Defense: 9d6t5 3
Bobby also relies on his luck

Is the river shallow enough that a hippo could walk in it and shove the boat upstream while not sticking out too much?

In any case, now would be an excellent time for Trouble to use movement on our boat and its slow motor to get us out of Dodge

Shouldn't the stream take us out of suppressive fire zone? I mean the motor is weak but the river is quite fast isn't it?
What is the use of Movement? Without movement, we do not get a dodge roll?

If we move downstream we are getting closer to the gunfire, if we move upstream against the current they might lose sight of us. Increased speed would help us get away from the suppression faster.

How does movement work on vehicles? I thought it was meh... I don't mind trying ofc.

I guess we're not entirely in agreement about which direction we're heading.

I was thinking downstream because Beta implied that the electric motor isn't that strong, which I took to mean that it couldn't power us upstream against the current.

Bobby might have turned us around because he has plans of his own, namely pulling us upstream in animal form. A unique approach that I hadn't considered.

Hippos generally live in and around warm water. As I'm not a zoologist, I don't know how well they'd do with icy river water. But presumably Bobby could find some form that would work. A moose, a musk ox?

"Just taking my polar bear out for a walk, sir," Mato explained to the Salish guards as Bobby pulled the raft upstream using Brent's leash.

At the moment I'm only trying not to get shot - which is why I want us to get away from downstream
Polarbear should have enough strength and mass to pull the boat upriver, likewise a moose

Of course, if Mato can identify the shooter and take them out with the rifle, this is a whole different ballgame again.

Is it appropriate to call this situation "drekcreek without a paddle?"

The run ever after called "Drek Creek".

I should have given some perception mods -- I'll look up the rolls and take off the appropriate number of dice: -1 rain (it is getting lighter, the penalty is down to -1), -2 distance, low-light vision is at a further -3 (it is really dark, but not quite pitch black).

That leaves AM with 2 success, enough to see the muzzle-flashes and get a feel for where they are (about 500m downstream and to one side/ up a bit higher).

Mato took a action to look for the shooter, but I didn't see a dice roll?

============================

Bobby has a combat turn before the orc would be close enough to reach the raft.

============================

For a visual, the raft just came down something like the picture at the top of this link: https://www.aorafting.com/river/cal-salmon/welcome.htm You can see why it would be hard to motor up it.

I hadn't rolled Observe in Detail yet. Given Orokos' attitude toward me recently, I should just buy hits (rounding down) for everything. But we'll try it.

Mato has thermographic vision on his glasses so I'm going to guess that he's at a -1 for light instead of -3. We can drop hits if that's not correct.

Intuition 6 + Perception 5 + Vision specialization 2 + Vision Enhancement 3 - Rain 1 - Distance 2 - Light 1: 12d6t5 3 hits, yup still buying hits effectively

Actually, no, I forgot to drop dice for suppressive fire. That would drop the last two dice, which happen to be hits. SOOOO... 1 hit on 10 dice. Par for the course.

I've had cold streaks before but the last 19 rolls over 6.5 weeks have been a cold, cold one.

At this point I'm not even sure if I see the muzzle flashes. Which may not matter because I don't have Longarms and might as well be Sir Derps-A-Lot with this rifle.

Oh wow, 500 meters! I was surprised they have such a long line of sight - I figured we're in a canyon or something with trees, did not imagine such an open field kind of fighting.

The raft just arrived at a fairly long straight section. But yes another way to get cover would be to go to the military base side shore, there is no doubt enough wiggle in even this pretty straight part that by the time you were at the shore there would be trees in the way.

@Tecumseh that streak is so frustrating!
But the perception isn't quite as bad as you think-- with thermographic no penalty beyond range and rain. There are pretty good temperature differences in play. So two successes.

Is the suppressive fire continuing after the end of the round, or does Bobby drag us far enough away?

If the fire continues, Mato will take some Take Aim actions to add to his woeful dice pool for Longarms.

Beta, does the rifle have any modifications or features, like a scope?

@Tecumesh if you like we can help you with a few dice, (e.g., better agility or leadership/teamwork).

