Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
Ettin
Oct 2, 2010



"Still nothing, huh?"

Arata paused his game of Arcane Werewolf Strikes Back and leaned around the cubicle wall.

Daisuke was still here, still plugging away on his tablet. The air around him was surrounded with AR sketches, still the same few characters with slightly different designs, and the floor was littered with empty crisp packets that hadn't been returned to the fabricator.

"Nope," Arata shrugged and leaned back.

"You've been typing for hours," Daisuke said. "Don't say you've been typing nothing all this time!"

"No, I've got it now," Arata said. "An epic adventure and everything. Horror, crazy themes, a bit of romance. Tales that can grab anyone's interest. It's just..."

"Yeah?" Daisuke said, knowing full well Arata was going to finish that sentence.

"The beginning," Arata said. "I'm not sure how to start it."

"Well, don't look at me," Daisuke sketched out some more feet. "I'm not a writer."

"Well, be my muse, then," Arata unpaused, and started spamming eldritch blasts again.

"Alright." Daisuke looked at the big screen in the corner. It was getting late, so instead of corporate messages and timetables it was just streaming Neo-Tokyo news.

"Hey, hey. Looks like the cops busted up a cult before they could export monster parts. Can you use that?"

"I could..." Arata mused. "I've been thinking of starting with some kind of minor villainous plot that sets up the tutorial, but I'm not sure to start the prologue with that and keep things mysterious."

Daisuke cracked open another can of soda. "Well, you told me it's better to show than tell. You could have someone be watching it on the news, and then they talk about it. Have a philosophical discussion on what they're seeing and relate it to the story's themes somehow. We talk about nothing like that all the time."

"I could," Arata nodded. "Maybe the heroes could be watching TV together."

"You could use some unrelated background characters to do a bit of worldbuilding," Daisuke said. "I've got a few character designs I can't use for the heroes."

"Why, because anything that's too freaky doesn't sell in today's technonervous culture?"

"No, they're just loving boring."

"Boring characters having a conversation about nothing..." Arata tapped his chin. "I like it, but would the boss approve it? I mean, starting a crazy tale of horror and romance with two boring guys having a conversation about nothing is a hard sell. I'd probably bore everyone to tears before it's done."

"You'll be fine if it's quick and not like, five hundred words or something," Daisuke said.

Arata shrugged and opened his word processor again. It was worth a shot.

Daisuke leaned back and admired his handiwork. Another cool dude with a sword. Hell
yes.

"Oh, or what you could do is..."






Thursday February 9 2119, 8:00PM UAE, Chinese New Year's Eve

Location: Dubai Metro D/Line Maintenance Yard A

Aspect: Maintenance Clutter


Maglev trains don't need a lot of maintenance, but when they do, they come here. One hop over the barbed wire fence and you're standing among lines and lines of empty trains, from cutting-edge units with electrical faults to decommissioned models that haven't been broken down for parts yet. There's a maintenance building off to the side, and sheds and piles of crates are scattered around so the workers don't have to go back there every few minutes. Graffiti is everywhere, because who wouldn't want to pretty up this junk dump?

You can see the skyscrapers of Dubai looming in the distance and, to the northwest, the arcology towers out in the sea. You could be out there, right, now, dancing under paper lanterns and watching people in dragon and lion costumes prance through the streets and, I don't know, watching fireworks while getting hammered or something. You could be celebrating. But nope, some G://0st dude had to hit the network with a distress call because some data retrieval mission in here was compromised. You were nearby and you've done missions before, so why not, right?

So, that's where it all starts. You guys, jumping the fence or flying in or waiting in a nearby car or however it is you guys would deal with this. Somewhere in these yards, a pasty nerd needs your help.

Maybe I should have stuck with the conversation about nothing.



. . .

Sup guys! Please post your character sheets here for quick reference later. Just the stats, I can read the OOC thread for the fluff. Rolls can be done in #redhandofdoom if you have witnesses OR by rolling Fudge dice in Orokos if you don't want to IRC it up (use the campaign name Trigger Warning: Anime).

It's up to you where you are exactly. I am going to assume a fence is not going to pose a challenge for you, and you don't need to roll.


OOC thread: Here!

And later terribly-named adventures for future reference:


Chapter 1: Beständigkeit GO!!
Chapter 2: Double Gaiden Cross: 2 Anime 4 U
Chapter 3: Your Biggest Fan (:siren: characters were resheeted with Atomic Robo rules at this point)

Ettin fucked around with this message at 11:59 on Jun 19, 2014

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

ProfessorCirno
Feb 17, 2011

The strongest! The smartest!
The rightest!
Mina Fisher



pre:
Template: Technomancer
High Concept: Technomancer Cybercriminal
Trouble: Bad With Blood
Other Aspects: Got a Lifestyle to Maintain, Infovore.exe Trojan Horse, Eternal Showoff, Hack All IPs Simultaneously, 
She Of Many Mostly Just Two Faces

FATE Points: 4/4

Skills
	+5: Hollywood Hacking
	+4: Burglary, Deceit
	+3: Casting, Will, Lore
	+2: Investigation, Stealth, Resources
	+1: Presence, Awareness, Empathy

Powers
	Ritual: Technomancy (-2)
	Refinement: 2 additional item slots (-1)

Stunts
	Honor Amongst Theives: Use Deceit instead of Contacts for Knowing People

Gear
	Four potions "programs" developed on the fly
	MeganeBeam.exe (fires AR laser, energy is transferred into real world power.  
Weapon 4, uses Hollywood Hacking for attack, one free use per session)
	Metatag: Wall (downloads BRICK_WALL.jpg as a one-shot shield in front of herself.
Block 4 vs physical attack, one free use per session)
Mina finishes hoping the fence. She's wearing dark jeans and a black T-shirt with a picture of The Little Mermaid on it, and the caption "MERMAID BITCHES RULE" to go with her neon purple lens-less glasses and piercings. Her ridiculously long hair is tied into it's typical equally ridiculously long twin braids. All in all, Mina looks less like a secret society operative, and more like an unruly young adult ready to cause trouble - and the spraycan she tosses in her hand doesn't help.

