True and very good point but as a rule of thumb i usually like to carry out Initiative until there is really no reason to carry things out in order which is usually when the "bad guys" are all dead or unconscious... or the rogue has already pick pocketed the loot he wants to keep for himself.... oh wait wrong game genre

So should I assume that I have a higher initiative than the two on the ground and post IC?

It appears i am getting a 503 error with Invisible Castle so I rolled Initiative for Artemis and the girl with actual dice.

Updated Scene Map

***********************
Initiative Order - Round 2
***********************
IP-1
***********************
Lobo - 9
Nick - 8
Artemis - 8
Cybergoth Girl - 4
Asian Man - Apparently Unconscious

IP-2
***********************
Lobo - 9

Yep... sorry I got distracted for a moment. For the record tomorrow and Thursday I am having a new furnace and some duct work installed as my old and super outdated furnace is in a poor state of health. I will be on and off sporadically but doubtful my concentration will be 100%. I hate this time of year.

Ok free action - eject clip
simple action insert clip with stun rounds
simple action, shoot girl with stun ammo

Please let me know any modifiers for her being under the Asian man (if any)

She has some real serious cover, not quite shooting blind but i would say -5 DP penalty to the shot from your angle Lobo. From Nick's position he can't actually see much more than a flailing hand and partial arm... or a calf and foot sticking out.

Ok,

So normally 16 dice, -5 for cover yields 11 dice:

11d6.hits(5)=2


So base 5 DV, +2 for Gel Rounds, +2 sucesses yields 9DV with an AP of +1 (-1 for gun, +2 for ammo)

I'm torn between horror and hilarity over the strong suspicion that the cops are being called right this moment, and that Nick "Done Goofed".

So let's see... what's the likely damage? Lobo called his SK buddy to get us this place, so at the very least this might strain things between them. Depending on who has jurisdiction here, either LoneStar / Knight Errant or in-house SK security are likely on the way. Nick and Lobo almost certainly have not been seen by neighbors, but Artemis might have been, and with a visible weapon at that.

Major concerns now probably include any surveillance footage of us or our vehicles, and getting out of Dodge before the authorities show up. If we're smart, we can pin this disturbance of the peace on someone else entirely.

Oh, also everyone arguing while trying to figure what the frag just happened. Lobo doesn't actually know where I am, what I got from the van, or who threw the flashbang - although he can certainly put 2 and 2 together if he's willing to make a few reasonable assumptions.

~Umi

Just for posterity, the thing that nudged Nick over the edge (aside from a personal history of unprofessional behavior working with gang-level scoundrels) is that the man seemed to pull something that appeared invisible out of his coat - there's a saying that goes "We expect of others what we know of ourselves", so Nick assumed he had pulled out a chameleon coated firearm.

~Umi

Very true point and close on the suspicion but even now you don't see anything in his hand.

Where are you reading that gel rounds increase damage by +2? I only see that they increase AP by +2 and decrease body by -2 for knock down tests. The damage category is listed as -(Stun). I could be missing something of course.

Cybergoth Girl Resist: Damage Resist: Body(2) + Armor(2) + AP(1) = 5DP (5d6.hits(5)=2) 2

Result: She takes an additional 5S as the gel round thunks her behind and below the right ear and she stops calling for help.

Lobo feel free to IC the result if you wish or i can do it a little later.

SR4 - Page 313:

Gel Rounds: These non-lethal rounds use a hard jelly-like
substance and are oft en employed for riot control. Th ey are
usually semi-rigid slugs that fl atten on impact, disbursing their
kinetic energy over a larger-than-normal area. Gel rounds add
+2 DV but have an AP of +2 against armor. Gel rounds infl ict
Stun damage and are resisted with Impact armor. Gel rounds
reduce the target’s Body by 2 when checking for knockdown;
see Knockdown, p. 151.

And then on the chart on page 314 they list the DV as +2 Stun

I uploaded my version of SR4 to the dropbox - maybe I'm using an old version or something?

In the meantime, can I make a guess as to the response times in this neighborhood? It will affect my next action.

It looks like that is a first printing copy. The errata version changed it to -(Stun) +2AP and 4a changed it again to -1(Stun) +2AP. I don't use the anniversary edition because i don't expect people to buy another copy of a book they already have so i am going to default to the errata'd version which is just -(Stun) +2AP.

EDIT:

As for the response time. Well you know that this is a property used as temporary housing for Saeder-Krupp employees but it is not on Corporate property so its subject to Lone Star law.... BUT its only about 2 minutes away from corporate territory and 5-6 minutes from the nearest Lone Star station. Provided there isn't a patrol car in the area most likely SK would show up before LS... but you never can tell

Ok fair enough - sorry I have an old version

No problem. I didn't even know there was a change. I went back and looked at the errata and i must have an old copy of that too because it wasn't listed. I had to look up printing changes of 4e books to find it. Look on page 13 of your book towards the bottom of the last column. What printing is your book? Mine is a 4th printing.

