OOC:
How far is Adrian from the action? IE, will it be possible to get in range to take a shot this round, or would he mainly be spending the turn getting in range?

[[You might be able to get in range if you ran, but it'd incur a MAP to shoot the same round, cancelling out the advantage. These things are Small in Dim light as well, so ranged attacks are at -3 to start with (unless you're William, who ignores the dim penalty)

I'd recommend just running, I think, but you could always try to distract/Trick the things into running your way/towards William's crazy firepower or something.]]

He couldn't quite make out what was going on, but there was some commotion back where Evans and the others were, and this being Blackthorn and all, the chance that it was anything not bad was slim to none, so he began to high tail it back to where they were, hoping to lend a hand.

---

OOC:
That's what I'll do then. Just gonna move back to within range of the trouble.

Initiative for next round: RJ!

23:38, Today: Adrian Vega drew the single card: RJ! using the Deadlands system.

This message was last edited by the player at 05:38, Wed 18 Dec 2013.

[[18:50, Today: Alouette, on behalf of Adrian Vega, rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. running!

Yep, he'll be at decent range next turn, even with that.

Ahoy, William Pierce! ]]

William swears under his breath and runs back, squeezing off a shot that goes wild.

22:14, Today: William Pierce rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. running.
Not sure how far I'm away, but I guess I'm still at medium range... sooo...

22:15, Today: William Pierce rolled 2,1 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3. Shooting.

22:16, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: RJ! using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

Ignoring the dog that just jumped at it, the clank turns and slams a hand down on the skull of one of the ones attacking O'Rourke and Evans. The stench of singed fur rises as bone cracks, blackening under the angel's touch.

When the automaton casts it away, the dog does not rise.


[[Aye. They're also Small (-1) and running and firing makes for a MAP (-2), so unless you have Edges I've missed it'd take a minor miracle to hit a nasty rather than, say, Jake, or a clergyman. But hey, you got a Joker!

Anyway.


22:09, Today: Alouette rolled 1,1 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1. fightin'. C'mon, birdie, you can do better than that.

22:12, Today: Alouette rolled 1, 5 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5. white chippit. Hmm...
22:14, Today: Alouette rolled 5 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5. blue for drama. -> 10 Hit, raise.

22:29, Today: Alouette rolled 22 using 4d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+6+3)15,2,2,3. strength, raise, zap damage. Wow.

Down 1 doggie, 3 to go.

Next Round!

William RJ!
Adrian RJ!
Jake 8D
Dogs 4H
O'Rourke 3C
Alouette 2D
Evans x_x (sorry Evans) ]]

William slows down as he comes closer and pulls the second pistol from his belt.
His eyes dart back and forth, until he settles on his targets.

The grey gun in his right hand screams as he pulls the trigger, the bullet tracing its way to the wolf attacking Jake... a split-second later, the gun in his left coughs once, hitting the wolf attacking Alouette throwing it down to the ground.

Ok... Quickdraw edge allows me to pull the second pistol "for free".
Not a two-gun-kid, but the Joker gives me +2, canceling out the MAP. Trying to fire them both.

Right hand: -1 for size, shooting at Jake's wolf.
12:50, Today: William Pierce rolled 5,2 using d10-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 6,3. Shooting Ghost Gun.
That's a hit!

12:50, Today: William Pierce rolled 7 using 3d6+3, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2,1. Ghost Gun Damage + Joker.

Wait, what? Oh, nonono.

12:51, Today: William Pierce rolled 11 using 3d6+3, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4,3. White chip, No Mercy.
Sucky, but not quite as sucky.

Left Hand:
12:52, Today: William Pierce rolled 6,5 using d10-3,d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 9,(6+2)8. Left Hand shooting.
Another hit, this one goes to Alouette's beast.

12:53, Today: William Pierce rolled 6 using 2d6+3, rerolling max with rolls of 2,1. Peacemaker damage + Joker.
Oh, come on, you gotta be kidding me!
12:53, Today: William Pierce rolled 14 using 2d6+3, rerolling max with rolls of (6+4)10,1. Blue chip for No Mercy.

12:54, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: AS using the Deadlands system. Initiative.


...and I just realized I forgot to doubletap. Oh, well.

The dog preparing to sink its teeth into the back of Jake's neck gets blasted sideways out of the air, most of its neck and proximal cranium gone.

The one hit with the normal gun drops and is rolled over by the force of impact, but scrambles up again, paws scrabbling.


[[Sorry, I have been much-distracted.
Zombie Dog, rolled 2 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 2. Dog soak?
Zombie Dog, rolled 5 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 5. other doggit. Well, I made y'all run back here, might as well give you somethin' to fight.]]