Of course, looks are deceiving.

For example, the spraycan doesn't actually exist. It's purely an AR cyberobject, a representation of a pre-existing program set to work with AR specs and shock feedback modules to replicate the form of a spraycan. And the pack of chalk she has in her back pocket is for drawing out the bizarre ritualistic designs needed for the technomantic process of encoding. And the smokes she has in her front pocket are...

Well, those are just smokes.

"What an idiot, getting stuck in here like this. I swear, at least half of G://0st couldn't run an actual mission if they did it piggyback on an army of tagers."

Mina waggles her fingers and quickly pulls up an AR map of the area and begins trying to figure where exactly the distress call came from.

ProfessorCirno fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Jul 29, 2013

grassy gnoll
Aug 27, 2006

The pawsting business is tough work.
Sharon-715



Sharon hits the ground after Mina, keeping one hand pressed firmly against tonight's wig. She creeps up behind the technomancer, literally beaming at her cohort, thanks to the faint thaumoluminescent glow of her eye implants.

"Yeah, I don't know what it is about folks in Ghost. You guys get captured or in trouble a lot! Like, you remember that time I had to fly out to Chicago and body-check that one federal agent so you'd have time to get away? It happens all the time!"

Even Sharon's whispers are pitch-perfect. It's a shame about not having a script for her, though.


Sharon-715

Core Concept: Literally Manufactured Pop Singer
Global Media Sensation
Words Pressing on Your Brainstem
Great PR Team
Weird Anatomy

Physical: OOO
Mental: OOOO

MODES

Another Fine Product of B/PbAML +3
Athletics +4
Combat +3
Contacts +5
Empathy +4
Performance +4
Provoke +4
Rapport +4
Will +5

Banter +2
Deceive +3

Intrigue +1
Burglary +1
Notice +1
Stealth +1

Stunts

Sociopathic Confidence: Use Will to defend or overcome outside of
normal contexts, but only in situations where it is patently ridiculous to
do so (Megastunt, 2 stunts worth)

Media Sensation: Absolutely a better Performer than any human,
but at the cost of being weak to PR conditioning.

Gear: Built-in concert rig - +1 to Performance when singing or
building audio-visual backgrounds. Can use Performance to attack in combat situations by generating loud noises.

Conditioned martial artist: +1 to Combat attacks and defense when unarmed.


Trigger Doujin (Sharon): These doujin either mess up the characters or run with fan interpretations as a joke. With this collection of doujin you can spend a fate point to edit any character or situation aspect you're aware of, and gain a free invoke. These changes last for the scene or until just after you leave, and you need permission from the players to edit their aspects.

grassy gnoll fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Jul 16, 2014

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.
Sun Yue



Sun Yue hops directly over the fence and lands softly next to the other two women. She looks around at all the trains, clearly fascinated. After a moment, she reaches down and pauses her music. "What kind of distress was this person in? I wasn't really paying attention earlier."

-------------

High Concept: Combo #5, Death God With a Side of Wuxia
Trouble: Dreamy Transfer Student

Aspects: When You Snatch the Peb- Oh. Uh, Next Lesson!, A Sword in a Stone? Sure Whatever., Shinigangnam Style, Double Order of Sorcerer, Hold the Sashimi, No Minute Like the Last Minute


Powers
Soul Relic [-2] (Supernatural Speed)
Kanai Anzen [–1]
Zen Direction [-1]
Sora no Kokei [–1]
Shinigami Taishitsu [-0]
Shi no Te [-1]

Skills
5: I'll Show You My Kung Fu!*
4: Athletics
3: Alertness, Physique, Will
2: Investigation, Lore, Presence, Stealth
1: Driving, Empathy, Rapport, Systems

Refresh: 8-6=2

Physical [ ][ ][ ][ ]
Mental [ ][ ][ ][ ]
Social [ ][ ][ ]

Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 01:30 on Apr 16, 2013

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Da'ud ibn Husam al Din


"...how did you pronounce that?" Da'ud shakes his head at Mina, sighing. "Always, always when I am just about to head out for the night, too."

He brushes off his jacket, sighing. These things always happen in some filthy stockyard, don't they? Maybe next time he'll be lucky and it'll be at somewhere nice.

"I'm guessing cultists of some stripe. Probably for some blood ritual. Couldn't say more without any evidence, though. Still...if I were going to perform a blood sacrifice here, assuming they're using the standard al-Hazred methods or one of the Dagon variations..."

Lore roll: 4

---

High Concept: I Put On My Armani And Wizard Hat
Trouble: I Need To Know!

