[Tecumseh]

Good post, Mal. Small note that Lola is a human-looking ork, not an elf. Her orkish curves are where she got the stagename "Lustytush". (Achak, having grown up with orks, is accustomed to them as standards of beauty. A human-looking ork is the best of both worlds, as far as he is concerned.)

This actually prompted me to go back and reread what I had originally written for Lola a year and a half ago. Some details have changed with time, like the name of the establishment and the fact that Lola is unaware of her adept powers. (I could have preserved this but I somewhat overwrote it with a description of her qi focus tattoos, which would be hard to justify/explain without her knowing what they do. Plus, one would figure that Achak would explain them to her, even if she had made it this long without realizing it.) I had also said that Achak no longer pursues her as a romantic interest, although I don't know why I ever thought that would be interesting. Maybe I was thinking more of 'chaste, Christian Achak' rather than 'frisky dog adept Achak'.  I like the new dynamic better, although I still have to work on this interplay between Achak's traditional/native sensibilities and his relatively recent Christian conversion.

[Malevolence]

Oops, sorry about that. Not sure why I had her in my head as an elf. Fixed.


Anyway, the post was more introspective and full of reasoning that I would like. I'm trying to provide more color - description of the environment and people and objects in it than just focusing on Mercer's actions and thought processes. This post didn't have much of that, but hopefully has outlined his general state of being enough that I can shortcut that in future posts and concentrate more on the scenery without having to waste exposition on his motivations.

[rednblack]

I'm guessing Mercer and SF can see what Flickr is doing?  That said, SF doesn't know these blokes since Achak left, and pickin' fights in strip clubs ain't exactly good for business.  It's possible he just sits this one out.  It's not unlikely that he's got tertiary or related contacts in the room (not char sheet type, but remote business general rep type) given how often he's sneaking shit past the guys... or for them.

@Zwei, let's take a look at your questions:
1) did I loose any spies?  No
2) between the spies and Patsy and Home I should have pretty good eyes on the area, what is Shur doing?  When your spies hit the right angle, sure.  It's unlikely that you've got a direct bead on the door from home.  Shur's doing what Shur does: patting down folks, giving drek, and stepping inside occasionally when he must be needed. 
3) unlikely for a stipclub, but any paths for flying drones to get in to the build without shooting their way in?  No.  Smuggling them in would probably be the best bet, but they really don't want drones flying around the strip club.

I'm guessing Mercer and SF can see what Flickr is doing?  That said, SF doesn't know these blokes since Achak left, and pickin' fights in strip clubs ain't exactly good for business.  It's possible he just sits this one out.  It's not unlikely that he's got tertiary or related contacts in the room (not char sheet type, but remote business general rep type) given how often he's sneaking shit past the guys... or for them.

Yes, Mercer and SF are aware of what Flickr is doing.  It is entirely likely that SF recognizes some faces here. 

@bangbang, Flickr actually goes first, but there's nothing to react to, so I guess that's a Held Action.  On 17 the Amerindian will try to punch Flickr in the face.  He doesn't have a gun, or knife.  It seems he put some Knucks on.  He'll be issuing a Charging Attack, so Flickr should get a +1 on his roll since he's delayed his action.  I'll need a Defense Test, and if you want to take your CT1 IP1 action after you can at a -1 die penalty.  This guy seems on the ball.  If you want to roll your Military Knowledge Skill you may know what kind of martial arts he's rocking.

CT1 IP1
Flickr 18 (Held)
Amerindian 17

Action to Flickr.

[bangbangtequila]

Flickr | 12 Armour | Initiative 18 | 2S/0P | F6 Combat Sense, F5 Improved Intuition
Defence Test: 18d6t5 7
Military Knowledge: 11d6t5 5

I did not apply my specialization of Special Forces to that roll, but I'm confident 5 hits tells me everything I need to know.
I rolled a single target combat spell without accounting for the -1 dice pool, but you can remove the last roll in the chain (a 4, so not a hit anyway) or I can re-roll with 16 dice. Up to you.
Single Target Combat Spell @F7: 17d6t5 4
Drain Resistance (4): 15d6t5 6 So no drain from that.

IC post coming up shortly

[rednblack]

Ok, so the Single Target spell would be Lightning Bolt, right?  If not, I can adjust my IC.

Flickr successfully defends, as does the Amerindian, though he had to spend some Edge to do so.

CT1 IP1
Flickr 18
Amerindian 17

CT1 IP1
Flickr 8
Amerindian 7

Action to Flickr.

[bangbangtequila]

Well I mistakenly listed lightning bolt, but I think we decided to leave it standing as is until the first rest period at which point I can swap them back, because I mistakenly thought the drain was the same on blast as ball lightning.

