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Behind the Screens 2009

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Started 3 years ago by M. J. Young
Latest reply from JohnA1nut

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M. J. Young
Moderator

John 2 has been trying my patience with his challenging threads (and John 4 with his phone calls about his game to which he's not posting), but at the moment I have a bit of time to do something for Harry and Nikolaj before turning to John 2, then Graeme, whom I missed by minutes yesterday, apparently.

Harry gets his books, but unless I've forgotten or overlooked something, he still needs a place to stay for a couple nights.

Nikolaj wants information about Sarne, but I'm not clear how he hopes to get this.

John 2 rolls 01 on learning to use the epoxy polymer, and gets skill in using it.

Finally, Graeme is exploring three cultures through contact with one member of each. He's asked some more questions, I'll try to give him more information through that.

--M. J. Young

Mon Mar 9 2009 2:32 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

John 2 has been trying my patience with his challenging threads

You say I surprise you with my behavior. You surprise me. When I sent you equally challenging (and utterly pointless) time travel questions, you insisted that you were not annoyed by it. Asking game questions (not nearly as pointless) annoys you. That really surprises me.

(For the record, I'm giggling whilst I type this)

Mon Mar 9 2009 2:36 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

John, I think that the answer is that when you asked time travel questions, you seemed to be struggling with difficult concepts that were just within your intellectual reach, but when you're putting forward these game challenges you seem to be trying to prove that there are flaws in the game design that you can exploit. There probably are flaws in the game design, and people probably can exploit them. I don't play with people who are trying to exploit the design, though, because that's not fun. I play with people who are trying to enjoy the game.

I know I missed play last night. It was a very disrupted day, in which I was called upon to assist with too many things for at least some of which I was genuinely needed, and when I finally got to the boards it was too late to do more than give it a cursory glance. However, it has gotten late again tonight, and although I have much less excuse (apart from having completed all the other Monday work I did not get done yesterday) I think I have to apply my attention to needs elsewhere. If I get back from that sooner than I anticipate and am feeling not much worse than I am now, I shall endeavor to tackle the significant collection of threads--Kurt, Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, Scott, John 2, and Adam--and otherwise I can only hope that tomorrow will run more smoothly.

--M. J. Young

Wed Mar 11 2009 3:13 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

John, I think that the answer is that when you asked time travel questions, you seemed to be struggling with difficult concepts that were just within your intellectual reach, but when you're putting forward these game challenges you seem to be trying to prove that there are flaws in the game design that you can exploit. There probably are flaws in the game design, and people probably can exploit them. I don't play with people who are trying to exploit the design, though, because that's not fun. I play with people who are trying to enjoy the game.

MJ, I am enjoying the game (I have an extreme sense of pride right now.) I'm not trying to exploit weaknesses in the game. I'm just having fun. This is something that I think about. Who knows? A spinoff of Multiverser could come out of this. You just don't see it quite the same way that I do. To me, this is kind of like a mental puzzle. I feel really good.

(Doing Therapy)

Wed Mar 11 2009 3:36 am #
Nikolaj
Member

Take all the time you need Mark, don't stress yourself too much.

Wed Mar 11 2009 12:09 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I've had a crazy week, and it's not over and still crazy; but it looks like it might be within the realm of possibility for me finally to address the game threads of Kurt, Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, Scott, John 2, and Adam. I've glanced at all of them earlier in the week, and allowed myself to let them simmer a bit, so hopefully this will go relatively smoothly.

Did Blade have any information about Steranko's castle when he was investigating, and if so did any of that information come to his daughter Mariska? That's what Kurt wants to know; that's something no one has ever asked before. Let me find the dice and roll a general effects roll for that: 16, right in the middle. Let's handle that.

Harry and I are now exploring the world in which the Mary Piper travels, to figure out what sort of places we have.

John 3 writes, "...unless there are others who need me...."--and with those words invite a GE roll, which is 21, bad enough. I think our saint may be beginning to learn what it was like for Jesus. I hope I remember my compass directions; it's been years since I actually looked at all this on a map.

I've been pondering the answer to Nikolaj's question--so seriously, in fact, that in my notes on this world I added a comment to the effect that orcs born in captivity (like Qormlach) know very little about the religions of the orcs in the jungles, and those captured are forbidden to speak of such gods. That makes it very difficult for Qormlach to have learned anything about any of the orc gods--and orcs are henotheists, and if either of his parents were captured and did attempt to impart to their son some of what they learned, they probably did not include Sarne, a very evil deity on the rise now due to the collapse of orcish society under the pressures of the slavers. However, I will give Qormlach some sort of check on this. My temptation is to give him an education level check, but I think that his ed lev is something like 0@9, being able to recognize that some symbols are either letters or numbers and to know that some of them are one thing or the other. That gives him very little chance of knowing anything at all, and particularly something us improbable--but if I make it a difficult check, it's ruled out up front, so it will have to be a simple check. He rolls 12, a failure. However, he will recognize the picture.

Scott took a long time to formulate his response to Alice. This conversation is very interesting despite being stretched out over months of play. I've spent a lot of time here catching up by reading, but I'm pleasantly surprised to find that I still have the same feel for the story--for example, when I read Scott's comments about finding something that creates that feeling of the numinous (I don't know whether that's the psychology or philosophy term, or even if I've got it right) I immediately thought that for her it would be mountains, and then I read that that's what she answered, so I guess I still know her pretty well. In any case, we'll move to the next ritual and start forward on that.

John 2 is making two knives. One of those will be relatively simple, but the other is giving us trouble.

I just checked Adam's character sheet, and he has no consecrate ground spell--which would, I think, be a M1@1 ritual not otherwise specified, the sort of thing they do on church groundbreakings and such. But Merlin does not have such a skill, either, so we'll have to let them design something.

--M. J. Young

Thu Mar 12 2009 11:46 pm #
Nikolaj
Member

Alright, giving a boost to the world's design. Glad I could help :)

I'm praying for you right now, that you may find rest in these busy times.

Fri Mar 13 2009 12:00 am #
johnosevens
Member

MJ - Isn't Consecrate Ground the exact spell my Holy Ground spells are?

And Nikolaj - Two of us adding depth to the worlds we play in. Ain't it grand?

Fri Mar 13 2009 1:34 am #
Nikolaj
Member

it is!

Fri Mar 13 2009 5:54 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

Fri Mar 13 2009 3:32 pm #
Nikolaj
Member

happy Birthday!

Fri Mar 13 2009 9:50 pm #
JohnA1nut
Member

Yeah, 32. It's also Friday the 13th, and so far, it's been more like a Friday the 13th than a birthday. Oh well.

Fri Mar 13 2009 10:50 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Harry, I think it is; but Adam does not have such a spell and neither does Merlin. You do it as holy magic; Merlin does no holy magic, and although Adam does quite a bit of it he's never consecrated ground before.

As the week draws to a close I approach threads from Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, Scott, and John 2, and hope I have not overlooked anyone in the mass of threads that were here.

I'm inclined to think that Harry needs a GE roll in connection with his stay in Sardic, and I'm afraid it's a 24. I also know that there were a couple of port events connected to the ship--a cargo problem and an attack by locals. But I think we can make enough trouble without involving him in the investigations. I had thought of having the cargo problem connect to his crate of emeralds, but he managed to sidestep that by obtaining sacks in which to carry the loose stones, so he didn't get checked on that. Still, trouble on the docks means trouble boarding his ship.

John 3 rolls 48 on his healing prayer, which will work with strong and dramatic results. Dramatic results are good, but they usually mean attention.

Nikolaj rolls 21 on a GE on traders and trading trips. He rolls 70 on the skill check on making his jacket, but he's still learning.

Scott is creating his holy symbol.

John 2 is creating a couple of new weapons, and the epoxy resin one will be very interesting, I think.

--M. J. Young

Sat Mar 14 2009 6:20 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator
I see Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, and John 2 on today's board. Let's see what everyone's doing.

Harry fits right into the easiest and most obvious problem that can raise disturbances of this sort on docks. I've done other protests--groups opposing competitive imports, for example--but hey, dockworkers strike is really good for disrupting the docks.

I make John 3's prayer 0:42; I'll stretch it to a minute, starting it with his opening statement, so the ritual is, Say, "Let us pray together. Dearest LORD, we pray for these children, and lift them up to Thee now. We pray that each of them will love Thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their mind, and with all their strength, and their neighbors as themselves, all the days of their lives. We pray that Thy Word would be a lamp unto their feet, and a light unto their path. We pray that they would walk before Thee in such a way that when they appear before Thee, they would have the joy of hearing Thy voice, saying, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant'. And we pray for wisdom for these parents, that Thou would guide them to train up these children in the way they should go. Thank you for hearing our prayers. We pray in Jesus' Name... Amen." It's a 1:00 TF Bonus Blessing on Children spell M+1@4; baselines are 1:00 TF, RF minutes duration, and RS/5 bonus. He's narrowed the use significantly, so we'll give him +20 for that; he's got +5 for appropriate words, -10 for single aspect (speech only), and I think he's got words spoken loudly +3 which must be audible +2, which gives us +20 SM. He rolls 95, so we're going to have to check numbers to make sure whether that's a success; but he has a 12@5 bias, so a 1@4 skill is going to be automatic if it's not penalized even without the other numbers. That gives him a 1@3 SAL at this, and a very powerful bonus this time around, +19 to all the blessings he is about to pray for the next one and a half hours plus five minutes. That will cover them all. Let me repost the details for reference:
Now we have to figure out the blessings themselves. These strike me as a variant of a M+1@1 Bonus Morale--they don't have any visible impact on anything the children are attempting to do, but mostly encourage them to stay true to God, doing so in a supernatural way. These are listed as having a 1:00 TF and an open-ended duration. I make his TF 0:12, one-fifth the baseline, which means -22 (-10 for half, -10 from half to quarter, and a fifth is 80% of a quarter, so -2 for the twenty percent reduction there). He must touch the individual to be blessed, +20. He has appropriate words, and particularly he is using the name of the individual, +5. It requires both hands, +3. That makes the sit-mod +6. I note that there is another limitation, in that he must ascertain the name of each child before praying for him. That slows the time and makes the words more appropriate; I'll give him another +5 for that, +11 total. The first prayer is the learning prayer, and he rolls 12 for a 1@1 skill ability level and a blessing on the first child. I have not determined how many children there are in this group, but we're on the outskirts of the forest so this will be a somewhat larger village. One question is, what is his chance of success with each child now? He's got the +19 from the previous prayer, +11 for the sit-mod here, +12 for the SAL, +12 for half his 2@3 religion SAL, +22 for his Mag BRA, +14 for 2x the world area bias, and +10 for alliance magic, all of which comes to 100% for the first ninety-five minutes. That's going to boost his fame significantly, I think. Again, let's recap:

1@1 Bless Children M+1@1 encourages faith in child, lay both hands on child while addressing the child by name and saying, "The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.", 0:12 TF, open-ended duration (until major discouragement), +11 SM

I'll stop there, in case he wants to interact more with this family.

Nikolaj wants details concerning what the trader is trading, but he gets a 27 GE roll, which means he's not going to find anything that interests him.

John 2 rolls 73 on trying to learn to use epoxy polymer to make a knife. I'm looking at his 12@1 bias+2@2 BRA+14@ world tech bias=157 minus the 9@5 epoxy skill, and I see failure there.

Oh, it looks like that's the end of the list tonight. I should be back tomorrow--although I recall that there is a complication, as I have a rather long errand to run.

--M. J. Young
Sun Mar 15 2009 11:33 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Again it appears to be Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, and John 2, and a lot of interesting moments.

Harry is considering his options. I'll give him feedback on them.

