I like the last title font too - S72 uses san serif for titles! I think the auto indent that list gives is better than the bullets hanging out the back and I think perhaps that the shadow comments shouldn't be bold. Either of the ways of separating the lists is ok, let's face it, this Jackpoint post probably will be done by yourself so whichever way works for you... I will try and compile the one for Freedom and perhaps Stillwater in the same vein and ask for input from the Freedomers!

Anyway, time to post some more IC...

@Aria

Alright. Data Search on LeFey. Anything and everything I can find out about her though her SIN.

Threading my Browse: Resonance (6) + Software (5) = 11 dice = [4,6,1,1,3,2,4,4,2,2,4] = (1)
Fading Resist: Charisma (5) + Resonance (6) = 11 dice = [1,5,2,1,3,5,5,5,4,1,5] = (5) No damage.

Are you kidding me? Doing it again.

Threading = 11d6.hits(5) → [6,4,1,5,2,3,3,5,3,2,6] = (4)
Soak = 11d6.hits(5) → [1,6,4,1,6,2,6,1,4,1,1] = (3) = 1 damage

Better.

Data Search on LeFey:
Data Search (4) + Browse (10) + Concentration on Threading (-2) + Full VR (2) = 14 dice

14d6.hits(5) → [2,6,1,3,4,4,1,6,1,6,1,2,1,6] = (4)
14d6.hits(5) → [1,3,2,4,1,5,3,2,1,4,1,2,6,1] = (2)
14d6.hits(5) → [5,2,1,4,4,3,3,5,3,4,5,6,5,2] = (5)

3 rolls for 11 hits. Let me know if I need to roll more to get more info.

This seems fairly comprehensive...can I suggest you liaise with RDMarquis to determine what you find on her? I am assuming you still only get legal / semi legal info with this roll as you aren't actively hacking any secure data bases...for now

That is correct. I'll save the real hacking for later.

@Nightfalke

From RAW, that -2 for sustaining a threaded complex form applies to other actions. It should not apply to using the threaded CF.


Doing something other than browse will get the penalty, but data search does not. Unless you also have another sustained CF that I missed.

Have you got a reference for the +2 full VR bonus? I know about the bonus for being jumped in versus just VR control, and TMs get +2 for matrix perception, but this looks like a general bonus for working in VR (or hot sim, since a TM as always hot SIM in VR). I can not seem to find a reference to match.

Since that shows a Browse CF rating of 10, which is higher than your Resonance attribute, the fading should be physical

You only used 4? rating points to increase the Browse CF, but the final rating is 10, so fading damage is physical. In general, you might want to deliberately limit the number of used rating points to what you can buy the drain resistance for, when pushing the rating over Resonance attribute.

Note the "can be used" and "choose to discard". The drain resistance test is done on the used hits, not the rolled hits {although minimum of 2, so still have drain to resist if do not use any hits from a miserable roll}

Tanstaafl!

My bad. Misread the rules.






Therefore, they get the +2 for hot sim.


Yes it was physical damage. Never said it wasn't.


I raised my Browse rating 4 points because that is the number of hits I rolled. Thank you for the advice on Threading and number of hits.

There it is! Adding to my notes

@Mechanicals: I've purposefully skipped over negotiations to move things along but if you want to post some OoC rolls and some accompanying IC text that's fine...but it is the journey home now where the adventure lies

Did you just feel that cold wind down your back? That tread upon your burial spot? 'Cause whenever a GM says adventure I sure do.

@Aria

Compiling a Sleuth Sprite: Compiling (4) + Resonance (6) + Paragon Bonus (1) = 11d6.hits(5) → [1,1,5,6,2,5,3,3,2,1,3] = (3)
Rating 6 sprite = 6d6.hits(5) → [1,3,3,1,4,2] = (0)
Fading resist= Charisma (5) + Resonance (6) = 11 dice. Buying hits = 2 hits. DV = 0. No fading.
3 net hits = 3 services.

Giving the Sprite a remote service(which uses up all 3 services) to enter the message board node, analyze any icons in the node until I tell it to stop (or 8 hrs are up...whichever).

