OOC- Shadow's Dawn: Diving into the past Options

[Seth]

Dannrhil is hard! (remember I have a rules mod that you add your biggest mental stat to resist possession) 6 successes
His new stats as a puppet (I'm capping at his augmented stats: I am aware that this is a hotly contested point in the main forums...) woo...scary combat monster: I need to play a drake with possession!

Str. Capped at 15
Body. Capped at 15
Agility. 13
Reaction. 11

Base claw damage 10
Physical armour 12, Mystic hardened armor 6
Immunity to normal weapons 14

Note that it's obvious the guards have magical weapons, although the guests don't

[pbangarth]

The response to your stunball:

• They are all guests at the Embassy Ball, and are fairly warded against magic 1, 4, 1, 3, 2, 2
• Most of them are rocked back, and shriek in shock, one of them sneers at your pathetic magics and wielding a large book comes stamping towards you.

@Marduk and Mandala:
The reading room is quite big, and is normal in low tech societies it has few seats (you stand to read in this culture). There is a doorway further into the building, you suspect there are guards on the other side of it.
Mandala <--- gone
Marduk <--- still to roll
Harliquin Guests - 6: 8 <--- most now going even later, all but 1 badly hurt

Pathetic magics? Ouch. Even the least hurt one got 11S damage!!

Yeah? Well, well... I sneer at his damn book! Uh...it's not a magic book, is it? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

Thanks for clarifying the dream points thing. This should be fun!

[sabs]

Sorry I've been crazy busy at work last 2 weeks.

alright here's some rolls:

1) Ritual Sorcery: 13d6: 4 5 4 5 6 3 4 6 2 3 4 5 4 (5) hits
2) Initiative: 6 + 6d6: 2 4 6 3 3 5 (2) : 8
3) I'm using the Earthdawn Wizard "Arcane Muttering" power basically (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Sephiroth]

Examples of minor changes:

• You can control what a room looks like

*raises hand shyly* Does the introduction of non-Euclidean geometry count as a minor change? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/twirl.gif)
Also, do the dream points count as our Edge, or do we have both dream points and refreshed Edge for the flashback?

• I have to sort out Fearghas's spear (history etc, the stats are as now + some cool stuff if/when he awakens it)

Knowing the history will help me figure out an appropriate way to awaken it.

Phantasm roll that I will write up later today, as I'm a bit rushed atm: Magic 6 + Spellcasting 6 + Illusion 2 = 14d6 = 4 hits

[Sephiroth]

In addition to my above post:

1) I forgot to include dice from the Power focus for the ritual spellcasting. That got 2 hits. So my dream points total is 6 + 4 from Marduk.
2)@sabs- Did you remember about the +4 dice from the Saintly Golden Beauty domain? Also I lol'd at the dread pirate coat thing. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif)

[Seth]

I'm still suffering from sleep deprivation after saving the world (20 times or so) over the weekend.
I'll do some basic question answering today, then check where we are in the rounds and continue posting tomorrow

• *raises hand shyly* Does the introduction of non-Euclidean geometry count as a minor change? It is a classic in dreams that you are climbing the endless stairway, or trapped in the endless hallway. Its a major change (say 2..3 dream points, depending on how well you weave it into the story)
• Edge. Refreshed in the past
• "Yeah? Well, well... I sneer at his damn book! Uh...it's not a magic book, is it?" Of course not. He's using an attack of wills (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ork.gif) willpower + banish to hit. Charisma damage...and he's a guest at an embassy ball. Bound to have low willpower and charisma.

@Aria
Cool post on the Storm Swift. You can carry on with your Storm Swift thread, and we won't attempt to synchronize the time lines until you meet at the end. I suspect you will have your own hassle to deal with.

The weather conditions are of course stormy (on the earlier 5 point scale, that's 4 out of 5) Many ships would struggle in these conditions, but the Storm Swift thrives. The wind directions are turrbulent (what with the giant swirling clouds, but the good thing for you is that mostly they are going anti-clockwise around your target destination. Thus the winds will mostly be at 90 degrees to your line of travel and you will have absolute maximum speed conditions.

Can you you make a leadership roll for your Master At Arms to prepare the ship (most of your NPCs have 6 die for things they average at, 8 for things they are good at. Your master at arms can have 10 die in leadership - specializing in his crew).

As you fly can I have a visual and assenssing perception roll?

@Sabs
Bad news for you: the arcane muttering is mostly usable pre or out of combat (its mostly the sort of power to use on guards when they stay "stop who goes there: friend or foe". People in combat ignore it and try to smash you with their nasty weapons or spells. You can either edit your post (as your character knew) or I'll reduce their attacks to reflect the minor effect the spell had.

