Speaking of which, Bongo's Edge was at 4 out of 6 at the end of the run. Does Edge refresh at the end of a run or at the beginning of the next one?

Damn! That must be one of the worst rolls I have ever seen!

Bye
Thanee

I'll stick with "Edge refreshes when the GM thinks to mention it." This is a good thing for Bongo.

I do tend to do at the start of the next.

OK. Got it.

Look! It's ... it's a tubesnake!

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/5cGYtXRAZ7...mibextid=oFDknk

Just wait until you see the agony spiders...

@Thanee

Let me know if you're waiting on anything form me.

Otherwise you could either do something with the apartment, etc, or could skip to going to Gatsby's with Mike.

No, not waiting on anything. Don't think there is anything else to do with the apartment at the moment. That's not happening within a day or two. Will post something about getting to Gatsby's soon.

Bye
Thanee

You like squiggly, icky shit like that don't you?

I also like kittycats!

Was it just me or was this forum down for a few days? I really thought this game was done for.

Definitely not just you.

The website was down for a couple days. I have no idea what happened, but it wasn't the first time (something like this happened at least once or twice in the past).

Bye
Thanee

Boy, that's one long hug with Rose!

Just in case it was confusing with us editing our posts, the balls in your court there.


Same with Thanee. However you could request me to do something, like a call from Mike or somesuch, if that would help keep things moving.

Though I think Willie is getting near to done. So another option is waiting and glossing things over.

In that case you all might want to make some decisions about karma spends, or perhaps dedicating legwork and some nuyen to getting groups or gear.

I will say if you like taking atypical approaches to things, you all might do well to have some silent and less lethal options at your disposal.

Huh. Don't know how I missed it. But, there it is. I'll catch up.

As I understand it, the night time fun Willie is having is the same night during which Bongo et al rescued the girls. So, his thread is a good half day behind the crew back in Baltimore.

Is that correct? if so, I'll hold off Bongo trying to get a hold of Willie from the bar where Bongo is with Rose.

Yeah, Willie is out of synch. The exact times of the rest are currently blurry, but not so far beyond the last job.

I've been dropping colors due to being tight on time. Though I like << >> quotes versus " " to delineate audible speech and coms/subvocals.

I'll get back to the conventions as speech gets more complex or I get more time.

At this point, Paul will wrap up the scheduled work - shouldn't take more than the rest of the day assuming that the supply deliveries all happen. Semi-automated welding doesn't take that long, patching doesn't take that long, the straps just need assembly and the scaffolding just needs assembly, so the rest is a hatch fabrication and fitting.

After that, he'd try to make the case to Enzo that if he wants his enterprise to continue, it can't continue the way that it is, and that the smart option is to create a different access path that can be monitored and hidden on demand. Where it goes from there largely depends on Enzo, but at least that's viable.

For Selina, Mike would gladly pick her up if she'd want to go that route, maybe moving a little away from the safehouse like Bongo, but still where the Boyz can keep an eye on her.

Which they would do...free of charge and without having to ask!

She could also get a cab. They don't just drive around, but it's close enough to the L they'll come for a job at reasonable hours. More expensive services, like what Mike uses, operate over wider hours and ranges.

-----------------

For Paul

Just to be clear the old timer now expects Paul to start filling the space in and blocking he hatch. It doesn't mean Paul has to. He could just do what he described to Enzo, maybe do the subterfuge fake "repairs" down the line too, and then try to talk to Enzo.

It sounds like something like that is what you mean. But I wanted to make sure I was following.

She prefers to keep the safehouse location (or vincinity) under wraps, so a cab is the better route here.

Once she has her apartment, things will be different, of course.

Bye
Thanee

Again, just to make sure, when enzo gets back after eating out, everything should look like it's coming along as he would expect right? He doesn't have a great bead on how long things should take, and he was worried the guys he thought it was distracting with a long lunch might have been up to something behind his back, so progress would put him in a good mood.

