@LG Got a quick post up for Ali, running out the door right now or it would have been more lengthy. Expect my roll-fiesta to be made and added to my CS Post in the near'ish future.

Happy happy.

Wanted to let you know I'm still here. Just got a bit sidetracked. I will post this week, if not tonight.

It's all kicking off more or less under your feet - I suspect your fellow runners would welcome the assistance!

Just to highlight some matrixy points - you have found some of the opposing team's hidden nodes, guns, 'links etc. They are each carrying more than one so the chances of getting the exact one you are hunting for might take time...

The turret/track drone you were using to shoot stuff has gone 'back to base' with a reported maintenance glitch...I would suggest that implies there is another hacker in the system somewhere...I just now need to look up the rules (again) for the two of you spotting each other... anyone please feel free to find me a page ref

@adamu: 99 posts in the gen IC so far! Great stuff, loving this story!!! and it will coincidentally probably pay for whatever you have in mind

Glad you like it!

In table top games I like to ply the GM with junk food. Since that's not possible here, at least I can try to amuse.

@Tribes

Is being "a Sixth" something one would commonly know about (for example a slang term for awakened)? Need to know for an appropriate response.

No, doesn't ring a bell for Pendulum.

I guess I need to decide too...with your agreement I'll spend some of the bucket loads of karma I've got and either self initiate or up magic (or both) and then get both powers. Seems like Commanding Voice is probably the only one usable in direct combat but the Tone one is probably better for the uses I've been putting it to as it's not limited to a five word command.

I know I've not posted a vast amount as Silkie but I don't think it will greatly unbalance anything...

Go for it - they're your points!
Even if I wanted to be a hardass about advancement, CGL has seriously jerked face adepts around being so unclear and making such abrupt changes in this key power, you deserve leeway in fixing it the way you want it.

And balance is a fake issue in SR or any game with a GM.
If players are having too easy a time, the GM has unlimited resources to up the threat on the next run.
I will never understand people whining about game balance.

Just let me know what you do with your points, and it's done!

That post took embarrassingly long to get up. Sorry. Also, the fault sprite (Sylph) is Rating 5, with 3 tasks remaining. The current task is to defend her from any enemies present.

@LG:

Argh, just when it was starting to get interesting you might think to yourself… Well I’m not abandoning LG, you still need to make it out alive! But I am going to start recruiting for ‘Through the Looking Glass’ as a linked sequel to this run. I hope you will all decide to come along for the ride and we can more easily factor in the interest I’ve had from ShadowGrid players without stretching disbelief too much.

Events will be set after my Circus Tricks timeline (on ShadowGrid) so you will have had time to lick your wounds and decide whether you ever want to work for Silk again

It will be similar, but different, from LG and follow a more traditional ‘run’ format, although I still intend to start the action mid-way through to cut out an extended planning phase.

If this notion terribly alarms people you could try and persuade Silk to change her mind of course...

@Aria - yikes - the twists never stop.

Eager to IC a response to that message from Silk, but I still have these two patients picking up guns to shoot me, and then may need to help Haze with his three.

Can we shoot them now?!?

Anyway, definitely put me down for Through the LG!

@Tribes -

okay, I won't IC a response for Briar, since, well, she's you.

But the things Silkie asked her to look for, some are easy to find (assume whatever I don't put down below she'll have to work a bit harder to find).

* The area, which sits a bit north of the ork slum of Carbonado, sits in the path of prevailing winds out of Hell's Kitchen. The ash in the air there is not just miserable and long-term toxic, it's deadly in the here and now. It is thought that no one but the insane and the inhuman live in that part of Puyallup.

* The school is over a hundred and fifty years old. Old, pre-Ghost Dance pix are easy to find (really they are, if you want to look them up). A three-storey main building, several other smaller structures.

* There is no regular vehicle traffic, no infrastructure. No traffic cams or anything readily hackable that she can see with a casual search.

