I see your point. At the same time, I have kind of given you a hook to add a player. It might be kind of interesting if someone were to take over the guy Stogie has captured. It could lead to some interesting role playing.

Just a thought.

At the risk of sounding creepy, yours is one of a few PbPs I've been following as recreational reading and have been sorry to see it slowing down. If you do decide to recruit and don't mind a complete newbie joining in I'd be interested.

Goodness! Recreational reading. That must be frustrating, given the pace.

Ashmire, how much do you know about Shadowrun and the different versions? This game is 4th Edition, largely because we started the game three years ago (two years before 5th Edition was released).

Let's talk about it for a bit. I'll probably give Atropos through the weekend before moving on without him.

I know more of the universe fluff than of the actual rules, (though I've thumbed through what's available from my FLGS) since my experience with SR is basically SR:R and several of the novels that I found in a local thrift store, but I did know enough from reading Dumpshock to figure out from what was available in terms of character options that this must be 4th( which is actually going to be cheaper for me to pick up on Amazon)---I do have some previous tabletop RPG experience, having been in an ongoing D&D campaign IRL for the last five+ years, as well as having played various old-school text MUDs in the past.

The 4th Edition core rulebook is more expensive on Amazon than I would have guessed, even used. The original version is $17 used, the Anniversary edition is $29 used. I'm surprised they're holding their value so well.

I might be willing to send you my 4th Edition core rulebook. I'm trying to decide if I'm nostalgic about it or if I want it for a "collection" since I have the 2nd and 3rd edition rulebooks too. But the answer I keep coming back to is "no, I don't need it", so I am probably sufficiently dispassionate.

The next question would be how do we do this (if we do this). I'm trying to think of the most logical insertion point. I'm not sure the captured goon is it, although it's not entirely out of the question. But I have a hard time imagining that he would want to linger around here much longer, given that he's a city-slicker shadowrunner who doesn't have a payday on the horizon anymore.

What does the electronic version cost?

$25! Can you believe it?

Or $0, depending on your moral compass.

That was the subtext of my question.

I hadn't thought $17 sounded that horrifically expensive, but seeing as I've just started a new job two weeks ago and am not yet sure what my budget will be like, I wouldn't say no to a bit of charity. I'll think on some ideas of how to fit into the story, too.

Pbangarth, are you playing 5th Edition at all or are you still 4th Edition exclusively?

It's now been four weeks since we last heard from Atropos. Pb, if you would do the honors, please roll his initiative and for his stated actions.

OK, I'll get home tonight and check a couple of things in the manual. I wish AR had taken your hint about the non-lethal/toxin option. A blowgun in the woods? How awesome is that?!

I want to check about quick-drawing the pistol. He has enough dice to make that likely and would give him a second shot, albeit a lethal one.

And I have to figure out what kind of phrase he wanted to say.

Oh, and I have never played 5th edition, and have none of the books. Sort of a mixture of not wanting to spend the money and waiting to see if 5th is worth it. To be honest, I kind of like 4th. Now I understand better those people who stuck it out with 3rd.

Quick-drawing is fine. I was torn on how hard to prompt him about the blowgun. On one hand it's his sheet and he should know it; on the other hand it's been three years since we went through chargen so it's understandable if he had forgotten some things. I actually did a secret memory roll on his behalf (to see if I should nudge him further) but the result was very poor. So to the pistol we go.

OK. I'll check in later.

And, shit. Am I the only one who values Edge?

EDIT: Sorry, Smohalla has EDG =4. Yeah.

OK, so doing stuff for Ellesar until AtroposReborn returns.

It actually doesn't look like Ellesar has a drug that would be useful at the moment with the blowgun, so AR's choice seems more reasonable.

Hmmm... I don't think Ellesar is hurt at the moment.

Initiative 10 dice ==> 5 HITS = 15. That should keep him first.

Quick Draw the Pistol AGI 4 + Pistol 1 (!!) = 5 dice ==> 1 HIT ... nope, not quick enough. So he has one shot available to him. Oh, boy, better make it good.

