Behind the Screens 2008 · Page 11

MJ, I just remembered something with my lazy eye. I can, with great concentration, track 2 objects at the same time, one with each eye. It's part of the being able to switch back and forth between the two eyes. Sometimes this just happens at random, so I often walk with one eye closed.

Kurt, Harry, and John 2 are in play.

I'm going to push Kurt forward a few steps quickly. This should be interesting.

We'll also move forward to Harry's next event. He's got a 12 GE roll, which is good enough, and that suggests that he's going to be around when it happens.

All I can think to do for John 2, whose posts have been failing to appear, is open a new thread for him.

--M. J. Young

Only Harry and Adam have posted today; I hope John is not still having trouble posting to his new thread.

Harry wants to use his telescopic vision to get a look at the distressed ship. He wisely suspects a trap. Of course, the navigator has been using a telescope, and has a better vantage from the crow's nest, but that doesn't mean Harry can't outdo him. The first question is, does his telescopic vision work, and how successfully? 51 is the sort of roll I don't have to check.

I have updated the sheets for Adam and Geneice, but Adam rolls 60 on an effort to project the new skill pattern to Geneice. Of course, this is a high bias world, and he has bonuses, so let's check the math. Although it is a 15@ world, his bias is 10@, so he gets only +20 for doing that. The project thought SAL is 1@5, +15. I just gave him +5 familiarity for Geneice, and his BRA for Psi is 2@9--I think we have a winner, 69% chance of success.

That gives Geneice an example at his new SAL, and an instructor bonus because he also explained how to do it, and with a roll of 92 trying to learn a 2@7 bias skill with a 10@1 bias in a 15@ bias world is going to be simple, 1@3 SAL for the new skill.

It also finishes my work here.

--M. J. Young

I see Kurt, Dave, Harry, John 2, and Adam.

We'll get Kurt on the plane and on his way.

Dave asks a simple question; I'll give him extra information. Not sure whether he can do anything about any of this, but it's worth it to give him some story, that something is happening.

Harry's caution is given good foundation as he talks with the captain.

John 2 is making me work: I have to go back to the old thread to get prices on things he's buying now, when he could have copied the prices himself. Ah, well--we'll find them. I need to roll for some items--on the duct tape, he gets a 21. He gets an 18 on the single-use raincoats.

And then I was so focused on John's post that I almost forgot Adam, the more inexcusable because I was thinking about how interesting his ideas were. On the other hand, they're also going to involve a considerably higher level of psionic power, and a good teacher such as Merlin will delay that, building up to it. It also occurs to me that he hasn't dealt with the "outer powers" yet, and he'll want to bring his pupils up in both areas.

Now I can post this.

--M. J. Young

You didn't post to my thread

Yes, I reallized it as soon as I clicked "Send Post", but you can't recall that action once it's done--you can only edit, so I did.

Sorry, once again.

--M. J. Young

All posts today are games--Kurt, Harry, John 2, and Adam playing.

Kurt is settling in for his flight.

On a roll of 50, Harry fails another attempt at telescopic vision. With an 18, he makes good use of the telescope. Let's give him an intuition check: 3+16=19 against a 1@7 intuition, so there's not much to notice. His suggestions are good, though.

I seem to have misplaced my record of which gem or gems John 2 already sold; I'll ask him before I search.

Adam continues to work with Merlin to develop his magic abilities.

--M. J. Young

I sold the ruby. 8,000 credits.

This is why I wanted a list of the gems, just for occasions like this.

John, if you want a list of the gems, you have to find a way for your character to get such a list within the milieu in which you find him. In this case, it is uncommon for anything to be written on paper, so you need to find a way either to get paper and a writing implement and have someone go through the stones with you carefully, making a list, or you have to find a way to create the list in some other medium.

This still gives you another problem. As I see it, you've got eighty-three gems loose in a bag. Each of them is unique, yet there are many similarities. Can you tell the two thousand credit topaz from the two hundred credit topaz? the fifteen hundred credit aquamarine from the eighteen credit blue quartz? The one hundred credit moonstone from the one thousand credit opal? Yet I'm sure you're going to tell me that you want to sell the one of the one thousand credit peridots, and then complain if you later find that whoever was the buyer took the fifteen hundred credit peridot instead, happy with his bargain. So unless you can find a way to sort and label all your gems, I don't see how I can justify giving you a complete list.

Now, we have games with Harry, John 2, and Adam.

Harry is going to keep alternating between the telescopic vision attempt and the telescope until he sees something conclusive, gets close enough that the magnification does not help--or something prevents him. His chance of success with the psi trick is 1@5 SAL+1@9 BRA+2x0@ bias=34%; that's a 6% chance to botch, 95 or higher. With the telescope it's 1@9 SAL+2@3 BRA+2x7@ bias=56%, 4% chance to botch, 97 or higher. Since he's doing the psi skill once per minute and the telescope between, we need a rough idea of how long it will take to close the gap so we know how many attempts he's making on the psi skill. The GE roll is 25, so it's going to be long enough that something should happen. Then again, he rolls 28 on his next attempt to get the telescopic vision working, so he's got about half an hour to watch. The questions are, is there anything to notice, and does he notice it? On the former, I have a bit of a problem created by the fact that this is a teaching forum: to explain how this is determined, I have to reveal what it is that Harry wants to know. In fact, this is a pirate ambush disguised as a distressed ship. They have a second set of sails well hidden behind the tatters, and fully intend to drop them as soon as they've lured an unsuspecting merchant vessel in close. However, the pirates have a 1@8 SAL at Ambush, a tech skill whose function is to hide any clues that there is an ambush. This is supported by a 1@6 SAL and 2x6@ bias, which gives them a 46% chance of successfully hiding anything that would give the quarry an intuition check. The roll of 24 means it is successful, and no one aboard the Piper can detect anything amiss by normal means (including telescopes--and since telescopic vision is the same, it has the same limit). Now, it is possible that Harry either has or can devise a skill that would overcome the "ambush" skill, giving him back his intuition check or even telling him what he wants to know; but I can't suggest to him what might accomplish this (even though there are several such skills which come to mind).

