The order of arrival wasn't important to me at all, but I'll just jump forward to Georges's arrival to get things moving.

Earlier, I specified that I would wait for Mister Juan to let me know if you went to one of the two bars, and which one, and I would bump you forward.
But like, either Vegas OR Mister Juan would be fine, whoever next finds time to post....

BlueRondo and MK Ultra - not asking for a commitment, but once you chat are you planning on linking up with the others, or do you still have your own projects to follow up on?

I was holding off Adamu because MJ and I talked earlier in the day and he was planning on posting.

We decided to hit up Dirty Dicks first, Conall was gonna hand Etain the piece he picked off the kid in the tattoo place and we'd go from there.

Case the place out, see if we can find EJ, and if we can't spot him/his tattoos we're gonna grab a bite to eat

Sorry for the uber delay on our end.

@Vegas - yeah, bite to eat - good RP. And speaking of needs, if you don't get your daily fix by midnight, well, that's the deadline before I call for your willpower test...

I'll post your arrival at Dirty Dick's soon.

EDIT - hey - your ghost factor is gone! I always thought your lack of a tag made you the most elite of all the elite DSers. Gone is your glory! (except in our hearts...)

I hadn't forgotten about her needing/wanting a fix. Looking forward to the post. And yeah, part of me misses the "uniqueness" I had being a ghost in the machine, however that was passed up for my insatiable need to know just how many (or few) post I had really made in the last 5 (ok more like 2 active) years

Oh yeah, this'll be a fun place to spend some time... with the pointy ears and all

I'll post up tomorrow. Too tired tonight

I expected Carla and Krait would link up with the others shortly after meeting at the church, though it's not a problem for me if MK has other plans.

Thought so as well. Getting the whole team together would be nice. As I said before, though, if anyone has anything IC-time-intensive to do first, I allways have planty of stuff to do for Krait.

Well the twins are still going to be at the bar/docks looking for the guy who snatched Esmerelda for a while I'd assume. Plus Carla and Krait are still a few hours ahead of the twins IC'ly.

I have no problem meeting up and getting the team all back together, but not at the expense of glossing over looking for/finding EJ (depending on what Adamu has happen).

I will do my best to push the scene forward with as much speed as I can, but I have to rely on MJ and Adamu to do that as well. I don't want to hold you two up any more than necessary, but I'm sure there are things the two of you can do while waiting on the twins... or something.

Uh, well, with a massive troll ganger involved, doing 'something' might be painfull

Anyway, I took for granted that the twins are first resolving their actions, before ganging up with the rest of us, without glossing over anything important.

I don't think hooking everyone up will be much problem.

Both pairs are in the middle of a scene right now - first we play those out, then I can make things happen time-wise.

Ball is 100% in the twins' court right now. I encourage whichever one of them is online first to move things forward.

Ball will be in BR/MK's court in about five minutes, when I post an IC for Georges. As that conversation continues, MK should have Krait show up as soon as he is ready.

In case it makes any difference to the outcome of spotting or not spotting someone who looks like EJ,

Intuition (4) + Perception (2) - Distraction (2) + Low Light = 4 dice
1 [5] [5] [5] Hits:3

Vegas - your IC clearly set things up for an IC from MJ, so I will wait for him, unless you choose to proceed on your own. Either of you remain free to post.

Your perception test does not turn up anyone that looks like the EJ you saw in the video.

Adamu - If MJ doesn't show up or post soon I'll keep moving forward, or try to at least

Did an unskilled palming check for the pen-twisting with 3 hits, just for fun - by the way, check out youtube on this topic for some cool videos if you like.

Also did 3 perception checks with 8 hits to spot any Los Locos and 5 and 7 hits to look at Bandido and Padre in detail - if I don´t actually see them, I can edit the IC.

@MK - everything looks fine.
Join the meet in the church whenever you think it is appropriate.

You obviously have no trouble spotting the other two gangers. They are pretty much as described earlier. They think you haven't seen them. They are watching you. You doubt they have any implants. They are armed with a variety of cheap street weapons, which they do not try to conceal. If there is any other information you feel you really need, let me know.

