To discuss things relating to scene 01.01.

Want to ask questions about whats going on in this scene?  Want to introduce a new Aspect?

OK, I've read the rules, and I've played once upon a while ago, but game mechanics aren't really my strength.  My apologies in advance for my cluelessness.  So here come the semi-newbie queries...

How exactly do I use my empathy to see if the commander is still alive and in need of rescue?  Do I just narrate my attempt?  Do I have to state what aspect(s) I am using to justify it?  Do I have to pay any fate points?  Do I have to make any rolls?  O_o

It's all good. That's precisely why this thread is here.

Narrate it normally, and if it's a consequential action I may ask for a roll.

In this case, I see a potential for a dramatic positive and dramatic negative outcome, so yes... Please Roll Notice:+2.  if you want to.

The We Feel Your Pain Aspect gives you permission to use specific skills in ways they might not normally be available.  So, even if the commander is buried under rubble, this Aspect gives you an avenue that makes your awareness of him possible.

I figure the TN is +2 because anybody he's sensing in the immediate area is either going to be confused as all hell (those just released from the pods), scared, stress and frightened or in pain and dying.   How do differentiate the commander from the background noise of everyone else's emotions?  You do not need to spend fate points for it to work in this manner.  But you can if you want to re-roll or add +2 to a roll-result you didn't like.

In your narrative, I'd love to see some indication of just how familiar he is with his abilities, a sense of how long he's had them.

As a side note:
Since you've got a Notice(+4), an average 4dF(+0) result would give you a 2-shift success.  You can just "Take zero" if you want and get the success.  Or you can take a chance and roll for it (getting you a potential result of +0 to +8).

So is an attempt to directly sense the commander's emotions via We Feel Your Pain based upon Empathy or Notice?  I would have thought the former... unless Notice is needed to separate the commander's emotions from all the empathic noise in the vicinity...?  O_o

Ooo!  I didn't even know about the Take Zero option.  Is it worth rolling in hopes of Succeeding with Style, or is it better to just take the sure thing?  :o

EDIT: BTW, just how much do we remember?  Do I know my own name, for example, or is this a Dark Matter blank slate?  :o
This message was last edited by the player at 00:24, Sun 07 Mar 2021.

unless Notice is needed to separate the commander's emotions from all the empathic noise in the vicinity...?  O_o


So, yes.  When several people are screaming and shouting and crying all at once, how do you pinpoint one voice in the crowd?

The roll is Notice.

The Empathy Skill is not the Same as the Psionic Ability we've been calling Empathy.  Thats a disconnect I shoulda noted earlier.  Sorry.  You're not sensing a change in the commander's emotion.  That requires having sensed his prior emotion.   You're sensing whether he's present in the situation.  That's Notice.


Take Zero
Take Zero isn't an option in the books, so far as I recall.  But it seems an appropriate rules adjustment for a text-based forum.  Anything we can do to help streamline the process is a good thing.  Of course, if there's any problem with it, I'd love to hear your opinions.

It's cribbed from Mutants and Masterminds "Take 10" in the d20 systems.


How Much Do You Remember
I wanted a blank slate.  If you want to remember your name and various other tidbits, that's fine.   The more you define the less I will.  And the less I define, the less fate points I hand out for foisting them upon you (Per the regular accept/decline discussions, of course).


Ooo!  I didn't even know about the Take Zero option.  Is it worth rolling in hopes of Succeeding with Style, or is it better to just take the sure thing?  :o
That's your call to make.  This is the very first opening scene.  There's is going to be some railroading here.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:50, Sun 07 Mar 2021.

Ah!  Hmmm.  So if Empathy Skill isn't what the Psionic Ability is based upon, should I have put something else (such as Notice) at the top of my skill pyramid?  O_o


Ah, I thought it seemed familiar.  I like it.  :)


Got it.  I like it.  I only managed to see the first several episodes of Dark Matter once upon a time ago, but I loved the premise.  :)

So if Empathy Skill isn't what the Psionic Ability is based upon, should I have put something else (such as Notice) at the top of my skill pyramid?  O_o

Let's stop calling this psionic ability "Empathy".  Perhaps "Intuition"?

To my understanding, Empathy is the skill this psionic ability is based upon.
But this does not translate into using the Empathy skill for every application of the psionic ability.  I really want to avoid anyone having one skill to rule them all.

If you want to take it in another direction, then perhaps we should take this to private messages so we can leave this thread for the scene discussion.

OK.  I think that I understand.  Famous last words...  ;)

EDIT: "Intuition".  Yeah.  I like it.  :)
This message was last edited by the player at 03:00, Sun 07 Mar 2021.

What does Lincoln look like? Bek wants to co-opt someone to help get the rest of the living out and moving, and at current the other PCs are busy or haven't been written as awake yet.

CSX:
BTW, is We Feel Your Pain a suitable Compel for CSX to save as many survivors as possible despite the risk of delay?

Yes.  What is the drama you're proposing?  What might prevent him or complicate this action?

@BEK:
Lincoln Spohr is a thick-set black man with a shaved head.  There are scars criss-crossing the left side of his face and evidence of a traumatic burn behind his ear on the left side.  He has no facial hair but the features on his face are particularly deeply set.  It animates him greatly when he talks.  But, he doesn't talk much at thr moment...

Rescuing Commander Amin.  Determining where he was, and how to pull him out of the debris.  Healing him to enable him to leave under his own power.  Still having enough time and strength to get myself away in time.  And if we both evacuate successfully, I have rescued an authority figure who thinks I am nothing but cargo, and who may well hinder any escape to freedom... :o
This message was last edited by the player at 07:05, Wed 10 Mar 2021.

@CSX:
He backed out slowly, moving something heavy.

I need clarification.  What is the "something heavy"?

Commander Amin.  He used Intuition to find his dazed body and drag it out of the debris...

Thank-you.   I'll change up Pinned by Debris for one of his Aspects.   It was planned but only in my head.  If it isn't in the IC posts, it isn't in the story.

In the story, Commander Amin is sufficiently whole that CSX's query is rational.  I suppose that massive internal damage wouldn't be visible, but massive blood loss would be.  Therefore, if he had the latter, CSX wouldn't have had to ask if he could stand...?  :)
This message was last edited by the player at 01:03, Thu 11 Mar 2021.

One, give me some time to put something in the narrative, will you?

Second:
Is Commander Amin sufficiently whole?

What is that based on?

All I've got from it is that CSX moved debris, went into a hole and came out with something heavy.

The text your wrote up didn't actually make any reference to Amin's state of being, so narratively, it's still open to definition by myself or other players.

Semantics matter!  I try not to direct things in sch a way that nothing that has gone before is contradicted.

You can always put an OOC note in an in-character post to clarify things if needed.

Oops, sorry.  Since I saw it in the Aspects thread, I figured it would be better to clarify before you went to the trouble of writing a post based upon it...  :o

OK, I think I am understanding a bit more.  You are correct.  I wrote with a clear idea in mind of certain facts, but did not express them explicitly or unambiguously.  Lesson learned...  :)

Appreciate the sentiment.

We're kinda establishing standard operating procedures for gaming as we go here.

I'm also happy to discuss changes to how we do things.  RPOL is it's own beast, after all.

I have plenty of RPoL experience, but precious little Fate experience.  In addition to having a much better clue how Fate is supposed to work, you also have the privilege of calling the shots as GM.  We just have to learn the ropes.  :)

I'm just always looking for ways to streamline the text-based gate-game, while not abandoning GM & Player agency too much.

I was working with the idea that Barrett had flipped the reload switch and unlocked the doors for all of them, but not everyone was coherent and out yet. I can edit my post if that's incorrect.

I gave the number of survivors in Message #1 (Barrett: "Twelve of forty-five.  What a fucking waste.").  Reinforced in Messag 10 (OOC: only twelve cannisters were viable... t stands to reason that there are five other NPCs waking up. ).  If you are playing it such that Barrett "missed one" or intentionally left someone out, then I'll need to take steps to ensure than nothing is contradicted.  In this case, it means that yeah, you've found someone alive... but they aren't quite right...

More Debris Than You Can Shake a Stick At
Stuck Between Coragel and Alien Feces
Hey, At Least There's UV Lights!
Open to adding other Aspects if you think it's appropriate.

This is kinda what I'm envisioning for the structure of the room:

In a traditional game, I'll just declare "Are there vines among the vegetable debris? Viper tries to find vines, hook them somewhere, and climb down one level (even if she ends up on the wrong side)"
but 1) not sure I'm envisioning things properly - thanks for the image, though :)
2) is it the way to do, or do I get to state there are vines? :)

@Maissa:
That is a perfect example of a declaration of a Scene Aspect.  It'll cost you a fate-point to bring that fact into existence.  (Also, you don't need to tie it to one of your Aspects.  I was mistaken about that when I said that earlier.)

