I hold that GMs get to pick when karma refreshes and it shouldn't always be entirely predictable. But in this particular case I'm refreshing Karma at the start of the next mission.

Should I roll something for this?

Any progress on the rating of that fake SIN Brewster provided?

I believe those were R4. If you are talking about the ones we all got in the beginning.

Bye
Thanee

Damn, how did he get there?!




Good question. I suppose they can, as they still follow the rules for summoned / bound spirits.

Bye
Thanee

That's what I remember. I'm worried some of that might be in PMs instead of here. One other detail is that common licenses like a drivers license are included.

For permits for things like magic and guns the myriad bureaucratic things are clustered and treated as one.(so you pay for one fake license for "firearms" or "magic" .

*sigh* I assure you Selina would notice if they really were the same people....

FYI for the gear Brewster can get it well enough in time. Some used to avoid markups, and Brewster gives a lower markup than typical. Still It's 3020 for two mags regular, two mags, APDS,cougar long (little used) and a memory blade new in box.


There is a roll for finding magical groups, but maybe I'll combine that with your search for musicians and Bongo finds very strong rumors about a magical group with a musical bent. They get in enough trouble that they keep a low profile somewhere in the tunnels of Federal Hill (literally an underground group). Tubesnake has some inroads there if Bongo thinks to ask him.

As for learning stuff... I think, I will just learn one new spell for now (Low-Light Cryptesthesia, extended range; Formula is 500¥ and 4R, which should be easy enough to come by).

Bye
Thanee

Oh, I figure a belt that can hide the memory blade would be good. I guess 17 nuyen should cover that and bring Quick Willie's current balance to a round number. Or 67?

I'll role play Bongo doing some research once he bids Rose goodbye for now.

Just to be clear that's technically using the spell design rules to apply a modification, and RAW would take months of using your arcane skill. Both that and the Crypthesthesia spell itself are in sections with a lot of "GM discretion" warnings and flags.

However I'd be willing to consider that a common enough spell and option to still fall under the main rulebook section you're using for that cost and availability.

Also I'm somewhat flattered and take it as a good sign when players opt for stuff like that. So that helps.

It's described as being able to be used that way. I think it's just a question of how fashionable a belt Bongo wants and how he wants to get ahold of the floppy handle. I'm sure he could get something for 17.

If I'm reading the roll right, Paul would have done a heck of a job hacking in 3rd edition. But still good quality work. I'm pretty sure he could wrangle some bonuses with technology. But Paul is played as eschewing a lot of that, so it's fine. I might give him a bonus sometime for "knowing" things other modern practitioners might not. Like someone who drives without using GPS might, except this would be in terms of the Baltimore pipes and such.



And with that I think I'm caught up on all dangling questions and replies.

Detection spells are special in that regard. The "extended range" modifier is a standard option there.








Really? It's just a clairvoyance spell with low-light (I suppose, you could take some crazier senses there, though). Doesn't seem that wild. Although, clairvoyance spells are very useful, obviously.


Bye
Thanee

That roll gives him four successes - I just used the usual Shadowrun roll template which might be outdated. In any case, that should be enough for a workmanlike job, with an
inner flange mating with the outer on a sealing gasket that then locks in place with dogs all around the perimeter. Tight as a nut.

FYI some info on Federal Hill, and an angle Tubesnake could potentially use, are in:

http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...t&p=1368535




Well, that's why I was fine assuming it was simply available the same as basic rulebook spells.

While not the original intent, I think this in between runs stuff will merit little karma once we get through it. But you'll have to wait till next time to spend it.

The van is mostly industrial white, more notable for things like the racks for ladders and pipes than any particular markings. There are union stickers on the back, but not any huge fancy vinyls or adhesive displays. The back is all solid panels, but there are clear windows in the front, give or take ordinary anti-glare coatings and a fine layer of grit.

So, I thought I would toss a few ideas out for your consideration, sunnyside now, to give you time to think through the ramifications. I've been re-reading Enthralling Performance, and some ideas came to me.

