[JackVII]

that's exactly it

Edit: referring to the body

Interesting...

[Vandarl]

OK, to make sure I understand this correctly; we have a door into the loby, we have another door to the back of the building? and a room with what looks like a body?

I have access to the dwarf's commlink, does it have control of the back door or the door to the room with the body?

[Celtibero]

yes, yes and yes

atm you have 1 mark on the dwarf 'link, it does control the other doors including the one in the 1st floor leading to the back of the building.

and 5 matrix perception questions.

edit: 1 mark is fine if you just want to "edit file" and copy the info.

[Triskavanski]

Of course Cormac is also a stealth expert, though he really doesn't give the impression much that he is. Nor would he ever really say he is.

[Bewilderbeast]

Alright, Johnny is calling up his demon about 12 meters (a little under 40 feet) above Novelty Hills, in a vantage point where it has a clear view of the Stuffer Shack and where the prostitutes are hanging out. He has also ordered it to use its Concealment power on its self. The command is basically "Materialize here, conceal yourself and guard me." I would think that would count as 1 service, but if our GM wants to rule that it's 2 services (that "conceal yourself" and "protect me" are separate services), then that works too I guess. Just let me know so I have an idea of how many services are remaining on the guy.

Concealment gives everybody a -6 dice pool modifier to notice the spirit, so it should be pretty hard to spot. However, just to be safe, I'll roll a Sneaking roll for the spirit, too. It has an Agility of 9, with a -2 for defaulting, it gets 2 hits: http://orokos.com/roll/188927
Johnny's Perception check to see if he notices anybody reacting to the spirit's presence, 1 hit: http://orokos.com/roll/188929
And finally, Bad Johnny Juju's Etiquette roll to blend in/act like he belongs/interact with the prostitutes, 3 hits: http://orokos.com/roll/188930

That's a pretty bad roll for him for Etiquette, but not vital enough to merit an Edge expenditure, I don't think.

[JackVII]

Defaulting is only a -1 penalty, although there is some disagreement on whether Concealment works for hiding obvious things. If something is deemed obvious by the GM, no perception check is needed, thus no penalty is applied. Depends on which way Celtibero spins it, I guess. Shouldn't be hard to adjust in any event, just stick him on the roof of a building.

[Bewilderbeast]

I could have sworn that defaulting is a -2 penalty. Wow. Okay, one more die for the spirit's Sneaking, with predictable results: http://orokos.com/roll/189009

And yes, we should probably better define how Concealment works, exactly. It's unclear if it's an obviously magical "camoflouge", transparent, quasi-invisibility effect, or more of a mind effecting "there's nothing interesting over here" effect. I don't see anything in the description of Concealment that says it can't be used to hide obvious things; just size limitations (nothing bigger than metahuman).

[martinchaen]

Moto piloting Alpha-2 into place, 5 hits:
Jumped In Sneaking (Running Silent) [6]: Piloting Alpha-2 into position above secondary entrance to Novelty Hills: 11d6t5 5

Looking for Johnny's spirit (forgot to include the +3 for specifically looking for something, but I hit my limit even with the -6 modifier), 6 hits vs Spirits 2:
Jumped In Perception [6]: Spotting Johnny Juju's Materialized Spirit: 12d6t5 7

Sensor Test for the purposes of using Active Targeting with Alpha-1, 2 hits:
Jumped In Active Targeting Sensor Test [6]: Alpha-1 locking on to physically largest gang member with Crockett EBR: 15d6t5 2
If it comes down to fighting, the target will be suffering a -2 Dice Pool modifier to his defense test.

