I think I've caught everyone--Kurt, Nikolaj, John 2, and Graeme.
The question Kurt meant was whether he had a PA with the car. That's not something I know, so I'll roll a GE for it. Part of me considers it unlikely--but a 7 GE roll is Better than expected, so he's got it.
I'll give Nikolaj a quick tour of the leather shop, and see whether he asks questions that will help me figure out where to go with this next.
John 2 is creating a bonus skill check spell that appears to be exactly identical to his 1@1 Bonus Mag Device Use Skill Check M+1@4 TF 0:06 say "Please God let this work" +RS/5 to next mag device use attempt -10SM. I'm going to put it down as Bonus Psi Skill Check M+1@4 TF 0:06 say "Please God let this work" +RS/5 to next mag device use attempt -10SM. He rolls 67 on the skill learning roll, in a 0@ bias (not flatlined, but 0@) with a 12@6 mag bias and 2@2 BRA, an easy success for a 1@2 SAL. It also gives him +14 on his chance of success on the noncorporeality skill, and he rolls 67 again, a 1@2 SAL, +10 for bias (because his 5@ bias limits his bonus), +14 for the mag bonus, +2@2 BRA is 58%, close but not cupie. However, I'll roll Lauren's observation check, 54, which is a strong success. Her skill learning roll then is 69, and she has a 14@5 bias and 2@8 BRA plus John's 1@2 example against a 5@10 skill, a success. This gives me a bit of a problem to address, because I'm using the character sheet created based on what Lauren uses in the books, and this skill does not belong there. I'll think of something, though.
I'm obviously tired--I keep writing things in wrong windows. Let me try to focus on writing right.
I'm still wrapping my head around a land in which psionics are topped out and used as extensively as technology is in Roma. Graeme is going to have to get used to that, too, probably.
--M. J. Young
I have Kurt, Nikolaj, John 2, and possibly an early night tonight. Kyler wants to resume play, but he doesn't have Internet access, only e-mail (text by phone), so I might be picking up his game that way when I have enough time to track down his old thread and figure out where we were.
Kurt is asking Zigesfeld why the latter attacked him. The questions are, will he get an answer, will it be the truth/whole truth/nothing but truth, and how will it be delivered? The answer is 17--no that's not a Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy joke (O.K., maybe it is) but a General Effects Roll that is neutral result or no effect. Maybe Kurt will turn the tables; we'll see.
We'll start Nikolaj on his first leatherworking lesson. There may be a couple of rolls for this, but we'll cover them after he's told me what he's going to do.
John 2 asks how close he is to the gun store, and implies that if he is close enough he'll pick up the holster. He doesn't ask whether they have such an antique in stock, and he's rather specific about what he wants. He gets a 17 GE roll.
Lauren is not rolling well--she rolls 88 on her attempt to communicate the read minds skill pattern to John. This is another skill on which her chance of success is 78%, so that's a failure. 28 on a telepathy roll will connect her.
--M. J. Young
I got here early today because I expected the morning to have me busy; but I was unable to reach someone by phone and we have a lot of snow around, so I'm trying to clean out my work before braving the roads and getting things done out there. Kurt, Nikolaj, and John 2 have all managed to get their posts into the short time since I posted yesterday.
We have a chase situation for Kurt, but also a persuasion situation. First we resolve the persuasion question: Kurt's persuasion bonused +2 for his current equipment, against Ziggy's will power, which is going to be 2@3 because he's a very tough cookie. I don't have a persuasion for Kurt, but I'm putting down 1@7 because it seems to fit what I've seen in play so far, which means 1@9 effectively for this confrontation. He rolls 22 on a difficult persuasion check, a failure. Ziggy rolls 32, a greater failure for Ziggy than for Kurt, but still failures for both. Ziggy is nervous, but he's not stopping.
That puts us into a chase. Ziggy is an average professional driver, 2@5 with a 1@10 SAL and 10@ bias, 65% chance of success on a driving maneuver. Kurt has a 2@2 BRA, 1@4 SAL, and I'm guessing an 11@ bias (I have no skills in the computer level, but the 2% difference between computers and electronics probably won't make a difference, 58%. Time to roll. Ziggy rolls 97; Kurt rolls 99. This is a botch.
Usually when I have botches, I do botch lists; but this time it seems obvious that an accident is in order. The question is, how serious will this be? The solution to that question comes from a 2d10+10 modified GE roll, which is 23, nearly as bad as anticipated. I was beginning to think that Kurt's interactions with Ziggy were going to give me a lot more trouble than this, but things are all right for the moment.
Nikolaj rolls 19 on his skill learning roll; I'm giving him the Leathercraft package at 1@1, even though it includes a skill he has not used (coloring leather), in part because I want to keep it simple, and in part because I expect to upgrade it to the Leatherworker package (which includes the Leathercraft package) when he learns the additional tanning and leather care skills.
Lauren will still have the link in place--the 28 roll is good for half an hour if nothing interrupts, and there's no reason to think she dropped it. Otherwise, everything is pretty straightforward for John 2.
