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FuelDrop
Okay everyone, let's get this show on the road. I figured we could use the monorail ride to have everyone introduce themselves in character, possibly bond a little, then we can move on with the game.

Now for some housekeeping: Your EVO HEL suit has been modified to include a toolkit suitable to your profession, containing anything you could need for normal day-to-day work in your area that could physically fit, along with contingency equipment and a high end multi-tool. It also includes a commlink with 3 in all stats except signal (except for our IT guy, who has rating 5 in all attributes), which is 5, and all common use programs loaded onto it at rating 3 (again except for the IT guy, who gets rating 5 for both common use and most hacker programs except Blackhammer). The suit also includes a trode net, image link, sound link, a biomonitor and about 3 terrabytes of company-approved music loaded onto the hard drive, along with tech and safety manuals for everything that you're authorized to have access to, a library of data on mars and your field, a rating 1 medical kit (except for the one issued to the medic, who has a rating 4 medical kit), and a high-end GPS tracking device in case something goes wrong and they have to find you somewhere on the martian surface.

Additionally, you each get a rating 3 agent tasked with keeping all your files in order, handling your schedule, and otherwise acting as your secretary. You can choose the skin and personality.

Finally, JT Logan is issued with an Ares Predator IV with an extreme environment mod (rating 2) for vacuum, 2 clips of gel rounds and one clip of frangible ammunition. Jacob Griffiths is issued with a Colt America, similarly modified, and a single clip of gel ammunition, along with a note saying he's receiving this for security reasons due to his history as a HTR Medic, and is not to fire it unless his life is in imminent danger.
Bastard
JT Logan, Mars Security

Character Description
[ Spoiler ]


Introduction
[ Spoiler ]


Character Sheet / Stats
[ Spoiler ]


Gear
[ Spoiler ]


Contacts
[ Spoiler ]
pbangarth
Here's a colour scheme used in a number of games

- - Time and location stamp in Orange and bold
- - PAN mode in grey under time stamp
- - "Speech color=cyan, enclosed in quotes"
- - <Coms (vocal) color=violet or purple>
- - <Coms (Text) color=yellow>
- - Thoughts color=darkkhaki and in italics
- - Memories, flashbacks, dreams color=lightgrey and in italics
- - Spirits and Astral communication color=brown
pbangarth
STORAGE LOCKER FOR RANDOM THINGS THAT NATHANIEL REMEMBERS

I might find something better later, but for now this is the mental garbage dump for a PC who remembers everything by a player who doesn't.

#####

[ Spoiler ]


CHARACTER STATS FOR NATHANIEL JONES

So I don't have to keep finding the recruitment thread.

So, here goes the draft for Dr. Nathaniel Jones, Archaeologist to the Stars. (Well, planets anyway.)

I've built him with 750 karma points, and Initiation has been allowed, though I assume limits to starting Attributes remain. I'm also assuming a date in 2074 for the timeline of the story. I would adjust Jones' birth year accordingly if that is wrong.

Story
[ Spoiler ]


Stats {karma costs of sections in curly brackets}
[ Spoiler ]
Bastard
Sorry... I am out of date on Shadowrun... I still use 3rd Ed, so I have a few questions.

1/ What is AR?
2/ What is a HEL suit?
3/... and what does it look like?
4/ What is the difference between ocean and military gray? biggrin.gif


May I also suggest that we disable signatures in the IC?
FuelDrop
NP, if any further questions occur to you feel free to sling them our way and I'm certain someone will answer them. Except for questions about where babies come from, we're all shut-in neckbeards around here with no experience of that sort of thing! (JOKE!)

1) AR stands for Augmented Reality. It's kind of like the HUD in most computer games, with the additional ability to generate helpful things like signs, navigation points, notes, and other things like that. It also allows you to do anything you could with a computer, only without the hardware (Including stream videos, read, write, look at lolcats, play games, ect). In addition, it allows for the creation of virtual items, such as the aforementioned fashion disasters. It's not quite real, but it lets you live big on a budget. One very useful part of this is the ability to leave other people signs and notices, including setting them so that only certain people can view said notices. That's not a comprehensive list, so feel free to be inventive!

