>>31164755
Over 20 minutes and still no one. Oh well. Can't feel too bad about that. I'll let it fall off the board and try again in a couple days.

Courtesy sage.

>>31165282
People haven't noticed yet, so give it a bit. Plus, this is the first time I've seen this quest myself.

>>31165282
I've got this time blocked off anyway, so I'll hang around and see if it picks up.

Distraction for Mage.

>>31165569
Can't roll dice on my phone apparently

>>31164755
>Provide cover fire for Fury

>>31165619
It's because you have the D in Dice capitalized.
It has to be lowercase.

Rolled 16

>>31165626
No modifiers?

>>31165648
My phone keeps auto correcting the d to a capital one

>>31165683
I like to wait until after voting is done before calling for a roll, just so we don't get a bunch of wasted rolls.

Forgot to mention, because this is the first vote of the thread, I'll extend the voting period by another five minutes.

Admittedly, I'd like to have at least three players while doing this, but I can't ask for too much. I know there's the occasional lurker anon who hangs around, but they probably dropped off the thread by now from the late start. Nonetheless, if they're around, I'd love to have them contribute.

Rolled 5

>>31164755
>Provide cover fire for Fury (DC 12)

>>31164755
>>Provide cover fire for Fury (DC 12)

>>31165626
>>31165866
>>31165936

(How I’m doing dice mechanics are outlined in the rules link, as well as >>31165796. Please read either or, ideally, both.)

Also,

>Writing

>>31164755
“Fury, get in there.” You whisper harshly as another bullet goes flying by your head. “I’ll cover you.”

“You got it.” She grins wickedly and makes to vault over the bar, but you grab her shoulder to steady her.

“Don’t kill them.” You state firmly.

“Yes, sir.” Fury gives a mock salute, and leaps over the bar. You pop the Ares Light Fire into your hand and fire as accurately as you can. You’re pretty sure just bullets won’t do much to Fury, but getting shot might piss her off enough to kill the mercs before you can question them.

>>31165969
This is my brain on no sleep and all the homework

>>31166036
(Di-did it seriously not copy the last line? Fuck you Microsoft Office)

>Roll 1d20

>>31166065

Rolled 5

>>31166155
ugh

I'm semi-willing to include the two premature rolls that went towards this decision, if only to keep things moving. If we truly drop below three players, I'll close things up and try again another day. Then again, I don't know if there's a better time slot that doesn't involve forgoing sleep the entire night or starting the thread at noon.

Rolled 9

>>31166065

Rolled 12

>>31166065

>>31166187
>>31166240
>>31166242
>Writing

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63 KB JPG

>>31166036
Your shots only hit overturned tables and the doorframe, but it’s enough to keep the mercs from poking their heads out. In the meantime, Fury manages to reach one of them behind his cover. For one instant, you think you can see them both pause. The next, they’re a flurry of punches and kicks faster than you can track. What few instants of action you catch are mostly Fury brushing off or ignoring the merc’s hits, or her catching him with a few well-timed punches.

In the meantime, the remaining mercs are closing in between your shots, and Fury’s dangerously close to getting surrounded. At least, they were until one gets shot in the back with a beam of light. The smell of burning ballistic weave and seared flesh reaches you even from behind the bar. An instant later, Quetzal re-appears, breathing hard, his obsidian knife reflecting light.

>Finish off the wounded one. (DC 15)
>Help Quetzal take out one of the unharmed ones. (DC 14)
>Help Fury with her opponent (DC 12)
>Take on one of them yourself (DC 20)

(As a side note, the way I prioritize the DCs is as follows: The closer a success gets to completely resolving the situation, the higher the DC. If you think a DC is unreasonably high, remember that you have Edge)

>>31166493
Help the Mage

Rolled 2

>>31166493
>>Help Quetzal take out one of the unharmed ones. (DC 14)
I say edge it up

>>31166493
>Help Quetzal take out one of the unharmed ones.
We need to take down more.

Rolled 1

>>31166493
>>Help Fury with her opponent (DC 12)

>>31166493
>>31166540
>>31166551
>>31166578

“Quetzal, focus fire.” You mutter to your subvocal mic. “We gotta thin ‘em out.”

“Roger that.” He breathes back. While Fury and one of the mercs continue to make the bar look like a scene from a kung-fu movie, you and Quetzal designate an opponent and open fire.

>Roll 1d20

Rolled 5

>>31166748

Rolled 18

>>31166748

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Rolled 15

>>31166748
rooollin

>>31166809
>>31166811
>>31166825
>Writing
>>31166825
Wh-why would you do that? What in the hell does that have to do with He-Man?

