That's certainly plenty of channels to be going on with. I'm sure Tetsuo nags you to wear the simrig anyway, she's a bit of a data whore and likes to have as many sources to draw upon as possible.

I went through Crizh's character's questions via IRC. It was simply simpler to actually bother him there and ask him pertinent questions. As it is a lot of the questions were answered involved a good two hour session each. It was enormously efficient for both of us as I did not need to agonize over what information to give and he did not need to pick over it carefully.

I also find that the less OOC chatter (e.g., is A doing B?), the more interesting IC chatter becomes. In the other game I am running I tried to introduce the state of partially in chaarcter and partially as the player. It actually ruined the tension. For that reason I want to keep the tension up in this game. Pandora has a tight schedule and so the characters will be forced to have as well.

I am also a fan of limiting dice rolling. This is for two reasons. Firstly, I am a storyteller I like storytelling. I am also not a big fan of mechanics crunching. So if I make a ruling which is against the good book, please tell me, I'll have a look through it and decide based on it. Nonetheless, you start second guessing and you will be playing with a lance-corporal as a GM and less of me as the fluffy, nice person. Secondly, if the majority was dice rolled you would still be chatting with Mr Johnson or rather chatting about what to chat with Mr Johnson.

Every group has their own group chemistry and I think this has a strong working formula. And in the words of someone, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Groovy. Certainly seems like it worked well enough.

I liked it. It let me parachute into the thread parroting facts like an irritating smart-arse. Which is fairly in character.

The wife does think I'm cybering Chrysalis but you can't win 'em all....

A steep price, but well worth it given the amount of knowledge you've been able to bring to the table. Afterall... you can always get married again, but the opportunity to participate in this game is once in a lifetime... right?

I'm certainly open to a more "free form" approach, especially since I'm not familiar enough with many of the rules to really optimize my equipment and abilities like Crizh =)

I'll still plan ahead as much as possible, but will likely be sending most of the details for any planning (that I don't want others to know about) via private messages, just to keep a more realistic sense of the unknown. I suspect there will be others with much more to hide than Spooky Jack, but you never know what's going to pop up.

Cheers!

Ok, I'm getting back into the flow here. Drunk-post aside, I'm good with low dice. I'll be talking out plans in advance so I can be told 'hells no' but unless I hear otherwise I'm dropping posts.

For clarification of my IC post, Frank is using E-Sense to find everything in the back room before he leaves. Any bugs he'll take a moment to crack before he leaves.

It should be noted that Frank, in his borderline paranoid state broadcasts nothing but a standard comm channel unless actively in a situation where other things are needed. He only broadcasts on full sensory capability in a TacNet situation. That is also the only time when he actively uses his Simrig Complex Form.

As of Tuesday, I will be gone until Friday and then off until Monday. Monday I am planning on flying out, so I am going to be on hiatus for a while.

Thanks,

-Lauri

Have fun.

Before I post IC. Who all's leaving from the office in the morning? And who's driving the Hover if we're bringing it?

Not I, said the gun-toting, glad-handing compulsive deviant.

Doc'll come from the office.

Off chance question: does Frank recognize either of the scientist soldiers?

Just to let you all know that on the Wednesday (the 1st), I'm moving to a new place. I'm supposed to have the Internet hooked back on the 4th, but with these things.... you never really know.

MJ: Best of luck the with the move.

Am I the only one thinking that Captain Pike is a full conversion cyborg with a mimic system?

It would certainly one way of getting out of a wheelchair....

AI with one hell of a projector system?

If I actually knew what a full conversion cyborg with a mimic system was, I'd probably agree with you.

I'm fairly certain that Spooky would know that he was looking at someone either extremely powerful in magical terms (and thus able to completely hide his aura) or unalive. Once I receive an answer regarding my question of whether or not Capt. Pike actually has an aura (it may be up, I haven't had a chance to check IC yet) I'll make sure to fill in the remainder of the team with the information I've gleaned on everyone. If nothing else, it should give Tetsuo something to.

Augmentation introduced the option for full conversion cyborgs, which are a brain in a jar, hardwired into a commlink and life support system implanted in an anthromorphic drone. The mimic system makes the drone body appear human by giving it skin, a pulse, and some other odds and ends.

Mister Juan: Good luck with the move.

Cpt. Pike could be a full conversion cyborg. ^_^

Military vs. civilian e-Warfare equipment.

Hi guys,

Some thoughts I had about e-warfare equipment. One of the myths of the sixth world is that civilian scanners, EMPs, and other e-warfare are as effective as the civilian models. That is not true. A modern AWACS today has far more capability than the sensor suites mentioned in Augmentation. I would therefore expect that one of the myths or lies of the corps is selling the civilian population toys that are strongly impaired from the military models which are far more powerful, because you sell a gimped system to experts, it won't fly very far. Nobody likes being sold a lemon for several hundred million nuyen.

