@Redjack - that works for me.

@Trigger - thanks for the clarification. Written out backgrounds are worth bonus poitns BTW as opposed to a rehash of the 20Q.

@Wearz - big ol' gyspsy sash and lots of color. Good stuff!


'K guys as I understand your moves so far, this is a meet between the team before the actual J meet. Don't awit on SinN/Ash as he's got a hard time posting. So he will chime in when he can (woncha buddy). let's move this along.

Trigger - honestly hadn't noticed that you didn't have binding. One of those little assumption blinds I suppose. Thanks for the clarification.

@Fist: Will do on that Background. Was meaning to do one anyways but never got around to it yet, so I will work on it and put it up when I fix my posting in Cast of Shadows.

@rob: By ghost do you mean a full spirit or simply a watcher?

@Trigger - I'm not entirely sure Caliph would know the difference. Whatever you think he means, or ask him.

Hey Rob I do not know if you have found these links

Sounds like the Lipan Apache come close to your description of your character

http://www.texasindians.com/apach.htm

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online...s/KK/bmk11.html

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online...s/AA/bma33.html

http://www.texasindians.com/ap2.htm

@Fist by the shadowrun wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowrun_timeline

2011: the Year of Chaos
"Unexplained Genetic Expression (UGE) -- Babies bearing a close resemblance to Elves and Dwarves are born across the world. Widely believed to be a foreshadowing of the awakening ahead."

That passage is what I used when originally setting up the background for MagPye.

OK I consent. 1 karma for digging for info.

I don't think that coyote is the right term for Seattle, as I have only ever heard it when it is referring to those who move people between sectors in Denver. I didn't think Seattle had coyotes anyways, instead relying on smugglers and t-bird pilots to get across borders and such.

Actually the term came into use to describe those that arranged persons to be smuggled into the US across the US/Mexico border.

Even today the term is spreading to cover all who smuggle persons, across any US border.

The exact term may not be coyote, but it conveys the meaning.

WMS

First off, when quoting, for easy reference later, please include who you're quoting and from what page. Otherwise going back over things later won't make much sense.

Secondly, yes, I'd assume most areas as a B zone within Tacoma. Not exactly a high priority to cover bars in the industrial zone. Besides that, it's also a place you made up (unless I've totally missed it somewhere) for deciding on where to meet a Johnson. I have no problem with people making up bars, makes things more interesting for me. I'd say it's a fair assumption that a place a runner chooses for a meet would be farily low on the LS Sec Rating.

Incidentally, Finnegan is my sister's husband's last name (hers as well obviously), who works in a bar, so I have a very clear idea of how I'll be running the place.

Also, I've added a link to the IC thread on the first post on the OOC, and vice versa.

Finnegan's

Finnegan's is a time worn irish pub deep in the bowels of Tacoma. It isn't quite a dirty dive bar, but it's certainly a place to be known if you're going to make any trouble. The establishment is owned by a couple of locals who are always "improving" the place, meaning that one spot or another is always under construction. Last time it was the bath room, the time before that, adding on to the kitchen.

The lighting is purposefully dim, and there is a constant buzz about the place from a cybered league foot ball game, urban brawl, or combat biking playing on one of the trids. A pair of pool tables and an actual dart board give the regulars something to do while throwing back suprisingly good beer. Not all of the drink here is soy. A number of drinks, including the beer and the vodka are the real thing, imported by connections of the owners. The bar man is a large ork polishman named Peter, and is the source of the vodka. He also does some of the cooking along with his wife, which is quite good. Peter's an excellent source for local knowledge.

As most bars are in the area, the bar is connected to organized crime. They pay their protection money, and handling a bit of light smuggling good,s including Peter's vodka he gets straight out of Vladivostok. They don't bother checking for weapons at the door, assuming people carry them. But woe to the person who actually draws one here.

A number of people find it ironic that the Finnigan mafia family has never made an issue about who controls the interest from the bar. Fact of the matter is, it's just to small time to matter.

Nope. I do remember your stating that, but I modified a bit in the context I was going for. Sounded a bit like Boondock Saints as it was. But since it;s actually a building you looked up, I'll modify my post instead.

Should be interesting to see what the spirit considers a weapon. As Trigger did specify a Spirit of Man though, it shouldn't be too wonky.

