GM:

IF is the state between In Character and Out of Character. Group brainstorming without having to place it in the frame of the character is a type of IF gaming.

The first interaction should be roleplayed for Tyler to join the group, but I jumped a bit ahead of myself to make sure that planning is done as a group and not where everyone kind of does their own thing and then players get confused what is going on when. Especially as Crizh is busy with work/school and bmcoomes is going hunting so the game continues as brain storming but not as IC, so everyone feels included in the decision making process.

Professor:


Tyler:

I got an hour of net access today so I'm caught up on the threads. I've only got ten minutes left though so no major posting. I'll try to get back on later.

We're on holiday btw not working. I love France....

The one thing Cruze really badly wants to do is counter-surveillance. She is going to scan for every node in the area, crack it's encryption and monitor the traffic over the course of several hours using a high powered scanner (rating 6) looking for any pre-existing surveillance. The renovators could just as easily be the kill team as a helpful cover for our operation.

Data Search (whenever it happens):

Hey everyone. Hope the holiday weekend went well for all.

Planning runs isn't my forte, so I am fine with whatever suggestions people want to throw out. In the end, I'll offer a vote on which plan Tyler would go with.

Will anyone be doing any reasearch on Mr Aegis?

Professor will eventually try, but he prioritized the planning of the surveillance and understanding the killer. I don't want to get days ahead of the game by saying all the things he would like to do all at once.

Once we have a plan and we find out what we can about the subject and the killings, there may be down time as we wait for something to happen during which research can be done.

Professor feels the danger level will rise dramatically on Friday, so before then there -should- be time for the already mentioned research and setting up our base. Then we can work on the Mr. Johnson.

(!) Ooooorrrr... while Professor is figuring out the killings, someone else could be sussing out the Mr. Johnson. There's an idea! Parallel processing... what a thought!

Chrysalis, I need your advice.

I believe I may have been using the Analytical Mind Quality (RC, p. 96) and the Analytics Adept Power (SM, p. 174) incorrectly. I used them both in the Data Search in the recent post above, and I think that is alright.

Earlier I had used them both in some Perception Tests, when I was looking for patterns. Both abilities are described as being used for finding patterns, but the Analytical Mind Quality specifically says "+2 Dice Modifier for Logic Tests involving pattern recognition ... [etc.]" Perception uses Intuition, which would seem to preclude the Analytical Mind Quality, but still accept the more generally worded Analytics Adept Power. Other than the Data Search Skill, though, I can't think of any kind of pattern recognition function that would not be a Perception Test. Could you please give me your take on this?

Also, the Analytical Mind Quality and the Analytics Adept Power talk about evidence analysis, clue hunting, solving puzzles or logical problems. If these are Logic Tests, do they use just Logic, or is there some other skill to go along with the Attribute? I don't know, Mathematics Knowledge Skill, Computer Skill, language Skill in the language in which the puzzle is written?

Analytical mind:

This quality gives the
character a +2 dice pool modifier to any Logic Tests involving
pattern recognition, evidence analysis, clue hunting, or solving
puzzles. This quality also provides a + 2 dice pool modifier to any
Data Search and Software Tests.


Analytics:
This power provides a +1 dice pool
modifier per level to any test involving pattern recognition, evidence
analysis, or solving puzzles or logical problems.


It is supposed to complement these skills which are logic skills:
Academic Knowledge
Data Search
Hacking
Professional Knowledge
Electronic Warfare

When we are really talking about pattern recognition then it can be ruled as being intuition, but only in a few special cases. Such as opening a Lament Configuration, seeing the significance of the number 23, etc. I would rule that you can use but only if you are looking patterns. Remember as you so eagerly seeking for patterns you will find them even when they do not exist.

I'll still mull over this today.

Yup, been there! Thanks for the guidance.

The two abilities can be used for perception, but then it is in only for exceptional cases. You can look at portraits of family members and identify distinctive ridge patterning of the ear to indicate that Mister Jones is a legitimate male heir. However, it will not give you the bonus in noticing that Mister Jones had a congenital birth defect and is wearing a vat grown ear made from the stem-cells of his mother.

This would sync with how you are roleplaying your character.

-Laurie

Unleashing Pinhead on the 6th world? Possibly one of the most amusing possibilities I've ever heard...

