Endgame

MM Note: Retooled equipment lists to make sure everything made more sense. Make sure you know what weapons the enemies are currently packing, and let me know if I botched something in your stats sheet!

Thank you for the heads up! Everyone's equipment should be fixed - tell me if you have something equipped that you'd rather not. The Captain will be starting with her Plasma Pike, and the Trooper with his gun. Let me know if anything else seems awry.

Will fix the blaster swap! I was actually doing it as the first weapon/armor listed in the inventory is the one being equipped. I think it makes more sense to stick unequipped stuff in people's inventory, so thanks for the heads up. If using an item on somebody, I'd say you have to be within immediate eight square radius. Spells I would say can be used on whatever space the spellcaster intends. The good captain is indeed a female. As for weapon swapping, weapons are filed under Equipment n Heroica 2.0, and the rules as written say that swapping equipment takes a turn - ergo, weapon swapping does, too. As of now, no, because we have no way of fairly applying it to battle in a consistent way. And, because we never reached a consensus, I was indeed going to use this range chart for the boss fight, if that works for everyone:

Endgame boss time! Pay close attention to the stat blocks, these guys have builds and strategies built in - they're definitely smarter than the other guys encountered so far. Evil characters tend to be trickier, as do contrarians - it's about portraying their personality while remaining a good team player.

