Behind the Screens Continues · Page 6

And I was starting to like that telescope, too...

A1Nut - wasn't it your skill list I was reading that I was all "WTF? *drool*" ?

I'm sure you're thinking of Adam, who's been a super-spy for years now and has gotten top-expert skill in multiple martial arts skills and several high-tech weapons, gadgets, and vehicles.

Yeah, that was Adam. My skill sheet is nothing to drool over.

I'm not sure how I'm going to juggle everything tonight, but while I'm figuring it out I think I'll start juggling the game. Robert, Harry, John II, Adam, and Graeme are in play.

Robert chooses to continue up the stairs; I'm not sure what he's doing, so I'll ask for more information.

Harry is on deck.

John II seems determined to try to make a Leatherman tool using primitive blacksmithing techniques; we'll try to clarify the difficulties for him, but if he wants to make it, we'll start on it.

Adam wins his fight, but he has a complication.

Graeme gets to his meeting, I think--he still has to take the potion at some point, but I don't know whether he wants to risk that while he's alone or after he's in the middle of the Senate, or somewhere between the two.

--M. J. Young

Well, today has moved into tomorrow, but it's not too late for me to turn my attention to Robert, Harry, Edward, John II, and Adam.

I think we'll give Robert a GE roll, mostly for people. 22 is pretty unfavorable, but how much can happen to you in the stairwell of a huge mall?

Harry checks the knot; it was tied by a deckhand, and even if he's new he's been tying ropes for half a year at least to get this far; a GE roll of 11 is quite favorable.

We're about to do the spell in Edward's game; I'm giving Edward a bit more control over the situation, and letting myself think about his comments on demons.

John II is questioning whether it would really take as long as I suggest to make what he describes using the tools and techniques he has available. I will admit that I don't actually know how long it will take; I only know that he has to make a lot of skill checks, many of them heavily penalized, to get where he wants to be, and that he's not going to be able to make more than one or two checks per day to move through the steps of this project. Also, he needs high successes on some of these to get the kind of finished product he needs, so he's probably going to wind up scrapping pieces that he "finished" that just weren't up to standard.

His blacksmithing SAL is 1@10; his BRA is 2@2, and the world area bias is 6@, so that gives him a base chance of 54% on ordinary blacksmithing checks. Oh, wait, I suddenly have realized that I've oversimplified this job--I missed the hinged handles. This is very difficult indeed.

Adam skipped over the minor problem; I'll ask him to address it, but will keep pace with him. He's got a 12 Good Enough GE roll going for him, so he's on his way.

I'm good for the day; there's just a few more details to wrap up before I can crash for the night.

--M. J. Young

Ya know MJ, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to talk me out of this......

Oh and how many skill marks am I going to get? I'm doing this because I want to raise my blacksmithing score significantly. I'm hoping to get to 2@2 at least.

John, I do not know how many skill marks you will get. I'm going to take this thing one tiny step at a time, because it really does seem to me to be a nearly impossible task for a blacksmith to accomplish. Any time you successfully do something with the blacksmithing skill that I agree you've never done before, that will be a new use, and you will get a mark; each time you acrue four marks you will get an intensity. I suspect there are some things you've not done before, but I'm not completely certain of that, so I am not promising that you will get any skill marks. We will both find out when you get them.

We'll get to that, but first we've got Harry, Max, and Edward, then John II, Adam, and John I.

I must congratulate Harry for coming up with an idea for a psionic ability he can learn in this world--a P5@1 Telescopic Vision, a heightened senses variant. He's described a version of it quite nicely, and he has a 4@1 bias and 1@9 BRA, so that's 60-51=9% chance that he can learn this here. O.K., that's not a very good chance--he's got as good a chance to botch as to succeed, but botches are fun in worlds like this, so here goes the roll: 71, failed.

I've given some thought to how Marilyn would normally make contact with civilian authorities on a planet without calling Federation attention to herself, so when Max asks, I've got an answer.