I think at this point, Nick is checking to see if there are any other potential threats, maybe a third person remained behind in their car or something, just making sure the coast is clear. I'm also looking to see if I can spot the spent grenade casing anywhere, intending to collect it in a moment.

Perception - 10d6 → [2,5,6,5,2,4,5,1,6,3] = (5 Hits)

If it seems reasonably clear, I think I'm due to climb or jump down off the roof with a focus on safety and continued stealth. Probably using the balcony and going back inside the second story, unless there's a faster way down that's essentially still safe from fall damage.

~Umi

There doesn't appear to be anyone else in the vehicle. The spent grenade casing is fairly easy to find. Climbing down should be a little easier than climbing up. Unless time is of super importance down to a number of rounds then you don't need to roll. If you would prefer to jump there is a chance for falling damage.

Love that IC Lobo

Artemis will forever be famous for his hair

Taking the time to climb down, then grabbing up the grenade casing and searching through the unconscious pair's stuff looking for anything of value - chiefly credsticks and electronics he can easily turn off. Infiltrating while doing so.

14d6 → [6,2,3,2,1,1,2,3,2,3,2,5,2,5] = (3 Hits)

Subpar, but chameleon still working and all that jazz.

~Umi

I know I know... i have been slacking. I'll get things caught up tonight when i get back home.

EDIT:

IC is updated.

Have you guys heard anything from phlapjack? He hasn't been on since Nov 29th... I went back to check but he didn't say anything about taking time off.

I could have sworn I was arguing with him in some thread or another more recently than that, but it probably just seems that way.

Anyway, moving right along - Nick (still Infiltrating) is gonna quickly scope out their car, gauging the relative difficulty of bypassing and disabling the anti-theft system. If he is positive he can get in and hotwire it quickly without fuss (it's only a Shin-Hyung, after all), then great, that opens up options! But if it's not something he can do quickly, or if he has any signficant doubt about pulling it off clean and rapid, he'll move on and return to the apartment to collect his stun batons and confer with Lobo on the topic of bugging out.

~Umi

the physical part of breaking into the vehicle you have zero doubt you could do in less than 30 seconds. The tricky part is going to be deactivating that damn anti-theft system. Without being able to touch the vehicle Nick is going to have to get creative on how he wants to proceed. I came up with four ideas off the top of my head to try. I won't limit those as the only things that will work. If you come up with something else creative that may work just as well. Give me an idea of what you have in mind and i'll determine if it works and you can IC up the result

Well I suppose there's always the mind-blowingly obvious method, yeah? The best way to pick a lock is to just use the appropriate key instead.

If I didn't find carkeys or a keyfob on his person when searching him, the only other possibility is his personal electronics, so I guess he must have an access code in his commlink, so let's search that.

Logic 5 + Computer 1 = 6d6 → [1,3,3,6,5,2] = (2 Hits)

Before doing that, however, or perhaps while doing it, I'll skulk back to the apartment and out of line of sight of that window - I don't like feeling like someone can see me when they really ought not be able to. As a player, I'm tempted to guess astral sight or maybe ultrasound or the like ruining my physical stealth mojo- unless they just got stupidly lucky on like 5 perception dice or something.

Nick, however, doesn't have a lot of experience with magic beyond the stories he grew up with about The Dome in Atlanta and a couple passing encounters with stray spirits, and fancy tech wouldn't occur to him, so his motivations are merely the reflexive caution of a padfoot.

...that and he needs to grab his prods. If he finds the "key" in the commlink (or where ever else), he can always hit the Shin-Hyung on the way out. And rapid egress is more important than profit / utility at the moment.

~Umi

Nope. Through your detailed search you did not find any sort of key or key fob which would lead you to believe that either the system runs on 'link access (he did make AR gestures when the anti-theft engaged) or he is a rigger...

As for the person in the window... It could have just been luck that he saw you or bad timing that they just happened to be moving away when you looked up. One thing that does cross your mind is that there are no vehicles in the driveway of either the other two apartments and these two people that arrived parked in the street.

A lack of vehicles wouldn't normally concern me - the two newcomers could have easily arrived with the others earlier in the day in a single vehicle, then the two left to go do something with the car while the others stayed behind. A Shin-Hyung even seats up to 5, so yeah.

I just don't know if you're messing with my paranoia or not. I'll ruminate on whether Nick would have found the lack of vehicles odd, and possibly alter my most recent IC to suit.