...the smell of burning was only the beginning. No sooner had he registered it than half a dozen other scents filled his head. Perfumes he had scarcely noticed until now were suddenly overpoweringly strong. The lingering scent of filched blossoms; the smell of paint on the ceiling and the sap in the wood beneath his feet: all filled his head.
He could even smell the darkness outside the door; and in it, the ordure of a hundred thousand birds.
He put his hand to his mouth and nose, to stop the onslaught from overcoming him, but the stench of perspiration on his fingers made him giddy. He might have been driven to nausea had there not been fresh sensations flooding his system from each nerve-ending and taste-bud.
It seemed he could suddenly feel the collision of the dust-motes with his skin. Every drawn breath chafed his lips; every blink, his eyes. Bile burned in the back of his throat, and a morsel of yesterday's beef that had lodged between his teeth sent spasms through his system as it exuded a droplet of gravy upon his tongue.
His ears were no less sensitive. His head was filled with a thousand dins, some of which he was father to. The air that broke against his ear-drums was a hurricane; the flatulence in his bowels was thunder. But there were other sounds - innumerable sounds - which assailed him from somewhere beyond himself. Voices raised in anger, whispered professions of love; roars and rattlings; snatches of songs; tears...

Great! Thanks, Laurie.

Where is everybody?

At the beach.

At least until I get a fare that is....

On a more serious note, does anyone have a Decrypt program?

I seem to have forgotten to buy one and I'll need four days to get one from my Fixer. If I'm going to run counter-surveilance I'm going to need one.

I'm here and watching. Currently, Dick's busy buying his soydog and waiting for the others to enter.

as for the decrypt program, I'm afraid I don't have it.

Sounds like a great idea.......

And nay on the decrypt as well.

Professor can decrypt Sanskrit mystic poetry for you!

Sorry, I just got back today from my Hunting trip. Which was a good hunt I got a turkey (jake or a young male) Friday about a half-an-hour out of camp. I'll be catching up tonight and get to posting tomorrow plus I'm cleaning up.

I'll post some pic's and that and link it here later too.

Thanks,
Brent

**Edited to add the link**

We had a national closing event for the global.me project today. I have been sitting in front of my computer and people have been either falling apart (and I have to prop them up) or then it has been from one emergency to another. I have one doctoral dissertation which is due now which I have yet to look at. I need to really focus on it next week so I can have one happier customer.

I also have another national conference to which I gave the ultimatum that I either work on work and come to the weekend or else no, and I turn off my mobile phone and stop answering emails.

I am really sorry, but is it possible I really focus on work stuff this week and then have a look at the game next week Wednesday? I also mean it. I will post a big scene and information about the surveillance, but before that you have to have all your soldiers in a row.

-Laurie

Laurie,

By all means focus on work and your personal life this entire week or however long you need too. By the time you get back, the elf and the dwarf should be at the climax of their bickering.

Real life comes first, Laurie. Take your time. We'll see what we can have planned out.

That's kewl, get your stuff done.

Bickering!!? Who's bickering?

Hey, I know exactly what you are experiencing, Laurie. Damn you, Real Life! Just feed me and let me play!

OK, so we have a safe house nearby from which to begin operations, and the potential for a 'forward observation post' to be set up in the next-door condo.

We need to have someone check out the work being done in the condo to learn who to impersonate and how likely it is that we can use the condo for ourselves. Who is willing to take on that task?

We have an idea that we could substitute one of us for Karkoff. How well can our plant impersonate him?

What does Karkoff know about the danger to him, and our involvement in his life as protectors? And, of course, has Toreador seen anything suspicious in the time he has been observing Karkoff?

If we do sequester Karkoff, Professor might be able to work with him to draw out of him information that would shed light on the reasons behind the killings. Karkoff may know more about the research interests of the other three, and any correlations, than Professor might find in his Data Search. In fact, conducting that Data Search after conversing with Karkoff might make the search more efficient.

SincereAgape, once Toreador and Professor stop fencing with words, they may eventually get around to talking tactics, such as figuring out what spells could be cast on Professor (that he can sustain on himself), coordinating astral watches among the three Awakened (Does Dick have Astral Perception?), that sort of thing.

Dick's rolling... little over a dozen dice at con and disguise, plus or minus modifiers based upon how well he knows the character he will be impersonating. Good enough to fool people who don't know much about their target's habits. Not necessarily good enough to fool the target's mother.

No astral perception at this point, and it's not very high on the "to purchase" list for him.

I'll make an IC post when I can, but I'm a little swamped at work. Assume that Dick's standing back and listening in and inserting random sarcastic comments when an idea or statement truly deserves them. IE: "That's what she said," "Oh, sure. Great plan. Let's get the mimic killed by lonestar on the first day of observations," and "Are you sure you're getting enough oxygen down there? Your ideas are getting more outrageous."

Could you come up with a timeline plan until Friday?

I would like to know:

What kind of surveillance rotation you are going to have.
What are yours plans for bugs?
You can turn every commlink into a bug. However, remember if he is not carrying his commlink with him at all times it is not much use. Furthermore, even in 2069, telepathy as a surveillance technique is not possible.
Are you planning on taking out the contractors? Toreador knows that there was a painter and two plumbers there during the day.

You can impersonate Dr. Karkoff, obviously though if you have to perform an abortion or recommend medication you will have to roll HIGH. There of course in-character ways to avoid having to ever roll the skill medicine.

