Low-Down in Loveland, OOC Thread Options

[Digital Heroin]

IC
Information
Recruiting


Low Down is a dangerous place, a weakening cage in waters surrounded by sharks, and there is fresh blood in the water. The emphasis of the game is gritty storytelling, though thre is room for humor and triumph amidst the darkness as well.

Posting conventions are simple. I ask that dialogue clearly be deliniated in quotation marks, be they the traditional double, or single, and that comms be placed inside of angle brackets. Also, posts should be proofed at least for spelling. Word count is not as important as content. The more content there is in a post, the more I can reciprocate. For the first time a person is mentioned in a post, please place their name in bold, and for locations that are external to the scene, please place them in italics.

Rolls, when asked for, should be placed at the bottom of the IC post inside of a spoiler tag, so as to minimize the need to cross reference. If you are making a roll that is for something not immediately relevant to the scene, such as an extende build test, please make it in this thread.

Please avoid the posting of smilies and sigs in the IC forum, as well as posting time blocks. When a significant time is called for, I will post it up, and if the scene changes, I will lead into the change with a bit of an intro to set the scene.

Karma will be awarded with some mysticism, a little random alchemy, and on a survival basis. As the story unfolds, Karma will be awarded as fits the pace, and all matters regarding its distribution and spending will be made here.

This thread now effectively will be used to handle all OOC business for Low Down, as well as in PM.

Questions, comments, concerns, and death threats? Toss them here, or into my PM box.

[Aria]

Without wishing to spoil whatever nasty surprise you have in store for us, can you give us some indication of whether or not the fire is in Dozen turf, just outside it? I ask because Scratch's first concerns will probably be for Summer (devided loyalties are a terrible thing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) ) followed by her drink...damn expensive, and then Dozen concerns... I don't want to start off my IC post going off in the wrong direction.

Thanks

A

[Digital Heroin]

The fire appears to be somewhere inside of the DMZ, however it is common practice, and overlooked by the other gangs, for the Dozen to offer assistance to the squatter communities there, as the Dozen's origins lie in the people of those communities.

Also, of note in the background info, and current timeline, while Brackhaven has in fact come to power, and he has terminated Lone Star's contract, there are still areas of the city (unsexy areas), where Knight Errant has been slow to take over. At this point in time Lone Star still patrols much of Puyallup, and is only in the process of handing over control to KE. That means that at any time you could theoretically encounter LS or KE cops, or even MPs out looking for their boys.

[Saint Sithney]

Edit to move this towards the top

Playing
Miranda "Scratch" Wild - Human - larcenous Freerunner adept
Jacob "Grim" Graham - Human - Mobile Street Doc
Còsimo "Cozi" de'Ferrara - Ork - Gunner and Criminal Entrepreneur
Micky "Cocktails" - Human - Social Infiltrator
Larenz Konrad "Matto" Marazski - Ork - Bruiser w/ bandages
Alex Brooker - Elf - Courier
Lucky - human - techno-adept critterkiller

MIA
"Feral" - Ork - Wolf Shaman
"Bear" - Elf - Mystic street Detective

................................................................................
...........................................
I want to make a Leadership roll to try an calm the witness and get the bystanders organized so that no one panics in case things get worse.

I assume I won't get my First Impression bonus, but we never really discussed how you want to handle Emosofts. Rather than the straight RAW bonus, I'd be happy using it as a teamwork test where my Agent tries to give me advice, and it helps me choose the correct course.

If we're doing it RAW my roll would be this for two hits.

If we're doing teamwork, the rolls would be this (2 hits from teamwork) and this for a total of 2 hits again.

So, two hits regardless. If you need me to roll up something else DH, I'm game. In the mean time, I'm going to start barking orders. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/twirl.gif)

[Red-ROM]

could we get a post to organize the characters? save some digging when I'm trying to learn everybody's names/ descriptions etc.

[Combat Mage]

For the character reference list:

Feral, Wolf Shaman
Description:

[ Spoiler ]

Feral is a teenage orc of about 14 years. His nubian heritage is obvious in his pitch black skin and his black curly hair which he wears braided in corn rows.
Standing about about 1,90m tall, he is slim and not very muscular for an ork.
His eyes sparkle in a wolf-like golden color and he is surrounded by an aura of self-confidence and strength.
Clad in steel-toed combat boots, a ragged pair of jeans and a battered black leather jacket, Feral bears the signs of the street. Scars and old wounds are visible on the teenager, and it seems that conflict is nothing new for him, despite his young age.
Around his neck is a necklace he never takes off. It is a small silver coin engraved with tribal patterns which form the silhouette of a wolf. This necklace is his most prized possession and he doesn't let anyone touch it.
On his right hip a holster can be seen, containing a modified Ares Viper Slivergun made of black steel, with ivory grip casings engraved with running wolves. Feral likes to call it the "Wolfclaw".

