CH 1.1-b: Shank's Pre-Owned

In response to Drama's query and Tefmon's interest as well...

Narrow alley, wide enough for two across. At medium range behind you to your right is Shank's, on the corner of an intersection. Ahead to your left is Charitable Charlatan's, at short range, beyond your enemies. Past that, straight ahead, is where the alley empties out into the street where your ECUL is parked.

Fallen droids and miscellaneous droid parts are scattered around the area, but they aren't too much of a problem and you can get past them. Rodian 1 is at Hawke's feet, slumped against the wall, in a state of shock as he seems to be trying to put his arm back on now, having dropped it again after hist initial try. Rodian 2 is still standing, although it's clear that fear and horror are taking hold...

Hawke connects with his lightsaber, savoring the violence as he does so, searing a gash in his leg, although not deep enough to bring him down.

Hawke hits for 6 + 4 (extra successes) - Soak 0 (Lightsaber Breach penetrates soak for 10) = 10 total damage. Rodian 2 is badly wounded, but still standing.

As far as a combat map, I'm still working at kinks with the rest of you. I'm trying to get in the habit of posting the initiative order at the start of every new round, updated with the number of actual enemies remaining, along with any pertinent info (e.g., maimed status). I missed a round before, but got back in the swing by labeling round 4.

Also, the more proficient we all get at combat mechanics, the less clutter there will be on each page, allowing for a smoother read and less page turning.

Clutter like this, which I just remembered.

In the off chance I forget, after the end of every combat, all of you can roll a Simple (no difficulty dice) Cool or Discipline check to recover strain equal to the number of successes you rolled.

Lexi reaches out to the hysterical Rodian's arm with the force. The dark side answers her call, but she simply doesn't have the strength to make her will a reality. The arm lifts for a moment, ever so slightly toward her, then falls lifelessly to the ground. It's enough to push the one-armed Rodian over the edge, however, and his hysteria blossoms to all new volumes and fits of unintelligible terror.

To execute the pull fully would have required two dark side points. Given the dice roll and the one dark side point, my interpretation is what you read above.

ROUND 4, CONTINUED


PC Slot-1 used by Hawke
PC Slot-2 used by Lexi
PC Slot-3 ----> ties go to PC's :)
Rodian 1 (Missing R arm, currently wielding no weapon, hysterical, intermittent shrieking, on the ground, slumped up against a wall).
Rodian 2
PC Slot-4

Adding range to this would be more complicated, as it would be relative, depending on variables such as who, what, etc. Also, adding too much technical info could become cumbersome as well. Let's see how things go with an updated initiative post that appears a little more frequently (e.g., after NPC's turns, as suggested).

PC Slot 3, you're next!

[color="blue"]Dice rolls

Krosus steps forward with his blade raised in a high guard position, effortlessly bringing the red light of the blade deep into the last standing Rodian's abdomen. He falls to his knees, dead, eyes still filled with shock and awe. Nearby, the one-armed Rodian's shrieking persists, escalating with each unbelievable event unfolding in front of him. His legs are quivering as the shock begins to manifest at a more biological level. No longer reaching for his lifeless arm, perhaps even afraid of it, he looks up at all of you, absolute unmitigated terror flowing from his eyes, an expression of horror, seemingly permanent, all over his face.


FYI, you guys can add your own crit rolls if you like; just use 'Basic' for the dice type and enter '1d100' in the roll box itself. Remember, each additional trigger of crit on the same attack adds +10 to the crit roll (so, for those with lightsabers that crit on 1 Advantage, the options are extensive).

Also, remember, using our simplified home brew dice mechanic, a Triumph can count as 3 Advantage on any dice roll, or be used to cancel out Despair. See this link from the Library for more info. Given that Krosus could have turned that Triumph into three advantage, he could have triggered the crit 3 times, adding 20 to his roll. I'll take care of it this time, but the further along we get, the more I'll expect you to take advantage for yourselves and put the game mechanics to work.

End results, Krosus gets a 40 for his roll, giving the Rodian a stinger, increasing the difficulty of his next roll by 1. However, Krosus' 8 damage was enough to finish the job, and the Rodian lies dead.

Ultimately, the above is meant to be informative, as I knew the Rodian was dead the moment I saw CCL's roll.

PC 4, you're up, as I'll allow you to take your turn. If you like, we can end combat here, as it seems interrogation is of interest to some in the group, and all that's left is One-Arm.

Yes the Rodians were wearing breath masks.

