SDMB Shadowrun campaign, New World Orders - players only!

The Game Room
201

Gothe to Donovan (and anyone else who is not sleeping or playing poker):

I see the advantages of a relay tail setup. It’ll definitely be safer from a trying to keep this on the down-low standpoint.

But we have to be in constant communication with each other. And how do we make sure the next person in the relay is at an appropriate location to take over? I suppose with everyone having a general map of the area, we should be able to have people following in parallel who can then pick up the trail as the current tail drops off.

202

The poker game will be resolved with only Nail playing at about 7pm PST. After the game is resolved, Kirk and Seneth will be finished resting, and you guys can finalize the plans. From what I understand, there are two opposing plans for the group to choose between:

Goethe’s plan involves creating a distraction and nabbing Chaggo at the station so he has no chance to escape.

Donovan’s plan involves covertly shadowing Chaggo, and nabbing him if it looks like he suspects he’s being followed.

Some things you should know: Goethe’s plan could involve combat with non-interested parties like Lone Star Security and Transportation Authority employees. Donovan’s plan runs the risk of Chaggo slipping past them. Both plans have their own merits and risks.

203

When Seneth awakes, he will ask:

“Do we specifically have anyone here that can be confident of a successful nabbing if we use Donovan’s plan? If so, we should do that. If none of us(like me) are particularly good at that sort of thing, let’s just distract everyone and grab him and fight it out.”

204

Nail feels comfortable at the poker table, despite the rank cigar smoke. Four other men, including McManus and the scarred dwarf Lenny, surround the table. A simple accounting program wirelessly links Nail’s credstick to 1500 credits worth of playing chips in front of him. The stress of so much money being at risk is thrilling to Nail, and he feels the familiar rush of adrenaline heighten his senses. The others at the table are oblivious to the fact that Nail is operating at his peak mental proficiency, and is certainly the most dangerous player at the table.

“They’re all amateurs,” Nail realizes as the drunk and and boisterous men throw chips carelessly into the pile. Even McManus laughs at the crude jokes and takes ridiculously large puffs of his cigar, gambling as if the money meant nothing to him.

Nail is biding his time, mostly folding cards when it comes time for him to bet, in order to avoid being beaten by lucky draws. Finally, the big blind comes to him, and Nail looks at his two hole cards. Two kings.

“This is it,” Nail realizes. Lady Luck has picked this moment to smile on him. The entire table calls Nail’s blind, and Nail pushes a small raise in before the flop cards are revealed. McManus is the only player to pause before deciding to call. Nail looks at McManus’ face, and comes to the sudden realization that McManus has been fooling him this whole game. An honest-to-goodness poker player was behind that rowdy facade. Nail looks upon McManus with new respect as the gruff Shadowrunner calls.

Three cards are turned for the flop. King, four, four. Nail’s face is expressionless as the bet comes to him.

“Check,” he says. Give them some rope, and they’ll hang themselves.

The others check. McManus looks at Nail, and the two men come to a mutual wordless understanding. “Check,” McManus says.

Another card is turned. 9. The bet comes to Nail, and he decides not to let the table get any more free cards.

“Two hundred,” Nail says, pushing the chips in front of him. The man to his left immediately folds, and it’s McManus’ bet.

“Call,” McManus says. Nail already knows he’s won. McManus is almost certainly holding a pair of nines, and thinks his hand is a juggernaut. He’s slow-playing the full house, to trap Nail into betting big again next round. Clever, but not good enough!

The other players also fold. The last card is turned, and it’s a 3. Only another 9 could have saved McManus. With a stone cold face that reveals none of Nail’s glee, he pushes another 200 into the pot. Nail watches McManus as the bearded man reaches for his chips to raise. And then he sees it. A small flick, the tiniest involuntary spasm pulling the left side of McManus’ mouth upward into an almost imperceptible grin. It was gone in a flash, and nobody else at the table recognized it.

“I’ll raise you 350,” McManus says. His face is unreadable, and Nail is suddenly concerned. Did he read McManus incorrectly? Against any other player, Nail would have re-raised his entire stack of chips, but McManus was too professional to take such a risk against.

“Call,” Nail says, and as he pushes his chips forward McManus reveals a pair of fours, giving him four of a kind. Nail stares blankly at his Kings, and tosses them face down into the muck pile. “Good hand,” he says. And he means it. McManus had him beaten the whole hand, and Nail let himself get led like a sheep to the slaughter. Only that small, almost insignificant twitch saved the rest of Nail’s bankroll.

Nail has lost half of his bankroll (750 out of 1500) to McManus, after both characters rolled quite well in their opposed test. Nail can continue to play (risking the rest of his bankroll) or cut his losses and leave the table.

205

Cut his losses? Nail just started enjoying himself! Keep on going. Awesome writing btw. You can summarize though if you want to! I don’t want to keep everyone waiting on just me.

