New OOC thread since the old thread was getting really long and a lot of those that posted are gone.

Ah.  Okay.

GM, could you post a thread which shows everyone's rank and MOS/role? Not everyone has it posted in their tags so knowing who is what and what rank is a little difficult.

     I’d rather not create an entire thread just for that. However, I’m willing to post the information onto the “Notice: Message to New Players” thread. I need to update that thread anyway. It hasn’t been updated since the start of the third mission. However, I will comment the players never really officially picked a MOS for themselves. I suppose that I can list their character classes instead. At the moment we don’t have anyone hiding what they are.
     Before you ask, there was a player whose character was a disguised full conversation cyborg. The OCC is from the cybernetics supplemental Rifts book which included a new character class that is a full conversation cyborg but still looks human. I forget the proper name but my books are in storage and I’m not taking the time to pull them out to look it up. Anyway, in character she kept it hidden that she was a full conversation cyborg until she was damaged in combat and it was revealed that she had a metal endoskeleton underneath her skin. No one is doing that now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:36, Wed 04 Oct 2023.

In reply to PsiMaster (msg # 4):

Thank you! Not posting actual MOS because players don't know what that is or have characters that aren't actual military but volunteers, makes sense. No worries. Posting rank is a big help for role-playing interactions though so I really appreciate it.

Yup I'm familiar with that OCC. It's not bad and one of the best parts of that book. It could use some tweaking on its skill slots to match its intended role but other than that, it's a good OCC that is unique enough to make it a good choice for some campaigns.

What happened tp Ariella and I? Did we get zapped into a rift?

     The two of you are back with the platoon and have been for a while. When LT Curtiss ordered the recall to camp it was over the radio and directed at everyone, including Goggles and Ariella. In character Goggles would have understood that and reported back in. You didn’t get very far before that happened so not a problem. If for some reason Goggles decided not to return then LT Curtiss would have insisted upon it. You and the Grackle Tooth were the only ones to see the quasi-rays and then were the only ones present when the quasi-wolves appeared out of thin air and attacked. So the two of you were the stars of the debriefing. Once the debriefing was over and the decision to move out was made you left the encampment with the rest of the platoon. The only question is are you inside Squad 125’s APC trying to take a nap before a new camp is set, or are you on your robot horse as one of the escorts?
     Sorry if that wasn’t clear before and that should have us all on the same page. But are we reading the same book?

On the same page boss. I think going to sleep now would just make him woozie for the rest of the shift. He will ride escort, and Ariella 8s welcome to join him.

*sigh*  Master said to go with you......

Just as an FYI, for a couple rounds Goggles can nova, but then he will be of little good for like 2 hours. If we meet something you need that extra punch, tell me.

Also For the Hive, I think I would like to have a little or Robert's magic boost. ;-)

Sure thing Elias. You already have auto dodge, right?

Yes.

On the subject of Dom casting spells to buff other PCs, those spells have directions measured in melees or minutes. Thats why he hasn't cast any yet on anyone, including himself.

Once we are engaged, you can either call for support or he will cast spells on people as he sees the need.

In reply to Roberto Dominguez Rivera (msg # 13):

I trust your judgement.

     Sorry about the delays. I’ve been busy. I will have next post up soon. Hopefully later today, tomorrow at the latest.

I haven't really posted yet either.  Got a tab open, its5 just getting to it.

I'm pretty sure everyone understands that life gets busy. Especially now that we're approaching the end of the year.

I take it from the result of the insertion battle, Dom's shadow Meld worked? No Xiticix targeted him?

     As far as you can tell it worked. Bear in mind that Shawn and Meina were the exact opposite of stealthy so they were the most obvious targets for the Xitixic to focus on first even if you weren’t Shadow Melding. I will add that neither the PCs nor the NPCs seem to be reacting to your presence.

     Happy Thanksgiving to all my players! Eat yourselves into a coma!

https://imgflip.com/i/1qxh6g

HAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Hello everyone! I look forward to playing with you. I hope my character's accent won't be too difficult or annoying to deal with. If it is, let me know and I'll try to adjust.

Howdy

Hullo.

I have a OOC question, does this mean we all got woken up now? Or is Meina the only one of the PCs in this scene?

     Meina is the only PC present.