Sleuth Sprite Analyze = Pilot (6) + Analyze (6) =
12d6.hits(5) → [6,2,5,1,1,6,1,6,3,6,4,4] = (5)
12d6.hits(5) → [2,1,5,4,3,2,6,3,3,5,1,1] = (3)
12d6.hits(5) → [2,1,3,1,3,2,5,5,6,4,3,3] = (3)
12d6.hits(5) → [5,1,2,4,2,5,1,6,5,6,5,6] = (7)

(Didn't know how many icons there would be in there, so I just rolled 4 times. If you need me to do more, let me know.)

I worded my IC post in the assumption that nothing is going to eat us in this node in order to move things along IC. If that turns out to not be the I will change my actions accordingly.

No, you're quite safe! It's an obscure meeting node for a reason!

There are a few other IC's i need to work on before I can get back to you three so if you want to move the IC along feel free to just arrive in the node and get planning! It's a bulletin board for a company that long since went under and for some reason the node was kept online...can you say shadows?!? Basic UMS iconography that easily submits to any reality filters you have running. No IC, no other users apart from the three of you.

@Aria,
from IC Aria axc4mr post
Anna? Spindles wife maybe?

Assuming the routing and timing answer is to keep the load: Speed-ed Negotiations social modifiers SR4A131
NPC Neutral: 0
Desired Result Annoying: -1
Street Rep(inspired:Steampunk): +2
Heavy Bargaining chip(bullet holes): +2
Not really in negotiation modifiers, but
Character agitated (time constraint): -2 (Spindle owes Sprogget one
Negotiation(1)+CHA(4)+0-1+2+2-2 vs Negotiation(2)+CHA(3)
Truck price negotiation 6d6.hits(5) → [3,5,5,4,1,1] = (2) vs 5d6.hits(5) → [2,3,3,1,4] = (0))
Couple points in my favour. Set a price relative to that 4000 base previously mentioned, and if desired, add in wonky notes if desired, after the known damage is repaired. This is not tribal salvage, but with the implied history I gave it, the same effect could apply. Need to post some initial thoughts about buying through the tribe. Wonky can wait for that, since need regular repairs first.

@Aria,
Here are some thoughts on using Mechanicals Tribe as a resource for buying ‘appropriate’ used and refurbished tech.

With the usual limit of availability 14, tribal members can buy fully working, no problems, tek at 20% discount. Associates and Fre∑dom get 10% off.
With over 14, but up to {say} availability 18 pay a 20% premium, but can still get it because the Mechanicals 'have' the tek.
Higher than 18 can be purchased at the same price premium, but due to limited quantities, comes with the equivalent of the Household Gremlins quality. ‘Features’ of the product will randomly be unavailable when you attempt to use them.
Tek explicitly bought used has a ‘chance’ of coming with a Gremlin, even for lower availability items. For each (additional) 10% price reduction, roll 2 dice. A glitch means one level of tech gremlins. Below 50% of list will always have at least 1 level of gremlins, plus the gremlins added by the 10% dice rolls.

EG: Mechanical member Crazy Corkscrew wants to purchase some expensive, but ‘regular’ availability tech. He could buy known good for 80% of list, cash and carry. However his credstick balance will not allow. He could buy at 50% of list, and roll 2 dice 3 times. Each glitch rolled adding a level of gremlins that will cause the item to malfunction regularly, but randomly. If he chooses an even deeper discount, down to 40% of list, he will get a gremlins level of 1 plus the glitches from rolling 2 dice 4 times.
Fre∑dom member XStream wants some high availability tech, and can afford to put some cred into the purchase. Up to availability 18 she could just pay list plus 10% for fully functioning equipment. However the equipment is availability 20, so price will be list + 10%, and it will have 2 levels of gremlins to be bought down before it will be completely reliable. If she wanted to try saving some cash, she could buy it for list price, and roll 2 dice three times. Each glitch rolled adds another level of gremlins.

These gremlins can not be directly repaired. Instead the character must ‘buy them down’ like a quality. This is done with repair tests, but only one ‘level’ can be repaired at a time, and only 1 level per game day, regardless of how many hits. This also has a lower threshold, so buying down a level could take more than one repair test. The actual needed repairs are not particularly complex (threshold 4 easy fix), but locating the problem .. is the problem.
The purchaser does not HAVE to do the repair test themselves. They could hire a Mechanical to do the repairs, but at higher cost than normal. Say 10% of the list price per test, for the hassle of chasing ghosts.

