Goodness, such a fast series of responses.

I can make a good argument either way for the watcher spirit's damage track. For now I'm going to leave him in place.

I'll try to get an IC post up this weekend to cover the action outlined above. However it is my mother's birthday tomorrow and Easter on Sunday so it might not be until Sunday night.

Initiative, Combat Turn #4
Ellesar - 13
Earth Spirit - 12
Stogie - 10 (I didn't see a roll from you so I took the liberty to keep things moving)
Smohalla - 9
Toothy - 5
Watchers - 2

For Ellesar's shot, the targets are prone but, as they are less than 20 meters away, there is no modifier to the attack roll (p. 160, SR4A). I'm going to use the 8 dice roll, with 1 hit. You get a +1 bonus for the Earth Spirit also being large (8+ Body): no hit

The earth spirit will not dodge, as that would undermine its goal of protecting/covering Toothy. The base damage of the is rifle is 7P, staged up to 8P with the 1 net hit. When the rifle's armor penetration is taken into account, the modified damage value (8P, -1AP) is enough to exceed he spirit's Immunity to Normal Weapons.

Earth Spirit resist damage: 4 HITS
Damage is staged from 8P to 4P. The Earth Spirit now has 9 boxes of damage. It's initiative drops by 2 and is now 10, tied with Stogie.

I'm going to say that the spirit's action occurs simultaneously with Stogie's. The spirit picks up Toothy and uses its Movement power to retreat. Stogie, you can fire on them without any range penalties but it will be a moving target... I was under the impression this was a negative modifier for the attacker but it doesn't seem to be. All I see are bonus dice for the defender's dodge pool. Anybody know why a moving target isn't any more difficult to hit than a stationary target?

In the meantime, Stogie and Smohalla are next.

I may be mixing up actual rules with what people have said on DS about how things SHOULD work, but as I understand it:

Things like moving target would give bonuses to defenders' pools because if you add negative modifiers to attackers, this increases the chances of a glitch for the attacker. But things the defender is doing seemingly shouldn't increase the chances for the attacker to glitch. Now, if the attacker is moving, that seems like it should increase the chance for a glitch, etc...

Smohalla will stand up and assense the retreating form of the troll. I'll post that IC, after Stogie acts.

Not that I want to make the rules even more complex, but this seems like a good situation to use a Threshold for the test. Thresholds are usually only for Extended or Unopposed tests (unlike Opposed tests for combat), but it seems like a threshold could serve the dual-purpose of 1) making the target harder to hit, 2) without making a glitch more likely.

If it's a moving target, adding dice to the defender's roll doesn't make sense in a lot of situations. For example, in an ambush or other surprise attack, a defender does not get to roll to avoid the attack, so the bonus defense dice would be lost. Yet I'm sure that a sniper would have a much harder time pegging a moving target than a stationary one. (I'm thinking of the early scene in Grosse Pointe Blank here, where John Cusack has to shoot a bicycle messenger racing down the street.)

I suppose the argument could be made that the sniper could aim at a stationary target and accumulate aiming bonuses, but doing so would suggest that shooting a running target is the default - the average difficulty against which all other shots are measured. That doesn't seem entirely realistic.

This is a good point you bring up...maybe a solution in the case of surprise attacks would be to allow a defense roll, limited to the movement "bonus dice" or similar.

But the Threshold idea seems ok too. I'm not sure how the Threshold levels would be computed....glad I don't have to do it

Sorry, Tecumseh, in looking back over the previous posts I see the call for Initiative for turn 4 that I missed before.

Yes, if the damn thing is still twitching, Stogie will pump lead into it!

Hell, he's in burst fire mode now, so we'll stay there. Wide burst again. With one simple action to take aim, double recoil (gotta do something about that!) and no Edge used (Hey, he's running away half-dead. I'm gonna need that Edge!) that leaves Stogie at 13-3-4+1=7 dice.

==> 2 HITS

Oh, no range modifier, so here is one more die! ==> 0 HITS Still 2 hits. And fortunately that is just the third "1" out of eight dice.