John 3 is devising yet another blessing, this one on the home of someone who has extended hospitality to him. I think that is a limitation: works only on those who have already provided hospitality to the caster, +10. The words, "Dearest LORD, thank you for this family, and for their kindness and hospitality. As they have received a servant coming in your name, I pray that you would bless them, and that you would bless this house, and that you would bless the work of their hands, that what they have sacrificially given to us would be received back from you many fold. And even more importantly, I pray that the seeds of salvation and truth planted here would take root and grow, and that they would be a blessing and a light to all that pass this way. Thank you for loving us, and blessing us, and sparing us so much. We pray in the Name and Power of Jesus Christ... Amen." are clearly appropriate, +5. I make it 39 seconds by stopwatch, but will round that to 0:42 because it needs to be divisible by 6 to work conveniently at higher levels. That's against a 1:00 baseline TF, but conveniently that means this is 70% of the baseline time, -6 for a reduction of 30% (60% of half). The more difficult question is what it does. It seems to be a very broad and general blessing intended to have a very long duration. The baseline is RS minutes and +RS/5 sit-mod on checks (I'm looking at a M1@4 bonus checks as the nearest general blessing I can find). I can probably justify +40 if I reduce the bonus to +1 sit-mod; then I can extend the duration to roughly RS/4 hours at -40. That, though, is only a day; and we have to subtract another -10 because it is spoken only. It would be -20 more to kick it to RS hours. I'm also recognizing that this impacts multiple persons, quantity unspecified but probably primarily two adults, maybe children, -15 is appropriate for that. At this point I'm looking at an internal sit-mod of -36. That's probably much deeper a penalty than he would want to take, so I'll bring it back to RS/2 hours and make it -26. He's got a lot in his favor on this, given his 2@3 Religion SAL and 2@2 Mag BRA, and it's very nearly certain to work the first time because of his high bias. He rolls 57, 1@2 Bless Household M+1@4 confers +1 on all skill checks related to general wealth and well being of all members of a household for RS/2 hours, provided that household has already given hospitality to the user, user must pray, "Dearest LORD, thank you for this family, and for their kindness and hospitality. As they have received a servant coming in your name, I pray that you would bless them, and that you would bless this house, and that you would bless the work of their hands, that what they have sacrificially given to us would be received back from you many fold. And even more importantly, I pray that the seeds of salvation and truth planted here would take root and grow, and that they would be a blessing and a light to all that pass this way. Thank you for loving us, and blessing us, and sparing us so much. We pray in the Name and Power of Jesus Christ... Amen." 0:42 TF -26 SM.

Clarifying a few confusions with Nikolaj so we can proceed.

I think I've answered John 2's latest questions.

--M. J. Young

Mon Mar 16 2009 11:00 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

To our recently active quartet of Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, and John 2, we welcome a post from Graeme.

I'll give Harry a GE roll on what happens to the protest. He rolls 16, which in this case means it will reduce a bit, as we would expect.

John 3 recognizes that provisions would be wise for a trip through Sherwood Forest. We'll see what he finds.

I find myself wondering about the circumstances surrounding Qormlach's baptism by Nikolaj, and the answer for such wonderings is usually a GE roll--which in this case is a smack-in-the-middle 17.

John 2 rolls 65 on making a silver knife. Given his 2@1 professional blacksmithing skill, 2@2 BRA, and 2x10@ bias, we have a 63% chance of success, so he's at that almost-successful level. I'm afraid I've lost track of the day; I'm going to have to do some backtracking on his thread to figure out what has happened today and what day it is.

I think it unlikely that the Romans would have a translation device. After all, everyone in Rome speaks Modern Latin, and they have little reason to speak with anyone who does not, and can rely on their priests if a need arises. However, if Graeme gets a good enough GE roll, we'll assume that there is something--and I can't argue with a 7, Better Than Expected.

He also wants to create two spells, one of which creates a spell component that will be necessary to the other. He has some problems with his approach, however. I'm going to deal with the problems one at a time. Nope, I'm stumped--I don't know what spell he is attempting to perform in creating this spell component, so I don't know how to adjudicate the outcome.

--M. J. Young

Thu Mar 19 2009 12:49 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2 are my playmates for today's playdate. Can you tell that I had contact with a preschooler this week?

Harry is going to attempt to boost his strength for a brief period. I know that this can be done as a P4@0 Mind Over Matter skill; that would give him a second strength check if he failed the first. I think, though, that he would rather do it as an actual boost in his strength due to increased adrenaline. The way he describes it, as control of body chemicals, suggests a P5@6; but the temporary boost of strength ought to be achievable as a P5@2. It's moot, though, because those are both above the curve. He has a 1@5 strength; to lift a 150# crate on a simple check you would need a 1@9 strength, but anyone with at least a 1@1 strength can lift it on a difficult check--you just can't carry it more than a few feet that way. The fact that on a difficult check he could lift 240# suggests that if he successfully lifts this he could go more than a few feet with it. (His simple check is good for a 120# lift, which he could carry across the dock easily enough.)

He hasn't tried lifting and carrying it himself, but he's going to use the skill to do it. Usually, the skill would give you a second chance after the first failed; he's doing the skill first, so in order to give him the benefit of the skill I'll give him a second check if the first does not botch--assuming of course that he succeeds with the skill, although the first check will still be made either way. The skill is, as mentioned, P4@0. He has a 5@1 bias, plus a 1@9 BRA, and so a 30% chance (51+19-40) of success at this. He rolls 90, so it does not succeed. He still gets a chance to try to lift and carry this, 5 rolled on a d30+10 makes 15, which is a very near failure.

He rolls 13 on a simple persuasion check, so the carriers will carry his crate. He gets a 19 GE roll, not thwarting but generally unfavorable, which is pretty much what I had hoped for the situation, so I know how to handle it.

Nikolaj repeats his routine, and also his work on checkers.

I am reminded of a wonderfully hysterical bit on the old HBO comedy Not Necessarily the News, a commercial for the Great Cheeses of the World Chess Set, in which the playing pieces were all different kinds of cheese ("knights of stately cammembere"), and if you order now you will also get the all-cracker chess board. It's been probably twenty years since we saw that, but we still laugh about it periodically.

John 2 rolls 31 on the second effort to make a silver knife, which is a good success. Of course, he is a professional metallurgist, and were he to roll at least 51 but not more than 63, he would have created a weapon of quality, something with inherent bonuses because of its craftsmanship. We'll see if he wants to keep what he's got, scrap it and try again, or attempt to make another.

--M. J. Young

Thu Mar 19 2009 9:16 pm #
Nikolaj
Member

I am reminded of a wonderfully hysterical bit on the old HBO comedy Not Necessarily the News, a commercial for the Great Cheeses of the World Chess Set, in which the playing pieces were all different kinds of cheese ("knights of stately cammembere"), and if you order now you will also get the all-cracker chess board. It's been probably twenty years since we saw that, but we still laugh about it periodically.

Aha! Now that's a commercial I would like very much :P
Stately Cammembere ... lol.

Thu Mar 19 2009 9:26 pm #
JohnA1nut
Member

Do I get a new use on making the knife? Working silver would be something I've likely never done before.

Thu Mar 19 2009 9:30 pm #
Oak
Member

Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2 are my playmates for today's playdate.

So close, and yet so far... :)

Thu Mar 19 2009 9:31 pm #
JohnA1nut
Member

MJ, I've wondered about this for some time. If you look at my character sheet, you will see that I have a lazy eye. I only use one eye at a time, and I can alternate between them at will. The point here though is that, with a great deal of concentration, I can send both of my eyes in different directions, and track two different objects at the same time. It's generally more trouble than it's worth, but I was wondering if that was a skill that could be put on my sheet, and what kind of skill it would be.

Fri Mar 20 2009 8:04 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Again I have Harry, John 3 who as he notes just missed me yesterday, Nikolaj, and John 2 who also has behind-the-screens questions.

I've already rolled a GE roll for Harry's event, and there's nothing in his handling of it that should change that, so we'll let it go. It's time to settle in for the next leg of his adventure.

John 3 has a prayer for guidance, described thus:

1@1 Request Divine Guidance M+7@7 10:00 TF requires extended reading aloud from a Bible, statement of need, both hands, answers what to do now, details in post 10 of An Unfamiliar Familiar Forest, +28SM.
That's a reference to this post, and I think that the actions described in the current post are sufficiently similar to those that I can treat this as a new use of the same skill, assuming it works.

He rolls 84, which if it is a success it will be a very strong one. His numbers say 1@1 SAL, +28SM, 1/2 2@3 Religion SAL=+12, Alliance bonus +10, and Mag BRA 2@2=83, and it strikes me that this is the second time this week that someone rolled one point over a high target number on a skill check. I can work with that. After all, a part of John's faith involves coming to know the mind of God himself, so perhaps this is a good time for him to consider that.

Nikolaj is playing games within his game, but that's good, as it will begin to create connections. I might have to name more of these characters for him.

John 2 is going to attempt to make a bettter knife, this time using silver coins. He rolls 42, good but not yet great. I also need to post his sheet, and answer his questions.

I'm persuaded that by the time he reached 2@1 in blacksmithing he'd have cast at least a little silver at some point, so I'm not giving him new use for that. I agree, though, that he probably could claim a skill of being able to watch two things at once, but we'll assume it's an amateur skill and that we don't need to worry more about it until he actually uses it.

--M. J. Young

Fri Mar 20 2009 10:41 pm #
Nikolaj
Member

Partly thanks to this game and how I have to investigate myself for my character, I have discovered the big part that connections play in my life. I've got some friends in several different places, even out of the country. And even though I don't think about them as other then friends, I know I can call in favors when needed. And I think that's something really cool!

So thank you Multiverser!

Fri Mar 20 2009 11:46 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Role playing games are indeed very good at helping us understand who we are, who we might be, and who we can be--and I think Multiverser is particularly good on those counts.

I apologize for not posting to game threads yesterday. A major errand ran about two hours longer than the four hours slotted for it, and got started an hour late, so by the time I was actually here it was pretty late and I was hoping to get some sleep. Tonight I will attempt to catch up on posts from Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, and John 2.

Harry creates his holy ground, using 1@8 Consecrate Holy Ground M+1@1 creates consecrated circle 8 feet in diameter, 2:00:00 TF, lengthy appropriate words calling the four corners, calling upon Njordr, god of the sea, to bless the space, Odin, in his capacity as god of wisdom, to guide the casting, and Freya, goddess of magic and patron of sorcerers, to lend strength and valor, with my sword Soulmourn in right hand, sound matters, in English, concentration not interrupted during casting, and limited so that if I am dismissed from the Mary Piper the circle will be rendered useless; add that five minute calling the corners and invoking the gods must be said inside the space before it can be used for casting, +32SM. We have established that this is an alliance world and his is an alliance faith, +10; he has a 2@6 religion for +13; his BRA for mag is 2@3; and the world area bias in magic is 0@. That gives him a 96% chance of success on this, and his roll is 31. I am adjusting the ritual to read "permanently leave the ship" rather than "am dismissed from the Mary Piper".

Of course, there is also the possibility that he would be interrupted in the casting, depending on time of day and such. He came late; probably the officer of the watch would have informed him of meal options and such. An 18 GE roll is not bad enough to interrupt him.

John 3 is looking for an answer that I cannot give at the moment. We'll see what happens from here. I've some possibilities, but I don't yet know what they are.

I hope I've covered all the salient points for Nikolaj, but I'm sure if I missed something he'll come back to it.

On a roll of 05, Lauren manages to project the next skill pattern to John 2, and with the benefits of teacher, example, instruction, his own 5@10 bias, the 10@ world bias, and a 2@2 BRA a roll of 87 gives him 1@3 Telepathy to Humans P1@3.

--M. J. Young

Tue Mar 24 2009 12:37 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator
Gee, time has slipped by more quickly than I anticipated. Maybe it was that post on tech bias. In any case, let me see what I can do for Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, and John 2.

I have pulled up the post giving the time information on Harry's trip. The direct route would be 40 days plus or minus, and going by way of Galva adds a couple days to the expected time plus a five day layover. The question now is, how many days to Galva and how many from Galva to Durnmist? It strikes me that 8d5 has a range of 5-40 with a midpoint at 24, heavily weighted toward the middle. That, plus a GE roll to see whether there will be any "events" along the way, should work for us. 2+3+4+2+2+4+1+3=21 days to Galva, 21 GE roll, I think we'll have either a travel event or a port event, even odds, even rolled makes it a port event, and that's a d10 against a table in the Mary Piper scenario, 8 rolled is a cargo problem, which is nothing that will matter to him.

John 3 rolls a 12 GE roll on the events of his first day of travel through Sherwood Forest toward Nottingham. That's Good Enough. He also prayed something at the beginning of the day, committing himself to God's care. I've got an idea, but it's going to take a couple of posts of interaction to play it through, and I'm depending on John to be predictable here--I believe I know what he will, or more particularly won't, do, and once he makes that decision I can take the next step.

It strikes me that I've not thought through part of Nikolaj's scenario: just as there are many men in the barracks, there must be women somewhere as well, and they must also be part of the communal situation.

He has given me another complication: he is praying for Qormlach to receive the Holy Spirit. I'm fine with that; I just have to figure out what it is I think is happening here in terms that make sense in Multiverser. (Oddly, the question has never arisen before.) Let me consider the possibilities.
1. It could be that Nikolaj is summoning God, calling God Himself to come to and into Qormlach. There is much to commend this, except that it would appear to be a M11@8 Attract Off-world Sentient Informer, and that's above the curve so Nikolaj could not do that.
2. It struck me immediately that it might be a Confer New Abilities or Imbue with Magic skill. The problem again, though, is even if it's temporary that would be 15@2, and if as I would think it is permanent it's 15@4, so again we are above the curve.
3. I could take this as a simple 1@1 Ritual NOS, a variant of ordination. After all, in sacramental denominations, this laying on of hands to confer the Spirit on the life of the minister is the concept of the ordination ritual. There are a lot of advantages to this, including that once Nikolaj has done it, Qormlach should also be able to do it.
I think I'll go with that. A 15:00 TF is excellent, and a roll of 72 is going to work, I'm certain. I should follow this up with an analysis, but I'm getting tired (had an odd night last night and don't think I slept well or enough). I'll list 1@2 Confer Holy Spirit M+1@1 after explaining the experience and getting the willing agreement of someone already embracing the Christian faith, lay both hands on that person and pray for 15:00 for God to fill him with the Holy Spirit. 2d10+1 GE roll follows success and may indicate a supernatural manifestation in the form of another skill given to the subject. In this case that roll is 6+7+1=14, not that strong a roll but still moderately favorable. That will have to play itself out in the posts ahead.

I've got to answer a stack of questions for John 2, but they're not that difficult to answer.

--M. J. Young
Wed Mar 25 2009 1:46 am #
Oak
Member

John 3 rolls a 12 GE roll on the events of his first day of travel through Sherwood Forest toward Nottingham. That's Good Enough. He also prayed something at the beginning of the day, committing himself to God's care. I've got an idea, but it's going to take a couple of posts of interaction to play it through, and I'm depending on John to be predictable here--I believe I know what he will, or more particularly won't, do, and once he makes that decision I can take the next step.

Heh.

Let the record show that I posted my move before you posted this, and before I read it.

Am I really that predictable? :)

Wed Mar 25 2009 5:59 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

It's late, but I've got laundry to keep me awake anyway, so let me see what I can do with posts from Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, John 2, and, by text message to e-mail, Kyler.

I can imagine that the locals in Galva would dance for the tourists but not teach their dances, and I can imagine that they would also have classes for those who want to learn the local dance styles, so a GE roll has to cover that for Harry. I can use the same GE roll to cover whether they have martial arts instruction (a little less likely), and whether one of the feasts serves boar (very likely). The roll is 13, barely good enough, but I think that will allow at least some of the things he wants. I don't think it's worth bothering to roll for his 1@1 Galva Native Dance M0@2.

John 3 asks whether he is so predictable. John, everyone is predictable in some things. I'd have bet money that you would not participate in robbing a passing carriage. That does not mean I always know what you are going to do, only that sometimes I do. I'd say the same about every player in my game: I'm getting to know you through our interaction. Role playing is an intensely social activity: it is social interaction about social interaction, and through it we reveal who we are and who we want to be. Thus in the same way that you can predict some things about your good friends (Bob always orders the fish sandwich, Jill takes Equal in her coffee), we learn to be able to predict things about each other. It makes the game much more interesting, because knowing how some things will go we then discover what happens next.

In any case, his general effects roll is still playing in his favor here.

I had another shoe to drop in Nikolaj's thread. After all, God gives gifts as He chooses, and tongues is not an easy gift for me to pass around, but healing is both more practical in this scenario and a lower bias.

John 2 finishes the day; he wants to do something tonight.

Now for Kyler, I first post what he sent me, and then answer it. I would not expect that anyone would hassle him much for the first week. For one thing, he made that incredible showing in the kickball game. For another, he never goes anywhere without that rather dangerous looking stick.

That finishes things here.

--M. J. Young

Thu Mar 26 2009 7:08 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I popped in earlier because I had an odd-shaped piece of free time and hoped to use it to save a bit of time later. I'm not sure whether that worked, as I seem to have inspired more discussion on at least one of the threads I answered, but having dispensed with that I will now turn to the game threads from Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, and John 2. I broke my rule and checked my e-mail on an off day to see if Kyler had responded, but he has not yet done so, so I guess perhaps he will appear in tomorrow's play.

Harry is going to attempt to teach himself the basic forms of the Doshi Do martial arts style. He has the example of a master and some high-level students, so we'll give him 2@10 for example; he has received no instruction, but he does have a 7@8 bias and 2@2 BRA against a 7@1 basic style. That gives him a 59% chance to work out how to do this, and his roll is 81, so I don't have to pull up all the details.

