>>12048805
He warned us of an incoming blowout before revealing that he wasn't human at all. Shooting him down and fleeing back the way we came, we managed to get inside the house just as the blowout really warmed up. We decided to shelter in the basement - the manor's structure was otherwise somewhat lacking - and were soon confronted by a new menace.

>>12048821
We found our selves thinking thoughts that were, for lack of a better term, not our own. An attempt to flush out the basement with a grenade produced no effect, and it became very clear that the others were being effected as well...and not resisting nearly as well. First, Damsel angrily confronted us and tried to push deeper into the basement; we knocked her unconscious after she pulled a knife on us. Twitch and Bird revealed similar corruption; Bird grabbed us from behind, commanding Twitch to kill us for being mutant-effected. Whatever was lurking in the basement's depths gave up any pretense of stealth as it assumed direct control of Twitch, rendering our plea for him to see reason useless. Luckily, Bird's grip was poor - we smashed our head back into his face and tossed him into the smaller man. With Bird unconscious after his head hit the floor, we pummeled Twitch with our pistol before pulling our rifle and storming the basement for whatever was causing this madness.

>>12048831

What we found was a controller, and it proved far beyond our abilities to confront. It seemed our last moments would be spent feeling it gloat over our mind's collapse, when Damsel, recovered from our earlier smack to the head and no longer under the controller's influence due to its focus on us, dumped several rounds into the monster, killing it. A long moment for recovery saw us back up in the main basement with the others, who were confused but not severely harmed. For our part, we've found our memories scrambled and slow to return; a hand tremor that we didn't have before has also poked its head up, but that may have been stress. All we found for our troubles in the god-forsaken house was a moldy old Red Army officer's cap and the controller's head. After spending an alcohol-lubricated night in the manor's crumbling attic, we woke the next day and set about our first task: burning the controller's den down. Now, hopefully, we can continue to the agroprom without incident....

>>12048840
Equipment:
-cold weather clothes
-hooded jacket
-moldy Red Army officer's cap
-mercenary ballistic vest
-lead-lined backpack
-flashlight
-utility knife
-night vision goggles
-basic gas mask
-Soviet scope (shared)
-trail rations
-PDA x1 (ours)
-anomaly detector
-compass
-no bandages (+4 in group)
-no first aid kit (+3 in group)
-m1911
-Skorpion machine pistol
-Mossberg 88
-AKS-74
-advanced detector
-1 grenade (+6 in group)
-jellyfish artifact
-flame artifact
-24 shells, 26 slugs, 21 .45, 4 30-round 5.45 magazines (one with 25 rounds)
-3386 RU

just so you know: it's 2.17 in the morning and FUCK YEAR STALKER QUEST shows up
if you don't archive it I'll hunt you down

btw did we kill/loot the "blowout soon" dude?

>>12048869
As of now you're still enjoying the warmth of a burning house on a cold Ukranian morning. Probably not smart to burn wood in a radioactive exclusion Zone, but hey, you'll probably be killed by something else before cancer gets you.

Sweet STALKER quest to make for the fact that I caught a cold today

>>12048936
well then I think it's time to bugger off and check if there's any corpse then continue to Agroprom. Slowly and with not too many loud noises. Try to turn off the sun too :P

fff all that noise. I say we forget about the SEVA suite and continue to agroprom

>>12048986
it's in the middle of the road to Agroprom iirc
might as well loot it if we dropped it

>>12049002
There are some things in the zone better left alone. The man in the SEVA suite is one of them. Considering that it was never alive to being with I doubt bullets did much of anything to it.

IIRC, we shot the guy in the SEVA suit, so it's probably ruined.

>>12049021
can't hurt to che... oh wait, the Zone. Yeah, we better just poke it with a 10 foot pole if it's still there then hoof it to Agroprom and get some additional info.

A few minutes at the house fire is enough to warm you all and get you back in motion; even with all of this chaos you've gone through, you still have some murderers to hunt down. The four of you eat on the move, mostly in silence - you're all still working through hangover headaches, or at least you are. Damsel breaks the silence with an question, "Bosse, do you know you're limping?"

No, you don't know that - you almost rebuff her when you check; it's slight, but you are indeed limping, "that's weird," you say; you don't remember hurting your leg. Conversation lapses back toward silence as you come upon the spot where you think you encountered the revenant last night.

There's nothing.

No corpse, no weapon, no blood; not even a scrap of cloth that looks familiar.

"Are we in the right place?" Damsel asks doubtfully, "I mean, he couldn't have gotten up and walked away."

He shouldn't have been walking to begin with, you think, but you keep your silence.

"I recognize that bush," Twitch points ahead a ways. Then, by way of explanation, "it had thorns."

The four of you exchange glances (did you hallucinate the man?) before Bird speaks up, uncomfortable, "Some things in the Zone can't be explained."

Somewhere nearby, a dog lets out a stream of barks, as if to agree with your more-experienced comrade.

(Poke about or keep going?)

keep going we already lost a day of investigating no sense losing more.

>>12049149
second, we should get to Agroprom

At least look for some spent cartridges.

>>12049116
ADVENTURER LOGIC DEMANDS THAT YOU POKE THINGS

PREFERABLY WITH STICKS

"Fuck it," you say, "every time we go snooping around something tries to eat out."

"Or skullfuck us," Damsel helpfully adds.

The four of you are already in motion, and small talk starts to resume; being past the point where the revenant first met you seems to have lifted a shroud of unease over you all.

Before long, the trees are thinning out again; ahead, you see what appears to be some sort of walled-in set of industrial buildings; even from here you can see stalkers milling about the place, with a few casual-looking examples on guard duty outside the wall.

"The agroprom," Bird says.

anyway this better be archived when I wake up
OR I WILL FIND YOU AND HUNT YOU DOWN
good luck fellow stalkers

>>12049197
(For what it's worth, you would have found casings had you poked about; you and the others DID fire.)

Ask bird about the current housing for neutral stalkers around here, they might not be in any of the building area's for all we know.

>>12049303
Well that at least proves that it actually did happen.

>>12049324
OR DID IT?!

You turn to Bird, asking about the facilities you see ahead of you - it doesn't seem quite right for the encampment described. He readily supplies information, "The agroprom is divided into two main facilities - this outlier here, and a larger one with a large administrative building and some outlying storage facilities and such; they're linked underground with utility tunnels. Last time I was out this way, the base ahead of us," he inclines his head, "was run by neutral stalkers, but was a pretty ramshackle camp. The other one was being held down by the military, but I heard through comrades that they up and left not long after the brain scorcher went down."

Are the scientists still there?

>>12049457
He pauses for a moment, then continues, "Then again, my data's second-hand and somewhat out of date. You don't get to see experienced stalkers in the Cordon often these days, especially since the center opened up. Besides Fanatic, really, and he wasn't getting out too much more than I was when we all hooked up."

>>12049544
The ecologists were in Yantar, past the Wild Territories; Agroprom doesn't host the scientists.

>>12049590
my mistake. Lets head in and take in the local culture.

"May as well head in and see what we can find out," you reason, shouldering your gun and heading down the road. Getting closer seems to back up Bird's assertions: the collection of stalkers milling about are a motley assortment sporting various gear and no particular organization. The posted guards give the four of you a look-over (particularly the statistically unusual Damsel), but otherwise leave you be. You decide to approach one.

"Hey," you say, "what is this place?"

"This is the agroprom," he answers laconically before giving a more serious reply, "It's just a neutral stalker camp up here. You don't shoot anyone, and you're welcome to stay and rest."

"What's the center of action around here? Anyone in charge?"

"Only thing around here is the 'bar,' if you can call it that; it went up in that building there after things started calming down around here and we didn't have grunts from the fucking army jumping up our ass ever other night. Few travelling merchants and such'll hawk their shit there. As for local authorities - well, there's none, really. Zombie's the 'bar' owner and probably the biggest dog around here, but Nurse is also important on account of being the only one who didn't learn to use a syringe shooting up drugs."

You thank the sentry for his help, then move inside; it's mild chaos, with stalkers faffing about and chatting about the goings-on of the Zone; the buildings do indeed appear to be the center of activity. Who to visit first? And what to visit them for?

To the bar! Lets buy a replacment vodka and interact with the barkeeper.

By the looks of things, he probbally won't know anything about a few anonamous looking stalkers, but he could direct us to the local trader.

Also, ask about the abandoned base. I smell loot.

>>12049878
Getting more vodka takes priority.

You decide to check out the 'bar' - so far, these places seem to be the center of activity in any camp, and why not? What stalker doesn't go for a cold drink after a long, hard day of nearly dying?

The 'bar' is little more than an office building with some scattered, mismatched tables and a hacked-together "bar" for the man you assume to be Zombie to work behind. The stalkers don't seem to mind the simplicity of the place - conversation is lively and drink flows freely. Not a few stalkers are enjoying a smoke, making the already-gloomy bar even darker. You ignore them and move to the counter.

