Janice "Snapdragon" Li's page

Hi, guys. To all my games: sorry I've been such a butt lately.

Basically, I was away from the internet for a while, but before and after that, I've been writing so much for work that PbP just felt like a chore. And I've come to realize that while I love my job, right now it's just not leaving me the time and creative energy I need forPbP, so, while I've sort of been sliding down that slope for a while, I figured I should actually tell all my games that I've gotta drop out.

Sorry to disappoint and potentially leave a bunch of people hanging at the end there, and I hope I was generally fun.

-Thunderbeard

Does that mean she slid out of my grab? And was it with casual STR? (If so... uh oh!)

"If you don't like the tentacles, get out of the bank robbery!" Janice shouts back. "Thugs get hugs."

Ah, yep, that works.

Alright...

PER: 14 - 3d6 ⇒ 14 - (4, 2, 1) = 7

I finally made it! Okay then, half-phase to change back, half-phase to grab.

Janice finally gets a glimpse of the Queen, and lunges to grab her, elongating back into her viney form and taking a swipe with a stretched-out arm.

Grab: 9 - 1 + 11 - 3d6 ⇒ 9 - 1 + 11 - (3, 2, 3) = 11 Well that might actually hit, hmm
If successful, this pulls Queenie into my square, and she needs to escape vs my 40/8d6 grab STR
Squeeze damage: 4d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 3, 1) = 9

Alright. I can move back and prepare an attempt to grab Queenie if the wall breaks down, then (though I'm not in my grabbiest form)

Can I see Queenie? I thought she was *also* hidden...

:I didn't think the wall was punchable? Just tell me what to grab and I'll pull it out, you've probably got a better eye for wires:

Ugh, sorry, I've been getting slammed with work all summer and this was a few posts to catch up on. (We've also got a wildfire 5 miles from my house and I've had like 6 nosebleeds this week but none of it's actually bad, just distracting)

Ugggh internet/paizo problems, should be a bit better now.

Ah sorry got distracted from PbP for a few days, summer's the worst.

Snapdragon runs across the room and leaps, landing on the balcony by the heavy metal table (and crashing through a window if necessary)

Oh, I got phase-confused. Still, there's tables on the balcony.

PER: 14 - 3d6 ⇒ 14 - (5, 4, 5) = 0

People kept calling out the location of the enemies... and she kept missing them. Snapdragon was growing frustrated—she was supposed to be the one who could see and respond with the most precision.

Still. She remembered, in the last fight, how she had been swatted out of the air... and so she expanded, transforming into something hard and wooden, as she trotted across the room to within grabbing range of the second-floor ledge.

Changing to oak stance and moving to where I could tear out the balcony and use it to AoO a hex next turn.

Ah missed this thread over the weekend, checking in.

Oh. I assumed Aegis was trying to attack Queenie and Snap trying to follow that?

Oh, huh, wasn't sure what was happening, but I think I got it.

Snapdragon held still as well, then lashed out as soon as she saw another team member attack the air. Delaying to follow Aegis

PER?: 14 - 3d6 ⇒ 14 - (5, 6, 5) = -2
Grab: 9 - 1 + 11 - 3d6 ⇒ 9 - 1 + 11 - (6, 5, 4) = 4
Grab dice: 8d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 6, 1, 6, 5, 2, 3) = 34

Well... I finally have my computer back, which is good because of the two weeks of traveling.

Sorry for being so spacey previously.

So I'll be away at a conference for the rest of this week... but also my keyboard is broken so odds of typing are low. Will try to post if I can, but feel free to bot me.

Snapdragon tries to see the enemy metas again.

PER: 14 - 3d6 ⇒ 14 - (5, 4, 6) = -1

And, failing this, hauls herself up onto the upper floor balcony to try an get a better vantage. "Anybody got ink or something?!" she shouts out to the rest of the team.

Sorry, I'm used to being prompted to go in this game—has that changed? I'll try to scout the room again.

EDIT: Whoops just missed that gameplay had gone to a new page.

Hmm, I'd need to shapeshift to hit a wall/area; I was going with "in this form, if I can see someone and hit them, I can grab them and they can't disappear again"

Holding action is specifically to deal with the fact that I can't *SEE* anyone. If anything visible moves, I'll try to grab it, otherwise I literally can't do anything.

Snapdragon waits, and prepares to grab the nearest bad guy as soon as someone points them out.

Alright everyone, calm down. These two are not all that difficult, they're just working well as a team, and you guys are not.

Alright, back. Am I not understanding how stealth works in HERO? Because it seems like hitting any enemy right now requires a very difficult PER roll, which itself takes a half-phase to look around, which means at best we get half our normal actions, and that not even every time we act. That's a HUGE disadvantage for our party, which more than levels the playing field in their favor.

Additionally, the fact that apparently the PER roll needs to make every turn—and they can completely slip away in between—seems to suggest that us coordinating to pinpoint them would be almost useless.

...Which means I'm probably missing something that would make this fight easier?

I'll be traveling for most of the next week with uncertain internet, feel free to bot me as needed.

Does the wall of paper go all the way up to the ceiling? If so, our best bet might be breaking through the ceiling or floor.

If Pulse needs a medievac, though, I can get her out of the building in one action.

Hmm... the tiger wasn't something the rest of us could see/attack?

PER: 13 - 4 - 3d6 ⇒ 13 - 4 - (5, 6, 4) = -6

Snap, losing sight of the Queen, prepares to trip anyone who makes themselves seen. Preparing Martial Throw vs any enemy visibly moving within 5" stretching range and field of vision.

