Waterbrick Down

"Oh hah, I don't race, haven't in years. Not worth the trouble if you ask me, all that fame and publicity, people always askin' you for interviews. Yeesh." Sigrun considers Aysu's inquiry. "Not a whole lot new and we Cricet tend to prefer it that way. Kristal Mining's the last big thing that came in here, apart from the dragon awhile ago. That thing scared off a bunch of the other scavengers at the time, but they weren't anything like they are now that the drake is dead."

"Aye, either someone's feedin' a bunch or there's somethin' weird going on." Sigrun skillfully passes the cocoa to Aysu, "Careful it's hot." Aysu Kundakçı (Peppermint_M)22 Rotations Old, Female? Adopted Human.Character Points: 2/15Vitality: 6/6Velocity: 2 3Strength: 2Skill: 3 4Smarts: 1Spirit: 1Proficiencies: Long Range Weapons 3, Nature 1, Survival 1Spell: Enhanced VisionCredits: 75Equipment: Environment Safe Ammunition "ESA" Rifle (Calibrated Long Range, Energy), Farsight GogglesInventory: Plasma Potion 2x, Essence of Glibness, Pack of Crystalline Feathers (6)

"Good to hear, technology ain't really my thing. Heck I have problems knowin' an escalator from an elevator, or a register from a resistor. Flipping a switch though, that I can handle." Valesia turned to her companions, "I've got a fair knack with beasts, so that doesn't bother me. Soren, sweetie, how do you feel about piloting through a storm like that? Figure it's somethin' you could handle?"

The party retreats further inland trying to put distance between themselves and the reptile. Decker trips as he tries to run and plunges into a deep snow bank. The gator lunges forward just as the scrapper extracts himself and makes a mad dash to catch up with the rest of the party. Fed up with the more agile pray the creature sinks back into the frozen lake, breaking up more ice chunks. THE BATTLE IS UNSUCCESSFUL! Round 4 Enson Flees - Athletics Proficiency Check (DC 1) - (4,1,4) 2 Successes = Enson Escapes Decker Flees - Athletics Proficiency Check (DC 1) - (3,3,2) 0 Successes = Decker fails to Escape Polaris Flees - Athletics Proficiency Check (DC 1) - (1,4,5) 2 Successes = Polaris Escapes Aysu Flees - Athletics Proficiency Check (DC 1) - (4,1,4) 2 Successes = Aysu Escapes Ronin Flees - Athletics Proficiency Check (DC 1) - (4,6,5,2) 3 Successes = Ronin Escapes Polar Gator Moves toward Decker Round 5 Decker Flees - Athletics Proficiency Check (DC 1) - (5,1,5) 2 Successes = Decker Escapes Party Ensonvilterayquis (Enson) (Duvors) *Mission Leader* 60 cycles old male Quo'ri Character Points: 3/16 Vitality: 5/5 Velocity: 2 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/2 Proficiencies: Insight 1, Medicine 2, Melee Weapons 1, Religion 2, Survival 1 Spells: Healing Light, Purging Font Credits: 20 Equipment: Void Star Hammer (+1 Melee Elemental), Utility Belt (Tool, grants +1 Engineering or Medicine Check Successes) Inventory: Nanite Elixir 2x, Plasma Potion 2x Polaris Ursaring [with M.I.L.E.S.] (samurai-turtle)15 cycle old female "Chimeran" Character Points: 3/16Vitality: 6/8Velocity: 2Strength: 2 Skill: 2Smarts: 2Spirit: 1/1Proficiencies: Coding 1*, Engineering 1 (+1, tool), Medicine 1 (+1, tool), Melee Weapons 1, Nature 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Spells: Elemental Evocation, Credits: 0 Equipment: Utility Belt (tool) Grants +1 Engineering or Medicine Check Success, Whirlwind Boomerang (Standard, Elemental, Short Range Weapon),Inventory: Mecha Strike (Standard, Kinetic, Melee Range Weapon), Plasma Potion (x2) Aysu Kundakçı (Peppermint_M) 22 Rotations Old, Female? Adopted Human. Character Points: 2/15Vitality: 6/6Velocity: 2Strength: 2Skill: 3Smarts: 1Spirit: 1Proficiencies: Long Range Weapons 3, Nature 1, Survival 1Spell: Enhanced VisionCredits: 75Equipment: Environment Safe Ammunition "ESA" Rifle (Calibrated Long Range, Energy), Farsight GogglesInventory: Plasma Potion 2x, Essence of Glibness, Pack of Crystalline Feathers (6) Ronin (Yzalirk)[REDACTED] Male [REDACTED]Character Points: 3/13Vitality: 2/5Velocity: 2Strength: 1Skill: 3Smarts: 3Spirit: 0/0Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Deception 1, Melee Weapons 2, Stealth 1Known Spells: NoneCredits: 10Equipment: Cloaking Generator, Hard Light Katana (Calibrated Energy Melee Weapon)Inventory: Decker DaCabe (Endgame) 24 year old male Human Character Points: 3/13 Vitality: 4/6 Velocity: 2 Strength: 3 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 1, Short Range Weapons 2 Credits: 10 Equipment: Unloaded Pistol (Calibrated Kinetic Melee Weapon), Sandblasted Cuirass (Standard Kinetic Armor) Inventory: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the heroes draw together on the south west corner of the lake, Sigrun starts setting up a makeshift camp in the shadow of a large snow drift. "Come on heroes, lets bunker down. I'll get a fire going and if one of you wants a cup of hot cocoa I'll make you up a mug." The Cricet begins to unpack a few tents and stakes the sled wyrms down. With their backs to the drift, the wind is cut significantly and soon a warm fire begins to take the chill out of everyone's bones. "Can't blame you for retreating. That's the biggest gator I've seen in all my years. Typically they'll only get the size of your forearm, that one though could've take your whole torso off. Must be feastin' on somethin'. Breaking up the ice too. It's a mess, not one racer is going to be able to take that route this year if that monster's prowling about." MM Note: Sorry to hear about the health issues Yzalirk, thanks for the heads up to you, Endgame, and Peppermint_M. Just want to make sure players are engaged and still enjoying themselves and aren't missing because it's a drag.

