Janosian's page

Llyfr frowns as she listens to the reports.

“Khefaks being aggressive now? That is strange. Glad to hear you’ve got medical on the way. Focus them on your miners... we can handle ourselves.”

She skips the mining suits, preferring the well-loved layers of her quilted armor. She checks her backpack supplies and the loads in her pistol, then touches the patch on her left shoulder.

May your knowledge protect us, Eloritu.

“Let’s get on with it. Those khefaks aren’t going to terminate themselves. Remember to save the the shells… we might get a bonus from ‘em if we do things right.”

Hi, all!

I'm Janosian, aka prize.rabbit on Discord and John in real life. I'm a refugee from the previous game where I ran Lilly, our emotionally unsettled doctor. (In her defense, she wasn't emotionally unsettled before things started going awry, but she definitely migrated there over time.)

I fell in love with games as a kid. Being an only child, board games were my escape tool. I often played 4-handed Monopoly by myself, but that didn't go well sometimes... the third player would cheat and it really pissed me off. But such are the things one does as a bored only child before we knew what "autism" was and nobody understood about "being on the spectrum" beyond observations like "that kid ain't exactly right, if you know what I mean."

Avalon Hill war games were my jam for a long time because I loved reading about WW2 and both my dad and my great uncle served back then. (PanzerBlitz! Panzer Leader! Luftwaffe!! I got into D&D in high school through my friends. They started playing this crazy new game that didn't use a board but had bizarre dice. And yes, I said "new game" because high school was the late 1970s.

In college, I branched out into AD&D, Gamma World, Top Secret, and a bunch of other RPGs, plus early modern board games like Empire Builder from Mayfair and the Avalon Hill business games.

Gaming took a multi-year pause after college, but started back up during the mid and late 1990s. I went to Origins and Gen Con for the first time around 1998, rediscovered my people, and never looked back.

These days I regularly play Starfinder and Starfinder 2e (mostly online), and I'm learning Pathfinder 2e. GM Q and I are part of a local gaming group. (In fact, we're meeting this Sunday... gotta make that salad!) I also run the monthly tabletop board game group at one of our local universities.

GM Q and I are part of the volunteer team that makes Paizo's organized play events happen at Gen Con, so if you're going to the convention, let us know so we can set aside some time to meet face to face!! (I'm known as "The Prize Rabbit" there.)

A friendly voice speaks through Ferrox’s comms. "You’ll be fine. Smile. Speak clearly with confidence. Tell your story. They want to know, so tell them."

Ferrox softly replies. "I will try, Apex. I learned much from you. I did not think I would use it quite like this, though. I will do my best. I will make you and the family proud."

The connection closes. Ferrox shuts his eyes for a moment, then strides toward the booth. He walks with purpose, stepping lightly and with strength. As he enters, he looks to Wazasha.

"Wazasha, where do you want my, uh… eye... line? Yes, where should I look while I speak?"

Then he notices the “look here” target on the wall next to one of the booth’s cameras.

"Ah, I see. I have this now. Thank you." He turns away, then pauses to look back. "Good luck with your tongue. I am sorry it keeps falling out of your mouth. That must be frustrating."

He enters the booth and settles into the chair. He swivels a tiny bit and looks straight at the target.

The practice sessions run through his mind. Put your best angle forward to the camera. Three-quarter view, angled left. Don’t worry about any other lenses; focus on the primary camera. If it likes you, the others will too.

"I feel proud to be part of this Starfinder family. The word 'family' means different things across the Pact Worlds. To my kind on Elytrio, it means blood relatives and what you call ‘found family.’ Our team is my found family right now. Like blood family, we will probably fight with each other, but we will also listen and respect. And we will protect each other. This is an important opportunity. I am glad to be here."

He pauses for a moment, then holds up his arm and turns it back and forth for the camera.

"I wish I had polished my armor more during the trip here. The dust makes it hard to see the marks of past encounters and missions. Each one is a memory, some of my found family at that time, others of my blood family. Every mark has a meaning. Armor is the book of your battle life. Here, we will explore together, and I will protect my mission family and Wazasha and Zo's people. We will write new chapters here."

He smacks his hand against his arm and nods to the camera.

"Report ends. Ferrox out."

Yes, absolutely. When I edited my post right before sending, I accidentally dropped the word "four". The post should have said "The spell covers FOUR people" because she's 4th level.

See you on the other side of the Paizo web update!!