Kayarr stands with Enson's help. He was still operational, but his voice modulator sounded damage. "Th-thank you, Enson. That was... you're a real pal, you know that? Please... Show these clangers a thing or two! I'll hobble into the cockpit, make sure we don't crash into an asteroid..." The droid starts to slip away towards the cockpit as the confrontation in the holodeck room unfolds. Igaz's attempt at intimidation merely bounces off the masked woman's ego. "Battle collective? Intimidation? Info? It matters not to us. A blur, a glimpse, a snapshot... Grand heresy remains grand heresy. What you've seen cannot be reversed. We Cydonians don't believe in memory wipes. In mind control. In torturing. So, for this crime, by the power of the High Adjudicator, we grant you one sentence and one sentence alone..." The captain takes the plasma pike off her back. She does not flourish it. She does not spin or twirl. She just holds it with intense purpose. She knew how to use that thing. "Death!" Prepare for the Final Battle! Agent Turn Order: Kleeck (just so you are aware, I gave you the Nature proficinecy as requested, but it is still not high eneough level to cast Summon Ally. ) Igaz Yelana Enson Tester-Three Dunola Enemy Turn Order: Cloak Trooper A Captain Cloak Trooper B The Enemy Party: "For the Collective." Cydonian Captain Vitality: 16/16 Strength: 2 Skill: 1 Smarts: 3 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Short Range Weapons 1, Melee Weapons 4, Religion 4, Insight 1, Athletics 2, Stealth 5 Equipment: Plasma Pike (+1 Melee Elemental Weapon), Warding Bond (Spell), Navy Armor (+1 Kinetic Defense) Inventory: Energy Cell, Energy Pistol (+1 Short Range Energy Weapon) Drops: Plasma Pike (+1 Melee Elemental Weapon), Nanite Philter x3, Plasma Potion x3 "Fall!" Cydonian Cloak Trooper A Vitality: 9/9 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 3/3 Proficiencies: Artillery 3, Religion 3, Stealth 4 Equipment: Lob Cannon (+1 Artillery Energy Weapon), Insignia Armor (+1 Elemental Defense), Quantum Transposition (Spell) Drops: Insignia Armor (+1 Elemental Defense), 60 credits "You know too much." Cydonian Cloak Trooper B Vitality: 9/9 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Short Range Weapons 1, Melee Weapons 2, Religion 5, Stealth 4 Equipment: Stock Gun (+1 Short Range Kinetic Weapon), Cydonian Armor (+1 Energy Defense), Quantum Transposition (Spell) Inventory: Energy Cell x4, Plasma Potion x2, Cydonian Dagger (+1 Melee Range Kinetic Weapon), Drops: Cloaking Generator, remaining Energy Cells in inventory The Agents: Igaz (Goliath) 2 EXP / 4 EXP Career 300 Cycle, Male Undead Vitality: 6/7 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 (+1 from the Samba Stalk) Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Intimidation 2, Melee Weapons 2, Short Range Weapons 1 Credits: 5 Equipment: Samba Stalk (+1 Melee Kinetic Weapon, +1 Skill) Standard Plate Armor (+1 Kinetic Armor), Warding Bond (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster, Plasma Potion, Standard Vibrolance (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon), Emerald Blaster (+1, Short Range Elemental Weapon, 3 credits gained per kill), Standard Plasma Blaster (+1, Short Range Energy Weapon) Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Kleeck (KotZ) 1 EXP / 4 EXP Career 35 cycle old, male Ornithun Vitality: 5/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 3 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Spells: Proficiencies: Persuasion 2, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Insight 2, Deception 1, Nature 1 Credits: 60 Equipment: Gazerbeam (+2, Short Range Energy Weapon), Translator Cube, Summon Spirit Ally (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter Ensonvilterayquis (Enson) (Lord Duvors) 0 EXP / 4 EXP Career 60 cycle old, Male Quo’ri Vitality: 6/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 3/3 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Medicine 1, Religion 2 Credits: 35 Equipment: Standard Void Star Hammer (+1, Melee Elemental Weapon), Healing Light (Spell), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter, Energy Cell Dunola (Kintobor) 0 EXP / 4 EXP Career 125 cycle old, Female Dwarf Vitality: 5/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/3 Proficiencies: Arcana 4, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Engineering 1 Credits: 20 Equipment: Standard Flame Thrower (+1, Short Range Elemental Weapon), Holo-Scroll (Currently used for: Warding Bond), Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Elemental Evocation (Spell), Obfuscate (Spell), Transmutate Matter (Spell), Warding Bond (Spell) Inventory: Energy Cell x2, Super Potion? x3 Tester-Three (samurai-turtle) 1 EXP / 4 EXP Career One Cycle Old, Genderless, War Bot {Robotic} Vitality: 5/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Technology 2, Long Range Weapons 3, Piloting 1, Perception 1, Engineering 1, Credits: 40 Equipment: Standard Arm Cannon (+1, Long Range Energy Weapon), Standard Metallic Exoskeleton (+1 Kinetic Armor), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster, Plasma Potion Yelana Fennix (Classic_Spaceman) 0 EXP / 4 EXP Career Unknown Age Human Female Vitality: 5/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Deception 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Technology 2, Perception 1, Stealth 1 Credits: 20 Equipment: Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle E (+1, Long-Range Energy Weapon), Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Obfuscate (Spell) Inventory: Cloaking Generator, Hacking Chip, Nanite Filter, Plasma Potion, Depleted Artifact, Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle K (+1, Long-Range Kinetic Weapon),

"Stop you at the spaceport? And cause a racket on the Planet's surface? No. Easier to deal with between planets instead. Far quieter, won't cause bad optics for the ceremony." Tester Three's scan showed that these were the only three on board. "I tend to agree, actually," says the captain, glancing at the subordinate on her left. "You did the High Adjudicator a great disservice with that blaster shot." "...The error was mine." "This is something like an arrest, yes. One count of vandalizing a public shiplot, suspicion of engaging in black market dealings, and grand heresy as the final charge." "My name is the least of your concerns, girl. You're smart to lay down your weapon. But you still don't understand the situation you're in." "We have reason to believe you have glimpsed the Great Sovereign... not to mention made off with some contraband. You've already seen too much, and there's an easy way to fix that." "Listen, you whackjobs, you turn your cloaks back on and throw yourself out the airlock before I-" The Cydonian captain levels her blaster at Kayarr and fires off a shot. The droid tries to lean out of the way, but falls to the floor, one arm smoldering. Not dead, but not far from it either... although, being a droid, bleeding out was hardly a concern. "Auuugh...!!" "We're leaving no witnesses. And then we're taking this ship back to Gnorra, and it'll be like nothing happened at all."