>>31166748
Between you and Quetzal, the merc prioritizes the mage. You smirk. Bad choice. He barely gets the chance to line up his sights before getting pegged by a pair of stick & shock rounds. Surprisingly, he doesn’t drop. Whatever his jacket’s made of, it was certainly nonconductive. Nonetheless, the shock was enough to mess up his shot. A bullet flies by Quetzal’s head. In response, he points his knife towards the merc, and the air in front of him begins to distort.

With a savage roar, a large wolf made of obsidian shards bursts into being and pounces on top of the man, sinking its teeth into his face and torso. Judging by his screams, you reckon he isn’t dead, but he probably won’t last long unless you clean things up quickly.

With two down, you turn to see the remaining three surrounding Fury. To her credit, she’s fending them off pretty well, but she’s going to get swamped pretty quickly unless you and Quetzal do something. Area-effect magic would only get Fury caught in the blast, and the Beast Spirit by itself wouldn’t be able to move quickly enough to get rid of them in one go. You glance at the ammo counter in your smartlink, and catch sight of the drone seated next to you. A soft panting comes from Walter’s speakers upon seeing your face.

>Keep focusing fire. Fury can take care of herself. (DC 14)
>Mobilize the drone with the Spirit simultaneously. Unleash the hounds of war. (DC 18)

(Though I'm remiss to do this, I'm breaking for dinner. Be back in about 20 minutes. We'll see who's still around when I get back. If any lurker anons are around, feel free to chat amongst yourselves while I'm gone.)

>>31167116
>>Mobilize the drone with the Spirit simultaneously. Unleash the hounds of war. (DC 18)

>>31167116
>Mobilize the drone with the Spirit simultaneously. Unleash the hounds of war. (DC 18)

Rolled 4

>>31167116
Focus fire

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Rolled 16

>>31166878
Because the internet

>>31167116
>Mobilize the drone with the Spirit simultaneously. Unleash the hounds of war. (DC 18)

>>31167116
>Mobilize the drone with the Spirit simultaneously. Unleash the hounds of war.
I think I'm going to regret this.
But we need at least 2 of those 3 thugs neutralized now.

>>Mobilize the drone with the Spirit simultaneously. Unleash the hounds of war. (DC 18)

Have fun boys!

Back from food. Quick roll call while I write up a post.

>>31167740
Oh, almost forgot...

>Roll 1d20

Rolled 8

>>31167772

Rolled 19

>>31167772
Here we go.

Rolled 19

>>31167772

>>31167971
>>31167867
>>31167852

>You may spend one Edge to turn this success into a Critical Hit. I get the feeling I already know the answer, but...

Spend 1 (one) Edge to convert Hit into Critical Hit? (y/n)

>>31168014
fuck yeah

>>31168014
N

>>31168014
N

>>31168078
I'm sure that someday, when the chips are down, the thread will want to go all or nothing. Just wait.

>>31168102
>>31168118
>Writing

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>>31167116
You level your pistol above the bar and sync the guncam with Walter’s camera. Quickly swiveling the gun, you line up the three mercs fighting Fury and designate them as targets. The drone gives a quiet yip in affirmation.

“Quetzal, get ready to blitz. We’re dropping all of them.” Your voice sounds unusually cold, even to you.

“You think you can get away with only one alive?” He asks.

“We’ll manage.” You mentally manipulate Walter’s AR interface and ready the kill command. You give Quetzal the command at the same time you launch the drone. The tires beneath Walter’s feet squeal as he bursts out from behind the bar. The mercs shout in surprise at the sight of the robot dog strafing along the ground. Whatever they say, it’s silenced by a hail of gunfire and the howling of the obsidian wolf. Fury uses the mercs’ surprise to shove her way out of the circle, just in time to escape the killing floor.

The obsidian wolf buries his jaws into one merc’s leg while using his body to trip up the others. The Ingram White Knight on Walter’s back fires along the line, perforating their limbs and torsos. The few remaining patrons of the bar crawl along the floor towards the exit, or cower beneath one of the tables. With their prey downed, the obsidian wolf tears into the merc trio, while Walter secures a perimeter around the sole survivor.

With the danger apparently over, you emerge from behind the bar and pat Walter’s head. Fury, bruised but unbroken, walks up beside you and smacks you on the back of the head.

“What took you so long, asshole?” She growls. You shrug and turn your attention to the injured merc. He’s injured badly, and will probably go into shock if left alone.

>Bind him up and let Quetzal heal him. No sense in interrogating a dying man.
>Don’t bother healing him. It’ll save you the effort when you’re done.
>Other (Write-in)

>>31168433
>Bind him up and let Quetzal heal him. No sense in interrogating a dying man.

