Silver Bluff combat tactics round 2

Post by **Pender Lumkiss** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 9:53 pm

A great place to figure out who is going to do what when where and how. If you have any questions about the scene throw them in here or PM me.

Markus Berger · Post by **Markus Berger** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 11:13 pm

I have to confess... I don't understand how many actions we can do in a round...
Biker Tod, for example... He run to the bike, mounted and started it. He also attacked the major. And then he ride away and tried to attack Markus (with a very bad result).
I see a lot of "actions" there.
So Markus can attack him, mount the bike and then ride away?
He wasn't on the part of the bridge that fell, right?

Kesslan · Post by **Kesslan** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 11:30 pm

Basically you can take as many actions you like, but for every action that isn't a free action you tack on a -2 penalty to every roll you make for that round. Normally you can move up to your pace + take free action + take action.

Moving at your pace isn't considered running however, so if you want to run, and say, fire a gun it's two actions + Free action. So at that point you'd add -2 to your rolls for running and firing the gun. If you wanted to fire your gun at three people in one action that's 3 actions so -6 to all 3 rolls. And that's before any other penalties might come into play. So ultimately you're only really limited by how hard the task is compared to what your maximum potential skill roll is and how much of a chance you want to take that you'll still be able to make the skill roll.

That's why also in theory you can do anything in the game system no matter your skills. You just have to strike that miracle of acing your roll as many times as needed to make the target number.

Kesslan · Post by **Kesslan** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 11:37 pm

Oh, on a 'tactical note' I'm going to try to grab that vampire near me and pull him into the river with me when I jump in after the baby.

BECAUSE NO ONE DROPS THE BABY!

Libertas Magicum · Post by **Libertas Magicum** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 2:53 am

Libertas desperately needs a second person with Driving to get in the vehicle with him--at that point, the penalty to the roll will be dramatically reduced, and they might actually save the truck....

Lucretia · Post by **Lucretia** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:22 am

Sorry Libertas, Lucretia doesn't even have the ISP to fake it.

Kesslan has a good breakdown there, just two points of clarification, in case they are needed:

1) In game mechanics terms, running is moving beyond your pace, you roll your running die and can move up to that distance beyond your pace.

2) You can perform as many free actions as you want without getting a penalty, so if you look at Lucretia's surpise turn she performed 6 "actions" with no Multi-Action Penalty, because they were all free actions (Cyber-Knights get a lot of abilities as free actions)

It's worth noting that -2 is a hefty penalty in this system. That alone is enough to drop the odds of getting a 4 on a d8 attribute from ~81% to ~48% (including the wild die and aces).

Post by **Pender Lumkiss** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:39 am

Markus Berger wrote:I have to confess... I don't understand how many actions we can do in a round...
Biker Tod, for example... He run to the bike, mounted and started it. He also attacked the major. And then he ride away and tried to attack Markus (with a very bad result).
I see a lot of "actions" there.
So Markus can attack him, mount the bike and then ride away?
He wasn't on the part of the bridge that fell, right?

I think Kesslan and Lucretia did a nice job providing clarification for multipe actions. For biker tod, he went at the end of round 1. The civilians moved away from the vamp before he went. Withdrawing from combat from an adjacent foe allows a free attack. He missed. Made a agility or str roll to get from the bridge to the pilot seat, and piloting check to quick start the vehicle, both done at a -2 for multiple actions. End of turn. Vamps got to go first in round 2, so he essentially does a boot legger reverse and wants to claw Markus. -4 to piloting check, and a claw attack, plus he takes an additional -2 for map(mulri action penalty). It looked like he got so many actions because he just about went back to back on two rounds worth of initiative.

With chow still down for the count you can get back to the bike. Because it is dramatically appropriate you got to give me a piloting skill to start it up. If you need the extra movement of a run die to reach it that would count as an action giving that piloting roll a -2.

The part of the bridge you are on, is unstable, -2 to shooting rolls, if you declare using a run action you must make an agility roll at -2 or fall prone. Falling prone in this case would end your turn. one of the vamps failed that roll fell backward and lost his grip on the baby letting fall into the water.

Hope that clarifies a bit for you, and everyone else. I thought it might be more dramatic to have the enemies reactions/actions right in the recap as it affects your character, but if it makes things more confusing I can just have a seperate line for everything the baddies do.

