You spend five minutes at this prayer, and feel greatly encouraged about your faith and your ability.
You then get back to the blacksmith shop, and in about an hour you have flattened and formed the piece you need for the handle. You feel that God has helped you with this, and it's really the best work you've done to this point. Even the smith is impressed.
On the other hand, whatever influx of confidence you had is now fading, and you still have to drill the holes in this to make it functional. Are you going to proceed with that step, or return to your room to pray more, or what?
--M. J. Young
Pray for thanks to God for the help, and ask if I can get the confidence back to continue. Do that at the blacksmith shop.
Then drill the holes in the handles, and see what else I can do with it.
Did I get any skill marks on my blacksmithing for making the handles before they are drilled?
After work today, when I go back to the inn, kneel down and pray for a healing of my Arthritis. Full, kneeling, and praying with hands folded. I need to get back into praying (In real life too) so do it, before bed.
Does your prayer of thanks at the blacksmith shop last more than six seconds, or involve more than merely glancing toward the sky briefly? You need to be specific about these things the first time you do them, or I don't know how to take them.
--M. J. Young
You didn't answer me. Did I get any skill marks on the blacksmithing for the handle? Did I make one handle, or both of them?
Yeah, the prayer of thanks would probably be 6 seconds and glancing at the sky briefly. As a player, I know that I should do all of the fancy things, but as a character, I don't think I would know that yet.
You made one handle, and it does not yet have the holes driven through it; that, I presume, would be the next step, unless you are returning to the blade.
You feel nothing from the prayer other than the satisfaction that you're getting back into praying and acknowledging God's part in things.
--M. J. Young
Drill the holes in the handle, and if I have time, start the second handle.
After work, go back to the inn, kneel in front of my bed, and pray for healing of my athritis and my psychosis. Kneeling, praying out loud, hands folded, the whole nine yards. I want to be free of the athritis and the psychosis. How am I going to play a non-psychotic character, I have no clue, but what the hey?
You heat the thin metal carefully, and then drive a cold spike through one side, pull it out, and cool the work in the bucket. Then the hard part comes, as you reheat the other face, and attempt to align a second hole directly opposite the first.
You succeed, and now have two properly aligned holes at one end of your handle.
Cooling the work, you turn it around and try again on the other end.
It takes considerably longer this time. The metal's thickness is a bit uneven, and it's harder to make it work. However, after another hour you have your second set of holes in place.
You are out of time for today; you clean up as well as you are able, and return to the inn.
I'll need more detailed descriptions of your prayers for healing; I also need to know the order in which you are praying them, or if you are attempting to do both in the same prayer.
--M. J. Young
As far as my prayer for healing, I'm just kneeling down and praying, hands folded. I don't know how better to describe it. I would pray for both in the same prayer though.
O.K., here's a quick checklist, with what I think are your answers:
- Is this arcane or holy magic, alliance, neutral, or anarch? This is obviously alliance holy magic, a prayer to a good divine being.
- What exactly will the magic do? This will heal two distinctly different conditions, the arthritis from an injury and the psychosis.
- Over what variables does the character have control? I suspect this is a general healing prayer, but the petitioner is able to specify any of a broad range of ailments or irregularities.
- How long does it take to perform the ritual necessary for the spell? That is, for how long will you be praying?
- Exactly what will the character say? What matters here is that you will be praying specifically for healing, which makes it appropriate words that describe what you want to happen.
- Must the words be spoken loudly or forcefully? I don't know the answer to this, but suspect it is no.
- Are the words in a language other than the character’s native tongue? I'm pretty sure the answer to this is no, you will be praying in English.
- Is the sound of the words vital to the magic, or will it work if the words are properly articulated within a place where there is no sound? This would include whether you have to speak the words aloud or merely move your lips; that is, will anyone present hear you pray, assuming someone is present.
- What does the character do? Which body parts must be committed to this action? I take kneeling with hands folded to be total involvement of the body; it would be difficult to do anything else while doing this.
- Is the ritual physically exhausting? I suspect not, but there are those who speak of wrestling in prayer, whose prayers are exhausting to the point that they must rest afterwards.
- What materials are required? Which if any of these are destroyed or damaged beyond use during the ritual? I'm betting that you don't use anything--you're not holding a Bible, or a cross or crucifix or prayer beads or any religious symbol, for example.
