Zero Prime

@Kangaroorex Since your clothing lights up with sponsors, and you're actively trying to piss Vith off now, I'm going to assume you ignored and did not equip the cold weather gear he bought for you and left on your bed as a peace offering?

Knowing that roll call was scheduled for 2200 hours, Vitharyan woke up at 2100, pinged the comms of his squad mates with a reminder, and engaged in some light PT before hitting the showers. He ensured the water was as hot as possible before he suited up for the night patrol, gradually cooling it as he rinsed off, exiting the shower, he applied a moisturizing wax to the scales along his hands, neck, jawline and cranial ridges to prevent them from drying out and cracking in the 20 below weather than had been forecasted. Jogging back to the barracks, steam rising from his body, he nodded at the stares from his warm blooded companions. Once back in the barracks he checked the time, completing a check of his gear, as he suited up. He scanned the barracks for his companions, travelling with them towards the center of camp where the Lieutenant was waiting. On the way there he called up the survey map he had downloaded to his suit's comm, bringing it up on his HUD and scanning for a route that would allow them to covert the maximum area in the mission's allotted time. "Lieutenant," he said quietly, looking towards his companions, ensuring that their gear was properly stowed so it would not chaff or encumber them on a prolonged patrol.

Honestly, differing ideologies and personalities make for more convincing roleplay, so no issues there. I thought you basis for disliking the Major was based on the fact that you saw him charging for additional supplies, which is entirely a constraint of a game system, where wealth and access to better gear is dictated by level. Let's let our views develop organically and see where it goes from there.

All right gang, so first off I want to thank @Kangaroorex I feel that we both hit character points in the confrontation between Ratticus & Vitharyan, and got to know those two characters. And it was well handled, in that characters clashing wasn't taken personally by the players involved. I have never, and will never, encourage PvP in an RPG, as, in the end it is a group activity and I want the core group to remain effective and moving forward towards their goals. Secondly, as I mentioned in the recruitment thread, I have played through the 1st half of the first book of this AP, and I am glad to admit my bias, Jaldamarrak is one of my favorite NPC's of the scenario. So I got put on the defensive when I saw him being called out for what, in my mind, is the constraints of the module. Paying for gear is not in the military's best interest, however, we are playing an RPG and bound by the restraints of it's in-game economy and game balance, so access to equipment is locked away behind earned credits and encounter design. I have considered running this AP for a while now, and one of the things I would do is modify character creation, providing standard kits based on character class, skills, and mission objectives. So I apologize if my pro-Jaldamarrak, pro-SDF bias has created more conflict within the group than strictly necessary. Also, I've been listening to these guys while doing my morning runs, and, in my head, this is a Vesk battle chant. The Hu, Wolf Totem

Huh, interesting. Thanks for the insight @ferret

I think we need to stop characterizing the SDF as idiots and bumpkins. These soldiers have their gear well maintained, most of them have at least a rank in Engineeting which is enough skill to *make* their own weapons and armor so they're obviously going to functional. Not to mention these guys, who have combat experience under their belts, live and due by their gear.

Vith moved through the close quarters firing range with practised, skilled precision. Breach and through, corner, landing, rail and stairs. Draw, cock, aim, squeeze, technique transformed into instinct. His body acted as his thoughts wandered, the two acting independent of one another. He hadn't discovered any information about the status of Drachovya, it's residents, his parents, or his clutch. He knew he'd been unfair to that infuriating ysoki, but his ignorance about Suskillon, it's government, it's history, it's military, was maddening. No matter how much the civilian frustrated him, or ignored military tradition, he was a member of his squad. He cleared his weapon, checked the charge capacitor, emitter crystal and alignment of the focusing lens. While he performed a gear check he spoke with the squads coming in from the perimeter patrols, squads returning from the front, or those shipping back out. Having familiarized himself with base rumor mill on the Swarm's tactics and movements in the region, he went to the supply depot. Once there traded some UPBs to the quartermaster and got a SDF regulation uniform rated for Suskillon winters, properly sized for a ysoki. He then decided to get some rack time before the night patrol, and did so after leaving Maus' new uniform neatly folded on his cot. OOC: Profession (Soldier) check, 1d20+5=(16)+5=21. Career Trooper reduces the DC by 5 related to enemy troop sizes and tactics.

