"Where and when?"
--M. J. Young`
John Cross in TerrraTerraTerranova
(663 posts) (4 voices)-
Tue Jun 16 2009 10:26 pm #
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JohnA1nut
Member"Check for a world with roughly late 20th century earth technology. (I wouldn't know how to check for that, but let's see if we can figure it out) Can you carry weapons? How much is it, and what is the schedule like? (I mean, if they have flights leaving every 2 hours, then it doesn't really matter when) I wouldn't want to go before tomorrow (My holsters come in then) and I'd need to get some time off work, but what the hey? It sounds like a lot of fun. Why won't you come Derek? I bet you could get a few days off of work for it. I'm not talking about staying forever (Unless the world is REALLY cool) Maybe a week, tops. I just want to see what else is out there. Why not?"
Tue Jun 16 2009 10:37 pm # -
Derek is willing to hunt for worlds based on specific parameters, but he's not sure how to find them. For example, he lists things that might characterize late twentieth century Earth, and although he can't see yet how to check for them he asks which ones should matter:
--Cars but no hover cars
--Jet travel but no orbital or suborbital transport
--Computers but no artificial intelligence
--Explosive-driven guns but no rail guns
--Lasers but not for weapon useHe points out that any planet that does not have space travel probably cannot be reached by space travel without making special arrangements, and so it might be both tricky and expensive to get there. He's also not sure whether there are any rules about visiting planets that do not have space travel, and might mean either you're going to have to get special permission of some sort or hire private transportation for an illegal run.
Derek is not interested in the least in giving up the comforts of this world to visit some backward primitive location, particularly given how very much he is learning about advanced computer systems working with Raeph here. Did he tell you that they use trinary systems, and he's upgraded his laptop to use the same high-speed processing? That they have biocomputers doing the error checking? That he has keys and passes that give him access to nearly every space on the station so he can do repair work on computer systems? He loves it here. He thinks you're an idiot to want to leave. But he'll try to find a place if you give him more specifics on it.
--M. J. Young
Thu Jun 18 2009 9:45 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberI'm sure I would have already told Derek about Dancing Princess in casual, out of game conversation, so here goes.
"If you saw the way I lived back home, (And MJ, you saw my apartment) you'd understand. This place is the lap of luxury compared to my last world, but my last world was the lap of luxury compared to how I lived back home. Ya know what? Forget it. Sounds like there's too much red tape involved with this. I think I'm just gonna sack out right now. Peace out dude."
When I awaken from my slumber, it will be day 10. Go pick up my holsters. After that, I will be wearing one of the 9mm pistols under my jacket and the 357 behind my back, also under the jacket, at all times. Sometime before or after work, contact Lauren for some more sparring. I still want to do fighting blind. If it's OK with you, I want the new use on boxing. After that, one more, and I'm good to go.
Just an aside, my mental picture of Derek looks a lot like Spencer Breslin. If you know who that is, then you'll know why I find it so funny.
Fri Jun 19 2009 12:48 am # -
I've managed to confuse myself here; it would be quite helpful if you would fill in the blanks.
My notes say:
Day 8
Lauren starts coaching on Great Leap
Sparring--John +1 mark on Boxing to 1@10+1
John learns Blank Mind P2@4
Martial Arts Lesson; next Day 15
Day 9
They don't say what you learned or did on Day 9. If you can supply that, I'll put it in the notes and start Day 10. If you can't, I'll hunt it down. I just thought you might remember, since you have only the one game to remember.
Thanks.
--M. J. Young
Sat Jun 20 2009 1:03 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberTwo Posts
Bought the folding shotgun, ammo, 9mm carbine, shotgun bandoleer, what else?
My day 10 actions are cited in the above posting, before your last.
MJ, I think I'm going to be disowning some things here soon. Let me take a look at my sheet. I don't think I'm going to need my bike, for instance, and I need to drop some weight. Let me think on it for a little while.
Sat Jun 20 2009 5:53 am # -
What I am not seeing on your Day 9 list is what skill Lauren taught you. That should probably be added, unless it there is some reason why you did not learn it.
I think she would be teaching you clairaudience.
--M. J. Young
Sun Jun 21 2009 8:52 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberTwo Posts, 2 days later
The Tri-burst on the 9mm carbine wouldn't be "throwing lead". At least I wouldn't think so. It should count as 3 aimed shots fired simultaneously. Fully auto, the recoil throws the aim off, but tri burst, it would (probably) fire all three shots before the recoil really became an issue. I'd think it would count as 3 aimed shots.
When I get it, the gun is on tri-burst, unless otherwise specified. I would never use full auto. Just a waste of ammo. My day ten actions are up about a half-dozen posts.
Oh yeah, and the first time I shoot it, it would be a new use on my large explosive-driven slug thrower skill. Never shot a tri-burst.
Wed Jun 24 2009 3:27 pm # -
Tri-burst: I'll think about it.
Lauren would not skip a day of psionic lessons unless you specifically said to skip it. Your call.
--M. J. Young
Thu Jun 25 2009 4:21 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberLauren might not skip a day, but MJ could have been tired one day and forgotten about it. Point is, I didn't learn any psionics. You can argue with me all you want about it, but I still didn't learn any psionics.
Just go to day 10. Why are you wasting all this time on it? I didn't learn any psionics. Go to day 10 and learn them.
Thu Jun 25 2009 4:30 am # -
Day 9: Lauren projects into your how to hear remotely--"clairaudience" she calls it--and you find that this skill comes fairly easy to you.
It is now Day 10.
--M. J. Young
Fri Jun 26 2009 12:15 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberWhen I awaken from my slumber, it will be day 10. Go pick up my holsters. After that, I will be wearing one of the 9mm pistols under my jacket and the 357 behind my back, also under the jacket, at all times. Sometime before or after work, contact Lauren for some more sparring. I still want to do fighting blind. If it's OK with you, I want the new use on boxing. After that, one more, and I'm good to go.
Just an aside, my mental picture of Derek looks a lot like Spencer Breslin. If you know who that is, then you'll know why I find it so funny.
Fri Jun 26 2009 1:05 am # -
That is not really too far off my image of what Derek looks like, but since I've no idea who he is, it's not funny.
I vaguely recall that you had some plan for how to handle the blind fighting situation that did not involve blinding both of you, but I don't recall what it is. There was some place you thought you could make dark enough for this, but it's not going to be the gym (you have no control of the lights there). So, what was the plan?
Sparring is after lessons anyway; Lauren was going to teach you clairvoyance, but you already know that, so she shifts to clairolfaction: the ability to detect and identify odors remotely. She projects the skill pattern to your mind, and you find you can do it rather easily.
She then goes off with Derek to learn more about computers, promising to catch up with you later wherever it is you said you wanted to do the sparring.
--M. J. Young
Sat Jun 27 2009 12:05 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberThe plan for the sparring was to do it in my hotel room. In there, I can lower the lights to almost pitch black. That's where I'd want to do the fighting blind. I'd want the new use on the boxing, not on the fighting blind. (Or can I have it on both?)
"And yeah Lauren, I know I'm not much of an opponent, but were you that big of a challenge for your instructor when you first started? I'm getting better, you must admit. Give me a couple more days, I'll be twice the opponent I am now." (Literally, since I'll have twice as many attacks per round)
Sat Jun 27 2009 1:24 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberTwo Posts
Are the ceilings in the apartment high enough to allow a great leap to be done? Reason being, round one, I have the new use for fighting blind. If the ceilings are high enough to pull off a great leap, round two, call for lights on (voice activated lights, right?) Then, use my one attack to leap over and behind Lauren. Incorporating the great leap into my boxing would also be a new use. (At least I would hope) A fourth new use in the middle of the fight, takes my skill level up. So when I make the jump, I will be 1@10+3, when I land, I will be 2@1, and have a second attack to tag Lauren. That should make things really interesting. Don't even try it until you're satisfied that I've got my new use and am at 1@10+3. Once that happens, call for lights on, great leap over and behind Lauren, land a 2@1, and tag Lauren again. She's gonna be surprised. Going for two new uses in the fight.
If I pull that off: "And you thought I wasn't much of an opponent. Shame on you....."
I know I probably shouldn't say this, but it would mean the world to me if you would allow the ceilings to be high enough to do this. The ceilings in my apartment here are high enough for that. If I pull this off, it's gonna be so cool....
Also, I'd think that the lights suddenly coming on would momentarily confuse Lauren, giving me an edge in pulling off the attack when I land. I'm expecting it, she isn't.
