Hailing frequencies open (Intro & OOC chat)

Well they're not a fallen civilization from being Too Nice to each other. From what I've seen they probably had terrors of war that make the need for the Geneva Convention look like schoolyard play rules.

daryen says:

OOC:

I am NOT excited for this combat because our ship's only weapon is ornamental. Unless they are just a little shuttle, they'll be able to rip us to shreds and we won't be able to do anything about it. Basically we are having this fight too early for us. We are not prepared for a fight and probably can't win one.

Even boarding isn't a good thing for us because, unless they are stupid (always a possibility), our inability to fight ship-to-ship can easily be used against us. Honestly, if I am the attacker against a ship that can't fight ship-to-ship, I can guarantee we're not losing hand-to-hand. Which I am not explaining here for obvious reasons.

Moving here so we don't fill up the main thread.
I think this assumes everything is going right for the attackers, and will go right for them. Though those living on the outside of society don't have access to resources as easily as those inside it, plus people attack out of desperation. Maybe our gun isn't the best, but we have a good ship and a good crew and good equipment. Should be interesting.

This is assuming the opponent has a real weapon. We have a weapon that does 2d4 damage with no AP. Unless it is a Shuttle or Free Merchant we aren't hurting it. If they have anything better than a sandthrower or multifocal laser, we're gonna lose that battle. If we're immobilized, they can take us over with little resistance.

Our best chance is to run away. Like Alex did in his unarmed Shuttle. Unless the opponent is equally weak, fighting isn't going to work well for us.

We'll see once the opponent is revealed!

For the record, I'm not being doom-n-gloom. I'm just trying to say we are potentially entering a gun fight with a slingshot. Not good odds. I'm not complaining either. Just tryin to say be careful what you wish for.

You have a cargo worth more than 1 million credits, very little crew, with literally tons of weapons and other equipment useful for pirates, bought on the open market, on a densely populated planet, with the Sentinel in orbit of another planet... This is just a (natural) consequence of your choices, I guess. =)

Let's play and see what happens. I don't know what you and the dice will tell me once the attackers show themselves. =D

Yup, the same ship combat system (the one from the SWN rulebook). This time, we'll be playing only with PCs. You all have your foci, though, so PCs are usually more powerful. Mercer will be a supernumerary, with 3 possible actions (they are described in your charsheet). The only NPC will be Valeria so I'll choose the department to get a CP bonus at the beginning of the starship combat round and that's it for her actions.

If you are boarded, we will use the rules for ranged/melee combat, the ship sections and (probably) a map.

I do want to speak meta Out of character. I totally understand the attack, it makes sense in universe and out of it. We're taking a risk.
But I don't think our GM is punishing us for it, just making a consequence. I don't think Htech would set us up to fail, but instead put a challenge in front of us. There has been plenty of surprises that seemed intimidating so far, and Htech has led us through it.
So, yes, I think it'll be tough, if we have to fight. We might find a way to be clever and get out of it, or find an advantage in battle.
I do think it'll be fair, if challenging, and we do seem to snatch opportunity from the threat of failure.

@Daryen

First thing before you read the below - We're going to be 'intercepted in 1 to 3 hours' that means failing the piloting roll described below will not hurt us. But winning it will buy time.

Page 112 SWN - Pursuit and Escape

Both ships make Int/Pilot opposed skill checks, each adding their spike drive rating to the roll. If the pursuer wins or ties, they force an engagement and the ships are moved into combat range. If the pursued ship wins, it gets six hours of distance, modified by any
difference in spike drive ratings; a drive-1 ship being chased by a drive-2 ship would have three hours, for example. It can use this time to reach a particular point inside the region, or can put it toward an attempt to escape the region entirely. Ships with spike drive-1 engines
need 48 hours to enter a new region, so they are unlikely to avoid a determined pursuer; one with spike drive-3, on the other hand, can make the escape in only 16 hours. Some pilots may attempt to speed this up by trimming their course.

I do want to point out that this attack makes sense and is justified. I don't believe the GM is "out to get us" or anything like that. I also think it isn't necessarily hopeless or anything. As I mentioned, Alex survived a fight that had him in an unarmed shuttle. But we are still entering a gun fight with a slingshot. Thus my lack of anticipation.

Why? I mean... It gives you 2 CP (instead of the regular 1 CP) if you succeed in a DC9 check. That can be just enough to let someone else do another action.

Are you asking if they are worth the risk? It depends.

Right. ... I know how to read...
*Sighs at self. *

=D

Hi everyone, as you may have noticed I have fallen behind on the threads, sorry about that, I have been a bit busy/distracted. I will try to get back on track now and specially find a better way to keep track of everything that is happening. While I’m getting back on the rhythm I will try and focus mainly on the Main thread, so I ask if any side threads are being hold up by a missing decision please let me know.

I think the main thread is all that is really happening right now, besides some ship musings between Daryen and I that... Well could mean nothing because the future is uncertain.

For the record, I only wanted the sandthrower to qualify as "armed" to enhance our ability to carry freight. I never thought we'd actually have to fight using it. I planned on getting a plasma beam for the actual fighting.

Each round of space combat lasts 15 minutes. It is feasible, but very difficult, to fight for that many hours.

If you are boarded and regular combat starts, rounds are 6 seconds, as usual.

Edit: If you succeed in a Escape Combat (3x), though, you get 4 hours of distance and can attempt a simple opposed skill check "Int/Pilot + Spike Drive" to gain another 4. See Pursuit and Escape (pg 112) for more details.

Oh!! So trying to escape combat is a great idea.

That's more forgiving than I thought. I thought we'd have to hold out for SEVENTY 6-second rounds!

If we think its 7hours, that's 4,200 6 second rounds.
One minute is 10, 1 hour is 600, ...
If we don't escape that's 21 15-min rounds.

Trying to escape combat is the only idea in this fight.

I'm gonna be honest here. Even if we had the desired plasma beam instead of the sandthrower, trying to escape combat would still be our best bet. That opposing ship so badly outclasses us, it is never in our interests to fight it. The only exception would be if we had two plasma beams. Then it would be an even fight with their maneuverability vs our mass. But even having the plasma beam would not actually change the equation in a meaningful way.

Of course, this leads to a new question: Why was Valeria so insistent on not surrendering? Her answer has pretty much trapped us into not being able to surrender and this is a losing fight. Even for our best chance, we have to make two successful rolls (GAAB and BE) in order to just get the chance for the real roll (EC). Those are some pretty long odds, even if they are our best chance. She had to know our long odds with no chance at rescue. I'm not sure why she didn't surrender.