--M. J. Young
I'm doing this piecemeal. I should let everyone know that the hospitalized patient is now home, and I am the primary caregiver. I also have some other things that must be done to keep the house running, and I will probably interrupt my time here to do them. However, I will get to the posts by Kurt, Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2. It is good to have Harry back. I do sometimes worry when people are missing for an unusual (for them) period, being uncertain whether they are well, whether they are simply too busy to post, or whether they decided the game was not enjoyable. I had one player of which I am aware die, and were he not someone local I probably would not know it yet. There are a dozen others, at least, whose games are in limbo, of whom I cannot be certain whether they are alive, whether they got too busy or lost interest or had other problems (e.g., site access problems), or whether they will be returning. I should thank Nikolaj, one of the few (the only one who springs to mind) who wrote to tell me he was leaving the game. I'm also pleased that he has since returned to it, and hope he is enjoying it and finding that it is a good thing.
I already rolled the GE roll for Kurt's accident, and concluded that he came through unscathed. He's contacted base, and they've given their advice.
It's been a while since Harry posted, and I'm not certain whether I actually rolled for his piloting skill, because I wanted to see what he would do before I made that roll. He wants to know how he's doing, so let's roll: 41 against a 1@4 SAL, 2x7@ bias (the world's), and 2@3 BRA gives him his success.
Nikolaj rolls 24 on a simple charisma check (his best interpersonal score), which is a failure against his 1@8 charisma, but not too bad.
Lauren failed her attempt to imprint a skill pattern in John 2's mind, but having made telepathic contact with him she's created a change in circumstances and can try again. This time on a roll of 04 she succeeds.
I guess I accomplished that more quickly than anticipated. I'll be back tomorrow.
--M. J. Young
I'm enjoying it very much MJ :)
And I'm glad that that person is out of the hospital. I'll pray for strength in the taking care of her.
I do apologize for my worrysome absence. The cause is both good and bad: I got a job. After a year of unemployment this might sound like a boon. Then you hear that I got a job as a bill collector. And that I hate my job. And that I come home tired of life every night and, for the first time in my life, feeling like I would crawl into my cups in order to escape the stress. And it becomes clear that this is a double-edged gift at the very least.
On the more positive notes, though:
My Monday night Pub Trivia team is doing well. We took second place on Monday which puts us in a good standing to make a run for winning the month.
I am currently enrolled in Rapier 101 at En Garde Entertainment, so if anyone is in the NYC area and wants to learn some Stage Combat, definitely look up the fine folks at En Garde - it's a good time and I'm really learning a lot.
AND I just got the last signature I needed to apply for graduate school! Gods willing I will be a member of the Fall 2009 semester of the Pratt School of Library and Information Systems (going for my Master of Library and Information Science, so I can leave the corporate world behind and go back to public service where I belong as quickly as possible!).
I'm glad things are improving, Harry, and completely empathize with your conflict over being a bill collector after so long being out of work. I also apologize for my absence yesterday. It was a rather unusual and disjointed day in which I raced around for a while getting ready for a major disruption that didn't happen, and then had to put a lot of time into doing the things that had to be done when the disruption didn't happen. O.K., that's confusing, but I'm trying to catch up the loose ends today, and that includes this forum that I missed.
Kurt, Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2 are all present.
Kurt is going to do a computer search for information about Zigesfeld. He rolls 97, which is at best a terrible failure, but I need to check his numbers to be certain it's not a botch. He needs at least a 61% chance of success to avoid a botch on this, but there's a decent chance he'll make that. His BRA is 2@2, but I don't have his bias or his SAL on computer use.
Harry is creating a variation on an old spell, attempting to return an iceberg to seawater. It occurs to me that he has misconceived the situation: icebergs were never seawater, but are chunks fallen from glaciers, fresh water ice floes built of accumulated and packed snow sliding down from mountains to the sea. It also strikes me that the reason his purification spell restores objects to a previous state is that they have decayed and thus contain chemical impurities; the reversal of the decay process converts the impurities to their pre-decay form. All of which means that you cannot in that sense "purify" an iceberg into sea water. It also occurs to me that there are some things he can do that might accomplish his objective, but that it would not be appropriate for me to say what they are. I am giving him a simple intellect check, though, and he rolls 16.
O.K., I[m picky; but I can't let a spell do just anything.
Nikolaj just mentioned money. There isn't any in this world. Well, the dwarfs use coins, but really as barter objects, pieces of gold worth their weight in gold to anyone who has any use for gold (which of course most dwarfs do, and most humans, elves, and orcs do not). This will surprise him. I'm not going to say that he's in a communist world; but he is in a communal setting. It's an aspect of this world no one has really explored before this, so I'm interested to see how he reacts.
John 2 makes me laugh. He asked Lauren to show him something; she tried and failed. He asked her again, and she tried again and succeeded, and in the process said that it didn't work the first time she tried. He then complained that there was a first time she tried, apparently not realizing that he had asked her to do this. Well, she'll explain it to him.
--M. J. Young
Kurt and Nikolaj are both showing on the board. That's good, because I'm not feeling my best at the moment and it will be good to get through this a bit quicker without having to shortchange anyone.
