Down in the Gutter: OOC, The Nuts and Bolts of Staying Alive Options

[Meriss]

Winter: Not trying to increase your workload or anything man, but did we ever try PMing the Inactive list?

[ Spoiler ]

I found the wiki NPCs did you want me to continue working on them?

[rob]

WR - Given your guidance, I found some appropriate shit for box to do that's not exclusive with the fact that he was in the HQ when the kid showed up. I'm cool with keeping it however's convenient - when I tried to write the post I'd intended, I realized I couldn't do it without an absurd amount of modding.

Following are some dice rolls for hooking up the matrix connection. If you want to apply penalties, he'll be using some of the tools from whichever of his toolkits (automotive, firearms, and chemistry) apply. Basically, all he's doing is taking a sattelite dish and hooking it to a chopped up ol commlink as an antenna. Assumed he had it as part of his lifestyle, and specifically posted about recovering it earlier.

[ Spoiler ]

Hardware 1 + Logic 4, assuming an extended test, not taking into account any penalties, don't know the threshold.
5d6 → [6,3,4,3,6] = 2 hits
5d6 → [1,1,5,4,6] = 2 hits, poss. glitch with penalties
5d6 → [3,6,4,3,2] = 1 hit
5d6 → [1,1,2,6,2] = 1 hit, poss. glitch with penalties
5d6 → [1,3,1,3,1] = critical glitch

And for gathering some info about Dunkie:

[ Spoiler ]

Scanning for Dunkie's node: Electronic Warfare 1 + Commo Specialization 2 + Scan 2 + Hot Sim 2: [2,3,5,4,1,5,2] = 2 hits
Sniffing for any signals Dunkie's emitting: Electronic Warfare 1 + Commo Specialization 2 + Sniffer 4 + Hot Sim 2: [2,2,5,4,3,3,6,5,5] = 4 hits
Decrypting anything he finds: Electronic Warfare 1 + Commo Specialization 2 + Decrypt 1 + Hot Sim 2 (extended test, threshold equals 2x Encrypt):
[4,1,3,4,3,4] = no hits
[2,5,4,4,3,1] = 1 hit
[2,1,6,3,6,5] = 3 hits
[2,6,2,1,5,4] = 2 hits
[1,1,5,4,6,2] = 2 hits

Also, at character creation, Box's squat was placed on the main road between Hammerpack and Raider turf. The "ISU-90 Estates" in the locations section of the wiki. He got his squat hookup from Leon. Up to you if you want to move it to lotus turf, but it will create some consistency problems since he's walked there before.

[WinterRat1]

Meriss - We're done with the Inactives. They're on that list because they've been contacted multiple times and either declined to respond, specifically stated they aren't coming back, or never really showed up to play in the first place after they were approved.

If they want to approach us that's fine, but at this point everyone in the game is someone who's already proven their commitment, and I'm happy to keep it that way. This game is hard enough to run with the committed people; adding people who aren't able to be dedicated is just a waste of everyone's time and actively makes the game worse for everyone.

[ Spoiler ]

Sure, go ahead and keep working on them if you're interested in piling up more rewards. I actually appreciate your talent for developing locations more than NPCs at this point, since we're going to be moving on to the nitty gritty of day-to-day life soon, planning turf wars and executing economic moves, and locations are important for that.

So my preference is for you to work on adding and fleshing out locations in every gang's turf, but if you're more passionate about working on NPCs that's fine too, I can always use those.

[Meriss]

Winter: Ci hefe, jou the boss.

[ Spoiler ]

Duly noted. To be totally honest however I never did any of the locales posted. I stole/borrowed them from the Shadowrun Supplemental. Any of the locations listed in Kingsgate got added. I did the shadowtalk however. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

What, this is a gang game, no?

I stll have the wiki NPCs on my hard drive so I'll keep working on them. But I'll keep locations in mind for extra pointage. I'll keep an eye out for fun stuff.

And there is no improvement information on the wiki for buying Positive Qualities.

EDIT: Any thing in particular you wanted/needed for locations?

[Slipshade]

Mr. J. - LOL! Are you trying to get Baby killed. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Lindt]

Mr. J. - LOL! Are you trying to get Baby killed. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Seriously, lets take all the wussy ones and go do something! Or mabey its all the smart ones...

