A manifestation (not materialization) would not be recorded

Yeah, that would also work.

Bye
Thanee

We need to figure out what the relationship was between Victoria and the other passengers. I'm still not sure if the accident was 1) an assassination, or 2) a tragedy - somehow related to the ley line - that sent Victoria over the edge and onto her current trajectory.

They were her colleagues from the University.

The irrigation ditch is 30cm across, but how deep is it? Deep enough to crawl under (sideways), or would Mato need to split and peel the fence above it?

The duct is 30 cm across, the ditch is wider but doesn't get you on the property.

Sounds like the "bug spirit" (or other possession symbiosis) could be spot on. Surely, there is one that grants the host Regeneration (i.e. one of those great form plant spirits).

Bye
Thanee

So in the question of "was this an accident or an assassination" I'm leaning toward the former.

As an assassination, it wouldn't make much sense to put yourself in the car with your targets. There are easier ways to accomplish killing people than to put yourself in such a position of risk.

Her presence in the car, and her reported shock afterward, suggest that this was an accident that somehow changed her.

But changed her how? Did she save herself with her magical skills, but the tragedy broke her psyche, leading her down her current path (whatever that is)?

Or, here's an alternate theory: Victoria did die at the scene, but her body was promptly claimed by a shedim spirit that crawled out of the abandoned farm and followed the ley line to the accident. Their regeneration power could have healed her physical wounds. That might explain her initial shock, followed by her unwillingness to be examined by others, her aura of Fear (another of their spirit powers), and Lone Star's interest in her. I would have guessed that she's a master shedim, since they can tap the knowledge and memories of their hosts, but that's not strictly necessary. (Master shedim also have the Astral Gateway power, so summoning spirits with the X-T seems superfluous. So maybe she's a drone looking to summon a master shedim, or maybe she's a master looking for an alternative ritual to spread chaos and destruction in the physical plane.)

If anyone likes this theory, feel free to claim it ICly. Mato doesn't have the necessary knowledge skills to come up with that on his own.

1) Tamarind does matrix search on this odd farm: matrix search (farm): 10d6t5 5
2) I'm trying not to remember the farm from a previous game of Jack's. I'll just quietly babble in fear while trying to tell myself that really it should all be OK.
3) A few more high emotion days related to my son's friend's death. Funeral Thursday. I've been throwing my ShadowRun creativity into the games I run for him, as he's been craving that distraction. Burning months of saved up ideas to pull out the good stuff. Sorry that left me struggling to find much to say here.

Few thoughts: I was trying to make into an IC once AM has some thinking time.

1. something did happen in the accident; the woman at the hospital is not as the woman that was before. Either she made a deal with a devil (spirit pact) or she died, but that said she retained her memories and knowledge, she is still a ritual master, and so forth.

2. Tien 3 radically changed their behavior half a year ago, once he met Arione so perhaps the same thing happened to him.

3. The third amigo(forgot the name) may also be compromised - there was ample time in Boston for that kind of corruption, and he did help them in the ritual which only makes sense if there is no body left in the apartment.

4. They did not try to kill Gladius; they wanted to recruit him! There shouldn't have been a body left for a police murder investigation in the warehouse. No evidence of his demise (aside from perhaps a background count).

5. (4) also explains the spirit trap, Gladius would have been banished and something else would enter in his place. Likely the same something that is inside Arione and Tien the 3rd. Again, they did not want a dead body in their living room - they wanted to do it in a controlled environment where there would be no witnesses and no body afterward. (kind of like the warehouse).

AM would likely be more knowledgeable than myself on magical threats so she can offer the Shedim angel. I was thinking it could also be a hidden bug spirit hiding since the good old MITT da.

All the best to you and yours. Don't worry about it.

If you want to reread, it was the Texas Hold'em game.

And just in case you missed it: The Karen encounter I threw at you was only meant as a fun diversion - feel free to ignore the cat steeling bitch (Trouble can take care of itself)

That was what I was thinking... just give them the cat and see how much fun they are going to have with Trouble.

Bye
Thanee

Also, the matrix search provides you with the following info:

The farm has about 2 km² of extraterritorial land.
It's situation is the result of a border dispute between Texas and Azlan were both sides claim a different area based on two different treaties, that makes it so that this little piece of land is unclaimed.
Until six months ago, the farm was called La Vida Lopez. The owner, Maria Lopez, died around that time without anyone to claim the property.
It is currently in a sort of juristic limbo where no-one is allowed to enter until the ownership has been resolved.

