Alien Bounty Hunters (Campaign Journal)

[Theobod]

Long time lurker here, in a new city with a new group and a different gaming environment altogether so, for your viewing pleasure, posterity and to give a little back for all the wonderful journals I have read here over the years, its time to get writing :smallsmile:


Armor as DR
-Armor AC bonus and Natural Armor values add together to form ArmorDR which stacks with any one other source of DR a character may have
Double Shields
-Shield bonus to AC is doubled from all true shields rather than static shield bonuses like the shield spell
Gestalt
E6
Vitality and Wound Points
As is except as noted: Non lethal damage still nominally exists however functions exactly the same as lethal damage unless a noncritical, nonlethal blow reduces a character's Wound Point total to 0, then the save vs dying is actually a save vs Unconsciousness at DC15
There are no Coup de gras actions, instead if someone is caught completely helpless such as being tied up, pinned by another person or knocked unconscious they are considered 'At Mercy', at which point they can be killed by anyone with means to do so with a full round action within the usual constraints of Coup de gras (range, hitting ac etc), removing the whole: 'Excecute the prisoners!' 'I cant! The barbarian is too tough to cut his head off!' dilema.
Overflow damage: Some types of damage, such as falling, being crushed, having a rock dropped on you et al deal overflow damage, such damage goes off Vitality FIRST but unlike all other regular kinds of attack may spill over into wounds if vitality bottoms out. This prevents people jumping off buildings etc because they are sure they will survive no matter the height due to having a single vitality point.
Non Magic
-All SU and similar abilities are non existent in universe, I also rule some abilities that are inherently supernatural to not be and some that aren't to be so, though there aren't many instances thereof and hasn't actually come up yet. This is mostly based on personal taste, such as the shadow hand teleports are ruled to be SU, Ki pools and a lot of Ki powers such as wall running shenanigans are considered EX.
Psionics
-In full but with a slight variation, such things are defacto subtle, visual manifestations don't exist and powers will always be fluffed in the subtlest ways, such as fire effects superheating the air rather than causing visual flames etc
Incremental Masterworking
-To show technological advances and to give mundane items greater abilities, items may be enhanced by a simple metric:
Its base ability (like a masterwork sword's +1 to hit) can be improved with base squared like magic plusses (so a masterwork2 sword is +1200gp and has a +2 to hit) and special effects can be added that are thematically appropriate and are usually less powerful than magic options for 10 times masterwork costs, with abilities in the same vein being in the same 'line' for purposes of pricing, these are called Special Masterworks. Some examples for clarity:
MWK2 SMWK Armor Piercing sword at 4200gp, it has +2 to hit and ignores Armor DR
MWK2 SMWK Super sharp2, finely balanced is a whopping 16200, it has +2 to hit (1200), a two point increase of crit range (12000) and is finessable (3000)
All items of Masterwork Quality must have a listed reason for their masterwork status, such as being exquisitely well made like a traditionally made folded steel katana, or be an energy weapon like a Lightsaber instead, these may have subtle mechanical distinctions and may open up certain SMWK options based on intrinsic design (Energy weapons like lightsabers where the majority of the weapon isnt usually active are unusable when inactive (free action activation usually done while drawing) are half weight for instance, vibroblades hum loudly when active but are still usable when inactive as non masterwork weapons of their kind when discretion is required and when disarmed land in adjacent squares rather than you're own).
Technological Magic Items
-Any magic items can be made using tech versions of the feats in question, caster lvl = craft ranks in a relevant skill (some needing many relevant skills for a full range of items), capped at HD (so tech item crafters don't tend to have to max skills if that's all they make).
FTL Teleportation
-Teleportation has a speed of 1Lightyear per hour rather than instantaneous and is the means by which people move from system to system. When manning a ship with a Slip Drive installed a pilot may, in orbit of a heavenly body, enter 'whitespace' and travel at this speed from said gravity well to any other capable of sustaining an orbit, if there are objects between them and their destination they have to exit and reenter at each one as they trace a path through the stars. Requires constant attention during slip so ships without AIs (rudimentary intelligence pricing on the ships computer) have to be manned throughout, limiting total amount of time per day one can spend in slip and ofc, length of individual jumps. Yes, partially ripped from Andromeda. :smallcool:
Nonstandard Races
-Only humans are as written, other races exist and are either direct mechanical rips of other races or variations on them and a few made from scratch.
Relaxed Improvisation
-Improvised weapon rules only apply when a suitable alternative cannot be found, a rifle, when inverted, can be used as though it were a non masterwork club without the -4 (unless not proficient with a club) and auto break on a nat 1 rules, dito a pistol used in melee can be used as a sap, the flat of a greatsword as a greatclub, a length of rope as a whip etc, under no circumstances may a weapons masterworking benefit such improvised uses and certain masterworks may actually hinder or vary this (IE an energy longsword (lightsaber) doesnt have a 'flat' to use as a club with, however when inactive makes a good sap)

As n when more are implemented or I recall individual things I have forgotten in this quick writeup this section will be edited.



Captain Lucius (Human Rogue//Fighter)
Captain of the Knight of Swords, years back this fellow was in a nasty industrial accident which rendered him cybernetic from the waist down, being a transhumanist at heart (IC and OC) he has taken this to heart and has been slowly replacing parts of his body with prostheses, appears human on the surface from the judicious application of spray on skin, I Robot style. At time in he has several secondary organs replaced and both of his arms too. Mechanically all this means is he can use Components instead of Implants (just masterwork gear either way, varied only by how they are designed, see masterwork rules above) and, as he is 50% machine he needs half the food, water and oxygen of the average human, but regular top ups of power (which isn't a major problem in this game).

The Mechanic, Sylus (Human Urban Ranger//Psion)
In game Psions come under one of two headings, registered or unregistered, being from the outer rim rather than the core he is of the latter kind and consequently a tad paranoid of discovery by the Coreworld Scientific Bureau, to begin with his party isn't properly aware of his abilities as he hasn't been pressed into using them in an obvious fashion.

The Pilot, Xashmi (Urban Ranger//Rogue)
From the planet Elonya, Xashmi is the only nonhuman member of the crew, an Eelone (Pronounced ee-lon) with pale green skin, large eyes, holes instead of ears and a full head of 'head tresses'/'lekku' instead of hair, of which her species has none. From a jungle world with an insular culture these days she is innocent and largely naive in regards to intentions and idioms, leading to a lot of humorous and dark content. Her race tends to be wary of humankind as a rule and especially wary of the seedier sides of the spaceways as many Eelones find their way into the sex trade one way or another, either by kidnap or by false promises.
(Player designed race and culture, mechanically are straight up PHB Elves with human lifespans)



Earth in the mid 21st century was invaded by a nasty empire of slavers and strip miners that history would later out as the Thexan Race (Mechanically: Thri-Kreen), during their occupation of this and surrounding space the earth along with many hundreds of other worlds and civilisations were pillaged and ruined in the great Empire War Machine, however this wasn't a sustainable system and when a coalition of neighboring races eventually freed the now disparate human race from its servitude, its history broken, its cultural identity lost, humans do as humans tend to do, they made communities (Flagrant Babylon 5 reference), they reached out to other races and made alliances, pacts and trade agreements and, slowly, over a hundred years, the Galactic Republic formed.