Kurt does not have any computer skill beyond ordinary use, of which 1@8 is probably the best we can justify. That also means his bias is not greater than 10@, so his chance of success winds up being 60, a 40% chance to fail and a 4% chance to botch, and that puts that 97 on the botch table. Let's get a botch list going:
- Wrong information--different person
- Computer overloads, freezes
- Computer overloads, shuts down vehicle
- All-points bulletin posted for Zigesfeld, armed and dangerous
- Geosynchronous Satelite Positioning decalibrates
- Weapon systems arm
- Communications blackout mode activated
- Voice Link established with Zigesfeld's cell phone.
It strikes me that in a pre-printing press world posters are unlikely; but Nikolaj is less interested in posters than in seeing the orthography of the world. He rolls a 14 GE which is not desired but generally favorable result, if memory serves (anyway, close enough). It occurs to me that I might consider sending Nikolaj to the New Ice Age sometime in the future--he's one of the few players at this point who would be able to take the hide of a polar bear or woolly mammoth and make something useful of it.
--M. J. Young
Wow, I saw all these active threads, and then discovered that they are almost all games--Kurt, Nikolaj, John 2, Adam, and Graeme. It's good to see everyone.
Rolling 44 on his operate computer skill, Kurt manages to shut down the weapons systems. That success creates a new situation, but he rolls 79 on his next attempt, so he's not going to find what he wants.
Nikolaj continues learning the trade.
John 2 has some of his actions somewhat out of sequence--which is perfectly reasonable, as long as we complete the sequence at some point. Lauren has to leave him so that he can go to the gun shop and place his order, and then we have to figure out what happens next.
Part of me thinks that I ought to push Adam's thread into the lessons of the next day; but his recent absence has caused me to lose track of his thread, and I haven't been that well of late and it is getting late here, so I'm going to hope I feel better tomorrow and can hunt down exactly where we are in terms of lessons to be taught and learned. We'll demonstrate the Create Edibles spell but not teach it.
I am grateful to Graeme for making me think about this world. If everyone is taught psionics, what does that mean for the world generally? Probably some are better and worse, particularly at the more difficult tasks, and thus niches are created by which people can earn a living using their abilities for others. Imagining this is interesting.
--M. J. Young
Yes, my day is rather disjointed; I've been jumping from one task to another. A significant part of that is that this is my youngest's seventeenth birthday, and although he had a party over the weekend we didn't give him any gifts until today. No, he did not get a car.
I see Kurt, Nikolaj, and John 2 on the boards.
As I pick up the dice, I wonder just how good or bad Kurt's luck can be. The GE roll is 18, not favorable result. I figured he'd need a pretty good roll to get him, and if he got a pretty bad roll he'd get more trouble, but this is very close to the middle, so we've got pretty much nothing happening.
Nikolaj is working on the jacket, and it will take him some time to complete. Since this is part of his training, heavily supervised, and it's a skill he already has, I'm not rolling for it.
John 2 wants a 20 round clip for his 9mm. He rolls a 14 GE roll.
--M. J. Young
cool, congratulations for a near adult son!
Seventeen was the best year of my life, so congrats to the son.
John, you congratulate me because seventeen was the best year of your life. I need to ask, though, was your seventeenth year good for the rest of your family? I know a fair number of people whose "best" year was not very good for people around them.
But that's all right. Everyone is different. I barely remember much about being seventeen, but that I put in place a lot of things that were good when I was eighteen.
Right now I am putting in place game threads for Kurt, Nikolaj, and John 2. Let me extend thanks to the helpful lurker who forwarded to me both Kyler's last posts and the spells being discussed in Adam's thread before the London trip, as these will be very helpful.
We have Kurt and Ziggy both racing to the casino. Zig has a head start; Kurt has a superior vehicle. We'll give each of them a skill check against their driving. Zig will be first, he rolls 06 which is a low success for anyone. Kurt's numbers are 1@4 SAL+2x10@ bias+2@2 BRA=56%, and he rolls 25, a moderate success 19% better than Ziggy's. I'm also giving him +1 on his driving SAL to 1@5, because he's been doing a lot of driving and some challenging maneuvers of late.
I do find myself wondering whether Nikolaj can actually befriend an orc. There is a strong social pressure for orcs to "stay in their place" as slaves; they are regarded as something less than human, a creature that has to be trained, like a dog, to live in human society. You tell the dog to stay off the furniture; you tell the orc not to expect humans to be friends.
I'm digressing because I remember an anecdote that arose from this scenario with a previous player. John 1 addressed the slavery problem in a very minimal way, buying a slave and then telling him he should regard himself a free man and a friend--but that he should probably stay with John lest someone take him for a runaway and put him back in chains. Then John met and married Miralla (long backstory there, but not important). It is important to understand that orcs practice a peculiar form of polygamy: when a male is killed in hunt or battle, one of his companions in the fight takes his wife as his own, so that she will still have a husband. This results in older warriors having several wives and caring for their own children plus the children of other deceased orcs. In any case, John talked to his orc companion (whom he calls Bob, because the orc name was too difficult) about the possibility that John might be killed. Bob replied that he would not let that happen, because if it did he knew it would be his responsibility to marry Miralla, which he did not want to have to do.
On that note, I think I will begin with a GE roll for how the orcs generally respond to Nikolaj's overtures, and then if it suggests the possibility I will roll a charisma check for his efforts to befriend a specific orc. The GE roll is 14, not desirec but generally favorable result. He rolls an 18 on a simple charisma check, which is a very near failure for his 1@8 charisma. I can work with that.
John 2 is going to reunite with the other versers--but they're not united at the moment, so he's going to have to guess which is which. I'll give him a bit more information than he might have, to save a few posts.
--M. J. Young
Yeah, seventeen was good. I was an honor roll student (Straight A's Junior and Senior year) I held down a part-time job, and my girlfriend belonged on the cover of Playboy. YES!!!! Seventeen was a good year!!!!!
Well, he's happy with his girlfriend, but I don't see him getting on the honor roll this year.
I might run out before I finish; if I do, I shall endeavor to return. I am expecting to make some long drive visits today and again tomorrow, but I do not know exactly when these will occur or even with certainty whether today's will happen. So while I await some sign of what will be, let me tackle threads by Kurt, Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2.
Kurt needs a GE roll to determine the conditions where he is. I would expect that five miles from the casino it is starting to get built up and busy, particularly given that it's established to be afternoon at the Riviera; but I don't know that, so I use that as my baseline against a roll of 16, which doesn't change the baseline at all.
Harry is of the opinion that if the gods can undo the impurities in his food, they can turn ice into water by some means. Unfortunately, he is in a flatlined world. The prayer he is using will remove impurities from the ice and make it safe to eat, but it will not turn ice into water because (by definition of the bias) it is not designed to do that (and if it were not so defined, it would not do anything at all in this universe, because the other possibilities are biased out). He wants to perform the same ritual but get a different result. There are two possibilities here--one, that he performs the same spell and gets the same result, that the iceberg becomes safe to eat (which probably it already is); the other, that he uses the exact same ritual to perform a different spell. This is his intention. However, it is an extremely complicated circumstance. Were he to succeed in teaching himself a completely different (from the bias perspective) skill using the same ritual, that would partially invalidate the ritual, creating a negative sit-mod against both spells because the only distinction between them is in his mind (a very difficult part of the spell to control). The point of distinct rituals is to control the expectations in the mind; by using the same ritual for different expectations, the benefits are lost, and the rituals become penalized. Meanwhile, it is not possible for him to do such a spell in this universe--but it might well be possible for him to learn it, such that he would know how to do it in any world in which it would work.
I have reviewed all the skills within the curve, to assure myself that I am not overlooking something. It is not possible for him to turn ice into water directly. He needs either a 3@10 transmute to altered state, a 4@6 manipulate temperature, or a 9@6 create heat. Since the Manipulate Temperature skill would have an RS/10 degrees Fahrenheit effect that would not be practical here. The transmute is the best choice. This, though, is going to be a bit of work for me, for what is not a particularly useful effort. Well, nothing for it, I guess.
The original skill reads
1@4 Freshen M+3@1, will purify food and drink or restore other materials to a desired previous state of freshness or purity, 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.Let's take those same actions and plug them into a magic skills worksheet:
Is this arcane or holy magic, alliance, neutral, or anarch? It is holy magic; that is what he does.That totals +10, but I am also assessing a -10 penalty because it matches another skill.What exactly will the magic do? M3@10 Transmute to Other State, caveat that it only works on the same material changing state, works without regard for temperature, and only moves from solid to liquid, for which +25.
What distances, sizes, areas, or quantities are involved? A single object is baseline. That's sort of stretching things, because one thousand cubic feet is the normal baseline, but given that we are talking of a single solid object I think we can allow it. I think that the standard ranges of 20':50':75':100':+1/1' are not long enough, because if he gets that close to the iceberg he's in trouble. For my own convenience, I'll make it 160':400':600':800':+1/8', because that's a simple three doublings, -30.
Over what variables does the character have control? Nothing beyond what the spell requires, the choice of the object.
What, if any, is the base damage category for the magic? Not applicable.
How long does it take to perform the ritual necessary for the spell? He has given a 1:00:00 TF; that is the baseline time for transmutations.
How many times in a minute may an amateur cast it? Does not apply.
How long will the magic last? The effect is instantaneous, and then the magic dissipates; that which he transmuted becomes the new substance, but is then immediately impacted by environmental factors--in other words, if the water is cold enough and pure enough in sufficient volume and does not disperse into warmer waters quickly enough, it will begin to refreeze quickly. There is no adjustment for this.
Exactly what will the character say? The words are appropriate, +5.
Must the words be spoken loudly or forcefully? Nothing of the other spell suggests this.
Are the words in a language other than the character’s native tongue? Never.
Is the sound of the words vital to the magic, or will it work if the words are properly articulated within a place where there is no sound? This bonus does not apply.
What does the character do? Not much, but it's not that important.
Which body parts must be committed to this action? I don't think I give bonuses for "sit", other than to say that an action is required.
Which body parts can be substituted if necessary for the ones normally used (e.g., left hand instead of right)? Inapplicable.
Is the ritual physically exhausting? No.
What materials are required? None.
