You have just entered room "Chat 10094695384114740205."
Vernjonal has entered the room.
MilesMk1 has entered the room.
EverGuard4 has entered the room.
Thematrian1: hi everyone. I've decided that naming the chat is bad karma
MilesMk1: Heh.
MilesMk1: Worried we'll never finish this session? :-)
MilesMk1: Mission, I mean.
Thematrian1: nah, I just watched my AIM GURPS game spiral into destruction in chat after chat, until I stuck with the default name
Thematrian1: whereupon everything worked like a dream
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 4 6-sided dice: 3 1 4 5
MilesMk1: Oh yeah?
MilesMk1: What kind of game is it?
Thematrian1: based in Saberhagen's Book of Swords world, with extensive creative liberties
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 7 6-sided dice: 3 3 1 2 6 6 3
MilesMk1: These are the swords that the gods desperately want back because they can kill them, sort of thing?
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 2 6-sided dice: 6 2
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 1 6-sided die: 6
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 1 6-sided die: 6
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 1 6-sided die: 2
Thematrian1: (no, that roll was not at random)
Thematrian1: Those're the ones
MilesMk1: I've read some Saberhagen, but none of those, IIRC.
Umbrafer has entered the room.
MilesMk1: So... Was that to see whether I died already?
Thematrian1: Blake isn't dead
Thematrian1: there was a standoff of sorts: Blake had concussed some guys, then retreated. They're hiding on the two arms of a T-intersection, and Blake+drones are on the stem
MilesMk1: Actually, I also set some on fire.
Umbrafer: Indeed
MilesMk1: Or think I did.
MilesMk1: Judging by the screams.
Thematrian1: ahyes
Thematrian1: with the burning, and the yelling, thank you
Umbrafer: Incidentally, I just wanted to announce that if SotSW is going to convert to SR4 (which won't be decided until at least early September, probably later), it will almost certainly not be earlier than January 1st of next year.
Umbrafer: Individual GMs are, of course, free to modify this to their discretion in their individual games.
Umbrafer: (Within the SotSW umbrella)
MilesMk1: They're ripping Transhuman Space off for their new Matrix. ;-)
Thematrian1: Nothing comes around the corner to attack you, Blake.
MilesMk1: Ah.
Thematrian1: or the drones, either
MilesMk1: Remind me again which corner had how many and what sort of people?
Thematrian1: (The run is up, but from my notes: to the right, big granite thing, two rotting guys, one tall weathered blond concussed guy. And one of the mages from the hangar standoff)
Thematrian1: (To the left: other spellcaster, four more corpses (one without eyes), and an ancient guy bent over a cane)
Thematrian1: (The corpses are all ambulatory and carry grenades)
MilesMk1: (How much room for them to back up on either side? I know the right side was blocked in by rubble, what about the left?)
Umbrafer: *Dives for the rules on cooking off grenades*
Thematrian1: (Mostly blocked. The granite thing was filling it in with packed earth)
Thematrian1: (which was coming from you're-not-sure-where)
MilesMk1: (So if I fired a grenade to air-burst right past either corner [I can do that with grenade link, right?] then most of them would be within just a few meters of the blast?)
MilesMk1: (Or just fired it at the ground using the same principle)
Thematrian1: (Yes, ish. The hallway is easily two meters wide, and each group is another meter or so away from the corner
MilesMk1: #What do you think? I have 5 grenades left in the launcher, one normal concussion, and 2 normal incendiaries.#
MilesMk1: (I'd be trying to aim it so that one group got the biggest blast possible, not to catch both, I think.)
Thematrian1: ::nod:: (That's what, +2 TN?)
MilesMk1: #And why haven't they crushed us yet? It sounds like God knows how many mages. Could we really have them worried?)
Thematrian1: the standoff continues. Blake had a held action to burst on anything that came around the corner, right?
MilesMk1: I had a held action to grenade.
MilesMk1: Alex had a held action to burst. Or use suppressive fire, possible, I'm not 100% sure.
Umbrafer: Suppressive.
MilesMk1: Possibly, rather.
Thematrian1: Well, you have those held actions now.
Umbrafer: (Does anyone have a copy of Cannon Companion on-hand?)
MilesMk1: Yeah
MilesMk1: What do you need?
Umbrafer: (I may need the ammo-cooking-off rules if they're not in SR3) Well, I take that action, but that means it's more their dodge test
MilesMk1: (I don't see those in CC, but maybe I'm not looking in the right place.)
Umbrafer: (Do the rules for incendiary grenades give a page reference for stuff catching on fire?)
MilesMk1: (elemental secondary effects, p.51 MITS)
MilesMk1: Ah.
MilesMk1: They also say it's roll 2d6 and compare it to the Object Resistance rating (p. 182 SR3), and that ammo and explosives will go off if they catch fire.
MilesMk1: But there are modifers to the object resistance based on how much damage the fire did.
Umbrafer: Moreover, if they use the rules on P51 explosives and ammunition add -1 to the OR. What's the damage code on the incendiary fire effect?
MilesMk1: If the damage is light, it won't catch fire, moderate gives a +4, serious +2, deadly 0... Anyone touching or wearing a burning item takes 6M, but the power goes up by 2 every round as it spreads (until it's put out or runs out
MilesMk1: of more stuff to burn.)
Umbrafer: (Seiler, what would you judge for OR on the grenades and/or any ammunition they've got there?
MilesMk1: And actually...
Thematrian1: (OR=8 for grenades, I think)
MilesMk1: The grenade description itself just say to use the rules on p.98 SR3 but apply a +2 modifier.
MilesMk1: But they do burn for 10 combat turns.
Umbrafer: So we just need to keep them from throwing them until they blow up in their hands.
MilesMk1: Although that only continues to affect people who get real close...
MilesMk1: I think/
Thematrian1: (When I was a new SR GM, this is the exact sort of situation that I feared)
Umbrafer: (Wait, page what SR3? 98 is the skill descriptions)
MilesMk1: (Doh. p.98, CC)
Umbrafer: So what're the mods for these things to blow up?
MilesMk1: (+2 and whatever mod is applicable based on the damage the grenade did.)
MilesMk1: (Which seems contradictory, since it only does damage if things catch on fire...)
MilesMk1: (I think just the +2.)
Thematrian1: (Damage was moderate?)
Umbrafer: (Correct)
Thematrian1: (So...8+4+2=14, which you need to roll on 2d6, in order to set them off? But there's a new roll, with bonuses, each turn they're on fire?)
Umbrafer: (13, actually, not that that helps much. Explosives and ammo get -1 to effective OR for this.)
Thematrian1: (Ah, indeed. Thank you)
MilesMk1: (I think we're missing something.)
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 5 6-sided dice: 4 5 5 4 4
MilesMk1: (The damn description says there's a modifier to see if something catches fire based on damage done...)
Thematrian1: (Yeah...with progressively smaller bonuses to the OR. The fundamental problem is using OR to determine an effect that has nothing to do with magic)
Thematrian1: (This run has exposed all kinds of rules corners, no?)
