Seth, do you mind if I have Fearghas be a now-heavily disillusioned military officer or spy? As a former Lightbearer, I imagine he would have been one of many who were deceived by Hitler's ambitions to restore the pride of Germany after what it went through in WW1. At this point, after visiting Auschwitz, I imagine he has secretly begun to hate the Nazi regime. I don't know whether you're having us be aware at this point of Alachia's involvement in the Nazi party, but if not, well... since Fearghas has a lot of pride in his metarace, and is of the opinion that Alachia betrayed all of the Blood Elves with the mistake that was the Ritual of Thorns, finding out that she's connected to the Nazi party would certainly reverse his prior support of it mighty quickly.

Before I roll for Shape Earth to help improve the visibility in the reactor control room, has Alyena definitively cleansed the BGC in there yet?

Honestly, we don't really need the shape earth
We've already all left the control room, and the dust cloud would help us out tremendously

@Sephiroth
Oh yes you are aware that Alachia is heavily involved in the Nazi party. To give her some (a small) amount of credit, she is regretting her involvement, and you suspect is not aware of Auschwitz (most people in the Nazi camp were not).

I would be delighted if you were a Nazi general. Some names that would be particulary appropriate (as they are real people) are:

• Colonel Henning von Tresckow,
• Brigadier-General Hans Oster
• General Ludwig Beck
• Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben

You can chase them all up on Wikipedia and pick one. Or invent your own name (I'm not actually trying to be historically accurate)

@everyone
OK we have two groups defined for the main timeline, and we have a new IC thread. If you want to move towards the objectives in the main IC thread that would be good (I can do the next two rounds) your spy in their tactical net will tell you what is going on. If you want to do your first posts in the WWII thread that would be good too. You do have the option of eliciting the aid of Queeny based on your Auschwitz experience (I am sure you took a photographer, and made notes).

You will have to decide:

• Are you going to steal Hitlers briefcase?
• Are you going to set the bomb?
• Are you going to enlist help from other immortals?
• Queeny is Eva Braun
• Ehran is Wilhelm Zander (an aide to Martin Bormann who has gone as mad as Hitler)
• You don't know where many of the others are

I think some of von Tresckow's personal qualities make him the most appropriate choice for Fearghas. So he will be Henning von Tresckow during WW2.

OK I'm planning on being a jackbooted SS officer. Hans Bär.

@WWII
I vote we bomb Hitler!
I don't how we swap the bomb for the briefcase. Bjeorn would suggest that the ideal distraction is a punch up but is that too stealthy?

@present
Rolling for surprise as I go down the corridor http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2939507/
To bash the two guard's heads together I take one success for an attack on each of them using the 4:1 rule

I am in bear form so damage is 14P each.

Bjeorn ran to the end of the corridor and saw two guards. I didn't trouble myself with rolling their 8 die for surprise, as Bjeorn had 10 successes, and they spent the first round just looking.

Their soak rolls were 2 and 2 so Bjeorn does them 12 damage each. Time to go to beddy byes!

Bjeorn is now half up the stairs towards the ground floor of the pyramid.

Hi there,

Alyena has cleansed the corridor outside the Control room and the background count here is now zero.

For the WWII link she will be a relic hunter. Since returning from Auschwitz she is beginning to think that a holiday in S America is a good idea.

I'm in favour of swapping the briefcases, leaving the bomb ticking in Hitler's office, stealing the 'Bird of Hope' and getting out of Dodge.

In the main thread Alyena has decided it's not worth cleansing an area we're not spell casting in. She will follow Bjeorn, wait until he has stopped rampaging ahead and she can catch up! Hopefully there will be somebody left to zap when he slows down
At the moment his rampaging is working well, as surprise is on our side.

I think I managed to confuse myself...is this the agreed team split now? No problem with it but I don't want to IC having Ryl run after the others if 27a is just here...

...are the door controls connected to the matrix node I'm in somehow or is some more old fashioned lock picking needed to get into 27a (WWWII style lock picking?)?