"Hey, you Zombie?" you ask the bearded, balding man.

He shrugs amiably enough, "that's what they call me. You?"

"Folks call me Viking. That's Twitch, he's Bird, and she's Damsel."

He nods, "So what's your pleasure?"

You purchase some vodka to get things going, then turn to your actual interest: information, "so who sells what around here?"

"Only permanent guys are me and Nurse, though she doesn't part with shit without practically making you bleed for it, miserly...er. Honestly, just ask around the bar or the camp from folks that look like they're carrying more shit than they need, though honestly, it's mostly trash. Old pistols fished out of a corpse's pocket, grenades that have been sitting on an armory shelf a decade too long, that sort of thing."

>>12050131
That certainly doesn't sound like the trading camp that's supposed to be here, you prod carefully, "So no major buyers or sellers, huh?"

"Nope. There is the crowd that moved into the old army camp in the main location west of here, but they're a rougher crowd, if you catch my drift."

"How so?" you ask, playing dumb.

"Well, some of our rougher elements moved in there when the army moved out, see if they left anything good behind. They didn't, but the camp stuck around when some of the higher-ups there got some smuggling connections to the outside. It's actually picked up recently, but it's not clear why. More folks these days passing through to them."

You slide the photos of your marks across the counter to Zombie, letting him look, "you know these guys? Barkeep up in Rostok wanted us to find them and give them a message, but they've proven...ah, elusive."

Zombie shakes his head, "Nah, no one I know. You might try asking Savant, he's got an eye for faces, but mind his brother."

>>12050131

"can't be all that bad. Judging from the amount of STALKERS here someone has have to come across something interesting."

Trying to ummm.. get info without asking the questions directly,

>>12050141
Never mind then. So lets go to this savant dude.

"A pair in the zone eh? What makes this savant guy's brother someone to watch out for?"

Also ask if he knows of anyone who buys mutant parts, even putting fourth the fact we have a controller head.

>>12050243
Zombie leans across the counter, "Savant's brother is called Bulldog by people that know him. It's not just because he looks like one. He's supposed to be ex-army."

That's food for thought. By way of parting question, you ask about anyone buying mutant parts; Zombie shrugs, "Nurse might - we haven't seen one of the folk cure idiots trundle through recently, though they normally buy 'em too."

You bid each other farewell and Zombie points you around a corner to find Savant and Bulldog. It doesn't take long to find the two - Bulldog, at least, is easily-recognizable; a jowled brute with a poorly-shaved shadow of a beard and small, suspicious eyes; he's not the biggest man you've seen in the Zone, but he does seem to have more in common with a pile of bricks than a human.

He's also perceptive, spotting you out as you scan the room and fix on him, "The fuck you want?"

Not the friendliest hello you've ever heard.

>>12050002
A note, by the way - in general I'm going to avoid being too fine-grained on your guys' provisions, because let's face it - play-by-post buying of ham sandwiches and toilet paper generally can't be made fun. Rest assured that if I think something's necessary, I'll prod at it.

>>12050321
"Information. We heard your brother was in the market, and I wanted to do some business."

"We are after a few words, we'll pay for them too."

His gonna either shoo us off or be interested, if he is interested lets find a more private place, if not look for savant... Don't know what he looks like, look for someone raising his head to watch us.

Ask him about his brother and how to go about buying information.

"Information," you say placatingly, raising your hands in a calming gesture, "just information. We heard your brother has a way of placing faces, and we're looking for some guys that came out this way," he looks unconvinced, "we can pay. You are Bulldog, right?" you add.

For several moments, he merely looks at you, beady eyes unreadable, then he speaks, "you got a sketch? A picture?"

He holds out a meaty paw and you hand him the envelope. Removing the photos, he gives them a look-over before turning to the other man at the table.

You'd hardly noticed the fellow, what with Bulldog's more prominent seat and aggression. Rail-thin unassuming, the only immediate thing he seems to have in common with Bulldog is his unkempt appearance. He seems not to notice any of you, staring off into space and rocking gently.

"Alexei," Bulldog says, tone changed entirely, "Alexei, do you want to look at some photos?"

Alexei - Savant, you presume - says nothing. Bulldog prompts him again gently, getting a response; a single shake no. Bulldog turns to you and tosses you the manila envelope back.

"That settles that."

You're at a loss - should you just let the issue lie, leaving you without a lead again, or maybe try a more concrete bribe? Of course, doing that risks Bulldog's ire, and you get the impression he goes from bark to bite very, very quickly. You decide to...

>>12050388

Good god we don't have toilet paper?!

And because of supply and demand needs its going to be worth its weight in gold!..

As with bulldog, ask if you can do anything that would put his... brother in a more... cooperative mood?.. Bugger me this is a wacky situation, loving it.

And I've got a plan, lets get some balaclavas and black raincoats.. Send damsel and twitch off on that then lets head over to The Doctor.

>>12050676
Please do share of this plan

>>12050734
Okey, dokey then, its about the camp over yonder.

two pairs of balaclavas and two blackened raincoats, they will make a good bandit disguise and keep our identities secret if someone comes looking for us later.

This disguise is for the bandit base, we will be wanting to get in and four loners just waltzing in toting guns is a good way to have a grenade shoved up your arse, especially around bandits.

We will take twitch with us, because he can watch our back. If we took bird, he might be recognized with his experience in the zone around here, and damsel would have us dead and her involuntarily alive.

But us two? We are nobodies. We can go in, maybe find a job or two, and get out. The targets probably passed through here, but they might have opted for the bandit base first.

>>12050596
Ask Bulldog if there's anything that would put his brother in a more cooperative mood. We're fast running out of leads, and we're about to run out of options.

>>12050807
This plan is good plan

I vote we also(maybe ask damsel to do it for lulz) stitch some extra damage into the vest so they look a bit more worn then we buy them for... unless they are kind of fff'd up when we buy them.

>>12050676
You've got toilet paper. You may spend your time sleeping in abandoned Soviet buildings and crawling through corrosive waste in between shooting men and taking everything they have, but you're not SAVAGES.

You shift uneasily from one foot to the other, unwilling to just give up that easily. Bulldog stares you down, expression unreadable. After what seems like a long pause but is really just a moment, you speak, "Is there...err...anything we could do to make your brother want to cooperate? We really need a lead," you trail off. Bulldog isn't answering you; you notice the shotgun he has propped on his bag for perhaps the first time. Savant merely goes on with his rocking, staring off at some point in the room.

"We've got artifacts," you say, opening your pack to show the pair.

Spying the Flame that saved Twitch's life, Savant holds out one arm to you, still not making eye contact. Exchanging a glance with the others, you hand it over. For now.

Silently, Bulldog takes the envelope back and prompts his brother again, who is now staring at the artifact, rolling it from hand to hand.

After a moment, he looks up, making brief eye contact with his brother before putting out a hand for the photos. Savant flips through the four of them ridiculously fast. Once, twice, three times. He stacks them neatly and points at the one on the top, nodding.

[cont.]

>>12050873
Where did you see this man, Alexei," Bulldog asks.

For the first time, the man speaks, his words sounding stilted and forced, "loud man came in and asked for merchant, but there was no merchant. Got angry, went away. Bye-bye," he places the photos back in the envelope and returns to the Flame.

Bulldog pauses, then hands you the note, "I don't recognize the face, but I remember some asshole coming in, asking about buyers for some shit, and exploding at some random Stalker when he was told no major folks camp here. I didn't see him leave, but I'd guess he was headed for the western facility."

That's the most clear information you've gotten in a while, but there's one problem. Savant is not giving the artifact back, and Bulldog doesn't seem to be making any move to reclaim it on your behalf.

>>12050864

Well I think they would be, without a trader here we will be relying on passers thru.

>>clicking ferban

>>12050884
Envelope, not note.

>>12050884

"That's not exactly a lot of information. Certainly not worth an artifact. But since your brother has taken a liking to it lets say the next time we come for information its free."

Bulldog might be big but guns kill any size of people.

>>12050915
The fuck don't try to piss off Bulldog we may need him later. Just say he can keep the artifact in the friendliest manner possible and move onto talking to Nurse

>>12050928
ok we can be nice but his brother still owes us. Artifacts don't grow on fucking trees.. wait can they?

>>12050963
new objective: find artifact tree

>>12050963
Well...

>>12050928

You might be right, this is bandit territory... We don't want to make enemies.

Besides, we can always rake in more artifacts.

>>12050985

PSEUDO DOG OUT OF NOWHERE

>>12050985

That shut me the fuck up... lets leave bulldog alone then and go with the bandit infiltration plan

You decide not to press the issue, "You guys keep that," you say. Bulldog gives you a thin smile. Savant ignores you. Hey, you can always find another artifact.

Once you're out of earshot, Damsel whacks you on the shoulder, "What'd you do that for? That thing was rare!"

Bird speaks up for you, "You ever have a dog as a kid? Know what happens when you take a bone from a dog? It bites you."

"If you guys make any more dog-themed puns, I'M going to bite you," Damsel threatens, but lets the issue drop.

You suggest you give this Nurse woman a visit, then try to get into the western facility. You have this idea involving disguises...

"Should work," Bird says, "though if things get rough, you've got less muscle," that's a fair point, "Plus, these guys can't be too vicious if they're mostly keeping their cover and raking in equipment to buy up," more food for thought. You decide to mull the issue over while you deal with things with Nurse.

Entering Nurse's clinic reveals a typical scene - old, mismatched equipment with battered tools and lumpy, worn beds. Not the kind of place anyone wants to recover from a bullet wound from. Still, it's not bad, by Zone standards.

Almost immediately, you're confronted by a woman you assume to be Nurse. Despite being little taller than the average woman, the forty-ish woman seems to tower over the four of you as she regards you each in turn.

"None of you look sick. What do you want?"

You show her the controller head, eliciting a cluck of either approval or disgust, "I'll give you 500 for it. I can probably keep it chilled until I find an interested party."

Best not to argue with the man who already has a shotgun out and ready to fire at point-blank range.
Also, tell Bulldog that we expect that our next transaction be at a heavy discount. Really, a Flame for just a "Yeah, he came here once"?

Let's go ahead with the bandit disguise idea. Have Bird check our disguises so they look right. Maybe it would be worth it to buy a sharpie or marker, and draw fake bandit tattoos.

>>12051157
"If you have any longcoats, we'll give it to you for three and 350 rubles."

See if Damsel wants to chat with Nurse. Women enjoying each other's company and all that.

>>12051157
500 sounds fine.

>Women enjoying each other's company and all that.

Hell, not by my experiences.

>>12051222
I dunno, Nurse and Damsel are the only two women in the Zone, you'd think they'd immediately sit down and start chatting about unimportant things.

Heaven knows my mother has a striking ability to find people that would be described by the term "hippy" based entirely upon their mutual lack of a Y chromosome.

An amendment to my previous plan, while us and twitch are chatting it up with the bandits, have the others go artifact hunting with the Good detector, we got that thing from a bandit so its traceable to the fact that we killed(Shot thru the neck) the bloke and nicked his stuff.

>>12051310
Its not the only flame artifact in the zone though. Having bird and damsel go artifact hunting is a fff awesome idea though.

>crupron altogether
Captcha scares me sometimes

Are we going to boink Damsel at some point at some point or another?
'Cause she's pretty damn Tsundere, as far as I can tell.

You ask about longcoats, and Nurse gives a curt nod, "this ain't a mall, kid," she says, "It's cash or meds. Actually, just cash. We need the meds."

You can see what Zombie meant, "That's fine. 500 it is," you hand over the head, and she hands over the cash. Immediately, she begins shooing you out.

"Go, get! This place is for sick folks. And you," she points one stern finger at Damsel, "don't be fooling around. There's no birth control in the Zone."

A surreal comment, it leaves even Damsel without a snide quip; she begins, but Nurse cuts her off, "I know you kids these days, don't give me any of that. Shoo!"

You pull the others along before Damsel can throw the comments back and make the situation worse.

"So," you say, "Let's see about those coats."

A visit to Zombie reveals that he has a good few plastic, hooded rain coats; he's even willing to "rent" them out, for around 100 roubles each. They're not quite like the wear some of the bandits you've seen sport, but they're close and would certainly make you all look more anonymous - one of you in particular, provided they wear the gas mask you found in Rostok.

Of course, the question is - who are you bringing? Do you want to stick to the original plan, or have Bird's points made you reconsider?

>>12051357
How your relationships develop with your fellow stalkers is up to you (and the bounds of reason). You, as players, can grow close or use people as tools to be expended when necessary. Naturally, both approaches have their ups and downs.

yes

>>12051450

>>12051421
Damsel got told DAMN!

I down for sticking with the inflitration plan while damsel and bird go artifact hunting. It will probably be good to get damsel away from the camp before she says something she might regret

>>12051421
Bird does make a valid point- and it is better that we plan for when the plan goes wrong- because it will go wrong, you can count on that.

>>12051421

>Of course, the question is - who are you bringing? Do you want to stick to the original plan, or have Bird's points made you reconsider?

We should keep in mind as we saw in the garbage bandits have tattoos, so we should be careful not to ask around too much and prompt a real bandit to check if we're "in" or not.

If we spend all our time with the experienced guy then our fellow stalkers are deprived of the ability to learn on his ability within the zone.

Set up a rendezvous, and lets get cracking!

>>12051310
You're right.
We should go through our stuff, make sure that none of it can be traced back to the bandits that we killed.

>>12051487
No one's likely to ask you to flash your tats unless you claim to belong to in a gang or be a bandit right out. Zone bandits have tats so they can know another "bandit" is "safe," since bandit tats mean summary execution with folks like Duty or even many free Stalkers.

>>12051511
The only piece of gear particularly unique is the advanced detector with the scuffed-off logo. The weapons you recovered (and Twitch's vest) are generic items.

>>12051487

Oh man, I look at the little tidbits of information and the like... And miss the damn elephant.

>>12048805
Are you my Mummy?

>>12051592

>>12051592

Let's go ahead with the plan as we originally outlined. Damsel is far too easily identified, what with the female-male ratio of the Zone.

Refining your plan, you suggest that perhaps Bird and Damsel use artifact hunting as a cover to be near the western facility without coming along right off; it avoids the risk of an experienced stalker like Bird being recognized or an unusual one like Damsel singled out, while also letting them come relatively quick if things go wrong.

"It should work," Bird agrees, "unless things go shooting-wrong. Then we'll probably have trouble getting in."

You're not sure that'll be a problem, "Hey, Damsel's more like to cause a shooting incident than I am."

"At least I can shoot a standing target across a room," she fires back. Ouch, that stings.

Plan settled, you rent out a pair of the black raincoats - if Damsel and Bird need to come in, you don't want them to be readily identified as being 'with' you - and set out. On the way, Bird offers some advice.

"The look you've got is one a lot of bandits take," he says, "just leave it at that. Don't talk about your exploits. Don't mention your gang. Keep any lies as simple and as close to truth as possible - Zone bandits use tats to tell each other from outsiders when situations are suspicious, so keep it innocuous."

All reasonable advice. You hand over your better detector a good ways from the western facility and split up. You and Twitch make good speed, and before long you reach the second facility. This one is much better-fortified, with mostly-intact walls and guard towers in the corners. Approaching confidently, you eye the local staff; you don't notice any unusually professional behavior, but they definitely seem on the shady side, like Zombie said.

Reaching the gate, you're stopped by a thug wearing a ballistic vest and shabby old military surplus clothes. He gives you each a look and then speaks, "What's your business here?"

>>12051893
Tell him we are here to trade and maybe a little gossip.

Tell him we're hear to burn their scummy operation to the ground.

"Were here to buy ammo, food, information and the like, got any thing you don't want us doing inside?"

Don't go on about jobs, we don't want to look like some job-seeking stalkers.

I always got the feeling the bandits weren't really a faction, just isolated groups of loners with less ethical means than your usual STALKERS.

"Here for the trade," you say simply, "We've heard there's plenty both ways - goods and information," it sounds reasonable enough to you.

"Oh really?" the guard says - apparently he wants to have fun with this.

"No, you caught us, we lied," Twitch pipes up, "we're here to kill you all and burn the place down," the sarcastic comment earns a laugh from the man addressing you and a couple of his compatriots.

Another guard appears from inside, and this one looks...different. The equiment is the same, but his bearing is more rigid and manner more clipped. There's none of the puffing and half-sneering of the other watchmen. He studies you each with a practiced eye, holding a PDA in one hand.

"You said you were here to trade. Guns? Artifacts? Show me."

You oblige the man, wishing you had your Flame back. The Jellyfish earns a brief grunt however, and the man gives you a nod, "Fine. Some rules - don't start fights, or we'll finish them. Keep your guns away unless you want to be shot. One of ours tells you not to go somewhere - you listen. Move along," you listen, with not much choice to do otherwise. The base itself is fairly busy, much like the other agroprom facility. However, the element is indeed a shadier one; you can mark out some genuine, obvious bandits among gray cases. Most of the guards are dressed similarly - a pseudo-uniform consisting of a vest and military fatigues - but while most seem to be little more than thugs playing dress-up, others move and act in a way that is somehow more genuine. No one is paying you any mind; what now?

>>12052063
It varies with the game.