We have another 8d5 for time of the second and final leg of the journey, and another GE roll for events. 2+1+3+5+2+1+4+5=23 days, and a 21 GE roll is bad enough once again, so even odds as to whether it is (odd) a travel event or (even) a port event, and the roll is again even, and against the table the roll is 4, Bar Fight/Police Action. I'm thinking he's going to avoid that entirely, so once again he gets through unscathed.

John 3 probably does not need to hear anyone's thoughts to know what's happening, and probably did not expect that the time for him to pray for this would be so brief, so I will forestall rolling those rolls until I get a confirmation from him that he wants me to continue.

Nikolaj has released the gospel into the midst of the orcs at Kucher's Ranch, and the question now is does he wind up with an Antioch or an Ephesus--does this become the base for a religious revival spreading through the world, or the home of a riot where religions clash? Since the effect the preaching will have cannot be told on so great a scale directly, we use a general effects roll. The 15 rolled is not unfavorable.

Lauren rolls an 01 on a light spell with a +20 sit-mod, which is certainly going to work, so she can show the spell to John 2, the doubter.

That's it for tonight.

--M. J. Young

Thu Mar 26 2009 10:46 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I am winding down, but hopefully I can manage to tackle play from Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, and John 2, before I run down completely.

The proper way to answer Harry's question is to count the days. I see Durnmist to Tempest 15 days, Tempest to Tristar +16=31 days, repair delay at Tristar +3=34 days, Tristar to Haven +15=49 days, delay at Haven for missing crewman, +2=51 days, Haven to Moon of Korg +23=74 days, Moon of Korg to Sardic +20=94 days, layover in Sardic +3=97 days, Sardic to Galva +21=118 days, layover in Galva +5=123 days, Galva to Durnmist +23=146 days. Now I have to track back to find how many days they guessed it would take. I may need to return to this page for more information about Arabella, but for the moment this post says that they expected him to take nine months to return, and to marry in one year. He is well ahead of schedule.

John 3 wants "insight into the thoughts" of the people he is now offering to help. By this, he means that he wants to understand what they are trying to communicate, plus who they are and why they are here--a tall order, I think, for a "know thoughts" skill which sounds more like it has elements of M7@4 Translations, M7@6 Present Information, maybe a M7@9 Know Character, as well as the M7@8 Hear Thoughts. I'm not certain, though, that this is exactly what he wants in any case. I think perhaps I'd better question him more closely on this.

Nikolaj is full of interesting thoughts and questions. Can orcs read and write? There are probably a lot of men who can't do that, and that suggests that it's not something they would teach orcs; jungle orcs would not have a written language, so orcs could only know how to read and write if they learned in captivity. But then, if Nikolaj prays that someone does, that puts an entirely different spin on the situation than if he asks; so I'd better make sure we're both clear on that before I roll any dice.

John 2 has asked some questions about magic that Lauren can answer, so we'll go there.

--M. J. Young

Sat Mar 28 2009 6:58 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I'm a bit boggled and a bit frazzled, and not certain why on either point, but I am here, I think, and so I'm going to tackle games from Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, and John 2.

I'm going to clarify a point for Harry, and move on; he can decide about the emeralds and then we'll deal with the job seeking.

I didn't realize that John 3 was modifying a previous miracle. Now I know where he's going with this, so I can manage it.

Since Nikolaj asked about the situation before praying about it, I have to determine the normal conditions. I think he would need an extremely good GE roll for any of the orc slaves to know how to read and write, particularly given that many of the men do not. He gets a 15 GE roll, which is not that. On the other hand, it could remind him that he already has access to something he was going to make.

John 2 wants to jump into magical instruction at the deep end, and his teacher won't do that, so he's not going to get the lesson he wants.

--M. J. Young

Sun Mar 29 2009 11:34 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

It looks like again I am running games for Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, and John 2.

I keep wanting to ask Harry something that I should not ask him, because I should not be making suggestions. At present, though, what I need to determine is whether this purification ritual will work on an emerald. It is a new ritual, intended to remove impurities specifically from gemstones. He rolls 05 on concentrating the holy ground--but I spot a possible problem and I'm going to have to address it.

John 3 asks some mechanics questions that I will answer here. According to this Behind the Screens post,

I'm not going to give him full credit on an example, because all he really has is that it was done, and not how it was done; but I will give him 1@1 for that.
His skill ability level is 1@2, so it is the better example at this point. In short, he knows how to do it a slightly different way, which serves as an example from which he can devise this way. That is a bit irregular, as usually I would think that an example is "do it like this"; but I'm willing to stretch it to "do it similar to this", and the similarities are marked. I'm thinking -5 for translation (added skill), +15 for increase from 1:00 to 3:00 TF, 10:00 duration baseline, +5 appropriate words, +2 for singing quietly. I've debated this last quite a bit; "singing" is bonused because it fits into "loudly or forcefully", something that would be noticed by others. I was tempted to penalize because the words were not to be vocalized, but the music is, so part of it is vocalized even if part is not. But that this is quiet suggests it is not really loud or forceful, but it still qualifies as sung, so +2 instead of +3. -2 for the ability to choose which hand holds the bible over the heart, and I gave +4 for the bible last time so that seems reasonable again. That gives it an internal sit-mod of +19. He gets a lot of other bonuses on his chance of success--high bias for learning, religion SAL, alliance faith, BRA--but I think I'll start with a roll and see what we get: 85 is rolled, so I'd better at least verify that I'm correct that that's a success. +19SM+12 example+12 relgion+125 bias+7 world bias+22 BRA+10 alliance-78 target=129% chance of success, so that's not a problem. That's 1@3 Hear Thoughts M+7@8 pray, lips moving but not vocalized, for insight into thoughts and bridging language barrier, including Matthew 9:3f, then sing quiety Psalm 139 "Oh, know our hearts, O LORD..." while holding Bible over heart with either hand, 3:00 TF 10:00 duration, includes translation if needed +19 SM. He'll get a thorough description of what the primary target as well as some of the others are thinking.

Nikolaj is teaching his one orc what he can from the Bible, and that is being passed to the other orcs. That will remain a relatively small group, because if it got to be a big group it would result in crack-downs against "orc" religions. But for the moment we'll let them grow in knowledge.

John 2 is treating Lauren as if she were his associate. That is not going to happen, I think--it is not likely that she would ever be anyone's associate, nor take any associate with her. But we'll let him do what he can in that regard. He might someday regret it.

--M. J. Young

Tue Mar 31 2009 5:20 am #
johnosevens
Member

MJ, now you have to ask, just because you've gotten me all curious. And you can't get me curious and then NOT tell me. It's just mean.

Wed Apr 1 2009 1:28 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

John 2 is treating Lauren as if she were his associate. That is not going to happen, I think--it is not likely that she would ever be anyone's associate, nor take any associate with her. But we'll let him do what he can in that regard. He might someday regret it.

You can disown associates, can't you? I'd just want to stay with her for a couple of worlds, until I got some more skills under my belt.

(Doing Therapy)

Wed Apr 1 2009 1:58 am #
WilliamTWodium
Member

John - if it were that easy, don't you think Whisp would have disowned Mother long ago?

Wed Apr 1 2009 6:13 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

They're not associates, or so I thought when I read their character sheets. I thought they were just closely in tune with each other.

(Doing Therapy)

Wed Apr 1 2009 6:19 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

My turnaround time was fast enough today that I have only three players on the boards: John 3, Nikolaj, and John 2. Of course, there were lots of other threads here as well, but that happens.

I'm not certain what John 3 is likely to make of some of the details I give him, but I have no doubt that he will help move the tree, so the NPCs are playing that way.

Some say that the best thing that ever happened to the Jerusalem church is that persecution forced many to flee and carry the gospel to other cities. That cannot happen here, quite, because the orcs cannot flee--but they can be sold. I'm sure someone will suggest that the best and worst things that could happen are the same thing; but I think rather that we can address this with two GE rolls. One determines what is happening with the orc believers, where a bad roll shows internal problems, a moderate roll stability, and a good roll growth; the other determines the human reaction, in which a bad roll is persecution, a moderate roll is indifference, and a good roll is interest and involvement. The first roll is 11; the second is 20. I've a pretty good idea of what that means, but Nikolaj has to make some decisions before I tell him.

John 2 probably thinks I forgot him. I simply got redirected for a much longer time than I anticipated--about twelve hours, I think. But let me finish up today's work before I call it a night. He asks Lauren for advice; she'll give it. I haven't thought about these things for a while, but maybe it will help him if she uses biblical examples of the basic principles--which I think she would do, and maybe he will grasp.

--M. J. Young

Wed Apr 1 2009 6:39 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

John 2 probably thinks I forgot him. I simply got redirected for a much longer time than I anticipated--about twelve hours, I think.

Nah MJ, I realize now I'm one of those people who is really difficult to forget <wink>

(Doing Therapy, and laughing my ass off!!!!)

Wed Apr 1 2009 6:48 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Kurt returns, joining Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, and a new post from Kyler.

I had to backtrack a bit through Kurt's thread to be certain I knew where he was at this point, but we're good.

I had hoped that Harry would provide me the link of the original description of the spell he wants to use, but I guess I did not communicate that adequately. If he can't find it, we'll assume that the description on my papers is accurate and that it can't be used other than on a ship.

I don't see the roadblock to be too difficult for four strong men to move relatively easily, so John 3 gets this without a roll.

Nikolaj is looking for wood carving tools. He gets an 18 GE roll, which is not favorable but not that bad.

I'm not sure exactly what Kyler hopes to find in a girl, but a GE roll of 21 says he doesn't find it. I want to accelerate this a bit, move week by week; there's a 19 GE roll on the next week, though, so I'm going to have to think about what that portends.

--M. J. Young

Thu Apr 2 2009 2:27 am #
johnosevens
Member

MJ - the spell you're referencing is this:

1@8 Consecrate Holy Ground M+1@1 creates consecrated circle 8 feet in diameter, 2:00:00 TF, lengthy appropriate words calling the four corners, calling upon Njordr, god of the sea, to bless the space, Odin, in his capacity as god of wisdom, to guide the casting, and Freya, goddess of magic and patron of sorcerers, to lend strength and valor, with my sword Soulmourn in right hand, sound matters, in English, concentration not interrupted during casting, and limited so that if I am dismissed from the Mary Piper the circle will be rendered useless; add that five minute calling the corners and invoking the gods must be said inside the space before it can be used for casting, +32SM

listed on page 12 of Behind the Screens 2008. Google 'site:gamingoutpost.com/discussions "mary piper" dismissed holy' and it's the first link:
http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/behind-the-screens-2008/page/12

Thu Apr 2 2009 2:59 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

MJ, not to argue, but are you absolutely 100% certain that I don't get a New Use for making those 2 silver knives? You said in the thread that the sharpest thing I would have made would have been a scythe blade, so a New Use for a knife should be in order.

Also, I really don't think Mr. Smith would have ever worked with silver before. That would be a silversmith, like Johnny Tremain. I'm not arguing, but I really think a New Use or two might be in order for those.

(Doing Therapy)

Thu Apr 2 2009 6:34 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I have so many players active today that I had to check my character records to figure out the order. I've got them as Kurt, Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, Scott, and John 2.

I'm glad to see Kurt is on the ball. I had wondered whether someone might plant a bomb in his car, and then whether the computer would have registered tampering; he's checking it for tracers. Of course, if it were a bomb, it would have to be set on some sort of delay--it is valet parking, and the villains want to hit the driver, not the valet. He gets a GE of 12, which means no bomb. There could be a tracer, but it would be easily found and the computer would be aware of it.

