Is Jovan's watcher able to relay messages from Jovan to Zo without messing up initiative order, since Talking is a Free Action?

Also, pbangarth, it says in the core rulebook that astral combat is resolved in the same way as physical combat. Given the nature of one's astral form (you attack by exerting your will against another astral form, but both still have solid astral "bodies" through which they interact with others in astral space), do you think that an astral form that cannot move would be able to "dodge" and attack using the Astral Combat skill?

Yes, I think it is capable of doing that. Is there somewhere in the IC posts that Jovan told the watcher to report to him about events surrounding Zo? My recollection is that the watcher is basically waiting for instructions from Jovan. The spirit attempting to influence the children is on a higher order of intelligence/independence than a watcher and is currently scared astral-shit-less, so it has taken to reporting on it's own initiative.

I presume you are talking about the spirit in Zola's body. Seeing as it is possessing the body currently, it would have to move on both the physical and astral plane simultaneously in order to Dodge. This, of course, would look strange to the people around it.

It could choose not to Dodge, and then would stay still but potentially take more damage. Same for fighting back in Astral Combat, should it choose to do that instead of using some other Power or spell it might have.

Attacking it would also attract the attention of Zola. As yet, there is no indication Zola has done anything except observe things. Or drink a tasty hot beverage and read a book.

The fiend!

Bullets striking his partner in the back might also help him notice a second opponent.

OK, I have the rules in front of me, now.

I did the cannon guy's soak incorrectly. I will modify the IC post to reflect a more serious hit. Yet, he doesn't seem to be fazed by the damage.


Here are the modifiers to Zo's shots: -1 from cover, -2 long range, -2 good cover for the target, (second shot) -1 recoil.

So hits on Zo's attacks are 5 on the first, 6 on the second. Impressive, still.

Rifle guy's soak on the shots:

1st: 6 HITs so 8S drops to 2S.

2nd: 6 HITS so 9S drops to 3S.

Rifle guy has taken 5S damage.

Rifle guy's shots at Void: Modifiers: none for damage (yes, the wound does not seem to affect him) no recoil on first BF, -2 on second BF

EDIT: Shit, I still did them wrong. -1 for firing from cover:

1st shot : 2 HITS Dodge 2 to avoid any damage

5 + 2 + 2 = 9S, -1AP

2nd shot: 6 HITS Dodge 6 to avoid any damage. Dodge 3 to make it Stun

5 + 2+ 6 = 13P, -1AP

IP # 2 is next. Same Initiative order, so

Void
Cannon Guy
Zo
Rifle Guy

BTW--No recoil for Zo, the pistol has a personalized grip not that it matterd much.

Forgot the personalized grip did that. Sorry. But what the hell, we were being generous with the range anyway.

Void's dodge rolls

9d6.hits(5) → [6,4,2,3,1,5,2,2,2] = (2)
9d6.hits(5) → [6,5,2,4,5,6,6,2,2] = (5)

Looks like the second one hit, soaking the remaining 8S:

16d6.hits(5) → [5,1,4,1,6,6,3,2,3,1,2,5,2,2,4,3] = (4)

Void takes 4 stun damage.

His attack, staying with the monofilament whip since changing out weapons would eat too much time (assuming Void and the rifle man are both out of cover now?) with a -1 wound modifier:

15d6.hits(5) → [1,6,4,6,6,2,6,3,4,2,3,6,6,5,1] = (7)

I'll probably be taking a full dodge if cannon guy shoots at me.


Void: 7 successes, that is like 15P damage, 1/2 armor.

Nope, I am more thinking about Zola himself. I am considering my options and weighing whether to hold off on acting, so as to maintain what little element of surprise we still have, or to immediately attack and disable Zola now, before bound spirits show up on the scene.


If I gave you a train of logical analysis of the situation and the conclusion that I have come to (which is that Zola is allied with the people attacking Void and Zo and thus basically our enemy), would you tell me whether it's an accurate deduction and whether Jovan would have picked up on something I have not? Or no?

I've presented Jovan with a conundrum. Get IC and think like him for a moment. Have him analyze the situation. I'll study what he says and give you some feedback, maybe with some help from dice related to his stats.

Void's opponent is prone, so Void gets an extra 3 dice on his attack. This gives him one more hit, for a total of 8. The prone cannon guy gets -2 on his REA roll because he is prone. He manages to negate that 1 extra hit. So he is back to 7 hits on top of an 8P, -4 AP strike. Not looking good for cannon guy! HIs impact armour is not good enough to turn that massive strike into S.

