Heroica: Glory Amongst the Stars - Mission #7: My Bleeding Hart

[Kintobor]

Zaria looks out the cockpit from the shuttle's hold and marvels at the expanse of space before her. It was as terrifying as it was breathtakingly beautiful.

"By Varuth's guiding light..." Zaria was awestruck at the vista before her, entranced by the ominous as much as she was the spectacle of it.

[karmajay]

2 hours ago, The Legonater said:

It's nothing-

Nah, it's a good one! I was working a security detail at the Ace of Hearts, Derrick had our crew squatting hangars, keeping an eye out for something, can't quite remember what. Next thing you know the gaudy private freighter touches down and Jace here steps out with a grew of crewmates. They were shipping in some kind of menagerie, a whole-megablocks zoo of animals. One thing led to another and Jace broke 'em all out!

It was an accident!

It was a mess is what it was. Took all the manpower we had to wrangle them back up. But that wasn't even the worst part.

Then we had to talk down Derrick. He's not known as the Butcher of Alvertast for his easy-going nature.

I knew Derrick, but I'm not the people-person Jace is. Besides, it was me he was really pissed at. So I had to work my magic to feed info to Jace so that he could sweet-talk Derrick down from firing the lot of us. We've worked together ever since. 

Who could have saw that coming?

It's at that moment that the shuttle Actaeon begins to quake beneath the heroes' feet. The shaking grows in intensity, rattling the hull, and when everyone looks up they notice a deep red hue filling the space.

I think we're here. Kirwin, still want that manual? We may wind up needing some repairs after all this is over...

"Absolutely, thansk!

[Zepher]

Merei stares out a window, taking in the sights, before reading over Kirwin's shoulder. "Does this ship have any capability to track things down? Communicate? Or are we to fly randomly until we find the missing ship?"

[The Legonater]

2 hours ago, Zepher said:

Merei stares out a window, taking in the sights, before reading over Kirwin's shoulder. "Does this ship have any capability to track things down? Communicate? Or are we to fly randomly until we find the missing ship?"

Upon Merei's suggestion, Alexa begins typing at the controls, her fingers in a flight.

Huh. So I have good news and bad news. The bad news is I can't ping any signals outside of the nebula. With all the gravitonic manipulation, it looks like no communications are going to leave this sector, they just keep bouncing back inward. But, I am receiving signals from within the nebula. 

She turns to face the party, a rare grin on her face.

I'm getting a signal from Valencia. She's in here with us, though it looks like it's an emergency line. There is a snag, though - it's not a clear feed. Just a bunch of disparate fragments scattered throughout the sector. You can blame that on the gravitonic interference, too. We'll need to triangulate a position, and I don't think we can do that from the shuttle, not with the rate everything is moving in here. But, there is a plan B.

At that, Alexa stands up and moves into the crew hold. She taps at a storage cabinet about Varen's head, and once it pops open she pulls out four jetsuits, clearly designed for interpersonal space travel. 

Have you lot ever worn something like these before?

[Zepher]

OoC: Hell yeah. 

"I have not, but as long as someone with experience assists me in fastening it, I would be happy to learn." Merei takes an old Aether terminal disk out of one of her jacket's pockets. "Ensure this is attached to the outside so I will be able to manipulate space if need be."

[Kintobor]

Zaria squints at the suits, her expression slowly transitioning from curiosity to hesitant skepticism to something bordering on giddy joy.

"We're going outside the ship, aren't we?" She asks, clearly trying to contain her intense excitement.

[karmajay]

Kiriwn looks up from the technical manual and says "Well, after reading a bit of this there may be a way to clear the feed up a little to get more info!" Kirwin tells Alexa the procedure to do that.

Kirwin makes an engineering check.

[The Legonater]

On 11/13/2021 at 10:08 PM, karmajay said:

Kiriwn looks up from the technical manual and says "Well, after reading a bit of this there may be a way to clear the feed up a little to get more info!" Kirwin tells Alexa the procedure to do that.

Kirwin makes an engineering check.

Kirwin Engineering Check DC 5 - 5, 2, 5, 2, 4 (Three successes)

Unfortunately, despite Kirwin's knowledge, his recommended fixes can do little to clear up the signal with all the interference in the nebula. The heroes are going to have to do this old school.

All good, Kirwin, we've got this. These suits should be 'one size fits all,' so you should all be able to get in snug and tight. Oxygen is supplied and all, just be careful y'all don't use it all at once. Now, listen tight, there's a few rules to these sorts of things...

               FORBIDDEN SECTOR

The Goal:
The heroes will need to navigate the space of the FORBIDDEN SECTOR in order to lock onto three signals of Valencia. Once all signals are locked onto, return to shuttle Actaeon to triangulate Valencia's position. But be careful not to run out of Oxygen!

Player Actions:
Each round, every player be able to take four actions on their turn. There are four different types of actions a player may take:

• Move: You may move a number of tiles equal to your velocity, moving up, down, left, or right, but never diagonally. A tile is considered ‘blocked’ if there are two or more debris levels on it, turning the tile red. You also may never move through the empty space containing the Cosmic Storm.
• Remove Debris: You may remove Debris levels on your tile or on an adjacent tile (up, down, left, or right) for 1 action per level.
• Explore: If you are on an unexplored tile that has no debris levels on it, you may explore it for 1 action, flipping the tile over and revealing what is underneath.
• Pick Up a Signal: For 1 action you may lock onto a revealed signal on an unblocked and explored tile. Once your tile has locked onto all three signals, return to the shuttle to triangulate the lost shipment’s position!

Tiles:
There are various types of tiles on the board that the player may run into:

• Levels of debris: A green tile has no debris on it. You can explore it without hindrance. A yellow tile has one level of debris on it, which must be cleared before the tile can be explored. A red tile had two levels of debris on it, and cannot be moved through
• O2 Reserve: Four tiles contain a derelict ship that may have O2 (Oxygen) still stored inside. When you explore a tile with a ship and it reveals O2, every player currently on the tile may at once add two O2 to their canisters, depleting the ship’s reserves. One of these tiles, however, will already be depleted!
• Shuttle Actaeon: The shuttle Actaeon will also be at play. If a player ends their turn on the Actaeon tile, Jace and Alexa will refill the player's O2

Examples:

Spoiler

Exploring a tile will reveal what is underneath:
Each round, every player be able to take four actions on their turn. There are four different types of actions a player may take:

• Gear: When you explore a Gear tile, you gain a piece of gear that can help your team during the game, or some other reward found in the debris fields.
• Signal Location Clues: Hidden in the sector are strains of three signals needed to triangulate the shipment’s positions. There are two signal fragments for each signal which, together point to the tile the signal can be found. One clue indicates the row (Left/Right) and the other indicates the column (Up/Down). When you reveal the second clue for any signal, that signal can then be locked onto from where the row and column intersect. The signal will then move with that tile.

Example of finding a Signal:

Spoiler

Here we fragments A and B for Signal 1. One you find both fragments, you will be able to travel to the tile where the fragments intersect to lock down on Signal 1. There were 3 signals the players must find to triangulate Valencia's position.

Storm Phase:
At the end of every round, the MM rolls two sets of die to determine the effects of the gravity storm. This will “blow” a number of tiles into the hole on the board. Anything on the tiles is moved along. After moving each tile, a debris level is added to each tile moved. Once a tile reaches its second level, that tile becomes blocked to all movement until the debris is reduced back to one.

If a player is on a tile while it reaches its second debris level, the player is buried and must reduce the level down to one or zero before they can take further actions.

The storm will proceed in two waves. Each wave consists of a d4 to determine direction (1 = left, 2 = up, 3 = right, 4= down) and a d6 to determine how many tiles are moved in a line (1-2 = 1, 3-4 = 2, 5-6 = 3).