[Mister Juan]

Seriously, lets take all the wussy ones and go do something! Or mabey its all the smart ones...

Actually, here is my reasoning.
Child and Baby are the two best bikers we have. They also both have bikes. Fool is the lighest of all "fighters", so he can ride with someone. And, if we get hit by a pack of ghoul, Baby is the best one to get us out of there (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

That and if they all get spotted... they won't seem like much of a threat.

[Slipshade]

MJ - Actually I totally agree, if Baby wasn't still suffering from 6 boxes of physical damage. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Mister Juan]

MJ - Actually I totally agree, if Baby wasn't still suffering from 6 boxes of physical damage. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Nonesense! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Slipshade]

LOL!

[Fresno Bob]

So I found my old post where I went into the training time, and I've apparently trained 3 out of the 6 hours I needed to raise Blades from 2 to 3.

I'll record it on my sheet to avoid anything like this in the future.

[Whipstitch]

Alright then, my current plans with Cuervo, provided he isn't interrupted, of course, is to scope out the immediate area within and surrounding the HQ to see if he can locate the nearest large rat's nest and fulfill his gaeas and endear himself to them a bit if at all possible. Dunno if that takes area knowledge, survival, tracking or whatever, but I'll make whatever rolls you want if you deem it necessary.


Although to be honest, I think it'd be kinda hard not to find rats in the Barrens. I ran a game once in which they were pretty much the cornerstone of the local economy.



Oh, btw, WR1, I was going through my message box and was reminded that I had been working on a potential grid location waaaaay back in April before the game first stalled. If you and Vegas are still interested, here's what I had so far, after a bit of polishing:

[ Spoiler ]

The Stockade
A rough and tumble gym located in what remains of an old auto body shop, the Stockade is the closest thing there is to a neutral training ground in Kingsgate. Operated by Sabot Perreault and a cabal of trainers and talent scouts loosely associated with the War Pit, the Stockade is often unattended and survives mostly by reputation and by having virtually nothing worth stealing in the first place. Old, filthy cardboard passes as wrestling mats and the homemade weightlifting equipment is all chained and anchored to the plascrete floors. As such, none of the weights are adjustable—the typical troll-sized barbell is made out of an old car axle with the ends embedded in blocks of densiplast—so you’re expected to man up and lift what’s available or to quit bitching and go home. This same attitude extends to virtually all activities at the Stockades—the place is located in what is more or less neutral ground, but that doesn’t mean the local gangers have to be polite about it. Asking for someone to spot you at the Stockade is a great way to end up getting your teeth kicked in, particularly if the "owners" are away.

As for the trainers themselves, they’re not always around, but if you catch their eye they’re some of the best sources of basic first aid, fighting tips and combat drugs in the Barrens. They’re more old-school ringside cutmen than medical doctors and it’s doubtful anyone could spell autoclave much less operate one, but they’ll do in a pinch and are always willing to hook you up with some Ripper, Cram and NoPaint. Their help doesn’t come cheap though; they’ll expect nuyen or favors, and failure to comply means you just might end up as an unwilling “sparring partner� for one of the War Pit’s accomplished regulars.

>>>>>[Some of the more interesting moments in Kingsgate gang history have happened in this place, although by now it's pretty much impossible to seperate the fact from the incredibly biased fiction.]<<<<<
- The Rumor Mill (20:35, 19/03/2070)

>>>>>[That's because there's something about a bunch of guys beating the piss out of eachother that sometimes actually builds a bit of comradery amongst the clientele. Sometimes the seeds of a new gang are sown when a couple of meatheads get to bitching about their current outfits. Usually the dumb fraggers get snuffed out right quick though.]<<<<<
- Knuckles (20:43, 19/03/2070)

>>>>>[You mean a bunch of sweaty men who like rolling around on mats with other men sometimes get friendly with eachother? Gee, I would never have guessed that.]<<<<<
- The Prime Mover (20:47, 19/03/2070)

>>>>>[Cute. Why not head on down and try your hand at some of their "friendly activities" before cracking wise? You won't come out walking straight, but not for the reasons you're implying, smart ass.]<<<<<
- Crusher (20:52, 19/03/2070)

Lemme know if you're not interested or if there's anything you'd want me to revise.

[Mister Juan]

@WR1
Dying from a cold. You can NPC Felix until I'm back on my own two feet!
Thanks a whole damn bunch and sorry (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[WinterRat1]

Grendel - If you get to posting IC before me, go ahead and NPC Felix or else I'll do it when I get around to it.

[Slipshade]

The link for the HQ map on the wiki is down. Do we have a seperate building that we are using for vehicles?

[Vegas]

The link for the HQ map on the wiki is down. Do we have a seperate building that we are using for vehicles?

The link to the HQ map on the main home page has been corrected, the link in the navigation still doesn't work because... SURPRISE! We have a caching issue... again.

If this continues, I am about ready to move everything to another wiki, because I'm beyond frusterated. I wouldn't mind so much if it was a page that is set in stone and only changes once in a blue moon, but the navigation can change at any time... anyway, enough venting. Just know that it's fixed on the home page for now.

And yes, there is an outbuilding, a garage @ the HQ

[Slipshade]

Thanks Vegas!

[pragma]

Addiction:

Thumper
Alcohol(Moderate): # dice 9 :: 1 5 3 1 6 3 2 2 5 -- 3 hits

Recall that Thumper did snag a few beers for breakfast yesterday.

Lifestyle:

You might get your mugging wish sooner rather than later. I'm trying to figure out how much money I got off of the corpses I rolled in the Sushi Shack Showdown back in the day -- I haven't had any luck finding it in the OOC thread.

Meriss:

Post is going up soon.

WR1:

Is it cool to squeeze in some training time during the move in/ sync up post? I have faint recollections of that question being answered in the negative in the OOC, but also haven't had any luck finding the answer.

[WinterRat1]

I've got a weekend-long game I'm running this weekend so my posting this week will be light, but I'll make it a point to go through the OOC thread and handle the Addiction Tests and any lingering questions this week. Since no one is waiting on me to post IC this will be a more OOC intensive week from me, as I will be preparing for my tabletop game and letting you all continue to develop your inter-PC relationships. If anyone does want to interact with the NPCs though, I will make it a point to respond.

Thumper - No money from the Sushi Shack Showdown, although you guys did pick up some gear.

Everyone - As I noted earlier somewhere in this vast IC thread, it is ok to squeeze in some training time during the sync up posts, but carefully consider how much 'downtime' time you spend training relative to resting, not just in the sync up posts, but in your other IC posts as well.

For example, I'm going to be pretty lenient if adamu wants to use large portions of Grack's downtime for training, because his IC posts have consistently made it a point to emphasize Grack sleeping a lot, both in respect to number of naps and amount of time slept.

For some of you that have a habit of pushing your PCs to always be on the go, be advised that I am monitoring your approximate rest even if I don't keep exact numbers, and I'm not beyond giving you fatigue penalties or just ruling you happen to fall asleep at inopportune moments because you simply couldn't keep your eyes open any more.

Some might argue your PCs should have a better idea of how tired they really are, but remember none of you are exactly the healthiest individuals. Heck, some of your characters can't even spell recommended daily allowance, let alone grasp the concept. More than half of you are addicted to something, and practically everyone abuses some kind of substance to one degree or another. When you add that to constantly sleeping lightly so you don't get killed/raped/mugged in your sleep and eating unhealthy garbage when you eat at all, the evidence piles up that your PCs don't have quite as good an idea of how much sleep they really need as the Mystical Powers That Be ™. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Don't worry, I won't be draconian about it, I'm just warning you all not to use repeatedly use 100% of the downtime for training, because it WILL catch up to you. On the flip side, as long as you make a reasonable effort to emphasize your character's resting, whether through your own IC posts or allowing my sync up/downtime posts to do the job, you don't have to worry. Clear enough?

Also, note that GM-enforced downtime can be used for either training or resting/healing. If you use time to train, then you are not using that time to res/heal.

