Or more generally as the back up plan? So that it goes after WHEN we need cover?

I think that would be a good usage of Rhex (my doberman drone). He can be on the far side of the complex and engage the patrolling guards. I'd want to restrict using him for that unless it's a situation where we're all going to die otherwise, since it's likely we'll end up losing him and it's not an insignificant expense.

@Lobo: Would it be possible for me to message Stone, "Do you have any autopickers lying around?" Same with Rope, etc.


Otherwise, I think we have a solid plan- I'm ok with us moving the time frame forward to after Stone delivers us the goods (presuming we're able to get them all around 345ish).

So as far as I understand it:

We all sneak up to the house
Jack climbs up the side, sneaks in via the window and drops a rope
We all climb up (?)
We either leave via the rope or down the stairs, depending on how stealthy we've been
Amy summons a spirit to ferry the goods away quickly
We all sneak/run for the fence line, hoping for the best?

-DrZ

@Dr. Z,

Sure - here's the rope (IC is down again, so I'll roll manually)

Stone rolls 10 dice to acquire the Rope - yields 4 hits
Rope rolls 1 die to resist - yields 0 hits.

Cost of 100 m of rope=50 - total time to acquire it 1.5 hours

Autopicker

Stone rolls 10 dice to acquire the Rope - yields 5 hits
Autopicker rolls 8 dice to resist - yields 4 hits.

Even if it were rating 1, it would take at least 24 hours to arrive.

Ok. Do we want to fast-forward the timeline to after we have the equipment, and we're all waiting outside the target? I feel like we may be able to kick the plot forward a bit if we advance from "long-term planning" to "describe what we're about to do". Does that make sense to everyone?

-DrZ

I'm fine with that if you guys are - what is your plan for the next couple of hours?

Grease is tied up waiting for the gear and soliciting more Intel. Presumably, if there's other stuff the rest of the group needs him for he's available.

I'll check in periodically over the next few days, but I don't think I have anything to post IC. Does anyone want to post an IC summary of our plan? Also, if it hasnt been suggested yet I'd recommend Jack as the tactical leader, since he has the most experience (plus ooc he's the one making maps and planning this out )

DrZ

Man, I just don't feel like we have enough intelligence to go in there. I think we have a better than vague idea about the house and can probably pull that part of it off, but this massive expanse of green space concerns me. We know there's a motion sensor somewhere in the yard, but there could be all sorts of other sensors we don't know about (Olfactory, etc). I'd like to have Mel do more investigation, but I also don't want to blow our presence on a bad roll.

@Lobo: If Mel hacked back into the Host again, could she use simple Matrix Perception rolls to determine the nature of the other sensor suites? That would risk little, I think.

- I was thinking Grease was going to stay with the van, but that probably wouldn't be very fun for you. All four of us can go in, no problem.
- I don't think we all need to climb up. Jack can do the initial climb and then assess what else we might need. If there's a wireless-deactivated maglock, Mel needs to come up. If there's some kind of magical thing, Snap may need to come up. Otherwise, the rest could stay on the ground and provide cover for the breaching team.
- If we go in via rope, I think we leave via rope. I don't think we want to pull off a successful job and then screw it up by taking the "easy" way out and tripping some sensor or over some yapping dog that we didn't have to contend with going in.

If Grease were going to stay with the car, I would suggest he be the tactical leader. With that said, from a meta-perspective, it might give us the chance to use the Small Unit Tactics rules if Jack is the tactical leader.

Yes, she can certainly do so.

That's a good point. IC I'm not adding much to the breach team. I an fine running things from the van. That way I can VR my various drones, making them much more effective. If it makes sense to have me run the show that's fine too. OOC my limited availability may make that tricky.

DrZ

I think if we decouple "Tactical Leader" from "The Guy Who Tells Us We Need To Bug Out" it would work pretty well. There's actually a difference IRL anyway. I think Grease would be best positioned with his drones to tell us when the guards get moving and possibly providing us with directions to avoid them. Jack could still setup attempt SUT maneuvers if he was designated as the team leader for the ground team.