Nippostia recognizes this as an iski eel, a type of animal. One question.

I'll take resistances and immunities for 300 please.

Does the spell gem.scale with you? I thought the spell.gem.cast at the level of the gem.

Yes, it scales with you. The gem gives you access to the spell without knowing the spell and without burning a spell slot.

The spell gem's level is the highest level spell it can store. Life Bubble is level 1, so it fits into a level 1 spell gem. The spell casts at your caster level, since you're the one casting it. That's why only appropriate casters can use spell gems.

You're probably thinking of a spell amp rather than a spell gem.

Spell amps have the spell AND the casting magic rolled into one injectable item that anyone can use. Since anyone can use a spell amp, it lists the caster level of the spell amp.

A level 1 spell amp of Life Bubble would protect 3 creatures (because it has a caster level of 3).

Does that help?

I figured Stees would stick to Science for a bit either for more scanning or shield balancing.

So far, so good!!! :D

Oh... you mean the link called "maps"?? *sigh*

Sorry for missing that!!

Just got back from Gen Con -- it was wonderful, exhausting, and everything else. This year actually made a big positive change in my world. I'm still processing it, and I'm very excited about the possibilities.

Now back to our regularly scheduled game, joined in progress...

I'm happy to introduce Kyzin Gaz, shobad evolutionist.

There's more to fill into his profile, but at least this is a start.

That was crazy -- great work, everyone!

You'll have to remind me about the 'proteges plan'... it's the end of the semester, and my brain is focused on grading, grading, and more grading.

You left out “paranoid”… we’re now paranoid murder hoboes.

When I was a teen, my parents took me to hear them at Clowes Hall in Indy.

It's a gorgeous venue on the Butler University campus
with a main floor and three balconies.

Near the end of the show, the mobile members of the band stood up and walked down the outside aisle of the hall, across the back, and up the opposite side, right back onto the stage. The more *cough* energetic audience members trailed along behind them.

For once in my young life, I did the crazy thing and joined them. (My typical MO at the time was to play it safe, then regret the missed opportunities. I was cool, said no one ever about me.)

But there I was, positioned almost center stage behind the band, laughing and clapping with the other crazy people who followed them onto the stage. It was awesome.

I still have the LP I bought that night, signed by all the members who played.

Almost the best concert ever -- topped only by an outdoor Manhattan Transfer concert about 10 years later. :D

You might be giving me too much credit there!! hehehe

”Are you the leader?”

Lilly looks up from her lab long enough to roll her eyes.

“Me? The leader? No.”

Her tired, slightly impatient tone of voice takes on a decidedly snarky note. ”We take turns, ya see, tuh act as a sort of executive officer for the week. But all the decisions of that officer must be ratified by the rest of the team.”

She breathes in sharply, and her cheeks redden. The snark is gone, replaced with pure, livid rage.

“What the stars d’ya think we are? Some kinda kill squad? We’re FOUR PEOPLE, okay? Four people trapped in a ruttin’ nightmare that canna end! We been lied to, shot at, tricked, shot at some more, bitten, infected, injected, lied to a LOT more, and now apparently framed for something by these reptoid asals."

Her voice cracks. "An' we lost people along the way. Good people. People I... we... we all cared about. But we’re still alive, ya, an' we're tryin’ tuh stay that way. THAT’s what we’yare, okay?”

The micro lab beeps.

Assuming our new teammate is actually a dirindi…

Lilly reads the screen, and slowly, loudly exhales. Her shoulders begin to shake, and her eyes glisten.

“He's real. All dirindi, no reptoid. Looks like we got'a new teammate. Or I guess an old one."

She sniffles and her shoulders shake more. "One like Bree-”

She buries her face in Rar'gul's side and sobs.

Thirrrded (although I feel like that's something Rar'gul would say.)

One of us! One of us!

Wait... I just heard my name two times. (I know, summoning usually takes three times, but I'm a discount-oriented midwesterner.)

Hey there, all! Supers stole the arrival thunder, but I'll second what he said. It'll be a blast seeing Thom in GM mode -- made all the better by getting to know y'all in the process.

Like Supers, I'm fleshing out a character, but I should have it done in the next day or two.

@Thom -- Should we build to level 7 or 8?

“A dinner? For us?” She squees. “This will be wonderful!”

Nippostia breezes into the dinner in a silky forest green halter dress with rose quartz accents. Cascades of bright red curls frame her face, bringing out the emerald in her eyes.