By the time of this campaign, you've not identified any hard-and-set bandit faction. Most seem to operate in small groups, with some apparently sporting tattoos to various gangs that mean nothing to you as a Loner and Zone newcomer. Some are probably representatives for outside crime syndicates, while others are just crookish stalkers. There's no overarching unity (that you know of) besides the fact that usually-discrete tattoos act as a sort of ID card for them.

>>12052176
Take a walk around taking a good look at faces and try to find a central trading area.

Lets have a look for what they are selling as artifacts, it might be worth a look... Could even trade in the jellyfish for a stronger version of radiation neutralizing effects, paying a bit as-well, like the wrenched.

Then we look for information that will come from the merchants.

>>12052242
I am expecting them to be a more secretive organisation.

Anyway go on through the area and see what we can get for our meager pile of junk

You and Twitch give the place a look, trying to ascertain what goes on where. The office building appears to be multipurpose; the first floor seems home to a makeshift bar, while you're not sure of the upper ones. Other outlying buildings are apparently barracks, or supply depots. The actual sales and pruchases seem to be going on in a couple of quonset huts behind the main building, well-guarded by the local authorities. You don't see the mark that supposedly made himself known in the agroprom before - Spaz, you remind yourself - but then, you're not looking too closely yet in order to blend in. To your credit, this seems to be working; no one is paying you or Twitch consistent credit, with guards' stares being clearly prefunctory. You should be able to move relatively freely, provided you don't amke too much noise about it.

>>12052395
>>12052375
These will be addressed momentarily.

>I am expecting them to be a more secretive organisation.

These guys here aren't formally bandits - you just know they buy hot equipment in large quantities with no questions asked.

Y'all guys remember the guass rifle? Just 800 rouple?

Those guys weren't bandits. And the blokes back in the stalker camp?

They weren't bandits.

Hell, in Clear Sky there were a faction called 'Renegade' and even tho you didn't see them quarrel with the bandits in the garbage, it probably had to do with the geometry of the place.

What I am saying is; they're just another faction, specifically this building complex here is one, and the person stabbing you in the back could be from ANY faction; trader-monolith.

In-fact, it would be cool to find some monolithians to query.

Fuck. Put me in the middle of the Zone, especially in the middle of a fire fight and I'll have our little crew working flanking manouevers. But stick me in a semi-social situation like this? I got nothing.

Let's stick with being nonchalant and check out the market.

You ultimately decide to pay the main merchants a visit - you may as well play out your little deception and see if you can't get something out of it. You try out your artifact first; besides your guns, it's the most valuable thing your group has.

The merchant, unfortunately, is unimpressed, "common artifact, buddy. I'll move it for you right now for 700, but that's only because it's a useful common artifact."

You're not decided on that yet, and inquire about artifacts they're selling. The merchant snorts, "buddy, we BUY artifacts around here, we don't sell them. Guns? Armor? Drugs? I can get you those. Hell, I can even get him laid," he jabs a thumb at Twitch and laughs at his own joke before continuing, "But yeah, artifacts move one way here."

Not settled on selling yet, you excuse yourself and give the guns a look.

And what an assortment.

It's mostly junk, but there's a lot of it; AK-74s of various description, a pair of RPK-74s, a few AKMs and AK-47s. Most of the pistols are motley makarovs and Fort-12s, but there's also a few Beretta 92Fs and a very poor-looking MAC-10. Shotgun selection consists mostly of break-action civilian pieces, some shortened, some not. The tale is similar with the pump-action shotguns, which vary from full length hunting models to pieces with the barrel sawed off at the magazine tube and the shoulder stock removed. The most advanced pieces appear to be some Enfield L85A1s, probably the early models known for their numerous problems.

If you remember from COP, Monolith shoot everyone else on sight. They don't mingle.
No chance.

Give those Berettas a look over. Does twitch have any ideas on how to find our marks?

>>12052645
In the gear list you posted at the start of the thread, I didn't see any rounds for the Skorpion (9x19mm, if I remember right). Now having only just joined this quest/thread, does our little subgun fire .45s? If not, we might want to either sell it or get some ammo for it.

And I'm not aware as to how useful our Jellyfish has been since we've gotten it. I'll leave the decision of selling it to someone else.

Yeah, Monolith are total fanatics. Capture one? Better tie him down, or he'll literally beat his skull open on the concrete. They refuse to engage non-members, save in very unusual cases. Strelok was one, Strider and his crew another. With C-Consciousness fucked in the ass, Monolith will probably behave more erratically, though.

>>12052718
Jellyfish is useful enough to be worth more than 700 since it absorbs radiation.

Although twitch could probably use an upgrade for his pistol.. I think he is still using some piece of **** mak.

>>12052718
Damsel's Skorpion is chambered in 9x18 makarov. Convenient for you, and probably a product of its original owner stowing the weapon as an emergency back-up; common ammo was good.

You already have ammo for your m1911.

>>12052714
You turn one of the likely-looking berettas over, examining it carefully for flaws. It appears to be an early model and "lovingly used," with the name "Martha" scratched into its handgrip in english, whatever that means. A second one lacks the personal touch but seems a little more worn-down to you.

>>12052831
While you consider the gun, you ask Twitch nonchalantly about your real purpose here, "so, any idea where our friend might be?" Twitch, who had been looking around, turns his attention to you.

"I'd hoped to see him here in the market, but I don't see him. The bar, maybe? Always a congregation point. Stalkers visiting this place must sleep somewhere, too."

All valid points.

Try to find out who would know where our boys went off to. Also ask about that renegade trader who is supposedly in the area. If anybody knew who it was it would be this guy, especially if its him.

Just because you pointed them out so nicely too us I wanna have a look of those Enfields.

>>12052831
How much for the martha beretta? Twitch needs a proper side arm.

I would think looking around the barracks and asking there might be helpful.

But all in good time, I wonder what type of medication they have?

>>12052857
Ask for a price on Martha, try to haggle it down a bit. If we manage to get a low enough price, buy it with 4 mags worth of ammo.

And since our "friends" don't appear to be here, head over to the bar.

>>12052872
Sorry, renegade trader? Likely folks to ask include merchants and barkeeps - Twitch makes a good point on both of them. Of course, asking after someone COULD get suspicious; this camp is a little less "whatever works" than the average loner camp.

>>12052900
Setting down the beretta, you give the Enfield rifle a look. They're definitely older models, battered and scratched, but look like they'd fire. All but one is equipped with a scope, which is a plus.

"That one you're holding's threaded for a silencer and has been rechambered for 5.45," the merchant comments, "none of that NATO bullshit if you don't want it," he barks a laugh and turns back to another customer.

>>12052900
Voice of experience, it's easier logisically when everyone uses the same caliber of ammo. If we've got 5.45, 5.56, 9x19, 9x18, .45, and 12 guage, that's a lot of bullets to be packing, and it starts to weigh a lot. That said, if someone is more effective with a subgun or a shotgun or a sniper system, keep them on it instead of fucking with the dynamic. Just putting it out there.

>>12053000
HOT SHIT! Again ask for prices and haggle.

>>12053000

Dat enfield with dat chambered round.

How much?

You decide to ask for prices on both weapons - the berettas and the enfield. The merchant pays you closer attention now that he thinks he's got you sold, "The berettas, call them 300 each. Good, reliable guns by the way. The enfield, now that's a piece of fine English engineering, plus fine stalker upgrading," again he laughs at his own comment, "it'll set you back 1500, but I don't think you'll regret it."

You try haggling the guy down, but he seems pretty set in his prices, "Buddy, we're already priced to move here. You offer up some crap and I can chop the price down, naturally."

(Note: you guys already have 9x19 FMJ - well, Twitch does, for his MP-5.)

>>12053001
This is good advice, btw. A note:

Damsel seems like a well-rounded gunfighter, with an affinity for explosives.

Twitch is similarly well-rounded, but lacks Damsel's knack for explosives and is a little less handy firearm-wise in general.

Bird seems to prefer longer-reaching weapons and standoff engagements; he's the guy toting your group's scope at the moment.

>>12053136
Is Twitch willing to trade his Makarov for Martha? Keep the ammo for the Damsel's Skorpion.

Is our AKS-74 the rifle variant or the short-barrel variant? If it's the short-barrel, and it's OURS, I'd say trade that in for a knockdown on the Enfield.

Have twitch offer up his 'AKS', and DON'T forget to remove the magazine rounds included... I frigging hate doing that.

If it goes down to 5-6 hundred I would say he has a deal.

Also, lets look for crazy medications.

>>12053217
The AKS-74 is a full length rifle; the AKS-74U is the carbine version. (Protip: for Russian guns, if it has the "S," that's for folding stocks.)

Twitch'd be fine trading pistols out like that, yes.

Additional notes: obviously the enfield is a more modern weapon with a scope and ability to mount a silencer, but they are finicky weapons and the Zone is a nasty place. The AKS-74 is more of a workhorse, a very tough rifle that will stand up to significant abuse, like the good old 47. It will get the job done.

