[Tecumseh]

Sounds good.

While James is swimming back to the dry bag, he bumps into the wreck of the airboat that he sunk.

Back at the dry bag, James tries to track the other air boat. He cannot see it due to the trees and swamp foliage. The waves/wake is minimal due to the airboat coasting over the water rather than plowing through it as a traditional boat would.

Bonus dice for tracking via hearing: Select Sound Filter 1 + Spatial Recognizer 2 + Audio Enhancement 2: 5d6t5 0 hits, maybe some mud in the gear, eh

James can't hear the airboat either. He figures that the dwarf and the troll have backed off the throttle in an attempt to be stealthy, since airboats going at full throttle are obnoxiously loud and can be heard from kilometers away.

Conclusions:
1) If they are not going full-throttle, James can probably swim fast enough to catch them (if he can find them)
2) There's a possibility they may pass by the witch's hut, since the witch was generally aware of smugglers passing back and forth

[Tecumseh]

The spirit using its Search power is a Magic + Intuition Extended test with a Threshold of 5 (modified by distance, which you don't know) and an interval of 10 minutes. Given that you have a good idea of which direction the smugglers went, I'm going to cut that interval in half.

How long will James wait before giving up, or before heading back to Illeana?

[rednblack]

James is going to give chase himself.  He'll figure that they probably went between a quarter and a half click in as straight a line as possible before cutting their engines back, so he'll go 200 M in the direction they were heading before stopping and trying Tracking again. 

I have: INT (9) + Tracking (2) = 11 dice.
Tracking: 11d6t5 2
Not an awful roll, but unlikely to succeed if this is an Opposed Test.  Running against a Threshold sounds better for James, as even an idling engine isn't likely to be much more than Average difficulty to locate. 

Let's also throw in a Perception test.  I don't think this will give James any location related info, but it might let him know if he's on the right track.  I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Specifically Looking (Hearing) (3) = 18 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking: 18d6t5 5
If there's anything to hear, he's hearing it.  Of course, with all that water and trees making sounds bounce around all weird-like the info could be of little use.

[Tecumseh]

James pops up after 200 meters. It only takes him about 4 CT with Bayou Billy pushing him along.

He cannot hear the airboat.  Looking around, he spots a couple small signs - broken branches, torn moss - that suggest that the airboat did come by here, although the signs are not distinct enough to say whether they are from the airboat's recent retreat or if they might have been from the airboat coming to meet the submarine initially.

[rednblack]

Do the signs lead in the same general direction as the witch's hut?  If so, he'll continue try to follow the signs back in that general direction.  If not, he'll give it 30 minutes in a tree and then go back to the hut if the spirit hasn't returned to tell him which direction he should go.

[Tecumseh]

They do lead in the same direction as the witch's hut. Per your instructions, James will pursue.

Rinsing and repeating the process. After another 200 meters, more of the same. Small signs but he cannot hear the airboat nor see it.

After another 200 meters, James finally thinks he can spot the airboat puttering along in the distance, say 150 meters ahead. (I actually did the math for this to see how far they had gotten but of course now I can't find it.) The troll is driving while the dwarf is on lookout. The dwarf looks very vigilant and has her assault rifle at the high ready.

[rednblack]

Ooo, that's unexpected.  Ok, so James is going to try to overshoot the air boat's present trajectory by about 200 meters, surface behind a tree, and climb on up stealthily.  Then, he'll assemble the Desert Strike, and prepare to murderize some hoops.

Ok, how to handle the rolling for this.  I figure Navigation will come into play.  I have: INT (9) + Navigation (4) = 13 dice.
Navigation: 13d6t5 4
That seems pretty good.

We're going to keep Wireless Off, but let's see how sneaky James is being.  I have: AGI (11) + Stealth Group (6) = 17 dice.
Sneaking: 17d6t5 7
So, that's pretty sneaky.  Dwarf and Trollbro are at -6 for Visual Perception.

I figure I should also throw in a Climbing Test, mostly to see if James makes any missteps that may compromise his stealthiness.  I have: STR (8) + Athletics Group (6) - Slippery or Wet (2) = 12 dice.
Climb that tree: 12d6t5 5
These rolls make me wonder what would've happened in the Sunt game if I'd been using Orokos instead of physical dice for the Amerindian.

Last, I think, we'll toss in an Armorer Test to reassemble the Desert Strike.  I have: LOG (4) + Armorer (4) = 8 dice.
Assemble Desert Strike: 8d6t5 5
Ok, so for this post I rolled 21 hits on 50 dice. 

[Tecumseh]

Well dice like that make my job easy.

