Looks like ol' Dade is going to requisition a turban our of cultural sensitivity. Drink lots of water @DaMoonRulz, you'll introduce yourself for an hour.
Dermond bowed his head to the Council, "We will ensure the safety of the system and its inhabitants, Council." Dermond wanted to reassure his brother that all would be well, but he hesitated in the presence of the Council and did nothing instead.
Oh good, because that's what I was going off of. Good thing he doesn't have a tail!
I don't want to start posting as if we're done with the council already, but Dade is already formulating his plan of attack for wooing these Sarkans. It's going to be a doozy.
Yoda smiled at Dade's words. "A great Jedi, Master Trebor was. Spoke very highly of you, he did," the diminutive Jedi said, the hologram of the planet Sarka fading away. "Faith in you both, this council has. Waiting for you, a diplomatic transport is. May the Force be with you."
--
Moments later the two brothers stood at the designated landing pad facing a Corellian CR90 corvette, colloquially known as a blockade runner. An unusual choice for an ambassador ship given the turbolaser armament and fighter docking clamps it was nonetheless painted in the standard red to indicate a consular ship, and if the Jedi Council expected Separatist agents, it was better to be over than under prepared. As the two Jedi approached the ship a security officer stepped down the ramp, snapping a quick salute. "Master Jedi. I am Captain Tygor. Welcome to the Shadow of Borleias. Our departure preparations are nearly complete and we will disembark within the hour. If you'll follow me," he said, and they boarded the vessel.
As they finished the tour the Captain once again snapped them a quick salute. "And this," he said, "is your quarters. Inside you'll find your... cultural attaché." The door opened and the two Jedi were face to face with a strange looking bipedal droid painted in dark blue, almost black. It was a disconcerting color, made all the more so by the droid's head, which had its ruby-colored oculars seemingly placed at random all around its head.
"GREETINGS MASTER JEDI," it said, its eyes rotating and locking on each of the two separately. Its stare suddenly reminded Dade of something vaguely arachnid. "I AM DESIGNATED III."
Captain Tygor leaned in and whispered, "We just call him Three-eye."
Dermond returned the Captain's salute "Thanks for having us aboard, Captain. Corellian, eh?" he ran his hands over the panels as he followed the Captain. "Good choice, good choice." There was always time in his book to admire a ship, especially one from his home planet.
The Jedi was slightly taken aback by the appearance of Three-eye, having just assumed they would have been accompanied by a more traditional looking Protocol droid. "Nice to meet you, Three-eye. I trust we'll be getting a full briefing on the Sarkan peoples?"
The droid's oculars made some click-click-zzt noises as it seemed to weigh its words carefully. "YES, MASTER JEDI. I AM PROGRAMMED IN INFILTRATION, INTELLIGENCE, AND INSTRUCTION--THUS, EYE-EYE-EYE. WE WILL BE SPENDING THE DURATION OF THE TRIP TUTORING YOU IN SARKAN CULTURE IN PREPARATION FOR THE NEGOTIATIONS," it said, turning around and moving further into the room. Strangely, though its body rotated, its head did not, its oculars remaining focused on them both separately.
Captain Tygor coughed. "Well then, I should see to the rest of the preparations." The statement was phrased almost like a question.
Dermond nodded to Captain Tygor, "Yes, that would be best, thank you, Captain."
His eyebrows raised slightly as Three-eye spoke, "Infiltration? Will you be on a mission of your own during our stay, or are you simply accompanying us?" He leaned toward Dade and spoke in a mock whisper, "This guy might be able to teach you a thing or two about infiltration."
Dade stifled a fake yawn as he rolled his eyes at his brother, feeling a lightyear away from The Council. "I would be a Corellian sand panther compared to this android, meaning no disrespect to you Three Eye." Dade knew the programming and exacting tolerances of androids with a specialty, but cold perfection can't substitute for intuition and The Force.
After mentioning the panthers from their home world, Dade began formulating his own idea of diplomacy forward the Sarkans. Trebor always showed him that cultural awareness was the first step to warm relations.
