Such errors in memory, leading to a bunch of time for extra dice rolls, are what I get for not posting until after I should have been asleep. There are some things that are opposed by the host that don't make sense to me, but Search isn't one of them, I'll remember to double check next time.

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

Intuition + Logic
Logic + Intuitoin: 10d6t5 5

and I'm open on this going either way, but I'll mention that she has the Synch geneware. Copying from Chrome Flesh
"Synch is a nootropic protein that affects cognitive
abilities in the brain cells of the visual cortex. This
enhances intuitive comprehension and pattern recognition
abilities. Characters receive a +1 dice pool
on all Perception tests. In addition, recipients accustomed
to combat situations develop a battle awareness
based on moves, which allows them respond and
adapt quickly to their opponent’s fighting style. When
in combat the character receives +1 dice pool modifier
on combat tests against each opponent after the
enemy’s first attack."

It may not be relevant to whatever she is maybe spotting or not spotting, but I thought I'd raise the possibility (especially as I realize I'd not linked my character sheet -- I'll go do that now). In case it counts:
Synch (maybe): 1d6t5 0 and it wouldn't matter anyway

Synch should probably count.

Analytical Mind too, probably, although I don't have my book in front of me right now to say for sure.

5 hits is good. That will get you somewhere.

Which building is Bobby referring to?

The apartment building

pilot 5 clearsight 6 swarm +3=14 dice. But Firefox is warning me off of Orokos right now, so I'll just buy three hits.

Gilga, go ahead and do some rolls for spell casting and drain. Or buy hits if you prefer.

Beta, what's the plan with the drones?

Jack, I presume the plan is to fly around the apartment building. Anything else?

Thanee, any particular goals while this is going on? Raven has some time while AM is retrieving the Erika.

Flying around and looking for a way inside - up to the size of a large cockroach.

I'll buy four hits for invisibility and silence (and cast them with Trouble's help). I'll let Trouble sustain them for a short while while she is hacking.

F4 both spells - drain: 11d6t5 3
drain: 11d6t5 3

No drain.

Don't really see much that can be done right now.

We need to make a plan on how to get inside. But that requires some more information.

Bye
Thanee

Alright, I'll buy hits to turn into a crow and cast Extended Spatial Sense


Body Boost: 10d6t5 4
Extended spatial sense F3: 18d6t5 5
No drain: Extended spatial sense F3: 15d6t5 5

Once I'm on the roof of the building, I'll survey the place - her place will most likely have a ward, so it should stand out from the regular flats.

Gilga, are you ready to hack? You're up against a Rating 4 host. Usually the host would be Firewall 6 but by connecting to the maglock directly you get it down to 3.

BTW, we havn't seen any magical activity around the university, yet, correct?

Bye
Thanee

Yes, sure its just holidays and kids and distractions.

She can augment logic and buy 4 hits.
resist hacking F3, DR4: 7d6t5 3
which is enough. She'll gain 1 mark on the host and use the access privileges to enter and search for alumni data.

Searching:
Computer search - alumni: 16d6t5 3
Computer search - alumni: 15d6t5 6
Computer search - alumni: 14d6t5 8
Hopefully enough to find out if Potter is there or not. Should I roll anything else? (I am never sure what to roll with the trix minigame).

Drain: 11d6t5 4 drain for improve logic.

Yes, correct, no significant magical security. If there's magical activity around it's the innocuous type. The university does have a strong magical department, so presumably there will be some Awakened students walking around, but not too many due to the hour and the day of the week. Plus they'd have to be assensing and looking at you, which isn't a concern because AM's working on a quiet rear door.

But who knows what tricks Iktomi has in store...

I suspect that Bobby would prefer relying on his own abilities, but Tamarind will offer the hybrid approach.

It's not a bad idea - but we need to make sure Bobby isn't stuck in a box for several hours

@Gilga hearing the news this morning, and thinking of you. I hope that you and yours are safe.

We are safe, but I am on Daddy duty to entertain the kids possibly for a long time while trying to shut off all the terrible news that keeps coming.

@gilga
I was shocked at the news when I woke up Saturday morning. I'm still shocked a day and a half later. It's front page news here and getting a lot of coverage. I'm following it closely. I worry about things like having to parent social media. I can barely wrap my head around the notion of parenting through a national emergency, especially one so open-ended and uncertain.