Umbrafer: (Indeed)
Umbrafer: (I hereby name this session Edge Case)
MilesMk1: (But the incendiary grenade doesn't actually do damage - except in a 1 meter radius - unless somthing catches fire - and it's supposed to set things on fire in a 10 meter radius)
Thematrian1: (Yep, lots of stuff is on fire. PRobably not the granite thing, though you didn't see for yourself. The problem is that the damage is only moderate, which provides a +$4 to OR)
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 7 6-sided dice: 1 1 3 3 4 5 5
MilesMk1: (It's like they want us to determine the OR bonus based on damage before it actually inflicts any.)
MilesMk1: (Oh well. Guess the grenades aren't cooking off just yet.)
Thematrian1: (That seems to be the essence.)
Thematrian1: (House rule, for now: As long as they burn, I'll reroll for each grenade, cumulative -1 to OR until they do something about it)
Thematrian1: (Luckily I have a program that will handle the rolling for me...)
Umbrafer: (Woo. That unfortunately means that they're probably going to be chucking them soon.) Anyway, did that person coming into view dodge or anything?
EverGuard4: (afk, I'll return shortly)
Thematrian1: (I beg your pardon?)
MilesMk1: No one came into view yet, IIRC.
Umbrafer: I thought the held actions were coming into play
Thematrian1: Nope, they're just held.
Thematrian1: You have your held action
Umbrafer: Ooh.
Umbrafer: Ok.
Thematrian1: But since you mention it, that rumbling starts up very briefly, then stops again
Umbrafer: How far are we from the intersection again?
Thematrian1: Ten meters. Well, more like 12 so as to stay out of incendiary radius, I'd assumed...
MilesMk1: Fair assumption.
Umbrafer: I'm going to pull back a little in response to the rumbling, recommending that Blake do similar.
MilesMk1: *moves back as much as the strato does*
Thematrian1: The granite thing lumbers into view
Umbrafer: How much room do we have to move? And how big is Granite Thing?
Umbrafer: And is it reacting to the gentle rain of bullets?
MilesMk1: We are so fucked.
Thematrian1: damage code is what D, again?
Thematrian1: (That is, what's the Power?)
MilesMk1: Well, I am. You're financially inconvenienced. :p
Umbrafer: Actually only 9S for a single round. Needs four successes to dodge, six if it takes up two meters.
MilesMk1: I am going to fire a grenade as well, unless the rigger's bullets fell it first.
MilesMk1: Or damage it significantly.
Thematrian1: It doesn't try to dodge. If it notices your attack, it gives no sign. Blake, your action goes off simultaneously-ish, unless you care to roll a Reaction contest or something
MilesMk1: Nah, let me fire...
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 10 6-sided dice: 6 1 1 6 2 1 1 2 1 2
MilesMk1: Fuck.
MilesMk1: Good thing TN was low...
MilesMk1: What are the odds of five 1's on 10 dice, anyway?
Thematrian1: Uh. 1/6^5 * (10 choose 5)
Thematrian1: pretty friggin slim
MilesMk1: That grenade is 15S, -1 per .5 meters.
Thematrian1: Kablammo. You hit. Again, it makes no effort to dodge.
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 11 6-sided dice: 6 1 1 2 6 6 6 4 5 3 1
Umbrafer: (I might not get it in time, but when I get back to Chicago I'm putting in an order for forty kilos of thermite)
Thematrian1: Your grenade actually leaves a little blast crater on the creature's "chest". It looks astonished, then charges Blake.
Thematrian1: We're in initiative
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 3 6-sided dice: 3 3 4
MilesMk1: 20
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 4 6-sided dice: 4 6 1 2
Umbrafer: 26
Thematrian1: (Initiative hates you, I swear, Blake)
Umbrafer: (He's .166666 above average)
MilesMk1: (Among other things...)
Thematrian1: (You need one point of reaction, it'd net you an extra action a third of the time, I swear it)
Umbrafer: (It's true)
MilesMk1: (Yeah, I think I saw just about every way to roll 10 on 3d6 by now)
Umbrafer: (He just needs Enhanced Articulation to be invented)
Thematrian1: (Heck, Gem could use that)
Umbrafer: (I've been considering rolling out a lot of that tech anyway, but unfortunately it looks like Blake won't be in an area where he'll really be able to implant it anytime soon)
MilesMk1: #Help.#
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 1 6-sided die: 4
Thematrian1: All of a sudden, the granite thing seems to be moving much faster.
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 15 6-sided dice: 5 1 4 5 1 5 6 1 1 6 3 1 1 3 2
Thematrian1: Alex?
Umbrafer: Anything else visible behind it?
Thematrian1: (I seem to have forgotten to mention: all of these rotting-but-walking things are/were Orkish
Thematrian1: Uh
MilesMk1: (BTW, since this might be relevant, I actually have 6 impact armor in melee, not 5. I was forgetting my rapid transit helmet, this was a "screw subtletly" mission, and I actually took it along this time. )
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 6 6-sided dice: 6 3 2 3 2 4
Thematrian1: (That's a Good Thing)
MilesMk1: subtlety, even
Thematrian1: No, but Blake hears some movement down the hall, over the crashing of the granite thing and the whirring of the Strato's rotors
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 7 6-sided dice: 4 5 1 1 3 4 6
MilesMk1: Down the hall, meaning in front of us?
MilesMk1: Or behind?
Thematrian1: Behind the granite thing. Where the dead things are.
MilesMk1: (Maybe we got lucky and they tunneled into a Juggernaut burrow. A femal with young, who was returned to the wild by a dwarf naturalist and remembers all short people fondly.)
Umbrafer: (A warning to all present: if it gets too close, I may have to do a horrible, horrible thing to physics.) Six-round burst on the target. How big is it?
Thematrian1: (That's what my first roll was for ;-))
MilesMk1: #I hear more movement from the dead things.#
Thematrian1: It's about seven feet high, and wide enough that Blake would have to squeeze past it in the hallway. The hallway in which three men can walk abreast. It just out a lot in odd places
Umbrafer: So would it qualify as ~3x the size of a human or larger?
Thematrian1: Yeah, in volume
Thematrian1: Easily in mass, if it's really made of stone.
MilesMk1: (Horrible thing to physics? Should I be thankful for broken ramming rules? ;-))
Umbrafer: If that's also in attackable area, that's a -1 to TN in addition to the -1 for relative motion towards.
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 12 6-sided dice: 6 6 6 3 1 1 5 3 6 2 4 3
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 4 6-sided dice: 3 2 1 2
Thematrian1: Insofar as any of it is attackable, all of it is
Thematrian1: this would be manual gunnery, against Tn 2?
Umbrafer: Correct. Base damage 9S, adjusted damage 15D, 10 successes.
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 11 6-sided dice: 3 2 5 1 1 2 6 4 3 5 5
Umbrafer: (C'mon, low Immunity to Normal Weapons…)
MilesMk1: (Do bursts bypass Immunity to Normal Weapons because of the power increase, or is only the base power important, like with vehicles?)
MilesMk1: (Not bypass, might get around, I mean.)
Thematrian1: (The power increase gets them by. It's not like vehicle armor)
MilesMk1: (That means I should use a 6-round burst too instead of a grenade, I can get up to 16D that way...)
Thematrian1: (Yeah)
Umbrafer: (Woah, wait, you… oh yes, EX-EX.)
