[ Reincarnation of Post or Die thread. ]

Current crew:

GM:

pbangarth -- PC Professor is the sort-of Johnson for the next little while -- not sure if I will post his new stats

PLAYERS:

Sephiroth -- Jovan

Warlordtheft -- Zo

Glyph -- Void

QUEUE of PLAYERS:

Fastball

Off in the woods till Thursday (18 July), then at work for two days. The week after that, I am taking off but staying in the city, so I plan to get the story off and running that week. Expect to see some lengthy posts then. YAYYY!!!

The next week (into the first days of August) I'm off in the woods again (different woods, different woman), but after that, life should settle down and afford me time to be a regular poster here.

So just let us know where we are picking up at! I think it was mentioned were going straight to the drop off.

There will be a major post regarding the drop off.

Delivery IC post is up. Let's start IC interaction after Professor's story in the next IC post.

That certainly got us started off with a bang. Nicely written, pbangarth.

If we are using Street Cred, Notoriety, and Public Awareness, is it alright if Jovan receives a deduction to his Public Awareness score, given his paranoid carefulness in keeping his face, aura, and general identity a secret? It's one of those GM discretion things that the core book says you can do if you as GM feel like it.

I'll look into it, Sephiroth.

OK, gang, the IC post is up, go ahead and talk things through. Some points:

1) I don't like the blue we have been using for speech. I would like to try colour AFEEEE, which is one of the preset colours, and looks like this kind of colour that is easier on my eyes, anyway.

2) Any gear... yes, any gear you want to buy through the Spaniard's connections with that 100,000 nuyen up to availability 20 will be available. No implants ... cyber, bio, nano or genetech ... will be available in the time the team has. Items that require karma are OK, and can be bonded, IF you saved karma from the 50 plus I gave you earlier. Yes, I know I did not tell you about this then.

3) This is Saturday night. Tomorrow I am going to a cottage on an island till next Saturday night. With the woman I love and with whom I hope to rebuild a relationship. Wish me luck.

I believe I will be able to get to a wifi setup once or twice during the week. I will try to check in then to see if there are questions, etc. In the meantime, have fun talking it over and checking the books for toys. Be creative, throw some curves at me. After all, I want to find new ideas for my NPCs, too! I should leave around 9 am tomorrow. I'll try to check in before I leave.

4) In the spirit of #3 above, the Post or Die rule will take effect for all starting next weekend. If someone is drawn away and can warn us ahead of time, he can avoid the guillotine.

5) So, we have Jovan, Zo and Void (what a team!) on deck, with the possibility for more to join if they pmail me to get on the waiting list and have a PC ready.

Relationships are one of the most important and person-shaping things in life, and I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor, pbangarth.

Question for everybody: One of the things I am thinking about is getting Jovan a light military armor to make him a bit more able to assist physically and infiltrate better. However, one of Jovan's two contacts is a professional assassin who also has HMHVV-1, and I am wondering whether some of Jovan's money would be better spent hiring his contact's personal assistance for this run, possibly with the light military armor being given as payment (and it might be better used in his contact Zayne's possession than in Jovan's). What are your thoughts on this?

Also, what has happened to Notso?

A month ago he was worried about his posting schedule, and hasn't posted since, though he indicated he was interested still. So, Notsoevildm, you still have the grace period this week to get back involved. It'd be good to have you!

@Seph--even Zo's thoughts aren't in proper english.

I'm back.

Excellent! The posts are starting to stream in. I fixed the text of Professor's description of The Blind Man. He is a purveyor of 'goods', not 'good'. Very different connotation.

pbangarth, I have three questions for you in terms of shopping lists. First, do you think it would be possible for Jovan to purchase a handgun and have it modified to contain a small but powerful dose of plastic explosives within the frame, detonated by a specific radio signal? If so, what kinds of costs would this involve?

Second, how difficult would it be for Jovan to find someone to forge an industrial-strength sphere of metal, one that would be somewhat larger in size than a basketball and made out of a metal with a very high barrier and/or armor rating (making it capable of enduring sustained barrages of bullets without much deforming)? Would it also be possible for him to find someone capable of placing a unique enchantment on it so as to turn it into a high-force sustaining focus for one spell and one spell only? If so, what would be required for this to happen?