F8 Lightning Bolt: 17d6t5 6
Think he'll not be so happy on this one. 14P DV -8 AP less his defence hits, so I'm thinking I'll get him dead. If not, I'll be filled with regret at not using improved reflexes in order to run an extra 2-3 initiative passes.
Resist Drain 5: 15d6t5 6 Luckily avoid physical drain

[rednblack]

I believe you need to lose 2 dice for your Sustaining Penalty. You should have: MAG (6) + Spellcasting (6) + Combat Spec (2) + Power Focus (3) - Sustaining Penalty = 15 dice. Since I'm on my phone we'll drop dice from the end. That'll cost you 2 hits. I don't think Sustaining affects Drain so you should be good there.

Delaying tie earlier action cuts both ways as now the Amerindian has a -1 penalty for second attack. Flickr hits. Damage is 11P -7AP, staged to 13P with Net Hits. He drops.

Roll Initiative for CT2.

I'll also take a Perception Test for anyon at the table.

[Zweiblumen]

Didn't realize I took 0 perception.  I know where his first 2 karma are going...wtf?
Perception: (INT 5 - defaulting 1= 4): 4d6t5 0 No glitch, just fail.  Guess he's paying too much attention to what's going on outside (should probably drop 2 dice for that, but wouldn't change anything).
Lets see what Patsy notices:
Perception: (Clearsight 5 + Pilot 5 = 10): 10d6t5 1
Welp, not much.  Used up all of my hits on not losing any Fly Spys.
Just in case you'll let me make an EW sensor check through the various feeds to see what's going on outside:
Sensor Check (EW 6 + Log 4 = 10): 10d6t5 6 Well there's a good one.  Various sensors at either rating 3 or 4 (patsy is 4 everything else is 3).  Also didn't include any of the rig in there, as he's not "jumped in" though everything going through his RCC to then to his rig.  Dunno enough about the rigging rules to know if any of that matters

I'll get a post up giving Mercer access to the feeds and his reaction to the two lightning bolts going off.

[bangbangtequila]

You forgot my mentor spirit, who grants another 2 dice to combat spells. So without penalties I pull 19 dice, less one sustaining penalty. I'm on my phone so my dice will have to wait for a short bit.

[rednblack]

You forgot my mentor spirit, who grants another 2 dice to combat spells. So without penalties I pull 19 dice, less one sustaining penalty. I'm on my phone so my dice will have to wait for a short bit.

Gotcha. So damage is staged to 15P.

@Zwei, you don't see what you don't see. Things outside appear pretty normal for the barrens. Let me look up what EW would spot for you.

[rednblack]

@Zwei, so what are you looking for with the EW roll?  Just seeing what kinds of matrix traffic you're looking at?  There's plenty of that around Loveland, much more than in the majority of Puyallup.  Anything specific I can give you?

[Malevolence]

Perception [INT 5 + Perception 6]: 11d6t5 3
Visual dice [Spec 2]: 2d6t5 1


You can kill the Visual spec dice (and the hit) to account for the -2 penalty from watching AR as he's also checking the external feeds once he gets them from SF. Dropping dice from the base roll for non-visual perception loses no hits, so that stays the same.

[Zweiblumen]

@Zwei, so what are you looking for with the EW roll?  Just seeing what kinds of matrix traffic you're looking at?  There's plenty of that around Loveland, much more than in the majority of Puyallup.  Anything specific I can give you?

Thought I needed to use EW to do perception through sensors?  Mostly want to see what Shur is doing.

[bangbangtequila]

Initiative for the next round: 1d6+14 18 Conveniently the same score.
I don't know if you need rolls for perception and/or assensing to see if, having decimated the man he was fighting (unfortunately to the point that I believe him to be permanently killed, which wasn't my intent - though perhaps force 8 was a bit excessive for what I was hoping to do...) the man I must've knocked off his stool (7P DV at -7AP isn't likely to be shrugged off, assuming my hits don't count against a secondary target) or his friends are coming after me,and whether their auras indicate they'd be amenable to my offer to heal their friend of his wound. I wouldn't mind at all.

[Malevolence]

Thought I needed to use EW to do perception through sensors?  Mostly want to see what Shur is doing.

You get to choose. Riggers are expected to have a stronger Logic + EW than Int + Perception, so they might often opt for using EW on sensor sweeps rather than Percepting, especially since the control rig boosts the limit for sensors since the downside to doing so is that the sensor rating becomes the limit (and is almost always going to be lower than the rigger's mental limit without the control rig). For you, your EW DP is 10 while perception is 4, so EW is your better option, even with a limit of 3 or 5 rather than whatever your mental limit is (probably 7+). Your average Joe, on the other hand, who is unlikely to have EW as a skill and can't boost the sensor limit, would almost always opt for Perception over EW. But you pick one or the other when using the sensors.