"Where have you gone, you devious deviants? Disabling my cameras won't change your fate. You'll still end up as feedstock for future Joros!"
I've arranged your icons outside the door.
The door is locked. Kuozar has to borrows tools from Thundergun, but he's able to bypass the lock. He nods to tell the rest of the group he's ready and picks up his rifle. He shoulders the door aside.
Kuozar, engineering to unlock door:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25
"Ahh! There you are!"
This octagonal room displays neatly organized posters that show detailed technical breakdowns of cloning technology and procedures. A single computer interface stands in the corner, its wide screen peppered with square security camera feeds and minimized tabs of machine command sequences.
The First Joro stands in front of that computer. He looks like the other Joros, but leaner, and a permanent frown replaces the nearly perpetual Joro grin. He's wearing light armor and snatches a metal disc off his side-table.
Stell takes out the first light-camera from well beyond its range. The second doesn't even see her; it's panning away when she pops from behind the corner to fire.
The drone sees her, and retreats. around a corner.
The double doors swing open into a room dominated by a large tank surrounded by the now-familiar maze of pipes and conduit. Between it and you is a substantial control panel.
More of the machinery to create clones. You already discovered all that you could learn here. Where to next?
Stell leads the party out and into the hall. When she reaches the north running hallway, she peeks around the corner. There's another camera-plus on the wall to the south.
Yellow circle. You can see the glowing lightbulb and spray of illumination. You'll need an initiative check if you want to approach or engage it.
Kuozar's laser slices the Joro-ooze in half. It joins its fellow as a puddle of inert organics.
Which is really all you need to know it, in terms of survival, but life is so much more than survival....
Stell please give me 1d6 ⇒ 3 fort saves.
Yellow circles show all the light-camera-sprayer assemblies that you interacted with so far. You walked past two that didn't fire on you. So beware those little balls of light.
Examining the control consoles and vats : DC 15 Computers or Life Science:
The target organic compound proportions in the western vat are all identical and indicative of an adult human, while the neural codes in the eastern tank are all nearly identical.
Life science DC 19:
The creatures were conglomerates of faulty Joro-coded biomass. The malleable biomass contains regenerative cellular properties that can heal wounds.
If a PC succeeds at a Life Science or Medicine check as a standard action to inject the proper proportions of biomass into a creature, that creature immediately recovers 5 Hit Points and can spend a Resolve Point to recover Stamina Points without needing to take a 10-minute rest. Each creature contains enough biomass for two doses.
Due to bio-compatibility, the DC for this check on a human subject, will be easy. For a well-trained practitioner working on a non-human subject, the roll will be close to 50-50. Penalties for failure will likely be mild.
Idir's laser turns a tiny fragment of this Joro-ooze into steam.
Thundergun is thinking about many things and misses.
I'll give you this: it's immune to crits. Life science is the right skill to identify. TG just didn't roll high enough.
On the other topic, you are locked out of the security system so you can't bring the whole system down. You can disable each light-camera-sprayer unit individually.
Kuozar finally catches a break. The thing steps up and attacks Stell. It's her turn to feel sick.
11 damage and Stell needs a fort save. TG gets an AoO if he has reach. It moves one square up on the map, but I can't edit the map right now. Everyone is up.
Stell and Kuozar both land their shots. It clutches at its chest. The limb flows and merges into its torso, and another arm, smoothly and thinly haired human-like instead of nuar-like sprouts from an outgrowth about where a shoulder would be.
Kuozar feels momentarily better.
INit/status. Thundergun and Idir to go.
Idir
Thundergun
Stell-Z 18 damage non-lethal
Kuozar 21 damage. Sickened 5 rounds ?
THEM (27 damage)
The thing's motion is too strange and uneven. Thundergun's punch misses while it reassembles itself.
Idir screams some pretty good advice.
Striking Kuozar, the thing morphs. It sprouts dark patchy fur and oddly angled horns. The speakers blare, "HA! You felt that I bet. Welcome to a normal life you horned freak!"
At the thing's touch, Kuozar is suddenly sickened. He feels queasy and weak. Nevertheless, he's able to land his shot.
Sickened : You take a –2 penalty to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks for 1d6 ⇒ 6 rounds.
Stell is marvelously deceptive, but still can't land a hit.
Thundergun lands a heavy blow on the largest nuar-like portion of this thing. The blow would fell an Oxolian horn-beast, but this thing isn't made of normal tissue. It feels more like punching pudding than flesh.
"AND you, my pretty! Feel this! And your big friend too!" Needle sprays erupt from two of the three light/camera fixtures on the far wall.