A Leadership test might be in order depending on the situation. I'll wait for clarification about whether Bobby has moved us out of range (or changed the angle sufficiently). If we're no longer under fire then it might make more sense to do something else, like patch the boat or bail water. But if we're going to be shot continuously then, yes, I'll return fire in an effort to save the boat if nothing else.

There was a turn of suppression fire, then it stopped, right when Bobby turned into a mammoth (correlation, not saying causation). Mato should have had time in there for a shot I'm sure. The gun is a nice one, gas powered hunting rifle in the core book (with smart link mod). I'm away from my books just now but will update this post with name when I get a chance. ( it is a lovely late summer evening for sitting on a bench and waiting for someone, but took the time to post at least this much)

Sounds like the Ruger 100/101. (Number varies depending on whether you're looking at the stat line or the item description).

Ruger 101: This futuristic-looking gas-operated sporting
rifle is the favorite weapon for many professional
hunters and hobbyists. It features a built-in imaging scope
and a rigid stock with shock pad.

Imaging scopes include vision magnification by default, which would help a lot in this situation since the range would be -3, which would probably stack with another -3 modifier to make a -6. But I'm guessing in this case there will be a series of -1 modifiers (light, wind, rain, etc.). I'll use the Take Aim to negate the range. I'll fire sooner than later (not taking more Take Aim actions) in case Bobby changes the angle or otherwise makes the machine gun untargetable.

I'll use a Semi-Auto Burst.

Shooty shoot: Agility 10 + Smartlink 2 - Defaulting 1 - Environment 3: 8d6t5 1 hit

Not sure if the suppressive fire penalty still applies or if Mato has an angle to shoot after it stops. If it applies... well... there goes the 1 hit.

More of the same from Orokos. I guess it doesn't bug me as much since I'm defaulting.

Need to go take care of the evening routine. I'll IC post later.

Yep, that is the gun, you beat me to it.

*Ping*

Is anyone waiting on someone else to do something?

I'm ready to continue as soon as I know if my move is effective or if the Merc is trying to cause trouble.

Sorry, yesterday was a day of disruptions and I didn't post as I'd intended. I'll make some time later today to catch up the IC from my side.

Mindlink F2: 14d6t5 4

Drain resist: 14d6t5 4

@gilga
It's been almost a week. How are things going for you?

@Beta
Let us know what works and what doesn't ICly. Not sure how much you want to play up Brent's condition or the cold or the current obstacles.

I am sick at home, hoping to get better soon. Are you eaiting on me?

@Gilga sorry you are sick. Speedy recovery!

@Tecumseh I'm will to let those things slide for the moment, after all it has likely been less than 30 seconds since Bobby went mammoth, things haven't changed too badly yet. Let's assume that Brent managed to pull on at least his sweatshirt before having to hang on while Bobby slung the raft onto his back. Pulling on soaking wet pants inside a raft draped over a mammoth's back might take a bit longer, but assume he's working on it.

I am better but doctors are terrible -- first, check if it is covid only then they would even examine you. By the time I did the covid test I figured it out for myself.

I hope you feel better soon!

I just had another GM disappear after saying they were "fighting sickness". That was 3.5 weeks ago and they haven't posted in any of their 3 games since...

Most of the time you assume sickness is a transitory thing, but these days it can mean something really different.

We've been at this for a few years and know each other to be consistent, attentive players. So, everyone, please update us how you're doing! I've had lots of players (and GMs) dip out unexpectedly over the years and you always hope that they're okay, even if they can't play anymore.

Just trying to say I care from a distance.

Signed,
Me
- Internet Stranger in Seattle

I'm sure you all remember Aria -- on the recovery from Covid. Apparently the online shadowrun community is all getting sick? (I'm doing fine, btw, although my son came down sick to his stomach while at work today, hopefully just a big of food poisoning and not something he's going to pass around the house -- or for that matter passed around work).

=========================

With AM staying quiet, and Bobby able to make noise but not intelligibly so, I guess it is up to Mato to handle negotiations of whatever sort? Or would you like me to take the next step in things?

