Thanks for the feedback. Changes made.
added Culture and Sense motive to his list of skills
added one to initiative
reformatted skills
Added brief descriptions of Theme and Class abilities
Background slightly changed (last paragraph only, he has now just applied to the Society)
added new writing sample
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Thank you for detailed feedback. I've reworked the character a good deal. Here are the changes:
Background: completely rewritten, see profile spoiler at top.
Ability scores: Str down to 10, Dex up to 15, Wisdom down to 10.
Envoy Improvisation: dropped clever feint and replaced it with inspiring boost, which allows her to help allies replenish Stamina immediately after taking damage.
Feats: dropped Great Fortitude and Bow proficiency and replaced with Improved Feint and Weapon Focus (Small Arms), so she will still be able to use her high bluff skill to gain an advantage in battle, but only for her own attacks. But she will be better at small arms attacks.
Skills: mostly the same, shifted a few points around, made profession focus musician. Added a point in Pilot so with her high dex she can do any starship duties that require Pilot skill. Perhaps she can be the back-up pilot or use the skill to assist the main pilot. Dropped stealth and athletics, for now.
Weapons: dropped bow, added tactical semi-auto pistol and needler pistol.
Stell Z-Lin - Human - Icon - Envoy - Face
Stell is a human female who was pursuing a career as a musician until her parents were lost in the Scoured Stars incident. This has inspired her to become a Starfinder to honor her parents and perhaps help find a way to discover their fate and if possible recover them alive. In between missions, she intends to continue her path as a musician.
Starship Role: communications officer (face).
Stat Block: See Profile.
Description and Background: See profile spoilers at the top.
Situation: The starship has encountered a pirate ship in the Diaspora. The ship has sent a transmission ordering the PCs’ ship to stop and be boarded by the pirates.
Stell checks her hair in the reflection of the bridge’s window. Then she says, “Let me try something. Put me on the comm channel viewer." After her image appears on the monitor, showing what the pirate captain was receiving, Stell smiles and says, “Message received and understood. Here’s the thing. We could let you board, but right now were on our way to find something valuable, so if you steal all our gear, which is nothing special, you’ll get little of value and we’ll have to turn around and abandon our mission, that is, if you let us live and keep our ship.
"Or we could fight you and maybe you’d win but you’ll risk destroying what you want to claim. Or maybe we’ll win, which won’t be what you want either.
"But there is a third option: let us go on our way, follow us if you want so you can watch for our return. Then we can talk and maybe we’ll give you some of the loot we found so we both profit without having to risk our lives or our ships. What do you say?”
Stell gives her winning smile again and leans forward a bit. She sneaks a glance at the gunner to see if he is ready with defenses and attacks should this fail. She studies the image the pirate projected, looking for signs of whether he is sincerely considering the offer.
Situation: The PCs have infiltrated a warehouse, located the office computer, linked in and downloaded some incriminating documents. All they have to do is get back out to the dark back alleys of Absalom station’s Pipetown district. Then a Ysoki security officer and his hover drone spot them and insists they identify themselves. The hacker of the group already made sure the individual members of the team had ID badges for just this situation, but the guard checked them and still looked suspicious.
Stell reads the Ysoki’s ID badge and says, "Well done, officer ... Kipper; we’re working for your your boss, Dr. Darkminster. He was worried that security was too lax and thought a well-organized team could get in and get out without being noticed or challenged. You’ve proved that hypothesis false. I’ll see that the report identifies you as being suitably alert.”
Stell holds up her personal comm unit and starts its video record feature. "State your name and ID number so I’m sure to get it correct.”
Situation: The team has been attacked and is taking fire from several goons of Dr. Darkminster.
Stell draws her Peerless semi-automatic and locks eyes with the one with the laser pistol. She aims at him, winks, and then points the gun at one of his allies. "You're too cute to plug," she says. But just as she is about to fire, she returns her aim to him and squeezes the trigger.
I have been role playing about as long as the D&D game has been sold, getting started back in my freshman year of college (1973). Since then, I've played the various editions of D&D (up though 3.5), GURPS, Shadowrun, and Savage Worlds, and a smattering of others. I've even come up with my own role playing system, although I doubt I will ever try to publish it. I've played Pathfinder since it came out and I've been playing on the Paizo play-by-post boards since 2013. I am currently GM for two PF Adventure Paths, Wrath of the Righteous and Reign of Winter. Look at some posts for my characters Shasta and Benson to see examples of my posting style and look at the AP campaigns to see my GM style (Wrath of Righteous would be best, as I assumed the GM duties of the Reign of Winter after someone else got the game started). As for Starfinder, I picked up the core rule book pretty close to when it was published and have made first level characters for all the classes except soldier and all the races except Kasatha and Shirren. I think I have grasped the unique differences from Pathfinder. I've played one game in SFS.
I encourage you to check my posting record in the various campaigns I've been in as a player and the ones I am GM for. I'm married but with no kids, nearing retirement, with a job that allows nearly daily posting. I've never dropped out of a game without serving notice. My life situation is stable. I've noted that college students and young adults are prone to dropping out of PBP games when their studies get too intense or when they get married, move, take a new job, or have children. None of those things are going to happen to me.
I have also done a lot of writing and I think at this point, my writing is definitely above average (IMHO). I pride myself on proofreading my work and catching spelling and grammar errors. I also have learned the concept of always leaving a post with a hook that someone else can build on or respond to. I also avoid characters who are anti-social or who don't work and play well with others. I'm not particularly fond of evil character concepts and don't enjoy playing with other players who are running evil characters.
Thanks for the feedback. It's not always that GMs take the time to help craft characters since they usually wait until players are selected and some don't even do it at all. This bodes well for the game. :)Glad you think so. I like talking about character development. But...
Ok, I fixed his crunch as requested and wrote a little something else about Twitch's interest in the Starfinder Society.
I sort of 'ended' his background as he is leaving from Akiton to go to Absalom Station since I do not know where/how the campaign starts.
Let me know if you need anything else at this time to properly evaluate my submission.
Thanks again for hosting!
