No problem. A week of inactivity is what I get for not going to the bar.

UmaroVI I am going to say it doesn't alert the creator like any other type of ward.

Geez, that's pretty nasty. Guess I better start working on upping my initiation and magic stats next, if that's the opposition's caliber... x_x

Buddha:

Avoiding the Agent:
Hacking 6 + Stealth 5 + Encephalon 2 + PuSHED 1 + Hot Sim 2 16d6.hits(5)=6

Simple Action to use the Encryption Key I had before. It might work...

Otherwise, here's the decrypt:
Hacking 6 + Decrypt 5 + Encephalon 2 + PuSHED 1 + Analytical Mind 2 + Hot Sim 2 (Starting at 18 dice, Threshold 12)
4,6,1,2,2,6,3,5,2,6,1,4,6,1,6,3,5,2 (7) --- 6 if Analytical Mind doesn't count
4,4,1,1,6,1,5,1,5,1,3,4,5,6,2,4,3 (12) --- 11
5,1,1,5,2,3,5,5,6,2,2,3,4,5,4,4 (18) --- 16
6,5,5,3,3,5,5,6,1,3,6,2,4,1,3 (25)

Takes either 2 Combat Turns or 3.

EDIT: Forgot Decrypt is EW not Hacking...so taking off 2 dice.
4,6,1,2,2,6,3,5,2,6,1,4,6,1,6,3, (6) --- 5 if Analytical Mind doesn't count
4,4,1,1,6,1,5,1,5,1,3,4,5,6,2 (11) --- 9
5,1,1,5,2,3,5,5,6,2,2,3,4,5 (15) --- 12
6,5,5,3,3,5,5,6,1,3,6,2,4 (22) Takes 3 Combat Turns

Hmm. I think it's worth trying - I think I'll end up with about 60-40 odds. If I blow it, Fat Man and his spirit hang out outside until an alarm goes off, but at least he doesn't set the alarm off himself.

I think I came up with a delightfully Rube Goldberg-esque way to sorta deal with Fat Man's ward problem, although I would like to check with Buddha about this one. It would require Fat Man learning a spell, but it's a good spell anyways:

Fat Man learns the Mana Static spell. He summons a Spirit of Man that casts it at Force 6 centered next to the ward on the outside. Fat Man walks through the ward via the Mana Static bubble. While he's in it, he has Magic 0 so is no longer dual-natured (and also no longer in human form, since he loses Shift(human)), so he doesn't trip the ward.

If Buddha agrees it works like I think it does, Fat Man can 100% reliably get through the ward but with no active spells and no armor (I guess he'd want to look into something that could be slapped on quickly). The alternate option would be the 63% shot at bypassing the ward, which would let him get in fully armored and with spells up, but if he blows that one he's stuck outside.

@Group: Turns out I'll probably be gone from the forum for the weekends. I'm not a quick poster and my weekends are busier than my weekdays, but in a good fashion. My apologies for the posting delay.
And second of all, what the hell kind of milk run is this?! Seriously guys, what do your actual runs look like? Wow!
How much does it cost to have a Magic 8 mage overcast to a level 15 ward? that's some serious Drain. What kind of money makes one take that kind of physical risk? Sounds to me more like a friend in the Shadow community. Or the ward is from her old master Micheal Nelson.
Fourthly, like Fat Man, I'm stuck outside the ward. Unlike Fat Man, I don't have a snowballs chance of breaking it or sneaking through it. I'm cool with hanging outside and deflecting attention, say from Knight Errant or something. I'm decent in a fight, but crap against droids.

@Notsoevildm: If you're interested in having Ekilpse say something go ahead. Budda might give you an assist from Q if Ekilpse has to make a social test.

@Budda: If we want to hurry up the Body Bag scene, I'll stay alert for several postings today. Yesterday I had writer's block. I'll tell you that next time.
And what was Budda's hits on a seduction roll with that flavor text?

Seduction to Madam Yin:
Charisma(6)+Con(4)+Tailored Pheromones(3)+Kinesics(3)+Veromonasal Organ(2)+Empathy Software(2)+Distraction(-2) = 18d6.hits(5) = (6)

Negotiation for security gig:
Charisma(6)+Negotiation(4)+Tailored Pheromones(3)+Kinesics(3)+Veromonasal Organ(2)+Empathy Software(2)+Distraction(-2) = 18d6.hits(5) = (3)


Anyone that cares, I know the distinction between philosophical hedonism and the modern definition of hedonism. Q doesn't.

