I had also presumed that the earlier rolls had covered all the rooms. I'll add an IC post about continuing the search.

Tamarind got 9 hits and that's jolly good. Mato can reliably buy 4 hits for any given sense (vision, hearing, scent) on his own, and can get to 5 if each of the others can contribute a Teamwork die.

He'll continue to use all his sensors (like his radar sensors) as he progresses through the unit.

If it's important to roll the rooms separately then we can do that but I'm trying to avoid 8 rooms * 3 Perception rolls per room = 24 rolls.

Never mind, I hadn't caught up on the IC yet, and my question is moot now.

Initiative 9

Bye
Thanee

baypassing ward: 11d6t5 4
baypassing ward (reroll): 7d6t5 3
baypassing ward (resist): 20d6t5 8
the peaceful attempt fails, so she just walks out, letting the spell intersect with the ward.
resist 2: 20d6t5 7 - the ward
intersection: 16d6t5 8 - the spell
The ward collapses (I think it would come back in a combat turn), and the spell is intact.

I asked quite a few times if you move into other rooms or just look - and since the drone swarm went around to scout, we arrive at the current situation.

Taking down the ward might have bad consequences though...

Everyone please roll initiative, so I get a sense of who does what in what order.

Edit: i.e I need a roll from beta

Trouble: initiative: 10+3d6 20

So, what now? If it goes outside of the apartment, we cannot outrun it.

Bye
Thanee

Well, Jack was kind enough to assume we just stand at the entrance rather than hang around the apartment and try to observe things and likely triggering his trap

Over summoning an equally powerful spirit may be an option if we must fight - perhaps an influence spell 'these are not the droids you are looking for' style but against 20 dice resistance, it is far from guaranteed.

I'm also assuming that Rachel is just outside the apartment, so she can react

Common knowledge about Plant Spirits: they have counter spelling

Yeah, I know they have Magical Guard. Spells just won't work here.

And, yes, Rachel is still outside, she didn't get back into the apartment (as she was thinking about maybe talk to the neighbors).

I was thinking about summoning a big spirit. That would probably work with Edge on the Drain Resistance (if dice are not totally out of balance), but with the 9 Initiative, there is only one action, so... can't give it a command this round, anyways.

Does she even know what is going on, though?

Bye
Thanee

Yeah, the materialized spirit becomes pretty obvious as it grows.

I forgot the second die on the first roll, adding it with another roll:
init: 15+1d6 17
the other d6: 1d6 4

Total init is 21.

And sorry that I IC'd Tamarind out of init order yesterday -- the way that the growth of the spirit was written I mis-interpreted as it all taking a bit, as opposed to creative license for describing such a huge spirit.

For the record, I have no objection to the sequence of events. It's all fair play as far as I'm concerned.

Are we progressing through the initiative order? Is the spirit materializing at 26, so Mato and Tamarind should go at 21? I know some actions have been declared for CT1 IP1 already, like AM exiting the ward and Raven popping her Jazz.

(I'm looking forward to Raven RPing as "jumpy and hyper as caffeinated two-year-olds.")

Yes 26 is materialization time.
Afterwards it's action in sequence - otherwise it's hard to know when the ward comes down

Oh sorry for making such a mess with the order. (or with the game).

It's alright
I just don't want to accidentally wipe the team - though I thought I gave enough hints about this trap😅
I am assuming that anyone who doesn't explicitly post an action will go for sprinting to get as much distance to the flat as possible.

Wiping out the team? Wow... I did not even think we were in physical danger. I guess the Third is not such a normal person.

Edit added later:
Trouble's actions: Init 20 uses psychokinesis spirit power (with edge)
Psycokinesis: 10d6t5 2
Psycokinesis: 8d6t5 2

so he has an agility 4/strength 4 psychic ability.


Init 10: He would avoid the astral gateway and drag AM outside of the gateway.

Why would anyone be forced to project?

All the Astral Gateway power does is making things dual-natured and allowing mundanes to project.

Is Rachel even inside the area (it is LOS, after all)? The spirit might not actually see her, yet. She should be something like 1-2 stories downstairs (she ran 12m on the first pass).


Anyways... I guess the only way to defeat this thing (because running away simply won't help) is to summon a really big spirit that actually has a chance of bringing it down.