Example:

Spoiler

The blank space represents the blank cosmic storm on the board. If the d4 rolls 4, and the d6 rolls 3, the result would be two tiles moving right. Each tiles moves one space right, and then adds a level of debris.

At the end of the storm’s phase, all players not currently protected from the tidal forces expend 1 O2. If the player reaches 0 O2, they begin to lose 1 VP per turn. O2 can be refilled at shuttle Actaeon or from O2 reserve tiles.

Everything make sense, heroes? Feel free to ask any questions before heading out. Remember, you can only have about five units of oxygen in the tank. One more thing, since you all have unique capabilities, I get the sense you'll each have unique advantages out there in the wilds of space.

Roles:

• Kirin: An engineering wizz and experienced pilot, has +1 Velocity for this game.
• Merei: A skilled gravity mage, can clear all levels of debris on a tile in one action
• Varen: A master of insight, can take an action to peek under any unexplored tile.
• Zaria: A traveling expert, can survive one round without O2 before losing health

Initiative Check:
Kirwin: 1 (Zero successes)
Merei: 1, 3 (Zero successes)
Varen: 1, 3 (Zero successes)
Zaria: 5, 5, 3 (Two successes)
Turn Order: Zaria, then the rest. 

Kirwin (karmajay)
Character Points: 1/14
O2: 5/5
Vitality: 6/6
Velocity: 1
Strength: 2
Skill: 1
Smarts: 3
Proficiencies: Coding 2, Piloting 1, Engineering 2, Explosives 1, Technology 2 
Credits: 18
Equipment: Drone (Standard Long Range Elemental Weapon), Utility Belt
Inventory: 4 Hampering Minor Chemical Contained grenades, 2 Plasma Potions, Adventuring Leathers (Standard Kinetic Armour), Hacking Chip

Merei Teo
Age 24 Female, Helioi-Touched Celestial (Born Menahi)
Character Points: 0/14
O2: 5/5
Vitality: 6/6
Velocity: 2
Strength: 2
Skill: 2
Smarts: 3
Spirit: 3/3
Proficiencies: Occult 1, Religion 1, Coding 1, Insight 1
Known Spells: Healing Light, Solar Flare, Gravity Sink
Credits: 145
Equipment: Teo Family Pocket-Watch (Kinetic Weapon), Utility Belt (Grants +1 Engineering or Medicine Check Success)
Inventory: Essence of Intellect, Aetherbrew, Plasma Potion, Nanite Elixir

Varen Nastayo (KotZ)
26, Male, Human
Character Points: 1/13
O2: 5/5
Vitality: 5/5
Velocity: 2
Strength: 2
Skill: 2
Smarts: 2
Spirit: 0
Proficiencies: Culture 2, Deception 1, Insight 1, Persuasion 2, Long Range Weapon 1, Coding 1*
Known Spells (if applicable): 
Credits: 115
Equipment: Lawyer's Rifle (Standard Long Range Energy weapon), Translator Cube
Inventory: 1x Essence of Glibness, 1x Essence of Intellect, Ion Repeater (Standard Energy Long Range Weapon), Adrenaline Decoction, 2x Bulking Stim

Zaria Kanara (Kintobor)
226 Year Old Female Elf
Character Points: 1/15
O2: 5/5
Vitality: 6/6
Velocity: 3
Strength: 2
Skill: 2
Smarts: 1
Spirit: 2/2
Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Religion 2, Melee Weapons 2
Known Spells: Warding Bond, Sonic Sweep, Enhanced Vision
Credits: 125
Equipment: Power Khopesh (Standard Kintetic Melee Weapon), Dune Sea Armour (Standard Kinetic Armour), Farsight Goggles
Inventory: Plasma Potion (3), Aether Brew, Essence of Toughness, Holoscroll

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by The Legonater

[karmajay]

ooc: It is a bit hard to tell what counts as a tile? One of the smaller squares? Thanks. Also what will the turn order be?

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by karmajay

[The Legonater]

4 hours ago, karmajay said:

ooc: It is a bit hard to tell what counts as a tile? One of the smaller squares? Thanks. Also what will the turn order be?

