Well next scene with the B&E you should get your moment to shine.

You could pull that off with Hex, not Mack though. A 340 lb troll is not going to get held up by any of you guys.

So, next round, if Hex's additional actions still don't take down the bike (GO HEX!) I'll be facing -3 for moving vehicle, -3 for leaning out, any range penalties (I'll take an action to aim to take care of that) and any penalties from the driving tests for that combat round?

Gods, they are rolling hot, that is the second time they have made a less than 5% chance. Some days you can't win for losing Still, we did get 2P on the bike, and I think Hex has two more IPs?

Let one of us hold you out?

Actually, that's 330 Kilos. I'll take the penalties to add firepower to Hex, if we get that far.

Good call!

.... hey! I'm a moving target now! 2 pips! Woot!

Yeah, I'll be able to do the same shot twice more. Then ideally we'll get close enough to use pistols, which means probably more accurate shots.

In that vein, I guess I should take a seat up front, so I don't take even more penalties that I already am. At this point Loki is next one to act, correct?

I'll give everyone else a bit of time to post actions in case there is anything they want to do.

Mack is still getting his gear together until the next turn. Sweeps is spending the rest of this combat turn and the next one trying to fix his mistake but then he'll get to roll another first aid check.

Other than that the only people who can actually do anything combat wise this upcoming IP are Hex, Sybercat, Slash and Hack.

Sybercat will be up first next Initiative Pass. I'll post her actions in an hour or two. Sorry to everyone else who's kinda sitting on the sidelines for now. Sybercat's going to try an maneuver into a better position so she gets some bonus dice next time she tries to close the range (hopefully she'll get more than one freaking success). That'll open up options for everyone else.

I'm not going to shoot at all - 5 dice for shooting is 2 after the modifier. Pointless.

It's fine about the healing; I can heal later. I don't intend to get caught in any firefights, though they might come to me. What's this overdamage thing (click Loki in my sig and it's to the far right - should be obvious)?

Overdamage is the very thin line between 'sucking chest wound' and 'pushing up daisies'. It basically means you're down and out but not quite dead yet. You've only taken by my count 7 boxes of physical damage so far though so you're still a long way away from dying. You have a number of Overdamage boxes equal to your body attribute. For the full rules on it check P.153 of the BBB.

Well that was ineffective all around. Hex, you're up again.

Another pretty good shot. Hopefully he doesn't roll as well to absorb the damage again, heh.

Loki, I'm going to hold off the healing when I've finished correcting my mistake. If your not going to die, then it's no doubt best for you to stay as you are, and we can get a profesional to heal you later.

So Hack dodged, and then failed to score any successes on a maneuver roll. Slash shot at the van and missed. We're back to Hex, then Hack, then it's the next combat turn.

To save time I'm going to leave the initiative order as is. I should technically be rerolling but that's a lot of copy/pasting when the end result is probably going to be pretty similar.

Things will get uglier assuming Sybercat manages to close the range on at least one of them.

Hex,
I'm not sure, but I think for the third round you will carry the aiming, so you can fire a long and a short burst.
Joel

yep, you can. p.137.

Ahh, okay. Was confused for a sec, then paged over to 141, that explained it for me.

So, I'll probably actually shoot two short bursts, otherwise my dice pool will be next to nothing. Less damage, but who knows.

Ok, I did the control rolls, everyone passed this time and Sybercat managed to close the distance between you and Hack. He's at medium range now. This means that the AK and LMG are at medium range to shoot at him and your pistols are at long. Sweeps is up. I'm gonna rule that he's finished with Loki just so he doesn't spent the rest of the combat sitting on the sidelines.

You guys with the pistols might still want to shoot at Hack. You probably won't damage him but you might force a dodge roll which will make it easier for Hex and Mack to get him.

Sybercat, Hack and Slash have all taken their actions for this IP already.

Is there a reason you are doubling the armor on the vehicles?
As I read the book, the Harleys ought to have Armor 4, and the Bulldog Armor 8.
Hardened Armor just means that you have to exceed the armor with base DV or you won't do any damage.
As far as I can tell (p 158) the book armor rating is not doubled. (Materializing Spirits have an Armor rating of double their force. The armor on the rating 4 spirit of man looked fine.)

Or are both motorcycles and the bulldog heavily modified to carry extra armor. (Giving the Motorcycles as much armor as a stock Bulldog?)

Yours,
Joel

Sorry. That's actually a house rule my group has used for so long I almost assume it's cannon half the time.

Basically the way it works is that if a shot actually targets the vehicle, rather than the passengers it's armour value is doubled. We instituted this rule after a number of very boring (and far too short) chase scenes that ended when people with light pistols managed to take out armoured sedans and the like. Just as an example of how bad it is, we had a guy take out a citymaster with an SMG loaded with flechette rounds in a test combat we ran. If you target the passengers it still only provides it's normal armour. There are exceptions to this with regards to tanks and the like where the armour is doubled regardless but I doubt very much you'll be dealing with tanks. Another way of looking at it is this. If the choppers armour wasn't doubled, the chase would have been over (or pretty close to it) the first time Hex hit the bike.

The in game logic behind this is that any armour a vehicle is going to have will be centered around things like the engine, doors, and other locations that's it's comparably easy to add an inch or two of steel. Windows and the like will just be garden variety bullet proof glass and therefor weaker.

My apologies though. I should have clarified the house rule right off the bat. It just slipped my mind.

