[rednblack]

Thanks to all for the rolls. 

@Mal, so that we're on the same page, the way I see devices running Wireless On and not Silent is that they are visible in AR in their respective meat space if they are within 100 meters of the viewer.  So, the Fly Spy out on the block is easily seen by anyone who happens to have AR vision enabled, even if the rain and darkness would cloud it from physical sight.  Ditto for the one in the hallway.  Now, the fly spy outside Sunrise won't necessarily raise any alarms -- lots of drones doing lots of things out and about, and the Wrapper program can indeed disguise the one in the hallway to look like a light switch, or plug-in, or whatever.  Nori will make use of that.

Of course, there are other, more insidious things that could be done, but it gets into the whole "anything we can do a mega can do too (and probably better)" bit. Basically, you have the drone run wireless off. Every IP it randomly chooses whether or not to switch wireless on and transmit what it has collected, then go wireless off again and repeat. The random portion would be rolling a 1 on a d6 (or a 1-2, or a different die size/time interval depending on how often you want updates). The upside is that it is likely to be offline when the enemy is looking, and even if it is noted, so long as they haven't uniquely identified it (placed marks) they are likely to think it is just multiple transient devices. Even if they do uniquely identify it, it dramatically reduces their window of interaction and the randomness makes it difficult for them to predict when it comes back online, thus hindering their ability to plan ahead or optimize their action economy. Obviously, it also robs the operator of the ability to get realtime information from the drone.

The issue with this that I see is that it will be very difficult to give commands to a device when you never know when its wireless will become enabled next.  Holding Actions is a possibility there, but it seems pretty labor intensive.  Also, there's the question of when a device going Wireless On starts to be able to use Wireless features.  In Tabula Rasa I believe we used the top of the next CT, which I think is a good balance between immediately and at the end of the next CT, as used for rebooting devices.  Of course, from the time that Wireless is turned on (the action) and when it can be used (the following CT) there's a period where it's sending signals and establishing connections (the IPs between) where it would be visible. 

I tend to be ok with this kind of hokey-pokey "You turn your wireless on, you turn your wireless off, you turn your wireless on, and geek a fragger in the mouth" being fine for chars, where they're sacrificing Action economy and potentially sacrificing Wireless bonuses for when they could be really useful.  Am I being too hard on drones here?

@Tec, no issue putting the maglock back together, and no anti-tamper systems present.  I agree that the passkey would not be useful in putting the housing back together.  The janitor's closet is only a Rating 2 maglock, which Achak would probably recognize given the rolls.  Achak and Sister Rebecca have a nice little hidey-hole in the janitor's closet. 

I'm doing a fair amount of running around today, so the next GM IC post may be a bit, but it will likely be primarily dialogue again, depending on how far you guys get ICly before then.

[Malevolence]

I'm in the air for the next 20 hours or so, then probably taking the mother of all naps, so you won't hear anything form me for a full day or so.


I'm not planning on using the wireless on/off trick (too much paperwork besides), and the houserule is a fair one. It only changes the timing so that the drone chooses which CT it wants to be active, activating wireless on (non-silent) at the end of the previous CT, then shutting it off ASAP (unless that also doesn't take effect until next CT, though it shouldn't). But it was mostly something I put out there as a mental exercise.


As far as automatically seeing the physical location of non-silent icons, that could cause issues with drone stealth (though it could also require drones to go wireless off or run silent to successfully stealth, which might not be terrible), but I'm fine with it. It'll probably change what mode I operate devices in. It'll make shooting people through obstacles easier, so Vera likes the idea. That would have been handy for dealing with the decker in the last fight (though he was probably running silent for that reason).


Anyway, the fly-spy on the outside will remain wireless on, but its stealth protocol will have it moving around so that it isn't obvious that it is paying particular attention to the Sunrise building. It may even drift back and forth to near the 100m range so that anyone inside the building will lose sight of it regularly. The one in the building is up to Achak. Then it is Nori's choice for both of them once Mercer hands them off.

[Tecumseh]

It might be a considered an extension of the existing rules for other situations. This is what I used for Tabula Rasa:

Page 268:

Sometimes it’s better to lose a drone for a few seconds than to have it turned against you or sent careening into the nearest dense object. You can use the Reboot Device action to cut off an enemy hack before it gets too far.  This take a little time, as your drone won’t come back online until the end of the following Combat Turn, so be aware of the drone’s environment when you perform this trick.

Page 269:

... a dumped rigger suffers dumpshock (p. 229) and loses control of the vehicle (natch). Vehicles with a Pilot Rating will return to autopilot control at the beginning of the next Combat Turn.

Pending another fire drill, I should be able to IC post by lunch.

[rednblack]

I'm not planning on using the wireless on/off trick (too much paperwork besides), and the houserule is a fair one. It only changes the timing so that the drone chooses which CT it wants to be active, activating wireless on (non-silent) at the end of the previous CT, then shutting it off ASAP (unless that also doesn't take effect until next CT, though it shouldn't). But it was mostly something I put out there as a mental exercise.

Don't get me wrong, I like the line of thinking.  It's not abusive like,  say the 100 stealth tags in the back pocket trick.

As for the AR overlays, yes, that can be a way to target folks through walls, etc.  It also gives Running Silent a benefit that matches the fluff.  Here's a question, should the Blind Fire penalty still apply? 

Have a good trip.


As far as automatically seeing the physical location of non-silent icons, that could cause issues with drone stealth (though it could also require drones to go wireless off or run silent to successfully stealth, which might not be terrible), but I'm fine with it. It'll probably change what mode I operate devices in. It'll make shooting people through obstacles easier, so Vera likes the idea. That would have been handy for dealing with the decker in the last fight (though he was probably running silent for that reason).


Anyway, the fly-spy on the outside will remain wireless on, but its stealth protocol will have it moving around so that it isn't obvious that it is paying particular attention to the Sunrise building. It may even drift back and forth to near the 100m range so that anyone inside the building will lose sight of it regularly. The one in the building is up to Achak. Then it is Nori's choice for both of them once Mercer hands them off.
[/quote]

[Poindexter]

I believe I'm picturing things incorrectly. Isn't the sentry between Becca and the hiding place Achak is offering to share?

[rednblack]

I believe I'm picturing things incorrectly. Isn't the sentry between Becca and the hiding place Achak is offering to share?

The sentry turned the opposite direction from Achak and Becca. He's advancing on Becca's rear, but up until the Sunrise office in front of her the coast is clear.

[Poindexter]

ive tried to post three times since friday night and i just feel like shit. I think I've got the flu or something, as thats whats been going around the office. I'll get something up, but it aint gonna be flowery or self-examinatory or nothin like that.

[Tecumseh]

Is the latest conversation going straight to Mercer and Nori since it's through Mercer's Fly Spy or do I need to continue paraphrasing?

Is Achak (or Mercer, or Nori) familiar with "Talita" or "Tiny"? Perhaps from the Hunter community.

If the sentry has passed, Achak will see if he can get the Fly Spy a bit closer. He wants to see what the man with the CAS accent is leaving by the door.

Are any of the chemicals in the janitor's closet flammable? And there are two fire exits, at the rear, correct?

[rednblack]

Is the latest conversation going straight to Mercer and Nori since it's through Mercer's Fly Spy or do I need to continue paraphrasing?

Mercer and Nori are getting this through their feed on the office.  Achak and Sister Rebecca are not privy to it firsthand, though Mercer may be piping it through.

Is Achak (or Mercer, or Nori) familiar with "Talita" or "Tiny"? Perhaps from the Hunter community.

Talita and Tiny are the two shadowrunners y'all let slide at the church.  Nori is probably not familiar with them, but Mercer was with the rest of the team when Iki called them out, Talita by name, including her real name, which is Margot Nakamura.

If the sentry has passed, Achak will see if he can get the Fly Spy a bit closer. He wants to see what the man with the CAS accent is leaving by the door.

Sure thing.  It's a hard suitcase made out of metal.  It looks like this, only it has a print scanner on the locks.
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Here's the rub.  With the sentry down on the opposite hall, the elevator door opens, and the man with the blond ponytail steps out.  It's reasonable to think that Mercer would comm the team when the blond dude steps inside, and if not Nori will do it, but I do need Achak to tell the drone where to go to avoid being seen.  I'm including a crude map below.  Triangles are doors, the sentry is the X, and the arrow represents his present trajectory.  The elevators are both marked with an E, and the fire exits are on the left-hand side.  Let me know if anything is unclear.  Obviously, the break rooms and other offices aren't marked, but they're on either side of the break room, and office suites line the walls.

Are any of the chemicals in the janitor's closet flammable? And there are two fire exits, at the rear, correct?

Probably.  Does Achak have the Chemistry skill, or a likely substitute?  Default to LOG if not.  There are two fire exits at the rear, and the main entrance at the front.

[Malevolence]

Anyway, Mercer isn't quite sold on attacking them here, but he's leaning that way. The other option is to try tracking the briefcase or the woman's car (or both). I'm not sure how to proceed with an assault, hence the question to the team in my IC. If everybody would prefer to stay non-violent an track the woman (and/or the case), then we can make that work as well.

[rednblack]

Not mentioned ICly, but Achak's Magic Sense starts tingling pretty hard when the blond ponytail exits the elevator.

[Tecumseh]

Things are obviously getting interesting. I'm slammed at the office and don't have my usual goof-off time, partly due to the fact that the gal I work with flew off to China for the next two weeks and left me with her stuff. (she got engaged, how selfish)

I'll try to get an IC up tonight but no guarantees.

[Tecumseh]

A few logistics/layout questions:

1) How long are the hallways (both the long and short ones)? I'm asking for range purposes, since machine pistols have middling range capabilities.
2) Are the only stairs the fire exits? So if we block the way to the fire exits, they have to take the elevators (or the window)?
3) Is there a fire alarm available? If so, Achak might trigger it so that the elevators are locked and recalled to the lobby.

Chemistry test to find something flammable in the supply closet: Logic 2 - Defaulting 1: 1d6t5 1 hit, my small dice pools are holding, tee hee

If he finds something, are there materials to make a primitive molotov cocktail? I'm thinking of sticking some rags in a jug of something flammable, then lighting the rags with his miniwelder, then chucking the mixture between the Sunrise office door and the elevator. (Alternatively, they could just send flammable things with a fire spirit if Sister Rebecca resummons, see below). 

GM interpretation question: if we're being strict about the "only spirits associated with Combat fight" rule, then Sister Rebecca should dismiss Raziel and resummon a fire spirit, or an angel with a flaming sword (Uriel, most likely).

Knowledge check for estimated Knight-Errant response times: Intuition 6 + Seattle Area Knowledge 2: 8d6t5 2 hits, I'll make up a number and put it in the IC post. I'll update it if the GM says Achak would think differently.

From a tactics standpoint, it might be best if Nori just went Full Defense and drew the attention of the decker, but Achak doesn't know enough about cybercombat to recommend something like that. Nor could he hear anything she just said, as it was said to Mercer.

[Malevolence]

For Achak's observation, I think they're pulling an Ollie North, and that the briefcase contains the backup. It's big for data files, and paper files are a rarity these days, but that's what the dialog seems to indicate.


Mercer is basically turning off his SIN transmission, and switching all of his gear to wireless on, running silent (even the stuff that was previously not running silently, per the house rules on insta-locating non-hidden devices). This excludes the drone outside the window - a sudden influx of new hidden devices might alert them to impending action, and the van being outside 100m as it is all that gear going hidden should go unnoticed. He's also getting his ballistic mask ready to put on. He'll probably open with Vera on the remaining guard in the parking lot and the mask might give too much warning, so he'll take his shot, then put it on. All of the other guns besides Vera are staying wireless off for now. The Roadmaster is staying Wireless on, non-hidden as well as it couldn't hide if it wanted to. He'll also grab another Thermal Smoke grenade if he has time, but he's doing an awful lot, so he might ask Nori to grab it for him from the smuggling compartment. Or you can just say the action happens too fast and he doesn't have time to grab it - I'm fine either way, it's a nice to have but not critical.


Just in case his dialog is unclear, he is suggesting Nori use the Target Device action (Rigger 5.0 pg. 30), or if her EW is suck, then just put AROs for devices she spots and identifies in the matrix so that the aforementioned shooting through walls can be done. He's also suggesting that he'd like to take the enemy decker out of action ASAP, so his location would be a priority. Inside, they might want to deal with the magical types first, but I'll leave target prioritization to them.


Also, he is thinking that the best opening move for the indoor team might be a grenade through the open office door, assuming they are still open, otherwise you might need to open them yourself.


Mercer's other thought would be to herd them into the hallway (shooting through the windows with Vera should get them moving in that direction, especially if they don't suspect there are people inside the building). Would Mercer see this as a potentially more viable strategy than announcing the existence of the breaching team as an opening maneuver. This might qualify as a Crossfire situation (herding them into a kill-zone). If they open with the grenade, then we could still use it as a "Chuck and Charge". Mercer could coordinate using the Fly-spy as eyes and ears. I'll roll Perception for his general looksie for potential problems outside, and SUT to see which he thinks might be a better tactic, and we can roll for whichever one we decide on. Mercer has a good leadership skill, so he can cover for one person that has the lowest SUT dicepool (Int based).


Perception [INT 5 + Perception 6 + Visual Enhancement 3 + Spec 2]: 16d6t5 4 Abysmal as far as dice pool to success ratio, but 4 hits sees quite a bit, so I'll take it.


Small Unit Tactics [INT 5 + SUT 5]: 10d6t5 4 That's better. He should have a pretty good idea on what tactic would provide the best odds of success.


If we decide on running away, I just want to remind folks that we have two vehicles, so the Roadmaster can distract and cover while Nori's ride picks up Achak and Becca. But it looks like we ain't planning on running just yet.

[rednblack]

@Tec,

1) How long are the hallways (both the long and short ones)? I'm asking for range purposes, since machine pistols have middling range capabilities.
--We'll call it 40 meters and 20 meters respectively.

2) Are the only stairs the fire exits? So if we block the way to the fire exits, they have to take the elevators (or the window)?
-- Correct.  The stairs are at the back of the building.

3) Is there a fire alarm available? If so, Achak might trigger it so that the elevators are locked and recalled to the lobby.
-- Achak is reasonably sure he passed a fire alarm in the hallway.  There are no sprinklers or alarms in the janitor's closet.

Success on finding something flammable.  There's some carpet cleaning chemicals that Achak has seen go up in pretty dramatic fashion in his misspent youth.  The jug is 4 liters, and made of plastic, so it won't burst dramatically if he goes with the molotov cocktail idea, but once it catches it should go up pretty good. 

I am not being strict at all with spirit summoning traditions.  I've gone back and forth on this, but let's keep up the fun quotient and let Raziel do what y'all need an angel to do.

Achak would guess 5-20 minutes on KE response time, quicker if things are really going boom, and they decide to call in a VTOL.

On Nori and matrix tactics, that's very reasonable.  Who will pay for her deck should it get bricked?

@Mal,

The van is within 100 meters.  That's how Nori has been able to find the deck, etc.

I don't have Rigger 5.0, so I'm unfamiliar with the Target Device action.

A grenade through the front door is a solid idea.  The door did close behind blond ponytail when he went through, but it's doubtful that the interior glass is ballistic, so it shouldn't prove too bad of a barrier.

Shooting through the window would likewise stand a good chance of getting them moving toward the hallway.

Perception: the men outside look on guard and ready.  They still do not seem aware of the drone, nor are they keeping an eye on the Roadmaster more than any other vehicle around.

SUT: the biggest tactical concern is Achak and Sister Rebecca being outnumbered inside.  If the men outside make their way in, and things don't go as planned on the second floor, they could get stuck in a vamp-loving sandwich.  Nothing novel, but you'll want to hit hard and fast.  Whether it would be best to focus fire upstairs, and then clean up the goons street level, or vice versa is up for debate.  The fact that you're dealing with three separate known groups -- even though one of those groups is just one meta -- leaves the biggest potential for things to go sideways.

Crossfire and Dynamic Entry, Chuck and Charge are both possibilities here.

Are we ready to roll Initiative, or can I provide any further info?