I thought 17 was more of an "about as expected" roll. I would expect we might encounter an electrician or something in any area that needs a lot of maintenance. If it doesn't need tons of maintenance, then probably no one.
Ending a Decade Behind the Screens
(874 posts) (19 voices)-
I need to make decisions about dinner here, but let me get this thread started. Eli, Michael, and John 2 have posted since I left in the wee hours of this morning, and so they are rewarded with responses this evening.
Having added a 1@1 Japanese Language P0@0 to Eli's sheet, I now have to roll for whether he was able to make himself understood. The roll is 43, which is outside his meager abilities, but not by much. The answer comes back, and he rolls 27 on that, which is within his BRA+SAL (=31), so he'll make it out.
Michael wants to make flat sheets of plastic steel, which I'm not going to roll because it's really just spreading them on the flat clay where the grass was previously cleared for that purpose. Then after it hardens he wants to place one of his T-shirts on it and cut around it. I've actually looked at a T-shirt today to see how it's made, and it's not made like dress shirts; but he could probably make one that way, so we'll not argue the point. What's more significant is that he's cutting through a "thin" plate of plastic steel with a psi drill, the former having a 2@10 density and the latter doing dangerous damage. The 2@10 density means that its target value is 0@10, and its damage value is 2@10 for thirty-six cubic inches of material. The cut is about a quarter of an inch wide with this tool, and we'll assume that it's a quarter of an inch thick, and a cubic inch incorporates sixteen cubic quarter inches, so he can do a sixteen-inch cut for a cubic inch. We must be mindful, though, that the density means all damage is reduced by half and discards fractions, so if he doesn't do at least two intensities he's only marred the surface. We should also note that he gets his 2@1 BRA+1@4 SAL+1@10 RSV+20 for being at point blank range (within three feet of the target, with this device), -10 for the target value of the plastic steel. His desired accuracy will be handled by relative success, assuming he succeeds; his chance is 65%. He rolls 49, which will do five intensities divide by two and discard fractions is 2 intensities. If 36 cubic inches is 30 intensities of damage, then 1.2 cubic inches is one intensity of damage, and his two intensities will do 2.4 inches.
John 2 has a question, and it alerts me that a previous statement I made was not entirely clear. We'll clarify that.
--M. J. Young
Thu Apr 29 2010 11:41 pm # -
Sorry I did not see your post, Brock. Indeed, 17 is right in the middle, and if this were a moderate traffic area you would expect to encounter a technician. It happens that George and Tom are placing bombs on the pipes and pumps of the cooling system for a nuclear generator core, and it's the sort of place that requires someone to come in once an hour or so and check and log the manual gauge readings to certify that they match the remote readings, so the odds were against anyone being here--this room would normally be empty.
Friday was disastrously overbooked, so I kicked nearly everything into Saturday, which then was also disastrously overbooked and I got almost none of the extra completed, so now I think I'm about caught up on what should have been done Friday and working on the posts for today along with them, which puts me one session missed and no way to recover that, but we'll do what we can with Eli, Michael, Harry, and John 2.
I need to roll for whether Eli understands what is said or not, but I think that the body language will cover the situation either way. The roll is 26, which is successful.
I am adding a 1@7 will power to Michael's character sheet, and now I have to roll skill checks to cover his effort to cut the plastic steel along the edge of the shirt. I will assume that he set the bottom edge of the shirt along the bottom edge of the sheet, which gives him a bit less to cut. I have seen Michael, and figure his shirts are probably a bit smaller than the 2XLs I wear (I always try 2XL). I would need nearly a four foot cut to do the perimeter of mine, I think, on a rough estimate (noting that this includes leaving an inch of space and going out and back the sleeves), so I'll figure he needs to do forty inches. He's done 2.4, and each intensity is 1.2 inches, and he has a 65% chance of success at dangerous damage on a 2@ target that divides damage in half and discards fractions. There is a 3% chance to botch, which means 98 or higher. Rolls from 20 to 39 do one intensity or 1.2", from 40 to 59 two or 2.4", and from 61 to 65 three or 3.6". We roll 33 (+1.2=3.6), 67 (miss), 30 (=4.8), 08 (+0), 83, 58 (=6), 26 (=7.2), 39 (=8.4), 89, 51 (=10.8). I'll catch him up to that point, but he instructed that I continue, so I will do so: 61 (=14.4), 14 (+0), 26 (=15.6), 45 (=18), 89, 08 (+0), 80, 20 (=19.2), 55 (=21.6). I'll call for a break, I think, and let him decide what to do for a few minutes.
Harry heads in to work early; I believe I've already established that he relieves Captain Peter, so we'll assume the captain is there.
We'll let John 2 reach five months old, and make him a bit more capable.
--M. J. Young
Sun May 2 2010 11:41 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberWe'll let John 2 reach five months old, and make him a bit more capable.