There is a cryptic mention in a shadow forum that about a year ago some sort of run happened there, but no details given.

The Texas Hold'em Run is quite engraved in my memory, never fear! I'm "trying not to remember it" as in not let my knowledge from there inform anything here. (also: thanks to you and one of the other players in that game for getting me into The Laundry books).

Ah, sorry about forgetting about the cat stealers. I'd read that earlier but hadn't gotten myself together to repsond, then forgot about that part when I finally did write something. I'll edit my IC.

gilga, just to make sure we're on the same page:

Tien III is our client.

Tien IV is the target.

Yes, my bad. I will fix.

- Aha, Texas Holdem: I remember Ichante using the magic fingers in the kitchen to help Mis Lopez feed everyone. It was one of my favorite scenes; there was something so lively and vivid about it.

As much as I love a good fireball or a potent spirit, I must admit that the domestic applications of magic have become some of my favorite sources of RP. Maybe I'm just getting old!

In other news, 1 hit on 16 dice! Woof! That must sting.

So... Victoria might actually have died there.

And they are trying to get their buddies over here by using the XT.

Now IV could also be dead and possessed by a Shedim, which could also explain the excessive re-binding, if they cannot summon more spirits.

Or, he is being controlled in some other fashion and used for his summoning abilities.

Bye
Thanee

The story I tell myself is that Victoria was the one to explode the car with her friends still alive but out cold when she realized there is a Shedim waiting for her to die.

But why would she do that? Assuming, the Shedim is the evil force here, and not herself.

The Shedim could have possessed a dead animal and jumped in front of the car, or just manifested as Jack implied somewhere above, cooked the battery with its spell powers (or even Victorias after the possession). Victoria was thrown out of the car and died there. The Shedim took control of her and possessed her ever since. That sounds pretty doable to me.


Also... Regeneration does not heal Drain. Absolutely nothing does. And if IV is not dead and possessed, but controlled in some other way, he does not regenerate, anyways.

If IV has Magic 10, it is just stun damage, though. If he does not, and he did bind that spirit just recently, he should have a bunch of damage right now.

Bye
Thanee

There are ways to deal with drain - mainly centering and centering foci. But also refined and radical reagents can be used as an expensive way to reduce drain
If you are rich and well educated, you can get away with strong juju

I guess it is possible never tried going so high.

Had to pay some homage to the scooter ambush last game down this way!

Yep, you can mask spells and foci, and you can change some information about your aura.

But what you cannot do (at all, AFAIK) is to mask the fact whether or not you are astrally active.

Spirits are always astrally active, since that is their natural state (unlike magicians who need to astrally perceive or project in order to become astrally active).

That is why I thought there always has to be a second aura with Victoria...

However, since the vessel here is dead, the Shedim actually is Victoria's aura, right? Or would the dead body still have an aura? I guess not.

Bye
Thanee

That would be a rather obvious giveaway for any spirit.

I'm ruling that Shedim can hide their dualnature as well - otherwise a lot of other lore doesn't make sense - i.e. them appearing on the astral as mundane people.

I believe you are overestimating what masking can do.

You cannot make an astral form go away. You can only change the appearance of your aura.

The astral form is your tangible body in astral space. It also has your aura, but these are not one and the same.

Making your aura mundane while astrally active does not change the fact that you are astrally active (and thus have an astral form, which you only have while you are astrally active).

I really don't think it is possible by any means to be astrally active and appear not to be.

Bye
Thanee

Yes, absolutely!



I havn't read any of the stories with them, so no idea what they do there.

If you want to make their aura masking more special, so they can achieve these things, that is totally fine.

But there are some implications...

For example... can you still target / attack them in astral space, if they have no perceivable astral form? You should be able to.

Can you pass through them on the astral? You shouldn't be able to.

Bye
Thanee

As it's just an illusion, you still can hit them from the astral and not move through them.

Holiday weekend in the US so I'll be moving a bit slowly until Tuesday.

You need some seriously good rolls, though, to make barriers that do anything at all (at least when using the spells).

Bye
Thanee

Not for intersection - there only Force x2 vs. Magic +Charisma or Force x2 is considered.

Successes of the initial spellcasting don't come into it.

Mana barrier is unintentionally one of the strongest offensive spells in 5e I think, and also a very nice defensive spell. I'd have it in AM's sheet for next time, but I always wait for an IC reason to get specific spell.

Well, you have a few hours and a willing teacher in Gladius

If you allow it great. I thout it takes a few days which is why I did not offer it.

I see. Just re-read the part about mana barriers.

