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[5e OOC] Tabula Rasa, Chapters II and III

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Malevolence

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« Reply #555 on: <12-22-14/2208:57> »
Sadly, I'm all out of Edge.
Astral Perception extra dice: 3#3d6t5 2 2 0
But the perception rolls wen't pretty well (Final result 3, 5, and 2). Except inside Sam's place. :(
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #556 on: <12-22-14/2318:20> »
Indeed you are out of Edge. This should be interesting.

IC post is up. As mentioned, there are two F6 air spirits outside along with two watchers.

Spirit perception rolls
Intuition 6 + Assensing/Perception 6 - 7 Concealment: 2 hits, for teamwork
Intuition 6 + Assensing/Perception 6 + Teamwork 2 - 7 Concealment: 3 hits, Ohanzee spotted

Spirits are moving to engage. Initiative rolls:
Eagle: 23
Owl: 19

Ohanzee can retreat if he wishes. The spirits will be able to track you but it will take at least an hour for them to identify the physical location of Ohanzee's body (where it is currently, not where it is in an hour, unless he's still projecting).

Zweiblumen

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« Reply #557 on: <12-23-14/0016:54> »
Would Doc have time to do the investigation of the people Katsina and Ace are talking about?  If so, I'll take a stab at doing a little looksy.  I'd get just outside of 100m running silently, and check to see if there are any other silently running icons in the area, if there *is* then I'll just wander close enough to check out the area and then head back.

Lemme know and I'll roll 5-10 MP checks depending on how long I think I could legitimately be there.  Again with the 'if' this is what my configuration will be:

Agent; Encryption; Toolbox; Baby Monitor
A:4 S:5  D:6(7) F:7(8 )

Also, I need to know what's going on with the Gopher, and what my OS score is :(
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Malevolence

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« Reply #558 on: <12-23-14/0022:29> »
Well, since I have Astral Combat 0 (can't be used untrained) and no Mana based combat spells, yeah, I think I'm gonna bug out. Best I can do is summon one Force 6 spirit vs. 2 and maybe hope Katsina could get here in time to turn the tide. It's a bummer that we never made a temporary lodge - that'd make finding my body significantly more difficult.


Out of curiosity, as spirits of air, they shouldn't attack me - very few traditions have them as combat spirits. Is there a check I could make to determine if they are simply moving in to try to locate my physical body or if they do intend me harm? Not that I'd have more than a CT or so before the owner(s) of those watcher spirits showed up.
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Malevolence

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« Reply #559 on: <12-23-14/0320:29> »
Initiative, as it will likely be relevant:
Astral Initiative: 3d6+8 23
It'll do. Eagle acts first as he has 3 Edge to my 2.
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #560 on: <12-23-14/1350:13> »
@Malevolence
Ohanzee, reflecting on his situation, remembers that he has Astral Combat 5.

The Buddhist tradition has air spirits as combat spirits, which isn't to say that's what these are. Eagle and Ohanzee act simultaneously. There aren't any rules for an astral chase sequence. Astral speed is basically the speed of thought; the question is whether the first person can think themselves away faster than the second person can think their pursuit.

@Zweiblumen
Yes, you have enough time to do your investigation of the people Katsina is talking about.

You're probably 5 minutes into the 15 minute threshold before your Overwatch Score increases. Your current score is 21.

The Gopher is 5 minutes into its drive. It hasn't been stopped yet. It's just now reaching the town limits of Aspen, heading N-NW on Highway 82.

Go ahead and roll the Matrix Perception tests. Do 10 and we'll use as many as we need.

Zweiblumen

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« Reply #561 on: <12-23-14/1422:18> »
Not sure if I need to be running silently or not (if there's enough traffic for me to not raise suspicion either way), so here's 10 of each :P
Lemme know if I'm wrong about the noise, but I assumed it was the same distance radius as other things in Aspen are from me.