MJ, you were saying that you're running me through this faster, and you blamed my impatience. However, you just jumped me ahead a month based on my saying "So what else is happening?" Perhaps you are the one who is impatient?
Mon May 3 2010 1:01 am # -
Scott--is there a reason you did not make it Out-of-Sight TK or penalize it for being done via clairvoyance? Your description suggested that the needle was hidden from view. Or were you counting the density detection as a sensory ability comparable to sight?
The days have been difficult of late, and I'm concerned as to whether tonight I will be able to get through Eli, Michael, and John 2, but I'm going to make a stab at it.
Eli has been invited to eat; he didn't say he was going inside, but I'll infer that from what he did say.
I've got to make another batch of rolls for Michael who is half way through cutting his pattern. Grabbing numbers from the previous post,
he needs to do forty inches. He's done 2.4, and each intensity is 1.2 inches, and he has a 65% chance of success at dangerous damage on a 2@ target that divides damage in half and discards fractions. There is a 3% chance to botch, which means 98 or higher. Rolls from 20 to 39 do one intensity or 1.2", from 40 to 59 two or 2.4", and from 61 to 65 three or 3.6".
He is at 21.6 inches now, so let's continue to roll: 58 (=24"), 49 (=26.4), 99--botches are nearly inevitable in long projects like this, so let's see what happens.- Put hole in shirt
- Cut slice across pattern
- Brain Burn
- Neural Breakdown
- Psionic Shockwave
- Break drill
- Drill explodes
- Contact Nash Far Kraal
- Shoot self
John 2 is still trying to rush into a place where he can communicate with Sarah, and it's not happening. But that's fine. He finally rolls 08 and gets the psionic forcefield up; the questions are whether Sarah can see it and what she thinks it is, and I think that a GE roll is the way to go on that: 23. As for a dictionary, that roll is 7, which is terribly good, so I'll have to give it to him. Of course, there's no way he can turn pages or hold the book or even move to it, so it's all premature, of course.
--M. J. Young
Wed May 5 2010 2:24 am # -
I'm running short on time again today--it's been a crazy week, and it happens to be someone's birthday today, so I still have things to do that have nothing to do with work. But I see posts from Eli, Michael, and John 2, so let me see if I can cover them.
Eli is going to attempt to speak again, and since it's once before and once after the meal I will roll twice, but I will also roll for whether he understands the conversation between. His rolls are 37, 02, and 46, and we've established that his chance of success is 31, so only the middle roll is successful (weakly), but the others are relatively close failures.
There are a couple ways I can handle the use of chopsticks, but overall it's a B0@1 Manipulate Object variant. I could make it a specialized skill and roll for skill learning, but there are aspects of it that are very like manipulating a pen, so I'm going to assume that he has a 1@10 SAL at manipulating objects unspecified (because he undoubtedly has professional level of ability at manipulating a pen or pencil) and roll on that basis, making it a new use with a +1 mark if he succeeds--which he's got a good chance of doing, given his numbers. The roll is 24, so it's not an impressive success, but I will add 1@10 Manipulate Chopsticks B0@1 +1mark to his sheet. I'm also giving him a mark on his Japanese, for new use listening to their conversation, which makes it 1@2 henceforth.
Michael is conversing with the Nash Far Kraal, and it is making the only assumptions it considers logical.
John 2 seems to be laboring under the delusion that if a baby said no to its mother when she was trying to save its life from an attack from the future she would stop. We'll give him the benefit of a 2d10+10 GE roll to see if he can get her to stop. The roll is 18, not favorable.
I think I'm done for the moment.
--M. J. Young
Thu May 6 2010 3:10 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberJohn 2 seems to be laboring under the delusion that if a baby said no to its mother when she was trying to save its life from an attack from the future she would stop.
No, what I'm surprised at is that the mother doesn't realize that her 5 month old infant is screaming "NO NO NO NO NO." in the first place. How many 5 month old babies would be capable of doing that at all? THAT is what I was hoping for.
(Doing Therapy)
Thu May 6 2010 3:17 am # -
Max
MemberWe'll give him the benefit of a 2d10+10 GE roll
When you said that, I remembered about:
However, you don't bonus or penalize GE rolls: you interpret them in the light of the circumstances.
That confuses me a bit. Is there a circumstance where the above rule is an exception?
*****
The simulation of Eli world seems close enough. "Itadakimasu" would be the right expression so the failure actually coincides with the situation.
Thu May 6 2010 9:00 am # -
John--you're in a Catch-22 situation. You can, like all babies your age, string together certain vowels with certain consonants--you can say "mama", or "mamamamamamama", and you can say "nono" or "nononononononono". If your mother hears the sound she is likely to think that you are simply stringing noises together in your panic. If she thinks that you are trying to say "no" repeatedly, she might be impressed but she's not going to stop--after all, she knows that nearly a unstoppable killing machine was sent from the future once before, and she doesn't know what it looked like when it arrived, but anything that is out of the ordinary is going to be associated by her with attacks from the future. So the fact that a five month old infant does not want to be grabbed and dragged to safety when there is the appearance of what is almost certainly another attack from the future is not going to be particularly influential in her decision-making process.