So, now the shout. What the hell would he shout? Does he call for support from the Girls? Does he bluff the troll? Does he shout for Stogie, wherever the hell he took off to?

OK, they're in the trees, Ellesar is backing away from the cover of the tree, and the opposition doesn't exactly know who and what we are. I have an idea! See the IC post.

Ellesar will delay his action and intervene just before the troll acts. Hopefully this will allow him to get a clear shot at the troll. It's gotta be short range after the troll's charge, no?

If the shot can be taken, the Ruger Thunderbolt with EX-EX ammo will be 8 DV -2 AP:

AGI 4 + Pistol 1 (!!!!!) + smartgun 2 = 7 dice (oh god...) ==> 2 HITS

OK, this has gotta penetrate, let's use the point of Edge to reroll: 5 dice ==> 2 HITS

OK, 4 hits total. This might actually get through.

At first I was wondering if Ellesar even had glasses or goggles to use the smartlink, but he does. I gave them to him as a "birthday" present when the game was celebrating its first anniversary (almost two years ago). My motivation was actually to give him something that would boost his Perception skill, which he neglected to buy at chargen (and which I didn't catch until we were already in play). But I also knew the smartlink would come in handy for a situation such as this. I'd give myself karma for foresight if I had any use for it.

The Narcojet could have been used with the blowgun. How many actions it would take to "ready weapon" is up for debate though, since you probably wouldn't carry a blowgun around "loaded". Or maybe you would. What do I know about blowguns.

Ellesar would lose 1 die for walking but gains 1 die for shooting at a large (Body 8+) opponent, so those cancel each other out.

Four hits against the troll.

Troll defense: 3 HITS

Good thing you rolled Edge. I'm not sure he actually had any left but I don't want to go back and count it either. Edge will refresh at the end of this encounter.

Base damage is 5P, -1AP. EX-EX makes adds +1P and another -1AP. Ruger Thunderbolts fire in bursts, so a narrow burst adds +2AP. I just now see that you did all this math yourself so here I am repeating something you already know. Add 1 net hit for a grand total of 9P, -2AP. Not bad!

Soak roll: 3 HITS (originally 4 but I forgot to subtract the AP, so let that be a valuable lesson about AP)

End result: 6P. Normally this would not exceed the troll's armor rating BUT with the AP (there it is again!) it does. So 6P, not 6S. Gruesome.

Damage does not exceed the troll's Body so there isn't knockdown, but Trollo here will be up against a fat negative modifier.

Composure check! 6P hurts more than a little. 0 HITS, waa waa. He only needed 1 to pass but whiffed at that.

The troll has been stopped in his tracks and is assessing the situation. Per Ellesar's Pacifist quality, he cannot kill the troll outright. Pbangarth, please take one additional turn on Atropos' behalf while the troll collects himself (perhaps literally).

OK, here is Ellesar's Initiative:

10 dice ==> 5 HITS, so INIT = 15.

I don't think the troll is able to beat that with his damage modifiers in effect. I suppose he could use Edge, though. We'll see.

I think the Pacifist Ellesar will try to get the troll to surrender. He can intervene with the higher Initiative if the troll still has fight in him. Pacifism requires him to attempt to save the troll's life, not to commit suicide.

I'm going to call this an Intimidation roll, which Ellesar is awesome at.

Charisma 4 - Defaulting 1 - Subject is physically imposing 2 + Character is wielding a weapon 2 - Subject is wielding a weapon 2 + Character has caused) subject physical pain 2 = 4-1-2+2-2+2 = 3 dice

Troll resists with Willpower + Intimidation which, shockingly, he does not have, so 1 die after defaulting and wound modifiers.

Ellesar intimidation: 1 hits
Troll resist: 1 hit (rolled 3 but forgot about the wound modifiers)

We have a tie. Troll is more angry than intimidated. With his wound modifiers he does not have enough dice to beat Ellesar's initiative score.