1) I've picked Percussion as the artistic skill to which EP applies. My original imaginings considered it to be an auditory effect, but now I think it would work if the percussion were tactile. Let's keep it PG and say Bongo is holding someone's hand and taps a rhythm on their wrist, calling up the Magic. I believe that should work for the 'hypnotic effect'. Do you concur?

2) Does the EP effect on Perception allow one to sneak a question or two in that the target might perceive as something they normally don't want to answer?

3) The Power description says the Power can be taken more than once, for different performance skills. One suggestion, which seems right down Bongo's alley now that I think about it, is (the optional subject to GM's approval) Con (Impersonation). But, EP affects Perception Tests, while Con is a test of Con + Intuition opposed by the target's Con or Negotiation + Intuition. If this application were to be allowed by you (later, after much karma, Initiation and Magic improvement) how would the EP effect apply?

Pursuant to my previous post, I got thinking about Con (Impersonation). Interestingly, the main book has no specific modifiers for Con, unlike the other Charisma-linked Skills.

Bongo actually is built to perform Impersonation, given that he has the Voice Control Adept Power and the Disguise Skill. Neither of these is described as modifying Con (Impersonation). But surely they must.

1) Con Skill is an Opposed Test, Bongo's Con +CHA vs target's (Con or Negotiation) + CHA

2) a) Disguise Skill is Bongo's Disguise + INT vs target's Perception + INT

2) b) Nanopaste and Latex Facemask both modify this, adding dice equal to a Computer + Edit Test (max = Disguise Skill rating)

3) Voice Control is an Opposed test Bongo's Con + CHA vs target's ( or targets') Perception + INT

Here's how I think it would work:

Disguise modifier (Md) = net hits on Disguise Test (which could be affected by Enthralling Performance which affects target Perception)
Voice modifier (Mv) = net hits on Voice Control Test (which could be affected by Enthralling Performance which affects target Perception)
Enthralling Performance (Impersonation) would certainly work, but Enthralling Performance (Percussion) could under the right circumstances

Con (Impersonation) Skill test, then, would be : Bongo Con + CHA + Md + Mv vs. target (Con or Negotiation) + CHA

Does that work, sunnyside?

Well, since etiquette is resisted with perception, I might be incline towards sometimes allowing that to slide. This is somewhat complicated by not distracting them too much or detracting too much from your own performance. Though in the sense that you're trying to ingratiate yourself via etiquette it seems like something should be manageable. Another use of etiquette is the asking question bits, which is the harder to juggle part. Maybe a penalty on the performance from trying to multitask and for a distracted audience?

The issue with the rest of it is that it's still a performance.

So some belly slapping fun might work. But it isn't a Vulcan anti-perception grip.

The issues with con and unarmed combat are that it potentially lets the player use the power without having to put precious points into an artisan skill, as players likely already have those, and there may be complicating bonuses because physads often have powers relating to those. However they're still performances. The example is performing katas, not just dropping everyone's perception every time you get into a fight. Same idea with doing impressions, which can be a delightful comedy routine, but not just a bonus every time you try and fast talk a security guard where, if you're doing it right, nobody pays you any particular attention.

While I guess we got a little technical with the pumps and pipes and whatnot, I don't want Koekepan to forget Paul is in the future. SR is fairly generous, compared to modern day, with both physical healing and repairing damage. I think it is actually fair between improved materials for first aid kits but especially for repair work. We already have 3d printing and individuals are making and using custom sandcasts for parts, to say nothing of CNC machines, induction heaters to let you plug holes in an engine block, and so on. I expect much of that trend has continued, or at least become more available and convenient, allowing Paul to have quite the capabilities with his van. Many parts might be available on short notice and findable via relatively easy searches.

Standard repair costs are 1% of new cost per box of damage. The extended test interval is six hours for drones and vehicles, and that seems fair for such complex systems. A toaster shouldn't take that long. Pumps somewhere in between, maybe a 1 hour interval for smaller household style pumps.