"I HAVE BEEN ATTACHED TO THIS MISSION AT THE SUPREME CHANCELLOR'S REQUEST," Three-eye said, its eyes still clicking, "FURTHER INFORMATION IS CLASSIFIED." Both Jedi could almost sense the droid analyzing, making calculations.
I'm going to use gray text to indicate when I want you guys to make a roll. You have, at your option, to make a skill check here to glean some more information that isn't immediately obvious. Go ahead and give me in gray as well what skill you'd like to attempt, how it relates, and I'll assign a difficulty. You can also opt not to if nothing jumps to mind.
At this point it's hard to say, there are a lot of rumors; I'd say it's up to you as a character point to decide how Dermond feels about the Chancellor. As of right now the war is just getting into full swing and he hasn't extended his powers yet, so things aren't as strained as they will (possibly) get. that said, the Force permeates everything, and Adi Gallia would say to trust your instincts
Dermond acted hurt, "You hear that, Dade? The Supreme Chancellor doesn't trust us." He continued acting playful, but he wanted to test out the droid; see how it would react and get a sense of its personality. "Are you subordinate to us?"
Three-eye stood stock still for a moment; it appeared to be contemplating. "OUR ASSIGNMENTS ARE, FOR ALL FUNCTIONAL PURPOSES, IDENTICAL," the odd droid said. Click-click-zzt-click-click. "ANY ADDITIONAL OBJECTIVES, OR LACK THEREOF, ARE CLASSIFIED."
I've got Computers Rank 2 (Y Y G) and Mechanics Rank 1 (Y G G). I think Dade would use his background in mechanics and coding to figure out how he can later sneak a peak at those classified answers or if a certain code could be broken. Hack the planet, Three Eye is a Gibson!
Let's see how this works. Edit: I see how I messed that up. Show me the way!
Geth, roll 2eP 1eA for Computers
Geth, roll 1eP 2eA for Mechanics
Dade carefully considers the droid's words and analyzes his behavior. Has he seen this model before, or any of these modifications? On the streets of Corellia he'd heard of sleeper programming in droids sent to work at local establishments by various organizations. How likely would it be for the Supreme Chancellor himself to send a potential assassin to negotiations?
I did it wrong myself but hey, I got a better roll, you're free to take those. It'll be 2 successes and a Triumph for the Computers check and 3 successes and 2 threats for the Mechanics.
The mechanics check yields you the knowledge that Three-eye is indeed a non-standard model--he's in fact a model you recognize, or at least, a manufacturer. He seems to be based on a template created by Holowan Laboratories. That said, it's not a model you recognize; most of Holowan's droids are combat proficient and excel in subterfuge, but Three-eye seems to be unique.
For the Computers check you know that, based on what you remember about the models you know of, they tend to have incredibly advanced subroutines and heuristic processors. Droids with that kind of high-level processing are prone to developing quirky personalities as they modify and optimize their own code. It makes them very adaptable and capable of growing based on their experiences.
For the Triumph you very much can tell that Three-eye is likely much more than he appears.
"Understood, Three-eye. As equals in this mission I'm sure you'll agree that sharing any information we happen upon would be mutually beneficial," He wasn't sure how independent this unusual droid was, but it didn't hurt to try to get him on Dermond's side.
Geth, roll 1eP+2eA for Leadership check
Trying to get the droid to be a bit more forthcoming with its observations during the mission, if that's the right skill for that
It would actually be a charm check, but you made a good roll so I'll allow it. This is an opposed check with the difficulty set by his Cool skill, which makes it one red and two purples.
Yeah, I was reading through the skill section and under Leadership it mentioned making a target do something that it normally wouldn't do, or that runs counter to its current mission but I'm guessing that's more combat oriented?
The droid Three-eye hesitated. "INDEED, MASTER JEDI," he finally said, and that seemed to be the end of the discussion. At the very least, Dermond expected it wasn't going to be duplicitous with him, though the readiness at which had agreed made him nervous.
Just then, the whine of the sublight engines kicking to life permeated the ship and the Jedi could tell the vessel was getting under way for the three day hyperspace journey.
The upside is you seem to have gained some degree of trust from the droid. Those three threat however are likely going to manifest themselves in some fashion down the line...