A little closer now, Adrian tried his best to stay focused on the targets. He brought that strange gun up to bear on one of them, but he didn't have to pull the trigger this time. A strange sensation seemed to pass through his body the way it always did when he held up a weapon and reached out with his mind into that ethereal world to deal with the devil. It only took a fraction of a second, but it felt like an eternity in his mind, where it seemed that he heard cards shuffling and dice rolling. They flashed before his eyes and he took hold of that power, fusing into his gun, and unleashed it from the barrel of that gun.

---

OOC:
- I'm Dealin' with the Devil for 3 PP as indicated below in my roll. Because of 4 Grit + Hhigh Roller, I get to draw 10 cards to make my hand. My draw was a Flush: Hearts, as bolded in my dice roll below (2H, 3H, 7H, 8H, 10H). I'd otherwise get a raise to the spell with a Flush, but I don't think Bolt has a raise effect sadly.
- I'm going to use those 3 PP to cast three Bolts at 2d6 each (2d6+2 because of the Joker). I roll Spellcasting to hit for the attack thrice, but only get the wild die once, again with the +2 for the Joker (after Dim Light and Size, that would be a -1 instead of a -3).
- As noted below, on my attack rolls, I got a 5, a 4 and a 4 on my hit dice. Assuming I've calculated the penalties correctly, that should be three hits.
- Damage: 10, 6, 5

18:20, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 10 cards: 8H, KD, 9D, 10H, 7H, 3H, 2S, 10S, 2H, 5S using the Deadlands system. Dealin' with the Devil (3).
18:33, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 5,3,4,4 using d8-1,d6-1,d8-1,d8-1. Heads up! Here's another one. And another one.
18:35, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 10,6,5 using 2d6+2,2d6+2,2d6+2. Boom! Boom! Boom!

[[You'd do an extra d6 damage on those for the raise, I think - considering any of our Mad Scientists' damage is dependent on the activation not the hit rolls, I think that's fair.

Were you aiming at Alouette's doggit or O'Rourke's?]]

OOC:
In concert with my previous post, that would bring the damage totals to:
13, 10, 6

Also, we'll go ahead and send them to the dog attacking O'Rourke. Deputy Vega has seen Alouette kick some ass, so he figures the clank can handle itself for a bit and may be more effective if not worrying about other people. Or maybe just that the dog will distract the clank from his witchery.

04:13, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 3,4,1 using d6,d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,4,1. Raise Damage.

Also, next round initiative: 4H
This message was last edited by the player at 11:52, Thu 26 Dec 2013.

[[yep, that'll get one. song for Adrian! *dance dance* ]]

The mostly-bulldog mongrel goes from long-toothed hellhound to broken meat pinata mid-lunge. The priest kicks it away in horror before realising it's truly down, but the thing does not get up again.


[[Jake! You're up - one doggit weaving about by Alouette left!]]

Jake remained quiet, his eyes scanned the dim light and his eyes strained to hear anything. Crow kowws seemed to echo through out the area but he had seen the dog ... that not so living dog. The hexslinger's service dragoon rang out like thunder in the night.

OOC: 11:28, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 3,5 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5. Shootin'.
11:28, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 11 using 2d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 3,(6+1)7. Damage (Pistol) AP1.
11:29, Today: Jake Lawrence drew the single card: 9H using a deck of 54 cards. Initiative .

[[These things are -3 to hit at range (-1 Small, -2 Dim light), so that's a Miss. Moving on...]]

The remaining undead dog ignores the fact that Jake is shooting at it and lunges at the clank's leg, momentarily buckling it and pulling it off-balance.

A brief flash arcs between wet teeth and metal and the dog looses its hold, spasming again, snapping with mindless, idiot hate at the dirt.


[[Rolls! First, is it that stupid?

Zombie Dog got the result "Yes - definitely" on the magic 8-ball.
Right then. Zombie Dog rolled 7 using 1d8+2. attack! attack! Hit.
Zombie Dog, rolled 5,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,3 -> 8 damage: Shaken for Alouette.
20:57, Today: Alouette rolled 8 using 2d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4. zap damage. Shaken for doggit.]]


O'Rourke finally gets space to give Evans the most basic first aid and sets to it with a will.


[[Father William O'Rourke rolled 6,3 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1. doing something about that incap. There we go.]]


The clank tilts its head at the reeking, burnt and ravaged corpse jacknifing on the ground before it. Then it steps forward with a grace so exquisite its brazen form might have been sliced from the air about it with a razor, and lands one spark-scrawled foot squarely on the canid's head.

There is a crunch, and then a silence.


[[Alouette drops a white to unshake and touches Derpy Dog there for field damage. (+2 touch, -1 size, melee)
21:08, Today: Alouette rolled 3,12 using d4+1,d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+5)11. touch of death! Hit, raise.
21:08, Today: Alouette rolled 20 using 3d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+5)11,4. zap damage. Yeah, it's dead. Again. Whoo!