He raises his shotgun. Ellesar's Pacifist quality is "Minor", which allows him to kill in self-defense (although "as humanely as possible").

You know it's going to be a terrible return party when they ask you to cut your honeymoon short so that you can come back to work. Needless to say I refused, but the last week has been one project after another and it probably won't slow down next week. I did enjoy the three weeks with my wife and our families but how they live without internet in this digital age is beyond me.

Anyway, I'm glad to be back and all but I must grudgingly ask for your continued patience for one more day as I need sleep before I go back to work tonight. After that I'll be quite available to post this weekend. I'm sorry you all had to wait on me once again and I'm truly ecstatic to see that no one else left. Also, thanks for keeping Ellesar alive for me.

With the formalities out of the way, let me see how many comments I can quickly address with having only glanced through the past month of OOC posts.

Ellesar's original plan was to blast the ground in front of the troll's feet with his ex rounds and attempt to bluff him out of his attack.

Ellesar has no Edge because his "luck" is terrible (check his backstory. if you don't believe me) I figured it matched his character, despite the obvious drawbacks.

As Stogie stated, there was really nothing great that Ellesar had for his blowdart in this situation and hitting a fully armored troll that's moving is no easy feat.

I do my best to check his inventory every round of combat to see if there's anything that would be more effective in the moment.

Since he is being faced with a potentially life threatening situation I suppose kneecapping would be a luxury.

I think having another player would be wonderful. I was very surprised to read that someone was actually taking their time to trudge through this story of ours.

Action is to Atropos then!

It seems like Atropos has a grasp on the situation but just so we're all clear:

1) Ellesar is holding his complex action (or simple actions) after using his Free Action to try and intimidate the troll
2) The troll was not sufficiently intimidated and is raising his weapon to fire
3) The action is back to Atropos as he (presumably) uses his held action to interrupt the troll's attempt to gun him down

Glad you're back, AR. Not only to see you still active (I was beginning to think that was one hell of a honeymoon!), but also to save me from doing something that would traumatize Ellesar for life.

It might be too difficult a called shot, but what a cinematic effect it would be to put two bursts into the same hole Ellesar just opened up.

"Pissed off now, are you, big guy? How's this?"

Yet another troll that won't just stay down. I'm hoping for Ellesar's sake that this guy doesn't have to die, but the elf's not going to just sit there and get blown away. I guess it's up to the dice. Both simple actions will be used to fire at the troll.

Narrow Burst 1: AGI (4) + Pistols (1) + Smartlink (2) = 7 Dice >>> 3 Hits

Narrow Burst 2: AGI (4) + Pistols (1) + Smartlink (2) = 7 Dice >>> 3 Hits

I have a bad feeling about this.

For recoil I know the second shot adds a -3 modifier but the thunderbolt has a compensation of 4. Does the negative modifier stack with the initial -2 from the first shot or is it a separate instance? If so I'll have to take a die off the second roll.

The Ruger has 3 points of recoil compensation for Ellesar. 2 built-in + 1 from the underbarrel weight. Ellesar does not get the 4th point because the personalized grip was designed for someone else. This drops 1 hit from the second roll, which almost certainly won't matter because the troll is pretty hosed.

The troll is no longer running, so he doesn't get those dice to dodge, and he now has a wound modifier, so the odds of him avoiding either attack are 4% at best. Let's see how he does:

Dodge #1: 0 hits, well that's not going to get the job done

11P, -2AP for the first soak.

Soaking: 4 hits

Net 7P added to his previous 6P. Troll now has 13P and has exceeded his condition monitor. He is not dead but he will bleed out without prompt medical attention.

I'm going to say that Ellesar refrains from the second burst. The Ruger has 6 rounds remaining in the clip.

I'll post the fall of the troll. We'll drop out of Initiative, but it may resume depending on how things go. I'll give you two a chance to post once or twice before filling you in on the rest of the battle in progress.

My separate scene went on for a while. Has the rest of the world caught up?