I figured, but you're missing a point here: Paul is trying to create scope for the rest of the team to poke around as much as possible. If she pushes back hard, he'll relent, but he'll still point out that fabrication will take time and effort.

I just bought into that Bundle of Holding batch of SR4A books. I have some in hardcover, and had a few in e-format, but there is enough new in there to be worth it to me.

Attitude is a great find for Bongo! Lots of material on music and musicians. Looking forward to that read!

Perception check roll:

Perception for a hatch: 8d6t4 3

Three successes on threshold 4, with perception of 4 and intuition of 4 giving a pool of 8.

I never got Attitude! Let me know if you think it's good and why.

On the note of things going on in IC, I wanted to make sure you knew about YYZ.

https://youtu.be/ftVTWDrtrlc?si=go6YCvGtTDFmwNuO
 



I'm guessing this was for another game?

Nope, that's for this game. You wanted a roll for perception to spot the hatch. His perception is 4, his intuition is 4, dice pool 8, standard target is 4, three successes.

Oh, I see. When I said easy instead of giving a threshold I meant like a threshold of 2 and that it was a case where both characters there could just buy those hits. They weren't trying to hide the hatch like a secret treasure trove, they just weren't properly marking or keeping it clean and uncluttered. Just noting that if you had less observant characters stuff like that would be more of a hassle.

Edit: Not sure if you're talking to Bongo or Abby in the post. I'm thinking Bongo after Abby is gone?

Bongo, around when she leaves. He doesn't care if she hears that they're fetching tools.

Love the Canadian content!

Just from a quick glance, I see that Attitude has a lot of material on top artists, ways musicians can also be runners. Stuff Bongo should know.

Negotiating his way past the locals: 9d6t4 4

That's 3 Charisma, 4 negotiation, +2 bonus as per GM. 4 successes, he manages to get people on his side without difficulty.

First off I'm still having some computer issues. So replies might be erratic until I get it sorted, but I'll try and keep on top of things. Hopefully by Wednesday I'll have a new monitor.


In regards to the last post I actually developed something of a pet peeve in a D&D campaign I was a player in where no matter what we did, even if we just wanted to buy some potions or whatever, the DM always spun it up into a big encounter.

I mention this because Willie can potentially be a problem along those lines. If he really wants to get into a brawl on top of Paul's van he could easily escalate the situation with the whole uncouth thing. But Paul has probably been expecting these guys or some other Japanacorp goons, and knows that they know they don't actually have a legal right to hassle loitering vehicles or Orks sitting in them even if law enforcement is rather spotty and biased here. So if Willie calls him in before the goons make their move Paul has a pretty solid shot at sorting it, since he has that skillset.

Yeah, Willie is trying to be cool about it. Old habits die hard, but his new thought processes are slowly winning out. Mostly.

Though it does seem like you're gearing up to rumble, but I guess we'll see.

Etiquette test in the latest Bongo post. Bongo Slade is the name he has used all along. Might as well keep it going. In the long run he should think more carefully about that, especially since he has three fake SINs now.

Willie's message should flag Tubesnake to get involved!

I'll wait for Koekepan at least before posting.

Though since it was mentioned, I'll add that Willie is pretty sure he could crank the wheel to the left and pull a U turn and be out of there without even having to be overly quick about it.

I've got a new monitor, so I should be better about replying again.

So we can keep going in the in between times in detail if it's fun. It can also be good for character and NPC development.


Or would folks be interested in speeding up time and jumping ahead to the next mission? Maybe with a few posts fleshing out some details.


While it might be a thing that Vex thinks Bongo works as an assistant plumber, he's got an in with word spreading from his music ploy and especially the business at the Choptank.

Paul made his choices with Seafarers union and it can be a while before that takes a turn. He's essentially managed the Federal Hill tunnels by feeding Bongo to Abby.

