Thanks. I'll edit the IC post.

I believe Drain target can never be reduced to below 2, but I can't find the reference in the books.

EDIT: Found it, on p. 38 for ALL tests.

Here's a question I've had for a while about the Mindlink spell, the description of which is in the spoiler below.



My question is, does the link allow the exchange of physical sensations as well? So, for example, a medical examiner, instead of asking "where does it hurt, and on a scale of 1 to 10 how bad is the pain, could just sense it for himself. And, I guess if one wants to get kinky, Mindlink could then share not just emotions but sensations as well during sex.

I'm figuring that once Cindy is awake Connor could get a mental image of the one(s) who injected her. (I think that is the likely case especially since she said that bit about clenching and hurting.) Thinking of this reminded me of the question.

I'll allow it, but:

* VOLUNTARY subjects
* It's on the strength of the mental image part of the description
* It doesn't guarantee accuracy in self-perception, nor direct translation of sensory information in the same way that simsense would

Sure, voluntary, but it is described somewhere that unconscious is voluntary. I don't want to try while she is unconscious because I want her to think of the assailants, if they exist.

Yeah, simsense is the gold standard, but I figured that it is hard to have emotions without physical sensations, and vice versa. In any case, I think I might have some fun with it down the road.

Seeing as Carlos is "without player" for perhaps ever, I am assuming he is not available for a job that needs a "speedy" resolution. Is that reasonable?

On the other hand, maybe Hopalong can be convinced to come along to keep Connor out of Big M's clutches ... and to get some extra money.

Hmmm. Single use spells: "Takes drain as if the caster had cast it." That doesn't mean they use the caster's WIL stat does it? Does it? And his Totem? Does it?

You can try convincing anybody of anything - success not guaranteed. Of course, common sense dictates that Hopalong's highly unlikely to split her attention.

Single use spells take drain at the time of creation, not use. This applies to the creator, not the person using them, and it uses the creator's stats. This means that sitting around cranking out one after the other is an exhausting business.

Very sensible. Thanks.

I guess Connor really is alone in this. Too bad. The others looked like fun.

Has Connor's karma pool reset?

Nope. He's had some sleep, but that's not how I'm measuring it, rather than what you might think of as contiguous bodies of work. So far it's been one piece of work: get out, break contact, go to ground.

A karma pool reset isn't far off, but it's not yet.

OK. Thanks.

How are those one-off items activated? Is it a matter of having contact and willing the effect to fire, or is there something to be read ... ?

In principle, it could be done with simple contact and will, but the fact is that this has resulted in all sorts of sadness, like fireballs going off at the wrong time because someone's thoughts were wandering. In practice, it's generally done as hold - gesture - speech combination. This provides an adequate degree of safety for most purposes. This is also why the procedure has to be taught to a recipient who's not a magician of the same tradition. Magicians of the same tradition can work it out easily.

By the way, he can't respond from the bathroom without feeding an aerial outside the building - remember I said the whole thing's shielded.

Oh, yeah. I'll add a post to demonstrate his error. Non-techie and all.

What. The. F#%$???

Gotta hand it to you, Koekepan. This is a new one to me.

Please enjoy your Biopocalypse Sundae ™ now with Basilisk Sprinkles! ™

Basilisk Sprinkles are known to California Free State to be carcinogenic or result in reproductive harm.

Also calcinogenic?

So good they'll stop you in your tracks, or your money back!

I'll want to see some kind of relevant check to see how much information you get from that infodump. You don't have to use law as such, so much as research. There is the contract itself, there's also a bunch of pictures which, in the absence of context, don't seem to mean much, but largely depict the exterior of a building with heavily locked and barred exits and windows, marked as Petsonal Petsonalities. There's a small parking lot, and from what can be seen a large delivery gate as well. There are also some TriD pictures of various people, apparently taken without their knowledge, and presumably employees or owners or customers or somehow related to the business in question.

Hmmm. With what little Blue knows of what is in the chip, I guess the following might provide some kind of mix of skills/edges for a test:

Attribute: INT 4

Edge: College Education

Skill: Biotech 1

Knowledge (Complementary) skill: Arcana 2, Alchemy 2, Biology 1 Magic Background 3 Corporate Culture 1

How about a default to INT 4, with a target of +3 (College Education), and a Complementary bonus from Arcana 2?