>>31168433
>Bind him up and let Quetzal heal him. No sense in interrogating a dying man.

>>31168433
>>Bind him up and let Quetzal heal him. No sense in interrogating a dying man.

>>31168715
>>31168725
>>31168730
>Writing

>>31168433
You give a nod to Quetzal before burying your foot in the injured man’s ribs. He groans in agony as he’s flipped onto his stomach. Quetzal produces two sets of plasteel restraints, which you use to bind the man’s wrists behind his back, and his ankles together.

“Okay. Patch him up.” You say. Quetzal kneels next to the man. Before he starts, he send you a message on your comm: “Limit how much you injure him.” You nod silently. The elf mutters to himself before slicing open the tip of his finger with the obsidian knife. With the blood flowing from his finger, he writes a single letter on the floor. You immediately see the man’s wounds stitching themselves closed. In moments he’s… well, not good as new, but good enough to survive a trip home.

“Is he done?” you ask.

“Yes.” Quetzal nods. “His cyberware made healing him difficult, but he’ll live.”

“Good. Then let’s get started.” You sigh and glance between Quetzal and Fury.

>Be the good cop. Let him know that you’re just doing a routine background check. (DC 15)
>Be the bad cop. Let him know that either he spills his guts, or you’ll spill them for him. (DC 13)
>Use a more creative approach (Write-in. We’ll decide a DC if it comes up)

>>31169083
>>Be the bad cop. Let him know that either he spills his guts, or you’ll spill them for him. (DC 13)

>>31169083
>>Be the good cop. Let him know that you’re just doing a routine background check. (DC 15)

>>31169083
>Be the professional. He's done well enough by his contract, don't die unnecessarily for it; he's not being paid enough for that.

>>31169278
If anyone wants to second this... I'll give it the same DC as good cop. It'll leave a better impression than Bad Cop, a worse impression than Good Cop, but uses an etiquette better suited for the person in question than either of them. It makes sense, it lines up with what he probably knows about Echo, and it might even be true.

>>31169429
Also, because a write-in came in, I'm opening the floor for another five minutes to see if anyone goes for it.

>>31169429
I'm down with it.

>>31169278
Yeh I'll back it.

>>31169278
>>31169502
>>31169519

>Writing. Roll will be requested at the end of the next post.

>>31169083
You prop the man up against the bar, pour yourself a shot from one of the intact bottles and down it in one gulp. Whiskey. You’re struggling not to regret this. The burn of the alcohol in the your throat is enough to kickstart your “professional” mode, but you’re not sure how long it’ll last, especially just after a firefight.

“I think we can talk about this.” You say to the merc. He gives you a steely glare, and you look him right back in the eye. “You were hired by Declan Futures, right? You’re supposed to find anyone who goes asking about your bosses and dissuade them from further inquiry. A little sleazy, but I can respect that.”

“It looks to me like you’ve already got all the answers.” The merc spits. “Are you gonna keep talking or you gonna hurry up and kill me?”

“The way I see it, you got screwed. You came in expecting a skinny hacker and a biker chick with more spite than sense.” You can feel Fury scowling at you. “Getting jumped by a mage and a combat drone just wasn’t in your parameters. Four of your men are dead, and you just narrowly avoided the same. I’m guessing you’re not looking at any backup anytime soon.” The merc’s gaze hardens and his jaw clenches. “You honored your end of your contract, and your boss screwed you by sending you up against more than you could handle. If you’re really a professional, you’ll walk away while you still have you life. Is the payout from one job from a little investment firm really worth dying for?”

>Roll 1d20

Rolled 12

>>31169892

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>>31169892
>more spite than sense.”

Rolled 20

>>31169892

Rolled 5

>>31169957

>>31169977
Oh, this will be beautiful.

>>31169977
>Writing

>>31169892
(Critical Hit! Sadly, there’s no Edge overflow, so the extra Edge is wasted.)

“No, it isn’t.” The merc’s face twists into a scowl. “You’re right. I got screwed. That bitch Rockwell told us you two would be alone. Well, fuck that. I already got advance payment from this job, and the pay from the rest of my team makes up for the difference. I’ll tell you whatever you need to know about Declan.”

“You can start with telling me why Rockwell wanted you bumping off people who look into the job.”

“Starting about a week ago, Declan started hiring up a bunch of ‘independent consultants,’ like you. The time frame and skills from them say that it’s all for the same job. I’ve been in this business long enough to know that the only reason you hide teams from each other is so that they don’t compare notes. I’m guessing there’s another team out there with whatever information Rockwell’s been hiding from you.”

