Shadowrun

Shadowrun Play => Play-by-Post => Topic started by: Tecumseh on <01-16-16/1742:08>

Title: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-16-16/1742:08>
Magic
Spells that create a barrier, such as Physical Barrier or [Element] Wall, create a barrier with a Structure equal to the Force of the spell, and an Armor equal to Force+hits. This is to prevent hilariously flimsy barriers and make these spells actually useful. A magical Barrier is still a Barrier, and is subject to the Penetration Weapons rule; only barriers of sufficiently high Armor will actually stop bullets.

Instead of Alchemy being opposed by Force of the preparation, it is opposed by Force - Alchemist's Skill. Therefore, an Alchemist with an Alchemy skill of 6 casting at Force 6 or lower would roll Magic + Alchemy [Force] unopposed, but if he were to overcast to Force 12, he would be opposed by 6 dice. This makes it easier to create preparations with decent Potency.

Preparations will no longer be nested rolls. The caster will declare the Force and soak drain appropriately when the preparation is created. When it is triggered, the caster will roll Magic + Alchemy (Force) to determine the spell result.

A preparation taking a single box of Physical damage will not make it lose its magic. This would render Disjoining obsolete, as you could disarm preparations without risking Drain just by smacking them. Instead, a sufficiently damaged preparation is immediately triggered.

Damage to a Preparation does not release the magic unless it is completely destroyed/ruined/scraped off the object. Alchemists shouldn't be at a constant risk of self destructing simply from putting their preparations in the same pocket as their car keys.

Flesh Form merges from Inhabitation have half their Force added to the Physical Attributes of the host.

When possessing a living vessel, the enhancement to Physical Attributes is limited by Augmented Maximum. This limitation does not apply to Inhabitation spirits.

Fake magical items made through Artificing stand up to Assensing in addition to Perception tests, using the same thresholds.

Vehicles
In Handling Environments, Catch Up/Break Away is a threshold test based on the complexity of the obstacles as normal. In Speed Environments, Catch Up/Break Away is instead an opposed Vehicle Test, pitting the speed of both drivers against each other.

When crashing, a vehicle is treated as if it rammed itself, resisting with Body+Armor as normal. Half of the unresisted damage is applied to the passengers of the vehicle, resisted with Body+Armor -6 AP. If a passenger is not properly secured (wearing a safety belt/harness), then they must resist the full initial damage of the crash instead, and may be hurled from the vehicle (gamemaster discretion). This may result in further damage from impact with the terrain or other vehicles.

So long as a Vehicle is moving, the driver defends against attacks with Reaction + Intuition. They can choose to use Full Defense, adding their Willpower for the remainder of the Combat Turn, and losing 10 initiative. They can also choose to use Evasive Driving, the equivalent of Gymnastics Dodge, and add their Pilot skill to the defense test. Doing this adds the Handling of the vehicle as a limit to the test.

A vehicle that is not moving does not get to defend against attacks.

Sensors
The signature table is nonsense. The signature of a given target is dependent on the type of sensor attempting to perceive it; Cameras are subject to vision penalties, Thermographic sensors lock on with heat, MAD sensors lock onto ferrous metal, Radio Signal Sensors lock on to Matrix Icons, etc. etc.

The Sensor Housings table should instead read Sensor Array Housings table. Single Sensors do not have their Ratings limited by the size of the Housing.

Area of Effect attacks
Grenades and area spells can either be aimed at an area (Simple (3) test) or aimed at a specific target (attack roll vs. defense roll.) If you aim at the area, all the targets in the blast radius can (and probably will) use the Run for Your Life interrupt action to escape the blast. If you aim at a specific target, they cannot use this interrupt action; they get their defense roll instead.

The effectiveness of flash-bang grenades and Indirect Area spells (like Fireball) will decrease with range as per a normal grenade (-1 DV per meter). This is to avoid "can't miss" attacks due to the area of effect being larger than the possible distance of the scatter.

Technomancers
All technomancers have an innate ability to establish a Direct Connection to any device they touch. Technomancers can also form PANs.

Resonance abilities do not render properly in the Matrix and can often go undetected. If something does not qualify as an Attack or Sleaze action, the victim would have to make a Matrix Perception check to notice they were the target of something. This includes Resonance Spike. A persona forced to perform an action with Puppeteer is obviously aware it performed an action, but a Device that is Puppeteer'd does not notify its owner.

Movement
Base movement rates will generally be HALF of what's listed in the core rule book on p. 162.
Agility = meters per turn walking
Agility * 2 = meters per turn running
Hits on a sprinting test still add 1m/hit for Dwarves and Trolls and 2m/hit for other metatypes.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-18-16/1337:16>
Name: James Case
Alias: James Anderson (Rating 6), Josh Adams (CAS Rating 5), Arthur VanBrandt (Aztechnology Rating 4), Jonathan Sykes (UCAS Rating 4)
Race: human
Sex: male
Nationality: UCAS
Ancestry: Caucasian
Lifestyle: Traveler
Money: 259,823¥
Karma: 7 All Purpose
Karma Spent:
Physical Description: The man in the van looks just like your average sprawl-dweller. About 180 cm (5'11") tall, weighing appr. 80 kg (175 lbs), his light brown hair is fashionably short, and with his recent time in the woods, he's grown a full beard.  It looks surprisingly natural on him, but so do any number of his outfits and disguises.
Personality/background ?


Attributes

BodyAgilityReactionStrength
56(11)4(7)6(8)
CharismaIntuitionLogicWillpower
55(9)45(7)
EdgeMagic/ResonanceEssenceInitiative
5-1.019(16) + 1d6(4d6)
ComposureJudge IntentionsLiftMemory
121413 120/8011
Physical l.Mental l.Social l.Astral l.
1086 (8)-
Physical boxStun boxOverflowReputation
10/1011/120/5?

Positive Qualities
NameKarmaNotes
Ambidexterous4- no penalty for using "off" hand
Agile Defender3- Use Agility in place of WIL for Full Defense
Biocompatibility (Cyberware)5- Essence costs reduced by 10%
Cyber Singularity Seeker12- + 2 WIL
Exceptional Attribute14- AGI
Juryrigger10- +2 dice on juryrigging tests
Redliner10- +2 AGI and STR
Perfect Time10- Extra Free Action each IP
Negative Qualities
NameKarmaNotes
Cyber-snob-12- Betaware and better only
Social Stress-8- Ares Employees

Active Skills
Firearms Group8
Athletics Group6
Close Combat Group7
Stealth Group6
Armorer4
Computer (Matrix Perception)4(6)
Con (Fast Talk)6
Cybertechnology4
Demolitions4
Disguise (Camouflage)6(8)
Diving (Military)4(6)
Electronic Warfare4
Escape Artist3
Etiquette (Corp)4(6)
Exotic Ranged Weapon (Laser)(Rifle)9(11)
Exotic Melee Weapon (Monofilament Garrote)2
First Aid4
Free-Fall (Halo)4(6)
Gunnery4
Hardware3
Heavy Weapons (Grenade Launchers)4(6)
Instruction4
Intimidation6
Leadership (Rally)6(8)
Locksmith4
Navigation4
Negotiation5
Palming6
Perception (Visual)6(8)
Pilot Aircraft2
Pilot Ground Craft4
Pilot Water Craft2
Survival4
Throwing Weapons (Aerodynamic)4(6)
Tracking (Urban)2 (4)
Unarmed Combat (Cyber Implants)7(9)

Knowledge Skills
Alcohol                    : 3 [Whiskey - Tequila - Wine - Beer] Pool: 8 (10)
Architecture               : 2 [Blueprints]         Pool: 6 (8)
Area Knowledge: Atlanta    : 2                      Pool: 6
Area Knowledge: Denver     : 1                      Pool: 6
Area Knowledge: Manhattan  : 3 [Midtown]            Pool: 8 (10)
Area Knowledge: Seattle    : 2 [Downtown]           Pool: 7 (9)
Area Knowledge: Sekondi    : 1                      Pool: 5
Area Knowledge: Boston    : 3                      Pool: 12
Area Knowledge: Frankfurt    : 1                      Pool: 10
Area Knowledge: Prague    : 1                      Pool: 10
Biology                    : 4 [Anatomy]            Pool: 8 (10)
Business                   : 5 [Megacorp - Finance]           Pool: 9 (11)
Chemistry                  : 1 [Industrial]         Pool: 5 (7)
Chess                      : 3 [Openings - Tactics ] Pool: 7 (9)
Datahavens               : 2                      Pool: 7
Economics                  : 3 [UCAS - NAN]         Pool: 7 (9)
Fashion                    : 2 [New York Scene]                     Pool: 7 (9)
Firearms                   : 3                      Pool: 7
Fencing                    : 2 [Olympic]                     Pool: 11 (13)
History                    : 3 [N. America - Military] Pool: 7 (9)
Law                        : 2                      Pool: 6
Literature                 : 2 [Poetry - Crime Fiction] Pool: 6 (8)
Magic Traditions           : 3 [Wicca]              Pool: 6 (8)
Magical Theory             : 1                      Pool: 5
Magical Threats            : 3 [Blood Magic - Insect Spirits] Pool: 7 (9)
Military                   : 4 [Special Forces - Corporate] Pool: 9 (11)
Parabiology                : 3 [HMHVV]              Pool: 7 (9)
Parazoology                : 4 [N. America]         Pool: 8 (10)
Security Design            : 5 [Corporate]          Pool: 10 (12)
Security Tactics           : 5 [Corporate - Rapid Response] Pool: 9 (11)
Shadow Community: Boston  : 2 [Personalities]                    Pool: 11 (13)
Small Unit Tactics         : 5 [Urban]              Pool: 10 (12)
Sprawl Life                : 3                      Pool: 8
Street Drugs               : 1                      Pool: 6
Underworld                 : 2 [Financial Crime]    Pool: 7 (9)
Wildlife                   : 4 [Signs - ID]         Pool: 9 (11)
Language Skills
EnglishN
Spanish (Speaking)2(4)
Russian1
Japanese (Speaking)2(4)
Brahmin (Speaking)2(4)

Cyber/Bioware
WareEssenceNotes
Betaware Synthetic Left Arm.6- STR 6, AGI 6(9), Armor 1
Integrated Weapon System: Cyber Spur?- ?
Betaware Synthetic Right Arm.6- STR 6, AGI 6(9), Armor 1
Integrated Weapon System: Shock Hand?- ?
Betawarer Synthetic left Leg.6- STR 6, AGI 6(9), Armor 1
Hydraulic Jacks?- Rating 6
Betaware Synthetic Right Leg.6- STR 6, AGI 6(9), Armor 1
Hydraulic Jacks?- Rating 6
Betaware Synthetic Torso.9- ?
Internal Air Tank?- Rating 3
Smuggling Compartment?- ?
Cyber Eyes.24- Rating 3: Smartlink, Flare Compensation, Thermographic Vision, Vision Magnification, Low-light vision, Vision Enhancement (Rating2)
Synaptic Boosters1.05- Rating 3
Tailored Pheromones.28- Rating 2
Implanted Leviathan Technical Tempest.12- Rating 7, Stealth Dongle 4

Gear
Weapons
Defiance EX Shocker- smartlink; acc6, 9S(e), -5AP, SS, RC0, ammo4(m); 10 taser darts
Ares Light Fire 70- smartlink; acc9, 6P, -0AP, SA, RC0, ammo16(c); 16 gel rounds, 10 tracker rounds
Ares Crusader II- smartlink, Gas Vent II, Concealed Quick-Draw Holster; acc7, 7P, -0AP, SA/BF, RC2, ammo 40(c); 70 regular rounds, 40 (APDS), 40 (EX-Explosive)
Ares Lancer MP Laser- smartlink (External), sling; acc, 7P, -10AP, SA, RC0, ammo 2X10(c); 40 Power Pack charges
Ares Light Fire 70- smartlink; acc9, 6P, -0AP, SA, RC0, ammo16(c); 16 gel rounds
Ares Alpha- smartlink, sling, Gas Vent III, Sound Suppressor, Personalized Grip, Shock Pad, 2 spare mags; acc8, 11P, -2AP, SA/BF/FA, RC1(4), ammo42(c); 172 (APDS), 50 (Gel), 90(EX-Explosive), 20 (Capsule: DMSO, Narcojet), 6 Mini-grenades (Flash-Bang), 12 Mini-grenades (High Explosive), 5 Mini-grenades (Gas: DMSO, Narcojet), 5 Mini-grenades (Thermal Smoke)
Ares Alpha- smartlink; acc8, 11P, -2AP, SA/BF/FA, RC1(4), ammo42(c); 20 (Explosive), 6 Mini-grenades (High Explosive)
Ares Light Fire 75- smartlink, Personalized grip, silencer, Spare mag; acc9, 6P, -0AP, SA, RC0, ammo16(c); 16 gel rounds, 20 Capsule rounds (Narcojet, DMSO)
Ares Predator V- smartlink, Personalized grip, Concealed Quick-draw holster, Spare mag; acc8, 8P, -1AP, SA, RC0, ammo15(c); 30 regular rounds, 30 gel rounds,
Ares Desert Strike- smartlink (External), Shock Pad, Personalized Grip, Imaging Scope, Bipod, Sound Suppressor, 2 Spare mags; acc10, 13P, -4AP, SA, RC0, ammo14(c); 30 (Ex-Explosive), 80 (APDS), 10 (Tracker)
Monofilament Garrote- acc5, 14P, -8AP

Armor
Ares Armored Survivalist- Armor 8, Insulation 4
Ballistic Mask- Armor +2, Select Sound Filter 1, Spatial Recognizer, Audio Enhancement 2
Ares Globetrotter Jacket- Armor 12, Insulation 2, Fire Protection 2, Auto Injector, Pulse Weave 4, Nonconductivity 3, Chemical Protection 2, Holster
Ares Victory: Rapid Transit- Armor 9
Ghillie Suit (Snow)- Armor 4, Restrictive, Insulation 2, Thermal Damping 2
Ghillie Suit (Urban)- Armor 4, Restrictive, Chemical Protection 2, Thermal Damping 2
Ghillie Suit (Woods)- Armor 4, Restrictive, Thermal Damping 4
Chameleon Suit- Armor 9, Ruthenium Polymer Coating 4,Auto Injector, Pulse Weave 4

== Martial Arts ==
Firefight
   +Clinch
   +Close Quarter Defense Against Firearms
   +Close Quarter Firearms (Pistols)
   +Multiple Opponent Defense (Friends in Melee)
   +Neijia
   +Oaken Stance (Defense Against Being Charged)
   +Oaken Stance (Defense Against Being Knocked Down)
   +Strike the Darkness

Wrestling (Sport)
   +Throw

==CFD Powers==
1) Attribute boost: Simple Action. Roll 6 dice. Each hit allows you to raise one Physical attribute by 1 point. The effect lasts for [Hits] Combat Turns. After than, you soak [Hits] drain. The soak test isn't in the rules but I don't see why this should be worse than what an adept goes through, so we'll say BOD+WIL to resist. That's 12 dice, which should result in mostly drain-free boosting. James' Agility is maxed out but he has some room for gains on his other physical attributes.
2) Toxin Resistance: James gets bonus dice to resist toxins, should he encounter them.
3) Adrenal Control: James can continue operating for a short while if his Stun or Physical condition monitors are filled.

Explosives
?- ?

Electronics
Hermes Ikon- DR5
Metalink- DR1
Metalink- DR1
Renraku Sensei- DR3
Leviathan Cyclone- DR5
White Noise Generator- Rating 6
Area Jammer- Rating 4

Sensors
?- ?

IDs
James Anderson- 6
Josh Adams- 5
Joseph Shimko- 4, Pueblo Corporate Council, Concealed Carry Permit, Restricted Cyberware License
[/s]
Jonathan Aarons (Presumed Burned)- 3 United Canadian and American States
Comodoro Dario Liso- 2 Aztlan
Jonathan Sykes- 4, UCAS, Concealed Carry Permit, Restricted Cyberware License
Arthur VanBrandt- 4, Aztechnology, Concealed Carry Permit, Restricted Cyberware License

Other
Concealed quick-draw holster- under jacket, -1 Concealability, quick-draw threshold is 2; wireless: -1 Concealability
Concealed holster- ankle, -1 Concealability; wireless: -1 Concealability
Hidden arm slide- right arm, -1 Concealability, quick-draw threshold is 2; wireless: Ready Weapon is Free

Datachip x10
Stealth Tags x10
Barrens Dweller Kicks
Doctor's Kicks
Maintenance Worker Jumpsuit
Nova Hot Clubbing Kicks
Rural-type kicks
Urban Anonymous Wage-slave Kicks
Endoscope
Gecko Tape Gloves
Lockpick Set
Medkit Rating 3 x2
Medkit Rating 6
Restraint, Metal x2
Restraint, Plastic x10
Slap Patch, Stim Patch Rating 6 x4
Slap Patch, Trauma Patch x2
Survival Kit
Tool Kit (Cyberware)
Tool Kit (Firearms)
White Noise Generator Rating 6
RFID tag X10
Miniwelder
Microwire (200 meters)

== Vehicles ==
Hyundai Shin-Hyung (Sport Sedan)
   +Morphing License Plate
   +Smuggling Compartment (Troll)
   +Spoof Chips
   +Sensor Array Rating 2
      +Ultrasound Rating 2
      +Motion Sensor Rating 2
      +Camera Rating 2
      +Omni-directional Microphone Rating 2

Contacts
ContactC/L
Rhodes?
Uncle Sam1/5
Chino1/5
Doc1/5
Ohanzee2/5
Casper2/1
Nicole Dougherty (Doctor)3/1
Ray Demeco (Arms Dealer3/1

In Frankfurt
Berwick Suit- Armor 9, Non-Conductivity 5
Ballistic Mask- Armor +2, Gas Mask, Low-light flashlight, Motion Sensor (5), Ultrasound (5)
Ares Globetrotter Jacket- Armor 12, Non-Conductivity 4
Ares Predator V- Smartlink, Concealed Quick-draw holster; acc8, 8P, -1AP, SA, RC0, ammo15(c); 50 SnS
Ares Alpha- smartlink, sling, Gas Vent III, Sound Suppressor, Personalized Grip, Shock Pad, 2 spare mags; acc8, 11P, -2AP, SA/BF/FA, RC1(4), ammo42(c); 50 APDS, 50 SnS
Defiance EX Shocker- smartlink, Hidden Arm-slide; acc6, 9S(e), -5AP, SS, RC0, ammo4(m); 50 taser darts
Ares Crusader II- smartlink, Gas Vent II, Concealed Quick-Draw Holster, Personalized Grip; acc8, 7P, -0AP, SA/BF, RC2, ammo 40(c); 50 APDS 50 Narcojet/DMSO
Ares Light Fire 75- smartlink; Hidden Arm-slide, Spare mag; acc9, 6P, -0AP, SA, RC0, ammo16(c); 50 APDS, 50 Narcojet/DMSO
Medkit (6)
Lockpick Set
Mini-welder
Stealth Tags
Mage Hood.
Mage Cuffs
Subvocal Mic
Micro-transceiver
2 Hidden Arm-slides
5 HE minigrenades
5 Flash-bang minigrenades
BMW X-89

Default Settings for gear, ware, and Wireless:
[spoiler]
Polite Society
No Cyber runs with Wireless On, with the exception of the following, all of which is slaved to the active Commlink:
Hydraulic Jacks
Internal Air Tank
Side Arm(s)
Concealable Holster
Quick-draw Holster
Armor and Clothing
Biomonitor

Going Hot
No Cyber runs with Wireless On, with the exception of the following, all of which is slaved to the Leviathan Technical Tempest:
Hydraulic Jacks
Internal Air Tank
Cyber Eyes
Concealable Holster
Quick-draw Holster
Biomonitor
Autoinjector
--Trauma Patch
All firearms, including Smartgun systems
--Exception: the Ares Redline never runs Wireless On.
Chameleon Suit, if worn
Ares Globetrotter Jacket, if worn
Ballistic Mask
Medkit
Trauma Patch

Going Sneaky
All Wireless functionality is turned off.  The Going Hot setup is the default for turning Wireless On.
[/spoiler]

Current Load Out
[spoiler]
Arthur VanBrandt SIN (Aztechnology)+
Berwick Suit +
Leviathan Cyclone +
Defiance EX-Shocker +
Arm Slide for same+
Predator V
Concealed Quick-draw holster for same
Rating 6 Stimpatch
Trauma Patch

All gear with a "+" is running either Wireless On, or publicly broadcast and linked to the Leviathan Cyclone.  All Cyberware is slaved to the implanted Leviathan Tempest, and is running Wireless Off. 
[/spoiler]

Edge remaining: 2/5
Edge Burned: 0
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-18-16/1929:49>
Name: Illeana Anghelescu
Alias: Katsina, Ivana, The Masked Woman
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Nationality: Saeder-Kruppian?
Ancestry: Romanian
Lifestyle: Traveler, permanent
Money: ¥0 (all invested, but regular expenses come out of lifestyle)
Karma Spent: 75 karma + 0 knowledge karma
Current Karma: 12 karma + 43 knowledge karma
Physical Description:Varies. By default, she is 1.75m and 55kg. Her long, dark hair pools on her shoulders, and frames her ballistic mask that has a Wiccan pentagram carved ornately on its face. She wears a lined coat over a black jumpsuit, boots, and gloves. She's completely covered, with no skin or other physical features visible.
Personality/background Helpful. As a follower of Hecate, Katsina must render aid to those who truly ask for it. She also tends to render aid to those that don't ask for it. This is balanced by her need for blood to survive, although she tends to downplay this as much as possible. She seems to regret what she is, rather than flaunting it like some vampires do.

Attributes
BodyAgilityReactionStrength
5644 (8)
LogicIntuitionWillpowerCharisma
56 (10)65
EdgeMagicEssenceInitiative
58 (6 ED)44d6 + 18
Physical l.Mental l.Social l.Astral l.
6 (9)8 (9)10 @ 12 Ess.8 (9)
Physical boxStun boxOverflow
0/110/110

Positive Qualities
NameNotes
Astral Chameleon-2 to read her astral signatures
Focus Concentration VI     can sustain F6 spell with no penalty
Guts+2 to resist fear and intimidation
Mentor SpiritFire-Bringer. +2 Alchemy, +2 Manipulation
Perceptive II+2 Perception and Assensing
Perfect TimeExtra Free Action, always knows the time to the minute
CarromelegCounterstrike, Iaijutsu, Imposing Stone, Riposte, Shadow Block, Stagger

Negative Qualities
NameNotes
Amenesiadoesn't remember much before February 1, 2075
Emotional Attachment (Mask)     -1 if not using this gear
Infertile Infectednot Infectious
Faceless-2 on Social tests unless disguised or concealed
Records on FileSaeder-Krupp
WantedBlack Lodge offering ¥75,000

Active Skills
Skill GroupRating          Notes
Enchanting Skill Group8+2 Alchemy focus, +2 Mentor Spirit
Sorcery Skill Group7+2 Manipulation from Mentor Spirit
Stealth Skill Group6Traceless Walk, Vampire Stealth spell
Conjuring Skill Group4
Athletics Skill Group3Celerity, Hang Time, lack of buoyancy
...
Skill (Spec)Rating          Notes
A.ssensing (Aura Reading)8 (10)+2 Perceptive II
Astral Combat (sword focus)     7 (9)+2 weapon focus
Blades (Swords)7 (9)+2 weapon focus
Arcana (Foci, Initiation)6 (8)
Throwing Weapons (Blades)6 (8)
Intimidation6+2 limit from mask
Artisan (Carving, Cooking)5 (7)
Perception (Hearing, Smell)5 (7)+3 Vision from Mask, +2 Perceptive II, the "specializations" are vampire enhanced senses
Tracking4
Armorer (Blades)3 (5)
Unarmed Combat (Bite)3 (5)
Con3
Etiquette3
Instruction3
Animal Handling (farm animals)2 (4)
Computer2
Navigation (celestial)1 (3)
First Aid1
Negotiation1

Knowledge Skills
Area KnowledgeRating          Notes
Area Knowledge: Romania     6
Area Knowledge: Czech Republic (Prague)     4 (6)
Area Knowledge: Allied German States     4
Area Knowledge: NAN (PCC)     3 (5)
Area Knowledge: UCAS     3
MagicalRating          Notes
Magical Theory6
Magical Traditions (Wicca)4 (6)
Magical Societies4
Magical Threats4
All OthersRating          Notes
Finance (Personal Investing)6 (8)
The Infected (Vampires)6 (8)
History (Medieval, Post-Awakening)4 (6)
Pre-Modern Peasant Life (European)4 (6)
Recipes (Romanian)3 (5)
Economics3
Politics3
Religion3
Fashion (Women's)2 (4)
Hematology (Metahuman)2 (4)
Literature (European)2 (4)
Music (Baroque)2 (4)
Underworld (Street Docs)2 (4)
Art (Gothic)1 (3)

Language Skills
English6
Sperethiel6
Romanian6
Czech5
German4
Hopi2
Zuñi1
Spanish1
Japanese1

Adept Powers
NameCost     Notes
Adrenaline Boost II0.50+4 Initiative (free action), soak 2 drain
Cloak II0.50+2 to oppose Detection spells
Critical Strike (Blades, Unarmed)1.00+1 DV
Enhanced Accuracy (Blades)0.25+1 Accuracy
Precision Throwing III0.75+6 Strength when determining range
Hang Time0.25+1 climbing, can adhere to walls for 5 minutes
Linguistics0.25Intuition+Logic vs. Threshold (6 hours)
Missile Mastery1.00+1 die, +1 DV, can throw non-weapons for (Str)DV, Acc 3
Nimble Fingers0.25+1 Palming, some Simple Actions now Free
Sustenance0.25Only needs one meal per day
Traceless Walk1.00-4 Perception checks to detect with hearing

Spells and Preparations
Spell NameCategoryRangeTypeDamageDurationDrainDefaultSourceNotes
PowerbladeCombatSpecialMPSF - 2F6 / D4HT, p. 192Damage = Force, Accuracy = Force, Range = 1
Analyze TruthDetectionTMN/ASF - 2F6 / D4SR5, p. 286General knowledge > major details > minor details > detailed information
Astral ClairvoyanceDetectionTMN/ASF - 3F6 / D3SG, p. 106Range = Force * Magic
Detect Enemies (Extended)DetectionTMN/ASFF3 / D3SR5, p. 286Range = Force * Magic * 10
Alleviate Allergy (Sunlight)HealthTMN/ASF - 6F6 / D2SG, p. 109Every net hit reduces the allergy level by one
Alleviate Allergy (wood)HealthTPN/ASF - 6F6 / D2SG, p. 109Every net hit reduces the allergy level by one
OxygenateHealthTPN/ASF - 5 F7 / D2SR5, p. 288breathe underwater, hits = extra dice to resist suffocation, strangulation, etc.
StabilizeHealthTMN/APF - 4F6 / D2SR5, p. 289Force must equal or exceed the overflow damage already taken
Vampiric SpeedHealthS(A)PN/ASF - 2F6 / D4SSP, p. 20+1 meter per hit walking/running rate, +1 Initiative per hit
Vampiric StealthHealthSMN/ASF - 3F6 / D3SSP, p. 20+1 Sneaking per hit (max 5)
DreamIllusionLOSMN/ASF - 3F6 / D3SG, p. 111Craft a dream sequence (including visuals, sounds, emotions, etc.)
ForebodingIllusionLOS (A)MN/ASF - 3F6 / D3SG, p. 112–1 modifier per net hit, >WIL incapacitated
Physical MaskIllusionTPN/ASF - 1F4 / D3SR5, p.291change physical characteristics
CatchManipulationLOSPN/AIF - 2 F6 / D4HT, p. 191Force = kilos, Range = Magic
Control EmotionsManipulationLOSMN/ASF - 1F4 / D3SS, p. 21"conducting actions opposed to the emotion invoke a –2 dice pool penalty"
FashionManipulationT(A)PN/APF - 1F5 / D4SG, p. 115tailors and repairs clothing
FlingManipulationLOSPN/AIF - 2 F6 / D4SR5, p. 293(Force) kilograms, Spellcasting = to hit test, Strength = Magic, standard grenade ranges
IgniteManipulationLOSPPF - 1F5 / D4SR5, p. 293vs. Object Resistance, or vs. Body+Reaction (if living)
InfluenceManipulationLOSMN/APF - 1F4 / D3SR5, p. 293"a powerful post-hypnotic command"
LevitateManipulationLOSPN/ASF - 2F6 / D4SR5, p. 293Hits * 200kg, Force = meters per Combat Turn
Mana BindManipulationLOSMN/ASF - 2F5 / D3SG, p. 114Every net hit reduces target's Agility by 1
Magic FingersManipulationLOSMN/ASF - 2F5 / D3SR5, p. 294Hits = STR and AGI
...
Preparation NameCategoryRangeTypeDamageDurationDrainDefaultSourceNotes
Destroy Groundcraft / Aircraft (preparations)CombatLOSPPIF - 3F6 / D3+2SG, p. 103Use Command trigger
Fireball (preparation)CombatLOS (A)PPIF - 1F4 / D3+2SR5, p. 284Use Command trigger so you don't KO yourself
Knockout (preparation)CombatTMSIF - 6F6 / D2+2SR5, p. 284Use Command trigger so you don't KO yourself
Combat Sense (preparation)DetectionT (preparation)MN/A(Potency) minutesF + triggerF3 / D3+1SR5, p. 305Hits = +1 Reaction on Surprise tests, +1 Defense (melee or ranged)
Heal (preparation)HealthT (preparation)MN/APF - 4 + 2F5 / D1+2SR5, p. 288Hits = boxes healed
Increase Intuition (Preparation)HealthTPN/A(Potency) minutesF - 3F6 / D3+2SR5, p. 288
Increase Reflexes (preparation)HealthT (preparation)PN/A(Potency) minutesF + 2F3 / D3+2SR5, p. 288Each hit adds +1 to the target’s Initiative, and every two hits adds one Initiative Die
Increase Strength (preparation)HealthT (preparation)PN/A(Potency) minutesF - 3 + 2F4 / D1+2SR5, p. 288Force must equal or exceed base value. Hits = bonus
Euphoria (preparation)IllusionLOSMN/A(Potency) minutesF - 3F6 / D3+1SG, p. 111
Physical Camouflage (preparation)IllusionLOSPN/A(Potency) minutesFF4 / D4+1SG, p. 111
Catfall (preparation)ManipulationLOSPN/A(Potency) minutesF - 3F6 / D3+1SG, p. 114
Physical Barrier (preparation)     Manipulation     LOS (A) (preparation)     P     N/A     (Potency) minutes     F - 1 + trigger     F4 / D3+1     SR5, p. 294     Structure = Force, Armor = Force+hits, Light Fog, Structure regenerates each Combat Turn

Metamagics, Initiate Level 7
Masking (+2 Masking focus)
Extended Masking
Flexible Signature
Centering (+4 Centering focus, usually used only for alchemical preparations)
Shielding
Greater Ritual
Quickening

Quickened Spells
Herself: Increase Strength (F6, 4 hits), Increase Reflexes (F6, 4 hits), Physical Mask (F6, 6 hits), Detect Enemies Extended (F6, 4 hits), Combat Sense (F6, 4 hits), Alleviate Allergy [Sunlight] (F6, 4 hits), Increase Intuition (F6, 4 hits)
Others: Combat Sense on Ace (F6, 4 hits), Increase Intuition (F6, 4 hits)

Spirits
Combat: Fire
Detection: Water
Health: Plant
Illusion: Air
Manipulation: Earth

Contacts
Contact     Profession     C/L     
DariaWiccan?/?

Gear
Lined Coat (armor 9)
     - Insulation 2
     - Non-Conductivity 2
     - Concealed Quick Draw sheath [4]
     - Gear Access (concealed pockets) [1]

Form Fitting Body Armor (8)
     - Features: Custom Fit, Concealability
     - Insulation 3 (for Cold Weather) or Non-Conductivity 3 (for Regular Use)

Argentum Coat (12 / +4)
     - Features: Custom Fit (Stack), increase Social Limit by 1, –3 modifier for Concealability
     - Wireless Bonus: +1 dice pool bonus to Social Tests
     - Concealed Quick Draw sheath [4]
     - Gear Access [1]
     - Non-Conductivity 4
     - Fire Resistant 3
     - Chemical Protection 2
     - Masking Focus 2

Ballistic Mask - +2 Armor, +2 Social Limit to Intimidation [8]
     - Enchanting Focus 2: "with a Wiccan pentagram ornately carved into its face"
     - Fairlight Caliban (rating 7) [2]
     - trodes [1] = DNI
     - Vision Enhancement [3]
     - Internal Air Tank [1]
     - Cyberware Scanner (Rating 8) [1]
     - Maglock (Rating 6)

12 throwing knives (one has Structure -1 from RV crash damage)
     - Acc 6 (9), 5P (9P), AP -1
     - Ranges: 14 / 28 / 42 / 70 (due to Precision Throwing III)

Highland Forge Claymore weapon focus
     - Force 2
     - Acc 7, Reach 2, 9P (13P), AP -5
     - Personalized Grip
     - Concealability +6 (+2 while sheathed in Lined Coat)

Victorinox Memory Blade: Dagger
     - Acc 5, Reach 0, 5P (9P), AP -2
     - –4 in order to detect the weapon as a bracelet
     - Complex Action to harden and/or become flexible

Victorinox Memory Blade: Sword
     - Acc 5, Reach 1, 6P (10P), AP -2
     - –4 in order to detect the weapon as a belt
     - Complex Action to harden and/or become flexible

Fake SIN (R1 or R2)
     - Ivana Kutchukokoph
     - Aztechnology Corporate Limited SIN
     - Japanese Elf, Age 18
     - bogus licenses (Registered Awakened, Concealed Carry, Anonymity, to Kill)

Fake SIN (R6)
     - Illeana Anghelescu
     - Saeder-Krupp Limited SIN
     - Caucasian Human, Age 23
     - Registered Awakened (Spellcaster and Enchanter)
     - Talismonger License (An international license permitting you to operate as a Talismonger)
     - Weapon Focus License (Claymore)
     - Enchanting Focus License (Mask)
     - Masking Focus License (Coat)
     - Centering Focus License (Carving knife)

0 Reagents

Team Inventory
7 high explosive grenades
2 smoke grenades (regular, not thermal)
2 flash-bang grenades
1 chemical grenade (tear gas)
1 stim patch (Rating 6)
1 trauma patch
1 alchemy kit
1 gecko tape gloves
1 binoculars (optical)
1 Rating 6 medkit
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-20-16/1257:41>
I've spent the rest of Ace's Karma on upping Tracking from 1 to 2.  I also added some mods to the Ballistic Mask, and have corrected the nuyen total.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-20-16/1727:03>
I'm still working on Illeana's sheet. It's getting close although she has a lot more spells coming. It's going to take me a while to update the table with all of them.

She will be calling James by his given name in private and will prefer to be called Illeana privately. Katsina and/or Mask will be her runner's aliases. "Kat" might be a pet name between her and James.

Given the fact that the two of them are living together, they will have a very good understanding of the other person's capabilities. James might not have memorized the full list of the spells she knows, but he'll have a good sense of what she can and can't do.

I really liked the original Sioux Nation location book and read it twice. I just finished both Cheyenne and Butte and thought they were busts. I actually liked Starving the Masses better, although that's an adventure that takes place in the Sioux Nation; it's not a location book.

I'm going to get the first IC post up this afternoon. There's not a 100% perfect way to kick this off, so we'll just kind of jam our way through the initial steps. A montage would be great but, frankly, is too much of a commitment to write all at once. I think we'll pick it up about 3 months down the line, then hopscotch our way forward a month or two at a time as necessary.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-20-16/1845:50>
First post is up:

http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=23178.0

I'm still debating whether to use third person or second person voices, since the only person I'll be addressing is you. I've started off third-person but may switch going forward.

You're on a cockatrice hunt. Or, more specifically, you're trying to avoid being hunted by cockatrices.

You can either roll Parazoology (8 dice in this case) to figure out what James knows about cockatrices, or you can buy 2 hits with your dice pool.

I haven't told you yet but Illeana now knows Increase Intuition. She has cast it and quickened it on both herself and James. It is F6 with 4 hits (via buying dice). Congratulations, your Intuition is now 5 (9). Your Initiative adjusts accordingly as well.

Illeana needs... Magic 6 + Enchanting 8 + Focus 2 + Mentor Spirit 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/363403): 18d6t5 5 hits, d'oh, two hours to collect the necessary materials. (One more hit would have made it one hour.)

Give me a roll for Perception (visual). No wireless bonuses are currently available because you're in a static zone (rural area) and there's too much Noise. You can still comm Illeana directly via micro-transceivers.

Let me know what your load-out is for weapons and armor.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-21-16/1308:09>
Parazoology (http://orokos.com/roll/363625): 8d6t5 2

For Perception I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 20 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/363629): 20d6t5 7
Thoroughly average, but only one more success would hit the Limit.

Ace is going to try to be sneaky, so let's see how that goes.  I have: AGI (11) + Sneaking (6) = 17 dice.
Sneaking (http://orokos.com/roll/363654): 17d6t5 5
Potential observers are at a -6 to Perception tests assuming mundane sight.

Load Out:
Chameleon Suit
Ballistic Mask
Defiance EX Shocker in Arm-slide
Ares Crusader II in Concealed Quick-draw Holster, loaded with regular ammo
Ares Alpha on sling with sound suppressor, loaded with APDS, 1 spare clip loaded with Ex-Explosive.  Grenade Launcher is loaded with High Explosive minis.
Monofilament Garrote in side pocket (Ace has been dying to try this out in the field, though I doubt a cockatrice is the best target.)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-21-16/1630:44>
Sneaking: ??? (http://orokos.com/roll/363741)

Good perception roll. You spot a handful of cockatrices, but they're over a hundred meters out (to the north). They're hunkered near the ground, so you don't have much of a shot.

Perception: ??? (http://orokos.com/roll/363746)

As you get closer, something tips them off and they start running through the grass. They seem to be circling rather than retreating. Roll Tracking to follow.

I'll IC post up to this point. The IC post is going to include a few flashbacks to what's been going on the last three months.

Some themes we'll be touching on in the near future (not an exhaustive list):


This is my working assumption of how Illeana looks in her unaltered state:

(http://gifmansion.com/GM/uploads/2013/10/lara-croft-mirror.gif)

(http://www.sector.sk/files/novinky/2013-2-26-10-26-25/Tomb-Raider-image-1274.jpg)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-22-16/1020:44>
So, here's a question as to how the GM sees the world.  I've considered wild spaces to be very dangerous, but given their traveling nature and Jame's recent familiarity with the outdoors, what would seem like an average load out for a hike?  Sidearm and jacket?

James thinks it's a little odd that the cockatrices would see him from 90+ meters out, so he'll keep his eyes peeled for anything else that may be lurking around.

For tracking I have: INT (9) + Tracking (2) = 11 dice.
Tracking (http://orokos.com/roll/364339): 11d6t5 4
Nice roll. 

I'm also going to roll Wildlife (signs) to see if there are any signs of animals besides the cockatrices.  I'd also like to know if James has any indication of whether he's better off following the tracks or trying to head them off based on patterns, etc.  Let me know if this isn't the right thing to be rolling.  I have LOG (4) + Wildlife (4) + Signs Spec (2) = 10 dice. 
Wildlife (signs) (http://orokos.com/roll/364341): 10d6t5 2
Less good.  Probably not much to go on there.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-22-16/1644:55>
There's no right answer to the question of load outs; it's all a matter of risk tolerance. Wearing a chameleon suit and carrying an assault rifle are completely reasonable choices for someone who doesn't want to take any risks. Illeana is laughing because she's quite confident in James' ability to take care of himself. (Agility 11, Reaction 7, Strength 8, Intuition 9, Combat Sense 4, average Initiative 30, etc. etc.) If he had asked, she would have said the Crusader and the Globetrotter jacket, but at the same time she doesn't know much about firearms and their effective ranges (namely that machine pistols aren't great at distance), and perhaps her own feelings of invulnerability are coloring her thinking. Again, a possible contrast between the two of them there.

James feels a slight vibration in the ground that's very subtle. It could be the weight of the cockatrices running nearby, but he's not sure. He has no problem tracking the cockatrices. I'll post the results ICly, including the resulting situation.

It's not going to take long before you track them down, or vice versa. Go ahead and roll a Reaction 7 + Intuition 9 + Combat Sense 4 + Alert 3 = 23 dice Surprise test. Your threshold is 3, which should be a formality.

Go ahead and roll initiative, mostly to determine how many passes you'll get. You'll act first, since your base initiative score is higher than their maximum possible score. Then declare actions and roll accordingly.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-22-16/1649:59>
Oh, and unless you say otherwise I'm going to assume that James always has the Ares Redline in his smuggling compartment.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-22-16/1747:57>
Oh, and unless you say otherwise I'm going to assume that James always has the Ares Redline in his smuggling compartment.

That is correct.  Always Wireless off and always there.  It's his when shtf "Ace" in the hole.

Surprise Test (http://orokos.com/roll/364477): 23d6t5 8
Not surprised that he's not surprised.

Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/364482): 16+4d6 31

When James gets close enough, or sees that the cockatrices have gotten close enough to him, he'll make a Charge, and split his dice pool between two targets, popping one with his Shock Hand and the other with his Cyber Spur.  I have: AGI (11) + Unarmed Combat (7) + Cyber Implants Spec (2) + Charge Attack (2) = 22/2 = 11 dice per attack.  We'll call the Cyber Spur as the first attack.
Melee Attack, Split pool (http://orokos.com/roll/364501): 2#11d6t5 2 3
Each of those are pretty uninspiring.  I guess the only way to Edge those tests is to pre-edge, right?  James won't use Edge in this case, but it'd be good to know.

Base damage is Cyber Spur: 11P -2AP and Shock Hand: 9S(e) -5AP
Shock Hand is at 9/10 charges.

If an attack comes James' way, he'll go Full Defense, lowering his Initiative to 21.

ETA: Looking at the IC, it doesn't appear as though James can attack two birds at once.  If he can, the roll stands.  If not, he'll opt for the Cyber Spur.  Combining the rolls would mean 5 hits. 

ETA2: He might also lose his Charge bonus: -Charge (http://orokos.com/roll/364511): 2d6t5 0 No change.

Also, I've had Jurassic Park in my head for this whole scenario.  Nicely played.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-22-16/1914:46>
James has super-human reflexes. He can time it so that when two of them have almost converged he can sprint into the gap between them, swinging the right arm at one and the left arm at the other.

Generally speaking, let's break out our actions in Free + Simple/Complex. So in this case:

Free: Run
Free: Multiple attacks (the second Free action being acceptable since it doesn't conflict with running)
Complex: Melee Attack

In theory, readying the cyberspur should be another action, but the rules don't mention it. It sounds like something James would have done during his previous IC post - given his train of thought - so we'll say he did it then. In the future, we'll call it a Free action, similar to wireless-enabled Forearm Snapblades.

Cockatrice dodging: Reaction + Intuition + Running (http://orokos.com/roll/364539): 2#?d6t5 2 hits 4 hits

You called cyberspur as the first attack, although it might have been better if it were the shock hand since that only needs to tie to discharge. So the first attack with the spur is a glancing blow - you chop off some feathers. The second attack might be a miss, but you actually get an extra die because it's a touch-only attack. (Usually 2 dice, but divided in half for the split attack.) Let's see if that makes a difference:

Extra touch-only die: Touch-only attack (http://orokos.com/roll/364541): 1d6t5 1 hit! So the second roll ties and the shock hand discharges. That's 9S(e) -5AP.

Cockatrice soak: Soaking 9S(e) (http://orokos.com/roll/364542): ?d6t5 0 hits, waa waa. The giant chicken shakes and bakes like you dropped it in the fryer.

As for Edge, the book does say, "Edge spent on this test adds into the pool before it is divided." Personally, I don't have any issue with Edge being used post-roll if you only reroll one pool (not both). That's still halving the effectiveness of the Edge, so I don't see any problem with it.

CT1 IP1
James: 31
Cockatrice #1: 12
Cockatrice #2: fried
Cockatrice #3: 9
Cockatrice #4: 9
Cockatrice #5: 9

The remaining cockatrices will be slicing and pecking. Going Full Defense is a good idea.

Cockatrice attacks! Agility + Unarmed + Charging + Friends in Melee Combat (http://orokos.com/roll/364545): 4#15d6t5 3 hits 4 hits 6 hits 6 hits

You're at Reaction 7 + Intuition 9 + Combat Sense 4 + Full Defense 11 = 31 dice, gracious. Don't forget to subtract one extra die for each attack. (You can roll all four at once and just drop 1 dice from the second roll, 2 from the third, and 3 from the fourth.)

Given your dodge pool, you have an 84% chance of dodging all four attacks. Base damage is 4P -1 AP plus net hits.

CT1 IP2
James: 11
Cockatrice #1: 2

Go ahead and IC your attack and dodging, plus any counterattacking you do in IP2. You're in the middle of a big pile of flapping yellow feathers and blue tails. We've done Jurassic Park so now it's time for an Angry Birds joke.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-23-16/1122:20>
Ok, let's look at defense:
Melee Defense X 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/364852): 4#31d6t5 6 9 12 13
No problems there.

About the Shock Hand, I've done some searching around on this, and it looks like the general consensus is that you can either take the +2 for Touch Only attack, and gain the attacker hits on a tie bonus, or you can stage up damage through Net Hits, but you can't have both.  One of the discussions about that can be found here (http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=20682.0).  I'm happy to play it however, but let me know how you see the rules.

For CT 1 IP2, we're going to try something new.
Free: Comm Illeana "Ground tremors?"
Simple: Clinch
Simple: Throw

The idea is to grab and toss one of the cockatrices at another one of the cockatrices to knock them both prone.  This should severely reduce the number of attacks he's going to suffer on their next round of actions, buying him some time to lay out the other two birds.

For Clinch I have: AGI (11) + Gymnastics (6) = 17 dice.
Clinch (http://orokos.com/roll/364862): 17d6t5 9
That's a roll.

Throwing is a regular attack action.  I have: AGI (11) + Unarmed Combat (7) + Superior Position (2) = 20 dice.
Angry Birds (http://orokos.com/roll/364863): 20d6t5 4
If Net Hits + STR exceeds the cockatrice's Physical Limit, he goes flying for 8 - Body meters.  He only takes damage equal to Net Hits and will be prone.  Actually, I'm going to Edge the throw, as I really want to get this guy flying, and I'm sure Net Hits will come into play when determining if the other cockatrice goes prone as well.
Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/364865): 16d6t5 5
9 hits total.  That's almost the Physical Limit.

For the throw, I can also see that Ace may need to target the other cockatrice. Let's see, maybe Thrown Weapon, with a Limit of 3, given the ammunition?  I have AGI (11) + Throwing Weapons (4) = 15 dice.
Lobbing an Angry Bird (http://orokos.com/roll/364867): 15d6t5 2
Meh.  Given the range, maybe Ace won't need to aim really. Or maybe the Scatter rules will come into play.

So, uh, I did my best for Angry Birds  ;)  I'll try to get an IC up today, but I really should probably get out of bed and start being productive for a little bit.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-23-16/1812:36>
I've gone back and forth on the electrical attack rules over the years. I've played each interpretation at least once and was never completely satisfied. There's a part of me that suspects that maybe electrical damage shouldn't get staged up, since part of me doubts where you get tazed matters much. (Some research this morning suggests that any major muscle group will suffice.) After all, shock weapons are usually meant to immobilize someone (which 9S(e) would do to most unarmored metahumans), not render them unconscious (which staging the damage up would do). So, I'm split. What does your GM gut say?

---

Your clinch hits exceed the defender's dice pool, so you have successfully wrangled yourself a cockatrice. If only your mother could see you now.

Complication: Throw Person requires Martial Arts training. Specifically, Aikido, Jujitsu, or Wresting (Sport or Sumo). If you wish to continue down this path, you'll need to backtrack some of your karma spending to free up 7 karma to purchase a new Martial Arts style.

The cockatrice gets to defend against the Throw attempt. Reaction + Intution (http://orokos.com/roll/365045): ?d6t5 3 hits. It's Physical limit is 6, which is decidedly less than the 17 it needs, so said cockatrice is thrown. Angry bird indeed.

Random roll to figure out which cockatrice is grabbed: Random (http://orokos.com/roll/365049): 1d4 #3 is the lucky bird. Next random roll to determine the target: Random (http://orokos.com/roll/365050): 1d3 #1

#1 gets to dodge: Reaction + Intuition (http://orokos.com/roll/365051): ?d6t5 1 hit, and fails to do so

Cockatrice #2 needs to soak 6S (net hits on the throw). Cockatrice #1 needs to soak 4S (the Body of #2).

#1 soak: Body + Armor (http://orokos.com/roll/365052): ?d6t5 2 hits, takes 2S
#3 soak: Body + Armor (http://orokos.com/roll/365053): ?d6t5 0 hits, takes 6S and is now prone

CT1 IP2
James: 11
Cockatrice #1: 2 - 2S
Cockatrice #2: fried
Cockatrice #3: 0 - 6S, now prone
Cockatrice #4: 0
Cockatrice #5: 0

Cockatrice #1 is annoyed and will attempt to use Paralyze Touch. This is a weird test because it's Magic + Agility (so, half Magic, half physical) against the target’s Intuition + Willpower (all mental). I'm going to say that Combat Sense still applies, but that James needs to use his Willpower for his Full Defense instead of Agility. Making up rules on the fly.

Paralyzing Touch: Magic + Agility + Touch-Only (http://orokos.com/roll/365054): ?d6t5 3 hits. You have, uh, 27 dice to dodge. Tee hee.

CT1 IP3
James: 1
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-24-16/1638:01>
V. Paralyzing Touch (http://orokos.com/roll/365352): 27d6t5 7
Dodged.

For CT1 IP3
Free: Multiple Attacks
Complex: Attack Cockatrice #4 with Cyber Spur and #1 with Shock Hand.  We'll call the Cyber Spur the first attack again.

I have: AGI (11) + Unarmed Combat (7) + Cyber Implants Spec. (2) + Touch Only (2) = 22/2 = 11 dice per attack.
Melee Attack, Split pool (http://orokos.com/roll/365357): 2#11d6t5 4 4
I feel pretty good about those.

Base damage is Cyber Spur: 11P -2AP, and Shock Hand: 9S(e) -5AP
Shock Hand is at 8/10 Charges
James is at 4/5 Edge.

Initiative for CT 2: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/365360): 16+4d6 30

Re: Martial Arts:  I'm going to sacrifice Automotive Mechanic 2 and Chemistry 1.  That will leave James with 1 Karma, after buying Wrestling (Sport Style) for 7 Karma and selecting the Throw technique.  I really like the look of Wrestling.  Sweep is a pretty fantastic technique as well. I see that one in Ace's future.

Re: Electricity damage: I don't really have a strong gut feeling.  On the one hand, adding Net Hits for how solid the connection is makes sense to me, but what you wrote about electricity damage being more to "immobilize" than incapacitate makes sense to me.  It's a tricky thing to relate to the real world, as real world police will often give suspects multiple "rides" on a taser, and they stay conscious, while being completely incapacitated, and SR mechanics just can't really reflect something like that -- unless you start to play really fast and loose with what "Unconscious" means at your table.  Mechanically, I would like to stage up the DV, especially for the Shock Hand, as it's James' chief non-lethal method for rendering guards unconscious, though maybe with his present STR of 8, he should just punch them in the face repeatedly.  Splitting his dice pool would still have a mook soaking 8S + Net Hits twice in one IP.  Anyway, that tangent aside, mechanics aren't the only concern.  You and I both seem to care about immersion and the rules reflecting some idea of the game world's realism, and I'm not sure how to best accomplish that.

Note: I have not updated char sheet to reflect new MA style, or delete dropped skills. Updated 1/26
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-25-16/0032:54>
I'll continue to think about the shock hand, although I admit that I've been thinking about it ever since 4th Edition and still haven't settled on anything. On the one hand I'm loathe to create a special set of rules for one particular type of attack, but on the other hand the rules already do that (with electrical attacks, or fire attacks, or acid attacks, etc.). I do like my rules to have real-world parallels, but that can be tricky in a game where the rules are - by necessity of playability - going to be abstractions. And, of course, how much can our present world really parallel a world set 60 years in the future with magic and cyber and all that?

Separately, cyberlimbs to Physical damage, not Stun (see SR5, p. 456), so James should probably not punch a goon if he wants it to be non-lethal. Depending on what we rule about electricity, James' best bet might be subduing combat, although that's rarely a one-hit KO.

Back to combat.

Dodging James: Reaction + Intuition (http://orokos.com/roll/365624): 2#?d6t5 4 hits 4 hits

Ha, take that, Mr. Cyborg Supersoldier. That will teach you to split your attack pool.

The shock hand discharges anyway. Soaking 9S(e): Body + Armor - AP (http://orokos.com/roll/365625): ?d6t5 2 hits

#1 gets tazed with 7S. That exceeds its Physical limit so it is now prone. It is now at 9S and no longer actively resisting.

CT2 IP1
James: 30
Cockatrice #1: fried
Cockatrice #2: fried
Cockatrice #3: ? - 6S, prone
Cockatrice #4: ?
Cockatrice #5: ?

Go ahead and declare and roll. I'll post something short ICly for Illeana's response to James' question, but I'll leave the IC action sequence in your hands for now. Her response is going to be longer than what would fit into an initiative pass, but it's RP and doesn't impact the combat. Chalk it up as background chatter that James can listen to while he's bobbing and weaving.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-25-16/1046:18>
I forgot about narcojet in capsule rounds.  Ace has that for nonlethal.

Ok, CT2 IP1
Free: Short Phrase
Complex: Attack Cockatrice#4 with Cyber Spur

I have: AGI (11) + Unarmed Combat (7) + Cyber Weapons Spec. (2) = 20 dice.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/365745): 20d6t5 6
Base damage is 11P -2AP
Shock Hand is at 8/10 charges
James is a 4/5 Edge

If this attack drops Cockatrice#4, he'll use Block on the remaining cockatrice's attack, knocking his Initiative down to 25.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-25-16/1225:48>
Cockatrice #4 dodge: Reaction + Intuition (http://orokos.com/roll/365806): ?d6t5 1 hit, that's not going to do it.

Damage is staged up to 16P on net hits. The little bastard doesn't have enough Body to soak that down to a survivable level. You've cleaved it's head straight off.

Cockatrice #3: Stand up and run like hell. But it's injured so it needs a test to stand.

Stand: Body + Willpower - Damage (http://orokos.com/roll/365808): ?d6t5 2 hits, it succeeds

It stands and takes off running. You note that it's very fast, maybe as fast as you. It might be a fun foot race, or maybe you'll just shoot it in the back.

Cockatrice #5 is going to try to Paralyze you. A friendly GM hint that Block won't help you against Paralyzing Touch, and that you may wish to Dodge instead.

Paralyzing Touch: Magic + Agility (http://orokos.com/roll/365809): ?d6t5 3 hits

CT2 IP2
James: 15 (with Dodge)
Cockatrice #1: fried
Cockatrice #2: fried
Cockatrice #3: ? - 6S, running like hell
Cockatrice #4: decapitated
Cockatrice #5: ?

Next
James Dodge
James Counterattack
James IC post
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-25-16/1400:47>
Ok, so rednblack will take gladly take the hint and James will Dodge.  V. Paralyzing Attack, I have: WIL (7) + INT (9) + Gymnastics (6) = 22 dice
V. Paralyzing Touch (Dodge) (http://orokos.com/roll/365845): 22d6t5 4

CT2 IP2
Free: Run
Complex: Cyber Spur on Cockatrice#5

James is going to give chase on Cockatrice#3, trying to knock the head off of #5 on his way.  For the attack I have: AGI (11) + Unarmed Combat (7) + Cyber Implants Spec. (2) - Running (2) = 18 dice.  Assuming Cockatrice#5 is too far for a Charging Attack.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/365848): 18d6t5 5

If Cockatrice#5 goes down, the plan is to start Sprinting after Cockatrice#3. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-25-16/1450:03>
Poor Cockatrice #5 doesn't have the Initiative to go Full Defense.

Dodging: Reaction + Intuition (http://orokos.com/roll/365866): 7d6t5 2 hits

That's 14P with net hits. Again, Body can't soak enough hits to make it survivable. Well, I suppose it could just be in Overflow instead of insta-kill, but either way it will be and/or already is quite dead.

Cockatrice #3 has a 7 meter head start. Its base running rate is only a tiny bit slower than James' (20 meters per turn for the Cockatrice versus 22 meters per turn for James), so it basically comes down to a sprinting test. That said, James' extra initiative passes should give him enough to catch up with the stunned cockatrice, which only gets one initiative pass on average.

Let's do the math, buying hits. The cockatrice is going to get 6 meters of sprinting per turn. James will get Strength 8 + Running 6 + Hydraulic Jacks 6 = 20 dice = 5 purchased hits * 2 meters/hit = 10 meters per sprinting test. Say three IPs on average, so 30 meters of sprinting per 3 seconds versus 6 meters for the cockatrice. That's 24 meters per turn faster, plus the extra 2 meter/turn base rate difference, equals 26 meters faster per turn. So it only takes Ace 7 meters / 26 meters/turn = 27% of a combat turn = 0.8 seconds to catch up with the cockatrice. You are free to dispatch it without rolling.

So James' base running rate + sprinting is roughly 52 meters per turn = 62kph = 39mph. Maybe even a bit better if he's not buying hits. Seems about right for cyborg supersoldier.

Next
I'll IC a response from Illeana, then you can finish off the last cockatrice and IC pose what James does next.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-25-16/1815:46>
Ball is back to you. You're free to add anything that James might be thinking of, or dreaming about, but don't have him wake up. I've actually written the next part of what happens ICly but I wanted to give you an opportunity to chime in and maybe explore some of James' thinking. If you don't have much at this juncture, that's fine too, but I wanted to give it a bit of room to breathe.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-26-16/1313:58>
Round two.

This is what it looks like. You're about the size of one paw. I'm attaching a separate .png that gives a size comparison.

(http://shadowhelix.pegasus.de/images/thumb/1/1c/Critter_Juggernaut.jpg/200px-Critter_Juggernaut.jpg)

You can roll Parazoology if you want. Action is to you.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-26-16/1335:20>
Yes, I definitely want to roll Parazoology.  I have: LOG (4) + Parazoology (4) = 8 dice.  I'll roll the N. America Spec. separately in case it doesn't count.
Parazoology (http://orokos.com/roll/366410): 8d6t5 7
Woo!  Let's see if I can roll that on a not-getting-squished test.  Still one shy of my limit, so let's see how it goes.
N. America Spec. (http://orokos.com/roll/366411): 2d6t5 0
Nope.  Just gonna keep my seven measly hits.

I remember a thread in the GM's Lounge subforum about these.  I'm terrified.  This should be fun.  Ok, questions aside from general knowledge:
1) Does James think the RV can outrun the Juggernaut? 
2) How far are James and Illeana from the RV?
3) How far away is the Juggernaut from James and Illeana and the RV?
4) If running isn't an option, would James' High Explosive minis do anything other than piss the Juggernaut off?
5) How much is their bounty again?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-26-16/1500:41>
7 hits is enough to establish James as a dedicated hobbyist who knows everything there is to know about juggernauts. The North American specialization would have applied, but I can't think of anything that I would tell you at 8 hits that I wouldn't tell you at 7 hits.

1) James knows that juggernauts can jog along easily at 27kph. Despite their relatively short legs, their leg muscles are powerful and they can sprint like a boss. They can sprint up to 85kph with ease, and occasionally have been clocked going even faster. So, could the RV outrun the juggernaut? On a paved road, yes. On a gravel/dirt road? Questionable. It's 4 kilometers to the nearest paved road (to the south).

2) The RV is 400 meters to the west.

3) The juggernaut is about 100 meters to the north. It is sprinting at you. Right now you have about 2 full Combat Turns before it reaches you, although you could stretch that out by running in the opposite direction.

3a) Per the earlier post, James knows he can sprint at about 62kph. Illeana caps out around 50kph unless magic is involved, in which case she can hit 55 or so. You're both fast, but not 85kph fast.

4) They'll just piss it off. It has armor like woah. James has heard stories of juggernauts shrugging off cluster bombs dropped by t-birds. To phase it you'll need to cut through its massive armor.

5) If you can capture it alive, ¥1,500,000. Dead, probably low six-figures. They usually retreat underground if they've been seriously injured.

James thinks that this juggernaut must be at the very north end of the species' range. They are more common in the PCC, CAS, and Aztlan. He can't ever recall one appearing in the Sioux Nation, but he knows that they have been slowly migrating north over the years.

Here's what you know with 7 hits:

Quote
The juggernaut is an unstoppable force that strongly resembles a dramatically enlarged specimen of its mundane relative, the common armadillo (Dasypus praegrandis). These specimens can exceed 14 meters in length and weigh well over 7,000 kilograms. A shell very similar to that of the mundane armadillo protects its enormous body, and it shares that animal’s poor eyesight. While the juggernaut’s claws are shaped for digging, their 110-centimeter length leaves them quite effective as weapons.

A juggernaut’s metabolism is complex and amazing. These animals are capable of digesting virtually anything, including complex inorganic compounds. These mammals constantly devour everything in sight, including seemingly random swaths of earth.

A consequence of this unique metabolism is that a juggernaut can function for several hours without air. This permits these terrors to hunt a stream or lakebed even though they are incapable of swimming due to their bone density. In the absence of fresh air, juggernauts do operate more slowly; however, their size and strength often seem to more than compensate for this limitation.

In spite of their inherently flexible dietary needs, juggernauts remain diurnal, territorial predators. They are extremely aggressive and determined in their hunting but not at all selective in their prey choice. Essentially, any motion that they sense is enough to whet their appetites. Once a juggernaut has selected a target, it will pursue aggressively for hours, relying upon its sensitive smell to follow a trail for up to 15 kilometers. Along the way, the juggernaut will continuously feed and leave a rampant trail of destruction. Only an environment that is rich enough in prey to assuage its hunger will distract a juggernaut from its original target.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-27-16/1132:11>
Ok, we may need to rely on Illeana for this one.  Going with a potential GM hint, I think Illeana should Levitate herself and James and move to the east.  Comm the RV to start driving to the nearest paved road.  If an Air Spirit's Movement power would help them actually outrun the thing, summon one a them puppies. 

Issues: we're looking at a high Force to be able to clear 14+ meters in two CTs, and should it be close I'm expecting some severe penalties to Dodge while under the affects of a Levitate spell.  Focused Concentration 6 will come in handy for the sustaining penalties, at least, and since the range of the spell is LOS, we can start sprinting away immediately.

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/366688): 16+4d6 32
Good.  That extra pass will help.

Free: Run
Free: Speak
Simple: Stand
Simple: Ready Alpha.

I'll get an IC up soon.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-27-16/1519:45>
That's a good plan and was what Illeana was going to do if James had a sudden stroke.

If you start running in the opposite direction, it will buy you another Combat Turn. That should buy enough time for the Levitate to get you out of its reach. This presumes that Illeana doesn't flub the casting rolls badly, but there's Edge for that.

James @ F6: Magic 6 + Spellcasting 7 + Mentor Spirit 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/366750): 15d6t5 7 hits
Illeana @ F6: Magic 6 + Spellcasting 7 + Mentor Spirit 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/366751): 15d6t5 5 hits

Soaking drain 4S drain twice: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/366753): 2#16d6t5 5 hits 5 hits

Illeana is now at -2 for sustaining.

Illeana levitates you at 6 meters a turn. On the third turn, you are 18 meters off the ground when the juggernaut - 14 meters long and with a 4 meter reach - catches up with you. It will dramatically miss by centimeters.

That said, James may wish to shoot or otherwise distract it so that it doesn't try to jump. James doesn't know of any recorded instances of juggernauts jumping, but he knows that their legs are crazy strong and that it could probably propel itself pretty far if it is sufficiently determined.

The question is "now what"? You'll be suspended in midair above an angry monster. If it's paying attention to you, the RV can probably get away, but then how do you rejoin the RV? Presumably it will follow you. James knows that juggernauts are ornery and hold grudges.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-27-16/1558:32>
First, sorry for the overly brief IC. My day job is a bit hectic today as well.

I think the plan should be for the RV to get away, and James and Illeana can meet up with it later. An Air Spirit's Movement power would help a lot, or we could simply climb enough to where the wind will scatter our delicious smell and make our escape that way, as their eye sight is pretty poor.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-27-16/1604:32>
I forgot to address the air spirit. Illeana can't summon right now because her current spirit is watching over Sam. It isn't bound - it's just providing Concealment as a remote service - so she can't conjure any more at the moment without exposing Sam.

Up up and away you go. I'll IC post... sometime.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-27-16/1708:22>
Ahh, gotcha.

Ok, once James goes airborne, he'll go:

Free: Switch Alpha to Burst Fire
Simple: Take Aim
Simple: Take Aim

The next IP he'll go.
Free: Called Shot: Bulls-Eye Burst
Simple: Take Aim
Simple: Three Round Burst at Juggernaut.

Boy, I wish I had my Lancer for this, but I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group (8) + Take AimX3 (3) - Called Shot (4) = 18 dice
Called Shot v. Juggernaut (http://orokos.com/roll/366766): 18d6t5 8
Forgot Target Modifier Huge, +3 dice: Target Modifier (http://orokos.com/roll/366768): 3d6t5 0
No help.  Taking Aim with a smartlink increases the Accuracy as well as the dice pool for each Simple, but I'm not sure if that's tied into the Wireless bonuses, so I'll hold off on spending Edge this go around.

Bulls-Eye Burst would adjust AP as AP + (AP X 3) by RAW, which is -24 if the weapon's base AP stacks, or -18 if it doesn't.  I know this Called Shot has been seen as abusive, so feel free to house rule as you see fit.  It won't hurt my feelings any.

Base damage is 11P -?AP + Net Hits.  Juggernaut is at -2 to Dodge.The possibility of doing 19P -24AP makes me think that Ace might actually have a chance of scratching its hide.
Ace is at 39/42 Alpha (APDS)
Ace is at 8/10 Shock Hand
Ace is at 4/5 Edge
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-27-16/1800:24>
The Bulls-Eye Double Tap/Burst got errata'd, although I didn't know that until just now.

Quote
The last sentence under the Effects sub-header should be changed from
“The attack results in an AP increase equal to the base AP multiplied by the number of bullets in the burst with a maximum modifier of x3”
to
“The attack results in an AP increase equal to the base weapon AP multiplied by the number of bullets in the burst with a maximum modifier of x3.”

See here: http://cdn.shadowruntabletop.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/E-CAT27002E_RG-Errata.pdf?4713c7

I understand the desire to curb the called shot, but in our case it makes it no better than a regular shot with the Alpha and APDS since it's -6 both ways. Perhaps they overcorrected. By my reckoning, that means there are about 4 guns in the entire game - all sniper rifles - that this called shot would be useful for. And even for those the AP benefit would be modest, and likely not worth the -4 called shot penalty.

It might make sense if APDS ammo wasn't required - if this could work for normal ammo too - but in the new form it's largely worthless.

Let me see if I can think of a happy medium.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-27-16/1820:22>
The Bulls-Eye Double Tap/Burst got errata'd, although I didn't know that until just now.

Quote
The last sentence under the Effects sub-header should be changed from
“The attack results in an AP increase equal to the base AP multiplied by the number of bullets in the burst with a maximum modifier of x3”
to
“The attack results in an AP increase equal to the base weapon AP multiplied by the number of bullets in the burst with a maximum modifier of x3.”

See here: http://cdn.shadowruntabletop.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/E-CAT27002E_RG-Errata.pdf?4713c7

I understand the desire to curb the called shot, but in our case it makes it no better than a regular shot with the Alpha and APDS since it's -6 both ways. Perhaps they overcorrected. By my reckoning, that means there are about 4 guns in the entire game - all sniper rifles - that this called shot would be useful for. And even for those the AP benefit would be modest, and likely not worth the -4 called shot penalty.

It might make sense if APDS ammo wasn't required - if this could work for normal ammo too - but in the new form it's largely worthless.

Let me see if I can think of a happy medium.

If it's an AP increase it would be Base AP (6) + [Base Weapon AP (2) X Shots Fired (3)] = -12 AP.  That's certainly not -24, but it seems reasonable.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-27-16/1837:31>
Let's do that. From a game design perspective, it makes sense. You're giving up 4 dice on the called shot so the AP change should at least be 4 at a bare minimum, but 5 or 6 would be more appropriate to compensate for the increased chance of missing and/or glitching. The same concept already applies to flechette and hollow-points, so there's good precedent too. Going from -6 AP to -12 AP sounds about perfect to me.

The -2 to dodge definitely won't apply since the called shot is no longer a wide burst, by definition of the called shot.

I'm skeptical of the Take Aim because both James and the target are moving. (I thought the rules clearly said that either one or both had to be stationary but it looks like I made that part up.) But the rules only say that you can't take any other action. Technically the Called Shot itself is a Free Action which would negate the Take Aim, but that's both overly fussy and illogical in this case so we'll ignore that.

Juggernaut dodge: Reaction + Intuition + Running (http://orokos.com/roll/366788): ?d6t5 4 hits

Base DV is 11P staged up to 15P -12AP with net hits.

Soaking: Body + Armor - AP (http://orokos.com/roll/366789): ?d6t5 8 hits + 3 auto-hits from Hardened Armor still remaining = 11 hits = 4P.

The juggernaut is unaccustomed to being injured (by anything) and is now even angrier than it was before. Congratulations: you have it's undivided attention.

No ETA on the IC post yet.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-28-16/1213:51>
The -2 to dodge definitely won't apply since the called shot is no longer a wide burst, by definition of the called shot.

Yep.  I wasn't thinking about that.

I'm skeptical of the Take Aim because both James and the target are moving. (I thought the rules clearly said that either one or both had to be stationary but it looks like I made that part up.) But the rules only say that you can't take any other action. Technically the Called Shot itself is a Free Action which would negate the Take Aim, but that's both overly fussy and illogical in this case so we'll ignore that.

The "you can't take any other action" bit has always confused me when it comes to Called Shots.  Comming a teammate, or even switching firing modes -- including through DNI -- makes sense to me, but Called Shots seem like exactly the kind of thing you're taking aim for, especially to hit the "aim small, miss small," description.

It doesn't appear as though Walking is considered an action in SR, though I do agree that it's odd to think of a char making use of Take Aim bonuses while advancing forward, though the house rules in this game make the rates much more believable. 

Another round of spending 1 IP to Take Aim and another To Call Shot, Take Aim and fire a Called Shot: Bulls-eye Burst.  I'm going to roll the Take Aim bonuses separately in case you don't want to include them.  Also, James the char is going to put all he has into this one, and rednblack the player is going to trust in the dice gods despite their fickle nature.  I'm going to pre-Edge and hope to bust right past my limit.

I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group (8) + Edge (5) - Called Shot (4) = 20 dice.
Called Shot v. Juggernaut pre-Edge (http://orokos.com/roll/366985): 20d6h5 3
Damn you, dice gods!  I burned reagents of fine tobacco in your name and you forsake me.
Ok, well, let's see how my Take Aim X 3 goes.
Take Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/366986): 3d6h5 3
While surprisingly good, it feels like paltry compensation.  That's 6 hits total.

Base damage is 11P -12AP
Ace is at 36/42 Alpha (APDS)
Ace is at 8/10 Shock Hand
Ace is at 3/5 Edge
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-28-16/1427:13>
I was only going to give you one IP but I'll let you keep the Take Aim hits since you didn't take the bonus for shooting a target the size of an RV. (Of course, whether size bonuses should apply to the Bulls Eye called shot is a different question, which I'll completely sidestep for time purposes.)

Juggernaut dodge: Reaction + Intuition + Running - Damage (http://orokos.com/roll/367017): ?d6t5 5 hits, oo! good thing you kept the extra hits

Soaking 12P -12 AP: Body + Armor - AP (http://orokos.com/roll/367019): ?d6t5 8 hits plus 3 auto-hits from Hardened Armor equals 11 hits, so 1P of new damage. It's now at 5P.

The juggernaut is going to jump at James with murder in its eye. James is about 20 metes off the ground. The Juggernaut is 14 meters long with Reach 4, so it needs a couple hits. Jumping is an Agility test, not Strength, which is lucky for you since it's Strength attribute is literally 7x higher than its Agility. Also lucky for you: no Gymnastics skill.

Juggernaut jump: Agility (defaulting) - Damage (http://orokos.com/roll/367021): ?d6t5 0 hits, phew. If the juggernaut were a social creature it might be embarrassed, but for now it just appears even angrier than before.

Off to a meeting.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-28-16/1553:09>
Illeana is going to cast Magic Fingers @ F6 to add a bit of extra oompf to James' levitation.

Casting: Magic 6 + Spellcasting 7 + Mentor Spirit 2 - Sustaining 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/367047): 13d6t5 6 hits

Soaking 4 drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/367048): 16d6t5 7 hits

Illeana is now at -4 for sustaining.

The juggernaut is using the Fear power. It is resisted with Willpower + Logic.

Fear: Magic + Willpower - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/367050): 14d6t5 4 hits

Illeana defends: Willpower 6 + Logic 5 + Guts 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/367053): 13d6t5 5 hits, she ain't scurred

Next
Roll to defend against Fear
James IC post
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-28-16/1614:57>
V. Fear (http://orokos.com/roll/367060): 11d6t5 5
James ain't skeered either.

I'm really torn about sending the RV off now, or continuing to pop the Juggernaut until it either gets bored and hurt enough that it wants to go to ground.  The danger with sending it off now is that the Juggernaut may shift its attention and charge the RV.  The danger with waiting is that once the Juggernaut figures that it can't get to James or Illeana that its sniffer directs it elsewhere and it charges the RV.  I'm not sure if James would have a better idea than I would, but if something about their nature would give him a clue that 7 hits would uncover, let me know.  Otherwise, James is going to comm Illeana and get her bead on it.  Also, while he's not directly affected by the Fear power, I'd imagine that James would rather put more APDS downrange sooner rather than later, so he's going to forgo any Take Aim actions on his next IP.

Free: Called Shot: Bulls-eye Burst
Simple: Speech: "You ok?  Should we send the RV out now?"
Simple: Fire Called Shot

That's a bit long for one IP, and James is going to check in on Illeana's welfare before bringing up the RV, so maybe he'll need to take 2 passes to get that covered.

I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group (8) - Called Shot (4) = 15 dice.
Called Shot v. Juggernaut (http://orokos.com/roll/367069): 15d6t5 5
Not bad. 

Before I post ICly, can James comm the RV in this zero matrix environment?  Is it close enough?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-28-16/1645:46>
The RV is close enough to comm directly. I generally give commlinks anywhere from 0.5 to 1.0 km range, independent of the Matrix. Given that there are absolutely zero obstacles in this terrain - no rocks, no trees, just grass - and that you have a top-of-the-line commlink, reaching the 1km range shouldn't be difficult at all.

Illeana will be highly in favor of sending the RV to safety while the juggernaut's attention is on you. She is protective of the RV and would probably cry if it got eaten. She would send the RV away sooner rather than later, then scaring off the juggernaut once the RV has a safe head start.

Juggernaut dodge: Reaction + Intuition + Running - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/367096): ?d6t5 6 hits

Shots miss.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-01-16/1502:08>
Before I forget, there's a thread (http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=23269.0) discussing the concept of Ace. They're are trying to do it by RAW chargen rules and are doing reasonably well.

I think the book's description of how much juggernauts weigh is off by a factor of 2x-3x. The largest African elephants can weigh as much of a juggernaut, and African elephants are - at the very most - only half the size of a juggernaut. Of course, being wrong about weights is a long and proud tradition in Shadowrun. A long time ago (2000) someone did an in-depth analysis (http://www.shadowrun.us/materials/SHADOWRUN%20Supplement%20Issue%2013.pdf) of how much trolls should weigh, given their fluff descriptions. The answer was closer to 1,100 pounds, instead of the 500 pounds the books mentioned. I love trolls, but they are problematic from a lot of realism standpoints. And I don't mean "trolls don't exist", but more "how can 1,100 pounds be sneaky" or "how can this vehicle operate at full capacity when one of the passengers weighs as much as the five others combined"?



One of Ryo's recent OOC posts described Illeana as, "far and away, bar none, by every stretch of the imagination and possibility of description, the most beautiful woman you have ever seen, or could imagine seeing." Ryo is, of course, semi-canon for our game, but we have some flexibility. Illeana's beauty is important for her backstory - it's the reason why the vampire changed her, because he couldn't bear the thought of her growing old - but in my mind it is more important that Illeana be a unique beauty, rather than some unparalleled Helen of Troy.

How heavily we emphasize this is somewhat up to you. James has seen her with her mask off, which few others have, but she certainly doesn't walk around looking radiant. For starters, she now has the Faceless quality and never wants to appear as herself in public. Part of this is for backstory reasons (not that she can remember any of them), but also she doesn't want to draw unnecessary attention to herself. Her Charisma score is meant to reflect the fact that she doesn't walk around looking like Grace Kelly, nor is she naturally charismatic. Again, for backstory reasons she is probably too subservient to have really forged her own charming personality. She's doing better now, post-mindwipe, but old habits die hard.

We're approaching the end of this scene. I'll have at least one more IC post for Illeana. You can reply if you like or we can move on. I just need to pick the setting for the next post. (The events are not location-specific.) Is there anywhere in the CAS that you and/or James want to visit?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-01-16/1620:53>
Not terribly surprising that the weight would be off for juggernauts.  Ditto for trolls.  I've toyed with the idea of imposing either dice or Limit penalties for sneaking tests depending on the terrain, but largely I just hand wave that stuff.

I see James being torn on Illeana's beauty.  He's definitely taken by her, and would probably prefer to see her unmasked more often, but I've also been running under the assumption that he knows her back story, or at least knows that it's her beauty that ended up getting her infected, and considering that she's not terribly enamored with being a vampire, he thinks that constantly telling her how beautiful she is would wear pretty thin pretty quickly.

I'm not too terribly picky about where to hit next in the CAS.  Oklahoma City or Tulsa are the nearest spots, and I live in OKC.  If the juggernaut didn't put too big a damper on things, the pair could also cross down through the critter-infested Texas pandhandle, and see what kind of frontier town Amarillo has ended up becoming in the sixth world.  But really, it depends on whether or not Illeana and James have any previous plan(s) that they're looking at. 

Despite his interest in juggernauts James probably isn't going to want to go back for it.  I have thought about James and the weird kind of morality that he has.  He's probably still sore at Nately Jr., thinking the kid got his poor parents geeked, and he may have it in his head that the right thing to do would be to divest Nately Jr. of his wealth before killing him.  There's also the Rhodes angle if James has a bead on any potential locations for him, or for known associates and home bases.  Either of those might pull Illeana and James more toward Houston -- a big hub of Ares -- or Atlanta -- where Ares has their CAS headquarters.     
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-01-16/1642:31>
James and Illeana don't know any of her backstory prior to February 1st. (Hey, today!) It might be reasonable for them to guess that her beauty is why she was Infected, but that would just be conjecture rather than something they know for certain. She doesn't mind looking pretty for James, but she does have a near anxiety attack over the thought of going out in public looking like herself.

The next stop will probably pick up in early July. I imagine them crossing most of the CAS in that time. Illeana would be wary of Atlanta because of the Atlantean Foundation, which is probably not pleased with you. But nor does she want to go to the coast because water makes her nervous. (Vampires have zero buoyancy and swim like stones.) You'll be swinging north after that.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-01-16/1722:07>
James and Illeana don't know any of her backstory prior to February 1st. (Hey, today!) It might be reasonable for them to guess that her beauty is why she was Infected, but that would just be conjecture rather than something they know for certain. She doesn't mind looking pretty for James, but she does have a near anxiety attack over the thought of going out in public looking like herself.