Aspects: Dubai Style, Master of the Occult Sciences (BPhil, MOcc), The Dagon Ethnography, "Hey, Did You See That Thing I Did?", My Love Interest Eats Monsters

Skills
Super University Level Anthropology 5
Casting 4, Resources 4
Will 3, Lore 3
Contacts 2, Presence 2, Scholarship 2, Athletics 2
Rapport 1, Survival 1, Physique 1, Empathy 1

Powers
Evocation (-3) (Elements: Fire, Air, Earth. Specialization: Control.)
Thaumaturgy (-3) (Specialization: Necromancy, Complexity.)
The Sight (-1)
Soulgaze (0)
Wizard's Constitution (0)

Item Slots
Focus Item: The Obsidian Eye of Ma'at (+3 offensive control and +1 offensive power to Earth)

Refresh: 1/8

Stress Boxes

Physical: ()()()
Mental: ()()()()
Social: ()()()

Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 01:48 on Jul 5, 2013

Old Kentucky Shark
May 25, 2012

If you think you're gonna get sympathy from the shark, well then, you won't.


Maximina von Gilgamesh



pre:
High Concept: Teenage Big Game Hunter
Trouble: Addicted to Arcanoflesh
Other Aspects: 
Born with a silver knife in her teeth
Daddy Issues
You and I remember Budapest very differently, 
GI Joe Girl in a Barbie World
I Eat Guys Like You for Breakfast!


Skills: 
      +5 Guns
      +4 Discipline, The Most Dangerous Game
      +3 Weapons, Athletics
      +2 Alertness, Contacts, Physique
      +1 Intimidation, Stealth, Resources, Lore, Rapport


Stunts:
      Sniper: +2 to damage with Guns when attacking an unaware enemy.
      Old Boy’s Network: +2 to Contacts when establishing that you know someone while near a Mythos hotspot.  


Powers: -4
      Society of Leopold: -1 (Deeper Reserves, Fellowship Training, Nightvision)
      Feeding Dependency: +1, affecting the following powers:
      Inhuman Speed: -2
      Inhuman Recovery: -2

Gear:
      Small arsenal of knives and firearms (Weapons 1-3)
      tactical vest (armor 1)
      super-cool Oakley sunglasses
      Sweet hat

Stress: 
Physical ()()()
Mental ()()()()
Social ()()
Hunger ()()()()()()


Refresh: 2/8
Maximina jumps the fence without touching the top, landing next to the group in a jingle of zippers; the tactical vest she has strapped on over her old union jack t-shirt rattles gently. "Do we think this is real trouble, or just, like, nerd trouble?" she asks Mina. "Because I could be sipping Jacquiot and throwing firecrackers off the balcony right now, so I'm going to be a trifle miffed if it turns out that some dumb git ran the flag up because their Paladin lost a Sword of Eternal Virginity +1." She lifts her sunglasses and peers into the night with eyes that reflect the light like a jungle cat's. "If I don't get my firecrackers, I ought to at least get to shoot something."

Old Kentucky Shark fucked around with this message at 02:22 on Jul 17, 2013

Davin Valkri
Apr 8, 2011

Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
Arthur "Ghost Eye" Durandall
/

pre:
Physical: [ ] [ ] ([ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] tager)
Mental: [ ] [ ] [ ] 
Social: [ ] [ ] [ ]
Fate Points/Total Refresh: 1/1

High Concept: Biseinen OOI Analyst Turned Tager
Trouble: The Price of Defection
Backstory: Wake Up, Go to Work, Help Fight Cults
Yomikiri: Whispers in the Dark
Third Volume: Old Office Interconnections
OVA: Albetson, You Magnificent Bastard, I Read Your Book!
Omake: Operation Street Sweeper

Powers:
Whisper Tager Change [-1] 
  Human Form [+1] 
  Inhuman Toughness [-2] 
  Inhuman Recovery [-2] 
  Spider Walk [–1] 
  The Catch (Stross Primes) [+3]
  Tager Senses [+0] 
  Inhuman Speed [-2]
  Supernatural Sense [-1] 
  Wings [-1] 
Total: [-6] 

Stunts
Limit Break: Once per scene, roll at attack +(total consequences on Arthur)
Total: -1

Skills (Human):
+4: Investigation, Wargaming
+3: Systems, Scholarship, Rapport
+2: Contacts, Lore, Will, Presence
+1: Stealth, Guns, Alertness, Intimidation, Empathy

Skills (Tager)
+5: Fists, Investigation
+4: Stealth, Wargaming
+3: Athletics, Physique
+2: Alertness, Will
+1: Presence, Intimidation

Equipment:
OOI standard sidearm Damage: 2

+1 Skill unused
In almost perfect silence, a daemonic bat-thing flies overhead, ciricles once, and lands on the private property side of the fence, next to the rest of the assembling group. It stands up, stretches its arm-wing things a bit, and recedes, the crest splitting into white hair, the muscles sliding back to reveal a long grey coat, changing into the rather less threatening looking form of Arthur Durandall.

"Field agent compromised and in need of extraction," sighs Arthur as he brushes his hair out of his eyes. "And I was enjoying a dragon dance, too. Ah well, sooner we pull out Mina's boyfriend, sooner we can get drinks. Now where would he be laying low...or getting cut open?"

Blinking once to enhance the night's low light, he looks over the repair yard, wondering where a nerdy Ghost agent would be trying to hide.

