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The Character Generation Thread

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Started 2 years ago by M. J. Young
Latest reply from M. J. Young

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JohnA1nut
Member

It looks to me as if John and Max cross-posted; that's the best explanation I have for why John's post is so completely oblivious to what Max is saying.

No, didn't cross post. I figured it was just someone inexperienced about how we do things here. I was trying to lend a hand. Someone who came in the way I did.

Apparently Max is someone we know--perhaps John 1, or perhaps someone connected with Valdron, or someone else who has played before. He wants to jump in as an unknown.

I would have never guessed that......

Thu Jun 4 2009 8:08 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Max wrote:

You can guess who I am and what I want by the way I play the game.
It would not be possible for us to guess who he is unless he is someone already known to us. It is unlikely to be someone famous--not Mike Stackpole for example.

It is an interesting proposition; I just do not yet know how it could be done without knowing more about the player.

--M. J. Young

Thu Jun 4 2009 9:24 pm #
Max
Member

Hi,

MJ, you are right when you say I want to remain an unknown for now.
Max is a pseudonym and it is a common name.
You can call me Maxx rather than Max 2.
That way you will save time typing it.

If the referee can get 'Zygote Experience' from the get go then a game may be start up faster although it may progress slower but in the long run it may attract more verser.
Then by creating a specific situation, the referee can ask some question relating to the past life such as when faced in certain situation such as using a computer, doing chores and others.
That way you can know the attribute that is useful at that moment.
The key here is asking the right question at the right moment.

Thu Jun 4 2009 10:56 pm #
JohnA1nut
Member

Max, you mentioned me running the world. Were you serious about that, or did you just pull it out of thin air?

(Doing Therapy)

Thu Jun 4 2009 11:37 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Max, I am inclined to think that it is harder this way; but I will do it. Problem is, I won't do it the way you want--I'm not going to start without knowing that there is a character sheet somewhere. What I will do, instead, is let you create your own character sheet and keep it secret for the present. It must include your name, nicknames, all fourteen attributes, weaknesses/medical notes, description including current hair, all the skills you can think of, and your equipment. You'll find the guide sheets for those things near the beginning of this thread. You don't have to post any of it here, but you do have to tell me when it's done.

There is one other thing I would need to know. Once you have your equipment sheet, we will assume that you verse out from the middle of your own home, and that your "on person" equipment drops directly below you. One thing that you will experience from the beginning is the sense that you "left something" "over there"--and it will be distinct feelings in every direction in which you have equipment. Thus what I need to know is how many separate locations in your house will you be sensing, and what are their distances and directions from the point you pick as your starting point?

To make that clear, let us suppose that you are in a first floor bedroom at one end of the house, and that you have clothes in a dresser. We will say that the dresser is ten feet in front of you, and that will be your zero degrees marker. So you would tell me there are "a bunch of things" at zero degrees ten feet ahead. Then you have a closet on your left, which is five feet away, so you say "a few things at ninety degrees left, five feet". You have a bicycle in the garage, which is "one object, 120 degrees right, seventy feet".

I don't usually have to go through this, because if you were not zygoting almost everything would be scattered around you in plain sight and you would start by collecting it; but since you want to do it this way, we have to plot everything relative to your point of origin, so we can track your movements across it.

Let me know when this is all finished, and I'll figure out how to start you.

--M. J. Young

Sat Jun 6 2009 12:02 am #
Max
Member

John, I really like to see you run a game because I can see some sort of potential.

MJ, about the equipment sheet.
Can someone take nothing with them?
If that can be done, then I think I am ready to go because I can just scavenge the item I need in the world I versed to.

About the character sheet, if I keep it hidden then when do you want to ask about it?
I do have a character sheet but I am not too sure about the attribute value.
I may have been under/overestimating myself.
We can tweak that attribute as we go along.

Sat Jun 6 2009 1:39 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

Max, I kind of have to ask. Since I now know that you're not a newbie player asking for help, and would probably be capable of refereeing me, why not let me run it? From what I understand, it's just having the person grow up in a normal environment. I'd probably start you March 13, 1977 (The day I was born, why not?) and just run you as a child growing up in 1980s and 90s Ohio. I'm sure there would be plenty of chances to figure out who you are.

A rookie ref should probably play with someone who could run him for a while, ya know? Anyway, it's just a thought. That and 50 cents will get you a can of soda.

(Doing Therapy)

Sat Jun 6 2009 3:02 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

John, do you have The First Book of Worlds?

The Zygote Experience doesn't start with the date of your birth. It starts with the date of your conception.

There is also a lot of child development information in the book--when teeth cut, when it becomes possible to pick up an object with one hand, that sort of thing.

Max, you would have to verse out naked. I suppose you could do that, if you want. It's not like you would need to be dressed when you arrived. I think, though, that I might have a bit of trouble figuring out what sort of electronic accident you might have when you were completely naked.

Also, do you have any jewelry that you would not remove?

--M. J. Young

Sat Jun 6 2009 6:08 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

I think, though, that I might have a bit of trouble figuring out what sort of electronic accident you might have when you were completely naked.

That's easy. Taking a bath, knocked his new "Scriff Inside" hair dryer into the bathtub.

I could get the First Book of Worlds, I'm sure. Like I said, it was just a thought.

(Doing Therapy)

Sat Jun 6 2009 6:13 am #
Max
Member

How about an accident where a prototype virtual reality machine (uses Scriff technology) that need the body to be submerged in amniotic liquid goes wrong (or does it)?
So by then, all jewelry (if any present) must be removed.
Or if you want to add an equipment, a watch-like device to communicate with the machine can be added as a replacement for starter world guidance.
Just an idea though.

John, lets see how MJ handles this situation and learn from it because this is like threading into new dimension.

Are there any system where experienced referee helps with the calculation for new referee?
Are multiple referee system with multiple player exist in Multiverser?
It seem like I have read about the above questions but it may also be a figment of my imagination.

Sat Jun 6 2009 6:36 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

We don't have any particular rules for multiple referees, but we've worked with them before. Some examples include games in which one person is refereeing for several players while one of his players is refereeing for him. I believe that E. R. Jones and Richard Lutz did this in some very early games: both player characters started in NagaWorld, which Jones had created and was unfolding, but Lutz was overseeing Jones' character actions. I think. I was not there. I do know that Lutz ran Jones' character in many of those early adventures, and in fact is credited as the initial creator of Zygote, in which Jones' character started at birth. E. R. Jones later ran it for Chris Jones' (no relation) character Whisp with a pre-birth aspect, in the famed Mother adventures, and I fleshed out the details and ran it on several people of whom I think Dorian Mantell was the first.

So, Max, no jewelry, no possessions, you are in a virtual reality game which uses a sensory deprivation tank, in which you are completely naked. You started playing as a fighter in a medieval swords and sorcery world, and you were fighting a blue dragon when it suddenly hit you with a bolt of its electrical breath.

And you felt that shock. Suddenly, though, there was nothing. Everything went dark. You think that you lost the game, but it seems to be on hold.

This will continue in Maxximum Reality: Maxx Starts Play.

--M. J. Young

Sat Jun 6 2009 9:42 pm #
johnosevens
Member

Speaking of referees and such...

I've got a convention coming up next weekend. As usual, I'm going to be running the RPG table, and I'll have my heavily indexed copy of the Big Black Book with me.

That said, seeing as my track record as a long-term referee is currently 0 for 2, is there anyone who would like to volunteer to work with any newbs I might pick up one week hence?

Sat Jun 6 2009 10:10 pm #
JohnA1nut
Member

Ya know Max, I was thinking about doing exactly the same thing you're doing. Coming in as an unknown player. However, the way I post, they would know it was me within a matter of days.

Sat Jun 6 2009 10:26 pm #
Ronfar
Member

I've got a convention coming up next weekend. As usual, I'm going to be running the RPG table, and I'll have my heavily indexed copy of the Big Black Book with me.

Hi, I'm one of the newbies that Harry picked up at AnimeNext. My name is Doug, and he's got quite a story to tell about my introduction. Unfortunately, I somehow managed to leave my character sheet at the hotel today, so I lost my carefully crafted list of equipment. AAUGH! (Did anyone else happen to grab it? Probably not, but it can't hurt to ask...)

Mon Jun 15 2009 12:23 am #
johnosevens
Member

Oh yes, Doug...

You know how Versers tend to have their first death being exposed to Scriff by an electronic device?
In Doug's case, we established that he plays a lot of video games, and goes to a lot of conventions and trade shows.
So, he was at a trade show at Javits, and he was exposed to Scriff by a device called Playstation Virtual.

It's intended to be a virtual reality machine.

Consequently, even after going through the Desert Island and winding up... elsewhere (I don't think he has landed yet) he doesn't believe any of it is real. His Verser self, whom he intended to be a bit genre savvy, is instead a bit wrong genre savvy. He thinks it's all a game.

Worst, and funniest, Verser intro ever.

Mon Jun 15 2009 12:16 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You'll have to work with Harry to rebuild the sheet, I guess.

I got an e-mail from someone named--well, I don't remember the name, I'm really bad at names, but I posted it in the new thread about the new user password problem. Hopefully we can resolve his problem.

--M. J. Young

Mon Jun 15 2009 7:46 pm #
JohnA1nut
Member

Bob Thomas thinks it's all a simulation. WHY?????? Having taken a few hallucinogenic drugs in my time, I can say with certainty that you know when the trip is over, and reality sets in. It's just something you know, ya know? I don't think he would have that delusion for more than a few hours.

(Doing Therapy)

(RD)

Mon Jun 15 2009 8:18 pm #
WilliamTWodium
Member

So you know when the trip is over. What if it never ends?

Mon Jun 15 2009 8:31 pm #
JohnA1nut
Member

All I have to say Scott, is, you've obviously never done any hallucinogenic drugs.

(Doing Therapy)

(RD)

Mon Jun 15 2009 8:34 pm #
Graham
Member

Well, look at dreaming for an analogy. Dreaming is an event which we are only aware of when it is over; we are not conscious of entering it, our memory of the moments before falling asleep are erased, and during the dream (except in rare lucid dreams) we are not aware of dreaming. This last part is the most applicable. If you never wake up from the shockingly real dream, how can you make the argument that it's a dream and not reality?

So basically this guy entered a virtual reality machine, got shocked, and thinks he's still playing the game. Makes sense to me. I wonder how long that'll last, or what will convince him otherwise.

Tue Jun 16 2009 1:25 am #
johnosevens
Member

It's basically the whole Matrix question: How can you tell you're dreaming if you never wake up?

As I said in the other post: the mystery girl MJ got an email from is Ahmetia. Hopefully she'll get herself up and running soon. In the mean time, I'll go create a thread for Doug, and try to figure out which world he's headed for.

Meanwhile, I say again, considering my notorious unreliability as a forums referee (sorry, Ric) does anyone feel like lending our new friends a hand? I'd hate to just pawn them off on MJ, even though they are both safely between Verses at the moment and thus now would be a good time, but I'm rarely home nowadays and even more rarely online, and I don't want to just leave them hanging...

Tue Jun 16 2009 3:38 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

Yeah, I guess you guys are right. With hallucinogens, you know the trip is over because the pretty colors aren't there anymore. (I've seen colors no one else on earth has ever seen) I still think though that, even a VR simulation, you would realize you weren't in it pretty quickly. The Matrix is different though. If you were born into the simulation, and had absolutely no basis for comparison, that would be your reality. You could tell the difference between reality and a simulation (at least I'd think) because you have a reference point for comparison.

Tue Jun 16 2009 4:06 am #
WilliamTWodium
Member

O'Sevens - I'd offer, but I'm unreliable as well. (Sorry James.)

Tue Jun 16 2009 5:07 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

I would certainly offer too. I'd love to have a chance to referee someone. However, I'd want that "someone" to be an experienced referee who could kind of lead me through it.

Tue Jun 16 2009 5:38 am #
johnosevens
Member

Well, I guess I'll muddle through, if Doug and Metia will bear with me.

Speaking of which:

Doug, go read the character creation instructions and have at it. This thread, and the "Yes, you can play, but..." thread.

Tue Jun 16 2009 12:17 pm #
Ronfar
Member

I was hoping I could play mostly IRL, but play-by-post could work too, I guess.

Anyway, on to recovering my character sheet!

Full Name: Douglas Alan Scheinberg
A.K.A: Doug

Physical description:
Height: 5'4"
Weight: I'll go with 130 lbs. ;)
Hair: Light brown, short.
Eyes: Green
Age: 26 (looks 20)
Ethnicity: Caucasian

Attributes:
Physically, I'm not very impressive. I can't do a pull-up and tire quickly when running. (I can walk long distances, though.)

