Thanks for letting us know; I'm still keeping an eye out here just in case.
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"We've probably gotten all we can from this room. Is everyone ready to move on?" Assuming everyone agrees, Alex falls back into place at the back of the line as they head south into the corridor.
Seeing the door, Alex warns the others. "Careful. Someone tried to break in here. There may be more than zombies and amoebas in the building." Once in the room, she first focuses on the bodies. She has seen a surprising number of corpses in her young life, many of which then got up and tried to kill her. Fortunately Carnival seems to be checking them thoroughly. Still, something seems off. Bullet holes everywhere. Where are the guns? Zombies wouldn't carry them off; neither would any of the other monsters we were told about. She moves to the corpses herself, seeing if she can figure out how they died.
Alex follows the rest of the party, taking up the position of rear guard. Wary of a possible ambush, she keeps a close eye on her surroundings.
I think the plan was the door on the right side of the map, leading to room 1.
I'm fine with that marching order. Alex is more comfortable in the back, and her AC isn't terrible in the event of a surprise attack. Definitely voting for clearing the ground floor before moving on.
I was, although in hindsight you did already provide the information we needed to start entering the building. Oops. Sorry for the delay.
Alex shrugs. "That's all the questions I had. Everyone ready to go?"
Alex frowns as the bartender beckons her over. Hoodie left me a note? What's it going to be, a cheesy pick-up line and a phone number? It wasn't. The star...I don't think it's a secret exactly, but I've never seen it before outside my family. How did he...and "avoided danger?" What danger? Is it related to how weird he acted when Berto came in? And why would he care? I've never seen him before in my life. Have I? Thoroughly distracted by the note, Alex half-heartedly mumbles directions to her basement apartment. Not the roughest area of town, but certainly a bit shabby and run-down, even though her actual apartment was scrupulously clean. She'd already had her pistol and switchblade with her, but needed to pick up her assault rifle, extra ammo, and swap to her studded leather jacket. Right. Note later. Job now. Focus on the job. ----------------------- By the time they made it to the meeting location, Alex was back to being calm, cool, and professional. She takes the energy rifle from Berto with a nod. "I've got a couple questions. First, how big is this creature likely to be? Still the same rat-catching size, or might it have grown? Second, what's the range on this gun? Any quirks about it that would be useful to know before firing? Recoil, tends to fire a fraction further left than you'd expect, that sort of thing."
I'm fine with whatever is most comfortable for you. I've never used Roll20, but it wouldn't be a problem to make an account.
"Er...wait, sorry. You were right, Julian. I, uh, forgot the conversion rates there for a second." Probably because my brain couldn't process the idea that they're going to pay us $250,000 for one job! Alex, having never before earned more than $20,000 in a single year, drifts off into daydreams about all the shiny, shiny things she'll be able to afford. ...I am totally buying that awesome sniper rifle. With a scope. A night-vision scope!
Ah, I was going off the Modern Path, where 1gp = $10. I missed that our GM had specified otherwise. I guess Alex is just bad at math. Feel free to mock her in character :)
"$25,000 by my calculations. Still a pretty good chunk of change, but maybe don't quit your day job." Not that Alex was one to talk, the Riot Crew were her day job. Turning back to Berto, she raises an eyebrow. "Yes, I do tend to take things that can kill me seriously. Okay. Creepy mind-altering fungus just wants some friends, I can deal with that. The amoeba we're capturing is closest to vegetable on the intelligence scale, so probably don't have to worry about ambushes. As for the time frame, I'm fine with doing this tonight. Get it over with, right? Unless people have some preparations they need to make."
"First question: what makes Blaze think this...amoeba...is still in the building? If it uses acid, couldn't it have dissolved a door or something? Which leads to my second question: did they happen to mention how smart this thing is? It would be helpful to know if we're dealing with an animal, vegetable, or mineral here. Unrelated third question: a talking fungus that messes with your brain?! What the hell does that mean?!" Alex takes a deep breath and visibly composes herself. "Sorry. Mimics I can handle, zombies I can shoot, but stuff that f+#%s with your brain is big trouble. That fungus worries me a lot more than the amoeba." Once Carnival finishes talking, she nods. "I agree that the east door is our best bet. As for the gun, sure, I'll take it if that's the general consensus."
