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Harry's Game

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Started 4 years ago by johnosevens
Latest reply from M. J. Young

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M. J. Young
Moderator

To clarify: I'm told that "Qwartz" is the correct spelling of the name of the fellow who sat in the con suite with us creating a character, and who started with you on the Tropical Island. I don't have anything in writing, and my memory for names is particularly poor, but I had the impression that you knew him. Thin, much dark curly hair, near eastern or north African complected, good musician--ringing a bell? He's the person talking to you now.

With sword in hand, you race over to one of the boarding planks. It rests on the gunnel, with a spike coming down on the inside to help secure it. There is a pirate crossing this two-foot wide walkway, and he's standing on a level about three feet your own floor, carrying a cutlass, and advancing swiftly.

Are you staying on the deck and attacking his legs, or stepping up to his level on the plank?

--M. J. Young

Sun Feb 10 2008 11:22 pm #
johnosevens
Member

The skinny dark-skinned kid with the really fluffy black hair? That was Ronny, and he's Cuban. But yeah I know the guy you mean. In fact I know him in real life.

"Cover my flank!"
I snarl and focus, poking the pirate with a TK Pulse (sideways and slightly upward) when he is about halfway across. Then I spring up onto the plank to engage him.
It occurs to me - but I'm not taking my eyes off the guy with the sword long enough to look right now - that if they have riflemen or archers, this is about to suck for me rather a lot. Nonetheless, for now I will focus on pressing the attack.

Mon Feb 11 2008 4:34 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator
O.K., so none of us remembered his name. Ron it is. I probably should have guessed Carribean.

You give him a good tweak, but he compensates, apparently taking it for a pitch of the ship, and keeps his feet. You leap up onto the plank to engage him, and he moves in for a swing. You deflect his sword, which falls from his hand into the water below. He has a dagger on his belt, and is reaching for it as you make your attack.

In order to run the combat, I'm going to need to fill in a few of your attributes. These obviously are not 2@ attributes, or you'd have said so; so the question is, just how good or bad are you at each of these:
Your Density will be 1@1; that will matter to your target value and damage value.

--M. J. Young
Tue Feb 12 2008 5:48 am #
johnosevens
Member

Strength... hmm... I can lift 100lbs with some effort, but I can't do pullups at all.
Stamina... I can run full-out for half an hour, covering two miles in that time, give or take a bit.
Resistance... Depends a lot on what I'm resisting. I have almost no resistance to disease, for instance, but I've been out in negative wind chills and not felt cold at all. I have a decent tolerance for pain, even though I also fear pain a bit, which is paradoxical but true.
Hand/Eye for purposes of fencing and marksmanship is quite good. I throw like a girl, but with swords, bows, guns, I'm a fairly wiz marksman. When I'm in fencing form - which practicing on ship would've gotten me back to, as it takes me very little - I can do a double-lunge that clears a room and bullseye a quarter taped to the wall at the end.
Will Power... I'm incredibly stubborn, and I can do a lot of mind-over-matter kinds of things. Half the time my cold tolerance I'm convinced is a mental effect.

If I had to estimate, I would put Strength 1@3 or 4, Stamina 1@7, Resistance... gods know, Hand/Eye 1@6 at least with penalties to throwing, and Will Power 1@6 or 1@7, but again that's me and my 1@3 Game Mechanics (Multiverser).

When he reaches for his knife, he'll have to take his eyes off me, if only for a second. In that second, I snap out with a thrust at his side, under the arm he's reaching for the knife with (I'm picturing him cross-drawing this, his right hand going for his left hip, am I right?).
If he's not cross-drawing, and if I see that his eyes aren't going to drop, then I just thrust center mass, slightly upward, aiming to either stab him in the heart or goad him into blocking high, which will put me in a position to roll my hand over and thrust downward, over his block and into his face.
Or, if he's managing to block me too high to pull that off, I let him deflect my sword, then kick him in the nuts for his trouble.
*grin*

Tue Feb 12 2008 6:34 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Is "kick in groin" a maneuver you've been taught or practiced or otherwise used? Just trying to figure out whether to add this to your sheet, and if so at what skill ability level. (That is only half kidding, by the way.)

You get a solid jab on him, landing a blow that surprises him and clearly wounds him.

I am thinking that the smallsword combat style is probably what would be called fast aggressive weapon-dependent--it puts more into attacks than defense, hits more frequently than an ordinary swordsman, but does not provide much benefit if you do not have the weapon in hand. Would you care to modify or refine this description? My next step in terms of rendering it to paper would be to list sit-mods (adjustments to the chance to hit) and damage mods (adjustments directly to damage inflicted) on your attacks and separately on your defense, and since it's your style, knowing where you think these should go will help.

Are you going to kick him, too?

--M. J. Young

Sun Feb 17 2008 10:21 pm #
johnosevens
Member

If I stunned him with that attack (which was a sword to the face, by the way, not a punch - when I said "turn my hand over" it was referring to a change in the angle at which I was attacking with my sword), then yes I will kick him in the groin. This consists of setting my left foot behind me with my toes at a right angle to my opponent, lifting my right foot straight off the ground, then snapping my leg forward such that the heel of my foot is driven directly into his crotch.

Yes, it's a legitimate maneuver, part of my unarmed combat style. I learned it along with my military hand to hand from another guy I was practcing with. It's NOT an Army move - the guy I learned it from, my friend Niko, is a fellow Greek who learned Pankration. This kick comes from that. The guy who demonstrated Pankration on "Human Weapon" on the history channel used this kick to break a standard phalanx shield in half with two kicks.

Legitimate smallsword fencing is supposed to be a back-and-forth of attacks and defenses. I happen to practice it in a very aggressive way that is actually boardline reckless. So yes, your characterization of it is perfect for me, but it ought not be either aggressive or defensive in the hands of someone who is a better student (if there is a balanced category, otherwise it remains aggressive, but much more marginally so than my personal form).

Mon Feb 18 2008 7:15 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I did not take your description as a called shot; if I had understood this to be the long way of saying you were aiming for his head, there would have been a size penalty on the target. I like the description, and it often gives me room to work, but ultimately the amount of damage is determined by the dice--even if "stab in the face" is a special maneuver doing special damage, because you might leave an ugly scar but do little damage. I don't usually track where hits land if they do not do at least ten intensities of damage without killing the target.

You connect solidly on the kick. It is evident that you have broken something, as his eyes roll back in his head and he falls off the board into the water beneath.

Another pirate steps up on the board, sword in his right hand, and draws a flintlock pistol from his belt. He is standing twelve feet from you, and with a steely look in his eye points the weapon your direction....

--M. J. Young

Tue Feb 19 2008 4:42 am #
johnosevens
Member

Thor protect me...
I lash out at him with a TK Pulse, trying to throw his aim off.
As I unleash that I'm already moving, springing off with my left foot. I won't land with the right but keep it high, landing with the left and kicking off again, immediately into a second, shorter hop that ends in a thrusting lunge. Twelve feet is almost the limit of how far I can do this, but I'm in fighting fit and I should be able to manage it if he doesn't shoot me first. (After all, this exact maneuver is what proved my hand-eye stat.)
He won't be parrying with a gun, so no need for anything fancy, just a good old fashioned double-hop lunge aimed center mass.

Tue Feb 19 2008 5:42 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

The gun comes out more quickly than you anticipated; your TK pulse disrupts him, but he recovers instantly and pulls the trigger. Intuitively--perhaps because of your prayer--you duck, and the bullet whizzes over your head--but your sword slices into the man's left leg.

It is a severe wound, and the man is bleeding profusely; he recognizes that he will not be able to stand, never mind walk, if he does not get help. He is falling back toward the deck of his own ship, trying to draw his sword as he does so.

The pistol drops onto the plank and lies there; the pirates behind this one are making room for his retreat, apparently not too eager to get up next to you at this moment.

You feel the protection you just summoned, which held while you were in the thick of the risk, fading.

--M. J. Young

Tue Feb 19 2008 11:08 pm #
johnosevens
Member

Holding my sword in a defensive posture, I scoot forward and pick up the pistol, then begin to fall back. I'm a decent shot with a rifle, but I've never fired a pistol in my life, much less a flintlock one, (edit: and certainly not left-handed!) so I'm not menacing anyone with that - if they called my bluff I'd be in a bit of a spot. With Soulmourn I can actually deliver. I grin and think thankful thoughts to Thor (who I hope appreciates alliteration).

Once I have the pistol in hand, I fall back along the plank, and reevaluate the situation. Specifically I'm looking for:
1: Anybody else with a gun pointed at me? If yes, I shoot at him. If no, then
2: Anybody else from the Piper backing up my plank? If yes, hold the plank till they arrive. If no, then
3: Anybody else from the Piper boarding the pirate ship from other planks? If yes, hold the plank and look to draw attention off them. If no, then
4: Are the crew of the Piper losing at any of the other planks? If yes, abandon the plank and go to help them. If no, then I move forward toward the pirates and prepare to issue them a challenge.

Wed Feb 20 2008 3:56 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

The planks are good. Walter is behind you with what looks like a boarding pike, and as you fall back off the walkway he prepares to knock it into the sea below.

You've recovered the gun. It should be readily apparent even on a glance that it's a single shot weapon, and that shot went over your head when you ducked, so you'll have to learn to reload it if you want to use it again.

There is a knot of about ten pirates doing battle with three security officers and a deck hand. The security men fight like demons, to the point that you might say the pirates are outnumbered. Security chief Balcon in particular is fast and deadly with his sword such that he might be able to take them all himself, and his number two man Brown, only half as fast perhaps, still rarely misses and is twice as fast as any two pirates. That, though, is where the fight seems to be; Davis has already knocked two other boarding planks overboard, so only one remains, and it looks like Balcon intends to force any surviving pirates to retreat across it.

--M. J. Young

Thu Feb 21 2008 2:47 am #
johnosevens
Member

At the edge of the plank, I shake my head at Walter. "Come on. If we go across, we can take the fight to them. Balcon and the others are winning here and making it look easy. If we hurt them enough we might get them to surrendur completely. There aren't that many left. If you get everybody who isn't fighting, I'll lead the way. If I could take two of them myself, they can't be that tough."

Thu Feb 21 2008 4:49 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Ronny yells, "Come on, we can take 'em", and charges across the planks.

Walter hesitates, looking first back at the others, then over at the ship, and then, sword drawn, points to the plank.

--M. J. Young

Fri Feb 22 2008 2:08 am #
johnosevens
Member

I spring onto the plank right behind Ronny, tuck the pistol into my belt, and hare off after him in battle, sword in hand.

Fri Feb 22 2008 2:13 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You reach the other deck; Ronny has apparently vanished for the moment, behind the clutter here. There are two pirates coming toward you, cutlasses drawn. Walter is behind you, but you hear gunfire from somewhere and can't be sure how soon he'll catch up.

--M. J. Young

Sat Feb 23 2008 4:05 am #
johnosevens
Member

I keep my back to the plank, so I can retreat if the need arises. As the two pirates come up, I present SoulMourn in a defensive posture. It's actually a bit of a ruse.
"Thor protect me..." I wait as they approach, waiting for the right moment, the moment when the pirate closer to the edge of the deck is mid-step when this ship is almost at the height of bobbing in the water. When it reaches its height, I TK pulse his upraise foot, aiming to off-balance him at a critical moment and, ideally, topple him into the water.
The second pirate will get a sword in him as soon as he's within my lunging distance, but that's not yet...

Sat Feb 23 2008 4:32 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You pray.

You manage to catch the foot of your target, but the man has obviously spent many years aboard ships and easily keeps his balance against the push.

Several other pirates have spotted you, and are coming your direction. Walter reaches your side. "I hope this was a good idea," he says, "'cause now we're committed."

Balcon and the others have driven the pirates back from the Piper onto the plank; your retreat is cut off.

Ronny is on your other side, and says, "Back to back then. We can take them."

--M. J. Young

Mon Feb 25 2008 2:34 am #
johnosevens
Member

(Other than Walter, how many of his guys followed us? It seemed like there were more than just us. And by the way, when Ronny attacks somebody, I want the equivalent of a Will save to realize he's not there. Why? Ronny is a devout Buddhist pacifist.)

"Walter, get our backs and let's give them all we've got. The planks are cut, but we can win the day. If we keep the fight moving they won't be able to get guns on us. Target anybody who draws one, but otherwise don't take chances. We used up our ration of stupid for the day just coming over here."

As the two pirates continue to approach, I want to angle myself to engage the one farther in on the deck, hoping to use the momentum of the fight to keep him between me and the other guy. I do hope there are some marksmen on the Piper or this is about to be a very long afternoon.

Can I get a quick estimate on just how many pirates we're dealing with on the deck of this ship? According to the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, the Queen Anne's Revenge, flagship of Blackbeard, had a crew of 75 and was a fairly substantial ship.

Mon Feb 25 2008 6:33 am #
WilliamTWodium
Member

And by the way, when Ronny attacks somebody, I want the equivalent of a Will save to realize he's not there. Why? Ronny is a devout Buddhist pacifist.

In Multiverser, we tend to avoid this sort of mechanic as if it were a William Shatner poetry recital - that is, we only suffer through it if you absolutely force us into it. Either you believe Ronny exists and is here, in which case you also believe that he's acting very strangely and not like usual self at all, or you don't believe he exists and/or is here, in which case you'll have a hard time justifying belief in anything else that your senses are also telling you is true.

Mon Feb 25 2008 7:59 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

As Scott observes, the problem here is that there's no question of you not believing it; Ronny is there because you believe he is there, for the moment. Ronny acting inappropriately is Ronny acting inappropriately.

Besides, I've been pretty careful to this point, for an entirely different reason: Ronny acting ineffectively would be the basis for an intuitive leap to conclude that Ronny isn't really doing anything. You've not seen Ronny attack anyone, not because Ronny would never attack anyone, but because if he did it would have no effect, and your psychosis won't permit itself to be challenged that way.

As to Ronny encouraging you to fight, well, that's not quite the same thing--that's really your projections of a side of your subconscious into his words. Besides, as I read just today, William Penn, being a Quaker, could not travel to western Pennsylvania to kill indians--so he hired George Washington to do it for him. You're not the Buddhist; your grasp of what a Buddhist would and would not do might not perfectly reflect what Ronny actually would do in a given situation.

Don't worry--it will wear off, this time. You'll just have to live with the fact that your character believes Ronny is there, until either he isn't or your actions and the reactions of those around you have given you a basis for questioning whether he is or is not there. (E.g., if you start telling Ronny to do something while including Walter in the conversation, Walter is going to wonder who Ronny is. In the multiverse, that doesn't actually prove no one is there--only that Walter can't see him.

Oh, and since you're "in" on it, I do expect you to play it naturally--fine to talk to Ronny in front of Walter to try to get a reaction, but only if you're already talking to Ronny when it is not for that reason, or if it's obvious that you're treating it as if you really believe he's there. If this were not the forum (where we train referees, so there aren't a lot of secrets), when you asked whether Ronny was a hallucination, I'd have answered, "How would you know?", and left it to you to figure out how to get your character to stumble on the truth. As far as the guy on the ship is concerned, Ronny is there, and it makes perfect sense that he's there. If it stops making perfect sense, we'll give you intuition checks, and they you can treat him like Nash in A Beautiful Mind.

The crew of the piper is about thirty; the crew of this ship is probably about the same. More of their men are fighters, but your good fighters are much better than their best.

Most of the security team and a few deck hands were fighting that knot of pirates which is retreating across the plank even now. You and Walter crossed the plank, and of course Ronny, who has disappeared into the crowd somewhere, but no one else joined you yet.

"All right, I've got your back," Walter says. "Don't worry; these guys probably aren't good enough to get a job in ship security."

As the pirate comes close, you take a stab, and come inches from getting him, but he sidesteps and and returns a slash; you sidestep this, and move in again, this time gashing his left arm. You have another opportunity.

--M. J. Young

Tue Feb 26 2008 8:04 pm #
johnosevens
Member

I can't circle him like I'd planned to without leaving Walter open - since he and Ronnie are side-by-side - so I press the attack with a kiai, a shout during the attack meant to mentally off-balance him and focus me. "
Ya!" and stab. I'm aiming for his left side, to force him to compensate for an already-there wound.
It might make him flinch towards his right, which would make him back up into the guy on the water-side of the fight, which would work well for me, or he might just react defensively, which is fine since the bigger motion takes more out of him than the quick thrust does out of me.

Wed Feb 27 2008 12:39 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You catch his side quite solidly with your jab; he's severely wounded, but still functional. He slashes wildly at you and turns to escape; you try to land the finishing blow but catch only air as he rushes away from you.

You can pursue him or choose another adversary. Ronnie shouts that help is coming, the pirates have been forced back across the plank and the security team is following them.

--M. J. Young

Sun Mar 2 2008 9:08 pm #
johnosevens
Member

If I've run off the guy on the inner side of the ship, there's still the guy he was with, who I've been trying and failing to push into the water. I think instead of taking a finishing blow on his fleeing friend, I will instead take that opportunity - the moment when his friend flees and thus leaves him facing me alone - to step out of the fleeing man's shadow, too close for this guy to stab, and give the poor fool my signature kick in the nuts, as we established previously.

Sun Mar 2 2008 11:33 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You hit him solidly, and it's obvious that you hurt him; he, however, maintains his control and strikes you, a serious gash up your leg that's going to require stitching or something akin to it but is not disabling.

Your move.

--M. J. Young

Wed Mar 5 2008 2:23 am #
johnosevens
Member

Bugger! Ow... Alright, favoring that leg more than a little, now. No reason to let up on him, though. I'll feint high on that same side, then turn my hand and attack low instead.

Seems my strategy of picking these guys off by knocking them overboard isn't holding out. Alas...

Wed Mar 5 2008 3:30 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator
Is the feint a move you've done before? Note that whenever you say, "I'll do this", that demonstrates that it's the sort of thing you would describe as part of what you're doing, and that you expect it to have some sort of effect. Thus I'm posting to come to agreement on the effect, the cost, and your skill ability level.

My inclination is to list it as
Explaining that, you would roll against your BRA+SAL+2xBias (the basic skill check formula) without either your strike value or his defensive values (you don't have to hit him), and if that roll is successful, the number rolled is added to your chance of success on your next attack--whether or not you are hit in the interim, since by using an attack for this you delay your actual attack to your next. At present you are getting two attacks per minute against one for each of your adversaries, so when you have the initiative it's you-them-you, and when they have it it's them-you-you, and on this minute you've got it.

Anyway, the questions are, does this reasonably describe your intention and expectation, how good are you at doing this, and do you still intend to use the maneuver?

--M. J. Young
Thu Mar 6 2008 2:12 am #
johnosevens
Member

Not exactly. It doesn't delay that long. It's really more like half an attack - the equivalent of making a Bluff check to leave someone flat-footed in D&D. I go high just long enough for you to reflexively guard high, then I drop down and attack middle low. Even if you reflexively try to drop your blade to slap mine down, all that happens is it goes into your gut or your thigh instead of your heart. It's a visual Bluff. I have no idea how you would express that in MV mechanics, but it is a very fast thing in real life. If that is as close as we can come, so be it, but I feel it ought to be faster than using up a whole attack if we want to be realistic.

Thu Mar 6 2008 4:07 am #
WilliamTWodium
Member

One good way to start thinking about modeling these things is to hammer out exactly what price you're paying for your benefit. I don't have my 3rd edition books with me here in Chapel Hill, so I'm asking: what was the limitation on using the Bluff skill in this way in D&D? That is, why doesn't every reasonable player use this for every attack?

Also, you've left the question of your SAL open. (You may have done that on purpose, but in case you didn't I thought I'd remind you to help speed things along.)

Thu Mar 6 2008 6:11 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator
Scott has hit the nail on the head: what this does maneuver cost, that makes it so that it is not done by every swordsman for every attack? The OAD&D OA martial arts rules cost an attack and gave +2 to the next attack--the equivalent of 10%. Multiverser uses the one attack cost but gives what is a more generous bonus--the die roll. However, the point of Multiverser rules is to be as emulative as possible while still being completely fair. You have to pay something to get something; if the feint is going to create a mechanical bonus, it has to come at a price.

That doesn't mean it has to be the price just given, or that you have to get the bonus just stated. Off the top of my head, here are some other possibilities, to get your thoughts pointed in the right direction. All of these start with the assumption that it does not cost an attack to do this.

Sacrifice initiative, get +RS/10. This would reduce the bonus significantly, but you would keep your attacks--but the other guy would go first.

On failure, the next attack is penalized--that is, you didn't fool him, so he anticipates your next attack and probably blocks it.

Opponent Intuition check RS=S/D/N, success transfers the bonus to him--that is, if you do the feint "successfully" he still might perceive that it's a fake and be able to use your false move as his opening, taking your bonus as his own to land an attack. (RS=S/D/N means that if your roll is [successful and] not higher than fifty, he must make a simple 2d20 check, if it is at least fifty-one but not higher than eighty it is a d30+10 difficult check, and if it is a successful roll greater than 80 he does not get a check.)

Those are all viable ways of handling the situation, but they're based on my perception. Thus I need you to consider the reality of it: why do you not do this every time you attack, and what is the price of doing it?

And yes, your SAL will matter.

--M. J. Young
Fri Mar 7 2008 2:22 am #
johnosevens
Member

Go with the second part. That's the most like what happens in reality - if he doesn't buy your feint, ten gets you twenty he's going to block your second-intention, but if he does buy it, you'll chump him pretty easily. That's the most realistic to me - it either works or it fails, and either way fairly certainly, based on whether or not he falls for it. And it would cost me my second attack either way. So instead of me-him-me it would be me-him-new round.

Fri Mar 7 2008 4:43 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator
But we don't know your skill ability level yet. Amateur? High, low, average? Professional?

--M. J. Young
Fri Mar 7 2008 8:44 pm #
johnosevens
Member

Amateur high. Compared to pretty much everything else in fencing, I'm a mite raw at this.

Fri Mar 7 2008 10:17 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You draw the man's sword high, and then swing under it, doing a severe abdominal wound. The man will need medical attention, and knows he is extremely unlikely to survive another blow. He slashes out, injuring you yet again despite your effort to step away, and before you can respond he has run across the deck toward the hatch below. You might catch him, if you pursue.

Your own injuries are now serious but not life-threatening; you could take as much again as you have taken already.

The rest of the security team has now boarded, including a medic. Your partners have killed or wounded several pirates as well, and the fight is going favorably.

--M. J. Young

Mon Mar 10 2008 12:26 am #
johnosevens
Member

I look around, making sure the security guys are actually pressing the fight, not just pushing the pirates and leaving them there. If there is nobody around to fight, I hold back for now and survey the scene.

Are the pirates surrenduring? If not, then
Are the security guys continuing to fight? If so, then
Who are they fighting? Are there still pirates nearby? If not, then
Are either Ronny or Walt more badly injured than I am? If not, then
Is that medic nearby? This is really starting to hurt. If not, then
Can I get to that medic without getting stabbed on the way? This is still REALLY starting to hurt.

Once I get to the medic, I'll look around the pirate ship again. Once more, if there's pirates too near the edge, I TK Pulse them towards the edge some more. If there's not, well, there's that medic, and... yeah, ow.

Mon Mar 10 2008 4:17 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

The pirates are not surrendering, but the security force has boarded and is fighting to reach you. The pirates are falling away from them fairly quickly, and scattering onto the ship.

Walt has worked up quite a sweat, but he's not wounded. Ronny looks fine.

The security team reaches you within the minute, and the medic is immediately tending your wounds. The wash stings. He says, "Sorry, friend, but I've got to pull you out--you are going to need some stitching here, and we've got to get you back to the med bay for that. You! Johann, right?" He is addressing one of the men who boarded with the security team. "Get John here back to medical; Evan is going to need to work on him."

Johann is probably a deck hand; anyway, he's got the build for one. He lifts you to your feet. "Doc says you've got to see the Doc. Let's get back home."

--M. J. Young

Tue Mar 11 2008 4:33 am #
johnosevens
Member

I nod, wiping my blade clean before I sheath it.

Turning to Walt, I say, "You keep fighting. Teach these dogs a lesson for me, will ya?" and give him a somewhat pained grin.

Leaning on Johan - at least as far as the plank, I suppose I'll have to limp across it on my own - I allow myself to be led back to the Piper, all the while hoping they'll continue the rout I started and capture that blood pirate ship as a prize.

Tue Mar 11 2008 3:29 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You are delivered to Medical, where Doc Evans does an expert job stitching and dressing your wounds. "You'll have to stay here a couple days, at least, so we can keep that from getting infected; but hopefully you'll be back on duty before we're in port, as long as you don't do too much climbing. I'll tell Donald that you're to be on light duty for a while."

You continue to hear the occasional gunshot, the clamour of battle, and then as the world starts to grow dark outside half a dozen people come into medical for treatment. Most of these are relatively minor injuries, and they are tended by one of the medics and sent on their way. Two of the deck hands are injured rather severely, and are given hammocks here so they can be watched. Captain John can be heard thundering in the hall. "Accursed pirates, tearing holes in my crew when I need them at their posts. Do what you can for these men, Doc. It's hard enough with a full crew."

You see Walter among those being treated. When the captain has moved away, he smiles at you and says, "We got 'er. Captain's happier than he sounds, as that's a good bonus; he just needs to crew both ships for a few days to get her to port."

--M. J. Young

Tue Mar 11 2008 10:34 pm #
johnosevens
Member

As I hear the report that we got her - that we actually managed to take a fully manned pirate ship - I settle down in my hammock a happy man.
That siege was my idea, my project. If the captain decided to keep her, he could name himself Commodore and name that ship's new captain. If he decided to sell her, it would make him a rich man even if he did share the bounty with the crew.
Either way, the victory I wanted went just as I had planned. And if I have a new scar to show for it, so much the better. Victories should leave their mark.

I say to Walter, when I can, "Tell the Captain I'd like to see her, when the Doc will let me. Inside and out. If he'll allow it. I've... I've never fought actual pirates before." That last I finish with a sheepish grin.

Now the question is, what will the captain DO with her?

Ideal scenario: He keeps her and names me captain. (I wins. =^_^= Doesn't seem likely, even if it was my idea.)

Good scenario: He keeps her and puts me on her crew, naming someone else captain. (It's a step up in the world, and a heck of a story to tell.)

Decent scenario: He sells her and shares the gold. (So long as I get my cut, it still makes a heck of a story to tell...)

Bad scenario: He sells her and keeps it for himself. (He doesn't seem the type!)

Worse scenario: He loses her on the way due to lack of sufficient crew. (He better not spoil my sodding victory!)

Worst scenario: The surviving pirates escape, rebel, and take or sink both ships. (Good bloody luck, mate.)

Wed Mar 12 2008 12:39 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Ah, well, company protocol is that the captain sells the ship (the company will consider buying her, but usually it's better for the company for the ship to be sold at auction). The money from the sale goes into the budget for the trip. That budget pays for all the supplies and expenses and the fixed salaries of the crew, and then whatever is left is called "profit". Of that, the company gets 10%. The First Mate, James, gets the same salary as the Pilot Commander (who is technically Second Mate) plus 5% of the profit. The remaining 85% is the Captain's cut; he gets no salary, and if the venture makes no profit he makes no money. However, as you observe, even 85% of the profit from the sale of the ship will be a lot of money, and there are twenty-six other people--apart from the Captain and you--who in one way or another risked their lives for him. When he gets to Sardic, unless he retires he will be expected to sign a new crew for the next run, and a reputation for being stingy won't get him the men he needs.

Assuming you are permitted to dock at Tristar, the ship will be sold there; that might be two weeks away. If Tristar is closed to shipping or overly restricted, they'll take her on to Haven, which is maybe another couple weeks.

The captain has no problems with allowing you aboard the pirate ship. In fact, he wants to keep two navigators over there at all times, in case there's a problem (e.g., storm) and the ships get separated. He's rotating crew for that, but at the moment with you in sickbay, he's got a navigator on each ship and a pilot on each ship, and one of each sleeping, so it's a lot of work to keep both ships going. You'll be over there as soon as Doc Evan permits it.

--M. J. Young

Thu Mar 13 2008 4:10 am #
johnosevens
Member

If he'll let me, once I'm up and about, I'd like to transfer to the taken ship. Nothing against the Piper, but I want to be on her, keep her as long as I can. I've never won a battle before, and as a first one, this is a really good one. I'd like to soak it up while it lasts.

What is her name, anyway? A ship without a name is bad luck...

Thu Mar 13 2008 4:29 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Evan keeps you in medical two days, and orders that you're to be on limited activity for another three. His medical skill is impressive, given the primitive situation. The captain makes you part of the skeleton crew on the other ship. He tells you its name.*

It's a small fast ship, not so good for long-range cargo runs as for light combat. It may once have been a patrol ship--which might explain why it's being used in civilized waters instead of out in the deep of the Greater Syndic.

You've still got more than a week before reaching Tristar. Is there anything in particular you hope to accomplish in that time?

--M. J. Young

*See behind the screens for the meaning on this.