The next stop will probably pick up in early July. I imagine them crossing most of the CAS in that time. Illeana would be wary of Atlanta because of the Atlantean Foundation, which is probably not pleased with you. But nor does she want to go to the coast because water makes her nervous. (Vampires have zero buoyancy and swim like stones.) You'll be swinging north after that.

Oh yeah, that's right.  Got it.  I'm not sure that James would go there on his own.

Swinging north sounds just fine.  I think in that time, James would do some investigations into Nately Enterprises and Nately Jr. specifically.  He's probably not going to want to bring it up to Illeana until he has something actionable that he can "sell" her on.  Not sure how you want to run the crunch for something like this, but let's start with a simple Computer test.

I have LOG (4) + Computer (4) = 8 dice.  Not spending Edge or anything until I hear how you want to play it.
Computer Test on Natelys (http://orokos.com/roll/368652): 8d6t5 4
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-01-16/1814:22>
Hold the thought on that computer test. We'll pick it up in a day or two.

For the record, I had us a further north, closer to I-70. Not terribly important, but I figured that was where the border crossing would be.

You're at the border now. Give me an Etiquette roll, and Con roll, and tell me which SIN and/or licenses you are crossing with.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-01-16/2036:56>
Etiquette: CHA (4) + Etiquette (4) = 8 dice
Etiquette at border crossing (http://orokos.com/roll/368711): 8d6t5 2
Let's Push the Limit.  It's one less die than re-rolling failures, but maybe the rule of 6 will come to my aid.
Edge Push the Limit (http://orokos.com/roll/368712): 5d6h5 3
That's 5 hits total.

Con: CHA (4) + Con (4) = 8 dice.
Con at border crossing (http://orokos.com/roll/368713): 8d6t5 2
Ugh, these low side of average rolls are killing me.  I'm going to see how this plays out with the solid Etiquette roll before I commit to any more Edge expenditures. 

James will be running his Joseph Shimko SIN (PCC), including the Restricted Cyberware and Concealed Carry Licenses.  The Predator will be in the glove box, loaded with regular ammo, and he will inform the border guard's of its presence as soon as he rolls down the window and lets them run his SIN.  I'm under the impression that the firearm is legal where they were coming from and where they're headed to, and that it might appear suspicious for them to be traveling without any protection in a place as dangerous as the sixth world.  Is that correct?

The Hermes Ikon will have his SIN and the firearm slaved to it, running Wireless On.  All other commlinks, including the one in his head are turned Wireless Off.   

I'm a little pressed for time tonight, so probably no IC.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-01-16/2059:25>
You're talking to the guy in person, so your Tailored Pheromones apply.

The Ares Predator is Restricted, so it's legal when properly licensed. We'll call the license Rating 4, to mirror the SIN.

Smartlinks are restricted in the PCC, but the UCAS guy won't care about that. Presuming the guard is a patriot, he'll probably turn a blind, patriotic eye to Ares products more frequently than he would to foreign products.

Border guard vs. Etiquette: Charisma + Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/368726): ?d6t5 3 hits, so you're fine there
Border guard vs. Con: Charisma + Con (http://orokos.com/roll/368727): ?d6t5 3 hits, better come up with an extra hit there

SIN check vs. Joseph (R4): SIN Check (http://orokos.com/roll/368728): 6d6t5 3 hits, close but you're fine
SIN check vs. Illeana (R6): SIN Check (http://orokos.com/roll/368729): 6d6t5 0 hits, she would have been fine with her Ivana Kutchukokoph SIN, apparently
Check vs. firearms license: Firearms License Check (http://orokos.com/roll/368732): 6d6t5 1 hit, no problem

Straighten out your story a bit (perhaps with pheromones) and you might get through this just fine.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-01-16/2112:51>
Pheromones!
Tailored Pheromones (http://orokos.com/roll/368740): 2d6t5 0
Nope.  Ok, I guess it is Edge time.  The Tailored Pheromones tip the scale to where I'd rather re-roll failures.  That's 8 dice.
Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/368743): 8d6t5 2
That's 4 hits.  I hope that means the gun stays in the holster.  I'm grabbing a sanity break from class prep, so I'll try to get an IC up right now after all.

That puts James at 1/5 Edge, btw. 

One more note, I still don't have a name, nation, or corp for my Rating 2 SIN.  Dealer's choice.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-02-16/0220:14>
You made it through Scene 1. Edge refreshes. Karma, when I get around to it.

No need to post ICly yet. I'll move us on to Scene 2 when I have the chance.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-03-16/0216:18>
Next scene is up. I went on longer than I intended, but I couldn't find a good break point. Themes we'll be continuing to work with include Illeana's dogged pursuit of magical knowledge, almost to the exclusion of all else. We will get into it more, but her "retirement" looks more like a full-time researcher, which may or may not be compatible with James' goals and desires. It is something that he can't readily participate in, which should be a divide between our two heroes.

I'm going to roll Illeana's Essense randomly at the beginning of each new scene, to represent the fluctuation of Essence Drain and Essence Loss. 2d6 should be about right.

Current Essense (http://orokos.com/roll/369222): 2d6 12, well, I guess her tank is full.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-03-16/1735:29>
Just a heads up, I'm mulling over my IC post, and pretty busy with the day job today, so it might not be until tomorrow that I get something up.  I'm still trying to see how I want to play this, and how far I want to go with it ICly.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-03-16/1747:59>
There's no rush. It took me a long time to write the IC post and there's a lot in there that you can respond to.

The Bayou is not a "set piece". There's nothing that says you have to go. If James wants to do something completely different, that's great too. It's an open world. Feel free to respond ICly without feeling bound by OOC constraints, like "I have to do this because the GM is pointing this direction". I'm just expressing what Illeana wants to do, which is to study weird and powerful sources of magic for inscrutable reasons of her own.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-03-16/1800:44>
Gotcha. Mostly I'm interested in putting a little turmoil in their lives and respond realistically to James' insecurities about the whole magic thing. Before I do the IC post, can I get a ruling on those Computer test for Nately? That very well may show up when James makes his replies.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-03-16/1859:17>
James finds a news story that the Chairman of the Board of Nately Enterprises was killed in a tragic automobile accident outside of Aspen, PCC. Investigators said that the front right tire was blown out and the vehicle's Pilot program was unable to compensate for the icy conditions.

James knows better, but he also knows that Aspen prizes its reputation as a safe haven for corporate executives from all over the world. They don't want anything to diminish that appearance of safety, so the Natelys' abduction and confrontation with the Black Lodge goons has been successfully covered up.

The elder (now dead) Nately was Edward J. Nately II. The young scion is Edward J. Nately III. The new Chair(wo)man of the Board is Virginia Nately-Pomerantz. There is no indication that Nately III has assumed a formal position with Nately Enterprises yet. James can't find any reference to him other than being mentioned as the son of Nately III. ("Edward J. Nately II is married and has one son, Edward J. Nately III", etc.) It's unclear what Virginia's relationship is to Nately III, but judging by her age she might be an aunt (possibly a sister to Nately II).

There's still relatively little indication about what Nately Enterprises is or what they do. They are an A-rated corporation based out of Boston, UCAS. The Nately family controls all voting shares. The company's public disclosures seem to be intentionally ambiguous and obfuscatory.

Based on James' relatively solid understanding of modern corporations and their structure (Business 5), he would guess that the company is some sort of holding company that serves as an investment vehicle, or otherwise owns other companies' outstanding stock. Nately Enterprises does not appear to produce goods or provide services itself. It might just be a way for the Natelys to organize their family's wealth while simultaneously benefiting from corporate structure.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-05-16/1349:35>
Ok, IC up.  I went a little off-the-rails, with it so let me know if I crossed any lines.  I tried to leave a number of outs for how this could go.

Also, OOC, rednblack the player is fine with another critter hunt.  Going through the bayous sounds like a good time, but I also wanted to interject some IC tension between James and Illeana, largely to get past the "everyone playing nice" RP roadblocks that crop up in games, especially PbP ones. 

I'd like to do another Computer test on Virginia Nately-Pomerantz, and one on Rhodes.  I assume that Rhodes info will be very difficult to get a hold of, but I'm mainly interested in what city would be a good place to start.

Computer Test Virginia (http://orokos.com/roll/370104): 8d6t5 2
Computer Test Rhodes (http://orokos.com/roll/370105): 8d6t5 4
Not bad.  50% on Rhodes is quite a bit better than effectively buying hits on Virginia.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-05-16/1547:05>
Lots of good stuff to respond to in the IC post. The tricky part will be responding without going on and on for thousands of words.

Busy day ahead, and I'm still getting malware warnings about the site from Chrome. I'll respond when I can.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-06-16/0138:18>
Next post is up. For the record, I'm sticking very close to canon. Almost everything in this post and the last one has a canon component. I had to make educated guesses for two of the corporate ratings for the stock portfolio, but the vast majority of the details are from published materials. I'm also using your knowledge skills (e.g. Parazoology) to inform what James does and does not know/recognize. It's one of those things that can be complex to do with a team, but is easier when working one-on-one.

Your Street Drugs roll: Intuition 9 + Street Drugs 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/370240): 10d6t5 3 hits

It's getting late so I'll tackle the Computer rolls another time. As always, you are free to respond to as much or as little as you want. If James eventually returns to wherever he and Illeana are staying (splurging on a hotel? or is the RV parked somewhere?) he'll find a handwritten note from Illeana. That's where their two stories will rejoin, but James is free to wander until then.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-06-16/2022:43>
Virginia Nately-Pomerantz
Virginia is 67 years old. In 2025 she graduated from the Boston Latin School at the age of 17, before attending Wellesley College. The latter offered a dual-degree program with MIT&T, so Virginia received a Bachelor of Science from MIT&T and a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley. For her graduate studies, she received a master's in psychology from Mount Holyoke College.

Her employment history is vague and difficult to piece together. She seems to have had some managerial roles in private businesses. More publicly, she's been involved with several philanthropies and public institutions, likely due to significant donates. In addition to her role in Nately Enterprises, she is on the Board of Trustees at the Boston Public Library. She is also on the Board of Trustees at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Board of Directors at the Boston Baroque.

She married Benjamin Pomerantz, a lawyer, in 2055, at the age of 47. The couple do not have children. Images of her show that she's a bit of a steel-haired fox, with a penchant for fur and pearls.

Rhodes
Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of land area. While Greek, it sits just off the coast of Syria (formerly Turkey). Rhodes' nickname is The Island of the Knights, named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who once conquered the land. Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe.

There is almost nothing publicly available about an Ares employee named Rhodes. Message boards and forums dedicated to shadowtalk mostly offer vague stories and rumors, not unlike the ones that Doc turned up during his search. (Note that Doc's Agent got 7 hits on its Matrix Search for Rhodes, and came back with very little.) James would guess that Rhodes is in his early 40s (so a bit older than James) and might have done a tour in Chicago - perhaps with Firewatch - very early in his career. Stories of him - often acting as a sort of "boogeyman" to shadowrunners - suggest that he is a field agent and is rarely in the same place for any extended period of time. His last known sighting - about a month ago - was in Portland, Maine.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-08-16/1300:00>
The bed isn't empty. Illeana is sprawled out, sleeping deeply.

Illeana splurged and booked you a bit of a suite. There's a small sitting room before the bedroom. There's a lamp on the table which she left on for James. Underneath the lamp is the note.

I'll put all that in the IC - whenever it gets posted - but the last line of your IC will need a small tweak.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-08-16/1345:17>
IC fixed.

I'd like to make a Judge Intentions roll on Leanna, to see if she betrayed herself any when James mentioned the Tempo.
Judge Intentions (http://orokos.com/roll/370955): 13d6t5 4

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-08-16/1354:39>
Leanna laughs at the mention of Lone Star coming around. Apparently she feels that notion is far-fetched. She gives a knowing, maybe condescending, smile to the mention of tempo, as a libertine might give to a prude.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-10-16/1231:11>
Ok, I doubt James has anything to add on Illeana's investment portfolio, but he's going to give it his best shot.

I have: LOG (4) + Business (5) + Megacorp (2) = 11 dice
Illeana's spreadsheet Analysis (http://orokos.com/roll/371798): 11d6t5 4
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-10-16/1253:07>
James notes the lack of AAA corporations in the investment portfolio. Illeana seems to have focused on A- and AA-rated corporations, which provide greater growth opportunities but also greater risk. There's always a possibility that one of the AAAs could gobble up one of the smaller players that it saw as a threat, or so thoroughly undermine its business that the stock price collapses.

From a company selection, James doesn't see much to quibble with. He might have selected ARGUS over Aegis Cognito, but their business models - independent intelligence agencies - look very similar. ARGUS is located in the Allied German States, so James presumes that Illeana selected Aegis Cognito (headquartered in Lisbon) for her stated goal of geographic diversity. (The AGS is already represented in the portfolio by the Frankfurt Bank Association.)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-10-16/1648:17>
Great IC post. You put the whole thing in a quote tag though. Could you clip that out for aesthetic purposes?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-12-16/1429:33>
Next IC post is up. Twists and turns galore. Again, it's very tight with the canon.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-15-16/1536:13>
You have some more quote tag goofiness on your last IC post.

Go ahead and post your Swamp Loadout for the Bayou. I'll be keeping an eye on the environmental severity rules in Run & Gun (p. 146-7). The heat is in the 90s Fahrenheit, which only qualifies as Mild, but the Humidity is High, which halves most duration modifiers.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-15-16/1728:19>
IC fixed.  Is this a day trip, or are James and Illeana planning on doing some swamp camping?

Swamp Loud Out:
Chameleon Suit
Ballistic Mask
Defiance EX-Shocker (Arm-slide)
Ares Predator V (Concealed Quick-draw holster, with Gel rounds, 1 spare mag with same)
Ares Crusader II (Concealed Quick-draw holster, with APDS, 1 spare mag with Regular Ammo)
Ares Desert Strike (with APDS, 1 spare mag with same, and 1 with Ex-Explosive)
Monofilament Garrote
Medkit (rating 3)
Medkit (rating 6)
Slap Patch (rating 6) X 2
Trauma Patch
Survival Kit
Rural type kicks
Hermes Ikon

The above load-out is under the assumption that we have bags for gear.  Also, how will we be handling water?  I've never found any water purification gear in SR.  Is that hand waved, or will we be relying on the Survival Kit for that? 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-16-16/1728:50>
You have plenty of space for bags and gear. I just wanted to know what you'd be wearing around by default.

Illeana doesn't want to spend any longer than necessary in the swamp, but it's unlikely that you can do everything you would need to within a single day. James' Survival training tells him to always be prepared, so he would have plenty of food and water on hand.

The survival kit is sufficient to purify water. Illeana could boil it, but the survival kit will do a better job handling the salinity of the brackish swamp water.

Is James wearing the chameleon suit and ballistic mask around by default?

I'm looking at the chameleon suit on your sheet. It says "Armor 9, Ruthenium Polymer Coating 4,Auto Injector, Pulse Weave 4".
- Did you "upgrade" the chameleon suit with the Ruthenium Polymer Coating? So it's like a super-chameleon suit?
- What's in the auto-injector?
- Pulse Weave doesn't have ratings, to the best of my knowledge. What does the 4 stand for?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-17-16/1211:25>
In Auto-injector: Rating 6 Stim Patch (set to be injected should he fall unconscious) and 1 Trauma Patch (set to be injected should his physical Condition Monitor fill up).  If it's possible to have a medkit installed a well, so that it would heal him once his Condition Monitor filled up, I'd like to do that as well.  Due to his Fire Watch training, I don't think James is really the combat stim kinda guy, so I haven't bought any of those for him.  I do wonder if his thinking might start to change after all the help he's been getting from Illeana, though.

I did soup up the chameleon suit.  By default the chameleon suit raises Sneak Limit by 2, and if it's Wireless, it adds 2 dice to sneaking tests.  The Ruthenium Polymer Coating imposes a 6 dice (Rating 4 + full suit 2) penalty on visual Perception tests to spot James.  There's no reference to the RP coating needing to be Wireless to function, at least that I could find.  There are no rules that state that chars who are only spotted via sound or smell benefit from the Blind Fire modifier on attacks against them, as they would from Improved Invisibility.

The rating on Pulse Weave has a number of charges equal to its rating.  No official word on what constitutes a "charge," but my assumption was one Combat Turn.

James would be wearing his Rural Kicks to rent the boat, and would change into the Chameleon Suit once we got away from people.  The Ballistic Mask would not be worn until it looked like things were going to go hot, should James have that luxury.  So default is Chameleon Suit with Ballistic Mask on belt, similar to the day in Kansas.  The sniper rifle is in a duffle bag on the boat. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-17-16/2019:38>
Stim patch and trauma patch in the auto-injector sound good. A medkit is far too large and complex for an auto-injector though.

I figured that's what you were doing with the chameleon suit. So it will be -6 Visual Perception and +2 Sneaking limit with wireless off, and all that with +2 Sneaking with wireless on. No wireless in the swamp though, unless you want to drag a satellite link along with you.

Give me a few rolls:
1) Perception (visual or hearing)
2) Tracking
3) four (4) fatigue rolls

Fatigue is usually every 6 hours at Mild environmental severity, but the high humidity divides that in half. Roll Body 5 + Willpower 7 - Armor 5 = 7 dice. Damage is only 1S but it won't heal until you're out of the swamp.

No need to roll for sunburn as cyberlimbs are immune, per the rules.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-18-16/0120:45>
Illeana will be bringing:

Form Fitting Body Armor (8) w/ Non-Conductivity 3
Ballistic Mask
12 throwing knives
Highland Forge Claymore weapon focus
survival knife
60 Reagents

Team Inventory
3 high explosive grenades
2 smoke grenades (regular, not thermal)
2 flash-bang grenades
1 chemical grenade (tear gas)
1 stim patch (Rating 6)
1 trauma patch
1 alchemy kit
1 gecko tape gloves
1 binoculars (optical)
1 Rating 6 medkit

Summoning F6 water spirit: Magic 6 + Summoning 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/374657): 10d6t5 3 hits
Spirit resist: Summoning Resist (http://orokos.com/roll/374659): 6d6t5 1 hit, so two services
Soaking 2 drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/374664): 16d6t5 3 hits, no drain

Optional powers: Guard, Weather Control

She's going to have the spirit use both its optional powers. The description for Guard specifically calls out that it can help someone avoid heatstroke, so I guess we can drop those fatigue rolls I requested. She'll also have the spirit summon some cloud cover, as the intense sun makes her nervous. I'll just buy hits for that, so it takes 2 hours to fully develop.

She's also going to make some preparations. I'm going to be experimenting with some house rules for alchemy; namely, the rolls are no longer nested. The alchemist creates the preparation at a given Force, soaks the necessary drain, and when the preparation is triggered the spell goes off with a Magic + Alchemy [Force] roll. Less bookkeeping this way, and less unnecessary rolling upfront.

She has a new Centering focus that she'll be using. It's a carving knife, and her Centering requires her to be carving for it to be effective. This is borderline "too subtle" so I'm thinking about how to punch it up a bit and still have it feel Wiccan. With the focus and Centering, she has 27 dice to soak drain. As I'm too lazy to do a lot of rolling, I'll just buy successes and keep drain at 6 or less.

Preparations
2x Fireball @ F6 w/ Command trigger
2x Knockout @ F6 w/ Command trigger
2x Heal @ F6 w/ Command trigger
2x Physical Camouflage @ F5 w/ Touch trigger
2x Physical Barrier @ F5 w/ Touch trigger

James gets one (1) each of the Heal, Physical Camouflage, and Physical Barrier preparations. They can be whatever items you want to RP.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-19-16/1055:27>
Give me a few rolls:
1) Perception (visual or hearing): I have INT (9) + Perception (6) = 15 dice
Perception in swamp (http://orokos.com/roll/375217): 15d6t5 2
Vision Spec: 2 dice
Vision Spec (http://orokos.com/roll/375218): 2d6t5 0
Specifically Looking: 3 dice
Specifically Looking (http://orokos.com/roll/375219): 3d6t5 1
I rolled a general test (also Hearing, I guess), and then the Vision Spec and Specifically Looking mod separately.  James will be keeping an eye out, but I'm not sure if the latter would apply for a general test.  Apparently James is having a hard time while piloting the craft and dealing with the sound of the rotors.  2 or 3 hits depending on how it works out.  Ouch.

2) Tracking: I have INT (9) + Tracking (2) = 11 dice
Tracking (http://orokos.com/roll/375220): 11d6t5 4
Ok, so James is perhaps a bit singularly focused on the trail.

And no Fatigue rolls, thanks to the Spirit. 

James will grab one of the flash-bangs, and one of the HE grenades.

I'll put the preparations in the IC when I get a bit.

Illeana could be singing an incantation as she carves. 


Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-23-16/1426:48>
Rock Lizard Blood Duration: Rock Lizard Blood Duration (http://orokos.com/roll/376655): 1d6 1
Well, that's not great.  I guess that means 2-3 hours of Immunity, but after that things could get kinda nasty.  Anymore of that stuff on hand?  I know it's expensive.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-23-16/1554:04>
Yes, she has several doses. The concern is more about Addiction. That said, the addiction rules don't really go into what happens if you take a whole bunch all at once and then never again.

My knowledge of Louisiana geography is limited. I'll be handwaving most of it under the clause of "eh, the Awakening changed it" if what I describe is meaningfully different from the current day reality.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-23-16/1706:09>
Next IC post up. I'll write some more later but I'm trying to not let individual posts ramble on too long. You can chime in here or you can wait for the next IC post.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-24-16/1216:54>
I'd like to make a Perception Test on the immediate surroundings.  Looking for potential ambush points in the swamp and canopy. 

I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 20 dice
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/376981): 20d6t5 2
Wow, I have not been rolling anything well today. 

I also think that an Etiquette roll is in order, though to be honest, I'm kind of scared to give it to you.
I have: CHA (4) + Etiquette (4) = 8 dice.
Etiquette for dwarf (http://orokos.com/roll/376982): 8d6t5 3
Can't argue with that.

Last, I'd like to make a Knowledge Check on Wildlife (Signs) to see if anything big and nasty looks like it's been creeping around lately.  I'd be interested to know if big bads might stay around a dwelling due to the detritus and general source of food from trash, or if the metas around might spook them.
I have: INT (9) + Wildlife (4) + Signs Spec (2) = 15 dice.
Wildlife (signs) (http://orokos.com/roll/376983): 15d6t5 5
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-24-16/1419:11>
R.I.P. Poindexter. That said, I've been expecting this since last summer. I'm just happy we wrapped Tabula Rasa in time.

Looks like you're putting Deep in the Shadows of Texas on hold too. Don't know if you saw it but sounds like Jayde Moon might be out for another five weeks or so. See here (http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=22493.msg433809#msg433809).

As for 2 hits on 20 dice, it's still 2 hits. It's one of those things where if you only had 5 dice you'd be pleased with 2 hits but because you rolled 20 dice it seems like a disaster.

James sees lots of ambush points. He'll have to keep his eyes peeled and hope that Illeana's spell can give them some forewarning.

James sees plenty of wildlife signs of all shapes and sizes.

As for Etiquette, you lose 2 dice for being dressed strangely. That costs a hit. Etiquette resist: Charisma + Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/377034): ?d6t5 3 hits

The dwarf declines your invitation. I'll expand on these points in the IC.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-24-16/1431:55>
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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-24-16/1526:19>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/377059): 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 (http://orokos.com/roll/377061): 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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-26-16/1557:32>
Mama alligator indeed.

Roll Surprise. Don't forget Combat Sense.

Reaction 4 + Intuition 10 + Combat Sense 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/377704): 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.

(http://shadowhelix.pegasus.de/images/9/97/Critter_Behemoth.JPG)

Scale: 5 meters long, 3 meters tall at the shoulder.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-26-16/1850:31>
For the Surprise Test I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + Combat Sense (4) =20 dice
Surprise Test (http://orokos.com/roll/377735): 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 (http://orokos.com/roll/377736): 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 (http://orokos.com/roll/377737): 16+4d6 31
I see my donation to Orokos went through.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-26-16/1933:11>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/377739): 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!
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-28-16/1611:37>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/378168): 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 (http://orokos.com/roll/378174): 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 (http://orokos.com/roll/378176): 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?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-28-16/2341:28>
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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-29-16/0104:44>
For Observe in Detail I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 20 dice
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/378309): 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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-29-16/0148:59>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/378315): 15d6t5 6 hits

Soaking 4 drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/378316): 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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-29-16/1925:35>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/378548): 10d6t5 2 hits

Spirit resist: Summoning resist (http://orokos.com/roll/378549): 3d6t5 1 hit glitch, it's particularly subservient, I suppose

Drain soak: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/378551): 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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-29-16/1942:30>
Edit: I forgot about the -2 sustaining penalty. That costs a hit from her summoning roll. Illeana has jack squat this IP.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-01-16/1429:17>
The behemoth lunges out of the water and snaps!

Agility + Unarmed + Charging (http://orokos.com/roll/378895): ?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 (http://orokos.com/roll/378906): 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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-01-16/1446:43>
23P base?!  Dear Ghost.

STR X 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/378926): 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 (http://orokos.com/roll/378927): 12d6t5 4
If climbing horizontally that's 2 meters.  That get me to the trunk?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-01-16/1522:01>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/378942): 13d6t5 6 hits

Soaking 4 drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/378943): 16d6t5 4 hits, close to a glitch but not

James is now Levitating. Illeana is now at -4 for sustaining.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-02-16/1143:30>
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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-02-16/1254:01>
You would be resisting the spell's net hits, not the spell Force.

The way I'm picturing it, James doesn't have to fight the spell unless he's trying to move in the opposite direction. As the spell is only holding him up - and not yet propelling him in one direction or the other - he would only have to fight it if he somehow wanted to fall or jump toward the ground. It's more of a safety net at the moment.

So, yes, James could kick off the trunk - trying to clear the web of branches and Spanish moss - and in theory Illeana should be able to catch him. That could certainly work, and would be a Gymnastics test.

If he wanted to swim through the branches and brambles, probably the wisest approach would be to pop the cyberspur and try cutting his way through the thicket as it falls toward him. This would be a series of Unarmed Combat [Cyber Implant] tests. Like, three of them.

No need to apologize. Questions are fine.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-02-16/1323:20>
Ok, I'm going to go the Gymnastics route, but I'll go ahead and pop the cyber spur anyway.  It might give James a little bit of leverage, and it'll be handy to have out should a vine wrap around his ankle, etc. as he tries to clear the tree.

CT2 IP2
Free: Pop Cyber Spur
Complex: Gymnastics Test.

I have: STR (8) + Gymnastics (6) - 2 (Slippery) = 12 dice.
Climb that tree again (http://orokos.com/roll/379223): 12d6t5 5
Yep, that donations to Orokos did go through alright.

If the Levitation spell counts as Assisted Climbing, then that's 5 meters up.  If not, it's 2 meters, which should still clear most of the thicker branches that might pull him into the swamp. 

I'll get an IC up soon that covers the last few moments, but I won't clear James from the immediate danger of the tree, as there's still plenty that can go wrong there.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-02-16/1332:18>
So are you crawling/climbing around the tree or are you jumping away from it? If you're jumping away from it you can add your Hydraulic Jacks.

Levitate seems like would accomplish the same thing as ropes and harnesses, so we can call it Assisted Climbing.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-02-16/1356:40>
Let's go ahead and add the Jumping test as well.  I have: AGI (11) + Gymnastics (6) = 17 dice.
Jump out of the tree (http://orokos.com/roll/379232): 17d6t5 3
That's 1.5 meters up from the trunk.

ETA: while re-reading I noted that you said that I could add my Hydraulic Jacks.  Did you mean add the rating to the climbing test, or make the above Jumping test while including the Hydraulic Jack's rating.  By RAW James doesn't get the bonus dice if he doesn't have Wireless bonuses, but as I said before that's one of the Wireless bonuses that don't make much sense to me.  I'm including a straight Hydraulic Jack's bonus, in case he gets the goodies.

Hydraulic Jacks (http://orokos.com/roll/379237): 6d6t5 1
Not great, but another hit never hurt anybody.  That's 6 meters up total if climbing and 2 meters total if jumping.  Isn't that odd?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-02-16/1728:18>
Oh wireless bonuses. So do they actually need to talk to the global Matrix or do they just need to talk to James' commlink and the vast sensor array that is James' body? We'll take a liberal reading in this case.

So we've had a lot of back-and-forth here. Just to be clear, which direction are you jumping?

Illeana will try cutting her way through the tree as it descends on her.

Agility 6 + Swords 7 + Spec 2 + Focus 2 - 4 Sustaining (http://orokos.com/roll/379288): 3#13d6t5 6 hits 4 hits 6 hits

Good rolling. Pity it's for an inanimate object and not an opposed test. She slices her way through with ease while maintaining her concentration on the Levitate spells.

Her distraction means that James is largely on his own as far as movement is concerned, as she can't divide her attention well enough to pilot James' floating.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-03-16/1221:06>
Oh wireless bonuses. So do they actually need to talk to the global Matrix or do they just need to talk to James' commlink and the vast sensor array that is James' body? We'll take a liberal reading in this case.

By RAW my understanding is that the device must connect to the Matrix.  In the case of Hydraulic Jacks, it makes much more sense to me that they would need to be connected to the user's PAN, as I can't see how Matrix information would increase their performance.  Smartlinks, on the other hand, are supposed to function at a higher level when they can stream weather conditions in real time, which explains why the Wireless bonus would require Matrix access.  Laser sights are a weird middle ground for me; I can see it going either way.

So we've had a lot of back-and-forth here. Just to be clear, which direction are you jumping?

James is going to take the path of least resistance up.  If he has a choice, he'll try to get himself more in line with being directly above the stump of the fallen tree.  This should put a little more distance between him and a straight shot up from the swamp.

Her distraction means that James is largely on his own as far as movement is concerned, as she can't divide her attention well enough to pilot James' floating.

Understood.  Once he's cleared the tree, there probably isn't much he can do to direct himself at all.  The last IC makes me think that everything in the boat is unobtainable now, but James is not quite ready to give up on his Desert Strike.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-03-16/1726:30>
The fate of your gear remains to be seen.

Illeana will steer you both over to another tree and set you down so that she can summon a spirit more easily. Hopefully the behemoth doesn't eat this tree too. She drops the Levitate spells and their sustaining modifiers.

Summoning F4 water spirit: Magic 6 + Summoning 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/379574): 10d6t5 2 hits

Spirit resist: Spirit Resist (http://orokos.com/roll/379576): 4d6t5 1 hit, one service

Soaking 2 drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/379577): 16d6t5 4 hits, drain soaked

Illeana tells the water spirit to retrieve the bags.

The water spirit reports that the bags are squished in the mud and muck underneath the tree. This is good, because it means they aren't crushed, but bad because water and mud aren't great for a lot of things.

Here's what you brought that wasn't on your person:

1) Ares Desert Strike
2) Monofilament Garrote
3) Medkit (rating 3)
4) Medkit (rating 6)
5) Slap Patches (rating 6)
6) Trauma Patch
7) Survival Kit

Going to roll 1 die for each. A hit means it's okay with a bit cleaning, a non-hit means it's non-functional until fixed, and a glitch means it's ruined.

Mud and Muck (http://orokos.com/roll/379587): 7#1d6t5
1) 1 hit
2) 0 hits
3) 0 hits
4) 1 hit
5) 0 hits
6) 0 hits
7) 0 hits

No glitches, how improbable. There was a 72% chance that there would be at least one.

So you Desert Strike lives up to its billing as a sturdy, durable weapon. You also have your good medkit available. The rest needs to be thoroughly cleaned before it can get used. Good luck cleaning the monofilament garrote.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-04-16/1157:44>
So a few options to consider.  The IC description of 2 seconds before contact makes me think that James has 2 IPs to pull his plan together before the behemoth makes another snack of a tree.

The dice rolling makes me think that the Desert Strike is ready to be used, but I'm not sure if it's ready to be used immediately.  From the IC description, I'd be worried that firing without clearing the barrel could make the weapon nonfunctional, or worse blow up in James' hands.  James would know more about this that rednblack does, so how about a Firearms Knowledge Test.  It might also be necessary to clear the chamber manually and get a new round in the breech before firing.

I have: LOG (4) + Firearms (3) = 7 dice.
Firearms Knowledge (http://orokos.com/roll/379849): 7d6t5 3

That roll makes sense given James' training.  If the weapon is currently operable, James will:

IP1
Free: Comm Illeana, <<Get ready to jump.>>
Simple: Ready Weapon
Simple: Take Aim

IP2
Free: Called Shot: Bulls-Eye Double Tap/Burst
Complex: 3 round burst

That stages base damage to 13P -16AP + Net Hits.  AP is calculated as ([Base Weapon AP] 4 X 3) + APDS (4) = 16

If the weapon is already considered "Readied," James will shoot in both passes.

If the Desert Strike is currently not operable, this complicates things.  The Desert Strike is a suppressed weapon, and James is worried about making a racket, but without an operable and high damage-dealing firearm he may need to forgo the comfort of quiet and opt for a HE grenade.  Being 10 meters up will at least keep them from having to soak any damage.  The idea is:

IP1
Simple: Ready grenade
Free: Wirelessly enable grenade
Simple: Throw grenade at base of trunk.  (Really, he's dropping it straight down, but I imagine a Throwing test is in order, as if it clips a limb or the trunk, it'll most likely end up in the swamp where it isn't likely to do any substantive damage.)
Free: (If allowed) Comm Illeana, <<Going loud.>>

IP2
Free: Comm Illeana, <<Get ready to jump.>>
Simple: Observe in detail.  James is going to wait until the behemoth is directly on top of the grenade before detonating it.
Simple: Wirelessly detonate grenade using Change Linked Device Mode action (usually free but staged up in this case)

Damage in this case would be 16P -2AP.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-04-16/1953:54>
James knows that weapons are often stress tested by being submerged in sand, mud, etc. Weapons stressed in this way are less accurate and are at risk of catastrophic failure.

Cleaning the barrel is simple with the right time and tools, neither of which James has at the moment.

From a game mechanic standpoint, there will be three effects which I won't detail too explicitly to help maintain some of the shroud of war:
1) lower Accuracy,
2) increased chance of glitch/critical glitch, and
3) the first bullet (which will effectively clear the barrel) will not count toward the bull's eye burst (turning it into a bull's eye double-tap).

The grenade approach looks reasonable. I would rearrange some of the action economy, but the end result would be what you've described.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-05-16/1422:46>
Hmm, decisions decisions.  I'm a bit worried that an HE grenade would just tickle.  Fuck it, James has immeasurable faith in Ares; let's do some shooting.  The single Take Aim action will increase the Accuracy and dice pool of the weapon, so hopefully that will mitigate some of the penalties.

I have: AGI (11) + Firearms (8) + Take Aim (1) - Called Shot (4) = 16 dice
Bulls Eye Double-Tap/Burst Behemoth (http://orokos.com/roll/380148): 16d6t5 3
Not a fantastic roll.  Only 1 1 though, so that makes me breathe a little easier.   
Edge to re-roll failures
Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/380149): 13d6t5 5
That'll hit the modified Accuracy.  Base weapon Accuracy is 7, stepped up to 9 with Smartlink.  But, the Smartlink won't know what to do with a clogged barrel so he's probably looking at 7 before extra penalties.  Maybe I should've just rolled Edge dice.

We'll save the grenade for when James is really desperate and tries to actually toss the thing in the behemoth's mouth.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-05-16/1949:03>
Illeana isn't helpless, although she doesn't have the armor-piercing qualities that James does. She'll throw one of her Fireball preparations, which is on a throwing knife.

Step one is to hit. Well, I suppose hitting it optional, given the nature of the preparation. That makes me wonder if I should be treating this like a grenade instead of a knife. We'll go with knife for now. If she connects I should count the damage from the knife itself, but it's highly unlikely that she'll be able to phase the behemoth through its armor.

Her throwing spec says "Aerodynamic" but it should say "Knives".  Not sure where aerodynamic came from. The range is 14 meters (10 meters down, 10 meters away, a2 + b2 = c2 = 14 meters,  which is Short thanks to her Precision Throwing III adept ability.

Throwing: Agility 6 + Throwing 4 + Spec 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/380231): 12d6t5 5 hits, oops forgot my Missile Master die: Missile Mastery (http://orokos.com/roll/380233): 1d6t5 0 hits

Behemoth dodge: REA + INT + Running (http://orokos.com/roll/380234): ?d6t5 4 hits

So one net hit stages me up from 9P to 10P -1AP. It's going to auto-soak almost all of that due to hardened armor.

Body + Armor (http://orokos.com/roll/380236): ?d6t5 5 hits + 7 auto-hits = 12 hits, no damage, oh well

She triggers the preparation. Damage is Force 6 + net hits, -6 AP. Maybe this will scratch it.

Magic 6 + Enchanting 8 + Focus 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/380238): 16d6t5 8 hits, bang, wow, that's like a grenade

So 14P -6AP. As you are also 14 meters away, the edge of the flames licks your legs.

Behemoth soak: Body + Armor (http://orokos.com/roll/380239): ?d6t5 8 hits + 5 auto-hits = 13 hits, so after all that it only takes 1P. Tough bastard.

Then it's on to James the next IP.

Behemoth dodge: Reaction + Intuition + Running (http://orokos.com/roll/380223): ?d6t5 3 hits

You hit the mud-affected Accuracy limit so you lose some of the Edge hits, but at least they allowed you to connect. We'll call it 14P -12AP.

Behemoth soak: Body + Armor (http://orokos.com/roll/380224): ??d6t5 4 hits + 2 auto-hits from hardened armor = 6 hits.

Damage is 8P, combined with the pre-existing 1P for a total of 9P.

The behemoth is decidedly unaccostomed to being injured like that. Composure check: Willpower + Charisma - Damage (http://orokos.com/roll/380240): ?d6t5 2 hits

It decides to stage a tactical retreat. It dives underwater and is no longer charging the tree. James can continue to fire, or otherwise pursue it, although he knows that the water will act as an extra layer of armor for the beast.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-05-16/2152:54>
I got on a bit of a tangent guessing about Accuracy in my last post an forgot to correct gun stats. If the first round doesn't count toward the Called Shot then the AP is only staged to 8. That's 2 more auto-hits and 4 more Soak dice.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-05-16/2238:32>
The AP of the rifle is staged to -8, then you add in the APDS for -12. I rolled it correctly.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-05-16/2253:04>
Shit, you got it. I'm working the odd job tonight but will get an IC in tomorrow.

Will Illeana find a behemoth corpse useful for magical woo stuff?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-05-16/2309:47>
Go ahead and ask ICly. She will lay out the pros and cons as she sees them.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-07-16/1657:21>
James is going to Observe in Detail and see if he can track the behemoth's movement through the swamp water.  I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 20 dice.
Behemoth Spotting (http://orokos.com/roll/380685): 20d6t5 8
Bumps right up against the Mental Limit.

Helluva post, by the way, Tec.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-07-16/1707:28>
I'm going to call this Tracking instead of Perception. We'll use your same roll, just the first 11 dice. That still leaves you with 5 hits, which means that James has little difficulty in tracking the behemoth. It's swimming back in the direction of its young.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-07-16/1807:57>
Here's a Perception roll for Illeana. I'm going to assume that "specifically looking" offsets the "far away" penalty and that her vision mods offset the "interfering sight" penalty.

Perception: Intuition 10 + Perception 5 + Perceptive 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/380707): 17d6t5 6 hits

She only needed 3 hits, so not only can she see them but she can count their cute little teeth.

Alligators lay 25-50 eggs, but let's not get crazy here. Since we're talking about Awakened alligators, I'll say that there are three babies.

Levitating: Magic 6 + Spellcasting 7 + Mentor Spirit 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/380708): 3#15d6t5 5 hits 5 hits 4 hits

Last one loses 2 hits due to sustaining penalties but the babies don't really have the dicepools to resist.

Drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/380709): 3#16d6t5 5 hits 5 hits 8 hits, no drain

Babies are levitating. Is James' plan basically to wait for momma and then orphan her adorable offspring?

(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d0/89/a9/d089a94a68c50a4fbfe5dc9b3fc7a5bd.jpg)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-07-16/1846:22>
Is James' plan basically to wait for momma and then orphan her adorable offspring?

Yes, that is exactly the plan.  Momma surfaces because her babies are in danger, and James pops her.

Those pics really are cute.  I doubt they make very good pets in the long term though.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-07-16/1914:26>
Go ahead and roll it. You're a bit over 50 meters due to being 10 meters up in the tree.

-3 for moderate fog (from the spirit), staged down to -1 by James' thermographic. Medium distance is also -1, so staged together with the fog they make -3. James can negate the range with a Take Aim action combined with his Vision Mag, bringing him back down to -1.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-07-16/2022:24>
Wiz.  If there's time to Take Aim in a previous pass as he's waiting for momma to surface and then used a Called Shot: Bulls Eye Double Tap/Burst he'll go that route.  If momma's moving fast, he'll forgo the Take Aim action and keep the Called Shot, so I'll roll the extra 2 dice seperately.

That's: AGI (11) + Firearms (8) - Called Shot (4) - Vision Mods (3) = 12 dice.
Shoot Behemoth (http://orokos.com/roll/380754): 12d6t5 3
That's 4 ones. 

Take Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/380755): 2d6t5 0

Edging again to re-roll.
Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/380756): 9d6t5 8
Ummm, ok.  Kinda a shame for what's probably like 2 hits, but wow.

James is at:
3/5 Edge
8/14 Desert Strike
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-07-16/2031:57>
Hahaha, that's a 1 in 1,000 roll.

That is a lot of 1s, but luckily you only have one 2. The rifle does not glitch.

Gator dodge: Reaction + Intuition + Running - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/380758): ?d6t5 1 hit, that's not enough

Well it doesn't have any armor left nor does it have enough Body to soak the remaining hits to a survivable level.

Congratulations! You're alive... in a swamp... in sweaty sticky full body armor... with no transportation... and water-logged supplies... and witches...
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-07-16/2054:55>
Congratulations! You're alive... in a swamp... in sweaty sticky full body armor... with no transportation... and water-logged supplies... and witches...

Yay!  And I blew 2 Edge on a para-critter that would probably be perfectly happy just going on its way with her babies.  But life in the sixth world is rough, chummer.  I hope it pays off.

I'm about to head out, so I won't get an IC in until tomorrow, but I probably need to think some about our next steps anyway.  The transportation is going to be a serious issue, as is the heat.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-08-16/0029:06>
Your current situation is a bit like a staging of Waiting for Godot. If that means anything to you. The world is very sparse.

Spirits have retrieved what their is to retrieve of your supplies. The boat is a loss but most of your goods are salvageable, if filthy.

Go ahead and roll or RP as you see fit.

(https://diehlsmoderndrama.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/waiting-for-godot-2.jpg)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-08-16/1415:27>
Your current situation is a bit like a staging of Waiting for Godot. If that means anything to you. The world is very sparse.

Thanks for that.  It does mean something to me.  Us liberal arts majors gotta stick together and all.

Fair warning, I had some stuff come up at the day job, so I might not get to an IC today.  I will go ahead and make some rolls, though.

Survival: I have: WIL (7) + Survival (4) + Survival Gear (2) - Poor Conditions (1) = 12 dice.
Survival (http://orokos.com/roll/380971): 12d6t5 4
I'm not sure if the spirit is able to negate all of the penalties from Armor, so I'll leave that to your judgment.  The first 3 dice from the right are Hits if James gets taxed.

I'm torn on the armor.  On the one hand, I think the Chameleon suit will help prevent him from being eaten alive, but the smoke from the fire should negate that anyway.  If James can get his rural kicks, I think he will sleep in those, as it gives him the best chance to get a good night's rest -- and OOC regain a point of Edge if there's enough hours for sleeping.  It really makes me nervous simply relying on his cyberware armor upgrades, but comfort counts for a lot, especially in a survival situation.  Yeah, he'll forgo the armor overnight.

For keeping watch, here's a general Perception Test, sans modifiers or Specializations.  I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) = 15 dice.
General Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/380973): 15d6t5 4
He seems fairly on the ball.

General plan after eating is to take shifts sleeping and keeping watch.  The fire should smolder all through the night.  If Illeana's spirit can keep watch for us, then I guess they both can get a full night's sleep.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-09-16/1323:04>
I completely forgot about seeing what can be salvaged from the gear.  James will clean everything that can be cleaned and made functional.

Here's what you brought that wasn't on your person:

1) Ares Desert Strike
2) Monofilament Garrote
3) Medkit (rating 3)
4) Medkit (rating 6)
5) Slap Patches (rating 6)
6) Trauma Patch
7) Survival Kit

Going to roll 1 die for each. A hit means it's okay with a bit cleaning, a non-hit means it's non-functional until fixed, and a glitch means it's ruined.

Mud and Muck (http://orokos.com/roll/379587): 7#1d6t5
1) 1 hit
2) 0 hits
3) 0 hits
4) 1 hit
5) 0 hits
6) 0 hits
7) 0 hits

Also, what is required to fix the above gear?  Since James has the Juryrigger PQ can he make some tests to fix stuff?  Would cannibalizing the capsized boat help at all?  I can also see the argument where some gear might need to be sacrificed in order to cannibalize parts for others, e.g. using components from the Rating 3 Medkit to get the Slap Patch operational, or vice versa. 

What about the Monofilament Garrote?  As I'm trying to visualize what could go wrong with it, the one thing that I can come up with is that the handle came loose, or something like that.  Re-attaching said handle would be dangerous and painful.  Anything that can be done without a kit of some sort?  If it can be fixed, that could go a long way toward cleaning the behemoth.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-09-16/1400:56>
The survival roll is good. James feels like he's had some training for scenarios like these and thus isn't particularly worried about starving to death or dying of dehydration. The survival kit is in bad shape but it is salvageable with some work. See below.

James' spare clothes (and Illeana's too) are a mess, but luckily she has a spell just for that! Fashion is becoming one of my favorite RP spells. She uses it to repair and clean your clothes. I'll put that in an IC post when the time comes.

Now, some build & repair rolls.

1) The Desert Strike obviously works, but its Accuracy is limited. It needs cleaning. The handle of the monofilament garrote is broken, so it's Accuracy is now 0. You're right that it would make processing the behemoth a lot easier. Boy, those garrotes are nasty.

I need a Logic 4 + Armorer 4 - Poor Working Condition 2 - Inadequate Tools 2 = 4 dice test. We'll make them Extended Tests with a threshold of 30 minutes. Each hit will add 2 points of Accuracy back to the weapon. Subtract 1 die for each subsequent roll, per usual for Extended Tests. Glitching will make things worse instead of better.

Illeana has essentially the same dice pool so she'll insist on working on the garrote, reasoning that glitching (or critical glitching) will be far less severe for her than it would be for James.

First roll: Logic 5 + Armorer 3 - Poor Working Condition 2 - Inadequate Tools 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/381271): 4d6t5 1 hit
Second roll: Logic 5 + Armorer 3 - Poor Working Condition 2 - Inadequate Tools 2 - Extended 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/381272): 3d6t5 0 hits, critical glitch!!!

hahaha, she cuts herself. The damage code is a bit uncertain in this situation since it's based on Strength (and she clearly wouldn't be using her full Strength). I'm going to call it Strength 3, so 9P.

Illeana soak: Body 5 (http://orokos.com/roll/381273): 5d6t5 1 hit, she takes 8P, blood squirting everywhere

Regeneration: Body 5 + Magic 6 (http://orokos.com/roll/381275): 11d6t5 3 hits + 5 auto-hits from Body = she heals the 8P in 3 seconds. Well that should make for some good RP.

2) The rating 3 medkit needs a thorough inspection and cleaning, but given the good condition of the Rating 6 medkit this is not urgent. FYI, I'm going to be using the Bullets & Bandages descriptions for medkits. Rating 3 is the size of a fanny pack and rating 6 is the size of a huge duffel bag.

The same is true for the slap patches and trauma patches. I'm going to call it a First Aid test (Logic 4 + First Aid 4) with the same negative modifiers as above. Each hit will return a point of rating to the medkit. The patches will be salvaged with a single hit each.

3) Survival kit, let's make this a Logic + Survival roll, same negative modifiers.

What was your major in college?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-09-16/1449:44>
Alright, let's see what kind of a workout I can give ol' Orokos today.

Repair Desert Strike (http://orokos.com/roll/381292): 4d6t5 2
First 30 minutes is quite successful.  Not sure what my Accuracy is, but I'll give it a second roll, since there's actually less chance of a glitch with 3 dice than 4.
Repair Desert Strike (http://orokos.com/roll/381293): 3d6t5 0
Nada.  Let's push our luck; James really wants his sniper rifle to be in working order.
Repair Desert Strike (http://orokos.com/roll/381294): 2d6t5 0
Still nothing.  I'll forgo rolling the 1 die.  So at the end of 1.5 hours, James Desert Strike has its Accuracy improved by 2.

If Jury Rigger applies, for the first test I have:
Jury Rigger Repair Desert Strike (http://orokos.com/roll/381296): 2d6t5 1
An extra hit!
Jury Rigger Repair Desert Strike round 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/381298): 2d6t5 1
Another hit!  That would increase the Accuracy by 4 total.  I'm happy with that.

Repair Trauma Patch (http://orokos.com/roll/381299): 4d6t5 2
Trauma Patch fixed.

Repair Slap Patch (http://orokos.com/roll/381300): 4d6t5 1
Slap Patch fixed.

Repair Survival Kit (http://orokos.com/roll/381301): 4d6t5 2
Survival Kit fixed.

Phew, not a single Glitch.  I also didn't apply Juryrigger to any of the additional rolls,as it wasn't needed.  For future reference, would that PQ apply in situations like these?

Fashion is indeed a helluva spell.  I'd think about it for Uffington if not for his Distinctive Style. 

What was your major in college?

I got a BA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in fiction.  What about you?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-09-16/1528:00>
I was a History major, with a focus in Ancient and Pre-Modern Europe, basically everything from Ancient Greece through 1485 or so.

I took a Creative Writing course in college but it turned out to be one of my worst professors. She "taught" by lecture, by which I mean extended monologues. Seems like the exact opposite way one should teach creative writing. She gave me a B-, largely due to attendance because I couldn't stand to listen to her. Sadly she got tenure, somehow.

After college I thought about being a writer, but then I decided that there was a large difference between something being an enjoyable hobby and something being a viable profession. So I sold out and went corporate, which seems to be going okay since the job is cush enough to provide writing opportunities during downtime.

How long was the MFA program? I had a couple friends go on to get MFAs. An MFA sounds fun to me but I'm probably pretty set in my ways at this point. I knocked out a book about six years ago, mostly as a proof-of-concept. (I finished it in early March 2010, which means that the anniversary is any day now.) I'll write another one once I get the spark. Maybe even something kid-friendly for my son.



The Desert Strike is clean and polished to a high shine. James wonders if the swamp water was actually beneficial in some way.

Juryrigger is an interesting situation since the description gives several rather specific uses for it. That said, as far as precedent goes it doesn't seem unreasonable for it to apply. Catlike costs 7 karma and adds +2 to a single (but very common) skill. Natural Athlete costs 7 karma and adds +2 to two (less common) skills. I don't see anything too broken about Juryrigger costing 10 karma and adding +2 to multiple (relatively rare) skills. I'm not sure I would apply it to every Armorer test, but for this situation it seems applicable.

I think there might be two slap patches but you're rolling well enough that we'll say everything is back to proper working order. I'll do an IC for Illeana and her little "accident" this afternoon.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-09-16/1610:03>
The other slap patch is in James' auto-injector.  Actually, now that I think of it, the Trauma Patch is too.  Scratch that, 2 trauma patches, so 1 in the injector, the other just there.  So, same with the stim patch: 1 in injector the other 2 just there.

For Juryrigger I envisioned it mostly for impromptu traps and the like, but thought it might apply to situations where James is trying to do things for which he doesn't necessarily have the proper equipment -- like cleaning an Ares Desert Strike in the middle of the swamp.  ;)

I was a History major my first year of college.  Pre-modern Europe was my main area of interest.  Ever since I was a kid I read up a lot on medieval Europe, especially right up until gunpowder became common.  I've been in the process of writing a fictionalized account of John Hawkwood the past year or so, who was an English mercenary who tooled around Italy in the mid-to-late 14th century.  I think it'd make a great graphic novel, but I don't have an artistic bone in my body.

My MFA program was 2 years.  There are some 3 year programs out there, but I don't think I could've stood another year of writing workshops. 

That's great that your job gives you time to write.  I taught full-time for a few years, but it did not do so.  Now I work 3 jobs, one of which is still teaching, and that definitely puts a dent in the free time for writing.  Luckily, the day job allows me to tool around on the pbp boards, even if I don't feel as though I can focus enough here for my own projects. 

The vampire game was taken from a short story I wrote which failed miserably.  You guys are doing much better with it than I was.  Almost makes me want to steal all your great ideas ;)  I'm not sure how many would transplant well from the SR universe to present day, but easily enough I'd imagine.

What was your book about?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-09-16/1710:25>
The book was about vampires, as it happens. While there were certainly action sequences (and I thoroughly enjoyed the super-hero elements), I focused a lot on the day-to-day life of the rich and forever young.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-11-16/1059:33>
Sounds fun.

As elsewhere mentioned, I'm heading out of town early this afternoon.  I'll get to my next IC after I get back from my trip.  I'd like to riff on the ghost story thing, but I can always come back to it if you'd like to move along ICly.

I'll probably be able to check in once more before I head out if you want rolls for anything.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-11-16/1401:41>
We're moving to the "overnight" segment. No need to tell a ghost story if you don't want. Go ahead and take us up to the point where it's time to sleep.

Given his survival roll, James will know how to make a swamp bed. It's basically a slightly-raised cot made out of branches that will keep you off the wet ground. Spanish moss can serve as the bedding/cushion. The tree that the behemoth bit in half will come in handy.

http://www.topsecretwriters.com/2014/10/sleep-survival-swamp-environment/
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-18-16/0119:15>
Okay, binding. The process takes a long time (an hour per Force) and Illeana is conscious of not wanting to repeat the process. She also doesn't want to fail and have to start over, especially since you don't have cloud cover and breeze while she's at it (since she needs to summon and bind the air spirit first before resummoning a water spirit.)

Summon: Magic 6 + Conjuring 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/383673): 10d6t5 4 hits
Spirit summoning resist: Summon resist (http://orokos.com/roll/383674): 3d6t5 0 hits
Soaking 2S drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/383678): 16d6t5 3 hits

Binding: Magic 6 + Binding 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/383675): 10d6t5 5 hits, oo, good roll
Binding Resist: Binding resist (http://orokos.com/roll/383676): 6d6t5 0 hits
Soaking 2S drain again: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/383679): 16d6t5 5 hits

Well that could not have gone better. Illeana has an F3 Spirit of Air with 9 services. That should last a while. Optional Power is Guard.

First three services: Concealment, Movement, Guard. 6 of 9 services remaining.

Summoning: Magic 6 + Summoning 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/383682): 10d6t5 5 hits
Spirit resist: Summoning resist (http://orokos.com/roll/383683): 6d6t5 1 hit
Drain soak: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/383681): 16d6t5 6 hits

Hot streak continues. One F6 water spirit with 4 services. Optional powers are Binding and Weather Control. She'll request weather control for basic comfort. Guard will prevent sunstroke/heatstroke, but weather control keeps things pleasant.

Sunrise is just after 6am. The binding takes 3 hours, so you'll break camp a little after 9am. She needs to cast Levitate with 3 hits to manage to lift the behemoth-skin skiff.

Levitate @ F6: Magic 6 + Spellcasting 7 + Mentor Spirit 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/383687): 15d6t5 6 hit
Soaking 4S drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/383688): 16d6t5 7 hits

Well that's flawless rolling. Illeana is finding the swamp to her liking. You are underway just after 9am on an airship made out of behemoth skin. Base movement rate is basically walking speed (6 meters per turn = 7.2 kph)  which the air spirit accelerates to 21.6kph = 13.4mph. That's maybe only a third of your speed in the airboat, but given the alternative (wading, swimming), it's pretty good! It also means you can cover about 40 miles before your turnaround time.

I'll IC this tomorrow.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-19-16/0307:16>
IC is up. Let me know if there are any changes to your earlier load-out.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-22-16/1321:02>
I'm not sure the best way to work my IC without mostly responding to what's been said.  I'm going to make some rolls, and maybe that will give me a better working idea.

Tracking: I have INT (9) + Tracking (2) = 11 dice.
Tracking (http://orokos.com/roll/384820): 11d6t5 1
Ok, so not Tracking much.

General Perception, Specifically looking for man-made structures -- witches hovels, cabins, etc.  I have: IN (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 20 dice.  James will be running with Vision Mag.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/384821): 20d6t5 8
Mental Limit is 8.

Ok, so next to no trail, but James sees everything else.  Interesting. 

So long as we have a Spirit, James will be back in his Chameleon Suit, with the Desert Strike within reach.  Load-out is unchanged.

Did James regain a point of Edge?

Anything special about this group of trees that we're bearing up on, or will they be out searching for awhile?  If I can make the Tracking Test an extended one, I'd be all for that ;)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-22-16/1333:09>
It's a good Perception roll. James will spy something worth investigating: a small knoll or mound that doesn't look like it has any place in a swamp. The mound itself will be cool, but he'll spy (through a gap/entrance in the side of the mound) a warm humanoid moving around inside it.

James slept well due to good dreams. He regained a point of Edge.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-29-16/0034:17>
A witch is going to step out. Illeana will set the flying behemoth skin down. A witches' duel will ensue.

Witch casting: Magic + Spellcasting (http://orokos.com/roll/386843): ?d6t5 4 hits
Witch soaking 3S drain: Willpower + Intuition (http://orokos.com/roll/386846): ?d6t5 4 hits
Illeana Counterspelling: Counterspelling 7 + Shielding 7 (http://orokos.com/roll/386845): 14d6t5 6 hits

The witch quickly realizes that casting spells at Illeana is about as effective as throwing manabolts at a brick wall.

The duel goes to Astral Combat.

Witch attack: Willpower + Astral Combat + Weapon Focus (http://orokos.com/roll/386848): ?d6t5 7 hits, but limited to 6 by Accuracy
Illeana defend: Intuition 10 + Logic 5 (http://orokos.com/roll/386851): 15d6t5 5 hits
Base damage is 8, staged up to 9 with the net hit.
Illeana soaking 9 boxes: Willpower 6 (http://orokos.com/roll/386853): 6d6t5 1 hit, Illeana takes 8 boxes, ow

Illeana attack: Willpower 6 + Astral Combat 7 + Spec 2 + Weapon Focus 2 - Wounds 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/386856): 15d6t5 7 hits, Accuracy 7
Witch defend: Intuition + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/386859): ?d6t5 6 hits, a valiant effort! but not enough
Base damage is Charisma 5 + Weapon Focus 5 + 1 net hit = 11
Witch soak: Willpower (http://orokos.com/roll/386861): ?d6t5 2 hits, Witch takes 9 boxes, ow

Witch attack: Willpower + Astral Combat + Weapon Focus - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/386862): ?d6t5 6 hits
Illeana defend: Intuition 10 + Logic 5 - Wounds 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/386863): 13d6t5 5 hits better Edge that
Edge reroll: Edge reroll (http://orokos.com/roll/386864): 8d6t5 5 hits, Illeana always gets 5 hits to defend, whether she's rolling 15 dice or 13 or 8

Illeana attack: Willpower 6 + Astral Combat 7 + Spec 2 + Weapon Focus 2 - Wounds 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/386865): 15d6t5 2 hits, pathetic
Witch defend: Intuition + Logic - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/386866): ?d6t5 2 hits

Witch attack: Willpower + Astral Combat + Weapon Focus - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/386867): ?d6t5 4 hits
Illeana defend: Intuition 10 + Logic 5 - Wounds 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/386868): 13d6t5 6 hits

Illeana attack: Willpower 6 + Astral Combat 7 + Spec 2 + Weapon Focus 2 - Wounds 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/386869): 15d6t5 6 hits
Witch defends: Intuition + Logic - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/386870): ?d6t5 1 hit
Witch will Edge reroll: Edge reroll (http://orokos.com/roll/386871): ?d6t5 1 hit
Base damage is Charisma 5 + Weapon Focus 5 + 4 net hits = 14
Witch soak: Willpower (http://orokos.com/roll/386872): ?d6t5 1 hit

Witch was at 9 boxes. 2 more KO's her, and the remaining 13 boxes are divided in half and turned to Physical. The witch is out with 11 stun and 6 physical. Ouch!

The duel is won. Illeana looks exhausted. She sees that the witch's house is warded. She attacks the ward:

Illeana attacking ward: Willpower 6 + Astral Combat 7 + Spec 2 + Weapon Focus 2 - Wounds 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/386873): 15d6t5 5 hits
The ward does not defend. Base damage is Charisma 5 + Weapon Focus 5 + 5 net hits = 15
Ward soak: Ward soak (http://orokos.com/roll/386874): 12d6t5 3 hits

The damage (12) exceeds the ward's Armor/Structure/whatever, and the ward falls. Illeana picks up the witch and drags her inside. James gets the impression that he should follow. As he passes by, he notices the the unconscious witch has dropped a handmade knife.

The witch has suffered a wound > 5P damage from a single attack. Per Bullets & Bandages p. 14, her damage will progress until she is stabilized. Illeana asks James to stabilize the witch while Illeana rests for a bit. You're at -2 for conditions and -2 for the patient being Awakened. You need 3 hits. If you fail, you can reroll at a -2 modifier.

I'll IC this out when I get a chance.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-30-16/1127:31>
Oh shit.  Grabs popcorn.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-30-16/1203:35>
Not a rush, but get me that stabilization roll when you can.

Logic 4 + First Aid 4 + Medkit 6 - Conditions 2 - Awakened 2 = 10 dice
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-30-16/1323:22>
Whoops!

Stabilize the Witch (http://orokos.com/roll/387345): 10d6t5 3
James is old hat at this.  You just hook up the things, and do the thing, and then they're fine, right?

Too bad we don't have a mage mask, or whatever they're called.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-31-16/0034:34>
IC is up. To answer Illeana's question, the witch is not in a coma. That said, James doesn't expect her to be waking up for a few hours. You're free to do what you like.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-01-16/1136:02>
Ok, great.  Nice IC.  Let me get some rolls in, and we'll see where we stand.

Tracking.  I want James to get a sense for how much movement the witch and others make in and around the knoll.  Is it a regular "home," or a stopping place?  Is this a popular nexus in the swamp, or a fairly out-of-the-way location?  I have: INT (9) + Tracking 2 = 11 dice.
Tracking (http://orokos.com/roll/387886): 11d6t5 1

For Perception, I'm looking for other tips and clues that might tell James how long she's been there.  Food scraps, depression marks, as well as any runes, or other witchy symbols that James might be able to notice.  He'll also be checking the unconscious form of the witch and the surrounding "island" or whatever.  I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec. (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 20 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/387887): 20d6t5 6
Again, he seems better as a spotter or investigator than a tracker.  James will need to work on that.

I'm also just going to make a general Perception test to see how aware of his surroundings in general he is.  I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) = 15 dice.
Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/387889): 15d6t5 5
Almost as good.  Cool.

By examining the witch's foci, can James tell if she is a Wiccan witch, or another kind of witch?  I have: LOG (4) + Magical Traditions (6) = 10 dice.
Magical Traditions (http://orokos.com/roll/387891): 10d6t5 3
Wicca spec (2): Wicca Spec (http://orokos.com/roll/387892): 2d6t5 0

Can my IC take us just up until the time the witch wakes up?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-01-16/1419:29>
Sure, your IC can go until the witch wakes up.

Based on your rolls:

1) Tracking: James sees enough footprints to know that the witch walks around here a lot. He doesn't see any other footprints or tracks.

2) Perception: James does not see food scraps or other debris, although the witch could just be fastidiously clean. She seems to stand in the middle a lot, with her feet aligned so that she can see out (facing the entrance/exit). The mound and its construction rather reminds James of a beaver lodge, with mud binding together a thick tangle of branches and roots. There is an "air vent" of sorts near the top center, where it's just branches and vines instead of mud. There are very subtle markings on the walls - all but invisible in the darkness. Sharp-eyed James also sees that bones of small animals have been incorporated into the mud layer.

Illeana says that it likely serves as the witch's magical lodge, which is why it had a mana barrier that she had to break down with the sword. She can't say whether or not the witch lives here, but given the length of some rituals and the fact that you can't leave your lodge during the ritual, it's not surprising that there's a place to sleep.

James is alert to all dangers. He feels pretty confident that they are alone and relatively safe.

As for the witch's knife, it's not enough to pin down a specific tradition. Best guesses in alphabetical order: Chaos, Druid, Vodou, and Wicca (Goddess, not Gardnerian).
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-06-16/0203:54>
Good post. I'm glad you brought up the extensive amount of time that Illeana spent with Sam, as that is highly relevant to the current situation.

A note that Illeana's stun wound from the astral combat does not heal rapidly. I've ruled that astral combat damage is not eligible for Regeneration anyway, but in this case the witch was using a combat focus so the wound definitely has to be healed by rest.

Illeana casting Dream @ F5: buying 2 hits
Illeana soaking 2S drain: buying 2 hits

James grappling: Unarmed Combat 7 + Strength 8 + Superior Position 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/389399): 17d6t5 6 hits
Witch breaking free: Unarmed Combat + Strength - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/389400): ?d6t5 0 hits

Witch casting Manabolt at James: Magic + Spellcasting - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/389379): ?d6t5 2 hits
Illeana counterspelling: Counterspelling 7 + Shielding 7 (http://orokos.com/roll/389380): 14d6t5 6 hits

Illeana will be using her Essense Drain power to spend some of her stored Essence. She will be pumping up her Magic to 11, which lowers her Essence to 7. This will allow her to use her Linguistics power with a threshold of 1 hour to learn French. But first she's going to intimidate the witch with her jacked-up Magic score. Illeana is also going to use Masking to make her Magic score look even higher than it is. (I thought this was Flexible Signature, but it turns out that it's Masking.) This is an opposed test between the witch's Assensing roll and Illeana's Magic + initiate grade roll.

Witch's Assensing: Intuition + Assensing - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/389386): ?d6t5 4 hits
Illeana's Masking: Magic 11 + Initiate 7 (http://orokos.com/roll/389387): 18d6t5 5 hits, close call but Illeana wins

Illeana appears to be Magic 18 to the witch. That should be suitably terrifying.

Illeana Intimidation: Charisma 5 + Intimidation 6 + Magically Imposing 3 + Outnumbered 2 + Wielding Magic 2 + Character has caused physical pain 2 - Wounds 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/389388): 18d6t5 9 hits, probably hitting a Limit but, yes, quite terrifying
Witch's Intimidation defense: Charisma + Willpower - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/389389): ?d6t5 4 hits, the witch is not easily scared, but in this case is quite scared

Now, learning French. Intuition + Logic vs. Threshold 1. This is an Extended Test.

Intuition 10 + Logic 5 - Wounds 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/389392): 13d6t5 4 hits

The interval is 12 - Magic. Given that her Magic is 11, the interval is 1 hour. After 1 hour Illeana has the basic principles of French mastered.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-11-16/1720:52>
Is there anything else that James wants to do in the swamp? We're approaching a break. James can either go hunting for smugglers or he can stand guard (and be bored) while Illeana works with the witch. We'll fast-forward if it's the latter. Let me know what he would do ICly.

We'll do karma soon too. I'm splitting it evenly between us since this is a shared project and we're writing for each other. I have reread the first 4 IC pages and there will be a minimum of 14 karma each so far (since it appears I never assigned any from the first chapter) if you want to start mentally spending it. The final tally will be a bit higher depending on how much more time we spend in the swamp.

If you would prefer to move on, the next stop will be Boston a couple months down the road.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-12-16/1201:27>
Looking for smugglers sounds interesting, but James would be worried about being out of comms range with Illeana.  On the other hand, he's very interested to see if Tempo has indeed made a comeback.  We'll let the dice decide. 

First, James will comm Illeana and ask whether her to ask the witch if she's seen any smugglers, or other such folks tooling around the swamp.  Then, he'll try his hand at tracking again, preferably in a specific direction that the witch could provide.

For Tracking I have: INT (9) + Tracking (2) = 11 dice.
Tracking (http://orokos.com/roll/391698): 11d6t5 4
Not bad.  If James got a tip of some sort, that proves promising. 

Assuming that there's something to pick up on, James will try to be sneaky and spotty, and see what there is to see.

For Perception, I'll roll the Visual Specialization separately.  I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Specifically Looking (3) = 18 dice.
Perceiving the smugglers (http://orokos.com/roll/391699): 18d6t5 4
Visual Spec: 2 dice.
Visual Spec (http://orokos.com/roll/391700): 2d6t5 0

For Sneaking, I have: AGI (11) + Stealth Group (6) = 17 dice.  I presume no Wireless bonuses on the Chameleon Suit.
Sneaking (http://orokos.com/roll/391701): 17d6t5 5
Potential spotters are at a -6 to their Perception rolls due to the Ruthenium Polymer Coating.

Let's see how that pans out. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-12-16/1441:34>
The witch will know of some "modern men" (and women) who come and go in the swamp. She points out a direction.

James will be able to pick up some clues with his tracking rolls.

Illeana can send her two spirits with James if he wants to go. The bound spirit will stick around and do what he says but the unbound spirit will only offer one service once it's beyond Illeana's range. (Off the top of my head, I think it's Magic * 100 meters, so 1,100 meters since her Magic is jacked right now.) Illeana could do some preparations as well.

Before we get that far, the question is "how does James want to get around". In theory one of the spirits (presumably the water spirit) could just push the raft without it being levitated, but it will be slower and noisier. Also, the raft will be quite obvious, even if James is semi-invisible.

Wireless bonuses in the wilderness are funny. From a game balance perspective, I go back and forth as to whether you just need to have wireless on and talking to your commlink (if not the Matrix) so that you are available to be spotted wirelessly and/or hacked, or if we should follow the semi-absurd fluff descriptions of how wireless bonuses work and not apply them when Matrix access is unavailable.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-13-16/1200:59>
Before we get that far, the question is "how does James want to get around". In theory one of the spirits (presumably the water spirit) could just push the raft without it being levitated, but it will be slower and noisier. Also, the raft will be quite obvious, even if James is semi-invisible.

Yeah, I've been thinking about this, and I can't say that I've come up with a very satisfactory answer.  I think James could probably handle some mooks solo, but the element of surprise is probably a necessary ingredient.  So, a few questions:

1. I'm assuming James would not be able to effectively jump from plot of ground to plot of ground to make his way, correct?

2. How insane would it be for James to activate his air tank and swim it?  Would his thermo vision give him enough input to go on?  Would it allow him to spot predators?  Would James know that this is a really bad idea?  Without thermo, how far could James see in the swamp water?  If James swam it, could a Spirit use the Concealment power on him to let him slip by predators? 

Wireless bonuses in the wilderness are funny. From a game balance perspective, I go back and forth as to whether you just need to have wireless on and talking to your commlink (if not the Matrix) so that you are available to be spotted wirelessly and/or hacked, or if we should follow the semi-absurd fluff descriptions of how wireless bonuses work and not apply them when Matrix access is unavailable.

I don't have a good answer for this either.  Some Wireless bonuses do make sense that connection to the matrix is necessary: smartlink, for example.  Others don't make much sense at all: Hydraulic Jacks.  But Vision/Auditory Enhancement?  Dunno.  The Chameleon Suit might take in information from the matrix to make it blend, but could just as easily be sensors in the fabric that operate wirelessly to get color hues and patterns right, etc. 

I'm really fine however you want to play it.  Case by case is cool, all Wireless bonuses require matrix access is fine, as is the idea that you can rune Wireless Enabled without matrix access.  From a player's POV, I'd like James to have access to all his neat toys, but I also enjoy the strategy of deciding when to put him at risk by enjoying those benefits, and that trade-off doesn't seem to be there -- or at the very least it's substantilly minimized -- if there's no matrix access.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-13-16/1344:23>
Current spirits:
Bound: F3 Spirit of Air with Guard as the optional power. Current active powers are Concealment, Movement, and Guard. 6 remaining services.
Unbound: F6 water spirit with Binding and Weather Control as optional powers. Currently only using Weather Control, I believe. 3 remaining services.

Illeana can game the system a bit by issuing orders to the Unbound Water spirit that will remain in effect even as remote services. Such as "Maintain the Movement power on James until sundown," etc.

The Movement power is restricted to the environment controlled by the spirit, so if James is swimming the water spirit will still need to use Movement even though the air spirit is already sustaining the power.

Guard doesn't seem to have environmental restrictions. Thus the air spirit can use the Guard power to prevent James from drowning, which is one of the explicit examples in the book. That said, every individual use of the power counts as a service, so it could (in theory) chew up services quickly if James finds himself in a pinch.

The water spirit might as well use Concealment too, since it's more powerful than the air spirit's. I'm not sure there's a good candidate for the water spirit's fourth service. "Protect James" is too opened-ended.

That leaves us with:

F3 Air Spirit (6 remaining services)
Concealment, Movement, and Guard

F6 Water Spirit (1 remaining service)
Concealment, Movement, Weather Control

Illeana isn't thrilled about the prospect of James swimming around in the swamp, but James is a big boy and she's not going to stop him. Plus she can give him some spirits and preparations to help even the odds.

To answer your questions:
1) James cannot jump from island to island or tree to tree.
2) James can swim, either on the surface or underwater with his air tank. Illeana would prefer not to cast and sustain Oxygenate as she needs her concentration for the conversation with the witch (and she's already sustaining a spell to alleviate her allergy to wood, which is important in the mud hut made out of vines and branches.)

Swimming is viable, although with some meaningful risks. Visibility underwater is maybe 1 meter, either thermographically or via normal vision. Concealment is powerful but not invisibility. As a base swimming rate, James can swim 9.5 meters per turn, 190 meters/minute, 11.4 km/hour. With the spirit's movement power added in, he can really motor along. That said, it still requires effort. James will need to make a Fatigue test every 3 minutes. The first test will be 1S, the second test 2S, the third test 3S and so on until he rests and resets. He will soak Fatigue with Body 5 + Willpower 7. Granted James can swim pretty far in 3 minutes at the above speeds, but all the Concealment and Ruthenium Polymer Coating in the world won't conceal the wake he kicks up swimming at 42mph.

If the spirits are disrupted, James is in trouble. If they run into a mana ebb or surge, things could get interesting. Given that it's summer and light out late, we'll say that James has about 8 hours until sundown and the departure of the water spirit.

Wireless bonuses, let's say that everything is eligible but the smartlink. This will make James noticeable to anyone scanning for devices. He can run silent with this Stealth dongle, but it's reasonable to presume that smugglers will have defenses in place to be on the lookout for approaching devices, which they will likely equate to non-friendly sources (especially if said devices are running silently).
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-13-16/1615:06>
Man, the forums are chewing me up today.  So slow.  And they're eating my posts.  Anyway, another "ripple" in the James-will-swim-it plan is that I have no idea how James would use Tracking while he's underwater and swimming.  Keeping his nigh-invisible head above water as he treads along is an option, but that will only make his wake worse.

I think I will risk swimming it.  Hopefully, James will be able to commandeer a vessel from the smugglers, and make the trip home much more comfortable.  He'll keep his head above water, and keep a pace that is conducive to keeping up with his Tracking roll.  He'll also stop every 200 meters or so to do an Observe in Detail and see if he can spot or hear any water crafts, keeping careful attention to the fact that the're most likely camouflaged.  Let me know if you want any additional Perception rolls in that regard.

James will try to keep his speed to about 24 mph, which is just shy of 39 kph.  That should outrun any errant alligators by about double, and with the murky water, I doubt they'll see him coming unless he also sees them and re-routes.  Should a behemoth show itself, well then frag, he'll go hoop-out as fast as he can, and leave a trail of his man scent in his wake.

Fatigue rolls X 3.
Fatigue Rolls X 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/392005): 3#12d6t5 2 5 2
1 Stun on the last test.  Should I have been dropping dice?

As for the load-out, I don't suppose the Desert Strike would fit in a dry bag, would it?  What if he breaks it down?  If the latter works, I'm assuming the rifle could be reassembled in as little as 1-2 minutes?  Perhaps faster with James' intimate familiarity and preternatural Agility.  If not, James is not keen on putting his baby back in the same state it was after the altercation with the behemoth, so he'll opt for the Ares Crusader II in a dry bag.

Let me know how this plays out, and I'll start working on an IC, unless further rolling needs to be made.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-14-16/1819:49>
No need to drop dice from the Fatigue rolls, as it's not technically an Extended test. The increasing DV already serves the purpose of making the subsequent tests more difficult.

Commandeering an vessel is an interesting idea. James has a bit of Hardware skill if he needs to hotwire something, although it would be more reliable to snag one that's already running.

The Desert Strike will not fit in a dry bag unless James breaks it down. If he breaks it down he can reassemble it fairly quickly (1-2 minutes, sure) especially with his improved reflexes, but getting it to "return to zero" will be the trick. Depending on his Armorer rolls, James may face Accuracy penalties after reassembling it.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-14-16/1950:44>
IC post is up. It might be interesting to explore how James feels about the effects of Magic (especially the water spirit's Movement power) and whether this conflicts with his qualities (Redliner, Cyber-Singularity Seeker) or amplifies them.

Illeana has also provided James with two F8 Heal preparations. They'll last 8 hours, which is as long as the water spirit will stick around.

Edit: And two F5 Physical Barrier preparations as well. All preparations have the Contact trigger.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-20-16/1545:33>
Next IC post is up. I'll list out the targets you have spotted so far. I'll number them for easier reference. They are all between 110-120 meters away at the moment. James is at a right angle to the sub, so he's looking at the broad side of it.

#1 - male elf sentry standing lookout on one end of the sub, assault rifle
#2 - female human sentry standing lookout on the other end of the sub, assault rifle + Horizon Flying Eye drone above her
#3 - ork male standing on the conning tower, pulling up packages out of the sub via rope, no visible weapons but there might be something within reach that's out-of-sight
#4 - same as #3
#5 - male troll in one of the airboats, loading packages for transport, an LMG within reach
#6 - female dwarf in the other airboat, also loading packages for transport, carbine within reach
#7 - air spirit on patrol

James might reasonably assume that there are others within the submarine who are loading packages onto the rope for the orks to pull up. It's possible also possible that this is being done by drone. It's fair to wonder why the packages aren't being moved magically, either via levitation or spirit. It's also possible that there's no magician present (i.e. the air spirit is being loaned to them like the spirits James has with him) or that the magician isn't a manipulation mage, so to speak.

It's also possible that there are other targets on the other side of the sub that are obstructed.

All the targets currently have Good Cover from the intervening trees. James can lower that to Partial Cover if he advances 40-50 meters, or no cover if he advances 80-90 meters.

James is outside of the 100 meter perimeter, which will help keep him concealed from someone looking for Matrix icons (if he decides to run Wireless On).

The increased intuition from Illeana's magic points out that the sub can obviously carry much more than these two airboats can haul. That suggests that others may have come through earlier and/or that more are coming later.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-20-16/1618:43>
Yep, that's a pretty full deck, as it were. My first thoughts after reading the IC was: who's the mage.  Any roll I can make that may help James figure out if one is present?  Magic Traditions, maybe? 

James is of the opinion that it may be best to let them finish transferring the goods and then see if the submarine sticks around for another delivery.  The sticking point there is gaining access to either the air boat or the submarine once they pack up.  Does James know how fast the air boat or sub are likely to go through the swamp?  I'm not sure how wide the avenues are, or how much they are likely to slow down the smugglers.  Can James out-swim either with the spirit's Movement power?  What about having the air spirit use Movement to drop him in from above? 

Another option is to activate the Internal Air Tank, and swim in.  Would the swamp water interfere with #7's perception?  If so that would knock out the Air Spirit and the Fly Spy.  Of course, then they'd be very up close and personal, and that's a lot of guys to go knocking around against. 

