This is the Out of Character thread for Act 0 of my Twisted Minds campaign.

In Character Thread
Recruitment Thread (for reference only)

Cast of Characters:
Spook, played by Jaid
Bubbles, played by DireRadiant
Dual, played by BlackHat
Snapp, played by GingerKid
Codger, played by Toptomcat

As stated in the recruitment thread, there’s no rush to post to the IC and OOC threads yet; if you still want to tinker with your character, feel free to do so. Assuming I’ve already approved your character, once you post in the IC thread, consider that character finalized though!

Toptomcat, I know you are still working on Codger a bit. I'm assuming you keep the contact who's call I posted in the In Character thread -- if you don't, I'll edit the post and have one of your other contacts call.

Rules:

What goes in the In Character thread:

The In Character thread should just be descriptions of attempted actions, conversations, and descriptions of results – the later will generally be provided by me.

What goes in this thread:

Everything that doesn’t go in the In Character thread goes here. All die rolls and rules discussions and so on take place here, in the Out of Character thread. Die rolls ugly up the suspension of disbelief I try to keep going in the IC thread, so keep them here only please.

Spoilers
What I post in spoiler tags is only for the person whose name is next to the spoiler section. For example:

Fred


Should only be read by Fred. (Well, except for in this example, of course.)

Formatting:

Honestly, formatting isn’t that important. Looking at other games here, I find some things that improve readability – announcing the time, location, and character name at the top of the post in a different color; using italics for thoughts, removing signatures from posts, etc. But really, I’ll forget at least as often as everyone else, so it’s not that big of deal. I’ll make an effort to stick to the above suggestions, but make no promises.

Die Rolls:

I use the “Omniscient” system of die rolling. That is, it’s like the honor system, where it’s up to you to be honest in rolling and reporting your results – except that I claim to be able to read your mind and hit you with lightning bolts if you’re naughty about it.

As far as reporting the results goes, you can list each die in the order it’s rolled, or just the total number of dice and hits. This way if I find there are too many dice (modifiers I “forgot” to mention or the like) I can either just remove some from the end, or roll to see if the die I remove was a success or not. If you use a die rolling program, don’t bother to list all the dice if it sorts them; that just won’t help me any more than only reporting hits and the number of die rolled.

It would also help if you list the modifiers you expect with your roll, so I know where the numbers came from. I know your skills and attributes, so you don’t need to list those. Just things like:

Smartlink +2, called shot -2, medium range -1.

And of course, if you’re looking for a die rolling program, I recommend mine (if the link still works anyway)

Post Guidelines

Dumpshock forum rules of course apply – stick to their posting guidelines. It’s their forum after all. Above all, be respectful of each other – I don’t anticipate this being a problem.

Above all, have fun, and good luck!

As I said in the recruitment thread, I don't like the ammunition rules as published. Here is the ammo table I will be using instead:

looking at that table, it looks like flechette and gel ammo give either ballistic and impact armor, or double impact armor... are either of those correct (and if so, which one) or is it just impact?

Double impact, just like the "old days" of SR 1-3.

oh, also... at this point, should we be spoiler-blocking our posts from one another in the IC thread, since we haven't really met, or is it not really a concern?

You can if you want, but I'm not really concerned. The group is already sharing stories and descriptions in the recruitment thread, so there wouldn't be much point in "enforcing" spoiler tags. If we start spoiler-tagging everything that your character does privately (random thoughts, actions not seen by others, etc) it could easily get out of hand.

I'll continue to use them as GM when relaying "privileged information" -- that is, things it will be up to your character to decide if and how to share. That's mostly things like conversations with contacts and perception checks.

right then...

well, first things first, in that case, i'll have Robby switch out encrypt for browse, and do a search. if possible, 'he' should still be performing regular sweeps of my commlink as well (i am guessing you will want to roll those in secret, as it will only matter anyways if there is actually something to spot, and it's less pointless rolling that way. if not, let me know). oh, and for the record, everything that isn't public on my commlink should be encrypted. default mode is hidden, unless in a high security zone.

assuming no modifiers:

N, Y, N, N, N, Y

[edit] just realised i need 1s as well... and those should probably be H and M, not Y and N. in any event, there was only one 1. [/edit]

dunno if two checks are required for separate information, let me know and i'll do another set of rolls.

