Quite the show!
Itchy trigger finger turned out to be an interesting role. I would have been terrified of it if I had been anything but a run of the mill criminal...
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Awww, crazy busy week. I can't believe I didn't get a vote in :( This game certainly had all the right elements, and you've been a good sport Meows- I've thoroughly enjoyed reading all of your narrative posts. We had a great cast and some really fun scenes... I really can't figure out what went wrong; I'm not sure why things have tapered off so much in these final rounds. For my part, it's been an issue with my work and family life suddenly leaving me with much less free time. I'm very slow at getting in character and composing posts and usually have to go through a fair bit of brainstorming and drafting before I have something worth posting. Catching up on my PbPs was cutting into my sleeping time and left me shambling through the day like a zombie several times. I've had to severely cut back on my writing time, but I'm still disappointed that I didn't manage to get at least a 'keep alive' post in here.
"I guess I'll do what the boss wants to. 'sides, Aaron, you look..." "...magnificent. I know." Aaron strides down the runway strikes a pose for the camera before the commercial break, then slumps down in shock after all the carnage is over. She wasn't a robot afterall- it had just been her bad luck to be leader at the time. He certainly knew how that went. Well, he'd honor her memory by seeing to her final votes... Meta Reality Competition Round 5, begin Still clad in the hideous peach gown, Aaron makes his pitch. "Mittens, you seem to have a thing for killer robots and overwrought drama... did you ever meet a military killbot operator? Those guys jack in for 7-day shifts living full VR sim interfaces where they go behind enemy lines and kill everything that moves, then go back home for 14 days of downtime. A bunch of adrenaline junkies with PTSD on vacation with nothing to do but train, sleep around, try to one-up each other. It's the sort of thing that I can imagine an audience that enjoys this," he waves to take in the whole Deathmatch arena, "watching raptly. What about you, goat-bot, what do you think would draw a crowd?"
Charlene's "leadership" had left three people dead, and only a criminal with an itchy trigger finger had taken one of the robots out of the deathmatch... Aaron fully intended to vote her out unless she had one hell of a showing in the fashion show. Finwa seemed harmless enough he figured she might as well have her 15 minutes in the spotlight... she could hardly do a worse job than the others already had.
Suddenly, Aaron comes back into an awareness of himself. He'd been drooling, and his hand hurt. There was a distinct gash across the fleshy part at the base of his thumb and his fingernails had cut lines into his palms. Something important had happened, he knew it. There was blood... a lot of blood. And people were missing. And the rifle was in his lap, the dried blood smeared on the KILL'EM DEAD logo a sharp contrast to the gleaming chrome of the rest of the weapon. Every time he tried to think back on what had happened he got a little nauseous- his heart beat faster and tremors ran down his spine. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs. Best not to dwell on it. So. Fashion design. Aaron knew his way around a needle and thread but the fine art of tailoring and assembling a garment from scratch was completely beyond him... he decided to seek allies. "Does anyone need a model? I'm rubbish with a sewing machine but I'm sure the viewers will agree that I can fill out a suit just fine..."
"So, Aaron, how about you? The authorities set you up!" Aaron gives a tired sounding assent. "Yeah. I'm sure you heard about the trial. Every g@&%@&n member of my team testified that I'd ordered them to open fire then do... that to the bodies. The lawyers just never stopped; they brought out comm logs, telemetry data, forensics... it was the best damn hatched job I've ever seen."
Huh. An antimatter plant for a death ray... not up to milspec but not a bad effort for a talent show. It'd get her a pass for now, and the occasional explosion was always good for ratings- oh he'd learned that lesson from the damned embedded journalists. Propagandists the lot of them, always demanding a bigger boom or a more photogenic angle for the assault. He turns his attention to another competitor and waits to see whether the contestant will pull his weight in the talent show, "Alright puppet man, are you going to give us a show or not?"
Aaron reconsiders the wisdom of voting against someone armed with a Kill 'em Dead bow, and looks to Mattie for the promised display of 'science'.
...and why the hell not. He'd bled for far worse causes in the past and he was somewhat curious to see what this madman who communed with the Things That Should Not Be would cook up; it promised to be quite the show.
Before his performance Aaron looks around and settles on his vote for team loser. It would take quite a display of archery to make up for the cat's obvious personal dislike of Leonian, and everything else being equal it couldn't hurt to get on Meowselsworth's good side. He remembered what had happened to James. After receiving his drill rifle and warming up for a bit, Aaron launches into his routine, sending the rifle spinning and twirling with immaculate precision as he moves around the studio's improvised "parade ground".
Aaron considers the challenge... "Hmmph. A talent show. I was always a fair hand at drill and ceremony, but I guess I'll be going solo unless one of you lot knows your way around a drill rifle...?" He sets to warming up while he waits for one of the show's gofers to find him a suitable weapon for his routine. Heh, maybe he should have tried talking them into letting him demonstrate his marksmanship or combat mech piloting- that would've been quite a show...
I think that with the quantity of players we have right now, longer rounds might be best. We could cut it back down to twice a week after we see some attrition...
Voting text is phrased OOC too, and that was assumed to be actionable.
! I used to go for frequent night hikes with my dogs... they all learned to fear the white stripe.
I wasn't going to mention it, but with a vote like that I had to say something...
"Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it!" Aaron narrows his eyes as Hamish speaks against him and reaches to place a hand on the sidearm that is no longer worn at his hip. "I saw the way you were looking at The Hollow earlier, and I don't trust you one bit!"
Finally, the box of supplies he'd requested arrives. Neatly printed block lettering on the side of the box identifies it as 8970-00-149-1094
This was the only sort of cooking Aaron had ever done, but he had plenty of experience at it. After all the years and years of field experience, he was an artist and MREs were his medium. After sorting through the packets available to him he settles on a simple but hearty meal of cheesy chicken casserole, apple cobbler, and liberal helping of sangria to help it all go down. Apple Cobbler: Heat one packet 'spiced apples', add one pack crackers, add 2 packets creamer, and 1 packet sugar. Add water to soften crackers, stir vigorously, top with small amount of 'desert, vanilla dairy shake' powder. Casserole: Add jalapeno cheese spread, applesauce, and bottle of Tabasco to packet of 'Mexican Rice'. Heat and mix with 'Chicken Casserole'. Sangria: Add packet of 'electrolytes 1 each - cherry flavored' to the cheapest bottle of 'Military Special' vodka you can find. Dilute to taste. Only 1800 delicious, delicious calories.
Aaron climbs into one of the private interview booths during the interminable wait for his special supplies to be delivered. "Look, I know the guy's probably just doing it for the ratings, playing up his role as a big game hunter with a fatal dose of testosterone poisoning... but I can't stand the fellow. His latest gimmick with the cow reminded me of the campaign on objective Rho-1261, the one where I was awarded those commendations for valor and distinguished service back before the military industrial complex orchestrated its disinformation campaign against me. The way that cow looked... did you ever- damnit! Of course you never saw it, they censored the footage from that war so hard that everyone back home thought it was a routine peacekeeping mission in the asteroid belts. Let me tell you, after a shootout in an agricultural dome... plasma cannons, flame throwers... livestock, men, women, children- they all looked like that damned cow!"
Aaron presses his lips together at the mention of a cooking challenge, clearly not excited. Several scathing remarks come to mind regarding the inclusion of a cooking challenge in a deathmatch but he quashes him. That's what they want, a nice soundbite of the convicted war criminal bickering about cooking or preening over his favorite recipe to make him look ridiculous in the public eye even if he did earn a pardon... he wouldn't give it to them and ratings be damned. Instead, he walks up to the laser kiosk and speaks quietly to the cannoneer, jotting a few things down as he submits his list of requested supplies to make sure he gets exactly what he asks for.
Finwa began to play the instrument then sang her song, Mis-conceptions. Ooooh! Busting out the filk on the first round. I'm watching you...