Not a lot to say to John 2 but some of it is important.

Looking at Adam's spell ideas, the one which is best for bonusing the chance to hit is the air one. That would be a Bonus Strike M1@2 twirl the weapon through the air and say, "Grant this weapon the grace of air to guide it to it's intended target". The usual TF is 1:00, but we'll give it a -20 penalty and change it to an RF1, which lets him cast it as an amateur in six seconds as long as he doesn't cast any other spell for the rest of the minute. (He can use the weapon immediately.) I note that air is a necessary component of this spell--it won't work in space or underwater unless he uses some other technique to create a pocket of air, which is a limitation created within the spell--a small one, but in addition to +1 for including air as a material component I'll give him an extra +3 for a spell that cannot be used outside of a gaseous atmosphere. I also note that the flourish would require a successful weapon use skill check, and thus +10 for the required extra skill. He has +5 for appropriate words. That puts him at -1 as it stands, unless I've overlooked something; but I'm not certain we've finished crafting it so I'm not rolling for it and I'm not double checking yet. I recognize that it uses either hand, which is a penalty; it also strikes me that it cannot be used for weaponless attacks, because it blesses the weapon itself, not the attacker; on the other hand, once the weapon is blessed, it can be given to someone else for the duration of the magic. These are details to consider as Adam fine-tunes what he is doing.

--M. J. Young

Yeah MJ, I understand your logic. I was never calling that into question. I just think that it would be good for there to exist 2 copies of the gem list. If for no other reason, sheer practicality. Not that I don't trust you, but as they say "Shit Happens"

MJ, just so you know (probably again) - I always read my thread before I read the Behind the Screens, so my attempt to mindread them is NOT in response to your post here (although I'll admit to believing that Mind Reading should slip under the bias curve because I think I saw it on someone else's character sheet). In character I have no reason /not/ to try - I'm nervous as Hell ICly and I've had a bad feeling about this ship (IC and OOC, oddly enough) since the moment we spotted it.

I'm nervous as Hell ICly and I've had a bad feeling about this ship (IC and OOC, oddly enough) since the moment we spotted it.

What does ICly mean? (In characterly?)

And yes, Scott can tell you about how my OOC and IC personas collided in game. It happens.

A1Nut - exactly.

Harry does not have long to wait, as he is first tonight, followed by John 2, Adam, and Graeme.

Harry makes an excellent choice: thought perceives thought, or feeling perceives feeling, the simplest of all genuine psionic skills but with an unlimited number of discriminated variations. I can give him a 1@1 example for Deanna Troi, since although he has watched the actress attempt to do this, it is a fictional example. (I would do as much for reading spells from a game book or copying the instructions in a novel. It would be entirely different had he actually met the real Deanna Troi and found a way to observe her ability directly.) He is up against a flatlined world bias, but his own bias is at least 4@ just off the top of my head, and a roll of 17 is so obviously successful that we'll add 1@1 Empathy P1@1, and give him information on one target. Also, I'm not going to roll for what that one guy is feeling, because I think it's pretty obvious what the entire crew of that ship is feeling.

We'll move John 2 closer to his desired knowledge about his gems.

Adam is happy with his weapon bless spell as it stands, and has answered my main question, so let's take a look at his ritual and crunch the numbers more precisely. Arcane magic M1@2, must be touching the weapon +20 (I've considered this, and since it is possible to design a ranged version of such a skill to bless, or curse, someone else's weapon, he should get the bonus for contact--I'm sure he won't object), RF1 -20, duration RS minutes, appropriate words +5, -2 for ability to use either hand, can only be done in gaseous atmosphere +4, must make a successful weapon flourish (weapon use or similar check) +10. That's +17. His roll is 11, an easy 1@1 Bonus Strike M1@2 twirl the weapon through the air and say, "Grant this weapon the grace of air to guide it to it's intended target", RF1, air is a necessary component (won't work in space or underwater unless he uses some other technique to create a pocket of air), requires a successful weapon use or similar skill check for the flourish, cannot be used for weaponless attacks, (blesses the weapon, not the attacker)but the weapon can be given to someone else for the duration of the magic. Duration RS minutes, grants RS/10 SM to attacks, +17SM.

Graeme is one step ahead, as always, preparing words for future use in his language spell. He gets a 15 on a simple persuasion check, which is strongly successful.

We'll see where this goes for everyone.

--M. J. Young

It's very late, but not too late for me to see what I can do with games for Harry, John 2, and Adam.

Harry has avoided the trap; now he might have to do some explaining.

John 2 finally has his long-desired list of gems.

Adam has successfully batted the ball into my court: what does Geneice think? I'll throw in some ideas, and turn attention to the next question.

--M. J. Young

Harry, John 2, and Adam have returned.

I'm not sure whether Harry does or does not want an opportunity to use his TK pulse against a pirate, but the GE roll is 16, and I wasn't thinking in that direction, so the pirates will give up, the Piper not having moved close enough.

John 2 is trying to get me to make his character's decisions. I can't do that fairly, so I have to hand it back to him.

I don't recall how Merlin did the teleport last time, only how it's done generally in this particular universe, so I'll just repeat what I figure must have happened to get Adam back to England.

--M. J. Young

I warmly welcome the return of John 4, joining Harry, John 2, and Adam in today's activities.

We'll move John 4 to his audition, and see how he wants to progress.

