MrAres wanted me to pass on that he is traveling at the moment and for some reason can't post using his phone to Dumpshock. But he is paying attention. Harken will be playing the silent solemn role while Ravenna butchers our first encounter with the Re.

As to the lack of posting I just returned from a trip over the last week a few hours ago but I do plan on bumping tomorrow.

No worries, I knew that you and Fenris were traveling. I didn't know if Lain or MrAres needed anything else from me, so thanks for the heads up with MrAres.

Sorry was paying attention but figured since Sereth did the initial contact, best if he initiated the response.. Was pretty busy weekend so time was a bit short anyway:)

No worries, I just wanted to make sure I gave enough of a bump.

couple quick questions
1) If people can tell if psychic powers were used against them (ie trained) is this a specific skill? Do we have it? do we automatically have it if we use psionics? For example can Sereth or Mr Ares learn it?
2) also what is the base knowledge of levels? For example if asked to setup a mind link would I know they are at least X level of psionics?
3) Would Alice know if a mind link only shares surface or directed thoughts verses allowing someone to delve in?

just want to make sure I understand how much is common knowledge etc.. Obviously a mind link that only shares directed thoughts is less intrusive then mind probing hehe

@ Lain: I'll stick with the numbers to keep everything clear

1) From what I can see in the base book, there is no skill that lets you identify what psychic skill is being used against you. P.26 only says that even those who resist a psychic power will at the most know that they have been subject to an attack, and you will not know what power was used or who attempted to use it. I imagine that both Ravenna and Alice are aware of what an unsuccessful psychic attack feels like. If Harkin and Sereth have been subject to psychic powers/attacks before, then I also imagine that they are familiar with the feeling of a failed use. From a game mastering standpoint, it also makes it easier for me if you are all aware that you dodge a psychic attack if you have made a successful mental save.

I can do a little digging to clarify, and I might be inclined to house-rule that a psychic trained in a particular power would know if that same power was unsuccessfully used against them.

2) P.65 in the Systems section deals with psychics and their knowledge of psionic disciplines. Here is the relevant quote:

The basic training given all psychics includes the introductory protocols for all of the six common psychic disciplines, and so no special training is required to develop new powers.

I read that as giving you a basic understanding of what a power does and the levels required for it, otherwise how would you be able to learn a new power without special training?

3) Based on the above, Alice would know what a mental link does and the level of telepathy needed for it. Basically, it allows both parties to share words and images freely, and is maintained indefinitely until either of the parties terminates it.

@ Buddha: Reading between the lines, you get the sense that if you work for Seyger in any capacity (outside of maybe responding to a distress call) then Re will not work with you.

@Buddha: Did you want to ask about the Re missions while you were at the consulate?

Thanks for the reminder - posted!

@ Buddha: Cool, will get an update up soon.

@ Fenris and Lain: I'm just waiting on Fenris to tell me if Sereth is ok with Xeraxes establishing a mental link with him before moving forward with your story.

@JxJxA - lol...I hadn't even thought of responding. I assumed he was talking about forming the link with Alice, since she's sort of managing the 'psychic' portion of this, sorry!

@ Fenris: No worries, I wanted to keep everyone in the loop.

@ All: There's the big bump. I took a little liberty with Harkin handing over his weapons just to keep the scene moving. Suffice to say, I will not through surprise space ninjas at either you or Ravenna. I also figured you guys might want to RP a bit with the big giant cuttlefish rather than just get the mission info. As for team psychics, Xeraxes is asking if you have a way to (1) take them from Waypoint Station to Vishwa, and (2) get them to the academy safe and sound. You can walk the 5 km through a jungle of dea---I mean the jungle of candy and fun times for all, or you can drive through it if you have another vehicle (like an ATV or gravcar, see p.48 in the main book)

Also, feel free to make knowledge or skill rolls as you see fit. Culture skill rolls will be int based, and any type of persuasion/negotiation will be cha based.

Culture[Traveler] for Vishawa Academy: Culture[Spacer](+0) + Int(+1) (2d6 + 1=3)

Wow, remind me...are there botch rules for snake eyes? >.<

Also, are there any issues with the ship in terms of landing on the planet? Not sure if we're in something like the original Enterprise or something

Culture Traveler 2D6=1,2(3)
Perception to watch people around the table for signs of agitation (basically looking to see how they react to us, to our discussions (assuming he is discussing stuff seperate with them than us) (perc + wisdom to know signs of lying, uncomfortableness etc..)=2D6+1= [2,6,1] = (9)
Also Persuade(+ 0 for char) to show that I mean no harm to them, just that Alice cares for her team 2d6 → [4,5] = (9)

@ Fenris: No botches, you just don't know anything off the top of your head. You can always look up stuff on the sector's info net, but you might not be able to sift through lies, misinformation, rumors, and whatnot.