Also, what kinds of dusty old grimoires and tomes might Jovan be able to seek out that offer more magical options for him and that do not necessarily require a Karma expenditure? For example, tomes explaining the paraphernalia and rules of negotiations involved in calling wild or insect spirits, grimoires that list possible uses for the Shape [Material] spells in other magical activity (such as metal forging), tomes that list the locations and appearance times of various alchera and/or power sites, and so on? Or even darker, more obscure tomes that expound on magical techniques involving the use of his main critter powers: Influence, Compulsion, and Fear?

(anybody else can chime in as well if they have ideas for possible items along these lines)

Dat Ork, he's such a silly thug.

This should be relatively easy to fabricate, though the Spaniard's sources may not be in a position to make it happen in the time frame in which they are available. Figure out what it would cost to implant an explosive device and trigger and present the plan to me. Include the cost of an armourer doing the work. So, gun price, explosive price, radio price, labour cost... that should do it.




The mechanics of fabricating the sphere should be doable, but a bit time consuming to get it 'just right', as in the seams welded and smoothed properly, etc. Would you want it to be able to be opened, and then closed from the inside? I suspect a barrier rating somewhere around heavy structural material would be appropriate. Labour cost would be a few thousand (let's say 3000 nuyen) if you wanted it to be as good as possible for a focus. It would have a high object resistance, though, for any enchantment. I would put that at a 3 or 4, depending on the exact material you wanted. That would add to the threshold of the extended test. It would be a mundane telesma, taking 4 dice away from the dice pool for enchantment.

Finding the enchanter who has the right spell and is willing to enchant for you could be a run in and of itself, depending on the spell and force you are looking for. Something like the Reinforce spell would be relatively common. This is where the real expense would come, and I would need to know more details to work out that cost. I'm up for that kind of side trip, though!

Ah, now this is definitely side run material! How many magical organizations can we get suddenly interested in Jovan? Start canvassing your contacts for info.

+++++

My interpretation of your last IC post is that Jovan has not yet committed. Does he need more info? Is he in or out?

You know its bad when you go through what your PC says and then have to edit it to remove the proper english.

Well Zo has indicated he has contacts for that sort of thing...but I doubt Jovie would ask.

As to the sphere, I'd go with a solid titanium sphere. That would be nigh industructable, but it could be laser engraved with "magic runes" and the inside could include a hidden/sealed area containing the blood of a noseferatu (a rare ingrediant). Jovan would have to be there when enchanting it though.

I love ya, man.

Hey! Last week I got bitten by the infected.

I had the misfortune of stepping on a ground nest of wasps. They were not pleased, and stung me several times. After a few days, the pain/itching/swelling went away, but yesterday it all came back, worse, with redness spreading down my limbs from the sting sites. So now I'm on antibiotics, got a tetanus shot just in case, and have to watch the redness because if it continues to spread, I have to go to the hospital. I've got the red areas outlined in marker to help see any change.

Cool, eh?

You seem to be riding the stuggle-bus lately, friend. Have there been any new developments of this? I hope you're getting through it ok.

Also apologies for the delay in getting back to this. School exam prep and some very serious developments (of the more insidious kind) with a situation that a friend of mine has been going through have been causing no small amount of priority reassessment. But I will try to get on this presently.

Jovan's likely going to say yes. He likes puzzles and intellectual challenges, and firmly believes that Professor et al won't be able to survive against someone as brilliant at planning as the Blind Man without another skilled planner to use as a trump card. He's just very paranoid about the whole thing and can know the marks of a deep conspiracy coming when he sees them.



WARLORD I LOVE YOU THIS IS BEAUTIFUL. Also I might even be able to match you one step up from just his blood: paying someone to rip his heart out of his chest and then using that inside the titanium sphere focus. Also PBANGARTH DOES THIS MEAN THAT JOVAN CAN USE HIS OWN BODILY FLUIDS AND/OR ORGANS AS RAW ANIMAL REAGENTS FOR ALCHEMY AND ENCHANTING PURPOSES???? (can you tell that I'm really excited about this idea?)