2) A Hostile Environment Living Suit is, to quote Arsenal: "[A] thin, tight-fitting, puncture-and-tear resistant suit that covers the whole body except the face, which can be protected by a hood and self-attaching breath-and-eye mask with an internal 5-minute supply of highly compressed air that is usually carried in one of the suit's many pouches". It's capable of protecting you from short-term vacuum exposure, extreme heat, extreme cold, and hazardous chemicals. It's also highly comfortable, apparently.
Stat wise:
Armor 4/6, Insulation 4, Fire resistance 2, Radiation shielding 3, and chemical protection 2.

3) I'm not certain. I think it's some unholy hybrid of one-piece body suit and cargo pants (many pouches, remember?)

4) There is none. It's a joke I slipped in referencing the Red Dwarf episode "Me Squared". Also, there's a massive stockpile of Ocean Grey paint in one of the cleaning closets.

Good point on disabling sigs, I completely forgot!

EDIT: PS: If JT needs to fire off more than 45 shots before being able to resupply then he's probably going to want a bigger gun anyway nyahnyah.gif
Bastard
I got the paint joke, thats why the smiley... but I didnt know it was from Red Dwarf. Never seen it. I just started watch Battlestar Galactica!! On season 2!
nezumi
There's a lot of material the droids in Red Dwarf reference that I'd love to see carried over to the replicants in Battlestar Galactica.
pbangarth
AFC till Thursday evening.
Marcus Tarrow
Randomish thought, what sort of scale is the construction of mars base going to be like at this point? Is space at a premium, or has Evo had enough time by now to carve out and seal up plenty of space so it doesn't feel too crowded?
QUOTE (Bastard @ Jul 25 2014, 03:45 PM) *
I didnt know it was from Red Dwarf. Never seen it.
Well worth the watch. The books are good too, first place I ever came to meet the concept of Better Than Life (very similar to shadowrun BTLs, though predating SR by a couple of years) and the effects of what we'd look at in SR as simsense addiction.
nezumi
So quick question, since it seems to be applicable; what is the expected posting rate for the game? 1/week? If one of us misses that window, do you just roll the game forward, or wait for us to jump in?
Marcus Tarrow
Was planned to be 1/wk going by the recruitment thread. I think we've lost e-do but everyone else is still here.

Personally I'm all for pushing ahead. My only concern being that we're working in the least well documented of the SR environments, it'd be fairly easy to inadvertently come up with something that could clash with that FuelDrop has in mind. Even something simple like our current equipment loads raise some questions regarding the construction of the base (Jacob'll probably start wondering "Why're we all wearing spacesuits?" at some point biggrin.gif )
FuelDrop
Sorry I haven't been posting, RL stuff has been keeping me from maintaining the threads. I'll try and avoid it happening again.
FuelDrop
Does anyone want to do anything on the trip? If not, I'll put up a second post this week to get the plot moving properly.
Bastard
Nope. JT is observing and being a lump.
nezumi
I'm totally find with delays. I'm actually going to be in and out for the next two weeks.
Marcus Tarrow
Nothing major planned for the monorail trip - mostly some smalltalk, gazing out the window realising how far away from home we are, and reading the manual for the HEL suit so he doesn't forget how to attach the helmet biggrin.gif
pbangarth
Been away again. Will catch up.
FuelDrop
I don't really want to post into the middle of a conversation, so I'm going to hold off for a bit.
Bastard
I still have to post my character. I have my chummer copy if you need it.

I work rotating shift work, and we are splitting up a blank shift for the next 4 to 6 months, giving me about 60 hour work weeks, and on weekdays off my wife entrusts me with our 10 month old, who I have to keep out of the fish tank, microwave and liquor cabinet.

I usually cannot post from work, since I have no internet access from the work computer, and my cell carrier has decided to demolish the nearby cell tower and build a Spark Tower - whatever the fuck that is. Hopefully it will be done soon and my posts will be sped up!
nezumi
Rolling out to GenCon! I expect to get back on Monday.
pbangarth
QUOTE (nezumi @ Aug 11 2014, 01:58 PM) *
Rolling out to GenCon! I expect to get back on Monday.

