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Meanwhile, back in Seattle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwpjaXarsDc ...has anyone ever played a Shadowrun campaign as Frasier? Someone MUST have.
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May 14, 2021 17:27
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The trailer with Goatman was way funnier.
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May 14, 2021 19:10
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Part 15 - A Trail of Red  When we last left off, we had just finished our tour around the Whampoa neighborhood during which we heard all kinds of interesting things from its residents, about local gang activity, about a mysterious Elder disappearance, about visits from the Hong Kong Police Force... a lot of it the kind of information we would've expected to hear from the Elders themselves here. So what's the deal, huh?  Is there anything we can do for you, Taz? Why did you let the HKPF into Whampoa Garden last month? They also made it clear that if we refused, they might not only take an interest in our deals with the pirates, they would call in the Special Duties Unit and force their way in. We have repelled the Hong Kong Police Force before, when they've tried to push us around. We could probably drive off the Special Duties Unit as well, but the cost in blood would be too high.[Ng shrugs noncommittally.] Since they weren't hunting a Whampoan, we saw no reason to refuse their request. So what were they doing in Whampoa Garden? They didn't say, and we didn't ask. The HKPF isn't exactly forthcoming about their business, and we've found that the less we know about their interests, the safer Whampoa Garden is. When you take an interest in the police, they return the favor. As far as I know, they went into the parking garage, there was a gunfight, and the police never came out. More showed up a few hours later, looking for their missing officers. We didn't let those in, though - we just delivered what was left of the bodies to them. Why didn't you let them in? We were willing to allow the group of four in, because they asked politely. When the reinforcements arrived, there were over thirty of them. We couldn't risk the rest of the police setting up camp in our streets. It would have been a circus, and disrupted our lives and business.And you happen to know nothing about the exact nature of this gunfight, huh? Seems we'll just have to visit these Red Spears in that garage if we want to get concrete answers on what exactly went down in there. Why didn't you tell me about Elder Magpie disappearing? If she does, we'll welcome her back - despite our problems with her behavior, her skills make her extremely valuable. I've taken over maintenance of our Matrix infrastructure in her absence, but I'm nowhere near her level. The best I can do is ensure nothing breaks down until she returns.There are increasingly more bodies on the ground and at least one murderer on the loose. It's kinda questionable to just dismiss off-hand the possibility that this Magpie is involved on one side or the other. She could be responsible for the killings. Not mentioning her seems like a major oversight.[Ng recoils, expression incredulous.] Magpie? I doubt that very highly. Whatever character flaws she might have had, she was a pacifist when it came to physical violence. What evidence do you have of that? I agree. Magpie would not resort to murder over personal disputes. The entire idea is ridiculous. I'd like to take a look around her shop. Do you have the key? Yes. But there's a lot of sensitive equipment in there, including our community servers. We don't let anyone who's not one of the Whampoan Elders in there. Why would you need to look around there? (Charisma 3) Listen, you wanted me to find a killer. If I'm going to do that, I have to explore every possibility. Very well. Take the key and look around. Just don't break anything or shut the servers off. Was there anything else? No, we'll be going now. Key in hand, we make our way to Magpie's shop which is not far from Tong's own place.  Not nearly as many organic materials used in the interior decoration here, just how we prefer it. But the tidiest of veneers often hide the dirtiest of secrets, so let's get digging.      Yes, those vaguely sound like real words, probably. So? What do you think it means? Well, if I had to guess, I'd say somebody's cleaned her out. MPCP, response increase, biofeedback filters and all that - they're easy to move, expensive, and highly illegal. All the rest of this crap is good, but it's nothing you couldn't pick up at any electronics shop. You'd have to know what you're looking for, though. Only a good decker would know what they're seeing. Could Magpie have taken them with her?[Is0bel gestures toward one of the other displays. A pair of small cyberdecks sit inside the locked case.] I guess so, but if she did that, why would she leave the completed cyberdecks? No, I think this was theft.Another shop cleaned out, huh? Hmm, let's keep looking around.    Crap. This is a Fuchi XB-1000, and it looks like the battery power ran out a while ago... The XB-1000s are constant-write drives. They're dirt cheap and have a ton of capacity, but if they run out of power, they lose their data. We're not gonna be able to get anything off the drive.  Glad we brought Is0bel along, feels like we'd miss all kinds of things here otherwise. There's business at the front, but what about the party at the back?   [Racter's expression is one of wonderment as he surveys the desk.]  