1000 odd years of this continued largely unabated, hundreds of species from thousands of worlds joined the great Senate and over this time, law and unity reigned, the Guardians, a peacekeeping organisation was formed some 400 years in and, engineered by Psionics and Technology, were as cosmopolitan and powerful as the Republic itself, dispensing law and justice in the name of the Senate, answerable to nobody.... however this wasn't to last, this power and ideology eventually would cause fractures among the Guardians themselves which would culminate in the Guardian Wars, a war of racial supremacy whereby over half the guardians, commanding half the military might of the Republic went to war with their brothers, intent to become the master race of a new Galactic Empire.
This war raged for over a hundred years before its bloody conclusion, most if not all of the Guardians were wiped out, hundreds of worlds destroyed, the Coreworld itself bombarded from orbit and dozens of races made extinct forever.

1000ish years later, what remained of the Galactic Republic is now the Federal Republic of United Worlds, lead from a rebuilt Coreworld, a totalitarian society at its core with individual freedoms meaning little over financial power, real freedom is only attainable further out, in unclaimed or unregulated space where the Federal Military cannot reach or easily patrol, out of the grip of the Knights Royal, a small cadre of secret police, Senate Guards and, as some call in hushed tones, Neo Guardians.
It is out on the rim, trying to make a living among the stars, that we find our Party.


It is worth noting here that we are several sessions in as it stands so the first session will be posted below shortly and each session thereafter as memory serves will get its own post, thus there will be a string of em over the next few days then one every week or two as we play. As I am the DM here and my players may well read this there wont be any spoilers for upcoming events, only what the PCs have witnessed, small mechanical asides and exposes on behind the scene happenings that are no longer relevant, will be included.

Hope you all enjoy reading as much as I have enjoyed running this campaign. :smallsmile:

[Theobod]

Our first true session after chargen, which took up our first meetup.



Whomph!
The Knight of Swords exited slipstream into orbit of the dusty planet, Eros, the systems star drenching the surface in brutal heat, even from orbit the craters and wastes show the remnants of great starship battles from the Guardian Wars, the world itself known as a starship graveyard, a place to trade in parts and scavenged materials, and a hub of crime, the perfect place to offload stolen merchandise, and exactly the place the party expected to find their mark.
Their job, to hunt down a smuggler who had recently been caught up in a massive sting near the core to end a smuggling ring permanently, this plucky soul had managed to get away with a shipment of Neutron Weapons, dangerous and illegal old war models, and left without a buyer and with a heavy bounty on his head of some ten thousand wolong for him, and another 30 for the reclamation of his cargo, he was left desperate and looking to offload.

Here its worth pointing out the currency of the universe, it is manifold and differs from world to world, species to species, it has complicated exchange rates and variances and.... yeah, SO, mechanically everything comes down to a gold piece standard and here on in will often be called something fairly random and/or racial specific by various people, the characters are assumed to know the exchange rates and dont have to track different currency types, its just assumed they have mixed currencies on them of value equal to whatever GP they have on their sheets, in a mix of paper, card and credit chips. Back to the action.

The Captain made contact with landing authorities and promised to file a flight plan if they intended to land and the party went about a little old fashioned inquiry of the satellites in orbit (Craft: Computer Programming to set up a search algorithm from the captain, gather information trawling in the planet's network, which required a few attempts, from the two Urban Ranger's. Result! The Ship they were looking for landed in the northern settlement, so they filed a flight plan and went in to land at its space port....
Me: Roll a Pilot check
Xashmi: Okay *rolls* uh oh...
And with that the party descended a tad too fast and came to a screeching halt sliding across the landing pad and bumping into a control tower on its perimeter.
Captain: You had one job!
So the player of Xashmi here in vowing that the take ten rules were in her, and the rest of the party's, best interest, the party suited and booted and went out the KoS' rear landing hatch to check out the damage.

This being a scifi game, and only 3 players, gear was determined like thus:
Both sides of the gestalt's starting cash added together, plus one masterwork weapon (two if the character has TWF), and either a masterwork armor or shield each (they all plumped for armor, the captain having his as a Subdermal Weave, the others going for kevlar woven clothing (mechanically MWK Studded Leather). The Captain got a MWK pistol in his right arm and made sure to get quick draw to be sure to be able to make the switch from integrated to attached when neccesary in a hurry so he didnt waste a turn's standard action on it in combat, Xashmi got two energy pistols and Sylus went for an energy rifle.
Back to the action.

So, docking droids were quickly on scene inquiring after the crew's safety and inspecting the damage, after surveying and determining that the ship was safe to move Xashmi was ordered by her captain to go and move the ship back into a sensible landing position while the captain talked figures with the droid.
Xashmi: I TAKE A TEN!
Captain and Mechanic: Please do!
After a bluff check from the captain blaming the incident on mechanical failure and recieving a bill the party could barely afford when pooling all remaining cash, they determined they were in need of some dollar, stat, so paying the docking fees for one day, all they could rightly afford after that debacle, the party made their way into town and began to trawl its dusty shanties and crawling markets.
Finding much they needed, much more they wanted and nothing they could afford, several gather information checks failed along the way the party ended up finding a partially underground bar, which they inquired around and ended up returning to out of exasperation some hours later. Approaching calling it quits for the day, the party all passed a listen check and heard rattly laughter from a nearby booth, belligerant banter and an accepted invitation later and the captain and his mechanic entered the booth, Xashmi waiting outside looking as menacing as she could on guard (not especially, though oddly, nobody bothered her.)
Inside the booth the two men came face to mandibles with an insectoid fellow with a clearly cybernetic eye, dressed in flowing cloth and leather drinking a blue cocktail of sorts, alone, he gestured to the seats oposite and the captain took a pew, Sylus remainng standing just inside, closing the curtain behind him.
Tense conversation thinly veiled as jovial yet hushed banter began, turns out repeated gather information and attempted hacking of satellites gets a little attention, also turns out the settlement in which they found themselves is owned by someone with a far better bar than this....
Captain: *not so subtle mention of the name of their mark*
Listen checks, captain passes.
Whiiiiiiirrrr
Recognised as the powering up of a pulse pistol under the table the captain responds in kind.
Listen checks, Thexan passes.
Click Whiiiiiiirrrr
As the captains hand splits in two and a barrel emerges and powers up.
Both: Tense laughter and opposed intimidate, captain wins and is charming to boot as the Thexan relents and pops his gun on the table, first he has seen of it, Sylus nearly parps his britches and initiatives, loses and the conversation continues with the captain revealing his own gun, 'placed' on the table and initiative diffused.
Turns out their man is at Izzy's Bar, out among the mesa's to the west, but you need both directions and membership cards to get there.... his for a price.... shame the party has no cash.
So they leave empty handed, the captain explaining their situation en route back to the ship while they consider ways of getting the dibdobs together for these member cards.

