Heroica: Glory Amongst the Stars - Mission #9: He's Dead, Jim

Duvors · February 19, 2022

7 hours ago, Yzalirk said:

"I agree to your terms, Kenshi. A friendly duel, a simple test of skill. Are you ready?"

"Very well then, let us begin. Stand back!"
As he calls out to the crowd, he draws his sword in a lightning flash of motion. The crowd, startled by this, draws away form the center of the street, leaving a clear space down the middle.

"Oh for goodness sake." You hear Vinoq say as he draws the curtains of his shelter together.

"What. Is. Happening."

"Kenshi is having one of his duels again. Go Kenshi!"

And... Fight!

Special Rules
Duelists:
Vitality is replaced by Stamina, your Stamina is the same as your Vitality, but it cannot be raised by healing items and being reduced to 0 will not render your character unstable.
In the absence of cover, and with only two combatants, distance is the only part of the grid needed. To compensate for restricted maneuverability, Duelists may move through each other's space.
Bystanders:
The only actions Bystanders can take are Rally, Defend, and Try Something. They cannot be attacked. Bystanders cannot attempt to directly hinder the Duelists.
Bystanders allied to one of the fighters can Try Something to convince other bystanders to support their preferred fighter.
Support for the fighters is on the following scale: Allied - Neutral - Enemy. Shifting a bystander's opinion along this track by one is a DC 1 check, by two is DC 3.

Round 0
Ronin Initiative Check: (3,3,5,4) Two Successes.
Decker Initiative Check: (2,2) No Successes.

Kenshi Initiative Check: (2,2,2) No Successes.
Errr... 'Cyberdude' Initiative Check: (5,2,3) One Success.

Neutral bystanders do not take actions.

Enemy

Kenshi (Duelist)
??? cycles old male Human Swashbuckler
Stamina: 6/6
Velocity: 3
Strength: 3
Skill: 3
Smarts: 1
Proficiencies: Acrobatics 5, Insight 1, Melee 3, Performance 1
Credits: 10
Equipment: Well Made Sword (Calibrated Kinetic Melee Weapon), Cognitive Enhancer (Tool) adds +1 die to Skill and Smarts Checks
Inventory: Pizza (Consumable) Has 4 uses, heals 2 Vitality per use. Multiple uses may be spent in one action, and may be split between self and adjacent allies.

'Cyberdude' (Bystander)
Velocity: 3
Skill: 2
Smarts: 2
Proficiencies: Persuasion 2
Special, Cannot be convinced to not support Kenshi.

Party

Ronin (Yzalirk) (Duelist)
[REDACTED] Male [REDACTED]
Character Points: 0/19
Stamina: 7/7
Velocity: 3 4
Strength: 1
Skill: 4
Smarts: 3
Spirit: 0/0
Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Artillery 1, Deception 1, Melee Weapons 2, Perception 1, Stealth 1, Survival 1
Known Spells: None
Credits: 222
Equipment: Cloaking Generator, Hard Light Katana (Calibrated Energy Melee Weapon), Rocketpack - Armor Attachment (+1 to Velocity when wearing this armor)
Inventory: Gator Tooth (Can be converted into either a Kinetic or Elemental Standard Melee Weapon by a craftsman), Ion Laser (Calibrated Energy Artillery Weapon), Flashlight (Tool), Workman's Outfit (Standard Kinetic Armor) Filtration, Frozen Blood (Consumable) ???, Sleep Gel (Consumable) ???, Lamplight (Consumable) ???, Æther Shroud (Consumable) ???, Cytherian Salts x2 (Consumable) ???