Thanks. A house rule makes sense of what I have been seeing.
(I don't know whether it makes more or less sense when it comes to Cars, and things like Citymasters, but it certainly makes sense for Motorcycles.

And more importantly, your game, your rules.

Thanks for explaining,
Joel

I agree the logic gets a little fuzzy with cars and the like but the intention is more to make vehicle combat more interesting, the in game justification came later.

On a more practical note, I think from the IC posts that we are not under any extra maneuver penalties (other than the -3 for a moving vehicle, and for me a -3 for hanging out the door) this turn? (Last turn we had the extra -2.)

Yours,
Joel

Yes, sorry. Should have made that clear. Everyone passed their maneuver tests so there are no additional penalties.

EDIT Never mind

EDIT:

NEVER MIND, Again!

If I lean out that door and are firing a pistol. Do I still have a -3 modifier on account that this is a one handed weapon?

Kind of in the same vein of Joels question: if I were to try and take a called shot to avoid the armor on the bike, would that be a -4 or -8 penalty in your book? Although, a called shot for extra damage might be a better idea...hrmm.

Given that you will face a -3 penalty, you can probably afford to take an aimed shot for extra damage. (I presume that for damage avoidance while shooting at the bike, it would be considered -8. But even if it was -4, you would be taking a 4 point penalty for a net gain of 8/3 in damage. Doing a called shot for damage, you would take the same -4, and would get +4 damage.)
I wonder if you still have aim for range compensation, or do you need to do that again?

Mack can not afford the called shot, as he will have only 8 dice. SO when it gets to him he will do an aim + long burst. Mind you, the LMG does not do any more damage than the AK (although it is nicely recoil compensated.) The bullets should help a bit (+1DV and -1AP, by the errata).

Joel

Joel has it right.

And Take Aim actions can carry over from combat turn to combat turn as long as you don't undertake any other actions during that time including free actions. I won't count talking though.

Anyhow Since Sybercat and the trolls have already acted this IP that means the inititative order is Loki, Hex, Padre, Mack. That'll bring us to the next IP.

If I lean out that door and are firing a pistol. Do I still have a -3 modifier on account that this is a one handed weapon?

yep. The penalty is more because you're leaning out of the door of a truck going 60 or 70 KM/hr, likely the left door so you're shooting with your left hand, hanging onto the frame, one eye constantly drifting towards the pavement that will peal you like a banana if your hand slips and trying to place a shot.

Gah, oh well. If it was -4 I'd actually do both. Hex's skills with a pistol are so much better, heh. This IP is going to be him switching weapons and aiming, after that he'll get to shoot.

You can go ahead and skip me this pass; I have nothing to do.

Ok. I'm going to assume that Padre doesn't do much either (stick n' shock ain't going to hurt a bike). That means Mack's up. Time for the big guns.

With Hack in medium range of the LMG I expect this will probably be over pretty quick. Just have to hope he survives the experience.

Start of the 2nd IP is up. Hex you're good to go assuming Sweeps still wants to keep his head down.

Skip me too. Nothing I can do sensibly.

Come on Hex! Wooooot!!!

If we knock one of them down. Are we going to go for the other one too, or are we going to just let him go and see what we get out of the first guy?

Score one for Hex. Walked the thin line between taking out the bike and killing the poor SOB sitting on it.

Hack's down. It's up to you guys if you want to keep going after Slash or do a roadside interrogation on Hack.

I suggest interrogation of Hack.
1) Load him up and move somewhere else?
2) Can Sybercat make sure Hack's commlink doesn't call for help, or let his pals know where he is?
3) For that matter, can Sybercat check his commlink for information?

I am a little leary of just trying to question him right where he has fallen, as we could then get surprised by company.
So we need to figure out if we can restrain him reasonably, and treat him enough that we can question him.
(If we can get him restrained, I can happily squat beside him holding a survival knife near his throat if that seems a good way to help keep him focused on answering us, instead of causing more trouble.)

Mack

1) Moving him is probably a good idea. Lone Star likely knows 'something' is going on by now. They'd be bad party crashers.

2) Sybercat could hack his comlink no problem.

3) depends what his comlink has on it.

My vote's in for hauling him off as well. More time to work, and he won't be as likely to bleed out. Plus LS might object to all this shooting of automatic weapons in public.

Do it! Move him in the Van. I'm sure Loki wants to give him the once over. I'll be happy to hold a gun to his head.

Does this also mean that combat is now over?

yeah. Combat's over.

Oh, Loki. If you want to take charge of the interrogation I'm gonna rule you're wound modifiers don't apply, at least if you're using intimidation. I figure that seeing you bloodied up and pissed off would probably be even more of an incentive to talk.

Are you going to post an IC for finding the wrecked biker or do you want us to go ahead. I'm just not sure what we are going to see when we get there. Nor if he is going to put up a fight before we drag him to the van.... etc...

General plan would seem to be:
We pull up, and Hex keeps an eye out for trouble.
I step out, scoop up our target, and haul him back into the van.
We get moving while someone checks to see if we need to stabilize Hack, and if not, try to immobilize him a bit.

Then Loki starts asking him questions, and we start to find out what the heck is going on here (I hope).

Mack

sure, can do. I'll assume that Joel's post is the one to go by.

Coolio, sounds good.

Ok. Hack's in the van. Someone might want to make a First Aid roll to determine the extent of his injuries. The medkit can help diagnose.