So, are you willing to spend a fate-point to create Creeper Vines: Good Filters, Good Rope?

Since you're purchasing it with a fate-point, you'd get the automatic free invoke on it--on top of just bringing that "fact" into existence.

@Bai Ling Li
So, in this system, do I just do something to create the situation described? Or try to see if it already exists?
No point in rolling to look for stuff.  no drama in failure here.  But I do see drama in building a bridge to get everyone across...

It'll take a Tech:+4 result to be able to locate the appropriate parts, gather them together and build it.

You also have the advantage of Teamwork (Fate Core Page 174).  Mechanically, each contributing team-member acting in concert, using the same skill, adds +1 to your roll.  But they must have a minimum of an Average(+1) Tech skill-rank.  You've got three other PCs (Maissa, Maxir & Zewfla) and four capable NPCs (Barrett, Lincoln and AMin (and two from the unnamed mob) who might help.  You just need to convince them in-character.

(and they will need to indicate that they're actually doing it. in-character).

Also note that the scene has an Aspect More Debris Than You Can Shake a Stick At.  If you needed it, you could invoke that Aspect for the standard +2 or re-roll...
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:42, Sat 13 Mar 2021.

Viper:
Creeper Vines: Good Rope
The Aspect is now in play.  You have the free invoke on it.

Despite how Baylee may be thinking, I can totally see ways that this will contribute.  The thing she and some of the NPCs construct may give them a path across, but having a rope guideline to hand-over-hand your way--at the same time--would dramatically improve stability.

The trick there is going to be getting the rope affixed to something on the other side...



Hungry after so much Sleep
I want to take a different approach on this one.  The specifics of the stasis haven't been laid out, so it's not directly inferred by the story.  It seems like the kind of Aspect that would apply to all the PCs and NPCs from stasis (so everyone but Amin & Barrett).  However, it also strikes me as not really having a means or method for you to use it to your advantage. So, it's a negative Aspect.

I don't want you to pay for Aspects that don't actually give you any benefit (neither a fate-point or a dice-roll).  So, I don't think it's appropriate as a mechanics-Aspect.  You are more than welcome to use this fact in your narrative story, of course.  Of course, others can give their opinions.  This is a discussion, if you want it to be.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:45, Sat 13 Mar 2021.

@Bai-Ling Li
Baylee will grab the two who look easiest to boss about and use her Command skill to boss them. Admittedly, she doesn't know she has command skill, and is just wielding brute force of personality for this. If one of them is one with the Tech skill, great. Just couldn't think of an IC way for her to identify them within time constraints. Then, I will invoke the aspect used above for the +2.

A couple of points I want to bring up. I'm sorry if this is too meta-gamey or too teacher-y.

Command
I'm not interested in the Command skill for this conflict.  I's a level of granularity I'm not interested in exploring here.   The drama in the situation is easily modelled with one roll (rather than, say three: nice, gather, build).  I'd rather use those things as potential failure-reasons than decision-points.  I hope that makes sense.

NPC SKill Sets
I randomly rolled to see how many of the NPC from the mob have sufficient Tech Skills to help build.  You've got two on-board.  The others can help gather, of course.  I'm happy with "you asked them to help, and they helped"  You might have all five of the mob helping, but you only gain +2 from their assistance.  But mechanically, the dice-restrictions hold.


Rolls
Bai Ling-Li rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice with rolls of 0, -1, 0, -1.  Tech +3 (TN+4), Build a Bridge. Invoke for +2.  Blast, well, If I grabbed a NPC with the Tech skill for the help, that still succeeds...

SO:
Rolled 4dF(-2) + Tech(+3) + NPCs(+2) + More Debris...(+2) = +1+2+2 = Result(+5/+4)  SUCCESS.

As a side note: I noticed that you invoked on the dice-roller.  Thanks.  It makes sense.  You do know that you can roll and invoke after the roll, if you need to.  That's the core mechanic I love about Fate... the ability to turn an abject failure into a success... after the fact.

You succeeded at the roll, so you will get the bridge built in time before the station goes kablooie.  I Mean, metagame, that was never in doubt. I"m not gonna kill off the PCs.   But what kind of condition you'll end up in when you get to the ship?  That remains to be seen.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:51, Sat 13 Mar 2021.

Any of you want to take a stab at calming the mob? (Perform, Command, Rapport, maybe?  CSX's Empathy might help). Roll vs Mob average Will(+1)  Success calms them down, makes them easier to direct and control.  Failure makes you lose one or two.


@Bek?
You've got the best Athletics here.  You wanna throw the grappler?  No roll needed...  it's just to make a point that Amin isn't gonna be much help--but that he is trying.

@CSX.
You've got some time while the bridge is being built.  You wanna take a stab at laying on Hands?  Commander Amin and Barrett could both use a hand.

That's what I was thinking, working on it. Bek is also extremely tall (I was envisioning them about 2 meters) so that could be useful too.

Re: Mob - should I use Empathy or Rapport?  Am I correct in my impression that I could just Take Zero, unless I want to attempt to succeed with style?

Re: LOH - do I have enough time and energy to do both of them, or do I have to prioritize?  Is a roll needed?

@CSX
There are about four minutes before the reactor goes kablooie.   I would like others to be able to do something as well.  SO, I"d prefer that you pick one or the other.

OK.  Can I do both mob calming and LOH for one person, or do I also need to choose between mob and LOH?

See my previous message.  I'd like you to pick one, so that opportunities remain available for other players.

It is a situation where taking-zero is possible, yes.

Empathy is the ability to understand people's emotions and motivations.  You are trying to direct their emotions.  So, it's going to be Perform, Command, or Rapport, as noted earlier.

The psionic powers may help.  But a strictly-receptive skill simply can't be used a projective manner without a stunt to do so.  It's like saying you want to use the Notice skill to make the bartender think you're a chipmunk.

OOC: Barrett's 4: Broken Shoulder Consequence is replaced with 2: Bruised Shoulder which is now in recovery.

Sheng-Xin takes on a Moderate(+4) Mental Consequence.

CSX: How do you feel about 4: Intense Psychosomatic Pain?

@Bek:
There's More Debris Than You Can Shake a Stick At in this area.  Hydronics Garden and Sanitation stuff--including safety gear and appropriate tools to both of these purposes.  Would you care to accept a fate-point for a compel on Magpie's Mentality to go off into the debris for a little bit to go searching for something--anything--that Bek might take for themself?

Zefla
I can offer you the same compel from Impulsive Risk-Taker..  Will you accept?

I am happy to take that compel, and hope that the prison uniforms have pockets . . .

Great minds think alike.  His shoulder may still be functional, but it feels as painful as if it is broken.  ..  :o

I am thinking that the only reason CSX knows how to use his abilities is because they come from the psymbiont.  He may still know how to walk, how to speak, and how to pray, but memories about himself are currently unavailable.

How does that work for you?  :)

@CSX
Sure, I"m bendy on that.

@Bek
Hasn't been defined about pockets.  I don't feel it's worth a fate point to bring it into being....  We'll just go with it, I think.

You're all welcome to roll for your descent to the lower level.  Or not. But if you roll it, play it. I figure it's an Athletics:+2 target, but you can go with other skills, so long as it makes sense.

Therefore:

• Baylee rolled Athletics(+3/+2):Success
• Viper: rolled Athletics(+2/+2): Tie

@Viper:
You have several mechanical options open to you at the moment:

1. Do nothing.  Take a minor cost...  I'm thinking a straight 2-shift stress hit.
   
2. Spend a fate-point to invoke one of you Aspects to add +2 to make it an unqualified success (What's Life Without a Little Excitement? certainly fits the situation)
   
3. Use your free invoke on Creeper Vines: Good Rope to give you that +2 to make it an unqualified success

Obviously, I think option-3 is the best bet.  Might as well use that Aspect you created to your advantage!


Reminder: Stress is Not Damage!
Stress is not damage!  As soon as the scene is done (in this case, as soon as you make it to the impound hangar), your stress-tracks clear.  It only really matters if you take additional stress...
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:22, Sun 14 Mar 2021.

In reply to Control (msg # 41):

I had invoked the +2 for Creeper Vines ;) (my roll is 0, my Athletics is +1) - I just tried to respect the format of roll report :)

I edited the post in the other thread.

EDIT : Athletics +2, recorrected... I guess I'll know more my character when we practice more roll-playing ;)
This message was last edited by the player at 22:58, Sun 14 Mar 2021.

Okay.  Thanks.

Your rpol character sheet Lists it as Athletics(+2).
If it's not up-to-date, could you please update it?

I was mostly joking-- it makes sense that prisoner uniforms wouldn't have pockets as a general rule, and there's not much point to have them on someone in stasis. :)

If I want Bek to find something useful like a station passcard or similar, should I narrate that now & spend a fate point for it, or can I spend one later and retroactively declare that it was found?