Decker DaCabe (Endgame) (Bystander)
24 year old male Human
Velocity: 2
Skill: 3
Smarts: 1
Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 1, Short Range Weapons 2, Medicine 1, Perception 1, Athletics 1
Credits: 52
Equipment: Double Barrel Voltaic Shotgun (Calibrated Energy Short Range Weapon), Workman's Outfit (Standard Kinetic Armor) Filtration
Inventory: Unloaded Pistol (Calibrated Kinetic Melee Weapon), Sandblasted Cuirass (Standard Kinetic Armor), Flashlight (Tool), Old Wolfclaw Veteran's Shield (Substandard Kinetic Armor) Dented Iron, Telescopic Stock - Weapon Attachment (Spend an action to change this weapon's optimal range by 1 category), Plasma Potion 2x

Unaligned Bystanders

Helena Morrigan
Velocity: 2
Skill: 3
Smarts: 3
Proficiencies: Deception 1, Persuasion 1
Special: Cannot be more than one step away from Hector McCloud.

Hector McCloud
Velocity: 2
Skill: 2
Smarts: 1
Proficiencies: Persuasion 3
Special: Cannot be more than one step away from Helena Morrigan.

Elfonn Deshelf
Velocity: As fast as Decker
Skill: 5
Smarts: 5
Proficiencies: Insight 5, Intimidation 5, Perception 5, Stealth 5
Special: Requires bribery.

Pip
Velocity: 1
Skill: 1
Smarts: 1
Proficiencies: Persuasion 3
Special: Can only shift alignment away from the heroes via intimidation.

'Rock Elf'
Velocity: 2
Skill: 2
Smarts: 1
Proficiencies: Intimidation 1, Perfomance 3, Persuasion 1

'Robo Girl'
Velocity: 1
Skill: 1
Smarts: 2
Proficiencies: Intimidation 3

'Bookseller'
Velocity: 1
Skill: 1
Smarts: 4
Proficiencies: Deception 1, Persuasion 2, Performance 1
Special: Convincing them to move away from unaligned is a DC 3 Check.

'Magnificent Mustache'
Velocity: 2
Skill: 3
Smarts: 3
Proficiencies: None that would help.

'Posh Guy'
Velocity: 1
Skill: 0
Smarts: 5
Proficiencies: None that would help.
Credits: 65

'Uhhh... Mushrooms?'
Velocity: 1
Skill: 1
Smarts: 2
Proficiencies: Deception 2, Intimidation 1, Performance 2, Persuasion 2

Edited February 19, 2022 by Duvors

Endgame · February 20, 2022

Decker eyes the pile of mushrooms. Was that... Did he see it twitch? Is it sentient? Decker wasn't sure if he wanted the support of it or the weird elf. But eh, time to stand up for his friend.

Decker starts off by trying something and going to a familiar face in the crowd, Pip. He gives him an encouraging slap on the back. "Well, Pip, we've gotten ourselves into a bit of a situation, hah! This is my first time seeing a spectacle like this - but I take it it's not your first, chum? Why not root for the newcomer, eh?"

Yzalirk · February 20, 2022

Remaining in his fighting stance, as still as can be, he looks at Decker and motions him in. He whispers.

"In order to win this favor of the crowd, I need your help. If you still have that mushroom that short elf wanted, win him over with it. Then maybe he can convince..."
He looks over at the crowd and spots the sentient mushroom cluster.
"Are those things alive? Very well. Maybe the mushroom man will convince those mushrooms next."

Ronin moves up to 3 and stands his ground, twirling his katana and leaving blue trails around him.

Duvors · February 20, 2022

Round 1
Ronin moves to 3
Ronin defends himself
Decker Persuasion Check (DC 1): (1,4,4) two successes

'Cyberdude attempts to convince the Mushrooms.
'Cyberdude' Persuasion Check (DC 1): (1,1,5,1,6) two successes
Kenshi moves to 6
Kenshi defends himself

Pip Initiative Check: (1) no successes

'Mushroom' Initiative Check: (1) no successes.

