So I'm back, fun weekend! Short version, my second cousin got married. Great wedding, great reception. Bang IC tommorow.

Sharp's assensing roll

Assensing Roll (1d6=1, 1d6=2, 1d6=2, 1d6=4, 1d6=2, 1d6=1, 1d6=1, 1d6=3, 1d6=1, 1d6=6, 1d6=6, 1d6=3) 2 hits

Welcome back, Meriss. As you can see, you haven't missed much.

Calling back to the discussion of a group initiation... I thought about it a bit, and finally realized what Casey's biggest fear is... and one of the early struggles that lead her to be who she is today.

I would have to say that it's the fear of completely losing any concept of self. Sure, she plays around with it a lot, but she still has a 'me' identity behind each of the roles she plays. (Sheesh - a role player playing a character who plays different roles... layers within layers, anyone?) So the "surrounded" concept that Toivoton came up with earlier would work - except that she'd be surrounded by her 'selves'. Possibly younger selves, as that would be where the origin of her chameleonic tendencies began.

She's also got a lesser fear of complete rejection. Which is possibly a link to why she does change so much.

All in all, I think the group initiation will be interesting, and from what I hear from imperialus, I think we may have the opportunity to do it fairly soon, so we should probably begin some extra planning.

Now that we've got through the fears bit, what would happen next on the initiation? (And how would we involve our two non-Awakened compatriots while we do so?)

Looking forward to more,
-Syber'

Sorry for the absense - Enrolled in two games so I've been learning Vampire and customising a D&D dragon PC-class thingy for all my free time and I sort of forgot this.

Not that it really seems that I've missed much..

Sharp is the ally. Cross is mentor. The rest I'll tell what they are in the OOC posts. (got 2 force 5 guardians bound atm - Owen and Wall. Even I don't remeber what the summoned force 6 guardians name was..)

Also Walker has +4 dice when dealing with guardian spirits so you can pretty much assume all the spirits he uses are guardians. He also summons the spirits of the dead so the spirits are a bit more "normal" then how you IC'd them. They just tend to be old (WW2 seems to be the favorite atm..) so they are a bit "off" with tech.

Something like this:

“Sarge, the Bar is pretty boring. Only one awakened, but he has little soul remaining. Most drunk, aura’s fuzzy… twenty four in total… no foci, some metal in bodies, many sad, most indifferent or angry, some both. Well this is weird - can't find the bouncer.. or anyone other obviously there for throwing people out.."

Also since it's an ally, Walker has a senselink to it.




Abaut the initiation:
The first step of an astral quest is to pass the dweller of the treshold. He forces you to face your weaknesses, fears, shames and secrets. That part of the quest is a solo ordeal. The others just see it. I don't see why it couldn't be a group thing if the fears, weaknesses, shames or secrets are common enough tho.

Walker is most likely facing a secret of his unless it seems there is a groupthing that would be approriate.

By the way - if we are going with an astral gateway, we won't face him, but we will go into a metaplane the spirit has access to. (tho we can naturally just ignore that part)

The second (and main-) step is the actual quest. This is somehow related to what we are going for and this is a group thing. The metaplanes use some metaphor for this one. Now since we aren't actually going to a specific plane (to my knowledge), it can be pretty much anything somehow related.

We could be ants trying to find some food, ourselves (with high-tech and all) trying to save Hitler, some musketeers putting down a riot, stones thinking philosophy, cave men fighting off some dinosaurs, animals surviving in the desert for years..

Generally however we should have some metaphor of our current capabilities if the metaphor doesn't intentionally change them (i.e. making Bang the weakest physically, but an incredibly strong mage while making Casey the huge combat monster and so on). We would use our normal stats (and not mental only as normally in astral) and even cyberware tho that would likely be metaphorised.

The mundane members would come as projections made by the rest of us unless they actually wanted to come. The only diffrence would be that they couldn't be killed nor they would get xp as projections since they wouldn't actually be there, existing separately from the "real" characters.

Thanks Syber.
Toivoton sounds good to me, Scary but interesting.

The board has returned! Hooray!