I'm not sure Ryl can afford to leave matrix overwatch to go on a memory jaunt...it sounded like an eternity of matrix time...so she'll be there in spirit and you can fill her in afterwards (you know how much she hates not having info!!!) ...Frauline Petra Klien, spy

@Aria

Lets assume it is

Room 27a is out of the door turn left. Bjeorn, Alyena and Marduk are heading out of the door turning right and running upstairs

Even if you are not taking part in the memory jaunt you can still post in it (you were there you just won't remember the results)

Edit: Just noticed your question about the door. The door controls are part of the tactical map that the aztech soldier icons are standing in.

@Fearghas
Henning von Tresckow it is. Given that choice probably you have met with Meyer before (in fact you probably recruited him),

@everyone
I have slightly changed the IC WWII brief: Fearghas will be in the meeting with Hitler, the rest of you are in that room.

So I need to change nodes to one full of soldiers in order to open it?!?

Mandala's Assensing of the door to Room 27A: 11 dice ==> 5 HITS

OK, so if the background count is -5 during WWII, then here are some thoughts for Mandala.

1) With his Free Spirit Powers, including Resist Background (1), he will be able to maintain a Force of 5, so he will have to lose 4 points of Free Spirit Powers. I'm not sure whether he can switch them in and out as needed. Seth can you tell me how you see that working?

2) If no switching is allowed, or for general situations, the only way it makes sense for him to be able to maintain his disguise is to drop Aura Masking and Movement, keeping all the other Powers. This means astrally aware creatures will see his Spirit aura.

3) Can this kind of Background Count be affected by the Cleansing metamagic? I know that lasts only Magic hours, but at the right time it could be good to make everyone full strength. Seth, your thoughts?

When I know the answers to these, I can post in the WWII thread.

@Mandala
On the astral plane the door is writhing mass of snakes whose bodies merge and separate and are reaching towards you. You are a fair way out of reach.

The door is a horror construct. 5 hits is exactly what you needed to see that the door is linked to its creator. Given that the link is still active, you suspect that the creator is within the bounds of the pyramid. Did I mention that this is a horror construct... With time (an hour or so) you could track the creator. You could use the door to act as a link to the creator in a ritual spell (as long as the door wasn't eating you).

The door is alive and watching you, waiting for you to get a bit closer.

@Group Beta / room 27a
I screwed up a bit, and should have started the WWII thread a bit sooner, sorry about that. I'll try and plan the next flashback so that it finishes in sync with the main thread. I suggest the main focus of the door opening group should move to the WWII thread.

To cover my mistake: the opening ritual takes a few combat rounds: the same number as needed to get the appropriate point in the WWII thread. As Ol' Scratch is being NPCed, I will have him do the ritual, while the rest of you do stuff. You know the ritual is going to take a little while, so you can make any preparations you wish.

Up to this point you have been mostly unopposed (the councils plan wasn't bad, and there is very big distraction taking place). I suspect that this situation will change very soon.
Assetts that you can mess with:

• The control room is full of dust. Shape earth could move that dust cloud out into the corridor.
• The control room also has desks and chairs.
• the store room opposite is full of stuff. Lots of stuff. Boxes, tables, armour, guns, food bags, crates of grenades, missiles, tools, paperclips, books, barrels, chests, rope... Ryl can enter the store room node on the matrix (accessed from the tactical map: each room on the map has a hyperlink) to tell you whats in there if you want something specific. Ask and ye shall receive

I thought I would do another summary of where people are

Current situation:

• It is the start of rounds 9&10
• The time is 00:00:36
• The background count is zero in the corridor, up the stairs and on the first floor it is aztech 4
• Aren is being NPCed, and has zipped ahead. I'll give his report tomorrow
• Bjeorn, Alyena and Marduk are heading up the stairs (the doors while strong are currently on free flow - its general quarters so loads of people are rushing around the pyramid). Bjeorn has just knocked out 2 guards, so in a few seconds the biomonitors will report this (it takes about a combat round for them to detect the change in life signs)
• Ol'Scratch is being NPCed, and is performing the ritual to open door 27a. The ritual will be concluded when the flashback discovers the secret.
• Mandala, Fearghas and Ryl are in the basement corridor, and free to do what they want.
• Ryl has initiated a conversation with Zero, and has admin privileges in the security area. There are people actively hunting him, but for the last 4 combat rounds they have failed to find him. The security system is on alert, and you suspect its only a matter of time before they find you.