Okay everyone - here's my idea of how things may go down, based on what you the players have said you planned on doing.

Now that the twins have decided to leave Dirty Dick's, it is their stated intention to get some dinner and then continue their search for EJ at Humpty's Dump.

Meanwhile, BR and MK have indicated that after their current scene they plan on joining the twins in their search.

So unless people now intend to change those plans, thing should work out nicely.

Twins do dinner and then head for Humpty's.

You have time for any detours or whatever - it can be a lot of RP or just a summary of actions and then telling me what time you want to hit the Dump.

Other two finish your scene at the church and then call twins to find their location and go join them.

I can sync things up easily from there, and everyone can be fully in on the game.

Where exactly are Carla & SP talking - if it´s in the churches main room, please have me arrive at the scene at the ETA? Any chance I can hear them from outside or once I entered the church, even if I can´t understand what they say? (5 hits perception without modifires, except Distraction).

Adamu - does Carla know of any severely mutilated/scared trolls in the barrio (i.e.: might she have any idea who that troll is that Esmeralda saved?)

MK - Carla and St. Pierre are simply in the main hall of the church, probably sitting in a pew by the alter.

No, BlueRondo, you don't know the troll in question. Your photographic memory pretty much confirms you've never seen this individual.

Looks like we are clear for Krait to enter at any time. In fact, it looks like either one of you two could post at this point.

MK - since you say you are still 30 seconds out, instead of right outside the doors, at exactly the time Georges finishes his story, I am going to say that distance + walls = your amplified hearing did not hear the story.

Yep. Just asked in case the pair where still talking, when I reached the front door, but since they are coming outside, it dosn´t matter.

10 hits (2 less for touch and smell) to give the troll a once over, especially looking for cyber, arms and trying to judge his agility and strength.

7 hits to make a good impression on them.



BTW, just in case Ernst talked to G St P before he was zombified.

Adamu

Just to keep this moving forward (I think MJ is still sick, not certain though)....

Approx. how long will it take the twins to get back to the church/apartment from the docks and Dirty Dicks? Once I know that I'll just push us forward.

Sorry for the delay.

Had no idea anyone was ill.

Hang in there, Mister Juan. Be well, feel better, odaijini.

Anyway, it would normally be no more than half an hour from the dock areas near downtown to the barrio north of Sea-Tac. But with shift change going on and rush hour starting up, figure an hour. Half an hour to get back from there up to the vicinity of Humpty's, but then you've got to find it, so another hour total.

Actually - and I'm not trying to railroad anyone here, just going by intentions expressed earlier to all hook up - seems like if you spend an hour getting back to the hood, take the sort of mellow, leisurely dinner the twins might be used to, or maybe do something about "other" needs, or whatever stuff at all you think your characters may want to take care of personally, even a simple nap - anyway, seems like it would be relatively easy to kill a couple of hours and be in the vicinity of the barrio when the others call to hook up.

Then, assuming people are still interested, everyone gets to play in the main action, rather than busy themselves with peripheral errands.

Again, just a crazy thought. Not interested in forcing anything from either pair. If you feel you or your characters have other pressing needs, that is totally up to you all.

@MK Ultra - you detect no sign of any cyber. He is clearly stronger than you - the way an adult is to a child. More agile as well - you get the feeling shaking his hand that in one smooth and effortless motion he could twist your arm around into some sort of heinous joint-pain-lock thing.

Doesn't smell too bad, but all three have alcohol on their breath.

Status Report -

BR & MK free to keep posting.

In about 24 RL hours from this post, I will be doing an IC post that bumps the twins up to Barrio time, allowing everyone to link up and continue the adventure together.

Thanks for the update, Adamu.

Whew! What a nightmare! I typed up that long-ass post twice, and each time near the end I accidentally hit some key or other and the damned computer erased everything I'd done. So for the third time I did it in pieces, just in hopes of getting the damned thing up.

Anyway, Vegas - your high ends at 21:20:00.