Eric has posed an interesting problem for me: what happens when he casts a spell that calls demonic attention to himself, in a world in which demons can't gate in from the border supernatural? Edward is the one on the defensive line, but I'm not entirely sure against what he will be defending. Of course, it helps that he isn't either. What can they do, that they might do? I actually have a list of @1 skills in the draft of our planned Universe Creator's Handbook, but it's probably easier for me to compile a list here, including only what they can do that they might do:

• Reduce Morale
• Add Impurities
• Manipulate Light/Darkness
• Prevent Movement
• Concealed Messages
• Illusory Obscurements
• Create Light
• Attentions/Diversions
• Lift object
• Short Teleportive Hop
• Cause Pain
• Dependent Temporary Animation
• Create Gases/Mists
• Temporarily Alter Normal Abilities

It also happens that Eric chose his battlefield effectively--not only the chapel but the grounds will have been sanctified, creating a penalty against all efforts by the forces he is fighting.

With a bit of effort I think I've found the ritual for the World Health Miracle Eric is casting. I notice that it takes an hour--64 minutes, precisely--but that it has to finish at dawn. That means he can't start it yet. I also am reminded that he didn't give Edward the plasma cannon simply to fight demons--it's part of the ritual that it has to be fired repeatedly through the casting. We'll drop that bit of information, and see where that takes us.

John II has started working on his Leatherman tool. He rolls 28 on the first task, which is the formation of one blade. 22 gets the next part of it, and then he has to create the large hole. 97, though, is a botch.

I will give him a skill mark for creating the flat blade, though. That's probably not something he's done before. That gives him +2.

Adam is pushing toward the next country south, trying to reach the capital in Panama, I presume, so as to bring down the King from his throne. He gets a 20 GE roll; I'd already decided that the enemy sent a runner with a message; this suggests that there is someone dogging him already, but that will be a day behind. On the other hand, his pursuit will be able to determine direction and radio ahead. The question is, will Adam know it? Despite their significant skill, the odds are very much against them intercepting a transmission--it could even be a cellular phone call at this point. A GE of 24 does not suggest that they've any chance of knowing what's happening. He'll have peace for at least a day, though.

John I is going to attempt to teach himself suggestion. I really ought to penalize his efforts to make Ishara, the assassin, smile; but then, I probably should bonus his efforts to make Bob, the orc, scratch his butt. If course, with Bob there's also a penalty for humanoid mind but a bonus for familiarity. The skill learning roll is 44, and with his 7@4 bias and 2@3 BRA the 1@4 skill should be easy to learn. Ishara gets a will power check against the suggestion to smile, but he won't make it every time. I'm not going to do new use for Bob because I'd have to roll for it, and a botch would be unfair if John had not intended the roll. It goes down as one more skill being practiced.

I should start another adventure there, but I'll give him time to think about his latest success first.

--M. J. Young

Harry, Max, John II, and Adam are playing as Christmas approaches.

I should mention that I am making no promises as to when the next game will be; there is much to be done for Christmas, and I must do much of it.

Harry wants to get below, and I would expect he could do that if he makes the effort.

Max is trying to pick up more information about everything, so information will be provided.

Having botched and destroyed the work, John II is going to try again. I'll repeat the rolls for the next attempt: 71 means he spends all morning on the blade and can't get it right; 87 means he continues in the afternoon still without success.

Adam would prefer for the confrontation to come sooner rather than later, and with a GE of 8 the confrontation will come on the second day. However, it's going to be a significant confrontation.

--M. J. Young

This might sound like a dumb question, but here goes. I've got 1@10+2 blacksmithing. Let us suppose that I get 2 more skill marks and get to 2@1. Does that 2@1 count on this project? I mean suppose I get to 2@1 before I finish, I still get the 2@1 for the remainder of the project right?

Yes, it counts as soon as you get it. Every check after the successful roll that got you the fourth mark would be made with your new SAL, and since this project requires multiple checks, the marks you earn early on could potentially make a difference later.

I'm basically brute-forcing that Telescopic Vision power at this point - just rolling for it over and over and over till it goes off, or until my brain explodes.

A1Nut - Good luck!

Osevens, thanks. I look at it like this, really, which is worth more? A lifetime of treasure, or a paid education? I want to get good at blacksmithing in real life. That's not going to happen, so I'd like to learn auto mechanics instead. A lifetime's worth of gold? So? What if gold is worthless in the next world, but blacksmiths are needed very badly? Hey, it could happen!!!!

I wish I could learn blacksmithing in real life, too. But I wish I were psionic more. And that Telescopic Vision power is going to be handy in so many ways.

I wonder if MJ is just going to flip a coin to see whether I succeed or botch first, considering I have even odds of either.

Odd/even is easier to do on a stopwatch.