As for the ship, I gave it the atmospheric conversion modification. It can land on planets. It's best to do it on a space port. The jungle surrounding the academy will make it too difficult to land.

@ Lain: Same thing with regards to the Vishwa academy.

I just realized that there are no clear rules for lying/deception. Have you guys seen any? If not, I'm going to treat it as an opposed skill check of perception vs. persuasion. That sound fair?

Makes sense to me, as persuasion is the ability to convince someone..
so if one person roles a 4 in perception and the other roles a 5 in persuasion its believed?
might want to add a little.. difficulty.. for some whoppers.. ie + 2 difficulty to convince someone a bubbling green liquid is the latest in taste sensation..
on the other hand, if there is no obvious reason to disbelieve then a flat roll (No difficulty added for paranoia) makes sense..

Yeah, it would make sense to suck a penalty for trying to convince someone that 2+2=5.

Yeah that rule seems reasonable. Poor Harken will just believe everything he hears I some times actually enjoy rping a character that believes things I know are bs, seduced by characters I know they should stay away from etc.

Well, one thing I was thinking about was rolling a mental save in secret to see if anyone notices someone subtly deceiving them. However, I might just make a persuasion/perception roll in secret to see if anyone picks it up. I know that stuff on forums can get really murky (it's happened to me more than once).

Also, I just wanted to be clear on the missions right now. You can do all the missions in tandem except the S&R because they want you to start right away. It's possible that the mission will still be available when you finish the others. I'll probably roll percentiles to figure out if the ship is still lost, discovered, destroyed, hijacked, etc.

@ All: I know that I'm throwing a lot of crazy system names at you, and I apologize for it. Make sure to check out the map that I have here. All you really need to worry about with the S&R is the "trapezoid" of hexes with points at 0302, 0304, 0506, and 0603. They think the lost ship is somewhere in that area. The big danger is that there are no stars there. If you run out of spike fuel, you're stuck (i.e. time to call for help).

Let me know if there is anything else I can do to make some of this clearer if it's getting confusing.

@ Lain and Fenris: I'm just waiting to see if Fenris has any other questions before pushing forward with the psychic scene.

@ MrAres: How is the char building coming along? Give a shout if you need help. I'd recommend thinking about picking up combat(gunnery) because no one is trained to fire the ship's guns. As an alternative, you can hire an NPC and take turns rolling the dice. ^_^

@ Fenris: Oops, forgot to answer your question. I'm putting an edit into the IC to have Xeraxes forward the information to you about Vishwa.

Basically, Humans are highly allergic to the planet's biosphere. Flora is edible, but not pleasant to eat. Contact with fauna provokes allergic reactions on both sides. There are no tailored anti-allergens known to counteract them, and exposure can be fatal for some. The psychics at Vishwa expect the students to survive the planet without protection.

Huh, brutal about Vishwa. Thanks for the info, though.

I'm mostly givng MrAres a chance to respond to my question before I plow forward.

The good news is that you guys are welcome to use environmental equipment. The psychics, not so much.

@ MrAres: Crap, I realized I've been misspelling Harken's name for over 3 pages. I got Habin and Harken mixed up. Sorry about that!

@ All: Just yell at me if I misspell something. x_x

Ok, so let me just give a quick recap of what you know about missions so far. Feel free to make other rolls (I'd go with computer + int if you want to do a data search) to find out info, evaluate your potential employers, etc.

Golwain: Waypoint Station is offering 10k credits to trade 80 tons of spike fuel to Golwain for 90 tons of triticale. You will get a 1.5k credit bonus if you can make the run within 3 days. Golwain is currently in the middle of a cold war between two governments there. As far as I know, nobody has done any research to see how bad the situation is.

Matjar: Re is offering 10k credits to deliver 15 tons of delicate research equipment to its outposts on Matjar. They want it done within 14 days. The data packet Jexon has given you indicates that Re is currently observing a primitive form of "extremophile" life form. They are doing what they can to minimize their impact on its evolutionary progress, using floating research labs to keep from accidentally contaminating the planet. As far as I know, nobody has done any research further into the planet.

Waypoint Station: Seyger is offering a standing bounty to return "truant employees" to work. Re has intimated that they are unwilling to work with people who are also working for Seyger. Most of the PCs don't feel like this is a morally acceptable option (I'd feel the same way as a PC, but I had to figure out what kind of crew I'm GM-ing for ). As far as I know, nobody has done any research into finding out how much the bounties are.

Vishwa: The psychic six are offering 12k credits for safe passage to Vishwa's psychic academy. Just to put it in context, you can expect to pay 1k credits per hex for good passage in a chartered space flight. They're offering you twice that per person for in-system transport. The planet is dangerous, but you should be fully protected from Vishwa's biosphere by wearing vacc suits/power armor/etc. The psychics will be expected to survive without that. The culture rolls I've seen so far have offered no more insight than what Xeraxes provided. However, you are free to do a computer + int skill check to find more info.

