Bobcloclimar

Note that all hacking attempts will be very obvious to casual observers, since it requires a cyberdeck (which are laptop-sized) + crown/jack, even when hacking wirelessly. Wolf could make a Sneak/Cha or Convince/Cha check vs Badge's Notice/Int to pass it off as something else. The Blast Furnace may be a hive of scum and villainy, but it's more of a place where operations are planned, versus carried out, so a similar check would need to be made if Wolf was planning on hacking anything there. Rule text A hacker generally needs to be plugged into their cyberdeck in order to hack, whether with a cranial jack or a VR crown. This is going to be enough to catch the attention of people around them, who may not know what the hacker is doing, but they’ll know that the hacker is prepared to do something. Decks with 0 Enc might be small enough to hide discreetly, if the user is wearing a head covering.

I'm OK with it if is OK with it OOC. I'd rather the party not get into conflicts with each other in what should be a milk run (for now...). I'm OK with retconning in the party figuring some sort of comm protocol or network during the post-briefing interlude. Given that Vershin contacted everyone via a network that allows for secure but anonymous communication, I imagine there could be a method for piggybacking off that to allow the team to communicate in near real-time (maybe limited to text only) without identifying themselves personally.

Technically it was per person, but I'll just let it slide for now, in the interest of moving the story forward. There may be a reckoning accounting at the end of the scenario, though.

The Rain is a Samkita BA Model T, looking roughly like this: There are no markers indicating it belongs to Manticore - instead, it looks more like it belongs to an independent contractor than a legitimate corp. The registration information indicates the vehicle belongs to Kenji Gasara, an employee at Manticore. The Samkita BA line is an old brand of mediocre utility vans, and was discontinued almost ten years ago. Their cheap price and unassuming exterior made them very popular for both legitimate and illegitimate business use, and they are still seen on the streets of The City, albeit slowly dying out. Due to their size, assume the game statistics of a typical Car (CWN p. 82), but with extra points of Mass.

The bar is populated by what appears to be the usual crowd of street toughs, wage slaves and ne'er-do-wells blended together in a mix of chemically-enhanced euphoria, drowned sorrows and furtive secrecy. Badge's trained cop eyes quickly skim over the mass of bodies, looking for the tells that might betray someone celebrating a recently-completed job, holding a clandestine meeting, or hiding in the crowd, and notes a couple candidates. As he approaches the bar to take a closer look, he overhears some cheerful shouting: Conversation "Hey Frankie, gimme another!" The bartender looks up from where he's wiping the bar and shakes his head. "No good, Ed. I know you ain't got the cash, and your tab's longer than Mack's armblades. Which he's going to have to use on you if you don't pay it off soon." The man waves his arms enthusiastically and slams some creds on the counter, which Frankie quickly stuffs into his pocket. "No, really! Them Sun boys got me cleanin' up a real doozy they found yesterday." Frankie gives him a dubious snort. "What, they nick another beater from the Outlands? The going rate for one of those ain't gonna cover your bills, not by a longshot." The man affects a hurt look and replies, "No, no, this one's for real. A Samkita BA Model TSame model as the Free Rain. . Piece of shit on the outside, but someone stuffed her to the gills inside. Of course they'd only want to hire the best for that, and you know me, I get it done right and I get it done quick. Right boys?" He turns around and waves to a couple of the other barflies, who give him weak smiles of bemused affirmation. Frankie waves in defeat and sighs, "All right, all right, no need for details. One more, then you're done. Can't have you spending it all tonight." Badge (and Arm) knows that the name "Suns" could refer to several gangs or aspiring "legitimate businesses" in the area involved in grand theft auto, including the Sun-Leung Choi Tong, the Red Suns Trading Corp, and the Ray of Sunshine Nursery and Gospel Choir. Arm's scan of the crowd doesn't pick out anything immediately matching the hijackers' physical profile, and the mass of sweating bodies on the dance floor overwhelms his thermal vision. He does note a greasy-looking man sitting at the bar wearing stained mechanic's coveralls waving their arms enthusiastically, and sees Badge weaving his way in that direction. ---- Outside, the bouncer takes another long drag and offers Corvath a knowing grin. "You an' yer pals lookin' for someone, eh? No skin off my back, but if anyone's thinkin' 'bout makin' trouble inside, I'm goin' t'be very disappointed." He casually rolls his shoulders, his neck audibly cracking, then glances down at the uncounted credsticks still clenched in his fist. "But ya know, sometimes askin' real polite-like can help a man 'member what he's seen."

Tobey went to check the chief, who I thought was outside of the cell.

Duncan grins. "What have you gotten yourself into? No, wait, I don't want to know. Let me take a look." He glances at the picture and lets out a low whistle. "Haven't seen one of those rust heaps in a long time. Can't say I've heard anything about it, but someone over that way was bragging about some old piece of crap he was hired to clean. Maybe that's your girl." The mechanic waves his hand vaguely towards the bar. "Didn't think much of it at the time, so I don't know what he looked like. Squeaky voice, and sounded like he'd had a couple under his belt already."

Is there a specific application process, or do we just join the game?

Tobey hurriedly walks over to the chief and pats him on the back. "What is it, sir? What happened?"

My condolences, and best of luck to your friend.

I'm guessing two dozen is probably an overstatement, but at the same time, an hour up a deer path that the wagons can't follow isn't something we can do unless we're willing to abandon our charges. I suppose that, come light, Toktok could have the bandit show him where the path starts and mark it for later - we can hand the bandit over to the next militia patrol and tell them where the alleged camp is.

Toktok makes sure the captive is well-secured, then sits uncomfortably close and glowers at him in his best bad-dwarf impression. "Where th' rest o' ye hidin', ye bastard?"

Ah, I thought that only applied to the first round. It'll be an Aim+Fire (same as last round), so a 10 should hit. After that last round, I don't think Mickey would be able to kill him even if he hits.