Sunday, September 24, 2017

RPG After Action Report: AAPF Patreon Campaign Soul Song 1 & 2

Welcome to my first RPG After Action Report where I cover the adventures of my RPG characters.

This entry covers the adventures of The Steward's (Background Here) starting adventures in Michael's (aka Ask a Pathfinder) Patreon reward campaign: Soul Song. We are using the Starfinder's Rules and Default setting and games are played live on AAPF's Discord Channel: https://discord.gg/GgR79wY

After a string of a few small starting jobs The Steward and their partner in questionable employment 'Modem' are given a lead to a job that will serve as a test of further work or which is explained by a contact of the android.

The pair go to the Saturn Soul, a dance club, and meet with its owner Lady Abigail, a very poised ysoki. While the two waited for their meeting a bit of Modem's past caught up with the ysoki. A Large four armed Shobhad named Skarr and his groupies approached the hacker about supposedly bad intel. Steward tried to diffuse the situation but it was Gustove and a band ysoki hired guns that came to the rescue or to be exact; intimidated the Large men with serious numbers and blasters.  They meet with Lady Abigail and her assistant, fellow ysoki, Gustove (the same one from before) where they are given the task of removing some kind of infestation from the stores behind the club. The uninvited guests are eating through the club's stock making it hard to meet the bottom line.

Modem and Steward agree to take on the job, the technomancer setting up shop in the club's security room while Steward heads to the storage facility across the alley.

After a run in with Ara-5's past in a form of bubbly twin androids and getting a kitchen worker's help the android enters the building, moving to the offline generator to help bring light to this otherwise dark place. With keen visual senors they find boxes broken into and once the power is restored bringing on the lights allowing the operative to more easily notice a small device down the hall from the generator.

It was a few generations behind piece of tech for playing music, a lost device from the intruders? In fact it was for it was in front of the occupied Break Room of the storage place that should have been empty.

Walking in Steward finds four small tubular beings drinking coffee and generally making themselves home where they shouldn't be. The operative tries to talk and intimidate them to leave but soon talks fails, which leads to a mix of over heated coffee, a stolen grenade pin and some very chilled tube creatures. Eventually through violence and cold the 'worms' are convinced it not worth their time to stay so decide to move on to the next door Pizza Chain.

Job complete the pair meet back with Lady Abigail's man, Gustove for their pay (a touch redacted for damages) and given lead for more work with an Elf name Lockloran. Given the night was still young they headed to his place to meet with him but before they left the android checks back with the android twins they ran into earlier but they had left but left a piece of a fine red dress triggering more memories from Ara-5.

They were both surprised to discover that the elf lived in a district of the Station usually inhabited by gaseous/floating beings; Fogtown.

Finding his home the met with the door guard, surprisingly a contemplative solarian with a rather adorable hat.

Unfortunately Steward and Modem had caught Lockloran  in a bit of an argument with his wife but were glad to interrupt. After brief greetings they went straight to business; the elf wanted to hire the two to rough up Longtooth, owner of a gambling den called Dredge Hold. Appereantly the man's son had gotten himself into a bit of debt and wasn't paying. When the son didn't pay Longtooth created an accident to hurt the son and demanded Lockloran pay off the debt instead if he wanted to keep his son alive. Steward was suppose to be his response to these demands but at first the android and their partner didn't really want to take the job given the nature of it plus what they witnessed with the wife but the pay was good with half up front. The big catch was: It needed to be in the club and they have to get access to that themselves but were given a lead; the man to talk to would be at the Saturn Soul at a given time.

So once again the duo headed back to the familiar club so they could find and meet with this man. Modem tried to get his drink on while The Steward watched the door for their contact. Unfortunately it seem the contact was their old 'friend' Skarr. Before the four armed man could spot them the android grabbed the ysoki and dragged him out the back with a new plan to get into the Dredge Halls.

---------------End of First Session

Steward picked up some spare cred sticks, a case for them and loaded one cred onto each one. While the android was doing that Modem used his computer skills and contacts to find the Dredge Halls and what it would take to get inside.

After a bit of scouting and planning Steward would go in and try to find a place to stick Modem's 'Access Key' so he could help from the outside. The android proceeded to head to the door, skipping past an old lady pushing her most likely drug wares.

Finding the door to the place Steward does the whole knock code and gets inside, once again meeting a very not happy looking Skarr covering the door. The operative simple held up their package stating they were both professionals and that they were there for a delivery to Longtooth. Grudgingly the shobhad let them pass and sent them down the elevator to the underground club.

Steward was surprise to see the size of the place with the multi levels...along with large scrap statues of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Two were of Lady Abigail and Lockloran while one was an unfamiliar human while the fourth must have been of Longtooth himself.

Once inside proper the operative contacted a fellow android that was working stating they were their for a deliver of payment to Longtooth from Lockloran in hopes to get access to the gambling den owner; hopefully privately. Servant-C, the android worker, took Steward to another level (where Steward slipped the Access Key into an open Datajack) and left them in front of the elevator while contacting Longtooth. Our 'hero' waited and was shortly greeted...by laser fire from three armed and armored half orcs.

