The nearest house is about 30 meters behind you, and then another 30 meters to the road that Grease's BMW will be on.

So, you all move first, Overkill and Grease have started moving back already, what are you all doing this first IP?

The original plan that I didn't explain very well was for Overkill and Amy to fade first. If nothing raised a hue and cry, Jack and Grease would then move back. With Grease rolling out, Jack will back away at a walking speed, sneaking as best as he can. (He also will take a free action to swap his Unarmed with his Running skillsoft). Weapon still trained on the group in the trees, he still should be just in range to affect them with Supresing Fire if needed.

Ok, so Jack's stealth test:

9d6.hits(5)=1

Ok - that's not funny. I did not start laughing, I promise.

Amy's stealth test
4d6.hits(5)=1

IC post up shortly.

IP 2
Amy 12
Grease 12
Mage 7
Fire Spirit 6
Jack 3
Grease 3
Goon 1 3
Goon 3 3


Actions?

So is it just Overkill or Overkill and Amy that are on the other side of the spirit of fire?

I added a sketch map to the dropbox.

ETA Crap - you can't see that, can you?

So, Overkill is about halfway between the trees and the line of houses, with Amy right behind him. You and Rhex are still in the trees. The fire spirit is between Overkill and the houses.

OK, so it is between us and the houses. We need to figure out a way to get through it.

Not sure if I have any actions, but if I do, I'm going to lay suppressing fire down on the large group as best I can. Not sure how many of them are close enough to each other, but if I can catch three of them in the AoE, I would do it. Given recoil and distance penalties, I'm not currently going to try and take a real shot against any of them.

ETA: No, I can see it, just have to access it through the web rather than a folder.

IP 2
Amy 12
Grease 12
Mage 7
Fire Spirit 6
Jack 3 - lay down suppressing fire on Goons 1-5
Grease 3
Goon 1 3
Goon 3 3

Jack, are you going to move at all?

The fire spirit spent all of IP 1 materializing, it will be attacking in IP 2.

The Mage will not be able to do anything in IP 2, as he is Astral, and with Amy no longer Astrally perceiving, he cannot affect the battle directly.

Grease, Amy, and Overkill - your actions?

Movement is a little confusing. I started my action (IP1) moving at a walking pace, but my movement rate is across all of the CT, so I don't know if it is broken up. In order for Grease or I to use Suppressing Fire, by my reading, we have to stop moving. So I would have started moving in my first IP and then stopped and opened up in the 2nd IP at count 3 before the goons went.

I'm crossing my fingers Amy will banish this thing. It would be a stellar use of Edge...

Here is my Suppression Fire Roll: Suppressing Fire: Automatics (4) + Agility (5) + Smartlink (2) (11d6.hits(5)=4)

Frak... I will try and keep myself between Amy and the Fire Spirit.

Do guns work on these things?

Moving changed in 5e - it is not split up across the CT any more.

You started walking in IP 1.

Since you were walking, the most you could move is your Agility x2 - or 10 meters.

In IP 2, if you want to move any further, then you would have to pick up the pace, and (at the very least) run. This would allow you to move a total of Agility x4 - or 20 meters (but since you already walked 10 meters in this CT, you only move another 10 meters). If you wanted to move further than 10 meters during the 2nd IP, you would have to spend your action Sprinting, in which case you could move further.

A different example.

Let's say you had higher initiative, and rolled a 21. The most you could move and still be considered walking is 10 meters. You could move all 10 meters in the first IP - but after that, if you wanted to move any further in IP 2 or 3, you would have to start running.

Same as above, only now in IP 1 you move 5 meters. You are considered walking. In IP 2, you move another 3 meters. You are still considered walking. In IP 3, you could move another 2 meters and still be considered walking, or move up to 12 more meters and be considered running, or move further than that, but having to use a Sprint action to do so.

So when Overkill moved as his "free surprise action" - he walked 10 meters. He then walked again during IP 1 of this turn, and would have gotten 10 more meters, but since the fire spirit acted first (on 16) it would have manifested before he got that far, so I had him stop short at 15 meters.

Better than they used to, but it all depends on the Force of the spirit. In probably one of the longest multi-page search in Shadowrun 5E, Spirits basically get Fx2 in Hardened Armor. Hardened Armor means that if the adjusted DV of the weapon doesn't exceed the armor value, the weapon cannot even affect the creature. Even if it does affect it, hardened armor automatically gives the creature a number of automatic successes equal to half the hardened armor rating.

Yes they do. Not as well as Magic does, but guns do work.

OK, so long story short, I moved 10 meters in IP1. OK, so this is the teleporting movement people are complaining about.

Yes - basically all of the movement is front-loaded, so to speak.