 

MM Note: Not only did I forget to roll for initiative, but I also forgot to add a numbering grid which would probably help answer your first question. Both have been fixed, but to be as clear as possible, the tiles with the big coloured outlines are what counts as a tile. 

[Kintobor]

Having suited up, Zaria takes a moment to adjust to her new attire.

"Alright, I feel like we should tackle clearing out some debris near the Actaeon if we can, and then check our immediate surroundings for the signal. We should move out but stick close to at least one other person in case something should happen. Sound good?"

Zaria will move out to C5, then clears it of debris. She then explores C5, and then finally moves to B5.

[karmajay]

Kirwin follows Zaria. 1)Move to C5 then C4. 2)Explore C4 

ooc: I guess it is safe to hold actions after exploring in case there is a radio signal and we need to use an action to Pick Up A Signal.

[The Legonater]

7 hours ago, karmajay said:

Kirwin follows Zaria. 1)Move to C5 then C4. 2)Explore C4 

ooc: I guess it is safe to hold actions after exploring in case there is a radio signal and we need to use an action to Pick Up A Signal.

MM Note: You can definitely take as few moves as you want! Point of clarification, however; you don't need to Pick Up a Signal to find one of the directional signal fragments, they will be revealed with the Explore action. The Pick Up a Signal action is for when you have both directional fragments and can locate where they intersect. Basically, because the board moves, each signal itself is not on a specific tile like the fragments are, and so discovering the signal gets its own action. Once you have both directional fragments you can go to the tile they intersect on, and if the tile is unblocked and explored, you can then Pick Up a Signal, a la the spoilered example. I hope that's clearer?

[Zepher]

OoC: Looks awesome! Very Forbidden Desert/Island vibe.

The flames that compose Merei's head licks the inside of her visor, making it glow faintly. She attempts to stifle the flames so they don't melt through the glass. "I will serve best clearing this debris. Varen, maybe you can follow behind me, giving us two exploration teams."

1. Merei moves to D3.
2. Merei clears D2.
3. Merei clears D4.
4. Merei clears E3.

[Kintobor]

"I think for now this may be the best option. Two teams can cover more ground, and if we run into any issues we can still remain close enough to respond to the other's needs." Zaria turns to Kirwin. "I have never travelled in such a manner, Kirwin, but I will keep you safe. I promise."

[The Legonater]

2 hours ago, Zepher said:

OoC: Looks awesome! Very Forbidden Desert/Island vibe.

MM Note: I absolutely stole from Forbidden Desert so I'm glad you're familiar 

Is someone able to supply an action for Varen? 

[Zepher]

Varen will:
1. Move to E4.
2. Uncover E4.
3. Uncover E5.
4. Uncover D4.

[The Legonater]

3 hours ago, Zepher said:

Varen will:
1. Move to E4.
2. Uncover E4.
3. Uncover E5.
4. Uncover D4.

MM Note: Was about to run the round when I caught this - while you may clear tiles adjacent to you, you need to be on a tile to explore it. 

[Kintobor]

OOC: Just to move things along, Varen moves to E5 and explores it. He then moves to E4 and explores it.

[The Legonater]

Round One in the Forbidden Sector:
Zaria uncovers gear in C5 - 9 credits!
Kirwin uncovers gear in C4 - One plasma potion!
Varen uncovers Signal 1 Fragment A in E5
Varen uncovers gear in E4 - Fragile Hacking Chip! (Single-use)

Storm Phase:
1,1: Storm moves one tile to the left. One debris level added to C3.
3,4: Storm moves two tiles to the right. One debris level added to C3 and C4
(Kirwin is buried!)
Everyone loses one level of O2!