If you guys have anything else you want to try on the droid, the difficulty is going to be 1 red and 2 purples, go ahead and roll them with your dice.
If not just signal to me and I can move to the next scene.
The three days in hyperspace with Three-eye were some of the longest both Dade and Dermond had experienced in recent memory. It wasn't that the droid himself was particularly bothersome, in fact it typically didn't waste much time in idle conversation, preferring to communicate its intended message very succinctly and with little preamble. Compared to a standard protocol droid such as a 3P0 unit it was almost refreshing.
It meant, however, that the droid spent a lot of time with the Jedi going over cultural dossiers. III, when it came to intelligence briefing, was single-minded and relentless.
As the mottled blue of hyperspace became star lines which became thousands of pin pricks of light on the matte black of space, Dade and Dermond stood on the bridge with their new companion, their heads crammed full of information on the Sarkan rituals of greeting.
"Transmit landing codes," Captain Tygor said to his pilots and leaned back. A gruff voice responded with an acknowledgement and the two brothers were faced with a full view of the planet Sarka as the Shadow of Borleias angled itself toward the planet for atmospheric entry. It was not what one would call a picturesque world--it reminded Dade of tuskroot soup, a brackish pale green. The air was breathable according to planetary data records, but it was purported to be devilishly humid, a world covered in dense jungle.
The entry and subsequent landing proceeded with little fanfare. As the ship settled the Captain looked to Dermond. "Here we are, Master Jedi. I am going to be remaining with the ship for the duration of our stay, but should you need anything I've taken the liberty to upload my communicator frequency," he said, handing the brothers a pair of environmentally-shielded commlinks.
Moments later the brothers Malo descended the ramp, droid in tow, taking in their surroundings. The technology appeared to be state of the art, the buildings elegantly designed and pleasing to the eye, and they could see several Sarkans on levels below moving about their business. As they strode across the landing pad Dade was already starting to feel, well, sticky. The air was just a few degrees warmer than he was used to and saturated with moisture. As he shrugged and readjusted his robes the group of lizard-like humanoids standing at the end of the landing bridge advanced toward them. With their alien features it was hard to tell if they were smiling, and his own discomfort was making it hard to get a read on them in the Force.
"Greetingsss, Dermond and Dade of the Republic Jedi Order," one of them in fine robes (unarmed, Dermond noted) said. "I am Gress'koz of the Sssarkan people. I am not the Minissster of Foreign Affairsss, ssso you need not worry about a formal greeting," he said with a predatory grin.
You guys receive a boost die to any social rolls you make when dealing with Sarkans due to the rigorous cultural training provided by III. Charm for making friends, Leadership for organizing people in a fight, Coercion for intimidating/making people do things, and Deception to lie to them. Hold off on rolling when you want to make a skill check as I'll need to provide the difficulty to you depending on who you're talking with.
"I am honored to meet you, Gress'koz of the Sarkan people.", Dade bowed to the Darken. "It may relieve Dermond here that his oratory may go unheard, but I am slightly disappointed I won't be able to entertain your minister with my simple bipedal dance. I had prepared a traditional dance honoring the virtues of the Corellian Grass Snake followed by a body movement metaphor likening its prowess to the skill of our shipwrights."
Gress'koz nodded at that. His dual-lidded eyes blinked twice and he grinned some more. "I would be honored to sssee the dance you have prepared nonethelessss," he said. "I have heard the Jedi are very knowledgeable ambassssadors."
Time to make that Charm roll, Dade! One purple, one red.
I know how I can RP asking the question and the actions but (once I get permission from Gress'koz) I was planning on incorporating the Misdirect force power into a key part of the dance. How would I go about that?
I'd be using misdirect at the end of the dance to symbolize the snake being lost in the grass until, at the last moment, it springs forth from its hiding place and captures a mousey treat.
You forgot your boost die. I'm going to say if you can activate the power (roll force dice equal to your Force Rating which I believe is 1, so 1eF) you can add yet another boost die, which would be 2eB total. 1eB if you don't activate the power.
You forgot your boost die. I'm going to say if you can activate the power (roll force dice equal to your Force Rating which I believe is 1, so 1eF) you can add yet another boost die, which would be 2eB total. 1eB if you don't activate the power.