Twitch hated to admit it, but it had been Riko that actually ruined his life. That ‘little rat’, as he lovingly called him, had soured what had been up to that moment a perfect existence. The smallest of his cousin’s third litter, that runt had actually stayed in Maro for far too long. ”All them lights must have messed with his head.”
Riko had remained behind as the caravan moved on. Nothing unusual in that as many of the young ysoki took their leave from travelling from time to time. But they always came back or latched on to the caravan as it made its way back to the city. It was a full year before they returned to Maro and by then it was too late. Young Riko’s head had been filled with nonsense: starships, new planets, travel off-world, as if travelling Akiton was not good enough. And the young one passed on this madness to Twitch who listened but not for long for he knew he was being captivated by all this nonsense.
The caravan left again without Riko but Twitch remained in contact with his young cousin who continued to spew forth this travelling fever. Until one day, Twitch actually cried as he listened to Riko’s message telling him he was going to Absalom Station. ”Madness” And that he was going to join the Starfinder Society. ”Even more madness. Why would such a prestigious organization care for a lowly ysoki from Akiton?”
But the fever had already taken hold of Twitch and he found it hard to concentrate on his day to day duties. The though of his second cousin travelling the stars conditioned everything he did, to the point where he could no longer remain idle. That was when he started working towards finding him. Even if he had to chase him through the Drift to do so.
Hi GM, gonna try and make things better
I found an Azlanti name generator link to generator
another thought was using ancient Roman names.
opinions?
I am leaning to the name generator
Hey, folks.
I've been under the weather and been off-line for a few days. Will try to catch up and have things ready soon. I may extend the recruitment an extra day if I get any last minute ones.
Here is the updated Phantom-6. I should have corrected any errors in the statblock, and I went ahead and added the Operative Edge insight bonus to each individual skill line (so they're all one point higher than they were.)
I actually cut the backstory a short a little, since it was starting to drag on. But if you want me to clarify anything, I can.
Female Android Operative
Bounty Hunter
CG Medium humanoid (android)
Init +5; Perception +4; low-light vision, darkvision 60 ft
Defense
KAC 15; EAC 15; CMAC 22
HP 10; Stam 7; Res 5
Fort +1; Ref +6; Will +2; +2 vs disease, mind-affecting, poison, sleep
Resistance Cold 5
Offense
Speed 30 ft;
Melee Survival knife +4 (1d4 S, analog, operative)
Ranged Tactical sniper +4 70ft (1d10 P, analog, unwieldy, sniper 250 ft)
Statistics
Str 10, Dex 18, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +0
Feats Skill Focus: Athletics, Skill Focus: Stealth, Mobility
SKills
Acrobatics +12 (1 rank+1 Insight+3 CS+3 Skill Focus+4 Dex)
Athletics +5 (1 rank+1 Insight+3 CS)
Computers +7 (1 rank+1 Insight+3 CS+2 INT)
Culture +7, (1 rank+1 Insight+3 CS+2 INT )
Engineering +7 (1 rank+1 Insight+3 CS+2 INT)
Intimidate +4 (1 rank+1 Insight+3 CS-1 CHA)
Medicine +7 (1 rank+1 Insight+3 CS+2 INT)
Perception +5 (1 rank+1 Insight+3 CS)
Piloting +9 (1 rank+1 Insight+3 CS+4 Dex)
Prof (Bounty Hunter) +7 (1 rank+1 Insight+3 CS+2 INT)
Sense Motive -1 (-2 Racial+1 Insight)
Sleight of Hand +8 (1 rank+1 Insight+3 CS+4 Dex)
Stealth +12 (1 rank+1 Insight+3 CS+3 Skill Focus+4 Dex)
Survival +2 (1 Insight+1 Theme)
Languages Castrovelian, Common, Vesk, Ysoki,
Combat Gear Tactical Shirren-eye Rifle, 25 sniper rounds, survival knife
Other Gear Consumer Backpack, Hygiene kit, serum of healing mk 1, professional wear, 14 credits
Class Features
Operative's Edge: +1 Insight bonus to initiative and skill checks
Specialization: Ghost
Trick Attack
Bounty Hunter Theme Knowledge: Choose a specific sentient creature that you can identify by name, alias, or specific identity to be your mark. Reduce the DC of Culture or Profession (bounty hunter) checks to recall knowledge about your mark, as well as to recall knowledge about law-enforcement individuals and practices, by 5.
Backing away from the window, she turned to take a longer look around the room. There wasn't much, but there were a few items on the table. A small plastic card, a large black case, and a small recording device. She reached a hand towards it and was startled when it began to play automatically.
"Hey kid! I uh...I wish I was doing this under better circumstances. I always sort of imagined I'd be giving up this body after a long and fulfilling life, surrounded by friends and loved ones who would welcome you into the world. But uh...things didn't really work out that way.
"I'm afraid I'm at the end of my rope, kid. I'm not gettin out of this one in one piece. The body's fine! Don't worry about that! It'll last another few centuries, easy. But I'm not gonna last much longer out here. Y'see, I've pissed off a lot of dangerous people. And for a long time, I was able to stay one step ahead of them. But they caught up to me. They figured me out. They know how I operate, and it would only be a matter of time before they find me."
"If they get their hands on me, after the things I've done, I'm as good as dust. I don't want that. I wanna give someone else a chance at life. A chance to do better than I did. Kid, I need you to be better than me."
"I can't tell you too much. If you're anything like me, then you'll go digging for answers the first chance you get, and you won't survive that. So just live. Adapt. Learn everything you can. They won't know where to look for you, not for a while at least. Who knows, they might never find you. But if they do, you need to be ready.
I've got a lot of preparations to make and not a lot of time to make em. There's a few more recordings on here, instructions, life advice, that sort of thing. Listen to them as many times as you need to, and then erase the memory. After that, you're on your own."
"And kid...good luck."
