Orion Borealis's page

"I can try, but I wouldn't bank on it working," Orion replied.

His doshko swiped through the core of the outsider. It did not spill blood, but a dark gap remained, filled with wind and arcs of electricity. It was almost finished.

Benny and Zeph recognized the creature attacking Emersohn as a lightning elemental, a creature from the plane of air.

When the elemental attacked Emersohn, Emersohn, Scherzo, and Zeph were hiding in a line behind some debris piled up at the north end of the heap, with Orion further east from the elemental. He was too far from it to attack it with his doshko or claws or even his newly acquired tactical pike. He could run around the pile of debris to try to get at it from the south, but Benny and the two goblins were blocking his path to the enemy. So he stepped a bit further east as he pulled his laser rifle from where it was slung on his back.

He fired, but the laser beam passed just over the being's head to be lost in the cloudy mass that appeared as hair blown by a gale wind.

Yakman wrote:

...if I were to be their GM, they should expect to be a primary target.

Almost goes without saying for any strong large character. Easy to spot, easy to shoot.

Except in Starfinder, there are no size modifiers to AC. So the only effect on ranged attacks would be where cover was involved and in many cases, the large size would only change cover to partial cover.

The limited reach can be partly overcome with reach weapons. And the lack of reach is not so much a disadvantage, since 5 ft. reach is the same as small and medium size PCs. They threaten more squares (12 compared to 9) and hence make it harder to move past without dealing with AOO. And even without a weapon drawn, the uplifted bear can make AOOs against those that try to move through their threatened squares.

Another disadvantage of a large creature is the need to squeeze through hallways and doors meant for medium size creatures. There is the TIght Fit feat, however, which mitigates that.

I am drawing inspiration for my Uplifted Bear character from the intelligent polar bears of the Golden Compass.

So far I'm enjoying the possibilities. As a solider class, there are a great many ways to optimize an uplifted bear for melee combat.

I'm interested in the singing disk, partly for the reasons discussed above. I'm curious how people envision it. Is there a picture of the weapon or of a character wielding the weapon?

It is a melee weapon. The rules state it is a melee weapon is a "handheld weapon that must touch a target to deal damage." But it is dealing sonic damage. How does a weapon that has to touch the target to deal damage transmit sonic damage? Sound can travel through solids and liquids, so this would seem to imply that the disk vibrates and the sonic energy transfers through the solid disk into the hit target. So I would think it would be the size of a frisbee or discus but with a hole in the center to make it easier to wield without throwing it.

The description suggests it makes audible sounds when used in attacks: "When the weapon is swung or thrown, the perforations cause the air flowing through them to vibrate with a range of sonic frequencies like hundreds of voices singing simultaneously. The disks can sound quite lovely, but the sonic frequencies they create are unforgiving to the body and inner ear, and can muddle the mind."

So if the weapon has to touch the target and the wielder is holding the weapon, how does the weapon not do sonic damage to the one wielding the weapon?

The other way to interpret this is that the weapon doesn't technically need to strike the target to do damage. The weapon must just move close enough to the target for the sound to be intense enough to do damage. This would eliminate the question of the weapon doing damage to the wielder.

Or does the weapon have to touch the torso or head where vital organs take the brunt of the sonic damage, but the wielder's organs are not affected.

How to those who use this weapon envision the weapon working?

By the way, I think this is a great weapon to add the returning weapon fusion.

Orion nodded. "If you say we should, I'm not going to argue. I'm with you."

Orion spoke first. "I believe we should deliver the ship. We were hired to get it for him and it's never a good idea to reneg on a deal, especially when dealing with organized crime. If he tries to renege, we deal with it. But we keep our word."

Orion gave the dustar and the monitor an additional hack with his blade, partly to be sure the two robots were truly defeated and partly to work off some of his pent-up energy. He had felt self-conscious for a long time with the group. He was hired to act as muscle for situations such as the space goblins in Qabaret or the bar on Aucturn, but he had not lived up to his own expectations. While everyone else was busy piloting or working on computers or acting as negotiators or sneaking about, he had to just stand around waiting for something to fight. Finally, he had brought his training fully to bear and made the difference between success and failure.

He soaked up the congratulations and pats of affection from the others as the success at their mission started to seem assured.

Orion took one more mighty swing with his doshko and almost cut the monitor's upper torso in half. It collapsed into a heap once its central power core was destroyed. Orion ran around some crates to attack the dustar next.

Orion roared, the pain of the electric shock pushing into a frenzy. He dropped his rifle and moved forward, drawing his doshko. For once, he had an open space that gave him plenty of room to swing his doshko most effectively. The blade connected solidly and drove into the monitor's side, causing a massive surge of sparks and fluids.

Orion advanced down the hall and threw a stickybomb grenade at the room. I only managed to stick to the other guard, who got seriously wrapped up in the sticky strands. That guard fired his numbing beam twice. One of the beams hit Orion with the same chilling effect as Emersohn experienced.

Orion was last to enter, squeezing through a door meant for smaller humanoids. He got in and slapped control that closed the door behind him.

Orion finally got his doshko where it needed to be to cut into the hobgoblin closest to him.

