A written request of Venture-Captain Amara Li, you travel to Hisuikarasu to meet the archon Zepha and the samurai Shiyo Takarak.
The letter from Venture-Captain Li briefly outlines the your upcoming mission and the Pathfinder Society’s interest in Zepha, the Way of the Kirin, and Tianjing itself.
In it you are also told to expect that you will not be doing a team as this invite would have found its way to a select few chosen for this mission.
Enemy initative will be rolled together mostly and act as a single block.
Any percentile rolls would be as follows;
20%, any roll 20% or less is bad.
50%, any roll 50% or less is bad.
Same for any other rolls involving Percentiles. :P
I'd require your char stat block to be under your Char name. (well most would know what I mean) This is for me to check on your char details in hits, saves, etc.
Please post the following for Chronicle Sheet stuff and possible boons.
Name:
Char Name:
PFS#:
Faction
Day Job:
Any Fancy Immediate Stuff???:
Tactics if any:
Email (only for Boons and to be PMed)
Having arrived to Bellis via riverboat, Venture-Captain Brackett of the Almas Lodge has provided each of you a letter explaining the mission.
Spoiler:
My Fellow Travelers, Strange weather has taken hold in a part of the Verduran Forest, south of the town of Bellis. Falbin, a gnome herbalist who serves our interests in the region, has reported tropical winds and abundant floral growth.
I invite you to explore and record the phenomena to the best of your abilities.
I’ve arranged passage for your party on the riverboat Freewind, and sent an operative ahead so Falbin knows to expect you. Falbin can be hard to spot, since he’s shorter than the average gnome, but his voice carries like a church bell. If all else fails, use your nose—I’ve never seen the fellow without a fat satchel of herbs at his side.
Safe Journeys,
Venture-Captain Brackett
The Sellen River bears a multicolored blanket of fallen leaves upon
its broad surface, but the Freewind’s bow scatters them as it glides
towards Bellis. Though the logging season has ended, the town
still buzzes with life.
Enemy initative will be rolled together mostly and act as a single block.
Any percentile rolls would be as follows;
20%, any roll 20% or less is bad.
50%, any roll 50% or less is bad.
Same for any other rolls involving Percentiles. :P
I'd require your char stat block to be under your Char name. (well most would know what I mean) This is for me to check on your char details in hits, saves, etc.
Please post the following for Chronicle Sheet stuff and possible boons.
Name:
Char Name:
PFS#:
Faction
Day Job:
Any Fancy Immediate Stuff???:
Tactics if any:
Email (only for Boons and to be PMed)
As this is a rather fast paced game, once a day post is necessary. More is better.
I'll prefer a rule of two when deciding where to go.
Botting will be done if needed and usually after 2 days or so of inactivity.
Enemy initative will be rolled together mostly and act as a single block.
Any percentile rolls would be as follows;
20%, any roll 20% or less is bad.
50%, any roll 50% or less is bad.
Same for any other rolls involving Percentiles. :P
Please have your Char Stat lines ready and easily seen below your char name.
Please post the following for Chronicle Sheet stuff and possible boons.
Name:
Char Name:
PFS#:
Faction
Day Job:
Any Fancy Immediate Stuff???:
Tactics if any:
Email (only for Boons and to be PMed)
As this is a rather fast paced game, once a day post is necessary. More is better.
I'll prefer a rule of two when deciding where to go.
Botting will be done if needed and usually after 2 days or so of inactivity.
Enemy initative will be rolled together mostly and act as a single block.
Any percentile rolls would be as follows;
20%, any roll 20% or less is bad.
50%, any roll 50% or less is bad.
Same for any other rolls involving Percentiles. :P
Please have your Char Stat lines ready and easily seen below your char name.
Please post the following for Chronicle Sheet stuff and possible boons.
Name:
Char Name:
PFS#:
Faction
Day Job:
Any Fancy Immediate Stuff???:
Tactics if any:
Email (only for Boons and to be PMed)
Due to the nature of the game, I might have to push it and make certain rolls in order to ensure we keep in time for the game. If we're quick and further then the rest, you'll likely hound me for updates. :P
Enemy initative will be rolled together mostly and act as a single block.
