Narrator Prime's page

Well....since I decided to give this a shot, we lost one player through sudden and unexplained absence while posting elsewhere. I stepped in on that rapidly because I've watched games die from that behaviour.

I've had to modify the mapping system due to compatability issues. I figured that might happen and was hoping to try more theatre of the mind, but the game and complexity of the scenario really needs maps. Even so, it is confusing players and GM alike.

Now, I've been caught up in a conflict between players that doesn't look like it's going to resolve well. This is stuff I have to deal with as a teacher on a daily basis and not what I want in my gaming time.

I am not enjoying this process, and I'm old enough and weary enough to understand that is the death knell for the game.

Thanks for trying it out with me, and apologies if I've wasted your time, but I'm pulling the pin on this. My home group has no interest in pursuing Starfinder, and it seems PbP still has stuff that makes running one more work than I can put the energy into. Looks like I'll be doing 5e for the foreseeable future.

Cheers

information from the camera feeds downstairs. Assumed a take ten

After Twitch fiddled some more with the wiring and computer system, the video loop finally ended and three new images

Screen 1
A large room, dominated by an eldritch runed circle carved into the flat surface of one of the walls. Three Klaven guards stood at a series of terminals next to the carving, desperately turning dials and pushing buttons. As the feed continued, three more of the guards came in to view. Each of these had rifles in hand, and the large bone swords strapped to their waste. They conferred with the ones using the computer briefly, before turning around and exiting the shot once more.

Screen 2
The camera here showed the slaughter house from upstairs. The stacked bodies of the murdered prisoners countered by the mangled corpses of the two Klaven guards brutalised by the escapees in the fight before. Andretta appeared in the frame momentarily as she walked across the doorway, looking in to the room nervously as she patrolled the corridors upstairs.

Screen 3
This room looked like a small arena of sorts, or perhaps a zoo enclosure. The centre of the floor had a deep pit, covered by a shimering green forcefield like the one used in the prison room. It seemed as if this was a place used to look down and observe whatever was in the pit, with the forcefield keeping the viewer safe from the inhabitants.

A brief flicker of movement in the deep shadows of the pit showed that at least one creature was still alive in there, but it was keeping well clear of the light.

you are back on floor one with the three NPCs. The Tauslek just escaped into the rooms above you. It happened very fast. At this stage, the Baghra, and Andretta are suggesting setting up a defensive position in this area so you can fall back to it if needed.

From the images on the screens below, you definitely know that this place will eventually fail in its ability to support life. Too much damage and it's now venting atmosphere. You'll need to find a way to escape.

I'll post some info that you get from cameras soon. You get three sets of images, but you can't tell where they are in relation to you since there's no map.

Gathering the equipment and journal, the four team mates moved back into the elevator shaft and began their ascent.

As they reache the half way point, the Baghra shouted a warning.
" Its back! Shoot it, fast!"

They reinforced the statement by opening up with their hunting rifles. Light flashed in th closed chamber, and the roar of discharging cartridges echoed through the shaft, nearly deafening those climbing the muscle cord. From the darkness above, another roaring scream came from what appeared to be a giant cephalopod. It was stretched axrosss the shaft, reaching from a split in the wall to,the doors on the second floor. Even as the climbers covered their heads to stop the spent cartridges hitting them, the creature grasped the doors of the elevator shaft on the second floor and tore them open.

A voice yelled in Anger and pain. "Oi you wazzers', stop shootin' me. " it was the voice of Tekumsah, but was clearly coming from the Tauslek. It's leathery body heaved and it dragged itself through the doors and into whatever waited on the second level. The last vestiges of its tentacled body disappeared from sight amidst another hail of bullets from the Baghra.

One of the dog men was screaming in shock and horror, his finger still pressing the trigger of his rifle. Andretta reached a calming hand out and rested it in his shoulder, whispering calming words that only the dog man could hear. He relaxed almost immediately, chest heaving as his heart rate began to recover.

I believe it's s fivr foot radius explosion with s reflex for half. You have to target an intersection of squares. If you score a crit, it also sets you on fire for d4 damage. After that you have to try and out yourself out or take more burping damage.

