Starfinder: Attack of the Swarm pbp

[haldir]

4 hours ago, ferret said:

While I am thinking of it.... Will we be using any formatting conventions for posts to the IC thread?  Last time I played a pbf game, the GM asked that we put PC actions and thoughts in colored text, PC speech in colored italic and OOC such as request for checks and die rolls in plain black text.  

 

I tend to do colored texts for certain stuff but I'm not expecting players to do it. Post however you feel like.

[Zero Prime]

7 hours ago, Kangaroorex said:

We all read both sides, its cool by me.  As long as the mechanics stay in the playing section, i see no reason not to include backstory and vignettes as desired here.

 

That's fair, I am just used to keep all the in character stuff, including vignettes in the IC thread, for ease of reference.  Should I respond here as well?  I can see Vith responding about his night with a blue scaled Vesk and showing Doc & Ra'astar a real Suskillon breakfast, rather than an SDF meal comprised of R2E's, paper thin algae based bacon, and over salted egg by-product.

[Kangaroorex]

If you do that a certain. Mr Maus will find you and invite himself to breakfast.  He will also attempt to improve your cooking apparatus gym turning it into a blowtorch capable of melting steel if you don't watch him aa a way of saying Thanks! 

 

The Yoski nose is incredibly sensitive to good cooking,  some would say it's on a planetary scale!

Edited March 22, 2021 by Kangaroorex

[haldir]

& we are off!!!

 

The party has been in the room for about 20 to 30 mins now, so you've all had time to get (re-)acquainted with everyone else.

Also, as far as the Gathering post for this pbp, I tend to use it for outside the game chatting or if I need to post info, you the players need like (I'll be away from my computer till Monday sorta thing). I think of it as the table the game is being played on so we have your character sheets here to look whenever they are needed.

 

Little bit of SDF info the party as it's part of the Player's Guide, I wanted to get up for everyone:

 

SDF JARGON
The following are some examples of slang and terms that members of the SDF have coined during the war with the Swarm.
BBBS or Triple-B S: An abbreviation used on military maps to denote where the SDF has tactically retreated;
it stands for “Beaten Back by Swarm.”

Burner: Short for afterburner, this is a common name for an SDF pilot.
Duster: A duster is a soldier who fights with the SDF ground forces.
Eat Acid: To die at the hands of a Swarm enemy.
Exterm: A verb used to denote the killing of a Swarm creature (e.g., “I extermed it with a pistol round”).
Tip-Top: The lower ranks of the SDF sometimes use this term to refer to those in charge of the war to deride their stature and distance from the battle in the orbital stations above the planet.
Vexer: Another name for some of the smaller Swarm creatures that have taken over much of Suskillon.
White Hawk: Name for the sudden and dangerous winter storms on Suskillon caused by polar ice vortices.

[Zero Prime]

Quick question, as someone new to this forum how are dice rolls formatted and included in a post?

[haldir]

1 hour ago, Zero Prime said:

Quick question, as someone new to this forum how are dice rolls formatted and included in a post?

 

I've always used the honor format & let the player do it. All my dice rolls are just a couple pairs of dice sets I have next to my keyboard. Just post your roll & mods & your total.

 

 

[Zero Prime]

Ahhh, wasn't sure the if the board had a built in  dice roller format.  Gotcha, will have a post up later on tonight.

[haldir]

54 minutes ago, Zero Prime said:

Ahhh, wasn't sure the if the board had a built in  dice roller format.  Gotcha, will have a post up later on tonight.

 

Yah I've tried online rollers post your rolls in the past, but overall it was just simpler to use actual dice & then post it.

[Zero Prime]

I'll admit it feels nicer to have a physical die in your hand, and if it fails, throw it across the room.  Or put it in time out in an ice cube tray in the freezer.

[Zero Prime]

@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?

[ferret]

Would it be helpful if we share our PCs’ theme and profession (if they have one)?

[Zero Prime]

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.

 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Zero Prime

[ferret]

8 hours ago, Zero Prime said:

@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.

     From @haldircomment  it looks like that generalization will be used in this game as well. 

     I admit I am confused by the interplay between theme and profession.  Does a profession skill check for a related profession (soldier) bring the theme ability into play or is it the subject matter of the information being sought that triggers the theme ability?  

    I think part of my confusion is because some of the theme descriptions in the core rule book mention profession checks with the profession being the same as theme and part of the theme descriptions make no reference to profession or profession checks.

Edited March 23, 2021 by ferret

[Zero Prime]

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?

[ferret]

@Zero PrimeThanks for the explanation.  It does make sense that the profession would have to be closely related to trigger a the theme ability.

 

However, there does seem to be some inconsistency between your first point and the Career Trooper description which refers to checks to gather or recall information.  I assumed, likely in error, that hacking files would fall under "to gather".

 

  I think I am clearly getting too wrapped around the wording in the core rules.