I'm confused... :X

Ok, in the Panther Club thread...

Joe Callahan suggested splitting into pairs, two people staying in the car to watch the back alley while two people got some fresh air and watched the front of the club. Conrad Hammerstein and Artemis Valentine volunteered to take the fresh air, which I presumed meant they would be leaving the vehicle and going to watch the front of the club.

However, from the post you made Lone, Conrad and Artemis moved to the delivery alley with the car instead. (An interesting trick, considering neither of them can drive!) Meanwhile Joe and Filip Latinovicz went to the front of the club and Joe at least was noticed by Big Sal.

CT went with that and posted for Joe accordingly, but then Boskdeox posted Conrad responding to Big Sal as well. Which makes it sound like the non-drivers parked the car at the back, walked up to where Joe and Filip are, then headed back down towards the back alley..? Which would be kind of strange.

I might just be confusing myself here, but can someone confirm who is at the front and who is at the back of the club, and where the car is? Mostly so we can have some continuity. Thanks!

Also, Boskdeox, your last paragraph might need some editing... I think you said Joe instead of Conrad, and it was in the hospital not a hotel.

Callahan and Latinovicz were covering the front door of the Panther Club, while Hammerstein and Valentine moved the car from the front of the building to the corner of Lexington and the delivery alley, where I assume they parked it and are covering the delivery alley on foot. Hammerstein has a 20% drive skill, so he is capable of driving the car. As Hammerstein simply gestured at Big Sal, let's just assume he did so in passing as he and Valentine drove by on their way around the building to the delivery alley. Hope that helps.

Artemis also has 20% in Drive Auto... Isn't that the default, untrained amount?

Yes. But that means they can do the basics with operating a car. Increased percentages are mostly factored in when pulling off stunts and such during chases or rough driving conditions. Even with a 01% Drive skill you could technically drive, but for something as mundane as driving a car down a near deserted street and parking it I just assume it's done with no roll required.

Ah ok, fair enough. Was the automatic transmission invented by then? I'd hate to see someone try and drive a manual/stickshift car without any prior training, LOL.

Or does having the default 20% mean that everyone has had at least basic training in driving a vehicle? I'd have to figure out how and why Artemis learnt, if that's the case.

The short definition in the CoC book for Skill: Drive (20%) is "Anyone with this skill can drive a car or light truck, make ordinary maneuvers, and cope with ordinary vehicle problems. If the investigator wants to lose a pursuer or trail someone, both participants might attempt Driving rolls until one fails and the other succeeds."

In our time, autos were manual shift. I wouldn't worry to much about explaining how Artemis learned to drive stick. When I was a teenager, I got my first truck in South Dallas. It was a stick, which I had never driven before. My dad dropped me off at the car lot, then left me there. I had to drive the truck back to North Dallas. I got the keys to truck, sputtered and lurched my way out of the parking lot and by the time I reached the freeway I was driving it like a pro. Heh, come to think of it, dad kind of taught me how to swim the same way...he just pushed me into the deep end of the pool and said "Swim!"