Burn damage took out one of the characters in the home group I ran not long ago. It's pretty nasty.

The computer terminals

After some quick fighting and the rewiring of a few panels, twitch manages to get the majority of the computer system back up and running. The little man was absorbed in his work, so he didn't see the first images pop up on the screen, but he certainly heard the response from the others.

The screens were showing a looped video of a largish meteor hurtling towards what appeared to be a station anchored to an asteroid. The meteor struck a glancing blow to the asteroid, shaking the cameras violently. The last few seconds showed atmosphere venting out into the void beyond the station, then a large electrical discharge erupted from the impact zone and the cameras went fuzzy.

You can now attempt a hacking check to get access to cameras throughout the station. The DC is 21. That's about all that this particular terminal will allow you to access

The Journal

The large tome looks to be filled with some form of scientific notes. There are diagrams and formulae written through out it. The words seem foreign, but even as you study them they seem to swim in and out of focus, like you could possibly understand them if really tried hard.

DC 20 Culture check to decipher the following

It shouldn't even be possible to decipher that language, but simething seemed to be happening that was assisting. Maybe it was Andretta's Magic?

The things on the table
The few items strewn across the table look as if they should be boxed up and sorted carefully. It appears as if the impact of the meteor threw them out of their container.

Two incendiary grenades I, one jump jets armor upgrade, two medpatches, a mk 1 ring of resistance, and two spell amps of lesser restoration.

in less flowery language, and hopefully without the stupid fat fingered iPad typing errors I keep making. The room is roughly circular, 40 feet wide. It is Divided in two by a greenish force field. The far side of the force field looks like it was a type of prison, but whatever used to be in there escaped. The closest side of the room has computer terminals and a desk. The right hand wall has a really big hole in it, which is making the force field not work properly.

The doors groaned as the big human wrenched them from their mounts. Green light flooded into the room, motes of fluorescence occasionally sparking against their armour as the four sentients moved in.

Beyond the elevator was a room about 40 feet in diameter, bisected perfectly in half by some form of iridescence force barrier. This was the source of the light that flooded the room, but it's normal functioning was being inhibited by the massive rent in the wall to one side of the chamber. At this juncture the force wall seemed to wash against the wall in waves, desperately trying to make so,e for, of tangible contact with whatever stabilisers had once held its form in place. As the waves of energy smashed against the rock, it splashed out like sea foam, filling the room with bioluminescent particles that flared briefly before snuffing out in the darkness around them.

Whatever had been held on the far side of that force wall was no longer present, most likely the Drift Beast which had attacked the Baghra upstairs. The gaping hole in the wall went back and upwards, reaching into darkness beyond the vision of anyone in the room.

On the closer side, a series of technical panels flashed their lights in sparking protest as energy surges flushed through whatever systems once ran this complex. A large metallic table rested on the intact wall, many strange devices strewn across it and a large leather bound journal resting on its flat surface.

There were no signs of struggle nor any signs of other creatures in this place at all. The only exits being the ruined elevator and the gaping rend in the wall.

Please be careful of the words being used when presenting a case for character changes.

Asshat is not one that most people are going to feel happy with being thrown their way.

The sentiment is noted however, and I am recommending you and Gorns player open a private dialogue to see if you can come to an amicable agreement.

I will state openly right now that not everything you come across in this place is going to be an enemy. I will let you know if dialogue is an option in situations. It may not come to be useful dialogue in the end, but there are times when it is an option for you rather than open hostilities from the get go.

The Baghra are not evil, nor good. They are also indifferent to you as a group. This means it only takes one step to make them helpful, but also only one step to make them aggressive.

Andretta is neither human, nor from your part of the galaxy. Her culture is going to be completely different to what any of you have experienced before. Tuk'Yik has already discovered this. She is also pretty much neutral to all of you, and the dog men. Her personal beliefs are talk before violence, but st the moment she is not a friend. You're all just folks working together to maybe get out of this prison alive.

The bone men are definitely the bad guys. They're genetically modified and emotionally mind scrubbed to be subservient yes men to whatever is in charge. They think of all of you as prisoners and as such, they'll happily just kill you where you stand. Expect nothing less than open aggression from them from this point onwards.