You get my point, though. You... *click* catastrophically botch and... *click* your head explodes and it takes you *click* five hours to do it in.

For what it's worth, I will roll your chance of success each time. I am using the stopwatch anyway for the dice, so getting a percentile versus getting an odd/even comes to the same difficulty--but it's more interesting to see how many failures there are, how long it takes to do this, and also things like (relative failure) whether you come close before succeeding.

Also, a botch is a botch, but it doesn't necessarily wind up fatal.

I'll be running out to do more Christmas prep in a moment, but until then let me tackle Harry, and see whether I get through that and on to Edward, John II, and Adam.

A quick check confirms that Harry has a 9% chance to teach himself this telescopic vision trick. He's going to keep attempting it in his room until something happens, but I'm not certain five minutes is actually sufficient in my mind for a change in circumstances for another attempt (each roll assumes that a reasonable effort was made, doing everything the character could think to do at that moment). I'll assume that there are fifteen minute leaps on this, and he's trying several times for each attempt; 85 is the first roll, then 99 which is the anticipated botch.

I need a botch list:

1. Vision stuck telescopic
2. Vision microscopic
3. Brain burn
4. Psionic shockwave
5. Blindness
6. Neural Breakdown
7. Intensified hearing
8. Intensified peripheral vision

The roll is 2. I'll forego a GE roll for how long that lasts until he responds to it.

Edward gets some sleep; there's no reason to think otherwise. There will be food in the morning, and then we'll do the thing.

I'm adding 1@3 Automotive diagnosis and repair T8@2 to John II's sheet; the two skills are pretty much covered under the same heading in most cases, and I don't see a reason to distinguish them at this point. He wants to pray for a blessing; that will be a skill, a spell, for which I will need more information.

Adam has done a good job of outlining quite a bit of information; I'm not sure how he calculates seven hours, though. I'll outline what I see him saying, and see how that fits with his thoughts.

It looks like there were sufficient delays out there that I've managed to finish in here; let me see if we're ready to go, and if I miss you over the next couple days, once again, Merry Christmas.

--M. J. Young

(But with the botch, did I learn the skill such that I can do it again? Or, at least, can I recreate the same botch? I've often wondered about that...)

How do you roll 1-8 with a stopwatch? I could picture 1-10, but not 1-8, what do you just keep rolling until you get a number between 1 and 8 or what?

Oh and Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year to you too.

That's what I would do.

Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, Happy New Year, Happy Festivus, and so on...

Or you could subtract whichever multiple of eight leaves you with a remainder of 1-8 and only reroll numbers above 96.

Also Happy Birthday, to someone.

The maths, make it stop... *hides nose under forepaws*

Since I use the hundredths, I have a 1-10, so only 1 in 5 rolls will be outside the range.

And since it's a stopwatch, and if I've just rolled a botch it was running for a while already, and since I just thought of and wrote down eight possible botches it's been running in the background since then, if the hundredths aren't in range, the tenths might be, and if they're not, the seconds might be--so I've already got three rolls on the one stop of the watch, and the odds are pretty slim that none of them will fit.

It's a lot tougher if I have to roll 1-11, although I have a "cheat" for that; it's not perfect (it comes to 10% chance of rolling an 11, 9% of any other number: if the last two digits match, it's an 11) but it's close enough for most of my purposes.

Much to do, including starting our new player John 4, then Harry, John 2, and Adam, all while doing the Christmas Eve thing.

I'm launching John 4 in his first game thread.

Harry has just experienced one of those botches that makes one say, how can I do this again? I should roll that GE roll for how long it lasts--15 leans in his favor ever so slightly.

John 2 thinks he's about as close to a professional in his religion as one can be and not be professional; I'm going to have to ask him about this one. It also means I can't really adjudicate the outcome of his prayer until I've settled that.

Some of the pieces of Adam's plan are outside his control, so we need a GE roll to see whether they fall his way or not. 16 is smack in the middle.

I'm smack in the middle of Christmas preparations, so I'd better go back to them.

--M. J. Young

Nuts. I knew I missed something--I missed Edward. Let's remedy that.

Edward is in for a battle, but not necessarily of the sort he anticipates. Meanwhile, I've been working on identifying the defenses. I figure that the grounds were sanctified long ago, for an extended period, for which I'll give +10 against minions of evil; I'll give a separate +10 for the sanctification of the chapel itself. That means that all attacks against this place have to be made at -20. I believe I've also decided that this was a neutrally-aligned world, which means -5 for anarch (but also alliance) prayers and spells. That puts a -25 penalty against whatever the evil ones want to attempt.