Which if any of these are destroyed or damaged beyond use during the ritual? Inapplicable.
Are there any other limitations on the use of this skill? It must be performed in active holy ground, for which I believe the bonus is +10.
His bias is 3@1; the skill bias is 3@10. He gets +13 for half his religion SAL and +10 because his is an alliance faith in an alliance world. His BRA is 2@3. That makes his chance of learning this skill 55%, higher than I anticipated; his roll is 34, so he has learned a 1@1 Transmute Solid to Liquid (at current temperature) M+3@10, will change any object to a liquid form of that same substance, subject to changing back at rate solifification would happen at its current temperature, 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," includes -10 penalty for ritual identical to 3@1 Freshen skill, +0SM.
I need to mention here that the ability to learn a skill in a world in which you cannot actually perform the skill is a very difficult question in Multiverser. Harry has just learned a skill informationally: he knows exactly how to do it, but has never done it, because when he learned it it did not work.
Nikolaj is communicating with people in two different conversations, both of which have the potential to be very interesting, as long as we can keep them distinct.
I'm smiling, because when John 2 tried to follow the scriff sense I decided where each of his companions were and gave him descriptions of the vectors--and he chose the one he didn't want.
It appears that I have managed to complete my assigned tasks here in my available time; I might even be able to be ready on schedule for my departure.
Hopefully I will even make it back tomorrow.
--M. J. Young
How do you know your life is going perfectly?
1) Your son is on the Wheaties box.
2) Your daughter is on the cover of Fortune 500
3) Your girlfriend is on the cover of Playboy
4) Your wife is on the back of the milk carton.
Um MJ... I hate to spoil your really good work there... but I didn't mean my ritual for the regular Purify... I meant the ritual for shattering the iceberg that I had posted entirely just a post or two earlier... >.> Sorry. Not that I don't think the effect would've been the same either way, just so we're clear: I am NOT using the same ritual for transmuting to liquid that I use for purifying food and drink.
I am sorry--it appears that I will have to rework the spell I did for Harry before I do anything else. Then I will address the threads from Kurt, Nikolaj, John 2, and Graeme.
Looking at Harry's magic afresh:
Is this arcane or holy magic, alliance, neutral, or anarch? Again, all of Harry’s magic is holy alliance magic.What exactly will the magic do? The user has defined it as a temporal effect, reverting an inanimate object to a previous state. That would be a 15@10 skill. That probably closes the discussion, since
However, I will do a rundown of the other variables, just to be certain.
- I don’t see him having a positive chance of success against a -160 bias penalty;
- he couldn’t possibly succeed anyway because the skill is biased out;
- and since it is biased out, he cannot botch, either.
What distances, sizes, areas, or quantities are involved? Again, I'll make it 160':400':600':800':+1/8', because that's a simple three doublings, -30. I could penalize for volume, but I’ll allow the single discrete object rule to apply here once again.Over what variables does the character have control? Nothing significant.
What, if any, is the base damage category for the magic? Not applicable
How long does it take to perform the ritual necessary for the spell? He wants to do it in 20:00; although TFs for temporal effects range from 3:00 for short hops and effects up to 10:00 effect and 20:00:00 for paradoxes, something like this falls into the category of “several hours”, so we’ll attach –20 for time.
How many times in a minute may an amateur cast it? Not applicable.
How long will the magic last? This is a permanent change.
Exactly what will the character say? +5 for appropriateness.
Must the words be spoken loudly or forcefully? +3 for yes.
Are the words in a language other than the character’s native tongue? No.
Is the sound of the words vital to the magic, or will it work if the words are properly articulated within a place where there is no sound? No bonus or penalty.
What does the character do? Fire a gun at the object
Which body parts must be committed to this action? Both hands/arms, one to fire the gun and the other resting on the rail of the ship +3
Which body parts can be substituted if necessary for the ones normally used (e.g., left hand instead of right)? None.
Is the ritual physically exhausting? +5 because rest is required immediately thereafter.
What materials are required? Pistol +4, bullet +3, three measures of gunpowder +2, access to a ship +4
Which if any of these are destroyed or damaged beyond use during the ritual? The bullet +3 and gunpowder +2
Are there any other limitations on the use of this skill? Holy ground must be activated +10.
The inherent sit-mod is thus -30–20+5+3+3+5+4+3+2+4+3+2+10=-6, along with the -160 bias penalty makes the negatives -166, while the positives include 31+13+10+23=77, which gives him –89% chance of success, 189% chance to fail, 18% to botch. His roll was 34, so I’m deleting the old skill (and the penalty on the other purify skill) to put this back as it ought to be.
Now we can turn our attention back to Kurt. His chase may not be ending, but it is ceasing to be vehicular.
We continue the two conversations for Nikolaj, one of which becomes even more complicated because there's a good chance Nikolaj will answer what Click says in the first day's conversation and what he says in the second day's conversation, so we might wind up with three conversations, two with the same person. But he's getting a lot of knowledge about the world he's exploring, and that without leaving the ranch.
John 2 wants to catch up with Lauren, who is still on her first day here, a continuation of her last day in the last world. I have not yet rolled the GE roll for how long they have before the next disaster, but the longer I delay that the more time he has.