"The communicator? Sure thing. I just spent some time trying to fix it, so we don't have to talk to people face-to-notface, you know? Should work at least a teensy bit better." Kayarr flicks on the communicator, and there was only static for now. Seems like the ceremony had yet to begin. "High Adjudicator? Well, doesn't he sound like a proper pompous bastard. If I had some Plenticon popcorn we could chow down and point and laugh." "Good idea. This is why droids should overthrow organics! ...Joking, joking." All of the flight controls, landing gear included, seemed to be in order. "To the contrary, my friend, I didn't come here unprepared. Vannoy was kind enough to lend us an incubator for the return trip, seeing as dragging those units around is hell on your back. You can pop it right in there and it'll all be good." Final liftoff preparations are made, and the Sabrillo egg is tucked back into its incubator. It'd be alright, at least. Soon enough, the Initium is leaving orbit, Gnorra's horizon stretching out and becoming smaller bit by bit. The screen projected by the holo-crystal soon comes to life. "Ooh, shows on! Let's see what those weirdos have to say..." A long sweeping shot of the Cydonian soldiers on one side of the central stage, standing opposite to the civilians now under the control of the Cydonian Collective. Somewhere off frame, the Second Fleet still hung in the air... "Bah! I didn't fix it entirely. Picture quality is still iffy. Damn..." From beneath the stage, an elevator moves upwards, a figure in black robes being lifted to center stage. Camera drones capture his ascent, and soon, they pan out to reveal his full form. So this was the High Adjudicator... He strides to the center of the stage, surrounded by myriads of his own men, and even more of the Gnorran populace. For a moment, there is only the chiming of bells, melodic, loud, droning. Battle damage is evident on his clothes. A blaster burn here, a cut in his cape there. The microphone system in his helmet picked up a little bit of feedback from the steady whirrrr of his energy weapon, but eventually the Cydonian production crew catches on and filters the noise out. Leaving only the imposing figure's voice. It was deep, but not guttural or scratchy... a surprisingly casual cadence, given his appearance. "Pardon the appearance today, I had only just got out of a conflict in the neighboring system. You will all be happy to know that the continued security and success of the Cydonian Collective has been yet further assured," he says, with a slight chuckle, pacing across the length of the stage and gesturing to let his audience know that, yes, he was talking to them. "And now, to begin in earnest - Cydonians. Gnorrans. Friends and comrades and peers alike in the crowd, I have been granted a rather prestigious honor today. The honor of uniting all of us on this planet under the same banner, under the same name, under the same purpose. To welcome you, with much eagerness, to the Cydonian Collective! I am Ophaniel Jezero, High Adjudicator of the Cydonian Collective, one of the four Knights of Cydonia. You've all seen our sigil... If you're curious to know," he says, gesturing to a massive banner flowing behind him, bearing the mark of the Collective, "my office happens to be the one depicted as the second circle from the right." "I am not the first High Adjudicator, nor will I be the last. But my predecessors and I all shared the same goal: to ensure justice across the breadth of our great Collective, and to serve our Great Sovereign dutifully. And it is by his edict I am here today to solidify the union between Gnorra and the Collective. To the Gnorran Royal Family, I extend my sincerest respect. The choice you made was most selfless, and yet even more difficult. But I am here to say that the wisest choice was made. It is the wish of myself, and my Sovereign, that this inauguration may forever guarantee the prosperity of-" A blaster shots ring out - not from the feed, but from the ceiling! It hits the hologram crystal, shattering it. "Oh come on, I just fixed that!" There are three metallic clangs and three puffs of dust, going from ceiling to floor, as new shapes emerge... Cydonian cloak troopers! "Drop your weapons, hands in the air!" The party recognizes the voice as the very same soldier that originally greeted them in Haurbo, now sporting armor capable of cloaking, evidently. What would the agents do?

