Duvors

"Well." Enson said, looking over the disinterred talon, "I can't say I didn't expect that, but I'd like to confirm my suspicions." Enson will make a survival check to determine the origins of the talon.

OoC: I do, but the way things currently work only two people can combine skills for a single check. If Aysu make a survival check and you assist her, I can't add to that. I can assist Aysu, but you'll have to do something else. "Good, that solves that problem." "Perfect. If you'll just hand it here then we can get started." Enson will assist Aysu with medicine.

"I doubt we'd get much immediately useful, raw meat and untreated hide. But Just leaving it here to rot is poor form. Ronin, your sword please."

Ronin will attack.

Do as you wish.

OoC: You both got the same result on your initiative checks, so Ronin could easily go before you. The issue here is that I'd prefer Ronin to attack because his weapon makes him a more reliable hitter than you. Adding a lot of dice to someone's attack is something that can either go very well or very badly, and that's not something I'm particularly enthused by. I think more attacks per round will have more consistent results and do a better job of ensuring that someone hits.

"Hmpf." Enson will move to C3 and use a plasma potion on Ronin.

"Ronin, I suggest you simply begin attacking. The point where binding this creature would have any meaningful effect is passed." Enson will cast Sustaining Healing on Ronin.

Enson shifted back a little to assess the situation. Polaris was not hurt by the attack as badly as another would've been so he could live her be for now. Decker was proving less effective on the defense than he had hoped, clearly he had missed something. However he felt something had to be done to disable the gator's jaws, and the attempts to bind it were proving ineffective. Yet he couldn't think of anything he could do to help, his physical capabilities had been sadly neglected as of late, as proven by his failed attempt to jam the gator's mouth open. He was starting to feel helpless, entrapped what could he do- Stop. Remain calm. You are a Qoun'ahn, All-in-None, others may view themselves as a simple bludgeon, but you know yourself better. Your body is the implement of every skill you possess. You merely need the imagination to apply them. Enson's expression sharpened, his expression obtaining a focus it had previously not displayed. "Decker, begin attacking. Polaris, assist him. I shall aid Ronin." His eyes never left the gator, his mind sifting through his knowledge of living bodies to determine the the correct place to strike. Finally, he saw what he was looking for, and he lashed out like a serpent. Enson will aid Ronin with Medicine, attempting to assist him by temporarily paralyzing the gator's jaws.

Ronin will assist Polaris with Athletics.

"Its jaws! Tie its jaws!" Enson will cast Sustaining Healing on Ronin.

OoC: Effects do not stack, no. And only two people are using wyrmsfoot.

Aside from what WBD said, equipped items don't count toward your inventory limit.

OoC: The plan was for you to use your nature proficiency to assist Ronin in closing the thing's jaws. How you narrate that is up to you. Enson will hurl a flare at the Gator in an attempt to blind it.

OoC: Actually this won't work. The rules specifically state that a target can only have one effect active at a time, so the consumables here would cancel each other out.

OoC: I don't think the wyrmsfoot is actually in anyone's inventory at the moment, and we don't really have a lot of time to wait for item exchanges. I suggest you simply have Aysu apply it and we sort it out later.

OoC: Yes, that's correct as far as positioning goes.

OoC: Slight correction; @Yzalirk @samurai-turtle, it turns out that the alteration to combined checks has gone into effect (see most recent addition to FAQ). Thankfully, the new version allows for combined checks to use multiple proficiencies, so I'd suggest Polaris assists Ronin using either survival or nature as those are the easiest to justify. This won't give an advantage like I'd hoped, but it will even the odds.

