Hmm's The Great Grav-Train Robbery (Inactive)

Game Master Hmm

So Barat can perform the following roles:

Distraction: Intimidate

Interference: Perception. Since this role only has one skill, we don’t want to use it every round.

Windbag: Physical Science

Unfortunately I think we are in trouble since LNA is the only one with Sleight of Hand, so we can’t get the datapad we were after. I guess they never anticipated LNA being the one to take the bet.

Lena can do the Skimmer game at the same time as the Social Manouevers.

So LNA can take the conversationalist and another role?

LNA can take only one role but has her choice.

For my reference:

Conversationalist: The conversationalist sidles up to the bar and engages Brom in dialogue, employing jokes, anecdotes, or other conversation with the intent of leaving him vulnerable to another PC's attempts to pick his pocket. The conversationalist uses Diplomacy for their checks.

Copilot: The copilot sets the conversationalist up for punchlines, aids in steering dialogue toward or away from specific topics, and uses nonvisual cues to help the other PCs perform their roles. The copilot uses Culture for their checks.

Distraction: The distraction creates a situation elsewhere in the car to draw the attention of Brom's bodyguards or Royce's cronies. The distraction can use Bluff, Intimidate, or Perform for their checks.

Interference: The interference watches for circumstances that might hinder the other PCs' efforts and counters them before they become problems. The interference uses Perception for their checks.

Pickpocket: This role can be taken only when the PCs have at least 5 Progress. The pickpocket casually approaches the now‑vulnerable Brom and tries to remove the datapad from his pocket. The pickpocket uses Sleight of Hand for their checks. If Royce makes more progress than you, he might be able to pickpocket as well. And there are consequences for failure!

Saboteur: The saboteur surreptitiously interferes with one of the car's mechanical or computer systems; for example, the saboteur might raise the thermostat, motivating Brom to remove his coat. The saboteur uses Computers or Engineering for their checks.

Windbag: The windbag briefly derails the conversation by using their knowledge of obscure trivia to make an outrageous but accurate claim. The windbag uses Physical Science or Life Science for their checks.

Alright, Kevan's a good fit for a Saboteur and a Windbag and a decent Copilot. I'm guessing we want LNA for the Pickpocket eventually, so maybe she doesn't want to get stuck as the Conversationalist (if I understand correctly, that role can't be swapped out of). Since we need to strike hard and fast before Royce gets the prize, I'll prioritize using the most-effective skills first.

Good luck, comrades.

Don't we need to have a Coversationalist? Otherwise we won't gain any success towards our goal of 5 (if I understand correctly). It sounds like that role doesn't have to be the one playing the card game.

Yes, my understanding is that there are two required roles.

Conversationalist determines how much progress we make. The other roles give a bonus to their check. Once Conversationalist, you can’t switch roles.

Pickpocket gets us the datapad after we get 5 progress points. They can wait until we get that far before taking the role.

Everyone else just tries to give a bonus to the Conversationalist.

Aramesh, do you want me to change your rolls to Diplomacy to free up Lena for Pickpocket?

Hmm

LNA, you can’t successfully pick pocket until we have 5 progress points.

^ That is correct. I think this may be a case of the rules being too dang long to comprehend in one sitting.

So... At some point tomorrow I'll move us forward, and change Lena's and Aramesh's roles to stuff that makes sense with the rules of this mini-game.

Hmm

Yes please swap that up - I didn't catch that initial point that says we must have a conversationalist and thought I had a bit more choice :)

Yeah, I read the item about 5 progress points :)

But didn't know how to work out if that condition had been met given dice rolls were supposed to be under spoilers.

Since in doubt, I thought I'd 'bot' the pickpocket roll under a spoiler, so as not to slow the game down and let our GM make a ruling ☮

I think it’s more like four of us are Aiding the Conversationaist (who is the “primary” roller) with various other skills based on our current role, and we gain/lose points each round based on that “primary” check (with possible aids to improve the result)? At least that’s the easiest way for me to explain it as I understand the situation.

Yes, that is my understanding as well.

Everyone else does their supporting rolls to give a bonus to the conversationalist. The conversationalist does their roll to determine progress points. We can change our progress points by -1 to 2 points each turn. We can never go below 0 progress points.

Our competition starts with 1 and gains 1 per turn. This suggests we really want to get 2 points on a couple of turns,

I get the impression that the more progress points we have, the easier the pickpocket attempt will be. Getting this confirmed would be nice.

I think the spoilers are so that we can all post out of order. In a face to face game you would have the conversationalist roll last.

The spoilers are so that you can post out of order. I will be telling you your progress points as we go.

I am not dead. Sorry, the Thanksgiving holiday took up more mental space then I planned upon. So... let me move us forward.

Kevan has a bloody brilliant idea for Windbag using Physical Science next round, so if at all possible please don’t use that skill this round and leave the role open for him next time! XD

Works for me. I’m planning to do Distraction with Intimidate next round.

As I understand the rules, it is fine for someone else to do Distraction this round, it would only interfere if they used Intimidate as well.

No stress, GM!

But I am too tired to post tonight. Can go tomorrow, or I am happy for Barat to bot Lena.

I get the impression that the more progress points we have, the easier the pickpocket attempt will be. Getting this confirmed would be nice.

In my mind, the dynamic shifts in the Pickpocket round with all of you providing distractions that aid the Pickpocket.

Ah, that makes sense! Thanks for that clarification!