I'm up for anything. When it comes to planning runs I tend to be an indian and not a chief. As for breaking things down..maybe we should have a leader plan out the run for all of us, Jack Skater or Argent esque if anyone is famliar with Mel Odom's Shadowrun novels (Preying for Keeps, Headhunters, and Run Hard Die Fast.)

And i nominate peter since he's the most proactive amongst the group, if that's cool with him.

I can play that role if the group wishes.

I think that I have been most visible lately because I haven't been out in the woods or on a French beach. Once we are all back home, there may be a more even distribution of contributions.

Professor's skills for the most part are directed towards a background, support, thinking role. In that respect, being the coordinator fits him well. The one wild card he has is the Living Focus power, which allows him to adapt to situations according to the spells available to the group. So, it is possible for him to be an invisible infiltrator, or a lightning fast shooter/dodger, or a forward observation 'radar' guy... whatever. As the group spends time working together, his role will crystallize.

Particularly at the beginning of an operation, Professor will be firing out ideas as fast as they come to him, accepting or rejecting some on the fly. The group may find that disorienting, or even annoying until they get used to him.

Chrysalis is urging us to get on with the planning. In the IC thread, Professor proposes the option of drawing Karkoff into our confidence, That would seem to be a reasonable first point to discuss, as the decision we make will direct our activities in a major way. So what do you guys think? You, too SincereAgape!

I'm happy with the Prof taking a leadership role.

As to coming clean with the target, I'm initially against that until we know more. Whatever links him to the other victims is likely to be the sort of thing he doesn't want exposed to the light of day. Perhaps it isn't but the risk is too great. It seems likely that his recent distraction is down to learning about one of the other deaths so we might need to be careful not to spook him.

Impersonating him seems feasible if we can get him out of work. Have him take a few personal days because an old friend has been murdered. Has the advantage of ringing true to the assassin. Then it's just a case of performing the switch seamlessly.

Perhaps it might be easier to impersonate the renovation team.

I'm going to start on a shopping list. Stuff that I can just buy of the shelf and stuff that's going to have to come through a fixer and might take some time.

The days off would be even more believable if Karkoff actually did know one or more of the slain virologists, which is highly likely considering how academics work. Professor's analysis of the research efforts of the murdered doctors should show any such connection.

Yeah, the reno team shows up one day, and we become them. Of course, those who know them may wonder where they went if the substitution lasts longer than a day.

A good look at the map and a thread recap has greatly increased my confidence here. The unit under renovation is adjacent to the target unit and shares a dividing wall with it. Furthermore the target unit's other wall is external due to being on the end of the row.

Assuming that the renovators are what they seem to be then taking their place will allow me to put fibre into every room of the target unit with very little fuss.

Back to my shopping.

I'm fine with you taking the lead role. I really don't have much to add I'm just the muscle and combat tactics department. In that light I'd keep tight lipped about our intentions, and switching with one of us has the most protection for him. I like the fiber idea and that. I again I don't have anything useful to add to the IC thread so I'll save my disgrace.

Thanks,
Brent

Here are some thoughts to shoot at and develop into a plan.



Professor's analysis of the previous murders suggests that real danger starts around Friday. So, this being Monday night, we have a couple of days anyway to gather information before inserting a double. The longer the double is in place, the more likely he is to be discovered. More to follow below.



We should have both astral and electronic surveillance available. We have two people, Toreador and Professor, capable of astral surveillance. We have two people who are electro-savvy, Cruze and Blackie. Dick and Warrior have both indicated by their actions at the original meet or in their personal bios at the coffee shop that they have weapons capability and physical surveillance capability (and be aware when the swat team comes for us).

So why don't we make two sub-teams that alternate shifts (4 hours like the navy?). Say Team Alpha: Toreador, Blackie and Warrior; and Team Omega: Professor, Cruze and Dick. Once Dick takes the role of Karkoff, we may or may not have to reorganize.

How would this two-team system fit into karkoff's schedule? Can we keep track of him, home-office-home and still switch shifts? Maybe 8 hour shifts are better? For the first few day, perhaps Toreador could make Professor invisible. (Toreador can follow astrally, but Professor has to schlep his meat body everywhere.) Improved Invisibility by any chance?

This may never be necessary, but Cruze could show up at the clinic as a prospective client.

Does Toreador have Summoning skills? A spirit covering the hideout would be quite handy.



In preparation, can Blackie hack into the reno company, and redirect the workers so we can impersonate them and use the apartment? He should be able to do that tonight. Then we can enter the condo early in the morning and install surveillance. Installation should be done under the direction of Cruze.



Aside from the condo itself, We should plant bugs on Karkoff, or failing that in his office. Cruze again, or can Dick sneak in and plant them according to directions from Cruze? Hacking commlinks is a good idea, and is in Blackie's purvue.