Any percentile rolls would be as follows;
20%, any roll 20% or less is bad.
50%, any roll 50% or less is bad.
Same for any other rolls involving Percentiles. :P
I'd require your char stat block to be under your Char name. (well most would know what I mean) This is for me to check on your char details in hits, saves, etc.
Please post the following for Chronicle Sheet stuff and possible boons.
Name:
Char Name:
PFS#:
Faction
Day Job:
Any Fancy Immediate Stuff???:
Tactics if any:
Email (only for Boons and to be PMed)
Player Name:
Character Name:
Class and Levels:
PFS#:
Faction:
Day Jobs:
Any Special Boons?:
Have you Angered or attracted anybody? (Chronicle Sheet Boon):
Any Funky Abilities that GM should know off?:
Any tactics, in event of botting:
Perception Bonus:
Location this Adventure takes place in: Absalom
Posting once a day is mandatory. If you can post multiple times, even better.
Initative will be rolled in blocks.
Have fun.
I'll also be rolling Perception for purpose of trap finding and general Look around though I'll use Players rolls if declared. :P
Dot in Gameplay thread.
Disclaimers::
All deaths or conditions will be blamed on the dice rollers.
Suddenly the backroom door shuts and the game’s mysterious host appears—the enigmatic Osprey, an agent of the Pathfinder Society with unclear objectives likely known only to the Decemvirate. Two strangers accompany the lean-featured Chelaxian—a tall man wearing dark robes and a black mask that conceals his face, and a grizzled, prune-skinned gnome, with a slight facial palsy.
With his typically cordial but informal manner, Osprey requests everyone be seated, and offers all a mug of Absalom’s worst grog.
“My fellow Pathfinders, I appreciate you making yourselves available on such short notice. I trust the accommodations here are sour enough to keep others from our business. As usual, I prefer to get right to the point.”
Osprey slams a large sack down on the table, a high-pitched yelp bursting from within the bundle as he does so. He quickly reaches into the sack and drags out a tiny pestilent-looking creature by the throat. He beats its head against the table a few more times, and yells, “Settle down before I get careless and snap your damn neck!”
Then he pins it down against the table, where it flounders weakly, a bony clump of glinting scales, hollow-eyes, and leathery wings. With his hands still locked on the creature’s throat, he raises his eyes, looks across the table and says, “So, what do you know about demons?”
Player Name:
Character Name:
Class and Levels:
PFS#:
Faction:
Day Jobs:
Any Special Boons?:
Have you Angered or attracted anybody? (Chronicle Sheet Boon):
Any Funky Abilities that GM should know off?:
Any tactics, in event of botting:
Perception Bonus:
Location this Adventure takes place in: Absalom
Posting once a day is mandatory. If you can post multiple times, even better.
Initative will be rolled in blocks.
Have fun.
I'll also be rolling Perception for purpose of trap finding and general Look around though I'll use Players rolls if declared. :P
Dot in Gameplay thread.
Disclaimers::
All deaths or conditions will be blamed on the dice rollers.
The Blakros Museum rises into the night sky, its single black spire severing the full moon in twain. The black iron gates surrounding the exhibition hall grind in protest against the wind. Beyond, the museum’s large oaken doors stand wide open, a silver-gray mist belching forth from the cavernous darkness within. You wonder how you ended up here, standing at the precipice of unknown terrors, and instantly Venture- Captain Adril Hestram’s wide looming face is conjured into your minds’ eye. His booming words ring out from memory as clearly as he spoke them only one hour ago:
“The Blakros Museum is cursed. Some darkness has descended upon the place and those who enter are blasted with evil and left raving through its halls, more beast than men. The curator, Nigel Aldain, is an old associate of the Society, though he chose to leave our organization some years back after a disagreement.”
Adril looked sheepish then, as if remembering some distasteful incident from his youth.
“Nigel has long denied the Society access to the Blakros Museum’s considerable collection of relics and scrolls, using his extensive contacts to nab several excellent finds right out from under us... he always had a nose for the hunt. Whatever is past between Nigel and the Society, he needs our help now. Perhaps if we can come to his aid, he may think on rejoining the Pathfinder Society, or at least offering to share his discoveries with us.”