I'm guessing that the ward is a permanent ward from back when Michael Nelson owned it.

copperheed: depending on why Q can't get past it, Fat Man might be able to help, but we should probably keep that IC.

Sounding like he knows what he is talking about:
Log 3 + Security procedures 4 = 7d6.hits(5)=1

@Umaro: I'm out of my element IC and OOC with the wards, so I'll defer to you. I don't mind going inside and then doing some scouting. I suspect that turning off all of my foci and walking through without some back-up would be a BAD IDEA, though...

@JxJxA: There's another car of fighters for backup. Or do you mean astrally? I lost whether you were still in astral.

@Umaro: I've been rolling Composure to not look under the hood of that black text box you've got there. I'd love to know your clever scheme for getting past. But the anticipation will probably make it better so don't feel you have to share.

JxJxA: definitely don't do that now The idea is that when it's time to actually hit the place, that's how Zero can enter. Wards don't do anything if you have no active magic.

Hey all sorry for the posting black out - the 2nd Tuesday of the month is a busy day for me between Girl Scouts (don't ask), two parent meetings at the school and then running the LGBT Parent Support Group in the evening - my day is pretty much gone.

UmarvoVI so a couple of issues with the your idea. The first being it takes an hour for each point of Background count to come into effect so you would need to be holding a powerful spell up in the open for quite a bit of time. Second issue is for it to affect the person passing through it the area of effect would need to overlap the alarm ward which would trigger it since it is set off by spells, active foci and astral entities passing through it. That make sense?

Copperheed

Con + Charisma (+2 SP: Seduction)
14d6.hits(5)=5

Negotiation + Charisma (+2 SP: Bargaining)
14d6.hits(5)=5

All
Ok wanted to check in with people. You all were looking for a target that has heavy weapons, high tech/high end gear and all in one spot so I'm not sure I would classify this as a standard milk run where you're just getting nuyen or grabbing things to sell for nuyen. You are 150+ karma characters so this feels challenging but not impossible. Your own mages could erect Force 10 to 14 wards and be reasonably assured of success with the the stat boosting spells they use. If this run seems like something you're not interested in then please let me know and I can do something easier/less complicated. I tailored based on the needs as presented - wanted one job to pick up better gear with a specific list of things being looked for. You are welcome to knock over a series of 7-11's, get the cash and then work through contacts for gear if you would prefer. Let me know.

From my side, the Matrix stuff is tough but reasonable given the target. Cypher is currently taking the tact of finding the path of least resistance. If it comes to it, some heavy lifting in the Matrix with decryption is what I'll do.

Now, if there is a Jormungand egg with a cascading worm designed to cripple global matrix systems, expect me to call "no joy."

On the magic side, most of the team can walk right through unnoticed. We turn everything off and go in. Dual-natured folks (are there any besides Fat Man?), if we can take out the alarm ward, then we could go the hard way and force you through--disrupting you if necessary and having you come to on the other side by hiding out and resting. Alternatively, we could ward a box and slam it in to the existing ward and get lucky with the opposed test.

Mana Static is actually combat turns per point, not hours. Setting off the alarm is the main thing I was unsure about - namely, whether it goes off if the center of the mana static passes through the ward, or if the spell touching the ward is enough, and I don't object to your ruling that touching the ward with an AE would set off the alarm.

BishopMcQ

Computer + Analyze (Neo-Geisha checking you out)
14d6.hits(5)=4

Give me a Hacking + Stealth please.

UmaroVI I misread it - my apologies it was to the reset rate after the spell I saw.

My apologies Budda. I wasn't trying to negate anything you established as unbalanced or unfair, I was surprised by its scale since this is my first time playing in system and using a powerful character. Its as if I suddenly joined a 2nd ed. D&D campaign at 10th level and was surprised to find that we were guerrilla tacticing an aboleth city, with balors, pit fiends, and a near deific ancient leader at it heart. Not out of the realm of possibility, just an amazing scale for the first time in system. And I'm a little afraid of the boot since the fluff seems to support that no run is complete without at least one 'oh shit' surprise. Course maybe we can find all Zuzane's stomping shoes and make sure not to cut the wires holding them above us.

And thumbs up to being a community participant/leader.

@Bishop, Umaro, group: Yes I'm dual-natured.