The actual gremlins can be RP, appropriate to the specific item. I would suggest though, that a reasonable list be supplied at time of purchase, then items from that list chosen for the item until the gremlin levels are bought down. An identical purchased item could have a completely different list of gremlin ‘symptoms’. Go crazy. The gremlins will assist you along the path.

These gremlins are always like level 1 Household Gremlins RC163. Roll a single die when about to use the item. On a hit, something is ‘broke’. That does not mean holster the weapon, then redraw to get a new roll. The in game situation needs a change / break before rerolling. For a vehicle related item (an upgrade maybe), Roll when you leave home to head to the meet. Roll again when you leave the meet. For items built into something else (upgrades), I would find it reasonable to be able to detect the gremlin before ‘pulling the trigger’. A simple diagnostic/status check could show the malfunction, but not enough information to actually ‘fix’ it. Extra 'levels' just mean more work to get rid of. That could be made a lot 'stronger'. Roll a number of dice equal to the current gremlin level. ANY hit means an active gremlin.

Does the structure work for you? Did I go too complex? This is of course optional. Characters are free to choose to buy somewhere else, instead of from the Mechanicals, using the previous guidelines and GM approval for price and availability.

All of the numbers of course are easily adjustable to make gremlin levels more or less likely, and more or less ‘costly’. I tried to balance, so that it was reasonable for a character to ‘gamble’ on gremlins, to get a better price, and to accept gremlins as the built in cost for getting some higher availability items without automatically needing GM pre-approval. I also want the ‘cost’ of gremlins to be ‘real’ in game, so that it takes game time to buy them off. Instead of game time and repair tests, perhaps the gremlins fade away over time, based on the number of IC posts, not costing karma, but in step with karma acquisition. If using that, gremlins could be bought down by posting, but any active gremlin remains active until the end of the current ‘scene’, where a new roll would normally be used to check for the next gremlin. First thing would be to pick where you want the limits on availability. To allow higher availability beyond the ‘soft’ limit (18 here), could make the gremlins 1 rank per 2 levels of availability.

Of course, if players ‘choose’ to just use GM approval, GM is allowed to add gremlins as part of the approval

This may be too specific to the Sprogget character, but perhaps the Juryrigger quality can be used to ‘suppress’ a gremlin after it has manifested. Taking some time of course. Sprite Guard, and Sprite Stability powers could be other temporary fixes for a gremlin, costing a service / task. Just as there are spells to alleviate the effects of an allergy, without actually curing it.

Thoughts?

No, just one of the tribe members - he cares for you all you know!


I'm happy to give this a go for the moment and see how it pans out. Just using the availability marker though might be a bit misleading - I don't think the Mechanicals would naturally scrounge up a tomahawk missile or high power focus for example. I'm on the fence about whether they could scrounge 'ware which is probably the biggest cost item. That boils it back down to GM approval again

I may have missed something but I had assumed that Morgan didn't have free reign to wonder off... I had intended the meeting to be a virtual one rather than in the flesh...of course if you can get out freely that makes getting you to the barrens infinitely easier!!! One jammer/tag eraser combo and you are good to go...it's bound to be that easy right?!?

@Mechanicals: I've stopped short of directing you home just yet, want to know if you're going to take the offer of protection from the Firebreathers. Just be aware that starting a gang war might not be the best idea