- Are there any other limitations on the use of this skill? I'm thinking not, but I've been surprised before.
I'm in my room at the inn. I'm kneeling down, hands folded, praying aloud but quietly. It would probably go for a few minutes, asking for blessings on my blacksmithing project, healing of my psychosis and of my athritis, forgiveness, strength, and anything else I can think of.
Let me guess. A bad dice roll here can mean I botched and killed myself right? How can you botch on praying?? That don't make no sense.
I have addressed the matter of prayer botches in its own thread, appropriately entitled Prayer Botches.
You pray for about five minutes, asking God to heal your mind and your body.
You rise with a clear head and a pain-free body, and the assurance that God can heal your diseases if you ask.
Let me sincerely wish you the best of luck playing your character from here; I know that you're uncertain about how to proceed.
--M. J. Young
So my character isn't psychotic anymore? Is that what you're telling me?
If I'm not psychotic anymore, I'm going to run out into the middle of the street, screaming "Praise God" as loud as I can, and do a Great Jump forward flip. Funny, I'm acting crazy now that I'm not.
Funny, I don't think you're acting crazy at all. However, you don't succeed on the jump/flip, but only get a bit of a spring in the air.
--M. J. Young
Ya know, it occurred to me that I AM playing a non-psychotic character. I have been since the start. My other idiosyncrasies never came into play, and I'm not going to be doing them anymore, so I'll just play as usual.
Well, a hop will have to do for my celebratory jump. Go upstairs, get some sleep, praising God the whole way. Tomorrow, go see Mr. Smith, and see if he notices anything different about me. (I would seem calmer and more relaxed probably) Then, get to work on the other Leatherman handle. (Are you keeping track of what I have made so far?) I'm pretty certain it's just the one handle. Also, what is my "Magic" at now? What did I learn from that prayer?
I would prefer for you to keep track of your progress on the tool, but it's still early so it's not that tough for me to check. You have indeed finished one handle, complete with four drilled holes aligned in pairs.
Are you asking the smith if he notices anything different, or are you attempting to notice if he notices? I would assume that over the course of the past year you've had your good and bad days, and although this might be a better day than any so far, you are engaged in a consuming and at times frustrating project.
The cure disease skill is M2@4, so that is your new bias, I believe.
--M. J. Young
Just ask Mr. Smith if he notices anything different about me over the course of the day. I would probably seem a lot more relaxed, and wouldn't get as frustrated as easily. Also, the blacksmithing work would be easier to do, because I would be able to think more clearly. (I'm not asking for a bonus there, because it's probably not in the rules, but it would be easier for me.)
Start work on the second handle.
Is Mr. Smith married? Do I ever see his wife? I'd like to learn to knit (I'm trying to get my mom to teach that to me in real life) so perhaps Mr. Smith's wife (if he has a wife) would be willing to show me how.
(I'm not asking for a bonus there, because it's probably not in the rules, but it would be easier for me.)It would be within the rules if we had assessed a penalty for it previously and removed it at this point. Since we hadn't, a bonus isn't really appropriate.
You actually have met the smith's wife; she comes by with their daughters, now about 16, 15, 13, and 9, to bring food in the afternoon sometimes. He's been a bit worried about marrying them off, as he doesn't really have much for dowry for four daughters.
Mary, the wife, would be very happy to teach you to knit, although she thinks it odd that a man would want to learn such a skill, and tells you that Ruth, her eldest, really is very good at knitting, as well as sewing, weaving, and cooking. You might rather learn some of this from her, if you're interested.
The smith has been rather occupied with his work, and noticed nothing unusual about you today.
You manage to hammer out the new handle in about two hours this time; you still have to drill the holes.
--M. J. Young
Mr. Smith is worried about having a dowry for his daughter? I can fix that. I will offer the Leatherman I am making as a dowry for Mr. Smith's eldest daughter. After it is finished, Mr. Smith can use it as a dowry for his eldest daughter. On the condition that he only supervises the work, but does not assist me on it. I want to build it myself, but Mr. Smith can advise, and supervise. On that condition, I will offer the Leatherman tool I am building to him, to use, as the dowry for his daughter. He has been immensely good to me, and I will help him out. The Leatherman I am building, will be his, to use, as a dowry on his daughter.