“As it stands, there might even be a third team.”

“There isn’t.” The merc assures. “Part of my job is scanning the street. I can tell you that every other team hired for this job has fled the Metroplex with a shitload of trouble on their tails. There’s only one team left in the city who’s working for Declan, and I don’t know anything about them.”

“Then maybe you’ll know something about a blonde chick with military cyberlegs.”

“I’ve seen her picture around the office, and I know that even mentioning her gets you in trouble. IT has a huge file on her, but the whole thing’s encrypted to hell. Whoever she is, Declan wants her real bad. The only thing I know for sure is that they’ve got her genealogy and biometrics.”

(cont.)

>>31170325
“Good.” You nod. “Okay, last question and then we’ll let you go. I know you guys are operating in cells, but there has to be one guy who gives all the orders, someone who can communicate to all of the cells at once.”

“Yeah, there is. A former SEAL Team Six guy. Don’t ask me how I know. I just do. The guy’s been scrambling us for drills all week, and he was the one coordinating eliminating nosy runners. Congrats on outsmarting him, by the way.” The merc laughs bitterly.

“This spec-ops have a name?”

“Dunno if it’s his real name, but around the office he’d call himself Jason Morris.”

“Wait, Jason?” Your eyes widen in shock. “You’re sure it was Jason?”

“I’m not gonna lie while your dog has a gun to my head. Speaking of, can I go now? I don’t know anything else. I swear.” You gather up the merc team’s guns behind the bar before letting the survivor go. He gathers up a handful of credsticks from his team and gives each of them a salute.

“Where are you going now?” you ask him. “Back to Rockwell?”

“No way. I know a few smugglers from before Declan hired me. In a couple of hours, I’m getting shipped out of this dump. Taking this job was the worst decision I’ve ever made, and I won’t be sad to leave the UCAS behind be.”

“Well, wherever you go, keep safe. I didn’t spare your life so you could lose it over something stupid.” You see the merc out the back entrance before returning your attention to Fury. “I’d love to keep chatting, but the situation has changed a little. I gotta get back to my team.”

“Hold up a second.” Fury raises a hand and grabs you by the collar. “I still want a chance to get back at these fucks. The one behind this is a bitch named Rockwell, right? You get her out in the open, you call me. Got it?”

(cont.)

>>31170609
“Got it.” You nod. Fury releases you. You gather up Quetzal and Walter and leave The Axle (or what’s left of it) behind. Once you’re out, you break into a run. You knew you had reason to suspect Jason from the instant you saw him. You had every reason to believe that he was involved in this somehow, but you never would’ve imagined that it would be this bad.

“Why are we running?” Quetzal asks, barely breaking a sweat despite the pace.

“No time to explain. Dread could be in trouble.” You pull up Dreadnought’s commcode and send out a call.

One ring, two rings, three rings. The call connects.

“Hello, Echo_TRACER. It’s a pleasure to hear from you.”

[End of thread 6.5]

I figure this is a pretty good time to end tonight's session, chummers. Shadowrun Hacker Quest will return next Sunday at 18:00 EST. Follow me on Twitter for more schedule updates and be the first to know when the next thread goes live.

https://twitter.com/NullFearQuests

As usual, I'll be around for the next hour or so for the postmortem, though based on the turnout, there probably won't be too much of one. I'll archive the thread in a bit.

>>31170860
How closely does this quest follow Shadowrun mechanics?

>>31171204
In terms of game mechanics, not very. Shadowrun's mechanics rely upon throwing a lot of dice at a problem, and /tg/'s dice roller doesn't do that too well. Given that the protagonist of this quest is a hacker, I figured that following the hacking rules for 4e would be pretty reasonable so long as I compress the process enough to keep the thread from getting bogged down with options. Health levels don't work too well either, as that would require that I formalize a damage system and I don't feel too confident doing that.

I'm doing things mostly by cinematic and narrative feel than mechanic precision, but I'm also trying to be consistent in how I apply mechanics.

>>31171411
Which is a decent idea for a quest in general.

>>31170860
Spotted this quest for the first time tonight, just spent the evening catching up with the archives. Dunno if you're still around, but if so, you've got another reader now - might not be able to participate much depending on times, but I'll be following as best I can.
Keep up the good work

>>31177467
Just got my morning coffee, so I definitely don't know if you're still around, but I'm glad to hear it. Truthfully, I've been a bit concerned about the generally low participation level in these threads. Maybe it's just a trend that most Shadowrun players on /tg/ hate quests or I've been doing this in an awkward time slot or something, but every new reader is welcome.