No, I haven't posted what Stogie sees of the world yet. Mostly this is a chance for Ellesar to react to the downed troll, but we can say that Stogie has closed the distance enough to contact Ellesar directly via comm. It will be a fuzzy connection until you're closer but it's enough to at least find out if the other person is alive or not.

I'm off to California tonight and will be back on Sunday. I should have internet access the whole time but may not be posting extensively.

Atropos, try to get a post up while I'm gone. We're coming up on the 3-year anniversary (in four weeks) and I'm eager to keep the ball rolling.

Should Stogie push the prisoner down the hill and see if he rolls?

This weekend will be our Thanksgiving weekend and I will have spotty access to the internet.

How coherent is the troll? Would he be able to talk or did the pain knock him out? If Ellesar can get a response from him then he probably wouldn't try to treat his wounds before making sure his own life wasn't in danger from an enemy pumped full of adrenaline. Also, would Ellesar need the medicine skill to be able to determine the condition of the troll or will first aid give him enough of a general idea?

Roll for Perception of any weapons besides the shotgun: LOG 4 + Perception 2 = 6 Dice >>> 4 Hits

Good roll! Ellesar will uncover lots of stuff on the troll with 4 hits. I'll list that out ICly.

You do not need Medicine to determine the condition of a subject; first aid will do just fine for that. Ellesar's skill is decent so, combined with your stellar Perception roll, I won't make you roll for it. He will know:

1) The troll is not dead; but,
2) the troll is not conscious; and,
3) the troll is an absolute mess and will bleed out from his wounds very quickly. Like, in the next 30 to 60 seconds.

Should Ellesar attempt first aid, it would be -2 for working outdoors and -1 for the subject's essence loss. Your emergency field dressing functions as a medkit 3 (per WAR!) so that would negate those penalties. That would make it 7 dice against a threshold of 2. Odds of success are pretty good (74%).

Jeez, what is this game coming to? We shoot 'em and then heal 'em?

You don't have to. Even if he's stabilized his outlook is questionable. Losing a boatload of blood in the mountains in November is not a successful strategy for survival.

In the interests of continued progress, I will be doing my best to add at least one substantial post each week regardless of response. Pbangarth, please feel free to advance the plot as you see fit. Atropos, post when you can.

From your IC post, Tecumseh, I gather that Gunny is the last person standing in the valley. Is that right?

Correct. He's conducting a tactical withdrawal.

Stogie doesn't have much in the way of social skills. There's Etiquette but that's not directly applicable here. Negotiation or Leadership would work, neither of which Stogie has. You can roll (defaulting) if you like.

Ellesar does have those skills, plus decent dice pools. Atropos, if you get this in a timely manner you can roll them.

Fifteen...hour work days....slowly stealing my soul....must not give in.....

Everything should be back to normal for me starting this Monday. Until then I'll be doing my mundane zombified reading with sparse posting.

I remember the mention of a weak signal between Stogie and Ellesar due to the distance of their comm range. How much of Stogie's message would he get? Even taking a couple of words away from the message could greatly skew the meaning, leaving Ellesar to wonder what is going on. Once I have the information I'll get an IC post up of him sending his own message (either to just Stogie or to everyone, depending on the answer to my question) and addressing the dead/dying troll.

Also, isn't Stuffer Shack a convenience store?

The first message was at the limit of our range, so I adlibbed some interference on that one. The second message sent to everyone should be in range for all to hear, and Gunny clearly reacted to it.

Communication is less-disrupted now that Stogie is out of the thickest part of the trees and standing in a small clearing, primarily so that he can see what's happening in the river valley below but there's the secondary benefits of being closer and less obstructed than before.

His first message to Ellesar may not convey much information but the primary takeaway is, "I am alive. Are you also alive?"

Yeah! What he said.

It's almost been a week. Post any responses or actions you might have. Otherwise I will assume no action and the storyline will continue to advance.

It's been almost two weeks. Also, almost three years. The game's anniversary is in a couple days. Anyone still around?

Yeah, yeah. Still kicking. I'll get IC later today.

