Scanning alley for evidence: Perception (4) + Intuition (3) + VE (2) [Mental 4 (+2)] (9d6.hits(5)=4)

I apparently have hot dice with my perception checks at the moment.

@Overkill:

a) Did Drave have any money left over after character creation?
b) Did you roll starting nuyen?

Need that to set your beginning cash...

@Overkill,

I rolled, and your SIN checks out at Union Station - so once you and Amy figure out what is going on, you can write your trip back to the Zone if you wish.

I kind of assume that my check included glancing in the dumpster and making sure there wasn't a body or weapon in there. If so, I'm done with the alley.

Yes - no body or weapon left behind.

I also have rolled for you and Grease - your SINs hold up at the crossing - so if you want to head back to the Zone you can.

Just let me know where you want to go next in the investigation.

I think we'd probably talk on the plane to determine where we wanted to go next with the investigation (or text message, what have you). I'm fine doing that either IC or OOC.

OOC, my priorities are:

1) Find out info about Argent (Matrix search? Chapel? Other sources?)
2) Talk with Amy, find out what she's found
3) Contact Argent, setup a meet (How are we going to persuade him to see us?)
4) Pursue other witnesses / murders. My guess is that if this is a conspiracy, there will be a connection between all the murders. If we run one murder to ground, the rest of them might be easier to fit into place. That said, it might be one of those "need to see the whole picture" things before we're able to really crack it.

I may post a summary over message IC to say where my thoughts are at the moment, but I'd be curious what y'all think.

-DrZ

ETA: This murder was not investigated nearly at all. I think that's an important part of this puzzle. A cop gets killed, you think they'd at least find the shell casing from the alley across the street where the shots came from.

DrZ mentioned in his post that Grease was going back to the Air Taxi to head to the UCAS sector. He also indicated he wanted to get a feel for who Argent was before we tried to meet with him, so I doubt he would call him before Overkill does some Matrix legwork and/or we talk to our contacts.

I can set us up in the UCAS sector and we can try to get a hold of Overkill. I think Jack would likely try to message Ramirez using the burner phone to see if he could meet and try to pull a print off of the shell casing, although Grease might want to use his own Lone Star contact so we don't bother the Johnson. I'm not really sure.

ETA: Another potential follow-up from this murder is Emily Sanders. If Mitchell had uncovered a conspiracy or been part of one, he may have confided in Sanders and/or displayed a bit of a change in behavior that she may have noticed. One of the potential problems is that she's living in the CAS sector and I am not sure if we want to attempt that particular border crossing. We may be able to setup a meet with her in the HUB or the UCAS sector though.

EATA: I think Chapel would probably be our best bet for developing info on Argent. He seems like a runner to me.

@Jack: I had 800 nuyen left after character creation, did not roll for starting nuyen

Roll 3d6 and link the roll over here for your starting nuyen. Just set the roll up normally, this is not a hit based mechanic. Just need the total.

@Jack

3d6 → [5,4,5] = (14)

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4383800/

And Drave will certainly be doing some research on Argent once he gets to a safer location.

Cool, you are currently at 3,522

If I were you, I'd get to the UCAS sector, hop to the local grid, and run your Matrix searches from there. Rediced noise (probably no noise with your datajack), no public grid penalty.

I agree with the priorities you have laid out. All these things appear to be useful, and we can move on to other cases at the same time. Meanwhile, I don't know how much Amy will learn, but following up on that (the drugs, who makes them, how to buy them) should be interesting as well.

About the .xls file and other Office stuff. I use OpenOffice which is 100% free and can both read those files and save in that format as well. As long as no complicated function is used, it works seemingly just like regular office.

@Jack: Thanks for the help!

@chromehead: Thanks for the tip, I will have to check that out.

Any positive impressions of Grease will be lost when he drives Jack someplace in a hurry.

-DrZ

Once I land I am gonna get on my bike and ride over to the nearest Stuffer Shack to my character's place with good local Grid access, and then jump on the local grid in a fine spam-free zone. (Stupid noise and public grid penalties...)

What rolls would you like me to make for these searches on Argent?

Semi-Pro Tip: When you get to your bike, load your deck with Browse, Signal Scrub, and Virtual Machine (inserting Baby Monitor and your Agent into the two slots VM opens up for you). Then you can Grid Hop to the Local Grid and task your agent to conduct the search. Granted, your agent only rolls 8 dice, but it might give you a start on your search. It also runs while you're riding, Baby Monitor will keep you updated as to your OS score (which goes up automatically every 15 minutes once you start), and Browse will cut your agent's search time in half.

@Overkill,

I would say that even in most places there is a Noise level of 1 (easy enough to negate with your datajack).

So, first things first would be a Hack on the Fly roll to hop on the local grid. Mind you, this starts the clock on your OS - not that I anticipate it being an issue, but there you go.