Sure enough, there was a list of several more messages left on the player. Some were simple, straight forward instructions on how to shop and fight and change her appearance. Others were more cryptic messages, teaching her how to travel without being noticed and evade unwanted pursuers. Not all of the lessons were good - 5 had indeed recorded them in a rush, and skipped over quite a bit - but it was enough to give 6 an idea of where to start. When she felt she was ready to set out, she collected up the items that had been left for her and pressed a button on the device.
"System, erase all recordings. Manual erase trash files."
------
In the years that followed, 6 did her best to keep a low profile at first. But as time passed, curiosity began to gnaw a her. Her parent had been a part of a grand conflict, and it seemed that fight would be coming to her sooner or later. She didn't even know enough about 5 to say whether she'd be on the right side when it did. If she was going to get some answers, she would need resources, a ship - perhaps friends if she was lucky. And above all, she would need to hone her own skills.
"I assure you, I will be an invaluable asset to your crew,"[b] she says, voice intentionally flat. [b]"As a licensed bounty hunter, I have access to files and dossiers that are not available to the general public. In addition, I have impeccable aim. I would be excellent both as your ship's gunner and as ground level fire support."
The captain eyes her skeptically, seemingly unconvinced. "Well, thing is...we aren't really a combat ship. So really, your skills would be going to waste with us. But I know a couple people who might have need for you. I'll pass your name around, and-"
"There is no need. I have other prospects," 6 interrupted. The last thing she needed was some freight captain shooting her information around on open channels. She stood stiffly and offered a polite handshake. "I apologize for wasting your time, captain."
After shaking hands and exchanging niceties, the captain said something about another appointment and ushered 6 out of his office. Out on the street, her body language changes completely. Her movements become smooth and fluid as she takes measured steps towards her next destination.
What a lying sack of goblin spit. Every corp freighter has at least two gunners on board, she thought. Still, probably for the best. I don't think I'd get much out of riding along with him. Maybe I'll have better luck with the Starfinders. I hear they're desperate for any help they can get.
I've joined several pbp games, but a lot of them fell apart before they really got started. I'm currently playing in two active game, and GMing one. I check the boards nearly every day, so I'm not concerned with the pacing.
Rising Dawn would make a decent captain if nobody else is suited to fill that role. I can move some skill ranks around to make it work if needed.
Here's my submission: Thuldas, an Akitonian dwarf who's a melee-based technomancer (yup, you heard that right) and a priest of Talavet. In combat he alternates between attacks with energy-based advanced melee weapons and touch spells. For flexibility, he loads up his spell cache (a tier 1 computer that's built as a glove) with as many different spell chips as he can buy. In starship combat, he could take the roll of engineer or science officer.
Dwarf Priest Technomancer 1
LG medium humanoid (dwarf)
Init. +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +2
SP 6; HP 11; RP 4
EAC 12; KAC 15
Fort. +1; Ref. +0; Will +3
Defensive Abilities slow but steady, traditional enemies
Speed 20 ft.
Melee thunderstrike pulse gauntlet +2 (1d6+2 B & So; crit. Knockdown)
Offensive Abilities traditional enemies, weapon familiarity
Technomancer Spells Known (CL 1st)
0th (at will) - detect magic, energy ray, mend, transfer charge (DC 13)
1st (3/day) - jolting surge, overheat (DC 14)
Str. 14; Dex. 10; Con. 12; Int. 16; Wis. 13; Cha. 8;
Skills Computers +7, Culture +4, Engineering +7, Life Science +7, Mysticism +6, Perception +2 (+4 to notice unusual stonework), Physical Science +7 (Reduce DC by 5 for Culture and Mysticism checks pertaining to religion)
Feats Heavy Armor Proficiency
Languages Akitonian, Castrovelian, Common, Draconic Dwarven, Kasatha
Noncombat Abilities spell cache, stonecunning
Gear battery (20 charges), 1st-level spell chip (comprehend languages); Non-Combat Gear golemforged plating I, thunderstrike pulse gauntlet, tier 1 computer (miniaturization)
It was at the Falcon that Thuldas fell in love with stories - his mother’s stories about the Silent War with the Veskarium, nomads’ accounts of the vicious fauna roaming the dusty plains, off-worlders’ tales of intrigue and scandal in the shining cities of Vercite and Absalom and others still. Most of all, however, he loved the stories of Hadsen, the aged Kasatha who owned and operated the pub. Hadsen would spin out tales from his years as a starship captain and an explorer with the Starfinder Society, entrancing audiences of all ages with memories of adventure, danger and novelty. These stories weren’t just an indulgence for the retired adventurer - as a priest of Talavet, fostering a strong community through tradition and storytelling was a religious imperative for the kasatha.
It was Hadsen’s death that started Thuldas’ own adventure. When the Falcon’s proprietor was unceremoniously cut down by a street thug looking for a handful of credits, the community gathering place lost its heart and soul. Unwilling to see his neighbor wither away under outside pressure and neglect, Thudas commited himself to following in the footsteps of his late friend and mentor. Taking the holy symbol from the Falcon’s small shrine, Thuldas gathered as many resources as he could and booked passage on the next ship to Absalom station, hoping to join the Starfinder Society, become a great adventurer, gather stories from across the galaxy, and somehow save his community.
“First time, dearie?”
Thuldas turns to the seat next to him to see an elderly ysoki, smiling slightly and casually knitting. He nods slightly, trying to keep his breathing regular and his expression stoic. Like a serious adventurer, he thinks.
The ysoki gestures to the seat on her other side. “This is my granddaughter, Kaui-Kee. It’s her first flight, as well.”
The tiny ysoki child sits huddled next to her grandmother, wide-eyed and wincing at every new mechanical shudder and swerve. Seeing the child’s fear, Thuldas leans over and smiles brightly at the little girl.
“D’ya like stories, lil’ one?”
The small ysoki lookes up to her caretaker and shrinks back into her seat. “You love stories, child” she gently chides, “you can tell the nice man that.”
Thuldas thinks for a moment, and then rummages through his belt pockets, finally retriving his most prized possession - the symbol of Talavet that had so long hung over the small shrine behind the bar at the Strident Falcon.
