It's a tough mission, but you guys did really well. With five players you got to face slightly stronger enemies and that final dragon fight doesn't have an option to scale down for 4 players, so you were playing hard mode.
The ship combat fiasco, I'm going to lay on my plate. I'm sorry. Every ship combat that I've run has been less than optimal. Happy to hear any ideas on how I could get it to move faster or play smoother.
Working on chronicles, still expecting a day job roll from Voldresk, if applicable .
Limping slowly the team follows Lola toward the central room. The forcefield barring the openings is gone.
The finely crafted stairs spiral down to a vault where various strangely shaped bottles and cryptic devices are stored on shelves: the Dreamer’s relics.
With the relics retrieved you make your way back to the ship. Venture-Captain Arvin contacts you on the flight back to Absalom Station. Arvin
is extremely happy, and invites you to personally hand over the relics to Whisperer of Solar Winds. Exactly how these relics may prove beneficial to the Society is as of yet unknown, but Venture-Captain Arvin and the scholars of the Communion Vaults are eager to hear what potent visions Whisperer of Solar Winds might bestow upon them in the future.
Thus concludes the scenario. Please roll your day job if applicable.
BTW, excellent work on that combat. Kanavu has real potential to kill someone especially if his debuffs really take hold.
Stone walls covered with purple runes. The round tablet-topped altar. There's nothing in this room that the dragon is obviously guarding. However glancing through the doorway you came in through, you can see the yellow runes in the circular chamber have disappeared.
By my reading excess damage after 0, doesn't count unless it exceeds your normal total HP, in which case you die. So Idir was at 0. My notation may have been less then truly commmunicative.
Voldresk fires over his two threatened teammates, just as Kanavu lunges forward for another bite. The slug rifles into the dragon's gaping jaws and explodes out the back of its head, streaming darkness. The dragon stops moving and limply hangs in space.
Over the course of the next few minutes the dragon and its wreath of smoke-like shadow evaporates.
Kanavu twists into his own shadows and Idir's shot is lost, hissless, in the gloom. The dromada is staring in disappointment when Kanavu riposte's by lunging at him and its teeth bite deeply. The dragon follows up with a second lunge, as painful as the first.
AoO and regular attack with reach. Both hit for 23 points of damage. which will put Idir at 0 (-2).
Idir is dying:
While dying, you lose 1 Resolve Point each round at the end of your turn. (If your Hit Points reached 0 during your turn, such as from an attack of opportunity you provoked, you do not lose a Resolve Point until the end of your next turn.) This continues until either you die or stabilize (see Stabilizing below). So if no one rescues you, you might as well stabilize by spending an RP to stabilize as described below.
Stabilizing
Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 250
There are several ways to stabilize a dying creature, including first aid, healing, and spending Resolve Points. Once stable, you are no longer dying and no longer lose Resolve Points, but you still have 0 Hit Points and are unconscious.
First Aid
You can stabilize a dying creature and keep it from losing any more Resolve Points with a successful DC 15 Medicine check.
Healing
You can stabilize a dying creature and keep it from losing any more Resolve Points with any sort of healing, such as the stabilize spell. Healing that raises a dying creature’s Hit Points to 1 or higher makes it conscious and fully functional again, just as if it had never been reduced to 0 HP.
Using Resolve Points
If you are dying and have enough Resolve Points, you can use them to stabilize. If you’re stable, you can use Resolve Points to regain consciousness and stay in the fight (see below).
Stabilize
If you are dying and you have enough Resolve Points, you can spend a number of Resolve Points equal to one-quarter your maximum (minimum 1 RP, maximum 3 RP) on your turn to immediately stabilize. This means you’re no longer dying, but you remain unconscious and at 0 HP. If you don’t have enough Resolve Points remaining, you cannot use this option and continue to lose Resolve Points as normal as per the dying rules.
