@Jack
Ah ok, sorry that was me getting home at 3.00 am from a very mediocre date - I really should stop posting after midnight.
That came over a lot harsher than intended.
All cool - I have the same problem when squeezing out posts between dealing with problems at work.
Hope your next date is better than mediocre!
(but a little Spoiler tag with background explanation would still be nice in the future - just so I understand ooc what happens)
Yeah, as you know we talked a lot about how to resolve this scene by PM, but with PbP there's always that lingering fog....always happy to answer any questions I can about the behind-screen-process as long as it doesn't compromise story-secrets (which of course are often the cause of the most heinous disasters for the players!)
All good.
That said: I hate engulf with a passion and I usually spend edge to avoid it because this power alone is as good as death in most circumstances.
Yeah, Engulf is badass - but GMs need that stuff to even slightly challenge
certain players!
If you would have liked to Edge your melee roll, that's really no problem.
I don't want to retcon the IC so far, but you haven't taken any damage anyway.
If you choose to use an Edge point now to reroll fails on that previous melee defense roll, and if you get just one hit, then we can simply give you an automatic success on your next attempt to escape the engulf.
A question on that account: Since I'm engulfed, a shock hand attack should be impossible to dodge, correct? So I can deliver the same auto damage as the spirit.
That is a
very interesting question to me, bringing up a broader question I've thought about for the past 30-odd years of RPG play - balancing the necessary abstraction of the rules with the application of common sense rulings.
Of course each game system makes decisions on how finely to calculate every possible variable and still be playable. I think SR is somewhere around the middle of the spectrum there. When we shoot a guy with an armor jacket, he gets to apply the armor value to all shots against him, even though it really only covers his torso.
Then it we take it another step and can apply, say, the Run & Gun hit location rules, but we still end up with relatively broad result descriptions compared to some other systems, and certainly compared to what we might fluff in a descriptive IC. .
On the other hand, the beauty of table-top (or PbP) RPGs is that instead of a rigid computer, the GM is a human who can modify these abstractions to apply common sense. So in theory you get the best of both worlds - playability and also a very fine scale of variable judgment.
The problem then, is balance.
It tends to be the case that the players always come up with a common sense factor that would give them an advantage (like the idea that your shock hand should be undodgeable), but are generally displeased if the GM deviates from pure RAW when running the bad guys!
So I have to be cautious about that slippery slope.
So now that you've had a tiny piece of my RPG philosophy, I will tell you that for at least the first action, you can do auto damage (no defense, but he gets a soak) to the spirit. However, if you are still Engulfed by your next turn, we should assume that he's had the chance to isolate your wrist and prevent further such attacks.
Regarding Con: Since Spirit and Conjurer are in telepathic contact, ultimately I'm conning the Conjurer.
I'm hoping for a dice penalty to see through that lie since John should be hard to read and gets the info second hand.
Great minds thinking alike!
Yeah, I took this straight to the conjurors - yeah, the fact that it is plural is one of several behind-the-scenes variables I had to take into account, but you have probably guessed that one by now from the IC.
As for penalties, the point is moot as they are all believing you either completely or partially.
And that is the effect of Con - to convince someone of a lie.
What they do based on that belief - well, the IC is up.
Feel free to either post more IC or if you want to do something with dice first that is cool too.
On the other hand, if you don't fight, then things will remain static for a while (aside from the fact that the singing will resume!).