At the beginning of that, I had a note about sourcing appropriate tech.  I agree about cyberware.  You better have a very good story about how the tribe acquired it.  Even more so for bioware.  I was actually thinking to limit this to items that can be built/repaired using the Hardware, Armorer, Chemistry or Mechanic skill group (need good story for anything 'major' in Nautical).  With good story, maybe Software as well, though Fre∑dom seems a more reasonable source for SOTA.  I added chemistry, due to the work they do with the gardens, and the thought that they might be able to 'find' raw materials while scavenging. An additional 'tuning' would be to set the availability limits separately for each (repair) skill, depending how close it fits with what you feel the core tribal skills are, how likely they are to run across matching salvage, and how difficult it would be to transport and store the salvage.  That would pretty well eliminate biotech.  Cybertech might be 'found' in a missed storage room someplace, but likely several years old, not SOTA.  You will not be able to buy a facility from them, because there would be no way to store it.  They could have scuba gear, but not a yacht.  I had not considered magic at all.  They use some magic themselves, but had not considered mana related gear to be expected salvage.  Almost anything transportable [in pieces] could be 'found', but the Mechanicals main theme is scavenge, salvage, repair, refurbish.  Other things, they really do not have a much better chance at acquiring than a normal fixer.  Other than there are several of them actively looking for swag.  It would be possible, even reasonable, for them to stumble across a cache of some sort while doing salvage, but anything serious is likely to also have solid security, and defenses to keep out random squatters.  I have a few ideas for scenarios that could work, but I will save those for when I need a good story for the GM

My previous post left several options open. You made no comment on those, so here is a 'slice' through the options, without the fluff. Just the 'mechanics' of purchasing tek through the tribe.

Tech that is potentially available for purchase through the Mechanicals Tribe:
Items that use the Hardware, Armorer, Chemistry, Automotive Mechanic, Aerospace Mechanic, Industrial Mechanic skills to build or repair
Those items can also use secondary skills of Artisan and Disguise, for things that are concealed or 'flashy'.
Items, or components of items, must be reasonably transportable to the tribal complex, to be worked on before resale.

• Tribal members start with a 20% discount from list.
• 'Friends' of the tribe start with a 10% discount from list.
• Add 20% for items with availability higher than 14.
• Add 1 level of gremlins for each level of availability over 18, up to a max of 24.
• For each 10% price reduction from the above base, roll 2 dice. A glitch results in 1 more level of gremlins.
• If price reduced to, or below, 40% of list, always add an extra level of gremlins, in addition to those rolled form the glitch tests.
• Minimum price 20% of list.
• Anything bought below 50% of list is going to need 'some' repair before use.  Roll a die.
  • 1 - threshold 12
  • 2 - threshold 8
  • 3, 4, 5 - threshold 4
  • 6 - threshold 2
  cumulative for each 10%, repairable with standard extended test.
• Unless you have a 'good' story, Chemistry can not be discounted, or go over availability 18.  There does not seem to be a process to do repairs.

Gremlins: For each IC scene, before first use of an item with 1 or more levels of gremlins, roll 1 die. On a hit, a gremlin symptom is activated for the duration of the scene.  A status check can be done so the PC knows the gremlin is active before relying on the item.

Removing Gremlins: 1 level of gremlins can be removed per IC day by doing an appropriate repair test with threshold 4.  The test requires at least a matching toolkit.  Modifiers apply, so a shop gets an extra die for superior tools, and reference material gets modifiers.  Logic itself does not help (except as a negative without plans), but specific puzzle solving ability can add a bonus. This is not an extended repair test.  You find the gremlin or you start over.  Interval permitting, multiple rolls are allowed per day, but only one level can be removed.
Rolls can be purchased from the tribe for a cost of 10% of list for the item, with a dice pool of 12;
from Skill(4); Attribute(4); Superior working conditions(+1); Superior Tools(+1); AR Plans(+2);

Whoops. I thought when you referred to a location, you meant an actual address. I'll have her meet up with the others at the node.

@Aria

Tsubaki's Assense Test of the Lady 5d6.hits(5)=3

And because Baby Collot is included in the general area of the Lady's direction, Baby Collot just might get accidently assensed, too.

RdMarquis,

your last post made me notice I forgot to update the virtual location when I transferred nodes in my last IC post, it has been edited you might want to edit yours too so you have the correct location: Obscure Matrix Node

Let's go with this - I don't think there's anything unbalancing here. The same rules could be applied to any group that can track down resources so Freedom would be able to get computer wear, comms, software. Stillwater could get 'ware. Other groups might become established in game for manatec etc...

@Aria:
Copperhead doesn't really have a lot of people skills for calming the kids.
Best I can get is Cha 4 + Etiquette 1 = 5d6.hits(5)=0 - lol, at least she didn't glitch!

