Interface Zero: Upgrade in Progress

[Willard]

- the datacenter demolishing, we have Ryder who has explosives... + making sure occupant is not harmed (melee knockout might be needed) might make this mission not entirely up our alley I guess

I'm thinking flamethrower. You should be able to sneak in and perhaps talk the inhabitant out of the building. Or shoot him/her with a dart.

- the lockport gangers, if the lesson is meant to not be lethal that might prove hard as well

Yeah. On the other hand killing one bunch of gangers might teach another bunch a lesson. Or as Dave keeps mentioning, just because you take a wound and fall out of combat doesn't mean you actually die. At least not all of them, all of the time. So it's conceivable that they learn a lesson even if we use lethal force. Mal certainly learned a lesson when he all but died the other week, even if he sometimes forgets it when it's most needed.

- the endangered hybrids seems more something up bullseye and Paladin's alley...

I don't know. Bullseye might be interested, and Paladin might be able to make them our friends, but we need to realize that these missions don't wait around indefinitely. If we don't do them quickly someone else might, or they just expire. Bullseye and Paladin are only going to be in play with a bigger group, doing more "important" missions.

report and record seems more something up our alley

Yeah, it does sound appropriate. Should we focus on this then? If Dave wants to, of course, and there isn't a newspaper that shakes it out of the picture. A two-three hour session should do, I think.

though I have to say that the last mission description has intrigued me: 2090-05-05: Destroyers of law, Evil in a gilded home. Light dispels shadow. 4,500 Cr. Contact Barbara Simon.
I'd at least want to contact that Barbara to find out some more...

Hrm. It sounds evil in a mysterious way and we have no idea what it involves. I have plenty of light sources, but I don't think that's it. We have enough morally questionable things going on already without getting involved in mysteries like this. I'm going to stay away from this, but feel free to ask around.

[God45]

I will keep my Executive decision entourage suite which now have 2 armour instead of 6 but I will buy Executive Decision Underarmour and a Bombs on Broadway™ Armored Cape to bring my armour up to 4. Oh, and I will get an Black Knight Industries Kite Shield so that if we get into an full on fight I can boost my armour to 6 against guns.

Oh, and I can afford all of this since I am rich now

[Willard]

You can't stack supplemental armor, only the best one counts. Pretty sure that's the cape, so the under armor is wasted.

[jeronimooo]

I will keep my Executive decision entourage suite which now have 2 armour instead of 6 but I will buy Executive Decision Underarmour and a Bombs on Broadway™ Armored Cape to bring my armour up to 4. Oh, and I will get an Black Knight Industries Kite Shield so that if we get into an full on fight I can boost my armour to 6 against guns.

Oh, and I can afford all of this since I am rich now

I think you need to rethink that... The Underarmor and the armored cape don't stack, and if the Kite Shield is considered a shield and not supplemental armor, it still only would work directly on a suit of Black Knight Body Armor...

Dave, does the shield count as SA? or will you allow that to be something stackable?

[nDervish]

Don't get what the "AMS 1" is about though.

AMS = Active Memory Sectors, from Hacking Final. You can have an unlimited number of T-APPs and/or engrams installed at once, but your AMS limits how many can be running at once.

Everyone's TAP starts off with 4 AMS and you can add more at a cost of 10k per AMS, with no stated upper limit.

For Almighty it's: Estream, Firewall (4th dimension), Multitasker and Range-finder.

For the record, I'm interpreting the T-APP Multitasker as reducing the final MAP by 1, not by 1 per extra action. So taking 4 actions in a single round would be a final MAP of -5 (-2 each for 3 extra actions, reduced by 1 for the Multitasker), not -3 (-1 each for 3 extra actions).

Also, if you succeed in a Common Knowledge roll only because of the Estream app, don't be surprised when I ask you to tell us about the video you just found online and got the answer from.

What I'm going on is the "Type (Rifle/Pistol/Submachine/Shotgun)" section in the chapter, and the fact that there really aren't many/any proper rifles listed.

Given the new breakdown, I guess the dev now agrees that separating Long Rifles and Assault Rifles is silly, so let's combine both of them into a single Rifles specialization.

Mal took both, so he should pick a new Shooting specialization to replace the extra one. Given the weapons you've bought, I would recommend Pistols (Law Dog firing bullets) or Launchers (for grenade and net launchers).