Cannon guy soaks Void's nasty slice and dice: 3 hits

Oh well, at least I get to be descriptive.

AFC till Thursday evening.

Zo's actions:

Free:Agility boost:
9d6.hits(5) → [6,5,3,5,3,5,2,5,4] = (5)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4587366/
Side note, when reading up on agilty boost, I did not see any limits to the number of hits.


First and second shot:
14 (as before)+5 from the agility boost (lasting 10 combat rounds), -6 from modifiers as before=13 dice.

13d6.hits(5) → [1,6,6,2,6,1,4,5,1,3,2,4,2] = (4) (7P, +1Ballistic)
13d6.hits(5) → [1,6,2,3,2,6,3,2,5,6,5,2,1] = (5) (8P, +1 Ballistic)


Zo is also going to take cover after shooting.

The only limit to it is that it says: "No attribute may be boosted past its maximum augmented value...". So you can only boost it up to 9. However, if you take off one dice result from each roll, from right to left, it doesn't affect the number of hits.

Had my blinders on, was looking specifically for stuff that said I couldn't boost past the rating of the ability.

Attribute Boost is a Simple Action, and I don't see anything in Zo's character description that overrides that, so if you boost AGI you only get one shot this phase. The negative modifier for recoil only counts for the second shot, so the first shot actually got 14 dice with boosted AGI. So you either get AGI 9 for one shot with 4 hits, here is one more die, but no hit, or AGI of 5 with two shots, with 4 hits again plus 2 hits for the second shot.

I'll assume you take the second option.

Neither of these shots overcomes the armour, so they are both Stun.

Rifle guy's soaks: 8 and 9 HITS

He takes no damage. EDIT: Damn! I forgot about the +1 AP for Zo. Fortunately for rifle guy, it doesn't matter.

Rifle guy shoots at Void: (First pass I didn't take into account the -1 AP in determining Physical or Stun. My bad, rifle guy's loss.)

first shot: 4 HITS evade 2 to make it Stun, 4 to avoid damage

5 + 2 + 4 = 11P. -1 AP

second shot: 3 HITS evade 1 to make it Stun, 3 to avoid damage

5 + 2 + 3 = 10P, -1 AP

Posting AFB sometimes means I forget those sort of things.

...What are you up to, pbangarth?? Hmm...

By the way, did my edged tactics and plotting rolls during our planning session at the cafe have any effect at all here?

That's partly why I am throwing all these clues, red herrings and ideas out for you! GMs can have fun, too, you know. I reiterate: Has Zola ever acted aggressively towards any of you? Maybe he -is- waiting to suss out the enemy with the use of minions. Sounds like something a mastermind would do, no? But would a mastermind sit out in the open, laying himself bare to the unknowable chaos of the street?

Maybe Zola himself is a minion. But, shit. If -he- is a minion ...

*****

The genius can't figure out what the fuck is going on.

The killing machine with the moulinex on a string is about to get cut to ribbons.

The gun bunny with the pea shooter is in danger of facing alone a guy he can't seem to hurt and who has a weapon designed to pick off far away gun bunnies with pea shooters.

This shake-down cruise is one of the best I've ever had!

Void's first dodge roll (ignore the description: I meant to do both rolls at once, but forgot and left number of rolls at 1):

8d6.hits(5) → [2,3,2,5,5,3,6,3] = (3)

Sooo close. Soaking the damage:

16d6.hits(5) → [1,1,2,3,1,6,6,1,1,3,4,5,1,6,5,4] = (5). 3 more points of stun for Void. Not looking good...

Second dodge roll:

7d6.hits(5) → [3,4,2,3,6,3,3] = (1)

Okay, spending Edge to re-roll failures. First, Bad Luck check.

1d6.hits(5) → [1] = (0) Whoops. Guess I re-roll the success, instead:

1d6.hits(5) → [3] = (0) So it works out to no successes on the second dodge roll.

Soaking the damage:

16d6.hits(5) → [2,4,2,4,3,3,1,2,1,1,5,3,6,2,1,2] = (2) Definitely spending my second point of Edge.

Bad luck check

1d6.hits(5) → [3] = (0) Whew!

Re-rolling failures:

14d6.hits(5) → [3,5,4,5,5,5,5,1,1,3,1,2,6,5] = (7) Void takes one point of physical damage.