External

• General Quarters is still sounding
• Ryl's assessment is that the guards that were off duty will still be getting their armour on / equipped for another 20..30 seconds.
• The fast response groups and the on duty guards are now equipped and ready to rock 'n' roll, although they currently have no target.
• You have no update on the hypersonic aircraft, or large astral forms that were announced.
• Plan 'Blood Alpha One' has been activated and the hideous blood ward is now fully in place.

WWII

• I'm waiting for you to post...

Ryl's sending you a copy of this tactical map - link here The red is where the people connected to the tac net are. There is no data available for the top two layers

I understand there is a ritual to be performed to open the door. Just so I know how to have Mandala behave in similar circumstances, though, could someone tell me some general rules about interacting with Horror constructs?

For example, would there be dire consequences if such a thing were attacked with a spell... I don't know... a link is made between the spell caster and the construct, and the caster is royally screwed... that sort of thing?

WWII post to come soon today.

Horror Construcst are basically undead creations. They're about as dangerous as that sounds

So no you're not screwed for casting spells at it. Mostly it means that the Horror can usually see what a construct sees and some horrors can choose to use powers/spells through the LOS of the construct.

Sabs summary was pretty accurate. Like undead the constructs vary in intellect (mindless zombies to uber-intelligent Lich) . The link that Mandala spotted indicates that the horror is in somesense aware of its creation. Right now you suspect that the horror is being bombarded with information (the pyramid is underattack, general quarters is active, so if it had other constructs they would all be reporting activity) so its fair to say that its probably distracted.

I hope the new map is helpful.

Ok Ryl, her, Fraulien etc () will be planning something while she hauls her arse out of the corridor and into the storeroom (less chance of free flying lead)

...can I overwrite the access log to dump all the spiders out of the node? Would I need to restart it? As they are likely to find me soon anyway I don't think matrix stealth will serve much longer...

Is there an external link to the matrix from this node? If there is I will write Aria an admin code and send it to her...backup might be needed! I will also contact Zero and see if he/she/it would like to help in exchange for a promise to free the TM...

Will try and post IC today...

Where's the ritual group doing their thing? I hope they've ducked into the store room too?!?

Will wait to post IC until I hear from Seth on the matrix connections

I've had a tough time at work: lots of hours, lots of travelling, and currently staying in a hotel with lousy internet, so I have been a bit slow answering.

I'm sorry Ryl, I will remember the female thing next time. Its not that you haven't told me before...

If you want to boot all the spiders you can revoke their privileges. As an admin this is quite easy: no need to roll. It does of course say "I am here very loudly" but you might not care. The IC is constantly interrogating everything it sees, and you suspect there is a fair chance it would attack them. The IC may be specially keyed to not attack them, but if it is you can spoof the IC to persuade the IC that they are not who the IC thinks they are.

As far as you can see there isn't an external link to the matrix for this node. You suspect that there must be, because ZERO sent you some messages, but you just cannot see one.

In round 9, the guard from the entrance comes into the tactical display, flanked with 2 huge dogs. Fortunately for you, they still haven't seen Ryl but they are sniffing. Although the building is on alert, the software system isn't you suspect that is because it would degrade the performance of their tactical software, which they want quite a lot.

In round 10 another leaf flys your way, on the back of the leaf it says JONATHAN'S COMING. HE'S THE BEST. HE WILL FIND YOU. PLEASE DON'T HURT HIM. HE'S NICE

Ambrose is doing the ritual in front of the door So you might need to defend him. The tactical map in my last summary shows roughly were you believe the pyramid's forces to be.

Ok, IC post coming up tomorrow now I think...

Any chance you could clarify for me exactly what this node does? (Sorry for being slow )

Cameras?
Doors?
Tacnet?
...

Thanks

...oh, and crap, defend anyone?!? I need to be a drake to do that and then can't use the matrix

The node you are in has a map of the pyramid in it with red splotches on it that represent the guards. Its basically a tacnet, and you can "click" on a guard and see through the eyes. The previous room has all the cameras in it (in the form of obsidian mirrors). Click here for a view of the tacnet

The doors on the map, are all on free flow at the moment, but you think you could touch them and change their settings. (i.e. this is where you open and close doors)

Around round 10 the two guards that were sent down the stairs to the basement turn to a red flashing light.

You may not be aware of "subscriptions". You can be present in multiple nodes at once: I forget how many and am "away from books" but I think its your system or something similar. That means you can look through the cameras, and watch the tacnet all at the same time. You can only act in one node at once though.

The cameras are showing lots of movement: loads of guards hustling through the corridors. The cameras also show Bjeorn, Alyena and Marduk heading upstairs, and you can see yourself, and Fearghas downstairs. At the end of the corridors on the first floor (you can see big red blobs on the tactical map) you see three guards (in each place) setting up a semi-portable machine gun that will cover the corridor.

@WWII
Thanks for kicking off the WWII thread. This is a bit of an experiment for me: running a flashback and the real game at the same time! Still lets see how it works.

You have in your possession a facsimile of Hitler's briefcase. It has a bomb in it with a clockwork timer. Fraulein Klein will tell you that it should go off at 13:00 plus or minus 30 seconds.

You have a timeline:
At 12:20 you will be picked up by an honour guard.
At 12:30 you will be present to Hitler for him to give you medals personally
At 13:00 the bomb goes BOOOMMM!! and you might want to be out of the fortress (with an explosion the fortress will go into lockdown you suspect)

Its about 30 seconds to get to room 27A from Hitler's briefing area if you want to recover the bird.

I think the tricky bit is "how do we swap our briefcase for his briefcase", and I think you need to plan that. I suggest this thread for that planning.

I'm sorry I haven't been able to post lately. I'm back home for spring break, and the internet is extremely lousy here (not to mention that there's a million things that need to be taken care of), but I'm tentatively hoping to get a post up by tomorrow. For the moment, Fearghas is following the rest of the 27A crew.

Seth, what is the specific situation with von Tresckow in the WWII thread, since he is not present with the rest of the group (I think you said he was already with Hitler?)?

OK, so this is an alternate history, and Hitler could get killed by such a bomb, right? Or are we reenacting Valkyrie?

As far as getting out before 13:00, Mandala is the least in danger of getting caught, as he can dematerialize at any time. This may be useful for decoying, distracting, placing something...

Ooohh. Mandala gets to act like he likes the person pinning a medal on him! The role of a lifetime.

@ sephiroth
von Trescow can be anywhere you want him at 9:00am. I'm sorry if I said you were with Hitler "now", my intentions were that you would be already at the meeting with Hitler sitting down with pen and paper etc, when the Occult Recovery Team were paraded in front of you. As a Major General you can go just about anywhere in the Wolfs Lair: almost everyone will salute and say "Jawohl" when you ask them something.

@Pbandgarth
Its 20th July 1944 with a meeting with Hitler. von Trescow was believed to be "the evil spirit behind Operation Valkyrie". Karl Meyer was responsible for recruiting many of the people that conspired to kill Hitler that day (with a briefcase full of explosives) in Operation Valkyrie. Most people involved felt that it would fail, but it had to be tried anyway.

Summarising "yes its Operation Valkyrie". Personally you suspect that you might have been successful, and some of the immortals created a simulacrum, or a double stepped in, as Hitler (who wasn't very stable before) went absolutely crazy afterwards, and was hardly seen again except by very trusted people. But who knows?

@everyone
The other good news of course is that you get given a very prestigious medal for your sterling work supporting the Third Reich, Huzzah! Marduk will almost certainly be the only Jew to get this medal.

Ok, plan as I see it is to dump all the spiders out of this system and set the IC to defend me when they come looking, then close all the doors (except the ones I want to open), warn everyone about the machine guns (only a threat if we go for room 12 I guess), screw the tacnet and possibly sound a reactor core breach alarm for added mayhem

You mentioned defending, aren't Bjeorn et al between us and the nearest set of guards?!?

Anyone see any glaring omissions or something I REALLY shouldn't do then please yell now before I get to my IC post

@aria
"Attack Attack Attack! Tora Tora Tora!" Thats what I like to see.. Runners who don't just sneak around. Give them hell.

Joking aside, blitzkrieg isn't a bad strategy especially given that you have lots of people and huge astral forms outside. If you can take the , and if you can take the wards down exciting things might happen.

I'll assume it takes you rounds 9 and 10 to do that, and will start off rounds 11&12 thursday. The nice thing about being good at your job is that I don't have to get you to roll die.

Yes Bjeorn is between you and any guards (at the moment), although in round 11 that group will have arrived at the Warder's door.