So it turns out all the weapon accessories are missing in this version.

The dev has confirmed on G+ that weapon accessories and upgrades will not appear in the IZ2.0 core rules, but will appear in a future supplement (presumably "Malmart Catalog: 2090 Edition").

About this Thursday, Dave, are you still up for that?

In principle, yes.

In practice, I've been feeling sick yesterday and today, so I probably shouldn't.

I will keep my Executive decision entourage suite which now have 2 armour instead of 6

You're looking at the Business Suit, I suspect. The Entourage was revised to 3, not 2.

Oh, and I can afford all of this since I am rich now

Are you sure there's not another edge you'd rather take? With one Filthy Rich and two just-plain Rich out of five characters total, this group is starting to look like a bunch of trust fund babies out slumming...

Dave, does the shield count as SA? or will you allow that to be something stackable?

The shield is a shield. As described on SWD 50, it gives its full Armor bonus against ranged attacks coming from the front or the protected (usually left) side. This is completely separate from Interface Zero's "Supplemental Armor" setting rule.

As for the text about the shield being specifically designed to attach to BK armors, my take on that is that it's just an easier carrying/deployment option. If you're wearing BK armor, the shield is always there and can be readied or stowed as a free action ("popping open with a command from the TAP"). If you're not wearing BK armor, you have to carry it around like a medieval shield, either in your hand or on your back (takes an action and an Agility roll to ready or stow).

[Willard]

AMS = Active Memory Sectors, from Hacking Final. You can have an unlimited number of T-APPs and/or engrams installed at once, but your AMS limits how many can be running at once.

Everyone's TAP starts off with 4 AMS and you can add more at a cost of 10k per AMS, with no stated upper limit.

Ok, thanks.

For the record, I'm interpreting the T-APP Multitasker as reducing the final MAP by 1, not by 1 per extra action. So taking 4 actions in a single round would be a final MAP of -5 (-2 each for 3 extra actions, reduced by 1 for the Multitasker), not -3 (-1 each for 3 extra actions).

Absolutely.

Also, if you succeed in a Common Knowledge roll only because of the Estream app, don't be surprised when I ask you to tell us about the video you just found online and got the answer from.

The image I got was that your common knowledge increases overall, from being up to date on all the pop culture and watching Jeopardy all day. Not actively zapping through 10k channels to find a relevant video right at that moment. But sure, some explanation is probably warranted.

The dev has confirmed on G+ that weapon accessories and upgrades will not appear in the IZ2.0 core rules, but will appear in a future supplement (presumably "Malmart Catalog: 2090 Edition").

Bummer. I suppose we just keep using the old ones?

In principle, yes.

In practice, I've been feeling sick yesterday and today, so I probably shouldn't.

That's fine, we can wait until Monday. Maybe have two sessions next week. Or let us know tomorrow if you feel better.

Are you sure there's not another edge you'd rather take? With one Filthy Rich and two just-plain Rich out of five characters total, this group is starting to look like a bunch of trust fund babies out slumming...

While you're right I think it's a natural reaction to the role of equipment in the present and future. Not always justified, but natural. As it is we haven't really made any money during our missions, so to buy equipment we need well paid day jobs. This may change as some of us hit seasoned, but that's still at least four sessions away, and we don't know how big the difference is going to be. If you clarify that our focus on wealth might shift.

[nDervish]

Also, if you succeed in a Common Knowledge roll only because of the Estream app, don't be surprised when I ask you to tell us about the video you just found online and got the answer from.

The image I got was that your common knowledge increases overall, from being up to date on all the pop culture and watching Jeopardy all day. Not actively zapping through 10k channels to find a relevant video right at that moment. But sure, some explanation is probably warranted.

Agreed that that's probably the intention, but I was immediately struck by "I've never encountered an engine like this one before. How do I fix it? Guess I'll look for a youtube video to explain it!" when I read the description and I found that idea far too amusing to ignore.

The dev has confirmed on G+ that weapon accessories and upgrades will not appear in the IZ2.0 core rules, but will appear in a future supplement (presumably "Malmart Catalog: 2090 Edition").

Bummer. I suppose we just keep using the old ones?

Yep.