Damage 7P, AP -1, -2 to evade the shot.


###########

As for the discussion about target movement affecting the shooter's ability to hit, any of the three methods mentioned, the current RAW of adding dice to the defender's roll, taking dice away from the attacker, or increasing the threshold, achieves the desired effect. If we want to delve into the mechanics of each of these attempts at reflecting reality, we will find problems with each. I vote we just stay where we are. Fewer rules for me to remember.

Hey. If Toothy is unconscious, how can he dodge at all? Is the Earth Spirit doing the dodging? Did I waste a wide burst when I should have used a narrow one?

Pbangarth, I would assume that the Earth spirit is doing the dodging since he is carrying Toothy. Just my .02

As for the moving target debate I don't see the point in changing things now. We can always make adjustments for situations where negative modifiers wouldn't make sense.

How unsporting, shooting an unarmed Earth spirit in the back...

Atropos has the right interpretation, with the Earth Spirit carrying Toothy.

Earth Spirit dodge: 0 HITS
Earth Spirit resist damage: 8 HITS!

Base damage 7P + 2 net hits - 8 soak = 1P. Earth spirit now has 10 boxes of damage.

Smohalla's rolls:

Toothy's parting shot: 3 HITS, again, probably rolled too many but the net result is the same. (Plus I mislabeled character name.)
It's Mass Confusion again. Pbangarth and Atropos, roll Willpower to resist. Actions will be at -3 (minus any successes).

Smohalla's roll to resist:

Watcher #1 attack: 2 HITS
Earth Spirit defends: 0 HITS
Earth Spirit resist damage: 1 HIT
Base damage 1 + 2 net hits - 1 soak = 2 boxes of damage. Earth spirit is now at 12 boxes ... EARTH SPIRIT POPS!

You guys should get your Watchers to do all your fighting for you. Watcher #2 does not have an obvious action so he will sit tight, pending further instructions.

The Earth Spirit managed to move Toothy about 25 meters before disappearing. (25 meters base rate for running, divided by 2 for only making it one initiative pass out of two, multiplied by 4 for the Movement power, divided by 2 because Toothy's body exceeded the spirit's Magic/Force.) They started off about 10 meters away from the group so the cumulative distance is 35 meters. Toothy's magical concealment is gone but you currently cannot see (or assense) him due to the density of the forest.

Secret roll:
It's that time again. Initiative! I'll try to get an IC post up within the next day.

From SR4A:

"Attack Dog: Though largely ineffective in astral combat, watchers can be used to harry or distract opponents."

I need to contact the writers to let them know they were wrong

Initiative turn #5
Smohalla: 2 hits = 10
Watcher: 1 hit = 3 (astral - forgot to roll init as astral for them before)

*edit*
Smohalla's intention is to send the Watchers to investigate the Troll's form, report back any and all activity (physical or astral), and ALSO to stay out of the reach of the Troll.

Jake's Initiative: 8 dice ==> 4 HITS = 12

Stogie's resistance to the Mass Confusion: WIL 4 + (is there any Counterspelling happening?) ==> 0 HITS See? See? It had to happen!

Stogie's Initiative 8 dice - 3 for Confusion = 5 dice ==> 2 HITS = 7

Ellesar's willpower >>> 2 Hits

and Initiative: 10 dice - 1 (Mass Confusion) = 9 dice >>> 6 Hits = 16

Ellesar is going to stand up from his kneeling position and reload. He doesn't really want to leave the group to go after the troll but he'd like to make sure it's dead. The one that got away is the one that comes back one day.

My fear exactly. And if it regenerates, as our own ally so clearly demonstrates, it wouldn't take long for it to be ready again.

At this point I'm going to recommend that we drop out of the strict order of the combat turn and move into open role playing. I'm going to keep the initiative rolls for Combat Turn #5 in case we need to resolve something, but for now let's say that you have the opportunity to catch your breath and discuss the situation without having to parse each activity into Free, Simple, and Complex actions. If anyone wants to tear off into the trees, we can keep going.

