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

[Seth]

Its a nice little spell called "Great ghost dance", except its a European version of that. Many of the participants will give their life force powering up military magical might.

[sabs]

Wow.. uh.. I'm going to want to figure out a way to sabotage this thing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Or is stealing the Bird of Hope good enough?

[sabs]

So do we have alternates in place? That still want to play? If so, then I'd be okay with doing some magic and having a reality warp that replaces Arlen with who ever someone makes. Ambrose is tougher to replace, but he also basically never played, so if we have a 2nd player wanting to join.. we could do some magic and do a regex search and replace (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[pbangarth]

Mandala switching the briefcases using Psychokinesis

Enable the power: (no point using EDG, as his current Force limits his AGI to 5)

Magic 5 + WIL 7 = 12 dice ==> 5 HITS

OK, AGI and STR are both at the current maximum of 5.

Move fake briefcase into place: (Hmmm.... probably Palming would be the Skill here. Mandala doesn't have it, and I didn't do the Skill switch earlier. It seems unfair to do it now!)

AGI 5 -1 (default from Palming) -2 (using Psychokinesis) + 5 EDG (no kidding!) = 7 dice, exploding 6s
==> 2 HITS

Well, it's a good thing the bad guys are also under Hitler's Enthralling Performance effect, huh?

Move Hitler's briefcase to our location: (use EDG here too)

7 dice, exploding 6s ==> 1 HIT

Are we having fun, yet?

[sabs]

You're supposed to be this amazingly Spirit thing. And yet, he gains!

Have I mentioned that your JOB is on the line? Do you want me to put you back where I found you. Alone, Friendless, Unemployed, in GREENLAND.

[Seth]

Or is stealing the Bird of Hope good enough?

The bird of hope is a key component. If you remember your (history??) when the great ghost dance began it was started in what was basically a concentration camp. The government had decided to execute them all. That is a very similar position to the Jews in WWII, which is a good place to find the bird of hope (which can only be found by one that has lost all hope).

This is of course not Canon, but I thought it was consistent, and ties in well with this story

[Seth]

So do we have alternates in place? That still want to play? If so, then I'd be okay with doing some magic and having a reality warp that replaces Arlen with who ever someone makes. Ambrose is tougher to replace, but he also basically never played, so if we have a 2nd player wanting to join.. we could do some magic and do a regex search and replace

I am currently working 6000 miles from home, and doing crazy hours. I'll be back Sunday evening, so I will start a new round of recruits then (For recruiting you need to be able to respond multiple times a day I think). I have a plan for the reality warp...a nasty evil plan...so don't worry about that.

Well, it's a good thing the bad guys are also under Hitler's Enthralling Performance effect, huh?

Good news for you: Hitler got 6 successes, and it affected the spirit too...so anyone looking for the briefcase will need at least 7 successes....

[Sephiroth]

Do we know what the magical abilities/functions of the Bird of Hope are (mechanically), so that we can do a little more with it at the appropriate time than just remove it to cripple the Great European Ghost Dance?

[Seth]

The bird of hope has at least four main functions.

• Those who possess it (or find it) can never loose hope again (congratulations Marduk).
• In can be used as the focus for the great ghost dance (you are reading instructions on how to do that now)
• Its song is so beautiful that evil cannot bear to be in its presence (whatever that means).
• It can be used to find the Holy Grail, which is a direct telephone to higher powers

[pbangarth]

The bird of hope has at least four main functions.

• Its song is so beautiful that evil cannot bear to be in its presence (whatever that means).

!!!
This bird is not in our possession at the time of the pyramid infiltration, is it? The pyramid with a nasty Horror thing in it somewhere.

And even if it isn't with us, this rings a bell. Isn't music somehow anathema to the Horrors? Forgive my ignorance of all things Earthdawn. I'm just brainstorming for a character who has a fair to middling Artisan Skill.

[Seth]

The bird of hope cannot be constrained, and you will have possession of it only for a short while. This means that you won't have it in the pyramid. It can only be found by one that has lost all hope (so Marduk won't be able to find it again).

You suspect (strongly) that most music is anathema to horrors, and that the song of this bird would be particularly unpleasant to them.

[Sephiroth]

I see what you did there, Seth. We as Immortals wouldn't happen to have heard of a certain Thayla before, would we? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Seth]

...curses...found out...

The bird of hope isn't Theyla's voice. But for all you know it would have the same effect. For the uninitiated, sometime around 2050 (I think) Harlequin undertook a crazy hard astral quest to acquire a song bird that he leaves in the astral metaplanes to scare the horrors away. Dunkelzahn was not impressed (Theyla failed to keep the horrors away in the past), so basically committed suicide to do a better job of keeping the horrors away (that's a two sentence summary of a complex plot).