---------------------------------------------------
Got a lucky opportunity to access the net on my trip so that's why you see a post from me.

As soon as we are in Grim's Van I would like to summon a force 4 beast spirit.

Magic 5 + Power Focus 1 + Summoning 1 + Mentor Spirit 2 = 9 dice
Summoning Roll = 1 hit

Spirit Resist Force 4 = 4 dice
Spirit Resist Roll = 1 hit, glitch

Drain = 2, WIL 5 + CHA 4 + Focused Concentration 1 = 10 dice
Drain Roll = 3 hits, no drain

So unless you want to do something because of the spirit's glitch, the summoning failed.

I'd like to try again next combat turn but I don't have time for the required rolls right now, so if it get's to the point where we arrive and I haven't rolled yet maybe you could do them for me.

EDIT: Next try. Summoning a force 4 beast spirit.

Magic 5 + Power Focus 1 + Summoning 1 + Mentor Spirit 2 = 9 dice
Summoning Roll = 2 hits

Spirit Resist Force 4 = 4 dice
Spirit Resist Roll = 0 hits

Drain = 2, WIL 5 + CHA 4 + Focused Concentration 1 = 10 dice
Drain Roll = 3 hits, no drain

-> Summoning successful, 2 services owed

[Aria]

could we get a post to organize the characters? save some digging when I'm trying to learn everybody's names/ descriptions etc.

That would be very useful! Any chance you could edit your first post in this thread DH so that we can easily pick up names and basic descriptions? I know you did something like it in the recruitment thread but I couldn't find the page offhand.

Thanks

A

ps. Scratch - Human - larcenous Freerunner adept (IMG:style_emoticons/default/spin.gif)

[Saint Sithney]

see above

[BlackHat]

Thanks for doing that book-keeping. Much appreciated.

¯\(°_o)/¯

^-- Awesome.

[Saint Sithney]

Sorry for all the questions and such DH, but just to clarify, when you said the fire was visible from two blocks away, I took you to mean that the fire was two blocks away. Is that right? I know the turf isn't that big and all...

[Digital Heroin]

Aye, the fire is only two blocks away physically. Call it about five minutes by foot or RV, the later being hampered by rough roads.

[Digital Heroin]

Combat: Regarding the glitch, nothing major will happen, just a spirit that does not listen to the call. If it were critical, well that'd be a whole other bag of trouble.

Saint: I like the teamwork option, which was not critical for this roll, but from now on, let's roll it that way. As for pinning the street address down, you can make the roll, yes, but finding data might be a pain in the hoop. The commercial district was already being abandoned pre-crash.

[Branmac]

Summoning a force 1 water spirit. failed on the first attempt, but soaked the drain. Good on the second try, soaked, 1 service.

WooHoo, lets hear it for the summoner with Magic1 Summoning1! I may not get it to work much but at least I can soak the drain. LoL

[Aria]

Very busy this weekend...sorry, will try and catch up on Mon...

A

[kanislatrans]

Why does Matto talk in quotes?

A quick story ( its a quick draft)

[ Spoiler ]

Tommy G came out of the warehouse and walked up to Matto.. Jumping down from the poly-fiber crate by the rusted chain link fence, Matto flashed Tommy the all clear sign and walked over to meet him. As he approached, he could see the mobster smiling and knew the deal had gone well.
“ No trouble, Omae?” Matto asked.
“Null sheen, Chummer,” the Troll replied. He slapped Matto on the shoulder. “ Fish in a barrel my friend, Fish in a barrel.”
“ So what was the game this time? Ares bearer bonds? Unicorn horns? Or maybe a “Photographic” evidence that The Big D is alive and living on an island in the Carib league with Jet Black and Elvis.”
The Troll laughed “Comrade, you wound me!! My honor is dented! I , Stalks- The- Buffalo, last surviving great,great, great, great ,great grandson of Sitting Bull am offended! Is it my fault that I have fallen on hard times and must sell off my families heirlooms?”
Matto laughed” Oh, so your family is named “made in Belarus? Cause thats whats written on the crates you had me dump two hours ago!”
Tommy grinned” That's why I hire you, Matto. You got brains. Now, here's your cut and lets get out of here in case Slug didn't get all the stickers off of the merchandise again”
Matto took the credstick the troll offered and asked” Hey, could I catch a ride to the stuffer?”
“ For you, my good friend, any thing!” Tommy replied as he headed for the Bulldog step van.