You can see from the map that the council's plan wasn't bad, there have been hardly any opponents, and you basically penetrated a place that their current deployment plan isn't very effective against. It looks like their fast response is designed to stop unauthorised people from changing levels.

Well, if you can't be a bit gung ho when you are an immortal dragon (er drake) then when can you?!?

Aria you put your post into the wrong ic post didn't you?
\

@WWII
Bjeorn, isn't going to be very good at the whole "subtlety swapping the briefcases", or even "subtlety doing anything". I considered sneaking or sleight of handing for a few seconds, then thought no. I might even suggest I do it IC and just get looking at....

I can maybe be a diversion?

@The Pyramid
Penetrating the ward: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2948470/ woohoo...no need to spend a point of edge...9 successes.
I smash the door down..no need to roll...
Surprise roll: 7 hits http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2948468/

@Halinn
Aren got spotted going up the stairs
Shooting Aren: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2948519/ 5 hits from an MMG
Arens dodge: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2948526/ well thats 5 successes

Aren dodges the bullets, and I guess dives back down the stairs. One more shot at him as he flees

Shooting 4 success: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2948528/
Arens dodge: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2948527/ 3 successes

Ouch thats gotta hurt 6+5 (long narrow burst)P Ap -2
Soak roll: Body 2 Armour 4 AP -2 http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2948537/ 0 successes, but not a glitch

So thats 11P for a body 2 windling.... and Arren's unconscious and nearly dead form is at the base of the stairs. If you can get there in a couple of rounds and do some serious first aid or magic, he'll probably live.

I'll do a summary of the start of 11 & 12 tomorrow morning...

Edit: See post http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...t&p=1053788

we were shortly behind Aren .. so we will be doing some first aid magic. Well, we need Mandala to come do that.
Mandala can you post IC starting with a Mind link from me, asking you to come save Arren? Unless people want to wait till I can post again tomorrow evening.

Doesn't Aren have Edge? Seems like edging that dodge roll.. especially given how much damage those do.

Also: You can only do 1 long narrow burst per AP. Aren didn't use an IP dodging and given how fast he moves (50M/turn run speed) he could easily have ducked back down to the stairs in 1 turn.

Is this one of those situations where we can switch skills in a different time frame?

Yes. Although I would like you to be recognizably the same character.

Good point.

I forgot about it: I was NPCing him, and mostly NPCs don't use edge (unless they are hugely powerful evil named villains, when they have loads of edge).


Once again thanks for correcting me. I did run it a bit badly (I was in a bit of a "Post or Die" mood).

I'll rerun it.
The bad guys open fire. Arren knew they were there, but wasn't expecting them to open fire, so I think thats a surprise roll:
Arren: 21 die - 9 successes http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2949149/
Guards: 14 die-5 successes http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2949151/
So I think that this means that Arren's combat sense warned him that something was coming, and I will let him dodge the two attacks. I just cannot see though how he can move out of the way, as he only knew he was underattack, when they attacked (he knew they were there...he just thought he would stealth past them). His action was to move, but it takes time to move, so the guards are going to get their one IP.

The first attack was the long narrow burst: he dodged as before
The second attack was a short narrow burst (my mistake earlier): he takes 6 + 3 (short burst) + 1 (nett success: which I forgot about last time) = 10P AP-2.

I think the results are the roughly the same except that he has 1 less damage, and will live for a bit longer. He'll also have been moving away from the gun, so will fall down the stairs. Not being mean, I will ignore the falling the damage, and just leave him a crumpled bleeding bullet ridden mess at the bottom.

Current situation:

• It is the start of rounds 11&12
• The time is 00:00:42
• The background count is zero in the reactor corridor, up the stairs and on the first floor it is aztech 4
• Aren is being NPCed, and has zipped ahead, and is currently lying in a bleeding crumpled pile at the bottom of the stairs to the level above the ground floor.
• The background count is Aztech 4 on the ground floor, and inside Warder's room (pyramids are famous for focusing magical energies...)
• Bjeorn, Alyena are inside room 5, facing 2 guards and Warder. Room 5 has another hideous ward on the door. Warder inside yet another magical barrier, and is monologuing
• Marduk is just outside the door
• Ol'Scratch is being NPCed, and is performing the ritual to open door 27a. The ritual will be concluded when the flashback discovers the secret.
• Mandala, Fearghas and Ryl are in the basement corridor, and free to do what they want.
• Ryl has initiated a conversation with Zero, and has admin privileges in the security area.
• Zero has said Jonathan is coming: please don't hurt him.
• Ryl has removed the accounts for everyone except himself, and is "setting the IC on everyone else".
• Hopefully this has seriously disrupted the bad guys tacnet.