Due to massive personal issues with my character, as well as an inability on my part to correct them, I'm going to have to pull Doc Sci out of this game. Sorry for any trouble this causes you (although I imagine it would be a whole lot due to the lack of significant contributions from him thusfar). Good luck, and I'll be keeping an eye on things.

Oh, and if it turns out you need another character later in the game, feel free to message me. I'll come up with someone a little less difficult to work out.

Later man, Sorry your character didn't pan out.

Ref Mil-spec gear...

This is very true. Ie... For a long time, civilian GPS had an automatic off-set built in. This has been removed in recent years, but for a long time civilian GPS were not accurate enough to be used for precision bombing etc.

In addition, the latest technology being used by militaries (well, militaries with a strong budget) is generally not released for public use until the advantages of keeping it secret are minimal, or its use in the private sector is crucial.

I have been looking over hovercraft designs.

How wide is the GMC Everglades? Does it have an open cargo space in the middle or is it covered?

You are aware that it is not VTOL like a helicopter and has immense problems with lift when it comes to extremely broken terrain.

Mickle: Sorry to see you couldn't find a way to work things in.

Re: Hovercraft, I'm sure someone's got their copy of RBB, R2, or R3 handy, but mine's not here at the office. I'm pretty sure the Everglades has an enclosed cargo compartment and is shaped like a really wide stepvan. No clue what the concrete width would be. As for extremely broken ground, I know the Mostran hovertruck in Arsenal specifically includes powered wheels for use on ground too rough to keep the skirt inflated, but there's not enough information on the Everglades in the current rules to specify whether it does or not.

Worse comes to work, we walk until we find something suitable to hijack, send the hovercraft back to Seattle with the Air Force, and rely on the blimp to maintain our connection to Tetsuo and the rest of the matrix.

The Everglades is kinda like a Hover-Transit-Van. I don't think it exists prior to SR4, it was the GMC Nissan Hovertruck previously.

The Everglades was chosen, over the Hover Adapted Hotspur or the Mostran, because it can go absolutely anywhere a wheeled off-road vehicle can go and can go over water.

I've also spent time and money giving it whatever environment mods would be essential for this trip, whether that be improved air-filtration, paint that will trap air-borne dust and that we can wash clean-off with solvents when we're done or uprated, deeper ruggedized skirts to handle any potentially extra rough terrain.

On the subject of Military gear being better, I agree, to an extent.

In mature fields there is only so far you can really be ahead of the State Of The Art. There is only so much better an Assault Rifle can be.

In fresh fields it's a different story. You can be light years ahead of civilian gear. Laser and Gauss Weapons being a good example. Still you have to bear in mind that there is a distinction between civilian and corporate. You can bet that the sort of weapons Ares can field if it comes right down to it are going to be an order of magnitude more advanced than those of any governmental military unit.

I kinda like the old SOTA thing for Rated Devices. A Rating of 6 is the best you can expect in the civilian marketplace, whereas a Rating of 9 is cutting edge of the cutting edge. The whole scale is subjective, last year's Rating 6 is only Rating 4 and last year's Rating 9 is this year's Rating 6.

A good example is the Zurich-Orbital Uplink in New York, it's Matrix Systems are statted out in Unwired and it caps out at 8's and 9's in Firewall, System etc. Those are the highest numbers you can expect to see in any 'Production' environment. Inside development labs you might see higher but then you might see glitches and unforeseen side-effects.

Well, I'm pretty much done moving. Still a lot of boxes to unpack, but I've got the good ol' internet back! I should have something up either tonight or tomorrow.

Sounds familiar. I usually get almost everything unpacked until the dreaded Internat connection is placed, then I don't get anything done.


-Chrysalis

It's funny because quite frankly.... all the unpacking has stalled because the internet is back

So when can I expect your post?

I pull my virtual tongue at you

A little quesiton first: What is the expected weather in Aztlan?
Another little question: do you want a gear list of what we're bringing with us?

It is roughly 14 degrees Celsius in Tenochtitlan at this time of January. In the mountains it gets very cold at night down to freezing, while in the low lands it will usually stay at 6-8 degrees at night.

I grew up in Rovaniemi (near the arctic circle) and this would be my equivalent of summer.

Unless you are trying to bring in something which does not fit into a hold-all, yes. Otherwise I will assume you have it with you. No, a rocket launcher does not fit-into a hold-all, nor does a HMG barrel.

So "yes" to a short barrel, pistol grip, disassembled shotgun?

And I also take it that Aztlan is pretty much "lawless" (at least the zone we'll be in)? As in; what are the "social" repercussions going to be for walking around with obvious weapons and armor?