Search and Rescue: I forgot to list what Re is offering to pay. Let's say they will reimburse food and fuel during the search, and offer 200k to the crew that discovers the fate of the Saving Grace. They will pay 20k for participants who do not find her. This is the only mission you can't do in conjunction with the others because they want you to leave now. They will also recommend that you purchase repair materials for your ship before heading out.

Search and Rescue offers the highest potential payout, but it is also the most dangerous. Deeps space could house hidden pirate bases, crazy space monsters, or perhaps cabin fever. It'll also take a while as you'll be cruising through hexes rather than hopping over them as you scan for the Saving Grace.

I guess the big question is do you want to start out doing a few simpler jobs, or go for the gusto?

Lol the miss spellings are forgiven

As far as character building goes I just haven't had time to sit down and pick out equipment, everything else is done. I will move a point over to Gunnery though, that sounds like fun. Hopefully soon I'll get the gear list sorted out, sorry about the delay.

@ MrAres: No worries. There hasn't been any combat/danger yet, so not having a character up isn't too big of a deal. Just give a shout if you need help. Also, keep in mind that Int is the modifier for starship weaponry hit/dmg (see p.54, first paragraph under the starship defenses table). I guess they figure that you're calculating targeting solutions or attack vectors or some other sci fi gobbledigook.

@ All: The S&R mission is going to have some potential for failure outside of the ordinary because there are multiple parties looking for the ship. What I am planning to do is roll percentile dice after the first day you arrive in the mission area. Each day will add a 1% chance of not finding the Saving Grace. So, first day will have a 0% chance of third party resolution (i.e. ship is destroyed, another party found it, the crew managed to contact Re, etc.), so no roll. Day 2 will have a 1% chance of resolution, and if I roll 01 then it is found, day 3 is 2%, so if I roll 01-02 it is over, and so on. This adds a little bit of risk to the mission, and also makes sure that you aren't out on a wild goose chase for over 2 months.

Does that seem fair to you all?

Seems fair to me, I for one am looking forward to the random sand boxy nature of the game, especially since so far you've done a great job of making sure it's flavorful.

As to the character, all the stats/ skills are easy, it's just the load of equipment that I'm having trouble slogging through for some solid gear, I'll get it sorted out though. And if int is the gunnery skill, then don't expect me to be great at of

@ MrAres: Thanks! ^_^ I'm trying to balance a lot of different sci fi tropes, so it's good to hear that it's getting a feel of its own.

@ All: Sorry about being a bit mum on the thread. This is my last week in SD before I fly out, so I might not move as quickly as I'd like. I'll give you a bump either later tonight or tomorrow! ^_^

No sweat, you're doing a great job of keeping up!

@ Fenris: Thanks! I'm trying to keep things moving as much as possible. ^_^

@ All: Just a quick bump and a reminder on repair rules. They're on p.70 of the base book. If the ship loses HP or a system is damaged, you need 1 HP worth of materials to repair it. The HP part is pretty self-explanatory, and patches the ship up just fine. Damaged systems need the 1 HP so they can be jury rigged long enough to get you back to a space dock for permanent repairs. For the Terra Firma, each HP worth of materials costs 1k credits and takes up 2 tons of cargo space.

You would probably be ok with anywhere from 1-5 HP worth. Silas really wants you to have at least 1 HP just in case Danger! happens.

are we expected to have HP for the other ship as well? is it ship specific?

They are ship specific. You do not need HP for the damaged ship. That's why they said just send the Priority One signal, and the Guiding Light will come and assist with repairs.

@ All: Also, did I answer all the questions you had for the Ambassador? Basically, you look around until you find the ship and then call for the repair team. As for the specs I am always happy to devolve into technobabble, but I figured just saying you had the packet of info was enough. If you do sensor scans in different systems you'll know if you have a match.

Also, I updated the map with markers for the systems to search. It's pretty much an empty void in the sector, but close enough to star systems to refuel.

Works for me and thanks for the updated map.

I'm heading to Japan this weekend, so I'm probably not going to be as quick to update as usual. I'll try to get something up by this Friday, but if I don't then it might be a week. If so then I'll get things moving ASAP.

Safe flight to Nippon! All my questions were answered, as soon as we pick up the repair supplies I think we're ready to launch ourselves blindly into the void!!

@JxJxA- - Hope you have a great flight!

I'm assuming I can find someone that will arrange delivery on the parts for a reasonable fee? I'll purchase whatever seems appropriate and get them down to the ship ASAP.

Thanks guys!

Everything you need is in the docking area. I'm on my phone right now, but I'll get a bump up once I can tonight.

