Do you really need anything besides that? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/devil.gif)

Also, even at such a slow speed, the fork lift would have 76 times more force than a normal bullet (7.6 times as much force as a .220 swift).... Just throwing that out there (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Of course it is also much larger, so there is that.

Also, suppose I'll announce that I'm ready to join the game whenever I can be found.

Edit: Aww, defused grenades (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

@Sephiroth
Angel originally started as a sub plot within the pyramid story (there had to be a way that the horror wouldn't just win, and it had to be because he was messing with things that he didn't fully understand).

I'm going to work a bit on the back story, before posting where you have seen her before. Suffice to say that you have seen that aura before: once, and it was just before the Ritual of Hiding and Protection that was performed at the end of the last mana cycle. This is the ritual that hid the elves ears...and similar stuff.

Most forklift's I have worked with have been over 4 tonnes. I point you to the site http://answers.ask.com/Business/Other/how_..._forklift_weigh. Thats mostly so that they don't fall over when they carry heavy weights. This forklift weighs 4 tonnes.

On the shelves are most things that you can think about militarily, and engineering spares, and loads of food. All the military stuff has been packed for safe storage: so all the explosives have the fuses removed, although the fuses are usually in the same box. There are boxes full of knives (sharp and unpleasant). There are lots of bits of metal around. I know you don't have long now, but a minute would give you all the explosive equipment you could ask for.


@Pbangarth
I am AFB so I cannot remember what 4 gives you. I think you cannot see that she is a technomancer with 4, and I suspect that deltaware doesn't show up (but you can check). So she looks like a teenager, actually reasonably healthy, locked into a BTL trance (you have seen that quite a lot with teenagers), and she is projecting the golden aura.

@Ghost
See PM for where you are. At the end of this round I will include your location in the summary

@General
On a side note we (Alyena, Me and BigFella) are travelling at the moment (until Monday), and will find posting challenging.

Well,since the Spirits are playing with Alyena. I'm going to maintain my Mental Barrage on Major Pain

Force 9 Manabolt

Magic(6)+Spellcasting(4)+Focus(2)+BC(2)=14d6 4 1 5 2 6 6 1 3 4 4 3 5 4 5 (5) hits

Drain: 15d6 6 1 6 1 2 1 6 4 2 2 3 3 5 6 3 (5) hits

so long as I don't get too many net hits (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) should be fine.

Seth, slight detour: having a free moment I've been looking at working out Ryl's stats in the past, and something that will apply to all of us - how do you want us to deal with resources? Skills, powers etc are fairly easy to rearrange but I've put 50pts into resources, most of which won't even have been invented 10 years in the past! It is likely that I won't need much in the way of past equipment so should i plough the points into skills?!?

Oh, and I'm going to keep my completed characters under the link in my sig as they are easier to find that way...so that supersedes the one in this thread (there are only minor changes...)

This post has been edited by Aria: Jun 2 2011, 12:37 PM

Another question for you, Seth:

In Street Magic, page 118, under the discussion of the game mechanics of Background Count, it talks about the effects on Drain Resistance Tests. It says the BC is added to Force when calculating Drain. In the next section, under Aspect, the text gives a more general description of positively aspected BC, saying it affects all Drain Tests.

What is your position on the effect of the Golden Beauty BC on Spirit Bane's Banishment ability? Mandala is holed up in the Golden Beauty domain as it is the only place in the pyramid he knows of that will negatively affect the Azzies' magic capabilities. Spirit Bane's Magic Attribute will drop for sure, but will his Drain from a Banishing attempt be affected?

Mandala's is counting on Spirit Bane's arrogance. His plan is to survive the Banishment and nuke Spirit Bane with the Drain so he can't/won't try it a second time. I suspect Mandala would know if BC negatively affects Drain for Banishment attempts as well as spells.

As an aside, how many Services does Mandala owe Alachia? Knowing this is kinda important, too.

Well, it says it gives a bonus to tall drain tests if domain and tradition match, it doesn't say it gives a penalty for them not matching. However in the previous section it does mention being applied to 'any magical drain' but it says it adds to the force, which would only be relevant in the case of casting a spell... it is indeed a bit of a quandary. Perhaps it should give half the BC as extra drain whenever there is drain (since that would be the equivalent of adding BC to force for spells)?

