Scum and Villainy in-character (IC) thread.

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
Ida will approach the sphere and reach out to it via the Way.

OOC: ATTUNE roll was 3
 
Ida will approach the sphere and reach out to it via the Way.

OOC: ATTUNE roll was 3
3 = No and lose this opportunity for action. You find that with the excitement your focus is a bit hard to come by and you can't properly drop yourself into a meditative state. You attempt to reach out but draw a blank.
 
Séadna Séadna, Bunch Bunch, Stan Stan, Smith Smith -

Séadna Séadna -

The apparition appears in the doorway, sending a chill that washes through you. Startled yelps from Lar, Okon and the others confirm that they can see it as well. It appears to regard you for a few seconds, then fades away. Lar comments "Christ, I nearly shat myself. It puts the fear of god into you, doesn't it."
 
Séadna Séadna, Bunch Bunch, Stan Stan, Smith Smith -

Steevo is working on rigging something. Smith Smith - you spot one of the people a lot closer than you expected. They've managed to stalk up on you remarkably quickly. You also note that you can't see the other one. These folks seem to have some serious bushcraft - might be trouble.
 
Luckily, Steevo had made a similar rig of sights and sounds to calm and neutralize Twitch if he a bad trip. Soon, the strobes and quad speakers were ready to make if feel like sounds and light were enveloping the target.

rig roll: 6,2
 
Luckily, Steevo had made a similar rig of sights and sounds to calm and neutralize Twitch if he a bad trip. Soon, the strobes and quad speakers were ready to make if feel like sounds and light were enveloping the target.

rig roll: 6,2
6 = Success. +1 Gambit. You're working under pressure, so +1 XP added to Insight.

Bunch Bunch - Steevo gives you the thumbs up that he's ready to roll.
 
Séadna Séadna, Bunch Bunch, Stan Stan, Smith Smith -

Séadna Séadna -

The apparition appears in the doorway, sending a chill that washes through you. Startled yelps from Lar, Okon and the others confirm that they can see it as well. It appears to regard you for a few seconds, then fades away. Lar comments "Christ, I nearly shat myself. It puts the fear of god into you, doesn't it."
"Let's see if it appears again"

If it does, Ida will attempt to walk up to it and see if it reaches out to her.
 
Twitch hops in the speeder and grins. "Let's get some attention!"
 
"Let's see if it appears again"

If it does, Ida will attempt to walk up to it and see if it reaches out to her.

Séadna Séadna, Bunch Bunch, Stan Stan, Smith Smith -

Séadna Séadna, - You get a few more flashes of symbols, accompanied by that maddening, itching headache. The apparition appears again, along with the chill. You swallow your fear and attempt to touch it, but it seems completely insubstantial, just a projection, although it does leave you wondering about its emotional effects.

Then more symbols. You feel on the edge of gleaning some semantic content from them, although the headache doesn't help.

Twitch hops in the speeder and grins. "Let's get some attention!"
Bunch Bunch -

You gun the 'stat on the bike. It's got pretty decent acceleration and you take off towards the position you last saw the intruders in.
 
Stan Stan - Twitch has started off towards the intruders. You reckon the light show might confuse them for a few seconds.
 
Steevo waits for Twitch to lead them back so they can nab them.
 
Once Twitch has their attention, Kal will try to get the drop on the guy sneaking up on him, and call out "I can't see the other one!" When he makes his move.
 
Then more symbols. You feel on the edge of gleaning some semantic content from them, although the headache doesn't help.
Ida will remain in place reaching out into the Way to provoke the apparition to touch her mind again.
 
Twitch hops in the speeder and grins. "Let's get some attention!"
Steevo waits for Twitch to lead them back so they can nab them.
Once Twitch has their attention, Kal will try to get the drop on the guy sneaking up on him, and call out "I can't see the other one!" When he makes his move.

Canyon.png
Twitch has gotten the attention of the one that you can see and seems to have surprised him. He's about 200-300 metres away, and Twitch has ridden off bearing down on him. As Twitch roars past on his bike, Steevo starts up the light show. You can't see the other one.

Smith Smith - Kal can open fire - the bogey is about 200m away, within range of the assault blaster. With a team effort you can add a die of support from the distractions which keep him surprised long enough to take aim, and maybe use a gambit (you've got 5 in hand at the moment).

Stan Stan - once the light show starts off, you can open fire next turn.
Ida will remain in place reaching out into the Way to provoke the apparition to touch her mind again.
You get another stream of symbols flashed at you. In a moment of inspiration, you snatch a thread of meaning from the stream.

WhoSequence.png

Indecipherable - Indecipherable - Indecipherable - Who? - Indecipherable.
 
Last edited:
Indecipherable - Indecipherable - Indecipherable - Who? - Indecipherable.
Ida tries making contact again. She projects thoughts of Earth and the human form and nature. Taking the "Who?" as a reference to herself and the others in the tomb.
 
Ida tries making contact again. She projects thoughts of Earth and the human form and nature. Taking the "Who?" as a reference to herself and the others in the tomb.
WhoPurposeSequence.png

Indecipherable - Indecipherable - Indecipherable - Who? - Indecipherable - Indecipherable - You - Indecipherable - Purpose?