If I want Bek to find something useful like a station passcard or similar, should I narrate that now & spend a fate point for it, or can I spend one later and retroactively declare that it was found?

I'd accept either one.  Narrating now may require retcons, retroactively stating it does allow for discussion.

Also:
Everyone!  While we're this early on, I need to say it:  Please review your Aspects regularly!  If an opportunity to create drama comes up that will riff off of one of your Aspects, bring it up as a suggestion!   There's fate-points to be had!

Corpse-Looted Gains
@BEK: We're not going to define what all you got at the moment, but it will come up later.  I'm also saying that since we're not defining it right now, I'll give you Corpe-Looted Gains as a catch-all Aspect we can use down the road.

Me, I'm figuring that one of the corpses looted was Barrett's clandestine lover.  And--if he survives, something Bek got from them will be a source of tension for him.   If Barrett doesn't survive, we'll pivot to some other excuse to generate drama... 
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:48, Sat 27 Mar 2021.

Okay, so, here we're going to enter a formal conflict.

A straight shoot-em-up is possible.  It is not the only way through this situation.

Combat (or pretty much any conflict) in Fate core works best when you--the players--take the time to plan things a little and set-up situational advantages using the Create Advantage action to, well, create advantages that you can invoke when needed.

You're at the airlock to the flight-deck.   There is a door to the control room that is also a dual-pressure door, but not with the airlock cycling that direct access to the flight-deck requires.  The marines are likely in control of the control room.

You now have access to the arrmoy (if you can get in).

Absolutely everything else is open to discussion.  Feel free to make shit up!  But keep the spirit of the drama of the situation.  If it's way too much out there and in your favor, I may veto it, but more likely, I'll ask you to roll for it...

You can also spend fate-points to bring things into existence without rolling.

Once you guys are on-board the Orishi and off the station, we'll call it a milestone and refresh your fate-points.  This first opening scenario is really just to get our feet wet, so to speak.

So, here's what I'm envisioning:

Viper tries to estimate how many people can reasonably be shipped and survive on "The Orishi.", using her +5 Pilot skill

No need to roll.

By pure volume, 2500-square feet is enough space for everyone, though perhaps not with luxurious comfort.

Oxygen is the most important consideration. I mean, there's food & water, fuel-stores and reaction-mass versus cargo mass and thrust, etc... but I'm interested in them only so much as they provide a reason to have drama.  So, let's focus on O2.


But, maybe the conflict isn't all about O2.  Maybe there's other shit going down.  I'm wide open to suggestions on this.  And quite happy to let it develop it as we go.

I'm kinda thinking that maybe Amin knows something about the situation that we don't yet, which is why he anticipated a conflict (and why he sent Barrett to the command node).   I've got a couple of ideas, but my current primary is that the tech team, as part of their tear-down, discovered a data-key to a "treasure-map" of sorts.  But it's encrypted and inaccessible.  Tech Team is most skilled to get there eventually, but Marines might see an easy score.  And if its a big enough score and they're considered dead because of the station destruction anyway...  But still, it's just loose brainstorming thoughts.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:01, Sat 27 Mar 2021.

I agree, and also make the observation that there isn't a lot of difference between condemning NPCs to die here and now versus condemning NPCs to die after we are aboard...

Thinking through motivations:

I suspect that everyone's primary motivation is to survive.  They may or may not have reasons to wish that they had the escape ship to themselves, but at what risk?  Assuming that there is enough oxygen to go around, taking time to fight with lethal weapons may be a lower priority than safely getting aboard and away in a timely fashion, even if crowded.

What would motivate the Commander?  He wants to survive.  He may or may not see value in saving his crew members, but they may have handy skills.  Why would he want to allow a bunch of worthless prisoners aboard?  He now values CSX as a healer.  If he wants to let the PCs aboard, then presumably he is aware that they are more valuable to him alive than dead.  What does he know about us and about the state of the universe that we don't currently know?  Hmmmm...  :)

If the Commander wants that outcome, then there are definitely clear pathways.  For all we know, he can override and deactivate any weapon aboard, disarming all the other NPCs...

As for CSX, he would logically use his Intuition to try to discern the best way forward.  I love the way his powers have manifested thus far, giving a very "River" vibe of extraordinary abilities without breaking the story.  How can that balance be preserved here?  What use of Intuition would be not too overpowered, not too underpowered, but just right?  O_o

I see a huge difference between "they didn't make it on-board in time" versus, "I put him in an airlock and watched him blow out into space".

I like that that O2 is an important consideration.  I want this to matter, and it is most definitely life or death.

I do not want this game to go to great lengths to avoid killing people.  We're not a 70's Sunday morning cartoon.  Life in space is ugly; people die. Should your character feel guilt for leaving people behind?  Fuck yeah, they should.  But sometimes, they have to pick the lesser of evils.  ANd that's something I'm very interested in playing through right now, because it gives all the PCS a shared horror that they lived through.  And they're all partially responsible for whatever happens.  If you do somehow manage to cram 24 people onto the ship, you can bet that I'm gonna make depleted O2 reserves a major issue shortly thereafter. Your characters don't have the numbers readily available.  This is potentially a combat scenario and I want the characters to feel that this is lethal.

Hmmmm.  In that case, what will motivate the Commander to prioritize the "expendable" "cargo" PCs over his own crew members?  He has a reasonable motivation to prioritize CSX as a healer.  What about the other PCs?  The obvious answer would be that he knows things that we don't about how we PCs are more valuable to him than his techs and/or his marines... but we would then need a consistent rationale why we are simultaneously the most valuable companions and also expendable cargo...  O_o

CSX will certainly Feel Your Pain for any left behind, so he will be seeking a win-win scenario if at all possible.  How much weight that will carry with the Commander remains to be seen...  :o

what will motivate the Commander to prioritize the "expendable" "cargo" PCs over his own crew members?

It's a good question.

And... it allows me to drive home a very important point to folks without a huge amount of familiarity with Fate games... The point is:  Your characters don't yet know enough to know what's going to motivate Commander Amin.  But that shouldn't stop you--the players--from making suggestions.

The most likely out-of-character motivation if we follow the "treausure-map" set-up is that Amin recognizes that one or two of the PCs were actually crew aboard the Orishi.  Therefore, who better to decrypt the databank?  Of course, they don't remember yet... and that gives us reason to have them hang around for a while...

And if we pursue this far enough that they regain sufficient memories and crack the databank, then we've got a over-arcing game-structure, which equates to "follow-the-map to reap-the-rewards...  And that should be enough to give us a structure for a fair bit of time before we have to turn it into something else.

But in-character?... we're lost.  I'm thinking maybe the Marines were actually Amin's men, and he might or might not sell them out for a better shot at whatever in hell the treasure is...

Viper's plan :

- sneak in the corridor of the armory
- enter the armory (I could have taken the narrative control and stated "Amin opens the armory, remotely or in person, with his codes", but I don't know how far I can go forward with the narration; i.e. if someone states Amin does something else before)
- choose her favorite weapon
- open the airlock to the flight deck, enough to let pass her smallish frame (she's of average size for a woman, say 1.63m, 58 kg - 5 ft 4¼ in, 128 lbs)
- jump and forward roll to where the bald girl hides behind the crates, because What's Life Without a Little Excitement?
- thinking to yell "friend! don't shoot me!"
- all due to the motivation "Women And Children First" :)

It's a plan with several steps. Where do we stop and evaluate?

@Bai-Ling
Oh fuck.  Pressure-valve.  For some reason, I totally forgot about that.  Apparently, I didn't put it in my quick-reference notes.  Please accept my apologies.  Feeling kinda "d'oh!"

I figured that he simply decided to walk off without her after she punched his wound... ;)

Sort of what I figured as well.

Still... whoops.  That was a forehead-smacker.

So, moving  on... Viper has put forth a plan.

You are all currently in the corridor outside the airlock to the flight deck.  You, Lincoln, Amin, and the five-NPC Mob.

You have access to the Armory.  The heavy-weapons are coded and unavailable. Small-arms, though... I'll give that to you for free!   Each PPP (Particle Projection Pistol) has a two-shift stress-track representing battery-charge.  Shooting doesn't cost anything.  You can use one ammo-stress box to reroll a failed attack. You may use both ammo-stress boxes to "spray" everybody in an adjacent zone--but it'll overheat the pistol pretty quick.

Viper has suggested that she opens the airlock to the flight deck and sneaks in, jumps and rolls to where the bald girl hides behind the crates to ally herself with the solo tech girl.

DO you guys want to add anything to that?  What will you be doing in the mean time?

Do you want to try to create any advantages to help you before you go in?

CSX is ready to use his Intuition for the cause... but what would be in the Goldilocks zone for Intuition here (not too overpowered, not too underpowered, but just right)?  O_o

I don't want to tell you what to do, because that is--literally--me directing your character.  We're already on enough of a railroad to get the PCs onto the ship.

