Collective Storytelling

As a GM my goal is to engage all my players in the art of collective storytelling. I have been playing D&D and other Tabletop RPGs for 15 years and have been GMing for the last 10 of those. GMing is what I love to do, no single characters for me... I want to controle the world. Note: The stories follow a chronological order so if your trying to make sense of what is happening and who is who go back to the begining! 

[collectivestorytelling]

Looking Forward

Seconday, 6th Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, the Drift

I feel like today was a little more productive than yesterday. I was able to settle down and start thinking about what needs doing to ensure that we are organized for our arrival at Absalom station. I requested some aid from Mr. John in assessing the contents of the cargo hold and I feel like I have a very good list of the goods we need to sell so I can find appropriate buyers.

I didn’t see too much of Miss San today. I suspect that she is still resting up after her injuries. Mr. Tiberius and Miss Ratty were also quite quiet. I did witness Mr. Tiberius doing some of his exercises in an open part of the cargo hold while Mr. John and I went through some of the crates we took off the drift rock. And as for Miss Ratty, I am pretty sure she spent most of the day examining the strange red anvil we removed from the now destroyed facility on Pax 38-4. I am pretty sure that Mr. Aethavinoo tried to convince her to let him examine it as well but she locked him out of her workshop. Miss Emily also locked her brother out of her workshop. She spent quite a bit of the day today repairing all the gear that was harmed by the assembly oozes. I also think she has been working on a video recording device for her drone. I am not sure exactly why she wants to have a video recorder but now that I have changed my appearance I am not quite as leery of being photographed.

We are due to arrive at Absalom Station tomorrow. Hopefully the news cycle has moved on from our exploration of the drift rock and we can move about the station with a little more anonymity. Even so, I don’t really want to stay on the station for any longer than it takes for us to drop Mr. Aethavinoo off, sell any cargo we acquired on our last couple jobs, let Starfinder Society know about everything that happened with the ‘Ooze from the Abyss’ and get ourselves a new job.

[collectivestorytelling]

Time and Distance

Firstday, 5th Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, the Drift

Even with a little bit of distance and time between us and the giant ooze, I still find my heart racing at the thought of it. Mr. Aethavinoo has all his information though so our mission was technically a success. Miss Ratty informs me that our return trip to Absalom station will only take a couple days, which is good. I am quite ready to find another job that has fewer ooze monsters and maybe involves a beach. Or a game table. That close call just proves that my luck must be back.

Miss San is still looking a little worse for wear. Miss Ratty and Mr. Tiberius both did a little work on her in the med bay and she is looking better but has retired to her room to rest up. It’s clear she will be alright but I get the feeling she got a little beat up emotionally as well as physically. Almost being eaten by a sea of silver sludge cannot be good for your mental health.

Mr. John is starting to grow on me. He wasn’t terribly helpful in the facility however, while we were fleeing, he did make sure that Mr. Aethavinoo made it out safely. He has also taken it upon himself to make sure that Mr. Aethavinoo doesn’t cause us any more trouble on the ship. He has been following Beck around, monitoring him and I just found him standing outside the scientist’s door, which was currently closed, pointing at it in a threatening manner. We will have to see what he wants to do when we reach Absalom Station but, if he wishes, I feel like I could convince the ladies to give him another chance to prove that he is capable of being helpful. I feel like Mr. Tiberius will probably need another mission to prove his worth as well. I can see that he ‘theoretically’ is useful but I know that Miss San at least won’t see that as enough.

[collectivestorytelling]

Just Run!

Seventhday, 4rd Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, the Drift

We managed to make it out into the open but as we ran towards the ship across the landing pad, the monstrous ooze burst up through the ground of the loading area. Small bits of ooze were flung through the air and peppered the landing area with obstacles. Knowing that it was a losing battle and our only chance was to make it to the Emerald Comet, we simply did our best to avoid the creatures and continued our run. Miss San got to the ship first and got the weapons systems online and was followed quickly by Mr. John, with Mr. Aethavinoo, and Miss Ratty. Miss Ratty got everything ready for takeoff and as soon as Miss Emily, Mr. Tiberius and I hit the boarding ramp she had the ship in the air.

Miss San shot off all our torpedoes in an attempt to destroy the thing we had unwillingly released but even as they hit it, it continued to grow, consuming the rest of the facility and collapsing the ground around where it had stood. After that, we didn’t stick around to see what would happen. Miss Ratty and Miss Emily did a quick calculation and estimated that the thing was expanding at such a rate that it would likely be covering the entire surface of the planet within the next 32 hours. At this point I don’t even care. It can be someone else’s problem. I am just relieved that we are all safely away. I can’t process anything else today, if there is anything else I have forgotten it will have to wait till tomorrow.

[collectivestorytelling]

Open the Blast door!

Seventhday, 4rd Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, the Drift

Again it looked like we might be ok to get out without too much trouble once we made it past the last of the small oozes. Until the power flickered. The monster was destroying the power core and we still had to get through two blast doors that used that power source to function. We almost made it. Miss. San did her best. She did manage to grab Miss Emily and sprint through the door before it closed. She had put me down when we reached the door to let me help open it and she didn’t quite manage to grab me as well. This meant that when the power went down for good I was stuck behind the blast door. In the dark. All by myself with the monster bearing down on me. I will admit that some of my life did flash before my eyes. I really need to have a little bit of fun soon. It’s been a little serious lately. I also owe Miss Emily, Miss Ratty and Miss San. All three of them refused to move on until they rigged the door with one of our high capacity batteries and got me through. Mr. John, who by this time was carrying Mr. Aethavinoo so we didn’t lose the guy who was supposed to pay us, and Mr. Tiberius were waiting for us at the second blast door, the last obstacle that was attached to the now destroyed power core. Miss Emily and Miss Ratty hurried forward to open the door with our second high capacity battery. Hanging back, waiting for the more technically inclined to get the door open, Miss. San was taken by surprise as the ooze destroyed the first blast door and surged forward, almost engulfing her. She managed to spring forward as it flowed around her, she didn’t escape unscathed though. She sustained a serious acid burn and as soon as we had the blast door open she was off and running. We all ran. Seeing the effect the ooze had on Miss. San, we didn’t want to see what it would do to the rest of us.

[collectivestorytelling]

We got it... lets get out of here!

Seventhday, 4rd Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, the Drift

When Mr. Tiberius and Mr. John informed us of the situation it was pretty clear that we were short on time. I am told that Mr. John attempted to shoot at the thing and Miss San shot it with one of her sticky grenades to slow it down, with little effect. It’s possible that the security droids did a little damage with their shock weapons, and as the shield generator that the ooze was eating failed, Miss San tried out one of her shock grenades to attempt to stop it from accessing the ventilation system in the roof. The monstrous creature was not something I feel like we could have dealt with in straight up combat so, as soon as the shields failed completely, Miss Ratty quickly pulled some power back to the doors so we could all move away from the specimen area and get our butts out of there. Mr. Aethavinoo quickly informed us that he had finished the download and then we got moving. Small oozes started appearing out of the vents above us as we attempted to flee the research level and a wall of ooze started to flow down the corridor behind us. Miss. San grabbed me so I wouldn’t get left behind and we ran, me shooting from my perch on her shoulders to try and clear some of the oozes so we could get by.

[collectivestorytelling]

The Perfect Plan

Seventhday, 4rd Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, the Drift

Fuck.

First off, we are all alive. The plan went perfectly until it didn’t. Everything was running smoothly. Miss. Ratty was systematically shutting down electronic systems and redirecting power to the laboratory computer servers and Mr. Aethavinoo stayed (mostly) focused, disabling the security measures on the server. The monstrosity behind the containment field refused to sit still while we worked though. As we played around with the electrical systems, the ooze started to get restless, pushing against the containment field, trying to get out. Even then everything seemed okay until a few events coincided. First, Mr. Aethavinoo informed us that he had dealt with the last of the security measures but would need more power to bring the drive online to begin the download. Second, Miss. Ratty informed us that the only remaining draw on the power core, besides the server, was the containment field so we would need to start reducing the power going into the shield generators to complete the download. And lastly, when Miss. Ratty started to pull the power from the generators and redirect it, Miss Emily and I discovered a number of electrical surges had been building up in the power emitters we were monitoring. As we scrambled to fix the issues, I got a little singed by an errant shock from my terminal and the power to the shields fluctuated considerably. The shields held but in the instant of the fluctuation the monstrous experiment pushed a considerable portion of its bulk underneath part of the shield and started working at disassembling the nearest shield generator.

[collectivestorytelling]

A Day to Prep

Sixthday, 3rd Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, Abandoned Research Station, Pax 38-4

Most of the day today was spent relaxing while Miss. Emily removed the transparisteel barrier between the large specimen chamber and the observation room. I have a bad feeling about this facility and will feel much better once we are off this stupid planet. But allowing Miss San to provide ranged support to the two who will be monitoring the specimen while we attempt to extract the information makes me a little more comfortable with our plan. I am reasonably optimistic that we can safely extract the information.

[collectivestorytelling]

A day to plan

Fifthday, 2nd Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, Abandoned Research Station, Pax 38-4

        After the excitement yesterday, it was decided that we should take a couple days to make sure we have everything ready for our attempt to get the information off the laboratory servers. Most of the day today was spent loading all the useful materials, weapons and other curiosities onto the Emerald Comet and finalizing our plan. The ooze behind the containment field still concerns me and I would really rather not have to confront it. It’s a complete wildcard. I may love a good gamble but I really don’t feel like getting myself dead.

[collectivestorytelling]

One Ooze to rule them all...

Fourthday, 1st Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, Abandoned Research Station, Pax 38-4

I have alluded to it, but now I will explain what we believe to be behind the containment field in the large observation room. It is an assembly ooze. However the idiots that ran this facility decided that it would be awesome if they gave it its own AI. And not a programmed AI either… a baby, learning AI with the hope that at a later date they could maybe figure out how to introduce more regulatory programming in. While we haven’t seen all the records from their experiments yet I feel like that is probably something they never got around to doing. So now we have a very old AI which has been in captivity for over 300 years, maybe more since I don’t know how to relate After Gap dates to Absalom Reckoning dates. Oh and I suspect that it orchestrated the demise of at least one technician by reading between the lines of the reports we have recovered. It’s all a bit of a mess. I have included the three reports we recovered that were most relevant to my conclusions regarding this ‘Master Ooze’ at the end of my log for today.

We are still trying to figure out exactly how we will deal with this whole clusterfuck as, if we don’t recover the information, Mr. Aethavinoo has threatened to withhold payment as he won’t consider the job finished. Mr. John seems to think we should use the power core and shield emitters to try and shock and kill the master ooze. I am concerned that that may cause the laboratory server to either shut down and lock us out completely or overload and wipe all the information. Not to mention that I really have no clue how he expects anyone to modify the shield emitters to produce a shock without turning them off or frying themselves by working on them while they are live. It is my opinion that if we can divert enough power, by shutting down all systems except the server and the containment field, we will be able to safely download the information without having to deal with the specimen. After we have the information I am all for shocking the ever living piss out of that monstrosity.

[collectivestorytelling]

As I said... Scientists are stupid

Director Hansen’s Logs

5 Arodus 973 A.R

Director Hansen reporting.

            We’ve done it!

            The AI integration has proven to be successful! Later tonight I will be sending in a citation for a recommendation for Technician Clair Woodward. Initially I dismissed her ideas as dangerous and poorly thought out, but she’s proven to be invaluable in the success of this project.

            The key to success was in the developmental stage of the AI. Any attempt to pre-program with a desired result resulted in catastrophic failure and the loss of the specimen. However, when we placed an infant level AI in one of the specimens, it probed to have a voracious appetite for new data and material types. Within days, the master specimen was capable of adding standard oozes to its own form. Rather than losing both oozes like in previous experiments, the master ooze proved to be stronger and simply assimilated the data and mass of the other.

            Dr. Keiler has remarked upon the similarity in microorganisms collecting biomass in order to acquire the energy to expand and grow. He seemed disturbed at the implications but I assured him that we are dealing with a machine. Unlike biological specimens, we can control machines.

            This is an unprecedented breakthrough, but much work lies ahead of us. New project priorities will be to continue introducing new materials for the master ooze to deconstruct and come to understand. We will then need to find a way to direct production from the ooze. Thus far it has only been able to expand its own mass or occasionally produce a standard assembly ooze.

[collectivestorytelling]

The Real Obstacle

Fourthday, 1st Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, Abandoned Research Station, Pax 38-4

A second smaller laboratory space offered up a number of other interesting items. Miss Ratty claimed a round thing that almost looks like an old fashioned shield, Miss Emily grabbed a rifle that looks very similar to the one she has been using however with the addition of a lightning bolt motif along the barrel and stock, and Miss San was very excited by the prospect of the grenade launcher with some strange arcane markings winding around its length.

The next few rooms found on the second level contained a large reactor core and two power regulation units which we identified as very large shield regulators, suitable for use on large battleships. The reactor is not running very efficiently anymore as it doesn’t look like it has had any servicing since before the gap and the power regulation units weren’t looking much better. Miss Ratty and Miss Emily assure us that they look like they won’t fail for a little while though. It does explain why the level is on emergency systems only.

The last couple rooms down the corridor were a large laboratory room and a small observation room with a large computer server which likely holds all the research records. We were able to a couple reports up, which did nothing to reassure us that this facility had been run by people of intelligence, but to get the bulk of the research off the server we will need to rout a little more power to the system. This is unfortunate because Mr. Aethavinoo is insisting that we get the information off the server. I really don’t want to let the monstrosity that is being held in the large laboratory out from behind the containment field which is one of the last functioning systems. Talking with Miss Ratty and Miss Emily we figure that we can get the required power to do the download IF we deactivate the doors completely and split up to manipulate the power core and the regulation units separately.

[collectivestorytelling]

The underwhelming Mr. John

Fourthday, 1st Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, Abandoned Research Station, Pax 38-4

Having swept the entire floor for threats, we made our way over to the lift that would take us to the second level of the complex. Miss Ratty and Miss Emily both hit a bit of a wall when they attempted to unlock the controls. At my suggestion Mr. Aethavinoo made a quick attempt and quickly had us moving towards the next challenge.

The second floor was mostly dedicated to laboratory space. The whole level is on emergency power. The lights are non-functional and the doors are on energy saving measures and only one of them can be open at a time. We encountered a few more security robots, 3 in what appeared to be a storage room and another in the security room. Miss Emily proved to be a bit of an exhibitionist, and decided to change immediately into a new suit of armor we found. The security room also contained a number of lockers and some credit sticks which we split between the four of us who have so far been doing all the work. Besides the security robots we did find a few more of the assembly oozes in a large workshop. I feel like not being included in the credit split caused Mr. John to reevaluate his decision to stand back and so he did finally step up in this fight. It was a bit underwhelming though. He did a very cool flourish with two pistols that he had hidden in his briefcase but it was more show than effect. He didn’t hit anything before the rest of us took out the oozes. I get the feeling that he may be more than just your average accountant. Miss Ratty was very excited about an object that looked like an anvil. I take it that it has mystical properties and I will have to have a chat with her later about its possibilities.