“Apparently the trouble at Blakros Museum began this morning, shortly after a wayward Pathfinder named Lugizar Trantos returned to Absalom after months spent in the Mwangi Expanse. Supposedly, instead of coming straight to the Lodge to report in, he went to Blakros, sold his finds to Nigel, and then disappeared with a hefty sum of gold. The few who glimpsed Lugizar claimed he was much changed by his time in the Mwangi... gaunt, his eyes yellowed and unfocused, a strange rasping cough that seemed to wrack his now wasted frame. Whatever he brought back with him, we believe it is the cause of the Blakros Museum’s ills. Root it out.”
Player Name:
Character Name:
Class and Levels:
PFS#:
Faction:
Day Jobs:
Any Special Boons?:
Have you Angered or attracted anybody? (Chronicle Sheet Boon):
Any Funky Abilities that GM should know off?:
Any tactics, in event of botting:
Perception Bonus:
Location this Adventure takes place in: Magnimar
Posting once a day is mandatory. If you can post multiple times, even better.
Initative will be rolled in blocks.
Have fun.
Since this is going to be very fast pace due to the nature of Specials. I hope that you can post more though I'll likely attempt to stream the game as much as I can.
I'll also be rolling Perception for purpose of trap finding and general Look around though I'll use Players rolls if declared. :P
Disclaimers::
All deaths or conditions will be blamed on the dice rollers.
Player Name:
Character Name:
Class and Levels:
PFS#:
Faction:
Day Jobs:
Any Special Boons?:
Have you Angered or attracted anybody? (Chronicle Sheet Boon):
Any Funky Abilities that GM should know off?:
Any tactics, in event of botting:
Perception Bonus:
Posting once a day is mandatory. If you can post multiple times, even better.
Initative will be rolled in blocks.
Have fun.
Since this is going to be very fast pace due to the nature of Specials. I hope that you can post more though I'll likely attempt to stream the game as much as I can.
I'll also be rolling Perception for purpose of trap finding and general Look around though I'll use Players rolls if declared. :P
Disclaimers: All Poor dice rolls indicates that the dice rollers need to be appeased.
Player Name:
Character Name:
Class and Levels:
PFS#:
Faction:
Day Jobs:
Any Special Boons?:
Have you Angered or attracted anybody? (Chronicle Sheet Boon):
Any Funky Abilities that GM should know off?:
Any tactics, in event of botting:
Perception Bonus:
Posting once a day is mandatory. If you can post multiple times, even better.
Initative will be rolled in blocks.
Have fun.
Since this is going to be very fast pace due to the nature of Specials. I hope that you can post more though I'll likely attempt to stream the game as much as I can.
I'll also be rolling Perception for purpose of trap finding and general Look around though I'll use Players rolls if declared. :P
Disclaimers: All deaths or conditions will be blamed on the dice rollers.
After a hurried summons to the Grand Lodge in Absalom, a quick conversation with Venture-Captain Alissa Moldreserva, and a wet, stormy trip across the Inner Sea to Andoran, the small, warm Pathfinder Lodge in Augustana is a welcome break from travel. “I can’t believe we are wasting our time on this matter,” says Caudron Wallace, the venture-captain of Augustana as he paces the main hall. “Frankly, I want as little to do with it as possible, so I’m passing it on to you.” Wallace nods toward a door at the back of the room. “The vagrant through there was found collapsed on our front steps gripping a wayfinder of all things. We still don’t know who he is. Talk to him, for the tale he tells is amazing if true, and then come back here.”
The room at the back of the main hall, you find a small sitting room with six comfortable chairs and a few bookshelves filled with the latest Pathfinder Chronicles. An old, withered man sits in one of the chairs, half-dozing when you enter. His skin is shockingly pale and his features are sharp with high cheekbones and a jutting chin.
Player Name:
Character Name:
Class and Levels:
PFS#:
Faction:
Day Jobs:
Any Special Boons?:
Have you Angered or attracted anybody? (Chronicle Sheet Boon):
Any Funky Abilities that GM should know off?:
Any tactics, in event of botting:
Posting once a day is mandatory. If you can post multiple times, even better.