James expertly swims ahead, then expertly climbs a tree, then expertly finds a sneaky spot for his hoop murderizing, then expertly reassembles his Desert Strike.

The airboat is approaching your position. The troll is in front; the dwarf is largely looking for threats to the rear. You may murderize hoops at your convenience.

[rednblack]

Alright, let's see if it's realistic to one-shot a troll with something other than an Assault Canon.  Surprise should help.  James is going to take 8 total Simple Actions -- about six seconds worth -- of Take Aim actions, applying 4 to increasing his dice pool, and 4 to increase his Limit.  James will wait until they're within forty meters, mostly because he wants to take full advantage of his elevated position should the dwarf have time to duck for cover.

Initiative: Initiative: 16+4d6 28

CT 43 IP1
Free: Called Shot: Bulls-Eye Burst
Complex: 3-round burst at Trollbro.

I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group (8) + Take Aim (4) - Called Shot (4) = 19 dice.  I am not including any bonuses for the troll's size, as I think you like to leave those out for Called Shots.  I'm also not taking any Smartlink bonuses, as I think that's one of the Wireless bonuses that we decided need access to the matrix to be effective.
murderize Trollbro: 19d6t5 7

Base damage is 13P -6AP.  AP is staged to -12 with the Called Shot as per this post: http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=23135.msg430411#msg430411

So 13P -12AP + Net Hits, so unless this guy has some Combat Sense of his own, etc. he should be facing 20P -12AP.  That just might one-shot a troll.

Next IP will likely follow this pattern, sans Take Aim actions, unless the dwarf ducks from view. 

ETA: James is at 11/14 Desert Strike 1/5 Redline 1/5 Edge

Also, Trollbro should at least get 3 Defense dice for being in a moving vehicle. 

[Tecumseh]

There are two ways to read the Take Aim limitation of "one-half the character’s Willpower". I'm going to take the more restrictive reading that says you can only take four Take Aim actions (total) and then divide them up between Limit and Dice Pool rather than you can take four for each. That drops a hit off the shot, so 6 net hits.

As you say, he gets 3 dice to defend for being in a moving vehicle, but that's certainly not enough to dodge 6 hits. He doesn't have any cover to speak of, which would be his other source of automatic dice, nor does he have combat sense. A quick roll of three dice results in 1 hit, so James has 5 net hits.

The AP wipes out what armor he has, so that's out. He's left with Body to soak 18P. Not impossible, but the odds are bad.

Soaking: Body: ?d6t5 2 hits

Trollbro takes 16P in addition to his previous 6S. He's not DEAD dead, but he's down and probably missing some very important pieces of his body.

CT43 IP1
Give the dwarf lady credit: she's so keyed up that as soon as trollbro goes down she catapults over the back edge of the airboat.

Action to James.

[rednblack]

Basic plan now is to finish off Trollbro, and then play the waiting game.  Once the air boat is close enough for James to either go out on a limb and drop down, or make a jump for it he'll try to do that to get on deck.  If he needs to swim it, he will, but again he'll wait until it's as close as it's going to get before doing so.

CT43 IP2
Simple: Double tap at Trollbro.
Simple: Observe in Detail.
Free: Called Shot: Bulls-eye Double Tap

For shooting I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group ( - Called Shot (4) = 15 dice.
murderize Trollbro: 15d6t5 6
13P -16AP + Net Hits.  I was wrong about the AP in my earlier post, as I was going off of the Alpha's stats, not the Desert Strike's.  Can I get an errata for my extra bullet from the last pass and just fire 2?  Here's my math: Desert Strike AP = Base (4) + APDS (4) = 8.  8 + [Base Weapon AP (4) X Shots Fired (2)] = 16.

For the Observe in Detail I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 20 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual: 20d6t5 4
James is looking for tell-tale signs as to the whereabouts of the female dwarf.  She really has been a worthy adversary so far, and James is not counting her out of the fight.  He may even attempt to parlay, though that's doubtful to go very well.  I anticipate a rather high threshold here bc of the murky swamp water and the effects of the air boats rotors on the water's surface.  We'll see how it goes.

IC forthcoming.

Bah, it's occurred to me that the Bulls-eye double tap should be a Complex Action.  At least, I think it is.  We'll save that for the next IP.

[Tecumseh]

Busy at work so I'm writing on the fly here.

Last pass might have been a double-tap rather than a burst because I'm not sure an SA weapon is truly capable of a "burst" in the sense of this called shot. Other than action economy, I don't think there's a difference between an SA Burst (Complex) and and  BF Burst (Simple), but I can't figure out what a double-tap would be for since there aren't any 2-round bursts (unless you only have two rounds left in your magazine, which isn't the case here). So is double-tap for SA weapons and bulls-eye burst for BF? Mysteries.