     Hope everyone that celebrates Christmas had a good one this year. If you don’t, hope you had a good whatever holiday you do celebrate and a happy new year.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, happy New Year and everything in-between.

Eagerly looking forward to where we go next on the story.

     Happy New Year everyone!

Is knowledge of The Mechanoids common on Rifts Earth?

Is their accidental invasion in the east also common knowledge?

     All of Rifts Earth, no. A good chunk of the people in North America, yes. The Mechanoids didn’t arrive and then just take a nap. Shortly after they arrived they began their quest to conquer Rifts Earth and assimilate it into their empire with the intention of using Rifts Earth as a hub to conquer and purge the Megaverse of their enemies. So most of the regional powers of North America, i.e. the CS, Lazlo, the Federation of Magic, Tolkeen, etc were aware of them. Also, Atlantis and the New German Republic knew about the Mechanoids. Although in the NGR’s case it probably was mostly limited to members of the NGR’s government and military. Not common knowledge but not completely unknown either. I would also suspect that in North America the farther west one goes the less common the knowledge about the Mechanoids becomes as they never really got far from the eastern seaboard. So someone from the Colorado Baronies or the area of Lone Star not under CS control may not have heard much or anything about the Mechanoids.
     As for how common the knowledge of their accidental invasion, well I doubt anyone besides Hagan and A.R.C.H.I.E. Three knows the full truth of what happened. Everyone that knows about the Mechanoids probably assumes they arrived through a naturally occurring random rift. I sincerely doubt Hagan or A.R.C.H.I.E. Three went around and told people afterwards that the rift in question the Mechanoids came through was opened by a Shifter they hired.

OK, so being born and raised in Lazlo, Dom knows of the Mechanoids and some of the details. Everything you just said, I'm assuming?

     Yes, plus probably a few details here and there that I didn’t list.

OK so maybe as a member of the Lazlo military, he was given briefings or has access to info not generally known or disseminated. Not everything and certainly incomplete but a few additional details.

     An official bringing, probably not. The Mechanoids have been defeated and eradicated since before you enlisted. However, you’ve likely heard stories from veterans and even before enlisting Dom would have heard of the Mechanoids and the war against them. Nothing stopping Dom from asking veterans if they’d share their stories with him.

OK went all the way back to December 28 to find this. So there was signs of regular damage but no bodies, not even slivers of them. My character wouldn't have said no damage then. Unfortunately for him, his player forgot in the weeks of real time.

I'll just stop posting for a while. I'll post again when I feel certain I have all the details right.

     If I wasn’t clear before I apologize, but there were signs of an attack inside the base too. As a reminder, just before your battalion arrived on scene a Lazlo recon team reported to the base that they could hear the sounds of battle coming from the direction of the Xitixic base and were going in to investigate. And then they disappeared too. When you arrived at the base you saw signs that something violet happened to the Xitixic and once you went inside you saw the same signs that the violent something forcibly extracted the Xitixic from inside the base. The Xitixic didn’t just up and leave this base en masse.

Thanks for the reminder. I forgot all about the other LDF team that went missing.

On that note, I've got frack all for ideas on how to proceed. Anyone know what we are supposed to do next? Honestly I'm hoping command just tells us where to go.

     Somnoirus. To paraphrase Dr. McCoy in Star Trek VI, I’d bet real money following him and Creepy Girl will lead us to whatever wiped out the Xitixic base. Two reasons. First, last mission he did tell us in his weird, cryptic, ambiguous way, about the Old One at Onaping Falls so forgive the metagaming but he’s probably a clue again. Second, Somnoirus seems to be drawn to the Devouring Swarm like a moth to a flame. Follow him long enough and either he’ll lead us to said Devouring Swarm or to some clues that’ll let us do the task ourselves.

That sounds reasonable. Dom is a good E4 though so he will just follow whatever orders he is given by his chain of command.

     For the record I wasn’t suggesting we go AWOL and just go looking for the Devouring Swarm on our own without orders. I’m just saying if we do get those orders following Somnoirus may be the best way to go about it.

That's what I said, I'm hoping command just makes a decision.

