@Tribes...If Tommy gains sight of the person again, he'll cast clairvoyance, force 6, assuming they are within 36 meters of Tommy. Once turned on, he can moved the "vision" with a complex action as he moves to keep them in sight with spell, as well as keeping the spirit in sight using astral perception.

Never tried this before with a character...let's see if it can work...Assuming Tommy ever sees the person again.

10 dice for casting spell; 7 dice to resist drain of 3 - GM can roll if the opportunity actually arises

Sounds good. And as far as I can tell, marks only disappear after the hacker reboots, or convergence occurs.

Listen closely children, this is how things are done in Washington.

@LG - plan is to have Ali leave the ventilation shaft she's currently in and navigate away from where Jan and Lany went down to do her own drop down to the lower "secret" level to give them cross-cover from a distance and an find either an alternate way in for the outside team, or for the inside team to extract by.

Planning on trying to find a uniform from the facility to use as cover once she's made it to the lower level. Preferably grey but she'd settle for white in a pinch.

Trying to make time to post, but work is slamming me all ways from now until Monday. Feel free to puppet or use the above to work into your posts Aria, Mister J and AO or anyone else who happens to head to the secret basement

Things are pretty frantic in Tribes right now; hopefully our GM will puppet Maus to move things along.

Doing a sprint action to increase Frizzen's speed,

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


4X2 = extra 8 meters this turn. Is there any need for initiative or is this all still narrative speed?

That depends on whether or not you want Monkey to catch you. Check my latest IC post.

If I have to chase, I'm out of luck: 1 hit on my sprinting (urban) test. Let me know if I need to reroll (unsure if this counts as "urban" terrain).

No need for initiative - I am more interested in getting past this "no one knows each other" phase, as I think things will flow better and everyone will have more fun once that happens.

In any case, that is some massive good sprinting - taking that as a narrative-speed roll, in other words stretching over the length of the chase, you'll make it to the service corridor not far behind her!

Tell y'all what, based on what everyone has posted so far, I am going to take a tiny bit of license and put up an IC post that shows everyone a lot more of the picture vis a vis other players.

What you do with that knowledge will be up to you, of course.

Not to worry if there is a bit of a pause outside the service corridor - the spirit is right on the woman's tail, she's only about forty meters away now, and Maus knows it.

How does Monkey fit in to this narrative? (See my last IC post)

@Tribes it's safe to assume that as long as the spirit has the woman in its sights and doesn't get dispelled during the chase, that Maus will keep people (namely Monkey and Frizzen) in the loop that she still has "eyes on the woman" and will try to direct them towards her should they lose sight of her along the way.

Putting that out there so people can take some liberties with assuming contact being made from Maus if we keep moving forward and I can't post much.

THANK YOU

Well, this is a bit awkward.

I guess we were typing at the same time.

Mostly we can fudge these things, but pretty contradictory here.

Tyro, can I just ask you to blank that last IC post, or replace it with some internal monologue or scenery description or something?

Already done

May I retcon my Incompetent [Acting] NQ into something else? I just realized Con is resisted with Con

Ok, will try and work this one in
I’ve looked at the map again, sorry, I’d placed you in the wrong location in my head…you’ve got loads of cover between you and the main building. There is a drone hunting you but it won’t be until you get nearer the building that you/it will spot each other. It has ultrasound and thermal sensors so you’d have to be damn lucky to avoid it…you only need a glancing hit to crash it though, FA with -9 def should handle that, even with penalties to hit a small target!
As noted for justkelly it’s a mini drone gunning for you so there are size mods (-2D). I know I said we weren’t going to use the optional combat rules but actually that one doesn’t seem to have any balance effect (unless you’re a troll and we don’t have any of those ) so unless anyone objects RG2 is in effect!

The aerial drone using suppressing fire is 700+ meters away firing through the tree canopy / cloud cover so you are unlikely to be shooting back unless you want to come out into the open? I’ve not used any def rolls of yours yet because I assumed you were keeping your head down, at least for a few seconds!

