[rednblack]

I didn't address the Addiction thing in my last OOC.  My reading of the addiction rules is that if James doesn't take any more Rock Lizard Blood in 5 weeks, he'd be off the hook.  This makes sense to me.  You can go on a novacoke bender every once in awhile without risking addiction, but once you start doing a little to start the day, or every time you're out meeting your chummers for a drink, you might run into problems.

So I don't waste too much time on back and forth, when the dwarf declines, James will ping Illeana: <<@Illeana [James] How do you want to play this?>>

Also, to clarify, the dwarf is talking about inside the hut, right?  Not the area itself.

ETA: James should've bought some cigars while they were in civilization.

ETA2: I forgot about Tailored Pheromones, but they probably don't work here, as James is still in the boat.  This note is just to remind myself in the future.

[Tecumseh]

The addiction rules seem to be largely concerned with use over time, "time" being weeks. What they don't address is "what if you take six doses back-to-back-to-back?" Physiologically and psychologically I'm not sure if that's any more addicting, but per the rules taking a ton all at once is just as addictive as one dose, and vice versa.

The dwarf is talking about witches in the swamp, not in the hut.

Illeana will try to sweeten him up with Influence. She'll keep it low Force (say 4) so that it's less noticeable and so that I don't have to roll drain.

Magic 6 + Spellcasting 7 + Mentor Spirit 2: 15d6t5 6 hits, capped at 4 by Force/Limit

Ut, the dwarf has Magic Resistance and is a tough old coot. Willpower 6 + Logic 3 + Magic Resistance 4: 13d6t5 5 hits, which beats the 4 hits

Old dwarf notices the spellcasting. Picks up his shotgun and encourages you to git.

I'll IC this out.

[Tecumseh]

Mama alligator indeed.

Roll Surprise. Don't forget Combat Sense.

Reaction 4 + Intuition 10 + Combat Sense 4: 18d6t5 6 hits, Illeana gets to act

A beastie will be coming up from underneath and trying to flip the boat. Unless you have Rigger 5 and know of something better, I'm going to treat the airboat as a Samuvani Otter.



Scale: 5 meters long, 3 meters tall at the shoulder.

[rednblack]

For the Surprise Test I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + Combat Sense (4) =20 dice
Surprise Test: 20d6t5 7

So not surprised.

Do I need to edit my IC at all?  For example, does James get a chance to get the Ballistic Mask on before the, well whatever the hell that thing is, tries to flip the boat?

Also, rolling Parazoology to see what James knows about this thing.  I have: LOG (4) + Parazoology (4) + N. American Spec (2) = 10 dice.
Parazoology: 10d6t5 4

Has the curse been lifted?  May as well toss in an Initiative roll as well before the dice go cold on me again.
Initiative: 16+4d6 31
I see my donation to Orokos went through.

[Tecumseh]

The beast comes up underneath and flips the boat. James and Illeana feel a surge of water that precedes the beast coming up suddenly, giving them a fraction of a second to react. We can say you just put the mask on.

You don't have to defend against an attack but you do have to make a Gymnastics test to maintain your balance. There is no penalty to the roll as you are not surprised. Number of hits will determine where you end up and in what state (e.g. faceplant in the muck, trapped under the boat, prone but not pinned, etc).

Agility 6 + Gymnastics 3: 9d6t5 4 hits

Not bad. Illeana manages to keep a grip on her sword and jumps to the tree she just carved. She grasps the trunk with her adept Hang Time power.

James recognizes the beast as a behemoth, an Awakened alligator. As he's flying through the air, with his four initiative passes, he remembers that behemoths usually breed in the spring and the eggs hatch three months later. Early July seems a little soon for the young to be hatching but you certainly have enough evidence to suggest that is indeed the case here.

Behemoths have keratin plates that provide hardened armor and a bite like woah. Most prey are consumed in a single bite. For larger creatures, it will sink its teeth and tusks into the prey and then roll its body through the water like an alligator. This typically either tears a large portion off of the prey animal or drowns the specimen. Neither outcome appeals to James.

Your initiative roll is pretty normal. You rolled 15 on 4 dice, whereas the expected value was 14. But that 1 extra gives you the fourth pass, so it's great to have. Yay, regressing to the mean!