Blaze? Alex thinks back to what she knows of the group.
"The munitions company? All I know is they've got several manufacturing plants in the area, sell tons of weapons, and aren't too picky about who they sell them to." Her eyebrows raise as she watches the video clip. "That's...unsettling. And they want us to capture this thing? Did they happen to provide some sort of magic net it won't be able to squeeze through, or are we going to have to source that on our own?"
Alex frowns at the story. Shivs for fingers? She wracks her brain trying to remember if she’s ever seen or heard of a creature like that.
Alex goes with the group towards the room, casting one last glance backwards at the guy in the hoodie to see what he's doing.
Once in the room, she grabs a donut (Never turn down free food) and waits for Berto to explain the new job.
No worries, glad to have you back!
Alex frowns at Hoodie's behavior. From the bartender's reaction, that was not part of his usual routine. What the hell was that all about? Was he expecting someone else? ...Never mind, Alex. Unless he starts causing trouble, it's not your problem. You've got a job to do. With Berto finally walking in the door, looks like it's time to find out what that job actually is. Alex glances at his split eyebrow and raises her own eyebrows quizzically. "Hey Berto. You get into some trouble?"
Sorry to hear that, ear/throat infections suck. As do symptoms which are almost certainly not cancer but make you panic anyway. I hope both of you start feeling better soon! As for myself, I’m doing okay. It’s been a pretty shitty week though, so I’ve been really looking forward to the weekend.
Alex smiles at the bartender. "Ah, I understand now. Thanks for clearing that up...and for letting me know about the Sons of Hell. They sound like people I want to steer clear of." Figuring she's gotten as much information as she can right now, she takes her water and walks back to her seat. "Apparently our creepy friend over there is either a very scary dude or works for one. The bartender says he single-handedly stopped a fight last week between the Sons of Hell and some legionnaires. Just walked right into the middle of the mess and got them all to back down. On the bright side, it sounds like he's not the type to randomly pick a fight." Seemed like the somewhat-innocent explanation might be the right one. He was here regularly, if not super-often, and the bartender seemed to think he was acting the same as always. If he was paying closer attention to her than anyone else, maybe it really was just because she was female. For now she'd mentally file him under "dangerous, but not my problem." "How much do you wanna bet I order the chilli cheese fries and Berto comes waltzing in as soon as I do?" "If that's what it takes to get Berto to show up, I will happily chip in for some fries. Plus then we'll have delicious fries to compensate for this complete waste of our time."
Alex raises her own eyebrow. ”’Sons of Hell’? I’m afraid I haven’t heard of them. Or ‘Selene’s Blessing’ for that matter. I’m afraid I’m still fairly new in town. I’m going to go out on a limb and say they aren’t the local goth band.” Come on Alex, you aren’t that new. You should know this. With a hint of self-deprecation in her voice, she continues. ”So...who are the Sons of Hell, and should I be worried that one of them seems interested in me?
Thanks for the quick response. That's what I thought made the most sense, but I figured it would be a good idea to get an official ruling.
I have a question about the trait Hunter's Blood. (This is what I get for picking a complicated trait, but it was so dang perfect.) It says: "You earn a +1 trait bonus on Diplomacy when used to gather information, Knowledge (religion), and Survival when used for tracking when related to an undead quarry." The way I'm reading it is: I get a +1 bonus to Diplomacy (anytime I'm gathering information), +1 to Knowledge Religion (anytime I use the skill) and +1 to Survival (only when tracking an undead quarry). Is that right? Or should all three bonuses only apply when it's related to the undead? Related, how should we handle it if I don't know the quarry is undead? If I'm following a zombie's tracks but I don't know it's a zombie, how would that work? Sorry for the sudden barrage of questions. After rolling Diplomacy in my latest post I got to thinking about whether or not the +1 bonus would apply, and realized I didn't actually know.