And you do feel it like a sandstorm on your armor. Thundergun's armor holds up and protects him fully. Stell's armor does a creditable job, but maybe because she's closer to the nozzles some gets through. She feels a thousand little cuts. 18 damage and make a Fort save or be weakened.
The thing moves purposefully, carefully, toward Kuozar and Stell. It a well-formed fist drives toward the nuar, smashing into his face. In tones quite like Kuozar's, it says, "Give me my gun!" 11 damage and please make a new save.
Round 2 INit/status. Everyone is up.
Idir
Thundergun
Stell-Z 18 damage non-lethal SAve required.
Kuozar 21 damage. Sickened 6 rounds
THEM (7 damage)
Weakened
The victim takes a –2 penalty to Strength-based ability checks, attack rolls, damage rolls, and skill checks, and the DCs of his spells and special abilities decrease by 2. The victim’s total carrying capacity is reduced by two-thirds (minimum 1 bulk), and he gains the encumbered condition regardless of how much he is carrying.
Disable Engineering DC 19 (jam injection mechanism)
Trigger touch; Reset manual (Engineering DC 19) Effect dart +13 ranged (6d6 P plus Joro morphogen; critical
injection DC +2)
Type poison (injury); Save Fortitude DC 12 Track Charisma (special); Frequency 1/round for 4 rounds Effect progression track is Healthy—Weakened—Impaired— Pliable (end state)
Special Hit Point damage inflicted by Joro morphogen is nonlethal damage. Joros are immune to this poison.
The thing's motion is too strange and uneven. Thundergun's punch misses while it reassembles itself.
Idir screams some pretty good advice.
Striking Kuozar, the thing morphs. It sprouts dark patchy fur and oddly angled horns. The speakers blare, "HA! You felt that I bet. Welcome to a normal life you horned freak!"
At the thing's touch, Kuozar is suddenly sickened. He feels queasy and weak. Nevertheless, he's able to land his shot.
Sickened : You take a –2 penalty to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks for 1d6 ⇒ 6 rounds.
Stell is marvelously deceptive, but still can't land a hit.
Thundergun lands a heavy blow on the largest nuar-like portion of this thing. The blow would fell an Oxolian horn-beast, but this thing isn't made of normal tissue. It feels more like punching pudding than flesh.
"AND you, my pretty! Feel this! And your big friend too!" Needle sprays erupt from two of the three light/camera fixtures on the far wall.
And you do feel it like a sandstorm on your armor. Thundergun's armor holds up and protects him fully. Stell's armor does a creditable job, but maybe because she's closer to the nozzles some gets through. She feels a thousand little cuts. 18 damage and make a Fort save or be weakened.
The thing moves purposefully, carefully, toward Kuozar and Stell. It a well-formed fist drives toward the nuar, smashing into his face. In tones quite like Kuozar's, it says, "Give me my gun!" 11 damage and please make a new save.
Round 2 INit/status. Everyone is up.
Idir
Thundergun
Stell-Z 18 damage non-lethal SAve required.
Kuozar 10 damage. Sickened 6 rounds
THEM (7 damage)
Weakened
The victim takes a –2 penalty to Strength-based ability checks, attack rolls, damage rolls, and skill checks, and the DCs of his spells and special abilities decrease by 2. The victim’s total carrying capacity is reduced by two-thirds (minimum 1 bulk), and he gains the encumbered condition regardless of how much he is carrying.
Disable Engineering DC 19 (jam injection mechanism)
Trigger touch; Reset manual (Engineering DC 19) Effect dart +13 ranged (6d6 P plus Joro morphogen; critical
injection DC +2)
Type poison (injury); Save Fortitude DC 12 Track Charisma (special); Frequency 1/round for 4 rounds Effect progression track is Healthy—Weakened—Impaired— Pliable (end state)
Special Hit Point damage inflicted by Joro morphogen is nonlethal damage. Joros are immune to this poison.
These guys are pretty rare. Thundergun doesn't recognize them.
Thundergun's pulse gauntlet jabs air because the creature melts downward. It flows under the izalguun's torso before rising up and reassembling behind him and striking out at Kuozar with an arm-like psuedopod. It's gross, and, suddenly warm, Kuozar feels his gorge rising.
Thundergun gets an AoO. Kuozar takes 10 damage and needs to make a DC 12 Fort save or be sickened.
Round 1 INit/status. Everyone is up.
Idir
Thundergun 10 damage. save pending
Stell-Z
Kuozar
THEM
Stell totally fakes out the Joro amalgam and blasts it. Kuozar also lands a solid hit despite Stell being in the way. It practically explodes with bits of greenish goo and small pieces of Joro tissue flying everywhere.