One check should be fine since what you are looking for is just different types of information on the same club.

I think I'm going to break from RAW in this area slightly too -- for a general search of information (such as rolling to see what you can find out about a club or contact) we'll just do one data search roll. The rules specify making pretty much every data search test an extended test, but for "downtime" periods, extended tests with one minute intervals don't make much sense. Otherwise, someone with only average skills and average programs could still very easily find even extremely well hidden information from anywhere on the net pretty much during the commercial breaks of their favorite trid.

For looking for a specific piece of information, we'll use the extended test rules still. But for cases like this, where you just want to find out everything you can about the club, we'll treat this like legwork and just use a single data search roll.

Oh, and already a mistake on my part. Jaid, the meeting is at 3 o'clock tomorrow, so you have a bit of time if there are other preparations you want to make. That's the hard part with writing 5 different calls as one post... sometimes you miss something vital in one of them.

Edit:

Bah. It looks like my copy and paste missed a couple of people's sections...

Blackhat, same thing, your contact tells you tomorrow at 3.

Toptomcat, I don't even know what happened to the section where your contact tells you when and where the meet is, it just didn't seem to get copied and pasted with the rest. Unfortunately, the judiciuos use of spoiler tags seems to have confused the forum's editor; I can't edit the whole post. I'll post an update with your information.

ok, i'll see if i can edit the post without making it look all weird (ie, making it so you respond to something that never happened). and so long as it's tomorrow at 3 PM, i'll be doing a little conjuring... edit with update in a bit.

[edit]

ok, i'll be doing a separate post for the conjuring. i think i may also have to do some shopping for middle class clothing, which i suspect i do not have in my closet.

anyways, i have to say... you had me wondering for a minute what kind of messed up scenario might happen... i think i may still need to make a composure test when i ask for that contact

anyways, I am presuming a business suit sort of deal will be adequate for the meet, if it's a faux pas let me know. may as well start stocking my closet. which reminds me, starting resources: i'll roll below, or you can do it however you like.

in the interest of saving space (and probably including some information your characters won't know... but i doubt it will be a problem unless you are prone to metagame. even then, with edit it's probably not a problem):


[/edit]

Okay, great. I'll get my act together eventually.

Oh, yea... now I remember the reason for the mistakes:

Posted: Dec 31 2005, 04:51 AM

Hehe. Yep, that's my excuse and I'm stick'n to it.

hmm... perhaps i overloaded him?

heh, maybe i should've done it step-by-step or something lol

Okay, you've got a bound Force 3 spirit of Man with 5 services now. Oh, and one less set of binding materials, of course. By morning, (well, almost noon) when you wake up, you've healed up the drain completely.

Sorry it took me so long to reply; I was watching the thread for new posts instead of edited posts and didn't see it right away. That, and it took a while to type all that

yeah, i can see how that might have taken you a while to type all that out

yeesh, conjuring is such a draining experience...

so, you think the others are gonna sign in anytime soon? i don't want to get to the meet before they even get the call

but then again, i suppose it *is* new year's eve. they must actually have something to do in RL, like going to a party or something ludicrous like that

What? Something to do on a saturday night? New Year's eve even? Something better than hang around online? How silly

And if you're bored, you could always be attacked by something over breakfast. Nothing worse than finding out your scrambled egg substitutes have been replaced some sort of gelatinous monster.

Wow, I feel like we just started, and already our little game is in its second year! My, how time flies.

Happy new year everyone. Except the Chinese, you've got your own thing going and frankly I have enough trouble remembering ONE date system.

*wanders off mumbling about the need for a base-10 time system*

DireRadiant, is the color of the *pop* going to change with the color of the gum, or should we adopt green as the color for onomatopoeia?