That makes sense.

DrZ

ETA: regretting not bringing the rotodrone, but if wishes were fishes, etc. Is there a huge fence outside the property?

"A low perimeter wall surrounded it, about 2 meters in height, and solid stone."

Yeah, I'm hoping we can get over that pretty easily.

Well yes, unless it's electrified, has sensors on it, or anything of the sort.

@Lobo
Since we'll have plenty of time to kill, is it possible for Snap (Snap can ask Mel to find the right kind of place for her) to get a quiet room somewhere, that also doesn't have a ward, to rent for 4 hours and do some summoning and binding there? How much would that cost?

I wouldn't ask Mel, I would talk to Stone or Tara (through Grease or Jack) and try and get a room. The CAS Zone doesn't have the equivalent of the Warrens, so you can't just find an abandoned house, and any room you rent will send up a red flag since your SIN isn't cleared to be in the CAS Zone.

Not saying it can't be done, just that you have to use your contacts to find one - as far as cost, a Motel rents at 20 per hour or 100 for the night, plus the fee from the contact. (this fee covers bribing the person to allow you to rent the room without a SIN, as well as some money for the contact for their trouble).

ETA - alternately, if you wanted to make a small Shadowrun against a local motel, you could have Mel hack the locks and squat there for four hours. That may be what you meant by talking to Mel - sorry if I misunderstood.

I hadn't thought about the illegality of our situation, that my fake SIN would send alarms all over the place.

All right. Well for that price, I think it might be a decent idea, a good way to "waste" some time. The extra spirit could good support in a variety of situations, and for a good while (until all services are expended, which could be a few runs worth). It's good backup, especially when an unbound higher force spirit is doing the heavy lifting, and it can do more things too, like sustain a spell or aid sorcery. Maybe over time, Snap can have a few more bound spirits of different types - I think that's what any strong summoner build expects to be able to build over time. I hope to never again have to use any bound spirit for combat though, something Snap learned the hard way on the first run.

Does anyone else think that Snap could make better use of the free time (and probably a point of edge)?

Hey everyone,

I've got a party to go to right after work, then I'll be busy during the holidays and out of town until the evening of the 29th. I look forward to picking this back up in the new year! Happy holidays everyone!

Best,
DrZ

Happy holidays to you too!

Happy Holidays Dr. Z!

Sorry guys...Xmas has been taking up a lot of free time.

Mel definitely can go back in and do some further Matrix perception on the ground sensors.

I like Grease staying in the van...we definitely need someone to coordinate the overall picture, and the one VR'ing the drones makes a good choice.

I'm eager to get this going, but I know the holidays are going to make it hard.

Happy holidays to you all!!

Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays!

I would like to kick everything back into high gear starting on Monday January 4th, over the next few days think about what, if anything, you wanted to do in the hours between now and when you get the equipment.

I think if I can get the noise level down to a reasonable level, I'd like to VR my fly spy to create an AR path for the team through the sensor net, preferably both in and out. I'll have to find someplace quiet to do it, but I think it's a reasonable plan given how much time we have to kill. Since the bugs have ultrasound I should be able to avoid motion sensors, or at least detect them. Plus, the risk seems pretty low.

DrZ

Sounds good, Lobo. I've got a brutal inventory this weekend, so I'm going to be out of hand until then. There's lots of things Jack wished he could do (find out more information about the Yak feud, etc), but with so few resources on this side of the border, I don't think our timetable would really allow for most of it.

Ok everyone - hope you all had a great holiday break (sorry Jack that you had to work over the past weekend )

Lets get this show back on the road!

I don't really have any additional plans. Mainly just keeping watch on what we can see to see if there are any changes in the routine. I'll need to meet up with the courier to get the stuff we ordered before we head out.

Ok - so mostly I need timing on all this stuff.

Grease wants to map out the route with his fly spy
Chrome wants to get a motel room and summon and bind a spirit
Mel wants to go back in and do matrix perception on the ground sensors
Jack is mostly watching and waiting until it is time to go back to pick up the gear.

