Oh I see. Hmm. Maybe the spirits of beast are the only ones to see while materialized thanks to their special senses? That seems a bit dumb. I'd think that it's a mistake and move on. If spirits can't see the physical plane, a lot of things seem strange. Like the fact that they have to be on the same plane as the thing they are trying to affect with a power, but then they only perceive the astral, but again the power has line of sight as range... Very confusing.

The interesting question isn't whether or not they can see the physical plane - they definitely can see it, but the way the original paragraph reads they see it through Astral Perception - basically the same way you would if you were astrally perceiving.

So:

They could see a computer, (it would be dull and grey) but they could not read what was on the screen.
They could see a building as it appears in the physical world, but would not see any color or read any signs.
They could see people, but they would not see their physical forms, but rather their auras.

Basically it would allow the spirit to interact with the physical world without any problems, except for the fact that it would mean that describing something to them would be difficult. For instance, you couldn't say, "Go attack the guy over there with the red shirt" - because the spirit can't tell what color shirt the guy is wearing. You'd have to describe his aura to the spirit, and then the spirit could figure out who it was.

Alternatively, you could say something like, "Go into that room and attack the male troll."

This makes some sense, in that spirits are really astral beings - but the contradiction with the Lowlight makes me wonder if it is just a typo.

My opinion is that spirits are more interesting and make more sense if they can see the physical world, but I can work with either interpretation. It really comes down to you being the GM, so it's your call.

Low-light, Thermo, Enhanced Hearing, Smell, Perception Skill...

As a compromise, you could let them have normal senses but take a -2 penalty similar to what a mage would face if they were astrally perceiving and trying to perform some action on the physical plane.

That sounds like a good compromise.

So, for instance, you summon a spirit. It materializes. You send it to watch for anyone who comes in through a door. It can do that using Astral Perception, and so were it forced to make some sort of check, then it takes no penalty.

You tell it to watch for a human wearing a red shirt. Now it has to be looking in the physical plane, and if it were forced to make some sort of check, it would take a -2 to the test for being "distracted".

I think that works out well, and I think for the most part (similar to shamans and mages) the penalty will only occasionally come into play. However, I think it gives the right feel of spirits being Astral beings first and physical beings second, just like it makes mages and shamans physical beings first and astral beings second.

So, your spirits can see in the physical plane, they just need to consciously alter their perception to do so (and take a penalty if they try to do something else while maintaining that sight. However, they can do things like:

"Spirit go attack the human with the black hair and red shirt" The spirit switches to normal perception, sees the human, then switches back to Astral Perception. Since the human's physical form and aura are in the same spot, the spirit now knows what the human's aura looks like, and can attack him without having to take the penalty.

The spirit needs to materialize as well, that's an important part of this.

I think it's a good comprise that fits the fluff well. Thumbs up!

Since I had some time - Here are Overkill's rolls to modify the AK

7d6.hits(5)=4

6d6.hits(5)=4

No problems at all. Once he's done changing the Rotodrone over to Grease's control (which will be around 5:00 PM) another 20 minutes of work and he'll have the AK modified for human use.

Not bad for a couple of completely unskilled rolls; maybe IC is changing its feelings towards me...

So - checking in as yesterday was slow.

I think we are waiting on Amy to summon a spirit and then Grease Amy and Jack to go near the chip house and deploy the two - then head to the Barrel.

Ok, didn't realize we were waiting on me, sorry.

Summoning a Force 3 Man Spirit with Detect Life innate spell
12d6.hits(5)=4

Spirit's roll
3d6.hits(5)=1

Drain 2S
13d6.hits(5)=4

She'll ask the spirit to scout the house for people/spirits/foci/wards that are there, check if anyone is awakened, and report the details back to her. Charge as many services as you think it should be.

IC post up - threw up some pictures in the Drop box that you would get from Grease's video feed.

The buildings are the same, but not as new and nice looking

Quiet weekend - hope everyone had a good one (Personally I spent more money than I should have at the local gaming store, but that's another issue )

Are we ready to head to the meet with Chapel? Or is there some discussion that needs to happen while you are near the Chip House?

I figured we'd be ok with just a drive by of the place, get the bug on patrol, then go meet with Chapel. I'll defer to Jack and Chrome if they want to stick around and investigate more. Grease *may* be able to weasel his way inside, but it's probably not a good idea to get him addicted to ANOTHER substance..

I think we go meet with Chapel. As long as Grease keeps a cam feed up, we should hopefully have an idea of when Stinger gets there and a relatively decent idea of what kind/size of force is protecting the place.

Ok - I'll wait for Chrome to post - and assuming he is ok with going to the meet, I'll post that up IC.

Sounds good.

It wouldn't be that difficult to keep a cam feed up, right? We could just have a little screen in our AR display available?

-DrZ

Yes you can keep the cam feed up, just a note that if you are focusing your attention to the camera feed, it will impose a -2 penalty to your perception tests in the real world.

Drave will be doing what he has been doing all night and all day, getting these drones as ready as possible.

Sorry you got stuck doing the scut work - I blame Grease

Yeah yeah we can move forward.

I don't mind, I much prefer being busy because I am useful, doing something important for the team.

I blame Grease as well

I forget, has Amy ever met Chapel in person before?

From my understanding, no - you just know each other through Overkill.

