Skyscrapers & ... Groundscrapers? (OOC)

So the perhaps most efficient way to catch up would be to use a helicopter to lower herman an upper window of the third floor and enter a window,(break it somehow) then lower myself with a rope (or with another pair of gecko gloves). Do we have access to a building schematic? once we have a combined party-- how do we leave? I'm flailing here.

were gonna need a bigger boat is my feeling

Or if not a helicopter then a fire engine ladder. One of those wouldn't happen to be handy?

Pretty much.

You are trying to take a very big bite all at once. Maybe don't worry too much about that the others did and focus on what your character does. We can deal with the inside once you get in there. Or we can do a Montage Roll to get you to them and not worry about the details that came before.

But your summary is basically correct.
Minor corrections:
• The water outside is more like ankle deep (it was knee deep before, but has drained). The main danger is that wet shoes will make your life miserable and make it harder to climb the slick surfaces, but, so far, the others have not had much trouble with that.
• 'Shatterproof' is a misnomer, as you can see from all the shattered windows. But most are still intact. They are, mostly, strong enough to walk on.

There is climbing gear in the truck, the first team opted for high-tech lighter options, with dependence on power. You can do the same or go with ropes and grapples or anything else you choose.

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That is possible. You don't have a helicopter, but you may be able to get one of the news choppers to help you. We would ask you to show us how you do that and what you offer them.
Sure.
Worry about getting out when you need to. Deal with how you get in and leave the rest for later. You have a small problem ahead of you, it is only strangely cast shadows that make the molehill look like a mountain.
Sure. As likely as a helicopter. Whatever you want to do, do it, and we will see how well it turns out.

Tell us your first step.

Maybe next time? Now I have ideas...

ok a montage.

I call our Chloe. I am assuming we have a "Chloe" (like from '24') who wears a headset in order to support our ridiculous demands and can call around to rent us a helicopter (also arrange and provide all the necessary waivers to sign since I am gonna hang from it). (or maybe the institute has one on a retainer arrangement that they can dispatch?) "oh yeah Chloe, and also the building schematics, I am gonna need those too. thanks in advance."

While I am waiting for the copter to pick me up, after Chloe has texted me the schematics, I carefully read them in order to pick the a good window and plan my route to rappel back through the third floor of the building to where pheebs and arturo are waiting.

So assuming that all works without some sort of critical injury I will be caught up and we can resume 'in media res'. I love it when a plan comes together.

Note: I am disregarding the idea of going in from the side of the building because the helicopter maneuvering would be more difficult and (assuming it worked) I wouldn't have any leverage to use in whacking and/or prying the windows - in that case I would need some sort of explosive or a gun for that sort of breech. I am a magician not a SWAT team member!

Yes, your 'Chloe' is called 'Sid'. Do you call them 'Sid', or do you call them 'Chloe' for some reason?
Generally I veer away from having the NPCs solve our problems for us. We can make an exception in a Montage, though.
That does concern me. There is a clock on this mission and you can't hang around waiting for someone to send you a chopper just to avoid climbing (even if literally) a few flights of stairs.
If you want Sid to arrange this with the news chopper we can do that. Maybe you will owe them afterwards, but we can see if that comes up later.
The plans don't include which windows are broken. You will need to judge that from the air. You can find one that works.
No matter how badly it goes, you will be caught up.

We will ask you for a Montage Roll (Rules), and this maneuver sounds like Prowess. (For reasons that will become apparent you will also need to roll Resolve (Arcane) as a follow-up once we know how the rappel goes, but let's get the first step going.)

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Describe how you deplane... er... dehelicopter? dechopper? ... How you descend from the chopper.
Feel free to show us your interaction with the pilot and reporter if you want.

Include a Prowess (athletics, right?) roll (that is 2d6+0) as your Montage Roll. If you don't describe it as being an athletic endeavor, then it could just as easily be Insight (smarts). The fiction you describe defines what needs to be rolled, so we can revisit this question after you post the fiction (up the point it could fail).

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You can add a roll to a post in many ways, you can always use the big red Add button below the textarea (where you type) to add the type of roll you need. This is a Basic roll, since it uses normal dice. You can give it a Reason (not mechanical, but lets us know why you are adding a roll if it is unclear, or know which is which), you can call it 'Entry Montage' or something suitable. In the Roll field you enter the dice code plus modifiers, in this case literally 2d6+0 (I like to include the modifiers, even if they are zero, since it makes it clear, but feel free to leave that off).