Umbrafer: (Gotta get me some of that)
Thematrian1: The effect of the burst on the creature is shocking. Its head-like protrusion detaches from the body and falls to the floor. The rest of the body, scarred by blasts and bullet holes, continues its charge.
Thematrian1: Blake?
MilesMk1: Damn it.
MilesMk1: 6-round burst.
Thematrian1: roll it
MilesMk1: *starts to pray under his breath*
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 10 6-sided dice: 4 5 4 4 5 4 4 1 4 4
MilesMk1: WOOT!
Thematrian1: well, that didn't suck
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 11 6-sided dice: 6 1 4 1 4 1 4 6 2 5 2
Thematrian1: Oh dear.
MilesMk1: (Well, I beat it on successes even if it just needed 2's, so it should take something)
Thematrian1: Six shots, six hits, six explosions. The creature comes apart before your eyes, though sheer momentum lands one massive arm at Blake's feet.
Thematrian1: Moments later, the body disappears
Umbrafer: What's beyond?
Thematrian1: At the far end of the corridoor, the flaming zombies stagger forward and fling their grenades
MilesMk1: (I was about to say that if I lived through this, I was going to take a piece and make it into a souvenir key fob.)
Umbrafer: Bugger all.
MilesMk1: (But then it disappeared, and now grenades are happening...)
Umbrafer: (Some days you just can't win.)
MilesMk1: (I do get the cover from the shield drone, right? right?)
Thematrian1: (Totally)
Thematrian1: (Doesn't keep you out of the blast radius...)
Umbrafer: (I have another action, right?)
Thematrian1: There are six of them, and all size are clearly very flammable
Thematrian1: (After theirs, yeah)
Thematrian1: all six
MilesMk1: (Well, yeah, but it makes it more likely they'll scatter away from me...)
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 12 6-sided dice: 3 3 2 3 4 2 1 1 6 6 4 4
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 12 6-sided dice: 3 2 3 1 5 3 5 3 2 5 1 3
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 12 6-sided dice: 3 1 6 2 2 5 4 5 1 5 2 5
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 12 6-sided dice: 6 2 6 6 2 4 4 4 5 6 5 4
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 7 6-sided dice: 3 3 6 4 2 6 1
MilesMk1: (How do I dodge grenades, if I can at all?)
Umbrafer: (Please let burning be a TN mod, please let burning be a TN mod…)
Thematrian1: (I think your successes apply against theirs to reduce scatter)
Umbrafer: (One suggestion has been that every success gets you a meter away, though that has its potential problems)
Thematrian1: (We'll go almost that: every success makes it damage you like it was a meter further away. In this case this represents hiding behind the shield drone before the grenades hit)
Umbrafer: (Poor Shield Drone.)
Thematrian1: (Like hell. I'm pretty sure it's immune to all the blasting)
Umbrafer: (Hopefully they're normal grenades.)
MilesMk1: (Unless they're using IPE, they can't hurt they poor shield drone)
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 12 6-sided dice: 1 5 1 2 4 1 3 3 1 4 6 5
Umbrafer: ('Strue)
MilesMk1: (the poor shield drone)
Thematrian1: Well, that was a pretty pitiful display.
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 6 8-sided dice: 3 6 5 1 3 8
MilesMk1: Should I try to dodge? If so, do I just do it once, or against each, and what's the TN?
Thematrian1: roll once, against all. TN 4
Thematrian1: That's probably wrong
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 6 6-sided dice: 4 2 4 5 1 5
Thematrian1: but I'm tired of rolling dice, so
MilesMk1: 4 successes.
Umbrafer: Can I try an Acceleration Test to break physics, get out of the radius, and make dodging moot?
Thematrian1: No, it's not your turn
Umbrafer: Hm. Grenades impact on 1, though
Thematrian1: And we don't have Abort to Dodge in this game ;-)
Umbrafer: So it's not their turn either ;-)
Umbrafer: (I suppose it doesn't need to be for him to start dodging)
Thematrian1: The grenades are in the air. You don't think this is going to work out for them, honestly
Thematrian1: Alex, your go. You can break physics if you feel you must
Thematrian1: in the strato, as your turn
Umbrafer: Where do the grenades appear to be headed? Past us? Short of us?
Thematrian1: Well, that kinda varies. Mostly past you. One short of you. One is landing at the zombie-crowd's feet, as the thrower's arm broke off during the throw.
Thematrian1: (12 meters scatter, straight back toward the thrower. That's what I rolled, swear to God ::cries:: )
Umbrafer: :D
Umbrafer: Style points. Is there any immediately obvious way to move somewhere that ought to be outside of the radii of all of the grenades? If not, I take cover where I can without shearing Blake's head off with a rotor.
MilesMk1: (That's the world's way for balancing for all the 1's I tend to roll on 10 and 12 dice...)
Thematrian1: yes. Straight backwards will do fine.
Umbrafer: Ok, straight backwards it is. Full speed ahead, cap'n.
Thematrian1: let's see it
Umbrafer: Accel 9, top speed 100.
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 12 6-sided dice: 3 3 5 4 1 6 1 2 3 4 3 1
Umbrafer: (TN something like -3, so I think that's 9 successes for 81 meters/turn)
Thematrian1: goodbye, physics. I know we were never close, but...
Thematrian1: Ok, you can back up as much as you want, pretty much
Thematrian1: Blake?
MilesMk1: If I run back, I'll probably just end up running into the grenades...
MilesMk1: I shoot a grenade into the middle of the zombie group.
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 6 6-sided dice: 6 3 4 6 3 4
Thematrian1: And Blake shows them how it's done. Grenades land on initiative count one, so that's that. Roll a die for scatter
MilesMk1: (Don't I also get the neatest looking rolls?)
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 1 6-sided die: 6
Thematrian1: (That one was aesthetic, I must admit)
MilesMk1: damn
Thematrian1: Ok, you only have four successes left that they have to dodge
Thematrian1: with their three combat pool
Umbrafer: :D
Thematrian1: Alex?
Umbrafer: What's happening here?
Umbrafer: Oh, did we have one more phase than I thought?
Umbrafer: Fair enough, then.
Thematrian1: Well, the grenades are in the air, and you're up to 50 meters down the corridoor
Thematrian1: you had a 26
Thematrian1: so you act on 26, 16, 6
Thematrian1: that is to say, now
Umbrafer: Is there any sign of a wall anywhere I'd have to worry about it?
Thematrian1: ~120 meters from the conflict point. The one set of doors is thankfully still open.
Umbrafer: Meh, just going to make a deceleration test, capped at 36 meters/turn slowdown.
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 6 6-sided dice: 2 1 2 2 1 2
Umbrafer: Which is exactly what I got
Thematrian1: (The dice are on strike. For everybody. That's how I interpret these events)
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 6 6-sided dice: 4 4 1 1 2 1
Umbrafer: (Hey, they're workin' for me. I wanted four successes, that's what I got :D )
EverGuard4: (yup, me too)
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 4 6-sided dice: 2 2 2 6
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 10 6-sided dice: 3 5 3 4 6 1 3 6 4 1
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 2 6-sided dice: 5 2
EverGuard4: 11, 7, 5, 4
Thematrian1: The strato slows. The grenades land.
MilesMk1 has left the room.
MilesMk1 has entered the room.
MilesMk1: Bah.
