Strek Armstrom's page

"this is all just so sad."

"Contract work ain't for everyone."

Round I missed...

Combat Tracking on the whiny Dragon, then Overcharge

Called Blaze Agitator vs EAC: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 8 + 2 = 15
Damage (F): 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 2) + 6 = 11
Overcharge: 1d6 ⇒ 2

This round...

Boost, Overcharge

Called Blaze Agitator vs EAC: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 8 + 2 = 18
Damage (F): 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (4, 4) + 6 = 14
Overcharge: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Boost: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Strek dispatches his foe off screen in a cinematically exhilarating one-on-one battle that will need to be told another day.

Swimming on screen, he sees a mercenary engaging Del, and locks his sights on them.

"Leave my friend alone."

Move Action: Combat Tracking on [Cyan]
Standard Action: Overcharge

Called Blaze Agitator vs EAC: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
Damage (F): 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (1, 1) + 6 = 8
Overcharge: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Gosh, everyone, I am so sorry for missing out this long. I currently don't do any gaming, so I just literally keep forgetting about this. My time has been filled with working extra hours in preparation for this student loan pause to end, and looking for better work with my degree. I'm literally heading out the door in a moment for an interview.

I probably can't get through all those posts today. I will try this weekend. And I'll set a Google reminder to help me keep up-to-date after that.

Apologies again!

Strek sprays more bubbles between Guess? and the retreating swarms to, Umm, protect him.

Oh! Okay. Sorry. The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur.

I finally have my degree, though!

I'll roll here, since we've already gone thru 50 posts since.

Engineering (5 ranks): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (4) + 16 = 20
• Add +4 if it's to Disarm a Trap
• Add +4 if it's to Disable a Lock
• Add +4 if it's to Arm or Disarm Explosives
• Add +4 if it's to Repair a Starship's Hull
• Lower DC by 5 to Repair, Hold it Together, Patch, & Quick Fix

Telepathic messages drown your minds in psychic shouts. "TERROR. MURDER. REVENGE. LASH. TEAR. PIERCE."

Strek grits his teeth and swims forward, drawing the mightiest of underwater weapons imaginable from his magical backpack — a fire extinguisher!

"Oh, yeah? Well, BUBBLES. COLD. Uhh. DISTRACTION!"

Psshhhvvv-pffpffpfff-psshhhvvvvvvv!

I keep forgetting swarms are a thing. But he'll at least offer a more sizable target while Melissa and Guess? continue to talk.

The Spoiler was "Computers or Engineering", and then Melissa succeeded w/ Computers the next post.

I read the Spoiler, but Strek is –1 Diplomacy, so I figured I'd leave the check to someone else.

Akh is mesmerized by the swirling sphere of sentient eels and ends up quietly watching them for a while rather than listening. When individual eels split away from the coordinated swarm however, the moment of beauty is broken and Akh is left to ponder a critical ethical question. In the rare circumstance that these eels are actually super delicious, would it be morally OK to eat one by itself? Just hypothetically speaking, considering that they're sentient only in groups. There would probably have to be a maximum serving size.

When Akh's gaze turns back to the group, he sees Strek in a similarly amazed trance, with only the slightest bit of drool in the corner of his mouth.

Apologies, Mother's Day followed by Finals week was a hurricane.

Catching up now!

EDIT: nevermind, it looks like Melissa got it ^_^

"So if this one explodes, does that mean we also gotta deal with the swarm of babies afterwards? There's no rival this time to eat them all."

Call, Combat Tracking, Overcharge

Called Blaze Agitator vs EAC: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24
Damage (F): 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (1, 6) + 5 = 12
Overcharge: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Probably just another battery for Strek. With maybe a round or two leftover listening to Shan. He doesn't have a ton of interest in these eel folk but since Shan cares, he'll at least pay attention. In case the group actually votes to go help them..

"Hey, Akh! Did you hear that? Sounds like these psychic eels actually enjoy the darkness of the void."

Strek unmoors one battery and spends his time dragging it to the getaway vehicle, his encumbered limbs comically stretched out at points.

GUMBI, meanwhile, wirelessly connects to the suit of Power Armor and slowly (1 Standard Action a Round) directs it to the sub as well.

"Strek, expert opinion, which one do I take and will I die when I do?"

"Akh, we've survived space whales, multiple assassination attempts, organ donation schemes AND having Guess? captain us the whole way through. You're not gonna d—"

*hears another whoosh of water as Melissa opens the wrong door*

"—grab whichever ones are closest first. When the water starts tilting to one side, we scram."

Hmm. Looks like it's 16 rounds to remove his current set of Heavy Armor and then 1 round to enter Power Armor. Add in a few rounds to Move and toss his gear, so maybe 2 minutes? But only if that's okay with the GM. By the time he's ready the rest of the group will have removed the batteries but at least he could grab them all.

Which armor is it?

Maybe a slight backtrack, but Strek doesn't have the Bulk available to carry even a single battery. If Guess? does, then maybe we can assume Strek returned to piloting the ROV, and Guess? went on to looting? Both of those activities are also more on par with our usual decisions.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4 + 5 = 9

"Shan, I'm sorry I left you here for that other gig years ago. I shoulda convinced you to come with. But now you get another chance! I promise you there's better opportunities out there than stayin' here."

