Ye Olde Buddy Cop Film (5E)

[Fast Jimmy]

Ye Olde Buddy Cop
Episode 1: The Dollface Murder

In an uncharacteristic fashion, it is a dark, rainy day in the otherwise sunny Los Aasimon. The cloudy skies are occassionally lit up with the flash of lightning and the steady drizzling patter of rain is interrupted by the crack of thunder.

<KRRRSH> Unit Echo, Unit Lambda, please report to the alley behind Bullion Avenue in the Financial District. Unknown female found dead, suspected homicide. Over. <KRRRSH>

You glance your partners way and see a grimace - the rivalry between Units Echo and Lambda is well known, as is the tension between your partner and you. Still, duty calls and there was a possible murder to solve.

The four of you arrive at the same time into a sketchy alley, a rare sight in the otherwise high end, obscenely polished Financial District. As the four of you walk in the alley at the same time, you are greeted by Patrol Officer Gibbons, a young halfling new recruit who is greener than a dryad in April. "Good morning detectives. Glad to have you here." He is clearly nervous to be reporting to four Inspector rank officers, but continues on. "We have one dead girl, appears to be half-elf, died in the wee hours of the morning, possibly as recently as an hour ago."

Other police officers file around, making notes and cataloging evidence. Gibbons continues on "The girl is a Jane Doe that we haven't been able to identify. Appears to have died from a stab wound to the belly. Her clothing is slightly... irregular, like something you'd see one of those adventuring types wear. Beautiful, though. Her face is absolutely flawless." You look over at Gibbons looking at the corpse and then he realizes he has trailed off. "<ahem> We have been unable to find the murder weapon, but we think it is a dagger of some type, based on the stab wound. Feel free to investigate and look around, we're going to be taking her to the morgue down in The Squalor here soon... she doesn't look like the type that could afford a Resurrection spell." At that, he walks off, tending to his duties.

You see in the alley the corpse of the dead girl, propped up against a storage crate one of the businesses nearby use, a look of horror on the face of what would otherwise be a truly beautiful and serene girl. You see a pool of blood around the corpse and little else.


It's time to get to business.

[The_Admiral]

"Given the current information, most probable scenario is assault, my systems predict a high possibility of her being merely dressed up like an adventurer." the Guard Regulation Model, Grimm for short, states flatly, hands behind his back.

[whiteflash]

"Given the current information, most probable scenario is assault, my systems predict a high possibility of her being merely dressed up like an adventurer." the Guard Regulation Model, Grimm for short, states flatly, hands behind his back.

"Possible. Maybe it's a form of fetish gear, and she's a contractor for some pervert with a lot of cash?" (My face darkens as I say "pervert with a lot of cash.")

"(Alternatively, she might actually be an adventurer, since it's not exactly unknown for them to die violently.)"

Edit: If I want to roll Investigation, is there some function on here to make the dice roll openly or are we working on the honor system?

Edit2: Also, am I expected to find a color to color my character's speech with, like Admiral's doing? If so, dibs on dark blue.

[mousestalker]

"This is homicide, most likely murder. And murder is bad. Someone needs to answer for this. This will need our finest police work, not freewheeling loose cannon gimcrackery."

Team Lambda yields to no one in using the investigation skill. So we investigate as well.

{How is that done?}

[whiteflash]

"No remarks to the effect that the worst part is someone dared to murder a half-elf? We're making progress."

[mousestalker]

"What do you mean by that? No one deserve to be slaughtered." Hari replies sternly. "And she isn't responsible for her parents" she adds, under her breath.

[whiteflash]

"What do you mean by that? No one deserve to be slaughtered." Hari replies sternly. "And she isn't responsible for her parents" she adds, under her breath.

"Oooh, so close," he adds under his.

Edit: In order to move this along: Marcon turns to Officer Dryad-in-April "Were there any signs of sexual assault?"

[Fast Jimmy]

You both investigate the dead girl, trying to identify any signs of things out of place.

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

Marconi's Investigation (1d20+7)[20]
Hari's Investigation (1d20+5)[20]

You both notice a few things about the girl.

Leaning down, you see that her body shows signs of older injuries. Small scars and other signs of battle can be found on the girl's body, indicating the girl was in previous altercations in the last. However, her face remained completely untouched.

You also notice an indentation on her finger where a ring once was, but is now gone.

Lastly, after very careful inspection, you notice a faint smell in the killing wound of the girl. It's something new you've seen on the streets recently... a substance called DragonSin. DragonSin is an alchemical solution that is harmless to living beings, but if applied to the blood stream during death, it prevents resurrection by causing intense pain and eventual re-death if resurrection magic is used on the body. It is very rare and very expensive.