DM: Spot checks
All Roll, Xashmi rolls amazingly and spots a camera is slowly moving to keep them in view.
Xashmi: Dont look or anything... but the camera's are watching us.
Captain: #@$&

So with that the party, eyes carefully on the security cameras in this little settlement, look for somewhere without cameras, smelling an incoming shakedown a mile off. Finding a workyard among a few buildings they head in and take up positions, the Captain in the northwest corner behind some scrap metal, the others behind a big bin on the east side and roll fantastic hide checks.
Bout half hour passes.
Rumbling voice #1: Uuumlibooonligooongimuuu.
Rumbling voice #2: Oooooorgiboooorglimooormlioooon.
*party checks their languages, none are applicable*
They listen intently as their 'guests' search for them around the area, pounding on doors and opening up shutters, spreading out as they do so.
Rumbling voice #1: Ooooormimoooori Izzgimiri Mooooooorinooo.
As the captain starts the fray taking a shot from hiding at the closer one initiative is rolled.
Suddenly engulfed in gunfire the party get to lock eyes on their prey, knowledge local revealing their race. Two 7 ft tall hulking messes of muscle and tight armor, grey skin and fat heads, a single central facial horn dominating their features. Rhogani, prize mercenaries of crimelords the galaxy over, famed for their loyalty and their strength... and their cripplingly low intellect. (Modified Anthropomorphic Rhino's)
Armed with heavy Assault Rifles with wicked looking bayonets they tried to fire back to little avail.
Gunfire quickly whittling the vitality of the Rhogani, ducking and firing back, with cover from the bin and scrap metal the party were in good positions, in a sudden panic moment a Rhogani resorted to crashing headlong into the bin, pinning the two behind it to the wall only to recieve gunfire in the back from the captain, wounded and stunned! Able to wiggle free the two members chose egress and Xashmi being closer was shot at but ducked and rolled avoiding the worst of it, a few seconds of pitched gunfire as the captain strode from cover, pointed his gun at the unwounded Rhogani, now off guard from energy fire exploding at his feet and behind him, his mate bleeding, his gun on the floor a quick Intimidate check later and the Rhogani dropped his gun and surrendered.
The party made a quick interrogation and found the mercs quite cooperative when disarmed and, in one case, injured, and determined they were sent to find out where they had gotten to when they went off camera, suspicions confirmed the party let them go to deliver a message, but kept their weapons.
Rhogani: Whe canz gooo?
Captain: Of course.
Rhogani: We canz keeps our gears?
Captain: No.
Rhogani: Awwwz *downcast, they slumped off to deliver a message to their boss that they await his consideration at their ship, the KoS*
On the way back the party sold their guns to an arms dealer for some cash, and now flush again and with a few hundred XP under their belt went back to their ship, chuffed as nuts.
We ended it here for the night as it was quite late.

[Theobod]

Back again and without any further ado: Session 2.


So, after selling the Rhogani guns from their little encounter in the work yard in town the party returned, victorious and laden with fresh monies, to the Knight of Swords at the spaceport, settling accounts for a second day while they were at it, as they could now afford it and holed up in the bridge and cooled off from their short time out in the hot air.
A few hours passed and most of the crew were by then dozing (as well as fully recovered from lost vitality) when the annoying beeping of the navicom was answered by the captain, to come face to face with the cybernetic eyed Thexan from the underground bar. He wasn't best pleased but was also cordial enough as to, without thinly veiled threats, inform them that his boss, the local Crime Lord, Izgimir the Enormous, would be happy to see them, however without passes.... they would have to come unarmed!
Captain: So people with passes get to come with their weapons?
Cybereye: But of course, though that doesn't help y...
*Captain brings a wad of loose notes into view of the monitor*
Captain: We would like to buy three passes.
*Cybereye rubs his four hands together greedily*
Cybereye: Certainly! We will meet at these coordinates at dusk!

So there we have it, the party defeats the independent contractors of the crime lord Izzy and uses the proceeds from their seized equipment to bribe full access passes out of one of his underlings. Most pleased with themselves the party gets themselves suited n booted, somewhat suspecting an ambush, and heads out of town to a large and heavily graffitied rock and awaits their passes, which are delivered without incident by another Thexan on a hoverbike, replete with heavy set Rhogani Bodyguard weighing down the rear end, in a surprisingly cordial manner, before taking his cut and heading to the local watering hole to get smashed.

Surprised to not be shot on sight and feeling a tad paranoid the crew return to the spaceport and decide on a means of insuring their safety, determined to fly out to the mesas rather than shlep it or take the mechanic's shoddy little scooter, the captain orders the Mechanic to see about sabotaging the slip core to go nova if things get out of hand.....
Proffession: Mechanic checks
Well that's a hard job, and would have to be done manually, but he manages to tie off various safety lines and cables with tape to be cut simultaneously to trigger a core breach, an explosion that would probably glass a few square miles of desert if done.
Captain: That's.... incredibly dangerous to leave like that.
Mechanic: Yeah I'm going to undo that as soon as we are done.
The party discussed further and determined its also not something that can be easily done immediately without leaving someone behind, someone who could just instead start up the engines and fly straight into whatever is infront of them and blow the ship that way if things go south and decide for safeties sake to undo that prematurely, the mechanic memorising (Autohypnosis) the setup to rig rapidly next time.
So with that decided the party flew off into the desert towards the mesas for an hour before an annoying bleeping from the navicom grabbed their attention.
Captain: I really need to change that ring tone.
Answering it he found himself talking to a Thexan who politely gave them coords for a landing site and asked they not deviate flight path one iota.
Pilot: I take a ten!
And with skilled ease and finesse the pilot brought them in to land... inside the side of the mesa, which opened up to reveal a hanger, which upon landing softly within was suddenly clamped by the docking clamps.
All: Expletives.
Some Proffession:Mechanic and common sense later it was determined that a rapid takeoff might be impossible now, especially as the hanger doors closed behind them, but also determined that a full burn would probably wrench the ship free and straight into a wall, which they left Xashmi in charge off, having nabbed a comms unit in town with some of their spare cash earlier in the day.
So a crude backup plan in place, and a Thexan and a half dozen Rhogani filing into the hanger, the Captain and Mechanic made their way out the rear hatch and met with this Thexan who offered to lead them to see his illustrious leader, they accepted and followed the insect, followed by four of the six Rhogani....
The other two, upon the departure of their 'guests' made their way to the rear access ramp of the KoS!
Xashmi: Do I see that on the monitors?
DM: Clear as day.
Xashmi presses the ramp withdrawal button.
Rhogani, looking crestfallen and confused: Awwwwww......
And with that they filed out and Xashmi got out her toy dinosaurs and started playing Jurassic Park on the consoles.