She stays close to Sovellis, knowing that public social events aren’t his preferred gatherings. She greets the dignitaries, smiles at the conversations, and occasionally laughs a little louder than is appropriate.

As the dinner wraps up, she looks to her new -- and returning -- friends.

“What a mission! We got the bad guy, saved the lovebirds, put down some monstrosities, and—”

Nip suddenly leans forward and purses her lips into a playful frown.

“Oh, no you don't... Switch, put that silverware back!”

Nippostia reaches back into her pack and gets the other set of restraints.

“Here you go, but you probably don’t need both sets.”

She points as she talks. “If you cuff the dominant upper arm to the weaker opposite lower arm, it throws off their coordination.”

She pauses for a moment.

“I read that in a study. Don’t make it weird. I mean, unless you want to…”

She wiggles her eyebrows and winks.

Hehe... meeeee!!!

Me, me!! :D

Let's work out Starship posts.

Looks like Thak might have to be pilot instead of captain. Then we'd have Duncan as science officer, Augrok at Engineering, Locket and Yoro at Gunnery, although either could serve at Chief Mate or Magic officer if we did not need two gunners or Yoro could do Chief Mate. Chief Mate and Magic Officer are not essential, however.

Thak will look appropriately horrified at the prospect of piloting instead of supporting the team, but will bravely take the seat and do his best, even if he spends most of the time quietly repeating to himself, "I'm good enough, I'm clever enough, and doggone it, I fly like a leaf on the wind."

Same access error. :(

Thanks for running! That was a blast.

This one's unusual to play. That's one of the things I love about Society modules -- they share some basic plot beats, but they're not afraid to mix things up or throw curve balls at you.

Nice job with the module itself and as our GM. It's always a pleasure!!

Tash examines the scene, holding his trident ready.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28
Survival: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28

Apologies… this week was insane.

Tash noses around the landing area.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14

He finds Navasi talking to the ship. “Does it talk back sometimes?”

A two-day-belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!! :D

It was a great time here, with our youngest home from college for a few days and our oldest, his wife, and one of their cats joining us for a quick overnight stay. (The cat usually stays home with the others, but is on a medicated food right now so had to travel.)

After they went home on Friday, we accidentally hosted a college game night for the youngest and their friends. It started as a 3:00 pm executive board meeting of the tabletop RPG club, but then we accumulated three more TTRPG club members and game night was suddenly a go!

I turned in around 1:45 am, and I think the evening officially ended around 45 minutes after that, although I was mentally prepared to find them all still gathered around the table when I wandered out this morning at 9. :)

Thanks, Kate. Good luck with the special! :)

Joining the crew... thanks for the addition, Kate!

Lilly ducks as a spray of gravel tinks off her armor.

“That shirren… wow. I can’t believe T’sorkel willingly got back into the cruiser with him.”

She climbs into her cruiser and hits the start button. It purrs to life in time for her to hear John’s call on comms.

“I’m right b’hind ya. Ah hope we can keep up with the hotshot!”

She hits the gas and revs the engine hard, but goes nowhere.

“Wha… oh geez.”

Blushing hard, Lilly pushes the gear shift forward and joins the ragged procession.

At least they didn’t see me forget to put the stupid thing into ‘drive’…

OMG, it’s a four-armed version of Mrs. Jenkins… right down to the killer robot!! https://scoobydoo.fandom.com/wiki/Sarah_Jenkins

Saar bares his teeth in a very unsettling smile.

“Hands up, Zatteh. Appropriate that my drow keepers called me degahr'hi dalhar because I made such trouble as a child. Guess I never lost the knack. Why do you want to run the town? And you still haven’t explained who the Mongers are. Speak.”

He pauses to let the confession run out, then raises his gun in a cover position.

“Let’s tie her up and take her back to the Sheriff. Sounds like he’s someone we can trust in the middle of all this. We'd better grab that controller, too.”

Ogilvy feels the history of this place resonate in him. So many stories… so many people… so much time… He closes his eyes and breathes deeply, a smile flooding his face.

“This will be an adventure for sure. It will be good to work with you all and learn about this place. It's my first time here... I can't wait to explore the museum.”

He turns to Ehu. “First Seeker, what do we know about the gala attendees? Should the displays mainly impress them, entertain them, or educate them? I always lean toward entertainment first, because you can slide in the education without them knowing.” Ogilvy’s eyes twinkle with mischievous energy.