The vesk laughed, "The Major refused promotions to stay in the field, so you need to stop pulling broccoli from your broccoli." He looked to the drone and snarled, "This was a courtesy, if you were my target, you, or your toy, wouldn't even see me coming." As the ysoki waited for him to lead him to the mess tents he shrugged, "If you're not kitted out as of yet, you're a liability in the field. We're done here, Maus." With his piece said the Vesk moved towards the firing range to blow off some steam. The off worlder had gotten under his skin with his ignorance of tradition, duty and honor.

Vitharyan nodded, moving his great bulk with purpose, he staked out of the Major's tents. Once outside, as the ysoki spoke up, the vesk moved with rapid, and furious aggression. Placing a clawed hand on the small figures shoulders, he crouched down, his jaws less than an inch from Maus' throat, "We are a squad, civilian, the next time you have issue with a commanding officer, speak to Gustav or myself about it, you know *actual* soldiers, before you go and accuse a goddamn war hero of cowardice!" He voice was a low rasp, his lips curled up in a snarl, "A Major doesn't set policy, that's the five star's and the goddamn Presidential Council! If you want to contribute to this unit, you have to understand that your actions reflect on us all! No grandstanding because your civilian sensibilities are hurt, this is a goddamn army, and you're going to bleed the same blood, in the same mud as the rest of us. I don't care who you are, or what you did before. I need you to man the hell up and be a soldier now!" He stood up and walked towards the mess tent, but before he left, his head snapped around, "This isn't some bullbroccoli stream for views, this is *my* planet, *my* home, *my* family we're fighting for!" There was raw anger in his voice, but something underneath it too, fear. "And if you broccoli it up, the Swarm will be the last thing you need to worry about."

Sorry, here's the skinny on Cover Fire & Harrying Fire: Cover Fire: You can use your standard action to make a ranged attack that provides covering fire for an ally. Make a ranged attack roll against AC 15. If you hit, you deal no damage but the selected ally gains a +2 circumstance bonus to AC against the next attack from a creature in your line of effect, so long as that attack occurs before your next turn. Harrying Fire: You can use your standard action to make a ranged attack that distracts a foe in your line of effect. Make an attack roll against AC 15. If you hit, you deal no damage, but the next ally to attack that foe gains a +2 circumstance bonus to her next attack roll, as long as that attack occurs before your next turn. Since they both require a Standard Action, they can't be done in the same round without some external buff that would provide you with a 2nd standard action. BUT a Mechanic could provide Harrying Fire, to improve a PC's Attack, and have his Drone, using Limited AI, use it's Standard Action, to have the drone provide Covering Fire to improve the same PC's AC. However as you can't have multiple bonuses of the same type, ie. circumstance bonus, multiple uses of Covering Fire wouldn't stack. But as Operatives, when we get Debilitating Trick, could tank a Big Bad's AC by alot, ie I could make it Flat Footed (reducing it's AC by 2, and preventing it from making AoO's), and you could put it off target (giving it a -2 to it's attack rolls), and Maus could provide Cover Fire to Ra'as, his Drone could Harrying Fire the Big Bad and since one penalty is a condition, the other a circumstance bonus, they'd stack. -2 to Hit (Off Target) & +2 to Ra'as AC, would be a swing of 4 in Team PC's favor, and on Ra'as Attack he'd be +2 to Hit and the bad guy's AC reduced by 2 (Flat Footed) would be a swing in our favor too, which means he could theoretically Full Attack without penalty. As for Suppressive Fire this is what I was thinking, it's a feet for Soldiers, or those trained with Heavy Weapons: Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +1, proficiency with heavy weapons. Benefit: As a full action, you can use a ranged weapon with the automatic weapon property to provide covering fire or harrying fire in a cone with a range equal to half the weapon’s range increment. You must expend 10 charges or rounds of ammunition to use this ability. Decide if you are providing covering fire or harrying fire. Make a single ranged attack roll with a +4 bonus, and compare it to the AC of all creatures in the area. Any creature with an AC equal to or less than your attack roll is affected by the selected effect. If you select covering fire, choose a single ally that gains the benefit of the covering fire bonus to its AC.