Geth, roll 2eB to save my butt in this social encounter.
Okay, so how the Force works--to activate your powers you roll Force dice equal to your FR. The pips that come up are light or dark, and both can be spent to activate powers... except Dark Side pips generate conflict equal to how many you use. You also need to take 1 strain and flip a Destiny Point to use it. So with that Dark Side pip you'll need to flip a Destiny Point to dark, take a conflict and 1 strain to activate your Misdirect. If you decide not to you will lose out on the second Boost die which generated 2 advantage.
Unfortunately you're still going to be running against 1 Failure, but the Advantages could help Dermond recover by granting him 2 blue dice on his next roll.
If you opt not to activate your power, Dermond is only going to get 1 boost on his next check. Either way, feel free to narrate a very comedic dance that will suitably offend the Sarkans/offer Dermond the chance to save face.
As somebody that has played this system before, do you think Advantages for the other players are generally worth the Strain? I'm not sure what all I need to roll or re-roll, then.
Oh yeah, definitely. Strain is easy to recover, and you have two Light Side Destiny Points to play with. They're going to be flipped frequently. Conflict is basically the pull of the dark side--at the end of the 'session' we will roll a d10 to see how much your morality changes, and you subtract the amount of conflict you gained from gameplay. So if you have 2 conflict, you roll 1d10 and then subtract 2, and you gain that much. So if you roll a 1, you'd lose 1 point of Morality.
It's not that big a deal until you start accumulating 5+ conflict, then you'll start falling to the Dark Side.
As it stands, if you opt not to use the Dark Side pip and invoke the power, Dermond will be rolling with two extra boost dice (one from III, one from you). If you activate the power it will be three boost dice.
It is up to you though!
As for what to roll, there's nothing else you'd need to roll. Just indicate if you want to flip that destiny point, take the 1 conflict and 1 strain, and get those two advantages from the extra blue die I rolled above.
As Dade carefully removes his Jedi robes to reveal his tailored tunic underneath he hands Dermond his lightsaber and addresses the gathering, "My dance is an effort to tie the terrestrial traditions of Corellia to the history of Sarka while incorporating our role as Jedi peacekeepers. It is within that context that I request your consent to utilize The Force as part of this rhythmic drama."
Once given the nonverbal go-ahead, Malo the Younger begins his dance by curling slowly and then stretching outward. He tumbles back, feet snapping in the air to provide spring to his movement. His dance takes on a fluid and curious rhythm as the "snake" seeks out any prey, his hands waving tightly and controlled. A few twirls and hisses bring him to "center stage" of the platform, where he identifies a field mouse near the feet of his hosts. Dade slithers this way and that in an effort to confuse his prey, slowly kneeling down as if to strike.
In this moment of clarity, Dade closes his eyes and summons forth the force and willpower to vanish before his host, only to appear a moment later, mid-leap high in the air and landing in a roll a meter away from the humanoids. Satisfied that he stuck the landing he stands and bows to the assembly before returning to Dermond's side to catch his breath.
Posts
Sarkan (Species)
Sarkan Nova Ruby (Chief Export)
Looks like ol' Dade is going to requisition a turban our of cultural sensitivity. Drink lots of water @DaMoonRulz, you'll introduce yourself for an hour.
--
Moments later the two brothers stood at the designated landing pad facing a Corellian CR90 corvette, colloquially known as a blockade runner. An unusual choice for an ambassador ship given the turbolaser armament and fighter docking clamps it was nonetheless painted in the standard red to indicate a consular ship, and if the Jedi Council expected Separatist agents, it was better to be over than under prepared. As the two Jedi approached the ship a security officer stepped down the ramp, snapping a quick salute. "Master Jedi. I am Captain Tygor. Welcome to the Shadow of Borleias. Our departure preparations are nearly complete and we will disembark within the hour. If you'll follow me," he said, and they boarded the vessel.
As they finished the tour the Captain once again snapped them a quick salute. "And this," he said, "is your quarters. Inside you'll find your... cultural attaché." The door opened and the two Jedi were face to face with a strange looking bipedal droid painted in dark blue, almost black. It was a disconcerting color, made all the more so by the droid's head, which had its ruby-colored oculars seemingly placed at random all around its head.