On Initiating: Well, it sounds like Fastball is going to have Ellie take us directly to some plane the spirit has access to, as you aluded to, Toivoton, which means, aye, the Dweller on the Threshold 'has no power over us'! (Three points if you identify the source of that misquote!) So it seems as if the quest is the thing (upon which to catch ... aw, shucks!)

Anyhow - all quotes aside, it sounds like imperialus is going to have to select the actual quest, but that doesn't mean we can't suggest things to him!

For example, we could go with any of the quests Toivoton suggested, or we could quest to face the Dweller on the way back! (That'd have the quest and the fears all in one!) Or we could turn things sideways, and reverse the metaphors (exactly contrary to one of your suggestions, Toivoton), where we have Bang as the face, Walker as the das UberMage, Casey as a combat monkey, and Ellie as the streetsam. Then we'd have to figure out how to get by in the new roles, get past some challenge, and get home. Or the tag-alongs could become the Awakened for the quest, and the rest of us go mundane!

As far as experience, I'm thinking contrary to you, Toivoton, and I'll explain why. Since four members of the group are doing this to reduce our experience costs on intiation, I don't think it's fair to give us a double Karma bonus. Those who tagged along, but participated, who don't receive the benefit of the initiation, should definitely get some Karma - after all, they weren't in it for the bonus, right?

Alternatively, Everyone could get some Karma and those that were initiating could either receive less, or be forced to spend it on the intiation, while the non-Awakened received either full Karma, or gain an advantage for doing the initiation they wouldn't otherwise have (but would want.)

Ultimately, of course, it's not my decision, but extra voices mean a more effective Gestalt. So let's hear it, all! (What do you think, Sparky?)

Cheers,
-Syber'

Oh right - forgot that the initiating chars wouldn't get xp. However you missed my point on the tagalongs - if they indeed do come, they should get xp. However if the characters do not come, the players could come along playing the "projections" of the characters. Or even take the other characters to play. The chars project their allies and friends to help them and they don't actually exist. (Or at least that they aren't the same ones the chars know. The metaphor mechanic isn't really understood.)

At least to Walker that means the rest of the team only if they want to come. Otherwise he's likely just taking Sharp. Members of his former team would have been making guest appearances if he was solo. (Unless vetoed by imp, Sharp is going to tag along as a normal char anyway, perhaps on the sidelines somehow and Cross might make a short appearance somewhere too.)

And we will likely face many quests (or one loong one). It's level 3 initiating. Even the first level is supposed to be hard.


Firing a couple of more ideas for fun:
-Everyone loses all their powers (meaning cyberware and magic) and we are thrown on an island with the mission to get to mainland.
-Everyone is a kid and we are to survive the schoolyard bully.
-THIS IS SPARTA!

@Everyone: Sorry about the delay in posting. I did the next IC post just before the boards went down and it seems to have disappeared into the void. I was just holding off on reposting it until I was sure things were up and running again.

@ Tov: Sorry I got Sharp wrong there. I'll try and keep that in mind for the next time I put words in his mouth . I wouldn't worry too much about occasional absences too. We all have lives outside of message board games I'm sure.

@Everyone planning to initiate: There are some good ideas floating around out there. I'll try and have a quest worked out pretty quick here... Hrm... holding off an army of Casey clones...

Edit: Oh and Casey's Perception roll:
Perception Test. (1d6=1, 1d6=3, 1d6=5, 1d6=4, 1d6=6, 1d6=5, 1d6=6, 1d6=2, 1d6=5) 5 hits

Hey boss! You forgot to note that I wanted to use edge in the perception of the place. Or at least in her deliberate scan of the Roadhouse.

I posted an earlier perception roll, with 9 hits.

@Toiv

You were right - I did miss your point... although I'm going to maintain that even if the players of the non-Awakened participate through their "projections", they should still receive some Karma for it. Even if it isn't directly the character, they are still playing, and as such, should receive some compensation. That is, however, my opinion.

@"Casey Clones"

"Hello Mr. Anderson. We're all Casey here ..."

<laughing>
-Syber'

Bring it on

@Lord Imp: Hey Imp, are there any rules or guidelines Firewatch has to follow in this situation? Since Bang is going to be first thru the door I need to know. (well one of the first anywho) Also do we still need to read these punks their Miranda?

sorry about the delay in posting here. Real life has been interveneing with disturbing frequency.