Okay, that's probably going to be the last bump I can give for the next few days. I think there will be free wifi at my hotel in Tokyo, but I'm not positive. However, this is a good time to review all of your gear. Are there some things you bought that you don't need? Are there some things you want to buy. Do you want to pool money together to have an air/ground vehicle in the ship? Feel free to fix these problems right now! ^_^

You'll be able to buy anything at the listed price on the station. If you want to make haggle rolls using persuade, steward, or profession (trader? or something like that), feel free to do so. I might give the latter two a +1 bump because they're more appropriate for the situation of money making/saving. Let's say 7 is your target number. A success will give you a 5% discount, with any fractions rounded up. A failure means you're paying regular price.

I'll work on giving the Ibraheim and Welkin systems some write-ups because they are likely destinations for you to start your search. I'll also put some info up for Bolgium to add some context on the plague.

Have a safe trip!

Thanks! Okay, I'm back online and in my city (Hitachi City, Ibaraki---It's a pretty rural/empty prefecture, but only 3 hours from Tokyo so there will be lots of day/weekend trips!). I need to add the details for the systems, but we'll assume that Ibraheim and Welkin have readily available spike fuel refueling options. I'm also ready to give you all a bump, but I need the following from you all:

1-How many "HP" are you buying and how are you paying for it?

2-Are you happy with your current gear?

3-What is your first destination?

1-How many "HP" are you buying and how are you paying for it?
I'd recommend at least 2, if we buy just 1 and we need it right away we have to come back. this is based on absolutely no experience, but well,, that never stopped me from having an opinion before

2-Are you happy with your current gear?
yes it makes me feel pretty

3-What is your first destination?
Dunno, where's the ship we are looking for? (was worth a shot)

WE are gonig to induce tomorrow, so I will be out starting tomorrow until probably fri or sat at a minimum.
btw persuasion(skill @ 0) role for getting cheap gear = 2d6 → [3,5] = (

@ Lain: Good luck!

@ All: Feel free to take a 5% discount on any gear you buy, rounded up, courtesy of Alice. I'd recommend >1 on HP of ship repair materials, but there are always options. There are plenty of Star Trek episodes where ships had to cannibalize other systems to make something essential work (ex: use plasma cannon components to jury rig life support). However, if you have a catastrophic failure, there might not be much to cannibalize...

1) Ravenna can buy 1 unit - how many units can other people buy at this time?

2) Perfectly fine with my current gear but thanks for asking.

3) I say we head to the last know location of the ship and work from there.

There's the bump. Let me know what/how much you are buying. If you are buying any personal stuff, please post it in OOC before posting IC. I'll assume that if you post IC that you are comfortable enough without that extra type A battery.

I've got most of my gear ready, just giving it one final look over. As the Boyz know my work schedule has gotten rather hectic as of late, and tomorrow I'm redoing some breaks on a car and then going to a giant Mexican wedding, yee ha! I will dedicate the slot of time on Sunday I normally spend at the Boyz towards finalizing everything

As for where we go first I thinking heading toward there last known location is a good ideas. Is it possible to have our face hit up the Re comm chatter and see if they have any promising sounding leads or rumors we could exploit? I'm fuzzy on how in-drill communication works and if it's possible to change course after you've jumped.

@ MrAres: No worries, just let me know ASAP on the gear. You can also post your stats and skills if you haven't already because I don't have that yet, and I might be able to fix some problems/give you some ideas. Good luck with the car, but have fun at the wedding! I have a lot of good memories of family weddings down in Mexico, as they do get pretty big and crazy. ^_^

@ All: I'm still trying to figure out exactly what is up with drilling between stars. This is the way I am making sense of it until I find a RAW explanation. Forgive me if I already wrote this, but I'm too tired and lazy to search the thread.

There are three levels space: Regular space where you aren't warping space around you (comm chatter is normal), Shear space which is based on how you can travel faster in system and yet can't drill (you're moving too fast for lightspeed comm chatter to reach you, but you can transmit and receive comms using spike drive tech---this is based on the "mail message, interstellar" entry under services on p.45), and Drill space which I'm treating like Hyperspace in Star Wars (no changing course unless you drop out of Drill space, and no messages unless you are synched up with a ship's spike drive via lamprey/remora lock on p.68 because spike routes change according to the fluff stuff on p.71).

When it comes to Regular and Shear space, you still have a presence that other parties can find. However, Drill space requires a lot of navigator calculations to fly through safely, and the routes change with shifts in the metadimensions.

You can talk to Re ships since you are working for them. They will likely tell you where to look, especially since most of them are probably going to try the more dangerous routes. You are always free to try and catch their chatter, but they are likely using encrypted channels and that would require a computer skill check to hack at say...difficulty 13.

I'll start working on writing up the Ibraheim system. It shouldn't be too crazy, but I might try rolling the dice to make things interesting.