[Aria]

I'm kind of back now...will try and catch up and post towards the beginning of next week (my game too... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) )

As a thought on the flashbacks...if we aren't going to run them concurrently with the pyramid thread then could we make it a single thread from now on? It's very satisfying to have a long thread going (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I've also just bought the adept mini rules thing from DriveThru...are we too late for that respec now Seth (not that I've really got time for that and everything else I need to catch up on after no internet for a week (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) )

Cheers

A

[Seth]

I am traveling for the next 36 hours. I haven't bought the rules yet so give me a week to read them. See you all in a couple of days

[Aria]

No problem...I've looked them over and I don't think it will change Ryl in any way for the moment...

...I had a thought about our 'past' experiences...are we assuming (from my dimly remembered Earthdawn lore) that at various times in our looooong lives we have 'rewritten' our personal patterns to change our skills? That would explain why I'm now a hacker with relevant powers that wouldn't have existed in the past...?!? I guess in that case I'd like to use the new adept rules to create past versions of Ryl when she was a troubadour/spy of sorts...I don't think they are vastly overpowered.

Until I sort this in my mind I'm not really sure what Fraulein Klien can actually do, other than perhaps resist the enthralling performance from Mr Hitler

[Seth]

Well I am back from lots of travelling now, so I can devote more time to this story. (That's not actually true, I am still travelling but at least I don't have to work 15 hour days (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ).

For all of you that are crowded round Mr Hitler and listening to the briefing, I will remind you that there is a tick tock tick tock bomb about to arrive moment. The bomb is a chemical fuse of 10 minute +/- 1 minute. You have somewhere between 3 and 5 minutes before the bomb goes bang.

I'll wait a couple of days for you lot to decide if you want to do anything then its ba ba boom time.

[pbangarth]

For all of you that are crowded round Mr Hitler and listening to the briefing, I will remind you that there is a tick tock tick tock bomb about to arrive moment. The bomb is a chemical fuse of 10 minute +/- 1 minute. You have somewhere between 3 and 5 minutes before the bomb goes bang.

I'll wait a couple of days for you lot to decide if you want to do anything then its ba ba boom time.

Can we assume, then, that Mandala's briefcase switch went off unnoticed?

[Seth]

Can we assume, then, that Mandala's briefcase switch went off unnoticed?

No one seems to have responded.... I should have made that clear before

[Alyena]

Hi All,

Sorry that I haven't been posting, things have been very hectic here. My niece had a fire in her flat and has been staying with me for last 10 days or so, with all the chaos of insurance claims and finding somewhere new!

Glad to see that Mandala has managed to swap the briefcases.
Now all we have to do is get out of the room, get the key, figure out how to open the door, get the Bird of Hope and get out of the building, all before the bomb goes off. Simple!

Step 1: Get out of room.
I can mob mind someone in the room to interrupt, full of apologies, saying that a message has come in. The top line has been decoded as a flash priority, his eyes only, from the front. As soon as the rest is decoded it will be rushed to him. They could suggest that perhaps it would be a good idea to continue our briefing later? Hitler looks a bit distracted, so may not notice that the 'messenger' has been in the room all along.
Hopefully this will get us dismissed and buy us a few minutes before anyone goes looking for the rest of the urgent message.

A less subtle idea would be to mob mind everyone else to hold Hitler down while we leave. One of many downsides to this is that 'Queenie' will realise that magic was done and come asking awkward questions.

[Big Fella]

Well my plan is simple add on to Alyena's idea:

• Alyena does the mind control
• I smack anyone who is not affected
• and Hitler as well just because...
• We exit the room stage left
• Loot the treasure
• Pick up lots of bling.
• The room goes bang.
• We all live happily ever after.

[sabs]

How about we mind control everyone, pop a cap in his head, and move on.

Though I suspect, we can't really kill Hitler (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Sephiroth]

I think it'd be safer not to use any spells or violence if we can help it. With mob mind, it'll only last for a few seconds, unless it's at a high force, in which case it will still only last for around 20 seconds and everyone in the room (including the spirit, and we still don't know whether that spirit is summoned or free - and if summoned, who summoned it) and their grandma will notice it. Noticing spellcasting has a threshold of 6-the Force of the spell, remember. The kind of Force we'd need to use for mob mind would be about as difficult to notice as a neon sign stapled to your eyeball.

I think smooth-talking would be the safest and best way out of the room. I like Alyena's idea, it looks like we could adapt it to make it work without mindraping someone. I think that as a high-ranking general, Henning von Tresckow might be able to put forward some suggestions to get him to send us out of the room (although, regrettably, Fearghas doesn't have the 12 Charisma he usually has because of the mana ebb (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif) ). I'll give it some thought in the next day or two..

[Seth]

Go for it Sephiroth.

If you can Charisma + Ettiquette :
2 successes: Rearrange where people are in the room...explain that the current layout is not quite optimal, and if you were all positioned differently the training would go better
3 successes: Arrange for a private one on one with Hitler (and his guards), everyone else waiting outside

You can aim for anything else. The reason the numbers are low is that Hitler is very happy with you all, and is dreaming of his glorious future.

[sabs]

how would enthralling performance and con work in this situation? Marduk is a fast talker, and can lecture with the best of them. Though I think the idea is to get out, not to enthrall everyone into staring at him. Mmmm...