[collectivestorytelling]

Level One CLEAR

Fourthday, 1st Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, Abandoned Research Station, Pax 38-4

We encountered a few more oozes in the ladies washroom in the wing containing all the private sleeping quarters. Knowing that the oozes could harm us and not just our equipment made dispatching the hostiles a little chaotic. Miss Ratty who is much more concerned about getting dirty than Miss San is, got a bit messy when I dispatched the ooze that was trying to eat her and it decided to explode on her. It appears that they only do that if electricity is used to finish them off, but as it is quite effective in putting them down I won’t let a little mess discourage me from using my arc pistol. Luckily Mr. Aethavinoo stayed back this time with Mr. Tiberius and Mr. John.

Finishing our sweep of the floor we found a data pad in one of the last quarters. The information on that pad confirmed our fears. The idiots at this facility had been working on a number of different hybrid oozes which they hoped to be able to control. I have a feeling that didn’t really work out well for them.

Director Hansen’s Logs

10th Erastus 973 A.R.

Director Hansen reporting.

            Experiments with fusion of assembly ooze has proven fruitful. It is in fact possible to combine multiple specimens in to one if the core programming is wiped just before initiating the procedure. The critical element lies in swiftly loading new programming in to the larger ooze.

If we can just find a way to force such an upload quickly enough, I expect we will succeed in our attempts. Imagine the power of an assembly ooze large enough to recombine constituent materials into something as large as a void ship. This technology could revolutionize manufacturing across the galaxy.

One of my technicians suggested that a sufficiently advanced AI may be capable of accommodating this sort of transition. Given the inherent instability of machine learning and artificial intelligence, I dismissed her idea out of hand, but now, if we take proper precautions, perhaps this could be worth the risk.

[collectivestorytelling]

A crumb...

Recovered Med bay Report

8th Arodus 973 A.R. (Absalom Reckoning), 14:20 Hrs.

An accident in the main specimen chamber has resulted in the death of Technician Claire Woodward.

Incident reports and surveillance logs show that Technician Woodward was working next to the pit when her left foot became entangled in a loose power cable. This caused her to lose her balance and fall into the pit. She was quickly consumed by the specimen. No remains were recoverable.

I have made recommendations to Director Hansen regarding the installation of containment fields to prevent this type of accident from occurring again.

·         Dr. Nicholas Keiler, Chief Medical Officer

[collectivestorytelling]

Open doors at your own risk

Fourthday, 1st Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, Abandoned Research Station, Pax 38-4

The med bay was inhabited by a couple more of the oozes. Again they didn’t cause too much issue and Miss Ratty managed to pull a little interesting information off the computers there. Most of it was your regular med reports, however she did find a very strange report detailing an accident with one of their experiments that caused a fatality but did not leave any remains. The woman in question had apparently fallen into the area where the experiment was being undertaken and did not make it out. Based on the eerie emptiness of the facility and the vague allusion to the fact that they were obviously researching something dangerous has me quite on edge. Our next encounter did nothing to dispel that feeling.

Just around the corner from the med bay we encountered a couple more security droids. We dispatched one but the other did not appear immediately and so someone, I am not sure who, opened the door thinking that we were ready to sweep the room behind it. Just as we were realizing that there were three more of the gross ooze creatures in the rec room we had just opened, the second security droid rounded the corner trapping us between the two threats. I am confident that we could have dealt with the situation without incident if Mr. Aethavinoo had not tried to help. Damn his enthusiasm. Thinking he was going to help, he stepped into the fray, fired his large laser cannon, almost hitting Miss Ratty, and then almost got himself eaten by the ooze.

As I was dressing Mr. Aethavinoo down about almost getting himself killed, Miss Ratty and Miss Emily realized something. While the oozes appeared to be assembly oozes, they didn’t act like them. An assembly ooze eats technology and synthetic materials, however looking at Mr. Aethavinoo’s arm which had more than a few layers of skin peeled off from the oozes attack, these particular monstrosities were not so discerning. With the information about the research accident fresh in our minds and the evidence that these were not normal oozes right in front of us it’s clear that the scientists at this facility were messing with things that they may not have ultimately been able to control. After this scare I think that Mr. Aethavinoo will let us take care of any threats without trying to ‘help’ but I may also be optimistic about his intelligence.