Yes, I can tell you are excited! You are a nosferatu, and your parts should be usable in this regard. You might think a while about potential ways a GM might be able to use this awesome access to an unlimited source of reagents against Jovan.

Please don't abuse it.

The three of you cover most of the bases in terms of skills. I haven't had much of a nibble from the wait list, so unless you guys want to keep it small for a while, I'm thinking of putting out a casting call.

Thoughts?

The first and most problematic is astral tracking an ritual sorcery. Don't over do it Seph!

A casting call might be in order. We need a decker and a rigger most.

No worries. I'm not planning on crafting an infinite amount of magic items or anything silly like that. I'm actually thinking that a pink mohawkish plan against the Blind Man might be fun to do, but would probably keep things as quiet and clean as possible for at least the first half of our operations against him while we build up a power base and get the ball rolling against him. I'm also thinking of playing with Renfield a bit first, which is a lot less likely to draw attention and will give Jovan and our team in general some needed friends in high places.

Do we need to get a decker and a rigger? Things might be more streamlined if we don't have to worry about the matrix much on the PC side. We could always hire the assistance of an NPC decker when necessary.


It would not need to be opened and then sealed from the inside. It is not intended as a protective shell for Jovan to fly around in (he would consider that to be distasteful and extremely conspicuous, and basketball-sized is too small for him to fit in anyway), but rather as a physics-based tool for him to use with a degree of versatility. The spell that I have in mind for this focus is Levitate, which Jovan knows already. Probably between Force 8 and Force 10, depending on whether I can afford a Restricted Force 10 unique focus without draining Jovan's entire bank account. If we go with using Jovan's heart in a focus formula for the titanium sphere, would that reduce the costs at all? Would Jovan have to find someone who knows the techniques of including metahuman organs and body parts in foci first, or find a tome that details such things? If the answer to this question is yes, I'd like your thoughts on this tome by Ancient History and whether this would be a difficult item to find for Jovan.


I was thinking of starting fairly small, actually, more along the lines of this and especially this. What are your thoughts on this?

Sephiroth's quest(ion)s will take some reading and thought.

I'm OK with the players hiring out Matrix activity to NPCs. Fewer 'realms' of activity would indeed streamline play some, and to be honest the Matrix is that realm with which I am least familiar. However, I don't want to limit the fun for any current or future player.

I can see the quote streams degenerating. Whatever you do, don't cross them!

Maps and details for the data run should appear this weekend.

How have we shared maps, etc. in the past? I can't remember.

Post a link to it on photobucket or similar service?

Saint Sithney had originally suggested paint.net, which Red-ROM used for the blimp overview map of the area of the Barrens where Big Daddy Long Legs' compound was located and found very much to his liking. Red-ROM then posted a link to the map on blogspot.com. Check post 1387ish in the original OOC thread if you would like to see the original details.

(also my real analysis class is finally over and no longer completely taking over my life, so expect more posts from me within the next day).

OK, while I sort out my technical difficulties at this end, here's a verbal description of the location of the files Orlando told us about.

Near the docks where the Spaniard's ship anchored and the warehouse where you (OK, earlier team members including Professor) met, is a 'downtown' region that looks like so many of those small town cores absorbed by the metroplex long ago.

Along one street are shops, restaurants, etc. on the ground floor, with apartments above. The safehouse is an apartment above a restaurant, Snuffy Q's. The restaurant and the apartment are/were owned by the Spaniard. Entrance to the apartment is twofold, front door beside the restaurant entrance, opening to stairs up, and back door via a fire escape to the second floor. The roof is flat and has a small lip about a foot high running the length of the rows of similar buildings all along the block. There is slight variation of building height, but the roof configurations are all similar. Vents for kitchen and heating/cooling are on the roof. The alleyway behind is big enough for a garbage truck to come through. The restaurant has an old ex-soldier security guard who is used to strangers coming to the front door of the apartment above.

The buildings facing on the other side of the street are similar. The buildings backing onto the alleyway from the next street over are similar.