Meanwhile, the menfolk were lead through corridors, clearly marked with coloured lines, a simple enough system for the Rhogani Mercs to follow without incident, away from Docking, bypassing Quarters towards Public (following the blue line), where they passed the main ground floor entrance and the coming and going of drunkards into a thumping club, packed with people, where they were promptly ditched by their guide.
Thexan: Make yourselves at home! You are Izgimir's guest here and he will see you shortly.
So, distrustful and generally wary, the pair settle in at the bar and order drinks they nurse and wait.
Back at the ship, the mighty T-Rex was making his dominance assured at the expense of all herbivores across the console verse.
An hour passed and finally the barman, informed via earpiece, directed the pair to one of the rear rooms across the dance floor, which the pair awkwardly traversed and stepped into a side lounge room, guarded by a pair of Thexans, the mechanic spots are well armed with multiple pistols on their belts, Auditory Dampeners silenced the music as they crossed the threshold as the door is closed behind them.
The space was replete with soft furnishings in pastel pink with a small minibar and viewscreen, a solitary camera watching from the upper corner, by the bar in a lavish chaise longue was a Thexan, sipping brandy.
Captain: Izzy?
Thexan just shakes his head and offers drinks, which are declined.
The screen on the wall suddenly pops on, revealing the decal of a seal on a rotating medallion with a plain backdrop. A voice projects, distorted and metallic.
Izzy didnt even deign to speak to them in person.
Voice:What brings you to my domain?
Captain: We are after the bounty on the head of....*insert details here, long forgotten*, apparently he is under your protection here. I am sure we can come to some arrangement.
Voice: Yes, I DO currently own this man.... and his pretty little ship, he came here to sell me wares... hot wares.... now I own those too. And you...
Here the captain is REMARKABLY calm and eloquent, voicing that this is indeed to the benefit of Izzy.
Captain: ... afterall I am sure we could split this bounty if you release him to us.
Voice: Yes.... yes.... a ten thousand neoshekel reward for him, at the edge of core space.... very well, for five thousand upfront he is yours, gift wrapped.
Captain: .... While an excellent offer I would GLADLY accept..... I dont have five grand to give you... perhaps we could come to some other arrangement.
At this point the Thexan on the couch is paying careful attention, one of his hands in his coat pocket, the Mechanic is looking itchy too, tensely eyeing the Thexan.
A minute passes.
Voice: Very well Bounty Hunter.... You will do a task for me... and if you succeed you will earn your precious Smuggler.... You must steal Enfraam's Nano Library, and return it to me intact. My man here will fill you in.
And with that the screen blinked out. Diplomacy success, nobody died! XP!
And now working on the same side, the Thexan chilled out, re offered drinks and was this time obliged, and dishing out brandy explained the job.
About a thousand miles away another crime lord holds territory, a man called Moe, a town called Moestown... dashed original. An independent trader there has as his life's work a library of over a thousand nano programs and genealogical data for their design and production, the man is a certifiable genius and trades in nanites, robotics and weaponry to any who can pay, with juicy deals for Moe himself in return for the space and his protection. Something he doesn't really need in the latter at least. Izzy has tried three times already to get into his compound and steal the library, to no avail... the words 'Walls of Bullets' and 'Indoor Lighting Storms' were mentioned a few times. The Captain isn't chuffed. They get all the information they know on datadisk and head back, unmolested but escorted, to the KoS, where on arrival Xashmi brushes dinosaurs onto the floor and gets them out of there, plotting a course across the world.
The Captain explains the situation, the Mechanic stands on a dinosaur and confiscates it, promising to give it back if Xashmi earns ten gold stars.
And out over the wastes, en route to Moestown we called it, as the party was deep in tactical discussion as to how to get the heavily guarded life work of a paranoid genius nanotechnition and roboticist, in the middle of a rival crime lord's territory, who has successfully repelled three attempts to achieve said same with far less resources than their employer.... their end plan is nothing shy of genius.

[Theobod]

Third session, and with it a nefarious scheme.


We rejoin our party flying their ship over the desert, course plotted at a good altitude autopilot was engaged and the data was, after going through the firewall the party programmer made (basic lock, mechanically), uploaded all the data they were given to the main computer and weight up options. They considered a snatch n grab, a heist/con, even just asking for it outright.
In the end, they decided to turn up, open handed, with a proposition.
So they completed their journey, landed at a landing pad outside of Moestown and went as a group on foot, through the crowded markets and narrow streets, foiling a pickpocket attempt along the way with good spot checks and menacing eye contact for good measure.
Coming up to the compound the party stepped up to his gates, a massive open area beyond its walls adorned with only a single road and a small wooden shack, according to intel this is indeed the place.
The Captain reads a screen by the gate, complete with intercom, the screen is a mess of zeroes and ones that he can read (Language: Machine).
Captain, translating: Those with the eyes to perceive, say Aye.
Crew eyes up each other
Captain: ....Aye?
Squeeek
The gates roll open allowing entrance and the party, unnerved, follow the winding road, Xashmi and Sylus spot small mounds of dirt off the road at each bend and elect staying on the path seems safest, the captain guesses they are probably hidden turrets or land mines.
Arriving at the shack, the captain knocks, and with no reply tries the door, it is unlocked, and opening the door, reveals something unexpected, the shack, while appearing rickety and wooden was in fact just a facade, seeing the door edge as it opens reveals an inch of steel between the outer rickety sandblasted wood and the inner panneling and wallpaper, the room before them has small tables, a bar, television on the wall and even a dartboard, a perfect recreation of an old irish style pub, behind the bar, a droid dressed like a peasant potato farmer is polishing a glass rhythmically, possibly for decades now, the glass nearly paper thin.
Robot: Ey up me old mucker! What can I getcha?

So its worth pointing out here, thousands of years divorced from Old Earth, its history shattered and relics of it finding its way across known space, that this sort of dissonance is fairly common in universe. Any player may wantonly make cultural references, in or out of context, correctly or incorrectly or even mish mashed with reckless abandon, according to them they are correct and thats all that matters. Its neither the first nor the last time this occurs, Xashmi for instance is fond of Jurassic Park and Disney references, sometimes mixed and often incorrect.
Right, back to the action.

The party politely order drinks, on their best behaviour, two pints and a fruit based drink for the lady, and waits...
Partway through their drinks, feeling a tad awkward, the TV flicks on, revealing a spinning medallion of crossed rifle and robotic arm, a mockery of Izzy's own method of comunique.
Voice: What do you want?
Captain: George Enfraam I presume? We are here to discuss business, we have been nominally sent by Izgimir an...
Voice: What! That insolent bug, she will never leave me alone!
Whiiir of a gun activating under the counter, the bar droid now no longer polishing his glass.
Captain: I know, we don't like him either, we actually would like to discuss this in person if you will, maybe we can come to some arrangement...?
A long pregnant pause later
Voice: Very well... you will follow the guards exactly, do not deviate.
The screen flickered off, more Diplomacy passing, much joy, the bar began to sink into the ground below and the droid sank back into the rear wall which split to swallow him and the floor he was stood on, the mechanic reclaims his pint before it sinks into the floor, taking it with him as a metal lift raises up out of the now revealed metal floor complete with safety rails and the crew gets on, for a slow sinking into the ground.
Captain: No turning back now.