MM Note: So I've seen 3 folks in favor of running and 2 up for the new plan. I'll run the round with whatever the majority consensus is in ~12hrs so we can keep things moving.

MM Note: As I stated in the FAQ thread discussion, in case it wasn't clear. The party has already crossed the lake and Sigrun's sled, sled Wyrms, and supplies are within reach of the Party. I'm in agreement with @samurai-turtle though. @Endgame, @Yzalirk, @Peppermint_M, are you folks still ok to be active with the quest? I'd rather have a quest that keeps moving than one that gets dragged out. Real life stuff and health issues totally take precedent, but I want to ensure everyone is enjoying themselves and not feeling like this is an boring obligation.

I appreciate the feedback, I'll see if I can devise a system where they aren't so easy to forget.

MM Note: A valid strategy, I just need an explanation from each player in how they are helping to pacify the Gator.

So a lot of this is I feel is probably better left to discuss in the mission wrap-up, but I prefer to ensure everyone is having a good time playing in the middle of the mission rather than waiting to the end to find out everyone was miserable. I will say the point about bringing up the Rally/Defend action was truly because it occurred to me at the time how it could be abused and was not meant to create a rule that would impact the current combat (my apologies for not making that clear at the beginning). I am still totally ok with how your team is handling the battle with the given rule as they are now. I was personally bringing the point up as a discussion to see what others thought of it understanding that I would have a bias against and that my current players would have a bias for it. I also brought it up because I have so much going on right now, that it's easy for things to slip my mind and forget to bring them up at the end of the mission. I empathize with your frustration of how much involvement there is currently on the mission and I do hope we get a little more from folks contributing toward the solution to the current combat. Sorry this mission is fairly combat oriented, I do appreciate though your attempt at trying to find alternative solutions to things. The point about explicitly sharing the guides different mechanical impacts is a failure on my part as I was under the impression that they were clearly understood by the players. Gunnar would be an extra combatant in fights and provide one free coffee between fights. Sigrun would lower the overall number of dangerous enemies encountered in a fight or help avoid a fight in the first place and provide a free hot cocoa between fights. Geomi provided one free mulled wine between fights and didn't have another ability, but he cost the least giving more credits back to the party. I attempted to convey all of these narratively and through bolding, but apparently that didn't come through. The point made about crossing and not fighting is valid, though you'll probably have to convince your employer why that's ok. As for alternative strategies, the entire point of the Try Something action is to allow for creative solutions. If you're not sure something is available (ropes or chains) or an another strategy is viable, ask. I'd much rather there be clarity when possibly than frustrated confusion. Again my goal is for everyone to enjoy playing, if that's not happening then lets find a way to fix that. I'm drafting a revision currently to add it back in, but I'll put something in the FAQ for now. Players can assist others outside of battle, it simply becomes: Player A and Player B Proficiency Check (DC X) - (3d6 + Player A Proficiency d6's + Player B Proficiency d6's) There just needs to be a meaningful explanation of how someone assists someone else in the situation. If you're crammed in a tight ally trying to break a door down, you can't really have two people trying together to break it down. But if its a wide enough space both players can help try and knock it down with their combined strength. It's a valid strategy assuming everyone comes up with a meaningful way of contributing to try and pacify the creature.

Valesia mood sobers for once speaking compassionately to Glenn, "Don't you worry there, Sugar. We'll help you figure out what's goin' on out there. We'll be glad to have the extra set of hands from you, but you make sure your in a good place for helpin' out. Are these communication units drop and play or are we goin' need some sort of instructions for setting them up?"

Those spells have prescribed time limits, they're not infinite, additionally they're giving up a more tangible resource, Spirit. Defend/Rally do not give up anything, by the current logic one could argue that everyone Rallies/Defends everyone outside of combat and starts every battle fully buffed. As for complexity, I think it goes back to rules as intended vs. rules as written. The current rules are unintentionally needlessly complex so this is an attempt to correct that. The original point of conversation was asking whether the actions should stack if a player uses it every round, or whether they should even last longer than a round. The above suggestion is a concise way of wording the second question. I'm saying it brought up a hole in the system (one that I'm not accusing you of abusing yet) even with the first round. If you'd like to discuss the balance of the battle, I'm more than happy to, but it feels like at this point you're frustrated about how a single enemy is tuned to survive against 5 heroes and isn't a cakewalk like the first two battles. If we're talking about Skill being too high, I'll point out you've got 3 characters with Calibrated weapons most with good Weapon Proficiency scores and access to the Rally ability. Given the Gator is only given one action per turn, your most optimal strategy is to have one or two characters taking shots, the other two Rallying, and the last one healing up the ones that get damaged. As for Calibrated weapons, the Gator needs a high enough weapon score to have a small chance of taking out a character in one hit. It won't happen often, but they need to be able to hold their own against a party that can simply negate most of the damage it puts out by either potions or healing spells. I think the party has a very good chance at beating this encounter if they play strategically and in fact the Gator is actually an easier fight because you have Sigrun's ability which is decreasing the points I put into building the encounters. If you want to keep the Gator on land, do something about it, have someone grapple it, go get some chains or a rope, have someone pretend to be gravely injured to lure it back on land.

"Well we are already on the other side of the lake, that was the whole jumping iceberg to iceberg thing. Are you intending to leave this threat here?"

"I try to leave the driving to professionals. Anything you can tell us about the Wastelands by the way? Any settlements or people out there?"

I'm not sure in which scenario this would apply, you can't make an Attack or Spell action if you're already Unstable and holding an Attack/Spell action for a subsequent round isn't really a thing yet. I'm looking at it from a Mission Master perspective. While the system is certainly easier to run, I'd rather avoid adding complexity by requiring Mission Masters to go back and look at what happened half a dozen rounds ago to see if it applies to the current round. My idea would be to limit the bonuses of Rally/Defend to end if a player takes another Standard Action, I hardly see how that is punishing players. I get your point about keeping the rules stable, I just don't know how many folks are really dependent upon the multi-round buff strategy... yet.

Further thought, if someone is currently unstable, should their previous Rally/Defend action go through on subsequent rounds?