"THE PROGRAMMING IS CORRECT! YOU ARE ALL BUGS TO BE QUASHED AND ABSORBED INTO THE GREATER JORO-SPHERE! Kill them, my minions! "
Something begins to ooze out of the machinery around the big tank. Two blobs of dark green biomass flow onto the floor and rise to adopt an approximate humanoid shape. They resemble melted wax sculptures of Joros smashed together and lacks any distinctive identity. They move forward, intent on attack.
Thundergun elevates onto his hind legs and snips the wires to the camera, effectively blinding it.
Meanwhile Kuozar steps up beside Idir and addresses the locked door. It slides open. The nuar frowns. "Not sure I did that."
Gallons of reddish fluid swirl within a giant vat dotted with small dials and computer screens. A large tube protrudes from the vat and extends into a collecting chamber beneath a steel grate to the west. A second vat filled with a light green gas stands between two starship-grade sealed containers, the thick glass barriers rimmed with black-and-yellow striped motifs to indicate caution. Tubes from each vat enter each of the two secured chambers, where they combine into a dark green semigaseous gel. A vacuum tube pulls the gel into a vent at the back of each chamber.
Three lights mounted on the far wall illuminate the doorway. The dazzle from the lights makes it hard to see.
Life Science, Medicine, Profession (Bio-engineer) or Engineering DC 12:
The machines in this room shape new clones by mixing malleable biomass distilled from deceased organisms deposited into the western device and then piping in neural programming gas from area C2 to the finished biomass.
When you get close to the machinery for a better look:
The small monitors on the western tank display gene sequences, target vital signs, and monitor the proportions of organic compounds contained inside the vat, while the eastern vat’s monitors rapidly filter through artificially generated neural codes for memories, skills, temperaments, and other cognitive imprints contained within the stored gas.
After you get closer to machinery, Life Science, or Computers DC 15:
The target organic compound proportions in the western vat are all identical and indicative of an adult human, while the neural codes in the eastern tank are all nearly identical.
Thundergun approaches the light, like all of them there's a camera underneath, and a little nozzle that swings toward the izalguun. There's a flash and a burning sensation on Thundergun's skin.
A measly 4 points of damage. Thundergun can disable it, or you can shoot it to death.
The party advances along the hall and starts to assemble around the door in a relatively well lighted intersection under the watchful eye of a camera....
Afraid of hitting his comrades, Idir blasts the doorframe over their heads.
With all the soft cover Stell and Kuozar provided, it's just as well that you didn't waste a good roll.
Thundergun looks at the cluster of Starfinders by the door, and decides a tactical pincer movement is the best plan.
Kuozar lases the drone again. It falls from its perch on the wall and wobbles as it retreats down the corridor. Thundergun does not even get a glimpse of it.
Drone retreats along the yellow s-shaped curve and then it's lost from view. Stell never discharges her gun.
Somewhere a door clicks shut.
Everyone's up. I don't think you can catch it to stay in combat rounds, but I'll give you all a round to try, or to decide you're done with this fight.
While Thundergun works on the computer, Stell examines the equipment to the northeast. She doesn't find anything but there's another burst of spray from behind her. Her armor protects her again.
Thundergun notices a change to one of his edits.
"I see what you're doing there! Stop it now or I'll lock the cloning system!"
Kuozar:
Nice save. You keep the existing status, but you're not getting any worse.
JORO MORPHOGEN Type poison (injury); Save Fortitude DC 14 Track Charisma (special); Frequency 1/round for 4 rounds Effect progression track is Healthy—Weakened—Impaired— Pliable (end state)
Special Hit Point damage inflicted by Joro morphogen is nonlethal damage. If progression on the Joro morphogen track causes a Charisma-based spellcaster to lose their ability to cast 1st-level spells, they gain proficiency with all disk-shaped weapons and shields and uses their unaltered Charisma modifier instead of her Strength modifier for attack rolls with such items until they regain their ability to
cast 1st-level spells. Joros are immune to this poison
Charisma Poison Track
Healthy—Weakened—Impaired—Pliable—Catatonic—Dead
Weakened
The victim takes a –2 penalty to Charisma-based ability checks and skill checks, and the DCs of her spells and special abilities decrease by 2. If she has 1 or more levels in a spellcasting class whose key ability score is Charisma, she can’t cast her highest level of spells from that class.
Impaired
The victim takes an additional –2 penalty to the affected checks and DCs. If she has 1 or more levels in a spellcasting class whose key ability score is Charisma, she can’t cast her 2 highest levels of spells from that class.
Pliable
The victim has little sense of self and goes along with nearly any order or suggestion. Creatures attempting Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate checks against her automatically succeed, though Diplomacy checks to improve her attitude still have the normal DC.