Perhaps instead of trying to make the use of the Gift key in this situation, you might approach it from the other side...  Let's figure out what it is you want to accomplish in this scene, first.   Then we can see if the Gift will help make that a possibility.

Hmmmmm!  The plot thickens...

CSX actually wants a win-win outcome if at all possible, rather than condemning people to death by taking the last transport without them.

If a win-win outcome is possible, he would use his Intuition to try to find it, details TBD.

If not, perhaps his Intuition shows him that no such outcome is possible.  Whether or not he is able to refocus upon how to help the PCs survive is also TBD...

Heh. Baylee wants to destress a bit. Considering her vice and the fact she finds none of the group interesting that way, she’s spoiling for a fight badly. She doesn’t care much about sides, though she prefers to ally with techie-girl and the tech-tastics, but she desires violence.

She’ll grab a PPP for sure.

Any old pirate tricks to unlock any of the heavy stuff?

By the bye, willingly going to flow with my vice here. It makes too much sense IC. So Baylee likes Viper’s plan.

Okay, you're talking motivation, here, while I'm looking for concrete actions and intentions.

• Viper is going to try to sneak through the flight-deck air-lock and get to the isolated tech and convince her that she's an ally.
• Bai Ling-Li is looking for a fight.  Going through Airlock?
• Chang Sheng-Xin
• Maxir's actions have yet to be defined.
• Zefla's actions have yet to be defined.

You can direct Maxir & Zefla, if you like.,  If their players return, they'll take control again.

No Access to Heavy Weapons
I prefer to keep this out-of-the-picture at the moment.  Let's keep the first firefight pretty straight-forward. The marines don't have access to the heavy-stuff either.  So it's not an unfair fight in that regard. I have some rules-options to explore for heavy weapons down the road, but I wanna get our feet wet with this on fairly even ground first.

I see all sorts of ways that this situation can generate fate-points for you guys...  And I'm pleased that you're thinking in that manner, too!
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:25, Wed 31 Mar 2021.

CSX concrete action: now being convinced that the military group must be left behind, CSX uses his gift to slightly daze them, such that they are less likely to notice folks sneaking through the airlock.

However, this will leave him with a stronger empathic connection to them just as they are getting injured and/or killed, resulting in some consequence via empathic backlash... :o
This message was last edited by the player at 20:39, Wed 31 Mar 2021.

All right...

You guys have one primary objective: Get on-board the Orishi

I see a couple of pre-requisites or secondary objectives:

• Release the hull-doors so the Orishi can depart the station (This is what I'm thinking Amin is looking to do)
• Ally, bypass or defeat the tech-crew (4)
• Ally, bypass or defeat the marines (6-ish)

I've revised the Flight Deck map (In the Aspects In Play thread) to reflect four zones:

• Yellow - Control Room
• Blue - Marines
• Pink - Tech Crew and Entrance to Ship
• Green - Foreward of ship

I'm looking for suggestions on Scene Aspects.  This is a small flight deck that was being used to tear-down the Orishi to look for smuggled contraband, etc.  The Orishi is about the size of a small house.  Therefore the flight deck is probably about the size of a house & yard...  The area forward of the Orishi isn't of a whole lot of interest to me.

I'll also give you--as a group (not individually)--one Deus Ex Invoke, to represent whatever the hell Barrett is doing in the Command Module.  So long as it makes some sort of narratiev sense, it's available.  Consider it a sort of narrative safety-net.

@CSX:
We haven't discussed CSX using the gift in a direct and active manner.  It's all been passive sensing or the empathic healing.

I really want to avoid the "bathroom mentalist" precedent, where a character has an inherent ability to attack while ensuring that he or she cannot be attacked.  So, walk me through how this might work.  Can we develop it such that it alleviates my concerns?  Perhaps touch or line of sight is required?

It sounds to me like you're looking to Create an Advantage Slightly Dazed on the entire Zone (in this case, the blue zone / marines ).

Check out "Affecting Multiple Targets" on Page 205-207 ( https://fate-srd.com/fate-core...ing-multiple-targets ), and let me know how you see what you want to do dovetailing with this...

I am not a rules expert, so I wholeheartedly invite feedback to ensure that whatever preliminary ideas I might have pass game balance muster.

For the "bathroom mentalist" concern, my fixes are:

(1) CSX isn't doing any harm to his targets
(2) Anything that does do harm to his targets will also harm him via empathic backlash

If you think it is advisable to add anything to that list, I am all ears...  :)

So, to my understanding, is that a door or window behind the marines leading into the control room?

Also, looks to be a ton of cover.

Any specific items in the place either that have been stripped off, found in hidey holes, or used to strip the ship?

I suggest a crate of Plesian Slug Wine!

Haha, but hard to think of actual aspects here. Flickering lights? Or Low/red emergency lighting? Combat in an enclosed space means it is probably loud as hell. I might suggest the marines are overconfident. I might also suggest all the people involved are desperate.

TO CSX's thing, might restrict it to being "in their presence." So no reading minds through video feeds or in other locations.

So, to my understanding, is that a door or window behind the marines leading into the control room?
Hatch from corridor to control room.   We haven't defined whether it's a door or window (or both)...   I suggest ti's a reinforced glass.  But we can just as easily put a hatch/door from the control-room to the flight-deck in there.  It'd make sense.


Any specific items in the place either that have been stripped off, found in hidey holes, or used to strip the ship?
That's entirely open to suggestion.

I suggest a crate of Plesian Slug Wine!
I don't feel that this adds or detracts from the current scene, so I don't think it would actually merit a fate-point to bring this into narrative reality.  Let's just say that there is A Crate of Plesian Slug Wine on the deck, one of the crates behind which the core 3 x tech crew is hiding behind.


Flickering lights?
Thanks for the suggestions! That's totally the kind of thing I was looking for.

Given what we've established elsewhere in the story so far, the lights flickering and emergency lighting in operation makes perfect sense.  So, again... no fate-point cost.   I think it just follows from what we've already established.

So, let's go with Flickering lights.  When not lit, it's on emergency lighting...

Sounds good, I was just trying to operate within the system. Didn't occur to me that I could manifest something that I wanted with a fate point. I'll keep that in mind for the future. The door and the flickering lights are enough for me. And the slug wine... because Futurama!

So, here's my read on things:

Commander Amin & Bai get into the control room, deal with whoever's in there ( unknown at this time), seek to set-up the release of the flight deck hull doors.

I'm thinking that usually there's someone in the control room to oversee flight deck ops, including comings and goings of onboard ships/drones.  But it can be set-up to activate with a proper code for a flight transponder.  Which the Orishi wouldn't have.   But he's a Commander.  he can set it up, I'm sure.

• Bai, action will be forthcoming, based on what I write in the IC thread...

Viper, Bek, & Spohr go in through the airlock to the flight deck.  Bek and Spohr will lay down covering fire while Viper is dives to roll to ally with the solo tech girl.

• Bek, if you're cool with this action, give me a create-advantage roll...  I'm thinking it's a Shoot Action to create Covering Fire
• I might as well have Spohr contribute, so we can exploit the "Teamwork" rules.
• Viper, you laid it out pretty cleanly.  So, give me an Athletics roll vs TN(+1) to get to her...

Chang is going to attempt a psychic distraction (create-an-advantage).

• CSX:  What you want to do sounds like a create-an-advantage Action to me.   I guess we do need to codify how this works when it's active.  But that's a separate discussion, than in this message.

Maxir & Zefla have been removed from the game.  So, since they didn't actually contribute anything in-character, these characters never existed.

Goals:

• Release the hull-doors so the Orishi can depart the station (This is what I'm thinking Amin is looking to do)
• Ally, bypass or defeat the tech-crew (4)
• Ally, bypass or defeat the marines (6-ish)

Bek stayed behind with Barrett, and offered to help with whatever it was the Commander was insisting that he do. If you want to say that Barrett declined the help and sent Bek on ahead, I'm cool with that.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:51, Mon 12 Apr 2021.

Just a thought... Is the ship immobilised? If it is being strip searched, the first thing to do would have been to ensure nobody can fly off with it, perhaps? Will someone need to effectively hot wire it? I guess Pilot or Tech would be used to do that.

Sorry if I am making complications. I like to add to the drama and give people something to contribute. :)

<Orange>Lincoln Spohr rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice.  Shoot(+2) to create COVERING FIRE.  Not a high-difficulty action, so target:+0.  SUCCESS.

Covering Fire now introduced.

It persists as long as Spohr continues to fire... (but doesn't need to be re-rolled every exchange, unless he's creating the advantage again.)

As Spohr is a NPC, I am offering that Invoke to whoever needs it...  I'm kind of presuming it's going to be Baylee, but it could also be the folks in the control room or even Bek...

Bek
If you wants to add to the created Advantage, then you have the option of taking zero on it for one more guaranteed invoke.  Me, I'd just roll it, 'cause you're pretty much more likely to get two invokes on a success with style, since Shoot is Bek's pinnacle skill.

