Wow, looks like the vampire conspiracy might be controlling the dice roller...

Evelyn - Infiltration is what you want to break into a car.  Let's call it Difficulty 2 just to open the door, 4 to do so without triggering the alarm.  You already made a point of wanting to check out the thing he left behind while being aware that it might be security, so I'll say that if you can get into the car at all then you can figure out what to do about that.

Lia - by my reading, Sense Trouble would be something you roll before the direct interaction with the adversary, like sensing if there's something suspicious about that guy in the distance, or if movement within the crowd might be an ambush forming.  For the current situation it feels to me more like Streetwise to read the body language, and since everyone has at least 1 point in that I'll go ahead and give it to you (for free).

I'll wait for Evelyn's roll and then update everything in one post.

Oh, one more thing - Rob, you can see what's in the guy's hand for free, but one point of Notice will also give you a pretty good idea of what's under his jacket.  Your choice if you want to spend or not.

In reply to Director (msg # 239):

I think I'll honor the die roller unequivocal declaration that Rob's off his game. No spend.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:03, Fri 25 June 2021.

Thanks!

Do they new guys trigger my Sense Trouble?

Sure, you can do this a couple different ways:
1) roll Sense Trouble as soon as they walk in the door (secret difficulty number)
OR
2) wait until they come to the table and then use one of your interpersonal investigative abilities to get a read on them (no roll necessary, just tell me which ability you're leaning on so I can frame the outcome appropriately)

Evelyn, Galen, what are you guys up to as this is happening?  You're at least getting Rob and Lia's side of it, if not what the others are saying.

I think I'm going to try to set it up so we have all the entrances covered, and let them know that we can follow them if they're interested in seeing where these people are hoping to go.

Can we kill them now, uncle Rob? Pleeeease?

I suspect the younger one, the one Lia has more or less duped, has a tool. Can I get into his comforting embrance, and nick the gun? Filch?

The description for Filch explicitly lists "surreptitiously relieve opponents of their weaponry" as an example of what it does, so yes, you can do that.  You're doing it to a target who is on alert, voluntarily moving closer to you, and whose weapon is inside a jacket and thus a little harder to reach - all together, I'm going to call it difficulty 5.

You OK with this, Rob, or am I jumping the gun (literally)?

In reply to Lia Mizrahi (msg # 249):

Rob is trying to talk them into a corner or cow them. Neither of those is remotely in his skill set, so he's mostly playing for time so that the rest of the team can set up for their best advantages (which we're pretty much at...)

I will be out of town between the 16th and 25th. I should have internet access but my availability will be less predictable so I may be slower to respond.

Thanks for the warning.  Since it looks like the fireworks will be starting any moment now, do you want to post some plans for how you're likely to handle the first round or two and I can roll for you if needed, or would you prefer to hold off until you are able to handle it yourself?

In reply to Director (msg # 252):

Rob's plan is pretty simple, don't get kidnapped. He's hoping to avoid public violence and won't pull his gun unless he has to, but he'd rather talk to the PD than whoever these people work for. I should be able to respond enough to play that through, but if I vanish you know my intent.

Duly noted, thanks.

Damn, did I literally bring a knife to a gunfight? xD

OK, let's see, can I Throw the guy I just disarmed against another one of the thugs, so we get rid of two guys in one go, at least for a couple seconds, while we deal with the rest?

Nope, the bad guy did that :)

As for throwing a guy, this costs 2 points of Hand to Hand to "activate," in addition to any points you want to spend on your attack roll (which will be against difficulty 3).  A regular success will get him out of point blank range but will only do 1d6-3 damage, since he's just landing on grass and sidewalk.  I will say that if your total attack roll is 6 or better then you do knock him into one of the other bad guys, and both of them will take 1d6-2.

Galen - I should have mentioned this earlier, but firing a gun in a crowded public area, in a country that has extremely strict gun laws, is definitely going to draw some attention from law enforcement.  If you're okay with that then that's fine, but if not then I will give you this opportunity to change your action for this turn, since I didn't say anything sooner.

Rob - you can go ahead and roll 1d6-2 for damage and edit that into your post.  The game doesn't have any official grappling rules, but implies that it's mainly flavor text; there is a line about Health being more of an abstract measure of how long a person can keep fighting, rather than specifically being about physical injury, so an arm lock can do that just as well as a punch.

In reply to Director (msg # 258):

Would it be reasonable for a professional like Galen to have a suppressor? He'd have had plenty of time to put it in.

I suppose you are right about that.  Of course, that raises the stakes even further if police do get involved.  But I think that it makes sense for a suppressor to fit in the "items of obvious utility" category outlined in the book, at least for the wet worker (and for anyone else it would be a relatively easy Preparedness roll).

OK, maybe Lia's pant suit doesn't have actual pockets but I'm pretty sure she always carries a mini-Merkava in her bag.

Hmm, you make a fair point and when I’ve thought about it today it’s a touch extreme given they haven’t actually drawn any weapons yet! Probably not the action movie hero thing to do!

Teach me to post that late at night!

I’ll redo the post with something else, plenty of time for gunning down bad guys (or trying miserably to do so) later!