True, but since your Stick'n'Shock ammo rocks a -5 AP, odds are your modified DV will be higher than the spirit's armor.

Wait.. it seems to me like a lot is happening and unfortunately I am unexpectedly busy today, but I will read through it all when I get a chance and tell you what I intend to do. I don't like holding things off like this, but I feel like I have to.

Btw, I notice you didn't roll my spirit's init, I will want to change his orders during my turn. The issue I have is that he will be noticed by the mage and friend rather soon, and he might as well fight back if he's going to be attacked anyway. He also will never get the chance to finish digging unless he was almost done, which doesn't seem to be the case. So yeah, I'm not sure exactly what I want to do with him, but definitely something else than to "keep digging until he dies," because there's really no point to it and it's just not Amy's way to leave him behind anyway. Fighting back is much more like her kind of thing, even if it is as they are fleeing.

I should be able to post again around 8pm EST. Apologies for the delays, but I feel like I'm missing a chance to do something I'd like to within the story.

The cost of being a face is that I don't have a rotodrone with a sniper rifle :/

RHex will continue his suppressive fire, and will switch groups if Jack needs to bug out / reload. Bear in mind his walking speed is 20 m/turn; I figure he probably used 10 meters in the first pass.

If Jack or someone suggests it he will lay into the spirit with a long burst.

Quick question: does suppressive fire last the turn, or the phase?

Flight boarding in a bit.
DrZ

It lasts the entire CT as long as the firer doesn't move or commit to any other action.

No worries - take your time, don't want to make you feel left out at all.

I didn't roll init for your spirit because it will continue to follow your command until you tell it to do something else.

Here it is:

4d6+10=23

So, it actually goes before you, and spends its first IP digging.

Considering it is underground, can the mage or the other spirit even see Amy's spirit?

That's another good point - sorry, I was distracted when I answered Chrome's post. They can't see the spirit since it is in the ground, which blocks astral vision

Ooooh.. that changes things a lot then. If the spirit completes its task(s) as told, then he will find the commlinks and bring them directly to Amy using Concealment all the while, correct?

If that's right, you might not need to wait for me to continue.

Yes. It will complete its task, and then come back to you. If you have gone more than 600 meters from it by the time it finishes, it will have counted as a remote task, and you will lose the 1 extra service you have from it.

No worries, take your time. Lots of options here.

Given the situation, a Fire Spirit just materialized in front of him, Drave is going to use Burst Fire on the spirit with his Crusader, as it sounds like the Stick & Shock has the best chance of slowing this thing down.

Amy will try to banish the spirit as soon as she gets to act again.

"Let's see if I can send this one back from where it comes. Be gone evil construct!"

ETA: Here's the roll. Let me know how much drain I take.
10d6.hits(5)=2

ETA2: And here's a roll to soak the drain, whatever it may be.
13d6.hits(5)=5

And yes, that implies that she's dropped the Phantasm spell.

I believe you are actually up in the CT, going before Overkill. I'm not sure if it is an eligible target before it materializes (for either of you, although Overkill might not know that), but I think you could both delay and go right before the spirit acts once it materializes.

ETA: Might not be a bad thing to Edge. Thing is we don't know if it is bound or not. (Wow, that was close to a glitch)

I think I'll keep my edge for something much more critical then this.

And yeah I'm not sure what the order of events is. But this is what Amy will do when she gets the chance.

IP 2
Amy 12 Banish
Grease 12 Suppressing fire
Mage 7
Fire Spirit 6
Jack 3 - lay down suppressing fire on Goons 1-5
Overkill 3 - shoot at the spirit
Goon 1 3
Goon 3 3

So, Amy goes first,
Banishing attempt:
10d6.hits(5)=2

Spirit's resistance
4d6.hits(5)=2

Drain resistance vs 4 DV
13d6.hits(5)=5

No drain

Then Grease - continuing his suppressing fire

Then the Mage, who vanishes from sight

Then the Fire Spirit, who attacks Overkill (It materialized on its first IP, and is now vulnerable to attack)

Agility 6, Unarmed Combat 4
10d6.hits (5)=1

Overkill's Dodge
Reaction 6 + Int 3
9d6.hits(5)=3

The Fire spirit misses

Overkill goes
Burst fire
Close range, Lowlight negates vision penalty
Agi 5, Automatics 4, SM 2
11d6.hits(5)=8 - reduced to 7 by accuracy

Spirit Dodges
Reaction 7, Int 4, -2 for burst fire
9d6.hits(5)=4

So, modified DV is 7P base, -2 and switched to Stun by ammo, +3 net hits to 8S. Spirit's armor is 8-5 is 3, which provides 2 auto hits, plus it rolls 3 dice + Body 5.

d6.hits(5)=2

The spirit would take 4 boxes of Stun damage.