[rednblack]

Ok, if I hit a certain threshold on Gymnastics, would it be possible to activate James' Hydraulic Jacks and end up in the canopy? 

For Gymnastics, I have: AGI (11) + Gymnastics (6) = 17 dice.
Gymnastics: 17d6t5 4

Just as good, but no better than Illeana, and she had to rely on an adept power to stay out of the swamp.  This could be interesting. 

If James can activate his Hydraulic Jacks, I have: AGI (11) + Gymnastics (6) = 17 dice.  The Wireless bonus for Hydraulic Jacks is one of the sillier ones in 5e, but it is what it is. 
I also have a sneaking suspicion that I'll need to Edge in order to hit the canopy.
Jump into Trees: 17d6t5 6
So that's just shy of jumping straight up 10 feet.  I feel pretty good about that honestly.

Last thing last, there's probably a roll needed for climbing to represent him getting a grasp on a vine, branch, etc. that will hold his weight.  AGI + REA might also work, but I'll roll a skill test as opposed to making up Attribute Only tests on the fly.  I have: AGI (11) + Gymnastics (6) = 17 dice.  Again.
Grab a branch: 17d6t5 7

Without taking an Observe in Detail action, can James tell if Illeana is within reach of the behemoth? 

First things on the agenda for James: 1. make sure Illeana can get to a place of relative safety. 2. make sure he's not sharing the tree canopy -- assuming he ends up there -- with any shamblers. 3. get a hold of his sniper rifle, which is now at the bottom of the swamp.

James have any idea what a baby behemoth is worth?

[Tecumseh]

Hmm, hydraulic jacks. Yes, that should work. The boat is getting flipped upward, so that provides some additional vertical acceleration. Combined with a snappy jump and James' height, that will be enough for Jame to grab a branch.

James isn't completely sure whether Illeana is in reach of the behemoth or not. To the degree that the beast is 5 meters long and she's less than 5 meters above the water, yes. But James doesn't really know how far a behemoth can propel itself out of the water.

The good news is that behemoths are fairly slow. They rely on explosive movement, but they're not twitchy. They are ponderous and deliberate until they lunge.

Go ahead and roll Observe in Detail to study your surroundings. I'll say you have three IPs worth of actions before needing to worry about what the behemoth does next. We're on IP2 now.

James doesn't really know what a baby behemoth is worth. They're not great for security unless you have a moat or other swamp-like space you want to guard. Possible buyers might include zoos, researchers, or rich people who like eating rare and exotic animals. James would guess low four-figures for a baby behemoth, but that's just a guess.

[rednblack]

For Observe in Detail I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 20 dice
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual: 20d6t5 4

If the Behemoth is using a subvocal mic, James has a line on that 

In addition to the Observe in Detail, James will be mostly concerned with Illeana staying out of the swamp.  Hopefully, she'll cast Levitate on herself, or something similar.  If she's able to right herself and/or put some more distance between her and the behemoth, he'll comm: <<@Illeana [James] Can your spirit fetch my sniper rifle?  I don't have anything heavy enough.>>

ETA: oh shit.  Just saw that the boat is not just flipped, but trashed and sinking.  not good.

[Tecumseh]

James doesn't see any other immediate threats in the vicinity. The behemoth will have to suffice for now.

Illeana can cast Levitate. She'll do so at F6.

Casting: Magic 6 + Spellcasting 7 + Mentor Spirit 2: 15d6t5 6 hits

Soaking 4 drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10: 16d6t5 10 hits, that's, uh, enough

Man, of all the rolls to get 10 hits on. Oh well. She's in no immediate danger of falling but she is now at -2 for sustaining since she's not ready to give up her Alleviate Allergy [Wood] spell just yet.

She'll respond that the spirit doesn't owe her any additional services, so she'll have to dismiss and resummon. So her actions look like:

IP1: jumping
IP2: cast Levitate
IP3: dismiss spirit (simple), TBD (another simple)

In theory she could recklessly conjure, but she's wary given her relative inexperience with conjuring, the sustaining penalty she's under, and the fact that drain would just make matters that much worse.

Go ahead and IC something for the first few passes.

[Tecumseh]

I'm going to roll initiative, not so much for combat order but to figure out how many IPs there are.

Illeana rolled a 30, so missed that 4th pass by 1.
James rolled a 32. Good work.