Yup, scaffolding in the early stages of installation, bullet and shrapnel holes being welded and patched and scraped up, strapping on the pipes. It will look just as discussed.

FYI going on another trip. I might miss a few days, and if I do reply it'll be what I can thumb out.

Ok, I'm back. Barely. I really thought I'd have more time for some phone posts in there, but no.

Happy to merge Willie into the main thread. I get the sense that Lenny and Flatline are your NPCs now. Is that so?

And, I am starting to think how to spend karma and nuyen for Willie.

I'm not sure how much I'll use Lenny and Flatline in the future. I might make them regulars since I've bothered with them.

In any case a streetdock with mojo is a good contact. And Lenny might be solid backup if anything happens to angel.

I'll go with whatever way you decide. I will make one stab at a countering view.

From the description of the mechanics, particularly about perception tests being affected, I had thought the perceiver(s) would be focused on the performance. If it is more the way you suggest above, then it would be difficult for an artist to do their thing in conjunction with others. Their performances would suffer. I believe sometime earlier we had talked about Bongo doing such a performance on a run, and we had decided that those who had been warned ahead of time would be able to resist the effect.

Does that make sense to you?

I think the distinction is they have to avoid becoming the audience. That actually makes it work RAW. If someone is forewarned to avoid getting sucked in, especially if they have a potentially life or death task to do, I'm assuming they can manage. At worst an easy will roll.

That also means if there's someone sufficiently focused on something else within earshot they might not get sucked in. Most people wouldn't know the potential risk to just stopping a while to listen, but if somebody was diffusing a bomb with a timer counting down they should have a decent chance of staying on task without penalty.

The ability doesn't talk about people stopping tasks, because I think it's presumed an "audience" isn't actively doing something else but are instead paying attention to whatever it is. But maybe somebody walking along could keep walking while paying attention and just have the risk of walking into a fountain due to not paying enough attention.

In any case Rose was actively trying to get into the groove. I also presume the audience isn't zonked out exactly, but is overly paying attention to the performance. As in they'd remember it in detail. They just might not remember anything else happening at the time.

Got it. Thanks.

Not sure how to respond to Willie's post. Maybe you just need a bit to decide on things. There isn't a requirement to do stuff, especially since you have two characters.

Yes, I need some time to think about what Willie wants.

I see your point about the magic affecting Bongo's movements. However, I'm a little scared of this.

It could turn into an analogue of Anchoring, where Bongo leaves audio recordings to ensnare / slow down / distract at a distance. These could be activated by a mechanical booby trap or by Angel electronically. This seems like a power multiplier to me. Imagine a recording of a performance in which he uses Edge to get 10+ hits. In off time, use up left over Edge to keep trying till he gets one that is 15 or more hits. Then have infinite copies of it. Have Angel seed the intercom system of a facility that feeds the audio to the whole building. For CHA =6 X 10 = 60 minutes, everybody in the building gets 15 - "a couple of hits" = 13 dice off their Perception rolls. That would bring even someone like Bongo to near zero!

I'll take it if you give it, and I'll use it as well as I can.

In that line of thought, however, limiting the effect to metahumans might be too limiting. I am thinking of the snake charmers in India who mesmerize their pets with music. Or the way some male spiders calm the female at the center of her web with rhythmic plucking of the strands of the web.

There is a simplifying aspect to interpreting it as simple magic. I could easily see a GM ruling that it's a magical whammy on everybody with LOS like some other effects. It really isn't worded that way, but it avoids essentially figuring out house rules for efficacy through other media. I have a hunch it didn't get playtested much.


In terms of letting it work through other media there are still the aspects that it requires an essentially voluntary audience, only affects perception tests, and has explicit stuff about breaking out of it. It isn't useful as some kind of musical flash bang.

Also I'm inclined to use some of the limits you see in some other rules in limiting efficacy based on what something has to operate through. For example language skills or various hardware capabilities. Since I wouldn't want separate rolls it makes more sense to limit hits than pools.