I'll follow the logic, but in this context Corporate Culture would be more applicable than Arcana. You wouldn't be trying to decipher a mystic formula, but a bureaucratic tangle.

But I'll allow the college education and int defaulting argument. Those make sense.

Roll the bones!

OK, thanks. Um, what is the target number, or should I just let you see the dice? Is it an ongoing thing, or do I get one shot at it?

Roll as for a target number of 9, but also tally successes as for a target of 4.

There are layers to unwrap.

OK.

Complementary skill first: 1 die target9/4: 9 no / 4 yes

So, will roll an extra die for the target 4: 1 hit for the 4 target

Main roll: o successes for 9, 2 successes for 4

So,
for the 9 target, no successes
for the 4 target, 3 successes

If the Good Karma die is back, I would like to re-roll for the 9 target (only, since I think things get icky if I give up the hits for 4 and reroll it all?)

Atavophid??? Are you kidding me?

So, there are three categories of biological terms that end in 'ophid':

1) structures of teeth, particularly the form of cuspids and ridges between - probably low likelihood in this reference.

2) classes of invertebrates (like insects and spiders), one particular group, protophids whose suffix is parallel in meaning, and whose characteristics include mineralized skeletal elements - hmmm. No, even YOU wouldn't have a new invasion of insect spirits through basilisks. Would you? Would you????

3) various classes of reptilians, both current and paleontological. Seems like the best bet to me. So 'atavism' + 'reptile' applied to basilisks sounds like a good bet. Developing ancient forms of basilisk for some nefarious purpose?

The question is, would Blue with a '1' in Biology be able to come to a similar hypothesis?

Is a Test in order?

P.S. Thanks! This is fun!

I like your analysis.

1) Yeah, that sort of structure is rare in reptiles.

2) I make no promises.

3) That sure sounds nefarious.

A Blue with a 1 in Biology could certainly arrive at 3) as a hypothesis, probably not 1), and maybe 2) if he did some dictionary searches.

I'll let you have any of the three IC if you like, really. Just make the dictionary searches part of your post, and we're all good.

I haven't disappeared, just busy with things here at home, and trying to figure out how to proceed. Were there a group of us, you would see the planning in print.

No problem. Maybe I'll take some time to compose retrofuturist music while you think.

Any of it up on Spotify yet?

Alas, no, I keep veering into my own musical voice.

Hmmm.... a German couple starting a bio-tech company whose work is being used by the big boys. Hmmm.

BioNTech

After the exploration so far, how close is it to dawn?

You have maybe an hour before dawn left - bearing in mind that you're not far from the equinox.

I don't know if another couple of hours of study will net any further insight into the job documents, but if you want me to roll again for Blue, let me know.

Actually, the roll that I want is to see if Blue hears stealthy motions of someone sneaking around.

Oh, SURE. Wait till I dismiss the spirit, why don't you?

OK, so here's the test. I'll set the target higher than 6 so I can get the re-rolls if necessary.

Perception INT4 ==> 4 dice: 2,1,14,1

In MitS, it doesn't specifically say, but I assume the minimum Drain target for summoning a Watcher Spirit is also 2. Is that correct?

That is how I take it, yes.

The usual rule on minimum targets applies.

in SR3, spirits are linked to their environment. So, if I summon a hearth spirit, it goes away if I step out the front door of my house. What if I astrally project while my meat body is in the house? Is it the meat body or the astral body that counts?

It's the astral body that counts.

Without it you couldn't summon the spirit of a burrito fart.

Figured that, but just checking. I need to work out how to guard my meat body when I am going solo. So far, only watcher spirits come to mind.

Well, Blue hasn't actually contacted Billy yet with the new burner phone, but we can fudge that.

There's nothing to fudge. You're dead right - but it doesn't matter. News travels.

What is the Oppidum and how does one dress for it?

It's the establishment where Blue got hired for the current job. See the description in the IC thread here

Rough location is : """The meet is at 22:30 on the patio at Oppidum Wine Merchants near Pioneer Square. """

Betty, we'll need a check of brains and legal nous on this one. Let's see a roll against a target number of 5.

Thanks, Koekepan!

What do I roll to make sense of that 90-page horror? Intelligence + Negotiation, perhaps?

Intelligence + Forensic Accounting - 2 will do the trick.