<span style="font-style: italic">Ok, this'll be another slightly short post due to running out of time on friday evenings and having greater-than-expected difficulty with the maps. First things first: <span style="font-weight: bold">All player characters gain a benny for good roleplaying, storytelling (making connections between current in-game events and characters' past experiences) and clever response to a dangerous situation.</span> Those who used one get it back, those who held them now have two. A few characters were roleplayed so well they could even be considered to have earned 'credit' towards their next benny!<br/><br/>Secondly, in response to Cassandra's intimidation attempt: when rolling a skill you have no ranks in, you also subtract -2 from your wild die, sadly. That means her eventual result was a 3. Maribel and all the coonies here have the 'pragmatic' edge and they also dislike nobility on principle, so charisma does not apply.<br/><br/>However, Yasha's words also justify an intimidate attempt (unfortunately she also lacks the skill, luckily you guys will be earning exp quickly): <br/>xali rolls 1d4-2 = 1<br/>xali rolls 1d6-2 = 0</span><br/><br/>Maribel gulps and takes a long look at Yasha, then over to Cassandra. She looks a little nervous and her tail droops but she bucks up her chin and responds defiantly. "Well, you noble Lavendrian folk sure have a high opinion of your empire's reach! Shame we haven't seen much to justify it despite hittin' three trains already, one within the past month. "An' if the empress is sending a pirate captain out to do her dirty work for her, I very much doubt that she wants to raise a big stink over us lightening a few pockets. Those spoiled fools from the inland empire got more coin than they know what to do with." She turns and gives a sweet smile to Celrie. "Oh, ah... not like -you- of course, my dear."<br/><br/>"And as for the little miss dolled up in her fancy armor over there," she gave a toss of her head towards Cassandra (a tiny quaver in her voice - she never made direct eye contact with the bat), "I ain't no alchemist myself, but if they can catch up to us and inject us with some nonsense that'll turn us into crazed mutants, they might as well just give us some poison. Heck, a lot of my kin are a mite strange already, I dunno if we'd even notice... The point is they ain't gonna catch up with us, not out in the woods that we all know like the back of our own paws. Heck, even House Skadi's so-called rangers are pretty clueless out here in REAL wilderness."<br/><br/>She groans and looks over her shoulder. "That's not the point, though! Just try and keep calm and don't make any sudden movements. I'll see if I can talk some sense into 'em..."<br/><br/>Meanwhile, back in the train - the conductor sighs loudly and eventually opens the locked door to allow Quill to speak to him. He mutters that she isn't supposed to be out, but he doesn't stop her in her requests, and after a few minutes he nods his head reluctantly.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic"> NPCs may have demeanors based on reputations. In this case, the conductor knows Quill is "stubborn", and also respects her as a fellow engineer and rodent. Thus, he will acquiesce to her request without need for a roll</span><br/><br/>The grey-furred, diminuitive male mouse straightened his hat and yanked a silken cord, causing the train's bell to jangle noisily. He put his muzzle up to an amplifying brass horn leading outside and shouted: "ALL BACK ABOARD! WE'RE TURNING BACK AND FINDING ANOTHER ROUTE!"<br/><br/>The train's antigravity engines start warming themselves back up for travel with a shudder, and slowly drifting back towards the rail which provides them a power supply... however, as soon as the train starts to move, there is a distant ringing *THOOM!* sound, and the earth just 5 feet to the engine car's left side explodes in a shower of snow and thrown-up dirt! Tracing the path of the projectile, the heroes can see a wheeled, antique-looking artillery piece with a gun-shield of corroded iron, manned by two female raccoons and a skunk.<br/><br/>Just to the gun's west, a 12-foot-tall, dragon-like robot (or possibly power armor) of extremely crude, improvised construction lumbers unsteadily out of the trees, and just alongside it comes a huge, 1000-pound dire badger with an anthropomorphic badger female clutching a cavalry sabre astride it in the saddle. "THAT'S FAR ENOUGH! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" the badgeress shouts.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Pictures to come when I find the time. Below are screencaps of the map, which I am using roll20 for. Each square represents an inch in SW. The PCs can start anywhere within, or at the edges of, the green circle - their exact position is somewhat fungible until combat starts.<br/><br/><br/>One more final note: I don't need anyone to take care of this before resolving the current encounter, but soon, I would like us to reconcile custom race costs for advantages and drawbacks to the one in the Deluxe Edition SW book. Some of them are cheaper when built using the Sci-fi companion rules. If you don't have enough points in hindrances to pay for your new (or old) advantages, you don't need to drop any of said advantages, just use your first 5 experience to pay the 'debt'.</span>