Umbrafer: Wb
MilesMk1: Anything I missed after "grenades land, strato slows"?
Umbrafer: Other than announcements of you leaving and reentering, no.
MilesMk1: (It's those World of Warcraft chat reflexes again.)
Thematrian1: Blake, resist 4S with armor and body, and 2S with the same. Riot drone the same. What other drones are near Blake?
MilesMk1: Spider in my pocket?
MilesMk1: *sob*
Umbrafer: :-(
MilesMk1: Poor spider.
MilesMk1: So... It's 4S before armor?
Thematrian1: A half-dozen shattering booms rock the hallway. In the cacophony, no one notices a tiny, mechanical crunch.
Thematrian1: yes
Thematrian1: all that before armor
MilesMk1: (all out of combat pool anyway)
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 3 5 2 4 5 4 6 6 5
Umbrafer: No way to shield the spider?
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 3 3 5 4 4 6 5 6 1
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 2 6-sided dice: 5 3
MilesMk1: Needed 2's.
MilesMk1: Well, it is inside an armored jacket...
Thematrian1: ::ponder:: what's the armor on that?
MilesMk1: Inside a camo suit, actually.
MilesMk1: 3 impact
Umbrafer: (And it'd be behind the shielddrone… and most of the damage would probably be shrapnel rather than blast…)
Thematrian1: None of which is sufficient. Even the tiny amount of damage left over (say 0S, four automatic successes) kills it.
MilesMk1: (One way to look at it, is that it's a piece of my gear at the moment and doesn't get destroyed any more than my pistol. ;-))
Thematrian1: ::hates himself::
Umbrafer: :-(
Umbrafer: Is it salvageable?
Thematrian1: Yes
EverGuard4: *laughs*
MilesMk1: (Hey, that drone is almost like a pet. Which sort of makes for a weird relationship between Blake and Alex, if you want to think about it...)
Umbrafer: (If the drone is Alex, then she clearly has some other identity issues)
Umbrafer: (Not saying that that isn't the case, it can be hard to tell sometimes)
MilesMk1: (Well, there is the thing with Alex making the drone chitter indignantly at Alex... Unless there's more to this bug then we know. ;-))
Umbrafer: (We may never know the answer)
Umbrafer: (If a computer spoke to you and told you, "I live", could you verify its claim?)
MilesMk1: "YOU BASTARDS! YOU KILLED MY SPIDER!"
Thematrian1: (It's been known to do that even when Alex was provably jumped into another drone)
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 15 6-sided dice: 6 2 6 5 2 3 4 5 3 3 6 6 1 2 3
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 15 6-sided dice: 3 5 3 6 2 2 3 6 1 2 5 2 6 1 2
MilesMk1: (actually, I probably didn't notice yet in all the confusion, but... :p)
Thematrian1: (dramatic needs)
Umbrafer: *Small trail of blood starts to seep out of the corner of Alex's mouth*
Thematrian1: The zombies are in disarray
Thematrian1: well, zombie
Thematrian1: the others are in disrepair
Umbrafer: That's a kind of disarray.
Thematrian1: new initiative
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 4 6-sided dice: 6 1 6 1
Umbrafer: Ah, the irony.
Umbrafer: 27.
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 15 6-sided dice: 2 6 1 2 2 4 6 2 3 5 2 1 6 4 1
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 3 6-sided dice: 1 4 5
MilesMk1: Hah.
MilesMk1: Why do I even roll?
MilesMk1: 20
Umbrafer: (We need to get you some Kamikaze)
Thematrian1: (Only if Matt feels like building a new character)
Umbrafer: (That's not true, he's got a decent chance of using it once, maybe even twice in his lifetime and surviving)
MilesMk1: (Nah, I like this one.)
Umbrafer: (Especially if he has karma for the addiction roll)
MilesMk1: (Blake will stick to painkillers with no in-game effects and no addiction rolls, thank you.)
MilesMk1: (He's got his vices covered.)
Umbrafer: (Ironic caution for a man facing down a horde of zombies.)
Thematrian1: well Alex, you're up
Umbrafer: Hm. Do I have a clear shot on the zombie?
Thematrian1: Yep. Range ~130 meters
MilesMk1: So there's only one left standing?
MilesMk1: Disrepair = down?
Thematrian1: yes. The others came apart when the grenade detonated in their midst
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 7 6-sided dice: 1 1 1 2 5 6 3
Thematrian1: Between the burning and the sudden explosions...
Umbrafer: Ok, I'm going to decelerate by the Speed rating (no action) and put a three-round burst on that zombie.
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 10 6-sided dice: 2 1 1 4 5 1 6 3 6 2
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 2 6-sided dice: 3 2
MilesMk1: (Hey, it gets my vote. I just wanted to make sure.)
Umbrafer: +2 for my speed, +1 for motion away, -2 for Smartlink, looks like two successes.
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 3 6-sided dice: 2 3 4
Thematrian1: nope
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 8 6-sided dice: 4 4 5 6 3 4 6 1
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 2 6-sided dice: 1 1
Umbrafer: Incidentally, it's only 12S because of the tracer.
Thematrian1: nope
Thematrian1: Zomburger
Umbrafer: But assuming it has more than M damage…
Umbrafer: Oh wait
Umbrafer: Yeah, staging too
Umbrafer: Well, either way.
Thematrian1: Oh yeah. Try "a box away from D"
Umbrafer: Yeah, five boxes of overflow sounds good about now. Probably Deadlier
Umbrafer: Never mind, it doesn't fall under Deadlier Overdamage
Umbrafer: (Not that it matters)
Thematrian1: it goes down twitching. Blake?
Thematrian1: There aren't any immediately visible targets
MilesMk1: I hold action to shoot anyone that comes around the corner.
MilesMk1: (And try to figure out how to go about fighting three or possibly 4 powerful magicians that regenerate all their damage each turn with no magical backup of our own.)
Umbrafer: (Get them all in the same area, then suppressive fire the area)
Thematrian1: (The problem lies in step one)
Umbrafer: (True enough)
MilesMk1: (Yeah.)
Thematrian1: (Step two does rock hard, I admit)
Thematrian1: Passive Sensors for the strato, please, Alex
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 7 6-sided dice: 6 6 6 4 1 1 2
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 3 6-sided dice: 2 3 6
MilesMk1: (I could try throwing thermite at them, but that involves poking my head into LOS)
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 1 6-sided die: 5
Thematrian1: This is interesting. Your ultrasound sensors are picking up a humanoid figure standing at the center of the T-intersection. The electromagnetic sensors detect no such thing.
Umbrafer: Suppressive fire.
Umbrafer: Hold
Umbrafer: Suppressive fire with Blake in-between=bad.
Umbrafer: #Target center of junction#
MilesMk1: #Uh... Ok.#
Umbrafer: I'm going to try for a straight shot
MilesMk1: *fires a grenade into the center of the junction*
Umbrafer: Six rounds. Hopefully ought to give him an idea of where to aim for, too.
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 12 6-sided dice: 3 2 4 4 1 5 6 2 5 2 5 5
MilesMk1: (Should I roll now, or on my init?)
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 1 6-sided die: 5
Thematrian1: (On your init)
Thematrian1: Bang. You think you hit him; the figure jerks
Thematrian1: Blake?
