Steel Men Behind The Iron Curtain (RP)

[Gront]

This is my first time being an official GM, so I'm trying to keep it relatively simple combat wise.

The World, Still Divided by a Curtain of Iron

It is March 2059, and the Cold War continues still. A century of shaky truce, and neither the USSR nor the West has shown any sign of weakening. There are no more third-world countries; every square inch of land on the globe has been claimed by one side or the other. The Iron Curtain now splits not only Europe, but Africa as well. NATO eventually evolved into a full-fledged government, renamed the Atlantic Confederation of States, and now presides over the Americas, western Europe, and southern and western Africa. The USSR has annexed China and the rest of Asia aside from India and Pakistan, which are now uninhabitable due to a nuclear war between the two (both the ACS and the USSR deny any involvement in the affair, but most suspect that neither side is truly innocent in the matter). The event is guaranteed not to occur again, as both sides have developed barriers that prevent anything going faster than a thrown rock to pass over the border.
This shield technology has since been miniaturized and made affordable to the point where guns are all but obsolete. Modern combat is now primarily between shielded fighters brandishing either melee weapons or special chips that are designed to attack with energy. Shieldmakers have adapted their shields to absorb some of the energy from these chips, but ultimately the shields can only take so much, and a strong enough chip attack will eventually reach its target. Chips are also often equipped with elemental augmentations that will do extra damage to certain types of shields. Naturally, shieldmakers manufactured specialized shields to counter these elements, but those shields were found to be more susceptible to other elements, eventually resulting in something of a weakness triangle among the three most common elements: fire is weak to ice, which is weak to lightning, which, in turn, is weak to fire.

The Last Decade

Ten years ago, a company called General Robotics released the first fully functional robot, a prototype that they hoped to develop for military applications (as the ACS is known to spend trillions of dollars on defense annually). At around the same time, two other companies, Machinations, Inc. and Deckard Mechanics began developing their own combat robots, leading to an eventual race between the three companies to be the first to produce a combat-effective robotic soldier. Ultimately, Machinations was the first to deliver, three years ago, in 2057. General Robotics ended up making more headway into personal robots, and released the first commercially available model, the Nester mk. 1, last August. Rumors had circulated that Deckard Mechanics continued to work on their design in an attempt to outshine Machinations' design, rumors which seem to have been confirmed by an announcement from Deckard Mechanics' CEO, Reginald Deckard, offering $1 million to anyone who could defeat a Deckard Assault Drone in their first public test run in New Juneau, Alaska. As of a few minutes ago, you are on a bus, headed towards the Deckard Mechanics testing facility in the center of New Juneau.

You, the Players

Stats
You start with 15 points to put into seven stats (each stat starts at 1):
Strength - Your ability to damage using physical attacks.
Defense - Your ability to resist physical damage.
Dexterity - Your ability to hit when attempting a physical attack, as well as your ability to dodge physical attacks.
Intelligence - Your ability to use chips to their maximum potential.
Fortitude - Your ability to resist energy-based damage (i.e. from chips).
Endurance - Determines how much health you have (HP=5 x END)
Speed - Determines the order in which you attack in battle, as well as how far you can move in one turn (more on this later).

Skills
You also have 10 points to put into seven skills. Skill totals are determined by adding the number of points you have invested in the skill to half of the related stat (rounded down). For example, if you add 4 points in First Aid and have 5 points in Intelligence, your First Aid skill total would be 6.
Heavy Lifting (Strength) - Increases the number of items you can hold at one time.
Guard (Defense) - Adds a chance to cancel critical hits from your enemies.
Stealth (Dexterity) - Your ability to avoid detection by enemies.
First Aid (Intelligence) - Your ability to heal yourself and others, especially during battle.
Tolerance (Fortitude) - Reduces the amount of extra damage you take from an element you are weak to.
Perseverance (Endurance) - Decreases the odds of you being killed (you'll get knocked out instead).
Metabolism (Speed) - Decreases the amount of time that it takes to recover from being knocked out.

Inventory
You start out with $2,000 to spend on equipment. If you don't spend it all, you can keep the extra for yourself. You may carry a maximum of five items (including what you have equipped), plus one additional item for every five points you have in Heavy Lifting.

Weapons give a set bonus to either Strength and Dexterity (for melee weapons) or Intelligence (for chips), plus a random bonus. For example:

Sample Weapon - Physical
Str: 3(+1)
Dex: 1(+2)

This weapon would have a standard Strength bonus of 3, plus a chance to have an additional point added. It also has a standard Dexterity bonus of 1, with a potential bonus of 0, 1, or 2 points.

Shields function similarly, but only give bonuses to Fortitude.

Chips have 100% accuracy, but damage from them are mitigated by an opponent's shields. Physical attacks go through shields, but have a chance to miss. If all else fails, you can perform a physical attack with your fists with no weapon bonuses.

SPOILER: Click to show

Melee Weapons
Brass Knuckles - Physical ($500)
A basic set of brass knuckles. They haven't really changed over the years.
Str: 0 (+2)
Dex: 2 (+1)

Steel Club - Physical ($1,100)
Kind of like the cavemen used, but harder.
Str: 2 (+1)
Dex: 2 (+2)

VibraBlade^TM - Physical ($1,750)
Theoretically, a blade that vibrates at a high enough frequency should be able to cut through almost anything. This sword claims to do such a thing, but in reality, it's just a sharp sword with a vibrating handle.
Str: 5 (+1)
Dex: 2 (+3)

Chips
Flint (Fire) ($1,000)
Dontcha want to know how I keep startin' fiyahs?
Int: 3 (+1)

Spark (Lightning) ($1,000)
Shocking, don't you think?
Int: 3 (+1)

Chill (Ice) ($1,000)
Please go easy on the Mr. Freeze puns.
Int: 3 (+1)

Burst (Neutral) ($1,000)
It's okay to yell "pew pew" as you shoot it, but no one will actually believe it's the chip making the noise.
Int: 4 (+0)

Shockwave (Neutral) ($1,650)
Like Burst, but louder! That makes it better, right?
Int: 4 (+3)

Shields
Buckler^TM - (no element) ($300)
Not to be confused with a regular buckle.
Fort: 1 (+0)

Buckler Plus^TM - (Fire, Ice, or Lightning, pick one) ($500)
The "plus" stands for plus.
Fort: 2 (+0)

Defender 2000 - (no element) ($1,000)
We're already on 2000? What happened to 1 through 1999?
Fort: 3 (+1)

Defender 2500 - (Fire, Ice, or Lightning, pick one) ($1,200)
"Two-thousand five-hundred"? You know it's easier just to say "twenty-five hundred," right?
Fort: 3 (+2)

Other Items
Medibalm ($50) - Heals 2 HP per turn in battle for 5 turns (or just flat 10 HP outside battle)
First Aid Stick ($60) - Heals 5 HP instantly
Focus Pill ($220) - You gain +10 Dexterity until the beginning of your next turn
Adrenaline ($750) - Revive a knocked out ally with up to 25 health

If you want to join, submit a character sheet:
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Sex:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Physical Description:[/b}(Can be verbal or a picture)
[b]Bio:[/b]

[b][u]Stats[/u][/b] (Remember, these start at 1)
[b]Strength:[/b]
[b]Defense:[/b]
[b]Dexterity:[/b]
[b]Intelligence:[/b]
[b]Fortitude:[/b]
[b]Endurance:[/b]
[b]Speed:[/b]

[b][u]Skills[/u][/b] (Put these in the form of "Stat: points (total)")
[b]Heavy Lifting:[/b]
[b]Guard:[/b]
[b]Stealth:[/b]
[b]First Aid:[/b]
[b]Tolerance:[/b]
[b]Perseverance:[/b]
[b]Metabolism:[/b]

[spoiler=Inventory](items here)

Extra money: $[/spoiler]

There's no limit to the number of people allowed.

Notes based on questions I've gotten:

• Your character must be human. I might hear you out if you want a character with cybernetic implants or something if it's a really good idea (PM me and we'll talk), but absolutely no robots/people trying to enter their own robots.
  
• Unlike your stats, skills do not start out with a point in them.
  
• You can only have one shield and one weapon equipped at a time. You may carry more, but switching them out in battle uses up a turn.
  
• When I say robots, I don't mean mecha. I mean human-sized, autonomous combat bots. Think the droids from Star Wars Episodes 1-3.

[/spoiler]





Reason for Editing: Skills now are in the same order as their dependent stats.

[drychris1337]

Name: Cassandra Saffer
Sex: F
Age: 23
Physical Description: Dark reddish-brown hair, green eyes, light tan skin, blue jacket, dark blue jeans, red shirt, 5'8, normal weight
Bio: Cassandra Saffer was born in Boston, Massachutes. As she grew up there, she began to gain an interest in playing sports such as baseball and basketball. She worked really hard to be one of the quickest runners. Unfortunately, that never happened as she became an average runner. But when she took up hockey, she noticed that it wasn't speed that was her best point, rather her strength. She used this as an advantage when she was going up against other teams. Once she turned 16, she decided to join the army as she wanted to prepare herself if the Cold War was going to thaw out.

As she was training, she realized that she was, as her commander put it, a "glass cannon". She was powerful, but she wasn't very heavy on taking damage. Knowing her flaw, she continued to work hard to make sure that she could fix this problem. Eventually, after a few more years of work in the army, her defectivity was fixed. Once that was more balanced, she decided to focus on her running skills, as she still hopes to become better in that field. Nowadays, Cassandra works in a factory to obtain money, that will allow her to buy tools that will better her as a runner.

Stats
Strength: 5
Defense: 3
Dexterity: 2
Intelligence: 4
Fortitude: 4
Endurance: 2
Speed: 2

Skills
Stealth: 1 (2)
Tolerance: 2 (4)
Heavy Lifting: 1 (3)
Perseverance: 2 (3)
Guard: 2 (3)
Metabolism: 1 (2)
First Aid: 1 (3)

SPOILER: Click to show

Buckler shield
Spark chip
Brass Knuckles
Medibalm
First Aid Stick

Extra money: $90

Reason for Editing: Made an edit on the stats and bio. Hope that's better.

[Gront]

(For everyone's information, I will most likely start after five people post their characters, unless I specifically know of someone who has a sheet in progress. If you miss the start and still want to join, PM me and I'll figure out how to work you in.)

[Norville "Bourbon" Rogers]

Name: Robert Warburtons
Sex: M
Age: 22
Physical Description:longish dark blonde hair, bright blue eyes, slightly tanned skin, worn blue jeans, green shirt, 6'8, normal weight
Bio: Fighting, living, surviving on the frosty streets of the motherland. Money, food and a place to stay doesn't come cheap; He has had to fight for it since he was young. The idea that he could win 1 million smackers for taking down some stupid drone was too much of a good deal to pass. Besides, he needs the money if he doesn't want to be 6 feet under. Lonesharks are after him for "borrowing" some money.
He's going to have to win, or die trying.

Stats
Strength: 5
Defense: 3
Dexterity: 3
Intelligence: 4
Fortitude: 3
Endurance: 2
Speed: 2

Skills
Heavy Lifting: 1 (3)
Guard: 1 (2)
Stealth: 1 (2)
First Aid: 1 (3)
Tolerance: 3 (4)
Perseverance: 2 (3)
Metabolism: 1 (2)

[Inventory]
Buckler shield
Flint chip
Brass Knuckles
Medibalm
First Aid Stick

Extra money: $90

Is that how you do it?

[Gront]

Feb 22, 2011 21:32:29 GMT -5 Norville "Bourbon" Rogers said:

Is this okay? I haven't done this before

You either screwed up your math or put too many points into your skills. This is the reason I wanted you to list how many points you were putting into each skill in addition to just the totals. Fix that and you're good, though just out of personal curiosity, I'd like to know more about his background.

[Candy Biu]

Feb 22, 2011 0:26:37 GMT -5 @drychris1337 said:

Name: Cassandra Saffer

I know I'm not the GM and therefore technically don't have any say over this, but DC, your character is really disjointed. You say one thing with your biography, and something entirely different with your stats.

You bring up that she was fast as a kid and never really say more on it, leading us to assume she's still fast. Yet Speed is tied for second lowest stat.

You then say she was strong (which she is).

Then you say she's a glass cannon - "powerful and stealthy, yet has no physical resistance". Stealth is tied for her lowest skill, and of the rest of her skills, her best skills are honestly the skills increasing her resistances (perseverance, tolerance).

If you're going to make her post-training (to NOT be a glass cannon), you should kind of solidify that in the biography that that was specifically her past, and she has fixed the problems she had. And you should probably also balance everything out a bit better to where she is a balanced fighter. Either that or rework her stats to reflect what you say in the biography.

[destructin]

Name: Diana Coland
Sex: Female
Age: 24
Physical Description:

SPOILER: Click to show

Bio: Diana grew up with her brother and father. Her brother served as a soldier in the war and died in battle. Because her father was too old to work, she had to worked her way up until having enough money to own her own grocery shop. When she heard of the million dollar offer, she was confident enough to try it out.
Stats
Strength:5
Defense:3
Dexterity:3
Intelligence:4
Fortitude:2
Endurance:2
Speed:3

Skills
Heavy Lifting:1 (3)
Guard:3 (4)
Stealth:1 (2)
First Aid:1 (3)
Tolerance:1 (2)
Perseverance:1 (2)
Metabolism:2 (3)

SPOILER: Click to show

Brass Knuckles

Buckler Plus - Lightning

Chill chip

Extra money= 0

[Gront]

I should probably go ahead and mention that Chips and melee weapons both occupy the same slot; that is, you'll waste a turn switching between them mid-battle. If this affects your decision, feel free to alter your characters. Actually, on that note, if you have more than one weapon (that's all three of you), point out which one you want to start out equipping.

Anywho, Des, you're good. I've made some formatting changes, but no changes to the stats/bio/anything.

[drychris1337]

Feb 22, 2011 23:30:29 GMT -5 Candy Biu said:

Feb 22, 2011 0:26:37 GMT -5 @drychris1337 said:

Name: Cassandra Saffer

I know I'm not the GM and therefore technically don't have any say over this, but DC, your character is really disjointed. You say one thing with your biography, and something entirely different with your stats.

You bring up that she was fast as a kid and never really say more on it, leading us to assume she's still fast. Yet Speed is tied for second lowest stat.

You then say she was strong (which she is).

Then you say she's a glass cannon - "powerful and stealthy, yet has no physical resistance". Stealth is tied for her lowest skill, and of the rest of her skills, her best skills are honestly the skills increasing her resistances (perseverance, tolerance).

If you're going to make her post-training (to NOT be a glass cannon), you should kind of solidify that in the biography that that was specifically her past, and she has fixed the problems she had. And you should probably also balance everything out a bit better to where she is a balanced fighter. Either that or rework her stats to reflect what you say in the biography.

I hear you and made the edits. That better or did I miss something?

[Norville "Bourbon" Rogers]

I've got some questions:
>Can you equip the chip and the shield at the same time?
>What does a chip look like?

[Shackles]

Name: Electric Green
Sex: M
Age: 48
Physical Description:

SPOILER: Click to show

Bio: Due to his nephew having cancer, Electric Green is his nephew's only companion. Recently, his nephew's cancer has rapidly worsened, and unless his family can pull together exactly $1,000,000 for an operation, his nephew will die. When Green heard about the reward for defeating the Deckard Assault Drone, it became clear what he had to do. He donned his superhero disguise and became the hero that his nephew needs.

Stats
Strength 2
Defense 3
Dexterity 2
Intelligence 5
Fortitude 4
Endurance 3
Speed 3

Skills
First Aid 4 (6)
Stealth 0 (1)
Tolerance 3 (5)
Heavy Lifting 1 (2)
Perseverance 1 (2)
Guard 0 (1)
Metabolism 1 (2)

SPOILER: Click to show

Chip: Spark (lightning)
Shield: Buckler Plus (lightning)
First Aid Stick (x5)

Leftover money: $200

[Candy Biu]

Feb 23, 2011 20:03:55 GMT -5 Shackles said:

Name: Electric Green
Bio: Due to his nephew having cancer, Electric Green is his nephew's only companion. Recently, his nephew's cancer has rapidly worsened, and unless his family can pull together exactly $1,000,000 for an operation, his nephew will die. When Green heard about the reward for defeating the Deckard Assault Drone, it became clear what he had to do. He donned his superhero disguise and became the hero that his nephew needs.

this is so god damned cheesy...

I LOVE IT <3

[charlie]

Name: mia "kid" sunsworth
Sex: female
Age: 12
Physical Description:

SPOILER: Click to show

Bio: mia was a "war tyke" who brought food and water to her father in war. when her father eventually died from fatal wounds, she adopted his helmet and his lightweight uniform straight off his corpse. she then ran away from home after getting in a fight with her drunkard mother. now she lives free for herself as a thief.

Stats
Strength: 1
Defense: 3
Dexterity: 4
Intelligence: 5
Fortitude: 2
Endurance: 2
Speed: 5

Skills
Heavy Lifting: 0 (1)
Guard: 1 (3)
Stealth: 4 (5)
First Aid: 0 (2)
Tolerance: 1 (2)
Perseverance: 0 (1)
Metabolism: 4 (6)

SPOILER: Click to show

spark
Buckler PlusTM lightning

[Gront]

Krten, for stat totals, you're supposed to use HALF of the related stat. I went ahead and fixed it (totals are in the parentheses), feel free to reassign points if you like.

Also yes, you can (and should) equip a shield and chip simultaneously, you just can't equip a chip and a melee weapon. As for what chips look like, I might be able to come up with a little drawing later today.

Shackles, you're good. Cheesy, but good.

MVG, the one point in each stat doesn't deduct from the amount of points you can spend; you have 6 more stat points to use. Also please figure out the totals for your skills and put them next to the number of points you put in (in parentheses).

[Norville "Bourbon" Rogers]

Can i help out with the monster stuff? I am a proud owner of the D&D monstorous compendium volume one.

[destructin]

Feb 24, 2011 18:23:58 GMT -5 Norville "Bourbon" Rogers said:

Can i help out with the monster stuff? I am a proud owner of the D&D monstorous compendium volume one.

No sir.

[Grimscott]

HOW DO MATHS

Name: Conrad Grayson
Sex: Male
Age: 20
Physical Description:

SPOILER: Click to show

Is quite short for his age (5'5), doesn't sleep so well.

Bio: The fourth child of a Russian immigrant (VODKA STONEWALL, professional wrestler) and an American baker (Penny Stonewall). Because of his heritage, he was often a victim of descrimination. This led to him getting into a lot of fights until he changed his name (Aleksei Stonewall) as an adult, but even then he still caught flak due to his short stature. Combine this with constant horseplay and teasing from his older brothers, and you have the recipe for a very temperamental fellow.

He really just wants others to respect him or at least treat him decently, so he figured the fame of destroying a drone for LOADSAMONEY would suffice. His default mood is "grumpy and defensive", which can get worse if he feels like the other person is being patronizing. Curses a lot, almost casually, and is quite abrasive. Often makes gestures when speaking.

Stats
Strength: 5
Defense: 2
Dexterity: 4
Intelligence: 1
Fortitude: 3
Endurance: 4
Speed: 3

Skills
Heavy Lifting: 0 (2)
Guard: 2 (3)
Stealth: 0 (2)
First Aid: 3 (3)
Tolerance: 0 (1)
Perseverance: 3 (5)
Metabolism: 2 (3)

SPOILER: Click to show

VibraBlade^TM
Medibalm
First Aid Stick (3)

Extra money: $20

[Candy Biu]

it's lods of emone, grim

HOW DO SPELL

[Gront]

Another busload of challengers for the new Deckard Assault Drones headed towards the Deckard testing complex in the middle of New Juneau. There was a wide variety of entrants to the challenge, but for some reason the challengers in this bus were different. The sizeable reward for the seemingly simple task of disabling a robot had attracted a wide range of potential millionaires, but, admittedly, the vast majority of them were hopeless. The challengers on this bus, however, had a little something more. Spirit, perhaps, in some cases; good equipment in others. All-around, though, these fighters stood a chance, and when the bus reached its last stop before the Deckard testing labs, anyone nearby could see the difference.

Anyone, that is, except the bus driver, who was less of a "someone" and more of a "something." After giving up on the combat robot contract, General Robotics developed machines that could do repetitive tasks more efficiently than humans, and bus drivers were among the first to be replaced. The current driver, GR-145, was one of the early models, designed to test the ability of a robot to function based on the actions of several dozen humans at a time, as well as a set of rules to obey. Public transportation was the perfect test case, and General Robotics gave the unit to the City of New Juneau after the testing was complete for some free publicity, and it had been running buses ever since. It called out in a metallic voice "Next stop: Deckard Mechanics. Estimated time to arrival: 17.5 minutes."

(Feel free to use this time to build up basic character interactions, or just sit quietly in your seat. Next post will involve some actual stuff happening.)

Reason for Editing: Fixing a three-week old formatting error...

[destructin]

Diana sat next to a guy wearing a green and dark gray costume, she looked at him like some sort of a creep.

"Hey uhh.. Why are you wearing that silly thing?"

[charlie]

6th row from the front, right side, Mia sat staring out the window at the passing scenery. There wasnt much to see, but she liked to look anyways.

"a million bones, easy"


She sat behind two adults, one in some sort of teal jumpsuit and another in a werid Power Rangers get-up. She stared intensely at the man's neon green/gray latex suit.

"what a weirdo"

[Shackles]

Electric Green looked up from his issue of Anti-Communism Man and looked at the young woman next to him. He reached up his green, gloved hand and adjusted the metal device over his left eye, focusing his vision to get a better look at the girl.
"This costume? This costume is not silly. I fight for justice, not glory. This mask protects my identity."

Green looked back down at his comic, then swiftly looked back up as though he had just remembered something important.
"Also, it makes me look like a badass." Green leaned back in the bus seat, then refocused his eye-lens back onto his comic-book.

[destructin]

Diana chuckled.

"Okay, whatever you say, person."

[Grimscott]

Conrad rested in the rear of the bus, hogging the entire last row. Or least, he had tried to rest. The simple fact was that it was bumpy as all hell, somehow making him feel even more tired then when he had first dozed off. So much for rest. . .

With an irritated groan, Conrad sat up from his lying position. His legs were still on the seat as he reached under the seat for his vibrablade. He retrieved the slightly curved blade carefully, almost with reverence. Trying to hide his inner smirk, Conrad furrowed his brow and watched the other bus riders.

[drychris1337]

Cassandra was sitting in the fourth row of the bus, thinking about what to do once she got to her destination. I should probably get something to eat, I haven't anything ever since my break in the factory

She looked across her to find a man with a green and gray suit wearing something in his eye. "Hey, what's with that thing on your eye, sir?"

[Gront]

(MAN, THAT SEVENTEEN AND A HALF MINUTES FELT REALLY LONG, HUH GUYS? I'm gonna pretend that I was waiting for Shackles to respond to DC's post and that I just got impatient, or something.)

Cassandra's question was cut off as bus' brakes gave off a whine, signaling the vehicle's stop.

"Successful arrival at Deckard Mechanics." GR-145 reported. "You may now exit the bus if this is your stop."
The passengers rose from their seats and exited the bus one-by-one to be greeted by the hulking skyscraper that was the headquarters of Deckard Mechanics. One hundred and fifty stories tall, the Deckard Building was a powerful display of the company's grand ambitions and, to those who knew that only about a fourth of the floors were usually in use, how those ambitions remained largely unfulfilled after Deckard lost the race for the military contract.

"Welcome to Deckard Machinations!" a woman said as she exited the building. She was about average height, with brown hair that came down a little past her shoulders. She was dressed in a gray formal coat and had a long gray business skirt to match. Her voice and smile betrayed the fact that, in spite of her Masters in Public Relations, she was little more than a glorified tour guide. "My name is Ashley, and I'm here to guide you through the registration process for the Deckard Combat Drone challenge. If you're here for other reasons, of course, you may attend to your business."

At this, a man dressed in a dark black trenchcoat with matching slacks, hat, and briefcase left the group and headed towards the door. Most of the other passengers on the bus had barely noticed him, which was strange considering the fact that he was nearly seven feet tall and very muscular. He wore sunglasses that hid most of his face above the nose, but as Ashley watched him pass and enter the building, she caught a glimpse behind them and was noticeably startled when she recognized the man. She was a professional, however, and since just about everyone else in the group was watching the tall man dressed in black, she was able to compose herself before everyone's attention returned to her. After some obviously scripted marketing lines about the new Deckard drones, she led the group inside to a table where two other, less cheery employees sat with pens and a stack of paperwork for each participant.

"Well," Ashley said to the group, "I'm going to turn you over to Stan and James here. They'll give you the specifics on the challenge, as well as some liability forms you need to sign. Good luck!"

Stan grumbled as he looked up at the group. He had been told by his superiors to stand up when addressing each group, but his superiors weren't here and he didn't really give a damn, so he remained seated. "Alright, ladies and gents, there's a couple of things that our marketing team 'accidentally' left off the fliers that the past few groups weren't too pleased about, so I'm gonna get those out of the way. First: you will not be fighting the Deckard drones yet. Our management wanted to weed out the hopeless cases and save the batteries on the big guys, so you'll have a starter round against the latest versions of the Machinations 'bots. If you make it through that round, then you get to fight the real thing. Second: these robots are designed to work as a unit, so we can't very well have you fight them one-on-one, and you'd all get crushed if we sent a whole squad of them at only one of you, so you will all be fighting at the same time. You move on if you take out at least one of the Machinations 'bots, or if you're still conscious when they're all taken out. And don't worry about the reward; in the unlikely event that you manage to take out one of our drones, you will not have to split the million with any of your teammates. The 'bots will be using concussive rounds so you probably won't die, but just in case, you'll have to sign these release forms before we let you in. Now, if there's no questions, sign on the dotted line and proceed through the doors behind me."

From behind the table, the group could see that the door Stan had motioned to led into a small room that could hold them all comfortably, but not much else. there was a door in the northwest corner of the room that presumably led to the actual arena.

(Everything that follows is OOC [well, out of narrative, at least])
Alrighty, guys, time to set up for your first fight! When you're ready, have your character pick a spot in the ready room (the blue area in the battle map below). If it's not terribly clear where you picked, go ahead and say the number of the slot. You can't occupy the same spot as someone else, but you can move through them, so don't worry too much about your starting location. If you have two weapons (i.e. a physical weapon and a Chip) and have not indicated which one is equipped, now would also be the time to do that. Once everyone has picked spots, I'll start the battle.


Oh, regarding the Chips: I don't really feel like drawing them out at the moment, but they're just basic-looking computer chips. They're connected to some power supply, which could be a wristwatch, your shield, or even a specially made power supply for it. Chips on the arm are usually aimed by pointing the arm with the chip on it towards the target and pressing a button on the power supply. The arm is by far the most common location for the chip (followed by the shield, which is usually around the waist), but if you want to put it somewhere else, go ahead, as long as you come up with a way to aim it.

ALSO: if you still want to get in on this, now would be an excellent time!

[drychris1337]

Cassandra shrugged and signed the form. She then walked into the entrance area and went to the northwest corner.

(That's Position 1, btw)

[Gront]

(Slightly unrelated, but I added descriptions to the weapons and shields in the main post, primarily for lulz)

[Shackles]

Electric Green rushed forward to the sign-up desk after the young lady. He gave took on a quick, heroic stance before taking the pen and signing "ELECTRIC GREEN" across the line, then drawing zigzags coming out of the line like an electrocardiograph.

"Excellent, I will now prove myself in battle, just as all superheroes must do eventually." Green said, taking a triumphant stance while looking at the other bus passengers, trying to gather their general reaction to his heroism.

Green followed behind the previous girl, stepping into the center position. "This place is ideal for battle, I can surround myself with my comrades and guide us to victory!"

And also use them as human shields.

[Candy Biu]

Name: Sarah Jevo
Sex: Female
Age: 21
Physical Description: Sarah is a rather young girl with piercing green eyes, and short mahogany hair. She has a very petite frame, being roughly 4'10" and under 100 pounds. She has very pale skin, and tends to dress in in black, form-fitting clothing.
Bio: Sarah doesn't have much of a past to speak of. She was born into a family not worth mentioning, went to school, got good grades, etc.,. Around middle school she started aspiring to be a special/covert ops members, and pushed herself to get the grades required to do such. She graduated high school at the top .5% of her class, and moved on to work for a PMC. She is currently taking the challenge as a "mission", in order to garner money for the PMC.

Stats
Strength: 4
Defense: 2
Dexterity: 6
Intelligence: 1
Fortitude: 1
Endurance: 3
Speed: 5

Skills
Heavy Lifting: 0 (2)
Guard: 2 (3)
Stealth: 3 (6)
First Aid: 1 (1)
Tolerance: 0 (0)
Perseverance: 2 (3)
Metabolism: 2 (4)

SPOILER: Click to show

VibraBlade
Medibalm (3)

$100