CH 1.1-b: OOC Shank's Pre-Owned

Yeah... trying to use force powers with one dice is tough. If you think about it, one force dice is still operating at initiate/apprentice/padawan level.

Yeah. I need to figure out if I'm going to have to retool my thinking away from "force user" as an initial reaction or if I want to save up the XP to try improving her force capacity.

Yeah, it is a crossroads of sorts for Lexi. She's got remarkable talent with saber and piloting already. I mean, you could definitely add some touches to that skill set, but it's also a point where you could start to take a turn, diversifying with force powers or something else. You could even continue saber mastery via stepping into another tree at some point, as by no means should you feel limited to the 'Agility' form, Ataru. True saber mastery would be integrating the styles, utilizing them to maximize your potential.

By no means am I dropping hints or nudging, but Lexi is at one of those ideal 'branching' points, to be sure.

Got it. The results are the same in this case, as it only increases successes, and doesn't add any advantage to interpret. Typically, additional successes are only useful with Simple (no difficulty checks) to gauge the degree of success.

As some of you were interested in the breath masks (aka respirators) and heavy blaster pistols, to be clear, there were two of each. Based on what I read from your posts, Krosus and Tajanna each grabbed a heavy blaster pistol and a breath mask.

CCL: It's Discipline or Cool to recover strain after combat. Seeing as your Discipline is better (2 yellow, 2 green) feel free to reroll and add a new combat info on your next post. Otherwise we can keep what you already rolled with the 4 green.

Just to remind you guys, when you lie, I do roll a secret check for your Deception... and, when you're lied to, I roll your character's Discipline to see if you can spot the lie.

In either case, the Deception/Discipline rolls oppose one another, and provide the difficulty level. So, it's just a reminder, given that we're all still working the kinks out. Those of you with mediocre or low cunning, well, you're just no good at lying. You'd do well to avoid it, if at all possible.

I'm not nudging you in any direction, or suggesting that there are any good/bad ideas in the current scene at the cantina. Just making sure you're aware of the mechanics around social interactions. Deception is a secret check. So, be careful when you type. Nobody likes being lied to.

Well played Lexi-- your tale to the droid bartender bordered on a lie, subtly misleading, but was the truth.

That was my hope, and intent. Tell JUST enough of the truth to not have to try deceiving someone/thing but not be like "Hey all, I'm a sith from offworld that's here to take over your planet, mmmmkay?"

To be clear, for those less experienced or who simply don't remember, Deception seems like it might be on the horizon. Given what I said about Lexi's use of walking the fine line of truth yesterday, I know this might seem obvious, but just in case:

Don't expect to buy a drink, sit in a booth, and, if questioned, say this, expecting it to work: "I'm just having a drink." That isn't the same. That would be a lie. Deception can be complicated. Lexi was telling the droid a true version of her story, minus many details. Pretending you're at the bar for drinks will be Deception, even if your words are true.

In sum, Lexi wasn't hiding anything from the bartender, she just didn't share everything. Sitting in a booth as your cover, questioned by Espos, you will most definitely be hiding something.

As always, I'm being informative. The Espos might not even come into the cantina. There are many possibilities. However, I want to do my best to ensure you grasp the mechanics before making your move.

Anyone have any ideas how we should proceed? I for one believe that the guards will investigate this place and the bar tender will point us out.

A reminder, as CCL uses Seek: whenever you use Force Powers, there are attached Skill checks. Check the Library. Also, when you use Force Powers, you need to dictate what you will use your force points for.

In Krosus' case, he only met the basic requirement to use Seek, the two force points, so this is plainly obvious (and would have been obvious with a 3rd point as well, given his only upgrade). However, I won't make assumptions, and when you do have options using the force, specify how to use them. The more powerful and versatile your force powers become, the more important this will be.

The merciless side of me will be inclined to assume your character wasn't focused, rather than decide for you or hold up the game waiting for you to elaborate and clarify.

CCL, you needed another force point there to use that magnitude rank you purchased for Seek, in case you were wondering (as the base cost of Seek is 2 force points).

Keep in mind that some of your characters' Knowledge checks will be more difficult than usual, given their background. I will allow them, considering that your characters, to varying degrees, might have learned about the galaxy beyond the Veil via holos, data records, etc. They will, for the most part, be difficult checks to succeed at, rather than just waving my hand and saying "you guys are ignorant of the galaxy, due to your isolation on Akrultos." The difficulty will represent the extreme unlikelihood of your character happening to have stumbled upon the Knowledge you seek (e.g., in this situation, the chances would be very slim that Tajanna would know much about Espos).

In simpler terms, you characters' Knowledge bases have far less depth than your average individual, and you are less likely to recall info, depending. However, the longer you are in the civilized galaxy, I will allow that this might improve, via knowledge learned outside the narrative scenes of our game.

I don't think anybody has actually said out loud that they think Lissewa is a traitor. Feel free to edit that post Drama. I'll be making this game public eventually, and that might just confuse anyone reading.

You know, you're right. I thought I had read it in speech somewhere that it was mentioned, but reading back through it was all just internal stuff where the term was kicked around.

I tweaked it around a bit to more closely adhere to what Lexi has actually heard.

A destiny point can be used to upgrade a single dice when rolling, but must be decided before making the roll. Given that, going along similar logic, I'd allow you to re-roll one dice by flipping a destiny point. Clearly useless in this situation, but worth mentioning for future checks.

Tefmon, that was a great roll, btw.

I pride myself on my excellent virtual die rolling skills.

Right, but I was providing the reasoning he would take out the lightsaber for light. Nobody brought any light sources as they're all stored on the ECUL or the Spear of Akrulta. It just seemed you might have missed that based on your post where Lexi was wondering why he would turn on his saber.

Would a datapad not be usable as a makeshift flashlight? Modern smartphones and tablets almost universally have flashlight functionality, but Star Wars technology can be kind of weird and anachronistic compared to modern tech.