"All right, pack for a camping. We will have to travel by road, since I don't really know the seaside area well enough to teleport there, and we will want to avoid attention. If we don't go directly, we can travel through werewolf country; we'll have to ask the wolves for permission, of course, but they should be ammenable, and it will decrease the chance that vampires will bother us on the road to some degree--not entirely, mind, as the vampires will take a chance on taking a road, hoping that the wolves will hesitate long enough for them to reach their objective, but if Tubrok is not aware that we are traveling we will lose him before he starts.
"We will continue our lessons on the road; I'm sure there are many things we can cover."
Are you leaving anything behind at Merlin's grove, and if so what? I'll note that anything you leave behind will give you that scriff sense when you relax.
I'll also mention that the feeling pointing to Horus is still moving.
--M. J. Young
*We didn't take much with us, most of our gear is thousands of miles away, but I will leave something small like a pen, on the ground in the grass, for reference. Is Horus coming closer, and if he is, I am assuming he is going over water, fishing and finding things to perch on on the sea? If he continues at his current speed, how much longer till he meets up with us? If I remember correctly Geniece has a cat of some sort as her familiar. I will pack up our packs as normal and leave when Merlin says to*
"Let's ask them for permission, I'd rather not have battle with them, before we are more prepared to do so."
Adam
The problem is you can't easily tell distance by scriff sense, only vector. You have some sense of his movement from a couple of details--one, that you spent a few weeks in Spain, so Horus would have altered course to follow the straightest save line there, but now is coming back toward England from a different direction than before; two, that the earth curves and he flies above it, so there is a slight shifting in the angle relative to ground. However, these can't tell you much but that he has moved.
You can sense Geneice' cat (whose name is missing from my character sheets), but the cat is not moving nearly as much as the hawk. She, too, can sense both of them but it's pretty evident that the one moving more is the hawk.
"Have either of you ever made telepathic contact of any sort--mind reading, anything--with one of the werewolves? If so, you should be able to take the pattern of the werewolf mind and use your inner summoning power to call one to come to us. If not, I can try to project the pattern to you."
--M. J. Young
"We have not so we would need that pattern."
*once we get that we will summon one to us as per Merlin's instructions*
Adam
Merlin succeeds in placing the pattern in your mind. You however, fail to make it work in a summoning. However, Geneice also picks up the pattern from Merlin, and manages to put out a call.
"I think that worked," she says.
"I do believe you are right," Merlin answers. "Now we find out how far away they are."
It takes over an hour for a young man to arrive; he is very much the wolf, and stumbles into your clearing as if lost.
"I beg your pardon," he says.
"No, it's all right," Merlin answers. "My apprentice called for you; you were not aware of it, but you came. We need to talk with you--or to one of your people, at least. We are planning a trip through your territory toward the sea, and we wished to make your pack mother aware of it so there would be no misunderstanding. Can we rely on you to carry the message?"
"You wish to request permission to cross our lands?"
"Tut-tut. Not to put too fine a point on it, I suppose so. Your pack certainly owes me enough favors that I would hardly expect her to stand on formality here. We are presuming on her good graces by beginning our journey immediately. I am simply sending the request pro forma, to make her and all of you aware of our presence. I am, after all, Merlin. These are my apprentices, Adam and Geniece. We will be traveling together. Now, if that's clear, we all have places to be going. Yes?"
"Yes, sir," he says, seeming a bit dazed. He stands there.
"Well, then," Merlin says after a moment, "hand't you best be going?"
"Oh--right. I'll let her know."
He leaves.
"We, too, should be leaving. Are we ready?"
--M. J. Young
"We should be ready to go, we don't have much besides our backpacks, and there is not a mall or deptarment store to be seen for over a thosand years."
*waits for the smack or retort and grins*
*is ready to go, leaving a pen behind, cleaning it so as to remove any scent from it, before leaving it in a shallow pool of water, leaving nothing behind but that to track us*
(As a point to Geniece's familiar, a grey and white lynx, that doesn't like me, is here with us. I do not know its name. I would suggust "Mange" out loud if asked ;p)
Adam
"And no gaming or computer stores for at least a century beyond that," Geneice answers.
"Indeed," Merlin answers, unflappable as usual. "You can tell me what all these things are on the road.
Since neither of us remember, Geneice will call the cat "Snowbeard", and it will be noted that it is also known as "Mange" by you. When you say "here with us", do you mean that it came into this world somewhere when you did, or did you mean that she got it in this world and so it is with you in Merlin's grove?
With that, you head out of the grove into the woods.
An hour later, the sky darkens and it starts to drizzle. Merlin quips that if you don't like the weather in England, wait a minute, but the rain starts getting worse. After another hour of getting drenched, he stops.
"Good chance of getting lost in a downpour like this," he says. Then he waves his arms and pronounces some string of what might be Celtic or Gaelic, and suddenly the rain stops--or rather, it doesn't stop, but it is no longer hitting you, crashing silently against a dome above and around you and running off into the ground. It appears you are near the top of a hill, so there is not much runoff here.
"Hmmm--that won't hold very long, but we'll see what happens in an hour or so. Meanwhile, who would like to start a fire, and who would like to conjure some food? Or are those things I still have to do myself?"
--M. J. Young
*Mange was summoned when I had to teach Geneice all the spells I know, so I'm sure Mange has been plotting my demise from the backround, and I'm sure it will follow us through the forest. I am not a cat person, only ever having one I liked, so it was to be expected.*
*grins at the gaming/computer comment*
"I'm pretty sure I can conjure fire psionically, but have never conjured food, magically or psionically, so I think you will have to do that."
*if he allows I will use my psionic ability to produce fire*
He tells you to go ahead with the fire. You concentrate, and manage to warm up the target a bit, but not enough to get flame.
Merlin interrupts.