The fight begins with the two fighters circling each-other, sizing each-other up, trying to spot weaknesses in their opponent's stance. Slowly, the two draw closer, the tension so thick you could cut the air with a knife. Ronin shifts his stance to one where he was swiftly strike or parry from below and to the side. Kenshi responds by discarding his purely defensive stance for one that can shift freely between defense and attack. The crowd hangs on the action, waiting to see who makes the first move. Some are not content to merely wait though, The Kenshi's cyborg fan sidles over to the pile of mobile mushrooms, saying something to it you can't quite hear. Whatever it was, it must've been convincing, as the 'shrooms wave their tendrils in what seems to be affirmation. Decker, for his part, decides to seek the support of his new friend.

21 hours ago, Endgame said:

He gives him an encouraging slap on the back. "Well, Pip, we've gotten ourselves into a bit of a situation, hah! This is my first time seeing a spectacle like this - but I take it it's not your first, chum? Why not root for the newcomer, eh?"

Pip nods in response. "Yeah," he says, "It's the least I can do."

Enemy

Kenshi (Duelist)
??? cycles old male Human Swashbuckler
Stamina: 6/6
Velocity: 3
Strength: 3
Skill: 3
Smarts: 1
Proficiencies: Acrobatics 5, Insight 1, Melee 3, Performance 1
Credits: 10
Equipment: Well Made Sword (Calibrated Kinetic Melee Weapon), Cognitive Enhancer (Tool) adds +1 die to Skill and Smarts Checks
Inventory: Pizza (Consumable) Has 4 uses, heals 2 Vitality per use. Multiple uses may be spent in one action, and may be split between self and adjacent allies.

'Cyberdude' (Bystander)
Velocity: 3
Skill: 2
Smarts: 2
Proficiencies: Persuasion 2
Special: Cannot be convinced to not support Kenshi.

'Intelligent Mushrooms' (Bystander)
Velocity: 1
Skill: 1
Smarts: 2
Proficiencies: Deception 2, Intimidation 1, Performance 2, Persuasion 2

Party

Ronin (Yzalirk) (Duelist)
[REDACTED] Male [REDACTED]
Character Points: 0/19
Stamina: 7/7
Velocity: 3 4
Strength: 1
Skill: 4
Smarts: 3
Spirit: 0/0
Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Artillery 1, Deception 1, Melee Weapons 2, Perception 1, Stealth 1, Survival 1
Known Spells: None
Credits: 222
Equipment: Cloaking Generator, Hard Light Katana (Calibrated Energy Melee Weapon), Rocketpack - Armor Attachment (+1 to Velocity when wearing this armor)
Inventory: Gator Tooth (Can be converted into either a Kinetic or Elemental Standard Melee Weapon by a craftsman), Ion Laser (Calibrated Energy Artillery Weapon), Flashlight (Tool), Workman's Outfit (Standard Kinetic Armor) Filtration, Frozen Blood (Consumable) ???, Sleep Gel (Consumable) ???, Lamplight (Consumable) ???, Æther Shroud (Consumable) ???, Cytherian Salts x2 (Consumable) ???

Decker DaCabe (Endgame) (Bystander)
24 year old male Human
Velocity: 2
Skill: 3
Smarts: 1
Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 1, Short Range Weapons 2, Medicine 1, Perception 1, Athletics 1
Credits: 52
Equipment: Double Barrel Voltaic Shotgun (Calibrated Energy Short Range Weapon), Workman's Outfit (Standard Kinetic Armor) Filtration
Inventory: Unloaded Pistol (Calibrated Kinetic Melee Weapon), Sandblasted Cuirass (Standard Kinetic Armor), Flashlight (Tool), Old Wolfclaw Veteran's Shield (Substandard Kinetic Armor) Dented Iron, Telescopic Stock - Weapon Attachment (Spend an action to change this weapon's optimal range by 1 category), Plasma Potion 2x

Pip (Bystander)
Velocity: 1
Skill: 1
Smarts: 1
Proficiencies: Persuasion 3
Special: Can only shift alignment away from the heroes via intimidation.