Enson revives Ronin as the Polar Gator begins to drag him into the icy water. Ronin and Aysu manage to strike through the creatures scaly hide as it tries to drown the hunter. Round 3 Enson uses Plasma Potion on Ronin - (1,+2) = 3 Vitality Restored Decker moves to A2 Decker Defends Ronin - +1 Dice to Ronin's next Defensive Combat Check Ronin vs. Polar Gator - (6,1,+2) 3 Successes vs. (6,5,1) 2 Successes = 1 Damage Aysu vs. Polar Gator - (1,3,1,2,2,3,+2) 2 Successes vs. (3,4,3) 1 Successes = 1 Damage Polaris vs. Polar Gator - (1,+1) 1 Success vs. (1,5,5) 2 Successes = 0 Damage Polar Gator Athletics Proficiency vs. Ronin Athletics Proficiency - (5,1,2,4,4) 3 Successes vs. (3,3,4,3) 1 Success = Ronin dragged into Icy Water (1 Elemental Damage) Polar Gator moves Party Ensonvilterayquis (Enson) (Duvors) *Mission Leader* 60 cycles old male Quo'ri Character Points: 3/16 Vitality: 5/5 Velocity: 2 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/2 Proficiencies: Insight 1, Medicine 2, Melee Weapons 1, Religion 2, Survival 1 Spells: Healing Light, Purging Font Credits: 20 Equipment: Void Star Hammer (+1 Melee Elemental), Utility Belt (Tool, grants +1 Engineering or Medicine Check Successes) Inventory: Nanite Elixir 2x, Plasma Potion 2x Polaris Ursaring [with M.I.L.E.S.] (samurai-turtle)15 cycle old female "Chimeran" Character Points: 3/16Vitality: 6/8Velocity: 2Strength: 2 Skill: 2Smarts: 2Spirit: 1/1Proficiencies: Coding 1*, Engineering 1 (+1, tool), Medicine 1 (+1, tool), Melee Weapons 1, Nature 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Spells: Elemental Evocation, Credits: 0 Equipment: Utility Belt (tool) Grants +1 Engineering or Medicine Check Success, Whirlwind Boomerang (Standard, Elemental, Short Range Weapon),Inventory: Mecha Strike (Standard, Kinetic, Melee Range Weapon), Plasma Potion (x2) Aysu Kundakçı (Peppermint_M) 22 Rotations Old, Female? Adopted Human. Character Points: 2/15Vitality: 6/6Velocity: 2Strength: 2Skill: 3Smarts: 1Spirit: 1Proficiencies: Long Range Weapons 3, Nature 1, Survival 1Spell: Enhanced VisionCredits: 75Equipment: Environment Safe Ammunition "ESA" Rifle (Calibrated Long Range, Energy), Farsight GogglesInventory: Plasma Potion 2x, Essence of Glibness, Pack of Crystalline Feathers (6) Ronin (Yzalirk)[REDACTED] Male [REDACTED]Character Points: 3/13Vitality: 2/5Velocity: 2Strength: 1Skill: 3Smarts: 3Spirit: 0/0Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Deception 1, Melee Weapons 2, Stealth 1Known Spells: NoneCredits: 10Equipment: Cloaking Generator, Hard Light Katana (Calibrated Energy Melee Weapon)Inventory: Decker DaCabe (Endgame) 24 year old male Human Character Points: 3/13 Vitality: 4/6 Velocity: 2 Strength: 3 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 1, Short Range Weapons 2 Credits: 10 Equipment: Unloaded Pistol (Calibrated Kinetic Melee Weapon), Sandblasted Cuirass (Standard Kinetic Armor) Inventory: Enemy Polar Gator *Large* Vitality: 10/15 Velocity: 2 Strength: 4 Skill: 3 Smarts: 1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 4, Short Range Weapons 4, Athletics 2, Perception 2 Equipment: None Innate: Gripping Maw (Calibrated Kinetic Melee Weapon), Swiping Tail (Calibrated Kinetic Short Range Weapon), Toughened Hide (Standard Kinetic Armor) Passive Abilities: Feast - The Polar Gator restores 2 Vitality whenever it drops a hero to 0 Vitality Aquatic - The Polar Gator can move through water squares unimpeded

MM Note: I still need an action for Decker, either @Endgame or @Duvors.

Hall updated with new rumors, hero info, and mission info. Preview of new searchable PDF rulebook with less crammed layout, pictures, and diagrams:

Oh I'm not complaining about this round, it's more this round made me realize it's just one more thing that future encounters/MM may need to keep in mind. Yes Ronin will get to act.

Nothing wrong with it stacking from multiple players on a round, the issue is more if Player A rallies Player B on Round 1 and then Player B doesn't attack and then Player A rallies Player B again, should Player B get 2 rallies from the same player? There's a lot of things that can potentially be wasted, I guess what I'm trying to avoid is battles where the first few rounds the players continuously retreat out of range until everyone is "buffed" up.

MM Note: Using a Plasma Potion will give Ronin Vitality so he will no longer be Unstable.

Nope, it's more that if you choose to Defend someone and then they don't get attacked for the next 4 rounds and you do another action for the next 3 rounds, the Defense wouldn't carry over. I'm good with multiple players rallying/defending the same player and in agreement with the idea that you can't stack your own Defend/Rallies on the same player. I'm wondering about the above scenario, where you Defend a player say Round 1, then attack on Round 2, 3 and 4 and the target you defended doesn't get attacked until Round 4. Or alternatively where you Rally someone but they don't choose to attack for another 3 rounds.