Umbrafer: #Fire where the tracers went.#
MilesMk1: *fires where the tracers went*
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 10 6-sided dice: 1 4 5 6 2 5 1 4 1 3
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 1 6-sided die: 3
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 7 6-sided dice: 6 6 4 3 2 3 4
MilesMk1: (that was a grenade, BTW)
Thematrian1: *bang*
Thematrian1: blood splatters the walls. It's not at all obvious where it came from
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 4 5 2 2 5 1 1 1 6
MilesMk1: Blood?
MilesMk1: Mr. Blond, maybe?
Thematrian1: To your ultrasonic perceptions, the figure retreats
Thematrian1: You guys both get one more shot at him before he's out of sight, though
MilesMk1: Damn... So low on grenades...
Umbrafer: Six rounds again.
Umbrafer: Three of them are going to Searching Fire this time.
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 7 6-sided dice: 3 3 4 2 4 2 1
Umbrafer: Ewww.
Thematrian1: um. Searching Fire TN what?
MilesMk1: Aw, what the hell. One more grenade, a little farther back.
Thematrian1: go for it
Umbrafer: Searching Fire just sacrifices the increased damage from the last three rounds for the sake of adding an extra die to the attack test. TN is -2 for Smartlink, +1 for Motion Away, and probably base TN 5 for range
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 8 6-sided dice: 6 6 3 2 2 6 3 6
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 3 6-sided dice: 5 6 1
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 1 6-sided die: 2
MilesMk1: Heh. Heh.
MilesMk1: Oops, missed one 6.
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 1 6-sided die: 6
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 1 6-sided die: 1
Thematrian1: (Ok, so two successes for the strato, and a mauling for Blake)
MilesMk1: I carefully analyze the blood splatter pattern and use a mathematical model to hit the invisibale man in the forehead.
MilesMk1: And the invisible one too.
MilesMk1: (Down to two grenades. Who would have thought 12 mini-grenades for the underbarrel launcher would be too little?)
Thematrian1: well, now you have more blood splatters to analyze. The figure more collapses around the safety of the corner.
Umbrafer: #He's around the corner#
Thematrian1: actions?
MilesMk1: (We need to buy you some cheap disposable drones capable of carrying 50 pounds of high explosive each)
MilesMk1: Well, I'm out of actions this round.
Umbrafer: (Indeed)
Umbrafer: Can I do the combined deceleration/acceleration thing again? By my calculations I'll still have to make a Crash Test, but that should be trivial.
Thematrian1: yes
EverGuard4 has left the room.
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 7 6-sided dice: 5 4 5 5 6 3 1
Thematrian1: ah nertz
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 12 6-sided dice: 4 5 4 2 3 1 2 1 5 6 3 3
Umbrafer: That'd be an ungodly amount of momentum change
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 12 6-sided dice: 6 2 1 4 3 1 2 3 1 1 1 2
Umbrafer: And one not-crashed Strato.
EverGuard4 has entered the room.
Thematrian1: good times
Thematrian1: now what?
MilesMk1: You just beat me for worst roll of the evening, I think...
MilesMk1: #Which way did the bleeding guy go, left or right?#
Thematrian1: (right)
Umbrafer: #Right.#
MilesMk1: #Any ideas? I can't think of anything that won't give three mages a shot a free shot at me, and last time, two was enough. Bastards.#
Umbrafer: #We can go through at the same time, if you want; you take one side, I'll take the other#
Umbrafer: #Or we can just send the drones. I don't know if their magic works on them.#
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 14 6-sided dice: 3 6 4 4 3 6 1 5 2 6 4 6 4 2
EverGuard4: Test
Thematrian1: yep
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 5 6-sided dice: 2 1 2 2 1
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 6 4 5 2 5 3 4 3 3
Umbrafer: (Wow. Over a hundred users active on Dumpshock right now)
MilesMk1: (And they're all arguing about SR4. It's fun to see people in denial.)
Thematrian1: (especially when they have no data at all)
MilesMk1: #Hmm... Perhaps I can ride in on the shield drone. Drive it in while crouched low, and only the ones on one side of the T will be able to see me, at least initially, while you move the Strato in.#
MilesMk1: #If we can get them down, and keep them down, I have enough thermite to finish this.#
Umbrafer: #Got it.#
MilesMk1: (Incidentally, the handling on the drone is?)
MilesMk1: (Since I'll have to drive this sucker defaulting to reaction.)
Umbrafer: (Handling 4/4)
MilesMk1: (So 8 with the default, -1 for datajack, effectively 6.)
MilesMk1: (Right?)
Umbrafer: (Though unless you're doing fancy combat manouvers it won't take a roll.)
Thematrian1: (Indeed, though...yeah)
MilesMk1: (Good.)
Thematrian1: (What he said)
MilesMk1: Ok... So I ride it in, shielding myself from the left side (where evil man with cane was), and Strato moves in as well?
MilesMk1: Oh.
Umbrafer: Oh?
MilesMk1: And I again try to get the bundles of therimte as ready for use as possible.
Thematrian1: indeed
MilesMk1: Without making them obvious targets for enemy elemental spells.
Thematrian1: It's not at all clear what might be involved with that
MilesMk1: I just get them as ready as I can, then.
Umbrafer: As long as you keep the magnesium strips separate until the last second
MilesMk1: Right.
Umbrafer: Even then, most fireballs are probably less intense than a blowtorch
Umbrafer: The rate of survival suggests it, at least
Thematrian1: You ready your thermite. It's far from ideal, but your best under the circumstances
MilesMk1: #If I die in there, set off the thermite, maybe all the explosives I have on me will cook off and take one of the bastards with me.#
Umbrafer: #Got it.#
MilesMk1: *Execute!*
MilesMk1: (Oh, and reload with a fresh clip of EX beforehand.)
Umbrafer: *Executes* Who are my targets?
Thematrian1: click
Thematrian1: you were clearing the left?
Umbrafer: I believe so. Confirmation?
MilesMk1: I was going to be shielded from everything left, so that's the logical one for the Strato, yes.
Thematrian1: All right. With Blake covering the right, and the strato covering the left, you charge in.
Thematrian1: To the right: The elderly, fair-haired guy is sitting, looking perturbed and injured. A mage is standing over him, and blondie's injuries are slowly but visibly fading.
Thematrian1: To the left: the one mage remains. The gnarled evil-looking guy is nowhere in sight
Umbrafer: #No old guy.# Upon my next action, it's six-round burst time.
Thematrian1: The mage looks astonished.
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 12 6-sided dice: 3 2 4 1 2 6 2 4 2 6 1 1
MilesMk1: (By the way, these guys were healing at the end of round, not at the end of each combat phase, right?)
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 2 6-sided dice: 5 5
Thematrian1: (True)
Thematrian1: The mage who's not busy maybe does a spell or something. If so, it doesn't work.
Thematrian1: initiative
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 4 4 1 4 3 1 5 4 3
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 3 6-sided dice: 3 3 3
MilesMk1: Damn it...
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 4 6-sided dice: 6 3 4 3
Thematrian1: (A taste of things to come if you raise your reaction, I guess)
Umbrafer: 29, bugger all.
MilesMk1: I think I broke 20 once on this run on Initiative.
