I would imagine none of you have each others numbers yet - so for now you will either have to wait until they come outside or you will have to go in.

Slick probably would annoy the staff unduly by going back in, and he's already got his gun back and doesn't want to go through giving it up again, so he'll probably just wait and mull things over. They shouldn't be too long.

That said, if anyone wants me to send Slick back in for the sake of convenience in terms of everyone being up to speed, he'll make his way in again, this time a little more resigned to the fact that he has to give up his gun again and whatnot.

~Umi

PM Sent

I'm sure we all "friended" each other at the table or whatnot.

Though 30 doesn't normally do runs, a lot of security/body guarding work starts out like this, and sharing contact info with the team is usually the first order of business.

Besides, assuming we were all broadcasting in public mode, we should still be able to ping Slick's commlink with him just outside the building.

What do you think, boss?

Well - it depends on your characters and whether or not Slick is broadcasting that way. As far as Slick is concerned it will only matter if you guys plan on planning out the run in the Augusta or somewhere else - and it seems like you are on your way out to meet him now. I am OK either way.

Oh yeah, I'd like to check the businesses that were hurt by the blackmail against my knowledge of the Casquilhos, see if any belong/belonged to them, and if so, if I know who the owners are. Intuition (2) + Mafia (3)=5 [4]. That should be Cangene, Cerus, Hurrahs, The Hitching Post and Curtnicks.

Slick's Burner link is pretty much always on when he's not operating dark, so anyone who looked at him in AR would have seen it.

He's also been using his implanted Shadow link on and off, but Running Silent when it's active, and I doubt anyone searched for hidden devices during our chat, so that's the one he's kept quiet. As you guys step outside the building, he'll shoot the info over to you all, so no big deal.

~Umi

PM Sent

Ok - looks like at the very least Opti and Stuntman are going to Cangene - who else is going with them/going off somewhere else?

Once I get IC posts from everyone as to their actions, I'll post responses

sorry for the delay, I was in two separate FFL drafts on Sunday...shouldn't happen again

Okay, for the sake of clarity, I feel the need to break down our Vehicle situation.

30 - Suzuki Mirage: Motorcycle, 1 Seat
Opti - Thundercloud Contrail : Motorcycle, 1 Seat
Stuntman - Hyundai Shin-Hyung: Sedan, 4 Seats
Hosepipe - None
Slick - None

Now, we can overload vehicles if needed. You can seat up to 150% more people at the cost of reducing the vehicle's Speed and Handling attributes by one. So the bikes can carry 2 people, and the car can carry up to 10.

But we can't cram 3 guys onto one bike.

So if Stuntman and Opti are going anywhere together, they should take only one single vehicle. Essentially, one of them is going to have to lend their vehicle to the other group of 3 people, which can all fit with either the car, or with both bikes.

Our best options are:

1) Slick, Hosepipe, and 30 in the Shin-Hyung, with Opti and Stuntman on the Mirage and Contrail.
2) Slick and Hosepipe in the Shin-Hyung, 30 on his Mirage, and Opti and Stuntman on the Contrail.
3) 30 on the Mirage, Hosepipe on the Contrail, Slick on the back of either one, and Opti and Stuntman in the Shin-Hyung.

If it helps at all, I'm sure Stuntman can have the Shin-Hyung deliver the Three-Man Group on autopilot, so that he doesn't have to trust his baby to anyone else (unless things go south and we need to make an escape, of course).

~Umi

I'll wait til the final negotiations are done to post

As an aside, for me, when it says:

"Seating (for people) can be exceeded by up to 150 percent by stuffing people
inside, but doing so decreases the vehicle’s Speed and Handling attributes by one"

It means that you multiple the seats by 1.5 and round up - not multiplying the seats by 1.5 and adding it to the seats. I can see putting 2 people on a bike, and 3 people in a 2 seat sports car, and 6 people in a 4 seater.

I don't really see putting 5 people in a 2 seat convertible, nor 10 people in a 4 seat sedan.

Except it says "exceeded by", meaning "in excess to", or "in addition to". By strict RAW, linguistically speaking, it is saying you can add 150% over and above the base seating amount. (And it's presumably rounded down. Your proposed 1.5x multiplier necessitates rounding up to allow a single seater to fit two people.)

Now, if you feel that's overpowered, you're the GM, houserule it to what you feel is more appropriate. But if we're going by RAW, then yes, strictly speaking a 2 seater can be crammed full of 5 people, albeit far from comfortably, and at a substantial negative impact to the vehicle's maneuverability.