So, is Mandala's force currently at -6?
If so that's ugly..
it's going to be summonig+magic-6 vs Mandala's force of what 3?

Nope. The BC is Golden Beauty 4 in this room, and Mandala has the Free Spirit Power Ignore Background Count (1) that Seth created. So the effect on him is -3.

It will be Summoning + Magic (+ a focus?) -4 vs. Mandala 's Force of 6 bumped by his last Edge of 6 (alas limited by his Force). This is what he saved his last point of Edge for. The Drain, if bumped by the BC will be nasty even for Spirit Bane.

It was clearly pointed out to us that these guys are arrogant to the max, so Mandala is counting on Spirit Bane not using Edge but using his skill alone. And I'm hoping Mandala's new-found blood spirit buddy will do a little damage, first.

Of course, it wouldn't be the first time a PC of mine was nuked because I figured wrong.

Ahh, I see how it works now. From what I can see in SM and SR4A pg 188, you would first increase your Force by 1 for the purposes of the banishment resistance roll only (this is taking into account your Ignore BGC power. Without it, you would add the value of the Golden Beauty domain (you might want to find out what exactly the Golden Beauty aspect is, since it's not necessarily a tradition aspect) to your Force, essentially negating the domain's effect on your Force). Spirit Bane would then roll (Magic-4) + Banishing (not Summoning) + (a Foci-4), and you would roll your Force of 10 + your summoner/binder's Magic (Alachia, oh god (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dead.gif) ) + your last Edge point. Then poor Spirit Bane suffers drain equal to twice your hits. That'd be the way that BGC would add to Force for banishment drain tests, it looks like.

Make sense?

Holy Crap I forgot about Alachia's Magic being part of the resistance test. Damn boy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Spirit Bane is in for a bad day. Especially if you edge that thing.

Except he'll have lots of blood magic to resist the drain...and perhaps a handy sacrifice or two...prisoners (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ork.gif)

Shhhh!

Holy Crap! I forgot about her, too! *rubs hands together* Now it's at least a fair fight! Mandala may still get squashed, but he'll wipe that grin off the bastard's face.

Thanks for reminding us, Sephiroth. I have a beer for you should we ever meet.

The Golden Beauty background count affects Mandala doubly, through a reduction of his Force by 3 (4-1 for his Power) [so says Seth] and his Edge which is limited by his Force.

Happy to help. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/notworthy.gif) Don't forget though, in the specific case of Banishment the Golden Beauty domain only affects you once (by limiting your Edge to your actual Force). Your effective Force is unaffected by the BGC for this roll only, because of the way background count affects Drain (even better, I think it actually gives you an extra die, hence why I put your Force at 10 above, unless Ignore Background Count affects that too).

My understanding from Seth is that this BC like all the others in the pyramid reduces Mandala's Force, the way it does all spirits.

Yes, I know. I'm not arguing that; I guess I'm not explaining myself well.

You guys seem to be operating on the principle that Drain is only dependent on Force in the case of spells, but I am trying to point out that this is not the case; Drain also depends on Force for Summoning and Banishing, but in a different and more indirect manner.


I'm saying that Banishing Drain is still dependent on Force, not because Banishing has a specific drain value for any given spirit Force, which it doesn't (unlike spellcasting), but because Drain is dependent on your hits for banishment and your Force affects how many hits you can get by determining how many dice you roll in the first place. I.e. banishing a Force 14 spirit will probably cause more drain than banishing a Force 5 spirit, because the first has 9 more dice to roll hits on than the second spirit.

So, in the case of background count, you would still add its rating to the Force for the purposes of drain resistance. This is what I am saying when I say you would roll a Force of 10 + Alachia's Magic:

-You start out as a Force 9 spirit (your natural Force). The Golden Beauty 4 domain reduces your Force by it's rating, bringing it down to 5.
-Spirit Bane tries to Banish you 'cuz he thinks he's super awesome. He rolls stuff.
-You add the absolute value of the domain to your Force. This is where I'm saying that your Force is unaffected for the roll. Force 5 + domain 4 = 9. It's as if the background count isn't even there, but please note that your ACTUAL FORCE is still 5, not 9.
-But wait! You have the Ignore Background Count Spirit Power. This makes your ACTUAL FORCE 6, not 5. So Force 6 + domain 4 = 10 (I'm assuming that the power wouldn't work in Spirit Bane's favor by making it domain 3, since unaspected BGC is supposed to cripple you, not help you).
-End result: You roll your Force dice as if you were a Force 10 spirit, even though your ACTUAL FORCE is still 6 (and your Edge is still limited to 6 as such). Add binder's Magic as normal.

