Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Dissecting a Problematic PC/Player Issue: Tobias

So, I'll start with Tobias' character sheet.

Note: Due to how the character sheet program renders, two of his Electronics Repair skills aren't showing their specialties- Electronic Warfare, Computers,  and Sensors.

For a 300 point character, Tobias has a decent chunk (123 points) slotted into skills. This is great, however I'm sure all of you noticed that he has five different types of Electronics Operation somewhere between skill level 14 and 17. This goes along with also have almost every specialty of Electronics Repair as well. That's 11 skills, 35 points, all with significant overlap. Even with the harsh default of -4 between specialties, Tobias would be rolling at IQ (13) for most Electronics Operation checks (before familiarity penalties and similar circumstantial factors that are largely mitigated by being Cross-Trained).

So there's some hyper specialization going on, and it gets worse when you consider his computer skills. Between Computer Operation, Programming, Cryptography, and Mathematics, he's got another 24 points spent.

59 points in Tech related skills, over half of his budget. Now don't get me wrong, this is a very kick-ass suite of skills for a character, but it has issues:
  • With Cyrptography 17, there's almost nothing Tobias can't crack given enough time. Babysitting a laptop for three weeks while it chugs through encryption keys isn't glamorous or fun. A lot of the information gained isn't immediately relevant or is attainable through social prowess.
  • Tobias' other capabilities with technology are also frightening, approaching skill levels nobody else will conceivably hit as a complete package, ever.
  • That said, with few exceptions, most places don't have tech people savvy enough to deal with a character like Tobias. His real problem is gaining physical access to most machines- past that having him roll is almost a waste of time.
  • Opposed rolls would be great- except I can't justify too many people being as exceptionally skilled as Tobias is at such a small segment of skills.
  • Things become very binary- either he breaks into a system or doesn't. The information is immediately relevant or not- and if it is immediately relevant it's like the players acquired it too easily.
  • An unimaginative player might have difficulty knowing how best to use the character
A character like this is awesome, but only in the hands of a player who brings the right cards to the table:
  • A team player who is okay working out of the lime light in a supportive role
  • It's well suited for someone who frequently has issues playing due to scheduling conflicts. It's very easy to hand-wave their PCs actions compared to somebody, say, trying to schmooze with an oil executive.
  • Even with the above point in mind, this skillset requires a lot of awareness of what is going on.
  • Being able to improvise and think of tactics to achieve a goal is definitely a must.
  • It's well suited to a player who wants to be good at something who doesn't feel compelled to constantly roll dice
This really first came to my attention when Tobias' player was blatantly rolling just too well to actually be rolling. Too many crits, not enough failures, even on tasks rolled at default or against relatively low skill levels in the 10-12 range.

I've spoken with him and offered him the chance to respec things around to something that might fit his preferred play style better, although it would not be campaign ending to lose a player given that the other three are excellent in all regards.

I'm interested in feedback, as I'm definitely not doing a full analysis, mostly focusing on the character's primary niche.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Action Report: Not a Vacation, Damnit

The Agents

Tobias Stöhner: Gray hat hacker and electronics whiz, Tobias makes computer security experts at the Pentagon break out into a cold sweat when he infiltrates their systems.
Virgil Cooke: A former CIA agent, Virgil is a master of acting a part and working the social aspects of covert ops. You probably should avoid windows if he wants you dead.
Jack Herman: Former SAS, Jack is the group's heavy muscle and military man. If the group needs his talents, it's inevitably because something went FUBAR and they need saving.
Nima Caspi: A former IDF combat medic, Nima is perfectly at home driving like a complete maniac and patching up complete maniacs who have taken a bullet or two.
Johnny Trang: Johnny Trang was too cool for LAPD officer school, so they put him into undercover work. Johnny Trang is perfectly at home infiltrating illegal racing rings or snooping on bad guys.

RCP Members:

David Franklin Myers: Assassinated by Jack at Dodgers Stadium. Agency 17 asset.
Danny Jenkins: Captured by Agency 17 and is now enjoying enhanced interrogation techniques at the hands of Egeman Atalar. Was giving information to the CIA.
(Hopefully that helps keep you guys straight who is who).


The Agents were given two weeks to themselves for R&R, even with Logan's suggestion that they use that time to follow leads, research loose ends, and generally try and get a picture of what's going on around them.

The American news media went absolutely nuts over the shooting at Dodger Stadium. We're talking something along the lines of Current Affairs (Headline News) +5 here to see if random Joe Schmoe has heard about it. Thankfully, Agency 17 already had a contingency in mind, leaking a doctored security camera tape to the media while ensuring the real footage was lost.

The rest of the coordinated killings done by the Agents against RCP staff get reported for a week before all mention of them in the press stops- suddenly. News outlets drop the subject, articles that previously spoke about it online throw 404 HTML errors, and print publications refuse to acknowledge or speak about the issue.

Their operation in Brazil isn't mentioned at all in the media circles they follow.


The Agents' break ended up lasting a month. During this time Virgil spends his time in Berlin and Switzerland. Johnny's time was spent in Spain, drinking and hitting on the local women. Jack also lounges around for a month, except he decided to take in the French Mediterranean coast. Tobias spends his time trolling the internet for fun. Nima disappears, returning once the break is over wearing a race car driver fire suit.

Called to Italy to meet with Logan, all of the Agents walked into the room refreshed and ready to go.


A stark contrast to Logan, who was obviously sleep deprived. Mr. Monson, Logan's bodyguard is present, looming and threatening as always.

The Agent's next mission is to protect a woman named Vivian Mercer, who is traveling to the US via a cruise ship. Vivian is believed to be a target of the FSB due to her unique situation- her father was ex-KGB, she currently works within the American Embassy in London, and she may have had a romantic 'entanglement' with Arthur Bingham.


The conversation turns to equipment. It's decided that Nima can likely smuggle silenced pistols on board, but not much else. Tonfas and garrotes make the list, as does a signal booster for the team's radio communication headsets. Additionally, Logan has gotten them VIP passes to ensure that Vivian can't evade them by entering invitation-only clubs or areas of the ship.

Virgil raises an important question during the briefing, asking why Agency 17 is moving forward with the operation given their overall lack of concrete intelligence to work with.

The conversation then takes a turn towards the serious. Agency 17's interest in Vivian could be one of a few things, or even a blend of different motivations:
  • She could be targeted by a group Agency 17 is currently opposed to
  • She could be a target for recruitment by Agency 17 and the Agents are the vetting team
  • Surveillance of her activities to gather information
  • Determining how much Arthur Bingham told her during their past relationship
One of the Agents then point out that Natalia seems to have ended her killing spree across Western Europe about the same time that Danny Jenkins- the captured CIA informant- should be waking up from his medically induced coma. Logan asks Mr. Monson to leave the room, and plays some music on repeat to prevent the bodyguard from eavesdropping.

Logan spent the month that the Agents were on breaking looking into RCP, coming to the conclusion that David Franklin Myers, who was shot by Jack at Dodger's Stadium, was an asset for Agency 17. This statement prompts a flurry of questions from the Agents concerning the electronics that were going into the drilling site as well as whether lines are being crossed within Agency 17.

Logan denies the electronics equipment being A17 issue, instead revealing that Jenkins was cooperating with the CIA, thereby getting too close to Myers who was collaborating with Agency 17. Logan also assures Virgil that the team sent in to toss the RCP office in Brazil wasn't CIA.

Jack asks if killing RCP was intended to camouflage the real target.

"It was likely a move to ensure that anyone David told died along with him." Logan says. "It is one of the two things that concern me. The first is the possibility that our organization has been or will be compromised."
He continues. "The second is what if this was someone shouting fire in a crowded theater, and we killed four American citizens as a response."
 Virgil immediately brings up the moral quandary surrounding bringing a man like Egeman Atalar into the organization.

At this point someone brings up how strange it is that they'd have a mission involving another individual connected with both the Russian mob and British Diplomats, leading the team to crack open the information they stole from Arthur Bingham's laptop.

(Two of my Agents have Intelligence Analysis- Virgil at a 13, Johnny at a 12. Logan's also scary good at it given his activities coordinating field teams during the Cold War.)

What they find looking through the data is startling. Arthur Bingham cast a very wide net when compiling information to plug into his conspiracy theories, and it's clear a lot of the activity attributed by him to Agency 17 wasn't done by Agency 17 at all.

All of the events seem ideologically motivated, purposed towards entrenching the power and wealth of an oligarchy, while destabilizing the world however possible.

 The Agents are now convinced there's another organization at work, one much like Agency 17. They discuss bringing this information to their superiors within Agency 17, before deciding to do the current mission to see where that leads them...

Four days later and the Agents establish themselves on a massive cruise ship, about to begin the search for Vivian Mercer.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Action Report: Extrajudicial Killings

The Agents

Tobias Stöhner: Gray hat hacker and electronics whiz, Tobias makes computer security experts at the Pentagon break out into a cold sweat when he infiltrates their systems.
Virgil Cooke: A former CIA agent, Virgil is a master of acting a part and working the social aspects of covert ops. You probably should avoid windows if he wants you dead.
Jack Herman: Former SAS, Jack is the group's heavy muscle and military man. If the group needs his talents, it's inevitably because something went FUBAR and they need saving.
Nima Caspi: A former IDF combat medic, Nima is perfectly at home driving like a complete maniac and patching up complete maniacs who have taken a bullet or two.
Johnny Trang: Johnny Trang was too cool for LAPD officer school, so they put him into undercover work. Johnny Trang is perfectly at home infiltrating illegal racing rings or snooping on bad guys.


The Agents leave the RCP office where they had the firefight with the intruders. Touching base with Logan, they're directed to fly to Los Angeles, as the information they've uncovered has identified the command structure within RCP that they want removed.


Johnny and Virgil pose as airline pilots deadheading to skip paying for the flight. Nima spends her trip in a murderous rage next to someone who is hogging the armrest. Jack spends the flight being his lecherous self while Tobias continues to work on the files obtained.


Jack is nowhere to be seen for about fifteen minutes after the plane lands. Once he reappears someone points out he's got his shirt on backwards.



Ultimately meeting in an extremely icky motel room, Logan begins to brief them on the next mission, as well as introducing them to Agency 17's Operational Support Specialist in the United States, Ozzy. Ozzy was the guy who took the truck full of drugs when the Agents were stealing from the Los Zetas cartel in Mexico. Ozzy speaks with a Southern twang, and much like Rashad, is a consummate professional.


Logan lays out their targets:
  1. David Franklin Myers, VP of Operations for RCP and Connie's boss. Attending a Dodger's game at Dodger Stadium.
  2. Ny Nguyen, CTO of RCP. Visiting a robotics company to discuss a possible deal.
  3. Ashley Connor, Human Resources. Attending a conference at a ritzy hotel called The Squire. Morbidly obese.
  4. Randal McAvoy, Co-founder of RCP. Participating in a charity golf tournament.
  5. Danny Jenkins, believed to have ties to the US intelligence community. Driving a car in a rally taking place just North of the Los Angeles city borders.
Nima is immediately told that she will be tasked with ensuring wrecking Danny Jenkins during the race.

The Agents discuss which Agent will go after which target. Tobias is immediately selected to go after Ny Nguyen, with the hope that he will be able to abuse the robotics to accomplish the assassination.

Jack is sent to go after David Franklin Myers after it's decided that infiltrating the hotel where Ashley Connor is staying might require more of a personal touch that Jack lacks. Hence, Virgil is tasked with killing Ashley Connor and Johnny is sent to get Randal McAvoy.

Ozzy sets up weapon drops for Dodger Stadium and the Squire, as well as offering Johnny the use of a stolen golf cart should he want to run McAvoy over in a convenient 'accident'. Virgil asks for and receives some GHB, a date rape drug.

The Agents get into position, hoping to time the kills so that none of the victims are aware that they're being targeted at all.

Jack acquires a 'SECURITY' jacket, the kind with the word across the back and slips into Dodger Stadium. Using his military experience, he selects an obscured firing position and sets up with a rifle.

Virgil slips into the Squire and spends most of the time at the bar. After a few questions, he ascertains that Ashley slipped away with a man attending the conference for some no-strings sex. Faking the anxiety of someone seeing his marriage break apart, Virgil convinces the hotel staff to show him the room she booked. He waits outside for her and her partner to finish.

Tobias slips into the robotics facility. He got into the building without trouble, convinced the floor supervisor that he was capable of fixing a 'broken' air conditioner, and then gained access to the their network. He then moved onto the production floor to reprogram the robots themselves as they aren't networked.

Johnny got to the country club and just barely managed to pass himself off as a rich socialite. ("New Money" was his preferred term, while I opted to describe him as a "Country Bumpkin".) Luckily the charity golf event had screens updating in real time, and Johnny made his way over to McAvoy, posing as a replacement caddy.

Virgil executes Ashley once she and her partner are done. He disappears from the hotel after making a slightly feeble attempt at moving the morbidly obese body.

Tobias manages to remove some of the safety limits on a few of the robots when the floor supervisor interrupts him. Throwing a smoke grenade to the ground, it goes off, immediately causing the fire alarm and sprinklers to go off. Tobias is forced to gun Ny Nyugen down in the chaos.

Jack takes his shot and clips David Franklin Myers in the vitals through the private booth glass, dealing in the neighborhood of 30 damage. David fails his HT checks and dies. Dodger Stadium erupts into chaos as Jack makes his mistake. Thankfully, Ozzy was ready, having an ambulance parked by the exit closest to Jack. Jack and Ozzy make their escape, heading to the rally that Nima is about to join in...

McAvoy, a rude and very angry golfer, slices a ball into the bushes and then takes the opportunity to answer the call of nature, asking Johnny to make sure no kids see his private bits. Johnny then gets a wire garotte around McAvoy's neck. After a struggle lasting at least four seconds, Johnny wins the ST contest by 8, going a far way towards removing McAvoy's head. Needless to say, Johnny finds himself drenched in blood and refuses to strip naked and streak across a charity golf tournament.

Tobias ends up driving to the Golf Course so that Johnny can jump an exterior fence and climb into the car.

Meanwhile, Nima joins into the rally, and does a great job causing mayhem, eventually catching Danny Jenkins in a multi-car pileup that she gets away from unscathed. She goes on to win the race while Ozzy and Jack conveniently arrive first to 'assist' him in the ambulance Ozzy got.
"SIR YOU'VE OBVIOUSLY SUFFERED A CONCUSSION WE'RE HERE TO HELP!" Ozzy yells.
Jenkins looks incredulous. "I'm fine, it was just a scratch."
"OOPS, HE'S ACTUALLY UNCONCIOUS!" Ozzy yells, approaching Danny and 'helping' him out of the car by using some of the leftover GHB (fast-acting date rape drug) he got from his shopping trip for Virgil to knock Danny out.

 Logan buys all of the Agents dinner, and then delivers the news that they need to leave the States, pronto. He's sending them to Madrid Spain, and advises them that their next mission might involve an oil tanker. Logan suggests that the Agents begin paying attention to events happening around them, and stresses the need to be able to collect and analyze information efficiently, as Agency 17 oftentimes holds back useful information.

Points Awarded:

  • Johnny: 1 In Stealth, 1 Point to Spend Freely
    Everyone else: 2 Points to Spend Freely
  • Additionally, each agent may add 2 points to a language to reflect their time spent in Europe (Virgil is allowed more flexibility as he currently speaks 10 languages)
  • Each Agent also gets 1 point to spend on Research, Current Affairs or another suitable information gathering skill that is relevant between missions.

Notes:

  • I really wish I had some workable stats for a golf cart. I guess I could research top speeds and weight for an approximation to handle colliding with one, but it's honestly good that Johnny decided to go hands on.
  • Tobias' player has been faking dice rolls since about the time Tobias got shot in Turkey. I listed out all of his 'rolls' for this session: 9, 9, 10, 6, 4, 8, 8, and either an 8 or a 7 that I'm unsure which it is. This has been consistent enough that another player confirmed it when I brought it to their attention, and really contrasts the fun to be had when things go bad.
  • It's easy to forget that Jack (Rifle 17) is just barely a worse sniper than Virgil (Rifle 18) if examining skill alone. Of course, Virgil also has Targeted Attack (Skull) so skull shots are only -3, not -7, and precision aiming. Jack however is the best rounded combatant in the group, boasting multiple overlapping combat skills over 15.
  • Johnny's colorblindness will be slowly going aware over the course of the next mission and it will be completely gone (except maybe for a quirk leftover) at the start of the one after. In fact, the HT-5 check was the best roll of Johnny's night considering he got a 7 and succeeded.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Action Report: Just Business.

I've procrastinated heavily on posting this, for which I apologize. There's another session happening tonight, so more in on the way.

I did some planning before this session that never gelled into enough to post by itself. I'm including it here because someone might find it interesting.

The Factions:

Rand and Charles Petroleum (RCP):
Leader: Connie Nepala
Goal: Install a US-intelligence listening site under the guise of a drilling operation within the Amazon rainforest.
Motivation: $$$, continued existence of the business
Complication: Installing a 'drilling site' has raised the ire of locals and environmentalists alike. Threats of violence and sabotage have made RCP call in a few favors to keep the operation running smoothly. Agency 17 also wants them emasculated, and the US Intelligence Community has leverage that forced them to make the drilling operation go in the first place.

Blue Leaf Company (BLC):
Leader: 'General' Sherman
Goal: Protect RCP interests from angry natives and outside interests trying to stop the drilling operation
Motivation: Getting paid to shoot people, preferably in violation of the Geneva Conventions whenever possible.
Complication: RCP is hoping to cut their monetary losses and cover up what will be installed at the drill site by screwing over the BLC and killing their on-site members.

Niraj Hamid Rashad:
Goal: Poison the BLC barracks
Motivation: Hired by RCP. Also has issues with how BLC violates human rights.
Complication: Is frequently hired by Agency 17 due to his skills with poison.

Pro-drilling Locals:
Leader: Father Kline
Goal: Help RCP construct and run the drilling operation
Motivation: $$$
Complication: Forced conscription of local workforce to clear the road to the drill site has raised the ire of multiple prominent landowners...

Anti-drilling Locals:
Leader: Ernesto, formerly Murchad
Goal: Stop RCP
Motivation: Stopping the encroachment of industrialized society, prevent environmental damage
Complication: A particularly vocal opponent to the drilling, Murchad, has been murdered. This has many questioning if they shouldn't just give up.

US Intelligence:
Goal: Get a listening site in the Amazon
Motivation: Increase surveillance capacity in the area, have the capacity to deny that they knew about RCP's actions.

Agency 17:
Goal: Fuck with RCP and the BLC
Motivation: Revenge for previous slights.