“D’ya see this, lil’ one? This here sig’ifies me an official storyteller! It’s my job to tell only th’ best stories, and to find the greatest ones ever told!”
The child ponders this for a moment, and then perks up. “Ya know any stories ‘bout Bartem and Shud?”
Thuldas smiles, recalling what he knows of the popular children’s vid series. “Yeh, I think I may know one’r’two. But see, we need to make a deal first - I’ll tell ye a story, but only if you promise t’tell me one in return! ‘Cause I gotta collect as many stories as I can, and ye look like a fine storyteller ye’self!”
The young ysoki thinks for a moment, chewing over the proposition with a solemn look on her face as her grandmother hides a smile behind her knitting. Finally, she nods, and sticks out her tiny hand to seal the deal.
After seriously shaking the child’s hand, Thuldas settles in and starts to weave a tale. “So, Bartem and Shud find temselves in th’ middle of the desert! Their ship is outta fuel, and Bartem is late for a nameday party…”
Ok made some changes and updated everything.
I picture Dr. Mortimer as an engineer or science officer on the party starship. I have considered a level dip into Envoy but will wait to see what the group needs first.
here is revision 1 of Dr. Mortimer:
image
NG, Male, Human, (Azlanti)
Scholar, Mechanic 1
Archetype: Forerunner
Homeworld: Azlanti Star Empire
Init +2; Senses Perception +0
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DEFENSE
--------------------
EAC 13
KAC 14
CMD 22
Stamina points 6
Hit Points 10
Resolve Points 4
Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +0
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 30 ft.
Melee
. . Baton, tactical +2 (1d4 B)
Ranged
. . Needler Pistol +2 (1d4 P)
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STATISTICS
--------------------
Key ability: Int
Str 10 (+0)
Dex 14 (+2)
Con 11 (+0)
Int 16 (+3)
Wis 10 (+0)
Cha 12 (+1)
Base Atk +0; Melee attack +0; Ranged attack +2; Thrown Attack +0
Feats / Proficiencies
Light Armor, Basic melee weapons, grenades, small arms Proficiency
Skill Synergy (Culture, Life Science)
Skill Synergy (Bluff, Diplomacy)
Skills
ACROBATICS +2
*ATHLETICS +0
*BLUFF +1
*COMPUTERS +8
*CULTURE +7
*DIPLOMACY +5
DISGUISE +1
*ENGINEERING +8
INTIMIDATE +1
*LIFE SCIENCE +7
MYSTICISM +1
*PERCEPTION +0
*PHYSICAL SCIENCE +8
*PILOTING +6
SENSE MOTIVE +0
STEALTH +2
SURVIVAL +0
* = class skill
Languages: Common, Azlanti, Aklo, Sarcesian, Akitonian, Ysoki
Class / Theme Abilities
Theme Knowledge: (physical Science – astronomy) : The DC of skill checks to recall knowledge about your specialty is reduced by 5. Your chosen skill is a class skill for you, though if it is a class skill from the class you take at 1st level, you instead gain a +1 bonus to checks with your chosen skill.
Artificial Intelligence (EX): You construct an artificial intelligence (or AI), a sophisticated program of self-motivated code that you can access for help in a variety of endeavors. This AI is the product of your own genius, far more advanced and complicated than any available for sale to consumers (though it falls short of being truly self-aware), and only you know the secrets of its creation and operation.
Drone: You begin play with a powerful robotic drone to house your AI. You build and control this drone, which accompanies you on your adventures and is capable of combat, espionage, and other specialized tasks. As you gain levels, your drone advances in sophistication and gain additional abilities. While the value of your drone is immense, only you, with your extensive knowledge of its quirks and security measures, can ever hope to operate or repair it.
Bypass: (+1) You are skilled at getting inside computer systems and electronic devices. At 1st level, you gain a +1-insight bonus to Computers and Engineering skill checks. At 5th level, every 4 levels thereafter, and at 20th level, this bonus increases by 1.
Custom Rig (EX): (from an engineering kit) : You have created a customized toolkit you can use to hack systems and items. It is configured to be a handheld device, meaning that you must retrieve it and hold it to use it effectively. While using this rig, you always count as having the appropriate tool or basic kit for any Computers or Engineering skill check you attempt. Some mechanic tricks and drone mods require the use of a custom rig. In addition, you can use your custom rig as a Level 1 Personal comm unit. Finally, if you have a drone, you can use your custom rig to communicate over an encrypted channel with your drone to issue commands to its AI or directly control it at a range of 2,500 feet.
Gear
Needler Pistol
Darts
Second Skin Armor
Baton, tactical
Personal Comm Unit
Personal Comm Unit (upgrades joined with Custom Rig)
-- Tier 1 Computer
-- Miniaturization 2
-- Hardened
-- Security 2
-- Self-Charging
-- Calculator
-- Flashlight
UPB’s (universal polymer base) x20
Remaining Credits: 95.0
Total Bulk: 0
--------------------
TRACKED RESOURCES
--------------------
Darts - 0/20
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES / ITEMS
--------------------
modified Custom Rig: Custom rig acts as a Personal Comm unit, it has been modified to add a Tier 1 computer with modifications and upgrades as listed above.
--------------------
image
N, Drone, (Azlanti)
Hover Chassis
Size: Tiny
Init +3; Senses Perception -1
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
EAC 14
KAC 14
CMD 22
Hit Points 10
Fort +0, Ref +5, Will -1
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 30 ft. / Fly 30 ft. (average)
Melee
. . None
Ranged
. . Semi-auto pistol, tactical +4 (1d6)
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Key ability: Int
Str 06 (-2)
Dex 16 (+3)
Con -- (+0)
Int 06 (-2)
Wis 08 (-1)
Cha 06 (=2)
Ability increases: Dexterity, Wisdom
Base Atk +1; Melee attack -1; Ranged attack +4; Thrown Attack -1
Feats / Proficiencies
Weapon Proficiency: Small Arms
Bonus Skill Unit: Acrobatics
Skill Unit (Ex): Computers
Skill Synergy (Stealth, Life science)
Skills
* ACROBATICS +7
ATHLETICS -2
BLUFF -2
*COMPUTERS +2
DIPLOMACY -2
DISGUISE -2
INTIMIDATE -2
*LIFE SCIENCE +2
PERCEPTION -1
PILOTING +3
SENSE MOTIVE -1
*STEALTH +7
SURVIVAL -1
* = class skill
Languages: Common, Azlanti, Aklo, Sarcesian, Akitonian, Ysoki
mods
Initial Mods:
-- Flights System (x2): Your drone gains a fly speed equal to half its land speed with average maneuverability for up to 10 minutes per day. This duration need not be continuous, but it must be used in 1-minute increments. You can select this mod a second time; in this case, the drone’s fly speed increases to its full land speed, and there is no limit on the amount of time it can fly.