I will admit the "illegal loft housing" line did come straight out of Boondock Saints (1 GM cookie for you!)

Thought something like that - spirit misidentifying weapons. Figgered that maybe the example would help.

BTW, I'm getting ready to begin moving to the middle east, so my comms may be spotty in the next couple months. I may not have enough heads-up to tell yall exactly when that'll happen, either.

rob

In case I do not get the chance before you leave Rob

"Fair Winds and Following Seas, Shipmate"

Sam
USN '79-'85

Same here, in case your orders come quickly, good luck Rob and safe tour.

Well we'd hate to lose you rob. Are you likely to have any internet access out there. Don't really know what your duty is so I don't know if you're likely to be around a modem much.

Anyway, I think getting deployed is worth some extra karma, assuming you'll be around to use it.

@ Redjack - sweet, GM cookie. Tastes so good and dystopi-crunchy

@All - Well, I won't arrive in the land of endless beaches for a while; the comms blackouts in the short term will depend on the stuff happening between now and then. As for when I'm over there, depends on any number of variables, but I'll probably have comms most of the time. May not have much time, but this doesn't take much and is good for breaks at work.

@Fist - Well, I think I've been using my professional experience to rack up enough common sense points as is; wouldn't want special privileges above and beyond the other players. Thanks, tho!

Rob,

If "things" will allow it what branch of the service are you in?

And if Opsec and other nice military terms that are used now, what is your MOS translated for the MOS impaired?

WMS

Not all characters are created equal rob. Ash for example has been played before, and so has some higher skills. Besides, in SR, stats don't make a good character. They help, but God knows Ive seen enough "high powered" characters go down easy enough. My favorite was the grade 13 voodoun gunned down by a pair of Seraphim agents in a coffin motel. They were using auto pistols only. Anyway, 25 karma if you want in.

Be advised, I also give karma for birthdays.


-regarding WzMnSk comment - reminds me of a friend I have in the Navy (currently based in San Antonio,Tx). He's a linguistic cryptogrpaher, meaning he mostly breaks codes in other languages. So occassionally I ask him what he's been doing latel.y His latest answer was "well, I can't really tell you. I can can around it, but I'm driving right now, and kind of have to concentrate."

Always fun hearing the different ways of saying "nope, you can't know."

If there are no objections. now that the first team is in position, we could go ahead and place SINn in position and move in the last team now that initial recon has been performed..

Sounds ok right now, but I sure when it hits the fan, I may have a different opinion.

Well Magpye would likely be the primary Face character. I went to Nix for the intro because , well I knew the most about his char first, and knew he's been used before, so went with the idea of a char with good street cred. p to you guys who actually does the meet.

Oh, and it's SinN.

Well, if Karma rewards are normal for OOC stuff, I'll take it ... I'm for the fast forward to the arrival scenario.

rob

Ok, I went ahead a posted Nix up to the bar. That'll move the time up a bit and give everyone a chance to post up to that point. I assume my next post to be Nix and MagPye entering the bar and approaching Ms Johnson.. err Virginia..

ok then, karma to rob.

Everyone is accounted for at this point except for Ash. As he posts fro mthe library, and was at a party late last night, and won't be able to post until Monday (library closed in Utah on Sunday), probably won't be able to post until Monday.

As he has face skills, assume that he is at the sit down, as he likely would be, so WMS, include him at the sit down but don't speak for him.

I'll be out of town tonight until late Sunday or Monday, just FYI.

yes I know that is why I am waiting for Nix or bartender etc to make the next move.

I only nodded at the Troll, merely paused my gaze when it traveled over the two seated.

Oh, I was under the impression that we had not seen each other before. For instance, I assumed that shadow runners never showed their faces on a com call... Or if they did it would be a fake.. For example, an unknown caller would get a picture that is not Nix'.. If that call then yielded some face2face, he would then cast physical mask for the meet... This is a pretty paranoid group after all..

Interesting aspects of Paranoia, have there been many games where the Johnson routinely shafts the party at the initial meet? Would not the Johnson's rep etc be out there if he/she routinely did so? I can see it at the final meet, maybe, but again the Johnson's rep would be out there.