Stay In The Fight
If you are stable and have enough Resolve Points, or if you were knocked unconscious from nonlethal damage (see page 252), you can spend 1 RP at the beginning of your turn to regain 1 HP. You are no longer dying, immediately become conscious, and can take the rest of your turn as normal. You can spend Resolve Points to regain Hit Points only if you are at 0 HP and stable, and you cannot regain more than 1 HP in this way. You can’t spend Resolve Points to stabilize and to stay in the fight in the same round.
Long-Term Stability
If you are unconscious and stable but lack the Resolve Points to stay in the fight, there is a chance you will eventually recover on your own. After 1 hour elapses, you must attempt a Constitution check (see Ability Checks on page 242). If the result of this check is 20 or higher, you regain 1 HP and become conscious again. If the result of the check is at least 10 but less than 20, you don’t regain any Hit Points, but you remain stable and you must attempt another Constitution check 1 hour later. If the result of the check is 9 or lower, you die. You must continue attempting a Constitution check once per hour until you regain consciousness or until you die. After 8 hours, if you have not regained consciousness or died, you regain consciousness and recover 1 HP per character level, as if you had a full night’s rest (see Recovering Hit Points Naturally below).
If a healer or medic is tending you are while you are unconscious and stable, the attendant can attempt a DC 15 Medicine check each hour before you attempt your Constitution check. If the Medicine check is successful, you gain a +2 bonus to your Constitution check, and if your Constitution check result is less than 10, you treat it as if the result were a 10.
Constitution Check Result Outcome
20 or higher Heal 1 HP, regain consciousness
10–19 Remain stable, attempt new check in 1 hour
9 or lower Die
Initiative/Status: Round 3 - Everyone to go!
Kanavu : -2 AC 3 rounds -39 HP
Lola : 0 SP, 1 HP
Idir : 0 SP (-2) HP shaken 1 rounds
K.Joro : 0 SP 6 HP
Voldresk : unshaken
GM stuff:
Nightmare bite, AoO:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (19) + 12 = 31 ... damage:1d6 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11 P DC 12 will save or shaken
Nightmare bite:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28 ... damage:1d6 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12 P DC 12 will save or shaken
Kanavu breath available in round 7
Lola : immune to aura
Idir :
K.Joro : immune to aura and bite
Voldresk :
SOrry. Stay-cation this week and I'm prioritizing time with my wife. Will post as able, but probably slow.
Damaged and fragile, Lola backs carefully away. Sensing an easy kill Kanavu follows and lunges to bite again, but the Stafinder fends off the attack.
Initiative/Status: Round 2 - Everyone to go!
Kanavu : -2 AC 3 rounds -39 HP
Lola : 0 SP, 1 HP
Idir : -5 SP shaken 2 rounds
K.Joro : 0 SP 6 HP
Voldresk : unshaken
GM stuff:
Nightmare bite:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23 ... damage:1d6 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12 P DC 12 will save or shaken
Odd. I've never seen the system change the roll after a preview before. I will roll with what I originally had.
Kanavu breath available in round 7
Lola : immune to aura
Idir :
K.Joro : immune to aura and bite
Voldresk :
Kanavu recoils. "Fools! can you defeat the nightmare? Leave now and you may yet live."
Careful move as shown.
The dragon draws itself to its full height, then plunges its head down and slews it to the right. Shadows like oil-smoke and grey ash burst from its mouth and engulf Lola and Idir. Voldresk is safe behind his wall.
11 damage. DC 12 reflex for half. No will save required.
Initiative/Status: Round 2 - Everyone to go!
Kanavu : -2 AC 4 rounds -31 HP
Lola : 0 SP, 6 HP Save pending 11 damage
Idir : shaken 3 rounds Save pending 11 damage
K.Joro : Will save pending
Voldresk : shaken 1 rounds
Ah the viscitudes of PbP. OK I think we can retcon this without disturbing the flow. Alert the Herd gives Lola an extra set of actions in round 1, not subject to the shaken condition, without flanking from Joro.
Blind fear works for Idir. He hears the dragon hiss in pain again. When he opens his eyes, he sees a burnt spot on its chest adding its smoke to the dragon's smoke-like shadows.