Enson smiled a little at this show of confidence. "Well then..." OoC: As I can't really say the this in character, I'll talk about it here instead. Firstly, the Gator: As you can see, the Gator's skill is three. That's high at this point in the game. High enough in fact that three of us - Polaris, Decker, and Myself - can't realistically expect to damage it. For me and Polaris the reason is simple; we're using standard weapons and our weapon skills are all one, for an aggregate of two. The odds are against us. For Decker it's a bit more complex, his calibrated melee weapon would probably have skewed the odds in his favor a little, but since the Gator has standard armor of the same type as his weapon it ends up negating that advantage and reducing him to the same state as me and Polaris. His two in short range and a standard weapon does bring him up to an aggregate of three, but he's still more reliant on the Gator rolling poorly than on himself rolling well. If he attacks at all he'd have to be rallied beforehand. Now I'll talk about each of you specifically: @samurai-turtle Polaris is tough. with a higher vitality than any other player and an average skill on top of it Polaris is both somewhat difficult to hit and can take hits with little issue. That aforementioned skill, combined with a smarts of two and actually having a medicine score means they're an excellent melee support character: able to stick to a melee fighter and rally, defend, and heal as needed with minimal risk to themselves. @Peppermint_M While technically one of the group's best defenders, and fairly tough as a result, this really isn't very useful here except if they're caught out by themselves. Having a weapon score of three and and a calibrated weapon makes them the best damage-dealer in the party, and if you've read the above, then you'll see that they're pretty much obliged to attack the gator as often as possible (especially as our second-best attacker will probably be tied up doing other things). While poor rolls are always a danger, () the odds are still largely in her favor. @Endgame Skipping Ronin for a moment, we'll move on to Decker. Quite frankly, Decker isn't very good for anything in this fight. They can defend... averagely, and they'll likely be doing a deal of that, but they can't rally for peanuts and I've already addressed the difficulties they face attacking. They're actually rather tough (thank that armor) but that'll be better used to protect themself from the tail here. Of all the people here who need rallying before they can risk hitting the Gator, Decker is the one I'd say would benefit most from it, but shouldn't attack otherwise. @Yzalirk Ronin occupies the awkward position of being best or second-best at a whole host of things that I'd prefer to be split up between multiple people, which ironically makes him the lynchpin of the plan. He's as good as Aysu at defending, the best rally-er in the party, and second-best attacker. He's also the only person here with any athletics score, and as any attempts to hogtie the big lizard will certainly be opposed athletics checks he's basically the guy for the job. He'll still be pitting his score of one against the Gator's two, so it's still not great, but it's the best we have. As for the plan, it's not that complicated and doesn't really extend much beyond the second round. To start with, I'll be pulling something of a repeat performance - doing something to attract the gator to the shore - while the rest of you all try to ambush the Gator the way Polaris tried to the first time. I don't quite know what benefit this would grant, but it'll give us something if we pull it off, so no reason to not try. Now, unlike last time, I'll be ready with a flare while Ronin will be carrying a length of rope. My first action will be to throw the Flare in the Gator's face in an attempt to blind it while Ronin attempts to tie its jaws together. I suggest Polaris helps him with this, making it a combined check and giving us the advantage (as WBD's proposed change to combined checks hasn't been implemented yet we can still get away with this ). Aysu will simply sit at range and shoot repeatedly while Decker occupies a place between her and the melee group and defends as needed. On the second round, if successful in binding its jaws Polaris and Ronin will make another combined check to flip the Gator on its back and hogtie it (if unsuccessful, repeat step one). This should restrain it completely. At this point it should be incapable of anything except trying to break free and slapping Decker with its tail... which is a good thing, because the latter grants opportunistic attacks to everyone in range. After that Polaris shifts primarily to rallying Decker so he can attack (more attacks per round is good) or defending whoever they see fit, Ronin shifts to attacking, and I spend the fight running around healing, rallying, and defending as needed. If the Gator breaks free or looks like it then Ronin and myself or Polaris will attempt an athletics check to restore its former condition. For starting positioning, I'll be at D2 to lure the lizard as far down that divot as possible, while Polaris and Ronin ought to hide in C3 and C4. Decker and Aysu can adopt appropriate positions relative to that. As y'all have been rather successful in finding poisons of all sorts, it would be foolish not to use them. I'd suggest Aysu applies a Wyrmsfoot to their weapon, as they're the only person guaranteed to attack in the first round and hopefully slowing the gator to hamper its ability to retreat into the icy water between rounds one and two is a tad more important than raw damage in this scenario. Ronin can apply the Crimson Wart if he wants, but it's not that necessary. Both of these should be done before the battle, so as not to waste actions during. Finally, no plan survives contact with the enemy. If the dice go against us or the Gator acts differently then we expect then everything can change in a moment. I fully expect one or more of us to go down during the fight. Do not worry, we have enough potions between us to handle it even if I go down. Injury is to be expected and the plan failing is not the end of the world.

"Do you see me as someone who has faith in others? I do not really think of myself as having faith in some sort of innate goodness." Enson shifted slightly. "I often think I should be more cynical and pragmatic, but it never feels quite right. I have to make myself think in that particular way, it just does not seem to come to me naturally. To tell the truth I often feel that I make my worst decisions whenever I do that." "Well, I do in fact have a plan to deal with the gator. I have had it since this morning in fact, but no-one wanted to hear me out then. If you are all willing to listen now I feel I could make a case for it."

"No, no thank you." Enson shifted slightly further upright. "There isn't anything physically wrong with me I think, just... bad memories and stress. I need to rest for a while." He laughed slightly. "Did you see what I just did? I just pointed two loaded guns at myself! That was insane!" He began to laugh again, the sound starting to take a slightly hysterical edge. All of a sudden he stopped, grasped his hands together, and closed his eyes with a look of intense concentration. "No," he said, "no histrionics, no time for it." Enson is at full Spirit, but he'll meditate anyway.

Enson stopped, turning around slowly to face the man. "On the contrary, one can always afford law and order. It is its absence that comes at too high a cost. I have seen what happens when people believe that rules of conduct do not apply to them, when compromise is rejected out of hand, it just causes needless suffering - war, even. You all really should consider being more flexible, I find that when you're willing to give an inch, the other side is too. It takes more strength of will to do that than to kill a man." As he spoke, Enson seemed to deflate slightly, his face bore a tired, distressed expression that made him look twice his age, his upright posture bent slightly, and as he resumed walking away he wasn't moving with his usual brisk energy. As he reached the sled he practically collapsed into it, lying against the pile of equipment in the back with a pained expression on his features.

"Go to hell. If you had no legal authority to stop those two then all you are is a thug with a gun, regardless of whether you were right or not. You're more of a rat than they are, and a bigoted twat to boot." Enson turned away in disgust. "Come on," he said, "we have nothing more to do here." "Ronin, they don't care about having a positive relationship with anyone. And I doubt they could help anyway."

"And I will assume that you have the legal authority to pull a stop-and-search on random passers-by, correct?" "Is that what this is about? Dominance? Do you feel dominated by this nice giant metal lingam?" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I swear, everywhere I go people just refuse the think with their brains. Fine, you want to assert your dominance? Go ahead then, shoot me. Show how much you love your freedom by taking away mine, bravely defend yourself from someone who is trying to help. Show the world what a big strong man you are by behaving like a petulant child who found daddy's gun." Enson glowered. "Alternatively, you can swallow your pride and show your neighbor that his ball isn't in your backyard. Personally I think that sounds much less emasculating then killing someone because their expensive phallus-device broke."

OoC: Err, @Waterbrick Down, are you going to respond to my post?