Audio in particular would carry a smaller portion of the effect. Maybe a two hit limit for that? Ramping up to bigger numbers as you get closer to VR. Maybe a standard 1-6 threshold ramp, which is what most of the game is based around, and then higher numbers for exceptional cases like a Las Vegas sphere type venue or an ultraviolet host or whatever those are called in this edition? Getting the full effects of dice going crazy would have to be in person. Sometimes you do just have to be there.

How does that hit people?

Magic and electronic do not usually mesh very well in Shadowrun.

Bye
Thanee

I would also dull the range in terms of background count, at the least. As stated, I think that everyone in line of sight is a bit much.

In Bongo's case, it is explicitly auditory, so line of sight might be too much. The description makes the Power too broad, as it applies to the whole Artisan Skill, and that in turn subsumes everything from music to carpentry. I limited Bongo to Percussion, so as not to abuse the Power.

Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines as Thanee, that magic and tech are like water and oil. I see sunnyside's point about the magic affecting Bongo directly and the audience indirectly, which then would allow his improved performance to be recorded.

I would vote that the 'audience' has to be present to the performance, not separated by tech. It might seem trivial, but my last post only scratched the surface of the evil ways I could think of to use this Power.

Maybe I am just overcautious because of the bad experience with Quick Willie in the previous campaign. One small change, in that case to make the GMs life less complicated, pretty much ruined the game.

I think with the device limits it wouldn't be that much of an issue. But for a power like that I can defer to the "it's magic" option.

In that case I may cut even more slack in terms of Bongo being able to put the whammy on people.

In that case you could make an IC post responding to the holo just having the performance without the extra.

Coming back to this, it occurs to me that's the first time I've ever heard of someone breaking the game with a non-magical character. Sometimes on day one a sammie can be the star. But it doesn't take long for the mages to learn how to compensate.

Granted that issue was because of a house rule, quite contrary to RAW. I'm surprised they didn't just revert back, unless the whole point of the game was to experiment with the mechanic.

Yeah, I don't know why the campaign ended so abruptly. They do, sometimes.

So, I think Willie needs to study a bit before he can pick up his first level of Leadership, but practising to build up his Blades skill should work. I would like to spend 8 karma points to build his Blades Skill from 3 to 4.

I wish I could do more with Thanee, but I think folks are starting to get close to moving onto the next mission?

By forum etiquette should I make a new thread?

That's why he chose the HK, not the AK. The HK is undetectable by magnetic detectors.

I think you can just carry on in the IC thread with a new run.

Can this happen before the next run?

I don't think there is any "etiquette" about this, but it might be better simply for keeping things a little more cohesive.

Bye
Thanee

Sorry for the delay. The whole area lost internet last night.



Yes. That won't be a problem.

Does it look like one of the spirits is guarding the entrance (i.e. looking away from the door), while the other is with the crowd that is getting inside (i.e. facing the door)?

Bye
Thanee

I figure 9 dice in a pool - 5 from Logic, and 4 from his mechanic group, doing industrial mechanic skill.

Fabricating the hatch: 9d6o6 63

Results 9d6o6: 63 9d6o6=19, 17, 11, 1, 3, 5, 2, 1, 4

This is akin to any pressure vessel inspection hatch; fitted hatch panel, and dogs/bolts to hold it in place. A pretty standard outcome.

Thanks.

If it's correct we're getting to the next adventure it'd be good for other folks to put in for what you'd want to get in terms of gear or karma spending.

I guess initiation can get a bit more complicated.

Luckily, initiation is too expensive at the moment.

I guess, the first step should be finding a magical group, anyways.

Other than that, Selina might raise her Perception and/or Assensing a little bit. Maybe learn a new spell.

She also has some binding materials, so she probably would spend some time using those.

How are we going about Edge used outside of run? i.e. would Edge we spend now during downtime (it does make a lot of sense to use Edge on binding) be back at the start of the next run?

Bye
Thanee