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Apologies for the failure to launch on this game. It's mostly my fault with not getting the game rolling as quickly as I should have. It seems that we've mostly lost a couple of players and honestly I think it may be better to just let it go. Thank you for your time and I hope your future games are more successful.
With a meal a fair bit better than ship rations in their stomachs, the group decides to retire to their new apartment for the evening. When they arrive, they find it more or less as they expected, and the elevators even work to get them up to the upper floors without having to take a long flight of stairs. It seems that the work order at least got them some cots so they have a reasonably comfortable place to sleep and the warm evening air is actually rather refreshing through the open windows. The days on Ikirit aren't quite the same as Abasalom Standard and any early risers find themselves waking a bit before dawn. Of course, it also rises in the west rather than the east, making it slightly disorienting to realize.
You're good. I'm finding this whole interaction thoroughly amusing. Games are more fun when the party has fun with each other too.
I'm just waiting to see how he reacts to Flux deciding to telekinetically trying to reach down his throat.
The waitress laughs. "Oh trust me, I know. Until we got hydroponics going, ship rations were about all we had to eat around here. I think the entire first wave was sick of them within a week." She takes orders for the rest of the group's food and drink and heads back to the kitchen to get things in motion.
Maybe the waitress should offer to send someone over to the local mechanic's shop for some oil for him to enjoy while the others are eating :P
"I think we have a couple tables for bigger crowds that might fit you..." the insectoid mutters to herself as she guides the group to the back. "Oh, the name? The owner's favorite drink is a sweet dwarven-style honey mead. Since he's a shirren too, he thought it was clever. Would you like to try it? It's the house special."
If I'm dragging my feet too much, I can move us on to the next day and get some exploring going if you'd like.
The inside of the restaurant is perhaps the busiest place that the newly arrived crew has seen on Ikirit so far. A motley assortment of tables decorate the room with about half full of a mix of colonists. Most of them are dressed in simple, sturdy clothes that you'd expect on a workman of some sort, though the waiters are dressed a bit nicer. There seems to be a fairly even mix of shirren, humans, and verthani gathered around. A green shirren who you're pretty sure is a host approaches the group. "Welcome to the Honey Hive. Table for five?"
With their accommodations sorted, the group departs the admin building and find themselves on a slightly raised walkway over what appears to be a long broken road. Thankfully, the bridge has been obviously repaired with several patches of materials clearly from the Pact Worlds as they cross over toward a large building sprawled out across from the spaceport terminal. From the look of it, it may have once been a hotel for guests to the port itself. The front doors are thrown open, with a few people milling around and making idle conversation. A few wave to the new arrivals as they make their way inside. What appears to have once been the massive lobby has been refitted into a rough approximation of a town square, with a large fountain in the middle providing purified water and several stalls created from the various desks around the edge of the room. Near the back, a new sign marked with a sloshing tankard hangs above the entrance to a large room, perhaps what was once the hotel's restaurant.
"Hopefully you won't have to chase anything with wings out of the apartments," the man jokes as he adds them to the list on his terminal. "Hydroponics was the first thing we got set up thankfully. When there's not a lot of open land, we have to make do. You can definitely find something better than ship rations right over at the market."
"Let's see..." A small secondary hand folds out of his wrist to help control the console as he types something. "It looks like the entire top floor is available and there is rooftop access. You may want to wait a day or two before moving in though. It seems that the top several floors are missing a lot of windows. I'll put in a work order and mark off the space as occupied if that sounds agreeable to you."
"Ah let's see... high clearance, private... Are you looking for a shared apartment or are you looking for separate accommodations?" He turns a screen around and brings up a list for the group to peruse. "There's a tower just past the market that has plenty of open space and has been cleaned out. One of the top floors should meet your needs. And most of the food can be found across the way at the market."
Apologies for the delays this week. Quarantine has been really messing with my sense of time and I keep losing track of what I need to post in. I'll get things moving soon!
Jask chuckles at Balazar's question. "No need to worry. The Society has funds to cover mercenaries and outside support. Generally I can pay a few hundred credits for a regular scouting job, plus finder's fees for unusual discoveries." The housing office looks more like it actually was an office at some point, or perhaps it's merely been repaired more quickly that some of the rest of the administration building. Inside, a verthani man is working on a computer. He looks up as the group enters the room, one of his eyes whirring slightly as it refocuses on the group in front of him. "Ah, new arrivals, yes? Greetings, welcome to Ikirit. How can I be of service?"
"Over near the west entrance," Jask provides in answer to Xevres' question. "You can also head across the walkway there to get to an old hotel, or something similar. It's turned into a sort of community center and a market. There's always people out and about, so you can meet your new neighbors too."
