[Tecumseh]

Babgbang, you posted the gun bunny (Jack/Daisy), not the mage.

[Malevolence]

Guns ARE magic...

[bangbangtequila]

hahahaha yes, yes they are. Sorry about that. The right one is up now, and here it is again. Sorry for the long wait.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByQXY6JwCD0gWXJLaWxoWm9BSWM/view?usp=sharing

[Tecumseh]

The old Sprawl Sites book has a wonderful encounter with a gang boss who is in denial about being a street shaman:

"Magic? That's crapola the corps spread around to keep us in our place. Magic is a gun, and I'm a mage."

(The same gang boss has another one of my favorite lines: "If you can see it, you can shoot it. If you can shoot it, you can kill it. If it dies, it ain't tough." Knucks will almost certainly be mentioning one or both of these lines at some point in Trial by Fire.)

@Bangbang, I'll let rednblack handle most of the critique since I already chimed in on the character creation thread. But, that said, a few thoughts come to mind:

1) A point in Etiquette is customary.
2) You have 10 HE grenades and Str 1. (Also, Throwing Weapons 0.) If you haven't looked at the grenade throwing ranges with Str 1, I encourage you to do so. I also strongly request insist that you not use any around me.
3) You'll have to sustain Increase Intuition with Psyche. In order for the spell to work, it needs to be equal in Force to the attribute you are increasing. In this case that's 6, so you need to cast at Force 6, which is more than you can sustain with your Focused Concentration. Focused Concentration will still be useful for Combat Sense and Increased Reflexes.
4) Your Agility and Reaction look wonky. Does the program think that you are wearing all of your armor simultaneously? That would cause a negative modifier to AGI and REA.
5) From an optimization standpoint, you're not getting much out of being an Elf. It gets you an extra point of Agility, which is great, and some extra Charisma that you're not really using. But the cost is 4 points of Edge, including whatever you could get with the 10 karma you spent into raising Edge from 1 to 2 as an Elf. If you love elves and this character is an elf to you and nothing else then by all means keep him that way, but 1 point of Agility for 4 points of Edge is not an optimal trade.

[bangbangtequila]

The grenades are an explosive substitute. You can use ubiquitous duct tape and leave them anywhere, or strap them to doors, then use the built in wireless function to detonate them from the security of your PAN. An equivalent from the explosives rules is something silly like 450-600 and weights 2 kg, not to mention being hard to hide and unwieldy as all hell. I won't be tossing these much, that's what Ball Lightning is for.

The program is super wonky. It's giving me the penalty for wearing forearm guards, the helmet, and the face mask. Just silliness.

I could toss in an Etiquette then. Not a big deal. I'll pull one out of something.

Focused is there to do combat senses and increased reflexes, then also be able to sustain low force spells like levitate or mob control if I need to hold them. It is also in place so I can ideally upgrade the quality as time goes on, and swap it out for 5 and 6 so I can eventually keep combat sense up high and keep reflexes at +6+3d6, which is more then enough to keep me at the front.

The increased intuition is a good catch. I might swap it out to strength or body then, or willpower to give me free stun boxes that disappear when I let the spell go which makes it far more worth it. Or I'll change the increased attribute completely, and take some kind of flashy, explosive, fiery spell.

[rednblack]

@Tec and @Mal, can I get an Initiative roll and a general outline for the team's next steps?  Are we at the "Getting the hell out of Dodge" stage of the encounter, or is Mercer planning on doing a little head hunting from inside the office complex? 

@bbt, some notes on Jackson:

The Encumbrance rules will be pinging him if he has on his Full Body Armor + Helmet.

There's lots of silliness when it comes to grenades and demolitions that make grenades look like an attractive alternative to using Commercial Explosives, etc.  Despite what the rules say, you won't be bringing down any bridges with a bunch of grenades taped together.  They work perfectly fine for traps, though you would be making a Demolitions test as outlined on page 435 of the CRB. 

Etiquette and Con are important skills to have. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the char's background.