Take a look at the Dice roller guide if you want to read more about what the site can do.

Your character sheet also has shortcuts. You can click on your character name below the dice roller to expand it, then you can click the Roll column of the Attribute table to auto-fill the dice roller fields. They only roll when you post, so you can still edit them after clicking, maybe to add more detail to the Reason field or to add further Modifiers.

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In PbtA, the dice results fall into a few bins:

• On a 6- the GM will make a GM Move, which is usually something your character will not enjoy (though as a player you can revel in it, it is not a punishment, but drives the story forward (Nothing Never Happens)).
• On a 7-9 you succeed, but at a cost, or only in part. PbtA calls this a Partial Success, it is a Success, though, so we don't take that away with the consequences. (Grimwild calls these a Messy Success, which is a much better term that I may start using.:) Sometimes the 'cost/consequence' may include a choice, maybe you can choose to not Succeed in order to avoid a cost, the GM will let you know.
• On a 10+ You get a full Success, no cost or consequence. This is always based on the fiction you described, though, so what you get needs to be reasonable for what you did.
• On a 12+ You get 'something extra', this is rare enough that we will need to discuss it when it happens. Not all PbtA games have 12+ results, and some require you to 'level up' to activate them ('Advance a Basic Move' in Apocalypse World parlance).

@drgwen shall we vote on this? Maybe it would be fun to advance a segment on the eight-piece clock while Herman figures out how to reach us. Maybe we should do that for *any* montage type scene.

Without reading all of the above, a question: how long did it take for f & a to navigate and climb to the third floor? Because if it took at least 30 minutes (which seems plausible) and I can't do it any faster (which seems to be the case helicopter or not) then it makes no sense for anyone to wait for me because the doom-clock is ticking.
Thats not saying I can't start the above catch-up montage. Maybe I just get up to the third floor and set up the ropes to enable a faster climb back to the stairs (for when the gloves run out of juice.)

If Herman hitches a ride on a news chopper it will only take a minute or two. No need tick the clock in that case.

Thats a much better idea - and as a quid pro quo Herman promises the unethical, rogue reporter an off-the-record interview upon his return. Still need the schematic from Sid-middlename-Chloe.
[off to read about the dice roller now]

That will have fun consequences later. :)
Sid will send them to you.

Herbert rigs up a block and tackle inside the copter so they can dangle him (we assume a pulley is part of the van equipment - along with plenty of climbing rope and duct tape) Herbert is using a belay harness if he has one otherwise duct tape again to make one and attach it to a couple carabiners. Now its up to the pilot to get him above the correct window and he will be signaling (by pointing/gesturing) to the guy (the reporter?) doing the belaying.

I am not sure if this was meant to be an in-character RP post, it is a bit mixed in content. I will try define what we want a bit clearer next time we have Montage. I will post in the RP in response to this.
If you mark Climbing Gear on your sheet then you will have a rope and a harness as well as a belay device which is also a descender you can use to go down the rope in a controlled manner (abseil/rappel).
Personally, I would advise Herman to do this himself. Best to be in control of your own life when attached to a helicopter. You want to be able to free yourself if something strange happens.

But, if Herman does not feel confident to do it himself, or if he is using the helicopter's equipment, then they can control it, no problem. If it's their gear (or if you are leaving Institute gear with them) then you don't need to mark anything on your sheet since you don't have it after this scene.
A simple loop on the chopper would allow you to double your rope, letting both ends hang down, then pull it through when you are done. Unless it is the choppers rope and you are not keeping it?

You already said you had climbing gear and it was gecko gloves. You are welcome to add another item of Climbing Gear if you want to also have ropes and such, but this post seems to miss the change of plans and the helicopter entry. We can assume you are taking action to help your companion get from the chopper.

@lemagne: Bigger PbtA games have established 'Moves', these Moves have defined outcomes for each of the dice results and players can have a fairly good idea of what sort of thing to expect whenever they roll.

Breakers only has one Move, which does not define what happens, so we should talk about it before players commit to rolls and lock themselves in to a particular course of action.

