# Burned Circle - OOC Thread



## ThirdWizard (Jul 5, 2012)

This is for any OOC discussion related to the now running DFRPG game!

Check out the Campaign Page and the wiki for some background on the game if you're interested. I've spent some time formatting all the information so it should be easy to sort through and use. I'm planning on adding some more basic city information that might prove useful, and as we go I'll try to keep it updated with current information as it develops in the game. It should hopefully prove a good resource for us.

Campaign Page | Character Creation | Rogues Gallery | IC Thread​
Go ahead and ask any background questions or just comment on the story as it progresses.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jul 5, 2012)

Everyone's stress is empty, with no consequences. Everyone starts with full Refresh, plus Logan Harcourt has had his aspect "Big, Weird, Changeling Family" compelled (Michelle asking for his help) so he has +1 Fate point from Refresh.

Keira Moore - 1 Fate Point
Logan Harcourt - 3 Fate Points
Juno Reyes - 1 Fate Point
Malcom Crestwood - 1 Fate Point


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jul 5, 2012)

I just realized I forgot to include something I meant to. Logan probably knows a few things about Sandra. I don't know how well he knows her personally, Dragonwriter can decide on that. Here are a few things he'd definately be aware of, however.

[sblock=Sandra]
Sandra was one of the many changeling children left on Michelle's doorstep. In her case, she was just a baby when she was left there. She's always been quite beautiful, so people think she was probably the daughter of an elf or even a sidhe. She's also talented with magic, especially glammours with some aptitude in both Summer and Winter trappings, although she has no formal training. She gave herself the last name Kneat just because she liked the way it sounded.

She was a good student in High School and always helped around the house. She was a good kid. She even got a part time job and used that money to help raise the kids. She also was always a very private person. Michelle let her have a lot of leeway as far as her personal life, and there were never any problems that came up for her that plague some inner city teens. Nobody at the house really knows what she did on her personal time.

A little after she turned 18 she moved out. She still comes around every once in a while, and she doesn't keep it a secret where she lives, but nobody really knows much about what she does. She doesn't talk about work or friends or anything like that. She'll just show up once a month or so and help out with housework, maybe give Michelle some money (which she won't take "No" for an answer on), and hang out with the kids. Then she'll be off again.
[/sblock]


----------



## Bluedevil (Aug 28, 2012)

Sorry for the long delay Gents, apparently the thread stopped updating me via email just before gencon with updates.


----------



## Dragonwriter (Aug 28, 2012)

Bluedevil said:


> Sorry for the long delay Gents, apparently the thread stopped updating me via email just before gencon with updates.




For some unknown reason, e-mail subscriptions tend to go kaput every so often. I recommend just stopping in every so often and go to your Settings/User Control Panel, where your updated subscriptions will be noted.


----------



## Bluedevil (Aug 28, 2012)

ah I will just check it every day now lol


----------



## ThirdWizard (Sep 14, 2012)

Tagging to make sure people see this post:
 [MENTION=6694788]Bluedevil[/MENTION] [MENTION=54988]Dragonwriter[/MENTION] [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] [MENTION=478]Thanee[/MENTION]

Now would probably be an excellent time to look over the rules for Declarations (page 116 YS). Declarations are all about using your character's skills as a means for the player to add some aspect to a scene that hasn't yet been determined. You can be as creative as you want, but keep in mind two things 1) Whether or not the declaration is possible is the purview of the GM and 2) The difficulty of the roll is determined by the GM. #1  means "Would this be a boon or detract from the game?" is an important question to ask yourself when making a declaration. As for #2 , you can bypass the roll by spending an Action Point. That's one reason Action Points so good.

The current situation where Juno and Malcom want to sneak into the house is a perfect opportunity for some simple or creative uses of declarations, especially considering neither of you are very skilled at Burglary, but are good at Investigation.  Declaration rules are fairly different than most other RPG systems' action resolution, and it takes a little effort to wrap your head around using them.

If you would like to try a declaration at any point in the game, you can ask in this thread about it, and I'll get back with you ASAP and tell you whether it is possible and what the target you need to get on your skill roll. Feel free to suggest what skill would be appropriate in your request. Then you can attempt your roll and narrate the outcome in one swoop. If you fail and you really don't like it, before you resolve the result in game you can decide to use an Action Point to bypass the roll and get an automatic success. Action points can always be used retroactively in DFRPG as long as the action hasn't been resolved in game.

If you ask about a declaration and I say it isn't possible, it probably means that there is something that you aren't aware of but that is already in play in the game that would conflict with a successful outcome of your declaration. Or it means that I think the success of the declaration would be bad for the overall play experience. I don't shoot down anything because it would make things easier on you - I have lots of tricks up my sleeve for making things more difficult. Lots. Truly. So many. That's the whole point of the Dresden Files, right?


----------



## Thanee (Sep 14, 2012)

Yep, yep, I'm here. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 14, 2012)

But that seems counter-intuitive, because Harry Dresden has such a simple and problem-free life...


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 24, 2012)

Mr ThirdWizard, I think what would be very useful to me, after looking at these rules, is to use this as a sort of tutorial.

Would you be willing to sort of handhold us through this for this scenario (ie - getting into the house without being noticed by the neighbors)? I think I sort of get it a little, but I think doing this would serve two purposes at once. It would make sure we know how it works, and it would get us past this moment were we are a bit stalled on. 

What do you think?


----------



## Bluedevil (Sep 24, 2012)

Can we do an investigation declaration for example that states that we find an unlocked window to the basement?

Sorry I was waiting for everyone to post before I tried one


----------



## ThirdWizard (Sep 24, 2012)

I'd be happy to do a walkthrough of a declaration for you guys. I know it can be difficult to really sink your teeth into it, because it works pretty much counter to how most of us are used to playing (me included). We'll start with Bluedevil's suggestion, wanting to look around (Investigation) to find a window to the basement. 

Unfortunately for Bluedevil, Atlanta homes don't really have basements. If it's on a hill, it might have one of those half-basement/half exposed areas, but as described this place will unfortunately not have one. Don't blame me. Blame the local builders! So, the declaration would have to be tweaked. You'll have to settle for a window to the main house. I think that means I'll call for some Stealth checks, but we'll get to that later.

Okay, for the Investigation roll. I'll go ahead and do that myself. ENWorld is nice enough to give us some FATE dice, so we can use those. I put some notes on the wiki about die rolling for some easy referencing. 

Looking over my notes on Sandra, I determine that a roll of Fair means that Malcom will find an unlocked window. So now I'll go ahead and post this post up, and do the die roll from there.

EDIT:

So, I rolled, and I totally flubbed that die roll. I am a terrible terrible die roller. Seriously, three "-" is just crazy bad. So as to not be sabotaging you guys with my bad luck, I'll let Bluedevil reroll that himself, then we'll move on with the declaration, assuming his roll isn't just as terrible, which might just be the case!


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 24, 2012)

Thanks for doing this! And thanks for the wiki link.

Just to make sure I'm comprehending straight:

*1) You decide what you're trying to do, and therefore what skill will be used to accomplish it.*
In this case, we decide we're finding an unlocked window. For this we use the 'find inobvious stuff' skill, Investigate.

*2) Roll thy dice.*
Standard roll is 4 of the dice, modified by your chosen skill's position on the ladder according to that handy-dandy chart. The dice roll will add or subtract from that modification based on how well you roll.

*3) ...*
The GM decides if the final result of the roll equals a success.

*4) PROFIT.*
You GM lets you know what your attempt resulted in...utter triumph, or bitter defeat.

Is that more or less how this goes?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Sep 24, 2012)

That's pretty much it. I'd probably add 4b) If the roll failed, you can spend a FATE point to make that failure a success. 

If the roll for the window doesn't work, you could also try something like "Sandra keeps a spare key hidden somewhere by the back door" if you don't want to spend your few FATE points. Those things are precious. 

Here are some examples declarations:


The elevator in an apartment complex is out of order.
You have a flashlight on you.
You have silver bullets on you.
The streetlights come on at just the right moment.
The alley has loose bricks in the walls.

These should always make sense.


If you're in a nice apartment building, the elevators probably won't be out. This makes sense in an old run down part of town, though.
If you were captured and naked, you won't be carrying anything. If you succeed, it won't be a big Maglight, it would be a small keychain flashlight or the like.
If you don't use guns, it makes no sense to have silver bullets. It has to be a reasonable thing that you and the other players would expect to be true.
If its daytime, the street lights aren't going to suddenly turn on. You aren't making things happen: declarations are co-operative storytelling, not magic.
A nice neighborhood probably won't be falling apart, however the roll would probably just go up instead of denying this outright as it is still within reason to happen.

Declarations are a player's chance to say "this is how the world is" and those declarations should be based on what you've seen so far in the game and what you know about the world. They're a chance for good fortune in a sea of troubles.


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 24, 2012)

Okay, here's where I'm tripping.

What skill would I possibly use with a declaration like, "Sandra has a spare key under the doormat?"

That's not an action, it's a state of existence. 

It's confusing.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Sep 24, 2012)

Declarations are all states of existence. They should never be your character doing something. Your character might find or have something because of the declaration, but the essence of the declaration is that you are declaring something about the world that we (including the GM) weren't aware of previously.

Sometimes you just pick something that fits the situation best and hope everyone agrees. If no one has a better skill, you pick an imperfect solution and keep moving. For the key being under the doormat, I'd go with something like Burglary or Investigation. Both of those could be seen "find a way to get into a building" related skills.

It's really easy for something like "You have silver bullets on you." In that case, I'd call for guns. Or if the declaration was "This guy left his keys in the car" I'd call for a Drive skill. Those are great.

But, take the example of "The streetlights come on at just the right moment." For this, I'll add a context. Say you're being chased by dark-loving fae who hate the light just as dusk is settling in. You're trying to get away and they're trying to kill you. This would be a really good time for those street lights to come on to either drive them away or slow them down (or maybe enact a Catch) so that you can fight them.

In a case like this it doesn't really fits a skill. A player could argue anything from Alertness to Conviction to Scholarship and there's really no "right" answer. Part of playing with declarations is accepting that sometimes you aren't going to have a perfect fit and that's okay.


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 24, 2012)

Hragh...

I have no problem with a system of narrative collaboration, but it seems weird and kludgy to imperfectly wed it to the skill system then.

It seems to me that a better way to do it would be for players to use FATE points to create Declarations, and for the skill resolution system to be totally separate.

So, for example, in this case we want to get in unnoticed.

We could make Investigation rolls to see if we find a way...or verify that there is no way if that's the case...or we could do Burglery to make a way. Or, one of us could spend a FATE point and say, "Hey! There's a key under the mat! yay!"

Similarly, for the 'unnoticed' part we could make Stealth rolls, or one or both of us could spend FATE points on that, like "Yay, a jet flies overhead just at that second, covering the noise of breaking glass!"

And so on.

Having a Declaration -also- be a skill roll seems...kind of yucky to my sensibilities. The two things are very different, and don't really dovetail well. Don't you think?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Sep 24, 2012)

I agree that it is an imperfect system. It does look like the skills were designed without Declarations in mind and then of attached later on. I can see why they didn't make it a pure FATE use, though, because FATE is also doing so many other things. And for any really powerful uses of declarations you're going to use FATE anyway - for example if you want an enemy's gun to jam you would have to use a FATE point because the roll for such a thing would be astronomical.

Most of the time people are so starved for FATE points that they would rather give up on, for example, getting into the house than spend a precious FATE. At least, that's how my players react to that kind of thing, even though I give out lots of compels to gain FATE as much as I can.

A simple solution (that goes into House Rules territory) would be a "Luck" skill that is purely used in declarations that don't have anything to do with another skill. When there isn't an obvious skill, you use Luck. This skill could also be used by the DM for random event and to gauge their general luckiness/unluckiness.


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 24, 2012)

Well, I think that a lot of that FATE starving comes from making -everything- a Declaration. If we had most tasks just be regular skill checks...ie, we're interacting with reality as presented, with just the actions and reactions of our characters, then most of those won't need FATE points. Or narrative alterations.

Or am I wrong about that? Are there situations were we just roll a skill without also Declaring anything?

Like, if I have Juno just bust out her lockpicks and try to open the door, is that legit? or do I have to say, "The door's lock can be picked by me," and then treat it as a Declaration with the Burglery skill?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Sep 24, 2012)

If your character is actively trying to do something, that's not a declaration. A declaration is only when you, as a player, are trying to do something external to your character. 

If either of you had the Burglary skill, you could just say "I pick the lock on the door" and I would assign a difficulty, say Fair for a run-of-the-mill lock on a house. Then you roll and you either pick the lock or you don't, just like in any other game.

Examples of skill use vs. declaration:

- Cracking a combination lock on a safe: Skill check
- The safe was left open by its last user: Declaration

- Try to dodge a potholes in a car chase: Skill check
- Knowing your way around so you can avoid streets with potholes: Skill check
- They've repaved the area recently so there are no potholes: Declaration

There are a couple of reasons I suggested using a Declaration here.

First, its a good tutorial as to what a declaration is. This is a low-danger situation without a lot of pressure behind it. That way, later you've got the rules under your belt and you can start throwing them around when it really counts more easily. This is also one of the rules that is most counter-intuitive to long time roleplayers, so if we can get this down, then the rest of the rules should flow more easily.

Second, this is a good situation in which to make a Declaration. Neither of you have the Burglary skill, so you're looking for a way in without any particular character ability to do so. In situations like this, where there is a very clear goal but no immediate solution, it's faster for the players to create a solution through a Declaration instead of playing twenty questions with the GM. This means faster gameplay and the opportunity for the players to start to think creatively about solutions


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 24, 2012)

Ah!

That mitigates my criticism considerably then!

I had this notion that the Declaration system -was- the skill system AND the narrative collaboration system all in one.

Well now, that's fine then. All's well.

Proceed. (^_^)


----------



## ThirdWizard (Sep 24, 2012)

I'm glad I was able to explain it. The first time I ran Dresden Files with my regular group, there were two things that took them forever to wrap their heads around: 1) The fact that there wasn't a list of Aspects to choose from and that they just made them up and 2) How declarations worked. The first one took perhaps half an hour of explanation before they kind of sort of got it. The second... well lets just say nobody used any declarations the entire first session.


----------



## Bluedevil (Sep 25, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> I agree that it is an imperfect system. It does look like the skills were designed without Declarations in mind and then of attached later on. I can see why they didn't make it a pure FATE use, though, because FATE is also doing so many other things. And for any really powerful uses of declarations you're going to use FATE anyway - for example if you want an enemy's gun to jam you would have to use a FATE point because the roll for such a thing would be astronomical.
> 
> Most of the time people are so starved for FATE points that they would rather give up on, for example, getting into the house than spend a precious FATE. At least, that's how my players react to that kind of thing, even though I give out lots of compels to gain FATE as much as I can.
> 
> A simple solution (that goes into House Rules territory) would be a "Luck" skill that is purely used in declarations that don't have anything to do with another skill. When there isn't an obvious skill, you use Luck. This skill could also be used by the DM for random event and to gauge their general luckiness/unluckiness.





I dont find it as bad a mash in table tops I have played, you just have to remember that the expectation is that skill rolls for declarations have to make sense and are suppose to represent people using their skills appropriately. Keep in mind, declarations is also supose to be how you combine skills.

For example in the key under the mat, someone with a lot of investigation is more likely to think of checking under the mat for the key then someone with no investigative skill.

In thirdwizards, the guy who is an expert in guns or has high resources is more likely to have silver bullets on him in case he runs into something then someone who isn't. Its also a great example of declarations as skill boosts. Because I have resources, I declare that I have special bullets (hollow points) which i load into my gun to give me the aspect (Heavy Metal) to add to my next attack roll. I could also do a lore declaration to know a monster's weak point, to give me another aspect to add to the attack. This way my other skills represent bonuses to that attack to show that I am prepared and knowledgeable.

The declarations are also not suppose to be unreasonable, they are small changes to the scene that make things a joint narrative or an interesting combat rather then a clunky mechanic.

A great example in the literature is Dresden fighting the Shadow creatures in the subway where they killed the lights and were fighting in darkness. he suddenly remembers that there is a set of pipes for fire suppression and uses them for his spell to drowned out their magic. In the book, the player could have just used a spell to cancel it out, but thought it would be cooler to use a declaration to give an interesting and flavorful bonus to the action represented by the players skills.

and apparently a window is not our way in lol


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 1, 2012)

On the sneaking in the house front, Malcom finds an open window and Juno finds a key under a fake rock. Both will be able to be used for entrance purposes.

