Yeah, I guess you have a point there. I'm also very familiar with the story of the rich man and Lazarus, told by Jesus Christ. I got into an argument with a Jehovah's Witness about what exactly it meant. (Man, she was an itchbay)
Behind the Screens 2008
(622 posts) (13 voices)-
JohnA1nut
MemberYa know, something just occurred to me. You said that no one knows where those guys come from. How exactly would you propose I investigate it? The castle is 50 miles away, so you said. I don't exactly have transportation to get there, so it might as well be on another continent. Not to mention what am I supposed to do when I get there? Go up to the king and say "You need to throw those guys out because you don't know where they're from"? They would throw me in the dungeon if I was lucky, and put me on the rack if I wasn't. As Keanu Reeves said in Speed "Remember, crazy, not stupid."
Tue Jan 22 2008 4:34 pm # -
John, you are absolutely right: it would have been so much easier for you to do something about it when the king was looking for someone to do something about it. But then, part of the lesson is the longer you wait to address the problem, the harder the problem is to address--and take my word for it, friend, it is still going to get harder to address.
However, we take our games one post at a time, and today's first post is from Harry, then John II, then Adam, then John I.
Harry's good use of the telescope has given him respite from the threat, and things will return to normal now.
John II and I have had some communication difficulties (as sometimes happens on forums) which need to be addressed.
Adam gets settled for the night, I think. We'll continue in the morning.
John I is going to attempt what I think is a Remote Mind Reading skill. His roll is 29, the skill is 3@9 and his bias is 7@4, so any value for the BRA at all will make this a success, 1@1 Remote Mind Reading P3@9 read a single unfamiliar mind in a known designated location. Now I need to figure out what he hits, and a 19 GE roll is slightly unfavorable; he's not going to get good information from that, at least at this point. He can stay with this mind, of course, or attempt to find another.
--M. J. Young
Tue Jan 22 2008 9:58 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberMJ Wrote:
John, you are absolutely right: it would have been so much easier for you to do something about it when the king was looking for someone to do something about it. But then, part of the lesson is the longer you wait to address the problem, the harder the problem is to address--and take my word for it, friend, it is still going to get harder to address.I didn't know it was going to be a problem when I first got here. My character still doesn't know. It's like walking past a "Help Wanted" sign in a store window. You don't need a job, so why go in and ask about the job? What you didn't know is that the guy was a genocidal lunatic that had a canister of Sarin gas inside. He vowed to release the gas unless someone came in to ask for a job by a certain date. You didn't need the job, you didn't go in, and the guy releases the gas and wipes out half of New Jersey. Is that your fault because you didn't go in and ask about the job? If you had gone in and asked, the guy would never have released the gas, but you had no way of knowing that he would. In what way would that be your fault?
Tue Jan 22 2008 10:05 pm # -
John, I didn't say it was your ault. You were offered a fortune and the hand of a princess if you figured out a problem, and the incentive didn't touch you.
Personally I would rather play the game more and talk about it less. Sure, you can answer my comments, but please don't expect me to answer your e-mails on the subject. I've enough to do, and my involvement in running this game is supposed to be limited to running it here. My e-mail address is available for problems, but I don't expect it to be used on a routine basis. The forum is for all discussion about the game.
Harry, Max, Edward, John II, Adam, Graeme, and John I are tonight's guests; enter and sign in please.
Harry wants to "increase the contrast" of his telescopic vision so he can see objects under the surface. That strikes me as a new skill within the same category, but in order to do it he will first need a success roll at the telescopic vision (not the mere practice assumption that it works or it doesn't), and then a skill learning roll for the new bit. 71 is not successful for the telescopic vision. I won't roll the other without his permission, but I will roll a couple of TK Pulse checks against a 1@2 SAL and 1@9 BRA, 31% chance of success, 23, 40, 24, two of three successes.
Max is back, and I think we've got a good set of code words for the duo, so we'll move into the politicking part.
Edward gets a barely good enough 13 GE roll, which is a positive thing around now.
John II has said he would rather have the skills magically implanted in him. Why do I hear the words She chose down echoing in my head? However, the interesting question now is whether what he has done is 1) pray to instill skills into himself without learning them or 2) pray to summon a being who can and will instill skills into him. I'm inclined to think the latter--which is good, because I'm sure the former would be a botch. Even summonings are tough; but this would be a M+11@6 Attract Off-world Sentient Servant. This gets sticky, though, on two points. First, he intends (although that's not part of the prayer) to ask the servant for information--which means he expects this to be an informer, and that's M+11@7. Second, though, he has specified that it should be that same being which delivered the message previously, and that's clearly an informer; but the rules say that no informer will also be a servant.
I note that the TF for attracting an off-world sentient informer is 3:00; he's praying for 20:00, using full body involvement and appropriate words, that's +27 for time, +5 for appropriateness, +15 for full body involvement, and +10 for the room limitation, so +57SM on the skill, it's very likely to work. Of course, he's got to overcome a significant bias disparity--his own 7@7 bias+2@2 BRA+the 15@ world bias is 114-11@7+57SM=54% chance that he can make this work the first time. 27 is solid, 1@1 Call Angelic Messenger M+11@7 20:00TF kneeling in established base camp with appropriate words, calls specific angel messenger to answer questions +57SM. Oh, and maybe this will get us somewhere.
Adam is headed into interesting waters, and I have to make a decision pretty soon--but I'll make it soon enough.
I'll give Graeme the last word in the debate. I'm sure the general could keep going, but I'm not sure I can, and I'm not sure Graeme wouldn't rather move forward with this. Let's get him involved--here's a place where he can learn some engineering like he's never seen before, if he likes, or dabble in his magic if he prefers.
We'll bring John I to the vehicle, or the other way around. Of course, this won't be Mekita--it will either be the contact who can take them there, or the trap that's being sprung.
Speaking of springing, I'm almost done.
--M. J. Young
Thu Jan 24 2008 7:02 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberMJ Wrote:
Personally I would rather play the game more and talk about it less. Sure, you can answer my comments, but please don't expect me to answer your e-mails on the subject. I've enough to do, and my involvement in running this game is supposed to be limited to running it here. My e-mail address is available for problems, but I don't expect it to be used on a routine basis. The forum is for all discussion about the game.I'll keep that in mind for the future.
Thu Jan 24 2008 7:08 am # -
I wondered if anyone would get that reference.
Harry, John II, Adam, and John I get to play.
Harry rolls 79 on the visual discrimination skill; he's got a 5@1 bias aimed at a 5@1 skill, so that's not going to work this time. Will he catch his friend from security? A GE of 17 is not exactly favorable, but it couldn't be too unfavorable, so I'll say yes, briefly.
John II asks some interesting questions; let's give him answers.
I'll get Adam set up to spin a story for our local nobleman before he moves on.
John I does still have his telepathic link, so he'll have some idea of what is being thought. Let's move forward. I've got a 15 GE roll, so this isn't a trap, but it's not going to run as smooth as glass, either.
--M. J. Young
Fri Jan 25 2008 2:55 am # -
If I put twelve minutes into each of five threads, that will have me finished in an hour, as I've got Harry, John II, Adam, Graeme, and John I. Of course, some threads take much more than twelve minutes, but some take a bit less, so I might manage this.
Harry has one more event in the crossing of the Greater Syndic--water loss on day 99. That's mercifully late in the crossing, as Greater Syndic crossings rarely exceed one hundred twenty days and his has been relatively uneventful (I'm sure that comments like that will cause him to hesitate to sign on for another run, but I think he's enjoying it, so we're good). My only question is how severe it is, and the GE roll says 23, nearly as bad as anticipated.
John II continues his conversation, and sends me to the books to get some answers.
Adam knows where he is, and now has to consider his options a bit.
I like the way Graeme's scenario is progressing, so let's take away worries about daily needs and money. He still has to deal with his language problem, but we'll take that one step at a time.
I'll cover John I's first contact here. You know, it just occurred to me that his preferred name wouldn't come across as impressive as he likes if someone had the wrong accent--but I'll tease him with that.
It did take more than an hour to get through everyone--but not much more. My call has not yet come, but I've only a bit more to do tonight.
--M. J. Young
Sat Jan 26 2008 7:04 am # -
I feel the steam leaking from the pipes--if I miss anything or anyone, please flag me on it tomorrow, and I will attempt to catch up. I do see Harry, Edward, John II, Adam, John I, and Ryan.
Harry reaches Durnmist--civilization, or what passes for it here.
Edward's enemy acts according to GE rolls, and then against the resistance of the defenses here. A 22 plays against Edward, so we've got some action again. There's not that much the demon can do, but maybe he'll rattle the doors; 19 is a success.
John II is coming to the end of a difficult conversation.
Adam starts heading toward Camelot.
John I is going to attempt to determine whether his host is lying; I'm going to attempt to determine exactly how he intends to make that determination.
I'm uncertain whether I already rolled for Ryan's teaching efforts or not, and since the new system doesn't precisely datestamp posts it's harder to synch and search. It might be a risk, but I've decided to let it ride on a GE roll--and the roll is 12.
I should probably do more, but I'm too tired to do more, so I'm going to call it a night.
It's a night.
--M. J. Young
Mon Jan 28 2008 2:45 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberMr. Young, how many times do I have to tell you? Take a day off!!!!!!!!! Take a day and do absolutely nothing for 24 hours. Sleep in, order a pizza, drink a few cases of beer. Sit around in your jammies all day. Relax. I'm sure no one here would object to you not visiting the forums for a day so you could have some time off.
Mon Jan 28 2008 4:11 am # -
It wouldn't work, John--I absolutely hate the taste of beer.
I probably should have thought to mention on my blog that I finally got to use that imitation leatherman I've been carting around in my pocket. I keep thinking I've found a use for it--usually as a screwdriver--but it never fits whatever I'm attempting to unscrew. I tried to use it as a pair of long nose pliers to reach a foot that had gotten stuck up inside the leg of a piece of furniture, but it wasn't long enough. However, on Saturday afternoon I got a sliver of glass stuck in the bottom of my shoe, and I was able to extract it with the pliers, so I didn't have to wander around pushing the glass in deeper while looking for another tool. So I was glad I had it. I still don't think I'll use it more than once or twice a month, but that might be sufficient to justify carting it around.
Harry, John II, and Adam are today's players.
I don't think I need to roll for whether Walt will spot his friend John--that is, Harry--to a couple of drinks; however, since no one has ever attempted to find a place to gamble in Durnmist, I'll need a GE roll for whether that's possible here. (It's probably a lot more likely in Tempest or Moon of Korg, being rougher town, but it might be possible here.) 15 puts it borderline. I'll also need to know whether Walt favors a pub with a musician, and whether that's something from which Harry can learn; 21 suggests not.
John II has tossed two more spells at me. I think it reasonable to split the time in half, and work with it from there.
The first skill is a blessing to increase the efficacy of his weapons against demons. I'm immediately inclined to go for a M1@3 bonus damage, probably creating a dependent damage rider which adds magical damage to the physical damage; but then, I don't know that I want to confer that on as many weapons as John has based on a five minute prayer. The alternative is to use a 1@2 bonus strike and apply it to him rather than the weapons, but that's not really what he's asking, so I probably shouldn't do that.
I can deal with the other half of the prayer, however. More than simply extra power, John really needs someone with purpose. He has asked for "a warrior, a soldier, a knight. Someone with the power to defeat these demons." He did not specify that it be an angelic being, nor that he would have control over this being, and that makes it easier for it to succeed--because I can make it an Attract Local Sentient Fighter M11@4 skill (I could make it an attract local non-sentient fighter, but then I think it would have to be a dragon, and he probably wouldn't see a dragon as an ally in a battle against a demon). That skill has a 2:00 TF, and he's going for 5:00, so he gets +15 for time, +10 for the room, +5 for appropriate words, +15 for full body involvement, which makes an inherent sit-mod of +45 if I haven't missed anything. 2@2 BRA, +10 for alliance holy magic, 11@7 bias, +9 for half his religion SAL. Let's roll the dice: 59 requires me actually to do the math--no, it doesn't, because I've got a 4 point difference in his favor between the two biases, so he needs 55 points to make that work, and he's got 45 for the sit-mod alone. That means he's got a 1@2 Call Local Sentient Fighter M+11@4 5:00TF kneeling in established base camp with appropriate words, calls random sentient fighter to ally against a specified enemy +45SM. Of course, this fighter isn't a magical creature, so he won't magically appear--but he will appear, soon enough.
We'll move Adam back to the road, but not without offering provisions first. He's probably sufficiently provisioned as he is, which will make Penrose happy, but we'll see what he thinks.
--M. J. Young
Tue Jan 29 2008 7:14 am # -
Dr. J. Edwin Orr reports that he was in Australia when the Russians launched Sputnick, putting the dog Laika in orbit, and everyone in Australia was talking about "the dog up in the sky". One woman said, "You'd never get me in space--I'm just terrified of dogs."
My comment about hating beer was a joke; obviously I knew that the beer part was not important to what you meant.
For what it's worth, there's no day I can skip which would save me much work.
- Sunday I catch up the Multiverser forum posts since Friday, and I do a complete backup and maintenance of the computer. Were I to skip this, I would have more posts on Monday, which is already a heavy day otherwise, plus I would still have to backup and defrag the drives--which means the system would be running slow all day until I got to that part, and it would be that much harder to get anything done. Remember, on Monday I have to invest four hours into driving to my mother-in-law's, taking her shopping, and getting here trash to the curb--and since the trash is collected early Tuesday morning, I can't put that off a day.
- Monday I catch up the weekend e-mail, and since there are a lot of people who do their web browsing and e-mail on weekends, it's the heaviest day for e-mail. If I don't do Monday, I wind up pushing all of that and more into Tuesday, which is already the busiest day online. Besides, since I've got that four-hour errand, taking off Monday isn't really taking a day off.
- What makes Tuesday busy is that I do the Lutheran forum only once a week, and it's an active forum that often requires careful theological thought and exegesis for some of my responses. I've missed Tuesday before, and it makes Wednesday pretty tough; I particularly do the Lutheran forum on Tuesday so it is not in competition with the e-mail. If I skipped it for a week, I would need a lot more time to get through it all the next week, and probably couldn't do it in a day--and since it's the simple and cheap system everyone uses, it gets very unhappy if I'm interrupted in my work there for any length of time, and refuses to tell me what I still need to read.
- Wednesday gets me back to e-mail. This is a lighter day, because really e-mail is all I have to do and early-week e-mail is usually light--but also unpredictable. I could push the Wednesday e-mail into Thursday, but then there would be an extra day of e-mail in the inbox, and that would make Thursday very heavy.
- It could be argued that it doesn't matter if I do the Wednesday e-mail on Thursday. After all, since The Forge shut down its theory forums I seldom spend more than an hour there reading the few things which I still find of value. On the other hand, in part because it is my slow day we are doing our rehearsal on Thursday. I could take off Thursday, but it would increase the forum posts on Friday, plus give force me to squeeze in The Forge in the Friday workload.
- The problem with Friday is that I'm trying to get everything done and get to church Friday night and get enough sleep that I can get to church Saturday morning. I don't always make Friday night as it is, and I've missed a few Saturday mornings, too, just from how late things run on Friday. This is the end-of-week e-mail day, and of course e-mail is unpredictable. It's also the last forum posting before the weekend, so I'm loathe to miss it--it would back up more work into Sunday, and I'm trying to get things done early enough of Sunday to do the system maintenance.
- I already take Saturday off, so there's no point in talking about taking Saturday off. Of course, I have church in the morning, and the dump is only open two days a week so I'm always running that errand in the afternoon, and since we've got old cars I have to check all the fluids at least once a week so this is when I do that, and by the time I've gotten through dinner I'm about finished. I dabble at this and that sometimes, and if I've got any energy I try to get some other stuff done.
I'm reminded that someone asked over on my blog why I'm doing all these other things instead of writing. I was a bit short in my answer there; let me address it more appropriately here. On one side of the issue, the company isn't paying me enough to support my work here; they don't have the money at this point, and they actually are in debt to me (and the other contributors) for royalties in excess of their current capital. The contributors have postponed demands for royalties so that the company will have operating capital, and rarely do we actually get paid anything for our efforts. Thus I am constantly exploring other avenues in the hope of supplementing my income--the Christian books have been the most successful in this regard, although they're not really showing much in the way of profit yet. On the other side of the issue, the company has always believed that it was advantageous to the company for me to have exposure beyond the world of role playing games. The temporal anomalies site has had some success in bringing people from science fiction fandom to the Multiverser game and books, and there have been a number of Christians who took an interest in Multiverser through my Christian connections. Our most recent director of public relations thought that my involvement in a band was a favorable thing for Multiverser, because it would be plausible to promote it through MySpace, and me through it, and Multiverser through me. Maybe that's not an effective strategy, but maybe we don't have many effective strategies available to us. I've always said that one of the serious problems in this company is that a lot of it depends on me to do a lot of things at which I'm not all that good--marketing, for example--but there aren't a lot of people better at these things than I am, so I'm the one who has to do them.
I also have been thinking that I've owed Eric an apology. He keeps hoping that we'll buy his worlds, and I've not wanted to tell him we can't afford to buy his worlds--it's bad for the company image to be seen as strapped for cash, even if that's the way it is with most role playing game publishers. We don't buy worlds from people not because we don't think they can write good worlds, but because we just don't have the money to buy them and still have the money to print them. Sorry. I figure that means they'll wind up GURPS worlds or something like that, which is a significant loss to us, but I can't really expect anyone to put a lot of effort into publishing worlds for our game when we're not in the black ourselves doing that.
I suppose a lot of this should have been on my blog, or maybe it shouldn't have been said at all, but it's here now, so I'll leave it here.
--M. J. Young
Tue Jan 29 2008 10:49 pm # -
Now, let's turn our attention where it belongs: Harry, John II, Adam, and John I.