Definitely get the martha...

>>OURS

We got this communal thing going on.

>>12053219
Medical supplies include - from what you can see - illicit narcotics, military amphetamines, high-strength painkillers, antibiotics, and basic first aid kits.

reliability > Fancy shit.. and twitch is no gunsmith so if the enfield gets ffff'd up somehow we probably will have no way of fixing it.

Martha is a must buy.

Would the traders name happen to be nimble by any chance?

Not to mention, there's nothing to say that this Enfield is one of the early production runs that had the engineering problems.
The scope is nice, but considering that we're in the Zone with no regular access to a dedicated rifle maintenance kit, I think the AK is a better option.

C'mon, it has a scope and silencer.

This thing is a marksman's wet dream compared to what we currently have. (AK-74 with a scope)

I wouldn't consider it if it was for NATO rounds, but because of its modifications it makes a kingly useful weapon.

>>12053269
Keep in mind that I don't mean to sound like a dick when I post. I'm just trying to get a feel for your method of game. Some people don't know the "U" designation, and I honestly didn't remember about the "S" designation. Also, I'm a bit of a gun nut, and yes the Enfield is a fickle bitch. But does that outweigh the sight-range and suppression ability? Thinking about how you said it "looks" like it will fire, it's probably in rough condition as it is. Probably better off sticking with the Kalashnikov for right now.

>>12053318
Sorry, no, Nimble this man is not. Of course, he's out there somewhere.

>>12053397
It doesn't currently HAVE the suppressor. It's just modded so that it can have one put on it. And goddamnit, unless you've got specific rounds, it will only be SUPPRESSED, not SILENCED. Sorry to be an ass, but again, I'm a gun nut, and that one is my clip/magazine button.

>>12053408
No problem, man; there's been confusion in the past threads re: rifle length, so it never hurts to specify.

I'm no gun nut, but I generally try to read a bit about what I plonk in front of you (or shoot at you with); if I can't make heads or tails, I'll turn down the focus. Of course "hey, it doesn't work like that" is welcome from the players too.

Are you guys finished talking about guns yet?

'cause I wanna get back to the plot.

I say skip the enfield, there will be better guns, and i don't trust enfields for shit.

If we want to really be operating silently we should invest in Vintorezes and Vals, not halfassing with british crap.

>>12053499
Not to rush you guys, but yeah, you might wanna decide. Everyone seems cool with the beretta (keep the 9x18 ammo and sell Twitch's pistol), but the enfield is a sticking point.

Vote to get Twitch martha and skip the enfield. I can just see it jamming at a critical moment.

>>12053499
FUCK YOUR PLOT, THERE'S GUNS!
But you raise a good point. Get Martha for the Makarov, plus three magazines, not ammo, just the mags, and head for the bar.

>>12053449

We're in a bazar, of underworld criminals... There IS a 'silencer?' here.

But you got me curious, is a suppressor for the prevention of muzzle flash, and the silencer just to keep the sound down?

Because jumping back, if it makes no sound but flashes then I see your point Entirely, and agree.

One more vote to get the Beretta, and leave the Enfield. A sound suppressor is only good for a certain number of bullets before it has to be replaced, with cold rounds or special silenced rounds (like on the Vintorez) it's still gonna be loud for the engagement ranges that we're going to be at (especially with 5.45 bullets), the notorious reputation of the early production Enfields, and their need for far more maintenance than an AK, make the Enfield a poor choice for us.

>>12053563
suppressed means it will lower the sound of a bullet and reduce muzzle flash. Unlike in the movies, they don't make your gun make the pweep noise. just a slightly less loud bang. and it will still produce a super sonic crack.

Silenced means that a weapon is almost whisper quiet save for the sound of the weapon's moving parts but you have to be using subsonic ammo, which tends to have poor range and suffers more profound drop.

After rather lengthy consideration, you make up your mind - the beretta is an obvious choice, and Twitch readily enough gives up his makarov to drive the price down a bit, keeping the ammunition for Damsel and Bird, both of whom have weapons that need 9x18 rounds; you do exchange the makarov's magazines for some that will actually be useful, however. The enfield is a tougher choice, but ultimately, you decide to stick with what you know, and that's the AKS-74. 200 roubles change hands and Twitch gets his hands on the pistol named martha, apparently pleased enough with the acquisition.

Your relationship now lubricated with money, you decide to chance asking the merchant about the Spaz, the man that Savant identified, "We're actually supposed to bring him a delivery, but we got caught up on the way here," you explain.

The merchant studies the photo before nodding and handing it back, "I remember the guy. Big mouth, quick temper. Actually tried to intimidate one of the locals when he thought he was getting a bum deal on selling some detector, but the locals stepped in," he pauses, "last I heard, he was bumming around the bar after a fight with his friends. Bit of a troublemaker, but all of that violent bluster is apparently paper tiger shit."

>>12053563

There are very few actually "silenced" firearms. The MP5SD being the most universally known one. The main difference is that with a "suppressed" firearm, you don't actually get rid of the sound. Suppressors just change the sound by absorbing the gases released from the muzzle blast into the baffling of the suppressor. This will generally make the weapon sound like a smaller caliber firearm or even make it sound like it came from a slightly different location. To make it EFFECTIVELY silent, you also need to use subsonic ammunition, so that you don't get the crack as the round breaks the sound barrier. The MP5SD is a "silenced" weapon because the suppressor is integral to the weapon itself. This reduced the amount of escaped gases greatly, but it too will only be TRULY silent if you use subsonic ammunition.

Yes the suppressors reduce muzzle flash to nothing or almost nothing, as well. However, there are different muzzle breaks that do this almost as effectively without changing or reducing the sound of the shot.

Also, polite sage for being completely off-topic.

>>12053681
TO THE BAR!

>>12053681
Thank the merchant for his very informative deal and head out to the bar. With any luck, our target is still there.

"Bird, you ever wonder what the point of all this shit is? I mean, we spend days chasing down this guy, nearly dieing the process multiple times, and for what?"

If he is so quick to temper then we can totally troll him into doing something stupid and getting himself killed.

You give the man a friendly shake of the hand, wish him good business, and move off, trying not to seem too eager. You're actually fairly excited - after Twitch nearly dying in the garbage, after your brain was nearly liquified in a basement by a controller, you've finally caught up to one of these bastards. Or so you hope.

You scan the offices serving as the camp's "bar" eagerly, looking for your mark; he's not in evidence. Twitch offers up a reasonable explanation, "Could be sleeping, it's still late morning."

Good enough for you. You inquire after him with the bartender; if anyone is likely to recognize him, well...

"Yeah," the bartender says immediately, "he was down here last night. Drank himself stupid and then slumped off to one of the guest barracks out in the yard," thanking the man for the tip, you move back out into the base, towards the indicated barracks; you're close, you can taste it.

You're actually put off your game when the barracks door opens in front of you; a bleary-eyed man looks up at you ill-naturedly, "Geouddaway," he grunts.

It's Spaz.

I just want to sucker punch him, take out somewhere isolated, and start cutting into him to get some answers. It's what the Spetznaz would do.

But, then again, we are deep in a no-conflict zone, so it might be better to go for a more subtle approach. Maybe just get out of his way but just trail him, seeing as he's quite hung over?

So, his still around the bar eh?..

This will be tricky.

Maybe we can have him join us at the rendezvous for a good ambush...

Lets just get there and see the situation.

(Let me say, purely as an aside, that I'm glad you guys haven't grabbed for the AK-47.)

>>12053795
Yeah, umm, kill him? Without getting killed ourselves? And somehow find out where his compatriots are? This is the part I'm not good at.

Get him to punch you, then knife and say it was self defense?
idk, could work. Probably a dumb idea though.

Stay back. He doesnt know who you are. Have at last one guy following him from a distance. He will have to leave this base sometime, once he does, grab him.

>>12053880
Hey, that kind of shit works in real life, why not? At least it should!

>>12053795
Is anyone else around? Could we punch him in the jaw, knock him out, and drag him somewhere more private to torture the answers we need out of him, and reasonably expect to not be shot for disturbing the peace?

>>12053850

Well, doesn't it use an old ww2 era round?

Damn, ammunition is like the BIGGIST aspect of this game.

>>12053902
Okay, better idea here. Stalk the STALKER. No, really, it's a good idea, and we should do it.

You can't very well attack the little prick right here in a guarded camp - you were told what happens to troublemakers - so you do as you're told, safe in the knowledge that the little shitwipe can't get away now.

Spaz seems nowhere near as concerned with you as you are with him, and once you've moved, he heads towards the latrines without a glance back. And why not? He has no reason to be afraid of you. Milling about sees him leave the latrine moments later and, after a moment of uncertainty, head for the bar.