No big Lord Imp. My question ^ still stands. Just tell RL to go away.

I'd consider rules of engagement to be similar to modern day SWAT teams. Most people (except the truly desperate or crazy) arn't going to start shooting at a bunch of very well armed individuals kicking in the door shouting "FIREWATCH WITH A WARRENT!" If someone takes a shot at you though you are free to return the favor several times over. Force should be returned in kind though. Someone takes a swing at you with a fist then cracking him across the jaw with a rifle but or nailing him with a stun baton would be an appropriate answer. Knocking someone who just punched you in the jaw to the ground and emptying a clip of assault rifle rounds into his torso would probably be considered excessive. If someone actually shoots at you though then all bets are off. You're trained to return fire at center mass just like cops today.

Since you arn't on extraterritorial turf then the Miranda rights still stand. Until it is determined if they are probationary citizens or not you should assume that they have SIN's pay taxes and all that jazz. You also need to inform everyone in a loud and clear voice that you have a warrant and produce it if asked. Naturally if someone is shooting at you and someone else shouts to see the warrant you can ignore him until the threat is eliminated practicality trumps politeness any day of the week.

Oh, almost forgot: So you do have some ranged non lethal capabilities the Gernade Launchers's on your Alpha's are modified to chamber large caliber gel rounds, damage 8S +2 AP using shotgun ranges. That's the "default" load for a situation like this. Let me know if you want to substitute concussion gernades though. HE and Frag gernades are not available at the moment. You're making a large arrest, not starting a war... Well actually they are available. The citymaster has a crate of them, they're just discouraged...

Referencing Chips:

Okay - so depending on what Tolstov can and can't do, Casey's going to pull a fast one. It also depends on whether or not that Perception roll I did a while back was edged or not, although I suppose I could probably spare another.

Here's the deal - Casey's going to pull a palm on the chip - either inserting two of them (one of which is her generic simsense), and triggering the "wrong" one while Tolstov reads the script, or if he can read it remotely, she'll switch the BTL evidence with her generic fake, and work from there.

imperialus, I don't know if you've accepted the edged roll earlier, but since this is a critical maneuver for Casey's cover, she's going to edge the Palming roll.

(Side note - for Casey, I always enter it in Invisible Castle as Firewatch:Casey ... no spaces.)

Palming 4+Agil 3+Nimble Fingers 2+Edge 8=17 (1d6.open(6)=4, 1d6.open(6)=6,4, 1d6.open(6)=5, 1d6.open(6)=3, 1d6.open(6)=4, 1d6.open(6)=2, 1d6.open(6)=5, 1d6.open(6)=4, 1d6.open(6)=4, 1d6.open(6)=1, 1d6.open(6)=5, 1d6.open(6)=1, 1d6.open(6)=6,5, 1d6.open(6)=5, 1d6.open(6)=2, 1d6.open(6)=3, 1d6.open(6)=2) - Seven Hits!

Just let me know how much edge I've used. It's either 1 or two at this point.

Cheers,
-Syber'

@Syber: Just one edge spent. It was my screwup but the roll I made maxed out the successes so the extra 4 successes would have been superfluous anyhow. Since that's the case and you'd effectively be wasting your edge I’m not going to penalize you for that.

OK Lord Imp I just wanted a set of rules for Bang's IC post. I'll be chambering my Master Key with gel rounds just in case. Trust me folks Bang is made for this. I'll be hitting the door in a few realtime hours. Lemme just get everything ready on my end.

@Lord Imp: Do I need to make a strength roll to bust the door in? Bang is all about shock and awe.

Kay Bang IC up, rolling Strength + Unarmed Combat for the door bust.

5 hits

Lord Imp: Please roll Bang's Intimidation to see how freaked out the Grindhouse patrons are.

Just to let everyone know I'm going to be out of town for the weekend, it's a three day weekend here so I'm skipping town (yay birthdays of dead monarchs!).

IC post for the raid itself should be up either late Monday or Tuesday.