I personally have no issue with upgrading proficiencies during quests, but I think learning them during is a bit odd, especially if it is something like Arcana or Occult, strikes me as odd. Maybe have a deciated training room to learning Level 1 Proficiency that could only be accessed at base would be a solution? We can save that for the massive debriefing that will happen in 5-7 days when the mission is over.

"Leaving? Your loss. Ceremony is going to be something else." "Shame. You're foregoing a chance to see the High Adjudicator. But you could always listen over comm-waves on your ship, I suppose." "If you're going back to port, main road is currently blocked off. Security reasons. You're going to want to take a left onto Epsilon, and then right past the Plenticon market. Follow the signs from there." Enson sifts through his memories. And with some confidence, he can definitively say that... he had never seen this being in his life. Not in his studies, not in any book, not in any hologram, not in anything. This was something new. Perhaps something dangerous. But it did not have the visage of any deity Enson had heard of before. This was no known god. Yelana brings along the crystal as Tester-Three totes the egg. "Do you know how many soldiers are on this planet? Even more, now that the Second Armada has entered orbit. I don't know a Bailey. We're all tied up in operations right now - we can't field civilian requests. Move along." With little other options, and the myriad masked Cydonians tied up in individual tasks (with the faceless Bailey nowhere to be seen), the party follows the directions to take them back to the Haurbo Spaceport. Sunset was turning the green skies a shade of royal purple, and the rest of the city was changing hue to match. The sound of chiming bells filled the air, layering over the quiet bustling of the Cydonians. They were productive... if not destructive and brusque. They never did see any of them unmasked. Eventually, they make it back to the spaceport... "Pass through. Cause no trouble." They do just that. Silently, single file through the dark passage, bodies bombarded by scanners. The radiation probably wasn't healthy, but longterm studies were currently inconclusive. Plus, one of them was a robot and another one of them was dead, so... After the scan, they proceed back to their ship. Back to the faded emerald hull of the Initium. Back to a certain lively drone. "Hey hey hey! Look who's back! One two three four five six - yep, all of you, all in one piece too." The droid wheels out, having been tinkering with the holo-crystal. A repair kit on the floor indicated he was trying to make some fixes to the dodgy projector. "Go team! Good work guys, seriously. You got the egg, yeah? I'll fire up the engines and get us outta here pronto."

Heroica's very first moving picture! We're pioneering technology here, folks. And yes, you can unscramble at least one frame of it. No, it will not be easy. Also, I apologize for missing a day. Getting these renders/images to look how I wanted was tougher than expected, and your Mission Master was dumb enough to pull a hamstring because he forgot how to set himself for a sprint properly. I think that the phantom/the Iconoclast are both pretty cool though. So in regards to this, your intentions are being fulfilled, but I don't know if that is the right intention to build your character around, especially at this stage in the game. Right now, the setting and the mechanics behind it are not quite fully realized, since we've only had a peek at what the galaxy has to offer. To that end, Yelana is, objectively speaking, a denizen of the current game. Characters in Heroica were at their finest when they were reactive to the world, not proactive. They saw what the world had to offer and let it shape their views, their motives, their wants and goals- not the other way around. It's more human that way. If you want to play Yelana as an intelligence agent, there's ways to fit that in. Tone down her innate knowledge but keep her inquisitive nature; dump stats into Perception and Insight, and get the rolls you need to get the information you want from the world around you. And have her log all that info, either for herself or to whoever she serves, and maintain it. It's a bit jarring for me as a mission master (and I imagine it was for your fellow players) when I introduce a concept like cloning or cloaking, and say that it is respectively very limited and very powerful... and it gets thrown out and contradicted immediately. I know the setting doesn't always work how you guys originally thought. But A) that's the fun of it, B) entirely copying what already exists is kinda boring. We all learn. For now, I suggest that you have Yelana play it a bit more safe until we all get comfortable in this whacky/wondrous new galaxy, and let her react and interact with the world organically. I think you'll find it more rewarding... Sometimes your own character will find ways to surprise you.