Let the games begin, then! Rolling Investigation to find a trail leading to a spot to hide in or use as a ritual. Searching for a nerd's hidey hole: 4dF+4 3

Davin Valkri fucked around with this message at 07:11 on Mar 23, 2014

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.
Sun Yue

Sun Yue stops fiddling with a broken valve she found and turns to look at the technomancer. "We're rescuing your boyfriend? Why didn't you tell us you had a boyfriend, Mina?" It's not clear whether she's joking.

Without waiting for a reply, she zips off deeper into the yard, looking for nerds. At least she's doing it quietly. Well trying to anyways.

Investigation: 4dF+2 4
Stealth: 4dF+2 1

ProfessorCirno
Feb 17, 2011

The strongest! The smartest!
The rightest!
Mina Fisher

Mina mostly rolls her eyes at everyone else!

"I could've lost Melvin without your help. And I dunno who this loser is. Weren't no boyfriend of mine if I never heard of him. Nerd boy better have a good reason for callin' us or I'mma hack his rear end brutal style. Leave said rear end to dry in the desert. Known for bein' dry. Internet desert. How I roll."

As Mina babbles to anyone listening, she also twitches her fingers some more, typing with near imperceptible speed. Several other maps appear and begin to overlay on top of the current one, attempting to track any outgoing or incoming signals from other people's connections.

"If nerd boy's the G://0st he's supposed to be he's probably connected SOMEHOW. Lemmy see if I can find that."

Hacking!: 4dF+4 4

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Da'ud

"We can arrange firecrackers. Or shooting." Da'ud grins at Maximina. "He's right, though, once we get this handled, you up for drinks? I know a good spot for it, it'll make up for the cognac you're not having right now."

Davin Valkri
Apr 8, 2011

Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
Arthur Durandall

"Just promise you won't look at me like I'm a Peking Duck when you're drunk, alright?" chuckles Arthur as he continues casing the scene. "Wonder what Mina's not-boyfriend was snooping for around here. Doesn't exactly look like a place for hackers and techgeeks to gather--not enough neon glo-lights and bad techno."

Old Kentucky Shark
May 25, 2012

If you think you're gonna get sympathy from the shark, well then, you won't.


Maximina von Gilgamesh.

"Aheh heh heh," Maximina laughs awkwardly and lightly chucks Arthur in the shoulder with her fist. "Hey, you know I'm not like that. I'm cool. But sure, we can go out and get drinks as soon as we rescue Mina's fake internet boyfriend."

Truthfully, the tager hardly set her hunger pangs off at all; it was the idoru who made her mouth water. Sharon might look almost entirely human, but to Mina's nostrils she smelled like a walking, talking dim sum buffet.

grassy gnoll
Aug 27, 2006

The pawsting business is tough work.
Sharon

Sharon is completely oblivious to her slavering counterpart.

"Yeah," she says to Arthur. "This'd be a pretty crappy place for a show. Although sometimes that makes for the best kind of show! I shot a video in an airport baggage claim once. They've got all sorts of cool robot arms and stuff back in one of those."

Sharon blinks as she recalls several hundred faces and names, none of which are attached to turning into a giant bat-thing. "Hi, I'm Sharon. Nice to meet you!"

I am pretty sure Arthur is the only person here Sharon doesn't know in some capacity. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Ettin
Oct 2, 2010
Discovery

When you head towards the middle of the yards, where Da'ud thinks there'd be a ritual, you make a discovery!

There are dudes here. If you had to guess, judging by their clothes and the way at least one of them is high out of his mind and should in no way be allowed to have an SMG, you'd say they were Sons of the Scirocco. They're loosely patrolling a section of the yards, wandering up and down the mazes of junk between trains and swinging their flashlight at interesting patches of dirt or rummaging through the carriages like they're looking for something.

Their current base is a little clearing between the ends of a few trains, where someone has left a campfire and a couple of bags. You can't see your fellow vigilante - some programmer ironically codenamed Haxz0rl33t, according to his Soul Network profile - but Mina's tags say he's there, against the other end of the ten-car train you're hiding behind. Probably not dead. A couple of the Sons are drawing a magic circle on the concrete.

Nobody has seen you yet, but there's a dude with a sword perched on a couple of shipping crates by the clearing that looks pretty worrying.



He's just crouching there, leaning on his sword and watching the circle like he's sure the Sons will ruin it if he looks away for more than a minute. Still clearly keeping an eye out, though.

They haven't spotted you yet.

Ettin fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Jan 31, 2013

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.
Sun Yue

Sun Yue stops when the Sons come into view, and backs up to join the others. In particular she keeps her eye on the guy with the sword. She whispers, "Hey that guy has a sword. I totally have to go fight him. It's the Shinigami code." It most certainly isn't. "We should probably deal with those stupid Sons too. Those guys are jerks. What do you think?"

Sun Yue keeps checking out the swordsman, trying to figure out how strong his style is.

Kung Fu Assessment: 4dF+5 6

Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Jan 31, 2013

Ettin
Oct 2, 2010
Sun Yue

I am going to go ahead and steal a Fate Core rule: you got 3 or more shifts, so you succeeded with style and get an added benefit!

Sun Yue can tell he can handle a sword well, but he could probably stand to be more ready to fight. He's looking over the ritual-in-progres like he knows his stuff, though! Sun Yue guesses that he only Minored In Swords, and lacks some of the tricks a sword expert like her could pick up.

That is one hosed Up Left Eye though. Sun Yue can't tell if it's missing entirely or what, but she can worry about that later. He definitely isn't watching his left side with a patch over it though.

Sun Yue gets a free tag on both of those!

