Raven_Operative

Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

If you had died, you should have taken out a lottery ticket because you would have been a very (un)lucky man!

Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

I dunno, man. "Don't Die" seems like a perfectly valid bit of advice for when going under the knife. You followed it after all, didn't you?

Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

<Snipped quote by Raven_Operative>

Alright smart one.

@Zarkun

I'm trying to be supportive, ok? Fine. Die. See if I care... Hmph.

Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

Just a heads up that my posting will be delayed because I'm getting surgery done today.

@Zarkun

Don't Die!

Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

Hahahaha... Aha. Ha. Ok. There. Post made.

There should be something for everyone in there. Artillery is coming in and hammering people. The tank has been destroyed. Multiple NPCs are wounded and in need of assistance. The house has been breached and people need to clear it from room to room.



There's an image of the house's layout. I know I usually make much more detailed battle maps, but I'm short on time tonight after writing that post. It's basically a big shop, hybridized with a house. The downstairs rooms are all storage rooms, and the upstairs rooms are bedrooms/a big living space/dining room. There are imperial shocktroopers and scouts everywhere in it, so if you're attacking it, feel free to have people pop out of doors at random when ever you want for additional targets.

The imperial officer is marked by the red circle. He's basically a generic rifleman, but imperial resistance gets stronger the closer you get to him. The skinny lines in burst patters and walls that turn into dashed lines represent areas that have been exploded and are covered in rubble. Doesn't really matter too much, but make of it what you will.

If anyone has any questions or got left out, let me know.

Edit: Heh. Thank you for the kind words, Ninja, but I do have a long ways to go in learning how to properly GM an RP.

Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

Lilly Jatmoore

The advance from launch site to launch site was surprisingly easy for Lilly's fire team. They encountered one or two scattered imperials, but were able to easily deal with them without taking casualties, and Durandal hadn't had much difficulty landing her shots. For a moment, Lilly allowed herself to believe that the final assault would follow this pattern and be relatively easy. This belief quickly shattered once they arrived at the edge of the intersection. When Lilly poked her head around the corner, she only got a brief glimpse of the house they were supposed to take before bullets started landing in the wall beside her and causing her to get back into cover. Despite the tank and Durandal's best efforts, the imperial defense was as lively as ever. Walls had been blown apart, and a portion of the roof had collapsed, but the imperials in the CP and the surrounding buildings were still holding stubbornly on, using the rubble as cover and continuing to provide fierce resistance. Scouts on the second floor were providing precision rifle fire, and the troopers on the ground level were laying down suppressing fire. Crossing the open yard and street ahead of them would be suicide normally, but a decision that Lilly had made long ago might be the key to their survival: she had brought smoke instead of fragmentation grenades with her for the operation. She had used one of them in the battle for the coach house, but the remaining one should provide enough concealment for them to make it most of the way across the street without being shot. Turning to her team, she took a deep breath and laid out the plan.

"Um... The street is completely covered by the Imperial troops but never the less, we need to cross it and take the house their commander is in. Hunt and Charlie sections' groups will no doubt be doing the same, so we can coordinate with them." Lilly took another peek around the corner, before ducking back as a bullet whizzed past her face. "I still have a smoke grenade on me, so we will use that to cover our advance. Hopefully the Imps won't manage to hit any of us when they can't see." Looking to each person as she assigned their tasks, she first spoke to Regan. "Miss Durandal, once I throw the smoke, I would like you to shoot the front wall of the house. It shouldn't be anymore than 10 meters away." Turning to the next, she addressed Brenna, who's smg was about to become invaluable. "Miss Sykora, the lance should blow open a hole in the wall large enough for us to get through. After she fires, I want you to run straight to it. If its large enough, go straight through the hole and begin to clear the house. If not, fire through the windows and try to kill the machine gunners." That just left the Aria and Private Weber. "Miss Hexner, Mr. Weber, the two of you will come with me. We will support Miss Sykora and clear rooms after the first. Miss Durandal, I would like you to follow us. We will keep you safe from infantry, and try to get you into a position to fire on the other houses." Phew... Lilly took a deep breath. Just breath. Everything will be fine. She quickly radioed the plan to Hunt and Snider, so they would know about the smoke and the planned movements for her team. Once she was done, she calmed herself and retrieved the grenade from her pouch.