Harry gives a good explanation to a receptive captain, who suggests a decent cover story in response. I'm going to have to consider what skills improve on his next day of the adventure, but honestly it's after midnight so I'm going to leave "tomorrow" until tomorrow.

John 2 is still dealing with precious metals and gemstones. I really don't think he wants a jeweler to do for him what a scrap metalurgist can do cheaply, but maybe I'm wrong.

Adam and Geneice will do what apprentices usually do: learn by participating in the work of the master. They are going to help construct the Sword in the Stone, and along the way learn the spells needed for such a task.

--M. J. Young

John 2 is still dealing with precious metals and gemstones. I really don't think he wants a jeweler to do for him what a scrap metalurgist can do cheaply, but maybe I'm wrong.

I'm a blacksmith, remember? If I wanted it done cheaply, I could do it myself. Let's just say that in my first world, I learned 80,000 reasons not to worry about money as a verser.

I had been chatting with John 4 last night, and expected to find a post from him here; but it looks like my players tonight are Kurt, Harry, John 2, and Adam.

Kurt has given me four friends who will do very nicely for what I have in mind.

Harry is right: it is good to find multiple uses for the same skill and get better at it. For what it's worth, though, one thing that bias tends to do, particularly in a lot of psionic levels but also in the other bias areas, is cut out the more flexible skills. For example, you can create a P4@7 telekinetic skill that will handle multiple objects, gasses, and liquids (all 4@7), connected flexible objects in "marionette" style (4@6), delicate movements (4@5), high velocity (4@4), obscured objects and objects of any weight (4@3), and simple telekinesis (4@2), but if the curve is not at least 11, and that's the only skill you have, you can't do any of those things. Thus having the incorporated skills separately is also valuable.

John 2 is changing his precious metals into a form he thinks might be more useful.

Adam has a 1@5 SAL at Latin, +2x10@ bias, +2@9 BRA, 64%, but a roll of 95 is not going to give him the meaning of the spell. Merlin will give it to him anyway, and then we'll let Adam work up how he might use the ideas of one spell to create another.

--M. J. Young

Kurt, Harry, John 2, and Adam are playing tonight.

Kurt surprised me, looking to tie in with his friends. This isn't a problem, though, since they weren't expecting him and there's a separate plan for him already in motion.

Harry rolls a 12 GE roll on finding someone gambling. I think I know where he's going with this, but we'll let him get there.

I've promised to post equipment for John 2, but not in this post.

I'll discuss Adam's spell ideas, giving him some instruction and insight along the way.

--M. J. Young

This is the equipment list I have for John 2:

1 school backpack weight 1 pound
1 school duffle bag weight 1 pound
1 luggage style duffle bag, weight 1 pound

1 14 inch hunting knife, black nylon sheath with 2 carrying pouches. Inside one pouch is a Leatherman multi-tool, (pliers, 3 flathead screwdrivers, 1 Phillips screwdriver, blade, can opener, two-sided file and awl punch) 12 sewing needles and 3 small spools of thread. The other pouch contains a magnesium fire starting tool, 1 BIC cigarette lighter, fishing line, fishing sinkers and several fishhooks. Wrapped around the knife sheath is 15 feet of high-tensile black nylon cord. total weight approximately 4 pounds
1 tool box, red painted steel sheet metal, containing complete ratchet set, 2 ratchets, 12 screwdrivers, 2 pair of regular pliers, 2 pairs needle-nose pliers, 1 pair vice grips, 1 soldering iron, 1 solder removal tool, 1 roll of solder, 2 pairs wire cutters, 2 crescent wrenches, 1 hatchet, 1 claw hammer, 1 box of 3 inch nails, 2 rolls duct tape, 1 utility knife with 4 changeable razor blades, leather work gloves, a complete set of Allen wrenches, 2-AA battery flashlight, voltmeter, wood saw, multi-tipped screwdriver, complete set of wrenches. weight, approximately 25 pounds.
100 feet high tensile white nylon cord, weight 1 pound, cut in two pieces ~30' and ~70'
1 21 speed all-terrain mountain bicycle, with security chain and combination lock, weight approximately 15 pounds
1 complete first-aid kit weight 1 pound has tweezers, over 100 band-aids, several gauze pads, an instant ice pack, surgical tape, rubber gloves, instruction book
1 dynamo flashlight (shake it to charge, no batteries needed) weigh 1/2 pound
1 dynamo radio (crank to charge, no batteries needed) and black nylon carrying case with strap. radio receives AM, FM, audio to TV frequencies 2-13, 7 weather bands. It is equipped with an LED flashlight, siren, and hazard signal flasher. It can also be used to charge a cell phone battery weight 1 pound
1 Marlin 22 caliber rifle, 18 round capacity, 2,000 rounds 22 ammunition. total weight, approximately 10 pounds, reload 0:60
1 can opener weight approximately 1/2 pound heavy duty crank type
1 aluminum baseball bat, weight approximately 1 pound
5 BIC cigarette lighters, 15 packs of cigarettes (enjoy them while they last!!!!) weight 2 pounds
Clothing: 3 pair jeans, 3 tee shirts, 1 heavy winter coat, 2 camouflage army jackets, 3 pairs socks, 3 pairs underwear, 2 pairs flannel pajama pants, 1 black leather belt, 1 purple hoodie sweatshirt, total weight approximately 30 pounds

black military combat boots
leather billfold
house keys

Ruger P-89 pistol 15 shot magazine +1 chambered 9mm 3# reload (clip) 0:12 RF10 dangerous
5 boxes 50@ 9mm pistol ammo
15 round magazine for Ruger -10 rounds P-99
$15.75 money from B Movie Monster World