Are you sure there's not another edge you'd rather take? With one Filthy Rich and two just-plain Rich out of five characters total, this group is starting to look like a bunch of trust fund babies out slumming...

While you're right I think it's a natural reaction to the role of equipment in the present and future. Not always justified, but natural. As it is we haven't really made any money during our missions, so to buy equipment we need well paid day jobs.

Well-paid day jobs aren't an issue. They have multiple requirements and concrete descriptions of what you're doing to get that money, plus it's generally a modest amount of money - enough to cover the daily bills with maybe a little extra, but, if you want to buy any big-ticket items, then you need to find an alternate income stream, like taking dangerous jobs from questionable people. Rich, on the other hand, is "accept the equivalent of an extra Minor Hindrance, and in addition to your existing day job income, you get bonus income exceeding the highest-paid Occupations, all for the low, low price of just one Edge".

If Rich is an actual part of the original character concept, as it is for Almighty, then I have no problem with it. When it becomes "everyone takes Rich, regardless of character concept, because it's so easy and just too good to pass up", then that shoots up a major red flag. Interesting and meaningful choices should be a big part of any game, but, if everyone sees Rich as so much better than any other Advance option, then that suggests that taking Rich is no longer an interesting or meaningful choice, it's just something you automatically do. No one option should be optimal for every situation.

Beyond that, Rich reduces the importance of choices in other areas. "I have 2,000 Cr. Do I buy Item A or Item B?" becomes (after one month of the additional income from Rich) "I have 14,500 Cr. I'll buy both Item A and Item B, and then pick up Items C, D, and E while I'm at it."

This may change as some of us hit seasoned, but that's still at least four sessions away, and we don't know how big the difference is going to be. If you clarify that our focus on wealth might shift.

The "Baseline Payouts" chart on IZv1 p.197 lists Novice level jobs as ranging from 200-1,000 Cr, aside from kidnappings which go up to 1,500, and Seasoned level jobs from 1,000-10,000, aside from wetwork (assassinations) which go up to 20,000. I'm using a x7.5 multiplier to the base cost for Novice jobs, but will drop back to x5 (the multiplier I originally used) for Seasoned and above. So, ignoring kidnapping/wetwork, that puts Novice jobs into the range 1,500-7,500 Cr and Seasoned 5,000-50,000 Cr. Sticking with the x5 multiplier, Veteran ranges 25k-200k, Heroic 100k-375k, and Legendary 400k-1.5M.

Immediately preceding that chart are a page and a half of GM advice which largely boils down to "Be very, very careful not to give the PCs too much money or it will ruin the game by destroying game balance and leaving the characters with no reason to continue after they finish buying everything they want." I seriously question whether I've blown that right from the start by allowing multiple Rich characters in the game.

[Willard]

The "Baseline Payouts" chart on IZv1 p.197 lists Novice level jobs as ranging from 200-1,000 Cr, aside from kidnappings which go up to 1,500, and Seasoned level jobs from 1,000-10,000, aside from wetwork (assassinations) which go up to 20,000. I'm using a x7.5 multiplier to the base cost for Novice jobs, but will drop back to x5 (the multiplier I originally used) for Seasoned and above. So, ignoring kidnapping/wetwork, that puts Novice jobs into the range 1,500-7,500 Cr and Seasoned 5,000-50,000 Cr. Sticking with the x5 multiplier, Veteran ranges 25k-200k, Heroic 100k-375k, and Legendary 400k-1.5M.

I think this is where we pay for our rich edges. Once you hit those higher levels (well seasoned ) the additional money from Rich just doesn't matter, and from Veteran and onwards even Filthy rich is irrelevant. So we spend an edge or two early on to bring us through the beginning, then suffer a tiny bit later on from not taking anything focusing on the character. It's a lot like taking student loans, mortgages and so on. Simple consumption smoothing.

Immediately preceding that chart are a page and a half of GM advice which largely boils down to "Be very, very careful not to give the PCs too much money or it will ruin the game by destroying game balance and leaving the characters with no reason to continue after they finish buying everything they want." I seriously question whether I've blown that right from the start by allowing multiple Rich characters in the game.

Design-wise that's not at all encouraging. Money and equipment shouldn't be the focus, and if it is there has to be a very long progression of it (see Diablo, WoW, and many more). Golemmechs seem like the only real money sink that can fill that role, starting at about the level of the most expensive weapons and climbing steadily into the millions where fighter planes and spaceships enter the picture.

