Fire Starter (RP Thread for Rescuer)

[Papa Bear]

Oof, hahaha

OK, yeah, we need to make some adjustments. One of the advantages of Mental powers is that you don't need to 'see' them to attack them, you just need to find their mind. As well, range doesn't cause you a problem except in actually finding the mind because the scope of minds you have to find PROBABLY increases exponentually (maybe not so in a desert or other abandoned area). Because you made it a Detect, that changes it to sense based. I kind of liked what you did with that... basically John can 'see' all of the minds around him as well as he might be able to just see or hear someone. But that's limited by objects and range as are other senses. You CAN hear someone screaming through a wall, but if they are much more quiet, the wall might block the sound up to a point.

ANYWAY, I completely agree... I might have pointed this out earlier except I didn't get what you were trying to do. SO, we'll just pretend it 'works' for now and figure it out later 😁 Let's mind blast this fool (or whatever you want to do.

 

The boy is running from the man toward the stairwell. In his mind you can see that he sees the exit sign and have told him to get there. He's terrified but following your instructions. The man from the fire is stalking after the boy, causing the walls around him to catch fire as he follows along in a very classic horror film manner, walking threateningly but somehow managing to keep pace with the boy.

[hakootoko]

 

John Harcourt, aka Rescuer
DCV: 6  Stun: 24/24  Body: 13/13  End: 34/40  Status: none

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John had been satisfied just guiding the kid out safely before confronting the burning man. But not now. With his senses already tuned in to the boy, he can see the 'mind' following him, though he'll have to trust what the boy is saying about the burning man setting the building on fire. All he can see through the wall is one mind pursuing another.

Starting to move down the stairs to the second story so he can tag up with the boy at the other stairwell, John lashes out at the burning man's mind in an attempt to slow him down.

 

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OOC: 1/2 phase followed by 1/2 phase attack? OMCV 6. Hits DMCV 7 or less. 16 Stun, minus his MD

Edited April 25 by hakootoko (see edit history)

[Papa Bear]

John's mind slams into the burning man's mind. The man grabs his head, crying out in pain. John can almost feel the man's pain and the thundering migraine he is surely suffering. From the man's reaction, John doesn't think he could take another blast like that.

John hurries to meet the boy at the second floor stairwell. The boy is crying and runs to John, not because he knows the voice in his head but because John is an adult that isn't on fire.

[hakootoko]

 

John Harcourt, aka Rescuer
DCV: 6  Stun: 24/24  Body: 13/13  End: 28/40  Status: none

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"Don't worry, kid. I'll get you out of here," John says to the boy, picking him up, carrying him down to the first floor and towards the exit. He knows this creep is gonna keep spreading fire unless he's taken out, so he slams the burning man's mind once as he moves.

 

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OOC: OMCV 6. Hit. 17 Stun, minus his MD

Edited April 25 by hakootoko (see edit history)

[Papa Bear]

The mind is there, but it 'goes blank' in a way that indicates that it is no longer conscious (though the mind never truly goes 'blank'... its just different).

[hakootoko]

 

John Harcourt, aka Rescuer
DCV: 6  Stun: 24/24  Body: 13/13  End: 28/40  Status: none

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John carries the boy out of the building and drops him off at the first aid station. Walking up to the chief he says "The boy I just brought out says there's an arsonist in there. Maybe a super-arsonist. Have you got police on the way? Either way, I'm going back in to see if I can find more survivors."

He regrets that he never laid eyes on the burning man. He's not going to be able to identify him among all the survivors... If he is a super, burning man will likely survive the way and someone will carry him out. Hopefully the boy can pick him out.

He's briefly concerned about his own apartment next door, but he shrugs it off as not being able to do everything at once. It's the job of the folks with hoses to keep it from spreading. He'll do what he's best at, and bring more people out alive.

 

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OOC:

[Papa Bear]

Even as he's saying it, John realizes the police are already there setting up a perimeter to keep gawkers at a safe distance. In his defense, he had been very focused on the young boy who had breathed in so much smoke that he fell limp in his arms before he could get the child to safety.

"Arsonist?" One of the paramedics says. "I'll get word to the fire chief. You go save someone else, please."

With a quick glance around, John can see that things are going about as well as can be expected by the first responders. He could even hear more fire truck sirens approaching mixed in with... probably some more squad cars and ambulances.

Good.

With any luck, he might still find the body of the fallen arsonist. But he had a bead on the man thanks to the boy so he would be able to recognize the man's mind and the building was growing less and less populated by the minute. That would make things easier.

As John starts heading back inside, he hears the paramedic call out to him, "I heard the fire department's cleared the first two floors and are working on the third."

Also good news. If in fact this was true, he could likely only have to worry about the top floor and work down to the fourth when the fire rescue teams got there.

[hakootoko]

 

John Harcourt, aka Rescuer
DCV: 6  Stun: 24/24  Body: 13/13  End: 28/40  Status: none

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John gets a fresh air tank and heads back in and up to the third floor. The 'burning man' should be lying on the floor between those two staircases. But he also keeps his mind peeled for conscious people worried and panicking; there have to be more in here that need his help.

Things are getting worse in here by the minute, but at least the concrete emergency stairwells are holding. If the floor in between collapse, it's all over, and he knows only too well.