@Jack
I'm not aware of any Body 0 critters; let me know if there are any. I would request that we keep things to approximately the size of the Body 1 options that are in Howling Shadows (cockroach, spider). This seems aligned with Bobby's IC desires.

Let's also keep other consequences in mind, like Bobby's fetish. If he's bringing it with him then we need to consider the implications both practically and logistically. If he's not bringing it with him the that limits some of his options once on-site.

Is the idea for Bobby to go in right now, or later at night when someone is home?

@gilga
All the best to you and your family

@Tecumseh
Every critter has at least body 1. Smaller ones have the frailty negative quality to simulate less damage boxes.
But yeah, that was my attempt to avoid that headache IP.

The fetish consists of a hummingbird feather on a rubber band, so it is portable by a cockroach, but not by a flea.
(Bobby of course won't reveal that limitation IP to his co-workers)

Bobby wants to go in while no-one is home, so yes, during midday would be best.

I am taking a few days off, can't really disconnect to play. It hit us too close to home.

@gilga
Very understandable.

We can put AM on hold for a bit. Visiting Print Services is a potential next step but that will have to wait because they're closed until Monday morning. (For AM, it's currently Saturday night.)

If Bobby and Tamarind want to execute the infiltration, we can take care of that.

The basic plan is for Tamarind to hack a delivery drone, then Bobby will dust it with reagents to make it look magically active, then wait for the spirits to respond to it while Bobby uses the distraction to infiltrate?

@Tecumseh

Yeah, that's basically the plan.

@Gilga: Take your time. I cannot even imagine, what you guys have to go through. Take care!

Bye
Thanee

@Beta, you're free to hack a delivery drone at Tamarind's convenience.

A cheap, easily targeted drone will resist with 4 dice.

A more respectable drone will resist with 6 dice.

Sorry, our Thanksgiving weekend was followed by a very long work day yesterday. I looked at this over that time, but the hacking isn't entirely straightforward -- She can't use her electronic warfare trick (only works on peronas and direct connect, neither of which will be teh case with a drone).

After looking at a bunch of more convoluted options, I've dropped back to hoping that small dice pools can beat other small dice pools. She does now have hacking 2*, giving her 7 dice, so has a reasonable chance to take out one of the really cheap drones.

hack cheap delivery drone: 7d6t5 2
resist hack on the fly: 4d6t5 0
woo, it actually worked!

From there she should be able to use command device (remote control is higher on the 'order override' list than autopilot is, so as long as a rigger doesn't jump in she can order it around).

*I also hadn't updated her character sheet or linked it in here. I've now at least copied the purchased upgrades onto her character sheet, but the only updates on the lists themselves I've marked is the increase in hacking and edge. I need to find the original post to see if I explained what new codeslinger quality she was buying.

Wiz, looks like it worked. Go ahead and IC it.

In Kill Code, Watchdog says, "Target must be a persona or device" (p. 40). I don't see anything about it having to be a direct connection. Is that written somewhere else? If so, I'm not seeing it.

IC post is up.

Jack, you rolled Sneaking and Masking so I presume you're comfortable with the risk of sneaking past the guardian spirit, but I wanted to confirm before going to the dice to see how the situation plays out.

I am - if necessary I'll spend some edge to get past.

Not a terribly observant spirit: Intuition 6 + Perception 6: 12d6t5 2 hits

Alright, what's Bobby's plan from here?

