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Aplogies. It's comin' hot and heavy. It's not just that the dryer went, AND the kids start a new summer camp AND it's been too hot so very very hot AND the car is at the mechanics again AND I seem to have hurt myself somehow, but its all these things together. So feel free to bot me until I can get things back together.
"Well we like that," Kara sends back, including everyone, when much inventory is discussed. "Do we want to put all the van's potable wealth in our trasport now? Or we could drive the van near our hideout, but not quite to our hideout. It could be either noticed or have some kind of tracker on it." Apart from the conversation, Imagine has her two friends, who, for lack of replying to her inquiry for names, are now called Charley and Linus. She will peal them away to carefully search one body each.
"Well...s#!~," Kara ejaculates from her mouth-hole in the guttural word-noises. She can't remember the last time she hypnotized someone and they survived a gun fight. Well, she can't remember the last time she hypno'd anyone, really. Specific memories before the time she was captured are kinda...fuzzy. She's never on good terms with brain-thoughts even in the best of times. She thinks of her brain like a college running-back boyfriend; good for when you need stuff done in a hurry, but not something you wanna sit and philosophize with. With the combat over she stops and re-connects mentally with everyone. She thinks that she should have done this before combat, and maybe kept it going through combat. Okay, well, maybe next time. "Okay, yeah, let's clear up the scene of potable wealth and then get out of here. Also, the two surviving scumbags are under my spell of friendship. I wanna get them back to the base, read their minds of the Slasher's current disposition, and then eliminate them. I'm not worried about bodies, we didn't bring DocTox along just for his sparkling personality and good looks, although those things don't hurt." Having run out of things to say she approaches her two new besties. "Hoi chummers! You two cuties got names? And you wouldn't mind helping me and my friend pick up all the valuables would ya?" Of course they wouldn't. It's not like the have a choice, but being friendly about things won't hurt. She might be about to kill two men in cold blood and have an acid-bodied doctor eliminate their remains, but she's not a monster.
"Excellent work, team. Really nice violence," Imagine says with a big smile and enthusiasm. "I especially like that none got away. I hate it when that happens. And now to the victor goes the spoils." Imagine will happily roll the bodies over, stand them up, or make them dance, to make it easier to loot them.
Imagie decides she doesn't want to lay in the street anymore. She gets up and starts walking toward the sidewalk on the side the truck crashed in to. Both her guns swivel up to shoot at the smart guy on the rooftop.
"The two guys shooting at the other guys are under my control. Please kill them last," she mind-speaks to everyone.
Okay, buncha stuff buncha stuff. 1) I continue to loath feat taxes and all its evil works. Hence I would prefer story-based rewards. This also makes sure that no one faces analysis-paralysis because of it, and it helps put everyone on an even footing without fear of someone's build just being better optimized. 2) My action depends on Psi's target, so Imma pause a moment. 3) which ones are the ones I am controlling? Could I please get a tag on those? Obviously I don't want to kill those, and if those are killed from other things I am able to replace it. 4) I take no Glory in killing the slashers. If we can't walk over them we have no business even thinking about the V'Sori. 5) I think Psiclops should chase after Karma right away. She might need help and he is the best to give it. 6) There is no number 6. 7) Do we have a preference for Telepathy? I suppose I can just say I'm "Listening" or maintaining telepathic communication with everyone during missions. (But not all the time. Then you'd hear too many of my thoughts. You...probably don't want that.) I sort of thought you guys would want to use comms all the time but it looks like y'all want Telepathy. That's fine, and I guess we should hammer that out.
Is that because PP are better than other things an advance will buy? I can see how that could be true. To wit: 2 SPP can buy an Edge, or increase an attribute, making 5 SPP effectively 2.5 Advancements.
Ok, I've talked myself into voting for an "Extra SPP" Edge as you described it. I was thrown for a loop here. From all the words before this one it looked like an argument against an Edge. I agree with DocTox: "With SW, you have so many choices at advancement that making PP one of them makes it really hard not to choose that a lot." This is true. Having an Extra PP Edge is just an Edge Tax in different form. I greatly like Zen's first idea (and reiterated by DocTox) of just giving 1-3 PP per advance.