Now we have Father Casey, something of a wild card I didn't expect; he would have professional level of skill in performing the Mass, and since Catholics use the mass in one form or another for nearly everything, I'll assume that he's using it for sanctification of the immediate area. That will give RS=DC for RS minutes, and the roll is 29. That's good--it gives about half an hour of intensified protection, during which time the enemy has to overcome a -54 penalty.

Of course, it's a powerful enemy, with 3@ attributes and skills. It is limited, as indicated, in what it can choose to do, but it has a good chance of success. Even after the -54 there will be between 6 and 26 percent chance of success.

I think they'd go for the obscurement first, and the roll is 71. We'll give him a hint of what it is that his companions are fighting, since were it not for the protections on this place that would have succeeded.

--M. J. Young

John 4 posted answers to my questions, but did not post to his game thread; since he's not terribly experienced with forums I'm going to try to get his attention over there afresh. After that, it's Harry, John 2, and Adam.

Harry might think that he's not needed, but in a storm navigators are rather important. He'll have to explain to the medic why he's not topside.

I'm giving John 2 1@7 Religion: non-denominational Christian M1@0, his first listed mag skill, and now I can roll for that prayer--as soon as I find my dice, er, stopwatch. There it is; the roll is 30, which is low enough that I've got to check numbers.

He's targeting a M1@4 bonus checks skill in a world with a 13@ mag bias, so a lot depends on his other numbers. It's an alliance world, so he gets +10; his mag BRA is 2@2; a 1@7 religion skill gives him +9 more. The skill is verbal only, so that's -10 (no mention of having to stop what he's doing, bow head, close eyes, fold hands, anything like that), and I can't see this prayer taking more than thirty seconds against a 1 minute baseline, so that's -10 again. On the other hand, he gets +5 for appropriateness. That means the positives are 13+10+22+9+5=59, and the negatives -14-10-10=44; that's a 15% chance of success, and the prayer does not help this time.

So let's roll for forming the shape--flattening and bending in a single roll, 65 fails.

Adam is tearing up the jungle to make a defensive position; he's working against the clock, though, so I need to know how he is ordering these things.

Merry Christmas to all for whom that is a meaningful greeting.

--M. J. Young

He's targeting a M1@4 bonus checks skill in a world with a 13@ mag bias, so a lot depends on his other numbers. It's an alliance world, so he gets +10; his mag BRA is 2@2; a 1@7 religion skill gives him +9 more. The skill is verbal only, so that's -10 (no mention of having to stop what he's doing, bow head, close eyes, fold hands, anything like that), and I can't see this prayer taking more than thirty seconds against a 1 minute baseline, so that's -10 again. On the other hand, he gets +5 for appropriateness. That means the positives are 13+10+22+9+5=59, and the negatives -14-10-10=44; that's a 15% chance of success, and the prayer does not help this time.

How exactly is this figured out? Where do you get a +9 from a 1@7 score? Isn't that supposed to be 17? What does all of this mean?

Oh and MJ, -14-10-10 is -34 not -44. That should have been a 25% chance. I still would have failed, but I thought I'd point it out.

You're right, sorry on the math, I was in a hurry on Christmas.

The bonus for religion on a holy magic skill is half of your religion SAL rounded up. Thus 1@7=17, 17/2=8.5, rounded up is 9.

And I trust you don't mind me editing in some code to make the quote clear; it will help me if I'm looking back and trying to understand this thread later.

John 4 has posted, and is about to find out where he is, or at least to begin doing so. Harry, Edward, John 2, and Adam are also in play.

I'll give John 4 some information and let him make some decisions.

Harry meets Pieter from medical, and gives a good story--the good stories are always partly true. A quick check is a quick reminder, that there was a GE 15 on how long it's going to last, which is barely favorable.

Edward has made an interesting decision that is going to complicate things; part of that is because Eric didn't really explain what he was doing to Edward--the ritual as described requires that someone constantly fire the gun until it stops or the ritual ends, yet when he gave the gun to Edward he spoke in terms of the need to defend against demons. Eric was mistaken--the mag bias is too low in this world for demons to appear corporeally, and thus the powers of darkness must play mindgames using such magical abilities as they can squeeze through a flatlined bias. Thus Ed, having no targets, is not firing the weapon; but if he does not fire the weapon, the conditions of the spell are not met.