If I see that right, the "Barrier Rating" you get for net hits from casting the spell has no effect whatsoever. It is all based on Force, even structure and armor.

I guess, they meant the Force of the mana barrier you create with the spell to be that Barrier Rating in the spell description and not the Force of the spell, but that is not what they have written there.

Yep, looking at SR4A (the spell there says, that you create a mana barrier with a Force equal to the net hits), they just messed that up, apparantly, using the term "Barrier Rating" in the spell description, when it is only relevant for physical barriers. Changed it in one place, but not in the other. I suppose, they wanted to avoid the confusion of one spell having essentially two different Force ratings.

Bye
Thanee

Hits are still relevant if you want to bash the barrier down in astral combat or with magic weapons. But yes, the SR4A version was more precise on that.

Barriers can be moved? Don't think I have seen that before.

Bye
Thanee

I think you can anchor spells to an aura kind of like an invisibility spell. (but perhaps I am wrong feel me to smack me with the rule book or something.

P. 292 Core

STEP 7: DETERMINE
ONGOING EFFECTS
If you sustain the spell (that is, if you want the effect of a Sustained spell to continue), you take a –2 dice pool penalty to all tests while it is sustained. You can sustain multiple spells, but the –2 penalty is cumulative for each spell.
Area effect spells that are sustained can be moved as a Complex Action, provided that the spell area is in the magician’s line of sight. Characters that drop out of the affected area are no longer affected by the spell, while characters that are enveloped by the new affected area must defend against the spell accordingly.

One of the lesser known tricks

Ah, nice! Yeah, definitely didn't know that one before.

Bye
Thanee

A quick note on the moving of spells, it does not clarify if you specify a new area and the spell stops where it was and appears in the new spot, or if you specify the new area and it slides there. There are all sorts of shenanigans that depend on one or the other interpretation.

In my home game I ruled ends here/starts there, because I didn't want to deal with a barrier a kilometer down the highway in one direction sliding to a kilometer in the other direction, or using a barrier spell to fly on (although sustaining two barrier spells as horizontal wall still lets you walk arbitrarily far across the air, by moving them along stepwise, but at least it isn't virtually unlimited flying speed).

However when I've had this discussion online, I think more people preferred the slide from here to there interpretation.

I'll abide by whichever way we choose, and then suggest tricks appropriately.

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

Speaking of not clear. Per Rigger 5, the Crashcart medi-drone can open up most vehicles ... and uses 3x its body as its strength. Great, it has effectively 18 strength for opening up vehicles. But there are no rules that let you tear open vehicles using strength. If the 'jaws of life' had a DV=strength for the purpose of cutting open vehicles, that could make sense, but it is not written like that. I'm open to suggestions on how to rule it.

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

I don't recall us finding out about the farm owner? Maybe my memory is just bad, but here is a roll in case we hadn't done this yet.
matrix search on farm owner: 10d6t5 2

hmmm, not a particularly helpful roll

Alright, let's see how many barriers Gladius can create.



As for the movement of a spell: I prefer visible movement. Riding a barrier doesn't work though - the spell would slide out from under you as it's pretty much frictionless. As an elevator it does work though (though you'd still be better served with levitation).


For the Crash Cart: 18 strength translates to 18P damage, enough to get through most vehicles in one or two cuts, using the barrier rules (Armor+Body to resist, with Body boxes of damage for a 1m wide hole)

Ah, yes, also something I easily forget here... Drain is only physical for spellcasting when your hits exceed your Magic.

Bye
Thanee

27 drain dice is impressive, indeed. A centering foci? + initiation? (+ maxed stats and increase spells ofc)

I'm guessing Attribute + 4 for both drain attributes for 19 dice, plus maybe 4 dice from Centering and 4 dice from a Centering focus.

Edit: I don't know why I'm guessing; Gladius' sheet is on Obsidian Portal, which I still have bookmarked from four years ago.

What time do we figure we are at? (or more key: about how much time do we have before expected arrival?)

Sundown is around 1940h with dusk around half an hour before that. So you have now about 13 hours prep time.

The ditches are half a meter deep.

This is what Gladius predicted beforehand:


That's a little bit different than what's above in this thread.

From a very technical standpoint, dusk happens after sunset. I'm actually not aware of any term that covers the period right before sunset.

(One of the AI platforms just suggested "crepuscular" but that's incorrect. I guess Deus isn't quite ready for the big takeover yet.)

I wrote that prophecy before I looked up when actual sunset is at that time of year

Just consider the two hours between 1800h and 2000h to be the most likely time of arrival.