"The inner powers are good for warming objects. I would recommend them for heating a kettle or warming a room. But if you want fire, the outer powers are quicker, much more direct--you can create a flame at a snap of a finger," and he snaps his finger and for a moment has a candleflame above it. "That certainly is more than enough fire than we would need to ignite some tinder' we could even save the tinder and go directly to dry kindling. Can you snap your fingers? Watch my movement."
He presses his thumb against his middle finger with his other fingers loosely open, then squeezes them such that the slip apart. The middle finger strikes the palm of his hand with a loud click, the fingers below it also tightening against the palm and the thumb sticking straight up. A flame appears above the tip of the thumb, much like a cigarette lighter, and remains for about six seconds.
"Of course, you have to expect the flame; that should go without saying. Get your kindling ready so as soon as the flame is there you can light it."
--M. J. Young
I will try it as Merlin has instructed.
-Adam
You get a flame on the first try, and light your kindling with it. The flame goes out in a few seconds, but the kindling continues to burn.
Meanwhile, Merlin shakes out a blanket and food appears on it--roast chicken, baked potatoes, roast carrots, fresh apples, and a flagon of wine.
"Let's eat," he says, and grabs a wing off the bird.
--M. J. Young
*sits down and lets his Wife and Merlin take before he does*
"So how did you conjure food? It one that I could see would be a good one to learn."
Adam
"Indeed, and it is something you will learn. But creating food out of nothing is very powerful magic, and something toward which we will be working. I am not saying you could not do it now--you, particularly, with your experience altering your own abilities--but I would not wish to risk such a creation without being certain you were well grounded for it.
"Perhaps tonight, though, I can teach you the protective dome I use to keep inclement weather outside, and tomorrow we can work on creating and finding paths. Those will all help in our quest, such as it is."
--M. J. Young
I will be at Ubercon
Character sheets have been posted for you. I'll print some of this thread.
--M. J. Young
Got back from Ubercon:
Both Geneice and myself learned the protective dome, very well, and continued on our journey. It took 3 days after reaching the shore to find a suitable rock. Once we found it, I had to create a Stone Shape spell, which I did to soften the stone, with which to insert the sword, and drew: "Only the rightful King of England will draw this sword from the stone"
Merlin cast the hold spell, to prevent anyone other than a decendant of Uther Pendragon to pull the sword from the stone. After transfering the properties of a diamond to the stone to make it unable to be chipped or chiseled out, Merlin, Geneice and myself tried to pull the sword out. Neither of them could do it, while I pulled it out easily. I was surprised, and unhappy to know that I was the rightful King of England, and lived as a pauper for my first 27 years. With a joke to Geneice about her marrying well, I designed a spell to transport this object out. I was successful, and we decided to walk to see if our ruse worked.
One bad GE roll later, a Vampire and 2 ghouls tried to stop us at dusk on the shore by the forest. Geneice and myself shot the Vampire and Ghouls, she took out one Ghoul, but the vampire got shot twice, and put up a shield to block my projectiles. I decided to activate my haste and run after him into the forest. I decided to impale a ghoul with my new spear on the way, ending him. I couldn't find the Vampire, and created a Detect Vampire and Ghoul spell, but there was no sign of him. I ran back to camp, and after getting a talking to by the wife, we decided to teleport back to Merlin's grove and start walking from there in the morning. We had no further problems, and we got to London, in the square in front of where the Tower of London will eventually be built. It worked as we hoped, many people lines up to try to pull it out, and no one succeeding. I decided to have Merlin teleport us back to his grove, lest I get an inkling to pull the sword out.
That's where my game left off. I owe MJ some sheet updates, which I will do tomorrow at work. What I will do tonight, is copy what I did for the Teleport Object out spell, and do it for a Teleport Object in spell. It will only differ from the spell worksheet, with the wording in Latin, and that is it. The spell creation sheet says it gives a bonus of +93, and Teleport Object In, is one point tougher to do than the teleport object out.
The object I want to teleport in, is my motercycle with the sidecars, which has the rest of our stuff from our sheets on it. I will do this in Merlin's grove, with him observing. This will also be a 2 hour casting time, both arms used, physically exhausting, etc, the same as the teleport object out spell.
Adam
Your motorcycle materializes quite smoothly.
I can't add that to your sheet until I have all the details of the other to copy, so you'll have to include this in the skills you have to list when you list your skills. Remember that I need ritual descriptions, inherent sit-mods, and SALs for everything.
Thanks.
