I have the cloak writen down as +2 defense value added it to the soak, If that was wrong them my soak would be A0, L1 and B2. If it's no extra ticks on the clock I would fasten the cloak around my shoulders as I normaly would also I'm was in seat 25e (I always prefera wing seat because of the extra leg room.
I move north towards the cabin.
Once she has closed with the foul beast, her leg snaps up and out in an arc, attempting to land a quick roundhouse. T4: move to row 28; interrupt guard action to perform light unarmed melee attack action (Speed 4, DV -1).
Many apologies for the delay. RL got in the way, as it is sometimes wont to do. Anyway, after doing my "homework", I'm pretty sure I mostly understand how this works now, and I've started updating Ima's profile with her combat stats.
One amusing realization this caused is that Untouchable Opponent currently provides her no benefit whatsoever and is probably not really worth it for any character until he/she has two or more points of Epic Dexterity. Oops. I suppose I now have a good early Advancement goal.
Anyway, let's get this show on the road, shall we? When last we visited Ima, she was starting to make an light unarmed attack (Speed 4, DV -1) in T4 against Red-fur. I believe that she now needs to roll (Dex + Brawl): 8d10 ⇒ (8, 8, 4, 10, 8, 7, 9, 8) = 62, giving 8 successes + 1 automatic success for a total of 9 successes (Wow!).
Presuming that this attack succeeds, I'm going to need help determining damage, in part because I still don't understand what threshhold successes are. Also, note that her kicks are treated as lethal rather than bashing damage due to one of the enhancements on her boots.
Finally, due to the -1 DV accumulated by making this attack, I believe that Ima is now at 4 Dodge DV and 4 Parry DV.
Trent: That's just stunting part of your Dash action - it doesn't add anything to the Speed of the Dash, so you will go again on Tick 5. It's a 1-die stunt, which would allow you to roll one more die, but since you've already succeeded, the only major consequence at this point is that you get one point of Legend back for successfully completing the action.
Ima: Nice roll! (You're wrong about Untouchable Opponent not doing anything for you, though - it adds +1 to your Dodge DV at level 1.) As for damage, you actually don't have all the information you need to know what to roll yet, because I haven't told you. ;)
Red-fur's Dodge DV is 5 (because you are acting on the same tick, she experiences no effects from her own actions while handling yours), meaning that you hit with 4 successes. (More accurately, you hit and have 3 threshold successes, but that's idiotic. 4 successes works just fine.) So you add 4 to your base damage pool. You then reduce that pool by her lethal soak of 3, and roll the remaining dice. Every success inflicts a Health Level of damage.
Join Battle = 6d10 Does the Wits Auto success count here? Did I do those rolls right?
Benny:
Spoiler:
Despite the billowing dust and the noise from traffic, your protesting truck and the pounding of your own heart, you nevertheless clearly pick up several details about what is happening around you. The shape of the shadow that engulfed you just moments before the world turned a shadowy, dust-filled grey was that of a large bird; you can make out the sound of heavy wingbeats just above the car, and the screeching is that of talons trying to find purchase on the truck's roof. You'd estimate something with a wingspan of perhaps 20 feet and a body length around 6-7 feet, plus a fan of tail that adds another two feet or so. From the cry it unleashed as it plummeted toward you, you'd guess it's some kind of monstrously large eagle.
Impressive roll, my friend!
The giant eagle's Join Battle: 7d10 ⇒ (5, 2, 7, 5, 3, 2, 1) = 25 That's only 1 success, so your two successes beats it. You act first, on Tick 0, and then it will act on Tick 1.
All right. In that case, I think you're looking at hide armor (+1L/+3B) with two levels of enhancement, for a total of +3L/+5B. Remember that wearing it will reduce your Dodge DV by 1 and it is fatiguing if worn for extended periods.
Ima: Nice roll! (You're wrong about Untouchable Opponent not doing anything for you, though - it adds +1 to your Dodge DV at level 1.) As for damage, you actually don't have all the information you need to know what to roll yet, because I haven't told you. ;)
Red-fur's Dodge DV is 5 (because you are acting on the same tick, she experiences no effects from her own actions while handling yours), meaning that you hit with 4 successes. (More accurately, you hit and have 3 threshold successes, but that's idiotic. 4 successes works just fine.) So you add 4 to your base damage pool. You then reduce that pool by her lethal soak of 3, and roll the remaining dice. Every success inflicts a Health Level of damage.
I understand what I missed now, which makes it clear why/how Untouchable Opponent is effective. Reading the following sentence cleared things up. "A Scion's Epic Dexterity also adds a like amount directly to his Defense Values." I had mistakenly been adding Epic Dex in before the division, which is why it seemed like Untouchable Opponent didn't have much value until you had a couple of point of Epic Dex (character sheet has been corrected).
Taking into account this correction, and noting your point about effects on DV not applying until the next tick, I'll amend my earlier statement to point out that, on T5, Ima's DVs will become 5 for Dodge and 5 for Parry (down from 6 and 6 on T4).
Okay, so having taken care of those details, I should resolve her damage against Red-fur. Again, reading the Scion book, it says that this should be determined by "(weapon's Damage + attacker's Strength + threshhold successes + 1)". I'm assuming that this means that her "base damage pool", as you put it, is (weapon's Damage + attacker's Strength)d10 = (0 + 3)d10 = 3d10.
So, combining this with the other pieces, it appears that I need to roll a pool of 4d10 in order to determine how much damage Ima just did to Red-fur. So, 4d10 ⇒ (1, 1, 2, 1) = 5 not only gives 0 successes but is quite a "botch" (phoooey!). What happens now?
Also, although it doesn't matter for Ima (yet), do points of Epic Strength count as automatic successes on damage rolls like this, thus following the pattern I've been seeing so far? EDIT: Oh, wait, I just reread your comments in the discussion thread regarding your modifications to the standard Scion soak rules, which answers my second question.
Also, I definitely understand now how changing the order in which soak is applied heightens the danger potential of any given attack. Even so, it took an awesome roll in the first place to hit Red-fur at all and then a poor roll effectively reduced the damage from the hit to zero. I just went from feeling that Ima might do okay to feeling that she's quite possibly in a heap of trouble.
Don't worry, you can't botch damage rolls. (That's not technically in the rules, but I'm not a fan of making attacks be the only roll where you get two chances to botch, particularly since defenses aren't rolled, and therefore the target has no chance to botch...)
Also, remember that you just got stabbed in the back by probability - statistically, 4 dice should produce 2 successes, a reasonably solid hit. You're not as bad off as you think.
Though the wolf-men attempt to surround Trent, he slips out of their trap with almost embarrassing ease. At the same time, toward the rear of the plane, Ima and the wolf-woman exchange blows, and though Ima lands a glancing kick on the red fur, her opponent simpy twists with the strike and spins, readying herself for another assault on the Scion.
Well since the stunt is over, Trent will now spin about as his move action, stay on the ground and attempt to kick Mr. Black. In an attempt to knock him off balance into Mr.Grey. I will spend a Willpower point to make sure I succeed and do not botch. Dex+Brawl+1 for Accuracy gives me7d10 ⇒ (5, 10, 7, 8, 6, 5, 6) = 47+3 Auto successes. This will give me 6 possible successes. I do not go until tick 9
Here's my plan... being a Scion noob I'm not sure the mechanics.
- I want to pull off the Fwy and get at least 50 feet from the road. To not endanger any 'squishies'.
- I will then get my gun out of my bag, in the back seat. Get out of the car with the car between me and 'Beaks' and proceed to shoot it.
Trent: being prone inflicts a -2 dice penalty on your attack, but since you didn't actually get knocked down, we can call it a cinematic effect only, as part of the stunt. Just something to remember for the future.
Trent's blow knocks the black-furred wolf-man backwards two yards - enough to send him into his grey-furred companion.
Stamina + Fortitude, difficulty 2, to resist being knocked down: 6d10 ⇒ (8, 10, 7, 1, 3, 5) = 34 plus 1 automatic success; that's 5 successes total, so he easily makes it.
The two stagger into one another, but neither falls; they both glare angrily at the Scion, however.
You got 7 successes total, actually, which is reduced by 2 (because of the Black-fur's current Dodge DV of 2), for a total of 5 successes - these are added to your base damage to make the raw damage pool, from which you then subtract his bashing soak of 5 (to a minimum of your Legend score). The remaining pool is rolled, and every success is a level of damage.
Getting off the road and getting out of the car are both Misc actions; either one can be combined with a Misc action to get out your weapon, though at a greater penalty to your DV and possibly to your Control roll (if you combine it with the "get off the road" action). Alternatively, you could do each one separately as a miscellaneous action, for a total of 15 ticks worth of stuff.
I will roll my Strength(2)+Successes(5)+Weapon damage(0)+1-3from his Soak to my minimum legend of 2 5d10 ⇒ (6, 3, 9, 5, 1) = 24, for one success.I think I got that right.
Close, but not quite. It's 2 (Str) + 5 (successes) + 0 (weapon) - 5 (soak) = 2, but since it's a minimum of your Legend, you get to roll 3 dice instead. Ignore the "+1" that the game tacks on in the damage description; it's an artifact of extremely unclear writing.
I forgot to mention that Ima is up again on tick 8. Since she has now closed with Red-fur, it's unlikely she'll make any reflexive move actions on ticks 5, 6, or 7.
Bingo. Also, because it's about to be extremely relevant, note that your car's Dodge Defense Value is equal to ([your Dex] + [your Control: Auto] + [the car's Maneuverability])/2, rounded up, plus your Epic Dex bonus of +1. I'm planning to use the "Pickup Truck/Van" stats on page 205 of Scion for your car, for ease of description. That makes the car's base DV 4.
Benny jerks the wheel sideways, fishtailing for a moment before he wrestles the car off the road. He bounces down an embankment, suddenly finding himself in the mostly-flat and empty Arizona desert, and though rocks, bushes and cacti all combine to get in his way, the terrain is surprisingly conducive to a high-speed chase.
Tick 1:
For a moment, Benny thinks he might have left the massive eagle behind, but he hears a shockingly loud cry from behind him, and the eagle bursts out of the dust cloud it created and swoops after him. Unbelievably, the bird seems to be flying at nearly 50 miles an hour, rapidly closing with Benny's truck. The eagle is Dashing with Lightning Sprinter, and is in fact flying at 49 mph.
On Ticks 2-3, the eagle continues Dashing and Benny continues his Miscellaneous driving action.
Tick 4:
The eagle's shadow darkens the ground around the truck again, and it swoops low once more, swirling up dust from its massive wings. Talons the size of scimitars slam down on either side of the truck's roof. The eagle is attempting to clinch the truck and pull it into the air. The truck's DV is 3 (regular 4, -1 for Benny's Misc action), but this particular manuever gives the truck a +2 DV bonus. Eagle's clinch attack: 7d10 ⇒ (2, 3, 1, 7, 8, 3, 5) = 29 plus 1 automatic success from Epic Dexterity. That's 3 successes total, not nearly enough. The talons scrabble for a grip on the truck's roof, and though they shred the paint something terrible, they cannot find enough purchase to lift the truck off the ground. The eagle goes again on Tick 10 - Benny goes on Tick 5, which is next.
Though Trent manages to open some room up between himself and his attackers, the wolf-man shows no signs of permanent injury - just rising fury.
As far as I can tell, no one goes on Tick 6 or 7, so now we get to Tick 8: Red-fur, Ima, and Xochipilli. If he wishes to have done so, Xoch can have reached the front of the plane where Grey-fur and Black-fur are attempting to flatten Trent.
I will target black-fur with a melee attack using my obsidian scalpel.
Attack = 7d10 ⇒ (3, 1, 8, 8, 8, 6, 2) = 36 total successes 4
Damage = 6d10 ⇒ (9, 7, 9, 9, 10, 10) = 54 plus two auto succsess, total success 8 (10 if tens count twice.)
Next move on tick 9
PS; i couldn't find knife in the weapons so I used the stats of a Xiphos (the closest to a knife) but with a slightly less damage.
As far as I can tell, no one goes on Tick 6 or 7, so now we get to Tick 8: Red-fur, Ima, and Xochipilli.
Ima follows the glancing blow to Red-fur from her roundhouse with a combination kick, first by snapping the same leg back up in a front kick, followed by a spinning back kick with the opposite foot after bringing the leading foot down to the ground.
The game mechanics of the stunt Ima is attempting should work as follows, I believe. This is two attacks made as a single action (see p.190). The first is a light unarmed attack, similar to my prior attack. The second is a heavy unarmed attack. The second attack is the smaller dice pool, so it takes a four die penalty. The DV versus the both attacks will be reduced by one. This compound attack is a (Speed 5, DV -2) action.
First attack: 8d10 + 1 auto => 8d10 ⇒ (5, 10, 8, 7, 4, 6, 7, 5) = 52 + 1 auto => 6 successes.
Second attack: (6 - 4)d10 + 1 auto => 2d10 ⇒ (2, 8) = 10 + 1 auto => 2 successes.