She has no computer skills so is totally reliant on the kids to determine what, if anything, is being used to flag them as friendly/hostile.

No problem...crafting the IC as we speak

@Aria

Hey

I'm waiting on an IC too. Not trying to be pushy or anything, take as long as you like, but I feared my mere 8 line response was lost in a wall of fast moving Tribes text a page and a half ago

Cheers

Oops! I started writing it and then... will see what I can do but this weekend is going to be busy

Yeah, no problem. I wouldn't read it till Monday anyway. Just making sure you'd seen it

@Aria, Fairy, Rdmarquis: Ok, so I am dumb and forgot where we are supposed to be going. Seattle? Just the UCAS? Sorry, I tried searching through the thread, but to no avail... x_x

@JxJxA



I kind of forgot, too. The best guess is... Stillwater? Haha, sucks to be you, JxJxA! You get to decide exactly where the group is gonna go!

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3776031/

2 hits on Security Procedures, just to verify if what Morgan is saying is right. If a Knowledge test for Ares would help, I'll roll that too.



By the way, it's actually Clearwater, which is a place in the UK. You might want to have her drop us off somewhere nearby, though. It's not a good idea to let an agent of a great dragon knowing exactly where you'll be.

I'm finding it hard to follow posts since not everyone uses the same color schemes/formatting for speech, thoughts, messages, etc...so could we please move to a standardized system.

I'd suggest the following since some of us are already using similar color schemes/formatting:

Regular White for actions:
She tilted her head and looked toward the speaker

cyan for speech:
"Welcome. How are you tonight?"

yellow for matrix speech & messages
"Hello everyone, did anyone have troubles finding the node?"
<<@Joe: Dude can you believe what she's saying?>>

darkkhaki italicized for thoughts:
I wonder exactally how much he paid for all that gear?

NPC's/Mentor Spirits/Paragons.
lightgreen regular text for NPC:
"Hoi chummer we'll bring the booze and snacks for the game tonight"
lightgreen italiscized for Mentor Spirit:
Have I not taught you anything? We dont run, we fight!
lightgreen bold for Paragon:
Yes. No. Maybe. Binary solutions are outdated.


I know I'm probably missing a few categories but I'd just like to get the basics standardized for now, we can work on additional categories later.

EDITED 11/112012 8:36PM

It is easy to get over complex with 'standards', but additional things I like to try to keep distinctive:
use a mono spaced font like Courier New for text only messages (in addition to other comm call styling)
regular 'thought' style can work for 'talking' to mentor spirit or paragon, but I like to keep that separate from internal thoughts, speech, or comm call styling
Responses from NPCs, mentor spirits, paragons.
inline emotive content for voice and thought communications channels: {sincerely} {incredulous} {evasively}; regular actions are an alternative, perhaps using the braces to indicate conscious/unconscious 'body language' versus intended 'motions'
Depending on context, virtual meetings could use either standard voice or comm call styling. There are expanded possibilities for emotive and body language communications, from manipulation of the avatar.
In many contexts, multiple people/entities can hear/perceive communications content, so I like to prefix with @targetentity to show who the 'obvious' intended recipient is. Sort of who the speaker is looking at, at the time.

If there is some sort of consensus, I do not mind switching things around. I keep a template to copy/paste from. I need to improve that anyway. The 'indexing' is pretty rough.

Overall I think reading a post should be pretty fluid almost like reading a book, too much extraneous tags and extra formatting tend to break up the fluidity making things disjointed (as well as taking too long to write a damn post as you have to keep checking to make sure all your damn tags are correct). On the other hand too little formatting tends to make eveything run together.

I'm just looking to get everyone on a basic shared color scheme/format that's not complex that everyone can follow from one post to another without having to figure out what color scheme everyone is using for their posts

Using a different font should be up to the poster, keep in mind not everyone views the font the same on their computer.



Ok so thats one suggestion for a new color scheme category NPC's/Mentor Spirits/Paragons.
lightgreen regular text for NPC:
"Hoi chummer we'll bring the booze and snacks for the game tonight"
italiscized for Mentor Spirit:
Have I not taught you anything? We dont run, we fight!
bold for Paragon:
Yes. No. Maybe. Binary solutions are outdated.


