JohnA1nut
Member
Multiple Posts
Did I ever order my 6 speed loaders for my 357? My hope would be that they are coming in on the shipment with the 2 holsters. How many days until those come in? I would have 3 speed loaders of standard bullets, 3 of silver and 3 of gold bullets. If lead will kill it, silver and gold will too, but some things aren't killed by lead. Better to be prepared.
You ordered the speedloaders on Day 5; this is the end of Day 5.
After work on Day 6, Lauren and Derek arrive. You give them blacksmithing lessons.
Lauren says, "I think I'm going to have to make a bit of a jump here. I hope you're good for it. I ought to teach you a couple of skills I found particularly useful, but I don't know how you would use them here on the space station. One is, I discovered that the telepathy I use to contact people doesn't quite work with, well, people who are not strictly speaking people. When I work with the werewolves, I sometimes communicate telepathically with them, but it's a slightly different kind of skill, and a bit more difficult. But I've not seen anyone here who is not human, so I don't know how you'd use it.
"The other is problematic for similar reasons. It's a sort of telepathic summoning: I can send out a mental call that is attuned to a particular kind of creature, like a werewolf, and it will compel one to come to me. The one called usually doesn't know it was called, it just suddenly feels like it has to go to where I am. But I don't know quite how to teach you that. After all, if you called for a human, Derek and I are both already here, and to call for something not human you would have to already have some sort of mental pattern of the kind of mind you wanted. If I called for a werewolf, I don't expect any would come, because I don't think there are any here.
"So I think I'm going to have to skip those--unless you can think of a way to try them. That means my blank mind defense would be next. That's a bit of a jump in difficulty, but you're both doing pretty well, so I think you can manage it. Thoughts?"
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
After work on Day 6, Lauren and Derek arrive. You give them blacksmithing lessons.
Since you seem to be telling me what I'm doing, it would seem that you ARE forcing me now.... Bad joke, I know. I probably would do that.
The other is problematic for similar reasons. It's a sort of telepathic summoning: I can send out a mental call that is attuned to a particular kind of creature, like a werewolf, and it will compel one to come to me.
"Actually, I think I would like to learn this. I mean, I can learn it without using it, right? This could be useful in hunting. Get a mental image of a deer, then when I got hungry, just 'compel' a deer to come into crossbow range. I bet you never thought of doing that, did you? Show me that mental defense tomorrow. I'm willing to bet we're the only users of psionics in this station. No need to learn the defense just yet. Unless I need defense from you two...."
Which reminds me. Panoramic Awareness and that mental defense are skills that are "always on" right? So, aren't you constantly practicing them? Shouldn't your skill at that raise automatically every so often? After a few decades of being "always on" wouldn't you have 3@10 ability just from constantly practicing it?
My holsters come on day 10 right? I ordered 2 holsters, one a shoulder holster for the 9mm, one a back holster for the 357, 6 speed loaders, and a pouch to hold 2 speed loaders on my belt.
Have I seen anything resembling a double barrel 12 gauge shotgun? If so, buy or order one. It would have dual triggers, one for each of the 2 barrels, or both can be fired simultaneously. I'd saw it off on both ends. Makes a great up-close-and-personal defensive weapon.
Do they have any explosive tipped arrowheads?
I'm not telling you what you're doing. I am extrapolating what I anticipate you doing so as to save on posting time. I could have asked you, and that would have delayed the progress of the game unnecessarily. On the other hand, you would have been perfectly within your rights to say no, you weren't going to do that because something else had to happen that day.
In fact, that's why I did not say simply that she teaches you the next skill, because I did not know whether you would want to learn these.
"Actually, I think I would like to learn this. I mean, I can learn it without using it, right? This could be useful in hunting. Get a mental image of a deer, then when I got hungry, just 'compel' a deer to come into crossbow range. I bet you never thought of doing that, did you?..."
She laughs.
"No, I never did. I bought food at first, and then I conjured food when I learned to do that. But you're right--it would work for that. Of course, just to be clear, you need a mental image not of the deer but of the mind of the deer. You'll have to have read a deer's thoughts or emotions at some point to have that sense, to be able to sort out what it is that makes it a deer instead of, say, a bear. But sure, you could do that."
She shows you the pattern, and you go over it and feel you have a pretty good sense of how it's done.
"Oh," she adds, "you might need to look at the minds of several different kinds of animals. When I figured out how to do this, I had already had telepathic contact with humans, vampires, and werewolves, and so it was sort of a comparitive sorting out what it was that made werewolves distinct from the others. Once you do that, you'll have a pretty good idea of how to make it work."
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
You must be whipped, you missed this completely.