The Taslek Matriarch is also a pure enemy in the traditional sense of alien predator movies. You're all just food to it, but it's very clever. Think alien queen form the Alien movies.

Hopefully those insights will help all of you develop a way to interact with things that makes all of you happy but still allows for your characters to be played as you imagine them.

I believe one of you took Stamina damage in our fight (Twitch if I'm not mistaken)
Enough time was spent completing the careful exploration of the first level that you can consider a short rest to have occurred. This means you spend a resolve point to recover stamina damage if you'd like.

The ropy muscle writhed in the grips of those climbing it, as if an electric pulse way through these he fibres erratically. It nearly cost the two Ysoki their grips, but they managed to clutch tight and hold on until the worst of it trailed away.

With the four Pact Worlders standing on the roof of the elevator cart there wasn't room for any more to descend. The Baghra kept a wary eye up the shaft, their guns trained on the doorway above them. They had snarled at Gorn with his aggressive response, but these were no whelps fresh from the teat. Soldiers were soldiers wherever you were in the universe and Gorns aggression was nothing they'd not seen in the past, nor dealt out themselves most likely.

Andretta had wished them all luck, and held back from the elevator, keeping an eye on the room where the Tentacled beast had retreated earlier. They had shit the door as a precaution, but who knew how strong it was or if it was smart enough to merely open it.

The hatch in the roof of the cart opened in protest as Gorn wrenched it free with his hugely muscled arms. Inside the remains of a single guard could be seen sprawled in the floor. Its body was broken and twisted in strange angles, signs of the trauma that had killed it when the elevator had plunged in aided down the shaft. It seemed as if this guard had been armed with a bone sword, rather than a gun. Counts as a longsword.

The doors to the elevator cart were warped and partially opened from the impact. A sickly green glow seemingly oozed through the door, like bioluminescent liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere.

can I have a general plan on how you want to enter the new level please. Rough idea of battle order, any skill checks you think will help before/as you move in.

Yeah it was Twitch, second time if mixed you two up. Sigh

Huh, so I just went a reread the athletics section of the skills. Since this climb is generally not under any real threat or urgency, nothing stops you just taking ten. Which means none of you can fail.

Which is pretty lucky since tow of you did.

On further reading, you only fall if you fail by five or more. Which only one of you did.

When climbing you move at half speed which means TukYik would have made it 7 feet before dropping, for a total fall of 13 feet and only d6 damage.

All of wh h is irrelevant because I'm going to retcon the need for rolls and allow you take ten since the rule set specifically states it's possible. The only thing you can't ever do,is take 20 on a climb check, which I misremembered as not being able to take ten or twenty.

Will update game thread a little later

Folks are going to,have to make a climbing check no matter which order they go in. Please go ahead and roll them.

I'm assuming Gorn is going first. After that the order doesn't really matter so I'll randomise it if anyone fails.

A note in failing a check. Generally it's considered you fail halfway up a climb speed. This is how Pathfinder used to handle it when I still,played that system.

The drop to the elevator roof is onlyntwenty feet. This means you'll likely only drop 10 to 15 feet at most for very little damage.

Of course, going up the elevator changes that, but the scenario gives you multiple Athletics attempts to save yourself if you do fall.

If any of you have rope or cable, you could rig up a system to lower yourselves without risk. That would mean at least two folks staying on the current level though. Given you've recruited three NPCs that shouldn't be an issue.

Gorn can tell almost immediately that the ropy muscles could support all their weight. Climbing down would be similar to climbing down a rope. Not such a problem for one as strong as he, but some of the others may have difficulty.

Its a DC 10 Athletics check to climb up or down the muscle section. It works very much like an elevator cable only organic. The DC already assumes you're backing your legs against the wall to do the climb. You could all be on the cord at the same time, but obviously that carries risks of getting knocked off if anyone fails. Remember to take into account armour check penalty for Athletics checks. It also takes both hands to be climbing. You can however brace and hold with one hand while freeing another one up for weapons or equipment if it becomes necessary.