This desk could probably serve as a testbed for an alien planet's ecology. I shudder to think of the myriad molds and fungi that are growing here. Sweet mother of god...[Duncan recoils, a revolted expression spreading over his face.] Deckers, man. I don't get it. Why the hell wouldn't you pick up after yourself, if this is where you work?[Is0bel shrugs indifferently.] She was probably busy. When you get in the zone, you have to keep at it. That's just how it goes, when you're in the Matrix. She probably had a timer in her deck to remind her to toggle back to meatspace and eat. [Duncan looks at you, giving you a pointed glare.] If I ever have to get in 'the zone' that bad, promise me you'll punch me in the head. This place is gross. I admit, the long term health implications of that kind of behavior worries me. Severely.[After a moment, Racter purses his lips.] Although... With a neo-appendix and the right kind of nepheritic screen, most of the damage could be mitigated. Hey, if you're that kind of decker, malnutrition is the least of your worries. You're a hell of a lot more likely to get brain-burned when you're diving into some nasty stack of IC than you are to make it to old age.Really feeling the weight of leadership all of a sudden... Well, here goes.    Ahh, the plot thickens. A secret lockbox, the latch and lock torn out... And all the keys to Magpie's treasure trove missing. Who do you suppose stole them?Well, seeing as Is0bel noticed her other stuff was also missing... Probably whoever cleaned out Magpie's equipment. That would make sense. The culprit would have been in a hurry - if these Whampoans are as tech-savvy as they seem, a cheap maglock wouldn't present much difficulty for them. And anyone looking to loot Magpie's shop wouldn't want to pass up her stockroom. It would be full of even more valuable gear.Guess we'll add Magpie's missing stockroom key to our shopping list, then.  We inspected Tong's bathroom, so it would be rude to leave Magpie's without attention.  Well hello. What do we have here? poo poo. Maybe Magpie didn't take a trip after all. With that amount of blood, I'm guessing someone killed her quietly, and then drained her body in the bath. It'd make it cleaner to re-locate. Clever. That's a careful plan. Doesn't seem to match the killer's other scenes, though. They sure seemed hesitant to let us in here at least. Just where does all this connect in the end?  That's all we can find in Magpie's shop, so we head back out. Hey Jnebi, got a quick question for you.  Hey again. Anything I can help you with? Magpie's shop is missing a lot of gear. Know anybody who might be fencing it? If I were you, I'd ask any other "outsider" types you can find if they've heard something. Nobody local would risk bringing Magpie's ire down on them - or the rest of the Whampoans. We might cheat other people, but we don't steal from each other. Anybody who gets caught doing that would get kicked out, or worse. Alright. See you later, Moe. We ask around a bit but ultimately don't find anybody able to give us further leads, so it seems it's finally time to go pay a visit to this garage that mysteriously consumed a whole police squad.  And these must be the infamous Red Spears. Don't see much red and zero spears, but there's quite a few of 'em and most are visibly armed. Let's see how this goes.   So what do you say? You lookin' for a little pick me up? A little Nitro to give you some pep? Maybe you want some chips, take that edge off. You want it, I got it. Show me what you have. In addition to two doses of Tokko, the ganger has a wide of selection of various chems we haven't seen yet. Nitro is alright for Adepts but only really stands out if the Strength boost gets you over the next AP damage threshold or somesuch. Kamikaze sounds good on paper but the temporary +2 to Body does not affect HP in any way (which isn't new to this game either) so it doesn't actually do much. Bliss is a pretty good defensive boost and probably underutilized, but maybe not something you actively want to spend money on when money is tight. Jazz though is the most expensive standard chem available and one of the best as well, being a pocket super-Haste that also makes you shoot guns and dodge things better. Jazz is not commonly available and we didn't spend all our money on the expensive suit last time, so we take this opportunity to pick up the one dose for sale here. As a side note, an easily overlooked aspect of chems is that they can be used on other characters as well. This makes Racter a particularly good drug carrier (and medic) as he can use his low-impact turns to supercharge more high-impact fighters and let them for example make use of the full AP bonus of Jazz or Cram from the get-go. Anyway, with our unofficial business concluded, it's time to move on to the official kind. What happened in the fight here? As far as I know, some police showed up looking for somebody. They got in here, all of 'em got killed. Whoever they were after was long gone by the time we showed up. Used to be a lotta Whampoans living here. They all cleared out, muttering about ghosts and poo poo like that. Have you heard anything else about the murders? Dumbass dropped his storm drain key on the way out, though - you wanna go lookin' for whatever it was, you'll have to get a new key from somebody else. Kang stole his from a city worker.This could well end up being completely irrelevant to our investigation, but unfortunately we can't really dismiss the possibility of there being some connection. Guess we have to take a dive down there after all. Who else might have a key to the storm drains? There's a guy named Porter Lam who's got keys to pretty much