I'm going to think about this for a little bit.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-20-16/1708:55>
None of them look like a mage externally. James can ask his air spirit, who will say that none of them look like a mage to "her" either. (Feminizing so that I don't have to use gender-neutral pronouns.) Of course, the magician could have Masking, which is probably more than a small F3 air spirit could overcome. If you want the air spirit to recon inside the sub it will cost a service and potentially alert someone inside the sub and/or the air spirit on patrol.

The air boat is likely to be rather sluggish while hauling 1200+ kilos. James suspects that he might be able to outswim one, but doesn't know for certain without trying.

James' air spirit is nowhere near strong enough (Strength 1) to pick up James to conduct an aerial insertion.

The vast amounts of delicious microbial life in the swamp are more than enough to obscure James' approach both physically and astrally if he decides to go the underwater route.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-21-16/1143:50>
Ok, another suite of questions: can James have the Air Spirit tell him the Force, or nearest IC equivalent of the rival Air Spirit?  Would that cost a service?  Can James get an impression by its size?

 The underwater explosives table on page 158 of R&G list a HE grenade as dealing 20P damage.  Would James know if that is likely to pierce the hull of the air boat?  If the air boat is set on pontoons, would it at least capsize the ship?  My understanding of SR styled grenades is that they're relatively small, and won't have a pin to pull, etc.  This makes attaching the grenade to the hull of the air boat problematic.  Patches are also not likely to adhere underwater, though I'm less sure about the adhesives that would be present in a Survival Kit for dressing wounds, etc, If there are pontoons on the boat, James could conceivably shove the grenade up where the pontoon meets the hull with minimal exposure -- they aren't likely to see underneath their feet.  Last option I can think of would be to put the grenade in the grate of the air boat's motor.  That may well minimize the chances of sinking it, though. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-21-16/1320:56>
Your air spirit rolled 4 hits on 6 dice for Assensing, so nice work there. She cheerfully informs James that it is an F6 air spirit.

Hmm, I didn't even know there was an underwater explosives table, but there it is. If anything I think it's underselling the damage increase for an HE grenade (from 16P to 20P), but it's good enough for our purposes. Nice find.

James thinks that there is a high likelihood that an HE grenade will seriously screw up an air boat. He'd be surprised if it didn't sink. Even dropping the grenade into the boat (so that explodes above water, not below) will provide an excellent chance to capsize it.

The air boats are flat-bottomed and not on pontoons. James doesn't really have any adhesives that will function underwater. I don't know what the physical action to trigger a grenade is, but if it's not a pin then there's some manual option. (You need some way to arm and activate it without it being wireless enabled.)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-22-16/2037:51>
It may well be a pin, but I always pictured them with some fancy but small interface.  Even if there is a pin, I still don't see how James can attach it.  I've considered his cyber spurs, but I just don't think that they're pierce the hull without a serious punch, and his STR being halved doesn't make that likely.

I think I'm going to attach the grenade with adhesive tape from the survival kit just above the water line near the stern of the boat.  James will choose port or starboard based on the air spirit's location -- he would prefer to keep the boat and illicit goods between him and the Spirit's "vision."  And stern to be as far away as possible from the sub.  I guess James is going to have to risk running the grenade Wireless On, but at least it will be slaved to his commlink with the stealth dongle.  Then, James will approach the sub, and climb that ladder like a champ -- or even better jump his way up to the deck.  Then we're going to see exactly how crazy this whole idea was. . . But first, the air boat will blow up.

Last, I know I'm slowing down three of your games right now.  I'm assuming you've seen what I posted in Trial by Fire, but things really should calm down soon.  Just want to let you know that I'm not losing interest or going to bounce or anything. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-22-16/2131:54>
Eh, I'm not worried about it. My Trial by Fire post was intended for that game only. I have plenty going on as well. I'm doing the jobs of two people at work, and will be for a few more weeks until we can get someone hired. (I should say trying to do the jobs of two people. Unsurprisingly, I'm falling behind.)

What are you teaching?

The submarine does not have a ladder going down to the water line. There is a ladder going down the conning tower to the deck of the submarine. James is probably athletic enough to scramble out of the water onto the deck and then take the ladder up the conning tower (or even leap up the conning tower), but there's no real way for him to get out of the water onto the deck by leaping. There's not a particularly graceful way to manage that step.

The two airboats are lashed together, and have a simple line connecting them to the submarine. (It's not windy and there's not much in terms of a wave, so a simple line is all that's needed to prevent them from drifting off.) The airboats are pointed toward the submarine so that the fans/propellers don't get in the way of the packages/parcels being tossed down. This means the sterns are away from the submarine hull. The starboard hull of the starboard airboat (which has the female dwarf in it) will be slightly further away from the air spirit. You could potentially put the grenade between the two airboats and blow them both up, but then you don't have an easy ride to steal.

Let's be clear on the intended order of operations:
1) swim to stern of an airboat
2) attach grenade slightly above water line (setting it to Wireless On for remote detonation, slaving it to commlink and running silently)
3) swim to submarine
4) detonate grenade
5) get on deck
6) shoot someone, or stab someone, or something

Rearrange those as appropriate.

Rolls to make:
A) Agility + Sneaking
B) Logic + Sleaze as a defense against Matrix Perception. Depending on what step you plan on detonating the grenade, we may need a few of these.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-25-16/1156:32>
the Force 6 Air Spirit really puts a crimp in these plans.  The only weapon that James has that poses a serious risk to the Spirit's material existence is his Ares Desert Strike, but unless he starts sniping from 110+ meters away, that isn't going to happen, and doing so loses him the advantage of surprise.  That means disarming the female human at the stern as he scrambles up the sub, or relying on his Ares Redline.  I don't like the 5P damage much, but -10AP should go a long way toward Disrupting it. 

I'm really going to have to hope that the dice gods are with me.  Or, I could abandon the swimming idea and go back to following the smugglers, but honestly this just seems like more fun.

Order of operations:
1. Assemble Ares Desert Strike, and sling it to the tree that James is hiding behind.  Clip grenades to James Chameleon Suit.  All but a single HE grenade will be set to Motion Sensor Trigger.
2. Activate Internal Air Tank.
3. Swim to stern of air boats, and attach HE grenade above the waterline between the two crafts.  Set grenade to Wireless On, Running Silent.  As long as he's turning Wireless On, he'll do the same for his Hydraulic Jacks and Chameleon Suit.  This will indeed knock out the air boats as an easy ride home, but James would rather have the submarine anyway. 
4. Swim to stern of submarine.  Retrieve Ares Redline and pocket it. 
5. Give mental command for grenade to explode.
6. Climb up the stern side of the submarine amid the chaos, and toss a Flash-bang to the Conning Tower.
7. Dispense with Human Female (#2)
8. Make way to conning tower and dispense with Ork Male (#3).
9. Gain entry to interior of sub, and close the hatch.

Of course, no plan survives contact with the enemy, but with a little luck, one group of smugglers will think that the other is double-crossing them, and James can use his super-human speed and strength to get in the sub, commandeer it, and get it underwater before they can mount an effective resistance.

Rolls:

For Sneaking, I have: AGI (11) + Stealth Group (6) = 17 dice.
Sneaking (http://orokos.com/roll/395925): 17d6t5 5

V. Matrix Perception, I have: LOG (4) + Sleaze (4) = 8 dice
V. Matrix Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/395930): 8d6t5 3
That's one I probably should've pre-Edged, if it's possible.  If it is possible, I would like to post-Edge
V. Matrix Perception Edge Push the Limit (http://orokos.com/roll/395931): 5d6h5 1
Not much help.  4 hits total. 

We ready for me to put in an IC?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-25-16/1450:12>
Let's resolve some of the OOC rolling before we start laying down the IC posts.

Semi-important point: James is not entirely certain that he can pilot the submarine competently. He does have Pilot Watercraft 2 ("Novice. You’re a hobbyist, but not an enthusiast."), which is somewhat less than the standard threshold for proficiency in helmsmen. The submarine is small enough that it likely does not require both a helmsman and a planesman, but grounding it and/or crashing it into trees are real risks.

There are two orks on the conning tower (#3 and #4), not just one. The flash-bang would affect them both.

The orks are hauling product up out of the submarine via ropes. One is hauling while the other detaches the package and tosses it to the troll and dwarf. James will have to deal with the rope so that it does not prevent the hatch being closed.

Other than that, it's a reasonable outline. I'll give you an opportunity to confirm or revise before we move forward.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-26-16/1139:59>
Ok, I'd rather not risk grounding the craft.  James will put the grenade on the air boat with the Male Troll (#5) in it.  Would really rather not be hit by an LMG. 

The other revision to the plan involves tossing either a Flash-bang or HE grenade into the hull of the sub via the conning tower.  Chunky salsa ftw. 

Also, I didn't answer your previous question.  I teach English Comp at one of the local universities.  It's a part-time gig I've been running there for about 6 years now.  I generally like it, but I like it a lot less those weeks when I'm absolutely overrun with grading, which I have been these past few weeks.  My wife is also back in school now, and that has seriously put a crimp on my time, as she generally has had papers due right around the time that I'm under a stack of papers to grade. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-27-16/0224:52>
Alright, let's start this and see how far I can get before the baby needs attention.

1. I suppose I should have asked for Armorer for this. Usually it would be a given but under the challenging circumstances we should roll it. Logic 4 + Armorer 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/396628): 8d6t5 3 hits, no problem. Desert Strike is reassembled and slung to a tree.

2. Jame activates his Internal Air Tank and slips into the water.

3. Swimming underwater to the stern of the air boats is easy. James pops up and attached the grenade. Goons' collective Perception: Intuition + Perception + Modifiers + Teamwork - Concealment 6 - Ruthenium Polymer Coating 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/396631): ?d6t5 3 hits

Does not beat James' 5 hits for Sneaking so he remains undetected. He turns the grenade (1), Chameleon Suit (2), and Hydraulic Jacks (3) to Wireless On Running Silent. Technically his commlink (4) needs the same setting.

Goons' Matrix Perception: Matrix Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/396632): ?d6t5 7 hits, that was fast

Randomly rolling what they find: Random (http://orokos.com/roll/396634): 1d4 4, James' commlink

That's good and bad. The good news is that they're so focused on the commlink that they don't bother looking for the grenade. The bad news is that they immediately start looking for James.

Brute Force attack looking for a MARK: Cybercombat + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/396636): ?d6t5 3 hits
James' defense: Willpower 7 + Firewall 7 (http://orokos.com/roll/396637): 14d6t5 5 hits

Hacker eats 2 boxes of Matrix damage for the failed Attack. Next attempt, this time via Hack on the Fly:

Hack on the Fly: Hacking + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/396640): ?d6t5 3 hits, I swear the hacker is better than this
James' defense: Intuition 9 + Firewall 7 (http://orokos.com/roll/396641): 16d6t5 6 hits

James gets a MARK on the hacker. He knows his presence has been detected (but probably not his precise location) and that the guards might be scrambling once he surfaces. I'm going to say that this does not alter the plan significantly, as the guards were already going to freak when the grenade went off. This just moves up the timeline a few seconds.

4. James retrieves his Ares Redline as he surfaces near the stern of the submarine.

5. James gives the mental command for the grenade to explode.

I'm going to say that these airboats are a bit larger - 8 meters - as they are intended to accommodate cargo. The troll and the dwarf are near the front of their respective crafts in order to be closer to receive the packages from the submarine. Plus they need to stand toward the front to counterbalance all the weight they are adding to the back. We'll say that the troll is 4 meters away while the dwarf is 8 meters away, mostly so I can skip rolling for the dwarf.

The troll needs to soak 16P - 8P for distance = 8P with an AP of -2. Troll bro is wearing an armor vest due to the heat (as are most of the goons).

Troll bro soaking 8P: Body + Armor + Dermal Deposits - AP (http://orokos.com/roll/396643): ?d6t5 8 hits, a strong roll. Troll bro takes no damage from the blast.

Now, das boot, which needs to soak 16P: Body + Armor - AP (http://orokos.com/roll/396645): 16d6t5 4 hits, glub glub glub

The grenade annihilates the back of the airboat, which lurches violently and is probably destined for the bottom of the swamp shortly. Embarrassingly, Troll Bro does not have Gymnastics.

Troll Bro Gymnastics default: Agility - Default (http://orokos.com/roll/396647): 3d6t5 1 hit, that's enough to keep Troll Bro in the boat but not enough to keep his footing. He's now prone.

6. Chaos and shouting everywhere. Let's roll Initiative here and drop into regular initiative passes.

Go ahead and roll Initiative. I don't see any circumstances where James doesn't act first, so declare your actions and roll accordingly.

Oh, and you get to IC all this! Hurray!

What timing, baby is crying. Off I go!
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-27-16/1133:30>
Initiative:
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/396737): 16+4d6 28
Boo, no fourth pass.  And probably not even the third, as James will be going Full Defense, at least if the Spirit jumps in right away.

Actions:
Complex: Climb up to the deck of the submarine. 
STR (8) + Athletics Group (6) = 14 dice: Climb that sub (http://orokos.com/roll/396742): 14d6t5 6
(Note: I did not include any modifiers for that roll.  Adjust as necessary.  1 meter per hit.)
Free: Run
Movement: Begin charging toward Female Human Sentry (#2)

If James does not make enough Hits to land on the deck of the sub, he would spend his Free Action on turning Wireless Off on his commlink.

Nothing in R&G says what kind of action it is to activate Pulse Weave, but I'm assuming it's a Free Action, as it's slaved to James' commlink.  Ruling?

Additional Sneaking test for good measure.  I have: AGI (11) + Stealth Group (6) + Chameleon Suit Bonus (2) = 19 dice.
Sneaking (http://orokos.com/roll/396744): 19d6t5 4
Opponents are still at a -4 for visual Perception.  Other considerations will most likely come into play, though.

Nice work on getting through that before the baby started doing its thing.  Tec Jr. working on solid foods or anything yet?

IC forthcoming. Done.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-27-16/1719:35>
Tec Jr. has been eating solid foods for about two months now. Favorites so far include apples, pears, yogurt, bread, and steak.

As for the game, one thing I'm going to experiment with more is using thresholds for unopposed tests. The Gymnastics test to climb aboard the sub is a good example in this case. The deck is wet and slippery, plus the hull is round and there's nothing really to grab onto. This is in the Hard to Very Hard range. Per the threshold table (p. 45 of SR5) James' six hits are enough to accomplish something Very Hard, so in this case he succeeds admirably and he's up on deck and running toward #2.

Next steps will be me making an ugly number of rolls for initiative and Perception checks. James can't really "sneak" while running, at least not after spending his Complex on climbing on board. Early odds are that the air spirit (#7) will spot James but that the others will remain oblivious due to distractions and the water spirit's Concealment power. We'll see if the dice back that up.

Activating Pulse Weave with a Free Action sounds reasonable to me. It will undermine James' efforts to be stealthy though.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-27-16/1728:53>
All that sounds good. The Pulse Weave is for that time when James has lost his stealthiness. Nothing like the Predator turning straight into Lo Pan.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-28-16/0245:51>
I'm just going to post this here for ease even if there's some OOC knowledge transference.

CT1 IP1
28 - James - climbing and moving toward #2
25 - #8 - (action hidden)
24 - #6 - Perception pool is 0 due to modifiers, looks around in confusion.
22 - #1 - Opposite side of the conning tower, so can't see James.
21 - #7 - Scores 1 hit on an Assensing test.
13 - #5 - Perception pool is 0 due to modifiers, looks around in confusion.
12 - #2 - Manages to score 2 hits on a hearing test!
11 - #3 - Perception pool is 0 due to modifiers, looks around in confusion.
11 - #4 - Perception pool is 0 due to modifiers, looks around in confusion.

#2 Perception: Intuition + Perception - Modifiers (http://orokos.com/roll/397058): ?d6t5 2 hits, she detects James and thus gets a Surprise check. She needs to get 3 hits on a Reaction + Intuition + 3 from Perception test.

Reaction + Intuition + 3 Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/397061): ?d6t5 5 hits, she can act normally against James

#7 Perception: Intuition + Assensing - Concealment (http://orokos.com/roll/397060): ?d6t5 1 hit, the air spirit scratches together a hit and sees James on the astral out of the corner of its eye

So while the rest of them are standing around with dumb looks on their faces, #7 and #2 will be engaging James.

#7 - air spirit
Perhaps the smugglers were nervous around having an air spirit in the vicinity of their big metal tube. This does not appear to be an "I'm going to electrocute you" air spirit. The spirit flies at James and will be on him next turn. In the meantime, it is using Psychokinesis to grapple him.

Psychokinetic grapple: Psychokinetic Agility + Unarmed Combat (http://orokos.com/roll/397064): ?d6t5 3 hits

James "dodges" as normal (roll Reaction + Intuition) to reflect slipping out of the invisible hands. However, James' ability to "dodge" is constricted by the narrowness of the submarine hull and the slipperiness of his footing. He is at -2 to dodge.

The spirit doesn't have enough net hits (along with Strength) to exceed James' Physical limit, so there's no chance of James being tied up. If James loses the roll somehow, the spirit's net hits will apply as a negative modifier until the psychokinetic attack stops.

#2 - human female
Now that he's up close, James can tell that she's physically the smallest of the lot. She must have something going for her because she either hears James (over the sound of the explosion) or feels the vibration of his footsteps on the metal hull. She turns and is not surprised, so she gets to shoot with her AK-97.

Free: Shouts "Contact!"
Simple: Aim
Simple: Burst Fire

#2 firing: Agility + Automatics + Modifiers (http://orokos.com/roll/397068): ?d6t5 1 hit, nervous Nellie here. She may not be surprised but she is clearly alarmed at the swamp coming alive and advancing on her.

The same -2 dodge modifier from above applies here as well, as does the -1 for defending against a second attack, and the -2 for dodging a short burst, so -5 to dodge total. Still, if you can't dig a single hit out of your dodge pool then you should just throw yourself back in the swamp and swim away in shame and see if Illeana still wants you.

CT1 IP2 is next. James is first @ 18 unless he uses an interrupt action.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-28-16/0837:08>
Defense against Spirit, I have: REA (7) + INT (9) - Environmental Mod (2) = 14 dice.
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/397120): 14d6t5 5
Not this time, spirit.

Defense against #2, I have: REA (7) + INT (9) - Environmental Mod (2) - Previous Attack (1) - Burst (2) = 11 dice.
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/397121): 11d6t5 2
Yikes, that was close!  I'm going to chalk that miss up to poor shooting rather than James' superhuman abilities.

CT 1 IP 2
Complex: Charge Attack with Cyber Spur
Free: Pop Cyber Spur
Free: Called Shot (Vitals)  (if allowed)

For the melee attack, I have: AGI (11) + Close Combat Group (7) + Charge (2) - Called Shot (4) = 15 dice.
Charge Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/397122): 15d6t5 4
Base damage is 11P AP-2, staged to 13P AP-2 with called shot.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-28-16/1512:19>
The rules are not clear on what sort of action is needed to extend a cyberspur. Forearm snap blades require a Simple, or a Free if wirelessly enabled. Cyberspurs don't say but the overall description is similar. We'll say that it can be done with a Free.

That still leaves James with three Free actions for the round:
1 - run (for charging attack)
2 - pop cyber spur
3 - called shot

The called shot is a bridge too far, so we'll drop that. Adding those dice back in: No called shot (http://orokos.com/roll/397208): 4d6t5 1 hit, so 5 hits total on the attack

The rules technically say that you need the full amount of initiative to perform an interrupt action, but I always play it that if you have another action coming then you can spend it on an interrupt. In this case, #2 at initiative 2 will be going on Full Defense, which may involve jumping into the water.

Reaction + Intuition + Willpower (http://orokos.com/roll/397211): ?d6t5 4 hits, not enough, and - in hindsight - better that the called shot to vitals was not allowed since it would have just been a glancing blow

Damage is 12P -2AP.

#2 soak: Body + Armor - AP (http://orokos.com/roll/397212): ?d6t5 2 hits

#2 takes 10P, which probably involves the spur sticking out the other side of her. She collapses on the deck and will bleed to death without medical attention.

CT1 IP2
18 - James - shishkabob #2
15 - #8 - (action hidden)
14 - #6 -
12 - #1 - (action hidden, on the other side of the conning tower)
11 - #7 -
3 - #5 -
1 - #3 -
1 - #4 -
0 - #2 - bleeding out

More bullets coming your way, but probably not until tonight.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-29-16/0123:07>
So James drops #2. Between #2's cry of "contact!" and the short burst, all heads swivel to focus on James.

#6 - female dwarf
The dwarf female has no problem picking out James and lighting him up with some automatic fire. Under other circumstances she might be concerned about friendly firing #2, but #2 largely looks past the point of mortal concerns. (#6 notably declines to use the grenade launcher from her Ares Alpha, so perhaps she has not completely given up on #2 yet.)

Free: "Open fire!"
Simple: FA burst
Simple: Take Cover (taking a knee, which provides cover behind the front edge because she's short)

#6 firing: Agility + Firearms + Smartlink - Recoil (http://orokos.com/roll/397452): ?d6t5 4 hits

James needs to dodge 4 hits with a -5 modifier for the FA burst. Damage is 11P -6AP + net hits.

#7 - air spirit
The air spirit will attempt to Engulf James.

Agility + Unarmed Combat (http://orokos.com/roll/397455): ?d6t5 4 hits

James dodges as normal, except with -1 for this being the second attack.

If the attack succeeds, I'm going to say that James is actually immune to the "inhalation-vector toxin attack" because he's running on his Internal Air Tank. Take that, magic! However, he will still be trapped and unable to move until he breaks free.

#5 - Troll Bro
Troll Bro spent IP1 getting back on his feet. He now looks back and forth, debating whether he should save the packages that are busy slipping off the back of the boat into the swamp. He decides that they are well-sealed enough to retrieve later, so he jumps to #6's air boat. The lack of his weight acting as a counterbalance at the front of his boat sends it nose-up in the sky, accelerating the rate that packages fall off the back into the swamp.

Troll Bro still does not have Gymnastics: Agility - Defaulting (http://orokos.com/roll/397461): ?d6t5 1 hit, but he manages not to glitch/fall in the swamp himself. He is now in the other air boat, which shifts violently with his added weight.

Let's resolve the attacks from #6 and #7 before moving through the rest of the order.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-29-16/1339:37>
Ok, I must be confused on placement.  I have envisioned something like my attachment below, where the conning tower would break line-of-sight between James and the smugglers on the air boats.  Does he have visibility on 1-7 right now?

Considering how the negative mods are really going to start adding up, I think it would be wise to go Full Defense.  That will knock James out for any future passes however.  What is your ruling on Free Actions during IPs?

Defense V. #6 I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) - Environmental Mod (2) - FA Burst (5) = 20 dice.
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/397617): 20d6t5 3
Wow, that is some sub par rolling.  I really need James operating at 100% for this to work, so I'm going to use Edge to re-roll failures and see if I can scrounge up another hit on 17 dice.
Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/397619): 17d6t5 7
Ok.

Defense V. #7 I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) - Environmental Mod (2) - Second Attack (1) = 24 dice.
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/397620): 24d6t5 5

Alright, James is still up and kicking.  Let's see if he can survive the rest of the CT so he can return fire.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-29-16/1436:47>
Move the airboats to the 9 o'clock position on the submarine (so the left hand side of your image). That position makes it easier for the orks to get the product from the conning tower to the airboats. In your set-up, they'd have to throw the packages the length (well, half-length) of the submarine. Other than that, you have it correct.

Using Edge is wise and, quite frankly, part of my GM calculations. I'm not sure how you'd get out of a 7-on-1 encounter without spending some of it. Do you have James' current Edge count readily available?

Shots miss, as does the air spirit.

You get a Free Action in every IP, even if you don't have enough initiative to act.

Oh, interesting aside before I forget. Critias made a comment (http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=41537&view=findpost&p=1320705) on the old boards that when the wireless bonuses were being designed, some were supposed to be PAN-specific and others were supposed to be Matrix-specific. In other words, the local nature of certain bonuses (like internal air tanks and hydraulic jacks) were never supposed to be dependent on Matrix access, while others (like for medkits) were supposed to require Matrix availability. Evidently the distinction was lost during the editing process and the oops wasn't discovered until it was too late. That goes a long way to explain some of the less-logical descriptions. For our purposes, we can treat many of the bonuses (including smartguns) as PAN bonuses rather than Matrix bonuses.

And, on that note, #3 and #4 grabbed their Uzis during CT1 IP1 and will now be opening up on James.

#3 and #4 - orks on conning tower
Simple: Take Aim
Simple: Short Burst

Orks shooting Uzis: Agility + Automatics + Laser Sight + Take Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/397630): 2#?d6t5 4 hits and 3 hits

James is at -2 for environmental and -2 for dodging short bursts, plus -2 for the third attack (for the first roll) and -3 for the fourth attack (for the second roll).

Base damage with explosive ammo is 8P -1AP.

I'll let you dodge again before lighting you up in IP3.

CT1 IP3
5 - #8 - (action hidden)
4 - #6 female dwarf -
2 - #1 male elf -
1 - #7 air spirit -
0 - James - Full Defense
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-29-16/1458:04>
James is at 3/5 Edge and has one box of Stun damage from swimming.

I'm on the phone right now, but I'll get my rolls up shortly.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <04-29-16/1625:52>
Defense against #3 I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) - Environmental Mods (2) - Burst Fire (2) - Subsequent Attacks (2) = 21 dice.
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/397671): 21d6t5 6

Defense against #4 I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) - Environmental Mods (2) - Burst Fire (2) - Subsequent Attacks (3) = 20 dice.
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/397672): 20d6t5 2
This is not shaping up well.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to need some of that Edge for next IP when the Subsequent Attacks mods really start stacking up.  But, I've got to re-roll.
Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/397674): 18d6t5 9
And again, the re-roll is just ridiculous.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-29-16/1651:41>
Well you've dodged, what, 15 bullets, all shot from relatively close proximity? But yeah, those are some 2nd percentile and 1st percentile rolls right there.

James is at 2 Edge of 5.

CT1 IP3
5 - #8 - (action hidden)
4 - #6 female dwarf - shooting
2 - #1 male elf - (action hidden)
1 - #7 air spirit - engulf
0 - James - Full Defense

#6 female dwarf
Simple: Take Aim
Simple: FA Burst

She's at a negative penalty from the boat bouncing up and down due to the troll jumping in.

#6 shooting: Agility + Firearms + Smartlink + Aim - Recoil - Bouncing Boat (http://orokos.com/roll/397677): ?d6t5 3 hits

Dodge modifiers: -2 from environment, -5 from FA burst, -4 from subsequent attacks. All that and we're just through just James' Full Defense bonus. Damage is 11P -6AP + net hits.

#7 air spirit
Complex: Engulfing (again, because it doesn't know any better)

Engulf: Agility + Unarmed (http://orokos.com/roll/397681): ?d6t5 5 hits

Dodge modifiers: -2 from environment, -5 from subsequent attacks

And that's the end of CT1. Roll initiative!
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-02-16/1133:38>
Free Action CT1 IP3: Turn Wireless on Commlink Off.

Dodge V. #6, I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) - Environmental Mod (2) - Burst (5) - Subsequent Attacks (4) = 16 dice.
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/398519): 16d6t5 6

Dodge V. #7, I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) - Environmental Mod (2) - Subsequent Attacks (5) = 20 dice.
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/398520): 20d6t5 9

Orokos is being kind this morning.

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/398521): 16+4d6 33

As I was not expecting to be in line-of-sight with all combatants, this has affected the plan substantially. 

CT2 IP1
Free: Multiple Attacks
Simple: Ready 2 Grenades (1 HE, 1 Flash-bang, both set to Motion Sensor trigger)
Simple: Throw 2 grenades (HE at conning tower, flash-bang at air boat)
Move: around conning tower to break line-of-sight with air boat and then back into the swamp. Future movements will have James doubling back to air boat.

For Throwing Grenades, I have: AGI (11) + Throwing Weapons (4) + Aerodynamic Spec (2) = 17 dice.  9 for Attack against Conning Tower, 8 for attack against remaining Air Boat

Conning Tower: Grenade Conning Tower (http://orokos.com/roll/398526): 9d6t5 4
Air Boat: Grenade Air Boat (http://orokos.com/roll/398527): 8d6t5 1
Edge Re-roll: Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/398528): 7d6t5 4

#6 and #5 don't know that James is throwing a flash-bang, so hopefully they will be going off the sides to avoid getting exploded.

James is at 1/5 Edge.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-03-16/0126:43>
CT2 IP1
33 - James
26 - #8 - unknown
21 - #6 - female dwarf
20 - #7 - air spirit
18 - #1 - male elf
14 - #3 - ork male
12 - #5 - troll bro
10 - #4 - ork male

First things first, if you turn wireless off on your commlink, you're going to be giving up your Firewall 7 that's protecting your various wireless components.

#3 and #5 will be using the Right Back At Ya! interrupt action, which costs 10 initiative. Unfortunately, since the grenades are on motion sensor, this is not going to go well for them. I had a thought to have the air spirit try this, since it is right in James face and because the result could have been some serious lolz, but I've ruled that the air spirit is not sufficiently familiar with the ways of men to identify grenades and return them to sender. (A spirit of man might be a very different story, although it's also possible that the spirit of man would understand that it's not in its best interest to be around a detonating grenade.)

Normally they would need to make a roll to grab the grenade for the purposes of throwing it back, but I'm going to skip that because even if they botch the catch, it will still hit them in the chest, face, etc.

#3 and #5 will be eating their respective grenades. The next question is how much of the blast do they absorb by trying to catch the grenades (i.e. how much will #4 and #6 suffer by their proximity). I'm going to say that any damage that is not soaked will then travel to the next targets, who are each 2 meters away.

#3 male ork soaking 16P -2AP: Body + Armor - AP (http://orokos.com/roll/398797): ?d6t5 2 hits, yikes

#3 takes 14P. James noticed that he had obvious cyberarms a fraction of a second before they were completely blown off. #3 is in overflow and drops like a rock.

He didn't soak much for his buddy. The remaining 14P loses 4P for traveling 2 meters before #4 has to soak it.

#4 male ork soaking 10P -2AP: Body + Armor - AP (http://orokos.com/roll/398799): ?d6t5 3 hits, wow rough night for the opposition

#4 takes 7P. He takes a violent amount of shrapnel that used to be his buddy's arms.

#5 troll bro is eating 10S -4AP. Body + Armor - AP (http://orokos.com/roll/398801): ?d6t5 4 hits, you should appreciate how much their rolling is cooperating with your plan. This is 2nd percentile rolling so far.

#5 takes 6S. This does not exceed his Physical limit so he is not knocked down. This gives him a -2 modifier and robs him of his remaining initiative for the CT.

The remaining 6S loses 2S as it travels two meters to #6. She needs to soak 4S -4AP. Body + Armor - AP (http://orokos.com/roll/398804): ?d6t5 3 hits, she takes 1S

Updated CT2 IP1
33 - James
26 - #8 - unknown
21 - #6 - female dwarf
20 - #7 - air spirit
18 - #1 - male elf
8 - #4 - ork male
0 - #5 - troll bro
0 - #3 - ork male

#8 - unknown
Action Hidden

#6 - female dwarf
She is alarmed by the turn of events and decides to give James a taste of his own medicine. She uses the grenade launcher on her Ares Alpha.

Simple: Aim
Simple: Fire Grenade
Free: Detonate Grenade

Firing a grenade: Agility + Heavy Weapons + Smartlink + Aim - Bouncing Boat (http://orokos.com/roll/398808): ?d6t5 3 hits

James sees the grenade incoming but, unfortunately, can't identify what type it is mid-flight. He can roll to dodge (representing jumping, no initiative cost), use Run For Your Life (-5 initiative, automatically move 7 meters), or catch it and grin like a badass. If he decides to move, his options are basically 1) to move toward the conning tower, or 2) jump in the water.

There are other possibilities which I am not describing but which may unfold depending on James' selected course of action.

Let's resolve this before moving on because it may have a significant impact on the rest of the initiative order.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-03-16/1150:18>
First things first, if you turn wireless off on your commlink, you're going to be giving up your Firewall 7 that's protecting your various wireless components.

 ::) Of course.  I meant PAN.  James turns Wireless Off on his PAN. 

#6 - female dwarf
She is alarmed by the turn of events and decides to give James a taste of his own medicine. She uses the grenade launcher on her Ares Alpha.

Was James unable to get behind the conning tower on his action?  James defense will depend on the environment.  Is the sub or air boat deck higher up?  I'm asking because if James jumps into the swamp I'd like to know how close to him the dwarf would be able to drop a grenade -- if the sub's deck is higher, she might not be able to put one within 15-20 meters of him, for example.  Can I also get estimated distances between James and #6 and #4?

Assuming that the dwarf would be able to drop a grenade on him in the swamp, I am going to go Full Defense, and forgo any Run For Your Life interrupts. 

I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) - Environmental Mod (2) = 25 dice.
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/398875): 25d6t5 11

James is at 1/5 Edge
Corrected Initiative is 23

Also, triggering a Preparation is a Simple Action, correct?

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-03-16/1436:50>
Triggering a preparation via Command (which James cannot do) is a Simple action. Triggering a preparation via Contact is a Free action (since all you have to do is touch it). As a reminder, James does have an F3 air spirit that he can give directions to with a Simple actions.

Let's break down the distances a bit. We'll say that the submarine is 20 meters long. James was standing at the south end of it to lance #2, so let's put him at Meter 19 of 20 (counting north to south), with #2's dying body at Meter 20.

For simplicity, the conning toward is halfway down the submarine. It is ~2 meters wide, so Meters 10 and 11.

James announced his intention to move toward the conning tower. He can't run since he spent his Free action on multiple attacks, so he has to walk. His walking rate is 11 meters per combat turn. He has four passes, so we'll say 3 meters per pass to keep the numbers whole. That means he could only make it from Meter 19 to Meter 16 during his pass, leaving him well short of the conning tower.

(As an aside - just to complicate matters - I said that he could run 7 meters with Run for Your Life because doing so would cost initiative which would drop his number of passes from 4 to 3. Thus I was dividing his running rate - 22 meters per Combat Turn - by 3 passes instead of 4.)

That said, I should have applied some splash damage to James from his own grenade. If the grenade went off at Meter 11 and James was at Meter 16 then he should have soaked (16P - (5 meters * -2P per meter)) = 6P -2AP. This is where the realism of the turn-based system starts to break down as this is obviously a lot for a fraction of a second (grabbing a grenade, throwing it, walking toward it, grenade detonating), but such are the abstractions we accept in the name of manageable gameplay.

If James doesn't want to soak that damage, we can errata his movement under the reason that he is smart enough not to move toward a grenade blast.

James' dodge puts him 11 meters away from #6's grenade, such are the advantages of being a transhuman with hydraulic jacks in his legs. If he's starting out at Meter 19, then this is enough to put him on the far (east) side of the conning tower, so that he now has cover from #2. (We'll say that there's a bit of space on each side of the conning tower where James can stand without falling into the swamp.) This would put him point-blank beneath #4 though (~2 meters), and could expose him to fire from #1 depending on what #1 is doing. If James is starting out at Meter 16, then that's enough to put him on the far/north side of the conning tower, or he could stop at the conning tower and take his chances being 5 meters away from the blast.

The air boats and the deck of the submarine are at approximately the same level. The orks on the conning tower (one with arms, one without) are elevated 2 meters.

The air boats are tied up to the submarine so #6 is close. We'll call her 9 meters away from the Meter 19 position, or 6 meters away from the Meter 16 position (if James confirms his desire to walk). Depending on James' position and her grenade type, she could be within her own grenade blast radius.

James can jump into the swamp. #6 could continue (blindly) firing grenades in his direction, or she could jump to the submarine deck and start pumping grenades into the water. Then we'll get to use those underwater explosive rules that you found.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-04-16/1117:58>
Let's errata James' movement.  I was hoping that I may get to use a Charge Attack on the air boat next pass, but that is far from the realm of possibility.  I think I'll leave him chilling over by #2, and see if he can survive the rest of this pass.

I'll get an IC up soonish to cover all the dodgy-dodging and grenade chucking that we've witnessed since #2 got liver-skewered.

Another question: did the HE grenade on the conning tower damage the conning tower that James can see?  If there's a captain below deck, I am worried about the sub being able to dive while James attends to other business.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-04-16/1352:18>
If we errata James' movement, that leaves him at Meter 19 to start. Where does he want to end up at the end of his dodge? This is obviously a huge amount of movement but James spent an interrupt action on going Full Defense so I'll give him some control over it. The hydraulic jacks also help explain the faster-than-running movement.

James' position will determine how the rest of the initiative order plays out. Some options:

Meter 12: south side of conning tower, exposed to #6 but protected from #1
Meter 11: east side of conning tower, potentially exposed to #1 but protected from #6
Meter 10: northeast side of conning tower, potentially exposed to #1 but protected from #6

In all cases he'll still be vulnerable to #4 standing on top of the conning tower.

James sees some superficial damage to the conning tower but nothing that looks structural (at least not from his current angle). He does not think that it is likely that the submarine will dive, if only because the hatch will need to close first and the smuggler's ropes might still be blocking it from sealing. He doubts that the captain will wish to flood his or her boat.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-06-16/1154:48>
Reprinting the list of combatants here so I can keep better track:

#1 - male elf sentry standing lookout on one end of the sub, assault rifle
#2 - female human sentry standing lookout on the other end of the sub, assault rifle + Horizon Flying Eye drone above her
#3 - ork male standing on the conning tower, pulling up packages out of the sub via rope, no visible weapons but there might be something within reach that's out-of-sight
#4 - same as #3 7P
#5 - male troll in one of the airboats, loading packages for transport, an LMG within reach
#6 - female dwarf in the other airboat, also loading packages for transport, carbine within reach 1S
#7 - air spirit on patrol

Dodge Movement: I will put James at Meter 11, protected from #6, exposed to #4, and potentially exposed to #1.  Since he's still in Predator mode, hopefully #1 will at least need to make an Observe in Detail to be sure of his location. 

I still owe you an IC post.

ETA: Since the Air Spirit has been tagging along with James this whole time, should it Dodge/Soak some of the grenade that was thrown his way? 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-07-16/0256:10>
The air spirit and water spirit have been bopping along in the astral, so no need for them to dodge.

In other news, you've been neglecting to include Illeana's quickened Combat Sense in your rolls. I presumed that you had been using it because your dodge pools were so high, but nope that's all Agile Defender and Increased Intuition. That's an extra 4 dice for you.

However, I'm going to rob you of some more while you're standing beside the conning tower. Your lateral movement is now severely limited since there's barely a shoulder-width of space between the conning tower and the swamp. James will be at -4 to dodge until the he moves back onto the main deck of the sub (when it will return to being -2).

We will now resume our battle previously in progress. The dwarf's HE grenade goes off but James is safely outside of the affected radius.

Question, does the #7 air spirit get/need a dodge roll against #6's grenade? Another awkward situation of the grenade rules, as the air spirit was not directly target. Alternatively, does the air spirit even know to dodge? I will say yes to both for fairness.

Air spirit dodge: Reaction + Intuition (http://orokos.com/roll/399976): ?d6t5 9 hits, pretty good, I suppose

That's enough to keep the air spirit safe.

Updated CT2 IP1
26 - #8 - unknown - action hidden
23 - James - grenades
21 - #6 - female dwarf - grenading James

20 - #7 - air spirit
18 - #1 - male elf
8 - #4 - ork male
0 - #5 - troll bro
0 - #3 - ork male

#7 - air spirit
Herding. Agility + Unarmed Combat (http://orokos.com/roll/399977): ?d6t5 4 hits + die I forgot (http://orokos.com/roll/399978): 1d6t5 0 hits = 4 hits
The air spirit doesn't attack, but seems to be cutting off James' access to the south end of the submarine.

James gets a straight Intuition roll to resist. I'll roll that to keep things moving. Intuition (http://orokos.com/roll/399979): 9d6t5 5 hits, James is far too crafty and nullifies the air spirit's jockeying for position

#1 - male elf
Sir Elf does not appear to be the slightest bit fooled by James' chameleon suit. He opens fire!
Simple: Take Aim
Simple: FA Burst

Elf shooting at James: Agility + Automatics + Smartlink + Aim - Recoil (http://orokos.com/roll/399981): ?d6t5 5 hits

James is at -5 for the burst and -4 for the Environmental Modifiers and -1 from dodging the grenade. Don't forget Combat Sense. Base damage is 11P -6AP.

#4 - ork male
The ork leans over the conning tower and opens up with his Uzi.
Complex: Long Burst

Agility + Automatics + Laser Sight + Point Blank - Recoil - Wound Modifier (http://orokos.com/roll/399982): ?d6t5 2 hits
He's angry so he's going to Edge that: Edge reroll (http://orokos.com/roll/399983): ?d6t5 2 more hits

James needs to dodge 4 hits. He is at -5 for the burst, -4 for the Environmental Modifiers, and -2 from dodging another attack. Base damage is 8P -1AP.

Once you've rolled and determined how well James has fared, declare and roll for CT2 IP2.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-09-16/1221:59>
Yay! Combat Sense.  Completely forgot about that.  Boo! perceptive elves. 

Dodge v. Elf, I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) + Combat Sense (4) - Environmental Mods (4) - Burst Fire (5) - Subsequent Attacks (1) = 21 dice.
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/400746): 21d6t5 7
Not this time, daisy-eater.

Dodge v. Ork, I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) + Combat Sense (4) - Environmental Mods (4) - Burst Fire (5) - Subsequent Attacks (2) = 20 dice.
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/400747): 20d6t5 13
Going for some Matrix-styled bullet time.

CT2 IP2
Simple: Draw Redline
Simple: Pew Spirit
Free: A little torn here.  I'm considering triggering the Physical Barrier Preparation to protect James from Elf #1, but I'm also considering re-booting James' link.  If James triggers the Preparation what control does he have over where the barrier manifests itself?

For Shooting, I have: AGI (11) + Laser Weapons (9) = 20 dice.
Shoot Spirit (http://orokos.com/roll/400764): 20d6t5 9
Orokos is being very kind this morning.  Accuracy is 9, so I get to keep those hits.
Base damage is: 5P -10AP

James is at 1/5 Edge, 4/5 Redline.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-10-16/1944:36>
James has good control over where the physical barrier manifests itself. It can't float/hover, so it needs to be attached to the ground/sub. It can't be some crazy shape, but a wall or a dome or a semi-dome are all reasonable. James should be mindful that he doesn't use it to block his lines of fire or his movement. For example, he wouldn't want to build a bubble around himself that would make it impossible to fire or climb up the conning tower ladder, etc.

Air spirit dodge: Reaction + Intuition (http://orokos.com/roll/401153): ?d6t5 7 hits, pretty good, but not enough

James connects with 2 net hits. That makes the damage 7P - 10AP. The spirit has 12 armor reduced to 2 by the laser's AP. Pew pew!

Air spirit soak: Body + Armor (http://orokos.com/roll/401154): ?d6t5 2 hits + 1 auto-hit from remaining armor = 3 hits. The spirit takes 4P and is now has a wound modifier.

CT2 IP2
16 - #8 - unknown - action hidden
13 - James - lasers

11 - #6 - female dwarf - action hidden
9 - #7 - air spirit
8 - #1 - male elf

Let me know what you're thinking about the preparation before I move on to #7 and #1.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-10-16/2033:03>
I'm going to reboot comm as my Free Action. How far from James can he trigger the barrier?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-10-16/2054:20>
LOS (A), so pretty far.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-10-16/2106:36>
Alright, cool. Rebooting for sure.

You started the move yet?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-11-16/0146:24>
Just packing. Physical move starts on Friday.

#7 and #1 are going to try to tag-team James.

#7 teamwork: Agility + Unarmed - Wound (http://orokos.com/roll/401238): ?d6t5 3 hits, not very good, will Edge
#7 trying again: Edge reroll (http://orokos.com/roll/401239): ?d6t5 1 hit

4 hits total. James resists with straight Intuition.

James avoiding the spirit: Intuition (http://orokos.com/roll/401243): 9d6t5 5 hits, too crafty

The spirit tries to corral James but utterly fails, despite having three times as many dice as James did.

#1 is charging in, trying to engage James in melee. Granted, #1 was hoping for some more help from the air spirit, but so it goes. He is trying to kick James.

#1 kick attack: Agility + Melee + Spec + Charging (http://orokos.com/roll/401245): ?d6t5 4 hits, I give these guys good dice pools but it isn't showing

James is -4 from environment, -1 from second attack defended, and -1 due to the Reach of the kick attack. If it connects, damage is 6P.

Then we're on to CT2 IP3. Go ahead and declare and roll, the roll initiative once you are done.

CT2 IP3
6 - #8 - unknown - action hidden
3 - James
1 - #6 - female dwarf
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-11-16/1151:07>
That's twice in a row now James has scored 5 hits on 9 dice to avoid the spirit mucking around with his mind.  Wow.

That blasted Redline is cool, but man that 5P is just not impressive.  I guess it is much more an assassin's weapon, where I'm counting on the target being unaware.  That same roll against a Nately looking out the window while James was posing as the butler would have been 14P -10AP.  Splitting the dice pools for multiple attacks could be even nastier.

Anyway, back to the fight at hand.  What power is the Air Spirit using that targets James' Intuition?  If it's a melee attack, James should not be at a -1 mod due to his Multiple Opponent's Defense Technique. 

Against the elf, I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) + Combat Sense (4) - Environmental Mods (4) - Subsequent Attacks (1) - Reach (1) = 25 dice.
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/401395): 25d6t5 6
Man, that's a lot of 4's. 

CT2 IP3
I'm tempted to try to Clinch and then Throw the elf overboard, but taking a hit to my dice pools, and not doing damage makes that less appealing.  James is going to try to skewer the guy with his Cyber Spur.
Complex: Melee Attack
Free:

For the attack I have: AGI (11) + Unarmed Combat (7) + Cyber Weapons Spec (2) = 20 dice.
Attack Elf (http://orokos.com/roll/401403): 20d6t5 11
Physical Limit is 10.  Base damage is 11P -2AP

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/401404): 16+4d6 32
Actions will depend on how lively the elf is looking after this last attack. 


Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-11-16/1533:47>
The air spirit is using Melee Teamwork. I'm ruling that Combat Sense and Full Defense don't apply since it's not an attack, per se, and it's not resisted with the usual defense roll. (The purpose is basically this exact situation: two opponents trying to team up against a superior opponent.) The air spirit is basically trying to herd James and make it easier for the elf to hit him. James is doing a good job of not being tag-teamed.

By that logic I shouldn't have been applying the -1 modifier for second defense. (Ignoring Multiple Opponent Defense for now, which I also forgot about.) I'm reasonably sure that I didn't include that modifier the last time the air spirit tried to do this, but I made the mistake this time. Plus, as you say, it shouldn't have applied anyway due to the Firefight martial arts training.

Reviewing the martial arts, Close Quarter Defense Against Firearms will apply if #4 tries to shoot you this pass.

It appears that we should have applied a negative modifier for you shooting the air spirit while the elf was trying to melee you. (Attacker in Melee Combat -3) Close Quarter Firearms would have reduced that modifier by 1. Losing 2 dice would cost you one net hit on the laser attack. It doesn't affect the wound modifier so I'm not going to retcon that.

Returning to the current situation:

Hmm, 10 hits. Things aren't looking promising for Mr. Elf here. He'll go on Full Defense.

#1 dodge: Reaction + Intuition + Full Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/401444): ?d6t5 6 hits, not bad but not nearly enough

Whoops: I got confused and thought that this was your CT3 IP1 action. The elf technically did not have enough initiative to go on Full Defense. That removes 1 hit from the dodge roll, making it 5 hits.

Damage is staged up to 16P -2AP with net hits.

#1 soak: Body + Armor - AP (http://orokos.com/roll/401445): ?d6t5 6 hits, not bad but not nearly enough

He'll need to Edge that if he wants to live, even though he doesn't get that many dice to reroll: Edge reroll (http://orokos.com/roll/401454): ?d6t5 1 hit

Elf takes 9P.

The elf tries to do a fancy flip backflip backward but James skewers him through the back mid-flip. James now has an elf-kabob on his cyberspur. The elf will be prone once he slides off James' spur onto the submarine deck.

CT2 IP3
1 - #6 - female dwarf - James hears the airboat engine/fan firing up. Sounds like the dwarf and the troll have had enough and are looking to escape.

Go ahead and declare for CT3 IP1.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-12-16/1319:31>
Reprinting the list of combatants here so I can keep better track:

#1 - male elf sentry standing lookout on one end of the sub, assault rifle 9P
#2 - female human sentry standing lookout on the other end of the sub, assault rifle + Horizon Flying Eye drone above her
#3 - ork male standing on the conning tower, pulling up packages out of the sub via rope, no visible weapons but there might be something within reach that's out-of-sight
#4 - same as #3 7P
#5 - male troll in one of the airboats, loading packages for transport, an LMG within reach 6S
#6 - female dwarf in the other airboat, also loading packages for transport, carbine within reach 1S
#7 - air spirit on patrol 4P

Is the elf on the ground still in control of his assault rifle, or could James pick it up with a Simple Action?  At 9P, he'll still be alive and conscious, so I'll assume that's a no.  If I'm mistaken, or if I can make a test to grab the assault rifle with a
Simple Action, I would like to retcon the following.  Also, James' commlink will come back online second pass, correct?

CT3 IP1
Free: Ready CS/Teargas Grenade (Motion Trigger)
Simple: Shoot Elf with Redline
Simple: Command Spirit of Air (Bring me the thing I left on the tree as fast as you can.)

For Shooting I have: AGI (11) + Laser Weapons (9) = 20 dice
Shoot Elf (http://orokos.com/roll/401682): 20d6t5 7
I forgot about Attacker in Melee Combat (I guess #4 is close enough that we're considering it melee?) and the Superior Position mods.  That makes: - Attacker in Melee Combat (3) + Superior Position (2) + Close Quarter Firearms (1) = 0 dice.

Base damage is 5P -10AP

James is at 3/5 Redline, 1/5 Edge

ETA: I'm not sure that James would receive the Superior Position bonus.  It's tied to the section on Melee combat rules, and the elf is taking a -2 to his Defense Test because he's prone.  A 4 die swing may be excessive there.  Dropping 2 dice from James' roll costs a hit, so 6 Hits total.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-12-16/1418:53>
The elf's assault rifle (an Ares Alpha when James looks at it) is on a sling. It is not in the elf's hands because he was busy trying to melee James and backflip.

James can pick it up with a Simple action but he would have limited control over it due to the sling. He can cut the sling with his cyberspur with another Simple action to gain full control of it.

Were you rebooting your commlink? I thought you were just turning wireless off. Rebooting is a Complex action.

James doesn't get a +2 Superior Position bonus (which, as you say, is for Melee) but I do give +2 for point-blank shots that are unlikely to miss. This is an SR4 rule that doesn't seem to have made it's way into SR5 yet. We'll call it 7 hits for James.

With his wound modifier and being prone, I'm not sure the elf has the dice pool to dodge. He'll use Dodge in a desperate attempt: Reaction + Intuition - Wounds - Prone + Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/401690): 8d6t5 3 hits

Damage is staged up to 9P. The AP eliminates the elf's armor, and he doesn't have enough Body to soak 9P down to a survivable level. Quick roll: 1 hit. The elf takes 8P, for a new total of 17P, and expires on the deck of the submarine.

CT3 IP1
32 - James
21 - #8 - unknown
19 - #7 - air spirit
16 - #6 - female dwarf
11 - #5 - trollbro
10 - #4 - ork on conning tower

#8 - action hidden

#7 - engulfing James: Agility + Unarmed - Wound (http://orokos.com/roll/401693): ?d6t5 5 hits, defend as usual

#6 - suppressive fire! Agility + Automatics + Smartlink (http://orokos.com/roll/401694): ?d6t5 6 hits, James can use Hit the Dirt to go prone or to duck behind the conning tower for full cover, or he can roll Reaction+Edge to dodge. In the meantime, he will be at -6 while exposed.

The air spirit will use Hit the Dirt (or whatever the equivalent is) to duck behind cover.

#5 - action unknown unless James makes an Observe in Detail

#4 - action unknown unless James makes an Observe in Detail

CT3 IP2
22 - James
11 - #8 - unknown
6 - #6 - female dwarf
4 - #7 - air spirit
1 - #5 - trollbro
0 - #4 - ork on conning tower
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-12-16/1618:52>
CT1 IP3 Free Action: Turn PAN Wireless Off

CT2 IP2 Free Action: Re-boot Comm

Ok, so turning Wireless Off doesn't affect the MARKs that a potential hacker would have on James' link, and gear, correct, only the potential hacker would not be able to Attack/Sleaze/Spoof Command/etc. while Wireless is turned off?

I don't have any bright ideas for what to do with CT2 IP2 Free Action, so we'll drop that.  I'd like to say that I just had a mix-up moment with my action economy here, but truth is, I keep thinking that rebooting is Free.  Unless I'm GMing matrix stuff.  Then I never forget ;) 

James will go Full Defense again, taking a -10 hit to his Initiative.

For Spirit Defense I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) + Combat Sense (4) = 31 dice. Wow. . .
Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/401718): 31d6t5 14

James isn't worried about the ork with the blood in his eyes and his puny uzi.  Page 179 of the CRB says you still get Full Defense dice, and page 286 says Combat Sense applies to all melee or Ranged attacks, so that should be good to go as well.  If I'm missing something, I may rethink this, as I'm counting on a better-than-average roll already here.  Against #4's Suppressive Fire I have: REA (7) + Edge (5) + AGI (11) + Combat Sense (4) - Suppressive Fire Hits (6) - Environmental Mods (4) - Subsequent Attacks (1) = 16 dice.
Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/401721): 16d6t5 7
Got lucky.

Also, by my count the ork spent 3 rounds on CT1 IP2 and 6 rounds on CT2 IP1, putting him at 15 rounds of ammo.  That'll shrink the Suppressive Fire area by 4 meters to 6 meters total.  If it's centered on James he can move 3 meters in either direction to exit the Suppressive Fire zone.  His Running Rate of 22 meters a turn breaks down to 5.5 meters if broken into 4 passes (but James went Full Defense costing him a pass) or just over 7 meters if broken into 3.  Let me know if I'm off on this.  I understand that James will need to make another Defense Test when he moves out of the zone -- or at least that's my understanding of the rules.  Walking on the other hand, puts him at just shy of 3 meters for 4 passes and just over 3 meters at 3 passes.

Bonus Free Action: James will look up at the ork and in his calmest, most deadpan, and most chilling voice say, "Stop that."

Do you mean #6 Action Unknown unless James makes an Observe in Detail?

James' corrected Initiative: 12.

It's doubtful that the ork will heed James' warning and throw his gun down, and I guess that I could use a Simple Action to Take Cover, and then move out of the Suppressive Fire zone without taking an additional Defense Test.  That sounds promising, but I think James is going to take the two adages that the best offense is a good defense and that the best defense is a good offense as simultaneously true.

CT3 IP2
Simple: Throw CS/Teargas grenade through the hatch in the conning tower and into the hull of the sub
Simple: Take Cover
Free: Ready HE Grenade (This is the last one from the team inventory)

For Throwing the grenade I have: AGI (11) + Throwing Weapons (4) + Aerodynamic Spec (2) - Suppressive Fire Hits (6) = 11 dice.
Throw grenade inside sub (http://orokos.com/roll/401725): 11d6t5 3

Let's see what the ork thinks about another grenade coming his way.  Hopefully, that'll stop the Suppressive Fire he has going.

CS/Teargas has Penetration 0, Power 8, and a Speed of 1 CT.  GM's call on how the cramped quarters of a sub affects things, if at all.  10 meter radius, but again cramped quarters of a sub, so unsure how that will play out.  1000 cubic meters seems particularly nasty, but so does a gas grenade inside a sub.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-12-16/1641:05>
The suppressive fire is coming from the female dwarf (#6) on the airboat. James does not know what the ork on the conning tower (#4) is doing, other than the ork does not seem to be firing at him.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-12-16/1752:17>
The suppressive fire is coming from the female dwarf (#6) on the airboat. James does not know what the ork on the conning tower (#4) is doing, other than the ork does not seem to be firing at him.

Oh.  Well, color me confused.  I thought that James was protected from and out of LoS with #6, as per this post:

Reprinting the list of combatants here so I can keep better track:

#1 - male elf sentry standing lookout on one end of the sub, assault rifle
#2 - female human sentry standing lookout on the other end of the sub, assault rifle + Horizon Flying Eye drone above her
#3 - ork male standing on the conning tower, pulling up packages out of the sub via rope, no visible weapons but there might be something within reach that's out-of-sight
#4 - same as #3 7P
#5 - male troll in one of the airboats, loading packages for transport, an LMG within reach
#6 - female dwarf in the other airboat, also loading packages for transport, carbine within reach 1S
#7 - air spirit on patrol

Dodge Movement: I will put James at Meter 11, protected from #6, exposed to #4, and potentially exposed to #1.  Since he's still in Predator mode, hopefully #1 will at least need to make an Observe in Detail to be sure of his location. 

I still owe you an IC post.

ETA: Since the Air Spirit has been tagging along with James this whole time, should it Dodge/Soak some of the grenade that was thrown his way? 

Let me know how you want to proceed here.  Admittedly, and despite the good roll, I would not have used a Defense Test against #6, as soaking damage from an Alpha v. an Uzi is a little more gambling than the extra Initiative.

I'm including a diagram on how I see things based on previous posts.  Let me know what I'm off on.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-12-16/1814:23>
I was playing it that your dodging of the bullets (from #4) and your melee/skewering of #1 had brought your far enough north to be within the LOS of #6.

However, your diagram is largely correct. The scale is off, but you're right that #6 is slightly offset to the south and that James - even if he had to move north a meter or two to engage #1 - is probably still in cover from #6's vantage point.

We'll back up a bit. We will say that #6 is using suppressive fire to force James to keep behind cover, but that James is not at a -6 modifier while in cover, nor does he have to take any action to get into cover from the suppressive fire.

James can still do his stated actions for CT3 IP2 (tossing the gas grenade), but there's a Blind Fire penalty if he's trying to throw it into the submarine hatch which he cannot see. As the air spirit is still in his face, he also will have a -3 Attacker in Melee Combat penalty. The hatch is probably large enough that we don't need a separate Called Shot penalty.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-13-16/1257:57>
I was playing it that your dodging of the bullets (from #4) and your melee/skewering of #1 had brought your far enough north to be within the LOS of #6.

Gotcha.  For the record, I'm fine playing it that way.  I would like for there to be some sort of trade-off with putting James back in LoS, though -- take a hit to Defense v. Charge Attack, or take a few steps back, etc. Or, it would be helpful for me to know when antagonists enter LoS again once James loses them, so that I can better plan defenses and action economy. 

Moving forward, I will adjust my actions for CT3 IP2.

CT3 IP2
Free: Activate Wireless (Hydraulic Jacks)
Simple: Throw grenade through conning tower hatch and into hull of submarine.
Simple: Held
Movement: Vertical Jump

For Jumping I have: AGI (11) + Athletics Group (6) + Hydraulic Jacks (6) = 23 dice.
Jump (http://orokos.com/roll/402010): 23d6t5 10
A mighty jump.  Physical Limit is 10, half a meter a hit equals 5 meters, but James is only 1.8 meters tall, limiting his jump to 2.7 meters.  That still puts his head well over 4 meters high, so I'm assuming that clears the conning tower and eliminates the Blind Fire penalty.

. . . As the air spirit is still in his face, he also will have a -3 Attacker in Melee Combat penalty. The hatch is probably large enough that we don't need a separate Called Shot penalty.

Drek, we haven't been applying that penalty.  I guess the shot against the Air Spirit and the one against the Elf are the only rolls that would be affected.

That said, for Throwing the CS/Teargas grenade I have: AGI (11) + Throwing Weapons (4) + Aerodynamic Spec (2) - Attacker in Melee Combat (3) = 14 dice.
Throw grenade inside sub (http://orokos.com/roll/402016): 14d6t5 7
Dropping it on a dime.

If, once James peeks his head up over the conning tower, an additional attack comes his way, I may use my held Simple Action.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-14-16/0015:09>
Away from books so I can't look up rules at the moment.

I'm going to claim that unused Simple action to represent James' vertical jump. It's likely that the rules say a Complex is needed since it is a Gymnastics test but I think a Simple will suffice. I also don't think that the rules allow you to split up two Simple actions, i.e. using one and then holding the other. It might be realistic to be able to do so but I think the game designers wanted to keep things flowing, and various people all holding Simple actions could mess with initiative order and the overall pace of combat.

I don't recognize all the limits on the Gymnastic test but I'll trust that you've looked them up. 4 meters is more than enough to get above the conning tower (which is more like 2 meters) and have a clear shot at the hatch. That's the good news; the bad news is that the hatch is closed! Ork #4 is gone and must have ducked inside and shut the hatch with his last action. James doubts that he's had enough time to seal himself inside, unless that can be done electronically. (James is uncertain if it could be sealed wirelessly, as any system that could be hacked to release the hatch at a inopportune time would be a major liability. On the other hand, if the submarine is at depth then the water pressure would help keep the hatch sealed even if it were unlocked wirelessly. So, he doesn't know.)

I'll give James a straight Reaction (3) test to avoid throwing the grenade at the now-closed hatch. Unless he wants to anyway just in case it pops back open.

Reaction test to avoid throwing grenade (http://orokos.com/roll/402202): 7d6t5 2 hits, not enough, James throws the grenade and it detonates upon its perfect impact on top of the hatch.

Now here's the interesting question: should I presume that James is airborne for the rest of the IP? If so, how should that impact his dodge pool? Hmm.

CT3 IP2
22 - James - throwing grenade
11 - #8 - unknown
6 - #6 - female dwarf - suppressive fire

4 - #7 - air spirit
1 - #5 - trollbro
0 - #4 - ork on conning tower

#6 - female dwarf - did not think to lay down suppressive fire ABOVE the conning tower, so James is unaffected.

#7 - air spirit - is going to pick up the CS/Teargas grenade and whip it up the into a tornado around James! It needs an Agility (2) test to pick up the grenade.

Agility (2) test to pick up the grenade (http://orokos.com/roll/402203): 9d6t5 3 hits, the grenade is grabbed

I'm reasonably sure that Air Spirits have a sensitivity/vulnerability to Earth and are especially resilient (via fluff if not crunch) to aerosol attacks like a CS/Teargas grenade, but I could get back to my books and find out that I have that exactly backward.

I'm going to rule that this attack auto-succeeds because the air spirit has no real way of failing and James has no real way of dodging.

Not having my books, I can't remember if the vector is Contact, Inhalation, or both. James internal air tanks protect him from Inhalation but he doesn't have any Chemical Protection from the Contact vector that I see. If CS/Teargas even has a Contact vector, which I don't know. (Nor do I know what the exact effects of CS/Teargas are, and which effects might be pertinent to which vector(s).) Nor do I know what the Speed interval is. 1 Combat Turn? So this may not have an immediate impact in any case other than James now has a visibility modifier of some sort that I will determine once I remember what the various stages are. Let's call it -1 for IP3 and then -3 for IP4 unless James explicitly gets away from the air spirit.

#1 - trollbro - action hidden without an Observe in Detail

CT3 IP3
12 - James - lands on the deck of the submarine and can act as normal if he passes a simple Agility + Gymnastics (2) test to represent landing on a wet/slippery metal surface
1 - #8 - unknown
0 - #6 - female dwarf - suppressive fire
0 - #7 - air spirit
0 - #5 - trollbro
0 - #4 - ork inside the sub
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-14-16/1133:26>
I'm going to claim that unused Simple action to represent James' vertical jump. It's likely that the rules say a Complex is needed since it is a Gymnastics test but I think a Simple will suffice.

I don't believe Jumping is an action, like other Movement.  That's how Ace was able to make a jump and a melee attack in Tabula Rasa, and how the Juggernaut could attempt to jump and make a melee attack earlier in The Further Adventures. . .  It's also the only Gymnastics Test that doesn't state the action cost: Climb = Complex, Rappelling = Simple. 

I also don't think that the rules allow you to split up two Simple actions, i.e. using one and then holding the other. It might be realistic to be able to do so but I think the game designers wanted to keep things flowing, and various people all holding Simple actions could mess with initiative order and the overall pace of combat.

That's absolutely correct.

I don't recognize all the limits on the Gymnastic test but I'll trust that you've looked them up. 4 meters is more than enough to get above the conning tower (which is more like 2 meters) and have a clear shot at the hatch. That's the good news; the bad news is that the hatch is closed! Ork #4 is gone and must have ducked inside and shut the hatch with his last action. James doubts that he's had enough time to seal himself inside, unless that can be done electronically. (James is uncertain if it could be sealed wirelessly, as any system that could be hacked to release the hatch at a inopportune time would be a major liability. On the other hand, if the submarine is at depth then the water pressure would help keep the hatch sealed even if it were unlocked wirelessly. So, he doesn't know.)

Yeah, I was worried about that.  What's the state of the hatch and the rope that was leading up from the hull?  I don't believe the ork had the action economy to produce a knife, cut the rope, and close the hatch, so what do things look like on that front?  Also, from the weight of the contraband, I'm guessing a high tensile rope.  Here's hoping it's not some variation of Stealth Rope.

I'll give James a straight Reaction (3) test to avoid throwing the grenade at the now-closed hatch. Unless he wants to anyway just in case it pops back open.

Reaction test to avoid throwing grenade (http://orokos.com/roll/402202): 7d6t5 2 hits, not enough, James throws the grenade and it detonates upon its perfect impact on top of the hatch.

I thought about Edging this -- my last point -- but honestly, the violence of the jump from the hydraulic jacks and the sudden stop when James gets back on the deck of the sub is probably enough to trigger the motion sensor, so there wouldn't be any point.

I'm reasonably sure that Air Spirits have a sensitivity/vulnerability to Earth and are especially resilient (via fluff if not crunch) to aerosol attacks like a CS/Teargas grenade, but I could get back to my books and find out that I have that exactly backward.

Air Spirits do not have any Allergies in the CRB, for what that' worth.

Not having my books, I can't remember if the vector is Contact, Inhalation, or both. James internal air tanks protect him from Inhalation but he doesn't have any Chemical Protection from the Contact vector that I see. If CS/Teargas even has a Contact vector, which I don't know. (Nor do I know what the exact effects of CS/Teargas are, and which effects might be pertinent to which vector(s).) Nor do I know what the Speed interval is. 1 Combat Turn? So this may not have an immediate impact in any case other than James now has a visibility modifier of some sort that I will determine once I remember what the various stages are. Let's call it -1 for IP3 and then -3 for IP4 unless James explicitly gets away from the air spirit.

CS/Teargas in Contact and Inhalation.
Speed: 1 CT
Penetration: 0
Power: 8
Effect: Disorientation, Nausea, Stun Damage.

What will the effects be with James' Internal Air Tank?  Nausea seems a bit much without breathing anything in, but Disorientation seems appropriate.  Is the Toxin's power mitigated in any fashion?

AGI + Gymnastic to act normally I have: AGI (11) + Athletics Skill Group (6) = 17 dice.
Gymnastics (http://orokos.com/roll/402264): 17d6t5 4

CT3 IP3
Complex: Skewer Air Spirit with Cyber Spur
Free: Turn Wireless Off (Hydraulic Jacks)

For skewering the Air Spirit I have: AGI (11) + Unarmed Combat (7) + Cyber Weapons Spec (2) - Visibility Modifier (1) = 19 dice.
Skewer Air Spirit (http://orokos.com/roll/402265): 19d6t5 7
Base damage is 11P -2AP

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-16-16/0223:04>
I'm going to look up jumping when I get back to my books. To the best of my memory, walking is the only movement which does not require an action. Running requires a Free action and jumping would require at least as much dedicated effort as running, if not more. I suppose this differs by the type of jump, but certainly jumping straight up seems more intensive than say a running jump that might be a natural extension of running.

I allow jumping as a part of melee attacks because melee attacks are Complex actions and that can cover quite a lot. (Excluding the possibility of jumping and melee would make flying/jump kicks impossible, which is obviously incorrect.)

I have heard some people house rule Melee so that it is only a Simple action. This is interesting to me, because "melee" in the rules can be anything from a single swing of a fist/axe/chain (which seems closer to a Simple) to an elaborate series of martial arts maneuvers (which would rightfully be a Complex action). I wonder what the effect would be if Melee were available as a Simple action, perhaps with penalties like there are for Reckless Spellcasting/Summoning.

James sees a rope sticking out from the hatch. That said, the hatch looks fairly closed to James. Without closer examination he can't tell if the weight of the hatch severed the rope and it just looks like it is protruding, or if it really is still connected and is interfering with the hatch sealing properly or not. Another possibility is that the hatch is not closed enough to keep water at bay but is closed enough to keep James out. There's no way of knowing without taking a look up close.

We'll definitely skip nausea for the tear gas. Disorientation is fair but won't kick in until CT4 IP2. As for damage, we'll play a little game. Your options are:
1) Body 5 + Ballistic Mask 2 vs. 4 stun (to represent James' face being the only thing exposed/vulnerable), or
2) Body 5 + Ballistic Mask 2 + Chameleon Suit 9 + Cyberlimb Armor 4 vs. 8 Stun

Option #2 has the slightly better odds, but also the greater damage if the roll goes poorly.

James lands on the submarine deck without issue. He then tries to stabby-stab the air spirit.

#7 air spirit dodge roll: Reaction + Intuition - Wound (http://orokos.com/roll/402787): ?d6t5 7 hits, tie

A glancing blow. The air spirit is not affected by the shimmering madman.

CT3 IP4
2 - James

Oh, look, you're up again.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-16-16/1115:19>
CT3 IP4
Simple: Take Aim with Redline at Spirit
Simple: Shoot Spirit
Free: Turn Wireless On Pulse Weave.
Move: Walk toward elf's body.

For shooting I have: AGI (11) + Laser Weapons (9) + Take Aim (1) - Firearms in Melee (3) + Close Quarter Firearms (1) = 18 dice.
Shoot Spirit (http://orokos.com/roll/402874): 18d6t5 2
Abysmal.  Hmm, spend the last Edge to re-roll?  I'm getting awfully low on ammo, gaining entry to the sub is looking very difficult/near impossible, and after this action I only have one more pass until the CS/Teargas begins to take effect.  Thing is, a lot of those considerations are both reasons to use and reasons to hold onto this last point of Edge. I'm going to let it stand.

Spirit is at -1 to Defend against previous attack.

CT4 Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/402888): 16+4d6 24
Orokos is not loving me this morning.

Had I known that roll, I very well may have Edged, as now the Spirit has a reasonable chance to act before James this CT.  Of course, if Orokos is on another swing as far as rolling goes, I'm going to want that last point to Edge to not die.  Gamblers Fallacy ftw.   

James is at 2/5 Redline, 1/5 Edge, 1S

While it won't come into play until IP2, let's see how he holds up against the CS/Teargas.  I hate to test Orokos again, but I'm going to go up against the full 8S, and keep all my armor.

I have: BOD (5) + Chameleon Suit (9) + Ballistic Mask (2) + Cyber Armor Upgrades (4) = 20 dice.
Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/402894): 20d6t5 8
Well, holy drek.  No damage.  No Disorientation either since damage is resisted.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-16-16/1646:58>
Per the rules, I should have waited until CT4 IP2 to have you make that soak roll, but that's too much bookkeeping. Looks like James has some clear sinuses. Maybe tear gas is like the Axe Body Spray of Ares Instigators.

Air spirit dodge: Reaction + Intuition - Wound - Second Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/402949): ?d6t5 4 hits, the laser goes flying high

Let's see, who's still alive for CT4.

CT4 IP1
26 - #8
24 - James
21 - #7 - air spirit
20 - Illeana's air spirit - running at 12 meters per turn +10 meters per hit on Sprinting test
18 - #6 - female dwarf
11 - #5 - trollbro
9 - #4 - ork in conning tower

#8 - action hidden

James is up again! You walk toward the elf's body - is there somewhere specific you are trying to be regarding sight lines? As the airboat moves further away from the submarine, it may begin to have an angle on the north side of the sail / conning tower if it drives (floats?) west.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-16-16/1715:53>
James is up again! You walk toward the elf's body - is there somewhere specific you are trying to be regarding sight lines? As the airboat moves further away from the submarine, it may begin to have an angle on the north side of the sail / conning tower if it drives (floats?) west.

Mostly it's to get access to the Ares Alpha, and to get out of the effects of the CS/Teargas.  James will stay as close to the conning tower as possible -- not that he has much choice -- but no Take Cover actions have been taken.

If James climbs back on top of the conning tower, will he need to make another Resistance test against the CS/Teargas?  Will it again take 1CT to take effect?

CT4 IP1
Simple: Shoot Spirit
Simple: Cut sling on Elf's Alpha.
Free: Ready Smoke Grenade.(Motion Trigger)

For shooting I have: AGI (11) + Lasers Weapons (9) - Firearms in Melee (3) + Close Quarter Firearms (1) = 18 dice.
Shoot Spirit (http://orokos.com/roll/402954): 18d6t5 6
Better.  It occurs to me that my roll should have had 1 additional die last time, but even an extra hit wouldn't change anything.  Spirit is at -2 for previous attacks.
Base damage is 5P -10AP.

James is at 1/5 Redline 1/5 Edge.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-16-16/2012:33>
James' soak roll against the tear gas lasts for the duration of the toxin's speed. In this case, that is 1 Combat Turn, so James is free to dance around in the cloud as much as he wants until CT4 IP2. If he is still exposed at that point, he will need to soak again with the Power of the toxin at +1 due to prolonged exposure. (See p. 409.)

Spirit dodge: Reaction + Intuition - Wound - Third Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/403030): ?d6t5 6 hits

The Redline shot clips the spirit but does it no apparent harm.

21 - #7 - air spirit
Another Engulf attempt.
Engulfing James: Agility + Unarmed - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/403035): ?d6t5 7 hits

20 - Illeana's air spirit
Let's figure out where the Illeana's air spirit is. James told it to get the Desert Strike at CT3 IP1. It's running rate is 12 meters per turn. Here are some running tests to cover CT3 and CT4 IP1:
Spirit sprinting: Strength 0 + Running 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/403032): 3#3d6t5 0 hits 1 hit 2 hits

Oh, I guess I said earlier that the spirit had Strength 1, not Strength 0. How generous of me. I'll add some dice: Strength 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/403033): 3#1d6t5 0 hits 0 hits 0 hits

That's three hits total, which represent 30 additional meters of sprinting.

After CT3 (12 meters + 10 sprinting) and CT4 IP1 (6 meters + 20 sprinting), the spirit is 48 meters of the way to the Desert Strike (which is 110 meters away).

Go ahead and roll your defense because that will determine how the rest of the IP plays out.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-16-16/2227:16>
Spirit dodge: Reaction + Intuition - Wound - Third Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/403030): ?d6t5 6 hits

Nice roll, Air Spirit.

21 - #7 - air spirit
Another Engulf attempt.
Engulfing James: Agility + Unarmed - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/403035): ?d6t5 7 hits

And again?!  This thing is a beast, and it just refuses to go down.  James is going to sink 1,000 nuyen into this fight and come away empty handed because some lowlife smuggler mage summoned a fraggin' djinn.  Or, he's going to die.  That could happen too.

James will go Full Defense.  I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) - Environmental Mods (4) = 23 dice.
Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/403116): 23d6t5 9
Thank Ghost.

20 - Illeana's air spirit
Let's figure out where the Illeana's air spirit is. James told it to get the Desert Strike at CT3 IP1. It's running rate is 12 meters per turn. Here are some running tests to cover CT3 and CT4 IP1:
Spirit sprinting: Strength 0 + Running 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/403032): 3#3d6t5 0 hits 1 hit 2 hits

Maybe I'm giving a Force 3 Air Spirit too much credit, but I figured that she wouldn't Materialize until after she got to the Desert Strike.

I took the -4 Environmental Modifier for this Defense Test, but is James far enough out that he's back to the -2?

Reprinting the list of combatants here so I can keep better track:

#1 - male elf sentry standing lookout on one end of the sub, assault rifle
#2 - female human sentry standing lookout on the other end of the sub, assault rifle + Horizon Flying Eye drone above her

#3 - ork male standing on the conning tower, pulling up packages out of the sub via rope, no visible weapons but there might be something within reach that's out-of-sight
#4 - same as #3 7P
#5 - male troll in one of the airboats, loading packages for transport, an LMG within reach 6S
#6 - female dwarf in the other airboat, also loading packages for transport, carbine within reach 1S
#7 - air spirit on patrol 4P
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-17-16/0045:13>
In my head the air spirit was materialized in order to take instructions from James. That's why I had it flying in the physical realm, although I grant that you have a good point about it being faster to dematerialized, travel astrally, then rematerialize.

Upon further reflection, I'm going to say that the air spirit was not materialized. Now whether a spirit could receive instructions verbally while the spirit on the astral is somewhat suspect, but James request is simple and direct and not open to misinterpretation, even if the speech doesn't make it to the astral. (In the future, more complicated requests may require the spirit to materialize first to receive its instructions.)

So we will say that the spirit traveled astrally during CT3 IP1 with a Free, materialized with a Simple, then grabbed the Desert Strike with its other Simple. It's flight to James begins on CT3 IP2, at which point we may resume using the previously made rolls. At the end of CT4 it will have covered 48 of the 110 meters.

If James is out by the male elf - north of the conning tower - then he is back to -2 environmental modifier. He will be in -4 if he is to the east or west of the conning tower (likely because he wishes to be in cover).

Remaining actions of CT4 IP1:
18 - #6 - female dwarf
11 - #5 - trollbro
9 - #4 - ork in conning tower

#6 - female dwarf
She now has an angle on James again so she will open fire.

Agility + Automatics + Smartlink - Moving Vehicle (http://orokos.com/roll/403151): ?d6t5 2 hits

The bouncing airboat seems to be affecting her aim.

#5 - trollbro
Not visible without an Observe in Detail

#4 - ork
Not visible

James has 2 hits to dodge at -6 burst, -2 environment, and -1 second attack. Then it's on to CT4 IP2.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-17-16/0449:46>
So we will say that the spirit traveled astrally during CT3 IP1 with a Free, materialized with a Simple, then grabbed the Desert Strike with its other Simple. It's flight to James begins on CT3 IP2, at which point we may resume using the previously made rolls. At the end of CT4 it will have covered 48 of the 110 meters.

Unfortunately for James, Materialization is a Complex Action. 

Defending against the shooty dwarf I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) + Combat Sense (4) - Burst (5) - Environmental Mod (2) - Subsequent Attacks (1) = 23 dice.
Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/403186): 23d6t5 8

CT4 IP2
Simple: Toss Smoke grenade at air boat with female dwarf and trollbro.
Simple: Pick up Alpha.
Free: Activate Pulse Weave
Move: Toward west side of conning tower if it is out of the AoE of the CS/Teargas.  Toward the north if not.

For throwing the grenade I have: AGI (11) + Thrown Weapons (4) + Aerodynamic Spec (2) - Ranged Weapon in Melee (3) = 14 dice.
Throw grenade at air boat (http://orokos.com/roll/403187): 14d6t5 8
On a dime.  Unfortunately, they will probably Run For Your Life, and leave the smoke bubbling up in the swamp water.  Would've been a great roll to target the dwarf.

Ok, so James has an Ares Alpha (or some knockoff that will immediately feel wrong in his hand) in his left hand, and the Redline in his right.  James is going to need to pocket the Redline (Simple Action) unless he wants to take a penalty (-2?) for shooting tests with the assault rifle.  I can't remember if you double recoil penalties for this kind of poor shooting discipline as well.  Also, it only makes sense that James would need to pocket the Redline before switching Wireless Off, etc. on the AR.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-17-16/1410:20>
Hmm, yes, Materialization is a Complex. Alright, so:

CT3 IP1 is materializing (complex)
CT3 IP2 is grabbing the Desert Strike (simple)
CT4 IP1 the sprinting begins

This might take a while.

