Yes, there's always room for more and we could do with a mage! Are you thinking of being the sort who gets stuck in or hangs back in the C&C LAV and waits for the action to unfold? Either would be cool and I'll make an NPC for the other



Ok, I'll try and clear this up...I really wasn't too specific to start with I know. I wanted people to have lots of options to try and attract players but the main focus of the mission is the Stillwater Community. The Secondary targets are just that, secondary (Balefire are located in Renton somewhere and Engles is either Downtown or Bellevue) so people could elect to pursue them or we could send a load of NPCs out there and it will happen as background material to the main game (there are reasons for including them as background rather than ignore them entirely). Given that there as a fair chance of getting injured in these secondary runs it might be better that you skip straight to the main event (trust me, there will be plenty of RP material there ), but it is your game, in a manner of speaking, and if you've always wanted to be on the other side of an attack on a runner team then I'm happy to play that out!

The main mission is to get inside the Stillwater tower (undetected or not...) and get to their main servers and download the evidence that the UCAS government needs to nuke them back to the stone age. You lot have been chosen (rather than just a team of runners) because the community has a higher than normal ratio of magic users, hackers and baddass cybered monsters (The Transhumanist Way!) to deal with (so I suggest you choose stealth to begin with at least ). Hopefully that makes things a little clearer but yell if you want more specific info...more is coming anyway.

A

What did you think of the various LAV re-mods?
Oh and I wanted to add some a few more drones to the list.
20 Toyota Mk-Centipede Search and Rescue Walker MicroDrones. (which are in the GTS Tower carrier)

I've thought about it and I think that if you wanted to, I'd allow you to have a Skytrain as an equipment delivery vehicle 'stationed' at a distance from the conflict. This could carry your Nimrods, other drones etc and might even be the 'heavy guns' that drops Dozer and a couple of other mil spec hard suited soldiers in to the field. Keeps him away from the mage and would allow the LAV to have some fire power, masking etc...

The Centipedes are fine!

This is what I was thinking for the LAV

MiG-67
Handling +2
Accel 50/200
Speed 800
Pilot 1
Body 18
Armor 10
Sensor 2

Mods
1 Armor: 20
2 Chameleon Coating
1 ECM R8
1 Improved Sensor Array
1 Lock-On Countermeasures
2 Personal Armor 5
1 Rigger Adaptation
3 Signature Masking R3
6 Reinforced Heavy turret w/ remote control S-K Taurus Light Gauss Cannon

The S-K taurus Light Gauss Cannon
Damage 14P AP -8* Mode SS Blast -2/m Ammo50(belt)
* Half all but smart armor and then apply AP.

Sensor Package: Capacity 30, Signal 6
Radar R6 5
6x Camera R6 1(6)
Atmosphere sensor R3 1
Barometric 1
6x Laser Range Finder 1 (6)
Radio Signal Scanner R6 1
6x Directional Microphone 1 (6)
Cyberware Scanner R6 1
3x Laser Microphone R6 1 (3) F, B, U

Looks fine to me. The Heimdall drones can be launched from external wing mounts on the LAV with no need for slots!

Mission Briefing continued...