As an aside, I used to love this combination when I was still studying karate as a kid. The spinning back kick is one of the most powerful kicks available, being very direct, linear, stable, relatively quick and practically useful in a closer range than a side kick; however, in order to pull it off, it requires a distinctive shift of the leading foot, angling it inward. Thus, when this kick is performed alone, the shift has a tendency to project your immediate intention.
On the other hand, by performing it in a combination after snapping a front kick or roundhouse, one can "disguise" this shift by appropriately placing the leading foot in the shifted position when returning it to the ground in recovery from the first kick. This also has the practical advantage of being good against opponents positioned in stances facing either direction, given the fact that the final direction of the kick's force can be adjusted as needed by proper leading foot placement.
The down sides are that the combination can be a bit slow and that the shifted leading foot placement commits one, in the second half of the combination, to performing this kick or a narrower than normal variety of kicks with the leading leg. Actually, I suppose it's also a rather good stance from which to chamber a reverse spinning backhand punch.
Anyway, returning to the matter at hand, after any possible damage resolution, Ima's next action should be on T13.
Unfortunately, your damage calculation wasn't quite on. As you rolled 4 successes on your attack, it should have been 4 (successes) - 2 (Black-fur's current DV) + 4 (your Strength) + 2 (the knife) - 3 (Black-fur's lethal soak) = 5 dice, not 6. However, I really, really hate the idea of making you reroll such an awesome damage roll, so I'll make you a deal: let's say you spend a Willpower point to add an extra attack success, which would be enough to put the damage pool up to the 6 dice you rolled and have it come out the same. So, spend a Willpower point and we'll move forward from there. Deal?
Unfortunately, I think your understanding of multiple attacks is a bit off, and I think that it might change your plans some if you did. If you make multiple attacks, or do any kind of multiple actions that require dice, you only roll once, using the smaller of the relevant dice pools and taking a -4 penalty on top of that. You then apply all the rolled or otherwise applicable successes to all the actions you were trying, regardless of source. So in this case, you'd just be rolling that smaller, two-die pool for both attacks. Are you sure you want to go that way with it?
The black-furred monster seemingly never saw Xochipilli coming. With a quick flash of obsidian, the doctor drives his tiny blade deep into the wolf-man's skull, sending the beast collapsing to the ground in a boneless heap. As his life's blood spreads out across the aisle's carpeting, the figure ripples like water on a pond, returning to the form of a young man in his early 20s, long black hair in a pair of braids, his skin a rich red-brown. He is laying on a wolf's-skin cloak of wrap, now soaking up thick red blood.
At the rear of the plane, the red-furred wolf-woman sees her ally collapse and lets out a shocked howl. Her white-furred companion suddenly leaps across the seats, crawling between the chair backs and the overhead storage units, rushing toward Xochipilli. Aborts his Guard and begins Dashing up the aisle. Current Dodge DV 4, soak 3L/5B. Next action on Tick 11. The red-furred one seems to want to do the same, but Ima is in her way. The wolf-woman slashes twice with her claws, trying to remove the obstacle before her. Two claw attacks, reducing Ima's DVs by 1 against each attack and spending a point of Legend. 3d10 ⇒ (1, 9, 1) = 11 plus 3 automatic successes, for a total of 4 - not enough, even reducing Ima's DVs. Current Dodge DV 3*, soak 3L/5B. Next action, Tick 12.
* Note that this DV applies after her action, and not to actions taken on this tick, such as Ima's attack. For this tick, her DV is 5.
Tick 5:
Benny brings the car to a screeching halt, then reaches behind the seat to grap his gun. Through the windshield, he can see the eagle, roughly the size of a small propeller airplane, loop around in preparation for another attack on the truck.
Ticks 6-9: nothing happens.
Tick 10:
Just as the giant eagle reaches the truck once again, Benny's hand closes on his gun and he throws himself out of the vehicle, landing on the opposite side of the truck from the eagle.
The eagle is making another attempt to grab the truck - this time, since the truck isn't moving, its DV is 0. Clinch attack: 7d10 ⇒ (9, 7, 10, 5, 1, 7, 8) = 47 plus 1 automatic success from Epic Dexterity.
Even as Benny gets clear, the massive eagle's talons latch onto the truck and begin to lift it into the air, a massive mouse in the bird's deadly claws. Benny goes again on Tick 15, the eagle on Tick 16.
On my action I will shoot the giant bird as many times as I can.
Benny:
Spoiler:
The eagle's Dodge DV is 5 currently, and its lethal soak is 13 (7 against firearms). You have several options when it comes to shooting it.
1: You can fire once, at your full dice pool of Dex (4) + Marksmanship (2) + Accuracy (1) = 7 dice, adding your Epic Dex success as well.
2: You can fire twice, reducing the eagle's DV by one against both bullets. You only roll once, however, and at -4 to your dice pool (for a total of 3 dice). You do add your Epic Dex bonus success, however. Basically, in this setup, if either bullet hits, they both do, but if one misses, they both miss.
3: You can fire twice, against the eagle's full DV on the first shot, but reducing the eagle's DV by 2 against the second shot. Again, you only roll once, at -4 to your dice pool, adding your Epic Dex success, but you determine success individually against both DVs (the full DV of the first shot and the reduced DV of the second shot).
In each of the previous scenarios, you can also spend a Willpower Point to get an automatic success, as well as a Legend Point to get a number of successes equal to your Legend score. In the cases where you are making multiple attacks, because you only roll once, Willpower and Legend Point expenditure applies to both attacks (a nice bonus).
So what do you want to do?
(Also see the discussion thread for a couple things I noticed about Benny's character sheet...)
I'll shot it twice at the -4 dice. Can I spend a Willpower and a Legend? If yes, then that's what I do.
3d10 ⇒ (7, 3, 7) = 17
If it's only one then I'll spend a point of Legend.
(I'm figuring that I really haven't been in a supernatural fight yet and I'm nervous and going 'all-out' against 'Big Bird'.)
So in this case, you'd just be rolling that smaller, two-die pool for both attacks. Are you sure you want to go that way with it?
Apologies for the delay. I've worked 14-16 hour days every day this week. Anyway, yes, I obviously DID misunderstand how to perform the combination attack. So, no, I don't really think I want to do that, then.
Let's just say she did another quick kick and take the first roll for the unarmed light attack (okay, yeah...I'm loathe to give up the rather nice roll) making it a (Speed 4, DV -1) action so that her next action will occur on T12 and her Dodge and Parry DVs will both become 4 starting on T9.
So, I believe that Red-fur's DV should now be 4 (i.e. one less due to her prior action of killing the passenger, the one that was underway during Ima's first attack). If this is the case, then my 6 successes from the earlier roll should net me a hit with 2 successes.
Combining that with her base damage pool of 3d10 and subtracting the 3 points of Red-fur's lethal soak, as before, leaves me with a 2d10 dice pool for the final (lethal) damage resulting from the kick. My roll, 2d10 ⇒ (5, 5) = 10, appears to again not be quite good enough to land anything but a glancing blow.
I'll shot it twice at the -4 dice. Can I spend a Willpower and a Legend? If yes, then that's what I do.
3d10
If it's only one then I'll spend a point of Legend.
(I'm figuring that I really haven't been in a supernatural fight yet and I'm nervous and going 'all-out' against 'Big Bird'.)
Spoiler:
Yes you can. That nets you 7 successes. I'm assuming you're reducing the eagle's DV by 1 against each attack, since you didn't specify; that means both shots hit with 3 extra successes. That makes your damage pool for each shot 3 (Beretta base damage) + 3 (extra successes) = 6. Now, the eagle has a ludicrously thick hide, with a lethal soak of 13; bullets cut that in half, down to 7, but that still means that under normal circumstances, you'd be rolling 6 (damage) - 7 (soak) = no dice. However, damage pools cannot be reduced below your Legend score, so each shot gets 3 dice to roll for damage, and 10s count twice as normal.
So, I believe that Red-fur's DV should now be 4 (i.e. one less due to her prior action of killing the passenger, the one that was underway during Ima's first attack). If this is the case, then my 6 successes from the earlier roll should net me a hit with 2 successes.
Combining that with her base damage pool of 3d10 and subtracting the 3 points of Red-fur's lethal soak, as before, leaves me with a 2d10 dice pool for the final (lethal) damage resulting from the kick. My roll, 2d10 ⇒ (5, 5) = 10, appears to again not be quite good enough to land anything but a glancing blow.
Actually, DVs "refresh" - that is, return to their full values - at the start of the tick on which you next get to act. That's why her DV is 5 against your action; the effect of her previous action has "worn off," but the consequence of her new action hasn't kicked in yet. However, that's still a hit, and you've forgotten the other benefit of having Legend: soak can't reduce your damage pool below your Legend score. With Ima's Legend of 3, even after only hitting with one success, she still has one more die to roll for damage.