Combat over!]]

Pierce prods one of the dead again dogs with his foot while reloading his mundane gun.
Nothing in this town stays dead.

"How's the Marshall?"

"Pretty badly mauled. I'm working on it, but right now I don't have anything beyond faith, and hope the Lord will hear me," he stops there to resume a quiet litany, but William's eyes and nose can pick out the sweat on the priest's brow and the scent of fear mixed in with that of charred dog and Evans' blood. These things have shaken him.


[[lessee...Holy healing -2, Conviction +2, Healer +2, Wounds -3...

Father William O'Rourke rolled 2,2 using d10-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3.
Father William O'Rourke rolled 2,2 using d10-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3. white chippit.

Father William O'Rourke rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. red chippit. -> 4, which heals 1 wound and just barely averts a Crisis of Faith. I'll let the clank have a go in the evening.]]

O'Rourke glances at the returned gunmen, still pressing his palm to the torn vein in Evans' shoulder. "Did you get whatever was up ahead? I heard shots..."


The clank turns its head towards Adrian, but says nothing, merely letting the thread-lightning run off it like water and disappear into bluegreen after-images of light.

14:57, Today: William Pierce rolled 7,6 using d6+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 3,2. Notice (Cats Eyes, Alertness).

"Reckon we stumbled across their previous prey and put it out of its misery."

Evans hisses at the ministrations, then reaches into his coat and pulls forth a bottle of lineament, which he uncorks and begins rubbing on his wounds. The wound begins to sizzle, and Evans winces. "Dammit!" He grunts while a whitish foam settling into the wound and a heavy alcohol smell rises into the night. The foam seems to be sealing the wound nicely, hardening into a makeshift bandage.

((OOC: Mad Science to the rescue! Evans uses his All-Natural Snake Oil on himself. He has a -2 penalty from his wounds and a -2 penalty from being injured (which is why doctors have a hard time healing themselves).

08:47, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled -2,-2 using d8-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. Healing. Fail, so spending a white chip.

08:47, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 0,1 using d8-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5. white chip. Fail, but within Red chip range.

08:47, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. red chip. Total of 3, so need another chip

08:47, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. another red chip. Total of 6, which means if I get 2 or better on antoher chip, I'm healed up. So doing so.

08:48, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 10 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+4)10. another red chip. 16 total, and where were you when I need you before, Raise? That means Evans is healed up completely.))

"Easy, there, you've lost a fair amount of blood," the priest cautions Evans, helping him sit up and angle himself as the mixture dries.

"One of the ranch hands?" O'Rourke asks William, sounding unsure as to whether that would be such a terrible thing.

The clank stands there looking up at the sky, the soft sigh of static dying down to a murmur, lost under the wind.

"I'm not surprised. This week I've been shot, three times, bitten by vampires, pummeled by an angry mob, beat half to death by Frankenstein's monster, tied up in barb wire, nearly exploded to death, twice, and now mauled by undead dogs. I should think I might have lost some blood over all that." Evans snaps. "I'm beginning to think Underhill had the right idea. We're not even at the goddamned ranch yet!" He seems to be getting a bit hysterical.

"Self has a hickory stick!" Alouette tells Adrian and/or the surrounding area, showing them the same.

The priest looks at Evans a few moments, but says nothing, looking up and over at the dark. "Bitt- Jake, are you doing well yourself?"

William shakes his head and turns one of the dog around with his boot.
"No. A dead horse, wanted a bite out of Vega. Reckoned the dogs got to the horse... but looking at these claws, maybe something else got the horse and the dogs. And I wonder about the rider."

He scans the area with his eerily glowing eyes.
"We should get back to moving. And stick together from now on."

Jake remained quiet, letting the others talk, as his hands went about swapping out used shells for fresh ones from his gun belt. He let the empty shells fall to the ground.

The priest's words broke his reverie but he simply nodded towards the man rather than saying anything ... perhaps he didn't trust himself to say something that wasn't easily viewed as crazy.

The priest frowns. "A horse? That's...worrying. The dogs could have eaten cattle touched by the Serpent, but I can't think of a reason for horses to start walking."

"Witchcraft," Alouette suggests, pattering up from checking over the surrounding area and informing William: "Self could not locate sticky."

It ticks a bit. Meanwhile, the priest squints at the nearest dog, but the moonlight isn't really enough to make out its injuries. "Claws? Like a lion's?"

"Or tiger's," the clank chips helpfully.

In keeping with his laconic nature, Adrian hadn't had much to add to the conversation that somebody else hadn't already said. At Evans' outburst, he did clap the man on the shoulder, and tried to offer a word of encouragement.

"Cheer up, Marshal. Could be worse. At least you're still alive."