Sorry for the confusion - did you want me to roll too? I was assuming that Io is not there, but just triple-checking...

Lobo, for the Disguise rolls, I think it's related to what Fueldrop stated back in the original recruitment thread:

.

About disguises, the rules state the roll is made by the person creating it, so I guess the person with the best disguise skill dice pool should make all the disguises? I'm checking to make sure we interpret this the same way.

Well, in the IC thread Hawk suggested going in under disguise for the dry run. I figured that since no-one said "Disguises? We don't need no stinking disguises" that everyone would be disguising themselves, hence the disguise checks... if you follow me.

Since Switch has no ability to disguise himself physically, he would be using his Physical Mask spell to do so.

I would have had all the rolls you required posted already, but Invisible Castle is still down. Is there a site you would like us to use in the meantime? Or do you want to make the rolls?

Perception:
Intuition+Perception = 9d6

Astral Perception
Intuition+Perception= 9d6

Assensing something I find through Astral Perception
Intuition + Assensing = 7d6

Casting Physical Mask at Force 5
Magic + Spellcasting=12d6

Resist Drain of DV 4
Willpower + Logic =10

If IC comes back up soon use that, otherwise I shall post results of your rolls when I get home from work.

Perception: 4+4=8 dice
Disguise: 4+5=9 dice
Con: 5+5=10 dice

What is the Con for?

Sweet-talking your way into restricted areas, getting information out of people who really shouldn't be giving it out, you know. Face stuff.

Sounds good. My dice pool is only 10 for face stuff, sadly, but hopefully it'll go better than during the meet

Sorry Sponge, somehow completely missed your post up the top there. If Io isn't there then of course you don't need to make any rolls. Yeah, I had kind of misinterpreted things. sorry.

@Chrome Head: Yeah, best disguise should probably be used for all checks, I somehow missed both of the top posts on this page. Critical glitch on perception, I guess.

Looks to me like we have a tie between Offenbach (skill 5 intuition 4) and Io (Skill 4 intuition 5) for disguise. Since you guys have a little while to work with I'm going to assume that Io is using a teamwork test to help Offenbach, with Hawk chipping in to aid in cosmetics (His specialty).

That gives us:
Disguise:
Offenbach: 1 hit on 13 dice (and 5 1's to go with it. The guys helping you got 2 hits each. WTF is with your character's luck?!?)
Switch: 7 hits on 14 dice (Limit 5 [mental] +2 [2 assistants]) (3 hits for Io, 4 for Hawk, limited to Offenbach's skill ranks of 5. Offenbach does just fine when disguising other guys. Maybe he's just afraid of mirrors?)
Hawk: 4 hits on 14 dice (2 hits from Io, 3 from Hawk. Say what you will, the guy knows makeup like no-one alive.)

Perception:
Offenbach: 1 hit on 8 dice (and 3 1's. huh.)
Switch: 2 hits on 9 dice.
Hawk: 3 hits on 8 dice.

Astral perception (General):
Switch: 3 hits on 9 dice.

Assensing:
Switch: No hits on 7 dice.

Going to assume that Switch will not cast physical mask considering Hawk's mastery of makeup, he can keep that option in reserve in case he needs to change appearance in a hurry. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Con:
Offenbach: 3 hits on 10 dice! The curse is broken! (For a while there I was thinking you must have insulted a gypsy's daughter or something to be cursed with these rolls!)

Also, on the assumption that you guys aren't travelling in a pack where are each of you going to focus your attentions? Who'll be inside the store, who'll be poking around the loading dock, and I assume that Offenbach will probably be the one heading into the staff only areas.

I'm not sure, that's why I'm asking. I don't know how long it takes to pick up the commlink etc, and the timing of the trip is unclear to me. If I'm back by in time, for sure I will go.

My interest is what security, if any exists between the entrance and the store itself.

My character is still not exactly sure what Io needs, but he is taking him at his word he needs to actually get inside the store.

Remember my character has Clairaudience and Clairvoyance, so I do not need to physically get inside somewhere to see and hear inside.

Man these rolls..

It's pretty funny. As long as it keeps happening in contexts that aren't life threatening, we should be okay. He's probably gonna need to punch someone to show that he can accomplish anything at all decently well

You can pick up the Commlink en route, so Io can make it without difficulty.

Io: Disguise 5 hits on 12 dice (Aid tests: Io 1 Hawk 2). Physical Perception 4 hits on 8 dice. Matrix Perception 4 hits on 11 dice.

EDIT: Sorry, work has been a bear. I see the post above with the rolls now.

All good, work is always getting in the way of gaming the world over.

We really need to work out some way of fixing that problem

Should have the next IC posts done tomorrow. Sorry for the wait, hopefully it'll be worth it.

EDIT: Oh just saw that Offenbach has a disguise of 5. I seem to be a little behind on about everything.

Ok, part one of the recon is complete. What is everyone doing from here?

Um, anyone?

I imagine everyone should meet up with the information they've learned, does that sound okay?

