The transport bounces heavily as it makes its way down the broken, pot-holed road from the capital city of Brinnoa to Camp Cavalier. The engine whines loudly, straining to keep up such a high speed in this difficult terrain. Even with such loud mechanical noise, the winter wind makes its presence known, buffeting the transport with heavy blows as if toying with the multi-ton machine. There are no windows, but the dim yellow dome light flickers with each jolt, allowing the occupants just flashing glimpses of one another. The air is stuffy and pungent, as the few dozen passengers crammed in such a tight space generate quite a bit of heat and stench.
In peacetime, this wouldn’t be a terribly odd collection of folks anywhere on Suskillon. Some humans, a few shirren, and quite a number of other races, old and young alike. Many are wearing Suskillon Defense Force patches on their civilian clothes, but some are clearly not Suskill. Almost all are carrying some form of firearm. Most fidget nervously, sitting in silence. Many of these new recruits have lost friends, family, parents, and children in the six months since the invasion began. Now they are finally joining the fray, answering a call to rebuild the ranks of the lost Fifth Battalion. Even more omnipresent than the stench of sweat, the nervousness in the air is palpable. These people have heard the stories of what the Swarm did at the Battle at Stone Sea.
Six months ago, the Swarm breached the planet’s orbital and aerial defenses and touched down at Stone Sea, a large freshwater lake surrounding a dormant volcano. The Fifth Battalion of the SDF was closest to the site of contact and held the Swarm back long enough for the SDF to mobilize other battalions to the area. Stories of the battle have already reached near-mythical heights, as most members of the Fifth Battalion were killed in glorious, terrible combat.
Since then, the SDF has fought a losing battle against the Swarm. Though Suskillon is a friendly trading partner with the nearby Pact Worlds, the planet’s government has yet to officially request aid, with many afraid that the Pact Worlds will claim their planet as a protectorate in “payment” for such help. However, that hasn’t stopped volunteers and mercenaries from other systems (including the Pact Worlds and the Veskarium) from journeying to Suskillon to join in the fight against the invasion. The Swarm is relentless, though, and it has already overrun nearly half of the planet. However, over the past few weeks, Suskillon has enjoyed something of a respite as the Swarm appears to have ceased its near-daily attacks.
The transport suddenly lurches to a stop, the engine seemingly sighing in relief as it returns to a low rumbling idle. Many of the recruits stand up, but the doors remain closed. Outside, the sounds of activity become clear. More vehicles moving about, indistinct shouting, as well as the odd burst of artillery fire. For almost fifteen minutes, nothing happens. The recruits slowly begin talking to each other, introducing themselves, reminiscing about their homes, their reasons for fighting, and trading rumors they’ve heard about the Swarm and the war effort.
Go ahead and introduce yourselves. You four are seated near the middle of the transport, 2 each on either side of the center aisle.
Welcome, soldiers, to the 5th Battalion of
the Suskillon Defense Force! The SDF is
a unified military for the entire Suskillon
system, whose mission is the defense of our home world of
Suskillon and any outlying regions, by means of deterrence
and direct conflict when necessary. You have chosen an
exciting and dangerous time to join the SDF, as Suskillon
needs every capable hand to drive back the ravening hunger
of the Swarm.
Use this thread to talk strategy, purchases, or other ooc and meta topics. Topic 1 of course, is party make-up. Who are you?
If you have AP19, you can find the player's guide on pages 38-45. If you'd like me to snip just those pages out and send them to you so you can more readily avoid spoilers, I'd be happy to.
Character creation guidelines
Since this is not SFS, you best believe almost everything is fair game. Race, class, gear options, just run it by me before you fall in love. The only thing I'll cut right up front is ring of fangs and the cheesy strength-build stellifera. You can make other kinds of stellifera if you want.
- No evil characters. You've signed up to defend the Suskillon system from invasion.
- Have some personal connection to Suskillon. The population is majority human, minority shirren, but other races come and go along with the trade to the Pact Worlds and Suskillon's own space exploration. Whether you were born and raised here, or your true love died in the Battle at Stone Sea, or your mercenary career brought you here looking for glory, there's a reason you're now fighting the good fight.