”Well, I admit I don't know anything about setting up museum exhibits, but I'm sure we can handle that. But a gala is just my scene. We'll be sure to make an impression.”

“I can help with the exhibits. I do a lot of freelance work for trade shows, and I spent some time in product marketing before that. I've got your back... although I'm not sure about a soft drink that also works as an explosive. That's a cool idea, but stil...”

Dotting in...

Hi, team! I'm your non-magical 4th player for this romp through the Pact Worlds.

I'll post an introduction for Saar (level 10 prototype weapon mechanic) shortly and set up his character sheet.

Here's to the game!

OMG... Pokotho, YOU'RE MicroCorp!??!? How did I not know this?

I'll definitely see you on Monday for Sangoro's Gifts... since I'm GMing that. :)

It's good to be back in the game again. I missed y'all!!

FYI all -- GM Quirk is off to a well-deserved vacation for a few days. He'll be back and posting late next week.

John’s voice lights up the cruiser’s radio as Lilly pulls her vehicle into line.

The banter she heard as a kid on the long-haul pilots’ channels echoes into her mind. The words and strange phrases meant something among the pilots, but she rarely understood. It was all mysterious fun... laughing as the voices argued about desserts and drinks at stations she’d never heard of and calling themselves colorful things like Damprock Nightmare and Chrome Diatha.

She triggers the wheel-mounted mic switch and tries for a pithy reply.

“Uh…,” she begins. Off to a great start there, hon.

“You’re, um, five by five… and, uh… blowing my seals… uh, loose. This is…”

Oh crap... name! You need a code name! You could be…um… little... oh, crap, no... uh... got it!

”This is Pointy Dee... in your back door.”

Pointy Dee... the doc with all the needles... I like that. I should put that on my gear cases.

A voice in her head interrupts her happy moment.

”My computer spirit told me that comm signals route through Terrapin Station. But if that's our best shot at getting off this rock, given what we've seen so far, we might not necessarily want them to know that we're coming.”

She frowns at the warning from the Shirren the team just ‘adopted’.

“Computer spirit?” ”Given what we’ve seen so far?” Who is this Shirren? What have we gotten ourselves into?

Hey everyone... I'm still alive, just been on vacation.

I'll get a post up tonight.

@GM Q -- How long would it take for Lilly to resize the armor she took of Nodens?

”There be about two hours before the base goes to meet ever-lasting glory and we get an audience with Pharasma.”

“John’s correct about the time and the building exploding.” And they can insert their own deities into the Pharasma slot, but I’m not going there.

“The control room seems our next best stop. After that, I’ll go back to the medical bay and see what healing goodies I can find there, then maybe do a quick search in this area before leaving.. There has to be some ground transportation here somewhere. But even with our time limit, I think we should spend a few minutes catching our breath. Right now, we’re in no condition to face anything or anyone we might find — or that might find us. There’s no point in running off t’uh safety only t’uh die on thuh trip.”

Yes, Lilly is suggesting a 10 minute rest to regain stamina ponits.

Her thoughts return to the base and the surrounding moon.

Where are we going to find safety? C’mon, think Lillithbryne! What do you know about this place?

She reaches back to her days of traveling in the family ship and the stories she heard of life on obscure Pact Worlds planets and moons.

Tyrkalis… well, assuming we’re actually on Tyrkalis… but that makes the most sense given what we saw as we came here and with the maps that John found on Pike’s computer. There are mining camps… some prison camps… other small plants and processing facilities... we could find somewhere to meet…

“Meet? Who would we meet?” Lilly says out loud.

Something tugs at the corner of her mind. The memory of a pond floats through her mind for no apparent reason. She knows the place — she played there as a child during a brief planet-side stint. It was alive with fish jumping to catch insects, and crayfish and turtles that wandered and hid near the shoreline. It’s where she fell in love with studying life itself. Sometimes she’d catch a turtle and…

Her eyes grow wide. “TURTLE! TURTLE!” she yells, and then turns to the group. “THE TURTLE PLACE!!”

She waves her hands with excitement, squinches her face in concentration, and then words start spilling out.

“The map that John found on Orvir’s computer. It showed a place called Turtle — um, Terrapin — Terrapin Station. It was labeled ‘emergency meeting point’. Remember? I’ll bet that’s where they’re headed or where they already are. Regardless, it sounds like a place we can get answers. We just have to get there.”