everything - he's somewhere between a cop and a handyman. Yuen also mentioned some elf woman with crazy-colored hair who managed to scam a key. He said she hunted paracritters down there - devil rats and poo poo.So Lam or Rainbow for the storm drain key, got it. Our investigation sure has been one long key hunt, it feels like. Some of these BTLs you're selling look an awful lot like they came from Tong's shop. Yeah? So what? Why do you care? So if you stole these from Tong's, maybe you saw something I can use in my investigation. Yeah... I guess that's fair. Nothing for fifteen whole minutes. Guy comes out, hustles down the street with nobody sayin' boo. I figure he was waiting for an ebb in the crowds. Yuen sees some blood smeared on the door, though, so he goes to check it out. Inside? Total carnage. But you know what? Tong's not gonna be using his gear any more, so to hell with it. Yuen jacks the lot of it. Business is business. You're drat right it is. That's all I know. The guy had to be the killer. Tall, gray rain poncho, hunched over. Also smart about how he came and went.Now that is interesting. Tall men aren't exactly rare, but this does help narrow things down some. Can I look around this garage? Woman, are you deaf? What the hell did I tell you? No, you goddamn well can't wander around our turf. [The ganger shakes her head, mumbling something about idiots with no memory.]  Seriously, after we bought your drugs and everything? Does our chemical bond mean nothing? Never mind. Yeah, that's what I thought. Fine then, we plan to do our job properly and for that we need to investigate this garage. We offered to do it the easy way but if you insist on being obstinate about this, we're totally fine doing it the hard way as well. Guess it's time to get some exercise.  NEW MUSIC: .jpg) (Grendel is one of my personal favorite combat themes in the series, it's not the most complex melody but it has a nice relentless feel to it. All three versions (normal, intense and wrap-up) are more or less the same with this one though. Fun fact, "Grendel" was actually the original name of this mission and still the one used in the files.)  Relentless is one possible way to describe this fight as well, because the Red Spears certainly don't mess around. There's seven of them in total with HP values in the leader's case going as high as 70 which is straight-up endgame Dragonfall levels of life. They're also spread out, behind cover, and have us surrounded from the start. Further beefed up to two actions per turn and with some bad luck they could get close to terminating us in one turn if we didn't get to go first, so we really have to make this first one count. The good news is they are not that heavily armed. The three Gangers only carry crummy Fichetti Security pistols, so they're mostly a threat against anyone flanked or out of cover. The two Thugs only have Baseball Bats, but they have enough Strength to make those swings hurt and knock people out of cover, so they shouldn't be underestimated. The Mage and Adept are the scariest individual targets, the former coming with a standard low-level Mage spell set and the latter with an unarmed Adept toolkit consisting of Killing Hands, movement-increasing Stride, Mana Fist... and Magic Resistance, which does 100% work for enemies as intended.  In a bit of pre-fight maneuvering we made sure that Racter started behind cover, which lets him activate and overclock Koschei right away without having to spend an action ducking out of the way.  Koschei proceeds to Kneecap the leader who takes a turn off to reflect upon how little she's appreciated having two functional knees up until now.  Next in an attempt to knock the Mage out of cover and soften him up some, Koschei actually ends up both starting and finishing the job all on his own with a kick in the shin and a critical bullet to the forehead. Two full HP targets out of action in a single maneuver, not a bad first impression from A Man and His Bot.  Duncan quickly swoops in to tie up the gang leader to make sure she remains calm afterwards, bypassing her 70 HP like it wasn't anything. She got needlessly territorial but we're fine with letting her live, we did get some good info and drugs from her after all. Hell, she was more forthcoming with information than our own employers.  The next plan involves us and Is0bel teaming up to take out the nearby Thug after which we could retreat back to safety, but a missed Aimed Shot from the team decker forces us to spend our second action skewering him to death instead. It's good that we at least managed to take him down, but now we're stuck in a pretty bad spot for the start of the enemy turn.  There's still one pesky Ganger who gets to take free shots at the team from behind, but he doesn't manage to inflict any dangerous amounts of damage at least yet.  In a much more unfortunate development, the other remaining Thug ditches her baseball bat and punches us hard enough not only to damage our armor but to straight-up knock us out, leaving the remaining Red Spears free to tear into us and us unable to do anything for a turn. This could get ugly, only good news is that the enemy Adept can't quite reach us after popping her Killing Hands. Also hold on a minute now, -2 AP and -2 Armor on a punch? That has to mean she used Rip Armor, but that's an Unarmed 5 ability and these Thugs are supposed to have 0 points in that skill. drat gangers don't even respect in-game rules...  Worse still, our turn starts with Duncan missing a 69% Bean Bag shot (which if anything should be an auto-crit) that pretty much seals our fate.  