Another possibility would be to have a second team run a distraction while the primary team engages pestilence.  This way we might mitigate the presence the Phoenix empire can throw at us.

I don't think the use of teleport as a combat function is a wise use of our resources.  Cool looking yes, but I have a feeling we will need all the PPE we can use for surprises the empire will throw at us.  What are the chances of an air drop/insertion?  Or is that not feasible?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:57, Fri 23 Oct 2015.

As an aside, given enough time, the PPE myself and the magic team can pool together would be sufficient to teleport our army on top of Famine. While I coordinate the ritual involved and the PPE pooling, we could launch a series of high speed, low vis recce teams to do the searching. Once located, we track his movements until the army is ready to strike. We drop on his position in a surprise attack.

And ya, I'm ok with Sophes finding out. I'd actually totally forgotten you weren't with us during that bit of epic reveal, so would have played it up like you already knew. Would be a fun little side RP if we need =)
This message was last edited by the player at 11:10, Sat 24 Oct 2015.

As a minor interjection, remember that you currently have no idea where Famine might be.  You last saw Death east of your current location, though that was not recent.  Mika was previously able to sense Death from only about 1 mile away and the other Horsemen from about 1/2 a mile away.

Teleport Superior, if used by Vrryl, can only move 9000 lbs per casting.

Hmmmmm, looks like a frontal assault is what we have on deck.  Unless we can have someone track famine (lol, thought it was pestilence) and keep tabs on him while we get a larger strike force together, we are going to have to strike almost as we find him.  Or risk losing where the demon is and start from scratch.

Actually these Horsemen are not too big on avoiding people and being stealthy; they pretty much go wherever they want and kill as many as they can. The only problem with finding them was that they were scattered all over Africa versus say Rhode Island.

Our group is fair sized, but not army-sized. Lots of mass though, especially with Victor's Ultimax (2.5tons), which make teleporting not very feasible. A more controlled approach will also allow us to develop an attack plan appropriate to the battlefield. Tracking down Famine will also give us a chance to gauge the response from the Phoenix Empire.

Makes sense with the demons.  I would say lets split up and scout for famine in the most likely of spots.  Then all meet back up and decide how to hit the mutha from there.  Perhaps we can have those peeps that aren't good at scouting doing research (if that is possible) on the best way to combat the monster.

What do you all think?

Once Famine is found, we'll have to keep eyes on him... otherwise we risk losing him again, and having to start from scratch. We can pull rest of the recce teams back, to detail out the specifics of an attack plan.

Vrryl could port 9000lbs, which is actually quite a shit tonne. I mean, if average weight is 200lbs + 100lbs gear... that's 30 people. We could send a small squad of fast flyers over to engage at distance... so that removes them from the teleport.

How many people do we have in our company? And is Vrryl the only one who can teleport?

I'll assume Famine's main forms of attack will be curses and magic.
I'll also expect crops and food to have spoiled and gone bad around him. If this has left long trails behind him, it'll be easier to find.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:45, Mon 26 Oct 2015.

What about the 5000lbs UltiMax power armor and people's mounts?

I'll let Erik answer, but I think we should have closer to 50-ish people by now since we've been accumulating some along the way.

I reckon Katrina Sun could also cast Teleport: Superior, but I'm not certain.

lol, yeah we will.  Sorry, I just assumed that was given.  Once found I have a feeling keeping tabs on famine won't be difficult.  For that we would send out small teams instead of individuals.  That way we can keep one person at the location famine is found and keep in contact with that person while marshalling our forces to destroy the demon.  Our short range radios may not be powerful enough, but I am sure Jessica can whip up a few long range ones and each team could take one long range radio with them to keep base camp informed.  Scouting parties that don't find famine can report back in in a set time and all converge on the location famine has been located.  We can keep a team in reserve to run counter to anything the Phoenix empire decides to throw at us.  I am thinking about three scouting groups made up of 2 or 3 members.  My suggestion is that we split the "players" and have one in each scouting party, with one back at base camp helping coordinate our efforts and prep weapons and a battle plan for when famine is found.

What do you guys think?  We could sent the scouting parties out to cover a 100 km radius circle around where the most powerful evidence of famine has been located.  Split the circle into equal pieces of pie and sent a scouting party to cover each "piece".  With flight speeds of 60 km/h at the minimum we could give a time frame of about 3 hours and then meet up with 15 minute radio check ins with base camp.

Regarding party weight - don't forget that many of the people in the group also have vehicles of their own that weigh a decent amount: horses, bionic horses, hovercraft.  That doesn't include gear either.

We may be able to probe the Phoenix Empire's intention too as we locate the trail of Famine and move on it. I suspect if they're in the neighbourhood they may engage us prior to us meeting up with Famine. Not sure the kind of numbers they could mobilize quickly though. At the end of the day we're still a couple thousand miles from the center of Egypt (assuming we're near Nairobi), and with an entire desert in between us.

