Smohalla seems to be suggesting that the group investigate the wolf tracks the lead into town from the north. Any other opinions on the matter?

<accidental repost>

Stogie uses the Empower Animal metamagic to pass his adept powers of Attribute Boost (BOD) and (REA) to Jake. It takes two complex actions. I thought of transferring Enhanced Perception as well, but I figure Jake's nose is good enough. And Stogie has to remain good for something!

Near as I can tell from the mechanics description, Stogie's MAG and the power rating are used.

Attribute Boost (BOD, REA): MAG 7 + power 1 = 8 dice ==> 5 HITS, 2 HITS

So for now, Jake has BOD 7, REA 6. Tough little bugger.

This stuff wears out after a few combat turns, and needs to be resisted, using BOD and WIL. I assume that the recipient animal has to do the resisting, in which case, after the power fades, Jake would resist with 5 dice. This number of dice can buy one success, which is all Jake needs. Can we leave it that he resists under normal circumstances without having to roll?

In fact, can we maybe take an average for the power for most of the time, and not have to roll it continually? That would make 8 dice getting 2 or 3 hits. So, maybe 2+2 = 4 BOD and 4+3 = 7 REA? That seems most Jake-like.

Should a combat situation occur, then we could go to individual rolls, allowing for the chance to glitch under difficult circumstances.

Smohalla tries to summon a F5 Air spirit with the optional power Guard:

Summon F5 Air spirit Mag:5 + Skill:4 + PF:1 + Mentor:2 = 12 dice
5 hits + 1 hit = 6 hits
Spirit resists: 2 hits
In total 4 services owed

Resist 4S drain: 1 hit + 1 hit = 2 hits
Smohalla takes 2S

1st service: use Guard on the 5 party members (including Jake)

*edit* edited to include the dice that would've been rolled since the summoning happened outside of the BG count

Yup. Stogie is suffering, too. That's partly why he's eager to get the hell out of town.

Pbangarth, from a philosophical perspective I'll say that each attribute boost needs a drain roll. It strikes me as too draining to have active continually. Plus, Jake only having 5 dice means that there's a decent chance (96/729 = 13% for you statisticians playing along at home) that he wouldn't roll a success.

In practical terms, it won't really matter, as Jake won't need extra Body or Reaction unless he's in a stressful situation that would require a drain roll anyway. (Perhaps you're worried about a sudden ambush. Given your army of Perception dice, plus Smohalla's aerial cover, I would say it's not a likelihood.) Should Jake need an attribute boost, we'll use the roll you just made.

Phlapjack, the background count ends at the edge of town, which Smohalla would know. Presuming that he is patient enough to cross the river before summoning the spirit, then we can assume that the spirit is Force 5 (instead of 3) and that your drain is Stun instead of Physical. Rolling three dice on your behalf, you scored 1 extra success/service.

Per your instructions, the spirit's Optional Power is Guard. Since it is now Force 5 instead of 3, I'll assume that you broaden the spirit's Guard service to include Jake, unless you have something against the dog.

Time is starting to be important. After exploring town a bit and talking with Llewellyn, it's now around 14:00 hours. For the time of year in the game (early November), actual sunset will take place just before 18:00, at which point the spirit will depart.

For gameplay purposes, darkness will come quickly due to the terrain (you're in a river valley surrounded by mountains). I think everyone has ways to deal with low light, but the temperature will be cold (around freezing) and things might go bump in the night. Just saying!

OK cool, thanks for the clarification. I'll update the summoning post above, I think this would make it easier to track if needed

but The Sun Never Sets !!!

OK.

Phlapjack, it looks like you rolled 12 dice to resist drain. You have 5 Intuition + 5 Willpower + 1 Focused Concentration. What's the twelfth dice?

You're in the woods and the sun is headed for the horizon. I'd like to see some posts about how far you're thinking of following the trail, what you're on the lookout for, if there's a plan, etc. Let me know what's going through your beady little minds!

uh....whoops. In all the excitement of getting dice back from leaving the BG count, I think I added my power focus to the drain resist roll. Sorry, won't happen again Luckily my drain resist rolls were so crap, it shouldn't make any difference this time...

For future reference, a background count doesn't affect Drain rolls. Since the Magic attribute isn't included in the Drain roll, there are no dice lost.

Got it.