Can I attempt to keep an eye on the one I can see until my next action?

PER: 13 - 4 - 3d6 ⇒ 13 - 4 - (2, 4, 1) = 2

Snap swings around the room, trying to look for anything hostile.

Walls, with no save, that aren't easy to break, eh? This could be something rough...

Alright. Looks like some dudes vanished, though.

::Tactical report?:: Snap asks, as she enters the lobby through the front doors and looks around.

Is Snap up now, or not yet?

At a conference until wednesday with way worse wifi than I thought (to be fair we're at a secluded mountain lake). Phone's picking up intermittently, but might not be able to post feel free to bot me in this + other game.

Snap's next action would be swinging around the building or over the roof, whichever's faster, then trying to enter and fight with the party via grab/disarms etc.

Yep! But I guess I started it by bouncing off of the walls... so uh... guess I'm gonna have to go around and through the door after all

::On three, then...: Snapdragon agrees with Rocket, and begins circling the building with her vines out—until Mud mentions illusions.

Ah, to hell with it, she thinks, the windows have *gotta* have weaker bars than the doors, right? More teamwork next time. And, with a running jump, latches her vines onto sides of the building, yanking upwards and into the windows next to the side door— "Sorry to crash the party!" she shouts half a second before a thundering crash of metal.

Okay, I'll move this forward. Surprise attack! Let's see if I can do enough body to crash through a barred window. Acrobatic movement/swinging lets me attempt to pass through above ground level, then Move Through to try and make a hole in the window.

Acrobatics: 14 - 3d6 ⇒ 14 - (3, 1, 1) = 9 8 body... well, that's probably not quite enough.
PD currently at 20, so I take 8 stun if I don't break through.

Damage! 20 STR, velocity 12: 4d6 + 4d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 3, 2) + (1, 3, 6, 5) = 28

EDIT: Do I need an offense roll? Whoops, yeah, I do.
Offense Roll: 9 - 2 + 11 - 3d6 ⇒ 9 - 2 + 11 - (1, 1, 1) = 15

Sorry, guys, busy day at work, will try to catch up with the big number of posts soon.

::Sure, sure. Do we take them out, though, or go for an upper-level window?::

Because that's *obviously a trap*, and also nobody's told the rest of us that the front door is unlocked?

How much damage? I'd expect him to be doing 14d6 Haymakers or something.

::Right-o, guys. Am I gonna get all tubby and punch through these doors, or go airborne and kick out a window? Looks like Rocket's the only other one who still needs a path inside::

Aww but I think Violet and Rocket and I are the only ones who actually like puns in-character?

::I could try to kick in a window and sneak around the upper floors, or we could try to take these two by surprise and restrain them. Pretty sure this is a massive robbery, and I'd like to stop it without getting any metas shot. Thoughts on punching out the doors?::

Going in! I think I just got us permission, now I'm waiting for someone else to choose which door to punch in.

Er... did anyone else just lose all their dots?

"Hmm, okay, right, well..." Janice mutters, stepping forward, and begins talking loudly and quickly.

"Special Agent Hahn, then? Let me see if I understand this situation. These cops don't want to get into a fight with any metahumans. That could be rough, and mean a lot of paperwork. Metahumans fighting other metas is also bad, and a lot of paperwork, but maybe not as bad if it means no cops go home in an ambulance. And if the reserve gets robbed successfully, maybe less injury, but even more paperwork"

"Obviously, though, you're going to have to ask us to leave the crime scene. And this is reasonable; we may be concerned citizens, but it's clear that we should walk away slowly. I can think of three easy directions we can walk away in."

"One, if you say nothing substantial, and turn around to chat with the officers on scene, we'll plan on taking the most direct route back to our homes, which happens to pass through a certain Federal Reserve building. Since concrete and steel are not much of an obstacle for my metal and stone friends, this quickest route would also involve kicking open the barricaded doors on the side of this building. If my invisibility skills mean that nobody inside this building sees me, I may report this interesting fact to my friend with the radio, who may or may not choose to repeat details of the criminals' positions to nobody in particular, in a manner that may nevertheless be overheard on certain police channels."

"Two, if you shake your head between one and three times, I will conclude that this is a bad plan. My friends will instead consider the most efficient course to pass through the rear door of the building instead, though the concrete may take longer to tunnel through."

"Third, if you make it clear that none of our party should walk towards the Federal Reserve Building, I will endeavor to fly home instead, though in doing so I cannot guarantee that I will not accidentally crash into the building through an upper window or skylight, gaining a sudden and unexpected view into the situation on the upper floors, and opening up a line of sight for any SWAT snipers on-scene"

"My fiery friend, of course, will be staying far away from any 'confetti,' and possibly choose to take the subway home instead."

Persuasion: 13 - 3d6 ⇒ 13 - (1, 6, 1) = 5

Hmm, this escalated quickly. Time to head over to the gameplay and see what needs done (I'm not a presence attacker, hmm, maybe that would have been useful, but at least I got acting skills)

Oops! I figured that was why the cops yelled at us to stop. All good then, will edit.

"Ugh, oh well." Snapdragon mutters.

Perception: 14 - 3d6 ⇒ 14 - (3, 2, 3) = 6

"Uh, this might get bad." She whispers to the team, after half a second. "The thing's real into fire puns. And who wants to introduce us to the cops? They're unlikely to let us pass without resolving the hostage sitch."

I thought if your jump was faster than your land speed, it takes multiple turns to hop? Or is that just D&D?