Scion: Hero (OOC)

[Justanotherhero]

From my side of course. I would not want to start a fight with a civilian out in the open.

[Kaworu]

Hm... you know... I have a power of paralyzing someone with my gaze - maybe we can use that, and then, I dunno... apply handcuffs (do we have something like that?) and try to reason with her?

Just a proposal, ofc ;-)

[DeTess]

Hm... you know... I have a power of paralyzing someone with my gaze - maybe we can use that, and then, I dunno... apply handcuffs (do we have something like that?) and try to reason with her?

Just a proposal, ofc ;-)

Then we'd be better of using Liliana's geas instant hypnosis knack.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Depending on how this shakes out, Brand will try to surreptitiously Vigil Brand her as well.

[Kish]

Okay, I have a possibly-not-needed clarification to offer, and a clarification to request.

Serpent's Gaze will stop her from breaking eye contact as long as Mateusz doesn't break it, and inflict a -2 dice penalty on anything she does in the meantime (assuming she doesn't have Legend at least equal to Mateusz's). It will guarantee she doesn't go anywhere (because she can't break eye contact) but not guarantee she doesn't attack anyone (and she can still see Max out of her peripheral vision unless Mateusz makes a point of blocking him from her view).

Clarification request: Max's stated activation condition is her taking a hostile action against him. If she were to, say, attack Mateusz, would that draw a reaction from Max?

(Liliana is still the one up now, in any event.)

[DeTess]

Willpower is 5/7 now.

Not sure if I can do this without breaking mateusz ability.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Serpent's Gaze will stop her from breaking eye contact as long as Mateusz doesn't break it, and inflict a -2 dice penalty on anything she does in the meantime (assuming she doesn't have Legend at least equal to Mateusz's). It will guarantee she doesn't go anywhere (because she can't break eye contact) but not guarantee she doesn't attack anyone (and she can still see Max out of her peripheral vision unless Mateusz makes a point of blocking him from her vision.

Wait, doesn't Serpent's Gaze force Inactivity on the victim?

[Kish]

Ah yes, I misread. It doesn't force inactivity on Mateusz. She's frozen for now, but yes, Liliana will need to break it so she can make eye contact with the woman.

[Benoojian]

Okay, I have a possibly-not-needed clarification to offer, and a clarification to request.

Clarification request: Max's stated activation condition is her taking a hostile action against him. If she were to, say, attack Mateusz, would that draw a reaction from Max?

(Liliana is still the one up now, in any event.)

Technically Guard is a 3 tick action (which I am taking at tick 1 and tick 4) that can be interrupted on any tick for any reason, it doesn’t require setting up a trigger. I was just making clear that if she attacks me I will respond. I still have the ability to choose to break guard to respond to other actions. And since we declare in reverse order of the original roll (is that right or I am thinking werewolf rules) I declare my action after the old lady.

[Kish]

There's no declaring actions in advance of taking them in Scion. People who act on the same tick act simultaneously, which can mean two people attack each other and both die. Both Guard and Aim can be interrupted in favor of another action at any time, but as this game isn't taking place in real time, I'm not going to pause after every tick to ask people taking interruptible actions "do you do something else now?" so please describe the conditions under which you'll interrupt such actions when taking them.

[DeTess]

@Kish, something I want to highlight in the instant hypnosis ability is that normal mortals have to take the command in the spirit it was intended in (in this case: provide information).

Those with a legend score however can rules lawyer it and take it literally.

Since she seems to be doing the latter, can I presume she is not a normal mortal?

[Kish]

The Scion can give as specific an order as he pleases, and a mortal cannot interpret it in any way other than the spirit in which it was intended. A fellow Scion can interpret it loosely to his own advantage, as per Overt Order, but doing so costs him a point of Willpower.

She's not resisting; I can have her give longer answers though.

[DeTess]

She's not resisting; I can have her give longer answers though.

If you could? I'd appreciate it.

[Kish]

There. She's not going to elaborate greatly unprompted, for...reasons, but you can--any of you can, for that matter--give a general idea of what information you're asking her about instead of specific dialogue questions, if you want, and she'll answer pretty much anything now.

[Benoojian]

Intelligence Occult (6d10)[4][3][9][2][6][7](31) +2 Epic successes

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Int + Occult
(2d10)[7][6](13)

[PoeticallyPsyco]

+2 Epic Int

[DeTess]

(8d10)[4][8][9][2][6][1][10][7](47) +2 epic int

Also, once we're done questioning her I do have a followup that should deal with her urge to kill us(modifying her memory if this encounter).

[Kish]

Her hostility toward all strangers, her apparent extreme stupidity, and her and others' apparent worship of Mog all suggest probably the most common of titanspawn: a giant.