When James turns to chuck the grenade at the airboat, he sees that the troll is driving it and has spent his last action spinning the airboat around so that it is no longer going in reverse. It is now pointed away from James, which has broken the dwarf's line-of-fire (as she was on the front of the boat).

The troll doesn't get a dodge, per se, but I will roll some dice to represent the moving target and the fact that the large fan at the rear of the boat provides cover. James has so many hits that the attack is likely to succeed anyway, but I'll give them their fair chance.

Airboat defense: Defender in a moving vehicle 3 + Good cover 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/403235): 7d6t5 1 hit

Thinking about it, James probably should have had a range penalty - either -1 or -3, if I ever figure out the acceleration rate for airboats - but that's not enough to affect the outcome at all.

James lobs the grenade perfectly and wonders for a moment why he's not playing professional sports instead. The grenade detonates inside the airboat and begins spewing smoke everywhere.

James' magical intuition tells him that the moving airboat is going to create a significant amount of wind/breeze that's going to push the smoke backward. The bad news is that the smoke won't affect the piloting of the boat significantly, but the good news is that the trailing smoke screen will make it extremely difficult for anyone to shoot off the back of the boat at James. (The reverse is also true.) The smoke grenade burns hot so James feels that it is unlikely that the dwarf or the troll will pick it up to throw it overboard, or if they do they will burn their hand.

As for the remainder of James' actions, the Ares Alpha is still on a sling connected to the elf. I don't think you've taken any actions to cut or otherwise remove the sling yet. As such, if you wish to move with the Ares Alpha then you will technically be dragging the elf's body with you. James is strong enough to do so, but it is awkward. Using the Alpha while it is still connected to the elf will incur a -4 penalty. Cutting the sling or removing the sling's clip will take a Simple action.

James immediately recognizes the Ares Alpha as authentic. It appears that whatever these people are smuggling is profitable enough to properly gear up.

According to 4E's Arsenal, firing a rifle-sized weapon (or larger) with one hand is a -2 penalty. Arsenal did not include any ruling about the recoil doubling in that situation.

CT4 IP3
6 - #8
1 - #7 - air spirit
0 - James - Full Defense

#8 - action hidden

#7 - air spirit
The air spirit will attempt to Engulf again. James' magical intuition tells him that the air spirit's tactics have shifted away from "kill" and to "delay".

Engulf: Agility + Unarmed Combat - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/403239): ?d6t5 6 hits

Roll your defense, then initiative for CT5.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-17-16/2224:50>
James cut the sling to the elf's Alpha in CT4 IP1, covered in this post: http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=23135.msg449480#msg449480

IC posts haven't caught up to CT4 yet.

For Defense against the Spirit I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) + Combat Sense (4) - Environmental Mods (2) = 29 dice.
Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/403380): 29d6t5 7

CT4 IP3 Free Action: Turn Wireless Off on Pulse Weave.  It should be locked "on" until CT8 IP2.  Anyone making "direct physical attacks" on James suffers a -4 modifier, -2 if they have flare comp. 

#7 - air spirit
The air spirit will attempt to Engulf again. James' magical intuition tells him that the air spirit's tactics have shifted away from "kill" and to "delay".

This is interesting.  The Spirit's doing a great job of it too.  I feel like it needs to be dealt with, but I also have a very limited amount of time before the sub starts diving, and the air boat puts some real distance between itself and James.  Then there's the drone rigger with incoming to consider.  Yeah, that could be bad.

Initiative:Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/403386): 16+4d6 29

Assuming that James will be going first.  If not, hopefully I'm not throwing away any really good rolls here.

CT5 IP1 .
Simple: Pocket Redline
Simple: FA Burst at Spirit
Free:
Move: Walk north.

For shooting the Spirit I have: AGI (11) +Firearms Group (8) = 19 dice.
For recoil I have: Free Point (1) + STR/3 (3) + Base Alpha Recoil Comp (2) = 6 so no recoil penalties yet.
Shoot Spirit (http://orokos.com/roll/403389): 19d6t5 5
Even with the -5 he could dodge that.  Way he's been rolling, he just might.
Base damage is 11P -2AP +/- ammo.

James is at ?/42 Alpha, 1/5 Redline, 1/5 Edge.  If the Alpha was full when combat started, it would have 30 rounds left -- James is likely to pay attention to these kinds of things -- but he has not taken an action to read the counter.

I can't wait to see whether or not the gun has been bricked.  Or even better, outfitted with a Safe Targeting System.  I don't even want to think about the Advanced Safety System. 

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-18-16/0131:36>
James needs to subtract 3 for being a shooter in melee combat.

- Attacker in Melee Combat 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/403427): 3d6t5 0 hits, three 1s! a good roll to get three ones on

James keeps his five hits.

The air spirit borrows a trick from James' book and goes Full Defense.

Air spirit dodge: Reaction + Intuition +Full Defense - Wounds - Full Burst (http://orokos.com/roll/403428): ?d6t5 5 hits

Air spirit dodges and continues its antagonism of James. I suppose the stalemate standoff between the supersoldier and the relatively routine spirit should be instructive, both ICly to James regarding his limits and to GMs conscious of game balance between magic and mundanes. Either that or this shows you what an encounter can be like with high-initiative combatants who use Full Defense liberally.

In better news, the gun does not seem to have any safety measures enabled. The counter at the rear of the weapon indicates 30 rounds remaining.

CT5 IP1
29 - James
20 - #6 - female dwarf
15- Illeana's air spirit
13 - #5 - trollbro
13 - #7 - air spirit (previously 23)

#6 and #5 - action hidden without Observe in Detail

#7 - air spirit - Engulf James: Agility + Unarmed - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/403429): ?d6t5 4 hits

CT5 IP2
19 - James
10 - #6 - female dwarf
5 - Illeana's air spirit
3 - #5 - trollbro
3 - #7 - air spirit (previously 23)

Back to James.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-18-16/1700:10>
Air spirit dodges and continues its antagonism of James. I suppose the stalemate standoff between the supersoldier and the relatively routine spirit should be instructive, both ICly to James regarding his limits and to GMs conscious of game balance between magic and mundanes. Either that or this shows you what an encounter can be like with high-initiative combatants who use Full Defense liberally.

True.  Looking back it may have been advantageous to snipe the Spirit from distance, as the confusion sown by the grenade didn't buy James much time, and with a surprise round he may have dropped half the number of combatants it's taken him 5 CTs to drop the way I played it.  OOCly, I should have paid more attention to the Defense pools of an Air Spirit.  Man, those guys can book it.

For Defense I'm going to neglect Full Defense with the hopes that it's worth the extra pass.  Of course, if James gets Engulfed, he may just need to fight his way out, and then head back to Illeana with his figurative tail firmly between his literally chromed legs.

For Defense I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + Combat Sense (4) = 20 dice.
Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/403527): 20d6t5 6

CT5 IP2
Simple: Turn Wireless Off on Alpha
Simple: FA Burst at Spirit
Free: Curse liberally under his breath.

For Shooting I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group (8) - Firearm in Melee (3) = 16 dice.
Shoot Spirit (http://orokos.com/roll/403528): 16d6t5 7
Limited to Accuracy 5.  Even if I left the Wireless On, it's not James' smartlink.  Spirit is at -5 to Defense.  11P -2AP base.

James is at 24/42 Alpha, 1/5 Redline, 1/5 Edge

A quick question.  If grenades in the Alpha were set to Wireless Trigger, and James turns Wireless Off, what happens to them?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-18-16/1725:54>
Hmm, good question. I would say that a mini-grenade (to be used with a grenade launcher) would default to motion sensor. A hand grenade would default to a timer.

Do Data Trails or Rigger 5 discuss Ownership in any more detail? It is a nebulous concept, certainly.

Air spirit dodge: Reaction + Intuition + Full Defense - Wounds - Full Burst (http://orokos.com/roll/403536): ?d6t5 5 hits, the standoff continues

James feels the submarine vibrating beneath his feet. It begins to move slightly.

CT5 IP2
19 - James
10 - #6 - female dwarf - action hidden
5 - Illeana's air spirit - chugging along
3 - #5 - trollbro - action hidden
3 - #7 - air spirit

Air spirit will attempt to Engulf once again: Agility + Unarmed - Wounds (http://orokos.com/roll/403542): ?d6t5 8 hits

I am uncertain of whether a Limit should apply. It seems reasonable that the Physical Limit might apply, given the nature of the attack. The spirit's Physical Limit is 7, which would subtract a hit. Still, better be careful or James might end up in Oz.

James is on his own for CT5 IP3, so declare and roll as you see fit.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-20-16/1242:53>
Engulf is really one of the nastier powers.  12P -6AP is a pretty nasty little jolt.  James better go Full Defense.  Goodbye extra pass.

I have: REA (7) + INT (9) + AGI (11) + Combat Sense (4) - Environmental Mods (2) = 29 dice.
Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/404047): 29d6t5 12

Some more questions.  An HE grenade went off just above the deck of the southern edge of the sub, and on the conning tower.  Neither seemed to do any structural damage to the sub itself.  Would James have any knowledge as to whether this is about on par for what a sub of this size and general make could absorb?  Does he feel that any additional damage to the sub hull, whether though grenades, FA burst at point-blank, etc. would likewise be negligible?  I'm going to roll LOG (4) + Demolitions (4) = 8 just for fun.
Demolitions Knowledge (http://orokos.com/roll/404048): 8d6t5 3

Also, is the propeller at the N or S side of the sub?

So, I've got a sub beneath my feet about to dive, an air boat loaded with illicit goods making a getaway, and a battle of attrition going with a spirit that realistically will need two additional hits to Disrupt.  I guess there's a chance that if James began a tactical retreat the Spirit would cease its harrying of him, but I'm unsure why an order like that would be given.  The smugglers would have to assume that James has transportation nearby -- I mean what kind of a fool would be out alone in the swamp without transpo -- so they'll need him delayed, or dealt with until they put some kilometers between themselves and him.  So I can hope for a lucky roll sometime between now and when the sub either submerges fully or James runs out of ammo, switch back to melee where my pools are slightly larger and my Limit is much higher, but I can't subtract dice from the spirit, or I can spend my last point of Edge to Push the Limit and hope for a knockout.  I'm honestly not sure which is the best of the above options.

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/404053): 16+4d6 23
Not off to a great start this CT.  James is really starting to overthink things and doubt his capabilities.  The lag is taking its toll on his performance.  I'll wait to declare actions.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-20-16/1325:09>
Your summary of the situation is largely correct.

As long as he goes Full Defense, James is in no real danger. He has roughly double the number of dodge dice than the air spirit has attack dice. I'm actually not entirely sure how to do the math, but my crude estimation is that James' odds of dodging the air spirit are in the neighborhood of 99.66%. If we agree that James perpetually goes on Full Defense then I'm fine if we stop rolling for the long-shot attack and the almost-certain dodge.

James is in no real danger at the moment; the only questions are what are his objectives and will he be able to fulfill any of them.

Some options + some things James might think/suspect:

1) If he dispatches the air spirit, then a summoner will simply conjure up another one (if there is indeed a summoner nearby, and this spirit isn't simply for hire / on loan from someone else remotely).

2) James may or may not be able to catch up to the airboat traveling full speed. However, Illeana's air spirit could probably interfere with the airboat's fan enough to slow it down to the point where James could catch it.

3) Illeana's air spirit could be used for other general mayhem and hilarity, perhaps even on the submarine itself, although it is fragile.

4) If he opened up with full-auto on the sub, James thinks he could eventually punch a hole in the hull. In addition to the ammunition that's in the Ares Alpha, the elf presumably has some more clips available on his person. The same is likely true for the female human and her assault rifle. Another option would be to take the mini-grenades from the Alpha and fashion an improvised explosive, which would be doubly effective underneath the water line. (Given James' air tanks and heightened ability to swim, the submarine diving does not represent a significant hurdle.) Of course, accomplishing this with the air spirit in his face will be a chore. The hole in the submarine might not be large - probably not enough to capsize the boat - but it might provide some new options.

5) The submarine's propeller is on the south side of the boat. James thinks that the submarine is moving south / backing up.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-23-16/1342:39>
Taking a cue from chess, one of the planning strategies is to create an ideal board state in your head, and then work backwards to see if you can achieve that plan realistically.  In an ideal world, the submarine is sunk, its crew is dead, the Spirit is Disrupted as a result, and then James goes invisible, uses Tracking to keep up with the air boat, and snipes the remaining pair at distance.  Then he's able to pilot the air boat back to Illeana, and can be all sorts of pleased with himself outwardly while he questions his capabilities against magic and feels a renewed sense of awe toward Illeana, one that will be "complicated" by his own limitations.

Now, can we get there?  If the submarine starts to dive that will help James achieve his goal.  He can daisy-chain some minigrenades together, loop them through the sling in the Alpha to better keep them in place, and detonate them against the hull.  If he's able to do that fairly low on the sub, say attached to one of the fins, the sub would continue to take on water even if they brought it back to the surface. But what if the sub doesn't dive?  I can't believe that they'd want James running around the top for very long, and if they do have a summoner on board, they'll know about the severity of the standoff that's ensued.  If they don't dive soon, it means they must have something else up there sleeve, or something incoming.  So, let's map out the next few CTs, and see how that develops.

CT6: 2 passes with going Full Defense
Free: Full Defense
Simple: Turn Pulse Weave Off
Simple: Observe in Detail Perception + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/404737): 17d6t5 6

Free:
Simple: Grab Spare Mag off Elf (if available)
Simple: FA Burst at sub (mostly to encourage diving)

CT7 Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/404731): 16+4d6 30 2 passes with going Full Defense
Most of this pass is going to be spent with James making his way to the south end of the sub.  We'll throw in another Observe in Detail.Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/404738): 17d6t5 5



 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-23-16/1448:56>
The elf appears to be packing explosive ammo in the Ares Alpha. The elf has a full clip of explosive ammo available on his person, as well as an extra clip of HE grenades for the Ares Alpha.

After six rounds of explosive ammo, James notices that the hull is starting to give slightly. It certainly makes quite a noise and would probably be alarming to anyone inside the sub / echo chamber.

He thinks that if he puts a full clip into the same place on the sub then he might be able to punch a fist-size hole in the hull. The female human presumably has more ammo available.

Go ahead and keep declaring/rolling. The sub doesn't exactly accelerate quickly. It has not started diving yet.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-24-16/1250:10>
Well, that's promising.  Let's try staying on the north side for CT7 and focusing fire.  James should get 2 passes of laying down fire.  Assuming James could grab the extra clip for the Alpha with 1 Simple Action, and will need to spend another Simple Action to grab the clip of grenades.

CT7 IP1
Free: Full Defense
Complex: FA Burst at sub
I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group (8) - Called Shot (4) - Firing in Melee (3) = 12 dice.
Shoot Sub (http://orokos.com/roll/404948): 12d6t5 5
Hitting 5 Accuracy.  Damage is 12P -3AP, staged to 17P -3AP
Oddly, by RAW James is better off switching the Alpha to single shot and letting loose with 1 bullet at a time as the sub can't Dodge and damage isn't increased by extra rounds, but that's silly, so I'll leave how damage is modified up to the GM.  I neglected to take Recoil into account.  Hmm, let's not do anymore Complex Bursts from here on out.

James is at 8/42 Alpha, 1/5 Redline 1/5 Edge

CT7 IP2
Simple: FA Burst at sub.
Free: Drop mag
Simple: Reload Mag
I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group (8) - Called Shot (4) - Firing in Melee (3) = 12 dice
Shoot Sub (http://orokos.com/roll/404949): 12d6t5 2
Damned Spirit is harrying him pretty bad this pass it looks like.
Damage in this case is staged to 14P -3AP.

James is at 42/42 Alpha, 1/5 Redline, 1/5 Edge.

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/404951): 16+4d6 31
So 3 passed for CT8 with going full Defense.

CT8 IP1
Free: Full Defense
Simple: Grab extra clip of grenades
Simple: FA Burst at sub.
I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group (8) - Called Shot (4) - Firing in Melee (3) = 12 dice
Shoot Sub (http://orokos.com/roll/404953): 12d6t5 4
Damage is staged to 16P -2AP

CT8 IP2
Simple: Take Aim (extra die)
Simple:: FA Burst
I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group (8) - Called Shot (4) - Firing in Melee (3) + Take Aim (1) = 13 dice
Shoot Sub (http://orokos.com/roll/404956): 13d6t5 0
By Ghost, he nearly missed the broad side of a barn.  Hopefully Illeana wasn't watching through her Spirit's eyes on that particular burst.
Base damage is 12P -3AP.

James is at 30/42 Alpha, 1/5 Redline 1/5 Edge.

I'll see where this gets us before I declare for the last pass.  James will shoot another burst if there isn't much of a hole, or consider switching to grenades if there is a fist-sized or better hole.  Would I be looking at the regular -4 Called Shot for putting a grenade in the newly-fashioned hatch?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-24-16/1411:52>
Let's get more abstract about this to save ourselves some time and effort.

First, we'll buy hits. James consistently has 12 dice even after the penalties for called shot and being in melee combat. That equals three hits.

Second, we'll use the optional rule from Run & Gun where dodging penalties that take the dodge pool below zero stage the damage up by 1 box per 2 dice. Since the sub can't dodge, that gives an FA burst (-5 to dodge) a +2 DV bonus. That avoids the silliness of having it be better to shoot one round at a time.

Third, James' average initiative is 30. That's right on the cusp between 2 IPs and 3 IPs if he takes one to go on Full Defense. We'll say he averages 5 IPs per 2 CTs. We'll say he can squeeze off one FA burst per IP.

Without checking the books, I believe James needs a Simple action to eject the empty clip if wireless is off. It doesn't significantly change anything, but I thought I would note it.

Base damage is 11P -2AP plus +1P -1AP from ammo plus +3P from net hits plus +2P from called shot plus +2P from undodged burst. That makes for 18P -3AP per IP. If the sub is also buying hits on the soak, that means James is doing enough damage to tear it up even if the sub has 74 dice to soak (before AP). (Vehicles don't have hardened armor, do they? They soak like normal, with no auto-hits, right?) There was a thread complaining about the lack of submarines in Rigger 5 so I'll presume that there aren't any stats available. If I convert the Krasnay Sormova Partisan from Arsenal (which I have no idea is comparable or not) then the current sub would have something like Body 23, Armor 18. In other words, James is chewing it up, one bullet hole at a time.

After missing his shot at CT8 IP2 - we can say that the air spirit grabbed the Alpha and yanked it at the right moment - James pauses and sees that he has torn up a good hole. However, the hull looks much thinner than James was expecting: just a few millimeters of steel. Peering inside, James sees that there is a second hull (the pressure hull) beneath the lighter, outer hole. He may (or may not) know that the light outer hull is for hydrodynamics and that the inner hull is actually to resist the pressure of being underwater.

James does need a called shot to fire a grenade into the hole he has created, but he can buy hits and automatically succeed. He should be wary of being too close to the grenades when they detonate though, as the outer hull is not as strong as he initially thought. He can continue firing to the inner/pressure hull if he wants to see what that accomplishes.

If the sub dives, James has the opportunity to rig an improvised explosive with the HE grenades, knowing that they will be more effective underwater. The tricky part will be triggering them, as the water will potentially interfere with the wireless signal to detonate them.

The sub is now moving more steadily, but has not yet begun to dive.

Where did we leave off with Illeana's air spirit? Let's buy hits for it too, which means 4 running dice = 1 hit = +10 meters per IP due to sprinting. It will average 2 IPs per CT. Base flying speed is 8 meters per CT, to which we will add 20 meters of sprinting. That's 28 meters per CT, or 14 meters per IP.

Halfway through CT5 it had covered 48 of the 110 meters. That leaves 62 meters to go (or a few more, as the sub is now moving), or 5 IPs. That means the spirit will arrive with James' Desert Strike at the end of CT7. As it is currently CT8, James now has it available. The spirit will hold it until James accepts it, at which point the spirit will be available for a new task.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-24-16/1549:34>
Vehicles do not have Hardened Armor by RAW, but I know it's house-ruled as such sometimes. 

I had originally intended for James to use the grenades on a timer, but just one HE grenade is 20P -1p/m so James would still be Soaking 10P -2AP, and that's not taking an increased DV from daisy-chained grenades into account.  James could "Sprint" underwater with STR + Swimming (14 dice) averaging an extra 4 meters, but that's not quite going to cut it.  So, yeah, that won't work.  James could conceivably use the sub itself as cover.  10+ meters a CT should be plenty to get underneath the sub, but depending on clearance between the sub and the mucky swamp bottom that could also be pretty ugly. 

We're going to belay that for the moment, and see if launching HE grenades at the pressure hull has any effect. 

James will spend CT8 IP3 taking a running jump at the conning tower.  He'll spend a Free Action to enable Wireless on his Hydraulic Jacks.  Buying hits should get him onto the conning tower no problem. 

On CT9 IP1 he'll Take Aim, and launch a grenade at the hole.  Next pass will be an Observe in Detail to see what the effects are.

James will let the Spirit continue to hold onto the Desert Strike for now.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-24-16/1630:14>
CT9 will have two passes.

James jumps onto the conning tower, no problem. Once he is up there, he sees the remains of the ork he blasted. The ork may or may not be dead, but the conning tower is slick with blood actively pumping out of his arm stump. There's a machine pistol nearby. James also sees the rope coming out of the conning tower hatch. The rope does not look severed. Without closer inspection, James is not certain if the rope is interfering with the hatch properly closing/sealing.

James fires the grenade on CT9 IP1. Instead of a Simple action to Take Aim I'm going to recommend a Simple action to Take Cover to represent leaning away from the blast being channeled out of the hole. James is only 3ish meters away from the blast location (say 2.5 for the conning tower plus 0.5 for the distance between the inner hull and outer hull), which is uncomfortably close for an HE grenade.

HE grenades are 16P –2AP –2/m above water. Underwater they will turn to 20P –2AP –1/m, but targeted area is not underwater yet.

On IP2 he looks down. Even with his vision magnification, it is a bit difficult to see through the smoke flung up by the exploding grenade. The grenade has made the hole in the outer hull somewhat larger; it has gone from softball-size to shotput-size. James cannot see any significant damage to the inner hull, but he has significant smoke modifiers. The smoke is thermal so his thermographics don't help reduce the modifier much.

You have another action for CT9 IP2. Then we can go to CT10, which will have 3 passes.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-25-16/1039:01>
While he's waiting for the smoke to clear, let's see if James can open that hatch.  Since the Alpha's sling is severed, there's no keeping it in hand, so he'll need to drop it, and give the hatch a good tug.  He'll try to stay behind the hatch as much as possible for cover.  I figure this is worth a roll.

CT9 IP1
Free: Drop Alpha
Complex: Lifting Test
I have: STR (8) + BOD (5) = 13 dice.
Lifting Test (http://orokos.com/roll/405097): 13d6t5 3
That's the same as buying hits.  James baseline lifting is 120kg, staged up to 165kg with hits.
Not sure if Hydraulic Jacks would effect this roll, but let's include them separately.  I can see it going either way.
Hydraulic Jacks (http://orokos.com/roll/405098): 6d6t5 4
That would stage the Lifting Test to 225kg.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-25-16/1205:12>
James lifts the hatch! In fact, it's not even hard. The hatch was not actually sealed due to the rope, so James has little difficultly in pulling it open.

I'm going to borrow a Simple action from CT10 IP2 for an Observe in Detail to move things along.

Looking down, James sees another hatch about two meters below. This hatch is at the same level as the inner/pressure hull. The hatch is closed and does not have any rope hanging out of it so James does not feel like he will benefit from an imperfect seal again.

The conning tower is thus not the conning tower (since it does not contain the conn), but is rather the sail, providing hydrodynamic stability. The sail also appears to serve as an airlock between the outer hull and the inner hull.

What James doesn't know is if the inner hatch is locked. (Do submarine hatches even have locks? Who would you be keeping out? But then again, a lock seems like a fairly simple thing to have. Things James doesn't know.)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-25-16/1436:48>
CT10 IP2
Simple: Observe in Detail
Simple: Grab Alpha
Move: Down to lower hatch
Free: Drop Alpha.

CT10 IP3
Free: Arm HE grenade (Motion Sensor)
Simple: Crack open hatch
Simple: Drop Grenade
Extra Free Action: Drop hatch

Plan here is to get down to the interior hatch, open, chuck, close.  If James can't have the extra free action this pass, he will Observe in Detail on the hatch, and wait to arm the grenade until he's figured out if he can open the hatch or not.  If it's a release wheel, it will probably take a Complex Action to open, so that may make the above actions irrelevant. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-25-16/1534:12>
CT10 IP3 is a Complex to turn the release wheel.

The hatch does not open. The release wheel turns a quarter-turn before it stops. James would guess that either
1) there's someone on the other side who is actively counteracting his force. The surviving ork, for example, who had a strong, manual-labor look about him, is a good candidate; or,
2) something has been stuck in the wheel on the opposite side to prevent it from turning.

The enemy air spirit does not follow James into the conning tower. He does not have to go on Full Defense for CT11 and will have 3 IPs as a result. If the air spirit stays away for CT12, James will have 4 IPs.

The submarine is moving but still not diving. Illeana's air spirit hovers near the top hatch with James' Desert Strike.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-26-16/1226:26>
Let's toss in another Lifting test on that Complex Action to open the hatch.
I have: STR (8) + BOD (5) = 13 dice.
Lifting Test (http://orokos.com/roll/405315): 13d6t5 8
Holy drek balls.  James baseline is 125kg staged up to 245kg with hits.
If Hydraulic Jacks count: Hydraulic Jacks (http://orokos.com/roll/405316): 6d6t5 2
Hitting Physical Limit for 275kg.  That would be a feat for even a rather robust but wounded ork to match.  Of course, a wrench stuck in the wheel would just kinda sit there.

Assuming that won't work, James will grab the Alpha (Simple) and climb back out of the hatch (Simple, I assume). 

CT 11 (2 passes)

IP1
See above.

IP2
Simple: Observe in Detail (on inner hull now that the smoke has cleared some)
Simple: FA burst on sub hull.

We'll go back and see if he can get any leeway.  Anything changing on the sub movement front?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-26-16/1316:16>
It's not a lifting test so much as it is a strength test to turn the wheel on the hatch. Hydraulic jacks will nor help, not am I really sure that they would help with lifting in general. (Lifting drives force down through the legs. I'm not sure that an upward force from the hydraulic jacks would improve a lift at all from a biomechanical standpoint.) We will keep the 8 hits.

Resisting the wheel turn: ? (http://orokos.com/roll/405325): ?d6t5 7 hits

Something or someone is fighting mightily to keep that wheel from turning. Even so, James overpowers them (barely) and the wheel turns.

The other party will now try to turn the wheel back. If they should fail to do so, James will be able to open the hatch the next IP, but he should be wary of being face-to-face with an aggrieved party in extremely tight quarters, where dodging will be very difficult. Of course, the reverse is also true.

Trying to turn the wheel back the other direction: ? (http://orokos.com/roll/405326): ?d6t5 7 hits

Someone or something strong is on the other end of that wheel.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-26-16/1602:10>
Yikes, those are some good rolls.  Let's see how James does.
Lifting Test (http://orokos.com/roll/405349): 13d6t5 4
James is feeling outmatched on this front.  7 hits twice in a row is well above what he can match, so he will head back up for the next IP, then do the Observe in Detail and FA burst as planned.

Any new developments with the sub's movement?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-26-16/1614:53>
The sub is continuing to accelerate. It is moving south. It has not yet begun to dive.

James emerges from the conning tower. The air spirit is gone, but Illeana's spirit is still nearby. James looks at the effects of the grenade on the pressure hull. The single grenade doesn't appear to have materially affected the hull, but it's possible that it shaved a millimeter or two off and that the difference is too small for James to detect at a distance. Sustained fire and/or grenading may have a positive cumulative effect. On that note, James does a Full Auto burst on the hull.

While he is doing that, an earth elemental materializes behind him! James knows that earth elementals are big and slow and that the odds of one hitting him are even lower than the odds of the air spirit connecting with him. (Unless, of course, this earth elemental has some new tricks up its sleeve.) James suspects that the elemental was intending to close the submarine hatch on him, trapping him inside the conning tower while the submarine dove.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-31-16/1122:28>
Tricksy, tricksy.  James is giving up on the sub. He's going to jump away from the Earth Spirit in dramatic fashion to the south, and pat down the woman for extra mags, any grenades that she may be carrying, and her link, if he can find it.  Then he's going to spend the next pass grabbing the Desert Strike and ordering the Air Spirit to make him fly.  He'll want to go up over the canopy and then some, probably 150 m or so, and then use Tracking to start tailing the air boat.  On his way up. he'll snap a few photos of the immediate vicinity with his cyber eyes, and once he's up a ways, he'll repeat the process trying to get some landmarks -- which should be plenty difficult in a swamp -- in view.

He's also going to be very weary of another Air Spirit being Summoned and sent after him, so let's throw in a Perception Test.
I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 20 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/406282): 20d6t5 3
Sub Par rolling, but an Air Spirit won't have much options for taking a stealthy approach.  Let's hope the magician on board doesn't see much use for a Spirit that can't hit him.

For Tracking I have: INT (9) + Tracking (2) = 11 dice.
Tracking (http://orokos.com/roll/406283): 11d6t5 2
That's fairly decent, I think.  Still sub par, but an audio imprint shouldn't be too difficult to detect.

Once he's up beyond 100 meters of the sub, James will reboot his link.

Do you want any rolls for taking photos?  I mostly see this being used to help James get back to the location of the fire fight, should he choose to try to save any of the contraband, even if it's just for identification if he strikes out with the air boat.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-31-16/1425:28>
Let's see, where are we... Let's stay CT12 IP1.

CT12 IP1
James jumps to the south end of the sub, where waves are starting to lap over the body of the human female that James lanced. I'm not sure we ever fully resolved the action required to jump, but I'm going to call it a Complex due to the distance covered.

The earth spirit uses Binding! This is a curious power that doesn't seem to include an attack or dodge roll. Unless I'm misreading or misinterpreting things, the test is to break free. James needs to make a Strength + Body test against the earth spirit's Willpower + Magic. (You're lucky this isn't another opposed test against the spirit's Body + Strength.)

Magic + Willpower (http://orokos.com/roll/406346): 12d6t5 6 hits

James does the superhero landing on the deck of the sub but then finds that there's a strange magnetic force that's making it hard to lift his hands or his feet from the deck of the sub! That's strange...

If and when James breaks free, and if he chooses to risk sticking around ("sticking" get it? haha) he will find one spare clip of APDS on the female human plus one clip of HE mini-grenades for the Alpha. He'll need a Simple to pat her down then a Simple to grab them. This does not include the ammunition in her Ares Alpha (presumably the same), which will require separate actions to acquire (Simple to pick up, Simple to eject clips).

The air spirit will regret to inform James that it has absolutely no ability to make him fly, nor is it strong enough to pick him up.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <05-31-16/1754:58>
The earth spirit uses Binding! This is a curious power that doesn't seem to include an attack or dodge roll. Unless I'm misreading or misinterpreting things, the test is to break free. James needs to make a Strength + Body test against the earth spirit's Willpower + Magic. (You're lucky this isn't another opposed test against the spirit's Body + Strength.)

Magic + Willpower (http://orokos.com/roll/406346): 12d6t5 6 hits

Binding is an interesting power.  By RAW, the range depends on the creature with the examples given on page 395 as:

Quote
The range of this power depends on how the critter binds its targets; it may shoot webbing (Range: LOS), have a sticky body (Range: Touch), or just be good at sticking to things (Range: Self)

While not explicitly stated, this makes me think that some sort of Attack needs to be landed for the power to take hold -- Ranged for webs, Melee for Touch, or what, Engulf for Self?  That's a weird one.  Double "Binded"?

If the Spirit can Bind him without making an attack roll, I don't see James sticking around on the sub for long at all.  Let's see how he does on resisting.  I have: STR (8) + BOD (5) = 13 dice.
V. Binding (http://orokos.com/roll/406519): 13d6t5 7
Umm, wow, that was unexpected. 

Next steps will depend on GM interpretation of the Binding power.  If the Spirit can make it stick (ah, we are a pair of dads with bad jokes aren't we?) by spending a Complex Action, he'll forgo grabbing the Desert Strike, searching the lady, and just drive straight into the swamp.  If it needs to land an attack, he'll spend a Simple to pat down and a simple to grab the HE grenades on CT12 IP2, before heading into the swamp himself and begin swimming in the direction of the air boat.  He'll spend a Free Action cursing the Air Spirit for not being strong enough to make him fly.

Actually, maybe scratch that.  Is the air boat still in view?

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <05-31-16/1918:15>
I'm going to interpret Binding in a similar manner as the Fear power, namely as a force to be resisted rather than dodged.

I'll use the examples of the book to require that there be something for the target to be bound to. If James were flying or swimming, for example, there would be nothing for the earth spirit to bind James to (nothing that that the earth spirit has dominion over, at least). But a magnetized sub sounds appropriate and should be somewhat alarming to James.

Good work on breaking free. I suppose you could drag the human female into the water with you and pat her down there (that sounds naughty).

The air boat is no longer in view. This portion of the swamp is particularly dense, which is likely why the smugglers chose to meet here (to limit visibility). James will have to surface if he wants to track them. Illeana's air spirit might also be able to find them, although it would go faster if it could ditch the Desert Strike.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-01-16/1528:35>
Cool.  As much as the women's gear could come in handy, James doesn't know exactly what she has, and pulling a bleeding corpse into behemoth infested waters might not be the best play.  Of course, dragging her into the sub's propeller may have a positive effects on stalling it, but it could just as easily be chewed up while the sub bobs along without a hiccup. 

So into the swamp James goes.  He's going to head back to the dry bag where he will decide his next steps.

I'll get an IC up soon covering the mess as it has developed.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-01-16/1546:59>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/406771): 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
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-02-16/1436:01>
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?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-02-16/1550:07>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/407094): 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 (http://orokos.com/roll/407097): 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.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-03-16/0020:45>
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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-06-16/1147:05>
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.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-06-16/1346:28>
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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-06-16/1722:28>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/407979): 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 (http://orokos.com/roll/407980): 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 (http://orokos.com/roll/407982): 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 (http://orokos.com/roll/407984): 8d6t5 5
Ok, so for this post I rolled 21 hits on 50 dice. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-06-16/1832:51>
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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-07-16/0826:09>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/408192): 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 (http://orokos.com/roll/408194): 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. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-07-16/1259:44>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/408213): ?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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-07-16/1412:59>
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 (8) - Called Shot (4) = 15 dice.
murderize Trollbro (http://orokos.com/roll/408236): 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 (http://orokos.com/roll/408241): 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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-07-16/1457:22>
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).
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-07-16/2249:09>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/408350): 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.   
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-07-16/2343:33>
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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-08-16/1241:37>
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 (http://orokos.com/roll/408453): 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.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-08-16/1438:29>
Sweet post. I'll give you a point of Edge to reroll the Negotiation test.

Edge Reroll (http://orokos.com/roll/408475): 8d6t5 1 hit

In theory we should be adding modifiers for "result is advantageous" but also "target is enemy". You would get the "heavy bargaining chip" bonus too, so the end result is only -1, which doesn't affect any hits.

Is this dwarf a survivor or is she the vindictive type? Does she think she can get the drop on James now? He has Combat Sense, but she doesn't know that... or does she? How else could James dodge like he does?

Her dice pool to resist is garbage, so let's see how she does: Charisma - Defaulting (http://orokos.com/roll/408477): ?d6t5 0 hits

Well it seems one of James' arguments has found a home. I'll IC something later but it might not be until tonight.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-09-16/1122:30>
Math is not my strong suit, but let's see what I can work out.  HE grenades underwater deal 20P -2AP.  Combining explosives adds half the DV of additional explosives to the main charge for a single DR test.  If she's telling the truth about having a full clip that's six grenades for a total of 70P -2AP.  Yeah, that's pretty good. 

James is going to try to get her on the boat so they can continue their chat.  He is genuinely concerned that something will come along and try to eat her while they parlay.  I guess another Negotiation test is in order.  While his plan should work in theory, he's hoping that she'll choose to keep hands on her weapon and bring it with her above board.

I have: CHA (4) + Negotiation (4) = 8 dice.
Negotiation (http://orokos.com/roll/408766): 8d6t5 3

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-09-16/1303:54>
IC response is up. We'll work with the original Negotiation hit for now so that we aren't rolling Negotiation every back-and-forth response.

I'm not looking at the stacking explosions rules so I don't know what they say exactly, but I'm not sure I would allow the "half of DV" to be infinitely scalable. Otherwise you start to get into some silliness where a few clips of HE grenades could blow up a battleship or knock down a building. I'd probably use an approach that halves the DV for each additional grenade, so something like 20+10+5+2.5+1.25+0.625 and so on. That means a clip of HE grenades is worth 39 or 40 DV, which still seems generous but is certainly less excessive than 70 DV.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-09-16/1351:09>
I'm not looking at the stacking explosions rules so I don't know what they say exactly, but I'm not sure I would allow the "half of DV" to be infinitely scalable. Otherwise you start to get into some silliness where a few clips of HE grenades could blow up a battleship or knock down a building. I'd probably use an approach that halves the DV for each additional grenade, so something like 20+10+5+2.5+1.25+0.625 and so on. That means a clip of HE grenades is worth 39 or 40 DV, which still seems generous but is certainly less excessive than 70 DV.

I like that a lot.  Makes sense.

ETA: James is a little suspicious of this claim of grenades tucked under the boat. He's going to do Matrix Perception again.
I have: INT (9) + Computer (4) + Matrix Perception Spec (2) = 15 dice.
Matrix Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/408787): 15d6t5 2

Probably not going to spot it, and probably going to disbelieve her.  This could be fun.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-10-16/1135:19>
James is going to use Judge Intentions to see 1. how much she's likely to stick to not having the bandages put over her eyes and 2. if her resistance to it is mostly to be contrarian to James' "order" or is born from personal concern.

I have: INT (9) + CHA (4) = 13 dice.
Judge Intentions (http://orokos.com/roll/409127): 13d6t5 5
Not bad.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-10-16/1325:39>
That's a pretty good roll.

James sees a cornered animal who just saw her entire team get geeked. The look in her eyes tells James that she considers the bandage over her eyes to be a death sentence, the blindfold of a prisoner about to be executed. If James gets any closer or presses the issue, she'll likely open up on full auto. James has even less room to maneuver on the airboat than he did on the submarine, so point-blank full-auto might be tough to dodge, even for him.

She's not suicidal; she wants to live. That's probably why she accepted James' invitation into the boat rather than risking a very long swim through a very dangerous swamp. That said, if she is going to die then she's going to take someone with her, hence the fail-safes. James thinks Ohanzee would approve of her tactics.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-10-16/1523:21>
I also want to make an Underworld Knowledge Test for Sangre y Acero.  I think that should key off of Intuition.  Let me know if I'm off base.

I have: INT (9) + Underworld (2) = 11 dice.
Sangre y Acero knowledge (http://orokos.com/roll/409211): 11d6t5 1
Maybe he's heard the name before?

James is also going to examine the contraband and see if he can tell what it is.  Street Drugs?  I have: INT (9) + Street Drugs (1) = 10 dice.
Street Drugs (http://orokos.com/roll/409212): 10d6t5 3

ETA: got in an IC to delve a little more into James' moral center -- if you can call it that.  I figure it's very Ares influenced.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-10-16/1632:57>
James has heard of Sangre y Acero and knows that they are commonly labelled as a terrorist organization. What Holly says about them only targeting Aztechnology assets sounds familiar. Whether an Ares asset considers them to be brothers-in-arms or rabid dogs to be put down is up to you. (I don't know if James is going to feel kinship with another corp against a terrorist organization, or with the terrorist organization that targets a rival corp.)

James confirms that the product is indeed a white powder. He can't tell what it is just by sight. Further tests (including tasting or smelling it) might provide additional clues, or he might find himself under the influence.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-10-16/1643:41>
Rolling Navigation to see if James can find his way back through the swamp:

Intuition 9 + Navigation 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/409248): 13d6t5 5 hits

He can. He hits the witch's hut like a bullseye.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-13-16/1104:58>
I had considered taking a Bias against Aztechnology when we were rebuilding our chars, mostly because of my own opinion on the Azzies being such great boogeymen.  I think that James might be a bit sympathetic to Sangre y Acero on that account.

If Illeana wants to stay in the swamp for awhile, what kind of a timeline are we looking at?  James will want to get the Satellite link, some camping gear, and some other supplies if they're going to spend really any amount of time out there.  He'll also be worried about developing an addiction to Rock Lizard Blood, but figures that he'll mostly need a "drying out" period that will be pretty miserable if short-lived.  How would you want to cover that rules-wise?  I guess there's just regular old Deet to consider as well.

I'll wait to see if Illeana thinks that staying out here would be a good idea before writing up a shopping list.  She may decide that moving on to New England is a better bet.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-13-16/1513:03>
A long IC post is up. And now that I'm done with it, I realize that I didn't even address James' comment about having a brother. We'll need another round to discuss that.

Illeana will say something to the effect of, "Didn't your Ares records say that you had a brother? And that he was KIA in the explosion that put you into the Instigator program?" Or she'll be wondering if James was speaking metaphorically about Holly's survivability, although she doesn't know why James would refer to her as a brother instead of a sister.

We're not quite done with this chapter yet but we're getting close. It depends on what you want to do with the contraband.

The next chapter (should you survive this one) will pick up 2-3 months down the road in New England. What James and Illeana do doing that downtime is up to us to decide. Illeana will probably not have enough karma to initiate again. James will have some downtime to work on his skill progression or whatever else you might have in mind.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-13-16/1646:39>
I forgot that the brother was IC knowledge.  May need to edit last IC post to rework some stuff.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-14-16/1855:35>
How much does Illeana know about powdered milk: Intuition 10 + Artisan 5 + Cooking 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/410505): 17d6t5 7 hits, pretty good

I've been using James' earlier roll of 3 hits on a street drugs test to help inform some of his IC knowledge, including Ripper and potential ratios between bulk value and street value. You're being offered 1% of street value; James thinks a better offer would be 2%. Now some of that decrease represents the percentages that are being paid to Styles and Ohanzee, but it's also possible that they are lowballing you because you are a new, unknown player. If you want to negotiate, you'll have to take it up with whoever shows up at the meet.

In the interests of realism, I've been research this at work. My browser/search history probably looks interesting.

You also have to decide what you want to do with the airboat. You're supposed to be returning one, but you sunk it.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-15-16/1212:43>
In the interests of realism, I've been research this at work. My browser/search history probably looks interesting.

My thesis had to do with a guy in the Aryan Brotherhood.  Can you imagine my Jewish wife's horror upon coming home from Anatomy and Physiology to find all those windows open on our home computer?

You also have to decide what you want to do with the airboat. You're supposed to be returning one, but you sunk it.

To be fair, James didn't sink it, the Behemoth did ;)  James will not be keen on returning a bullet-ridden smuggler craft to the air boat rental chummer, much less one that probably has Ownership information that could potentially put James' SIN at risk.  Assuming James had to use his SIN to get the boat.  If they found a less reputable source, he'll happily provide the damaged air boat and some nuyen to cover repairs.  Another option is to use the air boat as the means of delivering the product, and then pay restitution to the original air boat's owner.  It'll eat into profits but keep the SIN above ground.  Even a good SIN is probably cheaper than replacing the boat, but we don't have a line on good SINs at the moment.  Hmm, maybe these dealers will be interested in some trade aspect to the deal as well. 

About the IC post, James will be worried about the security angle.  Illeana and James are only two, and the other party will no doubt bring more than that for the meet.  OOCly, if previous encounters are anything to judge off of, they'll likely have the major roles fulfilled as well -- muscle, magic, matrix -- and if they're cocky it may come to bloodshed.  Compounding this problem is the fact that James and Illeana don't know New Orleans that well, so no home court advantage so to speak. 

James is going to move forward with the exchange.  He'll want to purchase two additional commlinks, a Renraku Sensei and a Metalink and will use the questionable Rating 2 SIN to purchase them -- did we ever get a name and nationality/corp for that one?  He'll use the Sensei for communications with the prospective buyers.  He's also going to want to hit the matrix and look for suitable meet locations.  Not sure what kind of roll you want there.  Maybe Security Design + LOG as a "teamwork" test on a Matrix Search + INT roll?  Let me know how you want to proceed there. 

Depending on how the day goes, I may get an IC up soon, or wait until additional info is available and roll it into one IC later.

ETA: for the hand-off, my tentative plan is to have James with one key so the buyer can inspect and then move in the rest of the product once negotiations are finished and the money has been accounted for.  Similar to the meet with the Draco Foundation, James will want to transfer the money somehow so that geeking him will be less profitable. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-15-16/1328:12>
I think I might have PM'd you the ID for the rating 2 SIN, but PMs aren't as easy to search. So, without further ado, I dub thee: Comodoro Dario Liso of Aztlan, a National SIN. The gender matches. The SIN's listed age is 10 years older than James, but age is just a number in the day of cyber/bio/gene treatments. The nationality is a bit of a push unless Dario is one of those Aztlaners of Spanish decent, and even then it's a bit of a stretch. Good thing James speaks some Spanish.

You already have a spare Metalink, but you can buy another (and a Sensei) with no trouble.

Doing a bit of research, James finds that an inexpensive, used airboat is in the low five figures. A decent, new airboat is in the mid five figures.

I'm not sure if I said it explicitly but we're using a different pricing for fake SINs. The price is Rating^2 * ¥1,000. That makes low-rating SINs more affordable and higher-rating SINs less affordable. Availability remains the same. I don't know if we explicitly stated which SIN was used to rent the airboat. Not bothering to go back and look, I'll say that the R3 Jonathan Aarons (UCAS) was sufficient to rend the boat without scrutiny. That makes burning the SIN less expensive than replacing the boat, although you could also meet with the proprietor and negotiate something fair. Illeana, being financially-minded, will suggest that the chummer probably has insurance, and a behemoth skin would go a long way toward convincing him 1) that a behemoth really did sink his boat, and 2) he doesn't want to upset the people who were capable of hunting a behemoth, skinning it, and bringing it back, all without a boat.

As for a good place to meet, let's roll Small Unit Tactics.
James: Intuition 9 + Small Unit Tactics 5 (http://orokos.com/roll/410699): 14d6t5 2 hits
Illeana for teamwork: Intuition 10 - Defaulting 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/410700): 9d6t5 2 hits
Teamwork reroll: Illeana's hits (http://orokos.com/roll/410701): 2d6t5 1 hit

So 3 hits total. Not your finest. Still, that's enough to think that meeting in the swamp might be the best bet. That will help limit Matrix exposure (at least from remote hackers) and the swamp is more likely to be unknown to them than some location in the city, where James and Illeana would almost certainly be at a disadvantage.

Illeana reminds James, in IC language, that her Magic score is jacked right now, which she did to intimidate/impress the witch in the hut. That will last until this evening. Until then, Illeana is a wrecking ball of magic, and could probably put together some pretty potent preparations that would help keep them safe. Plus she could summon a monster spirit that might make tweakers think twice before starting any drek.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-15-16/1948:30>
Let's get a Negotiation roll from James for talking with the airboat proprietor.

Sunset at this latitude at this time of year is almost exactly 20:00. I didn't memorize the exact sequence of the morning events, but we'll say that Illeana's surplus Magic rating will expire around 23:00. She'll suggest setting the meet between those two times. After summoning and doing a few preparations, she might have an hour or two to rest to recover drain.

What do you plan on wearing/bringing to the meet?

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-16-16/1105:28>
Yeah, I was out the door as soon as I got that last IC posted.  For Negotiation I have: CHA (4) + Negotiation (4) = 8 dice.
Negotiation (http://orokos.com/roll/410892): 8d6t5 4
Pretty good, but I forgot Tailored Pheromones.  Let's see if those help.
Tailored Pheromones (http://orokos.com/roll/410893): 2d6t5 0
Nope.  Still 4 hits.

For the meet, James is going heavy.  His load out is:

Ares Globetrotter Jacket
-- 1 Rating 6 Stim Patch in Auto-injector
-- 1 Trauma Patch in Auto-injector
Ballistic Mask
Rating 3 Medkit
Defiance Ex Shocker in Concealed Holster
Ares Lite Fire 75 in Arm Slide, loaded with narcojet+DMSO rounds
Ares Alpha loaded with APDS and a spare clip of the same
-- Grenade launcher loaded with HE mini-grenades
Ares Crusader II in Concealed Quick-draw Holster, loaded with APDS, spare clip with EX-Explosive
Ares Redline in skin flap, and recharged
Area Jammer
Renraku Sensei
Metalink
All gear, with the exception of the commlinks, will be slaved to James' internal commlink and set to run Silent.  Wireless functionality will be turned Off.
The Renraku Sensei and Metalink will run Wireless On and running silent.

I need to update my char sheet, to reflect the new gear, and bullets fired -- I don't think I've adjusted for ammo since we began the game.  I'll assume Edge has not refreshed.  Has James had the time to heal up the 2 Stun he suffered from swimming?  Also, anything special on the Ares Alpha her purloined, or is it stock?

ETA: Char sheet updated.  I've spent 10 APDS rounds on the Desert Strike and 6 APDS rounds on the Alpha.  I added the additional Alpha at stock, and kept 20 rounds of Explosive Ammo, and a full clip of HE mini-grenades.  Let me know if I should edit that.  I added the other 6 HE Minigrenades from Holly to the primary Alpha.  Nuyen has been edited to reflect the commlink purchases but not anything else -- like the boat rental. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-16-16/1518:15>
Proprietor Negotiation: Charisma + Negotiation (http://orokos.com/roll/410924): 6d6t5 3 hits, one net hit to James. I'll put that into an IC post but it might not be soon.

We'll refresh one point of Edge, so James will be 2/5. James' 2 stun is rested off as well.

What's the rule for how many devices can be slaved to a commlink? Is it devices = device rating? Will you double-check the number of devices you are slaving to James' internal commlink? At a glance, I'm not sure which pieces of James' gear have wireless functionality to know whether he's over the limit or not.

The Ares Alpha is stock. It had a sling that wasn't stock but James cut it.

Illeana may buy some reagents, since they are zero availability. She doesn't have a ton of time but she might be able to summon and bind a second spirit - perhaps an F3 water spirit - as backup. If things go sideways, the plan is the same as before: jump in the swamp and swim away under the spirit's power. She needs F3 * 25 reagents * ¥20/reagent = ¥1,500 in reagents. Binding adds up.

Illeana summoning: Magic 12 + Summoning 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/410937): 16d6t5 3 hits
Spirit resist: Force 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/410938): 3d6t5 3 hits

Well how about that. Magic 12 Illeana just got rejected by an F3 water nymph.

Soaking 6 drain: Intuition 10 + Willpower 6 + Centering 7 + Centering Focus 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/410940): 27d6t5 6 hits, barely!

Trying again:
Illeana summoning: Magic 12 + Summoning 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/410941): 16d6t5 2 hits, hmm!
Spirit resist: Force 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/410942): 3d6t5 1 hit, glitch!

The spirit will not incur any drain due to its glitch, mostly because I'm not going to roll 27 dice against 2 drain, regardless of how poor the above rolls are.

Illeana binding: Magic 12 + Binding 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/410943): 16d6t5 6 hits
Spirit resist: Force 3 + Force 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/410944): 6d6t5 1 hit

Again, not going to roll 27 dice against 2 drain.

That adds 5 services for a net total of 6 services. She referred to the F6 water spirit as Bayou Billy so this F3 version will be "Billy the Kid". Optional power is Guard.

James has all the spending money since Illeana invested all of hers to cover your lifestyle expenses. Please deduct ¥1,500 from your sheet for her reagents, plus ¥150 in airboat rental fees.

She'll also do some preparations. I don't want to roll drain for all these so I'll just buy hits. She has Intuition 10 + Willpower 6 + Centering 7 + Centering Focus 4 = 27 dice. That's enough to buy 6 hits of drain soaking, so we'll do that. Given the time constraints, I'm only going to give her an hour to do preparations. (She can't do them too far in advance because they'll expire within a few hours, plus she'll be busy binding.)

Illeana's load out
Lined Coat
Ballistic Mask
Highland Forge Claymore weapon focus
11 throwing knives (used to be 12 but I think she blew one up throwing a fireball at the behemoth)
- 1x Fireball (command) @ F5
- 1x Knockout (command) @ F10
- 1x Euphoria (command) @ F7

Other preparations (lynchpins up to you)
She does two of each of these, one for her and one for James.
- 2x Physical Camouflage (touch) @ F5 - tap this if we need to slip away
- 2x Physical Barrier (touch) @ F6
- 2x Heal (command) @ F8

Where Force = minutes, that should all add up to an hour.

After sunset, she'll summon her big spirit. Let's try... an F8 fire spirit. That should be reasonably terrifying. Hopefully it doesn't detonate any pockets of swamp gas.

Illeana summoning: Magic 12 + Summoning 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/410945): 16d6t5 5 hits
Fire spirit resist: Force 8 (http://orokos.com/roll/410946): 8d6t5 4 hits

One service on this bad boy. Illeana needs to soak 8 drain. Intuition 10 + Willpower 6 + Centering 7 + Centering Focus 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/410947): 27d6t5 11 hits, done

Optional powers are Fear and Noxious Breath. It will be very wary of the swamp, given its severe allergy to water.

I think that's everything. Let me know if I missed anything.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-16-16/1703:58>
Nuyen updated.

James can slave 21 icons to his implanted commlink at a time, as per page 233.I don't think it's an issue, but let's see what we have:
1. Cyber Eyes
2. Hydraulic Jacks
3. Internal Air Tank
4. Smuggling Compartment
5. Ballistic Mask
6. Biomonitor
7. Globetrotter Jacket (no benefit in this environment, but we'll count it)
8. Defiance Ex-Shocker
9. Concealed Quick-draw holster for same
10. Ares Light-Fire 75
11. Arm-Slide for same
12. Ares Alpha
13. Ares Crusader II (which I am adding to my loadout)
14. Concealed Quick-draw holster for same
15. Rating 3 Medkit
16. Area Jammer

GM Interpretation: 17. Auto-injector (nothing is said about it in the books.  It's iffy if it would function otherwise, but also iffy if one would need to take up 2 slots for the bio-monitor/auto-injector duo.)

I may be missing something, but I think that's it.  The section on cyber weapons say that they can run Wireless or by neural impulse. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-16-16/1729:25>
Indeed, devices * 3. Looks like you're well covered.

GM ruling: yes, auto-injector needs its own wireless slot.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-21-16/1216:53>
The Mitsubishi Waveskipper is in Rigger 5.  Cost is ¥18,000, with the following stats:

Handling: 6, Speed: 3, Acceleration: 2, Body: 10, Armor: 4, Seats: 2, with no Availability. 

It's a two-seater jet ski.  I figure an extra vehicle may come in handy as an escape plan if things go sideways. 

Let me know if you'd like an additional Negotiation test.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-21-16/1312:54>
Negotiation for James: Charisma 4 + Negotiation 4 + Tailored 2 - Suspicious 1 - Annoying 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/412154): 8d6t5 3 hits

Negotiation for proprietor: Charisma + Negotiation (http://orokos.com/roll/412155): ?d6t5 3 hits

The proprietor will decline your offer, citing the fact that he is not covered by insurance if he does not have an official rental agreement. Given the fate of his airboat, he doesn't want to risk the Waveskipper without insurance.

Going rate for the Waveskipperis ¥60/hour or ¥199/day.

If James declines, you will keep the behemoth skin and the proprietor will file for insurance. This will be a SIN check (James doesn't know how rigorous) against a Threshold of 3 for James R3 SIN. (Note, this is a threshold test, not an Opposed test as the book describes. This makes SINs more robust, in general, which balances the higher prices of the higher-rating SINs.)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-21-16/1501:19>
Well, I guess I could try for the Intimidation route, but I'm not sure the benefit outweighs the cost in this case.  James will probably swallow his pride, and pay the daily rate, as having an additional vehicle could be a game changer.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-21-16/2036:15>
IC is up. Go ahead and deduct the nuyen from your sheet.

For this next portion, you have enough time to set up how you want things. If you want to find a small island, you can do that. If you want to wait on the airboat, you can do that. James can be sitting on the boat, or on land, or in a tree, or on the Waveskipper, or whatever you feel he would do. James is the face and will need to do the talking, so he can't set up in ambush. (Or, more accurately, he could, but he'd be leaving Illeana stranded alone, which might be irresistible to the other party.)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-22-16/1146:31>
Char sheet updated.

I'd like to post the Waveskipper 100 meters to the south of the meet.  They'll most likely be approaching from the north, west, or east, so that should give them a good egress route. 

I'd like to roll something for picking the spot.  Maybe Small Unit Tactics?  The point is to find a location with multiple ways out to the south, and only one or two ways in from the north.  With Illeana's Detect Enemies going, more woody is better than more open, as I'm not too worried about folks sneaking up on us, but having cover available will be wiz.  I'm sure it will need to somewhat open for us to be spotted to begin with, though.  For SUT I have: INT (9) + SUT (5) = 14 dice.
Small Unit Tactics (http://orokos.com/roll/412474): 14d6t5 2
Pretty poor roll.  I seem to be hitting another clump of those. 

Other than that, I'm sure a Perception test is in order.  I'll roll a general, then vision spec + vision enhancement, and then audio enhancement.  James will run Wireless On to see/hear what there is to see/hear, and then turn Wireless Off unless something really catches his eyes/ears.  I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) = 15 dice.
Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/412476): 15d6t5 4
Vision Spec (2) + Vision Enhancement Rating 2 (2) = 4 dice.
Vision Spec + Vision Enhancement (http://orokos.com/roll/412477): 4d6t5 3
Audio Enhancement (2) = 2 dice.
Audion Enhancement (http://orokos.com/roll/412478): 2d6t5 2
So that's 4 hits on regular Perception, 7 hits on vision, and 6 hits on audio.  Those are pretty good, but I didn't take Glare into account.  It's probably Moderate Glare (-3) staged down to Weak Glare (-1) with James' Flare Comp.
Glare Mod (http://orokos.com/roll/412479): 1d6t5 1
So 6 hits on Vision, and maybe 3 regular, 5 audio depending on how you cut it.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-22-16/1316:53>
Waveskipper is posted 100 meters to the south.

James' small unit training evidently did not spend a significant amount of time on nighttime swamp scenarios. He finds a position that he isn't happy with but which isn't completely suicidal. Normally it would be a nightmare of vulnerability to snipers but Illeana's magic helps defray some of those worries. There's always the possibility of someone sniping from 250+ meters, but the swamp foliage is dense enough that James isn't terribly concerned about that.

His Perception rolls are solid; he has a good grasp of what's going on.

Illeana has an Internal Air Tank in her ballistic mask and knows the Oxygenate spell. Between the two, she can last for a long time underwater. Her point is more that she can't move very quickly. I think her lack of buoyancy from being a vampire incurs a -4 penalty to Swimming tests. At some point she's probably better off just walking along the bottom of the swamp.

The new arrivals are coming from the west. I'll write up an IC but I have a big deadline tomorrow so it probably won't be soon.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-22-16/1351:44>
That all sounds good.  No worries on the timeline.  Hope the deadline goes smoothly.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-24-16/0244:29>
It's late on Thursday and I'm just now wrapping up what I needed to get done. I'm supposed to be up early in the morning so I don't have time to do a proper IC post at the moment. I'll get the broad strokes of the situation up for you OOCly so that you can contemplate the situation until I write the IC, which will likely be on Sunday.

1. Guests are arriving from the west.
2. There are seven of them. Four are on Waveskimmers (one each to a vehicle) and three are on a mini-barge/float that looks more like a party boat than a performance vehicle.
3. Illeana will announce that they are all possessed by spirits. By appearance, they are almost certainly Voudon. You can roll to see what James knows about Voudou, base attribute is Logic. Illeana rolled two hits.
4. Being possessed will make them potent adversaries, but they are not currently displaying any hostilities.
5. Illeana will say that the spirit possession makes it hard to pick out which ones might be Awakened naturally.
6. There is, however, a central leader/priest/houngan who is sitting imperiously on a throne on the mini-barge.
7. Illeana says that he is possessed by a spirit that's as large as the fire spirit she summoned.
8. Illeana concludes that they might have sufficient magical skill to counterspell her Detect Enemies spell. They may, in fact, be quite hostile, but they are talking first, not attacking.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-24-16/1520:24>
Gulp.

Ok, let's see what James knows.  Assuming Magic Traditions fits better than Magical Threats.  I have LOG (4) + Magic Traditions (2) = 6 dice.
hoodoo voodoo (http://orokos.com/roll/413149): 6d6t5 1
There is a tradition.  It's called Vodou. 

So, here's a question on what my measly 1 hit would let James know.  Does he know that possessed vessels can only use the spirit's skills?  OOCly this means that they're not set up to Negotiate. Even Defaulting with 8 CHA doesn't seem smart if they came to talk price.  Similarly, James would want to stay out of melee, as none of the spirits will have Firearms skills, though Elemental Attack can be nasty (MAG X 2 P - MAG AP). 

Will Illeana know if her spell(s) is(are) being Counterspelled?

Through Assensing, can Illeana tell what type of spirits are possessing the buyers?  This should also go a long way toward letting us know what their intentions are, depending on IC knowledge of the tradition -- Illeana will need to fill James in in this case.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-27-16/0055:06>
IC post is up. Questions should be answered there but I'll give explicit answers here too. James doesn't know a ton but he knows enough to ask the right questions.

1. James does know that possessed vessels can only use the spirit's skills.

2. This does suggest that they are not set up to negotiate.

3. The guardian spirits may have Firearms skills. They are all armed, but it could be habit, or for show, or decoration.

4. OOCly - and Illeana will explain this if you survive - she would know if her Detect Enemies spell had been dispelled, but not counterspelled. Per SR5, p. 285: "Counterspelling may be used to defend against active detection spells, even if the target is unaware of them being cast (for example, if they walk within range of an active Detect Enemies spell)."

5. Illeana knows that they are a mix of task spirits and guardian spirits.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-27-16/1517:43>
Well, this doesn't look good.  James will turn Wireless On and Run Silent.  Since it sounds like each spirit would need to beat Illeana's Detect Enemies spell -- some pretty good rolling on their part, even with a Force 8 spirit at the helm -- I'm going to roll with it and see what they have to say.

I figure a Composure roll, and a Judge Intentions roll are both in order.  The first is mostly for my benefit, to see how well James is keeping things together.  The latter I'm not expecting much from -- spirits, especially loa probably act in a way that is alien by their nature -- but I'm including it nonetheless.

For Composure I have:  CHA (4) + WIL (7) = 11 dice.
Composure (http://orokos.com/roll/413908): 11d6t5 7
Cool as a cucumber.

For Judge Intentions I have: CHA (4) + INT (9) = 13 dice.
Judge Intentions (http://orokos.com/roll/413909): 13d6t5 1
One more 1 and that would've been a glitch.  Coulda been interesting. 

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-27-16/2044:59>
James is as cool as a cucumber stored in the cold part of the refrigerator. His lack of concern for Illeana is chilling. (Alternatively, his confidence in her survivability is uplifting.)

James hasn't got a clue what the spirits are thinking. He's used to bug spirits, not spirits who want to Play People.

OOCly, you could conclude that it unlikely that each spirit beat Illeana's roll. That might mean either A) the spirits are not hostile, or B) that the hostilities will originate from the leader, who may (or may not) have beaten the roll.

I'll try to advance things tonight.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-28-16/0141:33>
Looking back to the encounter with the witch, I see that I originally said that Illeana was using her Essence to boost herself to Magic 11. I later rolled Magic 12 for her summoning, so I'm ruling that she spent her 7th point of Essence to raise to Magic 12.

Separately, reading the rules today I see that Initiate grade cannot be higher than Magic. Illeana is Magic 6 (when not boosting it) but Initiate grade 7, so I'll need to advance her Magic a couple times before Initiating again. That could slow me down considerably (but reasonably).

Illeana is attempting her Masking bluff, to make her Magic rating appear even higher than it already is.

Illeana's Masking: Magic 12 + Initiate 7 (http://orokos.com/roll/414014): 19d6t5 7 hits
Houngan's Assensing: Intuition + Assensing (http://orokos.com/roll/414015): ?d6t5 5 hits, Illeana wins!

Illeana's knowledge of exchange rates: Logic 5 + Finance 6 + Personal Investing 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/414018): 13d6t5 2 hits, hmm, what are two hits worth

Separately, your IC post mentions the satellite link but it's not mentioned in any of the OOC load outs. You had mentioned it as a possibility on 6/13 but hadn't explicitly purchased it. We need to be consistent about that in the future.

James looking up exchange rates: Logic 4 + Computer 4 - Noise 5 (http://orokos.com/roll/414022): 3d6t5 1 hit, James finds the answer

With 23 dice to soak drain, Illeana has a 99.9% chance of soaking 2S drain. That's 1 chance in 1000 that she'll take any drain, so I'm going to say that she can magically toss all the product over - even one-by-one, 600 times - and only incur minimal drain. I'll say 2S total. The advantage is that this process only take maybe 3-4 minutes, which is considerably faster and less exhausting than moving them by hand.

Pausing at this point to let James evaluate the situation and contribute as he feels appropriate. Let me know if you want to roll anything. I know we're advancing in broad strokes here, so let me know if James would have spoken up at some earlier point.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-28-16/1120:48>
James is as cool as a cucumber stored in the cold part of the refrigerator. His lack of concern for Illeana is chilling. (Alternatively, his confidence in her survivability is uplifting.)

Yeah, that's my main worry.  Astral Combat being of the few things that Illeana is really susceptible, and 7 chummers capable of tearing into her is problematic.  Also, James certainly doesn't know enough ICly, and I don't know OOCly whether geeking the big guy would cause Possession spirits to sever their link with the summoner and bounce.  Hoping we don't have to find out.

And they have paid, so there's that.  I think that while James is sitting cool and collected, he's still aware of exactly how dangerous this situation is.  As such, he will not be attempting to negotiate.  Let's hope that doesn't come across as some sort of weakness on his part.  Given how they've approached though, I think it's fair to assume they think the deal is already finalized.

I don't have anything conversation-wise to add at this point.  James is going to stay on watch, assault rifle at the low ready -- but obviously not making any threatening gestures with it -- and prepare to get the frag out of there as soon as the last kilo is on the party boat.

Separately, your IC post mentions the satellite link but it's not mentioned in any of the OOC load outs. You had mentioned it as a possibility on 6/13 but hadn't explicitly purchased it. We need to be consistent about that in the future.

Well, that goes to show you how reliable memory is, or at least mine.  I could've sworn the reason I remembered having a Satellite Link was from when I was doing my load out.  Sorry about that.  Should it come down to shooting, we'll forgo the Wireless bonuses that need matrix access to work.

I'll try to get an IC up today that just covers James' perception of what's going on during the exchange.  Once the last kilo is in the air, he'll take the helm and start backing the boat up.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-28-16/1402:53>
Thanks for the IC. I'll try to post again today but I have another deadline tomorrow.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-29-16/0228:51>
Just now wrapping up the deadline work, so I'll probably wind down rather than writing a post.

Do me a favor and roll a Visual Perception check. Per the calendar, moonrise is not until after 2am, so it's dark as drek right now. Environmental modifier is Total Darkness (-6) staged up to Dim Light (-3) by your thermographic vision.

Illeana: Intuition 10 + Perception 5 + Mask 3 + Perceptive II 2 - Dim Light 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/414289): 17d6t5 9 hits, that's pretty good, I guess

That's her Mental limit, so keeps them all for the time being. Go ahead and roll James' anyway.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-29-16/1628:58>
For Perception I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) = 17 dice.
Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/414420): 17d6t5 3
Forgot lighting. 
-3 for light (http://orokos.com/roll/414422): 3d6t5 1
So 2 hits.  Looks like James is relying on Illeana for this one.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-29-16/1741:54>
You have Vision Enhancement 2 in your cybereyes too, but it still looks like Illeana is going to be the one on the ball here.

I'll try to IC later today.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-29-16/1937:52>
I wasn't sure if Vision Enhancement was one that required matrix functionality.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-29-16/2014:14>
Eh, I gave it to Illeana. The Internet won't help you see. Going wireless through your PAN just means that you're available for hacking, should I feel like it.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-29-16/2104:37>
Cool.
Vision Enhancement (http://orokos.com/roll/414495): 2d6t5 0
nope.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-30-16/0134:58>
IC post is up. Some details:

OOCly, you're in a mana surge. The background count is now 5. Illeana feels like drek and - being dual-natured - is now at -5 to all her actions. The same is true of the fire spirit. The water spirit and air spirit are gone, lost in the flood of mana.

Illeana's foci are all deactivated. All of her quickened spells are now down to F1, meaning that they only have 1 hit. James' Combat Sense and Intuition bonuses are now 1 each.

Even losing 5 dice - and thus 4 hits - Illeana still has 5 Perception hits. That's enough to see something that isn't right, and to give her enough warning to get her and James down into cover. I thought about requiring Illeana to use the Lucky Duck action from Run & Gun but that's more for shouted/commed warnings. As Illeana had sufficient notice to act physically, there is no need for her to spend Edge nor for James to roll to dodge.

The fire spirit isn't quite as lucky. It can't dodge - it knows enough not to dive into the airboat with you, nor into the swamp - so it's going to eat a ton of suppressive fire. (It could fly up, but it would still be caught in the cone of fire.) The good news is that its Immunity to Normal Weapons is based off its Essence rating; as such, its armor is unaffected by the mana surge. Between its armor and the positive AP modifier of flechette ammo, I'm going to say that it can soak up the incoming fire without needing to roll.

We're not technically in Initiative yet but let's keep the initial round of actions limited to 1 CT worth, so say 3 IPs. Tactically, James will be wary of someone lobbing a grenade in the boat while you're pinned down under undodgeable suppressive fire. That's what he would do, at least.

You're still about 50 meters away from the Waveskimmer. You don't know how many shooters there are, but you might be able to find out if you get lucky with an Observe in Detail action.

Ball is in your court.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-30-16/0943:58>
I will indeed make an Observe in Detail.  I have: INT (6) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Vision Enhancement (2) + Specifically Looking (3) - Vision Penalties (3) = 16 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/414624): 16d6t5 2
Not good.

I'm also interested in knowing if James would know if a Mana Surge can be manufactured.  Rolling Magical Theory for that.  I have: LOG (4) + Magical Theory (1) = 5 dice.
Magical Theory: Mana Surge (http://orokos.com/roll/414626): 5d6t5 5
James has studied Mana Surges extensively.

Despite Illeana's protests, I think the swamp may well be the best bet.  It will pull Illeana out of Line of Sight for Astral Combat, and it doesn't appear as though Possession spirits can Astrally Project to follow them.  Speaking of which, I'm assuming that James never lost sight of the 7 possessed voudon, so he can reasonably rule them out as the shooters.  Likewise, they decided to pay us, which is interesting and disconcerting.  I'm not sure if these guys are combatants as well, or if they simply came to do the deal while the Sangre y Acero sent their own team.  If that's the case, the voudon could very well come ready to pay, but whatever happens to us afterward is none of their concern.  On the other hand, paying us could very well just be part of the plan to separate the sellers from the product before filling the boat and its inhabitants full of flechette and sniper rifle fire.  I think James' tactical senses would approve in either case.

Ok, back to the swamp.  Illeana's Combat Sense is obviously not to be trusted, even before the Mana Surge.  This means that the Waveskipper may well be compromised.  But the air boat definitely is, and there are bound to be grenades coming down the pipe their way.  I'm not too worried about the shotgun's Suppressive Fire, though I'd rather James and Illeana not eat a sniper's bullet.  If hit (Full Defense ftw here), an average Soak roll from the former would soak all but 6S from an Auto-Assault 16, and injecting a Stim Patch would take care of the rest, leaving James without any negative wound modifiers.  A sniper's bullet would obviously be much more dangerous.  Staying in the air boat is likely to deal a lot more damage, and it'll be sunk and they'll be in the swamp soon regardless.  James is going to suggest to Illeana that they take their chances underwater.

IP1
Simple: Observe in Detail (covered above)
Simple: Turn Jammer On
Free: Text Illeana

IP2
Complex: Open up the throttle on the air boat via remote control
Free: Text Illeana

IP3
Simple: Grab Illeana's Claymore
Simple: Grab Illeana

I'll get an IC up, let Illeana respond, and hear back on the OOC chatter before I commit to going underwater.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-30-16/1028:25>
My laptop is giving me fits today, so that last OOC post took awhile to get up.  Just posting again in case you caught it in pieces.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-30-16/2119:06>
James cannot look above the hull of the boat without catching multiple rounds of flechette ammo in the face. If you want to put the ballistics mask to the test, we can roll - the AP will be in your favor - but presumably you won't want to. If you do, you'll be at some pretty horrible penalties due to the suppressive fire.

Between the Select Sound Filter and Spatial Recognizer in your ballistic mask, you can pinpoint four different shooters. They are spread out in a fan to the south, we'll say at the 4 o'clock, 5 o'clock, 7 o'clock, and 8 o'clock positions. They are positioned to catch you in the cross-fire. The airboat is headed south, toward the Waveskipper. If you open up the throttle, this will take you directly into the cones of fire. Furthermore, if the sniper rifle is in an elevated position - James would be, if he were the sniper - moving toward the shooter could provide an angle for the shooter to shoot into the boat.

None of the shooters are coming from the direction that the Voudon headed off in. Based on James' knowledge of firearms, he knows that he didn't see any weapons of this caliber in the hands of the Voudon. James can hear at least one of each of the following: assault rifle, automatic shotgun, LMG. These are not the SMGs and machine pistols that the Voudon had.

Illeana is skeptical about the possibility of a grenade, reasoning that the shooters would not want to sink 1) the money or 2) the product. (The shooters may not know which you have.) That said, she feels like drek and isn't necessarily thinking clearly at the moment. There are other things that she would think ICly if she weren't at significant penalties, but she is, so she isn't.

The airboat fan, motor, and gearbox are eating at least four rounds of flechette ammo every second. Granted that the DV is low due to spread and the AP is poor due to flechette and most of it will bounce (producing the aforementioned flechette rain), but eventually - and likely soon - some pellet or flechette is going to find its way through and royally gum things up.

James is one of the world's leading authorities on Mana Surges. He knows and comprehensively understands the IC implications of everything I said OOCly yesterday. He doesn't know how powerful the surge is, but between Illeana's comments and his own understanding of background count he'll know that Illeana's bound spirits are gone, that the remaining fire spirit is significantly weakened, that Illeana's foci are deactivated, that her alchemical preparations may not work any longer, and that her quickened spells are severely diminished but will eventually replenish if removed from the mana surge (provided that the surge doesn't get worse, which would pop the spells). Any type of casting could produce wild and unpredictable effects. This mana surge is likely related to a Dragon Line (a.k.a. Mana Line Type D), which are related to geographic energies.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-01-16/0049:25>
Interesting. The Mana Surge sounds like a completely (super)natural phenomenon. I'm on the phone but I think I'll have more to say on that tomorrow. Gotta mull.

If the four shooters are to the south then I think we head east, assuming the voudon are heading back the way they came. We'll want to put some cover between them and the trees for makin a jump for it. Changing course will also mean that James and Illeana will need to crawl so they're not just putting the thin hull between them and the shooters. AFB so I don't know if crawling/slithering is a Simple Action or if it just costs movement.

If we can move forward, James would like to ask Illeana to have her spirit transmit the location of the shooters to her. If she can mark them in AR based on that imprint that would be just wiz.

I'll update my last IC tomorrow to cover the new info and changes.

ETA: can James pilot using his smart linked Alpha at a penalty?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-02-16/0111:25>
Illeana gave a mini lecture on mana surges and their implications here: http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=23178.msg435585#msg435585

James' Magical Theory roll suggests that he already knew everything she said and was just humoring her.

The amount of action required to crawl/slither is dependent on the distance moved. If you're talking about crawling around the bottom of the airboat, it's probably a Simple action.

Are you asking if James can pilot using the smartgun camera on his Alpha? Potentially, yes, but his Alpha will be caught in the suppressive fire if he lifts it above the edge of the boat. He would need to figure out some way to keep it pointed in the right direction without exposing his hand to suppressive fire.

Illeana will wonder why James will want to go into the water if he thinks the opposition is going to start dropping grenades on them. James knows the effects of underwater explosives: an HE grenade would be a nice little depth charge.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-04-16/1059:03>
Back to the Mana Surge: since this sounds like a supernatural phenomenon, it seems that James would not think that this is a part of a trap for them, correct?  This seems more like unlucky timing combined with the phenomenon more than adversaries that are aware of Illeana's strengths and weaknesses who have found a way to manipulate the playing field to their advantage.  Will the voudon also be suffering the penalties of the Mana Surge to the best of James' guess?

As for the grenade possibility, I'm of a couple different lines of thought here.  Had it been James, and he really just wanted to geek the fraggers who messed with his product in order to send a message, he'd start off with grenades.  OOCly I was thinking that the GM was starting off with Suppressive Fire to give an action or two before the HE grenades starting exploding some PC faces.  But you don't generally play like that.  Operating off of IC assumptions, James will still be worried about grenades.  They're pinned down, and kind of ripe for the taking right now.  If the gunmen are after the product and the cash, they'll want to forgo that route, but if it looks like they're going to get geeked, then grenades are a contingency plan that needs to be accounted for. 

I wish I'd brought my endoscope, as I could conceivably use that to see with while I steer, but it seems James left that in the RV.  James should be able to get a decent grasp of where the trees are by looking up from the bottom of the air boat, but it will be far from perfect.  I think the play here is to pilot east, try to avoid the trees as much as possible, and see if we can get the air boat into cover, negating some of the Suppressive Fire penalties.  James might even try to jump out from the air boat and into a tree if the opportunity presents itself.  Assuming Illeana's spell that's protecting her from her wood allergy is popped.  Will her coat, ballistic mask, etc. keep her safe on that front?

Any ruling on whether or not James can get a bead on the shooters from Illeana's spirit and Illeana?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-04-16/1409:10>
Regarding the mana surge, James is aware that it could be a natural phenomenon. As such, it would be an unfortunate coincidence and not a trap.

Other possibilities that James may or may not be aware of:
1) It's a powerful Mana Static spell. Illeana didn't identify it as such, but she's so debilitated that she might not be able to accurately distinguish between astral phenomena.
2) The surge is the intentional product of a powerful initiate geomancer. The voudon houngan could certainly meet that description.

James doesn't know if the voudon would suffer from the Mana Surge. On the one hand, they are locals, so they might be aspected to this environment. On the other hand, they are presumably a city gang (judging by the way he reached them via Ohanzee and his fixer) and so might not be aspected to a swamp domain. In short, he doesn't really know.

James doesn't know if Illeana's spells are popped or not. She does not quicken the Alleviate Allergy [Wood] spell. Presumably her coat, gloves, and mask will protect her, but if the tree takes suppressive fire - filling the air with wood chips and sawdust - then she could be in trouble.

Nothing Illeana does is very easy right now, so I'll roll to see if she can place rough AROs on the shooters' locations:

Placing AROs: Logic 5 + Computer 2 - Background Count 5 (http://orokos.com/roll/415777): 2d6t5 1 hit

What do you know, she dug up a hit. James has a rough idea where the shooters are (which he already did from the directional sound of their fire).

I'll try to get an IC up with what happens next based off the above.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-05-16/0042:42>
Illeana has used her one service with the fire spirit to instruct it to use Fear. Whether or not this is tactically the wisest decision is overrided by the fact that she isn't thinking clearly at the moment. That said, the power does target attributes which should (in theory) be worse for shooters.

Fire spirit fear: Magic 8 + Willpower 8 - Background Count 5 (http://orokos.com/roll/415932): 11d6t5 2 hits, background count taking a heavy toll

Goon chosen at random: Willpower + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/415935): ?d6t5 1 hit

2 hits is enough, but the effect won't last long. The automatic shotgun falls silent for the moment.

Someone without flechette rounds is firing specifically at the fire spirit with an SA burst. I'm not mentioning this ICly because the odds of you hearing it over the suppressive fire are slim, especially given the LMG.

Shooter: Agility + Firearms + Bulky + Smartlink (http://orokos.com/roll/415938): ?d6t5 3 hits

Fire spirit dodge: Reaction 11 + Intuition 8 - Background Count 5 - SA Burst 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/415939): 12d6t5 5 hits

Fire spirit dodges that drek. Maybe it will buy you a moment after all.

Let's roll initiative and move into CT2 IP1.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-05-16/1403:41>
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/416066): 16+4d6 33

What kind of penalties is James looking at if he wants to Blind Fire at an ARO of a gunman? 

So, back to the Mana Surge, it could potentially be manufactured.  So, it's either really bad timing on the James' and Illeana's part, or someone was counting on powerful magic to be there and found a really strong way to counter it.  I'm not sure if James would be aware of those possibilities ICly or not, but he'd be very suspicious of the Background Count just showing up at this particular time.  Also, if it's the latter that could very well mean the voudon are combatants, which would up this particular firefight from 8 on 2 to 15 on 2, 7 of whom can tear into Illeana something fierce if they're not also debilitated by the BC.  Nasty.

With the shooters to the south, and the boat heading east, James is going to crawl behind the control panel of the boat for additional cover.  Will he be able to pop his up from there to see where he's piloting the boat?  If not his head, can he use the slim profile of his Alpha to do so?

I feel as though I'm severely missing some out-of-the-box thinking right now, but I've been sitting on this situation for almost a week now, and I'm still not coming up with a clear plan.  A bunch of wood in the air from the Suppressive Fire certainly complicates things even if the air boat isn't shredded before it can make it that far.

CT2 IP1
Simple: Crawl to north side of air boat behind control panel.
Simple: Ready Alpha (if it can be used for steering) or Take Aim (depending on penalties for Blind Fire)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-06-16/0105:08>
It depends on how you blind fire.

If you stick your Ares Alpha up over the edge of the boat, you'll only be at -3 for "Attacker firing from cover with imaging device". This, in my opinion, is ridiculously generous, but I don't want to come up with something new on the fly.

That said, if you stick your Alpha up over the edge, it's going to get hit by the flechette suppressive fire. You won't know how bad the suppressive fire is (what the penalty is) until you stick the gun up and try. OOCly, it will be the cumulative suppressive fire penalties from the three shooters that are currently maintaining suppressive fire. Depending on how they roll, this could be anywhere from "0 to a lot".

If you want to try to fire through the airboat and make holes in your own cover, well that's interesting too. That would probably be the regular Blind Fire penalty, although the power of the projectile would be reduced by whatever the airboat soaks before passing the projectile on.

(A very literal interpretation of the rules would say that there's a break here at the beginning of the CT, since suppressive fire only goes until the end of a CT and they technically haven't had an action to resume yet, but they have no intention of letting up so I am ruling that the suppressive fire is ongoing.)

With some careful positioning using the airboat controls and seats, James might be able to peek up enough to see where he's headed to the east.

CT2 IP1
James: 33
Shooting at Fire Spirit: 26
Fire Spirit: 19
Other Guys: ??

Shooting at Fire Spirit: Agility + Firearms + Bulky + Smartlink + Take Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/416244): ?d6t5 3 hits
Fire Spirit dodge: Reaction 11 + Intuition 8 - Background Count 5 - SA Burst 2 - Second Attack 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/416245): 11d6t5 4 hits, shots miss

Fire Spirit Fear: Magic 8 + Willpower 8 - Background Count 5 (http://orokos.com/roll/416246): 11d6t5 5 hits
Goon resist: Willpower + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/416249): ?d6t5 3 hits, this guy is gone for a bit longer than the first
Picking chummer at random: one of the assault rifles falls silent.

There are now just two shooters actively engaging in suppressive fire.

For now, Illeana will spend her actions updating AROs while trying not to vomit inside her mask. James figures that the non-shooters may try to encircle you. If they used something like a Waveskipper then odds are good that they are faster and more maneuverable than an airboat, although maybe they're using something else since they managed to set up their ambush without making too much noise.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-06-16/1327:41>
It depends on how you blind fire.

If you stick your Ares Alpha up over the edge of the boat, you'll only be at -3 for "Attacker firing from cover with imaging device". This, in my opinion, is ridiculously generous, but I don't want to come up with something new on the fly.

That is ridiculously generous.  That said, I'm not keen on giving these guys a Defense Test, so I'd rather fire through the barrier and hit them Unaware, with only their cover bonuses -- should they have them -- to save them.

If you want to try to fire through the airboat and make holes in your own cover, well that's interesting too. That would probably be the regular Blind Fire penalty, although the power of the projectile would be reduced by whatever the airboat soaks before passing the projectile on.

I'd like to further reduce my chances of hitting by making a Called Shot.  Bulls Eye Burst would seem to fit the flavor here.  The point is to reduce the holes that James is putting in his own cover, while trying to mitigate some of the DV loss.   

(A very literal interpretation of the rules would say that there's a break here at the beginning of the CT, since suppressive fire only goes until the end of a CT and they technically haven't had an action to resume yet, but they have no intention of letting up so I am ruling that the suppressive fire is ongoing.)

Yeah, that's silly.  James is fast, but he's not slip up between a lack of bullets that only occur because rule sets fast.

For now, Illeana will spend her actions updating AROs while trying not to vomit inside her mask. James figures that the non-shooters may try to encircle you. If they used something like a Waveskipper then odds are good that they are faster and more maneuverable than an airboat, although maybe they're using something else since they managed to set up their ambush without making too much noise.

This brings up a new question.  Of the 8 AROs, how many of them are elevated?  I'm curious how many are entrenched in their positions vs. likely on the move.

Back to wonky rules discussions, has the Spirit been using any movement?  Since Fear is a LoS power, by RAW it should be able to use that power even while putting some distance between itself and the shooters, so that they suffer range penalties.  On the other hand, a retreating Fire Spirit doesn't seem to really put the fear of Dunkelzahn into someone like a spirit right up in their face would.  On the other, other, hand, a Force 8 spirit is fucking scary, and the attack is magical in nature, not necessarily reflective of the critter itself.

Since shooting through the air boat seems like a go, I'd like to take the shot first, and then do my movement.  This way, if they try the same thing back at James he will have at least put some distance between himself and the location he was in when he fired.

CT2 IP1
Free: Called Shot: Bulls Eye Burst
Simple: Take Aim
Simple: FA burst.

James will single out the chummer with the LMG if he's able to discern from what direction the big gun is coming from.  If not, he'll take his clearest shot.

Recoil is: Free (1) + STR (3) + Gas Vent III (3) + Shock Pad (1) = 8.  Well over the 6 that I need to avoid further penalties.
For shooting I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group (8) + Take Aim (1) - Blind Fire (6) - Called Shot (4) = 10 dice.  Fingers crossed here.
FA burst on LMG chummer (http://orokos.com/roll/416324): 10d6t5 3
Perfectly average.  At least it should beat cover bonuses.

Base damage is 11P -18AP, staged to 14P -18AP against the barrier.  AP is calculated at: Base AP (6) + [Base Weapon AP (2) X Shots Fired (6)] = 18.  Also, -18AP is the most that the Alpha can reach, so no going Complex FA to hit -26AP.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-06-16/1402:10>
Are you firing the Alpha? You still need to Ready Weapon. That removes Take Aim, but doesn't cost a hit.

You don't know which chummer has the LMG. You don't even know which AROs are firing and which ones aren't. Illeana's AROs aren't that sophisticated. (It's probably generous to say that she could place them all one 1 or 2 IPs, given her current state. I should probably make her roll each one separately, but I don't want to roll that much.)

There's only one ARO that appears elevated. The ARO is at the 6 o'clock position.

You can pick a target, 1-7, or you can fire at the closest, etc. The shooting is too chaotic to know which one is which exactly as far as weapon types (especially since a few aren't even shooting) but you would guess that the LMG is somewhere between the 4 o'clock and 5 o'clock positions. That gives you three AROs to pick from.

Per the rules, a Bulls-Eye Burst is capped at x3 so you can only get to -12 AP. I calculate Base AP (2) + APDS (4) + [Base Weapon AP (2) X Shots Fired (Max 3)] = 2 + 4 + (6) = 12. That's still enough to cut through the airboat like butter. It doesn't get any Armor dice, just Body.

Air boat soak: Damage Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/416330): 6d6t5 5 hits, oh man, hard luck. Of all the rolls to score 5 hits on 6 dice.

Pass-through damage will be 8P -12AP. I'll let you pick a target before I roll for potential cover, soaking, etc.

The fire spirit, under its own initiative, has decided to fly into the face of the gunfire. It is moving south and, so far, seems to be doing a good job of reducing the amount of incoming suppressive fire. OOCly, it decided that a big flaming spirit would be scarier up close than retreating, but you're right that there's no game mechanic for that. Maybe Composure, if it gets close enough or starts lighting people on fire.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-07-16/1225:30>
Let's go with the chummer closest to the 4 o'clock position.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-07-16/1502:34>
Reviewing the rules, you're attacking from a moving vehicle so technically that's another -2. That costs a hit, so James is at 2. Let's see if 4 o'clock's cover is enough to save him or her:

You have no idea. You're blind firing.

OOC spoiler with the results:
[spoiler]

Sure you want to know?

[spoiler]

Super sure?

[spoiler]
Good Cover 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/416559): 4d6t5 2 hits, indeed it is

That's a tree. Given the nature of the attack, I'm going to see how well the tree fares against the damage. The AP chews through its natural armor, so it will only roll Structure:

Poor tree being used for cover: Structure 6 (http://orokos.com/roll/416561): 6d6t5 2 hits

For DV, I'm not going to subtract the hit that was lost to shooting from a moving vehicle, so we will leave it at 8 DV. The tree soaks 2, which means that 6 boxes are not soaked. Per the rules: "If the total boxes of damage are greater than or equal to barrier Structure rating, the attack has made a hole in the structure. Each hole is one square meter per increment of Structure rating." In other words, James has done six boxes of damage to something with Structure 6, so he's chewed up a square meter of the tree. The cover has now been degraded.[/spoiler][/spoiler][/spoiler]

The suppressive fire pattern does not change as a result of the attack. Either James missed or he shot a non-shooter.

The rest of CT2 IP1 plays out as previously rolled. Other actions are hidden from view.

CT2 IP2
James: 23
Shooting at Fire Spirit: 16
Fire Spirit: 9
Other Guys: ??
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-07-16/1701:52>
Gotta admit, I hit the first two spoilers, but then the good player in me took over and thought it would be more fun not to know.

CT2 IP2
Simple: Crawl to north side of air boat under cover of control panel
Simple: Observe in Detail.

For Observe in Detail I have: INT (6) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Specifically Looking (3) - Vision Penalties (3) = 14 dice.  I'm not taking Vision Enhancement dice, as James is using his Alpha.
Perception + Specifically Looking (http://orokos.com/roll/416573): 14d6t5 5
Hey!  There's a slightly above-average roll.  Neat.

May not get an IC in until tomorrow.

James is at 36/42 Alpha, 2/5 Edge.


Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-07-16/2106:36>
You can have three rounds of APDS back since there's no advantage to Bulls Eye Bursting with six rounds instead of three.

You stick your Alpha up. It basically looks dark, since the smartlink doesn't have all the vision mods that James does.

That said, the roll is pretty good. James picks out a small island with a thick tree that could be decent cover and may be suitable for climbing. It is at least 3 CTs away, presuming that the airboat can continue to accelerate.

Shooting at Fire Spirit: Agility + Firearms + Bulky + Smartlink + Take Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/416615): ?d6t5 4 hits
Fire spirit dodge: Reaction 11 + Intuition 8 - Background Count 5 - SA Burst 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/416616): 12d6t5 1 hit

Fire spirit's luck finally runs out. Luckily, it is still well-armored, which isn't affected by background count. Damage exceeds the modified armor rating so the spirit still has to soak.

Fire spirit soak: Body 10 + Armor 9 (http://orokos.com/roll/416618): 19d6t5 5 hits
Fire spirit also gets half its armor as auto-hits. All said and done, the fire spirit takes 5P.

Fire spirit using Fear: Magic 8 + Willpower 8 - Background Count 5 - Wounds 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/416619): 10d6t5 4 hits
Goon resist: Willpower + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/416620): 6d6t5 1 hit

Another guy goes barreling off into the swamp.

Other goons:
The suppressive fire from the LMG continues. For a moment, this is the only suppressive fire. After a moment, more suppressive fire begins, presumably from one of the goons who had been silent before. You are now down to two suppressive fire penalties, should you risk it.

Unknown attack: Unknown (http://orokos.com/roll/416622): ?d6t5 5 hits
Combat sense inspired surprise test for James: Intuition 5 (6) + Perception 6 (http://orokos.com/roll/416623): 12d6t5 2 hits
Combat sense inspired surprise test for Illeana: Intuition 6 (7) + Perception 6 + Perceptive 2 - Background Count 5 (http://orokos.com/roll/416624): 10d6t5 5 hits

There's an incoming grenade attack. Illeana is aware of it; James is not. Using a creative interpretation of Right Back At Ya, Illeana will try to use one of her Physical Barrier preparations to detonate the grenade early, or to have it bounce harmlessly into the swamp. Unfortunately, the preparation is a bit flimsy due to the background count. It's Force is 1, which means that it's maximum Structure is 1 and Armor is 2. I will presume that the preparation gets at least 1 hit on its triggering, which is the maximum it can benefit from.

The good news is that the grenade is going to detonate early. The bad news is that it's going to tear through the barrier like wet tissue paper.

Barrier soak: Structure 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/416628): 1d6t5 1 hit, what do you know, it took a bit off
Random roll to see how many meters the barrier saves you: Random 1-6 meters (http://orokos.com/roll/416629): 1d6 2 meters

Illeana soak: Body 5 + Coat 9 + Mask 2 - AP 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/416632): 12d6t5 6 hits

Illeana takes a box of damage and gets her bell rung a bit, but it's an afterthought to the background count.

Give me a roll to soak 7S -4AP, then declare and roll for CT2 IP3.

CT2 IP3
James: 13
Shooting at Fire Spirit: 6
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-08-16/0034:40>
For Soaking I have: BOD (5) + Globetrotter Jacket (12) + Ballistic Mask (2) + Cyber Armor (4) - AP (4) = 19 dice.
Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/416702): 19d6t5 9
No damage.

James would have had the Alpha on FA, as in a stand-up fight he could really use the extra hit to defense dice.  If you're feeling magnanimous I will take an extra Free action to both change firing modes and talk to Illeana though.

CT2 IP3
Complex Action: Piloting Test: Break Away //or// Get-vehicle-out-of-suppressive-fire-weirdness-test
Free: Change firing mode to Burst.
Free: Comm Illeana.

The test is described on page 200 of the CRB.  Apparently James can roll REA + Edge to get out of the Suppressive Fire zone.  With only 2 shooters right now, it might be the best time to do so.  The same sidebar also lists out how Hitting the Dirt does not save someone from Suppressive Fire in vehicles, but that isn't how we've been playing it so far.  I think a vehicle like a car or VTOL, which the rules are most likely assuming, is a far cry from an air boat and their particulars, so I'm unsure how you handle that.  If you'd rather ignore the sidebar in general, I'd like to roll a Break Away test to try to put some additional distance between Illeana, James, and the shooters -- or at least make them spend a test to keep up/gain on us -- and maybe bring that island a bit closer than 3CTs away.  Just let me know how you want to proceed. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-08-16/0112:44>
How interesting, and pertinent.

Long story short, we're getting to the same place as the rules but via a different route. Say Hit the Dirt doesn't work, but instead you get the vehicle's Armor to soak. Well theses guys are pumping flechette at you, and flechette just isn't going to penetrate the vehicle's armor. So we'll play it the book's way, but if the Armor of the boat is 8 and flechette adds +5, then the boat is turning back all attacks of 13DV or less. Suppressive fire doesn't add net hits, and flechette suppressive fire loses DV with distance, which further reduce the suppressive fire's ability to break through the armor. And even if they did hit you, James would roll 28 dice on his own before adding another 8 for the boat's armor, which together are going to average 12 hits, so then we're back to nicks and scratches. If the point were to riddle you with needles, we might go through the effort of rolling all that, but the point is to make you keep your head down, so we won't bother.

The get-out-of-suppressive-fire test is a good find. The trick is that James isn't piloting the boat himself; he's giving instructions to the airboat's Pilot. It doesn't have Reaction or Edge, like the special test requires. If you decide to give the order anyway, then there's the rule: "When faced with something novel or unexpected, or a complicated command, a Pilot program must make a Device Rating x 2 Test against a thresholdset by the gamemaster based on how confusing the situation is." I'm not sure how well the Break Away test works for the same reasons. We can roll the boat's Pilot (which is bad) but I'm not sure how much more effective it's going to be other than James' acting instructions, which are probably "go east fst as pssble!!1!"

If James is willing to jump up and grab the controls, then either of these options are possible, and pretty badass. He'll be getting shot if it doesn't work though. Per Run & Gun p.120-1, the damage of flechette suppressive fire declines with distance, but it is also harder to dodge. Maybe James wants to take that chance, given all his armor. Or is he willing to lay low, hope the boat opens up some distance, and that the grenades don't keep coming?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-08-16/0128:09>
I figured that with the auto shotguns nothing would change.  It's the LMG that really throws the spanner in the works.

I think James is going to take the helm and try to get out from under the Suppressive Fire.  Plus it's been almost a full CT that James has had 2 points of Edge, and I don't remember that feeling since like the first CT of the last engagement. 

I have: REA (7) + Edge (5) = 12 dice.
REA + Edge (http://orokos.com/roll/416732): 12d6t5 8
Holy shit what a roll!!!  I'm going to hold onto that second point of Edge after all, at least until the next test.

Complication: James is still prone.  Here's another weird one.  Standing up is a Simple Action, but Piloting tests are Complex.  I don't see how James can stand up and drive in the same IP without getting blasted at least once by Suppressive Fire.  Maybe this is like a Jumping and attacking thing?

I'll get the IC up tomorrow when I see how this plays out. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-08-16/1208:23>
James needs to make a REA + Edge test against each instance of Suppressive Fire separately.  I thought it was one test for all, but a quick check in the book shows that I'm mistaken.  I would want the first roll to be against the LMG fire, as the Accuracy on those weapons are higher, and James will lose a die for making the second roll.  It also didn't occur to me that I could use Full Defense, which is probably a smart call.  Well, let's reason through that.  With 11 dice James will average between 3-4 hits.  Most shotguns max out at 4.  If James is hit, he'll be looking at something like 13P +4AP, which he'll Soak with the above-mentioned 28 dice + the air boat's Armor.  We'll just see how this plays out, so I can that last pass for Break Away.

I have: REA (7) + Edge (5) - Subsequent Attacks (1) = 11 dice.
REA + Edge (http://orokos.com/roll/416823): 11d6t5 3

Actually, nope.  Only passengers using Hit the Dirt get the vehicle Armor as bonus dice.  James may get some cover for the air boat, at least.  I'll go ahead and roll Partial Cover, as the air boat probably only protects 25-30% of James' body.
Partial Cover (http://orokos.com/roll/416824): 2d6t5 0
Nope. 

So 8 hits against the LMG's Suppressive Fire and 3 against the automatic shotgun.  Assuming James is going to catch some lead on that one.  Should've made sure all my rules calculations were correct before forgoing the Full Defense bonus.

ETA: the grenade that came their way was a Flash-Bang correct? 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-08-16/1540:32>
I'll decline to say what type of grenade it was, although James might reasonably conclude that it was less-than-lethal given the fact that it didn't vaporize the boat.

I'm not opposed to a reasonable amount of OOC cherrypicking but I probably wouldn't go so far as to let someone pick which dodge test applies to which suppressive fire attack. That should be random, but the good news is that it's a 50/50 chance in this case.

We also need to apply some common sense. Flechette suppressive fire is supposed to be unavoidable, although the rules do state that Full Defense is an option for standard suppressive fire. That said, I don't see any logical way that we could apply Full Defense within the confines of an airboat (say, 2 meters by 4 meters, probably half of which is fan and engine) without jumping overboard or taking cover. Even the regular dodge test (REA + EDG) seems generous, given the fact that there are roughly (2 shooters * 20 rounds per CT * 1/3 per IP) 13 rounds of flechette fire flying by the airboat (which is far smaller than the 10 meters x 2 meter cone for suppressive fire, or 5 meters x 2 meters for Enhanced Suppressive fire) each second. Logically, that's just not avoidable.

In other words, we're breaking the rules a bit. This is inevitable, as the rules can't mirror every possible situation. I'm not going to ban the REA+EDG test, but I will say that Full Defense isn't an option unless you're using it to jump overboard. The dodge test is also subject to the defense adjustment from flechette suppressive fire (see p.121 of Run & Gun). In this case that's -3, which costs 3 hits from the 8-hit test and 1 hit from the 3-hit test.

We'll flip to see which attack is which. 1 = LMG, 2 = not LMG. Coin Flip (http://orokos.com/roll/416847): 1d2 1, congratulations

Now I actually have to roll to see what the suppressive fire hits are.

LMG: Agility + Heavy Weapons + Smartlink (http://orokos.com/roll/416848): ?d6t5 2 hits, misses!
Not LMG: Agility + Automatics + Smartlink (http://orokos.com/roll/416849): ?d6t5 4 hits, connects

James gets tagged and needs to soak (base damage + flechette - DV adjustment from range) 11P +3AP. That won't exceed his armor value so any damage will be Stun. The boat's armor does not apply if James is standing up to pilot the airboat, but you still have 26 dice. In theory that should take care of 9 boxes, but you have a 22% chance of not taking any damage at all.

CT2 IP3
James: 13
Shooting at Fire Spirit: 6

Shooting fire spirit: Agility + Firearms + Bulky + Smartlink + Take Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/416860): ?d6t5 6 hits
Fire spirit dodge: Reaction 11 + Intuition 8 - Background Count 5 - SA Burst 2 - Wounds 1 - Second Attack 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/416861): 10d6t5 3 hits

Fire spirit gets tagged again. Soaking: Body 10 + Armor 9 (http://orokos.com/roll/416862): 19d6t5 8 hits
Good soak roll, plus 5 auto-hits from Immunity makes for 13 hits total. Fire spirit takes an additional 2P and is now at 7P.

CT2 IP4
James: 3

The boat is still in the suppressive fire cone. The Break Away action will incur negative modifiers from the suppressive fire (-6 total) but the fancy get-out-of-suppressive-fire vehicle test looks like a straight Reaction (7) + Edge (5) - Flechette (3) test to meet the threshold of 4 established by the shooters. If it doesn't, James will be eating another shot or two.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-11-16/1103:32>
Those shooters taking an (at least) -3 penalty for vision mods?

Slightly confused by the flechette penalties outlined above.  They make sense for weapons firing flechette, but is James taking penalties for flechette ammo against a non-flechette source?

For Soak I have: BOD (5) + Globetrotter (12) + Ballistic Mask (2) + Cyber Armor (4) + AP Mod (3) = 26 dice.
Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/417737): 26d6t5 6
That is a pretty poor roll.  James eats 5S

I'm a little torn on whether I should do Break Away or try to get out of Suppressive Fire.  If I go the latter I'm worried that the shooters will just use Suppressive Fire again this next CT, while the former would at least require some Piloting actions, even if I only make a single hit.  The question is can I make a hit on 3 dice.  Hmm. 

I'm going to go for the REA + Edge test.  I have: REA (7) + Edge (5) - Flechette (3) = 9 dice.
REA + Edge (http://orokos.com/roll/417744): 9d6t5 5
Good call in this case.

CT2 IP4
Free: Trigger Stim Patch in Auto-Injector
Complex: Pilot V. Suppressive Fire.

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/417745): 16+4d6 29
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-11-16/1426:42>
You are not aware of all the vision enhancements the shooters may have available. To my knowledge, I have not missed any positive or negative modifiers. You are free to point out any oversights you believe may have been made.

All fire currently directed at James is flechette.

Break Away succeeds, nice work. You are now outside of the suppressive cone.

The stim patch negates James' stun damage for the next 60 minutes, at which point he will take 7S. In the meantime, there are no wound penalties.

I was going to call for initiative but you've beaten me to it.

CT3 IP1
James: 29
Shooting at fire spirit: 29
Suppressive Fire #1: 27
Grenadier: 26
Suppressive Fire #2: 22
Illeana: 19
Fire spirit: 18

Go ahead and declare and roll, as your action should be independent of the guy shooting the fire spirit.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-11-16/1556:30>
You are not aware of all the vision enhancements the shooters may have available. To my knowledge, I have not missed any positive or negative modifiers. You are free to point out any oversights you believe may have been made.

I certainly don't need to know all the mods, etc.  Just mentioning the vision thing because James has Low Light and Thermo, and he's at a -3.  An earlier post said we're in total darkness.  If they're rocking Ultrasound, they should be good to go, until James hits the 50 meter mark, should he make it that far.  None of this needs to be commented on, as it would all be OOC knowledge.

Now that James is standing can he see who's rocking the LMG and grenade launcher?  I can see an Observe in Detail being necessary for this, so it will have to wait until next pass.

James will be using the Break Away Piloting action.  Is James aware of about how much distance he's covered since the air boat went into motion?  I'm also considering Pre-Edging this, but you'll probably need to make some call here as RAW has the potential to be abusive.  On page 204 of the CRB we've got our Chase Ranges table.  We're obviously working in a "Handling Environment," as James specifically wanted somewhere woody, and we're already at Medium range, but I don't buy that 2 hits will get James 81 meters out.  I'd like the advantage to be worth the point of Edge, should the dice gods deem me worthy, but there should be some semblance of realism.  I'll leave that up to you.

For Break Away I have: REA (7) + Pilot Water Craft (2) + Edge (5) - Vision Mods (3) = 11 dice.
Break Away Pre-Edge (http://orokos.com/roll/417842): 11d6h5 1
Welp.  No rules call to be made at least.

James is at 36/42 Alpha 1/5 Edge
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-11-16/1702:46>
An Observe in Detail will indeed reveal which shooter is which.

Honestly, I've always found the vehicle and piloting rules to largely be gibberish. I don't have Rigger 5 so I don't know if they've added more details that might help clarify the situation. The Break Away test is also a bit goofy because it implies pursuit. What if nobody is pursuiing you? Do you magically come up with some additional burst of speed that the vehicle wasn't previously capable of? Is this the Sprinting version of a pilot test? If you have Rigger 5, let me know.

For the airboat, I'm using the American Airboat AirRanger from Rigger 5 (lifting the stats from Chummer) as a template, even though I have no idea how comparable they are. (The Body and Armor values are different, mostly because I had to roll for the boat before discovering that Chummer knew of something that might be comparable.) Speed is 4, Acceleration 3. The running rate of Speed 4 is 80 meters per CT, which translates into 96kph or 60mph. I have no idea how realistic that is, but it seems reasonable for our purposes.

I'm not sure Acceleration really helps us here, in terms of figuring out how quickly the boat gets up to speed. For comparison purposes, Acceleration 3 is a high value, the same as sports cars and racing bikes. Scanning strangely relevant pages (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fastest_production_motorcycles_by_acceleration) on Wikipedia, it seems that there are plenty of production motorcycles that can go from 0-60 in 3-4 seconds. Since you gave the order to go back in CT1 IP2, we'll stay that you are now at top speed by the end of CT2.

The good news is that you're flying along at 60mph and are putting some serious distance between you and the shooters every IP. The bad news is that you now need to make regular Handling tests (or trust the airboat's meager Pilot) every CT in order to avoid plowing into a tree at 60mph.

To keep things simple, we'll say that you traveled 40 meters during CT2. Earlier I said that the small island with the thick tree was 3 CTs away, but at that point I didn't think that the airboat could accelerate quite as quickly as it actually can. We'll say that it was 100 meters away originally and you have since covered 25 meters of that. You have 75 meters to go.

You are now 40 meters away from your original position, but you don't know how close the shooters were when they opened fire. Presumably you are further away from the 7 o'clock position shooters, but you may actually be nearer to the 4 o'clock position shooters now.

Late to a meeting. More later.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-11-16/1755:09>
Shooting at Fire Spirit: Agility + Firearms + Bulky + Smartlink + Take Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/417870): ?d6t5 4 hits

Fire spirit dodge: Reaction 11 + Intuition 8 - Background Count 5 - SA Burst 2 - Wounds 2 - Third Attack 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/417871): 8d6t5 0 hits, my poor fire spirit!

Fire spirit soak: Body 10 + Armor 9 (http://orokos.com/roll/417872): 19d6t5 8 hits, decides to roll well on the soak but not the dodge.

Spirit soaks 8 plus 5 auto-hits. That leaves 3P unaccounted for. The spirit is now up to 10P.

I'll resolve the rest later.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-11-16/2232:35>
Honestly, I've always found the vehicle and piloting rules to largely be gibberish.

Yep.

I thought they had made some sort of vehicle speed table in Rigger 5, but if so I'm having a hard time finding it.  There is this[/u]]http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=22807.msg419909#msg419909this (http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=22807.msg419909#msg419909[u) post which makes a lot of sense.  To back that interpretation up, page 173 of Rigger 5 says, "Speed is defined as a general value rather than a rate of meters per turn."  That all said, the approximates that we've been using in this game -- reducing meta movement down to AGI, AGIX2, etc. and applying speeds to vehicles -- has worked pretty well for us. 

Is this the Sprinting version of a pilot test? If you have Rigger 5, let me know.

That was my intention with the roll.  It seems that what I wanted, though, was the new Change Speed action, which is a Simple Action -- could've taken that Observe in Detail after all -- that allows you to increase speed up to your Acceleration rating in a combat turn.  Speed may only be decreased by 1 in the same period of time -- not mentioned but that should be much longer for boats.

For the airboat, I'm using the American Airboat AirRanger from Rigger 5 (lifting the stats from Chummer) as a template, even though I have no idea how comparable they are. (The Body and Armor values are different, mostly because I had to roll for the boat before discovering that Chummer knew of something that might be comparable.) Speed is 4, Acceleration 3. The running rate of Speed 4 is 80 meters per CT, which translates into 96kph or 60mph. I have no idea how realistic that is, but it seems reasonable for our purposes.

Just looked it up.  It's a really good pick, actually.  Flavor fits what we're doing quite well.

To keep things simple, we'll say that you traveled 40 meters during CT2. Earlier I said that the small island with the thick tree was 3 CTs away, but at that point I didn't think that the airboat could accelerate quite as quickly as it actually can. We'll say that it was 100 meters away originally and you have since covered 25 meters of that. You have 75 meters to go.

You are now 40 meters away from your original position, but you don't know how close the shooters were when they opened fire. Presumably you are further away from the 7 o'clock position shooters, but you may actually be nearer to the 4 o'clock position shooters now.

That works for me.  Just to make sure I'm understanding everything, the water craft has traveled 40 meters total, but is only 25 meters closer to the island, correct? 

Also, they did nerf Break Away in Rigger 5, though.  Now a Threshold is set by the Terrain -- 0 can be a threshold -- and any hits above that threshold shifts the Range category up by 1. 

Are James and Illeana still in the Mana Surge?

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-12-16/0319:05>
I intentionally did not divide the airboat speed in half. Some quick searching suggested that 60mph was not unrealistic. Or, just as importantly, was more realistic than 30mph.

A Change Speed action seems unnecessary because you are already going at the vehicle's maximum velocity, unless there is a type of Sprinting action that I don't know about.

You have traveled 40 meters total since you gave the command to the boat to go (CT1 IP2). You have traveled 25 meters since I said there was an island with a tree in front of you (CT2 IP2). The 15 meters traveled during that CT represents the acceleration of the boat (i.e. the fan getting up to speed) and changing your course to the east.

Next grenade: Agility + Heavy Weapons + Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/418011): ?d6t5 4 hits

You get to dodge this one. I believe the dice pool is Reaction + Intuition. It seems like Moving Vehicle +3 should apply, so it will, The wording is unclear but it appears that the limit may be Handling, which would be 4.

Fire spirit using Fear: Magic 8 + Willpower 8 - Background Count 5 - Wounds 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/418014): 9d6t5 3 hits
Goon resist: Willpower + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/418015): ?d6t5 2 hits

Another goon jumps off into the swamp to get away from the flaming will o' wisp.

The suppressive fire stops behind you. ICly, James may attribute this to a need to reload, given the 9 seconds of sustained suppressive fire.

You don't know if you've left the mana surge or not, but Illeana still looks incapacitated.

Next
Roll to dodge
CT3 IP2
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-12-16/1100:59>
Where is the wording that implies a Handling limit on Defense tests in vehicles?  Related question: what happens with a Glancing Hit on AoEs?  I'm hesitant to go Full Defense, if James and Illeana would still be soaking damage.  Does James have Partial Cover?

For defense I have: REA (7) + INT (6) = 13 dice.
Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/418114): 13d6t5 8
Well, 4 at the worst, and dodged the frag out of it at best.  I forgot the 3 dice for inside a moving vehicle, but rolling now just seems redundant. 

Ok, Piloting for this CT is taken care of so James is going to try to return fire.

CT3 IP2
Simple: Observe in Detail
Simple: 6 round burst at grenadier
Free: Switch Firing Mode to FA

For Observe in Detail I have: INT (6) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Vision Enhancement (2) + Specifically Looking (3) - Vision Mods (3) = 16 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/418119): 16d6t5 3
Not great percentage-wise, but 3 hits is enough for Obscured, so I imagine that lets him see the grenadier -- and LMG chummer if the GM is feeling charitable.

The Alpha is on a sling, but not at the ready.  I'm going to make a Quick Draw test, and then take the -2 penalty for firing a large weapon without using both hands.  I figure James will have both hands on it, but this seems like the best way to handle the crunch.  Let me know if that's too much, and we'll figure out something else.

For Quick Draw I have: REA (7) + Firearms Group (8) = 15 dice.
Quick Draw (http://orokos.com/roll/418123): 15d6t5 6

For recoil I have: Free (1) + STR/3 (3) + Gas Vent III (3) = 7.

For shooting I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group (8) - Attacker Inside a Moving Vehicle (2) - Vision Mods (3) = 14 dice.
Shoot Grenadier (http://orokos.com/roll/418126): 14d6t5 3
Pretty weak.  I'm really tempted to use that last point of Edge, but I feel it may be more necessary for a botched Defense test.

I'm seeing Smartlinks listed on the opposing rolls, so I'm going to roll that separately.  Maybe they remembered to bring their Satellite Link, or maybe I get the dice.
Smartlink? (http://orokos.com/roll/418134): 2d6t5 0
No help, regardless.

Grenadier is at -5 to defense.  Base damage is 11P -6AP

James is at 30/42 Alpha 1/5 Edge
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-12-16/1805:34>
When dodging a Ramming attack the target (if a vehicle) rolls Reaction + Intuition [Handling] (p. 203).

Page 205 says "When a vehicle is attacked in combat, the driver rolls his Reaction + Intuition as the defense part of the Opposed Test. Drones roll their Pilot + Autosoft [Handling]." So Handling is not explicitly listed for a driver but it is for a drone on Pilot.

It's another inconsistency and there are good arguments on both side. For using Handling, it's used to avoid ramming attacks, and by drones, and seems reasonable/logical. For the case against, the Limit is not consistently given, nor is there precedent for avoiding Physical attacks being limited by the defender's Physical limit (although this isn't a bad idea).

I'm going to say it is limited by Handling because it seems logical that there's some loss of dodging ability between controlling yourself (REA+INT) and controlling a vehicle manually (also REA+INT).

In this case the grenade gets 0 net hits and scatters. Scatter (http://orokos.com/roll/418283): ?d6 11 meters

James successfully evades the grenade, which explodes outside of its effective range.

Observe in detail: you see a burly metahuman. Your best guess at this distance/speed/condition is a short but muscular ork. He/she is behind half a tree stump that looks like it was recently chewed up by APDS ammo.

In the same glance, you see a troll with an LMG (at the 4:30 position). He/she appears to be swapping a clip or a belt or something to that effect.

Quick draw is for "pistol, pistol-sized weapon, or small throwing weapon" (p. 165) so the Alpha doesn't qualify. I think you need an adept power to quick draw anything larger than a machine pistol. You could potentially quick draw a different weapon.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-12-16/1918:39>
I'm going to say it is limited by Handling because it seems logical that there's some loss of dodging ability between controlling yourself (REA+INT) and controlling a vehicle manually (also REA+INT).

Makes sense to me.

Ok, so since the Alpha can't be fired, I guess I'll spend the second Simple Action Readying his weapon.

ETA: Range on grenadier ork and LMG murder troll?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-12-16/2006:05>
CT3 IP2
James: 19
Shooting at fire spirit: 19
Suppressive Fire #1: 17
Grenadier: 16
Suppressive Fire #2: 12
Illeana: 9
Fire spirit: 8

Shooting at fire spirit
Shooting at fire spirit for the fifth time: Agility + Firearms + Bulky + Smartlink + Take Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/418310): ?d6t5 2 hits
Fire spirit dodge: Reaction 11 + Intuition 8 - Background Count 5 - SA Burst 2 - Wounds 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/418311): 10d6t5 4 hits

Fire spirit dodges.

Suppressive fire #1
Suppressive fire #1 is going to ready a grenade and throw it at the fire spirit. Agility + Throwing Weapons - Range (http://orokos.com/roll/418315): ?d6t5 3 hits
Fire spirit is going to dodge: Reaction 11 + Intuition 8 - Background Count 5 - Wounds 2 - Second attack 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/418316): 11d6t5 5 hits

Grenade gets no net hits and scatters (http://orokos.com/roll/418317): 1d6 4 meters

The good news is that the grenade bloops into the water and detonates underneath the surface. The bad news is that it sends up a spray of water that splashes the fire spirit, much to its dismay. This does not cause immediate damage but applies a -4 modifier to the spirit's actions.

Grenadier
Grenading James again: Agility + Heavy Weapons + Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/418319): 10d6t5 5 hits

That's for you to dodge, same as before. It has more hits than the boat has Handling but you can still make it scatter.

LMG
Suppressive Fire #2 is actually the LMG. Having completed whatever he or she was doing last IP, he or she squeezes off a full-auto burst: Agility + Heavy Weapons + Smartlink (http://orokos.com/roll/418321): ?d6t5 6 hits, this is within the weapon's Accuracy so all hits are kept

Illeana uses the Protecting the Principle Edge maneuver from Run & Gun. From her prone position, she heroically flings herself in over James and eats the incoming fire. She does not get a dodge roll but I am going to roll the dice for Partial Cover and Moving Vehicle since those should still count.

Modifiers: Partial Cover 2 + Moving Vehicle 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/418324): 5d6t5 3 hits

That still leaves 3 hits, so she gets to soak 13P +2AP. Body 5 + Lined Coat 9 + Ballistic Mask 2 + AP 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/418325): 19d6t5 5 hits

The modified damage rating does not exceed her modified armor rating, so the damage is Stun instead of Physical. Illeana takes 8S. This exceeds her Physical Limit (which is 7 at the moment), so she suffers Knockdown.

The Edge maneuver makes her Initiative score 4, then she loses 2 more due to damage. Her new initiative score is 2.

Fire Spirit
Using Fear: Magic 8 + Willpower 8 - Background Count 5 - Wounds 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/418329): 8d6t5 5 minus 2 hits because I forgot the -4 penalty for exposure to water
Goon resist: Willpower + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/418330): 6d6t5 2 hits
Goon selection: Goon selection (http://orokos.com/roll/418331): 1d5 1

Yet another goon flees into the swamp.

Illeana
Free: <<are you okay??>>
Complex: probably taking some deep breaths (hold action)

Next
Dodge your grenade
CT3 IP3
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-12-16/2336:38>
For Defense I have: REA (7) + INT (6) = 13 dice.
Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/418399): 13d6t5 5
Fingers crossed on the scatter, and I again forgot the +3 for being inside a moving vehicle.

I'm not sure if Illeana had an IP1 action, or if she was incapacitated in some way.

How are we playing the Suppressive Fire?  Illeana is now prone.  I'm assuming that James will need to be as well to avoid taking any damage during IP3, or will James be able to act unimpeded this pass.  I'm just not sure how that Interrupt actions pairs with Suppressive Fire. 

Bah, I had to set this down, and now I have to leave it.  Will write up IP3 actions soon, and stuff about Fear soon.

What's the distance between James, and the grenadier, the troll, and their distance from each other?   
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-13-16/0027:05>
Illeana has been laying low, as she has the mother of all migraines.
The suppressive fire stops behind you. ICly, James may attribute this to a need to reload, given the 9 seconds of sustained suppressive fire.

There is no suppressive fire. There has not been any suppressive fire during CT3.

James isn't using a range finder and does not know the distance to the grenadier or the troll nor the distance between the two. He's looking over his shoulder while driving at 60mph, so estimations is difficult.

The grenadier is at the 4 o'clock position, so he/she is closest. More than 20 meters away but less than 50.

The troll is at the 4:30 position so he/she is further away than the grenadier. 50 meters would be a ballpark estimate, but the estimate could be off by quite a bit.

Grenade scatter: Scatter (http://orokos.com/roll/418436): 2d6 8 meters

James can buy hits against the 2S. Illeana needs to roll. Body 5 + Lined Coat 9 + Mask 2 - AP 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/418437): 12d6t5 4 hits, no extra damage
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-13-16/1047:58>
There is no suppressive fire. There has not been any suppressive fire during CT3.

That's right.  I misread.

As for distance, and the upcoming questions, I'm just trying to get a sense of what things look like from James' perspective.  Sounds like the grenadier is not currently on a vehicle, but the LMG chummer might be.  If he's in tall grass James wouldn't be able to tell in these lighting conditions most likely.  I'm also not sure if at that distance James would be able to tell if he can get both the grenadier and the troll in a Suppressive Fire cone.  I'm going to chance it.  If James can, then great.  If not, and he has a choice, he'll direct more fire at the troll who just shot up his girlfriend.  If he doesn't have a choice, we'll leave it to the dice gods, or put the fire between the two -whoops!

CT3 IP3
Free: Comm Illeana
Complex: Suppressive Fire

For Suppressive Fire I have: AGI (11) + Firearms Group (8) - Attacker in a Moving Vehicle (2) - Vision Mods (3) = 14 dice.
Suppressive Fire (http://orokos.com/roll/418539): 14d6t5 7
Boy, I probably just should've picked a target with that roll.  Accuracy is 6 if the Alpha doesn't benefit from Smartlink, and 8 if it does, due to James' Personalized Grip.  Suppressive Fire should last until the end of CT4 IP2, right?  Or are we going by a strict RAW interpretation which says it ends at the end of the CT?

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/418540): 16+4d6 34

By RAW it does not appear as though James can use a Free action to comm Illeana after he starts Suppressive Firing, so my first IP action will just be to maintain the Suppressive Fire cone.

James is at 10/42 Alpha 1/5 Edge.

ETA: Base damage is 11P -6AP.

Do you want to handle the next IC?  Illeana saving James' hoop is a pretty cool move, and I'd hate to deprive you.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-13-16/1517:14>
Ah, geometry. Can James catch LMG and Grenadier in the same cone of fire? Let's flip for it rather than me digging out a protractor.

Coin flip: 1 = no, 2 = yes (http://orokos.com/roll/418653): 1d2 1, equals no, so just the LMG

You can keep all the hits.

Suppressive fire is a funny beast. I like it, but which modifiers should apply? If you are targeting a 10 meter area, which is huge, should vision modifiers apply? Maybe yes, but offset by the target-size modifiers from Run & Gun? That would be +3. Seems reasonable, but is that too complex? Probably. What about other environmental modifiers, like wind? Does it matter if you're just shooting to make someone keeping their head down (i.e. shooting randomly, so wind hardly matters), or are you actually shooting at anything that moves (i.e. more precisely, so wind might matter)? Do I ask too many questions?

Ignoring the implication that characters with more IPs can somehow make their guns shoot faster the characters with less IPs, we'll note that a Full-Auto Complex action is 10 rounds. Since James is a super-soldier with a smartlink, and therefore more control than most, we'll say that he can either burn through his suppressive fire in 2 IPs or 1 CT, whichever he prefers.

Troll dodge: Reaction + Edge (http://orokos.com/roll/418664): ?d6t5 2 hits

Suppressive fire scores a hit.

Troll soak: Body + Armor - AP (http://orokos.com/roll/418666): ?d6t5 7 hits

LMG takes 4 boxes of unknown damage.

I'll handle the next IC to give Illeana the spotlight. I'll tackle the remaining actions of CT3 IP3 later this afternoon/evening.

CT3 IP3
James: 9
Shooting at fire spirit: 9
Grenading fire spirit: 7
Grenadier (4:00): 6
LMG (4:30): still 2 (not 1 due to DV) due to unknown forces
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-14-16/0142:59>
Sniper
Shooting at fire spirit: Agility + Firearms + Bulky + Smartlink + Take Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/418873): ?d6t5 1 hit
Fire spirit dodge: Reaction 11 + Intuition 8 - Background Count 5 - SA Burst 2 - Wounds 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/418874): 10d6t5 3 hits

That's a miss.

Grenading the fire spirit
Action hidden

Grenadier
Grenading the airboat: Agility + Heavy Weapons + Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/418875): ?d6t5 0 hits, ugh
Scatter: Scatter (http://orokos.com/roll/418876): 3d6 14 meters, nowhere near you

LMG
Getting revenge on James: Agility + Heavy Weapons + Smartlink + Aim (http://orokos.com/roll/418877): ?d6t5 8 hits, I actually forgot a die but it's moot because hits are limited to 7 by Accuracy anyway

Tough spot here, as Illeana doesn't have any Initiative to spend on an interrupt to protect the principle again. You get +2 for Partial Cover and +3 for being in a moving vehicle, but you're at -4 for space constraints (no room to dodge), -5 for a long burst, and -3 for flechette. You've spent your Free Action so you can't drop prone, nor do you have enough Initiative to drop prone as an interrupt action nor go on Full Defense. I think that leaves you about 7 dice to dodge 7 hits.

DV is 11P +3AP plus net hits.

If you dodge a couple hits, that should get the damage down into Stun. In theory you should soak ~9 boxes, leaving you well-bruised but conscious (at least until the stim patch wears off.) Your Physical limit is 10 when checking for Knockdown.

Philosophical question: would knockdown push James over the edge of the boat that's traveling 60mph? Hmm!
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-14-16/0835:00>
Tough spot here, as Illeana doesn't have any Initiative to spend on an interrupt to protect the principle again. You get +2 for Partial Cover and +3 for being in a moving vehicle, but you're at -4 for space constraints (no room to dodge), -5 for a long burst, and -3 for flechette. You've spent your Free Action so you can't drop prone, nor do you have enough Initiative to drop prone as an interrupt action nor go on Full Defense. I think that leaves you about 7 dice to dodge 7 hits.

Isn't James still at Initiative 9?  I thought you only lost your score at the end of each Pass, which would still leave James the 5 he needed to Hit the Dirt?

For Defense I have: REA (7) + Intuition (6) + Partial Cover (2) + Moving Vehicle (3) - Space Constraints (4) Long Burst (5) - Flechette (3) = 6 dice.
Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/418930): 6d6t5 0
Oh, ho, ho, it's not meant to be.

So James is Soaking 18P +3AP.

I have: BOD (5) + Globetrotter Jacket (12) + Ballistic Mask (2) + Cyber Armor (4) + AP Mods (3) = 26 dice.  Still looking at Stun damage.
Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/418931): 26d6t5 10
Not bad.  James stays standing, and he's got another Stim Patch on him.  14S in one hour isn't going to be lovely, but it's manageable.

In addition to the -2 to James' Initiative score for Wound Modifiers, I've neglected to take my lowered Intuition into account for accounting Initiative.  For CT4, my score should be 31, dropped to 29 with Wound Modifiers.  REA (7) + INT (6) = 13 + 4d6, not 16+4d6, as I've been rolling. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-14-16/1317:37>
The book says don't subtract 10 until the end of the IP, but I think that's to:
1) simplify bookkeeping, and
2) avoid any possible interpretation that someone with initiative 19 gets to act on both 19 and 9 before someone who is at 8 or lower.

#2 was the 1E/2E approach to initiative, which resulted in the street samurai mopping up all the opposition before anyone else acted. It was not fun for the group as a whole.

Another implication of not subtracting 10 until the end of the IP is that it would essentially grant everyone a free interrupt action on their last IP, which certainly doesn't seem to be the intent.

Conceptually, I'm not opposed to the idea of "borrowing" initiative from the following CT but I haven't put enough thought into the implementation and potential consequences. It would certainly be reasonable, since CTs are an artificial construct of a turn-based game, but it would also require more bookkeeping.

That said, we can experiment. The primary advantage to dropping prone would be to improve your cover from Partial to Good. That would add +2 dice to defend, plus you should still have 1 die left from Combat Sense. (The F6 spell is reduced to F1 by the background count, which preserves 1 hit.) If you want to go that route, we can subtract 5 from your CT4 Initiative. If so, roll your 3 and subtract any hits from your 8S. Otherwise, you can still roll your +1 from Combat Sense, or save it for your next soak.

Note that James cannot pilot the boat from the prone position. He will be depending on the boat's Pilot and Sensor ratings, and hoping that they know what to do at 60mph in the dark. It also means that you will not be able to dodge any future grenade attacks by piloting the boat manually.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-14-16/1412:00>
Interesting discussion, but I think it's a moot point.  I took a closer look at Hit the Dirt, and it's only good against Suppressive Fire, so it will not save James' bacon in this case, and I don't think it's worth the cost for 2 extra dice.  I will take advantage of the die for Combat Sense, though. 

Combat Sense (http://orokos.com/roll/419029): 1d6t5 1
That's lucky.  That drops James down to 7 stun.

As for the discussion, though, I see your points, especially concerning the basically free Interrupt Action on the last pass, which I agree is not likely to be RAI.  I know I don't want NPCs using it ;) 

As for Piloting, my understanding is that so long as a Piloting action is made each CT, the air boat will not need to rely on its auto-pilot.  So, James could effectively shoot during his first two passes, and then take control of the boat on his third.  Is that your understanding as well?  I'm getting that from the "Action" section on page 202 of the CRB.  Let me know if I need to adjust my ordering in IPs.

The air boat has now traveled 80 meters since the beginning of CT3.  That's about 26 meters a pass, assuming 3 passes per CT.  This should also put them at the island, should there be any cover benefits for skirting past the north side of it.  That said, they've got a long ways to go before they get out of Medium range for the LMG, but things will go quicker for the grenade launcher.  I'm re-thinking bailing into the swamp, but that's somewhat dependent on how cover starts to look the further they get away from the opposing shooters.  Since this is a pretty wooded area, at what point will they be breaking LoS?  Is there some sort of Piloting test that James can make to accelerate that process?

Since it's entirely possible that at least one participant from team geek James and Illeana will go first, I'll hold off on declaring my actions for CT4 IP1.

James is at 10/42 Alpha, 1/5 Edge, 7/12S, 0/10P.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-14-16/1451:54>
You do need to pilot once each CT. I mentioned it in this case because, yes, you're at the island, and you probably don't want to hit it. At least, not at 60mph. Making sure that you don't hit it will require a test. If James does not make it, Illeana (defaulting) or the Pilot will. It's a relatively simple test (Threshold 1), but it would be bad not to make it. After that, James will be free to shoot for a couple of passes, although the fan to the rear of the boat may complicate things depending on the heading you choose. In theory there should probably additional negative modifiers from shooting from a standing position on an open-air boat going 60mph, both for balance concerns and airflow reasons. (I probably should have used Strong Winds for James' last shooting action.)

With a slightly more complex test (Threshold 2), James could use the island and tree to break LOS with at least one of the shooters.

Illeana's Regeneration roll: Body 5 + Magic 12 - Background Count 5 (http://orokos.com/roll/419049): 12d6t5 8 hits

Goodness, I didn't even need her 5 auto-hits. She's back at 0S.

CT4 IP1
James: 29
Grenadier (4:00): 25
Shooting at fire spirit: 24
LMG: 21
Illeana: 20
Fire spirit: 18
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-14-16/1604:59>
It sounds like James needs to make his Piloting test this IP, lest he run into he island.  Goodness, that's going to be some stacking of negative modifiers.  I'm not sure why I didn't put all of James' Stim Patches in his Auto-Injector.  That's something I plan to rectify going forward.

CT4 IP1
Complex: Pilot Water Craft
Free: Comm Illeana

For Piloting I have: REA (7) + Pilot Water Craft (2) - Vision Mods (3) - Wound Modifiers (2) = 4 dice.
Pilot (http://orokos.com/roll/419064): 4d6t5 2
Lucky break.  Looking forward to seeing who we break LoS with.

James will likely be going Full Defense so long as that has an effect.  You ruled that Full Defense is not allowed for Suppressive Fire against Flechette ammo, but is it still ok vs. direct attacks?

I'm also trying to figure out how much OOC knowledge James would be able to intuit ICly.  If James and Illeana are still in the AoE -- for lack of a better term -- of the Mana Surge, and considering that the enemy shooters don't seem to be taking Vision Penalties, I'm leaning toward some crazy mojo being responsible -- these new additions also being vessels of Possession Spirits, for instance.  The lack of Astral Combat directed toward Illeana undermines this theory, but considering how she has been prone for most of this combat, that could very well explain it.  The other spanner in the works is that the Fire Spirit has been very successful using its Fear power, and that doesn't seem likely if it was doing so against Possessed Vessels.  So, maybe I just don't know what's going on at all.  James must be as confused ICly as rednblack is unclear OOCly. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-14-16/1722:21>
Nailed your roll. You have broken LOS with the LMG.

Full Defense is a bit of a question mark in this instance. If you're applying it to James' person, then the limitations of the boat's space still pretty much require him to jump overboard to improve his defensive position significantly, or at least as significantly as Full Defense implies. If you go Full Defense while driving/piloting, then you are still limited by Handling. Plus, defensive maneuvers would potentially put you back into LOS of one or more shooters. Given the less-than-lethal nature of the grenades, James may decide just to take his chances and soak any that get through.

ICly, James is not explicitly aware of the effectiveness of the fire spirit, although he might reasonably conclude that it has helped draw away a significant amount of fire.

ICly, James could reasonably appreciate:
1) the relative speed/initiative of his attackers
2) their combat tactics
3) their aim

I'll roll the rest out this afternoon or evening. I'll try to get an IC up that takes us through Illeana's protecting the principle action. You can IC for James' response, James getting shot, then James taking the helm to dodge the island.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-15-16/0029:05>
CT4 IP1
James: 29
Grenadier (4:00): 25
Shooting at fire spirit: 24
LMG: 21
Illeana: 20
Fire spirit: 18

Grenadier & Sniper & LMG
Actions Hidden

Illeana
Illeana blankets herself over James, providing effective cover but making it challenging to steer and/or shoot effectively

Fire Spirit
Using Fear: Magic 8 + Willpower 8 - Background Count 5 - Wounds 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/419206): 8d6t5 4 hits
Resisting Fear: Willpower + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/419207): ?d6t5 4 hits, not this time

CT4 IP2
Thing are quieting down. James and Illeana do not hear any active gunfire, although the fan and 60mph wind and the boat crashing through the water do make hearing exceedingly difficult.

Action to James

Note: I'm not seeing a 2nd stim patch available on his load-out for the meet.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-15-16/1204:14>
CT4 IP2
Thing are quieting down. James and Illeana do not hear any active gunfire, although the fan and 60mph wind and the boat crashing through the water do make hearing exceedingly difficult.

Action to James

Quieting down, and hidden actions.  Well, nothing like that to make a player paranoid.  Fluff for Select Sound Filter says that it "lets you block out background noise. . ." but the rule text says that you use it to "select a single sound group. . . and focus on it."  James is going to set his Select Sound Filter to focus on engine noises and his Spatial Recognizer to pinpoint any of those noises in the distance.

CT4 IP2
Free: Select Sound Filter
Simple: Observe in Detail
Simple: Ready Weapon

For Observe in Detail I have: INT (6) + Perception (6) + Audio Enhancement (2) + Spatial Recognizer (2) + Specifically Looking (Hearing) (3) - Wound Mods (2) = 17 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Audio (http://orokos.com/roll/419302): 17d6t5 6
Wiz.

Note: I'm not seeing a 2nd stim patch available on his load-out for the meet.

I'm not seeing it either.  To mitigate this problem in the future I'm creating a section on my char sheet for Current Load Out, so I won't be relying on memory anymore.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-16-16/1352:24>
Let's drop out of IPs and go CT-to-CT for the moment. Given the wound modifiers, let's assume 3 IPs per CT.

James can't hear any pursuit. He knows that he must continue to vigilant, given that this is not his home turf but it may (or may not) be territory intimately familiar to the opposition.

To finish off CT4, Illeana will release her fire spirit then attempt to summon a water spirit. It will have to be reasonably powerful to counteract the background count.

Summoning F8 Water Spirit: Magic 12 + Conjuring 4 - Background Count 5 (http://orokos.com/roll/419486): 11d6t5 3 hits, let's Edge that
Edge reroll 8 (http://orokos.com/roll/419487): 8d6t5 4 hits

7 hits total.

F8 water spirit, no background count yet because it technically hasn't been summoned yet: Resist summoning (http://orokos.com/roll/419488): 8d6t5 0 hits

Well that one didn't put up any fight. Maybe I should have done F9 to get the third optional power.

Soaking 2 boxes of drain: Willpower 6 + Intuition 7 (http://orokos.com/roll/419568): 13d6t5 7 hits, definitely should have summoned something bigger

Optional powers: Guard and Weather Control.

Services: Guard, Movement, Concealment, Weather Control

3/7 services remaining, 3/5 Edge remaining
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-16-16/1714:55>
Ok, so let's look at immediate, intermediary, and long term goals. 

Within the next few seconds, James will swap out his nearly spent mag for a fresh one, pilot the craft, and keep a close eye out for any combatants. 

In the next few minutes, he will swap out his APDS for Ex-Exlosive on his Crusader II, pilot the craft, keep close ears and eyes out for any combatants, and set course for the coast near a lonely stretch of road where they can rendezvous with Stevens.  If the speedometer on the air boat is accurate, near accurate, James will estimate the time it will take to get back to the RV, and hope that he'll still be conscious.  I don't see this being an issue, but I'd like to know if it's likely to be.  He'll also be checking in with Illeana on whether or not they exit the Mana Surge.

Assuming nothing frags up so far, the first long term goal is to have a conversation with Illeana about retreating and getting the frag out of Louisiana, vs. setting a trap for these guys at the boat rental.  If it were James, and he'd found the Waveskimmer, and there's no way these guys didn't find the Waveskimmer, he'd want to be at the boat rental place as soon as they opened so he could start planning the next trap.  But for this, they're likely to send a pair or trio -- face and muscle -- and the face is likely to have some intel that will close the matter permanently -- or know someone who does. 

Then it's on to the RV and either crashing hard or gearing up for the next move.

Those are the broad strokes.  If James can star to have that conversation with Illeana before something happens I'll roll that into my next IC.  If not, then here's to hoping that they at least get out of the Mana Surge first.

Also, let me know if you want any Perception tests.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-17-16/0127:00>
James does not hear any Waveskippers but, given his good Perception roll, he does hear the high-pitched hum of other airboats.

Unless you crash or navigate yourself into a dead end, you will outrun them. Crashing is unlikely given the spirit's Guard power.

Give me a Navigation roll, minus wound modifiers. We'll do a teamwork test since Illeana knows a bit about Navigation too although the background count eats most of her dice. Intuition 7 + Navigation 1 - Background Count 5 = 3 dice = 2 hits. That counterbalances your wound modifier.

The fatigue and environment rules are a bit of a hash but the temperature and humidity it seems that I should have made you roll for fatigue at least once during the combat, maybe twice. The same is true for the trip back to Stevens (maybe once, maybe twice, depending on interpretation). The water spirit will help, so let's call it two rolls: one for combat and one for the trip back. The first one you are soaking 1S, the second one you are soaking 2S. Your dice pool:

Body 5 + Willpower 7 - Half Armor 7 - Insulation 2 = 3 dice

You can improve your dice pool by removing your armor, if you are brave enough. It should be okay, but sometimes the swamp doesn't cooperate.

As long as you don't try to double-back or make any side excursions, you can make it back to Stevens before James' hour is up. Do you have any plans for your airboat once you reach Stevens?

The mana surge will not abate until you are back on solid ground, so around the time Illeana is feeling much much better, James will be feeling much much worse.

We can IC the conversation with James and Illeana or we can cover it at a high level here. Illeana will ask what the goal is for creating a trap. From her standpoint, the biggest advantage would be to potentially recover the Waveskipper so that James' SIN doesn't get burned, but she's not sure that the potential loss (¥9,000 SIN) outweighs the potential risks.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-17-16/1648:03>
For Navigation I have: INT (6) + Navigation (4) + Teamwork Test (2) - Wound Modifiers (2) = 10 dice.
Navigation (http://orokos.com/roll/419882): 10d6t5 3
Not bad.

Fatigue and environment rules are crazy harsh.  I think it's odd that by RAW you're better off being naked in a very hot environment, while in the real world there's a reason why the Bedouin wear long tunics.  I'd ask if the wind was any benefit, but let's be honest, while wearing a Globetrotter Jacket and Ballistic Mask, there isn't much of James' skin exposed to feel the wind through his hair.  Rolling 3 dice twice.

Fatigue V. 1 S (http://orokos.com/roll/419887): 3d6t5 2

Fatigue V. 2 S (http://orokos.com/roll/419889): 3d6t5 1
James takes 1 additional box of Stun.

As for the air boat, James will want to discuss that with Illeana.  He can see a few possibilities. 

1. leave a few HE grenades taped together, armed and set to Motion Sensor under a seat or some drek like that.  It's expensive and wasteful, and probably doesn't offer any actual game benefit or tactical advantage.  Plus, there's the chance that the air boat isn't found tonight, and some kids or a passing Lonestar officer finds it instead.
2. Sink the air boat.
3. Give the air boat instructions on piloting itself to a quiet spot off solid land and then power down.  James and Illeana can come back for it later.

Mana Surge stays with us all the way until we get on solid ground, eh?  Weird.  Per James' earlier roll -- or I can make a new one if you'd prefer -- does that mean anything to James?  Does that seem more or less likely to make it a manufactured event?  James will reach out to Illeana on this point as well.  Probably the first thing he's going to say to her is, "They were all possessed, weren't they?"

As for the goal of the trap, James will probably respond with some quote from Machiavelli: "'Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot.'" Or from Damien Knight himself, as quoted in one of his poli-sci textbooks: "'Pacification should be pronounced, complete, and timely, for governance shall be judged in honey and wine once the host has quit the field.'"

Basically, James will be worried that unless they leave Louisiana soon, or find out exactly what the capabilities of this group are, they may have some trouble again somewhere down the line.  The fact that the anti-magic capabilities they brought to the table were so impressive gives James pause to wonder if they had some foreknowledge of Illeana's capabilities.  It won't be hard to convince James otherwise, though.  Bed's sounding really good to him about now.

OOCly, I'm interested in this group and their capabilities.  Part of me was almost hoping that they'd get overpowered to see what was gonna happen with James and Illeana in their custody -- assuming that they wouldn't be summarily executed and become behemoth food.  Which is basically to say that I found this whole encounter terrifying and really exciting.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-18-16/0028:44>
Illeana will claim that she didn't ever seen them (as she was face-down on the bottom of the boat most of the time) and so doesn't know if they were possessed or not. The exception might be the sniper who started the encounter, but that was just the briefest glimpse. To the best of her knowledge, the sniper was not possessed, but it is also possible that they were possessed and were using Masking.

Illeana would vote for #3 with the airboat. She thinks it is likely that a swamp dweller will eventually run off with it if James and Illeana don't retrieve it, but it would be good to have it as an option for another day or two.

James' earlier, strong roll for Magic Theory still stands. The mana surge lasting until they are on land suggests that the surge is coming from the river/swamp itself. Given the duration and the size of it, Illeana will suspect that it was a natural phenomenon, inconveniently timed, rather than the intentional product of their opponents.

Conversely, James, with his good roll, will know that it is possible for geomancers to trigger ebbs and surges. See "sheng effect" from p. 36 of Street Grimoire, for one example. However, these are time-consuming rituals for powerful initiates. Presumably someone with that sort of power would have other magical ways of kicking your ass all over the place. However, potential exceptions include:
1) a magician that was good at geomancy but not necessarily good at summoning spirits or casting combat spells, or,
2) someone who was aware of Illeana's temporary Magic rating of 12 (or 18 or whatever she was posing as) and didn't want to fight fair.

James will also wonder about the combat tactics. Why all the flechette suppressive fire, but then a sniper not firing flechette? Or was the sniper firing gel, or capsules, or something else intending to disable but not kill? (Illeana will suspect not, given the damage the sniper was able to do to a powerful spirit, but James would remind her that a sniper could reload with different ammunition type as the situation changed.) Why the less-than-lethal grenades?

As for the unknown groups that may or may not be in pursuit, welcome to Tabula Rasa. This has been James' and Illeana's experience for the entire duration of their new lives. Illeana will say that they either live on the run and "suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, / And by opposing end them." Of course, she means kicking some goons in the nuts, not committing suicide, but James may not know what Hamlet was really suggesting by the line.

Go ahead and toss your IC up and we can go from there. You can advance things as far as you want, up until the point where James passes out.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-18-16/1511:10>
Really great IC post. Excellent summary of all the OOC back-and-forth.

Illeana will say that she's is done in Louisiana and that she's ready to migrate north toward Boston / Salem / MIT&T.

If James wants to potentially intercept potential targets at the airboat rental place, we can do that.

If James is also done in Louisiana, then that would bring us to the end of Chapter II. We would do karma and then pick-up the story down the road. We can also check in on what parts are fun, what parts are less fun, and goals for Chapter III.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-18-16/1602:06>
Let's move things to the northeast. 

I'm looking forward to some of that sweet, sweet karma.  That said, I'm not sure what I want to do with it yet.  Buying First Impression will definitely be useful, but it's awfully expensive too.  Tracking is likely to see a boost too, if our locale offers some rural environs.  Otherwise, I don't know whether or not I just just try to spam Edge.

As for the game as  whole, I'll let you ask any specific questions you may have, but I'm still having a blast.  High points for me so far have been trying to survive in the swamp, the behemoth babies, and all that went along with that.  I like the continuing development between James and Illeana, and I'm looking forward to this new trip to MIT&T.  Combat has been diverse and exciting, and I think you've made great use of the rules for Navigation, Survival, and Fatigue to get across that the world is an unforgiving and scary place. 

In combat, I'd like the opportunity to makes James' tactical knowledge shine, but that can be difficult with theatre of the mind.  Going in on planned ambushes or defending against ambushes in picked locations, it'd be nice to have some avenues for progress, egress, etc.  For example from the last combat, options like: you can take this highly wooded path for cover against X number of shooters, but your progress will be reduced by Y meters, or you can take this avenue to keep yourself open and make full progress, etc. 

Other than that, moving onto this next chapter I'll really be looking for a plan, or plans, of action for James and Illeana, as well as some concrete goals for them to accomplish.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-18-16/1722:33>
Given the nature of the game, my intention (up until 15 minutes ago) was to divide the karma equally. However, upon further review, I have decided not to divide it at all and that we will both earn the full amount. Since we are playing a high-powered game and our dice pools are already high, it means that purchasing higher ranks of skills and attributes is more expensive than it is in a traditional game. I don't want progress to be slower than it usually is simply because we started at a higher point. Karma for Chapters 1 and 2 comes to 56 total, plus 28 knowledge karma. By and large, an extra die or two won't be a significant change to many of our dice pools. This karma award will provide us with more meaningful progress after six months of playing.

New contacts are an option for the knowledge karma, but note that many will be specific to a given geography. Anything up to Connection 3 is fine; 4 or higher will require approval.

We have 1,200,000 Carib League doubloons. You can keep this as foreign currency or you can convert it to nuyen for a 2% transaction fee. Net proceeds would be ¥58,800. Either way, please add the amount to your IC sheet.

As for additional equipment, with James' Charisma and Negotiation he can find anything up to Availability 8 (Restricted or Forbidden) over the next couple months. Anything higher will require rolling with potential consequences. Additional dice may be purchased per the rules in SR5.

The fate of James' rating 3 SIN is unknown but it would be safest to presume that it is burnt. If the proprietor reports the Waveskipper missing, it will burn the SIN. If unknown forces get the proprietor first and make him unable to report the loss of the Waveskipper then it is possible that the SIN will remain active. It's also possible that anyone investigating the proprietor's disappearance would check the books and see James' rating 3 SIN, which would make James a person of interest. Or maybe nobody will investigate the fate of the proprietor, either because nobody will ever report it or because people go missing in the swamp all the time.

I'll write up an IC post to cap off Chapter II. I will then do a separate post to start off Chapter III. I don't know when I will get to these. I'll announce this in the other games but I will be traveling from Wednesday evening through the end of the month. My overall availability to post should be similar, although I might lose a day here and there while I am in transit. This is our first extended trip with a baby so it will be a learning experience.

Randomly rolling Illeana's Essence at the beginning of Chapter 3: Random Essence (http://orokos.com/roll/420265): 2d6 12

Man, that's what I rolled (http://orokos.com/roll/369222) at the beginning of Chapter 2 as well. Evidently Illeana likes to walk around juiced. Wonder who the donor was.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-19-16/1233:55>
I'm debating between two separate options for all purpose karma.  Option 1 is to try to shore up some of James' relative weaknesses by raising Con to 6 (22 Karma) and  buying a Specialization in Fast Talk (7 Karma), and then raising CHA to 5 (25 Karma).  That comes to 54 Karma total, leaving James with 3 unspent Karma, including the 1 Karma he's been holding onto.

The other option I'm toying with is still raising CHA to 5 (25 Karma), but then raising Edge to 6 (30 Karma) for a total of 55 Karma, and leaving the skills as they are.  This option leaves James less skilled overall, but with greater potential -- not that Push the Limit has served me particularly well in this game so far. 

I'm going to chew on this for another day or two before I decide to commit.  If what lies ahead is more social politicking and the like, the former is probably a smarter choice.

Let's transfer our doubloons into nuyen.  I've updated my sheet.

How do you feel about house-ruling some anti-insulation?  I'm thinking SolCool technology that utilizes xylitol to produce a cooling sensation when the wearer sweats.  Crunch is basically the same for Insulation: Availability: 6, Cost: RatingX250, and each point reduces the effective Armor rating when calculating Fatigue damage from the heat.  I figure it won't be useful much in Boston, but James may want to buy some before the next summer rolls around, and they end up back in the CAS, or Amazonia, or Asamando. Looking at the Armored Jacket from the CRB as an example, James could shell out an additional ¥1,500 to have an Armor 12 jacket that would count as Armor 6 for resisting Fatigue.  I'd also considered using the Rating as a positive dice modifier, but that seems too good, as I would roll BOD (5) + WIL (7) + SolCool (6) - Half Armor (6) = 12 dice, vs. BOD (5) + WIL (7) - [Armor 12 - SolCool 6]/2 (3) = 9 dice.  And now that I've written all this out, I went and looked up the Desert Suit from Run and Gun, and it just seems way too good.  Hmm.  Let me know if you have any ideas.  ETA: I've decided that I don't like this.

For shopping, here's a list of stuff that doesn't require any test that I'd like to pick up.
Tracker Rounds (Sniper Rifle) X1 = ¥150
Tracker Rounds (Light Pistol) X1 = ¥150
Capsule Rounds (Assault Rifle) X2 = ¥10
DMSO (¥50) + Narcojet (¥50) for above X4 = ¥400
Gas Mini-Grenade + DMSO + Narcojet X5 = ¥700
Thermal Smoke Mini-Grenade X5 = ¥300
RFID Tag X10 = ¥10
Miniwelder X1 = ¥250
Microwire X2 = ¥100

Higher Availability gear I'll be looking for.
Rating 6 Stim Patch X2
Rating 4 SIN X1
APDS (Assault Rifle)
Platinum Credstick (unless we still have one of the Ebony credsticks from Tabula Rasa.)

To be continued.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-19-16/1349:00>
Boosting Charisma is a good idea.

Whether you want to lie better or raise Edge is up to you. Edge is more flexible, but it is also a finite resource. Do you think of James as a smooth operator who can pour honey in someone's ear, or does he have that inexplicable element of luck that keeps his hoop out of the fire?

Stim Patches aren't illegal so finding R6 is just a matter of time. As you have months to spare, that isn't a problem.

You still have the ebony credstick from Tabula Rasa, so you can use that functionally the same way as a platinum credstick.

The SIN and APDS will require rolls. May the odds be ever in your favor. You can spend your one remaining point of Edge at which point it will refresh and you'll be working against your Chapter III pool of Edge. A single roll will cover up to 8 boxes (80 rounds) of APDS.

Per the house rules - did I ever post this at the top of the thread? - an R4 SIN will be 4 * 4 * ¥1,000 = ¥16,000. It will also be much more reliable than an R4 SIN from the book. (The rating will be the threshold for the scanner to beat, not the opposing dice pool.)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-19-16/1546:28>
Ok, let's give it a shot.  I'm going to lock in the Karma purchase for CHA, and include it in these rolls.

Let's try for the Rating 4 SIN first.  Going up against Availability 12.  I have: CHA (5) + Negotiation (4) + Tailored Pheromones (2) = 11 dice.
Negotiation: R4 SIN (http://orokos.com/roll/420578): 11d6t5 3
Not great.  We will Edge this test.
Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/420579): 8d6t5 1
4 hits total.  An average opposing roll will tie, and James is fine with waiting.  An above average roll will mean no shiny new SIN for James. 

Next let's look at the APDS.  James is willing to spend ¥180 a box, so that'll get him another 2 dice.  I have: CHA (5) + Negotiation (4) + Tailored Pheromones (2) + Extra Jing (2) = 13 dice.
Negotiation APDS (http://orokos.com/roll/420580): 13d6t5 5
James is ok with the extra wait time here as well, if the rolls tie.

You do not have the house rules for SINs on the first page, but I was able to find it no problem.

For new contacts I think I'm going to buy a Connection 3 doctor contact and a Connection 3 arms dealer.  The doctor has obvious benefits, and may be able to keep Illeana in blood when we don't need to re-up her Essence.  The latter may be able to provide some neat toys from time to time.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-19-16/1613:52>
Where are you thinking that the doctor and arms dealer will be located, geographically? They will both start at Loyalty 1.

I'm split on allowing Tailored Pheromones for the Availability tests. I'm going to say that you can include them but that ties will count as non-success.

SIN: R4 SIN = Availability 12 (http://orokos.com/roll/420584): 12d6t5 5 hits, the SIN wins

Per the rules, you can try again after 2 weeks. I'm going to say that you can make 3 more tests if you want. You don't have to subtract a die for each since they are opposed rolls, but I will say that there will be a devious mechanic working in the background that makes it more and more likely to draw unwanted attention each time.

APDS: APDS = Availability 12 (http://orokos.com/roll/420587): 12d6t5 6 hits, no APDS for you

APDS you can try again after 4 days. Alternatively, if you purchase the arms dealer contact then you can add his/her Connection rating to your roll. (Technically the arms dealer should have stats of his or her own but I'm trying to be reasonable about the amount of bookkeeping we do.) Given the Forbidden nature of the ammunition, there will be a 30% markup for using the dealer. This is cheaper than adding 1 die for 25%, but you can still do that too to further increase the odds of success. The additional percentages will be additive, not multiplicative.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-19-16/1619:11>
Were going to be in the greater Boston area, correct? Also, our timeline is before Boston Lockdown and all that?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-19-16/1628:45>
Correct, and correct from a canon standpoint. We'll be there September 2075 while canon Lockdown is September 2076.

No promises from an evil GM standpoint. But James, as a headcase, should fit right in.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-19-16/1654:52>
Sorry for the weird short posts but I'm on my phone atm.

Are Knowledge Skill specs still 7 karma?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-19-16/1703:01>
Nah, let's do 2 karma for a knowledge skill spec. This was the SR4 cost for specializations, which was overly generous but is reasonable for knowledge skills.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-20-16/1310:10>
Where are you thinking that the doctor and arms dealer will be located, geographically? They will both start at Loyalty 1.

I'm pulling some knowledge from Boston from here: http://www.urbin.net/EWW/RPG/SV/SRUN/BOSTON/boston.html
Information is probably out of date, but I figured it's a starting place.  Let's put the Arms Dealer in Newton, a B-D security rating area that's slid down the economic scale in the last 50+ years.  Let's put the Doctor in Natick, which seems like a popular spot for corper shopping and fun.  James would intentionally try to make nice with a higher-end doc.

I'm split on allowing Tailored Pheromones for the Availability tests. I'm going to say that you can include them but that ties will count as non-success.

I paused on this as well, but ended up deciding that any kind of searching/asking around was likely done face-to-face, as electronic communications are rarely safe, and this is the best way to size up whether or not somebody is a pawn. 


SIN: R4 SIN = Availability 12 (http://orokos.com/roll/420584): 12d6t5 5 hits, the SIN wins

Per the rules, you can try again after 2 weeks. I'm going to say that you can make 3 more tests if you want. You don't have to subtract a die for each since they are opposed rolls, but I will say that there will be a devious mechanic working in the background that makes it more and more likely to draw unwanted attention each time.

Well, that's lovely.  Let's give it another shot.  Like the last roll, I have 11 dice.
Negotiation: R4 SIN (http://orokos.com/roll/420912): 11d6t5 6

I feel confident about that, but James will try once more if it doesn't pan out.
Negotiation: R4 SIN (http://orokos.com/roll/420913): 11d6t5 5

APDS: APDS = Availability 12 (http://orokos.com/roll/420587): 12d6t5 6 hits, no APDS for you

APDS you can try again after 4 days. Alternatively, if you purchase the arms dealer contact then you can add his/her Connection rating to your roll. (Technically the arms dealer should have stats of his or her own but I'm trying to be reasonable about the amount of bookkeeping we do.) Given the Forbidden nature of the ammunition, there will be a 30% markup for using the dealer. This is cheaper than adding 1 die for 25%, but you can still do that too to further increase the odds of success. The additional percentages will be additive, not multiplicative.

Do you mean that I take the base extra nuyen, in this case 60, take the 30% surcharge, in this case 36, and add that to the base ¥120?  James can do that. It comes to ¥216 per box.  James has: CHA (5) + Negotiation (4) + Tailored Pheromones (2) + Extra Jing (2) + Contact's Connection Rating (3) = 16 dice.
Negotiation APDS (http://orokos.com/roll/420918): 16d6t5 6
Looks good.  James will buy 80 rounds for ¥1,728 if he succeeds.

Correct, and correct from a canon standpoint. We'll be there September 2075 while canon Lockdown is September 2076.

No promises from an evil GM standpoint. But James, as a headcase, should fit right in.

I've been wondering about that.  Has Illeana been keeping up with James' aura.  Has she been keeping him apprised of any changes in the nanites?

I have locked in my All Purpose Karma purchases as: Con 4-6, + Fast Talk Spec and CHA 4-5.  That leaves me with 3 unspent All Purpose Karma.

I'm hoping to finalize my Knowledge Karma spending today, and I'll post here when I do so.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-20-16/1410:56>
As for geographic location, I just meant Boston vs. Providence vs. Cape Cod, etc. But, since you've gone to the effort of identifying neighborhoods, we can use those.

SIN check: R4 SIN = Availability 12 (http://orokos.com/roll/420930): 12d6t5 5 hits

James' 6 hits wins. You may pick your name, age, and nationality/corporate affiliation.

APDS check: APDS = Availability 12 (http://orokos.com/roll/420932): 12d6t5 6 hits

No APDS yet. You can make about a dozen of those checks, with the warning that there will potentially be more attention each time. Your math is correct on the price.

Illeana needs some reagents. They are Availability 0 but James has the group nuyen. Binding is expensive - basically ¥500 per force point - and she's not that good at it so she should be careful. Let's start with 250 reagents for ¥5,000.

Illeana doesn't have a lot of material needs, but if she were smart she'd probably pick up an extra SIN herself so that she doesn't raise eyebrows as a Saeder-Krupp employee hanging out with a non Saeder-Krupp employee.

We'll use James' dice pool.
James: CHA 5 + Negotiation 4 + Tailored Pheromones 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/420934): 11d6t5 5 hits
SIN: SIN = Availability 12 (http://orokos.com/roll/420935): 12d6t5 2 hits

Illeana gets a shiny new SIN too for ¥16,000. Let me know what you pick for nationality/corp affiliation so that Illeana can match it.

Ugh, there's the separate question of licenses. We'll say that the ID forger can add up to four (4) R4 fake licenses, just to save ourselves a lot of rolling. Those are ¥800 each. You can add these as well.

Please deduct ¥5,000 + ¥16,000 + ¥3,200 = ¥24,200 from the group nuyen for Illeana's purchases.

No rush on the knowledge karma spending. I've hardly started the process of thinking about Illeana's.

As for the nanites, that's an interesting question. We'll have to do more with that during Chapter III.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-20-16/1416:38>
Well, that didn't take long.  Knowledge Skills have been purchased.  Here's what I did:

Language Skill: Brahmin (Bostonian elite dialect): 2 + Spoken Spec = 5 karma
Area Knowledge: Boston: 3 = 6 karma
Shadow Community: Boston: 2 + Personalities Spec = 5 karma
Business Specialization: Finance = 2 karma
Alcohol Specialization: Wine = 2 karma
Fashion Specialization: New York Scene = 2 karma
Total: 22 karma

I'll make the changes to my sheet if/when I get the ok.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-20-16/1431:34>
Looks good.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-20-16/1500:41>
James' 6 hits wins. You may pick your name, age, and nationality/corporate affiliation.

So, I'm thinking of how to play this.  James will be pursuing the Nately angle, and will likely take the cover of an independent businessman looking to build an even brighter future for himself.  The Joseph Shimko SIN should be great for this, as it's pretty clean, and a PCC SIN would seem to fit for a man of means without great familiarity with the who's who of UCAS old money.  That pretty much leaves this new SIN as a solid fall-back and incognito identity.  I'm leaning toward UCAS for it, but James will also want to know what Illeana thinks.

APDS check: APDS = Availability 12 (http://orokos.com/roll/420932): 12d6t5 6 hits

No APDS yet. You can make about a dozen of those checks, with the warning that there will potentially be more attention each time. Your math is correct on the price.

Blast it!  Those are some hot dice you're throwing there, Tec.  I'm a bit worried about this "more attention" thing.  Let's give it one more go, and hope this isn't a GOD thing where you only need to hit 15, or something like that.  Of course, it could be even worse.  Throwing another 16 dice at the problem.
Negotiation APDS (http://orokos.com/roll/420947): 16d6t5 5

Illeana needs some reagents. They are Availability 0 but James has the group nuyen. Binding is expensive - basically ¥500 per force point - and she's not that good at it so she should be careful. Let's start with 250 reagents for ¥5,000.

She can always juice her MAG with all 12 of that Essence she's rocking.  Probably not a bad way to spend a few points.

Please deduct ¥5,000 + ¥16,000 + ¥3,200 = ¥24,200 from the group nuyen for Illeana's purchases.

Doneskies. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-20-16/1541:23>
APDS: APDS = Availability 12 (http://orokos.com/roll/420956): 12d6t5 4 hits

You finally got it.

Illeana would probably suggest that a UCAS SIN offers the most flexibility and could potentially be a badge of honor among Minutemen types who favor country over king or corporation. Of course, the UCAS has been adulterated by the presence of Canadians, so isn't the CAS the only true America that's left? (They would tell you that in the CAS but the Bostonians might feel differently.)

For gameplay reasons, I'm going to try to avoid spamming the game with bound spirits. One bound plus one unbound seems like a reasonable number to handle. Illeana is also too frugal to spend ¥3,000 on every F6 spirit.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-20-16/1828:09>
APDS: APDS = Availability 12 (http://orokos.com/roll/420956): 12d6t5 4 hits

You finally got it.

Yay!!!  I haven't subtracted any jing for James' purchases yet.  I'll get a running tally going once I figure everything out and post it up.

Illeana would probably suggest that a UCAS SIN offers the most flexibility and could potentially be a badge of honor among Minutemen types who favor country over king or corporation. Of course, the UCAS has been adulterated by the presence of Canadians, so isn't the CAS the only true America that's left? (They would tell you that in the CAS but the Bostonians might feel differently.)

Funny you should bring this up.  I have a similar internal monologue going for my first IC of the new chapter.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-25-16/1218:23>
I'm going to buy the stuff I outlined earlier:
For shopping, here's a list of stuff that doesn't require any test that I'd like to pick up.
Tracker Rounds (Sniper Rifle) X1 = ¥150
Tracker Rounds (Light Pistol) X1 = ¥150
Capsule Rounds (Assault Rifle) X2 = ¥10
DMSO (¥50) + Narcojet (¥50) for above X4 = ¥400
Gas Mini-Grenade + DMSO + Narcojet X5 = ¥700
Thermal Smoke Mini-Grenade X5 = ¥300
RFID Tag X10 = ¥10
Miniwelder X1 = ¥250
Microwire X2 = ¥100

I'm adding to that the 2 Rating 6 Stim Patches, since they didn't need a test.  That's an additional ¥300.

The Rating 4 SIN comes to ¥16,000 + Fake Licenses for Concealed Carry Permit and Restricted Cyberware License, for an additional ¥1,600

The 80 rounds of APDS comes to ¥1,728

Grand total is ¥21,698.  I'm subtracting that from my char sheet, and updating it to reflect the Knowledge Skill purchases.  Including Illeana's purchases, the pair netted ¥12,982 after expenses for the Fight Milk acquisition and sale.  Not bad, honestly. 

Training a new guy today, so I may or may not get an IC in before Tuesday.  If you feel like pushing things forward, James will be keen on meeting with Doc.  Otherwise, my IC is going to be mainly flavor, and I can put that in whenever.  It appears that they haven't made their way to Boston yet, correct?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-25-16/1253:36>
For RP reasons, Illeana needs some Shade. It's ¥1,000 a hit. She would want to use it once a week but she would be wary of becoming addicted. Of course, there's the question of whether a vampire could become addicted, but it's a magical compound instead of a normal drug so I'll say yes, it is a risk, especially since the addiction is psychological instead of physiological. That means she can only use it once a month. I'll say that should bought three doses: one for July, one for August, one for September. She hasn't used the September dose yet.

Please deduct ¥3,000 from the group nuyen for the Shade.

As for knowledge skills and Contacts, I'm still penciling that out for Illeana. I'm thinking Dragons 3 with a Great Dragons specialization, then maybe Immortal Elves, also at 3. I'll pick up a couple contacts, maybe a talismonger and the aforementioned Guild of Corrupt Morticians.

No rush on James' IC post. As long as you're willing to meet with Doc, I can post again to cover that meeting. I was just giving you an opportunity for James' internal monologue.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-26-16/0220:20>
Alright, a long IC post is up. NOW it is your turn to respond.

A few things you need to cover:
1) What James is packing, and
2) What SIN James is broadcasting

Your James Anderson SIN is for Ares. You may chose the nationality/corporate affiliation for the Josh Adams SIN. Both come with relevant fake licenses of equal rating.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-27-16/1427:09>
Meta-gamey I'd like the Josh Adams SIN to be a Saeder-Krupp SIN to match Illeana, but James has had that one since he woke up in Tabula Rasa, so I don't see that as being likely for IC continuity.  I'm not sure if James was planted in the drug company in Denver as James Case, or if he would be using the Josh Adams SIN.  If he was working at the drug company as James Case, his supplemental SIN would most likely be PCC, UCAS, CAS, Sioux, or one of the megacorps that operate in Denver: Saeder-Krupp is supposed to be big in Denver, which might make a case for it.  Considering that James bought a PCC SIN shortly after the events of Tabula Rasa I think we can knock out PCC or Sioux SINs for Josh Adams, and we can do the same for UCAS, since James recently bought/will buy a Rating 4 UCAS SIN.  Of course, this is all assuming that James doesn't think the SIN was provided by Ares and is currently burned, or at least flagged.  Let's go with CAS, and I'll be adding more Licenses than James has with the other SINS -- partly to reflect its higher rating, and partly to reflect my assumption that it was provided by Ares, and so would likely be fairly robust with contingencies. 

I'm going to try to throw up an IC before I do any updating of the char sheet. 

Load Out:
Joseph Shimko SIN (PCC) +
Rapid Transit Suit +
Hermes Ikon +
Defiance EX-Shocker +
Arm Slide for same+
Stealth Tag X3
Endoscope
Rating 6 Stim Patch X1

All gear with a "+" is running either Wireless On, or publicly broadcast and linked to the Hermes Ikon.  All Cyberware is slaved to the implanted Leviathan Tempest, and is running Wireless Off.  And, as always, James has his Redline in the smuggling compartment.  While running the PCC SIN, James is assuming a private "consultant" status, and he'll mock up some ARO business cards with one of the companies from Illeana's portfolio, say Phoenix Biotechnologies to complete his cover.

ETA: IC in.  I also wanted to say hell of a job on your last IC post.  I especially liked the bit with the toast-obsessed RV.  Nice touch. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-28-16/0244:02>
Thanks. I meant for the toast to be a slower burning joke, but I reached a crescendo rather quickly by writing three posts in a row.

I like the train of thought on the R5 SIN being CAS. Since he "woke up" with it, James might reasonably conclude that it is from Ares (it being involved in his Denver cover story is an excellent hypothesis). However, it is also possible that it is something that the old James set up for himself as a contingency, just in case he ever needed to jump ship. There's no particular reason to think so, other than James imagines his old self to be one to cover all contingencies.

Using the PCC SIN isn't a bad idea, especially with the Phoenix Biotechnologies angle. Illeana will approve, saying that it is an unrated corporation and therefore be primarily hiring PCC citizens.

Let's put the SIN to the test. Straight rating (not x2) versus the rating as a threshold. This is a high security neighborhood but not peak security.

Checking Joseph Shimko: SIN Scanner (http://orokos.com/roll/422707): ?d6t5 ?? hits

Something is happening as a result. Two Knight-Errant patrolmen are on an intercept course, less than 50 meters away. They are walking very quickly and will be to you in about 15 seconds. (Water is to your right, they are approaching from your left.) You are still on the promenade, about 500 meters from the water taxi. Let me know how you wish to respond. James' Social Stress negative quality will apply.

This will be a distraction, I am sure, but let's not lose the interesting angle of what would happen to James' psyche if he were to transform into a vampire, especially considering his Cyber Singularity Seeker and Redliner qualities.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-28-16/0829:05>
The next step is dependent on whether or not James thinks the pawns noticed that Illeana and he noticed that they are being approached.  I want to go ahead and get an IC in, so I'm going to roll Composure to see how likely James is to "act" guilty, and just make a judgment call off of that.  If I judge wrong enough, and James would know, let me know and I'll edit the IC to reflect a different tactic.

Composure: Composure (http://orokos.com/roll/422737): 12d6t5 5
He's keeping it together.

I'm sure an Etiquette and certainly a Con test are forthcoming.  I'm sure the NPCs are Suspicious (-1) but James has Plausible Evidence (+1-2, most likely 1) but I'm not sure what other mods would apply.  I sincerely but unfortunately doubt that James Redline counts as an Ace (Holt) in the hole (+2).  Looks like close enough to a straight test that I'm going to go ahead and roll it.  If Illeana wants to Assist that'll be swell, and you should feel free to roll those dice to see if that ups James hits at all.

For Etiquette I have: CHA (5) + Etiquette (4) + Corp Spec (2) = 11 dice.
Etiquette (http://orokos.com/roll/422741): 11d6t5 4

For Con I have: CHA (5) + Con (6) + Fast Talk Spec (2) = 13 dice.
Con (http://orokos.com/roll/422742): 13d6t5 5

I feel pretty good with both of those rolls.  At the very least it doesn't look as though James committed any faux pas.  The Con roll is solid, but definitely has the potential to be beat by a pair of seasoned officers.  Neither has enough 1s for Social Stress to get me. 

All this is assuming that they don't open up with stick-n-shock right away.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-28-16/1857:31>
James does not think that the beat cops noticed him noticing them. He can act innocent as they approach.

Composure roll is solid. As you say, James is keeping it together. There is no penalty for being "obviously nervous, agitated, or frenzied."

I'm going to say the specialization for Etiquette would not apply. However, you have left off your Tailored Pheromones so that's a push. Illeana is your plausible-seeming evidence.

Etiquette defense test: Charisma + Perception + Modifiers + Second Cop (http://orokos.com/roll/422879): ?d6t5 7 hits, their Social limit is 6 so they lose a hit.

Wow, these two are on the ball. Something about James doesn't sit right with them, so they move from Suspicious to Prejudiced.

That drops a die from the Con roll since we were presuming Suspicious before. The cops also have time to evaluate the situation so that drops another die from the Con roll. Losing two dice results in losing 1 hit, so James has 4.

Con resist: Charisma + Con + Second Cop (http://orokos.com/roll/422880): ?d6t5 4 hits

Tie goes to the defender .James isn't off the hook yet.

Note on the IC: they actually say "Excuse me!" instead of "Halt!" James doesn't look out of place and they know the scene will be scrutinized by those passing by, many of which could be their superiors at Ares. They will be polite but firm until they have a reason not to be.

Most of this exchange will be between James and the cops, unless James asks Illeana to intervene. She knows she's not much of a liar. She can use magic to manipulate the situation, but the cops will have been trained to detect its presence. How effective that training is remains to be seen.

RP-wise, James should be feeling his Social Stress, even if it's not showing up in the rolls yet. James knows that an R4 SIN will pass a cursory inspection but will crumble under too much scrutiny. To that end, it would be best to resolve the situation as quickly and cleanly as possible.

Go ahead and roll Con again if James does some more lying.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-28-16/2107:03>
Tailored Pheromones on initial Con test?
Tailored Pheromones (http://orokos.com/roll/422909): 2d6t5 1
Not sure if it counts, but we'll see.

IC will be up sometime tomorrow. Need to get the hunter IC in first.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-29-16/0039:08>
How much it counts depends on the IC response. Good luck!
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-29-16/1500:21>
Let's see how James' explanation fares with his understanding of Business.  I'm going to include the Megacorp spec with the reference to Corporate Court doctrine, as that's mostly what I'm interested in.  I have: LOG (4) + Business (5) + Megacorp Spec (2) = 11 dice.
Business (Megacorp) (http://orokos.com/roll/423038): 11d6t5 4
So, he's probably not making a fool of himself there.  Lots of ways to play this.  1. Pure flavor. 2. 4 hits is probably enough to know that there's CC doctrine on the subject, but definitely not enough to quote line and passage.  A KE officer in this area probably has a fairly good grasp of extraterritoriality, which could push things in James' favor, though if one officer knows exactly what's in paragraph 20 that could count against him.  3. An opposed test here might turn James' evidence into really plausible (+2) if he wins, or turn the pawns hostile (-3) if he doesn't.   

For Con I have: CHA (5) + Con (6) + Fast Talk Spec (2) + Tailored Pheromones (2) + Plausible Evidence (1) - Prejudiced (2) - Time to Assess the Situation (1) = 13 dice.
Con (http://orokos.com/roll/423039): 13d6t5 5
Boy that's a lot of 2s, but only 1 1.  I'm going to use Edge to re-roll failures
Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/423040): 8d6t5 3
8 hits total. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-29-16/1922:53>
Your sheet has James' Social limit calculated as 9. I make it as base 6 + 2 for the Tailored Pheromones. Is there another point other than from worn clothing or equipment? When you have a chance, would you please change it to "6 (8)" (or "6 (9)" if that's correct)? Either way, you keep all the Con hits.

IC is up. James feels good about his story. The cops leave and he is free to go.

James is at 4/5 Edge.

What's your plan for the next 15 minutes, then the rest of the day?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-29-16/1955:10>
Social Limit is 6 base + 2 for Tailored Pheromones + 1 for the Rapid Transit Elite.  I've fixed the char sheet to 6 (8) since James won't always have that kind of gear on. 

Let's do a Judge Intentions roll.  James is doubtless curious if the pawn is telling the truth.  This is a good one to be throwing 14 dice at.
Judge Intentions (http://orokos.com/roll/423059): 14d6t5 6

James will want to put some ground between them and this den of Ares paranoia, so back across in a water taxi.  Instead of boarding Stevens, though, James will want to get a taxi to a mall of some sort, or really anywhere with a parking garage, send the Shin-Hyung there ahead of them, and then reconnect with Stevens from their own vehicle. 

After that, either back on the road, or maybe James and Illeana could take in a trid flick. 

OOCly, how did KE see James' smartlink if he was running his cyber eyes Wireless Off?  Feel free to decline to answer, if you want to ramp up the paranoia even more. ;)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-30-16/0221:30>
Some of James' interpretation is already in the IC post. He definitely feels that they've been summoned away, but they don't seem to be setting up a perimeter or backing up with their hands on their hips or anything obvious like that. He feels suspicious, partly because it is in his nature to be suspicious, but nothing immediately validates that suspicion. The encounter ended abruptly, which is unexpected, but also what was best given James' discomfort with Ares employees. So isn't a good thing, really? But still, it nags. Illeana confirms that they still are not hostile.

As for the smartlink, I picked something at random. The scanner tied on the SIN check so the cops had to investigate something. In my head, the cyberware scanner in the drone picked up on the smartlink system. Now, to a scanner, does the smartlink system look meaningfully different than low-light vision or vision magnification or any other visual enhancement? Perhaps not. But I had to pick on something and the smartlink was the easiest RP choice, or at least easier than an exchange along the lines of, "Sir, why don't your biometrics match what's on file?" So I went with the more RP-able scenario.

It may take a while for me to get the next IC up since it will be longer to push the story forward. If I am lucky, it will be tomorrow. Sunday I will be traveling a good portion of the day; Monday will greet me with the pent up demands of seven days out of the office. We'll see how it goes.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <07-30-16/2107:51>
Re: Judge Intentions: cool.  I'm going to toss some Perception tests in too to see if they're being tailed.   Let's call the first in the water taxi, the second in the taxi on the way to the mall, and the third at the mall before they jump in the Shin-Hyung.

For each I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Specifically Looking (3) = 18 dice.  I'm not including any visual mods, auditory mods, etc. just for ease of use.
Perception + Specifically Looking (http://orokos.com/roll/423260): 3#18d6t5 6 4 6
Pretty good. 

Re: smartlink: also cool.  That's a nice way to handle it.

I may get an IC in before you.  If I push things along too far ICly, just let me know.

 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-30-16/2115:49>
IC is cool. If so, take it up to the water taxi. James doesn't notice any tails and feels like he did a good job checking the angles. Some security drones occasionally track at him, but those drones track everybody.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <07-31-16/0133:28>
A short IC is up to help cover the walk to the water taxi. The next post will be longer. Feel free to work yours in if it fits. I just wanted to give voice to a few thoughts Illeana might have. I wish I did it more, but it usually gets pushed to the back of the line with all the other posting requirements in all the other games.

Illeana will summon a medium (F4) water spirit to help keep watch.

Illeana summoning: Magic 7 + Summoning 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/423307): 11d6t5 3 hits

Spirit resist: Spirit Resist (http://orokos.com/roll/423309): 4d6t5 1 hit

Two net services. Optional Power will be Guard.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-01-16/0246:46>
IC is up. Dramatic reveal, etc. etc. Go ahead and post James' reaction and any rolls you want to make.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-03-16/1354:27>
So . . . wow.  Sorry it took me a bit to get an IC up, but I there was really like a million different directions to go in.  rnb the player really had no idea.  Nice.

James is intentionally using the "Kat" pet name to try to put Illeana a little more at ease, or at least reinforce his own loyalty to her. 

Despite Analyze Truth being cast, James is going to use Judge Intentions on Rhodes. 
Judge Intentions (http://orokos.com/roll/423980): 14d6t5 6

He's also going to keep his eyes peeled on the immediate area outside of the water taxi, checking for approaching boats, drones, funky looks in the waves that may betray an underwater craft, etc.  I will be including the vision spec and Vision Enhancement, as there's no real reason to run Wireless Off a this point.  The Tempest will be Running Silent.  I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Vision Spec (2) + Vision Enhancement (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 22 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/423981): 22d6t5 8
Mental Limit is 8.

I'm also going to do a Matrix Perception test to check all MARKs on James' links.  I'll include two rolls, the first for his implanted Tempest and the second for the Ikon.  I have: INT (9) + Computer (4) + Perception Spec (2) = 15 dice.
Matrix Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/423983): 2#15d6t5 2 4
Well, probably should've used the first roll for the Tempest.  Each roll is under the DR rating of the link, so all hits are kept.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-04-16/0135:56>
IC is up. I tried to cover the results of all the dice rolls there.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-04-16/1527:39>
IC is up. I tried to cover the results of all the dice rolls there.

You did so very clearly.  Given the lack of backup in James' view, he's going to assume that Rhodes/Ares is still getting assets in place.  6 Instigators + Rhodes is a tall order on such short notice, and if they don't have security drones on James at the moment, that most likely means that they have the intel they need and fire support is incoming.  Likewise, the assets that Ares is bringing in will most likely be at a distance and near the taxi port -- or whatever it would be called -- on the far side.  James is also likely to assume that they're going to treat him with kid gloves and not make their support known unless James indicates that he doesn't want to play ball. 

Last, and perhaps of the most importance, James knows that they need him if not unharmed at least alive and not disabled.  If it comes down between killing him or letting him go, Ares will most likely play the long game, especially now that they know for sure that new James is alive.  Illeana's survival will not be important to Ares, or more appropriately, her survival and well being will only be important to Ares to the extent that it will keep James happy and compliant. 

Given the water taxi's current speed and trajectory, how long do they have before it docks?  Would James be aware if this is a AAA or AA locale? 

I'm going to roll both Security Design (Corporate) and Security Tactics (Rapid Response/Corporate) partly to see if my above summations are correct, and to see what I'm missing that James might not, where the chinks in the armor are, etc.
For Security Design I have: LOG (4) + Security Design (5) + Corporate Spec (2) = 11 dice.
Security Design (http://orokos.com/roll/424243): 11d6t5 4

For Security Tactics I have: LOG (4) + Security Tactics (5) + Corporate/Rapid Response Spec (2) = 11 dice.
Security Tactics (http://orokos.com/roll/424244): 11d6t5 4

Pretty good all around.  I'm not sure which spec on Security Tactics is a better fit, so that's up to GM discretion. 

OOCly, I think the best course of action is to dip out sooner than later while the dipping out is less awful -- though admittedly still pretty bad.  With the Water Spirit's Movement power James can power along at 12.6 m/s, while Illeana can only manage 9.3 m/s.  That's only about 20 mph, not near what we'd need to outrun any boat, but it has the benefit of breaking any electronic detection of the pair -- Noise in saltwater is pretty intense.  Unless Illeana crazy overcasts on Levitate, and then summons a high Force Air Spirit, I don't see how they're going to be making any better time than that. 

Also, OOCly, there's a part of me that would like to make a break for it after docking.  This is tactically much less workable, but has more Bourne Identity possibilities with evading Ares agents in crowded city streets.  I just don't see a way of making this successful.

What are the limits of a car's autopilot v. GridGuide?  If James sends directions to his Shin-Hyung to converge on the location they're heading to, can he do so in a way that would avoid speed limits, traffic laws, send it over the pier, etc?  James is considering sending a message to his sedan to head in the direction of the water taxi's heading in a not-so-subtle manner.  Ideally, converging corpsec will think that the car is carrying support for James and Illeana -- possibly Blue Team from Tabula Rasa but whatever -- and will need to spread their assets thin to deal with both, even if that just means peeling off a secondary team to check it out.  How long until the Shin-Hyung would make it to the pier?  We didn't discuss what was done with the Shin-Hyung, nor what standing protocols are for the secondary vehicle, so this totally in the realm of GM fiat.

Last, I'd like to use Leadership to help Illeana pull her shit together.  James is going to reach out with spoken words as well as text here.  I have: CHA (5) + Leadership (6) + Tailored Pheromones (2) + Subject is Devoted to Character (2) + Subject's Attitude is Friendly (1) + Result is Advantageous to Subject (1) = 17 dice.  I don't think that "Subject is Devoted. . ." and "Subject has Romantic Attraction. . ." would both apply, but if you want to give me 2 extra dice, I won't complain.
Leadership @ Illeana (http://orokos.com/roll/424254): 17d6t5 6
and thankfully not enough 1s to trigger Social Stress. 

Next steps are largely dependent on the read of some of those rolls, so I will either put in a short IC soon, or wait to put in a longer one until I've heard back.  I don't want to put in a whole monologue of James stalling for time if they need to bug out on the quick.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-04-16/1639:28>
James has a solid grasp of the situation.

From a tactics perspective, he would assume the Rhodes is the holding/pinning attack meant to fix you in place. Then, any number of other forces could smash into you from any other direction.

James isn't entirely certain that the kids are Instigators. Illeana implied that they had bioware instead of cyberlimbs. It's possible that they were all that was available on short notice. Perhaps they are promising K-E cadets, or young members of FireWatch that haven't lost their limbs yet. James himself served in Knight Errant for 5 years in his early 20s before being promoted to FireWatch, where he was blown up at the tender age of 28. Who knows where they got the suits on short notice, or if they were wearing them for some other reason. It might be reasonable to assume that they are not heavily armed.

On land, you will have to contend with the full weight of Knight Errant, including drones. Per Doc's earlier advisory, you can assume that this is an AAA area. In the water, you will have to contend with whatever assets Ares can put into the harbor, be they water spirits or submersibles. And even if you get away, you can assume that K-E will have an APB out that will potentially complicate life going forward.

Regarding the Shin-Hyung, it will obey commands - however unorthodox - that don't have it harming others. It will not collide with pedestrians, buildings, other vehicles, etc. You can't send it plowing into a crowd but you could launch it off a pier into the water, which would be pretty spectacular. It would only take a minute for it to get to the pier.

The water taxi is about halfway across the harbor. It will be another six minutes before it reaches the other side. On this map (http://static.wixstatic.com/media/feb908_194bf3f1899c43ebae6f2e1edaf2a13a.png_srz_978_562_85_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_png_srz) you are going from Point 11 to Point 17. Transit time is 12 minutes. (The schedule allows for a separate 6 minutes for passengers to disembark and new passengers to embark.) You are actually headed for Fort McHenry, which is a open green space that would be pleasant for a picnic and questionable for a firefight. The bad news is that there isn't a ton of cover, but the good news is that there aren't a lot of elevated positions for snipers. But you'll also be trapped on a peninsula.

Go ahead and IC post, but give Illeana an opportunity to respond before you initiate anything.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-04-16/1843:51>
And even if you get away, you can assume that K-E will have an APB out that will potentially complicate life going forward.

Yeah. . . Just a little, I'm sure. 

It looks like waiting to reach the other bank is off the table.  6 minutes is just way too long to wait to allow Ares to set up camp for themselves something fierce.  Besides, while magical support is certainly on its way, it will be easier to avoid spirits, astrally projecting mages, etc. before they have the opportunity to Assense James and Illeana, and get a good read for a Spirit's Search power.  Assuming this hasn't been done already, of course. 

IC response will have to wait until tomorrow.

In other news, how's dadding around with Tec Jr. solo going?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-04-16/1917:36>
The Solo Dad project ended yesterday when my wife got home. Overall it was a success. The biggest challenge was the 4:30am feeding. My wife can just grab him and feed him but I have to go downstairs, get a bottle from the fridge, heat it up, etc. so that by the time I'm feeding him he's been crying for 10 minutes. Naturally the entire process wakes me up as well, so when he's done feeding I have a hard time going back to sleep. Outside of that, everything went well. Tec Jr. makes it considerably easier by being a good-natured baby, although he is highly active and prone to climb/grab/break whenever there is something to climb/grab/break.

Zweiblumen used to live at point #11 on our map. He chimed in and said that kayaking on the harbor is popular. So, there are kayakers around the water taxi. Do with that what you will.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-05-16/1330:38>
Yeah, I was pretty lucky that I never had to do night feedings with a bottle.  It was difficult enough just in the afternoon sometimes.  Glad everything went smoothly.

IC is up.  I wanted to make use of the kayaking but couldn't find a way to blend it in seamlessly.  Maybe next IC.

James will happily wait for Illeana's response before doing anything, and I would like the opportunity to make one last comment to Rhodes before going overboard, if that is indeed the play.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-06-16/2306:26>
Will Rhodes be addressing James' question about the other James and his body? PC James is making his concerns known and is being pretty straightforward here. Of course, if there are story reasons for not having Rhodes answer we'll play that as it goes.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-06-16/2310:23>
Did you ask and I missed it or have you not asked yet? If the latter, feel free to ask but more time will pass and the boat will get closer to shore.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-06-16/2348:25>
From my last IC:

When Rhodes finishing outlining how great his new life would be at Ares, including financial and housing compensation, James says, "So, the other Agent Case is currently at grade O-6?  That sounds like a wiz deal, but isn't it more for the Agent Case currently in Detroit?  After all, there is only the one body, but currently two minds which would like to make use of it."
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-15-16/1331:24>
It sounds like you are going with Rhodes. If so, give me your general plan for the next five minutes, five days, and five weeks. High level is fine. Are you planning on returning to active service or will you try to extract yourselves when their guard is down?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-16-16/1128:47>
Despite Rhodes chilling answer to James' question, James will go with him. 

Next 5 minutes: go with Rhodes.

Next 5 days: get housing, fill out paperwork, do preliminary testing (physical and psychological), spar with Rhodes (if he's up for it), have the occasional discussion with Illeana with the faucets turned on and the trid set real high about what's actually going on.

Next 5 weeks: I'm torn here.  I don't know that I'm really up for Jason Bourne returns to the CIA despite all the shit they pulled on him, but on the other hand, James almost returned to Ares in Tabula Rasa, and it was the prospect of losing Illeana which kept him with the group.  I don't know that he shares her "gilded cage" thoughts on the subject, and being close with Ares -- read being under Ares' thumb -- has the prospect of answering a lot of his questions about who he is and where he came from.  Seeing Justin would also be very important to him.  Also, as evidenced by their past 6 months or so together, James really isn't built for retirement, and he would be eager to return to field work. 

I think we'll go right now with playing ball with Ares, and see what kind of missions they have for him.  I also think that James has been programmed to accept Ares' worldview despite his amnesia -- I've been working on an internal monologue for James for awhile that addresses this and hope to get it up soon -- so there will likely need to be an outside influence that pulls him in another direction.  Or, he might just find life back in the corp to be way too stifling than he is prepared to accept, but my guess is that Illeana will find it so before he does.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-16-16/1150:39>
There are a couple different directions I can go with this. I need to think on it for a day to decide which will be the most interesting and the most fun. I know what Ryo would do but he had a flair for the dramatic.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-16-16/1810:26>
James is enduring a unending series of psychological tests. For the next IC, please answer the following for James:

Battery #1
- How do upsetting problems generally make you feel?
- When you get angry, do you have trouble staying in control?
- How do you typically deal with failure?
- Have you ever been deliberately cruel to an animal?
- Would you consider yourself subjectively firm or objectively flexible?
- Would you rather ride on a train, dance in the rain, or feel no pain?

Battery #2
- It’s your birthday. Someone gives you a calfskin wallet. How do you react?
- You’ve got a little boy. He shows you his butterfly collection plus the killing jar. What do you do?
- You’re watching television. Suddenly you realize there’s a wasp crawling on your arm. What do you do?
- You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?
- Describe in single words, only the good things that come into your mind about your mother.
- You're reading a magazine. You come across a full-page nude photo of a girl. You show it to your girlfriend. She likes it so much, she hangs it on your bedroom wall. The girl is lying on a bearskin rug. How do you react?
- You impregnant a woman who runs off with your best friend, then decides to terminate the pregnancy. What do you do?
- You're watching a stage play. A banquet is in progress. The guests are enjoying an appetizer of raw oysters. The entree consists of boiled dog stuffed with rice. The raw oysters are less acceptable to you than a dish of boiled dog. Why is that?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-16-16/2112:26>
OH shit, Tec.  ;) This is great but will probably take me a day or so to get up. I'm also going to do a series of Composure tests, losing a die each time to see how James holds up, an partly bc I really wanna answer about the tortoise like Leon.

But I think James will be eager to please.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-17-16/1522:47>
I rolled a Lifting Test just for flavor: Deadlift (http://orokos.com/roll/427614): 13d6t5 5

First Battery, I answered the first two questions, and then rolled Composure
Composure (http://orokos.com/roll/427616): 12d6t5 2
Looks like he's getting a little testy on the third, and fourth.

Let's see how he handles the last question.
Composure (http://orokos.com/roll/427618): 11d6t5 3
Better.

For the second battery I'm resetting James' pool, but I'm going to make a test to start things off.
Composure (http://orokos.com/roll/427620): 12d6t5 4
A little exercise seemed to do the trick on clearing his mind.

After the first two questions.
Composure (http://orokos.com/roll/427622): 11d6t5 3

After the first four.
Composure (http://orokos.com/roll/427624): 10d6t5 1
ooh, not necessarily the one I wanted to go low on, but this could be fun.

And for the last two.
Composure (http://orokos.com/roll/427625): 9d6t5 4
Pulling it out there at the end.

ETA: I missed the question about being cruel to animals. I'll update my IC in a bit to address that one. On phone right now
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-17-16/1957:11>
IC updated.  Let me say that I found this incredibly challenging to answer these questions in the head of a character, much less an amnesiac.  Fun challenging, but definitely challenging.

Add in the layers of him trying to answer correctly and not sound crazy, and . . .
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-18-16/0203:38>
First response is up. There's a lot to cover so I decided to break it into (at least) two pieces.

You're welcome to post again at this point but it's optional. There's another post coming that will describe the weekend's testing regimen.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-19-16/0150:15>
Another long IC is up. Ball is back in your court.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-22-16/1515:49>
Wow.  Ok, so I expected James to head crash at some point, but I certainly didn't expect it so soon, given what I thought was his levels of nanites.  This most likely makes for a speedy retreat from Ares, as I don't see them putting him on active duty now that his consciousness is compromised.

A note on ritual spellcasting and SINs, since James already had a SIN, I would assume that they already had a link to find him the first go-around.  Does this mean that bio samples have a shelf-life that was exceeded, or was that for story purposes?

I think I'm going to play this as deny everything, but it will take a bit to get my IC up.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-22-16/1623:00>
The books are not clear as to what constitutes a high level of nanites. Is a Nanite Volume of 6 considered high, or is that just medium while 10 is high? There's not a stated cap to Nanite Volume, so it's basically up to the GM to wing it. In this case, James might conclude that the extreme nature of the testing - both mental and physical - might have contributed to his interludes.

James did have a SIN before. He might conclude that Ares didn't try looking for him because his other self had reported in relatively quickly after the separation. Ares might have reasonably concluded that his body wasn't going to survive (especially in winter conditions) without its spirit so they didn't bother spending the time to find an expensive but empty husk, or reasoned that a dead husk couldn't be located by magic. Alternatively, James might wonder if they did try to search but separation of his body and spirit somehow interfered with the process. Or maybe the presence of Illeana or the lingering effects of the obelisk interfered with things. Magic is an unpredictable force, to be sure.

Speaking of magic, James will remember Illeana mentioning that Dr. Personette was running Analyze Truth. James would assume that is still true. If you want to roll Con, you should also roll Willpower+Logic to potentially beat the Detection spell that may or may not be active. Of course, James won't know for sure whether he's beaten it or not. James' Willpower is good due to Cyber Singularity Seeker, and he has Edge as well. (Mathematically, James should pre-Edge rather than post-Edge with this dice pool.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-23-16/1240:13>
So there is no shelf life on biological samples for Ritual magic?

Strictly speaking, James hasn't lied to the doctors.  Even so, a Con test is certainly in order, and I'll toss in a WIL+LOG+Edge test, as "Detailed Information" for Analyze Truth could well be that the subject isn't telling the whole story. 

For Con I have: CHA (5) + Con (6) + Fast Talk (2) + Tailored Pheromones (2) =15 dice.  There are probably a host of Situational Modifiers: James amnesia could be plausible evidence, and James is moving the dialog forward to negate Subject has Time to Evaluate the Situation, but these doctors are pros, so I'll leave the final call to the GM.  My guess is that I'll be losing some dice before it's all said and done.
Con (http://orokos.com/roll/429268): 15d6t5 4
Let's throw an Edge at that.  He's got hits to spare on the Social Limit.
Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/429270): 11d6t5 4
8 hits is James' Social Limit without taking the Ares workout suit into account.

For resisting Analyze Truth I have: LOG (4) + WIL (7) + Edge (5) = 16 dice.
V. Analyze Truth (http://orokos.com/roll/429274): 16d6h5 7
I feel pretty good about that.

James is at 3/5 Edge.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-23-16/1319:55>
Those are good rolls. James does have plausible evidence (amnesia, +2) but the scientists have time to evaluate the situation (-1) and are suspicious by nature (-1) so that balances out.

For the Con roll, we do need to subtract dice for James' Social Stress quality. It means that the Edge reroll should only be 9 dice, not 11, so that subtracts 1 hit. You still have 7, and James is feeling pretty confident about his poker face.

We should explore how James' Social Stress quality is making James feel now that he is "home" (at least for the moment).

What does James know about the shelf life of biological samples? Logic 4 + Biology 4 + Spec 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/429276): 10d6t5 4 hits

James doesn't know what the viability requirements are for ritual magic, but he does know that with oocyte cryopreservation that human embryos can be successfully frozen at -196 Celsius for over 10 years and still produce a successful pregnancy.

James' service records indicate the following education/service history:
Ages 18-19: post-secondary education and Knight-Errant Academy
Ages 20-24: Knight Errant
Ages 25-28: Ares Firewatch
Age 29: medical recovery and rehabilitation and retraining
Ages 30-32: Ares Instigator

James is unsure when biological samples might have been collected and what their viability might still be. If the samples were collected at the beginning of his Knight-Errant service then they might not be in great shape. If new samples were collected during his medical recovery four years ago then they would still be highly viable.

I'll post ICly soon, hopefully today.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-23-16/1908:30>
IC is up. It is now Tuesday midday. James has not seen Illeana since early Saturday morning. It's been a half week of Hell Week since then, in the Navy SEALs sense of the term. James has been getting less than four hours of sleep a night. His next scheduled R&R is for Thursday afternoon.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-24-16/1434:32>
I'd like to roll Judge Intentions on old Bobby here. James will be suspicious of the placement, and is curious if Bobby really does just have loose lips, or if he's actively trying to feed him any information.  I have 14 dice for this roll.
Judge Intentions (http://orokos.com/roll/429817): 14d6t5 6

I'm also going to roll Con, though Etiquette may well apply here too, to see how good James is at encouraging Bobby to run his mouth.  Normally just being an interested ear is enough for some people, but let's see how it goes.  I have: CHA (5) + Con (6) = 11 dice.  Assuming Fast Talk does not apply here.
Con (http://orokos.com/roll/429818): 11d6t5 2
And that'll be a Glitch with Social Stress.  Should be fun.

ETA: I guess by RAW Social Stress doesn't affect Con rolls, but I'm kind of of the opinion that it should be applied to all Social tests for the Karma award.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-24-16/1721:24>
Hmm, yes, strange that Social Stress doesn't apply to Negotiation or Con. We should probably say that it applies to them too.

Also, it appears that it doesn't subtract dice from the dice pool, it just changes the number of 1s for a glitch. I subtracted 2 dice from the rolls yesterday, so technically you should have had those. I'll cancel the execution.

Judge Intentions: James thinks that Bobby has been drinking the Ares Kool-Aid. Bobby is in his early 20s and must be exceptionally good at whatever scientific or technical things that he does if he's been entrusted to monitors James, especially since he doesn't meet the physical fitness standards (often militaryesque) that Ares expects of its employees. Bobby has the Zeal of Youth and My Corporation, Right or Wrong. Looking at him, James wonders if he was the same way during his early years at Knight Errant.

As for the nature of Bobby's comments, James is unsure. He doesn't know if Bobby is offering him a certain form of encouragement during Hell Week, or if he's trying to add pressure by letting James know who is paying attention to the results. Bobby looks pretty enthusiastic about the whole testing process, so James doesn't think that he's blabbering out of boredom. Maybe Bobby is overflowing with enthusiasm about working on such a high-profile project. The fact that Bobby is actually sociable and willing to look things for for James on the Matrix also suggests that his personality and approach to his work is significantly different from the good Doctors.

Con: I think this is more Etiquette than Con. Since your specialization would apply, the net result is the same. Tailored Pheromones apply. That gets you 2 extra dice to help avoid a glitch: Etiquette bonus dice 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/429875): 2d6t5 1 hit (accidentally rolled 3)

There is one extra 1 in that roll. You now have six 1s. Your dicepool is 13, so with 5E's >50% threshold you would normally need seven 1s to glitch. With Social Stress you only need six. You have six 1s so, congratulations, you glitch.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-24-16/1848:59>
Well let's pop the champagne bottles. I'm not sure if you have anything in mind for the Glitch, but James could inadvertently offend Bobby, let something slip about the nanites, or you could simply give him more dice to resist James' ministrations.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-25-16/0003:26>
IC is up. James has made it back home.

James is currently at 9S and 2P from injuries sustained while training. He is not scheduled to be anywhere until Monday at 06:00, but that could change at a moment's notice.

I'll preemptively list the information below, simply because I believe James would be thinking about it tactically even if he doesn't have immediate plans to act on it.

Should you think to escape, you currently have your cyberweapons but no firearms. For armor, you have the clothes you arrived in plus a full closet of Ares Victory clothing to choose from. You have lost the rest of your loadout from when you met Doc:

Joseph Shimko SIN (PCC) + (it's uncertain if this is burned or if Ares might have left it operational to use in the future)
Hermes Ikon +
Defiance EX-Shocker +
Arm Slide for same+
Stealth Tag X3
Endoscope
Rating 6 Stim Patch X1


Illeana has the form-fitting body armor she was wearing when you met Doc, her ballistic mask, and the Victorinox Memory Blades she was able to smuggle in concealed as a bracelet and a belt. She doesn't have any throwing knives but she could potentially use the kitchen knives. You're also free to MacGyver anything else that might be available around the unit.

You're not entirely certain which floor your unit is on, but Illeana could probably do enough astral recon (via spells) to figure out that you're somewhere between 18-22 floors above ground. You have Matrix connectivity through Ares' grid, but might assume that traffic is being monitored at some level. The windows are too small to fit out of unless you widen the windowframes somehow. The exterior wall is metal and concrete, so at least Heavy Structural Material (Structure 12, Armor 20). You won't know for sure if it's reinforced without testing it, although James might hazard a guess with his Architecture knowledge skill.

Let me know if you have any other questions about your situation. The ball is back in your court. Let me know what your high-level plans are for the next few minutes, few hours, and few days.

Illeana will note that the troll is an adept and that the ork is heavily cybered. Bound spirits also astrally patrol the hallways (at high speed) at least once a minute.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-30-16/1219:03>
I put up just the briefest of IC posts, as I've got to run, want to handle some of the crunch, and don't know how far to push ICly anyway.

For the next five minutes, James will be intimate with Illeana.  I guess he'll go to sleep for the rest of that four-and-a-half minutes ;)

Then James is going to try to sleep off some of that Stun damage.  I'll make 3 checks to start.  I have: BOD (5) + WIL (7) = 12 dice for each.
Heal Stun (http://orokos.com/roll/431905): 3#12d6t5 5 6 5
Well, that'll take care of that.

After sleeping and a good meal, James will want to go shopping.  General lay of the land stuff, see how short a leash he's on, etc.  He'll also want to take in a trid and probably do desert and coffee out.  Next steps will largely depend on what they see while out.

I'm going to make a general Perception test to see how they're being followed, and what kinds of security are in place, as well as make notes of employee corridors in the complex.  I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Enhancement (2) + Visual Spec (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 22 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/431909): 22d6t5 7

In general, James will talk pretty freely about how much training sucks and this isn't exactly what he signed on for, but he will not discuss escaping, being generally unhappy, or anything negative about Ares management and practices.It may suck, but it's completely understandable, blah blah blah.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-31-16/0206:02>
IC is up. James is healed and at full Edge.

James and Illeana have an escort wherever they go. It is very overt, ostensibly to discourage anyone from making an extraction attempt.

James' Perception roll is good enough that he sees at least one drone providing overwatch at all times. There are also too many cameras and other fixed sensors to count. Presumably an Ares asset could jump between these at will.

In OOC terms, James knows that Seraphim are the rough equivalent of Professional Rating 5. James and Illeana are getting treatment generally reserved for executives.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-31-16/1224:45>
IC is up. James is healed and at full Edge.

That's very gracious.  Thank you.

With James' Perception test does he see if the troll is wearing Trodes?  I'll assume an implanted commlink on the cyber monster, but if he's got Trodes on as well, that would be good to know.

I'd like to make a few Matrix Perception tests.  I'm interested in what kind of links these guys have going, as well as what other icons they're rocking.

Let's do Hartman first.  I have: INT (9) + Computer (4) + Matrix Perception Spec (2) = 15 dice.
Matrix Perception: Hartman (http://orokos.com/roll/432238): 15d6t5 3

And for Towser: Matrix Perception: Towser (http://orokos.com/roll/432239): 15d6t5 6

And for the drone: Matrix Perception: Drone (http://orokos.com/roll/432240): 15d6t5 7

And for stealth tags in James' clothing: Matrix Perception: Tags (http://orokos.com/roll/432241): 15d6t5 6

Dice are pretty hot right now.

I doubt the goons are going to give James a gun, but it seems like an appropriate request, and it certainly puts them in a difficult position should they refuse him.  This is probably a GM call thing, but I'll go ahead and roll Negotiation to see what happens.  I have: CHA (5) + Negotiation (4) + Tailored Pheromones (2) = 11 dice.
Negotiation (http://orokos.com/roll/432242): 11d6t5 1
Not looking good.  This is probably not the thing I want to spend Edge on.

While shopping James is going to want to buy a commlink.  He does not feel good about going around with an Implanted Commlink being his only interaction with the virtual world, and I think security-minded escorts would feel the same way.  During an extraction attempt, that would be the enemy hacker's primary target, and bricking an internal link, while not necessarily dangerous to his person, is not something to take lightly.  Let me know if this causes trouble.  He'll want a Hermes Ikon, or nearest equivalent.

James is going to want to be in as crowded a trideo plex as possible, and he'll gently nudge Illeana toward whatever feature is likely to draw the biggest crowd on a Friday afternoon, should she not select that trid herself.  Traditionally, movie theatres stagger their start times, so that each film begins in about a 30 minute window.  I'll assume that's still the case in the SR universe.  As such, James will make note of the start times, and excuse himself to the restroom about 45 minutes to an hour-and-fifteen minutes into the trid, as there are not likely to be many people in the bathrooms at that time.  Who follows?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-31-16/1311:09>
Towser and Hartman both have Leviathan-brand commlinks, both rating 5. James also picks up the icons for their Ares Executioners and their Ares Predators.

Towser (ork) also has cybereyes, wired reflexes, and reaction enhancers.

The drone circling above is a Cyberspace Designs Dalmatian.

James finds stealth tags in his clothing. There seems to be two in each piece of clothing.

Conveniently, Friday the 13th is a payday. You have 10 days of wages. Between the two of you, you're making ¥15,473 a month (although this is in Ares scrip, we'll keep the figures in nuyen for convenience, but note that this is not nuyen). Your 10 days of wages come out to be ¥5,158. Between using Ares scrip and being an Ares employee, you can purchase Leviathan commlinks for the equivalent of a 50% discount. The purchases must be made with your Ares SIN.

Towser and Hartman do not follow James into the movie theater. They remain in the lobby. They are still there when James uses the restroom. They do not follow him into the restroom but do keep sight lines on the entrance/exit to the restroom while he is in there.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <08-31-16/1632:07>
Point of order question: The Ares Executioner is an F rated piece of gear, meaning that even Ares' employees wouldn't be able to carry them in public legally, or at least that's my understanding.  Have James and Illeana plus entourage been on Ares sovereign corporate territory for their shopping excursion?  For cool points, are they carrying them in those wizbang briefcases?

Assuming they are in Ares territory, can James see through the itinerary where Ares' territory stops and where UCAS, or a rival corp's territory starts?  How far is that from the movie theatre? 

James will make some surreptitious cuts with a minimally extended cyber spur to cut the stealth tags free from his clothing.  He will pocket these, and do the same for Illeana's, which she can deposit in her own pocket.  This will be done under the cover of darkness in the theatre. 

How much for the Leviathan? 

I will assume that there are no ceiling tiles in the bathroom, or any other easy access above the halls.  Is there anything that James may be able to use to start a fire, or even better manufacture a small explosion?  The latter is almost certainly out, but James may well be able to unwire something, pop it with his shock hand, overload some circuits and start a little electrical fire. 

Let's see if the dice play this out.  I'm going to include my Juryrigger Quality even though this is purely Knowledge-related at this point.  For the long shot explosion, I'm going to roll LOG (4) + Chemistry (1) + Juryrigger (2) = 7 dice.
Chemistry Boom (http://orokos.com/roll/432312): 7d6t5 2

For the electrical fire I have: LOG (4) + Hardware (3) + Juryrigger (2) = 9 dice.
overload circuits? (http://orokos.com/roll/432314): 9d6t5 4
That might be possible.

It's probably also worth rolling Security Design to see if there is some sort of failsafe that he'll need to disable.  I have: LOG (4) + Security Design (5) = 9 dice.
Fail Safe? (http://orokos.com/roll/432315): 9d6t5 3

Related question: anyone in the bathroom when James enters?

Can you give me a general layout for the immediate area?  Are we in a high class promenade where people typically walk around, or are there rows of shops that people typically drive from one to the other?  Does the trid plex have a dedicated parking lot?  Is it physically attached to other buildings and shops?  Is the Dalmatian outside somewhere?

Working plan is to create a diversion, and try to slip away.  I may see if Illeana can manufacture a Trid Phantasm of James exiting the bathroom and heading toward a back hallway exit as the diversion takes place, sending Towser, Hartman, and hopefully the drone to an area of the trid plex where James and Illeana aren't.  James will deposit his stealth tags in some poor schmuck's pockets, popcorn, etc. using Palming, and then we'll see what kind of a break they can make for it.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-01-16/0220:05>
The Greater Detroit Metropolitan Complex is extremely prosperous and one of the safest cities in the UCAS. From a megacorporation perspective, it's basically an Ares company town. There are other businesses and smaller corporations but they're all in Ares' orbit and/or suckling Ares' teats.

No one is going to stop Seraphim from carrying Forbidden weapons. Knight Errant certainly won't. Yes, the Executioners are in briefcases when in public.

James doesn't have a thorough map of what is Ares territory and what isn't. He assumes most everything is Ares territory. UCAS portions of the city are under contract with Knight Errant and might as well be Ares territory. James does not recognize any locations nearby that might conceivably have extraterritoriality outside of Ares and the UCAS. It would be safe to assume that the local government is largely an extension of Ares, even if it is nominally independent.

If James wants the Leviathan version of the Hermes Ikon (R5)  then it will cost ¥1,500. We'll say that all Leviathan devices are named after weather systems:

R1: Squall
R2: Blizzard
R3: Gale
R4: Storm
R5: Cyclone
R6: Hurricane
R7: Tempest

If you want R5, you have the Cyclone.

There are air vents in the bathroom ceiling.

From a chemistry standpoint, James could break into the cleaning supply closet in the bathroom. There's low-grade maglock on the closet door. He could easily break it but that would be much noisier. He doesn't have the proper tools to disable the maglock, and doing so would be suspicious to the others in the restroom. Inside the supply closet, he might expect to find cleaning chemicals. If any of them are aerosols then they are potentially flammable and/or explosive under pressure. Other than that, most of the chemicals will be caustic.

James' shock hand could probably be used to start an electrical fire. Toilet paper is flammable.

There is a fire suppression system in the ceiling that James may wish to disable. However, doing so will likely trigger a central system that the failsafe is offline. How much attention someone pays to this is an open question.

The bathroom stalls will have the most privacy.

Hmm, how many people in the bathroom. We'll get cute and say 2d6 minus 1d6 to allow for the possibility of there being zero (which would not be possible with just 1d6).

People in the bathroom (http://orokos.com/roll/432462): 2d6 12, ha, double sixes
People not in the bathroom (http://orokos.com/roll/432463): 1d6 3

You have nine other gents  in the bathroom with you. Looks like the rush after a show just got out. There are five humans, then one elf, one ork, one dwarf, and one troll. You could wait for them to leave but more might arrive. Lingering too long may arouse suspicion among Towser and Hartman.

Generally speaking, you're in a high-class promenade/plaza where people walk around. There are no motor vehicles allowed except underground. There is extensive parking for the complex. This being Detroit, the underground parking doubles as a pedestrian walkway so that shoppers can avoid blizzards and other weather systems that aren't on the Ares payroll. There will be plenty of people down there today due to the thunderstorms. The Dalmatian, being a VTOL the size of a hang glider, is definitely outside. It could not track someone in the parking garage, but presumably there are lots of other sensors down there which could.

James is almost positive he and Illeana can get to the parking garage, if only because they can run faster than 99% of the world. Now whether they get shot in the back for doing so is another question, as is what their plan will be once they are in the garage, but he's reasonable certain they can get there.

Illeana would suggest a simpler approach: namely, casting Physical Mask and walking out with the crowd at the end of the show. It would only give a minute or two headstart since Towser and Hartman will realize that the pair never exited, but nor will they know who/what they are looking for unless Hartman can assense, which is a possibility.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-02-16/1220:26>
Oh, Hartman can Assense.  Otherwise, I doubt he'd be given this particular detail.  Granted, James and Illeana are both roughly Professional Level 6 or so, but putting 2 Professional Level 5-ish goons on them at all times has got to be incredibly expensive, and my guess is that they wouldn't leave the Astral relatively unguarded.

But Illeana does have Aura Masking, which won't help James at all, but it can at least add a layer of anonymity for her, which might also be useful if we want to Thor Shot Hartman while he's in pursuit. 

Given the number of hoops in the bathroom, James will return to the theatre and try to slip out with the crowd.  While the trid is playing, James will try to get a read on the layout of the underground promenade and compare it to the city streets above.  Given the number of water ways, James will be paying a lot of attention to what isn't there in the public records -- large empty areas, doors and passageways that lead to nowhere, etc.  The best bet may be to stick with peopled areas for as long as possible, and then duck out and down into a lake, sewer system, etc.  Or, make it appear as though they took that route, and go above ground. 

For the underground promenade James has: LOG (4) + Computer (4) = 8 dice.
Computer: Promenade (http://orokos.com/roll/433019): 8d6t5 2

Same roll for above ground: Computer: Above ground (http://orokos.com/roll/433020): 8d6t5 1

And maybe Architecture?  I have: LOG (4) + Architecture (2) + Blueprints Spec (2) = 8 dice.
Architecture (http://orokos.com/roll/433021): 8d6t5 1

Not great. 

How does hot wiring a car work here?

Also, what Ritual would Ares use to locate James, to the best of his or Illeana's knowledge?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-02-16/1811:15>
The underground promenade looks like it covers all the areas that are pedestrian-only above ground. There are obviously some service doors and closets but James can't dig up enough detail to find things like sewer systems or entrances. Presumably the service closets have things like utility access (water, electric, wireless) but that's not publicly available information.

When you say "slip out with the crowd," do you mean as you are, or do you want to go with some sort of disguise (magical or otherwise)?

A ritual would probably revolve around the Detect Individual spell (SR5, p. 286). Spirits with the Search power are another possibility, especially during the initial escape.

Steps to hotwire:
1) break into the car, either physically or via Locksmith
2) hotwire the car, either via hacking (direct connection) or Hardware

James will be at a negative modifier without the proper tools.

GridGuide will shut down the vehicle and report its location once the owner reports that it has been stolen. That could be anywhere from 60 seconds to 60 hours in the future.

It's Friday. Your R&R is scheduled to last all weekend. You could form a plan and try to escape on Saturday or Sunday, or they could cancel your R&R on short notice for no reason at all.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-12-16/0108:41>
Sounds like the basic plan is for Illeana to dope Towser and Hartman with Euphoria preparations and then run. Simple, straightforward. Let's see how well it goes.

Per the house rules, Alchemy is no longer a nested roll. We'll do the rolls when the preparations are triggered. I'll say that Illeana has an hour before the end of the film to do her preparations. She has a ton of Essence that she can dump into attribute boosting.

For drain soak, she has Intuition 10 + Willpower 6 + Centering 7 for 23 dice. She doesn't have her centering focus on her so she can't use that. I'll be a bit OOC and have her pump up her Willpower by 1 so that I can get to 24 dice so that I can buy 6 success for drain soak so that I don't have to roll. She's now at Essence 11.

Actually, let's do the math on that. With 24 dice she has an 84% chance of soaking 6 drain. She's going to be doing about 10 preparations so odds are she would take drain on 1 or 2 of them. I'm only going to let her buy 5 hits (94% chance with 24 dice) so that I don't feel as guilty about not rolling.

Let's pump up Illeana's Magic too, since that's always useful. She'll go from 7 to 11. She's now at Essence 7.

Her base running rate is Agility 6 * Vampire Celerity 3 = 18 meters/turn. James' base rate is Agility 11 * Running 2 = 22 meters a turn. They can both sprint, especially James with his hydraulic jacks, so Illeana needs to be a bit faster to keep up. As the lights in the theater come up, she'll cast Vampiric Speed @ F6 and use the changing light conditions to conceal her shamanic mask. She'll sustain it with Focused Concentration.

Spellcasting: Magic 11 + Spellcasting 7 (http://orokos.com/roll/435896): 18d6t5 7 hits, capped at 6 by the spell's Force. She can now zip along at 24 meters/turn, plus she gets good bonuses to her sprinting rate and initiative score as well.

Illeana doesn't have knives to throw so she might skip the offensive preparations like Fireball since there isn't a great way to deliver them. She'll mostly do buffs. She'll do two (2) each of the follow, one (1) for James and the other for herself

2x Heal @ F7 with command trigger (14 minutes)
2x Euphoria @ F7 with contact trigger (14 minutes)
2x Physical Camouflage @ F4 with contact trigger (8 minutes)
2x Physical Barrier @ F5 with contact trigger (10 minutes)
2x Catfall @ F7 with contact trigger (14 minutes)

Catfall is a fun spell but is somewhat redundant with Levitate.

Alright, now on to the show. Illeana will dope the Seraphim, who may or may not see God in their ecstasy. Illeana will walk right up to them because she figures if she throws something then odds are good that they'll dodge it out of instinct. Plus the Accuracy on thrown straws is abysmal. She'll do Towser first then Hartman:

Magic 11 + Enchanting 8 + Focus 2 + Mentor Spirit 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/435898): 2#23d6t5 8 hits 4 hits

Towser's euphoria is capped at 7 hits by the force of the preparation. Now they resist. This is a mana illusion so they resist with Willpower + Logic:

Towser: Willpower + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/435899): ?d6t5 3 hits, so he takes 4 hits and is at -4 and probably sees God
Hartman: Willpower + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/435900): ?d6t5 4 hits, so he takes 0 hits and does not see God

Well that didn't work. Edge cannot be spent on triggering preparations so Hartman is unaffected and probably unamused.  Time to roll initiative.

Illeana: Initiative + Vampiric Speed (http://orokos.com/roll/435902): 4d6+24 33, quite a poor roll, actually

James has a 95% chance of acting before they do, so go ahead and declare your actions after you roll.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-12-16/1257:12>
On the way out of the theatre James is going to try to dump the stealth tags in some unwary moviegoer's purse.  For Palming I have: AGI (11) + Palming (6) = 17 dice.  I'm not sure what this is actually resisted by for planting something, but for noticing Hidden Gear its V. INT + Perception.
Palming (http://orokos.com/roll/435971): 17d6t5 5

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/435973): 16+4d6 30

So, it looks like I'll be coming in after Illeana.

Not sure what she can do that might one-shot Hartman, but I'm thinking about Called Shots.  Against many opponents in this situation I'd think about doing a CS: Genitals, but a Troll Adept is just going to shred BOD + WIL tests, but it would be a great low key attack that probably wouldn't draw that much attention.  CS: Neck is probably the next best thing, but then we've really got to punch it in drive afterward.  And I need to decide if the secondary benefits are worth the -8 penalty.  Between Reach, Combat Sense (assuming he has it), and a healthy starting pool for INT + REA, it would be an uphill fight.  On the other hand, straight up trying to murderize the guy isn't going to one-shot him with the cyber spur, and since the Shock Hand is capped at 9S(e), that's not going to bring him down either. 

Through gritted teeth I'm deciding on going big with a Charge Attack + Called Shot: Neck.  Now I've got t figure out how I want to use Edge.  Pre and post have roughly the same result, as does Miracle Shot, but the best bet is probably to re-roll misses.  I have: AGI (11) + Unarmed Combat (7) + Charge Attack (2) - Called Shot (8) = 12 measly dice.
Called Shot: Neck (http://orokos.com/roll/435979): 12d6t5 6
There's some rolling.  Let's roll James' Edge attribute to see if we can stack up a hit or two.
Push the Limit (http://orokos.com/roll/435980): 5d5h5 2
Ok, 8 hits total.  Apparently my coding is off, as I had it re-roll 5s, but neither was a Hit.

Base damage is 11P -2AP.  Hartman must make a BOD + WIL (3) to avoid a -10 to Initiative and suffers Bleedout (target suffers 1P unresisted for every action they take that is not First Aid until a First Aid (4) test has been made or Heal Spell heals at least 1 box of damage.  After the Soak test the most Hartman can take is 10P.

CT 1 IP 1
Free: Charge
Free: Pop Cyber Spur
Complex: Skewer Hartman

Fingers crossed.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-12-16/1557:47>
Wow, Illeana's the vampire but James is the one going for the neck.

I suppose Illeana's IP1 is a free action to comm that it didn't work, then holding the rest to see what James does.

Towser will try to dodge/block/parry, whatever the unarmed combat version is.

Towser defense: Reaction + Intuition + Unarmed + Combat Sense + Reach (http://orokos.com/roll/436015): ?d6t5 8 hits

Tie goes to the defender. Hartman uses his long arms to swat the blow aside. It nicks his neck but does no significant damage. Looks like they put the first-stringers on your protection detail.

Hmm, what would Illeana do. Trolls are tough, and she'll be doubly concerned that he shrugged off her spell with no effect. She'll try once more and if that doesn't work then maybe they'll have to tag-team him. As for spells, there are a few options:

Mana Bind: Targets break free out of Mana Bind with Body+Strength so let's just forget about that for a troll.
Foreboding: Area effect, hits allies and enemies alike, so let's skip that since James is in melee combat.
Influence: worth a shot, I suppose

CT1 IP1
Free: Comm James ("It didn't work!")
Complex (held): cast Influence ("Run for your life!")

Illeana spellcasting: Magic 11 + Spellcasting 7 (http://orokos.com/roll/436024): 18d6t5 5 hits
Hartman resisting: Willpower + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/436025): ?d6t5 2 hits

I should have subtracted a die for being a held action but her final die was not a hit so the result stands.

Got some traction with that one. There might be more efficient uses of the command but Illeana is hoping that one that has a basis in reality ("run for you life" being relevant for a situation where a brain-damaged supersoldier is attacking you with a cyberspur) will both last longer and provide some deniability in case they get captured and she needs to claim that James was fugue-ing.

CT1 IP1
33: Illeana: held, then spellcasting
30: James: skewering attempt
24 24: Towser: euphoria'ing/TBD
24 19: Hartman: running, presumably
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-13-16/2041:50>
Man, I'm having a hard time figuring out what Towser would do. On one hand, he is tripping the light fantastic. On the other hand, he is a highly-trained operative and the negative modifier does not exceed his Willpower, so per the rules he is able to act.

Towser
Free: Comm for backup
Simple: Iaijutsu stun baton
Simple: Stick James with the stun baton

Step one, quick draw: Reaction + Clubs - Tripping Balls (http://orokos.com/roll/436470): ?d6t5 1 hit

Hahaha, poor Towser can't even get his stun baton out. Instead of shocking James, he'll spend his second Simple action to properly draw the stun baton. His hands are shaky though.

Hartman
Free: Shout "Fall back!"
Complex: run for his life

Given his training, I should probably have him roll to resist the spell again, but since James is in his face with a cyberspur it actually sounds like damn good advice right now. That takes us to the next IP.

CT1 IP2
23: Illeana
20: James
14: Towser
9: Hartman

Illeana will summon a fire spirit, because that's the responsible thing to do in a crowded theater, right? She actually wants it on the astral for cover as she anticipates reinforcements will be on their way shortly. She needs a good one so she'll go F6.

Summoning: Magic 11 + Summoning 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/436472): 15d6t5 5 hits
Spirit resist: Force (http://orokos.com/roll/436473): 6d6t5 2 hits
Soaking 4S drain: Willpower 7 + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/436474): 17d6t5 8 hits, yay overkill

Illeana has an F6 spirit with 3 services. Optional powers are Fear and Guard.

James is up!
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-14-16/1149:34>
Good Ghost Hartman's got some defense dice!  I think James is going to be a little hesitant about that.  And challenged.  He'll take the -5 to his Initiative and do an Intercepting attack.  No Called Shots on this one.  I have: AGI (11) + Unarmed (7) + Cyber Weapon Spec (2) = 20 dice.  Frag I forgot the Cyber Weapon Spec on the last attack :/
Stick Hartman (http://orokos.com/roll/436616): 20d6t5 3
Nope, but it might make Illeana's directions a little more clear as to her intended audience.  Hartman's at least at -1 for Previous Attack; we'll see about Blocking.

Now I think it's time we start running, and toward an exit near the opposite direction of Hartman's path of egress.  James will comm directions with additional instructions to initially take off in different headings.

I probably need a Navigation test in addition to the Running test.  Luckily for James, Navigation is based on INT and not LOG, so maybe if he can't reason his way out, he can feel his way out.  For Navigation I have: INT (9) + Navigation (4) = 13 dice.
Navigation (http://orokos.com/roll/436610): 13d6t5 4
Ideally, James is looking for the nearest subway or equivalent.  Kind of weird to think of Detroit offering anything that would compete with the all might automobile, but if there's no driving allowed down here, there's bound to be some sort of longer-distance travel options. 

For Sprinting I have: STR (8) + Running (6) + Hydraulic Jacks (6) = 20 dice.
Sprinting (http://orokos.com/roll/436613): 20d6t5 5
An extra 10 meters for a total of 32 meters per turn.

CT1 IP2
Free: Comm Illeana
Complex: Sprint

James would also like to sheath his Cyber Spur, but I'm not sure if the mental commands for that and sending the comm overlap.  Assuming they do.

James is at 4/5 Edge.  Adjusted Initiative is 15.

ETA: what kind of options do we have for paths of egress? 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-14-16/1714:36>
Your IC post mentions Hartman fumbling for his stun baton but that was Towser. Hartman is retreating.

I'm going to say that Hartman's retreat, which triggers James' Intercept attack, is enough of an action that he isn't subject to the -1 for Previous Attack. He would be if James continued the assault in IP2.

Hartman is going to block/parry again. James definitely notes that Hartman is fighting professionally and efficiently and isn't some nameless grunt. It's strange; it's almost like Ares knows what James is capable of.

Hartman defense: Reaction + Intuition + Unarmed + Combat Sense + Reach (http://orokos.com/roll/436692): ?d6t5 10 hits, and, given his absurd Physical Limit, he gets to keep them all

I think we can safely say that James misses.

James runs at 22 meters per CT. We're halving the sprint rate too, so James 5 hits buy an extra 5 meters per CT. That makes it 27 meters for this CT, although James can increase that by sprinting again in IP3. This is mostly academic since we'll probably be abstracting a lot of this, but we'll go through the exercise to put some hard numbers on how quickly you open up the distance between you and the Seraphim. So, 27 meters per turn, round up to 28 for convenience. 4 IPs, so 7 meters per IP.

You'll have to sheathe your cyberspur next IP.

Is James going to tell Illeana to run in a different direction? Is that what you meant by taking off in different headings?

There are plenty of exits, mostly emergency exits so that the crowd can disperse in case of emergency. Which is what we have now. You're at a mid-afternoon show so it's not crazy busy but let's say there are 100 people either exiting the theater (same as you) or milling about in the lobby, buying concessions, etc. Most of these are bolting for the exits, which will clog your path somewhat.

The Interception rules say that you can roll Agility + Gymnastics to dodge people. While this will slow you down, it will also slow down your pursuers and potentially provide cover.

We'll call the front doors 25 meters away from your starting position, so 18 meters away after IP2. There are currently 50 people racing toward them, but luckily there are 5 different front doors so we'll say 10 a piece. You need to dodge 10 people (via AGI+Gymnastics) on your way to the front door, should you go that way. You will be slowed to Walking movement rates while dodging. Once you get that far, you'll be out in the open plaza. It's still pouring rain outside, which means fewer people to blend in with but might provide environmental cover.

If you take emergency exit #2, you only have to go 20 meters (minus 7 equals 13 after IP2) but you still have to dodge 10 people since it's only a single door. You don't know where you'll end up but your gut instinct says an alleyway or whatever runs alongside the theater.

If you take emergency exit #3, you only have to go 15 meters (minus 7 equals 8 after IP2) but it's clogged with 15 people since it's the closest to your theater. This might also dump you in an alleyway.

You could also bowl people over with a Charging Attack if you didn't want to go around them. Some Gymnastics/jumping shenanigans are potentially feasible as well.

The remainder of the people in the lobby are cowering, or taking cover, or paralyzed with indecision.

I don't know much about Detroit. Let's say that you're in the vicinity of the Fox Theater (which is a performance hall) and The Fillmore (similar). You're not in either of those two but in a trid theater they built in the vicinity. They've turned the parking/street space outside into a nice plaza with shopping and cafés and whatnot.

See if this works for a map (https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3377989,-83.0529903,3a,75y,28.91h,94.8t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sTqL9sk6VzlIh6n6QjO77Vg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DTqL9sk6VzlIh6n6QjO77Vg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D152.66855%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656).

There are stairs and elevators that take you to the aforementioned underground parking. There is also the People Mover (which you will see on the map) but that's above ground. Some sports stadiums are a couple blocks to the E-NE. (The plaza extends in that direction.) The underground parking helps serve the stadiums. James thinks that there might be some shuttles or trolleys moving people around the underground parking, but doesn't know if that is limited to heavy traffic days like game days.

Aside: it occurs to me that yesterday was the same day as it is in-game (9/13). End aside.

On that note, let's check to see if there was a game last night. Well, well, well, there [urlhttp://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=360913106]was[/url]. So it's game night tonight. Current day Comerica Park doesn't have a roof but future stadium does because no self-respecting Detroiter, pride of the UCAS, is going to be put off by a little rain that was probably conjured by vengeful Sioux shamen intent on ruining good, clean, American fun. That said, the game won't start for a couple hours so there might not be a thick, rich crowd to get lost in yet. Maybe some pre-game traffic coming to the plaza for an early dinner though.

The freeway is a couple blocks north of you. The river is 1300 meters to the S-SE.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-14-16/1810:56>
We're halving the sprint rate too,

Is that a recent change?  First post in the OOC says 2 meters per hit.

Is James going to tell Illeana to run in a different direction? Is that what you meant by taking off in different headings?

Yes.  Basic gist is that they'll head to the same exit, but take different approaches to get there.  Say Illeana takes the far right door of the main exit, and James takes the far left. 

I'd like to get Physical Masks on us before heading out into the sites of the VTOL, but I'm not sure how feasible that is.  I plan on taking the first stairwell down into the underground promenade, so hopefully we don't have our hoops hanging out in the rain for long.  Given James' knowledge of security design, how likely does he think it will be for him to jump through the glass over the main entrance/exit?  That may be an avenue for avoiding the crowd.  If not he'll do his best Cal Iverson (Detroit Lions rookie of the year, 2072) impersonation and bowl through them via a Charge Attack
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-14-16/1843:30>
You're right, I did say that the sprinting remains at the published rate. So you are correct that James is at 32 meter per CT right now, or 8 meters per IP.

Is the question about the glass whether James can jump high enough or whether he can break through the structure rating?

Security design: James is pretty good at this. This is a soft target on the doorsteps of the headquarters of a AAA corp, so it would be reasonable to conclude that it's not just glass. It's probably not armored glass, because that stuff is unsightly and this is a pleasant plaza. Ballistics glass is most likely. If so, it would have 10 dice to soak. James would have to do 4 or more boxes of damage to break it.

If you want Physical Mask, you'll have to ask for it and then you'll have to be close enough for Illeana to touch you.

The staircases outside are within 35 meters, so your hoop wouldn't be hanging out too long before getting underground.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-14-16/1926:58>
I was fairly certain that James could make that kind of height.  I'd guess that doors are about 3 meters tall to accommodate troll clientele easily, but that means 6 hits on a Jumping test, since by RAW getting a running start doesn't affect vertical jumps at their half-meter per hit gain.  Now there's the math of whether James can physically jump that high.  He's 1.8 meters tall, so he's capped at 2.7 meters for Vertical jump tests,but his Hydraulic Jacks up that by 20% bringing him to 3.24 meters.  Wow, so it's at least possible.

Let's give it a shot.  I have: AGI (11) + Athletics Group (6) + Hydraulic Jacks (6) = 23 dice. 
Vertical Jump Test (http://orokos.com/roll/436731): 23d6t5 4
Man, that's a lot of 3s and 4s.  Well, let's Edge that puppy, as I'd rather not end up prone right now.
Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/436733): 19d6t5 3
That'll do it.

Next, James needs to do 4 boxes of damage to the ballistic glass.  Not sure the best way to proceed here, but I'm guessing we'll treat it as a Charging Attack?  I could also see a simple BOD + STR to do it.  I'm also of a couple different minds on whether or not James should lead with his Cyber Spur.  It has the best damage at 11P -2AP, but it also doesn't feel entirely realistic, as James will probably be protecting his core on the way out.  Maybe 8P + hits is the best way to go.  I'm going to roll BOD + STR because I think it's more realistic. 

I have: BOD (5) + STR (8) = 13 dice.
Break Through Glass (http://orokos.com/roll/436735): 13d6t5 5
If we're going base STR that's 13P to be soaked with 10 dice.  Not looking good for the old ballistic glass.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-14-16/1954:30>
Vertical jumping distance is more for someone leaping straight up in the air, but I'll allow it here because it's cool and because James is a freakish superhuman and it seems plausible.

However, he still needs at least 1 more IP of running to get close enough to the doors to do this. I read an article (http://www.mathscareers.org.uk/article/long-jump/) (well, some of it) to get a sense of how far people jump and how high they go after liftoff. If the peak of James' jump is 3m, then he needs to be taking off from 10-11 meters away, which would be during IP4.

James technically doesn't get an IP4. This might be a good time to test out your Attribute Boost power, courtesy of CFD, to raise your Reaction 1 point to get IP4. Or you could just wait until CT2 IP1.

Using your cyberspur would make the attack on the glass a formality. Using your Body is less certain but still likely.

Glass soak: Structure 4 + Armor 6 (http://orokos.com/roll/436744): 10d6t5 3 hits

Given Newton's Third Law of Motion, James needs to soak 4P, which will be reduced to 4S by his armor. Roll at your convenience.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-15-16/0007:56>
James corrected Initiative was 15 after using Interception, so he won't be able to get another pass.  Can you remind me what freakish powers I have for CFD?

I'm confused on the IPs.  James is currently running at 32 mpct, and the front door is 25 meters from his starting position.  Why would he wait until CT2 IP1 for the jump?  if it's not going to happen this CT I need to figure out my last pass. Further Sprinting tests aren't going to get me any further with James coming up on top of the crowd, so I think I'll go for:

CT1 IP3
Simple: Turn Wireless Off
Simple: Sheath Cyber Spur
Free: Comm Illeana

James is going to go dark for his new link which has been broadcasting SIN, etc.  When James spotted the VTOL earlier, was it Running Silent?

For Soaking I have: BOD (5) + Rapid Transit (9) + Cyber Armor (4) = 18 dice.
Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/436822): 18d6t5 7
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-15-16/1303:14>
Movement is goofy, especially when you have a variable number of IPs. Then, of course, it gets thrown off by things like Sprinting tests and Interrupt actions that may change the number of IPs a character has or how far they can go in those IPs.

I did the math in my head last night and I can write it out if you want. The long and the short of it is that to most realistic outcome is for James to jump during CT1 IP3 but not to land until CT2 IP1. Not doing so would effectively make his jumping speed much faster than his sprinting speed, which is unrealistic. (This is also something I wish I had done in Tabula Rasa. When the RV lost its wheel and tipped over, I wish I would have extended the tipping and falling over multiple IPs instead of having it all happen within one second.)

The Dalmatian was running silent when James spotted it earlier, yes.

No problems on the soak, obviously.

I'll try to get Illeana's actions up today, plus those of Towser and Hartman.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-16-16/0117:40>
Illeana CT1 IP2 @ 23
Free: Run
Simple: Remove Victorinox Memory Blade: Dagger (which is disguised as a bracelet)
Simple: Ready Weapon

Her dagger won't harden into a dagger until the end of CT1 IP3. With her celerity and vampiric speed power, she can make it about 6 meters per IP, assuming 4 IPs per CT.

Towser CT1 IP2 @ 14
Free: Drop stun baton
Simple: Ready weapon
Simple: Short burst at Illeana

Towser shooting: Agility + Automatics + Smartlink - Euphoria (http://orokos.com/roll/437189): ?d6t5 4 hits

Illeana has Combat Sense and may dodge even though her back is turned.

Illeana dodging: Intuition 10 + Reaction 4 + Combat Sense 4 + Running 2 - Burst 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/437190): 18d6t5 4 hits

A glancing blow. The stick-n-shock round connects and discharges. Damage is 5S(e) -5AP. Luckily, Illeana is wearing her non-conductive form-fitting body armor. I know armor is abstracted and all but I'm going to leave off her mask because it doesn't make any sense to include it while getting shot in the back.

Soak roll: Body 5 + Armor 8 + Non-Conductivity 3 - AP 5 (http://orokos.com/roll/437191): 11d6t5 2 hits

Bzzt! Illeana takes 2S, loses 5 off her Initiative, and will be a -1 for all actions until CT2 IP2.

Now to roll to see if she manages to sustain her spell. Willpower 6 + Spellcasting 7 (http://orokos.com/roll/437196): 13d6t5 3 hits, yes, spell stays active, but that's at least her sixth below-average roll in a row

Hartman CT1 IP2 @ 9
Free: Run
Complex: Sprint toward the nearest emergency exit (#3)

Forgot fire spirit's initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/437199): 3d6+12 24, which we'll dock 20 off for IP3

CT1 IP3
8: Illeana
5: James
4: Towser
4: Fire Spirit (materializing)

Illeana CT1 IP3 @ 8
Free: Run, now 12 meters from Towser
Simple: Command Fire Spirit
Simple: Command Fire Spirit
 
The fire spirit will need to materialize before is able to act.