Ah, the memories!

My first one was at Kenosha, Wisconsin. Stayed in a motorhome with three other guys. Something rings a bell about spiders, and "Gee Whiz!"
Marcus Tarrow
Apologies for not getting on this past few days, got hammered by a windows update on Wednesday morning then PSU failed just as I was getting things up and running again on Thursday. Will pop up a post on Sunday.
pbangarth
Don't you have Agents to deal with that kind of thing? biggrin.gif
pbangarth
So, do we have any idea what department we have been assigned to? I assume there would have been a job description at the time of the interview? Are we all the same department? Or a multi-disciplinary, inter-departmental rapid response team?
Bastard
JT is assuming all the PCs are security like him.
Marcus Tarrow
QUOTE (Bastard @ Aug 29 2014, 04:39 PM) *
JT is assuming all the PCs are security like him.


Jacob, so far at least, is assuming that the newbies being called to the security office is standard procedure for fresh arrivals and hasn't yet cottoned on to the fact that that this is the group he'll be working with.

(on an unrelated note, my ability to post may be curtailed a little this week. I'm currently only able to get online via a fully wired connection and it'll be a couple of days before I can reconfig my home network to compensate. Given the massive issues with wifi, mobile phone signals and GPS signal dropoff in the area we're assuming they've deployed a fairly hefty jammer at the NATO summit location).
pbangarth
QUOTE (Marcus Tarrow @ Aug 31 2014, 11:28 AM) *
Jacob, so far at least, is assuming that the newbies being called to the security office is standard procedure for fresh arrivals and hasn't yet cottoned on to the fact that that this is the group he'll be working with.

(on an unrelated note, my ability to post may be curtailed a little this week. I'm currently only able to get online via a fully wired connection and it'll be a couple of days before I can reconfig my home network to compensate. Given the massive issues with wifi, mobile phone signals and GPS signal dropoff in the area we're assuming they've deployed a fairly hefty jammer at the NATO summit location).

Cool! So the missiles aimed at them may find you instead!
nezumi
That's pretty much my assumption as well. We landed. Now we all do in-processing. That means we visit security, safety, HR, medical, and a representative of the union before we're given our work assignments. Hence, no questions for security. What we need to know, you'll tell us.
pbangarth
Yeah, that sounds standard. Unfortunately, Dr. Jones has had little experience of in-processing since his undergraduate days. And a manual of standard operating procedures should give him something to read for a couple of minutes, anyway, while he is in line for whatever comes next.

Or not. Depending on the security chief's whim. smile.gif
FuelDrop
My god life does not want me to post on Mars alpha! It's like a conspiracy... but who around here would believe in a conspiracy.
Bastard
QUOTE (FuelDrop @ Sep 8 2014, 08:02 PM) *
My god life does not want me to post on Mars alpha! It's like a conspiracy... but who around here would believe in a conspiracy.

I think I'm being held up by the same black helicopters.
FuelDrop
Due to various real life factors, not least of which was my computer dying on me, I am very sorry to say that I will be unable to GM Mars Alpha for the forseeable future. Sorry for letting everyone down.
pbangarth
Shit! Stranded on Mars in the middle of some kind of explosion. Every time I've tried to play Nathaniel/"Professor", he's ended up in a situation like this.

I'm beginning to think he is jinxed.

Sorry to hear about your troubles, Fueldrop. Hope things work out for you.
Bastard
Hopefully you will be up and running come November. That is when my schedule goes back to normal! Been working ridiculous hours and have my 1 year old on my days off.
Marcus Tarrow
No worries FuelDrop, sometimes real life gets the better of us all - and at the end of the day real life's more important than the games we play smile.gif