There are and must be many other meaningful decisions besides which equipment to buy. Without abandoning gear there's the decision of what to actually USE during any particular mission. Then there's a host of tactical decisions during the missions, as well as ropleplaying & strategic decisions about which missions to take. Those are a lot more meaningful than what you actually buy in the store, and the sooner we can stop worrying about that first step the sooner we can get to the really interesting decisions.

[nDervish]

Design-wise that's not at all encouraging. Money and equipment shouldn't be the focus, and if it is there has to be a very long progression of it (see Diablo, WoW, and many more). Golemmechs seem like the only real money sink that can fill that role, starting at about the level of the most expensive weapons and climbing steadily into the millions where fighter planes and spaceships enter the picture.

In one sense yes, that is an issue. High-end gear is very powerful in most modern/SF/cyberpunk settings. In the case of IZ, Augments allow you to effectively buy Advances (attribute boosts, abilities equivalent to edges, etc.) for as little as 5k per Advance (if you're willing to buy Gutterware), plus you can layer yourself in armor, buy weapons that do massive damage, etc., all for under 100k. For a character buying strictly personal gear (i.e., not vehicles/drones/golemmechs), all it takes is a few months of Filthy Rich bonus income and they can afford to buy everything they want without needing a single mission payout. And, having done so, they'll be a nigh-unstoppable beast, and not necessarily just in combat.

On the other hand, though, even a very small selection of gear can provide a very long gear progression if progress is slow. My impression from the IZv1 GM chapter is that this is the route the designer intended to take: Keep the characters poor. Don't give them much money. If they want to upgrade from pistols to a BK-616, it should take them a few sessions to save up the 3,200 Cr to buy it. Unfortunately, that intention doesn't fare well in the face of a proliferation of Rich characters.

[nDervish]

May 11 Free Press is up: http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/ ... ay-11-2090

Although Kenta Cyber Dynamics seems to be having a bad week, things have been pretty quiet aside from that - there are no new personal missions and no changes to the bounty board.

The new public job listings are pretty much just for show, given that we've already worked out that Zephyrus needs to go rogue next session, but I figure they'll still help you to keep track of what's going on in the plex and some should still be relevant next session in any case.

[jeronimooo]

Mal took both, so he should pick a new Shooting specialization to replace the extra one. Given the weapons you've bought, I would recommend Pistols (Law Dog firing bullets) or Launchers (for grenade and net launchers).

Does it have to be in shooting? Pistols and grenades are short range, and given the new armor values I am thinking of dropping at least the net launcher alltogether, and maybe even the BK616...

I would also like to know how open you are to letting us change our armor purchases with the new values coming in...

regarding the use of favours, would requisiting something over budget fall under that category?

[nDervish]

Does it have to be in shooting?

What are you thinking? I would prefer that you swap a Shooting specialization for another Shooting specialization, but I'd at least consider anything else you might want to do.

Pistols and grenades are short range,

Pistols and grenades may be short range, but the Launchers specialization would also cover rocket launchers, SAMs, and the like...

I would also like to know how open you are to letting us change our armor purchases with the new values coming in...

Pretty open, as long as it's something you could have easily (i.e., legally) bought in the first place.

regarding the use of favours, would requisiting something over budget fall under that category?

Yep! Depending on how big the request is, it might require multiple favors and/or a Persuasion roll in addition to spending the favors, but I would let you know in advance if that was the case for a specific request.

[jeronimooo]

I was thinking streetwise (organised crime) or intimidation (interrogation)... I think I could have gotten those quite easily in my field agent training, Not a 100% sure yet though, might talk myself into the whole launcher thing...

regarding the armor; I would be dropping my entourage suit and replace it with knight errant body armor (+ kite shield)

I will send you a wish list for my requisitioning over the weekend

[Willard]

I still think you're exaggerating the significance of being able to afford every single item in the catalog (barring jet planes and the like). It's not like they stack. You still have to decide which weapon/armor to use at every point. I guess the long period of being poor just doesn't appeal to me, and it certainly isn't the direction we've taken the campaign. I'm glad about that, there are many more interesting choices and themes to explore than being poor and saving towards a bigger gun.