Yes to the shotgun.

People when met by large armed people with no police to call on, either:

1. Are armed themselves
2. Will (not) say anything for the fear of getting shot
3. Will run away and call the local militia to deal with the situation

As a rule people do not like interacting with people who behave in manner which can be understood as "shoot first, asking questions later". But this is also Mexico underneath Aztlan, which makes it a macho society. People respect fighters and warriors, not killers and murderers. Machismo means swagger, which means notched belts, weapons shown and glint in the eye; but it is also tempered by functioning strictly inside the rules of society.

A person gets killed, no one is probably going to care. a school shootout and the village and the neighbouring villages will raise a posse to hunt the SOB down.

Back from three 'netless days in the land of Oz, thanks to my wonky power supply... catchup time.

Are we still on?

As far as I know.

I was hoping that there would be a few more people posting than just me and DWC. But I guess I will bring the storyline forwards.

-Chrysalis

I've kinda run out of stuff to say.

I need to know what results my Matrix wide search netted, if any, before I can start Information Sortilage to fill in the gaps.

I also need to know how my infiltration of other teams is coming along.

Right now Tetsuo is sleeping. With a bit of luck the team will use the nano-infecters they have been supplied with before they arrive in the blast zone.

Sorry crizh, could re-iterate what it is you were looking for on the Matrix? I have forgotten completely.

-Chrysalis

It was just the same search I ran on the Nexus, with minor tweaks based on what I had already learned, on the entire Matrix. Just in case there was information you withheld because my original search was limited to only the Nexus.

That would likely have only taken a few minutes after which I could have taken the whole pile of accumulated data and run Information Sortilage on it to tease any underlying patterns or hidden information from it.

We pursued a lot of avenues of investigation previously but the main elements were pursuing information about Pandora, her M.O. and her goals, our employers and those we are in competition with.

Ultimately what you do know is that Horizon is running a massive information development program around Pandora. Horizon are also looking at turning Pandora into an Idoru, a virtual constructed megastar, and are busy trying to buy the IP rights to the whole video. This is based that a group in Stuttgart made a music video based on the original transmission and has been a huge viral hit and Horizon is trying to sue them or sign them over it.

Any genuine information about Pandora is being overwhelmed by the sea of Matrix traffic that the topics Pandora, Tenochtitlan, Fall of Aztlan/Aztechnology are generating.

The other AAA corporations are very busy downplaying the whole event.

Hey Crow, perhaps I should've been more specific, but the profile I sent was basically just a mugshot of each person, and a written description of what I perceved... ie. Marine X is a mage of some sort and Capt Pike has no aura, and is therefore either a powerful mage able to hide his aura completely or, as best I can tell, not alive. etc.

Pretty much enough information so that if you read the spoiler Chrysalis wrote for what I saw, you would know what I know, plus with the handy mug shots you'll be able to refer back to the e-mails later if you forget. I don't really get any more precise than that (as that's all the info I was given =)

I haven't been posting much since Spooky's not exactly the social type, and with his prepared actions in place for the plane trip, there really wasn't much to add.

And what does Information Sortilage turn up?

Information Sortilage: 17 Hits [6 Hits from Sift]

That AAA corps know much more about what is going on, the upper echelons of the information olligarchs. They are preparing for something. The AAA corps are allying themselves into axes. There is also the cloud of a global shadow war coming the likes of which has never before been seen. Pandora was the catalyst, the excuse, the gestalt.

Just in case someone wondered; Terrence does plan to sleep most of the way. He's been up all night obsessing over Pandora... so he's pretty tired.
Unless someone wakes him up, or something drastic happens, he's probably going to sleep until touch down.

Hi,

I updated the IC so that you can now actually do anything. I am leaving you free time to explore the airbase and Ten if you so wish.

I am having trouble with the forums in that my country IP is banned for some reason.

Where is all our gear now?

All your gear except the hovercraft is outside the barracks.

Anything you need to store you can in the container.

Most likely you would need to ask the two OoDs in the hallway of the main building to find out where they have stashed the hovercraft. Good guess vehicle pool.

Sorry about my absence as of late, I'll try to post more frequently. My bandwidth onboard was absolutely pitiful for a few days, and now that it's a little better I should be able to check more often. Waiting an hour for the site to finally load, and then sometimes even longer to post, was frustrating.

Another itsy-bitsy issue is that I've just started writing a novel (after putting it off for a year). I'm also writing a few short stories for online competitions that I'm hoping will earn me some recognition. Since I have no published works to date, even an honorary mention in the competition could go a long way towards securing an agent once my book is ready for publishing. The cash from the competitions couldn't hurt either =)

Cheers!

Crazy insane work pretty much over now. I should be able to start posting again in a very near future!