Catatonic
The victim loses agency and can’t interact with anything.
Dead
The victim loses autonomic functions and dies.
"You've found the clone-prone zone. I"ll bet you think you're so clever, evading my little trap. I'll get you my pretties, and your four-footed friend too."
Stell notices cameras under some wall-mounted lights. Circled in yellow.
Thundergun's computers check is good enough to open the spoiler above.
Stell leans casually on the eastern control panel while making her request. She hears a click, and is just turning to see what it is when a spray of needle-like droplets erupts from the panel. The spray crosses the aisle to clatter and ping against the gas tank opposite.
She was lucky and had just turned enough to avoid being hit.
A quick examination reveals a small articulated nozzle hidden amongst the piping, cabling, and tubing above the control console.
Type technological; Perception DC 24; Disable Engineering DC 19 (jam injection mechanism)
Trigger touch; Reset manual (Engineering DC 19) Effect dart +13 ranged (6d6 P plus Joro morphogen; critical
injection DC +2 DC Save DC 14
You came in on the left edge.
A wide panel beside the door must be the trigger to open it. Kuozar knocks it with the butt of his rifle and after a few seconds delay, the door slides aside.
Inside, a massive, complex device comprised of interconnected tubes filled with blue-green gas and numerous small computer monitors running rapidly with changing lines of code occupies the eastern wall of this room. Two pipes funnel the gas into hemispherical turbine filters with pipes connecting to the ceiling. Two large containers of a different gas flank the western doors, along with a large multi-monitor computer interface set into the northern corner.
Glass windows set into pairs of sliding doors to the north and south reveal separate chambers with cylindrical pods and drainage grates in the floors.
DC 12 Life Science or Medicine:
The cylinders behind the glass doors are cloning pods that combine biomass and a programmed
personality into a finished clone.
DC 14 Life Science or Medicine and 10 minutes inspection:
This room houses advanced technology that synthesizes the consciousness of the vault’s clones, a process that integrates mixtures of vaporized neurotransmitters with fantastically complex computer code made accessible to bioengineered neurons via rare ssarlithine gas. The small monitors on the eastern processing device relay the lines of code being linked into the gaseous compound at that juncture, but the interface in the northwest corner displays all the codes being programmed into the clones.
There's no sign of the drone.
DC 18 Computers check to access the system:
Once in the system, you recognize an error. The automated artificial personality development displayed on the interface programmed its “End > Start New” concluding sequence into an “End > Copy > Paste > Repeat” concluding sequence, creating hundreds of duplicate clone personalities that in turn initiate duplicate biological structure protocols. This interface doesn’t appear to have a point of connection for hacking the vault system, and its language resembles the code found on interfaces throughout all the Salvation’s End vaults.
The party takes a few steps forward. Behind them the door closes and they hear several clicks, like bolts shooting home in a lock.
A public address system blares," CHHhhnk. Welcome, Others! I wouldn't have sent my CommanJoros to fetch you if I'd known that you would deliver yourselves so conveniently to my door. Have you come seeking revenge, or glory? You won't find glorification here, but Jorofication instead!"
Grey squares on the map are a a tangled mess of piping wires conduit, etc that blocks line of sight and movement. Essentially walls.
DM :
1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23
Kuozar:
There's a tiny drone at the end of the hall straight ahead. It's small size and coloration blend in with the inductrial background, making it very hard to see. If you alert the team, please tell them to make a DC 21 perception check.
I don't think Stell shared anything about the possible effects of human treatment's on Centek. It's up to her to share. Or you could try the same medicine check.
From the alley between the choir rehearsal studio and the Weight Don’t Tell Me gym, the trail leads to an out-of-the-way juncture on the border of the vault beyond the holographic border. Here, the Joros’ community aesthetic fades, revealing a complex network of metal pipes, circuitry, and scaffolding akin to the rest of Salvation’s End.
You can see why the Joros might stay within the holographic border. This area has none of their characteristic whimsy.
A door in the wall of the vault slides open at your approach.
Unless otherwise noted, all ceilings are 12 feet high, all doors are automated sliding steel doors that open when a Small or larger creature stands in front of it for 1 round and all rooms are fully lit.
The Joros have no idea. Centek the draelik, on the other hand, has a story to tell that you came here to hear. His ambush happened in the alley between the choir rehearsal studio and the Weight Don’t Tell Me gym, a pathway to an uninhabited part of the vault that most Joros avoid because of its unfinished appearance.
Idir dodges entanglement, and blasts Whizzie with his laser rifle. Sparks burst from the flying robot. It falls to the floor, trailing smoke.