The party slowly descend on four support rails down about 80 feet, afforded an excellent view of an enormous underground warehouse, walkways and racks filling most of its space barring the far end, which is seen to contain a laboratory of sorts and a staircase up to a large office block in the upper right hand corner, patrolling the walkways are droids, some two legged with rifles on their backs, dealing with mundane matters of security and stack sorting, others three legged with twin linked machinegun arms patrolling the ground floor.
Upon reaching the bottom with a rattle and a railing descending flush with the floor, some steps popping up from the ground to allow easy decent, the party find themselves face to.... face? With one of these hefty battle droids flanked by armed bipedal droids.
Battledroid: You will follow us.
Captain, politely: Certainly, lead on.
As the party is lead a very circuitous route about the complex, passing robot parts, boxes of grenades, weapons, cybernetic equipment, lab equipment, armor.... a veritable panoply of goods. Panels everywhere showing manifests, the constant hum of electricity in the air that the party rightly guess are nanite traps...
Xashmi: Glad we didn't storm this place.
Sylus: Shhh....

Eventually they make it to the bottom of the stairs where the droids gesture for them to ascend. They do so, the captain thanking the droids for the escort.
Sylus: They probably are not intelligent.
Lucius: Robots are people too.
Ascending the stairs, captain first, the party reaches a wooden paneled door, a plaque upon it reading: Knock First.
The Captain knocks politely and a hum in the door, previously barely audible, ceases...
Voice: Come in...

The party enter into an office, oak panels and view screens litter the walls, surfaces throughout are replete with dioramas and oddities, toys and partially built weapons. In the centre of the room is a large desk, behind which 'sits' a particularly fat man, various portions of which are clearly replaced with cybernetics, as the party approach they see from the waist down he has been replaced by a hovering apparatus with computer panels and a large cup holder built in.

Captain: Professor George Enfraam I presume?
Enfraam: Correct *bringing up a screen*, Captain Lucius of the Knight of Swords... Bounty Hunter. Talk.
Here in the Captain wastes no time, explaining that he finds Izzy's means of doing business to be reprehensible and doesn't expect a good outcome to their arrangement one way or another, he points out he will do fair business with anyone who trades fairly with him but he will not abide being f***ed or being strong armed into leaving empty handed, if he leaves at all. He also points out that Enfraam clearly wants Izzy out of the picture altogether and, a man of his learning and resources.... could make a decent facsimile of his Nano Library that would pass cursory scans, containing within it a bomb of sufficient power to destroy Izzy and his whole powerbase and that they, with their current job, have the perfect way to get it into his base.
Enfraam is taken aback by the cunning and the flattery and immediately accepts with rambunctious laughter, raising disposition to Helpful and promising a reward of his own if they can pull this off, he also explains exactly what Izzy is... a female Thexan, an enormous egg laying, scheming monstrosity probably sealed into her ship.
So here in they plotted and schemed on how to make it look convincing, the party was put up in guest quarters and Lucius assisted Enfraam in the creation of the nanite bomb.

Here it is worth pointing out that George Enfraam is a leader of his field, a true master of nanotechnology, over several days of working with him directly the Captain gained what I call 'Mentorship Benefits', a permanent +2 to checks to make, identify and use nanotechnology for training under the Professor, I explain here that there are a lot of masters of various fields and that a lot of various bonuses to various things in various forms can be obtained over the course of the game if the party seek them out and convince/pay them to teach them.
Back to the action:

Three days pass as the bomb is made in the likeness of his nano-library, a plan is hatched and set into motion:
The Crew will stage an escape under constant gunfire, the turrets are programmed to fire at the crew on their retreat, programmed to miss more often than not and only strike if the party stand still like fools, two small explosives are made, one is placed on the door to the shack, an explosion of lots of light and smoke which will trigger the door release and another that will be thrown at the base of the gates, the gates programmed to go off when the bomb does, also mostly harmless but very impressive looking. His droids are given orders to shoot to miss and to pursue.
The stage set, Enfraam wishes them luck, they are handed a large satchel containing the fake nano library, a satchel containing the gate charge and a metal briefcase the party stows in their own bags containing their reward from the Professor who promises if all goes well to come back in a few weeks and he will happily sell them anything they need at a discount. Hurrah, the party has made an ally who can and will outfit them in the future, the captain is especially chuffed as getting decent cyberware installed requires rendering oneself helpless and is loathe to do so without a decent bond of trust.
Now just to not die.

Booooooom!
The door to the shack opens and the party runs out, the mechanic pre buffing with a psionic shield, gunfire from two droids inside wizz over their heads and they make for the gate, the captain ahead with the gate charge and the other two at medium load sharing the load of the nano library, gunfire whizzing around them as a trio of turrets pop out of the dirt and start firing at the group, ducking gunfire that rips away at vitality they make their attempt, halfway however, Xashmi is wounded by an unlucky crit. The captain doesn't see and keeps running and the mechanic is left holding the bag alone as Xashmi is stunned! Knowing she will die if she stays still he leaps at her taking her down with a rugby tackle as gunfire sprays into their previous position and he drags her to her feet, recovering from stunned they grab the bag, shots smashing into his psionic shield as he provides Xashmi cover, as the captain lays the charge, an unlucky nat 1 on a turret causes a jam which helps immensely as the gate blows and the party rush out into the streets, weaving through crowds tired, blackened and injured, now all sharing the load to bring them up into light loads they run for the west gates of Moe'stown, seeing it flanked by... Enfraams droids, which raise their machine gun arms to the group running and causing a scene... and fire high, the party count their blessings that Enfraam sold security droids to the town proper and has his own override codes built in as the gates grind open they flee to the Knight of Swords and take off, rending the refueling lines in twain as mounted turrets on the walls open fire on the ship! The Pilot uses evasive maneuvers and avoids the worst of it until a direct hit smashes into the cargo bay and consoles explode in sparks and flames! Alarms blaring, Xashmi gets the KoS into orbit and the mechanic and captain use fire extinguishers in the Bridge and everyone calms down.
XP and Lvlup! One very convincing escape from Enfraam's clutches!

The party survey their own damage and that of the ship and elect to leave it as it is barring some bandages for maximum effect and check out the metal briefcase:
It contained a Nano Programming Interface (+2 and necessary to interface with nanites, such as using disable device to disable nanite based traps), a very high tech Nano Containment Chamber (+10 and needed to create nanites) and a set of six nanite salves (3 Cure moderate wounds, 3 make whole, tech potions/oils respectively)
What a haul! Making a point of using a make whole to repair the ship when they are done with Eros and determining that some medical attention in their medbay (Mechanic is also their Medic) and a nights rest would be enough for their injury they head for Izzy's Mesa.