--M. J. Young
Skills Learned:
Myself:
+1 SAL on Transfer Properties Spell (learned in thread)
Comfort Bubble 5@2, SAL 1@3,
Arcane, 10’ Radium, 36 Seconds to complete, Lasts RSx6 Minutes, Appropriate words in Latin, Words Forcefully: No, Lang other than native: yes, Sound Vital: No, Character Waves Both Arms in Arcs, 2 Hands needed, No substitution, Not Physically Exhausting, No Materials Needed, Nothing Destroyed, +0SM
Manipulate Materials: 9@2, SAL 1@2
Arcane, Object in Front of Caster, soften it to consistency of clay, for RSx6 Minutes, 6 Seconds Cast, Appropriate Words in Latin, Words Forcefully Said, Lang other than Native: yes, Sound Vital: Yes, Character uses both arms and hands, foci is alright to have in hand, No substitution, Not Physically Exhausting, No Materials Needed, Nothing Destroyed, +23SM
Detect Vampires and Ghouls 7@6, SAL 1@2
Arcane, 50’ Radius around Caster, Detect Vampires and Ghouls for RSx6 Minutes, 6 Second Cast, Appropriate Words in Latin, Words Forcefully Said, Lang other than Native: yes, Sound Vital: Yes, Character uses both arms and hands, foci is alright to have in hand, No substitution, Not Physically Exhausting, No Materials Needed, Nothing Destroyed, +13SM
Teleport Object Out 12@2,SAL 1@2
Arcane, Object in Front of Caster, Teleport Object to a known locale, 2 hour cast, Appropriate Words in Latin, Words Forcefully Said, Lang other than Native: yes, Sound Vital: Yes, Character uses both arms and hands, foci is alright to have in hand, No substitution, Physically Exhausting, No Materials Needed, Nothing Destroyed, +93SM
Used same Ritual above for Teleport Object In 12@3
Have a 3@1 example for a Lock or Hold Spell
Geneice:
1@2 Create 6 Second Flame
Comfort Bubble 5@2, SAL 1@3,
Arcane, 10’ Radium, 36 Seconds to complete, Lasts RSx6 Minutes, Appropriate words in Latin, Words Forcefully: No, Lang other than native: yes, Sound Vital: No, Character Waves Both Arms in Arcs, 2 Hands needed, No substitution, Not Physically Exhausting, No Materials Needed, Nothing Destroyed, +0SM
That’s what I have for Spells learned at Ubercon, here are 5 spells and 5 psi skills to learn this week:
We want to get our Psi and Mag Bias’s up a little at a time, I think these would be the best way to do that:
Mag: Confusions 10@2, Obedience and Enslavements 10@9, Attract Local Sentient Informer 11@5, Control Local Sentient Informer 11@10, Teleport Object In 12@3 (for Geneice),
Psi: Heightened Awareness 3@1, Detect Enemy 3@7, TK Pulse 4@1, High Velocity Telekinesis 4@5, Heightened Attributes 5@2
The Mag Handouts:
Confusions 10@2:
Arcane, 10’ Cube, 6 Seconds to complete, Lasts RSx6 Minutes, Appropriate words in Latin, Words Forcefully: Yes, Lang other than native: Yes, Sound Vital: Yes, Character Uses both Arms, Foci is ok, 2 Hands needed, No substitution, Not Physically Exhausting, Logic Puzzle Needed, Puzzle Destroyed.
Obedience and Enslavements 10@9
Arcane, One Person, 6 Seconds to complete, Lasts RSx6 Minutes, Appropriate words in Latin, Words Forcefully: Yes, Lang other than native: Yes, Sound Vital: Yes, Character Uses both Arms, Foci is ok, 2 Hands needed, No substitution, Not Physically Exhausting, No Materials Needed, Nothing Destroyed.
Attract Local Sentient Informer 11@5:
Arcane, One Person, Normal Summoning Time, Normal Duration, Appropriate words in Latin, Words Forcefully: Yes, Lang other than native: Yes, Sound Vital: Yes, Character Uses both Arms, Foci is ok, 2 Hands needed, No substitution, Not Physically Exhausting, No Materials Needed, Nothing Destroyed.
Control Local Sentient Informer 11@10:
Arcane, One Person, Normal Summoning Time, Normal Duration, Appropriate words in Latin, Words Forcefully: Yes, Lang other than native: Yes, Sound Vital: Yes, Character Uses both Arms, Foci is ok, 2 Hands needed, No substitution, Not Physically Exhausting, No Materials Needed, Nothing Destroyed.
Teleport Object In 12@3 (for Geneice)
Ritual Above
Since we obviously have more time than that in the week, we will learn to use our new weapons as Bod weapons, training each other. We will switch off and Generice will learn the spear, and me the Longsword, so that we keep out skills up. Now that we have our stuff, I will continue to learn the acoustic guitar, and do various popular songs in acoustic, and practice my singing, so that I am decent for the next popular world, since Geneice is around my age, she can sing the other parts, she likely knows the songs, and since we will soon be able to do 15@ skills, might be good idea to create a set of drums, bass guitar, and other instruments. We will also keep our other skills sharp as we learn the above in our spare time.
Adam
A few notes to confirm agreement.
That makes 1@5 Permanently Transfer Material Property M3@5 4:00:00 TF hold target object in right hand, object having desired quality in left hand, say in Latin "I take from my left the quality I name, and give it to my right; the left sacrifices itself for the sake of the right. The quality I name is," and the name, in Latin, of the quality (e.g., hardness) -7SM+1 SAL on Transfer Properties Spell (learned in thread)
1@3 Comfort Bubble M5@2 Arcane, 10’ Radium, 36 Seconds to complete, Lasts RSx6 Minutes, Appropriate words in Latin, Character Waves Both Arms in Arcs, 2 Hands needed, +0SM
1@2 Manipulate Materials M9@2 Arcane, Object in Front of Caster, soften it to consistency of clay, for RSx6 Minutes, 6 Seconds TF, Appropriate Words in Latin, Words Forcefully Said, Sound Vital, Character uses both arms and hands, may use foci in hand, +23SM
1@2 Detect Vampires and Ghouls M7@6 Arcane, 50’ Radius around Caster, Detect Vampires and Ghouls for RSx6 Minutes, 6 Second TF, Appropriate Words in Latin, Forcefully Said, Sound Vital, both arms and hands, foci may be used in hand, +13SM
1@2 Teleport Object Out M12@2 Arcane, Object in Front of Caster, Teleport Object to a known locale, 2 hour TF, Appropriate Words in Latin, Forcefully Said, Sound Vital, Character uses both arms and hands, foci may be in hand, Physically Exhausting, +93SM
I have two problems with this:
Used same Ritual above for Teleport Object In 12@3The second problem is that if you use "the same ritual" for two spells, it should reduce the probability that either would work. In this case it's complicated by the fact that the ritual is not really detailed--we have not given the words used or the movement--but perhaps it will help us if we specify some aspect that is distinctly different between the two skills so we don't have that potential for confusion.
The first is that the ritual being copied specifies
Object in Front of Casterwhich makes perfect sense for "Teleport Object Out" but no sense at all for "Teleport Object In". You'll have to give a different means of identifying the targeted object. Give it careful thought, though; you don't want to limit the skill in a way that won't give you a bonus (e.g., by requiring that you've handled the object before or have a legitimate claim of ownership on it).
