OOC: Mephistopheles, we ride into enemy territory. Be sure to bring hell with you.

"Well, my alien friend, looks like we need to pay this Hawkwood a visit." Santiago states to the Vorox.

OOC: Okay, I assume you all agree to meet near the mansion of Baroness Keswick at a later time? That will begin a new scene so if you have VP in excess of your VP Bank (10) they will be lost. For those of you with the Ingenious perk, you can convert 3 of your VP to a single Wyrd point.

And who will look after Hengel? He has gathered the few rags and food cans he own and is ready to follow, although he could probably benefit from a haircut, shave, delousing, a proper bath, and a new wardrobe :)

OOC: i will. Fellow soldier and all.

Sounds like a decent plan. We should probably pick up some comma devices to stay in touch.

Basic devices good for up to 25km are 25-50 birds depending on style (walkie talkie, headset, wrist), but I can probably get a better deal than that ;)

Would I need to roll haggle for each device or just one for the lot?

Let's see... the Exec wristband (25 km range, XXS) is 50 fb. There's six of you (including Hengel), so that's 300 fb.

Wolfhard has Commons Customs, so that's fine. Just need to roll for the lot; Charm (or Knavery) + Presence. Resistance is 6.

A success will lower the going price by 10%, plus an additional 5% per 2 VP you spend (up to a max of 25%). You still have the VP and WP you gained in Scene 1.

Starting VP: 8, WP: 3

Charm + Presence = 11
If this is still the first scene, I will use my Beginner's Luck perk to add my wits, making it 18

I roll 7, success

I will spend 8 VP overcoming resistance and increasing the discount to 15%.

Wolfhard will take 5 birds in commission - this is business, after all ;) - so final price for the lot is 260 (300 × 0.85 = 255 + my 5 bird commission). How are we splitting the cost of Hengel's wristband?

"That's a fine batch of squawkers there, if I say so myself!" says the squint-eyed old vendor. "And you drive a hard bargain. My family will go without food tonight but okay... 255 it is. And of course, the malicious rumors that the Rooks are listening in are patently untrue!"

OOC: The Rooks are the intelligence arm of House Hawkwood , concerned primarily with collecting information on the other Royal Houses and the Vuldrok Star Nation. Looked down upon by the other intelligence agencies due to their reputation for not blending in quite as well as they should.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:25, Fri 02 Sept 2022.

Wolfhard thinks of Santiago and spits at the mention of "Hawkwood". He takes the wristbands, "It's a pleasure doing business with you"

VP: 7, WP: 3

OOC: okay, you can all add this to your character sheets

Exec wristband (XXS - extremely small), TL5, Range 25km

Squawker: The handheld squawker or walkie-talkie, as it was once called, is the finest long-range radio currently manufactured. It is mainly used by the Muster to coordinate their mercenary and slaver activities, so it’s got to be reliable.

Light-weight and durable, the Squawker is capable of receiving and transmitting on over two hundred channels (although, in Alexius’ time, there’s not an awful lot of chatter on most bands) and has an effective range of 25 kilometers, with enough power for 24 hours of continuous use. A fusion cell powers the Squawker.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:44, Fri 02 Sept 2022.

Okay, I think Purple is easier on the eyes than Orange for OOC, so let's please go with that instead.  :)

So I've got TL 7 starting equipment, TL 5 armor, and a TL 6 elixir auto injector. I assume a TL 5 radio will put me in overload. I guess I could only equip the autoinjector when I'm expecting combat, or as a primary action during combat.

Not a big fan of the Techgnosis rules, so let's skip those for now.

No complaints here ;)

In reply to Wolfhard (msg # 97):

Inquisitor; "You are carrying seven pieces of forbidden tech. Heresy!"

PC; "Nope, it's okay, I'm level 7."   :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:21, Fri 02 Sept 2022.

lol

In reply to Wolfhard (msg # 99):

We need to back up a bit on the radios.
There was no party buy-in on a decision Wolfhard decided to make for all of us.
Some people might not have the 'Birds to afford them, others might already have them.  I know I would have taken issue at a profit being made off something designed to help the group, but the group was never asked.  The decision was just made.

I can understand the desire to keep things going, and to be able to respond as soon as you see a message.  But we have two players who probably can't be looking at their RPOL as often as the other three.  We need to slow down for their sake.  We also need to have IC discussions before any equipment is bought.

Point taken. We can hold off on the radios for now. Should the group wish to purchase them later, the price will still stand.

There will be chances for shopping after meeting with the Baroness.

I can also slow down the game a bit. Perhaps I got a bit overly enthusiastic, as it's been a while since I played. :)

Completely fair. To be clear, I was making a suggestion and offering to negotiate, but the transaction did move along pretty quickly.

As for the profit, I was taking a queue from the cyberpunk campaigns I've been a part of, where it's common for the party's fixer (similar to a Scraver) to take a small cut on things like that, and I think 5 birds is a pretty token profit and still leaves a significant discount. But this isn't cyberpunk and we don't have to play it that way.

I'm sure the management will be fine for anybody who wants one to pick up a wristband radio for 43 birds (full discount, no commission). Since Hengel is sort of my and Santiago's project, I'm happy to share the cost of his radio with Santiago, if he's cool with that, or we could just buy him a handheld.

I'm also making a standing offer to the group to help anyone who wants to, to sell their gold coins. They're worth 500 birds in gold and I can get a premium from collectors of Vau items and I may be able to haggle on top of that.

I doubt the value of the Vau coins can be expressed in Firebirds

Fair enough. I plan to hold on to mine until I need the cash.

I'll go ahead and buy a wristband radio for myself and a handheld for Hengel

I plan to hold onto the coin until such time as we KNOW they are not useful. And in regard to the wristband radios. I would be interested, since we can stay in communication.

"Indeed, sir we do!" The Vorox replied enthusiastically. <goldenrod>"As, I believe, I noted, I have been meaning to proffer the name of my tailor to the good lady. This has provided just such the occasion. Very exciting! I feel inspired to play something as we travel!"

In reply to Wolfhard (msg # 105):

I have no problem with a discussion about radios, and buying them if we can afford them.
My issue was with the decision being made for my character without any discussion and one player deciding for all of us what was to be done.
I hope that makes sense.

Yeah, I completely understand, I'd probably feel the same in your shoes. Like Management said, I think we just got a little too excited to get started. I apologize for making presumptions. For anybody who wants a radio, but not necessarily an expensive wristband, I'm guessing management is fine with extending the same discount to the less expensive models.


On a separate, but related, note. Any character who does purchase a radio should probably note it here so we know which characters we can contact, if needed.