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Ending a Decade Behind the Screens

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Started 2 years ago by M. J. Young
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M. J. Young
Moderator

Again I apologize for missing last night. I seem to have a bit of time tonight to attempt to catch up (despite already having given rather long answers to two threads), so let's leap into the fray with Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Harry, John 2, and Graeme.

I did not realize just how large Eli is until he commented that the six foot by two foot beds were probably too small. No matter; what matters is that he is going to sleep and awaken, in the dim space of the foxhole, without an alarm clock, and see what time it is when he awakens. First, he's gathering food, and he gets an 11 GE roll so something positive might happen.

Michael is going to teach himself some skills in clothing production. I'll give him the operation of the lawnmower free; that makes his first skill a T2@1 Create Thread, which should be easy for a modern boy to learn, particularly with a 2@2 ed lev and a 10@3 bias which together give him better than 100% chance that he can learn to do this. The 92 roll is beginner's luck, giving him 1@3 Create Thread T2@1. With a bit more, I am at a point that I need to know what he's doing to continue.

Ahmetia doesn't say much sometimes, but we'll prompt a bit and head back to Strelsau.

One of the things the bride gets to do at the reception is be a tease--that is, get the groom anticipating what awaits after the reception. But the reception must hold them there for a while, so we'll try to do the teasing and the holding for Harry.

I will kick John 2's psionic intensified senses from 1@3 to 1@5 Intensify Senses P5@1 by shifting sensory resources in the brain, but have to give him a GE roll for hearing stuff now. After all, he's in a sound-insulated nursery with a batch of other babies, and either they are playing music quietly, or they are playing a muffling white noise, or they are keeping it silent enough that really all there is to hear most of the time is heartbeats and breathing. But he gets a 12, so he's going to get something.

Graeme has finally devised a cooking spell that is not an attempt to use magic to create a tool to support the technological skill of cooking, but is a direct effort to prepare food. I'm going to call it a M3@6 Manipulate Materials NOS, incorporate the M3@1 Remove Impurities as part of the manipulation, and draw some numbers from the M3@5 Pseudotransmute for very limited skills (this one only prepares food, changing it from its raw form to its prepared form). First, he has to make the platter; 1@3 SAL+36SM+2x13@ bias+2@2 BRA=97%, the roll is 93, a very strong success.

So now for the food preparation spell: he places the food in a closed container intended for food, which means that it's a produced object, something for which +3 seems appropriate (not more, because he could use anything that fits the definition--crock pot, dutch oven, canister, roaster, toaster oven, Tupperware). His 10:00 TF is several times the 0:90 suggested, two and two thirds doublings for +26. I love the use of the nursery rhyme, and will give him appropriate words +5. This is certainly an automatic success (bias alone will carry it); the roll of 62 makes it 1@2 Transform Raw Food into Meals M3@6 10:00 TF place raw food in any container intended for food that can be closed, close it, recite "Sing a song of sixpence, pocket full of rye, four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie", food emerges in prepared meal form with waste materials removed, nothing added that is not included originally, +34SM.

I note that I did not include any movement bonuses, largely because nothing he said indicated that there was any ritual movement. He does have to move, of course--sort of. As far as I can tell, he could perform the skill using a robot controlled by mind-machine interface which placed the food into the container and held it closed, as he did not specify how those steps had to be accomplished but that he had to do it.

So I guess this is finished.

--M. J. Young

Wed Mar 17 2010 1:50 am #
WilliamTWodium
Member

Perhaps my takeover of Maxx's game will save you more time once he and I return to actual play.

Edit: Also, without the somatic component, doesn't Graeme's first material take a -2 for being "required" (that is, required to avoid the -10 for only having type of component)?

Wed Mar 17 2010 7:07 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator
Yes, Scott, I knew there was something I was missing. If you are relying on a material component as one of the necessary two, it has to be worth two points to satisfy that requirement. I should have opened my cheat sheet, but I was trying to get through it quickly.

I notice that I missed Kurt last time, and I am very upset about that because I remember even having looked at that post at some point and trying to catch everyone and everything in one fell swoop. Hopefully, though, if tonight I remember to treat with Eli, Michael, Ahemtia, Kurt, Harry, John 2, and Graeme, I will not have the same embarrassment and upset tomorrow in discovering that I missed someone else.

Eli is meeting a naga. These can be a lot of fun, because no one knows quite what to make of them at first, or maybe not ever.

Michael has managed to make thread; now he needs to twist cord and weave cloth. Those are separate T2@2 skills, so we'll roll for each of them: 05, 49, 1@1 Twist Yarn T2@2 (from nagagrassthread), 1@1 weave cloth T2@2 (from nagagrassthread). Harder will be applying the new skill in weaving to use the new yarn, because he loses his "beginners luck" from his bias, having only his 2@2 BRA+1@1 SAL and +5 for the use of the loom, 38%, and his 95 is not a good roll; but let's give him good news first. Now let's think about the bad news:
1. Tangled mass must be cut from the loom
2. catches self in warp for injury
3. Hit by shuttlecock
4. crushed by shifting warp racks
5. Catch Nerfy in warp
6. Static buildup
That's a d6, and the roll is 2. How bad an injury? Let's use the bod botch table: 12, damaging level of injury and winded three minutes, we can't be winded but we can be stuck and in pain. The damaging damage roll is 02, so it's not going to be serious. We'll let him decide what to do before sending help.

Ahemetia is posting short statements and overlooking things like telling me she's following Sapt; I'm assuming that she is, and I'll use this time to feed her some background. We'll get around to planning the rescue soon.

I catch up on Kurt, who has taken an odd turn in his approach.

Harry might find something of value in the fact that his father-in-law is a fabric and clothing producer.

John 2 has been waiting to breastfeed. Breastfeeding is not always a simple immediate process, so we're going to roll a GE roll: 20, which is just bad enough, so she's going to try but it's not going to work yet. And if he gives me more details, I'm going to start thinking this was a mistake. In any event, I know this John Conner's birthday, and I know when things did or did not happen in the future, and I know that Sarah never had another child, so we're not going to worry about his errors about the world. Actually, probably better that I let him think he knows those things, because it will add to the uncertainty.

Graeme's spell worked, but we needed to know what he used to know what he made. I'm also reducing the sit-mod to +32 in accordance with Scott's reminder.

I'm out of time; it's good that I'm out of players, too.

--M. J. Young
Thu Mar 18 2010 3:40 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

And if he gives me more details, I'm going to start thinking this was a mistake.

What details am I not supposed to give you?

Thu Mar 18 2010 3:46 am #
johnosevens
Member

I don't know how you do this every bleeding night. I have Ahmetia's game that I actually keep up with running, I halfass my way through anything that involve game mechanics, and still I'm pressed to answer her responses in a timely manner. You've either been doing this for a thousand years, or you have the patience of a saint, or both. Either way, wow. Just wow.

Thu Mar 18 2010 3:47 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

In any event, I know this John Conner's birthday, and I know when things did or did not happen in the future, and I know that Sarah never had another child, so we're not going to worry about his errors about the world. Actually, probably better that I let him think he knows those things, because it will add to the uncertainty.

MJ, I am not disputing the game, just your knowledge of the movie. If you say this is the date, then this is the date. I'm not in the movie. I don't expect what I know to match up to this. For one thing, in the movie, it's ConnOr, not ConnEr. I'm not in the movie, so in this scenario, my name is John ConnEr, and I don't have a problem with that at all. I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm not disputing the game, just your knowledge of the films. I'll throw out details from time to time. This is what I know from having seen the movies, read the comic books, read website information, read the novelizations. To me, those are a fictionalized account of what's about to happen in this world. And, in all works of fiction based on truth, things get changed around, added, left out, or made up entirely. For my character the game is the truth, the knowledge I have is the fiction. Take the fiction I give you and make it your version of my reality. The game is the truth, your knowledge of the fictional accounts of the truth is what's mistaken.

(Doing Therapy)

Thu Mar 18 2010 4:48 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

Two

MJ, the T-1000 doesn't have to come back in time. It really doesn't HAVE to get invented at all. If the time travel trips are nothing like the movies, all the better. If a half-dozen T-800s and a bunch of future soldiers come back, that would be cool. I wouldn't mind having a reprogrammed Terminator bodyguard, but if all that comes back are soldiers, I'll just deal with it. If the world gets nuked in 1997, it gets nuked in 1997. If not, well, time travel is such an unpredictable thing.... I don't expect, need, or really want this to match up to what I know, just as long as it is reasonably similar enough to pass as non-cannon Terminator fan-fiction. The game is right. My knowledge is fiction. Your knowledge of the fiction is mistaken, but the game is still right.

What I said about Derek Reese. That was Kyle's brother in the books and TV show. That doesn't mean Kyle had a brother in this scenario. That means you have an idea for a character to use if you choose to. If not, well, no problem, however, you've got the idea there if you want to use it.

The T-1000 was the prototype and only one of its kind. It was designed exclusively for the time travel mission. Without an endo-skeletal chassis, SkyNet could not maintain direct control over the unit and feared it could go rouge. Thus, it was sent back in time where, if it went rouge, the worst thing it would do is not kill John Connor. This problem was solved by the T-X, which had an endo-skeletal chassis, as well as the mimetic poly-alloy skin. SkyNet could maintain control over the unit, and it still retained limited morphing ability. Like the T-1000, the T-X was not a battlefield unit. It required too many resources to mass-produce. It was specialized for assassinations and time travel. The T-800 was the workhorse on the battlefield.

You know what all of this means in my scenario? Precisely SQUAT!!!!!!! It's just ideas for you to work from.

(Doing Therapy)

Thu Mar 18 2010 5:11 am #
Blue Canary
Member

Well said, johnosevens! MJ does a spectacular job here with the game. His dedication and attention to detail and the game are second to none. Bravo, MJ, and thanks!

Fri Mar 19 2010 5:15 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

For one thing, in the movie, it's ConnOr, not ConnEr.
Interestingly, I think my spell checker usually chokes on Connor, but not on Conner. Hmmm--the one in the browser doesn't care. More on point, perhaps, no one in the movies ever says "Connor", which has a distinctly different vowel in the unaccented syllable (Connor McCloud of the Clan McCloud says it right, if memory serves). So if Sarah spells her name "Connor" and says it "Conner", and your eyes can't focus on the paperwork she's not going to show you anyway, you're not going to know, are you?

Harry--well, I don't always make it, do I? But it's a priority, so here I am, once again addressing thread posts from Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Kurt, Harry, and John 2.

Eli is dancing with the naga, as it were. We'll follow it through.

It's usually not permitted for another roll of the same skill to overcome a botch; however, in Michael's present circumstance the question really is whether he can operate the loom to unpin his arm, so another roll of the skill seems the best choice. The roll is 77, so that's not going to work.

We'll get Ahmetia back to the palace and give her the difficult choices of whether to eat or sleep.

It's time for the villain to say too much, so that Kurt gets his plot exposition and knows the plot--that is, the villain's plot.

I thought Harry might bring up the questions of fire-resistant clothing with Jacob son of Fabri, and now maybe that's something that might make a change in the world. After all, if Harry knows anything at all that might help Jacob produce cloth that resists flame, that will make his father-in-law's enterprise considerably more profitable.

John 2 is going to be in the hospital for a couple days--three to five days was the normal stay for healthy babies and mothers in the mid eighties (I was there), and we're not having any complications with this birth, so soon he'll be on the road again.

--M. J. Young

Fri Mar 19 2010 5:57 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I think I'm ready to play. Eli is toying with a naga, Michael with a loom, Harry with a lady, John with his thumb, and Graeme with food. Well, everyone's game is a bit different.

Nagas are said to be "smart as rocks", so there's no real knowing what one would do if you held out a blade of grass toward it. I figure on a good roll it hops over to eat it, on a mediocre roll it stares at it, and on a poor roll it panics and flees. The roll is 19, very close to the middle.

Michael wishes his pack were near, but on a roll of 18 it's not quite as he desires.

Harry is almost finished with his conversation about fire-resistant clothing.

John 2 is going through the next stage of frustration: how to communicate when you can't even control your own mouth sufficiently to say anything.

Having established a good base, Graeme is going to explore the area; he just has to give some definitions of what he is exploring.

--M. J. Young

Fri Mar 19 2010 11:48 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Thank you for the kudos. I do enjoy the creativity some of you invest in the game, and learn much from play which helps me run games thereafter. Indeed, though, I started my role playing experience as the Dungeon Master in 1980, started playing (as a character player) Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World, Star Frontiers, and Traveler in the few years after that, became a Verser in 1993 and started running Multiverser in 1995, so I've had a bit of practice at this part. As far as running games, the D&D game that introduced our art director Jim Denaxas and ultimately introduced me to Ed Jones had as many as forty-some people crowded in my living room/dining room many weeks. From the player perspective, I ran a party in which my lawful good character was the leader of twenty-some characters representing every alignment but chaotic evil, and people marveled that I held them together--until they learned that in my first play experience I was an ordinary girl with complete amnesia related to who I was or where I was a minute before the game began, and my first two party members were a robot that could not accept that animals were intelligent and so could not hear them speak, and an intelligent bird with a complete mental block that prevented it from recognizing the existence or presence of robots. Getting another human in the party was genuinely helpful, to say the least, but I will admit that my in-game challenges have been a bit different from those most players have faced....I learned.

Speaking of players facing challenges, Eli, Hichael, Kurt, Scott, and John 2 are all doing so in their respective threads.

I guess I need another GE roll to determine what happens in Eli's naga encounter. 12 is good enough.

Michael is probably wise not to attempt, say, to lift his pack telekinetically; so he calls for help. It would have to be a pretty bad situation for Paul and Annie both to be unavailable, but they could have gone clam hunting, so we'll give him a GE roll: 8 is quite favorable for him.

Kurt offers to withdraw from the mission to save his friends. Interesting choice; we'll see where it leads.

I won't say that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons have pan-universal validity, but I will note that Scott and I seem to share some influences in our thoughts on the subject of psionics. As it happens, Blank Mind is not the simplest of Multiverser psionic defenses, but it is otherwise very much as he describes it. He rolls 02, which saves me from having to crunch any numbers as I know that will be successful, 1@1 Blank Mind P2@4 activated by statement of the player, must be rolled when implicated (e.g., in response to psionic attacks or skill use against the character), absolute defense against all mind reading skills and attacks on the upper levels of the mind, RS=SM against all other attacks against or effects on the mind, including detections.

John 2 wants to test some skills, beginning with his old favorite the TK Pulse. He's got a 2@2 SAL (+2 marks) with that, but this is the first time he's attempting to use it in this particular world, which has a flatlined psi bias (I have no reason to think otherwise, based on the Terminator films). That means together with his 2@2 BRA he has a 44% chance of success with this. He really needs a target, though, and I'm inclined to think that an ankle bracelet would be too far away for him to see. He rolls 24, well within his chance of success; 14 is the GE roll for a target object.

Next he wants to heal himself. I didn't roll for the chance that he would be injured. It would have been possible for him to break his collarbone (large first babies often do), and he's been out for hours now so most of the little stuff is better. 13 is barely good enough, so I'll assume he's still got some of those zero-damage scrapes and such that accompany childbirth and let him roll against them: 27 is within his 1@1 SAL+2@2 BRA, and I'll give him new use for it mostly because of the low SAL and the flatlined world. That makes it 1@2 Heal Damage to Self P6@1. He's also got a 1@1 SAL on the force field, but he wants to create it in an unusual shape that covers multiple directions, so I'll have to penalize success -10 leaving him a 23% chance of success, and his roll is 52.

Hey, I think I'm done.

--M. J. Young

Sun Mar 21 2010 8:54 pm #
JohnA1nut
Member

Thank you for the kudos.

Who gave you kudos?

(Doing Therapy)

Sun Mar 21 2010 11:07 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator
Graeme added his to Harry's a few days back, and I had sort of acknowledged Harry's without saying thank you and had cross-posted against Graeme's and didn't see them until yesterday, so I was catching up on my thanks. While I'm posting asides, let me mention that I am serious about the e-mail I sent earlier today, to the effect that if you, John, send me another e-mail claiming that you were "forced to be involved" in the Pearl Harbor scenario because an MP saw you and spoke to you (which I repeat merely makes you an observer, not a participant), I will stop running your games until I am suitably recovered from the anger you create by sending several letters per day on the same subject which I have answered and dismissed several times already. You were forced to be present and to observe; you were not forced to participate or "become involved". Confuse those two points again, and I will consider you beyond rational discussion and will suspend your game.

I get angry just thinking about it.

Consider the subject dropped. And don't tell me that it's worse for you. There are things that are worse for me; I don't send you weekly e-mails telling you about them and trying to get you to agree with me.

Thank you.

Now, let's see what's happening with Eli, Michael, Kurt, Harry, Scott, John 2, and Graeme.

Eli is meeting more nagas. We'll have a bit of fun with them.

I should roll Annie's first aid skill, but NagaJuice is a potent curative so the bonus for having it available is quite significant and her medical skills are by now easily professional level. She rolls 80, which I'll take as a strong success. And I expect Michael will learn something useful from that.

Kurt has definitely put me off balance. Even I don't know whether this is a ruse or a genuine defection--nor do I have any idea what he's thinking about Mariska, who actually is hiding somewhere on the grounds and thinks they're working together in some way. But we'll play it one step at a time.

It may be time to bring the wedding festivities to an end, and let Harry and Arabella go on their honeymoon.

Scott has decided to practice his supernatural massage on Iggy, the iguana, but I'm not sure how you get an iguana to play its part in the ritual (small though it may be), so I'm going to ask before I tinker with the outcome.

I would like simply to tell John 2 that he does not remember what it was like when he collided with Lauren's shield, but I owe him a simple intellect check. The rolls are 15+10=25, which is better than his intellect. He wants to try a flat shield (certainly a better choice), and rolls 99, definitely a botch, let's see what kinds of botches we have:
1. Explosion
2. Brain Burn
3. Psionic Shock Wave
4. Neural Breakdown
5. Random Force Object Attack
6. Force Ojbect attack on self
7. Topple bed
8. Earthquake
and the roll is 5. Let's get a GE roll for what is hit and another for how badly, the second a 2d10+10 roll: 7+7+4=18, 8+10+10=28, we're looking at a fatal level attack, but on equipment. The damage roll itself is 05, three intensities.

Graeme is starting a new spell; I'm asking questions about it.

--M. J. Young
Tue Mar 23 2010 3:03 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

You were forced to be present and to observe;

By which I was forced to become more involved than I ever would have chosen to become. Which is, I think, the point you're missing.

And don't tell me that it's worse for you. There are things that are worse for me; I don't send you weekly e-mails telling you about them and trying to get you to agree with me.

Yeah, but I didn't create for you the worse situation that won't get out of your head.

I think I'll just save you the trouble of suspending my game. I'm on hiatus. My April Fool's Day joke will be returning to the board to once again wreak havoc on your life.

(Doing Therapy)

Tue Mar 23 2010 8:33 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

John 2 has chosen to argue about what happened over a year ago instead of playing the game now, so that shifts my attention away from his game thread to his arguments--but at least I'm not putting time into both. That gives me active games from Eli, Kurt, and Harry, and maybe I'll get something else done tonight.

Eli is going to sing. Nagas do enjoy singing.

Kurt's dinner with Steranko is winding down, and the next question is when Ilsa appears and what her initial attitude toward Kurt is going to be. The GE roll for this is 23, so it's not going to be today.

Harry's honeymoon is none of your business, and very little of mine, so we'll gloss through it with a minimum of comment and move to the part where he takes his bride home.

I think that's everything; if I missed something maybe I'll post again.

--M. J. Young

Wed Mar 24 2010 12:19 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

John 2 has chosen to argue about what happened over a year ago instead of playing the game now, so that shifts my attention away from his game thread to his arguments

Now maybe you see how important this is to me. About a week ago, for the first time in about 4 years, it WASN'T my first thought on waking up in the morning. It actually stayed pretty much out of my head until Monday morning. You know what happened there. One hour inside my head MJ. I would give just about anything for you to be able to have that. You wouldn't be complaining that I'm arguing, you'd be rejoicing that all you had to do was read emails.

(Doing Therapy)

Wed Mar 24 2010 1:15 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

accidental double posting.

(Doing Therapy)

Wed Mar 24 2010 1:15 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Michael missed me yesterday but is first in line today; Kurt, Harry, and Scott are also active.

Michael asks some questions and gets some answers.

I'm mostly recapping the timeline for Kurt, and more so for me than for him because I keep fearing I'm going to make the mistake of having the party not happen on schedule. So I'll let that post and let him confirm my timeframes.

I'm impressed with the furnishings Harry describes, so I'm not going to go into any complicated analysis of how Arabella feels about them. I will work out his work schedule.

Scott rolls 42 on a 1@2 Deflect Notice with a +7 inherent sit-mod and a 2@6 Mag BRA in a flatlined mag bias world, 45% chance of success works. I laugh at his comment about not checking whether it's working, and move forward to roll his 1@3 Telepathy to Animals, for which I see a 2@1 BRA and 2x7@ bias is 48% chance of success assuming no "familiarity" bonus for Iggy; 89 doesn't work, and I can't imagine that the familiarity bonus would be high enough to make that difference.

That completes today's game.

