Rogue: Clandestine Operations v. 0.99! (Comments are appreciated)

[Kensen]

Playtest three, The Ambush! Below you can see the map of a city block the target is moving through. He and his bodyguards enter the map from the south and try to move through the area and leave through the north gate. Kill the target!

Ground floor

+-+----+-++..++---+----+
|.0....|/|....!...|....|
|.|......|....+-0-+-0-~+
+~+-0--~-+.............|
|............+-~-~-~-+.|
+-+...+---+..|.......|.|
|/|...|...|..!.......!.|
|.+-0-+...!..|.......|.|
|.........|..!.....+0|.|
+-0-+0+...|..|.....|.|.|
|...|.+-~-+..+--0--+.|.|
|...!..............|/|.|
+-~-+.+---+..+---+.+-+.|
|.....|...|..|...|.....|
|.+-+.|...0..0...|.+---+
|.|.!.|...|..|...|.|/..|
|.+0+.|.+~+..+~+.|.!...|
|.|.0.|/|......|/|.|...|
|.+~+.+-+......+-+.+~-0+
|......................|
+---------+..+---------+

Upper floor

+------+-+.  .##########
|......|\|    ##########
|........|    ##########
+~-~--~-~+             .
.            ######### .
+-+   +-~-+  ######### .
|\|~~~|...|  #####+~-+ .
|.+...+...|  #####|..| .
|.........!  #####!..! .
+-~-~-+...|  #####++=+ .
##### +-~-+  ######|.| .
#####              |\| .
##### +---+  +---+ +~+ .
.     |...|  |...|     .
. ### |...!  !...| +-~-+
. ### |...|  |...| |\..|
. ### |.+~+  +~+.| !...|
. ### |\|      |\| |...|
. ### +-+      +-+ +-~-+
.                      .
...........  ...........


. ground, floor or the top of a wall
# rooftop
+ - | wall
/ \ stairs up, stairs down
0 door
! ~ window

Time to start planning. I'll make a thread for this sometime soon.

[Eldest]

I nominate myself to retain the role of team leader.

Ok, we have a pair of mobile melee fighters, a sneak-thief, and... Laura Eternata, I remember you being an archer, but the link doesn't work for me. And I think Alissa's a gadgetry person. Again, can't find the sheet.

So put up a few traps, Derryk does a (falsely) botched pickpocket job to lure them into the alley, Lydia and James jump the target while Siera is overwatch. Seems simple.

[Laura Eternata]

...but the link doesn't work for me.

That's... annoying. Even a google search is turning up the "invalid post" thing now. It was working the other day. I'll have to remake her, I guess. I'll try to find the time tonight. Anyway, plan seems solid enough. If it comes up (which it shouldn't, but might), how okay are we with civilian casualties?

[Eldest]

That's... annoying. Even a google search is turning up the "invalid post" thing now. It was working the other day. I'll have to remake her, I guess. I'll try to find the time tonight. Anyway, plan seems solid enough. If it comes up (which it shouldn't, but might), how okay are we with civilian casualties?

I have the feeling we've talked about innocent deaths before...
Let's say we'll take hostages if needed, but not killing. And preferably no hostages.

[bobthe6th]

What level of secrecy do we want? do we care if anyone sees the attack?

edit: also, removed 2 throwing daggers, switched the gauche for another short, and added a cloak. now 4 points over, but oh well.

[Kensen]

Public opinion is important, so killing civilians is unadvisable. However, killing the target is very important, so if collateral damage cannot be avoided, do what you must.

Speaking of the target, he goes by the name Rogar. He has information about rebel hideouts and agents that could be devastating if he gets a chance to divulge the information to the Invictus.

As for the level of secrecy, as usual, it's recommended to do it as secretly as possible. But seeing that you have no chance but to attack him in the open, and things can get really messy, it may be very difficult to kill him without any onlookers noticing it. The Resistance HQ is aware of these difficulties and grants you the permission to deal with the problem as you see fit.

[Kensen]

IC thread is up!!!

[Laura Eternata]

Seira Thorinhein Mark II:

Spoiler

Show

Guile: +6 (20 xp spent)
Gadgetry: -
Legerdemain: -
Awareness: +8 (33 xp spent)
Stealth: -
Mobility: +5 (15 xp spent)
Archery: +8 (33 xp spent)
Fighting: +2 (7 xp spent)

7 xp unspent

Equipment:
Bow, quiver, hunting permit, normal clothes (hunter), belt, rope, ladder.

Melee Defense: 12
Ranged Defense: 15

[Snowfire]

Gyaaaa! Sorry, utterly forgot/missed the later posts (I think I forgot to hit subscribe). I will have Alissa's sheet up in a bit.

Also, for reference, Alissa is a pure front line fighter. Alyera was the trap lady. Alissa spent a rather considerable portion of her life fighting against Invictus forces during the invasion. And I need to rebuild her unfortunately, as I lost my saved copy of her sheet due to computer crash - and the old thread is gone as far as I'm aware.

[Eldest]

Ok, I'll be switching around assignments then soon. It'll be after you put your character sheet up, though.

[Kensen]

Yep, the previous recruitment thread seems to have vanished.

Anyway, I hope you have the time to make a new version of your character's sheet. You can start posting in the IC thread -- your teammates know you're a melee fighter so you and they can plan accordingly even if they don't know your exact stats. Basically, I need to know your locations when the bad guys enter the map, and whether you're hiding (may require Stealth checks) or pretending to be one of the locals (may require Guile checks and will definitely require a suitable disguise.)