Nice to read the news again, that really was a great idea, and an interesting list of jobs. In a way I feel bad about doing stuff not on the list and just letting what's there expire, but I guess it can't (really) be helped.

[God45]

Are you sure there's not another edge you'd rather take? With one Filthy Rich and two just-plain Rich out of five characters total, this group is starting to look like a bunch of trust fund babies out slumming...

Well.... I would rather pick up Bedroom Eyes or some skills but I feel that I need rich.

I was never all that interested in playing poor to begin with and I am not really using all that much Equipment anyway. So if I pick up rich I won`t have to worry about Medical bills, lifestyle cost, running around with broken gear or cyberware. And since I was the player that was for pitching a more highpowered Campaign where we wouldnt have to worry about those things to begin with it feel natural to pick up the edges that allow me to play that way. Also, I will be able to keep rescuing sims instead of finishing missions and getting a pay check.

[jeronimooo]

Also, I will be able to keep rescuing sims instead of finishing missions and getting a pay check.

Isn't that just going to create even more problems in the group?

Mal doesn't particularly care either way for sims or the rescuing of sims... that means he is fine with it as long as it doesn't interfere with his own interests (or those of Stopwatch obviously). That means that if it is going to start cost him money or mess up his reputation (by not finishing missions) on a semi permanent basis, he will have a problem with it... Had you agreed to just save the sim and let me (and Stopwatch) deal with the AI we would have had no problems at all... we might even have ended up being able to deliver the remains of the bike and finish our mission eventually... (not sure what condition the bike would be in and if we were to get paid or not, but we would have kept our end of the deal anyways)...

I don't know where Ryder stands on this, but I think he will not like the probable loss of income either... in fact you taking rich with that kind of motivation could very well mean you force both him and Bullseye to take on rich as well... surely that can't be the intention?

I also don't want battling AI's or freeing the sims to become the main campaign theme... I'm fine if it comes up once in a while, but I really think there are fare more interesting possibilities out there...

Where does the rest of you stand on this?

[Willard]

Where does the rest of you stand on this?

I think that's pretty much the essence of his character, so of course he's going to do it. On the other hand Paladin isn't likely to live that long, and I doubt the rest of us will carry on with the struggle after her demise (natural or otherwise). Will it cause trouble? Of course. So does Mal's affiliation with Stopwatch, and Almighty's plans for Englewood and Chicago in general. That's what PC's do, cause trouble.

The public missions and bounties are fun and all, but I'm having Almighty do those mostly for the experience and team building. I prefer a more active role in the world than what just taking random jobs implies. I also don't mind different characters having different ambitions, we don't all have to pull in the same direction all of the time.

Hopefully as we start acting on our ambitions we can get job listings that are directly relevant, or at least be able to earn/steal credits and equipment during our own adventures. Having a day job, a rich edge, or doing publicly advertised missions shouldn't be the only possible sources of income.

I suppose this is an aspect of the "grit" we were talking about earlier on, and it's one where I prefer a more high powered approach. I'm all for the gritty combat where there's a very real risk of death, and thus the possibility of losing several sessions worth of plot advancement to a single bullet, but I don't want to toil away on the streets for scraps.

[nDervish]

regarding the armor; I would be dropping my entourage suit and replace it with knight errant body armor (+ kite shield)

Fine by me.

I guess the long period of being poor just doesn't appeal to me, and it certainly isn't the direction we've taken the campaign.

There's a broad continuum between "be sure to collect every spent shell casing so you can sell them for money to buy your next tube of soy paste" and "don't bother tracking money because you already have a hundred of everything" and it's no surprise that different people prefer different points along that range. I'm pretty sure that I'm not aiming as low on that spectrum as you think I am and, yeah, I realize that you're probably not aiming as high on it as I think you are either.

I also think we may have different concepts of what "poor" means. I wouldn't consider any of the PCs to have been particularly "poor" up to now. Sure, most of them may not be able to afford everything they want, but Ryder is the only one losing money (which I get the impression is by design) and nobody has had to go without anything they need. You gear is, at worst, adequate for the situations you've found yourselves in, and often much better than merely adequate. Medical and repair costs may have hurt, but they haven't been crippling either. Nobody has been in the position of having to say "I really don't want to do this, but I need the money, so..." or make any other hard choices for lack of money. That's not "poor". Hell, in cyberpunk terms, that's practically enough to put you in the top 1% already.