Dice Rolls

Codebreaker: Keep in mind that it only downgrades reds to purples. It doesn't decrease difficulty (meaning it doesn't remove purples). Clarifying as this is in contrast to when dice rolls are upgraded, wherein dice are actually added if necessary (e.g., if the difficulty was all Red dice, and then was upgraded, it would add a purple to the pool. Upgrade the same pool and that new purple becomes a red, etc.).

As always, the above is a reminder, with the added benefit of helping those less familiar with the game mechanics to learn them as we go along.

Lastly, for those of you who might take combat lightly, I want to remind you that it only took a roll of 105 (85+20) for Hawke to cut off that Rodian's arm (keep in mind that the if the damage from the attack is 100% mitigated by defenses like Parry, Reflect, Soak, then the crit does not happen, regardless of the roll). The opponents you fight may have weapons and skills similar to yours at any time, and a critical hit can happen any time. Clearly, to get over 100 you need bonuses, but, as seen with Hawke's brutal (and gleeful) dismemberment of One-Arm, it is possible. Limbs can be lost, characteristics can be permanently reduced, death can be around away (roll 141-150) or instantaneous (151+). The right combination of skills and attachments/mods can make an opponent truly terrifying...

How ever much strain you recovered, please make adjustments and post a final combat info at the end of your next post. I'll adjust your character sheets using the new information.

Also, it's good that you rolled for Lexi's cover up efforts Drama. There was no difficulty to the roll itself (a simple check), but if someone investigates the bodies, I can use your dice results to determine how well you covered up the lightsaber wounds.

Tajanna: Slicing droid brains Results: 2 Success

Hawke: Stabilizing One-Arm, the Hysterical Rodian Results: 2 Success, 3 Threat. 3 Threat isn't good; interpretation is in the narrative. The Rodian does, however, recover 2 wounds from your work.

Hawke works on the Rodian with his medpac. He's used to doing repairs on machines, and although he is competent with med work, despite a lack of training, the fact of the matter is he doesn't care about the Rodian, at all. His only interest was answers, and he knew that dead things didn't talk.

[Father: Smell that? Let him wallow and gibber away in his own pool of piss and shit. He's not worth your time.]

Distracted by the intrusion for a moment, the only exception to the rule for the dead seemed to be his parents, but he knew that was all in his head. The distraction didn't help, and while Hawke did a decent job on the Rodian for the most part, his presence, as the one who dismembered One-Arm, along with the unintentional (?) scrape against exposed nerve endings, has sent One-Arm into a new state of shock with a piercing scream, followed by strangeness.

One-Arm goes utterly silent, then slowly turns away from Hawke, as far as he can, looking off to his right, cheek pressed up against the wall of the cantina. Then he begins to knock his head into the wall, rhythmically, every few seconds, almost as if it might restore sanity, somehow. With each knock, eyes unblinking and wide open in a vacant stare, monotone words spill out of his mouth in basic:

..."not here." Knock. "not here." Knock. "not here." Knock...

Lexi fills the night air with a dizzying array of blaster shots, putting her aim to use in an effort to 'paint' over saber wounds/damage with bolts from the heavy blaster. Methodically, the six droids and the dead Rodian are taken care of to the best of her ability, and, from what she can tell, she was pretty on the mark, and it would take a keen eye to see through the ruse. A little bit of insight also told her that less skillful investigation might assume that the decapitated droid head was caused by something similar to a vibrosword.

Krosus' attention is suddenly drawn back toward the street, beyond where the ECUL is parked. Shouting. Directing his attention toward the sound, he notices that they seem to have drawn the attention of the Espos who were guarding the station tower. He can see them in the distance, moving out from under the light of the Espos tower, starting to head their way. A couple of them have lit up glow rods. The riots have surely desensitized them a bit to the sounds of blaster fire in the streets and the occasional screams of the dying, but apparently your group has caused a commotion far beyond the norm for the neighborhood, warranting investigation. A powerful glow lamp on the tower comes to life, lighting up the area around the ECUL, sweeping the ground around the entrance to the alley, illuminating a 5 meter diameter area in a bright as day glow.

Krosus passed a Vigilance check to notice the Espos (I always start with the most likely to succeed at a check and work my way down the list; Krosus succeeded right off the bat).

I won't assume you guys are keeping anything unless you specify as much (e.g., the heavy blaster pistols). The light blasters pistols are built into the droids, and would take some time and effort to salvage.

[color="blue"]Lastly, any extra posts last night (Meribson, Drama) were an awesome way to move things forward, but they don't count for today (not trying to be demanding, just clarifying and making sure the game moves ahead without confusion, everyone taking a turn, which would be especially wise, given the circumstances).