Maxx--I can see how that could be confusing. The game includes what are called "modified" GE rolls. This is not accomplished by bonusing or penalizing the roll, because that would push the range of possible results off the ends of the chart. Instead, the roll is "modified" by fixing one of the three dice and rolling the other two. The text on this reads:
The modified general effects roll, sometimes called the two-dice general effects roll, takes three main forms. In each case. two dice are rolled, and the third one pre-determined by the referee. In a situation for which success has already been assured, and only the degree of success is in question, the third “unrolled” die is assumed to be a one, yielding a result from 3 (one in a thousand good fortune) to 21 (bad enough). Conversely, if a failure (or botch) has been has been determined, the third die is assumed to be a ten, yielding results from 12 (good enough) to 30 (one in a thousand chance disaster). On rare occasions, the referee may choose to use a “safe” GE roll by making the third die equal to 5, yielding results from 7 (better than expected) to 25 (remarkably bad but not totally surprising).
It is a referee's judgment call when to use these; they flatten the curve making the extremes more probable while narrowing the range. In John's situation, I thought good results so unlikely that good rolls would only confuse the issue. I could have used a standard GE roll, of course, but the interpretation would have been such that even "good enough" would have been pretty bad, and that is confusing to the player.
Now, let's take a look at Michael and John 2.
Michael has given the Nash Far Kraal information inconsistent with its beliefs. This could turn bad.
John 2 wants to change what he said he was doing; more precisely, he wants to clarify it in a way that retroactively anticipates Sarah's response. I'm strongly against this, precisely because hindsight is actually 20/10 and it's easy for him to talk about what he would have realized but didn't. But I will give him a difficult intellect check against his 1@10 intellect, and the roll is (10+18=)28, so he did not anticipate it.
He also wants a roll for being able to communicate words. His ability to speak English is going to be above average professional level, but his ability to generate a sound signal is the limiting factor here--normally a 2@7 SAL in an adult, his is a 1@2, supported by his 1@7 Will Power as BRA and his 1@ bod bias gives him 31% chance of saying something intelligible--except that there are two obstacles, one being that he is being tossed about like a beloved rag doll, the other that his mother is not listening to him, so he will have to take a -10 penalty for adverse circumstances and she will have to make a successful difficult intuition check to recognize it as speech. He rolls 65, no chance.
I suddenly have images of John putting the shield somewhere where it will cause the jeep to crash....
--M. J. Young
Thu May 6 2010 9:57 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberI suddenly have images of John putting the shield somewhere where it will cause the jeep to crash....
Yeah, I had that same thought yesterday.
But I will give him a difficult intellect check against his 1@10 intellect, and the roll is (10+18=)28, so he did not anticipate it.
Why is it difficult? I would have thought it would be bonused. I mean I do know that she's paranoid.
Thu May 6 2010 10:03 pm # -
johnosevens
MemberAt this point I am going to ask someone else to pick up Kurt's game. My situation at home has not stabilized in the least and is in fact looking to get worse before it gets better. As evidenced by the fact that it's been almost a week since I was even able to answer my own game, I don't want to subject him to the vagaries of my existence any longer. If and when I am able, perhaps I will be able to resume, but as of now... it looks like this unexpected blow has taken me out more deeply than I could have predicted, and so I must apologize and step aside.
Fri May 7 2010 1:38 pm # -
John, it was a difficult check because I personally was persuaded that you never would have anticipated Sarah's reaction and were attempting to rewrite your actions based on hindsight--trying to say that you are actually smart enough that you would have done what you clearly did not think to do. My immediate inclination was actually to say no, you did not think of it and we're not changing what you did, but I decided you ought to be given the benefit of the doubt, and it ought to be better than rolling a 3 GE roll and be based on your own attributes.
It appears that my games are shifting a bit tonight. Eli is here, and Michael, and Brock is only announcing the need for a hiatus but it appears that I have to pick up Kurt afresh because Harry doesn't have time to pursue his game, but then I do have to run for Harry and finally for John 2. That's a lot to do in the limited time available, so I'd better get to the doing. Where did all the time go? Oh, yeah--I've been a few hours reading and responding to other threads.
Eli will sleep undisturbed.
Michael has told the Nash Far Kraal that he is not kraal; that's trouble.
Brock is saying a temporary good bye. It's not necessary, of course, but it helps me to know that people are leaving for a while and not vanishing forever.
I don't think I should roll for getting into fisticuffs stance as long as Kurt is holding the shotgun--the benefits of the style are +5 on attacks with his hands which are occupied by the gun, -5 on defense for his ability to block with his hands which are occupied by the gun, and x3 attacks with his hands which are--yeah, that's the image I have. I've added the two guns to his sheet, by the way, as
Shotgun: Remington 870 12 gauge law enforcement type, six shell capacity fully loaded (from Ziggy in If Looks Could Kill)
Sniper Rifle: Dragunov, 10 round magazine fully loaded, in case (from Ziggy in If Looks Could Kill)Rolling for Harry's Remove Fatigue is, as I recall, a relative success formality; the 77 is going to be strong enough. I do note a discrepancy, though. I should hit a GE roll for the events of the night, but first we'll let him give a few commands to get things organized.
John 2 is going to end up turning Sarah into Mother if he keeps up his efforts to prove he's not an ordinary kid; but for the moment things are carrying them into the mountainous jungles of Mexico, away from civilization, so she can hide from whatever new threat she believes is coming after them.
--M. J. Young
Sat May 8 2010 1:23 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberJohn, it was a difficult check because I personally was persuaded that you never would have anticipated Sarah's reaction and were attempting to rewrite your actions based on hindsight--trying to say that you are actually smart enough that you would have done what you clearly did not think to do.
You're right. I clearly did not think to do it. My Character on the other hand is the one in the situation. I firmly believe that HE would have thought of that. There's no point really in arguing about it if you're not going to let me rewind time. However, I just know in my heart that My Character would have anticipated that reaction from her. It's just one of those things that you can know without knowing it.
Sat May 8 2010 2:18 am # -
John, I grant that your character knows things you do not. You must also grant that you know things your character does not. I think that the idea of putting the shield between you and Sarah was based entirely on out-of-character hindsight, but I gave you the chance that the character thought of it despite my strong misgivings in that area. The dice say that your character did not think of it. If you want to say that he would have, then he's kidding himself, telling himself that he knew better than to do what he actually did. So maybe he should have known better, but the dice say he didn't, and the dice decide such questions.
Let me see what I can do for Michael and Kurt before I turn my attention back to John 2.
Michael is in a potential surprise situation, so he gets a simple intuition check. He rolls 2+7=9, so he realizes it.
Kurt is about to drop his gun and attempt to get into stance to defend against the bear; Scott has made me aware that there was a 5 GE roll for "what else is happening" which Harry had intended to use to bring aid. Let's put this together. Kurt rolls 49, which given a 1@10 BRA, 2x7@ bias, and 1@10 SAL puts it well within his 54% chance of success. That means that his defense against the bear is his 1@6 TV and -5 defensive sit-mod of the style, -21. I don't have numbers handy for a bear, but I figure it's got a 3@1 strength, 1@10 intuition, 1@3 hand/eye, and a 1@5 average amateur B7@1 basic combat style. 64/3 (sum of those three attributes)=21.33, so it's got a 2@1 MSV, 3@1 BRA, 1@5 SAL, and 2x7@ bias minus that 21 defense which gives it a 60% chance of connecting. That matters, because the bear has to roll initiative against the rescuer to land its attack before the rescuer does. The rescuer will have to be Robin Hood himself, since he's the only one with that level of skill with the bow and an arrow is the right tool for this; he's 3@10 with the bow, 2@8 BRA, 3@1 RSV, 2x5@ tech bias, short range, 109 minus the bear's TV. The bear has a 2@10 stamina, 1@10 resistance, 1@4 density (2@ stamina and 3@ strength), 2@5 will power, 1@4 agility, and for TV we need the 1@4 density+1@4 agility+1@10 intuition all over 3, 44/3=13.6=1@4 TV, reduces Robin's chance to hit to 109-14=95%. The question is initiative, though, so let's roll for that first, bear then Robin, 74, 56, since the bear would not succeed with that roll and Robin would, Robin goes first. His attack roll is 62, the arrow is damaging +2DC+11 (one damage category each for the second levels in SAL and RSV, one point for each intensity at the third level in each of those). It is thus a lethal shot, the equivalent of a roll of 73 for damage, which is 15 intensities. The bear's numbers were 89/4 (the sum of stramina, resistance, density, and will power) equals 22.25, a 2@2 damage value, so it divides the damage by two and discards fractions, 7 intensities against 22 leaves 15.
The bow is RS2, and Robin multiplies that by 3 for the SAL and 3 for the RSV giving him 18 shots in a minute, roughly one every three and a half seconds. The bear has a 2@ MSV so it gets only two attacks per minute; even distribution says Robin will be able to launch six of his arrows before the bear gets its first attack, and six more before it gets its second. He rolls 43 which is effectively 54, 11 intensities becomes 5, leaving 10; 96, a miss, 24 effectively 35, 7 intensities becomes 3 leaves 7, 65 becomes 76, 16 intensities becomes 8 and the bear drops.
I know where Sarah intends to go and what she intends to do. John 2 might not like it, but that seems to be what's happening.
--M. J. Young
Sun May 9 2010 9:10 pm # -
Footnote: I decided to give Kurt a skill mark on fisticuffs for using them against the bear, even though he never had the chance to take a punch.
--M. J. Young
Sun May 9 2010 9:11 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberI think that the idea of putting the shield between you and Sarah was based entirely on out-of-character hindsight
It is, and it's not. The events happened too fast. Out of character, I don't see her. She's paranoid, but I don't see how. Does she jump every time she hears a twig snap? How paranoid is she? My character sees that. After that was posted, I started thinking about it. That Sarah was paranoid, and my character saw every second of it. It got me thinking that, if I had actually seen her paranoid mannerisms, I would have known that she would react the way she did. It was out of character hindsight that inspired the line of thought, yes. However, the line of thought is genuine. You're not going to let me rewind it now. I'm totally cool with that. This sounds like it could get interesting. Just believe me when I say I would have known. That's all that really matters now.
I understand your point of view. I'm no longer arguing about rewinding time. I haven't been arguing about that for a while. I understand the ruling, and it's cool. Just don't doubt that I would have anticipated her reaction had I actually seen her for the past 5 months. That's all I'm asking.
(Doing Therapy)
Sun May 9 2010 10:56 pm # -
John, you know the saying: "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you." Sarah is in the opposite position, really. She knows that they are out to get her, but she's not paranoid, exactly--just extremely sensitive to absolutely anything irregular. Most of the time she's fine. Do something that does not fit her categories of "normal" and she freaks.
As an example, if we all saw a ghost at the same time, we would probably all react a bit differently to it. Some would run; some would faint; some would hold back warily; some would approach for a better view. Before the ghost appeared, I don't think we could tell who would do what. If Sarah saw a ghost, though, she would assume that it had something to do with an attack by SkyNet from the future, because she knows that that is real. She would run from the ghost without giving even a moment to determine what it was.
And every time you do something that she doesn't understand she is going to believe that SkyNet is attacking again, probably even after you try to explain to her that you are doing it, because she doesn't know that telekinesis or force generation or any of your other powers are possible, but she does know that there are killer robots in the future who have the power to time travel to the present and a reason to do so.
On that note, I'm hoping I can squeeze in posts to Eli, Michael, Harry, and John 2, and make dinner, in the next three quarters of an hour. Doesn't seem likely, but we'll make a stab at it.
Eli is trying to communicate with the lady of the house, to ask what he should do with the blanket. I'm assuming he's dealing with the language problem again, so we'll roll: 05 is a weak success, but with his numbers he can't hope for a super strong one, and I'd say we are communicating.
Michael is attempting to teach himself a P2@9 Eject, for which he has as his base numbers his 1@10 bias and 2@1 BRA, 41-29=12% chance that he can learn it. What makes it worse is that he has to do it first, that is, he has to roll initiative against this 12% or the Nash Far Kraal will get the first strike. A lot of its abilities are left in the hands of the referee, but it seems reasonable that given its 3@10 intuition and 2@1 RSV and the fact that it is--well, what it is--it's going to have some attacks. On the other hand, the attacks themselves are going to be modest in ability, moderate professional, because it doesn't usually attack--it teaches the Kraal to do so, and they're not around anymore. I see it doing a P8@8 Brain Force attack. Its numbers come to 86%, minus a defensive will power adjustment for Michael, 1@7, leaves 69%, so let's roll initiative for Michael first, 22 to 25, the attack comes first. The attack roll is 10, lethal damage +DC makes fatal, 5 intensities. Michael attempts to eject, 32 not successful.
Fortunately for him, the attack is slow, 1/27 minutes, but given that the Nash Far Kraal has a 2@ SAL and 2@ RSV (which will matter if the link breaks) it divides that by 4 and will be able to attack again in 0:06:45. Meanwhile, Michael has a moment to think of something.
I'm clarifying Harry's schedule for his opportunity to talk to the captain. Part of that is because I'm thinking about hoses and bilge pumps, and trying to think of how I could find out what sort of hoses might have been available under this technology before I commit to anything.
John 2 keeps trying to do things wa-a-a-a-a-y beyond his ability.
--M. J. Young
Tue May 11 2010 6:36 am # -
For Michael's game, +2DCs Annihilative? Base lethal Brain Force plus level two SAL and RSV (though it seems a smidge odd for H/E to influence this attack). That would be ten intensities, still alive but significantly deader.
Edit: John, if you knew all that, why did you attempt this approach in the first place? Not challenging you, just not seeing the logic.
Tue May 11 2010 12:28 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberMy character would have known it. I didn't think of it because I wasn't actually seeing her 24 hours a day. My character was. He would have seen her. He would have known what I didn't. If I had actually been sitting in the highchair as a 5 month old infant, I would have known that Sarah would react the way she did. I don't want MJ to rewind time, I just want him to believe that I would have known that. Is that so much to ask?