After the same thing happened to me a few times, I started to write the posts on wordpad and then coppy paste them into the Reply Window. Sometimes computers are just a big headache :-S

Yeah - I sometimes do that for posts I know will be long.
Of course, I didn't do it this time!

And you are wrong about computers - they are not a headache SOMETIMES, they are a headache ALL THE TIME (says the guy that spends all his free time using one...).

That's why I opted for math instead of computer science.

This thread on life support!

That's right. Never thought I'd have to say it. But this game needs some intervention.

Before going further, let me thank all four of you for some freaking EXCELLENT gaming. By and large, you have all been reliable and high-quality posters, and I have counted myself extremely fortunate to be able to serve you as GM. We have been going strong for 18 months on the strengths that all of us have brought to the table.

And I have every intention of continuing to do so. I have put too much TLC into this game to let it fall by the wayside. Note that I can tentatively identify a half dozen factors behind the current slump - I am not pointing any fingers at anyone. But things are simply not moving forward in any way.

I was under the impression that with the recent big bump (largely outlined and partially written by Vegas) that some players' posting would pick up, but that hasn't happened.
Again, real life and other recreational interests happen. There is nothing wrong with that. But the game cannot move forward for active players if others do not contribute. And, to a certain extent, when you participate in a forum game, you are agreeing to a certain level of responsibility to post at least at a minimal rate, if only for the sake of the other people that have been posting for your sake.

I am planning a number of measures to jumpstart things here. The most elementary is some interesting encounters - but I don't want to foist them on you - that defeats the purpose of the game. Cool stuff awaits, but you won't get there by sitting around doing nothing.

So another measure is the following policy:

Starting with the RL timestamp of this post, I will be automatically making an IC post for any player not heard from for any period of 72 hours. I'd rather it be 48, but I reckon it is a GAME, not a job.
I obviously will not try to sabotage your character - but neither do I have any hope of playing it as skillfully or as in-character as you yourselves. And I don't mind admitting that if I make a post for someone's character, I will be pretty self-serving in orchestrating events my way.

ALL you have to do to avoid getting your character co-opted is to make ANY post, IC or OOC, within 72 hours of your last post. This need take no more than five minutes a week. It's not too much to ask no matter how busy or crazy your life is. Even if you just check in to say "Hi, I'm alive," that is fine.

And even if you miss the deadline here, all that will happen is that I make one post for you, and then the clock resets.

This policy will keep temporarily inactive characters current, and provide opportunities for other players to act.

I guess this comes off sounding like a big butthead, but you guys are still just scratching the surface of what can be an amazing campaign - one that you can continue to fully participate in - even very actively - with one or two hours a week, at your convenience, from anywhere in the world. I am not going to let it fizzle.

Any questions or concerns - please let me know publicly or privately. I am ready and eager to work with you on IC or OOC issues.

"Hi, I´m alive."

Planed to do an IC today, too - since I´ve got a free day today. I apreciate those measures very much, since I´d love to see this game moving even when I won´t be abled to post for a few days. On that note, I started my new job as a doctoral student, which is quiet time-consuming - especially with the 80 minutes trip every morning and every evening, but moving is a big cash issue, so it´ll stay that way, unless I find a flat I really like. I should stil be abled to post at lest a short note every three days, but one never knows.

EDIT:
6 hits to spot Etain´s intoxication.

MK - as you correctly assumed in your IC post - six successes is more than enough to know she is high.

Whatever you need to do to keep the game moving along is alright with me, adamu. I'll do what I can to move things along as well.

Adamu, does the clinic have any sort of drugs that might serve as a depressant/tranquilizer? Something that might either slow a guy down (for capture) or lower his inhibitions (for interrogation)?

Here's a chemistry roll: Chemistry 5 + Logic 5:

1: 6 + 2 = 8. ... Success
2: 2
3: 1
4: 3
5: 4
6: 2
7: 3
8: 2
9: 1
10: 1

1 hit. Awesome.

How about we powerball his legs off? I mean, that'd be a start?!

So much for subtlety

Well, I reckon that's actually two tests - one for tranqs (pretty common and easy), one for an interrogation drug (hard-to-get and complex).