You guys have been hanging around out back for a while now, and not in a bad neighborhood. So, there are going to be one or two checks, roll them in this thread.

First, its possible nobody noticed you go around to the back yard. Logan and Keira might be a good enough distraction for you. Roll Stealth checks. You only need to get Mediocre, but you _both_ have to get it for it to count.

If one or both of you fail, then you can both attempt a roll of Presence. This is to determine how much you two look like you belong there if you were noticed. Remember, just because somebody saw you doesn't mean they'll do anything about it or even remember you were there. This will be a sliding scale, and I'm not going to tell you just what your rolls mean, but basically it can run the gamut from "I'm calling the cops on those guys" to "I could identify them in a line up" to "Maybe there was somebody there, but maybe not." I'll take the best of your Presence rolls if you flub the Stealth and have to make this roll.


----------



## Bluedevil (Oct 1, 2012)

Alright, Roll time. Looks like I am stealthy luckily.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 1, 2012)

A word on thresholds. For the most part, thresholds aren't that dangerous. At least, you won't be destroyed or slowly disintegrated by a threshold, so you've got that going for you over certain monsters out there. I've put up a wiki page going over the basics of what a threshold is and what the mechanics are. 

Both groups will suffer the effects of a threshold upon entering either home right now. The woman is not offering Keira and Logan an invitation, so entering will mean you suffer the effects of the threshold, and no one is there to invite Juno and Malcom into the other home, so the same with you. For homes like these it isn't going to be extremely taxing. I'll go ahead and tell you that both of these thresholds are only strength 1.

Specifically, this means that any numerical bonuses you get that are directly enhanced by your supernatural abilities are counteracted by 1 point. It also means that spells must get past a block of 1 or fizzle. Neither of these penalties is really that bad. If you were getting around a threshold 3 or 4 you would start seeing major problems with using abilities.

As an example, Inhuman Strength would normally provide you with a +2 bonus to damage. Because of the threshold this is decreased by 1 to become a +1 bonus only. 

Things like Inhuman Toughness, however, generally aren't affected, as they don't have shifts of power associated with them. It is theoretically possible for a sufficiently strong threshold to bypass certain Catches, however. 

A lot of the rules for thresholds are open to interprietation, so if you have any questions on specifics, just ask. The general rule is that if something has shifts of power, those go down by the threshold's strength and if something is an active power the threshold attempts a block. If there is an active opposed roll to something the opposer might get a bonus based on the threshold strength. Otherwise, the power is unaffected.

An important note is that often wizards put wards up around their homes by using the threshold as an anchor. It might be worth it to "check for traps" as they say.


----------



## Thanee (Oct 2, 2012)

If we have experienced how thresholds work, is the effect only present while inside, or does it persist for a while after leaving also?

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Shayuri (Oct 2, 2012)

lol

Juno hasn't got Stealth.

...

I think I know what I need to spend points on when we get some.


----------



## Thanee (Oct 2, 2012)

Hmm... I must have missed those dF yesterday. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 2, 2012)

Thanee said:


> If we have experienced how thresholds work, is the effect only present while inside, or does it persist for a while after leaving also?




It's immediate. Once you cross out of the threshold, you're back to your normal self.


----------



## Bluedevil (Oct 2, 2012)

totally missed that i had found a window, post edited.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 2, 2012)

Bluedevil said:


> totally missed that i had found a window, post edited.




There isn't a basement, so it will have to be a ground level window. Atlanta doesn't really have basements like the rest of the world. They only have half basements in really hilly areas, and a duplex wouldn't have one.

Oh, and Malcom and Juno need to make Presence rolls since both Stealth checks weren't successful.


----------



## Bluedevil (Oct 2, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> There isn't a basement, so it will have to be a ground level window. Atlanta doesn't really have basements like the rest of the world. They only have half basements in really hilly areas, and a duplex wouldn't have one.
> 
> Oh, and Malcom and Juno need to make Presence rolls since both Stealth checks weren't successful.





damnit, I knew that Too! Sorry, apparently woke up with a case of the stupids.

Edited


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 2, 2012)

This is a roll opposed to Thanee's request for an invite. You want low. I'm keeping what I'm rolling secret to keep her a bit mysterious for now.

EDIT: Poor poor girl with the rolling... I think this die roller hates me.


----------



## Shayuri (Oct 2, 2012)

I find it hilarious that Juno put herself in a situation where she has no skill in anything she needs to do it.

*sigh*

I'm gonna need a lot of exp.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 2, 2012)

It builds character!

Neither of you notice anything out of the ordinary with your rolls. No horns go off, nobody with a shotgun runs at you. You're free to enter, although I caution again to check for any wards that might be laid on the building.


----------



## Bluedevil (Oct 2, 2012)

Everyone loves character in prison Juno 

Nah we should be fine, at worst case you flash you badge.

Keep in mind you have a gun on you, I have a freaking sword. They are going to want to have words with me.


----------



## Thanee (Oct 2, 2012)

Should we make our rolls in here (OOC)?

I am generally used to adding them to the appropriate IC post, but could also change that, of course, if you prefer. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 2, 2012)

Thanee said:


> Should we make our rolls in here (OOC)?




My general preference is in the IC thread if it is a quick check or something that someone else will respond to with their own action/post, and OOC thread if there might be multiple rolls for one action or you want to put the roll's resolution in the same post as the action.

So, posting rolls in the OOC thread makes sense for something like a declaration. In that case you are able to just post that something happened in the IC thread. But, if you're doing something simple like rolling Driving to see how fast you can make it somewhere, then an IC post is just fine.

When FATE points come into play it gets a bit more complex, so combat rolls should go in the OOC thread whenever that starts up, since that's when people tend to use the most points for modifying their rolls.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 2, 2012)

For time frames:

The events of Mara's story would be Friday June 8th and Saturday June 9th.

Settias, the Winter Sylph, called on Michelle on Sunday June 10th.

Michelle spent the next two days trying to get in contact with Sandra to no avail before involving you today.

Today in game is Tuesday June 12th.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 2, 2012)

The Sight:

Thankfully, this section of suburbia is benign. Everything looks more vivid around here, the colors a bit brighter, the lights a bit brighter with The Sight. 

Examining the house, you do see that there is a ward in place, though it looks a bit worn with time. To your Sight it is a glowing series of motes of light spread around the home with lines cast between them in a sort of net, a somewhat crude and incomplete coverage, but highly effective nonetheless. It is most likely some sort of glamour, perhaps involving lights and sounds - a magically supercharged burglar alarm.

The power behind the ward is of Great level. In order to counter it, you'll need to bring to bear an equal amount of will against it. You can either use evocation or thaumaturgy to do so. If you go evocation, you will take it down for about an hour before it reforms. If you go with thaumaturgy, you can take it down permanently if you so choose.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 2, 2012)

Okay, you took down the ward for an hour. Make the most of it.


----------



## Bluedevil (Oct 3, 2012)

Well defense against the sight to see if I can close it before I write the next part, looks like its going to succeed likely based on the not horrible stuff I am seeing 

I will wait for Juno to post before I describe Malcom in the post.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 3, 2012)

You're fine. Luckily the house wasn't owned by a serial killer or anything. I'll be nice for now. There's plenty of time to screw you over in the future.


----------



## Bluedevil (Oct 3, 2012)

Sight is rough that way, cuts through a lot of magical guess work but at the same time can easily screw with you.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 3, 2012)

Something like this?

Next Scene: Malcom goes semi-catatonic after looking at a idyllic local park picnic area with The Sight. You aren't sure why, but he keeps mumbling something like "It's the hotdogs..." over and over. He'll start working on his new character shortly.


----------



## Thanee (Oct 3, 2012)

The Sight

Advantage: You see everything.
Disadvantage: You see everything.

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 10, 2012)

I've gone ahead and put Juno and Malcom in Sandra's house, since you took out the defenses. No real need to roleplay walking through the door. Feel free to explore. I'll go ahead and give you a little information to help you narrate your explorations a bit:

The hallway has three doors, as follows:

Bedroom - The closest door down the hallway on the left is a bedroom. It's fairly simply decorated with a single bed, a dresser, and some reading materials in plain view.
Bathroom - A bathroom is at the end of the hall on the right. It has what you would normally expect to find, a tub, toilet, medicine closet, sink, floor mat. Beyond that you can investigate.
Locked - There is a door in the hallway on the left that is locked.

The kitchen is fairly small, with a stove, oven, and fridge. None of them are in great shape. There is a small room with a washer/dryer adjacent.

I've already described the living room's basics. If you look around I'll go into more detail about the contents of the room.

You can investigate any of these rooms for more details, look for anything in particular that you might want to find, etc. I just gave you these small descriptions so you can throw a little blurb out while looking around if you so wish. To make out any details (i.e. read a book title, look under a bed, etc) you will need some light source.

Use any skills/abilities you want that might help. Feel free to roll in the IC thread while you look around.


----------



## Shayuri (Oct 11, 2012)

Oops...I didn't see this before I posted.

I'll add onto my existing post asap!


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 22, 2012)

Some nudges to keep this thing moving.

 [MENTION=6694788]Bluedevil[/MENTION] [MENTION=54988]Dragonwriter[/MENTION] [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] [MENTION=478]Thanee[/MENTION]


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 30, 2012)

Work picked up heavily this week. I got a response from Mara up, and I'm working on the response for in the house, but I probably won't have it ready until tomorrow.


----------



## Dragonwriter (Oct 30, 2012)

Apologies for my lack of activity. October is a hellishly busy month for me.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 31, 2012)

Just so you know, things are about to pick up soon in case you're worried about a lack of excitement. It's about time for me to start offering compels, which are a very important way for your PCs to gain FATE points in exchange for things not necessarily going your way.

When I offer a compel, I'll try to give you leeway in how you deal with it. In other words, I'll try not to dictate how your character acts or reacts to something, but by accepting sometimes you'll agree to act in a certain fashion, not in a specific way.

Whether to accept or reject the compels is up to you. Rejecting a compel can get you immediate benefits, more information, less complication, and lack of plans being ruined. Accepting a compel exchanges hardship now for benefit later in the form of FATE points. Just remember, if you run out of FATE points, and I offer a compel, you _have_ to accept it. Try not to go to 0 FATE if you think you can avoid it. I will not pull punches just because you decided to spend all your FATE. Spending FATE is a choice with real ramifications when it comes to compels.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Oct 31, 2012)

Dragonwriter said:


> Apologies for my lack of activity. October is a hellishly busy month for me.




Not to worry. We've all been there.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 1, 2012)

Dragonwriter said:


> Apologies for my lack of activity. October is a hellishly busy month for me.





Yeah no worries, it happens. Was more worried we had lost ya!


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 1, 2012)

Check Results by [MENTION=6694788]Bluedevil[/MENTION] for Malcom in the room.

Books Lore Check (3) + Investigation Check (6)
It's hard to get much off the books, since there's so much to go through. Most of what you can glean is from titles. There are a hugely wide variety of books on the shelves. You can tell a few things from a cursory observation.

There are many books on faeries and their ecology, hierarchies, and so forth
There are lots of books on supernatural societies, especially the various Faerie Courts and White Council
Most of the books on magic have to do with Faerie magic: glamours, veils, and personal protection abilities. There isn't much on the other side of Faerie magics like charms, transformations, or the like. You can be thankful for that at least.
The books are carefully arranged by subject. She was very organized with her collection.
The books must have cost at least fifty grand. Probably more.

If you spent some more time and looked into the books, you could learn more. But, you aren't sure how long you would have to spend with them to get any useful information about Sandra.

Chalk Board Lore Check (5) + Investigation Check (6)
The formulas are complicated. You're basically speed reading through them to try to glean what they're about. Fully taking in everything could take hours - you can't read magic formulas like a page of a book, it involves interpretation, calculations, and instincts.


This looks like evocation magic, whereas what you read in the journal was mostly thaumaturgy. It makes relating the two more difficult.
This is stream-of-consciousness. The handwriting is more scratchy, making it look hastily written. It isn't something laboriously written over a long period of time. It's rough around the edges. 
The magical energies are different from what she was writing in the journals. It's offensive. From the looks of it, it looks like some kind of counter or disruptive spell aimed as others' magic (shields, wards, and other protective types).

Room Investigation Check (6)
there are a few things you can glean looking around.


The setup is expensive. Not counting the books, the cost probably comes out to ten thousand or so. There's a lot of precious metals in those circles.
It was time consuming to put all this together. The circle is chiseled into the concrete and fixed there. The hand crafted bookshelves. Each books must have been hunted down individuality. But she's managed to put this together in roughly two years on her own. That takes dedication.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 2, 2012)

I'm going to need some checks now, and Juno is getting a compel. Roll in this thread, please, so that I can see everything together as we continue.

Keira: Alertness

Logan: Alertness

Juno: Two Alertness

Malcom: An Alertness and a Lore

Shayuri, I think Juno might decide that she doesn't like being intimidated into an exchange of information. She'd probably just rather turn the situation around, don't you think? You don't have to out and out attack if you accept, but you can't let things stand the way they are. Compelling aspect: TALK TO THE FIST. Take the compel and get a FATE point, or pay a FATE point to start up a conversation as it stands now. You can wait to see the results of the rolls before you accept/reject.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 3, 2012)

I'll see the results of the alertness checks before I decide on the compel.

Though...hm. Does she still have a FATE point? Bahaha.

Well, I'm planning to accept it anyway. I can have her get annoyed with the "we don't have time for this" thing. She's ready to move, and this guy's in her way.

Ugh! Wrong number of dice! Use the second set.


----------



## Thanee (Nov 3, 2012)

Alertness


----------



## Dragonwriter (Nov 5, 2012)

Rolling Alertness for Logan.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 5, 2012)

Shayuri:
[sblock]
1st Alertness - Juno can tell this guy is using a Guise of some sort. In fact, you're pretty sure he's a ghoul, as the disguise isn't really all that good. Most other creatures try to look pretty, but ghouls seem to have no sense of aesthetics.
2nd Alertness - Off by 2, so Juno learns nothing from this roll.
[/sblock]

Thanee & Dragonwriter:
[sblock]
Alertness - Both Keira & Logan notice a shadowy figure move behind Mara's sliding glass back door. It was fast and quiet, and the sunset makes it difficult to see outside, but you both definitely saw it.
[/sblock]

When Bluedevil gets his roll up, I'll put up the results and we'll go from there. Keira and Logan can start reacting, though, since the two groups are separated. Shayuri, you still going to take the compel? If you do, you'll have 2 FATE, otherwise, you'll have 0.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 8, 2012)

Alertness and Lore damn missing posts again.


I dont see a damn thing. "hey guys, there are books in this room. Just let me put in my headphones and leave you alone for a few minutes."


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 8, 2012)

Bluedevil:
[sblock]
Lore: You can easily tell that this guy is a ghoul in human guise. It's like he isn't even trying, really.
Alertness: If a marching band were assembling outside, you would be hard pressed to realize it.
[/sblock]


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 8, 2012)

I am assuming the "I can tell" is when I eventually getting around to noticing he is there?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 8, 2012)

The Alertness roll that both you and Shayuri flubbed on was unrelated to this guy. Be secure in the fact that you both see the ghoul standing in front of you with the bat. Be insecure in the fact that there is something going on around you that you are both completely and utterly unaware of.

Side note: Shayuri _could_ spend a FATE point to add +2 to the Alertness roll and succed on the check, but I wouldn't in this particular circumstance, mostly because the GM is telling you not to in this particular circumstance.

One detail that I'll throw in for free. The ghoul is still outside, which means he hasn't crossed the threshold yet, and both of you are taking threshold penalties until you get back outside. This only affect supernatural powers, of course. If you want to be on even ground with him in that regard, either you need to be outside or you need to convince him that crossing the threshold is better than not crossing it.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 8, 2012)

Okay, before I post, lemme just make sure I'm understanding right.

Is a 'ghoul' a human being who's serving a vampire? Or a separate type of supernatural critter? Or...what is a ghoul in Dresdenverse?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 8, 2012)

Short version: 

Ghouls are incredibly strong and fast monsters who eat meat, and the more human the meat the better. They can disguise themselves as human, but as soon as they start fighting they usually revert to monster form, which is like a hideously disfigured human. They have long claws and sharp teeth and generally like to fight up close.

Ghouls have their own society, organized into clans, but rarely do they have their own goals with respect to the major players in the world. Instead they offer their services as mercenaries most of the time, fighting for whoever pays them the most or offers them the most scrumptious human flesh, or whatever they feel like getting. They aren't subtle at what they do most of the time unless, of course, they're being paid to be as subtle as a human eating monster can be.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 8, 2012)

hee hee

Okay, posted the lead-in to my action. A little unsure how to work this kind of thing in this system, but basically she's banking on this thing not expecting to just be grabbed and thrown right off the bat like that.