You see no other signs of assault or trauma on the body other than the knife wound.

[mrtowne]

Li had foregone any conversation with the wizard and the golem, walking up to kneel down next to the woman and memorizing her face so that he could describe it later. Having done that he stands, perusing the alley and finding what is going on a bit lacking he begins barking orders to the nearby patrol officers.

"I want this area searched throughly for the murder weapon. If it is not found I want it searched again. The surrounding area should be swept for witnesses, or anyone who can help us identify this woman." he barked out before turning to his partner. "Rookie! Report! Have you found anything useful? "

[whiteflash]

Li had foregone any conversation with the wizard and the golem, walking up to kneel down next to the woman and memorizing her face so that he could describe it later. Having done that he stands, perusing the alley and finding what is going on a bit lacking he begins barking orders to the nearby patrol officers.

"I want this area searched throughly for the murder weapon. If it is not found I want it searched again. The surrounding area should be swept for witnesses, or anyone who can help us identify this woman." he barked out before turning to his partner. "Rookie! Report! Have you found anything useful? "

"I've found that she's almost certainly not coming back. Poor girl seems to have gotten DragonSin put in that wound." (I think a True Resurrection could get around that, since you described it as being a trap set in her body, but would my character know that that's an option given that he doesn't have proficiency in any magic-related skills? Either way I think that's still expensive in this edition.)

"Also, she seems to have been robbed after death: there's an indentation and a tan-line* that would indicate that there's supposed to be a ring on" *I point* "that finger."

"Finally, I've concluded that from the scars and other old wounds on her body, she's probably an actual adventurer."

Edit: "Oh, also this seems to have been a crime motivated by something other than sick desire, since other than killing her he doesn't seem to have damaged her. A sexually motivated crime would have done more damage, I think. And he didn't cover the face, or do anything to prevent himself from seeing it. That probably means this was a murder by a stranger or an enemy. I hope it's the latter, because I really didn't want to have to handle a stranger murder so early in my career."

Edit2: I turn to the wizard. "I miss anything?"

* Jimmy didn't describe it but in a city as sunny as I got the impression our setting is it should be there, or if it isn't we should wonder why. If it's the latter, please mentally rewrite that analysis to fit as you read it.

[Fast Jimmy]

Officer Gibbons scrambles up "S-s-sir! We have combed the alleyway dozen times looking for the murder weapon. We've not turned up anything - it looks like whoever performed the killing blow took it with them."

Gibbons looks petrified... like he if he could will not evidence into existence just by wishing, he would do so in a heartbeat.

[whiteflash]

Officer Gibbons scrambles up "S-s-sir! We have combed the alleyway dozen times looking for the murder weapon. We've not turned up anything - it looks like whoever performed the killing blow took it with them."

Gibbons looks petrified... like he if he could will not evidence into existence just by wishing, he would do so in a heartbeat.

"I assume you've also been looking for any trails of blood or anything that might lead us to the killer and his weapon?"

[Fast Jimmy]

"I assume you've also been looking for any trails of blood or anything that might lead us to the killer and his weapon?"

"Sir, yes sir! We, uh... we haven't found any blood trails or tracks. Whoever did this was very good at covering their tracks. And there wasn't much of a fight... the girl didn't expect the attack, I would guess, as there doesn't seem to be any sign the girl had time to fight back."

A loud, booming voice shatters through the alley. "It sounds like the work of that masked maniac, the Silver Shadow!" You all turn to look and see a menacing figure walk into the alley. A huge, black scaled Dragonborn saunters in, standing an imposing seven feet tall, huge for even one of his kind. His glinting eyes fixed in a permanent scowl are lit up in the drizzling rain by the fire of a thick cigar. "That vigilane is a menace to everyone who works an honest job and a disgrace to any who wear the badge!"

Officer Gibbons, already nervous and flustered, now turns a shade of white usually reserved for bones bleached in the desert. The presence of this new person has shaken him up more than before, something you didn't think possible. "Ch-ch-Chief! Chief Drake! W-w-w...what are you doing here?"

The Dragonborn chief Drake strides forward, sweeping his gaze everywhere. "Gibbons, the day I pay you to ask questions about what I do with my time is the day I wear a toe tag!" He looks over and sees the four detectives. "LI! GRIMM! HARI! MARCONA! Dispatch sent the four of YOU here?!" He grunts in disgust. "At least every one here is ALREADY dead. You hotheads can't do any more damage here."



He stands expectantly. "WELL?! Give me a report!"

[whiteflash]

"Sir, yes sir! We, uh... we haven't found any blood trails or tracks. Whoever did this was very good at covering their tracks. And there wasn't much of a fight... the girl didn't expect the attack, I would guess, as there doesn't seem to be any sign the girl had time to fight back."

A loud, booming voice shatters through the alley. "It sounds like the work of that masked maniac, the Silver Shadow!" You all turn to look and see a menacing figure walk into the alley. A huge, black scaled Dragonborn saunters in, standing an imposing seven feet tall, huge for even one of his kind. His glinting eyes fixed in a permanent scowl are lit up in the drizzling rain by the fire of a thick cigar. "That vigilane is a menace to everyone who works an honest job and a disgrace to any who wear the badge!"

Officer Gibbons, already nervous and flustered, now turns a shade of white usually reserved for bones bleached in the desert. The presence of this new person has shaken him up more than before, something you didn't think possible. "Ch-ch-Chief! Chief Drake! W-w-w...what are you doing here?"

The Dragonborn chief Drake strides forward, sweeping his gaze everywhere. "Gibbons, the day I pay you to ask questions about what I do with my time is the day I wear a toe tag!" He looks over and sees the four detectives. "LI! GRIMM! HARI! MARCONA! Dispatch sent the four of YOU here?!" He grunts in disgust. "At least every one here is ALREADY dead. You hotheads can't do any more damage here."



He stands expectantly. "WELL?! Give me a report!"

I repeat the observations I made to Li about the means and possible motive of the murderer. "Since I can't recall the Silver Shadow's MO, does that sound familiar?"

[The_Admiral]

"From the Information gathered, there is a high probability of this being a targeted assassination, DragonSin presence and her now probable status as an adventurer indicates as much." he replied evenly still standing at ease.

[whiteflash]

"From the Information gathered, there is a high probability of this being a targeted assassination, DragonSin presence and her now probable status as an adventurer indicates as much." he replied evenly still standing at ease.

Marcon nods in agreement.

[Fast Jimmy]

The Chief bends down as you summarize the findings.

"Hmmmm. After accosting criminals and fighting in the shadows, I knew it was just a matter of time before the Silver Shadow would finally leave a corpse. Not content to just tie up the bad guys anymore, now he wants to kill them!"

Looking at the girl, he sighs. "She was quite a looker, too, for one without scales. DragonSin... nasty stuff. A poison would infect the body, but only those twisted minds in the Wizards District would invent something that poisons the soul. This girl is out of reach from even a True Rez spell, if she had enough money to buy a yacht and sail out for a nice cruise in the Kuo Tao reefs. Seems a sha..."

All of a sudden, you notice something about the girl... her face... suddenly seems familiar. It hits you like a lightning bolt! This is...

Chief Drake finishes your thought for you. "Mother of Dragons... this is Chaila Carmen!" The Chief looks around angrily. "This is CHAILA ****ING CARMEN!"

"Gibbons! Get a sheet out here! Cover this girl up before people start..."

As he says this, bypassers begin slowing down, then begin crowding in. People are gawking and commenting - the famous daughter of the Carmen Merchant family! Dead in an alley!

"Gods damn it... the magistrate is going to be all over my ass on this! DETECTIVES! Why didn't you realize this murder victim, a possible assassination attempt, was one of the most famous people in this entire city?!" His stoagie is flaring up at his rapid breathing and fuming temper, as if his dragon breath was flaming out of his mouth.

Spoiler

Show

I need everyone except Grimm to make a Perception check.

[whiteflash]

The Chief bends down as you summarize the findings.

"Hmmmm. After accosting criminals and fighting in the shadows, I knew it was just a matter of time before the Silver Shadow would finally leave a corpse. Not content to just tie up the bad guys anymore, now he wants to kill them!"

Looking at the girl, he sighs. "She was quite a looker, too, for one without scales. DragonSin... nasty stuff. A poison would infect the body, but only those twisted minds in the Wizards District would invent something that poisons the soul. This girl is out of reach from even a True Rez spell, if she had enough money to buy a yacht and sail out for a nice cruise in the Kuo Tao reefs. Seems a sha..."

All of a sudden, you notice something about the girl... her face... suddenly seems familiar. It hits you like a lightning bolt! This is...

Chief Drake finishes your thought for you. "Mother of Dragons... this is Chaila Carmen!" The Chief looks around angrily. "This is CHAILA ****ING CARMEN!"

"Gibbons! Get a sheet out here! Cover this girl up before people start..."

As he says this, bypassers begin slowing down, then begin crowding in. People are gawking and commenting - the famous daughter of the Carmen Merchant family! Dead in an alley!

"Gods damn it... the magistrate is going to be all over my ass on this! DETECTIVES! Why didn't you realize this murder victim, a possible assassination attempt, was one of the most famous people in this entire city?!" His stoagie is flaring up at his rapid breathing and fuming temper, as if his dragon breath was flaming out of his mouth.

Spoiler

Show

I need everyone except Grimm to make a Perception check.

Can my character be exempt from knowing who she was at all? He grew up under a rock. I am as close to meaning that literally as the setting permits. If there's shantytowns in the sewers or in whatever the closest thing this city has to a subway is that's where he grew up. Or do even they know her face somehow? (Edit: Never mind. With the dice roll I got on her family's history I probably know everything about them right down to the maiden names of her great-grandmothers.)

As for that roll,

[roll]1d20-1[/roll][]

Edit: FFS, what am I doing wrong on the dice roll?

[mrtowne]

At the sound of the chef's booming voice coming down the ally Li straightens up into attention out of reflex. He bristles at the mention of the vilgilante and let's his partner give his report. At the revelation that the girl is the famous debutant Chaila Carmen he frowns. "We will of course do everything in our power to bring the perpetrator to justice! " Li says, turning to Marcon "We leave for the Carmen residence at once!"

Spoiler

Show

Perception [ROLL]1d20+3[/ROLL]

[whiteflash]

At the sound of the chef's booming voice coming down the ally Li straightens up into attention out of reflex. He bristles at the mention of the vilgilante and let's his partner give his report. At the revelation that the girl is the famous debutant Chaila Carmen he frowns. "We will of course do everything in our power to bring the perpetrator to justice! " Li says, turning to Marcon "We leave for the Carmen residence at once!"

Spoiler

Show

Perception (1d20+3)[23]

I motion for Li to hold up a second. "So, wait, hold on: why would somebody who captures criminals want to kill her? Does she smoke controlled substances or something? Or did her family do something shady to get her where she is? (Or was?)"

"... and why would she be scarred enough to be mistakable for a common adventurer?"

Edit: Of course if we manage to make the dice roll macros work, and our chars see whatever it is, and whatever we see takes precedence over this, this question might or might not actually be asked.

Edit2: Also it turns out I wouldn't ask these anyway since I know them better than the chief. In character that is. What are the answers I apparently know?

Edit3: Oh, and I finally got around to finishing my sheet. I apparently know a shortcut that gets us there in about half the time barring and random encounters.

[The_Admiral]

"No sir, that information is not in my database." he replies, seemingly unperturbed by her identity.

[whiteflash]

Now that I've apparently got the dice roller down, (1d20-1)[1]

Edit: ... well. Whatever I'm supposed to see, I think I need to have it pointed out.

[mousestalker]

Hari pulls out her mithral plated eye protectors and puts them on. She then adjusts her peaked police cap to academy standards.

She scans the area (Perception) [ROLL]1d20+2[/ROLL]

She looks straight at her superior.

"We are on it Chief. We will not rest until the perp is caught. And Grim and I do not leak. If anyone learns who she is, it won't be because of us. We don't hot diog and we aren't glory hounds. Unlike some..."

She heads towards her partner.

"I'm thinking we need to find a motive. Find the motive, find the perp. And are we really sure this was done by the vigilante and not by a copy cat?"

[mousestalker]

{rerolling because I screwed it up above)

(1d20+2)[18]

[Fast Jimmy]

Hearing Inspector Li stating he would go to the Carmen's residence, the chief bellows out a roar.

"LIKE HELL! I don't know how you do things back East Inspector Li, but if you think I'm going to have you break the news of the death of the only daughter of the head of the most powerful Merchant Guilds in this, or ANY, city, you've taken too many karate chops to the head!"

Despite the chief's rant, Officer Gibbons looks, for the first time, not scared, but genuinely sad as he gazed at Chaila. "I can't believe it... it's her. She's dead... her charity work in my neighborhood a few years back convinced me to join the force in the first place. Even though I didn't know her, she was a huge inspiration to me. I can't believe I didn't realize it was her..."

There is now a small mob pressing in on the side of the alley. The officers are having to push people back and put up ropes to prevent the attention.