Matrix Perception Computers(5)+Intution(4)+Qualia(1)+VR(2)+DataJack(1)+SignalScrub(2)-Silent(2)-Wounds(1)-Noise(3)=11: 10#11d6t5 4 3 4 2 3 4 3 4 4 3 (limit 7) (5th roll is a glitch)

 Matrix Perception Computers(5)+Intution(4)+Qualia(1)+VR(2)+DataJack(1)+SignalScrub(2)-Wounds(1)-Noise(3)=13: 10#13d6t5 6 2 6 7 3 2 5 6 4 4 (limit 7)
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Malevolence

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« Reply #562 on: <12-23-14/1900:12> »
Summon Spirit of Beasts (Force 6)  [Magic 6 + Summoning 6 + Focus 2 - Wounds 1]: 13d6t5 6
Spirit of Beasts Resist [Force 6]: 6d6t5 3
Resist Drain (Spirit Hits x 2 = 6) [WIL 6 + CHA 6 + Centering 1]: 11d6t5 4
I take 2 stun. I have 3 services. Optional powers are Natural Weapon and Guard.


Beast spirits blow for combat (and most other things for that matter). I was thinking of taking Noxious Breath, but the spirit doesn't even have the Exotic Ranged Weapon skill to use it. What retarded nonsense is that? Hermetic gets fire, quite possibly the best combat spirit there is aside from Guardian spirits (Oh. My. God. Those are amazing). So, yeah, I'm support. I might actually be better off summoning a spirit towards that end, but we'll start here.


First service: guard us.
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #563 on: <12-23-14/1953:53> »
@Zweiblumen
There are lots of other icons in the area. Cars, pedestrians with PANs, business and their hosts, etc.

You don't detect anyone else running silent from 125m out. Are you going to approach closer and then peek again?

Also, don't forget your Codeslinger (Matrix Perception) quality. Please let me know what your agent is up to as well.

In the interests of keeping the IC sequence (roughly) together, I may continue this investigation with you via PM so that the rest of the team can be engaged with Ohanzee's revelation. You will likely be needed to hack a vehicle in the OOC thread in the near future.

@Malevolence
Beast spirits don't appear to have a skill to use their Noxious Breath power, which seems like an oversight. We'll give them the Exotic Ranged Weapon skill so that it's not a power without a purpose.

My instinct says that retreat is easier on the astral than pursuit - if only because the one in the lead knows where he is going while the ones following need to perceive before they advance - so Ohaznee can get away without leading two spirits straight back to the cabin with him. Although I guess that would be fun too.

Zweiblumen

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« Reply #564 on: <12-23-14/2048:17> »
Getting spotted astrally gives your physical location?  I thought that the mage had to actually know where his/her body was to get back to it, thus the problem of getting 'pranked' by their 'friends' when they move his/her body on them.

As for vehicles, lets steal the RV and just move on.  It's a shame we didn't get to actually rest.
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rednblack

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« Reply #565 on: <12-23-14/2055:23> »
Getting spotted astrally gives your physical location?  I thought that the mage had to actually know where his/her body was to get back to it, thus the problem of getting 'pranked' by their 'friends' when they move his/her body on them.

As for vehicles, lets steal the RV and just move on.  It's a shame we didn't get to actually rest.

Also, don't mages meet in the astral sometimes for added security, as they're not going away their meatspace location? Or did I somehow make that up?
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #566 on: <12-23-14/2059:21> »
Getting spotted astrally means that the projecting magician can be traced back to his location by astral tracking (p. 315). The interval for this extended test is an hour, which is why Ohanzee says that the house will have company in 1 hour, maybe 2. So they don't have Ohanzee's physical location now, but they will soon know about the cabin. They won't have Ohanzee's new location (where he is an hour from now) unless they use spirits with the Search power or some other technique, like ritual spellcasting.

Resting is still possible for Doc. Ohaznee will have to rest off some stun damage before he can resume his physical healing.