And she's TOTALLY going with this compel.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 8, 2012)

So, basically, you're trying to grab him briefly in order to pull him into the house. Sounds like Might to me. However, since I look at your character, I notice that you mentioned a little bit about some practice in martial arts she's had, so I'll let Fists complement your Might roll, giving you a +1 to the roll since your Fists is higher than your Might.

This will be a direct Might vs. Might check, you against him. If you succeed, you'll move him from the Back Yard zone to the Sandra's House zone (to get technical). The zone barrier between the two is a threshold which he'll be affected by. He's about as affected as you guys, as ghouls are mortal. He'll be at somewhat a disadvantage on some checks. Pulling in certain things, say a spirit, might not work (for future reference) but its fair game for a ghoul!

Go ahead and roll Might with a +1 bonus from Fists. I'll roll the ghoul's Might of Average (+1). In the case of a tie, nothing happens and you can continue to try again next exchange. In the case that he wins, he'll move back and you'll have to perform a maneuver to tag to try again (see YS211: grapple for what I'm basing this on). If you want me to explain this further, I will. If you win, he's pulled into the house and suffers penalties for crossing the threshold and will get the I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE temporary aspect.

Edit: Oops. I rolled twice by mistake. Just ignore that second one, it shouldn't be there.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 8, 2012)

Rollin!


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 8, 2012)

Declaration: "Ghouls are Top heavy" Giving Juno a tag on the creature for "Topheavy Ghoul."


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 8, 2012)

Eenteresting. What does a tag do?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 8, 2012)

Tags are great things.

Everything has aspects. You've got yours. The ghoul has his. You don't know what the ghoul's aspects are, exactly, but you can make assessments to find out what they are. Those are skill rolls that you make, and if you're high enough, I tell you an aspect. Good stuff.

There are also aspects that you can place on things. Those can be done in two ways: maneuvers and declarations. To get really technical on the FATE system, when you made declarations earlier, what you were doing was creating aspects. Maneuvers are you actually putting an aspect on something. So if you turn out the lights with an action, you're using a maneuver to create an aspect of SUDDEN DARKNESS or something of the like.

Now, to get back to tags. Normally to use an aspect, you have to spend a FATE point. If you know the guy you're fighting has the aspect THINKS GIRLS ARE ICKY, you can use that to your advantage against him. Maybe you want to gain +2 to a Persuasion check or whatever. You spend the FATE, you get +2. It's easy to find an aspect to handle most situations. For example, earlier on your Alertness roll, you could use your Aspect of Undead Slaying Police Officer because police officers have to be attentive. Find something that matches, and use it.

A tag is different. When you first learn of an aspect, the first use is free! No FATE points to spend. So, in effect BlueDevil is making a declaration, creating the aspect of GHOULS ARE TOP HEAVY on the ghoul, in order to give you a free +2 (tagging the aspect) to your roll. You could use the Aspect again later, but it would cost a FATE point.

This allows some creative play that avoids the usual problems of introducing new rules into the game. The first time is free! The second time is costly. Be creative and get free bonuses! But, you have to spend actions to create those aspects to tag, so its all balanced. As a side note, this is why maneuvers are so powerful. If you spend a few round setting up maneuvers you can really give yourself so many tags that you'll accomplish whatever it is you want. Given time, you can do amazing things.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 8, 2012)

Declaration failed (2 is not high enough). But, its fine because Juno beat the ghoul anyway! (phew!)

So the ghoul is inside and has the aspect from above. You are able to tag this aspect if you can find a relevant way to use it against the ghoul. Remember only one person can make the tag and from there on out, you have to use FATE points to do so.

I'll narrate the ghoul getting pulled in and its reaction. Busy at work right now. I'll have ti later today.


----------



## Dragonwriter (Nov 11, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> Thanee & Dragonwriter:
> [sblock]
> Alertness - Both Keira & Logan notice a shadowy figure move behind Mara's sliding glass back door. It was fast and quiet, and the sunset makes it difficult to see outside, but you both definitely saw it.
> [/sblock]




Fast as in "too fast for a human?" Rough size/shape of the thing?

And do we hear the short yell from Juno yanking the ghoul inside?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 12, 2012)

The glass pane of the back door is too narrow to get a good idea of the speed of whatever it was you saw move across it. It was there for only a split second though, not creeping along.

And, yes you would have heard the ghoul's yell. It was pretty loud. That's a little more overt a clue than a moving shadow, I'll admit. I didn't know that was going to happen, though!

Intimidate: That intimidate isn't very effective.

I suppose combat will break out now unless you can avoid it. 

Initiative is determined in Alertness order. PC Alertness is as such:
Juno - Great
Keira - Good (human) / Great (were-form)
Logan - Fair
Malcom - Average

During an exchange (DF for round), you'll go in that order. Monsters will go somewhere in there, depending on their own initiative. In this case, when I said ghouls were fast, that was no joke. Their Initiative is Epic (+7), so its unlikely that any of you will be able to go first against these things. The ghoul, feeling trapped and threatened, but no so much that he'll surrender (due to only an Average Intimidate), is going to try to fight his way out.

I want everyone to tell me what their actions will be on the first exchange. Keira and Logan are still inside and need to move it, but Juno and Malcom are facing off against a very unhappy ghoul and will have to do something about that. In Dresden, every offensive action is an opposed roll, so we'll do the rolling in the OOC thread for this to keep things a bit neater in the IC thread. Post up your actions for this round, along with the associated roll if you can, and I'll make the opposed rolls. From there we'll see where we stand and make some IC posts in initiative order.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 12, 2012)

Malcom's plan is to wander outside since Juno has this well in hand. He is probably going to mutter something about the guy being too confident to be alone, while really hoping to avoid grounding his magic out by being on this side of the threashhold.

If you want to call on any of my aspects for tags, I wont object.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 12, 2012)

Bwahaha...he's not gonna use his sword?

Aw man...that's cold. Not having your partner's back!

(^_^)

Couple questions before I declarrrrreeee...

Would her Holy Touch power work on a ghoul? If so, does using it preclude an attack...that is, is it an action unto itself? And would being in the house mess it up?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 13, 2012)

[MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION]
I was just looking up Holy Touch in relation to you grabbing the ghoul. You have to be doing something related to your calling, which in your case would be in service to the Jaguar Sun or dealing with your calling against the dead in some way. So far you aren't, so you can't use that power.

 [MENTION=6694788]Bluedevil[/MENTION]
Keep in mind that any magic crossing over the threshold will be just as affected by it as if you were in there yourself. The penalty is 1 accuracy and 1 power to your spells for Sandra's threshold. All adjustments after the rolls are made.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 13, 2012)

Arr...gotcha. I was originally thinking any spirit of the 'underworld' would do, but then I realized that's arguably like every supernatural critter we'll ever come across since -everything's- from the NeverNever. A bit general. So yes, lets leave it at undead. 

In that case, Juno hauls off to slug the slug!

Top tier is...+5 I think, yes?

I'll pretty it up in me post once we resolve it.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 13, 2012)

Shayuri said:


> Bwahaha...he's not gonna use his sword?
> 
> Aw man...that's cold. Not having your partner's back!
> 
> ...





More I figured you got this guy, I am going to find his friends.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 13, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> @Bluedevil
> Keep in mind that any magic crossing over the threshold will be just as affected by it as if you were in there yourself. The penalty is 1 accuracy and 1 power to your spells for Sandra's threshold. All adjustments after the rolls are made.





Figured, Malcom is concerned that there are more badguys outside that might be showing up.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 13, 2012)

The ghoul himself will go first, so I'll go ahead and roll his attack. He's leaping toward Juno to try and rip into her with his claws. Juno should make an Athletics check to get out of the way.

Also, going to roll the ghoul's defense against Juno's attack.

Edit after roll: That was kind of pathetic on the ghoul's part as far as the defense roll went. He's going to take 6 + weapon stress. What was it, a handgun? Those are Weapon:1, so if that's the case, it would be 7 stress total, more than his entire stress track, which means he's going to have to take a consequence.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 13, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> The ghoul himself will go first, so I'll go ahead and roll his attack. He's leaping toward Juno to try and rip into her with his claws. Juno should make an Athletics check to get out of the way.
> 
> Also, going to roll the ghoul's defense against Juno's attack.





On second thought.....Juno might be in trouble.....


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 13, 2012)

Bluedevil said:


> On second thought.....Juno might be in trouble.....




Yeah, but the ghoul isn't all roses either! Of course, it boils down to the defense roll from Juno. If she rolls like the ghoul, things will go bad fast. No pressure, though.


----------



## Dragonwriter (Nov 13, 2012)

Logan is going to head outside, through the sliding glass door if possible. He'll take a look around out there for whatever was moving. If he sees nothing else, he'll look for entrance to Sandra's place to check out whatever shouted.

Figure for looking around, it would be an Awareness check, which I'll go ahead and roll now.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 13, 2012)

She's not shooting it unless things get bad. Discharging a firearm in a dwelling she's tresspassing in is not how to keep a low profile. 

Rather, the roll I got 5 on was her attack with fists of fury.

Now her defense.

Oh crap Athletics! Went too fast. Okay, we can just sub in her Athletics bonus...which is unfortunately less than her Fists...but not TOO bad...one sec...

Okay yeah, it's only 1 less. So it's a 5, not a 6.

So as I read this, it means that it claws Juno a fair piece...but she slugs it's face pretty hardcore; largely because it completely, embarrassingly fails to defend itself. That about right? I can write that up.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 14, 2012)

[MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION]
I did not realize Juno's fists were so high! And I reviewed the character sheet recently and everything. Okay, then, yeah, you belt that ghoul a good one in that case. And you were right to roll Fists in defense, since the ghoul is rolling Fists as an attack. I just didn't realize it would be better than your Great Athletics ability.

So, the ghoul rolled a 7 for the attack, and normally has +4 for weapon, but the threshold reduced its supernatural strength so its +3 for now, for a total of 10. You decrease that by a whopping 6, so Juno takes "only" 4 stress from this attack. Juno has 4 stress boxes, so the highest stress box is now unavailable. You don't have to take a consequence.

Your fists attack was a 5, and the ghoul rolled a pathetic -1 (all -'s on the dice...) for a total of 6 stress dealt. Ghouls have 4 stress boxes so he takes a mild consequence to reduce that to 4 stress and fills in his 4th stress box. The ghoul becomes WINDED from a harsh strike to the chest. Next exchange, this can be tagged for free or invoked by using a FATE point. I suggest everyone review YS19 for ways to invoke aspects and gain bonuses.

Hold off on posting, though until we're more sure of everyone's actions for the exchange.


Ghoul: Physical Stress OOOX; mild consequence: WINDED


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 14, 2012)

[MENTION=6694788]Bluedevil[/MENTION]
If you look at YS212 and 213 on zones, you'll note that you can go from one zone to another as a supplemental action at a -1 to your main action (so long as there is no border, which there is none here). Thus, you could move and still perform some action if you wanted to.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 14, 2012)

Juno's fists being high is a matter of both her own training, and some supernatural assistance. Basically, I wanted her to be strong as well as fast recovering, but couldn't get it all at first...so I had her 'strength' limited to fisticuffs for now.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 14, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> @Bluedevil
> If you look at YS212 and 213 on zones, you'll note that you can go from one zone to another as a supplemental action at a -1 to your main action (so long as there is no border, which there is none here). Thus, you could move and still perform some action if you wanted to.





Alright, I guess I should help Juno and Third doesnt seem to want to blow my MiA aspect to go and do something else 

so in which case, Warden sword slice to the Ghoul. Well I somehow doubt that roll is going to yield anything other then laughter.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 14, 2012)

Bluedevil said:


> Third doesnt seem to want to blow my MiA aspect to go and do something else




Soon... soon...

And... wow. You must have learned to roll from the ghoul. I'll roll his Athletics in defense.

EDIT: He easily moves out of the arc of the sword. I think we all saw that coming anyway.

       [MENTION=54988]Dragonwriter[/MENTION]         [MENTION=478]Thanee[/MENTION]
Whichever one of you goes out first must open the door, which counts as a barrier between zones. That means whoever goes first won't be able to take any kind of action. However, the second person out will be able to. That would mean that Keira who is first in Initiative order between the two of you would open the door.

Unfortunately, there is a ghoul in wait who will attack whoever is bringing up the rear, in this case Logan. This is an attempt at an Ambush. You two already know he's there, but not exactly where he's coming from. What I'm going to do here is _not_ allow the hiding ghoul to have surprise, but to instead have a tag on the aspect OUT OF SIGHT, which he created through his last Stealth check as a maneuver (if it beats Logan's Alertness). 

I'll roll the Stealth.

EDIT: Pretty good 

Logan doesn't see the ghoul leap at him from behind until the last second. Logan is able to defend himself, but the ghoul has the advantage of the tag above, which it is invoking to get a +2 to the attack roll.

EDIT2: Roll of 7 + 2 (invoke) for a grand total of 9 that Logan is defending against. The claws + strength power is another +4 so that's a total of 13 stress! Remember, you can use Weapons to defend yourself from Weapons and Fists attacks, so that would be your best defense skill here. Now might be a good time to invoke an aspect in order to add to the defense against the attack. Really Good With a Hammer would apply, and Big Son of a Wyld Ogre might make sense depending on how you narrate it, if you want to spend the FATE. Logan's got 3 FATE burning a hole in his pocket at the moment, though, so it might not be a bad idea. Your call, though.

After that, Logan still has a main action he can use at a -1 penalty if he would like to attack the ghoul in turn, set up a maneuver, or something else.


----------



## Dragonwriter (Nov 14, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> Logan doesn't see the ghoul leap at him from behind until the last second. Logan is able to defend himself, but the ghoul has the advantage of the tag above, which it is invoking to get a +2 to the attack roll.
> 
> EDIT2: Roll of 7 + 2 (invoke) for a grand total of 9 that Logan is defending against. The claws + strength power is another +4 so that's a total of 13 stress! Remember, you can use Weapons to defend yourself from Weapons and Fists attacks, so that would be your best defense skill here. Now might be a good time to invoke an aspect in order to add to the defense against the attack. Really Good With a Hammer would apply, and Big Son of a Wyld Ogre might make sense depending on how you narrate it, if you want to spend the FATE. Logan's got 3 FATE burning a hole in his pocket at the moment, though, so it might not be a bad idea. Your call, though.
> 
> After that, Logan still has a main action he can use at a -1 penalty if he would like to attack the ghoul in turn, set up a maneuver, or something else.




Yeah, I'll be Invoking "Really Good With A Hammer" as Logan whips Buster out to block with the haft. That will happen regardless of the die roll.  The roll will just tell me what way I'll be using the Invoke.

EDIT: Okay, invoke for +2. Gives me +8 as a Defense total, leaving a total of 5 Stress to take. I think Armor: 1 does nothing due to the Weapon: 2 of Claws... Anyways, taking the Physical Stress.

And Logan will make a return strike, bringing the head of the sledgehammer down on the ghoul. Rolling Weapons -1 for Supplemental Action...

EDIT2: Well, if the ghoul rolls really crappy like his buddy... it would get +2 Stress, thanks to Inhuman Strength. But I doubt that's going to happen.


----------



## Thanee (Nov 14, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> Whichever one of you goes out first must open the door, which counts as a barrier between zones. That means whoever goes first won't be able to take any kind of action. However, the second person out will be able to. That would mean that Keira who is first in Initiative order between the two of you would open the door.




Ok. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 14, 2012)

Rolling the ghoul's defense against Logan.

EDIT: No luck for Logan, the ghoul slides out of the way.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 14, 2012)

I think that does it for the first exchange! We can start posting to the IC thread now. Since the party is still split up, we don't have to worry too much about post order between the two.

Inside Sandra's House: The ghoul should go first - I'll get that posted up. As soon as I have that up, Shayuri and Bluedevil can post up their attacks against the ghoul in any order. Shayuri, since you inflicted the minor consequence of WINDED on the ghoul, you can narrate that into your attack.

Inside Mara's House: Thanee should go first, opening the sliding glass door and heading outside. As you go out, you hear the ghoul howling from Juno pulling it into Sandra's house. Behind you is Logan, and as soon as Logan is outside, I'll post up the ghoul's attack against him. Then Dragonwriter can post Logan's attack.