Back in February of 1991, the Military Police company, in which I served, landed at Dharan Airbase, where we spent the next three days sleeping in our vehicles or in cots under ponchos spread between them.  We get our first station, and head out to the desert to patrol an 80 mile stretch of highway.  Before leaving, we hear rumors that there is a red convertible driving around with a passenger who takes shots at American troop convoys with a submachinegun.
Anyway, I'm in the HMMWV with the platoon leader, a lieutenant, and the Platoon Sergeant.  I was supposed to be the driver, but the LT decided he wanted to drive, and the Sergeant, an Air Force Vietnam POW veteran, took the commander seat.  This left me to man the turret mounted M-60 if we come under attack, though I had not qualified with the weapon.  Ever.
About halfway there, one of the trailers hauled by a HMMVW flips (the hitches were designed to move freely for rough terrain).  The convoy comes to a stop, everyone is getting out of their truck and running to see if they can get the trailer upright.  I pop up into the turret, slap a belt of ammo into the 60, then look around.  I look down at the Platoon Sergeant, and ask (being fresh out of Basic and AIT), "Shouldn't we get a perimeter set up, Sergeant?"  He looks at me a moment, then starts barking orders.  One other guy gets up in a 60,everyone else is grabbing their M16s and taking up positions.  I happen to see a red, convertible sports car going by and track it with my 60 (though I had not taken out the pin so I could lower it and aim at the car).
Needless to say, the trailer gets righted and we get on our way to the log base where we would be headquartered.  The hilarious thing about this is out of the thirty people who set up the perimeter, only two of us took to the 60s.  Which were the only weapons for which we actually had any ammo yet.  The ammo for our rifles and M1911s wasn't going to get to us until we got to the log base.
The point is, there is a reason I know to set up a security perimeter when the convoy stops.

DO the HF losses of initiative and attack last entire combat or only one round?

     Just the first round.

     By the way, in my game you can add your ME bonus to your roll against Horror Factor.

Because if you failed your roll, you're too busy screaming, puking and running to care, haha

I have to wait til I have access to my books. I have bonuses on my sheet that seem...higher than I would have thought for saving vs. Horror Factor and I need to check them.

    Well, yes. 25 XPs for making me laugh.

     Since it was brought up, as a reminder, in my games a Nat 1 to save is always a failure. I don’t care if you’re +100 to save verses whatever, it’s still a failed save.

*raises hand* that would be me...*sigh*

Luckily, James is fluent in Dragonese/Elven.

In reply to James Datillo (msg # 51):

Let me guess, it is saying something like "Pitiful mortals, prepare to DIEEEEE."

And then I say, "Hey Ray, Next time somebody asks if you're a god you say YES!"

Nope.  James will repeat what it says, but he will reply in Dragonese.  A 20% penalty to understand is not so bad.

Question, James heard it and Dom was at the same altitude but didn't? Perhaps my post wasn't clear, same altitude, 5 meters of lateral separation between us. Not altitude.

Not that it matters since Dom completely blew the HF roll. Just want to be sure everyone is tracking where he is as the combat progresses.

I posted that James brought his hovercycle down.

Yup! And I posted that I stayed at same altitude as you, just 5 meters of separation between us. Lateral separation, not altitude. Same plane, spread out so as to not get in each other's way or be a big target for a grenade or something.

I just wasn't clear enough when I posted so fine. I'm just making sure that going forward, everyone has a better picture of where he is.

     I thought that you meant that you were 5 meter off the ground, not that you were 5 meter off to his side. My mistake. Go ahead and roll to see if you understood the… Thing.

You roll initiative every round?

Man, I forgot there's the whole combat rules thread. I'm'a have to sit down and look through that to see what might be relevant.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:00, Sun 10 Mar.

     Yes, that’s part of the combat rules in both the original Main Book and the newer Ultimate Edition Book. Both books include a step by step example of combat and in both cases the books state that at the start of every new round everyone is to roll initiative again. Now some GMs may not enforce that rule in their campaigns and that’s up to them. Me, I do have everyone roll initiative every round.

Roberto Dominguez Rivera rolled 57 using 1d100 ((57)) Success at -20%!

     You lost your save verses Horror Factor roll so the penalty is -50%.

Oh well...James repeated what he heard into American anyways. Regardless, knowing or not knowing, doesn't change Dom's actions.

I was playing a Gargoyle Psynetic Crazy in a Phase World game on here several years ago.  He literally had a +20 vs Horror Factor.  Met another PC, a godling with a PB so high, she had additional Awe Factor.  My bonus alone would beat her AF, but I rolled a Natural 1.  I played him as if he was a dog, and she rescued him from the pound.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:25, Thu 14 Mar.