Andretta shows her distaste at the offer of the bone weapons.
" I am sorry, but I have no training in such things. I might as well be throwing rocks at them as point it there way"

looking around at the carnage, she sighed tiredly " I am no stranger to death, my friends. However, my order was trained to try and prevent it through negotiation rather than force. I have certain talents that can aid in communication when we need them. They are limited, but useful. "

As if to prove her point she spoke words of power and everyone felt a wave of enlightenment wash over their minds. The Baghra turned as she spoke, muttering Witch woman. We must be wary of that one eh!"

To everyone's surprise, they could clearly understand what was being said. The dog man frowned and bowed a little when it too understood what happened. "No offence witch, but where we come from that power is considered dangerous". The articulation in its voice and the manners it displayed showed a more complex personality than their previous bestial natures might have displayed. They might be aggressive, but they were not animalistic by any means.

Trellik has brought up a very good point about ammunition. In the core book, solid slugs and energy packs work for all weapons. In this setting there's a whole new array of gear and weapons that likely operate completely separately to how your Pact world weapons do.

I'm not going to be enforcing that concept though. I think it's enough story wise to understand you're in foreign territory here with no idea of what's happening for the most part. I don't want to have you worried about ammo running out for weapons you're trained in or have named.

So let's assume you guys manage to juryrig a way for the bone weapons ammo to also work in your own guns.

Basically taking the bone slugs and loading them into your ammo clips is enough. After all, kinetic weapons are not likely firing gunpowder based cartridges given they need to be able to operate in space as well as in an atmosphere. There's obviously some other form of kinetic propulsion working here.

In short, any ammo you find can assume to work in your guns just like it would in the Pact worlds.

in order, going clockwise from the room where you first woke up

room 1

This area was clearly where the guards had stored the gear for any prisoners they'd taken. For whatever reason, only some of the creatures here seemed to have equipment deem d suitable for keeping. (Already taken all the gear here and equipped yourselves with it

Room 2
This room is the last on the level to remain locked, Teitch makes short work of that though, using his mechanical devices to again stimulate the muscle door.

The scene in here is tragic. Eight more pods line the rooms wall, but each holds a lifeless body. A quick inspection of the panel on the side shows that the sentients in here all drowned when the feeding tubes and air tubes had their informatiOn systems crossed. These creatures stood no chance, and it is with a great chill that you all realised this could easily have been you. (No equipmemt waa kept for these creatures. They're all from primitive cultures)

Room 3

This was the room Gorn and Andretta first woke in. Now it is a charnel house of sprayed blood and gore where the tentacled creature had attacked. The dark crevasse in the back of the room creates an ominous feeeling of impending death, like staring into the dark eyes of some great predator.

Room 4
This is where the second set of guards emerged from (K3 and K4). It is clearly a guard room of sorts. Two pods sit at the back of this room, but they're different to the ones holding the prisoners. These seem to,serve the simple purpose of providing a place to sleep and a source of sustenance for the guards in this room. Certwinly they don't seem configured to keep a creature in deep coma like the prisoner pods.

Room 5
This is where the executions happened. There are 8 bodies on the floor here, each of them shot once in the back of the head, probably while still in a comatose state from the prisoner pods. Some of these look like they might have belonged to the Pact Worlds, being humans for the most. Two more Baghra are here too.

There are no computer terminals or communication systems of any type in,the area. However these things were given orders, it wasn't by communication systems.

The elevator doors open reluctantly to reaveal a dark shaft leading upwards and downwards. Thick ropy muscles hang in the centre of the shaft, dropping down to connect to a metal elevator cart about twenty feet down the shaft. The metal cart seems to be damaged, warped and buckled as it plummeted to the lower level most likely. There's a hatch in the roof of the thing if anyone needed to enter it from the top or escape from within.

Looking up the shaft, it appeared as if another set of doors existed nearly 30 feet up. (Darkvison easily sees these details, otherwise you're going to be needing a torch. I think most of you can see in the dark though.)

I'm going to do a more detailed post tonight. Bit busy at the moment. The threat on this level is now gone so I'll do a big piece where you check the remaining rooms. Sorry for any delay

As a point of interest, NPCs and monsters only have HP, no stamina score at all. So Mystic healing works really well for them.