Happy Vicky's Day Lord Imp! Or May 2-4 weekend, whichever you prefer

Whoa! I can get to the boards again!

Meriss - you forgot your sig on the IC post.

Walker and Sharp do their best to look scary and to see anyone pulling a weapon before they even think about doing it.

Walker has ADPS and HE grenades in the Alpha, but won't really use them. The spirit is for intimidation (you automagically see force 6 spirits when they possess) and armor. And helping in melee if it is needed. If there seems to be room and people actually raise their hands, the next command is for them to get on the floor, face down.

If anyone shoots, Walker will throw an overcast (like force 10 or something) stunball into the crowd. If for some reason everyone isn't down afterwards, Sharp does the same. If there are STILL people standing, Walker will run away like a little girl.

I just realised that stun overflows into physical so I better think about that a bit more before doing it..

Initiative Rolls:

Casey Initiative Roll (1d6=4, 1d6=4, 1d6=3, 1d6=2, 1d6=4, 1d6=4, 1d6=1, 1d6=6) Score: 9
Walker Initiative Roll (1d6=1, 1d6=5, 1d6=4, 1d6=3, 1d6=1, 1d6=6, 1d6=6, 1d6=5) Score: 12
Eleanor Initiative Roll (1d6=3, 1d6=5, 1d6=2, 1d6=3, 1d6=6, 1d6=1, 1d6=3, 1d6=2, 1d6=4, 1d6=2) Score: 12
Bang Initiative Roll (1d6=6, 1d6=2, 1d6=6, 1d6=5, 1d6=2, 1d6=3, 1d6=3, 1d6=6, 1d6=3) Score: 13
Raleigh Initiative Roll (1d6=1, 1d6=2, 1d6=1, 1d6=2, 1d6=1, 1d6=2, 1d6=6, 1d6=6, 1d6=2, 1d6=5, 1d6=6, 1d6=3) Score: 16

Edit: Hopefully I got everyone's initiative scores right, if I missed something let me know.

Babe is at 14 but he still gets the drop on you for one round.

@Toivoton: Thanks, I spotted that after a post or two. I edited it out.

@ Lord Imp: You're kidding right, this drekhole is going to shoot at Bang? 1d6=2, 1d6=5, 1d6=3, 1d6=1, 1d6=1, 1d6=5, 1d6=2, 1d6=5, 1d6=1, 1d6=6, 1d6=2, 1d6=2, 1d6=6, 1d6=6, 1d6=2, 1d6=1 Body 10 + Ballistic 6 + 1 for troll skin - 1 for AP. 4 hits, Not my best roll. Mystic Armor here I come.

Uhh... Meriss, Dahling?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news... but I think you have some extra hits you didn't count. I reckon you have 6 hits to your name.

1d6=2, 1d6=5, 1d6=3, 1d6=1, 1d6=1, 1d6=5, 1d6=2, 1d6=5, 1d6=1, 1d6=6, 1d6=2, 1d6=2, 1d6=6, 1d6=6, 1d6=2, 1d6=1

That's good - except that 5 Physical is a pretty messy hit to take!

He must have had some awesome rolls on the shot. I guess imperialus rolled you a botch on the defense... although who knows?

Ah, well! On with the show! Take 'em, Bang!.
-Syber'

Well no. You forgot Sharp and Walker is channeling and has increase reflexes on. So his initiative is Reaction 5 + 6 from the spirit for a reaction of 11 + intuition 3 + 3 from the spell for a total initiative of 17.

1d6=6, 1d6=4, 1d6=1, 1d6=6, 1d6=1, 1d6=6, 1d6=6, 1d6=2, 1d6=1, 1d6=3, 1d6=1, 1d6=5, 1d6=5, 1d6=1, 1d6=1, 1d6=1, 1d6=1 = 6 hits, 8 ones.. umm.. 17/2=8,5.. is that a glich? Anyway Walker initiative = 23 with 4 passes.

Sharp initiative = Reaction 6, Intuition 6 = 12
1d6=3, 1d6=4, 1d6=2, 1d6=1, 1d6=1, 1d6=6, 1d6=5, 1d6=5, 1d6=6, 1d6=5, 1d6=1, 1d6=6 = 6 hits

Sharp initiative = 18 with 2 passes.