Sadly, Swarm aren't going to be carrying armor or weapons. Heh.

Whose our Vesk tank? I thought I was the only Vesk?

Your assessment is fair, I see the Major as a pragmatist. Forty or fifty years ago the Pact Worlds were at war with the Veskarium and a cease fire was established BECAUSE the Swarm attacked. And Jaldamarrak was there, he helped push them back, so he knows that they can be repelled, but they've never been defeated, not really, they just move on to easier targets. Syskillon is not in the Pact Worlds, they are an independent planetary government, with loose trade deals with the Pact. We did get caught with our pants down, and we're entirely unprepared for the ferocity of the Swarm push. The Major isn't saying we can't defeat them, he's saying he doesn't believe Suskillon News Networks reports that the Swarm are fleeing, and he's preparing for a Swarm counter offensive DESPITE the civilian news agencies reporting otherwise. Anyways, when home from work I'll get an IC response drafted. Heh.

Whoa! Vith is going to have to Code Red Mays, hard-core, fir speaking to his commanding officer like that. We'll be lucky if we don't all receive reprimands for that outburst. Remember cover fire and suppressing fire are HUGELY beneficial at low levels, and only require a To Hit check against a 15 AC to pull off. Debuffs and focus fire are the keys to winning.

Maus' comments annoyed the red scaled vesk, the yoski was talking as though he were some celebrity to be catered to. He'd volunteered to assist the SDF, in the same manner as many of those here, and he'd need to abide by the rules and regs, same as the rest of the grunts. He was starting to get worried about the cohesion of the team. However, he listened carefully, and nodded as the Major spoke, voicing concerns he, himself, felt as well. He noted Gustav's stoney glare at Jaldamarrak, as well Doctor Oward's crestfallen frown as their commander explained the reality of the situation to the telian. As a moment presented itself, he turned around to look at his broad shelled companion. "Civilian black markets have destroyed the economy after the invasion, supplies are hard to get, volunteers fall under 'civilian contractors' so the SDF budget can stay focused on rebuilding the 5th. Until the politicians can pull their heads out of their asses, we're stuck with broccoli all for resources. If it helps, I'll transfer my last credit to get you the UPB's you need."

Vith has alot of faith in Jaldamarrak, so I'm going to forgo the checks. He's pretty stoked about serving under him. As an FYI, I spent most of my starting credits, but if it helps the group, more than happy to contribute my remaining 13 credits towards any gear or consumables we may need.

Did Bach just diss my boy, Jaldamarrak?!? I can't even! The Major is my hero, let's be thankful I'm not a telepath and can't hear your internal monolouge. 😜

It's all good @haldir just dropped a line to check in, make sure folks weren't waiting on me. Hope you got to enjoy your weekend and de-stress from work. As always real life needs to come first, and we all understand that.

Just checking in with folks, seeing if we're all doing well. As an FYI, I love Maus rather relatable reaction to the Major's orders, but man, that civilian attitude is going to rub Vith the wrong way. Can't wait to see these two butt heads later, until Maus pulls our bacon out of the fire, proving his worth.