Next we'll be Carrolling snicker-snack...

what, you have a monowhip or something?

hmmm... actually, i dunno that monowhips would snicker-snack... although the rest of the description applies i believe

Man 22 posts in two days. I'm trapped away from my apartment, so can't get at the internet as often as I would like until next week. Will make a post this morning... was planning to mention that the Orc forgot to tell me WHEN, and I'll assume its 3am (which, since she called me at 4-5am might not be so strange) but let me know if I am wrong.

I just figure (and so will Dual) that Shadowrunning crap goes down at night, not in the early afternoon... and most of the clubs *he* goes to arn't open at 3 in the afternoon.

As for starting cash - loike I said, stranded for the weekend - so you can either roll it up for me and let me know (I had $30 left over from char-gen... if I can't keep that, or do anything useful with it, I'll assume it was converted into another ARE program - and low lifestyle, so not starting with much).

If you I don't see a responce by the time I get home tomarrow night I'll look up starting cash rules and let you know.

actually, i'm pretty sure it's at 3 pm (that's when i was told anyways).

and you should have 3d6*50 iirc, you can't really do anything with the 30, so you may as well buy something with it.

PM. Sorry, different contacts used differnet styles of time... some in 24-hour format, some not. Yours.. well, forgot to put the time at all I corrected it a few posts down in the this thread, but *still* left off the *M. Ah well, long as I get it all there eventually I suppose...

Okay, sorry about that. I wanted to get the character right before I started play. I'll just catch up and make a post ASAP.

No rush at all; get the character right first. No need to hurry just because we're a talkative bunch here.

yeah, if i get there first, it's probably only 'cause i have oodles of free time atm, and not much to do with it

definitely get your character right first... i don't *think* the thread will collapse into a icky pile of goo just 'cause you wait a bit... although, you never know. Feshy's mind *is* pretty twisted

(you really had me wondering for a bit about the fact that we're meeting 'dirty jimmy' at 'impish delights'. i have a feeling this is gonna be a weird meet, but we'll see... of course, spook hasn't really been to any meets, so i guess it may just be weird to him no matter what )

Shadowland Posts 5 (Pre-2070 Specialization)
Shadowrunning History 5 (Pre-2070 Specialization)
Three hits on the first, two on the second- three if specialization applies. No ones, oddly enough. Either of those two tell me anything about the Johnson or the locale?

I have to say, my choice of venue and Johnson has been most psycologically illuminating. For all you knew with that first post, it was a store that sold pitch forks and sulfur, operated by a proprietor not known to frequently bathe. Yet the conclusions drawn by the group's responses so far have certainly tended in a different direction than that possibility.

perhaps it was my labeling the campaign "twisted minds" -- but I prefer to blame the dark recesses of YOUR minds for this one.

Toptomcat
I posted the results of your knowledge check in the IC thread.

Direradiant
The experimenting in posting style is good -- it'll really help set the mood when your posts are every bit as. . . ah. . . "colorful" as the character

Equipment loadout is typical street plus white noise generator. Palming skill used to conceal gun, clip, second commlink, and knife.

Okay. Go ahead and roll palming now, in case I have to roll perception checks for anyone. Just one roll; I don't want to have to check six different rolls for every perception test.

Three hits, one 1.

Starting cash rolled 5+3+3 = 11 * 50 = 550 nuyen.
The 30 leftover cash will have gone to a a rating 3 datasoft (I'm thinking, one to handle humanoid models and costumes).

Also, is there any way you could email me back the last copy of my character sheet I emailed you? I didn't update my version, so you have the only copy.

Unless stated otherwise, go ahead and assume that my fake-id commlink is running in hidden mode unless the security of the zone requires otherwise. All other commlinks have their wireless turned off (unless, obviously, I am using them).