=========================

This run is likely getting towards its end (although depending on how things play out it could easily go for another month, if say we get into a full on fight). Which has me trying to get back to doing the updates from last run for Jawsey ... and I'm still having a hard time feeling much enthusiasm. I'm not saying for sure what I'm going to want to do by the next full run, but I'd like to get people's opinions on bringing in a new character. Nothing firm on what I'd do yet -- I've been having a lot of fun here with drones and feel like a rigger/technician could be a good fit for the group, but I also have some rough thoughts on a geneware/bioware modded investigator-ish type for ages, that might work here too.

As part of that process I was reviewing the house rules, and I'd certainly forgotten some of them (artisan is replaced by knowledge skills, SMG's get a bonus point of recoil reduction, reduced cost on martial arts and adept ways). Anyway, one of them was an upgrade to machine guns, so just as well that none of the characters got hit (so far)! (Oh, also the presence of a piloting skill group would certainly help if I built a rigger)

@beta I am better thank you. Hope your son gets better soon. About a new character, I'd say play whatever you feel excited about.

Base Perception: Intuition 6 + Perception 5: 11d6t5 1 hit, the curse continues...
+ Vision Mods: Vision Enhancement 3 + Specialization 2: 5d6t5 1 hit, can lose 2 dice due to rain/environment without affecting the roll
+ Hearing mods: Audio Enhancement 2 + Specialization 2: 4d6t5 0 hits, sigh
+ Scent mods: Olfactory Boosters 4 + Specialization 2: 6d6t5 2 hits, can lose 2 dice due to environment without effect

Okay so that's 2 hits for vision, 1 hit for hearing, and 3 hits for scent. 6 hits on 26 dice, or 23%. Really can't seem to break out of this slump which is going on 2 months now.
_____________________________________________________________________________

As for a new character, the storyline I have in mind for the next chapter would make the most sense for characters that have a reasonably tight bond. I'm very much open to migrating characters or even consequential changes to existing characters but from a narrative perspective I'd ask Jawsey to have one last hurrah in Chapter 8 before trotting off into the sunset. If that's something you're OOCly interested in, the transition could potentially fit within the scope of Chapter 8. Urubia's offer to Jawsey still stands, if that would be of interest ICly. And that would keep Jawsey nearby in case he wants to make a reappearance, or even a significant evolution under Urubia's tutelage. Or that metamorphosis could even be happening off-screen right now during Chapter 7 if you really need a kick to get Jawsey out of bed for Chapter 8. Or if you really are done and want to waste Jawsey so that he never returns, there's a place in my Chapter to make that happen.

We could certainly use some drones, that's for sure, but I think a geneware/bioware investigator type sounds pretty fascinating. I'd like to see a draft of that, personally. I was trying to do something similar with Mato (with cyberware) but Orokos says no.

I generally play it that karma follows the player but not the nuyen. (Karma could still be converted to nuyen but I can't remember if we ever settled on a reasonable ratio.) That said I'm just one voice of four here so I'm open to differing opinions. In terms of nuyen, we've made about ¥65K so far not including any proceeds from Chapter 7.

Well, I'd certainly miss Jawsey, but if he doesn't make you happy...
I'd rather keep Beta than Jawsey 😉

I agree with Tecumseh: give Jawsey a good/memorable send-off.
If he recommends his replacement - even better.

Keep the Karma total and build a new char. Of course, Native American roots and a strong disposition to work as a private eye in a misfit outfit are a requirement.

And I think we kept the official exchange rate of 1Karma to 2000 Nuyen

My thought had also been something like carry over karma, but not nuyen or assigned points of knowledges, skills, or contacts.

I'd assumed Jawsey would be back for the interlude, but I could manage another run I think. Tentative plan was for him to go 'home' to help the Haida tribe try and recover the wrecked environment on Haida Gwaii. He hasn't lived there since he was a child, but the current visit awakens forgotten loyalties, or something like that.
Hopefully he helps clear out toxic spirits without becoming a toxic avenger! (I have plans to show the changes in him in the next interlude so I won't say more for now).

Power is out here while they take down a huge tree that is wedged between the electrical lines and a neighbour's house, and my work laptop's battery has run down, so I'm going to put up an IC post from my phone, and may be posting earlier than usual for a while longer today.

I would say don't carry over the contacts but do carry over the knowledge skill points. Those are flavor and I personally think they're hugely important to help define a character, especially the hobby/interest skills.