Beta, now that the distraction has worked, what is Tamarind up to?

~~~

As for wards, I'm not really reading any downsides to just being patient and slipping through. As long as you have the time and a modest dice pool, you'll eventually succeed (when you get a good roll and the ward gets a bad roll). Is that pretty much the case? The only limiting factors are patience and time?

I think so. Time being the crucial factor, sometimes. Of course, if you roll a Glitch...

Bye
Thanee

Yeah, it's a matter of patience - if you have no active spell effects you'll succeed eventually, but as soon as you try to bring a bunch of spells with you and maybe even active foci, this can become quickly nearly impossible.

We're getting into a sequence that could be important, so we'll need to be fairly granular about how we proceed.

Inside the unit, Bobby will start feeling the effects of a level 2 background count.

We'll need to track the Force of spells in case the background count increases. Similarly, we'll need to keep an eye on Drain as well.

We also need to mind Bobby's fetish. If it's a rubber band looped around a cockroach, then it needs a circumference of about 2.5cm. In general, rubber bands can be stretched to 5-10 times their original length before they break. We'll use the upper end of that range and say 10x. That means that in its current configuration the loop can expand to 25cm, so forms should be selected where the circumference of the torso is 25cm or less. (An adult lynx would be 50-60cm and thus too large, but perhaps a juvenile one could work.) The rubber band can be repositioned if Bobby chooses a form with sufficient dexterity, but we'll need to keep track of where the rubber band is attached (e.g. neck, leg, chest, etc.) because it will follow that location between forms.

This is more granularity than we usually go into, but as I said this could be a key sequence where details potentially matter.

So far, I've imagined the fetish to be carried either around an arm or the neck of a given form. Changeover happens mostly by using the mouth (the roach would have to carry the whole arrangement in its mandibles anyway)

I'll make sure to add descriptions.

Not much -- I've been reading but hadn't really come with anything for her to be doing. Just to confirm that I'm still here I've put up an IC saying basically the same thing.

Beta, glad you're still tracking along. Just making sure.

Jack, thanks for the rolls, and for the reminder that Bobby has both low-light and thermal vision adept powers. Those will help for sure.

Drone perception: Pilot 3 + Autosoft 3: 6d6t5 0 hits, ha

Go ahead and roll Sneaking if you'll be stealthing around the place.

Pilot 3 + Autosoft 3 - Object/sound not in immediate vicinity 2: 4d6t5 1 hit

Bobby goes unnoticed.

I've been enjoying Bobby's various forms and uses thereof

While Tamarind can't know exactly what Bobby is up to, I'm going to assume that he gave her at least some idea of his plans, so that she can prepare for follow-up.

ETA: not that I'm quite sure what that is yet. Question to all and sundry. If Tamarind is running silent and has a drone slaved to her PAN, and it is also running silent, do matrix observers have to penetrate her resistance to being spotted (Sleaze 3+1 for sneak, smoke and mirrors +5 sleaze vs being spotted, logic 5 =14 dice), or just the devices own ability to hide (probably 3 dice). I'm assuming that they have at least an agent checking on every action for how many silent running devices are in the region, and any change will have them trying to spot the extra hidden items.

As I understand it, the master device passes its rating to slaved devices for defensive rolls.

In this case, that would mean that Tamarind's drone does get a good dice pool (the RCC's) to avoid detection while Running Silently.

In my opinion, Running Silent has some conceptual challenges in its implications. Ryo, an old GM of mine (and a good one), summarized it in this post which just celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Long story short, Running Silent is either nonsensical (everyone does it) or counterproductive (nobody does it except shadowrunners, making it a huge red flag). I'm not sure I remember that being resolved satisfactorily.

A question about spell signature rules interpretation:

"ASTRAL SIGNATURE
Generally, when magicians cast a spell or perform a
ritual, they leave their astral fingerprints on it. This is
called an astral signature, and it’s produced on any-
thing affected by magic skills or abilities. This astral
signature can be detected by anyone with the assens-
ing skill. A signature lasts for a number of hours equal
to the magical effect’s Force after the effect (spell,
critter power, astral battle, or whatever it was) ends,
slowly fading into the background. An astral signature
of a spell can be detected both where it was cast and
where it took effect."

Are you interpreting that as: "There are spots on the astral where the spell was cast" or "As long as the spell is active it has an effect and therefore leaves a trail through the astral"

The second interpretation is obviously devastating for any kind of stealth and makes masking useless

On astral signature I've always read it as the spell leaves a signature where the caster was when the spell was cast, and where the target was when the spell was cast. But that is it, it doesn't carry on leaving traces as either moves around.

Critter/spirit effect that are always on would therefore not leave a signature, which is the the thing I don't like about the interpretation.

Also I've never been clear on the signature strength of adept powers (but I'd guess 4*PP)

≠======================

On running silent, I don't think it is quite as bad as Ryo put it.

On the one hand, many (most?) places seem to require (or at least expect) that everyone is broadcasting their SIN. Which means that most people are not running silently most of the time.

On the other hand, plenty of people are going to have some things that they'd rather not be obvious on first AR look at their avatar. An unregistered pistol, items from a competitor to their employer, a drug injector, sex toys, the link running a fake ID that they use to talk to their lover/dealer/fixer, an expensive item that they move to silent in rough neighborhoods, a smart wig, and more.

So I'd think seeing a scattering of things running silent in many places would not be surprising. But when you are watching a place for long enough you can probably identify each of those, breaking the concealment on some and at least tracking the rest so that when there is a change in numbers it is not so hard to find the candidates for further inspection.

@Beta
A problem is that none of those devices have a Sleaze rating, which means that they can't resist a Matrix Perception test to find them. If anyone or anything takes a second to look, the Matrix Perception test will probably auto-succeed (if it can generate a single hit) and whatever is running silent will found. I still think it's not just useless, but counterproductive.

Separately, I'm going to say that Tamarind is observing the apartment building, either in person or with drones.

@Jack
What Beta said. "There are spots on the astral where the spell was cast" (and, depending on the target, where it took effect).

Perhaps another relevant question is, "What effect does Masking and Extended Masking have on adept powers?" The rules mention things like foci (for Masking) and spells and preparations (for Extended Masking), but not adept powers. I'm going to take that as a case of "too seldomly relevant to warrant mentioning." Since adepts are explicitly allowed to take Masking, it seems that adept powers should be covered by Masking and Extended Masking.

However, that just covers the adept's aura. Powers that aren't passive and need to be activated (like Elemental Strike) are still going to leave astral signatures, just like a critter power or a spell would.