As for Silkie's other requests, of course the Mechanicals are freeing up resources for this.
Assume that someone can be there to pick up and secure the woman very soon, if that is what you want. Feel free to make up any details.

As for muscle, I am happy for them to send in-house muscle or hire it - just depends on what PCs we can recruit to go with you guys….

Shoot away... bought hits for them will be around 2 so as with the clowns there's bugger all chance of them hurting you and very little chance of them living long through an encounter with Al...

@Tribes: Don't know if we should wait a couple of days to see if 8-Bit or anyone from SG wanted to make a Tribes character...Pendulum and Silkie and Maus seem like an awfully small assault force by themselves

Well, assuming there even are still three of you…

…but wait or press ahead…I can tailor the scene to however many players are active…so it is up to you.

well, of course while in CT I was loading buckshot to kill ghouls and ended up toe-to-toe with someone in decent armor, in LG I am loading APDS slugs to kill invading badass runners, and end up having to slaughter people wearing hospital gowns.

But yeah, based on my current rolls, and assuming they each get two hits on defense, soak, and attack, they are one-shot kills with no damage to Al.

I'll IC after I watch Gotham.

@Aria - Okay, office cleared for now - I've marked off two more attack rolls, one defensive roll, and two initiatives, plus of course ammo off my sheet.

@Ericen - On the way to help with your three, but took a few seconds to communicate with Ali/Nyx, so maybe you'll be done with them by the time I get there? Won't post again until that resolves.

@Vegas - those are three R3 stim patches, if useful. Hopefully we can get Lany and Nikki ambulatory and then everyone hurt into the vents (where LeFey, Collotte, and Bolo already are).

Most of us are not far from where we came in, but Jan is quite far away and last I checked the bad guys were between him and us…

Do you have an exfil plan, Mr. J? Say the word and Al will be back that way and we'll kill our way out if we have to.

Fine with me. Was this how you planned for the story play out, though? I'd hate to think you needed to cut it short or something.

I'm willing to join if you guys don't mind waiting a day or two for me to try and get a character made. I'm thinking of some type of physical adept.

Edit: How useful/necessary will a Fake SIN be?

Couple of days is no problem - this thread is on life-support as it is.
If new blood can breathe some life into it….

As for fake IDs, don't hold me to this, cuz never know what will happen, and who knows what your character might get up to after this story, but the current run has so far taken place entirely in z-zone barrens, and the apparent next destination is even deeper into no-civilization wasteland.

All right, that sounds reasonable. I just couldn't think of a reason as to why a poor Barrens person would possibly have a rating 4 Fake SIN, even if he could technically afford it.

Me neither.

Are you planning to play a member of one of the two tribes (Freedom or Mechanicals) or an outsider (they are putting out feelers to hire on the fly at this very moment, or you could just be a non-member associate)?

I'm planning to play someone from the Mechanicals; I actually have the character sheet done - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Rxs...dit?usp=sharing

I'm still thinking up a background and stuff for this guy. I figured he worked with the Mechanicals whole scavenging aspect and was really good at pickpocketing and (not so good but still somewhat useful for the tribe) modding weapons. He's good at sneaking and shooting a pistol, and his magic is certainly helpful. Definitely not my most min/maxed character ever, but I like the thematic aspect that comes with working around the backstory of the Mechanicals.

@8-bit

Sweet - and looks fairly formidable even with the street level build.

Unless there is something I'm missing (entirely possible), looks like you are 0.25 over on your power points…

The Mechanicals' command center is basically doing a general call-out to any members in the vicinity, and giving them real time updates on where the current action is (so that currently means Silkie and Pendulum, who are fellow gang members).

So that means you can jump into the scene literally any time you want - just say you were in the area and got the call.


And just for fun, you might have seen Al around - he is not a member of any of the Tribes, but he rents liiving space in the Mechanicals compound.

Ah, quite right. I can just drop Light Body then.