For Geneice:
1@2 Create Fire M9@2 annoying, snap fingers of right hand such that thumb extends upward, flame appears above thumb, RF1 0:06 duration +92SM
On that, your sheet shows you at 1@1; you used the skill in a couple of different ways, didn't you? I'm thinking that the SAL must have risen at some point, but I could be wrong--it was a busy weekend.
1@3 Comfort Bubble M5@2 Arcane, 10’ Radium, 36 Seconds to complete, Lasts RSx6 Minutes, Appropriate words in Latin, Character Waves Both Arms in Arcs, 2 Hands needed, +0SM
I remember you teleporting your gear in, but not hers. Is that my oversight or yours?Now that we have our stuff....
Merlin, incidentally, will comment that you never mentioned having been a minstrel or bard.
O.K., some questions on the new spells.
I'm really intrigued by the inclusion of a "logic puzzle" as a material component, but am not certain what sort of puzzle you have in mind that would be available in Camelot and could be "destroyed" in the casting. What are your thoughts on this? (There are no Rubic's Cubes, and a riddle spoken would not be destroyed in casting nor be a material object.)Confusions M10@2 Arcane, 10’ Cube, 6 Second TF, RSx6:00 duration, Appropriate words in Latin, Forcefully spoken, Sound Vital, both Arms, Foci is ok, Exhausting, Logic Puzzle Needed, Puzzle Destroyed.
Just to be clear, this is more than merely a charm that causes the target to like you and want to please you--more like a hypnosis that forces the target to do as instructed. The target will get will power saves (probably RS=S/D/N).Obedience and Enslavements M10@9 Arcane, One Person, 0:06 TF, RSx6:00 curation, Appropriate words in Latin, Forcefully spoken, Sound Vital, both Arms, Foci is ok.
The "normal" time for a summoning of a local sentient informer is 3:00. All that the "attract" summoning does is cause one of the specified type (in this case, a local sentient able to answer questions that would be known to a local sentient) to come to the point from which the summons is issued; it is not forced to stay there or to answer questions. Therefore no "duration" is given--it lasts long enough to get the target creature there, and then it's up to you to induce the target to answer questions.Attract Local Sentient Informer M11@5 Arcane, One Person, Normal Summoning Time, Appropriate words in Latin, Forcefully said, Sound Vital, both Arms, Foci is ok
I'm not sure which to correct here--you've got the name of one skill and the bias of another. At first I thought you meant you wanted a Control Local Sentient Informer, which is a M11@9 skill, but then I realized that with 11@10 you might have meant Control Off-world Sentient Informer, which makes sense on a number of levels.Control Local Sentient Informer M11@10 Arcane, One Person, Normal Summoning Time, Normal Duration, Appropriate words in Latin, Forcefully spoken, Sound Vital, both Arms, Foci is ok
If you meant the 11@9 skill, the TF is 6:00; the 11@10 skill has a 12:00 TF. The control function duration is equal to the TF, and during that time you can compel the informer to stay and to answer questions truthfully to the fulness of its knowledge.
I hope I've asked all the questions I'm likely to have; you've done an excellent job of covering the ritual details, and this should run smoothly.
--M. J. Young
To answer, confirming the first skills to this point:
Teleport object in: I meant to say same except for, Teleport Object in, and appropiate words in latin for teleporting said object in, otherwise the other parts of the ritual are the same, but not the same ritual. As for how to identify it, it must be personally familiar to the caster, and not above let's say 1k in weight.
I do believe I did use it to teach her the flame spell, and one other way, so it is likely a 1@4 now, my sheet wasn't as organized as I liked, so I probably missed it.
Both our gear were on the attatched boxes on the bike, she has one, I had the other. Most of the heavy weapons, explosives, clothes, and everything we didn't have on us was packed away nice and neat, in case of versing. So we didn't have thousands of little items to pick up. Kinda glad I did it that way, meant one spell instead of a lot of spells.
I will comment to Merlin, we are not very good ones, but if we have a large amount of time, it can't be all spells and mind powers, and since electricity isn't going to be easy to make here in a fashion our devices that need it can run on, it's a good time to learn the instruments that don't need power right now.
I have plenty of sheets of paper, I was thinking making sudoku logic puzzles, 9 to a sheet, cut them up so one sheet gives me 9 components.
I was giving best guess on the time/effect on the skills, it will likely come up again, so I understand. I did want the 11@9 version, since we are summoning the local one first, so it's a TF of 6 minutes then, works for me.
One kilogram is not that much weight, and although such a limit would heavily bonus success (IIRC) it would also mean you could not have used it to bring your motorcycle to yourself, which it is evident was the first thing you grabbed. Let's forget the weight limit, as the baseline doesn't need one; personal familiarity is good, and we'll debate what it means if it becomes a question.Teleport object in: I meant to say same except for, Teleport Object in, and appropiate words in latin for teleporting said object in, otherwise the other parts of the ritual are the same, but not the same ritual. As for how to identify it, it must be personally familiar to the caster, and not above let's say 1k in weight.
So we have
1@1 Teleport Object In M12@3 Arcane, Object in personally familiar to the caster, Teleport familiar Object to the caster from anywhere (in the present sub-universe), 2 hour TF, Appropriate Words in Latin, Forcefully Said, Sound Vital, Character uses both arms and hands, foci may be in hand, Physically Exhausting, +93SM
Increasing the SAL of the fire spell to 1@4.
Good on the packing description, and very sensible of you. Her gear is there too, then.
Sudoku puzzles work for me as a "logic puzzle". I presume that you have done this and know how it's done (I don't do sudoku so I don't know how difficult it might be), but I think it appropriate to require a skill check to create the puzzles themselves (the writing of the puzzle will only be a problem in worlds with low enough tech bias that writing becomes difficult). Get back to me on the skill involved in that.
Merlin teaches both of you the confusion spell you've described. It is a difficult spell inherently, but with his guidance you manage to learn it.