~~~

As far as Bobby's escape, I don't know how well the silk parachute is going to work on a giant spider that probably weighs between 30 and 60 grams. My understanding is that the only spiders who "parachute" are newly-hatched spiderlings fresh out of the egg (estimated weight: between 0.05 and 0.1 milligrams). Let me know if your understanding is different, or if you're thinking of the mechanics differently.

Bobby has some interesting choices to make, trying to balance moving quickly while also being stealthy.

For the escape I'm making two assumptions:

- Seattle is pretty windy

- The terminal velocity of anything smaller and lighter than a squirrel is so low, that it can't hurt the creature

The silk sail is a means to extend flight time and to a lesser degree allow some steering. At the moment, Bobby just wants to gain distance from the building, find some cover, change shape again and find his way back to the car.


Btw: the vinyl shouldn't catch fire from the electricity. Aluminum is a pretty good heatsink and the screws provide grounding with the building itself. The adept power works more like a taser where current flows from the fist back into the fist. So the damage is likely more localized to a spot (a brightly glowing spot easily spotted on thermal sensors)

What I want to say: If I wanted to start house fires, I'd gone for fire damage instead of electricity 😉

My internet research indicated that applying electricity to an aluminum exhaust cover would be a fire hazard, both if it's screwed into plastic vinyl or into plywood backing material. My research did not specify that the source of the electricity would be magic. However, if we're going to play it that Electrical Strike can melt plastic and burn through aluminum then it's going to be a fire hazard.

The fire isn't a threat to Bobby other than to add to the general urgency of his escape.

Seattle is not particularly windy. Average wind speeds vary between 0 kph and 14 kph.

Being in spider form won't negate fall damage. In fact, being in a Body 1 form will make soaking fall damage more difficult. Attribute Boost (Body) can help with this, of course, and Edge would go a long way too. But if Bobby doesn't want to risk it then he can transform before reaching the ground, or just run down the wall. It would only take about one Combat Turn to run down to the ground.

I'll comply with that ruling, but
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_velocity

And

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_arc

are the reason I disagree.

@Tecumseh


I was assuming that those devices were still in a PAN (and so at least protected by the users intuition (I think that is the stat, didn't double check the book. But whatever, some stat), so may well have 1 success, which in turn means they are easy to see, but might require 2 successes. Still not hard to spot, but enough that you'd have to look, which most people won't do it most of the time.

Jack, go ahead and roll Sneaking for your getaway. Depending on the result we may need a Masking roll too. They can be Edged too.

The street between the apartment building and the animal hospital is an arterial. It can be crossed in a single Combat Turn but that's still six seconds of exposure. Let's make a couple Dodge rolls. Full Defense is okay too.

~~~

As an aside, there were UV lights and sawdust in the bathroom exhaust vent as well, but in my haste I neglected to mention them earlier.

Sneaking: 10d6t5 2
I'd edge that if necessary

Edge sneak: 8d6t5 3

Hi guys,

We are far from okay, but I'd like to try and re-enjoy the escapism of SR. I'll start catching up in the coming days to see what I missed.