Just a reminder SW never heard the phrase 'level appropriate encounter'. I'm beginning to get a vibe that this game is a very hard game, and the GM has no aversion to a PC curb-stomping everything, simply because that is not possible. I'm inclined to agree, since ZenFox, the most veteran SW player amongst us, made, presumably, the most powerful, quasi-broken PC he could think of, but it has not broken the game. Far from it. I too have worried about this character somehow being viewed as OP (for reasons that have already been covered and do NOT need to be revisited). Given the vibe that we are on the "under-powered" side of the curve, apparently, I will release this caution. This is a refreshing mindset and it destroys the barriers I had to increasing power points. Speaking of which....
Imagine does love her some truly good chaos, and the hot action at the truck seems to have devolved into a good brawl. Psiclops' latest bolt from the sky was only the latest stroke in a good, fiery masterpiece. She doesn't really want to get hit by any stray fire, but nor does she really want to run away to what other, calmer, more rational people, might call safety. She compromises by just sort of being lazy and lays down on the sidewalk, her perfect face propped in her delicate hands. Her ruby and kissable lips curl into a smile as Savant careens skillfully and violently into the escorted truck, causing more damage, and probably more death. Almost certainly. It's been a while since she tried using her powers, and she wants to get everything out of it. She hopes Karma is actually fulfilling the point of the mission, but such things flit out of her mind like a butterfly set loose form the cage. Guns are scattered about the pavement, left adrift by their formerly-living owners. One survivor must surely think the carnage has drove them mad as one forlorn gun pops up on the pavement and turns around to point at them. Like a living thing now taking revenge for a lifetime of misuse and neglect it coughs its deadly payload out, determined to carry out the purpose for which it was made. As if its particular disease is catchy, another gun is visited by this malevolent spirit and it too props itself up and acquires a target.
I assume you'd scale the combats up appropriately, so I'm comfortable staying where we are, as long as the Advancements come fairly frequently. I also think this. Indeed, betimes I think that the very idea of a "level" is somewhat transitory. Unless the level involves a kind of power with a multiplicative or status effect, then, what matter it if you do twice as much damage, since the GM is just going to have the monsters have twice as many hitpoints? Hence, no, I'm against it. Also, I mourn the loss of a formal lair. I wonder why they got rid of it? For an urban-based team setting, of course they'll need a common living quarters, so this seems to create a problem where once there was a solution.
Imagine never feels comfy when general brawls pop up and would be greatly comforted did their advantage turn into an overwhelming advantage. She responds to Savant with her mind-speech and its awesome range. "Yeah, Savant. We wrekt the escort truck pretty good, but it's a clown car worth of clowns in it. I hate clowns, and if you could come help turn the clowns into dead clown, that would give me the big happies. Just don't kill the one's up front. Yet. They are my friends. For now."
The driver is easily within 12” following your 6” movement.
Imagine locks on to the driver's mind, grasping for a firm hold.
"Oh, sweety, your friends just had a bad accident. You really should stop," she mind-says to the driver. Imagine had always been convinced there would be two. You don't send out Highly Important Things with just one guy. Sparing barely enough time to look, she seeks out for the passenger she had always known would be there.
"There was just a bad accident. The Driver needs to stop. Everyone should remain calm."
"Good shot, Psiclops. Alas it looks like there are survivors. We're already ass-deep in this so we may as well lean in to it. Leave none alive to bite us in the butt later." The plain woman that is Imagine begins to cross the road, doing an impression of being a totally normal person just worried that the big, bad supes and men with guns don't get her. Totally. "Karma, you're almost in range for me to receive your mental words. Keep sending and I should be able to pick you up in 3...2..." Kara keeps looking at the driver of the SUV, patiently waiting for it to come within 24 yards.
'Well...s+%%,' Imagine thinks in her middle-manager-nobody body. 'I thought their escort would be gone by now. I guess not!' "Okay, new plan. We all knew going hot would be have to be an option. Psiclops. Blow up the pickup truck! Karma, the rest of the plan still stands. I'll still get on the driver once we know what's inside. Elemental, Doctor, please observe the wreckage of the pickup truck and neutralize any survivors." Is that a good plan? Meh. When in doubt take some of their pawns off the board.
I am considering running a PFSW campaign. Rise of the Runelords for SW is out and Crimson throne is coming. That said there is also a revamped and expanded Breakout/Necessary Evil/Whatever the cosmic campaign is called on it's way. Both of these sound exciting! I am pleased that SW put out a more D&D-specific ruleset. More than once I've seen that one Saltmarsh campaign try with the SW rules, but it never seems to go anywhere. I think the lack of that D&D "flair" and specific class powers damaged the enthusiasm. But with the class-like Feats as you say, I do believe we might have a winner here!
