The Ambush! (Rogue RPG playtest, part three)

[Kensen]

Rogar must die! That treacherous son of a bitch is going to rat out the identities of many rebels and the locations of a few Resistance safe houses. If you fail, it'll cost dozens of rebels their lives!

You're in Stonewall, a medium-sized town about 100 miles north of Eisendorf. Lydia leads you to the Saint Acorius's block, through which Rogar and his entourage are expected to travel. The most notable building in the area is the old St. Acorius church. It's no longer in use because everyone worships the Emperor these days. There are also some privately owned residential buildings.

It's 5 PM and the sun is still high up in the sky. You've got 15 minutes (in-game time) for your preparations. You may use 100 EP worth of extra equipment for this mission. Getting a ladder, for example, helps you access the rooftops, and disguises may be useful as well.

Ok, go!

Map

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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

[Eldest]

Ok, time for work. Siera, you're on overwatch; James, get her onto the roof on the west. I've got some rope you can use if you need it. Alissa, start putting up some traps in the side alleys. Make sure they don't go in the west alleys, Siera can't shoot well over there. Derryk, get that building on the east open.

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I'd suggest adding an OOC thread too, so we can discuss what extra objects we're going to buy with the 100 EPs.

[bobthe6th]

"You know, I can do other things then jump..." James will ignore the rope, pick up the archer, and do a high jump onto the roof indicated. If it's over 10 ft high, he will climb up the wall carrying the archer.

mobility= (3d6+10)[17]

sheet

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{table=start]skills|rank
guile|1(5)
gadgetry|0(0)
Legerdemain|4(15)
awareness|1(5)
stealth|1(5)
mobility|10(50)
archery|0(0)
fighting|6(20)
[/table]
equipment
belt(5)
bandolier(5)
2xshort sword(50)
6xthrowing knives(30)
normal clothes(5)
cloak(1)

[Laura Eternata]

I push away from James as he grabs me. "I have a ladder, I can get up there myself. What'll the rest of you be doing?"

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Out of curiosity, what is the western building? Is that St. Acorius church?

[MintyNinja]

Derryk quietly goes to the central building on the east side and tries the door. If it's locked then he'll try to pick the lock stealthily.

Gadgetry: (3d6+6)[14]
Stealth: (3d6+7)[15]

(Also going to assume I bought three more throwing knives.)

[Kensen]

(OOC thread created -- see my sig.)

Lydia issues orders to her comrades.

Derryk goes to the large stone building on the east side; there's a bell tower at the top -- this must be the church. There's a sign nailed to the door "KEEP OUT", and a large padlock keeping the door firmly shut. The lock looks robust enough to make it difficult to smash it without making an awful lot of noise, but Derryk thinks it'd be possible for him to open it. On his first attempt, he thinks he's got it figured out, but cannot get the last pin to move. He instinctively looks over his shoulder and thinks that no civilians have noticed what he's doing yet.

OOC:

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If you keep trying, make as many Gadgetry attempts as you are willing to risk. No need to roll Stealth again, though.

An expert climber, James thinks he'd be able to make the climb easily alone, but carrying a woman whilst climbing would be tough. Seira is, however, prepared for this eventuality and refuses James's help. The keen-eyed Seira observes the nearby buildings. It appears that most buildings are inhabited. Only the church looks abandoned, and the two small building directly north of it look like they're used for storage rather than living.

OOC:

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Which roof do you want to climb onto? Do you want to climb right away for wait until a little later? If you wish, you may spend a few minutes to walk around a little and make an Awareness check to determine if there are any houses the owners of which are away.

Lydia, James and Alissa, what's your plan?

[MintyNinja]

A challenge such as this couldn't really be set aside, and no one else was watching, so Derryk tried again.

Gadgetry: (3d6+6)[14]

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Edit: Seriously? Fine. I'll try again! Roll in OOC.

[Kensen]

Third time's the charm. "Click" says the lock as it opens.