~Umi

Three things:

First, from a rules perspective, Page 48 tells you that you round up unless the rule specifically tells you to round down. That means - since the rule on seating doesn't specifically tell you to round down, that if we read it your way a motorcycle would seat 3, not 2.

Second, from a real world perspective, I've owned a 2 seat sports car, and there is no way you are fitting 5 people in there - even uncomfortably.

Lastly - not that it really matters given the fact that you are all humans and elves, but since it doesn't actually say it in the rules, I'm saying that trolls count as 2 people for the purposes of seating limits.

On the first point, good catch, I had forgotten that bit, round up it is!

On the second point, you can't apply real world anything to SR, because it all ends up being wonky. Like, how do you fit a large pistol into a cyber arm slide without having biceps the size of your head? Or why does ramming into a teddy bear at max speed on a Suzuki Mirage inflict the same damage to the bike and rider as colliding with a brick wall?

On the third point, I agree, Trolls should count double, and Dwarves should maybe count for half.

Overall, I still see the RAW as saying +150% (for a total of x250%), but run it how ya want, no skin off my nose! Maybe it'll be fixed in errata.

~Umi

hile dwarves maybe short on avg they are as wide as humans so they can't count as half me thinketh.

Don't forget, we can always use public transportation or call a cab.

Honestly, if Stuntman, Slick, and Opti are taking Stuntman's car, then Hosepipe and I can catch a cab to Cerus.

I forgot about the whole "people need cars to get places" thing.... So Slick should probably go in the car with Stuntman. That's not what he originally said, so I'll either have him change his mind or, if Umi would rather do it this way, feel free to have him just hop on in

Let me know which you wanna do.

Ok - so it now looks like 30 and Hosepipe in a cab going to Cerus in a cab, while Opti and Stuntman going to Cangene (not sure whether both in Stuntman's car, or if Opti will be taking his bike as well)

I need Slick to decide IC which group he is going with, and in which vehicle.

Once that happens, I'll put up two posts describing the trip and arrival for each group, at which point we can move forward from there as two separate groups (although you can obviously be speaking over your commlink IC to each other.)

Opti had intended to go on his bike. Though, if someone needs to borrow it, Opti is the share alike type.

I'm with 30 and Hosepipe.

~Umi

Ok, so I am used to PnP, and a more fluid interaction between GM and players, and I'm still trying to find my balance between moving the story along and RP from the players, and I was thinking about this after I posted the latest update.

Opti and Stuntman, do you want me to do something similar for you two?

Or would you want to RP on the way over? I know that some people like to write up how their characters are behaving/performing each task, and I enjoy reading it as well - and especially since driving is Stuntman's thing, I hate to take away the opportunity for you two to add some flavor and panache the story.

30, Hosepipe and Slick - same question? Do you guys want to RP on the way over? I can easily amend that last post to just having the cab pick you up, and then you can RP among yourselves until you are ready, and then I can have the cab arrive.

Totally up to you guys - I'm fine either way, just let me know

That is a good question. I would be fine with you dropping us out front. Having those little scene transition conversations can be interesting, but we can do most of that anyway, and it'll move things along faster. I'm more interested in hows characters react to stress and problems anyways. Having said that, I'ma post a little driving vignette, but I won't feel the need to do that every time we move more than two blocks

I think maybe until we've gotten used to the group dynamics, we're probably going to be mostly "reacting" to each other and to the situation at hand, so to speak. It's a little hard to work out how to roleplaytogether at first, and much easier to work off each other, at least until we can read and predict each other a bit better. So for now, I'm happy moving things along just so that we have more neutral jumping off points for individual characters to start things, which others can then react to.

Speaking of group dynamics, though, so far Slick likes Opti best, not only because they share a common metatype and similar worldviews, but also because they've directly interacted slightly more, and that interaction has been in Slick's favor (yay, cheesecake!). Slick's not quite sure what to think about 30, but based on his cyberware scanner results alone, he knows this guy is no chump and is a good asset to have at his back (or perhaps out in front instead?) Stuntman likewise is still up the air, but has duly impressed Slick through his flashy vehicle. Really, the only one Slick doesn't yet have at least some kind of solid read on is Hosepipe, because he hasn't really had a chance to see the guy's hacking or social skills in action yet. (And since we're splitting up, he might not get a chance to see such for a while.)

Overall, I'm liking where things are heading, gonna feel out the remaining rough spots, smooth out any kinks along the way, and look forward to the game continuing to be as awesome as it has been so far.