The Stuffer Shack™ was the last one surviving on the edge of the Redmond barrens. It's threadbare appearance fit in perfect with the surrounding decay and the district offices referred to it as “ Fort Apache; the barrens”. It was a place where employees were sent as punishment and the service the customers received(or didn't receive would be more accurate) would put the corporate suits into an instant coranary. But it survived because even the down and out scum of the barrens had to have a place to get their SoySloppies and Rio Del Fuego Burrito supremo.

Matto turned his MCT SonixDBT earbuds volume up as he approached the front sliding doors. He flashed his tusks at the filth encrusted human in robes standing outside. The mans mouth moved but the hardcore beat of Karnivel of Korpses drowned out the obviously insane mans rant..Ignoring him, Matto flashed his SIN at the door and walked in. The nutter followed him in, although Matto didn't notice as he was already trying to decide on weather to have a couple of RDF's or go hog wild and just get the “Troll Pleezer” 40cm chili cheese dog.

Punching the button on the soy dispenser for the cheese dog, he grabbed a 2 liter cup and filled it with SooFrosty™Berry Strawberry slush and as he had a connection to the matrix here, began checking out the digital books at Bernice and Mobies virtual bookstore.

The crazy old guy had given up on Matto and was badgering the clerk now. He waved his hands and banged on the glass booth. In a better neighborhood, the clerk would have already pushed the PanicButton™ and would have authorities on the way. Here though, the clerk just flipped him the bird and laughed from the safety of the 8cm bullet proof glass.

Matto had just decided to purchase “Shatner's Complete Book of Famous Quotes” from the bookstore when the Old man clambered atop the Condom dipenser and started hollering. Amused, Matto turned his earbuds down to enjoy the show.

“AND ,BEHOLD, HIS WRATH SHALL BE AS A GREAT STORM!! THUNDER AND LIGHTNING SHALL STRIKE THE UNBELEIVERS AND DEATH SHALL WALK WITH THE LION OF JUDAH . THE SINNERS WILL BE BROUGHT LOW WITH HIS BLAZING SWORD AND THE SEAS SHALL BOIL!!!” The scrawny figure screamed and flailed his arms. Matto turned back to the AR window and hit the download button for his new book just as the loonie exploded, lightning bounced around and arched throughout the building and then the lights went out.

Matto regained his senses sometime later. Shaking his head, he looked around at the convienence store. The lights flickered on and off. The old man was no where to be seen. The SPU spit out his meal, He refilled his drink and walked to the counter. In the booth, the clerk sat, aparently catatonic. Matto tipped his cup at him and said
”Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens...JRR Tolkien” He furrowed his brow for a second, took a bite of the dog and shrugging his shoulders walked through the open, shattered front door and stepped over the broken glass and into the night

[Combat Mage]

@Branmac: Actually Feral is still a teenager and scrawny and slim for an ork although he is pretty tall. So he wouldn't need that much space. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Saint Sithney]

As for pinning the street address down, you can make the roll, yes, but finding data might be a pain in the hoop. The commercial district was already being abandoned pre-crash.

So, am I looking at a Hidden or Actively Hunted and Erased - threshold 24 or should it be Limited Interest or Not Publicized - threshold 12?
Also, applying the -2 DP modifier for Obscure data?

I figure, at worst, I can pull up some overhead and street level images of the site, so I could beam everyone's com a picture of the place with exits and fire escapes highlighted by the time we hit the scene.

Mostly I want an opportunity to pin down how you want to do extended tests, and, on that note, do you want to do the receding dice pool, where one less die is used each roll, or the regular dice pool?

Anyway, rolling to get the street address at the blaze.
4 Intuition + 1 Regional Knowledge + 4 Homeground = [3,5,6,6,6,6,2,3,3] = (5)
Threshold 2 - Detailed Knowledge, so three over threshold on the test to remember details about the burning building.
Woooo! What do I win?
Things I'd hope to remember include: Dimensions of the building, open spaces or lots of small rooms, where do the squatters generally congregate?

Vasari's extended Data Search test. Browse +6 Agent +2 Obscure -2

[ Spoiler ]

6d6.hits(5) → [3,3,5,4,1,2] = (1)
6d6.hits(5) → [6,6,3,6,6,1] = (4)
6d6.hits(5) → [1,2,3,2,2,1] = (0)
6d6.hits(5) → [1,1,2,5,5,4] = (2)
6d6.hits(5) → [5,5,6,6,6,2] = (5)
6d6.hits(5) → [4,2,4,2,5,3] = (1)

So, Public Knowledge stuff shows up after 4 minutes, Unpublicized Info shows up in 5 minutes, and no Hidden info is found.
Hopefully I can throw a data packet the team's way by the time that we're talking about charging into a burning building.