You guys batted for the cycle. Well done.
Initiative/Status: Round 1 - Herd Alerted Lola to go
.
(Herd Lola)
Kanavu : -2 AC 4 rounds -23 HP
Lola : 0 SP, -4 HP
Idir : shaken 3 rounds
K.Joro : Will save pending
Voldresk : shaken 1 rounds
Knitter Joro dashes in front of the dragon to flank it. He may be fast, but Kanavu is quicker. The dragon snaps at Joro with large and pointed teeth. He's got reach. I can't find a route that let's you get close enough to strike without an AoO. 10 damage, and a Will save please.
Despite the bite, Joro plunges his ice needle deep into the dragon and draws another angry hiss.
Lola stands in bravely, and confuses Kanavu with a flurry of lights. She takes advantage to score her own hit, drawing a third hiss. Wow, symmetrically bad luck on your damage rolls.
Initiative/Status: Round 1
.
Kanavu : -2 AC 4 rounds -17 HP
Lola : 0 SP, -4 HP shaken 1 round
Idir : Will save pending
K.Joro : Will save pending
Voldresk : shaken 2 rounds
Idir to save and go. Then Kavanu.
GM stuff:
T:V,L,I?:3d4 ⇒ (2, 1, 4) = 7 Nightmare bite:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27 ... damage:1d6 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 P DC 12 will save or shaken
Lola : immune to aura
Idir :
K.Joro : immune to aura
Voldresk :
The dragon looks on intently while Lola fits the pieces into the main body on the tablet. The pieces seem drawn to their places as if magnetized. The last one actually pulls from Lola's fingers and clicks into its cavity. The tablet glows briefly and the cracks fade away.
The dragon swirls and grows in an intensifying cloud of black smoke.
"Thank you, foolish children! Now begone! I am Kanavu the Deceiver and this prize is mine! "
Fear rolls off the dragon like a tidal wave that engulfs the Starfinders. It doesn't wait for compliance with its order, but snaps immediately at the closest Starfinder, Lola. 10 damage and an extra DC 12 Will Save.
Everyone please roll a DC 12 will save or be shaken.
Initiative:
Kanavu
Lola 0 SP, -4 HP 2 Will saves
Idir Will save
K.Joro Will save
Voldresk Will save
Shaken:
You take a –2 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks while you have the shaken condition. If you are already shaken and then become subject to an additional effect that would cause you to be shaken, the duration of the shaken condition increases by the duration of the second effect.
Mysticism, DC 15:
This is a nightmare dragon, a natural enemy to the Dreamers, and something is not right about its claims to be a willing guardian. I'll also take this roll as a knowledge roll. For every 5 above 12 that you roll you may request a special bit of additional information about Kavanu.
"You've retrieved the missing pieces? The prophecies are realized! Place them here on the altar and claim your just reward."
The dragon moves aside to let Lola approach the altar. (The pink dot) Coming closer she can see a cracked stone tablet lying atop the altar. Three holes shaped like your fragments mar the tablet's surface.
"I am the Guardian of the Vault. It's been ages since the Dreamers commissioned me to protect their resting place. Only a few have found this place, and they only intent on pillage.
Can you prove yourselves worthy to be here? What form did your invitation take?"
Bolstered by Voldresk's presence, Lola edges forward toward the threshold of the altar room. Joro and Idir trail behind.
Out of shadow in front of the altar, a form slowly coalesces, taking the shape of an ebony dragon with red frills. Its body is terribly contorted and trails shadows.
With a voice like rocks scraping together, it speaks. “Who dares to break the sanctity of this holy resting place?”
Lola peers through the doorway This chamber has not escaped the ravages of time. There are holes in the walls that likely once held doors, and the sandstone tiles on the floor are dirty and broken in places. Softly glowing purple runes cover the interior walls of the chamber, encircling a round altar covered in more runes in the center of the space.