MilesMk1: (Well, I have the money... Maybe I will buy a reaction enhancer or two. Or Enhanced Artwinkulation, if it hits the market :p)
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 6 6-sided dice: 4 1 4 5 1 5
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 6 6-sided dice: 3 2 5 3 2 5
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 6 6-sided dice: 3 6 4 6 4 4
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 4 6 5 2 4 2 4 1 4
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 4 3 1 1 1 2 4 6 3
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 2 2 4 6 4 6 5 1 6
MilesMk1: Ow. Ow. Ow.
Thematrian1: Alex, it's your action
Umbrafer: Six-round burst on the guy in front of me.
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 12 6-sided dice: 2 1 3 6 4 3 5 6 6 6 4 1
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 4 6-sided dice: 4 1 3 5
Umbrafer: TN base 4 -2 for smartlink, not immediately aware of anything increasing it.
MilesMk1: Now if he only failed his regen roll...
Thematrian1: blakkalakkalakka. He doesn't try to dodge. What's the damage?
Umbrafer: 15D after burst adjustment
Thematrian1: he goes down hard
Thematrian1: And does not even twitch
Thematrian1: Blake?
MilesMk1: 3 rounds into Blondie, 3 rounds into magician.
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 1 3 6 5 2 3 6 3 6
MilesMk1: I think I'll hold on to my combat pool on this one...
MilesMk1: Blondie
Thematrian1: all righ
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 6 6-sided dice: 6 1 6 4 1 5
MilesMk1: Second guy.
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 6 6-sided dice: 6 1 2 5 4 4
MilesMk1: That's 13S.
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 10 6-sided dice: 3 4 4 3 1 4 6 2 6 4
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 8 6-sided dice: 1 6 6 1 5 3 1 4
Thematrian1: blondie dives behind the second mage, who gets splattered. Blondie himself is almost unharmed.
MilesMk1: We'll see about that.
MilesMk1: If they don't kill me first.
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 5 6-sided dice: 2 2 5 1 6
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 1 6-sided die: 3
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 4 3 1 1 3 4 6 4 4
Umbrafer: #Gah!#
MilesMk1: What?
MilesMk1: #What?#
Umbrafer: I jack out, ordering the drone to keep firing at the body of the guy I took down in three-round bursts.
Thematrian1: Meanwhile, Blondie reaches out one hand, flexing it into a claw. Blake, make an immediate Crash test for the shield-drone
Umbrafer: (Is it even moving?)
MilesMk1: (Reaction?)
Thematrian1: yes
Thematrian1: (We'll get there)
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 10 6-sided dice: 4 6 6 2 6 4 2 6 4 2
MilesMk1: 4 successes, I think?
Thematrian1: Alex, your eyes fly open.
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 4 6-sided dice: 5 4 1 2
Thematrian1: Yep, those be successes.
Thematrian1: The gnarled black evil dude is sitting on your vehicle controls. He's locked gazes with Rock, who's leaning into the driver's compartment.
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 5 4 4 6 3 5 5 5 2
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 2 5 2 4 3 2 2 6 6
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 2 6-sided dice: 1 6
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 15 6-sided dice: 1 1 3 3 1 1 4 6 5 4 1 3 2 5 3
EverGuard4: er...
EverGuard4: I hit 21 instead of 1
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 1 6-sided die: 4
Thematrian1: Blake
MilesMk1: (BTW, since this relates to what I'm going to do - burning thermite gives a +6 TN glare modifier, which drops at +1 per turn once you stop looking at it. Glare compensation halves it. I wonder if Blondie has glare comp. :-))
EverGuard4: 16, 7, 5, 4
Thematrian1: you feel the shield-drone try to swerve from under your control, but you easily master it.
Umbrafer: #Got someone in the van#
Thematrian1: Blondie speaks a single word: "Wait!"
Umbrafer: (Want me to reroll init for my meatbod?)
Thematrian1: yes
Umbrafer: I think this may be the first time I've done this this game. Maybe the second.
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 1 6-sided die: 3
Umbrafer: 10
Thematrian1: the drone sprays the corpse with bullets. More enthusiasm than skill, but what do you want?
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 4 6-sided dice: 2 2 5 3
MilesMk1: Good for Blondie... Maybe I'll only knock him out... I take a charge of thermite and throw it (lighting it) on the body of the mage I just nailed.
EverGuard4: *hangs head*
EverGuard4: so much for that...
Umbrafer: Just making sure it doesn't get up again.
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 1 6-sided die: 1
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 2 6-sided dice: 1 6
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 1 6-sided die: 3
Thematrian1: Blake: throwing or local equivalent? You don't need to be very accurate, which helps...
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 6 6-sided dice: 2 1 2 2 2 2
EverGuard4: *hangs head againi*
MilesMk1: I actually have throwing... Basically, I take a couple of steps forward and toss it at can't-miss range.
MilesMk1: (Don;t you have Karma?)
Thematrian1: Fair enough. Don't rule-of-one, please
MilesMk1: (Of course, I have no clue what you might had to use it on...)
EverGuard4: (speaking to me?)
MilesMk1: (Yeah.)
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 4 6-sided dice: 3 2 5 5
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 12 6-sided dice: 3 2 4 1 2 6 2 1 3 5 3 4
EverGuard4: erg...
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 1 6-sided die: 1
Thematrian1: thank you. The thermite lands, Blondie recoils
EverGuard4: *sighs*
MilesMk1: Can I only say one word, or is one short phrase ok?
Thematrian1: eh, short phrase works for me
Thematrian1: if, you know, quite short
EverGuard4: (Most characters utter profanities quickly enough to break the one-word rule) ;-)
MilesMk1: "Surrender and we'll talk." or if that's too long just "Surrender".
Umbrafer: (Sonofamotherfuckingbitch is one word :-) )
Thematrian1: Blake tosses thermite on a mage and shouts "Surrender" at the one standing enemy.
Thematrian1: He holds his hands in the air.
Thematrian1: The short wizened guy looks up from the battle of wills with Rock, and again batters Alex with his cane
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 1 3 3 6 4 3 3 3 6
Thematrian1: Alex, are you wearing any kind of safety restraints?
MilesMk1: (Anyone remember the Merovingian in the second Matrix, and that string of curses when he saw the keymaker loose? :-))
Umbrafer: Yep, I always buckle up
EverGuard4: (gr)
Thematrian1: ugh
Thematrian1: you're aware and may defend yourself, but your position sucks rocks
Umbrafer: Not surprised. What's my best equivalent to Full Defense?
MilesMk1: #One down, one offering to surrender down here! Hold on!#
Thematrian1: Full Defense. What does that net you?
Thematrian1: The drone sprays the mage's body with bullets. The parts keep trying to slither back together, but no.
Umbrafer: What TN would I get for the dodge test?
Thematrian1: ::ponder:: 5
Thematrian1: with whatever Full Defense does
MilesMk1: Dunno how this works initiative-wise, but if Blondie really puts his hands up, and doesn't resist, he gets an arm twisted behind his back (making him face the thermite) and then gets bopped with a stun glove.
Umbrafer: Full Defense it is. We make a normal attack test, then I get to dodge thereafter. I cannot inflict damage, however.
