard, but this is no time to be bringing the young ones along. Last time, the jinsul capital ships chased away our carriers. I’d love to see how their flagship holds up against ours, but we’re still not quite finished with renovations. Try to wrap up the finishing touches on this gem of a ship— I want the last thing those jinsuls see is just how brightly it shines.” Relevant Skills: Engineering, Piloting, or Profession (electrician or maintenance worker)
Past Experience Bonus: Describe a starship encounter this PC has played for a bonus!
STARSHIP PRIMING Celita, leader of the Dataphiles, feverishly works on the mainframe in the command center of the Master of Stars. “Greetings, I’m Celita of the Dataphiles. You may haveknown me as Historia-7, though I’ve since stopped using that name due to reasons we don’t have the time to discuss. I think I’ve devised a way to artificially replicate the resonance effects of the Tear relic to help our ships stay in communication and traverse the Drift more precisely. I need you to double-check my code for errors and then see if you can shield the network from detection by jinsul sensors.” Relevant Skills: Computers, Physical Science, or Profession (technician)
Past Experience Bonus: any scenario that featured a species descended from the Scoured Stars
TACTICAL PREPARATIONS Radaszam, leader of the Acquisitives, overlooks a large holographic map of the Scoured Stars system, overlaid with smaller, more detailed maps of terrain on specific planets. “I don’t know about you, but I’m keen to take this fight to the jinsuls on their home turf. We have topographic data collected from our last foray into the Scoured Stars, plus some information on fighting styles our agents have reported from past jinsul encounters. See if you can make sense of it all and formulate a plan of attack.” Relevant Skills: Culture, Life Science, Mysticism, or Survival
Past Experience Bonus: Any scenario featuring combat with
an organized, hostile alien force.
I'll get a link to RPG Chronicles going soon. We're still missing some who signed up. I don't know everyone who did, so if you don't mind checking and pinging anyone you know, it's appreciated!
Varuthalla immediately delivers a masterclass that only a seasoned Starfinder can give.
Earned Boon SUPPLY RUN:
You can always access the boons HERE (and at the new tracker at the top of the thread.)
You assist overviewing the Society’s default plan
of engagement. Choose ONE at the time of use:
Reroll any one skill check while in the same location as a fleet.
Once during the adventure, while in the same location as a fleet, the PCs can instead activate this reward to gain a +2 bonus to each of their initiative checks for that mission.
During a single encounter in the same location as the jinsul fleet, the PCs can activate this reward to remove any extra enemies or challenges provided by the jinsul fleet.
Earned Boon ROOKIE TRAINING:
You can always access the boons HERE (and at the new tracker at the top of the thread.)
You improve your allies’ morale, making them more reliable in combat. Once during the adventure, the group can gain the benefit of aid another (+2 bonus) to all skill checks and attack rolls
OR
In place of the level 1 reward once during the adventure, when the table uses an Aid Token, they gain two benefits instead of one. They cannot choose the same effect twice.
Drei, it was maxed out. Let me know if you'd like to try another.
Hundreds of Starfinder agents hustle throughout the loading docks aboard the ever-impressive and newly refurbished Master of Stars, the pinnacle of the Starfinder fleet. Junior agents hastily pack every docked starship with weapons, armor, spare parts, and provisions, while technical staff runs diagnostics on starship armaments and senior officers finalize flight formations and supply routes. Many Starfinders’ faces are dark with uncertainty, but the fiery resolve burns in their eyes.
Venture-Captain Arvin, a damaya lashunta man, emerges from the shifting crowd of activity, his expression hard with repressed concern. “It seems fate has made soldiers out of explorers. We’ve always prepared our agents to navigate danger and violence, but never anything like this. Still, there isn’t another organization in the Pact Worlds that I would trust more with this daunting task.” He pauses for a moment, then shakes himself back to attention. “Right, much left to do! There are still a few specialized tasks remaining that you might be able to help us complete.”
He's not kidding, there's a lot to do. If you haven't, introduce yourselves and choose a task and roll. If you have, choose a task and roll. We're the only table not playing at Discord speed, and we're the high level (i.e. complicated) table, so let's do this!
MASTER OF STARS TOUCH-UP Fitch, leader of the Wayfinders, walks you to an airlock leading out to some of the scaffolding on the ship’s exterior. “It’s strange to not have my children aboard, but this is no time to be bringing the young ones along. Last time, the jinsul capital ships chased away our carriers. I’d love to see how their flagship holds up against ours, but we’re still not quite finished with renovations. Try to wrap up the finishing touches on this gem of a ship— I want the last thing those jinsuls see is just how brightly it shines.” Relevant Skills: Engineering, Piloting, or Profession (electrician or maintenance worker)
Past Experience Bonus: Describe a starship encounter this PC has played for a bonus!