Fri Mar 14 2008 2:19 am #
johnosevens
Member

Other than convincing the captain not to sell my ship? Not really.
I don't suppose the captain or the company would accept keeping the ship as part of a contract that binds me to their service for a good long time, perhaps under the command of the Piper's captain, assigned to escort the Piper and protect her from further piracy?
I would be good with that. It keeps me employed for a while, even if I remain a navigator all the while, gives me something to do for a long time, since I like it here and want to stay, and ... I'm gonna cry if he sells it, but I'm not telling him that.

Since I'm doing light duty (doctor's orders) on a skeleton crew (captain's orders) on my ship (my bloody orders!), I want to spend some of the time trying to aid my own healing. This will consist of one thing you might want to roll dice for:

At night, I spend twenty minutes laying in bed, hands folded, praying to Odin, Frigga, and Baldur, the Norse gods most associated with life, healing, and rebirth, "Lords and Lady, I pray you, mend the body of your servant. I am wounded in glorious battle, and wear my scars with pride. But I am laid out, and my brothers risk battle without me. For their sake and mine, for your honor and glory, restore me."

It occured to me to try healing myself with psionics as well, but I have no idea how to do that and don't want to make my head explode getting it wrong, so I'm not.

Also, it occurs to me to wonder: there doesn't randomly happen to be a bounty on the pirate ship, her captain, or anyone surviving on her crew, does there? If there were, it would add to the take...

Fri Mar 14 2008 5:05 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator
The citystate sort of politick of this world doesn't really support significant bounties on international criminals; there is enough profit from the sale of a ship.

The problem that the captain has in connection with the ship is that fifteen percent of it is not his--he has to pay five percent of its worth to his first officer and ten percent of its worth to his employer. He doesn't know how much the ship is worth on the open market without putting it on the open market. In theory, he could put it up for sale and then attempt to buy it; he'd probably have to pay the full price he bids to the auction house, who would take their cut for conducting the auction and then return the rest to him, from which he would pay a share to the company and a share to the first officer; but this is not a world in which men own ships, but one in which companies and governments own them. It's not against the law, but it's expensive. Captain John will probably retire before he can earn enough to justify buying such a vessel; the company will keep going much longer.

You could in theory discuss it with the company when you get to Sardic, but the sale will be completed before you get there, so it will be moot at that point.

On the other hand, there is good reason to think that Captain John will find a way to hire you for the next run, if you're still interested, and you've already demonstrated skill in navigation and in security, at least, so that's two departments that can use you if there's an opening.

Before I roll for the prayer, I want to put the options to you.

You've created a ritual which, by my calculations, has an inherent sit-mod of +83. Since your BRA is 2@3, if you had this skill at SAL 1@1 in a world with a flatlined bias and a -10 penalty for an anarch affiliation (that is, it's a world ruled by evil gods) your chance of success would be 120%. Your chance to learn it here, now, is similarly high (but I won't say how high yet).

This is a 2@1 limited damage repair skill, and will work in a flatlined bias such as this world. The baseline for limited damage repair is dangerous, which means the die roll divided by 10, 1 to 10 intensities of damage restored. You can increase that in the design of the skill--for each 10 percentage points you take off the bonus, you can gain a damage category bonus, to lethal (1 to 20), then fatal (1 to 50), then annihilating (1 to 100). I don't think I would let you boost it to obliterative, because that sort of takes away the concept of "limited" from the skill.

I should specify that the skill is limited thus:

You pray for twenty minutes.

You must be lying in your own bed with your hands folded, not doing anything else.

It must be night where you are.

You must pray those or essentially similar words aloud.

If any of these are not requirements/limitation on the skill, then the chance of success is not as high.

Your call.

--M. J. Young
Sat Mar 15 2008 4:20 am #
johnosevens
Member

I'll take it exactly as it is and, if I understand you correctly, I can drop my success chance from 120% to 100% and increase it up to Fatal? I think I'll do that. In the mean time, is there any chance of convincing the captain to keep my ship all the way to Sardic? Perhaps in the hope of either the company keeping it, or selling it at a higher price in a larger / better market?

Sat Mar 15 2008 4:34 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Your prayer restores you to full health. Other than that you still can't bring yourself to climb the rigging, you could return to full duty.

"Mr. John, please do not ask me again. The company rules on this sort of thing are quite clear. We will sell her at Tristar if we are permitted, and otherwise we will take her to Haven and sell her there, and I will hear no more about it. I want to enjoy my retirement, not be fired."

--M. J. Young

Mon Mar 17 2008 3:50 am #

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