You also learn the Obedience spell--although it comes easily and powerfully to you, Merlin insists on teaching each of you himself, as it is a particularly difficult skill and harder than anything Geneice has ever done.
Late that day Merlin demonstrates the summon sentient informer skill. A werewolf appears near the grove.
"Greetings, friend," Merlin calls to him. "What news of the pack? How is the pack mother?"
The wolf replies that all is quiet and the pack mother is well, thank you. They exchange pleasantries and share the information that the vampires have been quiet of late. Then Merlin thanks him and greets him farewell.
He then suggests that you wait a day or so before trying it yourself, because although that wolf does not know he was summoned if he finds himself coming back here twice more he might start to wonder if someone was playing with his mind. Better to let him move on and hope a different being is nearby on the next attempt.
You also summon a werewolf the next day, fairly easily. He wanders into the area of the grove. Will you speak with her? Merlin is encouraging you to do so.
You will also teach the skill to Geneice the next day, who will learn it successfully. She also will have such a conversation, but unless there's something you want her to ask the werewolf that appears that's not your problem.
--M. J. Young
I meant 1 ton, but personal familiarity works.
Sudoku is a math based puzzle skill, so the check would need to use that.
I assume the wolf I summoned was a female, kinda confusing, I would ask her what's going on, how the pack is doing, and none of the thousand things that would get me in trouble with the wife.
Geneice can handle her conversation fine, then to the rest of the skills.
Adam
Since I think that weight limits on telekinetics and teleportives don't help until you hit 800 pounds, we'll ignore the limit.
I note that there is no mathematics skill on your sheet; however, since you have 2@1 Aerospace Engineering and 2@6 Physics, you undoubtedly have a significant amount of T11@0 Math Theory and Applications to include Trigonometry and Calculus, so we'll put that as 2@1 SAL.
The answers are much the same as Merlin got yesterday.
Geneice indeed handles her conversation quite well, chatting with the werewolf as if they were old school chums. She learns that werewolf society is dominated by the females, that their legends say this is because Lilith, the first wife of Adam, is the founder of the werewolf race. Always it is the packmother who leads.
You intended next to use a control local sentient informer (not, to confirm, a control off-world sentient informer). Again Merlin suggests waiting several days before performing this, as most intelligent subjects are quite aware that they are being coerced, and it is not always taken favorably.
After a few days he demonstrates the skill, moving away from his grove some distance to do it.
A woman appears near a tree. She is not a wolf; she is not a human; she is not a vampire.
"What do you want, Wizard?"
"I am curious if Nimue has advanced her plans any."
"Nimue is always advancing her plans. She will catch you, you know."
"Oh, indeed, I do know. She is, after all, a dryad, and a rather powerful one already. But she does not have me yet, and I think she will not have me forever."
"You will not be seen in this world again, once she takes you."
"I think she may be surprised. I am, after all, a wizard, and a fairly competent one at that. But how does she intend to accomplish this?"
"Do you think she tells her plans to me?"
"I suppose not; but of course, if she does I would insist that you tell them to me. Does she?"
"No, she does not."
"Well, then, I will thank you for your time. I look forward to meeting you again in the future."
He turns away and she vanishes, as if she melted into the tree.
--M. J. Young
Your killing me MJ, as much as my spelling and grammar stinks at times, that's two posts in a row, where she is changing to he by the end of the post. It's not a big deal, but my responses do differ dealing with women rather than men. I'm cool.
"Interesting, so there are dryads here too, very interesting. As for Nimue, there are so many legends between you and her, I would make peace with her, lest she do something worse than death to a verser, imprison you. Of course in another legend you two are lovers, so take it for what it's worth."
Oh well onto to the Psionics.
Adam
I apologize for the switching--I got interrupted mid-post (as often happens around here--you've seen what happens when I run games at the table, and it's worse in the office). My intention was that you summoned a female wolf and your wife summoned a male, but then when I got started on her conversation it seemed more natural for her to be talking with a female and I lost the thread of thought.
"Yes, I am sure that Nimue has targeted me for something. Perhaps, though, there is a future beyond what she sees; perhaps one day you will free me from that imprisonment. In the meantime, can being the lover of a lovely tree spirit be so bad? She will die before I do, but will live longer than any other living creature in this world. I could do worse for a bride." He smiles.
"Of course, when you try the spell we will have to travel somewhere else. At least we know that dryads stay close to their own trees. I am intrigued that the spell summoned her, really. After all, I would not have thought of a tree spirit as living in this world--I would have thought her to be a resident of the supernatural realm. Perhaps, though, the tree ties her here; and perhaps being a dryad is more like being a human than we realize, that what we encounter in the dryad is the inner person, the equivalent of the human spirit, as it were, but which we can only encounter by drawing her out of her tree.
"But you don't pay me to speculate on the nature of reality, now, do you." The same smile returns. "Let us return to the grove, and tomorrow perhaps we will try the spell somewhere interesting. Perhaps you would like to use it in one of the villages? You would almost certainly call a human informer in that case, if you do it in the daylight."
--M. J. Young
*smiles* I do not wish to tempt fate, both Geneice and myself are able to do it, we will practice it and the many others in due time, perhaps we should move onto the mind powers for the week, build up both?
Adam
I think we may have run into a confusion. You listed two distinct summoning spells. Both of these would summon a local sentient informer. You both performed the one which does no more than that. Merlin then demonstrated the other, which summons an informer and gives you a control element, such that you can compel answers and keep the informer present for the duration. You have not yet attempted that skill, nor has Geneice. Are you asking me to roll for learning a skill without actually performing it (which I can certainly do), or did you think you'd already learned it because of the other, or did I miss something?
Merlin thinks that shifting to the inner powers is probably a good idea, as your outer powers have become quite impressive. I believe you have a list of what you thought would be best to learn next in that area.
--M. J. Young
Nods I will wait for the control after getting the Psionics below down.