"GREETINGS MASTER JEDI," it said, its eyes rotating and locking on each of the two separately. Its stare suddenly reminded Dade of something vaguely arachnid. "I AM DESIGNATED III."
Captain Tygor leaned in and whispered, "We just call him Three-eye."
tags: @DaMoonRulz @Fuselage
The Jedi was slightly taken aback by the appearance of Three-eye, having just assumed they would have been accompanied by a more traditional looking Protocol droid. "Nice to meet you, Three-eye. I trust we'll be getting a full briefing on the Sarkan peoples?"
Captain Tygor coughed. "Well then, I should see to the rest of the preparations." The statement was phrased almost like a question.
tags: @DaMoonRulz @Fuselage
His eyebrows raised slightly as Three-eye spoke, "Infiltration? Will you be on a mission of your own during our stay, or are you simply accompanying us?" He leaned toward Dade and spoke in a mock whisper, "This guy might be able to teach you a thing or two about infiltration."
After mentioning the panthers from their home world, Dade began formulating his own idea of diplomacy forward the Sarkans. Trebor always showed him that cultural awareness was the first step to warm relations.
I'm going to use gray text to indicate when I want you guys to make a roll. You have, at your option, to make a skill check here to glean some more information that isn't immediately obvious. Go ahead and give me in gray as well what skill you'd like to attempt, how it relates, and I'll assign a difficulty. You can also opt not to if nothing jumps to mind.
Destiny Pool: 2 Light, 1 Dark
tags: @DaMoonRulz @Fuselage
tags: @DaMoonRulz @Fuselage
Let's see how this works. Edit: I see how I messed that up. Show me the way!
Geth, roll 2eP 1eA for Computers
Geth, roll 1eP 2eA for Mechanics
Dade carefully considers the droid's words and analyzes his behavior. Has he seen this model before, or any of these modifications? On the streets of Corellia he'd heard of sleeper programming in droids sent to work at local establishments by various organizations. How likely would it be for the Supreme Chancellor himself to send a potential assassin to negotiations?
Geth, roll 1eP+2eA for Mechanics
Geth, roll 2eD for Mechanics (Difficulty)
The mechanics check yields you the knowledge that Three-eye is indeed a non-standard model--he's in fact a model you recognize, or at least, a manufacturer. He seems to be based on a template created by Holowan Laboratories. That said, it's not a model you recognize; most of Holowan's droids are combat proficient and excel in subterfuge, but Three-eye seems to be unique.
For the Computers check you know that, based on what you remember about the models you know of, they tend to have incredibly advanced subroutines and heuristic processors. Droids with that kind of high-level processing are prone to developing quirky personalities as they modify and optimize their own code. It makes them very adaptable and capable of growing based on their experiences.
For the Triumph you very much can tell that Three-eye is likely much more than he appears.
Green=Ability (1eA)
Yellow=Proficiency (1eP)
Purple=Difficulty (1eD)
Red=Challenge (1eC)
Blue=Boost (1eB)
Black=Setback (1eS)
White=Force (1eF)
Geth, roll 1eP+2eA for Leadership check
Trying to get the droid to be a bit more forthcoming with its observations during the mission, if that's the right skill for that
Geth, roll 1eC+2eD
Just then, the whine of the sublight engines kicking to life permeated the ship and the Jedi could tell the vessel was getting under way for the three day hyperspace journey.
tags: @DaMoonRulz @Fuselage
The upside is you seem to have gained some degree of trust from the droid. Those three threat however are likely going to manifest themselves in some fashion down the line...
If you guys have anything else you want to try on the droid, the difficulty is going to be 1 red and 2 purples, go ahead and roll them with your dice.
If not just signal to me and I can move to the next scene.
It meant, however, that the droid spent a lot of time with the Jedi going over cultural dossiers. III, when it came to intelligence briefing, was single-minded and relentless.
As the mottled blue of hyperspace became star lines which became thousands of pin pricks of light on the matte black of space, Dade and Dermond stood on the bridge with their new companion, their heads crammed full of information on the Sarkan rituals of greeting.