Of course, Aaron is likewise not blessed with musical talent. The only thing he has going for him is his brief time in the military band; so he steps up on an improvised table and gives his best rendition of the Riviuran national anthem... with the addition of a few choice lyrics that he developed while incarcerated to show his 'regard' for the country that betrayed him. His booming tenor voice is well trained to project across the battlefield, and he breaks out with verse after doggerel verse of his anthem:
Interpretive. Dance.
The producers have seen fit to provide former-Captain Lockley with an immaculately pressed military uniform, conspicuously devoid of rank or unit markings. He looks up from where he'd been glowering in the corner and barks out, "Bah! Listen to you all! Ridiculous! I only agreed to be a part of this absurd production so I could have one last chance to tell everybody the truth- and I took care of that in the interview. From here on out any screen time I get is just icing on the cake. My vote is for the puppet. If we're going to be part of a farce, we might as well play it for a laugh or two."
Captain Lockley was tried and convicted as the ringleader of the infamous "Zelghast Incident", the massacre that horrified the Ozmorian public and sparked second the Pan-Riviuran war. Aaron is a conniving bastard but everyone who knew him knew he was a man of his word, and he still maintains his innocence. He's a charismatic fellow who joined the military after a rough childhood on the streets and has since proven himself a natural leader. Aaron has the slender, toned build of an elite mech pilot. He was stripped of all military rank and honors, but still wears an unadorned flight suit bearing distinctly darker colored patches where his rank and unit insignia used to be.
Does the cat burgler also get to see if their target used any abilities on anyone else, or only if abilities were used on their target?
Medical waste
I'm still active, but it's difficult to stay engaged with such a slow pace... it might be best to just call it a day.
I looked over the vehicle rules, and they could definitely work but it would require some conversions from your current mech stats. Another possibility would to make the MG rules be based off the construct armor option, with special adjustments for constructs of larger size than the wearer.
After a long and exhausting day, Aaron really wants nothing more than to collapse into a bed, cot, bunk... whatever they have for him in the barracks. As far as he was concerned, it was "Unit Commander Dryerlyth's" job to meet with Davros's daughter and work out whatever needed to be discussed. They could wake him up if there was something really important that needed to be discussed as a unit, but for now he planned on using at least half of those 48 hours to catch up on the sleep he'd shorted himself on during the exams.
Anyone interested in taking teamwork feats? If not I'll probably go with combat expertise or combat reflexes. For mech upgrades, I'm very interested in Stealth. The spell resistant coating is spiffy too but I think being able to sneak around will be a huge benefit.
Once again the old Army wisdom proves its truth- never volunteer for anything! Aaron didn't really want any part in managing a unit full of egotistical pilots, keeping up with the administrative duties of a squad leader, and dealing the extra attention of having Davros's daughter as a subordinate on top of everything else. He just wanted his chance on the battlefield... The accolades and promotion and other perks heaped on them at their graduation had taken him by surprise at first, but in the context of having Sgt. Davros's daughter of the team it all made sense. He wanted to make her look good, and was grooming her for success. He wasn't sure how he felt about that... it would be nice to have the extra rank (and the pay that went with it) but he didn't really feel that they'd earned it, no matter how good their showing had been in the ACE. As they walked to the barracks he idly wondered why the woman didn't share her father's family name.
As they are walking to the barracks, Aaron hears Henk's comment and nods in agreement, "The job's yours if you want it, Bram. That was quite the showing in the ACE... I can't wait to see you on the battlefield."
Aaron stepped out of the ACE simulator drained, bedraggled and exhausted- but triumphant. He'd made it! The day's repeated adrenaline highs left him in a bit of a daze as he followed Niza out of the simulator. At the mention of a guided tour Aaron pulls out a notebook, he doesn't trust his memory to keep track of names or places right now... all he wants to do is sleep for 12 hours. He almost misses her comment about meeting peopple in the lobby; he's hopeful that Sergeant Davros himself will be there to congratulate them and he quickly straightens out his uniform and hopes he doesn't look as grimy as he feels.