5 magazines 15 round each for 9mm Ruger
Spare 15 round magazine for Ruger, -1 round P-99
Military Surplus Sleeping Bag
Keyring: house key, mailbox key, toolbox key, AND a key that will open standard issue police handcuffs
MAK 90 Russian-made shoots 7.62x39 ammo, low quality detachable bayonet comes with a metal sheath that can be hooked to the bayonet to become a pair of wire cutters, back of bayonet has hacksaw blade as part of the blade, serves as bayonet, fighting knife, wirecutters, and hacksaw, reload 0:24, base lethal RF 30 10':40':80':300':+1/3'
30-round MAK magazine -17 rounds

Utility belt

8x30 round MAK magazines
Leatherman multi-tool, (pliers, 3 flathead screwdrivers, 1 Phillips screwdriver, blade, can opener, two-sided file and scissors) (second of these, slightly different) in black nylon case on belt
radio flyer wagon

universal gun cleaning kit
three throwing knives
holster for a Ruger P-89
two-quart aluminum canteen with canvas case and shoulder strap
New Combat Boots, original SWAT brand, size 13
Hobo Knife, splits with knife and spoon on one half, fork and can opener on the other, fanny pack
15 BiC lighters, five (one sealed pack) in fanny pack
KABAR, 12 inch Marine (military) fighting/survival knife, black leather sheath.

4 gold coins, 1 ounce each, 24K ($3200 original price in B Monster Movie World), fanny pack, say "United We Stand" with a picture of the American flag on one side, and on the reverse the words, "We must all hang together, or surely we will all hang separately.--Benjamin Franklin"
10 blocks .999 silver, 1 ounce each ($461.00 original price in B Monster Movie World), fanny pack, say "E Pluribus Unum" under a picture of the United States Capitol building, and on the reverse "United States of America" over the image of George Washington.

Diamond ring, gold setting, $225 original price (B Monster Movie World), fanny pack
Diamond ring, gold setting, $235 original price (B Monster Movie World), fanny pack
Fanny pack, black leatherette with cloth strap and plastic buckle, on waist

Ronco Pocket Fisherman

Deck playing cards
20 steel quarrels, imitation metal fletching, ranges in crossbow 3:9:15:30:+1/30' (1:3:5:10:+1/10 yards), lethal
150 wooden quarrels, steel heads, ranges in crossbow 12:45:90:240:+5/12' (4:15:30:80:+5/4 yards), damaging
lever & latch crossbow T3@1 8 pounds maximum range for the wooden arrows 80 yards, and maximum range for the metal arrows 10 yards. I don't remember the damage categories, except that the metal arrows were one step above the wooden arrows.

Ruby, 3 carat (~1cm diameter)
Emerald, 3 carat (~1cm diameter)
10# block gold
20# in 4z silver crowns (coins)
+21 crowns 4z each
2 silver half crowns 2z each
16 silver leaves 1z from Dancing Princess trees
32 gold leaves 1z from Dancing Princess trees
64 shillings, 0.5z nickel
116 pence, 0.5z bronze

4 Jumpsuits, drab green khaki (standard WW2 army) one piece, step into legs, pull shirt up behind you, put arms through sleeves, and button front from fly to collar; twin patch breast pockets, left and right outside pouch pockets above the waist, front and rear hip pockets stitched inside, and a pair of large outside pockets on the upper legs with snap-down flaps on top. sleeve cuffs button, and there are loops for a belt, cuffs on the legs, apparently so the length can be adjusted--or so that if you drop a screw you know where it landed.
4 pair boxer shorts, army drab
4 pair socks, army drab
Pair white tennis shoes

3 sets medieval clothing
Invisibility cloak M1@3 Active when Worn confers M5@8 Invisibility and M7@3 Penetrate Disguise
Straight Razor
Quiver, 30 quarrel capacity
19 "Boom Stick" spears, 18 disowned in TerraNova Habitat, one 6' kept, from Dancing Princess
Priest's traveling robes
3 sets manacles, wrist cuffs covered with rabbit pelts

2 kg scrap platinum molded into various broken objects
Wristop, a computer with a terrabyte of memory and a terraherz processor that fits on your wrist, displays through a flat screen similar to those on the walls, and can interface with most known systems via internal wireless modem.
10 Fragmentation grenades, 10':30':60':100':+1/1', fatal 10'r
10 Glue grenades, 10':30':60':100':+1/1', 10' diameter sphere of glue strands difficult check, additional 10'r simple check to break strands
1000 rounds 9mm ammo
1000 rounds MAK90 ammo
MAK 90 clip, 100 round drum, empty
MAK 90 clip, 50 round, empty
MAK 90 clip, 30 round, empty
Smith & Wesson .357 six-shot revolver with 4" barrel and rubber grip
500 rounds .357 revolver ammo
3 days worth trail/adventure food. Water is required to prepare these, but some components are ready to eat particularly in the "lunch" packs.
Full-sized synthetic backpack with lightweight polymer frame can carry 240 pounds in a six cubic foot interior , 3'x2'x1', with a maximum enclosed diagonal (for an object running from opposite corners through the center of the pack) of 3'9". It weights 2 pounds

--M. J. Young

Kurt, Harry, and John 2 are my players.

I have just launched four "getting to know you" threads, and will encourage all players to find these and respond. Already, with only one response on one thread, I have gained something of value for play, because I know now that Kurt has family far enough away that he never sees them, and I need a "what were you supposed to do instead" for his game.

Harry asks, concerning whether he has to have psionic familiarity:

Do I need to have? I just basically want to feel around till I find someone, then latch on and get a read. I don't particular care who at this point.