Harry has been aboard the Piper in Navigation for one hundred days. The Mary Piper scenario assumes that through your regular activities skills and attributes will improve--slowly, but persistently. Those advances happen on paper at one hundred day marks, although some happen every two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, up to (for things like intellect) two thousand days. Thus some of his most-used skills have advanced, thus:
- 1@2 Make/Use Maps P0@0
- 1@2 Operate Small Boat T3@1
- 1@5 Operate Sextant/Astrolabe T6@1
- 1@7 Use Drafting Tools T6@1
- 1@2 Use Magnetic Compass T6@1
- 1@8 Use Telescope T6@2
I'm trying to get John II's weapon list straight, which is complicated by the fact that he has been passed around a bit between referees, so things might not be as they appear on my sheet.
Adam is bound for Camelot; I am trying to think through how to reveal to him the details of this world without forcing them. He'll probably make another couple of villages before the day is over.
I can wrap up John I easily enough on a mind reading roll of 42. I'm confident that's within his range.
I can also move on to my other obligations.
--M. J. Young
Tue Jan 29 2008 11:39 pm # -
I've got Harry, John II, Adam, Graeme, John I, and Ryan in play, which is a lot of variety in the games.
Harry is on the routine for a couple of weeks, but that routine will lead to Tempest, which is a bit unusual.
I'm still wrestling with the discrepancies in the equipment sheets between mine and John II's, but we'll get there.
I'm thinking it's at least a hundred miles to Camelot if it's really close, and maybe as much as four or five hundred miles if it's really far, and since Wales can be a bit rugged it might not be an easy journey for Adam--but he gets the benefit of a GE roll within those parameters, and 15 is slightly favorable, so we'll make it 150 miles. If they move along at a brisk four miles per hour (given their remarkable staminas) for twelve hours a day, they can make about a third of that distance.
Graeme is getting himself relocated, if he wishes.
John I makes a comment bound to raise an eyebrow and a few questions.
I've got to pull out the book to get some of the names and translations of things so that Majdi can explain to Ryan how magic works, but since it's not the sort of thing he's likely to have tried to explain before, his answer might not be exactly what Ryan wants.
Hey, that's the batch. Tomorrow, then.
--M. J. Young
Thu Jan 31 2008 5:39 am # -
Harry starts us off again. Edward is back in play. John II continues his efforts. Adam is on the road. The fact that Graeme posted two minutes before I opened the board several hours ago suggests that I've got a game post waiting that I won't see until I return. John I is batting cleanup.
I've no reason to believe that the customs check at Tempest will go badly, but that means I have to use a GE roll--you can never be sure of such things. 23 is pretty bad, although it could be a lot worse.
Edward gets an 18 GE roll, which means that it's not going to get worse than it is for the moment.
John II has given me a long list of weapons to bless--not as long as it might have been, but still rather extensive. I'm not sure whether it actually says so in the book, but I've always treated ammunition in batches, usually of twenty items to one weapon. Thus the hunting knife is one weapon, and the Marlin .22 is one weapon, but the 2000 rounds of .22 ammo is one hundred, not two thousand, weapons. The pistol is one; 250 rounds of ammo in five boxes I should make fifteen (three per box) but I'll generously make 13 (lots of twenty bullets). Each of the 7 magazines contains fifteen bullets, but here I'll treat each as a unit--first, because they are discrete units, and second because the blessing should be extended to bonus reloading. I'll use the same logic for the MAK-90 clips, so that's 10 weapons there, definitely in his favor as it's 300 bullets. He's got the MAK-90 itself, 3 throwing knives, and the KABAR. 20 steel quarrels is 1, and 150 wooden quarrels is 8 more. I make that 147 weapons being blessed by one five-minute prayer.
It's not as bad as it might be. First, he's turned a 1:00 TF into a 5:00 TF, so that's +22 there. He's limited this to his room, +10, and has total body involvement +15 and appropriate words +5. Also, he isn't asking for these to be more potent against everything--only against demons, so that limitation is good for--I'll be generous and say +20, since it's not even that it's limited to spirits, but demons particularly. On the other hand, the baseline is for one weapon--but the penalty is based on doubling/halving, so we can get close to 147 more quickly than we might. That's 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128--7 doublings for -70, and then the difference between 147 and 128 happens to be just shy of 15% of 128, so we'll give him -1 more for that. Actually, I think I'll make it "up to 150 weapons" as a nice round number, and then make it -2 instead. +22+10+15+5+20=+70, the count is -72, so the total on the inherent sit-mods is -2. He's then got the 1@3 bonus damage +DC skill set against his 11@7 bias, so this is going to be an automatic success to learn. 32 is the roll, so it's 1@1 Bless up to 150 weapons to increase damage against demons M+1@3 kneel and pray with appropriate words in established base location over chosen weapons to confer +DC on all weapons so blessed for use in next battle with demons, -2 SM.
Adam gets a 19 GE roll, so he's not going to wind up at a village at nightfall. We'll see what decisions he makes next.
I'm surprised Graeme said nothing in response to the mention of matter transmission; but then, he's always played his cards close to his breast.
John I is going to give sketchy information about himself, but I'm going to want to know what he's actually telling people, to some degree.
--M. J. Young
Fri Feb 1 2008 4:44 am # -
I see Harry, Edward, John II, Adam, Graeme, and John I, so I'd better start typing quickly if I'm going to deliver something to everyone.
Harry asks a question but doesn't specify who is being asked, so I'll get that clear before I answer it.
Edward lets some rhetoric fly; I'll engage his questions, as it will keep the scenario interesting.
As I recall, John II successfully blessed an arsenal yesterday; now he's preparing to use it. I also need to provide the answer to that other prayer.
Graeme is going to wait until tomorrow before visiting the lab; his newly-assigned assistant will probably about this point realize a rather important question.
I will bring John to a rendezvous point; we'll play it by ear from here.
--M. J. Young
Sat Feb 2 2008 4:15 am # -
Harry portside, Edward in church, John II shoeing, Adam camping, John I meeting, and Ryan in school--quite a variety of people and places in today's game.
I'm thinking about going back to the old system of oldest post first; it would simply be simpler for me (particularly since this system doesn't really mark "unread" posts, only "posts made since the last time you posted". However, today, at least, I'm doing it from newest to oldest player, as is my current usual.
If Harry is not actually panhandling, and doesn't put out a hat or cup or something while he plays, I can't imagine that anyone would object to him doing a bit of piping on the docks. Finding maps, though, is a bit different--they might have printing presses, but this is still a low-tech world. His GE roll is 16, and my interpretation of that neutral result is that he can find a map of the current city for a rather hefty price.
Edward gets a 10 GE roll, which is a strongly positive one; of course, in his situation, even good things can be unnerving.
John II is caring for a horse; the mysterious foreigner will be staying the night, probably in the same inn where John stays, so they might have time to comminicate at some point.
Adam and Geniece are both extremely good at Alert Rest; however, under the circumstances it matters, so I will roll for it: 74 and 02, both successes, his strong and hers weak. He gets a 12 Good Enough GE roll on the passing of the night, but that does not mean he will go undisturbed.
I could roll the panoramic awareness for John, but since it only matters if there's something that might surprise him I'll give him the details directly. He rolls 72 on maintaining the mental link past its expiration, which is not going to be successful. 77 does not reestablish it, either.
We've got some really interesting ideas afloat in Ryan's thread which are going to lead us somewhere--but we're not entirely sure at this point where.
--M. J. Young
Sun Feb 3 2008 9:59 pm # -
I'm hoping that the bits of semi-sweet chocolate I'm absorbing will keep me awake and focused long enough to get through game posts from Harry, John II, Adam, and John I.
Not much happening with Harry, although his thoughts are interesting.
John II starts two conversations, so I'll juggle them. I also need to get a clear notion of what he's doing with those quarrels and the shotgun shells.
Adam wants to check the source of a noise in the dark in the woods; I need to know how he expects to see anything.
John I makes contact. I'm not sure how things will go from here, but thus far smooth has been the word.
--M. J. Young
Tue Feb 5 2008 3:49 am # -
Apparently while trying to pop open another document, I hit a wrong keystroke sequence and closed the window in which I was writing this behind-the-screens stuff. Let me see what I can reconstruction. Harry and John II were already posted, and I was working with Adam with John I waiting in the wings.
I remember that Harry rolled 40 on his effort to change focus, and that I mused that this would be a rolled adjustment for an amateur but a free action for a professional, so he should have the impression that it's not easier now but will be eventually. I also made some inane comments about how I think infant eyesight develops much the same way, but that's enough for that.
I can't remember whether I rolled anything for John II--oh, yes, a 17 GE roll on whether there was a secret weapon or a secret anti-demon society. I'd mused that anything not higher than six would probably get him his secret society, 12 would get the weapon, 13 a weapon in development, 14 a smith who had thought about making such a weapon, and 15 a smith who thought that the weapon was a good idea he should consider sometime--but I didn't go too deeply into what the negative rolls would produce (if a 3 produces a nationwide anti-demon society, then a 30 probably produces a Cthulu-like cult of demon worshippers hoping for this day and ready to oppose any effort to stop it).
For Adam, there's a 23 GE for the reaction of the unseen observer to his comment. That's where I am.
John flirts with Ruth; no wonder he left his wife aboard the ship. She returns the teasing, and we're at the point where someone has to decide when to leave.
--M. J. Young
Tue Feb 5 2008 9:59 pm # -
Actually, John, I was surprised it was as likely as MJ made it. Not that it really matters - it's hard to argue that a 17 is anything other than this.
Wed Feb 6 2008 2:23 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberYeah, I'm not arguing about MJ's roll. I just would have thought that superstitious country folks with miles between the nearest towns would be well supplied with food and weapons. They know that in a bad situation, all they have is what they have, and they have to rely on each other for support. I'm not arguing it at all, a 17 is hard to argue. I'm just saying that I would have thought it more likely, that's all.
Wed Feb 6 2008 4:33 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberAgain, not arguing, just giving my two cents. The people in the world I am in are superstitious, God fearing country folks that live miles from any major civilizations. I know some superstitious, God fearing country folks, and all of them are heavily armed, well supplied, and would go to war in a heartbeat if there were reports of actual demons living in the area. I would have thought even a neutral roll would mean an armed and supplied blacksmith, just because I know how superstitious, God fearing country folks think. Just my two cents, and not an argument.
Wed Feb 6 2008 8:26 am # -
I'll make a couple of points on the discussion concerning my assessment of John's anti-demon militia before I turn my attention to the game.
One thing is that John is assuming these people are highly superstitious. This is a fairy tale world, and one thing that is consistent in fairly tale worlds is that the people aren't really more superstitious than they are in the ordinary world. I don't find evidence of widespread anti-demon militias in the history of our world, so it would strike me as very unusual, at least, for them to exist in some similar world--and the people of this world are similar to those of our world.
It's also rather awkward in a way that they seem in fact less superstitious than those in our world. They attend church, but if there's a running trade in either relics or charms, John has not seen it. No one has attempted to sell him or the smith a protection amulet or poltice to keep away poltergeists or any of a thousand other marketable bits of magic that were popular in our own middle ages.
That plays into another point: the blacksmith is not terribly superstitious. It's entirely possible that no one offers these things to him because he would run them out with tongs and hot iron. There's no evidence that the smith believes in more than the fundamentals of his religion, a belief in God in some way that the scenario has not fully defined.
The smith also lives pretty well within the borders of a relatively safe kingdom in a time of peace and prosperity. He's probably not afraid of anyone attacking his family, and if he is, he'll have weapons to defend against flesh and blood, not demons. I gave John the possibility that the smith might harbor some secret fear of demons, and actually made it fairly likely, all things considered.
Oh yes, there was one more thing: blacksmiths don't make a lot of weapons. They will make maces and such sometimes, and heads or parts for use by others, but weapons are mostly made by weaponsmiths, bowyers, fletchers--specialists who make weapons, and make them well. The smith mostly makes horseshoes, wagon parts, farm implements, and when he's really ambitious, wrought iron furniture. He probably also makes nails as the sort of busy work to fill in his slow times. This picture of the blacksmith making a lot of weapons is ill-conceived. Yes, you can use his skills to make weapons, but that's not his job as he sees it.
Now, we have Harry, John II, Adam, and John I once again.
Just when you thought it was safe back in the water--the event Harry has been anticipating is happening. The question is whether it is happening around him or to him, and the GE roll is 18. We have a pirates boarding situation.
I'm guessing that the bag of dirt John II wants is so he can fire the shotgun shell into it--but maybe I'm mistaken.
Let's get Adam to Camelot; he's moving fast afoot, and the road is probably not that interesting a story at this point.
The issue in John I's story is whether Destiny is ready for them when they're ready for Destiny. 18 on the GE roll means a minor problem.
--M. J. Young
Thu Feb 7 2008 2:42 am # -
I've read a bit about the Knights Templar; I think they were organized to fight infidels, not demons. I could be mistaken, though.
I've come back from my scheduled interruption to address posts from Harry, Edward, John II, Adam, and John I.
Harry is charging into the fight, but I'm wondering if that's a whispered prayer from his character or from him as he does so.
Edward's idea of the demon manipulating someone in that room to provide entrance is good, but I don't see an easy way for it to happen at this point--the same low mag bias that has so completely limited everything Eric has attempted to do with magic is also limiting what the demon can do. It is further limited by the fact that it has to get past the defenses currently in place. However, I do see the possibility of it trying to inflict pain, create gases (but not poisons or caustics), or animate objects in the room. Thus far, though, its choices have been dictated by general effects rolls, and those have been favoring Edward 15 still tends toward his favor, so we'll try something potentially disruptive but not particularly dangerous: pour helium into the room. His skill check is 76, so that fails.
John II is creating another summoning skill, and rolls 22, giving him a 1@1 Call Angelic Messenger M+11@7 5:00TF kneeling with appropriate words, calls specific angel messenger to answer questions +27SM. He loses ten points for eliminating the location, and he's cut the time in half twice at the cost of ten points for each halving, twenty points there, but it's still an effective skill.
It strikes me that there's nothing in the skill that says that Pedro will necessarily be able to see or hear the angel; after all, the angel is there to answer questions for John. At this moment, John would like Pedro to be able to see and hear, so I'm going to answer that question with a GE roll: 13 is barely good enough, so I'm noting for this skill (and not for the other) that others will see the angel as a faint image and hear a distant echoing voice.
It will take the rest of the day for Adam to get to the castle at Camelot; but he will get there before dark.
That 18 GE roll from last session should be just annoying enough for John I, so let's interrupt him twice.
--M. J. Young
Fri Feb 8 2008 3:23 am # -
Harry is entering the fray, John II the spirit realm, Adam Camelot, and John I his own ship.
Harry wants to use his TK Pulse against living targets. My norm on this is that the targets get to make an agility check against the pulse, if it's successful. He's going for pirates currently boarding on loose planks, and that's a clever way to do it. First, though, he's put together a quick prayer. I've done the math, and even rolled, and am adding the skill to his sheet--with a caveat. Here's that analysis:
I make it a six-second prayer, and its appropriate words (+5) would suggest that it is a bonus strike skill. The baseline calls for a one minute TF and an RS minute duration, but if I divide both by ten I get a 0:06 TF and an RS/10 minute duration and no adjustment for times. (When used in formulae, RS stands for Relative Success, and so means the number actually rolled if it is successful.) I'll also figure that the spell requires that he be holding the affected weapon in his weapon hand (he cannot bless some other weapon, and he cannot bless the weapon before he draws it). This means he has an action component and a material component--but since "a weapon" is terribly general, I'm only giving +1 for the weapon. This is alliance holy magic in an alliance world, and he has a 1@5 bias, 2@5 Religion, and 2@3 BRA. Everything else appears to be within the baseline for such a skill. It's fairly evident that the roll of 09 will give him the skill. Let me put this together: 1@1 Bonus Strike M1@2 0:06 whispered prayer "Thor guide me. Put strength in my hands and rage in my heart, to defend my friends and break my enemies" while holding intended weapon in weapon hand RS/10 minute duration RS/10 minute bonus to attacks with weapon +6SM
The problem is, that's a 1@2 bias skill, and this is a flatlined world, so it's not going to work. (I started doing this because years ago when we first tinkered with this world, there was going to be a moderate mag bias in the seafaring version; we removed it, but I had run it with the magic present and had some fun stories from that, so I sometimes forget that magic doesn't work well here.)We should roll a TK Pulse or two, but first we need to determine just what is happening--how bad is it here. 17 is pretty ordinary. 63 is a failed roll anyway, but I'll give him two minutes, that's two tries, before he can't be playing mind games. Ouch--97 is not a good roll. That's clearly a botch. Let's make a botch list:
- Wrong target--ship mate
- Backfire--knock self over
- Brain Burn
- Psionic Shockwave
- Neural Breakdown
- Wrong target--smoke pot
- Pull pirate to self
- Damage pirate ship
- Damage Mary Piper
- Seal feet to floor
- Reduced intellect
- Reduced intuition
- Memory loss (Ed Lev)
- Mental Weakness (will power)
- Reduced persuasion
- Loss of social grace (an mag)
- Or Interpersonal skills (charisma)
- or insanity, which itself is a long list.
John II wants the angel to prove himself by showing him a color that he has never imagined. I find this difficult on multiple levels. First, the angel has no obligation to prove himself, only to answer questions. Second, there's no evidence that the angel has any power to do anything at all beyond answering questions. Third, color is a process of the interpretation of sensory nerve information in the brain--it is not possible for a person to see, with his eyes, colors that are not part of his mental process, without significant alteration to that mental process. A GE roll of 14 moves with me, pretty much.
I think that Adam may be confusing the name of the city with the palace itself; I'm pretty sure that Camelot is the name of the city (this from the movie and the play of that name), so he has already entered it. Now, maybe we got our signals crossed and he doesn't realize he's inside the city (the town gates were open when he arrived; the castle gates are closed), or maybe he thought Camelot was the name of the castle, or maybe I'm just not getting it at all--but the guards aren't getting it, either, so we'll see what he says next.
John I's game has to be interrupted briefly; he knows why, and we'll cover that on Sunday, probably.
--M. J. Young
Sat Feb 9 2008 4:49 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberStupid question: Since I keep summoning the same angel over and over, instead of 4 skills with 1@1, make it 1 skill "Summon Angel" for 1@4? Why not just do something like that? It seems like it would be much easier.