There was a risk of a rumble with Selena. However in an enjoyable coincidental way she's managed to confuse the gangs about her "team." It was fun realizing the tableau the group presented. I thought maybe they'd loose it going into one of the side rooms. There was gossip that maybe they weren't heavy security. But then they come out clearly having just used it for a private discussion, which they all assumed was in regards to discussing themselves. After that they head over to the table with the most unruly set for some entertainment with Mike and his calm as a cucumber style, like a proper cooler. Anyway the point is I think they've managed to smooth that out, and Thanee already laid out how the rest of the evening might go.

Folks could then sort out final purchases, karma spends, and maybe something from Thanee about Selena's ward showing up, Angel bothering Paul to let her practice with drones and introducing the members of Bongo's initiatory group.

To achieve his long-term goal, play the heartbeat of Gaia, Bongo figures he needs to Initiate. Probably a bunch. No matter how he would approach that, it will take time.

As far as Bongo goes, his initial objective during this break, making contact with Vex, has been achieved. I suspect that achieving the primary objective, checking out whether he and Vex will fit, joining the group, and initiating will take a fair bit of time. Negotiation Tests, playing music, maybe going on a quick run with the Group to demonstrate his commitment. All that would take time. Doing the Thesis/Masterpiece ordeal (SM p. 52) has an Extended Test with a time period of 1 week.

Although Initiating on one's own is discussed, no time limit or Extended Test is described in the books. Surely that too would take time. Bongo has enough Karma to do it either way, but he might need to sit out a run in order to effect the change.

Along with all of that, there could be a lot of RP for Bongo by himself, which could leave the rest of the team twiddling their thumbs.

We've spent a day or so since the last run, and I don't know what your plan is for such intermediary times, sunnyside. If a run is in the near offing (Brewster is a businessman, no?), then Bongo could hold off on his magical quest and prepare for more mundane pursuits. For example, in his last run, he had to practice his Locksmith Skill. Improving that before the next run could be useful, increasing that ability to contribute to the team. So I could do that for him right here and leave it at that. (Stream of consciousness writing helps making decisions.)

Hmmm. Willie increased his Edged Weapons Skill by 1. (Aside: Willie is ready to go for the next run.) Under the Improving Skills and Skill Groups section in SR4A, the Interval for improving a Skill is 1 week. So, I guess we will have at least a week total before the next run.



Wrapped up with all of this is whether the GM and the other players want me to play two PCs during a run. I brought Bongo and Willie together to Baltimore because at the time, I was the only player. We now have some cool PCs in the mix, and I am enjoying their contributions. It would appear that Angel, Lenny and Flatline are now NPCs, so that leaves Willie and Bongo, Tubesnake (plus drones) and Selina (plus Fiona).

Those 4+ look like a well-rounded team. I'm happy to play both if that's alright with the rest of you. If not, I can sit Bongo out for a run and sunnyside and I can carry on with the Initiation search.

So, Willie is training, Bongo is training, Tubesnake is plumbing and Selina is schmoozing.

Here you go, Abby. Nice, tasty Bongo. Get a load of those shoulders ....

... anyway, yeah. If Paul has the time and opportunity, he'd like to build a couple more drones in two designs - a small one for Angel to practice, with minimal capacities to keep costs and complexity down, and a beefier walker that looks like a tarantula the size of a motorcycle.

Just as a reminder, joining a group costs 5 karma. I'll have to sort some particulars and dues.

In terms of time I'd mentioned giving a month and I'll stick to that.

In regards to drones, are you looking to use the build/repair options to spend time instead of as much money for the drones, either requesting the GM to make up something along the lines of what you're looking for or using Arsenal vehicle mods on a standard drone to get what you want (spider legs are one of the listed mods. Somehow under "W" however as I recall). I think that's relatively straightforward. Homebrewing something outside of regular rules would take more discussion.