35 XP isn't much but hey, better than nothing. Especially when Dom didn't contribute to tracking, unless you count over watch. At least he didn't pee himself when he failed the HF check
This message was last edited by the player at 01:21, Thu 14 Mar.

Question, how many XP do I need for L3. Im at base L2 +1200.

     4201 XP. You’re using the CS Wilderness Scout XP table from the Coalition War Campaign Book.

Thanks. That makes a lot of sense with the CS Scout XP table. *Thumbs up*

uhhhh does something bad happen when you roll MORE THAN ONE natural 1 on attacks in a round? hahaha
This message was last edited by the player at 02:10, Fri 29 Mar.

     Only that it’s a blow to one’s ego.

     Sorry it’s taking so long to summarize the results of the two rounds of attacks. I am working on it. Things have been crazy at work recently. I’m one of my coworkers was caught drinking at work and was suspended so we had to work harder to pick up for his absence.

Thanks for taking the time to let us know. Lots of GMs don't bother, leaving players to wonder if something happened to them or just dropped the game so thank you.

Sorry to hear about your difficulties, hope they get resolved soon.

And I don't think my characters actions have made this combat any easier for you to resolve so, sorry about that. I don't regret doing them but do recognize that they may make your job more difficult. ^_^

In reply to PsiMaster (msg # 70):

Sorry to hear that. We 'lost' a bunch of people during our busiest time of year at work this year and it was...rough. I get it.

     Hey, Elias, don’t post a long reaction yet. I have a healing tattoo and I’m going to use it on you to fix your leg.

Okay...cool. I would say dont waist it, but I kind of like Elias.

Edited my post from last night. I was tired and forgot to explicitly state each shot was again a head shot for different targets.

Weird Wolf, no clue if you have auto-dodge already but even if you do, its an additional +5. Between that, your native abilities and the extra boost from Lifeblast, you should be a pretty darn scary furry cuisinart of death.

Edited my post slightly.

     Cuisineart of death. I like it. 25 XPs, Dom.

Woohoo! I'll be here all...well game really ^_^

     Serious question. Is anyone else getting false notifications of new post and/or private messages? Several time the past two or three weeks I visit this site and I’ll get a notification that someone posted something new and there isn’t a new message.

Not false per se but sometimes if I lose connection with my phone, it will reload a saved version of the page from cache. If that cache version had red or blue indicators, and I don't notice it's a saved esther than live page, yah, I'll mistakenly believe it.

That fur is actually smoky quartz crystal.  Meaning the hairs, and clumps of them are actually stiff and SHARP.  Petting him can be lethal.  And, he does have Auto-Dodge.

So you're saying...my statement was 100% accurate. You are furry and your crystal fur is super sharp, like a blender. So when you get to spinning around and around in combat from your mega boosted auto-dodge, you will in fact, if not brand name, be a furry Cuisinart of Death.

Especially if he uses paired weapons.

Good blenders come with multiple different attachments ^_^

Are we retreating?

Seems that way. I think we are covering the retreat of 120. I'm guessing we scoot after that.

Different subject, really wish multiple image worked on others. Oh well, it's still proving useful in drawing attacks away from the rest of the team.

Say, how much MD does the Armor of Ithan that Zato cast on Beaumont have? Inquiring minds need to know to track things, lol. =)

     60 MDC.

     A few things I forgot to post. Number one, the noise of something big running towards you is getting louder. Loud enough that Elias isn’t the only one that can hear it. The noise surrounds you but you can’t see anything yet.
     Regarding Squad 120’s status, they’re in fucked up shape. Including LT Curtiss there’s nine members and six of them; including LT Curtiss; have had their legs broken. Evacuating them is going to be bitch.
     Lastly, some of you seem confused on how critical damage works in this campaign. Don’t roll double the damage dice. Roll for damage like normal and then double the result.

Thanks!

     I’ll be a little slow in posting a response. I’m celebrating my 17th anniversary. I’m not sure what’s wrong with my wife to stick with me so long, but anyway I’ll post a response ASAP.

Congratulations.
I'm excited because I just became a grandfather.

     Well, hot damn! Congratulations!

Woohoo!