Alternately, of course, you can roll to attack if you want to.  Perhaps even using Covering Fire, if you wanted.

Bit braindead and tired post-vaccine, so quick questions/clarifications:

Viper went in through the airlock; Spohr is firing through it? I assume the rest of the mob (minus the control-room raiders) is milling around in the corridor still.

The guns from the armory are rifles, pistols, or a mix? The original post said rifles, but pistols were mentioned later. Counting up, Amin, Viper, Baylee, and Spohr all definitely have one; I assume Cheng wouldn't have picked one up. Did any of the other PCs?
This message was last edited by the player at 04:24, Wed 14 Apr 2021.

Original post said pistols were available, rifles were locked behind plasteel casing.   Nobody made any attempt to access them  (I'd have asked for a roll).

Sorry, you only get handguns, which is more than you had before.

Spohr stepped through the hatch to crouch and fire.  He is an open target at the moment.  The hatch is wide open and not being blocked by a PC or NPC at this time.


In-Character thread said:
Message 44:

Message 47:


And then:

Metagame thread said:

I was ordered to take a pep, and will posedoing just that in my post in the thread, when I get time to make it.

In reply to Control (msg # 75):

Gotcha. I’d read #47 as one of the rifle cases was open with 6 remaining; it might be time to up my font size again. :)

I'm bendy on numbers of peps available.  But not everyone in the whole group (PCs, Named NPCs and unnamed Mob) get them, there aren't enough to go around...  It wasn't a point of contention, so Rayfe can take one if you want him to have one.

Bottom line is that I don't want worry yet about the damage distinction between a pistol and a rifle.  So, the marines (and that's a very blurry definition of the group) are going to have a suddenly malfunctioning rifle, themselves...

06:44, Today: Rayfe Karnell rolled -3 using 4 Fudge dice.  Systems Roll +5.

Difficulty of +1...

OK, it is still a success, but damn, if this is how my dice are going to roll in this game, they are doing far too good a job of emulating my tabletop game... I never catch a break. :P

I don’t care about the potential damage difference, really; it’s all about description. Deliberate potshots with a rifle looks different than rapid-firing a pistol, and if there’s two pistols available, well . . .

I only got one success on the Systems roll, which I suspect won't be enough to grant me a useful aspect. Could I maybe grant myself a boost with it? Something like I Have Control! or something of that ilk?

Nice catch!  :)

Karnell may be a cold fish, and a real bastard, but he's not stupid... And if someone knows his name, they must know other things, especially if they are the designated person of authority. ::plot plot plot::

Chang;
Re: Psi-Cloud...  Are you tagetting one or the Blue (Marines) Zone?

I am definitely zoning out... ;)

CSX
I've read up on mob-mechanics, so I'll give this one to you without the fate-point cost.  The Aspect is in play.    I'm scraping the IC posts for mechanics & Aspects now...

@Viper!
The narrative introduced the existence of a wall-mounted toolbox.  I think that qualifies as a Situation Aspect Wall-Mounted Toolbox.   It's entirely up to you if there's anything in there you might want to invoke it for...

Everyone
You're on a flight deck.  I"m kind of envisioning the flight deck as portrayed in Battlestar Galactica... though this is smaller...   BUT!  You have a lot of narrative flexibility to make up Aspects.... for instance, flight decks would fuel crafts.  As such, the presence of fuel cannisters and various compressed gasses wouldn't be out of context...
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:23, Fri 16 Apr 2021.

Woo hoo!  :)

Do you want another systems roll from me, to set everything in motion for the great departure? Because there is something I'd like to try as well, but I am not sure how much time I have to do it, so it would take a pretty epic success to make things happen.

I'm neither here nor there.  If you want to, go ahead.

Just remember two things:

• If you decide to roll, unasked, I'll want you to play by the results.
• Have a dramatic success and a dramatic failure in mind.  If the failure is "he doesn't succeed."  how does the situation get more complicated?

Mostly, I wanted this combat to go quick to get folks used to the system in play and how I hope to run things...

OK then. Here we go... Cross tentcles that I do not screw this up!

AHA! Eight successes might just do it. :P
This message was last edited by the player at 21:32, Fri 16 Apr 2021.

Rayfe via Private Lines:
...all the systems on the station have to be linked, even if only peripherally, so that the control centre can fully monitor everything that is going on.... he knows the station must absolutely have some record of his presence.  ... He has a name now. So he can swiftly search all records for that name, and it should pull up his own record in the prisoner database.  From this, he can at least glean SOME information on who he happens to be. It's not much... but it's a start.

For this kind of thing--metagame considerations--I prefer to be open and transparent about it.  Characters should have secrets, but players shouldn't.  I want all of you--players--to see what's going on so that you have the opportunity to say, "oh god! Yes!  and..." and add your own stuff to the pile.   I really really want the freeform collaboration, because it takes the story in different directions and keeps me on my toes.

As to Rayfe's roll:
Originally I'd intended for you all to get on the Orishi, access the Galactic Opnet or the Orishi's computer core to discover who you are...

But with Rayfe's Epic(+8) success, I suggest that instead of just finding out who he is, he's got the files on all of you.  But a station-wide search isn't going to kick back results immediately and you just don't have the time to wait.  So, they're encrypted files...  or in database format, anyway, which will require some reconstruction.  I suggest that Rayfe downloads them to a hard media.

That would bring into existence a new Aspect to reflect that he has this information.

Your thoughts?

Rayfe, Do you care to name the Aspect?

Something like OUR LIVES IN MY HANDS perhaps? Or something of that sort.

That works for me... :)

That's more about the control which of the data than the data/object itself.  And it doesn't play out so well if it's possessed by someone not in the "Mine" or "Our" party...

How about something like Convict Manifest: The Keys to Identity?

That's rather nice, I agree. :D

Composing. Needed to clarify something that I want to do.

Going to Invoke the Glass for +2 and defend with Physique
Bai Ling-Li rolled -2 using 4 Fudge dice.  Defend (+5), Physique +2, Invoke Glass +2. Success? Haha. That roller is either Hot or Cold for me!

Roll I will use for defense.

However, I would like to put forward an idea.

I want Baylee to take a minor consequence: Riddle with Shards of Glass Because I invoked protection from the glass. I'd like large parts of it to shatter or break apart. To continue the trend of my pep shots cracking it plus the weakness from the hole.

Since you are one for openness OOC, my intention is for the glass to be weakened severely, then Baylee in tends to try to throw Amin through it. She is itching badly for hand-to-hand violence and she really wants to fuck with Amin badly.

If this works somehow, let me know. If we need to negotiate mechanics, cool! I want to dig into the system more and get to know it. I like its cinematic potential. Once this is settled, I'll finish my post IC.

Sigh.  It is always the Empathic Healer that will feel the pain eventually (in this case, Amin's pain)... ;)

Hmm, yeah, Baylee and CSX are a bit polar opposites.

I had similar thoughts, but was going to suggest hurling the corpse...

Heh.  I've been guilty in the past of going to easy on some characters.  The mechanics of Fate allow me to go rough, because you can always concede and define how you get taken out!

Baylee
4dF(-2) + Aspect(+2) + Physique(+2) = Result(+2) vs Target(+5) == 3 shifts

You could just take it as 3-shifts of stress ( going from P:[1][2][3][4] to P:[X][X][3][4] or even P:[1][2][X][4].  You aren't obligated (yet) to take a Consequence!

If you really want to take on the Consequence Riddled With Shards of Glass, I won't say no.  But a Minor Consequence is worth 2-shifts.  The extra shift would remain in your physidcal stress-track until the end of the scene. You'd end up with:  Physical Stress:[X][2][3][4], Consequences [X][2][4][6]

Please confirm that this is what you want.

As to the conflict with Amin...
What you're suggesting is a straight Fight roll.   I randomly rolled Athletics & Fight for him (Athletics(+1) & Fight(+3)), but if you take the time to set up an Aspect or two with Create-an-Advantage, you can probably catch him by surprise..
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:01, Sat 17 Apr 2021.

In reply to Control (msg # 101):

Uhh, my Physique is +5.

As to the fight, let me compose something and run it by you then.

Baylee:
Uhh, my Physique is +5.

Yup, you're right.   SO, I'm confused...


I have questions:

• What skill were you defending with?
• What's the Defend(+5) refer to?
• What's the Physique(+2) represent?

IS this what you wanted?
4dF(-2) + Athletics(+3) + Reinforced Spaceworth Glass(+2) == Baylee's Defend(+3) vs Marine-Mob's Attack(+5)
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:11, Sun 18 Apr 2021.

O0ps, Physique +2 was me entering my value wrongly. Should have been +5.

Defend (+5) was the roll I was making, a defend action, and the DC of that action (+5). That's generally how I always format such things. Should I have formatted it differently?