Initative will be rolled in blocks.
Have fun.
After a hurried summons to the Grand Lodge in Absalom, a quick conversation with Venture-Captain Alissa Moldreserva, and a wet, stormy trip across the Inner Sea to Andoran, the small, warm Pathfinder Lodge in Augustana is a welcome break from travel. “I can’t believe we are wasting our time on this matter,” says Caudron Wallace, the venture-captain of Augustana as he paces the main hall. “Frankly, I want as little to do with it as possible, so I’m passing it on to you.” Wallace nods toward a door at the back of the room. “The vagrant through there was found collapsed on our front steps gripping a wayfinder of all things. We still don’t know who he is. Talk to him, for the tale he tells is amazing if true, and then come back here.”
The room at the back of the main hall, you find a small sitting room with six comfortable chairs and a few bookshelves filled with the latest Pathfinder Chronicles. An old, withered man sits in one of the chairs, half-dozing when you enter. His skin is shockingly pale and his features are sharp with high cheekbones and a jutting chin.
Player Name:
Character Name:
Class and Levels:
PFS#:
Faction:
Day Jobs:
Any Special Boons?:
Have you Angered or attracted anybody? (Chronicle Sheet Boon):
Any Funky Abilities that GM should know off?:
Any tactics, in event of botting:
Posting once a day is mandatory. If you can post multiple times, even better.
Initative will be rolled in blocks.
Have fun.
A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st to 5th level characters (Tiers: 1–2 and 4–5).
When an old beggar shows up filthy and injured on the doorstep of the Augustana Pathfinder Lodge in Andoran and demands to be recognized as Andoran's one true Emperor, Venture-Captain Wallace is inclined to chase him off. But when the old beggar reveals a wayfinder and tells a tale of demons and portals to another world beneath the streets of Augustana, Wallace summons you from Absalom to investigate. Will you make it through sewers, swarms, and sanctuaries to uncover the truth or will the dangers of the Augustana underworld consume you forever?
Looking for Pathfinders.
Lottery will be done on 19th March. My time after 9pm.
Due to the nature of the game, I might have to push it and make certain rolls in order to ensure we keep in time for the game. If we're quick and further then the rest, you'll likely hound me for updates. :P
Enemy initative will be rolled together mostly and act as a single block.
Any percentile rolls would be as follows;
20%, any roll 20% or less is bad.
50%, any roll 50% or less is bad.
Same for any other rolls involving Percentiles. :P
I'd require your char stat block to be under your Char name. (well most would know what I mean) This is for me to check on your char details in hits, saves, etc.
Please post the following for Chronicle Sheet stuff and possible boons.
Name:
Char Name:
PFS#:
Faction
Day Job:
Any Fancy Immediate Stuff???:
Tactics if any:
Email (only for Boons and to be PMed)
Motes of dust float in the air as the midday sun shines through the lights of the museum roof. Several scholars and students move about the bookshelves and display cases on the main floor and the balconies above, while some are hunched over tables piled with heavy tomes. Zefiro is in discussion with a colleague when he notices the visitors.
“Ah, you have returned. Welcome.” He shakes hands with everyone. “Right, we have that package for you.” Zefiro beckons to a student at a nearby table. “Run up and fetch the Athenaeum materials from my office.” He turns back from the student, though he occasionally glances nervously at the people going about their work around him.
“The ruin you’re about to investigate is certainly a major discovery, and it’s sure to earn great prestige for my colleagues at Egorian’s Athenaeum. A lost colony of ancient Taldor right within the Kharijite province would certainly give our beloved empire a strong claim to the region.” Zefiro steps a little closer and lowers his voice. “I would be very interested to discuss your findings when you return, with a bit more privacy. Come see me here in the evening and we can have a talk in my office.”
Zefiro takes a step back as the student returns with the package. He hands it over to the PCs, “If there’s nothing else, I must get back to my duties.”
For the records, I'm on multiple times a day so I can post fairly quickly.
I welcome creative use of skills and will award bonus.
The Special may or may not have the correct maps thus I'll may end up using another map or no map at all.
Let's have some fun guys.
Dot in the required threads as needed.
The Tier should be a solid 1-2 though we maybe able to do a 4-5 if it comes down to that.
Saiman - Ex Bop Human Ranger
Adam Horne - Bemmer Anvilbrow Dwarf Cleric 1
Beatrice Pscheidl - Drostan Brunspar Fighter 2
B Viggers - Kellek Human Bard 1
Rogar Valertis - Asarnil Veluvien Elven Wizard 02
Edo Shacham - Lasair McMaraugh Halfling Sorcerer 1
The table has being filled by the above players.
You guys look like a pretty balanced table.
For the records, I'm on multiple times a day so I can post fairly quickly.
I welcome creative use of skills and will award bonus.
The Special may or may not have the correct maps thus I'll may end up using another map or no map at all.
Let's have some fun guys.
Dot in the required threads as needed.
This is a recruitment thread for The Sky Key Solution for the 5th PbP Gameday. The game will run from August 27th to October 11th. The Game will also be run in CORE MODE.
This will be a tier 1-5 table.
Game will be run in CORE.
Preference will be given to characters in that level range in order of sign-up, followed by characters out of tier in order of sign-up. Since this is a timed scenario ran across multiple tables, I will expect at least one post a day for each participant. If you're able to post more than once a day, even better as I have an ambition to run the entire Trilogy within the PbP Gamesday Period.
I reserve the right to put you in delay to keep things moving or bot you (Though I hope it doesn't come down to it) Also to speed things up, I will roll all initiatives. Maps will be done via google drawings.
To sign up, please post the following information:
Player Name:
Character name:
Race/Class/Level:
PFS#:
Faction:
Any special tricks I should know about your character:
I will also need you to have in your profile either a link to your character sheet or have all your character details entered in your profile.
This is a recruitment thread for Serpent's Ire for the 5th PbP Gameday. The game will run from October 12th-November 25th. The Game will also be run in CORE MODE.
This will be a Pregen Table.
I will need to impose a minimum of one post per day if not more, we do have a time limit and I'd prefer if we can end this early. I reserve the right to put you in delay to keep things moving. Also to speed things up, I will roll all initiatives. Maps will be done via google drawings.
To sign up, please post the following information:
Player Name:
Character name:
Race/Class/Level:
PFS#:
Faction:
Any special tricks I should know about your character:
Also Pregens will be put up and selected on a first come first serve basis.
I will also need you to have in your profile either a link to your character sheet or have all your character details entered in your profile.
This is a recruitment thread for The Sky Key Solution for the 5th PbP Gameday. The game will run from August 27th to October 11th. The Game will also be run in CORE MODE.
This will be a tier 1-5 table. Preference will be given to characters in that level range in order of sign-up, followed by characters out of tier in order of sign-up. Since this is a timed scenario ran across multiple tables, I will expect at least one post a day for each participant, in order to keep up with the other tables.
I will need to impose a minimum of one post per day if not more, as this is a season special and we need to keep pace with the other tables. I reserve the right to put you in delay to keep things moving. Also to speed things up, I will roll all initiatives. Maps will be done via google drawings.
To sign up, please post the following information:
Player Name:
Character name:
Race/Class/Level:
PFS#:
Faction:
Any special tricks I should know about your character:
I will also need you to have in your profile either a link to your character sheet or have all your character details entered in your profile.
As you make your way through the streets, a lean-faced man hiding behind a long cowl slips alongside. “A moment of your time,” he says and pulls you aside, into the shadows of a nearby alley.
“It seems we have two things in common, an eagerness to participate in good celebration, and this…” He punctuates his sentence by holding out an elaborately carved wayfinder, the type only granted to Pathfinders of great importance.
“I assure you, its mine,” he adds quickly, closing the device and tucking it back into the folds of his cloak with a quick, easy motion. Then he continues, “I know a good number of you are already planning to attend the festivities this evening. I need but a casual favor. An old associate of mine, Charvion Eater-of–Bones is set to make an elaborate display of some artifact he claims to have recovered. I’ve not had contact with him in a year or so, and I’ve a curious feeling about the event. More I cannot say; however, I’d appreciate you keeping an eye on whatever stunt he’s considering. He’s a natural charlatan that one. Just keep an eye out is all—nothing serious. Don’t let him know that you’re watching, and do not approach the artifact during the showing. Most importantly, tell no one of this conversation.”