I would say that you can't find Argent just by googling (or the 2075 equivalent thereof) his street name, so it would probably be Limited Interest/Not Publicized

So - Computer+Intuition[Data Processing] Threshold 3 test, -1 die modifier for "Specialized", base time 30 minutes

I'll assense the leopard.
9d6.hits(5)=3

Just to check: my owl-spirit is still following along right?

So per advice, I start my Deck with 6 D, 5 F, 5 S, 3 A; programs Signal Scrub, Browse, Virtual Machine: Baby Monitor, Agent

Hopping on the local grid with hack on the fly

16d6.hits(5) → [2,5,6,1,1,1,2,3,5,5,4,6,1,1,2,1] = (5)

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4383908/

Now on that I am on the Grid, it seems like my Agent rolls as good as I would (Computer skill 5 + Intuition 3)

So would I be better off, (or just as good), just having the agent do the search as I ride?

Give you particular skill+stat combo, it is just as good as you.

Nominally, you would be able to use Edge to help you, and you could not do so for the Agent - however since you spent your edge, there is literally no difference at this point.

You easily beat the encryption on the local grid

4d6.hits(5)=1

And so you are good to go with the search roll (however you want to do it.)

Ok - so with that assensing roll, you can tell that it is a spirit of beasts, with a force that is less than your Magic Attribute.

Your spirit of air cannot move more further away from you than 100 meters x your Magic Attribute (unless you send it on a remote service) - so it is there as well.

Could he do a teamwork test with his agent? Obviously once he stops riding. Not sure you can do an active matrix search and pilot a motorcycle at the same time.

I will let my Agent handle the search while I ride home, then check and see once I have arrived how much it has found;

So -1 to the Agent's roll for the Specialized search;

7d6 → [2,6,6,3,2,1,4] = (24) (2 hits...)

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4383935/

...I couldn't buy a break with a Platinum-level credstick.

So, couple of thoughts.

My understanding of how a Pilot program works in Shadowrun is that you can basically program the destination into the vehicle, and it is capable of driving the vehicle itself. You are taking a risk, in that it may not be as good as you at avoiding obstacles, or reacting to someone swerving into your lane, so all things being equal, you can let the vehicle go on autopilot - just hope nothing happens on the drive home.

Since Overkill has a DNI, he can go into AR and perform the Matrix Search while he is driving.

This brings me to something that I missed before, but doesn't hurt him (I won't penalize him for a retest since I told him there was no difference between him and his agent.) If HE does the test, then he can do so in Hot Sim, which would give him an extra 2 dice to the test - the Agent can't get that.

As far as teamwork tests, I do not think I will allow that for Agents - here is why. Most programs do things like add +1 to a limit. Running an Agent takes up a slot, and each success made by the Agent would add +1 to the limit and +1 to the dice pool. Why run a program like Decryption that gives you +1 attack (which increases your limit) , when you could run an agent that rolls 8d6 and if it gets even one hit, gives you that +1 limit but also +1 die? And if it gets 2 hits, then +2 limit and dice, and so on.

On top of that, I think that then running multiple Agents to then do teamwork tests might get a little out of hand, not to mention then that any NPC decker would then want that as well, and that is a lot of bookkeeping.

Just to play Devil's advocate, I think Decryption would be superior because it actually raises your Attack attribute, which raises your base DV by 1 (which is roughly equal to +3 dice on average). The limit thing is, of course, still there, but unless you have really low matrix attributes, you're unlikely to hit it without a massive dice pool.

I also thought the Agent text was a bit weird since earlier text states that you can only run one of each type of program on your deck and I would assume that would apply to Agents. I guess specific > general though, given the "Each agent occupies one program slot on your deck" line.

With all that said, I wouldn't think failure by the agent would preclude Overkill trying on his own (or even the agent trying again at a -2 penalty, although the odds start getting long).

I hear you with the +1 DV, but unless you are actually going to engage in Cybercombat, the multiple extra dice from the Agent (as well as the higher limit) are going to be better - remember that not just Data Spike uses Attack as a limit. Brute Force, Erase mark, Crack File, etc - all of those you would be much better off running an Agent rather than your Decryption Program.

Assume Overkill wants to Data Spike someone, and has his attack set at 5. If he runs Decryption, then he is rolling

14d6[6] and doing 6DV base.

If he runs an agent, he could easily get 2-3 successes, meaning he is doing either

16d6[8] doing 5DV or
17d6[9] doing 5DV

The limit probably doesn't matter, and the way his luck has been going, it won't at all, but the extra 2-3 dice will probably get you another success to make the DV the same.

Plus, for me, I just think it would lead to too many Agents running around just doing teamwork tests with the decker, and that's not how I see them in the game.

As for the Matrix Search, the 7d6 from the Agent failed.