Kleeck's translator was thankfully unharmed in the battle, and he manages to sit down and interface with the crystal. Against all the odds, whatever he does ends up being a success... The crystal sparkles, then outright sparks, and then lets out a low-pitched burst of white noise. As the noise reaches its nadir, the sparks form into a bright white flash, dazzling the agents and blurring their vision. In the bright haze, a brief image drifts through their minds, perhaps projected via the crystal, perhaps planted into their mind, before their synapses fire up and cause the vision to be evaporated from their minds' eye. When the ominous vision faded, the party found that the Cydonian artifact had lost most of its glow, the brightly shining crystal now dull and inert... After a fruitful pondering session, Dunola concludes that cloning is something she's heard spoken of before. Some previously in her life, some recalled info from her talk with Vannoy; the process existed, but was outrageously expensive for a single clone, limited, and struggled dearly to reproduce things that weren't humans and lab rats. It was a human science made by humans, as far as Dunola knew. The party exits out through the storeroom tunnel, leaving behind the dusty confines of the Umbra auction, the auction-goers outrage slowly brewing over the absence of the show. They would find out minutes later that one of the vaults had been compromised, a headline item snatched; by then, it was too late. And fortunately for the party, as they made their way out of the alleyways and back into the main streets of Haurbo, it occurred to them that those criminal types wouldn't have the chance to pursue them on the ground. Mostly because there was a deterrent in the sky... Part of the Cydonian fleet. A number of dreadnoughts, led by a massive flagship... How many of these were already in atmosphere, and simply decloaked? And how many showed up when the party was below ground? Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Cydonian soldiers were marching to and fro, scurrying to make final preparations for Gnorra's official inauguration into the Cydonian Collective. Amidst the organized confusion, a Cydonian soldier approaches the party as they try to make their way through the streets. "We've had to close off some roads and streets for the event. Travelers, where are you trying to go? I can provide proper directions."

I feel awful that you feel that way, Lord Duvors. But I do very much appreciate the openness. Take the time you need. My goal is to make sure that this mission is a fun experience that successfully tests the functionality and boundaries of the mechanics. However, that is ultimately secondary to simply hosting a good mission. I take this kind of thing really seriously, and also take responsibility. So I ask you guys: is there anything you guys have been wanting from me, over this last month? We're pretty close to being done, but do you feel there's something I ought to be doing differently? I have more thoughts that can be shared, if you guys would like, but right now I want to make sure I am doing right by everyone.

The more poking and prodding was done by traditional technology, the more whit noise it threw back, even causing some diagnostic tools to go haywire long after they were removed from the crystal. Something thrummed deep within it... Something perhaps beyond the scope of tech and science, as we knew it. Whatever this Cydonian artifact was, current methods were insufficient.

Tester-Three does not own a tracker, and does not have the materials - nor the technological proficiency - to make one, especially not out of what was currently at end. The Cydonian artifact remains unaffected for now. To the left, a draft whistled through the vault... the exit tunnel, back to the surface. To the right, the hum of the crowd was starting to become apparent, even through soundproof walls. They could pass right through and enter the main auction hall, if the party felt it appropriate. And above, yards above their heads, the party could hear the sounds of synchronized march, mingling in with the telltale sound of an ambling crowd. Almost akin to the sound of a parade, but not quite. Perhaps ceremonies were under way. Would the party continue to tinker with the Cydonian device? Return to Kayarr in the Initium with their objective in hand? Or take some other action?