The problem with my character (and characters in general, really) is that if you want to be good at more than 1 thing, your character can't live up to their concept. Face/Rigger who owns his own garage? Sounds neat. The problem is I can't afford to give him enough mechanic skill to be anywhere near a professional level and still be decent at all the other stuff. Hopefully in time he'll grow to a point where he can live up to his original plan, but it's going to take a while. My bet is the Novacoke gets him first

-DrZ

I think the issue is that you went with two different modes of transportation. If you had stuck to Pilot Ground Vehicle and Automotive Mechanic, then you would have had enough skill points to be able to repair them (plus a few extra).

The downside is of course the drones that you have been using the most are Aerial Drones - so you would have given up a lot of the reconnaissance capability.

Here's hoping you get to live a long running career and open that garage you've dreamed about

This is a good life hack.

OOC: Not that it matters, but Amy's vest came from Honeypot.

How would she know? She hadn't met Chapel or "Pat"

Oops my bad. Well, it's not like Amy couldn't make a mistake like that.

The best part is how Chapel is playing along haha.

Maybe he, too, forgets who he sells what to.

That is the rub. If only I could convince the team to let me ferry them around in a military chopper, all my problems would be solved! Alas, a solid rigger needs to divide their skills between the two to be versatile enough to help the team as much as possible.

I think I mentioned that Pat provided the vests and Chapel doesn't appear to be safehoused somewhere out of sight, LOL. But yeah, I like to think Chapel is just smooth like that. I would think any fixer would be like that.

Lol - I forgot that it was Honeypot that sold them the vests

I think Chapel just figures he sold Overkill a vest at some point and he passed it on - and it never hurts to be gracious when someone thanks you for saving their life

Chapel doesn't really have more info to share (if he did, he would offer it to you) about the job. I'm happy to keep RPing as Chapel, or you could let me know when you are done and we can write up a scene where you get the stuff from his car.

I just posted a simple RP question. It would lead naturally to going out to the car and getting the stuff if everyone is done.

Off-topic: Working on a Troll tank, and debating the benefits of getting either Muscle Replacement or having a pair of Cyberarms.

What are the thoughts that some more experienced SR players could give on the merits of each?

The way the rules work, Troll Cyberarms get expensive really, really fast since all limbs start at 3 STR (even troll limbs for some reason). But as far as him being a tank, cyberlimbs generally do more (armor and physical condition monitor boxes). Muscle Replacement, however, gives Agility, but it depends if you're building a Dodge Tank or an Armor Tank.

Muscle Replacement Level 2:
Cost 2 Essence, 50,000

Benefits - adds +2 Strength, +2 Agility, adds to your Physical Limit.

Two cyberarms:
Cost 2 Essence 30,000
2 Points of Armor per limb - cost: 12,000 total.
Raise strength to troll minimum (5) through enhancement - cost: 20,000 total.

Benefit:
+2 Physical Condition Monitor Box
+4 Points of Armor.

Does NOT add to your limits.

1) What are your unaugmented stats?
2) Are you planning on being a primarily melee guy?

You can also hide things in them, or have recoil compensation built in. Heck, you could put a sensor suite in them and smell to see if the bad guys are packing through your elbow while crossing your arms like a badass. Also, cyberspurs.

-DrZ

My advice: Pink Mohawk game, go with the cyberarms. Anything else, I'd go with the muscle replacement. Trolls are going to get hassled enough as it is without throwing on a set of "probable cause" accessories.

1) Body 7, Agi 4, Rea 4, Str 7, Wil 2, Log 2, Int 3, Cha 1
2) yes, he is melee oriented.

Also this character is in development for Tribes, which means Ian working with priority choices B, C, D, E, E...
Looks like the cyber arms will be out of my price range.

This is a bit cheesy (and bear in mind that I'd check with your GM first), but there's no reason both arms have to have the same stats... I think for one of the "Friday Night Fights" I made the guy had two cyberarms, one was super strong (his "Hook") while the other was super agile (for "Parrying"). Best of both worlds, and much cheaper!

@Lobo: Just to clarify, Chapel's question was kind of to everyone, right? I didn't know if people were waiting on me or not. I figured Grease would probably talk with him since they're buds and all.

It was to everyone - no one in particular needs to answer - but somebody should

Eep! I dropped the ball a little there; I meant to post yesterday evening. IC post is up, though. Grease is full of drek, per usual.

I think Grease and I are in the backseat and Amy is sitting up front. Not a big deal.

Ok - so quick question - are you going to the site now, or are you waiting until 5:00 when Overkill is done with the drone?

I think we should go now while there is decent light. The closer we get to midnight, the more likely that some of them might show up to prep.

I will address it IC.

EDIT: NVM: we should head back and drop off Overkill's stuff so he has time to put the AK together for tonight. Once there, I can have Grease say, "Just transfer ownership of the rotodrone whenever you're done and I can have it fly to the location" or somesuch. I'm fine posting to that effect IC.

-DrZ

Gonna be gone for most of the day, thanks for all the tips.

How long will it take Overkill to install the accessories/mods to the AK? One of the reasons I picked the Bar-rel was due to its proximity to the Arsenal.

20 minutes or so

Something to think about, since I realized we hadn't thought about this in a while.

How do the pills fit in? Are they a red herring, or tied somehow?

@Jack: Was your point that it would be out of the way to go back to the safehouse now since we're already out here? I haven't been paying close attention to the map and whatnot.