Thank you, Harry and Scott, for helping me find the appropriate information. It turns out that the analysis is here, and reads:

I am going to bet that a holy ground consecration skill has a base half hour duration (ceremonies NOS are left to the discretion of the referee, because there are too many variables), which gives him +20 for two doublings of the time, and I would guess that a thousand square feet would be the baseline, which is pretty close to what he's got. He also has +5 for appropriate words, a sufficiently defined physical action to cover that, and I think I'm giving +7 for Soulmourn as a unique entity. The skill will be described as 1@8 Consecrate Holy Ground M+1@1 creates consecrated circle 8 feet in diameter, 2:00:00 TF, lengthy appropriate words calling the four corners, calling upon Njordr, god of the sea, to bless the space, Odin, in his capacity as god of wisdom, to guide the casting, and Freya, goddess of magic and patron of sorcerers, to lend strength and valor, with my sword Soulmourn in right hand, sound matters, in English, concentration not interrupted during casting, and limited so that if I am dismissed from the Mary Piper the circle will be rendered useless; add that five minute calling the corners and invoking the gods must be said inside the space before it can be used for casting, +32SM. That gives him +1@2+32+2@3 BRA in a world with a 0@ mag bias, 63% chance of success here.
It was assumed as part of that analysis that this was a spell he had done before.

The inclusion of Njordr in the ritual makes it seem as if this is only for ships. However, I note that the "limitation" that it would expire should he be "dismissed from the Mary Piper" was taken as a statement of duration, and no bonus was given to chance of success for that. Thus I will accept that the spell can be updated at no change in chance of success, so it now reads "permanently leave the place" instead of "the ship" (or in the original "dismissed from the Mary Piper"). I will take the inclusion of Njordr as appropriate because of his connection to traveling, so much of which was connected to the sea in the Viking lore. His roll is 63, which is either right on the money or just below, depending on whether I've bumped up his SAL before; but we'll give him new use for this, which I note he already has +1 (which might be for practice, not sure) so it's now +2 marks (+4 will kick him to 2@1).

He has a new spell, which he described thus:

I'll spend an hour on it. One eye closed in honor of Odin, sword in hand in honor of Thor, one window open to allow in the wind in honor of Loki in his capacity as Shapeshifter. I'll speak appropriate words invoking each god and asking them to remove the impurities from this stone, reducing it to a more useful form. I will kneel in the circle, at the side of my bed as though using it as an altar, and swish an othala rune (which means 'estate' or 'wealth') with my sword (requiring a skill check).
It is a M+3@1 Remove Impurities, but I'm not certain of the range of materials to be covered. I've a few other questions, which are all in the game thread.

The answer to John 3's earlier prayers now come into focus.

Nikolaj wants to know about making parchment. He asks Robert. Would Robert know how to make it? An ed lev check roll is 19; that would require Robert to have the equivalent of a high school education. Robert is a craftsman in a trade, and this is also a trade, so it seems to me that such training is probably the equivalent level (note to Nikolaj: if in the future you ask me whether Robert knows about something, remind me that he has a 1@10 education level so I know against what I am rolling).

Scott will be playing with fire, and since he recognizes the danger inherent in that as well as I do, we're going to have to talk about the fire before we progress.

I have taken the time to go back and track down the time frame thus far on John 2's countdown. He is now on the fifth day; I think his holster arrives on the tenth, and his next martial arts advancement is automatic on the twenty-fifth. He has a lot going on in his thread, but let me see what I can address. He wants to purchase equipment to make his own revolver bullets; I don't see that as something his sporting goods store would carry or even know how to order (because already we're talking about antique designs for collectors, so the available options are limited); a 17 GE roll does nothing to change my opinion on that.

Lauren rolls 16 on projecting the 2@10 example of her Compel Candor P1@4 skill to John; he rolls 30 on learning it.

--M. J. Young

Fri Apr 3 2009 12:38 am #
Nikolaj
Member

I don't know if I'll still post here today, so I'm taking this opportunity to say that I will be away for about ten days, as tomorrow morning I head out for the Ukrainian orphanages. I will take my photo camera with me for those interested.

pictures from last summer can be seen here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=170372&id=810885182&l=b615a1a06a
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=209090&id=810885182&l=755e1bc9a7

EDIT: the links work! Good work Aaron!

Fri Apr 3 2009 5:00 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Kurt is headed for Austria, Harry is settling in Durnmist, John 3 is on his way to Nottingham, Nikolaj is settled on the ranch, Scott in the Big Tomato, and John 2 aboard TerraNova. Let's see where they all go.

I mentioned a feature of the tux to Kurt a long time ago, before he donned it, but I think he has overlooked it. He'll probably pick up on it this time.

I have another question for Harry, created by one of his answers.

Whether John 3 takes the top or the back will impact whether he is involved in conversation for the next few hours, so I'll leave it to him to decide. For anyone who wondered, I picked Jared because it is the closest I can find to an English name that is reminiscent of Jairus, the man in the gospels who asked Jesus to come heal his daughter. I figured I could remember that.

I have deleted the longsleeved dark brown T-shirt from Nikolaj's sheet, and added the metal knife designed for carving wood, heavy back, edge angles to sharp point, handle gripp for whittling/carving, wide flat back for chiseling. I had no idea that parchment was high-grade leather. That proves that we can all still learn from play. We also move forward to the moment I anticipated from that other GE roll a few posts back.

I have added the 2@1 Basic Fire Skills Package T1@1 to Scott's paper, based on his Boy Scout background. I wondered about the weather on July 7th, the day he must play hopscotch in the park, but a GE roll of 16 makes it unremarkable. He has avoided doing too much with psionics, which should keep him below the radar of the psi cops for the present.

That completes that.

--M. J. Young

Sat Apr 4 2009 12:51 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

That completes that.

No, you forgot to mention ME!!!!!!

Sat Apr 4 2009 3:49 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

Two Posts

MJ, I just realized there is something very wrong with my sheet. 1@5 Act Psychotic M0@2. This was meant to say "1@5 Acting Crazy to get people to leave you alone."

"Acting Psychotic" would be faking an actual psychotic episode, one which could fool a doctor. An actual psychotic episode is unlike anything you have ever seen or heard before in your life. The greatest actor in the world could not fake an actual psychotic episode.

I can. My character is no longer psychotic. My therapy has made me far less psychotic, so that's all I have to go on. However, I find that I can still fake a doctor-convincing psychotic episode.

I won't accept less than an expert score on it.

(Doing Therapy)

Sun Apr 5 2009 4:33 am #

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