Tue May 11 2010 12:38 pm # -
I have no opinion about whether or not you would have known it. (It's not my game, so I'm not worrying about that.) My question is, knowing it, why would you do what you did?
Tue May 11 2010 2:18 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberHave you gone completely daft, Scott? I'm talking about 2 different people. Myself, the 33 year old sitting in his apartment, and my character, the 5 month old infant. I, me, the 33 year old, didn't think of it. My character, the 5 month old infant, would have. That's what I'm saying. It's like how my character probably would have known better than to TK pulse the MP, but I didn't think it was dangerous. I'm talking about 2 different people here.
Tue May 11 2010 2:59 pm # -
I see that I am failing to communicate. Consider this:
Is it too late to rewind time? I just realized that I would have have done is try to put the shield between me and her before she can pick me up in the first place. Now that I think about it, the shield would have been raised to stop her from getting to me at all. The roll was 8, so even if you were to retroactively penalize it, it would probably still work. I'll understand if I don't get a new use, but the shield is raised between Sarah and I, floor to ceiling, wall to wall. I think I would realize what she's going to think it is, or that it would have some connection to an attack. My character knows she's paranoid about my botch, he was a paranoid psychotic for 30 some years before versing. He wouldn't let Sarah pick him up. The shield would have been raised floor to ceiling, wall to wall, in between us. She wouldn't be able to touch me. I would raise it so that she couldn't touch me in the first place. The "NO NO NO NO NO" would be the second attempt to stop her if the shield failed. I want her to see that I am in control of the shield. She wouldn't have picked me up, unless I couldn't keep her at bay with the shield.
The change of actions under discussion concerns the positioning of the shield; even had the intellect check succeeded, you would still have tried to raise a shield to grab her attention, you'd have just taken precautions against her picking you up and fleeing with you.
Given that she'd paranoid about attacks from the future etc., I'm questioning the entire approach of grabbing her attention by doing paranormal things. Why raise the shield at all?
I guess I'm just saying I'd have approached it differently if I knew what you know. We already knew that, I think.
Tue May 11 2010 3:18 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberGiven that she'd paranoid about attacks from the future etc., I'm questioning the entire approach of grabbing her attention by doing paranormal things. Why raise the shield at all?
I want her to see that I am not normal. I can't tell her "Hey lady, I'm not your son, I'm an inter-dimensional traveler." What I can do is raise a force shield and hope that she realizes that I did it. Maybe I thought the idea that her son could protect her from attack might calm her nerves a little. Besides, I had to raise it once so I could put it into practice mode.
Tue May 11 2010 7:53 pm # -
Scott--thanks for that correction. It's 10 intensities to Michael, a very serious attack indeed.
Let's see what we can do with posts from Michael, Kurt, Harry, and John.
Michael is going to attempt the eject again he rolls 77, which again fails.
Kurt has met Robin.
Harry gets a GE roll on the money, 14; I'm doing research on bilge pumps to figure out what they use for hoses, and I find that they used hollowed logs as pipes, so it looks like all the pumps use pipes. I've been trying to figure out what they could do for hoses, but nothing comes to mind.
John 2 has some questions, which gives me the opportunity to create the illusion that Sarah is away for a while while he sits in the car.
--M. J. Young
Wed May 12 2010 2:01 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberJohn 2 has some questions, which gives me the opportunity to create the illusion that Sarah is away for a while while he sits in the car.
Create the illusion? Why does that sound vaguely threatening?
And yeah Scott, you're right. I didn't understand what you were asking. Does that make more sense?
Wed May 12 2010 2:05 am # -
I've been trying to figure out what they could do for hoses, but nothing comes to mind.
Step 1: find a reeeally big cat . . .
__
Edit for John: I still wouldn't do it that way if it were me, but I suppose I understand what you're trying to do. The weak link, in my mind, is the jump from "something strange is happening" to "my five-month-old child is causing something strange to happen." I'd think you'd have trouble even just convincing her you could understand complex sentences.Wed May 12 2010 4:06 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberThe weak link, in my mind, is the jump from "something strange is happening" to "my five-month-old child is causing something strange to happen."
Like I said, it happened too fast. How my character would have played that out, which I didn't think of would be raise the shield between Sarah and I, then "point and click." That is, point and throw a TK pulse. Show Sarah that I am capable of this. Gesture to the shield. Like signing "I'm doing that." What I hate at the moment is the not being able to speak. I feel like I'm trapped inside my own body.
(Doing Therapy)
Wed May 12 2010 4:17 am # -
John 2 has some questions, which gives me the opportunity to create the illusion that Sarah is away for a while while he sits in the car.
Create the illusion? Why does that sound vaguely threatening?
Sorry--no threat intended in that. The point really is that time is passing for your character, and I want you to feel as if time is passing for him even though you need only read the page and respond.
In connection with your thoughts about where you "would have" placed the shield, it occurs to me that this is your first non-botch success on this since you entered this world. You're talking about what you would have done within the context of "had I known it was going to work", and to this point you have had very bad luck with the shield. I would expect that given the history to this point you would be attempting to place the shield as far away from Sarah and yourself as you could, simply so that there would be less risk of the botch severing one of you in half (yes, that would be a real danger of a force generative botch in a non-combat situation).
I am not certain whether I will post game posts tonight or not. I am rather ill and have to make supper for people and get to the drug store before picking up my wife. I didn't expect to do as much as I have already done, however, so let me post this, turn my attention elsewhere, and see if I make it back. For the record, I see posts from Eli, Michael, Kurt, Harry, and John 2.
--M. J. Young
Thu May 13 2010 1:22 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberSorry--no threat intended in that. The point really is that time is passing for your character, and I want you to feel as if time is passing for him even though you need only read the page and respond.
To me it sounded like Sarah was intending to abandon me in the car. I could see why she would do that. She already thinks she's been attacked twice more. How much more of that could a person stand before they gave up and let the Terminators win?
Regarding the other, I hadn't thought of it like that. That's why I'm not arguing it anymore. The situation I'm in sounds like it could get interesting.
(Doing Therapy)
Thu May 13 2010 1:55 am # -
It seems I have been issued a reprieve concerning supper, so I'm going to attempt to finish the work here in the bit of time remaining to me. As mentioned, I see posts from Eli, Michael, Kurt, Harry, and John 2.
I wish to be as generous to Eli as is reasonable in the language category, so I will roll for the first comment he attempts to make, and if it is a good success it will cover both, but if it is a failure I'll still give him a chance on another roll. The roll is 74, a severe failure. The second roll is 80, even worse. He's going to attempt to say it again, so we'll roll again, 27, a good success. He also rolls 24 on communication concerning the dike repairs, so he's going to understand that.
Michael is in an awkward position. He gets four more attempts at the eject before we're in the seventh minute, in which we need an initiative check for whether he beats the Nash Far Kraal to the punch; he also needs a GE roll for finding Paul and/or Annie and whether they can help him (which is less than extremely likely, as they are not strong on psionic combat). The GE is 15, which is not particularly good but better than even; the rolls are 96--well, that's going to be a botch, so let's make a list. There are going to be some unusually good ones on this list, though, since it's pretty common for psionic botches during telepathic links to feedback to the other party.
- Body swap
- Brain burn, self
- Brain burn, linked other
- Neural breakdown, self
- Neural breakdown, linked other
- Psionic shockwave
- Intensified damage from next attack
- Automatic success of next attack
The roll is 4, Neural Breakdown. The GE roll is 13, barely good enough. I think we'll get him out of this the hard way.
His flexibility check is 33, which means he stays at the same stage, 2. This could be fun.
Kurt will get a bit more information about his situation.
I feel like I ought to write more for Harry, but I'm starting to struggle a bit here to get everything done and I can't think of anything.
Sarah will return to John 2 after doing a bit of foraging.
--M. J. Young
Thu May 13 2010 2:29 am # -
bump
Thu May 13 2010 2:31 am # -
Nearly every active thread today is an active game, and there are quite a few active ones--Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Kurt, Scott, and John 2.
With Eli's new 1@10 Use Garden Tools T3@X skill we'll roll a skill check on his ability to fix the dike, giving him +10 on his chance of success because he's working with a professional, and calling the tools adequate to the purpose. The roll is 24, so I need not look more closely at the numbers.
I need to give Michael a bit more information about his surroundings. I might also have to go back and read that book again, because it strikes me that I don't know several things about his position and situation at this point.
It's good to have Ahmetia back, but it appears we have to jumpstart her thought processes.
Kurt has a 2@1 An-Mag, and that's just the score to use for a simple check for how the bear responds to his overtures. The rolls are 1+15=16, a strong success. I'm suddenly thinking that Kurt might be a good candidate for my Narnia adventures; but lets get him through Sherwood first.
Scott is preparing to launch his magical business.
I feel like I keep breaking John 2's fantasies, but he doesn't seem to get it that this is not someone who looks like Linda Hamilton, but some really plain ordinary college girl Linda Hamilton played.
I probably should have made her black or something, just to shake things up. Too late to change that now, though.
--M. J. Young
Thu May 13 2010 8:45 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberI feel like I keep breaking John 2's fantasies, but he doesn't seem to get it that this is not someone who looks like Linda Hamilton, but some really plain ordinary college girl Linda Hamilton played.
All you have to do is show me a photograph of her..... Oh that's right, you don't have one. I guess that means she looks like Linda Hamilton then.
Fri May 14 2010 12:12 am # -
Yeah, it's incredibly late--not only is it two in the morning, but it's two in the morning a day later than it's supposed to be. But let me see what I can do, do what I can see, with Eli, Michael, Kurt, Harry, and John 2.