Sun Jun 28 2009 1:34 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberThree Posts
And of course, no one moves until I call for go on the fight. That is imperative here. I don't have a chance against her when I can see, I certainly don't want to get caught off guard when I can't see.
Don't forget, I have 2@8 night vision and 2@10 eyesight. That might be my only advantage here.
Oh yeah, Spencer Breslin. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0107748/
He played Bruce Willis' younger self in The Kid. (The way he talks, it should probably be Sthpencer Bresthlin.)
Sun Jun 28 2009 2:02 am # -
Lauren meets you in your room. You dim the lights.
At your comment about her trainer, she laughs. "He never sparred with me, not once. He taught me forms and katas, and sometimes when I was doing them he would do things to knock me off balance. At my first lesson, he threw me in the lake several times simply by grabbing the tip of my weapon out of the air and giving it a tug in an unanticipated direction--but I managed to sink him a couple times, too. He did not think that I would benefit from sparring with him, and honestly I saw him fight a few times against vampires, and agree that there was no way I could have touched him at all."
Ceilings in a space station hotel room are only seven to eight feet. Part of that is to make maximum use of horizontal space (the taller each ceiling, the fewer floors can fit in the station), and part of it is for environmental reasons (the movement of warm air is effected by gravity, and the higher the ceilings the less consistent atmospheric temperatures are). Do you think that is high enough for your maneuver? I don't think you could easily pass between her and the ceiling, but I'll give you a chance on it if you want.
She drops into stance, a bit slowly. "Are you sure you want to do this? Anyway, I'm ready when you are."
--M. J. Young
Sun Jun 28 2009 8:19 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberWould it be 2 new uses, one for the dark, and one for the great leap in boxing? (DAMMIT!!! I really wanted to do that!!!!)
The great leap can be horizontal too, right? In that case, instead of trying to leap over and behind her, I'd try to leap to her side to get behind her. Perhaps use the leap to dodge an attack. That would be a new use on the great leap too, since I've never used it for horizontal jumping. I'd rather get the new use on boxing, if I can only have one, but I'd think it would be on both. Your call though. On boxing if I can only have one. (I really want 2@1 boxing)
So yeah, once I have 1@10+3 on the boxing, use my attack to great leap to the side of and behind Lauren, bringing me to 2@1 boxing, giving me the second attack, to tag her. Once I'm ready to dance, call for it.
Or if she gets away from me, use the great leap to close the gap quickly, or something, just as long as the great leap is used, giving me the new use, and taking me to 2@1. I'd want to put that in and get the new use. To impress Lauren would also be part of my scheme.
And don't forget the roll the night vision. My friends always complain that they can't see when they come over. I keep the place pretty dark. I can see fine, they're half blind.
Sun Jun 28 2009 8:35 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberMultiple Posts
I think that single shot 12 gauge and the 9mm carbine are coming in on day 22 if I'm not mistaken. I also ordered 10 thirty round magazines and 20 flares. As soon as those come in, I'll revise the Verser's Survival Pack, and it should be at the weight limit. I can't revise it just yet, because I don't actually have those two guns. (Together, they would weigh less than the Mossberg Persuader does alone, and provide a whole lot more firepower) A small assault rifle and a "blooper" shotgun. Those are the long guns I want to carry.
Since I'm likely versing out shortly after day 22, we will worry about the weight and encumbrance in the next world. I'd like to get the benefits from that, but at the moment, I can't do anything until I get those other two guns.
Mon Jun 29 2009 7:06 am # -
Just a minor clarification of the way I think about these things: your character will not know that he has a new skill mark on boxing, so he can't make decisions based on when that happens. Since he can't know it and can't make decisions based on that, it does not so much matter whether it happens in the first round or the last; and since a single skill mark will not change anything about the combat, I don't have to decide when it happens, only whether the fight provides sufficient basis for new use in its totality. Also, it is unlikely in the extreme that you would get two "new uses" marks for the same fight, unless you did two very distinct and distinctive new things (and nothing like that comes to my mind for the current situation) or the fight ran long enough that two such new uses are sufficiently separated within the context of the one fight to be separate advances.
That means that if your character is not going to jump until he has the skill mark, he will never jump in this fight.
So, let's try to revise your plan.
You drop comfortably into stance; it is definitely too dark for you to see. You reach out with our other senses, but find nothing. Lauren is apparently waiting for you to say go.
--M. J. Young
Wed Jul 1 2009 3:55 am # -
JohnA1nut
Member"Lauren, how well can you see? I'm blind as a bat, so seriously, take it easy on me. OK honey, let's dance."
roll that fighting blind and the night vision skill as often as possible. As I'm sure you're aware, your eyes adjust slowly over time. Within a few minutes, my night vision would be up to par, so roll it again in a minute or so.
Wed Jul 1 2009 4:09 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberTwo Posts
After this:
I'm assuming she's told me about those 50 caliber pistols by now.
"I'd like to go to the range and fire those 50s of yours, if that's OK with you. They sell 50 caliber ammo here, I'll buy a couple of boxes. You can shoot my 9mms if you want to."
That should be a new use on my hand-carried explosive-driven slug thrower skill of mine. I've never shot anything even remotely that big. I've shot a 44 magnum, but that would be a pellet gun compared to these guys.
(Doing Therapy)
Wed Jul 1 2009 5:20 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberMultiple Posts (Hey, it's the game, I can post here as often as I want)
On that 9mm carbine, on second thought, I wouldn't even want a full-auto setting. The only reason I want tri-burst is because it's only a 9mm. I wouldn't even consider that with the MAK 90. Safe, semi-auto and tri-burst are the settings I want. Is that OK with you?
Regarding that, I was thinking about it. Probably 1 attack roll, 2 damage riders of equal value, but say with a -5 chance to hit for the second and third shot, progressively. The recoil would probably throw the muzzle up an inch or so for each shot. Still aimed in the general direction, but just climbing a bit. Just a suggestion. Would this be an acceptable way? (Asking because of desire to learn to referee)
Also, same damage category to hit, but (perhaps) a +10 sit mod on damage. It would be marginally more powerful than the handgun, but probably not enough to raise the damage category. Just a thought.
(Doing Therapy)
Wed Jul 1 2009 7:46 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberMultiple posts, probably the last.
I think that vampire world that Lauren goes to in the book would be a good one. Maybe set it in an old-west town. That would be even cooler. I know, players shouldn't make suggestions, but what the hey?
In fact, I'm practicing my prayer skill praying to go to a world like that. I said that a couple dozen posts back. Maybe it was an old west world, I don't remember. Anyway, that would be like perfect at this stage in the game.
(Doing Therapy)
Wed Jul 1 2009 8:02 am # -
Her thoughts come into your head telepathically: John, I've spent centuries fighting vampires. If I couldn't see in the dark, I would not have fared near so well as I have. Oh, and I'm also experienced enough to know that talking can give away your position pretty quickly.
Nothing happens for most of a minute.
Were you going to do anything? she sends.
Suddenly you catch a whiff of her shampoo, and know where she is.
My recollection is that she has already declined your request to play with her guns. Or was it your intention to nag her about it? Besides, it's not a new use on any of your weapon skills, because those pistols are in a different class: heavy hand-carried.
If I missed anything to which I should have responded, I apologize--there is too much on this forum for me to process tonight, and I'm going to have to quit now.
--M. J. Young
Thu Jul 2 2009 1:50 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberMy recollection is that she has already declined your request to play with her guns. Or was it your intention to nag her about it?
I didn't recall asking. Forget it then.
Great Leap time. I would have cleared the room out, and I would have a mental picture of where everything is. I'm doing it blind, but trying not to hit Lauren. I want to get behind her and try to tag her that way. Would this be a new use? If not on boxing, I've never tried to great leap forward before. I'd rather have it on boxing though.
MJ, they don't have double barrel 12 gauge shotguns, do they have double barrel 8 gauge shotguns? And if so, can I get a chamber insert to take it down to the size of a 12 gauge? (This is very common. 16 and 20 gauge inserts are made for 12 gauge guns all the time.) And of course, I'd get some 8 gauge ammo. The last roll on the subject said that they existed but were hard to find. Would an 8 gauge be easier to find?
Ya know MJ, given what I know about this world, I would think this would be likely, actually. Double barrel guns will always be popular. Some things just never go out of style. However, they aren't popular enough in this world to merit making all of the different calibers, so they make one caliber gun and make barrel inserts for anyone who wants a smaller caliber gun. I'd think this no worse than a 17-20, based on what I know of the world.
(Doing Therapy)
Thu Jul 2 2009 1:58 am #
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