*****

Separately, I'm sure by now you've all heard about the Kickstarter campaign to create Shadowrun Returns. I'm very exciting about the project and check the funding level multiple times a day. If you donate to this (or already have), forward me your confirmation e-mail and I'll reward you with an in-game perk. I made this offer to my tabletop game and wanted to extend it to you three as well.

It sounds like Stogie and Ellesar are going to pursue their target off the trail and into the forest. As a reminder, they currently have negative modifiers as a result of Mass Confusion spells. Stogie has a splitting headache and Ellesar is dealing with an uncomfortable abrasive sensation. Feel free to clarify what exactly each party member is doing; otherwise, I'll presume that you simply advance on the last known location of the target, covering each other with weapons at the ready. Pbangarth, go ahead and roll perception too, whichever sense is highest, adding +1 for teamwork. I'll take off any negative modifiers from the roll results.

I may as well start being more Stogie-like, so I'll throw in two other rolls as well... in case you want to use them.

(As per your request, I'll leave the external modifiers to you, boss.)

Perception: INT 5 + Perception 2 + Enhanced Perception 4 + visual specialization 2 = 13 dice ==> 3 HITS (Shit. Low, and two of them are at the end of the list.)

Stogie can Track, so I'll throw that out there:

Tracking: INT 5 + Tracking 3 + Mountain specialization 2 = 10 dice ==> 6 HITS Ohhhhhkayy ... ...the first six dice were all hits.

And he will try to be sneaky about going after this thing:

Infiltration: AGI 8 + Infiltration 2 + wilderness specialization 2 = 12 dice ==> 3 HITS

Smohalla will be trying to advance on the troll in the astral...not sure if the watchers are able to locate him. If they are, Smohalla will just home in on the watchers. If not, he'll try to track on the astral himself.

*edit* Just a rules thought, from SR4A:

If an area-effect spell is sustained, the affected area may be moved with a Complex Action, as long as it remains within line of sight. Characters who “drop out” of the affected area are no longer affected by the spell;

So if the troll is casting and sustaining the spell Mass Confusion, he'll have to keep LOS on those affected. Also he'll have to use a Complex action to move the AOE, otherwise Stogie and Ellesar will move out of the AOE pretty quickly, I would think.

If this is a Critter power, none of this applies

Huh. Well I confess, I did not know that. I thought the area-of-effect was only relevant at the time of the spell's casting, then its effects followed around whoever was in the original target area as long as it was sustained. (Like a splash grenade that goes off, marking those affected.) I didn't realize that it was a static (yet movable) area that people could move into and out of.

Alright, that means I have to rethink Toothy's tactics a little bit. Maybe he'll just use his claws instead of this Three Stooges spell.

Pbangarth, I like the use of Tracking; that's a nice touch.

Stogie is going to need to roll drain for his Attribute Boost soon, plus a new roll if he wants to reactivate it. The original roll lasted for 10 combat turns / 30 seconds. The fight took about half that, leaving you a bit of time to start tracking before it switches off.

Toothy's action, no peeking. Results are in the IC forum.

Pbangarth, please note whether you're assensing or using normal vision. As previously stated, you'll need a drain roll for your expiring Attribute Boost, plus a new roll if you wish to reactivate it.

Everyone gets an action phase this turn (#5, for reference), after which we'll use the previously-rolled initiatives for the following turn (#6).

Turn #5: Smohalla intends to command one Watcher to harass the Plant spirit, and send the other Watcher after the Troll. He'll also return to his body.

As an aside, I see that my choices for skills and spells for Smohalla are...suboptimal. While astrally projecting, he can't attack (no Astral Combat skill), so he can't use Death Touch. And his other attack spell, Wind Buffet, is a Physical spell, so basically on the astral Smohalla is reduced to fighting by proxy...

*edited*

Drain resistance for Attribute Boosts: (I'm not sure, but I may have had two activated, but anyway I need 1 hit for each to resist the rating 1 powers)

1st: BOD 4 + WIL 4 = 8 dice ==> 4 HITS !!