The Crunch
Stats: 16,14,14,12,10,10 OR 4d6+1 drop 1 die OR 22 point buy
You may choose any of the above but no rerolls allowed.
Classes: Any Pazio Base Class, however I have no access to the Ocult Adventure Classes.
Hitpoints: Full at 1st level. Subsequent levels 1/2+1
Race: Any. You had better have a good back story for aliens, plants and half gods.
Traits: 2 traits+ 1 campaign trait. No drawbacks.
Starting Gold: 100GP
Stuff on Game
I may modify the encounters to better suit the party. It won't be a cakewalk neither will it be 'Mission Impossible'
Items like Rum would be there but will be modified as well.
I'm one of the players who got killed by Run. Really............ Really......... I kid you not. it involved climbing the mast during a storm...........Seriously.
Minimum 1 Post a day other than weekends would be preferred.
Be nice to each other.
PFS Credit available for each book completed.
I'm in for the long haul. Are you?
Other the Less. Let us begin!!!!
The party selection that is.
An Introduction to the High Seas
Welcome to Formidably Maid - one of the more vile collections of scum and villainy in Port Peril. It's nine o'clock on a Saturday. The regular crowd shuffles in. There's an old man sitting at the card table, making love to his tonic and gin. It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
And the waitress, she gives you a smile.
What seems to be a crowd gathering around a garrulous, tall and thin man with a braided beard and a mouth full of gold teeth drawing to him interested seas dogs, both young and old, over to his table.
He signals the barmaid to bring another cup of what he's got - and a look passes between them, some sign they had a prior understanding.
Remarkably his voice carries over the lower din (Not by much compared to the rest of the tavern) with ease borne of experience.
"Im looking for Sailors. Seamen with grit in them! Fires of passion for Gold! Adventure! Yet with some lick of sense in them to follow orders."
He sneers and looks around.
"Any takers? Or.....Do I expect the same Gutless worms."
The Darkness first greets you as you awaken the following morning in the dark hold of the Wormwood (area A10).
The night before—the ringing laughter of a wild night, the heady joy of excess, the scents of rich stewed meat and perfume lingering in their nostrils lingers in your bleary confused memory.
Then they make themselves known to you. They come in waves like a band marching in a parade.
A pounding headache, the sickly taste of cheap wine in your mouths, the hard floor that just seemed, impossible as it sounds, to get harder then it already is, a rhythmic creaking noise, and the feeling of the room swaying, as if they were still drunk.
A Chained figure looks up in wry amusement as he watches each and everyone of you struggle back to wakefulness.
"S'Alright there? Welcome to the Wormwood....... I suppose."
Please discuss your Characters available and then have them prepared for Play.
That way Everyone can easily see what Tier is likely.
Day Jobs to be rolled here if applicable.
I'm GMT +8 but I tend to check in more then once per day except Weekends due to work.
If you're bringing any Class or Race I'm not familar with, I'll ask. Example would be the Occult Playtest. I know nothing , fellow players, nothing about...... them.
Please discuss your Characters available and then have them prepared for Play.
That way Everyone can easily see what Tier is likely.
Day Jobs to be rolled here if applicable.
I'm GMT +8 but I tend to check in more then once per day except Weekends due to work.
If you're bringing any Class or Race I'm not familar with, I'll ask. Example would be the Occult Playtest. I know nothing , fellow players, nothing about...... them.
My experiences with SF have been distinctly tepid. It's basically PF with more guns, less magic, fewer options, and a paint job of "but it's in space!" covering up problems.
Space combat is boring. I've never gotten to be a gunner or pilot, those always go to soldiers or mystics who had no other way to participate. My turns have always been pick an action from a menu, roll a d20, tell someone else they get a small bonus or add a few shield points. The new SOM stuff might have helped but we stopped doing the space combat because it was bad and just don't care any more.