~Umi

I am really new to the pbp world, so I am just happy to be here. As much, or as little, rp whenever you feel like it, is ok. As of now, I have just been taking cues from you, as in, whenever you don't post the next chapter of the story, I have been hopping in with what Opti is doing. And I am pretty happy with that so far. I like the interactions so far and the way things are going.

On a side note, Opti's deepweed lasts 3 hours (6-body) and will give him problems for 3 hours after it wears off. How long has it been since Opti first lit up (which was about 30 minutes before the meet began)? I will be at -1 to all dice rolls and -1 to all of my limits until it wears off.

Ok great - I think as long as we are all pretty open in communication and respectful of everybody else (which we all seem to be so far) then this will go swimmingly

I pictured the meeting with Chapel to have run about an hour to an hour and a half, and then about another 20-30 minutes to your Cangene.

So if you smoked the cigar 30 minutes before the meeting began, then another hour and a half for the meeting, then you will still be under the effects for about 30 minutes after you reach Cangene.

By the way, by my calculations, here is how you are affected by the Deepweed:

While the deepweed is in effect (the 1st 3 hours after you take it) - you are affected by the deepweed itself:

+1 Willpower, +1 Mental limit, –1 Physical limit, forces Awakened characters to astrally perceive

So in addition to the -1 Physical limit, you are also at -2 dice to do anything on the physical plane because you are astrally perceiving (page 312)

On top of that, you are Mildly Allergic to Deepweed, which means as long as it is in your system (which, to me, means the duration of the drug - i.e. 3 hours) you are at an additional -2 dice to all physical tests.

Now, once that 3 hours goes away, you are then for the next 3 hours at –1 to all dice
pool modifiers and –1 to all limits (but the other penalties, including the allergy, wear off)

My advice - let the autopilot drive you to Cangene, since you would be at -4 dice and -1 limit to do it yourself

Hah. Fair enough!

Since I am still astrally perceiving, I will make an intentional perception check to see what, if anything, is relevant on the astral around Cangene, followed by a general broad assensing test about the place. I might as well lean against the bike and go full astrally projecting as well.

Perception 2 + Intuition 5 (astral limit 7)

Assensing 2 + Intution 5 (astral limit 7)

You make your Perception check as you do a quick once trip around the facility. The building itself is warded, and your Assensing Test tells you it is force 4. There are a number of living auras outside the building, but these seem to be the drivers of the trucks picking up or dropping off their materials.

There are no other astral forms in the area that you are aware of .

As they close on foot, 30 is going to casually look around at the area around the facility.

He isn't looking for anything terribly specific, but for anything out of the ordinary...like maybe way more security than normal for this neighborhood, unusually high or low volume of vehicle/foot traffic, etc.

Perception 3 + Intuition 4 (Mental Limit: 5)

Also, I'll get two bonus dice on auditory per checks for the ear buds with audio enhancements.

PM sent

I'm going to do a Con test (con 4 + Cha 8= 12[9]) to convince the speaker voice that we're security contractors who they neglected to give the appropriate passkey to get through the gate. I'll act distraught about it, like we'll be in a lot of trouble if we don't get through. I'm tempted to say that I would do that as a performance (acting) test (6+8= 14[9]) to cause him to be "distracted" to get +1 on my Con test. I'm not sure if that's how performance is supposed to work, but this is the time to ask.

Being new to this I assume that it's best to let the scene conclude rather than start our scene as jumping back and forth between two different scenes might be distracting to the GM... am I correct, or do all the scenes post at the same time?

Ok, here is the way I see it:

The actual test to convince the guard to let you in is a Con test.

Let's look at the situation for a moment before we roll any dice.

First off, the guard is going to be considered Suspicious - as that is his job - to make sure that people who don't belong inside, don't get inside. So that is -1 die.

Next, I classify this as "Harmful" to the NPC - he isn't likely to be met with cookies and kisses by his boss if he lets unauthorized personnel onto the property, that's another -3 dice.

Lastly, the intangibles: You look professional, which is good - but the fact that you don't already have the code to get in the gate, you are not an announced arrival, and you are arriving at 23:00 all of which is going to make your case less than convincing. Add on to that the fact that if he asks you which security company you are with, you aren't going to know which company they use, and if he asks you for ID of any type, you don't have it (as neither your regular SIN or your Fake one list you as a security consultant. - so intangibles -2 dice.

So we are looking at you rolling 6 dice with a limit of 9 for the Con test.

Now, with the Performance - to me, it is going to depend on the temperament of the guard. If, for example, he is a sympathetic chap, it might work and make him more likely to believe you. If he isn't, then that line of acting is more than likely going to annoy the hell out of him, and have him shut off his speaker and call for security to remove you from the property. You of course, don't know what type of person he is before you make that performance.