Assuming that Derryk lets himself in or takes a peek inside:

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A heavy layer of dust covers the floor. Aside from rows of pews, a large wooden altar and statues of mythological creatures related to the worship of a now-forgotten god, there's nothing here. The atmosphere is rather eerie. It's dead quiet, and the statues stare blankly at nothing, with a hint of sadness in their eyes.

In the southeast corner, there's a stairwell leading up to the bell tower.

EDIT: Oh, and you now have 14 minutes left until the target is assumed to arrive.

[Laura Eternata]

Leaving the ladder with Lydia, I decide to take a quick look around the square before choosing a perch.

Awareness: (3d6+8)[22]

Specifically, I keep an eye out for roofs with a good line of sight to a majority of the streets, which buildings are abandoned, and if there's any chance of jumping or climbing between rooftops in case of emergency.

[MintyNinja]

A quick glance around the dark room tells Derryk just about all he needs to know. He closes the door, making sure not to actually lock it again, and seeks out his comrades in arms. Once he gets a chance to relay the information he says, "Building's a church. Empty. Got roof access. Looks dead useful if you ask me."

[Kensen]

Derryk returns with some information about the abandoned church. James looks up to the bell tower and spots a perfect place for hiding and watching over the area on the roof next to the tower. It looks like it's possible to climb out from one of the windows in the tower with little chance of any onlookers noticing it. (OOC: Go there now or wait until a little later?)

Seira looks around the square to see if there are any abandoned buildings. Besides the church which Derryk already checked out, none of the buildings appear to be abandoned. There are signs of recent activity everywhere. However, it appears the inhabitants of the small building in the southwest corner, and the slightly larger building in the southeast corner are not currently at home. Also, the two small buildings directly north of the church are some kind of storage buildings and nobody seems to be inside.

The door to the large two-storey building in the northwest part of the square opens. A little boy walks out, closes the door and looks at Seira. "Hello, miss. Nice bow!" Having said that, he walks towards the north gate.

13 minutes left...

[Laura Eternata]

It's licensed! I call after him as he walks. If you're some kind of undercover guard, I have a hunting permit. I display it.

Can I tell what the building he walked out of is used for?
Awareness: (3d6+8)[22], if necessary.

[Kensen]

The boy goes wide-eyed with surprise first, which soon changes to an expression of pure excitement. "A REAL bow AND hunting license! I haven't seen one before! Oh boy, my friends are going to be so jealous when I tell them I saw one!"

(The boy seems genuinely surprised, and frankly, looks far too young to be an agent.)

The house looks rather posh, whoever owns it must be fairly rich. Other than that, it looks like an ordinary house, built for people to live in.

[Laura Eternata]

(Is that an assumption, or actual knowledge I have from my time with the Invictus? Do they have strict rules against using children?)


If I am relatively certain he's not Invictus, I say, Hey,wanna help me out a little? If you're good, I might even give a you an arrow to show your friends. All I need you to do is keep an eye on this block and tell me when you see some guards come through. I'm conducting a study of how well defended small towns are nowadays. I'll be keeping watch from a roof, so all you'd have to do is whistle when you see some. You can whistle, right? I demonstrate a shrill whistle. Us hunters use whistles like that to communicate across long distances.

Guile: (3d6+6)[22]

[Kensen]

As far as Seira knows, the Invictus don't have child agents or soldiers. Things may have changed since her days in the Invictine army, but at least officially, they don't employ children.

"Oh, I didn't know hunters also do that kind of things. I thought you were lost or something because you rarely see hunters in this part of town. Anyways, I'll be playing with my friends over there," the boy says, pointing at a square beyond the north gate, "and I'll whistle if I see any soldiers." The boy smiles and waves a goodbye and walks off to the north.

12 minutes left.

OOC: So, everyone, do you need more information or are you ready to choose where you'll be hiding? Also, I need to know whether you ready your weapon (and those who have several weapons, tell me which weapon you've drawn, if any). And lastly, what signals will you be using to coordinate the attack? This is particularly important if you're hiding in places where you cannot see each other, or if only one or two have direct eye contact to the south gate through which they're entering.