Good rolls indeed. Exactly enough to knock out Whizzie. We're oout of combat.
With the gun-toting mascots incapacitated, the Joros calm down and begin to act more normally. Two doctors take over caring for the wounded Joro.
Behind you Centek coughs.
talking to Centek:
The draelik tells how he was attacked by CommanJoros. He concludes his story by recalling that his ambush happened in the alley between the choir rehearsal studio and the Weight Don’t Tell Me gym, a pathway to an uninhabited part of the vault that most Joros avoid because of its unfinished appearance.
Examining the dead mascot robots, Computers or Engineering DC 17:
A little hardware examination, a little signal analysis and you pinpoint the source of the signal that overrode the mascots' regular programming. It came from an area near the edge of the vault, behind the choir rehearsal studio and the Weight Don’t Tell Me gym.
Stell gracefully dodges the gooey kabluie and punches a heavy slug into the mascot as well.
Status 1/4 through Round 6. Bold to go.
Whizzie (-32)
Stell-Z (-9 SP)
Idir (Ref save needed or entangled)
Kuozar
Thundergun (-23 SP -4 HP) (Ref save needed or entangled)
Sorry, Kuozar. You did indeed roll the save earlier.
The upside down Joro near Stell and Thundergun is the injured one. I've moved Idir next to him.
Kuozar fires wide. Stell blasts Whizzie. Thundergun tries to protect and loose himself. Suddenly the fibers binding him part and he can act freely again. Idir rushes to the fallen Joro and pours a serum into his mouth.
Nice. In absence of more damage, Wounded Joro should recover.
Whizzie backs away from Stell. The mascot's under-belly weapon rotates and it fires another stickybomb grenade at the closely packed party.
Status start of Round 6. Everyone to go.
Whizzie (-19)
Idir (Ref save needed or entangled)
Kuozar
Stell-Z (-9 SP) (Ref save needed or entangled)
Thundergun (-23 SP -4 HP) (Ref save needed or entangled)
Idir rushes to aid the fallen Joro. Stell takes advantage of the suddenly empty space to get close to Whizzie, and blast the flying mascot.
Status middle of Round 5. KUozar and Thundergun to go.
Whizzie (-19)
Idir
Kuozar (Ref save or 8 damage)
Stell-Z (-9 SP) (saved, no damage)
Thundergun (Entangled 1 more rounds, -23 SP -4 HP) (Ref save or 8 damage)
The Joros don't respond usefully to anything the party does. They continue to mill about, comment on the action and try to take photographs. Neither Idir's highly uncharacteristic outburst nor Thundergun's bull rush make an impression.
The party fires and shots cross with Whizzie's fire which hits the lights and monitors near the ceiling. A monitor and a light box burst and shower the area with sparks and glass.
The Joros underneath take notice of this. The group near Thundergun scatters. Several that are hurt are helped to get away by their fellows. One Joro lies still, bleeding badly on the floor. The pool of blood under them expands rapidly. "Help"
Thundergun, Stell, and Kuozar take 8 points of damage. But a Ref save may negate that. The bleeding Joro is bordered in black, upside down, next to TG. He provides no cover.
Status start of Round 5. Everyone is up.
Whizzie (-11)
Idir
Kuozar (Ref save or 8 damage)
Stell-Z (-9 SP) (Ref save or 8 damage)
Thundergun (Entangled 1 more rounds, -23 SP -4 HP) (Ref save or 8 damage)
Stell -- Yes, the intimidate is part of the move action. I've added a second Stell on a desk. If you succeed at a DC 15 climb (athletics) or acrobatics check, you can hop onto the desk and fire over the Joros' heads next round without penalty, just like Thundergun when he's on 2 feet. If you fail, you stop in the desk square but stay on the ground. Fail by more than 5 and you're prone in the square.
Let me know.
I said covering fire which helps someone else's AC. I meant harrying fire which helps someone else's attack. Either one would be shots directed vaguely in the direction of your target v AC 15.
Thundergun tries to clear a firing lane for Kuozar, but the Joros just kind of swirl out of the way while others fill in the space.
Fails by a couple. Harrying fire against Whizzie might be easier. Also Bunny Ears is dead. Thundergun was not well-positioned to help Kuozar with an attack v Whizzie. I took the liberty of moving him to a position near the Joros providing cover to Whizzie.
Harrying Fire
You can use your standard action to make a ranged attack that distracts a foe in your line of effect. Make an attack roll against AC 15. If you hit, you deal no damage, but the next ally to attack that foe gains a +2 circumstance bonus to her next attack roll, as long as that attack occurs before your next turn.