"I've got one thing. There's a facility along one of the more of less intact raised highways to the north that we believe might have been a school. It's a bit further out than we've had a chance to fully explore, but it may have significant amounts of information and it may help speed up compiling a functioning translation matrix that doesn't rely on constantly recasting spells." Jask 'smiles' again. "I'll get in touch with security and get the details sorted out to get you out there. Hopefully, you'll be clear to go by tomorrow. Until then, you're welcome to rest here or go look around and look for a place of your own."
"The first wave was purely scientific types and professional explorers like us," the insectoid explains. "But once we were cleared for full colonization, restrictions relaxed a lot. There are plenty of people here looking to make a life studying and rebuilding this marvelous planet, but there are also a fair few who want to make a quick credit looting the ruins and selling any interesting tech or art." A frustrated his escapes from his mouth. "Aspis has already started to put out some tendrils, so I've been hoping to move quicker before they start raiding unexplored districts, but... well I already explained the problem with that. But if you're willing to help, I can get you passes so security will let you out without a hassle and maybe we can actually make some progress."
"It's less that the teams aren't coming back and more that we don't have many teams to send," Jask jokes as he gestures toward several chairs if anyone would like to take a seat. "It's been weeks since there were any other Starfinders here and I don't really have the resources to hire some of the treasure hunters to help me out with poking around by myself. They're rather... materially interested most of the time. The worst you'll probably have to deal with are some wild animals or aggressive plants. The old malfunctioning robots are a bit further out." It's hard to tell if he's still joking or not.
"Starfinders or not, anyone with a thirst for a little adventure is more than welcome here. I'm the only agent who's here full time so it's always a pleasure to have company." The shirren taps his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "Actually, if you don't have any other arrangements, perhaps you wouldn't mind helping out a bit? We're really not supposed to go out into the ruins on our own in case we run into something dangerous so I haven't gotten nearly as much work done as I'd like."
The door slides open to reveal a large lounge area that has been partitioned off with a few drapes and large cubicle walls to provide at least a bit of private work space. A messy desk sits just inside with the Pathfinder contact standing behind it. He looks just as described: a shirren with a cherry red carapace and long antenna, though it seems that no one thought to mention a scar running down the left side of his face. It hardly seems to bother him however as he steps up and takes Rokayla's hand. "I got the message not long ago, it's a pleasure to meet you." His mandibles click and his antenna perk up in the shirren equivalent of a smile. "And you brought friends as well!" He moves through the group, shaking every hand offered, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. "Welcome to Ikirit everyone. I do hope you find it to your liking. It's such a fascinating place."
There are a few workers nearby when the group enters the former terminal building and one of them pushes over a hover trolley to take the crate from them. "Thanks. We've been waiting for spare parts for ages." He gives Xevras a quick handshake. "Oh, uh, guess I should welcome you to Ikirit too. Sorry, bit busy today." The terminal isn't what anyone would call bustling, at least compared to the port at someplace like Absalom Station, but there are a fair number of colonists around, either working on restoring the building or waiting to visit various offices. However, it seems that the Starfinder office doesn't have many visitors, at least not yet. At their knock, a voice calls out from inside. "Come right in!"
"If you're heading over to the admin building, we wouldn't mind a hand carrying this one," one of the workers tells Xevres, gesturing to a large crate labeled 'maintenance'. "Just drop it off at the front and they'll unload it. The Starfinder place is back in one of the big rooms near the back. Think it was probably a private boarding room or something. Kinda hard to tell, but best guess, ya know?"
Soon enough, the first shuttle detaches from the station and streaks down toward the surface. The passengers can feel the jolt as the ship enters the atmosphere and through the viewports everyone can see the towers of Ikirit rising up to touch the clouds. Spires of steel and polymer dot the skyline, silent and dark amid the slowly drifting white haze that shields the surface from their view. The shuttle maneuvers down toward a large landing field, meticulously cleared to allow the ship to come down unimpeded. Around them, they can see workers quickly moving to start unloading the shuttle and the boarding ramp descends, allowing them to take their first steps onto the surface.
Apologies for the delay, I haven't been feeling well the last couple days. I'll get things rolling later today!
"Some days it feels like these guys know how to keep this place running better than we do," the tech says with a rueful chuckle as he raps his knuckles against the robot's shoulder. "We've got a lot of work to do before this place is total figured out. All I know is that whoever built it built it to last." He thanks the group again and guides the semi-functional robot to get repaired while the rest of the passengers seem to have settled down with the situation under control. Feya approaches the group again with a smile. "Looks like we have some very capable arrivals today. Thank you for your help." She checks her tablet. "The first shuttle is just about ready to go down. I can make sure you're first feet on the ground if you'd like."
That pretty much covers it. I have the ability to share the core with people if I start up a recruitment. There's very little outside, though there is another race in one of the adventures and I'm working on throwing together some homebrew for Imperial Ogres. No need to be an expert on the system, as it's a relatively standard percentile system and shouldn't be too hard to work out.
"Ah, yeah, it's one of the old models we found here," the man explains. "A bunch of 'em were keeping this place running when the first explorers showed up. They're usually good at their job, so we patched 'em up, but there are a few that are still a bit run down."
So I've recently (finally) gotten my hands on the core books for the latest edition of Warhammer Fantasy RP and I've been itching to give it a go. I've always been a big Warhammer fan and the relatively new edition seems like it should make for an excellent game. I'm curious to see how much interest there would be for a PbP game. I'm currently looking to start with the first few short adventures in Rough Nights and Hard Days, which are revamped classic adventures that have popped up in just about every edition of WFRP, then run into a mix of some adapted 2e adventures and homebrew stories.
The robot hisses one more time and there are a few more sparks before it stops moving and straightens up. It says a much less distorted sentence in the language that only Flux can currently comprehend once again. "Awaiting further orders..." The mechanic hesitantly approaches the machine and leans down to get a look at the exposed panel again. "I think it must have burned out a processor. Thanks, you probably just saved us some spare parts." He steps back, still eyeing the robot carefully. "I'll take it down to get patched up."
Flux's spell takes a moment to take effect as the robot's electronic tone becomes much more understandable. "Sector 3 to sector... sec.. 5. Repair airlo... deliver to..." The machine doesn't make further overtly hostile moves as it staggers back and forth, apparently unsure where it's supposed to go. It does knock over a few chairs and another crate as it stumbles about though. The mechanic grumbles a bit as he sits up slowly. "Lucky me," he gripes as the ferran doctor checks him over for any injuries. "Thanks doc. Just my luck to get stuck managing one of the worn out models."
Several of the staff quickly clear the last few passengers from the arrival dock and they can hear someone calling for security, but the team jumps immediately. At the first look, it seems that the mechanic was only knocked a bit silly by slamming to the metallic floor. He should be alright with a bit of rest, but he's definitely going to be feeling some bruises for a few days. The robot's behavior is significantly stranger. It hisses and makes sounds that seem like a language, but nothing the party has heard before, flailing it's arms about and knocking several of the supply crates aside, sending them toppling to the ground. It seems to be malfunctioning for certain, but whether it's an intentional malfunction or merely poor luck is uncertain without taking a peek at its programming.
Feya just smiles a bit mechanically. Somehow, it feels like this is a question she's used to hearing. "As soon as the supplies from the ship are loaded. We only have so many shuttles, so we like to make as much use of space as possible. The labor droids will have everything taken care of in..." She's cut off as one of the robots makes a loud hissing sound and slumps over. "Ah... well soon enough." One of the technicians hurries over and starts poking at the robot, muttering softly to himself in another language. He pulls the machine's chest plate open and shines a light inside for a few moments before the robot suddenly jerks upright again and slams one of its heavy manipulator arms into the man's chest, sending him hurtling back several feet and knocking him to the ground.
"Fantastic," the half-elf says with a smile. "Actually, Dr. Kjestis, why don't you go with Mr..." She trails off, realizing that she never actually got Balazar's name. "Well, with our other new arrival here. The medical station here is our best treatment center for emergencies so I'm sure they'll be glad to see another doctor arrive and can get you acquainted with any important details." The lines start to move more quickly as everyone gets organized and the new arrivals are moved through with little difficulty. As the colonists start to move off to other parts of the station, the crew starts to disembark and two vaguely humanoid robots start to unload the rest of the cargo into the docking bay.
Feya smiles and directs a few other new colonists to different lines as the rest of her staff start checking in the new arrivals. "Oh, just let me check here..." The half-elf clicks her tongue and starts flicking through her tablet. "Well, the shuttles are re-purposed cargo shuttles, so they have more than enough capacity for just about every sapient species known to the Pact Worlds. No need to worry there." Her fingers flick a couple of times as she scans her tablet. "Starfinders... Oh, an it is an honor to see you. We've had a few Starfinders come through, but most of them haven't stayed long. Lots of coming and going, you know. I believe the current lead on the ground is... Jask Starseeker. He's been working from the Starfinder office in the main admin complex down on the surface. You can't miss him, male shirren with a red carapace, like bright red." Flux's obvious enthusiasm doesn't seem to throw the greeter. If anything, she seems glad to see someone so excited to be there. "More apartment than a full house. Most of the surface is already built up after all. But there's more than enough room for everyone to have their own residence. We have some guides to the most recently restored structures in Queen's Field if you'd like to browse while you're waiting." Feya clearly looks a bit distressed as Balazar panics over his 'missing' paperwork and quickly starts to scroll through her tablet again. "Oh umm..." she bites her lip and mutters to herself. "Ah, I think I can help. We should have the resources here to do the medical work-up and get your ID sorted. It may be a bit of a delay until you get off the station though."
It's fine, I just wasn't expecting it. I'm fine to roll with it.
@Balazar: Unless I misunderstood, Balazar did actually join the colony properly, didn't he? I was under the impression that his credentials and what not were BS of course, but not that he'd actually stowed away on the transport or something like that.
Whispers of excitement run rampant through the other passengers as the group makes introductions and spend the rest of the approach chatting with each other. Everyone can feel the slight shift as the ship decelerates and comes to a stop and lights flick on, warning them back from the airlock as the docking tube connects to the large transport ship and connecting them to Returner Station. "All passengers have your paperwork ready. Welcome to Ikirit." The captain's announcement ends in a small click and the passengers start filing toward the airlock. The boarding tube it a bit cramped, mostly because of the other passengers rather than because of its size, though Xevras has to duck to get through the far end as they all file out into a spacious, if somewhat empty, room that seems to have been retrofitted into a passenger lounge. A few individuals, mostly humans and lashunta, in what look like uniforms are waiting, along with a half-elf woman in a suit. "Welcome to Returner Station," she greets the passengers, shaking the hand of the first few people out of the ship. "I'm Feya Maldos, your official greeter and guide to getting settled here on Ikirit. If everyone could form three lines, we'll get you cleared for the surface and start setting up housing arrangements in Queen's Landing. If you have any questions while we get the boring part out of the way, feel free to ask."
Gameplay is up :)
The shift between the Drift and the Material is a subtle one, but anyone who travels the driftways for long starts to get a feel for when they're within the transitive plane and when they're safely back in the stability of the Material. The ship barely reacts beyond a small tremor and a slight change in lighting. It has been a long trip, nearly three weeks in the Drift, and certainly long enough for the nearly two dozen passengers to start to grow a bit restless. But an air of excitement has started to grow among the passengers and crew alike over the past few days. The ship's intercom crackles to life and the now familiar voice of the captain barks through the speakers. "Attention all hands. We've just entered the Ikirit system. Ten minutes out from Returner Station. All passengers, ensure that your belongings are packed and prepared to disembark."
Sounds like everyone is getting some really good ideas how people might react to each other. I hope I'm not wrong in saying that I've been interpreting Balazar as sly, but not really a bad guy. There's supposed to be some underbelly already forming on Ikirit (Aspis has a stake already and Hunter's Port can be pretty lawless), so I thought he'd be a good fit if the crew ends up interacting with some shady elements. Apologies for the slow pace. I'm usually pretty casual running games, but this is slow even for me. I should have gameplay ready to start tomorrow with the crew's arrival on Returner Station.
Sure. I'm totally fine with tweaking builds, even for a little bit after we start if something doesn't work the way you wanted it to in game.
Discussion goes here! I'm going to be on the road a lot the next couple days, so feel free to chat and discuss character details or connections (I know some of that was already talked about) and I'll chime in as much as I can. Looking forward to getting started.
Alright, thank you for your patience everyone. And thank you for all of the amazing characters. This was a particularly hard group to narrow down, but without further ado, the characters will be... - Rokayla Vonarx, ferran junior Starfinder
I shall have discussion open later hopefully, or tomorrow if I get distracted tonight.
Apologies for the delay. I've had a busier week than anticipated and my family is taking a trip this coming weekend. I'll be posting the party of 5 tomorrow and that should give a couple of days for me to finish checking over sheets and for people to discuss characters and get to know each other in discussion before hopefully starting next week.
Wasn't feeling very well today, so I didn't get a chance to get much of a start. It will be a few days, but I'm very excited to pick out a crew.
Just over 24 hours remaining and I am pretty impressed. Not an overwhelming flood of submissions, but every single one has been great so far. If you're still working on something, try to get done by tomorrow night! Anyone who has expressed interest will probably have a few extra days while I sort through submissions to finish up if necessary, but the sooner you get done, the better look I can give your application.
I'm not using any real homebrew other than the setting and I try to be accommodating to whatever skill level players have, so I hope that it would be a fine game for new players. Just ask if you need help and I or one of the many wonderful people here can almost certainly do so.
You're good. Have at it!
Just one week left to go before I wrap things up. Everyone still having a good time and getting their ideas flowing?
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