All right, sounds cool. Might take me another day to come up with a decent backstory (it isn't going to be award winning, I promise you), because that's always been the hardest part for me. I can number crunch all day, but when it comes to creating a background, I usually hit a wall

Practice makes perfect, I guess!

Good ol' Al. Hmm, I could have sworn I've seen him in other threads here too. He seems to be everywhere; conspiracy theories abound! Just kidding.

Here's the backstory.

-------------------------------------

Simon grew up SINless; just another downtrodden and poor kid in the barrens of Puyallup. His family showed him the wonderful art of squatting, and they lived off of other people. Pickpocketing, theft, looting dead bodies, you name it; they did it. Simon had naturally gotten pretty good at doing all of these things, and life, while not looking good by anyone else's definition, was looking up for Simon. He even Awakened to some of his powers when he was 14. Then he really took off with his pickpocketing; he couldn't be caught. His parents never knew the truth; all they knew was that their son was becoming more and more skilled as time went on.

At 20 years old, Simon was by no means a kid. He knew all the ins and outs of Puyallup, and he had even managed to scrounge up an Ares Predator V that he kept as a memento of his early years. His parents, on the other hand, were worsening. They had heard about the FreΣdom's pompous, to them, living quarters, and they attempted to squat a FreΣdom building. Simon never saw them again.

In mourning, he managed to walk upon Mechanicals land. They caught him, of course, but they recognized one of their own. They invited him into their tribe, and he accepted. He figured, what better way to honor his parents than to continue what they had taught him? Simon was particularly intrigued by the Mechanical's leader, Osha. She seemed to have mystical powers of her own; he thought he could perhaps seek out her help. She was not very impressed with him; how could she be? What he did learn was that she was not someone to be bothered, but he also learned he was an adept. He decided to continue honing his skills at pickpocketing, and he even took to learning to shoot his pistol.

After long practice, he eventually mustered up the courage to borrow someone's Armorer kit. Although it did not come naturally to him, Simon eventually figured out how to modify his beloved Ares Predator. He found he had a knack, however small, for modding weapons, which solved the problem of him being accepted into the Mechanicals' tribe. He was given a small little apartment to call home. Not that it was so little to him. He practically thought it was a palace! In return, he helped out with the defense of the tribe, and occasionally went on small "errands" for them. No matter the difficulty of these "errands", Simon would always accept. He loved a challenge; and if it involved a fight, that was where he wanted to be.

All said and done, he wasn't living the good life. Nowhere near it, in fact. Gunner, as he liked to call himself, was content though. He no longer had to toil for food, instead he got to go and do his favorite things; stealing and fighting. Sure, it wasn't all a cakewalk, but you know what? He might have lost his original family, but Gunner had adopted a new one; one he would fight, steal, and die for. He was ready to do anything for the Mechanicals.

-------------------------------------

It might be slightly melodramatic and possibly a touch long, but I figured it accounted for the concept I had in mind. Feel free to correct me on any canon mistakes I may have made, or if you want something not so dramatic and simpler, I can come up with that. Otherwise, I think I'm ready to join in the fun!

Looks great! Welcome to the party! I'll try and link your sheet at the front of the OoC later, run out of time now

No problem! I'm reading through the current IC of Tribes, and when I'm finished I think I'll be able to join in effectively

@Tribal

All right, a few questions.

Who is GMing Tribals? Aria, adamu, co-GMing? Just curious so that I can keep all the posts straight.

Second, I'll post an IC in the morning, but I need to know. What specifically did Gunner receive as a message (location, situation, anything to expect?) I can make up a specific message based off of what I've seen, but I want to make sure I'm not getting some sort of omniscient message nor a message that is completely lacking in information (unless you, as the GM decide it should be). Also, how long is it going to take to get from the outer reaches of the Mechanical's complex to the Crime Mall without a vehicle? I feel like that may be important due to the timing that everyone else is in.

Finally, I'll get a physical description posted here for reference (could have sworn I saw someone asking for a fairly detailed physical description of characters).

