Anything that is effectively out of combat time or during a tense moment on a 'run' can be bought, including threading, spell casting etc. Of course if you want to roll that's fine too!

Will try and get some more IC up today, I've got some evil plans hatching (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ork.gif)

That would be because he's not wearing them, he only wears those when he's out scavenging and needs the vision acuity boost. He's got his sunglasses with image link on and slaved to his commlink, like the spoiler says (towards the bottom). That'd be all he can supply, though I suppose his earbuds count as well? I'm not familiar enough with tacnets to really know.

edit: Is there anyway you can use a different font for Daedelus? I've got a huge monitor and am still having issues reading it. Impact is great for big text, not so much for small. Not a big deal, just though I'd throw that out there.

Ok, I have some IC up, apologies to Mickle, I haven't managed to do something for Elton yet, you are number one next week! Also sorry to the Mechanicals and Copperhead, both your posts were a little rushed but I promise to do better next time! Hopefully everyone should be on their way to be together so feel free to interact without waiting for me!

Uhhh, Spring appears to be in two places at once. Can we get an edit? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotate.gif)

How you figuring? The introductory post was the night before.

Aria posted 6 minutes ahead of you, having an NPC chasing Spring into the vehicle bay. Two posts up from yours.

Oops, you're right. That's what you get for taking a bath between starting an edit and finishing it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Rolling some dice to try and get some more money from Prospero

Negotiation with Prospero Cha (5) + Negotation (2) = 7 dice (7d6.hits(5) → [2,2,1,5,3,1,3] = (1))

Well, that's something...

@Dakka Fiend: What's Spring's PAN showing? And what visible gear does he have on?

@Aria, Scrapheap, Spring,
Mechanicals’ Bus Barn 2072/09/01 16:12:18

The IC conversation is rather rushed, due to the 'predefined' timeline Sprogget is working against. He needs to get on the road soonest. *IF* Scrapheap is in the truck, or hands free, can continue some on the road until/unless Aria side tracks.

@Spring, with that listed interest in steampunk, Spring has a very good chance of knowing 'about' Sprogget, between Sprogget's Inspired(steampunk) quality RC98, and being at the Mechanicals 'base'.

@ChromeZephyr, I adjusted my post conventions some. See the end of the character sheet linked from 'orc' in the sig. How does that read on your screen? Trying to have the paragon content unique, but the available formatting limits options.

Edited the post to show the comm's setup. As for obvious gear... A toolbelt. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

For casual stuff, when only want a couple hits for threading and fading, buying is good (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I'll just ignore for now the need to thread basic CF for matrix operations, and typically improve by 2 any already known CF, instead of rolling to thread, then rolling again to use.

Threading and casual watcher summoning. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Magic 1 + Summoning 3 = 4 dice => 1 hit = 1 hour
1 drain
willpower 5 + logic 5 = 10 dice => 2 hits = no drain

Now for something more interesting: Let's see whether Spring knows anything about those gangs along the route:
Intuition 3 + Seattle Street gangs 2 = 5 dice = 2 hits, no glitch

btw, can anyone recommend a good dicer other than invisible castle? I tried creating an account with them (twice actually, using different mail addresses) but no joy.

Yeah, that's good. The font was the only issue, that's a lot more legible. Sorry for being a pain. As for whether Scrap has hands-free, I just assume that's a given with earbuds for commlinks. They've got scanners and credstick readers as standard, I figure the SR equivalent of Bluetooth is too. If I'm wrong I'll gladly edit posts, but seems kinda dumb not to have it.


IC's the only one I know. Haven't had any issues even without an account, I just make sure to put my Character Name in and recalling the rolls isn't a problem.

Earbuds are fine for listening. I always figured you needed a throat/sub-vocal mic as well. The link will have a microphone [built in], but while riding it would be in a pocket [or wristband/armband]. Hanging it on a cord around your neck would not be good either, with wind noise and such. Some helmets have them build in as well. As far as Bluetooth, that would be a signal 0 [maybe 1] wi-fi connection, standard for wi-fi connected PAN items.

IC worked fine for me when I created an account.

Thing is, there's nothing in the book (well, the main book anyways) about a hands-free mic, so I just assumed the tech-level of the game makes them pretty ubiquitous. Sub-vocals are for stealthy conversations, so people don't overhear your conversations (the -4 modifier to audio Perception tests). Seems a little overboard for your run-of-the-mill mic for everyday conversations. Doesn't matter much to me, I'll have Scrapheap get one later if he needs to and just ride close to the vehicle for communication.

@Aria, you want to settle this one?

@Aria, @SP-cubed

We'll say there is a mic in the helmet, which will help with road noise problems. Subvocal Microphone only 50¥ SR4A328, a microphone as a sensor in something else [helmet] would be rating(1-6) x 50¥ SR4A333. Any easy place to start adding channels, to later be able to use tacnet. Sprogget has a subvocal microphone, but as a technomancer he probably does not need it. With that mental radio, he should just be able to 'talk' on the radio, without ever opening his mouth.