-- Weapon Mount: You can affix a small arm or another one-handed ranged weapon on your drone, allowing it to wield that weapon and attack with it. This weapon cannot be disarmed. Mounting a longarm, a heavy weapon, or another two-handed ranged weapon requires two weapon mounts. A weapon mount can hold up to two batteries, two magazines, or two of another type of ammunition for the affixed weapon, provided this ammunition is of light bulk or less. Multiple weapon mounts used to affix a single two-handed weapon count as a single weapon mount for the purpose of how much ammunition it can hold. The drone reloads these batteries or magazines automatically, which takes the usual amount of time for the weapon. Spent batteries or magazines are stored within the drone. You can replace all of a weapon mount’s batteries or magazines as a move action. You must purchase separately or already have the weapon and ammunition for use with a weapon mount. You can replace the weapon with any other weapon that meets the criteria for your mount (for example, if you have two weapon mounts, you could replace a longarm with a heavy weapon). Swapping out a weapon in a weapon mount requires use of your custom rig and 1 hour of work. You can select this mod multiple times, each time adding an additional weapon mount to the drone.
Added Mods:
-- Weapon Proficiency (Ex) (Small Arms)
Gear
Semi-auto pistol, tactical
Rounds, small arm
Remaining Credits: N/A
Total Bulk: 0
--------------------
TRACKED RESOURCES
--------------------
Rounds, small arm - 0/30
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES / ITEMS
--------------------
Limited AI (Ex): Each round on your turn, after you have acted, your drone can take either a move action or a standard action to attack (your drone doesn’t make a separate initiative roll). You must be able to issue simple commands to your drone, but you don’t have to spend actions to issue these commands. To receive these commands, your drone must be able to see or hear you or be within range of your custom rig. If you become unconscious or otherwise unresponsive, or if your drone is ever out of range, your drone cannot take any actions until you are again able to command it or it is once more within range.
Master Control (Ex): As a move action, you can directly control your drone. This allows the drone to take both a move action and any standard action this turn (one from your control, and one from its limited AI). If you also take a swift action, your drone can take a swift action as well, or it can combine its actions into a full action. Your drone must be able to see or hear you, or be within range of your custom rig, for you to directly control your drone.
--------------------
Dr. Mortimer was not always known by this name. He was born in the Azlanti Star Empire and given the name Alamar Sigma. He was a half breed, not of true Azlanti pure-blood. His Father, Azar Sigma, was a rather prominent figure in Azlanti politics, primarily as a liaison for military affairs in dealings with the lesser races among the various systems within the empire. Azar’s shuttle was among the first to make contact with visitors from the Pact worlds. It was among these Starfinders that Azar discovered a young woman by the name Thespia.
The romance continued for 2 years, and Alamar was the fruit of that romance. Azar was able to keep Thespia hidden from the Aeon guard and the rest of the officials of the Throne. But after Alamar’s birth, the secret eventually got out. Needless to say, this did not go over very well with the Aeon Throne, and Thespia was imprisoned just like the rest of her Starfinders. All the Starfinders were tortured and questioned before eventually being executed. There was little Azar could do to stop the execution, it would mean the death of his child as well as himself to publicly question the Aeon Throne.
Alamar was raised as a pure-blood Azlanti. Sent to the best schools, introduced to many high ranking political and military figures. Eventually Alamar was appointed as overseer on a small remote holding on the edge of the Empire, the Jungle planet of Felucia. He reported directly to Admiral Varth, commander of the 3rd Aeon carrier group; perimeter defense group Omega.
During this time, Alamar discovered that not all the Starfinders that visited the Empire were captured. The Feucians had been taking care of one that had been stranded on the planet’s surface after being downed by an Azlanti interceptor. Alamar spent some time with him, learning about the Pact worlds.
The Felucians have been suffering from plague and starvation as the Azlanti fleet had reduced the supply runs to the system. Alamar approached Admiral Varth about the situation. His only response was to deal with it. The Empire has more pressing matters that need to be attended to, and this little holding was of little value. “let them die, no concern of mine” was his exact quote.
Alamar returned with the news, during his time with the Felucians, Alamar had begun to empathize with their plight, and had started to question the Azlanti ways. With the help of the stranded Starfinder, Alamar plotted an escape for the Felucian tribe; they managed to fit together several ships. Outfitted with Drift engines, reversed engineered from the crashed Starfinder explorer. And with Alamar’s help they managed to put a small fleet together to make a run for the Golarion system.
They needed a distraction, with another shipment of supplies from Fulucia headed up to the Azlanti fleet, they rigged bombs in the crates. As the crates were offloaded onto the Azlanti carrier, the bombs went off causing severe damage to the hangar bays.
In the confusion, Alamar used his Azlanti shuttle to distract the fleet as the Felucians made the jump into the drift toward Absalom Station. Finally, Alamar made the jump to follow, but was suddenly hit with a heavy laser cannon, critically damaging the drift engine, He still made the jump but was unable to navigate out at the right spot.
Alamar made it to Golarian space, but ended up in the Diaspora. Drifting among the asteroids without power except for emergency life support, Alamar was unconscious and the only somewhat sentient creature was an automated robot that tried to activate a distress beacon before its systems failed as well.
