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This is a thread for plot and for a theme. Post vignettes related to growing tensions, related to interacting with the City and the people therein, vigilantism and conspiracy, and exploring the central problem of coexistence between novas and baselines. I'm going to make a concerted effort to give people scenes and ongoing action, and there is a plot underway in Las Vegas to be uncovered or ignored.
If any of the little blurbs I supplied up there doesn't spark the imagination, Raoul will probably want to get his friends together for a quick talk about what can be done to keep Las Vegas 'safe' for novas. Since he lives in Spain more than half the time, he'd like input.
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12:24, Today: Gale rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 3,2,9,8,1. Wits. Fire demon?.
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previously activated adaptation, activating multitasking and quickness to get all this done in a round or two, activating shield, shapeshift, and twisting eufiber into old uniform + claws on instinct [watch T2M try and sue over it...]
Shield: You rolled 3 successes using 10d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((5,10,8,6,1,5,10,1,5,5)).
=6
Shapeshift: You rolled 4 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((10,8,2,8,1,2,1,6,4,6,9)).
=8 (go with something simple for this one: str +2, dex +2, armor +3, and perception +1)
Break down the door: You rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((10,7,2,10,6)). +15 for Mega-strength.
=18
quantum use: 8
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If someone's going to be digging around on site, they might as well have something to work with.
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Activate Quickness and Multi-tasking, take 7 actions on first, 1 on second.
The dice, they hate me. with a few exceptions it should be enough to hit people though. Anyone left standing at the end should be frightened enough that they'll comply though hopefully.
Clothesline: ((6,2,3,2,1,4,6,10,5,8)). +1 reroll 10 =3
Clothesline: ((8,10,3,8,7,8,9,10,5)). +0 reroll 10 =10
Doorknob + Ricochet: ((5,1,2,3,9,2,8,2,9)). =3
Grab: ((4,10,4,5,9,4,6,3)). =4
Throw: ((3,4,2,5,2,1,10,4)).+0 reroll 10 =1
Palm: ((9,4,3,2,10,2,7)). +1 reroll 10 = 5
Punch: ((7,2,2,6,5,9,1)). =3
Q.Construct: ((1,3,6,8,4,4,6,2,9,3)). +1 Will =4
size 1, sentient, 10 nova points (mega str 1, Patagia, adhesive grip, 4 maimed health levels)
Scare remaining goons into cooperating: ((10,3,9,4,10,6,8,7,9,1,5,1,1)). +1 reroll 10 = 10
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I don't have a high charisma, but I figure between manipulation, analyze weakness, and seeing displays of raw power, the kids will be fairly compliant.
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Okay. I'm going to see if Kraken wants to describe some of the base and its hurdles (he's already been doing a good job of that, but I figure he might like the chance to respond to your actions). Annette will be distracting some of the facility's security by utilizing the body of the super-strong nova she's possessing, so 'Kaze and Logan's job will be to get info on the place, and steal stuff of value.
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Activating quickness to use lethal blast and fly in the same action.
You rolled 8 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((3,9,7,1,2,10,7,2,9,9,4)). Lethal Blast to Hit
Damage: 10 levels + You rolled 2 successes using 6d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((7,10,4,2,3,3)).
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I had been hoping to get another post from the Logan NPC before moving things along, but it's been a while so I might as well just go now. I'm going to make a few simple assumptions which should, hopefully, pass without complaint.
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I don't think that anything Killbot #187 is equipped with will actually cause any damage, but they could inflict substantial penalties within the bubble that includes only Logan at the moment. Of course, something like Adaptability (or just being really dodgy) would completely negate most of the effects. For that matter, just being able to get 15 meters or so away in an instant would negate all of the effects. EA-3167 is particularly nasty stuff (and a hallucinogen). I'd say it ought to have the effect of 1 or 2 successes on a Mirage roll for a period of a few days (at least for a baseline) if inhaled. Beyond that, I think a penalty of 2 dice for each of the less-than-lethals that actually hits would be reasonable. Period of 2 hours for the Kolokol-1 (a depressant), period of 10 minutes for the rest.
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with hypermovement bonuses and her high dodge pool, 'Kaze can dodge all the to hit rolls, at least for now. But since the guns are probably programed to recognize pattens, dodging will become more difficult if not impossible. Without something creative, 'Kaze needs to go somewhere else, and quickly.
