Thak Poorida's page

I hope everything goes well with your dad. I know it's been rough.

We have faith in you!!!

Earlier…

Turning to face the speaker, Locket's bright eyes widen in surprise as the brenneri emerges from behind his larger companions. ”Thak? What are you doing out here?”

Thak squints, and his eyebrows knit together, then his head tips back with a hearty laugh.

“Locket! By the gods it is you!! I knew you looked familiar. It’ll be good to work with you again. This trip just got a lot better… and it’s about time. Ever since the Azlanti took Cedona…”

Fast-forward to current time…

Hope rises in Thak’s heart now that the ship will have a full team.

“Indeed. It’s time to go.”

”I first heard of you from Brightbrightcrackleflickerdim. And I put together pieces of rumours from here and there about what you're planning.”

Thak nods. “Makes sense. I wondered if they’d keep our story to themselves or… um… if…”

His voice trails off and he cocks his head a bit.

“This is the strangest thing, but you sound so much like a fellow I went adventuring with on Ab” — he stops, glances around, and leans into the conversation, his voice getting quieter — “Absalom Station, back in the Pact Worlds.”

Thak leans back and scratches his head.

“Sorry, I'm still getting the hang of this place. Never sure what I should say or who's listening."

He taps his front tooth with a claw. "Anyway, what was his name? Pahtra too, I think, just like you. Whip smart, good with a gun. Good in a fight. Heck, good in any fight. Name of… gah, started with an M? L? P? It’s almost right there... argh!”

He sighs and shrugs in frustration, letting out a barky laugh.

“Well anyway, you remind me of him. I’m Thak, Thak Poorida. Apologies for missing introductions. Stupid vending machines. You are?”

Thak smiles and nods in the conversation.

“We’re a good lot if I do say so myself. So why were you looking for us? Is someone out there recruiting for us?”

Thak belatedly joins the party.

“Sorry… I was fighting with those vending machines again. I gave up. So what’s this I hear about Duncan having a cousin?”

Hey there, Supers!! Good to see you again -- and even better to be in a game.

Let's make the magic happen! :)

That's awesome news. It'll be good to have another player with us!

Here's a link to my favorite starship combat cheat sheet. Enjoy!

There you go, being all logical-like. :)

Great analysis. I appreciate the insight..

That sounds like the most reasonable approach.

Thak's skills are:

BAB +2
Acrobatics +6
Bluff +10+1d6 expertise
Computers +5
Diplomacy +13
Intimidate +10
Piloting +6 (1 rank)

Best at Captain.
Passable at Chief Mate or Science.
Better than nothing (but only barely) at Gunner.

Thak listens and thinks a moment, weighing the options and opportunities.

“I’m leaning toward the distress beacon scenario. We’ll end up in combat either way, but maybe the distress call will lower their alert levels and give us a better chance than going in guns blazing.”

After a pause, he adds, “Is there a way we could sneak up on them? Maybe by hiding from their scanners?”

@GM Q — I’m not a fan of classic starship combat. (It seemed like such a good idea when it launched, but it never really panned out for me.) I’m happy to follow the whims of my fellows if they want to do it, but I’d prefer a more streamlined option (or a bunch of hand-waving combined with a narrative encounter.

“Hmm… if we know the ship’s course, we could ‘play dead’ and request assistance. Or just play dead and let them approach us, then go into attack mode. Do the pirates know any details about the ship, like crew complement or weaponry?”

Thank flashes a relieved smile to Hasshashir. “Thank you so much. We were… oh, right.” Gah! I forgot he can’t understand me.

He turns to the pirates and starts to echo Yoro’s appreciation, but switches to what he hopes is another universal smale and gesture of appreciation.

“How do I help you in this, Duncan?”

During the next flight, it’s language study time old boy!

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10 To
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + 13 + (6) = 25
Culture: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Folds of fur line Thak’s forehead as he wracks his memory for a way to assist the communication beyond smiling and trying to look supportive.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14 To
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (9) + 13 + (2) = 24

@GM Q — No Terran… just Common, Breneri, Castrovelian (Lashunta), Vesk, Draconic

I pulled our tokens over to A8. I don’t know where these creatures are, so I just positioned us around the area.

Thak supports Duncan in any way he can. I’m definitely learning Azlanti next.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (10) + 13 + (3) = 26
Culture: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Thak works with Duncan on the hunt for information.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (10) + 13 + (4) = 27

Common, Breneri, Castrovelian (Lashunta), Vesk, Draconic

”We also have two transponder codes used by the ships what visited the colony.”

Thak gestures toward Duncan.

“And those codes. They'll definitely help.”

Thak shrugs apologetically.

"Sorry, I’m not the technical person. I leave that stuff to Duncan."

"We would be happy to rescue more Azlanti prisoners, whatever our ship can sustain."

Talmrin's question about how the rescue will work catches Thak off-guard. His quick glance down probably says more than he wants to admit out loud, but then he squares his shoulders and makes eye contact again.

"Our plan involves learning along the way and using the Azlanti's arrogance against them. Our first interactions with them show they're ruthless and powerful. We also know they can be beaten."

Thak's on a roll now. Excitement fills his eyes and flows out in his speech and manner.

"We will rescue all our friends -- both Cedona and the ones you tell us about -- one step at a time. Following Sayonsi's advice brought us to this outpost. One step. Listening to Hasshashir's frustrations led us to find and destroy the insect nest. Another step. Talking with a vendor on the station helped us find you. Another step. Next, we will listen and learn with you, and seek your help to disguise our ship for the journey. I don't know what the step will be after that, but whatever it is, it will bring us closer to our friends and their rescue."

”There hast been no pronouncements of an annexation, nor any rumors of important military operations or discoveries. Thou wouldst not have passed through the borders of Azlant so easily if there were. I wonder if the sardat is keeping secrets and exceeding his authority.”

“It could be as you say. The more we learned of the Azlanti team’s mission, the more suspicious and strange it sounded. They appear to be operating outside the Star Empire’s strictures.”

Thak puts on a hopeful expression.

“The witchrwyrd trader we met, Sayonsi, saw the problem with our ship and judged us worthy of recommending to you. She spoke highly of your skill in modifying ships for flights into the Star Empire. And you heard Duncan’s story of our friend Cedona and our task to rescue her, so you know why we are trying to get into the Star Empire.”

He pauses for a moment, then gestures toward Talmrin.

“I realize we’re strangers to you. I hope Sayonsi’s vote of confidence eases your mind some. We need your help and your expertise if we’re going to survive in the Star Empire and have any hope of rescuing our friend. What can we offer? Is there a way we can help you?”

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (11) + 13 + (6) = 30

”What dost thou seek here?”].

“Hello!” Thak puts on his most diplomatic smile.

“We seek one named Talmrin. A witchwyd trader we met spoke highly of them and suggested they could help us with some… ah... ship modifications to help us fit in better here. Would you be Talmrin?”

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (12) + 13 + (2) = 27

@Duncan -- That's a great question from @GM Q. My assumption is that it works just like casting the spell, so the user would choose the illusion when the throw the grenade.

Thak thanks the merchant for the info and pays for two mk1 Serums of Healing.

@GM — Thak was going to buy a holo grenade, but mistaken though it was a mk1 not a mk2. The higher level grenade is on the edge of his price range.

@Duncan — Holo Grenade mk2 deploys a 2nd-level holographic image spell with caster level 6. The spell lasts 5 rounds.

He safely stows the serums, then follows Augrok and Yoro. He turns to motion at Duncan. “C’mon Duncan… we’re headed out.”

Thak notices the creatures reaction to the passerby.

He turns to Duncan.

“It sounded like that person just spoke Azlanti to our new friend and she responded. Can you try asking her about Talmrin in Azlanti??”

I hope this works because I’m running out of ideas…

Thak does his best to make communication happen with the creature…

Culture: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

…and fails. :(

“Judging by her reaction, we know we have our contact’s name right, but I’m running out of ideas. Augrok, do you think you can make a connection?”

@GM Q: Can we find anyone nearby who knows how to communicate with her?

”I think it uses colors and patterns as its language.”

Thak nods to Duncan. “That makes sense… let’s work with it.”

Following Yoro’s lead, Thak smiles warmly to the creature and puts his paw on his chest.

“And I’m Thak. Thanks for your help. I never met anyone like you before. What’s the best way for us to communicate?”

He also attempts greetings in the other languages he knows — Brenneri, Castrovelian, Vest, and Draconic, and waits for a moment in mental silence to see if the creature uses telepathy.

GM Q — Would a culture or diplomacy check help with this?

At some point, he gestures toward their goods display.

“I’d like two of the mark 1 serums of healing, aaaaannnnndd… ” -- he pauses to consider the list again -- “… and one of the mark 1 holo grenades. We’d also deeply appreciate your help to find Talmrin.”

The happiest of holidays and a wonderful new year to all!!!

A two-day-belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!! :D

It was a great time here, with our youngest home from college for a few days and our oldest, his wife, and one of their cats joining us for a quick overnight stay. (The cat usually stays home with the others, but is on a medicated food right now so had to travel.)

After they went home on Friday, we accidentally hosted a college game night for the youngest and their friends. It started as a 3:00 pm executive board meeting of the tabletop RPG club, but then we accumulated three more TTRPG club members and game night was suddenly a go!

I turned in around 1:45 am, and I think the evening officially ended around 45 minutes after that, although I was mentally prepared to find them all still gathered around the table when I wandered out this morning at 9. :)

@GM Q: Sorry about the misunderstanding with the hat bit. Now that we’re resolved there (and I’m clear on there Thak is!), I’m rewinding a bit and picking up the conversation with the pink squid creature.

A tiny, pink squid-like creature floats in a large orb of water next to an upended mine cart, upon which various merchant wares have been arranged. The creature points at these goods with liquid tentacles that extrude from the globe of water. This creature pulses in various bright colors upon hearing the name Talmrin.

Thak puts all of his skills to work toward connecting and communicating with the squid creature.

Culture: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (14) + 13 + (4) = 31

He looks through the display of wares, hoping to find something to purchase. He keeps the conversation going as he browses.

“You know Talmrin? What are they like? We’re hoping they can help us with some ship upgrades.”

You do encounter an unusual character though. A massive brute of a humanoid walks up to you, grabs your pulsecaster pistol out of your holster, hands you a very colorful hat, and coos happily for a second before turning around and walking away (unless you stop him).

Thak barely recovers from the arrival of his new hat when Duncan grabs it and begins talking to the happy pistol snatcher.

This place!! What the heck is going on here?

He trots after Duncan, trying to get a frame of reference for what’s happening and help Duncan make it through the interaction without starting another gunfight.

Culture: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (12) + 13 + (3) = 28

Thak tucks the shadowstaff under the straps of his backpack and follows Duncan into the marketplace area.

“Good call on coming this way. It looks promising.”

He rubs his paws together as a smile widens on his face. “ Let’s see who who’s feeling talkative today…”

Thak busts out his people skills to work the crowd and find some leads on Talmrin.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (18) + 13 + (4) = 35

Thak would be happy to keep it as a melee weapon and backup ranged weapon but it's not a must-have for him. If anyone needs it, feel free to claim it.

Let's keep heading toward A7.

It’s a hybrid item (according to Archives of Nethys). Looks like you’d need small arms proficiency and basic melee weapons proficiency, so anyone could wield it. It's not listed as an operative weapon, though. The bigger issue could be the ammo when used as a small arm because it's apparently non-standard.

GM Q: How do you want to handle the ammo? And is the weapon both a small arm and a two-handed basic melee weapon?

Shadowstaff, Lesser: A lesser shadowstaff is covered with fell symbols and crackles with dark energy. As a basic two-handed melee weapon, a lesser shadowstaff deals 1d4 bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage (your choice) as it manifests blades or spikes at will, and it has the block weapon special property. When used as a small arm, a lesser shadowstaff has a range increment of 30 feet, and a single shot consumes 1 charge from its 40-charge capacity and deals 1d4 cold damage. Switching a lesser shadowstaff from melee functionality to ranged functionality (or vice versa) is a swift action.

Shadowstaff ammo: These weapons use a special ammunition that is manufactured only on the worlds of the Shadari Confederacy (Starfinder Core Rulebook 468) and costs 160 credits for a 40-charge clip.

Supporting Yoro’s Culture check

Culture support: 1d20 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + 4 + (5) = 15

Thak cocks his head and points to a section of the weapon.

“This curve and the inscriptions under it look similar to artifacts I studied, oh, eons ago…”

He taps his forehead with one clawed finger. "C’mon, remember…”

“I’m fine with letting him go. I wonder why they picked us to attack. Maybe because we’re different than everyone else here?”

He examines the strange weapon the draelick used against them.

“Any idea what this is?”

GM Q — What did the draelick have on them? Wondering about armor and such.

Thak frowns at the remaining target, still flat-footed after some wild dance moves.

“Stop attacking my friends!”

Pulsecaster vs EAC: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 Electric

GM: Once my turn ends, my target is no longer flat-footed.

*singing* Welcome back... your dreams were your ticket out...

“Let’s get this guy, Augrok. I’ll see if I can distract him so he isn’t watching you as closely.”

Clever Feint vs. Blue: 1d20 + 10 + 1d6 ⇒ (14) + 10 + (4) = 28

Clever Feint: As a standard action, you can fake out an enemy within 60 feet, making that enemy open to your attacks. Attempt a Bluff check with the same DC as a check to feint against that enemy (though this isn’t a standard check to feint, so Improved Feint and Greater Feint don’t apply). The DC of this check is equal to the greater of either:
* 10 + your opponent’s total Sense Motive skill bonus
* 15 + 1-1/2 × the opponent’s CR.

If you succeed at the Bluff roll, the enemy is flat-footed against your and your allies’ attacks until the end of your next turn.
If you fail at the Bluff roll, the enemy is flat-footed against your attacks (see page 276) until the end of your next turn.

Thak chuckles as the Draelik’s eyes widen and grow confused.

Maybe they aren’t used to Brenneri. Or those dance courses are finally kicking in…

Yay!! Sorry to hear about your router problem. Those are never fun.

The blast of cold energy makes a patch of frost on the wall as the shot goes wide.

Magork’s fins! I wonder what they’re pissed off about?

He looks to the team. “Focus fire on that one and I’ll try to distract them so they aren't expecting it.”

Meeting the creature’s gaze head-on, Thak draws his pulse caster pistol and spins out of line in a move reminiscent of a Brennari fertility ritual dance.

Clever Feint vs. Green: 1d20 + 10 + 1d6 ⇒ (11) + 10 + (1) = 22

Clever Feint: As a standard action, you can fake out an enemy within 60 feet, making that enemy open to your attacks. Attempt a Bluff check with the same DC as a check to feint against that enemy (though this isn’t a standard check to feint, so Improved Feint and Greater Feint don’t apply). The DC of this check is equal to the greater of either:
* 10 + your opponent’s total Sense Motive skill bonus
* 15 + 1-1/2 × the opponent’s CR.

If you succeed at the Bluff roll, the enemy is flat-footed against your and your allies’ attacks until the end of your next turn.
If you fail at the Bluff roll, the enemy is flat-footed against your attacks (see page 276) until the end of your next turn.

“Yes, yes… I’m coming!!”