For Bockscar, Baby, and Aziz, I assumed they used all the available time to rest/heal, which they needed to in order to heal the damage they did in my earlier OOC post. If any of you three plan on using that downtime to train, then you won't have met the required minimum time to heal. Also note that would be silly, because you have plenty of time to train IC now/in the very near future, if you have the inclination.

Did a little extra digging, here's some direct quotes from me earlier:

Note that most characters should still be resting at least part or even the majority of the time, for role-playing purposes if not necessarily healing/statistical ones.

If I get the sense your character is not resting adequately throughout the course of the game, I will smack you with fatigue modifiers out of nowhere. Fatigue is nasty like that; you think you're doing fine, plenty of energy, then BOOM! Fatigue kicks you right in the nuts and you crash. biggrin.gif

For the record, I highly doubt that will be an issue, people have been great about realistically sleeping/resting/crashing. This was more of a 'don't abuse these downtime periods by trying to do nothing but train' warning.

Grack is probably the sole exception to this currently since every time I turn around, it seems like he's sleeping.

During this 'downtime', you each have 12 hours of time to rest and/or train, in whatever combination you wish.

If you choose to use any part of the 12 hours to train, you MUST post IC depicting your training time. If you do not, you will not get credit for it. It doesn't have to be a super long post, but it should be a reasonable 'training montage' that at least shows some effort on your PC's part to improve themselves. You should also track your training time on the appropriate section of your character's wiki as well.

...

I won't be as harsh on role-playing posts for things that are harder to RP training for various reasons (e.g. Edge for lack of clarity, Gun skills for lack of ammo, etc.) as on things that are easier, like raising Body or Strength, which are obvious.

The key thing is to make me aware in the OOC thread that your intention is for your corresponding IC post to represent training time. Even if your IC thread isn't a perfect match for what you're trying to raise, what I care about is you're making the effort to be conscientious in having your character try to improve. Effort is a large chunk of the improvement process after all, so as long as your character is consistently trying to get better in a way that makes some kind of sense, that's generally good enough for me.

Any other questions on this subject?

[Bearclaw]

@WR1
Dying from a cold. You can NPC Felix until I'm back on my own two feet!
Thanks a whole damn bunch and sorry (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Could you help with this WR? We've got a que waiting for a chance at Legion, and he's in mid conversation with Felix.

[Vegas]

Question: Had it or has it been determined just how much "stuff" Rico brought back in the truck not to mention just what kind of stuff was in there? Just don't want to assume there was this or that in there or the quantity when writing up posts.

[WinterRat1]

Could you help with this WR? We've got a que waiting for a chance at Legion, and he's in mid conversation with Felix.

Grendel - Would you mind moving the line forward by NPCing Felix's response? Apparently Legion is a popular guy today. If you don't get to it by some time tonight, I'll get something up to keep things moving along.

Vegas - You may assume there was decent scattering of random furniture in the truck. Nothing high quality, it's all used/secondhand and is fairly beat up and worn, but it's functional. As long as no one goes overboard with their assumptions I see no need to come up with an actual item-by-item inventory. Feel free to use your imaginations, but it should be limited to basic furniture that would be found in places like the Gate. Mattresses, beds, tables, chairs, cabinets, the bare minimums, nothing fancy. Does that suffice?

[Vegas]

Vegas - You may assume there was decent scattering of random furniture in the truck. Nothing high quality, it's all used/secondhand and is fairly beat up and worn, but it's functional. As long as no one goes overboard with their assumptions I see no need to come up with an actual item-by-item inventory. Feel free to use your imaginations, but it should be limited to basic furniture that would be found in places like the Gate. Mattresses, beds, tables, chairs, cabinets, the bare minimums, nothing fancy. Does that suffice?

Definitely does. Just was wondering if it was enough stuff that the majority of the gangers could have something soft to rest on when needed or what. Had something cooking in my head that could still take place, but wanted to know if it would be necessary is all (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Thanks!

[Slipshade]

WR1 - Baby rested the entire time.

Vegas - I figured Baby made a bed outta whatever clothing and blankets she would have brought with her. If a matress is available I would think she had Rags would have grabbed one to share.

[Slipshade]

Everyone - Baby and Rags are currently squatting in the Junior Office (far right) on the second floor.