Your call, Galen, but for whatever it's worth, I'd say just shoot them. They're a lot of goons, we are going to attract attention pretty soon anyway, and it might as well be us shooting first.

Just wouldn't be sporting! I'll at least see if they draw first.

I've updated my post. Wasn't sure if that much movement would then allow for an attack as well but probably not given the kind of time involved in Lia/Rob's moves. And anyway I had rolled a 1 so it wouldn't have done much anyway!

Lia - it only cost 2 to use Throw, not 3, so you only spent 4 points for your action.  And while it might not be a Merkava, you can definitely already have a normal handgun in your bag, though it will take your entire action to retrieve it.

Rob (but also everyone) - "arm lock" purely as flavor text is fine, if you are trying to accomplish anything with game mechanics by targeting an arm (or leg) it's +2 difficulty to hit (which would be successful with your roll).  Same modifier to target the head, which will do bonus damage if you use a weapon but not for an unarmed strike.  And if anyone is interested, a called shot to any joint, or to the throat, is +3 difficulty to hit and does +2 damage even with an unarmed attack, so this is where you get your really painful locks and such.  And, for the record, the bad guy kicking your knee was also flavor text and not a called shot (or else you would have been in a lot more pain).

Galen and Evelyn - I'll let it slide this time, but in the future I'd like "sneak into better position without being spotted" posts to come with an Infiltration roll, which will usually be difficulty 4 but might be higher if your target has good combat senses or is actively looking out for danger.

Evelyn - Combat Support Move is the thing I described earlier where you can give one of your allies a bonus on a future attack via fancy footwork, distractions, or something else along those lines (sorry I didn't label it clearly enough before).  If you want to do this, make sure you're describing what it is that you do that should provide an advantage; your roll will usually be at difficulty 4 but it could be higher depending on what you're actually doing.

Hopefully that covers everything at this moment but if anyone has any other questions then fire away.

What's the penalty to try to disarm someone? Rob's got no more hand to hand pool, so it probably doesn't matter, but going after that stun gun is a priority.

And his intent was to disable the arm, but he's more confident that he knows what to do than that he knows how to do it in a fight.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:24, Sun 15 Aug 2021.

Thanks for the note, Director. I'm at 4/8 then. Can I use Martial Arts to refresh 3, and does that take a turn?

I agree with Rob that we need to get that stun gun. I guess some Filch and/or Hand to Hand could get me that thingie? Then the real fun starts. Taze everyone!

Oh, and he's coming for me? Alright then! What would it take to wrest that stun gun from his hand? Maybe give him a taste of his own medicine while I'm at it?

Evelyn - what are you trying to accomplish with your move?  Distract the guy with your gun so Rob can get a good hit on him?  Or something else?

Other questions will be answered when I have a few minutes to check the book, which is not now but hopefully will be within the next 24 hours.

I'll answer this one first since it's simpler - yes you can do it, no it does not take up your turn.  If you were going to attack anyway, put some impressive flavor text on it and take your refresh.

(for anyone who is wondering, this option is available if your Hand-to-Hand or Weapons score is 8 or higher)




1) +3 difficulty to hit a weapon in hand, so for these guys that give you a target of 6.
2) If you were using a weapon, you definitely get it out of his hand, and possibly damage it.  If you were using your own hands, continue to step 3.
3) You and the bad guy immediately enter into a contest of Hand-to-Hand - you both take turns rolling Hand-to-Hand against difficulty 4, and the first one to fail the roll loses the contest.  Rolling first put you at a slight disadvantage, and who has to do it is kind of arbitrary - in this instance, I feel like the guy who already has the stun gun will have an easier time holding it then you will taking it from him, so whichever one of you makes the attack will roll first, BUT if your attack roll was a natural 6 then the bad guy has to roll first in the contest instead.
  3a) In theory the HtH contest can occur in its own time bubble inside of one combat round, but in this medium that risks making everyone wait days until we resolve it.  Instead I will rule that, at least in this instance, each exchange takes a full combat round.  Yes, this does mean that other characters (on either side) might get to interfere.  And to be clear, making the initial attack to start the grapple and rolling for the first exchange of the grapple counts as a single turn, both taking place within the same combat round.
4) Once someone fails their HtH roll and loses the grapple, the winner can choose to automatically hit the loser with it (this still takes up their turn, but it's almost definitely a turn well spent).