Hopefully things smooth out, we can pick this up again someday & see how things pan out for our ad-hoc first responders cool.gif
nezumi
Not a big issue. Thanks for the head's up, though.
pbangarth
So, Marcus, Bastard and nezumi, got any ideas what we might do instead?
Bastard
I think we should join the rebels and start the reactor.
nezumi
Unfortunately I don't have time to RUN a game (unless it's the Drop Bear Adventure), but I'm still up to play.
Marcus Tarrow
I'm all up for carrying on if anyone else is. We were going to have to do quite a bit of improv about mars itself anyway (there being so little in the sourcebooks) - and we're not entirely short on story hooks. With a healthy amout of "make it up as we go along" I think we could just keep rolling along..
pbangarth
It would certainly provide a novel example to the rest of the DS community: a team of players who don't let a little thing like losing the GM get in the way of a good game. We would have to work out the mechanics of who decides what happens in a scene.

Alternatively, we could advertise for a GM, assuming Fueldrop would be willing to share his story notes.
nezumi
Hey, I'm all for the fun of a discordian GM-less game! But yeah, some way of figuring 'what happens next' is probably prudent.
Marcus Tarrow
QUOTE (nezumi @ Oct 5 2014, 07:05 PM) *
But yeah, some way of figuring 'what happens next' is probably prudent.


We could probably handle the explosion response fairly easily - couple of die rolls maybe for number of casualties in the vicinity & largely wing the rest. Depends on whether we want to treat this scence as a "getting to know each other, the hard way" RP scene or a "there's something critical to the storyline going on" scene. We could concievably use it as both - the former the first time through just to get settled in, then the latter (maybe called back hours later to help investigate what happened?) later on if it's necessary once we've got some direction. Throw in some time between for arriving at quarters, having a wander around getting settled in etc (while Security initially investigates the explosion) and we've concievably got 12-18 hours IC time that we can likely just freeform.

It'd be a laugh to try even if it never went any further than that. And if we did take it further (with an overall plot from one of us, fueldrop returning or another GM taking over) we'd not really be doing anything of importance that could adversely affect a storyline.
Bastard
I'm good to continue on.

Just got a new phone service that actually provides 4G service where I work so I'll be able to follow along now.
nezumi
QUOTE (Marcus Tarrow @ Oct 8 2014, 09:10 PM) *
It'd be a laugh to try even if it never went any further than that. And if we did take it further (with an overall plot from one of us, fueldrop returning or another GM taking over) we'd not really be doing anything of importance that could adversely affect a storyline.


You got spunk, kid. I'm game.
pbangarth
Count me in too! Show DS how -real- players keep a game going.
Marcus Tarrow
biggrin.gif

note: this post is mostly me thinking out loud about the current situation, workarounds for anything that might be original-plot vital and some assumptions about the base - I'll probably look at it tomorrow and wonder what line of logic produced such a mess

A handfull people still in a lab where the explosion occured sound about right for what's happening? Walking wounded would likely be out of the immediate area by the time we arrive, so anyone in there would be either stunned, unconcious, trapped, or injured. If it turns out that someone needed to die as part of the original storyline (should fueldrop return) a possible workaround would be to have one of them die from their injuries sometime after this scene. If there's something we're suposed to see we could explain that away through a combo of A/V recording (sensors, ware and so on) plus Dr J's remarkable memory.

I'd imagine a lab on mars being short on combustibles and really high on the top-end tech, so maybe some localised burning where solvents etc may've caught aflame but unlikely to be a huge conflageration. If the base is essentially an underground bunker complex structural damage should be minimal. Though the combination of residual smoke, fire extinguishant and blown-out light fittings would likely make for fairly poor visibility. Proper backup is likely only going to be a few minutes away too, so we've an out whenever we need it.

What do you think? As long as everone can find something to do would that be enough to work with?
nezumi
In general, I can work with anything wink.gif

I'll let you take the lead when you feel we have enough group support (or not--I'm generally an eager poster, so I'm trying to be polite and avoid jumping in).

My question is, how do we determine the plot going on? Will we all narrate as we go along? Take turns? Use a random story builder?
pbangarth
biggrin.gif

You come to a T-junction. Darkness cloaks all in both directions. To the left, you hear water dripping. To the right, a rhythmic, dry, hot wind blows toward you, then draws away, repeating.

What do you do?
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