You're beginning to see how he got his name.

Trailing him at a distance, you slip back in; your mark has already sat down and ordered himself a drink to go with a highly unhealthy sausage-and-bread breakfast. Twitch looks to you to lead the way, and you're not surprised; it's not like he's done this before.

>>12053850
7.62x39mm is, IIRC, hard to come by in the Zone, unlike 5.45. I really kinda wanted the RPK, but a lot of bullets for a little killing is just wasteful in the Zone. And it would be a bitch to reload mags.

>>12053940
Leave before him and hide somewhere near the most likely exit if feasible.

>>12053951
To be fair, most of the RPKs you've seen in the Zone are actually RPK-74s, so if you guys REALLY want a SAW, it's an option. Players so far haven't opted for it, though.

Ok guys, heres another one of my ideas.

Lets get friendly with him, while twitch takes the bottle of vodka to the medical trader.

Getting my drift? They won't be able to tell what the hells wrong with him when his foaming at the mouth, and they won't much care if the guy dies on their floor.

But that would leave us at a dead end, where are the others? We need to buy him acouple of rounds and let him have a merry time, and tell us his story.

Then we are on the road again.

>>compony u.s.

I'm not an american!

>>12053940
Fuck it, watch him for a while. If he doesn't go anywhere in say, an hour or two, start up conversation with him. Try to bait him out of the camp with a proposition of some sort, like a stash that requires three people to get. If that doesn't work, get him to punch/draw down on you and get his ass killed by the locals.

... Some ideas

First we could pretend to slip something on him then be a complete dick about it. That might get his temper going.

Or we could wait a bit till he is alone and make a bad attempt at stealing something from him. Then have him chase us away from other people and shot the fucker dead.

>>12053986
A SAW would be nice, but accurate fires are the best fires. This I have learned from personal experience.

>>12053995
That is a bad idea. Asking for poison would be very suspicious, and the guy is obviously not one for making friends.

>>12053940
I guess we're going to have to fucking tail this guy, aren't we?
Hot damn.

Let's observe him first. We need to see if he's going to leave the agroprom today, or if he plans on staying here. He may be waiting for the rest of his group.

>>12054027

I ain't sure if they even SELL poison, I'm talking about an overdose of something (anything) cheap.

And the guy will be our friend if he doesn't have to pay for a few glasses.

Its murder people! Not rocket science.

>>12053940
Lets not go all "KILL KILL KILL" in the middle of an armed camp.

Talk to the guy. Be nonchalant about it. Try to find out why he had a fight with his friends. Tell him a merchant mentioned it to you as a particularly nasty and loud fight, and that he came off well in it. Try to butter him up as much as possible.

drugging him might not be a bad idea. Of course we should do it later when its night time. It would also give us the rest of the day to mill around and watch him. Who knows he might do something stupid and make it easy for us.

>>12054089
But murder without getting caught is HARD! Don't you ever watch CSI, NCIS, and Law & Order? God man, rocket scientists have it EASY!

>>12054089
>>12054132
Not to mention we need to find out where the other three members of the group have gone off to.

>>12054109
Oh, and talk to him alone, as off handedly as possible. Don't draw attention to the fact that you are gather information from him.

>>12054166
Good point. Seriously, we can hold of on the killing. Information is more valuable.

>>12054132

Dear god your right, they might have a professional coroner in this base, who will quickly get to the bottom of our plan and send the goons after us out of a sense of justice- Oh wait, bandit bazar in the middle of the zone.

So observation, and possible conversation with drinks (on Twitch). Sounds good to me.

>>12054166

Have I not made myself clear? I NEED REAL STUFF!

What the hell are you bringing all this crap in for?!

Vodka=Friend=His story=Their location. :|

You and Twitch decide to take a seat well away from the guy, hoping to outwait him. You settle in and try not to look suspicious; you wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Turns out Spaz is a dedicated, if slow drinker; at the moment, he's fiddling with his PDA and cursing, he's apparently out of cash. You decide to try and make a move to strike up conversation with him - maybe lure him out, maybe bait him into trust.

When the two of you come over, he looks up at you suspiciously but without recognition; the miracles of alcohol, "S'nice PDA," you say; it actually is, "You think you'd sell it?"

Spaz grunts by way of saying no, "Can't par' with this 'un," he eyes the bottle of vodka you've brought over, "spare a drink? Might be able to give you a tip on one," you notice he seems much more lucid now that alcohol's involved.

You indulge him.

A few drinks in, he's loosened up considerably, "S'always good to meet stalkers willing to share a drink," he says.

"Well hey," you say, "the way I see it, we're all in it together, more or less. At least when we're in places like this."

"I'll drink to that," Spaz bolts down his glass, "no factions in the bar, just stalkers."

"Say, you mentioned something about a handle on those sweet-ass PDAs," Twitch chimes in; he's drank less than you, probably to stay as sober as he can with his smaller frame, "friends of yours sell them out or something?"

Spaz gives an exaggerated 'nah,' punctuating it with a laugh, "my friends and me, we're just guys out there, you know? S'just we know guys who know guys is all."

"Friends?" you ask, "What kind of friends don't buy their friend a drink?"

You almost think you've overplayed your hand; roll a d20 to see how Spaz takes the comment.

>>12054195
SHHH! They might even send ... JAG! Dun-dun-dun!
If you haven't found the sarcasm yet, I don't know how to make it more obvious. I bet you have, though. It's still a challenge to pick a fight and possibly murder someone in a semi-crowded room with no one noticing what you're doing.

rolled 4 = 4

ohhhh boy

>>12054260
>4
...You motherfucker. You're the fail-roll guy from last night, aren't you.

>>12054300
No, it's the first time I'm participating actively. Just lurked before.

rolled 8 = 8

>>12054225
Alright, let's hope the random number generator's been seeded well this time around.

>>12054260
This is like 2e, right? Low is good, right? RIGHT?!

>>12054260
"DON' YOU EVER," Spaz smashes his glass down, "EVER," and again, "TALK SHIT ABOUT MY FRIENDS!" this time the glass actually smashes, and that seems to snap him out of it. A little.

You recover as best you can, "Hey, I didn't mean anything like that - I was just saying that friends usually drink together is all," it's a reasonable explanation and seems to placate Spaz a bit; there's a pause before he decides to speak.

"Eh, they're grea' guys'n all, s'just I decided to stay behind fera bit uh R&R," somehow, you imagined the parting of ways was more serious than they, "They worry too much! Always '''urry, 'urry, 'urry."

Neither of you raise a comment at this; in fact, you're slightly distracted. Somewhere back in the bar, you hear a familiar voice - you can't place it - saying something to what you assume is a comrade. This is not the time or place you want to be recognized.

Roll 1d2 and 1d20; first two examples will be taken.

rolled 17 = 17

>>12054349

>>12054349
"that," not "they"

rolled 1 = 1

>>12054349
Go time motherfucker

rolled 2 + 1 = 3

>>12054349
Here goes...

rolled 2 = 2

>>12054373
Well, thank god YOU didn't get that roll.

rolled 1 = 1

>>12054373
Glad you rolled the d20 after the other guy, buddy.

ROLLING D2 RIGHT NOW.

>>12054349
Oh shit, I gotta say it. Is he built like a lighthouse and talk with a funny fake Scandinavian accent?

So the rolls are 17 for the d20 and 2 for the d2

>>12054402
Yep

rolled 2 + 1 = 3

>>12054377
Nobylan and Mitenun have truly forsaken me! Why?!
Were my demands for the torturing of the despicable NPC in the best traditions of the Spetznaz not to your liking?

>>12054416
When you try to do two different type of dice per single roll it always does the same result.

rolled 1 + 1 = 2

>>12054416
.....Really, Mitenun? Two 1's on a d20 in a row?

rolled 2 + 1 = 3

>>12054416
>>12054425
See?

rolled 2 + 1 = 3

>>12054429
When you try to do more than one type of dice, the latter dies are always 1s.

>>12054431
That is a terrible bug in the dice roller, and if I was grading it would knock off at least 10% from the final grade.

>>12054357
>>12054373
"Hey! Hey you there! Baldy!" you spare a sideways glance at Twitch, whose expression says the same thing yours does; you've been recognized. Spaz, for his part, seems too drunk to care.

The unknown man and comrade tramp over, and left without a choice, you turn to face him. A curiously familiar fellow with a devil-may-care grin and an air of absurdly put-on fanciness. He looks from one of you to the other as you both frown at him, unable to quite place the face. He saves you the trouble, "It's Fox! Fox! Jeez, did a controller chew on your brains?"

Actually, one did, but once given the name, you remember. Fox - the guy that had been guarding the checkpoint into the garbage as a "toll road;" you'd paid your way past trouble and all he'd extracted was change and a bit of humiliation. You even recognize his comrade, Ivan, the guy from the tower with the RPK-74.