I started the thread and most of the tribal background was developed in my '2072' game with players there. As I was drowning in stuff Adamu kindly offered to take up the reigns for a bit...which he might now be regretting as I'm in no particular hurry to take them back

With the prevelance of AR there's no reason why you can't be being fed realtime updates on the locations / activities of Silkie and Pendulum so I'd assume you know as much about what is going on as they do (not all that much admittedly!) One of our tribals was snatched (Orc called Steamer), he's supposedly been taken by unknown forces to a school in a seriously bad part of the barrens, we have a prisoner who may or may not be about to spill the beans...so jump on in any time

One last quick note, Oyl is a freebie contact so you can choose another, I suggest someone from outside the tribe, the Crime Mall being a good bet...!

If Oyl is a freebie contact, then a Crime Mall person seems like a good idea. What Connection is (s)he (I never did figure that out), and what Loyalty do I get her at?

As for the Crime Mall contact, would there be a bar in the Crime Mall? I was thinking of picking up either a Bartender, or a Beat Cop.

As for a physical description, here it is.

Being 5' 9" and 180ish pounds, Gunner is about average for a Human male. He has dark brown eyes that briefly flicker to different colors whenever his magic activates. He spikes his black hair up, and has a 5 o' clock shadow for a beard. He's fairly skinny, but not drastically so, and his hands show scars, most likely gotten whilst he was still learning how to steal salvage. He wears normal clothes to fit in, but if he knows he needs armor he wears an Armor Jacket. Other than that, he is fairly normal looking, although not bland.

IC is coming soon™

@Tribes

Sorry for all this double posting, but IC is up. I took a few liberties with the post, but I'm sure you won't mind .

Also, can't find a color I like for "Thoughts" that doesn't make my eyes bleed (metaphorically). Any suggestions?

@8-bit
Looks like you've answered most of your own questions and forged ahead - great!
And welcome.

Yeah, there's a bar in the Crime Mall. Heck, there's everything in the Crime Mall.

Except cops.


With you on scene, sort of felt like I should put up an IC. But the captured pregnant woman was the last to speak, and the only other people there to greet you are the other PCs…

@Tribes

Being an RPG, there are obviously unlimited courses open to you. My suggestions are not intended to limit, merely to facilitate the PbP format.

* If you want to keep trying to get info from the woman, you can either keep IC posting back and forth with her, or you can summarize questions and interrogation technique and we can streamline the IC.
One is deeper, but takes a lot longer, and vice versa. Up to you all.

* At whatever point you decide to go to the school - IF you decide to go there - then again you can be as detailed in the IC as you want about gettin there, or you can give me an OOC summary of your preparations and how you get there, and we can streamline things to more of an action point.

Maus isn't Going to give up the sacred piece of paper back to the woman till she understands its real value so... She'll play dumb for a bit, convincingly even that she doesn't have it.

I'm game for bumping forward, from the looks of the woman and the ash, perhaps securing breathing gear for those headed to the school world be wise

Now I have to go to work...

Ignore loyalty for freebie contacts, that's at the GM's discretion connection rating is around 3...or as best serves the story!



I'm all for moving the action along as long conversations pbp could take months to resolve (that's why my face character is using her voice much more as a weapon than as a negotiating tool )

Without getting adamu to reveal too much Silkie is keen to find out the significane of the paper, who snatched Steamer and why, and what the woman's baby being a 'sixth' means (I'm presuming she doesn't already have 5 children but I could be wrong...)

@Vegas/Maus: feel free to negotiate your 'finder's fee' I was a little unsure whether 50 nuyen was about right or insulting so let's assume I was aiming for 'about right' and I can edit as need be. I'm guessing 50 nuyen is about £100 which seems like a fair whack to me, but then there's 50+ years of inflation to consider lol

Well they say no plan survives contact with the enemy players

I had intended for you to interact / fight more with the intruders but I've had the opportunity to hint at Sybil, and by the time (in game time) you come to Through the Looking Glass you will perhaps have picked up more hints about it and be properly scared!