Post by **Pender Lumkiss** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 7:03 am

Libertas Magicum wrote:Libertas desperately needs a second person with Driving to get in the vehicle with him--at that point, the penalty to the roll will be dramatically reduced, and they might actually save the truck....

For this round and next the all terrain feature of the vechicle is your best friend. While water might be coming in through open doors, for now there is enough traction for it to get going. No additional penalty for the difficult terrain you are in until end of next round.

Libertas +1 benny for acting on your hindrence, and crap on a stick had by side aching.

Maximilian · Post by **Maximilian** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:35 am

I won't be going until after the shadow dragon, but it still doesn't seem to be making any aggressive moves. Do we want to poke the bear again, or take a chance that we might talk it down?
Pender, I'd assume that the sensor suite on robot armor could pick up a whisper relatively nearby, even with background noise around. If not, I'll still make the notice roll at a -4.

Lucretia · Post by **Lucretia** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 11:06 am

Maximilian wrote:I won't be going until after the shadow dragon, but it still doesn't seem to be making any aggressive moves. Do we want to poke the bear again, or take a chance that we might talk it down?

Good question.

Seeing you are acting after the dragon, you could put it contingently:

"If the dragon attacks me, an ally, or a townsperson I'll do XYZ.
Otherwise, I'll do ABC"

It can make for an ugly post, but makes the game flow a lot smoother than an after-the-fact "Well, if I had known it was going to invite us for tea and scones I wouldn't have shot it in the face, can I change my turn?".

Post by **Pender Lumkiss** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 11:29 am

Maximilian wrote:I won't be going until after the shadow dragon, but it still doesn't seem to be making any aggressive moves. Do we want to poke the bear again, or take a chance that we might talk it down?
Pender, I'd assume that the sensor suite on robot armor could pick up a whisper relatively nearby, even with background noise around. If not, I'll still make the notice roll at a -4.

Maximilian, your sensor suite gives you a +2 to notice, since it has a bit about hearing whispers you can ignore the whisper mod. Essentially the river is providing a concealment bonus to the quite conversation Soldad and Lucretia are having. So i think a -4 would be your roll as the +2 from the sensor suite cancels out the background noise concealment mod. then just factor in anything positive, like a racial bonus or alertness.

If this makes it any easier on your post, From the description I gave of the shadow dragon's turn you get the feeling that it will not attack this turn unless provoked.

Libertas Magicum · Post by **Libertas Magicum** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 12:18 pm

Pender Lumkiss wrote:
Libertas Magicum wrote:Libertas desperately needs a second person with Driving to get in the vehicle with him--at that point, the penalty to the roll will be dramatically reduced, and they might actually save the truck....
For this round and next the all terrain feature of the vechicle is your best friend. While water might be coming in through open doors, for now there is enough traction for it to get going. No additional penalty for the difficult terrain you are in until end of next round.

Libertas +1 benny for acting on your hindrence, and crap on a stick had by side aching.

Got it. In that case, while he didn't succeed, he's only at a -1 to roll, net. As I noted in the original post:

-2 for half-crew;
-1 for Tech Diff;
+2 for Machine Maestro.

He just needs to void out that crew penalty, and we'll be good to go.

Maximilian · Post by **Maximilian** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 1:34 pm

Am I able to reach the mountaineer? Would I be able to help lift it out of the water? Max load on a Titan is 10 tons. If I'm not taking an aggressive action against the SD, I might have the opportunity to save the driving rolls.

Markus Berger · Post by **Markus Berger** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 1:36 pm

If Libertas lets Markus know he needs help, he might go do it.
So you can do 3 or 4 actions with a -6 or -8 to the rolls? O_o

Kesslan · Post by **Kesslan** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 1:47 pm

Markus Berger wrote:So you can do 3 or 4 actions with a -6 or -8 to the rolls? O_o

To all of the rolls, yes. But penalties that high make it very unlikely you will succeed even if you throw out a lot of bennies. Unlikely, but still possible depending on your skill/attribute levels and potential for exploding dice.

I mean if you have a d8 and are facing -8 penalties you'd have to roll an 8 +4 minimum to pass an easy check. If you have a d12 you'd have to roll a 12, an so on.