2nd: 8 dice ==> 3 HITS No drain from either one

Boosting Agility is a simple action, and since it is a magical action, I don't think astrally perceiving interferes.

Attribute Boost [AGI]: MAG 7 + power 1 + Edge 4 = 12 dice, exploding 6s ==> 5 HITS

==> Agility now 9

He'll keep the Astral perception on and take a shot at the spirit blocking their way.

Enfield AS-7: 7P, -1AP, burst mode, hell make it a narrow burst! I'm going to need it to get through the ItNW.

AGI 9 + Skill 4 - astral perception 2 (damn, the thing is also dual-natured, so he should see it clearly! Oh well, that's RAW.) = 11 dice ==> 6 HITS !!!!!!

Adjusted damage is 7P + 2 for narrow burst = 9P + up to 6 more for net hits.

EDIT: Damn. I keep forgetting about the recoil. Too many PCs with RC up the wazoo, I guess. Sorry. So, he loses a few of those hits. Too bad.

Jake is probably in the same state with his Attribute Boosts, so I'll do him, too.

Resist Drain: Jake's BOD 2 + WIL 3 = 5 dice, resisting both BOD and REA boosts: 0 HITS, 1 HIT leaving 1 S damage for Jake.

Reactivating the Boosts, BOD, then REA, both at 8 dice ==> 4 HITS, 4 HITS

Current Attributes for Jake: BOD 6, REA 8.

Wow, looks like I'm a bit behind. I can't get any rolls up for another two days when I have my weekend. Sorry

Ellesar is going to seek cover behind a nearby tree, followed by a shot at the plant spirit. I'll get up an IC post for it as soon as work slows down a bit.

Ellesar usually goes first so I'll let Stogie get the first plug in this time. Here are the modifiers for Stogie's shot:
-1 Medium distance
-4 Uncompensated recoil from burst fire, doubled for the shotgun

That removes 4 of his 6 hits. Let's see if it matters:

Spirit dodge: 0 HITS (nope)
Spirit soak: 6 HITS
Base damage 7P + 2 burst + 2 hits - 6 soak = 5 boxes of damage. Good start.

I'm going to roll for Atropos to keep things moving. It makes sense for him to shoot first and take cover second, leaving him protected at the end of the turn while saving him the negative modifier of shooting from cover.

4 AGI + 3 Longarms + 2 specialization + 1 red-dot sight = 10 dice
Ellesar's shot: 3 HITS
Spirit dodge: 2 HITS
Spirit soak: 7 HITS
Base damage 7P + 1 hit - 7 soak = 1 box of damage. Spirit is now at 6 boxes of damage.

Everyone feel free to make an IC post for their Turn #5 action.

Combat Turn #6
Ellesar 10 + 6 hits (original) + 0 HITS (no longer confused) = 16
Stogie 8 + 2 hits (original) + 2 HITS (no longer confused) = 12
Smohalla = 10
Plant Spirit = 7
Toothy = 6
Watcher = 3

Thanks Tec!

I'll be fully operational later today so I can crank out some rolls if need be.

You're up first for turn #6 so go ahead and declare your actions and make any needed rolls.

Good IC post, by the way.

So, we're into turn #6, right?

I don't see much point in trying anything else but more of the same.
Enfield AS-7: 7P, -1AP, narrow burst mode.

The damn thing is on our plane now, so drop the astral perception for the first simple action.

Second action -- shot:
AGI 9 + Skill 4 - distance 1 - recoil 4 = 8 dice ==> 4 HITS

I'll wait till Ellesar acts before I post the shot.

Turn #6, Smohalla will summon a F5 air spirit, with elemental attack as the optional power.

Alright! Time we got some reinforcements into the fray!

I'm pretty sure Stogie just spent his entire turn bantering with Ellesar. The book doesn't spell it out explicitly, but I bet a wink falls under "gesture" (Free Action).

Ellesar is up first, after which we'll see if Stogie finds the time to shoot.

Phlapjack, I can handle the rolling for one player but if this is going to turn into Smohalla & Friends again - Watchers with 3 IPs and spirits rolling to and fro - then I'll need you to take point.