Why would someone want to hire someone who they never know what he looks like? Lets see you are doing something that is technically illegal, but you never know that the person you are meeting is the "correct" person?<shudders>

There would have to be some way of verifying that the person is the person you wish to meet with. Be it wearing a yellow rose in lapel, or having a visual facial record etc.

Also in this version of SR, unless one sustains a constant physical mask spell, there tons of images of your character. One just has to select it out of the mountains of images out there, which one is you. But with the wonders of datasearch etc, that is not hard a task, one just has to want to do it.

Ok back to the game, since there is no previously set up, visual profile ie Face, wearing a yellow rose in lapel etc, this will be very interesting to say the least. Since the Johnson only knows of one of us, and she does not know what he looks like, or even race maybe.

Who will break this deadlock?

That is why Nix reached out to his contact that Johnson used as a reference.

@Redjack - I'd missed that part, although it makes sense. It's our standard MO as well, so we'll go with it, NP.

You do know she's a female, and she's the only fem in the bar if that helps.

Does your contact know how you look right now?

Has this contact ever even seen you?

Visual confirmation using the contact, will be interesting.

Now using AR and PAN's it can be done very easily. At least I think it can be, but with the degree of paranoia it may not be.

well calling his contact with a physical mask, the ocntact would see the mask, as it's physical, so he could pas that on, once he confirms it's Nix.

So just to be clear, should I post as Nix with the assumption that Johnson showed her face on the initial com call?

Using AR and PAN, the contact sees the physical masked Nix, also reads Nix's PAN if he allows such things.

The contact then transmits the Nix's PAN node information to the Johnson's PAN, then AR takes place.

Note that Caliph didn't go inside before the meet or after the people arrive. He's pulling external security, so he has no idea what the troll's doing unless he can see in through a window. Probably wouldn't be sitting within the troll's direct line-of-sight, either - makes another direction to keep an eye on.

He's content to let the faces negotiate the job, provided they brief the other team members before they make any promises in someone else's name....

I would think the SOP of the group is that the pair negotiate the best deal then lay out the basics and the pay for a "ya/nay" vote from the team. Sound good?

Rob - Got it

Redjack - I vote yay. For the record.

Interesting, looks like PAN's will be in use abit then.

I would say that in order to keep hacking down, we dial the PAN's down to 0 (1m) or just over, using LTG if there is an issue.
Finding a hidden signal is Electronic Warfare + Scan (4).
Detecting a specific hidden node is Electronic Warfare + Scan (15+, 1 combat turn).

Once the signal is located it can then be intercepted: Electronic Warfare + Sniffer (3).

Next, it can then be decrypted: Decrypt + Response (Encryption x 2, 1 combat turn).

So it'll take a reasonable hacker under 36 seconds to find, capture and decrypt our PAN conversations. A technomancer with the correct forms and a sprite on assist will cut that time nearly in half.

Caliph is all for the faces doing the negotiating work. He thinks it's unprofessional to have too many leaders and too many talkers.

As for the PANs, good idea, but Caliph would hate it (paranoid of the matrix). He hates the notion of using the LTG, since there could be any number of nodes in between then and here. He'd say keep the commlink you use to communicate with the team on hidden (that's why he has two commlinks) and compose text messages offline, then burst transmit them directly, so that unless they happen to be listening on your channel at that specific time they won't even know you communicated.

rob

Redjack, so you are saying an encryption rating of 6 is something that can be virtually cracked in a few combat rounds?

I have not run the numbers, no need as of yet. At a 12 tests it would take 36 dice assuming average statistics of die rolls. With response of 6 and a decrypt of 6, that give 12 dice, then why even bother to encrypt things, that is just plain broken.

I have read nothing about PAN's or commlinks using burst transmittions, that would make a more secure communications medium, unless you catch the burst, you have nothing.

I interpret this as a simple radio thing. Commlinks have signal ratings, which represent the strength of their antennae and power amp (though it's dumb that man-portable things can have signals of 6...). Instead of radio linking to a cell phone tower, just broadcast a message straight and have the friendly commlinks pick it up. Not explicitly in the rule book, but dirt simple.

Dropping your signal rating i've never understood. If someone has a high enough rating to be able to reach your comm, which isn't hard in a bar, they can hack it just as easily.

Its the lowest common denominator. They never get the response because your com has the "power" turned way down... They send a SYN packet but never get the ACK...