"Anyone have a step by step guide for removing power cells from a undersea station moments away from careening into an infinite (or close to it) abyss? Inquiring minds will need to know soon."

"We could ping Edge's patented 24-hour tech support, but waiting 24 hours before someone answers doesn't exactly fit the 'soon' timeframe."

Strek sloshes his way to wherever his engineering skills are needed most...

Just tossing rolls out for whatever's needed:

Engineering: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24
Engineering: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (17) + 16 = 33
Engineering: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25

"Oh for the love of.. there's plenty of credits in the universe"

"Yeah but the universe is a big place. Too spread out. What matters is the regional density of credit clusters. AKA, money in our hands."

Engineering, DC 24: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

Now that Strek has the opportunity to see the rest of the facility outside the one engineering bay, he pauses for a moment.

"Y'know, I think we might have enough time after all," Strek says as he gestures to the slow trickle of water. "I think so long as every room isn't entirely flooded, we're good. It's gonna happen eventually, but we got time at least to grab those lockers and that liquor."

Am I reading that spoiler right? We basically have enough time to loot and leave?

"And somebody tell Strek he was right."

Strek does his awkward hillbilly chuckle over the comms, "Shan knows that's the phrase I want on my tombstone."

Then he looks down at Dev, "Speaking of which, I guess you're comin' with me."

Stop playing Skipper and spend the next two rounds dragging Dev towards the exit. I don't know how far we can get together but feel free to move me.

GM Ewok wrote:

“Strek! Came crawling back for me, eh?”

Guess? chimes in gleefully, "Yep! Strek came crawling back to you alright! Kekeke... seems like there's a story there that I haven't yet heard!"

"Nothing you haven't seen, though. With you lot, I only tend to lose one leg per fight. Back in the earlier days, jobs were twice as dangerous."

Remember, the moss always grows on the outside of the tree.

Unless you're Del.

"Someone needs to grab this human, I think his calcium supports are broken. I'll keep playing skipper until then to buy us some time."

Yeah I think I'll keep prioritizing leaks that are closest to the central room.

Strek, hearing Shan's familiar, nasally and chipper voice, hops onto the comms.

"Shan, the legs are collapsing underneath us. Ain't gonna matter how many cracks you fix, this place is gonna be a tomb if we don't get outta here now!"

Diplomacy to Aid: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (17) - 1 = 16

"Sounds like they're wet Willies."

Strek continues piloting the submersible, only mildly disappointed that it doesn't make cool motorboat noises.

"Y'know, if I had a credstick for every time someone said..."

"Speaking of which, is there a reality where we're succeeding at rescuing Shan? Any idea which room she's hiding in over there?"

"...stop shooting at me ... or I'll lose patience and I WILL KILL you..."

"Y'know I'm not really the religious type but have you thought much about converting to Sarenrae? You and Mel might have something in common after all."

Strek did two rounds. He'll just keep patching holes with the ROV.

Strek is +16 Engineering, so he can't fail those checks.

"Well, Dev, I got bad news."

Strek pushes the button to release the ROV.

"This place is gonna sink into the abyss any moment now."

Strek pilots the ROV to repair the nearest leak.

"I think fixin' these leaks might save us some time, but you gotta start crawlin' toward the exit if you wanna live."

Strek then pilots the ROV to the next nearest leak.

"Say, if you were an overly positive otter who loves to cradle seashells, where in this doomed mechanical seaspider might you be hunkering down in?"

Anybody have any suggestions on which rooms to repair leaks in?

Ha! 3 minute ninja ^_^

Okay so then if this room was immediately difficult terrain when the door opened, Strek couldn't have made it this far last round without double moving. So I'll eat up an action this round retroactively waking the man up, which would explain why Strek was hacking the wrong console.

"How many people can fit in this thing? Counting you."

Standard: wake up the man
Exocortex: hack the lit console
Move Action... I can't think of one. Can I drag him into the submersible?

"He's an Endo. Can't toss. Gotta gently drag. Although there's some sort of submersible in here, too. I'll see if it's up and running in a moment. Might be easier to shove him in there for the time being."

"Is he going to stay that way? ...Alive not weirdly furless."

Strek shouts back, "I don't know, he's human and I don't know much about their species. Aren't they only furry when they're infants?"

Seeing how Strek is the only one in the room, you really only get to play with one of these options at a time! So open the spoiler below that you want to interact with in your next round.

Silly limitations. Strek is used to stretching his capabilities:

Wireless Hack
On any round you don’t use combat tracking, your exocortex can access another computer system within 20 feet, allowing it to attempt a Computers check against that computer each round, using your skill bonus. This counts as a standard action for the purpose of the Computers skill. You must remain within 20 feet of the computer system for the entire time your exocortex is interacting with the computer. If the task requires multiple actions (or even rounds) to accomplish, you can spend your actions to work in concert with your exocortex, counting both your action and the exocortex’s effective standard action toward the total time required.