Libertas Magicum · Post by **Libertas Magicum** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 4:42 pm

Markus Berger wrote:If Libertas lets Markus know he needs help, he might go do it.
So you can do 3 or 4 actions with a -6 or -8 to the rolls? O_o

Yeah. The only time you can really get away with that sort of penalty, though, is when you have a strong ability to counter it (either with bonuses or with abilities that cancel penalties, like Max's ability to ignore the MAP from firing two weapons in the Robot Armor).

FREX, Libertas' baseline ability to use Techno-Wizardry Powers is d12+4 (+2 from Edges, +2 from Machine Maestro). So he can do two separate Powers at flat rolls, or two Powers and another action at -2 to all three rolls.

Look at how much trouble he got from just a net -1 penalty trying to drive the truck out of the river, though. Anything over -2 is 'wing and a prayer' territory.

Post by **Pender Lumkiss** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:50 pm

Maximilian wrote:Am I able to reach the mountaineer? Would I be able to help lift it out of the water? Max load on a Titan is 10 tons. If I'm not taking an aggressive action against the SD, I might have the opportunity to save the driving rolls.

Yeah you can help out Libertas with getting the vehicle out of the water. We'll just add your roll as an assist to libertas. On Wed/thurs I'll put in a mini-update.

Post by **Pender Lumkiss** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 8:33 pm

Cantrell, What you want to do is go on hold. Now you cannot move and go on hold. You just stay still and go on hold waiting for the dragon to attack. If the dragon attacks then you and the dragon make opposed agility rolls to interrupt whom ever rolls highest goes first. You can draw your plasma ejector no problem, normally no roll is needed but it does cost an action. So when you fire you will be at a -2 from MAP. ( I only had you make the agility roll in the special surprise round)

Libertas Magicum · Post by **Libertas Magicum** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 9:50 pm

One nice thing about going On Hold--you don't have to declare a specific 'trigger'. Rather, things just go along until you announce you're coming off Hold; if that ends up needing the "interrupt" roll, that's fine, if not, then you just act on the Initiative count you want. Now, with the PbP format, it's probably definitely a help to our GM to say, "Okay, yeah, this is what I'm waiting for", so he knows that opposed Agility check is coming, and can opt to not post too much until the need arises. But you can also just wait until the end of the round, and if nothing else happens, you can say, "Okay, in that case I'm gonna go save that baby over there."

ANd I agree with you, Pender--I loved Bane's peacemaking effort.

Post by **Pender Lumkiss** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 7:42 am

-Markus did you crit fail your notice roll? I see 2 double 1s and then a mention of you looking around. If I am reading it right you would need to make a technical difficulties roll of a 1d6 to see how badly damaged your optics cybernetic package is.

-Just waiting on Kesslan I believe.

-As a heads up Bane's actions will most likely move us out of combat ( Assuming no one attacks Jazzel) and into an interlude.

Cantrell · Post by **Cantrell** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 11:23 am

Pender Lumkiss wrote:Cantrell, What you want to do is go on hold. Now you cannot move and go on hold. You just stay still and go on hold waiting for the dragon to attack. If the dragon attacks then you and the dragon make opposed agility rolls to interrupt whom ever rolls highest goes first. You can draw your plasma ejector no problem, normally no roll is needed but it does cost an action. So when you fire you will be at a -2 from MAP. ( I only had you make the agility roll in the special surprise round)

I'm already near the bottom of the initiative order, though -- does "on hold" carry over to the start of the new round?

Markus Berger · Post by **Markus Berger** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 1:16 pm

Pender Lumkiss wrote:-Markus did you crit fail your notice roll? I see 2 double 1s and then a mention of you looking around. If I am reading it right you would need to make a technical difficulties roll of a 1d6 to see how badly damaged your optics cybernetic package is.

Damn!
But no. I only made a Notice Roll, I didn't make a Wild Die one.
Wild Die (Please not a 1): [dice]0[/dice]
Uff! That was close.
Question: Do bonifiers apply to the Wild Roll?

Post by **Pender Lumkiss** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 1:46 pm

As far as I know bonuses and negatives apply to the trait roll and wild die.

Lucretia · Post by **Lucretia** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 1:52 pm

Markus Berger wrote:Question: Do bonifiers apply to the Wild Roll?

Mu understanding is that the wild die replaces the die roll, but not external modifiers.

Example (I think this is your case, but I'm not double checking :p)
1d8 Notice and Alertness
Notice: 1d8 = 1
Wild: 1d6 = 2
Would use the Wild result of 2 with + for alertness, for a total of 4.

Now, some things that look like modifiers are actually part of the "die"; that is if your trait is over 1d12.

For example, if Lucretia gets a raise on her Boost trait power, she can get up to 1d12+1 agility.
Say she is trying to walk a tightrope, Acrobat would give her a +2. It's not 1d12+3 though, it's [1d12+1]+2.
If she rolls:
Agility: 1d12+1: 2 (actually 1+1, so if the wild die were a 1 it would be a critical failure)
Wild: 3
She would have a total of 3+2=5

Does that make sense?

Libertas Magicum · Post by **Libertas Magicum** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 2:42 pm

Cantrell wrote:
Pender Lumkiss wrote:Cantrell, What you want to do is go on hold. Now you cannot move and go on hold. You just stay still and go on hold waiting for the dragon to attack. If the dragon attacks then you and the dragon make opposed agility rolls to interrupt whom ever rolls highest goes first. You can draw your plasma ejector no problem, normally no roll is needed but it does cost an action. So when you fire you will be at a -2 from MAP. ( I only had you make the agility roll in the special surprise round)
I'm already near the bottom of the initiative order, though -- does "on hold" carry over to the start of the new round?

Yes, it does. Technically, in that case, you don't get dealt a card on the new round--you start on hold, the way an ambusher does on the surprise round. The downside is that you don't get a second action that round, so you technically lose the action, in favor of being able to try to interrupt anyone who you feel needs interrupting.

Post by **Pender Lumkiss** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 6:52 pm

-Kesslan pulling the vampire into the water, seems to be a push maneuver. So instead of a fighting roll that is apposed str. I am going to make the vamps roll now, and if you want to re-roll using your d10 str please go ahead. Since you are so close to the water, you only need a basic success.

Bane · Post by **Bane** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 6:55 pm

This is getting funny watching Kesslan and Maverick going after the same baby!

Post by **Pender Lumkiss** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 6:59 pm

Yeah PVP grapple rolls!!

Kesslan · Post by **Kesslan** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 7:30 pm

Pretty sure I won that one. I AM THE GREATEST DOGO! I deserves pets and a treat now!

Kesslan · Post by **Kesslan** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 7:36 pm

Bane wrote:This is getting funny watching Kesslan and Maverick going after the same baby!

I can't see justifying Kesslan NOT going after the baby, even if someone else is too.

Hindrances

Heroic (Major)This noble soul never says no to a person in need. He doesn’t have to be happy about it, but he always comes to the rescue of those he feels can’t help themselves. He’s the first one to run into a burning building, usually agrees to hunt monsters for little or no pay, and is generally a pushover for a sob story.

EDIT: Of course him running into a burning building is a bad example. Since that would do... absolutely no harm to him what so ever. Well short of the fire eating away the floor or the roof or something and stuff collapsing upon him.

Post by **Pender Lumkiss** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 9:19 pm

Nice roll Kesslan, you totally won. Go ahead and narrate if you like what the last moments of that Vamps life looks like.

Bane · Post by **Bane** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 10:17 pm

All of this water has me thinking, what is Kesslans opinions on water, being that he's a Burster?

Kesslan · Post by **Kesslan** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 1:05 am

Bane wrote:All of this water has me thinking, what is Kesslans opinions on water, being that he's a Burster?

Water is just water. Being a burster doesn't cause you to have any phobia or weakness to water. I mean you could probably argue for some hindrance based on water as a result, but there isn't anything between the class and water beyond the ability to boil water or even hit it with such heat it instantly evaporates into steam.

Of course, speaking of bursters there's one variant that's a hydrokinetic that would be super useful right now since one of those could use water the way a burster uses fire, and simply pull water from the river with their minds and use it to kill all the vampires in short order. There's also the Zapper which is the same thing but using lightning and electricity.