On the other hand, Eric just designed this spell. His intention with the weapon is that it is a potential sacrifice, but the spell would still work without the potential sacrifice. The best answer at the moment seems to be to penalize Eric's chance of success, continue to play through the working of the ritual, and roll the dice at the end to see what happens--this particularly since Eric is not presently present to take a hand in this, and I'm not sure how much pressure he would put on Ed to do what he thought he was going to do.

Let me recount what the demons can do:

* Reduce Morale
* Add Impurities
* Manipulate Light/Darkness
* Prevent Movement
* Concealed Messages
* Illusory Obscurements
* Create Light
* Attentions/Diversions
* Lift object
* Short Teleportive Hop
* Cause Pain
* Dependent Temporary Animation
* Create Gases/Mists
* Temporarily Alter Normal Abilities

Again I note that the defenses create a -54 penalty against all their efforts, which put them between 6% and 26% on successes.

Let's go for a lift object; there's probably a baptismal font in the chapel, and it will have a metal lid which would make for a poor weapon, but there's not much else available. (I think the crucifix would have another -10 protection on it, as would several other consecrated objects, so the demons need to go for objects that are not themselves particularly significant.) 03 means they got hold of something. Let's see how Edward reacts to this.

All right, John 2 is starting to think in terms of how to be serious about prayer. He attempts again to bless his project, this time doing several things that should amplify his chance of success.

• Time: five minutes, instead of one minute, means doubled to two, doubled to four, and another quarter doubling above that, +23.
• Body involvement: kneeling by the bed is full body involvement, +15 for that.
• Location: this apparently must be done in the bedroom or present domicile of the caster, for which I will give an additional +10.

The positives are 13+10+22+9+5+23+15+10=107, and the negatives -14, which comes to 93% chance of success. The roll is 24. I'm giving a flat +10 bonus for this skill (as opposed to an RS/5); in fact, I'll limit it to blacksmithing/metalworking skills and make it +20, but it's only good for the next major task. The description for the sheet reads 1@1 Bonus Blacksmithing/Metalworking Skill Checks M+1@4 retire to personal room or quarters, kneel with total body involvement, pray with appropriate words for forgiveness, wisdom, strength, and help with current task, 5:00TF, confers +20 on next major task attempted, +53SM. Now the question is, will +20 make the next task successful? The roll there is 50, and that's a pretty close roll even without the bonus, if I recall correctly. Yes, he's got the numbers to support that.

I hadn't really considered the fact that Adam and Geneice could work together to push down larger trees than either of them could alone, and I agree that that would work, so we'll let them do it. A jungle tree that is a foot in diameter at the base will be about fifty feet high, but will branch out near the top (jungles are usually dense enough that the tall trees let the lower limbs die, as only the topmost branches get sunlight) but be thinner. He starts work, and I roll my GE roll--7, which is quite good. I don't think they know he's waiting for them.

--M. J. Young

Did I get any skill marks for blacksmithing? That would be a new use on the handles. Also, what is my "magic" at?

For the record, I don't care what the rules call it. Praying and having faith in God is not magic. However, to be polite to the game, and to be polite to MJ, I will accept it as a rule in the game, and go along with it, with no further protests.

From Dictionary.com Unabridged/Random House Unabridged Dictionary:

2. the art of producing a desired effect or result through the use of incantation or various other techniques that presumably assure human control of supernatural agencies or the forces of nature.

From American Heritage Dictionary:

1 The art that purports to control or forecast natural events, effects, or forces by invoking the supernatural.
2 a. The practice of using charms, spells, or rituals to attempt to produce supernatural effects or control events in nature.
b. The charms, spells, and rituals so used.
.
.
.
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or invoking the supernatural: "stubborn unlaid ghost/That breaks his magic chains at curfew time" (John Milton).

From Online Etymology Dictionary:

c.1384, "art of influencing events and producing marvels," from O.Fr. magique, from L. magice "sorcery, magic," from Gk. magike (presumably with tekhne "art"), fem. of magikos "magical," from magos "one of the members of the learned and priestly class," from O.Pers. magush, possibly from PIE *magh- "to be able, to have power" (see machine).

From Wordnet by Princeton University:

adjective
1. possessing or using or characteristic of or appropriate to supernatural powers; "charming incantations"; "magic signs that protect against adverse influence"; "a magical spell"; "'tis now the very witching time of night"- Shakespeare; "wizard wands"; "wizardly powers" [syn: charming]

noun
1. any art that invokes supernatural powers

From Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version):

noun
(the charms, spells etc used in) the art or practice of using supernatural forces

I somehow think that the case is pretty strongly made that if you call upon The God, you have called upon a god, and the difference between holy magic that calls upon a god and that which calls upon The God is a matter of degree, not kind.

I think you would agree that if Scott called upon Eris or Harry called upon a historically pagan god, that they were doing magic. It is arrogant to suggest that their prayers are different in kind from yours, even if I personally agree that you are calling upon the true and supreme God and they at best on created spirit powers with derived authority.

That which accomplishes its objective by power from beyond the natural world is properly called supernatural, and that which is supernatural is properly called magic or magical.

The question is whether you can make words mean whatever you want, as Alice says to Humpty Dumpty. The answer is, what the words mean is what the words mean, and if we are to communicate, we must agree on what the words mean.

--M. J. Young

It's semantics, I know. I just keep thinking of Simon the Sorcerer trying to buy the power of the Holy Spirit from the apostles. It's just semantics, nothing worth arguing over very hard.

I'm looking at Harry, John 2, and Adam, and my rehearsal was just delayed a tad, so maybe I can get through some of that.

Harry's GE roll means his eyes will improve overnight, but it will be a few more hours before they're normal. I think, too, that the storm will have passed. The problem is, they have no idea where they are--but we'll get to that soon enough.

John 2 is praying again, but leaving out the details. We'll have to get some of those.

The question for Adam is whether he can pull of a successful ambush with two hundred men and a good head start. He's got the best ambush skill anyone could have, and he rolls 29.

I'm done for now.

--M. J. Young

Well, John 4 is stepping away from a barely started game, which puts Robert early in play, then Harry, Edward, John 2, Adam, and Graeme, who is rather busy traveling apparently.

My note to John 4 explains that he can continue whenever he likes.

Robert is now exploring the mall area.

Harry gets started on his new day.

Edward is getting some action, but I'm not certain what he's shooting, so I'd better ask.

In an odd twist, as of last night I am the perhaps proud owner of a used Leatherman tool--which means I've a much clearer notion of what John 2 is attempting, and it's still extremely difficult. Yes, I think I will give him a skill mark for making that handle--I don't think there are many blacksmithing tasks that would require that sort of work. That puts him at +3, which will make him rather happy. I need to roll for whether this prayer of thanks and continued blessing will work, and given how thin the ritual is, 66 is no.

One way to handle big battles is to use General Effects Rolls, giving thought to how they balance--a good roll in desperate situations is not usually a victory, but only a significant improvement in the situation, and a bad roll in excellent position is not defeat but heavy losses or problems. Adam rolls 23, nearly as bad as anticipated, so he's not going to get his easy win.

Graeme rolls 09 on the first language "potion", and so he's got his language ability.

--M. J. Young

Carry that Leatherman everywhere. Once you start doing that, you will be amazed at how often you need to use it. What all tools are on it if I may ask? Also, is it an actual Leatherman? There are a lot of knockoff tools that are similar. If it is an actual Leatherman, it will say "Leatherman" on the side.

So if I'm at +3, my next skill mark puts me at 2@1 right?

I just wonder if my constant use of TK Pulse (basically using it like a long arm every chance I get) and Influence Luck (in nightly bursts) have gotten me any marks on those over the... what... two weeks I've been in-Verse on the Mary Piper, or if learning all the skills of Navigation has filled my brain with stuff instead.

Regarding the Leatherman, no, it is stamped "China" inside the handle, but does not bear a brand name anywhere I can see. I have used it once since I got it. The plier jaws are a snubbed long-nose with a rounded gas-pliers-like grip section and a recessed cutter near the hinge. There are four blades in each handle. One handle contains

1. ~2" pointed cutting/carving blade
2. ~1" pointed cutting/carving blade
3. what appears to be a small standard screwdriver which might actually unlock standard interior home doors, but not fix eyeglasses
4. old style bottle opener with standard screwdriver blade ending, the hook does not look terribly effective, but how often do you encounter that type bottle anymore anyway?

The other handle contains

1. standard can opener blade
2. Phillips Head or cross-point screwdriver blade, probably a #1
3. a blade I cannot identify, about an inch long, flat and thin, similar to the small standard screwdriver but that the tip is not straight; it's been suggested that it might be a leather awl, but it is neither sharp nor cylindrical; my best guess is that it's for cleaning fingernails
4. combination double-cut file, 2.5" ruler, and fish scaler, a bit blunt compared to most I've seen.

Harry, two weeks is not sufficient time to see measurable increases in skill ability level, and at level one a skill mark and an intensity increase are the same amount. You will increase skills in time.

With that, let me turn my attention to the game. John 4 is back in action, along with Harry, Edward, John 2, Adam, and John 1.

John 4 is returning to play with some questions, but I'm not quite prescient enough to answer questions before they're asked, so I'll have to prompt him for the questions.

Harry is starting to move back toward business as usual, apart from the fact that the ship is lost, and it's navigation's job to find her.

Edward is trying to find a target; he fires single shots from an Uzi, specifically aiming around, not at, the floating object. His rolls are 60 and 83, but as there's nothing to hit these count simply as whether he put the bullet in the general area intended, and both rolls seem good enough for that. The unseen enemy rolls 34 for controling his object, which is too high for him to do anything against the defenses he must overcome.

John 2 rolls 38 on his blacksmithing skill; I'm going to let him drill two aligned holes with one successful roll, but he has to roll again for the other pair. 11 is a weaker success, but still a success. He is moving on to healing skills, but I need more information for those.

I think Adam just might be inviting me to verse him out of this world. He is rushing out from cover to engage the enemy troops, making himself the most prominent visible target for maybe three hundred fifty trained soldiers. In his favor, they are currently retreating for cover; on the other hand, they don't have that far to go. I can't believe it--he just rolled a 4 on a GE roll, well beyond hopes or expectations. Even so, I don't see him surviving--he'll kill over a hundred enemy troops himself, and get his soldiers moving, but with the several thousand bullets that will come directly at him within that minute, plus the other weapons that the enemy can bring to bear in that time, he's not going to survive.

He rolls 15 on his flexibility check, which moves him to stage 3; Geneice is making her first trip, so she's at stage 1 automatically. Horus has not been mentioned for a while; I'm assuming he's back in London. His flex check is 19, and a hawk probably has a 1@10 flexibility anyway, so I'll figure he's at stage 2, as if it mattered.

John 1 is practicing his new skill. Since it's specifically practice, he doesn't get the advantage of knowing whether it works, but he doesn't face the risk of rolling.

--M. J. Young

I had one like that. Great Neck was the brand name. Get an actual Leatherman. They're a lot better built, and worth every penny.

As my father once said about a light that never worked right that he got for opening an account at a particular bank, it was free, and worth every penny. The only reason I have the tool at all is because someone lost it, and after it went through the lost and found process it came to me; I had no control over what they lost.

I do have some control over several games, though, as Harry, Edward, John 2, Adam, and John 1 are all in motion.

Harry is again attempting to teach himself that telescopic vision; I think I've got numbers crunched on that in these notes somewhere--yes, there it is, 9% chance to succeed at this, rolling 88, 12, since these are twenty minute intervals I should probably do a use telescope check, too, 69 says to me that he doesn't find anything yet, 36, 82, 12, the tension is thick here, 05 is a success, 1@1 Telescopic Vision P5@1.

I'm also thinking of giving him credit for new use, using it with the telescope, but that means rolling--and a roll of 71 says he's not going to be able to do that this time.

Edward's demonic adversary is struggling to overcome the defenses around this place; it picked up the lid of the baptismal font, but then could not move it. It gets another turn now that Edward has changed weapons, and rolls 05, which is within its chance of success. Let's give them a 2d10+10 GE roll for whether there's another enemy yet, 25 is pretty bad, but a roll of 41 on an attentions/diversions illusion is a failure, so nothing else happens--yet.

I need more information from John 2; hopefully we can get some clarification on this prayer.

I would like to put Adam in a place where his magic would again be useful, and where he might possibly dabble in psionics; I would also like not to repeat myself. It sounds like it might be time to wing it. I think I've got it.

I think John 1 would like to have an extended stretch of down time; it's not going to happen, because his GE roll is 23, but at least it's not a disaster. Let me start another adventure seed.

--M. J. Young

I'm taking our mechanics to a new thread, Behind the Screens 2008.

I'll see you there.

--M. J. Young