Loaded with Stealth, Scan, Browse, Exploit, Redirect and an Agent (who has Stealth, Redirect, Exploit, and Edit loaded), Dual will be going about doing a data search (in AR) as he gets himself ready in the morning. He's hoping to find out a little more information on Impish Delights (and possibly locate their "secure" matrix node). He doesn't acutally know anythign about the club (so checking to see what sort fo a place it is is a good idea) but he has some preconcieved ideas that its sort of a run-down titty-bar.

In order to find information on the club: Data Search+Browse (4+5 dice) = 6,2,6,1,5,4,3,3,6 = 4 hits

In order to locate the Impish Delights Matrix Node: Data Search/Computer+Browse (4+5 dice)
Assume its free to find some sort of "public" site, but Dual will also be looking for their "real" node if its connected to the Matrix. Results: 5,4,6,1,6,2,2,6,2 = 4 hits

In order to tell if it would be appropriate/possible to take weapons into that sort of club: Intuition+Security Proceedures check (4+2 dice) = 3,3,6,5,5,3 = 3 hits with possible modifiers if he can use the AR/Matrix information gained above to aid that decision-making process.

Results of your search actions in the IC, and a copy of your character sent.

How about "Virtual Metahuman and Accessory Models" for the datasoft? Could include various body modeling algorithms, and a large library of clothing and props. Good props are a must; it can break the disbelief if, at a party, your girl is holding a very out of place drink because nothing better was available...

Lol, or if she's completely naked because you don't have any clothing models.

Well, presumably they come with at least SOME clothing options, etc. normally. That is, unlesss you buy the g/f chips in a back alleyway from a guy with a name like "Dirty Jimmy."

What are Wednesday early afternoon weather conditions?

Overcast. There was fog that morning, but it's burned off now, leaving the sky grey and the air cold and slightly damp.

Will I need to do a matrix search to get the address for Impish Delights?

No test necessary; I think looking up a business falls under "every day" tasks; so everyone who is not "uneducated" or "incompetent: data search" can find the address easily.

Dual swaps out his Browse for Spoof, and gets rid of Scan entirely. (Current loadout = Stealth, Browse, Exploit, Redirect and an Agent who has Stealth, Redirect, Exploit, and Edit loaded) I actually made a mistake above and had 6 programs running when I only wanted 5. Now its five again, so I am happy.

He Spoofs his datatrail (hacking+Spoof(2) = 9 dice, with results 4,5,2,2,1,5,2,5,2) So he gets 3 hits and only needed 2. He then orders his agent to start probing the target for an exploit that would allow him to gain admin access , as Dual doesn't want to be bored for the next 6+ hours (with an interval of an hour, and threshhold of firewall+6 this will take a while). His agent is running on his commlink (since I havn't accessed their server yet) so I am assuming it can alert me as easily as I am alerted that I have new mail... but if not, he has an edit program in order to message me the details. (Normally he'd do this himself, but against a tity-bar's server, he's not expecting too muc hresistance... however, the place did seem nicer than he thought, and seems like it has a backer, so he wil lbe monitoring the agent's progress in AR during those hours (using a simple action every once in a while to check up on it)

Agent would roll its rating+exploit (8 dice) with the following results
1st hour: 6,4,1,4,5,5,3,6 = 4 hits, 1 one
2nd hour: 2,5,2,3,4,1,3,6 = 2 hits, 1 one
3rd hour: 5,5,5,6,5,6,2,5 = 7 hits!!! no ones
4th hour: 2,6,6,4,4,1,2,6 = 3 hits, 1 one

That amounts to 16 hits, which should be enough to finish within 4 hours... probably within 3 since servers are theoretically limited to rating 6 like everything else.

Wow, that's an amazing roll!

Unfortunately, I rolled pretty good myself. Results in the IC.

DireRadiant
I'll wait to describe the place until everyone has at least posted. Poor GingerKid said he probably wouldn't be able to get back until after the 2nd (today.) He'll be quite surprised that there's two whole new threads and (at this rate) probably about 60 posts to read

No problem from me waiting. Bubbles is not going to do much before the meet anyway.

Maybe I can start doing retrospectives or something if I get really bored.