I'm really curious how that meshes with the temperature of space. In the real world, the background microwaves left over from the big bang give our empty space a temperature of approximately -455F. Perhaps the Starfinder universe has a bit cozier temperature than our own but going from a few degrees above absolute zero to -20F is a colossal jump. It seems to go against the game design idea that you can freely go into space in your armor if it doesn't protect you from the cold of the vacuum. Unless the temperature of space is between -20F and 140F which seems like it would bring on even more issues.
Vacuum is actually a really good insulator. Most heat loss that we ground pounders are familiar with is due to us transferring heat from warmer massrs to colder masses through some form of physical contact. Atmosphere has mass, that's important. In a vacuum you can only disperse heat through black body radiation, that is literally emitting photons of infrared radiation. If anything your problem will be shedding excess heat that you generate through biological processes.
I will note however that -20F is medium-heavy wool/down coat weather (mostly dependent on the wind chill factor). Throw on a good hat, warm scarf, long underwear,cotton sweater, in addition to the coat and you can start overheating just walking around.
The enemy ship had a laser net in a turret. I rolled 5 straight 14+ and blocked all the attacks. The player's ship had 4 critical hits on it before the destroyed the enemy ship.
Please realize that five rolls of 14+ is about a 1/200 chance. Meanwhile failing all five rolls is slightly better than 1/10 (specifically 11.6%). Your most common result in that is going to be one or two missiles blocked (approx 30% channce of either).
My experience has been that no matter how many point defense weapons there are they block about 1.5 missiles per enemy ship because you only get one shot at any incoming missile and nothing can enhance the automated point defense attack bonus.
I'd say that this also involves the character building ability and rules mastery of the people you play with.
I've played in a group where juggling more than a page of ship action wasn't going to happen. Where the at 13th level the eng/sci slot was filled by a mystic with a +15 total in those skills and a 16 dex soldier was the gunner. Can I build a operative who can do everything better than that? Sure. How would that make them feel?
But even they got the biggest shields they could, put twin linked big guns in the turret, and got a +6 mononode for the gunner. They knew that if you put the guns in the front arc and have the gunner sit there that when the enemy came up in a different arc then the gunner didn't get to do anything that turn.
Then, check some math. If you're giving someone a +/-2 its relevant 1 time in 10. If you're changing 1s to 2s on 30d10 worth of damage rolls you've spend the round doing, usually, +3 damage out of around 150. Piddly bonuses are weak and boring. Rolling once a turn to have a 1/10 chance of being relevant is basically admitting that you're useless. Did you successfully taunt the enemy ship? Great, they have to make more than five checks in the 1d4 rounds before you have more than a 50% chance having been totally useless. If you rolled a 4 that's a pretty good probability, not so much if you rollled a 1.
And rescan? Never been useful here. It's more common for the enemy to balance shields than not. If that's true then it doesn't matter because you're shooting them whereever anyways. And it means you didn't give your gunner that mighty +2, or balance your own shields. And if it's almost always unavailable or a waste of time then why bother?
Isn't that like saying you made a soldier and your regular combats are just making your full attack then leaving to watch TV?
....
That's not to say starship combat is perfect, or even good, but there seems to be a lot of issues with how people are choosing to approach it, too.
No. Its more like being a armless, legless,slowed envoy.
Not the pilot so I can't move. Not the gunner so I can't shoot the real guns. Don't have computers, engineering, or magic so locked out there. Don't get diplomacy as a class skill so fall behind on those dcs.
Suppose I could go take one of the point defense weapons over and hope something gets close enough to shoot at with that. Character is great in and out of combat, even (usuallu) contributes the extra actions and +4s for the first six rounds. Its just really boring to roll once say someone gets a bonus and wait until the next turn.
Still, its better than the guy doing the shields. I did that the game before. Boring and tedious.
Is there a name for Absalom Station's law enforcers that doesn't result in an embarrassing acronym like "Absalom Station Security" would?
Probably not. The acronym is probably accurate based on how they're represented in the APs.
Our games runs it as the real security being heavily armed neighborhood watches and personal bodyguards. Station/national security tends to only be able to deal with the most incompetent and lightly armed criminals. Police forces in SF are probably all just cr 1 and easily intimidated or bribed.
Tier 1 comp, mini to L bulk, add artifical personallity, 60cr.