The front and back doors to the apartment are maglocked, with separate entry codes. Orlando gives the codes. Inside is a two bedroom apartment, both bedrooms outfitted for sleeping, and typical furniture for the standard setup of rooms. This is a fully functional apartment. The kitchen is stocked with food. In the living room is a locked filing cabinet, for which Orlando gives the code. Inside the cabinet will be a small computer, on which the Spaniard has stored many important files. There is a security code for logging on to the computer. Failure to provide this code on startup wipes the computer of all data. Orlando isn't sure, but the computer might also explode. The files themselves may or may not be encrypted. Orlando doesn't know. This computer is never connected to the Matrix.

The apartment is insulated against both magical entry (by FAB lining the walls, floor and ceiling) and hacking (by wire mesh anti-wireless wallpaper) throughout. Police response times in this neighbourhood are typically at least a couple of minutes.

Righto. Jovan is going to stay behind for a little while and go through some of Oswald's stuff in search of things that he can actually use. I'm particularly interested in the gas grenades, thermal smoke grenades, and high explosive grenades, as well as any drug chemical formulas that would have been stored in Oswald's databases for his chemistry shop. Since the Rover and Kulls have proven very useful to the team so far, Jovan would also like to see what he can do to acquire those vehicles/drones for personal use, particularly the Rover.

After that, Jovan will hopefully be meeting up with Zayne to go club-hopping for people to kill. Would you like me to take care of that meeting with Zayne in one or two long posts, or would you like to deal with this OOC to keep the game going for the rest of the team, or something else, pbangarth?

Warlordtheft has taken things in the direction that's probably best. Let's get some IC posting going on individual tracks as well as the ... slowly birthing... plot line. I sorta thought we might get any gear requests out of the way sooner rather than later. The Spaniard's connections really will dry up in a couple of IC days.

I'll try to get Void's list this weekend. It shouldn't be that much stuff.

Physical Mask F4 roll before meeting Zayne at The Joke nightclub: Mag 4 + Spellcasting 3 + Power focus 4 = 11d6 = 5 hits limited to 4 hits.
Drain: Resisting 3S, Log 6 + Willpower 3 + Centering 2 = 11d6 = 6 hits. No damage, in case it becomes important.

pbangarth, are you still with us?

Yeah, yeah. Still here. Boss away so I do two jobs. Sorry for the delay.

Sephiroth, what is Jovan looking for at Oswald's place? I thought you were going to check it out before going anywhere.

He is looking for some of Oswald's grenades, which he knows Oswald possessed in large number (and I don't think Oswald ended up using all of them by any means; I think only the white phosphorus ones were used, in the strike on the Vipers). He is also wanting to look through Oswald's chemistry shop for any information of use, particularly chemical formulas for any chemicals he knows would be useful, even if he doesn't necessarily have the Chem background to create those chemicals yet. But I didn't receive a reply when I asked about that, so I thought we were just skipping it and moving on.

Edit: The post that I am working on between various homework assignments is dated after any searching that Jovan would have done in Oswald's warehouse, whether or not he finds anything.

Sorry. Missed that request. I'll take some liberties and post IC about the search.

I sent the request in character to the professor....there are a few items Zo is not expecting to get....

I fixed a mistake in Void's karma - I had raising first aid to 3 costing 10 instead of 6, so I changed that and bought pilot ground craft: 1 for 4 karma.

Void's wish list will be: a better commlink for "work" purposes with a high Firewall, or alternately a micro-transceiver with good encryption; 100 AV rounds for his sniper rifle; 200 APDS rounds for his pistol; a Franchi Spas-22 shotgun (with skinlink, a sling, some spare clips, 200 shock lock and 100 gel rounds); a good fake SIN with licenses, and a lower-rated spare/disposable fake SIN; a chameleon suit with thermal damping; and a Yamaha Growler off-road bike. I am working on the specific details, but I figured I would get out the basic list.

Ivan could have some of this - or none of it - or offer his own suggestions, which Void is likely to consider, even if some of them may not be particularly good ones.

Thanks, guys. Great hooks, one and all. I'll get on them with replies this weekend. You can help me out, and maybe indulge your 'toy fantasies' a bit by in OOC describing in detail some of the things you are looking for. Saves me time, and a grateful GM is a generous GM.

PS. I'm in at work today, trying to find some new staff to fill in for recent departures. Real life is not always as much fun as SR.