"Fancy seeing you here," you can't really muster even fake friendliness, but Fox doesn't begrudge you of it, slapping you on the shoulder.

"Say," he says, "what happened to that sweet piece of ass you were with? I'd explore her Zone, if you know what I mean," this guy is more of an idiot than you remembered.

Spaz, bless his drunken little heart, seems to agree, "Hey buddy, fuck off, thi' 's a private table!"

>>12054429
Th fuck?

The second roll was for a later d20 which doesn't count. The first d2 was a 2.

>>12054465
(Note for newcomers; Fox is a rather ridiculous bandit you encountered in an early session guarding the way into the garbage. Not wanting to get into combat or brave the woods (which was fortuious, because they were mined), you paid his "toll" and he left you with an absurd bow and a slap on Damsel's ass. Actually, he's the lest homicidal bandit you've seen yet, but still a bandit.)

>>12054493
It's done now regardless.

>>12054493
I can retcon it if you want, but you miiiiight not like the other result.

>>12054533
Nevermind, I guess.

>>12054533
You are too generous to be a DM, man.

So uh, wave at Fox and tell him we'll talk to him later?

>>12054549

>>12054465
"Fox, my friendly neighborhood toll-taker! If you'd like, we'll join you at your table in a bit, but right now we were having a deep conversation with this man that we'd like to finish." Or some other way of POLITELY telling him to fuck off.

>>12054613
Seriously! Constantly giving tips and forgiving bad rolls. I'd have killed twitch off earlier myself.

You just disarmed Spaz, you don't want him...well, spazzing out...again.

You give Fox's joke a forced laugh, "Fox, it's good to see you again - look, I'll tell you and Ivan all about it in a while."

It's not a very subtle fuck off, and Fox seems to briefly consider intentionally provoking the situation before giving you an insufferable smirk and a farewell. You turn back to Spaz.

"You know tha' asshole? Looks like a bandit to me," he's eyeing you both suspiciously now.

"Nah," Twitch said, "not a bandit. He and some of his mates set up a checkpoint on a stretch of road against the local mutants and bandits is all."

Spaz seems to accept this response.

"Anyway," you say, "you were saying, about your friends?"

There's a lengthy pause as Spaz considers before picking up the thread of conversation again, "Yeah, actually, I'm a bit overdue," he stands unsteadily, "listen, you guys've been great, but I've gotta hook back up 'n I've got a hike ahead of me."

It seems that now's the time to move, one way or another - the question is, how will you go about it?

>>12054771
Give him the bottle of Vodka, what's left of it. "Good trip, good friends, and good fortunes!" Then let him go, then follow him.

Of course, he'll likely be watching to see if we follow, so we have to be sneaky about it.

>>12054771
Say farewell to Spaz, and tail him from a distance. One of us may need to talk with Fox just to keep him out of our hair while we get this done. We tail Spaz, and when he's a good distance from the agriprom, we jump him and start working him over for answers.

After that, we can either shoot him, shank him, or bury him alive.

You bid him an amiable enough farewell; a bottle of vodka offered is turned down, and the smashed stalker makes his way out of the bar for the barracks. After a while, the both of you follow. A quick glance back to Fox's table shows him to apparently be otherwise occupied, and you slip out mostly unmarked.

Once you're past the gate, it doesn't take long for you to bring Spaz back into sight again, off the road and heading north for god-knows where. For all of his temper and drinking, he does seem to shake if off quickly - even from here, you can tell he's much more alert than before, his shotgun slung over one shoulder.

In fact, he seems to feel eyes on his back.

You have a split second to decide whether to dive for cover or try for bravado, and ultimately you make the choice that makes the most immediate sense.

>>12054881
Hide.

>>12054881
Do we have to roll? I'm afraid of these fucking 4chan dice by now.

wave?

>>12054881
Take cover.

Do we have radios to communicate with Bird and Damsel? I can't recall us picking up anything like that, or determining a pre-set rendezvous place and time.

>>12054904
Diving will provoke a roll (for Spaz), but even bluffing could, too.

>>12054917
PDAs can communicate.

>>12054904
I bet we stub our toe and faceplant while trying to take cover.

>>12054931
If any trees or shrubbery are convenient, hide behind them. If not, stop to consult compass and ping Bird and Damsel on with the PDA, giving them our location and situation update.

rolled 19 = 19

Rolling.

>>12054927
And damned if I can ever remember how to roll dice.

>>12054956
That's not fucking funny, dicebot.

>>12054965
Whatever. Guns blazing.

Diplomacy is for the weak.

You're about to dive for cover when Spaz whirls around, spotting you both; he seems to relax some, but only slightly. The drunkenness is fading and his sense is returning.

You ping Bird and Damsel on their PDA to call them in.

Spaz is calling for you, asking why you're following him; in a bit of inspiration, you fake not hearing him, waving and getting closer, trying to look as friendly as possible; you can almost see the gears in his alcohol-addled brain groaning as they process the situation, and the shotgun comes down from his shoulder to both hands.

Roll a d20 to see if you can appear sufficiently harmless to him and get close.

rolled 11 = 11

>>12055001
Watch for the motherfucking THREE
I'm calling it.

rolled 10 = 10

>>12055001
So the dice favor DM's now?

>>12055015
You manage to get within several steps of him, so near and yet so far. Your instincts tell you not to push it; he's eying you both warily.

"Thought you might want some travelling company," you say, "Zone's a dangerous place when you're drunk."

You never hear Spaz's retort, because it's cut off by the crack of a rifle firing somewhere behind your mark. It's nowhere near him, but elicits a truely beautiful response.

The still-unsteady stalker forgets all about you, spinning around to face the gunfire.

Roll a d20.

rolled 10 = 10

>>12055053
Maybe this time it'll have a good result.

rolled 1, 14, 8, 2, 13, 11 = 49

Seriously, what is up with the dice roller for this quest?

>>12055076

>>12055053
Now it is time for the 5 D's. Drop to the ground; give Distance, Direction, and Description of the target; Drop that motherfucker.

rolled 2, 17, 18, 1, 12, 6 = 56

...Okay, I'm gonna stop rolling for now.

Attempting dice roll.

Attempting dice roll, again.

>>12055109
It's not that hard to hover over the email field bro.
'dice xdy'

rolled 2, 5, 12, 12, 6, 8 = 45

>>12055109
You have to specify the number of dice to roll, even if it's one.

And I fail at dice. Can I just roll my d20 on my desk and give you the number?

rolled 18 = 18

>>12055120
>>12055119
What can I say? I'm a fuckin' moron sometimes. Well, most of the time. I was using "roll" instead of "dice"

rolled 4, 4, 15, 14, 5, 19 = 61

>>12055127
Just put dice+1d20 in the email field.
It's not hard to do; the hard part is trying to get a good result out of this damn thing.

>>12055076
You smack the drunken stalker rudely in the back of the head with your shotgun; amazingly, he's not knocked out by the blow, dropping to the ground with a cry of pain and surprise. Not wasting any time, You savagely kick him in the gut, turning him over in the process. Twitch grabs his shotgun and you point your own in his face; the look on his face is somewhere between fury and betrayal.

"It'd be in your interest not to move," you say calmly, and when he tries to do so anyway, you stomp down on his chest. Hard, "Like I said."

A few moments later, the source of the distracting shot arrives - Damsel and Bird, out of breath.

"So you got him, then," Damsel says, panting from the sprint with her hands on her knees, "good." Bird is flipping him over and securing his hands behind his back while Twitch performs a more thorough search, coming up with a Fort-12 for his troubles.

You're about to speak again when...

Roll a d20

>>12055151
(The roll didn't need to be great, you were just smacking a still drunken guy in the head.)

rolled 6 = 6

>>12055151
A bit aprehensive about rolling, but well.

>>12055185
Low numbers are good.

Right?

Right?!

rolled 19 = 19

>>12055219
I tried that earlier, I don't think it worked.

>>12055185
...you hear a familiar, infuriating voice.

"Now, now," Fox says emerging from some cover a ways back, "Let's curb the violence, shall we?" Between his AKS-74 and Ivan with his SAW, the four of you are being covered quite well at this range.

"In fact," Fox says, "As a representative of Zone law, I'm imposing a fine. I'll take...say, all of your cash? You can always opt for the death penalty."

He seems to notice Damsel for the first time, "Ah, and I see they didn't lose you after all. Tell you what: you come with us and we'll let you keep a bit once we've had our fun."

"Fuck you," Damsel snarls.

"Well, I was hoping so," Fox retorts with that insufferable grin, "but I don't believe in forcing a woman."

The faux-smile drops from his face in an instant, and now you know he's being serious, "All of you, drop your guns - or die. Your call."

Your call guys. There's four of you, two of them.

rolled 2 = 2

>>12055267
Blow them away.