ProfessorCirno
Feb 17, 2011

The strongest! The smartest!
The rightest!
Mina Fisher

Mina grins widely!

"Got him! I'll see if I can contact him. Hold up..."

There is a faint static buzz and what appears to be several small furry balls materialize out of the net. Mina points dramatically upwards!

"Line up!"



"Alright, I need you to canvas the area. Some of you, head here" Dramatic point at the map! "to get in contact with this annoying git. The rest of you spread out to keep a watch on this area. And stay hidden!

She gives the others another grin. "Names Mina. Those're my mojos. Simply spyware programs I've modified using technomancy to carry signals, utilize sensors, and maybe a few other tricks. I also gave them a bit of intelligence and some cybermaterial, too, so they're partially real! Don't tell anyone though. They're illegal. And I'm super illegal for doing it."

The mojos spread out! Assuming some get close enough, Mina throws a signal through the shallows of the net, then bounces it off the mojo to connect to the wayward ghost!

She sends him an image! It is a picture of her pulling down one eyelid and sticking out her tongue. Technically it also has G://0st signature code interlaced in it so he knows she's on his side.

More hacking! Seeing if I can get a clear view of him, and then contacting him! If it's high enough, adding a maneuver to the area like Mina's Watching You or something like that~

Hacking!: 4dF+4 2

Davin Valkri
Apr 8, 2011

Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
Arthur Durandall FP 1-1/1

"Arthur, likewise," he tells Sharon as they move forwards quietly. "You know the OOI had quite the file on--"

He shuts up when he sees the SMG-toting gang members ahead. Sons of the Scirocco, eh? What were they drawing here?

"So much for nerds losing their virgin swords, or whatever that was. Wonder what they're trying to draw...excuse me a moment, would you?"

He retreats a few paces back into the darkness, takes a deep breath, and lets the power of the symbiote wash over him once again. Resisting the urge to announce himself as "GHOST EYE, TAGER OF WHISPERS!", he takes off as quietly as he can and takes the bird's eye view, using his fancy tager sensory abilities to gather as much information as he can about where the Sons are, and what they're up to.

Guessing that's two rolls. Rolling in #redhandofdoom:
Investigation 4dF+5: 5
Stealth 4dF+4: 2 FATE POINT INVOKED: Whispers in the Dark. +2 = 4
Goddammit.

Davin Valkri fucked around with this message at 07:03 on Jan 31, 2013

Old Kentucky Shark
May 25, 2012

If you think you're gonna get sympathy from the shark, well then, you won't.


Maximina von Gilgamesh

Maximina's hand is halfway to the hilt of the weapon on her back when Sun Yue calls dibs on the swordsman. "Awww." Stupid Shinigami code. It's been simply ages since she got to fence someone interesting.

Instead, she reaches over her other shoulder and unslings a compact black package made of chunky plastic. With unnerving speed she breaks it down into its component parts, snapping the barrel and scope into place and pulling out the telescoping stock. The Stolbolvoy-Enfield Type-00 was developed for use by European SWAT units who wanted a man-portable anti-material rifle that could be quickly deployed in crisis situations. Maximina's father had had this one re-chambered to fire 14.9mm 1000 grain big game rounds at something like twice the speed of sound.

That had been a good birthday: 14.9mm for his 15 year old princess.

Maximina works the bolt and loads a bullet thicker than her thumb. "I'll have your back," she promises Sun Yue, fixing her sights on the nearest Son of Sirroco with an SMG. "Can't let you get shot in the back while you're having your little sword-fight."


Aiming: 4dF+5 5

Ettin
Oct 2, 2010
I've been assuming everything is Difficulty 2 or 3, so you place maneuvers!

Investigation

Arthur takes off! From what he can see there are two sketching the circle, three guarding them, two patrolling different halves of the nearby area and three rummaging alone in trains, looking for something. Probably not too tough though. Most of them are On Their Own, and expecting fellows in trouble to shout for assistance.

Arthur's not sure what the sword guy's deal is but he doesn't look like a Son of the Sirocco. Exhibit A: He is clearly not stoned or incompetent.

(Arthur gets a tag! Mina also gets her maneuver off, but it's fragile.)


Meanwhile, Maximina aims! She puts Got Your Back on the Sons.


Mina's Watching You

Mina and Arthur spot Haxz0rl33t sitting against a train! He is a pretty boring dude with mousy blonde hair and a hint of chubbiness wrapped in a videogame shirt; it looks like someone has slashed his stomach and left him there to nurse his wounds. He's not dead, but getting himself out of this jam would be difficult at best.

His sweet AR shades are cracked, so contact is difficult, but Mina overhears a conversation between the two boring guys - one with a pretentious college beard and one with a shaved head that looks awful on him - setting up the ritual:

"...Tell me what word I'm thinking of," College Beard is saying.

"Leprosy?" Shaved asks.

"No, that's not it... metaphor! It's a sexy song, it's a funky song, it's a song about dinosaurs eating people, but it is really just a metaphor for loving people, right?"

"Can't say I'm following you."

"Because sometimes when you gently caress somebody you feel like a dinosaur."

Sword dude stands up. "Oy. You two have been having a conversation about nothing for ten minutes now. Are we going to possess this guy or what?"

"Sorry, Mr Tsurugi," Shaved says, and gets back to work. "Can't rush it."

"It's just habit," Beard says. "Y'know parkour?"

"Parkour?" Shaved says.