[MintyNinja]

As to the map you have posted: I meant for Seira to be on the rooftop a little north of where she currently is, that way she can also see the central area. I believe we're missing someone as well, starts with an A. No idea where they're going, or what their doing.

[Kensen]

Ok, I'll update the map later. Yep, snowfire's character is missing, but so is snowfire himself. If he doesn't show up, we'll just have to play without him I guess. There's still a little time left before combat begins so it's not too late yet.

[Kensen]

Snowfire's PM box is full, so I'll post this here where everyone can see it.

MintyNinja and bobthe6th seem to be all set, but Laura and Eldest should tell me where they want their characters to be when the fighting begins, and if there's any other preparations I should know of.

And Snowfire, it's still possible to join, but if you intend to do so, please do it quickly.

I'll wait until Wednesday, and then we're hopefully ready to roll initiative.

[Eldest]

Ok, I think I found a problem with using this game over PbP; planning. Any sort of mechanic that rewards extensive planning will bog down the game a lot in a PbP setting, while this whole ambush would take about 15 minutes of real time to plan out, including buying extra things with the mission-specific EPs and have a much better plan than "jump them when they get into the street."

[MintyNinja]

True. Something like this takes more back and forth communication to actually be done well. I'd suggest Chat Pads like "PiratePad."

[Kensen]

I'm afraid you're right about that. Playing in PbP would probably work best if the players didn't have too many options and they were mostly only required to be reactive not proactive.

So, mission structure should be different. More straightforward, less time to think. Using instincts and relying on training. You don't have one day to prepare, you don't even have 15 minutes. You have one round, make it count.

Well, we'll try that next if there'll be another playtest.

[Eldest]

That sounds bad for the players.

But yeah, either of those suggestions works. A real time chat thing, or having much less planning (in which case the mission EPs should be provided by the DM in the form of useful equipment nearby, as well as some permissiveness with them searching for stuff: e.g. you look for rope, you find it).

EDIT: You also need to give a bonus to the tomahawk.

[MintyNinja]

Okay, haphazard critique time:

Negative: Inter-player coordination. We bombed on this section. May just be a fact of working PbP, but damn. I would suggest something like PiratePad (Click the Frog for a free Chat Pad)

Positive: Other skills still used. I liked being able to help with decent Lockpicking and Stealth. Another interesting scenario would be secretly assassinating someone in a crowded place.

Negative: Initiative. Keeping a list helps players know what order actions are getting resolved. Something small like that can change a lot of plans.

Positive: Combat, when we eventually got to it, was quick. A few slashes here, an arrow there. They got decimated quickly and I think we were able to not die well enough.

Neutral: Individual player interest is a fickle thing. I found myself forgetting about this game more often than I meant too. Everyone will have their own way of playing, but yeah, sometimes it just won't work out.

[Kensen]

Thanks for the critique, MintyNinja! Below are some of my thoughts about the good and the bad you mentioned.

Okay, haphazard critique time:

Negative: Inter-player coordination. We bombed on this section. May just be a fact of working PbP, but damn. I would suggest something like PiratePad (Click the Frog for a free Chat Pad)

Yes, making plans was rather inefficient. It'd require either fast communication (which may include using a chat pad or something) or one person calling the shots. Lydia was the leader, but since Eldest had problems with the subscription, he was mostly absent during the planning phase.

Positive: Other skills still used. I liked being able to help with decent Lockpicking and Stealth. Another interesting scenario would be secretly assassinating someone in a crowded place.

Well yes, I like it that all skills have some utility in all kinds of scenarios. Besides Gadgetry to pick the lock and Stealth, James used Mobility very efficiently and Guile was used once or twice too. And Awareness, of course, is used every time someone uses Stealth, albeit usually passively.

Negative: Initiative. Keeping a list helps players know what order actions are getting resolved. Something small like that can change a lot of plans.

Hmm yes I guess it would have been a good idea. Though I had all the bad guys act on the same initiative count and all the PCs beat their init so it was basically just "your turn" and "their turn". But I'll keep that in mind.

Positive: Combat, when we eventually got to it, was quick. A few slashes here, an arrow there. They got decimated quickly and I think we were able to not die well enough.

Yep. Even though it's not as easy to one-shot an opponent as it was before, it's still fairly easy to hurt them so badly that they cannot retaliate. So, a good first round will largely determine the outcome of the battle if the numbers are even.

Neutral: Individual player interest is a fickle thing. I found myself forgetting about this game more often than I meant too. Everyone will have their own way of playing, but yeah, sometimes it just won't work out.

Well, other than trying to make the game interesting for the players, I guess there's little a GM can do about it.

[Eldest]

The Good: The skills work well, and most all of them show up in fight scenes. It was fast and well played, and the smaller mission type helped out with making sure people didn't lose interest or have the scenario drag out too long.

The Bad: Planning time was a pain, between my failure to subscribe properly and just the delay in planning overall. The 100 extra EPs for this mission didn't get used at all, and the 100 EPs you gave us barely gave Lydia at least the gear she needs to be a generally useful member of the team. Also, I would have liked to know which one Rogar is, or at least know that I didn't know. If you know what I mean.

The Ugly: Actually, the suggested fix. Either up the amount of EPs given to each character by 25-50, or be very generous as to what's lying around at the mission start. Also, I'm going to repeat my suggestion of having the group do some sort of online chat or such in real time, so that we can plan out what's going on. Either that, or the leader plans exhaustively for everything, or a situation where we don't have time to plan. In addition, a report of what happens after mission end would be appreciated.