[MintyNinja]

After reporting the open access of the church, Derryk takes his own initiative and sets himself up in the south eastern corner. He slouches down in a shadow from where he can see the South Gate and the Church at the end of the alley. Should Rogar and his men take the east alleys, Derryk could easily follow and maybe even dispatch one before any brawl starts up.

Stealth: (3d6+7)[20]

OOC:

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We don't seem to be very communicative with plans, so how's this: Divert them to the East Alley. James on the roof of the church will be able to see Derryk from that position and if we position Seira on that Western Roof, she'll have that covered. Could we block the Alley that's east of the church? This way the targets need to walk into Seira's line of sight. I have no real idea what to do with Lydia, but if she's stationed inside the Church she can pop out when the fighting starts. This is just a rough plan, but it looks like our best bet is to isolate them and direct them into a narrow alley.

[bobthe6th]

James considers the square... and decides a roof would be a proper hiding place.

He moves over to the wall under his selected spot, and attempt a quick climb up the wall in a stealthy manner. He will then huddle against the wall with his cloak rapped about him.

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rolls:
mobilaty to climb:(3d6+10)[16]
stealth to do it quietly:(3d6+1)[14]

[Kensen]

Derryk hides in the shadows, and James climbs up and also hides.

Locations:

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L, J, S and D represent your locations on the map, as suggested by MintyNinja and bobthe6th. Seira and James are perched on rooftops while Lydia is hiding inside the church and Derryk is hiding around the corner near the south gate. Are these ok? (Nb. I combined the upper floor and ground floor maps so that I could put you all on the same map - so no, the church roof didn't suddenly collapse, it's just a cut-away view. )

+-+----+-++..++---+----+
|.0....|/|....!...|....|
|.|......|....+-0-+-0-~+
+~+-0--~-+.............|
|............+-~-#####.|
+-+...+---+..|...#####.|
|/|...|...|..!...#+~-+.|
|.+-0-+...!..|...#|..|.|
|.........|..!...#!..!.|
+-0-+0+...|..|..L#++=+.|
|...|.+-~-+..+--0#J+.|.|
|...!..............|\|.|
+-~-+.+---+..+---+.+-+.|
|.....|...|..|...|.....|
|.###.|...0..0...|.+---+
|.###.|...|..|...|.|/..|
|.###.|.+~+..+~+.|.!...|
|.###.|/|......|/|.|...|
|.##S.+-+......+-+D+~-0+
|......................|
+---------+..+---------+

11 minutes.

[Eldest]

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I'm good with that placement. Sorry, thought I didn't need to say anything.

[Laura Eternata]

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I asked a question in the OOC thread the other day that has yet to be answered. Its answer will dictate Seira's position.

[Kensen]

Ooc: I'm going to have to move the story onward or we'll get stuck here. So make any last minute decisions now, the action begins tomorrow. Sometimes the rebels just don't have time for elaborate plans and they have to improvise.

[Laura Eternata]

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It was a simple question, but alright. I guess I'm fine with the suggested position.

[Kensen]

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Agreed, it's a simple question. But which alley they meant and how they intended to force the enemies to take that route, I don't know. I cannot wait forever, PbPs die too easily.

Anyways, I'll move Seira onto the rooftop a bit farther to the north as Minty suggested. That way she won't be directly visible from the South Gate (with Stealth +0 it might be dangerous) and she can also see James, who in turn can see Derryk, so it's possible to relay commands through hand signals.

Derryk sees that a woman with long curly hair and a green cloak wrapped around her shoulders walks through the South Gate (see W on the map). She quickly glances around her and continues along the street towards north.

OOC: We'll use tactical rounds meaning that if you move or draw weapons, you can only take actions worth up to 8 AP until it's their turn again. Init hasn't been rolled yet because neither side has been openly hostile yet. As soon as both sides become aware of each other or the first attack is made, you'll have to roll init. You can assume that Derryk and James relay hand signals indicating that the enemy (or at least a suspicious person) has arrived (so you don't have to wait until Minty and bob have posted first).