- Do not post in the main gameplay thread until I ok your character concept. Send me a DM of your character's motivations and personality. The more I have to work with, the more I can weave you into the story.
- Character avatar selection appears to be broken currently, but when it's fixed start thinking about what image you want as your character.
I know there's no larger map (yet) of the galaxy. I don't have any of the older pathfinder sources either, so I was wondering if we know the shape of the galaxy and where the PW system lies in it?
I assume its a spiral galaxy like ours, and since Golarion and the system as a whole is an analogue to our own solar system, it stands to reason that it lives on the outer fringes of one of the arms of the galaxy. But if there's a reference for this anywhere, I'd be interested to know.
So my main "Scoured Stars" PC (the one I played 1-99 with) has leveled up past the point where I can continue to play some of the newer scenarios that offer the Segment boons with him. Will the eventual payoff for these boons be character-specific or "account-wide"?
Any chance of getting the SF Conspectus as a pdf? There's some cool art pieces of different locations on Absalom that haven't been released in other products yet.
Note: Character knowledge recalls will be PM'd to you instead of shared directly on the gameplay tab, so you'll have to communicate it to the other players in your own words, and during combat you'll have to wait your turn to shout out anything important you've figured out.
Telepathic communications and the like will be public.
Before I attempt to run Dead Suns, I wanted to see if anyone would like to join in the Starfinder intro quests. They're a great way to introduce all the systems in the game, and before I commit to running an AP, I wanted to make sure the GM stuff I've set up works out in an actual game.
If you're interested, please make sure your character sheet is updated and reply with their race/class. Only level 1 characters are allowed. Please keep it SFS legal, so only core races (unless you have the appropriate racial boon). We'll be adhering pretty close to RAW (with the FAQ/errata taken into account). I don't really like to get heavy into homebrew until I've played with the systems as presented to know what really works and what doesn't, and getting the SFS credit will be a nice bonus!
I will make every effort to post at least twice a day, more frequent on US evenings. I expect players to post at least once a day, and to alert me prior to an extended absence, but I understand emergencies happen. Please provide botting instructions in case you are absent and we need to move the game along. If you do not, I will take what I see as the most appropriate actions for your character at that moment, minimizing the use of non-rechargable consumables where possible so as not to waste your hard-earned credits.
Maps will be on Google Drive, and I plan to only allow players viewer access, as I've had trouble with vandalism in the past on Drive. If it turns out that isn't working great, we can revisit.
Planning to start play Friday 2/23, 9pm EST if we have at least 4 players.
I am a Starfinder Superscriber, so I'm expecting to get the 15% discount on paizo pdfs... however my shopping cart is not showing the discount on any of the 5 items in there. Could you take a look for me?
I have a 1st printing pack of Rise of the Runelords Deck 4 (Fortress of the Stone Giants) and was wondering if I could exchange it for a 2nd printing pack.
I opened the box, but the cards are still in their shrinkwrap. I'd happily pay shipping for the exchange.
I got a gift card for amazon for my birthday, so I decided to get some PACG decks. Loving the game so far (halfway through deck 2). But alas, I received 1st printing decks, which do not match my second print base set at all.
Is anyone willing to trade 1st for 2nd on the packs below?
Adventure Deck 3 - Hook Mountain Massacre
Adventure Deck 4 - Fortress of the Stone Giants
Adventure Deck 5 - Sins of the Saviors
1st printing package open on the top, while 2nd open on the side, for the easiest way to tell the difference. All of them have been opened, but the cards themselves are still in their cellophane, so they should still have that new-card smell :-)
(x-posted to BGG)
Race
Male Mechanicum Sage WS 41, BS 49, S 30, T40, Ag 32, Int 50, Per 35, WP 34, Fel 30, Wounds 13
About Ptah 7-Kappa
Ptah 7-Kappa Homeworld: Forge World
Background: Adeptus Mechanicus
Role: Sage
Common Lore (Imperium): 100
Common Lore (Tech): 100
Scholarly Lore (Numerology): 100
Scholarly Lore (Tech): 100
Scholarly Lore (Adeptus Mechanicus): 100
Scholarly Lore (Imperium): 100
Forbidden Lore (Archeotech): 100
Forbidden Lore (Xenos): 100
Forbidden Lore (Adeptus Mechanicus): 100
Forbidden Lore (Imperium): 100
1000 XP on Lore
Tech: Trained, 200 xp
1200XP total
Dodge: Known, 100XP
1300XP total
Ballistic Skill: Simple, 250 XP
Intelligence: Simple, 100 XP
1650 XP total
Weapon Mechadendrite Usage: 300 XP
1950 Total
Willpower (Simple)
2200 Total
Linguistics (High Gothic, Low Gothic): 200 XP
2400 Total
100 left over
Backstory:
The dead world of Klybo fascinates many who tread the Machine God’s path of knowledge. Rumors of incredible caches of STC templates abound, and a few, potentially slightly mad tech-priests settled there and founded a research and exploration outpost.
Predisposed towards eccentricity, the inhabitants of the outpost found that exploring lost structures beneath shifting sands were highly reminiscent of a set of fragmentary records about Holy Terra in its infancy. The lost kingdom of Gyptus ruled by the immortal explorer-king In’dyaana Jaonz deeply resonated with the techpriests, and their culture drifted towards what insights they could glean.
It was into this strange and erudite community that Ptah was born. His childhood was standard for those born into a Mechanicus research outpost, with rigorous study and exacting standards. Some of his peers failed, and were either recycled for nutrients or converted into servitors. Ptah did not.
He was fiercely ambitious and intelligent, forever seeking more knowledge. At the unprecedented age of 14 he completed his novitiation and was made a Technographer. He was skilled with technology, memorizing the Psalm of Light and the proper ritual for putting a machine spirit to sleep and reawakening it, generally for troubleshooting purposes.
He advanced through the ranks of his small community, earning the rank of Mech-Wright at the age of 19, and with it command of a exploratory squad. At his disposal were two novitiates, fifteen Skitarii, and thirty servitors.
It took some time to find a location, gain approval, and get together supplies for a mission, but after nearly a year he found his mark. Buried beneath nearly a mile of sand, stone, rockcrete debris and a maze of corridors infested by hostile wildlife, rogue servitors, and forgotten technological horrors lay signals that had to have originated from archeotech.
The mission was hard-fought, fraught with danger. They spent a month slogging through winding caverns, followed by weeks of sleepless nights in the tunnels beneath.
Ptah does not divulge what he found beneath the shifting sands of Klybo. All that his family and community knew was that he returned, alone, with skin dyed rust red and binaric script tattooed across every inch of it. He was a changed man. His thirst for knowledge had been altered fundamentally.
All knowledge, he claimed, was a product of the infinite logic of the Machine God. Whether it was sanctioned or hereteknical did not matter, simply that it needed to be preserved and understood. The ancient technology of humanity, he believed, was the purest form of the Machine God, and it had to be understood.
He began to set out on his own, bringing back fragments of archeotechnical lore that could be considered near blasphemy if used improperly. The Inquisition, of course, had their interest piqued. Ptah’s extensive knowledge was too valuable to go to waste, but just close enough to heresy that he could not be allowed to go free.
Appearance and Personality:
Among tech-priests, Ptah Sigma-7 looks comparatively mild. Among baseline humans however, he is terrifying. His skin is a rust red, and every part of it not taken up by cybernetics is tattooed with binaric script. His cybernetics, though not as total as many of his fellow disciples, are still extensive. His eyes have been replaced by cybernetics, casting a dim red glow whenever he is awake. An elaborate respiratory system replaces his mouth and nose, lending an electronic timbre to his breathing and speaking. Though generally covered by hooded, sleeveless robes, the back of his skull is metal, with a series of vertebral augers connecting his cranial implants to his cyber-mantle.
Ptah is coldly logical like many followers of the Machine God. Emotion is a mere distraction from the true goal of knowledge and enlightenment. He differs from the rigid orthodoxy of the Machine Cult on how he believes knowledge should be treated. The Machine God is the source of all knowledge, not just what the Lector-Dogmatics permit. To destroy any piece of information is heresy, blatant disregard for the blessing of the Trinity Machina. That said, Ptah is far from a heretek. His desire to destroy the enemies of mankind and the Mechanicus is incredibly strong. He simply believes that mankind cannot fight blind, and that knowledge is what will open their eyes.