-2D to hit the drones isn’t going to affect your first couple of rolls too much! If you get to IC before me assume you are able to wing a skimmer in a break in incoming fire (it dies!)…so you’ve still got that glitched Def roll looming
Correct, and would they target the skimmers over the Rover? Lemme know IC or OoC!
Can’t remember if you’ve mentioned an AK IC??? If you have I’d prefer not to retcon that but at the end of the day I’m happy for you to do either option, whatever suits you best!

Yikes and double yikes.
Suppressive fire! That explains the way it's been resolved.
And 700 meters up/out??? Stationing a firing platform that far out is a smart move that I never would have thought of…and neither would Al. So I guess he just will have no clue where all that is coming from.

Al is not one to expose himself to suppressive fire unless absolutely compelled, so will stay behind cover for now (except for the shot you granted!).

And the glitched defense roll. The curse follows me! Well, hopefully when it comes I'll have either cover or full defense to give some positive mods to (with luck) negate it.

In any case, after shooting the one skimmer Al will stay behind cover, stay on full defense, and be delaying all of his second-pass actions so as to be able to shoot/dodge another skimmer if one comes at him.

Not sure I'd be comfortable making a change like that in the exact moment someone is trying to con you.

Give it some time. If it's still important to you on down the road, PM me and we'll talk!

@Aria - probably don't need to tell you this, but given the current situation, Briar will have no trouble getting a ride to the Mall from another Mechanical, if you choose to go that route.

@Everyone - I've got a bit of a mental block going on - hope it resolves soon and then I'll catch up on all the ICs - move me if you need to...

@Looking Glass: Just for my last point on reasons not to discharge your grenade launcher at the oncoming mystery guy; or sneaking up behind them and shooting them in the back, (Vegas, I am looking in your direction as I type this...) Silk's last message for our team was; (and this is a direct quote)"...So for Gods' sake please don't shoot any of the staff." I am much more inclined to believe the man in the armoured lab coat coming our way with two other men are staff, likely one of the Administrators. I admit, totally bad vibe, but I doubt the assault team upstairs would be trying to break into a secure facility with guns blazing if they had someone that high up the chain of command within the facility, who would at least be able to get them past the Gate without shooting.

We are about to get paid BY the facility to defend it, whilst a few remain behind to complete our original plan. In other words, they will be paying us to insert a mole in their secret facility. On top of our original contract. Double Payday. But only if we convince them that we aren't also attacking them. We may be able to get them to look past our incredible response time, but we won't be able to get them to look past dropping a grenade at a group of staff in the middle of a crowded hallway full of other staff.

@LG Having Ali move to a position to flank the trio coming up fast behind Jan and Lany isn't a dick move to take them out, but a move to cover their asses should things go sour. No need to assume she's moving to take them out, she has and will show restraint unless actions of the trio prove that she should do otherwise.

@Vegas: No worries, I figured you weren't going to just attack them. Its the best move you could have made. I just want to make sure we don't damage our ability to deal with the staff by starting an unprovoked firefight in the halls

I'm sure it will be, so... deal.

I assure you it isn't just the person trying to con me - that just precipitated the realization. My character concept did and does not include gullibility.

A single failed Con roll is cheap for the lesson. As a show of sincerity, I won't even roll - consider the roll failed, or glitched, or whatever works best for your vision of the narrative.

@LG: Need a reaction to our story from the first group before I can move on to the oncoming group of suspicious looking staff.

Thanks for not grenading them, btw.

He's not happy about it

@LG: IC up. I've taken some liberties with the 'sharing of info' for the purposes of having Silk see what you are seeing. It's just nice to give you some info on the story that your PCs might otherwise never see. Don't worry, it will never fall into the hands of the authorities or be used to burn you

@Jan/Lany: Fischer is approaching you with weapons (twin Savalette Guardians) raised...but he's not fired at you...yet...

@Ali: Feel free to fudge combat time to give you a chance to join the action from behind the Cleric and his buddies. Nikki can also reach the hole in the ducts (guarded by Bolo) in the near future. Not sure how we are going to get Al and Overdrive inside (or even if you want to?!?) and I'm loathe to try and force your hand but from an IC perspective it would help

Is it wrong that I still wish I'd grenaded them? All this magical techno bulldrek weirds me out

@LG/Aria

Feeling more and more like I need to do some catch-up reading of stuff that came out during my recent SR hiatus (Stormfront?).
Then again, sort of fun to actually be as ignorant of all this technomancer stuff as Al is.