If you want to start drafting something then I would say let's keep talking about it openly. Depending on which way things go, there are points in Chapter 8 where a transition could make sense. But I'll definitely be curious to see what Jawsey looks like during the Interlude.

Sorry for not giving that quick reply I'd suggested I'd make today. After a bit I realized that I was a five minute walk from a library, where they had power and wifi, so I didn't have an excuse after all for sitting around watching tree removal and doing ShadowRun stuff.

===================

Per the house rules, the link just bought successes (it was rating 5, but that is still just two successes).

Stashing some rolls:
roll 1: 6d6t5 0
more stuff: 7d6t5 5

And sorry on the delayed response, had a sudden work scramble that ate my brain for a couple of days, but it is done for now.

I'm willing to see things start skipping forward more with narration at this point. There are plenty of things to close out, and opportunities for it to all end in tears, but I think we are out of tactical situation at this point.

Can't post tonight but I should be able to Saturday. Mato will relay communication between AM and Bobby. As for the ork, don't start no drek won't be no drek.

If we're past the dice rolling then I'm good fast-forwarding from here.

Dice rolling could happen still, but I'd say 'we are clear for now'

@Gilga
Is the idea that AM will levitate herself back to the car?

For reference, you've come about four kilometers downriver from the lodge (where you left your car). What the orc is telling you is that in less than another km downstream you can get off of the river (the military base ends and there is an access road) -- then again that would be roughly where the machine gun that was shooting at the team not long ago is positioned.

Up to you all on which way to go, individually or collectively. There are obvious plusses and minuses to either choice (cooperating with the kidnappers/not, going towards the machine guy / where there is not a machine gun, shorter route off the river but having to wait for your car to come to you vs longer time to get away from the river but right at your car), with complications that may be associated with those.

@Tecumesh yes, I think that the car cannot be remotely controlled because the noise is higher than its device rating so no wireless functionality (or wireless bonus?). Beta pictures this as a place with very little hope to do anything in matrix. Correct me if I am wrong.

Damn, I didn't think we went that far down the river.

But correct me if I'm wrong, isn't that one km down river also the direction the drones are coming from?

Marching 4 km upriver is going to take a very long time with the mammoth express.
So all in all, we probably have to brave the access road or we are going to get caught by more than just the drones.

Damn, I didn't think we went that far down the river.

But correct me if I'm wrong, isn't that one km down river also the direction the drones are coming from?

Marching 4 km upriver is going to take a very long time with the mammoth express.
So all in all, we probably have to brave the access road or we are going to get caught by more than just the drones.

@Jack_Spade You've only come about one km downstream from the island, but Mato survived a harrowing one-orc raft descent of a few kilometres of white water to reach the island (and we kind of hand-waved how long it would take AM to come that far from the vehicles, just to get the group back together before the kidnappers had vanished impossibly far downstream). Bobby had flown in from the downstream end, so he has can confirm the lower shore, cleared lands, and couple of roads along the one side of the river downstream a small distance from where they are now.

@Gilga: near the road where they left the vehicle, the static zone was rating 2 (i.e. noise 2) -- what AM consistently saw along the secondary roads as they approached the lodge. Down here along the river the noise was worse (there were essentially no matrix devices) but it has been improving (the kidnappers brought their devices online, and they set up a trail of drones to reach where more regular matrix activity resumes), so currently static zone 3, but by the time they reach the possible unloading point it will be a 2. And the rain has finally about stopped, removing that as a possible factor. Presumably the vehicle would face 2 all along the roads. I just can't remember where the rule is about device rating vs noise? (and I guess the team never upgraded the rating one pilot on the car?)

I do have a bit of a problem with the rules as written on device rating and noise, because for example a "sprawl downtown" is a rating 3 spam zone, and a commercial area of a sprawl is a rating 5 spam zone, so it seems that almost no cars could pilot themselves around large parts of the city, and cheap links would likewise be non-functional? Thoughts from others?

Alright, so AM can use her stealth to get to the road ahead of time, and if it is possible by rules/home rules whatever to move the car to the pickup point.