My intention is to play out a few more posts in LG, playing up the horror of seeing these people suffer, and then write the intro to TLG. As a slight change I think I will provide you with an initial speech from your Johnson and then skip the laborious IC planning and jump in again like we did with LG...seemed to work (even if we lost players along the way)...

Okay, not heard from Rythymhack for a good long while, so used Pendulum to bring Gunner into the scene. RP is on you guys from there.




Seems everyone wants to fast forward through the logistics side of things.

How about a SUGGESTED work outline:

1. Maus seems pretty attached to the paper IC, so I do think we need to have that negotiation play out IC at least long enough to find out if Silkie ever sees it.
Note that the description I gave way back when to Maus was based on Maus being an uneducated street kid. Silkie might see the same paper in a different way (or maybe OOC some of you that have read the IC description have already got some ideas).
So we get that resolved, then…

2. Assuming you want to go to the school, you can lay out OOC the HOW you get there, the WHAT preparations you might make, the WAY of your approach, and so on. It'll go faster OOC, and then I can get us set up there.
Of course, still IC anything you like.

So I take it we are off combat-time and more into storytelling mode now? I am guessing at this point Haze has neutralized "his" patients, and if any more wander in we can take them out without resorting to a lot of rolls…correct me if I'm wrong!
Enough to worry about with the sheer logistics of the exfil.
Biggest question is, can we get Lany and Nikki on their feet with some R3 stim patches?
And of course, does Jan come running up at some point?

The only drawback there, based on LG and CT, is that the various players start out with either (A) no knowledge of each other, or (B) having to make a lot of assumptions of how well they know or what they know about each other. Both crimp role-playing a bit.

That said, we can always try to do some relationship building on our own outside the main thread???
Or, we could have just a LITTLE role-playing right before/after the meet, then just do the legwork/prep OOC like you want, and be thrust into things???

Just thoughts - I will be happy to play it however!

@Ericen - we are actually a few levels underground here, so not much chance of finding a window.

Still, if you came in via a fire exit, that is a GREAT idea.

(Looking back over the IC, I see that you came into the upper structure via a fire escape, and then were sent map coordinates to us, with any descent being hand-waved. The old old old plan was to have the original rigger, Overdrive, then come down via a freight elevator. So freight elevator followed by fire escape? All works for me!)

We came down here via heating ducts, and the bad guys control the main elevators.

So with a bunch of unconscious/wounded people, or even if they were all healthy, I was not real sure how we were going to get UP those ducts in a hurry.

So your way out could be just what we need.

Gotta get eveyone gathered up first, though.

@Tribes



Thanks for the help getting Gunner into the scene, I wasn't 100% sure how well that post from different time perspectives would work out.

1. That's between Maus and Silkie, not sure if Gunner is even aware that Maus has the piece of paper.

2. Gunner pretty much brought everything (except food) to the little meet down at the Crime Mall. He's got a respirator, his gun, armor, and a micro-transceiver. So he's set for preparations. As for How and Way, I think now might be a good time for a Knowledge check to see what I know/remember about this place. This school is in Puyallup, right? Here's the check for any information I might get (not that I don't trust the woman, but I don't 100% trust her.) Feel free to add or subtract dice.

Knowledge Check on Wilkeson Elementary School (Seattle Knowledge Check w/ Puyallup Specialization): 13d6t5 4 [2, 3, 2, 4, 6, 5, 5, 2, 5, 2, 4, 1, 2]

Final question, I guess. I had Gunner pretty much running to the meet on nothing but cheap alcohol. How do you want to play the hunger aspect? As a former squatter, I'm sure he's used to the pain, but he has been living the (relatively) good life for the past 3 years. Is there a vending machine or something to stop at for a quick snack bar or something? I know those things taste awful, but they are probably cheap and will fill Gunner's stomach. If you want to skip this aspect, that's fine by me, otherwise, how much do you want me to pay? I've got a few credsticks on me. Speaking of which, starting money roll.