[collectivestorytelling]

A protection mission... ugh

Fourthday, 1st Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, Abandoned Research Station, Pax 38-4

There were a few more oozes by the airlock door but we picked them off before they got close enough to us to cause a problem and we went about trying to get the big door open. The security on this place is serious. Miss Emily and Miss Ratty working together couldn’t figure out how to get the door open so we had to employ desperate measures. Mr. Aethavinoo had to be called. We tried to get him to help us remotely however he insisted that he would only open the door if he was there in person. With no other obvious options we relented, he joined us and the door was opened in a few minutes. Through this all Mr. Tiberius has been very quiet. I think he may be being cautious, waiting to see how we work together before jumping in. It’s probably a good idea to do a little bit of observing to make sure he doesn’t step on anyone's toes, however if he doesn’t step up soon I fear that Miss San will start to get frustrated with him.

The facility is eerily abandoned. As we entered the airlock there was a crashed transport speeder just inside. No one was inside however it looked as if, prior to the crash, someone had been trying to escape the complex. Not a very good sign. We made our way into a large bay which could have at one point been a garage and repair bay for land speeders. There were a few small security drones which we dispatched and some repair materials, which Miss Emily took but our sweep of the area brought nothing else of interest to light. It was a good thing there weren’t any extra threats hiding around because Mr. Aethavinoo is really not good at following directions. Just as we were finishing our sweep, before we were able to give the all clear, he went and opened the door leading farther into the facility. Lucky for him there weren’t any immediate threats on the other side of the door or he might have been in for a nasty shock. As it is I was about ready to strangle him already. I really wish he has stayed on the ship.

We encountered a couple more security droids in a small room which looked out over the garage/maintenance bay. The surveillance room also provided us with a computer system that contained a map of the facility. It looks like there are a few levels so a careful sweep of each level will be necessary before we can allow Mr. Aethavinoo to wander around to conduct any research he might want. The first level appears to have the med bay along with some living quarters. Sweeping the area, we only ran into a few bumps. Mr. Aethavinoo is going to get us killed before the end of this mission.

[collectivestorytelling]

A new friend?

Fourthday, 1st Pharast, 317A.G.

- The Emerald Comet, Abandoned Research Station, Pax 38-4

The landing field appeared empty of threats until we started to make our way towards what appeared to be the entrance into the facility. As we started to move, so did five things which we had initially mistaken for silver crates. They each had piles of objects around them:  mechanical knickknacks, helmets, toy spaceships, forks and nail clippers. Very strange. On top of that we noticed a silver-blue android attempting to fend one of them off with a large briefcase. They proved to be a credible threat when they tried to eat Miss. San’s chainsaw gauntlet. She was definitely a little freaked out after her equipment took a little damage, requiring her to fix it up later, as demonstrated by the fact that every time we encountered these things for the rest of the day she used her rifle which I hadn’t seen her use very often. She also got a bit messy when one of the oozes she was fighting exploded when Miss Ratty destroyed it. Silver isn’t a bad colour on her.

It turns out that Miss Emily is particularly good at taking out what I was told afterwards are called assembly oozes. Her sniper rifle did a great job taking the things out before they could get close enough to us to cause us too much problems. They also seem to be sensitive to electricity damage which means I didn’t do too badly with my arc pistol either. After the hostile oozes were dispatched, the android, which was still clutching his briefcase needed to be addressed. It turns out his name is John 42 and he is an accountant that for some reason was with a group of mercenaries who recently tried to land here. When the oozes attacked the mercenaries retreated back to their ship and left him to fend for himself. Mr. John gave me a number of his business cards and he decided that he would accompany us on our exploration as we did not feel comfortable leaving a stranger on the ship with Mr. Aethavinoo.