By my math, I defended successfully as I was using Physique to Defend. She stood there to take whatever got past the glass. It's in the write up I am working on currently.

Anyway, I got Stress and Consequence mixed up in my mind. *Runs off to read PDF quick* So, yeah, I'll take the shift in physical stress. That is what I was going for. And perhaps an Aspect? Riddled With Glass

Like I said, exploring the system.

EDIT: posted what I wanted the action to look like and some rolls that seemed to fit. Couldn't exactly find aspects except the ones on my card... Vengeance is the best desert and Hot or Cold, I am never in between working in that scene. Probably my vice as well.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:30, Sun 18 Apr 2021.

Ah, I gotcha.

Okay, a few things to unpack here:

Generally, you don't defend against a physical attack with Physique.  You'd defend with Athletics or maybe Fight.  Against a ranged attack, like a PEP shot, it's definitely Athletics.  I'm sorry I didn't call for it explicitly.   So... Let's let it stand the way it is right now, and move on.   I'll try to be more explicit in the future when I call for rolls.

This is the read:
4dF(-2) + Phsyique(+5) + Big Damned Hole in the Glass(+2) vs Marine-Mob Attack(+5) == A TIE

Therefore, the marine-mob gets a Boost on you (see page 58).  That could well be Riddled with Glass.  But that Boost Aspect will go away once the marine-mob invokes it.  It's not a Consequence, and it's not a full Aspect, because of it' transience.

Also note:
Becausee you invoked the Big Damned Hole in the Glass for the defend, it cost you a fate-point.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:13, Sun 18 Apr 2021.

Perfect! I am aware it cost a Fate Point. I know I have only one left. Happy to let them have that boost as it fits the scene.

Was there any problems with the post I put up then?

Looking at it now...

Baylee
You've certainly taken things and run with them!   Unfortunately, you've kinda gotten way ahead of me...

Amin is a key NPC with much of the story tied to him, so he's not operating under mob-mechanics.  This means he does, actually, get to defend against every action, and he gets to take action, too.  He's not "protected", though...   he can be "taken out"!  Chances are, though, that I'll concede the conflict before it comes to that.

Was the "weakling" she backhanded, Maxir or Amin?  Either one needs to be able to defend against the attack.

Bai Ling-Li rolled 0 using 4 Fudge dice.  Deceive. Not great odds of creating Advantage there as she tries the tactic above. Not sure what Aspects can be used here.
Okay, Deceive in this case is a strictly physical action, so it's opposed by Amin's Notice. It's nowhere near a pinnacle skill, so I'll call it a Notice(+1).
Cmmdr Armin Amin rolled 4dF(+1) + Notice(+1) == Opposition(+2) vs Deceive(+0)...
Create Aspect Attempt FAILED

Flickering Lights might provide a +2 to the Deceive roll. If you feel it's worth it.  the +2 boost is only gonna get you a TIE, though, which will get you a Boost, not an Full-on Aspect.  if you only need it for one Invoke... then it'll work.   You could also choose to invoke it to re-roll (and take the better result of the two).

Do you want to Invoke Flickering Lights?


Grunted outrage followed.
If the "Weakling" is Amin, I'd kinda like to be the one to write out his response...  If the "weakling" is Maxir, well... yeah, I don't care if he lives or dies, so you can write him however you like.  He's a now a singular mob and is likely to flee at the first sign of a direct threat.

She turned, a wicked grin on her face, and grabbed at the man's crotch,
"The man" I'm assuming is now Amin?

I don't think he'd take anyone grabbing his crotch lightly.  And certainly not in this situation...  At the least, he'd move to bat her hand away.  At the worst, he'd counter with a more physical response.   At the very least, he needs a chance to defend himself.

She then headbutted Amin
Please roll your Fight(+4) vs Amin's Fight(+3)
If you are spending the fate-point to invoke an Aspect in the previous roll... make sure i can see it and it's clear.

For streamlining as much as possible ,I've pre-rolled his opposition:
Cmmdr Armin Amin 4dF(+1) + Fight(+3) = Defend(+4) versus Baylee's Headbutt


...a move which splayed his nose across his face
The results of a successful attack need to be discussed...  Consequences may be involved.  I kinda feel that AI should be the one to describe what results you acheived... if successful.


Anything after this... well, we're in increasingly uncertain territory.  Much depends on if you're planning on invoking Flickering Lights or not.  This could change Amin's future actions/oppositions/reactions.   So, let's back it up a bit...


While I'm willing to concatenate a bunch of individual attacks into one attack roll for cinematic effect, your target still needs to be able to defend.

So far, you've headbutted, gut-punched, and leg-sweeped Amin without him being able to defend in any way whatsoever...

Her then hefting his body and twirling him about before throwing him at the window... seems... Well, it's confusing why he doesn't bother to defend.  He's not a ragdoll, after all.

---

Bai Ling-Li rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice.  Attack, Physique +5, Fight +4. Well, you use two, so did I.
Huh?  Can you clarify this statement.  I don't understand what's going on here.  Physique is not used to harm people directly.  If I made that mistake earlier, it was a mistake.

You roll only one skill in an action.  I don't know how to parse it when you refer to two separate skills in a straight conflict.

"floating?"
Did we do something to negate the contragravity in the scene?
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:42, Sun 18 Apr 2021.

Coo.. Cool. I have been hesitating about what I can and cannot do. I decided to just write what I wanted and see how it parsed. Happy to discuss it, modify, and add rolls as needed.

Yes, all actions were directed at Amin. I had forgotten Maxir was in the scene whatsoever. Heh.

I am fine failing the Deceit roll to move on with the scene.

Ahh,  am sorry that I did not give the man time to respond. I can back the scene up to this point and let you write for Amin.

As for the "multiple attacks" I was operating under the assumption that a fight roll does not reflect a single attack/defend movement but reflects a few seconds of combat.

I see now that I should have done something slightly different! The Fight check that I use to Assault Amin is definitely meant to hurt but I probably want, more, to create a situation in which he is dazed, so I can do the toss.

Anyway, I'll edit the post to back it up. Let's say the backhand was part part of the attempt to distract him. Let's move forward from the crotch grab?

EDIT: edited
This message was last edited by the player at 03:05, Mon 19 Apr 2021.

I appreciate your taking this in the way its intended...  There is a certain amount of fuzziness in narrating the scene for sure.

Yes, a combat exchange does represent a few seconds worth  (Mutants and Masterminds goes so far as to specify six seconds, even).  So, the backhand, head-butt, crotch-grab and leg-sweep could definitely fall under one attack, because it's all color.  But, we need to determine the mechanics side of what happened.

It sounds like you want to get Amin into a dazed state before lifting him, spinning him, and throwing him through/into window. There are two ways to get that Dazed and Abused as an Aspect.

He's got two consequences at the moment:
2: Conncussion
6: Internal Damage

You could invoke either, I imagine...


Option 1:  Generate a Consequence
If you apply enough stress, you can force him to take on a Consequence.  He's in physically rough shape (P:[X][X][X], C:[X][4][X]), with only one consequence slot left, and a full-up stress track.

This means that if you land between one and four successes after his defence, you will end up applying that to his 4: Moderate Consequence slot.   If you do more than four shifts... you'll have taken him out.   If you take him out, you decide what happens to him.  Killing him is not out of the question.

But I don't think you want to kill him before throwing him through the window...


Side Note:
If he concedes before you roll for it, I decide what happens to him (in discussion with you, of course... it has to fit the scene). That's a part of why it's so important to me... because if you take him out, you're within your right to kill him.  Kaput.  If I can't concede because you've already rolled it, you're forcing it, and denying me the chance to concede.


Option 2: Create an Advantage
Creating an Advantage is precisely that.  The big difference is that it does not affect the stress or consequence track.

So, you want to create Dazed and Abused..  He'd still oppose the create-advantage action with Fight (if he counters or blocks) or Athletics (if he runs, <I>maybe if he dodges).  Failure to oppose the create-Aspect action still would not affect his stress or consequences.  Which would allow you to attack, invoke the Dazed and Abused to throw him into the window.

Ok, that all sounds awesome!  But I really don’t want to be holding things up. I expect the other two folks in the control room should react if they wish and the people outside don’t pause for me either. Keep going around me. I made a small exit to change the crotch grab into a provoke attack. She is trying to rile him up as per my stunt Rile them up, Lay them out.

I had forgotten his Consequences. I will probably Invoke something in the upcoming roll. But that is for a subsequent post once the reactions to this are in. Of the options below, the first probably works best to my mind. It is what I will go for once the Provoke is resolved.

Cool?

The narrative/crunchy balance in this system is intriguing.

I'm still not certain what effect, if any, my Psi Cloud had.  One marine started firing randomly, but was that because of CSX?  O_o

Okay, I'm sitting down now to do this...