Which reminds me. Panoramic Awareness and that mental defense are skills that are "always on" right? So, aren't you constantly practicing them? Shouldn't your skill at that raise automatically every so often? After a few decades of being "always on" wouldn't you have 3@10 ability just from constantly practicing it?
My holsters come on day 10 right? I ordered 2 holsters, one a shoulder holster for the 9mm, one a back holster for the 357, 6 speed loaders, and a pouch to hold 2 speed loaders on my belt.
Have I seen anything resembling a double barrel 12 gauge shotgun? If so, buy or order one. It would have dual triggers, one for each of the 2 barrels, or both can be fired simultaneously. I'd saw it off on both ends. Makes a great up-close-and-personal defensive weapon.
Do they have any explosive tipped arrowheads?
MJ Wrote:
I'm not telling you what you're doing. I am extrapolating what I anticipate you doing so as to save on posting time.
Like I said, it was a bad joke.
"No, I never did. I bought food at first, and then I conjured food when I learned to do that.
"Lauren, you've obviously never been in a flatline world. Something I found out the EXTREMELY hard way was that psionics and probably magic are not always things you can count on being able to use. You say you have trouble deciding what weapon to use. Well, get good with simple stuff. A lot of the time, I think it's all you will have."
My character found out what a flatline world was in the Pearl Harbor hospital, I think him saying "flatline" (AKA dead) is completely reasonable.
Sorry.
No. We call them "always on" skills because you do not have to declare that you are using them in advance of the need. To clarify, Spiderman and The Shadow both have precognitive danger sense of some sort. The Shadow has it if he stops and attempts to feel the future; he has to declare it. Spiderman has it in that it comes to him when something is wrong. In both cases we have to roll for it to see whether the character senses the danger. However, the player for The Shadow would have to say, "I'm going to pause to sense whether there is danger lurking ahead," and a roll if successful would say yes or no. With Spiderman, the trap would spring and then the player would say, "Wait a minute, he has always-on precognitive danger sense," and then we would roll, and if it registered as successful he was aware of the danger a moment before and can rewrite play for that short time.
In the same way, your "always on" skills do not have to be "turned on" in advance to be operating. Rather, if you are in a situation in which something happens which should not have happened if that skill worked, you declare that you have that skill, and the roll tells us whether it was at that moment working.
And Blank Mind is not always on. It's on when you turn it on. Lauren turns it on whenever she is in a situation where there might be psionics attempting to read her. It's a bit of her own paranoia.
I did not check the dates on your orders.
I did forget to roll for the double-barreled shotgun. I'll fix that now. Your regular supplier has never seen such a weapon for sale, although he thinks he may have seen one in a museum once. How serious are you about finding one? It might be very expensive.
His shop is not licensed for handling exploding missiles; he doesn't know whether anyone on TerraNova is allowed to carry these.
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
I did not check the dates on your orders.
Well, I think it was day 10 when my stuff comes in. If that's cool with you, then I have 4 more days until I'm carrying the guns on me.
I did forget to roll for the double-barreled shotgun. I'll fix that now. Your regular supplier has never seen such a weapon for sale, although he thinks he may have seen one in a museum once. How serious are you about finding one? It might be very expensive.
"OK, that means YOU don't have one. Could you check and see if ANYONE has a gun like that? Can you check and see if it could perhaps be ordered?"
MJ, I know it's customary to associate double barrel shotguns with the side-by-side guns you see in Western movies. However, we've established some time ago that the store sells pump shotguns. Double barrel guns aren't always side-by-side. A lot of them are called Over Under guns. (Two barrels stacked on top of each other) These are made for precision and balance, for people who are really serious about sport target shooting. They are (in our world) quite a bit more expensive than a pump or side-by-side. They're far from the primitive double barrel gun that John Wayne carried. I know you were probably unaware of this. An over under gun would be acceptable, and in fact, preferable for my purposes. Perhaps that roll was for the side-by-side version. Could I perhaps get a different roll for an over under gun? If not, it's cool. I just wanted to clarify things for you.
His shop is not licensed for handling exploding missiles; he doesn't know whether anyone on TerraNova is allowed to carry these.
So they carry grenades but not exploding arrowheads. That I find kind of strange, but I'm not going to argue.
I am aware of the over/under shotgun design. The roll was for double barreled shotguns.
The original concept of double barreled shotguns was to make repeat firing possible--by having two barrels, both could be loaded, and you could fire once and then fire again. Pump action made that less important, and the double barrel's value was that it was slightly faster for the second shot and could if desired deliver both at once. It was considerably slower for the third shot, though, so the speed at which a second shot could be delivered had less value.
"Sorry. I wouldn't know where to check. My suppliers don't seem to have them. Might find something like that on one of the primitive worlds, but they'd have to be rather primitive to want such a thing."