Personally, I'm inclined to use Performance the way they do in the book - as a way of distraction - i.e. you have their attention, so they are not as focused on paying attention to someone else. This can help in a Con, but not if YOU are doing the con yourself.

As an example, if you have ever seen the movie Sneakers (and if you haven't, watch it immediately) - there is a scene where the main character is trying to get into a building that requires the guard to buzz him through a door. He arrives with a cake box and balloons, and says he has to get to a party up on the third floor. The guard asks him for his card, and he says "I can't reach my card, its in my pocket, and I'm running late - can you just buzz me?" Meanwhile, his friend, dressed up as a delivery man with about 10 cases of Draino, is in the middle of arguing with the same guard, putting on a performance where he has "paperwork" showing that a delivery has to be made of these 10 cases. The guard, with no such delivery on his logs, starts to argue with the delivery man, who starts getting heated. The main character, keeps asking "Can you buzz me in, I'm going to be late" and the guard keeps saying "One sec" - and then finally the main character yells at the guard "Press the damn buzzer!" - and the guard, so distracted by the delivery man, just pushes it and lets him through.

Sound reasonable? Any questions? Do you still want to take that approach? Spend Edge?

Later on in the campaign, I would just roll the dice and apply the modifiers, but I think it is important for everyone that we all see how the modifiers are applied the first few times we do this.

Please post - I don't want to have to wait for on scene to conclude for the other to start.

My only request is that you put:

<<Cerus Industries, Dove Valley Business Park, UCAS Sector>>

or

<<Cangene Inc., Northern UCAS Sector, outside Stapleton Airport>>

at the top of your post.

<<Cangene Inc., Northern UCAS Sector, outside Stapleton Airport>>


In that case, (and shame on me for thinking going there at 11:00 was a good idea), I am going to coordinate a well placed influence spell on the chap as the con is happening, making it seem to the guard that Stuntman's story is perfectly reasonable, and that he should let us through. I figure that between the spell and the con, he should feel pretty good about it, even after the spell wears off, lol

Influence spell, force 4: Spellcasting (6) + Magic (7) [limit 7] +2 (for having Raven as my mentor) (total of 15d6)

vs Logic + willpower

resisting drain at (charisma 6 + willpower 3) v. 3

One problem - you can't see the guard to cast the spell. Remember that there is no guard in the booth - he is viewing you through a camera from inside the building.

Oh yeah. I thought there was a reason I didn't do that to begin with, lol

On the cab ride over to <<Cerus Industries, Dove Valley Business Park, UCAS Sector>> I'll like to do a matrix search to find out what they do, Industries being such a catch all kind of word and all.

Computer(5) + Intuition(6) [Data Processing(5)] -2 Public Grid... 9(5), minus any noise...50%time reduction for Browse
ASDF 2555.
Browse/Toolbox
AR

PM sent

Also, to avoid a shift in the timeline - I'll modify my post for the car ride over so that you get the crossbow on the way - you modify your post assuming that you get your stuff - otherwise it is all out of order.

Ah, thanks for the clarification. I realize that this is exactly what Etiquette is for, to change his track to neutral by using security company jargon or whatever needs to be done. So I'll use Etiquette (6+8= 14[9]) to ease his suspicions, and whether that works or not, use my Con with either 6 dice or 7 if I get 3 net hits on Etiquette to move his track to Neutral from Suspicious.

from using Forgery:
Data-based forgeries, like credsticks, documents,
and SINs, don’t really hold up well to scrutiny, what with
information being so readily available. They can appear
almost identical to the original, but any attempt to get it
to act like the original (transfer nuyen, pass a SIN check,
etc.) reveals the forgery

so, explain to me how fake SINs work if they can't pass a SIN check... am I nmissing something?

A fake SIN and a forged SIN aren't the same. A fake SIN comes with backstory, consistent facts, and lots of work on the part of the creator to make sure that it is passable and credible at its level. A forged SIN is an on-the-fly hack job that can be used as a prop or to get booze underage. At least that's how I read it.

As Opti said - it is basically only useful for showing a hard copy to someone, who takes it at face value and doesn't bother to run it through a scanner - i.e. buying liquor, if someone asks you for picture ID for reference, but doesn't check it right away. Not very good if you get pulled over, since the cop will run it and it will come up as a fake.

The reason they have to make it not pass a SIN check is that, as far as the world of Shadowrun is concerned, the making of fake SINS is a major business, involving huge shadow organizations, and isn't something that any Tom, Dick or Harry can do with a tool kit and a Forgery skill.

