Folks, I hate to say I just can’t find the motivation to even check this game out right now. Combination of busy kids and life schedule and a general dislike of starfinder in general.
I think I’m going to have to bow out of this campaign, I apologize and have loved playing with the lot of you over the past number of years but this one just isn’t working for me.
Lars nods along with the group, "Not our problem right now. We need to get this job done and get paid. I don't want to live on the street again, and I sure don't want to end up in a place like this."
At Siib's comments Lars does reply, "That's the contract, here's where we deliver. Call some more guards or something. As we've said these crates are sealed with explosive tape."
In all honesty I’m having some trouble really getting “into” Lars and this adventure, and consequently keeping up with the excellent posting rate here.
I’m hoping it’ll snap for me in a bit as it eventually did with Zulu, I don’t know why it’s so much harder for me to engage with Starfinder characters compared to Pathfinder, but it is. Probably because I don’t really care for the system all that much it turns out.
Lars does have some people skills and should always be good for at least an aid if his player can find the inspiration to keep up. Maybe I should just have made space Brock.
Lars remains grumpy and largely quiet while not helping load the ship and during the voyage.
When Guess? mentions not scanning the ship Lars stops his finger, hovering a few centimeters above the “scan other ship” button and looks at the goblin quizzically, then let’s their resident fast talker do his thing for the moment.
Lars grabs a drink from the bar after the combat and stays quiet and sulks quietly at the failure of his spell during the fight, mentally going over the code he used line by line trying to see where he went wrong.
He’s still consumed with his mental task while the job details are laid out, half listening to a pretty standard sounding delivery, perking up when the contract is brought out, leaning forward to look it over.
Lars growls to the group as he watches the dangerous drow with the energy sword. Even as he talks he reaches deep into the universal source code and pulls at probabilities shifting the system to disrupt the bounty hunter’s luck.
After picking up some computer related tools at the station, Lars is unusually quiet for the few days of the trip, not partaking in the usual banter and keeping to himself when not on duty.
Perhaps he was feeling a little down.
But as the group moves out to the bar he is his usual put together self, smart -if a bit battered - suit and long coat over his armor.
At the bar he largely lets the rest of the group handle the situation with the gnome, keeping an eye on the doors and their backs as he does so, gun hand free... just in case.
Perception (looking for trouble):1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24 lol, of course the flavor check is the nat 20. Ah well
Hacking kit (I don’t see masterwork listed at this level?) and I’m debating a few augmentation choices. Lars can’t wait to remove as much of his meat as he can ASAP
”We’ve never worried about what our cargo is before. Never worried what that one shipment of electronics and scrap was REALLY building, might have been a bomb, or doomsday device. Guns are just tools like mining picks or spanners, maybe there’s real aggressive fauna over there they need to defend themselves from. Either way, not our monkeys, not our circus. Our job is to deliver and get paid and we really need to get this done or a roof over our heads and food in our bellies will start getting difficult.” he says, clapping the large Naur on the shoulder.
Once they’ve moved away from their employers rep he adds in a low voice ”at least while our employer can hear us, ya? We can debate the rest without so many ears listening.”
Lars nods along with the other two who have spoken up, "No sugar coating it I'm afraid, we had to make the best of a whole lot of bad choices and the bosses ain't happy."
Boy that message doesn't just smack of "here's the small jobs you get to start after EJ fires all of your heinies in about 10 minutes".
Lars relaxes as the last mote pops under their android's taclash. "Well, that was fun." he comments dryly before looking to Strek, "Engines are ok now I take it?'
Looking around at the mess he sighs and mumbles, "Guess its time to break out the tools." as he mentally opens the breakeven tables and makes some adjustments to their ever shrinking possibility of making a living on this tub.
Once they receive the message his ledger gets even more dire, but with a small glimmer of hope.
"Well, another opportunity for work certainly doesn't hurt. Guess that's a bright side."
Noting that Strek seemed to have the engines under his watch, Lars pushes out of the engine room towards further sounds of battle, finding Del in the cargo bay.
Lars groans as he hears Guess? remind them all of that terrible, awful, no good month, "I could have gone without a reminder of that!" he yells across the ship even as he whirls on the final mote he sees in the engine room, nodding to Strek as the engineer races to save their glitching engine.
Because broken engines are bad in space.
As he dials his focus on the mote he again pulls malicious code from the ether, forming it into another barrage of darts and loosing them on the enemy.
In my mind he sees the world like Neo in The Matrix when he's working magic. Just not as good at Kung Fu, or shooting. Or saying "Whoa".
full round magic missile
magic missile:3d4 + 3 ⇒ (4, 1, 3) + 3 = 11
I really expected to be using Incompetence mote with our front line bruisers around, haven't had a good opportunity yet
Would someone mind, terribly, putting my icon in the engine room with Strek? I don't have my computer at the moment and copy/pasting is just not working for me right now with my phone
Fearing loss of their ships power, Lars follows Strek into the engine room and faces off against a flowing mote.
"Let's see how you like malware" Lars growls as he reaches again, mentally, into the stream of universal code and pulls together a series of virii that would hopefully be very bad for this thing.
moved for the surprise, so I get a full action, yes?
Doing much the same here with school. Oh, except we started last week but now there's weekend sports to go to.
Warning as well, my parents are closing on a new house much closer to us in October so there will likely be a lot less posting from me on weekends this fall as we make trips to visit.
Lars laughs with the group at Strek's story, "Ha, good one. I'd like to replace some of my arms and legs with tech. Cost more than 80 creds though.' he chuckles over his usual gruel flavored by his magical nature.
As is his fashion, when he comes in for the third shift meal he offers, usually with a look at his bowl, to flavor any of the other crew's meals.
Those who take him up on it do get a flavor change that sort of approximates the request, but the flavors feel just a little off, like they are tasting another person's poor imitation of what one would imagine a meal would taste like, which of course is exactly what they are getting.
But still, it's better than pre processed protein shake anyway.
Sobering a bit, Lars does add "I keep re-running the numbers, things are going to be bad when we hit port. Paying the client and stiffing EJ is going to be costly... for us. Hopefully they just send us off on some suicide mission to recoup instead of putting us in debt, which we'll never get out of, or handing us our walking papers. I've been on the wrong end of that a few times and it ain't fun. I'll see what I can find in the universal code to help us once we leave the drift."
Lars will corrdinate with Strek mostly and the day before we leave the drift I'll Explore Futures for Guess?, giving him a reroll if I succeed, since he seems to be our diplomat
Lars sighs dramatically at the message and notes to the group, "That was just an automated AI response, to come that quickly. We're probably still going to be in for an in person tongue lashing in the near future as well."
Looking about the group, "Not super excited for that, so what's next?"
Lars spends most of the drift time in his cabin or on the science station, working to crack the universe's code and find the eddies in plausibility to shift fortune enough to get them through the drift as fast as possible.
Current
Lars, dressed in his usual slick suit, stays mostly quiet as the group moves, only stepping in to throw numbers at the client to try to help Guess? grease the wheels of commerce. unnecessary diplomacy aid before stepping back with the group.
"We have some time but this is feeling like a fools errand, the next in a long string of them. I agree, we should pay the client, either way it's gonna be bad for us and EJ is gonna be pissed. Unless we just want to take the money and run..."
He starts, but then grumbles "But then we'd have to dump the ship, poor profit there, then there's new IDs needed if we don't want to be dodging bounty hunters forever, expensive and stressful."
He then sighs and quiets down, ceding the decision to the rest of the group as he tries to make impossible profit figures work in his head, with no success.
board ate my post and I'm hella annoyed now. I'll get it back up tomorrow. Downtime was Explore Future and Del already passed her piloting so it's moot.
Hmm, map Starsystem doesn't seem like it would apply for this task? Almost wonder if just aiding piloting would be more helpful. Though with Del's rolls I don't think it would matter.
Agree with Jarduk, the process seemed to work well last time and this one seems to have much more time to actually buy the gear want.
Much like Zulu was at the end I don't see myself needing a ton of gear, some armor, a decent gun, and plan to spend my funds on augmentations mostly for RP reasons.
UBP grinder seems cool.
I'll get an IP post tonight. Jarduk nailed it, I was thinking of Map Starsystem to try to help us once we left the drift.
As the bot falls Lars quickly assists the crew in gathering the stolen crates and getting the trailer sorted before heading back to the truck.
At Guess?'s call he agrees and taps a wrist where a watch would be, if he had one, and agrees, "let's get moving, gotta keep our schedule." and piles into the truck cab.
Seeing and hearing the goblins are down but the junkbot is still attacking, Lars runs down and around the end of the truck, hoping to assist as best he can when he gets there.
double move, I'll need to move my icon later today
Following Jarduk and seeing a general melee start and bullets fly, Lars reaches into his mind, activating his magic and feeling the machine code of reality. Working quickly he pulls code from the aether and forms a deadly virus, throwing the malicious magic code at one of the goblins threatening Akh.
Erm, I might not post tomorrow night either. Ball game with the fam, box seats, free drinks. Might not be in good shape to post when we get done (wife will drive).
If things get hung up please bot me. Likely cast incompetence where opportune.
glad it didn't take long to establish my wonderful out of combat rolling luck. Poor Zulu couldn't pass a life science check if his life depended on it, luckily it didn't
Exhausted from the hard work loading the berries, Lars slumps in the back seat and watches traffic as the group heads to the ship.
Once they get through all that and start getting the carts loaded and moved, Lars continues to get his hands dirty, assisting Strek again keeping the carts moving during the grueling day.
Engineering Aid:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
GM killed my mojo. I see nothing, aid nothing, do not pass Go and do not collect $200