I'm sticking to routine with Eli for the moment.
I've got to click into the script in a logical way for Michael if I want the pieces of the story to begin to fall together somehow.
We'll give Kurt a bit of historical briefing to get him up to speed quickly.
I'll give Harry something else to consider. I've only hinted that he'll wind up captain of one of the new units, but he probably would have guessed that by this point.
John 2 has been making enough trouble for himself that I've neglected to roll GE rolls for whether there's trouble not of his making. I should do that. The roll is 16, pretty straightforward.
--M. J. Young
Sun May 16 2010 6:40 am # -
I do not have to tell you what a 3 would have meant.
Let me see if I can get through posts from Eli, Michael, Kurt, and John 2 in the time I have.
Eli needs a GE roll for what happens in his quiet little village. The roll is 18, slightly negative. We need a discussion, and Kurt rolls 11 on his language skill, so we can talk.
I've actually got a tremendous amount of work to do on Michael's world--pretty much have to re-read the book and detail all the characters and settings and situations before he hits them. But for the moment I'm O.K.
Kurt probably won't get answers to his questions simply because he's asking them--after all, he's just contacted the most wanted man in England, and he's starting to touch on security questions.
I need to move John 2's calendar forward again. I see six months old as the next step, so let's get him there. It is not appropriate for me to answer his questions about her off-the-grid contacts, but they were probably mostly in America and don't have phones or postal addresses so she's not there at the moment. She'll be back there again, but not too soon.
--M. J. Young
Mon May 17 2010 12:15 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberIt is not appropriate for me to answer his questions about her off-the-grid contacts, but they were probably mostly in America
Actually the contacts were mostly in Mexico. Mexico didn't get hit nearly as badly in the nuclear exchange (As explained to Sarah by Reese in the book) Doesn't make much sense to have weapons caches in the nuclear hot spot.
I do not have to tell you what a 3 would have meant.
I know that. I was just taking a guess.
Mon May 17 2010 12:50 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberTwo
Just realized (once again) that I'm not in the Terminator world that I know. The contacts and caches can be anywhere. It was just, in the book, The United States, northern Mexico, southern Canada, Russia, parts of Europe and Asia were pretty much off the map. South America, Africa and Australia sustained the least damage. Australia became a sort of superpower. Most of the contacts were in Mexico and South America, for the stated reason that those areas sustained far less nuclear impact. But that's in the book. The nuke war could be between Afghanistan and Brazil in this world, for all I know.
(Doing Therapy)
Mon May 17 2010 10:28 am # -
johnosevens
MemberO.o;
And here I was thinking I would someday become captain of my unit. It was my idea. I get to lead the first one eventually.
This is going to wind up like Will Riker turning down command over and over again because, dammit, it's just not the same if its not the Enterprise.
Mon May 17 2010 8:54 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberThis is going to wind up like Will Riker turning down command over and over again because, dammit, it's just not the same if its not the Enterprise.
Quoting Captain Kirk, who was supposedly quoting an author named Milton.
"It is better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven."
(Doing Therapy)
Mon May 17 2010 9:06 pm # -
John, what you're missing in this is that the attack has not yet happened, and Sarah stayed near the U.S. at least until your birth in this version of the story--you were born in a U.S. hospital as a U.S. citizen, so she would have stayed close and would have made contacts in the U.S. and northern Mexico. She's still in Mexico, and she's not had much of a chance to make more contacts because weird things keep happening.
I'm really tired and out of balance today, as I mentioned in the Blogless Lepolt--so much so that I've already posted a response to John 2 while I was opening threads. So that's out of order, but I can still turn my attention to Eli, Michael, Kurt, and Harry.
I'm not going to make trouble for Eli in connection with the clothes--they're straightforward enough, but a 2d10+1 roll will determine how easy: 7. As to whether they can point him to a ninja, the roll of 12 is good enough. Oh, but he needs a language roll: 77 is not good on this.
Michael is going to make it difficult for me, of course, by immediately introducing himself to the characters I haven't yet detailed; but we'll get there.
Hmmm--it seems that with Michael and Kurt I'm going to be dealing with earlier English, so I might as well go with that in Kurt's scenario. Of course, for reasons that will emerge in Michael's, Kurt's is the one in which I have to get it right.
Harry has got me thinking about the future development of the fire company, so we'll continue the conversation a bit longer.
--M. J. Young
Mon May 17 2010 11:03 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberShe's still in Mexico, and she's not had much of a chance to make more contacts because weird things keep happening.
Ya know MJ, I had to reread this a few times, but I think I now understand my situation. Cease and desist all paranormal activity. Be a baby for a while. I hate this being trapped inside my own body crap. Is this a normal thing for zygoted versers?
(Dextroland)
Mon May 17 2010 11:31 pm #
Reply »
You must log in to post.