External

• General Quarters is still sounding
• Ryl's assessment is that the guards that were off duty will still be getting their armour on / equipped for another 10..20 seconds.
• The fast response groups and the on duty guards are now equipped and ready to rock 'n' roll, although they currently have no target.
• You have no update on the hypersonic aircraft, or large astral forms that were announced.
• Plan 'Blood Alpha One' has been activated and the hideous blood ward is now fully in place.

WWII

• You have a timeline
• You need to decide how to swap the briefcase.
• You need to IC move on to the meeting time

Ryl's sending you a copy of this tactical map - link here The red is where the people connected to the tac net are. There is no data available for the top two layers

For those of us at the door to 27A, should we wait till the time-jump scene is over, in order to know if we can open the door in the appropriate way, or are other actions supposed to happen? I'm a little confused, sorry.

I seem to have some problems communicating. I guess its my unfamiliarity with pbp and I should try and make the summaries a little clearer.

I tried to state what was going to happen in this post

Basically I messed up and should have had the WWII flashback happen sooner. So now what I'm doing is having Ambrose start a little ritual. His ritual that will open the door will take as long it takes you to do it in the WWII flashback. In other words when the flashback has enacted the ritual, it will happen in "the present".

The rest of you by door 27a are "doing whatever you want". As the balloon is just going up: Ryl is stomping all over their security systems and Warder is currently being attacked. The post I referenced above, also covered some options that you might want to fulfil.

At the moment there are no troops stomping their way down to the basement, so you still have time to arrange a welcome!

As well as preparing a welcome, there is a serious option for Mandala, who can move seriously fast, to go and collect Aren who is currently bleeding to death

OK, I think I have it figured out now.

I'm in a state of confusion in part because of RL. Just moved back into our house... construction is just finishing... tomorrow is the party for family for my step-son's wedding on Saturday and the house has to be ready to host several relatives including a grandmother of disapproving disposition... I just started a new job, but am also applying for other work... my daughter is here from Liverpool for only a few days...

... so I'm not paying the attention to Shadowrun that I usually do.

I'll do something about Aren.

Aren got shot some time around round 10.

If you go off in round 11, as you go up the stairs (I guess you will be astral) can you:

1: Roll surprise
2: Roll assense

A squad of 6 is stomping their way down the stairs. 5 of them are in heavy armour, Assault rifles etc. 1 of them is clearly Zero's heartthrob Captain Zeia. She's wearing a tasty spray on leather outfit, with twin sword (both foci) across her back. She is astrally present, and in your opinion is a were tiger (you get that for free...anything else is dependant on the assense result).

Surprise test: REA 4 + INT 8 + alerted by the tacnet imagery 3 = 15 dice ==> 4 HITS (Had to get below average sooner or later!)

Assensing Zeia test: INT 8 + Assensing 4 = 12 dice ==> 5 HITS (!)

I suppose my inability to post sooner makes Fearghas unable to have done this in earlier rounds, so taking this round to cast Increase Reflexes. I will post IC once I can do more in a turn than that.

15d6 = 6 hits

And drain: 22d6 = 7 hits

I think it's at force 5 or 6, but can someone clarify for me what the background count is in the basement right now? I thought Alyena Cleansed it, but it's back up rather quickly and it keeps changing from post to post. =/ Knowing BGC will help me figure out how to edit my spellcasting hits number and how much drain Fearghas takes.

@Sephiroth
The latest summary has the background count: http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...t&p=1053822. Its zero in the basement. Its Aztech 4 on the ground floor. I've corrected my post, and Big Fella has corrected his.

You can have been casting spells in earlier rounds, just summarize them in the next post.

At the start of round 11, you can hear automatic fire from above. If you wanted to you could join the fight at the start of round 12.



@Pbangarth
could you correct the background count on this post please: you will be happy to know there is no background count in the basement

I'll clarify the physical situation: Look at this map here Captain Zeia and her troops are moving pretty much as fast as they can without running, coming from the barracks, and are heading towards Warder's room. To get to Arren you have to go past them. If you survive contact with them, you can choose whether to keep on running (you are almost certainly faster than them), retreat into room 5 (through Warder's ward) where Alyena and Bjeorn are, or back down the stairs.

Into the "surviving the combat" bit:
Captain Zeia's surprise test 6 hits. You might want to spend an edge on your surprise: without it you will be partially surprised. That means that you do not get to dodge or defend. Having a Were Tiger sword witch with quick draw have an interception, unopposed double strike, and a finishing move at you is not my idea of a good time!

If you do decide to spend that point of edge, and she is surprised, she doesn't get to hit you.
If she isn't surprised, her attacks are:

Interception (free attack): 8 successes
Twin attack number 1: 5 successes
Twin attack number 2:2 successes
If any of those land
Finishing move (well named) 11 successes
Base damage for her Katana: 7P AP-2
Unopposed that would be 15P, 12P, 9P and 18P. Lets rename her Moulinex the incredible mincing machine. She is of course using twin magical foci.

On a side note, I just read your comments about the weekend: so best of luck with the wedding!




@Sabs
You probably want to have look at the map I gave Pbangarth. You are currently positioned just outside room 5 (in her and her guards direct line of sight). The two guards at the front of the pack have seen you, and will lay down supressing fire as they run. I would appreciate a surprise roll from you. If you surprise them, you can move through the ward into room 5, or retreat downstairs, or anything else you want. If you fail to get surprise, you can still roll your edge on resisting the suppressing fire (its normally reaction + edge)

My guards are sadly not as impressive as Captain Zeia

Guards surprise roll: 2 hits
Guards supressing fire roll: 1 hit and 1 hit
Should the guards hit (highly unlikely I suspect...I need to invest in some better guards) the damage of the bullet is 6P AP-1 (you would only take base damage as they are using suppressing fire)

'll wait to see what Marduk's doing, or Monday if no post, before I run the combat in room 5.



@Aria
There is good news and bad news.
The good news is that the tacnet collapses (Marduk is glad that those guards didn't have another 4 die)
The bad news is that you have a visitor

Current position as I understand it at the start of round 11
General: The system is on alert status
Camera room: You are subscribed to the camera room, so that you can keep an eye on the cameras. The dogs in there are snarling, the guard is looking seriously worried, and he has whipped out a mean looking spear embedded with shards of volcanic glass. The dogs will start attacking the guard this round
Tacnet room: The initial entrance guard has come in, with his black IC. His IC will start attacking him this round too. He's actively looking for you as well, although he may be distracted real soon.

Can I get the following rolls from you:

• Matrix Initiative
• Matrix Perception (Computer + Analysis)
• Stealth (Hacking + Stealth)

A smooth looking gentleman in a bizness suit teleports into the node. Red Shirt. Black suit. Black shades. Power dressing. No apparent weapons. He's Jonathan.
Another leaf flys into your hand PLEASE DON'T HURT HIM. HE'S NICE
Jonathans matrix perception (he's using his 2 free actions from multitasking to observe in detail) 5 and 7 successes.
Jonathans initiative, he goes on 17

The fight between the guards and the black IC was short and brutal. This IC is pretty mean. The IC seems to be ignoring Jonathan and yourself (a result of your stealth, and his coolness you think)

The guards go on the same initiative as does the IC
Guards initiative 16 and 14
Black IC initiative 14 and 17 I think I should have rolled 2 more die (rating 6 black IC)
on 17: Black IC attacks on guard 1, using Blackout 4 and 5 successes Guard 1 defense 4 and 3
Guard 1 is hit for 7 and 7 damage. His soak is 3 and 4
Black IC guard 2, using Blackout 2 and 2 Guard 2 defence also 2 and 2
Guard 2 is missed
Summary: Guard 1 is savaged, Guard 2 is sweating but undamaged
on 16: The guards try and pull out 4 and 4 the black IC trys and stops them 4 and 2
Guard 2 vanishes from view, so Guard 1 is going to have a bad day
on 14: Black IC all strikes at guard 1, and the guard would try and pull out...but well...
Black IC 6,5,6 and 4
Guard's defence (-1 per defence after first) 2, 5, 1 and 3
Summary: Guard 1 goes down and the dogs start savaging his body...you suspect some unpleasant psychotropic effects are going off...

