You're all welcome to roll for your descent to the lower level.  Or not. But if you roll it, play it. I figure it's an Athletics:+2 target, but you can go with other skills, so long as it makes sense.

Therefore:

• Baylee rolled Athletics(+3/+2):Success
• Viper: rolled Athletics(+2/+2): Tie

@Viper:
You have several mechanical options open to you at the moment:

1. Do nothing.  Take a minor cost...  I'm thinking a straight 2-shift stress hit.
   
2. Spend a fate-point to invoke one of you Aspects to add +2 to make it an unqualified success (What's Life Without a Little Excitement? certainly fits the situation)
   
3. Use your free invoke on Creeper Vines: Good Rope to give you that +2 to make it an unqualified success

Obviously, I think option-3 is the best bet.  Might as well use that Aspect you created to your advantage!


Reminder: Stress is Not Damage!
Stress is not damage!  As soon as the scene is done (in this case, as soon as you make it to the impound hangar), your stress-tracks clear.  It only really matters if you take additional stress...
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:22, Sun 14 Mar 2021.

In reply to Control (msg # 41):

I had invoked the +2 for Creeper Vines ;) (my roll is 0, my Athletics is +1) - I just tried to respect the format of roll report :)

I edited the post in the other thread.

EDIT : Athletics +2, recorrected... I guess I'll know more my character when we practice more roll-playing ;)
This message was last edited by the player at 22:58, Sun 14 Mar 2021.

Okay.  Thanks.

Your rpol character sheet Lists it as Athletics(+2).
If it's not up-to-date, could you please update it?

I was mostly joking-- it makes sense that prisoner uniforms wouldn't have pockets as a general rule, and there's not much point to have them on someone in stasis. :)

If I want Bek to find something useful like a station passcard or similar, should I narrate that now & spend a fate point for it, or can I spend one later and retroactively declare that it was found?

If I want Bek to find something useful like a station passcard or similar, should I narrate that now & spend a fate point for it, or can I spend one later and retroactively declare that it was found?

I'd accept either one.  Narrating now may require retcons, retroactively stating it does allow for discussion.

Also:
Everyone!  While we're this early on, I need to say it:  Please review your Aspects regularly!  If an opportunity to create drama comes up that will riff off of one of your Aspects, bring it up as a suggestion!   There's fate-points to be had!

Corpse-Looted Gains
@BEK: We're not going to define what all you got at the moment, but it will come up later.  I'm also saying that since we're not defining it right now, I'll give you Corpe-Looted Gains as a catch-all Aspect we can use down the road.

Me, I'm figuring that one of the corpses looted was Barrett's clandestine lover.  And--if he survives, something Bek got from them will be a source of tension for him.   If Barrett doesn't survive, we'll pivot to some other excuse to generate drama... 
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:48, Sat 27 Mar 2021.

Okay, so, here we're going to enter a formal conflict.

A straight shoot-em-up is possible.  It is not the only way through this situation.

Combat (or pretty much any conflict) in Fate core works best when you--the players--take the time to plan things a little and set-up situational advantages using the Create Advantage action to, well, create advantages that you can invoke when needed.

You're at the airlock to the flight-deck.   There is a door to the control room that is also a dual-pressure door, but not with the airlock cycling that direct access to the flight-deck requires.  The marines are likely in control of the control room.

You now have access to the arrmoy (if you can get in).

Absolutely everything else is open to discussion.  Feel free to make shit up!  But keep the spirit of the drama of the situation.  If it's way too much out there and in your favor, I may veto it, but more likely, I'll ask you to roll for it...

You can also spend fate-points to bring things into existence without rolling.

Once you guys are on-board the Orishi and off the station, we'll call it a milestone and refresh your fate-points.  This first opening scenario is really just to get our feet wet, so to speak.

So, here's what I'm envisioning:

Viper tries to estimate how many people can reasonably be shipped and survive on "The Orishi.", using her +5 Pilot skill

No need to roll.

By pure volume, 2500-square feet is enough space for everyone, though perhaps not with luxurious comfort.

Oxygen is the most important consideration. I mean, there's food & water, fuel-stores and reaction-mass versus cargo mass and thrust, etc... but I'm interested in them only so much as they provide a reason to have drama.  So, let's focus on O2.


But, maybe the conflict isn't all about O2.  Maybe there's other shit going down.  I'm wide open to suggestions on this.  And quite happy to let it develop it as we go.

I'm kinda thinking that maybe Amin knows something about the situation that we don't yet, which is why he anticipated a conflict (and why he sent Barrett to the command node).   I've got a couple of ideas, but my current primary is that the tech team, as part of their tear-down, discovered a data-key to a "treasure-map" of sorts.  But it's encrypted and inaccessible.  Tech Team is most skilled to get there eventually, but Marines might see an easy score.  And if its a big enough score and they're considered dead because of the station destruction anyway...  But still, it's just loose brainstorming thoughts.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:01, Sat 27 Mar 2021.