Orion began his frenzied fighting style with a roar and a swing of his doshko at the closes hobgoblin. The blade penetrated the trooper's shoulder.

Orion fired two more rapid shots but both missed. He dropped the rifle and prepared to finish the fight with his Doshko.

Orion moved back out of range of the hobgoblin taclashes and pulled out the rifle slung on his back and fired a round at the injured Gleka. The bullet hit him in the shoulder.

Orion tried to hit Glaka with his claws but the cramped quarters limited his options and he could not hit.

Orion tries to hit the same trooper that Emersohn attacked, but failed to get his claws into his hide.

Orion swiped at the hound biting him, but missed. His frenzied fighting style finally overtaxed him, and he was forced to fight more carefully and with less energy.

Orion tried to swing a paw at the hobhound gripping Shasta, but he underestimated the distance and his claws swished through the air harmlessly.

This should have occurred just before Benny's action above.

Orion roared and tried to hit each hobhound with his mighty claws. But the creatures were elusive and he did not hit either one.

Orion was closest to the beasts. He was not carrying his doshko, but he did not need a weapon to inflict lethal wounds. He shambled closer, his fighting frenzy kicking in. He hit the closest hound and left a line of deep claw wounds.

Orion rose again, still in a fighting frenzy. He was too far from Morgar to attack her right away so he edged closer, gripping his doshko menacingly.

Orion roared again and swung his doshko forcefully at the creature, but missed.

Orion rose, revitalized by Benny's healing magic. He picked up his doshko as he stood, roared in anger, and gave the crate fiend ten feet away a powerful slash.

Orion flailed at Horizon with both big paws, but the solarian was avoiding them both.

Orion roars in anger at Horizon's wounding of Scherzo. He drops his doshko and rushes at Horizon with both paws, trying to slash the drow. He misses, but one of the attack slams into his body only to be stopped by his armor.

Orion moved to stand behind Scherzo, his doshko on his shoulder. "Cubby?" he said, his deep voice rumbling. "Why not let the lady help you out."

Orion ran at this leech that attacked Shasta, but his doshko passed just above it.

Orion emerged from the airlock to the starboard edge of the hull. He bellowed a war cry, which was only heard by the other crew members over their comm units, indicating he was working himself into a fighting frenzy. He swung his doshko at the nearest leech which had just sent a power discharge at Benny. The big blade sliced the leech in two, sending globules of blood drifting into the space along with the two halves of the dead leech.

Orion gave a roar of triumph.

"I worked in a mine for a while, until it collapsed and almost buried me alive. Before that I spent some time on the mean streets of a company town. Don't show fear and keep your weapons in view, is my advice."

Orion shrugged and said, "Damn 'bot scorched me but no harm done."

Orion swang his doshko at the 'bot again, doing more damage. The disguise fell away and its movements were shaky.

Orion cried out to his team, "Emersohn's down! Get over here!" His anger at the junkbot surged and he swung his dosko with such force that he split its casing and caused circuits to spark. But it did not disable the construct.

Orion noted Emersohn's fall and realized he had to get back and deal with the junkbot. Before leaving, he took a swipe at the goblin wielding the blade and pistol. His paw, which was as big as the goblin's chest, smacked him so hard, the sneek thief dropped his weapons and fell off the side of the truck.

Orion then turned and raced back toward the front of the cargo moving.

Orion roared as he ran at the space goblin on the back end of the truck, but his attack with his clawed hand missed the little guy.

Orion was the first to react, popping the back hatch on the cargo rig and leaping from the vehicle to run to the end of the truck, doshko in hand. He ran between the trailer a parked truck. He could see one goblin up on the trailer about to grab a crate. Nearby was a food vendor stall with several people next to it.

Orion spoke next. "There is not much to my story, I'm afraid. I grew up on Verces, keeping to the wilder parts on the twilight zone of the dark side. But life was hard for my family and I have been trying to work my way to a position where I can start sending credits to my family. I work as a security expert, which mostly means I'm a mercenary. I'd like to work with a science team. My dream is to be able to take my whole family to Ferra-7. But for now, I'm the muscle for freakin' EJ Corp. I've no love for the Company but I will not let you down."

Orion set down his doshko and longarm before standing upright in the ship. The helmet on his furry white head just brushed against the high ceiling.

"I'd like to see everyone's ID. Just a routine security check, since we don't really know who's who. Wouldn't want someone unauthorized on board."

He pointed his comm unit at each person and then at their corporate badge. The comm unit projected a small holographic head image that slowly rotated. With a tap of his large fingers, the image shifted to a full body reproduction. He confirmed each person. Then he called Emersohn and Shasta out to be confirmed.

"Thank you," he said when done. "One more thing. Before we ship out, I'll need to catalogue everybody's weapons. Those who cast spells can identify any that can be used as weapons. Just snap a shot with your comm unit and attach it to the form you should have on your units. Include any ammo as well. Finally, if you have any other valuables you'd like to declare, catelogue that as well. That saves trouble if something goes missing or ends up in the wrong crew member's manipulators."

Orion spoke as if he had said this before in other situations.