Are you all doing that immediately, or are you waiting (Jack excluded, I'm assuming he is just waiting until I hear otherwise.)

Hey everyone. I hope you all had a great holiday!

I think Amy should get started as soon as possible, it'll take a while.

Ok - this means a couple things:

1) A communication between you and either Stone or Tara to get the location of a safe room.

2) Getting you there (right now, you and Jack and Mel are all in the van near the estate) and back

3) The actual rolls.


#1 can be done in a post or two between you and the contact (or between you and Jack and the contact if you think Snap would feel more comfortable that way) - total charge for the room would be 100

#2 is easy enough, Sisco will take you pretty much wherever you need - it is just a matter of bringing Mel and Jack away from the estate, which is probably fine, but something else that will have to happen IC - as far as getting you back - you will have to discuss with the group if they are leaving you there or waiting there with you.

#3 Of course IC is still down

So, first you have the summoning test - 12 dice, and you got 4 hits
Next the spirit resists - 4 dice, and it got 1, so you have 3 services
Resisting 2DV drain - 13 dice - you got 4 hits, so no worries there.

Next up, the binding - do you want to spend Edge before I roll, or do you want to wait and see the roll and then spend Edge?

Ok. I'll post something IC, with Snap asking Stone for a room not too far from the estate if possible. That way it's not a big hassle to bring Snap to and from the safe room. Btw, how should I describe IC the neighborhood where the estate is in (I obviously don't want to give away any information about what we might be doing)?

I forget what kind of spirit I decided on but 3 services is great for the summoning. Now let's just hope the binding goes well. No edge spent before the roll, but she will spend 6 reagents to increase the limit (assuming the limit was going to be 4), just in case she rolls really well, or needs to beat 4 successes from the spirit. With only 2 edge, it's ridiculously better to reroll as necessary than to add 2 dice (though it would get me the limit increase for free).

IC Post coming up this afternoon (my time) or this evening.

Depends on how cagey you want to be. Easiest thing to do would be to ask for somewhere in Chinatown.

Ok as far as the rolls:

12 dice to bind it - getting 4 hits
8 dice to resist you - getting 2 hits
13 dice to resist 4DV drain - 2 hits - so you take 2 points of Stun damage

Total cost:

100 (for room)
106 reagents (100 for binding, 6 to raise limit)
Total time: Stone can point you in the direction of a room with a few phone calls - so 10 minutes or so, and the place will be about 15 minutes away from the estate.

It is a coffin motel called Tiāntáng de xiūxí - Sisco will know where it is. The proprietor is an older Chinese man named Xian. I'll put up a description in the documents section later.

I will wait until my gather information check is done, then map it. I cheated a little bit posting what I found out before I may have actually heard it, so grease should be occupied gabbing for a few hours.

DrZ

Mel is indeed going to go back into the Matrix to scope out ground sensors.

Ok - so, to avoid having to type out what I rolled, I'm just going to post results here for Mel (there are a lot more dice rolls involved than for Snap's summoning and binding)

Mel hacks back into the host and determines the following:

Both sensors that you have detected so far in your direct path to the house have the following:

Motion Sensor
Ultrasound
Camera w/lowlight and thermo
MAD Scanner
Omni-directional Microphone

All are rating 5

So things I'll post about:
1) Snap tells the team about what she intends to do
2) Snap gives a call to Stone
3) ??? 10 minutes ???
4) Stone sends a reply with the details for the coffin motel
5) we get there and drop Snap

I just need to figure out what we do in those 10 minutes..

ETA: Thoughts? Are we just driving around until we get a reply?

Just checking in. Let me know if you need input on my plan. I would also want to coordinate with Mel, so my Fly-Spy could spot her devices, and vice-versa.

-DrZ

Just to keep things moving Chrome, assume that nothing of import happens in those 10 minutes, go ahead and post what you have IC so we can keep moving forward.

Once you've done that, I'm going to jump ahead a little until Grease has finished his conversations, and then he can relay that info to you guys and he can map out whatever he wants to on the grounds.