--M. J. Young

Wed Mar 24 2010 11:42 pm #
johnosevens
Member

And here I was kinda hoping for Arabella's analysis. I totally expected her to (for instance) call shenanigans on the wall-sized map of the Syndicate and my fascination with having throw rugs everywhere.

Thu Mar 25 2010 12:17 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Sorry. I wondered what her reaction to the map would be, but then, you are a sailor and she knows it, and she's not going to pick little arguments the first day after the honeymoon. As to the rugs, that makes sense and sounds like the choice a wealthy person would make, and given that her father is in the textile industry her home was probably similarly rug-supplied. She'll make adjustments. She's got to figure out which of those things matter to you and which she can change without comment. The object over the fireplace inherently suggests that it is important and that she shouldn't challenge it without a really good argument and something that really should replace it--neither of which she's going to have ready the first time she sees it.

On that note, I'm going to list as present Eli, Michael, Brock, Kurt, Harry, and Scott, and then close everything. I'm late for my departure because I decided to address all the non-game threads before leaving, and now I'm pressed for time. I should be back, but if not I'll get to everyone tomorrow.

--M. J. Young

Thu Mar 25 2010 8:49 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

It has gotten very late; I'm going to address the six aforementioned players--Eli, Michael, Brock, Kurt, Harry, and Scott--as quickly as possible so I can wrap up and be back tomorrow.

Eli is attempting to teach a bunch of nagas. It's tough just teaching one--I know from personal experience.

I suppose Michael needs a GE roll to determine whether his routine is going to be disrupted, but a 17 says it's same old same old.

Brock returns and asks a couple people what they think about the raid, but they're not people who would have given it that much thought. Still, he might learn something useful from their banter.

Kurt's play of the situation has been so good even I don't know what side he currently is playing--he really could be a double agent. But if I'm going to use a GE roll to figure out what happens next, I'm going to have to figure out what he thinks is the best and the worst that could happen next.

Harry went to work without discussing dinner plans, so Arabella would raid the pantry that he has never actually stocked with food because he didn't really live there much. He'll correct the oversight, I'm sure.

Scott rolls 24 on his project thought attempt, but the familiarity penalty for animals is -20 so we'd better check his numbers carefully. He's got +2x7@ for bias, +1@2 for SAL, and +2@1 for BRA, which comes to 47-20=27, he's golden, and I'll give him new use because I don't think he's used it this way before, 1@3 Project Thought P1@2. Then he rolls 80 on the induce pleasure, for which he has a 1@3 SAL and +49 SM and 2@6 BRA in a flatlined bias equals 83%, he's really hitting the numbers tonight, and since he's never used this on an iguana before I'll give him another new use skill mark, 1@4 Induce Pleasure/Comfort M+13@1 Caster places his holy symbol atop the target's head and, in each hand, holds a wingnut while forming the numeral V sign; he then lightly pokes the target all over with both hands while pronouncing specific passages* selected from the Principia Discordia. The caster then snaps the fingers of both hands in the target's ears, saying, "There; feel better?" Target remains comfortable and feels pleasurable sensations for RS/20 days, which over time may result in +1 bonuses to all skills and attributes (including, additionally, averaged attributes) at the referee's discretion; sound necessary, TF 2:00, +49 SM.

That went fairly smoothly.

--M. J. Young

Fri Mar 26 2010 5:11 am #
WilliamTWodium
Member

Let us not forget the religion bonus (+11) and the unidentified affiliation modifier, which together bring the success chance to either 89% or 99% -- or, now, 90%/100% with the new skill mark (yay!). I don't have many holy magic skills, so I really ought to throw in a reminder when I use them. It didn't affect anything this time, of course.

Fri Mar 26 2010 7:53 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Yeah, you know, you so rarely use holy magic that it crossed my mind and I didn't look. Shame on me. But yes, do mention that it's holy magic when you use it, so I don't miss that.

Let's see what I can do so as not to miss anything with Eli, Michael, Kurt, Harry, and Scott--and boy did that sentence feel like I was some kind of conversation simulation computer trying to take the last sentence and turn it into the basis for the next. Ah, well, let's do what we can do.

It's actually time to bring Eli and Michael into the same thread, so I'll start a new one. Michael rolls 33 on making cloth, which I think is within his chance of success so I'll go with it.

Kurt pulls an 11 GE, good but below expectations. I'll take it in the direction of the rescue.

Harry has some work to do to get food delivered to his home, so he and his wife can eat.

Scott asked about posters, and my inclination is that such things would be forbidden in a world so strictly controlled. There's a 16 GE roll on it, so it's not going to be impossible but it is going to be controlled.

I think I finished the game and ran out of time almost simultaneously; I should return on Sunday.

--M. J. Young

Sat Mar 27 2010 3:04 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I see Eli and Michael in the first thread, then Kurt, and finally Harry. I can take my time, as necessary; I think Harry might require a bit of it.

With Eli and Michael, mostly I'm facilitating their initial meeting, so there's not much to say there.

I would rather that Mariska rendered the guards unconscious, but I don't see how she could do that to two guards without equipment she's not likely to have, so I guess they're dead.

O.K., it is time to figure out how much Harry makes; he has provided me with some information, and I've got some other information in the world description. A standard ship security officer makes ten thousand diktar on a trip; the perfectly typical run is 190 days, and although it can run as long as 455 days or as short at 174, it's probably best to figure based on typical. That makes the security guard's wage 52.6 diktar per day; the security chief, who gets sixteen thousand for the same run, is making a typical 84.2 diktar per day. They get room and board as part of that.

I'm thinking that a member of the watch has to make a bit more than a crewman to cover living expenses, but that one of the reasons for going to sea is that you can make more money since room and board are covered. There's also the problem that the watch does not work around the clock. So if we make the watchman's wage 60 diktar per day, he makes 300 in a five-out-of-seven-day week; the seaman makes 368D on a seven-day week. It's not unreasonable to suppose that the standard watchman works a six-of-seven-day week, 360D. There would probably also be a bonus for evening shift and a bonus for night shift, and if we make those 5% and 10% we get 63D and 66D per day, 378 and 396 per week.

The junior investigator makes more than the watchman, but less than the security chief on the ship; that ceiling was 84.2D. If we go with 70D per day that's 420D per week, 441 on the evening shift, 462 on the night shift.

I am inclined to think that the Supervisor (who oversees the patrol divisions) and the Senior Investigator (who oversees the investigations divisions) would pull the same salary, which we'll make significantly higher because of their supervisory positions, 85D per day, which is 510D per week, 535.5 evening, 561 night.

That lets me pay the Commander, of which Harry now is one, 100 per day, 600 per week, 630 evenings, 660 nights, and the Captain 120 per day, 720 per week, 756 evenings, 792 nights. That, though, is not what Harry makes, because his eighteen-day rotation confuses the issue significantly. I'm covering a lot of stuff in that thread, and still have to copy some of it to my personal "Harry Mary Piper Alpha" record so I can find it more easily next time I need it.

--M. J. Young

Sun Mar 28 2010 11:34 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I see posts from Eli and Michael, Brock, Kurt, and Harry.

My post is mostly for Eli, but also for Michael, and I'll encourage them to keep talking.

I'm throwing a lot of stuff into the mix for Brock, because these people will have ideas of how to do this sort of thing, but I want to give him the chance to contribute, so we'll let him do so.

Kurt has definitely surprised me; the question is whether he has surprised Mariska, a girl trained by her father to stay alive. In a situation like this, she's going to have her heightened awareness running; if he wants to surprise her, he must either beat or eliminate her intuition check and beat her heightened awareness; but he does not have a skill for such a thing--which doesn't mean he can't learn it. On the other hand, I gave him a potent ally whom he is double-crossing, and it's not going to go easily for him, I'm pretty certain, unless he is very lucky.

Harry is finishing dinner and moving forward a few days.

--M. J. Young

Tue Mar 30 2010 12:33 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

It appears that Eli and Michael have both managed to post several times, but Harry's is the only other active game thread.

Michael and Eli are making my life easy here, because Michael already has answers to most of Eli's questions, so I only have to fill in a few details here and there.

I think I need some GE rolls for Harry, but I'm going to have to re-read his post to get a handle on them. Ah, yes--we need to know whether there's going to be another fire, and if so when. 18 is just barely outside the middle toward the bad side. He wants a fire, so we'll give it to him, but in a slightly inconvenient location. First, though, we have to determine whether he will respond to the whistle or not.

--M. J. Young

Tue Mar 30 2010 8:39 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Again I see Eli and Michael in conversation, Kurt in ambush, and Harry in action.

We'll give Eli and Michael a bit more information about the spiders, and point them in the right direction for teaching each other--oh, darn, I should have included the stuff about the plastic steel. I'll post again.

Kurt is next (well, I posted out of sequence, but that's all right, he's probably not waiting with breath abated). In fact, I messed everything up; I've got some fixing to do--inattentive, I suppose.

I am categorizing his attempt to ambush Mariska as an stealth steal initiative skill learning attempt using distraction--that is, not an ambush skill that uses the environment to hide, but a B7@1 steal initiative by distraction skill. Fortuitously he has a 7@1 Fisticuffs skill, so his bias cancels out; the world bod bias is 13@, and his BRA is is a 1@10 Will Power, so he's got a 33% chance to learn this. If he does, he negates her intuition check but not her heightened awareness skill; if he doesn't he still has a chance if she fails both of those checks. His roll is 05, giving him 1@1 Steal Initiative by Distraction B7@1 and eliminating Mariska's intuition check. She, however, gets her heightened awareness, a 1@8 high amateur SAL with a 2@2 BRA but no bonus for bias in this flatlined world, 40% chance of success, and she has to meet or beat his 05 to notice him: 17 does so.

I'm working from a sheet that is a slightly advanced version of Mariska, but my extrapolations say she does not have martial arts training and instead relies on her guns. The question is whether she already has one in hand, which seems likely but could be otherwise, so we'll roll a GE and if it's Good Enough or better she doesn't. 14 is not, so she does not need to draw the gun but only use it. We need to roll initiative. Her numbers are 2@3 SAL, 2x11@ bias, +20 for point blank, 2@3 RSV, and 2@2 BRA, which comes to 110 minus his 1@6 TV is 94% chance that she would hit him; his numbers are +20 point blank, 1@10 RSV, 2@2 BRA, 2x9@ bias, and 1@1 SAL, 91 minus her 1@8 TV is 73% chance to hit her. We roll against chance to hit for who shoots first, and he rolls 33 to her 61, so she shoots first. Both pistols are RF10, but she's got the 2@ SAL and 2@ BRA so she gets 40 shots per minute to his 10 shots per minute, so she'll get three shots before he can get his first (because she goes first and last with that spread), and her first three rolls are 21, 43, and 02. The base damage of the weapon is dangerous +2DC (one for SAL, one for MSV) is fatal, so the first shot does 11, the second 22, and he'll never hear the third. One must not underestimate anyone, and he was aware that she was well trained in combat techniques.

I need to move him to another world; I wonder what would be good? I'm thinking something medieval, but not Vorgo and not D&D. He's got two pistols and forty bullets, plus the explosive gum, and I'll include his other spy gear. I note that he's listed as stage 2, which means if he makes a successful flexibility check he goes to stage 3, the roll is 22, but I don't see a flexibility listed (must have been a very low roll last time). That gives me a day to think about this--or for someone to leap up and announce that he wants to take over Kurt and has a great idea for a world (is that too broad a hint?). Well, we'll think about it.

I think Harry would best like his wife to tag along, so we'll give a GE roll, 17, neither good nor bad.

--M. J. Young

Thu Apr 1 2010 1:02 am #
johnosevens
Member

I would love to see someone whose basic kit includes two guns and "spy gear" do Sherwood Forest, but someone who is used to your level of commitment would chafe under my level of refereeing. I would only agree to take over Kurt if both you and he think he is forgiving enough to deal with it, and not SO advanced a player that he would blow me out of the water trying to referee for.

Thu Apr 1 2010 1:39 am #
WilliamTWodium
Member

I have a world, as long as don't have to post until tomorrow. He seems easy enough to run (that's a compliment, Kurt), so I think I could handle him along with Maxx. Just send me his character papers if you'd like me to pick him up.

(By the way, Maxx, if you're reading, I do intend to post for you and apologize for the delay. I don't expect such delays will be frequent.)

Thu Apr 1 2010 5:01 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

I would love to see someone whose basic kit includes two guns and "spy gear" do Sherwood Forest

Define "Spy Gear". That sounds like my Verser's Survival Pack....

Thu Apr 1 2010 5:09 am #
Kurt W.
Member

I have the highest confidence in all of you, considering you know how to run this game much more than I do. I try to keep up with numbers, but I'm still confused as to how the heck she beat me if I successfully stole initiative.

Or did she beat my 5 with a success, but a better one at 17? At least I saved the bullets for the next world, pending that the tech bias allows the guns to work.

Thu Apr 1 2010 1:22 pm #
WilliamTWodium
Member

Yes, that's it exactly. She already had a skill running whose purpose is to defeat attempts by opponents to steal initiative (and to negate ordinary surprise). Your skill, in essence, guarantees surprise, so if you both succeed, you can't both have succeeded. The way Mulitverser deals with that is with comparative relative success - basically, whoever has the highest successful roll wins. Notice that it's possible for the character with a higher chance of success to roll so high that the other character's roll can't beat him.

Thu Apr 1 2010 4:29 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator
All right, Harry, as much as I'd like to see what Scott's world idea is, I'm sure I'll come up with someone else (maybe even you) who needs to verse into a fantasy setting, so we'll give Kurt to you and let you run the world you've envisioned.

Kurt, try to forget that he mentioned the name of the world, or conversely to remember that it might not be as you expect even if you know where/when/what it is. I'll start a thread for it, but I won't post more than a thread starter.

I'm going with a 1@5 flexibility; I think most people can't touch their toes, despite the efforts of physical ed instructors to make that a common practice. That means he is still at stage 2--Harry, check the details on running a stage 2 entrance (p.382 in the printed rules) so you're ready for it; it's more fun live, but you can do it in forum.

Here is the character sheet as I have it:
The scuba gear was in the trunk of the car, which is probably where most of his other possessions not on person are located except for the pistols and clips he just took and whatever clothes he is wearing, which is not the Tuxedo, so that is probably also in the car. The car is probably within three hundred yards and near his level or slightly below; he doesn't get the car, just the contents. He does have the gum in his pocket, and might have the gecko sneakers on his feet.

He also has a cat as an associate, who versed out a day or two back. It's up to you whether the cat is already here, arriving now, or arriving shortly, or if you want to leave the cat out of this world and bring him back in another, although I'm inclined to have the cat be present. The cat was near the car, although the car has probably been moved, so we're looking at separate locations.

The cat's name is Harry:
Obviously I have not paid much attention to the cat....

All yours, Harry. I'll start that thread now.

--M. J. Young
Thu Apr 1 2010 10:10 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I have Eli and Michael waiting (and I apologize for the extended interruption--the hamburger and custard stand in the next county just reopened, and the family was insistent on an excursion), followed by Harry, and then John 2 makes his return.

I've posted a question for Eli and Michael (one question looking for answers from each of them) which I'll have to have answered before I can proceed.

Harry first needs to know whether anyone is in charge and wants to be. I'd say the best situation is someone willing to give him command, middle would be someone not willing to relinquish command but glad of the help, and worst would be total chaos. The GE roll is 10. He also wants to know what's in the warehouse, and I'd say that if it's a middle roll no one knows, and 16 is about as middle as you can get, so that's the status. As to a fire axe, he'd need a good enough roll to get that, although if it's not too bad he might get something he can use. The roll is 23, which is nearly as bad as anticipated.

John 2 returns. He just botched and is trying to figure out what he knows.

--M. J. Young

Fri Apr 2 2010 3:09 am #
johnosevens
Member

Alright. The thread is cut, the Stage 2 description is posted. I really don't like posting these Versing In stories because I never feel like I have the flavor of the stage quite right, but I think I got the idea of making your senses make sense of reality sort of close.

I've been massively halfassing the math on Ahmetia's and Ric's games, but I'm going to make an effort to do things by the book on this one, which will probably mean a return to begging for help with math, but we'll see where this takes us.