Impersonation shouldn't need to happen till Thursday-ish, if Professor's analysis is correct. In the meantime we should be able to figure out what Karkoff actually does at the clinic. Maybe he does surgery or sees patients only on certain days. If no heavy stuff on Friday/Weekend, we have less to worry about inserting Dick. (Oh... the puns are aching to come!)

During the next couple of days, then, Chrysalis, Professor could do the research on the earlier deaths during a non-sleep off-time. Cruze could do her shopping then, too?

Whaddaya think?

Everything sounds fine to me. To answer some of your questions Peter.

1. Improved Invisibility is a go.
2. Summoning is a go.

Don't worry about Toreador's tone, SincereAgape, he's no worse than several anthropologists Professor has had to deal with in various university departments. "My, how much you archaeologists can tease out of so little data!"

Good to know about the spell and the spirits.

Anybody else have some input to modify or flesh out the plan? If not, we could break into the condo now (Professor has a maglock passkey (4) to help someone with the skills) and do some preparation. Blackie needs to certify us with the company. We can get changed into work attire, and Team Alpha can get some rest so it can take the shift with Karkoff at his work while Team Omega stays in the condo so Cruze can do her electro-wizardry while Karkoff is out. Then Team Omega can rest until Team Alpha returns. I guess shift lengths will be kinda flexible.

If Professor could be Improved Invisible during the day while Karkoff is out(he can sustain a Force 6 spell), he could patrol outside and get a lay of Karkoff's condo without drawing attention.

Answering some things:

The Matrix system in the region is well-built, but no-one is running anything amazing. There is a local nexi in a steel and concrete bunker a block away. The coathanger and dish trees growing off the top it are a dead give away. The company is run through a subsidiary by Horizon. The nexi basically hooks up the wireless and the wired Matrix and the trid to the fibre optic cables that run through-out this area of UCAS and CAS. Like most nexi this one demands physical access to do more than get free international calls.

The ratings of connections in the area are low, the majority are rating 3 in terms of protection. Even the local stuffer shack only has a firewall rating of 4. You can ignore range as this is a well-built area with plenty of repeaters. Only firewall 6 items in the area are security systems.

***

Lone Star regularly patrol the area from 6PM onwards.

***

Unless I am mistaken you are still missing bugs to place. Bugs in the sixth world come in all shapes and sizes. From mini drones the size of a cockroach to audio devices the size of a hair. Luckily for you are in D.C. spy gadget mecca of the sixth world. This also means they sell bugs at tourist prices (150% of the price in the books). If you have contacts you get them noticeably cheaper.

Could I have a shopping list please?

***

More things:

The renovation is being done by the property agency Foxtons. The renovation has been farmed out to small contractors and not one large company. Blackie will have to do some hacking to find out schedules and how to change them.

***

Have an excellent weekend!

Looks like Blackie has already been scoping Matrix things out. Good man! Sir Psycho, what needs to be done here?

Cruze has access to the real estate maps, and so should be able to figure out what kind of bugs she needs. Go to it, crizh! I think you have already been working on this shopping list, yes?

Any idea about the period of Lone Star patrols? Has Toreador noticed, SincereAgape? Breaking in will of course have to be coordinated with the patrols.

Roughly every 30-45 minutes. This is a low crime neighbourhood .

-Chrysalis

Some have veiled promotion and to make crizh's job easier: The Resource excel file

I would like to remind that you have at least 60,000 nuyen as "mad money"

"Veiled promotion"?

Well, 60,000 nuyen, of which the less we spend the more we keep.

Remember to insist that receipts be kept for reimbursement and financial accounting.

-Chrysalis

Ha, I thought you weren't familiar with Unwired....



Dang, girl there's a lot of work gone into this.

On the subject of sensors, is it possible to get high availability stuff quicker in DC than elsewhere?

The short answer is: Yes.

I would say 14-16R can be found, but remember that it is not that it is hard to find, you start having to pay through your nose for it.

-Laurie

It's the time interval that is the real killer.

Anything with a cost over 1000 takes a minimum of 2 days to find.

If we are talking shopping lists, Professor would be interested in the following: (probably through Zoltan?)

Forensic Thaumaturgy Kit, Avail: 2, 500 nuyen
Lucifer Lamp, Avail. 10, 150 nuyen
Lucifer Lamp Bulbs, 10 hrs. X 4 , 4000 nuyen
Pocket Mage Library(3), 1800 nuyen

Any of these available in the next few days, he would like to buy, using funds from the payment pool provided so far.

Does the above shopping request need a Success Test of some sort?

No,

They are all pretty much off the shelf items. The unusual shelf. But still can be found if you know where to look. Zoltan could have all except the thaumaturgy forensics kit to you by Tuesday morning, he has to run around DC to get all the parts of the kit.

-Lauri