“What do alla’ya think?”

Lilly’s spirits rise, and so does her anger at thought of losing Breez.

I hope you made it, hon… and if you didn’t, I’ll make them pay. And hurt.

Copy that, SuperS.

We need to get T'sorkel into the room with everybody else, just like my favorite scene from The Marx Brother's classic Night at the Opera.

As Nodens begins her spell, Lilly jabs the empty syringe stick toward her.

Syringe stick at Nodens: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26
Damage: 1d3 - 1 + 3 ⇒ (1) - 1 + 3 = 3

The needle digs hard nto Nodens’ abdomen.

“Here’s my first payment.”

Lilly wiggles the stick sadistically as she pulls it out.

“With some interest.”

”Oh… this is bad… Dr. Nodens is entangled.”

Best. News. Ever. My day is made. If Lilly had the space and the time, she'd do a happy halfling dance... or maybe just continue stabbing Nodens and her assistant, which is more likely on the agenda.

GM Q: I'm not sure of timing of actions ie if currently in any form of initiative, but at the guard's threat against Doc (assuming Rar'gul is aware of what is going on) he will move to support Doc and T'sorkel.

Rar'gul and the rest of the team should be aware that one guard isn't playing along.

That's why Lilly hit her comms in my post earlier this week (#2721) with the request for help because there's a guard who "doesn't like needles."

Lilly is in with the early morning plan. She'll snag snacks the night before so she has something for breakfast.

You don't want a "hangry" Lilly. ;)

”Hold, Docc, I'll checkkk things out firrst. Makke surre you'rre safe.”

Lilly heard Rar’gul speak but the emotions flashing through her head conjured a different voice…

It seemed like he knew everything, way more than she’d ever know. And he taught her even when she was impatient or fussy or just hell to deal with. And sometimes the whole stupid thing just drove her nuts, like it would for pretty much any teenager.

”Use both hands on the las-ex just like we practiced, Lillithbryne. Stay on the tether. Don’t get ahead of yourself with that. Now, where’s your ‘six’?”

”It’s behind me, I need to watch behind me,” she said with the flattest tone possible to show, she hoped, that this was serious stuff and that she understood just how serious it was and that the lecture would end soon so she could go exploring NOW.

“AND in front of you, AND below you, AND—”

“YES! Watch my six with head on a swivel because my six is everywhere… I know the rhyme and what it means. Now can we PUHLEEEEASE explore this ship before scavengers show up?”

She drew out the word extra-long because she knew he hated that, but she was in a mood and didn’t care who knew because, well, this-stuff-doesn’t-matter-so-let’s-get-on-with-exploring-the-ship-can-we-pl ease-now-huh??

He nodded and carefully slid through the hatchway first. Powered by a fit of smart-assed teenaged I’ll show you, she spun around and darted through behind him. A jagged bit of wreckage sliced through her tether. The motion propelled her forward where she bounced off a control panel, and found herself flying out of control, straight out of the ship toward an endless nothing.

She screamed and flailed and spun — then his hand caught her boot and everything was mostly fine again. He pulled her back to deck and gave her that look, then smiled and reattached the tether.

Her mind snaps back to the current moment, and she hears Rar’gul tell her that she’s important to this merry band of explorers and that he wants her to be safe.

For a moment, that smart-ass I’ll show you side of her flares to life as Rar’gul moves past her, but drains away when she sees T’sorkel find his footing with John’s help, Beauregard check his weapons and then do that detective thing of his, and Galatea call for a comms check.

I’m with friends. We watch out for each other. Nothing to prove to anyone. Just be and do my part. And get us out of here.

She nods up at the Trox and holds her pistol ready.

“Sounds good, Rar’gul. Lead the way. I’ve got your six.”

Happy New Year, all! Here's to figuring out what the heck is happening to our characters! :D

Apologies for the silence lately.

Our county fair starts soon and my son has several 4-H project going in, plus he's the youth member of the county 4-H board. We’re all hands on deck for the next couple of weeks to wrap up his projects, double-check everything, make our regular pilgrimages across town to the fairgrounds for volunteer slots.

Last night was food judging. He picked up his first award of the season — Reserve Champion — with a batch of Earl Grey ice cream. (Yes, that’s ice cream flavored with Earl Grey tea. It’s really wild stuff, but delicious.)

I'll keep my posts timely, but they'll probably be shorter and more direct for a while.

This mission is a blast so far!