James Alwin Shrike's page

Shrike straightens in the presence of Cavendish and the others. He limps up to the soldier and extends a hand. "For what it's worth Lieutenant, I tried to keep as much distance as I could."

My Hedgewitch is being more or less built for this as an infiltrator, so he'll have Czech.

So I'm working through my new character build and I was wondering if shotgun slugs were an option.

Heal (First Aid): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
Heal (First Aid): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Clambering out of the back of the truck as it jolts to a halt, Shrike stumbles up to the cab and throws the door open. The fight against the bean sidhe was over but she had left them in a bad state. The cold and their wounds might finish what the creature had started.

He was a killer and these men needed a healer, that much was obvious. There was not much he could do for the sort of wounds left in the wake of such an assault but what he could do, he would.

"Ms. Korematsu! Are you conscious? Do you have Mr. Brosnan?" Shrike called over the cold wind as he hauled Tomasz and L out of the cab of the truck to look them over. Content they would not die in the immediate future, he moved to clear the corpses out of the bed of the truck and haul the injured into it. The entire time, he bit back expletives as his bad leg screeched at him for the cold, the strain, and the abuse he was steeped in.

Are Sam and I the only ones still up?

Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

As the banshee shrieks her last, Shrike stumbles in the back and falls heavily to a knee. His arsenal of spectral weapons ripple away into whatever fold of reality they take shelter in. The only thing keeping him upright at the moment was likely his cane. With a grunt of effort he hauls himself to the back of the cab and thumps twice on it.

"To solid ground, Mr. Szymanski?" the worn welshman calls out in a slightly raspy voice.

Alright, I think I am going to tweak some plans and put together something taking advantage of SoM/SoP. I really enjoy Shrike and his themes but he works best as heavy combat support for a subtle team. An operation behind enemy like lines needs a subtler touch.

I’m thinking of a martial hedgewitch specializes in shape shifting and sabotage. I’ll keep Shrike in reserve for a more appropriate mission

Did we decide what the next mission will be?

Falling to a knee under persistent grabbing hands, Shrike mutters something ungentlemanly under his breath and turns his attentions to the blindly grasping hands and gnashing mouths of what had previously been the homeless population of Belfast. His blades make a short, bloody work of rendering the bodies immediately around him unusable to whatever fell influence animates them. No doubt this would ruin yet another of his suits.

He turned his mind toward the part of himself that was not, strictly speaking, human anymore. Let her chew upon centuries of bloodshed remembered through an inhuman perspective and burned into his mind when he became what he was now. He was half curious to see how the poor creature would take it.

It is days like this I am so happy to be playing a martial with a high will save.

Shrike is shaken enough to actually throw a hand out with his next attack and sending a trio of arming swords after the carriage. He could not help but imagine that they were rather like dogs chasing after a car, they would have no idea what to do if they actually caught the thing, much less what would happen if it turned around and decided to deal with them. He had to take consolation in the thought that if it was running from them it thought they were a threat on some level.

Readying an attack for if the barrier is broken through

The weapons I generate appear in my square and otherwise act like typical ranged attacks. I'm essentially throwing my weapons from my square. She would be protected.

And a disapproving british man with a cane. I'd say aim for the corpses if you fall.

At such a range, his heavy blades were less reliable. Instead, a trio of daggers sped outwards towards the unholy beasts pulling the wagon. Shrike had no idea if they were actually what was propelling the vehicle, but he doubted they would be here if they did not serve a purpose.

It would likely be a strict damage upgrade for Sam even if she is hopeless at aiming it. I might suggest trying to use it on the carriage or horses.

If I can still get an attack off
Dagger (Deadly Aim): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21
Damage (Deadly Aim, Psychic Strike): 1d4 + 1d8 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (2) + (4) + 7 + 4 = 17

And the banshee is inside? Full cover?

Shrike gets up into the corpse strewn bed of the truck and makes himself some firing slits with a casual effort of will.

How far away is the coach?

Happy holidays everyone, may they be tentacle-free

The words cut into him like a knife. Slicing through his layers of restraint and armor like the layers of an onion. Around him, the blades stared to drift aimlessly and the flow of grey fog from his eyes guttered out for a moment. Yet there was something hard inside of James Shrike that did not care. A core of cold purpose. The creature could see inside of them but not truly understand them.

He drew in a breath of frigid air and exhaled a cloud of the grey fog that twisted about his face unnaturally. "Tomasz, shall we teach her the weight of words? I've a mind to show her what she is tampering with," there was something wrong with Shrike's voice when he spoke as though there were some sort of sound lying just under the sound of his voice. Grey eyes spilling fog turned to look at the nearest of the trucks and he began to walk towards it, his collection of weapons bunching closely around him instead of orbiting freely.

"All points, get ready for pick-up."

Recharging Psychic Strike on my Panoply and moving toward the truck.

Welcome to the cult. Brother Sapiens, if you would fetch the ceremonial robes, I will start thawing the ceremonial octopus.

Full round action to put myself between Tomasz and the carriage.
Ready to Panoply Counter

Shrike spends a moment dazed as the ritual is ruinously interrupted by Tomasz's entrance. Swords and spears ripple into reality around him, slipping in from the space between spaces. A glance into the truck reveals he had failed there but Tomasz was still alive and in the path of something unreal.

Brushing past Sam, he makes for the interior of the encampment before the inhuman intelligences within the carriage can collect themselves. Axes and daggers whisper to attention as he stands between the older man and whatever unholy thing the nazis managed to call up.

Shrike might have been willing to try for a talk but the decision ended up not being his, and failing to back your teammates is often more disastrous than providing support.

Also, fun fact, that machine gun is now unoccupied.

It is an evil carriage full of evil, summoned by nazis for evil.