Trollbro is lying facedown on the bottom of the airboat when James finishes him off. Trollbro expires violently.

Things James sees with his Observe in Detail:
1) With his hydraulic jacks, he should be able to jump directly from his perch into the boat.
2) Trollbro is bleeding all over the product, although in theory it should be fine since it is in waterproof plastic pouches.
3) The rope that was connecting the airboat to the sub is dragging off the back of the boat.
4) Some water is creeping into the boat. Upon reflection, James will realize that his AP is so potent that his APDS punched straight through trollbro and then through the bottom of the boat. The airboat is not in immediate danger of sinking but it could benefit from some repair if James wants it to remain above water for more than a few minutes. It's also possible that booting trollbro out of the boat will reduce the weight in the boat enough so that the boat rides above the water (so that the holes don't "leak", even if they aren't repaired).

[rednblack]

Hmm, slightly tricky here.  If James immediately jumps on the air boat, the female dwarf will probably still be too close to the boat's motor and accosted by the unfamiliar sounds of the water to be able to hear him.  But, James isn't in too much of a hurry to get on the air boat, and he'd rather wait to tip his hand.  James will turn Wireless On, and perform a Matrix Perception Test. 

CT43 IP3
Free: Turn Wireless On
Complex: Matrix Perception.

If it takes a CT for Wireless to come on -- I can't remember -- he'll spend the entirety of the CT Observing in Detail, specifically looking for any explosives on deck, or any movement on the rope that's trailing behind the air boat.  In fact, even if it doesn't he'll spend an action doing so before dropping down.  The above roll is sub par, but we can roll with that, unless you want a new one.

For Matrix Perception I have: INT (9) + Computer (4) + Matrix Perception Spec (2) = 15 dice.
Matrix Perception: 15d6t5 7
Hitting the DR.  For any icons that pop up, I would like to know:
1. Spot
2. Type of icon
3. Most recent Matrix action
4. Device Rating
5. Time of most recent Matrix action
6. Firewall Rating
7. Commcode (if applicable)
 
If the Matrix is coming back clear, or if James gets a bead on some stuff, but it doesn't seem as though the air boat is booby trapped, he will jump down, Take Cover behind the contraband, and inspect Trollbro. 

And I'm just now noticing the time.  I'll get my IC in early tomorrow.   

[Tecumseh]

James does not see any explosives on deck. It's possible that trollbro is rigged to blow, but unlikely.

James does not see anything in the boat other than plastic-wrapped packages, trollbro, trollbro's blood, and some water. He doesn't see any weapons. Trollbro had an LMG, but that was in the boat that James blew up, so it's possible that trollbro has been unarmed since then.

The rope behind the boat is taut. It is clearly attached to something or caught on something.

Comms take a CT to reboot, but I don't know if there's a rule about how long wireless takes to turn on. After wireless is restored, James finds zero icons, or maybe one (see below). There is a suspicious lack of icons, so much so that James figures that the dwarf and the troll must have turned their wireless off in an attempt to remain undetected. The only possible exception is the DocWagon wristband that is flashing on the troll's wrist, which James sees regardless of whether his Matrix Perception test detects it or not. It's unclear to me whether this qualifies as an icon or not, although it may be since it is transmitting a signal. That said, I probably wouldn't let a DocWagon wristband be hacked, but I might let its signal be jammed with the proper equipment.

In any case, James is uncertain whether the signal is strong enough to even be received by any DocWagon responders as he is not particularly near civilization at the moment. Even if wristband signal is strong enough, James can't imagine that the DocWagon's response time will be particularly fast, unless they just happen to have a helicopter in the right place at the right time.

[rednblack]

So I maybe went a little off-the-rails.  If anything I posted doesn't fit in with any of your plans, or you'd like to keep flashback stuff out of PC hands, just let me know, and I'll edit the IC. 

Figure I should offer a Negotiation test.  I have: CHA (4) + Negotiation (4) = 8 dice.
Negotiation: 8d6t5 0
Ouch.  I thought it sounded pretty good, but maybe James is just coming off as fraggin' crazy.  I could see that. Or not trustworthy.  That would make sense too.

Let me know if you want any additional Perception tests. 

ETA: the gun geek stuff is mostly extrapolations from existing trajectory info on the .338 Lapua.  SR sniper rifle ranges don't really coincide well with modern day real world sniper rifle ranges -- the .338 Lapua for example is usually sighted in at 1000 yards, or 914 meters, putting it at extreme range -- but most of what I was putting was just for fluff.