For characters I'm kinda liking having pairs in terms of your ability to make posts. Selena and Fiona function that way (and really are about as strong as two normal starting characters). Paul has Angel and his drones. If the rest don't object I'm fine with Bongo and Willie being together. Especially since in some ways Willie could be challenging to RP with.  

Pairings: I propose that the pairings be slanted to variety in terms of capability so as to make them more effective in combination.

Drones: yes, build/repair and time rather than cost, especially because they will be custom. I'm not requesting that the GM do the design, so much as that the GM either handwave the time involved into a downtime session, or ascribe some time that can be slotted into other action. The designs in mind should be doable inside Arsenal.

That was my plan when I built Willie and Bongo for when I was the only player, and I believe they fit your paradigm. Neither Selina nor Fiona can be split from the other and provide strong presence in a major environment. Fiona is turning out to be a good infiltrator! So that leaves Tubesnake, whom sunnyside is suggesting could team up with Angel. While there is some overlap, they do operate primarily in different environments.

If you were to have a second PC besides Tubesnake under your control, Koekepan, what would feel better for you?

Tough question. The easy answer would be some kind of magician, because of how utterly mundane he is, but an equally valid approach would be some sort of face because of how utterly mundane he is. On the other hand, he could pair well with a combat monster who needs an intelligence service, or with a humanitarian robin hood who wants to avoid conflict as much as possible.

In fact, he could be a very effective DocWagon rescue team member too.

So modifications are fairly well laid out in arsenal, with the complication being the issue of the plan, which mostly hinges on how complicated and unique the modification is.

As far as I can tell the idea of building something from parts to save money simply doesn't exist outside of the matrix stuff. Let me know if any of you know otherwise.

I'm inclined to say between fixing up used stuff like new and getting kits you can basically follow the matrix hardware rules up to around the value of that stuff common for players (say 12,000 nuyen). If you want your own T-bird that's going to have to be some other rules.

Depending on her emphasis and how she wants to play it, Selina could make an intimidation roll with that "nothing will happen"

Similarly she could roll resistance to intimidation. (one three hits, one two. I don't think any modifiers on the resistance roll unless you'd really want to claim Selina doesn't think they'd try something. I gave it to Mike, but Selina probably knows better. ) In neither case would there be much of an expected overt reaction, they're just sizing people up and seeing how they react.

As for Poker I don't think Shadowrun has any rules for Gambling. It actually comes up in something I was planning to take pieces of for later, but that book actually tells the GM to take out cards and have the players play. In this case, especially with Poker, it might come down to con rolls/defenses, with modifiers for an appropriate ?knowledge? skill and anything else someone can bring to bear like a math SPU, maybe leveraging assessing or something.

Probably not intimidation, she is not trying to put them in their place or telling them "or else", more like underlining that this is supposed to be a safe place.
Leadership maybe? First Impression should apply here, right?

Leadership with First Impression 2 hits



Okay, let's see... that would just be Willpower then.

Resist Intimidate 2 hits
Resist Intimidate 0 hits (that would also be a Glitch, I believe... so spending one Edge to negate that)



Con should work reasonably well.

Bye
Thanee

Well, how about this for poker.


Depending on your play style, roll con or negotiation + charisma or logic. You can propose things like I mentioned above that could modify the roll.

For games like this with a normal ante to total chips ratio treat the whole pile of chips like ten units.

Each round of play (which would represent multiple hands) results everyone getting a unit from everyone they beat. In some games, including this one, it's acceptable to just leave.

Eventually you get a showdown.

First roll the defense on a judge intentions test (Willpower + charisma)+4 (because you're deliberately trying to avoid tells) to set a threshold for your "poker face"
Then roll a judge intentions test (Intiuition + charisma), which will be compared to the others "poker face" thresholds.
Winning that gives a +6 on the subsequent roll.
Then do the above roll for being all in.

Or Selina just watches or uses Mike's money and we don't owery about having to homebrew anything right now.

She can gamble away her own money (or win some, you never know).

Bye
Thanee