And Meriss: Where did you get ballistic armor of 6? Isn't he in the Firewatch Full Body armor with the helmet on? I think you should be rolling body 10 + ballistic 12 + troll skin 1 -1 AP = 22 dice. And since it doesn't exceed his armor, it's stun.

I think Walker is next so I'm going to post IC.

Overcasting force 9 stunbolt at Babe. Spellcasting 6 + Magic 7 + focus 2 = 15 dice.
1d6=4, 1d6=5, 1d6=2, 1d6=1, 1d6=5, 1d6=1, 1d6=2, 1d6=2, 1d6=6, 1d6=5, 1d6=4, 1d6=4, 1d6=4, 1d6=6, 1d6=1 = 5 hits. =DV 13, resisted with willpower.

Resisting drain DV=3P. WP 5 + CHA 7 + FC 1 = 13 dice.
1d6=3, 1d6=1, 1d6=5, 1d6=3, 1d6=3, 1d6=6, 1d6=3, 1d6=4, 1d6=6, 1d6=1, 1d6=2, 1d6=1, 1d6=1 = 3 hits. No Drain. Man these drain resists are way too close for comfort.. How about a sudden initiation here to get the centering..?

@Syber: I did, oh cool! Like I've said before I'm new.

@Toivoton: B6 is what the Book lists for Armoured vest. I forgot I put on the full body armour.

@Lord Imp: Can I get a reroll?

The Firewatch armored vest uses the armored jacket stats. So 10/8 if you have the helmet on.

And Walker put on his full body armor in the APC when we started for the grindhouse so I see no point why Bang couldn't have.

Official revised initiative?

Well that was.. umm.. short?

Yup, thank you stunbolt. I missed the chance to hit him with a Troll Flying Tackle©.
I took 2P BTW Syber HPT3 it's a beautiful thing.

it wasn't supposed to be a major firefight, unless you guys had gone in wearing T-shirts and bluejeans trying ot arrest everyone. Most of them wern't going to be stupid and pick a fight with a bunch of guys with assult rifles and milspec armour. You havn't attracted the attention of anyone nasty... yet.

Oh Joy

That and Babe got a critical glitch on his resistance roll... 9 dice... 5 ones.

@Lord Imp: I made a quick edit to Bob. Bob is now a Century Ferret instead of a Demon Ferret. Now you don't have to make up stats.

9 resistance dice?? Holy shit! 5 WP and 4 hits from spell resistance or something?

er... I needs ta learn ta type... He had total spell resistance of 6, not 9. WP 4, and he's your crappy mage. Had a spell resistance of 2... Still rolled 5 ones though... It was pretty sad.

BTW do you want us mages to roll for spelldefense all the time or is it just rolled when it's needed? (At least Walker is always spelldefending his team and possible other cops.)

Um Hellllooooooo..... Are we still on?

Totally slammed. Work to 2am. For two weeks. Whine whine whine. Piss. Moan.

Rolls coming soon as I can. VERY sorry.

NP, Sorry to be a pain Sparky. I know you have tons of stuff to do (DiTG for one ) I was just enjoying playing the uncomplicated Troll, Ie: hit stuff, eat ice cream, sleep, wash, rinse and repeat.

no worries. It has been a crazy week for me too.

Do I not get to use my driving skill? Don't have books handy, so I can't reference the page number to see what you're trying to tell me.

P161 from the BBB:

Complex action then... Taking Evasive Action and using Edge.
(REA 7 + Pilot: Groundcraft 3) - 1 = 9 dice

Results... not sure how Glitches and Edge interact, but this can't be good.
Raleigh's roll.

Well, at least there /is/ good news...

From what I read of your roll, you have 5 Hits, and 5 or 6 ones, depending on how you read that last extended 1.

Either way, that's a glitch with 5 hits. Which means this section of the rulebook becomes relevant (Page 55)

just a quick question. Do you guys want some more time to talk back and forth before the missile hits or should I get on with the show? If no one else has posted in the IC thread by tommorow I'll move the story forward.

And ES Sparky: If you could give me a crash test that'd be much appriciated.