The Ares Executioner comes with a sound suppressor. James can roll Audio Perception (-2 distracted, -2 interfering sounds) against a Threshold of 2 to see if he hears the gunfire. If so, you may revise his CT1 IP3 actions, although you won't know that Illeana's been hit without an Observe in Detail. Per my earlier post, if you want to begin your jump on IP3 and end it on IP1, you may.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-19-16/1151:09>
For Perception James has: INT (9) + Perception (6) - Distracted (2) - Interfering Sounds (2) = 11 dice.
Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/437848): 11d6t5 3
Noticed.

So, firing automatic weapons in a crowded theatre huh?  This should be fun.  Firing from the suitcase makes the Recoil Penalty 6 for a Short Burst correct?

I will opt for taking the jump this IP and land during CT2 IP1. 

What are my CFD related powers?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-19-16/1918:12>
James doesn't know that the ammo is SnS yet. When he does, he can start to compute the value he (or Illeana) must represent if the company is willing to taze its own people in order to get to him (or her).

James is unaware of what modifications the suitcase might have that may assist with recoil. Alternatively, Towser could just Aim between short bursts to reset the penalty, which would make sense given the crowded conditions.

CFD Powers
1) Attribute boost: Simple Action. Roll 6 dice. Each hit allows you to raise one Physical attribute by 1 point. The effect lasts for [Hits] Combat Turns. After than, you soak [Hits] drain. The soak test isn't in the rules but I don't see why this should be worse than what an adept goes through, so we'll say BOD+WIL to resist. That's 12 dice, which should result in mostly drain-free boosting. James' Agility is maxed out but he has some room for gains on his other physical attributes.

2) Toxin Resistance: James gets bonus dice to resist toxins, should he encounter them.

3) Adrenal Control: James can continue operating for a short while if his Stun or Physical condition monitors are filled.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-20-16/0132:13>
Let's finish off CT1.

IP3
8: Illeana - commanding spirit
5: James - jumping
4: fire spirit - materializing
4: Towser - shooting!

Towser
Towser is very excited to see James leaping over the crowd. That means Towser can shoot you while you have minimal ability to dodge while in midair. Let's see how this goes.

Shooting James: Agility + Automatics + Smartlink + Take Aim - Euphoria (http://orokos.com/roll/438156): ?d6t5 5 hits

To dodge, you get to use Combat Sense 4 + Running 2 - Short Burst 3 = 3 dice. You can use Edge too if you choose. Damage is 5S(e) -5AP + net hits.

Then it's time to roll initiative again!

Illeana: Initiative + Vampiric Speed - Tazed (http://orokos.com/roll/438158): 4d6+23 35
Fire spirit: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/438159): 3d6+12 18
Seraphim: Towser, Hartman (http://orokos.com/roll/438160): ? 20 Towser ? 19 Hartman
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-20-16/1143:47>
No Defense test while Jumping?  That's unexpected.  Doesn't appear as though Sixth Sense would apply, as James isn't Unaware, so I think I'll forgo any Edge tests.  Not like he's not going to get hit.
Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/438306): 3d6t5 1

Soaking 9S(e) -5AP.  James has: BOD (5) + Rapid Transit (9) + Cyber Armor (4) - SnS (5) = 13 dice.
Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/438307): 13d6t5 4
An average Edge roll would keep him out of any negative mods.  Let's give it a shot, and spend Edge to re-roll failures
Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/438311): 9d6t5 2
Nope.  James takes 3S, is at -1 to all actions until CT2 IP3, and as per the earlier rule about Initiative subtracting at the time a char acts, James will take -5 to CT2's Initiative.

Initiative: Initiaive (http://orokos.com/roll/438313): 10+4d6 23

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-20-16/1755:07>
CT2 IP1

Illeana @ 35
Illeana was running for 1 IP so she should be about 16 meters from the doors now. Given 4 IPs this pass, she can run about 6 meters per IP. However, she will be slowed to walking rates while navigating the cluster of people blocking the door. She can't jump the same way James can, nor does she have a really great spell to knock people out of the way. She needs to make an AGI+Gymanstics extended test against a threshold of 10 to move to the front of the line.

Here are some tests all at once to make it convenient:
Agility 6 + Gymnastics 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/438374): 5#9d6t5 3 hits 3 hits 4 hits 4 hits 5 hits

As long as she doesn't lose any dice, she'll clear the crowd after CT2 IP3. Right now I'll give her Partial Cover, due to the the crowd, increasing to Good Cover during IP2.

James @ 23
James is up next. He blasts through the ballistic glass and is in the process of landing outside. It's all very awesome and dramatic, people are screaming, someone might be 2.0 streaming, etc. etc.

As James is in the process of landing, his options are somewhat limited. The good news is that he's got a bunch of people acting as cover from Towser, but he can't resume running yet as he is still flying/landing. (He still travels distance due to his jump. He doesn't need to spend an action on this.) He can still use Observe in Detail or send comms or give the finger to the drone overhead or other things that don't involve his legs.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-21-16/1047:11>
Let's do an Observe in Detail.  James has: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Vision Enhancement (2) + Specifically Looking (3) - BZZZZ (1) = 21 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/438553): 21d6t5 3

James will also turn his SIN off, and send a message to Illeana.

CT2 IP1
Simple: Observe in Detail
Simple: Turn off SIN
Free: Comm Illeana

James is at 9/12 S 10/10P 2/5 Edge

I'll get an IC post up today covering the goings on.

ETA: I forgot James' Wound modifier.  Dropping from the right doesn't affect hits.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-21-16/1628:31>
I've updated my last IC to carry us through CT1.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-21-16/1638:19>
I forgot to subtract Illeana's BZZZZZ from her dicepool too. It will take her all 4 IPs to navigate through the crowd.

I'll try to get an IC up for her soon too, either today or tomorrow.

What is James Specifically Looking for with his Observe in Detail?

Outside, it's still raining hard. Panicked people are starting to stream out of the the theater but most of the plaza in front of James is empty due to lack of pedestrians on account of the rain. Glancing about, he doesn't see any obvious security waiting for him. It's a relatively peaceful afternoon that's been disrupted by shattering glass and screaming movie fans who like their action on screen (or "on trid" as it were), not surrounding them. A stairway down to the underground parking is maybe 30 meters away.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-23-16/1057:33>
James is on the watch for any potential combatants, or shots that may be coming his way.

Depending on how things go I'm considering whether or not I should go Full Defense, and sacrifice a pass of Sprinting tests, or if I'd be better off with the extra couple of meters.  Considering how things have been going I'm leaning more toward Full Defense, but will James get a Defense test if the drone fires from above?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-26-16/1402:34>
I owe some posts on this for the rest of CT2 IP1. I was traveling over the weekend and came into work this morning to find several fire drills, so I'm stamping those out first.

Short version: James does not see any security in the plaza waiting for him. The weather might be working for him in this case, since patrolmen aren't just lounging around outside in the thunderstorm. He might assume that an APB will be issued, but it also might take a bit to get said APB routed through the right channels, issued, received, and then have units respond. Guards for local stores might step outside to respond, but their professional rating might not make them a concern other than as snitches who might give away his position.

Due to Combat Sense, James will get a Defense test if the drone opens fire on him.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-27-16/0200:08>
CT2 IP1

Towser @ 20
The fire spirit has materialized between Towser and Illeana. Towser knows that his SMG isn't going to be terribly effective against the fire spirit, even with stick-n-shock loaded.

Complex: Action hidden, but he does not fire nor move meaningfully

Hartman @ 19
Actions hidden

Fire spirit @ 18
Per Illeana's instructions, the fire spirit will use Fear on Towser.

Spirit: Magic 6 + Willpower 6 (http://orokos.com/roll/439886): 12d6t5 1 hit, I guess that's why we roll
Towser resist: Willpower + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/439887): ?d6t5 5 hits

Towser does not seem to be phased.

CT2 IP2

25: Illeana
13: James
10: Towser
9: Hartman
8: Fire Spirit

Illeana @ 25
Complex: weaving in and out of people rushing for the exit

Towser @ 10
Towser has accessed the theater's host and is activating the fire suppression system.

This constitutes an undodgeable area attack against the fire spirit. This triggers the fire spirit's Severe allergy, so it is now at -4 to all actions. While the rules for allergies say that damage accumulates at the rate of 1 box per minute (unresisted), I am going to say that this isn't severe enough. I'm going to take the rules for fire damage (from p. 171) and reverse them. Namely, the damage will be 3 DV this combat turn, then 4 DV the next combat turn, then +1 every turn after that until the fire spirit expires or departs.

Fire spirit resisting 3 DV: Body 7 (http://orokos.com/roll/439888): 7d6t5 1 hit

Fire spirit is not performing up to expectations. It takes 2P and is at -4 due to its allergy. It would be safe to say that it is unhappy.

Hartman @ 9
Actions hidden

Action is to James. There's nothing obstructing him at the moment so he can take his IP2 action (@ 13) and his IP3 action (@ 3) at the same time.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-27-16/1654:38>
James will go Full Defense, so he'll be acting at 3 on IP2.

For IP2 he will Sprint.

I have: STR (8) + Athletics (6) + Hydraulic Jacks (6) - Wound Penalty (1) = 19 dice.
Sprinting (http://orokos.com/roll/440059): 19d6t5 9
And that's why we roll.  Physical Limit is 10, so I can keep all the hits.  James base Running speed is 22 meters + 18 for Sprinting brings him to 40M through the CT.  James will end up somewhere in the stairwell I would guess.  What do things look like down there?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-27-16/2031:58>
That's a good sprinting roll. I should probably knock a couple of dice for environmental modifiers (i.e. running in the rain) but that's not going to prevent you from making it down the staircase.

During the remainder of CT2, Illeana will comm you with updates, namely that she's fighting her way through the crowd in the theater and that the fire suppression system is going off. (I should probably apply environmental modifiers to her as well, but I think she still has enough hits to get through by the end of CT2.)

James sees the parking garage extends in all directions underneath the plaza. It's fairly empty right now due to the weather and the fact that it's midafternoon on a Friday. There are plenty of cars, but given the extensiveness of the lot it is only 1/4 full or so. The cars are mostly nicer, given that this a high security district.

The following will be available if and when James spends an Observe in Detail action:

The parking lot extends at least 100 meters in any direction before reaching a ramp or other outlet back onto the streets.

To the E-NE, there are ramps and stairs up to the stadium that are maybe 150 meters away.

If there are ramps or stairs to the west, James cannot see them.

For cars, the ramps out are 100 meters each to the north and south.

We're on to CT3 so let's go ahead and roll Initiative.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-28-16/1907:05>
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/440541): 15+4d6 29

CT3 IP1
Simple: Observe in Detail
Simple: Take Cover
Free:

For Observe in Detail I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Vision Enhancement (2) + Specifically Looking (3) - Wound Modifier (1) = 21 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual (http://orokos.com/roll/440543): 21d6t5 9
Mental Limit is 8, staged up to 10 with Vision Enhancement.  James see all.  He is specifically looking for security cameras and gaps in their field of view that he can duck into.  Bonus points if he can do so while remaining concealed from the stairwell as well.

James will then take that position.  Movement should cover it, but I figure Take Cover makes sense Action Economy-wise.  If James can have another Simple Action at his disposal I'd like to increase REA with his funky new CFD powers.

Otherwise, I've been having a hell of a week between day job and parental craziness, but things should calm down here soon.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-29-16/0137:42>
I wouldn't worry about it. I have plenty of pots on the stove now too, so a slowdown works reasonably well for me.

CT3
42: Illeana (wow, just wow)
29: James
23: Hartman
20: Towser
19: Illeana's fire spirit
19: Not Illeana's fire spirit
19: Not Illeana's fire spirit v2

Illeana @ 42
Illeana breaks through the crowd and out the doors and into the rain. Via her Regeneration power, she shakes off the remainder of her damage from being tazed.

Simple: Command fire spirit to return to astral
Simple: Command fire spirit to protect her astrally
Free: Run to stairs, covering 5 of 35 meters

She'll need to sprint if she's ever going to catch up, but she's done for now.

James @ 29
Good roll. James spots all the cameras and can use his Free + Simple (Take Cover) to duck behind a Rover 2072. If James wishes to continue avoiding them, he can use Sneaking rolls. This will slow him down somewhat - say 1.5x movement rate instead of 2x for running - and may look unusual to the other people around. Or he can act nonchalant and move/sneak at walking speeds.

Looking around, James also spots: People in garage (http://orokos.com/roll/440688): 4d6 8 people who are passing through the garage within 100 meters of his position. They are minding their own business and don't pay any attention to James. They either heading toward their cars, or away from their cars, or are otherwise staying out of the rain. There are also Cars in garage (http://orokos.com/roll/440690): 1d6 4 cars that are actively driving around the garage. If you want to know more about cars or pedestrians then let me know and I'll randomly generate it.

Hartman @ 23
Actions hidden

Towser @ 20
Towser is going to shoot Illeana's fire spirit. The fire spirit will go on Full Defense.

Simple: Take Aim
Simple: Short Burst

Towser shooting: Agility + Automatics + Smartlink + Take Aim - Euphoria (http://orokos.com/roll/440692): ?d6t5 5 hits
Fire spirit dodge: Reaction 9 + Intuition 6 + Full Defense 6 - Short Burst 2 - Allergy 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/440695): 15d6t5 4 hits

Fire spirit gets tagged. I was going to say that the fire suppression system amplifies the effect of the stick-n-shock round, but some Internet research suggests that this would not be the case. Fire spirit has to soak 6S(e) -5AP.

Fire spirit soak: Body 7 + Armor 7 (http://orokos.com/roll/440698): 14d6t5 2 hits

Man, this fire spirit sucks. Luckily it gets 4 additional auto-hits due to Immunity to Normal Weapons acting as hardened armor. It doesn't incur any additional damage.

Illeana'a fire spirit @ 19
Illeana's fire spirit (gladly) follows its orders and returns to the astral, where it is no longer subject to its allergy.

Complex: dematerialize
Free: move to cover Illeana

Fire spirits that aren't Illeana's * 2 @ 19
Two fire spirits astrally arrive on the scene. They spend the pass using Observe in Detail actions to get a grasp on the situation, then move to follow Illeana.

CT3 IP2

Illeana @ 32
Illeana is not under any illusions about why the fire spirits are there. They will undoubtedly punish her dual-naturedness. If she could astrally project, it would be interesting to have James carry her body while her astral form fled elsewhere, but that's not an option here. She'll need to fight them off, which she isn't as good at without her weapon focus.

Free: Run 5 meters (she has now covered 10 meters
Complex: Cast Powerblade

According RAW, Powerblade is technically a Combat spell, but I've written beautiful posts that convincingly argue that they should be treated as Manipulation spells instead, so I'm going to give Illeana her +2 mentor spirit bonus for Manipulation spells. She'll cast at F6.

Spellcasting @ F6: Magic 11 + Spellcasting 7 + Mentor Spirit 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/440705): 20d6t5 10 hits, bye hits! Force caps hits at 6.
Soaking 4S drain: Willpower 6 (7) + Intuition 10 (http://orokos.com/roll/440706): 17d6t5 4 hits, no drain

The good news is that Illeana has armed herself with something that will affect the spirits. The bad news is that she's already sustaining Vampiric Speed and will now be at -2 for sustaining Powerblade.

James @ 19
James is up!
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <09-29-16/1214:52>
An Initiative score of 42!  Holy drekballs that's fast.  James and Illeana are pushing physics to the limits here.  With James last Sprinting roll of 40 meters a combat turn, that comes to 800 meters a minute, or 48,000 an hour, which is just shy of running 30 mph, slightly outpacing Usain Bolt.  I've read that in theory humans could run up to 40 mph, which James doesn't touch, but he also only got 1 CT with which to Sprint.  Maybe next time.  If you hadn't rightfully halved the Walking/Running speeds from RAW, James would have hit just over 46 mph, which is perhaps on point with what a cyber soldier with Hydraulic Jacks could achieve on a straight track, but given terrain, turning, keeping a lookout for potential threats, and everything else going on in a combat scenario, I think your house rule is a good one.

But Illeana's 42 Initiative wow.  Getting 5 passes with which to hit someone in melee, for example, pretty much makes her this guy:

[spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW5D_O8g8oU[/spoiler]

I would like to know about the people in the garage.  James sees 2 options.  1. hotwire the Rover 2072 he's crouched behind.  For that I'd like to know what kind of penalties James is looking at for breaking into and using Hardware on a car with only a cyber spur and shock hand to assist him.  2. commandeer a vehicle from a pedestrian returning to his/her car, and take them on a joy ride.  For the latter he'll need reads on the 8 and 4 moving vehicles in the garage.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-29-16/1841:45>
Ahh, Ameri-do-te. The martialest of the martial arts.

I think a 42 initiative is a new record for me. If I pumped some extra Essence points into Reaction and used Edge roll 5 dice, I could theoretically hit Initiative 58. Or if I had cast Vampiric Speed at a higher Force, I could even break 60...

James will be at -4 for hotwiring without tools. It's not impossible but it might require Edge.

James had a good Perception roll so I'll let him piggyback on that a bit longer.

4 people are dry, suggesting that they are just arriving and have not been walking around outside. 4 people are wet and might reasonably be heading back to their cars, or perhaps they don't have cars and are just using the garage as a covered walkway.

The 4 wet people are two separate pairs. One pair is all female while the other pair if male+female.

The female pair is Distance (http://orokos.com/roll/440963): 1d100 96 meters  away.
The male+female pair is Distance (http://orokos.com/roll/440964): 1d100 84 meters away. Not particularly close. Kudos to James vision for seeing that they are wet from 80+ meters away.

Here are the distances for the four cars driving around:
Distance (http://orokos.com/roll/440966): 4#1d100
82 meters
77 meters
19 meters
6 meters

Detroit is an Ares town so most of these will be GMCs and Hondas (which evidently fell to Ares instead of a Japancorp). As such, I should retcon the Rover 2072 into an Ares Humvee.

Generating and assigning them randomly to the above distances:
1) Eurocar Westwind 3000 (someone visiting from out of town, or a corp traitor)
2) GMC Escalade
3) Honda Artemis (from Stolen Souls)
4) Ares Humvee

That concludes what you can learn from your last Perception test. If you want to know more, you'll have to Observe in Detail again.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <10-03-16/1045:02>
CT3 IP2
Free: Ready Cyber Spur
Simple: Bump REA with CFD powers
Simple: Comm Illeana

CFD Woo (http://orokos.com/roll/442189): 6d6t5 1
Well, a sub par roll there isn't going to give me another pass, but James REA is now 8.

Let's go ahead and roll the Soak.  I have: BOD (5) + WIL (7) = 12 dice.
CFD Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/442193): 12d6t5 3

James' adjusted Initiative is 20.

He will start picking the lock in IP3, and since it's an Extended Test [Combat Turn] I guess he will continue doing so until CT4 IP3.  Can he take other actions while this is occurring, so long as he spends one Complex that turn with Locksmith?  Does James' Initiative score help him in anyway as far as additional tests per CT?  I'm thinking no, but trying to figure out how best to do this.

Oh yeah, and James is going to opt for hotwiring the Humvee he's already crouched behind.

I'm going to go ahead and roll for Locksmith.  If someone bursts down the stairs looking for a fight, this could change things.  I have: AGI (11) + Locksmith (4) - Proper Equipment (4) = 11 dice.
Locksmith (http://orokos.com/roll/442194): 11d6t5 5
Not bad.  He may get that door popped in one CT.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-07-16/0208:58>
I'll say that James can do things like take Observe in Detail actions (at a negative modifier for being distracted by the lock) but can't accomplish anything else physically while he's working on the lock, other than something basic like standing up or kneeling down. I suppose things like Attribute Boost would be fine too. As you say, improved reaction doesn't benefit the process in the current rules. There are certain fine motor skills - like surgery, for example - that you probably don't want to do as quickly as what your muscles will allow you to.

Alright, so James is tied up for a CT. That leaves me with some rolling for Illeana.

CT3 IP3
22: Illeana (wow, just wow)
9: James - picking a lock
3: Hartman - action hidden

That leaves three fat IPs for Illeana to do whatever she wants. It will likely be some combination of:

Free: Run
Complex: Astral Combat

Or vice versa. At the end of the running, she will have covered 25 of the 35 meters to the stairs and will be 20ish meters to James' position.

Keeping with Ryo's "astral combat is ranged" interpretation, I'm going to let Illeana's Powerblade operate for astral combat since it's a sustained spell and therefore active on the astral plane. The spell won't add dice to hit like the sword focus would, but it will add damage if she connects. The sword would be limited by its Accuracy for limit; I'll say the spell is limited by its Force.

Willpower 6 (7) + Astral Combat 7 - Sustaining 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/443315): 3#12d6 4 hits 5 hits 4 hits, I bungled the syntax but that's how many hits I got

Alright, spirity defense. Illeana will concentrate her fire on one and will only move on to the second one if the first goes down.

Spirit dodging: Intuition + Logic (http://orokos.com/roll/443317): 3#?d6t5 7 hits 7 hits 3 hits

The first two strikes catch nothing but astral air. The third connects. The spirit doesn't lose any hits even if we're subtracting dice for sequential attacks.

Powerblade is a funny spell where the Force sets the damage, not your Strength (or Charisma in the case of astral combat), so the base DV is 6. Illeana connects with 1 net hit so the spirit gets to soak 7 boxes.

Spirit soak: Willpower (http://orokos.com/roll/443318): ?d6t5 1 hit

The spirit eats 6 boxes of damage and is now at -2.

That brings us to the end of CT3, so it's time for Initiative and CT4.

CT4
36: Illeana
25: Unfriendly Fire Spirit v2
20: Towser
19: Illeana's fire spirit
17: Hartman
16: Unfriendly Fire Spirit v1

Hmm, given that James is tied up with lockpicking, I guess that means all this rolling is on me. It's late now so I'll defer for the moment. Let me know what else James might want to do while he's busy picking a lock with pocket lint and a straw from the concession stand.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <10-10-16/1211:28>
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/444299): 16+4d6 33

James will lose 1 off his Initiative at the beginning of CT4 IP3.

Right now he will keep on keeping on with the lock picking.  Once that's finished, he will use a Simple Action to open the back hatch and step inside of the Humvee.  The next pass will be spent hot-wiring. 

CT4 IP1
Continue Locksmithing
Simple: Tag cameras via ARO
Free: Comm locations of cameras to Illeana

CT4 IP2
Complex: Locksmithing

For Locksmith, James has: AGI (11) + Locksmith (4) - Proper Equipment (4) - Wound Mod (1) = 10 dice.
Locksmith (http://orokos.com/roll/444303): 10d6t5 2
Hopefully, James was almost there.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <10-14-16/1825:05>
In other news, I've been thinking about character advancement.  I'm considering picking up the Strive for Perfection Quality from Assassin's Primer, which will cost 24 karma.  It has the effect of halving the penalties for all Called Shots, but James would be unable to make non-Called Shots, with the exception of Suppressive Fire, if I'm reading it correctly.

I also think a point or two in Hacking would be a good idea.

Mostly posting this here for easy reference when the time comes.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <10-19-16/1311:41>
Is Illeana unconscious, or just collapsed?

Also, is the MARK granted one that James now has on the Humvee?  That will be my working assumption.  If not, he'd better reboot his gear.

Let's run through the next few CTs and then look at some options for dealing with the spirits.

If James has a MARK on the Humvee, he will use Control Device to change the Humvee's Wireless mode to Off.  Since it's an action that doesn't have a test with it, James will roll Electronic Warfare (4) + INT (9) = 13 dice.
Control Device (http://orokos.com/roll/447216): 13d6t5 5
Not bad.  It's resisted with INT + Firewall, or more likely DR + Firewall.  My understanding is that most vehicles and appliances Run Silent by default, so hopefully this won't automatically catch eyes when he enters the underground highway. 

I'm going to roll 2 Observe in Details.  The first is for Illeana, to see what kind of shape she's in, and the second is for the surrounding area, security, etc.  I'm not sure if Specifically Looking (+3) and Distracted (-2) can co-exist, so I'm going to forgo Environmental mods.  It's entirely reasonable that Towser and/or Hartman will be coming down the stairs as they start to drive off.

James has: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Vision Enhancement (2) = 19 dice.
Checking Illeana (http://orokos.com/roll/447217): 19d6t5 8
Checking Unfriendlies (http://orokos.com/roll/447218): 19d6t5 5
That makes sense.  Illeana is a primary concern right now.

Next, we have Driving.  James has Pilot Groundcraft (4) + REA (7) = 11 dice.
Pilot Test (http://orokos.com/roll/447219): 11d6t5 4

Next, James will check the glove compartment and central console for any weapons or medkits that may be stashed there.

So about those Spirits. . . This is tricky.  It's also largely dependent on what we consider the boundaries of the Spirit-Summoner Link.  By RAW, this link does not allow for the transmission of visual or auditory data, nor does it allow for telepathic communication between Spirits.  One would think that Spirits would be able to communicate Astrally, but at what distance?  Do they need astral LoS?  Anyway, this can be good for us.  All additional Spirits will need to find James and Illeana, which should be more difficult with them on the move and underground.  A Spirit, or Spirits, trailing them will be more problematic, but again as they move the information that the Spirit can provide the summoner will be more limited.  Ares workaround will probably be to send attacking spirits using the Search power to find the spotter spirit, and then they will be directed to the right blob of technology and can attack from there.

So long as the spirit is following, it won't have a direct LoS on James and Illeana, but considering how fast Spirits can move in the Astral, I'm not sure how best to throw them off the chase.  I would think that blobs of technology would be hard for Spirit's to differentiate, but a high Force Spirit should be able to follow with little trouble.  If James was to do some sort of stunts or try to cause a wreck, or otherwise create havoc on the highway, would that potentially throw their tails off the track?

The other avenue that I see if driving east, then to ground level near the Detroit River, and then into the river itself.  Even Astrally, I wouldn't think that Fire Spirits would want to head into the water, and even if they do follow, there's probably enough algae and other living matter (albeit probably rather toxic) for the pair to escape detection if there's any real distance between them and the Spirits.  After that, maybe some Stealth rolls.

Can James tell if there is a Spirit in the vehicle with them?  I thought that there was a test specifically for this, but I can only find mention of it under the Perceiving Magic section of the CRB on page 280.

For next steps, I see the female pair, if James isn't overreacting to their underreaction potentially trying to intervene, or the humvee catching a few bullets from Hartman and Towser as they descend the stairs. After that we've got driving and potentially dealing with incoming KE, though I would guess that James' approach is on a less-busy and less-obvious avenue of egress, so that probably works in their favor.  Then we've got to figure out the Spirit stuff.

I know you've been busy with work stuff, so if you'd like me to IC what's coming up next I'd be happy to, though the spirit questions need some GM oversight.   
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-19-16/1415:00>
Kat is non-responsive. She is breathing and maybe moaning a bit, so she's not dead. James figures that the spirits have orders to take her alive, otherwise she'd be exploding blood right now.

James doesn't know why a vehicle that he hotwired manually would give him a wireless MARK, so he presumes that it's from another source.

I haven't spent any significant time with Data Trails or Rigger 5 so I don't know all the ins and outs of vehicles, but I always presumed that they had some sort of manual "Wireless On/Off" switch. Without one, you could never turn wireless back on if you turned it off. James can find that and flick it.

As for cars, I always presumed that they do not Run Silent by default, given the trouble this may cause with GridGuide and/or the other vehicles on the road. I think I read somewhere that someone manually driving a vehicle could incur additional intention from the authorities - somewhat akin to driving a red car. It's not illegal and there are enthusiasts who still enjoy manual driving, but might raise an eyebrow.

If you have references that contradict any of this, let me know.

You are correct that Hartman comes barreling down the stairs just as James pulls out and hits the accelerator.

Hmm, what's in the glove compartment. Good question. Let's roll James' Edge to see how lucky he is: Edge for luck (http://orokos.com/roll/447230): 5d6t5 0 hits, brutal! And nearly a critical glitch. James has hotwired the one Ares vehicle that doesn't contain any Ares products. I'll let you Edge that if you want. (Yes, you may Edge the Edge roll.) Every hit gets you one small item of your choice. Small = breadbox or smaller. So, heavy pistol, R2 medkit, survival knife, etc.

As for the spirits, Illeana made reference to the spirits "getting bigger". James presumes that means high-Force spirits that are the product of Ares' prime magicians. That makes them clever and difficult to trick. Presumably, as long as Ares has eyes on the Humvee - either via drones or security cameras - then they will always know where to send the spirits.

James might wonder why the spirits have not materialized to simply beat him unconscious too. His knowledge of Ares suggests that most of their wage mages will be hermetic, and hermetic magicians use fire spirits to fight. A materialized fire spirit is not necessarily the best tool to render someone unconscious and just unconscious. However, there's nothing stopping Ares from sending other spirits to accomplish the task in different ways, such as earth spirits to use their Movement power to slow down the Humvee, or spirits of man to debuff James, or water spirits to sew confusion or cause accidents. James takes a deep gulp and wonders if it would be easier to sneak out of a dragon's den.

There's some fluff that says that highly-trained operatives are trained to know when an astral form passes through them, since it causes a little shiver. I think that's fluff, not crunch. James does have that training, but it only applies to spirits actually passing through him on the astral, not just in the near vicinity. But, per the above, it's a safe bet.

The female pair does not seem to be intervening at all.

FYI, there are no car ramps to the east. Per the 9/27/16 post, the car exits are 100 meters to the north (toward I-75) or south (toward the river). There are stairs/footramps to the east, which you could drive toward if you wanted to get out on foot.

Hartman chases after the Humvee. He can sprint like a mofo, but - for reasons I may not ever fully understand - trolls sprint like dwarves. Maybe it's because they "lumber" more than they "sprint", but his only hope of catching the Humvee involves taking shortcuts and parkouring the other cars in the parking lot.

Hartman opens fire. Unsurprisingly, he is a superb shot. The back windshield shatters and the back of the vehicle is covered is pockmarks. The Humvee is armored enough that it doesn't slow down, but it's going to make remaining inconspicuous very difficult. However, he misses the tires.

I can turn a lot of the above into an IC post if you want. If you prefer to post, go ahead and take things up to the point where James would be at or near a garage exit.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <10-21-16/1816:59>
Ok, so enemy decker is fragging with James' link, 2 agents within shooting distance, any number of Spirits to frag with the vehicles movement, additional Spirits inside the vehicle, an unconscious Illeana, a car that has 1 been spotted and 2 looks conspicuous even if James could break LoS.  Wow.  This looks like we're pretty well hosed. 

My main ideas going forward are to try to contact the shadow community in Boston and ask for a decker/TM willing to do remote work, pay 5k up front and see if they can brick every camera in the area.  That might slow down response time for KE/Ares, but it still won't do drek against the Spirits.  The Movement power is especially problematic here.  I don't think the same plan could work for shadow mages -- unless they're suicidal, which is hard to come by.

I'm trying to think of who else James could tap, but I'm coming up empty-handed.  He could threaten suicide, but I don't see that one working.

James will be heading out the South entrance, toward the river.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-21-16/1850:11>
That's a good summary, although there's only one agent within shooting distance (Hartman), not two. James should probably be feeling like he is looking up at a very tall mountain to climb with a very short amount of time to climb it.

Reaching out for some emergency help isn't a bad idea. Doc might be the most readily available, unless you're worried about burning him. Or you can just post an urgent message on some board. Of course, doing either of those things requires you to be Wireless On, and someone is actively trying to tinker with your toys. That said, James probably has enough Initiative to juggle Pilot tests (1 per CT), Full Matrix Defense (1 per CT), with some time left over to place a call or write a message via DNI.

If you want to IC post, go ahead and have fun with it - i.e. narrate to your heart's content - up until the point where James is exiting the parking garage.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-24-16/1443:35>
Go ahead and give me a roll for Reaction + Pilot Ground Craft. You'll want to roll well.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <10-24-16/1533:13>
Alright, let's see how it goes. James has: REA (7) + Pilot Ground Craft (4) - Wound Penalty (1) = 10 dice.
Pilot Test (http://orokos.com/roll/449100): 10d6t5 3

Getting ahead of myself.  Let's see about some CFDness to bump up James' Reaction.  I figure he'll be doing this pretty much nonstop as he's trying to make his way out. 
CFD Woo (http://orokos.com/roll/449101): 6d6t5 2
And the Soak.
CFD Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/449102): 12d6t5 3

Additional REA dice for Piloting test.
REA (http://orokos.com/roll/449103): 2d6t5 1
4 Hits total.  I hope that covers it.

James is at 9/12 S 10/10P 2/5 Edge

Can one burn Edge if all Edge has been spent?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <10-25-16/1847:58>
Not sure how granular we want to be here, but James is going to do a Matrix Perception, then an Observe in Detail, and then turn Wireless Off on his link.  He'll reboot in a few seconds to make contact with who is hopefully a friendly decker.

For Matrix Perception, James is mostly looking to see if any of the cameras on the highway are currently offline.  He has: INT (9) + Computer (4) + MP Spec (2) = 15 dice.
Matrix Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/449531): 15d6t5 5

For Observe in Detail, James is looking for a Materialized Spirit or VTOL, other than the fire Spirit which may or may not be in LoS anymore.  He has: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 20 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking (http://orokos.com/roll/449532): 20d6t5 6

I'm going to toss in another Driving test to get that out of the way.  James has: REA (9) + Pilot Ground Craft (4) - Wound Penalty (1) = 12 dice.
Pilot Test (http://orokos.com/roll/449533): 12d6t5 3
Not great, but probably holding it together. 

What do things look like up ahead, and how far should I push the next IC?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-26-16/1432:58>
The highway cameras do not look offline. However, that's not to say that they are functioning normally. They could be looping or doing something else while still being online. James will just have to trust, mostly because he's not in a position to do anything else.

James does not see any materialized spirits. He is pretty sure that the Dalmatian drone is still somewhere up there. Whether it's camera is trained on the Humvee or not is more than he can tell.

James maintains control of the Humvee as long as he keeps it going in a (relatively) straight line and doesn't try to make any sharp turns which would cause the vehicle to roll.

The good news is that the rain is suppressing the number of pedestrians, so he doesn't have to worry about crowded crosswalks or babies in strollers. Playing bumper cars with the street traffic is an option, if you like.

The bad news is that the APB appears to have gone out, and security guards are stepping out of nearby shops and will start taking careful shots on the Humvee. The Humvee is armored enough that these will have no real impact (especially since the tires are already gone) but it will force James to keep his head down while simultaneously keeping attention on the Humvee (not that driving down the street on your rims wouldn't already do that).

Take it as far as you want, between then next 100 and 600 meters. Don't drive into the river, but maybe have James confront the question of whether he wants to turn left or right at the end of Woodlawn Ave, or dramatically plow through Hart Plaza (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Detroit,+MI/@42.3285184,-83.0445424,3a,75y,148.62h,77.68t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1swipqloLrgzRuGWGY-0t1RQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DwipqloLrgzRuGWGY-0t1RQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D152.11473%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x8824ca0110cb1d75:0x5776864e35b9c4d2!8m2!3d42.331427!4d-83.0457538).

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <10-27-16/1331:47>
I'm going to roll Matrix Perception again.  This time, James is examining his own link for MARKs.  He has 15 dice, as above.
Matrix Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/450241): 15d6t5 4

For the Stunt, James is trying to drift the Humvee across Jefferson, and then take Bates south to the river.  I'm going to guess this is either a Threshold 3 or 4 maneuver, so here's hoping the dice will be kind to me.  Unsure what to do about the tire issue.  I'm going to call it a -2 and see where that leaves him.  James has: REA (9) + Pilot Ground Craft (4) - Wound Penalty (1) - Vehicle mods (2) = 10 dice.
Detroit Drift (http://orokos.com/roll/450243): 10d6t5 2
That's not going to do it.  Let's spend some Edge!
Edge Re-roll (http://orokos.com/roll/450244): 8d6t5 2
Hopefully, 4 covers it.

 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-27-16/1843:33>
Good use of Edge, as that would not have gone well with two hits. Is James' Edge count 1/5 now?

There are interesting things happening on the astral, but of course James isn't aware of them and Illeana isn't awake to report them. Why don't you give me a Willpower + Logic roll and we'll see if it comes into play.

A few days back you asked if Edge can be burned if the entire pool has been spent. I believe the official answer is "no" but in my opinion burning edge is drastic enough to allow it in some circumstances. I would not allow it for Smackdown (four automatic net hits) but I would allow it for Not Dead Yet (clinging to life). The karma cost of burning edge is usually a fair price to pay for keeping a beloved character alive while also being a reasonable penalty for getting themselves into a situation where they almost died.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <10-27-16/1918:23>
Oh no!  A Spirit escaped James' attentions.  Let's see how he does here.  James has: LOG (4) + WIL (7) = 11 dice.
LOG + WIL (http://orokos.com/roll/450353): 11d6t5 4
Well, that's not likely to resist everything, but hopefully it keeps James upright and in control of his faculties. 

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <11-01-16/0130:44>
IC is up. Player 3 has entered the game. You should decide how you want to react to them, and what (if anything) you want to do about the spirits that have emerged. If you know what you want to do but aren't sure how far to push things, go ahead and give me your outline and I'll tell you what the immediate result would be.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <11-01-16/1102:23>
So, 2 metas in a Ford-owned vehicle, both wearing cowls and speaking German?  Interesting.

Let's see how James makes sense of this.  Most obvious interpretation is SK forces converging on them.  As such, they may be SK military, or a Corporate Special Forces -- SK Prime?  I'm going to make a Military Knowledge roll: LOG (4) + Military (4) + Special Forces/Corporate Spec (2) = 10 dice.
Military + Spec (http://orokos.com/roll/452111): 10d6t5 3
Forgot Wound Penalty.  Dropping from the right does not affect hits.

Does the Great Form Spirit appear hostile?  Rolling Judge Intentions.  I'm imagining a rather high Threshold for interpreting Spirits, combined with its size, which seems imposing on its own.  Judge Intentions is 14 dice, -1 for Wound Penalty.
Judge Intentions (http://orokos.com/roll/452113): 13d6t5 7
Attribute Only test means no Limit, correct?

I'm also going to make a Magic Traditions roll, to see if there is anything the pair are wearing, acting, etc. that might tip James off about what tradition they follow.  Even with a good roll, if no clues exist, it's perfectly fine to just hand wave this one away.  James has: LOG (4) + Magic Traditions (2) = 6 dice.
Magic Traditions (http://orokos.com/roll/452114): 6d6t5 1
No need.

Assuming nothing in those rolls comes up as game changers, James is inclined to go with them.  He'll leap over to the Rover, take cover, and start talking frantically about getting a mana barrier up around Illeana and him. Then he's going to ask for a gun.  Hopefully, they'll be on their way shortly.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <11-01-16/1300:57>
One of the men is speaking German. The other one has not spoken yet.

James is not aware of any corporate or military forces that are dressed like this. Of course, they could be in disguise, but this is not standard-issue for anyone.

It seems reasonable that limits might apply to attribute-only tests, but there are no limits listed. Still, Physical seems like it could apply to carrying/lifting, Mental to memory, Social to Judge Intentions, etc.

With or without limits, James has a lot of hits. The Great Form Spirit looks exceedingly hostile.

The cowl and robes could be from a number of magical traditions. Druidic, Christian Theurgy, maybe even Wicca. The robes look European (as opposed to Buddhist or Shinto robes), and the German certainly reinforces that.

If you go with them, they will slam the door shut and peel out. James will see runes of all sorts covering the inside of the Rover, suggesting that it is a magical lodge much like what Illeana did to the Winnebago. I'll deal with the spirit when it's my turn.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <11-04-16/1449:49>
Great Form Spirits!  Dragons!  Cowled figures running what looks like a well-planned and rehearsed escape attempt that couldn't have been put together ahead of time!  And they're offering him something that a headcase would go absolutely Chinos over?  Well, I think it's time for a Composure test.  -1 for wound penalties comes to 11 dice.
Composure (http://orokos.com/roll/453353): 11d6t5 7
Umm, I guess he's holding it together relatively unrealistically well, considering.

I will take that roll as a pass for James to roll Judge Intentions.  Just to see.  -1 for wounds, and that comes to 13 dice.
Judge Intentions (http://orokos.com/roll/453359): 13d6t5 3
Meh, they were bound to cool off at some point.

IC forthcoming.

IC posted.  If I assumed anything that I shouldn't have, let me know and I'll edit the post.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <11-04-16/1511:32>
OOCly, the dragon was astral-only. It was able to drop in quickly via astral travel, knock out the spirit, then depart in relatively short order. It could have done that without appearing on the physical plane at all but I had it manifest (not materialize) for dramatic reasons and to keep the action in the IC post rather than having to be explained later why the spirit was torn apart for no reason by an invisible force.

If you want to have James ask about the dragon, the robed figure with the cyberdeck will explain as much. He will not explain who the dragon was or what its motivations were, but he might suggest that you're on your way to meet him /her/it.

The moving truck is headed toward the Windsor Airport, which is a mere 10km from the tunnel exit. While tempting to divert the action a few miles to the east in Tecumseh, Ontario, there's nothing there to interest you.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <11-04-16/1523:12>
Updated the IC to include about the dragon. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <11-08-16/1258:42>
The Ares Dakota is from 4E's Unfriendly Skies. See here, although I think you'll have to manually flip forward to page 31:

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/5219406/unfriendly-skiespdf/11

I know the action is a bit on-rails at this point, unless James decides he wants to do something radical like hijack the plane. But I wanted to provide a break for James to reflect on a sequence of events which is pretty wild, even by his lofty standards, and to ask the questions that he has on his mind.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <11-08-16/1748:32>
Thanks for the link there.  That's cool.

I'll get an IC up with some of James' interior monologue and some talking with, well, hopefully he'll give James a name.  I'll also be assuming that Illeana wakes up before they land, correct?

It's a long shot, but let's see if James knows anything about the Benandanti.  Magical Traditions is probably the closest, so that means a pretty high Threshold, if it's possible at all.  James has: LOG (4) + Magical Traditions (2) = 6 dice.
Benandanti? (http://orokos.com/roll/454627): 6d6t5 5
I've had some insane rolls this morning.  Maybe that's something.

So, how about some spit-balling?  I heard a rumor that one could potentially cure CFD with a matrix Deep Run.  Not sure if it's true, not sure if it's true in this world, and not sure if that would be on the radar in these early stages of CFD not even being CFD currently, but depending on how things shake out, that might be fun to play out, and it would certainly put James and Illeana in a foreign environment that they're not particularly suited for.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <11-08-16/1809:46>
It seems that James may have written a term paper or two on the Benandanti, maybe including some original research.

The Benandanti XXV are a magical group. Their patron is Schwartzkopf, the Great Western Dragon. Whereas other dragons prize wealth or power, Schwartkopf prizes knowledge (especially magical knowledge) above all. The Benandanti scour the Earth for their patron, looking for magical tomes or artifacts or anything else magical. It occasionally puts them at odds with organizations like the Draco Foundation, the DIMR, and the Atlantean Foundation.

As the name would suggest, there are 25 of them. The Benandanti typically operate in small teams of 2 or 3. The fact that James has seen at least 4 of them would suggest that they are heavily invested in this operation. The presence of a dragon - even if only in astral form - would reinforce that impression.

I'm actually just going to copy-and-paste the entry from Street Magic. That will be easier, and will more accurately reflect James' hits.

BENANDANTI XXV
Purpose: The goal of Benandanti XXV is to explore
and fathom the mystical enigmas of the Sixth World and its
Awakened inhabitants to better understand the underpinnings
of magic.

Members: 25

Strictures: Deed (perform missions at the patron’s request),
Fraternity, Obedience, Material Link, Secrecy

Resources/Dues: Luxury, no dues (fully sponsored). The
group’s base of operations, the converted Clementium monastery
in Prague, possesses lodging, various ritual buildings, enchanting
shops and magical lodges for most widespread magical
traditions (rating 9).

Patron: The great dragon Schwartzkopf

Description and Customs: It is rumored that the great
dragon Schwartzkopf, professor of thaumaturgy at the prestigious
Charles University in Prague, has been actively recruiting
its brightest talents for years—though his purpose for this is
the subject of intense speculation. A few select individuals may
be invited to join the Benandanti XXV, sometimes known as
the Travelers.
     Inspired by a Dark Ages pagan cult known as the “Good
Walkers,” the modern Benandanti are a secret and multi-tradition
group, fully sponsored by and loyal to Schwartzkopf and
dedicated to exploring the great mysteries of the Awakening,
searching for new paths to enlightenment and magical power.
Besides continuing magical instruction and initiatory support,
members have access to one of the largest archives of modern
arcane information in the world (Schwartzkopf ’s collections)
and extensive magical resources. In return, some members operate
as the dragon’s eyes and ears in the Awakened community,
while others chase down, investigate, and catalogue magical phenomena,
strange magic, critters, and spirits on the great dragon’s
behalf. Schwartzkopf occasionally sets the group to specific tasks,
but by and large members are encouraged to be proactive and
follow their own nose—as long as all discoveries and records find
their way to Schwartzkopf ’s great library.
     While the group is based in Prague, members spend most
of their time in the field working in teams of two or three individuals.
The group’s apparently insatiable appetite for magical
knowledge often draws members to sites of unexplained
magic events, strange spirit manifestations, and other types of
magical weirdness.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <11-11-16/1954:14>
I put up a short IC post just now. I'll take care of the next step when I have a chance, but you're free to chime in if anything is on James' mind.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <11-15-16/0007:10>
I think the best plan is to act as though the Benandanti already know about the memory loss and question Edsger about whether they've had any luck contacting or locating Illeana's Spirit.  This could potentially feel out some of their motivations, and if it comes as a surprise, that tells us something as well.

James will take the lead on this, if Illeana agrees.  Not sure how to handle the NPC side.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <11-15-16/0046:38>
Edsger has no clue what you're talking about and looks at you like you're mental, or like the CFD has completely robbed you of your senses. It's only Illeana's straight face that keeps him from either laughing out loud and/or dropping you off, pre-landing.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <11-15-16/1652:02>
Does Edsger give any indication that he knows about James' CFD?

I'm a little out of pocket today. I'll get something up soon.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <11-15-16/1659:53>
Edsger does seem aware. He doesn't really seem to be taking precautions, however. (No moon suits, etc.)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <11-16-16/2004:39>
Good post. I'll get a response up tonight or tomorrow.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <11-17-16/0830:55>
I'm fairly sure that I've exhausted all that James is able to take in at this point.  Whenever you're ready to have us land and move on the dragon's lair, or elsewhere, that's fine by me.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <12-05-16/1411:58>
Alright, let's open the rest of the kimono. Here's Illeana's background per Ryo. I didn't include everything in Schwartzkopf's speech because he doesn't know everything. That said, whether he omitted certain details intentionally or due to lack of visibility is an open question.

Ileana Anghelescu is far, far older than she seems. The SIN is fake, but the name is one she has had for a long time. She comes from a time before SINs, and even before the Sixth World. She was born in the Ottoman Empire, and lived a fairly normal life as a servant to a noble named Adem. Unknown to her at the time, or anyone for that matter, he was an Immortal Elf and a Vampire [sic, elves are banshees] that had been around since the Fourth World. Much of his power became dormant with the lack of magic, but he took a great interest in Ileana, stunned by her beauty, and disliked the idea of her growing old or dying. So he used what power he did have to infect her. She died, and the lack of magic in the world prevented her from reviving as a vampire, so he had her entombed, and waited for the Sixth World to begin.

When magic returned, Ileana awoke in her tomb, confused and terrified, before the noble freed her. He told her that the world had changed much, and he had many things he would need to teach her. She was horrified by what she had become, but having no idea how to survive in the modern world, she had no choice but to return to her master's service. He taught her what it was to be a vampire, how to fight, and how to hunt.

Ileana stayed with her master for several decades, and in that time she found hope in her mentor spirit, Fire-Bringer, who inspired her to try and hold onto her humanity and taught her in the ways of Wicca. Eventually, she decided she would rebel against her master and try to atone for the things he had made her do. She used her knowledge of Artificing to craft herself a mask, knowing it was her looks that her master coveted, and deciding to seal her face away. She then stole his sword, struck him down with it, and fled. Eventually, she found a coven that would welcome her, and bonded with her sisters. However, by this point she was a very skilled fighter and an expert killer, and the patrons of her coven wanted to use her skills for their own use. Unknown to her, they were the Black Lodge, and she had little understanding of their intentions or the ends they were using her towards for a long time.

Fast forward to current times, and Ileana is unsatisfied with her life and the way she is being used, but also unwilling to break the vows she made to the coven. She is sent out to find James Case, and either convince him to cooperate with the Black Lodge or kill him. She ended up deciding on a third option, abandoning her coven and siding with James.

Adem taught her Carromeleg, as well as most of her spells. She learned her Preparations from Fire-Bringer. There is video footage of Ileana using Magic Fingers to control her sword and decimate a group of combat drones at the research compound.

The main thing to likely come against her is that she has a bounty on her head from the Black Lodge for breaking with her coven. Also, Adem is alive, and still obsessed with her, and kind of pissed that she stole his sword.

Reviewing this, it seems I've been misspelling her name for quite some time. It should have one L instead of two. Two Ls is a valid spelling but far less common. Google gets 500k hits for Illeana vs. 30M for Ileana.

In addition to the above, here are some details I've added:

- Illeana was born February 29, 1584 in Hunedoara (Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania).
- Aden, masquerading as the Hunyadi family, was constructing Corvin Castle at the time, where he still resides.
- Illeana's cooking, cleaning, carving, and animal handling (spec: farm animals) all come from her time as a servant. She does not remember this as anything other than fragments of dreams.
- She was converted to a vampire on October 27, 1607 (age 23) during a passing of Halley's Comet.
- She awakens 404 years later, shortly after the Awakening on December 24, 2011.
- After 50 years together, she strikes down Aden on July 28, 2061 during another passing of of Halley’s Comet.
- She thought that Aden was dead but didn't confirm the kill as she was in a rush to escape.
- After years of habit, Illeana was comfortable (or institutionalized) in a patron/client relationship, so she sought out Schwartzkopf and studied with him for four years, then worked for him for another four years. Whether she was a Benandanti or a separate operator is an open question.
- After leaving Schwartzkopf's service on friendly terms, she found a coven aligned with the Mother Earth policlub / magical group. (See Loose Alliances, p. 47-52, 148.)
- However, her coven was also being controlled/manipulated by the Black Lodge, which had infiltrated the Mother Earth policlub. While Illeana didn't know this directly, she could see some of the "wrong turns" that the policlub was making, which led her to feel increasingly dissatisfied until she finally broke with them over James' fate.

So, a bullet-point version of her timeline:
- 1584 to 1607: servant in Romania
- 1608 to 2011: dormant
- 2012 to 2061: with Aden
- 2061 to 2065: studying with Schwartzkopf
- 2065 to 2069: working for Schwartzkopf
- 2070 to 2074: with her coven
- 2075 to present: with James

Ryo's intention was to have Aden make an appearance. I shied away from this because he would be an overpowering opponent. I did some rough calculations and came up with a ballpark estimate of 12,000 karma for his build, which is probably half of what it should be but the truth is that after 10,000 or so the mechanical difference become pretty meaningless.

His only "weakness", such as it is, is that he is only an Aspected Sorcerer (spellcasting) and can't use Conjuring or Enchanting. That said, his power is off-the-scales in traditional gameplay terms. Dozens of initiations, a Magic rating to match, every metamagic, every spell, maxed out attributes, every skill at 6+, most spells Quickened on his self for +4 across all attributes, anchored spells that fire when he's in danger (Invisibility, Silence, Heal, etc.), and an absurd level of resources to match. I asked if this was really Ryo's intention and he confirmed that it was.

I've been keeping Aden at bay for a few reasons, both IC and OOC:
1) ICly, he saw Illeana's association with Schwartzkopf and decided not to challenge the Great Dragon;
2) OOCly, I didn't see how the players could mechanically triumph against such a foe; and,
3) OOCly, it would have resulted in a lot of RPing with myself (Illeana to Aden).

Now that the cat is out of the bag you are free to introduce him into the story, but you'll have to drive him so that I can RP Illeana naturally without knowing the end outcome in advance.

There you have it; you're all caught up. Let me know if you have any questions.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <12-06-16/1236:27>
Re: Aden, I've been running into the same issue in the Sunt game.  Even without dealing with vampires who have been alive since at least the high medieval period, their powers can get pretty ridiculous pretty quickly, and I don't think the game mechanics are set up to accurately reflect the capabilities of a thousands year-old human by looking at the CRB's stats for immortal dragons.  Granted, the MAG 10 rating doesn't reflect increased Magic from Initiation, but even then the CRB suggests that as a baseline dragons will be mid-level initiates.  That doesn't seem to meld with what I'd consider a dragon to be capable of.  Additionally, many dragons are listed with sub 14 skills, which would be a surprise for the nearly unlimited Karma one would have earned over the millennia.

If I try to reason my way backward, the first thing that occurs to me is Training.  Certainly, many skills would be honed after hundreds of years "alive," but for many skills language, culture, travel, and his business and personal affairs would most likely keep Aden from maxing out every possible skill.  For most magician vampires I'd exempt all Magical skills from this theoretical limit, as they could boost their MAG with Essence from some poor sap, spend it to jack their magic rating, and then Summon and Bind a Spirit to assist with their studies, but Aden doesn't have this luxury.  Additionally, where were the Reagents in the fifth world?

Also, PCs get Karma for accomplishing goals against tough odds.  For a vampire, especially a 5th world vampire, he's lived most of his life outside the reach of much of anything that could hurt him.  In many ways, finding a meal would be little more difficult for Aden in 16th century Romania than it is for Chino at the Stuffer Shack conning his way with a fake SIN.  Ok, maybe Chino's a bad example, but. . . 

Anyway, I could see taking down Aden being akin to taking down a cyber zombie, or something of that nature.  It would be incredibly difficult, and nearly impossible for a party of 2, even when considering how powerful James and Illeana are, but with planning and the right trap, it's possible. 

On a completely unrelated note, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuCt8OqTbvY[here's] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuCt8OqTbvY) a link to a video where Tyreek Hill hits James-like speeds on his way to the end zone.  He makes 22 mph at around the 50 yard line, which is just over 29 meters per CT.  James would just surpass this with 4 hits on a Sprinting test per CT.  That chummer be fast.

I'm going to try to get an IC up today to at least give some of James' reaction.  I would imagine that Schwartzkopf isn't quite through with them, so I'll probably bring up to the point where we get our second audience. 

Hey, did the Unread Topics feature just disappear?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <12-06-16/1455:20>
What the "Unread Topics feature"? The boards are still marking which topics have unread messages, if that's what you're talking about. It's working for me.

Movement rates are goofy. A lot of it comes down to the fact that real-life people don't neatly fit onto a continuum of 6-7 points of Agility. Add in Initiative Passes as opportunities to roll Sprinting, and whether Edge should be included or not and you have a game mechanic that doesn't mirror real life very well. Plus, one of the old sourcebooks referred to Yogi Berra as a "proto-adept". While the context was humorous (it was quoting one of his many malpropisms), if you introduce the possibility that some of our modern-day physical freaks have a dash of magic then the system just unravels that much further. But, to your point, James should probably be running more like the T-1000 than Usain Bolt.

For what it's worth, the dragons listed in the CRB are not Great Dragons. The 4E book broke them out separately. If it helps, here's the 4E guidelines for upgrading to Great:

B+10, A+3, R+3, S+10, C+5, I+5, L+5, W+5, Mag+2
Conjuring +2, Sorcery +4

Schwartzkopf is not done with the pair yet. He'll want to hear more about the artifact, especially Illeana's impressions, but I didn't want to RP it all. That part can be handwaved / glossed over. I imagine him wanting to observe James too, perhaps not in the same way Ares did but rather to study his aura closely. That could take place over a matter of days rather than weeks or months. Where things go after that is up to us.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <12-12-16/1315:32>
IC is up. I tried posting it last night but the boards were having none of it.

Short of trying to geek Schwartzkopf with your bare hands, you have a fair amount of latitude in how you respond. We have a blank slate to work with, a tabula rasa if you will.

Here's the menu we're working from, should you wish to continue the course structure: https://www.alcron.cz/cz/menu/vecerni-menu.html

Specifically, the Studené menu (which means Cold) under Večerní (which means Evening). Google Translate is working well.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <12-14-16/1246:21>
Really nice IC post, Tec.  Atmospheric, a good set piece, and some really well done power dynamics on display.

I will keep up with the menu, but it may be another day or two before I get an IC up.  I'm trying to think exactly how James would react to all this.

I'm also thinking about next steps.  Prior to getting picked up by Ares, James and Illeana had planned on going to MIT&T, partially to feel out Schwartzkopf, but also to study.  I'm not sure how much Illeana has advanced on the studying front since we've been in Prague, and how that would play into any attempts on James' budding desire to immortality.  There's also a potential nanite avenue as far as that goes, but I figure that the nanites would be pleased with James' current physical form, and would want to actively work on preserving it, even if there are improvements to be made.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <12-14-16/1529:44>
Thanks. Rereading it, it seems a bit clipped in places, but there's a balance between smoothing all the sharp corners and adding the desired padding vs. keeping the proper pace and not losing momentum in the details.

OOCly, the goal is to help ease the constant concern of being black site'd by Ares. They can still be a lurking menace, but we can skip past the day-to-day concern of James being extracted or Illeana getting dusted.

Boston works for me. This Detroit + Prague interlude has only cost a few weeks total (September 3rd to 20th). This means Illeana has missed the registration deadline at MIT&T plus the first two weeks of classes. Realistically, that means that she's skipping Fall Term and her schedule is free for October through December. She can stay in Prague and study with Schwartzkopf or the action can return to the UCAS where she can go visit Salem and study with the Wiccans there. Both are reasonable options. We can skip forward in time as much as we want to.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-03-17/1212:57>
IC is up.  I got a bit lazy with the telling v. showing thing, but it should get the ball moving forward.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-03-17/1552:37>
Were you thinking of skipping forward in time at this point or was there anything else you wanted to do in Prague (or before leaving Europe)?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-03-17/1911:11>
I'm interested in running in Europe as I don't have much experience with it other than Berlin in SR Returns, so I'm not really sure what potential directions we could head in. Backing up Benandanti on an excursion or something of that ilk could be fun, and could potentially play in well with James' interest in paracritters or Illeana's studies, but if nothing springs to mind as potentially interesting we should just move along.

Let me sleep on it unless you have any ideas
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-03-17/2009:12>
I know relatively little about Europe. Illeana might be interested in dropping in on some of your investments.

She'll agree to spend a month in Prague, after which she wants to return to the UCAS. She wants to spend Halloween in Salem, as that seems Wiccany. There's a full moon on 10/23/75 that she'll want to in Salem for so that she can participate in the Esbat rite.

How about this: I'll try to put something together for Europe while you're in charge of running Salem. That will give me a chance to RP Illeana without knowing what's going on behind the scenes.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-04-17/1111:36>
That sounds great.  I'll try to work something up for Salem.  Any books that may be worth looking at for that?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-04-17/1431:22>
Salem is mostly mentioned in passing. There's a bit in Lockdown but I haven't combed through that book very thoroughly yet.

Here are some links that mention Salem:

http://shadowrun.wikia.com/wiki/2076

http://shadowrun.wikia.com/wiki/Damon

http://shadowrun.wikia.com/wiki/Witch

One possibility is to use Illeana's contact, "Daria", who is a member of Illeana's old coven. Daria was the one who provided intelligence (a photo, small dossier, etc.) that lead Illeana to find James in Aspen.

Per Ryo, Daria is coven-first and will be resentful that Illeana didn't bring the obelisk back to the coven. It is unlikely that Daria is Black Lodge herself but she is certainly being manipulated by them. Whether Daria cares or not is a different question. (I imagine that she doesn't mind as long as the coven benefits from the relationship, but Black Lodge is the reason Illeana turned on the coven. There might be some grey areas there to play with.)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-09-17/0246:56>
I'm still working on a the next plot. I think I have a direction and the rough outlines, but now I need a better objective and to fill in some of the personalities. Working in Europe means I have to do a lot more research than usual since I don't have all the background of the region readily available like I do with North America.

In the meantime, we're coming up on the one year anniversary of the game (January 20th). That also means that we haven't done karma in six months. I'll reread the Chapter III thread (Baltimore, Detroit, and Prague) and let you know once I've calculated it. Then we'll start Chapter IV.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-11-17/1801:15>
Karma award for Chapter III is 31.

Illeana has enough to Initiate. I'm not even sure what metamagics are on the wishlist but she's actively interested in how many quickened spells she can mask at a time (plus the extra die she earns for centering, shielding, etc. every time she initiates). She'll have some leftover but I'm not sure if I'll spend it or bank it.

I'll post a short conclusion to Chapter III in the near future before launching Chapter IV.

Edit: I'm not sure she can initiate right now. I think there's a rule where you can't Initiate more times that your Magic rating. I think I might have to raise Magic a couple times (ugh, 35+40 karma = 75 karma) before I can initiate again (another 34 karma). Expensive. I suppose that's motivation to start diversifying, but ICly Illeana is more interested in studying/specializing instead of diversifying.

Edit, Part II: Oh yeah, 15 knowledge karma too.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-16-17/0105:29>
Chapter III is now concluded. We'll start Chapter IV soon.

Randomizing Illeana's Essence: Essence roll (http://orokos.com/roll/475760): 2d6 4, guess I couldn't roll 12s forever

Looks like I already bought Magic 7 six months ago and just forgot about it. So I'll buy Magic 8 instead, and maybe I can initiate again in a chapter or two.

Her Magic will actually be 8 (6) due to her current Essence deficit.

I still have 43 knowledge karma too, which I should do something about.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-16-17/1229:53>
Out of curiosity, is a Slimworm canon, or something you came up with?  Nice name either way.  Much to my wife's chagrin I must have a prototype model.

Wowsers, so 31 karma, and 15 Knowledge-specific karma.  I think I'm going to buy into some Hacking, not that James will be able to do any heavy-lifting with it, but it's something that would've come in handy a few times already.  Doing so will stop me from getting to Edge 6, which would also be extremely useful, but there is the Strive for Perfections Quality from Assassin's Primer to consider.  That would set me back 24 Karma.  I don't have that book, but my understanding is that James would halve all penalties for Called Shots at the cost of always having to use Called Shots unless he's using Suppressive Fire.  Can you confirm that?

Anyway, it'll take me a day or three to plan out my Karma purchases, but I'll post them when they're finalized.

Also, today is the one year anniversary of the OOC thread, and we'll come to the one year anniversary of the IC thread this Friday.  Happy gaming, and thanks again for running such a cool campaign.  I look forward to the co-chaired GMing.  I've been reading up a lot on Wicca, and starting to pursue a couple angles there.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-17-17/0019:20>
Slimworm is canon, from Chrome Flesh. Here's the entry, if you're interested:

[spoiler]SLIMWORM
One of the most popular endosymbionts, the slimworm also comes in the widest variety, each ranging by design into 5-kilogram categories, such as 40–45, 45–50, and so on. As long as the host avoids starvation, the slimworm
can undertake one of several approaches for keeping the host’s weight within the designed band. The core function is to activate an appetite suppressant, but speeding the hosts’s metabolism or selectively deactivating digestive
functions to allow greater material to pass through is also within its abilities. Attached to the stomach, the slimworm operates as a sort of smart stomach, keeping the host’s processes inside the desired level. Interestingly, the slimworm is quite adept at nutritional analysis and can further pass along a desire for certain foods to the host which are perceived as sudden cravings as the brain adapts the more primitive suggestion into an understandable form. It should be noted that if the host undernourishes themselves, they will need to go on one or more eating binges until the damage is repaired. In addition to maintaining the desired weight, the host receives +1 Body for resisting any ingested toxin.[/spoiler]

Essense 0.2, Availability 4, ¥1,000

The cost isn't bad, especially given the added die for ingested toxins. Fourth edition had "Dietware" in Augmentation, which was simple bioware.

As for Strive for Perfection, here's that. Your reading of it looks correct.

Quote
STRIVE FOR PERFECTION (12 KARMA)
Excellence in his craft is what this assassin aims for. It is not enough to take out the target; the job must be done efficiently, quickly, and without the slightest misstep. This is what separates the good assassins from the great ones in his mind, and he aims to be one of the greats.
Advantages: The assassin has honed his skills with firearms to the point where shots that would be tough for most people are second nature to him. Halve the cost of all Called Shots, meaning they impose only a –2 dice pool penalty instead of –4. The Called Shot still costs a Free Action.
Disadvantages: The standard “aiming for center mass” shots that most people take are beneath this sort of assassin. He seeks to make every shot count, regardless of how many bullets are in his magazine. The assassin must make Called Shots unless he is providing covering fire or acting in a similar capacity where Called Shots would not be practical.

However, you should compare it to Sharpshooter from Run & Gun, which has the same advantage with a less restrictive disadvantage for significantly less karma. It might be the better fit, both mechanically and thematically (since I take James to be more of a sharpshooter than an assassin).

Quote
SHARPSHOOTER (4 KARMA)
Through focus and vigilance it’s possible to hone a shooting skill to the point of an excess of precision. This honing means that specific techniques are trained to the point of perfection, but in that training, other, more basic maneuvers are skipped over. Characters with this quality are more skilled at making Called Shots, but at the cost of their basic shooting skills. Penalties for Called Shots are decreased by 2, while all other Ranged Attack actions suffer a –1 dice pool penalty.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-18-17/0137:52>
IC is up, kicking off Chapter IV. You have a chance to ask for questions and to request supplies. Anything Availability 12 or under is likely. Over that is a "maybe".

In other news, here's the post soliciting interest in a potential Anarchy game: http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=25704.0

You're under no obligation to sign up. I'll be fine if it doesn't happen now.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-18-17/1606:10>
Let's see if James knows anything about this Dr. Faustus group.  With Magical Theory, I have 6 dice.
Magic Theory (Dr. Faustus) (http://orokos.com/roll/476601): 6d6t5 3

I am interested in the Anarchy game, or at least I think I am before reading the rules.  I'll get the book later this week, and see how it looks.  I do see that it's on sale right now, so that seems promising.

Also on books, I've settled on Missoula for my low-powered three-chapter advancement game that I've been working on.  You thought rather highly of the Butte book, correct?  Otherwise, I'm looking at Shadows of North America: Vol. 1 as my primary text.  I wish I knew more about how to work Google maps.  I haven't found a good tutorial that I like.

As for Qualities, I looked into Sharpshooter as well, but the -2 reduction on Called Shots isn't quite the same as cutting a 10 dice penalty in half.  Of course, looking at the text, it would appear that the writers were intending Strive for Perfection to be used with the Called Shots in the CRB so I'm unsure if the Quality would cut the higher penalty shots in half from Run and Gun
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-18-17/1628:02>
No, I was disappointed in Butte. It's not actively bad; it just missed a lot of opportunities. I don't think it's a good value at $8. I paid $4 for it when it was on sale a year ago, which is much closer to its fair value.

The wording for Strive for Perfection is especially poor, as you can interpret it both ways (either "half" or -2). Now, given its karma price and the price for Sharpshooter, "half" would certainly seem to be the fairer interpretation. It would also make a lot of Run & Gun's called shots more feasible, as they are generally too expensive (in terms of dice) and too niche (in their effects) to be more than curiosities.

Dr. Faustus Society
Everything Edsger says matches James' understanding. In fact, James was unaware that the Society admitted any women, so any exceptions to that rule would be news to him.

He knows that the society is open (not secretive) and that basically every University between the UK and the Czech Republic will have a least one Faustian in the magic department. Same goes for any corporation of any significant size.

Faustians are elitist and look down on mundanes, non-hermetics, and anyone who has to work with their hands for a living.

The name comes from the last scene of the play, where Faustus is damned and laments his fate and lost potential. The Society takes that as a cautionary tale, suggesting that their mission statement (if they have one) is to prevent such a loss from happening.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-18-17/1834:40>
IC up.  I'm about to head out, but I'll post a full gear list, which will depend on the exact nature of the job.  More spy game will mean a heavier focus on pistols and armored clothing, while a pure extraction will mean ARs and combat armor.

Do you have any thoughts on Strive for Perfection?  It's a fairly large Karma investment, and I think that making more use of the Called Shots from R&G could be fun, but if it seems abusive I'll take a pass.  I may take a pass temporarily anyway, as James may need Perfect Time to avoid hamstringing himself with all the Called Shots.

Do James and Illeana have any connection with Stevens?  Is our gear still safe and sound stateside, or was it lost in the shuffle?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-18-17/1854:33>
Stevens is fine. Illeana is in semi-regular contact with him. He's hiding. That said, your Redline (which was in your smuggling compartment, not Stevens) is now in the hands of Ares.

You don't know the nature of the job. You won't know until you get there and investigate.

As for Strive for Perfection, it depends what's more important to you: exploring the rules and dabbling with the mechanics, or developing James. Both approaches are perfectly valid. Obviously the quality would do a bit of both, but it's the opportunity cost of doing so and what your other lines of advancement might be. I would not call it abusive (well, not until we play with it at least).

SINs will be R4. Pick your name and nationality. Illeana will ask for licenses too, and a car.

Redline
Edsger: Shopping for a Redline (http://orokos.com/roll/476640): ?d6t5 4 hits
Redline: Avoiding being shopped (http://orokos.com/roll/476641): 14d6t5 5 hits

No Redline this time. Light Fire 75 it is then.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-19-17/1236:05>
James' Shopping List

Custom Ballistic Mask -- Final Availability: 11; Cost: 2,275¥
+ Audio Enhancement: Rating 1
+ Select Sound Filter: Rating 1
+ Gas Mask
+ Low-light Flashlight
+ Single Sensor: Rating 5: Motion Sensor
+ Single Sensor: Rating 5: Ultrasound
Ares Globetrotter Jacket -- Final Availability: 10; Cost: 4,800¥
+ Liner: Fire Protection (4)
+ Non-conductivity (4)
+ Chemical Protection (4)
+ Auto-injector
Medkit (6)
Medkit (3)
Lockpick Set
Mini-welder
Stealth Tags
Mage Hood: a mystic mask would be more efficient, but I'm not sure that Schwartzkopf would be willing to attune such an item to Miss Senio.
Mage Cuffs: Ditto above.
Subvocal Mic
Micro-transceiver
2 Hidden Arm-slides
Defiance Ex-Shocker
1 Spare Mags: Light Fire 75
2 Spare Mags: Alpha
5 HE minigrenades
5 Flash-bang minigrenades

I think James still has a Rating 4 commlink from leaving Ares, but I don't know if he has a Rating 1 burner with him.  If not, he'll want one of those.  Similarly, I don't know if James has much of his walking around ¥ with him, but I imagine that the bulk of it is with Stevens.  If he doesn't have much cash, he'll ask for some, and a pair of credsticks for Illeana and himself. 

Let's see what James knows about the laws in Frankfurt.  I'm hoping to supplement that knowledge with a Computer search afterward.  Actually, I'm going to do the Search first, and then Teamwork the Knowledge roll.  Let me know if you want this done differently.
For the computer Search, James has: LOG (4) + Computer (4) = 8 dice.
Computer Search: Laws in Frankfurt (http://orokos.com/roll/476939): 8d6t5 3

For Laws, James has: LOG (4) + Law (2) + Teamwork Roll (3) = 9 dice
Law knowledge (http://orokos.com/roll/476940): 9d6t5 4
That should get me the basics.  I'm curious as to whether or not gun laws and cyberware/bioware laws are mostly similar in Frankfurt as the UCAS.  If the tables are relatively the same, James would want a legal firearm, say the Predator V with SnS, and licenses to match.  If guns are largely illegal, he'll carry the Taser in polite company.

In preparation for the job, James is going to use some of his Knowledge Karma to buy Area Knowledge: Frankfurt (2).  Does he have the time for that purchase?  I don't have any questions on Frankfurt right now, so I'll forgo any rolls.

What is the nationality for Illeana's Lara SIN? 

I think James will opt for: Arthur VanBrandt, an Aztechnology Corporate citizen employed with Hawker-Siddeley, an Aztech subsidiary located in England. 

From examining the file on Senio, does James have any solid leads to start off with?  Housing, associates, the like?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-19-17/1432:04>
What is/are mage hood/cuffs? I see the "mystic constraints" from Street Grimoire but you seem to referring to something different.

The only thing that might give Edsger trouble are the customizations on the ballistic mask and Globetrotter jacket.  Edsger will note that the Globetrotter jacket will not be socially acceptable in Frankfurt, but will provide it in the off-chance that your travels take you into the wilderness.

Edsger: Availability checks (http://orokos.com/roll/476955): 2#?d6t5 1 hit 4 hits
vs.
Globetrotter Availability (http://orokos.com/roll/476960): 11d6t5 7 hits (wow) rolled one too many dice but that doesn't matter
Ballistic Mask Availability (http://orokos.com/roll/476961): 11d6t5 5 hits

Man, hard luck. The Globetrotter jacket will be limited to the off-the-shelf Custom Protection (4), so pick which one you want. As for the ballistic mask, he can only get four of the six requested modifications. Pick which two you want to drop.

He can get 50 rounds of each ammo type requested.

The Lara Senio SIN is for the Czech Republic.

I'll need to review Shadows of Europe to see if it discusses laws in Frankfurt, but my off-the-cuff guess is that it's such a corporate town (between AGC and FBV, both of which enjoy extraterritoriality) that it's corp law that dominates. Depending on the nature of Mr. VanBrandt's work for Hawker-Siddeley, the corporate security forces may allow him to carry reasonable "personal protection devices" (pistol or smaller) as a professional courtesy, but APDS ammo would be a big no-no.

FYI, a medkit (6) is the size of an "oversized duffel bag" per Bullets & Bandages. A medkit (3) is the size of a "large pouch or fanny pack".

Per the Training Rate Table on p. 107 of SR5, it takes [Rating * 1 day] to learn new skills of Rating 1-4. So, given 24 hours, James has enough time to pick up Area Knowledge: Frankfurt (1). If you end up spending a couple days there, you can pick up Rating 2.

Senio lives in Prague. The understanding is that she was going to spend the final weekend of September (28th/29th) in Bavaria to participate in the Oktoberfest celebrations there. Financial transactions and CCTV footage that Edsger has pieced together suggest that she spent the weekend in Munich. Then, instead of returning to Prague on Monday the 30th, she traveled to Nuremberg. After spending some time there, she went to Stuttgart, then to Frankfurt, where she has been for a few days. Given the frequency of her movements, it seems likely that she will move again with a couple days.

If James doesn't notice, Illeana will point out that Heidelberg (the town/university where the Doctor Faustus Society was founded) is between Stuttgart and Frankfurt.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-19-17/1440:41>
I'm going to spend 9 of Illeana's 12 remaining karma to bind the parrying dagger, which is an R3 focus. I debated for a long time about what rating to make it but decided on R3 based on what we know of Illeana's timeline. She made her mask in the early 2060s, immediately after parting with Aden. Given that the mask is an Enchanting focus (R2) and would make her better at enchanting future objects, plus the additional four years of study with Schwartzkopf, I figured she would be able to enchant an R3 object her next try.

Here's what it looks like, if you're curious:

(http://i0.wp.com/listverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/9_Parrying-Dagger.jpg?w=632)

I had some ideas about how to spend her Knowledge Karma but of course I didn't write them down and now I don't remember.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-20-17/1302:32>
Magecuffs and Magehoods are listed on page 217 of Street Grimoire.  The magehoods make it more difficult for a mage to astrally project, while the magecuffs deal a 15S(e) attack if it detects the subject casting spells or astrally projecting.

I think you're probably on the ball with the gun question.  James will want a Predator V, loaded with SnS.  That will be his legal firearm. 

James will want a Rating 6 medkit to keep in the car, but he'll forgo the Rating 3.  I thought they could fit in a pocket.

My thinking on the SIN is that James will not likely be able to pose as a European national, especially as either a Czech or German.  He doesn't have the language skills to back it up.  Posing as an Azzie, though, especially one employed by a subsidiary that would likely pull talent from around the globe feels a bit more workable. 

As a cover story, James is thinking that Arthur and Lara met while Arthur was on holiday during Oktoberfest of last year, and they've been seeing each other ever since.  This year, they recreated their first date, by going back to Prague for Oktoberfest and were supposed to meet up with Marie a day or two later.  When she never showed, Lara got worried, and they've decided to go looking for her in Frankfurt, where she was during their last commcall.  Illeana have anything to add or amend?

For Karma, let's start by looking at Knowledge Karma.  15 to start.
Area Knowledge: Frankfurt: 1 (1 Karma)
Area Knowledge: Prague: 1 (1 Karma)
Fencing (Olympic Sport Fencing): 2 (5 Karma)
Alcohol Spec: Beer (2 Karma)
Magic Traditions: 3 (3 Karma)
Datahavens: 2 (3 Karma)
= 15 Karma

All purpose Karma.  31 to start + 3 banked = 34
Tracking (Urban): (7 Karma)
Blades (Swords): (7 Karma)
Negotiation: 5 (10 Karma)
Perfect Time PQ: (10 Karma)
= 34 Karma

I'm going to hold off on Strive for Perfection.  Hacking also looks like too much investment for too little return.

I'll update my char sheet once I get the ok.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-20-17/1355:57>
Karma spending all looks good. Note that the Swords spec will break your Close Combat skill group.

Cover story looks good.

Illeana knows enough German to do the talking at the border.

Edsger will provide the magecuffs and magemask but will strongly caution against using them unless absolutely necessary, both because it would send the wrong message but also because he seems skeptical that they would be effective on Miss Senio.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-20-17/1424:22>
My. Lose Combat group is already broken because of the Cyber Weapons spec for Unarmed. That said, I don't think I Am going to do a Sword spec. I thought it would make sense with the fencing, but I just don't see the utility there. I may opt for a Negotiation or Intimidation spec instead. I'll decide when I get back to my computer.

Another thought on our cover is when/if we end up in a room with the Dr. Faustus society James will ask about carrying the Kukri. Since a mundane would have no use for a magical weapon they may assume that James is Masking his Aura, which I think would only be beneficial with their willingness to talk with him.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-20-17/1442:06>
It wasn't clear from the IC but the knives were basically a "pick one to borrow and maybe keep" situation, not "take all three". The kukri is back in Prague, in a display case or wherever Schwartzkopf keeps it.

As for walking-around money, we still have our Permanent Lifestyle covering our routine costs, like travel and food. The fact that we haven't been spending much the last six weeks or so - due to the hospitality of Ares and Schwartzkopf - means that there have been some savings there.

I figure that James has wireless access to his cash too, rather than being stuck in credsticks in Stevens (unless you specifically don't want to have access to it).

You can presume the Joseph Shimko SIN is burnt after your interaction with Knight-Errant in Baltimore.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-25-17/1729:00>
Looks like we're back up on the official forums. I'm going to save copies of the threads now.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-25-17/2124:38>
Looks like we're back up on the official forums. I'm going to save copies of the threads now.

Good call.  IC coming up tomorrow.  The nanite angle is an interesting one.  James also brought along his fencing gear, with the idea that these hoity-toity Dr. Faustus chummers probably go in for the aristocratic traditions, maybe even Mensur. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_fencing

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-26-17/1302:22>
Here's a link for gerbermuhle: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHWA_enUS625US625&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#tbm=lcl&q=frankfurt+gerbermuhle&rlfi=hd:;si:6780760138388380521;mv:!1m3!1d225.74051848592248!2d8.721567299999998!3d50.10598129999999!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i946!2i542!4f13.1

Since we're looking at the very least dealing with a high Magic target, James will think it's probably a good idea for Illeana to top off her tank, Essence-wise, or at least get to the point where it isn't negatively impacting her Magic rating, from an OOC perspective.

From Miss Senio's file, do we have car rental, hotel, or other such information?  Does it look like she's still using her SIN for purchases, or does it appear as though she's operating off of credsticks?

I'm going to bank that last 7 all-purpose Karma.  I may look at picking up another spec after moving back to the UCAS. 