Spoiler: Di'Orte Hari

Show

It suddenly hits you... from the crowd, to the chief, to the other officers, to even you, no one noticed who the girl was until just now, despite the body having been here for over an hour. As if everyone's awareness kicked in all once.

[whiteflash]

Hearing Inspector Li stating he would go to the Carmen's residence, the chief bellows out a roar.

Despite the chief's rant, Officer Gibbons looks, for the first time, not scared, but genuinely sad as he gazed at Chaila. "I can't believe it... it's her. She's dead... her charity work in my neighborhood a few years back convinced me to join the force in the first place. Even though I didn't know her, she was a huge inspiration to me. I can't believe I didn't realize it was her..."

Spoiler: Spoken in Halfling

Show

"I know. I was a bit of a fan of the Mirandas, more as a sort of juvenile 'Gods I wish that was me' fantasizing than anything else, though the charity work didn't hurt. It's a bit weird. Why didn't one or both of us notice? Or anyone?"

Note: My character is human. He just knows Halfling because there's no such thing as a monolingual 5e PC.

[Fast Jimmy]

Gibbons is a little stunned that Marcona knows Halfling, but then slowly shakes his head and replies in his native tongue "yeah... very odd. As a huge hero to me, and with you knowing the old Carmen investigation files like the back of your hand, it's odd we didn't recognize her..."

Suddenly, a loud ringing pierces the air. Chief Drake stands at full attention and pokes his head up. "I picked a hell of a week to stop drinking coffee... DISPATCH!" He yells into the Sending box at his hip. "What in the hell is that?"

"<KRRRCH> Chief, an alarm spell just triggered in a bank in the Fianncial Distrcit just a few blocks away. We have reports of multiple perpetrators trying to loot the vault."

"****! We've practically got a mob forming here, I can't spare any officers to go check it out." He looks deep in thought, then conflicted and then, finally, resigned. "Unit Echo, Unit Lambda... I don't like sending the four of you in such a delicate situation, but you are the best I've got and I can't spare the manpower to send more. Get over to the bank as soon as possible and stop this robbery!"

He begins hurrying over to help the other officers with pushing back the crowd over the Carmen murder, but turns his head back and tells "And DON'T turn this into another bloodbath! I'm in deep water with the magistrate of the four of you already!"

[whiteflash]

Gibbons is a little stunned that Marcona knows Halfling, but then slowly shakes his head and replies in his native tongue "yeah... very odd. As a huge hero to me, and with you knowing the old Carmen investigation files like the back of your hand, it's odd we didn't recognize her..."

Suddenly, a loud ringing pierces the air. Chief Drake stands at full attention and pokes his head up. "I picked a hell of a week to stop drinking coffee... DISPATCH!" He yells into the Sending box at his hip. "What in the hell is that?"

<KRRRCH> Chief, an alarm spell just triggered in a bank in the Fianncial Distrcit just a few blocks away. We have reports of multiple perpetrators trying to loot the vault."

"****! We've practically got a mob forming here, I can't spare any officers to go check it out." He looks deep in thought, then conflicted and then, finally, resigned. "Unit Echo, Unit Lambda... I don't like sending the four of you in such a delicate situation, but you are the best I've got and I can't spare the manpower to send more. Get over to the bank as soon as possible and stop this robbery!"

He begins hurrying over to help the other officers with pushing back the crowd over the Carmen murder, but turns his head back and tells "And DON'T turn this into another bloodbath! I'm in deep water with the magistrate of the four of you already!"

"Sir yes sir!" I nod to Gibbons and lead the other three officers there in half the time it should logically take us, because Urchin.

[The_Admiral]

"I calculate a high probability that we will need heavy gear" he stated as a shield came down over his face, turning it into a blank slate, armour plates shifted into place as he retrieved a strange crossbow like weapon from his insides.

he follows the officer.

Spoiler

Show

If anyone wants the inspiration, We'll need to SWAT them down..

[Fast Jimmy]

Marcona leads the four of you down winding alleys and darkened backstreets, weaving in and out underneath freely stairways and steamy sewage grates. The others seem bewildered by the course he takes, but sure enough, you pop out into the street just outside the bank, faster than you thought would even be possible!

There, you see a small crowd gathered outside the bank, with a small handful of officers there doing their best just to control the chaos. The most senior looking one sees you and waves you over.

"Detectives! It's good to see you... we've got a situation. The robbers have cleared out the bank of everyone except the bank manager, using him as hostage. We don't have the men to storm in or else we would have long ago. See, the robbers aren't... well... alive!" The officer looks overwhelmed and at her wit's end.