He was on yesterday in our other game here.

site is running clean again for a bit.

It might be the settings. But Dumpshock works much better on chrome the IE.

I use Firefox. Mixed bag, but pretty good right now.

The IPS Driver errors have been savage. I get through when I can.

Yes, Paul would love to sniff out nodes and not only provide Angel with a list, but if there were any identifiable markers or network identifiers, see whether he could figure out whether it was a coherent network or several ones.

Lately it just seems to either let me in clean (on Chrome) or not work at all, not so many of the IPS for some reason. Lately very clean here, and on my phone too. That probably makes it hard to keep track of stuff. I might just have Paul do a lot.

Yes, Bongo ensures that the apartment is secured before the team moves to another floor.

Do we want to speed up the pawn shop encounter, or are we happy to roll some dice? Either way works for me.

Well, rolling dice is how one can speed up an encounter by abstracting it.

But if thinking about it slows you down, just engaging in dialogue would be fine (though I suppose that can and probably should involve more dice rolls. That's always a tricky thing to balance. At a minimum, I do the thing where dice rolls can be used to prevent your characters from messing up.

You can also use a dice roll for ideas, which sometimes I've used to feed a char a tidbit they can work with. Anybody ever watch "Burn Notice" Most of his "face" stuff as I recall hinged on noticing details he could work with.




Also I'm somewhat struck with how limited Sprites are compared to agents. They undoubtedly can far exceed any agents capabilities and without a few of the agent's drawbacks. But they deplete so rapidly. Maybe I'm being too narrow with what a "remote task" can be scoped to. I guess there isn't anything actually preventing a Technomancer from buying agents like anybody else, though. So Sprits would be for when you need to pull out the big guns in the matrix. So maybe they should also get the -2 per active registered Sprite like magicians do for spirits.

Ah, Burn Notice. So many good ideas for SR. I wish I could get the episodes here to watch it all again.

It's on a few streaming services. They probably should have gone for a movie instead of the last few seasons.

But it does have some decent face work.

While there are time considerations, you could also help out in the clinic. That's a new of the advantages of this format over a video game.

If Willie wanted to hurry over, Paul and his van aren't built for chases or combat. Bongo could take over security for Lenny.

At a minimum, it could be an excuse for Willie to go fast on his motorcycle. Though now I'm forgetting exactly where he left it.

I had to go back to 4 May, 2025 to find the post! Willie sent his bike back to the garage. He would have to summon it. I'm not sure how long that would take.

Can you give a ballpark figure of how long it would take for the auto pilot to get the bike back to the tower, sunnyside?

You mean the safehouse? Google maps says 12 minutes, so let's go with that. Less if he'll let it override grid guide to speed or split lanes.

I don't think bikes can run on autopilot alone. Don't you need some kind of gyro-stabilization upgrade for that?

Bye
Thanee

Can the Pilot (admittedly only Rating 1 for a Suzuki Mirage) take care of that?

If not, then he was unable to send it home to the garage in the first place.

When I read this, I thought you were right. However, looking at the books, the motorcycle gyro stabilization mod doesn't make any mention of this, nor am I seeing anything about it in the pilot or vehicle sections. As far as I can tell, RAW, you don't need it. It seems it just works by turning the front wheel, and perhaps some very dynamic kickstands.

Paul will try to identify the bourbon drinker by visual search alone. It could easily be someone whose main squeeze is a secretary for the union, which would make a search tougher, but it gives the impression of a man on his day off.

Data Search on visual: 8d6t5 4

Actually, I think Willie and Paul can have some good conversations and interactions. I'm looking forward to it. And Willie hopes there will be more action out there than in the tower.

You know, back when I was fist playing Shadowrun in the late 90s I don't know that I'd have let that fly.

However, given the direction of things, that sounds entirely plausible, especially with some location metadata that Paul could sprinkle in.

Found it on page 103 "Note that motorcycles are not capable of driving themselves unless they have the gyro stabilization modification (p. 140)."

Bye
Thanee

OK. Well, then Willie simply left his machine parked nearby, hoping the theft prevention system is good enough.

Ugh. That is a dirty place to stick a rule like that. I'm particularly bothered because I have the anniversary edition. Which means they had already produced all the source books and, if they felt like they left that out of the main rulebook, they had a prime opportunity to put it in along with the other errata. It's tempting to ignore it.

How about half off (so 900) out of cash on hand, and it's retconned in. It gives a useful bonus even when Willie is driving, and I'll throw in one edge regenerated because you did have to spend one (granted in the last adventure) for staying on the bike.

That is where the PDFs come in handy... as you can search them.

Bye
Thanee

OK! Thanks, for the retcon and the EDG point. I'll update his stats. DONE.

I think we do have Bongo's Rover here, right, sunnyside? Tubesnake is in his vehicle. Willie has his bike. Yeah, we have a car!