The ship was discovered by a group of Sarcesians, Alamar was rescued along with the robot. He was nursed back to health, and he learned about where he was and tried to discover the fate of the Felucian refugees. The Sarcesians informed him that his ship was to only one that arrived.
Alamar lived with the Sarcesians and managed to repair the robot that helped save him, He named the robot Rex and re-designed it to be more dog like. He changed his name to Jonathon Mortimer, a name he had heard mentioned by the Starfinder survivor he met on Felucia. The idea of the Starfinders intrigued him, so he managed to sell off what he could, and reequipped himself, bought passage to Absalom Station to learn more about these Starfinders, and possibly offer his insights on the Azlanti Star Empire.
The command deck of an Azlanti Alpha Aeon class carrier is impressive, at least the few that can even access that level. The black polished metal decking, illuminated by integrated floor lighting. No less than 10 Aeon guard stand at various stations about the bridge. Several command stations flank a central command console, each manned by an Azlanti officer.
Overlooking the fleet through the large observation bridge, stands an Azlanti Admiral, His black and red uniform, trimmed in gold stands out among the lesser officers on the bridge. Admiral Varth gazes out the observation deck windows, surveying his fleet as the echoing footsteps of someone approaching rings out across the bridge.
Overseer Alamar, always good to see you. Varth says without even turning to face his visitor, his tone very arrogant and condescending.
Stopping at the appropriate distance as specified by regulations, Alamar composes himself, adjusting his uniform as though going through inspection. Admiral Varth, Sir, the food supplies are almost ready to begin shuttling to the fleet. I am afraid that the crop yield is light this season.
Excuses, Overseer. The Empire is not interested in your excuses, only results. It is your responsibility to ensure that these… creatures, contribute to the Empire. Varth still refuses to face Alamar, seeing him as something less than human.
Sir, the Felucian’s are suffering, their productivity is down due to the lack of medicinals from the Empire. Also plague has…
EXCUSES Alamar! Varth interrupts, turning now to face Overseer Alamar. Mind your place, and whom you serve. Were it not for your father, you would be dead for your tone. I owe him that much at the least. You will get no more supplies, in case you were unaware, The Empire has begun its expansion in the Telos system. I intend to be on the front lines instead of wasting my time with this insignificant little, colony. Now get those supplies loaded before I lose my patience with you. Varth lectures the young Overseer as he proceeds down the steps of the observation deck to be face to face with Alamar.
Yes sir. Alamar responds and takes his leave of the Admiral.
Exiting the lift on the hangar deck, Alamar meets with his Felucian shuttle pilot, Are we to get our medicinal shipment? he asks of Alamar.
I am afraid not this time. Let’s get back to the surface and start to load the shuttles; All of them. Alamar answers. A plan long time in the making starts to come to fruition.
Okay, guys.
The Recruitment Thread is now Closed.
BUT: If you have already made a submission, I will allow a few tweaks to be made before your character is final. I still have some feedback to give to one or two people.
ALSO: If you have already expressed interest within the thread or have made a proposal that is not complete, I am willing to give you until tomorrow to finalize a submission.
I should have a party chosen by Friday.
Alright, best of luck to everyone!
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I realize that I misinterpreted the request for starship role. I had not yet looked though the chapter on starship combat which I just did and now realize there are only five roles with rules around their actions in combat.
Looking over the actions available to each role, I now realize that Stell would be best at the captain role.
She has high skill ranks in intimidate, diplomacy and bluff, and even gets a bonus of 1d6 to bluff checks from her Expertise class feature. So she had the Demand, Encourage, and Taunt actions covered.
She has more modest skills in piloting and computers, so she could cover roles like gunner, pilot, or science officer in a pinch.
Stell Z-Lin:
I realize that I misinterpreted the request for starship role. I had not yet looked though the chapter on starship combat which I just did and now realize there are only five roles with rules around their actions in combat.
Mind you, I did explain this nine days ago in THIS POST, which was a response to one of yours.
I note that the avatar you are using here has an SFS number. Do you plan on making a separate avatar for this game? This campaign will not be for SFS credit.
Feedback: Kraviranth
Sorry to take so long to get back to you.
Minor quibbles about gear:
* Hygiene kit has a bulk of 1
Strategy:
What is the overall combat strategy for this character?
You have taken two offensive spells and they are both fairly decent. But you will not have enough spell slots to cast spells every round of combat, so you need a backup plan. Right now it looks like that is the laser pistol and the natural weapons, neither of which you are much good with.
For the record it wouldn't hurt to have one of your spells be a utility spell of some kind. Identify is actually pretty good if your character plans to be the "computer hacker" type as you can use it to fish out passwords from a computer system.
Feat:
It's worth considering whether it is worth taking the skill synergy feat at first level. Athletics and Culture are both handy skills to have, but you can probably get by without the class bonus for now.
Meanwhile, there are three feats worth considering for you:
* Heavy Armor Proficiency (does not impede spellcasting)
* Longarm Proficiency
* Advanced Melee Weapon Proficiency
If you took one of the last two, it would presumably be followed by Versatile Specialization at level 3.
Also debatable whether it is worth putting 2 points into DEX the way you have. You want to be effective in ranged combat, and it helps AC and reflex saves, but usually it seems like Starfinder encourages focusing on a few scores.
If you put it into INT this gives you an extra resolve point (so you can recover stamina more often) and improves your skills and spell DCs.
If you put it into STR you can get a good bang for your buck out of melee. And it's worth mentioning that thrown weapons use STR for their to-hit bonus, so a STR-based character can still have a good ranged attack.
Gear:
If you don't take advanced melee weapons or heavy weapons, the most powerful weapon you can get a first level is the tactical spear. And it can be thrown and it also has the block property. A returning or called weapon fusion only costs 120 for the spear.
If you hang on to the laser pistol, I would probably recommend buying an extra battery instead of one of the medpatches.
You didn't think the Vesk Military was right for you, so you went and joined the Skyfire Legion, another military organization. If you didn't want to join one, then why the other?
You also say:
...to Triaxus, it being one of the easiest places outside of the Veskarim for a Vesk to travel thanks to Vesk beliefs about the dragonkin.