Malevolence

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« Reply #567 on: <12-23-14/2101:54> »
Much like the trace icon matrix action, the physical location can be traced but is not immediately known. Hence why we have about an hour before they find us and spirits start materializing to wreak havoc.
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Malevolence

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« Reply #568 on: <12-23-14/2133:54> »
The extended test is Assensing + Intuiton [5, 1 hour]. I'm assuming that only the two spirits that actually saw me can participate, which if teamwork is allowed, is 12 dice = 4 successes for the teamwork, then 16 dice for the actual test, which averages 5 hits. So, 1 hour unless they roll below average.


Once they know where we were, they can then use the search power, which is a Magic + Intuition [5, 10 minutes] extended test.  The threshold goes up by one for each kilometer we can place between us and them, making distance essential. I could reduce their dice pool by having another spirit use concealment, which might be the better way to go - assuming the same 2 spirits (the summoners don't have the Search power and so can't help, but if they have more mages or bound spirits, the number of assistants for the teamwork test can get pretty large) and concealment 6, that's 8 dice (12 base -6 concealment +2 from teamwork) to start, meaning 36 dice total, though the last few rolls are likely to glitch, so maybe about 30 dice. That means they average 10 hits, so base 5 + 5 kilometers would give us even odds of escaping. Without the concealment that's 78 dice - or 72 effective - for an average of 24 hits, needing 19 kilometers for even odds. And since it is 10 minute increments, our distance can increase for each test. 20 Kilometers is not that much to hope for in about 30 minutes (giving us time to pack and commandeer the RV) if the weather holds.


That brings us to the question of where to go.


@Tecumseh - I'm not familiar with the rules for the Movement power. Since my manipulation spirit is Man, I'm assuming he's the only one that I could have use the Movement power. What would be his domain? Roads? Anything in a city? Could I use the air spirit's Movement power anyway?
What I really need to know is could I use spirits to get us airborne and/or allow us to move faster or safely off road?
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #569 on: <12-24-14/0014:26> »
Malevolence's summary of the situation and the math is largely correct.

The summoner of the air spirits can contribute to the astral tracking because of the spirit-summoner link. The spirit can convey Ohanzee's astral signature to a sufficient degree for the summoner to help track him.

The rule from Street Grimoire about spirits not responding to tasks outside the general area of their tradition is interesting, but it presented in such a offhanded manner (two sentences, mid-paragraph) for such an important rule that it is hard to take it completely literally. I'm going to say that as long as the principle purpose of the spirit (say, its initial/primary task) falls within the spirit's tradition then it can also be employed for tasks which aren't strictly part of its tradition. For example, if Ohanzee summons an Earth spirit (a health spirit for shamans) to use it for the Guard power, then the same spirit can be used to defend Ohanzee in combat (perhaps in the name of protecting Ohanzee's "health") even if it's not a combat spirit. It could also be used to pick up something heavy, because it's an earth spirit and that's what they're good for, even if a strict reading would put that under the manipulation category. So, long story short, I'm going to be reasonably liberal with this.

As for the movement power, that would be Manipulation, yes. A spirit of man's domain could includes cities, roads (which are man-made), or vehicles (also man-made). So it might not be able to help if you're jogging through the forest on foot, but in many other instances you'll be covered. An air spirit's movement power would be more restricted and would likely only cover flight, not ground transportation (which would fall under the domain of earth spirits).

There are no spirit powers that will get you airborne. Spirits may fly and a strong spirit may carry an individual, but nothing is going to get the whole party off the ground.

The Movement power is a dynamite way to hit record speeds on a highway. However, do note that the Ford-Canada Buffalo has Body 16. That means the spirit needs to meet a threshold of 8 for it to improve the RV's speed. Not impossible, but challenging for a F6 spirit (~2% of the time, rolling 12 dice). And whether this accelerates the RV to a speed sufficient to outrun a faster pursuit vehicle will take some math.

It's also a good idea to pair the Movement power with the Guard power so that you don't slide off an icy mountain road. There are also other constraints that come from piloting a fast-moving vehicle through town or down a two-lane highway with weekend traffic during busy season.