Oohh looking to do some extractions to fill those cubicles?


Rockgut Stout: An orkish brew that is 12% ABV. Not for the faint of heart.


At this point, Zo is going to place an order for 10 UZI IV's and 1,000 rounds of sub-machinegun ammo, and 50 clips). He is getting some upgraded guns for his fellow gangers. He also wants to get 3 CMDT shotguns and 100 rounds of ex-ex as well for the gangers.


As to the mission, Zo is going to look up the address of the nearby buildings to the target. Also , Zo got four hits (out of 7 dice) on his knowledge skill regarding who the nearby gangs are to the Spaniards place.
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4220985/


Zo got one hit on his knowledge of the Blindman (Blackmarket Weapons Dealers (Seattle) + Intuition=6 dice.
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4220982/

Bear with me guys. It's budget time, and the bean counters want to cut costs. That means people, and I'm running interference to keep my crew together. I promise I'll do major writing this weekend. If I don't, I'll award everyone a karma bonus for patience.

OK, first pass at gear requests. All the below are immediately available.

1) Through the Spaniard's contacts:

Zo:

10 X Uzi IV @ 500 == 5000 nuyen
100 X regular ammo for Uzis @ 20/10 == 2000
50 X clip @ 5 == 250
3 X Mossberg AM - CMDT shotgun @ 1000 == 3000
100 X Ex -Ex ammo for CMDT @ 100/10 == 1000

Total 11,250 nuyen, contacts sell to you for 10,000 nuyen

Void:

100 X AV rounds for sniper rifle @ 120/10 == 1200 nuyen
200 X APDS rounds for pistol @ 70/10 == 1400
1 X Franchi SPAS-22 shotgun with sling == 1250
10 X clip @ 5 == 50
1 X skinlink for Franchi == 150
200 X shock lock shotgun ammo @ 70/10 == 1400
100 X gel rounds for Franchi @ 30/10 == 300
1 X chameleon suit with R6 thermal damping == 11000
1 X SIN R6 (with any number licenses) == 16000 [note: these are harder for Spaniard's contacts to get]
1 X SIN R3 (with any number licenses) == 8000 [ditto]

Total 46,500 nuyen contacts sell for 45,000

Jovan:

1X light military armour (12/10) == 12,000 nuyen
1X helmet for same (+2/+2) with commlink hardware upgraded to R6 == 18,500 nuyen
[note: this armour will have to be fitted to Jovan, so he will have to be present with an armourer to do the fitting]

TOTAl 30,500 contactse sell for 28000

2) Street level:

Void:

1X Yamaha Growler off-road bike == 5500 nuyen

3) May already have !

Void:

The commlinks we stole from the Vipers may already be good enough for Void. Check it out.

Well, let's see if this works. Here is a jpeg of Snuffy Q's location and neighbours. Sorry about the picture... I will do better next time.

LINK

EDIT: Awww... shit. Did this on a friend's computer this afternoon. Looks terrible. I'll improve it shortly.

Actually Zo was going to use his contacts and note that he has a black market weapons pipeline and would get a 25% discount off that 11,000 for a total of 8,250 nuyen.

Zo request IC to professor to get form the Spaniards organization:

<Prof---Here's da wish list-disposable commlinks--1 per crew, 1 autopicker, 1 maglock passkey, 4 trauma patches, 1,000rds APDS for assault rifles, 1000 rounds apds for heavy pistol ammo, two dozen kilos of C12 with 10 wireless detonators , 1 panther assault cannon w/smartling and 50 rounds of ammo, one missle launcher with 4 AVMs (or 4 LAWs), 1 stealth suit <see tag for sizes>, 1 Grapple gun, 100 meters of stealth line, 1 catalyst stick, 10 thermal smoke grenades, and 60 rounds of stick an shock light pistol ammo.>

No problem, I can look up that request. Thing is, through the Spaniard's connections, I'm not taking into account availability to affect time and cost.

That's fine. But for RP reasons, Zo prefers to not entangle the Crush in the Spaniards operations lest they bee seen as allies and not an errant ganger trying his hand at running the shadows. Though this is blowing the 10K he got from the job.