I agree, and also make the observation that there isn't a lot of difference between condemning NPCs to die here and now versus condemning NPCs to die after we are aboard...

Thinking through motivations:

I suspect that everyone's primary motivation is to survive.  They may or may not have reasons to wish that they had the escape ship to themselves, but at what risk?  Assuming that there is enough oxygen to go around, taking time to fight with lethal weapons may be a lower priority than safely getting aboard and away in a timely fashion, even if crowded.

What would motivate the Commander?  He wants to survive.  He may or may not see value in saving his crew members, but they may have handy skills.  Why would he want to allow a bunch of worthless prisoners aboard?  He now values CSX as a healer.  If he wants to let the PCs aboard, then presumably he is aware that they are more valuable to him alive than dead.  What does he know about us and about the state of the universe that we don't currently know?  Hmmmm...  :)

If the Commander wants that outcome, then there are definitely clear pathways.  For all we know, he can override and deactivate any weapon aboard, disarming all the other NPCs...

As for CSX, he would logically use his Intuition to try to discern the best way forward.  I love the way his powers have manifested thus far, giving a very "River" vibe of extraordinary abilities without breaking the story.  How can that balance be preserved here?  What use of Intuition would be not too overpowered, not too underpowered, but just right?  O_o

I see a huge difference between "they didn't make it on-board in time" versus, "I put him in an airlock and watched him blow out into space".

I like that that O2 is an important consideration.  I want this to matter, and it is most definitely life or death.

I do not want this game to go to great lengths to avoid killing people.  We're not a 70's Sunday morning cartoon.  Life in space is ugly; people die. Should your character feel guilt for leaving people behind?  Fuck yeah, they should.  But sometimes, they have to pick the lesser of evils.  ANd that's something I'm very interested in playing through right now, because it gives all the PCS a shared horror that they lived through.  And they're all partially responsible for whatever happens.  If you do somehow manage to cram 24 people onto the ship, you can bet that I'm gonna make depleted O2 reserves a major issue shortly thereafter. Your characters don't have the numbers readily available.  This is potentially a combat scenario and I want the characters to feel that this is lethal.

Hmmmm.  In that case, what will motivate the Commander to prioritize the "expendable" "cargo" PCs over his own crew members?  He has a reasonable motivation to prioritize CSX as a healer.  What about the other PCs?  The obvious answer would be that he knows things that we don't about how we PCs are more valuable to him than his techs and/or his marines... but we would then need a consistent rationale why we are simultaneously the most valuable companions and also expendable cargo...  O_o

CSX will certainly Feel Your Pain for any left behind, so he will be seeking a win-win scenario if at all possible.  How much weight that will carry with the Commander remains to be seen...  :o

what will motivate the Commander to prioritize the "expendable" "cargo" PCs over his own crew members?

It's a good question.

And... it allows me to drive home a very important point to folks without a huge amount of familiarity with Fate games... The point is:  Your characters don't yet know enough to know what's going to motivate Commander Amin.  But that shouldn't stop you--the players--from making suggestions.

The most likely out-of-character motivation if we follow the "treausure-map" set-up is that Amin recognizes that one or two of the PCs were actually crew aboard the Orishi.  Therefore, who better to decrypt the databank?  Of course, they don't remember yet... and that gives us reason to have them hang around for a while...

And if we pursue this far enough that they regain sufficient memories and crack the databank, then we've got a over-arcing game-structure, which equates to "follow-the-map to reap-the-rewards...  And that should be enough to give us a structure for a fair bit of time before we have to turn it into something else.

But in-character?... we're lost.  I'm thinking maybe the Marines were actually Amin's men, and he might or might not sell them out for a better shot at whatever in hell the treasure is...

Viper's plan :

- sneak in the corridor of the armory
- enter the armory (I could have taken the narrative control and stated "Amin opens the armory, remotely or in person, with his codes", but I don't know how far I can go forward with the narration; i.e. if someone states Amin does something else before)
- choose her favorite weapon
- open the airlock to the flight deck, enough to let pass her smallish frame (she's of average size for a woman, say 1.63m, 58 kg - 5 ft 4¼ in, 128 lbs)
- jump and forward roll to where the bald girl hides behind the crates, because What's Life Without a Little Excitement?
- thinking to yell "friend! don't shoot me!"
- all due to the motivation "Women And Children First" :)

It's a plan with several steps. Where do we stop and evaluate?

@Bai-Ling
Oh fuck.  Pressure-valve.  For some reason, I totally forgot about that.  Apparently, I didn't put it in my quick-reference notes.  Please accept my apologies.  Feeling kinda "d'oh!"

I figured that he simply decided to walk off without her after she punched his wound... ;)

Sort of what I figured as well.

Still... whoops.  That was a forehead-smacker.

So, moving  on... Viper has put forth a plan.

You are all currently in the corridor outside the airlock to the flight deck.  You, Lincoln, Amin, and the five-NPC Mob.