Hopefully that's all clear, but if you still have any questions let me know.

In reply to Director (msg # 269):

I was hoping to stop  him advancing towards Rob by having a gun on him at close range, and then if that works to potentially try and use that as leverage with the others

That's cool, and I want it to work, but I don't think Support Move is the way to do it (unless what you want is to freeze the guy so someone else can hit him).  If the idea is gun in the back, he stops moving and you essentially control him now (or something along these lines), then it's going to work a little differently.  Spend 2 Infiltration and I'll say that gets you close enough without anyone noticing, then you've got the gun there and he's yours.

Alright, sounds good! Infiltration spent :)

A suggestion: we find the car keys, stuff Jens in the car with us, and we gtfo. Then we interrogate him in some safe place.

Galen - I'll allow a Preparation roll, difficulty 4, you say you had the suppressor attached already.  Or you can choose to not roll and take the "oops."

Lia - don't forget that the young guy has one handcuff on you and he's holding the other end (he hasn't yet done anything as stupid as attaching himself to you, but also he hasn't taken his turn yet).  That might complicate your plan a bit.

Evelyn - you need to declare your spend before the roll, unless you have something that specifically says otherwise, but I'll let you have this one.  It would definitely be from Hand to Hand since you're applying it to your attack roll.  Specify if you're hitting the guy with the cuffs or the guy with the brass knuckles and then roll 1d6-2 for damage.

BTW, it doesn't clearly say this in the book anywhere but I'm following the rule that most games have about minimum 1 damage (before counting armor etc) even if the roll is 0 or negative; the -2 just means that most kicks and punches are going to be doing minimal damage.

Okay thanks!!

How would you like me to show that I'm declaring before I roll? I could make a post first and then double post.

Easiest thing is to add the spent points as a bonus on your die roll and/or mention it in the Reason for Roll line.

13:47, Today: Galen Ives rolled 2 using 1d6.  Preparation (no spend).

Hmm…oops it is! Guess it will end the fight sooner one way or another…

Brawling in a crowded area in public, ending with a non-fatal gunshot - based on the examples in the book I guess that's worth 1 Heat, but if any of you want to argue that it should be more I'm listening.

No matter what else those two have done with their lives, or what they do with the rest of them, they will forever henceforth be known as 'Lia's bowling pins'.

Question: 'the man at the car', is he inside? Does he have the key? I still think the best idea is to grab one of them, steal the car and beat it. Better than on foot, and we need someone to interrogate.

The one at the car is still at the car, which he already turned on because he foresaw that someone would want to make a quick getaway.  If you want it to be you, you might have some competition.

There is also the car that Galen and Evelyn drove here, since they were watching your back throughout this whole operation.

Rob - the leader won't be walking without assistance anytime soon, but he is still conscious at least.  And yes, you did get his phone.

Glen/Evelyn - I'm pretty sure you guys came by car while Rob and Lia were walking; are you leaving yours here or is someone driving separately?

Hightail it now, guys?

Lots more to do, but I think this is a good stopping point for "session 1."  Well done so far!

Now before we get into xp and such, I have a more important matter to discuss.  I love the story we have here but I'm less fond of the game system now that I've seen it in action for a bit.  But I also don't want to do anything unilaterally here, so I'm going to put it up for a vote:

1) keep going with Gumshoe rules, and I'll make it work from my end
2) convert to another system - my preference would be Fate, but I could also do GURPS if you want to make it grittier (with house rules for Contacts and Cover Identities so they're at least a little more flexible)
3) something else that you suggest

In reply to Director (msg # 285):

I'm fine with 1 or 2 (three to be evaluated if/when it exists). I like gumshoe but if it's not working for you that's reasonable than. I like fate a lot, too, though I've found it can bog down a bit in PbP because of negotiating invokes and such but that can probably be streamlined somewhat. Most of me GURPS stuff is third edition, but I think I have the core 4th ed books too(I probably have something from just about every published system.)

I'm a fan of Gumshoe but don't mind trying something else. I've played Fate once or twice so get the gist of it though would likely need a bit of hand holding to start with. No experience of GURPS whatsoever and high crunch systems don't particularly appeal to me.