Sorry, was a rough week... will post soon.

Yes, I think we should just meet up and share what we got. In our plan, I'm sure we agreed to meet some place at a given later time.

Everyone okay?

I'm here (again). Sorry for my lack of response - my single-mindedness working against me.

Apart from the overall mall security, one of the things Io wanted to note was if there were any more conveniently-located entry points into the Coles system itself, or if it would definitely require getting into the back areas to get at the data we want?

I suppose you could try going through an automated checkout, but there's no assurance that's linked to anything but the inventory system. There's probably an interface at the customer service desk but that'll be manned and in full view of pretty much everyone.

Assuming that everyone isn't busy, say, evacuating because of a fire alarm...

To reiterate our options if we focus on getting into the back areas:
1. Distracting people/cameras to sneak in unnoticed
2. Busting in forcefully
3. Conning/blackmailing/etc someone to let us in
4. Causing a major distraction and slipping in during the chaos.
5. Additionally, there's the possibility of social engineering to extract the data remotely without having to get into the back area ourselves.

I favour the quieter approaches, that is, 1, 3, or 5. We don't have a large amount of time, so we can't do anything that takes a long time to set up (like fake employee records etc).

Hawk suggested nabbing the manager, which is approach #3. I like it, especially if we go off-hours to minimize possible collateral damage. As a tweak to Hawk's proposal, I'd suggest simply crashing the truck someplace it's going to get picked over pretty quickly and not complicate it too much trying to purposely implicate a third party. The biggest unknown here is the manager - when & where can we grab him, and will we be able to make him cooperate?

Incidentally, what do they sell at this store? I know in the here-and-now in Canada, Coles is a bookstore and Woolworths is (was - haven't been around here for decades) a department store - but I have no idea what they are in 2075 Australia

I think 3. would be right down my character's alley. We could do a combination of intimidation/blackmail and bribe. I'm also not against a combination of 1. and 4., or 5. if we can pull that one off.

OOC:

I seemed to have rolled so many successes in stealth that I have hidden myself for weeks. Work has had me flying all over, amongst other impacts to my personal schedule. Hopefully, I can get back on weekly schedule again.
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I like option #3. With Switch using clairvoyance/clairaudience to get information like names and current happenings, Hawk and Offenbach should be able to use some social engineering to get close to someone like the manager, then use implied threats against his family (who we could learn about either through IO researching him on social websites or via the previously mentioned eavesdropping). Once inside, IO gets the paydata from the system while leaving a sloppy trail through the inventory system. We get a truck full of foodstuffs, do the robinhood thing or crash the truck and quickly focus on our true objective, the data.

Option #5 is obviously the best, if there is a way to pull that off.
Option #4 introduces too many unknowns and Hawk would be opposed to that.

I'm good with a fast forward as far as the GM sees fit to get us moving again.

Coles in Australia is a large supermarket chain that mainly sells groceries, cleaning products and other perishables. Their sister store Target covers clothing, electronic goods, kitchen ware, shoes... most of the stuff that Coles doesn't. Their primary opposition is from Woolworths and Big W respectively. As of 2012 Coles and Woolworths between them hold about 75% of the Australian grocery business.

Okay, can I get a data-search from anyone who wants to help out to find out about the local management and see if there's someone you could hit. You can all work independently or add teamwork dice to Io's check, whichever you prefer. Sponge, you may want to roll last so you know how many people are chipping in and what bonus dice you get.

So, when you guys eventually decide what to order and how to split the bill and get to work, here's how the checks are going to break down:
Io is on data-search, trawling through social media to build profiles of employees and figure out who might be willing to co-operate.
Offenbach is rolling etiquette and con, using the matrix to contact various people Io pings and testing the waters a bit. Nothing overt, but it might lead somewhere.
Hawk and Switch (this summer's new red-hot buddy cop team!) are off scouting out addresses, again provided by Io. Hawk is giving places an appraisal in the physical while Switch is checking them out in the astral. If it looks like somewhere has an owner that's hard up for cash then that might be an opening. Likewise, if intimidation becomes the plan then picking someone with a lot to lose is the better option.

Hah... I was going to get all fancy and compile a Sprite to assist with the Matrix Search, I had all the rolls made (got me an extra hit for my trouble for a total of 5) but double checking the fine print killed that idea: Matrix Searches take minutes/hours, and a Sprite's service is only good for a Combat Turn's worth of Matrix action.

So I just rolled my normal pool and did way better:

Matrix Search, Computer (6) + Intuition (5) + VR bonus (2): [5,1,6,5,6,6,6,6,3,6,5,4,1] = 9 hits

Wow, that's a ton of hits. What's your data processing limit?
Also, I'd be fine with your sprite helping with that but you'd need to register it first as otherwise it'd die to overwatch pretty quickly.

Oh yeah, limits. Looks like mine is 5 (=Logic).

I'll keep that in mind about the Sprite; I'll register one after once the initial searching is out of the way, if I have time. Yay sleep regulators!