Graeme challenges me with images of what a high psi world might be like; but this one is not like that.
I'm making progress.
--M. J. Young
I've got threads from Kurt, Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2 to address.
Kurt is moving into a good place now.
Harry requests an explanation, and an explanation is given.
I think our conversations with Nikolaj might be drawing to a close. He has more to learn, but I don't know that these people can teach him.
Mostly John 2 needs his questions addressed, so I'll address them.
--M. J. Young
Kurt launches the game, followed by Nikolaj, and I would have missed John 2 had he not called my attention to the fact that his post was Spam-blocked. Graeme bats clean-up.
Let's see if those X-ray glasses make Kurt uncomfortable.
Nikolaj wants to know whether there are signs of punishment of the orcs. My feeling is that he wants to use that to get a sense of how oppressive their slavery is--which is not all that oppressive but does include corporal punishment to bring recalcitrant slaves in line. He gets a 10 GE roll, so he's going to see some evidence of this.
I've been putting this off long enough, but it's time to roll John 2's GE roll for how much time he has: 20 is just bad enough. We'll let it go to the next martial arts improvement check (I believe the rolls were failed last time, so next time it will be automatic). That's T-23 days and counting.
I'm thinking that Graeme will have to make a difficult persuasion check to get all three prisoners, and a simple check to get two. His persuasion is 1@8, his difficult check rolls 26, and his simple check 22.
--M. J. Young
Kurt starts, and Nikolaj has a long post. John 2 has started a new thread because of posting problems on the old one, and Graeme is on cleanup again.
I've a question and an answer for Kurt.
I don't see any problem with someone with an 11@1 tech bias learning to wash clothes using a washboard. I am, however, less certain what the tech bias is of rubbing cloth against a rough metal washboard with a bit of soap--but given a roll of 41 I'll give him a 1@1 Wash Clothes with Washboard T2@1. More complicated, though, is his prayer. However, we have a skill--1@2 Dreams and Visions M7@6 usually as guidance or answers to prayers--which we can roll for a significant part of this. He and the world both have 7@ bias, and his BRA is his 1@8 intuition, plus he gets half his 1@8 Religion SAL and +10 for the alliance affiliation of the world. That comes to 63% chance of success, and the roll is 37. I think it's time for a dream. I also have to tread carefully here--my cosmology might not fit Nikolaj's exactly, but hopefully it will work with what he believes.
Lauren rolls 15 on her telepathy attempt to John 2. 59 is a successful project skill pattern roll, so John has a solid roll for that. John rolls 62 on learning it, which with all the bonuses (instructor, teacher, example) and his own bias means he's going to gain 1@2 Tap Language Center P1@1. Now we'll see whether John goes next or has Derek go next.
I'm going to give Graeme a simple persuasion check on this latest suggestion. I don't think that building such a building, or guarding it, is that big a deal for the Romans. It's still a matter that someone has to decide. The roll, though, is 23, against his 1@8 persuasion. I think that's close enough for a counter proposal.
All is looking well.
--M. J. Young
Yeah, it was cool. But I think we differ on certain points. I think God would always want the worship. Yet here He doesn't seem to have created them but 'delegated' tha thing. Again, for game purposes it could be that that is why genesis record the creation of man as God saying 'let us make men/man. But that might make problems for other doctrines. But I think I can roll with this.
I'm tight on time, but hoping to get some posts in before too much disrupts things. I am looking at Kurt, Nikolaj, John 2, and Adam.
I will give Kurt a bonus to his animal magnetism based on copying James Bond, primarily because he is playing that part in this world. I'll need him to do something that requires a response, though, before I will roll it.
Nikolaj apparently wanted a response from Qormlach in connection with his brief synopsis of Christian faith. I'm not certain what else the orc would say, but we'll have him say something that fits his perception of reality.
I'm a bit amused by John 2. He talks about how valuable those blacksmithing skills are, and then when he has the opportunity to teach someone else about them, he denigrates them. Lauren won't think them useless skills, though; she might find a use for them yet.
I like Adam's joke, but I'm not certain whether when he said "me cook it" he was teasing her that she always winds up doing the cooking or teasing her that she can't cook so he has to do it. It doesn't really matter, though. Either way, he's teased her. Geneice rolls 42 on a TK pulse for her revenge. Adam rolls an 18 Agility check (simple), so he's good.
I'm good, too. I got this done in less time than I expected.
--M. J. Young
I'm a bit amused by John 2. He talks about how valuable those blacksmithing skills are, and then when he has the opportunity to teach someone else about them, he denigrates them. Lauren won't think them useless skills, though; she might find a use for them yet.
Well, when your objective is to learn psionics, blacksmithing isn't psionics.
Ah, yes, but your objective is to learn psionics. Her objective is to share skills that will be useful to those who know them.
I apologize for missing yesterday. It was not so much a bad day as a seriously disrupted and exhausting one. I am making up for the absence by working today, and so will address the posts from Kurt, Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2.
My recollection of Kurt's story is that the "mystery girl" was not that pleased to see the spy show up at the baccarat table. On the other hand, she did want to talk to him. Still, her objective at the moment is to get close to Steranko, and so if he's going to interfere with that, it will take some effort--his best interpersonal score against her 1@9 will power in comparitive difficult attribute checks. He has a 2@1 an-mag, bonused +5 because he is trying to do something very appropriate to the hero in this genre (get the attention of the girl) which makes it effectively 2@6. He rolls (d30+10=)15, which she can beat maybe, but her roll is 34, not a chance there.
The questions for Harry are 1) has Rob piloted the ship around the iceberg and 2) if not, are we in trouble? Since Harry has no control over this, I can use Rob's piloting skill against a general effects roll--not an easy combination to use, but an effective one. The GE roll is 9, very favorable conditions allowing a bonus on the piloting skill check, which is 94--not a botch but not a success either.
I've rolled a 17 simple persuasion check for Nikolaj, who has a 1@7 persuasion--we are right on the failure point. It's time for a difficult objection.
Derek will start to teach John 2 and Lauren some basic computer programming skill. He's got a lot of skill in that area, and a lot of related skills he can teach, but this is the place to start--if John wants to learn.
--M. J. Young
I see Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2 in play.
I've actually been waiting for Harry to use his TK pulse against the iceberg--and now that I think of it, this might qualify as a new use, as he is attempting to move a freefloating object away from another floating object (one which is not exactly freefloating, since it is under sail and rudder). He said "poke" four times. I could take that as continue for four attempts or continue until there are four successes, but first let me calculate his chance of success and roll the first one. He has a 1@8 SAL and 1@9 BRA in a flatlined bias world, so that's 37%, and the first roll is 76, 15, 27, 55, that's two successes in four tries. I think I'll keep going on it, because I'm inclined to think that if he gets enough solid successes fast enough he can push the iceberg far enough out of the center of the stream that it will slow down. 77, 39, 15, 81, 92, 32, that's four.
I'm also going to roll for navigating into the harbor at Moon of Korg, because it's tricky there. Harry rolls 77, which is not good for him but not a botch. Someone else will take the helm.
I really like what Nikolaj is doing with this. He might be able to turn the scenario on its head by bringing the greater God to the lesser people--a really wonderful parable, in a way. Make the orcs the evangelists of the true faith, and the civilized people might discover that they are not superior after all.
John 2 wants to call out of work and then come in to use the facilities. That's going to take winning a comparitive difficult persuasion check, his persuasion against the 1@6 will power of his boss. That's 1@6 for each, but John has to make the roll or it preserves the status quo--which is "No". John rolls 18, very nearly successful but not good enough. His boss rolls 23, which is rather soft on the matter, so he's not going to be upset about it.
And that, as they say, is that.
--M. J. Young
Kurt, Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2 are my players today.
Kurt has bypassed an assassination attempt by yet another assassin, because he did not introduce himself at the table. However, Ziggy is still looking for him. I'm not sure where this takes us, but we'll see what he does when he gets his room, and go from there.
Harry may well have found a new way to use his ability to purify things. This indeed would work--not, perhaps, with exactly the same spell (which has elements strongly suggesting that it is about restoring food to freshness), but with another spell modeled on the same concept.
Nikolaj has attempted to speak with a spirit--something which in his definitions would be akin to an archangel. Whether I take it as a "non-talker" or an "off-world", it is a M+7@7 spell--within the bias, as it's something the clerics of Gaia do rather regularly. He is not asking any questions, and does not require a response, but merely wishes to send her his assurances that he is not her enemy, but a fellow-servant with her. I see this as a minimalist approach, but the baseline 3:00 TF for a "single question", +10 because there is no question but -20 for a 0:45 TF. He must kneel and touch the ground, +15, using appropriate words +5. We'll call it Send Message to Spirit Being, and roll: 54 is rolled, his bias is 7@9, his 1@8 religion gives him +9, there's +10 for the alliance world, and we've got a 1@8 BRA listed. I get 57% before adding the +10 SM for the skill, so that's a success, 1@2 Send Message to Spirit Being M+7@7, kneel and touch object connected to targeted being, speak the name of the being to whom you wish to speak, and speak the message, 0:45 TF +30SM. That means he has successfully commmunicated to Gaia. The question is, how will she respond? This being alliance holy magic, I think I should use a 2d10+1 GE roll, moderate results suggesting that she ignores him, good results giving some sort of favorable answer, bad results suggesting that she is offended or sulking. The roll is 12, Good Enough.
My question about his prayers reminds me of an aside:
A Catholic priest, a Pentecostal minister, and a Guru were conversing about prayer over lunch one day, while a telephone repairman was fighting with the circuits in the small cafe where they met. The Catholic said, "The best way to pray, of course, is kneeling with your head bowed and your eyes closed.The Pentecostal replied, "I really don't agree. I find that the best position for me to pray is standing with my eyes and hands raised toward heaven."
The Guru offered, "No, one must prostrate oneself before the holy one, face down on the floor, to truly be heard."
At this point the telephone repairman interjected. "I know you guys are professionals and all," he said, "but really, I find that I've done my best praying hanging upside down by one foot from a telephone pole."
All right, enough of that.
John 2 is being impatient. Lauren is not.