[Sephiroth]

• *raises hand shyly* Does the introduction of non-Euclidean geometry count as a minor change? It is a classic in dreams that you are climbing the endless stairway, or trapped in the endless hallway. Its a major change (say 2..3 dream points, depending on how well you weave it into the story)

Sorry if this is kind of a dumb question, but what generally would you as GM be looking for?

[Seth]

@Fearghas

Sorry if this is kind of a dumb question, but what generally would you as GM be looking for?

Not sure how to answer that. I've run this system on a tabletop game and it was lots of fun. There was some discussion over costs which doesn't translate to play by forum. So if you want to manipulate the dream, have a go and I'll tell you the cost. Turning a staircase into an infinite stairway with no exits is traditional, and costs 2..3 pts. I'd read the post and decide.


@General
I note that this (and all threads) seem to have gone slow. Aria commented on the same in his thread. In this thread's case I suspect it is because the action paused, and we moved to the past (with me taking a week extra to actually do the move), and we are all stepping gingerly

I suspect this go slow mainly because it's summer break, so I will do my best not to succumb to the same malaise any more. I don't want the thread to die (I am enjoying the story, and the interaction with you all and would like it to continue), and I hope it picks up again after the holidays.

Back to the plot: My understanding of where we are (sleep deprivation is mostly over, replaced by memory loss)

@Aria:
Heading back to the Storm Swift. Needs get his Master At Arms to prepare the boat, and make a perception test

@Fearghas and Alyena:
IP 1. Cunning illusions, Possessed Dannrhil, my go to do stuff
Dannrhil will be engaging in melee combat with the guests.
Fearghas, cool illusion. It will probably work on the guards
The Singer is casting Mob Mind and saw through the illusion (she has cool adept powers) so please roll Willpower + Counterspell. Fearghas I suspect you are supporting Alyena in this. I'm not sure how this works in Shadowrun (in pnp we usually just take the biggest Counterspell, but I believe that they might stack in some way)

@Marduk and Mandala
IP 1: Big blast from Mandala, waiting for Marduk to decide if to change arcane muttering or go with a penalty to hit

@Boris and Immortal Li
I think its Immortal Li's go.

Note that as we are all in separate fights it's OK to get out of sync. I will ensure that we resync when ready to meet at Hall of Two Axes.

[Alyena]

The Singer is casting Mob Mind and saw through the illusion (she has cool adept powers) so please roll Willpower + Counterspell. Fearghas I suspect you are supporting Alyena in this. I'm not sure how this works in Shadowrun (in pnp we usually just take the biggest Counterspell, but I believe that they might stack in some way)

Ok Seth will let you adjust this as you like but my base Willpower + Counterspell = 18 dice

2 successes 2!!

Use a dream point to re-roll (the many) fails

4 successes

6 in total, now seems a good time to remind you that Alyena has Arcane Arrester and hope Fearghas can add (lots) to the roll!

[sabs]

I'm going to go with the Penalty hit (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
maybe it'll make them less likely to resist Mandala's Big Blast

[Sephiroth]

It'd be a Teamwork test, I believe. Since Alyena already rolled, I guess that would make Fearghas the primary actor in the Counterspelling test, so he would roll his dicepool for Counterspelling plus the hits that Alyena got. It might be limited to Fearghas's counterspelling skill of 4, I'm AFB, but it doesn't matter in the below roll, as the last two dice weren't hits.

Willpower 5 + Counterspelling 4 + Talisman 1 + Alyena's hits 6 - Sustaining penalty 2 = 14d6 = 5 hits +1 auto success from Steel Thought adept power, so 6 hits in all. Hopefully that should be fine enough for Fearghas. Alyena has Arcane Arrester so she'll almost definitely be fine.

[Seth]

@Fearghas/Alyena
Curse you red baron... The singer gets 5 successes. and you throw off the desire to dance.

@Sabs
The first 5 are vs Marduk, The second 5 cs Mandala. With the minus's for being stun bolted, and the arcane muttering its
vs Marduk 1, 2, 1, 3, 2 These are all 3S attacks.
vs Mandala 1, 1, 4, 1, 0 These are all Attack of wills with 4S damage.
Stomp stomp stomp.

@Boris/Immortal Li
I'll put that combat on pause

[sabs]

What kinds of attacks are these btw? Physical hits? and do I suffer minuses for addditional people in melee range?

[pbangarth]

What kinds of attacks are these btw? Physical hits? and do I suffer minuses for addditional people in melee range?

Yes, they are beating on us with books, etc. Marduk gets his armor, but Mandala doesn't because of the Attacks of Will.

The attackers get bonuses for multiple buddies, but I assume Seth has taken that into account. Our defenses suffer as well, though, with -1 die for each successive attack after the first. Sucks to take on a mob. I want to check out what kind of defenses kept these puppies up after that Stunball, and watch out for that kind of mojo later. And a Will-full bunch they are, too!