Here's the problem from my end. You have a skill with unlimited range; it functions by tuning into a "known frequency" of a target. You can get that frequency initially by focusing your attention on someone whose position you can identify relative to your own very precisely (thus, looking at his head--knowing that he is standing at the wheel on deck is not precise enough if you do not know where his head is). Once you "know" the "frequency" of an individual, you can tune it in from anywhere, but until you know that, you can't really pick someone.

Now, the logical conclusion of this is that if somehow you were to be able to pick up frequencies at random, you could actually be picking up the frequency of any random sentient being in the entire universe. At the same time, there must be far more "frequencies" than there are people alive in any universe at any time--because, for one thing, all the people who have already died or are yet to be born also each has a unique frequency that is "his". In fact, were you to meet "yourself", that divergent self would have a unique frequency, so close to your own that you would be highly bonused on connecting, and yet distinct enough that if someone attempted to contact him telepathically, you would not be contacted by mistake. Thus the "dial" is mostly empty--you could spin it for a thousand years at random and not hit anyone.

However, given that, I will give him a double GE roll--two consecutive 3s and he finds a being somewhere in the universe; only the first roll 3 and he connects to that pirate again, by accident. First roll is 12, which is "good enough" for him to understand the problem. I am rolling for his efforts there, as although he cannot succeed he can still botch. 37 is a failed roll anyway.

With the card players, 71 fails, 88 fails, finally 01 succeeds. I will give him new use, raising him to 1@2. He rolls 09 on trying to read the next movement of someone in combat, which gives him a new skill (he specified that possibility), 1@1 Read Intended Combat Movement P1@1 +RS/10 SM on all combat attacks and defenses, a read minds variant.

He also appears to mention a precognitive combat bonus, which is a much more difficult thing, so I don't want to commit him to it without confirmation.

John 2 gets his crossbow and pills, and returns to the hotel.

--M. J. Young

I don't really have much time, but will start this now and finish later. Kurt is first, followed by Dave, Harry, John 2, and Adam.

Kurt asks a good question. I did run this scenario on someone once and invent a spare "friend", but this time I'm going pretty straight with his divergent's life.

A roll of 49 gives Harry a 1@1 Read Surface Thoughts P1@1 skill. He also attempts to add a second link on the combat trick, rolling 58, 79, 85, 36--his chance of success takes a -5 penalty for adding the second person, so the 1@1 SAL and 1@9 BRA minus the penalty gives him only 25% chance on doing so--72, 63, 13 will give him the success and the increase to 1@2 on that skill.

John 2 doesn't realize just how dependent this entire world is on its computer systems. Derek will let him know.

It seems that I can write an answer from Merlin to Adam, and be done with today's game. That's encouraging, even though I really should have left by now.

--M. J. Young

I was thinking that I did not really have much time to address the posts here, because I really should be dealing with dinner and restocking the larder, but that I would at least look to see what was happening. Since Harry is the only poster today (Harry, have you ever before been the only poster?), perhaps I can squeeze in completion of the forums before I rush out of here.

Harry is practicing his empathic and mind reading skills rather randomly, looking for whether he improves relative to targeted individuals. Since that's what he wants to know but he's not organizing it so much in that direction, a general effects roll is an appropriate way of determining whether he gets the information he wants--and a 9, As Good As Expected, will give him two randomly-selected individuals for whom a very slight edge, +2 and +1, will be gained. I already have a randomized table for this, so I'll use it even though there would be some sense to tweaking it (to favor those whom he already knows well). The first roll is 16, but that doesn't help because that's "Re-roll or player character", and he's not practicing on himself. 13 is Security Officer 3, Christian, which is a good choice because he spars with him so he's using it several ways (also using it for the predictive ability). 14 is Deck Hand 1, Tolomy, who has been around a while.

I suddenly have this odd feeling I should be making note of something that I've forgotten. Hopefully it is not important.

Let me again encourage anyone who is playing any game who has not already done so to post in the Getting to Know You threads. I am particularly interested in one fact about one individual player at the moment, which will create a very interesting side twist in his game if I am right about him, but I cannot proceed with that until I know the answer. Further, it has already helped me in at least one game to have trivial details about the player's life, as I was able to provide reasonable answers to his questions about his divergent based on these. There is a level on which Multiverser is designed to be played by people who know each other, who can see into each other's lives and draw ideas from who the players are. This is my perhaps belated attempt to begin to touch some of that (although indeed I have met some of you and gotten to know you through other media, but still, my knowledge of who you are is woefully lacking in some areas).

Thanks.

--M. J. Young

Nope, this is my first time being all by myself.

I feel like I should run around banging on a pail to wake everyone else up.

And is the thing that you've forgotten, that I had a skill-improvement anniversary due right about now?

I just couldn't be bothered to rehash another stall post till now, too busy.

Making up for the shortage of posters yesterday, I have Kurt, Harry, John 2, and Adam all in action today.

I think Adam is the only one of those who have not posted anything at all to my Getting to Know You threads; I hope he'll remedy that.

Kurt will discover a discrepancy in his information because of time, but nothing serious.

Harry is correct that he has now been in this world over 399 days, and on this particular journey over 193 days, and there are some things that will kick in at 400 and others at 200 and others that advance "around that time", so it's time to take a look at his skills and attributes afresh. Here are the changes I see:

1@4 Operate Small Boat T3@1
1@3 Pilot Ship T3@1
1@4 Make/Use Maps P0@0
1@5 Heightened Awareness (Accuracy) P 3@1
1@8 TK Pulse P4@1
1@6 Telescopic Vision P5@1
1@5 Night Vision P5@1
1@7 Irish Bamboo Flute M0@0
2@6 Witchcraft Mag 1@0
1@10 Activate (Existing) Holy Ground M+1@1 5:00TF calling four corners by element and position, declaring purpose to work magic, say "Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the east. Keepers of water, the rolling ocean, I call to you. Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the south. Keepers of air, the rushing gales, I call to you. Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the west. Keepers of earth, the eternal mountains, I call to you. Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the north. Keepers of fire, the glory of dawn, I call to you. It is my purpose in this space to work magic. I humbly ask that I be allowed to use this gift, given me by the gods and shaped by my will and theirs. Odin, my patron, grant me wisdom, that I be rightly guided in this space. Freya, queen of all sorcerers, grant me power, your will and mine be one. Njordr, lord of the sea, keep steady this holy space, and look favorably on us as we go." Turn to each corner in turn, stand or sit with hands hip-height, palms open while declaring purpose, then with arms open while invoking the gods, skills which do not require holy ground to cast are bonused RS/20 if cast on activated holy ground, +28SM +1
1@2 Bonus Strike M1@2 0:06 whispered prayer "Thor guide me. Put strength in my hands and rage in my heart, to defend my friends and break my enemies" while holding intended weapon in weapon hand RS/10 minute duration RS/10 bonus to attacks with weapon +6SM
1@2 Defensive Bonus M+1@2 penalize all incoming attacks by RS/10 for one minute, TF 0:06, say "Thor protect me", -5SM, +10 if prayed before/while engaging in a risky action in honorable combat (for +5SM total)
1@3 Reduce Attack Success M+1@2 say "Thor Protect Me" sword in hand during battle, RF1 Duration RS/4 penalizes incoming attacks RS/10 +0SM
1@2 Limited Damage Repair M+2@1 TF 20 minutes, must be lying in his own bed, it must be night, must have his hands folded, appropriate words which, base fatal, +83 SM
1@2 Remove Fatigue M+2@1 must be lying supine in bed within an activated casting circle (holy ground) appropriate words spoken quietly but sound matters, invoking Tyr god of duty and valor, Thor god of strength, and Hugin and Munin symbols of vigilance, removing fatigue, 1:00:00TF reinvigorates such that caster will function normally for forty-seven hours after casting before feeling the fatigue of a normal day's work, +91SM.
1@4 Purify Food and Drink M+3@1, sit in activated holy ground for 1:00:00 TF while invoking Hel, Baldur, and Heimdall, saying "Restore what was, for the good of all, that what once passed may all the sooner come again," +74SM.
2@1 Smallsword Duelling Bod 7@1 fast aggressive weapon-dependent +15 att SM -5 def SM att x2 +1
1@6 Military Hand-to-Hand Combat (specialty in disarming maneuvers) Bod 7@1
2@1 Use Smallsword B7@1 +1
1@3 Pistol Gunslinging B7@1
1@8 Feint B7@2 tactical untargeted skill check, success adds +RS to next attack, failure bonuses next opponent attack +RF
1@10 Double Lunge B7@3 leveraged attack base dangerous, two hops on the left foot driving the momentum into a sword thrust from at least six but not more than twelve feet, limited to two one other attack in the minute. +1
1@6 Kick to the Groin B7@7 incapacitation, base dangerous damage plus target save vs stamina or collapse for RS/5 minutes, +15 to next opponent attack(s)

That should cover everything he has been practicing--correct me if I'm mistaken.

John 2 is confusing the biases of skills with the biases of devices; hopefully this will clarify it.

Adam is getting a bit bored with the slow pace his game is taking at the moment. I feel as if I should apologize, but I also feel that learning situations are inherently slower paced than adventure situations, and rushing them does not work well. I'll try to pick up the pace some.

--M. J. Young

As for the getting to know me thread, I read them all, didn't feel the need to share. With employers seaching the web for information about their employees, I share very little in a public forum online.

Adam

Well, I've had a stressful day, but it's still early enough to run games for three players--Kurt, John 2, and Adam.

If anyone has the same feelings as Adam about posting personal information in public, let me invite/encourage you to contact your referee by e-mail with answers to the questions. Of course, it's voluntary, but I'd rather know the truth about you than make it up.

Kurt doesn't realize that he's been marked for pickup. He also is unaware of other events unfolding around him, as he never checked back on a few things that were easy to overlook.

John 2's companion answers his comments.

Let me set up something on the side for Adam. We're going to create a wand, then protect a sword, but along the way let's bring the vampires back into focus.

--M. J. Young

Hey MJ, you forgot Harry.

Actually, I forgot no one. The rule is that everyone plays who posted by the time I open the forum page and start working on threads. It often happens that I am interrupted, and sometimes for hours; but because it would be unfair for me to respond twice to someone who (like Kurt did yesterday) managed to get back and post again before I am finished posting everyone, even if it takes me twelve hours on the clock before I am finished with everyone, no one who has not posted before that moment that I opened the page gets a reply until the next day. An exception has been made occasionally, usually when something forces me to reboot the computer before I have answered any game threads (computer glitch, power failure) and someone has arrived in the interim, but in the main the cutoff is whoever appears on the page when I arrive. Since I open all threads in new windows (and indeed, the four players for today are already each waiting in his own window) and keep the main page open without reloading until I have finished, this is simple to keep clear. With all respect to Harry, he showed up in that odd gap between when I opened the page and when I completed the first post, which was stretched yesterday by some major interruption which must have been very important at the time but completely escapes my recollection now--oh, yes, making and serving dinner and attending rehearsal, a good three-plus hours of being away from the computer. Sorry, Harry. I do miss people sometimes from oversight, but I particularly noticed your absence and then presence yesterday, and you missed the cutoff.

Not today, though. Kurt, who bounced back to post again before I finished yesterday's games, leads us, followed by Harry, who missed the cutoff yesterday but posted before I did, then John 2 who got here right on the heels of my departure but still took a couple hours to post, and finally Adam, whose post this morning was in plenty of time for today's game.

I'll give Kurt an intuition check for noticing a few details; 25 doesn't cut it. However, he might start recognizing names and events; we'll see what he does from here.

I expect that Harry would like to be at the helm for the next event; a GE roll of 15 is a not unfavorable result, but less even than not desired but generally favorable, so he's not at the helm.

My inclination is that the sporting goods store won't have any market for antique quarrels; but I'll give John 2 the benefit of a GE roll: 13 Barely Good Enough gives him something, but nothing he will particularly want.

Adam is putting together a magic wand; some of my readers would argue that a spear is more like a staff than a wand, but I really don't care--the point is to have a focus for magic, and he's got a good idea for one that will work both as an arcane focus and a holy symbol, and the fact that it's larger than necessary is, in my mind, something of a bonus.

--M. J. Young

Adam is putting together a magic wand; some of my readers would argue that a spear is more like a staff than a wand, but I really don't care--the point is to have a focus for magic, and he's got a good idea for one that will work both as an arcane focus and a holy symbol, and the fact that it's larger than necessary is, in my mind, something of a bonus.

MJ - At least in my experience, they serve the same purpose. The difference is semantics. In some game systems, like D&D, they do different things, but the purpose they serve at ritual is the same, and is exactly that: a focus that can be pointed. Especially in my Asatru tradition, a spear is (perhaps bonus-worthy) more appropriate due to the symbolism of Odin wielding the spear Gungnir, a spear so holy that no oath sworn upon it could ever be broken, while wands as such are wholly absent.

Edit: And, out of curiosity, I poked my head into Adam's game, and there he was citing the exact same example. Which I should've known he would, as, if I remember correctly, wasn't Adam the one I met at UberCon last time, and wasn't he wearing a Valknut at the time?

Harry: I certainly know that there is no practical difference between a "wand" and a "staff", and indeed that a magic "spear" can be as much such a device as anything else. I suppose it's time for a brief aside.

Brief aside.

When I wrote the first Multiverser novel, Verse Three, Chapter One, I submitted it to an excellent editor with whom I had worked on some articles for an e-zine. He made a thousand objections to the original text, and I addressed all of them one way or another.

However, one objection I considered and ignored.

Lauren Hastings includes in her backstory that she spent a very long time in NagaWorld, improving and gaining skills including psionic abilities, and that she brought with her a number of the psionic devices from that world. These included three devices which were telekinetic in nature, which Ed had always referred to as "rods", and thus I retained the designation. They are described in NagaWorld description as


black opaque poles six feet in length and very narrow, 1" in diameter, like a spear. At one end is a form similar to a gem in appearance, but large, roughly 8" long and 4" in diameter.

My editor objected that an object of that length was a staff, not a rod; that a rod was considerably shorter and thicker. It occurred to me, though, that a staff would also be thicker. Thus I saw no reason why one "incorrect" term ought to be replaced with another "incorrect" term, particularly as I suspected that the average reader would have more distinct images of a "staff" or "wand" than they would of a "rod", and since none of those images were accurate, the word with the least connection to an image was the best choice.

The outcome is that they are still called "rods" in the book, and I am sensitive to the fact that there are some people for whom these words have very narrow definitions, even though under Multiverser rules you can call the thing a stovepipe if you like, and you can use a stovepipe and call it a wand if that's what you want to do. Better, generally, to use words that connect to the images in mind, but if the primary aspect is that it works like a wand, that might be sufficient.

Now, let's look at Kurt, Harry, and John 2, as they play.

Kurt gets the rest of his briefing and his equipment. I hope I remembered it all.

I know that the project thought skill Harry wants to attempt is biased out in this world; he does not know that. If we were playing at the table, I would let him roll the dice to see if he can learn the skill, and then tell him nothing happened. Since this is a training game, I have to explain why it doesn't work and why the die roll does not matter (a skill that is biased out cannot work, but cannot botch, either, except in the case of a magic device skill when the activation skill is possible but the performed skill is not). I'll take his suggestion that he tries to "mind link" the captain to mean he wants to read the mind first, but a roll of 58 is too high for that here. He rolls 44 on the empathy attempt on a random pirate, which for a 1@2 skill and 1@9 BRA is also failure.

Derek and John 2 are moving forward with several plans, organizing their intentions.

--M. J. Young

I am ridiculously tired after a ridiculously long day of driving and waiting and driving and waiting and driving again, but I'm going to attempt to tackle the game posts from Kurt, Harry, John 2, and Adam. If I don't get through them all, you'll know that either I was interrupted or I finally collapsed.

Kurt attempts to get a glimpse of the female agent. In the original story, she was standing behind a led screen when the person in Kurt's position attempted to use them, but Kurt has delayed his use. Too bad, though--a roll of 20 isn't going to work. But more importantly, the action begins quickly.

If Harry's interceptor is within visual range, he doesn't have to make a telescope use skill check to support his mind/emotion reading exercises; but it would also mean that the encounter was that much closer. I think he would prefer to have them closer, and a 15 GE roll probably is considerably closer than he would have wanted, but definitely tells him what he wants to know.

It occurs to me to wonder to what degree the interior doors of a space station of this size would be air tight. My inclination is only the major section doors would be thus; but submarines don't have doors that don't seal, and it certainly does make sense to make secure air-tight subsections. John 2 rolls 20, again just bad enough.

I've got a good conversation going with Adam on several levels. We'll go with that, and throw in some more thoughts.

--M. J. Young

Again I have Kurt, Harry, John 2, and Adam, and it looks like fun all the way around.

Kurt moves into a three-way race, and is now going to be confronted with the question of how to handle this.