In this case you only really have two choices (given the 6 you rolled above:).

• You can bounce off the barrier and take your chances sliding down the side of the building, you will probably need to take some action (which would probably call for a roll) to make it down in one piece, but then you will need to make your way round to the portal and make the climb up to your companions. You can still get in that way. You will get in, no matter what (else the game does not happen:).

• Or, you can try to use Arcane to 'make your own portal' or 'pierce the barrier' or whatever. The actual mechanism will be up to you and be based off of how you describe your character's actions. Again, we want you to get in, so we can assume that part will work, it is just about what it costs you.
Let's deal with the easy ones first:
On a 10+ you manage the magics and form a temporary doorway in the barrier and pass though to the inside of the break and join your companions.
On a 12+ you gain a benefit, we can talk about it if that happens. Maybe you are especially attuned to this realm for a while; or you think you might be able to replicate the portal again (at extreme risk, but it might give you another exfiltration strategy?); or something else you want.
On a 7-9 you get in, but either find the rope did not extend into this reality and fall, taking Harm (both mechanical (1d6 (or less if your companions can catch you?)) and fictional (limping for a while)); or you get frazzled and slightly out of sync with this realm in some way. These both could be resolved by Resting for a while.
On a 6- either you get lightly fried by the barrier as you pass though and take the Harm and the frazzled condition; or you bounce hard and have to save yourself on the slide down the outside and have to come in from the bottom, slight the worse for wear.

The choices are yours.

So I rolled a six and therefore I couldn't get through the window. I am confused between the RP post where the helicopter drops me off. I thought that the portal where t & a entered was still available - or is it now closed? Cos if the portal is open I will go in and, using arcane, visualize a magic bean stalk up to the third floor. (or is that, i am sure, incredibly dangerous option, now unavailable?)

@lemagne: tl;dr: You can still try to get through the window using magic, or you can take your chances and try to get down the outside and use the portal at the base.

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A 6- does not mean you fail and can't get through, it means things don't go as you wanted, that there is a major complication, this could lead to your not being able to get get through, but does not mean that.

This is not DnD where a low roll means you simply failed to do what you set out to do and that is it. "Your swing misses the ork." is boring, "You hit the ork and find that they are resistant to iron weapons, you will need change all your plans going forward!" is much more interesting (using DnD language as an example).

Not getting in and needing go round the long way is also boring, we want to get you inside so the game can continue, so we set this out with the assumption you would be able to get in, but it might cost you. You have a choice about the cost you take.
Yes, it is still down there. You can choose to bounce off the 'window' barrier and deal with the consequences of that scene outside. Then, once you have shown us how you survive that, you can walk around and use the portal the others used.
The portal is still still open. But you first have to deal with the situation you are in. You are not on the ground, you are hanging from a helicopter, about to smash into the 'side' of a building.

I presented two choices, but they can be treated as examples if you want to try some radically different approach that makes sense to you or your character in the situation.

The options I thought made sense were:

1. For you to deal with your situation in a mundane way, hit the side and try to survive the fall, maybe by sliding, or maybe by hanging onto the rope and trying to make plans with the helicopter to dangle you to safety.

2. For you to quickly use your Arcane ability to try to get inside from there you are, make another portal here on the window and enter that way.

It is up to you. The situation is dynamic. All options have risks.
Once you have made it to the bottom —if you go that way— you can choose how to ascent those three floors. You could do it the way the others did (possibly with their help, especially if you got injured falling from a helicopter and building). Their way was tiring but not all that hard.

Using magic to solve mundane problems (like climbing awkward stairs) would be 'a very bad idea'... which is not to say you shouldn't do it, it could be fun, but there is no guarantee you would survive (unscathed). Is Herman the type to try using magic for everything as soon as he is in a world where magic 'works'? That does seem like it may be in character. If so, he will have to learn that the Institute handbook is not kidding when it says: "... tries to channel it without blowing their brains out ..." [ref], even a good result is unpredictable.
Always available, just, as you say: "incredibly dangerous". :)

I surrender - I am telling the helicopter to abort.

OK. Can you show us in the RP how you do that.

Assume you succeed and enter the portal at the entrance.

Shall we have the others come down and join you to make things simple?