I agree with Beta that the RAW on device rating and noise don't make a lot of sense, especially when Device Rating 6 is "Bleeding Edge... Billion-nuyen experimental devices, space craft". (Except, you know, the Fairlight Caliban that's DR7 for a mere ¥8,000... take THAT billion-nuyen experiments.)

So basically nothing works at the Super Bowl w/o noise reduction of some sort? All those ¥3,000 Hermes Ikons are just paperweights? Who knows, maybe everyone at the Super Bowl has a data jack.

I don't have any issue massaging some of those rules.

Funny you mention it because mega-events are still a concern/problem in modern networks. We do alright when we know in advance and prepare the network.

About the game, I don't mind being able to move the car remotely (or not), and I do not mind that you'll need a very expensive car to pilot itself at the city center whereas all cars can cruise the outdoors. I'd say go with what fits with your vision of the SR world. I read that the first SR's did not even have wireless communication and it made sense to people.

I've handled the distinction between spam and null zones by allowing to use basic functions like calling and texting to function as long as they don't need a roll.
In a null zone there just is no signal, so no online functionality at all.
4e had the rule that you could drop toasters or whatever other devices along the way to set up a mesh network along the way.

That said: the autopilot does not need grid guide. As long as it does not have to roll it's probably fine maneuvering slowly with sensors and GPS

I came in at 2E so I couldn't say how it differs from 1E, but 2E had things like wrist phones, flip phones, and pocket secretaries. It made sense in the context of the early 90s because those were forward-looking versions of the tech available at the time.

They made the jump to wireless in 4E for two reasons:
1) they didn't want there to be a disconnect between modern-day tech (specifically smartphones) and future 2070s tech; and,
2) there was also a desire to get the decker out in the field with the rest of the group, to avoid the separate mini-game of hacking and better integrate it with what the rest of the team was doing.

The 1E-3E experience of the GM and decker spending an hour resolving the Matrix while everyone else orders pizza is 100% real and I experienced it myself multiple times.

I like the overall change and agree with the motivations behind it, although I think 4E and 5E Matrix rules left a lot to be desired. I'm told 6E is better but I haven't read the Matrix chapter in detail yet.

Sorry for the couple of days of no posts. Life got distracting.

1st and 2nd editions were basically the same in terms of matrix and gear, it was mostly a clean up of rules (although more supplements came out for 2nd edition). I only have the 2nd edition rules book, but I did play 1st and I'm pretty sure that it was largely 1.5e, same organization of the book and skills and gear, just tweaking.

Anyway, let's say that AM can reach the car through the matrix, that the car has downloaded the maps of the area (something it could do automatically), and follow those to the unloading point (it would have to circle around the military base, needing to travel about 15km road distance to get to the point 5km downstream).

If AM wants to go upriver to the car and get it herself that is fine. AM has a pretty good invisibility spell up that should resist being seen through by drones, and the kidnappers don't even realize that she is there, from what they have said (they have been treating Bobby as the mage). So she isn't too apt to be intercepted. The car can't really meet her part way; the river runs between that Salish-Sidhe military base and Aztechnology facility, which the car doesn't have permissions to cross. If she has 5m/turn base from levitation and gets movement from Trouble for x5, that is 25m/turn, or 500m/minute, so it would take her about 10 minutes to get there.

======================

Now to an important question: is AM maintaining the petrification spell on the opposition mage, or letting it go?

======================

For Bobby and Mato, will they go downstrea with the kidnappers? Head upstream?

AM would maintain the spell until we are back home, (or until she really trusts them) the guy is a mage with summoning skills after all.

Bobby turned already around, following the orc's instructions - he wants to get out of the water asap. All that is left, is to convince the mercenaries that they will be paid - only they have to wait a few more months. If we can swing that, there shouldn't be any more reason for them to be hostile (Of course they have to contend with the fact that our fee will be deducted from theirs)

Mato is hitching a ride on Bobby, so he's going wherever Bobby is going. If Bobby is going downriver then so is Mato.

Upriver would be preferable, but 4km upstream in a freezing river is too much.

I'm not sure we need to convince the mercs that they'll get paid. Convincing them that their Johnsons are dead might be sufficient. That said, Mato is still waiting on a reply from the ork about the work Brent's parents hired them for.