So for Round 10:

Strek strides into the mechanic's bay (move action), wakes up the unconscious man (standard action), and instructs GUMBI to wirelessly access the dark console (exocortex standard action).

"We got a live one in here! Not as much fur as I was hoping for, though."

Thanks for all of the clarifications! One more question: can we get a round-by-round update on which rooms are difficult terrain? It sounds like A6 is dry right now?

What's in Area A6? Strek opened the door last round, so his actions this round depend on what's in there.

Strek runs down a hallway, closing the door behind him.

Didn't close any doors. Just opening the next one?

Strek walked into the hallway that was previously dry, but now wet and difficult terrain (hence the half speed). I was hoping to open the door at the end of the hallway. In my dialogue up thread, Strek was rationalizing that there might be people up there, because it was dry and safe.

With two of the three threats thoroughly filleted, Strek moves further into the hallway. "GUMBI, access Door Panel."

Move Action: Stride at half Speed
Standard Action: Remote Hack

I can do Computers and Engineering checks at a range of 20 feet, so I assume I can open the door from within the hallway?

Sorry for getting in front of you Strek, needed to see down the hallway and there's not many places she can stand.

No worries at all! Eventually we'll have 4 large-sized party members (when Jaraduk and I are in our Power Armor). I think my soonish plan is to buy a scope or sight that negates Cover bonuses ^_^

Does a dry room reduce the level of water in the other rooms?

Strek continues to focus on the Kalo in the yellow armor, but this time adds an extra boost to his overcharged shot...

Called Blaze Agitator vs EAC: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 7 + 2 = 26
Damage (F): 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (5, 6) + 5 = 16
Overcharge: 1d6 ⇒ 1
Boost: 1d6 ⇒ 2

"I'm betting people retreated to the drier rooms. I'll check this one after we're done with these fish-for-brains."

"And here I thought it might actually be an intelligent species."

Swift Action: Call Weapon, Move Action: Combat Tracking on Yellow, Standard Action: Overcharge

Called Blaze Agitator vs EAC: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 7 + 2 = 15
Damage (F): 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (6, 4) + 5 = 15
Overcharge: 1d6 ⇒ 1

I didn't see Melissa say "Get 'em", but if she meant to, add +1 to that. And I can't remember if Cover bonuses cancel out Squeezing penalties.

"If this place serves poke, she'd be there."

"We should probably place ourselves in front of different doors, then if someone washes out of that room, we have someone there to grab 'em."

"We should try to open as many doors at once. Then if one floods, the water gets spread out."

Strek will drink his Aquanaut Elixir now in case the whole place does end up flooding.

Strek groans.

"I totally forgot that's where they sourced our initial equipment from. We always ended up with spare parts that made us worry we'd done some—"

*sees some bolts on the seafloor*

"—nevermind."

ROUND 1

Engineering: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19
• Add +4 if it's to Disarm a Trap
• Add +4 if it's to Disable a Lock
• Add +4 if it's to Arm or Disarm Explosives
• Add +4 if it's to Repair a Starship's Hull
• Lower DC by 5 to Repair, Hold it Together, Patch, & Quick Fix

Strek overestimates the remaining structural integrity, and a loud CRACK echoes underwater.

ROUND 2

Engineering: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24

And if that's still not enough... ROUND 3

Engineering: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24

*blink blink*

"Akh, have I ever told you how much I respect your accuracy?"

Can we get an idea of how strong the Shobhad and Morlamaw are? I can drink my Aquanaut Elixir (and I think we established Akh's is still going), which would allow the Morlamaw to do one check, the Shobhad to do the other, and with our 40 foot Swim Speed we could both Aid on both of the struts.

Otherwise, yeah, we might just have to buy the other team time and race up to help them.

Engineering: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18

Strek nods along with Akh. "I give it 50/50. S'pose that's better than our usual luck.."

GUMBI then spits out an analysis over the comms: Lowering just one strut will put too much strain on the other — this has a 50% chance of causing catastrophic failure. Successfully lowering the struts within 6 seconds of each other prevents danger of collapse.

Struts require a medium Strength check, with up to two Aid rolls. The struts are about 35 feet from each other, so you'd need two different people/groups to take them down in the required time.

So just to clarify: our ONLY option here is Strength?

I'm really missing the Hero Point mechanic of PF2 right now..

OhMyGosh that comment about fruit gushers was SO accurate, Lol

"I say we split up. And each group takes half of the new hires," he says while gesturing to the Shobhads and Android.

"You guys want us to take you back, you gotta earn your ticket."

I would say split up. This seems like the classic "The book assumes we won't" but we have good skills and (maybe?) some NPCs we can pressgang into doing rolls for us.

"I definitely wanna make sure we don't all drop down that gorge, at least. I'm good with struts. Not so much sealants."

"Peanut butter? Naw. Radioactive jalapeño."

• Swift Action: Call Weapon
• Move Action: Combat Tracking Teal
• Standard Action: Overcharge

Called Blaze Agitator vs EAC: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 7 + 2 + 1 = 12
Damage (F): 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (2, 2) + 5 = 9
Overcharge: 1d6 ⇒ 4