Smohalla will cast a F3 Detect Life (Extended) - maybe the amount of life that is detected will be overwhelming, but he'll give it a shot. Care to roll Tecumseh? I think I'm at 14 dice to cast (5 magic + 4 skill + 2 spec + 2 mentor + 1 PF)

Hmm! This is most interesting, and another good example of how Shadowrun assumes an urban setting. The description of the spell reads (emphasis mine):



For our current forested situation, lush with life as it is, the question then becomes the metaphysical query, "What is a being?" Our good friends at Merriam-Webster offer several different definitions, of which a couple could apply and produce a variety results. Personally I think the definition that best reflects the rules as intended would equate "being" with "conscious existence". Conveniently, that interpretation also provides the most interesting results.

For accountability purposes, here are the rolls for the spell and the drain. Don't peek if you don't want to know! I'll include some description in my post to give you a sense for how well you think you did.

Handy use of the spell, phlapjack77, and cool description of the spell effects, Tecumseh.

Thanks pbangarth.

Tecumseh, thanks for the interpretation. This is another example of why I like the GM rolling and giving the end results.

Smohalla will have summoned a Watcher spirit to deliver his message, keeping the drain low by only having the Watcher around for 2 hours (sunset?). I think I can buy the hits needed for this, if that's ok. The Watcher will be instructed to act as a courier, relaying any messages to-and-from the party.

Hi guys. A new post is up here. I was dragging my heels on posting, hoping that Faranji would show up. He's been missing for three weeks now; I PM'd him about a week ago but haven't heard back. The coming scene could play out very differently based on the presence of his character. Jeff has the Critter Spook quality and a general phobia of animals in general. Jake and Smohalla are about the limit of what he can handle, so facing a half dozen wolves would probably push him over the edge.

It's plausible that his character would decline to follow you up the hill, knowing that you were tracking wolves. I'm going to rule that he didn't accompany you, so that it's just the 3+1 of you (Smohalla, Eliasar, Stogie and Jake) at the present.

I will be traveling from Thursday until Tuesday. If there are some replies then I'll post a response or two before I leave town. I probably won't have access to a computer so we'll take a break for a week, citing the holidays as an excuse.

Hope all is well and that everyone is having a good holiday season!

Sorry for being out of contact. My computer died on the weekend, and because of holidays, I have to wait for repairs till tomorrow. And the damn library system was closed till today. also!!

I will catch up as soon as I can.

I'm back. Happy 2012, everyone. A new IC post is up.

Pbangarth, Animal Handling applies to "non-sapient animals" (p. 175, Street Magic), so it would apply to the wolves but not the shapeshifter. I took the liberty of rolling your Etiquette (Shapeshifter) skill. You did fine; the results are here.

Hey, better than I thought I would do!

Welcome back! It's always scary when the GM goes away for a few days.

Hey, should I post? I'm trying to have Smohalla "respect" Stogie's alpha-male stance, so Smohalla isn't actively talking with the wolf shifter.

Yes, go ahead and post. The shifter has offered to introduce you to the Sisters and said that you could discuss it. You could use your watcher spirit to provide your opinion to the group. Atropos, you can do the same. If things happen a bit out of chronological order - preceding Stogie's reply to the shifter - then that's the nature of PbP.

Yeah, I figured I should wait for you guys to post.

Let's see some more discussion on the IC thread. Smohalla brings up some good points. More posts!

There's not too much more I can do without instigating an attack. Ellesar's just sitting back and waiting for something to happen so I have no idea what I could add at the current time.

I hear ya - I don't think Smohalla can do much now either until Stogie accepts / declines the wolf shifter's offer.

OK, I was waiting for input form the team. I didn't want to steamroll anyone's PC. We are stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Smohalla in bird form and Jake are no problem, but the metahumans might have a hard night of it.

Hmmm... that gives me something about which to talk to our 'host'.

It's cool - I'm ok with Stogie taking the lead here.

A new IC post is up here. You still have the chance to talk to the shifter before he leaves, if you like.

Assuming that you spend the night here, I'm going to call for everyone to make a Survival test. The rules are on p.137 of SR4A. I'm going to call the terrain Moderate, so everyone is rolling against a threshold of 2. Both Forest and Mountain specializations apply here.

As for the situation modifiers, I'm flexible on the question of what Stogie and Elessar are carrying with them, within reason. If you think they would have it ICly then include it in your post. If not, go ahead and apply the appropriate modifier. Overnight temperatures will hover around freezing, so I'll call the weather conditions "poor" (-1). No modifier for extended travel/exertion, but maybe tomorrow. Water and food are scarce unless you brought it with you, unless you want to get resourceful and try to find it. (Although that's an odd modifier, since a core purpose of the skill is "finding edible food and water".)