A couple rolls are probably in order.  Let's see how well James does on his hotel search.  The ideal place is close to the city center, is Middle Lifestyle, and has covered parking.  Rolling Area Knowledge (1) + INT (9) = 10 dice.
hotel search (http://orokos.com/roll/479052): 10d6t5 4
Not bad.

James is also going to do a Matrix Search test for biergartens and fencing salles.  Both rolls are INT (9) + Computer (4) = 13 dice.

Biergartens (http://orokos.com/roll/479053): 11d6t5 3

Fencing salles (http://orokos.com/roll/479054): 11d6t5 3

With the information that we have, I'm not sure if James would be able to cross-reference any places Miss Senio has visited as being likely spots to set up overwatch at.  I know that criminals will often rob houses in what they think is a random pattern, but that pattern is actually a rough circle around where the criminal lives.  If she's trying to stay under the radar, she may be doing the same thing, picking up groceries here, or beer there, etc.  I could see Tracking + INT, or a straight INT + LOG, or no roll possible with the information available.  I thought about Security Tactics, but investigative work is well outside the purview of security professionals. 

ETA: I've updated James' char sheet.  It was painful deleting the Redline.  I've updated my Karma purchases, as well as made a separate list for Frankfurt specific gear, so I can keep all that straight.  I don't think I missed anything, but if something comes up I'll let you know.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-26-17/1850:56>
Finding a hotel is no problem.

Finding biergartens is no problem.

If I remember without checking, it's Thursday evening, say dinnertime. Perfect time to hit a biergarten.

There are multiple fencing salles happening over the weekend.

I like the INT+Tracking idea. We can teamwork it. Rolling offline, Illeana only got 3 hits. You can add those to your Tracking roll, and can keep them all since we'll say your Urban spec applies.

If it makes you feel better, the Lancer is still with Stevens, so you can cradle that at night while you miss the Redline.

I'll post ICly either tonight or tomorrow.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-27-17/0155:38>
Correction, it's still Wednesday, not Thursday.

Gerbermühle looks like it's both a hotel and a biergarten, so I just made it both for convenience.

IC is up. I could have pushed it a bit further but I wanted to see the Tracking roll first.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-27-17/1052:38>
James has: INT (9) + Tracking (2) + Urban Spec (2) + Teamwork Dice (3) = 16 dice.
Tracking (http://orokos.com/roll/479397): 16d6t5 8
50% Hits!  That hits James' Mental Limit.

Next stop is to hit up a couple biergartens to spread some holos around.  An Etiquette test is probably in order.  James is willing to spread a little nuyen around too if it seems appropriate.  I'll toss in a Judge Intentions test too.

Etiquette: CHA (5) + Etiquette (4) + Tailored Pheromones (2) = 11 dice.
Etiquette (http://orokos.com/roll/479400): 11d6t5 4

Judge Intentions: CHA (5) + INT (9) = 14 dice.
Judge Intentions (http://orokos.com/roll/479401): 14d6t5 5

James will be willing to spread around 50-200¥ per place, up to 1,000¥ total.  I'm just going to roll 4 extra dice, and you divvy that up as you see fit.
cash money (http://orokos.com/roll/479402): 4d6t5 1

James is also going to be curious about the drones on the streets: their relative concentration, owners, models.  I'm going to do a Visual Perception test, and a Matrix Perception test to see what I can come up with.

Visual Perception: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Vision Enhancement (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 22 dice.
Perception + Visual + Specifically Looking (http://orokos.com/roll/479403): 22d6t5 4

Matrix Perception: LOG (4) + Computer (4) + Matrix Perception Spec (2) = 10 dice.
Matrix Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/479404): 10d6t5 3
I figure there's probably not much need for a roll in this case, as most icons won't be Running Silent, but I wanted to get an idea of how thorough he'd be.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-27-17/1333:17>
That's some good rolling. James will catch the scent. I'll do another IC post with the lead. James is pretty effective on his own so we'll say the total gratuities are only ¥100.

As for the drones, James would describe the coverage as "snug". As Edsger said, basically the whole town is owned by AG Chem or FBV or their subsidiaries. Extraterritoriality is thorough to the point of there being little meaningful civic space. Most of the drones are for surveillance and might be packed with a taser but little more. Their intent seems to be to discourage malfeasance simply through their presence. If they can't handle a threat, they'll summon someone (or something) who can. They are owned and operated by the aforementioned AA-corps.

Overall the city is neat and orderly. You could describe it either as "German" or "corporate conservative" or both. There is almost no physical grime or graffiti. The only graffiti that exists is in the form of AROs, and even that is pretty modest compared to other sprawls. It's not an oppressive sense of security like you might get in Manhattan, but there's definitely the sense that there's not a lot of slack to work with.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-27-17/1344:16>
Any courier drones, preferably from home-grown corp that may have a local presence in Frankfurt? Florists, UPS, and the like.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-27-17/1444:34>
Sure, I don't see why not. Flowers, groceries, meal delivery, etc. It would take a lot of research to determine if they were really a mom-and-pop or just a corporate subsidiary, but there's probably something that fits whatever you're looking for.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-30-17/1751:56>
Let's see about finding hostels via Computer Search.  James has: LOG (4) + Computer (4) = 8 dice.
Computer Search: Hostels (http://orokos.com/roll/480694): 8d6t5 4
That should net a workable list, and perhaps even trim down some unlikely candidates.

Just got a brief IC in.  Things are a little hectic today, so I had to keep it brief.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-30-17/1922:42>
I probably should have included a bit more of a lead in my last IC post. The little dude (human, as it turns out) is supposed to be a good lead rather than a dead-end due to lack of details.

James indeed finds some hostels. They can pick up the trail there. Others in the hostel will confirm that Senio was there on Saturday and left with a man matching the little guy's description. He was driving a Porsche Aguilar and seemed to be contemptuous of the hostel. She was carrying her bag(s) and has not returned since. The little man said he was taking her to "Solomon".
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-31-17/1148:08>
Yeah, I guess James could've pursued the little guy angle a bit harder at the biergarten too.  I didn't see it at all as a dead end, though.

"Solomon," that's interesting.  James is going to push an angle with Anders that he will discuss in the car with Illeana: painting the short fellow to be some sort of abusive ex.  He's going to see if he can get Anders to show him lobby footage, to make sure it's the right guy, and then snap a pic with his cyber eyes.  Related question, do James and Illeana have any expectation of continued communication with the Benandanti or information from them?  Can we flash a pic of this guy, and see if they know who he is, or anything about Solomon?

For speaking with Anders I could see Negotiation or Con.  Considering the lie part, I'll do Con, but let me know if that's off.  James has: CHA (5) + Con (6) + Fast Talk (2) + Tailored Pheromones (2) = 15 dice.
Video Feeds from Ander (http://orokos.com/roll/480899): 15d6t5 5
Perfecty average, but I think it will hold.  I left off any Subject is Friendly bonuses.  Anders appears helpful from the IC, but that doesn't mean he's friendly.

I thought about trying to enlist a local food delivery service or florist in getting eyes on this guy, or his tag numbers, but without any databases at our disposal that information is largely irrelevant.  The Solomon name is going to be the best lead, but I'm unsure how to capitalize on it right now.  I'm assuming the name doesn't mean anything to Illeana, and so it won't likely to James either.  One thing they could do is try some of the muscle car forums, and see if a pic/profile/name matches with what Anders provides -- if he provides anything -- but that would probably take awhile.

The fencing salles are still something to consider now that they have a description.

I'll post ICly when I know if James was able to finagle a picture of this guy.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-31-17/1301:55>
Anders is actually a hostel guest (hence the "sharing a room with five other men" line), but with a roll like that you can con the proprietor into thinking that Senio might be in an abusive relationship. Illeana's appearance coupled with Senio's behavior would add bonuses to that story ("plausible evidence"). No bribe is necessary; the proprietor is concerned about human trafficking and doesn't want pimps or ganders hovering around hostel guests like vultures.

From that, you can get the necessary camera feeds to get a picture of the guy. No need to snap a picture with cybereyes; the proprietor will give you the necessary MARKs to download directly.

Updating Edsger is not expected nor required but you can leverage him for Matrix support if you like. I might suggest that your Computer Search pool is decent enough to try on your own first, but do whatever James would do (operating independently vs. outsourcing to experts).

I don't have a name for the skinny human yet. Something aristocratic and pompous. He's connected to the Faustus Society. A bit of research will uncover that he's a "legacy" member of the Society, as his father has been a member since the 2050s.

The Solomon name doesn't mean anything to James or Illeana. Research might uncover the meaning.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-31-17/1707:12>
I don't have a name for the skinny human yet. Something aristocratic and pompous. He's connected to the Faustus Society. A bit of research will uncover that he's a "legacy" member of the Society, as his father has been a member since the 2050s.

Heinz-Christian Strache is the name of a leader of Austria's far right Freedom party that seems to hit the right notes.  Tabbart Herzog is another possibility, Herzog being the German word for Duke, and Tabbart means brilliant which could well show the high hopes daddy Herzog had for his legacy, to say nothing of his humility.

James is going to ask Illeana to assist in these computer searches, which is probably a necessity due to the fact that a lot of this information will probably show up in German.  She has LOG (5) and Computer (2) for her assist.
Computer Search: skinny man (http://orokos.com/roll/480956): 7d6t5 3

James has: LOG (4) + Computer (4) + Teamwork (3) = 11 dice
Computer Search: skinny man (http://orokos.com/roll/480958): 11d6t5 5
That's fairly decent.

I'm going to assume that Illeana may be pursuing her own angle on the Solomon front, so I'll roll that solo.  If she has nothing going, and you want her to do Teamwork, feel free.  James has 8 dice.
Computer Search: Solomon (http://orokos.com/roll/480959): 8d6t5 3
I think I'm going to Edge this.  I probably should've pre-Edged with the dice pool, but I didn't.  We'll post-roll Push the Limit.
Edge: Push the Limit (http://orokos.com/roll/480961): 5d6h5 4
So, that's 7 Hits total.  Not bad.

James is at 4/5 Edge, which will hopefully refresh if there's enough time for sleeping among all that Computer Searching.  Just as likely they'll make a long night of it.

I should consider spending that 7 Karma on a Computer (Search) spec.

I'm going to delay my IC again until the results of these rolls.  It'll give me a bit further push.

Off-topic questions, related to me thinking ahead toward Salem:
Does Illeana remember Daria?  Have she seen her since the obelisk?
Do you have any information on Daria or her previous coven that hasn't been related yet?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <01-31-17/1751:13>
7 hits will get the job done. "Solomon" is actually "Salomen". The "Salomen Club" is the Final Club related to the Faustus Society at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main (Goethe University for convenience). The club is "final" because after you join it you cannot join any other clubs. The name comes from a line in Marlowe's play: "Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris."
 
Additional details: The club provides its members with well-furnished lounges and sitting-rooms, a library, pool table, dining room and bar. Lunch is served daily, dinner once or twice a week, and even occasional breakfasts. The charges for these meals are kept low so that members can attend as frequently as possible. It also boasts a private squash court, an outdoor garden (that can be flooded in the winter to convert it into a seasonal ice rink), and space for fencing. Presumably, from details overhead from Heinz-Christian the Baron Krauss von Espy, it has lodging quarters and is extensively warded too.
 
As for getting inside, there is a strict guest policy. Guests may only visit once (in their lifetime) and must be accompanied by a club member. Members bringing guests should only be seldom and the guests should be "the better kind of person." Female guests are frowned on except for social events like sporting matches. Bringing too many female guests to the club is grounds for expulsion. (Remember, the Faustus Society is an old boys' club.)



As for the Salem questions, Illeana does not remember Daria. They have not seen each other since before Aspen. Illeana would not know Daria if she saw her. (According to Ryo, Daria's portrait in Illeana's commlink was a Wiccan symbol.)

Daria would be pissed that Illeana betrayed the coven and sided with James. Presumably Daria received a report from her Black Lodge handlers that Illeana was seen with Ace (and the others) fleeing from Aspen in an RV, which led to a fight in which Black Lodge assets were killed. (* see below) Daria, of course, does not know the circumstances (i.e. the amnesia), but Daria's ultimate loyalty is to the coven, so she won't be too open-minded about her former sister's circumstances. As I mentioned earlier (http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=23135.msg477288#msg477288), it's an open question whether Daria resents Black Lodge too or whether she appreciates the "support" they provide.

The coven is aligned with the Mother Earth policlub / magical group. See Loose Alliances, p. 47-52, 148. If you don't have it, I might be able to send you the relevant pages. Daria herself is a blank slate to work with.

* Did I ever tell you that the guy you shot point-blank at the end of Chapter II (after the RV battle) survived? I rolled it out behind the scenes. James rolled terribly (2 hits) even with the point-blank modifier, and the guy soaked well. He still went into Overflow, but DocWagon was able to get to him in time to stabilize him.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <01-31-17/2256:17>
I started an IC awhile ago, but I've only been able to get on it intermittently.  I'm going to be posting another tomorrow morning, which will take us through the research, and probably into the fencing salles.  Let's see if we can con our way into a guest pass at one of the most exclusive clubs in Europe. 

If you get to this before I've posted again and want to offer any direction on the salles, I'll take it.  Otherwise, I can fake my way through some stuff.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-01-17/0207:20>
Con-ing your way in will be a tall order. I don't want to say that it's impossible, but even if you get in then odds are good you'll get sniffed out quickly.

There's a separate entrance to the club for guests. It's expected that their host will escort them in. You could potentially have Edsger hack your name onto a list, but he'd have to connect you to a member. Once inside without a member host, or assigned to a host that doesn't recognize you, then the jig would be up.

Under other circumstances Illeana might suggest magically cloaking your appearance and/or just brainwashing a host, but given the nature of the Dr. Faustus Society (an exclusive magical group) that's unlikely to succeed.

You think Senio is inside but you don't actually know. She could have moved by now. Options are the B&E route (the sneak-and-peek), or you could try to corner Heinz-Christian the Baron Krauss von Espy outside of the club and have him lead you to her.

The Salomen Club has space for fencing but that's more to imply that its members do fence rather than the actually fencing would have to take place there. Of course, it's not impossible that the fencing would take place there either. I don't know anything about fencing or its etiquette so if you're familiar with the world then it would be better if you took the lead in order to get the details right. Are there invitation tournaments with outside athletes? If so, maybe James can get himself on the list, or perhaps the brave duo simply attend in a social guise.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-01-17/1231:45>
* Did I ever tell you that the guy you shot point-blank at the end of Chapter II (after the RV battle) survived? I rolled it out behind the scenes. James rolled terribly (2 hits) even with the point-blank modifier, and the guy soaked well. He still went into Overflow, but DocWagon was able to get to him in time to stabilize him.

No, you did not tell me that.  I can't believe it!  I just went a reread that last scene.  Cold-blooded. 

Basic plan in the fencing salle is to be snobbish, charming, strong, and quick.  James' dice pool should match or exceed most serious fencers, who likely pale against his AGI but make up for it with a Spec in blades and some higher Skills.  Serious adepts may give him a run for his nuyen.  In between bouts he'll visit with the other fencers, and will casually express an interest in Mensur, or academic fencing.  It's an old tradition, which "civilized" dueling in the 1800s.  Student Corporations -- the German equivalent of fraternities -- host Mensur bouts, and members are expected to participate in 2 duels before graduating. 

Basic etiquette when visiting a fencing club is that usually visitors fence for free, but I'm guessing their would at least be a guest pass price at a higher class institution.  Open fencing is pretty open, and will be conducted with all three weapons (foil, epee, and saber) though fencers usually specialize in one weapon and use it exclusively. 

If Salomen has a fencing space, James will figure it's probably for general use as well as Mensur.  This angle may turn up nothing, and I won't be bothered if it doesn't.  Just figure it's worth a try.

If nothing comes of it, James will be keen on abducting the Baron.  Since Marie is not necessarily at Salomen currently, he's the best lead on her present whereabouts.

I'm going to make a general Etiquette test.  Let me know if you want some sort of test for Fencing.

James has: CHA (5) + Etiquette (4) + Tailored Pheromones (2) = 11 dice.
Etiquette (http://orokos.com/roll/481209): 11d6t5 5
That should hit the right notes.

In case the Corporate Spec qualifies: Corporate Spec (http://orokos.com/roll/481210): 2d6t5 1
 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-01-17/1332:42>
No, you did not tell me that.  I can't believe it!  I just went a reread that last scene.  Cold-blooded. 

Yeah. The guy doesn't hold a grudge; he was just happy to get home to his wife and kid(s). He was shadowrunning to pay the bills and support his family. Getting shot like that was the nudge to get him out of the game, which his wife didn't approve of anyway. I figured he'd be so grateful to DocWagon - who got there with less than a minute to spare and stabilized him with a trauma patch - that he'd try to go to work for them. If I remember correctly, he was the driver (control rig, gearhead) with enough skill to lay down effective suppressive fire. Probably make a good ambulance driver.

See what goes on behind the scenes that nobody ever sees?!

Who are you etiquetting? One of the open clubs? If so, 5 hits is enough for James to insinuate himself seamlessly. (Corp spec does not apply.) No guest fees.

For fun, give me ten (10) AGI+Blades rolls and ten (10) REA+INT+Blades rolls, as I presume parrying is the default.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-01-17/1424:39>
Yeah. The guy doesn't hold a grudge;

Well, that's good to know.  I appreciate a little behind the scenes action, as someone who comes up with unnecessarily extensive backgrounds for some NPCs. 

Yes, the Etiquette test is to get in the club and get a general sense of how out-of-place he seems/acts.

For attacking James has: AGI (11) + Close Combat Group (7) = 18 dice.
Fencing (http://orokos.com/roll/481259): 10#10d6t5 2 1 4 4 0 2 3 7 3 2
James is not looking particularly impressive.  He must be tired.

For Parry, James has: REA (7) + Close Combat Group (7) = 14 dice.
Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/481260): 10#14d6t5 7 6 6 4 6 6 6 3 4 4
His defense is much more solid.  He might feel a little intimidated by the quality of fencers here, and isn't really committing to his attacks.

James doesn't do failure very well.  I'm going to roll Composure to see how he handles things.
Composure (http://orokos.com/roll/481261): 12d6t5 3
Meh.  I guess he's holding it together ok, but I think he took the voudon in the swamp better than this.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-01-17/1430:32>
You left Intuition out of your defense rolls. That said, odds are good that you'll be maxing out your weapon's Accuracy anyway.

What do we think, Accuracy 7? Or different by foil, epee, and saber?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-01-17/2001:34>
If anything, saber would be a little lower, as most of the action is done with the wrist rather than the fingers, but they're all probably mechanically the same.

Also, I completely spaced on telling you that I'd updated my IC post this morning. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-01-17/2033:32>
Add ten (10) Intuition rolls when you get the chance.

Is James competing in saber then, given the slashing and the head as a valid target? I'm just trying to draw the closest parallel to Mensur.

Are you renting your fencing gear or purchasing it?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-02-17/0038:20>
I'm going to say that the first duel is épée, mostly because I think the lack of right-of-way is easier to abstract at a high level. We'll say the Accuracy of the sword is a 7.

Intuition 9 (http://orokos.com/roll/481490): 10#9d6t5 1 5 2 2 5 2 3 1 2 6

The gives James the 7 hit max for all rolls except #4 (6 hits) and #8 (4 hits).

Ties... should ties go to the defender or to the attacker (for perhaps scoring a glancing blow)?

The man who is fencing midday on a Thursday is an accomplished amateur but not a professional. Let's see how he fares:

Amateur Attack: AGI + Blades + Spec (http://orokos.com/roll/481491): 10#?d6t5 4 2 4 5 5 6 2 2 5 4

He utterly fails to hit James a single time.

Amateur Defense: REA + INT + Blades + Spec (http://orokos.com/roll/481492): 10#?d6t5 4 2 4 2 6 7 6 4 7 3

James hits twice (#4 and #8) with a possible third time (#3) depending on which direction ties go. It is a defensive battle, as all épée bouts are, but James emerges victorious and untouched, much to his opponent's frustration. Between that and his Etiquette, he has impressed someone enough to warrant attention.

If we do a more rigorous bout, we'll do some Initiative rolls and break things up a little more so that James can benefit from his speed. That will make it more tactical too, in terms of using Interrupt Actions and the like.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-02-17/1123:16>
Is James competing in saber then, given the slashing and the head as a valid target? I'm just trying to draw the closest parallel to Mensur.

Are you renting your fencing gear or purchasing it?

Saber would make sense with the Mensur comparison.  Today, someone James' age would almost certainly only fence epee, as foil and saber rely too much on speed and reflexes that begin to degrade in one's 20s.  Given the tech of Shadowrun, I imagine this trend will have reversed. 

James brought his own gear.  He would have purchased it from the gym in Prague.  Today, a basic kit would probably cost $350-400 for gear that wouldn't look out of place at a club like this.  It's bad enough that his jacket and knickers won't have his last name and nationality/corp on them.  I'm going to say that between receiving the SINs and leaving, there wasn't enough time for that.  Add another $300 if he's buying all 3 weapons. 

Ties should probably go to the attacker, possibly with the exception of Saber, which won't score a touch if the defender's blade grounds the opponent's with a parry.  We can just say that ties go to the attacker for ease.

James will usually be better off going Full Defense than using the Parry Interrupt Action, dice pool wise.  The cost of that, which was discussed some when I role-played James' fencing lessons is that he's relying more on his speed than his skill, i.e. it'll look ugly.  James would probably want to preserve the appearance of his training, so he'd be more likely to rely on Full Defense only in the event that someone is besting him. 

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-02-17/1337:26>
Go ahead and deduct the dollar-equivalent amount of nuyen ($1 = ¥1) for James' fencing gear and add it to your sheet.

The Wikipedia article you sent earlier calls Mensur an "épée / rapier fight" and also says "flinching or dodging is not allowed". To that end, both Full Defense and Dodge do not seem like valid options. Even for a traditional match, I'd be highly skeptical of allowing Full Defense since the piste is not wide enough to allow for lateral movement.

Illeana could probably sew Arthur's name onto his jacket or knickers, or use a Fashion spell to accomplish the same. Since the spell is Permanent, it won't show up to someone assensing.

If it sounds fun to IC the fencing, please do. I don't feel sufficiently knowledgeable to do it justice. If that sounds like a chore to you, we can skim past it.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-02-17/1440:26>
I'll deduct ¥700, and have James get all 3 weapons. 

Mensur is tricky.  My understanding is that you're correct, for a Mensur bout no dodging is allowed, and I'm unsure if it's even fought on a piste.  I think the fencers are placed toe-to-toe and basically start whacking at each other.  Parries are allowed, but footwork is out, so I agree with your assessment that Full Defense is probably out for James. 

I was thinking that James would only be fencing on this day, as Mensur would probably not be allowed at the club.  James' hope is that he's impressive enough that after casually mentioning an interest in trying Mensur, some corp type would invite him to Salomen for a bout.

To that end, James is going to keep a close eye out for anyone with AG Chem or Frankfurter Bankenverein written on their gear, those being the top candidates for finding a Faustus member. 

James will definitely have Illeana put his name on his gear. 

If James finds a good match, I'll RP that out.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-02-17/1517:04>
Right, I'm not saying that Mensur is happening right now; I'm just laying the groundwork for if it emerges in the future.

The ease with which James dispatches a top amateur, combined with his social graces and his superbly (magically) tailored clothing, is enough to earn him attention from some corpers on their lunch break.

It's Thursday (10/17/75) right now. James receives an invitation to attend a match the following (Friday) evening. (Although tell me if evening matches are unheard of, or if anything else is nonsensical.) It is not at Salomen but there will be many society-types there. It is reasonable to think that the Baron will be in attendance, and possibly even Senio if she's making public appearances.

For a change of scenery, it will be in the Botanischer Garten Frankfurt am Main (botanical garden), in the Mittelmeerhaus ("Mediterranean House"), a giant glass conservatory in the garden.

Let me know if you want to do the next IC or if I should.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-02-17/1602:26>
Go ahead. I probably won't be able to post again until tomorrow due to sick kids and work craziness
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-03-17/1204:22>
I had some time so I posted ICly.  Now off the movies.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-03-17/1458:56>
Good IC post. Better than I could have done.

There are some hours Thursday evening and Friday during the day if there's anything else to accomplish. If not, I'll just move things along so we don't get too tied down in hour-by-hour proceedings.

What movie did you see? I watch a lot myself, although fewer now that there's a little one toddling around.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-07-17/1840:23>
James will want to buy some Stealth tags before the event.  They're 7R, so a CHA + Negotiation test may be in order.  James has: CHA (5) + Negotiation (5) = 10 dice.
Finding Stealth Tags (http://orokos.com/roll/483178): 10d6t5 4

In case Tailored Pheromones Count: Tailored Pheromones (http://orokos.com/roll/483179): 2d6t5 2
If they do, somebody really likes the way James smells. 

Basic plan is for Illeana to work the room, and see if she can put eyes on Marie Senio.  James is going to mingle with Adelard, and see if he can score an introduction to the Baron.  Preferably, this introduction would come late in the night, after the fencing.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-07-17/2002:41>
Adelard knows who the Baron is but doesn't know him personally and so cannot offer an introduction.

Ideas include using Illeana as bait (since the Baron appreciates the attention of young ladies) or trying to impress the baron with face-slashing skills to the point (pun) where he introduces himself. Or, Illeana could start popping his spells and embarrassing him, which may not endear him to you but will certainly get his attention. Or you could KO the security and abduct him. Or just walk right up like you were Schwartzkopf since you are his agents and should demand respect as such.

Stealth tags: Availability Test (http://orokos.com/roll/483197): 7d6t5 4 hits

Hmm, so do tailored pheromones count? If you were shopping in person, yes, but given that James is working in a town where he doesn't know anyone and in a language he doesn't understand, he's probably limited to black-market shopping sites selling Restricted gear where his pheromones help him not.

So the tie means that he can find them but they're not available until tomorrow. I realize that there was a gap of time between the fencing on Thursday and the garden party on Friday, but such are the pitfalls of wanting to purchase things retroactively.

I'll IC it, but Illeana doesn't see Marie. Unless Marie is under a well-masked spell (which is possible, but she wasn't at the beer hall or the hostel) then she's not here tonight.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-10-17/0119:54>
IC is up. Wilhelm's tone is more curious than threatening. He does not seem hostile.

We can go into as much or as little mechanical detail as you wish. If you'd like to roll it out, feel free to roll Initiative. You will have your full pool of Edge, but note that it may not refresh before you need it again.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-10-17/1229:22>
Let's see how this match shapes up.

James is going to take a close look at Wilhelm Eberhardt.  He has: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Vision Enhancement (2) + Specifically Looking (3) = 22 dice.
Perception + Visual + Specifically Looking (http://orokos.com/roll/484181): 22d6t5 6
Specifically, James is interested in whether he is cybered, or likely magical.  He'll also be on the lookout from how he moves what style he's likely to employ.

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/484171): 16+4d6 32
That's a good sign.  4 passes to start means a little more room for Interrupt Actions.
Initiative drops to 27 from Free Action listed below.

If it's possible for James to activate his CFD power boost prior to fencing, say for Hits -1 CTs then James will do that.
CFD Boost (http://orokos.com/roll/484177): 6d6t5 0
Or not.  At least no Drain. 

James is also going to comm Illeana to do a quick search on Wilhelm Eberhardt, which I'll cover in my next CT.

Have you decided on whether there is enough room on a fencing piste for Full Defense?

What weapon is he fencing?

Assuming James goes first he will:
Free: Pre-Emptive Parry
Complex: Reading the Defense

For Reading the Defense James has: INT (9) + Close Combat (7) = 16 dice.
Reading the Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/484186): 16d6t5 4
James will get a +3 on his next Melee Attack



Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-10-17/1344:48>
As I was getting into bed last night, I thought to myself, I should have had Illeana comm that he's Awakened since that would be obvious to her. He's Magic 6, but she can't tell if he's Initiated or not. Notably, his sword is not a weapon focus.

Another note which I should have elaborated on: he referenced "Mr. Anderson", which is James'  best fake SIN. You don't remember the origin of your fake SINs, but it would be reasonable to assume that your fake SINs came from your time at Ares. 

Wow, tough luck on the CFD boost roll. Good thinking though. We'll say that you can try to boost once per CT, or whenever James takes Physical damage.

This is a mensur bout so you'll be expected to have your feet planted. No dodging or full defense interrupts, unless you want to socially disgrace yourself.

On that note, let's figure out some rules that make sense. At the risk of dragging the fight out too long, should we require called shots (-4) to hit unarmored portions of the target? Or even called shots to Ear (-10) or Jaw (-8)?

Based on his observations, James thinks that he'll have Wilhelm beat on attributes but not skills. Wilhelm will be using an épée and James will be expected to use the same. There are no goggles or nose guard. Your face is unprotected, but you do have armor on your wrist and hand.

You have enough time to comm Illeana before the beatings begin, as I presume there is some ceremony before the slashing starts. She'll run the search.

How long do these matches last? Is there a pre-determined end point, either in duration or wounds or submission or ...?

At work now. I'll try to get some rolling and the search results up later today.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-10-17/1450:01>
I found this article: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/frauleins-dig-them-0000573-v22n2

According to it, Mensur bouts go on until 5 cuts and then it's on to the next round. I'm assuming a new round means new fencers. So, is that a bout to the first to make 5 cuts or 5 cuts total? I'd imagine it's 5 cuts total given dueling history and Mensur tradition.

I'd say the -4 for a default Called Shot is probably the best bet, both to keep the bout from dragging on and because a face hit is good, no matter if it's jaw or ears and the secondary benefits of those Called Shots likely wouldn't be applicable in a fencing bout.

As for the SIN, I'd thought about that. James will be keen to talk with this man after the bout. I'm unsure how to read his ability to find the best SIN but not the real name.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-10-17/2018:05>
Let's start with 5 cuts. If we go a week and don't have much to show for it then we can dial back to 2 or 3 cuts.

I know we agreed on Called Shot (-4) but I'm going to counterbalance that with the Touch Only bonus (+2) to represent the fact that you aren't trying to deliver anything more significant than a flesh wound.

Based on James' Perception tests of Wilhelm's initial displays of etiquette and general movements, he expects Wilhelm to fight in the style of La Verdadera Destreza.

Alright, I have Wilhelm stat'd. On paper this looks like a good matchup. Let's see if the dice cooperate.

Initiative: Intiative (http://orokos.com/roll/484434): ? 18, he's faster than a man off the street but he's not on-par with James

Reading the Defense is a good idea but I'm going to rule that it cannot be done during the first IP of a highly ritualized fight, as precisely zero fighting has happened and thus there is no defense to read. I'm happy to save the successful roll for whenever James wishes to apply it following the commencement of hostilities, but staring intently at Wilhelm's unmoving form is not sufficient to produce the bonus.

CT1 IP1
32: James
18: Wilhelm
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-11-17/2246:47>
Re: reading the defense, that's fair.

James will make a mellee attack. He has: AGI (11) + Close Combat (7) - Called Shot (4) = 14 dice.
Mellee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/484805): 14d6t5 4
Not terribly inspiring.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-12-17/0032:06>
Just a reminder that I do allow interrupt actions to be taken even if the remaining initiative is less than the amount required for the interrupt action. The rules suggest that this isn't allowed, but I could never figure out why someone at Initiative 1 could have a Complex action but not take an interrupt action.

You forgot your Touch Only bonus dice: Touch Only 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/484835): 2d6t5 0 hits, oh well

Wilhelm will use the Riposte martial art technique. This costs 7 initiative. 

Riposte: Reaction + Blades + Spec + Adepty Dice + Opposing Force (http://orokos.com/roll/484836): ?d6t5 7 hits

Oops, now I forgot to take the Called Shot and Touch Only attack modifiers. That drops two hits and leave him with 5. That's still enough to beat James' 4 hits and scratch James' cheek. One cut.

His initiative is now 11, which he'll use for an attack.

Wilhelm attack: Agility + Blades + Spec + Adepty Dice + Opposing Force + Touch Only - Called Shot (http://orokos.com/roll/484837): ?d6t5 4 hits

Parry roll to James.

CT1 IP2
17: James (one cut)
1: Wilhelm
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-12-17/1626:10>
By RAW Opposing Force doesn't affect Riposte. Did you mean Yielding Force on Wilhelm's roll?

For Parry, James has: REA (7) + INT (9) + Close Combat (7) = 23 dice.
Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/484963): 23d6t5 10
Capped at 7 for Accuracy.  James Initiative is dropped to 12.

James will Hold his Action until Wilhelm follows up with another strike, at which point he will Parry and then attack.  A Riposte by any other name. . .

I'm actually fairly impressed with how Shadowrun rules successfully abstract a fencing match.  I fenced foil through most of my teen years, and I do epee now.  We have a saying: He who commits first loses.  The additional actions and interrupts from Run and Gun go a long way toward recreating the tactics and psychology of a bout.  For example, here we have an opponent whose Riposte is much stronger than James' attack, so his best bet is to wear him down before going in for a real touch.  I do wish the rules for Feints were better, not that James could use it.  By RAW it seems as though someone could Parry or Riposte against the Feint Called Shot, which should make it more powerful, not help the defender.  It's also strange to me that the sword fighting martial arts don't have Feint listed as a technique.

CT1 IP2
Complex: Held Action

Will there be any breaks between cuts, or will James and Wilhelm be fighting continuously until 5 cuts are scored?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-13-17/0045:15>
Some Sunt things first, to avoid backseating GMing in public.

Flickr obviously isn't rolling well, and it might not be enough to save him, but in theory he should have had a Counterspelling roll. I'm great with it if he gets vaporized for story purposes, but if the idea is to give him a fair toss of the dice then presumably he could use Run For Your Life and/or Counterspelling.

Per the Innate Spell description, the spirit should be rolling Drain too.

Back to The Further Adventures:

Yes, I did mean Yielding Force, not Opposing Force. I'm always mixing the two up.

James' initiative is still 17. I had already subtracted 5 for the pre-emptive parry that you declared @ 32. That dropped you to 27 and the attack took you to 17, where you still are.

Good question about breaks between cuts. Answer: yes, at the end of the CT. I don't want to interrupt the CT because it would unfairly rob James of his initiative advantage.

CT1 IP2
17: James - hold action
1: Wilhelm - Parry interrupt

Wilhelm goes on the defensive. James may now attack twice (IP2 and IP3) without fear of attacks or ripostes. This knowledge is slightly meta/OOC, but I figure that James is fast enough ICly to recognize his advantage and press it. Such are the abstractions of turn-based systems.

This essentially gives James' two free attacks without fear of counterattack. The first attack is at -1 for being a Held Action, and the second attack may proceed at normal. Alternatively, you can take Reading the Defense first and attack second to benefit from the Reading the Defense bonus. Or, just attack twice to capitalize on the -1 Wilhelm will have defending the second sequential attack.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-13-17/0949:38>
Thanks for the reminder on Counterspelling.  Flickr gets to live! . . . for now.  He ended up with 4 hits on 6 dice, but I'll cover that in an rpol post once I figure out what he's going to do with his turn.

The Spirit did roll Drain, and not particularly well.  I'm not sure that he'll go Force 9 a second time.

I adjusted my Initiative down another 5 because of some unclear wording on the Pre-emptive Parry Free Action.  From page 122 of R&G:

Quote
"This action allows the character to use the Parry Defense option (p. 170, SR5) for an entire Combat Turn for the price of the normal Interrupt Action by making their defense active instead of reactive."

So, it essentially turns a Parry into a Full Defense freebie, arguably being much better than Full Defense -- skills and specs are cheaper than attributes and are likely to be higher -- and I don't see it as being cheaper than Full Defense in terms of Initiative.  I was playing it as: Spend 5 Initiative on the Free Action declaring Pre-Emptive Parry, and then spend 5 Initiative on a Parry Interrupt, but that Interrupt lasts the entire turn.  If James only needs to spend the 5 as a Free Action that's great, but I wanted to let you know my thinking.

James will attack twice this CT, and save Reading the Defense for the next CT. 

For the first attack: AGI (11) + Close Combat (7) + Touch Only (2) - Called Shot (4) - Held Action (1) = 15 dice.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/485271): 15d6t5 9
Capped at 7 for Accuracy.  Hell of a roll, though.  Should be enough for a glancing cut.

Second attack: AGI (11) + Close Combat (7) + Touch Only (2) - Called Shot (4) = 16 dice.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/485273): 16d6t5 4
I would have much rather those rolls been reversed, but such is life.

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/485276): 16+4d6 32
Corrected Initiative is 28 once James takes his Free Action.

Assuming James goes first, he will:
CT2 IP1
Free: Pre-Emptive Parry
Complex: Reading the Defense

Once I know the results of those two last attacks I'll put in an IC.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-14-17/0058:08>
Huh, will you look at that. I didn't even realize that Pre-Emptive actions were a thing.

I agree that they look rather powerful for just -5 initiative but the rules seem to be fairly conclusive as to their intent. -5 gets you the bonus for the whole turn; the catch is that it's not an Interrupt action and has to be performed on your turn. I don't want to balance house rules on the fly right now so we'll leave them as they stand. Let's figure out something reasonable for the future though, especially since it may come up in Sunt.

James bought the Perfect Time quality, so he has an extra free action to spend on this if he ever wants to call it at the same time as Called Shot + Attack.

Alright, Wilhelm, let's see what you can do about these attacks. There's an open question about whether Parry should apply to both attacks or just one. I've always played it that the Interrupt is active until the player's next IP, but the rules do say "this is a one-time add" which seems to imply that it should only apply to one attack. However, given that Pre-Emptive Parry lasts the whole CT, I fail to see the harm in allowing the interrupt to last for a whole IP.

First defense: Defense + Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/485719): ?d6t5 7 hits

I knew this question would come up. Do ties go to the defender, as usual, or to the attacker as a touch-only attack? I've been leaning toward the latter. It should help prevent things from dragging on too long so we'll go with ties to the attacker. James zips his blade across the shorter man's parietal bone, removing a chunk of hair in the process.

Second defense: Defense + Parry - 1 second attack (http://orokos.com/roll/485720): ?d6t5 8 hits, successfully defended

The umpire cries "Halt!" and puts his sword between the two combatants. Surgeons step in to set the wounds with SpraySkin or somesuch.

Initiative for CT2: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/485721): ? 24

CT2 IP1
Free: Pre-Emptive Parry
Complex: Reading the Defense (since Wilhelm doesn't have a second Free Action to spend on the required Called Shot)

Reading the Defense: Intuition + Blades (http://orokos.com/roll/485722): ?d6t5 ? hits

CT2 IP2
17: James (one cut)
9: Wilhelm (one cut)

Have you read this? Mark Twain's description of Mensur: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Tramp_Abroad/V Might help with the IC.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-14-17/1139:39>
Huh, will you look at that. I didn't even realize that Pre-Emptive actions were a thing.

I agree that they look rather powerful for just -5 initiative but the rules seem to be fairly conclusive as to their intent. -5 gets you the bonus for the whole turn; the catch is that it's not an Interrupt action and has to be performed on your turn. I don't want to balance house rules on the fly right now so we'll leave them as they stand. Let's figure out something reasonable for the future though, especially since it may come up in Sunt.

I think you're right.  My initial reading was that a char would need to spend the Free Action at -5 for the pre-emptive action, but would then need to use the Interrupt Parry action once during the CT -- at another -5 -- and then the Defense would last for the rest of the CT.  But, the rules do explicitly say, "for the price of the interrupt action," which makes me think that you get the whole benefit for simply using the Free Action in addition to the -5.  Pretty damned powerful actually.

Alright, Wilhelm, let's see what you can do about these attacks. There's an open question about whether Parry should apply to both attacks or just one. I've always played it that the Interrupt is active until the player's next IP, but the rules do say "this is a one-time add" which seems to imply that it should only apply to one attack. However, given that Pre-Emptive Parry lasts the whole CT, I fail to see the harm in allowing the interrupt to last for a whole IP.

By RAW, the CRB says on page 192, "This boost only deducts 5 from her Initiative Score, but it only lasts for a single Defense Test. "

I knew this question would come up. Do ties go to the defender, as usual, or to the attacker as a touch-only attack? I've been leaning toward the latter. It should help prevent things from dragging on too long so we'll go with ties to the attacker. James zips his blade across the shorter man's parietal bone, removing a chunk of hair in the process.

Since we're talking about drawing blood, I would think that ties would go to the Defender here.  Of course, I think RAW is assuming armor, and contact-only attacks still set off their secondary penalties, so I'm unsure.  Also, if ties go to the defender we may need to do away with the Touch-Only bonus, as I'm not sure how well those mechanics being in opposition play together intent-wise.  Last, I think between James and Wilhelm's dice pools, we're likely to see this stretch out if we don't have ties go to the attacker.

Have you read this? Mark Twain's description of Mensur: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Tramp_Abroad/V Might help with the IC.

I have not.  Giving it a read now.  Looks very promising.

Ok, let's see how James fares with a cut.  He has: AGI (11) + Close Combat (7) + Touch Only (2) + Reading the Defense (3) - Called Shot (4) = 19 dice.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/485822): 19d6t5 6
At some point I'm probably going to have to use Edge to get a cut in, but it won't be this time.

CT2 IP2
Complex: Melee Attack
Free: Called Shot

ETA: if possible, I'd like to use the CFD boost again before fighting resumes.
CFD Boost (http://orokos.com/roll/485852): 6d6t5 2
Very nearly a Glitch.  If this holds, James Initiative is increased by 2, and his Reaction is now 9.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-14-17/1557:04>
You are correct that the Parry interrupt only applies to a single defense test, but what about Pre-Emptive Parry? If it only lasts a single defense test then there's zero advantage to Pre-Emptive over declaring an interrupt when you need it. Then a Pre-Emptive is counterproductive because it costs you a Free action and there's a risk that you won't use it, leading to wasted initiative. The only use for it would be as your last action of the CT to cover you until the beginning of the next CT, but RAW doesn't really let you do that anyway since it wants you to have enough Initiative to cover your interrupt (or pre-interrupt) action in advance.

Per Stolen Souls, the CFD Attribute Boost requires a Simple action. We can save your roll for an IP that you want to spend on a boost.

Wilhelm parrying 6 hits: Defense + Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/485949): ?d6t5 9 hits, parried

Wilhelm CT2 IP2
Free: Called Shot
Complex: Melee Attack

Attack: Attack + Reading the Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/485950): ?d6t5 8 hits

Wilhelm keeps all hits due to adepty boosts to his Accuracy. James will either have to dodge without parry (and incur social scorn) or spend Edge pre-roll to push the Limit for his Defense test, otherwise he'll be hampered by the Accuracy of his sword.

CT2 IP3
7: James (one cut)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-14-17/1734:37>
Per Stolen Souls, the CFD Attribute Boost requires a Simple action. We can save your roll for an IP that you want to spend on a boost.

The idea was to use the CFD boost right before alle was called, and have it last for Hits -1 CT instead of Hits CT.  If that doesn't work, then James won't be using the boost; he doesn't have the action economy.

Let's see how James Defense holds out.  I will use Parry, and then use Edge to Push the Limit post roll.  James has 23 dice.
Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/485992): 23d6t5 8
There's 7 of it.  Now for Push the Limit.
Edge: Push the Limit (http://orokos.com/roll/485994): 5d6h5 1
Well, balls.  Another glancing hit.
If James gets his CFD powers, that's another 2 dice.
CFD (http://orokos.com/roll/485996): 2d6h5 1
If allowed, that would make for a miss.

If it is allowed, I need to roll Drain.  James has: BOD (5) + WIL (7) = 12 dice.
CFD Drain (http://orokos.com/roll/485999): 12d6t5 1
That would be 1 Stun.  And some pretty poor rolling.

Let's see how James next attack comes out.  He has 16 dice.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/486000): 16d6t5 3
Hitting a string of low rolls.

As for Parry, yes Pre-Emptive Parry would count for every melee attack a char needed to defend against in a CT, but using the Interrupt Action by RAW only applies to 1 attack.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-14-17/1757:59>
Using the CFD boost right before the Alle is fair.

That said, there is a Drain component that doesn't seem to have a soak roll. "After this time the head case suffers a number of boxes of Stun damage equal to the hits on the NV roll." An argument could be made that this is simply the technological equivalent of an adept's Attribute Boost and therefore should have a Drain roll as well, but that's not written nor even implied.

However, in this case it pays off. The boost allows James to dodge.

Wilhelm defense: Defense + Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/486009): ?d6t5 6 hits, parried

Now we're at the end of CT2. James' boost expires.

Wilhelm initiative for CT3: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/486010): ?d6+? 21

CT3 IP1
James: ? (one cut, one Edge spent)
Wilhelm: 21 (one cut)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-14-17/1819:04>
Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/486016): 16+4d6 35
Not bad.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-14-17/1828:10>
90th percentile. Action to James.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-15-17/1112:25>
The metagame here is getting pretty interesting.  James can play it a little more safe, going with Pre-Emptive Parry and Reading the Defense this pass, or he can attempt to capitalize on his higher Initiative by going with a straight up attack, and forcing Wilhelm to burn some Initiative with Parry or Riposte.  The latter will almost certainly result in a hit by Wilhelm, and his next attack would likely hit as well, if James forgoes a Parry Interrupt.  That worst-case scenario would have Wilhelm up 3 cuts to James 1, but would leave James with two extra passes to capitalize on, 3 if Wilhelm uses Pre-Emptive Parry or the Parry Interrupt following a Riposte.  He'd need to hit with both to break even, and that would almost certainly require at least 1 more use of Edge.  Going the safer route has James with 1 extra pass, or possibly 0 if Wilhelm forgoes the use of any Interrupts, which isn't likely.  Hmm.

A question: if James splits his attack dice, will those attacks count for Wilhem accruing -1 penalties?

Using the CFD boost right before the Alle is fair.

That said, there is a Drain component that doesn't seem to have a soak roll. "After this time the head case suffers a number of boxes of Stun damage equal to the hits on the NV roll." An argument could be made that this is simply the technological equivalent of an adept's Attribute Boost and therefore should have a Drain roll as well, but that's not written nor even implied.

I'm a little confused.  This post mentioned a Soak/Drain roll for the CFD powers: http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=23135.msg464171;topicseen#msg464171

I don't think we should be locked into that, but I want to make sure we're on the same page.  Are you saying that James takes Hits Stun Damage at the end of using the Attribute Boost power?

In other news, my favorite SR podcast did an interview with this metal musician who's set up a "band" based in the SR universe.  If you like that kind of thing, you should give it a listen: https://johnnynuclear.bandcamp.com/album/atomic-heart

I think I'm going to split the difference here, and have James use both an Attack and the Pre-Emptive Parry.

CT3 IP1
Free: Pre-Emptive Parry
Free: Called Shot
Complex: Melee Attack

James Initiative is dropped to 30.

He has: AGI (11) + Close Combat (7) + Touch Only (2) - Called Shot (4) = 16 dice.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/486258): 16d6t5 10
Capped at 7 for Accuracy.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-15-17/1324:27>
What would splitting his attack dice accomplish? The "only one attack per target" rule is still in effect. Splitting dice pools is for attacking two separate targets.

Well, well, it looks like the old me was feeling generous about the CFD boost. Good find. Ace's nanites will be treated the same as Achak's midi-chlorians. James gets a soak roll but only soaks one of two boxes. He's at 1S.

The current me understands the desire to keep the attribute boost mechanic the same for simplicity, but would prefer some flavor differences. For example, the CFD boost is supposed to be a surge to keep (or get) the host out of danger. As such, lasting a handful of combat turns is hardly effective. I'd like it if it lasted (Hits * Minutes) but with guaranteed stun. Drugs would be the precedent instead of adept powers.

CT3 IP1
Wilhelm can't use pre-emptive parry and must burn initiative to parry James' ferocious attack. He's at -1 for a second defense.

Defense: Attack + Parry - Second Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/486304): ?d6t5 9 hits, parried

Wilhelm CT3 IP1
He doesn't have a second Free for Called Shot so he'll do the Reading the Defense approach again.

Free: Pre-emptive Parry
Complex: Reading the Defense

Reading the Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/486305): ?d6t5 7 hits, defense read

CT3 IP2
James: 20 (one cut, one Edge spent)
Wilhelm: 6 (one cut)

How long do you want to wait on Jaeger? Did you ping him yet?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-15-17/1512:44>
What would splitting his attack dice accomplish? The "only one attack per target" rule is still in effect. Splitting dice pools is for attacking two separate targets.

Ah, I thought you could split your pool to attack the same target twice.  A quick look does not make this appear to be the case.

Well, well, it looks like the old me was feeling generous about the CFD boost. Good find. Ace's nanites will be treated the same as Achak's midi-chlorians. James gets a soak roll but only soaks one of two boxes. He's at 1S.

The current me understands the desire to keep the attribute boost mechanic the same for simplicity, but would prefer some flavor differences. For example, the CFD boost is supposed to be a surge to keep (or get) the host out of danger. As such, lasting a handful of combat turns is hardly effective. I'd like it if it lasted (Hits * Minutes) but with guaranteed stun. Drugs would be the precedent instead of adept powers.

Just to be clear, I am fine with having no Soak/Drain roll for the CFD powers; I just wanted you to be aware of how it's functioned in the past.  Hits * Minutes with guaranteed Stun would be one way to handle it too.  Unless James is shooting, and can use Simple Actions to attack, I don't see him using the CFD boost much, though the extra REA dice probably pay for themselves in Stun damage over the long term. 

How long do you want to wait on Jaeger? Did you ping him yet?

I pinged him this morning.  I'm not sure how long I want to wait, as we're on a good roll, and I want to see how this shakes out, but I also don't want to alienate him if he shows back up to see that he's been passed over.  Thoughts?

That Adept Accuracy boost is killing me.  I wish the Smartlink worked for the epee.

CT3 IP2
Free: Called Shot
Complex: Melee Attack.

For playing slash the adept, James has 16 dice.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/486343): 16d6t5 6
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-15-17/1528:10>
Give Jaeger 24-48 hours from the time you e-mailed and then declare for him. The question is that I legitimately don't know what he would do in this situation. Would Achak running past him undermine his confidence, or would he step up and start fireballing? (The advantage of fireball is that you could potentially catch a target in the AoE without unduly exposing yourself to suppressive fire.) Maybe a Composure test to settle the matter.

Let's keep the CFD boost drain-free for now. I don't want to get into bookkeeping about how long the drain lasts vs. how long the break between cuts lasts, etc.

Balancing this encounter was interesting on paper. Both Parry pools are much higher than the opposing Attack pools. Wilhelm's Accuracy advantage may (or may not) be counterbalanced by James' Initiative advantage. Seems balanced so far, given that it's 1-1, but I'll warn you in advance that I'm going to set a limit of 15 CTs, by which point I think we'll be full of Attack + Parry rolls.

Wilhelm defense: Attack + Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/486352): ?d6t5 10 hits, parried

Wilhelm CT3 IP2 attack: Attack + Reading the Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/486353): ?d6t5 7 hits, no Edge necessary to Parry

CT3 IP3
James: 10 (one cut, one Edge spent, 1S)
Wilhelm: 0 (one cut)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-15-17/1647:15>
Let's see if James can manage an average Parry roll.  He has: INT (9) + REA (7) + Close Combat (7) = 23 dice
Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/486378): 23d6t5 9

So, is James better off Reading the Defense for the ending this CT and then attacking with a +3 first pass of next, or is he better off attacking twice, and pegging Wilhelm with a -1 next CT.  The +3 to James is much more meaningful than a -1 to Wilhelm, but really I need him to make a poor Defense roll against a strong attack roll.

I'm going to opt to swing.

CT3 IP3
Free: Called Shot
Complex: Melee Attack

James has 16 dice again.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/486381): 16d6t5 4

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/486382): 16+4d6 33
Adjusted to 28 with Pre-Emptive Parry
Assuming that James goes first, he will:
CT4 IP1
Free: Pre-Emptive Parry
Free: Called Shot
Complex: Melee Attack

James has 16 dice again.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/486385): 16d6t5 3
Tough luck. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-15-17/1709:22>
CT3 IP3 defense: Defense + Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/486387): ?d6t5 10 hits, parried

Initiative for CT4: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/486388): ?d6+? 21

Wilhelm is going to punish James for his weak offering with a martial arts Riposte (as opposed to an adept Riposte).

CT4 IP1 defense/riposte: Reaction + Blades + Adepty Bonuses + Yielding Force - Second Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/486391): ?d6t5 7 hits

James earns a zip across his chin for his efforts.

That leaves Wilhelm at Initiative 14. He'll spend 5 on Pre-Emptive Parry and the remainder on Reading the Defense. Reading the Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/486392): ?d6t5 3 hits, read

CT4 IP2
James: 18 (two cuts, one Edge spent, 1S)
Wilhelm: 0 (one cut, Reading the Defense for next attack, although it's a bit goofy to carry this over between CTs when there will be a medical break)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-15-17/1747:07>
CT4 IP2
Free: Called Shot
Complex: Melee Attack

16 dice for the attack
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/486401): 16d6t5 3
Blech.

CT4 IP2
Complex: Reading the Defense

Reading the Defense is a little wonky between medical breaks, but there's always plenty to watch.  They could be finding stylistic deficiencies, etc. which tend to be a part of the way a fighter fights.

For Reading the Defense, James has: INT (9) + Close Combat (7) = 16 dice.
Reading the Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/486402): 16d6t5 8
That'll do.

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/486403): 16+4d6 34
Dropped to 29 with Pre-Emptive Parry

CT5 IP1
Free: Called Shot
Free: Pre-Emptive Parry
Complex: Melee Attack.

This time James has: AGI (11) + Close Combat (7) + Touch Only (2) + Reading the Defense (3) - Called Shot (4) = 19 dice.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/486404): 19d6t5 6
Well, it's a lot better than the last couple, I guess.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-15-17/2104:33>
CT4 IP2 defense: Defense + Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/486457): ?d6t5 11 hits, parried

Medical break following CT4. James is tended to. I suppose I should do an IC.

CT5 IP1
Wilhelm: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/486458): ?d6+? 23

He'll parry to drop him to 18.

CT5 IP1 defense: Defense + Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/486461): ?d6t5 5 hits, zing! James connects.

He will not pre-emptive parry. He will attack.

CT5 IP1 attack: Attack + Reading the Defense bonus (http://orokos.com/roll/486464): ?d6t5 5 hits

CT5 IP2
James: 19 (two cuts, one Edge spent, 1S)
Wilhelm: 8 (two cuts)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-15-17/2319:46>
On phone so this will be brief. James will attack during both of the next passes. 16 dice per attack.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/486532): 2#16d6t5 6 4
IP2: 6 Hits
IP3: 4 Hits.

Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/486535): 16+4d6 25
James might not actually be going first.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-16-17/0050:25>
Edit: James still needs to defend against the 5-hit CT5 IP1 attack.

CT5 IP2
Wilhelm will use the Parry interrupt: Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/486581): ?d6t5 7 hits, parried but barely

He will then do the Pre-Emptive Parry / Reading the Defense combo for his turn. Reading the Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/486586): ?d6t5 5 hits, successful

CT5 IP3
Defense: Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/486589): 25d6t5 8 hits, parried

Medical break following CT5. Wilhelm is tended to.

CT6
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/486590): 3d6+12 21

James: 25 (two cuts, one Edge spent, 1S)
Wilhelm: 21 (two cuts, Reading the Defense bonus)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-16-17/0704:12>
CT5 IP1: Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/486680): 23d6t5 8

CT6 IP1
Free: Pre-Emptive Parry
Free: Called Shot
Complex: Melee Attack

16 dice for the attack
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/486681): 16d6t5 5

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-16-17/1437:06>
CT6 IP1
Wilhelm will attempt to Riposte the incoming attack. This costs 7 initiative. I'm not going to include the Reading the Defense bonus, which will expire.

Riposte (http://orokos.com/roll/486807): ?d6t5 8 hits, riposte successful

James takes a cut.

Wilhelm @14:
Free: Pre-Emptive Parry
Complex: Reading the Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/486810): ?d6t5 4 hits, successful

CT6 IP2
James: 10 (three cuts, one Edge spent, 1S)
Wilhelm: 0 (two cuts, Reading the Defense bonus)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-16-17/1612:05>
I figured that Riposte was coming, and though about Edging.  I'm glad I didn't, since he got 8 Hits.

Well, that should cover it for the match.  Let's have James go out with a bang, though. 

CT6 IP2
Free: Called Shot
Complex: Melee Attack.

James will pre-Edge: AGI (11) + Close Combat (7) + Touch Only (2) + Edge (5) - Called Shot (4) = 21 dice.
Melee Attack + Edge (http://orokos.com/roll/486863): 21d6h5 10
Well, well.  I think this is literally the first time pre-edging on a dice pool above 15 has panned out for me. 
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-16-17/1622:35>
I was thinking that we were doing "first to five cuts" not "best of five cuts". Looking back, I see that the language was unclear. In my mind, we're still going, but if you've had enough of the back-and-forth then we can call it off.

CT6 IP2
Wilhelm has to use Edge to break his Limit if he wishes to Parry.

Parry + Edge (http://orokos.com/roll/486868): ?d6h5 9 hits

Parry unsuccessful. James sticks the tip of his rapier through Wilhelm's cheek.

Action pauses and/or ends at the end of CT6. Three cuts each.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-17-17/1100:04>
We can go first to 5.  Even if James doesn't get another cut in, 3 to 5 is a lot more respectable than 2 to 5. 

Initiative: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/487116): 16+4d6 28
James is slowing down a bit, though it appears as though he'll go first.

We'll try the CFD woo, which I should have rolled before Initiative, but I keep forgetting about it.
CFD Woo (http://orokos.com/roll/487117): 6d6t5 0
No help anyway.

CT7 IP1
Free: Pre-Emptive Parry
Free: Called Shot
Complex: Melee Attack

16 dice for the attack: Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/487118): 16d6t5 5
Yeah, these average rolls really leave James open to the riposte.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-17-17/1325:55>
Yes, they do. I've been expecting you to leverage Reading the Defense more regularly in order to boost your hits to limit your susceptibility to Riposte. On the other hand, attacking first forces him to burn initiative via Parry interrupts, as he doesn't have the opportunity to use Pre-Emptive Parry first. Given his lack of a second Free Action, that's really handcuffing his offense as he can only really spend his Complex Actions on Reading the Defense after calling Pre-Emptive Parry.

CT7 IP1
Wilhelm: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/487155): ?d6+? 27, good roll, but James is still first

He will attempt to riposte. This costs 7 initiative and brings him down to 20. It cancels his Reading the Defense bonus.

Riposte (http://orokos.com/roll/487157): ?d6t5 5 hits, not good enough

Tie goes to the attacker. James lands a hit.

For his action @ 20, Wilhelm will use Pre-Emptive Parry (dropping him to 15) and then Reading the Defense.

Reading the Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/487159): ?d6t5 5 hits, defense read

CT7 IP2
James: 13 (three cuts, two Edge spent, 1S)
Wilhelm: 5 (four cuts, one Edge spent, Reading the Defense bonus)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-17-17/1603:17>
Yes, they do. I've been expecting you to leverage Reading the Defense more regularly in order to boost your hits to limit your susceptibility to Riposte. On the other hand, attacking first forces him to burn initiative via Parry interrupts, as he doesn't have the opportunity to use Pre-Emptive Parry first. Given his lack of a second Free Action, that's really handcuffing his offense as he can only really spend his Complex Actions on Reading the Defense after calling Pre-Emptive Parry.

That's been my thinking.  Reading the Defense is great for this kind of ceremonial combat -- I find its usefulness in regular combat to be fairly limited -- but James' big advantage is his initiative, so punishing Wilhelm on that front seems the smarter move, at least for first passes.  Whether or not that's true -- James has been tagged twice on Ripostes now -- is unclear, because I don't know if James would've been tagged with those extra attacks.

CT7 IP2
Free: Called Shot
Complex: Melee Attack

16 dice for the attack.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/487203): 16d6t5 5

I will use Reading the Defense for the next pass, as those 3 extra dice for my first pass will be a very welcome addition.  I'll go ahead and roll it so we can jump right into the next pass after James defends again.
INT (9) + Close Combat (7) = 16 dice.
Reading the Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/487204): 16d6t5 5
Defense read.

So, that makes:
CT7 IP3
Complex: Reading the Defense

CFD woo: CFD Woo (http://orokos.com/roll/487207): 6d6t5 3

Initiative: Inititaive (http://orokos.com/roll/487208): 19+4d6 32

Let's go ahead and roll Soak.  BOD (5) + WIL (7) = 12 dice.
"Drain" (http://orokos.com/roll/487209): 12d6t5 5
That's nice.  Wasn't expecting it.

To recap:
James will attack on CT7 IP2
James will need to defend against Wilhelm's CT7 IP2 attack.
James will Read the Defense on CT7 IP3
James will activate his CFD woo powers for Hits -1 CTs, in this case 2.  His REA is boosted from 7 to 10, hitting his Augmented Maximum.  "Drain" is Soaked.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-17-17/1652:57>
CT7 IP2
Wilhelm defense: Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/487233): ?d6t5 9 hits, parried

Wilhelm attack: Attack + Reading the Defense bonus (http://orokos.com/roll/487235): ?d6t5 7 hits

James will need to spend Edge in order to break his Accuracy and successfully parry the attack.

CT8 IP1
James: 32 (three cuts, two Edge spent, 1S, Reading the Defense bonus)
Wilhelm: Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/487236): ?d6+? 23 (four cuts, one Edge spent)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-17-17/1745:33>
I'll eat the hit. Still rolling to make sure James doesn't Glitch and embarrass himself.
Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/487247): 23d6t5 8

CT8 actions forthcoming.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-17-17/1814:37>
Ok, so James takes a cut, tying them back up again at 4 to 4.  Do I want to Edge my next attack, drop myself to 2 Edge, but possibly end this thing?  The main question here is: James probably maintains his social standing  just in not embarrassing himself in his first Mensur duel.  This would also justify his invitation.  At getting a few touches in, James probably sees some social benefit, and makes Adelard glad that he invited him, as at least he put on a show.  If James wins, though, does that stand to increase his social standing, potentially make a conversation with the Baron go more smoothly, or even justify such a conversation to begin with?  Considering how friendly Wilhelm is -- despite his "knowing" who James is -- I don't think there'd be hard feelings, though these things can be hard to tell.  He is the agent of a dragon, though, so what was the guy expecting.  Like James, I have to act with incomplete knowledge: is an extra point of Edge, a very precious commodity, worth the gamble of a Hit, and then the gamble on it resulting in some IC benefit. 

I think I'll go for it.

CT8 IP1
Free: Pre-Emptive Parry
Free: Called Shot
Complex: Melee Attack

James has: AGI (11) + Close Combat (7) + Touch Only (2) + Reading the Defense (3) + Edge (5) - Called Shot (4) = 24 dice.
Melee Attack + Edge (http://orokos.com/roll/487255): 24d6h5 8

That drops James to 2 Edge.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-17-17/1823:25>
Well Wilhelm does not want to lose so he'll Edge.

Parry + Edge (http://orokos.com/roll/487256): ?d6h5 9 hits, parried

He had one 6 turn into two extra hits. Exploding dice made the difference.

Free: Pre-Emptive Parry
Complex: Reading the Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/487257): ?d6t5 6 hits, read

CT8 IP2
James: 17 (four cuts, three Edge spent, 1S, +3 REA through CT9)
Wilhelm: 3 (four cuts, two Edge spent, Reading the Defense bonus)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-17-17/1845:17>
Well, fraggit.

CT8 IP2
Free: Called Shot
Complex: Melee Attack

James is back down to his crummy 16 dice and 7 Hit Limit.  It's so hard being a magically-enhanced cyber soldier.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/487262): 16d6t5 1
How many Edge is this win worth?  I don't think I can spare anymore.  If Wilhelm Ripostes, that should do it.

ETA: I'm going to get an IC in when this pass is complete.

Also, before this pass begins, James is going to switch and start fencing left-handed.  That isn't worth an Intimidation test, by any chance, is it?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-17-17/1935:52>
Hmm, switching hands is clever. For that, and because 1 hit on 16 dice is a 1st percentile roll, I'll give you a Pity Point of Edge. Wilhelm might still riposte, but at least it won't be because James embarrassed himself with his left hand.

Edge (http://orokos.com/roll/487281): 15d6t5 5 hits, for a total of 6 hits

That's fair. Very well, let's riposte and bring this to a close.

Riposte (http://orokos.com/roll/487282): ?d6t5 6 hits

Hmm... what does that mean on a riposte? Who's the attacker and who's the defender? Who does the tie go to? You're both the "attacker", so does the hit go to you both? Do we have a TIE?!
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-17-17/2008:27>
I think James would still technically be the attacker, but there's enough wiggle room to call it a tie. Who knows, maybe they'll get a chance for a rematch sometime.

Unless you say different, that's how I'll treat it. Should be able to get an IC in tomorrow when I'm taking a grading break.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-17-17/2046:40>
It could go either way. Run & Gun is fairly clear that in this case (a tie) the riposte does not succeed. Whether our switch - the tie going to the attacker rather than the defender - changes that is uncertain. However, Wilhelm does have a point of Edge remaining, on paper anyway. Did he come into the fight with his full Edge, or is he saving it for something else? Trying to bed one of the attendees of tonight's gathering? That's up to us to decide.

I'm fine with ambiguity. I'm also fine if the IC post suggests that one of the cuts lands a fraction of a second before the other.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-20-17/1132:52>
IC in.  I guess we should at least finish out the pass.  Wilhelm has enough Initiative for another attack, and James gets a IP3 action.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-21-17/0122:45>
Wilhelm spent the rest of his Initiative on his riposte. James gets IP3. You're free to roll for that.

Wilhelm will be inwardly disappointed but will be outwardly polite, if distant. He will put on a brave face about how he stood toe-to-toe with a surrogate for Schwartzkopf, but will promptly retire for the evening.

James will be celebrated, as many wondered if Wilhelm could be touched, let alone beaten, such was his reputation for defense. James will enjoy a positive Social modifier for the remainder of the event. We'll call most people Friendly (+2). James' wounds and physical prowess will also benefit Intimidation rolls, should any arise.

An interesting fight. Riposte is very effective and reminds me of the melee rules from 2nd Edition, when either party could hit on a melee attack regardless of who initiated it. (I'm curious to see if it was that way in 3E but my book isn't where I thought it was.) It really taught you not to attack someone who was better than you because it would just give them an extra opportunity to smack you aside.

Wilhelm had both the adept version of Riposte and the martial arts version, but only used the latter. In 4E I had an unarmed adept with several ranks in Critical Strike (back when you could make an "I Punch Through Worlds" unarmed adept) who also had a lot of Combat Sense. She picked up the adept version of Riposte (because the MA version didn't exist in 4E) and I had this idea of using all those ranks of Combat Sense to act as a sling shot of sorts, since she could dodge an incoming attack and then use the difference in hits as a positive modifier on her subsequent counterattack. Sadly she never got to use it because the game ended before I could roll out my new trick. Now, with martial arts Riposte, that approach seems largely obsolete.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-22-17/2020:44>
Phew, sorry it's taken me a bit to get back here.  I've been so singularly focused with the Sunt game and otherwise just plain exhausted. 

Let's see if James' last hurrah "sticks," as it were.  16 dice.
Melee Attack (http://orokos.com/roll/488958): 16d6t5 5
Meh.

I thought the fight was very interesting.  Riposte is a rightfully terrifying, and the Adept version of Riposte may have worked out well had they not needed the Free Action: Called Shot -- which may not have applied -- or Pre-Emptive Parry -- which definitely would.  Looking back, I do think James would have come out better had he make more judicious use of Reading the Defense, as his extra passes were of limited usefulness. 

James will be disappointed that Wilhelm doesn't want to stand and talk about James' "real name," but he won't push it.  The next step, I guess, is to decide whether to approach the Baron with subterfuge or candor.  If Wilhelm is aware of who James is, and who he's representing I'd say there's a fair shot that others at the party know as well.  This may mean that a general coming clean is in order, if only to gauge where the Baron stands with his relationship to Ms. Senio.  James will ask Illeana her thoughts on the matter, but he's pretty keen at this point on leveraging some working of the room into a conversation with the Baron, probably bringing Illeana in early and using her SIN as a silent punctuation of why they're really there.

Should we do some rolls first and then IC how they resolve?  If so, where would you like me to start?

On another note, I have another idea for James' immortality, given that we're breaking all sorts of shadowrunning rules and dealing directly with dragons and all.  James could petition Schwartzkopf on becoming a drake.  5e doesn't have rules for this, and I'm not clear on previous editions take on the matter.  There's also story considerations; this could well bring us somewhere we don't want to go.

Good luck with your reports.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-23-17/0247:03>
Parry (http://orokos.com/roll/489061): ?d6t5 9 hits, attack parried

The seconds come crashing in and the fight is done. Don't worry about any rolls yet. I'll work on an IC and will figure out what rolls are necessary along the way.

I would encourage you to prioritize Sunt over this game. You're the central figure there, and when you're held up it holds up three others. If we're both getting up a substantial IC post each week then we're making fine progress.

Interesting idea about becoming a drake, but they don't have the Immunity (Age) power. There are no rules for becoming a drake because the fluff is still mysterious about their origin. It's clear that they are a product of Great Dragon magic, but the fluff hasn't announced whether it's the product of some sort of ritual magic or whether it's the result of some sort of magic/genetic breeding program (so you have to be born that way), etc.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-23-17/1200:46>
Interesting idea about becoming a drake, but they don't have the Immunity (Age) power.

Huh.  I'd read some fluff about some drakes being from the 4th world, so I'd figured that they would have Immunity (Age).  Oh well, probably best not to be the explicit property of a Great Dragon.  Pawn is scary enough.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-23-17/1453:56>
I have to retract my earlier statement about the origins of drakes. Howling Shadows is more explicit than I remembered:

"

I went back and checked 4E. Drakes didn't have Immunity (to anything) back then either.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-24-17/1345:05>
Woah, that is some goofy formatting. Copy and paste went off the reservation there.

I'm thinking through the IC post some more. Let's do one roll for each of the social and social-esque skills. (Illeana will be in favor of throwing Schwartzkopf's name around.) James will be the lead and Illeana will provide teamwork dice. Here are her hits to add to James' tests:

Etiquette: 3 hits
Negotiation: 3 hits
Leadership: 1 hit
Intimidation: 5 hits
Con: 2 hits
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-24-17/1436:07>
There's also this from the Shadowrun wiki page on drakes:

Quote
Drakes draw their appearance from one of the four dracoforms. In addition, they can be divided into two broad groups: true drakes, who are dracoforms created by Great Dragons; and bred drakes, who are metahumans born with the traits that manifest at some later point (as of SR4 this distinction had been lost until The Clutch of Dragons).

I'm not sure what "created by Great Dragons" means, but from the quote you listed above, I'd assume that they are pulled out of the ether in some way.

Ok, with how orokos was treating me in the Sunt game, I'm a little hesitant about rolling here, but let's see how it goes:

Etiquette, James has: CHA (5) + Etiquette (4) + Tailored Pheromones (2) + Mensur Boost (2) + Teamwork (3) = 16 dice.
Etiquette (http://orokos.com/roll/489657): 16d6t5 9
Social Limit is 8, boosted to 9 with Teamwork, so James keeps all Hits.

Negotiation, James has: CHA (5) + Negotiation (5) + Tailored Pheromones (2) + Mensur Boost (2) + Teamwork (3) = 17 dice.
Negotiation (http://orokos.com/roll/489658): 17d6t5 4

Leadership, James has: CHA (5) + Leadership (6) + Tailored Pheromones (2) + Mensur Boost (2) + Teamwork (1) = 16 dice.
Leadership (http://orokos.com/roll/489659): 16d6t5 8
Man is born to lead.

Intimidation, James has: CHA (5) + Intimidation (6) + Tailored Pheromones (2) + Mensur Boost (2) + Teamwork (5) = 20 dice.
Intimidation (http://orokos.com/roll/489660): 20d6t5 5
Not bad.  It was mentioned before that James blood may be an additional bonus here, I think.  I'm going to roll 2 dice in case that holds.
Blood is scary (http://orokos.com/roll/489661): 2d6t5 0
No help.

Con, James has: CHA (5) + Con (6) + Tailored Pheromones (2) + Mensur Boost (2) + Teamwork (2) = 17 dice.
Con (http://orokos.com/roll/489662): 17d6t5 6
And in case the Fast Talk Spec applies:
Fast Talk Spec (http://orokos.com/roll/489663): 2d6t5 0
Weird.  Both 2 dice sets I rolled were the exact same distribution of no hits.

James won't be opposed to throwing Schwartzkopf's name around, though he'd probably find it a bit garish to go showing selfies of the three of them from the restaurant ;)
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-24-17/1505:50>
Illeana will cast Analyze Truth @ F6 and sustain it via Focused Concentration.

Spellcasting: Magic 8 (6 due to low Essence) + Spellcasting 7 = 7 hits, capped at 6 hits by Force, that's plenty
Soaking 4 drain: Intuition 10 + Willpower 6 = 5 hits, soaked

I suppose some of these tests should be limited by the language barrier. Of course, that's dependent on me figuring out who does and does not know English. Illeana has German 4, which would cap a lot of these at 4 hits.

Wikipedia tells me that 56% of Germany speaks English as a second language. That, of course, is the result of US hegemony, whereas the Shadowrun timeline splits off in 1989, the US is fractured by 2017, and Japanese culture is more dominant due to the megacorps.

But what the hell. I'll still make it a coin flip whether the relevant Herrs and Fraus speak English.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-24-17/1520:12>
Languages in Shadowrun are interesting. While doing prep for the Missoula campaign I thought the tribal languages would be more prominent, but English is, by far, the most common tongue. I guess a large part of that is the number of tribes under the SSC, and any of the major tribal players would probably not take a different tribe's language being the common tongue, even if that does mean they're left with a colonial language.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <02-25-17/1951:03>
A shorter IC is up. I've touched on the Etiquette rolls and Con but not on Negotiation or Intimidation. If you want to leverage those in your IC response, feel free to do so.

Baron's English: Does the Baron speak English? 1-56 yes, 57-100 no (http://orokos.com/roll/490127): 1d100 43, yes

His entourage's English: Speak English? 1-56 yes, 57-100 no (http://orokos.com/roll/490131): 3#1d100 97 81 85, no no and no
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <02-28-17/2108:55>
Got a short IC up.  Next few might be pretty economical as well, depending on how this dialogue goes.  Not sure if you want to count that as Negotiation or Intimidation, or if any other mods would come into play. 

Illeana doesn't have a Detect Enemies spell, or something Quickened on her, does she? 

James is not expecting this conversation to net them a meet with Marie Senio.  Since the Stealth Tags fell through, I think their next best bet is to physically tail him from the party.  When things don't go right, James will be keen on leaving almost immediately, potentially in a huff, maybe with a vague threat of having to report back with bad news, and then wait for him until he too quits the place.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-02-17/0118:47>
Illeana has a pretty decent Detect Enemies (4 hits @ F6) quickened on her. Nothing is triggering yet but that might change.

Illeana doesn't have the Essence to boost her Magic, which is a pity because that might work well. I suppose she could use whichever Metamagic makes your Magic rating look bigger than it is, but she's worried about getting called out of a bluff. Instead, she'll try name dropping and will pursue the Initimdation route. I'll flip the scenario and make her the lead. That gives her 5 base hits and 4 extra dice to roll to represent James' hits.

Intimidation Teamwork (http://orokos.com/roll/491567): 4d6t5 1 hit

So that's six hits. At Essence 4, Illeana's Social Limit is still 7 so she keeps all the hits. Let's see what the Baron can come up with. I'll give him some positive modifiers that could have been negative modifiers for James/Illeana if I had remembered them earlier.

Baron defense: Charisma 3 + Willpower 6 + Outnumber 2 + Obvious Magic 2 - Schwartzkopf 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/491568): 11d6t5 3 hits

I suppose James might have gotten some dice for carrying his sword around. In any case, it appears that the Baron is discomfited by confrontation. He will cave.

A curious aside: since this is mostly mental intimidation, should I use the Baron's English skill as a Limit on the "attack" roll? The idea is to represent that you can't be mentally intimidated in a language you don't understand. In this case the limit would be 4, so he'd still fold, but it's an interesting thought.

Behind-the-scenes GM rolls that you can look at if you want, or not if you want to maintain a surprise.

[spoiler]
Baron rolls 4 hits against Detect Enemies, so Illeana will not detect his hostility at being intimidated.
Three Amigas roll 4 hits, 11 hits (holy shit, odds of that were 0.07%), and 2 hits respectively, so Detect Enemies only works on Yao, the Asian gal.[/spoiler]

The Baron swallows hard and agrees to take you to Marie. Not sure when I'll get the IC up.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <03-07-17/1302:03>
Short IC is up. I'll push things along further when I have a chance. I've been doing some preliminary writing for the Wildcats game, for which I need to come up with a good name.

I had some clarifying questions for Sunt that I posted a couple days ago. I wanted to make sure that you saw them, rather than us both waiting for the other to speak since we think the ball is in the other person's court.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <03-07-17/1435:36>
I think I got all the answers up in the Sunt game.  I would've posted sooner, but I've been doing a lot of research for that game, and needed to answer some questions before I push things too much further along ICly.  This is what happens when the GM comes up with weird questions in the middle of combat.

As far as your earlier question for Intimidation, at first I didn't think there was any cause for language to act as a Limit, as screaming at someone in English while waving a sword in their face is probably just as intimidating as doing it in their native tongue, but I think you may have a point when you classify it as "mental" Intimidation.  Some of the subtleties of language are likely to be lost, or strange and grammatically unclear phrasing could have some weird effects -- somebody says something in a humorous way, or phrases things in an unintentionally ambiguous fashion.  I could see that.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <06-10-17/2315:36>
Looks like we have a second lease on life on this one. I have recorded copies of the OOC and IC threads through our pausing point in March. Wow, that was three months ago already.

My wife is taking our son to Idaho for two months starting in early July. I'll be bouncing back and forth between Seattle and Idaho, with two weeks here, two weeks there, two weeks here, two weeks there. I should have more time to post while they are away, as I won't have my regular daddy duties. In theory that should be enough time for us to wrap up our current chapter. As such, we will tentatively resume this in four weeks.

We had PM'd a bit on RPoL about some of the games you were planning. Did you have any additional thoughts on those?
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <06-16-17/1538:59>
Looks like we have a second lease on life on this one. I have recorded copies of the OOC and IC threads through our pausing point in March. Wow, that was three months ago already.

My wife is taking our son to Idaho for two months starting in early July. I'll be bouncing back and forth between Seattle and Idaho, with two weeks here, two weeks there, two weeks here, two weeks there. I should have more time to post while they are away, as I won't have my regular daddy duties. In theory that should be enough time for us to wrap up our current chapter. As such, we will tentatively resume this in four weeks.

We had PM'd a bit on RPoL about some of the games you were planning. Did you have any additional thoughts on those?

Just wanted to check in here.  I'll have more to write next week on the other games.  Unfortunately, nothing has progressed on the Missoula game, but I'm hoping to get back to that one soon.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-13-17/0121:41>
The other games are moving languidly.

Chapter Four takes place between October 14th and 18th. I am aware that we are approaching those date ourselves in our own time line. It seems to be a fitting time to resume, should our schedules be able to handle it.

How are things on your side of the fence? Haha, fencing, fence. Ahhh.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: rednblack on <10-19-17/1012:30>
The house is finally not filled with people getting one another sick, so I am on board.

Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-25-17/1452:02>
It's my turn to be sick and dragging my feet. The little one started preschool a month ago and has had a cold pretty much continuously since then. I came down with it over the weekend. Since then it has been migrating from my chest up to my head. I hope to be clear of it in the next day or two.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <04-15-18/1814:22>
Bumping this, in case you notice.
Title: Re: [5E OOC] The Further Adventures of James and Illeana
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-28-18/1858:44>
Bumping this again, in case I get lucky.