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17:15, Today: Suzukaze rolled 3 successes using 6d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 8,4,8,9,5,6. Holo.
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For bookkeeping, scenes that have played out/are presently playing out in this thread include:
-- Introduction to Las Vegas in 2005 [Msg #1]
-- Hell Kraken PR vignettes. [Msg #2, 30, 32, 47, 57]
-- Flare and Comstock have a conversation at the Amargosa Charitable Trust offices.
-- Gale and Phantasm attended speech event, had dinner, played off-hours heroes. Nova-demon called Belphegor attacks Gale, detains her via teleporting, but she regains consciousness and escapes. Phantasm called Gravitas, questioned baseline cultists.
-- Suzukaze, Harley, and Annette attempt to infiltrate Kraken Heavy Industries.
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using my powers for good! Making a manipulation roll to soothe Gale, restore her confidence, and remove any lingering fears. It succeeds, I'm not even going to roll it since it's primarily a fluffy story effect anyway.
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6 successes on stealth. I made a separate roll for each group of attacks rather than break it down into multiple actions. 3 successes to attack from stealth, 5 for my regular attacks, should be enough with mega-strength 1 to get rid of all of them in a round or two. Spending just 1 quantum to activate multitasking, since I'm already a little low. Relying on Intuition to warn me of attacks, and let me raise a shield in time if it becomes necessary.
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Analyze Weakness: 8 successes((8,8,6,9,3,7,7,9))
Manip+subterfuge: 13 successes((8,2,3,9,3,7,1,8,5,2,7,6,3,9,8,1,8,6,8,8))+((10)) had to roll separately for the last die, it told me there was a cap of 20 dice.
So, 13 successes to guilt them into telling me everything they know, hopefully including their rituals to control the 'demon', and to convince them of the rest of the story. Which will hopefully have ridiculously complicated results in the rest of the storyline :)
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still lying her ass off. But convincingly so, enough that even her friends might just have a few nagging doubts about what they really are... but only a few. She did wink after all, right? And of course, Grav already knows God, he found it in a coccoon, and it was his own unrealized potential :)
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+15 soak, 2 more quantum gone. Keeping Intuition and nova senses primed for danger.
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4l or 8b whichever you prefer, probably enough for Zero to feel nearly spry.
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Realized I addressed Zero as ‘he’ in my last post, which may or may not be accurate, switched back to non-gender for this one.
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OOC: 20,000km would put us well, well past Las Vegas. So I'm going to assume that Zero's put us back at the hideout, having plucked the address from Comstock's head or else picked it up from Comstock and Flare's banter.
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OOC: Phantasm has manipulated Belphegor into complete and total awe-struck trust in Gale, so now it's up to you to determine what you want to do with him. Choose carefully, though: he's still unstable. Other than that, consider this little plot tidied up.
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I think the last reply I made in this got missed, but it was winding down anyway. 'Kaze passed her trial run, and more missions will be available. Hell Kraken has limited dna evidence that points to 'Kaze. If he can find her info recorded someplace that is, which is unlikely. But there is still a great deal that can be determined from a bit of blood and detailed recordings of how a nova moves...
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Despite the speed with which he reached a conclusion, Gravitas' reasoning was actually quite complex. In other news, Gravitas' die pool trumps investigation of earthly phenomena.
Zero's teleportation was this clean and evidence free, but very few other novas were so gifted. And this man played havoc with the EM spectrum while under observation. Furthermore, he wandered about on his feet like someone having a good time. Teleportation was out as implausible.
There were no gravitational or quantum anomalies hinted at by the collected information, and Kraken's apparatus was quite sophisticated. This ruled out a portal or dimension-altering powers such as Freak's '2-D' physical form and movement. At the very least, the most recently exchanged nova science on the subject suggested that there ought to be at least some obvious energy losses to the surrounding area from either such application of quantum power. Nothing beyond the radiation the man naturally emitted from standing around, and when he 'disappeared' from the cameras even that energy seemed to vanish. So no portal or dimension-altering.
This left the realm of powers and technologies capable of cloaking or altering the nova himself. Even something as small as a fly would have been detected by the omnipresent 'bots, and more exotic forms of movement like transforming into electrical current or flowing through biomass from one place to the next left signs that Gravitas was sensitive to. A cursory investigation made such things unlikely.