A few hours later:
Having determined that they may not have much time, and that there is a timer on the nanite bomb in the fake library, the captain decides they need a way to get out and fast, with their lives, as Izzy may just chose to 'keep' them like he did with the smuggler, so orders the mechanic to rig the Slip core to explode like they toyed with a few days back, he obliges and instructs Xashmi, who will be staying behind, how to trigger it and the captain prearranged a code word for its triggering
Xashmi: Is that like a safe word?
Captain: No, I will explain why later.
And the group fly in towards Izzy's, being given landing Coords again as they approach, and enter the Mesa, landing in the hanger and being clamped.
A Thexan with cybernetic eye enters the hanger with four armed Rhogani and awaits the crew, Lucius and Sylus take a handle of the bag each and carry it down the ramp and meet their escort, who show them through the complex to a large hanger, hanger 1, inside which are huge storage crates, an enormous starship and a dozen mixed Thexans and Rhogani near a table set up in the middle, all armed.
Voice: Knight of Swords! You return.... victorious I hope, for your sakes.
Screens on the walls and on the table show satellite footage of their escape, Izzy was watching as they hoped.
Captain: We did indeed, where is our Smuggler?
Voice: All in good time, verify!
A Thexan gestures to the table and the pair place the bag on it, unzipping and plugging it in to a computer one Thexan checks the data core, another waves a hand scanner over its surface: Moment of truth.
Cybereye: Seems legit boss, need to do a deep scan to be sure though.
Voice: Good! Detain our guests!
Captain: I wouldn't if I were you.... I don't appreciate being f***ed and we have an arrangement, and to make sure we are honored I have my pilot sat by our slip core, one word on this channel and she blows your sorry mesa of world! *Intimidate*
Voice: You wouldn't! You would die too!
Captain: And you would spare dangerous folks like us?
Voice:.... GAH, Hanger three! Go! Get out of my sight!
And with that the pair scarper, following the wall lines, passing a pair of Rhogani they ellegantly bluff their way past, passing into hanger 3, acting confidently and bamboozling its guards they see the Smuggler's ship docked here, no sign of the man himself, and do the only thing that makes sense.
They walk up the side ramp and press the buzzer on the airlock.
A few seconds pass as the intercom beeps into life with heavy breathing and groans coming from within... The pair are a tad dumbfounded, catching the poor man in the act.
Voice: What?! You know I am busy!
Captain: Erm, Izzy wants you. *bluff*
Voice: Gah! Why now, sorry ladies, ill be a second!
A minute or so passes, the captain carefully checking the schedule as the airlock opens to reveal a man hastily donned body armor, breaches undone, elegant coat thrown over the whole ensemble looking flushed in the face.
Smuggler: What?
And with that the pair jumped him with saps and the Disable power from the mechanic, as the man is screaming he has been disemboweled and tries to go for the console the captain grapples him, the mechanic tumbles past into a flank and they sap him into unconsciousness.
Captain: We.... will talk about that later.
Mechanic: Yeah... best do...
Manacling the poor fellow and dragging him out past the confused (not uncommon) Rhogani they head to their own hanger, 2 B, and find a pair of Rhogani on watch, dragging an unconscious man they try, a tad to confidently to lie their way past.
Captain: We have permission to pass here!
Rhogani: But no one pass here, no have permishuns!
Captain: Izzy said we could.
Rhogani: Uuuuurh, we best check. *taps intercom* Ship men can pass yes?
Intercom: No, kill them.
*Initiative*
The pair drop their charge and stand on him stepping back, drawing/ejecting guns and opening fire at point blank range, the Rhogani step in with their bayonets and ravage the pair's vitality, barely able to dodge such powerful blows, as Xashmi sees this on the monitors and drops the rear ramp and runs out to help, unobserved with sneak attacks, catching the Rhogani confused they alternate targets and the group end up injuring and stunning both who, screaming in pain, are unable to stop them as the pair nab their unconscious quarry and run up the rear ramp.
Captain: Get us out of here!
Xashmi: Aye Aye! But the landing gear is clamped!
Captain, tapping the intercom: Izzy you b****rd let us go or you fry!
Voice: Get out of my home you insolent fools! You will rue this day! I will see you killed for this rudeness!
Hanger doors open and landing clamps are released and with a whirr of the engines the pilot rotates the ship and blasts off at full speed, just as the Rhogani are picking themselves up and entering the hangar, blistering skin and off they fly into the sky!
There we called it in terms of proper RP and just wrapped up the other events quickly as it was a long, late session, the crew set up their cage in the cargo bay and after robbing the smuggler of his guns, coat, armor and a nice bundle of fake IDs and cash, chuck him in and make haste to the edge of core space to hand the guy over and receive their 10,000 Federal Credits.
XP galore!

[Theobod]

Session four and with it, a change of pace.


So we rejoin the party a few days after depositing their charge off at a starbase and hoofing it away with a card containing 10k in credit which the party cashes in and, with about half going into a ship fund, distributes the rest.
The twin linked guns of the Smuggler (SMWK on each, when used as a pair reduce TWF penalties by 2) ended up in the hands of Xashmi, the group's two weapon fighter, the armor was nabbed by the mechanic along with the mans coat (which was modified to fit him for a few woolong, the armor had adjustment straps) which was discovered to have hidden pockets sewn into the back and sleeves (Masterwork tool of sleight of hand to conceal objects) and the grenades in his possession (Forgot to mention in last post) which were in some of the hidden pockets, the captain took his IDs and IIRC the lions share of the loose cash (which he may have put in the ship fund, I don't tend to keep track of where they divvy moneys, infact when mixed cash is found I make them roll a number of d%s equal to the size of the wad and tally it up themselves).
Chuffed at this but ultimately not feeling rich enough yet to go and spend some serious downtime the party start checking the job listings at the Starwell Orbital Station, where they headed after hand in, slowly increasing their search parameters to include more systems and wider pay boundary and, among a handful that piqued their interest, chose one with a very different feel to usual:

Visit the Period Locked World of Bastion and hunt for signs of the kidnapped dignitary Myrundel of Myramar AKA 'Lady May', 10k for info that leads to her safe return, 40k for her safe return, 10k for the capture of her kidnapper. (Abrosian Home Office)

The party did some searching on Bastion and Period Locked Worlds in general to find it was, in a manner, a living, breathing, fantasy RPG world, certain types of applied technologies were illegal there, with an enforced thematic for technologies imported, designed to lure in rich folks and kill those who couldn't survive the 'gameworld'. Apparently it had a yearly profit of several million woolong for its board of directors and was a sovereign world in its own right.
Xashmi: Dinosaurs!
Captain: Maybe, probably dragons though.
Xashmi: Can we take one back when we are done?
Captain: I doubt they will let us.
They also determined through Knowledge: Local that Ambrosians are actually plants, not animals, and are long term members of the Republic from the old days.
After a few hours confirmation is received for the mission and they receive full information on the pair including body scan data and the footage of them entering Bastion via its customs office. They also receive a complicated code to transmit at the GM desks on world should they need to leave in a hurry.
So the party bought or had commissioned some Energy Bows and period clothing and nabbed a small shipping job for a bit of extra dollar on the side, taking a short detour to pick it up and deliver it on world.
Ten days of uneventful and tiring travel later the party arrive in orbit of the green and turquoise gem of bastion, its blueish star radiantly illuminating its surface.
Captain: And this is why I love space travel.
They were immediately contacted by space traffic control via the navicom which beeped annoyingly
Captain: Still need to change that.
Mechanic: I thought you did.
Captain: Nope, just made mention of it.
In answering they were informed at length of the docking procedure and that deviation would result in being shot down, also that as they were delivering cargo the docking fee was waived but if they wanted to stay on world they would need to pay by the day, the Captain opts for popping a grand into an account there for use in this manner to be safe and to reclaim the change when they leave.
So the party descend after an eight hour wait for not only the queue of transports but also planetary rotation and dock at White Mountain, the only way on and off the planet, and its 'OC Area'.