Thak smooths down a troublesome cowlick and dashes down the ramp after Duncan. Starship bunks do such weird things to my fur. I’ll never understand…

He catches Duncan at the bottom of the ramp. “I can’t let you go into unexplored territory without a smooth-talking fixer to keep you out of trouble.”

He punctuates the teasing with a toothy grin.

“Now, where shall we go first?”

”Perhaps some tar whale polyps. That sounds quite delicious to me right now.”

The thought of eating seafood perks Thak’s attention.

“Tar what polyps, you say? They sound quite extraordinary. I love fish of all kinds. What do they taste like? May I join you?”

Turning to the team, he asks, "Anyone else hungry?”

GM Q - Do we know how money works here? Sorry if I missed it… I didn’t see anything in our posts so far.

”Well let's go tell Hasshashir about our success! Hopefully then he can introduce us to someone to help with our ship modifications.”

Thak nods with as much energy as he can muster -- and without making too many of the bug bites flare up.

“And we can show him our bug bites too. He’ll know we truly understand how he feels... ow!”

I assumed we'd exit back to the seating area where Hasshashir was to rest -- Thak definitely needs a rest -- report on the nest’s destruction, and see hf Hasshashir had any information for us. From there, the station awaits.

Anyone else have ideas or preferences?

“Lasering the nest to oblivion sounds great. I like anything that means I don’t have to go back in there.”

He presses his paws to his face and rubs his eyes, day dreaming for a moment of gliding through a cool, clear river… calm… peaceful… clean…

“Clean!” he suddenly yelps and puts down his arms. He blushes and tries to look slightly more together than he sounded a moment ago.

“Um, did we see anywhere I could wash up a bit? I can’t be a presentable negotiator looking like I rolled in bug guts.”

Thak sighs heavily. “Those bugs were tougher than I thought. I can do with a quick rest, but not in here. It looks… well… let’s get out of here.”

I’ll feel better after a nice romp in a pool or a hot bath. Or maybe three or four baths. Or a romp with... Another sigh escapes before he can catch it.

“Does anyone need the armor upgrades? Well, does anyone have space for them. Cubber’s house takes up my only slot.”

Hearing his name, Cubber lets out a bright round of yips.

“Patience, my friend. I’ll let you out for a run soon.”

Once they leave this area and find a safe spot, Thak will take a 10 minute rest. -1 Resolve point, Stamina to max, resets all Inspiring Boost bonuses.

I never liked bugs in the first place…

Thak frowns with anger and concentration. He swaps the knife for his pistol, then squeezes off a shot at the bug chewing on Duncan.

“C’mon, fish bait. It's time to meet your end.”

Pulsecaster vs EAC: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 Electric

I must find a way to appease the forum damage dice gods!

Dangit... that's too bad.

Thak will lead a moment of silence for our lost comrade after the battle.

Yoro -- Thanks. Depending on what GM Q does with Sevens, Thak will adjust and see he we can get flanking going again.

Sevens -- Are you going to move into melee combat or keep shooting? if you're coming into melee, I'll keep moving north toward Duncan. If you're shooting, I'll move back to the left so Yoro has a flanking bonus.

Yoro -- Sorry to inadvertently mess up your flanking position. I was focused on giving Sevens a clear shot.

Thak winces as the bug bites him. “Dammit!”

Across the tiny chamber, he sees a bug lance into Duncan again. No! We need Duncan in the fight.

“They’ll go down, Duncan. C’mon… keep at it!”

Knowing that he’s blocking the tunnel, he sidesteps and clears the shot for Sevens.

Standard: Inspiring boost on Duncan to restore 10 SP.
Move: Guarded step into the corner.

Yoro — Did I put your token in the right place?

Thak makes sure the squox box is locked tight, then swaps his pistol for the knife and moves into the space.

“This isn’t what I envisioned when we decided to stop here…”

He swings the knife at the bug in front of him (black).

Knife vs Black KAC: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 Slashing