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OOC:

[Papa Bear]

John is able to find the mind of the burning man after mentally narrowing down his 'search area'. The burning man is still out cold, peacefully 'sleeping it off'. John was ready to go get the creep, but his scanning around checking for panicking people discovers an old lady on the fourth floor. She's bedridden and the room is burning around her. She is terrified and her heart is racing dangerously high. She can feel it thundering in her chest.

John goes back to the stairwell and up to the fourth floor. Knowing where the woman is, John finds the door to her apartment. He can now hear her screams for help over the roar of the blaze. She sounds scared, but not screaming from pain... that means there's still time. Problem is how to get to her. There's a collapse in the floor in front of him just in front of the woman's room. He's pretty sure he can make the jump with a running start but it will be close. The bigger problem is trying to make the jump carrying the woman. The extra weight just might be too much or he could tumble after the jump and hurt the woman (which is likely to be safer than leaving her where she will burn to death). There is a window and as luck would have it, a fire escape. that will make getting her out easier once he's got her. There is also another window into the bedroom. He could climb around through the windows. It would be easy enough to get into the bedroom, but climbing while trying to hold her might prove tricky. Falling then might kill him but would likely leave him in critical condition if he survived and it would surely kill her.

He has an ax. He could chop through the wall. Most walls are covered in sheetrock... he could punch through that. But its the 2x6 studs in the walls for a 5 story building on 16 inch centers that worry him. He's a large man. Squeezing through would be uncomfortable enough but carrying the woman through would make it challenging. If he chopped down a stud there would be plenty of room, but the way the blaze is going now, that might be that stud might be the straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak, and bring the top floor down on them.

What to do?

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OOC: OK. Three options here (and if you think of one you'd like to try, let me know!)

You can automatically succeed jumping into the old woman's room.

Jumping: But jumping again carrying her will be sketchy. Roll a Strength check. Yours is 12- and since the distance is makable normally and the old woman doesn't weigh much, I'll grant you a +2, which increase the roll to a 14- If you roll 11-, you make the jump easily and off you go. If you roll 12 to 14, you'll have to make a DEX check (+1 if you rolled a 13 on the STR check or +2 if you rolled a 12 on the STR check) to avoid landing awkwardly and tumbling after making the jump.

Climbing around: Thankfully the side of the building is heavy brick that has a decent amount of grip. Plus the distance isn't very far so I'll grant you a +4 (your 10- climb increases to 14- But carrying her can make it tricky. You can easily lift her weight, but holding the awkwardness of a human body while trying to climb on a wall... not good. So, a STR check. If you fail the STR check, you'll suffer a -2 on the climb (dropping it down to 12-) but if you succeed on the STR check by 8-, you'll gain an additional +2 (increasing the climb check up to 16-)

Going through the wall: You can easily rip away the sheetrock to expose the stud you want to remove. You'll have to make an educated guess as to which stud to remove. You have an 18 INT with a professional skill in fireman so I'm going to say you have the following success chances on that roll;

Natural 18) Disaster; the ceiling comes crashing down, killing the old woman and you have to make a DEX check to leap away.

17-) You chose wrong. The ceiling comes crashing down but does not kill the old lady. You don't really have a choice now, you have to try to climb around. (The extra debris and collapse makes the jump option undoable.

14-) There really isn't a right choice but it holds for now. You have only a very limited amount of time to pick her up and rush her out of the room and down the fire escape.

11-) You made a pretty good choice. You figure you have at least a minute, which is good because you realize she might not make it and are able to take a bit of time to give her oxygen from your tank to ensure she makes it out alive.

8-) 11- plus you find her passed out chihuahua and grab it, saving both the old woman and the little pooch.

[hakootoko]

Is the fire escape in the hallway, or outside the woman's window?

[Papa Bear]

Its outside of the dining room. The wall you would cut through would be between the dining room and the woman's room. The climb is from the window in the dining room/fire escape to the woman's bedroom. Its about 6 feet. You can almost reach from one to the other, but not quite. So you'll need to climb going that way.

You can jump into her room automatically so you only need to climb out of the window to the fire escape (the short distance is most of that +4 I granted to the climb check)

Edited April 30 by Papa Bear (see edit history)

[hakootoko]

 

John Harcourt, aka Rescuer
DCV: 6  Stun: 24/24  Body: 13/13  End: 28/40  Status: none

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Entering the apartment, he sees the hole in the woman's dining room just outside her bedroom. He wastes no time in jumping across to get to her. "Let me help you up, Ma'am," he says, gently lifting her out of bed and into a standing position at her nearby walker. Then bracing himself between the headboard and the wall, he shoves the bed through the door and into the hole.

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OOC: Either the bed is large enough to block the hole, or the bed will fall through and provide a slightly softer landing should they end up falling in its direction. Your choice.

[Papa Bear]

GREAT IDEA!

The hole in the floor is too big for the bed, so a softer landing it is. Go ahead and make your jump with her!

[hakootoko]

Obviously going for the Jumping option ^_^

Now for some rolls.

[hakootoko]

 

John Harcourt, aka Rescuer
DCV: 6  Stun: 24/24  Body: 13/13  End: 28/40  Status: none

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After the bed crashes through the hole, he turns back to the woman. "I was kind of hoping that bed would fill the hole," he says sheepishly, "But at least it'll make for a softer landing. Not that we'll need one."

He picks her up and nimbly leaps over the hole, then escorts her down the fire escape to safety.

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OOC: