Out of Character Thread

[Cyclone]

Hmm.

I'm asking because I've been pondering the mechanics of just how our two government agents are getting into the city.

[Sacremas]

By walking, actually. The main hindrance to getting into Paradise by ground is the security cordon, which is lifted for letting you in of course, but getting out is another matter entirely. While powerful enmasse the thugs and addicts are hardly organized, although a force much larger than a couple of people would get noticed. A spec ops team has already been inserted once with the task of assassinating Mister I, but they never got close even, so you're the covert infiltration option. You're to get to your contact, then try to establish some sort of internal resistance against Mister I's forces, spread some chaos and mess things up, set the gangs up on each other if you can, anything you can to destabilize the situation sufficiently that an armed open response won't get met by a unified force of hundreds of superhumans a few blocks into Paradise.

So all you have to do to get in is to simply walk, during the night and in full camo equipment to avoid the few sentries who keep an eye out for intruders, but still.

[Cyclone]

Err, didn't you mention landmines in the recruitment thread...?

EDIT: Ah, here it is.

It would, but it wouldnt fit in too well I'm afraid; that no-man's-land is covered only in the sense that it's covered with mines, otherwise no one but recon robots (those small tracked remote controlled ones that is, not as in terminators) can get any closer than that, they're that scared of the effects of Ambrosia.

[Sacremas]

Yep, planted by the Homeland Security forces, your side that is, which you'd naturally have a complete map of and be able to circumvent.

[Cyclone]

Um, the only way minelayers would have a detailed map of a minefield they lay is if they laid them individually, which takes a long time and couldn't be the case, given how quickly things in Paradise City deteriorated.  I would have figured air drop mines like in Vietnam for rapid deployment of the mines, in which case, they wouldn't have maps of their specific positions.

Then again, I'm also thinking back to Batman: No Man's Land, where they mined the river and blew up the bridges.

[Shalimar]

They have had a month to set it up and refine it and this is probably one of the nations top priorities if not the highest.

[Cyclone]

But how did they keep people inside the city from watching and making notes of where they put the mines?

[Sacremas]

Smoke carpets, and dozens of mine-layers. 

Mainly however the mines are there to slow down a possible mass exodus of superpowered land-based thugs once Mister I decided he wanted to expand or food became too scarce, not necessarily to cordon up the entire area so that no one could get in and out, just make them a little more apprehensive about heading out in the frst place.

[Cyclone]

Ahh, okay.  Makes sense.

*sigh* I wish there was some way I could crank up Jack's grapple modifier.  His fighting style is grappling based, and he's so gonna suck against the super-strong Ambrosia junkies.

[Sacremas]

Ultimate Grapple? Not sure it's worth it though.

You're not going to be that bad however; average super-strong thug is going to have a 24 Str maybe and 2 ranks of Super Str to go with it and a +3 base attack, total +12, same as your current version of Jack. And that's a guy that can lift over a ton, against someone with just training. The problem comes when you allow them to pile on you, as they tend to do... And of course if you let them win the grapple, they got a tendency to just throw you into the nearest brick wall.

[Cyclone]

Question, can Second Chance be applied to grapple checks?  Or would it have to a specific type of grapple check?

[Sacremas]

Particular type of grapple check. So you can have a Second Chance (Pin), etc.

[Cyclone]

Dreamer, we need to discuss the interactions between Jack and Ella.  Previous meetings, how they wound up partners, opinions of each other, relationships, if any, etc.

And as a totally random note, I think we can all be glad I didn't name my character Sam.

[Radical Dreamer]

I didn't have anything specific in mind.  We could always go with the idea that the two agencies have decided to cooperate and pool their resources since they both have an interest in securing ambrosia.  Better to share with one person then for everyone to go without.

As for prior encounters, Ella is generally the killer with a group in the background giving her support.  She's not a hacker but she can get inside and attach a remote modem to give someone else access.  That kind of thing.  So there's a possible avenue there since Jack has some specialized skills.  Perhaps an instance of bioterrorism?

[unkabear]

I would say that it would be more plausible to have both agencies knowing that the other was going in and due to a lack of trust made arrangements for your two to go in together to make sure that the other did not secure ambrosia without the other (and possibly sabotage the others chance of recovering the drug)