Sorry - quick question - I'm going to write up Snap entering Heaven's rest, and then jump to 12:30 or so when Grease is no longer immersed in conversation.

Just want a heads up on what Jack and Mel are doing for the next hour 45, along with the drones. Are you leaving them on the estate or bringing them with you?

Given the lack of orks in the surrounding area, Jack is going to stay hidden in the van. I'll leave the drone decision to Grease. I'm not sure how susceptible they would be to being detected.

Ok, so I put Snap in the room - Chrome if you want to put up a post as to how you see you summoning your spirit and then beginning the binding process, that will be fine.

I just need to hear from Grease what he is doing with the drones before I skip, as it does matter (they can be detected - not a guarantee, but something to be aware of ).

I would have them fly off the grounds until I had a chance to VR them. If they're detected from there I assume we're fairly unlucky.

DrZ

Ok - I'll have an IC post up soon.

So, right now I've left the IC thread open for:

1) Chrome to post a little about summoning his spirit and binding it - just for flavor, if you don't want to post anything, that's fine too.
2) Grease to tell the team about what he found out.

Also, do you want me to just jump forward another 3 hours to when the spirit is summoned and the equipment arrives at the bar? Do you want to take any actions during that time?

To be clear - I'm waiting on Dr. Z to post or a general consensus to skip time.

Enjoying the football games in the meantime

Ok, so I have some bad news

Due to demands of his job, Dr. Z is going to back out of the game. I know that I am very sorry to see him go, he has been a wonderful part of the group.

He and I have been discussing it, and the one thing that was paramount for both of us was that the game not end because he left. In order to fix that, I think we have found a solution.

With Grease leaving, that leaves a hole in the rigging area of the team. To fill that, you happen to have a rigger on retainer (Sisco) who could step in to fill that void.

I have someone who is willing to step in and play Sisco, I created the character almost completely and left a few minor things open here or there for him to personalize the character, but he still is a mundane ork rigger, more combat oriented than Face, but still able to step in for most of your rigging needs.

As long as that is okay with the rest of the group, I will move forward in the next day or so to set in motion the events that precipitate the change in team membership, and we can continue with the story.

Please check in and let me know if this is okay with you guys, I don't want to make major changes without your approval.

Good on my end. Sorry to see you go, Dr. Z, it was an honor and a privelage!

I don't see a problem with it. We'll miss you, Dr. Z.

Never really got a chance to run with Grease, so it sucks that RL had to take precedence. I'm good with the change.

Ok - I'll have Sisco's character up later today or tomorrow hopefully.

I wanted to post to thank all of you for the great time I had running together these past few months. I know this has been one of the best campaigns I've been a part of, and by far the best play by post. While I hate to go, I felt that given my new schedule I was significantly holding the group back from being able to move the story forward, and I didn't want the game as a whole to languish because of my inavailability. I tried to tough it out for a few weeks, but given that it's been over a month with no end in sight, I felt it was best to step back. It turns out working in an office with an hour commute everyday is a lot different than working from home! Who knew!

Lobo, thank you for running a great game. I am sorry I have to go and I know you'll keep everyone on their toes.
Jack, thank you for your help with the rules, as well as all your interactions between our characters. While Grease and Jack are on the fence about each other, I know I like you!
Chrome, thank you for your patience, as well as your great writing. It feels like your character has developed the most among all of ours, and I look forward to seeing where she goes next!
Mel, thank you for stepping in and taking over for Overkill. So far you've done a great job, and I look forward to reading more about your character as the game progresses.

I won't be able to post, but I will be sure to peek in and try to follow the game IC; I know I want to know how the adventure ends! Hopefully Grease's "Exit: Stage Left" is not too disruptive to all our carefully laid plans Take care of Rhex for me! Make sure he gets plenty of oil!

Everyone, again, my sincere thanks. I appreciate you being understanding of my stepping down, and I hope the game continues as strong as ever in my absence.

Best,
-DrZ