Target Images: Stillwater Community

Target 1 Dr Simon Finney [Dwarf snake shaman, cybertechnologist, community leader, SINer] The driving force behind the Stillwater community. He was a reputed Transhumanist lecturer at Seattle U until he left to persue this ‘experiment.’ [Threat Lvl 2]
Target 2 “Desire” [Human shaman, community leader & head of the Stillwater Circle, SINless?] Less is known about her and her background and no SIN has been found. She is a European, possibly British and is reportedly responsible for the regrowth magics in the area. The Stillwater circle is believed to be a shamanic initiatory group. [Threat Lvl 3]
Target 3 Kate Franklin [Human geneticist, SINer] She followed Dr Finney from Seattle U and is now playing an active part in their transhuman agenda. [Threat Lvl 2]
Target 4 Lucy Holt [Dwarf Transhuman politician, SINer] An active matrix participant in Seattle politics it would be unfortunate if anything visibly happened to her. [Threat Lvl 1 / 5]
Target 5 “Ricardo” [Orc shadowrunner, spy / info gatherer, SINless] Having been employed by a third party he is the source of much of our soft intel on the Community and is believed to still be on site. [Threat Lvl 3]
Target 6 Yoshio Harada [Human cybertechnologist, SINer] Not much is known about him other than he is believed to have come from one of the Japanacorps specialising in cutting edge cyber and matrix research. [Threat Lvl 2]
Target 7 Geoffrey Dreen “Rush”? [Dwarf hacker, possible Technomancer, SINless] On the face of it an uninteresting individual, he is believed to be an active hacker on various pirate VPNs under the handle Rush. [Threat Lvl 4]
Target 8 Nathan King [Human theoretical thaumatergist, SINer] A leading scientific mind in research in to combining technology and magic he does not represent a significant threat, although his creations within the Community might. [Threat Lvl 1]
Target 9 Feral [Human adept, leader of the Wolf Pack, SINless] An enigma, there is little information on him other than wildly improbable tales of his martial prowess. He is the leader of the adept initiatory group, the Wolf Pack. [Threat Lvl 6?]
Target 10 Sasha Wilde [Elf talismonger, SINless] Working in Touristville she has links to the group and is known to deal with them for telisma farmed in the magic rich environment around the Community. [Threat Lvl 2]
Target 11 Monika Novac [Community decker & matrix researcher, SINer] An old school decker who lends her matrix skills to the already considerable matrix presence of the community. [Threat Lvl 4]
Target 12 Andrew Novac “Cypher” [Human adept, SINer] Monika’s son and an adept in the Wolf Pack, his recruitment was what led Monika to the community. [Threat Lvl 5]
Target 13 Justin Akiyama [Human Corp Sec Officer, Ares Arms, St. James Lake, Redmond, SINer] A number of the Stillwater community are employed at the facility and he is thought to supply them with equipment and intelligence. [Threat Lvl 4]
Target 14 Jared Engles [Human pro Technomancer politician, SINer] [Threat Lvl 3]
Target 15 Dinah Lane [Elf courtesan, shadowrunner “Whisp”?, SINer] [Threat Lvl 5]
Target 16-20 Balefire Runner Team [Bale, human combat mage, Mother, orc rigger, Escapade, human infiltrator, Silk, orc infiltrator, Aria, human Technomancer?] [Threat Lvl 9]

This will give you some idea of who you may be up against, at least the significant players.

There are approx. 8 mages/shamans in the Community, 12 adepts and rumours of 5 TMs. There are 40 or so CyWolves who form the security force for the area. Given the nature of the group a large number of the 'civillians' will have cyber modifications and be considered a minor threat to the task force.

Yeah
Though I have to fill out a giant report if I fire them

Noone likes to spend 3K nuyen per missile

Whaaaaaat do you know how much the U.S. pays to launch a plane-mounted missile?

A lot. 3,000 is nothing compared to that.

I made a slight adjustment, I removed firearms groups 4, added some more cash to get platelet factories and metabolic arrester. I went to automatics 5, then pistols and unarmed with specializations. I dropped the T250 snubbie for an Ares Crusader machine pistol.

@Sabs: Do you intend to pilot the LAV yourself or shall I provide an NPC rigger as a pilot leaving you to concentrate on the small army of drones you have and allowing you to be more 'on site' ? How 'all terrain' is your Terrier, just in case you end up going in with the troops?

Oh, and feel free to stat the Skytrain if you want otherwise I'll give it some generic stats and two belly mounted drone racks for the Nimrods...

I've begun to edit post 2 with the mission rosta and your requisitioned equipment. Deep Watch NPCs to follow shortly...

@Aria: I had nitented to pilot the LAV myself for the most part. But It might well make more sense to have a 'copilot' there to do the driving when I'm otherwise engaged with the drone army of doom.

My terrier is all terrain like a motorcross bike is all terrain. "kinda" It doesn't have walker mode. It's on large offroad wheels, with decent shock. It's not climbing cliffs or even boulders.

Do you have a link to post 2?

My apologies for not replying quicker. Been down with the crud for the last few days.

I am thinking a more forwardly oriented mage. Not a combat specialist, we have lots of boom boom available for that, but an information specialist.

Probably a snake shaman, doing the detect and mind probe things, with a little support added on for good measure. Heavy on the spirits for support. I should have the background and stats for you latter today.

If I could get it to work I would...just turn to page 1 of this thread

@Branmac, sounds good to me...you can always carry an assualt rifle to 'blend' in with the others and not suffer from 'geek the mage!'