Agreed for every day. That would be the mic in the commlink, just like today's cell phones. Unless earbuds include a boom mic or similar, subvocal, or mic in the helmet, seems to be the RAW way to go hands-free. Maybe the commlink description on SR4A327/8 will help. (standard) microphone and retractable earbuds included in the list of standard features. If the mic had also been retractable/detachable, it could be turned into a lapel mic. Separately purchased earbuds are wireless (bluetooth). A separate microphone would be too. For biking, as long as have the available 'slots', a helmet mic seems best.

I say assume Scrapheap has 'something' that works, since 'in world' he would know what works/doesn't, and he as had the bike awhile.

@Aria, Subject: In Game purchases.

I have seen that karama spends are allowed 'any time' IC. How do equipment purchases work? Standard legal and reasonably availability stuff can be pickup by stopping at any mall or 'hardware' store. Other things may need availability tests, and wait time. What is the 'general' process used in forum / IC?

Here are a couple of ideas, triggered by above, that I could flesh-out and add to the Mechanicals jackpoint article:

Casual [legal, low availability] shopping:
The Mechanicals complex and community is large enough to have regular supplies delivered. Members can add their needs to the 'daily' order [prepaid only], then pick it up 'next day' at the tribal 'commissary'. Order cutoff and shipping delay to be determined. As a bonus, that provides a bit more anonymity from the standard shopping profiling, since the product suppliers will only see the 'tribe' ordering supplies, not individual members. For extra care, tribe members can have a prepaid account to draw against, so even profiling the payments is only going to see the lump sums. Assuming this works so far, things to think about:

• Price
  • Full standard list price
  • Tribal discount for bulk purchases
  • Price over list, for 'tithe' to the tribe for handling the transactions
• Range of products available via this service
  • maximum list price
  • maximum availability
• Use by non-members
  • Hangers on
  • Fre∑dom
  • Any others
  • Variation in pricing

'Mechanical' equipment purchases:
Since the Tribe salvages and repairs equipment for sale at the Crime Mall, the same products should be available to other members of the tribe. As a base, I expect this to include hardware, automotive, industrial, and aeronautical [drones]. Assuming members can buy directly from the tribe, similar questions about product range, price, and availability issues to those mentioned for casual shopping. In addition, the quality of the purchased product could vary, from fully working equivalent to new, to not working and needing repair before use. They probably do not maintain much in the way of inventory, [unless something is not selling], so items will only be immediately available some of the time, and the wait for them could vary, but there would be less restriction on the legality of items. I would expect higher priced and higher availability items to be more scarce through this channel. Sprogget, and I expect other members, would prefer to shop at home first. If this seems reasonable [and practical], what is needed is some way to determine product scope, availability, quality, pricing for 'tek' items through the tribe. Based (I expect) on PC CHA, list price, availability, tribe connection loyalty, tribe (group) connection rating. Some example 'search' results:

• I haven't seen any salvage for that in months, no idea if/when get any again
• Sold the last I had last week/day, but I see it come through regularly
• None ready, but I am repairing some now. Will be ready in x hours/days
• Got some here that was going to take to the CM, but you can have first choice
• I have some salvage available that can be repaired, but I do not have the time/skills myself to do it.

I am thinking a series of 'elimination' rolls:
Does the tribe every handle the product
Does the tribe have some available now, and at what quality [random quality?]
when will the tribe have some available, and at what quality
The last 2 look like a fairly standard Availability test, possibly with modified dice pool and threshold, plus a random quality selector. From there, does the owner/tribe have the resources [time/parts/skill] to finish repairing, or would that be up to the purchaser.
If tribe to repair, how long will that take?

Playing with used, salvage, tribal resources seems to be getting off RAW. I could probably fake up some dice pools and tables, but GM pointers would reduce the number of reworks needed.

Sprogget is a tinkerer. He needs to figure out what resources he has available to source equipment and upgrade parts. Some illegal, and with high availability scores. Is it all going to be standard Availability Tests?

Travel and routing for discrete trip to axc4mer's in Milton

- Area Knowledge: Seattle(Puyallup)
- Area Knowledge: Seattle
- Street Knowledge: Urban Tribes(Seattle)
- Knowledge (sprite skillsoft) Discrete Vehicle Movement
(8d6.hits(5)=2, 6d6.hits(5)=2, 8d6.hits(5)=3, 7d6.hits(5)=2)
→ [4,2,2,6,3,6,3,2] = (2); [3,6,1,4,5,3] = (2); [6,6,3,1,2,2,4,5] = (3); [1,6,2,4,1,6,1] = (2)

Data Search(2)+Log(4)+Analytical Mind(2) : Trouble to avoid on Milton trip First 5 rolls for extended test (8d6.hits(5)=3, 8d6.hits(5)=0, 8d6.hits(5)=2, 8d6.hits(5)=2, 8d6.hits(5)=2)
Drek, that zero is a crit glitch. I should be just buying hits here anyway.
→ [3,2,5,5,4,1,1,6] = (3); [1,3,1,3,1,3,2,1] = (0); [3,2,2,6,3,2,3,6] = (2); [4,2,3,6,3,1,6,3] = (2); [1,1,3,4,5,1,4,5] = (2)
Be Gentle

Seems like you have - no complaints from me!