"Is everyone ready? Alright." She pulled the pin on her smoke grenade, leaned around the house and threw it as hard as she could. It hit the house, bounced a meter or two back, and then began spewing smoke. "Ok everyone, wait for the smoke and... GO! GO! GO! DURANDAL, FIRE!" She waited a split second for the lance to go off, and to allow Sykora to get ahead of them, before charging into the smoke with the rest of the team in tow.
@Evil Snowman @Shyla Nesthorn @CirusArvennicus

Lukas Glockner

While the rest of his unit was on the way back to base, Lukas was sitting in the passenger seat of an Imperial staff car, listening on the radio and observing a map as he was driven to his new assignment at the artillery forward observation post. Suddenly requests for support began to come over the radio, as well as contact and status reports. Something big was going on... As he listened in, he plotted the positions being listed off on the map. ... All around their last command post in the city. Apparently the Gallians had begin a counter attack, and were doing... far too well. They must have gotten reinforcements. Switching the channel to the one his battery was on (since squad 655 was not part of the artillery network that answered the usual calls for fire), he radioed the gunners. "55A, this is Glockner. Fire for effect. Mechanized infantry in the open. 3 rounds per gun, High Explosive. Grid NB432789, Danger Close. Over." After a moment, the radio crackled to life as the gunners responded. "Mechanized Infantry in the open, 3 rounds High Explosive, Grid NB432789, Danger Close. Authentication is Whisky Hotel, please confirm. Over." "I authenticate Lima Foxtrot, Glockner Out." Off in the distance, the sound of artillery cannons firing began, causing Lukas to grin. They might not have been able to use their heavy tank, but at least they could provide fire support with the best guns the Imperial army had to offer.

PFC Snider

"Keep givin' it to them! We're moving up!" Snider's crew kept pouring on the fire as he slowly advanced the tank, suppressing windows and blowing holes in the upper stories of the houses. When Lilly's voice crackled over the radio, he listened to her plan and nodded. The smoke would certainly be helpful here. "Understood, Jatmoore, We'll move up to support you." Fortunately, the Imperials didn't seem to have any lancers left defending the house. They had either all been killed in the retreat, or were no longer in positions to pose any threat to them. When they arrived at the intersection just in front of the command post, Snider angled the tank and let his gunner do his work. "Alright, Neville, light them up!" They managed to get a few volleys of machine gun fire off while Lilly's team waited for the smoke to spread, but things quickly went to shit. Just as everyone started moving, a massive explosion rocked the tank, literally flipping it onto it's side. Snider was thrown out of his seat and tossed around like a rag doll, much like the rest of his crew, and nearly got knocked out. When the tank settled, looked around and tried to move. "zuhhhh... WhaThe hell wasthat?" To his right, he saw a massive stress fracture in the metal armour of the tank and the fact that they were now on their side meant something big had hit them. Behind him, his gunner and driver were both out cold. He had to get out of here. His head was ringing, and it felt like something was broken in his chest... but an impact like that might have caused a ragnoline leak. If that was true, it was only a matter of time before something exploded.

Snider crawled to the tank's radio and fumbled with it, trying to raise someone. "Corporalhunt. Someone... Anyone. ThisisSnider. Thetank is fucked. I can move but mycrewis asleep. The worldis... fuckin spinning. Weneed help. Someone gethem outof here before the ragnolai... in... aid.. thefuel explodes." Everything hurt and his head felt like it was in a vice. Snider could barely talk, but he managed to crawl over his crew to the hatch and get it open. Bullets were flying around him and ricocheting off the tank, but he had to get out. By some miracle, he managed to crawl out of the hatch and behind the tank without getting shot. He just hoped that someone would be able to help them.
@Zarkun @Jotunn Draugr

Lilly Jatmoore

Halfway across the street, Lilly heard a massive explosion and looked over to see an artillery shell demolish their light tank. Well not completely demolish, the armour was still mostly intact, but knock it out of the fight in a rather impressive manner by landing right beside it and flipping it over. She didn't have time to realize exactly what was going on, because a split second later, another shell landed several meters behind them. The explosion nearly knocked Lilly off balance, but the engineer behind her was thrown to the ground. Shit! She quickly doubled back to grab Hexner and help her to her feet if she was alright, or drag her to safety if she was wounded. They had to get off the street! If artillery was coming in and they were caught in the open, they'd all die!. "Are you alright, Aria?! We have to move! Everyone else, don't wait for us! Breach and clear! Kill them all!" *StaticStaticStatic* Come on Lilly, move! Your life depends on it! The SMG fire had stopped but the scouts on the floor above were still firing into the smoke. Lilly had several close calls with grazes that nearly drew blood, but thankfully she managed to make it to the house with Hexner without being hit. The delay of running to check on Hexner, as well as the smoke, prevented her from seeing if the other groups had made it to the house, though. All she knew was that her team was attacking, and prayed that people from the other sections had made it there to help.
@Evil Snowman @Shyla Nesthorn @CirusArvennicus

Brenna

Durandal's lance had certainly done it's job, and the hole it blew in the wall was easily big enough for Brenna to run through. Once she was in the room, she quickly shot the two shock troopers at the windows on either side, who had been dazed and wounded by the explosion, before pushing further into the house when more people caught up with her. Imperials were in just about every room, and they pulled no punches when firing from the doorways, throwing grenades or charging them whenever they were within melee range. The resistance only got stronger as they approached the back stairwell. The commander was probably on the second floor.
[@everyone]

Smythe & The Clark Twins

Meanwhile at Charlie section, the group was currently squatting inside a house on their side of the intersection, waiting for everyone to get into position for the attack on the CP. Needless to say, with three shock troopers, they were the fastest at clearing the houses on the way to their objective. When Lilly radioed her plan, Smythe turned up the volume on his radio so that everyone else could hear. "It's a good thing she has smoke, otherwise that crossing would be suicide. I don't have any objections to this plan." Sue and Joseph also nodded, with the former speaking up in agreement. "We shouldn't have any trouble, especially with the way Cheslock has been fighting. We'll need to move fast, though. They'll need every shock trooper they can get to clear that house." Smythe motioned to Cheslock and spoke again. "I'll stick with you for this battle. Valyrur knows I'm not cut out for close combat with this rifle."

When the attack began, he stayed true to his word and was right at Cheslock's side when they charged towards the smoke, right up until the artillery started landing. When the tank beside them got tossed, he froze and just stood there in the street for a moment, trying to process what to do. Should he help them? Should he keep running? Hunt's section should be the closest to them, right? His thoughts were quickly cut off when a stray bullet hit him in the side, cutting a deep (but not fatal) wound and knocking him to his knee from the pain. Fuck it! He ran as fast as he could towards the house, holding his rifle with one hand and his wound with the other. If it was him or Snider, he was going to take the path of self preservation!

Another artillery shell landed near the twins, missing Sue, but throwing Joseph several feet. Sue kept running, scrambling to get to the house as fast as she could, but Joseph was left laying in the dirt. He was clearly wounded, but still alive and was doing his best to crawl off the street and into cover. Who knew how long that state was going to last, though.
@Jotunn Draugr

Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

<Snipped quote by Raven_Operative>

I'm not sure people are biting with this.

Personally, I think that if you want us to write our own adventures... what do I need this site for? Surely, the whole point of RP is interacting with other people. If you're not willing to help with that experience on a more detailed level, what's the point?

I'm just saying this because I'm pretty sure this RP is dead anyway. Like every fucking RP on this site.

@Jotunn Draugr

Im not asking you to write your own adventures, I'm asking you guys to be proactive. You say you want to interact with other people, but what's stopping you? This is a massive battle, and there are Imperials everywhere. There is more than enough justification for you to generate an encounter.

Examples:
One of the scouts beside durandal might spot a sniper taking aim at them. Taking action, they quickly yank her back into cover just as a bullet whizzes past them, before returning fire.

Brenna's guarding the rear, so maybe imperials sneak up and attack her. She quickly fires back, downing one of them and causing the others to retreat. Well now they have to chase them.

Maybe an imperial lance lands near the engineer, lightly wounding them and shaking them up. Sure, that's not much for the engineer to do, but that allows other people to say "Hey, are you alright?", check their wounds or shoot back at the lancer who nearly killed them.
---

All of these events are minor things that only take a sentence or two and don't impact the story much, but let people interact with each other. If you wanted to, you are certainly capable of tacking something like that onto your post to help develop the scene.

Hell, back during the battle for the coach house, I did something like this when I was only a player. I literally dropped a building on my character and that lead to a short series of scenes were everyone got involved in a rescue attempt. Characters did their part to try and help her, argued with each other about their rescue methods, and glorious interaction was had. There is no reason why you guys can't create your own short events like that.

You mentioned that there's no point if I don't provide more detailed things for you to react to, but let me turn that around. What's the point if all the players do is react? If that's the case, anything I make happen pretty well has a foregone conclusion. If imperials round the corner and shoot at Brenna, she's either going to take cover or shoot back. If a sniper shoots at durandal, she's either going to be wounded or dodge it. I might as well just go all the way and write the extra sentence for the response myself. If no one takes any initiative whatsoever, it's no different than me writing a short story. The level of interaction is functionally the same.

Keep in mind, an RP is a method of collaborative story telling, but there's no collaboration if all I do is babysit everyone's characters. If you want something like that, I recommend you check out the 'Free' section. This is the casual section so, while it's not nearly at the same levels as advanced, I do expect people to try to contribute to the overall scene and story a bit.

...

*takes deep breath*

Ok, rant over. I don't mean to insult or anything, but that's pretty well the position that I'm in. Let it never be said, though, that I don't accept criticism. I get what you mean, and I'll try to add more direct interaction in the future. In return, I would like to ask my players to try their best to contribute to the scenes a little. If your reaction to what I've posted is only a paragraph long and you want to say... shoot a sniper, by all means, spot and shoot a sniper. If you want to help your friends, notice a shocktrooper approaching and yank them out of the line of fire. There are plenty of quick little things you can do that cause interaction, and make the scene more interesting.

As for this RP being dead, I doubt it is quite yet. We've had breaks in posts go on longer than 20 days before, but most people have come back. I'll write up another post tomorrow, with a brief time skip to the last part(s) of the battle to keep us moving. As per your criticism, I'll try to add a bunch more interaction and events for you guys to play around with.

Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

<Snipped quote by Raven_Operative>

Well give us more to react to. We're just going in a direction, toward a thing. What can we do? Who are we up against. What are the paths and avenues available to us?

@Jotunn Draugr

I did provide a map (http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3747993) at the beginning of the battle, showing where everything was located. I realize now, that it might be a bit hard to follow with text descriptions, so I made some quick annotations (also edited my post because I noticed I had my team on the wrong side of the street).


Red = Lilly's team's path
Green = potential mortar firing locations
Blue = Charlie Section's general path
Black = James' team's path (I think)

Orange = imperial command post

Hunt has given us directions as to where you're supposed to be going, and you're up against standard imperial soldiers. There's still a significant number of them around, though, just about everywhere.

If you want more events and things to react to, unfortunately that's up to you guys. I can't micromanage the entire battle to give everyone something specific for them to do because:
1) I'm not that good of a writer
2) That would balloon my posts to a truly staggering length. I simply do not have the time for that.

I might be able to do that if the RP only had 4 characters + NPCs, but on things of this scale that's not an option. You guys will need to generate some events in your posts to allow your characters to play off each other.

Jotunn, you're the only player in Charlie section, so you're actually in the best position for writing. You can pull minor encounters and events out where ever you want without needing to wait for other players.

Do you want to fight someone? Have your group bump into a couple imperials on the way. Want to help the other group? Find a house with a sniper in it that's taking aim at the guys across the street. Etc.

Roleplaying is collaborative storytelling, so I do need you guys to collaborate. If you want something to react to, make it happen (provided it isn't too world shattering).

Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

I guess so. Most people say they're having trouble posting for the battle, so I suppose we can just wrap it up.

This happened in the previous battle too, so I guess we should focus less on combat? Though it seems odd to have a military RP with out the... well, military.

Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

*flails* anyone alive in here?