Eco Tower: Image

This is one in Singapore but gives you an idea of what I have in mind. The one at Stillwater is considerably smaller (12 or so stories) but it also extends under the lake and has thermal power generators under the water. It is designed to be open to outside air and so from a security perspective it should be a nightmare to defend, with multiple roof terraces and entrances at almost every level. It is reached from the main bank by a single bridge, however, which forms an effective ground level choke point. There is a sprawling low level complex around the bridge where it meets the bank of the lake and then a few individual houses around the perimeter of the lake. Beyond that everything has mostly returned to wilderness, almost in an aggressive way - there is not much left of the road infrastructure that would have existed 40 odd years ago.

Again, let me know if you have any specific questions. If we can produce a broad brush 'plan' then we can hopefully begin the IC thread very soon!

A

Here is the character sheet for my mage. Amusingly enough, like one of our targets he is a dwarven snake shaman.



And a short background

@Branmac: Looks good to me...will have to pay attention to that mind probe spell I've added you to the rosta in post 2.

@Everyone: Please check out post 2 when you have a sec as I'm building up the mission rosta and your comments would be welcomed (it's still a work in progress so no massive rush)...

One thing
Daniel should either be a Lt.

OR there should be 2 LT's one in charge of each Commando group.

Considering the options available for requisition, the only thing I can think of would be time for summoning and some supplies to bind a few more spirits. Barring that. I think I am good. I did pick up a couple of spirits with a couple of services in CharGen, but it never hurts to have more.

Hmmm, I was thinking more of squad based stuff rather than platoon, but more spec ops than grunts. I assume there are more officer types in the latter? Klink, want to get a rank boost to Lt. ? Can make Branmac leader of the other squad and that covers us I think!

@Branmac, you can summon and bind one mission specific spirit with no drain and no cost...any more will have to be done in the 2-3 hours before the mission starts and drain will count.

That's fine by me. I'm the only one with influence group, which includes leadership. But yeah, since we're spec ops, everyone's a professional, probably not much for need for chain of command, but it makes sense.

Spec Ops tend to be Corporals, and various degrees of asskicking Seargents, but usually each squad has a Lt in charge.

A spec Ops Squad will usually be all Non-coms and 1 officer. Usually a Lt. But I guess it could be a captain. But usually Captains have Lt's under them.

Hey
I have Etiquette.

Godd, you're up!



Ok, Cpt. in charge (mission is fairly important) with Klink and Branmac as Lts. but as Klink pointed out there shouldn't be much need for a chain of command as you are expected to be more free thinking than your average grunt and certainly more independant!

Yeah the chain of command is probably all the guys in each squad report to the lt's.. the lt's report to Captain Hacker, and the rest of us special people report to Captain Hacker

But you know, we have our mission parameters, and our skill sets. We should know what to do

Post 2 editted again, possibly for the final time now

Any comments let me know otherwise I think we'll be ready to start the IC thread after the weekend and we can plan 'on the fly' so to speak...

A

Ok, the IC thread is up and running Here so feel free to start posting. There's still time for any planning in the OoC thread but I'd like to get the action moving and maintain momentum.

I'm assuming that the 'forward teams' have been dispatched to deal with Balefire and Engles and that you will all fly out along the Seattle/Salish border - your choice which side of it you stay - and then land sufficient distance away that you can move in undetected on foot and timing it to reach the target some time after dark (9.30ish in August?!?).

Let me know if you've got any questions or comments!

A

Hey I would like to have had the drones Signal Ratings reconfigured to 4? Except for the 2 nimrods at 5?

Is that possible?

And I made a few adjustments to my character, which I have editted in. I made my synapse boosters lvl 2 and turned them into used standards.

Not to be a pain, but could I get a ruling on this change of equipment? I do love me some Gamma-Scopolamine.

@ Sabs - no problem. Pilot is also upgraded to 4 on all drones (unless higher) and you can have a selection of R:4 autosofts of appropriate types for the drones. Protocols mean that anyone in DW with commlink access can probably command the drones if the riggers are otherwise occupied (they have priority obviously)...

@ Klink - ok, noted

@ Astarship - don't see why not, eveyone else is getting toys to play with

Something I meant to add...if anyone wants a suit of light security armour (10/8, +2/2 helmet, chem seal, thermal dampening 2) as a half way measure between the stealth suits & milspec armour then that's fine...the NPCs in the support squad will probably be wearing this instead of the chameleon stuff...

Minor point on timestamps - Klink you're onboard 'Arc' and Branmac, you're on 'Buzzard', not on board 'Sultan' ...but it's not a big issue

Changed. Could you take a screen shot of the operations zone and place some markers so we know where we are landing and then our mission objectives. Some sort of legend maybe. I don't know how possible this is.