No, it's cool. I understand that the rolling gets a little bit much. I'll roll for Smohalla & Friends (I like that name...)

I'll go ahead and roll the summoning here, then post IC after Stogie and Ellesar

Summoning F5 air spirit: 5 hits
Spirit resists: NO HITS! hahaha and a critical glitch
Drain resist: 3 hits = no drain

F5 Air Spirit services owed: 5

Wish he had summoned F6 now, with those rolls

Once again, thank you.

I'm going to assume the tree is considered good cover so in sticking with the usual after reloading...

4 AGI + 3 Longarms + 2 specialization + 1 red-dot sight - 2 good cover = 8 dice >>> 3 Hits


A group within a group...dun dun duuuun

Well, one could argue he was speaking while dropping the astral perception. I'll be more careful.

Now you have Atropos doing it!

The banter doesn't concern me too much, since the characters are not exchanging in-game information. But, in an effort not to stray too far from the rules, let's keep it to snappy one-liners.

Atropos, the plant spirit isn't under cover but there is a -2 penalty for firing from cover, so you have the right dice pool.

Plant Spirit dodge: 0 HITS
Plant Spirit soak: 5 HITS
Base damage 7P + 3 hits - 5 soak = 5 boxes of damage. Spirit is at 11 boxes of damage.

Now Stogie's shots:

Plant Spirit dodge: 0 HITS (again)
Plant Spirit soak: 5 HITS (again)
Base damage 7P + 2 burst + 4 hits - 5 soak = 8 boxes of damage. Spirit is now at 18 boxes of damage, which, suffice to say, is enough to send it packing.

Phlapjack, nice work on the summoning test. The spirit will wait for you to issue a command on turn #7.

Toothy's rolls:
Well I'd have everyone roll initiative again, but so far all the rolls have come in with the exact same results: Ellesar first, Stogie second, Smohalla third, Toothy and Watchers last. Unless anyone objects, lets keep that order to save ourselves some rolling.

Air Spirit initiative: 13 + 6 HITS = 19

I think we can say with confidence that the air spirit will go first, but it needs an order (Simple Action) from Smohalla before it acts. It will hold its action until then. Toothy has spent the last two turns running. He's moving over broken ground but is still making good progress. (According to the much decried movement rates, trolls jog at about the speed Usain Bolt sprints.) You can't tell precisely because you can't see him, but a rough estimate based how far away the movement sounds would be 75 meters from Ellesar and Stogie, and 100 meters from Smohalla and the air spirit.

Atropos, you're up!

Oh, and I would like to take this opportunity to commemorate the one-month anniversary of our "warm-up" skirmish. Ahh, play-by-post.

You were really hired by the Johnson to find and eliminate a Dzoo-Noo-Qua, right?

Haha, I couldn't help myself. I figured he deserved a reply. Next time I shall make sure not to be so long winded with the talking.

As for the fire behind cover I had meant that it was from the tree Ellesar was behind. I know good cover is a -2 modifier. Sorry for not being more clear about that.

This turn Ellesar is going to be running after the troll towards the direction of the noise.

For his turn Smohalla will command the spirit to aid Ellesar and Stogie in their fight against the troll and any spirits the troll may conjure.

And I thought combat took a long time at a table...it's nothing compared to Pbp

Pb, what's Stogie up to? Having a smoke?

Sorry, I thought this was enough. Stogie's following the trail of the infected troll, along with Ellesar and Smohalla's spirit. I don't think there is any difficulty following the trail, given the troll's hurry. If there is, I can roll another Tracking Test.

Just so I have things straight, here is the play for Turn #7:

Ellesar - in pursuit
Stogie - in pursuit
Smohalla - commanding the spirit, chilling out
Air Spirit - aiding the gun-totin' lads (currently with Movement and Guard)
Jake - keeping Smohalla company
Toothy - up to no good

Ellesar, you could make a Running test to sprint if you want. Given the spirit's Guard power, I'll say that you can buy two hits if you like, which would make you run about 8 meters faster per turn. (Normally 2*hits = 4 meters, but faster in this case due to the spirit's Movement power.) Stogie can't run that well - at least, not without taking Attribute Boost (STR) back from Jake - so that would open up a gap between the two of you.