Go ahead and post what your character does, and feel free to fill it out a bit. This is also an opportunity to discuss the situation in relative privacy and to figure out a course of action for the coming day.

You don't have to wait for everyone else to post before posting again; no need to wait your turn, so to speak. If what you do next is dependent on someone else (or me, pending a question about the situation), go ahead and post something here so that we're not all waiting around for someone to break the silence. Let's see if we can get a few posts up before the weekend. I'm hoping to build some momentum so that we don't grind to a halt.

Let me know if there are comments or questions! Game on!

Stogie's got a dice pool of 9 for Survival here in the mountains, take away 1 for the conditions is 8. We could probably do this as a team test, no, Tecumseh?

Of course I haven't fleshed out his gear list yet. Why would I have done something like that? And have some survival gear, at least some nutrition bars? Noooooo... So, given his Skill set, I would like to cheat a bit and say he has things like fire starting materials and some basic nutrition with him. At least for Jake's sake!

So here's Stogie's roll with his 8 dice==> 1 HIT

Well shit. Starting early, I see. I better use Edge so we don't end up being hungry and cold when we meet the Sisters.

7 dice ==> 2 HITS

Alright, 3 Hits total. We should survive with that.

2 Edge left.

Jake has Stogie's Animal Empathy(4) Power transferred to him. If we run across some game, Jake will herd it to Stogie who will shoot it. Without a doubt the wolves are watching us, and we'll keep track of them as well as we can.

While we're out here, if Stogie et al quickly manage to find the necessary materials to survive, he wouldn't mind having a look around to see if the area is good for raw reagents. He won't actively look for them, as he is busy hunting and I don't think you can do both (though getting animal reagents is basically the same), but just to get a sense of the area. This could be one reason the Sisters are working to keep people out.

I think I started my post intending to write something about a Teamwork test but had forgotten to do so by the time I finished.

Smohalla has the highest Survival skill rating. Unless he's going to sleep in a tree and not participate, I'll make him the point person for the purposes of the test. Atropos, why don't you roll your dice and we'll add your successes to Phlapjack's roll. Phlapjack, add 1 dice to your test from Pbangarth's initial roll. Unless you guys absolutely shank the kick here then Pbangarth's Edge reroll won't be necessary. I'll base what you can find off of Smohalla/Phlapjack's final successes.

Atropos, it looks like this will be your first roll of the game. If you need a walkthrough of how to use Invisible Castle, let me know.

Pbangarth, having some nutrition bars with you makes sense. Stogie has the Sustenance power so you won't need anything to eat right now, and you'll be fine with a just a few hours of sleep tonight. Tomorrow you'll be wanting your solid meal though.

I'll say you guys have a good hour of decent daylight left, plus another hour of dusk. There will be a 3rd quarter moon tonight, with conditions ranging between clear and mostly cloudy. I think everyone has ways to deal with low light conditions. Even Jake seems to have low-light vision, based on my 60 seconds of research.

OK, thanks for the Edge back. Didn't know about Smohalla. Great to have Survivorman...err... bird.... on hand, buddy.

Unfortunatly I've never used Invisible Castle before and I don't have access to it at work. Sorry for not informing everyone that I was out of town (it was pretty short notice) but I'm back and ready to get things rolling. I'd be fine with grabbing some kindling if that's whats needed at the moment so we don't all freeze to death. I'd imagine Ellesar could use his tomahawk like a hatchet if need be. Also, the suit he's wearing has insulation. Not sure if that has any affect on rolls or whatnot but thought I'd mention it just in case.

Here's my survival roll: 2 hits

Not sure where that puts us, but that gives us at 3 hits total without Stogie's Edge.

Here's the Teamwork roll for the Survival test. You collectively pass the threshold so you don't have any trouble making a fire, finding something to eat, and getting your accommodations set up so that they're passably comfortable. I'll post something to get you started, but please continue to roleplay, add flavor, and discuss the situation at hand.

Yeah, I really have to apologize too. I forgot to inform ya'll that I would be away for a week - Chinese New Year and all. Hello from 广西 (GuangXi)!

Sorry about that, I'll try really hard to say something in the future.

Smohalla's summoning a watcher spirit for guarding the the cave entrance. F5, I didn't think to roll drain 'cause I figured he was going to sleep anyway...

Phlapjack, a watcher spirit or an air spirit? Watcher spirits don't have force - they're just Force 1 - with the hits being the number of hours they stick around.