It comes down to his last action this round, no Edge left.

His monofilament whip attack:

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

It's almost lucky that the second shot's damage remained Physical.

The 7 points of Stun damage reduce the monofilament attack dice by 2, so taking the last 2 dice off Void gets 3 hits.

Rifle guy attempts to evade the monofilament whip strike: 2 HITS ... not quite.

Soak the whip damage: 6 HITS

So he takes 3 more Stun damage.

Damned if he doesn't look as fresh and on the ball as when he started, though.

Zo is up. Make it count, because if you see me write text like that, you know your opponent is putting everything he has into this action, up to and including Edge.

One thing - I already took the 2 dice off for stun for his monofilament whip attack, as noted in the description (it basically negated the reach bonus). Although unless one more point of stun puts him down, it probably doesn't matter.

Shit! I forgot about the reach bonus. Way to go. Keep me honest, folks. OK, so rifle guy has one more Stun damage. No change to the situation.

Yes, yes, you get your laugh for now.

I have another theory forming, but it will take me a bit more time to fully work it out. Of course, Zola may indeed be the real BBEG behind this mission, because he wouldn't have to worry about being out in the street when he's a possession magician who likely knows Channeling (I suspect, based on his behavior). Meaning you set this up as a trap from the start.

In the meantime, since the original plan is now inoperable and we thus need to end this mission now before Zola can interfere further, Jovan will take a simple action to order his spirit of man to help Void and Zo finish up whatever is happening in back (if they are still engaged with whatever triggered the alarm) and then get one or both of them into the apartment ASAP using Concealment and Movement (to intercept Zola, as I suspect he may be going for our computer). And then he will continue trying to figure out what the fuck is going on and how to regain control of this situation.

I may need a bit more information to figure out what Zola is up to, so here are some knowledge checks:
Defaulting on Psychology: Logic 6 - Default 1 + College Education 1(?) = 6d6 = 4 hits to make an educated guess about Zola's motives and goal, based on what we know of his personality covered here
Tactics 1 + Logic 6 = 7d6 = 2 hits2 hits to effectively direct the 3 watchers to distract/stall Zola and buy Zo and Void some time.

EDIT:...are all of our strategies for missions going to get obliterated by you like this one was?

Hey! Almost everything has gone according to plan. Both for you guys and for me.

Remember that old adage, though: "no plan survives contact with the enemy."

I would add "potential friend" to that.

FYI-I'll be away from the PC for the next week.

Zo's next action is kind of important for that engagement. Maybe we can spend a bit more time on what's going on in -front- of the building.

He's obviously using Movement through his possession spirit, I get that, but...


What do you mean by this? Step out of normal physics a la Movement, or step out of the door, or something else?

People have argued about how the Movement power actually works. Some say it speeds up the actual movement of the body parts, others argue it warps space. I'm not sure to which I ascribe. I was trying to be descriptive and literary and all.

That's how they described it in first edition: "Many-Things turned and began to glide over the desert He moved with the speed of a running man, though his steps were no faster than they had been before."

I'm Back! --BTW the time stamp should not be moved (it has been less than 3 seconds)--we are still in the 1st round of combat.

Zo for his next action aims for soft spot taking a -4 penalty for a -4 armor....check the rules on this. But I think I got it right (use aim action, then 1 for 1 die trade off to ignor 1 point of armor).

Simple action (aim)
Simple action (shoot)

10 dice with that modifier.
10d6.hits(5) → [4,5,1,5,1,1,6,6,6,1] = (5)----9P Damage, -3 Ballistic or impact.
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4606663/


BTW-Not helping I am using subsonic ammo to try to keep things quiet.

A lot of that 19th minute was spent on Void sneaking up on the two on the roof, so I advanced it to the 20th minute, just because.


Works for me.


It was a reasonable decision. Circumstances intervened. Had the two of you managed to get up on the roof before shooting started, it could have made a big difference in your favour.

OK, rifle guy soaks the damage, not even caring to try to dodge or get out of the way. The damage will be Stun.

6 HITS. So, 3S damage. The hits have piled up on this guy, but he seems to be carrying on like the EverReady Bunny. This last shot looks like it drew some blood, at least. I sorta was hoping for a little more damage on this guy before he takes this next shot.

Rifle guy's one BF shot at Void: 17 dice -1 damage +1 aim -4 called shot = 13 dice ==> 3 HITS

Use Edge to reroll misses = 10 dice ==> 1 HIT

Total of 4 hits.

yeah.

Looks like it hurt him more than I thought.

Damage 5 +2 +4 =11P, -5 AP

Void's dodge roll, no Edge left to spend:

7d6.hits(5) → [6,3,5,5,2,1,4] = (3)
I shouldn't complain, but sooo close to dodging completely! The dude's Edge was well-spent.

His soak roll vs. 8P:


12d6.hits(5) → [3,4,6,6,4,2,5,5,2,3,2,3] = (4)

So four more points of damage. Fortunate, in a way, that it was physical (8 is just over 12-5=7 armor), because if it was stun, it would put him out. With 7 stun and 5 physical damage, his total wound modifiers are -3.

New initiative:

14d6.hits(5) → [4,1,3,4,4,5,2,6,4,4,3,1,5,5] = (4)
So Initiative 14 + 4 (hits) -3 (wound modifiers) = 15

A quick note: a Take Aim action gives a character a +1 modifier to their next shot, so wouldn't Warlord's roll be at -3 dice for -4 armor? I am admittedly AFB and can't find my copy of the core book right now, but that is what I remember about the Take Aim action.

Yes, his normal attack is at 13 dice, so he did only lose 3 dice.

Not a big deal 1 dice either way. I'm not one to quibble....

Next initiative for Zo:
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4607912/
11d6.hits(5) → [3,5,4,5,6,5,6,5,5,1,2] = (7)

So um 18.

Me thinks--drop pea shooter (free)
Quick draw weapon (ruger thunderbolt)-free
2 bursts, narrow.

I'm thinking with the guys rifle going off it's kinda of pointless to keep quiet.

Yay goodbye to the peashooter! Is rifle guy in for a surprise! You need to make a Test, not sure what parameters to use as I am away from my books, for the Quickdraw to work. ?? REA(2) maybe?

The noisemaker on the other rooftop is effectively masking the gunfire to anyone not in the alleyway right close to you.

For the purpose of timing Jovan's orders to his spirits, I suppose I should roll initiative as well: Intuition 6X2 = 12d6 = 4 hits. So 16.

Simple Action (order spirit of man to help Zo and Void finish whatever they are doing in back if they still are (he's not sure if they're still fighting))
Simple Action (order two of his three watchers to place themselves inside the apartment's open door frames, one for each doorway, to stop the possessed doors from closing and to observe what's going on inside).

I will write this up IC later today.

Just so I understand, is the plan to use the astral forms of the watchers to interfere with door closing by occupying astral space where the possessing spirits might want to go in order to close the door?

Quickdraw is a pistols + Reaction (3) test. If the test fails but does not glitch, the gun is still drawn but can't be fired in the same simple action (so Zo would still get one shot).

Yes, you've got that right. Although since Jovan has the lower initiative, I suppose I should let Warlord and any other person before me finish first before ordering the spirits.

Thanks, Glyph.

You know, Void deserves to be all banged up.

This whole time, I've completely forgotten to add his Reakt to his defensive rolls.

*sigh* I missed it, too.

Just remember--full physical defense=Reaction +dodge/appropriate skill. Normal defense is just reaction. Also you're at -1 for each defense roll until you take your next IP then it refreshes. So barring your reaction and dodge are that off you should have been rolling 4 more dice.

PS:Are armor degradation rules in effect?

GM'd this game way too much to not have that part memorized.




I miss combat pools....some times.

He's talking about Reakt, with a "k". Transgenics, gives +2 to all Reaction tests.

I'd like armour degradation to be in effect, but we didn't talk about it before we started, so no. Maybe after this shakedown run we'll talk about a bunch of stuff.

OK, Void has Init 15, Zo 18.

Rifle guy rolls 10 dice ==> 2 HITS = 12 -1 for damage = 11.

So, order of operations in the firefight:

Zo
Void
Rifle Guy (sucks to be him, now)

Among the four combatants, the level of damage is as follows ( I just know at least one of you must be keeping track, anyway):

Void: 7 Stun, 5 Physical, total of -3 modifiers

Sniper rifle guy (you get a better look at the weapon as it lies there beside you, Void): 4 Stun, 12 Physical, he's lying there slowly bleeding out

Rifle guy: 10 Stun, 3 Physical, total of -1 modifier (yes, that's right, something is funny here)

Zo: clean as a whistle