~Umi

not trying to boost the paranoia. I did forget that Nick didn't understand what she had said as she approached the building so Nick doesn't know that there could be upto three others somewhere. If i were playing with your paranoia i would have said "There could be up to three more heavily armed, angry and determined gang members out there ready to kill the runners."

Oh hey, sleep is a wonderful thing, yeah? I just woke up from a nap, and being less sleep deprived than I was earlier (had a long night last) I've finally noticed that you responded to my last post on the last page before my edit went through.

Consequently you missed my roll for searching his commlink, and I missed the fact that you missed it earlier when I responded about the lack of vehicles.

So... uhh... yeah! Hop back a page and reread, please! Sorry for the confusion!

~Umi

I'm fairly confident that we can wipe any traces of us being here - but since I'm not the GM, do I need to roll to do so?

Let me know, because the next IC I put up for Lobo is him getting out of dodge, but he isn't going to do so unless he is sure he's cleaned up after himself.

For a typical crime scene sweep by law enforcement you are fairly certain you are doing a fine enough job to avoid your presence being known, but if for some reason law enforcement or corp security digs deep looking for the micro details then we would resort to some dice rolls. I guess it really depends on what your overall plan is. What are you doing with your two victims? What are you going to do about the two unconscious people in the front yard? Lobo noticed the flashing lights of a neighboring apartment but isn't positive which one it came from so what are you going to do about whoever may have witnessed the grenade and gunfire.

Ahha, ok i see the dice roll. I haven't found anything specific in the books regarding this situation so i turned to the internet to see how others would handle this. Basically i look at the commlink being a sophisticated iphone. You would be able to just operate it if it were open and unlocked but i would think that even at its minimum there would be some sort of security protection... a passcode or biometrics or some such. I'll be honest I didn't detail that part of his 'link so i won't go crazy with security but since Nick isn't a hacker i doubt he is going to try to get info that way. I would say that before he can start scanning through the device he would have to beat the passkey lock. Either Software + Logic or Hacking + Spoof if you want to try to get in without opening the case. If you want to open the case you can do a Hardware + Logic + Sequencer to bypass like a maglock keypad.

Gaining "legitimate" access is still the best option, both because I have no spare time for a hardware approach, and not great skills for a software approach.

Okay, so the commlink is "locked" akin to smartphone, yeah? It should be obvious what type of input it requires and is asking for to unlock. If it wants a passcode, it should have a box to input a password, and if it wants a biometric scan it should be asking for a specific input like fingerprint, voice print, et cetera.

If all it wants is a fingerprint, that's easily provided. Voice print is currently just about impossible without forgery, though. Retinal just seems highly unlikely for a device like a commlink.

EDIT - Okay, I reread your post more carefully, you seem to be saying the commlink requires a code, yes? So since I don't know the code to "legitimately" gain access, I'd have to open the case and sequence the commlink's keypad. (Except I don't have a Sequencer, so I'd have to physically rewire instead.)

Okay, gonna hold off on that for now. Will put up pertinent IC prolly in the morning.

~Umi

I think it was Mach_Ten i was telling that i have run this mission twice before at a table top game. Many of the scenes get modified to fit each group specifically. For instance the scene with the goth girl and the suit took place at a stuffer shack the last time i ran it. The group had partially fallen victim to the Red-Devil gangers while scoping out the target but ultimately they defeated them after their hacker and street sam got clobbered by the stun grenade. Only the mage and the face got out of the car in time as they declared they cracked the doors open when the car came to a screeching halt nearly getting run off the road. Anyway, they went to a stuffer shack to get a bite to eat to shake off the effects of the neuro stun and saw these two walk in. Instantly they went on alert and the one person who spoke Japanese only had 1 rank so he got some of the translation wrong... it was vague but the player took it as they were assassins and started shooting. Needless to say they made some stupid decisions like trying to rob the store during the fight. Silly players.

The point is don't worry about the rights and wrongs... its more important to play the character you envisioned. Provided nobody goes extremely off track during the mission its all good and fun. By the way, the first group i ran this for... was a TPK before they even started the legwork. One of the runners picked a fight with a group of Mohawks at the BBQ pit and the dice rolls just went real bad.

In order for me to post IC, I need:

1) A relatively deserted location we can drop off the two gangers.
2) Somewhere quiet we can meet up - a diner or something nowhere near here.

Since my character knows the area far better than I do - I need help on this one

Are we leaving the swingers in the parking lot? They and their car seem to be more trouble than they're worth with probable heat bearing down on us.

The way I see it is the authorities are gonna arrive soonish, at which point they will question the neighbors. If we leave the swingers and their car, the cops don't have much reason to follow after us - they're dealing with a mugging, essentially, just some personal effects stolen and some bangs and bruises. If we take the car, that becomes grand theft auto, and the cops will be more motivated to track down the vehicle (and by extension us). If we take the swingers, that becomes kidnapping, and the cops really ain't gonna twiddle their thumbs over that one.