White mountain was just as white and mountainous as its name implied, littered with space ports and manned by gleaming white droids it was the epitome of a clean hospital environment, covering and filling a large mountain island off the coast of the mainland, the party make payment for docking and receive payment for their cargo drop off and then park the KoS in a harbor, it being capable of floating, but not sailing.
They also decide against trying to smuggle grenades and guns in, the punishment for such being property seizure and destruction, and exchange their currencies at the appropriate desk for the local currency.... Gold coins!
Now laden down with a few thousand coins and their nifty new guidebooks, digital books containing game rule information, quests etc, which the captain uploaded his mission data to, the group enter decon ready for insertion into the game world, entering a white room which sealed and deep scanned over the course of 24hrs..... dull! During this time the captain recapped the information they had and their job constraints and the mechanic memorised information relevant to the mission (all of it) with Autohypnosis. Xashmi watched the into videos with glee looking for dinosaurs and dragons.
Eventually their decon was over and the white room door opened, immediately light and sound flooded their sense and their balance was tested as they stepped out onto the deck of a wooden sailing ship on the high seas!
Apparently the white room, a sort of inertially dampened cargo container was loaded into this ship and set off from White Mountain, now invisible due to a 'Horizonal Veiling System', and were an hour or so from port, a small fishing town called Ebonvale, affectionately called 'Newb Island', on the southern tip of the continent.
Some spot checks revealed that the crew of the ship were infact Effigies of humans, their joints visible as they moved and spoke, something that would become common sights for the group.
Getting their sea legs and acclimatising to the brisk air and bright light of a high luminosity star the ship made harbor without incident and biomechanical seagulls could be seen and heard all around as within seconds of stepping out, spot checks revealed that among the throngs, the vast majority were biomechanical in nature and that an 'NPC' child was reaching out for a pocket, spotted by all he whistled and walked the opposite direction, unsubtly. The party do not pursue and instead look for a place to stay for the night and try to get their bearings, seeing wanted posters as they go for a man named 'Gal', a highwayman on the west road, as they do so.
Xashmi: What an unfortunate name.
Sylus, singing: A boy named Sue!:smallcool:
It isn't long before they find a tavern for the night, on approach a mechanical man is thrown through the holographic window pane to the jaunty tunes of a cantina piano and the party enter.
Within only two organics are noted, one a young human lady, bartending, who greets them upon entry and the other in the far corner, a Thexan in tailcoat 'playing' an automatic and multilayered piano.
And here we mostly call it for the day, the group settling in to learn a little about the world from their guidebooks and to inquire with the barkeep about the goings on and if their mark has been seen here.

Sylus: We have entered a MMORPG haven't we?

[Theobod]

Session five up :smallbiggrin:



The party make some pre bed inquiries and carefully examine their journals and try to get a feel for the world they are in and its rules.
They ascertain from their chatter with the barmaid that (after a small bribe), their mark stayed here not long ago but only once and that she was happy to tell them about the town and Gal of the western road.
Captain: Oh I see, 'beware adventurers, this world is dangerous... but if you are looking for it here is where to find some'
Barmaid: Yeah thats the long 'n short of it.
Apparently towns are safe during the day and a little less so at night, but monsters almost never enter them and any crimes committed by players in a town or other designated safe zone are punishable by death.... even petty theft.
On the other hand there is no such thing as Law OUTSIDE the safe zones.
Mechanic: So eyes out for bands of roving PKers, gotcha.
They also read up on combat mechanics for the world at large.

Due to most beasts being far too sturdy for a blade to penetrate on Bastion there are several means of ensuring victory, one is to just run away out of persuit range and works fairly well, though doesnt count as a victory for Quests or World Events. The other is to just outright destroy the threat through any means at their disposal.
The final is a special skill based battle system integrated into the enemy AIs and scenery, the Percussive Fending Battle System, every monster will have a pair of Fending Scores for solo and group encounters, divided between Burst and Series categories, these are the amount of hits that, if scored inside of six seconds OR every six seconds for thirty seconds will cause the creature to cower, flee or self destruct, dependent on foe, and counts as a victory mechanically, shots to vital locations (even if they are not technically vital to the monster, but instead are vital to the beast the mechanical facsimile is trying to represent) counts as two hits.
For example: A Goblin (warforged scout mechanically), has a solo series fending rating of 1 and a solo burst rating of 2, so one hit per round for 5 rounds will force it to flee, or two hits/a critical hit/called shot to the head, heart or genitals in one round causes it to flee. When fought as a group both fending ratings increase by one to 2 and 3 respectively.
It is also pointed out that circumstances such as morale and overwhelming advantage can lower or raise these ratings and any change of ratings, up or down, breaks a current fending combo.
Back to the action:
So buffed up on their game info the party turn in for the night, turns out that the Inn has enough rooms downstairs to fill a multistory car park with modern kitchen and bathroom facilities, joy!
The next day the party set off early and on their way to the north gates notice a party of Players argueing over tactics with one member storming off alone calling the others cowards, he exits the north gate and the players reach it just after, stopping the automated guards with questions, showing the picture of Lady May and her purported kidnapper, Vizier Mordukai, finding out quite helpfully that the guards, being automated computer systems, have excellent memory and had indeed left several times over the last week, last time was 3 days ago and haven't returned, the captain thanked the systems and the group left to the north.
Travelling through lush fields of grains manned my robotic farmers, the odd mechanical cow and occasionally a well, the party made their way north along the road before after an hour of uninterrupted journey they came to the Crossroads with signs pointing north, east and west, to the Plains of Khulan, Basalisk Bay and the Western Ridges, respectively, deciding with no real direction that they may as well stay northward bound they headed onwards.
45 minutes later:
The party, walking three abreast, the road they are on fenced at each side, to the west light woodland, the east taken up by chest high grain, began to hear music, the strumming of a stringed instrument, seeing some sixty feet ahead of them and sat calmly upon the eastern fence a biomechanical Bard was playing calmly, ignoring the party.
*spot checks*
Two of the group saw glinting in the woods, directing their third in that direction, eyes all that way a man in breastplate and shield stepped out, hands up:
Armored Man: Ah, so you saw me.... awkward.... I dont spose you would believe I was relieving myself? .... Thought not. MARTIN!
Suddenly a flash of green energy flew past the group from among the high grain and Initiative!
The group responded fast to the ambush, all drawing their energy bows which unfolded and shot strings of energy from their tips as the armored fellow vaulted the fence, followed by a better hidden companion of his in chain with a longspear, onto the road, ducking in the grain Martin took potshots as Lucius and Xashmi both vaulted into the grain and began a deadly cat and mouse game with Martin the Crossbow Sniper. Leaving Lucius to be charged by two armed melee combatants, who, as they passed the bard received a 'HAIL ADVENTURERS!' for their proximity
Sylus: Thanks guys!
Luckily he had this and one speedy Disable later and the pair were staggering bemoaning feeling feint and sick, Lucius and Xashmi were having some trouble however with concealment on all sides as they entered into 5 foot shuffle, hide and snipe routines, Martin only able to keep eyes on one at a time and both eying up him made for a long and drawn out ranged showdown.
The Armored one shuffled away calling a retreat, the spearman, who was identified as David by the armored man, was shot by Sylus which broke his disability effect and the pair engaged in 5 foot shufflings of their own.
All in all the fight went well, the two in the grain fought off Martin and eventually, Xashmi shuffled close enough to the Bard for a 'HAIL ADVENTURERS!'. Sylus fought the David till he vaulted the fence and hid behind a tree to quoff a Potion with a flash of light and warmth, after all 'here be magic', but failed his jump check to vault back over the fence into the fray and ended up flat on his face which Sylus capitalised on, before long Martin was fleeing through the grain, the swordsman had staggered off into the nearby field and they had David at bow point demanding his surrender, which he gave.
David: Please don't kill me.
Captain: Don't give me a reason to.
David: We were only going to strip you down to undergarments and send you back to town empty handed!
Captain: What a good idea...
David: ****