Thematrian1: I see. Well, he's made his attack, and you may dodge
Umbrafer: (If he does resist, same thing but his face gets forced into the thermite? :-) )
Umbrafer: So I get no melee roll?
Thematrian1: you may roll that too, apologies. I misread your description of Full Defense. +1 confinement mod to TN
Umbrafer: TN 9 after defaulting penalties.
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 2 6-sided dice: 4 3
Umbrafer: Dodge:
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 4 6-sided dice: 5 6 6 5
Thematrian1: wow
Umbrafer: Woo!
Thematrian1: coming through when it counts
MilesMk1: Then, once he's out, I grab the other mage (making sure I won't get sprayed by the strato as I do - I watch where the bullets hit first) and drag him over to the thermite. No point in using a second charge...
Thematrian1: As you glove him, he chokes out "I'll kill her."
MilesMk1: Does he lose consciousness then, or is he still awake?
MilesMk1: #Alex?#
MilesMk1: Make that, #Alex?!#
Thematrian1: Alex, please soak 8S stun
MilesMk1: Oh, god...
Umbrafer: #God… damn… old… men…#
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 2 6-sided dice: 3 6
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 1 6-sided die: 3
Thematrian1: Blake hears him speak, and can choose how hard to shock him.
Thematrian1: Armor?
Umbrafer: None
Thematrian1: ow
Thematrian1: take another S, to go with your M
Umbrafer: Well, possibly armored clothing, but 1 Impact doesn't do much
Umbrafer: Mmm, 9 boxes.
Thematrian1: new round for the people up above
Thematrian1: new initiative, &c
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 1 6-sided die: 3
Umbrafer: 9.
EverGuard4: (did I act before you asked me to roll init?)
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 1 6-sided die: 1
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 1 6-sided die: 4
EverGuard4: ... again!
MilesMk1: "Try anything and I'll see to it whatever carcass you occupy gets a mouthfull of thermite!"
Thematrian1: "Hurt me, and your driver dies."
MilesMk1: #Alex, you ok?#
Thematrian1: The drone sprays the corpse with bullets.
MilesMk1: "We appear to have a stand-off, then."
Umbrafer: #Still… here…#
MilesMk1: #This bastard is saying he can kill you if I try to finish him off.#
Thematrian1: Meanwhile up above, wizened dude turns his attention to Rock
Umbrafer: #He might…#
EverGuard4: (watches attention turning)
Thematrian1: Rock, another Willpower faceoff with Mr. Wizened
Umbrafer: (My character desperately needs to learn about using Willpower to combat spirits)
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 1 4 4 1 2 2 5 2 6
Thematrian1: He's making the attack, natch
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 5 5 6 2 5 5 3 2 6
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 2 6-sided dice: 6 4
MilesMk1: #Fuck... What is the our hitchhiker doing?#
Thematrian1: (I think it's an instinctive thing. Mundanes can do it without knowing anything about it; see some of the passages in Bug City)
EverGuard4: 12, 10, 5 5 5 5
Umbrafer: Oh, then I should have used it for that last attack test. Oops.
MilesMk1: #I'll lay off this bastard for now, yell the moment I can wirng his fucking neck.#
Thematrian1: You were coming out of rigging. Next time.
MilesMk1: wring
MilesMk1: (Just for the record, I am not hurting Blondie any worse, just making sure I have a good grip on him and being ready to whack him - the thermite burns for 10 rounds.)
Umbrafer: Going to hold an action to hit him as hard as I can (not that that's saying much) the instant he appears to be attacking me again.
MilesMk1: (Did our new friend just kick the crap out of Cane Man in that contest of wills? It looked like it.)
Thematrian1: oof
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 1 2 5 6 4 2 2 4 6
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 2 6-sided dice: 6 4
Thematrian1: (Yeah, that's about how it went down)
Umbrafer: What do us outsiders see?
Thematrian1: The wizened man draws back, surprised and pained.
MilesMk1: "Where are all the people you had here? Did you bury them?"
Thematrian1: "Wait. The Bokor plots."
Thematrian1: er
Thematrian1: That was Cane Man
Thematrian1: Cane Man winces a bit, shifting to a more comfortable position on top of the steering column. He makes no immediate move to attack. Rock may still of course attack if he wishes.
Thematrian1: Blondie: "She's near death already. So easy to end her."
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 6 5 6 1 1 6 3 6 2
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 4 6-sided dice: 3 6 3 2
EverGuard4: 12, 9, 8, 8, 5
MilesMk1: #The fucker is saying you're near death... Please tell me he's bluffing?!#
OnlineHost: Thematrian1 rolled 9 6-sided dice: 5 6 3 6 4 3 6 1 4
Umbrafer: #I'm hurting, but I don't think it's that bad…)
Umbrafer: #
MilesMk1: "I think you're getting desperate, and trying to lie your way out of this."
Thematrian1: Cane Man cries out, clutches the side of his head, and falls backward through the windshield.
Umbrafer: Just want to reconfirm: what does his status appear to be?
Thematrian1: "You've seen my servants travel through the walls. You think one ve-hi-cle is harder?"
Thematrian1: What do you mean?
MilesMk1: I think he means, is he no longer a threat so I can beat the shit out of this guy? ;-)
Umbrafer: Pretty much.
Thematrian1: Well, he's not in the van anymore
Umbrafer: Am I still within effective caning distance?
Thematrian1: Not immediately
Umbrafer: #Kill him.#
Umbrafer: I'm also going to have the seat move backwards.
Thematrian1: *whiiiiir*
Umbrafer: Every centimeter may count :-)
Thematrian1: As you whiiiiir backwards, you see Shojo sprawled unconscious on the floor of the van
MilesMk1: "Your other servants died. Like THIS!" *face forward into thermite*
Umbrafer: Do I see another target around?
Thematrian1: He shrieks with agony.
MilesMk1: *draws him back slightly*
MilesMk1: #So we're agreed - much too dangerous to be taken alive, right?#
Umbrafer: Anyone visible near Shojo?
Thematrian1: just Rock
Umbrafer: #Kill him now for the love of god kill him now#
MilesMk1: #Got it.#
MilesMk1: *ends the shrieks with the stun glove, then lets him fall face-first into the thermite*
Thematrian1: His wounds do not regenerate.
MilesMk1: *drags mage being peppered by Strato to join the bonefire*
Umbrafer: *Rips off the seatbelt, goes to see how Shojo is*
Umbrafer: (The seatbelt is likely undamaged by the Strength 2 ferocity)
MilesMk1: (God, Blake is going to have nightmares about this run... And there won't be much time for a vacation...)
Thematrian1: Shojo is in a bad way. The color is entirely gone from her face, and she lies boneless as a doll.
Umbrafer: Alive?
Thematrian1: yes
MilesMk1: It's hard to believe, but Blake will be relieved to hear that.
Umbrafer: *Curses not having paid more attention in First Aid class* Does she appear in immediate danger, or do I feel vaguely safe waiting for someone more medically competent?
MilesMk1: Assuming horrible things don't come out of the walls to kill him as he relaxes slightly.
Thematrian1: give me Biotech[First Aid]
Thematrian1: Nothing comes to kill Blake
Umbrafer: Default to Intelligence:
Thematrian1: He's in a hallway, almost entirely filled in with packed earth
Thematrian1: go for it
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 7 6-sided dice: 4 5 3 3 2 4 4
MilesMk1: Can I tell where the earth was coming from?