Things don't get much better with the rest of the crew as even everyone's concentrated fire fails to bring down the Adept, her 4 Armor and a few unfortunate misses leaving her just barely standing. This is definitely gonna suck, failing to kill that first Thug in time has caused a real domino effect. Our squad is loaded with grenades that could do a lot of work here, but they have a hard time making use of them while we're stuck wobbling in the middle of it all. Fortunately the Red Spears don't carry grenades of their own since those would wreck us even harder.  Enemy turn again, and somehow things start off even worse than expected as that lone eastern Ganger with his lovely pistol decides to activate his anime protagonist powers and just wrecks us with a pair of perfect crits from a hundred miles away, taking us down on the spot without the other three even having to bother. Our Basic Trauma Kit saves us from completely biting the floor, but this was definitely not how this was supposed to go.  The rest of the gang are now free to partake in old man bullying, thankfully taking a break from constant critical hits which leaves Racter still standing and thus Koschei still active.  Back to us, Racter patches himself up while Koschei proceeds to miss a Kneecap attempt on the Thug at 81% hit chance. Come on, team! We gotta pull it together here!  It takes one more point-blank miss but Is0bel finally downs the stubborn Adept with her second shot.   Duncan patches us up with a Medkit and we finally get to put on a good show, shocking the AP out of the Ganger with our new glove and slicing one more off of the bothersome dwarf at the back.  There's still another Ganger on the other end as well, but his damage output is more in line with what we expected from these scrubs. The eastern sharpshooter uses his remaining AP to retreat, and now we're finally in the position to take over and close this fight.  It's been a long enough fight for Duncan's Subdue to come off cooldown, so he ties up the electrocuted Thug as well. Consider yourself lucky, most people giving us this much trouble don't get to walk away afterwards.  Consider yourself stabbed in the skull you eagle-eyed motherfucker, we gotta pay for those Trauma Kits from our own pockets and those aren't exactly lined with cash right now.  The last remaining Ganger tries to flee and hide behind a nearby van, only to find himself cornered by a killer drone that totally no-sells his attempts to stop it. That's some sci-fi horror scene stuff right there.  Spoilers, he's not part of the cast that live to see the credits roll.  Got a little rough for a bit there, but we pulled through. You guys chill on the floor there while we look around your precious garage.    Business is business, and privacy for the winners.  quote:Wilson - we've got the go-ahead from the Whampoan Elders to move into the parking garage. Whatever fight happened there has really spooked the locals, and they're superstitious about moving back into a place that could be filled with angry ghosts. It's a bunch of bull, but whatever - the bottom line is, we have a new place to set up shop.  quote:I don't know where Kang is. Last I heard from him, he was checking out the storm drains, looking for a place to use as a drop so we wouldn't have to stash all the chips up here in the garage. When he came back up, he said something about seeing a monster down there. He described it as man-sized, but covered in gore and speaking some kind of 'monster language'.  quote:I don't know if any of you have heard about the way the Elders have been getting picked off one by one, but stay out of it. They've been nice enough to let us set up shop here, but their business isn't our business. If anyone asks you to look into it, tell them to talk to me. I don't want to get mixed up in whatever politics are ripping those crazy tech-junkies apart. Mostly things we already knew, though it's hard to imagine it a coincidence that the Elders apparently allowed this bunch to make their nest here right after the mysterious fight.  Deeper in, we find what is undoubtedly the scene of said clash. Whoever cleaned this place up clearly didn't do a very thorough job at it.   Look at this, Taz.[Duncan points to several scratches on the floor and in the pillar.] These scratches look like they're from a long bladed weapon like a sword or machete. That matches the wound on Tong's neck. Our killer must have fought the HKPF in here and cut them apart. With the number of bullet holes in the walls and cars around here, they must have just been spraying wildly. I don't relish the idea of fighting this killer in cramped quarters. Guess it's not just the pseudo-elderly that our culprit has worked their way through recently. Carving up some tech nerds in the dark is one thing though, successfully taking on a cop squad with a blade takes a pro. Or at least a lot of drugs, that's probably how we'd do it. We still don't know why the HKPF were in this garage to begin with, though. Any other clues around?  Well, it's not the worst place we've had to stick our hand into today.   Huh. Isn't this...   Interesting, this is clearly not something you can find from your average gear shop. Or even an above-average one, this kinda high-tech Renraku armor would require some pretty deep connections.  We double-check the markings with Keita and mention what we saw in the garage to Demergo, but don't learn anything new beyond confirmation of our own conclusions.  We've made some solid progress, but there are still some pretty big holes left in this whole thing. One of them being, y'know, actually finding and catching the killer.  