As for going inside, not sure what RHat/Overdrive wants to do, being the dude with the big drones. But Al definitely wants to get inside ASAP because that is where Ali/Nyx is.

That said, everyone loses if we leave this enemy rigger on the loose up top, so…

Shall I assume, based on that last IC post, that in a moment the suppressive fire on Al's position will stop as the thing shifts targets to the Lynx? Did I read that right?

And, does all that new ablative armor cover the Rover's tires? Its windows?

General plan is to
(A) work through the woods, and the precut point in the fence, and get a ground level firing position with good cover and a view of the parking area where the Rover is circling, then work on disabling it with called shots.
(B) once this (apparently) last outside threat is neutralized (and all the better if the Lynx/rotodrones take care of it quicker than I can!!!), follow in Nikki's footsteps into the place.

@Tribes -

things look a bit stalled out…

Not much I can do since the main action on the ground at the moment is player-on-player interaction.

Fair warning though - any time we hit a week without an IC post, I will take whatever liberties I need to in order to jumpstart the action.

All the magical techno bulldrek is certainly inspired by Emergence and later Stormfront but mostly comes from my twisted mind via my pbp Emerging games and the 2072 thread. As an aside I really like the Transhumanist stuff in Eclipse Phase (yes, I know it's a separate universe but there are strong crossovers and themes which play out in my games, or I hope they will do...!)

Yes, no to the tires (although it's safe to assume they are runflats), yes to the windows

Will let RHat confirm his preferred targets but if we don't hear anything I will fudge it

EDIT: Oh, and good luck taking on the mini tank! Lucky with the first one, now it's moving...and hunting for you!

More's the fun.

How has the weather been lately?
Assume not raining now, but earlier in the day?

Puddles in the parking area? Mud out among the trees? If so how much?

It's summer and I know Seattle is reputed to be damp but in this case there's been a spell of nice weather so no puddles on the hard surfaces. There will be damp ground under the trees however...

Okay, thanks!

How about the van the team arrived in? Is that sitting at the House Groups drive-way?
I've marked where I think it is on the map - but happy to delete or move if I am incorrect.


Anyway, once the suppressive fire shifts, it is time for Al to take a trip.
General plan is to move around the west side of the therapy building to the south end of that building.
Hopefully, by the time I get there, Overdrive will have won the rigger battle and their outside force will be defeated in detail. If not, then I think the new position will be a better one from which to take on the last Rover.
But more importantly, I think that should link Al up with Nikki, and need to get into the House Groups building down there in order to make vent entry into the basement anyway.
And it won't hurt to have the Therapy Building between me and the Rover while en route.

Details -
Running south to the pre-cut point in fence and get through, then SW to north end of Therapy - looks like tree cover all the way, then around the west side of the building. Based on the scale you've given (30 m from Al's tree to dead troll), and accounting for rough terrain until I hit that patio area behind Therapy, I reckon 30-45 seconds.
That is Running, but not Sprinting.
Actions en route - Full defense every combat turn, just in case; top up magazine with APDS; let team know my movements on the microtransceiver: shoot any skimmers I see - my impression is that we got them all, but just in case....

I know you said fudge combat time (and I am all for getting in there ASAP!), but I will hold off on IC until hearing from you - don't want to assume I make it all that way without event, and that is a fair amount of time in which other things might happen.

Position looks fine for the HVAC van.

Not sure if I made it clear (or even if I'm subsequently now contradicting myself?!?) but the suppressive fire was coming from over the lake - presumably too much chance of the fire being spotted over land. Also note the fire is sound suppressed to the '4th of July' stuff has mostly come from you blowing up the Rover and Nikki's flashbangs! They have been remarkably quiet so far...sure that won't last but still...

The time frame is part of the problem with running groups in two places at once but I don't think it will bend the laws of physics to have you and Nikki arrive at the vents at more or less the same time for the purposes of smoothing the IC We can always assume that the Mexican standoff in the basement took a bit longer so that you can all join in together again. If anyone objects feel free to shout but otherwise I suggest we push on...and leave poor Overdrive to deal with the rapidly mounting outside forces

Some jumpstarting might be needed

Don't know if I'll be able to post much over the weekend, see how we go...