Current Status:

Juno: Physical Stress OOOX ; no consequences ; 2 FATE
Malcom: Physical Stress OOOO; Mental Stress XOOO; no consequences; 1 FATE
Keira: Physical Stress OOO (in human form) ; no consequences ; 1 FATE
Logan: Physical Stress OOOO(XO) ; no consequences ; 2 FATE

Ghoul #1: Physical Stress OOOX ; minor WINDED
Ghoul #2: Physical Stress OOOO ; no consequences

If anyone notices that I missed anything in there, let me know.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 14, 2012)

Keep in mind I have 1 mental stress from my spell earlier, it could matter if I need to pull out the Mojo


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 14, 2012)

Bluedevil said:


> Keep in mind I have 1 mental stress from my spell earlier, it could matter if I need to pull out the Mojo




Ah yes, you are correct. Thank you!

In this post you put down a 2 stress mental hit, but on your rogues gallery I see you marked down the 1st stress box. As far as I can tell, the 1 stress mental hit (Great Conviction vs Great quality ward) is the correct one, just in case anyone sees the note on the roll and is confused.

In any case, editing my post to reflect that.


----------



## Dragonwriter (Nov 15, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> If anyone notices that I missed anything in there, let me know.




I should have 6 Physical Stress boxes, rather than 5. Endurance 4 and Inhuman Toughness.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 15, 2012)

Dragonwriter said:


> I should have 6 Physical Stress boxes, rather than 5. Endurance 4 and Inhuman Toughness.




You are correct. I took that from your character sheet on the rogues gallery so you might want to edit that to 6 boxes. Editing above to be right.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 15, 2012)

Okay, so tagging this new complication is free?

And that gives me what sort of advantage? Like if Juno were to focus on moving around, for example...forcing the ghoul to try to keep up with her, making it work harder so being out of breath hindered it...would that cost FATE? What effect would it have on my rolls?


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 15, 2012)

Shayuri said:


> Okay, so tagging this new complication is free?




free the first time, fate point everytime after that.



Shayuri said:


> And that gives me what sort of advantage? Like if Juno were to focus on moving around, for example...forcing the ghoul to try to keep up with her, making it work harder so being out of breath hindered it...would that cost FATE? What effect would it have on my rolls?




+2 to a roll, you could use it to make him miss you once cause his pain kicks in or he cant reach as far, or you could use it when you hit him so that he cant block, etc.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 15, 2012)

I'll expand on what Bluedevil said and try to dig into maneuvers at the same time, because maneuvers are really tactically the best way to go in this game usually. They're designed to lead to a more narrative feel, you set up the shot and take it for big effect - something you see in the books time and time again.

*Invoking Aspects*
First, what you can do with aspects. Using an aspect is called invoking that aspect. You can see YS98 for all the details, but here are the basics:


Think of how an aspect applies to the situation or can be used
Invoke that aspect to gain some advantage or give some penalty

*Aspects*
You have aspects. The scene has aspects. The campaign has aspects. The NPCs have aspects. Everything has aspects. The trick is learning those aspects so that you can use them. Here are a few aspects relevant to the situation right now. Normally you'd perform an Assessment action to learn them, but I'll spell a few out for learning purposes:


Scene Aspect: Twilight Going on Night
Ghoul Aspect: Anger Issues
Campaign Aspect: Trouble Around The Corner

You can use any of these aspects, not just your own. Assessing the situation to learn aspects is a great way of getting bonuses through tagging (below), but often not practical in a fight due to taking actions to do so (depending on the skill). 

Alternately you can guess at an aspect. You could probably guess that there's some kind of sunset aspect on the current scene for example. I don't make you know the exact name. If you said you wanted to tag the Sunset Aspect, I'd allow it. Now, if you make an assumption that is wrong, however, you lose the FATE point you're spending (since you can't tag it without knowing it exists). So that's a gamble. If you gambled because I wasn't clear in my description of something, however, you won't lose the FATE point. 

*Invoking*
Invoking an aspect costs a FATE point normally, but if you just discovered an aspect in a scene (say through an assessment) or the aspect was just created (say a consequence), you can invoke it without spending a FATE point. That's a tag.

The most common two ways to invoke an aspect are to gain +2 to a die roll or to reroll a die roll. Those are pretty straight forward. Remember, you have to find an aspect that fits the situation, and you always decide whether or not to invoke an aspect _after_ the dice have been rolled. It's retroactive to the roll. No need to spend when you don't need to and no need to decide how you'll use the invoke until you see the dice results.

The next way is to invoke for effect. Invoking for effect is more complex. 

This is where making a declaration and using a FATE point comes in. We had a long discussion about that, so I think everyone gets it, but just to recap: declarations are taking something previously unknown in the game world and then defined by the player during play.

The second way to invoke for effect is to invoke a _compel_ on the enemy. This next part is important: *If you spend a FATE point to invoke to compel, the target of the compel gets the FATE point*! Tagging bypasses this. You didn't spend a FATE point, they don't get a FATE point. If they buy off the compel, as some NPCs do have FATE points to spend, you do not get the FATE point back. It just goes away.

*Maneuvers*
This post is getting way too long! Okay, I'll try to keep this brief. We'll see.

A maneuver is something you do in the combat. Dirty tricks, tactical movement, changes to the area around you, "Your shoelaces are untied", whatever. Think cinematically. Maneuvers create aspects. You can create an aspect on yourself (called a naval gazing maneuver) or create them on someone else. Things like On His Back, Blown Off Balance, In My Sights, Steady Hand, Flanked, Rattled, Fallen Tree, Broken Glass, Sudden Darkness, Dust Cloud, Smoke Screen, Flat Tire, Focused on the Road, Flour on the Floor, etc. can all be aspects created through maneuvers. 

To perform a maneuver you take an action to make a skill roll. If successful, the aspect is applied. Sometimes the skill roll is opposed, as the case of Stealth vs. Alertness. Other times it is made against a base difficulty, especially in the case of naval gazing maneuvers.

You can tag maneuvers in the scene in which they were created. That means you can layer aspects. And you can tag an aspect someone else created with a maneuver. That means if all four PCs perform a maneuver against one guy in an exchange, one person can tag it next exchange for +8 to the roll. That is huge. That bypasses stress tracks and goes right into creating consequences, which can further be tagged to do it all over again. Groups that work together to create aspects will do really well, and spending some FATE points to invoke the same aspect again can be truly devistating. It's _much_ better than repeatedly attacking. One big hit is worth more than multiple small hits in DFRPG due to the way stress tracks and consequences work together and how Taken Out works.

This is one reason that FATE points are so powerful and that taking compels is so good.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 15, 2012)

Okay, so basically, a good idea right now would be to use a manuever to set the ghoul up for Malcolm to get a big hit in...

I could tag it's windedness to help me do that.

Hmm...must think. I'd actually rather not kill the ghoul outright, since it'd be nice to try to find out who its working for...

Guess first order of business is staying alive.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 15, 2012)

this is all you sharyur, kick his ass.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 15, 2012)

Okay to moving onto the next round:

  [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION]
The ghoul is pretty much outraged at Juno right now, and doesn't really see Malcom as a threat, due to the pretty bad whiff. He underestimated Juno before, so he's going to attack again. Ghouls aren't usually much for thought out tactics after all.

As for setting up a maneuver, that would be good. You could try flanking him to set Malcom or you up for a tag later (Athletics). You could do something like push some furniture between you to tag it defensively (Might or Athletics), as you've now used your highest stress box (we see how invoking helped Dragonwriter save Logan from using a consequence). You could naval gaze to psyche yourself up (Conviction). You could try and rattle the ghoul (Intimidation). The possibilities are endless.

The problem, more often than not, is that there are too many options available! 

I wouldn't use the ghoul's minor consequence to set up another aspect, though, as you're just trading one advantage for another. Maneuvers aren't that hard to pull off. If it is against the ghoul, you just have to hit. If it is doing something else, like moving the aforementioned chair, then it's a static target, and same with naval gazing.

In any case here is the ghoul's attack against Juno for this exchange.

EDIT: Juno is able to block/dodge the ghoul's attack!


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 15, 2012)

[MENTION=54988]Dragonwriter[/MENTION]
I'm compelling Logan's aspect PROTECTOR OF THE WEAK. This seems like just the situation in which the hapless non-combatant, unable to curb their anxiety and curiosity over the noises coming from outside, rushes out to see if they can help only to be caught in the middle of a deadly situation where they need to be saved. Doesn't it? Yeah. It really does.

I won't insta-kill Mara before you have a chance to react if you take the compel. She'll come out _after_ the ghoul has gone. Speaking of which, its action is to attack Logan.

EDIT: Average roll. Logan will have to beat that in order to take no stress.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 15, 2012)

[MENTION=6694788]Bluedevil[/MENTION]  [MENTION=478]Thanee[/MENTION]

The two of you are in pretty good positions to take advantage of the situation. Neither of you are under direct assault, so you can move freely, set up maneuvers how you want, etc. I've got some compels coming for both of you down the line so don't worry too much about that. I'm just waiting for what I want to be relevant.


----------



## Dragonwriter (Nov 15, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> I'm compelling Logan's aspect PROTECTOR OF THE WEAK. This seems like just the situation in which the hapless non-combatant, unable to curb their anxiety and curiosity over the noises coming from outside, rushes out to see if they can help only to be caught in the middle of a deadly situation where they need to be saved. Doesn't it? Yeah. It really does.
> 
> I won't insta-kill Mara before you have a chance to react if you take the compel. She'll come out _after_ the ghoul has gone. Speaking of which, its action is to attack Logan.
> 
> EDIT: Average roll. Logan will have to beat that in order to take no stress.




I'll take the Compel. It fits. Freakin' civilians. 

Rolling Defense against Claws...

EDIT: 1 Stress, I'll take the hit. I'd like to attempt a maneuver to knock the ghoul down, then grab Mara and get her back inside. Is that possible, and if so, what do I need to roll?

And in what order are the actions happening this time?


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 15, 2012)

Hmm...perhaps stick on the offense, give Malcolm a chance to do something...

Lets see how this fist rolls and see what happens...

How does Juno's enhanced Recovery work? Is it strictly out of combat?

Hoo...not bad. I shall tag his Winded to make this an 8. Lets see if I can't knock down another of his stress boxes.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 15, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> @Bluedevil    @Thanee
> 
> The two of you are in pretty good positions to take advantage of the situation. Neither of you are under direct assault, so you can move freely, set up maneuvers how you want, etc. I've got some compels coming for both of you down the line so don't worry too much about that. I'm just waiting for what I want to be relevant.





was just thinking that, I think I am going to maneuver to give the Ghoul the aspect "Divided attention" by maneuvering along the opposite wall of the room from Juno. Can I use weaponry for that?

You know assuming that Juno didnt just smoke him outright...


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 15, 2012)

Dragonwriter said:


> I'll take the Compel. It fits. Freakin' civilians.
> 
> Rolling Defense against Claws...
> 
> ...




Ghoul's got supernatural strength and claws, so its actually +4 stress on top of that for 5. Since your fifth box is marked off, it would have to move up to the 6th if you don't take any consequences or spend a FATE point defensively.

And if you could perform a maneuver and rescue her, it wouldn't be much of a compel! You can grab her and pull her back into the house. She won't resist so there's no roll needed, but you'll have to spend your whole action getting her back in there if that's what you want to do.

As for Initiative order, its the same as last time. Initiative runs purely off of raw numbers, so until someone's Alertness changes initiative stayls the same. Ways that initiative can change are people going into were-form, magic spells/potions/etc., spending FATE, and things like that.

So:
Ghouls - Epic
Juno - Great
Keira - Good (human) / Great (were-form)
Logan - Fair
Malcom - Average



Shayuri said:


> Hmm...perhaps stick on the offense, give Malcolm a chance to do something...
> 
> Lets see how this fist rolls and see what happens...
> 
> ...




I'll roll defense against your fists. I just realized I could have rolled Fists against your fists attack before (not that it would have made a whole ton of difference). So I'll be rolling that.

As for Juno's recovery power, Inhuman Recovery has one in-combat effect that is to clear away a single physical minor consequence using a supplemental action (giving you a -1 penalty to your main action in the exchange). It's really beneficial as it allows you to soak away 2 stress for free once per scene.

By the way, did we ever decide on a Catch for Juno?



Bluedevil said:


> was just thinking that, I think I am going to maneuver to give the Ghoul the aspect "Divided attention" by maneuvering along the opposite wall of the room from Juno. Can I use weaponry for that?
> 
> You know assuming that Juno didnt just smoke him outright...




You can indeed roll Weapons to do that. The ghoul will roll Athletics against your Weapons to attempt to stay out from your reach so it doesn't have to divide its attention between the two of you.

EDIT:
Juno's Attack vs. Ghoul
8 Attack vs. 5 Def. so the ghoul takes 3 stress. The ghoul marks off his 3rd box.
Ghoul #1: Physical Stress OOXX ; minor WINDED


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 16, 2012)

Ah I could do a fancy maneuver but Juno has really been kicking the crap out of this guy, might as well try another sword swipe. Going to try and hit him. Not aiming to kill him though.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 16, 2012)

Rolling defense against Malcom's attack.

The ghoul meets, which means a base 0 stress, but the sword is Weapon:3 so the ghoul takes 3 stress.

After Juno's attack, the ghoul does not have a third stress box currently available, so it moves up, up, up to become a moderate consequence. This removes 4 stress, which is a waste for the ghoul, as one is left on the table that itself is out in the cold. The ghoul takes the moderate consequence LACERATED SHOULDER. Ouch!

Ghoul #1: Physical Stress OOXX ; minor WINDED moderate LACERATED SHOULDER


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 16, 2012)

Juno's defense roll against ghoul's next attack.


----------



## Thanee (Nov 16, 2012)

Clever use of size there... and I thought they might have re-implemented the smallcaps font. 

Speaking of initiative... who's turn is it now? I must admit, I am not entirely sure. 

Keira's next action will certainly be changing her form... these ghouls are not there to play, so we better get serious, too. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 16, 2012)

Thanee said:


> Clever use of size there... and I thought they might have re-implemented the smallcaps font.




Thanks.  I really like the way they use all caps like that in the book, because it lets you weave aspects into sentences. Those Evil Hat guys are pretty smart!



> Speaking of initiative... who's turn is it now? I must admit, I am not entirely sure.
> 
> Keira's next action will certainly be changing her form... these ghouls are not there to play, so we better get serious, too.




What I'm doing right now is to get everybody's actions all at once for the exchange, then I'll worry about the order as we work out the details, for example, applying Juno's hit before Malcom's.

You are able to shapeshift as a supplemental action. So if you want to take an action along with it, you can do so at a -1 penalty.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 16, 2012)

As far as combat mechanics go, what is the difference between a minor consequence and a moderate one? As aspects, they'd both give the same bonus when being tagged or invoked by a foe, right?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 16, 2012)

Shayuri said:


> As far as combat mechanics go, what is the difference between a minor consequence and a moderate one? As aspects, they'd both give the same bonus when being tagged or invoked by a foe, right?




As far as aspects go, they're exactly the same. The only differences are that minor consequences soak 2 stress while moderate ones soak 4, and minor consequences go away faster than moderate ones.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 16, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> As far as aspects go, they're exactly the same. The only differences are that minor consequences soak 2 stress while moderate ones soak 4, and minor consequences go away faster than moderate ones.





Yeah Minor ones go away after the scene in most cases and Moderate ones can last several scenes or the rest of the story.


----------



## Thanee (Nov 17, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> Ghoul's got supernatural strength and claws, so its actually +4 stress on top of that for 5.




You mean Inhuman Strength, I guess?



> Since your fifth box is marked off, it would have to move up to the 6th if you don't take any consequences or spend a FATE point defensively.




Don't forget Armor (Logan has Inhuman Toughness, so Armor: 1).

And with the Supernatural Recovery, taking a Mild Consequence instead of 2 points of Stress makes a lot of sense (as he can simply clear it away on his next turn with a Supplemental Action; twice during a combat).


But one question: What does this part mean?

"Since your fifth box is marked off, it would have to move up to the 6th ..."

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Thanee (Nov 17, 2012)

Shayuri said:


> As far as combat mechanics go, what is the difference between a minor consequence and a moderate one? As aspects, they'd both give the same bonus when being tagged or invoked by a foe, right?




Since I am just reading it to freshen up my memory on how all this works...

A Minor Consequence cancels 2 Stress and gives you an Aspect (and the one who inflicted it automatically gains a Tag for it).

Once you start to recover from it (i.e. by getting medical attention), it will be gone _after_ the next scene.

A Moderate Consequence cancels 4 Stress, but stays with you a lot longer (until the end of the next Session).