You have access to the Armory.  The heavy-weapons are coded and unavailable. Small-arms, though... I'll give that to you for free!   Each PPP (Particle Projection Pistol) has a two-shift stress-track representing battery-charge.  Shooting doesn't cost anything.  You can use one ammo-stress box to reroll a failed attack. You may use both ammo-stress boxes to "spray" everybody in an adjacent zone--but it'll overheat the pistol pretty quick.

Viper has suggested that she opens the airlock to the flight deck and sneaks in, jumps and rolls to where the bald girl hides behind the crates to ally herself with the solo tech girl.

DO you guys want to add anything to that?  What will you be doing in the mean time?

Do you want to try to create any advantages to help you before you go in?

CSX is ready to use his Intuition for the cause... but what would be in the Goldilocks zone for Intuition here (not too overpowered, not too underpowered, but just right)?  O_o

I don't want to tell you what to do, because that is--literally--me directing your character.  We're already on enough of a railroad to get the PCs onto the ship.

Perhaps instead of trying to make the use of the Gift key in this situation, you might approach it from the other side...  Let's figure out what it is you want to accomplish in this scene, first.   Then we can see if the Gift will help make that a possibility.

Hmmmmm!  The plot thickens...

CSX actually wants a win-win outcome if at all possible, rather than condemning people to death by taking the last transport without them.

If a win-win outcome is possible, he would use his Intuition to try to find it, details TBD.

If not, perhaps his Intuition shows him that no such outcome is possible.  Whether or not he is able to refocus upon how to help the PCs survive is also TBD...

Heh. Baylee wants to destress a bit. Considering her vice and the fact she finds none of the group interesting that way, she’s spoiling for a fight badly. She doesn’t care much about sides, though she prefers to ally with techie-girl and the tech-tastics, but she desires violence.

She’ll grab a PPP for sure.

Any old pirate tricks to unlock any of the heavy stuff?

By the bye, willingly going to flow with my vice here. It makes too much sense IC. So Baylee likes Viper’s plan.

Okay, you're talking motivation, here, while I'm looking for concrete actions and intentions.

• Viper is going to try to sneak through the flight-deck air-lock and get to the isolated tech and convince her that she's an ally.
• Bai Ling-Li is looking for a fight.  Going through Airlock?
• Chang Sheng-Xin
• Maxir's actions have yet to be defined.
• Zefla's actions have yet to be defined.

You can direct Maxir & Zefla, if you like.,  If their players return, they'll take control again.

No Access to Heavy Weapons
I prefer to keep this out-of-the-picture at the moment.  Let's keep the first firefight pretty straight-forward. The marines don't have access to the heavy-stuff either.  So it's not an unfair fight in that regard. I have some rules-options to explore for heavy weapons down the road, but I wanna get our feet wet with this on fairly even ground first.

I see all sorts of ways that this situation can generate fate-points for you guys...  And I'm pleased that you're thinking in that manner, too!
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:25, Wed 31 Mar 2021.

CSX concrete action: now being convinced that the military group must be left behind, CSX uses his gift to slightly daze them, such that they are less likely to notice folks sneaking through the airlock.

However, this will leave him with a stronger empathic connection to them just as they are getting injured and/or killed, resulting in some consequence via empathic backlash... :o
This message was last edited by the player at 20:39, Wed 31 Mar 2021.

All right...

You guys have one primary objective: Get on-board the Orishi

I see a couple of pre-requisites or secondary objectives:

• Release the hull-doors so the Orishi can depart the station (This is what I'm thinking Amin is looking to do)
• Ally, bypass or defeat the tech-crew (4)
• Ally, bypass or defeat the marines (6-ish)

I've revised the Flight Deck map (In the Aspects In Play thread) to reflect four zones:

• Yellow - Control Room
• Blue - Marines
• Pink - Tech Crew and Entrance to Ship
• Green - Foreward of ship

I'm looking for suggestions on Scene Aspects.  This is a small flight deck that was being used to tear-down the Orishi to look for smuggled contraband, etc.  The Orishi is about the size of a small house.  Therefore the flight deck is probably about the size of a house & yard...  The area forward of the Orishi isn't of a whole lot of interest to me.

I'll also give you--as a group (not individually)--one Deus Ex Invoke, to represent whatever the hell Barrett is doing in the Command Module.  So long as it makes some sort of narratiev sense, it's available.  Consider it a sort of narrative safety-net.

@CSX:
We haven't discussed CSX using the gift in a direct and active manner.  It's all been passive sensing or the empathic healing.

I really want to avoid the "bathroom mentalist" precedent, where a character has an inherent ability to attack while ensuring that he or she cannot be attacked.  So, walk me through how this might work.  Can we develop it such that it alleviates my concerns?  Perhaps touch or line of sight is required?

It sounds to me like you're looking to Create an Advantage Slightly Dazed on the entire Zone (in this case, the blue zone / marines ).

Check out "Affecting Multiple Targets" on Page 205-207 ( https://fate-srd.com/fate-core...ing-multiple-targets ), and let me know how you see what you want to do dovetailing with this...