The Agents

Tobias Stöhner: Gray hat hacker and electronics whiz, Tobias makes computer security experts at the Pentagon break out into a cold sweat when he infiltrates their systems.
Virgil Cooke: A former CIA agent, Virgil is a master of acting a part and working the social aspects of covert ops. You probably should avoid windows if he wants you dead.
Jack Herman: Former SAS, Jack is the group's heavy muscle and military man. If the group needs his talents, it's inevitably because something went FUBAR and they need saving.
Nima Caspi: A former IDF combat medic, Nima is perfectly at home driving like a complete maniac and patching up complete maniacs who have taken a bullet or two.
Johnny Trang: Johnny Trang was too cool for LAPD officer school, so they put him into undercover work. Johnny Trang is perfectly at home infiltrating illegal racing rings or snooping on bad guys.

Things started with Johnny (Alias for this mission: Bob Robertson.) preparing to get shown RCP's presence around the town of Varzedos. Virgil and Jack were doing recon during this time while Tobias did some snooping for Murchad's remains.

Earlier that night, Johnny had broken into the town hall and discovered that another government inspector was scheduled to pay the site a visit. Tentative plans between my players were made involving delaying or kidnapping this inspector to prevent their interference.

Plans that promptly ended when he arrived.

Introducing himself as Mr. Rashad to Johnny and Sherman, he claimed to be from Brazil's office of Health Management, there to inspect their facilities, focusing primarily on their food storage and preparation areas.

Rashad and Johnny tear through the entire camp with a fine tooth comb. Johnny fakes his way through the inspection, while Rashad goes through all of the food diligently. Rashad's thoroughness buys Johnny enough time to do some snooping. Sherman is annoyed greatly by this.

Rashad is polite, calm, collected and above all, professional. When pressed by Johnny how he got into his line of work, Rashad tells him simply, "I am the best at what I do, Mr. Robertson."

The search encompasses the local restaurant, the barracks, the supply depot, and the drilling supplies.

Connie makes an appearance, fondly greeting Mr. Rashad and giving Johnny the cold shoulder. Connie, Rashad and Johnny head back to Varzedos- Rashad needs to check the water supply and Johnny claims to need to see permits for the site. She shuts down any attempts by Johnny for smalltalk, making it clear that she does not like his presence on her job site.

About this time, Virgil who has followed Rashad and observed him from the jungle, spots Rashad covertly putting something into the well in the middle of town.

Tobias find's Murchad's body and his laptop inside his house. Murchad had a bunch of friends in various cutthroat groups of ill repute. He was attempting to get one of them involved in the situation surrounding RCP as a way of pressuring them to leave the area.

Johnny meets back up with Sherman to examine the future drilling site. Sherman leads him into the woods, claims that he needs to confess to something, and then draws a gun on Johnny.

The struggle for the gun goes poorly for Johnny when Jack, who had been covering him from the woods, misses his shot on Sherman. Sherman utterly fails his Fright Check (16!), throwing himself to the ground and accidentally hitting his head off a rock, knocking himself out cold.

The decision is made by Johnny and Jack to take Sherman prisoner. A search by BLC forces for their commander goes poorly, as the camouflage used by the Agents allow them to remain entirely hidden.

All of the Agents sans Tobias make their way back to the camp where Gregori and Nima have been staying. Tobias hits up the local bar.

Halfway through his glass of Everclear, the locals and BLC troops start falling sick. En masse. Tobias makes his way to the town hall where Rashad is telling Connie that the health inspection was going fine until the mass sickness hit. He storms off, and Connie politely tells Tobias to fuck off.

Tobias makes his way back to the base camp. The agents talk for a while, and Tobias decides to try and sneak into the town hall to take a peek through Connie's computer. He gets to Connie's office and gets to work.

He hears footsteps as he works. Tobias sends out an SOS over their communications before two goons kick in the door. Tonfas in hand, Tobias disarms one of the goons, only to be promptly shot in the leg.

Connie draws a gun and aims it at the wounded Tobias.

Outside, Johnny, Virgil and Jack approach the town hall. Outside, three guards are standing around, M14s in hand. The agents take time to aim before executing a simultaneous headshot, each agent taking out a goon.

The agents storm the building as Connie and her men are trying to exit. There's a brief exchange of gunfire that leads to Virgil getting a critshot to one goon's head for well over 80 damage, the other goon falling dead as Jack hits him in the unarmored groin and leg.

It's tense as the Agents prepare to try to disarm Connie when Rashad appears behind her and injects her with a syringe. She drops to the floor, out cold.

Rashad and the Agents uneasily come to the understanding that they're not working against one another. (Johnny's player gets a lesson in etiquette- when the guy who poisoned an entire mercenary company warns you that he's got sharps on him, you do NOT want to try and frisk him.)

Connie is out cold, not dead, as she owes Rashad money. Connie was attempting to cut costs by hiring Rashad, having him poison the Blue Leaf Company members, and then blaming the mass deaths on the now dead BLC members, thereby releasing RCP from responsibility for paying them.

Johnny and Tobias toss Connie's office and in the process Johnny manages to blow a fuse AND damage Connie's computer (crit fail on the search check).

The Agents and Rashad make an agreement that they won't seriously harm or kill Connie, while Rashad will allow them to question her. They use Murchad's farmhouse as the dead guy won't complain. Rashad offers to make everyone tea. Everyone refuses.

Connie promptly spills the beans. The Agents learn about RCP's corporate structure, and then step outside to leave. Rashad steps out himself, asking the Agents that they be discrete about his presence, and giving them a message to pass along to their handler. The message simply asks, "Have your bunny hops and rocket jumps improved?"

 (We had a break and the summary resumes from the next session of play.)

The Agents then interrogate Sherman, which drags out a while (real-life time). Most of his information is relatively useless, as BLC's command structure is fairly well documented online, and BLC is not the target organization the Agents are after, at all. The only useful tidbit is that BLC was pressured by an outside influence to take the contractor work without some kind of prepayment.

Nima patches up Tobias' leg, swearing the entire time.

Virgil eventually shoots him to protect the Agents' agreement with Rashad, figuring that Rashad's wrath isn't worth Sherman's possible gratitude.

Tobias and Jack make a trip out to do the demolitions work on RCP's drilling supplies. Tobias discovers a lot of listening equipment- the kind you'd normally find in a van, but souped up and disguised as components of the drilling equipment. Obviously RCP is not purely installing a drilling site here.

After a series of loud explosions, the demolitions work is done.

Virgil and Nima track down the Padre. They find him trying to run from a lynch mob and conclude that their services won't be needed.

The Agents break camp and call Logan:
"This is Logan, your handler. I'm busy making sure that the vast government conspiracies at play don't hit you with a predator drone. Please leave a message after the beep.
BEEEEEP"
Three days later once they've reached civilization, Logan contacts them. They exchange information and Logan instructs them to infiltrate RCP's branch office in Brazil and then fly back to the States- they're going to have a complicated assassination mission to complete.

Surveillance of the branch office by Johnny and Virgil is interrupted when a black ops team breaks inside, shooting the guards. They wait for Jack and Nima to arrive with the rifles and vests. Johnny takes care of the guard outside, ramming him with his SUV a few times and eventually shooting him when he succeeds on two death checks at -26 HP.

Inside, Nima, Virgil and Jack hit the branch office, catching the intruders unaware as the lookout is busy getting vehicular homicided. After a short firefight that again sees Virgil scoring hits to the head, the Agents ransack the office of the materials gathered by the intruders and leave.

Notes:

  • Tobias is stuck with Chronic Pain (Severe, 2 Hours, 12 or Less) [-20] from getting shot in the leg twice. He has the option to buy down the severity and the rate of appearance, which will require fifteen points total. (Ten for the first step, five for the second.)
    I honestly fudged this result- going off the dice rolls Tobias should be living with Missing Legs for [-20]. a move that would effectively end that character's career. Suffering with a 5 point disadvantage, a 15 point tax, and the effects of a 20 point disadvantage seem fair in comparison.
  • Rashad has previously worked with Logan before, and Agency 17 himself.
  • Next mission is going to involve a lot of party splitting- by design.