So as I'm considering the actions, we should probably include something in there about Rally and Defend only impacting the next Round of combat, otherwise we'll probably have stacking Rallies and Defends round after round.

The heroes once more draw up a defensive position attempting to draw the gator back onto the land. Enson patches up Decker as the scrapper and Polaris take up shielded stances. Ronin encourages Aysu who prepares herself for another piercing shot. The gator annoyed at its quarry storms the beach and crunches Ronin in its might jaws dropping the hero in one hit. Round 2 Enson casts Sustaining Healing on Decker: (3,2,+1) 1 Success = 1 Vitality Restored (-1 Spirit) Decker moves to A2 Decker Defends himself - +1 Dice added to next Defensive Combat Check Ronin Rallies Aysu - +3 Dice to Aysu's next Offensive Combat Check Aysu Perception Proficiency Check (DC 1,3) - (1,3,4) 1 Success = Cancel Range Penalty for Next Shot Polaris moves to B2 Polaris Defends Enson - +1 Dice added to next Defensive Combat Check Polar Gator moves Polar Gator vs. Ronin - (5,2,4,5,+2) 5 Successes vs. (2,2,3) 0 Successes = 5 Damage, Ronin Unstable, (Feast = +2 Vitality to Polar Gator) Party Ensonvilterayquis (Enson) (Duvors) *Mission Leader* 60 cycles old male Quo'ri Character Points: 3/16 Vitality: 5/5 Velocity: 2 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/2 Proficiencies: Insight 1, Medicine 2, Melee Weapons 1, Religion 2, Survival 1 Spells: Healing Light, Purging Font Credits: 20 Equipment: Void Star Hammer (+1 Melee Elemental), Utility Belt (Tool, grants +1 Engineering or Medicine Check Successes) Inventory: Nanite Elixir 2x, Plasma Potion 3x Polaris Ursaring [with M.I.L.E.S.] (samurai-turtle)15 cycle old female "Chimeran" Character Points: 3/16Vitality: 6/8Velocity: 2Strength: 2 Skill: 2Smarts: 2Spirit: 1/1Proficiencies: Coding 1*, Engineering 1 (+1, tool), Medicine 1 (+1, tool), Melee Weapons 1, Nature 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Spells: Elemental Evocation, Credits: 0 Equipment: Utility Belt (tool) Grants +1 Engineering or Medicine Check Success, Whirlwind Boomerang (Standard, Elemental, Short Range Weapon),Inventory: Mecha Strike (Standard, Kinetic, Melee Range Weapon), Plasma Potion (x2) Aysu Kundakçı (Peppermint_M) 22 Rotations Old, Female? Adopted Human. Character Points: 2/15Vitality: 6/6Velocity: 2Strength: 2Skill: 3Smarts: 1Spirit: 1Proficiencies: Long Range Weapons 3, Nature 1, Survival 1Spell: Enhanced VisionCredits: 75Equipment: Environment Safe Ammunition "ESA" Rifle (Calibrated Long Range, Energy), Farsight GogglesInventory: Plasma Potion 2x, Essence of Glibness, Pack of Crystalline Feathers (6) Ronin (Yzalirk) *Unstable*[REDACTED] Male [REDACTED]Character Points: 3/13Vitality: 0/5Velocity: 2Strength: 1Skill: 3Smarts: 3Spirit: 0/0Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Deception 1, Melee Weapons 2, Stealth 1Known Spells: NoneCredits: 10Equipment: Cloaking Generator, Hard Light Katana (Calibrated Energy Melee Weapon)Inventory: Decker DaCabe (Endgame) 24 year old male Human Character Points: 3/13 Vitality: 4/6 Velocity: 2 Strength: 3 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 1, Short Range Weapons 2 Credits: 10 Equipment: Unloaded Pistol (Calibrated Kinetic Melee Weapon), Sandblasted Cuirass (Standard Kinetic Armor) Inventory: Enemy Polar Gator *Large* Vitality: 12/15 Velocity: 2 Strength: 4 Skill: 3 Smarts: 1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 4, Short Range Weapons 4, Athletics 2, Perception 2 Equipment: None Innate: Gripping Maw (Calibrated Kinetic Melee Weapon), Swiping Tail (Calibrated Kinetic Short Range Weapon), Toughened Hide (Standard Kinetic Armor) Passive Abilities: Feast - The Polar Gator restores 2 Vitality whenever it drops a hero to 0 Vitality Aquatic - The Polar Gator can move through water squares unimpeded

MM Note: @Duvors can you give an action for Ronin?