We'll have to go ask Lam for the key to the storm drains and try to figure out who took Magpie's own key to her stockroom while we're at it. Will one of those places finally turn out to hold the key to this case as well? Maybe we'll find out, next time.  Another non-Charisma way to convince the Elders to hand over the key to Magpie's shop is with a Decking check, though this one also requires backing it up with at least one other discovery: Why would you need to look around there? (Decking 4) Magpie's automated systems might have access records for the killer's wireless devices. If I can get a dump of the access logs, I might be able to find the killer. I was under the impression the killer was most likely a monster or animal of some kind. All the bodies have been marked with bite and claw marks. Are you suggesting we're dealing with something sentient? That seems unlikely. Tong wasn't killed with teeth or claws. He was killed with a bladed weapon.[Tang cocks his head, confusion washing over his face.] A bladed weapon? How do you know? His spine was severed between the 5th and 6th cervical vertebrae. Scoring on the bone would indicate a knife or a sword.[Tang looks to Ip and Ng, his mouth twisting down into a grimace.] This... complicates things. Take the key, then... But don't break anything, and don't shut off the servers.--- Magpie's gross desk: Gobbet edition, and her interactions with Duncan, Is0bel and Racter respectively:  Hey, awesome! I didn't think anybody but me liked Honest Wang's noodles. Flavor like you've never tasted in a package of instant noodles, I promise.[Gobbet taps the side of one container.] See? This one's cheese curry broccoli! I dunno why it never caught on, honestly.[Duncan shoots you a sidelong glance, mumbling sotto voice.] Gee. Who could pass up the delicious taste of cheese, curry, and freeze-dried vegetables?[Gobbet seems oblivious to Duncan's sarcasm.] I know, right?! People out there have no idea what kind of culinary delights they're missing!- I can smell that stuff across the entire boat when you cook it. It's a bit like old socks, with a side of vinegar. The first time I smelled it, I thought you were fumigating. Psh. Is0bel, your main problem is that you have no idea what's delicious and what isn't. Expand your horizons! There's a whole world of deliciousness waiting for you at every corner store![Is0bel snorts derisively.] My horizons are fine where they are, thanks. After all, I can still tell if I'm eating food or cardboard. That's one of those little things I'd like to hold on to.- [Racter seems intrigued by the packaging. He tilts his head, peering at the long list of artificial flavors, colorings, and preservatives.] I'm reasonably certain I could use these noodles as a precursor to some basic explosives. God only knows what it would do to your stomach.[Gobbet grins broadly, tilting her head back.] It fills it with bliss. Pure pulpy noodle-bliss. It might be bliss, but... Look, here.[Racter points at a particular line on the ingredient list.] If you ate this along with some painkillers and that awful lemon soda you like so much, you might end up exploding. Be careful about physical activity if you ever mix those three. I don't want to mop your intestines off your cabin's ceiling.--- Successfully persuading the Red Spears leader allows for peaceful passage through the garage (both etiquettes give pretty similar responses): (Gang) I'm on business for the Whampoan Elders. You're only here because they tolerate you. They hear you're blocking me, your rear end is gonna get kicked all the way to Tsuen Wan. [The ganger shifts nervously, glancing around at her allies.] Okay, I'm listening. What kind of business are you on? I'm investigating the murders of the other Elders. The gunfight with the HKPF might be related. All right. We only moved in here because all the Whampoans are too poo poo-scared of monsters and ghosts to come back in... The Elders told us it was all right if we moved in here. Seemed happy to have us camped out, honestly. Look around. Knock yourself out. Just stay outta the way of our business.
Kanfy fucked around with this message at 21:33 on May 21, 2021 |
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May 21, 2021 13:13
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So the culprit uses a blade, probably a katana, and has renraku gear, and drags victims to the sewers? Would a ghoul have enough of his mind to be a ninja like this one seems to be? I think there were ghouls in berlin that were still sapient, but I don't know how common it is. Also, with the trenchcoat, the cheap rear end katana and the low fighting skill Taz demonstrated, she is going to need a fedora. This wouldn't have happened if she dressed as a proper adept with the monk drip 
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May 21, 2021 20:53
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Kanfy posted:But the tidiest of veneers often hide the dirties of secrets,
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May 21, 2021 21:27
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Xander77 posted:Wow, I don't remember pretty much any of this. I mean, it's the start of the game, but still. Feels like the missions here are just not as memorable as Dragonfall. I remember the general framework and outcome of this mission, just not the finer details.
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May 21, 2021 21:51
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The killer uses a katana, ninja stealth, and cyber armor? Hope he’s not a supposedly dead veteran of the Shadow Moses Island conflict. I don’t think Taz could take Grey Fox.