Attack #1 (1 hit):
Defense: REA 4 + Dodge 1 = 5 dice ==> 2 HITS... dodged it.

Attack#2 (1 hit):
Defense: 5 -1 = 4 dice ==> 3 HITS ... dodged it.

Attack #3 (4 hits):
Defense: 5-2 = 3 dice ==> 0 HITS... figures.
Use a Dream Manipulation point as an Edge: 9 dice, repeating 6s: 4 HITS... dodged it.

Attack #4 (1 hit):
Defense 5-3 = 2 dice ==> 1 HIT... dodged it.

Attack #5 (0 hits): no need to dodge.

[sabs]

Reaction + Acrobatics + close combat = 6d6

Attack #1: 4 4 6 6 2 3 (2)
Dodged
Attack #2: 1 6 5 5 1 (3)
Dodged
Attack #3: 2 1 6 6 (2)
Dodged
Attack #4: 2 5 2 (1)
Not dodged
Attack #5: 5 5 (2)
Not Dodged

Soak:
Attack #4
11d6: 2 5 6 5 6 5 4 1 4 1 5 (6) 0 Damage
Attack #5
11d6: 6 1 4 1 5 4 5 5 1 2 3 (3) 0 damage

[Seth]

but I assume Seth has taken that into accoun

Actually I forgot. Curses. Arcane muttering was obviously doing a better job than I anticipated! They had serious minus's from the arcane muttering and being blasted by a stun ball, hence their rather ineffectual showing. Still these are basically a zombie horde controlled by an external force, and clearly he needs to get his act together!

I believe that Marduk and Mandala are free to act now. The mind controlled book readers will be attacking (next combat round) with renewed fervor now that they have remembered they get multiple attacker bonus's.

[sabs]

well that's not good.
Holy crap i'm amazingly ineffectual in combat.

I've got combat sense, and mana bolt, and not a single sustaining focus (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Aria]

Ryl’s perception 11D = 4 hits

I didn’t take assensing as I assumed as a dual natured creature I’d just use perception – that may be an error on my part?!?

In drake form I have +2D to surprise tests if that becomes relevant…

Crew roll 10D = 2 hits

[pbangarth]

Well, Mandala still has one IP this combat turn, and it looks like it could be a risky one.

Our assailants are mixed in with the two of us, so I don't see how I can Stunball them without including Marduk! However.... Marduk is covered by Mandala's Counterspelling 5 beefed with his Shielding 4, teamworked with Marduk's Counterspelling 4 (say gives one more die) so Marduk could add 10 dice to his WIL of 7 to resist the spell. That should be able to deal with Mandala's Spellcasting pool of 13.

Waddaya say, sabs?

Hell, we've been working together for... ever. We've probably done this a thousand times!

[sabs]

And I probably have a strong memory of the time it totally backfired..
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I think it was during a Ball in Thera.
Lets go for it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
Not to mention I've got a counterspelling sword, AND a shield that provides mystic armour.
Marduk is hard to cast spells on in the old days.

[sabs]

Ryl’s perception 11D = 4 hits

I didn’t take assensing as I assumed as a dual natured creature I’d just use perception – that may be an error on my part?!?

In drake form I have +2D to surprise tests if that becomes relevant…

Crew roll 10D = 2 hits

Assenssing is the ability to understand the auras you see.

[pbangarth]

And I probably have a strong memory of the time it totally backfired..
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I think it was during a Ball in Thera.
Lets go for it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
Not to mention I've got a counterspelling sword, AND a shield that provides mystic armour.
Marduk is hard to cast spells on in the old days.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/notworthy.gif) OK, then!

2nd IP for Mandala:

Mandala moves a foot or two at lightning speed so he can see all of the assailants... and Marduk.

Force 8 Stunball 13 dice ==> 7 HITS

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

Oh, shit. Mandala has 3 ED stun from using the matrix, so take off the last die, which was a hit. Only 6 hits.

Spellcasting Drain is 5S
Resistance: 19 dice ==> 7 HITS no Drain.

Matrix usage Drain is 4S
Resistance 10 Dice ==> 4 HITS no Drain.

[ Spoiler ]

Edge 8/8 - In the dream, anyway. Seeing as Mandala doesn't have the 'protection' of bound services in this dream, I may want to hang on to these a bit.
Dream Manipulation points 8/10

[sabs]

So before any help from Mandala:
Counterspelling pool: 18d6: 5 5 1 6 3 5 6 3 1 2 1 5 5 4 5 2 6 1 (8) hits.
If that's not enough for some reason, Madruk also has 11 points of mystic armor :)

[pbangarth]

I'm going to be away from computer until Monday night or Tuesday. If actions progress during that time, Mandala will take lead from Marduk.

[Aria]

Assenssing is the ability to understand the auras you see.

So I can see it in the astral but I'm not up to interpreting the emotional state etc of the aura...guess I can live with that (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)