It's also about what you all want to do or find fun. Since I don't get paid to do this (if only) if you all aren't having fun then I'm wasting my time and yours included. If this isn't what you all envisioned or wanted then I have no qualms changing gears and doing something different - just wanted to check in and see where people were at.

@ Buddha: Everything looks good to me. ^_^ We're dealing with nasty people, and they're going to make sure their many enemies can't get at them (hence the wards). I'm up for the challenge, and so is Zero. Don't mind me if I'm not helping plan as I'm still learning all of this stuff, and don't know enough to contribute.

Buddha
Glad its challenging, even if I haven't had a role yet, I hope to at some point. I vote we go as we are.

I agree. I actually had, earlier, gotten the impression this was meant to be a milk run, hence the surprise, but I have no problem with it being more challenging - it just means we need to approach more carefully.

Okay, OOC: Fat Man is dual-natured, and has a 63% chance of getting through the ward, and a 37% chance of being stuck outside. Q can't go through. I expect everyone else can, but Zero will have to go in with no spells or foci active and recast/activate them (and call a spirit back from standby).

Question for Buddha: is "time remaining on that ward" something Fat Man could determine through Assensing?

I think we most definitely should figure out who the warder is. It might be a nuisance depending on just how bad that map is, but I'm sure we can do it. There's a big difference between having a magic 8+ mage who you pay to put up a ward every couple months/paid a big pile of nuyen to perma-ward your building years ago, and having a magic 8+ mage on your staff. It would also be good to know how bad tripping that alarm ward is if we've already tripped some other alarm (Cypher can, hopefully, figure out if we can cut the building off from the outside Matrix), and depending on what we find out about this guy, it might tell us something about what magical security to expect inside because there's no way to scout inside that ward. I think there's a solid chance that he's a security consultant of some type.

There's also the "taser him right before we bust in" option, which might not be a good idea but is something to keep in mind.

That ward is actually Alarm. If we're willing to set it off, we can just stroll through - it won't stop us, it will just alert the creator.

Actually, breaking the ward is another interesting option. It does have to have an anchor point on the inside, and physically damaging it would drop the ward without alerting the creator. I'm hesitant to plan on that, because we don't have any good way of figuring out where or what it is, but it's worth keeping in mind.

Astral Team--Somewhat reckless idea, but throw a watcher at it. Trip the system and find out how they respond. The Alarm Wards are difficult to see, you could burn through it at the speed of thought (avoiding more solid wards) and go back to your body. If you are good at lying, and they somehow track you down, it could be that you were on your way somewhere else and just passed through the area. It'd be the astral equivalent of turning on perimeter lights at a house because you walked past their driveway.

Interesting, and a bit safer than sneaking inside and accidentally triggering something worse than the ward. I'm not great at lying, but I'll volunteer.

Avoiding the Agent:
Hacking 6 + Stealth 5 + Encephalon 2 + PuSHED 1 + Hot Sim 2 (16d6.hits(5)=9)

Analyze Geisha Node (16d6.hits(5)=7)
Computer 5 + Analyze 6 + Encephalon 2 + PuSHED 1 + Hot Sim 2

Analyze Geisha Agent (16d6.hits(5)=6)
Computer 5 + Analyze 6 + Encephalon 2 + PuSHED 1 + Hot Sim 2

That's not a bad idea, but we can't take it back once we do it. I think we should try to follow up less risky ways first, but if we're seriously considering tripping the ward, I can definitely see finding out just how bad that would be, being worth the risk.

I'm having fun. Please continue.

Is flirting with two people at once considered like two actions in a round so that your dice pool is split? Or do you get full dice pool and they get teamwork bonus to resist the seduction?

@Budda: I figured that you might want to escort us out if there was anything happening. Q also wants to ask Theodore for some generic things like what are they looking for and is there a more private line he can send anything of interest he finds. But didn't know if I needed to wait for your escorting us out of the Body Bag.

@Notsoevildm: Did you have anywhere you wanted to go or is Eklipse just watching the too smooth new guy?

I've been out of town a couple of days so haven't had a chance to post much. Eklipse is happy to be the silent partner for now - he does at least recognise when he is outmatched.

Copperheed & Eklipse I will post you exiting and feel free to post your next destination/arrival points.

Copperheed I would say you could but if the time is short I would apply the distracted modifier to the task so a -2 dice pool modifier for trying to get into multiple people's pants.