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
I didn't realize that roll was for both versions. What I had intended was to take a hacksaw to the shotgun. Start with a gun that's about 4 feet long, cut the barrel down to about 12 inches and cut the stock into a pistol grip. What I would end up with would be a double barrel "pistol" with an overall length of about 20 inches. At more than about 30 feet, it would just do annoying damage, but at point-blank range, it would seriously mess up someone's day. Too bad they don't have it. An over under would recoil a little better than a side by side, hence why it would be preferred.
I know that other scriff sense is driving my character nuts, so let's see what we can do about it. Reach out with my mind and see if I can locate the alternate scriff sense. If I can find it, try to use out of sight TK to bring it closer to the station. Does Lauren know how to do that? Would she be willing to assist?
When you say that you want to "reach out with" your "mind and see if" you "can locate" it, what exactly are you attempting to do? That is, what information would you gain, and how would you gain that information?
My recollection is that this is whatever gear you left at the blacksmith shop before you made a journey of a couple days to reach the capital; that being the case, triangulation by scriff sense is not going to be that helpful. It is certainly possible to do what you are suggesting--but there are several ways it might be done, and they are all a bit different.
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
Your recollection would be correct. It's my shoes, unfinished Leatherman tool, and (perhaps) any equipment of Mr. Smith's that I might have considered mine, and he would have allowed me to take. What I was thinking was using the scriff sense kind of like a line of sight thread. A mental thread running from one point to where I am, following it back to the gear. Following the scriff sense. I would want some manner of sight or mental picture. Perhaps like watching my mind fly to the gear, following along the scriff sense. Does that make sense? When I find it, see what all is there, and see if I can bring it back to the station. If I can at least know what all is there and have it close by, I can retrieve it on my next verse. I just know that other sense is driving my character crazy.
I would do this in my hotel room, black out all of the lights, and try to create a relaxed atmosphere. Perhaps put on some classical music or something. Try to get my mind into a relaxed and calm state. Also, if I'm in my room (hopefully) I'll be the only one hurt if I botch.
My hope would be that the gear is out in the middle of outer space where it would be undisturbed and easily moved by out of sight TK. A weightless object HAS to be easier to move than one which has any weight at all.
Which, now that I think of it, raises an excellent question. How is 200 pounds of gear calculated? Suppose you were on a world who's gravity was 50% of earth's. Could you take twice as much gear? What if you versed out by getting blown out into space with all of your gear, and a bunch of other stuff. Then you and everything else is weightless. Could you then take an infinite amount of gear? Or what if the planet's gravity was 2X earth's? Would you only be able to get half of your gear?
I had no expectations.
As a matter of fact, "weightless" objects are not easier to move than those in a gravity well--just ask any astronaut who has pushed against a space station. What matters is the mass of the object. Also, the rule book specifies that although pounds are used (units of force) they are to be interpreted as units of mass, equivalent not to Newtons but to Grams, and thus the definition is really equipment having a mass that would have the weight of so many pounds at one gravity.
You attempt to focus your mind into viewing beyond yourself, but it does not happen.
If you are ready, we will advance to Day 7 (or have I missed a beat in keeping my records?).
--M. J. Young
I would allow those things to be a change in circumstance allowing another attempt, but it's much more difficult to adjudicate such things on a first attempt.
I wrote
If you are ready, we will advance to Day 7 (or have I missed a beat in keeping my records?).
You wrote
I think it's day 7
My records read:Lauren arrives
Day 1
Lauren teaches Tap Language Center
Order holster, about ten days?
Day 2
Lauren teaches search memories
Day 3
Lauren teaches project psionic skill pattern
Day 4
Martial arts class after work.
Lauren teaches telepathy to humans
Day 5
Order 6 speedloaders for .357
Lauren teaches Compel Candor P1@4
Day 6
Lauren teaches Blank Mind P2@4
Did you mean that I forgot to write down what you learned on Day 7, or were you agreeing with me that when you got up for the next day it would be day 7?
--M. J. Young
I apologize for the confusion. You awaken on Day 7.
This morning you again reach out with your mind, closing your eyes and seeing the world outside the spaceship.
For most of half an hour you search the skies.
This is difficult. You can tell, to some degree, the distance and direction to the point you are observing; you can also tell the direction, but not the distance, to your equipment. What you cannot do is get a scriff sense between your visual point and the equipment. That makes it a bit like playing Battleship; the two senses are not integrated, and a single degree of difference can mean a very long distance over which you are attempting to spot some very small objects in a rather dark world.
Over the course of the half hour, you manage to figure out more how to move your visual reference point. You can move it smoothly at about a walking speed. You can probably also jump it to another point, in essence restarting it somewhere else.
You do not find your equipment in that time; whether you've not gone far enough or you've passed it somehow is more than you know.
In any case, you have to get to work, and then after work meet Lauren and Derek.
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
I'm not certain that you completely understood what I was trying to do. The scriff sense is a line-of-sight to the target. I would follow that line-of-sight to the equipment. I feel that the equipment is going off up and to the left at a 45 degree angle, so I would send my mind up to the left at a 45 degree angle. Like following a thread made out of scriff. Well, I'll ask Lauren what she thinks.
After work, meet up with Lauren and Derek.
"Hey guys, do either of you know boxing? I learned it from a guy I was living with. The computer says it's illegal, but what we do in our apartments is kind of our concern. My last sparring partner was an 11 year old boy (Mr. Smith's apprentice, William) I'd kind of like to have an adult sparring partner. No offense, Derek. Lauren, would you like to learn it? Perhaps you could help me improve."
Also, give her a synopsis of the clairvoyance that I did, and see what she says about it.
I grew up with 2 younger sisters who just loved to antagonize me. I have no qualms whatsoever about hitting a woman. Therefore, if Lauren is up for it, she gets no mercy for her gender. But of course, I wouldn't be trying to kill her either.
JohnA1nut
Member
Two Posts
I have a feeling this is a 3 GE roll, but I'm going to ask anyway. They don't have any double barrel shotguns, but do they have any double rifles which would accept a 12 gauge shotgun shell? Double rifles are used in cases where you need to put a HUGE round in. Elephant guns and whatnot. A rifle and shotgun taking the same size shell does actually exist. There is a 16 gauge rifle. It's a rifle, but the bullets are the same size as a 16 gauge shotgun shell. You can shoot 16 gauge shotgun shells through them. Don't know if it works the other way though. So, a double barreled rifle with an inside case diameter of 3/4 of an inch. It's a 3 roll, I know, but humor me and make the roll.
And when it's a bad roll, do you complain that the police arrest you for seeking to purchase illegal weapons? I think that the roll for the double barreled shotgun was bad enough to cover this....but humor me and make the roll.
Neither of your companions have any knowledge of or experience in boxing. Lauren has been trained in martial arts, but much of it involves weapon use. If you want to spar with her, she'll try not to kill you.
I understood what you were doing with the Clairvoyance. Let me try to put it in perspective. You were searching along a straight line that ran a couple hundred miles. At any given instant you could clearly see objects of that size along about thirty to fifty feet of it. You had less than half an hour to look at ((5280x200)/30=)35200 such units of distance. I allow you to move along the line at about 4mph, which means you could check out about two miles of the total, one percent of the entire area in which the objects might be. The skill worked; you just couldn't search long enough to find them.
Lauren says that's how she would do it, although she might try to find a way to narrow down the location, perhaps getting a better estimate of the distance.
She fails to project the skill pattern for the Blank Mind to you; she's not certain why. She still explains how to do it, and says you can attempt to learn it without the mental pattern, or she can try to communicate it again tomorrow.
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
And when it's a bad roll, do you complain that the police arrest you for seeking to purchase illegal weapons? I think that the roll for the double barreled shotgun was bad enough to cover this.
Understood. I'm still trying to get to know how to do this. And no, I wouldn't complain that I got arrested, I'd complain that you made me waste perfectly good bullets on a bunch of cops.
Neither of your companions have any knowledge of or experience in boxing. Lauren has been trained in martial arts, but much of it involves weapon use. If you want to spar with her, she'll try not to kill you.
"No Lauren, we are all trying to teach each other skills, I thought perhaps adding another martial art skill might be something you would want to do. I'd like to improve myself. Would you like to? Meet me back at my apartment and we can do this."
Lauren says that's how she would do it, although she might try to find a way to narrow down the location, perhaps getting a better estimate of the distance.
"Well, we spent 2 days traveling, I was riding my bike, the other guy was riding a horse. It could be up to 200 or more miles away. (20 hours at 10 MPH) I think I'll try again later."
She fails to project the skill pattern for the Blank Mind to you; she's not certain why. She still explains how to do it, and says you can attempt to learn it without the mental pattern, or she can try to communicate it again tomorrow.
"Try again tomorrow. Man, when I was still psychotic, I would have LOVED to have some idiot try to read my mind. That would have been interesting."
"So, what now? You want to try boxing, or do you want to try more metalworking?"
In either case, when they're gone, try again on the clairvoyance. This time, try it for a couple of hours. This sound like it would be a poor man's DXM trip.
That sounds like it would be the whole day, so we should be at day 8 shortly.
