What would you (or your character) do? #10: The Mugging

[Rage]

Originally posted by Cybernaut

Say to myself, "I've found my new sidekick."

YUSS!!! or I've just found myself a new rival, either way...

[Wormhole]

Originally posted by Chuckg

Baron von Darien -- drops a tip to the police about a guy with a huge weapons stash at apartment such-and-such.

 

(The Baron would love to go search the place himself, but he's a *vampire* -- he can't go in the guy's apartment without an invitation. Hiring a normal PI to do it would be foolhardy, as this target's obviously got something weird going on. So option #3 is 'drop a dime to the cops'. If the guy's not doing anything illegal, he should get off, right?)

True, though option #3 might not go so well either if this guy is not on the side of the angels. Best case senerio, the guy stashes the weapons elsewhere, does some fast talking, and convinces the cops the "tip" was probably just a crank call. Worst case senerio, the officers who get sent to the apartment could walk right into a proverbal meatgrinder.

[Chuckg]

Unless this guy's a precog, exactly how does he know the cops are coming? I damn sure didn't tell him! (And if he could spot an elder vampire in mist form following him home at night, he makes Batman look like a wuss.)

 

And what 'meatgrinder' will they walk into? Even granting that this guy is the combat equivalent of (edit) Frank Castle, he's still dealing with his door suddenly imploding and large guys with tactical body armor, incapacitator grenades, tangle guns, blasters and stunners introducing themselves unexpectedly... and all of his guns are in the closet. He *might* possibly be able to jump out the window and get away, but he's not going to be single-handedly wiping out the side.

 

I phoned in a tip about a probable metahuman/TPO with 300 guns in the closet. The cops *know* what they're going up against, and about the mugger, and all of it. If this doesn't get a "no-knock" warrant service with the MARs unit, what will?

 

(Not to mention that thanks to vampiric hypnosis, the cop I drop the tip on will *really believe* me.)

[lemming]

Originally posted by Wormhole

Senerio Continued (for those who chose to follow the guy)

Since Calico is the only one who would just follow and at this point her curiousity is too great. Figure if she saw him put the gun in the closet, she'd hop over to the nearest liquor store, get some more beers, come back and knock on the door.

Let's see what this guy is up to. He doesn't seem to be up to no good. Of course, he might be someone whose trying to lay low. She just wants to make sure there isn't going to be any trouble later.

[Wormhole]

Originally posted by Chuckg

Unless this guy's a precog, exactly how does he know the cops are coming?

 

He could actually be a precog, especially when you consider how he handed the mugger (Here he comes; one, two, three, Whammo!). In which case, he may even know he was followed home, unless elder vampires have ways of hiding from precogs. Even if he wasn't he could have a police scanner (available at practically any Radio Shack nationwide).

 

And what 'meatgrinder' will they walk into? Even granting that this guy is the combat equivalent of (edit) Frank Castle, he's still dealing with his door suddenly imploding and large guys with tactical body armor, incapacitator grenades, tangle guns, blasters and stunners introducing themselves unexpectedly... and all of his guns are in the closet. He *might* possibly be able to jump out the window and get away, but he's not going to be single-handedly wiping out the side.

 

That's rub, this guy is still more or less an unknown. What ever abilities he possesses, he's been playing things close to his vest. I've heard friends of mine who used be cops tell horror stories about busts that didn't go down quite the way they were expected to; real eye openers.

 

 

I phoned in a tip about a probable metahuman/TPO with 300 guns in the closet. The cops *know* what they're going up against, and about the mugger, and all of it. If this doesn't get a "no-knock" warrant service with the MARs unit, what will?

 

(Not to mention that thanks to vampiric hypnosis, the cop I drop the tip on will *really believe* me.)

You got me there. So, vampiric hypnosis works over the phone too, huh?

[Hermit]

Hmm, let me see, some In character thoughts on this might include

 

APEX: I better see what this guy is up to. Apex would then land and just talk to the guy, and honestly voice his concerns. This would also allow him to at least get a good look at the guy's face, and with X ray vision, that's a handy thing to do.