I posted them up above, but here they are again. I wanted to get Geneice up to par, so started small and will work our way up, here they are:
Psi: Heightened Awareness 3@1, Detect Enemy 3@7, TK Pulse 4@1, High Velocity Telekinesis 4@5, Heightened Attributes 5@2
I know there are gaps, wanted to pick ones close together to make sure she isn't trying to learn things that are way out of her league.
Adam
Thanks much for the repost.
Again, let's clarify exactly what each skill is going to do.
- Heightened Awareness P3@1 is something like Read Minds in this regard: there are probably a score of different specific skills that fall under the name in various ways. The typical one is something like the bod version of awareness moved into the brain, such that when you activate it it creates a shield against surprise--you are more likely to notice minutiae which alert you to an ambush or a stealth attack, and you get this doubled intuition against normal surprise (that is, you get both the intuition roll and the skill check if the skill is activated, and if either succeeds you are aware of the circumstance before anything happens). However, there are variants of this skill that have all sorts of applications, such as enhanced color contrast (among the applications, perceiving camouflage by the differences in color or material reflectivity), enhanced olfaction (which theoretically can tell you if there is something in the pizza that does not belong there), enhanced auditory discrimination (which would let you pick out and understand one voice in a crowd, or distinguish between the creaking of the ship and the weakening of the deck). It is thus possible that you might learn several skills under this heading, or that I might be assuming the wrong one.
- Detect Enemy 3@7 has two distinct applications, that of determining whether there is an enemy within some short range and that of determining whether a select individual is an enemy; however, I would consider them distinct uses of the same skill (a focused and an unfocused use), so I'll let it go as one skill that does whichever you say when you use it. You both succeed in learning it, her better than you.
- TK Pulse 4@1 is already on both of your sheets at my end, 1@4 for you and 1@3 for her.
- High Velocity Telekinesis 4@5 is pretty straightforward, it does what it does, and you both learn it.
- Heightened Attributes 5@2 is at the baseline specific to the attribute--that is, you can have the power to temporarily increase your strength, and separately the power to temporarily increase your charisma. You can create a version that enhances any one of several specific attributes, and a version that enhances several specific attributes simultaneously, but these are both penalized according to how much they do. So I need to know what attribute or attributes you want to be able to enhance, and whether you want to learn several skills which do this or one which covers multiple attributes, individually or collectively. (Did that make sense?)
--M. J. Young
For the Heightened Awareness, I wanted it to be a shield against surprise, but now that you explain it, would be nice to be able to do each individual sense, so I would like to learn all of them, as distinct skills.
For Heightened Attributes, I guess I would want two packages, one for my physical skills: Strength, Stamina, Agility, Hand Eye and one for my Intuition, Persuasion, Charisma, and Intelligence.
I will work on the next set of Magic spells, and Psionic skills to learn, today at work and will edit this post.
Create Fire 9@2 (Fireball)
Arcane Spell, Launch a ball of fire that explodes on impact. 50 foot or yard range, depending on what baseline measurements are done in. baseline 1000 cubic feet area of effect, Fatal Damage, 12 seconds to cast, appropriate words in Latin, Sound is Vital, words said forcefully. Caster thrusts both arms out, as if shooting the fireball out, foci in hand ok, ritual is not exhausting, Bat Guano, one 6 oz vial worth, which is destroyed in casting of the spell.
Cause Pain or Discomfort 13@1
Arcane Spell, Cause pain or discomfort at living target. Baseline range, area of effect, Damage Baseline, Baseline casting time, appropriate words in Latin, Sound is Vital, Caster user both arms, foci ok, words said forcefully, prick of blood from finger while casting, it is destroyed in casting of the spell.
Feign Death 13@6
Arcane Spell, Mimic something in magic going wrong, and dies from it. Baseline Effect, How long it lasts, how long it takes to cast, appropriate words in Latin, Sound is Vital, words said forcefully. Caster uses whole body, foci in hand ok, ritual is not exhausting,. Piece of paper with “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
Ezekiel 25:17 mixed with Revelations and The Lord is My Shepherd”, which is consumed in the casting.
Need a spell to purify water, I do not have it on my sheet, so need your help, it will follow the baselines for the spell, Alliance Holy Magic, appropriate words in Latin, Sound is Vital, words said forcefully, caster uses both arms, foci in hand necessary, ritual is not exhausting. Material, Holy Foci/Symbol
Create Water 14@1 (I believe forgot to put it in my list)
Arcane Spell, Mimic something in magic going wrong, and dies from it. Baseline Effect, How long it lasts, how long it takes to cast, appropriate words in Latin, Sound is Vital, words said forcefully. Caster uses both arms, foci in hand ok, ritual is not exhausting. Material for spell, vial of water purified an blessed by caster, consumed in the casting.
Next Psionic skills I want us to learn:
Event Awareness 10@1
History of Object 11@2
Danger Sense 12@1
Predict Major Event 12@6
Precognitive Scrying 12@9
Perceive Futures 12@10
Adam
You learn those enhanced perception skills easily enough. You prove better at surprise awareness than Geneice, but she slightly edges you on color discrimination and olfaction.
The sense-specific skills seem to work by shifting mental resources between senses--thus when you crank up your olfaction, your vision and hearing suffer slightly, and so too when you raise your visual accuity you cannot hear or smell as well.
Merlin mentions that the olfactory enhancement can be very useful. He noticed that the wolves can recognize vampires and ghouls and zombies (which usually only exist in animal forms) by the smell of putrifaction which is vaguely present despite the preserving forces of the magic that keeps them alive.