206

Goethe to Seneth:

I’m not usually confident of a successful anything when a run is concerned. I’ve seen too many “easy” jobs go South pretty quickly.

It largely comes down to how well we think we can all shadow this guy. I’m decent enough, but the longer any one of us tails him, the better chance he’ll have of seeing us.

And as another crazy idea of a plan, we could possibly have one of us accuse him of stealing something from him, and have the rest of us help stop him from escaping. Of course, we know doubt will have a lot of extra security guys involved with that, so we’ll have to be pretty damn convincing. Heck, we could even plant something on him that one of us can prove is ours. Just throwing it out there as a possibility.

Also, did Fortnight tell us what Chaggo looks like. Or does Donovan know?

207

Yes, each of you will have seen an image of Chaggo, provided by Synthcorp. Minor narration oversight, sorry!

Next post will be the poker continuation. I’ll resolve Kirk’s sprite compiling attempts after that, and then we’ll move on to the train station scene.

208

Seneth to Goethe:

“Snoooooooooooooooooore! Psychos! Healing to you!”

I’ll just assume you told Seneth this when he awoke. :slight_smile:

209

After Nail’s initial setback, he settles into an even more conservative playing style that visibly frustrates McManus. The grizzled Shadowrunner wins only small pots with a flush and a full house, and Nail starts to feel the momentum swinging his way again.

McManus’ chip pile stays at almost the same size, while Nail snipes money away from the other players at the table. Nail wins a big pot that knocks out two of the other players, leaving only Lenny, McManus, and Nail at the table. Nail is now almost exactly where he was before he lost the big pot against McManus. He has the fewest chips at the table, followed by Lenny the scarred dwarf. McManus has a commanding chip lead, but hasn’t expanded on that lead in some time.

Nail had a series of good results from opposed tests between him and the other players, putting him back on the right track. His bankroll is now almost exactly where he began, but the going will be tougher now that the worst of the players are out of the game. Nail can press his luck again, or walk away with his original bankroll intact!

210

The momentum’s on my side now! Keep on going!

211

As Nail’s and McManus’ respect for each other grows, both players begin to realize that Lenny can’t hope to compete with them. Nail and McManus aren’t exactly cooperating against him, but it’s clear that taking Lenny’s chips is easier than taking from each other. The dwarf is oblivious as one “bad break” after another sets off such a vile string of profanity from him that Nail can’t help but smile. Lenny sees the smirk, and is less than pleased.

“The fuck is your problem, skinny?” Lenny says. McManus folds his arms and leans back in the chair, quietly observing as the dwarf suddenly rises, knocking his own chair down behind him. Nail’s gotten under Lenny’s skin and can’t help but push the advantage.

“Sit down, tough guy,” Nail says. “Can’t help it if the cards just happen to come right for me.”

“Wipe that grin off, or I’ll attach it to your ass,” Lenny says with a finger pointed in Nail’s face. McManus can see that Nail won’t take much more of this abuse, and intervenes.

“Lenny, sit down,” McManus says. “Been plenty of times I wanted to deck you for your damned luck at this table, but I didn’t. Know why?” McManus takes a long drag off his cigar before answering his own question. “'Cause this is a gentleman’s game, Lenny. You lose your temper again, and you’re out. Got it?”

Lenny glares at Nail for a moment before his better judgment prevails, and he sits. “I want my money back, skinny,” Lenny says. “Deal the cards.”

The rest of the game goes even more badly for Lenny, as he makes even more wildly aggressive plays than before. In less than twenty minutes, Nail and McManus have taken the last of Lenny’s chips.

“Got any more to donate, Lenny?” McManus says as Lenny fumes impotently. “Nail and I appreciate your generosity.”

Lenny opens his mouth to speak, but sighs in defeat. Wordlessly, he stands and leaves the table.

Nail is ready to finish McManus off when the elder Shadowrunner stands suddenly, deactivates the playing chip accounting program, and gathers the now worthless chips from Nail.

“What are you doing?” Nail protests as McManus cleans up the game. “I would have had you beaten in no time!”

“I know,” McManus says with an ironic grin. “Why do you think I’m quitting?”

“That’s not fair,” Nail says. “Let the cards talk. Right now, one draw, high card takes all.”

“You’re a gambler,” McManus says as he places the last of the chips into the carry case. “I’m not. Why do you think I play with these knuckleheads? You make your own luck in the world, kid. I’m not about to just hand you money for no goddamned reason. Now get back to your crew, and finish the job.”

Nail is speechless, but it’s clear McManus won’t budge. The ache Nail usually experiences from an un-scratched gambling itch is stronger than ever, and Nail realizes with sudden hopelessness that he won’t get to scratch it tonight. McManus leaves the room, and Nail feels suddenly alone and ashamed of himself.

Nail has done well in opposed rolls against McManus and Lenny, doubling his bankroll to 3,000 credits. McManus refuses to play with Nail any more tonight.