Re: Psi-Cloud
Sheng-Xin created an Aspect.  It's still active.  Aspects are persistent in the scene until they aren't.  Nobody has yet invoked it.  In fact, we should make it clear that it is open for others to use your free invoke...

The problem you're facing is that we created an intangible aspect--brought something into being that didn't have a clearly defined narrative impact.  I think when we create Aspects that don't have a physical form, let's try to craft ones that suggest or infer an impact.

I was kinda running with a "slow and stupid"  effect, but it's something that the mob and, well, anyone in the zone (including Rayfe, Baylee, Maxir and maybe Amin) will have to deal with (because Aspects are persistent).  They just haven't yet had a chance to do so....

However, You brought the effect into play, so you have the liberty to describe what narrative impact it's going to have.

So... what does Psi-Cloud do?

I'd say that "slow and stupid" is a reasonable summary.  CSX is trying to hinder their alertness, reaction times, thinking processes, etc. by clouding their minds (to whatever degree he can) with psi static.

I am slow and stupid in RL regarding game mechanics, so how exactly my attempt works is left to folks more adept in such mysteries than I...

Ideally, I would daze them all at once rather than trying to pick them off one by one to minimize the danger they pose.  Also ideally, I would daze the bad guys and avoid dazing the good guys.  Just how capable CSX of such finesse is also left as an exercise to our fearless GM...  :)

Ideally, I would daze them all at once rather than trying to pick them off one by one to minimize the danger they pose.

And that is the key difference between the create-advantage action and an attack action.

A create advantage action creates an aspect, but it does not apply any direct stress (and, therefore, no consequences).  The Aspect so created is persistent, meaning that it exists until it doesn't.

An attack might well apply stress (and, therefore, consequences), but once it's done, it's done.  An attack is not persistent--it's a one-and-done kinda thing.


I'm put in mind of two different examples:


Mike is being chased by a hellhound.  In a desperate attempt to forestall the inevitable, he  topples one of the big bookcases on top of it...  He created the Aspect "Toppled Bookcase" to slow the hellhound down.  The bookcase is toppled but it doesn't actually slow the hellhound down until Mike or someone else invokes the Aspect.  Next round, Mike tries to escape, rolling Athletics to climb out the window...  and he invokes the Toppled Bookcase to give him the dice-boost to do so.  That's when the Aspect comes into play...


So, how to affect an area with an attack?
Mike pulls the pin on a frag-grenade and lobs it into the center of the magical circle...  It's a zone-area attack because, well, narratively, it makes sense that a grenade would affect everyone in the zone.


But, I'm drawing a very heavy line against CSX being able to weaponize the psi-power into an attack form.  I might be convinced to allow it for a fate-point down the road, but I think that's the kind of thing that's got to be earned through roleplaying and milestones.  At this stage of his progression, I don't want him doing direct attacks with the psi-power.


Also ideally, I would daze the bad guys and avoid dazing the good guys. 
I once directed you to Fate Core page 207 "Compels and Multiple Targets".  I think it applies her.   If you want to  attack a zone and filter it out, then you've got to make the attack and divide the successes up across all the targets you want to affect.  But it's a moot point as I don't want CSX to be doing psionic attacks at this stage in the game.

Re: Baylee's Crotch Grab
Baylee: Crotch Grab: 4dF(-1) + Fight(+4) vs Amin: 4dF(+0) + Fight(+3) = TIE
Success  at a Cost

So, as always, you have the option of accepting success at a cost or investing a fate-point again.  Amin is not conceding at this point.

HOWEVER...
In the IC post, you wrote that you rolled with Provoke, but the dice-roller days you rolled with fit.  Baylee has both at +4, but one is a physical attack, the other is a social attack, and both will have radically different outcomes.   Which do you prefer?

Provoke. I wanted to set up for a stunt if I succeed. I want to save my last Fate Point here, so success at a cost seems fine. Is it for me to define the cost?

Sure, if you like. I'm quite happy to have you make those suggestions.

Viper
Maissa rolled 4dF(0) + Athletics (+2) + Covering Fire (unknwn) vs Marines (+2) : Success

The free invoke on Covering Fire is now used up.  The Aspect remains in play, however, as the tech-crew will continue to fire at least until the round/exchange is complete...  Anyone else using for dice-advantage, will need to spend a fate-point to invoke it.


She forgot to shout to Gilina to also use this diversion to change places...
I hadn't forgotten.  She'll be following momentarily. I just wanted to see how you directed things first.  :)

Maissa rolled Shoot (1). Is there a way I can spend 1 Will point to help hit the target? "The desire to hit guides the bullet" is an old saying among shooters...

Correction: 
Viper rolled 4dF(+1) + her Skill: Shoot(+3) for a result of Shoot(+4).

Marine-mob rolled 4dF(-1) + Shoot(+2) for defend(+1)

So, my interpretation:
Viper attacked with Shoot(+4) vs Marine-Mob Shoot(+1), giving Viper a 3-shift success, which is a SUCCESS WITH STYLE

Marine-Mob takes 3-shifts of stress, which takes their physical stress track from  P:[X][2][3] to P:[X][2][X], but they don't take any additional consequences.

Because you had a success with style, you also get a boost (a transitory Aspect). It's up to you to define that how you wish, but the Aspect will disappear and become unavailable once it's invoked.



Although it's not necessary because of the success of Viper's roll, you still have two fate-points to spend if you want to.  You just need to find an existing Aspect to use, and find a ways to tie it to the narrative.

Hm.  In looking over the Aspects in Play thread, I notice that Lincoln Spohr had also created an Aspect called "Covering Fire".  So... since I had the tech-crew created it too, I guess it's just easier to say that one free invoke remains on it...  which means you wouldn't need to spend a fate-point to invoke it.  You could also invoked Sheng-Xion's Psi-Cloud to say that the marines were made too "slow and stupid" to avoid her return fire...

Invoking one of those now would increase the levels of stress applied and force them to take additional Consequences. So,... actually doing damage. The marines currently have a Consequence track that looks like this: C:[2][X][6].    If you invoke one free Aspect (applying 5-shifts of stress), you could force them to take a minor consequence.  P:[X][2][X], C:[X][X][6].   Invoking both, would allow you to apply 7-shifts of stress and allow you to force them to take a Severe Consequence instead.  P:[X][X][3], C:[2][X][X].

Both invokes, however, would deprive anybody else of invoking those Aspects for free after this.

It's your call.  How would you like to proceed?
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:22, Thu 29 Apr 2021.

+1.  I have noticed the former more than the latter in my previous Fate experience.  Following the crunchy details in this thread is very interesting.  :)

Maissa finds out this pistol takes a gentle shape in her hand ;) and feels this toy is like an extension of herself, hence I suggest an aspect of : "These Peps are Made for Shooting". She may get bored of it, or the nice handle will wear off


I knew, but I felt - metagaming-wise - that it would not be nice from me to give orders to a player, and have his PC keep covering me and shooting like an automatic tennis-partner machine throws a ball every 3 seconds - instead of doing what the player wanted Spohr to do. So I did not count on him - now I discover he's a NPC ;)
But it's also good to know that, amongst the tech-crew, only one was actually firing at the Marines! ;)

I'm gonna change it a little bit... but I love the underlying justification.  This one should probably be private, since you're the only one holding that particular pep...

Boost: Like This Pep Was Made for Me (Viper) introduced.

Spohr is my GM-PC,  Unlike the others, I"m treating him like a PC with a full stat workup.  He's got motivations, etc... but he is still a NPC.  As such, he's open to your manipulation.   But there may be times when your manipulation goes against his core motives... and then there may be conflicts...

The Tech-Crew is basically unarmed.  They were working on the ship and probably realized that this was their best chance of getting off-station once the reactor core ejection failed.  So, they were patching parts of it back together to get her space-worthy, when the marine-mob came onto the scene.  It's pure luck that they even had one pep among them...

And Gilina... I figure she burned her hand during the rebuild and was across the room at the toolbox accessing a first aid station for med-gel when the marine-mob came into it...

But hey, they're a tech-crew.  They can jury-rig stuff together. That's what they do!
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:25, Thu 29 Apr 2021.

Ongoing Klaxons
Decompression Immanent

So...  We may have another PC incoming.  I'm gonna say that they were among the convict-mob that were inside the flight-deck...  And Barrett... well, Barrett's going to have to find another way off the station.

Remember, these kinds of shows, there's all sorts of "but he didn't really die!" events...

Sorry, I'm a bit confused.  Where exactly are the good guys and the bad guys now?

As soon as the mesmerizing light show starts, CSX is going to make his move (and conveniently avoid getting locked out, if he is still in the hallway?).

If there are any good guys needing help, he would want to come to their aid.

Do we have any maps handy of the current layout and current people nearby?  O_o

General placement hasn't changed, except that Viper and Gilina nave made it to the tech-crew.  Bek & Spohr are on the right side, behind barrels, I presume.   Marines are where they were, control-room folks are where they were.