 

LONE STAR: "Hold on a minute there partner, some folks may joke about Texans and guns, but there are laws about how those are handled. Somehow Ah don't reckon you've got a permit. Ifn' you'll just hand it over to the police, or Ah'll take it there for you, Ah'd be obliged."

 

Recluse: okay, mugger had that coming I guess. Still, what if this guy is a psychokiller? What's the law on this again? Ah heck... just try to follow him back as sneakily as possible, mentally grousing the whole way.

 

SLAMMER: "NICE Moves man." And probably let it slide. After all, the guy now knows that THE Slammer is aware of him, he wouldn't try anything after THAT, would he?

 

SURGE: One of these days I just have to make myself a 'surgey tracer' or something... *Cough behind helmet* "Pardon me, I realize the hypocricy of a man with with an unliescenced battle armor on his bod being picky about a gun but..." Talk to the guy, see how he reacts, and go from there.

 

Wildcard: I like the cut of his jib, by gum. Sides, guns don't kill people, not effectively anyways... they keep coming back. Still... can't have him hogging the act, and he might be a ''bad man'' so ... follow him for a bit stealthily. If it takes TOO long, get bored, and just use some stealth and slight of hand to steal the gun.

 

[Chuckg]

Several points...

 

a) Yes, he 'could be' a precog. He 'could be' Doctor Destroyer's secret identity. He 'could be' anything, if the DM doesn't feel honor-bound to actually confine himself to things that are actually consistent with the description that he gave the player when the player cared enough to check things out before rushing in.

 

From your description, there was nothing revealed in that fight that an ordinary VIPER Melee combat Specialist or other 250-point martial artist couldn't have done, considering the quality of opposition. There were no signs of metapowers being used, because you didn't mention them.

 

Please also note that by this point in the proceedings, my character has made an Analyze Style roll -- and he's got a damn good Analyze Style roll -- on the unknown, so he has quite a fair idea of what this guy's got going on. If anything showed up that indicated such a dire threat, he'd have passed forewarning on.

 

 

re: the police scanner... again, you're not giving the character credit for having enough INT to tie his shoes. As per your scenario I obviously had a good enough view of the interior of his apartment to see even where he stashes the guns, you think I wouldn't have noticed a police scanner? (Incidentally, the Baron's PER rolls are all at 20-)

 

Point of DM'ing performance -- it tends to annoy players when you suddenly pull out things from nowhere that they were in a fair position to see, and by all rights should have seen, but mysteriously did not see.

 

(Not to mention the fact that since when will the responding warrant service team need to broadcast in clear about anything?)

 

 

c) re: "over the phone" -- obviously, if I am encountering enough recalcitrance to require using vampiric hypnosis to reinforce it, Baron von Darien isn't using the phone... it's not as if the police station is a private residence, the Baron can mist into there whenever I feel the need.

 

 

Again -- if the Baron sends cops to this guy's apartment, he will send them *EXPECTING* to meet a Frank Castle-class vigilante with 300 guns in the closet, so all of the cop scenarios about two guys going to answer a routine call and running into an entire posse full of Steven Seagal movie villains with Uzis are not going to apply here, k?

[Mayday]

Go Baron! I just love vampires... and glad you are continuing the scenario.

 

300 guns in a duffle bag, Mayday just isnt comfortable with that. She sets up a concealed minicam focused through the window (maybe two) aimed at the closet area and the rest of the room(s) particularly the front door region. Maintains surveillance while getting fingerprints off the doorknob. Scans and transmits them to the police for a cross check ASAP. Rigs the fire escape to a TASER if applicable (just in case). Orders a large pizza (extra cheese and hamburger) while waiting for a reply then in civvies takes pizza up to his door and knocks, calling out "Police! Open up!" in a joking tone.

 

Then she watches what he does, through the monitor receiving from the cams. If he goes to flee she lockpicks the door and picks him up off the fire escape. Handcuffs and First Aid till police arrive.