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May 21, 2021 22:06
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Xander77 posted:Wow, I don't remember pretty much any of this. I mean, it's the start of the game, but still. Feels like the missions here are just not as memorable as Dragonfall. Well, without going into any detail on this game's missions because we haven't seen any of them yet past this one, I personally think that while Director's Cut added some definite aces to Dragonfall, the base mission set of that game is not actually super memorable. It's like yeah, the MKVI was a memorable character, but I can't necessarily say the same about the run itself through AG Chemie Europa's offices. Same goes for things like the SCHERING Pharma AG lab that was kind of a slog, or the weapon merchant's job in Gesundbrunnen for example. I don't remember any details about the Humanis compound between the opening ambush and the last confrontation, and I've played and LP'd the crap out of that game.  The likes of Feuerstelle and Sutterlin Bioscience added in Dragonfall: Director's Cut are very hard to top, but I do think that playing through the average Hong Kong mission is design-wise more enjoyable and has a richer amount of variety and minor highlight moments than the average Dragonfall mission. But YMMV of course, and I'm curious to see what people who haven't played the games will feel about it once we have more Hong Kong runs under our belt. Kanfy fucked around with this message at 22:54 on May 21, 2021 |
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May 21, 2021 22:29
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Kanfy posted:Well, without going into any detail on this game's missions because we haven't seen any of them yet past this one, I personally think that while Director's Cut added some definite aces to Dragonfall, the base mission set of that game is not actually super memorable. It's like yeah, the MKVI was a memorable character, but I can't necessarily say the same about the run itself through AG Chemie Europa's offices. Same goes for things like the SCHERING Pharma AG lab that was kind of a slog, or the weapon merchant's job in Gesundbrunnen for example. I don't remember any details about the Humanis compound between the opening ambush and the last confrontation, and I've played and LP'd the crap out of that game. Been told there's a piece of advise, regarding video game design - make the first level last. Why? Cause you'll have more experience, more knowledge about your game, so your effort will be better ; And because everyone who play the game will see the first level, but not everyone will get to the last; add in the need to "hook in" the player and it all means you need a good first level - and thus, make it the last one. Now, setting aside how memorable your first run is in Dragonfall, the levels you mentioned as exemplery were added later - therefore, chance that they'll be better, relative speaking.
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May 21, 2021 22:44
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argosaxelcaos posted:Would a ghoul have enough of his mind to be a ninja like this one seems to be? I think there were ghouls in berlin that were still sapient, but I don't know how common it is. It's not common, but it happens. Ghouls don't actually lose their mind directly because of the infection, it's a side effect of malnutrition. Their new physiology requires them to eat Essence, the soul, or magic, or whatever you want to call it that exists in metahumans. The problem is that A: You have to eat metahuman flesh, and B: once a metahuman is dead the essence leaks out of their body or decays or something very quickly. Call it a day at most before the stuff will technically keep a ghoul alive, but definitely doesn't have enough to keep them sane.
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May 22, 2021 00:13
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achtungnight posted:The killer uses a katana, ninja stealth, and cyber armor? Hope he’s not a supposedly dead veteran of the Shadow Moses Island conflict. I don’t think Taz could take Grey Fox. On the flipside of that thought, Racter would probably love his own Metal Gear.
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May 22, 2021 02:58
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High-grade material + armour + Renraku markings is a somewhat alarming combination.
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May 22, 2021 03:09
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dont forget wrecking a swat team alone
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May 22, 2021 03:10
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argosaxelcaos posted:So the culprit uses a blade, probably a katana, and has renraku gear, and drags victims to the sewers? Would a ghoul have enough of his mind to be a ninja like this one seems to be? I think there were ghouls in berlin that were still sapient, but I don't know how common it is. There's a whole rear end country of ghouls with their own complex politics and society, so common enough.
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May 22, 2021 03:21
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paragon1 posted:There's a whole rear end country of ghouls with their own complex politics and society, so common enough. In the middle of deepest, darkest Africa, because of course it is. And it’s a matriarchy (or at least ruled by a line of queens, whose daughters ritually consume the heart of their mothers when they take the throne). I think in one of the setting books in the lead up to 5th, it was stated that the percentage of sapient ghouls living there was grossly overstated and the attempts of Asamando’s royals to keep the numbers up weren’t working out that well, as revealed when latest UN inspection team trying to establish official relations or something like that were treated to their “hospitality”.
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May 22, 2021 04:18
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paragon1 posted:There's a whole rear end country of ghouls with their own complex politics and society, so common enough. Asamando basically farms people to feed its population. Even for Shadowrun it's pretty grim. The Lone Badger posted:High-grade material + armour + Renraku markings + bladed weapon is an extremely alarming combination. FTFY. It was nice knownin' you, Taz and Duncan and Racter and Is0bel!
