Bobcloclimar

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 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.

Mickey sends another round downrange and yells out, "Stop an' ye'll live, ye fool!" Mechanics Aim+All-out Attack at Red. Base skill is 11, range looks like 14 yards (-5), against a standing target (-0), +3 Acc, +1 AOA for modified skill 10. His current posture is Prone.

Toktok lets Otto see to Xan, while he polices the weapons of bandit chief before heading back to the circle to check on the others.

The rain continues to beat down as you all drive towards the marina, crammed like sardines into the tin can Logan nurses down the empty streets. He makes a sharp turn into the warehousing district, all towering crates of corrugated steel intermingled with squat boxes of concrete. In the midst of the carcass of industry, a single building stands out, a battered neon sign proudly proclaiming "The B---- Furnace" flickering over the doorway. Logan neatly wedges the car into a narrow space between a large black van and a mess of garishly-painted motorcycles, and you all pile out into the rain. A solitary bouncer stands beneath the dripping eaves, a glowing cigarette clenched between his teeth. The dim pulses of heavy music filter through the doorway as he eyes the motley crew over, and he exhales noisily. "$10 entry," the tough's voice grates out from behind a cloud of tobacco smoke. OOC Wolf's searches on Kenji Gasara during the drive mostly come up empty - he is listed on Manticore payroll and lives in a campus dormitory, and is otherwise unremarkable. Further notes are in the Manticore Industries thread in Setting Info. The video, sourced from the security cameras facing the lot from which the Rain disappeared, shows the following events: It was a dark and stormy night, making visual identification difficult. The Rain sits near the entrance, surrounded by a mix of heavy vehicles, many of which are newer and shinier. A group of four individuals, dressed all in black, enter the lot and spread out, casing the vehicles nearest the entrance. One of them is carrying a backpack. The group confers briefly then converges on the Rain. The individual with the backpack opens it, removes a tool and quickly jimmies the door. The entire group disappears inside, then a few minutes later, the vehicle comes to life and drives off.

I'm going to toss out this blogpost (first of a series, all of which are great) that was incredibly formative for me: There are two reasons why it was impactful for me: Reading this was one of the first times I felt I really understood how OSR games differ from 3E and its successors. Not that it's necessarily better, but being able to identify the differences helped me understand why those differences exist in the first place, and the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. It also really opened my eyes to the utility of the reaction roll. It also changed how I view/interact with the fiction that I read, which in itself opened me up to many new avenues of storytelling that might not have otherwise interested me - which will only benefit my creativity (and therefore GMing) in the long run. At the very least, it gives me a touchstone to better engage with my wife on her favorite romance novels 😁.

Seeing the bandit leader move in on Otto, Toktok charges out of the circle with a mighty dwarven battle screech. Mechanics Move to the hex SW of the leader and attack (standard move, not actually Charging).

Mickey only has Guns (Pistol), not (Rifle), so he'd be shooting at DX-4.

The Rain has been missing for less than a day. The trackers themselves, assuming they're standard commercial ones (which the info Vershin provided suggests is all it has) can be blocked pretty easily, either with a local jammer moving with the vehicle, or the vehicle entering a radio-isolated container/cage. A good shop will be able to remove the trackers pretty quickly (say, half a day's work), but reprogramming it with new transponders and the like (so it will look legitimate to any buyers) will take a couple more.

Vershin gives a broad grin with just a little too much teeth. "We prefer to resolve this outside of normal channels in case there are... complications. Surely you understand." Vershin shakes his head. "Mr. Gasara? A stooge in our employ, a convenience in paperwork. I doubt he even knows he owns this vehicle, let alone that it has disappeared." He takes another slow, measured look around the room. When no further questions are forthcoming, he stands and bids you farewell. "Good luck. Please leave the pad with my associate outside, and I hope to hear from you soon with... positive results." The door slides open, and the bodyguard motions you through. Once you have all exited the room, he rejoins Vershin in the briefing room and the door shuts, the lock clicking into place and leaving you all alone in the lobby. OOC Apologies for the delay in posting. In the interest of moving things forward, once you have decided on the next course of action we will proceed to the next scene; if questions come up that reasonably could have been asked during this session, I can answer them in the OOC thread.

Sorry for the late post, life got in the way last week. Mickey's kind of regretting buying the cheap .22 pistol now :D.

Lying on the ground and peeking just over the ridge, Mickey aims his pistol at the closest bandit and pulls the trigger. Mechanics Mickey only has Guns (Pistol), so he'll be using that instead of the rifle since I think the range penalties are still better than DX-4. First round Aim at Green bandit, second round All-Out Attack. Base skill is 11, range looks like 12 yards (-5), against a standing target (-0), +3 Acc, +1 AOA for modified skill 10. His current posture is Prone.

Sorry, had some family stuff come up in the past week. Post is up. Provided Otto can put his target down, I think next turn we should focus on the leader.

"Ye daft... take off th' head, an' th'body will follow!" Toktok grumbles as the youngsters charge out of their protective cover. He steps to meet the final bandit inside the wagons and knock the man senseless. Mechanics He can't reach anyone by charging this turn, so he'll move to the hex where Bandit #7 was and swing to put Bandit #6 down non-lethally.

Apologies for the delay, I've had less time than I expected to write up the next post. It'll be at least another day until I can move things forward.