I'm going to be standing near the edge of the street, reading a random paperback. I'll do this until Karma sends back details on the van. Once I have eyes on the driver I'll go to work.
Imagine stares nonplused at the singing Savant. "The Beetles are overrated. Change my mind," she says in guttural mouth-words. Turing to Psiclops she replies, "That is a fine idea. Savant, Elemental, we've been given a task by our fine benefactor to learn the contents of a particular van. I have a wonderful plan to do this with a minimum of fuss. Or even knowledge that it ever happened. Alas I don't have rolls for you two, so just and hang out with DocTox and, y'know, try not to make things harder for us."
As if in cue, a beautiful woman floats into the room, an impish smile curling across her ivory face. 'Hey there, Elemental and Savant!" she mind-says without breaking her softly curling lips. "Mom likes her jokes, and I, am Imagine." She curtseys slightly in the air. "I do mind stuff. And I like to think that nothing is ever quite the way it seems." She lets the Camouflage fade and her blue-skinned self is reveled before she puts the glamor back up. "Heh. That's actually a toy from Daddy. Also from him is a little fixer-upper. So, Savant, if you ever need that headache to go away, I'm yur hook-up."
I'm moving discussion of the plan here for OOC stuff because sometimes I get tired of writing [ooc]. Point the First: It has an escort in the Downtown area but then once it enters Southpoint North it doesn't have an escort, yeah? My idea is that shortly after the escort departs, call it halfway into Southpoint North, we hit it. That minimizes any forces at the hand-off point helping, and it gives us plenty of leeway room to try again if we cock up the first one. 2) Apparently there's a site called NPCgenerator.com I'll be disguised as: Fay Boulderdown is a 43 year old female fisherwoman. She has short dark hair and green eyes. She has rough, sunburned, golden skin. She stands 177cm (5'9") tall and has a round build. She has a sharp, unremarkable face. and apparently she's being constantly psychologically tortured by a crazed leprechaun...but why bring that up? I'm going to be standing near the edge of the street, reading a random paperback. I'll do this until Karma sends back details on the van. Once I have eyes on the driver I'll go to work.
Karma, I like the way you're thinking. I would definitely do that if Mind Control didn't give us an option to avoid them even knowing if anything happened. A trailer jackknifed would definitely stop them, but then when they get home they'll be all "hey sorry we're late there was a semi" which means there's a possibility of someone saying "a semi? We might've heard about that." I'd like to try the route where they don't even know a thing even did happen. If I flub a roll, then, by all means, please do have a plan B in place.
These are all fine ideas, but if I can Mind Control them, I have the Forgetful booster, which I think would be optimal. Mind you, I can only do two at a time, so if you can fly through the car and confirm 2 or less people, that would determine our course of action. If there are more than two, then, yeah, feel free to stop it however you think is best.
Kara pushes her chair back from the table and stretches, her large breasts pressing out in front of her lithe torso. "Oh man. Thanks mom! That dinner was the best. I feel like I've been eating for a whole month!" Tummy full and warm, she makes the dirty plates float over to the sink where her mom dumps the leftovers and loads the washer. "Alright, this looks like a good plan."
I like this bridge idea. Always do what comes naturally. Unless you can do Death From Above. Then do that. My idea: (recap)
The plan here is that we can get in, get what we need, and get out, and leave NO EVIDENCE that we did anything, or that we even exist. Without due diligence the drivers and whoever they are going to might not even know anything happened, which is a good thing. If we can't achieve anonymity, then we go Full Loud.
Could you throw me a bone and at least ass a space or two to break up the block of text? Thanks ass ass ass ass This asset is as good as ass. I have no idea how to 'ass a space' but now I badly want to do it a lot. Huh. I had no idea that particular nom de gare would get past the Censor, but there you have it. (Yes, I realize that is just a typo, but I'm 12 and it's late so I found this infinitely funny. =)
I might think of spending those on the armor. I don't have a good story reason for him to have armor, so if there is some sort of armor he could have found or been given that would help. You can always have been gifted something by an eccentric genius that likes to pull strings from the shadows. I mean, I don't really know anyone like that, but I'm sure we can think of something.
