The P-Files

"Vodun?" Whisper said under her breath. She looked at Clue Seeker, "You're right that it might be best to avoid trouble but....what if somepony alone came across these guys? And if they've already seen us, well, I don't want to get ambushed in a dark alley. Maybe we should just try talking to them?"

Ramsus wrote:"Vodun?" Whisper said under her breath. She looked at Clue Seeker, "You're right that it might be best to avoid trouble but....what if somepony alone came across these guys? And if they've already seen us, well, I don't want to get ambushed in a dark alley. Maybe we should just try talking to them?"

"See that big one?" Clue Seeker said as he pointed with his eyes. "They call him Zimbabwe and he seems to have a grudge against ponies."

Clue Seeker shifted his eyes back to Whisper. "We shall hold, unless they're bold... No time for a fight, not tonight. We must reunite, before morning light - but I will not retreat, not from pony heat. Not this time, not while I rhyme. Does that mean anything to you?"

---

OOC: Vodun?

((Not even gonna bother on a perception check I'll most likely botch at this hour so Blade here is just going off of what the group is saying.))

After waiting to hear what everypony had to say Blade in his normal tone of voice said, "Black magic? Skulls? A strong dislike for ponies? Maybe we should put a stop to them here, before they hurt somepony," to the party taking a few steps forward, his wings naturally extending to their maximum width, in what any pegasi would instantly recognize as an aggressive wing position. "Whisper's right I'd guess if one lone pony wandered over here they could be in a lot of danger around these guys. Lets go talk to them, and if they're looking for trouble well... I'd say they'd found it," he finishes turning his head around and giving a little wink to the rest of the party. Blade knows its his duty to protect those who can't protect themselves, and that sometimes to accomplish that you need to take the initiative yourself.

((that last line is just there to give you guys some insight into blades reasoning for this, gonna slightly elaborate on this post in the OCC thread, nothing super important just character behavioral pattern stuff n whatnot))

OOC:Coffee going to try to find a good hiding place. If he rolls high, he'll stay, otherwise he'll roll endurance and keep running.
Roll(1d20)+6:
7,+6
Total:13
Nope, no good hiding places, he'll keep running.

Roll Endurance
Roll(1d20)+11:
16,+11
Total:27

Cardbo wrote:OOC:Coffee going to try to find a good hiding place. If he rolls high, he'll stay, otherwise he'll roll endurance and keep running.
Roll(1d20)+6:
7,+6
Total:13
Nope, no good hiding places, he'll keep running.

Roll Endurance
Roll(1d20)+11:
16,+11
Total:27

((LOL - but don't forget to specify what route Coffee's taking too. I'm assuming he's trying to make his way through an alley - or is he taking the street? Also, in hindsight, I just noticed that running is actually specified under Stunts/Acrobatics - but I think Endurance should also be useful in this situation too, so we'll just roll with it.))

As Coffee continues running through the night, he hears at least one set of hooves clomping up the pavement behind him, and Captain Force yelling "YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE COWARD!"

((What we're going to do now Cardbo is have a prolonged series of checks to determine if you can outrun the mayhem patrol. First group to succeed at a set number wins the race. Keep in mind, you can be making perception checks to look for hiding places, or athletics/acrobatics checks to do any fancy maneuvering to try to lose them - but it will slow you down some, making your subsequent Endurance check a bit harder.))

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Chitin keeps her eyes locked on the Zebras, but they've made no move to confront you - as of yet. They seem to be watching you just as closely as Chitin watches them, waiting for your group to make the first move.

((FYI - Clue Seeker might have rolled a cutie-mark critical on Perception, but he still can't see in the dark [you need a specific skill for that]. Only Chitin can really make out the Zebras for now. Also keep in mind that it is dark, and only one of your party has nightvision. If you get into a fight, I will give everypony (besides Chitin) a minor penalty of some kind to emphasize that.

-Just wanted to throw that out there.))

"I DON'T NEED TO HIDE IF I RUN WELL ENOUGH!"

OOC:Coffee's running along the sidewalk of the Equinade North. And knocking down trash cans as he passes them.
Do I need to roll for knocking down trashcans?

Also at the same time he prepping Mirage for an image of himself that head off in a different direction.
Endurance Check.
Roll(1d20)+11:
4,+11
Total:15

((Can the zebras seen in the dark though? I don't think they necessarily can any better than we can. Well, it's possible they have that utility too but....*shrug* If not it'd probably be better to just give Chitin a bonus instead of giving everyone a penalty.))

Whisper scratched her chin with her hoof in thought, "Hmmmmm, I guess Blade Blocker and I agree but, you ponies are my guests and I wouldn't be being a proper cupcake, er... I mean hostess, if I drag you into trouble against your wills. So, Dawn, Clue Seeker, if you want to try and sneak past them, that's fine but, if Blade Blocker decides to go confront them, I'll support him."

(( Oh, and if Coffee Mug would fail the last check he needs without it, Whisper will spend her last magic point on Generosity. What? I don't see where in the rules it says I have to be aware of the skill roll being made. It might with aiding another skill with your skill check but, Generosity is entirely it's own thing. ))

Cardbo wrote:"I DON'T NEED TO HIDE IF I RUN WELL ENOUGH!"

OOC:Coffee's running along the sidewalk of the Equinade North. And knocking down trash cans as he passes them.
Do I need to roll for knocking down trashcans?

Also at the same time he prepping Mirage for an image of himself that head off in a different direction.
Endurance Check.
Roll(1d20)+11:
4,+11
Total:15

((Sure. I'll allow you to knock over trashcans as a free action and focus on prepping the Mirage, but it'll give you a penalty to your Endurance checks...))

Charging up his magic and knocking over trashcans as he ran was apparently taking a lot more out of Coffee than he'd imagined - he stumbled and nearly fell, but then caught himself and kept galloping.

In the time it took to right himself though, Force and her cronies had made some ground. As Coffee glanced back, he could see them by the light of the streetlamps, all closing in on him. The pegasus leapt into the sky as the unicorn's horn began to glow a dark red. There was a flash of crimson, Coffee felt a physical wave of magical force wash over him - and every light on the block went dead, leaving the shadows free to swallow them all in their dark embrace.

((Lock rolled a cutie-mark critical on his Arcana check!))

Ramsus wrote:((Oh, and if Coffee Mug would fail the last check he needs without it, Whisper will spend her last magic point on Generosity. What? I don't see where in the rules it says I have to be aware of the skill roll being made. It might with aiding another skill with your skill check but, Generosity is entirely it's own thing.))

((Nice try Ramsus, but you gotta know I'm not gonna allow that. You're across town - and it's hard to be generous when you're miles away from your target. Since the party's split, you can't effect Coffee's actions at all. He is truly on his own... BWAHAHA!

-And BTW, I forgot to mention, you guys unlocked a new achievement: LET'S SPLIT UP, GANG!

Tell me if you've heard this one before, but...

Spoiler:

^There used to be a PMV, but they must have taken it down. I can't find it anywhere...))

((Awwwwww..... just know it is all your fault that there is now no "And cut to a frame of Whisper's Generosity-sense tingling"! Meanyface!

Yeah, I have heard that. It came up in Split the Party Zarhon's Game. I believe someone linked the PMV to it there too.))

XandZero2 wrote:
There was a flash of crimson, Coffee felt a physical wave of magical force wash over him - and every light on the block went dead, leaving the shadows free to swallow them all in their dark embrace.

((Lock rolled a cutie-mark critical on his Arcana check!))

OOC:Ok, do these guys have night vision? Otherwise they've just hampered themselves as much as they've hampered me. Speaking of which, just how dark out here is it?

And how reasonable would it be based on Coffee's knowledge of Arcana to whip up, assuming he stopped prepping Mirage,
*Nightvision for himself.
*Magical grapple beam to pull himself up to the roof of an apartment.
*Magically reinforce my legs to run better. Can I use his "Strengthen Substance" Utility Talent for that?

Cardbo wrote:
OOC:Ok, do these guys have night vision? Otherwise they've just hampered themselves as much as they've hampered me. Speaking of which, just how dark out here is it?

((Night Vision...?

Could be...

-And it's pretty dark, what with it being after midnight, and there being no lights around for quite a ways. You can make out a few clusters of stars shining down on the street, but it's a cloudy night and the moon's been covered by a blanket of thick, black velvet. You can't see more than a few feet in front of you.))

Cardbo wrote:And how reasonable would it be based on Coffee's knowledge of Arcana to whip up, assuming he stopped prepping Mirage,
*Nightvision for himself.
*Magical grapple beam to pull himself up to the roof of an apartment.
*Magically reinforce my legs to run better. Can I use his "Strengthen Substance" Utility Talent for that?

((I'd say Nightvision would be impossible without using a Magic Point, as that's specifically what the Element of Magic's there for. The Magic Grapple Beam (MGB) would be extremely difficult (but not necessarily impossible) since the magic would be complex and you can't even see the roofs of any of the apartments all that well right now. I think magically reinforcing your legs would likely be the easiest option if you use "It's Witchcraft," but I'll also point out that you don't seem to have "Strengthen Substance" on your character sheet. I'm reading "Weaken Substance."

-If you want to turn your knees to jelly though, by all means (;

I'm feeling extremely evil right now...))

XandZero2 wrote:
((I'd say Nightvision would be impossible without using a Magic Point, as that's specifically what the Element of Magic's there for. The Magic Grapple Beam (MGB) would be extremely difficult (but not necessarily impossible) since the magic would be complex and you can't even see the roofs of any of the apartments all that well right now. I think magically reinforcing your legs would likely be the easiest option if you use "It's Witchcraft," but I'll also point out that you don't seem to have "Strengthen Substance" on your character sheet. I'm reading "Weaken Substance."

-If you want to turn your knees to jelly though, by all means (;

I'm feeling extremely evil right now...))

D'OH! Can he use 'It Witchcraft' to strengthen his legs?

EDIT: Since its after Midnight, does he get his Magic Point back?

EDIT: Since its after Midnight, does he get his Magic Point back?

A day is from when the character wakes up until he goes to sleep. Otherwise, one could say: "Okay, I use my magic point 10 seconds before midnight. And now it's 2 seconds after midnight so I use it again!"

OOC: Will post what Clue Seeker does in a moment. First pizza

Demonu wrote:

EDIT: Since its after Midnight, does he get his Magic Point back?

A day is from when the character wakes up until he goes to sleep. Otherwise, one could say: "Okay, I use my magic point 10 seconds before midnight. And now it's 2 seconds after midnight so I use it again!"

OOC: Will post what Clue Seeker does in a moment. First pizza

That really not applicable here. Coffee doesn't have a normal sleep scheduled. He tends to be Night Owl. He could conceivably have been awake after Midnight the previous day, hence all his naps during the day.

EDIT:Just to clarify, he's an astronomer. He works at night and sleeps during the day. Conceivably, he could've gotten his MP back hours ago.

Cardbo wrote:

Demonu wrote:

EDIT: Since its after Midnight, does he get his Magic Point back?

A day is from when the character wakes up until he goes to sleep. Otherwise, one could say: "Okay, I use my magic point 10 seconds before midnight. And now it's 2 seconds after midnight so I use it again!"

OOC: Will post what Clue Seeker does in a moment. First pizza

That really not applicable here. Coffee doesn't have a normal sleep scheduled. He tends to be Night Owl. He could conceivably have been awake after Midnight the previous day, hence all his naps during the day.

The point still stands that the basic magic point is giving by a sleep/day cycle and not the exact time on the clock.

Demonu wrote:

Cardbo wrote:

Demonu wrote:

EDIT: Since its after Midnight, does he get his Magic Point back?

A day is from when the character wakes up until he goes to sleep. Otherwise, one could say: "Okay, I use my magic point 10 seconds before midnight. And now it's 2 seconds after midnight so I use it again!"

OOC: Will post what Clue Seeker does in a moment. First pizza

That really not applicable here. Coffee doesn't have a normal sleep scheduled. He tends to be Night Owl. He could conceivably have been awake after Midnight the previous day, hence all his naps during the day.

The point still stands that the basic magic point is giving by a sleep/day cycle and not the exact time on the clock.

Exactly! He's an astronomer. He works at night and sleeps during the day.

Cardbo wrote:

Demonu wrote:

Cardbo wrote:

Demonu wrote:

EDIT: Since its after Midnight, does he get his Magic Point back?

A day is from when the character wakes up until he goes to sleep. Otherwise, one could say: "Okay, I use my magic point 10 seconds before midnight. And now it's 2 seconds after midnight so I use it again!"

OOC: Will post what Clue Seeker does in a moment. First pizza

That really not applicable here. Coffee doesn't have a normal sleep scheduled. He tends to be Night Owl. He could conceivably have been awake after Midnight the previous day, hence all his naps during the day.

The point still stands that the basic magic point is giving by a sleep/day cycle and not the exact time on the clock.

Exactly! He's an astronomer. He works at night and sleeps during the day.

That's going to clash with his professor job.

Demonu wrote:

Cardbo wrote:

Exactly! He's an astronomer. He works at night and sleeps during the day.

That's going to clash with his professor job.

Yes, He going to have trouble adjusting to his new schedule. He's going to be really cranky and groggily in the morning, but for the moment, he's still operating under his current sleep schedule.

"Sneaking is kinda my thing, but they already know we're here. It looks like they're just sizing us up right now though." Chitin was silent for a moment watching them. "I don't think they'll get in the way if we try to leave, the sack looks empty so they probably haven't done anything yet and with their faces painted up like that, they're probably pretty safe in guessing we won't be able to bring any kind of authorities back on them if we leave now and they do do something. Why bother getting in a fight and potentially getting hurt and having a sudden injury for the cops to track you by if you get no repercussions from letting a few witnesses go?"

---

((not to be rude but can we possibly take the discussion about magic points to the OOC thread if it's going to continue? It's getting close to a full page in length.))

Dr Blight wrote:"they're probably pretty safe in guessing we won't be able to bring any kind of authorities back on them if we leave now and they do do something"

"But that's exactly my point! Confronting them right here and now is the only chance we have if they're planning something nasty. The police aren't going to be able to find these guys. If we just sneak away they'll be free to do whatever they want, and I don't wanna hear on the news tomorrow that some innocent pony got beaten and mugged because I wasn't stallion enough to stop them," he said in a slightly angrier tone of voice, frustrated at the very idea of such a thing happening. Then he took a deep breath and a few moments to try and calm down, and folded his wings back against his sides. "... I don't want to put you in danger Ms. Dawn so if you're not comfortable in a fight then please hide, but you'll need to give me much better reasons than some injuries and being more noticeable on police records if you expect me to do the same."

---

((Yeah, like Dr Blight said, can you move that to OCC thread? No need to clog up our pretty campaign thread with OCC posts unless at least some of what you're saying is in character, right?))

Chitin tilted her head slightly, never taking her eyes off the zebras. "Technically, standing in front of a house with a sack and wearing face paint is not a crime, meaning if we attack them, we'll be the ones pinned with unprovoked assault. You've seen the police in this town, and we didn't exactly get off on a good hoof with them. They'd probably jump at the chance to lock us all up as payback for the show earlier." Chitin tapped her hoof for a moment. "I don't really have a problem with fighting... I just think it's a bad idea right now and if we have the option to avoid it, which we do seem to, we should. They've been polite enough to not jump us while we talk about all this so they're probably not looking for a fight." Chitin chuckled a little to herself. "Besides, judging from what they're carrying. They'd probably be breaking in and robbing a place, not mugging anypony.

---

((Sorry for the quick post XD but I really wanted to say that.))

"Um...I don't think we should want to get in a fight. But, I don't want to let them just rob somepony. If that's even what they're up to. I just think we should talk to them." Whisper interjected nervously.

OOC: if you guys look at my precious post, you'll see Clue Seeker whispered the rhyme the zebras said to Whisper. Of course, he didn't said it to Dawn Trek and Blade Blocker and retconning it now would be kind of silly and severe meta-gaming. So let's just roll with what we got. I do believe confrontation is inevitable but let's see where it goes.

Also, where is it mentioned they are wearing face paint and sacks? I didn't get that in my epic Perception check. Unless I needed nightwatch for that of course...

And I haven't read the pegasus wings' fic but I plan to.

---

"Fighting is never the answer." Clue Seeker muttered as he saw Blade Blocker raise his wings in a defensive gesture. "As my grandpapa used to say: you can fight all your battles by running and jumping."

Clue Seeker moved a couple of steps so he could reach Blade Blocker and nudged him on the shoulder. "Besides, if we make the first move, we'll be labeled the agressor and they'll have every right to report us to the police." Clue Seeker extended his hoof to pull down Blade Blocker's wing so he could look him in the eye. "And you might have noticed we're not exactly liked by the police as of lately."

Clue Seeker let go of the wing "I think it's best to just walk past them and if they address us, to talk with them and nothing more." But right after saying this, his mouth curled up in what some might perceive as a wicked smile. "Of course, if they attack us first, we can always claim it was legitimate self-defense."

At Clue Seeker's comment about the police not liking them Whisper herselfed mournfully, "Sorry."

"Ok, so...we will try to sneak right past them and converse if addressed and defend ourselves if we must. That should be good for everyone right? Ok, here we go then!" She then hummed the first few notes of the Mission Impossible theme and tried to subtly sneak right past the zebras. ((Stealth: 5+3 = Derp!)) Of course she did this by overtly high hunched tiptoeing, timed to the music she was still humming, occasionally quickly jumping behind what cover there was (ignoring if it actually blocked line of sight for the zebras), and even once trying to stealthily crawl through the grass that probably wouldn't have hid an abandoned shoe. It didn't much help that she was primarily clean sock white and in the best of cases her version of stealth would be being mistaken for a ghost and ignored by people who didn't wish to believe what they thought their eyes were telling them.

((lol, I would follow a cutie mark critical with a derp....))