Idir's quick research shows that runes like these are typical of ancient Liavaran Dreamer sites. The sickly green ones often indicate some form of defense or trap has been activated by an agitation in the local zeitgeist. Such a trap can be disabled with proper application of magic, but also with mundane means that lead to a proper frame of mind. Meditation, symbolic motion, or chanting are all suggested means of achieving the proper mental state. It even suggests various incantations. From among the suggestions, the dromada settles on, "Owa tagoo siam," after a few minutes of repetition in four part harmony, the party reaches an amusing revelation about the nature of the chant -- and the green runes transition to the ubiquitous purple.
It is now safe to move about the caverns. But the forcefield around the round room is still up.
Lola and Voldresk step forward suddnely she stops and throws an arm across the vesk's chest to keep him from also stepping forward.
Lola:
Perhaps you're getting mor sensitive to the runes. There are some sickly green ones scattered around the walls ceiling and floors for the next 10 feet. Is it some kind of magical trap?
Only a mysticism check can tell for sure. Not necessarily you, could be anyone you tell about the odd runes.
The forcefield only blocks access to the central circular room with the staircase. You are free to explore the rest of the tunnels and rooms shown on the map.
Lola skirts the edge of the hole to try to get into the central room. When she tries to cross the threshold, the runes on the inside walls, floor and ceiling of the central room flare yellow and a yellow forcefield blocks her passage. The impact unbalances her and for a long heartbeat she teeters for a moment on the edge of the rift, before recovering herself.
She reaches a tentative hand out and earns another, much fainter flare of yellow from the runes inside the room and the air in front of her fingertips also flares and pure focre blocks forward motion.
Ahh. There are more than one sets of stairs.
.
Joro and possibly Lola searched the ruins on the surface (Apr 25) while Idir and Voldresk rested. The surface ruins are utterly barren and eroded. There is no staircase in the central room of the ruins on the surface. The only way forward is to descend through the hole, or take the rough southern stairs that lead to the first level of tunnels.
.
After resting, Lola started exploring. (Sunday) Because there was nothing to find on the surface, and to move things along I retconned her post slightly in my Monday post with "Lola leads the team down the crude stairs (at the south edge of the map) into the tunnels below.... "
.
You are in the tunnels now. Outer perimeter walls and ceiling are native stone. Inner walls, ceiling above the central round room, and all floors are the imported sandstone. The finely crafted staircase in the central round room only goes down.
.
The hole continues down through the first level of tunnels, but there doesn't seem to intersect another lower tunnel.
.
The runes provide dim purple light. Please let me know if you're using a supplementary light source or have better than normal vision.
Lola leads the team down the crude stairs (at the south edge of the map) into the tunnels below. The concentric pattern of the ruins above is repeated down here.
Although the purple runes flash as you pass through, the purple force field parts for you. On the other side you find there's breathable air in the tunnels and your gear is dry of any traces of methane.
On this level the round central room has another very finely constructed staircase that delves deeper into the core.
Three stone fragments and a prophecy, it's not much to go on, and Idir's reference can add nothing to Lola's theory except an alternative explanation that fitting the entire tablet together may open a portal through which shadows, shades of the dead, or psychic projections from the outer planes might enter the physical world.
Eight hours later, the party is refreshed and ready to go.
What fun is that for a hardworking DM who never gets to kill anyone? :-)
Eight hours rest is required to relieve the fatigued condition. Let's say it took 6 hours to get down here going with gravity. You're on a 24 hour clock if you're in first level armor. :-)
The ruins only cover about a quarter acre (.1 hectare) and can be searched in less than an hour. The walls and floor are quite bare. The sandstone has been scoured down by the constant motion of liquid methane, presumably over centuries.
Look at slide 3.
The forcefields are below the core surface and you can tell that the area beyond the forcefields is devoid of liquid methane. Is it air? Is it vacuum? Is it something else? Who knows, but at least you won't have to swim down there.
Down the hole or stairs, dim light is provided by more of the purple runes on the sandstone walls. Strange semi-fluorescent plant life has started to grow in patches along the floor and on the walls.