As far as "the direction we've taken the campaign", we started out with a session to talk about the direction we wanted to go. "Cyberpunk" was the starting point. We all explicitly agreed to "gritty", albeit with varying levels of enthusiasm. We talked about starting at street level, then gradually building up to bigger things. We agreed to having a system of weapons permits not only for realism, but also to limit what player characters would initially have access to and to give them something to aspire to eventually getting.

To me, at least, everyone having enough money to buy everything they want is not "gritty". It's certainly not "punk" (cyber or otherwise) - you're not sticking it to The Man, you are The Man. With tons of money and a constant barrage of "I'm inserting random element X from out of nowhere into my character's background; can Almighty/Mal get a Category 4 permit now?", where are the limits of what you can access and what will you aspire to eventually getting?

I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but it feels like the gritty street-level cyberpunk game that everyone agreed up front that we wanted to play is rapidly turning into superheroes without the tights. (We've even got someone wanting to buy a cape! )

there are many more interesting choices and themes to explore than being poor and saving towards a bigger gun.

There most definitely are, but very few of them require owning the biggest gun around.

In a way I feel bad about doing stuff not on the list and just letting what's there expire,

Good! That means I'm doing it right!

And since I was the player that was for pitching a more highpowered Campaign where we wouldnt have to worry about those things to begin with it feel natural to pick up the edges that allow me to play that way.

Fair enough.

So new Advances are Agility d12 for Almighty and Rich for Paladin, correct? Does anyone remember whether David said anything about what he wanted to take for Bullseye?

in fact you taking rich with that kind of motivation could very well mean you force both him and Bullseye to take on rich as well... surely that can't be the intention?

Funny you should mention that... I've been considering saying "no more taking Rich unless there have been actual in-game, at-the-table events to support it", but decided against that because it wouldn't be fair to Bullseye or Ryder.

But I think I will still say: No more taking Filthy Rich unless there have been actual in-game, at-the-table events to support it.

I also don't want battling AI's or freeing the sims to become the main campaign theme... I'm fine if it comes up once in a while, but I really think there are fare more interesting possibilities out there...

Where does the rest of you stand on this?

I don't particularly care about what sort of jobs you want to pursue, so an anti-AI jihad or spearheading a sim rights movement would be perfectly fine with me, as would focusing on something completely different.

I prefer a more active role in the world than what just taking random jobs implies.

That's where I want to see things go as well.

I'll keep doing the general job postings regardless, but I don't expect you to keep taking them indefinitely. Once you have enough of a sense of the situation in Chicago, you should either start planning your own operations or at least focus more on private missions, which will come with more information in their listings about who they're targeting, so that, even if you're just taking those missions, you can still decide on an agenda you want to pursue and select missions which advance that agenda.

I also don't mind different characters having different ambitions, we don't all have to pull in the same direction all of the time.

That's something the rest of us were talking about in the car on the way to the train station Monday night. We all thought it was great to have seen intra-party conflict rather than blind allegiance to The Party Hive Mind. The conflicts don't have to erupt into open combat, of course, but it's completely healthy and appropriate for a group of five PCs to have eight conflicting agendas among them.

[Willard]

here's a broad continuum between "be sure to collect every spent shell casing so you can sell them for money to buy your next tube of soy paste" and "don't bother tracking money because you already have a hundred of everything" and it's no surprise that different people prefer different points along that range. I'm pretty sure that I'm not aiming as low on that spectrum as you think I am and, yeah, I realize that you're probably not aiming as high on it as I think you are either.

I admit I don't want to bother tracking what I own and have access to. I'd much rather track what I'm actually bringing into any particular situation. For most people those two are going to be the same, but in spirit the point of my being filthy rich is to decouple them from each other. Even if I own a hundred of everything I can't carry everything with me into, and even if I could bring it all I couldn't use it all (or more than anyone else, barring drones of course, but there's a limit to those too).

To me, at least, everyone having enough money to buy everything they want is not "gritty". It's certainly not "punk" (cyber or otherwise) - you're not sticking it to The Man, you are The Man. With tons of money and a constant barrage of "I'm inserting random element X from out of nowhere into my character's background; can Almighty/Mal get a Category 4 permit now?", where are the limits of what you can access and what will you aspire to eventually getting?