@Aria
Some rolls for Copperhead:

Trying to avoid getting head blown off:
Agi 3 + Infiltration 2 = 5d6.hits(5)=1

Trying to spot missing kids:
Int 3 + Per 1 + Vision enh. 3 + Actively looking 3 = 10d6.hits(5)=3

If no luck on visual, she will also try astral:
Int 3 + Assensing 2 + Actively looking 3* = 8d6.hits(5)=2 - * not sure if 'actively looking' counts on assensing but doesn't change result.

This needs some thought – particularly as the scavenger/tinkerer aspect is new to this thread.

In essence it was previously possible to ‘get hold of’ anything that you could normally have received at character gen by paying its price in the book(s) and no rolls. This could safely be upped to availability 14 I think to reflect the nature of runners and gear. Bear in mind that as a pbp thread things move damn slowly and we want people to be able to acquire gear, spells, new abilities etc on the go without worrying too much about how they got there. Anything above availability 14 needs GM approval but again above and beyond cost (and a good story IC) there’s really no reason to roll unless it’s something very unusual.

I’m loathe to complicate things with extra rules unless they are really needed so I think that the tinkerering/scavenging might perhaps be best served by giving a reduction in price for doing work yourself (but you need to roll) and the possibility of getting more (or less) functionality from whatever you are messing with. Again, I’m more interested in the IC story than the rolls so a good justification for a piece of artistry will win more favours (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) …all that said I can see that you are getting in to this and I don’t want to detract from your character’s skills either so I’m open to suggestions!

Computer (4) + Analyze (4) + Technomancer bonus (2) = 10d6

2 hits on an Analyze Test.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3769382/

Just trying to get some basic information on her visitor and what is happening in the room.

@Emerging: Tribes, JackPoint tribes post

Some 'exploration' on formatting to get the jackpoint point post both readable, and somewhat fitting to the styles seen in the various SR4 books.  After reading through the various comments, I think that a more 'book' font would be good for the main article.  I am referencing Seattle 2072 for this.  Seems to be the place this should be added too (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) .  There, the main article uses a serif font and the IC comments are in a slightly smaller but bolder sans serif font.  Forum posts have limited control of font styles, but I have tried to pick good combinations.

I like the bullet character used for lists.  It may be a pain entering content, but it looks closer to what I see in the books, where each character comment has a white greater than sign inside a solid black circle for the comment itself, and for the 'signing' NPC, with all of the text indented from the symbols.  I found 2 ways to get the single line of blank space between comments/posts by the NPCs.  One was to put a blank line after each 'signature' line that contains a non breaking space character

CODE

[*]sig1
& #160;
[*]comment2 start

and other to put each comment and sig in its own list, but make sure the start of the following list was on the same line as the end of the previous.

CODE

[*]sig1[/list][list][*]comment2 start

The second is probably easier to understand, but the first is simpler when all that is needed is to paste that extra line at appropriate points in the text.

My reason for adding the previous spoiler tags was two fold: Make it easier to read the 'original' article, bypassing the comments, and to reduce the raw inline size of article plus comments.  If viewers do not mind the long inline post, I have no issue leaving the spoilers out.  That is they way it shows in the books, so would be consistent.

Reviewing the hardcopy, I see that the books do not indent the IC posts at all, so I have removed the indents around the comments.  The list still indents some, but I can not prevent that.  What I can do, is indent the regular content using indent tags, creating a margin.  That still does not line up right, but it is another alternative.

Some title line variations:
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
I like the last one.

Main Article content variations
Tribes, groups of people banding together behind a common meme, are a common occurrence in modern society.  A tribe can range from a half dozen kids staking out the basement of an abandoned building to 'honour' their favourite trideo-star, like the "Satellites of Venus"

Tribes, groups of people banding together behind a common meme, are a common occurrence in modern society.  A tribe can range from a half dozen kids staking out the basement of an abandoned building to 'honour' their favourite trideo-star, like the "Satellites of Venus"

Tribes, groups of people banding together behind a common meme, are a common occurrence in modern society.  A tribe can range from a half dozen kids staking out the basement of an abandoned building to 'honour' their favourite trideo-star, like the "Satellites of Venus"

The above 2 are different fonts, but look identical on my computer.  I suspect that the details of how the fonts look will vary depending on the fonts installed on the computer, and accessible by the browser.  Unless we post screen captures, people will not understand when told that some combination does not look good.  Given that, I am going to try to stick with what I think should be 'common' fonts.  Times New Roman for the main article content and titles, and Arial bold for IC comments.  I was going to use Microsoft Sans Serif for the comment content, but suspect that might not work well for someone using a Mac, or Linux.  If the fonts do not show enough variation, to get the feel of inserted content, we can add color coding to the content as well.