"Free running! The art of vaulting over fences, scaling walls, flipping off buildings and all that, right? You know how the point of doing it is because moving so fast and unconventionally is fun in and of itself?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I do a bit of that, just in an intellectual-slash-conversational sense."

There's a long pause, and then Tsurugi draws a second sword.

"Sorry boss."

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Da'ud

Da'ud reaches into his jacket, pulling forth the Egyptian amulet he uses for power. "Hm..." Magic is taxing, so it'd be better to be sure of what's going on. He watches the Sons, listening to their discussion and sighing. "Idiots...but a possession..."

He looks at the circle they are drawing, furrowing his brow. What power are they drawing on? That could be useful to know, perhaps to tap into when the attack begins. He dons the amulet, then reaches into his pocket for a coin, flipping it between his fingers as he thinks. "I'll be ready when we begin."

Lore Assessment: 2. Probably not much of use there, but I'm okay with it.

Ettin
Oct 2, 2010
Circle

Da'ud isn't sure it's for, but the circle Tsurugi is directing them to draw is heavy on the fractals and he recognises the pattern - looks like one of the rituals favoured by the Disciples of the Cold Ones.

ProfessorCirno
Feb 17, 2011

The strongest! The smartest!
The rightest!
Mina Fisher

"Oh what eff these people, they're the most horrible people."

Mina shares the picture - if not the terrible audio between the cultists - with the others!

"Nerd alert here has broken glasses 'cause he's too stupid to get proper upgrades like I did, so we can't talk to him. They're doing a big ritual to possess him."

Mina then waits awhile before nodding at the others.

"Well? Do your whole...violence thing. Stick some swords in them."

Old Kentucky Shark
May 25, 2012

If you think you're gonna get sympathy from the shark, well then, you won't.


"Why do they want to possess a gutshot nerd?" Maximina wonders aloud as she peers through the sight. "Wouldn't that kind of suck for them?" She takes a deep breath, and then releases it. "On your mark, Sun Yue."

Under her breath, she hums, "Old MacDonald had a farm, ee-aye-ee-aye-oh..."

Davin Valkri
Apr 8, 2011

Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
Arthur Durandall FP 0/1

"Wow, these guys do not know how to guard a hostage," chuckles Arthur as he looks over the scattered Sons. The apparent leader, Mr. Tsurugi, looks more competent, but his eyes aren't everywhere...

"Gonna see if I can't get one of these lone ones alive. Live intel's always good. Hang on."

He swoops down behind one of the Sons rummaging about in an open traincar and grabs him in a tight chokehold, wings hopefully preventing him from seeing his assailant or crying out as Arthur tries to render him unconscious.

Sam Fisher action, Tager style! I'm guessing that's one Stealth roll, and a Fists roll.
Stealth: 4dF+4= 4
Fists: 4dF+2= -1 TAGGING "ON THEIR OWN" = 1

Ettin
Oct 2, 2010
Uh Oh

Arthur grabs his target, but not fast enough! He lets out a yelp and drops his flashlight before Arthur can get a good grip.

"What was that?" Tsurugi looks around!

"What was what, Ken-sama?" A particularly high guard asks.

"For God's... just get ready!"


Looks like they know someone is here!


Fight time! Here's a map:



Katanas are Tsurugi, Oranges are the circle guys, Red are the other Sirocco goons, G://0st icon is your mark, and if you guys have a preference for actual icons for you guys I am all ears.

Zones are the trains, the spaces between the trains and the circle area to the north. The scene still has Maintenance Clutter - the spaces between trains are a mess of crates, scrap metal, train parts etc. and the trains themselves are packed with seats. I am going to assume the trains themselves have enough open windows and doors that moving through them isn't much of a problem.

You can get a surprise round to get into position and take shots at the mooks/Tsurugi if you like! But...


:siren: Everyone except Sun Yue who targets the pretentious cultist by the circle first gets a Fate Point, because gently caress that guy.

:getin: Sun Yue is compelled to go for Tsurugi instead because shinigami code.

I am totally using those icons for bonus rules and compels.

Ettin fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Feb 1, 2013

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Da'ud (FP: 3)

"Couldn't say, but...I know those marks. This is being manipulated by the Cold Ones. They have a good reason. But we can handle this."

Da'ud smiles broadly, turning to Maximina.

"Bet I can keep up with you in takedowns."

She's got more bullets than he has spells, of course, but Da'ud is more than happy to go for style to keep up. He turns, though, as Parkour Guy keeps talking. His expression turns from a smile to annoyance. This guy is insufferable. He raises his hand, closing his eyes as the shouting starts.

Around his feet, a circle of light appears. Arcane runes circle its edges, and lightning sparks up around him. Da'ud opens his eyes, speaking a few words of ancient Egyptian under his breath. The electricity traces around his body, sparking up. The coin in his open palm hovers upwards, spinning end over end. Da'ud takes a breath, and then speaks in a loud, firm voice.

"So, you think you're clever, hm? If you're such an intellectual, can you tell me - do you know what magnetism can do? It can take something small and move it far faster than any gun. With just a little power, it can create a weapon more devastating than anything you've ever seen."

Lightning sparks over the coin, surrounding Da'ud's hand.

"But no, you couldn't understand from words. Let me show you. It's called..."

He raises his palm to point at Parkour Guy. The electricity seems to explode around the coin...and then there's only the afterimage of an intensely bright light, almost like a laser, following the coin as it races for the man at supersonic speeds.