[Tecumseh]

Achak: Initiative - Wounds 1: 5d6+13 29
Sister Rebecca: Initiative - Wounds 3: 2d6+5 15

General outline is to go out the way we came in. Do we know where the sentry is (via Raziel)? We'll deal with the sentry if necessary, but otherwise it's basically we're retiring from the field. I imagine a jogging pace, one that allows Achak sufficient opportunities to check his six so that they don't get shot in the back or ambushed by another blood spirit that materializes behind him.

What's the movement speed of a Fly Spy? Achak still has Mercer's Fly Spy in his pocket. If he reactivates it and sets it to follow (to help watch the rear), can it keep up? Or will doing so risk leaving it behind (because the runners will outpace it)?

On that note, I'd like to have Achak dual-wielding as he exits. I'm thinking club in the left hand, machine pistol in the right hand. He's not ambidextrous and will be sacrificing some precision, but I want both weapons readily available. He can drop the machine pistol on its sling if he needs to use the club, and if he needs to use the machine pistol then hopefully he can either do that one-handed.

Sister Rebecca will be counterspelling and carrying the case. I might have her go on Full Defense since she gets so many extra dice from it.

As far as I know, Achak and Sister Rebecca are not aware of the K-E car out front or what Mercer is dealing with. Their plan is to just walk casually out the back. I think Raziel still has Concealment up. Raziel isn't very high Force, but hopefully those few extra dice are enough for them to slip out into the rain without too much attention. I doubt the MGL fits very well under Sister Rebecca's jacket, so they'll be hoping for a ride relatively quickly after they exit.

[bangbangtequila]

Ugh. That's right. I forget that the encumbrance rules are so darned silly when it comes to helmets. Full body armour? No problem. Helmet? Oh man better remove 60% of your agility! No worries. I'll  probably be changing my spell selection when I do my final draft, and doing a strength buff spell. The RC is really good, and it would be sustainable using my Focused Concentration to bring me to Str 5 no problem and kept there, which helps a lot.

Grenades, well, just hiding them places or using them as simple breaching charges shouldn't be too hard, or just taping two or three to a car would be more than enough to slow down pursuit, or take out a target thrall. Even with no skill, they just might be what we need in a pinch, and so I figure it is worth the relatively minimal cost.

I 've got a tonne on my plate, but I have written off tomorrow to relax before my medical, so I'll be able to finalize it by some time in the afternoon.

[rednblack]

Raziel will let Sister Rebecca know that it is still in pursuit, and that the sentry is on the second floor in an office.  He does not appear to be a problem at the moment. 

The Fly Spy will not have any trouble keeping up with the runners.  Speed 3 gives it 40 meters a turn running rate.

I'll get an IC up probably sometime tomorrow.

[Malevolence]

Mercer did send a text to the group that KE was on scene, so they should have an idea that egress will be more complicated then just walking out the front door. They are welcome to check the feeds from the external flyspy to get more detail.


Initiative CT6 (-2 from WM): 3d6+7 15


General plan is to ready a grenade wireless on, then toss it near the front door and have the outside flyspy (who has by now completed a quick scan for more approaching KE) watch the KE out front and detonate the grenade if they come in the front door. Then head upstairs to assist the rest of the group. Which at this point sounds more like covering their exit. How long will it take for the van to reach the rear?

[rednblack]

Alright, doesn't look like anyone's coming looking for Little John on the second floor, and he's not looking to find them either.  Feel free to IC your escape from the office complex as you see fit.  When the team re-emerges, the KE squad car is gone.  Nori will inform the team shortly after my IC ends that it just went poof, and while she couldn't crack its defenses beforehand, she lost all trace of it ever being there to begin with when it disappeared.

I will take a Perception Test for each runner when they exit.  Include specs for Vision and Hearing separate.  Sadly, Tec, there's nothing relating to smell that will affect anything here.

We're also nearing a break for Karma and to get our new runners hooked up with the team.  As I mentioned previously I want to discuss some rules stuff as well, but that will probably be a little interspersed with IC posts as I have no intention of slowing down our progress in those regards.

[Tecumseh]

Achak's base Perception: Intuition 6 + Perception 6 - Wounds 1: 11d6t5 3 hits
Plus Vision: Vision Enhancement 3: 3d6t5 1 hit, 4 total
Plus Hearing: Audio Enhancement 3 + Hearing spec 2: 5d6t5 1 hit, 4 total, unless the ringing ears from the grenade explosion still count. If so, that's -1 from the Hearing so back at 3 total.

Sister Rebecca Assensing: Intuition 3 + Assensing 5 - Wounds 3: 5d6t5 2 hits

I'm going to skip rolling regular Perception checks for Sister Rebecca. With wound modifiers her base pool is 3. I can't remember if she's wearing her helmet or not but that's where her Vision Enhancement is. She doesn't have earbuds (but she does have a Hearing spec, which may or may not be negated by ears ringing from the explosion).

[Malevolence]

Mercer will drive aimlessly for a bit while Nori disables any trackers she finds, then pull off somewhere so she can get back into her car and they can wrap up before parting ways.


Perception [INT 5 + Perception 6 - WM 2]: 9d6t5 0
That's some stellar rolling there.


Visual dice [Spec 2 + Enhancement 3]: 5d6t5 3
Audio Dice [Enhancement 3]: 3d6t5 1

[rednblack]

Alright, Nori is unable to find any trackers on the vehicles, or your persons.  After she meets up with her vehicle, she will thank the team gratuitously for the "wiz material" and will make her way back to her house for the write-up.

What are the next steps for the team?  A quick look at the briefcase will show that the files which haven't been corrupted by the explosion are encrypted.  That part could take a little while.

Moving forward, karma rewards are forthcoming, and will be messaged to each hunter individually.  I like how Tecumseh issued Knowledge Skill only Karma, and will be making use of that habit myself. 

Potential House Rule re-writes, in no particular order.

1. All uses of Edge will no longer come with exploding 6s.  I forget, you guys forget, so I think it's best to just use Edge as written.

2. Grenades.  I'm trying to find something more workable here.  Tec's house rules are good, and I'm happy to go that route.  Also, page 190 of the CRB imposes a -2 penalty for Defense Tests against AoE attacks, which was not errata-ed.  I'm tempted to allow Defense Tests against grenades, with each Hit acting as moving the Defender 1 meter from the Detonation point. 

Has anything come up in game that you would like to discuss?

[Tecumseh]

2. Which house rule are you referring to? If it's about targeting a person vs. targeting an area, that's Ryo's house rule.

I've been tinkering with the grenade rules for years and haven't come up with anything ideal. On the one hand, it seems silly not to give defenders a roll against something comparatively slow (like a grenade) when they do get a defense roll versus fast things, like bullets and lasers, although I grant that there's a significant difference between splash damage for grenades and the binary Y/N did-I-hit when it comes to bullets.

Also, the use of a threshold (3) on the attack roll means that the majority of attacks are going to succeed, given the relatively ease of getting 3 hits (especially in a Prime Runner campaign). The grenade rules also don't seem to incorporate other factors particularly well, like cover. Run for Your Life as an interrupt action is great, but then you get other metagaming absurdities such as not using grenades during early IPs (when defenders have Initiative to spend on Interrupt actions) but only in later IPs (when Initiative pools are lower and the defender may not be able to afford it). Grenades are messy, no doubt about it.

Next steps:
1) First Aid on Sister Rebecca (does Nori know any first aid?)
1a) Sister Rebecca casts Heal on herself
2) Achak comes down off his Jazz high and becomes despondent over his failure to beat the ork into submission
3) Sister Rebecca checks in with Marcus and (in all likelihood) gets pulled off the case
4) Mercer and Achak recruit new magical talent to replace Sister Rebecca
5) Mercer and Achak recruit new hacking talent to decrypt whatever is in the case