The microskimmer is ahead of you and low to the ground so that it can pick up (potentially) any mines. Is the Fly Spy up in the air providing aerial recon? Or is it also down on the ground to help with the microskimmer?

Oh also, just because I remember something was posted IC about it's function(a lot) earlier. I think a microskimmer is basically supposed to be like a floating roomba. It's listed as a hovercraft, so I think it is supposed to stay close to the ground. Did they change that in 5E?

That is correct:

Quiet and durable, this disc-shaped skimmer is smaller than a frisbee and
can even skim over water. It moves with small and rather
weak hoverjets. It is easier to spot than the Kanmushi,
but still very small. It is operated with the Pilot Groundcraft
skill; the hovercraft specialization applies.

So - the microskimmer can't fly.

The Fly-spy will be doing aerial recon, trying to give us a bird's eye view of our surroundings.

Ok - IC post up in a moment (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I've stopped there in case you want to add any IC posts or have any questions.

I'd like to make an AR line of our path, in case we need to jet out of here and don't want to run over unfamiliar territory (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

-DrZ

No problem (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I'm mostly focused on the ground, looking for anything out of the ordinary and game tracks to get a feel for the area. I actually have a Tracking skillsoft, if that helps. I'm counting on Grease and Amy to spot stuff to our sides and in front.

Assensing on the site of the sacrifice please! I'd like Amy to perceive the astral on and off all the way to the site as well, just to get a lay of the astral land, so to speak. She was told to look for ley lines or other unusual features by Hubert after all.

I've sent Chrome a PM with regards to Astral info - others can feel free to add IC posts if you wish while Amy is checking out the scene.

Again, FYI: Limited availability tomorrow. Probably won't post a ton over the weekend either, as I will be at the beach.

Thanks,
-DrZ

Real life mimics the game (as you are at the beach IC as well)

Although I would hope your real life beach experience is less, well, torture and sacrifice filled.

Fingers crossed!

I sent skippy over the area to look for tracks because in my mind, as a mini-hover craft, he won't foul any tracks or trails since he's off the ground. If I am interpreting that differently than from how you imagine it, let me know and I can adjust the post accordingly.

-DrZ

The hoverjets are described as weak. If anything, they might blow some leaves around, I would think.

Jack and Grease:

1) Unfortunately it really is impossible to tell if the woman on the cross is the same as Renata just by looking at her face. There is enough damage from scavengers (both eyes are missing, lips torn away from the mouth, etc) that a confirmation is just not feasible. You can say that approximate height, skin color, and hair seem to match, but the Denver area has a fair number of Hispanic residents, so this is hardly conclusive.

2) The skimmer will not leave tracks, and can travel across the lake if you wish it.

3) Olfactory sensors detect "normal" levels of fecal matter and decay for a death that occurred 15 hours or so ago.

4) There are lots of tracks on the ground, Truck's are very easy to find. They run from the road to the east of the lake to the sacrifice site. Amy and Grease are able to see Truck's without a problem, Jack is able to pick up several other tracks, presumably of the lighter robed figures.

Truck's tracks are only around the first sacrifice site, and not around the other two, although Jack is able to find the other human tracks around the other 2 sites.

OK, I'm going to wait until Chrome has a chance for Amy to provide us with any details about the astral side of the house.

With regards to ambush spots, you can find several such spots (including those you marked on the map) within 75 meters or so with an LOS to both of the non-used sacrifice sites.

Can I use my Sneaking skill to pick out the best spots using the feeds from Grease's drones? I mainly want to synthesize the information we have:

- Target Locations
- Target Arrival Points
- Ambush Locations

Into the best possible ambush plan available to us given the following conditions and constraints:

- Two primary shooters (Jack and Overkill)
- One Magic Support (Amy)
- One Drone Fire Support (Grease)
- No Suppressing Fire
- Effectively concealed against thermographic vision

If Jack thinks the spot picked out on the map work, then that is what he would suggest IC.

The three sites you've picked out on the map do cover both empty crosses, but if the targets fled to the east, they rapidly break your LOS due to the trees. The rotodrone will be able to cover that area from where you've marked.

Of the three sites, the one on the island (hex C4) is problematic in that there is little cover on that island, so anyone there will be clearly visible to thermographic sight. You will have to pick out somewhere else in the treeline to avoid that. (and even then, you will need to make sneak tests to try and conceal yourself from thermo, as the treeline will be much cooler than your body.)

When you say "no suppressing fire" - what does that mean? That you can't all be in one suppressing fire zone? If so, that s/b fine, you are far enough apart that that shouldn't happen (depending if you relocate the spot at C4 somewhere else).

I meant that we aren't going to use suppressing fire against the targets since there is likely going to be a non-target (the sacrifice) on the field and it would be pretty stupid if we killed them with errant suppressing fire.

Hmm... maybe I should go with the hiding in the water deal... what's the lake look like? Is it trashed and polluted?

Ah, gotcha.

As far as the lake, it is actually not that bad as far as you can tell. The level of the lake is a little low since it is the middle of summer, and you can see that the normal levels are a couple of feet higher than where they are now.

The water itself is murky, but there isn't trash floating in the lake or anything like that.

I'm not sure I understand Jack's IC suggestion to Amy. You want a spirit to make the ground muddy near the crosses so that it's slippery but also cover that with leaves so that it's not obviously so?

About the combat. I think I can conclude from last time that a strong air spirit with elemental attack seems like one of Amy's best offensive options (12 damage, -6 armor, electricity stun secondary, with a good dice pool is nothing to scoff at), far superior to her own attack spells. Don't forget that she can turn someone invisible for some added protection, so if Jack is hiding in a more open area, like the lake itself, she can sustain an invis spell that'll make him even much harder to spot. Said air spirit could also do something similar as last time and conceal all of us, including itself, while it's also attacking our targets, assuming I get 2 services. I really doubt they'll see us before it's too late this way, and even when we're firing, it'll be hard for them to fire back efficiently, even with magic (it is affected by visibility modifiers, right?).

Sorry, that wasn't clear at all. I mainly meant having a spirit carry it over and drop it so we wouldn't have to worry about leaving tracks. I'll clarify IC when we get close to executing whatever plan we put together.

But you know, maybe it's not a bad idea to turn the ground very slippery near the crosses if it can be done in a realistic way. Whatever advantage we can gain from the ambush, we should exploit it.