>>12055293
Good thing he hasn't asked for a dice roll yet.

But I agree, we can't fold to these guys twice.

>>12055293
he didn't ask for a roll yet so this doesn't count

right?

>>12055293
(Note that this roll doesn't count - I haven't and might not call for one, depending on your guys' plan of action.)

rolled 15 = 15

>>12055267
We've got numbers, yeah. But our guns are pointed in the wrong direction. Make a deal. Give them 2000 rubles plus what Spaz has on him, cash and gear, and we keep Damsel with us.

>>12055315
Can't cut a deal with a guy willing to kill you. He wants EVERYTHING, which means we either give him everything or kill him.

Agree to pay. Act annoyed and dismayed. Like it's better than death. Fish around for our rubles, hold them out, he'll probably say to drop them and then back away. We can't aim our weapons directly at them because they'll fire.

Of course, our weapons aren't pointed directly down. So, fire on their legs to down them, then finish them off before they can retaliate.

rolled 3 = 3

>>12055315
How exactly is everyone arrayed? Is our crew just around Spaz with Fox and his buddy about 15 feet away? And does everyone have hard-plate type armor?

Hard-plates stop rifle rounds, the soft stuff only stops some buckshot, low and medium caliber pistol rounds and shrapnel. This makes a big difference, unless the guns are pointed at our heads. And most mil-spec stuff is the hard plates with soft.

any thought Fox may side with us if we tell him what spaz did to wrong us? cause right now it just looks like we are mugging the guy

rolled 3 = 3

>>12055329
He doesn't know that the 2000 isn't EVERYTHING. But you raise a valid point.

>>12055362
If we have to shoot, going for the legs first as opportunites sounds good.

Tell him that we're doing some work - upholding said law. After all, guys who drop unarmed scientists don't sound very lawful. He seems a little weird, but he may buy it.

>>Go get fish and chips
>>Get back and we are Fucked

Such is the way of the dice...

I vote for getting in cover, they can shoot two of us but we can shoot the both of them.

Hell if we get hit we can drag the injured bloke to the stalker base, with that doctor they might survive...

>>12055363
Very rough map attached.

You and Twitch are both wearing mispec armor (you're wearing slightly outdated merc stuff, Twitch has a modern military ballistic vest). Damsel only has a civilian vest, and Bird has a light stalker suit, which is mostly soft stuff.

>>12055377
Not too likely, Fox is a bandit.

>>12055413
>>12055377
This guy isn't some kinda paladin of justice. He's just an average bandit.

I say just shoot him, preferably while 'lowering' your weapons for extra surprise element.

Give about a thrid of our money and the Jellyfish. After they're gone, we find him and RAPE HIM TO DEATH.

>>12055430

>>12055420
but he's not the average bandit.

he mite be cool

We could try the whole, HOLY SHIT IT'S A (insert very scary mutant here) BEHIND YOU! Stick. Then blow him away.

"Alright," you say, "No need to bushwhack us," you begin lowering your shotgun with the others...

...and fire. You're rewarded with the sound of the others doing the same; they apparently got your message. Fox and Ivan jerk back, surprised to be disobeyed in such a situation, firing erratically.

Roll 6d20. Your guys' rolls are slightly harder due to not really aiming, theirs are harder due to being surprised as shit.

rolled 4, 15, 5 = 24

banzai motherfucker
Rolling half so I don't get the entire blame for fucking up

>>12055459
noooo fox why you have to die!?

rolled 12, 7, 16, 3, 19, 10 = 67

>>12055459

rolled 8, 12, 14, 17, 18, 15 = 84

>>12055459

Nobylan and Mitenun, smite our enemies!

rolled 19 = 19

>>12055459
Damn, stop and ask for a little tactical information, and everything goes to shit. Oh, well, what the hell.

I just got back with a plate of summer sausage and a hunk of bread, as well as a bottle of beer. I also just finished cleaning and assembling my paintball gun that looks very much like an MP7.

LETS ROCK.

Sure is F5

Time seems to slow as lead lashes between the six of you; you see Fox go down with a grunt as your slug buries itself in his leg, firing uselessly. You catch Bird and Twitch's wild shots spending themselves impotently in the Zone's soil. Of all of you, only Damsel manages something like and effective attack; her rifle's fire climbs up Ivan's body, the last round blasting the top of his skull off...but not before one of his rounds catches Bird; he slumps with a grunt and you whirl to face him; you're barely paying attention to Fox as you deliver a second, hasty slug that puts him back on the ground. In the distance, you can heard shouting.

Roll a d20 to see how Bird's suit fared.

>>12055655
(Sorry this took so long, had to go afk)

rolled 20 = 20

>>12055608
This whole thread makes me miss my guns. Jessie, Minny, Julia, Veronica, Beth, and Debby are all locked up in boxes away from their daddy! *SNIFF*

And I'm sure as fuck not rolling for this.

rolled 3 = 3

>>12055655
Once again, double crit fail guy here.

>>12055682
God damn it dude.
God damn it.

>>12055675
That's a good thing right? High numbers are good right? Right?! Oh fuck don't let me have gotten Bird killed on my first night of this shit!

rolled 8 = 8

>>12055655
oh god, let him be aliiiiiiiive

>>12055687
I'm so sorry everyone. I'm going to go kill myself. Seriously.

>>12055682
Looks good!

Assuming Bird's okay, do a QUICK LOOT on Ivan and Fox, then pick up Spaz and drag his ass with us away from this place. Turn on NV for all of us as we escape and quench our lights.

>>12055704
Bird is still shot, and probably going to die since I rolled a 3. Also its daytime.

I'm guessing the camp is alert, we got to fucking move it. I might suggest finishing off fox, we don't need an enemy that knows about us tracking us like we tracked spaz

>>12055697

Reminds me of earlier when I got a 20 for wounds on Damsel when we found her in the bloodsucker cave. Just a minor scratch on her head.

>>12055682
Oh yes you are you idort.

You're about to call out when Bird is suddenly back on his feet, looking startled and pained but, shockingly, very much alive. His armor seems to have stopped the round completely on one of its few rigid plates. The four of you manage to exchange startled glances before Bird recovers his wits and speaks up, "we have who we came for, let's go!"

You can understand why - the yelling is coming from the complex you just left, and you've little doubt there'll be more armed and armored types poking around in minutes. The four of you turn to claim your "prize" and flee, only to find him already on his feet and stumbling away; a quick sprint introduces his back to your gunbarrels, and now he's running because you're making him, not because he thinks he can escape.

"I guess you could say," Twitch pants even as he runs, "We outfoxed him."

Damsel manages to lash him with her rifle in a way that is only vaguely friendly. You keep running. You've got three more murderers to find, and this one needs to do some talking.

(That's it for tonight, guys, it's 5 here. A few minutes for questions/comments/criticism, then I'm calling it a night; thanks for playing as usual.)

>>12055782
WE PICKED UP THEIR WEAPONS AND POSSIBLY THEIR BAGS BEFORE WE RAN, GOD DAMN IT!

Blow Fox's brains out, strip his and his buddy's gear, grab Spaz and Bird, Get The Fuck Out of Dodge. Get Bird over to the Nurse if he needs it.

>>12055753
You shot him a second time before you fled. Actually, before you even finished turning to see how badly Bird was wounded.

>>12055782

YYEEEEEAAAAHHHHHHH!!!

No seriously, fuck yeah. Awesome job tonight Soohg.

you guys killed like the only cool bandit in the zone.

way to go :C

>>12055782
"I'd punch you, Twitch, but I guess Damsel already Pun-ished you for it." WE STRIPPED FOX AND FRIEND OF HIS GEAR!

Also, really mad at myself for not jumping on this quest earlier. You run a good story, Stalk. And I'm guessing rolling high is good?

>>12055789

Seconded? Please?

>>12055836

Not all the time. See the thread when Twitch nearly got off'd.

I personally think we did a Shit job at disguising ourselves in there.

We showed two people that we were after this one guy, by showing them our pictures of him.

Bad show; they will be alert for us if we need to return here, and possibly in the dark valley should we have business there.

But DAYUM this could have turned into a shit fest if bird was down.

G'night stalk.

>>12055836
Glad you liked it. In general, yes, rolling high is good; it indicates successes. Unfortunately, this also works for the enemy; they got a nat 20 on Twitch a couple of sessions back and only some silly rolls saved him.

>>12055851
I'll take this into consideration, but you had other pressing concerns - fleeing prisoner, incoming nasties. Probably could've grabbed their guns. You guys feel strongly about it though, so...

BTW guys, next game probably won't be until Tuesday at the very earliest. I usually try to start at 8 PM EST

Fuck yes, STALKER Quest is back!

...But not until Tuesday. Goddomnot.

Oh well. What did Fox and Ivan have on them?