Jude Maverick · Post by **Jude Maverick** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 1:14 am

Yeah, I considered today that Kesslan had "called" the baby OOC and I might have stepped on his toes. He goes first in initiative, though, so I have no problem letting him win the baby. Jude has Heroic Hindrance, too, against his better judgment!

In that case, Jude might slip into the Mountaineer to help Libertas man the truck (get rid of the crew penalty). He isn't trained in Driving, but he makes all untrained skill checks at d4.

Libertas Magicum · Post by **Libertas Magicum** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 5:32 am

Kesslan wrote:
Bane wrote:All of this water has me thinking, what is Kesslans opinions on water, being that he's a Burster?
Water is just water. Being a burster doesn't cause you to have any phobia or weakness to water. I mean you could probably argue for some hindrance based on water as a result, but there isn't anything between the class and water beyond the ability to boil water or even hit it with such heat it instantly evaporates into steam.

Of course, speaking of bursters there's one variant that's a hydrokinetic that would be super useful right now since one of those could use water the way a burster uses fire, and simply pull water from the river with their minds and use it to kill all the vampires in short order. There's also the Zapper which is the same thing but using lightning and electricity.

Yeah, I figured Kesslan would be fine with the water--least so long as no one calls it a B-A-T-H.

Bane · Post by **Bane** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 8:37 am

Kesslan wrote:
Bane wrote:All of this water has me thinking, what is Kesslans opinions on water, being that he's a Burster?
Water is just water. Being a burster doesn't cause you to have any phobia or weakness to water. I mean you could probably argue for some hindrance based on water as a result, but there isn't anything between the class and water beyond the ability to boil water or even hit it with such heat it instantly evaporates into steam.

Of course, speaking of bursters there's one variant that's a hydrokinetic that would be super useful right now since one of those could use water the way a burster uses fire, and simply pull water from the river with their minds and use it to kill all the vampires in short order. There's also the Zapper which is the same thing but using lightning and electricity.

Oh I didn't think that there were any mechanics dealing with Bursters and water, but it just got me thinking that water is the opposite of fire so Kesslan could have had a bad experience with water in the past or some such.

Lucretia · Post by **Lucretia** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 9:26 am

Libertas Magicum wrote:Yeah, I figured Kesslan would be fine with the water--least so long as no one calls it a B-A-T-H. ;)

At least the water would always be hot!

Bane · Post by **Bane** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:00 am

With Libertas's spell ending this round if combat continued, would I have enough time to drag the two men in the river to the shore?

Libertas Magicum · Post by **Libertas Magicum** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:27 am

Bane wrote:With Libertas's spell ending this round if combat continued, would I have enough time to drag the two men in the river to the shore?

If Bane shouts to Libertas to keep up the spell, he can maintain it for an extra round, if need be.

Kesslan · Post by **Kesslan** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:28 am

Jude Maverick wrote:Yeah, I considered today that Kesslan had "called" the baby OOC and I might have stepped on his toes. He goes first in initiative, though, so I have no problem letting him win the baby. Jude has Heroic Hindrance, too, against his better judgment!

In that case, Jude might slip into the Mountaineer to help Libertas man the truck (get rid of the crew penalty). He isn't trained in Driving, but he makes all untrained skill checks at d4.

Actually since I'm pretty sure Kess failed his roll to rescue the baby and you didn't, it's a good thing you did.

Post by **Pender Lumkiss** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 11:21 am

I was not going to have you make a roll to pick the baby up, it would just cost an action. Unless you have a fear of loud noises

Bane · Post by **Bane** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 11:52 am

Libertas Magicum wrote:
Bane wrote:With Libertas's spell ending this round if combat continued, would I have enough time to drag the two men in the river to the shore?
If Bane shouts to Libertas to keep up the spell, he can maintain it for an extra round, if need be.

Yes please!

Libertas Magicum · Post by **Libertas Magicum** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 1:40 pm

Bane wrote:
Libertas Magicum wrote:
Bane wrote:With Libertas's spell ending this round if combat continued, would I have enough time to drag the two men in the river to the shore?
If Bane shouts to Libertas to keep up the spell, he can maintain it for an extra round, if need be.
Yes please!

Post edited to note him sustaining the spell just a smidge; I will also be editing my sig for the final PPE expenditure. So after one full round from the close of combat, folks will be grounded.