In preparation for his fight, Harry throws a Bonus Strike spell on his sword. It won't last more than a few minutes, of course, if it works at all--and a roll of 98 is almost certainly a botch, as he would need a chance of success of at least 71 to have less than a 3% chance to botch. But let's check to be certain. I have the SAL as 1@2 with a +6SM; his Witchcraft religion skill of 2@6 gives him +13. He has a 2@3 BRA. That's only 54%, which is pretty good for novice magic but not good enough to avoid a botch here. Now the question is, what kind of botch? The function of the skill was to bless his own attacks against the enemy. That suggests a few possibilities, and there are others that are more general:

1. Penalize personal attacks
2. Penalize crew attacks
3. Bonus enemy attacks
4. Bonus enemy boarding efforts
5. Gate
6. Magic Anomaly
7. Explosion
8. Summon Spirit
9. Unexpected Result: Heal any opponent hit
10. Absurd Result: Turn sword to flowers
11. Confer bonuses on any enemy attacked

Eleven is not a particularly easy range to roll, but I've got a d12 and can ignore 12s. The roll is 3, bonusing all enemy attacks by +10 for the next ten minutes.

We'll keep going; he casts a bonus strike on his pistol, 48 giving him +5 for 5 minutes. He adds his psionic accuracy, 1@9 BRA, 1@5 SAL, 34%, and the roll is 25 giving him another +3. He wants to find particular targets, so a GE roll dictates, 14 barely on the favorable side.

John 2 is trying to create a spell which might actually alter the fabric of reality; we'll see what he says it actually does.

Adam is moving forward toward having a holy spear which will serve as focus and holy symbol for his magic. It occurs to me to wonder whether the professional weaponsmith who makes this spear is going to produce a Weapon of Quality, or merely an excellent weapon, and his skill check of 37 says he makes a very good weapon, as good as any you could buy, but not one of extraordinary quality. It will suffice for the purpose. Merlin will also show him the hardening spell. I'm constructing that; I notice that 30 minutes is the TF for such a skill with RS minutes as the duration, and I need something permanent. I will double the time thrice for +30, use both hands for +3, require contact for +20, appropriate words for +5, magical language for +5, all of which gives me +63. That could give me six doublings of duration, which is about sixty hours speaking strictly, but I'll take off another -10 and call it permanent with a -7 SM. I'll copy the spell to a summary when Adam learns it.

Merlin's first attempt rolls 97; but Merlin has a 3@1 BRA, 3@5 SAL, and 15@ bias, with the -7 sit-mod all of which comes to 89%, so it's not a success, but not a botch. His second attempt rolls 50, an easy success.

--M. J. Young

The roll is 3, bonusing all enemy attacks by +10 for the next ten minutes.

Oh bugger. I hope you have my next Verse all lined up...

I've read some interesting side posts, but now come to the game with Kurt, Harry, John 2, and Adam awaiting.

Kurt asks a reasonable question for which the answer is probably not what he was hoping.

I make the barrel Harry is targeting long range, -25 for distance but full damage; he's also hoping that it will explode if he hits it. As mentioned, he has +10 for his bonus skills, 1@8 RSV, 1@3 Pistol Gunslinging, 2x7@ bod bias, and 2@2 Bod BRA, minus the TV of the barrel. It's wood, which has a density from 1@2 to 1@5, and probably oak, which is on the high side so 1@4; the TV is 1/3 the density of an inanimate stationary object, so -5 for that. The additions are 77, the subtractions 30, giving him a 47% chance to hit that barrel. He rolls 41. That's going to be enough to go through the wall of the barrel, so we give him a GE roll for whether he just ignited a barrel of gunpowder or merely spilled a barrel of grog, or wasted a shot on a barrel: bad roll, 25. The enemy makes several grapple attacks, 85, 68, 30, 95, 35, 87, 75, 62, 19, 93. Three of those are successful, one is a botch. Security will fire the cannons and then attempt to cut the ropes; We'll use a GE to hasten that part, since Harry is not involved: 14 is mildly favorable, not desired but generally favorable result.

John 2 is attempting to make a prayer control game mechanics, which is not possible because game mechanics do not exist. We'll see if we can come to a compromise.

Although Adam's roll for learning the new skill is a 96, I'm not at all worried about a botch, because his bias is 15@1 and the new skill is 3@5, so he's already one hundred sixteen percent ahead without his BRA, instruction, example, and the lot. This gives him 1@3 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. He adds both skill and equipment to his sheet.

--M. J. Young

John 2 is attempting to make a prayer control game mechanics, which is not possible because game mechanics do not exist. We'll see if we can come to a compromise.

MJ, without knowing the game mechanics, there's no way my character could design a prayer that would eliminate botches. However, my character has seen some very crazy things happen as a result of things not working right. He wants to eliminate those crazy things. You're expecting me to design a prayer that would say this without using the game mechanics. My character is talking to God. God would know what I mean. You and the dice are God in this case. So, if you understand what it is that I mean, why must I design the prayer that says that? I mean you don't need to understand how or why gravity works to drop a brick on someone's head, ya know?

John 2's comments are directly related to his game, so we will address them after dealing with Harry, the only other player to appear on the board today.

I need better to understand how Harry wants to use the TK pulse, so I'll ask. What he does there might affect his other actions, as they will impact the circumstances for the enemy.

I've taken John 2's arguments concerning his anti-botch prayer to his game thread, because otherwise I would have nothing to post there.

--M. J. Young

I'm addressing posts from Kurt, Harry, John 2, and Adam.

I think we're going to need a driving skill check for Kurt, but that means first we need to know how well he drives.

Harry is using his holy ground to support his casting; but I'm questioning whether that can be done at this point.

John 2 is still trying to get his character to think in terms of game mechanics. We'll have to deal with this.

Adam is exercising reasonable caution; he does not want to lose this opportunity to expand his magic and psionics. Of course, there might be other dangers, but we'll cover them as they arise.

--M. J. Young