I'm going to stab it to death, starting with the freaky horses and working my way up to the angrier bits.

Less than stellar Swirling Panoply damage but hopefully it should have off-kilter for the moment.

"Sacrifices in the truck," Shrike said into his radio, dropping his pretense of stealth. He held out a hand with fingers splayed toward the interior of the camp. Clenching his hand into a fist, his swarm of blades arced up into the sky and down through the soil as though it was naught but mist and leaving no trace of their passing. Unlike his earlier strikes, this clearly cost him, the leather of his glove creaking with the force of his tight grip. The trajectories of his weapons all intersected at a point just outside the rippling dome of force, next to the generator, bursting outwards like a bladed flower.

Standard: Swirling Panoply, 20ft burst (In yellow on map), DC 18 reflex for half damage.
5ft Step south
Move: Regain Focus
Swirling Panoply (Slashing and Piercing damage): 6d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 2, 2, 6, 2, 4) + 2 = 24
Panoply entirely expended until start of my next turn. The sacrifices in the truck should be shielded from my attack since it was a burst if any were in that one square.

Oh, forgot to roll a perception check too.
Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22

To be fair, I believe he specified officers

Edit: My current game plan is as follows
-Check the trucks
-Check the soldiers
-Drop a Swirling Panoply on them (I even prepared a template on the google doc)
-Start the mayhem properly.

I should be close enough to do the recon I am hoping for and should be able to open up with Swirling Panoply next round. With luck, I'll provide enough cover for Sam to get in and handle the intellectual heavy lifting/provide an opening for Tomasz to introduce them to the wonders of modern engineering in a very personal way.

MAD JACK CHURCHILL

Stealth w/movement penalty: 1d20 + 12 - 5 ⇒ (18) + 12 - 5 = 25
Full-Round action: Moving 55ft to rear of southern truck

Shrike makes the last stretch as quick as he can, making it up to the back one of the trucks, the one he suspected might house more sacrifices. Quietly panting and grimacing at the aches shooting up his bad leg, he tries to peek inside.

Essentially, you'd be trading out some broad martial weapon proficiencies (most of which don't really apply to members of a WW2-era military) for a more focused approach and interesting abilities.

I would definitely recommend Pierce take a look at the Sniper Combat Sphere. I’ve been looking over Barrage myself but the benefit seem rather limited for my intended niche and trading so many feats out for Combat Sphere access when most of my more useful abilities will come from taking the Extra Blade Skill feat a bunch might end up hobbling myself more than helping

Speaking of which, Sappy, what's your view on the Spheres of Might materials?

Edit: Finally got home to my computer and updated my movements on the google doc.

One of the Spheres of Power classes

It is a 'Psionic Deed' for Marksmen

Is it turning that machine gun around and unloading? I bet that is what it is.

Cannot edit the google document at the moment as I am away for my laptop until tomorrow evening.

Double Move: North 25ft, West 50ft, should put me on level with the western most trooper and just outside the perimeter.

Shrike kept moving as the assault began. All the agents had their talents, and so did he. It was a matter of trust to let L and Pierce work to their strengths and he had to work to his to get the two assets most likely able to put a stop to the ritual into a position to do just that. Staying low, he moved as quickly as his leg would let him, the metaphysical force that he had harbored for so long whispered through the grass nearby him and as he drew closer to the wound being pried open in the soul of this island, his spectral weapons rippled and changed as the memories of a history of violence pressed against reality.

No worries I did not think of it either until Sappy threw us a hint

I just got a very bad feeling about what is inside those trucks, I am going to try and get to them before Tomasz returns with the car. Moving 60ft to the north (Already handled on map.).

Stealth (if necessary) with full movement penalty: 1d20 + 12 - 5 ⇒ (15) + 12 - 5 = 22

"Anyone else feel that?" Shrike whispered into his radio, "Might be civilians in the trucks. I will try to confirm, Tomasz you still need to do everything you can to disrupt the ritual." He lifted his cane and set off at a low run, half-loping, half-limping.

Shrike continues forward, a look of intense irritation upon his face as though the nazi emplacement was a personal affront. Lifting his cane, he dropped to a knee after a few feet. Pierce was the team's sniper, hopefully he could draw some of the attention long enough for Shrike and the others to get close.

Moving closer (already done on the map), total defense, and readying to Panoply Counter should an attack get through.

Also, if anyone is having trouble figuring distance at these ranges, I highly recommend drawing a right triangle and calculating the third side. I was scratching my head about it until I remembered my high school geometry.

My plan is pretty simple, give L and Pierce the freedom to play their roles to the fullest as best they can, hit one side myself as hard as I can with Sam and Tomasz trailing in behind.

My primary target is going to be that generator since taking out a stationary target providing power for the ritual is a good bet for slowing it down. The trucks to the east give us the best cover to approach from.

If he is, Shrike will draw his sidearm and fire after him (distinctly not aiming to hit) in order to give his plan verisimilitude

“Very well,” Shrike said with a certain amount of cool detachment. The grey fog continued to leak from his eyes as he called forth more weapons from the Firmament. “Agents Brosnan and L, go do what you do best. Disrupt their operations where you can. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you specialists and officers are primary targets. I will escort our own specialists in.”

Then he picked up the nazi’s radio and said into it, “Erwarte keine Gnade von der Klinge des Scharfrichters,” in serviceable German before dropping it and starting for the fortifications at a steady pace.

"I can just see their fortifications in the distance. We're not exactly a trained unit of commandos but I figure dividing our assault some would serve us well. Any ideas?"

Hey Sappy, was any of that perception check distance based? I've got Signature Skill (Perception) which halves distance based DC increases for me.

Well Tomasz, I double crit on that last set of attacks. Fortunately there were three survivors.