Answers to Questions:
1. What is your character’s name?
Ptah 7-Kappa
2. How old is your character?
26
3. What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)?
Ptah is of average height and build, though that is where his normalcy ends. His skin is a rust-red, tattooed with binaric script. His eyes are cybernetic lenses that cast a dim red glow and his head is shaved, while his nose and mouth are covered by a cybernetic rebreather. The cyber-mantle on his back has two mechadendrites attached to it, one for utility and maintenance, the other an ocular unit. He also carries a hand-cannon at his hip.
4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)?
Ptah’s voice has a distinct mechanical timbre to it.
5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who?
Ptah was born on the Mechanicus research world of Klybo. His family unit was designated as mid-stratum menials, with enough genetic viability to avoid regular servitor conversion but not so much as to be given regular admission into the Cult Mechanicus. Ptah, however, was selected at an early age for potential induction into the cult. He was raised collectively by the cult members of the research outpost his family unit served at alongside the other aspirants.
6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living?
Ptah never knew his parents. He was told they are still alive, but the only real mentor figure he had growing up was a senior priest named Ahamshut.
7. Do you have any other family or friends?
There was a time when he held some as friends and peers. That was some time ago, though. His departure from the orthodoxy of the Mechanicus saw most who called him friend or peer to turn their backs on him. It is a lonely path he walks, but it is one he is devoted to utterly.
8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids?
Ptah is without children or any romantic connections, and lacks the desire to foster either.
9. What is your character’s alignment?
Radical quaestant magos.
10. What is your character’s moral code?
For a priest of the Cult Mechanicus, morality in a traditional sense is irrelevant. One’s goals are foremost, and those goals should be accomplished in the way that the Machine God dictates.
11. Does your character have goals?
The holy task of all who tread the iron path of the Deus Machina is the acquisition of knowledge
12. Is your character religious?
Deeply. Ptah is a devout follower of the Machine God, though his own take on the faith could be seen as bordering on heresy by some.
13. What are your character’s personal beliefs?
Ptah sees his purpose in the universe as a small but vital cog in the vast machine of humanity. His role is to find the knowledge that others will not, to understand what others are too afraid to. By doing that, he will give humanity a weapon against it’s many, many foes.
14. Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?
There are a few. He believes deeply in the Machine God, but very differently from the other tech-priests. Knowledge has no morality, only use. As long as it is used to fight the enemies of humanity, it is useful. Xenotech, archeotech, anything that is useful in the continuation of humanity and the cause of the Adeptus Mechanicus. He is also an outlier, though less than with the former belief, in that he does not see the Emperor as the true Omnissiah. He was a man of great power, certainly, and one worthy of respect, but the true Omnissiah would have been of the Cult, not his own faith.
15. Why does your character adventure?
Ptah adventures because in a sense, he cannot do anything else. His unorthodox views have set him apart from the mainline Adeptus Mechanicus, so all he can do to serve the cause of the Machine God is to seek knowledge at the fringes of Imperial society.
16. How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?
His role is that of a seeker of knowledge, following that wherever it will take him. Though he chafes within the command of the Inquisition, he has realized beyond a doubt that without their protection he would be seen as a heretek and hunted down with the ruthless efficiency that only the Mechanicus can achieve.
17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?
Most notable are the markings on his rust-red skin, those being countless lines of binaric tattoos.
18. How does your character get along with others?
Not very well. He is blunt and direct as many tech-priests are, better with a cogitator and a servitor than with other people. He does his duty, of course, striving to maximize efficiency by building what team cohesion he can.
19. Is there anything that your character hates?
Hate is irrational. Hate is a manifestation of fear. He does, however, find the destruction of knowledge and the rejection of information that could bring any meager scrap of power to humanity in this benighted age to be deeply abhorrent, sacrilege to the name of the Machine God.
20. Is there anything that your character fears?
Fear is irrational, a relic of flesh. There are two things in life, duty and dereliction. Ptah knows his duty, even if many others may not understand it.