A traditional scan from conventional tools yields nothing but white noise from the... holo crystal? It was hard to tell if that was even what is was. Most were much smaller, and far more crudely shaped. Whatever this thing was, it was no traditional holo-storage device. At least, its security measures were anything but normal. The scan failed, but closer inspection of the device with the naked eye made it look like the panels on the side of the base can be interacted with, and possibly opened. It all looked rather delicate, though.

Yelana's attempts at examining the droids memory banks, and perhaps salvaging parts of their hardware, also fails. Regardless of the morality of the decision, the party steps over what was left of Jek, pressing their hands on the panel to open the door and step into the storeroom... Seeing as this wasn't an area meant for many eyes, the storeroom was unlit, a bit unclean, and quite... well, unpleasant. But eventually, the party tracks down the vault matching the key Trips had given them... And inside was... Super Plasma Potion? x3 An illegal variant of the Plasma Potion, brewed by bootleggers. Restores full health! ...And inflicts Poison 1. Emerald Blaster: Short Range +1 Elemental Weapon. Gain 3 credits for every enemy defeated while using the Emerald Blaster. Sabrillo Egg: A lukewarm, scentless egg - even unhatched, even uncooked, it smelled delectable. Cydonian... Holo... Crystal? Strange holocrystal-esque device, but substantially larger and more intricate than standard. Current function and purpose... unknown.

That map is incredible, and a lot of the mechanics are things I've been tossing around as ideas... Cover and plunging attacks/elevation especially. Maybe we'll see them in Heroica 2.0 one day. Also, Igaz's arc has been going from using sludge to make Jek's face, to making sludge out of Jek's face.

There was still an intact port on the drone's heads, but most of the remaining hardware was quite damaged, and Tester-Three fails to be able to sift through their knowledge. Without that info, there was no reassembling their blasters, unfortunately... The Fangreak was too dazed and exhausted (it was hard to tell if he was fully out, being an alien species) to even attempt to evade, and in the end, he doesn't even flinch as Igaz's metal boot comes crashing down on his head. The navy faceplate provided a little resistance, but in the end... ...Eurgh... The party learns a little bit more about Fangreak cephalic biology than the probably intended to. And thus Jek was no more. Would they proceed?

Battle grids were actually purposefully kept claustrophobic, because I knew that movement was so limited. If we introduce movement buffs I'd start throwing out 7x7 and 8x8 grids and the like instead, most likely. 5x5 and 6x6 seems to be a comfortable size for now, though... For parties of 3, honestly, a 4x4 or even a 3x3 may suffice.

As much as I like some of the suggestions for altering range, they all seem to marginalize at least one of the weapon types; and I'd prefer that not to be the case. Right now, the success chance tweak is all I can think of... I was also working on a system where people who have certain weapon types equipped get to move more spaces before taking an attack action, which could be neat, albeit more to juggle.

Round Four of the Umbra Rumble Agent Turn: >Kleeck moves to B3 >Igaz moves to A3 >Enson versus Jek: (1/2 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (0/0 skill successes + 0 armor) = (2 - 0) = 2 damage to Jek >Yelana versus Jek: (0/2 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (0/0 skill successes + 0 armor) = (1 - 0) = 1 damage to Jek; Jek goes down! >Dunola moves to D5: >Tester-Three versus Kibosh Drone B: (1/2 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (0/1 skill successes + 0 armor) = (2 - 0) = 2 damage to Kibosh Drone B Enemy Turn: >Kibosh Drone B versus Igaz: (0/1 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (2/2 skill successes + 0 armor) = (1 - 2) = 0 damage to Igaz Round Five of the Umbra Rumble: Agent Turn: >Kleeck versus Kibosh Drone B: (1/1 proficiency successes + 2 weapon mod) - (1/1 skill successes + 0 armor) = (3 - 1) = 2 damage - Kibosh Drone B is junked! The party wraps up the encounter. A glancing bullet to Jek's shoulder causes the Fangreak to finally faint, and Kleek hustles into position before donning the Gazerbeam mask and annihilating the last Kibosh drone. The battle is victorious! All standings members gain 2 EXP. Please Distribute The Spoils: Vault Key A: A physical key for unlocking a vault in the Umbra Auction storeroom. 100 credits Energy Cell Samba Stalk: A detached... something, from Samba. Melee Kinetic Weapon +1, gives +1 Skill when equipped. Agent Party: Igaz (Goliath) 2 EXP / 4 EXP Career 300 Cycle, Male Undead Vitality: 6/7 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Intimidation 2, Melee Weapons 2, Short Range Weapons 1 Credits: 5 Equipment: Standard Vibrolance (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon), Standard Plate Armor (+1 Kinetic Armor), Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor), Warding Bond (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster, Plasma Potion Kleeck (KotZ) 2 EXP / 4 EXP Career 35 cycle old, male Ornithun Vitality: 4/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 3 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Spells: Proficiencies: Persuasion 2, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Insight 2, Deception 1 Credits: 40 Equipment: Gazerbeam (+2, Short Range Energy Weapon) Standard Plasma Blaster (+1, Short Range Energy Weapon), Translator Cube, Summon Spirit Ally (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter Ensonvilterayquis (Enson) (Lord Duvors) 2 EXP / 4 EXP Career 60 cycle old, Male Quo’ri Vitality: 4/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Medicine 1, Religion 2 Credits: 15 Equipment: Standard Void Star Hammer (+1, Melee Elemental Weapon), Healing Light (Spell), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter, Energy Cell Dunola (Kintobor) 4 EXP / 4 EXP Career 125 cycle old, Female Dwarf Vitality: 4/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/3 Proficiencies: Arcana 3, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Engineering 1 Credits: 0 Equipment: Standard Flame Thrower (+1, Short Range Elemental Weapon), Holo-Scroll, Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Elemental Evocation (Spell), Obfuscate (Spell), Transmutate Matter (Spell) Inventory: Energy Cell Tester-Three (samurai-turtle) 4 EXP / 4 EXP Career One Cycle Old, Genderless, War Bot {Robotic} Vitality: 5/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Technology 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Piloting 1, Perception 1, Engineering 1, Credits: 20 Equipment: Standard Arm Cannon (+1, Long Range Energy Weapon), Standard Metallic Exoskeleton (+1 Kinetic Armor), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster, Plasma Potion Yelana Fennix (Classic_Spaceman) 3 EXP / 4 EXP Career Unknown Age Human Female Vitality: 5/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Deception 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Technology 2, Perception 1 Credits: 0 Equipment: Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle E (+1, Long-Range Energy Weapon), Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle K (+1, Long-Range Kinetic Weapon), Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Obfuscate (Spell) Inventory: Cloaking Generator, Hacking Chip, Nanite Filter, Plasma Potion --- Jek lays in an unconscious heap, the soundproofing of the crime-laden bunker/lair ensuring that the guests weren't tipped off... although they were probably wondering when the auction was going to start. What would the party do?

It's usually convention (at least when I ran things) that, in combat, if you reduce a major NPC to zero health, they don't immediately die. Note the part where you have to actually fight them and reduce their HP to zero, though. It's also more akin to shooting/blasting/aiming/swinging a hammer with intent to injure rather than kill, than changing the setting on a weapon. I'm fine with taking down an enemy in non-lethal fashion, but you have to do it by fighting them, not just before battle. Of course, Mission Masters reserve the right to say that if they hit zero in battle, they're just straight up dead. Everyone does thing differently.

MM Note: Movement and attacking is considered two separate actions - I'll move you to D5 and let you attack if you get the chance. Next round coming very, very soon!

I wasn't planning on having Jek die immediately after battle, anyway, so you're good.

"I took a job with GLESP because I needed credits. I thought I'd be taking care of the animals... not cleaning up all of their crap out of all the animal pens! Vannoy thought he could just pin all the dirty work on me and leave me to do it. So screw him, screw the egg, and screw your plea deal."