Starting Money: 15+(3d6*60) 795 [4, 4, 5]

I'll get an IC up to (hopefully) be fully integrated into the timeline.

Edit: I guess I should ask if Frizzen is still there. I used him to help incorporate myself into the story, but I haven't seen him for quite a few posts. Not sure if it's worth sending commlink messages to him anymore if he's not there.

@8-bit

Knowledge test: four hits is nice. I do also have to factor in that your skill "Seattle Area" is extremely broad, which thins out the results (the specialization gets the two extra dice, but doesn't change the coverage of the base skill).
Anyway, you know and can confirm all the same info that Briar came up with on a Matrix Search (are they still even called that?), which you'll find I think in post 1574.
In addition, you have a pretty good idea of the safest route to take.
Also, you have heard that, although the place is pretty much uninhabitable, even by Barrens standards, there is a rumour about some weird religious cult making a go of it out there.


Food: I see that you have already paid for a month of Low Lifestyle/Dangerous. This mechanic exists so we don't have to faff about too much with basic necessities (except insofar as you'd like to color your IC posts with it). Around the Crime Mall there is no end of food opportunities. Deeper into the Barrens it will get tougher, but we are not turning this into a surviving the elements game yet.
Assume for now you have ready access to cheap but healthy soy food - the cost is subsumed in your lifestyle.
If you go for nicer food, you pay money out of pocket then.

Frizzen got beat up a bit and dropped back to have a rest. He'll get better as soon as and if we ever hear from Drace again.
Bummer - he was a good player.

Finally, just so we are clear on who is around.
There is Silkie.
There is Maus - she is a street kid played by Vegas that has joined your quest, and is blond.
There is Nana - she is a mid-thirties pregnant woman you have captured. Not sure if I ever mentioned her hair color.

& Pendulum, we've heard from him recently haven't we...?

Oh, I was just listing females there as there seemed to be some confusion about which was which.

Yeah, Pendulum was just now welcoming Gunner.

Heard last from Rythym hack a little over two weeks ago.

@Tribes



I have no problem with factoring in the broadness of my Knowledge Skill. Do you want me to change it? I use Chummer5 to help me build my characters, and that was one of the skills it suggested. If you want me to change it to something more specific, then I can do so. Otherwise, I'm fine with the broadness of the skill. Also, what do you mean by post 1574? Do you mean in the OOC (which doesn't have that many posts)? Sorry if it's a bother, but I just am not quite sure where to look.

All right, sounds good with food. I usually just see it pretty handwaved, but I wanted to make sure, just in case.

Frizzen is not with the party, at the moment, then. Just trying to keep it straight in my head.

Sorry - couldn't read my own handwriting - I meant post 1514.

And I have no problem whatsoever with Seattle as a knowledge skill. Was just making sure we were on the same page with broad vs. narrow skills. Both have their advantages, of course.

All good

Seems pretty bad though; completely isolated with no way to do remote surveillance and has a fairly deadly environmment. Respirators are going to be a must, although I'm afraid we might need something just a bit stronger ...

Yeah, I'll keep the Seattle Knowledge; I'm fine with it being a broad skill.

Hey guys. I've been super busy, but I've got an easier week coming up and catching up with LG will be one of my top priorities

@LG
Some Edit rolls, if you need them.

Computer (5) + Logic (5) +2 from Hot-sim = 12d6

12d6.hits(5) → [4,1,4,1,5,1,1,1,4,2,5,3] = (2)
12d6.hits(5) → [6,1,5,5,5,2,4,4,1,1,4,4] = (4)
12d6.hits(5) → [3,4,5,5,6,3,1,1,5,2,6,6] = (6)
12d6.hits(5) → [5,1,1,3,3,5,5,5,6,4,5,4] = (6)
12d6.hits(5) → [6,6,3,2,6,2,2,2,1,2,6,3] = (4)

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