Roll potentially not needed:
Went ahead and rolled the first attack just in case it comes to violence; with a base DV of 12P -7AP (APDS ammo) and the target likely being unaware of the first attack (seeing as how he'd have to spot a drone 300m up in the sky firing a silenced sniper rifle in his direction), he'd be facing a grand total of 19P -7 AP.
Jumped In Gunnery [7]: Moto firing Alpha-1's Crockett EBR at locked target: 24d6t5 7

Drone at 300-350m range + Sniper Rifle with APDS ammo + Active Targeting + Take Aim + Control Rig enhanced Gunnery + Ambush is scary stuff, especially considering that if the gangers only have Heavy Pistols they won't be able to return fire. Bring the rain, indeed

[EDIT]
Good point, JackVII and Bewilderbeast, be good to get Celtibero's input on Concealment. In this case (concealing a cloud in the sky) seems fairly easy to do; it'd be like hiding a tree in a forest, as I see it.

[JackVII]

@Bewilderbeast: Yeah, it isn't so much the Concealment power as much as it is what the power does. By penalizing a Perception test, it brings in the rules for Perception tests.

Perception Tests are for any situation involving basic senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, or taste) where you’re looking for something that isn’t obvious.

The main question is whether the act of the using the Concealment power in and of itself makes something not obvious. This is the third PbP I have played in that has gotten anywhere and the Concealment question has come up in the previous two, so it seems to be a common question.

[Bewilderbeast]

Yeah, I was looking at your old posts and I see what you mean now. The problem (not really a problem... rules discrepancy ? Vagary? Idiosyncrasy?) isn't with the Concealment power, but more with the Perception skill. Obvious things don't require a Perception check. Therefore you can't (effectively) hide something obvious with Concealment. That makes some amount of sense to me.

And, just to be clear, Manifested spirits are always obvious. I don't have time to look up the particular rules citation, but this is why the spirit can't hide as a cloud. Sure, a spirit could look like a butterfly or a cloud or a guy in a suit, but it's very obviously not a butterfly or a cloud or a guy in a suit.

That said, it shouldn't effect the post other than the fluff. The spirit is actively hiding, so should need a Perception check to be seen. If Celtibero rules that it can't "hide" in mid-air, then it'll hide on the roof instead.

[Celtibero]

its just fluff tbh, a spirit can hide in mid air, it goes translucent or anything that is plausible, but again, its mostly fluff. a earth spirit can mesh with the ground and rise from it when it attacks that sort of drek, a loony or animal can sometimes "feel" its presence (more fluff) alerting other that something is off and they can dismiss it (fail perception check) as being an animal or the loony being a loony, i cant stress it too much, it mostly falls down on the description and its purely fluff.

[Bewilderbeast]

Just straight up buying some time with the hooker would be a great excuse to get into Novelty Hills, but then what? Johnny's a good sneak but he can't pick a lock or anything. Maybe the Matrix guys could clear a way for him? In either case, I decided it was safer to be honest and clear that Johnny's intention is to speak to Oxycode instead of sneaking around. Sneaking around can always be Plan B.

Negotiation roll to convince the hooker this will be worth her while. With 7 hits, Johnny kinda crushes it: http://orokos.com/roll/189477
Judge Intentions to make sure she actually knows Oxycode, and isn't just going to grab the credstick and run. 4 hits: http://orokos.com/roll/189480

Where'd Johnny get the credstick from? Well, I discovered something interesting while reading through the rulebook recently. Check out Page 442, under Credit Account:

The cost of banking
services is included in your lifestyle costs if you’ve
got a Low Lifestyle or better—otherwise you’ll need to
keep all your money on credsticks.

Since Johnny's only got a Squatter lifestyle, that means that credstick contains every nuyen he has in the world. He'll definitely have to upgrade to Low if he ever makes it big (which was always the plan, assuming he survives his first couple runs).

[martinchaen]

I believe Count Zorro managed to get access to the receptionist's commlink, which may have door access control options.

[Celtibero]

1 Mark in that one

[JackVII]

Just wondering... if CZ failed to Hack on the Fly the dwarf's commlink, wouldn't the dwarf have been alerted and had a MARK on his deck? I think I remember vandarl rolling a two MARK hack and then a one MARK hack on that commlink.