So with that David called off his friends and told them to meet him back at town and the party intimidated him out of the location of his camp, as he lead them there they stole ALL of their stuff, even the worthless junk, out of spite and stripped him to his loincloth.... which Xashmi escalated by tearing its binding chord forcing him to hold it at waist height, before sending him back to town and returning to the road, quite pleased with themselves and leveling up.
Bard: HAIL ADVENTURERS!
Captain: Hello Bard.
Bard: A pleasure! Can I help at all?
Xashmi: No.
Bard: Very well milady! Safe Journeys!
And with that the bard went on playing, facing forwards without further acknowledging the party.
Sylus: Come on guys, the Devs wouldn't leave this droid here without there being a reason, yes Bard, we could do with some information
*Bard stares blankly ahead*
Sylus: Ah... I see how it is.
Sylus then wandered 30 ft away and approached the bard again.
Bard: HAIL ADVENTURERS!
Captain: Hello Bard *chuckling*
Bard: A pleasure! Can I help at all?
Captain: Actually yes *opens book* have you seen this pair?
Bard: Absolutely! Bout three days hence they came this way, I sent them through the Western Ridges! Its dangerous here on the Plain of Khulan, great Eagles as large as barns can carry you away and Plain's Riders have a tendency to kidnap travellers, but beware, the Ridges have dangers of their own, beware the Harpies! And if you do choose to travel through Khulan, beware the tower to the north! While great treasure likely lays within, it is haunted by the spirits of old!
All: Thankyou bard!
And with some more XP under their belts the party made their way, beelining towards the western road across copse and field, ditching unwanted possessions of the PKers in ditches so they couldn't reclaim them...
Little did they know at this time that they were being watched.... and followed.

Nearly two hours later.
The party is on the road, to its north light woodland and its south fields of tall grass and, eventually, the southern white cliffs. Their travel uneventful and their vitality restored by time when, 210 ft away, Sylus spotted a man in flowing poncho and leather chaps leaning against the northern fence, smoking a long cigarello under his hood.
The party stopped, eying up the fellow, their books vibrated, Sylus withdrew his and it opened to the Quests Section, the section on Gal currently flashing around the Accept button. The man stepped away from the fence to block the road, the other two draw weapons.
Gal: Welcome to my road..... to pass it requires a toll be payed... *eyes Xashmi* Step aside lil lady, let the men talk.
Captain: Now now, we can probably come to som...
Xashmi: YOU WHAT! *Levels bow and shoots downrange*
*Initiatives*
Captain: Nevermind.
So with that Gal hurtles towards them, drawing forth a high intensity vibroblade as he does so, double moving, poncho flowing around him in and unnatural manner despite the lack of wind, as the party would soon see, fan assisted, Sylus presses accept and drops his book while leveling his new shiney Longspear (Masterwork, redwood and folded steel), Xashmi and Lucius open fire with bows trying to make dents in him but too quick for them, Gal snatches arrows out of the air as they come close!
Changing tactic the pair step in behind their companion who sets spear against a charge, Xashmi and Lucius draw melee weapons, a machete and a Vibroknife (loot from the PKer camp) respectively.
Gal charges their position and leaps to attack Sylus who tears into his abdomen with a fierce blow beginning the melee.
Quickly Xashmi and the Captain are flanking him and Sylus takes up position behind Xashmi and continues to poke and jab, two rogues flanking would probably make short work of the mechanical man if either could successfully hit him, Gal, outnumbered and flanked, adopted a defensive stance and raised combat expertise and focused his attention on their Captain to break the flank.
Xashmi at this time began laying into him with every kind of insult she could come up with, calling him pathetic, unmanly, chauvinistic and crude! Rattling Gal and occasionally angering him, splitting his attention and receiving cusses and sexist remarks in return, though not quite enough to grab his complete attention for more than the occasional, unmodified and offensively focussed round of attacks, which luckily allowed the group to pierce his defences and chip down his plating, his vitality long since gone. Eventually though things got bleak, with a mighty critical hit Gal sank his vibroblade into the mechanical thigh of Lucius, sending electrical spasms throughout his body as he was rendered Disabled and Stunned for a whopping four rounds, Xashmi had the rest of her vitality whomped the next round and backed off, switching back to bow, forcing the hand of Sylus who reached into his mind and violated his thoughts, trying to Disable which, while it didn't work, grabbed his attention thoroughly.
Gal: Ahk! How dare you violate my mind!
Sylus: Oops...
And with that, Gal Raged and leaped at the poor mechanic, whirling his Vibroblade with full offensive intent, turning his back on the other pair, thus did not notice the arrow Xashmi sunk into his back, not that he could deflect it if he wanted to with both hands now on his blade and the last 3 rounds of the fight were a terrified, backpedaling, spear thrusting duck n weave as his vitality quickly went from full to nothing, one swing away from a certain death Sylus sunk his spear into the fans in Gal's chest and shorted him out, his head bursting into flames as he slumped to the floor, defeated!
Panting and knackered, Sylus rushed to his captains aid as Xashmi took up Gal's Vibroblade and decapitated him for proof and vindication and the pair took their captain under each arm and began to take him back to town.
Meanwhile from the shrubbery nearby:
Mysterious Stranger: Well well, interesting and unexpected.... this spearman of theirs has talent....

And here we ended the sesh with XP and a new, very EXPENSIVE sword in the party, capable of bypassing both ArmorDR and Object Hardness.


This one was a fun one, a nice bit of combat for a change where the party really got to play to their strengths, admittedly the latter one was completely avoidable but oh well :smallcool: