[rednblack]

Ok, cool. In that case:

Simple: Perceive/Activate Focus
Simple: speak
Free: Held

[Tecumseh]

@rednblack
Go ahead and IC post for Chino and Ace.

Katsina and Ace are tied at 15. Ace can act when he's ready, since he knows what Chino will do.

At this point Katsina is intending to cast Control Emotions but she may change her mind based on Chino's reaction.

[Poindexter]

Sorry it took me so long to do an IC post. Thanks for waiting for me.

[rednblack]

Ace's Actions

Free: Ready shock hand.

The rest is up to the GM.  If Ace can speak and ready the shock hand as free actions, then he will hold a charge attack against Sam if Sam tries to take another bite out of Chino.  If not, then he'll use a Simple to Speak, and hold his other Simple Action.

[Tecumseh]

Looking through the rules, I'm not seeing anything that says Ace needs to spend a Free Action to ready a shock hand. Perhaps it's logical that you should, otherwise it would be armed all the time, but I certainly don't have any objection to readying the shock hand and saying something at the same time.

I'm actually going to call this a Leadership test. It's unclear whether this is simply an extension of the Free Action (speak a phrase) or requires some larger action, like a Simple or Complex. I don't see any reason why it would take more than a Free Action in this case, but's let make sure we set a good precedent. The action (Free, Simple Complex) required by Leadership will correspond to how much information/coaching/cheerleading would be required to achieve the desired effect. Command and Rally tests might be reasonably easy, while a Direct test might be more involved. But, for the future, this might be a fun use for unused Free Actions.

The modifiers are tricky. I'm going to say that Ace is at -1 because Sam is suspicious of him (corporate killbot), but that his desired result is advantageous to Sam (+1, which Sam probably unconsciously understands even if his current appetites suggest otherwise). I'm going to say Sam and Ace are of equal rank and that the differing social strata aren't meaningful. So, net result, a straight test.

@rednblack
Please roll Leadership + Charisma (4 dice).

@Poindexter
Sam's base pool is Leadership + Willpower. Sam doesn't have Leadership so he needs to default. His Willpower is also -1 due to being Berserk, so his dicepool is 5. If Ace wins then Sam will stand down for 1 Combat Turn.

Ace can hold the remainder of his action(s).

Katsina will try to cast Control Emotions @ Force 4 on Sam. She's intending to instill Sam with a sense of disgust/shame, although she has some strong headwinds due to her previous Drain and her sustaining penalties

Magic 6 + Spellcasting 6 + Mentor Spirit 2 - 2 Wounds - 2 Sustaining: 8d6t5 2 hits + I can't count 2: 2d6t5 1 hit = 3 hits

Soaking 3 drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 6: 12d6t5 4 hits, no drain

@Poindexter
It's a Mana spell so Sam resists 3 hits with Willpower + Logic, both of which are inhibited due to Berserk. Sam can roll 8 dice + 2 counterspelling = 10 dice.

CT1 IP1
Sam: 22
Chino: 21
Ace: 15
Katsina: 15
Doc: 10
Ohanzee: 10

Action to Doc and Ohanzee!

[Malevolence]

Ohanzee will summon Diamondback again, move toward the safety of the van at a brisk walk - NOT a run so he doesn't trigger some predatory response from Sam - and use his free action to communicate with Sam on the astral - "We are your friends - your only friends. Stay your hunger." If I can fit an eleventh word in there, I'd like to end with "Please." This might fall into the same issue as Ace where technically this might be considered a Negotiation/Diplomacy or Leadership/(possibly Command) test, but mostly it's flavor.


Diamondback has apparently leveled, because he shows up at Force 7. Ohanzee has taken Spirit Whisperer.
Summon Diamondback (F7, w/o Centering) [Magic 6 + Summoning 6 + Focus 2]: 14d6t5 5
Summoning Resist [Force 7]: 7d6t5 1
Resist Drain [WIL 6 + CHA 6]: 12d6t5 4
So, owes 4 services, no drain.


Also, skipping the centering just so I don't trigger Sam's "geek the mage" instincts.
Hopefully the sight of an even bigger predator will cause Sam pause.

[Tecumseh]

Looks good overall but let's trim the word count on the communication. I'm still thinking 5-7 words for a Free Action communication. I know it's the astral and probably faster than speaking but it's still only 1 - 1.5 seconds. 5-7 words still puts you in the range of an auctioneer (~250 words per minute, ~4 per second).

As for Diamondback, the way I read Spirit Whisperer is that you summon @ F6 but then they show up at Force 7. In this case, you summoned at Force 7 so Diamondback shows up at Force 8. Go ahead and pick a couple optional powers for him.

In the future, Force 7+ spirits will use Edge to resist summoning by puny mortals, but Diamondback likes Ohanzee and is obviously wagging his tail here, given his resist roll. (A Force 6 spirit that gets upgraded to F7 via Spirit Whisperer would not use Edge, but an F7 getting upgraded to an F8 would.)

[Malevolence]

Looks good overall but let's trim the word count on the communication. I'm still thinking 5-7 words for a Free Action communication. I know it's the astral and probably faster than speaking but it's still only 1 - 1.5 seconds. 5-7 words still puts you in the range of an auctioneer (~250 words per minute, ~4 per second).

"We're your only friends. Please stop this."

As for Diamondback, the way I read Spirit Whisperer is that you summon @ F6 but then they show up at Force 7. In this case, you summoned at Force 7 so Diamondback shows up at Force 8. Go ahead and pick a couple optional powers for him.

In the future, Force 7+ spirits will use Edge to resist summoning by puny mortals, but Diamondback likes Ohanzee and is obviously wagging his tail here, given his resist roll. (A Force 6 spirit that gets upgraded to F7 via Spirit Whisperer would not use Edge, but an F7 getting upgraded to an F8 would.)

I am summoning him at F6 and he is appearing at Force 7. Since the resist test works out the same, I just put the force he arrives at in the orokos description. Diamondback was level 6 when Ohanzee summoned him last, but I guess my "apparently leveled" statement doesn't make is crystal clear that he didn't go from 6 to 8. But Ohanzee summoned the same spirit specifically, expecting him to show up at the same force 6 as last time, only to have him show at force 7. At least, that's how I plan to write it in the IC. By the fluff in the rule books, it seems that the summoner doesn't get to choose his spirit, but I like having spirits as recurring characters, and I think that's how we've been playing it, so I've pretty much chosen to make it so that if you ask for a generic force 6 spirit of beasts, you get some random spiri, but if you have summoned a spirit before, you can "lock on" to that particular spirit and at least have a strong preference for summoning that one again. Depending on how you've been treating your spirits, the GM can step in and say that that spirit doesn't show, but other than that, I think that having a stable of "go to" spirits is more fun.


How spirits gain power is a mystery. Wolf was awesome, and I can certainly see him gaining force from his heroics. Diamondback, less so, but it makes more sense for Ohanzee to call to him since Wolf has still only had a couple days to recoup from some serious hurt and he wants intimidation - if words can't appeal to Sam, then strength might. A high force spirit with a wicked ethereal rattle seemed to work quite well on the Bandersnatchii, so he's keen to try it again. But I could see him calling on Wolf since he can be as intimidating as Fuck too, and Sam actually saw him before and so might know that he's also a friend.


Actually, I think I've talked myself into calling for Wolf over Diamondback. We'll have to roll to see if he's fully recovered from his wounds or not, but I think it makes a better play. Time also travels differently in the metaplanes I believe, so who's to say he hasn't had a year to recover? Or that it was only moments ago for him...

[Tecumseh]

"We're your only friends. Please stop this."

This is good.

Unless they are disrupted, spirits heal instantly when they are released from service and return to their home metaplanes. If disrupted or banished, they need 24+ hours before returning. If you serious kick their ass, they need a year and a day. This might be from 4E (or even before) but it works for now.

99% of the time I won't have any issue deferring to the PC as to which spirit is summoned, as the RP aspect is working well for us here. That said, in this case the best candidate would be Bear, as Sam's mentor spirit is is seriously displeased that he is threatening Chino. (Harming Chino would be a direct violation of Bear's disadvantage as a mentor spirit.)

[Malevolence]

Bear would be optimal, but Ohanzee is not aware that Sam has a mentor spirit, so it won't occur to him. If we want to go that route for story reasons though, I can have Bear answer the call instead ("Wolf is not available to take your call at this time. Normal business hours are from...").

[Tecumseh]

Right, I was thinking that Bear would show up, somewhat to Ohanzee's surprise.

[Poindexter]

Sam's base pool is Leadership + Willpower. Sam doesn't have Leadership so he needs to default. His Willpower is also -1 due to being Berserk, so his dicepool is 5. If Ace wins then Sam will stand down for 1 Combat Turn.

Leadership (Will 7 - Default 1 - Berserk 1): 5d6t5 2

It's a Mana spell so Sam resists 3 hits with Willpower + Logic, both of which are inhibited due to Berserk. Sam can roll 8 dice + 2 counterspelling = 10 dice.

resist spell (Will 6 + Log 2 + Counterspelling 2): 10d6t5 3

[rednblack]

Sam: Stand Down: 4d6t5 0

Nothing, and very nearly a critical glitch. That could've been fun.

[Zweiblumen]

For Doc's actions, I guess he'll ready his shotgun and try and stay out of view of Sam.

Hide from Sam (agi 2 + sneak 1 = 3): 3d6t5 0

Hah, I'll post that up.  Failure, but not glitch!

[Zweiblumen]

Totally forgot, this would be a perfect place for the CFD to kick in!  What do I need to roll to kick up his agility?