Bye
Thanee

More precisely, if you are dragged into the rift you'll be forced to project:


p.28 SG
ASTRAL RIFTS
Astral rifts are spots where the barrier between the
metaplanes have thinned, allowing a bridge between
them. This rift allows Awakened and mundanes alike to
astrally project and cross over to that particular meta-
plane. Uninitiated magicians can travel without being
stopped by the Dweller on the Threshold. Not all of
them are stable, so if the rift closes, an Awakened indi-
vidual must find another way back. Note that Awakened
individuals can stay on the metaplane without worry of
ceasing to exist. Mundanes, however, are bound to the
astral rift and must use it to get back to their body. If
their body is removed from the rift area or it closes, the
person risks fading off into oblivion in hours equal to
their Essence stat.


I'm imagining an open central staircase where you can see from the top down to the ground floor.

You have to decide where to go to not be dragged further into the rift.

All it says is "allows to" or "can". It's all voluntary.



I guess the safest place within reach right now is in the corner right underneath the apartment door, just two stories down.

Either way, Rachel won't be able to do anything else until next turn.

Bye
Thanee

The implication of SR lore is that astral rifts can and will drag you out of your body and into the metaplanes. If just saying no was enough, they wouldn't be such a huge deal like the Watergate rift.

Well, maybe there are different kinds of rifts, some that are more like a vortex and some that are more like a gateway.

But I see where you are coming from there.

It's just very, very different from how I envision that power.

Bye
Thanee

.

BTW, SR4 actually has more details on that stuff (Street Magic p. 116 "Deep Rifts"). SR5 does not seem to have much on those, though.

Bye
Thanee

To be clear - you are not pulled actively by the rift at the moment - that job belongs to the spirit that called it up. But if you touch it, you will be projecting, since your body stays on this plane of existence.

The despription for Tamarind and Mato was more about becoming dual natured and on the verge of leaving their body if they aren't careful.

Yeah, all good. Hopefully, we can somehow get out of this mess.

Bye
Thanee

Initiative 6: AM would try to speak to the spirit and get its attention, perhaps buying us a bit of time.

wait, I can't just shut the door and hold it closed?

Well, you certainly can try - it's a robust door with 8 Structure and 16 armor, but that means you are right there behind it when the spirit breaks it down, and moves over you.

I'll wait to see what happens then and possibly roll back - because the way I read it we're all astral projecting with limp bodies.

Not yet, at the moment you are all dual natured. If the spirit grabs you and pulls you into the rift, you'll be forced to project

Alright, there is no need to drag AM, I'll roll back.


PS Which door does Tec suggest we close?

Oh, back at Initiative 21 had thought about whether the door to the work room could be closed. That would eat up the spirit's action economy a bit. If it's forced to spend a Simple Action on opening (or obliterating) the door then that prevents it from using Complex Actions. Or, metagaming a bit since the spirit has already declared its Initiative 16 action, it would push the Astral Gateway back to Initiative 6 and buy us an initiative pass to further develop our response.

(The true prize might be delaying the spirit until CT2, at which point the disrupted mana barrier snaps back into place and potentially contains it, but Mato wouldn't understand that.)

So, given that, I imagine Mato running at 21. In my head I had him scooping up AM with one arm to race her out of there, but she's now bigger than he is so I'm not sure that works anymore, mechanically or narratively.

Thinking creatively, I could have Mato grab AM and leap out the window, trusting in his hydraulic jacks to absorb the shock of the fall. But that doesn't help Rachel and I'm not sure that the drop is a significant impediment to the spirit's plans either, since Astral Gateway is an LOS(A) power.

AM would go with anything Mato suggests/do. Feel free to narrate it as you wish. Listening to the less emotional friend that can run as fast as a car in such a stressful situation seems natural to her.

Maybe it would be a good idea to put things in order...

Combat Turn 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26 Plant Spirit Materialize
21 Mato Run outside with AM in tow
21 Tamarind Run outside
20 Trouble Materialize at ground floor
15 AM Try to get through Ward, then just run through
09 Raven Use Jazz (Initiative changes to 16) and run downstairs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16 Plant Spirit Create Astral Gateway
11 Mato Run downstairs
11 Tamarind Command Drone and get downstairs
10 Trouble Use Psychokinesis
06 Raven Summon Air Spirit
05 AM Try to reason with the spirit
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 Air Spirit Full Defense
06 Plant Spirit Attack Air Spirit
01 Mato Run further with AM in tow
01 Tamarind Get Fly-Spy out
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
02 Air Spirit -

Bye
Thanee

Trouble would materialize at the bottom of the stairs at first pass and then use psychokinesis to distract/or open close doors depending on opportunities.