You also get the impression that it just created the third-to-last symbol to mean you specifically, like it doesnt't do pronouns.

Okon enters the room and stands quietly behind you. When you look like you're back in the real world, he asks "How's it going?"
 
"Better and better Okon" Ida says barely looking at him before launching back in.

"Obtain statues" she projects along with images of a person taking a statue.

"Wrong?" she says trying to project the feeling of badness or guilt, unsure how to convey moral concepts.
 
(For when the time comes, and Steevo shoots. He has no scrap score so his only die is the bonus one).

roll: 5
 
"Better and better Okon" Ida says barely looking at him before launching back in.
"Oh, really?" He perks up. "What's it saying?"
"Obtain statues" she projects along with images of a person taking a statue.

"Wrong?" she says trying to project the feeling of badness or guilt, unsure how to convey moral concepts.
StatuesMoralityWhatSequence.png

Ida (2nd Person) - Indecipherable (maybe take or obtain?) - Statues (with new symbol accent) - Indecipherable - What is? - Indecipherable - Wrong (with new symbol accent) - What is? - Indecipherable

The structure of the language is ringing a few bells from college. It looks like some sort of ontological specification language that might be used to manage a knowledge base in an AI, especially the new symbol protocol. If this is the case there should be some way to add meaning and relationships to the symbol.
 
Last edited:
Bunch Bunch - Can you make a HELM roll for Twitch to pull off your stunt riding - Desperate roll with standard effect.

Smith Smith - Can you make a SCRAP roll to attack the Bogey that you can see - Desperate roll with standard effect.
 
SCRAP (With Gambit and Team Effort)

Kal lays down some fire with the assault rifle, to keep the advancers pinned down.

(4, 4, 1)
 
SCRAP (With Gambit and Team Effort)

Kal lays down some fire with the assault rifle, to keep the advancers pinned down.

(4, 4, 1)
CanyonRound2.png

4 = Success with complications:

+ 1 XP for desperate roll.

You shoot the bogey and see him go down, clutching his arm. However, in the excitement his offsider has managed to sneak up and take cover in the jumble of rocks. He shoots, missing you, but you're startled and duck down. Attempting to look up you gets another blaster bolt crackling over your head. You're effectively pinned by a sniper that you can't see. Until he can be located and suppressed, or you can move to another position without getting shot at, you're pinned and unable to return fire without risking a free shot from him.

You can try to get Steevo to shoot some covering fire next turn (<==== Stan Stan)
 
Last edited:
Having always been a lousy aim, Steevo lets loose with a barrage of fire so the opponent thinks they're getting shot at and will go defensive.

ooc: do I need to roll or does this give a bonus to Kal?
 
Having always been a lousy aim, Steevo lets loose with a barrage of fire so the opponent thinks they're getting shot at and will go defensive.

ooc: do I need to roll or does this give a bonus to Kal?
OOC: For next turn, it will give a teamwork bonus for him to do something - e.g. take a pot shot or run to other cover.
 
Bunch Bunch - Can you make a HELM roll for Twitch to pull off your stunt riding - Desperate roll with standard effect.

Smith Smith - Can you make a SCRAP roll to attack the Bogey that you can see - Desperate roll with standard effect.
OOC - 5
 
5 = Success but with harm.

+1 XP for desperate roll.

Your magnificent stunt riding distracts the bogey magnificently - so well, in fact, that he shoots at you. As you turn you hear a shot rip through the pannier behind you. Whatever was in the pannier (probably a tooklit, first aid kit and some rations) may have been damaged.
 
Last edited:
Next turn

Stan Stan, Bunch Bunch, Smith Smith, Séadna Séadna -

Having always been a lousy aim, Steevo lets loose with a barrage of fire so the opponent thinks they're getting shot at and will go defensive.

ooc: do I need to roll or does this give a bonus to Kal?
Smith Smith - Steevo is shooting covering fire at the sniper. You could try and do something like run to other cover or join in shooting back at him. You can't tell how well pinned down the sniper is, but they're not firing any covering fire at you.

Bunch Bunch - Turning around, you can see Steevo shooting at something in the rocks - presumably the other intruder, but you can't make out where they're hiding.
 
Kal will attempt to move up to another piece of cover, trying to advance closer on where he roughly guesses the sniper is at.
 
Kal will attempt to move up to another piece of cover, trying to advance closer on where he roughly guesses the sniper is at.
Stan Stan, Bunch Bunch, Smith Smith, Séadna Séadna -

Smith Smith - Make a desperate SCRAMBLE roll with STANDARD effect. Add one die for the covering fire. You can sprint into the jumble of rocks at the side of the canyon, turning the sniper into a cat-and-mouse game where he can't see where you are, either.
 
Twitch turns the bike and starts heading to where Steevo is shooting.
 
Séadna Séadna, Smith Smith, Stan Stan, Bunch Bunch -
SCRAMBLE + Gambit + Support = 2d

2, 3 :shock:
3 = Fail + Harm.