"Now Mr. Smith, I won't hear any pride or that you cannot accept my offer, or even that you want to pay me for it. You've been very good to me, and I will not hear of anything but you accepting this gift. If you feel honor bound to repay me for it, your daughter can do that. If she teaches me to cook, sew and knit, I'll consider it a fair trade. Do we have a deal?"
I want to learn to knit first. I'll stop boxing with William, if he chooses to continue on his own, that's great. Maybe he could get some of his friends into it too. Maybe start a Junior boxing league? Just a thought.
I'll study knitting with Mary and Ruth. I'd like both of them to teach me at the same time. Maybe they know different styles, and could teach a little bit more than one. I'd like to learn to knit. What does she know how to knit? I imagine you could knit fishing nets, if you really wanted to.
Drill the holes, and pray whilst I do it. "God, guide my hands."
Note to self; What happens if you pray whilst throwing a TK pulse? Can magic and psionics be combined? Use them at the same time? It would be kind of like a compromise between God and Man. Man's mind, melded with God's power. What would you have then? Magonics?
Note to self; It would be kind of like God fueling my psionics. Praying about being able to raise the psionics bias. A compromise between God and man. I wonder what the @1 and @0 skills are...
Note to self; Pray that God will tell you what skills there are in psionics. Start with the 1@1 and 1@2 skills. Start slowly. Pray John, pray!!!!!!!
MJ, multiple posts
Mr. Young, I might be wrong, but I think you're wrong concerning the practice of a dowry. I thought it was the man that paid the dowry. He was, in a sense, buying the daughter from her father. I had a girlfriend years ago, and her mom insisted on my giving them a goat if I married her daughter (long story) Correct me if I'm wrong though.
Concerning the practice of the dowry, in Africa a young man has to buy his bride; in India, the father has to pay for the man to take one. I often thought it would be an interesting business to find Indian brides for African husbands, but it would sort of disrupt the lives of African women and Indian men.
Europe had the father of the bride paying a dowry to the husband, since the husband would be taking the cost of supporting the daughter off the hands of the father. The original story of St. Nicholas involves him secretly supplying dowries for the daughters of a good local tradesman.
The blacksmith thanks you for your generous offer, but is not certain whether any prospective groom would recognize the value in your gift. Most want a bit of money to help pay for starting the new home, and a gift that doesn't have a clear monetary value is not likely to be considered. Also, dowries are sometimes negotiated--that is, the groom's family says what he wants and the bride's family says what they can pay, and some value is agreed. Even if the groom's family thinks the tool is worth something, he will probably not admit so, hoping to get the tool thrown in for nothing.
Just checking: your prayer is not more than a six-second sentence while doing something else, correct?
--M. J. Young
"Mr. Smith, you misunderstood me. I said that the tool would be yours to use for the dowry. That means you decide how you use it. If you think you can sell it to someone for a handsome price, as long as you use that to buy the dowry, the tool is yours. If you marry her off to a fellow tradesman that would recognize the value of the tool, it is yours to give away. If you choose to throw it in free, kind of to sweeten up the deal, no problem. Whatever you feel is the best thing to do with it. It will be yours to use as you see fit. All I ask in return is that your daughter teach me to knit, sew and cook."
Note to self; John, he may be thinking about trying marry Ruth off to you......
Six second prayers whilst drilling.
After I drill the holes, assuming I don't botch and ruin it, I'm going to go inside and meet with the ladies, and ask them if they can teach me to knit. I'd like to get to know Mr. Smith's family a little. I'll work on the Leatherman 4 hours and work with the ladies 4 hours. Helping them knit. I get to learn knitting and they get an extra set of hands at their chores. If that's OK with Mr. Smith, of course.
If I do botch and ruin it, start another one. Knitting can wait for a day.
After I get through the day, learning to knit, go back to the inn, have dinner, and then go back up to my room. Kneeling by the bed, hands folded, praying aloud but quietly, ask for God to reveal the @1 and @0 psionic skills (Which my character would probably describe as "The psionics that work in this world, starting with the least likely to botch.") So, pray for the @1 and @0 psionic skills, to know what they are, so I can try to do them, with God's help. A melding of man's mind and God's power. Pray for 10 minutes.