AM second action would be to try to directly ask the spirit about its bindings expressing sympathy to the humiliation of a greater spirit being used as a trap.

Beta's post from my other game thread:

@Beta I am not sure how oepn Tam is to speaking to magical cats, but he can let the drone out.

Thank you, yes it got a bit confusing.
Basically we are in ini phase 2 right now.
Running away from the rift is a good idea, touching it is bad.

I'm currently waiting for gilga's IP post what AM says to the spirit.

I was waiting for Mato actually not wanting to post out of order.

Hmm... interesting. Who might it be they expected there? That "third party" mayhaps?

And that attack... 2 hits on 19 dice. Wow! Talk about pulling punches.

Spirit can go on full defense still (since he has nothing else to do with his actions).

Am I right to assume, that the spirit is also forced to be dual-natured (i.e. in this case automatically be materialized)? Seems a bit illogical, since the rift forces things into the astral direction. Or does it only affect things on the physical plane? Either way, doesn't really make a huge difference here, I guess.



If anyone still talking this turn needs some arguments:

We are actually not "intruders" (in a legal sense), since we have the right to be here by the owner of the place (we even have a key). Maybe that can make him not continue with his order. Obviously, these people are not the kind that are nice to spirits (so the spirit might be inclined to twist their words a little here; technically, he does not even need to).

Bye
Thanee

@Gilga thank you for rescuing my lost post! Also, was AM talking out loud, or astrally, to the spirit? (just wondering what Mato might have heard). also: nice job!

@Thanee: good speculations!

@Jack_Spade thank you for the initiative table. I think at 21 Tamarind was actually running out of the apartment (then paused at the top of the stairs and partially unzipped her bag, to let drones out if necessary). Then at 11 she would have commanded drones and run down the stairs.

At 1 she'll toss command a Flying Eye up out of her bag to hover in the stair well and feed her what is going on. I don't know quite how to convert running distance to how far she can get down stairs. But I'll hold her IC until we are all through the second pass.

Sorry for the delay. I have a deadline at work tomorrow so I can't spend as much time writing until the evening. Things should be clearer by Friday.

Raven makes a good point about whether or not we are intruders, although such subtleties may be too human in their distinctions.

As for the rolling, yeah that's 1st percentile rolling. Odds in the neighborhood of 1 out of 212.

Did we cover whether the signature of the spirit matches either of signature of the ward-creator or the magical lodge inside the apartment?

OOCly I'm curious about the effect of removing the spirit from the nasty background count. I'm unsure if that helps it or hurts it. I would think that it would feel somewhat liberated to be outside of those confines, but I suppose it's not out of the question that is aspected to that environment.

As for actions, I'll have Mato run because it's a reasonable course of action, and it's fairly clean and tidy way to fit the current action. During CT3 IP1, he'll see that the two spirits are fighting, so he'll grab AM and continue running.

Edit: it occurs to me that the air spirit might not have materialized yet. I now understand Thanee's question about whether the gateway forces it to materialize or not. For the purposes of my IC post I am going to presume "no", so that the combat is astral, and thus Mato has no real clue what's going on.

AM is talking loud.

@Tec also notices that Mato does see and hear the astral - so he may not understand exactly what he is seeing - but he knows about the action.

The Air Spirit is astral, but you all are dual natured right now, so you can see what the Plant Spirit attacks.

In any case, the bound spirit already shows an inclination to let you go by focusing on someone in his weight class. But a binding can't be broken just by a few words. It has to follow it's orders.

It leaving the flat would be a better point of contention to discuss...

The spirit's orders are also human...

It would be nice to know the exact orders.



Not yet, I think you need to spend a simple action to assense an aura.



I kinda doubt that the BGC there is aspected.



You still see what is going on, but it will probably be confusing to see astral space for the first time.

Bye
Thanee

Not suggesting that it should not follow its orders. More like following its orders to the letter (and thus making loopholes available).

But we do not know its exact orders.

Bye
Thanee

I have filled in my Initiative table above to the best of my understanding of what is happening.

So, are we just leaving then? Or do we try to find out more?

Next round, Rachel can at least assense the spirit, to see which signature is on it. I would definitely expect this one to be bound to Victoria, since she is the ritual conjurer (Invocation).

Bye
Thanee

There is the fog of war, so we do not have a coherent plan, but AM and Mato are disengaging. What comes next depends on the result of the spirit combat I assume.