Before I continue, I've rolled specifically for those skills I mentioned under the Heightened Awareness heading. They were examples. You can do similar things with other senses and other aspects of sensation--tactile sensitivity, temperature sensitivity, balance, taste, binocular ranging, auditory stereolocation, in short any "sense aspect" mentioned under the Bod 0@ sense skills (and anything we missed that you can identify) can be enhanced. The limitation is that it must be conceivable in terms of taking information your sensory organs can actually receive and giving it more processing power in the brain. You can't get microscopic or telescopic vision, because the limitations there are in the eye itself (the pixel density of the retina and focal length of the lens), and you can't ultra or infravision because the receptors are not stimulated by those photos, and you can't get subsonic or ultrasonic hearing because the eardrum does not vibrate beyond a certain range (although you can improve the high frequency hearing within that upper range, if that's useful).
I mention all this because you said you wanted to do "each individual sense", and that is actually a lot of senses, depending on how you count them, so I thought I'd let you tell me what specific enhancements within those limitations you wanted.
--M. J. Young
I think we can go on, what we have above is fine for me.
Adam
Forgive my lack of clarity, but we still have unanswered aspects to this one:
For Heightened Attributes, I guess I would want two packages, one for my physical skills: Strength, Stamina, Agility, Hand Eye and one for my Intuition, Persuasion, Charisma, and Intelligence.Sorry I didn't mention this yesterday, but I hadn't realized it until I returned to the description. Here are the problems:
- It is not clear from your answer whether you want a skill that you can use to enhance your strength, or separately your stamina, or separately your agility, or separately your hand/eye (which would be at -10 for any individual use), or whether you want a skill that would enhance your strength, stamina, agility, and hand/eye all at once when you use it (which would be at -15). The same applies to the intuition, persuasion, charisma, and intellect skill.
- I also overlooked the "detriment". There are three options for this:
- The increase of any increased attribute comes off another attribute, which remains decreased as long as this attribute remains increased. If this detriment is selected, you can choose between a fixed selected (when I enhance my strength, my intellect drops--think Hulk) or a random (when I enhance my strength, something else drops but I have no way of knowing what it will be) attribute.
- The increase in attribute remains in effect for one hour (times level), after which that same attribute is decreased a like amount for an identical time. Thus if the roll gives me five intensities of strength, a temporary 3@6 for your current 3@1, after the hour tolls you lose five intensities of strength, to 2@6, for a like amount of time. (Increase is RS/10 intensities, normal rounding but not less than one.)
- If neither of these detriments applies, the skill takes a -20 sit-mod (in addition to the penalties already mentioned).
Concerning the fireball, the description I have right now reads
Throw Fireball M9@2 TF 0:12 ranges 10':30':60'120':+5/6', fatal to 10' radius -DC per 10' radius, appropriate words in Latin, Sound is Vital, words said forcefully, caster thrusts both arms out, as if shooting the fireball out, foci in hand ok, 6z Bat Guano, destroyed in casting, -24SM.The baseline for this spell is RF 1/3; part of your sit-mod penalty is due to the conversion to 0:12 TF. If you use the RF 1/3 instead, the penalty will be reduced to -4, you will be able to cast it "instantly" (six seconds for an amateur, two for an expert), but you could not cast another spell until the three minutes had tolled (you could use psionics and any non-magical skills in that time, and I would allow magical effects of devices such as enspelled swords). It's your call.
Merlin does not have a M13@1 Necromantic Cause Pain. These do not generally work against undead; the effect is achieved instead by using a M1@10 Torture Spirit Power, in essence a blessing cast against an enemy of opposing spiritual affiliation. Causing pain against living targets is not consistent with his Druidic theology. If you are intent on learning it and can explain why it would be needed (as opposed to something that injures but does not kill) he will help you devise such a skill, but he will not teach it to you unless you can justify its use to his satisfaction. If you just want to create it on your own, I'll roll for it. In any case, that one will take time, so Merlin will skip it--that is, he will go on to the next one.
The baseline times for Feign Death are a nine minute casting time and RS/10 day duration. The state created can only be recognized as still alive by the use of very intense skilled examination (e.g., a Detect Life skill), and the person in this state can "survive" during that time under conditions that are adverse to life but not destructive of body tissues--buried alive, underwater, in poisonous atmosphere. My sense, though, is that this is not what you want at all. You want something that you can cast in a minute or less, that looks like you were casting some spell that went wrong and killed you, so you will appear dead for long enough that your opponent will lose interest, and then you will revive. Since you would be shortening both the casting time and the duration, the sit-mods would play against each other--a 1:00 TF is about -30, and RS/5 hours would be about +30, but you could go shorter on both, say 0:06 TF and RSx3 minutes.
It would be more complicated if you want a) a continuing consciousness during the effect and b) an awareness of what is happening around you while you appear dead and c) the ability to revive yourself at will within the duration. Those can be achieved, but we'll have to discuss particularly how the second works (what senses are functional, or are we incorporating some sort of remote sensory presence so you can view things "from the outside" as it were).
Merlin is only an amateur at this.
The Purify Food and Drink is a M3@1 skill; details behind the screens. You've both learned it. There is a glitch with it, though--I do not see any skill on your sheets indicating that either of you has a skill that can bless water, and you've made that a necessary component of the skill.
The 14@1 skill will wait until we've accomplished the 13@6.
--M. J. Young
For the heightened attributes, I want them done in a group, always, and I will take option 1 for the detriments, taken off the skills in the other skill set.
For the fireball the rf 1/3 is ok
I only chose that 13@1 skill to gently nudge Geneice's skill up if Merlin has a suitable replacement, I am game.
For the feign death I want the short casting time, and rsx3 minutes for the length, don't need anything more complicated.
I believe above, I did mention we didn't have a bless water spell, but I spelled it out what I wanted it to be, did the sheet, but didn't know what skill or level it was, so I did figure that in, just didn't know where on the scale it landed at.
I hope that answered your questions
Adam
Neither of you manage to draw from your non-physical attributes to support your physical attributes; Merlin says it's probably not your fault, as he was never very good at that and doesn't really have much call to do it that often. He pushes you to try the reverse, and you both manage to learn to draw from your physical attributes to support your non-physical attributes.