<<Cangene>>

Ok so the latest post by Stuntman is up - I'm going to give Opti a chance - if he chooses to - to react IC to it before I post the guard's response. If you don't want to react, just drop a quick note here.

btw - that was all written by Stuntman - great job taking just a few die rolls - and really unlucky ones at that, (he rolled 11 dice and only managed 2 successes) into a fun rp post

Ok, one more shot before we just call it a night and come back tomorrow after some sleep.

I will try for a negotiate as well, to back up Stuntman's story.

Negotiation 5 + Charisma 6

I think much like the vehicle situation, we could all benefit from a "mission situation" update, so I'm gonna put together everything I know so far, all in one place, for easy reference.

Zoning Approvals

'The Dirty Lady' - Strip Club
'Eastern Promises Modeling Agency' - Escort Service
'Vandos & Associates' - Law Firm, possibly Slavic connection

Environmental Standards Restrictions Eased

'Aegis Biotech' - parent company
'Waste Connections' - subsidiary

Licences Revoked and Applications Denied (Presumably Out of Business)

'Hurrahs' - confirmed Mafia: by Stuntman
'The Hitching Post' - unknown
'Curtnicks' - confirmed Mafia: by Stuntman

Penalties Assessed for Failing Government Inspections

'Cangene' - business office and warehouse, fenced "with a gate large enough for tractor trailers", near the airport
'Cerus' - business offices, Dove Valley Business Park

Eminent Domain Classification

'Enzo Biochem' - possible Italian connection
'Boulder Waste Management' - unknown
'Cordero Construction' - possible Italian connection

Unmentioned

Slick hasn't brought it up yet, because we have other leads to search first and because he stepped out for a smoke, but in the blackmail material there was an image of the exterior of a club or bar or similar, with a portion of it's sign visible. The letters "aze" can be seen in 'shimmering shades of violet'. My first thought is "Purple Haze", given the coloration, but that could easily be a red herring.

Of course, there are other words in the English language which end in "aze". I think the following list contains them all, with likely possibilities for a bar or club bolded for exmphasis: ablaze, acraze, agaze, amaze, bemaze, blaze, braze, chalaze, craze, creaze, daze, deglaze, emblaze, faze, feaze, gaze, glaze, graze, haze, imblaze, kamikaze, laze, maze, mizmaze, naze, outgaze, outraze, overgaze, overglaze, overgraze, raze, reglaze, scholiaze, stargaze, underglaze, unglaze, upgaze.

~Umi

Okay, so our first stab at Cangene didn't go over too well. They didn't buy our security consultant story, with pretty good reason, and now our team there is trying the "come clean" approach. We'll see what happens, but I'm not holding my breath.

If we don't get anything with this second diplomacy attempt, I say bug out, try to find some more info, then maybe return later. We could really use a solid entry point. Two options come to mind. 1) We hack the security systems and slip Slick inside to snoop around. 2) We make a contact inside Cangene and leverage them into gaining access - a janitor is always a solid choice, because even if they don't want to risk their job for you willingly, you can often force them to do it with some clever blackmail, or just knock them out and take their keycard and uniform.

Even if we don't do anything else with Cangene, we've still gained some information - namely their general layout, their location near the airport, and the general competance of their security.

~Umi

Now, let's do better with Cerus.

We could try talking our way inside at this time of night, but we need an angle before we try it, no more flying by the seat of our pants if we can help it.

Now, they're a business office, and we've got a hacker, a sneak, and a merc available to take action. That seems like the perfect setup for an intrusion, no? Hosepipe gets us in, Slick leads us through, 30 backs us up. Slick can case the joint, specifically looking for the head honcho's office and the server room, places where important data might be kept. Hosepipe can then nab that data for us. If anything goes wrong, we run and gun our way out.

One major glaring problem though. We don't have an escape vehicle, because we brilliantly took a cab to an office complex in the middle of the night.

So that kind of means that we either need to not get caught, or wait for backup. Personally, I say we wait, let Opti and Stuntman have their last try at Cangene, then have them meet us at Cerus. And while we wait, we can do some scouting, maybe find a soft entrance, maybe a janitor?

Thoughts?

~Umi

I assume from wherever we're standing I can see two sides of the building or only need to move a short distance to do so.

I'll use my magnification and low light then repeat with magnification and thermographic to study the two sides of the building. I'm looking for security measures including 'doggie doors' for drones. I'll also be trying to see all the entrances available. After studying these two sides I'll like to repeat on the other two sides.

I understand that the backside may not easily be viewable, if so just do the sides I can easily get into position to see.