Re: maps. In my head I assume we have a large, like, 4-car easily, garage-like empty space where we park the car. The large space gives it an open, empty feeling where it dreams of when it was a cool place filled with gadgets, like an old maid still in a fancy party dress that is decades old and threadbare.
I just wanted to echo this. I understand and appreciate support characters (moreso, being one myself,) but one must always ask how they can be useful in combat. Hopefully very useful. Not only because that is where PbP can spend much of its time, but because that is usually where the greatest danger lies. So too, this world is -dangerous-. One of the players that quit made a combat monster, and he still got taken out in one round. (He also wasn't careful, and didn't let our two invisible fliers scout properly, but the lesson remains.) I'm not saying you need to max Toughness and damage dealing, but one might not fully let them go, either.
This will not STAND! In -this- reality Mom brings over frozen burgers, buns, and fixin's. Also a couple frozen containers of Chernobyl Cherry alcohol* mix (made with REALfruit!**) *All alcohol in Chernobyl Cherry is synthohol.
"Okay, let's try this: As the van enters SouthPoint, Ghost, you, um, ghost in and see how many people are inside. Then you and Psiclops will orbit around and keep a lookout. If there are two or less, then, as the van approaches, I'll meander into the middle of the road and take over the driver(s). The van will pull over, we'll calmly search it and talk to them, then they'll leave, completely forgetting the whole thing. If any of that fails to happen, both Ghost and I will try to disable it...and Psiclops will blow the thing up. Then DocTox will sluuuurp out of our car that is parked close by, and we sift through the wreckage. How's that sound?"
Toxic listens as she lays out her plans. "Makes sense. I'm willing to let you take lead on this one. I wouldn't be upset at this one going off smoothly. But we'll be ready if they end up getting more complicated." "Thank you, Doctor. Same thing, Ghost, I'm all for disabling things, and we'll definitely keep that in the quiver, but if I can just mind-control them into stopping and being docile while we have a meek little chat with them about their favorite foods, what they like in the bedroom, and what exactly it is that they're carrying, it seems like not only would that get the job done, but we also wouldn't have to worry about bystanders noticing, um, us, and how much we're going through a blown-up van. I mean, this all assumes that there are 2 or less drivers. If they've got a whole frickin' sec team all up in there, then all bets are off we just kill everyone. Actually...."
So a related question is this: if an intangible person is in a car and the car starts moving, does the person move with the car? Or if Karma were in a car tangible and went intangible, would she stop moving and the car moves on without her? I've had many discussions about this and it always comes down to: Don't overthink it. Basically it means that if you're intang. and something -else- moves, you move with it. So you can ride in a car in the same way that you keep moving as the Earth orbits the sun. But if you're intang, it let's -you- move through things.
Okay so lessons learned: 1) There is quite definitely an environmental factor of how "visible" our base is to the enemy. We need to be aware of this and take steps to avoid being seen. 2) Don't go around telling other PC's you're going to do bad things to them. Apparently people don't like that.
I can take a try and fielding this. It's a stable place to live and sleep between missions that is not in some gov't projects surrounded by gang activity. It's in a sketchy part of town, yes, we just saw that, but it's not a one-bedroom apartment in a multi-tier complex where we'd have to step over neighbors just to get in and out. We'd have no chance at secrecy then. The way things are now, all the people who aren't invisible never have to be seen leaving. We all pile in the car, the car exits, it comes back, no one's the wiser. It's not perfect, but we can make it work. The alternative would be...what? A one-bedroom apartment? What else can our characters afford right now? That would eliminate any chance for secrecy and end the trip real quick. If we knock over a bank, then maybe we can have other options. 2) Private eyes. Watching you. I disagree that the place would already be watched. The place has been cleaned out an abandoned for quite some time. The V'Sori are strong, yes, but they don't have unlimited resources. Hence, they have no motivation to keep tabs on just another abandoned building. 3) We dance Underneath the radar. Imagine has the Hindrance: Dependent. So, her mom. It is a source of great comfort to be able to keep tabs on her. So too, she can be a benefit as we have an inconspicuous non-super who can go about and do normal business and be almost wholly unnoticed. We know they can't watch everyone, so Red, the Mother may as well be as invisible as if she had a Somebody Else's Problem field on her. Also, with a common lair we can keep upgrading it. Not to mention where we would park the vehicle we need so much, but later we can make it more stronger/secret.
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