Stamina is a nice little carry over from 4th and 5th edition where you could spend a short rest and recover some damage. This allows the expenditure of resolve points to heal between battles as you pretty much draw on inner reserves of toughness to keep fighting. Or whatever.

So Mystic healing is powerful because it can recover damage for PCs that they themsleves can't heal without buying serums.

Resolve is a nice mechanic to self heal a bit between fights by building back your stamina.

Note that once you level, you'll basically double your stamina and hit points. It's going to take a lot more fighting to put you in it trouble when that happens.

From that fight you now have
- two hunting rifles with 20 shots left. There's not enough Baghra to use these anymore.
- 4 spur rifles. These are the guns used by the guards. They shoot solid rounds of bony material. Seemingly they reload by the creature itself growing and ejecting new spurs down the tube that grafts the weapon to them. These guns have twenty shots, and do d6 damage. After you use up that ammo, you have no way to reload it without finding some way of harvesting bone spurs.

We can now go back to free posting, with no restrictions on order of action.

The wounded Baghra responded with a whine of relief as Tuk'Yiks Magic washed over it. The damage healed and he nodded at the insectoid with true appreciation. His companion still stared wildely at the gaping hole in the wall.

Twitch couldn't tell anything more about this room than they'd already discovered. His only new information was the huge rent in the wall obviously hadn't been here when these pods were functioning. Whatever had caused the lighting to fail and flicker in this building had also opened up the crack. An earthquake maybe?

Without getting too close, he could tell the fissure dropped down into the rock below this floor level. Whatever beast had caused this havoc, it was now deep in that hole and it of sight.

While Tiwtch and TukYik worked the room with the Baghra, the others desperately attempted to finish off the last guard.

He had been injured once during this exchange, and now Gorn finished the job, bringing his fists up and down in the things head, pulling the brain case and dropping it liflelessly to the floor.

As the big man stood breathing heavily over the corpse, the rest of the sounds of combat disappeared. The threat of violence had passed.

with K4 being killed, we now drop out of combat intitiative.

Tuk, you get the distinct impression the creature was certainly aberrant. Most likely some form of Drift beast, but you couldn't recall anything more than that. (Rare creature, CR high enough to make your roll fail- just). If Trellik gets a look at it, he'll have a much better chance at identifying it given his Xeno background

Round 6 is up. Andretta cant do much. She's no combatant, more a scholar. Twitch, remember to post an action for round five as well since you didn't lock the door in the end.

I retconned Twitchs action and out it down as confusion of battle. One of the Baghra is wounded slightly. Twitch can move and shoot if he wishes still, since your action to close the door has not actually happened.

Round 5

Gorn shifted around, hoping to open more space for his companions to shoot this enemy. He could see Trellik had lined up a good shot but was adjusting aim not to shoot the armoured human. The mercenary figured he'd like that not to happen as well, and shifted accordingly.

Unfortunately it was enough to distract him from the killing, and his blow missed his target as a consequence.

At the other room, Tuk and Twitch were at odds as to how best sort the situation. Twitch was about to reshut the door and leave the Baghra to their fate but Tuk noticed one of them was wounded and insisted they help the hapless the dog men. So far these creatures had shown no true intent to hurt them, and the more guns they had the better.

The cavern where the creature had fled remained ominously dark, and the sound of its body scraping in leathery retreat got fainter as it went deeper. Hopefully it wouldn't be back for a while. The carnage in here was terrifying.

Gorn's opponent had finally come back to its senses and shrugged off Andretta's Magic. It shifted grips and let the bone claws unsheathed from its arm, striking out at the soldier in front of him.

melee attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 121d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

The big human was too nimble and side stepped the blow, not even allowing it to scratch at the metal armour.