Ahhh, I think I see. Recall Knowledge, capitalized, vs recall or gather, in the phrasing pf the narrative text for the Theme. So Recall Knowledge is a subset of certain skills, take Culture for example. You make a skill check to remember or identify certain features, Recall Knowledge does not replace a subset of a different skill. So breaking into the Major's datapad to get access to data, that is specifically a Hacking check. Themes typically allow you to use Recall Knowledge, with Culture & an associated Skill. Recall Knowledge is also used to identify creatures and their special abilities, Life Science for living creatures, Mysticism for magical ones, Engineering for androids and technical beings, etc, etc. Profession skills specifically say they should not emulate professions that can be done using other skills, such as Computers. However, if you did take Profession (Computer Technician) you would know things like common interfaces, how to set up a printer, and such, Hacking, would still be done using Computers. Does that make sense? Secondly, gear, equipment and environmental effects. A flashlight costs 1 credit, Environmental Clothing (Cold) costs 10 crs. If we want, we could poolk resources later on for a tent and heater, that's about 50 credits. Also remember that your armor (light, heavy, doesn't matter) has environmental seals and protections that can be activated as a standard action, to protect you from vacuum, cold, or hot environments. Those protections last for 24 hrs per level of the armor, and have to be used in 1 hour increments. Environmental clothing will provide you with a bonus to Fort saves vs cold environments, you can also combine two sets of environmental clothing into a single suit for a sum total of twice the cost of both suits. Personally, I took Environment (Cold, Travel) for bonuses vs Cold environment, and Forced March/Fatigue. My plan is to run my suit at night, and turn it off during the day when temperatures warm up a bit, thereby conserving the charge.

Vitharyan studied the Major as he spoke, Jaldamarrak was something of a legend around camp. One of the reasons that he disobeyed his father, and enlisted in the SDF. If this vesk was telling them it was bad, it was bad. As he layer out the mission parameters, and his new ysoki squad mate spoke up he could barely hold down a snarl. "Standard night recon, Maus. Grab your rated winter gear, turn on your enviro protections and keep the radio chatter to a minimum." He turned his attention back to the Major, "I'm assuming topographical, and forecasts will be tight beamed to our suits HUD, but rules of engagement, sir? Is this a combat mission, or an exercise in night maneuvers?"

I'm confused what you are asking a little, breaking network security is, in no way, recalling knowledge. It's a separate action covered by a Computers check, not recalling general knowledge. Themes reduce the DC of a Recall Knowkedge check, which is a specific type of skill check. Just like a Climb check is governed by Athletics, Hacking is a skill check under Computers.

Any Theme's ability to lower a DC is **only** to Recall Knowledge, no other function. Whereas a Profession Check is for knowledge related to a specific profession, or earning a living with that Profession. Hacking the Major's datapad will always be Computers, regardless of your theme. So, in Vith's case there's overlap between Profession (Soldier) and Career Trooper. But in your case, military knowledge is covered by your Theme, but Profession (Miner) means you can use mining equipment, knowledge about some geological and mineral knowledge, but not as detailed as Physical Science would give you. Does that make sense?

Honestly, we could probably do it IC when we actually meet. But Vith is a Career Trooper, which is why I've alluded to him training with Gustav at Fort Gallant. I took Profession (Soldier) because he enlisted at the minimum age and has been at it since then. One thing that may be worth addressing, we all signed up for a military sci fi campaign, and we will be playing a military unit which means there should be a chain of command, so I think we need a senior offier, however, whoever ends up in that role needs to remember that this is a group game, so orders should be open ended, telling us what to achieve, but not necessarily how to do so, as that allows for player agency. This is how Vith sees the squad; Vith is a SDF trooper, trained in Stealth & Recon Gustav Bach is a SDF trooper, currently S-2 Intelligence Doc Oward is an off world volunteer with medical training Ra'astar Komas Ta-Naton is an off world volunteer with combat training Ratticus Maus is an off world volunteer with technical training and a media presence. So he would likely defer to Bach, given his S-2 status, respect Ta-Naton for his combat prowess, respect Oward for his willingness to provide aid to SDF forces, and probably dislikes Maus due to his media presence, and perceived ego. Out of game, our best bet for a squad commander is probably Ta-Naton for his Cha- skills, diplomacy, and the fact he'll be right there in melee with us. Vith will likely be our scout, given his stealth & survival skills, Bach would be a good pick for second in command due to his crazy Sense Motive, people we interact with will have a hard time bluffing us, or lying to us, Maus will be ranged support, with drone providing covering fire or surpressing fire on hard target, and Oward will be our magical support, buffs and some ranged support as well. That's just my impressions, we'll see how things shape up once we hit the front lines.

@ferretYou're right, I'm sorry, at my own table we've generalized that to be any military- related topic so it's as broad as other themes Recall Knowledge. However, shouldn't your content have been posted here rather than the IC channel, since it's not IC or RP?