Does marijuana exist in this world? If I describe it to the apothecary, would he maybe know what it was? Could I have a GE roll on if Mr. Smith knows what marijuana is, and if he could get it? Before I versed, I was using marijuana therapeutically for my psychosis. I wonder what it would do now? I do feel closer to God when I'm high. Can I make a magic bonus for praying when I am high? I'm not kidding.
He shrugs. "We'll see what you've got when you finish it."
You pray before drilling the first hole, and you succeed in drilling the hole; then you pray again to drill its mate, and as you're about to strike you realize that you're not going to get it right, and pull your punch. It seems to have been a divine warning; the prayer may have worked, although the result is rather that you did not ruin the work than that you did get the hole right.
Your impression is to take a break and come back to it later.
I'll assume you then turn your attention to learning to knit. You have little trouble picking up this skill, and Mary asks if you haven't already done some knitting at some time. Ruth doesn't say much; she seems a bit tongue tied.
As you are praying, a man appears on your bed. "Do not be afraid," he says; "keep praying, but listen. First you want to read minds and read emotions. Having mastered these, you should learn to hide your own thoughts by hiding thoughts behind thoughts. You should then work on the powers to heighten your own sensory awareness, and to detect the presence of life and of thought. A telekinetic pulse you already know. After that, you can try to focus your mind against injury to your body, and to increase your sensory accuity and alter your sensory ability. You will then be able to reepair damage to your own body, reduce pain in yourself and others, and diagnose medical problems. After that, try to dissipate energy. Harder yet, you can attack the minds of others, interrupting thought or concentration. It is yet more dangerous to analyze chemicals, or weaken their chemical bonds, but you might be able reorder the molecular structure of an object to create a telepathic device. Once you have accomplished this, the next step is to create a physical force, first as a wall or shield, then as a weapon causing pain. You can then attempt to tap into an awareness of past events, and glimpse danger in the immediate future, sense the arrival of those who like me arrive by teleportation, and resist the efforts of others to teleport you. If you succeed in this, you might be able to deceive efforts to detect you or truths about you, slow time for others, and ultimately to create light, sound, and psychic impressions.
"This is what you wanted to know; may it help you."
--M. J. Young
"Mr. Smith, no matter what, you will have at least some dowry for them when this is finished. I'll even give you a choice whether to take that, or 2 pounds silver. If the tool I am making is not up to your standards, I will give you 2 pounds silver. That way, you will either have the tool as a dowry, or 3 weeks wages. Either way, you have a start."
Note to MJ, I believe you said that Mr. Smith believed the one that I have cost 6 pounds silver and took 6 months to build. The one I am building would probably be closer to the one you have. Not as well built. (The knockoff I had did finally break, but a real Leatherman has a 25 year guarantee.) How much would you say yours is worth to Mr. Smith? Or was it 6 months wages and 6 months to build? I can't remember. I think it was 6 months wages.
"No, Mrs. Smith, I've not knitted before. I do know how to sew though, so perhaps that's part of it. I took Home Economics for 3 semesters in school, so I do know the basics of cooking and sewing. Maybe that helped."
Regarding the guy sitting on my bed, after he finishes speaking ask "Who are you? Are you here to teach me psionics?" My tone would be in awe and wonderment. This is a vision from God. I've had a few of these, actually.
Mr. Young, I had to really think about how I would react to having a guy land on my bed like that. My first thought was that I would pull my 9mm. I posted that. But after I thought about it some more, I came to the conclusion that I'm having a vision from God. I'm glad I didn't pull the gun.
Note to self; make sure Mr. Smith is cool with you hanging out with the ladies. In some cultures, that could be considered rude. Ask him straight out, and read his mind, just to be sure.
I believe that what he said was that it would take six months to make such a thing, and that no one would pay six month's wages for it; but you've got access to the thread if you wish to look back and quote him precisely.
"You've been to school, then? John always said he thought you were some nobleman. What were you learning--law, medicine, or religion? And if I'm not prying, why did you give it up for blacksmithing?"
Were you asking the smith about your time with the ladies, and reading his mind as you ask him, or were you merely making that note for yourself to do at some point in the future?
--M. J. Young
I think you're right. Six months to build, but no one would pay 6 months wages for it.
I was planning to ask Mr. Smith about spending time with the ladies at a later time. I'm not doing it just now. That was just a reminder to myself to ask later.
