Killer Shrike

So, given the givens of the current state of reality, I think it is probably best to postpone face to face sessions until things have returned to normal. If social distancing becomes the new normal for more than a couple weeks I'll look into getting an online virtual table top type of solution going. 
 
In  the meantime, I've been chipping away at adding more meat to the Cortex Plus Heroic port. I did more character writeups , more Ability Trait writeups, and filled in the details on how dice pools are formed, how plot points work, and so on. In days to come I'll be porting over setting content, vignettes, npcs / monsters, and so forth. It might be of interest to some of you, and of course feedback is welcome.  
 
Obviously, I hope all of you & your families are well. Stay healthy and safe!

I hope your daughter gets better soon. Let us know if our next game can be at one of our houses. I live in Mira Mesa so could host a game on the march 21st if needed. Let me now what location preferences you have.

Ed,
 
I wish your family good health. See you in a couple of weeks.

Scything and I unexpectedly can't be there tomorrow; my daughter came home from school today not feeling well and just started puking all over the place. It may or may not be contagious, but no reason to risk it. 
 
Sorry for the late notice, I was psyched to wrap up the arc, but that's how it goes when you are a parent.
 

I won't be available this Saturday due to family obligations. Sorry about this.
 
I'm fine with either Lawrence or Vaughn running my character in my absence, if either is willing.

I'm available to game on the 8th! Just sounding off here. 😁

I like this campaign story line and want to see it where it goes. While I'm fully engaged and committed to its progression, I do admit that my long-term memory failed me for some of the story details. Perhaps I've grown spoiled by your story recaps, but this is a case where a summary might help reorient us. Also you can utter the words RTFM, which are always fun to say. 

I like this campaign so far and hope to see everyone in February 8.
 

Consider me already heading there on the 8th

Ok, so here are my thoughts:
 
1) Normally if 1 player can't make it I prefer to still meet and work around it. 
2) If two or more can't make it, I make a judgement call based upon where the the characters of the missing players are at narratively and whether or not their absence can be worked around without causing more trouble than it is worth.
3) However, currently the team is in a critical place where I actually want everyone at the table. Particularly considering we just spent an entire episode / session jumping thru the necessary hoops to get the team back together in a way that avoided a deus ex machina.
4) Unfortunately due to the holidays the current "action" has gotten stretched out in real world time over the course of a couple of calendar months and I feel like it has sucked away the urgency / emotional impact of the stakes involved for the characters. In the game world, the stakes are quite high, time is of the essence, and the situation is quite dire. In the real world, it may be hard for some of us at the end of January to remember and / or care about stuff that happened in November and to still feel the anxiety and engagement I hope was present when the current leg of the adventure unspooled.
 
Now, real life presents us with challenges to all being in the same place at the same time and I get it. Work is important. Family is important. Shit happens, and when push comes to shove meeting to play a game or indulge a hobby is obviously of lower priority. However, I feel like we have a good thing going with this group and I at least am having fun with the campaign and would like for us to find a way to move past all of the recent disruption and continue. 
 
So...here's what I want to happen and then we can discuss if we all agree and if we can make it happen:
 
I want us to all be present for the next session, which will hopefully be Feb 8, and for us to all make an attempt to re-engage with the in-game narrative and try to get back into the headspace of feeling trepidation for the characters and caring about what's going to happen next. For my part, I will take a beat at the beginning of the session to reframe the scene and do my best to sink the hook for all of you. 
 
If some of us are at a point where we need to take a step back from the campaign and focus on other things, or if we are tired of the campaign and don't want to continue that's ok too...I just ask that we all be transparent about where our heads are at.

Ok, so here are my thoughts:
 
1) Normally if 1 player can't make it I prefer to still meet and work around it. 
2) If two or more can't make it, I make a judgement call based upon where the the characters of the missing players are at narratively and whether or not their absence can be worked around without causing more trouble than it is worth.
3) However, currently the team is in a critical place where I actually want everyone at the table. Particularly considering we just spent an entire episode / session jumping thru the necessary hoops to get the team back together in a way that avoided a deus ex machina.
4) Unfortunately due to the holidays the current "action" has gotten stretched out in real world time over the course of a couple of calendar months and I feel like it has sucked away the urgency / emotional impact of the stakes involved for the characters. In the game world, the stakes are quite high, time is of the essence, and the situation is quite dire. In the real world, it may be hard for some of us at the end of January to remember and / or care about stuff that happened in November and to still feel the anxiety and engagement I hope was present when the current leg of the adventure unspooled.
 
Now, real life presents us with challenges to all being in the same place at the same time and I get it. Work is important. Family is important. Shit happens, and when push comes to shove meeting to play a game or indulge a hobby is obviously of lower priority. However, I feel like we have a good thing going with this group and I at least am having fun with the campaign and would like for us to find a way to move past all of the recent disruption and continue. 
 
So...here's what I want to happen and then we can discuss if we all agree and if we can make it happen:
 
I want us to all be present for the next session, which will hopefully be Feb 8, and for us to all make an attempt to re-engage with the in-game narrative and try to get back into the headspace of feeling trepidation for the characters and caring about what's going to happen next. For my part, I will take a beat at the beginning of the session to reframe the scene and do my best to sink the hook for all of you. 
 
If some of us are at a point where we need to take a step back from the campaign and focus on other things, or if we are tired of the campaign and don't want to continue that's ok too...I just ask that we all be transparent about where our heads are at.

Ok, so here are my thoughts:
 
1) Normally if 1 player can't make it I prefer to still meet and work around it. 
2) If two or more can't make it, I make a judgement call based upon where the the characters of the missing players are at narratively and whether or not their absence can be worked around without causing more trouble than it is worth.
3) However, currently the team is in a critical place where I actually want everyone at the table. Particularly considering we just spent an entire episode / session jumping thru the necessary hoops to get the team back together in a way that avoided a deus ex machina.
4) Unfortunately due to the holidays the current "action" has gotten stretched out in real world time over the course of a couple of calendar months and I feel like it has sucked away the urgency / emotional impact of the stakes involved for the characters. In the game world, the stakes are quite high, time is of the essence, and the situation is quite dire. In the real world, it may be hard for some of us at the end of January to remember and / or care about stuff that happened in November and to still feel the anxiety and engagement I hope was present when the current leg of the adventure unspooled.
 
Now, real life presents us with challenges to all being in the same place at the same time and I get it. Work is important. Family is important. Shit happens, and when push comes to shove meeting to play a game or indulge a hobby is obviously of lower priority. However, I feel like we have a good thing going with this group and I at least am having fun with the campaign and would like for us to find a way to move past all of the recent disruption and continue. 
 
So...here's what I want to happen and then we can discuss if we all agree and if we can make it happen:
 
I want us to all be present for the next session, which will hopefully be Feb 8, and for us to all make an attempt to re-engage with the in-game narrative and try to get back into the headspace of feeling trepidation for the characters and caring about what's going to happen next. For my part, I will take a beat at the beginning of the session to reframe the scene and do my best to sink the hook for all of you. 
 
If some of us are at a point where we need to take a step back from the campaign and focus on other things, or if we are tired of the campaign and don't want to continue that's ok too...I just ask that we all be transparent about where our heads are at.

Sorry for delayed response, I've had a grueling week.
 
I'll be running a session today (January 11, 2020) @ At Ease Games, starting at 5pm. 

I'm hoping to resume running sessions on Jan 11th if everyone can make it.

I'm hoping to resume running sessions on Jan 11th if everyone can make it.

I'm hoping to resume running sessions on Jan 11th if everyone can make it.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. See you in January,

No game today then. See you all early next year. Wish you the best.

No, it was rather desultory and ignominious. Drew burned through all of his extreme luck keeping Jack (who started the session with only 3 BODY remaining) alive, and without any remaining to modify the bad guys rolls he got hit and staggered. Without his Combat Luck to save him Drew was then easily ripped apart before he could recover by the trio of tentacled nascent shoggoths played by Steve, Scything, and King Red. Looks like Unconventional Solutions needs a new ops chief.
 
In death, members of Unconventional Solutions have a name...his name was Drew "Reckless seems like a sensible Complication to me" Altman.

 
Later in the evening Killroy had a classic Jason Bourne / Jack Bauer-esque solo adventure, successfully (and rather easily) reclaiming from a drug gang's crack house a mystery loot box of unmentionables stolen from the Societatis ex Monstrum Interfectorum. He even resisted to urge to look in the box, which he had been forbidden from doing by his handler. Having established his trustworthiness and reliability, Killroy has been accepted as a member of the Societatis...secretly of course. Killroy never even pulled a gun; he roughed up and intimidated his way through the gang members. It was pretty epic.

He died as he lived...questionably.

No, it was rather desultory and ignominious. Drew burned through all of his extreme luck keeping Jack (who started the session with only 3 BODY remaining) alive, and without any remaining to modify the bad guys rolls he got hit and staggered. Without his Combat Luck to save him Drew was then easily ripped apart before he could recover by the trio of tentacled nascent shoggoths played by Steve, Scything, and King Red. Looks like Unconventional Solutions needs a new ops chief.
 
In death, members of Unconventional Solutions have a name...his name was Drew "Reckless seems like a sensible Complication to me" Altman.

 
Later in the evening Killroy had a classic Jason Bourne / Jack Bauer-esque solo adventure, successfully (and rather easily) reclaiming from a drug gang's crack house a mystery loot box of unmentionables stolen from the Societatis ex Monstrum Interfectorum. He even resisted to urge to look in the box, which he had been forbidden from doing by his handler. Having established his trustworthiness and reliability, Killroy has been accepted as a member of the Societatis...secretly of course. Killroy never even pulled a gun; he roughed up and intimidated his way through the gang members. It was pretty epic.

No, it was rather desultory and ignominious. Drew burned through all of his extreme luck keeping Jack (who started the session with only 3 BODY remaining) alive, and without any remaining to modify the bad guys rolls he got hit and staggered. Without his Combat Luck to save him Drew was then easily ripped apart before he could recover by the trio of tentacled nascent shoggoths played by Steve, Scything, and King Red. Looks like Unconventional Solutions needs a new ops chief.
 
In death, members of Unconventional Solutions have a name...his name was Drew "Reckless seems like a sensible Complication to me" Altman.

 
Later in the evening Killroy had a classic Jason Bourne / Jack Bauer-esque solo adventure, successfully (and rather easily) reclaiming from a drug gang's crack house a mystery loot box of unmentionables stolen from the Societatis ex Monstrum Interfectorum. He even resisted to urge to look in the box, which he had been forbidden from doing by his handler. Having established his trustworthiness and reliability, Killroy has been accepted as a member of the Societatis...secretly of course. Killroy never even pulled a gun; he roughed up and intimidated his way through the gang members. It was pretty epic.

Ok, I'm planning to run the session at 5pm tomorrow 11/16 @ At Ease Games. I'm going to do a push on the main encounter until Murgy is present, so instead we are going to focus on A) Jack & Drew's daring duo escape, B ) Killroy's mysterious Big Solo Adventure, and C) I still have 33 hours to figure out something fun for Beretta and Joey back in Quantico and a plausible reason for Murgy to be unavailable. 
 
Given that the party managed to get split 3 ways, I'll be handing out some NPC sheets to players to play for certain scenes to keep you engaged...for instance during Jack & Drew's escape, the rest of you will have some bad guys to play to complicate their escape, etc. 
 
The goal is simple: even though this will technically be a filler episode due to real life scheduling conflicts, we are going to endeavor to make it so packed with interesting character focusing bits and hijinks that it does not feel like a filler episode. 

I'm okay with running NPCs if there's not really anything for Beretta to do other than recover in a hospital bed, since I get experience even if I'm not playing my main character.
 
I'll do my best to hinder Jack & Drew with shooting skills worthy of a graduate of the illustrious Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy.  

Ok, I'm planning to run the session at 5pm tomorrow 11/16 @ At Ease Games. I'm going to do a push on the main encounter until Murgy is present, so instead we are going to focus on A) Jack & Drew's daring duo escape, B ) Killroy's mysterious Big Solo Adventure, and C) I still have 33 hours to figure out something fun for Beretta and Joey back in Quantico and a plausible reason for Murgy to be unavailable. 
 
Given that the party managed to get split 3 ways, I'll be handing out some NPC sheets to players to play for certain scenes to keep you engaged...for instance during Jack & Drew's escape, the rest of you will have some bad guys to play to complicate their escape, etc. 
 
The goal is simple: even though this will technically be a filler episode due to real life scheduling conflicts, we are going to endeavor to make it so packed with interesting character focusing bits and hijinks that it does not feel like a filler episode.