Kirwin (karmajay)
Character Points: 1/14
O2: 4/5
Vitality: 6/6
Velocity: 1
Strength: 2
Skill: 1
Smarts: 3
Proficiencies: Coding 2, Piloting 1, Engineering 2, Explosives 1, Technology 2 
Credits: 18
Equipment: Drone (Standard Long Range Elemental Weapon), Utility Belt
Inventory: 4 Hampering Minor Chemical Contained grenades, 3 Plasma Potions, Adventuring Leathers (Standard Kinetic Armour), Hacking Chip

Merei Teo
Age 24 Female, Helioi-Touched Celestial (Born Menahi)
Character Points: 0/14
O2: 4/5
Vitality: 6/6
Velocity: 2
Strength: 2
Skill: 2
Smarts: 3
Spirit: 3/3
Proficiencies: Occult 1, Religion 1, Coding 1, Insight 1
Known Spells: Healing Light, Solar Flare, Gravity Sink
Credits: 145
Equipment: Teo Family Pocket-Watch (Kinetic Weapon), Utility Belt (Grants +1 Engineering or Medicine Check Success)
Inventory: Essence of Intellect, Aetherbrew, Plasma Potion, Nanite Elixir

Varen Nastayo (KotZ)
26, Male, Human
Character Points: 1/13
O2: 4/5
Vitality: 5/5
Velocity: 2
Strength: 2
Skill: 2
Smarts: 2
Spirit: 0
Proficiencies: Culture 2, Deception 1, Insight 1, Persuasion 2, Long Range Weapon 1, Coding 1*
Known Spells (if applicable): 
Credits: 115
Equipment: Lawyer's Rifle (Standard Long Range Energy weapon), Translator Cube
Inventory: 1x Essence of Glibness, 1x Essence of Intellect, Ion Repeater (Standard Energy Long Range Weapon), Adrenaline Decoction, 2x Bulking Stim, Fragile Hacking Chip

Zaria Kanara (Kintobor)
226 Year Old Female Elf
Character Points: 1/15
O2: 4/5
Vitality: 6/6
Velocity: 3
Strength: 2
Skill: 2
Smarts: 1
Spirit: 2/2
Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Religion 2, Melee Weapons 2
Known Spells: Warding Bond, Sonic Sweep, Enhanced Vision
Credits: 134
Equipment: Power Khopesh (Standard Kintetic Melee Weapon), Dune Sea Armour (Standard Kinetic Armour), Farsight Goggles
Inventory: Plasma Potion (3), Aether Brew, Essence of Toughness, Holoscroll

 

[Kintobor]

Zaria looks behind her, noticing Kirwin stuck in garbage. Pushing herself away from the derelict ship, she clears the debris in B4, explores B4, and then clear C4 twice, helping Kirwin out of the mess.
 

“Are you alright, Kirwin?

Let’s keep an eye on our oxygen levels. We should coordinate a point in time where all of us can regroup at the Actaeon.”

[karmajay]

"Thanks Zaria! I guess it is easy to get caught up in the storm out here!

 

Kirwin moves to A4, explores A4, then moves to A5 and explores A5.

[The Legonater]

3 hours ago, Kintobor said:

Zaria looks behind her, noticing Kirwin stuck in garbage. Pushing herself away from the derelict ship, she clears the debris in B4, explores B4, and then clear C4 twice, helping Kirwin out of the mess.

MM Note: Reminder that Zaria will need to be on B4 in order to explore it. 

[Kintobor]

OOC: In that case, Zaria clears B4, moves into B4, explores B4, and then clears C4 once.

[Zepher]

3 hours ago, Kintobor said:

OOC: In that case, Zaria clears B4, moves into B4, explores B4, and then clears C4 once.

I think it's actually more efficient for me to save Kirwin, since it will just take me one action to clear the whole tile.

"You don't need to turn around, Zaria. I will be able to extract Kirwin," Merei says over the short-range radio, hearing the other teams' considerations. "Stay close, Varen, we can move forward shortly."

1. Explore D3
2. Move to C3
3. Clear C4
4. Clear C3

Edit: Unless you really want to be the one to free Kirwin, @Kintobor ! Don't want to step on any toes!