Trellik to act still in round 5. Clear shot at the enemy now. KAC is only 12

Gorn, in round 4 you moved to engage K4, but that's all you could do. So I took your first actions to reposition and attack for the round five actions

I'm tracking xp. When you've got high enough I'll let you know you can level. For interest sake You've accrued 450xp each so far (assuming you defeat these enemies)

Baghra are the dog men. These are the ones you had just re armed and convinced to help you (reluctantly on their part)

the things that executed the other prisoners are pale skinned and bony plated. You don't have a name for them yet.

that's the end of round 4. Round five up. K4 can act this turn assuming it survives mr fisticuffs.

latest map has the new symbols. G =Gorn, T = Twitch, R = Trellik, Y= Tuk'Yik. I also changed the colour from that rather jarring red to a pale green so it stood out better against the background colour the module uses. Enemies will be yellow. Room numbers will be blue still

new map updated symbols

Trellik fired a short burst with his rifle but the bullets just chipped away at the walls of this strange place. He frowned a little at the missed chance, but given his newest companion was standing in the way, a more direct shot wasn't an option.

Twitch rushed towards the door where the sounds of the latest combat were emerging. With some trepidation he activated the door lock and the muscular panels irised outwards.

A scene of horror greeted the two of them, as the battle behind the door was unveiled. Two Bagran were all that remained of the group that had rushed into,the room. They stood with their backs to the wall closest to the door, firing wildly at a set of tentacles withdrawing into a large crack in the wall at the far end of the room. Whatever those tentacles belonged to made one last echoing roar before fully disappearing into the dark crevasse.

The rest of the room was near painted in blood. One armoured Baghra could be seen torn in half and lying in a pool of its own blood. The only sign of the four dog men Gorn and Andretta had subdued was a series of red blood smears trailing towards the dark hole in the wall.

Two of the stasis pods had been knocked off their mounts and bodily tossed in the room, which now exposed the openening, explaining why Gorn and Andretta hadn't seen it.

Of Tekumsah, there was no sign.

Andretta remained in the corridor, awaiting the outcome of this latest combat. It seems that whatever offensive capabilities she held had been used up for the moment.

Y works well actually.

I see the problem. I moved Twitch instead of Tuk'Yik in my last update. Duh.

Think I'll need a better letter code system for all you T names.

Gorn is fine.

Any preferences for a letter code to represent yourselves on the map? A single letter works better than two.

Eg M for TukYik to mean mystic, keep T for Twitch and put in O for Trellik to represent operative?

I'll do an update a little later, just wanted to check why how the mapping is working out.

We've had some confusion issues already.

Normally I'd have a grid system in place but that's pretty difficult in how I'm able to do maps at the moment.

Or throw smoke grenades

Round 4
If there's one thing Gorn had learned in his time as a mercenary, repositioning was vital. He took that lesson and applied it right now, dashing back through the door and putting himself right into the face of the enemy just as it was shaking off the dazing effects of Andretta's magic. Whatever happened next, it promised to be painful to the thing with the bony armour plates.

Tuk'Yik followed suit, moving around behind the elevator to avoid and crossfire and trying to find what had happened to his Vesk companion. The door that Gorn and Andretta had said they emerged from was now closed, and its panel glowed with a dull red indicating it had once again locked. Behind that armoured panel, the sound of panicked dogs and gunfire echoed dully. Another roar came from the room, but now he was closer the young mystic could tell it wasn't coming from anything bipedal. The mouth that made that noise would need to be huge for it to carry so well through the doors and over the sounds of weapon fire.

It seemed something else had found Baghra and Tekumsa

Gorn and Tuk have moved. K4 drops out of dazed state at the end of its turn so basically had a round of inaction. It still has cover from the wall and now Gorn so KAC is 16.

Twithc, Trellik and Andretta to act this turn

Updated map

A note on the maps. I'm using an x to represent dead opponents.

Some of the descriptions are probably confusing folks. I'll do better at ooc summaries after I write the round summary.

So far k1 k2 and k3 have all been killed. Only k4 is left and it's been wounded.

map end of round 3

please check your positions to make sure I've got this correct.

Twitch fired and repositioned, putting himself out of the line of fire. His shot was wide, but it caused the enemy to duck its head back long enough for the small mechanic to shift into safety.

Trellik did the near opposite, leaving the room where the fight had first started, he moved into the elevator junction and opened up on the creature. This time his ability to manipulate the organic nature of the room worked and his opponent left himself exposed as it turned to an apparent bird call behind it. The operatives gun boomed and the slug burrowed into the creatures shoulder. It screamed in pain.

