| Body | Agility | Reaction | Strength |
| 5 | 6(9) | 3(4) | 6 |
| Charisma | Intuition | Logic | Willpower |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Edge | Magic/Resonance | Essence | Initiative |
| 4 | - | ? | 7(8) + 1d6(2d6) |
| Composure | Judge Intentions | Lift | Memory |
| 7 | 8 | 11 | 7 |
| Phisical l. | Mental l. | Social l. | Astral l. |
| 7 | 5 | 5 | - |
| Physical box | Stun box | Overflow | Reputation |
| 11/11 | 1/10 | 0/5 | ? |
| Name | Karma | Notes |
| Ambidexterous | 4 | - no penalty for using "off" hand |
| Agile Defender | 3 | - Use Agility in place of WIL for Full Defense |
| Name | Karma | Notes |
| ? | ? | - ? |
| ||
| ||
| Blades | 4 | |
| Clubs | 4 | |
| Con | 4 | |
| Disguise | 3 | |
| Etiquette (Corp) | 4 (6) | |
| Exotic Ranged Weapon (Laser) | 6 (8) | |
| Hardware | 3 | |
| Locksmith | 4 | |
| Palming | 3 | |
| Perception (Visual) | 4 (6) | |
| Leadership (Rally) | 1 (3) | |
| Sneaking | 4 | |
| Computer | 2 | |
| Survival | 2 | |
| Tracking | 1 | |
| Intimidation | 2 | |
| Unarmed (Shock Hand) | 4 (6) |
| Business (Megacorp) | 3 (5) |
| Small Unit Tactics | 2 |
| Security Design (Corporate) | 5 (7) |
| Security Tactics (Corporate) (Rapid Response) | 5 (7) |
| Firearms | 2 |
| Area Knowledge: Denver | 1 |
| English | N |
| Ware | Essence | Notes |
| Betaware Synthetic Left Arm | ? | - STR 6, AGI 6(9), Armor 1 |
| Integrated Weapon System: Cyber Spur | ? | - ? |
| Betaware Synthetic Right Arm | ? | - STR 6, AGI 6(9), Armor 1 |
| Integrated Weapon System: Shock Hand | ? | - ? |
| Betawarer Synthetic left Leg | ? | - STR 6, AGI 6(9), Armor 1 |
| Hydraulic Jacks | ? | - Rating 6 |
| Betaware Synthetic Right Leg | ? | - STR 6, AGI 6(9), Armor 1 |
| Hydraulic Jacks | ? | - Rating 6 |
| Betaware Synthetic Torso | ? | - ? |
| Internal Air Tank | ? | - Rating 3 |
| Smuggling Compartment | ? | - ? |
| Cyber Eyes | ? | - Rating 2: Smartlink, Flare Compensation, Thermographic Vision |
| Synaptic Boosters | ? | - Rating 1 |
| Defiance EX Shocker | - smartlink; acc6, 9S(e), -5AP, SS, RC0, ammo4(m); 3 taser darts |
| Ares Light Fire 70 | - smartlink; acc9, 6P, -0AP, SA, RC0, ammo16(c); 16 gel rounds |
| Ares Crusader 2 | - smartlink; acc7, 7P, -0AP, SA/BF, RC2, ammo40(c); 40 regular rounds |
| Ares Armored Survivalist | - Armor 8, Insulation 4 |
| Ballistic Mask | - Armor +2 |
| Ares Globetrotter Jacket | - Armor 12, Insulation 2, Fire Protection 2 |
| ? | - ? |
| Hermes Ikon | - DR5 |
| ? | - ? |
| James Anderson | - 6 |
| Josh Adams | - 5 |
| Concealed quick-draw holster | - under jacket, -1 Concealability, quick-draw threshold is 2; wireless: -1 Concealability |
| Concealed holster | - ankle, -1 Concealability; wireless: -1 Concealability |
| Hidden arm slide | - right arm, -1 Concealability, quick-draw threshold is 2; wireless: Ready Weapon is Free |
| Contact | C/L | |
| Rhodes | ? | |
| ? | ? |
| P: | [][][] | [][][] | [][][] | [][] | {}{}{} |
| S: | [][][] | [][][] | [][][] | [][] | |
| D: | [][][] | [][][] | [][][] | [] |
| Body | 3 |
| Agility | 2(6) |
| Reaction | 4 |
| Strength | 2(6) |
| Charisma | 3 |
| Intuition | 4(5) |
| Logic | 6(9) |
| Willpower | 5 |
| Edge | 7 |
| Essence | 3.25 |
| Initiative | 8+1d6 |
| Name | Rank | Pool |
| Athletics Skill Group | 1 | |
| Gymnastics | 1 | 3 |
| Running | 1 | 2 |
| Swimming | 1 | 2 |
| Biotech Skill Group | 5 | |
| Biotechnology | 5 | 14 |
| Cybertechnology | 5 | 14 |
| First Aid | 5 | 14 |
| Medicine | 5 | 14 |
| Cracking Skill Group | 7 | |
| Cybercombat(Personas) | 7(9 ) | 16(18) |
| Electronic Warfare | 7 | 16 |
| Hacking | 7 | 16 |
| Stealth Skill Group | 1 | |
| Sneaking | 1 | 3 |
| Palming | 1 | 3 |
| Disguise | 1 | 3 |
| Armorer | 2 | 11 |
| Computer(Matrix Perception) | 5(7) | 14(16) |
| Etiquette(Matrix) | 2(4) | 5(7) |
| Leadership | 1 | 4 |
| Longarms(Shotguns) | 6 | 12(14) |
| Hardware(Cyberdecks) | 5(7) | 14(16) |
| Perception | 3 | 8 |
| Software | 2 | 11 |
| Survival | 3 | 8 |
| Area Knowledge - Aspen (street) | 3 | 8 |
| Area Knowledge - Denver (street) | 3 | 8 |
| Corporate Security (profesional) | 3 | 12 |
| Corporate Politics (profesional) | 3 | 12 |
| Dog Fighting (interest) | 2 | 7 |
| Diseases [Hemotology] (academic) | 3(5) | 12(14) |
| Matrix Security (??) | 4 | ?? |
| Matrix Design (Academic) | 2 | 11 |
| Medical Procedures (academic) | 4 | 13 |
| Prostitutes (interest) | 1 | 6 |
| Trids [Porn] (interest) | 2(4) | 7(9) |
| English | N |
| Cyberware/Bioware |
| Used CyberArm (Str 6, Agi 6) |
| Cyber Shotgun |
| Cyberdeck Sony CIY-720 |
| Attack: 4 Sleaze: 6(7) Data Prcoessing: 5 Firewall: 7(8) |
| Agent (Rating 6) (Rating*2+2 for all rolls; 4d6 Init dice; Rating + DP Init) |
| Cybereyes (Rating 1) |
| Smartlink |
| Imagelink |
| Vision Enhancement (Rating 1) |
| Datajack (left wrist) |
| Datajack (side of head) |
| Datajack (base of neck) |
| Qualia |
| Cerebral Boosters (rating 3) |
| Armor | |
| Ares Survivalist Suit (Urban Survival Line) | |
| Modification | Rating |
| Insulation | 2 |
| Chemical Protection | 2 |
| Nonconductivity | 1 |
| Medkit | 5 |
| Respirator | 6 |
| Biomonitor | |
| Weapons | |
| Shotgun | |
| Spare Clip | |
| Flechette Rounds (x10) |
| Misc |
| Tag Eraser |
| Data Tap |
| Flashlight |
| Gold Credstick (1,242 ¥) |
| Subvocal Mic |
| Cybertechnology Kit |
| Hardware Kit |
| Street Name: Ohanzee | |
| Name: ? | |
| Alias: Ohanzee Oglala | |
| Sioux National SIN | |
| Age: 40 | Sex: Male |
| Metatype: Dwarf | Race: Lakota |
| Unspent Karma: 4 |
| P: [][][] [][][] [][][] [] {}{}{} |
| S: [][][] [][][] [][][] [][] |
| ATTRIBUTES | |||
| BOD: 3 | AGI: 5 | REA: 3 | STR: 3 |
| WIL: 6 | LOG: 3 | INT: 4 | CHA: 6 |
| EDG: 3 | MAG: 6 | ESS: 6 | |
| Tradition: Shamanic | Grade: 2 | ||
| Initiative: 11+3d6 | Astral Initiative: 8 + 2d6 |
| SKILLS | ||
| Skill | Rating | Dice Pool |
| Combat Skills | ||
| Pistols (Revolvers) | 2 (+2) | 7 (9) |
| Physical Skills | ||
| Gymnastics | 3 | 8 |
| Perception (Visual) | 3 (+2) | 7 (9) |
| Sneaking | 3 | 8 |
| Survival | 4 | 10 |
| Social Skills | ||
| Influence Skill Group | 7 | |
| _Etiquette | 7 | 13 |
| _Leadership | 7 | 13 |
| _Negotiation | 7 | 13 (15 with Mentor) |
| Con (Seduction) | 5 (+2) | 11 (13) |
| Intimidation | 1 | 7 |
| Performance | - | 5 |
| Magical Skills | ||
| Conjuration Skill Group | 6 | |
| _Banishing | 6 | 12 |
| _Binding | 6 | 12 |
| _Summoning | 6 | 12 |
| Sorcery Skill Group | 5 | |
| _Counterspelling | 5 | 11 |
| _Ritual Spellcasting | 5 | 11 |
| _Spellcasting | 5 | 11 |
| Arcana | 3 | 6 |
| Assensing (Spirits/Metahuman) | 4 (+2) | 8 (10) |
| Astral Combat | 5 | 11 |
| Technical Skills | ||
| Artisan | 2 | 6 |
| Computer | 1 | 4 |
| First Aid | - | 2 |
| Pilot Aircraft | - | - |
| KNOWLEDGE | |||
| Skill | Rating | Dice Pool | Type |
| Lakota | (N) | Language | |
| English | (N) | Language | |
| Area Knowledge: Denver | 4 | 8 | Street |
| Area Knowledge: PCC | 2 | 6 | Street |
| Magic Artifacts | 4 | 7 | Academic |
| Magic Societies | 1 | 5 | Street |
| Magical Threats | 3 | 6 | Academic |
| Organized Crime (Denver) | 2 (+2) | 6 (8 ) | Street |
| Parageology | 3 | 6 | Academic |
| Shadow Community (Safe Houses) | 3 | 7 (9) | Street |
| CONTACTS | ||||||
| Name | Occupation | Loyalty | Connection | Commcode | Address | Notes |
| Styles | Fixer | 3 | 4 | 59230-l3c4 | Denver, UCAS side | |
| Long Shadow | Talismonger | 2 | 4 | 41023-l2c4 | Denver, Sioux side | |
| Gloria Winters, PhD | Egghead | 3 | 2 | 92107-l3c2 | Aspen | Deceased |
| GEAR | |
| Armor clothing 6 | Insulation 6 |
| Ace of Cups 9 | Insulation 2, Fire Resist 2 |
| Power Focus | Rating 2 |
| Renraku Sensei Commlink | DR 3 |
| Ruger Super Warhawk | Quick Draw Holster6 rounds APDS (loaded) |
| Reagents | Qty 30 |
| Biomonitor | Location: upper arm |
| Respirator | Rating 6 |
| Contacts | Imagelink |
| Fake SIN | Rating 4 (Ohanzee Oglala) |
| - Fake License | Rating 4 (Registered Awakened license) |
| Trodes | |
| Optical Binoculars | |
| Security Tags x 10 | Contain summary of events since waking |
| Balaclava | |
| Helmet | |
| Micro-camera | Attached to helmet |
| Thermo Flashlight | |
| Magnesium Torch x 5 | |
| Survival Knife | |
| 37 Nuyen |
| SPELLS | |||||||
| Spell | School | P/M | Range | Duration | Drain | Resist | Notes |
| Clout | Combat | P | LOS | I | F-3 | Bod+Armor | (Force + Hits)S AP -Force |
| Fireball | Combat | P | LOS(A) | I | F-1 | Bod+Armor | (Force + Hits)P AP -Force, plus fire effects |
| Mindnet, Extended | Detection | M | T(A) | S | F+1 | ||
| Heal | Health | M | T | P | F-4 | ||
| Improved Reflexes | Health | P | Touch | S | F | ||
| Control Thoughts | Manipulation | M | LOS | S | F-1 | Logic+Willpower | |
| Levitate | Manipulation | P | LOS | S | F-2 | ||
| Improved Invisibility | Illusion | P | LOS | S | F-1 | (Intuition + Logic) or OR | |
| Trid Phantasm | Illusion | P | LOS(A) | S | F | (Intuition + Logic) or OR |
| METAMAGICS |
| Centering |
| Quickening |
| Body | Agility | Reaction | Strength |
| 5 | 6 | 3 | 4 (7) |
| Logic | Intuition | Willpower | Charisma |
| 5 | 6 (8 ED) | 6 | 3 |
| Edge | Magic | Essence | Initiative |
| 3 | 6 (7 ED) | 6 | 3d6 + 12 (14 ED) |
| Physical l. | Mental l. | Social l. | Astral l. |
| 6 (8 ) | 8 | 6 | 8 |
| Physical box | Stun box | Overflow | |
| 0/11 | 0/11 | 0 |
| Name | Notes |
| Mentor Spirit | Fire-Bringer. +2 Alchemy, +2 Manipulation |
| Carromeleg | Iaijutsu |
| Name | Notes |
| ? | ? |
| Skill (Spec) | Rating | Notes |
| Blades (Swords) | 6 ( 8 ) | +2 weapon focus |
| Sorcery Skill Group | 6 | +2 Manipulation from Mentor Spirit |
| Enchanting Skill Group | 6 | +2 Alchemy focus, +2 Mentor Spirit |
| Stealth Skill Group | 3 | |
| Astral Combat (sword focus) | 3 (5) | +2 weapon focus |
| A.ssensing (Aura Reading) | 4 (6) | |
| Throwing Weapons (Blades) | 4 (6) | |
| Arcana (Foci) | 3 (5) | |
| Perception (Hearing, Smell) | 3 (5) | +3 Vision from Mask, the "specializations" are vampire enhanced senses |
| Tracking | 3 | |
| Artisan (Carving) | 2 (4) | |
| Athletics Skill Group | 2 | |
| Computer | 2 | |
| Intimidation | 2 | +2 limit from mask |
| Instruction | 1 | |
| Etiquette | 1 |
| Area Knowledge: Pueblo Corporate Council | 3 |
| Magical Societies | 3 |
| Magical Theory | 3 |
| Magical Threats | 3 |
| Magic Traditions (Wicca) | 2 (4) |
| History (Medieval) | 2 (4) |
| The Infected (Vampires) | 3 (5) |
| Women's Fashion | 2 |
| English | N |
| Sperethiel | 4 |
| Romanian | 4 |
| Hopi | 2 |
| Zuñi | 1 |
| Spell Name | Category | Range | Type | Damage | Duration | Drain | Default | Source | Notes |
| Detect Enemies (Extended) | Detection | T | M | N/A | S | F | F3 / D3 | SR5, p. 286 | Range = Force * Magic * 10 |
| Alleviate Allergy (Sunlight) | Health | T | M | N/A | S | F - 6 | F6 / D2 | SG, p. 109 | Every net hit reduces the allergy level by one |
| Physical Mask | Illusion | T | P | N/A | S | F - 1 | F4 / D3 | SR5, p.291 | change physical characteristics |
| Control Emotions | Manipulation | LOS | M | N/A | S | F - 1 | F4 / D3 | SS, p. 21 | "conducting actions opposed to the emotion invoke a –2 dice pool penalty" |
| Influence | Manipulation | LOS | M | N/A | P | F - 1 | F4 / D3 | SR5, p. 293 | "a powerful post-hypnotic command" |
| Mana Bind | Manipulation | LOS | M | N/A | S | F - 2 | F5 / D3 | Grimoire, p. 114 | Every net hit reduces target's Agility by 1 |
| Magic Fingers | Manipulation | LOS | M | N/A | S | F - 2 | F5 / D3 | SR5, p. 294 | Hits = STR and AGI |
| Combat Sense (preparation) | Detection | T (preparation) | M | N/A | (Potency) minutes | F + trigger | F3 / D3+1 | SR5, p. 305 | Hits = +1 Reaction on Surprise tests, +1 Defense (melee or ranged) |
| Heal (preparation) | Health | T (preparation) | M | N/A | P | F - 4 + 2 | F5 / D1+2 | SR5, p. 288 | Hits = boxes healed |
| Increase Reflexes (preparation) | Health | T (preparation) | P | N/A | (Potency) minutes | F + 2 | F3 / D3+2 | SR5, p. 288 | Each hit adds +1 to the target’s Initiative, and every two hits adds one Initiative Die |
| Increase Strength (preparation) | Health | T (preparation) | P | N/A | (Potency) minutes | F - 3 + 2 | F4 / D1+2 | SR5, p. 288 | Force must equal or exceed base value. Hits = bonus |
| Physical Barrier (preparation) | Manipulation | LOS (A) (preparation) | P | N/A | (Potency) minutes | F - 1 + trigger | F4 / D3+1 | SR5, p. 294 | Structure = Force, Armor = Force+hits, Light Fog, Structure regenerates each Combat Turn |
| Contact | Profession | C/L |
| Daria | Wiccan | ?/? |
I'm down for either. The surprise is fun, but I also worry that I'm not using my char to his full potential.
Assuming Ace shares this:
Go ahead and RP the artifact burial.I'll do this after we're done with our conversation just to keep the flow. Or, maybe, if Sam is curious about spirits Ohanzee can use it as an excuse to summon an Earth spirit to dig the hole while they continue the chat.
The occasional infighting is fine, especially since it is directed at what os mostly an NPC at this point anyway.
Looks good overall but let's trim the word count on the communication. I'm still thinking 5-7 words for a Free Action communication. I know it's the astral and probably faster than speaking but it's still only 1 - 1.5 seconds. 5-7 words still puts you in the range of an auctioneer (~250 words per minute, ~4 per second)."We're your only friends. Please stop this."
As for Diamondback, the way I read Spirit Whisperer is that you summon @ F6 but then they show up at Force 7. In this case, you summoned at Force 7 so Diamondback shows up at Force 8. Go ahead and pick a couple optional powers for him.I am summoning him at F6 and he is appearing at Force 7. Since the resist test works out the same, I just put the force he arrives at in the orokos description. Diamondback was level 6 when Ohanzee summoned him last, but I guess my "apparently leveled" statement doesn't make is crystal clear that he didn't go from 6 to 8. But Ohanzee summoned the same spirit specifically, expecting him to show up at the same force 6 as last time, only to have him show at force 7. At least, that's how I plan to write it in the IC. By the fluff in the rule books, it seems that the summoner doesn't get to choose his spirit, but I like having spirits as recurring characters, and I think that's how we've been playing it, so I've pretty much chosen to make it so that if you ask for a generic force 6 spirit of beasts, you get some random spiri, but if you have summoned a spirit before, you can "lock on" to that particular spirit and at least have a strong preference for summoning that one again. Depending on how you've been treating your spirits, the GM can step in and say that that spirit doesn't show, but other than that, I think that having a stable of "go to" spirits is more fun.
In the future, Force 7+ spirits will use Edge to resist summoning by puny mortals, but Diamondback likes Ohanzee and is obviously wagging his tail here, given his resist roll. (A Force 6 spirit that gets upgraded to F7 via Spirit Whisperer would not use Edge, but an F7 getting upgraded to an F8 would.)
"We're your only friends. Please stop this."
Sam's base pool is Leadership + Willpower. Sam doesn't have Leadership so he needs to default. His Willpower is also -1 due to being Berserk, so his dicepool is 5. If Ace wins then Sam will stand down for 1 Combat Turn.
It's a Mana spell so Sam resists 3 hits with Willpower + Logic, both of which are inhibited due to Berserk. Sam can roll 8 dice + 2 counterspelling = 10 dice.
Ok, so Ace's Charge Attack is triggered when Sam tries to take a second bite out of Chino. I have: AGI (9) + Unarmed (Shock Hand) (6) + Charge (2) + Touch Only (2) - Delayed Action (1) = 18
Delayed Charge Attack against Sam (http://orokos.com/roll/298821): 18d6t5 6
Base damage is 9S(e) -5 AP
Astral Combat (http://orokos.com/roll/298826): 10d6t5 3
...so I don't know why he would have it off.
@Poindexter Soak 5S from Chino with a straight Willpower roll, -1 from Berserk.
@Poindexter Roll Intuition+Logic (-1 for each from Berserk) to dodge 3 hits from Katsina's astral combat. If necessary, soak 8S+net hits. (I misstated the damage yesterday as 9S+hits.)
I'm sure Bear will be there to admonish Sam when he wakes up.Yes, I was planning on keeping him around, mostly because I have him until daybreak so there's little incentive to send him on his way, but also he obviously has a message/admonishment to deliver. Usually Ohanzee will release a spirit early as a reward for a job well done, but Bear hasn't done anything yet, so he can help watch Sam and secure the camp until the rising sun sends him home.
And I missed that deadline. IC post finally up.
@Tec: Guessing to find the info on the burners I'm gonna need to get into the host of the shop he bought them at and check against purchases made on his fake SIN?
Stepping out to lunch, so I'm just briefly summarizing here and will follow with an IC when I can:
1. Ohanzee is swayed by Katsina's logic - with no contact info and no real details, it sounds like the ramblings of a mad man and poses no real operational threat unless left for long enough for the wrong people to find them and do the legwork to find us. However, specifically mentioning the DIMR, etc. provides our pursuers with some idea where we are headed and thus who to watch/infiltrate.
Stepping out to lunch, so I'm just briefly summarizing here and will follow with an IC when I can:
1. Ohanzee is swayed by Katsina's logic - with no contact info and no real details, it sounds like the ramblings of a mad man and poses no real operational threat unless left for long enough for the wrong people to find them and do the legwork to find us. However, specifically mentioning the DIMR, etc. provides our pursuers with some idea where we are headed and thus who to watch/infiltrate.
Bolded is Ace's big concern, which I will address ICly once I have the chance.
1) Sam's trail of commlinks and what implications this has for your next steps
2) Next steps, including how to get the quicksilver photograph to the DIMR
3) What instructions to give DIMR in terms of contact/negotiations
4) Where to have the meet
Note: You should be able to charge your redline packs from the car.
I thought we already had masks and such? I remember Ohanzee buying stuff, got Doc a balaclava.
While I'm on this particular kick, we also need to think about keeping Katsina fed. Did she take Ace up on his offer two or so night's ago? How much longer until she starts to feel the effects of not having blood?
Jäger,Ohanzee is not concerned with staying within 600m of Torchbearer - he's perfectly happy to have this be a remote service. He doesn't need to constantly be tailing him as he would be notified immediately if the spirit encountered a problem. He could just scout the area ahead astrally and occasionally pop in for a teamwork perception test or something. The more important point really is that he would be within a combat turn of arriving on scene if something were to happen.
Attached to this message you will find some images of an ancient artifact of unknown provenance. This was discovered near Ogllala Peak by archaeologists working for the Atlantean Foundation. While I believe that the organization as a whole may be true of purpose, the researchers assigned to this artifact were corrupted by unknown outside parties.
After some consideration, we have decided that your organization would provide the safest and most productive home for the item, and so offer you first right of refusal. The attached photos should pique your interest, but images can be forged. To that end, we have also taken a spectral photograph of the object. The material content alone is worth millions, but the raw magical power of the item apparent in the quicksilver image makes the item priceless.
The quicksilver plate is at Sand Creek park, in [specific hidden cache]. The location is public so as to ensure this is not a trap and to reduce the risk to both parties - it costs you little to verify my claim. Once you have been satisfied that my offer is legitimate, please contact this commlink. Please respond personally as we will not deal via proxy. We will arrange a time and location for the exchange as well as the terms. As the item is wanted by a number of powerful organizations, you can understand our need for caution and urgency, and we are prepared to negotiate an offer to achieve those ends.
If we do not hear from you by [deadline], we will be forced to assume a lack of interest and we will shop our offer elsewhere.
On a typical shadowrun, you’ll only be dealing with one or two grids, aside from the public one. Most likely, there will be the one you’re typically on (probably your local or public grid) and the one that your targets are on. It’s usually fairly obvious which grid your objectives are using. All the devices and people in a Shiawase facility will be using the Shiawase global grid, for example, while a thrill gang is probably on the public grid, and local law enforcement on the local grid.
Each host is on a specific grid. Like the rest of the Ma-
trix, a host can be accessed from any grid. Hosts are part of
the Matrix, so once you’re inside a host, the grid you’re on
doesn’t really matter.
Technomancers
All technomancers have an innate ability to establish a Direct Connection to any device they touch. Technomancers can also form PANs.
Resonance abilities do not render properly in the Matrix and can often go undetected. If something does not qualify as an Attack or Sleaze action, the victim would have to make a Matrix Perception check to notice they were the target of something. This includes Resonance Spike. A persona forced to perform an action with Puppeteer is obviously aware it performed an action, but a Device that is Puppeteer'd does not notify its owner.
He grabs the biggest bag he can find of the offending sounding chips, and hands them off to Sam, so they can go grab a satellite uplink.
Please let me know anything you plan on doing in camp, security-wise or otherwise.
Please let me know anything you plan on doing in camp, security-wise or otherwise.
I'm not certain if he has or not already, but if Sam hasn't had the time to set the avalanche trap/s, he'll need to get around to that, post haste.
There is enough time for Ace and Sam to set the avalanche trap(s) between the time of rebooting the comms and when the away team returns with the van. If you don't want to disrupt the timeline of the IC flow, then they can do it right after dinner.
1) One trap or two. You can trap both sides of the valley (east side and west side) to make it more effective, but doing so uses more of your inventory;
2) Trigger. You can rig simple tripwires with a Survival (1) test or you can use detonators. The danger of a tripwire is it could be accidentally triggered by the environment. The benefit of tripwires is that you don't have to use your finite quantity of detonators. A radio detonator could also be rigged out of a commlink, probably with Doc's help; and,
3) Size. You can trigger a small (but effective) avalanche with a flash-bang grenade or det cord. For a medium-to-large avalanche you need to use commercial explosives or foam explosives.
Other than the trigger, you only need a Demolitions (1) test to set the traps.
The key component of that bomb is the fact that it magnetically binds to the base of the artifact, which is mostly iron. If the base is separated from the top - which is hepatizon, an alloy or orichalcum and cerrukite - then Sam's bomb will no longer stick. Sam should point this out ICly.
That was what Ohanzee was referring to. So to mod it for a base-less artifact will require a whole new attachment mechanism. We'll have to see what the options for that are, or we can leave enough of the base for a magnetic attachment to still work - there's a lot of valuable metals, so even taking just 50% of it should meet our financial needs for the foreseeable future.
| Element | Price per KG | Estimated KG | Value |
| Iron | ¥0.1 | 71.8 | 7 |
| Mercury | ¥4.0 | 54.2 | 217 |
| Silicon | ¥2.5 | 7.7 | 19 |
| Gold | ¥26,000.0 | 53.7 | 1396160 |
| Silver | ¥290.0 | 44.7 | 12963 |
| Copper | ¥5.0 | 28.1 | 140 |
| Osmium | ¥12,860.0 | 63.8 | 820645 |
One thing that should not be forgotten: If you play a game, it's your responsibility to keep it alive, no matter if you are PC or GM.
That means: Engage with other players and NPCs so there is something they can react to. If nothing happens and yours isn't the last post, you should try to post something that will bring the story forwards.
Hope your wife recovers quickly, and my condolences to all associated with your former employee. IMHO, take the time you need. I know this particular game is running out of time, but real life comes first.
So Cannon's looks are not lust/desire/attraction? Jealousy? Mistrust? I've been assuming a romantic interest, but the "possible clarification" makes it sound more like they might be more like estranged siblings maintaining a temporary cease fire in some cut throat popularity contest. If so, then their relationship isn't as tight as "Jager" indicated. If it is affection, he might be harder to convince to go against her wishes if she called her peers and insisted they not bid. Or I can manipulate him by making him think buying the artifact would impress her, despite what she has told him overtly.
Doc can buy enough Matrix Search hits to get Limited Interest or Not Publicized information after half an hour. I'll presume that he does so and will post some of what he finds when we're ready to move to move forward. Along with his other searching, that will take Doc until after midnight to finish everything.
"Ok, so that seems to make either two of the big three problematic to reach out to. And nobody seems keen on unloading the thing on Ares. With nuyen running low it seems we either continue to let our resources dwindle on a long shot, or we break it up and trust our collective instincts in the shadows. Since that seems to be the consensus, let's move forward on that in the morning. In the meantime, I say we get Sam's bomb on it now, decide on security for the night, and break it up in the morning.
and it is unlikely to help Doc since it doesn't affect VR initiative, but could be useful for AR initiative and the "occasional" time he finds himself in physical peril.
INCREASE REFLEXES (ESSENCE)
Range: T
Drain: F
This spell increases the initiative of a subject. Each hit
rolled on the Spellcasting Test adds +1 to the target’s Initiative, and every two hits adds one Initiative Die. A character can only be affected by a single Increase Reflexes spell at a time, and the maximum Initiative Dice anyone can have is +5D6.
January 25th
- On January 25th, APB triggers her distress signal. She is immediately recovered by Ace and Illeana.
- APB explains that her exploratory run against the ruins went sideways. During the run, she uncovered evidence that the Atlantean Foundation research team had been infiltrated by religious cultists.
- APB retreated to Aspen (thinking that security and/or the cultists would look for her in Boulder, the nearest city) to lay low. She went to a bar, picked up the toughest looking guy, and shacked up with him for a few weeks while waiting for things to cool off.
- APB provides the results of her aborted hack. She says that the Atlantean Foundation has uncovered an ancient obelisk at an archaeological dig. Its value is inestimable and would surely be worth a significant commendation from Ares were they to successfully bring it in. Ace agrees.
January 26th through 30th
- Red Team lays the groundwork for their run on the ruins. They conduct physical, astral, and Matrix reconnaissance. The details of this are included in the file, including the location of the ruins. The location ties out with the photographs that Katsina has on her comm.
- The Atlantean Foundation is referring to the artifact as the Blank Slate. They are actively conducting research on the obelisk in situ, but with mixed results. A couple volunteers were rendered into mindless husks after "reading" the "writing" on the obelisk. The obelisk somehow robbed them of their minds, leaving only an empty shell of a body behind. These shells are still alive and can perform involuntary functions (breathing, blinking, heartbeat, etc.) on their own, but seem to be devoid of higher thinking.
- The cult appears to desire the obelisk to worship it. Their religion seems to be based off indigenous beliefs dating back to the Fourth World.
- Illeana is nervous about the power of the artifact and who else might be looking for it. She is more comfortable with the notion of Ares having it than her coven, which is actively being manipulated by forces she does not trust, or religious fanatics, whom she also does not trust. Illeana agrees to help retrieve the artifact for Ares, but warns that the group that manipulated her coven will surely hire runners of their own to do the same. (Illeana was not instructed to recover the artifact, only to interfere with Ace. She feels certain there must be another team actively pursuing the artifact.)
Is Chino still the go to guy if we're trying to only strip the valuable metals off the surface rather than break it in to parts?
| PC | Break/Sell Base | Cannon |
| Ace | cautiously indifferent | Yes |
| Chino | Yes | who cares |
| Doc | No | Yes |
| Sam | ? | ? |
| Ohanzee | Yes | Yes |
| Katsina | No | Yes |
FWIW, I didn't really consider the sexual preference angle due to the emphasis in SR about how unimportant that is these days. However where there any metas in the images or was it all human?
January 25th
- On January 25th, APB triggers her distress signal. She is immediately recovered by Ace and Illeana.
- APB explains that her exploratory run against the ruins went sideways. During the run, she uncovered evidence that the Atlantean Foundation research team had been infiltrated by religious cultists.
January 26th through 30th
- Red Team lays the groundwork for their run on the ruins. They conduct physical, astral, and Matrix reconnaissance. The details of this are included in the file, including the location of the ruins. The location ties out with the photographs that Katsina has on her comm.
- The cult appears to desire the obelisk to worship it. Their religion seems to be based off indigenous beliefs dating back to the Fourth World.
- Illeana is nervous about the power of the artifact and who else might be looking for it. She is more comfortable with the notion of Ares having it than her coven, which is actively being manipulated by forces she does not trust, or religious fanatics, whom she also does not trust.
Does Chino end the world??? No! (http://orokos.com/roll/320486)
Good news: Poindexter is alive and well. He's adapting to a new job. He'll be back with us shortly.
Good news: Poindexter is alive and well. He's adapting to a new job. He'll be back with us shortly.
Good thing we're all alive and well, both IC and OOC.Metallurgy (Log 9 - Defualting 1 = 8) (http://orokos.com/roll/320728): 8d6t5 1
Moving forward, my broad strokes are:
1. Get updated photos of the artifact, including astral plates
2. Re-bury it (possibly with Sam's surprise attached, again with photos in case we need to show how dangerous it would be to try to steal it from us)
3. Use Doc's insane logic to do some chemistry tests in order to melt and separate the fairly low melting point metals (set heat to above melting point of metal 1 but below metal 2, separate the solid from the liquid, repeat for metal 2&3, etc)
4. Use Ohanzee and Katsina's artisan abilities to craft it in to reasonable facsimiles of trinkets and baubles - rings, pendants, letter openers, other simple items usually made from precious metals - so that it doesn't raise too much suspicion when we go to sell themNo real issues with this, but why? Seems like it's exposing us more (not much, but some) for no actual gain. What do we get out of doing this?
5. Start in Rifle with a pawn shop or something to sell a small amount to get some jing. Buy some fly-spys (for scouting) and other items we might need in order to get safely into Denver. From there, we can explore our contacts to offload more of the metals. How much does Ohanzee thing Styles is good for? 10k¥? 50k¥? 100k¥?
6. Get way, way, out of Dodge. Are the Bahamas still nice? Maybe somewhere in California Free State or Florida or anywhere that the weather is nicer. We can buy a new ride with our cash to facilitate this.
7. Send Jäger an "after" picture of the artifact with a note saying that the precious metals alone were worth nearly as much as she felt she should pay for the artifact and that we certainly hope that allowing the desecration of such a major find won't leave a stain on her precious reputation. This works whether the person we talked to was a member of the cult interested in worshipping the artifact or the actual Jäger
8. Optional: Find out how Jäger was able to get a facsimile of the astral photo into the matrix and try the to shop the artifact itself for a few million nuyenLots of exotic drinks!
9. Sip exotic drinks on a tropical beach for a few years, or life, depending on how things work out. Or enjoy moonlight stroll along said beach, depending on your disposition toward sunlight.
Ohanzee's a vindictive little fragger, mostly. But it could also serve to make the followup negotiations in step 8 be taken a little more seriously if we decide to go that route.
1. Get updated photos of the artifact, including astral plates
2. Re-bury it (possibly with Sam's surprise attached, again with photos in case we need to show how dangerous it would be to try to steal it from us)
3. Use Doc's insane logic to do some chemistry tests in order to melt and separate the fairly low melting point metals (set heat to above melting point of metal 1 but below metal 2, separate the solid from the liquid, repeat for metal 2&3, etc)
4. Use Ohanzee and Katsina's artisan abilities to craft it in to reasonable facsimiles of trinkets and baubles - rings, pendants, letter openers, other simple items usually made from precious metals - so that it doesn't raise too much suspicion when we go to sell them
5. Start in Rifle with a pawn shop or something to sell a small amount to get some jing. Buy some fly-spys (for scouting) and other items we might need in order to get safely into Denver. From there, we can explore our contacts to offload more of the metals. How much does Ohanzee thing Styles is good for? 10k¥? 50k¥? 100k¥?
6. Get way, way, out of Dodge. Are the Bahamas still nice? Maybe somewhere in California Free State or Florida or anywhere that the weather is nicer. We can buy a new ride with our cash to facilitate this.
7. Send Jäger an "after" picture of the artifact with a note saying that the precious metals alone were worth nearly as much as she felt she should pay for the artifact and that we certainly hope that allowing the desecration of such a major find won't leave a stain on her precious reputation. This works whether the person we talked to was a member of the cult interested in worshipping the artifact or the actual Jäger
8. Optional: Find out how Jäger was able to get a facsimile of the astral photo into the matrix and try the to shop the artifact itself for a few million nuyen
9. Sip exotic drinks on a tropical beach for a few years, or life, depending on how things work out. Or enjoy moonlight stroll along said beach, depending on your disposition toward sunlight.
Ohanzee's a vindictive little fragger, mostly. But it could also serve to make the followup negotiations in step 8 be taken a little more seriously if we decide to go that route.
In his research, did Doc happen to find a rough estimate of what Cannon's annual acquisition budget might be?
Poindexter
Body * 2 roll for Sam's Physical healing
+1 to a chosen Skill Group
PC Break/Sell Base Cannon
- Katsina will probably not go along with any plan that leaves Sam's device attached to the base where there's a significant risk of the device detonating accidentally, or by default.
Rednblack, any opinions on going to the second jeweler?
How about a handful of Matrix Perception rolls.
Chino, distracted, is only slightly less effective than Ace.
Thanks, these will inform the IC post.
Chino, distracted, is only slightly less effective than Ace.
It's amazing what rolling 50% will do for you. Ace will just have to keep telling himself that while Chino may hear whispering, and see obscured objects, he is actually seeing that which is hidden. ;)Thanks, these will inform the IC post.
Well, frag. I was hoping that they wouldn't be needed.
Ohanzee is curious about why they think SecForce would be looking for him. The threat to report him to SecForce loses its teeth if he has no reason to fear SecForce (obviously he does, but they don't necessarily know that).
But, aside from that, I think he's probably going along with the offer - they are too close to wrapping this thing up to risk a major event and if things go south later, they need to be in top form - any injuries from this engagement could be the difference between success and failure later.
The assumption is that Doc is monitoring the situation, both for Matrix security and Ohanzee's physical security. Ace and Chino are aware of what's going on and can contribute ICly.
I alluded to it IC, but Ohanzee's shopping list includes some new threads (maybe something with a wireless social bonus) ...
...and at least one or two fly-spy style drones. They are versatile - they can give us better visibility on our surroundings, act as scouts, and just generally give us better situational awareness.
Maybe our own vehicle so we can stop renting the van? Though there isn't anything in our price range that would hold us all (much less all of us plus gear plus artifact if need be).
ETA: Nice Pulp Fiction reference, btw.
ETA2: I'd like to roll Security Tactics to see if Ace is being a little overly paranoid, or if he's on the right track as for as his knowledge pool would suggest SecForce is doing.
Knowledge Roll: Security Tactics (http://orokos.com/roll/324717): 9d6t5 3
Middling.
Also, I've been meaning to ask. Katsina seems to reflect a lot about her age, wondering if she new various 5th world historical figures. But HMHVV wasn't a thing until the 6th world (except exceedingly rare cases), so as far as I am aware, her odds of being a 5th (or even 4th) world vamp are vanishingly small. Especially since such a vampire would almost certainly be swimming in karma moreso than Katsina has so far exhibited.
So, is there something that makes her think she is very old? Perhaps her True Face?
I'm at a bit of a loss as to what mechanically Doc can do to keep an eye out for hits on Ohanzee's SIN. I'm all ears for ideas, baring that Doc would suggest that we return the van from one city and renting another one under one of Ace's identities from another city (having the van come meet us).
All told, I'd prefer to keep what we've got as it's a really nice van :P
So, the fun but risky way would be to snipe the drones and make sure they think we are something we aren't. But the *safe* way is getting a new van IMHO. We've got cash, and we've got SINs. I vote we go that way. 1. less overhead for Tec to keep track of and 2. less chance of Doc screwing up. Also, leaves him free to do other things. If we end up in a situation where we need matrix support and then a drone sneaks up on us and Doc misses it, the gig is potentially up.
@Poindexter Does Sam want new armor? His current armor is functional but using space blankets to prevent the clothes from melting seriously inhibits Sam's stealth (i.e. because the space blankets crinkle loudly). If Sam wants something stealthy, he'll need new armor with at least Chemical Protection (2).
@Poindexter Sam's Sneaking skill isn't high but his Agility 8 makes him good at it anyway. The only person who has a better Sneaking dicepool than Sam is Ace.
Now, for the temptation: is Ace willing to use his Ares Corporate SIN for a 40% employee discount?? That's ¥880 in savings!
A vest will do the trick?
Yeah, with the ¥¥ we're looking at in the fairly immediate future (and the amount of gold we have left) I'm gonna go with no. Doc STRONGLY votes no. ¥880 is a rounding error on the amount of money we have in gold, let alone what we are aiming at getting :)
@Poindexter Please add Combat Sense @ F4 (4 hits) and Alleviate Allergy [Sunlight] @ F3 (3 hits) to your character sheet, plus whatever armor rednblack/Ace ends up purchasing.
Again, I crowdsource this. Any ideas?
So, how easy a mobile lab, vehicle, etc. going to be to sweep for bugs? I know different GMs have different takes on this.
1. The bomb is attached and activated. There is now a timer on how long we will wait for payment. All parties are physically present, Doc running Matrix duty in case they try to disable the device that way.
2. They pay us before we disarm the bomb. Since they likely have overwhelming force, there is little chance of us running off with the nuyen prior to disarming it. However, before disarming it, we drop 1M¥ of it with an anonymous (to the other side) third party that is not present (perhaps one of our team members that we elect) on the condition that if we do not get away safely, that money will become a bounty to any Shadowrunners that want it to take back the artifact from our purchasers by force.
3. Once we are away and reasonably safe, the contract is rescinded and we get an additional 1M¥, minus whatever fees we might have promised to the retainer.
Ace isn't sure how well the buyer would respond to a "no copters, one drone" provision. He knows that Ares would have laughed at anyone who made those demands. The DIMR and ASPS, being rather less paramilitary than Ares, might agree, or they might decide that they don't like the risk of driving into a dead-end that only has one direction of escape.
The same is true for the "wait half an hour before you leave" request. To Ace, that would scream "ambush" or "someone else will be along shortly to relieve you of the multimillion nuyen artifact I just unloaded on you". That's almost certainly a non-starter, and the only reason they might agree to it is because it's also largely unenforceable.
Ohanzee, based on his negotiations with Cannon, thinks that the ASPS won't accept any provisions without receiving their own in return.
Regarding Ace's weapon situation, don't forget that you still have all the weapons you've been hauling around with you. These are listed at the bottom of Katsina's sheet at the front of the OOC forum. For example, you have:
1 Defiance T-250 shotgun + 20 rounds Stick-n-Shock ammo (I think from the goons you did battle with when you flipped the RV)
1 Pioneer 60 + flechette ammo (from Mr. Moran's cabin)
1 Springfield 1911M + regular + hollow-point ammo (from Mr. Moran's cabin)
I also have it that you kept the hunter's weapons from the night you woke up. I can't remember what all of those are but I think they are three shotguns and one rifle. (Namely, the rifle that Ace used to shoot down the Nissan Hound.) I can go back and look if you want to know. So Ace does have some longer-range options other than his Redline weapons.
In a way it's too bad that only Poindexter and I got to go through that initial wave of "zomg i have no idea who i am and what i can do". That first week was a gas.
I was following along with the story during that phase and I had a gas learning about the characters with all of the original crew. It really was fun and is what made this the PbP I was most interested in playing by a long shot (I was too green to ask at the time or I might have saved APB). It still hasn't let me down, so thank you to Tec for keeping it going.
I wish I still had the time I did back when I joined this game to give it the focus it deserves, but my life has changed almost as dramatically as the characters we're playing. Between this and the Hunters campaign, I've got more on my plate, PbP wise, than I can handle, so my posting frequency/quality has taken a notable hit. So in that regard, it's a bit of a relief that this is winding down, even though I half wish it would never end.
With respect to people's availability, there is a possibility (but certainly not a guarantee) of dropping into initiative passes in the near future. If that happens, I am generally going to be allotting 24 hours for someone to declare their actions. (This excludes weekends.) If you need help rolling or figuring out your options, please ask, but if 24 hours have gone by without anything finalized then the character is going to Hold Action and we'll move down the initiative order. Our last major action sequence (excluding the bandersnatchii) was three weeks, which is reasonable given the nature of PbP, but I want to make sure that three weeks doesn't turn into three months.
Also, just in case... Do I even GET a roll for soak and all that whatnot if I should, say, swallow a live grenade whole? Or am I just dead?
I don't need to kill to feed, especially if I'm infertile.
Quote from: TecumsehI don't need to kill to feed, especially if I'm infertile.
Not sure what to make of that...
"Infertile Infected" is the name of the (Fourth Edition) quality wherein an HMHVV-infected character is not infectious. Katsina is saying can bite someone to feed without danger of turning them into a vampire.
Katsina can perform her own version of attribute boost via this stolen essence, which she will be doing prior to the meet.
Sam's unarmed (clawed) attack is now 11P -3AP. In addition, his Corrosive Secretions do 4P -2AP.
Do we have any extra comms laying around still?Good call. We should try to give folks the highest rating devices we can, though ownership of the old devices could prove problematic if anybody is looking for the previous owners.
As usual, I will make something up, act confident about it, and move forward.
Mana barriers do not affect their creators, who can see through them or pass through them at will and allow others to do so as well.
| PC | Spirit | Notes |
| Sam | Rozkhi | Inhabiting a troll, now dual-natured |
| Chino | B13 | free spirit of beast |
| Ohanzee | still Ohanzee | free spirit of man |
| Doc | Doc Hack | free spirit of fire |
@rednblack Noted. Is the goal simply to distract the opposition with comms running silently?
Yeah, Ryo had a lot of rabbits in the hat. I'm not even sure this is the craziest one.
Note: yes, correct. This could be a very long discussion on its own as it is a section of the rules that seems very dubious to me.No doubt :P Guess Wrapper doesn't make any sense to use in any situation then. No worries before I thought of it he would have just been visible here.
I'm not sure Ganglia would apply to a defense test. Away from books at the moment so I will confirm later.Either way he'd still end up with at least 5 hits after the edge. Also, I've been using the wrong word... Qualia :P Rules don't help at all here. Says it works even subconsciously, but only says skill tests, not defense tests. FIIK. I'd call this GM ruling area.
QUALIA
Derived from a reptilian species, this hormone stimu- lates neural activity in the reptilian hind mind and the sensory-dedicated lobes, ultimately affecting the intui- tive subconscious grasp of sensory information. Qualia is believed to be a form of organic storage of raw em- pirical data associated with prior sensory stimuli, which can reinforce a subject’s ability to absorb and react to input from their environment (even on a subconscious level). Characters with this modification receive a +1 dice pool modifier to all Intuition-linked skill tests.
Still need Doc's action @ 27.
Decker defense: 6 hits (http://orokos.com/roll/337200)
Doc scores 2 net hits. Base damage is 8 + 2 net hits + 2 from having a MARK = 12 DV.
Decker soak: 4 hits (http://orokos.com/roll/337201) The deck takes 8 boxes of Matrix damage. It sizzles and pops and probably makes some dripping noises it wasn't designed to make.
Area of Effect attacks
Grenades and area spells can either be aimed at an area (Simple (3) test) or aimed at a specific target (attack roll vs. defense roll.) If you aim at the area, all the targets in the blast radius can (and probably will) use the Run for Your Life interrupt action to escape the blast. If you aim at a specific target, they cannot use this interrupt action; they get their defense roll instead.
The effectiveness of flash-bang grenades and Indirect Area spells (like Fireball) will decrease with range as per a normal grenade (-1 DV per meter). This is to avoid "can't miss" attacks due to the area of effect being larger than the possible distance of the scatter.
I've heard that World War Z had a similar allegory, with refugees from the US streaming toward Cuba, but I haven't read it myself.
I think his recoil comp is 8 (1 free shot + 3 from strength + 3 from Gas Vent-3 + 1 shock pad) so there could be some dice to subtract there too.
Didn't realize how you were counting and saw Ohanzee's name up there knowing he already took an action. Also didn't know interrupt actions allowed you to act twice in a single IP but that makes sense on a fairness front (unless your interrupt actions use up all of your initiative that is).
@Poindexter, welcome back. What part of the country were you in? I love hot springs.
Drones are opening fire.
18 - drone shooting a long burst (6 rounds) at Sam
Drone: 6 hits (http://orokos.com/roll/337940) on 6 dice! Is the tide turning??
Sam is prone. Generally that's an advantage in ranged combat but in this case it's actually increasing his cross-section from the drone's perspective (above) so there's no defensive bonus from it. In fact, Sam gets -2 for his limited mobility while prone and -5 for the long burst. He gets +2 for cover from the trees and +4 from combat sense, so net -1. Reaction 8 + Intuition 3 - 1 modifiers = 10 dice to dodge.
These are gel rounds so the base DV is 11P -1AP + net hits. Sam is already prone so he isn't at danger of knockdown.
15 - troll on the right flank, upset about being shot, is shooting a grenade at Sam's location
Bloop: 6 hits (http://orokos.com/roll/337956), only needed to meet threshold 3 so he drops it on a dime
Sam can use Run For Your Life or he can smile and eat it. If Sam runs he can put 5 meters between him and the grenade. It's a flash-bang so the damage is 10S -5AP.
I'm a bit torn as to what to do with Ace. Doc probably stands a better than average chance of one-shotting the Rigger on his next pass, but Ace isn't aware of that, or of the fact that the decker has already been dealt with. I'm loathe to give up a second pass, but I don't like staring down the barrel of the jumped in rigger, so Ace is going Full Defense.
The math seemed right on the first two rolls (the initial roll and then the correction). I'm not sure what the need for the third roll was. We'll go with the first two rolls and 6 hits. Those 7 hits on 13 dice for the third roll are nice though. We can save those as the base for Doc's next roll.
The rigger, having been alerted that there is a madman in the Matrix, is going on Full Matrix Defense.
Rigger defense: 6 hits (http://orokos.com/roll/338160), a tie. Doc doesn't get any MARKs but nor does he incur any damage from failing in a Brute Force attack. The rigger drops -10 initiative.
@Zweiblumen When does Doc's Agent load? I couldn't find anything in the core rulebook about whether programs load instantaneously with Configurator or if it's one of those "next Combat Turn" things. Did I miss it, or does Data Trails say?
Subtracting dice from drone-shooting (http://orokos.com/roll/338269): 4d6t5 2 hits, which leaves Sam with 5 hits
The good news is that dog-brain drones don't dodge for drek. Drone dodge: 3 hits (http://orokos.com/roll/338270)
That leaves Sam with 2 net hits, which stages the damage up to 11P -6AP.
Drone soak: 1 hit (http://orokos.com/roll/338271)
There's a pleasant KABOOM as Sam hits the target and sees it begin to plummet to the ground. It will hit the ground in about 3 CTs, so watch where you're walking around then.
11 - the troll on the right flank
This guy is going batshit. He's either forgotten the instructions to take the prisoners alive, or he's conveniently ignoring it, or he figures Rozkhi is toast so who cares. He's charging Sam!
Free: Running
Complex: Beat Sam to death!
Troll rage! 7 hits (http://orokos.com/roll/338272), this guy is screaming like a banshee and is obviously not in his right mind
He also punches like a jackhammer. Base damage is 13P + net hits. No AP at least. Up close, Sam can also see a combat axe strapped to his back. Evidently this guy is so far out of his mind that he didn't draw it, or is angry enough about getting shot that he wants to finish matters with his bare hands.
Sam's tree-cover doesn't apply to his defense but I'm going to say that the process of taking cover involved getting up from a prone position, so Sam doesn't have to take that penalty. (I didn't give the "opponent prone" bonus to the troll.)
@Poindexter Sam should be Reaction 8 + Intuition 3 + Combat Sense 4 = 15 dice to dodge. Do it!
Head cases can also stay conscious when their Stun Condition Monitor is filled. The head case makes a Simple Nanite Volume Test and reduces their current Stun Condition Monitor by the number of hits on the roll. This effect lasts for a number of minutes equal to the number of hits on the Nanite Volume roll. When the time expires the head case gets all the removed damage back, plus 1 additional box for each test they have made.
Katsina is concerned about the van and its occupants. She wishes she had a grenade but she doesn't. She's going to run and try to bash out the windshield.
1 - Rapid troll on right flank ironically trying to bite Sam
The bad news is that you'll hit Katsina with the blast, but she seems okay with that.
Put one RIGHT in the front seat (Agi 8 + Heavy 5 + Spec 2 + Smartgun 1) (http://orokos.com/roll/338904): 16d6t5 7
Whoops -3 (http://orokos.com/roll/338905): 3d6t5 0
Shouldn't be any recoil for the grenade anyway. You've taken an action since shooting the drone.
Sam took the Simple Action to take cover, which is enough to reset recoil, per the errata.
Sam took the Simple Action to take cover, which is enough to reset recoil, per the errata.
Oh really? Neet-o.
Seems you were right, Zwei
Chompity chomp: 6 hits (http://orokos.com/roll/339191)
Sam, having suffered Physical damage, needs to roll to see if he goes berserk per his mentor spirit disadvantage. Willpower 7 + Charisma 3 versus a threshold of 3. If Sam doesn't get three hits then it will automatically trigger his Berserk adept power, adding 1 to all Physical stats and removing 1 from all Mental stats.
Just for my own records, Sam is at 6S and 4P, still doing well.
Doc already knows about the RCC. In addition, Doc's agent points out:
1) the van, a GMC Bulldog
2) a commlink in the van, a Meta Link
3) a commlink on the left flank, a Transys Avalon
4) an Ares Antioch-2 slaved to the Transys Avalon
Communicating that targets are down (especially targets that the rest of the team can't see) definitely qualifies as strategic communication rather than RP.
26 - the rabid troll on the right tank is trying to punch Sam's brains out the back of his head now
Rabid troll: 5 hits (http://orokos.com/roll/339679)
Sam does not have to take -1 for defending against a previous attack, as that was simultaneous with Sam's last action. The reach advantages cancel out. Base damage is 14P, 0AP + net hits.
16 - Doc Hack
Attacking Sam: 4 hits (http://orokos.com/roll/340059)
Sam is poorly designed for astral combat and is even more vulnerable now that he is berserk. His defense pool is Intuition + Logic, which is a mighty 4 dice now that he's going nuts. Base damage is 4P + net hits, soaked with Willpower (6 dice). Such are the hazards of being dual-natured.
6S/10P is enough damage that it has finally exceeded Sam's damage compensators and he's begun to feel it.
Strength (9) + Bone Density IV (3) + Penetrating Strike IV (-4 AP).
Bone Density I gives (Str)P damage, and then additional steps beyond that give +1, so rating IV is worth +3.
I'm going back-and-forth on whether to allow for the Huge bonus (+3) in conjunction with targeting vitals (-4). The answer probably depends on what, exactly, Ace is trying to target. Gas tank? Engine block? Is he trying to disable but not destroy the van, or does he want to destroy it?
Also note that Ohanzee has somewhat trapped himself in a bubble by activating the Physical Barrier preparation, which limits his selection of available spells to cast.Control Thoughts and Trid Phantasm are still available. That or astral combat if he decides to leave his body unattended in a hostile situation. But yeah, Fireball is out. I'm a little disappointed that Ohanzee has Clout instead of Stunbolt, but it is what it is.
6 - Doc Hack continues his assault on Sam
Astral combat: 3 hits (http://orokos.com/roll/340681)
Sam only has 3 dice to dodge due to his -1 penalty. He gets 6 Willpower + 2 mentor spirit to soak 4P + net hits. Sam didn't roll the mentor spirit dice for the last pass with Doc Hack so roll 2 more and subtract any hits from Sam's Physical damage.
With 5 hits, Ohanzee gets a clear sense of what's happening on the battlefield. We can say that he knows what Malevolence knows OOCly (who's up, who's down), with the exception of what's tormenting Sam. Ohanzee might be able to deduce that Sam, flailing about at nothing, is being tormented on the astral, but of course Ohanzee can't see Doc Hack.Ohanzee is astrally perceiving. I was going to turn it off before the fight started, but changed my mind (http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=20858.msg408103#msg408103). I think that was key to O' deciding to try chasing me down.
Recording, most likely, though probably transmitting the action elsewhere. I Wonder if it belongs to the rigger or to Cannon.
Ohanzee also notices that there's one roto-drone crashing to earth while the other one is bobbing in place, doing nothing but hovering. The one that's hovering has a tiny green light that's blinking.
Correction to Doc's assumptions - the deck and the RCC are offline. The decker and rigger, if still conscious, are capable of going online if they have a commlink. This is particularly relevant for the rigger, who is probably wirelessly controlling the van at the moment.
Actually, it occurs to me that as a rigger, he likely has a Control Rig, so he may not need a commlink. The wording is a little indirect, but it has the DC cable and a sim module "so you can use it for DNI with other devices", but it doesn't explicitly make the claim that it allows wireless connections to other devices sans commlink, though I don't see why it wouldn't. You are forming your persona on the vehicle, so you don't need the commlink for the persona. Indeed, you may not find a device for him since his persona would form on the Bulldog and the CR (or commlink) would be subsumed into the persona.Yeah, I was more thinking along these lines. He'd have the RCC DC'd to the van while he was in it. When his RCC got bricked he would just move the cable from his RCC to his Control Rig and is doing it that way. Doc is gonna look for the van/rigger icon after he sends everyone a message because you can only do one thing in a round in the Matrix since almost everything is a complex action.
Quick question since I don't remember what happened to it - is the falling drone falling because it got shot down, bricked, or just because the rigger got dumped? If a couple marks and a control device could get it flying again for team Purple, it'd be a handy thing. Of course, the one that's still flying might be the better bet.
Since Astral Combat is done with Willpower + Astral Combat skill, I personally don't think it is restricted to the typical limitations of range and movement. You're attacking with your mind, after all. Even if you have a weapon focus, you don't swing your weapon at the enemy and roll Blades, you're still rolling Astral Combat while perceiving.
This prevents silly things like an astrally projecting mage hovering 100 meters above a dual natured critter or adept and just pelting them with spells while they swing their limbs helplessly at them, unable to hit them. As long as you have LOS, you can make an Astral Combat attack on a creature that is astrally active, even if you're miles apart or restrained. Weapon Foci just make your attacks better.
Though, it might not be terrible if Heal was actually ranged (LOS) in the specific case of healing an astrally active entity, but touch only for healing mundanes or those not actively astrally perceiving.
Astrally perceiving characters and other dual beings use their normal physical Attributes, skills and Combat Pool in astral combat. Dual beings must move on both planes together, including spirits in physical form. They cannot be in one place in the physical world and another in astral space. Thus, they are limited to their physical rate of speed and Initiative.
...
Use the melee combat rules to make attacks. The character may attack using an armed combat skill if armed with a weapon focus, Unarmed Combat if not, or Sorcery in place of either skill. Even characters who cannot cast spells (like adepts) can use the Astral Combat Specialization of Sorcery for astral combat.
When astrally perceiving, you become dual-natured (meaning you have presence in both the physical and astral planes simultaneously) and can interact with astral objects, including through combat.
There are a couple ways to go about this:
1) If you just want to give the drone instructions of what to do on its own (with its dogbrain) - e.g. "switch targets" - then your roll is great. Since you've spent your Free Actions I'll say it can be done with a Simple, which frees up another Simple action to either make a longer transmission or to give your Agent new instructions.
2) If you actually want to do the shooting yourself then there's (sigh) a Gunnery + Agility test, as counterintuitive as it is to use Physical attributes while decking.
Free: Switch DP with FWEven odds that Canon's matrix support shows up about now... :P
Free: Switch DP with FWEven odds that Canon's matrix support shows up about now... :P
Bear will block the woman's path to the snowmobile, then observe in detail to see what threats might still be present on the astral. With his other simple, he'll kick the Ares Alpha out of her reach. If she tries to make a break for it, he'll intercept.
Chino forgot to use Combat Sense.
ETA: And search the snowmobiles, just in case.
Ok, so Ohanzee is at 0/11 stun with 7 waiting to come back in an hour. Here's the Heal spell:
Heal Spell [Magic 6 + Spellcasting 6 + Focus 2] (http://orokos.com/roll/343179): 14d6t5 3
Wow, that's a tremendous amount of suck. I'll let the group decide if I should Edge that with my last Edge, but I'm keen to hold on to it in case things don't go well with Canon.
unlucky (http://orokos.com/roll/337177): 1d6 3 (whew!)
BAD LUCK
BONUS: 12 KARMA
This character is cursed—his own luck often turns against him. When the character uses Edge, roll 1D6. On a result of 1, the point of Edge is spent, but it has the exact opposite effect intended. For example, if a char- acter hopes to gain additional dice he loses that many dice from his dice pool. If a character spends Edge to go rst in an Initiative Pass, he ends up going last. If a character spent Edge to negate a glitch, Bad Luck turns it into a critical glitch. The character suffers Bad Luck on only one Edge roll per game session. After the charac- ter has suffered his Bad Luck, he does not need to roll the test for Bad Luck for any more expenditures of Edge for the duration of that game session.
@Poindexter Sam can have as much stick-n-shock and as many gel rounds as he wants. He can also have lots of flash-bang mini-grenades, but he already had a clip of those. Sam can also have six (6) mini-grenades full of Rozkhi's secret chemical compound.
I thought we were posting the ¥1m up to make sure they didn't just kill us and take off with it.
Wasn't that the whole point of Doc being off-site as an escrow type situation?
The drones would let us keep tabs on them as they approached. As they got close, we would send a caution mentioning the boom.
Also, our proximity to the artifact makes attacking us risky.
mmmm sexy sexy credsticks... to bad we want them to put ¥1m in an account for us.
Is Sam wearing gloves that might mitigate the damage? I'd like to not destroy the credsticks if possible (shiny!). Or maybe Chino can do the chip swapping.
When I say check your surroundings, I mean look for suspicious and/or hidden icons in your physical vicinity.
When I say check your surroundings, I mean look for suspicious and/or hidden icons in your physical vicinity.
Gotcha.
Your post is great, Mal.
I'd like an IC post from Poindexter to remove the device, even if it's brief, as that is a fairly pivotal moment and requires a degree of agency. Poindexter could, of course, decide that Sam goes berserk and triggers the device. That's within his purview.
I'll let rednblack and Poindexter add add any color to the proceedings they wish.
Poin, was that a real post or a pretend post you were working on?
Wow. This is the first time I've ever been in a PbP game that came to a conclusion. Thanks to everybody -- especially our awesome GM -- for that.
It might take me a little while to figure out how I want to leave Ace, but what are everyone's thoughts on how far we want to go before closing the thread? Are we going to re-unite and leave things at the border of the PCC? At camp? A retrospective from a year from now?
I rolled it out, and it took him three hours.
How that worked: The research compound that they attacked would be better described as two separate sites. One is near the base of the mountain, and is a basically a base camp. It's constructed out of more permanent materials, has perimeter walls, and is basically there as a checkpoint for anyone that is trying to climb the mountain to get to the actual ruins site. It's directly in the way of the most readily accessible trail, so its unlikely that you can get to the ruins without going through it.
This base camp is patrolled by barghests, but was actually run by something of a skeleton crew. There was the decker, a rigger, a few drones, and a single squad of guards. After scouting it out and coming to the conclusion that the base camp was already on high alert and expecting attack (Due to Gloria Winters), they decided the easiest course of action would be to take out the entire camp before continuing up to the ruins, rather than risk being caught in a pincer attack later.
They cut the hardlines between the base camp and the ruins, and jammed the ever loving shit out of the wireless, then attacked in force. Crumpled got into their security room and put a shotgun round in the rigger's head, and the decker shot his deck in an attempt to kill his jamming and call for help. Crumpled responding by violently murdering the decker.
While the rest of blue team cleaned up the camp, Crumpled spent some time seeing if his deck could be salvaged, before searching his enemy for a deck. Upon realizing it was implanted, he performed some surgery, converted it to his own, and recorded the video file I PMed you.
They had three hours of downtime to lick their wounds, collect any gear they could salvage from the base camp, and prepare themselves for the second attack against the ruin itself.
By the time Red Team got there, the place was wrecked, and they basically waltz straight up to the ruin itself.
This concludes the dump of info I received from Ryo at the beginning of the game. If anyone has questions about the scenario, or wants to know what was happening in the background at a certain point in the storyline, let me know and I'll do my best to fill in the blanks.
Joseph does not appear to have any wife or children. An online dating profile suggests that he has been divorced at least once. His profile photo looks like your typical lily-white, doughy, middle-aged corper. There is a news article from an independent screamsheet accusing Mr. Moran's department of predatory lending practices, specifically targeting low-income metahumans. That was the last issue published by that particular screamsheet. Mr. Moran's professional profile indicates that he used to work for Brackhaven Investments in Seattle about 12 years ago before leaving to pursue opportunities in Denver. He has a license to practice law in the UCAS.
As you spend more time in the house, you begin to think of it more as an expansive cabin. While it has been updated with modern amenities, the construction suggests that it's not the newest house on the block. The art style is best described as "kitsch Western". There are carved wooden figures around the house - bears, wolves, mountain lions, things like that - which Katsina looks at closely when she has the time. (In the office upstairs there's an erotic bronze statue of a naked lady, which Katsina pays less attention to.) There are even some animal heads hanging on the walls, including elk, moose, and a mountain goat. The furniture is older than you would expect a rich corper to own. Above the mantle you find some old family photographs. You can identify Mr. Moran easily, his wide, moon-like face being prominent even as a boy. He stands with his father, holding a fish and a reel proudly, his eyes squinting behind thick glasses with transition lenses.
"Always remember that you are a Nately. You are not a Knight, whose fortunes are based on selling armaments, or a Yakamura, whose family is in league with unscrupulous foreigners, or a Dankwalther, whose fortune rests on a bequest from a sentient lizard; and you are certainly not a Cline, whose family, I believe, still appears in moving pictures. You are a Nately, and the Natelys have never done anything for their money."
<<@Nately II [Nately III][/color] Oh do your worst to your silly apparitions! They do not fool me, the way that Baba and Poppop fade in and out of existence. Your clumsy illusions are practically transparent; your ruse has failed. Do what you wish; I no longer believe you.>>
Yuri and Dmitri look concerned. "Ohanzee, man, Chino... you really trying to get out? Mom ain't gonna be happy. She wants her cut and will look for you. You and me, man, we go way back. You need help, man. They got docs that can get your head back. Why do you want out? You never wanted out before. Man, we're you're friends. We just want to help. Whatever's wrong, Mom will make it right. You gotta come in from the cold, man."
You forgot Ace.
Teamwork (http://orokos.com/roll/349022): 6d6t5 1
Another mighty die. Will it hit?
Extra die (http://orokos.com/roll/349023): 1d6t5 0
Nope. Sorry.
Ohanzee accidentally searches for troll-on-dwarf pornography. Once the results are in, he accidentally posts them to his social networks and accidentally changes his profile picture to one of the more explicit scenes. He is immediately inundated with spam for like-minded Matrix sites.
Chino finds an video of Doc Hack murdering a bum in an alleyway that Doc Hack took and shared pre-transformation. Chino gives it the video a "OK!" symbol of approval and shares it with the team.
Luckily, 3 hits is enough for your search about the free spirit. It appears that the spirit was Ibu Air, who runs the Astral Space Preservation Society. Years ago, Ibu Air opened the ASPS to funding outside the DIMR and Draco Foundation. The group traded the leash of one dead draconic master for a live one: Hestaby. However, about a month and a half ago (12/20/74), the Great Dragon Assembly moved that Hestaby be stripped of her hoard and lair and to be ostracized from their culture. She has since been driven underground and lost her lair and followers on Mt. Shasta. How the obelisk plays into this is a story for another day, but it seems that you have contributed a piece to the great Game of Dragons.
But, more importantly, what is driving Kat's body at this point? She had no nanites, so her body should have remained brainless and drooling.
On a slightly unrelated note, I've been sick the last couple days so I haven't gotten an IC up, but I do intend to write Ohanzee's response to the prisoners. Might not be until tomorrow though.Feel better mate! Everyone I know has been getting sick. Rest up and lots of fluids!
Once we learned that Kat was a vampire and had no nanites, I started suspecting she had not lost her memories after all.
Post #2000!W00t! WTG Tec :)
Zweiblumen got to play in the most recent campaign for about three months before Mrs. Tec produced Tec Jr., bringing the campaign to a close.This was a great campaign. I think RealTimeGroupMessaging is a great compromise between PbP and F2F for promoting a lot of role-play while allowing for roll-play. But, then I could be biased as Tec runs a great game apparently no matter what format we throw at him. I hope, selfishly, that he's able to find the time to run another game because I really want to play in another Tecumseh game :) (I might even play a non-matrix monkey one time!)
I'd like to thank my generous employers for underwriting this post by paying me for my last hour of "work".++ to that. My employers have underwritten a significant portion of my SR experience due to how much time I spend on these boards :P
As for suggestions on improving things, I DO think that maybe a skype chatroom sorta thing might work. Aint gotta be video chat or nothin, but just a regular ole Oldschool typea AOL, Yahoo sorta chatroom thing for everyone in the game to chat bout shit in realtime might work really well.
Forgive my ignorance here, but what does that "look" like? Are there times when the whole team gets on at once to RP a section, make a plan, do the social stuff?
Katsina would probably assent to Sam attending, if only to further desensitize Sam to the realities of being Infected. And, hey, when Katsina's done, Sam can eat himself!!
The information Katsina will uncover is the background/history of Rozkhi and Blue Team. It will be the six-minute version I shared earlier in the OOC forum; it won't be names, numbers, and current addresses of every girl Rozkhi has ever kissed.
Poindexter, you can post accordingly if you want.
Well it's not like Rozkhi is your only source of information for that. You have a name, your prior appearance, etc. Doc can probably dig up some details.
I'm mid-edit on a post moving up to Denver and I still want to do one for like one month out and one year out, but my days have been hellish. I'm hoping that the deadline extends to midnight on the 18th, because that's the only way I have a chance of sneaking in a last post.
Howdy all. I've been dead for awhile, but I heard some congratulations are in order, which seemed a fitting reason to come back to life.
So yeah, well done. You guys saw it through to the end. I wish I had been around to see it happen and guide you through it, but I'm glad to see you were in good hands with Tecumseh taking the reins. I'll have to go through the IC threads and see where the stories of the slates ended up. I bet it was a hell of a ride.
Howdy all. I've been dead for awhile, but I heard some congratulations are in order, which seemed a fitting reason to come back to life.
So yeah, well done. You guys saw it through to the end. I wish I had been around to see it happen and guide you through it, but I'm glad to see you were in good hands with Tecumseh taking the reins. I'll have to go through the IC threads and see where the stories of the slates ended up. I bet it was a hell of a ride.
We miss ya dude! How ya been?
Howdy all. I've been dead for awhile, but I heard some congratulations are in order, which seemed a fitting reason to come back to life.
So yeah, well done. You guys saw it through to the end. I wish I had been around to see it happen and guide you through it, but I'm glad to see you were in good hands with Tecumseh taking the reins. I'll have to go through the IC threads and see where the stories of the slates ended up. I bet it was a hell of a ride.
We miss ya dude! How ya been?
I've been....well, not great. Kinda went dead to the world for a few months. After I got over that I totally forgot about these forums, and the stories I had started here. But Tecumseh PM'd me last night about you guys finishing the campaign, and my email alert did the rest. Been catching up on everything I missed.
Uncle Sam became a Fomoraig? Did not see that one coming.
Howdy all. I've been dead for awhile, but I heard some congratulations are in order, which seemed a fitting reason to come back to life.
So yeah, well done. You guys saw it through to the end. I wish I had been around to see it happen and guide you through it, but I'm glad to see you were in good hands with Tecumseh taking the reins. I'll have to go through the IC threads and see where the stories of the slates ended up. I bet it was a hell of a ride.
We miss ya dude! How ya been?
I've been....well, not great. Kinda went dead to the world for a few months. After I got over that I totally forgot about these forums, and the stories I had started here. But Tecumseh PM'd me last night about you guys finishing the campaign, and my email alert did the rest. Been catching up on everything I missed.
Uncle Sam became a Fomoraig? Did not see that one coming.
I was pretty shitty for a while there, myself. Things are looking up now though. Hope it's the same for you. Think ya might ever come back? RednBlack's running a helluva game right now and I'm about to start one up in the new year.
I'm actually surprised how many twists I haven't seen any sign of. Either Tecumseh dumps a lot on you guys in 6 pages, or there's a lot of backstory you guys never saw.
What did she trick Ohanzee into doing? There was evidence that Kat had used Influence on him as well. Unless Ryo had messed up and meant to place that signature on Crumpled instead.
On the down side, Autosofts got a sound nerfing (sorry, "rules clarification") in that the rating of an aoutosoft is limited to the DR of the device running it. So your DR 5 RCC can only run up to a rating 5 autosoft. Your pilot 3 drone is stuck with a rating 3 autosoft (for a massive and devastatingly effective dice pool of 6!).
- making RCCs more critical to the riggers arsenal.
The most radical eco-terrorist group in the world, GreenWar believes the only way to restore Mother Earth to her un-ravaged state is to simply eradicate all metahuman life. ... [Logos] is composed primarily of the former Awakened members of GreenWar, or at least its central cadres are. Since its founding, Logos has apparently been hunting for certain magical relics, items imbued with very primal magic. Logos shamans have discovered certain rituals to go along with these relics that can, for lack of better terms, activate Mother Nature’s immune system to fight of the human virus that infects it.
If I were at an actual table, I would handle those messages by passing notes to the players. With roll20 and skype, I plan to have individual IM windows open for each player that I'll put that info in as it comes up.
If I were at an actual table, I would handle those messages by passing notes to the players. With roll20 and skype, I plan to have individual IM windows open for each player that I'll put that info in as it comes up.
This sounds like so much damn fun.
1- Any plans to record or stream for a small but appreciative audience?
2- Once this is done, and you're considering the next one, is there any chance I can convince you to holler at a mug?
3- Were you happy/satisfied/entertained with the way we ended up finishing the game in your absence?
It's probably because I'm a bad person, but I am absolutely cackling at the description. My eyes are literally wet with tears right now, and I'm glad most of the office has already gone home.
Are these people that you know and/or have played with in the past or is it a new group? How familiar are they with Shadowrun?
How is the attribute/skill/quality reveal go in person? Are the players finding it fun and engaging? That was a riot for me.
Awesome.
Are you using your house rules for TMs or going by the book?
And either way, could I con you into PMing me the Elf's sheet (after the adventure is done if you're afraid of spoilers getting out into the wild) as I'd love another perspective on TMs.
5E RAW doesn't say anything about data jacks, so IMHO no handwaving required. *Personally* I like the history with the datajack for the quality with the history, but that's also just a bit of an excuse to spend another .9 essence on other 'ware :P
I've not used your rules in a campaign. 90% of my play is PbP and I've only just now started a TM in a PbP since you posted those rules. (I think Poin's milk runs were before you posted that, but can't remember) And my RL games have been sticking closer to RAW. I'm theoretically playing every other week in a sit down game, but that's managed to happen 15 times in 2 years. 15/52 is good right? </sarcasm> I love the group, but we suck at actually getting together. I'd happily play in a Roll20 or other tool (I'd use #slack myself) and give them a whirl, even if you want to try just a 1-shot or something.
Were there backstory reasons why The Masked Woman didn't know conjuring? From a game balance perspective I thought it was a smart call, both to avoid The Dwarf and The Masked Woman spamming spirits and also to make sure the two have distinct roles, but I didn't know if there was a background explanation to go along with it.
I'd be curious to see her new sheet if you have it in an easily shareable format, e.g. Chummer text export or the like. PM me if you do, but no big deal if you don't.
I wondered about The Masked Woman's relevant education and/or comfort with computers. But then I realized that she only had about 23 years back in the 16th century versus 65ish years since the Awakening. In that regard she's had plenty of time to catch up. Besides, with two Matrix crashes basically everyone had to reset their day-to-day understanding of computers and commlinks anyway.
I'm surprised that the Infertile Infected quality hasn't officially made it to 5th Edition. There's now a karma cost for becoming Infected after chargen, should the GM wish to enforce it. The developers put it there to avoid a reported problem of one player making an Infected PC (paying the chargen costs) and then Infecting the rest of the team for free. The karma cost is supposed to help deter such behavior.
He did, but he's not staying with them forever. This will pick up the story several months down the line, after Sam's apprenticeship is complete.
Again, this isn't an attempt to exclude anyone.
You slot the unlabeled chip into your helmet and click the icon as it appears on your HUD. You promptly blackout.
You open your eyes to find yourself staring at your own arm, which appears cybernetic, having just pressed a large ‘record’ button on the touch screen. You lower your arm and look up to see a musclebound ork wearing a black jumpsuit and matching helmet looking down at you eagerly.
“You getting this, Doc?” The ork asks. You recognize the voice as yourself, like you’d hear on a recording.
“Yeah yeah, I’m recording. Full sim, baby, just the way you like it.” You reply, but the voice doesn’t sound like you. You’re someone else. Someone shorter than you, human. You realize at this point that you’re watching a simsense recording.
The ork grins at you, then turns his attention forward. You start paying attention to your surroundings, realizing you’re in a hallway of some metroplex apartment building. The walls are grungy and covered in questionable stains, but it has the distinct color and texture of reinforced duraplast composites. Your vision suddenly changes to grayscale and “OPTICS ON” appears in an ARO floating at the top right corner of your vision. You can clearly see the Ork’s face through his helmet, and his skull through his face, and his brain through his skull. He swallows some saliva in anticipation and you watch the muscles in his esophagus contract. His skeleton stands out in your vision, darker than all the surrounding tissue, and you see all the bioware augmented muscles twitch and stretch under his skin as he approaches a door in the hall. He raises his hand and knocks twice, the sound like metal striking metal and reverberating through the walls.
You then look at the door, seeing its internal structure, the reinforced plasteel and durable composites that make it up. You then gaze through it, seeing the living room of the apartment on the other side. You count seven men inside, three human, two orks, a dwarf and a troll. In an instant your vision is expanding, spotting and cataloging the weapons on their person or within easy reach in the apartment, as well as any noteworthy augmentations you can see in their bodies. The software behind this automatically constructs a list, which begins appearing in your peripheral vision. After a few moments of scanning the entire apartment, you glance at it to read it over and it moves to the center of your vision, becoming clearly legible. You skim it, seeing numerous melee weapons, several handguns and assault rifles, but pay special attention to a few entries near the middle. Your scanner found a Move-By-Wire System, as well as Titanium Bone Lacing. Glancing up from the list as it disappears to the periphery, you notice these belong to the troll.
“Anything good?” You hear the Ork’s voice, this time in your head, as he speaks to you over a Network Call.
“That would spoil the surprise.” You think back at him via DNI. You can feel the anticipation and excitement of whoever is recording this sim as you watch the ork knock again, this time louder. Turning your view back to the apartment, it looks as though everyone inside tenses, looking around at each other, and then begins to collect weapons. One of the humans approaches the door cautiously, while another presses his back to the wall next to it with his gun held at low ready. You lift your arm and point next to the door, where he’s standing, and the Ork grins at you. A thrill runs through you as he does, and he side steps the door and gets in a martial arts stance in front of the wall where the man is hiding.
“SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKER!” The Ork screams, slamming his foot into the wall which promptly explodes inward. At that exact moment, an electronic music sound track begins playing loudly in your ears, so loud you feel it vibrating your bones, as you watch with X-ray eyes as a man is torn to shreds by the remains of a duroplast wall. The ork is inside in an instant, and a slaughter ensues as he moves around the room at high speed, dodging gunfire and practically dismembering people as he goes. The dwarf pops over one of the couches with an AR-17 and unloads at the ork, who proceeds to run up one of the walls and across the ceiling before pouncing downward foot first into the dwarf’s screaming mouth. Your vision actually zooms in at this point, slowing down in time with a tempo change in the soundtrack as you watch the ork’s boot splitting open the dwarf’s face and continuing down to shred his insides. He lands knee deep in dwarf and time speeds up to normal again, allowing you to see the ork spin kick and hurl the remains of the dwarf off his leg and into a screaming ork nearby.
This is followed by the ork getting body checked by the troll, which sends a jolt of shock and surprise through you as he cracks the wall behind him. Despite this hit the ork quickly bounces back to his feet and enters an extended and brutal fist fight with the troll, which ends a few seconds later with him catching the troll’s arm, twisting it, and then axe kicking him in the elbow with enough force to make it bend the wrong way. Another thrill runs through you as the troll stumbles back, and the ork proceeds to break several more bones, including both knee caps. As the troll collapses on his now useless legs, the ork grabs him by the horns, places one foot against his face and starts flexing until his boot caves in the troll’s skull and he comes away with both horns in hand.
The sound track ends, after it expertly followed all the action and changed beats to match the moves of the ork, and you gingerly walk through the hole in the wall. Your vision switches back to normal and reveals the carnage, which you spend far too long gazing at with feelings of admiration. You then turn to the ork, who is smiling at you with a busted lip and both troll horns still in his hands.
“Please tell me you got the part with the dwarf.” He asks with a laugh. You feel happy as you laugh back, and give a thumbs up.
The sim ends, and you find yourself back in your own body, sweating profusely.
Man, Ryo, when are you going to write that novel?
12:01 AM Friday, February 1st, 2075
12:01 AM Friday, February 1st, 2075
It's February 1st! Happy Tabula Rasa Day!
Looking forward to the big finale.
Ryo, did you ever finish this off? Don't tell me that it got hung up on the dwarf. Dwarves aren't tall enough to hang on.