Alex frowns a little as she studies the tattooed man. On closer inspection what she'd originally thought was "jumpiness in general" seemed to be specifically related to her, somehow. He definitely wasn't just an overwhelmed kid. He keeps looking at me. Why? I've never seen him before, and with those tattoos I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I had. There was still a mostly-innocent explanation. Looking around, then at his phone...yeah, that was the behavior of someone waiting for a contact. Paying closer attention to her than the other patrons? Also not that unusual. Alex was fairly average in the looks department, but she did seem to be the only woman in the bar not sprouting fur or feathers. That would be enough for some guys. But he wasn't acting like a typical horny drunk. He didn't seem to be drunk at all. I really don't like this. Cillian apparently didn't like it either. With the complete lack of subtlety you'd expect from a guy nicknamed "Breach," he simply walks over to the guy, sits down, and starts talking. Well, that could be a distraction if nothing else. "I'm going to go grab a drink" she tells the rest of the group, then walks to the side of the bar. From there she can catch the bartender's attention while still keeping Cillian and the weird guy in her peripheral vision. Just in case. When the bartender walks over, she smiles at him. "Just a water, please, and maybe some info." Lowering her voice, she inclines her head towards the back of the bar. "The guy in the hoodie. How long has he been here? Any idea what's going on with him?"
Distracted by the man in the hoodie, Alex is only half-following the conversation. Still, she's vaguely aware that Julian is asking for code names. Trying to be helpful, she says the first thing that comes to mind. "How about Batman?" ...Crap. She hadn't been intending to make a pop culture reference. It had just been the first somewhat-applicable name to pop into her head. Now she could either admit that and sound like even more of an idiot or double-down and pretend this was what she'd intended all along. "I mean, you've got the whole dark knight vigilante thing going for you. And you're literally a bat. So...it makes sense..." Alex trails off awkwardly. I am never going to live this one down.
While I’m totally cool with you changing up your character, remember that you don’t get a FCB until level 2, as it only applies when you gain a level, not when you start with one. Really? In section four of the d20pfsrd's character creation outline it said that the FCB applies "each time a character gains a level (including his first level)." [emphasis mine] Not trying to be argumentative, I'm just a little confused.
Alex snorts at Carnival's attempt at humor. "You forgot the investigator" she murmurs under her breath. A bit louder, "I'm pretty sure we are the punchline, given that none of us had anything better to do on a Friday night." As her eyes roam the room, she notices a dark-skinned man in a grey hoodie. He seemed oddly jumpy compared to the usual crowd. Could be nothing. A kid here for the first time and freaking out a bit. Maybe someone waiting for a contact, that was common enough. You're probably just being paranoid. Still, he was acting strange, and Alex didn't like strange. Her eyes narrow as she studies the man more closely.
I don't think it should matter since we just started, but I've switched around a couple of Alex's skills since the original concept. (I got rid of bluff/intimidate in exchange for knowl. (dungeoneering) and the human FCB for slayers, plus I added her background skills.) Just wanted to give you all a heads up.
So, just to clarify, its common knowledge that magic USED to exist but its relatively rare for an average person to believe it exists now? What about nonhuman races? Same boat as magic? Not the GM obviously, but in the premise he said that "a series of calamities caused magic to not only disappear, but for any evidence of its existence to be destroyed." So I'd assume nothing about magic is common knowledge.
"Eh, Berto's jobs are usually interesting. Once he actually shows up I'm sure you'll be a lot less bored." Alex turns to the priest, smiling a little to try and put him at ease. Nothing wrong with helping out people down on their luck. "A bake sale, huh? My mama taught me how to make a mean apple pie. If we're not too busy with this job, I could probably help out a bit."
I should be able to post once a day minimum, and probably more frequently. (Thanks slow-paced job with no monitoring of internet usage!) I'll try to let you all know if I'm going to be missing for more than a couple days.
Alex sits down, picking a chair with a good view of the room. She looks over the other patrons to see if there's anyone there she recognizes. "Been good, mostly. A little research, a little target practice, same old same old. How 'bout you? Anything going on?" |