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May 22, 2021 04:19
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I don't remember the actual crime motive so this is genuine speculation: Seems to me like the killer (who's clearly highly trained and equipped) was paid somehow to kill Magpie, then kept on killing when they were stiffed on payment. If that's the case then the deadbeat can't be someone already dead (because they can't pay). If it's one of the Elders responsible then it means they're hoping Shin Black kills the murderer before the murderer can talk and say who hired them.
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May 22, 2021 06:16
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I disagree with the people who say that HK's runs aren't as memorable as DF's, but I'm a sucker for a good murder mystery.
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May 22, 2021 07:16
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The Lone Badger posted:High-grade material + red armour + Renraku markings + bladed weapon is a panic inducing combination. habeasdorkus posted:FTFY. Fixed that fixing for you.
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May 22, 2021 07:40
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bewilderment posted:Seems to me like the killer (who's clearly highly trained and equipped) was paid somehow to kill Magpie, then kept on killing when they were stiffed on payment. Careful murder, elaborate misdirection, and thorough looting does seem very much like something my players would have done if they got stiffed by a Johnson.
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May 22, 2021 09:17
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Tehan posted:Careful murder, elaborate misdirection, and thorough looting does seem very much like something my players would have done if they got stiffed by a Johnson. More importantly, if this is due to the guy not paying up who is to say we'll get paid as well? We can't kill off the Whampoan elders, there aren't many left!
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May 22, 2021 13:05
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Double Plus Undead posted:More importantly, if this is due to the guy not paying up who is to say we'll get paid as well? We can't kill off the Whampoan elders, there aren't many left! We've got Kindly Cheng on our side. She doesn't not get paid.
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May 22, 2021 23:53
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Quackles posted:We've got Kindly Cheng on our side. She doesn't not get paid. Speaking of which, promising random gangers a favor from Kindly Cheng for letting us snoop around seems like a colossally bad idea. Making promises on her behalf without prior notice is super far above our paygrade, and seems like exactly the kind of thing that enrages her. Just look how colossally pissed she was that Is0bel and Gobbet brought us back to her, and that had both better reasoning behind it and is less directly insubordinate.
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May 23, 2021 01:09
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bewilderment posted:I don't remember the actual crime motive so this is genuine speculation:
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May 23, 2021 01:36
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I dont know posted:Speaking of which, promising random gangers a favor from Kindly Cheng for letting us snoop around seems like a colossally bad idea. Making promises on her behalf without prior notice is super far above our paygrade, and seems like exactly the kind of thing that enrages her. Just look how colossally pissed she was that Is0bel and Gobbet brought us back to her, and that had both better reasoning behind it and is less directly insubordinate. It's all about context. We're here because she sent us here, and it's obvious her goal is to get a few more Wampoan numbers in her rolodex. What the gently caress are a bunch of parking garage attendants going to ask from her? When Taz and Duncan got dragged in front of Kindly Cheng the first time, the issue wasn't that Is0bel and Gobbet brought them there, it's that the entire Honk Kong government was coming after them.
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May 23, 2021 01:58
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Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:It's all about context. We're here because she sent us here, and it's obvious her goal is to get a few more Wampoan numbers in her rolodex. What the gently caress are a bunch of parking garage attendants going to ask from her? This was also, if you recall, a factor even if Taz and Duncan had been abandoned. Kindly was pissed that they came back with that heat at all, it was just twice as bad because there was twice as much heat and also one of her favorite runners took a sniper round through the braincage. Taz and Duncan absolutely were not a factor, and if it was more convenient that they die, they would be dead. Thankfully for them, Kindly saw assets that she could use. If assets see it in themselves to offer up more assets, then - assuming it is not explicitly harmful to Kindly's station the way Strangler Bao striking out on his own was - why would she want to complain?
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May 23, 2021 02:54
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Ever heard the phase "then ask whoever promised you"? You put a good word with the boss, they ain't require to listen.
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May 23, 2021 06:18
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Gun Jam posted:Ever heard the phase "then ask whoever promised you"? You put a good word with the boss, they ain't require to listen. Nah these guys aren't exactly bright. And Kindly could always use some more cannon fodder/chaff. Easy to phrase that as a job offer type favor.
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May 23, 2021 17:04
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achtungnight posted:The killer uses a katana, ninja stealth, and cyber armor? Hope he’s not a supposedly dead veteran of the Shadow Moses Island conflict. I don’t think Taz could take Grey Fox. Now I kinda want to make a street sam with loud-rear end subdermal speakers , so my whole body can blare RULES OF NATURE when the team goes loud.