You sprint to get behind some large rocks but stumble on the uneven ground and fall, spraining your ankle painfully. You're lying in a small irregularity in the ground, possibly exposed as you hear shots crackle inches over your head. You're immobile and pinned down.

You have a level 2 injury (sprained ankle).
Twitch turns the bike and starts heading to where Steevo is shooting.
You charge your bike towards the rocks that Steevo is shooting at, nimbly picking a way through the rocks. You see Kal try to reach cover behind a large rock, trip and fall. From behind the rocks you see blaster fire just grazing over him.

Make a HELM roll (DESPERATE with STANDARD effect) to get close enough without exposing yourself too badly or making an easy target. Pull that off and you can get close enough to shoot at him next turn.

Stan Stan - You spot the blaster fire grazing over Kal and can see where the sniper is hiding now. You can try to hit him or keep his head downto let Kal crawl to cover.

Séadna Séadna - You feel a small disturbance in the fabric - as if someone you know had stubbed their toe and cursed loudly at the pain.
 
Steevo braces his weapon on a rock and prays to the void of hyperspace that he can actually hit something for once.

ooc: pushing myself to get +2 stress and +1d.
roll: 5,3
(pushing at least allowed me to not get an outright failure)
 
Ida (2nd Person) - Indecipherable (maybe take or obtain?) - Statues (with new symbol accent) - Indecipherable - What is? - Indecipherable - Wrong (with new symbol accent) - What is? - Indecipherable

The structure of the language is ringing a few bells from college. It looks like some sort of ontological specification language that might be used to manage a knowledge base in an AI, especially the new symbol protocol. If this is the case there should be some way to add meaning and relationships to the symbol.
"Okon!" Ida calls out "You got any kind of linguistic software here? This is getting heavier than I thought"

She then projects back to the being.

"Wrong" followed by images of violence and aggression, destroying shelter and taking food.
then
"Right" followed by images of helping, protecting and feeding
 
Steevo braces his weapon on a rock and prays to the void of hyperspace that he can actually hit something for once.

ooc: pushing myself to get +2 stress and +1d.
roll: 5,3
(pushing at least allowed me to not get an outright failure)
5 = Success with reduced effect

You're shooting at long range for a hand blaster but you manage to wing the guy - you can see him go down.
You ride up to the rocks close enough to shoot at the assailant. It looks like Steevo has gotten a grazing hit on him as he's ducked down behind the rock. You're in a position where you could attempt to flank him next turn.

Smith Smith - you can hear the assailant screaming - something's hurt him, but you're not sure how badly. You might be able to risk it and crawl to cover.
 
"Okon!" Ida calls out "You got any kind of linguistic software here? This is getting heavier than I thought"

She then projects back to the being.

"Wrong" followed by images of violence and aggression, destroying shelter and taking food.
then
"Right" followed by images of helping, protecting and feeding
Okon replies "I've got AMARS - a linguistic database has a compilation of all the Amarantin translations. There's only a few snippets of the symbol language. though."

He starts frigging with his handcomp and shows you the index page from AMARS, then opens a page with a listing of translation information including the symbol language. He's right - there are only a few snippets, although on reading through them, some of the symbols make a bit of sense to you.

After you contact the entity again, you get a reply that really does remind you of the knowledge base software you did the labs in at university. It was logic and semantics course that had a big module on knowledge representation - one of those annoyingly mathematical philosophy papers that they use to separate the posers from the folks who can actually reason. It brings back memories of the annoying philosophy majors trying to mansplain this stuff while pretending not to be hitting on you.

MoralityClausesSequence.png

Wrong - indecipherable - indecipherable - Right (new symbol accent) - indecipherable - indecipherable

Wrong - Indecipherable (possibly associate - gives the impression of being syntactic in nature) - Recording - Recording - Recording - Indecipherable (possibly Terminal)

Right - (possibly associate) - Recording - Recording - Recording - Terminal

Morality (new symbol accent) - Indecipherable (perhaps sub-category relationship?) - Wrong - Indecipherable - Right - Indecipherable - Terminal

Clever - It's inferred the existence of an overarching concept of morality, although it doesn't seem to know what it is. This reminds you of quite a few people you've met.

If you visualise Right or Wrong and the 'Recording' symbols it plays what you projected to it back to you, with the senses all turned up to 11. You get the sense that it doesn't understand most (but not all) of the imagery. Some of it now has an associated symbol overlaying the recording that you think means 'Tags.'

You continue to get the sense that it's trying to establish a language with which to communicate.

OOC: I hope you didn't major in philosophy.
 
Last edited:
Kal attempts to get himself propped up and moving to a better piece of cover. (SCRAMBLE again?)
 
Kal attempts to get himself propped up and moving to a better piece of cover. (SCRAMBLE again?)
OOC: Yes. Next turn - Steevo and Twitch are giving you covering fire now. Make a DESPERATE SCRAMBLE roll with STANDARD effect.
 
Twitch will attempt to flank before firing on the wounded assailant.
 
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top