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[kv]

A couple quick things- I spent last weekend at my family's place, and had some quiet time to read over the Shadowrun books (cover to cover- which I haven't done in a long time).

A few rules I noticed; they may be common knowledge, but I wasn't aware of them, so I'll be trying to enforce them better in the future.

Ingo, the system rating handicaps program ratings- so a commlink with a system rating of 4 can only run programs at rating 4, even if the program itself has a higher rating. Feel free to edit and tweak your character accordingly.

Bull, the number of fetishes you can bond is controlled by Logic. I haven't double-checked the numbers, I just saw this and wanted to make a note of it.

Also for the magic stuff, I'm divided about the spells again. What I was reading in the books talks about minimum number of successes (threshold) for spells, and most combat spells are opposed tests rather than requiring a threshold. Which makes me feel like if the defender gets more successes than the caster, they're not resisting the 6P+3 successes, they just have to beat 3 successes to push off the effects of the spell. I'll re-read the section, and I have Street Magic as well (assigned reading for the weekend), so I might find the answer myself, but I'd appreciate feedback from you guys or thoughts you have on the matter.

I was going to set up a map of Denver with the little icons for your 'approximate position' and stuff, but I don't have access to a computer with maptools, and I won't until at least Sunday night (but let's be honest, I won't update until Monday at the earliest).

Sorry for the delay.

  - Matt

[bull30548]

Gun Heaven 2 just came out anybody need to redo their shopping? LoL
Kid: I reference you to page 87 and 199 of the 20th anniversary edition.  Fetishes are something different than Foci it appears.  Fetishes are lost after they are used as well.  Foci are forever (at least as long as you hold onto them) mine are two rings and a bracelet on my wrist that pretty tight (sort of like dresden's shield bracelet). 

It looks like Kid is right as far as spellcasting is concerned.  So now my question becomes why is it spellcasters are so wanted? I mean based on this a spellcaster is only effective against other spellcasters as long as it didn't come down between two spellcaster throwing spells at each other.  Also breaking down barriers is almost impossible because most of those are established using ritual magic which allows the caster to establish more successes than a regular spell casting can ever hope to match.

[Ruski]

ritual barriers don't cross domains though right? that was the deal with them in prior editions.
so: you can put up barriers at your house, but go outside? no longer working. live outside? jump into a starbucks for a cup of joe... suddenly you are 6 hours away from your barrier spell again.
then again, i haven't made a 4th ed. mage, so maybe they mixed it up a bit with some changes?

[kv]

Bull, I think even with the 'handicap' of opposed tests, a Mage's Spellcasting + Attribute + Foci is going to net more successes than your average opposition's Will attribute. The only way to counter that is with your own magical defenses (or innate resistance), and will usually lead to a mage hammering a group without them having anywhere to go.

I mean, all he or she has to do is maintain line of sight. If you fling low-level spells and rack up lots of successes, you'll burn through the willpower of your opponents. At worst, the power of the spell adds additional damage if they don't get enough successes to resist the spell entirely.

As another caveat, I noticed while reading this weekend that damage resistance rolls are no longer affected by wounds- so if you get shot in the face for 7 boxes of damage, you get the same number of dice (no -3 wound modifier) to resist the second shot to the face. Other modifiers still apply (including defense penalties), but not wound modifiers. So we can do better about that.

  -kv

[kv]

Bull, 5s and 6s are successes, so that's only one success; one success is good enough, you get through without a hassle.

Also, you could have added your etiquette skill in there, too, along with your fake SIN and Charisma. Assuming you have one.

  - kv

[Ingo Monk]

Ingo, the system rating handicaps program ratings- so a commlink with a system rating of 4 can only run programs at rating 4, even if the program itself has a higher rating. Feel free to edit and tweak your character accordingly.

Missed that!  I've had to massage the numbers again, but I upgraded all the Commlink stats to 6.  I'll update my character page shortly.

[kv]

I would never have noticed it unless I was scanning the books to familiarize myself with matrix and magic rules. No problem, that's what this time to tweak characters is for.

  - kv

[Ingo Monk]

Should I post about crossing the border?  I think I was waiting for a response on my rolls, but now I realize I'm the only one not yet at McHugh's.

[kv]

I'm putting together a post that includes the massive datadump that Eric gets for five successes on his search, as well as information about McHughs, security, and the parking situation.

You can roll for the border checkpoint(s), if you want, but I wouldn't rush it.

For retcon, I'll say that Sly's perimeter search and pest control stuff took up the spare time between his early arrival and the arrival of Kinsey and Eric, since they had further to travel. We'll probably say that Galbraith arrives a little after, since BS is a newer to PBP as a player and it'll be easier for him to react to stuff than to push forward.

Or we can have Eric arrive later, too; I'm pretty easy-going.

  -kv

[Ingo Monk]

Well, I was just going to drive there and review the data feed I'm getting from my drone on the way.  Once there I'd see about hacking McHugh's local network for admin access, hopefully the info I pull up on the data search helps. 

[Bullet Sponge]

I actually was hoping to get there early. I, too, want to do some scouting. Here's what I was thinking: I was trying to see if I knew anything about the girl with my knowledge of the underworld (the roll I tried previously). While driving I want to use my commlink to get as detailed a map of the area I'm heading to as I can get. I'm going to scout it for (1) the best & second best approaches by both foot and vehicle; (2) nearest  & second nearest hospitals; (3) nearest police station and average police response times (times won't be on a map, but if the map is from a realtor's site or someone else trying to attract people they may have response times if it is something to be proud of. Otherwise I'll look somewhere else when everything else is done); (4) public transit routes and times; (5) look for construction or any special events that may affect traffic/cause roadblocks; (6) top 3 most likely spots for snipers. I'm also going to use my knowledge of security design/tactics/companies (I have all 3) to prejudge McHugh's standard security.
Basically, I'm going to look at it like I'm going to invade McHugh's. Then try to circumvent/block everything I come up with.

[Ruski]

thats a lot of legwork, I'm going to feel a lot safer with you on the team than my typical R/L players I've ran with, who like to change the 'run' portion of shadowrun into "dead-fast-sprint-headlong-into-danger".
I think that'll be a nice change.

[bull30548]

Overall if I had the skill set I would be doing similar work.  However I don't so I am just doing what comes naturally to me.  I look at the surrounding and look for places to check for a tail.  I parked close enough to get to my vehicle quickly but far enough and safe enough to make it seem like I am just looking around.  Bodyguard work generally breaks down into two sets with subsets attached to each.  1) Protect the primary with a defensive posture.  This usually entails finding a bolt hole with good defense and exit strategies.  Limit exposure of primary to threats or exposure.  2) Protect the primary by proactively going after the threats.  It still includes protecting of the primary.  Find the threat or threats and neutralize it. 

Both have pros and cons 2) is more risky than 1) but 1) is the one with fewer x factors but you will never get ahead of the problem.  And usually when one person is gunning for a target it is multiple bad guys.  So since I am being called in that means magic attack maybe involved.

[kv]

Gary/BS/Whoever, I need you to pick a character image from the following:

This one is my favorite, and if I don't hear back quickly enough, that's what you're getting:

Here are your choices:
This is the one made from my favorite (above):


And the rest of your choices, in no particular order:







I would prefer one of the color choices, since it makes my life easier, but I understand when you see an image and have your heart set on it.

Edit: Decided to post the choices in band-width friendly token form.

  -kv

[bull30548]

#rd down tattoo on face.