Yeah, I vote we just quit while we're ahead, just take my stolen loot and bail, maybe find something of value on the commlink later as well.

On that note, for an upcoming IC where I intend to check it, how much money is on the credstick I found? That will let me have Nick react to his windfall appropriately.

~Umi

Lobo has no intention of dealing with the two outside - remember, despite the fact that he speaks Japanese, he isn't sure exactly who these two are, and more importantly, neither has seen his face.

If he leaves them there, the authorities are going to stop and take statements, etc, and allow him and the others to get away. He is more concerned with the gangers, who have seen his face and Artemis's hair.

His plan is to go to a secluded spot, drop them off, and then meet up again at a neutral location to discuss what to do next. (Making sure the locator beacon is shut off first.)

I destroyed the transponder in an IC post, stomped it. Dunno if there are more, or about the commlinks Artemis was working on, though.

The gangers we can just throw into the back of the van again. I vote we just pull up the tarps and wrap the them in them, then trundle the bundles away. Saves us time re-dressing them, too. (Although if we don't take the time to properly bind them up as well, someone should ride in back to keep an eye on them.)

~Umi

Sorry guys, its been a really crazy day. I will get things caught up in the morning... hopefully i won't have to work late tuesday

1) I guess this depends on what you have in mind. DO you mean deserted like the back side of a mall parking lot with no visible people walking around or do you mean deserted as in the side of the road near a farm field 30 klicks from civilization? A few minutes to your south is an area known as Reedy Creek Park. It wouldn't be hard to drive through the park pulling into one of the dozen or so small parking areas and dumping a couple unconscious bodies out onto the grass if that is what you have in mind.

2) There are plenty of places to eat, that part isn't an issue. As for just an ordinary late nite diner type place... Little Rock Deli. Its not really close and its out of the way... over near the airport.

Area Map

Currently the credstick has 3000

Let me know if i missed anything... questions or concerns. Sorry i have been out of it a bit. busy as hell at work and plowing the snow. Better weather is in the works for the next week or so and as of Friday i will be on vacation for two weeks so i should be more regular.

Little Rock Deli? I think I ate there once on my way through to Asheville.

~Umi

Great Umi, now this is stuck in my head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhrBDcQq2DM

I hate you with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns.

*twirls moustache evilly*

~Umi

Just in the interest in keeping this thing going, I'm assuming the following (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Nick is in his van in the front seat.

Lobo is in the back of the van with the gangers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zlViU5PBPY


Artemis is driving his car.

My plan is to drop off the two gangers in an abandoned alley somewhere, and then meet up with Artemis at the deli.

Lordarcana - are you going to write that up, or should we assume it goes smoothly and post IC?

That's in the short term.

In the long term, what about phlapjack?

The reason I ask is that we went from a balanced team of a samurai, a mage, a technomancer, and a hairpiece...err, mouthpiece down to a samurai, a face, and Nick - who is sort of a mix of both, with a little more sneaking thrown in.

Not saying I want to give up or anything, as I'm enjoying myself, but we need to look at how we plan on actually accomplishing the mission.

If you guys want to write up an IC feel free. I'll fill in anything missing and some other details along the way. Everything goes smooth with the dump in reedy Park as its empty as you can tell when you get there. From there to the Deli is smooth as well, Artemis is waiting in the parking lot when you arrive. The deli is not busy at this time of night, it will pick up a little more around 2:30am but when you arrive there are only 4 people waiting on take out so you guys basically have the place to yourselves.

As for phlapjack, technically he hasn't even hacked into the node yet so when him and I were going back and forth, it was a possible future. If he doesn't make an appearance it wouldn't be hard to run his character from the shadows. If he is not back by the time we actually begin to "attack" the building I will just narrate his place in the story.

EDIT:

It will take about 25-30 minutes to do the dump and make it to the deli.

IC'd us into action, but I'll let Lobo IC the dump and our arrival at the Deli. *tips hat*

~Umi

Good morning fellow runners and evil GM..

First off apologies of the most sincere pedigree, for be extended absence,

had to sort out a few RL bits n pieces, mostly to do with me continued addiction to the internet and how it affects stuff in the other world

I'm hoping you can bear to be without Artemis for a couple more weeks until the season of good cheer and getting drunk is finished and I shall return to the fold, hair perfectly coiffured and guns a-blazing.

wish you ALL the very best for Christmas
Mach

Guns a-blazing? Now I'm picturing Arty in a cowboy hat and chaps getting into a quick-draw duel at high noon.

"They call me the Cockatoo Kid."

*spittoon*

"...and you're about to go the way of the dodo."

~Umi

Don't worry kid, its a hair thing