When he gets home, he can have the Agent try again at 5d6, or he can try from Hot Sim at 9d6.

Here's either a nego or etiquette roll that might be relevant.
9d6.hits(5)=3

I see Hacking and Cybercombat a bit differently though since there is a consequence of failure. I would probably have those particular teamwork tests resisted by the Host as normal, so there could be pretty dire consequences if your agents screw up, particularly since your all sharing the same matrix condition monitor. But I do see your point, its probably easier not to deal with that.

As my Agent did so swimmingly, I guess I will do the search myself in Hot-Sim then (I will wait until I stop for my soycaf.)

9d6.hits(5) → [3,5,2,1,6,5,6,2,3] = (4)

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4383993/

What time would Drave have landed back in the UCAS zone? (Need the approx. time for my IC post)

So you probably caught the 11:00 flight, so you would arrive in the UCAS Zone around 11:10 or so, and then another 20 minutes or so from the airport to your house.

Once you get home, normally 30 minutes to search, but with your Browse program that takes it down to 15 minutes.

Like any other major city, there are boards that are the equivalent of "want ads" for those in the know, who want services rendered with discretion.

You find some references to a man named Argent, and digging further finds you an ad offering services for "bodyguard/enforcer/wetwork" - along with a virtual dead drop where messages can be sent to him.

Hey Amy will check her commlink when she has a chance and we'll meet up. She'll continue her current chain of action until then.

No problem; Drave is actually just worrying over her a bit atm.


I will make a second IC post, Drave realizing his Agent had failed and doing it again himself while drinking his soycaf at the Stuffer Shack, when the time in-game rolls around. Are there any other details you would like me to include for the search results on Argent? (unless you want me to skip the Agent part for some reason.)

No more details from my end - and there isn't really anything more on him than that.

Jack and Grease - do you need anything from me, or are you waiting for Overkill to post?

I want Amy to pretend to go where she's directed to, but to cut a corner somewhere and hide so she can check her commlink and contact the rest of the group. I'll edit my post with more action if that's something she can pull off, just wanted to get Lobo's approval first.

I think we're waiting for Overkill's results. Then Grease will probably contact Chapel to see if he has any further info on Argent. Then we'll try to contact Argent himself and set up a meet.

Well, you can't hide from the spirit on the roof, but the gangers will cease paying attention to you as soon as you are out of sight. go ahead and post away.

My post has been edited with more stuff.

Due to the timeline issues, Jack and Grease are still in Union Station waiting for a VTOL when Amy sends her message.

You can write in the virtual comment cards that you would prefer increase the number of flights per hour to avoid such a dilemma in the future

So I guess we're back in time a little bit; fine by me. I'm fine having the previous conversation with Jack while we were waiting at the airport / on the way.

-DrZ

I did a quick edit to my inflight convo to account for the message you sent to Chapel.

Just got a message back from Chapel at 11:45; I will wait to post my response until we're ready to keep the timeline in order.

-DrZ

Works for me.

Drave is sending 2 MARKs to Amy's commlink to allow him to run a trace and get her exact location.

@Lobo: In order to keep continuity on the time frame, (and certainly don't want to lose that nice roll,) how should I handle delaying in actually carrying out the Search on Argent? Don't want to keep holding up Jack and Grease, either.

Ok - so not a big deal - but you can't send MARKs to Amy, she has to Invite your MARKs.

The only way you could put them on her without her inviting them first would be for you to find her commlink icon and either hack on the fly or brute force them on the icon.

You won't lose the roll - but you are going to have to wait until you have 15 minutes where you can be in VR. If you plan on meeting up with Amy that may be a while.

So could I amend the message to have the Icon I sent her be one that has her comm send me the MARK invites?

I guess the way to put it IC would be something like

"I need to be able to track your location. Please send my commlink an invitation to MARK your link so I can keep an eye on you."

Or something like that.

Is the new plan for everyone to head to LM territory? Or just Overkill?

I figure that Grease and I won't be landing until 11:40 or so, which is like 25 minutes away, then we would have to drive to the location. I would guess that would be at least another 10 to 15 minutes. It all depends on what Amy decides to do without looking too suspicious.

So quick poll:

There are no right or wrong answers

1) Is there anything more I can be doing to flesh out Denver for you? Do you feel like you have an ok grasp of what Denver - or at least the UCAS zone is like?

2) Are my IC posts too short and to the point? Do you want more detail? Sometimes I just have a sentence or two and afterwards I go back and think I could have fleshed it out more.

3) Pacing - I am very happy with where we are - there is a lot of legwork that occurs in my runs. Is this ok? Some players prefer more combat - and while I don't shy from it when necessary I also do just jam in a fight scene just to have combat.

4) Any other suggestions/tips/comments?

Feel free to post here or by PM if you prefer.