You get at least one more action before the beast does something. The rules don't explicitly allow it, but I allow a character (or a monster) to hold from one IP to the next because I find it illogical that someone/something could act in the first second of a combat turn but not the third. That seems backwards, at best.

CT2 IP1
Illeana will summon. She'll keep it small for both drain and resisting hits.

Conjuring @ F3: Magic 6 + Summoning 4: 10d6t5 2 hits

Spirit resist: Summoning resist: 3d6t5 1 hit glitch, it's particularly subservient, I suppose

Drain soak: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10: 16d6t5 5 hits, no drain

Illeana has a F3 water spirit with 1 service. She'll use it to try to fetch bags from the boat, if she's still alive next IP.

[Tecumseh]

Edit: I forgot about the -2 sustaining penalty. That costs a hit from her summoning roll. Illeana has jack squat this IP.

[Tecumseh]

The behemoth lunges out of the water and snaps!

Agility + Unarmed + Charging: ?d6t5 4 hits

It strikes the tree! At the weak spot where Illeana was chopping!

Base damage is 23P + 4 net hits, -2 AP.

Tree resists with Structure 6 + Armor 8.

Structure 6 + Armor 8 - 2 AP: 12d6t5 9 hits, superb roll from the tree!

27P is staged down to 18P. The attack creates a 1-meter "hole" for each Structure increment. So, since the damage is 3x the tree's Structure rating of 6, the attack creates a 3-meter "hole". Or, in this case, a 1-meter hole that's 30 centimeters deep. That's almost exactly 1 foot.

Between Illeana's chopping and the behemoth's bite, the tree is now missing about half its trunk. It lurches suddenly toward the water. Give me a Strength x 2 roll versus a threshold of James' Body to maintain his grip.

The tree isn't going to fall instantly, but within the next 1-2 Combat Turns James can expect to find himself in the water.

[rednblack]

23P base?!  Dear Ghost.

STR X 2: 16d6t5 6
Phew.

So I can't wrap my mind around the idea of switching off to another branch or vine.  The physics involved just seem like it wouldn't work.  If there is something close by that James may be able to use a gymnastics maneuver to swing himself toward, let me know, but I think his plan is going to be to "Climb" toward the trunk of the tree where he may be able to get some firm footing for a leap toward something else in the canopy.

For the Climbing Test I have: STR (8) + Gymnastics (6) - 2 (Slippery or wet surface) = 12 dice.  Not sure if I'm climbing up, down, or horizontally but I assume the latter.
Climb that tree: 12d6t5 4
If climbing horizontally that's 2 meters.  That get me to the trunk?

[Tecumseh]

Yes, the bite out of the tree should confirm that gator wrestling would be unwise in this situation.

The boat was next to the trunk, and James jumped straight up (more or less), so yes he's within 2 meters of the trunk.

James is tilting toward the water and away from the marshy bits of land where the behemoth babies are.

For CT2 IP2 Illeana will try to Levitate you.

Levitate @ F6: Magic 6 + Spellcasting 7 + Mentor Spirit 2 - 2 sustaining: 13d6t5 6 hits

Soaking 4 drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10: 16d6t5 4 hits, close to a glitch but not

James is now Levitating. Illeana is now at -4 for sustaining.

[rednblack]

So James is on the underside of the tree as it's coming crashing down.  The trunk, and all the branches on the opposite side of the trunk are on top of him, and he'll be pulled down and squished at the best, and just in the water in the swamp with the behemoth at the worst unless he's able to clear the tree.  Right?

If James was going to try to resist the Levitate spell and continue to climb the tree, get to the other side of the quickly-becoming-parallel-to-the-water trunk, could he kick off the trunk with his Hydraulic Jacks and try to get airborne with the hope that Illeana could catch him?  Or, would he need to continue climbing the branches, as the foliage is too thick to jump through?  Would resisting the spell effectively Dispel it, or would it still be there to continue lifting him after he pushed through its grasps?  Or, would Illeana need to re-cast?

The spell description says that Levitate is resisted with BOD + STR.  Is that against the hits scored on the Spellcasting test, or against the Force? 

On the other hand, if James is going to stay under the influence of the Levitate spell, what are we looking at for "swimming" past the branches and brambles?  Climbing, Gymnastics?  I'm assuming some pretty hefty penalties to those rolls.

Sorry, I have a lot of questions.