"A railgun."

Earth element. Summoning four shifts of power for Weapon 4, taking 1 mental stress.
Control/Attack Roll: [22:59] <Krysmbot> MorsRattus, --/-+8 = 5

Also, gonna suggest a compel of Hey, Did You See That Thing I Did? because this is deliberately flashy and unsubtle as hell for the sake of trying to impress everyone.

Davin Valkri
Apr 8, 2011

Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
Arthur Durandall FP 0+1?/1

Arthur's sonar sense goes a little wonky at the yelp and dropping flashlight, the clattering of the dropped light in particular making big white flashes in his crest.

"Gaaaah!" he yells, dropping the unconscious Son and clutching his head for a moment. He catches his breath and thinks, "Dammit! Screw stealth, time to disrupt the ritual!"

With speed just this side of "impossible, he dashes out the train window and into the center of the yard, the sheer rapidity kicking up chalk dust and disrupting the circle just a bit.

"Hey there!" he calls out to one man directly in front of him, extending one wing to nail him in the face in passing.

I'm going to hit that pretentious cultist by the circle, thank you! And thanks to my Inhuman Speed, I don't even take a malus on the roll!
Punch that pretentious bastard! 4dF+2=...-1?! Has this thing ever cut positive?!

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.
Sun Yue (FP: 3)

Seeing the fight getting started without her, Sun Yue leaps into action. She dashes forward, covering the ground in effortless floating bounds, her feet barely seeming to touch the ground. She runs up the side of one train, then leaps to the side of the other and back, ping-ponging her way up the cars. She hops up on top of the one closer to Ken when she reaches the end of it, using it as a base to make a flying leap at him. As she takes to the air, Yue whips Fate Defying Destiny from its sheathe with a hum of spiritual energy, the blade pointed directly at her foe and seeming almost to pull her towards him.

Supernatural Speed puts me at the top of the initiative, unless someone else has it which means we go in Alertness order, or if someone has Mythic Speed which trumps it. Also I can move two zones without taking a penalty.

[23:15] <Krysmbot> Gorby|Dead, -/+-+5 = 4 Kung Fu to attack Ken

grassy gnoll
Aug 27, 2006

The pawsting business is tough work.
Sharon

There's this one technique in Songfight matches that you can use when you're not busy pummeling someone with your fists. See, you can use anything you can bring on-stage and keep your hands on as a weapon, so long as it's related to your performance. Skinny Black was pretty big as a guitar fencer a few years back, for instance, and Ai€sha could do some really mean things with her drumsticks.

Sharon A) hits people and B) is worth the combined income of a small town in terms of implanted concert machinery, and what she's learned to do is be Loud.

Something that's not quite a rift in space opens at carefully plotted points around the trainyard and classical music at hellacious volume spills out, finely tuned and shaped to blast the hell out of the cultists' eardrums. It's not loud enough to be incapacitating by itself, but it sure as hell is distracting.

For best enjoyment, turn your speakers all the way up and listen to this. 4dF +5 = +3 to create a new unplesasnt aspect for the cultists.

Old Kentucky Shark
May 25, 2012

If you think you're gonna get sympathy from the shark, well then, you won't.


Maximina von Gilgamesh: FP = 2

Mors Rattus posted:

Da'ud smiles broadly, turning to Maximina.

"Bet I can keep up with you in takedowns."
"If I win, I get to pick out your wardrobe for a week." Maximina settles her sight on the pretentious hipster, exhales, and squeezes the trigger. The gun roars, slamming backwards into her shoulder like a rugby forward and muzzle-flash illuminates the night. She rarely bothers with silencers; they don't tend to work on monsters. There are layers of sheet metal and broken glass providing cover between her and her target, and also she's shooting through most of a train, but .577 Tyrannosaur rounds don't really care about that sort of thing.

"Should I collect now?" Maximina asks, rising from her position and dropping the rifle. She draws a revolver the approximate size of a cannon from her shoulder holster and runs up the side of the closes train car to land on top of it.

Tagging Got Your back + Guns Annie Oakley: 4dF+7 = 6, which is, like, good and stuff.

Maximina will sprint forward a zone to run along the top of the train; the laws of anime demand that she engage in gunplay from near-point blank range for maximum coolness. She takes no penalty thanks to Inhuman Speed.

Old Kentucky Shark fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Feb 1, 2013

ProfessorCirno
Feb 17, 2011

The strongest! The smartest!
The rightest!
Mina Fisher

Mina meanwhile works her hacker magic to hahaha no she looks away flinching at the sound of gunfire and the sight of a warm body going splat.

Compelling my Trouble!

ProfessorCirno fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Feb 1, 2013

Ettin
Oct 2, 2010
Alas, Pretentious Dude

OKS: Since these cultists are not that tough, I won't make you tag Got Your Back! This is why I decided it was placed on the cultists as a group. You can tag it to shoot one later if you like. Also ha ha there is no way he is dodging well enough to not get taken out.

Sun Yue, Da'ud and Mina get a Point from compels and Arthur, Da'ud, Sharon and Maximina get one for doing something that hurts that pretentious dick. Also Sharon creates a maneuver!


"Wha--" is about all that bearded guy gets out in response to Da'ud before he is nailed with a coin. And also bullets! He goes down.

"poo poo!" the other cultists shout as Hellacious Music fills the area, and ready their SMGs.