Indent variations for content and comments
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
Tribes, groups of people banding together behind a common meme, are a common occurrence in modern society.  A tribe can range from a half dozen kids staking out the basement of an abandoned building to 'honour' their favourite trideo-star, like the "Satellites of Venus",

• Hmmm, Heavenly bodies, moons, tidal lock, complex orbits, synchronous rotation, eccentricity, gravitational attraction, orbital dance, perturbations, elongation.  The opportunities appear boundless.
• Astro
   
• Don't go there.
• Netcat

to a worldwide organization with thousands of members, and resources to rival a mid-sized corporation.  Tribes can have widely varying monetary, technological, magical, matrix, personnel, political, and other resources available to them.

JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
Tribes, groups of people banding together behind a common meme, are a common occurrence in modern society.  A tribe can range from a half dozen kids staking out the basement of an abandoned building to 'honour' their favourite trideo-star, like the "Satellites of Venus",

• Hmmm, Heavenly bodies, moons, tidal lock, complex orbits, synchronous rotation, eccentricity, gravitational attraction, orbital dance, perturbations, elongation.  The opportunities appear boundless.
• Astro
   
• Don't go there.
• Netcat

to a worldwide organization with thousands of members, and resources to rival a mid-sized corporation.  Tribes can have widely varying monetary, technological, magical, matrix, personnel, political, and other resources available to them.

I like the indent margin, to give it a more 'print' book feel, but I do not like those 'hanging' bullet symbols.  For now, I will go with the first version above, indenting the comments compared to the main content.  Below is another variation, using {light} color instead of font to differentiate the comments.
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
Tribes, groups of people banding together behind a common meme, are a common occurrence in modern society.  A tribe can range from a half dozen kids staking out the basement of an abandoned building to 'honour' their favourite trideo-star, like the "Satellites of Venus",

• Hmmm, Heavenly bodies, moons, tidal lock, complex orbits, synchronous rotation, eccentricity, gravitational attraction, orbital dance, perturbations, elongation.  The opportunities appear boundless.
• Astro
   
• Don't go there.
• Netcat

to a worldwide organization with thousands of members, and resources to rival a mid-sized corporation.  Tribes can have widely varying monetary, technological, magical, matrix, personnel, political, and other resources available to them.
So far, that is my favourite.  Without lists, this looks like:
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
Tribes, groups of people banding together behind a common meme, are a common occurrence in modern society.  A tribe can range from a half dozen kids staking out the basement of an abandoned building to 'honour' their favourite trideo-star, like the "Satellites of Venus",

>Hmmm, Heavenly bodies, moons, tidal lock, complex orbits, synchronous rotation, eccentricity, gravitational attraction, orbital dance, perturbations, elongation.  The opportunities appear boundless.
>Astro

>Don't go there.
>Netcat

to a worldwide organization with thousands of members, and resources to rival a mid-sized corporation.  Tribes can have widely varying monetary, technological, magical, matrix, personnel, political, and other resources available to them.

Or replacing list with indent
JackPoint Report: Seattle Culture - Tribes
Tribes, groups of people banding together behind a common meme, are a common occurrence in modern society.  A tribe can range from a half dozen kids staking out the basement of an abandoned building to 'honour' their favourite trideo-star, like the "Satellites of Venus",

>Hmmm, Heavenly bodies, moons, tidal lock, complex orbits, synchronous rotation, eccentricity, gravitational attraction, orbital dance, perturbations, elongation.  The opportunities appear boundless.
>Astro

>Don't go there.
>Netcat

to a worldwide organization with thousands of members, and resources to rival a mid-sized corporation.  Tribes can have widely varying monetary, technological, magical, matrix, personnel, political, and other resources available to them.

Indeed. Here's what my Firefox 16.0.2 on Xubuntu 12.04 does with it. Three different versions, same as in Chromium (Chrome on Nexus 7 renders #2 and #3 the same, though). In Opera #1 and #2 look the same. And Links and Lynx have a totally different pov regards fonts, anyway. So, I'd say don't bother too much with the details, you've got no control over what the browsers do with it your layout. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

That said, I don't think any of the versions is ugly, although the third might be a bit small for some people. And don't worry, you're not the only one writing something up, I just can't seem to find the time to polish my stuff up. Will see to get to it soonish.