Unless you tell me otherwise, Turn #8 is more of the same. I put up an IC post that blends turns #7 and #8 a bit. Please provide some provisional instructions for what you'd like to do once you get close, i.e. do you want to approach to a certain range before you open fire, are you going to try to herd or trap him or are you just going to shoot, etc. Feel free to RP a bit.

Smohalla will respond to the spirit that it should strike the troll from a distance (Elemental Attack), while protecting Ellesar and Stogie (Concealment?).

Does this count as commanding a spirit? If so, that uses up a Simple Action. His other Simple Action will be to command both Watchers to zero in on the troll and harass him (Astral Combat).

As a free action he will talk to Jake

Yes, that's a Simple Action to command the spirit. You can be open-ended and tell it to "protect" Ellesar and Stogie but it's going to interpret that as it sees fit. If you want to use Concealment specifically then you'll need to say so without the question mark, unless you're asking for its input. I've PM'd Phlapjack with some Smohalla-specific information.

Watchers only exist on the astral. The troll isn't dual-natured so they can't directly attack Toothy.

It is now turn #8.

Ellesar and Stogie are closing the gap. They won't be able to see their target during turn #8 but they think they might be able to catch a glimpse of him at a distance in turn #9. The spirit is currently staying with them in an effort to fulfill the "protect" portion of its instructions, as opposed to flying ahead and engaging Toothy.

Everyone, please be very explicit about what you're doing. I'll assume the least until informed otherwise.

Going to be out of town for the next week, internet will be very limited - please don't let me hold things up!

Ellesar is going to go with Stogie's plan to flank the troll from the right as soon as they catch up to it. With the speed that we're receiving from the air spirit I think we may want to move in front of the troll so that if he decides to keep running he'll have to either turn around or run straight at our fire.

Getting past him to stop or turn him is a great idea. If one does that, and the other stays to the side, we can have a crossfire from which the troll will have difficulty hiding. I'd like to get a shot at him as soon as I see him, so that likely means you will be ahead of me in short order. You wanna take the honour spot, right in front of the rampaging troll?

Sounds good to me. I'll go ahead and try sprinting in front of the troll then so that I can get in front of him before you start launching shells at him.

STR 4 + Running 4 = 8 dice >>> 5 hits

Alright, let's sort this out. Turn #8:

Ellesar: sprinting, quick as a bunny
Stogie: running/herding
Air Spirit: concealing the lads, staying roughly equal distance between the two as they separate
Smohalla: chilling with Jake and the shifter

Astral proceedings:

Toothy up to no good:
Ellesar has done an excellent job of pulling alongside the troll and is now about 25 meters away. He will be able to see the troll during turn #9 if he wishes to shoot, although given the speeds involved I'm going to call this is more like "Attacker in Moving Vehicle" (-3) instead of a normal "Attacker Running" penalty (-2).

Stogie is now trailing the troll by about 45 meters and is catching up. This is Long range for the Enfield, although the laser sight bonus will apply. Toothy still has Good Cover from both attackers, although Ellesar may be able to reduce that to Partial Cover if he closes the gap a bit further. (come closerrrr)

Let me know what your intentions are for Turn #9.

At the moment I don't think Stogie is aware of the astral combat, and it appears as if his and Ellesar's plan is (slowly) taking effect. He won't take a wild shot, which would require him to slow down at least a bit, but rather he will focus on getting closer and setting up the crossfire.

Since none of us other than Smohalla know that something worse is ahead Ellesar will be sticking to the current plan. Since Stogie is still quite a ways behind him he will fire over at the troll, hopefully moving it closer to the guy with the shorter range of fire. As for moving closer, Smohalla shall forever serve as a reminder.

4 AGI + 3 Longarms + 2 specialization + 1 red-dot sight - 3 running like the wind (aww yeah) - 2 good cover = 5 dice >>> 3 Hits