@general
Can I get each of you to write up the IC posts?

@pbangarth

Hope the wedding goes well!

Alyena is assensing Warder and his nasty looking personal force wall, with 3 successes:

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2950932/

The ward is about a force 12 wall of elemental water. This will knock back anyone who touches it and do some serious damage.
It also shows that Warder is not present on the astral plane, so I can zap his spells atm but not him.

I've put up a counterspell to reduce Warder's magic, so anyone in this room is covered.

Alyena enters astral combat with the ward, 3 attacks with 5 successes each:

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2950934/

However after first attack I realise this isn't going to work so switch to Mana Bolt.
Will zap the ward with a force 11 bolt, result of 8 succusses:

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2950939/

That did some good, so lets do it again, with 5 successes:

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2950943/

Lets see how that does

@Alyena
The first astral combat only did 3 damage...it will take a lot of that.
Your first manabolt does a base 11 damage + 8 for the successes. The wall rolls 9 successes. knocking the damage down to 10 damage. With the 3 you have already done thats pretty serious stuff. You have smashed a 1mx1m hole in the ward. It will be possible for spells/bullets and claws to get through, but there is fair chance that if Bjeorn attacks through the gap, he will get zapped.

Your second manabolt smashes into the wall , but while it makes a dent, it sadly does not smash through it again...

I can see Warder right? So I could manabolt him, while Bjeorn takes care of the two idiots infront of him?
Casting a Force 9 Manabolt at Warder (I have LOS on him now because of the hole)
Magic(6)+Spellcasting(4)+SpellcastingFoci(3)-Background count(4)-2 sustaining combat sense=7d6 4 2 5 1 4 5 6 (3 hits)

Drain Resist: 13d6 1 2 3 2 6 6 5 3 6 4 6 1 5 (6 hits)

Resisted no problem, although I suspect Warder will laugh at my 3 spell hits.

And oh I'm back from my mini vacation

@sabs
Welcome back

To blast Warder you have to get through the ward to his room. You can turn off all your spells and foci, and just walk through, or you can mask your way through.

You are right. He laughed at your 3 spell hits. You suspect he has around 14 die of countermagic vs combat spells based on what you just saw: he really churned up the astral around him as your spell went blasting in. The background count isn't helping (you) of course.

I'm just checking that you read the stuff about what is happening in the corridor, and have looked at the latest map showing where Aren and Captain Zeia are. There is a full fast response squad complete with Were Tiger Dual Blade wielding sword adept nicknamed "moulinex" about 1 combat rounds move away from you.

I'd suggest you close the door and bolt it behind you...but...no door any more.

@alyena
We both forgot about background count for astral combat and spellcasting, so I have retro fitted the figures: no significant changes to the fluff. There is still a hole in the elemental wall (which he isn't happy about).

You know, I thought those guys were going for Room 27a, and not for us. Only spell I'd have to lose is Combat Senses to step inside, and turn off my foci for a brief second. Marduk is most definitely a low noticeability magic guy.

I'm going to read back up, and figure out what I'm doing. Instead of doing the Manabolt, I might instead drop combat sense, walk through the ward, and then cast combat sense instead.
Would you be okay with that? I can use the same spellcasting test, and just change the target, and I believe the drain is similar.

I corrected the background count error.

Looks like having Warder's astral signature for my astral self didn't fool the bitch. I will have to work with you, Seth, on how to fully disguise Mandala on the astral.

Use Edge to reroll misses: 11 remaining dice ==> 4 HITS

This brings Mandala's surprise roll to 8 hits. I believe this gives him surprise over Captain Zeia.

Given that Mandala has 3 IPs in astral, he will stay for one or two and deal with the dear Captain who must also be astrally aware to intercept him. Can't have her come in behind while helping Aren.

I assume actions so far used up the two passes he had in round 11, so for round 12:

Initiative 16 dice ==> 6 HITS

... for an Initiative Score of 22.

If Mandala [i]has [/i]a chance in round 11 with surprise, or else in round 12, the first IP he will blast Zeia with a stunbolt. She is a major problem and has to be dealt with right away. I will wait to see what the initiative situation is.

And Aren is still alive for a couple of rounds anyway, I believe.