@CoP: I'm vaguely planning the next few posts so don't think I've forgotten you...feel free to explore the city in the meantime, you can make up pretty much whatever you like in terms of sights without denting the plot lines

No, you never said, and Al doesn't know anyway. West side of the building is to stay out of sight of the Rover - if the drone picks me up - well, that's why I'm staying on full defense.

A tiny adjustment in my last IC will fix the "who's making the noise" question!

So I'll IC as planned to the south end of the therapy building, decide once there whether it is best to help Overdrive or go in with Nikki.

JustKelly, once Al is there, feel free to make contact, and if you want or think it will keep things moving even IC us going in to the House building to hook up with Bolo/vents.

@Tribes -

There, jumpstart attampted.

Seemed to be stalled out on the player v. player formalities, so that''s now done. Near as I can tell, that puts Umi and Tyro into the group with Drace, Vegas and AO. Kelly, you can have Tommy be in too, or not I guess.
And if anyone really wishes they'd been able to do the greetings and salutaions, you can always flashback it!

From here, this is a place where much is happening, but little is obvious. Want more info, you'll haee to seek it.

Anyone that wants to close the fifty meters and see what's there, I am up for that too!

@Adamu:

I'm going through a massive pain flare today. Monkey's down for the night - if you could give him a good narrative reason for missing action until I'm better, I'd appreciate it.

Sadly, PbP tends to go so slowly that you can usuall "run silent" for quite a while without causing problems.

But let me know when you are back on, and I'll take care of things until then if it becomes necessary.

I should be up to posting tonite

@Looking Glass

Stopped outside the vent.
I think Outside is maybe a minute ahead of Inside, so no real idea who is even where, especially who is wedged into the vent ahead of us, at the point in time we arrive there.

So let us know when we are clear to proceed timewise, and maybe could also use a clarification of who is stacked up in there by the time we arrive.
Reading back through the IC carefully, I put Jan and Lany out on the mezzanine, and Nyx off in another duct-passage, but LeFey, Collotte, and Bolo still in the vent between us and the mezzanine.

@Tribes

Blech. Sorry for going AWOL. Life got crazy. Catching up now.

Edit: Thankfully, it seems I've missed little!

~Umi

@adamu - really enjoyed your last post - you are a great writer.

I'll Second that notion; you add a very unique voice to the narrative.

Thanks very much, that is reassuring.

Sadly, though, any quality simply stems from caring way too much about a quirky little figment of my imagination.

That's about right...I'd assumed Bolo was guarding the escape and hadn't entered the vent...and it's Collot (rather than a singing miserable waif, or perhaps a skirt/shorts, spelling not my strongest skill )

Okay cool so we will just wait until you say we've caught up timewise.

There was an OOC mention of Bolo guarding the vent entrance, but then there were later ICs (from players) with him in. I can easily IC him back into the corridor if you want…

And yeah, my French is not real sharp! Collot, right.

For expediency, as I'm not sure how much I can post this week, let's assume that you arrive a couple of minutes after negotiations begin with Fischer. It will probably take that long to confirm codes etc and get Jan to lower his weapon enough . RHat/Overdrive is free to chime in at any time and it won't matter too much if it is a little out of sequence with the inside crew. So, feel free for everyone not already in the Bond lair to join Lany and Jan on the mezzanine and begin plotting your defence of this place. I will try and answer any questions to help you, OoC might be quicker than IC and you can do the hard work for me if I'm not able to post

Sweet - moving RIGHT along!

Al will head down the vents just as soon as they are as clear of other runners as they are going to get…which is to ask:
Vegas - are you going to continue your side trip, or go to mezzanine?
RdMarquis - you mentioned IC you wanted to remain out of sight - do you plan to stay in vent or go to mezzanine? Shall we assume Bolo and Collot go where you go?

Once everyone that is ahead of us is clear that is going to get clear, Al (and Nikki?) will squeeze on through.

@RDMarquis - near as my matrix-ignorant self can tell, you pretty much own their host - - - do we have eyes on those bad guys that entered the Therapy Building?