What Vesk beliefs are these? If you are creating a dimension of Vesk Culture, then flesh it out a bit. But if the logic here is that Dragonkin are reptilian like the Vesk and therefore they feel a kinship, that isn't much of a connection. It's like suggesting that there is a special connection in human culture with the intelligent winged gorillas of planet Volox-7, because we are all primates.
I am not sure if dragons exist in the Veskarium. They might. Certainly outer dragons (if they exist in Starfinder) would have been able to get there.
There may also have been fallout from quitting the Skyfire Legion. It is easier to leave than with a regular military force, but if you just walk out without permission then it is still desertion. You might want to specify whether you quite when your contract expired, managed to wrangle some special permission to leave early, or you actually deserted. There could be some outright bad blood between you and the Skyfire Legion. If you were a deserter then it is unlikely that they would chase you off-planet (they have no legal right to keep you beyond breach of contract) but it could cause drama if you returned to Triaxus.
If you do change anything in your story after you join the legion, make sure you talk to Ranif about the changes.
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I can answer about the Vesk beliefs about the Dragonkin. It is from the alien archive, near the end of the Dragonkin section.
Dragonkin have a particularly complicated relationship with the Vesk, as the normally aggressive reptilian race have ancient religious scriptures claiming that the spirits of the Veskarium's greatest warriors would be reincarnated elsewhere in a form suspiciously similar to the Dragonkin, and thus Vesk have always treated Dragonkin with respect and deference, even when the two systems were at war.
I can answer about the Vesk beliefs about the Dragonkin. It is from the alien archive, near the end of the Dragonkin section.
Dragonkin have a particularly complicated relationship with the Vesk, as the normally aggressive reptilian race have ancient religious scriptures claiming that the spirits of the Veskarium's greatest warriors would be reincarnated elsewhere in a form suspiciously similar to the Dragonkin, and thus Vesk have always treated Dragonkin with respect and deference, even when the two systems were at war.
Ah, thanks!
Here's my submission: Thuldas, an Akitonian dwarf who's a melee-based technomancer (yup, you heard that right) and a priest of Talavet....
Feedback: Thuldas
Building a dwarf to do that is tricky as they get neither a STR nor an INT bonus. But they do get Advanced melee weapons for free, which is nice.
Something worth remembering is that thrown weapons use STR to hit. So you can just throw things to get ranged attacks, if you want.
The Thunderstrike Pulse Gauntlet sounds cool, but really it does the same damage as an assault hammer and costs 5x as much (not countin batteries). You won't have to deal with DR very much at low levels, so the sonic damage won't help you that much. If you switched you could also afford a returning starknife if you wanted a ranged attack, or maybe better armor. Also, if you want to re-theme any "longsword" items into war axes, that's fine with me (but make a note of that in your sheet).
I don't think you will need the spell chip right away. If you want consumable items a serum of healing or a medpatch might be more valuable at this level. Also I recommend a personal comm unit and some tools, depending on which skills you figure you will use a lot.
A few things you could fill in:
* A bit more on how you learned magic. It would certainly be useful in your background but takes a fair bit of study.
* The priest theme means you are a part of an organized priesthood. Picking up a holy symbol of Talavet does not make you a priest (though it's certainly a start). With whom did you study your faith? There may be Kasatha colonists on Akiton for a variety of reasons.
* It wouldn't hurt to have some enemies in your background, for one reason or another. If the street thug was in fact part of a significant organized crime group this lends itself to interesting possibilities. Name names. You're going to get into fights, but having enemies means I can tailor some enemies to the backstory of specific characters.
If you're new to PbP I suggest you look at these threads:
DHs-Guide-to-Play-By-Post-gaming
Building a Better Doomed Hero: Painlord's Advanced Play-by-Post Play
I found both of these very helpful when I was starting out in PbP.
Yes, Jace covered why Kraviranth thought of Triaxius. :D That's also part of why he thought of the Skyfire Legion, combined with the Legion's:
...unusually heroic code of ethics for a mercenary unit... protect[ing] innocent colony worlds that are beyond the reach of the Pact's laws
Kraviranth is still Vesk enough to want to fight, he just thinks it should be done to defend the innocent, not to conquer. I'll try to make that more clear, which should help the move to the Skyfire Legion more clear.
I agonized a lot over his stat distribution... since I'm working against type I had to put almost everything into Int already. Besides, looking ahead, the way stat bonuses from leveling work, he'll only be slightly behind someone who had an 18 Int. I may give in and move the Dex to Str so that, as you say, he has something useful to do when he doesn't want to burn a spell. I'll have to think things over and tweak them tomorrow.
I put up a placeholder alias for Phantom-6 just for convenience. Hopefully they'll add more avatars soon.
Feedback: Thuldas
Thanks for the feedback, Peet. I've built about a dozen characters since August, but this is the first time anyone else has really looked at one. It's nice to get some fresh eyes on my writing.
The Thunderstrike Pulse Gauntlet sounds cool, but really it does the same damage as an assault hammer and costs 5x as much (not countin batteries). You won't have to deal with DR very much at low levels, so the sonic damage won't help you that much. If you switched you could also afford a returning starknife if you wanted a ranged attack, or maybe better armor. Also, if you want to re-theme any "longsword" items into war axes, that's fine with me (but make a note of that in your sheet).
Ah, that's a bit of an oversight on my part. I built an overcharge-based mechanic a few days ago, and for some strange reason the need for a powered weapon stuck in my head. There's absolutely no reason for the thunderstrike; a plain assault hammer works perfectly well (both can be themed as something scraped together from a frontier repair shop). The extra cash allows me to grab the first item on my wishlist... a returning starknife.
I don't think you will need the spell chip right away. If you want consumable items a serum of healing or a medpatch might be more valuable at this level. Also I recommend a personal comm unit and some tools, depending on which skills you figure you will use a lot.