"Transmit landing codes," Captain Tygor said to his pilots and leaned back. A gruff voice responded with an acknowledgement and the two brothers were faced with a full view of the planet Sarka as the Shadow of Borleias angled itself toward the planet for atmospheric entry. It was not what one would call a picturesque world--it reminded Dade of tuskroot soup, a brackish pale green. The air was breathable according to planetary data records, but it was purported to be devilishly humid, a world covered in dense jungle.
The entry and subsequent landing proceeded with little fanfare. As the ship settled the Captain looked to Dermond. "Here we are, Master Jedi. I am going to be remaining with the ship for the duration of our stay, but should you need anything I've taken the liberty to upload my communicator frequency," he said, handing the brothers a pair of environmentally-shielded commlinks.
Moments later the brothers Malo descended the ramp, droid in tow, taking in their surroundings. The technology appeared to be state of the art, the buildings elegantly designed and pleasing to the eye, and they could see several Sarkans on levels below moving about their business. As they strode across the landing pad Dade was already starting to feel, well, sticky. The air was just a few degrees warmer than he was used to and saturated with moisture. As he shrugged and readjusted his robes the group of lizard-like humanoids standing at the end of the landing bridge advanced toward them. With their alien features it was hard to tell if they were smiling, and his own discomfort was making it hard to get a read on them in the Force.
"Greetingsss, Dermond and Dade of the Republic Jedi Order," one of them in fine robes (unarmed, Dermond noted) said. "I am Gress'koz of the Sssarkan people. I am not the Minissster of Foreign Affairsss, ssso you need not worry about a formal greeting," he said with a predatory grin.
You guys receive a boost die to any social rolls you make when dealing with Sarkans due to the rigorous cultural training provided by III. Charm for making friends, Leadership for organizing people in a fight, Coercion for intimidating/making people do things, and Deception to lie to them. Hold off on rolling when you want to make a skill check as I'll need to provide the difficulty to you depending on who you're talking with.
Destiny Pool: 2 Light, 1 Dark
tags: @DaMoonRulz @Fuselage
Time to make that Charm roll, Dade! One purple, one red.
tags: @DaMoonRulz @Fuselage
I'd be using misdirect at the end of the dance to symbolize the snake being lost in the grass until, at the last moment, it springs forth from its hiding place and captures a mousey treat.
Geth, roll 2eB to save my butt in this social encounter.
Unfortunately you're still going to be running against 1 Failure, but the Advantages could help Dermond recover by granting him 2 blue dice on his next roll.
It's not that big a deal until you start accumulating 5+ conflict, then you'll start falling to the Dark Side.
As it stands, if you opt not to use the Dark Side pip and invoke the power, Dermond will be rolling with two extra boost dice (one from III, one from you). If you activate the power it will be three boost dice.
It is up to you though!
As for what to roll, there's nothing else you'd need to roll. Just indicate if you want to flip that destiny point, take the 1 conflict and 1 strain, and get those two advantages from the extra blue die I rolled above.
as well as this
With just a hint of this, without being condescending.
As Dade carefully removes his Jedi robes to reveal his tailored tunic underneath he hands Dermond his lightsaber and addresses the gathering, "My dance is an effort to tie the terrestrial traditions of Corellia to the history of Sarka while incorporating our role as Jedi peacekeepers. It is within that context that I request your consent to utilize The Force as part of this rhythmic drama."
Once given the nonverbal go-ahead, Malo the Younger begins his dance by curling slowly and then stretching outward. He tumbles back, feet snapping in the air to provide spring to his movement. His dance takes on a fluid and curious rhythm as the "snake" seeks out any prey, his hands waving tightly and controlled. A few twirls and hisses bring him to "center stage" of the platform, where he identifies a field mouse near the feet of his hosts. Dade slithers this way and that in an effort to confuse his prey, slowly kneeling down as if to strike.
In this moment of clarity, Dade closes his eyes and summons forth the force and willpower to vanish before his host, only to appear a moment later, mid-leap high in the air and landing in a roll a meter away from the humanoids. Satisfied that he stuck the landing he stands and bows to the assembly before returning to Dermond's side to catch his breath.