Good. Thanee is remembering things.

I'm hoping Koekepan can reply soon. Though in terms of their driving, I think they'd be combining the Bad Luck disadvantage with -1 handling on a not so large pool in a quite expensive vehicle since the inside the pimped out in a technical sense. Willie may want to think about his bike. But it's up to you. You're relatively exposed on a bike of course.

The team to the north will have to wait a little on the Range Rover and then would need to get down there, which would take a while. Although they'd be well positioned to intercept if the other team goes North. While on the opposite side of the building, Willie and Bongo should have a solid chance at blocking off an attempt to get over the bridge to the south if they try and get there first, depending on what the other team comes out in. But Paul might presume that they needed to be able to haul a pair of large drones somehow.

Any chance you could give us a point in Google Maps to help us orient?

I think that I will, regretfully, have to bow out.


It's bad enough that I'm hoping that the forum will be stable for me while I'm typing this.

It's been fun, but the frustration factor for all concerned is too high.

I was just worrying about that, since we've been chatting about the forum is continually rough for you even when it runs clean for others.

It occured to me how important you are to the forum, since I believe you're the sole GM in the only other game here.


I feel like another game is useful to have because it keeps other players busy when I forget I was asked to provide some map details.

You've been a great and characterful player. I'm glad you joined up! Would you mind Paul hanging with the team like Lenny and Angel?

Sorry to hear that! You have certainly added a lot of fun to the game.

Bye
Thanee

Holy shit! Can we not move to a more stable platform? I more than most will miss you. Not just because you are a fun and interesting addition to this team, but you are the GM for the other game in which I play; in which at present I am the only one playing!

We have a vibrant game going on Myth Weavers in the Artifacts modules.

And elsewhere we might be able to find more players.

Not sure, either, how orientation works in astral space. We could look at a map first to help figure out where to go, and the park where the drone was is also a point of reference. That one should be no problem to find again.

Main question now is, how are we going to stop them?

Fiona could try and get into one of the cars, hoping that there is no mage or spirit in there, and influence the driver to slow down and stop the car.

Bye
Thanee

Hah! Willie knows how to stop them!

Have we exhausted initiative passes? If so, do we need to roll initiative?

Can Willie/Koekepan still see the sport car?

What orientation to our van are the other two cars at this point? Eg., pointing away, sideways, one behind the other?

Getting there required two full turns.

I actually used your edge roll on distance, a detail we'd have worked out in person.

So it could be appropriate to roll initiative, depending on what Willie does. Currently, people are either holding actions or driving, which makes the initiative order less relevant. Willie could, I suppose, decide whether to have the drivers side or passangers side facing the other vehicles depending on which way he went sideways.

He's got a clear view of the car, and a highly obscured view of the SUV past it. Distance is under 20 meters to the car.

Two turns would be about the time Fiona would need to "run" to the forest where the drone was. The "walking" speed is much lower. Might be worth it to "run" for part of another turn and then try to figure out where you are relative to the other vehicles and then try and orient and locate them.

I'm thinking this would be a matter of navigation rolls by Fiona with Selenia helping (though she'd be vital as the team moves).

I'd have to think on thresholds, but another factor is if they're maintaining some stealth, or going up like a clay pigeon for a good view of the land below.

Not even sure, the books have any rules about finding a physical location astrally.

I can check later when I am home.

Having a look at a (digital) map before heading back to the park should help a bit with orientation. And then the fast-moving cars are the biggest hint to look out for, I suppose.

Bye
Thanee

Alright, then, I think I need to roll for Initiative to see if Willie can act before the opposing vehicles move farther away.

Initiative: 14 dice: 3 hits. ==> 17.

Pffft. One might say an almost 'pedestrian' roll.

I don't think there are specific rules. Just basic descriptions that they have to slow to walking to really perceive the world in any detail, they can't read street signs and the like, and landmarks are going to be essentially camouflaged in grey (I guess unless there's something prominent in the astral.) There aren't so many vehicles, out, so not being able to see the paint should be mitigated by that.

Navigation reads like the general skill to use. They have very little on it, mostly just leaving it to the GM to wing it based on whatever is going on and choices like being stealthy or not.

Something like showing a map ahead of time would be helpful, and Selina would understand enough to potentially have done that, and I was sort of imagining something like that happening.

Right, even if they're holding actions, movement still happens. got in my head he was just getting his gun in position, but I think he might have been brandishing it much more. They might have missed that in the dark and I won't edit things.

Hmmm. I keep forgetting that virtual initiative really doesn't have anything over meat initiative even if you get cheap extra passes. Willie still goes first.

So, I'm sure Willie is accomplished at trying to shoot out tires, but I don't know what dice pool modifier to apply for a called shot trying to shoot out a tire on a moving vehicle.