Quickly the android responded with flipping a table over and ducking down while yelling that they were there to make a delivery. After getting their parcel shot full of laser holes Modem discovered a secret elevator while going through the computer systems. The operative dropped a smoke grenade as two of half-orces moved in to get them. Quickly Steward dashed around them and out of the smoke to deliver a mouth full of electricity to the third assailant via their Arc Pistol; lucky for the half-orc the weapon was on Stun.

Steward pulled the weapons from the man they just dropped and ran to the secret elevator while the other two were still searching for the android in the smoke. Unfortunately it seemed it required a key card which made the android run back to the unconscious guard and searched him for the card, noticing marks of a previous battle on the body from Small body attackers. Thankfully they found it, running back to the elevator and slide inside. Surprise though as the elevator wasn't actually an elevator but a rotating entrance to Longtooth's office! Once more the purple circled android is welcomed with laser fire but thankfully missed.

Once more Steward leaned toward talking the situation down instead of returning fire. Longtooth was already very hurt, holding a severe chest wound, and was under the impression that Steward was there to finish the job in Lockloran's name. The operative tried to explain that was not the case, coming clean and offered to help Longtooth but shortly into their talks the half-orc died, stating he was going to meet Lady Abigail before passing away. These events were confusing but also left an odd feeling buzzing in the android's mind.

This is when the android was informed by Modem that THE Stewards aka the cops had started to raid the gambling den. Quickly the android leaped into action stripping the room for clues and anything else that could possibly help them. Between Longtooth's desk, computer and a secret safe the operative discovered that there was an attack by ysoki before them, that Lady Abigail was murderer by her assistant and they were pinned to be involved. Once everything was gathered/saved the android carefully hid in the safe until the heat died down and left the now empty former gambling den.

Quietly they slipped away and called up a rather surprised ysoki, Modem, and found a place to lay low; which in this case was the technomancer's home. Well that isn't correct, it was Modem's mum's place...along with several siblings.

They made a bit of a private area off in the kitchen to talk about what happen, how they were set up and what to do about it. It came down to take down and ask questions; starting with Gustove and follow that with Lackloran but that all be tomorrow. For now the two needed sleep and the chaos would all start then.

---------------End of Second Session.




Sunday, September 10, 2017

Inside the Character Sheet: The Steward

Welcome to my first entry of Inside the Character Sheet where I share my table top role playing characters with the rest of the world. First we shall be meeting The Steward.

image by Michael Kesavan
The Steward is my Android character based in Paizo's new RPG Starfinder that is in an Online Campaign as a Patreon reward Michael Kesavan's Ask a Pathfinder. In fact you can join us Sunday Nights/Monday Mornings at 8pm UTC-4/8am GMT+8 on the AAPF Discord or you can hang out with us and others during the week inbetween sessions: https://discord.me/AskaPathfinder
I will try to post follow up blog(s) after each session.


The Steward awoke for the first time in a public renewal creche feeling uncomfortable and uneasy in their own body as if their very own electric flesh was a poorly sized suit. They were held by attendants and lead to begin their new life but the newly seated soul had feelings and memories of the previous soul which felt odd...wrong.

A bit disoriented and confused Steward walked away before finishing the registration process. As the android reached equilibrium again they couldn't help but feel that something was wrong and specifically to the soul that was in this body before leaving them with a sense of not belonging in this new shell.

Grabbing on the only lead they had at the moment, this body's identity chip Steward tried to investigate who they were or is it should be? The name was easy, Ara-5 and followed the info on the ID chip which lead to an odd trail of attempts to erase traces of Ara-5 existence but left random bits of 'paperwork' trails.

As they tried to investigate Steward came to learn that they were already quite ready to search, move covertly and defend themselves. This was good as it certainly helped with trying to learn about their body's history BUT also to find work as one's mysterious past does not put food in your mouth.

Given their skills and current status Steward found their way into the gray area of private contracting. During one job the android came across Modem, ysoki street hacker for hire. They had both been given the same job by different competitor; to 'retrieve' a crate of stolen high end firearms but Modem got there first but seem to had the same intent of backstabbing their client aka destroying the entire crate of firearms to keep them off the street. Needless to say Modem's client was not happy and found himself in a tight spot that Steward helped him out of. Ever since the two have been working together with Modem helping Steward with their personal quest in between paying jobs.

Together the two worked the leads that all became dead ends but one, Ara-5 was some kind of privateer and that she owned a ship named Trinity's Wanderer but so far the ship itself they have not yet found out where she left it...yet.

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When you first rise out of a coffin/crib confused and universe a blurring around you; you need some help...perhaps a touch of guidance as well. For Steward that was Triune or the church of the All-Code God to be exact. Steward seem to have a natural pull toward the place, being an android that isn't that surprising, though the holy symbol made of old fashion tech found around their neck and it again on the back of their left hand as part of the circuit paths also certainly helped.

There the android found initial starting food and shelter along with other lost; most fellow androids. Here Steward was able to get back on their feet and even some starting work. They feel it important to stay in contact with the friends they made there and when things are slow sometimes volunteers there or feeling lost.
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Some more images to help imagine The Steward Below.