While there are different aspects of grit, you're right that we're not doing the "punk"-part. As for the limits of Almighty's aspirations, you really needn't worry. I'd say the sky is the limit, but not even that is true when we can go into space. Of course there's always the risk of him dying (though I try to avoid it) and then his aspirations will likely fade, just as the sim liberation with the inevitable death of Paladin.

There most definitely are, but very few of them require owning the biggest gun around.

Certainly. I'm perfectly happy not firing a single shot, and Almighty will probably keep going unarmed for the foreseeable future. But I guess having drones that do carry the biggest weapons lets him do that. The scarier the gun and the more of them you have, the less likely you are to have to actually use them.

About this I should also say that I'm exercising restraint in settling for the .50 cal instead of a the pulse machine gun, for example, even though I could afford it. And there's also the point about escalation (made in one of the Batman movies): if we start get bigger guns so will the bad guys. The balance isn't really shifted, only the potential for carnage (PC's dying being part of that).

So new Advances are Agility d12 for Almighty and Rich for Paladin, correct? Does anyone remember whether David said anything about what he wanted to take for Bullseye?

Righto. Don't think David's really thought about it yet. I'm guessing he'll go for berserk this time around though, he sounded kind of bummed that he didn't before.

Good! That means I'm doing it right!

[... ]

That's where I want to see things go as well.

I'll keep doing the general job postings regardless, but I don't expect you to keep taking them indefinitely. Once you have enough of a sense of the situation in Chicago, you should either start planning your own operations or at least focus more on private missions, which will come with more information in their listings about who they're targeting, so that, even if you're just taking those missions, you can still decide on an agenda you want to pursue and select missions which advance that agenda.

Yeah! Sounds like you have an idea on how to keep doing it in a useful way, too, so that's great.

We may not be playing as punky as intended, but so long as we're having fun, what's the problem?

[jeronimooo]

I think that's pretty much the essence of his character, so of course he's going to do it. On the other hand Paladin isn't likely to live that long, and I doubt the rest of us will carry on with the struggle after her demise (natural or otherwise).

My question was more aimed at how far are we going to accommodate and enable Paladin in her quest as a group. I know Allmighty couldn't care much less about the lost 1000 cr of a mission, but I do imagine that if it were to happen mission after mission or assignment after assignment at some point the group is going to want to put an end to it... I don't think Ryder for one would be able to afford a lot of those ''failed'' missions because Paladin felt the need to fail it and run off with a sim...

I prefer a more active role in the world than what just taking random jobs implies. I also don't mind different characters having different ambitions, we don't all have to pull in the same direction all of the time.

I agree with this completely, though I would prefer not to end up in an intra-group open war where the only possible outcome is for one of the group to die... As it stands, there is the ''easy way out'' where you guys realise your mistake and help me resolve the rogue AI issue, though I still say you all get arrested by Stopwatch and are ''forced'' into it and you'd have me to thank that you get away with no further strings attached.

But I think I will still say: No more taking Filthy Rich unless there have been actual in-game, at-the-table events to support it.

I have absolutely no intention of taking on filthy rich at the moment... I do think that somewhere very late in the campaign I could go for it (after my father dies or something) but by then I 'd probably be a senior level agent at Stopwatch and have taken on most of his secret duties anyways

That's something the rest of us were talking about in the car on the way to the train station Monday night. We all thought it was great to have seen intra-party conflict rather than blind allegiance to The Party Hive Mind. The conflicts don't have to erupt into open combat, of course, but it's completely healthy and appropriate for a group of five PCs to have eight conflicting agendas among them.

I don't mind there being different agendas, hell I have 2 or 3 of my own, though overthrowing the NAC seems like one most of us share... Intra party conflict is ok for me as well, just intra party shooting wars is something I would like to avoid if and when possible... This time around intraparty relations can somewhat easily be fixed, but that won't always be the case... from where I stand right now, next session starts with the rest of the group having been lifted out of their beds and taken to a Stopwatch holding cell, where they get the choice to help me get rid of the Zephyr or spend a very long while in a dark and rank cell in a black and off the books Stopwatch penal facility somewhere offplanet. That they get that choice at all they have me to thank for as Jayne is way less forgiving... (I think I will give her the Major vengefull hindrance).