Since I'm asking different questions, and using different techniques each time, that could count as a new use couldn't it? Maybe sit-mod it against the time, location and actions used, but make it new uses on the same skill. I was just wondering why you're not doing that. It just seems like it would be easier to keep track of, that's all.
I've also got two 1@1 Cure Disease skills. Both have the same bias. Why not just make that 1@2 Cure Disease, and give me a new use on it? I'm just curious.
Sun Feb 10 2008 12:19 am # -
John asked
if I were to roll a neural breakdown with insanity, would I get a defense against it?
Since it's a botch roll situation, the answer is no; however, I would agree that you already had skill at managing certain forms of "insanity", and depending on the form you might be able to counter some of the effects. Think in terms of Dr. Nash in Beautiful Mind.
Since I keep summoning the same angel over and over, instead of 4 skills with 1@1, make it 1 skill "Summon Angel" for 1@4?
Let's be clear on this: you have three summoning skills. One of those calls a "local sentient fighter"--the one that brought Pedro to you, so it has nothing to do with calling an angel. The other two both call your angelic messenger (defined as "off-world sentient informer"), but are distinct from each other in two ways: time and place. The more reliable requires that you pray for twenty minutes in your established base location (room); the other can be done anywhere in five minutes. These are different skills because you made them different.You have used the one in the base camp more than once. However, "new use" is supposed to mean that you figured out something very different that you can do with the same skill, and the "use" of this skill to this point is simply summan an angel who is able to answer questions so that you can ask him questions. It's actually not the sort of skill that lends itself to a lot of clever new ways to use it, and thus the best way to get better at it is to use it frequently. When you've done it something like sixty hours (probably near two hundred times) you'll advance a skill mark.
Remember, your character is immortal. Advancement on most skills is supposed to be slow, unless you find a way to focus on practicing particular skills so as to get better.
I've also got two 1@1 Cure Disease skills. Both have the same bias. Why not just make that 1@2 Cure Disease, and give me a new use on it?
Again, you created two distinct skills--one with a five minute prayer and the other with a ten minute prayer. I realize that I'm picking nits here, but my "problem" is that if the only difference between two skills is one takes twice as long as the other (baseline), then the one that takes twice as long is ten percentage points more likely to succeed. My alternative at the time was to suppose that you did the five minute skill twice, and so to roll it twice, which might have increased your chance of success but certainly would have increased your chance to botch, so I decided to go with one new skill, one roll.With those matters addressed, let's play, starting with Harry, John II, and Adam. I'll mention for the benefit of John I that the unannounced live game in which he was to play did not happen (and for anyone who might have felt slighted at not having been invited, the fact that the film crew did not make it so we did not play means I was probably right in not bringing people there who were not going to be there anyway).
Harry needs just a bit of clarification on his scenario, and then he can engage in battle.
John II has some questions for the angel, and some for me, and I will answer them all.
There is a bit more of a hint in the words spoken to Adam at the gate of the palace; we'll see what he makes of them.
--M. J. Young
Sun Feb 10 2008 11:36 pm # -
Harry steps into the breach, followed by John II, Adam, John I, and Ryan.
Harry is going for another TK Pulse, 07 means it works, so the opponent makes a check to counter--we'll make it agility under these circumstances, 2d20 reading 4+10, good rolls coming in at 14, which is successful for an average agility, and he keeps his feet. Meanwhile, a 17 GE roll doesn't put him in the direct line of gunfire, but it's not going to give him a free pass either. He gets up on the board and attacks, so we need initiative. Harry's roll is 82, his opponent 68, both failures as attacks but the opponent's less so, so he goes first. The pirate's chance to hit is 66 minus Harry's defenses, but suddenly I note that I have none of Harry's critical averaged attributes, and not a heck of a lot of the attributes on which they are founded. As it happens, the pirate's first roll is 00, which will be a botch no matter what Harry answers, so let's give Harry some credit for it.
John II is still conversing with his angel.
Adam is starting to get the undercurrent here.
Oops--I forgot that John I had posted last to his thread, and I didn't need to wait for him. He's back aboard Destiny, so let's see where this little adventure with Ruth Mekita will next take us.
Magdi is exploring whether he can teach Ryan to use magic, and for Magdi that means starting with holy magic--but that means exploring what Ryan believes about prayer, probably without actually using that word. The question is whether Ryan's character can come embrace the idea of asking God for something and getting it.
I think I've finished here for now.
--M. J. Young
Tue Feb 12 2008 6:27 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberMJ WROTE:
I've also got two 1@1 Cure Disease skills. Both have the same bias. Why not just make that 1@2 Cure Disease, and give me a new use on it?
Again, you created two distinct skills--one with a five minute prayer and the other with a ten minute prayer. I realize that I'm picking nits here, but my "problem" is that if the only difference between two skills is one takes twice as long as the other (baseline), then the one that takes twice as long is ten percentage points more likely to succeed. My alternative at the time was to suppose that you did the five minute skill twice, and so to roll it twice, which might have increased your chance of success but certainly would have increased your chance to botch, so I decided to go with one new skill, one roll.
Just to be clear, you're saying that if I had a Cure Disease, and each time I used it, I prayed for a different amount of time, I would have a different skill? So if I pray for 1 minute, then 2 minutes, then 3 minutes, etc, it's all new skills? I would have thought it easier to just make it new uses on the same skill, and just sit-mod accordingly for the time taken. Of course, I'm not you (thankfully hehe)
Sun Feb 17 2008 1:41 pm # -
The problem is that your chance of success as a baseline is predicated on how much you invest in the effort; thus there has to be a baseline, a "this is how likely you are to succeed based on what you are investing".I would have thought it easier to just make it new uses on the same skill, and just sit-mod accordingly for the time taken.
I could create it as something like a six-second skill with a very low chance of success, and make you roll it a number of times equal to the number of "six seconds" you attempt it; but the chance of success would at least sometimes be low enough that the chance to botch was higher. That's not pretty. Besides, it would also lead to a rather awkward sort of scenario, in which you prayed for two minutes so rolled twenty times, got three success and two botches--a lot of wild stuff happening there.
You suggest a workable alternative that is more difficult than you suppose: sit-mod the chance of success according to the time spent. The complication arises in calculating the sit-mod. In calculating spell innate sit-mods (the adjustment that's built into the skill), there is a concept of doubling and halving equaling ten points. That is, if you pray twice as long, you add ten, but if you want to add twenty you have to pray four times as long, and to add thirty you have to pray eight times as long. In the same sense, if you pray for only half the time, you subtract ten, but its subtract twenty at a quarter, subtract thirty at an eighth.
Why do it that way? Why not just say that it will be sit-modded +1 per minute spent in prayer?
Part of the reason is that the time spent on any particular prayer/skill is already tied to the perceived difficulty of the skill. If you are healing a cut, that's relatively easy; if you are summoning a warrior angel, that's much more difficult. All other things being equal, the baseline time (that for which there is no sit-mod adjustment for time) is one minute; for the summoning (of an off-world sentient fighter under your control) is eight minutes. Now, if I pray for two minutes instead of one minute, that's a significant increase in my time investment--twice as long. That might sound like very little, but probably if I have a one minute cure injury skill, I'm planning to use it to cure the injuries of a lot of people, one after another. If I add one minute to the eight minute summoning to make it nine minutes--frankly, I'm not sure most of us would notice the difference between seven minutes of prayer and nine minutes of prayer, and a significant bonus or penalty for so small a change is foolish.
Further, if you have a 1 minute small wounds healing spell and every increase of one minute gives a direct linear increase of ten points to your chance of success, that gives you plus one hundred, pretty much guaranteed chance of success for a ten minute prayer. I'm not against guaranteed chance of success, but I want it to cost something. Because of the geometric expansion of the doubling system, if you want +100 on a one minute skill based solely on time, you'll have to pray for one thousand twenty-four minutes--which is four minutes more than seventeen hours.
I thus would have to base the sit-mod on the ratio between the time spent and the base time--but that means I need first to calculate that ratio, then to convert it to ten points for each doubling. That's a lot of math to do for the use of a simple prayer for healing.
Besides, since I am treating it as a new skill each time you change the time, you can't get better at it by changing the time, only by standardizing the time, and that suggests standardizing the ritual. Most of us use standard prayers--in the Christian faith, the Lord's Prayer is universal, but many of us have a standard prayer we use for grace before meals, or before bed, and there are those who pray the Rosary in a structured form. Further, I tend to think that when I pray for the same thing repeatedly (such as those for whom I pray daily), I fall into using the same words. Once that happens, you approach the professional level, and you learn to say the same words (the same ritual) faster, achieving the same result more quickly. However, until you start standardizing your prayer, you're not likely to get faster at it.
Does any of that make sense?
--M. J. Young
Sun Feb 17 2008 9:32 pm # -
I realized that none of the files I access during play were on the shortcuts bar on my screen, so I've taken a break of sorts to set that up. I know I'm missing some (can't figure out where I've hidden the file copy of The Second Book of Worlds, but only Ryan is in that book at the moment, so I'm good; I don't have Starship Destiny, though, and I'm going to have to add that. There; settled.) I'm running Harry, Edward, Kyler, Adam, and John I.
Harry underestimates, I think, although it may be his wisdom encouraging him to place the numbers lower so I'll raise them instead of having me come along and lower them. I'm looking at his descriptions, and thinking:
- Strength 1@5
- Stamina 1@8
- Resistance 1@6
- Hand/Eye 1@9 (I don't know how much of that is his fencing skill, which might also be undervalued, but I'm impressed)
- 1@9
The progress of Edward's battle is in large measure determined by general effects rolls, and his latest roll is 22, which is Not as Bad as Anticipated, but still slightly worse than Bad Enough. I think that it will probably attempt to cause pain on the occupants of the room, one at a time. The chance of success will be very low, since already it has to overcome a lot of barriers--but this is something at which it would be pretty good, so I'll figure 26% chance but each target gets a roll against resistance if it is successful. Picking an order at random, Tadeusz, Priest, Haus, Edward, and now for the rolls for the attacks: 80, 73, 51, 62, all failed. There was no botch, and this was a bad roll for Edward, so it will try again: 19, 99, which is a botch, but there was a success on Tadeusz, who gets a resistance check to throw off the effects and a will power check to work through them; meanwhile, the demon has proved to be its own trouble, as the botch is going to set it back for a while. Tadeusz rolls 17+12=29 on the resistance check, but The Hammer of the Gods will have a 2@10 resistance, so that's going to be beaten.
I think also we need some stamina checks. People have been going for a while now. 31 for Tadeusz means he is tiring; that won't be a problem for him, though, as he will have multiple skills to keep going, including his 3@2 will power, and a 7 roll there is an easy, if not a solid, success. 21 for Father Casey is going to fail, 22 for Haus is going to fail, but 14 for Edward is an easy and solid success. Father Casey is not finished yet, but when he collapses, the walls are weakened, and there might be more havoc at that point.
John II has a conversation going. He rolls 06 on firing the Marlin, which even at point blank range is not going to do much damage. The question about recovering and repairing the shotgun is curious, but relies on a GE roll as to what became of it; 26 is a very bad roll indeed.
Adam would have to have a very bad GE roll for anything very bad to happen while he is in an inn in Camelot, and an 8 is a very good roll. That puts me in an awkward position, as I have to think of something "remarkably good but not unexpected" that can happen during his stay at the inn. I have reached a decision, but it will depend on his own actions next.
John I attempts another mind-reading exercise, but 95 will not succeed. In fact, he needs at least a 41% chance of success for that not to be a botch--with a 2@3 BRA, 2x7@ bias, and 1@2 SAL, he's well within that at 49%.
--M. J. Young
Mon Feb 18 2008 1:35 am # -
John - prayer isn't like turning a crank or petting a cat. You don't really define a prayer by how long you spend doing it; more important is what you say. It's not that when you perform your more reliable summoning skill you've spent twenty minutes (petting a cat/turning a crank/"praying") and that when you perform the other skill, you've done the same thing for only five minutes. The fact is that you are saying different things during those extra fifteen minutes: in essence, you are praying a different prayer. The words are different, thus the ritual is different, thus the skill is different.
Does that help, or was it something else that was confusing?
Mon Feb 18 2008 8:38 pm #
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