- - -

Tsurugi

quote:

<Krysmbot> Ettin, /-//+3 = 2

Sun Yue deals 2+Weapon damage(-1 armour from the sweet jacket)! I am assuming your katana is 3, so that is 4 total. It is Weapon: 2, whoops! 3.

Ken Tsurugi: OOXO

Tsurugi brings up both swords to block, but the blow still sends him reeling. Undeterred, he spins both katanas and assumes a combat stance.

"Should have known you'd call in your friends! I hope you're ready for the twin blades of Dr Tsurugi!"

- - -

Fight!

Initiative order, based on Alertness:

Sun Yue (3/Supernatural Speed)
Arthur (5/Inhuman Speed)
Maximina (3/Inhuman Speed)
Ken Tsurugi (2)
Da'ud (1)
Mina (1)
Sharon (0)
Jinn (0)

And since the Jinn minions blow anyway, here are their stats!

pre:
JINN
Aspects
Scirocco Minions
High As A Kite

Skills
Fair (+2): Guns
Average (+1): Athletics, Perception

Combat
Physical OO, Armour: 1
lovely SMGs – Weapon: 2
And an updated map! I added markers for you and put crosses on the taken-out guys. I assumed Sharon didn't move much since I didn't see anything about that, but feel free to correct me.


Ettin fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Feb 2, 2013

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.
Sun Yue

"I can't wait to see it! In return I will show you my snake style. Watch closely!" Sun Yue adopts more solid footing, letting her upper body wave back and forth in a sinuous motion. She leans to one side, then the other, then back - and suddenly snaps forward, her sword darting low for the knee, whipping back again and stabbing high for the eyes.

Snake Style Kung Fu: 4dF+5 8

Ettin
Oct 2, 2010
Tsurugi

quote:

<Krysmbot> Ettin, /+--+3 = 2

:stare: It's not his day is it? Well, he can take that with some consequences, but he'd rather concede and run.

Sun Yue slashes Tsurugi across the face.

His eyepatch falls away.





"Keh!" Tsurugi glares at Haxz0rl33t. "Fine, you can have them. But this isn't over, shinigami."

He focuses on some distant point over Sun Yue's shoulder and his weird eye flares as his body glows, then implodes into it. The eye winks out.

You still have no idea what that guy's deal is.

Old Kentucky Shark
May 25, 2012

If you think you're gonna get sympathy from the shark, well then, you won't.


Maximina von Gilgamesh FP = 3

Maximina runs along the top of the train car almost faster than the eye can follow and backflips off of it, coming down in the center of the weird magic-nerd circle and positioning herself between Arthur and the other goons. Her Tsunami Arms Helix barks in her hands, dropping another armed minion.

"Two!" she announces to Du'ad.

"Looks like your boss buggered off. I'd start running," she advises the other Sons of Sirroco as she sweeps her pistol towards them.


Shooting a Jinn: 4dF+5 4

Arthur should go before Maximina in initiative because his Tager form has a better alertness than she does.

Ettin
Oct 2, 2010
Whoops, so he does. Oh well, you all go before the bad guys now anyway :allears:

quote:

<Krysmbot> Ettin, +--/+1 = 0

Another Son goes down in a spray of blood!


With Tsurugi gone pretty much everyone goes before the cultists anyway, so the remaining fighters can post their turns wherever. Now's your chance to show off in the intro fight!

Davin Valkri
Apr 8, 2011

Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
Arthur Durandall FP 1/1

Arthur's attempted wing-slap goes neatly over his intended target, but he's soon neutralized by fire and a thrown coin (?!) from Maximina and Da'ud. He can't let himself get psyched out by it. Mina's boyfriend needs protection, after all.

"Don't worry, Hacksorleet!" he growls out as he swings for the next nearest Jinn. "Your girlfriend's here for you!"

Punch other Orange Guy: 4dF+2 3

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Da'ud - FP: 3

Since Tsurugi is running, I don't see much need to wait, since there's enough cultist for everyone!

Da'ud grins. "Fine - but if I win, you have to spend a day wherever I feel like."

Da'ud closes his eyes again, chanting in Egyptian. The magic circle around him begins to rotate, the runes and hieroglyphs within it shifting. The air around him begins to hum and smell of ozone. He points at the Jinn in front of him, his eyes snapping open.

"If I were you, I'd move."

Which is when the stone beneath the man's feet juts upwards, forming a spiky rift that threatens to smash into him from below with amazing force. Da'ud's other hand points at another of the jinn. He barks another word in the ancient tongue, and the magic circle shifts again beneath him. This time, it manifests in the form of crushing force bearing down on the man as gravity strengthens itself several times over, to break his bones and send him down. Da'ud turns to Maximina.

"Three."

Summoning five shifts of power, which gives me a 2-stress hit, so now I have (X)(X)()() mental stress.

Splits into Weapon: 3 and Weapon: 2

Control Roll of 9, which I split into a 5 for the 2 and a 4 for the 3.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

grassy gnoll
Aug 27, 2006

The pawsting business is tough work.
Sharon

Sharon disappears from beside Minimina, loping down the alley between train cars, dancing around obstructions and the detritus of the marshaling yard. The music continues to thump in her ear implants, and in the bones of the poor suckers in her "audience."

The star skids in on the gravel near the summoning circle and converts her momentum into a spin, driving a kick square into the back of her target.

Moving to be beside Hacksor and Attacking the goon next to him with Fists, -2 + 4 = +2 net.

  • Locked thread