Starfinder: Attack of the Swarm pbp

[Kangaroorex]

Well unless you upsize Ratticus' pea shooter, he isnt going to make much of a dent in anything.  even with his drone, his DPS is pretty small (I mean so is everyone else's, the starfinder weapons at low level are pitiful but the laser was what he could afford since he has to double up on weaponry for him and his drone)

 

He is best at fixing things or sneaking in and breaking things.  Shooting things is not his strong suit .  as for darkness, the others should be able to see in starlight, just not very well.  I dont know if we can really afford IR optics for the others unless the military is willing to put up some candy...

[Zero Prime]

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.

1 hour ago, Kangaroorex said:

Well unless you upsize Ratticus' pea shooter, he isnt going to make much of a dent in anything.  even with his drone, his DPS is pretty small (I mean so is everyone else's, the starfinder weapons at low level are pitiful but the laser was what he could afford since he has to double up on weaponry for him and his drone)

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.

[Kangaroorex]

the universal problem with civilian volunteers:  they know they are important they have no stake in the outcome and they have other opportunities.  First ship out is a always an option.  As a major, our commander has definitely had to deal with uppity civilians that are necessary.  Smart leaders let them perform to the needs and put up with the backtalk, less intelligent ones wonder why the toilet flushes material in the wrong direction in their personal commode... 

I will have to look up the suppresing fire rules.  Its been a while since i played Starfinder.  I will have a look and see how i can best help.

 

 

[Kangaroorex]

and Ratticus has a special notebook of reprimands that he keeps with him like an autograph book.  he tends to show it to any commanding officer he has.  he also has either notes or recordings of the person who wrote the reprimand saying why the reprimand was probably the wrong choice.  he only has 2 without this addendum

[Zero Prime]

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.

[Corsair]

Okay, Doc has Darkvision as well. Can Ratticus "Scrounge" or "Midnight requisition" some damaged weapons and repair them? A Flame Ember Doshko would be especially useful to our Vesk tank.

[Zero Prime]

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

[Dilvish the Deliverer]

I may be wrong, but the Vesk is one of our two operatives and probably prefers lighter weapons.

 

Also, pretty sure that the answer to free gear has been given (otherwise I can see this mod being out of balance real quick).

 

Either way we can check, I just won't have my hopes up too high.  My question about the dark vision was mostly to judge how things were set up, and it appears that materially, we are on our own.  Which is fine.  We will just have to make sure we scrounge what we need from the environment or our enemies.  We jsut can't let them escape.

[Kangaroorex]

1 hour ago, Dilvish the Deliverer said:

We jsut can't let them escape.

 

the enemy or the equipment?

[Zero Prime]

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

[ferret]

     Gustav thinks everyone should have a flashlight and suggests considering a beacon or spotlight if someone has enough credits to spare. 
    Since Shirrens have blindsense, he expects most swarm creatures will have that ability.  If there is a new swarm unit type designed for burrowing they may have blindsight and very likely rely heavily on sound and ground vibrations to detect prey.  So Gustav fears they will not go undetected for long and will be at a big disadvantage fighting in the dark.
 

Edited March 31, 2021 by ferret

[Dilvish the Deliverer]

Ra'astar is good with that.  He currently has a couple of free hands and could carry it if need be.

[Kangaroorex]

Do we have anything that could make noise to confuse the swarm?

[ferret]

16 hours ago, Zero Prime said:

 

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.  

  I could not find anything on suppressing fire in the core rulebook.  Is it the same as harrying fire ( pg 257)? Do the bonuses stack?

Edited March 31, 2021 by ferret

[Zero Prime]

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.