Doors to corridor are locked.  Door from control-room to flight deck isn't.

Yeah, okay. I'll put another map together.  It's the single biggest thing I despise about gaming on this forum, though.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:47, Fri 30 Apr 2021.

Sorry, and thanks!  :)

I'm afraid I'll need some help to visualize the ship in the scene :)





So there's a ramp, I imagine at the rear of the Orishi, leading to the hull. The hull is isolated by airlocks from the other parts external-facing (Bridge / Command, propulsion), which have at least one entry (or does it have entries on both sides?). While the flight deck and the control room are being ready to have their atmosphere flushed out, the not-hull parts of the Orishi were pressurized and are now opening. Does Viper see one of the tech remotely opening the entry with some device?
This message was last edited by the player at 16:20, Fri 30 Apr 2021.

As I understand it, two things are going on right now:

• Ongoing fight in the Control Room. People need to get out soon. "Campbell" + 1 are in a situation.
• Imminent fight in the Orishi's Flight Deck. PCs and the allied station hands are locked in with the Marines (6).

I have a few proposals for you all to consider in order of my personal preference - whichever you'd express more interest in is what I'm going to work on.

1. Virtanen took advantage of the chaos and nicked a dead Marine's equipment & is among the Marines (6) on the Flight Deck. Working ship, survivors, bolted entrance. Good juncture to turn on them.
   
2. From elsewhere in the ship, Virtanen is fighting his way into the Control Room. He may have gathered a party of last-minute convict comrades. He may have screwed with explosives along the way.
   
3. Virtanen attends to the situation "Campbell" + 1 are in and meet the PCs in the Control Room. They're either last-minute comrades or has something he needs. Virtanen possibly wanted to solo what the PCs are doing.

Non-exhaustive but this is what I can think of. LMK what you think.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:31, Fri 30 Apr 2021.

Viper
OH, I guess I did say the ramp was down...  WHoops.  Well why the hell didn't the tech-crew withdraw into the Orishi to begin with?  THat's kinda stupid.  So... I'm saying that ramp was down, but airlock had just now cycled.   I'll make a point of making a narrative explanation for that later.   I think you can blame the ship's on-board AI for that one!

There is but one accessible entry to the Orishi at the moment, and that's through the rear on-ramp, between the two large thrusters.  We can say there's another elsewhere if you like, but it's not accessible at the moment


While the flight deck/control room is being ready to have its atmosphere flushed out, the not-hull parts of the ship were pressurized and are now opening. Does Viper see one of the tech remotely opening the entry with some device?

The hull opening procedure was triggered by Rayfe's successful hacking of the control-room systems.  Standard procedure would give klaxons and lights warning of depressurization, after a set period it would go to internal lockdown (so nobody accidentally opens the door to the corridor while there's no atmo on the other side), vent flight deck atmo, declamp flight deck contragravity, and let the ship go...

If someone's stuck on the flight deck at that time... they probably wouldn't be blown out into space, because depressurization happened in a controlled manner.   But it's still zero-atmo and zero-gee.  They wouldn't survive long.

I'm envisioning that the tech-crew had been fighting to hack their way back into the Orishi after emergency lockdown procedures happened.  Why that happened?  I dunno.


Does that help?

Virtanen

Thanks for jumping in!

Some clarifications:
Campbell is one of the marine-mob.  He's bleeding out.  So, one of the other marine-mob guys is probably doing the medtech thing.

Those in the control room.  Yup.  They need to get to the Orishi in the next minute.  And it looks like they need to go through the marine-mob to do so.  Though, really, I'm thinking the marine-mob is aware of the immanent depressurization and are probably about to rush the tech-crew and the entrance to the Orishi.  I think everybodoy is about to make for the ships' entry as there really is no other practical way off the space station flight deck.

PCs and the allied station hands are locked in with the Marines (6).
That is an accurate assessment

On the map:
Dark Blue are PCs.
Pink are PCS (Spohr, Maxir, Lone-Eye, Gilina, tech-mob (x2), Scattered convict mob)
Red are marine-mob (now down to x4)

Virtanen took advantage of the chaos and nicked a dead Marine's equipment & is among the Marines (6) on the Flight Deck. Working ship, survivors, bolted entrance. Good juncture to turn on them.
This is the best of the three suggestions, for me.  It's simple, straight-forward, and in-keeping with what has gone before.  So, hoorah for narrative consistency.

Bek's player had introduced a thick-set one-eyed woman who was a lousy shot with a pep (particle-projection pistol)...
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:49, Fri 30 Apr 2021.

Apologies in advance if I went too far, but I thought that posting Karnell's actions on the glass breaking would save us a little time. If he hasn't done enough damage to get through the glass, do feel free to delete that final paragraph!

CSX is looking for any good guys needing help.  Where exactly is the tech crew member that was hit in the cross-fire?  Was the damage obviously lethal, or is the man potentially savable?

CSX is looking for any good guys needing help.  Where exactly is the tech crew member that was hit in the cross-fire?  Was the damage obviously lethal, or is the man potentially savable?

On the map, they'd have been clustered with tech-12 & tech2 behind Barrels of Plesian Slug Wine, but before the ship.

The "lose a man" thing came about because of the abstraction of dealing with mob-mechanics.  Technically, they are "taken out", which could be dead, could be unconscious, could be jibbering in fear, could be "gone catatonic".    Regardless, they're not in the fight anymore.

Where is CSX?  I don't have a clue about this from what you've posted.

Moving forward today.

Baylee's Attack
Baylee Attack: 4dF(-2) + Fight(4) + invoke: Amin:Internal Damage(+2)
Baylee -1 fate point (now at zero)
Amin Defend:  4dF(-1) + Fight(+3) --> Baylee Attack(+4) vs Amin Defend(+2)
Baylee's Attack SUCCEEDED
Amin takes 2 shifts of stress
Amin takes on the Moderate Consequence Cracked Ribs.
Amin: P:[X][X][X], C[X][4][X] becomes P:[X][X][X], C[X][X][X]

In reviewing the scene, I'd say that you definitely played up Hot or Cold--I am Never In-Between.  So, I'll give you a fate point back for that.  Kinda phyrric at this stage of the scene, but there it is.

As Amin's Stress-track and Consequence track are full, I am having him concede the fight. From a meta-game perspective, this means I define how he goes out, not you.

However, I want the decision as to whether he makes it on-board the Orishi to be the PCs call, not mine.  I can run it either way.  My only requirement is that he is not killed in this scene.  If you leave him behind, that's not killing him...

Virtanen: Re: Attack on Marines

I'm still dealing with this as Mob mechanics.  But the marines are currently split 2 facing the control-room, two facing the tech-crew.  Which two are you dealing with?

Virtanen rolled 4dF(-2) + Fight(+3) to jump one of the marines.
Marine-Mob-A(2) rolled 4dF(-2) + Fight(+3) for Defense
Result: TIE == No Damage, but you gain a boost

What do you want for a boost?

You pick one.

Shoulder (& Formation) Broken
Locked In Here With Them
Doesn't Know They Lost The Clip
Vision Blurring From Adrenaline

- Sidhe

Love the "Doesn't Know They Lost the Clip!

Since we're dealing with mob-mechanics, a one-shift success is enough to diminish the mob by 1.  Two shifts... well, there's only two left...  The third one (after Spohr shot the fourth) is fleeing...  not that he's got anywhere to go at the moment...

CSX:
OOC: I am self-compelling We Feel Your Pain, whether or not it is worth a fate point.  In character, that is definitely what CSX would do.  :)

Given where we are and how the scene is going, I'm not going to require mechanics to determine this.  It's enough that CSX is dragging the downed tech-crew member into the Orishi...

The scene is just about wrapped up.  Just two more pesky marines to take care of, and I'm looking for Baylee & Rayfe to either engage the remaining marines (with Virtanen), or skirt past them to the Orishi.  Also, Virtanen...

One that's wrapped up, we can prose-out (no mechanics) the departure and that will wrap up the scene & session.

Sorry for shorting the combat, but I think we've had enough of that for right now.  You guys are really getting into the flow of FATE!

All of you refresh your FATE Pool, back to your starting levels except Bek & Sheng-Xin who remain at 4 fate-points, as refreshing does not lower your pool.

• Viper made her way through to the cockpit.  She's actually flying the rig with Tech-Girl Gilina working on systems operations at the moment.
• Baylee, Rayfe, Sheng-Xin , Bek, Virtanen, Lincoln all made it aboard and are currently in the rear hold of the Orishi.
• Commander Amin & Tech-Crew 1 are both Heavily injured
• Other people on-board are:
• Maxir
• Tech-Crew  Mob (+2)
• Penal Colonist Mob (henceforth "PCM") - an undefined number of people with various skill-sets we can use as needed, particularly useful for time-consuming projects of little to no dramatic value.
• Android Tau

This message was last edited by the GM at 22:43, Tue 11 May 2021.