"Mrs. Smith, where I'm from, everybody has to attend 12 years of school. If you don't attend that, you're considered an outcast by many. Why did I give it up for blacksmithing? Well, the education I got would not be particularly practical in this land. In my home, it was a necessity to getting a job anywhere, but here, things are a bit different. I've always been interested in blacksmithing, so I figured Why Not?"
I would also read Mary and Ruth's minds to see if I could get what they thought about me. I would do that whilst knitting.
I gave that 30-06 rifle to Mr. Smith. Do I see it in the house anywhere? Describe the house to me.
I'm assuming Mr. Smith ignites his forge everyday. Did I ever learn how to make fires without matches? I know I wouldn't have specifically said that I was doing so, but I could have in that year we skipped ahead.
What about the guy sitting on the bed?
The guy sitting on the bed would answer, "I am the messenger delivering the answer to your question. My name is not important, and would mean nothing to you. The Lord has favored you with the answer to your question, so you can pursue the skills you believe will be most useful to you in this world."
He will then vanish.
Mary thinks that you seem to have settled significantly over the past year, and that you would probably make a good husband for her daughter.
When you attempt to read Ruth's mind, though, you lose control of the power and feel a surge of energy pass through the link. She suddenly cries out in pain and puts her hands on her head.
"What's wrong, dear?" Mary asks.
"I don't know, mother. Suddenly I have a terrible headache. I think I need to lie down."
She lies down for days, taking her meals in her room and not eating much. Her parents are rather worried about her.
I thought the smith kept the rifle in the shop. I don't think he really understands what it does.
The forge is left burning overnight. However, I would assume that lighting a fire would be included in what you have learned. He uses flint and steel and a tinderbox.
--M. J. Young
You can even botch on 1@1 mind reading? Damn, I was hoping that would be too low to botch.
Well, when Ruth starts having the headache, I would try to help her. I learned a hypnosis trick for curing headaches. I've only had it not work once out of about 10 different people I've tried it on. Two of the 10 fell asleep, one of them on a moving train. I massage their temples and talk to them calmly and softly. It hypnotizes the pain away. I guess 1@10 skill in that. (It's probably a psionic skill and flatlined out isn't it?) If that doesn't help at all, I'll pray for her when I go back to my room. Kneeling by the bed and folded hands. Pray for several minutes for God to reverse the damage that I have done to her. I might also pray to take the pain onto myself, instead of her. I would pray that. "Either fix Ruth, or make me take it instead."
What's my skill with lighting fires? Also, as mentioned, I have 1@3 cooking and 1@3 hand sewing per my home economics classes in school.
GE Roll on if Mr. Smith knows what marijuana is. Proven scientific fact. THC, the active ingredient in Marijuana has been linked to psychotic behavior. I was using it therapeutically before I versed (And still now, in real life)
I'd like to try knitting with sticks. Use my Leatherman to whittle and shape 2 sticks into something resembling knitting needles, and try to knit with them. New Use? No, I don't think I have skills whittling, but as I'm sure you know, it isn't hard to shave the bark off of a stick with a pocketknife.
I suspect that your "hypnosis" works more because many headaches are actually muscle pains in the forehead, and the massaging would relax the muscles. However, I will give it to you as 1@10 Hypnotic Headache Relief P1@0 involves massaging forehead while speaking gently, and no, it is not biased out--it's an @0 skill.
Your effort to cure the headache does not work. The prayer does not seem to work, either; this may be the consequence of your invasion of her privacy.
I believe I've already adjudicated the matter of whether anyone in this English-type country has ever heard of a Chinese weed by its Mexican name, and given that answer. Oh, and you do not get to call for a GE roll; that's my prerogative. You get to ask the question, and let me decide what mechanics are necessary to answer it.
You do teach yourself to whittle; unfortunately, the wooden sticks would have to be lacquered to be smooth enough not to catch the yarn, unless you were extremely good at whittling very smooth surfaces.
As I mentioned, the fire lighting skill is part of the blacksmithing package; it thus has the same SAL as the blacksmithing package.
--M. J. Young
Actually, I don't think you ever said anything about whether marijuana existed or not. I did not realize asking for a GE roll was the wrong thing to do. I've been saying that since I started playing, and I think this is the first time you've said anything about it. Would you mind explaining? (For the record, as far as marijuana, I figure God put it here, He obviously wanted us to use it.)
What's my skill with whittling?
So 1@10 light fire with flint and steel? Can I please have a full listing of the skills package, so that we can avoid this in the future?
Dang; I clearly remember spending a lot of time hunting down information about Marijuana so I could make an informed decision, and writing down my answer--but I can't find it anywhere, so I must have lost it somewhere. I apologize for thinking you'd overlooked the answer.
In brief, what you call marijuana is indigenous only to Korea and Taiwan--a small piece of the Far East--and they do not call it that. It was transplanted to many places, including Mexico, and it was in Mexico that it got that name. Thus for anyone in your present world to have any clue what you meant by "marijuana", it would have to have been transplanted from some place like Korea or Taiwan to some place like Mexico, and then brought here. Since this world has no place at all remotely like Mexico, it is not possible for the name of the plant to be "marijuana"; that being so, I don't have to decide either whether there is any subtropical place remotely like Korea or Taiwan from which the plant might originate, or whether it has been brought to this temperate place, because even if it does exist here, it exists under a different name, and no one will know what you mean.
God undoubtedly put arsenic in this world so we would use it, but probably not so that we would ingest it or use it against each other. Lead was the metal from which the fabulously wealthy of the Roman Empire made all their good tableware, and madness was terribly common in the noble houses.
There is a thread for mechanics, and that's where you'll find your whittling skill, if anywhere.
You've probably asked whether a GE roll would be appropriate in the past; I don't think you've ever said that I should roll one to determine something you wanted to know. Maybe this will help: I don't have to roll a GE roll (in this world, at least) to see whether the sun rises in the morning; you don't get to say that you want a GE roll for the sun not rising, because you're hoping it won't. If I realize that you are hoping the sun won't rise, and I think there is even the remotest chance that it won't, I will decide that a GE roll is needed to make that determination. Similarly, if I know that marijuana does not exist in this world, or I know that it does not exist under that name in this part of the world, I don't have to roll. It's not your job to define the details of the world, but only to look for things. You get to say that your character is going to ask the smith whether he knows about thus-and-such; I get to decide how to answer that. It could be answered several ways.
- If this is something everyone knows, then the blacksmith knows it. The names of the three princesses would fall into this category.
- If this is something that is available knowledge for those who may have learned it, then an education level check for the blacksmith is the best choice--to determine whether this is something he learned. The names of the kings of surrounding countries might fall into this category; the weaknesses of dragons or demons might be included here, but that would probably require a difficult check, not a simple one.
- If this is something that might or might not be known by anyone in this world, then a GE roll is appropriate, ranging from everyone knows all about that to you found someone who does to he's heard of it but doesn't know much to he knows someone who might know about that kind of thing to someone in this world knows but not this person to nobody knows to you can be executed merely for asking about such things. GE rolls are not your friends. They have as good a chance of getting you killed as they do of getting you what you want. I'd probably include things like whether there are any wizards in the kingdom, although I consider that unlikely.
- If this is something no one in this world knows, then no one knows it, and the blacksmith certainly doesn't know it, and there's no point in rolling.
No, I'm not going to attempt to list all the skills in the blacksmithing package at the moment. That's partly so that if you want to do something you think falls under blacksmithing, I can decide whether or not you're right when that happens. In short, if it's something that would be part of the regular work of shoeing horses, making wagon hitches and axles, forging farm implements, and other general blacksmithing tasks, it's included. If it's on the fringes, I'll have to decide on a case-by-case basis. That's why making a leatherman tool is such a problem--it's not the sort of thing one makes with blacksmithing skills, so you're really struggling to play a xylophone with a sledge hammer, or perform brain surgery with a two-handed sword.
--M. J. Young
Thanks for the explanation. Just bear in mind that I don't know what I'm doing.
Well, Ruth is still in pain. That last prayer I prayed for her didn't help, but it was in the evening before bed. Pray for her again in the morning when I first wake up. Kneeling, hands folded, by the bed, the whole 9 yards. "God, either take the pain from her, or give it to me instead." Pray for 10 minutes. Also pray for blessings upon the day, and upon Mr. Smith and his household. Pray for help with the blacksmithing project, and that I can know what to do in this place.
After that, go down to the inn and have breakfast, (what's for breakfast anyway?) then go see what Mr. Smith is up to. "How is Ruth doing?"