Jack goes and begins suppressing fire on the second squad of goons, forcing them to stay in the trees.

Goon 1, armed with a machine pistol, is unable to return fire, and unwilling to walk into the spray of fire from the SMG.

Goon 3, armed with an SMG tries a shot at Jack.

Automatics 3, Agility 4, SM +2 Lowlight negates vision penalty, Range penalty reduced from extreme to long by vision mag, -3, partial cover from the trees -2
4d6.hits(5)=1

Jack dodges
7d6.hits(5)=2

IC post up shortly.

IP 3
Amy 2
Grease 2

What do Amy and Grease want to do now?

ETA - edited the above due to slight rules question - solved offline

Just a quick note, I think my suppressing fire was supposed to also apply a penalty equal to the successes I achieved to any check they attempted (-4).

You are correct - sorry about that, should be no chance of hitting

You mean the mage flies away in astral space?

May have just stopped manifesting. None of us are astrally perceiving right now.

I think I missed the part where he manifested *goes back to read*

He just disappeared.

Your experience would tell you he, as Jack said, simply went back to the Astral Plane, and is not longer manifested.

BTW,

Please feel free to add in flourishes to the IC posts, what your character is thinking, or if you want to take a Free action to speak, that's fine too.

Got it thanks. I guess in IC when you say he's giving messages, he had manifested and spoke to his comrades?

Amy will attempt to banish once again.

10d6.hits(5)=5

Now we're talking.. dodge this fire spirit!

13d6.hits(5)=7

Man I love my drain rolls today.

Yes, he manifested so he could tell the men where you were.

Spirit Resist:
4d6.hits(5)=1

So 4 net hits, which will break control of the spirit from the summoner, and you resist the 2DV drain easily

I'm going to assume that Rhex is going to continue its suppressing fire for its last action.

ETA - do you want to post the IC summary of you breaking control of the spirit? If not, I can certainly do so. In the meantime, I'll get initiative rolls up for next CT.

Jack
2d6+7=15
Overkill
2d6+9=19
Grease
4d6+7=22
Amy
4d6+11=23

Mage
3d6+8=17

Goons 1,2,3,4,5
1d6+7=8, 1d6+7=10, 1d6+7=8, 1d6+7=13, 1d6+7=10
Goons A,B,C
1d6+7=8, 1d6+7=10, 1d6+7=10

So,

IP 1

Amy 23
Grease 22
Overkill 19
Mage 17
Jack 15
Goon 4 13
Goon 2 10
Goon 5 10
Goon B 10
Goon C 10
Goon 1 8
Goon 3 8
Goon A 8

Here, you can use this if you want.

Well done!

@Lobo: Once the spirit banishment is posted, I'll react to that with a free action text.

@Jack,

I modified my last IC post to include Amy's banishing the spirit.

Looks like we all go before the bad guys (although the mage goes before Jack). If the way is clear, I think we should all run. We should be just about out of range of their weapons since they were locked down due to the suppressive fire.

Agreed. Don't worry about rhex; he can move 40 meters a turn. Let me know if you need to have me roll the suppression test. Otherwise I presume we all meet back at the car, load up Rhex and peel out.

The mage is relatively irrelevant considering he can't affect us as long as we remain in the physical world.

There's still one issue. Even though the astrally projecting mage cannot find the earth spirit, the Yaks can, and probably will. So maybe we need to defend our position for just a little while longer? I dunno.

Based on what Lobo said, I think the spirit is using its movement power to move through the earth. I don't think the Yaks have much hope of finding it, but I may be interpreting it incorrectly.

I'm actually more concerned about the mage, because he can possibly still follow us while projecting.

Sadly, there's not much Amy can do about this while we wait for the earth spirit to complete his job. She's weak in astral combat outside of using spirits to do it (and getting rid of enemy spirits as well). The other more meaningful problem is that we both know each other's signature and can probably find one another that way later, by various means (e.g. using a spirit's search power).

Realistically, the earth spirit is in no danger. The only time it would ever actually be in danger would be when it comes out of the ground, at which point it has to be materialized (since it can't move through the earth in astral form) - but even then, it will only be materialized for 1 action before it goes Astral - making all of the goons unable to hit it. Even then, the odds of them all standing around that particular copse of trees (remember they have no idea why you were there) seems far-fetched.

And, there is no reason for the mage to hang out there, as she is far more likely to follow you to make sure you don't try and cause any more mischief.

Based on OOC knowledge, once we book it we can drive around for several hours. The mage has to go back to her body at some point. Or Amy can risk astrally perceiving to check to see if the mage is still following us. Hopefully the mage just decides to see us out of Yak territory.