This outcropping shows obvious signs of erosion. Strange semifluorescent plant life has started to grow along patches of the ground and on the walls of the ruin. A large hole in the sandstone lies to the west, and shimmering inside the hole appears to be a force field made of purple runes. To the south, a set of rough sandstone steps lead to another force field, this one holding back the liquid methane.
The surface of the rocky core can be explored in short order. The sandstone ruins that you landed near are the only point of interest.
Can't remember if I posted this publicly. Gravity is normal once you are on the core. Maybe it's magic. North is up on the map.
So, down the hole or down the stairs?
Lola and Voldresk land beside the Joro. The vesk is tired after his swim, but the human feels fresh.
Voldresk is fatigued. Idir?
Fatigued:
Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 276
You can neither run nor charge, and you take a –1 penalty to your Armor Class, attack rolls, melee damage rolls, thrown weapon damage rolls that add Strength to damage, Reflex saving throws, initiative checks, and Strength- and Dexterity-based skill and ability checks. The amount of bulk you can carry without becoming encumbered is reduced by 1.
If you are already fatigued and would gain the fatigued condition, you lose the fatigued condition and are exhausted for the total duration of all fatiguing effects. After 8 hours of complete rest, you are no longer fatigued.
Because Starfinder authors don't believe in physics? Scenario doesn't say explicitly, but implies proxitimity to the moon's center is the cause. I will personally roll with magic. You can make up your own mind.
There's a physical science check here that I'll give you for that roll. The walls are made of a sandstone that is not compatible with the rest of the stone you've seen on the moon. It may (must?) have come from elsewhere.
still waiting on athletics checks. In my previous post foundations was an ill-chosen word. They are walls about 15' high, but the roof is gone and the wall are crumbling.
As you all get closer you can see a faint purple glow. When you get closer still, the glowing resolves itself into small runes scattered over the walls of the ruin.
Core surface,
Down a set of stairs, purple runes create a force field, holding back the liquid methane.
Joro gains his footing on a rocky outcropping, barely breathing hard. The outcropping is attached to a much larger roughly spherical rock. Through the murky methane he can see the concentric circles of some ruined foundations.
Lola and Idir become disoriented in the swirling liquid methans, but Joro and Voldresk maneuver them and occasional absorb a bad impact for them. The current eventually slows down and the party finds itself gently sinking in the dark cavern of the liquid core.
At the edge of the tunnel you just exited, Lola spots a trio of glowing runes gradually growing dimmer as you sink. Using them and the instructions from the eddy cavern runes, she orients herself, and knows which way to go.
Apparently swimming in liquid methane is hard. You all need to make individual athletics checks to swim. You've come through the tunnels in very good shape and for your successes you get +4 on the athletics roll.
The runes give directions to 'the Dreamer's Bed' or 'Resting Place'.
Third Team success! The next challenge
Confident they're on the home stretch, the party pushes out of the chamber and back into the main current.
Their confidence is short-lived because the current grows faster and turbulent. It turns and spins the party members and threatens to dash them into the tunnel walls or impale them on the occassional stalagtite and stalagmite.
Last team challenge. You can try either a higher Acrobatics check or lower Fortitude save.
Voldresk develops a plan and Knitter Joro provides the muscle to send a number of large stones tumbling downstream. The party is able to continue.
Team Success!
Beyond the now-opened rockfall an eddy deposits you in a circular chamber. Strange glowing runes on the walls provide dim light as you swirl slowly along the wall, driven by the eddy.
Third challenge is a Culture or Mysticism check to decipher the runes.
Knitter Joro and Voldresk agree that the left tunnel will lead deeper. And it does. Success
A few more splits are successfully negotiated and farther down you find your path nearly blocked by a rockfall. The current through the obstruction is strong enough to indicate the tunnel will open again on the far side. Engineering or Strength check, please.
Hmmm. I swear I didn't see Joro's post last time I posted. Two successes is sufficient.
Lola and Idir both make valiant individual efforts, but working alone is difficult.
Knitter Joro tries more fibercaft wizardry to hold the party together, but he's come to the end of his line.
Voldresk's grappling cable gets the party close enough that they can claw their way on their stomachs over the last stretch of ground to reach the tunnel entrance. Thankfully, the entrance is shielded from the wind and after short rest you're all ready to continue.
Descending a short distance into the tunnel you reach the liquid methane. It fills the tunnel and you must swim to go deeper toward the core.
Soon you reach another challenge. The tunnel splits. Which way should you go?
Four more team skills challenges. For the first one, roll Perception or Physical Science. Only one of you needs to succeed.
Voldresk's improvisation pays off, and the party is able to advance safely.
HA! That's actually mentioned in the scenario as a tactic that does better than aid another. That's a guaranteed success! (But it won't work again.)
.
Idir and Joro still to roll for round 2. Can roll to add to or supercede Lola's acrobatics or try something else.
The rest of the team anchors Lola so that she doesn't blow away. With the others' arms and legs and bodies providing hand and footholds, she pulls herself to the front of the group. At the same time she also helps steady the others when the winds back and veer.
Seventeen is a good start toward a success in acrobatics.
Voldresk improvises cleats for everyone to improve their footing.
I'll take that as a clever aid another if you make cleats for the whole team.
Thus equipped, Idir makes a very strong start, but it's Knitter Joro's surprisingly strong yarn that really enables the group to make progress.
Scenario expressly states the highest roll will be primary. You guys have succeeded in round 1.
.
That leaves Lola to go for this round. All rolls of the same kind in a round get considered as a primary and aids. So an athletics check in round 1 will have no effect. She could try a different skill in round 1, or pass. Just let me know.
To save time let's have everyone roll round 2 now also, and I'll retcon round 1 if she succeeds. Athletics is still available if you want to try it again.
Standing in your ship's airlock looking toward the tunnel.
As advertised Preahan’s surface is wind scoured rocks and hunks of methane ice. And predictably enough, a snowstorm rages as you arrive, but the flakes are solid methane instead of water. You land near the tunnel that leads to the interior of the moon but covering even such a short distance is dangerous with the high winds and low gravity.
The winds count as hurricane-force winds. Coupled with the low gravity of the moon, there is a serious chance of PCs being blown away.
.
This is a team scramble skill challenge: As a team you need to succeed at three skill checks. The DC is high enough that a single character is unlikely to succeed rolling solo. Your choices are :
Athletics to brave the storm,
Acrobatics to try to keep your balance in the buffeting winds and low gravity,
Survival to find a relatively protected path between the outcroppings to shield you from the wind.
.
Or do something clever.
.
Let's take it in three rounds. Roll your first round's actions.
Let's drop Thundergun and press on with just the four of you. That leaves Idir to say whether he wants any new gear.
.
You're not ready to swim just yet. Have to get you into the tunnel first.
Can't argue the silly. The big advantage for scuba is the swim speed. (See the two scuba outfit stats in discussion thread.) Not sure which I prefer. And the armor prohibition doesn't make sense for those light armors that are described as skin-tight.
I hope you don't get into a stupid space fight too. In fact I'm going to move you onto the moon's surface. You may still buy equipment in your next post.
Open after making your decision on new gear:
As advertised Preahan’s surface is wind scoured rocks and hunks of methane ice. And predictably enough, a snowstorm rages as you arrive, but the flakes are solid methane instead of water. You land near the tunnel that leads to the interior of the moon but covering even such a short distance is dangerous with the high winds and low gravity.
The winds count as hurricane-force winds. Normally this only causes a risk of being blown over, but coupled with the low gravity of the moon, there is a serious chance of PCs being blown away. .
.
This is a team scramble skill challenge: As a team you need to succeed at three skill checks. The DC is high enough that a single character is unlikely to succeed rolling solo. Your choices are :
Athletics to brave the storm,
Acrobatics to try to keep your balance in the buffeting winds and low gravity,
Survival to find a relatively protected path between the outcroppings to shield you from the wind.
Do something clever.
.
Let's take it in three rounds. Roll your first round's actions.