Some of us could use the Magic Pigeon spell to facilitate long range comms (30mph speed).

If possible it would be good to scout for a leyline as well. Mika can make a few of those Fire Globes again (40ppe each) and they'll last for 9 weeks, so we'd be in good shape if we had a dozen or more for fly-by bombings.

I do kind of like the idea of having a team hidden in reserve somewhere in case some other force shows up to cause problems. That would be the ideal team to have them suddenly teleport in behind the new attacking force, especially if the Ultimax was involved along with some melee/ranged skirmishers for defense. And if no one else shows up to the party, we can call them in to help finish things off.

Then let's hold off thinking much more about strategy until we find where Famine is. It could be either the Phoenix Empire is in range, or not... and would alter our thinking considerably. The terrain and any other random factor as well.

I'll have Vrryl remain behind to coordinate, and build up PPE resources for the upcoming fight. Teams of 4 is optimum, so if any split is needed, no one is left alone. A circle could work, with 4 teams taking a quarter each. Or think of it as a square instead, and use a grid method similar to how search and rescue work. Fly back and forth across each grid column/row, until all squares have been explored. Then extend out. The teams of 4 can subdivide into 2's, one doing rows while the other flies columns.

I'd also like to know still if Vrryl is the only one that can teleport. I do think a lot of our gear can remain behind. We hardly need tents and toothpaste for a surprise assault.

We also need to identify who can move quickly and by what method? Teams of 4 sounds good to me; 2~3 teams moving forward ahead of the group. I believe we're simply headed north at this stage, but I'm not sure if there are any natural barriers (mountains, lakes, etc) in our vicinity to narrow our focus.

To answer Brett's question, Katrina has some teleportation magics, but only Mystic portal (shorter range, but only limited by time to pass through) and Rift Teleportation (only works between nexus points). No one else has mass teleportation abilities.

I'm not sure what Brett means about the Phoenix Empire being in range?  The last game we played, you collectively fought off slavers from the Phoenix Empire not too far from the Empire's southern border. (You're currently 200-300 miles south of it)

You currently are not sure where either of the remaining horsemen might be.  As a note, the land claimed by the Phoenix empire is pretty much all of northeast Africa.  1000 miles by 1500 miles.  There is also other parts of Africa.

Anyway, does everyone feel ready enough regarding the previous game occurrences?  Rules? etc.?  If so, I may just get an IC forum started and officially kick things off. :)

Let's do this!

I am totally down to start this thang!

Let's kick ass and chew some bubble gum!

It has begun again.

Some helpful information from previously:

The Phoenix Empire is a large area of land claimed by a demon- and monster-ruled populace and ruled by the evil Rama-Set.  They enslave and torture weaker life forms.  It is thought that the demons aim to congregate in Egypt (the magical and political centre) in order to join together.

You are currently 200-300 miles from the southern border of the empire.

You don't have many people capable of flight in the group.  Of the ones that are not on foot, the rest typically have horses (bionic or normal) or hover vehicles.  Previously, the player characters were the core of long-range scouting. (with the players casting flight on accompanying party members)

It is uncertain how you would detect a fake Vrryl or Erin Tarn.

Make no mistake, 2 demons joined together will still destroy all life on the planet - it will just take longer.

Cool, I was being dramatic in my narrative =)

For the flying thing, we'll see what get and go from there. If only a few people, then that's what we get. The plan is still sound, it'll just take longer.

From the summary I thought it was apparent that we knew of them.  If it isn't then strike that part.

Note the part that says the group suspecting they could be one person. ;)

Indeed; it is very likely in our character's brains that the impersonator of all these characters is the same entity. We would have to just narrow down the possibilities of things that could shape-shift effectively into those forms (Death's being the most bizarre). And then maybe create a plan for if/when we encounter it next to conduct some read aura and similar investigations to narrow down the possibilities.

So I'm thinking that we can split those with flight capabilities up to provide aerial reconnaissance for each team, and then compose the rest of the group with people who have bionic mounts or smaller hover vehicles, like hovercycles. The hover vehicles may have a decently powerful radio as well, which would help.

Depending on the numbers I imagine Jessica, Mika, Sophes and Vrryl could each be a part of one unit, and that way one of us is also with the main group in case something happens.

People that definitely have flight:
  Sir Galahad (Undead Slayer)
  Katrina Sun (Ley Line Walker)

Those with horses/hovercycles:
  Erin Tarn
  Sir Thorpe
  various 'mercenaries'
  knights from England

There is also Victor Lazlo and his Ulti-max, but that didn't seem appropriate for you current need.