Stress goes away after the current scene, once you get some time to rest.

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Thanee (Nov 17, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> You are able to shapeshift as a supplemental action. So if you want to take an action along with it, you can do so at a -1 penalty.




Ok. I will use the Basic Action to Attack the ghoul. Fists +4 with a -1 for the Supplemental Action taken.

Also, with the transformation, Keira's Initiative goes up to Legendary now.

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 17, 2012)

Thanee said:


> You mean Inhuman Strength, I guess?




I was trying to be vague by not using game terms, but I guess supernatural strength turned out to be a game term after all. 



> Don't forget Armor (Logan has Inhuman Toughness, so Armor: 1).




Unfortunately for him, ghoul claws are Weapon:2 so they bypass his armor. 



> And with the Supernatural Recovery, taking a Mild Consequence instead of 2 points of Stress makes a lot of sense (as he can simply clear it away on his next turn with a Supplemental Action; twice during a combat).




This is true. And, one on one combats are especially good for this, as you can almost always clear away the consequence before the next attack (can't with multiple combatants). You just have to be willing to take the -1 penalty, but that's usually the best tactical decision.



> But one question: What does this part mean?
> 
> "Since your fifth box is marked off, it would have to move up to the 6th ..."




You can't use the same stress box twice, so that stress has to go somewhere. Where it goes is to the next highest one.

His stress track looks like this
OOOO(XO)

If he takes 5 points of stress, the fifth box is already taken. That means he has to use his sixth box if he takes the stress, like this
OOOO(XX)



> A Minor Consequence cancels 2 Stress and gives you an Aspect (and the one who inflicted it automatically gains a Tag for it).
> 
> Once you start to recover from it (i.e. by getting medical attention), it will be gone _after_ the next scene.
> 
> ...




Just a few things to add to this:
- You can pass the tag to someone else if you want when you inflict a conseequence.
- For moderate consequences these are things that you will almost always have to seek medical attention for, but for minors not usually. If you don't get it treated it won't go away!
- Since we aren't technically playing sessions, I'll just use my judgment as to when moderate consequences go away.
- All of these times only apply to Malcom because he didn't join the Recovery Power club that apparently everybody else joined, of which Logan is the president. 



> Ok. I will use the Basic Action to Attack the ghoul. Fists +4 with a -1 for the Supplemental Action taken.
> 
> Also, with the transformation, Keira's Initiative goes up to Legendary now.




Yeesh! Inhuman Speed - missed that. That is crazy fast. 

I'll roll defense for the ghoul.

EDIT: And the ghoul rolls an epic defense, managing to avoid the pounce altogether.


----------



## Thanee (Nov 18, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> I was trying to be vague by not using game terms, but I guess supernatural strength turned out to be a game term after all.




Heh. I see.



> Unfortunately for him, ghoul claws are Weapon:2 so they bypass his armor.




Hmm... are you sure? I thought the values would always be used.



> You can't use the same stress box twice, so that stress has to go somewhere. Where it goes is to the next highest one.




Ah, that. I see.

Did Logan get damaged before already? I must have missed that... 


Another question...

If your Stress looks like this: OOOO(XX), and you get hit with Damage 3, can you still cross off the third box (OOXO(XX))?




> EDIT: And the ghoul rolls an epic defense, managing to avoid the pounce altogether.




Ah well... it was such a nice roll. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 19, 2012)

Thanee said:


> Hmm... are you sure? I thought the values would always be used.




After looking up the rules on this and doing some research, I must consider the unsettling situation that I have been playing incorrectly for the past two or three years. I'm going to look into this some more, but it doesn't look good.



> Did Logan get damaged before already? I must have missed that...




Yep. Quite a nasty strike it was.



> If your Stress looks like this: OOOO(XX), and you get hit with Damage 3, you can still cross off the third box (OOOX(XX))?




You put the X in the wrong spot. Should be: OOXO(XX), but yes on the general principle of the statement.

As a funny side note, my wife happened to see the email notification of this post go to my phone while we were out and wanted to know who was sending me hugs and kisses. She feigned incredulity and I played the misunderstood love interest. Fun was had by all.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 19, 2012)

[MENTION=54988]Dragonwriter[/MENTION]
Are you taking your entire action to get Mara out of danger? If so, I'll go ahead and post up the round summary, everyone can start posting IC, and I'll start up the next exchange.


----------



## Dragonwriter (Nov 19, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> Dragonwriter
> Are you taking your entire action to get Mara out of danger? If so, I'll go ahead and post up the round summary, everyone can start posting IC, and I'll start up the next exchange.




Sorry, been indisposed. I'm going to take a Mild consequence to knock that 5 Stress down to 3 and tick off that box. Then I'll spend my action to get Mara out of harm's way.


----------



## Thanee (Nov 19, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> After looking up the rules on this and doing some research, I must consider the unsettling situation that I have been playing incorrectly for the past two or three years. I'm going to look into this some more, but it doesn't look good.




Well, it does look good for Logan, then (i.e. just 2nd box instead of 3rd, right?). 



> You put the X in the wrong spot. Should be: OOXO(XX), but yes on the general principle of the statement.




Oops!  Counting to three is hard... ahem. 



> As a funny side note, my wife happened to see the email notification of this post go to my phone while we were out and wanted to know who was sending me hugs and kisses. She feigned incredulity and I played the misunderstood love interest. Fun was had by all.






Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 20, 2012)

Summary of Exchange #2

Order of Initiative: Actions
Keira - Legendary (were-form): change form, miss ghoul
Ghoul #1 - Epic: misses Juno
Ghoul #2 - Epic: hits Logan, who takes 2 stress and a minor consequence
Mara - n/a: Wanders outside, is horrified by ghouls
Juno - Great: hits Ghoul #1 dealing 3 stress
Logan - Fair: Heals minor injuries, pulls Mara inside
Malcom - Average: hits ghoul who takes moderate consequence LACERATED SHOULDER

Current Status
_I've reworked Logan's stress track for both rounds based on Thanee's observation that he gets the Armor:1 regardless of the ghoul's weapon rating. 
_Ghoul #1: Physical Stress OOXX ; minor WINDED  moderate LACERATED SHOULDER
Ghoul #2: Physical Stress OOOO ; no consequences
Keira: Physical Stress OOOO(OOOO) (in were form) ; no consequences ; 1 FATE
Juno: Physical Stress OOOX ; no consequences ; 2 FATE
Logan: Physical Stress OXOX(OO) ; minor consequence TBD recovered from during this round ; 2 FATE (+1/-1)
Malcom: Physical Stress OOOO; Mental Stress XOOO; no consequences; 1 FATE

Does everyone agree? 

Keira is first, very fast indeed. Thanee post up first.

I'll get ghoul actions posted afterward, then Mara's entrance, everyone else follow afterward. 

Dragonwriter, you need to come up with a minor consequence, but really it doesn't matter what it is too much as you'll cancel it out immediately before anyone could invoke it against you anyway.

Exchange #3
For the upcoming exchange, I want to know Keira's actions for the round. Everybody else can hold off for now. Things aren't necessarily going to go as they have been. We'll see. Keira, with her Legendary Initiative can go first, though.


----------



## Thanee (Nov 20, 2012)

Ok, will post later today... since straight attacking didn't work out, I will probably try one of those fancy maneuvers. But need to come up with something suitable first. 

Logan is back in the house with Mara currently, correct?

Bye
Thanee

P.S. As for the consequence for Logan, how about SLIGHTLY DIZZY?


----------



## Dragonwriter (Nov 20, 2012)

For the Minor Consequence, I was thinking BREATH KNOCKED OUT or HEAD RINGING.

Doesn't matter a whole lot, since it'll be cleared away with Recovery.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 20, 2012)

Dragonwriter said:


> For the Minor Consequence, I was thinking BREATH KNOCKED OUT or HEAD RINGING.
> 
> Doesn't matter a whole lot, since it'll be cleared away with Recovery.





personally prefer "love tapped"


----------



## Thanee (Nov 20, 2012)

Ok, Keira will circle around the ghoul, drawing its attention in order to have him turn his back to the house (maneuvering, using Athletics, in order to give the ghoul the KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE CAT Aspect and immediately tag it to Logan).

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 20, 2012)

Thanee said:


> Ok, Keira will circle around the ghoul in order to have him turn his back to the house (maneuvering, using Athletics, in order to give the ghoul the BACK TOWARDS THE HOUSE (or something to that effect, if anyone has a catchier name) Aspect and immediately Tag it to Logan).
> 
> Bye
> Thanee





Between a cat and a hard place?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 20, 2012)

[MENTION=478]Thanee[/MENTION]
Be sure to post up your missed attack on the IC thread. Then I'll do the ghouls and Mara and everyone else can follow.


----------



## Thanee (Nov 20, 2012)

Ok. Just to be sure how you want to handle it... we first conclude the round here in the OOC, then we do the appropriate IC posts in order (probably while taking our next actions here already)?

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 20, 2012)

Thanee said:


> Ok. Just to be sure how you want to handle it... we first conclude the round here in the OOC, then we do the appropriate IC posts in order (probably while taking our next actions here already)?




Yep!


----------



## Thanee (Nov 20, 2012)

Ok, edited my post to include the result.

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Thanee (Nov 20, 2012)

Bluedevil said:


> Between a cat and a hard place?




Or maybe KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE CAT?

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 20, 2012)

Thanee said:


> Or maybe KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE CAT?
> 
> Bye
> Thanee




Black Cat crossed your Path?

yours is good though


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 20, 2012)

The ghoul is going to try to use Athletics to avoid the maneuver.

You get the aspect on the ghoul, and its sticky. 

By the way these are some great aspect names!


----------



## Thanee (Nov 20, 2012)

Speaking of cats ... I found this recently, and it is sooo funny. 

Bye
Thanee - off to figure out what sticky means in this context... ok, found it.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 20, 2012)

The ghoul on the inside has had about enough of the beating he's taking! He's going to try to beat it. When the second ghoul sees the first one, pretty heavily injured, running, he'll join him. There are no blocks on the back door, so Ghoul #1 is free to take action to run away. Ghouls have Inhuman Speed, giving them a +2 to Athletics checks to sprint, giving them more zones of movement.

Here is a crude drawing of the scene's zones:





A - Mara's House
B - Sanda's House
C - Back Yard
D - Mara's Side/Front Yard
E - Sandra's Side/Front Yard
F - Deleno Drive

The openings in the back are the sliding glass doors, both of which are open. The dotted lines indicate the closed front doors, both zone borders (Average Athletics border) There are no other borders, the gates to the fence in the back are both currently open.

Ghoul #1 is going to be rolling Athletics in order to move multiple zones away, with the goal of reaching the road. Ghouls have Good Athletics (+3) with a bonus of +2 for sprinting due to Inhuman Speed. However, as he is injured I'm going to compel his LACERATED SHOULDER against him to remove the Inhuman Speed bonus. He doesn't have any FATE, so he has to take the compel. This means he only gets +3. Every shift he gets means 1 more zone of movement.

Ghoul #2 has less zones to cover and he isn't injured, but due to Keria's maneuver, he has an aspect just applied that will be compelled against him as well, for the same effect. (Yes I'm not above compelling maneuver created aspects, so remember that later when its against you!) This is the same Athletics check. As the ghoul above, every shift on the Athletics roll is one zone of movement.

EDIT: Terrible rolls on the ghouls' parts. The inside ghoul makes it to Sandra's side/front yard, while the other ghoul takes the alternate route to Mara's side/front yard.


----------



## Thanee (Nov 21, 2012)

Logan is at zone A? Juno and Malcom are at zone B? Keira is at zone C?

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 21, 2012)

Thanee said:


> Logan is at zone A? Juno and Malcom are at zone B? Keira is at zone C?




Should have spelled that out, yes.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 21, 2012)

In case anyone is interested, Jim Butcher just did an AMA over on reddit. Lots of spoilers for pre-Cold Days books, but some very interesting stuff is in there and a few moments where I dropped my jaw.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 21, 2012)

Oops. I thought I was supposed to post before Malcolm. Hee. Well, no harm done, I spose.


----------



## Thanee (Nov 21, 2012)

Ah, he also answered the most obvious question... what AMA stands for. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Thanee (Nov 21, 2012)

Shayuri said:


> Oops. I thought I was supposed to post before Malcolm.




It's Malcom, BTW. I had to check and re-check it like twenty times to be sure, but I am rather sure now. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 21, 2012)

Have I been spelling it wrong places?


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 21, 2012)

No, I was misspelling it. Sorry.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 21, 2012)

No, I wouldnt be surprised. In another game I play someone named Mason, I keep worry about mixing them up.


----------



## Thanee (Nov 21, 2012)

I'm wondering how movement will work out in practice, really.

Seeing that, on an average roll, Keira could cover 8 zones... she could run circles around the house... and those ghouls, technically, ain't slow either. 


Would it be possible to use Block to prevent one of the ghouls from moving away? Blocking his path, so to say.

What skill would be used for that? Athletics? Might?

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Thanee (Nov 21, 2012)

I also just found a little inconsistency in the rules... Athletics/Sprinting says you can move as many zones as you have shifts, or one, if you don't get any shifts, while the Sprint section says you can move one zone _plus_ one extra zone per shift.

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 23, 2012)

Well, Juno will give chase.


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 23, 2012)

Shayuri said:


> Well, Juno will give chase.





Malcom will try to give chase too,

and pull out the magic for a shot to the back. Dodge that!


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 24, 2012)

Sorry for the delay, I was travelling for Thanksgiving. 



Thanee said:


> I'm wondering how movement will work out in practice, really.
> 
> Seeing that, on an average roll, Keira could cover 8 zones... she could run circles around the house... and those ghouls, technically, ain't slow either.




Yeah, I was expecting more really.



> Would it be possible to use Block to prevent one of the ghouls from moving away? Blocking his path, so to say.
> 
> What skill would be used for that? Athletics? Might?




Yep! To quote the book: "Sometimesthere’s confusion about when to use Athletics and when to use Might. As a rule of thumb, Athletics is used to move yourself, while Might is used to move other things and people." So, if you're going to try and grab them, push them, or in some way hold them back from being able to change zones, that would be a Might Block. However, if you want to describe it differently, you could probably use other skills. It all comes down to descriptions and intent.

In order to try to move, the ghoul would have to beat the block's power. If the ghoul rolls higher than the block, the block is ignored. If the ghoul doesn't roll higher, then the ghoul can't move at all. So its all or nothing. Keep in mind that to do this, you will have to move first, giving you a -1 penalty to the block roll.



> I also just found a little inconsistency in the rules... Athletics/Sprinting says you can move as many zones as you have shifts, or one, if you don't get any shifts, while the Sprint section says you can move one zone _plus_ one extra zone per shift.




Yeah, that threw me for a loop when I was trying to figure out how far the ghouls ran based on their rolls. What makes sense to me is that you always move at least one zone, then extra shifts determine extra zones of movement. That fits with the rest of the rules. 

For example, when using shifts to speed some thing up, you get the result at meeting, then every extra shift it becomes faster. In all cases I've seen shifts are always used to make a result better. So, if you meet the roll, you move one zone. Every shift after that you move an extra. Seems the most logical.


More responses to come later today with regard to the specific rolls.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 24, 2012)

[MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION]
You can move pretty much wherever you want!

 [MENTION=6694788]Bluedevil[/MENTION]
You can catch up to the ghoul, but it is my understanding that when sprinting you can't take another action.


----------



## Thanee (Nov 25, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> Yep! To quote the book: "Sometimesthere’s confusion about when to use Athletics and when to use Might. As a rule of thumb, Athletics is used to move yourself, while Might is used to move other things and people." So, if you're going to try and grab them, push them, or in some way hold them back from being able to change zones, that would be a Might Block. However, if you want to describe it differently, you could probably use other skills. It all comes down to descriptions and intent.
> 
> In order to try to move, the ghoul would have to beat the block's power. If the ghoul rolls higher than the block, the block is ignored. If the ghoul doesn't roll higher, then the ghoul can't move at all. So its all or nothing. Keep in mind that to do this, you will have to move first, giving you a -1 penalty to the block roll.




Ok, cool. Then I know what my next action will be.

Note: There won't be a penalty for the supplemental move, due to Inhuman Speed. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Bluedevil (Nov 26, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> @Shayuri
> You can move pretty much wherever you want!
> 
> @Bluedevil
> You can catch up to the ghoul, but it is my understanding that when sprinting you can't take another action.





Oh, I wasnt planning on sprinting, just moving outside and firing.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 26, 2012)

Bluedevil said:


> Oh, I wasnt planning on sprinting, just moving outside and firing.




In that case, you wouldn't need an Athletics check, right? You're moving from B to C as a supplemental action and casting a spell (-1 penalty) at the ghoul in zone E. The ghoul is looking bad, so most likely this will take him out as the ghouls are not using severe or higher consequences (they are supporting NPCs, not main characters). 

I'll roll an Athletics against the spell.

EDIT: Pretty good roll. I debated doing this, but I don't think I should pull my punches, so the ghoul is going to spend that FATE point he just got from the compel. The compel really screwed him over (he would have made it a couple more zones without it) so I don't feel too bad about doing that. He's going to invoke his High Concept in order to get a +2 to the Athletics roll, giving himself a total of 7 Defense, pushing himself to dodge that incoming blast of force.


----------



## Shayuri (Nov 26, 2012)

What's involved with Juno tackling one of these things from behind? 

Not overly concerned with which, unless Malcolm takes one down.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 26, 2012)

Shayuri said:


> What's involved with Juno tackling one of these things from behind?
> 
> Not overly concerned with which, unless Malcolm takes one down.




Just as a note, I've been going under the assumption that Juno and Malcom are chasing after the ghoul they've been fighting.

To answer your question about tackling, you basically have to wait for the opponent to stop running. There's no sprinting tackle option. A sprint means you can't perform any other action, so if you're both sprinting repeatedly, nobody can really do much of anything until one of you stops sprinting.

This sounds bad, but read on!

Normally, in a repeated sprint, you would drop the turn based gameplay and you'd use Contest rules (YS 193) to determine the outcome of a foot race. If you win the contest, you catch up and can tackle the opponent. If they win, they outrun you. This is a very elegant solution to the turned base sprinting problem above.

But, I'm not using it right now. The ghouls aren't going far (spoilers!), so moving into a Contest seems unnecessary in the current situation.


----------



## Dragonwriter (Nov 28, 2012)

Unfortunately, I've gotten a little lost as to where we are and what's going on... I believe Logan is inside the house with Mara. Is it obvious to him that the ghouls are trying to escape, or is he oblivious due to being occupied with keeping Mara safe?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Nov 28, 2012)

Dragonwriter said:


> Unfortunately, I've gotten a little lost as to where we are and what's going on... I believe Logan is inside the house with Mara. Is it obvious to him that the ghouls are trying to escape, or is he oblivious due to being occupied with keeping Mara safe?




You're inside with Mara, but the fleeing ghoul is pretty obvious. The door between the back yard and inside is wide open, and it's a large sliding glass door, so Logan would have high visibility from inside the duplex.

I'm occasionally getting lost as well. It might be worth it not to start up the next round until everyone has posted up their IC post on the events of the round in the IC thread. Speaking of which, you're up.


----------



## Bluedevil (Dec 2, 2012)

Strangely Google started marking this site as malicious. not sure why.

yeah that fine Third, a near miss is good story anyway


----------



## ThirdWizard (Dec 10, 2012)

Looks like ENWorld is back up! Unfortunately, we've lost some functionality due to code being lost. I feel terrible for Morrus on that. We'll have to make do without the die roller. I'll collect up where we are and get things going again. Check in please so I know you're back. I'd like to pick up the pieces and keep going.


----------



## Bluedevil (Dec 10, 2012)

Checking in thought currently out of town on business so replies are going to be slow


----------



## Dragonwriter (Dec 10, 2012)

I'm still hanging on. Though with the holidays coming up, my activity will be way reduced.

On the dice front, Invisible Castle is still available. I don't know if it marks Fate dice, but d6s can be substituted in their place.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Dec 10, 2012)

I found this amazing thread on stack exchange. 4d3-8 gives the same distribution as 4df. We can use Invisible Castle with the "Burned Circle" campaign name and use that. I did some testing on Invisible Castle and it looks good, although I've forgotten my login information, which is annoying.

I'll be busy with Holidays as well, including a week long trip to Canada just after Christmas during which I'll be completely cut off from the Internet. I'll be able to post fairly regularly up to the trip, though, since I do almost all my posting from work.


----------



## Shayuri (Dec 10, 2012)

I am also here.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Dec 12, 2012)

I'm having issues with Invisible Castle where I can't log in. Not sure what is causing this, does anyone else have that problem? If you can log in, just do your rolls under Burned Circle campaign and I can easily look them up, otherwise use your character's full name and I'll search by that. 

The Campaign Page/Wiki is down, but they do have the database intact. There were some useful things in it, and I'm glad its saved, but not sure when it'll be back up. I don't know if you guys used it, but I made references to it fairly often. Here's hoping Morrus gets lucky with getting some of that functionality back. As a software developer by day, the very thought of that happening to me fills me with dread. I can only imagine what he's going through.

Beyond that, lets continue! We've had quite a break here, so I'm looking back over everything and summarizing where we are and what's going on.

We're caught up to Exchange 2 in the IC thread. 

Exchange 3 Thus Far
Keira goes first. She uses Athletics to perform a maneuver on Ghoul #2 , putting the Aspect KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE CAT on the ghoul, maneuvering the ghoul as she sees fit.

The ghouls are second. The ghoul inside is beat to a pulp at this point. He's been pummeled and slashed, and he just wants to leave. He's trying to run away, but the pain of the sword wound slows him down. He only makes it to the front lawn. The second ghoul sees the first ghoul running. This one isn't actually injured yet, but seeing the wounds on the first one he can read the writing on the wall. He takes off around the opposite side of the house.

I think Juno rolled a really good Athletics (rolls are gone, but I think that's the case) and can move to any zone. I think the roll is basically good enough to circle the house, jog in place a moment, then run and catch up with either ghoul. 

Malcom is moving from outside the house to get a beat on one of the ghouls, I think casting a force spell. However, the ghoul spends the FATE point he got from the recent compel I put against him and manages to duck just under the attack, saving him - for now.

Exchange 3: To Do
I need to know where Juno is moving. That will be her entire action for the round.

What is Logan's action going to be for this exchange? Honestly, there aren't a lot of options for this exchange for him. He's inside, so he does have a choice between front and back door, though. He can tell the ghouls are running away, so going out the front isn't metagaming in anny way. The door is basically -1 to Athletics (barrier) if he goes that route. He can move, but that's pretty much it. 


I expect everything will slow down around the holidays. Post whenever you can and don't worry about slowness.


----------



## Shayuri (Dec 12, 2012)

Juno's desire is to intercept the wounded ghoul. I don't know if that's actually possible using these rules...if not, that would be a bit annoying, since chasing down people is a big part of what cops do. 

Since it seems she can outrun it, I'd like to get her out in front of it, blocking its available courses of escape.


----------



## Dragonwriter (Dec 12, 2012)

Logan will head out the front door and join the chase.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Dec 12, 2012)

Shayuri said:


> Juno's desire is to intercept the wounded ghoul. I don't know if that's actually possible using these rules...if not, that would be a bit annoying, since chasing down people is a big part of what cops do.
> 
> Since it seems she can outrun it, I'd like to get her out in front of it, blocking its available courses of escape.




Normally it would be footrace, and if you win you'd tackle him. But, the ghoul will be to his destination next round so it would seem a bit unnecessary to play that out. So this particular thing will be a bit wonky, I admit.



Dragonwriter said:


> Logan will head out the front door and join the chase.




Sounds good. Roll an Athletics check to see how far you can get. 


Anybody that made it as far as the front yard as of now, roll an Alertness skill check. The target is Good (+3) for success.

When rolling, use Invisible Castle and use the roll of 4d3-8 + SKILL using the full name of your characters ("Logan Harcourt", "Juno Reyes") as the character name. If you can log in, use "Burned Circle" as the campaign. When you've got the roll, link it in a post here.


----------



## Dragonwriter (Dec 12, 2012)

Grand total of +1. Not going far.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Dec 12, 2012)

Dragonwriter said:


> Grand total of +1. Not going far.




Hey, it gets you to the front yard! 

(Normally need Mediocre(0) to move 1 zone, but +1 for barrier [door]) = Fair (+1) to move to front yard).

So roll me an Alertness to see what you see. (Juno, too, but I think that's it for now.)


----------



## Thanee (Dec 12, 2012)

ThirdWizard said:


> I found this amazing thread on stack exchange. 4d3-8 gives the same distribution as 4df.




Yep.

A Fate Die is -/-/0/0/+/+, so probability of 1/3 each for -1, 0 or +1. 1d3-2 is the same, i.e. results are -1/0/+1. Thus, rolling four of those, or 4d3-8, yields the same results as 4df.

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Shayuri (Dec 12, 2012)

Alertness:

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3822021/

Got a result of 5. Not too shabby.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Dec 12, 2012)

Shayuri said:


> Alertness:
> 
> http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3822021/
> 
> Got a result of 5. Not too shabby.




Nice roll. 

You (and anybody else who rolls 3 or higher and is within view of the street) sees a dark colored Cadillac circa the 1970s that was parked about half a block down the street start to slow-roll its way toward you guys. It's headlights are off, but through the dark of the now almost set sun you can make out the distinct silhouette of the car and hear the faint running of its engine as it slinks up the street toward you.

With a 5, I'll add that you can see the outline of a muscular figure behind the wheel and tell that the two doors facing toward you, passenger and rear passenger, are slightly ajar.


----------



## Shayuri (Dec 12, 2012)

Hee...should I wait for your update post in the IC thread, or just tell you what Juno will do on seeing this?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Dec 12, 2012)

Thanee said:


> Yep.
> 
> A Fate Die is -/-/0/0/+/+, so probability of 1/3 each for -1, 0 or +1. 1d3-2 is the same, i.e. results are -1/0/+1. Thus, rolling four of those, or 4d3-8, yields the same results as 4df.
> 
> ...




Hsss! Maths! Almost as bad as sunlight!



Shayuri said:


> Hee...should I wait for your update post in the IC thread, or just tell you what Juno will do on seeing this?




Why do I have that sudden DM feeling where everything is about to go totally opposite of what you expect?


----------



## Dragonwriter (Dec 12, 2012)

Another spectacular roll of +1. 

Yes, IC, I hate you too.


----------



## Shayuri (Dec 12, 2012)

Bahaha...because you have some idea of how a police officer would view a sinister car with its headlights off and its doors ready to fling open, driving sneakily forward as fugitives try to escape?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Dec 13, 2012)

Dragonwriter said:


> Another spectacular roll of +1.
> 
> Yes, IC, I hate you too.




You see the ghouls, so that's something at least. 




Shayuri said:


> Bahaha...because you have some idea of how a police officer would view a sinister car with its headlights off and its doors ready to fling open, driving sneakily forward as fugitives try to escape?




I plead the 5th.


----------



## Shayuri (Dec 13, 2012)

Juno will be calling out warning to the others on her action, so y'all might want to take that into account planning your own actions.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Dec 15, 2012)

I don't know if you guys have seen this, but there's a Fate Core Kickstarter going on. It's already waaaay over and for only $10 you get a huge amount of material. It's very cool, and as somebody who really loves the FATE system, I'm super excited about it. 


Back to the game! Here's the summary of Exchange #3 :

Actions
Keira performs a maneuver circling around the ghoul, giving it the aspect of KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE CAT
Ghoul #1  runs around the house to the right, slowed down by inflicted injuries
Ghoul #2  runs around the house to the left, slowed down by Keira distracting him and getting in the way
Juno chases after Ghoul #1 , spots the sneaking car, and jumps behind a pine tree in the front yard
Logan busts out the front door to join the chase
Malcom comes out around behind Ghoul #1  and tries to hit it with a blast of force but the ghoul manages to dodge out of the way

Current Statuses
Ghoul #1 : Physical Stress OOXX ; minor WINDED moderate LACERATED SHOULDER
Ghoul #2 : Physical Stress OOOO ; no consequences
Keira: Physical Stress OOOO(OOOO) (in were form) ; no consequences ; 1 FATE
Juno: Physical Stress OOOX ; no consequences ; 2 FATE
Logan: Physical Stress OXOX(OO) ; no consequences ; 2 FATE
Malcom: Physical Stress OOOO; Mental Stress XXOO; no consequences; 1 FATE [+1 mental stress for casting]

We can start posting up in the IC thread in order as long as everyone agrees with what I have here. I'll leave it to Shayuri to describe the oncoming car as I've detailed it in this thread, since Juno is the one who saw it. If anybody going after Juno wants to act on her warning, go ahead and add it to your posts.


----------



## Shayuri (Dec 15, 2012)

Looks good to me!

And I'm already in the $10 club on that Kickstarter. 

Got someone on another board starting up that supers/wild west hybrid setting they have going there in a PBP. Should be interesting.


----------



## Shayuri (Dec 15, 2012)

Hey, should I post first in the IC thread, or are you going to set the scene with the ghouls starting to flee and so on?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Dec 15, 2012)

Thanee will start it off, maneuvering around the ghoul to back him against the wall. Then I'll do the ghouls running for it. And we just go down the line from there.


----------



## Shayuri (Dec 15, 2012)

Sounds good!


----------



## Thanee (Dec 16, 2012)

Ok, posted.

Remember, if it is useful for something, that Logan has received the Tag for the Aspect KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE CAT.

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Bluedevil (Dec 16, 2012)

alright ladies and Gents, I am back from my business trip and ready to go


----------



## ThirdWizard (Dec 19, 2012)

Posted up the ghouls, finally!

I just got some extra days off for Christmas, and I'll be taking a bit more vacation than expected. I'll be leaving on the 21st or 22nd and won't get back until the 5th. We're frantically trying to get packed and ready for a sooner departure and longer stay. While gone, I doubt I will have access to the Internet at all, much less time to check the thread while I'm there, so I'll be MIA during that time frame.


----------



## Bluedevil (Dec 19, 2012)

ah its christmas, no big deal


----------



## Shayuri (Dec 19, 2012)

Indeed, Merry Christmas And All Other Applicable Holidays And/Or Observances!

or as I call it: Merry CAAOAHAOO!

You can pronounce that. Try it. It's fun.


----------



## Bluedevil (Dec 27, 2012)

Merry Christmas All!

I have updated with a post.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 9, 2013)

Phew! I'm back after a long trip and a bit of the flu. 

So, we'll continue on! What's been going on... 

Okay its been a while so I'm going to recap the combat, for my benefit as well as all yours. So you guys went to Sandra's duplex and split up. Juno and Malcom went to enter, perhaps not so legally, Sandra's place, while Logan and Keira went to talk to the neighbor. 

During this, some ghouls decided to crash the party and one tried the ol' intimidation routine on Juno and Malcom. That proved ineffective when Juno literally pulled the ghoul across the threshold to beat its skull in. The others came out and fought one of their own, with Logan having to pull Mara back in the house while Keira cornered theirs. 

Inside the ghoul took a beating from both of you and fled. When he ran, the second ghoul also ran off as well! Solidarity? Nah, it just didn't want to be left behind. So, you guys gave chase around the corner, but a suspect car is rolling toward you guys and it looks like it might not be overly friendly.

And so we continue!

Dragonwriter, you still need to post up Logan's action for the round. It isn't too exciting, he's just coming out of the house to give chase.

For the next round coming up, Thanee, what will Keira do? Once I have her action, I'll tell you what the ghouls do and how the mysterious car fits into the picture a bit better.


----------



## Thanee (Jan 9, 2013)

The action I had planned a while ago. 

Keira is one zone behind the ghoul, IIRC, so using Inhuman Speed, she will catch up to it and then use Athletics as a Block to prevent it from moving further away.

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Thanee (Jan 9, 2013)

The Block Strength is 6.

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 14, 2013)

Sorry for the delay. I do my posts from work, and everything has been really busy in the post-holiday catch-up.

Now as to the roll, that's quite the block!

I rolled a 5 for the ghoul's Athletics to push his way by Keira... and its so close. This one also had a compel earlier, keeping it from fully escaping. The other used its FATE point from its compel to avoid taking a force lance to the back. This one's going to use it to get the heck out of dodge, invoking its aspect IN IT FOR THE MEAT (as in, he isn't paid enough to fight to the death!) for +2 to its roll, for a total of +7, just barely beating the block. 

Thanee, you can still spend a point of FATE to up the block strength to +8. That would, however, leave you with 0 FATE for whatever compels come up. Be wary!

Otherwise, it's going to beat it to the car to try and make an escape with its pal.


----------



## Thanee (Jan 15, 2013)

No, I will let the ghoul pass. It's certainly not important enough to spend my only FATE point. 

Just for my own understanding... If I had not handed the TAG over to Logan, I could have used that now to up my roll by +2, right?

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Bluedevil (Jan 15, 2013)

thats right Thanee.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 15, 2013)

Yeah. It wasn't a bad decision, its just that things went kinda out of control unexpectedly. 

On the ghouls' turn, the car rolls in front of the house. The ghouls on foot rush to the car. The injured one looks over his shoulder, wide eyed, then pulls open the back door and dives into the moving car, joined by the second jumping into the front.


The window of the front passenger seat rolls down, the ghoul scrunching down in his seat, to reveal figure much like the first ghoul in human guise who's driving. However, what really gets anyone's interest who can see into the car is the SMG he's holding up.


So much for quiet!


The submachine gun lets loose a blast of bullets. It's shooting in a spread, fired at Keira, Logan, and Juno (Malcom is still in the back of the house). The attack roll will be split evenly between you, ties breaking in the order written there. This particular ghoul has a Great (+4). 

The roll is a 6, slightly above average. It's a Weapon:2 attack, which will be split by the spread of the attack. That means a Good (+3) attack at Keira and Logan, and a Fair (+2) attack at Juno.

After shooting, the car takes off down the street, rubber tires squealing on asphalt.

We're done with going turn by turn now, so we can return to taking actions in the In Character thread (as soon as damage from gunfire is resolved). You can chase after the ghouls if you want. In fact, I'm offering up a compel for Keira, compelling her RECKLESS RASCAL aspect to jump on her motorcycle and take off after them, whether the others are right behind or not. If you take the compel, you'll gain the bonus of auto-succeeding on your first opposed roll to chase them down. The others can jump in the car together and follow, but they won't have the auto success that Keria has in this case, and the two groups might succeed/fail separately.

Okay so take care of avoiding the gun fire and taking damage/stress. And let me know if you're going to take the compel, Thanee!


----------



## Shayuri (Jan 15, 2013)

Okay, and to avoid the gunfire? Juno's hiding behind the big tree...that's something I can tag? or...


----------



## Thanee (Jan 15, 2013)

Athletics (Dodging) 5

Chasing the car... Keira would have to fetch her clothes first (they are lying at the entrance still), but if that is doable (she is rather quick with Athletics 7 for Sprinting), she would then jump on her bike and race after them! We need to find out what's going on, after all.

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Thanee (Jan 15, 2013)

Shayuri said:


> Okay, and to avoid the gunfire? Juno's hiding behind the big tree...that's something I can tag? or...




If I got that right, you cannot TAG it (you would have gained a TAG earlier via a Maneuver; a TAG being, essentially, a free FATE Point for a very specific purpose/aspect - for example, if you had performed a maneuver to move into cover behind the tree, you would then have a TAG). You can, however, spend a FATE Point to invoke an aspect.

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Shayuri (Jan 16, 2013)

So taking cover really netted me nothing then? I have to spend a fate point regardless...

Bleh. 

Alright.

Annoying when a system says, "Doesn't matter what you do, the game's dice rolling and descriptive elements have nothing to do with one another."


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 16, 2013)

If you didn't jump behind the tree, you would have no aspect to spend a FATE point on, though. Remember, you can't just spend FATE points willy-nilly, you have to have some kind of aspect to invoke. In this case, you're behind a tree, which lets you invoke the aspect TAKING COVER (or whatever you want to call the aspect). If you were just standing out in the open, you wouldn't even have the choice. Tags are just bonuses, and shouldn't be thought of as the main way to invoke aspects. This is why being Pure Mortal is so great. A Pure Mortal would have started with 12 refresh available in this game, so with a few stunts that leaves something like 9 FATE to start with. That's some serious bonus to bring to the game. You guys spent most of your Refresh, so you don't have the spending power that you might otherwise have. It's all a trade off. But as the game progresses and we get more compels going, you'll have more FATE to spend.

And, I'll say Keira has time to grab her clothes so long as she just takes off as fast as she can.

Keria has also dodged the bullets completely, luckily, so no damage!


----------



## Shayuri (Jan 16, 2013)

Okay, well, I rolled a 3 to dodge...so I'd like to spend a FATE point to invoke my cover. 

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3868069/


----------



## Thanee (Jan 16, 2013)

Ok, Keira will fetch her clothes then and jump on her bike to chase after the car. 



ThirdWizard said:


> The roll is a 6, slightly above average. It's a Weapon:2 attack, which will be split by the spread of the attack. That means a Good (+3) attack at Keira and Logan, and a Fair (+2) attack at Juno.




I think this is done slightly different, BTW.

The 6 is split 2 / 2 / 2, and each of them will inflict 2 extra stress from the weapon (which is added in afterwards), if hit (but 3 will be enough to dodge the bullets with no damage).

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Thanee (Jan 16, 2013)

Shayuri said:


> Okay, well, I rolled a 3 to dodge...so I'd like to spend a FATE point to invoke my cover.




3 is good enough, you do not need FATE.



> and a Fair (+2) attack at Juno.




Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 16, 2013)

Thanee said:


> I think this is done slightly different, BTW.
> 
> The 6 is split 2 / 2 / 2, and each of them will inflict 2 extra stress from the weapon (which is added in afterwards), if hit (but 3 will be enough to dodge the bullets with no damage).




Man, I'm all over the place here. Of course, you're right. Don't know what I was thinking. It's a Fair (+2) attack at everybody, but a hit will result in +2 stress.


----------



## Thanee (Jan 16, 2013)

I think we almost catched up here with the IC posts now (just posted Keira's last action (the block attempt)). 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Dragonwriter (Jan 16, 2013)

Logan's dodge attempt: 2


----------



## Thanee (Jan 16, 2013)

Dragonwriter said:


> Logan's dodge attempt: 2




That should result in 1 Stress.

0 from attack roll (but still a hit)
+2 from the weapon
-1 from armor (Inhuman Toughness, IIRC)

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Shayuri (Jan 16, 2013)

Logan wasn't attacked. He was in the house when the gunfire erupted.


----------



## Thanee (Jan 16, 2013)

I believe, Logan is outside by then.



ThirdWizard said:


> Actions
> Keira performs a maneuver circling around the ghoul, giving it the aspect of KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE CAT
> Ghoul #1  runs around the house to the right, slowed down by inflicted injuries
> Ghoul #2  runs around the house to the left, slowed down by Keira distracting him and getting in the way
> ...




That is right before the current round (where Keira tries to block the ghoul unsuccessfully and they vanish into the car).

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Shayuri (Jan 16, 2013)

My bad, it was Malcolm who escaped bulleting.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 17, 2013)

Keira and Juno manage to dodge out of the way without much effort, but Logan takes 1 point of stress. Logan still has his 1st stress box available, so the stress goes there. If there's no objection, I'll describe the stress loss to dropping down hard on the concrete porch as soon as he saw the SMG. The others dropped down in the grass.

I'll give it a bit, then I'll post up the ghouls' IC.

Current Status:
Keira: Physical Stress OOOO(OOOO) (in were form) ; no consequences ; 2 FATE [+1 for compel]
Juno: Physical Stress OOOX ; no consequences ; 2 FATE
Logan: Physical Stress XXOX(OO) ; no consequences ; 2 FATE
Malcom: Physical Stress OOOO ; Mental Stress XXOO ; no consequences; 1 FATE

Not bad. Everybody's managed to come out of the first combat with no consequences and nobody is out of FATE. 




Once I've got the ghouls' post up, you can start to post in the IC thread again, instead of running everything through here. Keira will make a beeline for the (clothes &) motorcycle to take off after them, since Thanee took the compel. Then everyone else can do as they like, joining the chase probably, but a bit behind.

Following will be an Extended Contest (YS193). This is similar (or exactly like) the Cat and Mouse example of an extended contest on the next page (YS194). You are tailing the ghouls as they escape down the street. Every "round" the ghouls will make a Driving check, and the PC drivers will make an opposed driving check. Your check is subtracted from theirs. After four rounds, if its less than 0, then you win and if its greater than 0 they win. 0 is a tie.

Because Keira gets a bonus for having reacted quickly, she will start off the first round as if she rolled a +4 on the FATE dice, for a +5 (from Average driving) against whatever the ghouls roll.

Now, for the goals of the chase. This can be an overt chase where you're trying to drive them off the road. It can be a stealthy tail. Or anything in between. Whatever your goal, that will determine how it plays out in game, and what winning or losing means. 

For each post a driver makes in the chase, describe how you're trying to drive after them, put in your roll, and in my post, I'll compare rolls and describe how well you keep up relative to the ghouls. I'll record the "distance" (difference in die rolls) as we go along in my posts, along with what round we're on.

Does that make sense?


----------



## Shayuri (Jan 17, 2013)

Yar, it does!

Question...more of a setting question than a mechanics one. Is there a good reason not to call in an APB on this car? I can think good reasons to DO so, and I'm trying to weigh them against possible consequences that Juno would be aware of, but that I may not be.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 17, 2013)

The main motivating factor for Juno _not_ to call in police backup here would be the safety of the officers. It's extremely likely that any officers who respond will not be familiar with the supernatural and would treat the ghouls like any other perp, most likely being killed or seriously injured by the ghouls if they did manage to get into a direct conflict with them.

The second reason is that, as a rule, mortals are not brought into direct supernatural conflicts, which at this point this qualifies as such. The main reason for this is that supernaturals get really antsy when their enemies start calling in mortals against them, as they still have unfond memories of mortals with pitchforks and such. The Black Court of Vampires was virtually destroyed by mortals because Stoker brought mortals into the picture by giving them a list of ways to kill the vampires.

And, don't think mortals won't turn on a "benevolent" supernatural just because they're nice. A lot of mortals would turn on any of you just as fast as they'd turn on the ghouls should they discover your secrets.

That's generally why you don't get mortals involved, basically ever, unless they already know about supernatural dealings.


----------



## Shayuri (Jan 17, 2013)

Hmmm... I see point 1... Point 2 is less compelling from an IC perspective, but I could see it being in the equation.

She's not looking to 'out' the entire supernatural world, of course. But I s'pose that a car full of ghouls stopped by the police would be hard to write off as hysteria or unreliable witnesses or hoax. Especially if there were bodies.

Even so, shots fired and a speeding car chase make the possibility of police involvement very real even if she doesn't call it in. 

Tee hee.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 17, 2013)

Oh definitely on the police response. Especially in a normally peaceful neighborhood like this. This is probably the kind of area that has relatively fast police responses, too.


----------



## Bluedevil (Jan 20, 2013)

Sorry for my absence, again notifications on the new website do not appear to be functioning properly and work has had me busy. I am back though with new bookmarks planning on taking a look daily for new posts until Eworld is back up and working.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 22, 2013)

And you're off! [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] give me a Driving roll to start things up.


----------



## Shayuri (Jan 22, 2013)

lol...if I can get the gateway time-outs to stop, I'll be sure to do that. 

Annnnd I'm back.

Only die roller is not working. Can't do Inviscastle from here either, not until I get home. If you want to roll on my behalf, Juno has a bonus of +1. Combat driving not her forte. 

Can she at least get a look at the plates?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 23, 2013)

Give me a Alertness roll, at least Good, for Juno to see the plates before they drive off.


----------



## Shayuri (Jan 23, 2013)

Okay. I'll do that too.


----------



## Shayuri (Jan 23, 2013)

Driving: Skill +1, roll of 3
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3880683/

Not too bad, for her fairly limited skills. 

Alertness is...+3 I think? Well I'll roll raw FATE and then look it up.

Rolled a +1, so I -think- 4. I'll doublecheck.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3880684/


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 24, 2013)

So, starting off with a Great Driving, which is (wait for it) great. I'll post up the ghouls' driving post some time today. EDIT: Oops, I see now the +1 was included. So Good (+3). 

And, Superb Alertness of by the looks of it. (1+4) So you got a look at the license plates. If need be, you can run those through the system later.

EDIT: ENWorld has been down for me a lot today. Hoping it stays up long enough for me to write up a reply.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 24, 2013)

Got it posted without ENWorld breaking!

But, here comes another compel. The city has an aspect of TROUBLE AROUND THE CORNER, which I'm compelling on Juno. This will cause a slight... complication... in your car chase. It won't change how the chase itself is run, it will just add a twist to the mix.


----------



## Shayuri (Jan 24, 2013)

What's the complication?

People taking pictures?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jan 27, 2013)

Aha, ENWorld is back up. I think they're still doing updates, though.

Anyway, the complication is that a police cruiser is going to join the chase.


----------



## Shayuri (Feb 4, 2013)

Okay, so...I am fuzzy on what I'm posting now. Am I just posting Juno driving after him, or do you want to post the chase scene up to the complication and then let us react? Or...what are we doing here?

As a point of protocol, -generally- speaking (and I know circumstances will influence this), how bad would you estimate it is...in Juno's IC knowledge...if she's recognized as chasing a car without having phoned it in? While off duty.

Gotta weigh all this in to the internal monologue.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Feb 4, 2013)

If Juno were found to have not called for backup she would probably have to go into the station to fill out some paperwork or debrief to a superior what happened, but there wouldn't be any reprimands involved. 

The main complications would be 1) involvement of the police in the supernatural which is dangerous for them which Juno would like to avoid, 2) Juno possibly being seen with supernatural allies by mortals which she would then have to try to explain, and 3) a possible distraction of having to go do something (paperwork, debriefing, reporting to superiors) that isn't directly related to finding Sandra.

As for the post, write a bit about Juno driving and make a roll. For reference, here is the route taken so far in the chase. You've driven down Delano Drive, and in this upcoming post you'll be following the ghouls down Howard and onto College. Feel free to roll your Driving then match the description to the roll. [MENTION=478]Thanee[/MENTION] should do the same for Keira, btw, on her bike. 

You can either post the complication arising (sirens, lights flashing, and all that good stuff) or you can leave it to me in the ghoul post following. I'm fine with either way. It's your compel, after all, so any way you like it, so long as there are police joining in on the fun! 

I'll post up the Google Maps link in future posts as well if you find it helpful.


----------



## Thanee (Feb 4, 2013)

Ok, I will have a look tomorrow (too tired now ).

Should we roll driving for the second round already?

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Thanee (Feb 13, 2013)

So, driving rolls (and descriptions) for the second round?

I'm a little confused where we are right now in the IC. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Bluedevil (Feb 13, 2013)

same.....


----------



## ThirdWizard (Feb 13, 2013)

Juno's description in the IC thread is perfect. You can post your rolls in the OOC or IC thread. Either is fine just so long as I see it to keep the tally going. 

At the moment you guys are on College headed northeast. The ghouls are ahead by grace of their head start, as they aren't driving very well. Keira is on their tail with Juno, Logan, and Malcom right behind.


----------



## Thanee (Feb 13, 2013)

So has everyone acted in the first round now, or are we still posting the IC posts for the first round. 

Should I put up a second round post?

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Feb 14, 2013)

Yep, the resolution of the first round was when I posted in the IC thread in spoiler tags the totals for all the drivers. We're resolving the 2nd round now.


----------



## Thanee (Feb 14, 2013)

Ok, great! Then I am back up to speed! 

Speaking of speed... Driving -1

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Shayuri (Feb 19, 2013)

Argh, so sorry for delay. I need to make a local copy of that sheet...it's such a pain trying to look at it here when my browser keeps locking up...

Okay, so... I forgot my +1 skill bonus, but even with that? -1, like Thanee. So at least we're messing up equally badly. 

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3933310/

I'll post to IC as well. Chalk it up to the distraction of trying to talk to dispatch while driving.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Feb 20, 2013)

Well, at least the ghouls aren't doing much better. They rolled a +1. With the -1 from last round, that puts them at 0 so far.

Because of their terrible roll in the first round, you guys are still good. You just have to keep it up!

But I feel like I'm forgetting something... What could it be... Oh, that's right! Juno has a wizard in the car, and wizards and cars don't go well together in high stress situations. 
 [MENTION=6694788]Bluedevil[/MENTION]
It's very likely that Malcom, as much as he's trying to stay calm and collected, lets out a little leak of magic. Not enough to completely fry the car, mind you. Just enough that the car stalls out, slowing Juno, Malcom, and Logan down. If Malcom takes this compel, Juno's result will be an automatic -2 in the upcoming round (no rolling). You can still keep up with the ghouls in the long run if you roll well after this compel, but it will be difficult. Or BlueDevil could buy it off to keep position with the car chase, but be vulnerable to the next compel. Your choice, and not an easy one!


Here's the route as it has gone so far. In this round of play, the ghouls take a hard left onto Howard Circle and continue onto McLendon Avenue.

I'll post up the ghoul's actions in the IC thread sometime tomorrow along with the running totals.


----------



## Bluedevil (Feb 20, 2013)

Sadly I am going to take the compel in this case, good story and then getting away isn't that big of a deal at the moment.


----------



## Bluedevil (Feb 22, 2013)

though I am thinking I may need to blow up their car, what do people think? Use of silly powerful magic exploding goodness?


----------



## Shayuri (Feb 22, 2013)

Hee hee!

Well, I'm torn. On the one hand, it'd be nice to be able to interrogate them or follow them to whoever hired them. On the other, we clearly can't let them go zooming through school zones like this.

I think normally, police would actually pull back at this point and switch to helicopter surveillance, specifically so as not to have a high speed chase through a residental area. Juno hasn't got that luxury...though since they've attracted official attention...

Hm.

Well, she hung up on dispatch, so we can't know for sure. And even if they brought a heli in, there's no guarantee Juno would be 'on the case' so she might not have access to the information they get. Best to proceed with no assumption of official support. So if you can disable their car, even at the expense of Juno's, that's good.

Obviously the problem of there being ghouls inside, and police in pursuit, is still a problem...but I would say that it's THEIR problem, as long as we can keep the cops from getting close enough for the ghouls to shred. It's not like Juno called the cops in. They attracted that attention on their own.

---

ALTHOUGH

It's worth saying that at this point, Malcolm's duty may force his hand in another direction. As a Warden of the White Council, keeping the mundanes ignorant may be more important than apprehending ghoul thugs. In which case he may have to consider disabling Juno's car, and the police car, but NOT the ghoul's car.

This would allow them to escape...probably saving lives as they would no longer have to drive stupidly, and preserving the Secret from possible discovery.

Juno would not ask him to do this, because she's basically a cop at heart and wants to get the bad guys.


----------



## Bluedevil (Feb 22, 2013)

Well everything I have seen in the Dresden books the Warden's aren't exactly subtle and protective of the supernatural. they more dont want anyone to know much about them.

I could see letting them go though, back to the whole problem of how much damage are we willing to cause to capture them. I probably could blow them into orbit, but at what cost?


----------



## Shayuri (Feb 22, 2013)

Yeah, that's always the question. And don't forget we have a police car there too. A big explosion makes big questions.

Nothing that can't be explained away, I'm sure, but it's worth mentioning.


----------



## Shayuri (Feb 28, 2013)

Ping?

Seems like the transition between turns is tricky for us. 

We don't follow the usual "everyone posts actions, then GM posts summary" pattern, because we often include GM-provided results in the posts where we describe our actions. Makes keeping track of who needs to do what next a little unintuitive. 

So. Uh. Who needs to do what next?

PS - I don't mean this as a complaint. I like the style of it, and how it works in the IC thread. I just need an extra hint sometimes about what happens next as a result of the nonstandardness of it.


----------



## Bluedevil (Feb 28, 2013)

yeah I would agree there lol

Whats up next?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Feb 28, 2013)

I didn't want to step on any toes if you were still deciding on a course of action. I wasn't sure if Malcom was going to take the compel, but attempt to also knock out the ghoul's car at the same time (although you can't really target it that well, you'll probably take out all the cars in the general area including Keira's bike). Or, if you were going to try to go through with the checks and hopefully also find out where they're going or at least a general idea.

We can always do the next round, with Keria -1, Juno -2, and ghouls unrolled as of yet. There are 4 rounds in the chase, and this one will mark the 3rd so we're about halfway through.


----------



## Thanee (Mar 4, 2013)

Sorry, I think I am lagging behind a bit currently? 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Bluedevil (Mar 5, 2013)

yeah figured I would blow a hole in the universe if I missed lol, so yeah I will let it roll and take the compel.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Mar 6, 2013)

Sounds good, I'll get the next round up in the IC thread.

EDIT: Actually I think I need another driving roll from [MENTION=478]Thanee[/MENTION]. 

Juno's will be -2 due to the compel stalling out the car.


----------



## Shayuri (Mar 6, 2013)

Okay, so a total of -1 to my roll then, since I have a +1 to driving skill?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Mar 6, 2013)

I meant it as a total of -2. So as if you rolled -3.


----------



## Shayuri (Mar 6, 2013)

Oh oh, it applies to the driving roll I just made? Not my next one?

Okay, my bad. Hee hee.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Mar 6, 2013)

It applies to the upcoming one. 

In the IC thread it currently stands at:

Keira: total +4
Juno: total +2
Ghouls: total 0

So, Juno and co. will go down to 0 total in the upcoming round. Keira is up in the air depending on how well Thanee rolls. The ghouls are also up in the air. They have a +1, so odds are that they move to +1 in this round, but it could easily be higher or lower.

There are only two rolls left. This upcoming one, and one more after that. After that, we'll have the outcome of the chase!


----------



## Shayuri (Mar 6, 2013)

Ah, I see. So you're going by totals, I'm going by die rolls. The -2 from his compel reduces my total. It doesn't modify a die roll.

I think I see. At least, for this example, it makes no difference, I suppose where the -2 goes, as long as it's accounted for by the end.

Pity the roller's not back yet.

...yeah, I prefer the roller here. Invis Castle seems to hate me.

-1 again. Yeah, I suck.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3959488/


----------



## Thanee (Mar 7, 2013)

Sorry! Here's my next roll!

Driving -1

Always the same! -1 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Mar 7, 2013)

I'm with Shayuri. I can't wait for ENWorld to get a die roller back!


----------



## ThirdWizard (Mar 7, 2013)

Okay, well this round didn't go so well for you guys, BUT there is still one more round to go! Keira's still leading the ghouls, so the odds are in her favor. Juno is still only two off on rolls, which with a little luck can be made up.

Everybody should put up a post of you chasing after the ghouls.

I left the IC post off with Juno's car dying due to the compel. It will start back up, though, and you can resume driving down the road. The cop car will be right behind you as you continue down McLendon Avenue in your post. Make some kind of post to that effect, and have fun describing your part of the chase as you try to keep up, without killing anybody preferably. 

I put a map of the chase as a link in the IC post in the spoilers. Take a look! The straightaway down McLendon is pretty long, so we can make a few posts on this one before moving on to the next, and final, round of the chase.


----------



## Thanee (Mar 19, 2013)

Well, I posted, it is someone else's turn. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Mar 20, 2013)

In order to facilitate this moving along, I'll go ahead and ask for the final Driving checks for the chase for both Juno and Keira. The results after this check will determine the outcome of the chase itself. I'll roll the ghouls' as well and we'll see where everybody ends up.


----------



## Shayuri (Mar 20, 2013)

Meep...apologies for the slowdown there.

Bah, still no die roller...back to InvisCastle...

Yeah, well...there we go.

Driving -1
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3982406/


----------



## Thanee (Mar 20, 2013)

Okies... here's Keira's Driving +1 (woohoo, average!)

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Shayuri (Mar 20, 2013)

I'd settle for average right about now. After a few good rolls a loooong time ago, I've been getting nothing but bad.

I know that's how the game rolls, but it's frustrating.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Mar 20, 2013)

Shayuri said:


> I'd settle for average right about now. After a few good rolls a loooong time ago, I've been getting nothing but bad.
> 
> I know that's how the game rolls, but it's frustrating.




I'm actually starting to feel bad for you guys, and I'm usually cackling away.

Maybe in the upcoming scenes you'll make up for it.


----------



## Thanee (Mar 20, 2013)

Shayuri said:


> I'd settle for average right about now.




Yeah, it is unbelievable how crappy we rolled in this scene. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Mar 21, 2013)

The ghouls roll a  on their final check. 

The end totals come out to:
Keira: +1 this round, total +4
Juno: -1 this round, total -1
Ghouls: +0 this round, total +2

The end result is that Keira follows the ghouls successfully, but Juno and group in the car are left behind and did not make it to the destination along with the others.

So, what does this mean narratively?

First of all, the chase ended in the Oakland Cemetery, rubber squealing, a few new dents in the Caddy, and several wrecks behind. Keira is right on their tail, and they're going straight into the cemetery itself.

So, you know where they were headed, but, remember, you're alone and probably not able to take on three ghouls at once.

Second of all, Juno, Malcom, and Logan are left behind. But, how did that part of the chase end? The whole time, there was a CRASH WAITING TO HAPPEN (Scene aspect), and I wouldn't be surprised if Juno's car is out of commission for a while as a result (compel - take a Fate point or give one up).

Also, those cops are going to be asking some serious questions now! But, we'll get to that in character. Just giving you a heads up that there's more to play out before we move out of the street scene.
 [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] Let me know if you take the compel or not!


----------



## ThirdWizard (Mar 22, 2013)

[MENTION=478]Thanee[/MENTION]
Keira will be attempting to shadow the ghouls, while keeping them under surveillance. She needs to stay hidden, but also to keep them in sight at the same time. This will require two checks for the two tasks being attempted.

The first is a Stealth check to shadow them while keeping from being spotted. This is opposed to their Alertness check. Ghouls have Good (+3) Alertness. I'll make one roll for all three: Roll of 2 (Fair).

The second check is an Investigation check. This is to make sure you don't lose them during the tail. They don't know they're being followed, but they're moving pretty fast. I'm going to set the Investigation difficulty at Fair (+2).
 [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] [MENTION=54988]Dragonwriter[/MENTION] [MENTION=6694788]Bluedevil[/MENTION]
Keira's text was sent to you guys. Well, Juno's battery was zapped by magic so it doesn't work. And, I seriously doubt a wizard of the white council would ever entertain the concept of carrying a cell phone. So, Logan got the message at least, as his phone is still working (for now - watch the wizard). 

And, for everybody:

All stress is gone, and nobody has any consequences at the moment.

Just to double check, does everyone agree with me on these FATE point values for their PCs?

Keira: 2 FATEJuno: 3 FATE (+1 with car wreck, -1 without car wreck)
Logan: 2 FATE
Malcom: 3 FATE


----------



## Thanee (Mar 22, 2013)

I know, it is completely unexpected and hardly believable, considering our track record, but I actually managed to roll good this time.  

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3986913/

Stealth 3 (good) 
Investigation 4 (great) 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Bluedevil (Mar 25, 2013)

Better for me as well.


http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3990693/


Stealth 1


Investigation 3


----------



## Thanee (Mar 25, 2013)

Heh. However, you are not at the cemetary, yet. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Bluedevil (Mar 25, 2013)

yeah well, I will be horribly obvious when I get there


----------



## Shayuri (Mar 25, 2013)

Hurble. I will pay the FATE point and avoid the wreck. It's bad enough we're out of the race, I don't want to be completely out of the running. Junie's got a commute darnit. 

Now, I should ask what it will take to get the car running again, and exactly what's the situation with the police car? Did they stop to talk to Juno, or did they continue the chase?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Mar 25, 2013)

Buying off the compel, we'll say Juno got cut off due to a wreck ahead and got caught in traffic. You're stuck for the moment, with some cars ahead of you and behind you making any progress in the chase over. They'll clear out in a few minutes.

The police want to have a word with you. They're stuck, same as you, and they'll approach you to make sure your story checks out.

Sound good?


----------



## ThirdWizard (Apr 10, 2013)

Hey guys, sorry for the silence here for so long. I'm a software dev and the last two weeks three projects just happened to become shippable at the same time, and of course I'm lead on one, and co-lead on another, and helping with the third. Then my boss took a week vacation and I'm taking over his technical responsibilities until he's back. Basically the last three or so weeks have been really really rough on me. I should have given a heads up on this, but it caught me by surprise (I'm not very observant) and one thing led to another. Anyway, will be back soon. I should have free time again next week.


----------



## Shayuri (Apr 10, 2013)

No worries. I think I owe a post myself, so I'm in no position to judge. 

But even if I were, no worries. Thanks for the headsup!


----------



## Thanee (May 4, 2013)

We need to get this game back on the road. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (May 6, 2013)

I'm very sorry guys. I've been busy, and I keep thinking that I'll get back to the game real soon, and I just need to do this one more thing and then I'll definately get back into it. But, of course I haven't been. 

Well, if you're all willing to forgive me and give the game a second chance, I'm going to try to throw off this bout of procrastination. I really liked where this was going, so let me see if I can get us back on track. I'll make some IC posts and get the ball rolling.

EDIT: Wow, looks like [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] just did a great job at working through that scene. Nice.


----------



## Dragonwriter (May 7, 2013)

Totally get it. I've been in the same state. I'd love to continue this game.


----------



## ThirdWizard (May 10, 2013)

FYI guys, keep going, but if [MENTION=6694788]Bluedevil[/MENTION] doesn't respond by the time you guys make it to the cemetery, I'm going to auto-compel his MISSING IN ACTION aspect to gracefully-as-possible remove him from the next scene. I've sent him a PM, so hopefully he'll not miss out!

I'll do what I can to keep things moving and interesting in the meantime.


----------



## Shayuri (May 10, 2013)

Mew, okay. I shan't wait for him then to post. Thanks for the update.


----------



## Shayuri (May 24, 2013)

In case anyone's waiting on me, I figured I'd see what Logan's efforts accomplish before posting again.


----------



## ThirdWizard (May 24, 2013)

[MENTION=54988]Dragonwriter[/MENTION] give me a Contacts check. It needs to be at least Good.

Also, I'm going to compel your aspect PISSED OFF WINTER'S LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES if your contacts roll is a success. Word gets around the faerie community, and through no fault of your own it could easily get back to Winter that you might be making yourself an easy target. They wouldn't realize you're after Sandra, but they will start piecing it together more quickly than they would otherwise.


----------



## Dragonwriter (May 24, 2013)

ThirdWizard said:


> Dragonwriter give me a Contacts check. It needs to be at least Good.
> 
> Also, I'm going to compel your aspect PISSED OFF WINTER'S LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES if your contacts roll is a success. Word gets around the faerie community, and through no fault of your own it could easily get back to Winter that you might be making yourself an easy target. They wouldn't realize you're after Sandra, but they will start piecing it together more quickly than they would otherwise.




I kinda figured something like that was in the cards.  Contacts result is +7, Epic. And I'll take the compel.


----------



## ThirdWizard (May 25, 2013)

Nice roll!

FYI, will be on a backpacking trip for Memorial Day Weekend and not available again until Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.


----------



## Thanee (May 31, 2013)

Keira will hold still for now and watch from the shadows, waiting for the rest. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## Dragonwriter (Jun 3, 2013)

Sorry for the slow reply. My notifications have apparently stopped showing subscription activity. I'll check in Settings/UCP more frequently.


----------



## Shayuri (Jun 3, 2013)

Mine too! That had me all crossed up practically all last week.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jun 4, 2013)

Yeah, it seems like a problem. I've had it as well ever since the hacking of the site.


----------



## Shayuri (Jun 4, 2013)

I see what happened. You have to go to Quick Links, and to your Subscriptions page. Then you can click Notifications to turn them on or off.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jun 4, 2013)

I think sometimes when I visit the thread on ENWorld it doesn't register that I opened the page, and it won't send another email until you visit the page. That's my theory at least.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jun 26, 2013)

If no one objects, I'll go ahead and move the scene to the cemetery.


----------



## Shayuri (Jun 26, 2013)

Argh, if I can somehow stay on long enough to post without freezing up. Hee. But yes, the cemetary is good.


----------



## Dragonwriter (Jun 26, 2013)

Perfectly fine with me. Don't need to RP through checking out the Pixie Peeping Patrol.  Just figured Logan would like to make sure he was getting a team of fairly dependable Little Folk.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jun 27, 2013)

I decided to give [MENTION=6694788]Bluedevil[/MENTION] one last PM to see if he is coming back before moving on to the next scene. If he doesn't respond by tomorrow, I'll auto-compel his MISSING IN ACTION aspect and move him off camera. I don't know if he has PM forwarding to an email set up, so he might not even be getting an alert on it.

I've already gotten the post written up, just holding off on submitting it for a bit.


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jul 12, 2013)

FYI, since Kiera is watching the ghouls, Logan and Juno can travel through the cemetery without incident. Fizzy will follow along behind you as you walk.


----------



## Shayuri (Jul 14, 2013)

Okay. I don't think we actually know where she is...but I will handwave that with y'all's permission and state that a series of texts clears it up as we move.


----------



## Thanee (Jul 14, 2013)

I guess we will be able to somehow find each other. 

Bye
Thanee


----------



## ThirdWizard (Jul 15, 2013)

Since Keira sent a text saying to head toward the old Bell Tower, and the ghoul in human form outside the mausoleum lair isn't trying to hide from sight, it shouldn't be too difficult to find her.


----------



## Shayuri (Jul 15, 2013)

Good deal. Thanks!


----------