PRAYER AND REFLECTION Iteration-177, the enigmatic android, meets with you in a
conference room, as charming as ever. “It appears I finally get to participate in a famed Starfinder adventure! I suspect you still have some desire to seek solace with the divine before heading into battle? I too, know this desire. I’m more than happy to converse, if you’d care to sit and chat.” Relevant Skills: Culture, Mysticism, or Sense Motive
Past Experience Bonus: any scenario featuring Iteration-177
or a noteworthy religious experience
ROOKIE TRAINING Venture-Captain Arvin looks over a group of anxious recruits in the mess hall. “Those green agents are not ready for abattle against an organized foe. Sadly, they’re liabilities when they’re frightened. Talk them through some of your experiences, set them at ease, and help them prepare for the challenges they’ll face ahead. We need them primed and ready for combat if we’re going to win this.”
Relevant Skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Profession (any
relevant Profession skill)
Past Experience Bonus: any scenario that required you to rescue or protect someone of interest
STARSHIP PRIMING Celita, leader of the Dataphiles, feverishly works on the mainframe in the command center of the Master of Stars. “Greetings, I’m Celita of the Dataphiles. You may haveknown me as Historia-7, though I’ve since stopped using that name due to reasons we don’t have the time to discuss. I think I’ve devised a way to artificially replicate the resonance effects of the Tear relic to help our ships stay in communication and traverse the Drift more precisely. I need you to double-check my code for errors and then see if you can shield the network from detection by jinsul sensors.” Relevant Skills: Computers, Physical Science, or Profession (technician)
Past Experience Bonus: any scenario that featured a species descended from the Scoured Stars
SUPPLY RUN Zigvigix, leader of the Exo-Guardians, sits before an immense cargo bay filled with crates of supplies. “They say an army marches on its stomach, but it also fights with guns and ammo! Can you take a look at all our gear to make sure it works and then load it onto the ships? Just try to keep the explosives separated from the food, please. We don’t want to have that mistake happen again!” Relevant Skills: Athletics, Engineering, Medicine, or Perception
Past Experience Bonus: any scenario with a mission
predicated on a magical or technological item or resource
TACTICAL PREPARATIONS Radaszam, leader of the Acquisitives, overlooks a large holographic map of the Scoured Stars system, overlaid with smaller, more detailed maps of terrain on specific planets. “I don’t know about you, but I’m keen to take this fight to the jinsuls on their home turf. We have topographic data collected from our last foray into the Scoured Stars, plus some information on fighting styles our agents have reported from past jinsul encounters. See if you can make sense of it all and formulate a plan of attack.” Relevant Skills: Culture, Life Science, Mysticism, or Survival
Past Experience Bonus: Any scenario featuring combat with
an organized, hostile alien force.
"But what you don't get is the EJ is evil! They know they're doing bad stuff here. I... I can't go with you. I'm not just gonna leave and let the Company get away with genocide!” Shan pauses to collect herself.
“Look. I could use your help. You, me, and the Company aren’t the only sapient species living on this world.” Shan quickly taps through menus on a nearby wall console, bringing up a slowly rotating model. “Meet the aglians,” she says, gesturing at the screen. “Give the Company another year here, and they’re history.”
Heading into the last room Shan starts literally wringing her hands [ooc]Sense Motive DC 19[/dice]
An extremely loud and massive water pump fills this room, connected to the ceiling and floor with thick steel conduits. A small walkway leads around its edge. Smoke pours from vents along the top of the straining pump.
You're confident that with a little Engineering knowhow you can stabilize the pumps. Add to this the struts that Chip fixed, and you could save the Terra-5 station.
You get two distinct hunches when you look at Shan. The first, she seems to be exhibiting a strong sense of guilt over the slow destruction of Terra 5. Second... you get the impression that she doesn't want to flee for some reason.
Looking around this room, there's nothing else, but the armor and the batteries.
Shan's anxiety is growing as you explore, not going down.... Sense Motive DC 24
The interior of this wide, open room appears awash with glowing rivulets of light that reflect off the large, round pool of water at its center. Along the water’s edge, a steel grating supports an assortment of diving equipment. On the northern wall, wet suits and heavier aquatic gear hang in open lockers, each accompanied by a name stenciled above it. Soft, red warning lights pulse along the edge of the room. A fully charged suit of personal, submersible powered armor is plugged into a charging bay. A bank of 10 batteries and 10 high-capacity batteries, all waterproofed and compatible with standard technology, sits on a rolling rack, all fully charged.
It's a mess in here. The corpse is actually the missing rill. You can tell that while shrapnel from the explosion hit him, the collapsed drilling rig pinned him in the seat, so he likely drowned.
The party heads southeast to the final spoke of the wheel. Water fills this room despite Chip's efforts. A massive drilling rig has collapsed through the sea-facing wall, and now takes up much of the chamber. An android’s corpse occupies the control chair. Large tanks filled with a dull-gray liquid leak into the water.
I'll allow it for the ones you've left behind. You killed the two guards, you helped out Xivix, you brought the mechanic to. That leaves the Rill and the morlamaw. You've got rooms you haven't seen yet.
The party races to the ship with two rescues in tow. The flooding is largely stopped, but that's when a strut crumbles a bit and the whole station shakes. "Wait!"
Shan stops you just before you board, "There are others here. they're not evil, EJ is. And.... I think this is my fault. we need to get everyone and prevent this place from killing others. We can't leave."she obviously hasn't told you the whole story, and there were others you met and you haven't been everywhere. The call is yours.
Thankfully it's Angel to the rescue, and not Kaz, who discovers Shan and Kaia hiding at the sight of the grenade.
Angel sees that the two are pretty state of the art and would likely fetch a pretty credit on the market. Maybe.... 3,000 credits apiece? Either way, she averts an electrical disaster/ Also netting the party 800 XP.
The water in here is still rising, but not terribly fast. Aldo notices that one of the power cells on the wall isn’t properly seated in its housing, exposing an incomplete circuit. At the current rate of flow, a full minute in here and it's going to get tingly. Engineering check now has more to reveal.
The shirren sheepishly waves, and then crawls back into a bunk and pulls the sheets over their head (antennae included.)
Kaz busts into the next room as water floods past his feet. Who knows how deep it would be if Chip hadn't worked outside? Still, teh water is rising in this room. This utilitarian room’s benches fold out from the walls, and one wall has a large vidscreen mounted on it, currently playing some kind of horror movie. A low table even with the surface of the water sloshes over the floor.
Two women, one human, the other Brennari, work frantically to address numerous small cracks in this room. Once the door is open, the brennari shouts, “If we don’t stop the flooding, the struts will give out and we’ll all die! I can feel them buckling!” The human looks ready to bolt, but the brennari continues to work.
"Yeah, I've seen one here. She's always hanging out with the human woman. I don't know their names. Last I saw they were in the common room next door!"
This cramped, damp-smelling room hosts ten bunks, five above and five below. Each bunk has a simple vidscreen built into the wall next to it, along with a shallow recess that holds personal items, most of which have scattered across the room.
Atop one of the bunks is a terrified shirren. "WHAT NOW?! CORPO ASSASSINS! GAHHHH!!!!!!"
the shirren looks like they're about to flee, but they are also armed and look like they're going to shoot their way out.
The ROV allows only one pilot at a time as it's super small. I'll let that be the second roll for Chip.
Chip continues to work. It's harder to find key spots now, but not impossible. Success! Flooding has been slowed to 25% its previous rate. That's likely as good as it's going to get.
He then returns to the bay. Dev is better now, but clearly not a Company Man nor a compatant. With the station not nearly in danger of colapsing, he opts to stay tight. If things go bad, he'll escape in the ROV.
Kaz looks around, and like any good soldier, focuses in on helpful opportunities.
Secured to the wall are three advanced emergency repair kits, each full of limited-use nanites designed to adapt to and repair a variety of machinery. These kits have light bulk; a character can use one as a standard action to restore up to 2d8 Hit Points to an adjacent construct (including an android or a mechanic’s drone); a construct can use a kit on themself.
Chip jumps in the ROV and starts making some quick critical repairs Success! Flooding has been slowed to 50% its previous rate. Chip is confident that there's more to be done though.
Phsyical Science DC 15:
Based o nthe conversation between Chip and the groggy engineer, it seems like the station was rocked by an explosion by its main drill. Likely a gas deposite.
"Oh good. You can pilot it. I'll tell you how. I don't think I'.... ready."
He'll give someone a +2 to their Engineering or piloting check to talk you through shoring up the structure. For every success, the rooms will flood more slowly. For every fail.... consequences.