I'll edit that into my original post on this subject




I'd say that entirely up to the person posting if they want to use anything like that personaly I think its more fluid to add the descriptive in normal action text afterward than as a tag as it seems a bit impersonal and much like the crazy assasin droid from KOTR.:
"You are just so smart" she said in a sarcasticly / "{SARCASTICLY} You are just so smart"


Just as easy to say:
"Hey Bob what do you think about the lakers" as @Bob:""what do you think about the lakers"



Hopefully we will see some more thoughts and ideas tomorrow

Should only need one style for paragons and mentor spirits. Any specific character will only ever have one or the other. Maybe neither, but never both.

Only other colour I have been using was violet to differentiate between comms messages and voice comms

<<@team: Here is the file on the target: {file}>>

<<@team: Incoming!>>

Couldn't we just pick a font color for a character, then be specific about what they're doing? Maybe add italics and whatnot for Matrix communication?

I like normal, italic, bold, caps, and maybe one or two colors, mostly. Rainbows hurt my eyes.

Sorry folks, looking after sick boy at home, don't think there will be any IC before mid week

@Mechanicals: love the teenage angst keep it up!

Damn, and I was hoping for some good old-fashioned external enemy-type bonding. Guess I'll have to make Spring go homicidal.
Or borderline reasonable.

Nah, real life takes precedence and sick loced ones doubly so. Hope he gets well soon.

Hope your sick little one gets feeling better soon, Aria.

Machine, Dakka: We're already up and moving back towards the Barrens, right? Want to make sure my next IC post is clear.

@ChromeZephyr: Yup. Been on the road the last few posts, didn't seize the let's saddle up and ride into the sunset opportunity though.

Since It looks like the general consensus is everyone wants to stay with their own system for posts instead of moving to a standardized system I'll go ahead and just drop the subject.


RL takes precedence Aria, take care of your boy.

@Aria, ditto.

Moving yes, but not quite to the Barrens.  Heading for the (old) South Hill Mall.  On the map, that is just inside Puyallup district, but still north of the barrens.  Assuming travel time is the same each direction (could be longer going home, with the load, and probably more traffic too from time of day), then barring surprises (which seem to be delayed till later) we should get there about 18:50.  Latest post was 18:16, so this could feel like forever.

@Aria,
September 1, 2072 18:21:02; en route to South Hill Mall

Perception(1)+INT(4)+Audio Enhancement(3) 8d6.hits(5) = 8d6.hits(5) → [2,5,2,5,5,3,6,1] = (4)
Looks like Sprogget heard Spring's whisper

@Aria

I am going to assume in my IC posts that my data search on LeFey was enough to get me an address where she lives and floor plans for the house and surrounding areas.

Let me know if my assumptions are incorrect, and I will do some additional hacking rolls.

@Mechanicals & Freedom: in order to make my head hurt less I've done an arbitrary GM sweep and bundled you together...hopefully this won't confuse things too much and the timelines should balance out (the benefits of having an oracle working for you )

@Mr J: got something up for Mr Awesome too, sorry it took a while

@Notsoevil: Copperhead's stuff should be up tomorrow

Have I missed anyone???

Seems like a good time (and place) to spend some post-count funds to get Scrapheap an upgraded commlink and get a fake ID, since we're in Fre∑dom's bailiwick. Especially since we're going into "civilization". Aria, if it's okay with you I'll spend as such:


Also, since he's been having fun driving around what passes for streets in the Barrens while keeping an eye out for jackals I'll spend the 4 karma to upgrade his Pilot Ground Vehicles to 2(4).

Whee, spending!

R3 fake SIN 3k
Specialising Perception(visual) 2 Karma
If it's OK, I'll IC the SIN in.

@Aria: We just told Ether that Clearwater is our current destination. Is that right? We kinda sorta forgot...

I hadn't forgotten you, sorry. Quick replies up to you and Notsoevil before I go and bury my head in work again for a bit

Tribes...will try and get you more IC before the end of the week but Freedom can provide you with some wheels if needed - a step van is in one of the loading bays. If i'm really nice it'll even have some morphing decals to help it blend in wherever. Given your combined skill sets I'd expect you to plan for multiple virtual incursions and some physical stuff too