I hope that gave more clarity to what I was saying above.

Oooo, I see what your saying. There should however be a distinction between hits obtained normally, and hits obtained due to the 'bonus drain force' because the latter hits shouldn't affect the degree of success or failure of the banishment itself, only the amount of drain sustained for attempting it.

This also falls roughly in line with the F/2 ratio of spells, in that each 1 BC is an extra half point of drain, since to buy hits it costs four dice, and each hit is 2 drain, that also comes out to 1 BC equaling an extra half point of drain (slightly more on average with rolls netting one hit per 3 dice, not 4).

Hi guys. As I posted in my previous post, I am travelling, and find it hard to get to the internet. Sorry for not responding sooner. I'll be back on Monday

Couple of thoughts for you:
1: Spirit Bane is so called for a reason. In the brief it says that he can kill spirits by looking at then. That doesn't sound like banishing.
2: Alachia isn't all bad. There is a reason that she summoned and bound Mandala, and that was to provide substantial protection from banishing. Her magic is 15. From memory she left you with 10 services unfulfilled.

I'm kind of saying that this is a high risk strategy that you are playing, but then again you are in a high risk situation. You are almost certainly better doing this in the Golden Beauty (by the way although its a character disadvantage, the Golden Beauty is a plot device and thus can break rules. This Golden Beauty domain is treated as a standard aspected domain), than in the Aztech background (-4 which affects his foci as well is far better than +4).

Sadly real life trumps game play, and I have to log. So I will sort out the end of this round of combat, and get to Spirit Bane opening the door at some point this weekend.

Now I have a vision of all the PCs and NPCs and stuff just kind of loitering around the pyramid, Spirit Bane standing on one side of the door while everyone waits for him, kind of like you see just before a scene starts in a play.... except he just keeps not opening that door...

Actually, more I think about it, more I see the scene with cut away walls exactly like a play (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Yeah, I can imagine a few other abilities, like simply Attack of Will, that are harder to counter, but the current reality is that only Mandala is in the room with Angel, and thus is the only thing standing between her and sacrifice. Mandala has gotten the idea in his head from hints from the others that she is somehow important, and now that he has actually seen her, well, he ain't running away.

Hopefully when Bjorn gets back from travelling we can have him finish the scout and then bash a hole through to you without using the corridors...of course I don't know how much concrete is between us...who had the tunnelling ring again?!?

Survived my daughter's wedding. Should be getting more active here in the next day.

So she's a widow now? Or is the deathmatch between husband and father after the wedding just a local thing?

Nope. Husband received the father seal of approval: he loves her, he's good looking, smart, got a good career and comes from a wealthy family. I taught my little girl well. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

Two nights of drinking, eating, dancing and general revelry has taken its toll, however. That was the survival test. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dead.gif)

@General
OK Travelling over for a while. Thank you for putting up with my lack of posting.

@Aria
Resources in the past: Transfers into wealth, power, troops, land and really cool armour. As an example a garniture armour would cost a kings ransom. Even a chainmail huaberk would take a winter to make for an expert.

@Pbangarth
Drain in BC. BC adds to all drain I think. (I hadn't noticed the subtlety that it might not: thanks for pointing it out). I understand it adds to the force, but just add it to the "number" of what ever you are doing: e.g. power of the spirit...
Congratulations on passing the survival test!

@Sabs:
Mental barrage on Major Pain:
Major IsActuallyFeelingPrettyToughAtTheMoment gets 7 successes http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3059855/ as the manabolt richochet's off his magical defences and magnificently cybered body.

@General
I've just read the IC posts, and realised that we haven't included the cut and running stealth adept. I'll just post a summary of it