Re: [HOE] My Syker Issue

["Ashley Smith" <ratqueen13@hotmail.com>]

"Bart Auringer" <shiva51@home.com> wrote:

>Anyone have any tips on how to get rid of a sword or two and not make it 
>too
>obvious that you did it on purpose?


I second the idea of having them robbed.  It would have to occur when they 
are in one of the larger settlements, otherwise it would be too easy for the 
syker to go nuts and start tearing apart the town looking for the culprit.  
So get them to Oiltown, Junkyard, or some big place you just make up and 
well waddayaknow? someone goes through their room when they're out doing 
posse things in town.  No clues, no leads, nothing that'll really help them 
figure out who might have taken their stuff.  The most they might get is 
"Yeah I saw some guy hanging around here.  I think he was wearing a grey 
t-shirt."  Real helpful...  If your syker's the paranoid type (or just 
smart) and takes his swords with him while he's out, well, everyone's got to 
sleep sometime.  And a good thief can get in and out of a room without 
making a sound.  Especially if said thief is another syker...but I digress.


>At the same time though, I hate munchkin characters, which
>his
>seems to be, by design or otherwise, so killing him or taking his toys
>away
>arent out of the question.

Well, Marshall, that makes things easier. :)

I think the rest of my posse will agree with me on this one:  Never 
underestimate the destruction of a well-planned ambush.  Here's an example.

Posse crosses a river onto a mud plain.  It's easily 3/4 mile to the closest 
trees and road.  Rusted ends of cars and the corners of ruined buildings 
stick up through the mud, a ways off.  Big open area.  Posse begins crossing 
said mud plain.  In about the middle of the plain, our vehicle finds the 
first landmine.  It's an anti-personnel mine, so the tire isn't too damaged. 
  After we find the second and third mine about 30 feet apart,  the vehicle 
comes to a screeching halt.  After a few seconds, a shot rings out and our 
driver is hit in the head.  After a few panicked seconds more, we discover 
there are at least four snipers hiding in the half-buried cars and 
buildings.  At least 100 yards from the posse's vehicle.  Across a field of 
mines.  All we see of the ambushers is their rifle barrels.  An informal 
poll taken at that point found a 100% consensus on the observation that the 
situation sucked.

My point, and I do have one, is that ambushers will know their terrain; they 
have had plenty of opportunity to dig tunnels, rig trees to fall, construct 
undetectable sniper nests of destruction and find ways of slowing vehicles 
down so that they have time to aim.  They'll be patient and wait until the 
posse's gotten over their healthy paranoia and emerged from cover to inspect 
their vehicle.  Or they'll have grenades.  Grenades are the Marshall's great 
equalizer.

Anyway...what this all boils down to is that you can't give your posse time 
to react.  If they have a chance to react before the first shots go off, the 
ambush failed.  Give your ambushers time to aim.  Give them scopes.  Give 
them Cognition rolls to recognize that one of their quarry is a syker and 
then have one or more (more is better) aim at that shiny bald head.  No 
one's going to waste their time aiming at center mass; a kevlar vest and 
armored duster combo are fairly obvious.  Why waste time and ammo?  No one 
with an ounce of self-preservation is going to leave a syker just wounded.  
They're too deadly and too unpredictable.  So, with no armor on his head and 
no time to put up that incredible forcefield, problem solved.  Pull 12 
cards, please.

Good luck,
Ashley
"There's some ass that needs kickin' an' I got tha boots ta do it."
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