Suddenly with your increased non-physical attributes, you can see how to do the other skill, and you each teach yourselves to sap the non-physical attributes to build the physical ones.
Merlin remarks on your cleverness in that.
You also learn the fireball quite easily.
Concerning building the knowledge gradually, Merlin suggests that you are both weak in magical telekinetics and teleportives. You could learn to move objects around by the outer powers rather than the inner powers--it increases your flexibility to be able to do so. The goal would be able to fly, not merely to fly but to enable others to fly with you. You will also wish to learn to teleport yourselves. He also suggests what might be considered a safety teleport skill--a delayed teleport, which you take the time to cast when you are safe and activate instantly at need, which then will take you "home" or to whatever preset destination you have determined. These are his thoughts on what skills will build your abilities as well as proving useful in the future.
--M. J. Young
Let's do a delayed teleport to Merlin's grove with the folowing:
Arcane Spell, Delayed Teleport to a Place of Saftey. Baseline range, area of effect, 6 hours cast, appropriate words in Latin, Sound is Vital, Caster user both arms, foci ok, words said forcefully, object or part of environment of the place of saftey.
Then Fly Spell:
Arcane Spell, Enable myself and others to fly. Baseline range, area of effect, Baseline casting time, appropriate words in Latin, Sound is Vital, Caster user both arms, foci ok, words said forcefully, Feather of a flight bird, it is destroyed in casting of the spell.
Then a Group Fly Spell:
Arcane Spell, Enable myself and others to fly. Baseline range, area of effect, Baseline casting time, appropriate words in Latin, Sound is Vital, Caster user both arms, foci ok, words said forcefully, Feather of a large flight bird, it is destroyed in casting of the spell.
Adam
Concerning the Delayed Teleport skill, the baseline range is anywhere within the current sub-universe. The area of effect is usually one object or person, and with a person it will take everything the person is carrying or holding. If you'd like to make it more complicated such that it would take both of you, you could do that, although you could probably design a skill (or two skills) that would allow either of you to teleport the other or to teleport him (or her) self.
Six hours is gross overkill; six minutes would be a comfortably extended ritual time, but there's no reason you can't make it thirty minutes for certainty.
Because the spell effect is contingent, it needs a trigger. Some possible triggers include speaking a particular word, breaking an enspelled object such as a stick or an egg, clapping a particular rhythm. It's tricky, because of course you do not want the spell to activate accidentally, as it might if someone broke the stick or you accidentally said the trigger word, but it's intended for emergencies and if you're fighting for your life clapping thrice then pausing and then clapping twice more might take too long. You can design a skill in which you set the trigger word when you cast it, but this has a couple disadvantages. For one thing, because the trigger word changes, it is a little less certain to work. You can compensate for that, but it is a factor to consider. The other thing is that using a consistent trigger word makes it more likely that you will remember the word in the middle of trouble and less likely that you will say it accidentally in conversation. Of course, you have to choose a trigger word that you are unlikely to say accidentally, and being able to pick the word for the casting means if you know you are going to be somewhere where a particular word is very likely to be used you can pick a different word. The best way, of course, is to cast the spell while in the place of safety to which you wish to be taken; the trigger then takes you there. The idea of using something from the destination as a material component is excellent, as even an acorn from Merlin's grove gives you a connection back to Merlin's grove.
Concerning the group fly spell, I would like a definition of a "large" flight bird. That is, would Horus count, or do we need something closer to an Albatross or Condor?
I was going to roll the standard fly spell, but I have run out of time tonight; I will try to remember to put you first tomorrow to make up for that.
--M. J. Young
For the Delayed Teleport, 30 minutes and the trigger is "Suck it Trebek"
For the Group Flight, yes Horus would count, but he's sensitive about his weight, so we won't dwell on the large bird part.
Will wait on that Standard Flight Spell roll.
Adam
You both learn to fly. It is exhilarating to be airborne, although it also makes you a bit nervous to have nothing between your feet and the ground.
Merlin says usually he flies by turning himself into a bird, so he's not as good at flying directly. Some people like brooms for this, as it gives them something solid to make them feel as if they're not as likely to fall. One advantage of flying as a bird is that you don't attract attention to yourself when you do so; non-magical people are already nervous about wizards, but seeing one fly is truly frightening for many. But it's important to know as many ways to achieve a result as you can, because you'll want to know the best way for some situations. Of course, shape changing is a very difficult magical ability, and even when you accomplish it you still have to learn to fly as a bird.
You also each manage to cast the homing teleport, and from some distance away to teleport yourselves safely back to the grove. Merlin asks what "Suck it Trebek" means. He also suggests that you should cast the spell again before going anywhere, since you've spent it in the learning process.
You both learn to take someone flying with you. Geneice takes Snowbeard, who is not entirely happy with the idea at first, but starts to get used to it as she comforts him while they are airborne. Merlin points out that there is no theoretical limit to how many can fly with you, but there is a practical limit in that the more you attempt to include the harder it is to make it work at all.
Again, I apologize for the delay in getting to this, and beg your indulgence in helping me get back on track with what we were going to do next.
--M. J. Young
I will explain, TV, and shows, then we will get to Jeopardy, then we will explain the comedy shows, and Saturday Night Live. I will then explain Celebrity Jeopardy, and how all the questions are dumbed down for the famous people in movies and TV, who are often dumb. I will explain one such individual, Sean Connery, who in the comedy skit, hates Alex Trebek, played by Will Farrel, and they right answers on a screen, which gets revealed a piece at a time. After one such question, the fake Sean Connery's answer was "Suck it Trebek", meaning he thought Trebek liked men. To me it is funny, I do have them on my laptop, which should have enough power to show you if you like, and if it turns on.
I believe we are back to the mind powers, with us wanting to learn the following:
Event Awareness 10@1
History of Object 11@2
Danger Sense 12@1
Predict Major Event 12@6
Precognitive Scrying 12@9
Perceive Futures 12@10
Adam