Thematrian1: Her heartbeat is pretty weak. Maybe she's in danger, maybe that's normal in situations like these.
Thematrian1: There's no immediate source; all the walls/ceiling/&c are unbreached
MilesMk1: Huh.
MilesMk1: Can I try using the shield-drone as an impromptu bulldozer if I angle the shield correctly? Just trying to dig some distance into the packed earth.
Thematrian1: You can try. Roll Reaction to manhandle it correctly
MilesMk1: #They're all dead. How are you guys doing up there?#
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 10 6-sided dice: 5 1 4 4 3 3 4 6 5 6
OnlineHost: MilesMk1 rolled 2 6-sided dice: 5 1
MilesMk1: 2 successes against base handling, one against TN 12.
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 3 6-sided dice: 5 6 3
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 1 6-sided die: 6
Thematrian1: The shield-drone isn't suited to this work at all, but you dig a little way
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 1 6-sided die: 5
EverGuard4: 17,5,3
MilesMk1: Anything?
Umbrafer: #Shojo's hurt bad. I don't know if she's getting worse or not.#
MilesMk1: #I've been trying to see what the hell they've buried down there - want me to come up? I'm not great at first aid, but I am trained at it...#
Thematrian1: the main thing that you've discovered, Blake, is that there's a lot of earth in this passage, and it's closely packed
EverGuard4: *tries to keep Shojo cozy and hydrated*
Umbrafer: *Does much the same*
Umbrafer: *Only more worriedly*
MilesMk1: *tries to discover if there's anything more behind the packed earth*
MilesMk1: #Not making much progress...#
Thematrian1: Five minutes pass.
MilesMk1: Still nothing?
Umbrafer: If Shojo appears to be getting worse, I call him up. I also get around to telling the drone it can stop firing, if it hasn't figured that out already.
Thematrian1: It hadn't
Thematrian1: it nobly blasted away until you told it not to
MilesMk1: Blake takes a break to search the bodies (no need to go through it all now, he just bags everything that wasn't fried - Mr. Blondie only got his head fried, after all).
Umbrafer: I probably figured it out before the full five minutes went by, but it'd been a bit.
MilesMk1: Then he moves the drone out of the way, and tries his hand at quarrying by seeing if he can blast some of the earth away with his remaining concussion grenade. (digs a hole, sets the grenade to long delay, drops it in, gets away).
Thematrian1: I expect so, yeah. Indeed, I expect Blake might like a cessation of the racket before then.
MilesMk1: Well... Probably, yeah.
Thematrian1: Mr. Blonde is wearing a flute made of bone or a very good substitute on a cheap thong around his neck. His clothing is ordinary, but he carries an old-fashioned wallet with a few metal keys, a few keycards, and a half-dozen chips.
MilesMk1: *bags it all*
Thematrian1: You bag it up.
Thematrian1: It's hard to tell what the two mages might once have been wearing
MilesMk1: #Hey... Can you talk to the mage, see if there's any way if he can see what's behind all this earth, so I'll know whether to bother digging?#
MilesMk1: #Because this blonde asshole was mentioned as a *servant* of someone else, and I'd rather get the hell out of here before whoever that is shows up.#
EverGuard4: (to girl) *Spanish Spanish Spanish*
EverGuard4: er... "Spanish Spanish Spanish"
Thematrian1: Alex has been Spanish'd
Umbrafer: #He's talking Spanish again… I'll put you through to him# *Switches radio to voice/audible mode for possibly the first time ever and offers it to the mage*
Umbrafer: Don't I get a roll to resist?
Thematrian1: no
EverGuard4: (into radio) "Spanish Spanish Spanish."
MilesMk1: "Hey, buddy... Use the translation magic again, would you?"
MilesMk1: "Trans-la-tion."
EverGuard4: *stops when you begin speaking*
OnlineHost: EverGuard4 rolled 7 6-sided dice: 5 2 3 6 3 3 6
EverGuard4: "Might we leave soon? Something about this place changes as we wait."
MilesMk1: "I'd be glad to... But is there any way for you to tell what they buried behind the packed earth down here? I want to find out what happened to the people we found earlier."
MilesMk1: *tries to explain what he understands of mages being able to astrally project to see other place*
MilesMk1: places
EverGuard4: "I do not know of that."
MilesMk1: *cries*
MilesMk1: Well, there's no way I'll be able to *quickly* move the amount of earth some rock monster dumped over eight hours...
MilesMk1: But I'm stubborn, so I'll use the drone for another 10 minutes - maybe they just started to fill this in when we caught them.
Umbrafer: Incidentally, rolling Willpower for stun recovery
MilesMk1: #What do we do if we can't find the people? I don't want to stay here, but I can't dig through this shit on my own quickly enough.#
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 6 6-sided dice: 5 1 2 6 2 5
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 1 6-sided die: 5
MilesMk1: TN 5 for serious stun.
Umbrafer: So 20 minutes.
Umbrafer: #Maybe the chips will be enough. If that was their leader the place should be easy enough to come back to#
Umbrafer: #And if the Johnson doesn't pay us, I think we're just going to sell him for parts#
EverGuard4: (how much longer do you plan to continue?)
Thematrian1: Blake digs for ten minutes. It doesn't work.
MilesMk1: #Yeah, but I'm worried they buried them alive or something, not just about the money... After all the trouble we've gone to...#
Thematrian1: there could be another ten feet for all you know
MilesMk1: *Blake despondently gets the hell out of there and back to the van*
Umbrafer: One thing first:
Umbrafer: I'm going to try a sensor scan to see if there's anyone close enough to the surface that I can detect them.
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 5 6-sided dice: 6 5 6 5 2
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 2 6-sided dice: 4 6
Thematrian1: um. How close is that?
OnlineHost: Umbrafer rolled 1 6-sided die: 3
Umbrafer: Given that I've got a twenty-kilometer-or-so radius in empty air, that's your call.
Umbrafer: IIRC you'd said a few feet or so last time.
Thematrian1: ah, yes. No one is close enough to the surface for that
Umbrafer: #If you're going to sweep the rest of the area we can, but I don'
Umbrafer: t t*don't think we have time to dig#
MilesMk1: #Ok, let's do a quick sweep.#
MilesMk1: *Does a quick but thorough sweep of the rest of B1, then despondently gets back to the van.*
Thematrian1: The tanker truck is there for you.
Umbrafer: How depressing.
Thematrian1: It's time for bed.
Umbrafer: Indeed.
Umbrafer: 'Night, all.
EverGuard4: Morning
EverGuard4 has left the room.
Thematrian1: I'll see you all later, try not to die in the interim
MilesMk1: *Sits down, buckles himself in very carefully, lies back with his eyes closed. His hands beging to shake.* ;-)
MilesMk1: Goodnight.
MilesMk1: See you Thursday, I guess?
Thematrian1: yep
MilesMk1: Bye.
Umbrafer: Indeed.
Thematrian1: sleep well
Umbrafer: *Waves*
MilesMk1: You too. *wave*
MilesMk1 has left the room.
Umbrafer has left the room.
Vernjonal has left the room.