Sunrise will be at just before 8am, but the sky will start to lighten just after 6am. You're not sure exactly when the shifter will come to fetch you. (He said "daybreak".) Depending what time you bed down, that will be +/- 12 hours from now. Since a watcher won't last that long, I'm going to assume you meant a regular air spirit.

Nice work! It is one of the finest air spirits you've ever summoned. (Here's the last dice from the power focus that I forgot to include.)

The spirit doesn't resist and there's no drain. The spirit, despite its relatively high force, is quite docile and happy to follow your instructions. It will obediently watch the mouth of the cave until morning. You get the impression that it could probably have breakfast caught, cooked, and ready for you by the time you get up. Or perhaps you'd care for a massage? You knocked it out of the park with this one.

All, we can fast forward to the midnight massacre morning whenever you're ready. I haven't seen much of a plan for the coming day, other than to hear the Sisters out and then play it by ear. I might casually suggest that you have a bit of privacy now to formulate a course of action. What are you going to do if you don't like what the Sisters have to say? Open fire? Nod politely and excuse yourselves? Ask them out on dates, and maybe by finding boys they give up on their rebellious youth? Or do you just want to do as Smohalla does, and wing it? Eh, eh? Wing it? Aaah.

Pbangarth, your cooking is a smash hit. Artisan skill, for the win!

booo! hisss!

Sorry, I confused my terminology/rules, I was going for a watcher spirit that would last for X hours, but a F5 air spirit with no drain rocks too!

I'll have it using Guard and Concealment on us, as well as watching the entrance, for 3 services.

The other ones, before it departs...hmmmm. I think I'll leave them be, and if nothing comes up, the spirit can depart at daybreak with Smohalla's thanks.

Wow, if he can cook like that, he can make a career in a top restaurant in Paris!

There are a lot of variables. I suspect that the wolves and the shapeshifter will be present at this first meeting to protect the Sisters. And probably a spirit or three. A frontal assault when they are most alert may not be the best course of action. (Did that consideration ever stop a Runner team, though?)

If I were to guess, I would say that there will probably be a claim that what they did was justified, and the reasons presented. Then we will have a chance to agree with their choice, or maybe at least check it out. Once checked out, we may have an opportunity to rectify the situation they are combating, or go on the offensive against them, at a time more of our own choosing.

Hmmm.... maybe this should be said IC.

Wow. Tecumseh must have read my mind as I was composing my last message. Thanks, big guy!

I'm up for some IC discussion. I (stupidly) already made Smohalla close his eyes. I'm not sure if you (Tecumseh) want to introduce the morning, then we can have an IC talk, or if Stogie / Ellesar start talking, Smohalla can "wake up" and have the discussion...

This is a PbP game and thus not in real time. So that the game doesn't crawl along minute-by-minute, it requires a certain amount of announcing what you intend to do in the near future, with small skips forward and backward in time as you hear from other players or as the GM fills things in. I'm not concerned with modest lapses in continuity. It's not a problem at all that Smohalla closed his eyes but then a conversation ensues.

Do the rest of us know the Cascade Ork thing? If we do, I'll go back through the text to see what Stogie might respond. Otherwise he might be interested to know what that story is.

Technically it's up to Phlapjack to determine how much Smohalla would have shared, but given that I initially asked that your characters know and trust each other then I would say that the default is that he recounted his conversation with Grugnir to everyone.

The nature of play-by-post assumes a certain amount of inexplicit information sharing, otherwise - in a situation like this - Phlapjack would have to repost everything I originally wrote, which would be an unnecessary duplication most of the time. If I think a conversation is sensitive or that it's more important to maintain privacy to preserve the IC/OOC divide then I'll PM the player directly.

Atropos, anything you want to add to the conversation in the cave? Elessar has Leadership, which includes strategy/tactics, at level 4, so he'd likely have some valuable input. You can roll it if you think your character would know or think of something that you the player can't. That goes for Smohalla too, Phlapjack.

Yeah, I had also assumed everyone knew all the info, unless it was privately PM'd or something. I definitely read all of the stuff ya'll talked about while Smohalla was talking with the ork

I had been thinking, I'd like to see if Smohalla knows enough about the area to make a guess / guesses about where the Sisters might be holed up. Probably less than a day by foot from our current location, should be semi-habitable, maybe near running water, etc. If he can think of a few places they might be, he can let the others (Ellesar in particular) know, in case he needs to formulate some strategy stuff. Teamwork test on the strategy?

Oh, OK. Yeah, then Stogie's thoughts run a little differently. Let's say Smohalla shares his knowledge now, so I don't have to go back and edit. I'll post something in the next day.