Teir 1 cyro pistol with control module, L bulk, 132cr.
Two gear clamps (depending on DM, maybe only 1) 200cr. Both L bulk.
About 400cr for a 'clip it to your shoulder' throw away sentry gun.
Or there are the rakmodoi computers which are magical, self powered, and can have legs for a 30 climb/walk speed. A similar version with that runs almost 200 (300 if your DM requires you to clamp the gun to the computer).
Might as well throw in some secure data storage at 1cr each. Keep your voice print and 'allowed commands' in them. Cheap extra security is always nice.
Thus 4000 to 8000 for 20 of them. About what a level 6 to 8 pistol costs. Yes they have low attack bonuses and are individually easy to hack. But you can throw piles of them at people, mount them on a shopping cart, have them provide covering and harrying fire. Or upgrade them to blast weapons.
Edit: actually, I'm pretty sure they do that last one. The drift is probably crowded around absalom station, and I'd bet the pirates hit incoming traffic somewhat often.
That would mean that there is a 1 to 1 correlation of drift locaton to space location. That requires you to place ships in the drift for law enforcement and war in the same manner a normal space for the same reasons. It enables fleets to congregate at a single point in the drift and travel together without linking engines, and to hop back to normal space at the same time.
So if you do that then the whole thing about linking drift engines and being unable to coordinate drift assaults without it goes away. Absalom would have part of it's defenses in that point in the drift, and it doesn't.
The randomness of the drift and the way drift drives work make intentional interceptions really hard. Again, try it from the point of having PCs be pirates or law enforcement and ussing the drift/space rules how do they find and catch other ships outside AP scripted encounters.
What I'm wondering is what ships the pirates can even find to attack.
Even the lowest end drift engine is really cheap and faster than regular thrusters for in-system travel between planets/stations. This apparently means that ships are hopping from orbit to orbit via the drift. That would mean that the pirates have follow the ship into the drift and attack there.
The problem of course then is that the pirates have to pop into the drift in the next 3 to 5 minutes before the ship warms up it's engines and leaves the area. There's nothing in the rules to support it but if we assume that two ships entering the drift within a few minutes of each other appear near each other in the drift, then that could work. Except that sensors max out at 100 hexes for active scanning and the other ship could be beyond that range (where you're scanning at up to -8 anyways before countermeasures). A ship moving at speed five exits that range in 2 minutes, so there isn't much time to try to find them.
Of course if the target doesn't have their engines on they can always just pop their drift engine again and, having not moved at all, probably end up pretty close to where they left from. Which, with a not-suicidal captain, would be somewhere near competent law enforcement. Then you just report attempted piracy, upload your scan of the pirate ship, and enter the drift an hour later without anyone following you.
There's no point in attempting piracy on arriving ships because you can't predict where they'll appear. The pirates would have to hang around in planetary orbit, near the local law enforcement, and wait until a random ship appeared nearby. Hope it's not a military or anti-pirate ship. Then they have to fight, capture, loot, and enter the drift before anyone responds. Plus if they've been hanging out in orbit for a while it's likely they've been scanned and IDed by, again, any non-incompetent law enforcement.
This can all be gotten around with corrupt and incompetent law enforcement, but then law abiding and lightly armed cargo ships will avoid that planet or station. Plus there's always the risk that the Hellknights or whoever just pack a bunch of troops and big guns into a cargo ship with high countermeasures, flying through known pirate areas and waiting to be attacked.
It doesn't seem like pirates can reliably get other ships. They're too mobile and random, being able to to and from the drift pretty quickly. I would think that pirates actually tend to mostly raid lightly defended settlements that are outside the sphere of influence of law enforcement. The problem being that those don't tend to be valuable.
I'm not sure that they would be able to afford to build such a base. I mean, turn it around a little bit: the PCs want to go pirating other spaceships, using the rules how do they do that? How do they get away with it more than two or three times?
Given that in Starfinder an asteroid just a couple miles in diameter can have an atmosphere, normal liquids, and apex predators (although no plants or herbivores) I'd have to say that the number is higher than the number of star systems with rocky orbital bodies in the range of 0.1 to 10 Earth masses.