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May 24, 2021 10:17
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Im not really familiar with the shadowrun lore, what's the deal with renraku red armor?
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May 24, 2021 13:20
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The Red Samurai are Renraku's most elite special forces, hyper-competent and trained very much in the WWII Japanese style of absolute loathing for all things foreign and psychotic loyalty to the corporation. They are people best avoided - https://shadowrun.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Samurai
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May 24, 2021 13:45
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Xun posted:Im not really familiar with the shadowrun lore, what's the deal with renraku red armor? It's what their ultra-elite Red Samurai security forces use, along with katanas.
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May 24, 2021 13:47
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Xun posted:Im not really familiar with the shadowrun lore, what's the deal with renraku red armor? Renraku is a megacorporation which, like all megacorporations, employs a number of people to solve various problems. The Red Samurai are the group of people they train and call onto to solve problems of the "that person and everyone they ever knew need to be diced into very small cubes, sharpish. No matter where they hide and how much army stands between you and them." variety. They emphatically don't gently caress around. raverrn posted:They are people best avoided Precisely. In the same way that polonium is best not consumed. Kobal2 fucked around with this message at 13:55 on May 24, 2021 |
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May 24, 2021 13:52
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Kobal2 posted:Renraku is a megacorporation which, like all megacorporations, employs a number of people to solve various problems. The Red Samurai are the group of people they train and call onto to solve problems of the "that person and everyone they ever knew need to be diced into very small cubes, sharpish. No matter where they hide and how much army stands between you and them." variety. You hire Shadowrunners for deniable ops where you can pretend you had nothing to do with it. Renraku sends in the Red Samurai when they want to make it absolutely clear that yes, they're the ones who did this because they are very upset with the target and want to make it very clear that whatever the target did was not acceptable and had better not be repeated. By anyone.
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May 24, 2021 14:06
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kaosdrachen posted:You hire Shadowrunners for deniable ops where you can pretend you had nothing to do with it. And suppose one of these lunatics gets ghouled... Oh dear. That kind of psychosis would also accord with the perfunctory sense of satisfaction the killer got, someone trained in that mindset probably would see it as just a job.
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May 24, 2021 14:11
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What really sets corporate elite apart from the regular security grunts in the sixth world (besides higher stats and probably having Edge like a player) is that they're proactive, not reactive. Red Samurai or Firewatch will use the kind of offensive tactics that runners do - they won't blink at setting off explosives in public, for example.
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May 24, 2021 14:15
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If the Whampoans have Red Samurai after them then they extremely hosed up, but if Renraku sent them then there shouldn't need to be an investigation into who is responsible because, as stated above, it is intentional for Red Samurai to be obvious when deployed. Also bizarre that HKPD would try to go after one. Whether or not you by into the hype of how dangerous Red Samurai actually are, your rank and file corp cops sure as poo poo aren't willing to test it if they know that's what they are up against. Excited for the next updates to see what the gently caress is going on here.
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May 24, 2021 16:53
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which is why a swat team armed for bear got utterly wrecked by one
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May 24, 2021 17:08
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wiegieman posted:What really sets corporate elite apart from the regular security grunts in the sixth world (besides higher stats and probably having Edge like a player) is that they're proactive, not reactive. Red Samurai or Firewatch will use the kind of offensive tactics that runners do - they won't blink at setting off explosives in public, for example. And if you've managed to catch their attention, it's rather unlikely that they'll let you go because it means you've done some serious damage to their employers, or you have something they really want, or something similar. Having something they want is probably the best case scenario since they'll probably stop coming after you once they know said thing isn't in your possession anymore. If they're there to punish you, specifically, then your options are either disappear for a very long time or get rid of your current identity (and hide for a very long time), or actually fight back and do enough damage to them that hunting you becomes a sufficient net loss on the corp's balance sheet or state budget that they'll be called off. Note that this does not apply if you're dealing with some of the more fanatical corps or organizations. In that case you should probably just get used to the idea of angry heavily armed people busting into your home and/or hideout at any given time. Might be a good time to invest in bioware that eliminates the need for sleep or develop a serious stims habit. At the very least you might want to wire your place with many pounds of C4 so you've got a painless way out and the satisfaction of taking some of them with you.
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May 24, 2021 17:31
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| # ? May 28, 2024 14:10 |
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bob dobbs is dead posted:which is why a swat team armed for bear got utterly wrecked by one Right, which makes me wonder what the hell they *thought* they were up against, because I doubt anyone would willingly go out against Red Samurai if they had a clue. Even if the individual members of the SWAT didn't know, someone must have realized they were wasting an asset.
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May 24, 2021 18:02
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