Fri Apr 2 2010 4:45 am #
WilliamTWodium
Member

The world I had in mind would be all wrong for O'Sevens. But yes - if he ever verses out, I have a world for him, too.

Edit: And John, are you kidding? That's a much better Stage Two than I would have done, even at the table.

Fri Apr 2 2010 8:37 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

Edit: And John, are you kidding? That's a much better Stage Two than I would have done, even at the table.

::John looks at you with a puzzled expression::

Or were you talking to Osevens?

Fri Apr 2 2010 8:41 am #
WilliamTWodium
Member

Yeah, I was. You hadn't said anything since my previous comment, and it was O'Sevens who just did a Stage II entrance in Kurt's game. Your confusion is excusable, though.

Fri Apr 2 2010 8:44 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

His name is Harry. Like me, I don't think he likes his name very much. (If a toilet was called a "scott" you'd hate your name too) That's not the first time that's happened though. JohnOsevens does kind of lead you to believe his name is John.

Fri Apr 2 2010 8:54 am #
johnosevens
Member

That sort of thing is why A1Nut and I always call each other by the other half of our screen names.

Fri Apr 2 2010 12:25 pm #
WilliamTWodium
Member

Yeah, see, I knew that, John. (Shutting up in the Behind the Screens thread now.)

Fri Apr 2 2010 1:34 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Yeah, I won't call Harry John because I've got four people in play whose names really are John, and it's tough enough keeping track of them. Of course, Harry has the problem that that's now also the name of Kurt's Cat, but at least as long as Harry is running Kurt's game the two are unlikely to be confused for each other.

I got seriously derailed today by plans changing more times than I can count, but I'm going to try without becoming confused to race through posts by Eli and Michael, Harry, Scott, and John 2, who is indeed the second of those four Johns, and I'm told the fourth is coming. I'll also mention that although the joke in Men in Tights is cute, what happened to Prince John is in some ways worse.

My two NagaWorld visitors are both going to attempt to learn teaching skill to teach each other. I'll do the more likely success first, which is Michael, more likely because in addition to a better (2@1) BRA he also has a better Psi bias, 1@10, which in this world gives him a 41% chance to learn this on the first try, and he rolls 83, not a success. Eli's chance of success is considerably lower, based solely on his 1@10 intuition, 20%, but he rolls 08 so that's a success, 1@1 Teaching P0@1. Hmmm--I don't think I should actually tell them the results in the thread; after all, there are a lot of people out there who think they can teach. I guess, though, that I ought to give simple intuition checks to them, 10+2=12, 7+7=14, both are successful.

Eli will teach Michael his 2@1 Eli's Style B7@1 Fast Aggressive Weapon-utilizing style, kick- and punch-based, RF2, +10 Att SM +10 Att Dam Mod. Michael has nothing better than a 5@ standard jumping skill, but I'll figure out which if I figure out that I need to know. It's something less that a 20 point hole to start (the 7@1 skill being 20 points higher than a 5@1), and to that we add Michael's completely unknown BRA, the 2@1 example, half of Eli's 1@10 bod BRA, the 1@1 teaching SAL that Eli just gained, and +0 for the world bias level. If the roll is not greater than thirty I do not need more information; if it is more than seventy I also do not need more information. The roll is 83.

Harry suggests that there ought to be someone watching the warehouse who is employed by the warehouse owner, and thus that there ought to be some knowledge available. It's likely that someone is there, but not certain that he would be informed (if they hired a watchman against thieves, they might not have told him what he is protecting), but a GE of 15 favors Harry slightly and throws me back to determining what's in there, 7+8+9=24, as bad as anticipated.

Scott also gets a 7+8+9 GE roll.

John 2 is still in the hospital for another day or two, and then he'll be on the road again. It's 1984, so car seats are mandatory in most states, and although I don't know whether that includes in whichever state he is, I'll probably use it anyway, once we get that far.

I think I've covered everything; I'm pleasantly surprised.

--M. J. Young

Sat Apr 3 2010 3:37 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

It's 1984, so car seats are mandatory in most states, and although I don't know whether that includes in whichever state he is, I'll probably use it anyway, once we get that far.

Please. I'd rather not get thrown out of yet ANOTHER car. Plus, I think mommy would do anything in her power to keep me safe and alive, all things considered.

Sat Apr 3 2010 3:42 am #
johnosevens
Member

Meow.

Sat Apr 3 2010 1:10 pm #
johnosevens
Member

Ok, normally I don't like doing multiple posts in a day either, but I figure I'll keep pace while I can knowing that I will probably slack off as time goes by, and that I am unlikely to be able to post tomorrow.

As for Harry the Cat, I'd like to flesh him out a little bit more. Would anyone object to adding the following:

Bod
2@3 Scent B 0@1
2@5 Stealth B 0@6
1@5 Four-legged Dash B 3@1 (He's a housecat who has had to fend for himself for a short time - he's still learning)
2@1 Fall Shock Absorption B 4@6
1@8 Aggressive Tumbling (Pounce) B 4@8 (Adds RS/10 SM to one attack)
2@1 High Jumps B 5@2
2@5 Balance Beam B 6@1
1@8 Claws B 7@1 - Fast, Aggressive, Weapon-adverse use of natural claws and bites, base Annoying becomes Damaging when in-style.

Can anyone think of other skills or abilities a housecat would have?

Sun Apr 4 2010 2:00 am #

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