Andretta's eyes stayed clouded over as she again called on her inner powers. Sibilient whispers fell from her lips and her power wrapped around the creatures head.

willsave: 1d20 ⇒ 12

The effect was immediate, as its hands fell to its sides and the mouth opened in a slack jawed gape. dazed

More gunfire and yelps of pain and fear came from wherever Teksumah and the Baghra had gone. Andretta's brow furrowed at the noise, as if only just now becoming aware of it. "That sounds like it's coming from where we left those unconscious dog men!"

map round 3

Trellik opened fire at the one Gorn was laying into. His shot was close, but frame do the pod took the bullets force instead. The ammunition sunk into the material with a meaty thwack, its leathery surface rippling with the impact.

Round 3

Gorn wasn't put off by the careening bullets or swinging weapons. Instead he channeled his rage into his fists, driving one good solid blow into his enemies head and finally snapping its neck with a devastating crack. The thing fell lifelessly to the floor, head lolling to one side and it's rifle clattering from its hands.

Outside the room, Tuk'Yik sent another steel slug at the new threat. The chaos of the situation had rattled him enough that this one went well wide of his intended foe.

With a screaming cry, the burning enemy succumbed to his injuries and fell to the ground. The flames continued to consume his body and the rooms were rapidly filling with the foul stench of its burning flesh.

Behind it, the final creature hissed its outrage before firing a fusillade of shots at Twitch, choosing to keep its own cover rather than move for a clearer shot at the little Ysoki.

full attack using rifle. Twitch has cover from the wall,of the corridor due to poor angle of attack

fullattack: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (14) - 1 = 131d6 ⇒ 61d20 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 41d6 ⇒ 1

None of the shots struck him, luckily. But the noise and light was certainly off putting.

that's the end of round 2 and beginning of round three. I'll post an updated map soon, just going for a walk with my kids while the weather is still cool. Meant to get to 37degrees Celsius here today. Bleh.

Aha, totally missed that DC being so I high! I though it was DC 15 plus CR.

In that case you didn't hit it. It's KAC is 16 in cover. Thanks for pointing that out.

It will make no real difference to the overall outcome for the round, but I'm very glad we got that sorted.

Also, I have no problems with foul mouthed characters. I'm writing descriptions where heads a vaporised by rifle shots and greasy smoke roils of the still screaming enemies you've just set alight. If we can live with that level of violence, then I think we can live with the odd expletive being dropped during his stress situations.

Of course Paizo will moderate language any way :) but feel free to hint at it as you see fit.

Trellik will hit, but only because the trick attack was successful. His first damage is more than enough to kill it

fastest route I can count to get you to the new enemy is 35 feet, Gorn. I don't believe you can move and attack this round at that distance?

I'll do a proper post when it's not 4:30 am and my brain is functioning properly.

also, Gorn hasn't taken damage yet, his armour stopped both attacks so far. Twitch got hit for 4

The creature screamed in pain as Twitchs laser set it ablaze. Acrid smoke roiled from its armoured body and the yellow flames danced higher as they caught.

Andretta tilted her head back and her eyes clouded over with a blue sheen. Whispering words none could hear, she pointed at the burning enemy and unleashed some form of mental attack.

willsave: 1d20 ⇒ 11

Despite the burning and obvious threat to its own health from the others nearby, the creatures limbs went slack as whatever the woman had unleashed took hold of its mind.

andretta dazes K3 to prevent it moving back into close combat and force its ally to,shoot past it at targets in the hall way

Trellik to act this round.

note that Gorm and Tuk can also post again, but their actions will not take place until after Trellik has his action. K2 is still alive, but only just

the enemy

map update

two new opponents have now engaged. K3 in melee with twitch, K4 in cover with rifle. Has cover from the wall and also people between it and any shooters (not that this changes the modifier, but good to note)

twitch delayed so his intuitive now drops to group 3. Twitch, Trellik, Andretta. Note she did not act last round , shock from the sudden combat and not realising what happened.

also just realised Tuk''Yik would have to move forward to actually target Gorns opponent. Too late to update the map sorry, but note he'd be three squares right of his current position

Frantic shouting filled the corridor as the group tried to formulate a plan of action now violence had erupted. Twitch held back, hoping to find an opening in which he could best act.

Tuk'Yik again invoked his mental prowess, lifting one of the steel bearings from the pouch at his side, then propelling it with his mind at the armoured creature cowering between the pods. The steel cracked through bony plates and sunk into the flesh beneath, scoring a minor hit and making the thing hiss in pain.

Gorn followed this up with another crushing blow from his fist. The man abviously knew what he was doing since the blow shattered bone and flesh alike as it drove home into its chest. That blow left it barely standing, and now pale green blood flowed freely from its mouth as internal damage poured the fluid into its lungs and stomach.

Gritting its teeth and sp asking through the bubbles of blood erupting from its mouth, the creature taunted the big man. "You will die, Prisoner, like these others, but more pain". The words were spoken in common, though the scent was strange, as if recited rather than coming naturally.

It's grip on the rifle changed, dropping the left hand so the weapon was only handled by the right arm. The left fist clenched, and two shards of jagged bone erupted from the knuckles like deadly blades of a short tactical sword. With a snarl it drove these new weapons towards Gorn.

swift action change grip, move action unsheath bone claws, attack on Gorn

attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 161d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Again the big humans armour proved more than enough, and the weapons screeched along the metal casing before slipping harmlessly past him.

A shout from the left caught them all of guard as two more of the creatures suddenly emerged from the corridor there. They had obviously responded to the sound of combat and emerged from the locked room, weapons at the ready. One of them ducked into cover of the corridor, while the other rushed forwards into combat with twitch, its bone claws already unsheathed and ready to kill.

K4 opens door then moves into cover in the corridor, gun in hand but unable to shoot through action expenditure. K3 moves through opened door and engages Twitch in melee

attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 171d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

The bone claws catch the little Ysoki and score a wounding hit to his arm, but more a shock than any real damage.

To add to the chaos, a roar of anger and pain erupted from another room, followed by the yapping barks of the Baghra and a series of small arms shots ringing out. It seemed Tekumsah and the dog men were having issues of their own.

No probs on the dice rolls, I'll keep them public :). It is a speed issue for me more than anything else, but I'll get better at it as we go

As for non lethal, as stated it's more about hitting less vital areas, or maybe blasting the panel off the wall above its head that then knocks it out

initiative groups are (1) Gorn, Tuk'Yik, Twitch, (2) Enemy, (3) trellik, Andretta

map incoming. I did the rolls before the combat description. I then preview and apply results as needed. You'll note K2 didn't use the attack I rolled for it after finding it had failed it's will save. In future I may just roll dice at home and post results. It makes it easier for me to run the combats. Depends if folks are happy with that though

round two is up. K1 is dead. K2 is in cover between two pods, but that can be by passed in close combat.

map beginning round 2

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8 initiative

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 171d6 ⇒ 4 k1

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 71d6 ⇒ 2k2

1d20 ⇒ 2 will save

Gorn charged into the room, barreling into the closest creature and driving his armoured fist into the things skull. Bone splintered and pale blood sprayed from its mouth as the blow drove its head sidewards.

Tuk'Yik drew on his mental reserves and drove his words into the other beats head. The power behind that thought stunned the creature, forcing the weapon from its hands. It clattered to the ground, the bone making a strange noise as it splashed into the goop on the ground. It remained attached to its arm via a long cartilage tube seemingly growing from its forearm.

Twitch brought his weapon up an around, trying to target the mind numbed enemy, but his finger squeezed the trigger a moment to soon and the shot careened of one of the pods behind it.

With the initial shock of the charge over, both the new enemies reacted with violence. Gorn opponent took a careful step back and opened up with its gun. The weapon sent a solid slug if bone into the chest of the big human, knocking him backwards slightly from the force guarded step backwards, shooting Gorn

The second creature bent to pick up its weapon and ducked back against the wall, taking cover within the pods picks up weapon, moves into cover

Trellik knew instinctively these were the ones who had murdered the sentients now lying on the floor. He lifted his rifle, managing to kick a glob of slime into the things face as he took aim. It turned its already battered face to avoid the slop, and that was all the opening the Ysoki needed. His rifle barked out its song of death and exploded its head in a gory mess.