It's impolite to brag, but I will claim to have a genius-level intellect. I don't know what my IQ score is, but I know it's way high up there. I'm particularly good at math. I went to Rutgers University on a full merit scholarship, and impressed my freshman calculus professor so much that they gave me a $500 prize for being an exceptional first-year math student. Even among Rutgers University students, I was often one of the top math students in my classes, so I can reasonably estimate that, when it comes to math, I'm at the 1 in 10000 level. If you care about my SAT scores, I scored 800 Verbal 750 Math; I'm really good at taking tests.

I have good hand-eye coordination from playing way too many video games.

I'm extremely nearsighted and wear glasses. However, with the glasses, my eyesight is corrected to 20/10.

I consider myself somewhat less intuitive than average; I tend to live up to the "absent-minded professor" stereotype and fail to notice what's going on around me.

Education Level: I have a bachelors' degree from Rutgers University. My major was Computer Engineering and I have a minor in mathematics.

Potential weaknesses:
Eyeglasses, as explained above.
I'm allergic to penicillin.
I suffer from on-and-off depression, and I take Effexor to control it. If had to quit my medication cold turkey, the withdrawal symptoms would make me miserable for several days.
My character is currently Wrong Genre Savvy - he thinks he's stuck in a video game of some kind and will expect the world to act accordingly.

Skills, "professional" and otherwise:
I can do computer programming well enough to get an entry-level position at a software company.
I can teach math; I was a teacher's assistant for a math course one semester at Rutgers. I don't have a teaching certification or anything like that, though.
I can play the piano and clarinet at the "talented amateur" level. I can't improvise, though, and need sheet music to play something.
I am a dedicated atheist, and can give arguments to justify it.
I was in the Boy Scouts for a while, so I'm not totally helpless in the wilderness. I can perform first aid (if poorly) and took CPR training.
I took four years of Spanish in high school. I can't hold my own in a spoken conversation and I've forgotten most of it, but I can handle simple *written* Spanish, especially with the help of a Spanish-English dictionary.

More to come in a little while.

Tue Jun 16 2009 10:02 pm #
JohnA1nut
Member

I am a dedicated atheist, and can give arguments to justify it.

Not trying to argue religion, but I was curious. Magic, as defined in the game, is asking a god or other deity to perform the act for you, right? So, an Atheist wouldn't be able to do any kind of magic, because they don't believe in any god to perform the act in the first place. Is that accurate?

Tue Jun 16 2009 10:26 pm #
johnosevens
Member

A1Nut - Divine magic is defined as asking a god to work magic for you. Arcane magic is drawing power from outside yourself, but shaping it yourself. Regardless, atheism is defined in-game as prohibiting magic above I believe 0@3 on the bias curve, which Doug understands. (The idea being you simply do not believe enough in the existence of the supernatural to work with it on any level, even doing so yourself. Atheism in any form, however, does not preclude the use of psionics. It also gives bonuses on resisting magic - your disbelief weakens the effect.)

As for the work of reconstructing Doug's character sheet... my broadsword class has left me far too tired to go book-diving tonight, but it should be swift work to start him a thread and get him going tomorrow.

Wed Jun 17 2009 3:45 am #
WilliamTWodium
Member

I thought I'd clarify what I said earlier: if in the future you feel the need to pawn a player off on someone, I am willing to take players on. I just don't guarantee reliable, daily posts.

Given that we're both unreliable, my impression was that you'd rather run your friends yourself. But, if you change your mind, or if you'd like to run one and hand one off, I'm open to that if they're willing to be patient with me on occasion.

__

In terms of actually responding to the thread, I don't have much to say other than that some of Doug's class standing is almost certainly due to math skill rather than exclusively resulting from native intellect; still, it's good evidence for a level two intellect of some intensity (likely between 2@3 and 2@6 or so; I don't know much about Rutgers and I don't have statistics for the SAT on hand (and the year he took it would be helpful for that, I think)).

Wed Jun 17 2009 4:36 am #
JohnA1nut
Member

That's something I was wondering. In the 8th grade (age 14) I scored in the 98th percentile in science. Equivalent to a freshman in college. That's top 2% in science, but my intellect is only 1@10, because I don't officially have a genius IQ. (I think mine is 133, genius is 140)

Wed Jun 17 2009 7:08 am #

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