Feeling somewhat angry at being attacked by a teammate, Grigori retaliates with a swing of his scythe. I don't want any bad blood at the (virtual) gaming table... my impression from the lead-in to the game was that none of us had ever worked/studied/fought together before. The ACE simulation was the first time any of us in "Team Azure" (5PCs/5NPCs) had met, and our assignment for this round of ACE was to be the last man standing. If any of that is wrong I apologize, Aaron is a conniving SOB but he wouldn't be looking to make enemies just yet!
Right now, I think the rules are much too biased toward defense. Full BAB attackers will hit defenders less than 25% of the time, and those hits will be negated by ride checks. I actually like the ride check mechanic, I'd either reduce the armor bonus provided by the MG or have it provide some sort of bonus to hit (probably insight or competence, depending on the flavor you want). Offering a bonus to hit allows MGs to be more of a threat to each other but still maintain their effectiveness against non-armored troops. It also would emphasize maneuver combat, making tripping and flanking essential to non-MG troops trying to take down a MG. Dropping the AC bonus from the mech would place greater emphasis on the ride checks and give troops not armed with MGs more of a fighting chance against them. It all depends on what kind of feel you want your mechs to have... I'm not familiar with any d20 vehicle combat rules, so I can't offer any comments there.
Sorry, that's the trouble with a free-for-all :( I was expecting a chance to cut a deal with someone on the battlefield so we could team up until we were the last two left. The NPC turned me down, and it didn't seem like an appropriate moment to make the offer to Grigori. I think you act at higher initiative than Aaron, if the GM's OK with a little retconing it might be possible to strike a quick truce to have each others backs until the end of the match. Then the attack roll could apply to NPC4 instead... Aaron's been itching to finish him (or her) off. It's one of those issues that came up because of the PbP environment and communication limitations, we could have struck an agreement right away if we were playing at the same table and could chat about it in real-time.
Aaron was not happy with himself for managing to maneuver into a situation that gave so few tactical options, but there was nothing to be done about it now. He continues to pilot his MG carefully and methodically until he sees an opening- there! Just as his opponent raises his scythe Aaron lashes out with his axe and steps inside the arc of the scythe, batting it aside with his shield. The axe cuts deep into the pilot's chamber and for a moment Aaron expects to blood seep through the rent in the layers of armor... the A.C.E. was so realistic it was easy to forget it was all just an illusion. Rolls:
As the mech he was facing disintegrates, Aaron turns to NPC4 and shouts "Are you ready to finish what you started?"
Everyone has stuff like that come up sooner or later... I'm interested in this game and will jump back in whenever you find time to update.
Caught off guard, Aaron strikes back with a few quick feints to keep his opponents at a distance while he steps back to recover his balance and consider his options. Rolls: Attack @ NPC4:
Aaron again attacks the legs of the mech in front of them, this time trying to catch it off balance and sweep it off its feet rather than do any real damage. He keeps a careful eye on the mech standing on the building above him... Round 6 Rolls: you are both large, there is no real bonus
Attack: Trip @ 'Grigori'
Evaluating the battlefield, Aaron finds that he doesn't particularly like the 3 other pilots lurking around him. He engages the boosters and sprints toward the small plaza to the north where two damaged mechs are sparring , choosing it for the defensible courtyard and the possibility of finishing off one of the combatants.
With yet another mech entering the fray, Aaron uses his axe like a golf club and slices in an upward arc at the armor on the opposing MG's leg, nearly cutting it off! Round 4 Rolls: Attack @ NPC3:
Activating his booster for a split second, Aaron whips around and dodges out of the way of the blow. Round 3 actions: Ride check to negate hit:
Step to G13 (free) Comms@NPC3 (free) "How about a truce while we finish off this interloper? It was rude of him to interrupt out duel!" Perform Trip combat maneuver on NPC4:
Sorry about the delay! I was travelling and my computer died on me. I'm (finally!) home and got a replacement... IC post coming soon.
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