I also don't think I need the spell chip, but I've never played a spontaneous caster before and having so few known spells makes me nervous. I have enough cash for a pair of mk 1 healing serums now (thanks to the hammer), though, so I'm a bit less concerned. All armor of 1st level or higher come with integrated personal comm units (CRB pg. 430), so I save a mighty 7 credits there. The tool kits are an excellent suggestion - once again, I vaguely assumed Thuldas was a mechanic and had a custom rig. I have enough cash left to grab both a basic engineering and a hacking toolkit (assuming no one else in the party will be leaning into those skills).
I was a bit nervous about submitting a novel of backstory, which is why I tried to keep it trim. Here's a bit of elaboration:
A bit more on how you learned magic. It would certainly be useful in your background but takes a fair bit of study.
Thuldas learned a very practical form of technomancy from his mother, the chief foreman in the family repair shop. She not only taught him how to use his natural talent to repair complex machinery, but also a few tricks for defending himself on Maro's rough streets (hence his focus on evocation spells).
The priest theme means you are a part of an organized priesthood. Picking up a holy symbol of Talavet does not make you a priest (though it's certainly a start). With whom did you study your faith? There may be Kasatha colonists on Akiton for a variety of reasons.
I'm actually gonna push back slightly here. Not all religions have an organized priesthood or a formal, central body. Some faiths are carried by independent, localized agents (call them wise women, witch doctors, or the like) who work directly with the local community and train new members in an apprentice-like fashion. Now, from what I understand, the church of Talavet does, in fact, have a centralized body and formalized congregations and temples, but they also have shrines as small as simple hearths and a strong focus on self-reliance, which is why I believe a young dwarf who studied under a single priest (he did, after all, worship with Hadsen for several years) could find it appropriate to "field-ordain" himself or seek ordination from a local congregation, even without a significant amount of contact. Akiton is, after all, a significant center of Talavet's followers, Kasatha or no.
It wouldn't hurt to have some enemies in your background, for one reason or another. If the street thug was in fact part of a significant organized crime group this lends itself to interesting possibilities. Name names. You're going to get into fights, but having enemies means I can tailor some enemies to the backstory of specific characters.
I can totally embellish the local criminal elements a bit, I just didn't want to step on your toes. Thuldas doesn't know who exactly it was that knifed Hadsen, but it was almost assuredly a member of the Drop Rats, a local street gang trying to inflate themselves into a proper crime syndicate. Primarily ysoki, the Drop Rats use Maro's verticality to, well, get the drop on their victims. Rumor has it that the Drop Rats have contracted with a foreign group to bolster their income, but what they might be doing (and who would have an interest in a washed-up industrial town like Maro) is anyone's guess. Thuldas has gotten in scrapes with members of the Drop Rats before (with mixed results), most notably a Ysoki who goes by the name of Thudder and enjoys intimidating children and the elderly.
Again, thanks for taking the time to give your input, Peet (Thuldas is objectively a better character now) as well as your PbP advice. I look forward to getting some experience and becoming a better player, either in this campaign or another.
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Stell Z-Lin:
I realize that I misinterpreted the request for starship role. I had not yet looked though the chapter on starship combat which I just did and now realize there are only five roles with rules around their actions in combat.Mind you, I did explain this nine days ago in THIS POST, which was a response to one of yours.
I note that the avatar you are using here has an SFS number. Do you plan on making a separate avatar for this game? This campaign will not be for SFS credit.
I overlooked that post on starship roles. My mistake.
If Stell is selected for your campaign, I will create a new profile and keep the first level build for SFS games. I like the character concept and will probably run her when I can in local SFS games, although so far I haven't been able to get to many. So I'll have two versions if selected for this campaign and two aliases.
Thanks.
I made some tweaks to Kraviranth's backstory to make his motivations clearer (Jace, let me know if the tweaks make sense to you). I'll look at equipment tweaks this evening when I can have my rulebook in front of me.
There, finished tweaking Kraviranth around. I gave in and made him a bit more melee-competant.
Feedback: ThuldasThanks for the feedback, Peet. I've built about a dozen characters since August, but this is the first time anyone else has really looked at one. It's nice to get some fresh eyes on my writing.
** spoiler omitted **...
I'm actually gonna push back slightly here. Not all religions have an organized priesthood or a formal, central body. Some faiths are carried by independent, localized agents (call them wise women, witch doctors, or the like) who work directly with the local community and train new members in an apprentice-like fashion.
I have no problem with you learning from someone in a master/apprentice kind of way. But the way you describe him, your relationship with him was mostly as a neighbourhood friend or as customer & bartender. At some point there would be your decision to study and his to teach, which would change the relationship, and this would certainly require more than just hanging out at his bar. It doesn't come across in the story, that's all.
It doesn't come across in the story, that's all.
That's fair. Sometimes I forget the difference between what I've put on paper and what's sitting in my head. I will adjust accordingly; thank you.
Guys, going through selections now. Will post results soon.
good luck all.
Indeed, good luck everyone!
Seconded! (Thirded?) Good luck to all.
Yes, good luck all!
Hi, guys. This is the avatar Peet will be using to GM the game.
So...
Okay guys, it took a while, but I have finally settled upon a group of five characters for this campaign.
But first, I want to say thank you for all the great submissions. There were a number of candidates that I had a hard time cutting and for those of you who weren't picked I encourage you to keep your chin up and see if you can find a different home for your character. The gameday sessions should be coming to an end within a couple weeks and I expect a lot of new games will open up, so don't get discouraged.
Would the following characters please report to the campaign threads:
Iolas
Rising Dawn
Stell Z-Lin
Thuldas
Wint
Into the Void Gameplay
Into the Void Discussion
The first official game post will occur in a couple days.
If I don't see you posting into the campaign threads by then I will send out some PMs.
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Again, thank you all for your submissions. For those of you who were not chosen, if you wish to remain in the running as an alternate (in case someone drops out) then let me know in this thread. I will look back here if I need someone else before throwing a new recruitment.
Regards,
Peet
Have fun everyone!
Oh well, maybe next time.
You guys enjoy!
Have fun all. thanks for the chance to try and make my first starfinder character
Have fun everyone