All of the characters have finished resting, and may now fully participate in the plan to find Chaggo’s hideout and rescue Arry. If Kirk confirms she wants to compile an unregistered fault sprite, and a registered machine sprite, the next post will be resolving those rolls. However, Kirk will be unavailable to participate in the last-minute planning, as registering a sprite takes all of her concentration for several hours.

I’m hoping to move along to the train station by this evening at around 7pm PST, approximately 11 hours from now. Time’s running out, crew!

212

McManus comes across Goethe, and nudges him with an elbow. “Nail’s coming,” he says to the ork. “Gonna’ be in a bad mood, too. Fair warning.” He begins to walk away, but stops as he remembers something. “Almost forgot. Your pal Fortnight has generously paid your rent tonight. Had a credstick with a thousand on it. Told him price was two, and he said he’d owe me. Real stand-up guy, that elf.”

His voice suddenly lowers, and loses all its previous lighthearted humor as he continues. “Listen up. You tell anyone I gave you a break on the price, and it’s the last time you’ll be welcome here. I have an image to keep up. Doesn’t look good in this business to have friends, understand?”

213

Goethe to McManus, in the same volume:

“Of course. No one but you and I will know, and if any of my group wonder about the accounting difference, I’ll make it clear to them that they shouldn’t question accounting errors in their favor.”

Gothe to the rest of the group:

"All right, we have multiple ways to approach this job. I say we just show up for now, and figure out how we want to run this once we suss out the situation. Kirk should be able to be our ‘eye in the sky’, so she’ll be a big help in figuring out which tack we want to take. Both our plans have their plusses and minuses. We should prepare for both.

"And we want to arrive early. If this guy’s anything like me, he’s going to be there early. So we arrive even earlier, at least half-an-hour. I’ll find a bench near the meeting point and observe. I’ll fake reading the news or something. When Chaggo shows up, we start looking around for any suspicious backup. Then we decide how we play this.

"You will all need commlinks, so if you haven’t got one, get it now.

“And Kirk, I’m going to need my glasses operating at their peak ability, so if you can fix them, I’ll owe you big time.”

214

Kirk will attempt to fix Goethe’s glasses once she’s done trying to register a weak machine sprite.

215

Starkly alone in the room, a split-second of self-loathing flashes over Nail. His angst over his gambling addiction is buried down deep however, especially when he wins, and his loneliness quickly turns to rage. He fingers his lucky poker chip that he keeps in his pocket. Mentally going over the gambling he could have played, (how hot he was at that!), does nothing to ease his bubbling irritability. Punching a wall in anger, Nail slumps down and lights a cigarette.

After a few minutes, Nail calms down enough that he decides to return to the others. After Goethe says his piece, he speaks.

“Fine by me. Let the chips fall where they may,” he replies. He then can’t help but mutter the following crankily, “Unlike a certain someone.”

Nail will get a commlink somehow, assuming he doesn’t already have one…

216

Commlinks are standard equipment any person in a first world nation is likely to have, sort of like 21st century cell phones. With the exception of Seneth, every character will have a basic model good enough for accessing the Matrix as a casual user (not hacking) and communicating. Seneth can attempt to use one of the salvaged commlinks taken from the TWT gang, if he chooses.

217

Kirk slips into the Matrix. Electrons flow around her persona like wind, and she revels in the familiar feeling of home. She tried explaining the feeling, in her awkward way, to a meat person before. She failed miserably, as only a Technomancer can grasp the sheer scope of the Matrix. It’s not the size that matters, although that size is immense. It’s the potential.

And that potential is what Kirk draws upon. The electrons swirl around her, coalescing into an intelligent being. Before her stands a clockwork gnome. She knows she didn’t exactly “create” the thing, but she caused it to be, nonetheless. The gnome doesn’t exist in meatspace reality, but it’s very much alive in the Matrix.

Sprites are fickle beings, Kirk knows. It takes time and careful design to cause them to exist longer than a few fleeting hours. “It’s like nurturing a child,” Kirk realizes suddenly.

Kirk has successfully compiled a rating 3 machine sprite, and resisted the effects of drain. The sprite will be bound to her, existing indefinitely until it completes 5 tasks on her behalf.

218

Fixing the glasses is trivial for Kirk, but attempting to “improve” them may cause some difficulty for Goethe in the future. Will Kirk attempt to modify the glasses to improve them, or just repair the switch?

219

A sane person would probably ask Goethe first, but since Kirk realizes that any idiot would be happy to have such an awesome machinist working on their stuff, she finds it almost impossible to resist the urge to improve her teammate’s gear- she’ll try to make it as awesome as she possibly can for him.

220

"Maybe we don’t have to tail Chaggo ourselves at all. Don’t we have access to bots? Can we tail him with a bot instead? That way we don’t have to be in harm’s way.

“We can all keep close by in our vehicles in case he makes a move down a secluded road with no backup. We can jump him then. No reason to put ourselves in the thick of it and risk one of you botching the job.”