But given that you are in a reasonably stocked clinic and your level of Biotech skill, I would have just called the tranq test a gimme - for that, assume you have at least 10 rating 4 tranq patches in the clinic. Now, if you want to concoct something more potent, it would have to be injected/injested, as you don't have patch-making facilities. But if you want to do that, it will be an extended Medicine + Logic extended test (Chemistry as complementary) with a base time of one minute and the number of successes being the rating (up to 6, three additional successes per rating point above 6).

So applying your test to coming up with a tongue-loosener, one success basically tells you to get him drunk. You might come up with more successes if you add half your Medicine skill as complementary. Note, however, that with drugs like that, the actual proper administration will come down to an Interrogation test (book not with me - I think that actually falls under Intimidation in SR4 - talk about it later if it comes up).

Hey, intended to post last night, but somehow, I didn´t get a connection to dsf. Planing to do so tonight, though - but I´ll be distracted a bit, since there are new episods of Dr. House starting on german tv

BTW, Yep, Interrogation is one of the Intimidation-Skill´s Specializations.

EDIT: Made another addition to my IC post - just to be clear, the 'are not stoned' is what Krait thinks, not what he says aloud and he gives no obvious hint to what he thinks in his statement.

@MK Ultra - I know you are going to ask, so I will tell you now - your amplified hearing and multitasking allow you to easily overhear the conversation between Carla and St. Pierre.

If anyone wants to post all the way outside, the van is a block away.

If you go there, could someone paste this in, adjusting the beginning and end to fit your post....

The "van" was hardly worthy of the name, scarcely larger than a sedan, though with somewhat more headroom. Most of the windows were opaque with dust and grime. There may or may not ever have been a paint job, back in whatever decade the thing was built. If indeed it was even the product of any real factory, and not just a heap of scraps pieced together like some misshapen automotive Frankenstein's monster. It would be a wonder if it ran, and a miracle if it didn't fall apart on the road. Once the doors were open, it became clear that the front bucket seats - exposed springs and plastifoam and all - were the domain of Bandito and the Padre. Most of the back had been cleared out to make room for a giant makeshift seat for St. Pierre. Where two more people were supposed to fit was anyone's guess. A fat spider skittered out from under one seat and across the garbage-strewn floorboards.

If you don't make it that far, no worries, I'll stick it in myself. Whatever.

MK - at the van, you may also IC, if you get that far, that St. Pierre offers you your choice of the following. though it is doubtful whether you know the actual names of the weapons - I have included them here for your OOC reference:

Two very small pistols, one of which appears to be made of non-metallic substances (Streetline Special & Colt America L36)
A huge revolver with a six-inch barrel (Ruger Superwarhawk)
A relitively small automatic weapon/rifle thing that even Krait can recognize as a member of the Kalishnikov family. I appears to be older than you are. (AK-97 carbine)

planning to do an IC when I´m back home later tonight. I´d leave the first choice of weapon to Carla & the Twins, if they want any.

What will be the ETA to either of the places?

As soon as we get moving, I´d start some datasearches, though I need to know how long the trip is, to plan in which order and how long I´ll search for stuff.

Burning to know, what that Virus is up to

MK

Twins won't likely be going anywhere near St. Pierre's van if it's a block away. They'll go straight to Conall's bike and away from the rest of the group. (I'm assuming here, knowing the characters) So that means neither twin will have access to a weapon, nor would either of them take one anyway. So go ahead and post, take whatever you want for a gun.

Adamu - I was never quite certain how big medkits are (I assume they're about the size of a first-aid kit, but first-aid kits also come in a variety of sizes.) Carla can surely carry a medkit under her overcoat, right?

BR

yeah, figure the size of a small RL kit, no problem under your coat.

Also, exactly what do you take from the supply cabinet?

Carla takes along the clinic medkit (I assume it's fully stocked), a trauma patch, and - if the clinic has any - two stimulant patches (whatever rating is available.)

Cool - you can get two R3 stim patches.

I had assumed your were going to take the tranq stuff, but that is your call.