Or, if we're doing a (dumb >;p) diminishing dice pool, that's a Critical Glitch after 4 minutes (did I mention diminishing DP is dumb?) resulting in an aborted search. Oh Well!

[Digital Heroin]

Ok so I am currently in Hope B.C. with a dead alternator and no cable for my netbook... I may be net ready over the next few days, but I can guarantee nothing.

[Digital Heroin]

Still road dead, but with at least net access. I'm trying to catch up on things, and hopefully everyone's still cool. I'll have answers for OOC questions, and IC thread postage as soon as I can gather my thoughts and shake off the nagging headache I've got going.

[Digital Heroin]

I know that the diminishing pools may sound like a dumb deal, but given the aim of the game from square one was grit, and technology is not always friendly in the Barrens, I'm partial to them for the time being. If they turn out to be a pain in the ass, and grit gives way to futility, I will re-consider.

That said, four minutes is still an eternity in this situation, and even the RV would be as close as possible to the scene by then. The saving grace in this case, the floor plan should be quite evident to anyone who sees it. Standard two story junk motel. Doors to all the rooms in front, tiny windows in back. The office has a door out back as well, which Lucky will be the most likely to see, but that whole side of the bottom floor is aflame. There are two sets of stairs to the second story walkways. One of them, on the office side, is on fire.

Best reference shot I could find was this: Motel 6

The other side of the building would be almost a mirror of the front, save for the office (the brick corner).

Micky's contact call has been noted, but for the time being is in the airways.

[Combat Mage]

How much later than the poeple on bikes do we (in the van) arrive? If there's still people in the burning house when Feral get's to the scene he would try to help by levitating some out if possible.

[Saint Sithney]

I know that the diminishing pools may sound like a dumb deal, but given the aim of the game from square one was grit, and technology is not always friendly in the Barrens, I'm partial to them for the time being. If they turn out to be a pain in the ass, and grit gives way to futility, I will re-consider.

Fair Deuce. I'll still post full rolls, (since there's no way I know of to auto-reduce the pools in the roller,) but I'll annotate the hits for diminishing. You might want to tweak thresholds for tasks from pre-anniversary books, since they didn't account for DDP. As it stands, you're likely to see people with 9 dice glitch out on any extended task beyond simple. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif) Anyway, let's give it a shake, eh?

[Saint Sithney]

I just realized something.
DH, when you said 2 story , were you talking about US style, or UK style? I forgot that in the UK they think of the ground floor and the first floor as separate, so the first story is one story up. I'm not sure if that's even relevant, but I'm trying to get my mental picture right.

[Combat Mage]

I'm doing a few levitation cast rolls here, trying to get the people on the balcony down to safety. Just tell me what additional rolls I need to make.

Casting Pool: Magic 5 + Spellcasting 5 + Power Focus 1 = 11 Dice
Drain Pool: Willpower 5 + Charisma 4 + Focused Concentration 1 = 10 Dice

Casting Levitate Force 3:
11d6.hits(5) → [6,2,6,6,6,2,3,6,3,6,3] = (6) Limited to 3 hits due to force
Drain = 2S
10d6.hits(5) → [4,3,6,4,3,6,6,1,3,5] = (4) No Drain

Casting Levitate Force 3:
11d6.hits(5) → [1,6,6,5,5,6,5,3,3,5,1] = (7) Limited to 3 hits due to force
Drain = 2S
10d6.hits(5) → [1,6,6,5,3,2,5,1,4,6] = (5) No Drain

Casting Levitate Force 3:
11d6.hits(5) → [2,3,1,4,4,1,4,3,4,6,4] = (1) 1 Hit
Drain = 2S
10d6.hits(5) → [1,2,2,1,5,3,6,2,1,4] = (2) No Drain

Casting Levitate Force 3:
11d6.hits(5) → [6,4,1,6,3,2,3,5,3,4,6] = (4) Limited to 3 hits due to force
Drain = 2S
10d6.hits(5) → [1,4,1,1,1,4,1,2,5,4] = (1) Taking 1S

[BlackHat]

Using the rule for buying hits (4 dice = 1 hit), you can probably assume you can soak 2S damage with 10 dice (saving a lot of rolling and linking) at least unless the GM says otherwise.
Might want to consider the same thing when casting if 2 hits would be enough to lift someone (not sure if that is the case here or not).