I should be getting new uses on my metalworking out the ying yang. Have I gotten any skill increases in that area?
Your metalworking is in practice mode, not new use mode. It will increase gradually, if you continue.
Lauren says she'd be interested in learning what you know in that area. You find her very agile and quite quick, but not so good with her hands particularly. Still, it is difficult for you to lay a blow on her.
You fail to get your clairvoyant viewpoint up after she leaves, but take a break for dinner and try again. Although you are a bit better focused, you fail again. Some time later, you try again, and again fail.
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
Is sparring with Lauren a new use on boxing? She sounds like she would be more difficult to handle than anyone I've previously faced.
I just know I would eventually try to land a kiss on her as well as a punch....
"Good match Lauren. How long has it been since you were in a relationship kind of relationship? The Architect told me that versers would spread the scriff to non-infected people, but I guess that's a problem you and I wouldn't have. Hey, I said I wasn't interested in sex, but I enjoy the company of a beautiful woman as much as anyone else. Would you like to have this on a more personal level? I guess I'm trying to ask you out on a date."
Depending on what she says there, I guess we're in the next day.
JohnA1nut
Member
Two Posts
Is there anything here resembling a coin and collectible currency store? Jewelery stores, but I don't know of any stores that deal in collectible currency. Perhaps it is common, inexpensive, and will pass for something on some other world. Besides, it's practically weightless, and if worse comes to worse, I can start a fire with it.
(Doing Therapy)
JohnA1nut
Member
Three Posts
Can a museum trade for an over-under shotgun? Can the gun dealer check? Perhaps a museum would be interested in a trade for 3 sets of medieval manacles. I could imagine a museum trying a trade like that. "Trade" in the most literal legal sense that this world has, that is. I couldn't imagine a double barrel being illegal, and a pump or an auto-loader legal.
A 3 roll would be the museum needed someone who could restore some of these guns. Perhaps I could get a really good arsenal in the deal.
(Doing Therapy)
JohnA1nut
Member
Multiple Postings, more than 72 hours later.
MJ, I'm assuming that I would have made metal animal traps as a blacksmith. What about improvised snares and whatnot? If I have 2@1 metalworking, then I have 2@1 make metal animal traps right? So, that means 1@10 make animals traps out of something other than metal, right? I mean I would understand the basic concept and principle of the operation of a metal trap, so couldn't I use that knowledge to build one out of something other than metal?
(Doing Therapy)
Sparring is definitively practice. You needed different ways to practice, and this will count toward that. If you get in a real fight with, oh, a flying lizard, and you box it, I'll consider new use for that.
If you're going to attempt to land a kiss on Lauren, we're going to have to fight this fight and do the rolls. We'll put that at the end of the post.
You do know how to make the jaws and springs, and do the assembly to construct a metal jaw trap. You don't have any skill at using these, as you've never used them, but you could teach yourself easily enough, since you have the tech bias to reflect conceptual understanding of how such things work.
As for building a trap from other materials, that would depend on your ability to work with those materials, and whether the materials themselves are suitable for the kind of traps you have in mind. For an obvious example, leather does not make for solid jaws or for good springs, even though there are ways to design traps made of leather. You don't have skill in designing traps; you have skill in making the pieces and assembling them, if they are made of metal.
Your dealer does not deal with museums and is not interested in doing so. The museums aboard TerraNova, such as they are, are all private establishments, so you would have to investigate each individually to determine whether any had such exhibits and were willing to work with you.
Now, for your sparring with Lauren, it will be assumed that both sides are pulling their punches, but that there is a risk of getting hurt. She removes her armor, which she usually wears.
You meet at the gym. You move to get into stance, and like something out of a kung fu movie she comes in with a tap by her foot that causes you real pain. She taps you again with the opposite hand, and you swing, catching nothing but air, before she lands two more blows on you, both of them hurting.
"Sorry," she says. "I thought you were ready."
You are genuinely injured.
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
MJ, check Behind the Screens before you do anything else here. I think you may have to reroll that fight.
I'm going to assume that I still get my butt whupped.
"Whoa, that's not quite what I had in mind Lauren. I wanted to teach you boxing, but perhaps you should be teaching me whatever in the hell that was."
MJ, I'm going to have to ask you to roll a bonused willpower check for me. I'll explain below.
I know I am pissed off, but I just got creamed. Therefore, I know this is a bad idea. I know I would be thinking about doing it regardless though, so that's why I'm asking for the bonused willpower check. (Difficult is -10, bonused is +10, right?) If I make the check, I don't do it.
Anyway, I'm assuming I'm on the ground. Ask Lauren to help me up. When I get to my knees, give her a hard sucker punch in the thigh. Punching right handed, going for the inside of her right thigh. Ever had a Charlie Horse before? This is the effect I am hoping for. Put her down to the ground as well. It should catch her off guard, and give me the advantage to land this hit.
If I make the bonused willpower check, I don't do that.
So, if I don't make the check, do that. If I do, let her help me up and have a really pissed off look on my face.
(Doing Therapy)
Concerning attribute checks, there are simple ones and difficult ones. Both can be bonused and both can be penalized.
A simple will power check means we roll 2d20, add the two together, and if the total is less than your attribute score (in this case not greater than 16 for your 1@7 will power) you succeed. The range is 2 to 40, with the average roll coming it at 21 or 22; your chance to fail is about 70%.
A difficult will power check means we roll d30+10, that is, add ten to the roll of a thirty-sided die, and again if the roll is less than your attribute score, you succeed. The average roll comes in around 26, and your chance to fail in this case is about 83.33%.
To bonus or penalize such a roll, we increase or decrease your "effective" attribute for the purpose of the roll. That is, we might say that in this particular circumstance it is as if your will power were three intensities greater, and thus 1@10. This would decrease your chance of failure to 61.75% on the simple check and 73.33% on the difficult one. Such an increase can be given either because there is some basis for saying that your attribute is greater at the moment (e.g., strength during an adrenaline rush) or because there is reason to think that the task is not as difficult as an ordinary task for which such a check would be rolled (e.g., strength check to lift something significantly lighter than the maximum for which such a check would be required).
I'm not entirely comfortable with the notion that I am going to roll a will power check to determine what your character is going to do. If you wish to use dice to make those decisions, you should roll your own dice. It occurs to me, though, that you probably cannot easily get dice (I must remember to send John dice for some occasion). If you have a stopwatch that counts in hundredths of a second, you can use the hundredths, for a d20 by dividing by five and rounding up, for a d30 by segmenting it 1-30, 31-60, 61-90, and ignoring rolls above 90.
Also, it does not say that she knocked you down. She hit you four times, and three of them were hard enough to injure you, but it is clear that she is pulling her punches, and simply caught you off guard.
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
Well see MJ, that's the thing. I'm not 100% certain I would or wouldn't do it. As a player, I could see it going both ways. Good both ways, bad both ways. It doesn't matter, forget I ever asked. And ya know what? I was going to get you a stopwatch for Christmas, but I ran out of money, don't you hate that?
"Lauren, that was a little more intense than I had in mind. If that's what you call sparring, then you can leave me out of it. I've been in fights where I wasn't hit that hard. Do you REALLY think it's wise to beat up on a guy that might be watching your back one of these days?"
I think part of my problem is that I play my character TOO accurately. Now I know I'm pissed off
I'm going back to my room, forget this. Upon arrival, sit down, clear my mind, and try again to locate my gear.
(Doing Therapy)
"I am sorry, John. That's the way my teacher sparred. I really was pulling my punches--but I guess I thought you were better than you were."
In a previous post (before we actually ran the sparring) you wrote that you were going to say:
"Good match Lauren. How long has it been since you were in a relationship kind of relationship? The Architect told me that versers would spread the scriff to non-infected people, but I guess that's a problem you and I wouldn't have. Hey, I said I wasn't interested in sex, but I enjoy the company of a beautiful woman as much as anyone else. Would you like to have this on a more personal level? I guess I'm trying to ask you out on a date."
I had prepared her answer but not delivered it, in case you never actually asked, but I thought I'd bring that back to the front to see whether you still wanted to say that and get her answer.
You can get focused on your clairvoyance when you get to your room; it might be hunger distracting you.
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
You can get focused on your clairvoyance when you get to your room; it might be hunger distracting you.
I think you mean I can'T. Typos are bad.
'
I left Lauren for the moment. Go get something to eat, and try to find my gear again.
I think we are about to begin day 8
Succeed, fail or botch, get some sleep, go to work, then after work call up Lauren for a rematch. Are there any kind of bonuses for being extremely determined to defeat your opponent? If there are, then I should get some serious bonuses here.
"Lauren, this time, I'll tell you when to start, since it seems you're much better than I am. Sucker punch me like that again...... Anyway, let's get started."
This time, no one moves until I am ready to move. So, if the dice say I'm not in my form, reroll them. Keep rolling them until I am in my form, then we can dance.
I would think if this is successful it would be a new use on boxing.
JohnA1nut
Member
Two Posts
MJ, did you ever see Face/Off? Nicholas Cage has a pair of automatic pistols in a holster that he wears on his back. He can reach behind his back, and come up with 2 guns, one in each hand. I would have asked about a holster like that at the gun store. We've already established that they sell Ruger P-89 pistols. I'd like to see about getting a second gun, and a holster like what I described. What does the GE roll say?