Gunny was dragging one of his accomplices out of the water. Did he leave the downed man on the shore or did he drag him with him into the trees? Is there anyone else visible down below? Or the downed troll up with Ellesar?

Here's a Perception Test in case you want it:

INT 5 + Perception 2 + visual 2 + bonuses 4 - damage 1 = 12 dice ==> 3 HITS

Here we are again, for the third time!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!


Birthday presents
Edge is refreshed
Karma PMs will be going out shortly
Karma may be spent as you choose, no IC justification necessary
Stogie may find some recoil comp for Bessie on one of these goons, if he's lucky. We'll see.
There are bones for Jake. Lots of bones. People are still attached to them, but those people don't need them anymore.

Stogie Boosting STR then BOD:

MAG 7 + Attribute Boost 1 - damage 1 = 7 dice ==> 2 HITS each

So, STR 5, BOD 6 each for 4 rounds.

There are two guys in the river. One - Gunny's right-hand man from the look of things - is your traditional athletic human. He's about Stogie's size when Stogie's pumped up on mojo. (Stogie is a tad bigger with his current boost.) We'll say he weighs 85kg, plus another 20kg of gear.

The other bloke is a dwarf and a small one at that. We'll call him 50kg with 10kg of gear.

The lift-and-carry rules say that you can pick up STR*15kg without a test, but only STR*10kg if you want to carry. Since this is a dragging situation, I'll say that you're not technically "carrying" the men, so we'll use the 15kg multiplier. With Stogie's boosted Strength of 5, that's 75kg. He'll need two hits on a BOD+STR test to drag the man out.

Lift-and-drag: 3 hits

Stogie can drag the heavier human out without needing to take off the man's backpack or any gear. However, he needs both hands to do it. I do the farmer's walk in the gym frequently and I know that 100kg is going to be too much for one hand even for boosted Stogie. Two hands, sure. One hand, no.

Stogie's boost will wear off after dragging the first man out of the river. He does not need to boost himself to pick up the dwarf. However, making two trips will make the human on the riverbank vulnerable to the Sisters while Stogie gets the dwarf.

Let me know how you want to proceed.

OK. Stogie's resist drain for the two Boosts:

WIL 4 + BOD 4 - 1 damage = 7 dice. He needs one hit for each.

7 dice ==> 3 HITS, 0 HITS (Critical Glitch!)

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. Stogie takes at least one more Stun damage, plus whatever happens as the GM toys with him. I'll go part way in IC and let you do the rest, Tecumseh.

EDIT: I edited the previous post to match the actual situation.

The good news is that I don't think your wound modifier counts toward your soak test. 4th Edition is a little hazy on the matter - saying that wound modifiers "apply to nearly all tests the injured character may attempt, except for resistance tests." 5th Edition is a little clearer on the matter and, I think, what 4th Edition intended to say:


So you get an extra die back for your resistance rolls. If you get a hit it will just be a glitch instead of a crit glitch:

Extra die result: a 2

Still a crit glitch. Pretty impressive. Your odds of rolling a crit glitch with 8 dice are about 0.4%.

You can downgrade it to a glitch if you want to spend Edge, although the consequences are not extreme. I'm going to say the drain from the critical glitch is 2P. Downgrading it to a glitch will make it 2S. I can't remember what your stun monitor is at but it's possible that you might prefer the damage as Physical instead of Stun. If you take the two boxes of Physical damage we can say that Stogie ripped at the seams a bit from his astral steroids. Maybe some stretch marks for kicks.

I'll go for the 2P if that's alright with you. He already has 5S and another 2 will get him close to unconsciousness. Seeing as the 'Ladies' seem to be pissed, I better hold the Edge to survive their ire.

I've had to survive a woman's ire before, and it ain't pretty. You wanna do the IC for the damage or should I?

IC post is up. I mentioned the damage but feel free to elaborate. The healing rules are so generous that a couple boxes will be healed within a day or two, so it doesn't have to be anything severe.