Ask Mr. Smith if he minds me learning to knit, cook and sew with his wife and daughter. Don't try to read his mind. I think I would put that one off for a while.
Ruth is much better. Sometime this morning her headache suddenly lifted, and she came down for breakfast feeling much better.
Breakfast in these places is usually something called porridge, which as I understand it is hot vegetable mash, sometimes with grain. It's like oatmeal or grits in consistency, but made of things like peas and beets. It's usually kept cooking for days at a time, and stretched by adding more vegetables to what is already there. (The poem about peas porridge depicts the concept fairly well.)
The smith thinks it quite odd that a man, and particularly someone who has both breeding and craft, would want to learn to do women's work, but otherwise he has no qualms on the subject. He thinks it would be good for Ruth to spend time with a man with prospects.
I note that you are including at least four distinct things in your prayers, viz.,
- Blessings on "the day".
- Blessings on Mr. Smith and his household.
- Help with the blacksmithing project.
- Knowing what to do in this place.
--M. J. Young
Yeah, I've made porridge in my crock pot before. It was a botch whilst making beef stew, but it was still pretty tasty.
"Mr. Smith, I'm sorry, but I cannot marry your daughter. I should probably get that clear up front. I have a Scriff infection. Don't worry, I cannot give it to you, or to her, or to anyone else. However, I also cannot make babies, and I could give it to Ruth if I slept with her. I know you want to have grandchildren, but I could not do it for you. Believe me, I wish I could. I'll help in providing the dowry, but rule me out as a possible candidate for marriage. As far as why I want to learn women's work, well, it could only be useful. Perhaps you would do good learning to knit yourself."
Blessings on the day: That things go well. No major catastrophes, no psionic botches, just a good, smooth day.
Blessings on Mr. Smith and his household: You're playing Mr. Smith, how would he like the day to go? That's my prayer for him.
Help with the blacksmithing project: No botches, good, quality work. Ruth's future may depend on what I am building, and I want it to be a good future.
Knowing what to do: Guidance. I missed a chance to see gems growing on trees, according to you. I have no regrets about that, but I'd like to not do it again. If God sees something that I must do, hit me with a thunderbolt, and let me know.
Note to self: Magic and psionics. Use God to power your psionics. Perhaps a way around the flatline. Channel God's power through you, as a psionic skill. A melding of God's power and man's mind. Use prayer to do psionics. (MJ, Don't worry, I'll explain when the time is right) Is there such a thing as that? God's power, transmitted through a person's mind, in the form of psionics? A melding of the two. Psionics is flatlined? No problem. You can still do it, but it will wear you out after a while. A compromise between God and Man. Any thoughts? Has this ever been tried? If anything is possible, why not? The ability to overcome a flatline world. If magic is high, you can use psionics. If psionics is high, you can use magic. If both are flatlined, have a bunch of @1 skills to see you through.... Yeah, why not?
"Scriff infection, eh? Is that why you left wherever it is you're from? People die of this disease, do they? Or did they send you away so you wouldn't infect others?" He's a bit suspicious of the whole idea, but not so as to give any indication that you're no longer welcome here.
You gave me what you expect from the prayers, but not how long you're praying for each individual item on the list.
Concerning mixing magic with psionics, here are some things that are possible; none of them let you beat the psi bias with psionic skills:
- You can use magic to bonus your chance of success on psionic skills, that is, just as you pray for help with your blacksmithing skills, you can pray for help with your psionic skills.
- Anything you can do with psionics you can do with magic (and vice versa), although the bias levels will be different--some things that are easy to do with magic are very difficult to do with psionics, and some things that are easy to do with psionics are difficult to do with magic.
- You can do magic entirely by thought, but it's a lot tougher, and it's a lot easier to do magic if you actually say something and/or do something and/or use something. It's still magic if it works by articulating an expectation in your mind to release supernatural power in the world; it's only psionic if it involves using your own power to do it.
- You can create magic skills that include psionic skills as necessary components. This in essence bonuses the chance of success for the magic because your success or failure at the psionic skill controls your success at the magic skill. If the psionic skill is related to the magic one, you also get a bonus for an appropriate component.
--M. J. Young
"Yeah, the scriff infection is why I left where I'm from. Not quite for the reasons you're thinking. If I stick around here for a few years, you may notice some unusual things about me. But no, don't worry. I would have to have sex with someone to pass the infection on. In other words, Mr. Smith, you're perfectly safe."
Well, I would be praying for 10 minutes total, so I guess 2 1/2 minutes per item, since there are 4 items.
As far as mixing psionics and magic, I don't think you have it. What I'm thinking about is more like a new bias area. Magonics. A melding of the two. God's power channeled through the human mind. Maybe that's just praying for help with the psionics. I dunno. Pray, and God channels His power, through your mind, in a God-powered psionic ability. Simple TK for example. Pray, and you can do simple TK in a flatline world, because God is powering your mind. It would be a new bias area I'd think.
MJ Multiple posts.
You told me that "This will become everybody's problem." Is there anything which would be alerting my character to that? News reports, rumors circulating at the inn, anything which would alert everybody?
Four bias areas, each of which is defined by the source of the primary power within it--matter and natural energy for tech, within the mortal being for psi, the supernatural realm for mag, and the physical body for bod. Any combination of these becomes two skills working together, because ultimately you have to know what power is being used, and if you have combined two powers, you're using two skills.
Your prayer for blessings on the day seems to make your morning go more smoothly.
The day seems to go extremely well for the smith and his family. He gets an extra heavy load of work, calling on both you and William to help, manages to get it all done, and gets well paid for his efforts; he gives you an extra half crown for your help. Meanwhile, quite a few of the young men of the village have taken a sudden fancy to Ruth, which has her quite happy and a bit uncertain how to respond. Mary manages to get a good buy on an excellent piece of beef, so dinner is going to be an unusual feast to which you are invited.
Your own work runs rather smoothly, in the few minutes you have for it during the morning; everything seems to be a bit easier while you're doing your own project.
When you pray about what you should be doing, it comes back to you that no one seems to know the actual origin or homes of the three princes marrying the princesses, or of their two servants, but that for some reason this isn't bothering anyone so much as it ought.
Concerning it becoming everyone's problem, that will take months, and you've only let days slip by.
This is something that players sometimes confuse: the rate time advances in play is based almost entirely on how much you want to do during it. If you tell me you want to do something complicated that has a lot of steps, like build a suit of armor, or develop a complicated multi-step spell, then time slows down to accommodate all those steps. You're making an extremely detailed and delicate piece of equipment using entirely the wrong tools, so every step is a struggle, and every day is ticked off very slowly, several posts per game day. That means that we're not zipping forward to when the next princess gets married, or whatever happens after that. The problem will be in everyone's face in a few months--a very quick time in this sort of world--but you're holding up those months.
--M. J. Young
So do I find any time to work on the Leatherman? I still have to drill holes in the second handle.
No one knows where the princes come from? I hate it when God is so unspecific. I wouldn't be worried about that either.
Is there anything more going on with the dragon? Have I heard anyone else talking about it?
Note to self: Pray again for more specific details of what the princes are up to. And what of this dragon I've heard about? Are the two connected? Do they command the dragon, or are they just assholes from the middle of nowhere that want to take this place over? Damn, why did I have to lose all the ammo for my assault rifle? Assholes from the middle of nowhere I can live with.
MJ Multiple posts
The thing with the princesses is I, John Cross know that this is a bad thing. My character wouldn't care. To him, that has about as much bearing as Lady Diana and her marital woes. Make up, break up, or shut up. Or even better, just shut up. He wouldn't care. I know there's going to be a problem, my character, based on what he knows, wouldn't care.
It would be like if you read in the newspaper that George Bush's daughter was looking for a cure for an unspecified ailment, and would marry the first guy to give it to her. You don't know what that ailment is, so why worry about it? That's my character's mentality here.
Note to self: Pray for a psionics teacher. Someone to actually give you the patterns of the @1 skills. Not just give a vague description of what they are.
MJ, before you leave, recheck the thread "Prayer Bonuses" I replied to your comment, and I want you to see it.
Yes, early in the morning before it gets really busy you manage to heat up the metal and punch the aligned holes very smoothly into the handle.
After that, the shop is too busy for you to do anything but help, since trying to do your own project would mean being in the way.
There are always rumors about dragons near the edges of the kingdom; no one ever seems to have anything specific, and whether or not there actually are dragons has never really been clear.
--M. J. Young