What is your opinion, sunnyside?

Pretty sure it's in there somewhere as a called shot. Partial cover from the vehicle, and it's moving. At least you're stationary now.

I think they might be fuzzy on how much damage you have to do.

Oh, dear. DS acting up again.

Yeah, it's in as an example of a called shot, but they don't give a dice pool modifier for the shot. Willie is contemplating shooting out one or more tire on the sport car (he figures the boss is in that). Neither pg. 161 nor p. 171 give a called shot modifier for this action specifically. Nearest I can guess is "Target an area not protected by armor." So, take off as may dice as the vehicle has armor and don't count armour in the damage resistance test. Not sure that makes sense in all cases, though. Are tires on an armoured Brinks truck that much harder to hit than ones on a race car? And, what part of the vehicles Body is a tire?

"Knock something out of the target's grasp" for a -4?

I figure a -4 can't be all that far off.

The forum had been doing so well.

The -4 gets used pretty broadly and seems appropriate for typical tires. The armor doesn't (generally) particularly cover the tires.

I feel like I remember reading somewhere that a blown out tire also requires a crash test in addition to the -2. I guess if the rules isn't there that might be on he table within the bounds of "GM determines the effect based on the DV". Maybe a tiny leak you can just deal with but a blowout and you roll at -2.

Or more if you get more tires, you could ask Paul to use the rifle drone. Even the rifle drones aren't so combat optimized though.

I'd assume he'd be upset about his equipment being in the firing line though.

Combat is probably easier to spot on the astral as well. Though not nearly as well as IRL since you can't "hear. "

P. 171 shows the -2 for vehicle tests per blown tire. P. 170 says that, similar to knockdown, a vehicle that takes BOD damage in a single attack has to make a crash test. Now, it isn't clear whether two shots of SA or Burst fire from one assailant count as one single attack or two separate attacks, neither in the Knockdown rules (p. 160) or the Crashing rules (p. 170). I've GMed "two taps to centre mass" as a single attack but that's up to you.

If Willie were to shoot at two tires in one IP to give the vehicle -4 on vehicle tests, I would figure that is two separate attacks, but if he blasted it all into one tire, I could see the damage to tire and rims etc. as being able to combine. Or just ripping all the rubber off at once would be hard to handle.

The 3K has BOD of 10, so that would require Willie to do 10 DV to the tire. Hmm. A full burst circumvents the two shots/one shot issue. +9 DV at -9 dice pool, modified by recoil compensation.

Willie has 8 recoil compensation for full burst fire, not counting a possible "player-whines-for-a-bonus" bonus for being braced on the door frame. That leaves another -1 to add to the -4 for shooting at the tire. He has 15 dice for shooting his SMG, so that would drop to 10 dice. Oh, and range takes another -1, leaving 9 dice. Willie has vision magnification, but that would take a Simple Action to activate, and he doesn't want to wait for the next IP.

This matters to Willie's self image so he will use EDG. That makes 13 dice with exploding 6s.

SMG full burst 14DV; 13 dice exploding 6s:4 hits with three 6s
reroll the 6s: 3 dice: 0 hits Well, shit.

Total: 4 hits 14DV
1 remaining EDG point.

Hey, We're back!

I'll look over this later, but is Willie saying (well shouting) anything? I inclined to treat the tires as somewhat separate from the body of the vehicle in the general sense, especially if focused on. Maybe looking up the rules for damaging structural materials. Large damage to the tires might destroy them. But the vehicle could in principle be wholly restored with a tire change, as opposed to blowing up from damage.

The reason for shouting might be if Willie isn't exactly trying to escalate. He could have just attempted to wreck their car but he didn't.

Also I checked in on the other game thinking Koekepan might have cole back. I guess not.

But did you just turn your character into a member of the Green Lantern Corps and end the game?

Well, it probably would have made sense to shout something, but I didn't think of that, and a full burst of SMG fire surely would be loud enough to drown out even Willie's voice. I don't know how fair it is to retro-fit a shout before the shooting started. "Stop where you are! BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA."

If the sport car is forced to do a vehicle test, (Willie hopes so), then maybe it would crash into the other vehicle, stopping both of them. Willie doesn't really want a firefight but he doesn't know what else to do to slow down the escape of people who might be full of answers.

Chances are the occupants of the sport car will try to pile into the van and carry on. That vehicle might be easier for Willie-driven van plus Bongo-driven van plus Ally Spirit to trap and hold for questioning.

######

Yeah, I figured Blue's run was over because Koekepan has bolted, so I had some fun. Too bad, because I had just figured out something cool that works in SR3 but not in SR4. I really wanted to test it.

and I'm sorry to see Koekepan go. They had played/GMed in a few campaigns in which I played, and was entertaining in all.

Well, still a good use of Karma. You'd have missed entirely without that last hit.