Map

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+-+----+-++..++---+----+
|.0....|/|....!...|....|
|.|......|....+-0-+-0-~+
+~+-0--~-+.............|
|............+-~-#####.|
+-+...+---+..|...#####.|
|/|...|...|..!...#+~-+.|
|.+-0-+...!..|...#|..|.|
|.........|..!...#!..!.|
+-0-+0+...|..|..L#++=+.|
#####.+-~-+..+--0#J+.|.|
#####..............|\|.|
####S.+---+..+---+.+-+.|
|.....|...|..|...|.....|
|.###.|...0..0...|.+---+
|.###.|...|..|...|.|/..|
|.###.|.+~+..+~+.|.!...|
|.###.|/|......|/|.|...|
|.###.+-+......+-+D+~-0+
|..........W...........|
+---------+..+---------+

[bobthe6th]

James draws two throwing knives, and waits.

[Laura Eternata]

I draw my bow and knock an arrow, studying the street below me.

Awareness: (3d6+8)[16]

[Kensen]

(OOC: Derryk and Lydia do not seem to be doing anything so let's start a new round.)

Seira observes the street, but can only hear the footsteps of a person walking down the street. Presumably it's the woman Derryk saw.

Derryk can see she continues walking down the street, but the house blocks his view so it's impossible to tell where she went exactly until someone has a line of sight to her again.

####S.+---+..+---+.+-+.|
|.....|...|..|...|.....|
|.###.|...0..0...|.+---+
|.###.|...|?.|...|.|/..|
|.###.|.+~+:.+~+.|.!...|
|.###.|/|..:...|/|.|...|
|.###.+-+..:...+-+D+~-0+
|..........W...........|
+---------+..+---------+

A few rolls...

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Modifiers omitted so you won't know who's rolling and why.
(3d6)[5]
(3d6)[9]
(3d6)[6]

[MintyNinja]

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OOC: Never saw the last update, sorry bout that.

Derryk gestures to James that there's one person before he attempts to re-establish line of sight.

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Moving 2 squares closer: -1 AP for movement only, and -1 Normal AP.
Stealth: (3d6+7)[16]

[Kensen]

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The thread is cursed... Eldest seems to have the same problem with the thread subscription.

Derryk moves closer to re-establish LOS:

+-+----+-++..++---+----+
|.0....|/|....!...|....|
|.|......|....+-0-+-0-~+
+~+-0--~-+.............|
|............+-~-#####.|
+-+...+---+..|...#####.|
|/|...|...|..!...#+~-+.|
|.+-0-+...!..|...#|..|.|
|.........|..!...#!..!.|
+-0-+0+...|..|..L#++=+.|
#####.+-~-+..+--0#J+.|.|
#####..............|\|.|
####S.+---+.W+---+.+-+.|
|.....|...|..|...|.....|
|.###.|...0..0...|.+---+
|.###.|...|..|...|.|/..|
|.###.|.+~+..+~+.|.!...|
|.###.|/|......|/|.|...|
|.###.+-+......+-+.+~-0+
|................D.....|
+---------+..+---------+

You still cannot see where she is, but you can hear some faint sounds that suggest she's somewhere near the NW corner of the building.

At the same time, James spots her. She's positioned herself cleverly in a shadowy spot to peek around the corner, but foolishly, she is leaning forward far too much (read: abysmal roll). Unfortunately for you, she also spots James. The look on her otherwise pretty face is a bit frightened and very dismayed scowl, probably because she blew it.

Since neither side has surprise, everyone roll init normally. (3d6+ the best of Aw, Fi or Mo). Her init: (3d6+6)[19] If you beat her roll, you can act immediately.

[bobthe6th]

Jame"s initiative: (3d6+10)[22]

[bobthe6th]

james will quickly move 3 squares forward, then try to jump down onto his foe(jump:(3d6+10)[21], land:(3d6+10)[16]) (what is the AP cost? right now going with 1, but feel free to correct me), stabing with both daggers(+1 from acceleration, +1 from weapon, -2 from double attacking. (3d6+6)[16], (3d6+6)[17]).