So the man had cloaked himself somehow. And it always happened the same way, very mechanically, and he seemed very focused on getting it right. He wasn't carrying anything, so unless the technology was installed in his body (and somehow shielded from his aberrations) it had to be a power. Something new. Something outside his natural development. The man wasn't any Terat that Gravitas knew of. And he was not, to Gravtias' knowledge, in any registry of teleporting or portal creating novas to which Gravitas had access. And Utopia and most governments were very sensitive to the relatively rare novas with such powers. But the man had the look and quantum feeling of the rare power-leeching nova. It was the most likely explanation, especially given Hell Kraken's reaction to the entire incident.
Complicated nova-science cyberware or a stolen power, providing a radioactive man from Hell Kraken's past with invisibility that masked him across all spectra. Arms dealers from Japan or Russia, or else the Directive that everyone had begun worrying about.
Of course the simplest and most impossible of explanations was that the sensors had been fooled. Dozens if not hundreds of separate computers with a host of backups, shielding and unique software simultaneously tampered with over a considerable distance as the man walked into the building, revealed himself, and then left. If this were true, it would take a cyberkinetic of the highest caliber, a wizard of silicon and copper. Buendia? Maybe he could accomplish such a thing, but otherwise it was highly unlikely anyone could brute force their way past this.
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I'm thinking this conversation might serve as a link to the events in the Full Circle thread, what with the poisoning and all.
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if Gale wants to discuss anything, P' is up for it. Just trying to finish off the scene.
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Flare rolled 6 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 5,9,1,1,10,2,9,9,9,2,10. With her mega-stealthiness, I think this is 8 successes, which is awesome.
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15:35, Today: Flare rolled 9 successes using 20d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 10,8,6,4,3,7,3,8,10,3,10,7,3,2,7,3,9,4,6,2. Damage on La Puerta.
15:34, Today: Flare rolled 7 successes using 13d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 8,1,3,6,9,7,9,6,8,9,8,3,1. Actual fire blast on La Puerta.
So actually 7 to hit and 12 damage to La Puerta
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OOC: Just a nudge to get this finished so we can move on.
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OOC: At this point, those infected should be down to Quantum 2. Better than mortal, but powers are failing and mega-attributes are low. It's been five or six months since symptoms began. Your best stats will still have some oomph, though.
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OOC: Continuing on the assumption that Kraken shows up while the video is playing. If this is a bad assumption, we'll let the teflon giant retcon carefully. Also, Imp, sadly it is just a VHS tape and cannot respond. Good protection against cyberkinetics. But the man who recorded it did try to anticipate concerns and questions, so some of your grousing at the TV screen might be rewarded with clarification.
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OOC: Bumping along just to keep things moving.
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So. 13 successes on a Poison roll. Against a mook. May have over-estimated the dosage a bit on that one. Guess I'll be mixing things up a bit.
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No, really. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville_sewer_explosions">It isn't unknown</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Guadalajara_explosions">for sewers</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_Ottawa_sewer_explosion">to just explode</a>. This is why you don't pour gasoline down the drain. Also, yes. As it turns out there is a race of mole-men living in the Las Vegas storm sewer system. By which I mean there is a reason you don't see as many homeless folks wandering the streets as you might otherwise expect. What? You thought they were the one city in the world that had a decent system of shelters?
Crap, that didn't format correctly. Guess I don't have the right permissions to make links work here.
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Alright, I've got 8 successes on an Investigation check to see what was in the notes. Assume I Holmes'd it up before arriving.
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burning 1 sux for the change to the plane, 5 sux for hypermove: flight, 1 sux for mega dex 2
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Storyteller's Note: Obviously not Flare talking here, but I felt I should finish off the interaction and set Flare up for npc status. Also, before she left I was working with Flare while she was on to develop some backstory where she had been conditioned by proteus, and the conditioning was playing hell with her thoughts and feelings. This was a chance to bring that up. Feel free to reply further if you like, or to post a wrap up.
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OOC: We'll be here for you, Flare, if you ever want to take over your character again. But meanwhile, she's going into the ranks of Vigilance. It remains to been if this will be the mistake that damns us all.