UmaroVI I would say you could with enough extra successes over 5 - let's say 2 so 7 in total. Making this up since the Assensing Table doesn't cover it.

All
Ok so I was trying to move this along at brisk pace but I obviously don't want to step all over RPing. I wanted to check in - are people ok with the pace or do you all want me to just close out this section of the run and move on to hitting the warehouse? I want to make sure the other players who aren't involved in the fact finding and socializing bits are doing ok or if they would rather get to the action. Let me know.

BishopMcQ saw your rolls and will respond - on my laptop right now getting the kids through their homework so as soon as that's finsihed I will switch to my desktop comp and get a post up.

Buddha--sounds good. I'm fine with the pace, but I'm one of the people doing stuff. If the team wants to jump, I can post my plan and dice pools, to facilitate fast-timing the hacking.

I'm fine with the pace, even if i'm not involved (for the most part).

BishopMcQ

Firewall + Stealth (for the Geisha)
7d6.hits(5)=3

You have 3 hits so let me know what info you are looking for.

Firewall + System (for the Node 2)
12d6.hits(5)=6

You have 1 hit so like above let me know what you're looking for.

For the node--is a trace running?

For the Geisha--Rating, Active Programs, Function.

Also, is this Node 2 from what I hacked an exploit on earlier or a different node that wasn't visible from my scans?

That sounds fine, in this case I didn't get enough hits, although we can try again if we decide it's vital information.

BishopMcQ

Node - no trace is running
Geisha rating 7. Active programs are Analyze, Browse, Decrypt, Edit, and Encrypt. It's function is to monitor the security network.

Feel free to give me a Matrix Theory and/or Computer Theory rolls please.

Computer Theory 3 + Logic 4 + College Education 1
8d6.hits(5)=3

Matrix Security 3 + Logic 4 + College Education 1
8d6.hits(5)=3

No guts, no glory right?

Initiating file backup (presuming Computer since I had Admin access, Hacking would give me one more die)
Computer 5 + Command 6 + Encephalon 2 + PuSHED 1 + Hot Sim 2
16d6.hits(5)=4 extra die was a 4, so no change to hits. 1d6.hits(5)=0

Scanning for User Log
Computer 5 + Browse 6 + Encephalon 2 + PuSHED 1 + Hot Sim 2 + Analytical Mind 2
3,1,3,5,5,2,4,5,2,1,3,4,1,4,5,3,5,1 (5)
2,5,6,2,3,6,4,4,1,5,2,3,6,1,6,4,5 (12)
1,2,5,1,1,3,6,3,2,2,3,5,4,6,2,5 (17)
Let me know if I should roll more.
link

I vote for a jump to the run, since I think Q & Eklipse are pretty much resolved, and hacking can go on synchronously.

Budda: If The Body Bag is in a good side of town I'll write the smells differently.
Was it ok to write us getting through random traffic?

To All: And with legwork, do we contact all of our contacts every time, or does one just pick the person most likely to know something?


My vote is full scale RP because I'm enjoying Cypher's hacking. That to me is something unique to the setting and should have been emphasized as part of every runner's life. For fun and style!
However, I've had a lot of solo time, so if the group wants to hurry it up, further legwork can be reduced to a few rolls I imagine. I would like to get together for some planning though.

I will not be posting for the next few days. My grandfather has passed and while sad, it was not unexpected and I will need to help my father with final arrangements.

I'm sorry to hear that. Take all of the time you need, good luck with the arrangements, and my sympathies.

Hugs for you. Take your time, RL is most important.

Courage to meet your Fate, Budda.

Sorry to hear that; take all the time you need.

Navigation + Intuition:

Intuition (3) + Navigation (2) + Specialization: Urban (2) (7d6.hits(5)=4)

Hi All!

Thanks for all the kind sentiments - I really appreciate it. Things are settled out more or less so I am going to start moving things along again. I updated the karma total for the thread in the 1st post. Feel free to prod me if there are things I still need to wrap up - I flushed my brain out over the weekend. I am going to throw something up right now then some more posting in the afternoon.

Fenris you were able to narrow down an area from the map.

Cypher you are able to start the copying process and locate the User Log.

What kind of bike are you driving, NotsoEvilDM?

And what other vehicles have people driven that I've seen or that have been in range of sensors?

Fat Man has a GAZ P-179

Eklipse's bike is Suzuki Mirage with racing tires, anti-theft system and upgraded armor (6). It was purchased on one of his fake SINs.