You have LNA listed twice in the initiative. Kevan might want to be added.

SRO’s have a lot of immunities, but paralysis is not one of them.

SROs are immune to bleed, disease, death effects, poison, nonlethal damage, and sleep effects unless those effects specify they affect constructs. SROs can be affected by effects or spells that normally target only humanoids, but receive a +4 racial bonus to saving throws against such effects. SROs can eat and drink, though they don’t need to, and they must recharge their internal batteries by entering an off-line mode that is similar to sleep for 8 hours every day. SROs do not breathe or suffer the normal environmental effects of being in a vacuum.

Yup. Thanks for posting this, Bret!

The good news is y'all get saves again at the beginning of your next turn, so... good luck!

Aramesh, you still have a move action left if you want to use Get 'Em.

Get 'em on the Eel please :)

So is this a different enercopter that Royce is flying? I’m really hoping so…

It's a different enercopter. I'll make that clear next round, but this is not your enercopter.

Just realized that Lena's trick attack failed. The 'dinosaur' is still in play.

Just as a point of reference: you can attach the grav-crane to the ladder, making it hard for them to pull away! But Kevan's idea is also amusing to me...

@Hawthwile, very cool move! Loved it.

And so well commented by our Lady Boss.

Drop Bear story -- safe for work

Oh those poor Koalas! What a rough day for them!

So we are coming on a major decision point in the scenario. Arda will be explaining your options to you shortly, but I thought that I would give you a chance to discuss this out of character first.

Do you flee, fight, or brazen your way out of this mess? While all three have awesome moments, your GM would prefer to avoid the fight option and its gigantic map full of teeny-tiny squares when shrunk down on a slide. On the other hand, if that is what the whole group wants, we can do that.

Sneak previews of options:

First choice is Be Cool.

Second choice is Flee.

Third choice is the one my character is best at.

"We're going to be cool here, cool as ice"

I think Kevan would prefer to flee rather than look cool, but it's not so strong a preference that'd he'd object to the latter. And agreeing with Barat - combat would be last preference (though the mecha does sound super awesome - maybe Muu's got something similar on her show? XD).

If cool doesn't work we can always run like hell :p

Aramesh (or anyone else) if you respond to Arda, I can move us on!

If needed? another vote for Kool and the gang.

N00b question incoming: do we have any healing medicine (like CLW wands) that can cure SP damage?

Also, GM Hmm, I would ideally like 24 hours or so to think of a holoskin concept for Lena, and why that person would have been aboard the train, and why they’re so keen to leave carrying heavy things.

After AONing Ulrikka Clanholdings my first thought is a dwarven mining exec out for a good time and networking opportunities with Brom & co OR a dwarven salvage captain/buccaneer attracted to a potential train/ener-copter crash.

Both are kinda meh …

What about pretending to be Zim, Brom’s goon who rode the roof of the train (and maybe died up there?)

Dunno. Wouldn’t mind a little time to cook something up – or am I over-thinking this?

We can spend 10 minutes and 1RP to recover Stam damage.

If you all want 24 hours real time to come up and brainstorm backstories, fine. We are basically a one post per day group by default because of the wide variance in time zones of the players.

Stamina
What Shifty said. 10 minutes rest and a resolve point, and you will be good to go. Stamina emulates the "'Twere just a scratch," concept from Cinema where heroes can take a huge beating and still keep going before they are suddenly in dire medical need. We also have an envoy who can heal stamina in combat when he's not paralyzed... The last battle did not give him any opportunity to do so.

Fortunately the scenario gives you a rest point before you head into the station!

Mag Boots
Royce's goons do not have them. If they did they might not have slipped off that ladder.
You have :

Hope you’re OK with the Quentin Tarantino/Mr Brown-ish look for Zim, GM.

Also, I believe there is time for Lena to spend an RP to restore her SP’s to full, yes?

My bad, thought they all had them :) looks like we have a solution as you have just suggested.

***

Lena needs a Commode Story :p

Yes, she said in the gameplay OOC text that we had 30 minutes so taking the first 10 minutes of that for rest works.

In case it wasn’t clear, Holoskins can be set with a disguise using the disguise skill.

Aramesh set the disguises for a number of people including Barat.

It doesn’t look like you can store multiple disguises in the settings, that would have been nice.

Can I say that I am so very much appreciating the nutty mayhem of your current situation?

Pause while Hmm munches popcorn in anticipation of what you do next.

Will reply after breakfast :p

Before I make chronicles, are these all correct? And can you give me the levels of each of the receiving characters? This chronicle can be applied to a character of any level.

Player Name: Shifty
Name of the Character you plan to apply this chronicle to: Scrimshaw Benny
SFS-Number: 826-707
Faction: Manifold

Player Name: Yours is mined
Name of the Character you plan to apply this chronicle to: Rodger ‘Rump’ Rydell
SFS-Number: 69095-701
Faction: Wayfinders

Player Name: BretI
Name of the Character you plan to apply this chronicle to: Kizzot (level 6)
SFS-Number: 141981-709
Faction: Acquistives

Player Name: Hawthwile
Name of the Character you plan to apply this chronicle to: Mid-Treeum
SFS-Number: 264524-704
Faction: Wayfinders

I will of course be applying this to Mu, since this is the first Mu-vie she produced! I hope you all have enjoyed this crazy ride!

"Not that I want to horn in on your action..."

Kizzot is level 8.