"I would have" is not a valid statement of present action. You can plan to go to the store and ask, and you can do it whenever you think you have time, but you can't change what you've done unless I think it makes sense. You asked about a lot of things; you didn't think to ask about the holster.
And before you complain, I know I've kicked myself a number of times for not remembering something I wanted when I was in the store. I'm sure you have, too.
You spend about ten minutes searching the blackness of space before the shadow that catches your eye is not a meteor or piece of debris. Zooming in on it you find your missing gear. It is drifting slowly--or maybe it is stationary and you are moving.
There are several pieces, and you can only pulse two per minute (assuming success). Nothing is there but what you identified as yours in the previous post. In what order do you want to attempt to pulse them back toward you while your Clairvoyance is still working? Do you want to attempt to push anything toward you, assuming you do not complete the task, without being able to see them, or attempt to regain the clairvoyance, or leave them for another time?
The next day Lauren projects the Blank Mind skill pattern to you, and you manage to learn it. It is a technique of clearing the upper more conscious portion of your mind and doing your thinking non-verbally somewhere beneath that, creating something of an empty space where mind reading and other telepathic attacks would target.
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
And before you complain, I know I've kicked myself a number of times for not remembering something I wanted when I was in the store. I'm sure you have, too.
Nah, not complaining. I just figure that there was a lot of "down time" where I'm essentially doing nothing. I figured we could just put these actions into that "down time" and pretend like I did the action. Perhaps I was walking past the gun store on my lunch break and stopped in to ask or something.
Well, OK then, go into the gun store and ask them about the holster. If they have it, order one. If not, purchase a second Ruger P-89 regardless. We've already established that they sell those. On our world, it would come with two 15 round magazines and a hard plastic storage box.
If they don't have the holster, check the computer for a leather worker. Perhaps they can custom build one. Admittedly, it would be a very good GE roll indeed, even on our world if the gun store had such a holster. Something like that would probably be a custom-made job. No harm in asking though, right?
So, on day 10, I will be carrying three guns. One on my hip, one in the shoulder holster, and the 357 behind my back.
On bringing the gear back, it's just my unfinished Leatherman tool and my shoes, correct? In that case, I'm just going to disown it. I just wanted to know what all was there. I just know the scriff sense was driving him nuts. If I disown it, the scriff sense goes away, right? I just hope no one crashes their spaceship into it....
"Hey, thanks for the psionics lesson Lauren, now, let's get down to the gym and try that again. This time, you don't move until I tell you I'm ready. Sucker punch me like that again...."
As of right now, consider the Blank Minds to always be on, in practice mode.
This time, no one moves until I am ready to move. So, if the dice say I'm not in my form, reroll them until I am, then we can dance.
I would think if this is successful it would be a new use on boxing.
The gun store has never heard of such a hoster. You also don't find "leatherworker" in the mall directory--although seriously, where would he get leather on a space ship?
Note concerning Blank Mind: it is reasonable to say what you have said. If some psionic ability is used against you, you should repeat that you've stated it is always on, and then we roll it to see whether it worked. "Doesn't work" could mean that you lost focus and it was not on, or it could mean that the opponent overcame it somehow. Of course, the opponent might overcome it even if it does "work".
Lauren easily falls into stance; it unnerves you and disrupts your focus, but you regain your composure and drop into stance as well. This time, you swing first--she easily dodges, but you block two incoming strikes before she manages to land the third, a minor touch that does not even hurt, and you dodge the followup.
"You're doing much better today," she comments as she comes in again and breezes within inches of your face, then smacks your leg hard enough to sting just a bit, but not injure it. You land a second hit on her, and she misses and then throws herself off balance leaving her side wide open for a moment.
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
The gun store has never heard of such a hoster. You also don't find "leatherworker" in the mall directory--although seriously, where would he get leather on a space ship?
Point!!!
Well, I work for a scrap dealer, can I get some thick nylon padding from which to make my own with my 1@3 sewing skill? It would probably be a new use.
You land a second hit on her, and she misses and then throws herself off balance leaving her side wide open for a moment.
Of course I'm going to tag Lauren. Probably a mid underarm rib shot.
There are certainly materials available which would be good for making such a holster. Describe in detail your design, including what holds it in place and how the pistols are positioned and secured.
You go for the strike, but she cartwheels away from your hand, coming up to hit you with both feet, which sting a bit but do not injure, and another strike with the hand as she regains her upright position. Then she leaps into the air, doing a flip over your head and landing behind you to touch you again from behind. You manage to spin around and catch her with another hit, she smiles and nods her approval. Then she gets hold of your arm as you jab at her, and shifts your momentum to send you stumbling across the floor, and you fall and hit the mat. In seconds her feet land hard on the mat on either side of you--it would have hurt quite a bit had she landed on you. Then she steps aside to let you rise.
"I guess I ought to have mentioned," she says, "that I started training in this something over a century ago. I've killed a couple vampires in hand-to-hand, although I usually have to use psionics, magic, and a few weapons against them."
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
"I guess I ought to have mentioned," she says, "that I started training in this something over a century ago.
Without even trying to get up, look her in the eye and say "I guess I should have mentioned that my last sparring partner was an 11 year old boy. He was strong as a bull and really fast, but still no match for me. All things considered, I think I did OK that time."
Hold out my hand like I'm shaking her's and let her help me up.
"I'm just glad this time you are pulling your punches. I could imagine that would have hurt quite a bit. How did I do?"
Why isn't this a New Use on boxing? This is the first hand to hand fight I've been in, really. And for that matter, why wasn't it a New Use when I got into the knife fight at Pearl Harbor? I landed a couple of good punches.
Let me think on how to make that holster.
"Lauren, you did that Great Leap pretty good. The Architect showed me how to do that. I did it a couple of times, but I think I've lost the skill. I was planning to Great Leap over the wall where I was being contained in Pearl Harbor. (I was, once I got to 1@10 boxing, I was going to try to escape) At least I went down swinging. Can you give me a refresher course in that? I bet I could turn that into a leaping punch. I'm thinking like a leaping uppercut, or perhaps a running jumping punch from across the room."
I don't why that wouldn't work. It would be, essentially, leaping while holding your fist out in front of you.
(Doing Therapy)
"John, I was pulling my punches last time. You were defending better this time. I always told my sons that if they played rough one of them would get hurt, even if they didn't mean it. It goes for us, too."
"Great leap? Oh, the flip? I don't know--I practiced for months to be able to do a flip over a six foot high bar, back on NagaWorld. Of course, I've had a lot of practice since, but I always found that it was useful in fighting. But the only way to get better is to practice. Also, it took me some time to combine the acrobatics moves with the martial arts, even though my sensei was rather keen on doing that. He focused more on the weapon skills, and on form and balance; but then, I'd gone to him because I was told he knew how to teach a kau sin ke--that's how I say it, his pronunciation, well, first time I heard him say it I wasn't sure what he meant, and I don't know that I could reproduce it all that well. But it doesn't matter.
"Show me how you do it; I'll see if I can suggest anything."
The kind of combination jump and strike is listed as "aggressive tumbling", and yes, it can be done. Lauren does it, but generally strikes with her feet when she does.
Also, I seem to recall that I said it would be a new use if you managed to hold your own against Lauren, and I'd say that qualifies. I was not refereeing when you fought in Pearl Harbor, and do not know why the referee did not think it a new use, but then, it wasn't up to me and I didn't see any question at the time.
--M. J. Young
JohnA1nut
Member
"Show me how you do it; I'll see if I can suggest anything."
Well, for me the Great Leap would probably have to be done standing. Give it a shot. Straight up and straight back down, nothing fancy.
Oh yeah MJ, just an aside, I was doing psychosis therapy all weekend, and didn't post at all Saturday or Sunday. Usually I go on those rants. Therapy must be working.
Did I ever get that second Ruger P-89? On our world, it would have two 15 round magazines and a plastic box.
Since I can't get the double barrel shotgun I think I would try to get a Mossberg Persuader. This is an eight round 12 gauge pump shotgun. Do they have any with folding or collapsible stocks? Those can be fired with the stock folded, and would have a pistol grip for such occasions. I might have to describe it to you in better detail. Folded up, it would have an overall length of about 30-36 inches, and it would go into the Verser's Survival Pack with a quantity of ammo to be discussed later.
Also, Oak mentioned this in our first world. A canteen that can draw water straight out of the air? I imagine the gun store would be a good place to look for that. If there is anything that resembles hunting in this universe, a canteen would be something they would likely sell.
(Doing Therapy)
Your jump is done cleanly. Lauren says it looks like the form is good, you just need to keep practicing.
Regarding the Ruger, what did I say about it previously, and when/where? Also, have we already discussed the Mossberg Persuader in this world, or am I recalling it from a previous world?
I got confused on this: is the verser survival pack the backpack you bought? (I had envisioned something more on the order of a belt pouch or fanny pack, and couldn't see how a shotgun would fit even folded, but if it's the backpack that's not a problem.)
Your sporting goods dealer does carry a variety of supplies for wilderness work, but he's never heard of a canteen that draws moisture from the air. He thinks that would be difficult, given the variety of atmospheres and conditions on habitable planets.
--M. J. Young
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