If you want to get confirmation of that and/or narrow down what type of giant despite her inability to describe Mog's appearance, followup questions that come to mind include:

"Does Mog feed you and the others his blood?"
"Are you certain Mog has two eyes?"
"Does the temperature change close to Mog?"
"Do Mog's features appear sooty?"

[Justanotherhero]

Int (2) + Occult ( 3) + 1 Automatic Success

(5d10)[4][8][2][4][8](26)

[Kish]

If you're whispering loudly enough that the entire group can hear you she's going to hear you, but of course she's 1) currently unable to react, and 2) planning to kill you all anyway.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

So, my tentative suggestion for a plan would be to try to enter via the upper floors (assuming Mog is on the first floor), that way we can probably take out several of the thralls while they're (relatively) isolated. Even if Mog has most of them waiting on him, it's likely that some would be 'off-duty' elsewhere in the house. If we're really lucky, we might even be able to maintain stealth while doing so.

Brand is a grappler and a tank; he should at the very least be able to keep Mog occupied, and maybe even lock him down completely, especially if Brand gets a free clinch in due to Mateusz using Serpent's Eye on the giant.

EDIT: Should also add that Brandon, with his high strength and Holy Bound knack, can easily ferry people up to the roof (he's got a 20 yard vertical leap; easily enough to clear 3 stories). Along with Julian's rope and other equipment, that should let us enter and navigate the precarious 3rd floor.

The neighbors will probably notice and call the cops on us, but in this part of town, their response time has gotta be pretty low, and that'll drop further if they suspect it's a prank call (for instance, if the caller claims that someone is jumping to and from a 3rd story roof). Should be plenty of time to fight and retrieve the dagger, though getting away might be tight.

[Kaworu]

(6d10)[4][5][3][1][2][2](17) + 2 Automatic Successes

[Kish]

None of you know a means of breaking thralldom, other than killing the giant and waiting weeks for it to wear off. The higher the roll you just made, the more certain you are that nothing like that is within your reach. Liliana thinks full Aesir gods might be able to do it.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Can I spend 5XP for a Knack now? I was hoping to pick it (Fight With Your Head) up along with a third point of Epic Int after increasing Brand's Legend, but this seems like a 'grab every possible advantage' fight. Unless we're getting more XP before the fight, that is.

[Kish]

Yes, that's fine.

[Benoojian]

Are we going to try to assassinate the giant and save the thralls, because if we're fast enough and escape they will eventually recover, but they WILL try to kill us in the meantime?

Or are we going to storm the entire house?

Or are we going to try to negotiate with Mog?


Edit: Also Max has the Strength knacks for Unarmed damage not the ones for easily destroying scenery, but he has 2 epic strength and okay strength so he can probably knock a door in just fine

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Are we going to try to assassinate the giant and save the thralls, because if we're fast enough and escape they will eventually recover, but they WILL try to kill us in the meantime?

Or are we going to storm the entire house?

Or are we going to try to negotiate with Mog?


Edit: Also Max has the Strength knacks for Unarmed damage not the ones for easily destroying scenery, but he has 2 epic strength and okay strength so he can probably knock a door in just fine

The plan so far is to use stealth to try and take out as many of the thralls as we can (nonlethally if possible), working our way down through the house towards Mog in the basement. I fully expect that the alarm will be raised before we get all of them, at which point we'll fight the remaining thralls and Mog (though it's technically possible he'll wait in the basement to see if the thralls will defeat us, out of arrogance or cowardice, letting us fight him separately).

Brand has no intention of negotiating with Mog, since we must kill him anyway to free the thralls. Could still happen as a last resort, I suppose. Brand's geas doesn't require that he succeed at defending the weak, only that he try his best, and if defeating Mog proves impossible it would be better to negotiate for the dagger than to fail all our objectives.

Fun Fact: Most geasa do require that you succeed at their required actions, no matter what kind of extenuating circumstances there are. Brand's Skill Geas, for instance (he has to train someone in Brawl weekly, come hell or high water), or the Child Geas, which requires you to defend children and breaks if you refuse or fail.

[Benoojian]

Max will try to use bashing damage one on one, but will likely switch to lethal when there's more than one enemy on him.

Does anyone have Dots in Medicine to stabilize people who are Dying?

[Kaworu]

Hm... you know... I *think* i miscalculated the cost of one Skill and the "missing" points I could put in Medicine? I mean, I was planning to and I talked here about it, but I am not sure? I mean, I think of that just now... xD

LOL, I am so sorry, I am a problematic player? (:-( )

Alternatively, we can just switch the number of EXP points spend and available on my sheet?

Eh,, now I am afraid that I am an arse... :-(