 

If he fires through the door she moves out of the way then retaliates with ego blast. (She has her armor on under her clothes anyway)

 

If he opens the door (with or without collecting a gun from the bag) she has the pizza and its time for a chat.

[Wormhole]

Chuck:

re: Analyze Skill Roll-- Didn't see that until just now (sorry, it's been a long day) so I'll throw you a bone on that: From the mean right hook he gave the mugger earlier, you get the impression that he has a background in professional boxing, heavy weight to be specific. He has a definate Apollo Creed (sp?) vibe to him, like he's mopped the floor with practically everyone he's been in the ring with. Assuming your character has any other Analyze Skills and some mystical senses (very likely since you brought an elder vampire to the table), you also get the feeling he's no mere mortal despite his physical appearance.

[Chuckg]

A clear indication of 'not mortal'?

 

Well in *that* case, I knock on the door, and inform him politely that:

 

Option A -- he politely explains what he is and what he thinks he's doing

 

Option B -- I make him.

 

(With homage to The Rock.)

[zornwil]

Following the scenario, assuming the spirits gave some conflicted info or none, Blazing Arrow would wait until whatever moment presented itself and he'd go through the guns in the closet.

 

If the spirits had blessed him with the info this stranger was not a normal human, Blazing Arrow would either follow him around for a couple days stealthily (and if he didn't get any breaks his powers would wane as he needs to recharge via nature worship) or confront him directly. Could go either way; it would depend on the guns and the vibe he got in general.

[Farkling]

Hmmm.

 

 

FlameJet:: Jumping to the ground with his plasma field flaring out like rocket exhaust below his feet. "Hey...great moves! You want a job in security or construction?? And you know you can't go wandering the streets with a stolen gun. What if the cops traced it to a murder or something? Hey, I'll give you $300 in cash here and now, as part of the PD's unofficial buyback program for firearms."

If he gives the gun to him, Jet slags the barrel with his plasma aura and welds it to the mugger with whatever's handy.

Flying off, he says "See the guys at Alamo Construction about a job if you need one!"

 

If the gun isn't given to him, Jet would slag the street with a low level plasma beam and call the cops on his cell.

 

 

Lightnin':: Finish the job on the mugger properly. Take his wallet and keys and leave him in a dumpster in the alley. Ytailing the guy with superspeed should prove more borign than difficult. If oppurtunity presented itself, he'd swipe the gun at superspeed, to have it processed for prints, prior shootings and such. If not, he'd tail him home, and get REAL interested after the observation...

 

Lightnin' sets up his safehouses as isolated dumps which he only pays cash for...because he wants to be untraceable and mobile. Very interesting, deserving of observation. The next time the fellow goes out, Lightnin' would break in (Security Systems/Lockpicking) and search/burgle the place.

[The Watcher]

Warp: Would have followed the guy after turning in the mugger. Upon seeing the big collection of guns would be very suspicious. He'd probably go get some surviellance equipment and port a bug into the guy's home to figure out what he's up to. Alternatively, he could get his Deep Radar Imager (For N-Ray Vision), phone in a tip to the cops, and be ready to interfere on their behalf if things get ugly for them.

 

Spectrum: Takes care of the mugger and then confronts the "victim" openly, pointing out that he might not want to remove evidence. It's not like the gun could hurt him if things turned ugly.

 

Mystic: Would probably sense that he's other than mortal if he's mystically powered. Either way, he'd use his magic to look into the guy's past and future to figure out what's going on and what he might do with the gun.

 

Proteus: Takes care of the mugger and then follows the "victim." Thanks to his bioadaptive shapeshifting the guy would have to be a precog to know he's being followed. Upon seeing the guns phones in a tip to the police and then infiltrates the apartement ready to intervene if necessary.

[Tim]

All American II: would check to make sure the would be mugger is alright (full CvK) then confront the would be vistim to ask about the gun. (He just absorb the resulting gun shot then channel the kinetic energy back at the perp thru his punch.)