Episode 2.01: Brushfire!

[Davy, aka GM]

In the Apellan Camp...
"Evidence," Styles assures him. "I can't claim to know Yutan well, but his file shows that, in the past, he has been swayed when presented evidence that a tactic or device works. Reducing the enemy's total forces by nearly 20 percent in a single engagement is pretty clear. Hopefully, it'll be enough.

"And, if it isn't, Pelel will make his move."

The pair reach the others and they continue to the main caves, where they find a number of hunt leaders and all of the elders in the camp gathered. While the two security teams stay near the cavern entrance, Styles and Treyva continue toward the center of the cavern, where Yutan, his elders, and the senior hunt leaders are seated.

Pelel stands as they join him, and announces before the assembly, "My chief, I bring you news of a victory against the Village People in their camp, a raid in which six hunting parties wounded a majority of the enemy with the emptying of our guns only once!"

Yutan seems unfazed by the news, even as the elders and hunt leaders around them gasp and murmur in shock and surprise. The war chief looks Pelel in the eyes and asks, "Who else testifies to this happening? Can anyone confirm numbers?"

"My people can," Styles interjects. "I observed the attack first-hand, and my people, using our counting methods, can confirm that 3 in 5 men in the Apellan camp have either been killed or wounded. Pelel's words are no boast. Each man only emptied his gun once in less time than it takes me to walk from one end of this camp to the other, and their position and cover was such an advantage that no enemy shot landed near them."

Styles leans to Treyva and adds quietly, "If you could hop in to confirm numbers and effectiveness of the attack, it'll help us."

Meanwhile, aboard the Drake...
As he and Thadis continue to monitor the Apellan forces, Tobin follows the breaking of the other encampments and the march toward the central camp. Shortly after they converge there, Thadis reports that he's picking up another transmission.

OOC: Okay, what do you want to do? Follow the signal to it's destination? Try to tap into the relay to hear the conversation?

You can try to do both, but the difficulty will be significant. I'll probably make it an extended task if you choose to attempt both.

[Patrick Goodman]

Treyva looked Yutan squarely in the eye. "Pelel and Lawrence speak the truth; I also observed the attack. It was swift, and it was devastating. I'd say that there were perhaps 250 men in that camp; about 150 were killed or hurt."

OOC: Extrapolating numbers. Tobin said about 150 casualties, and Styles just said 3 out of 5, so about 250 total. If that's wrong, tell me and I'll adjust the post.

[Nolmir]

OOC: Tobin's a confident guy, so let's try to do both.

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: It's a close estimate. The sensors would've given you exact numbers, which are on my home laptop (and I'm not home)...I think dead and wounded was 156 (30-something dead) and the total camp population was 253-256 or something...

Yutan nods, his expression neutral, even as the elders around him appear impressed by the results.

An older hunt leader asks, "How does this help us in the greater war?"

"These new weapons allowed Pelel's men to fire fifteen shots in the period they would've been able to fire three with the older rifles. Your reloading time will be faster, too, and you'll be reloading 15 shots when you used to only reload one," Styles continues. "The tactics Pelel used this morning take full advantage of the new rifle's abilities; raids and ambushes from cover, hit-and-run harassment of their columns. You don't have to wait for them to engage you. A quick strike, get the enemy warriors to fire their shots, then finish them off while they're reloading. Each of your hunters will have the ability of five of theirs."

"And when they get guns to match ours?" asks one of the younger hunt leaders.

"That's the whole point; you need to use your advantage now to break their will to fight before they can adapt," Styles counters. "For the last 20 years, they've been slowly, but consistently, expanding their reach and diving you off your traditional hunting grounds. Your settlement is the last one on these hills. This is your chance to take them all back. If you delay, if you don't force peace on your terms, they'll eventually catch up and overrun you. This is your moment. Don't waste it."

He holds Yutan's gaze for several moments before turning away and standing next to Treyva.

OOC: Does Treyva, Cole, or Ally want to add anything to this? It seems to you all to be an open discussion.

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: Okay, choose who will be working the tracing problem and who will be working the tapping problem.

Each will be Reason + Science vs. Difficulty 3, assisted by the ship's Computers + Science.
Work Track: 20
Magnitude: 5
Resistance: 0

However, this is also timed, representing the length of the communication:
Intervals: 12

So, each individual task roll will take 2 intervals (which can be reduced with 1 Momentum on a successful task).

Once you determine who is attempting which task for the Challenge, roll the first round tasks for both Tobin and Thadis.

[Renny]

OOC: i think Cole will be keeping a wary eye on the perimeter at this point so won't join the conversation unless prompted. This situation is making him very nervous

[Nolmir]

OOC: I'll have Thadis tackle the tracing, and Tobin will try to tap it.

This looks pretty tough, so I'll spend some resources to hopefully get a strong start. Thadis will spend one Momentum on Create Opportunity to add a d20, and Tobin will use his Determination on Perfect Opportunity to buy a bonus d20 (Value: Hard work keeps my friends safe). If I remember right, that bonus d20 counts as having rolled a 1 since it was bought with Determination. (Former Initiate means I'll also be able to re-roll the dice pool for Tobin.)

Thadis: Reason 10 + Science 4 (Ship Sensors focus)

Rolled 3d20 : 18, 11, 11, total 40

Ship's Assist: Sensors 9 + Science 2

Rolled 1d20 : 20, total 20

Tobin: Reason 11 + Science 5 (+2 successes from Determination spend)

Rolled 2d20 : 3, 8, total 11

Ship's Assist: Sensors 9 + Science 2

Rolled 1d20 : 20, total 20

[Doug Burke]

OOC: Ally is following Cole's lead and just being watchful.

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: Acknowledging the spending of Tobin's point of Determination for a Perfect Opportunity, and 1 Momentum on behalf of Thadis to Create Opportunity. Also, I forgot to drop the Momentum Pool by 1 for the new scene, so you start the Extended Task with 5 Momentum.

Now, it looks like the ship's computer system is having some issues.

First, Thadis gets 2 Successes vs. Difficulty 3, and a Complication from the ship assist. This is a failure, and takes 2 Intervals. The Complication is an Unforeseen Problem, and increases the Resistance of the Extended Task starting with the 2nd round of task rolls.

Second, Tobin gets 4 Successes vs. Difficulty 3, and a Complication from the ship assist. Success, plus 1 Momentum generated, and the task takes 2 Intervals. The Complication will be Computer Fault, and will increase the Difficulty of any task that is assisted by the Drake's Computer system. You could reroll Tobin's task dice pool (and his dice only...not Thadis, nor either of the ship assists), but I think you rolled rather well and would be hard pressed to improve on your result.

Please roll for Work completed. Tobin's Science Discipline of 5 gives him 7 [CD]. You also have 1 Momentum to spend. (Remember, you can use 2 Momentum or Threat to remove each Complication, and you can use 1 Momentum or Threat to reduce the Interval cost of a successful task by 1.)

Thadis notices the transmission from the relay is on some sort of scrambler that's making their tasks more difficult. It'll require greater care to work through the system's interference. Despite this, and a sudden system-wide fault in the ship's computer hampering things, Tobin's diligent attention to detail helps him make some progress in his tap-in to the relay.

OOC: Just on a side note, Collaboration allows you to spend 1 Momentum on each of Thadis' tasks to substitute Tobin's 5 Science for Thadis' 4 Science. It's a small help (5%), but it may be useful. Also, had Tobin worked the trace problem, you could've invoked Testing a Theory to get a free d20 to add to your dice pool, since he had done that before this episode.

And, since this is a challenging Extended Task, you may wish to, in addition to getting rid of the complications, purchase an Advantage for the remainder of the Extended Task. (I know that's a lot of Momentum/Threat to spend.)

Status
Tasks: Reason + Science vs. Difficulty 3, assisted by the ship's Computers + Science.
Work Track: 20 (pending reduction from Tobin's Work roll)
Magnitude: 5
Resistance: 0 (+2 from pending Complication)
Intervals: 12 (-4, pending momentum spend)

Current
Momentum 4 (1 pending, Tobin)
Threat 11

Well-Oiled Machine Advantage (when a PC or supporting character assists a PC on a shipboard task)
More Aggressive Strategy Advantage (Tyreen)
Educated Guess Advantage (when using ship's sensors to actively scan for cloaked ships)
Smoothing Things Over Advantage (when attempting to calm ruffled feathers over Styles' raid of the Apellan camp)
Computer Fault Complication (any task that is assisted by the Drake's Computer system)

[Nolmir]

OOC: Ugh, stinkin' computer! Let's spend the 2 Momentum to buy off the Complication. And yeah, it pains me to spend all that Momentum, but I think it'd be worth it to buy an Advantage to decrease the difficulty, especially since those 20s put us behind the 8-ball. Maybe something like "Coordinated Sensors Usage?"

Tobin's Challenge Dice roll:

Rolled 7d6 : 6, 6, 5, 5, 6, 1, 4, total 33

[Nolmir]

Breakthrough! Very nice!

[Patrick Goodman]

Damn, that's a lot of Effects....

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: Unfortunately, Tobin doesn't have anything that can take advantage of the Effects. Still, 6 Work vs. 0 Resistance (this round). 1 Breakthrough recorded!

Noted that you're spending 2 Momentum to counter the Computer Fault Complication, and 2 Momentum to Create Advantage (Coordinated Computer Usage), which will reduce the Difficulty of all tasks related to this current Extended Task.

Status
Tasks: Reason + Science vs. Difficulty 3, assisted by the ship's Computers + Science.
Breakthroughs: 1
Work Track: 20 14
Magnitude: 5
Resistance: 0 2
Remaining Intervals: 12 8

Tobin catches the fault early and is able to bypass it quickly; his fix also serves to smooth the operating processes between the two tasks.

OOC: Okay, second around of tasks, now vs. Difficulty 2, thanks to the new Advantage. Also, remember that you're now at Resistance 2 for all Work completed going forward.

Current
Momentum 1
Threat 11

Well-Oiled Machine Advantage (when a PC or supporting character assists a PC on a shipboard task)
More Aggressive Strategy Advantage (Tyreen)
Educated Guess Advantage (when using ship's sensors to actively scan for cloaked ships)
Smoothing Things Over Advantage (when attempting to calm ruffled feathers over Styles' raid of the Apellan camp)
Computer Fault Complication (any task that is assisted by the Drake's Computer system)
Coordinated Computer Usage Advantage (all task rolls for current Extended Task to trace and tap the current Klingon communication)

[Nolmir]

OOC: OK, here's Round Two.

Thadis: Reason 10 + Science 4 (Ship Sensors focus)

Rolled 2d20 : 15, 15, total 30

Ship's Assist: Sensors 9 + Science 2

Rolled 1d20 : 12, total 12

Tobin: Reason 11 + Science 5

Rolled 2d20 : 14, 19, total 33

Ship's Assist: Sensors 9 + Science 2

Rolled 1d20 : 7, total 7

[Nolmir]

OOC: Dangit, Thadis! So close and yet so far on all of his task rolls. Looks like Tobin succeeded, though, so I'll go ahead and roll his [CD] now.

Rolled 7d6 : 1, 5, 5, 3, 5, 1, 1, total 21