Let's see if this works (and this is a work in progress and you lot can make suggestions for changes etc if you want)

Map

The LZ is about 5km from the target...I would think that would be sufficient so that you can set down undetected?

ooh 5KM?
oooops
mm, I need to change my post I think

I put us down at 2km. (the drones have a 1 KM range.. but I'm using the Armadillo as a relay station)

I can put us down at 5km and then get my character's but out in the terrier, with the Ares Centaur as protection.
My commlink has a 4km range.

Not really sure what to do until the action hits. Dahlia's just twiddling her thumbs at the moment.

@Sabs: Don't change anything...I'll move the LZ on the map

@Dahlia: Feel free to moan about the 2km trek you're about to start Will get the action going as soon as I can, probably after the weekend now though, sorry...

No problem. It's just that Dahlia is very much...not a military type. So she's listening to all of this and hearing 'blah blah blah military blah blah blah'.

@ Aria - Very cool. Which way is Lt. Greaves's team going. Nort, up by the school or swinging around south? Oh yeah, can we blow up the school? Pretty please?

@Aria - I want to do a couple of things with the Armadillo.

I want to scan for nodes. Get a feel for the wireless traffic in the area.

EW 4 + Scan 5 + PuSheD 1 + Customized Interface 1 = DP 11

Well I've given you an excuse to blow up the school if you want As to which way you approach the tower that's entirely up to you...you'd need to walk through a bit less territory controlled by Stillwater around the school but there's also some sort of meeting going on there so you takes your chances!

@ Sabs - for the acronym challenged, what is PuSheD?!?

I've updated the map a bit since I posted you the link - it shows the ritual lines now and some additional info. Any more info requests will get added in as I get them.

@Aria
PuSHeD is from Augmentations. It's a genetic enhancement that gives +1 to all logic linked skills.

Thanks! Been a while since I read that book

So same dicepool. EW 4 + Sniffer 5 + PuSheD 1 + Customized Interface 1 = DP 11
I'm going to:


Using the Armadillo, going to try and start capturing wireless signal and then transferring it back to the C&C Nexus so the hackers can start taking it apart.

I take it from the IC thread that you want to intercept the signals coming in and out of the tower? There are lots so do you want to be more specific about what you are looking for or is the drone capable of intercepting the lot? (My matrix rules are a little rusty and I'm not too worried what the answer is, just want to get a feel for what you think is possible )

...and you want the hackers to spoof the drone net or otherwise do somthing subtle about getting you past it? It's widely enough spaced that you can direct your teams to avoid it provided they 'step where you tell them'

well, the drone can handle the relay. My commlink couldn't possibly handle the data. But we have a nexus with our ops Hackers sitting on it. I figure they can start figuring out what's in the data transmissions and give me feedback to stop listening to certain signals, focus on others.

If I can label the TacNet with the location of all the drones and their sensor ranges (at best guess) so that I can show the teams where to avoid getting caught. That would be the way to go. Hacking = chance of getting caught. That said.. it would be nice to have a hacker available to spoof a drone if someone screws up.

Hearing the giggling, I'll do a perception check to identify the location and source type of the noise:

16d6 → [4,1,4,6,5,6,1,1,6,2,3,5,5,3,5,3] = (60) = 8 Successes

That's a whole heap of successes! I'd tell you what colour shirts they have on except you can't see them yet

With pinpoint accuracy you know that the sounds are coming from inside the ruined house, ground floor left corner, you've identified at least 2 people, probably young teenagers by the timbre of the voices... for more info you'll have to send a drone in or go and look yourself!

@sabs and Aria - I requested a drone (ferret) to check out the two potential hostiles in the house. As stated, I think its two teens probably getting it on, or well at least the guy is trying to and the girl is trying to stop him. I'm thinking we might have to pacify with non-lethal. What's the best way to take them out for a while?

ok I'll modify my post to send a ferret out your way

Well Stick n Shock is probably a RAW way to take them out, but given your training I'm sure you can apply a RP situation, slip over/around the wall and apply a sleeper hold/knife to the throat. Shooting anyone leaves the risk of noise, even with silencers. The Ferret confirms they are both teenagers 'getting it on' while the adults are busy elsewhere...as you say, wrong place, wrong time

Your choice as to how you play this but it's not technically a combat situation...yet I can either write up the encounter or you can if you get there first!