--M. J. Young
hahah, nice quote. I usually don't care much how I position myself to pray so I've given the most likely thing. Another thing I often do is go for a 'prayer-walk', in which I can often feel the presence as if He's walking besides me and we are conversing that way, sort of.
A taxi driver and a priest both die and are taken before God. God says "You both served me faithfully, and now you get your reward." The priest was rewarded with a brand new Volkswagen Beetle, while the taxi driver was rewarded with a brand new Lamborghini. The priest is understandably curious about this and asks "God, I spent my entire life serving you, and all I get is this Volkswagen, and that taxi driver gets the Lamborghini. What gives?" God replies "Here, we go with results. When you preached, people slept. When he drove, people prayed."
If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium--but I'm probably the only one old enough here to pick up that reference, so before we get to our Belgian we will play games with Kurt and Harry, then turn to Nikolaj, and wrap up with John 2.
Kurt is off-script--a good thing, because if he were on script, one assassin would attempt to kill him with a scorpion while another would blow up his entire room with a rocket launcher. There is still a chance that Ziggy will come after him; but since he did not interfere with the baccarat game, Steranko still does not know who he is. More significantly, though, the mystery woman is trying to get to Steranko, and Kurt has not disrupted her plan, so we need a GE roll to figure out what happens. I think that Kurt would consider it bad if Steranko was killed, worse if the girl was killed, worst of all if he is attacked, best of the girl gets to his room unscathed, and the neutral result probably means that nothing happens for a while. His roll is 17, can't get more neutral than that, so everything goes into a holding pattern for a while.
My notes say that nothing untoward happens in Moon of Korg, so Harry can get himself drunk and sing and party with the locals and other sailors, and I'll let that go.
Nikolaj uses a kind of neat book and tells another joke, and asks a couple questions. How did Qormlach's talk with his father go? GE 14 says Not desired but generally favorable result.
John 2 has opened for an opportunity to expound, through the limitations of Lauren Hastings, on his problems with failure and botches in his prayers and psionics.
--M. J. Young
Lol, now I've got to go rent that movie (long live google)
Let me know if it's any good. I know what it's about (a whirlwind tour of Europe) but I never saw it, and it was long enough ago that I would not have recognized any of the actors' names at the time.
It's late, but I'm here, so let me see what I can do with Kurt, Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2.
Kurt's GE roll set him up for a late night meeting, I think. Let's go forward with that.
Harry gives me an interesting challenge: he wants to speed the journey a bit on this last leg. I'll give him a five skill checks, and for each success I'll shave twelve hours off the time--but I'll add a day if he botches. The rolls are 87, 13, 78, 01, and 97, that's going to require a bit of checking. His BRA is 2@3, SAL is 1@4, world bias 7@, that's 51% which gives him a 4% chance to botch, and botch he did.
In an odd quirk, it appears that the post-fantasy universe which Nikolaj is visiting is less magical than the world from which he started: its 7@7 bias does not support his 7@9 discernment of Good and Evil Natures ability. Thus although he was able to receive a vision showing the relationship between Gaia and God, he was not able to sense her nature when he met her. Anyway, if he's going to raise difficult theological questions to a boy, he's going to get some in return.
John 2 mostly moves to the next day.
--M. J. Young
I only feel like I'm late today, because I expected to be here earlier, and I am hoping to catch a couple of shows later. However, I should have ample opportunity to see what is happening with Kurt, Nikolaj, John 2, and Adam.
Kurt describes what I would class a P5@0 Self Control skill, the ability to force himself into wakefulness. Under the circumstances it's not going to matter, but I will list it, considering "pretty good" to be a 1@8 SAL, and describing it as "slapping face softly to encourage wakefulness, allows second will power check on staying awake." It is the girl.
Nikolaj is getting close to having his first convert in this universe.
John 2 wants to change his shift. I figure that there are three possible answers in this case--no, the boss doesn't want to have anyone on that shift, or yes, that change is simple enough, or let's wait a couple weeks and see whether he thinks John can handle the shop without the boss' supervision. I'll use a GE roll to determine just how persuasive John needs to be: 18, not favorable. A successful simple check will give him the change in a couple weeks, but a successful difficult check (which I'll roll first) will do it now. The difficult check is 14, solidly within his 1@6 persuasion. Ah, but he seems to have forgotten that he's supposed to teach them first--in fact, he's a day behind, this is yesterday's lesson, and he already got yesterday's psionics lesson.
Adam and Geneice are being playful. We'll wrap that up and head into the next day, and back to the magic and psionics lessons soon.
--M. J. Young
Most of the threads today are games, so let me wade in and start playing with Kurt, Harry, Nikolaj, John 2, and Adam.
Kurt finally meets Mariska, and gets her version of the story. Since it fits pretty well with his, he's probably a step ahead on this.
There is a degree to which the success or failure of Harry's new spell does not matter, because he will not be there for it; there is another aspect, though, and that is that he is adding a spell to his abilities. His roll of 31 gives me no doubt that the spell will be learned, and will work. I'm just not that eager to crunch the numbers for it. Well, there's nothing for it--let me tackle this.
M3@1 remove impurities, 1:00 baseline TF against 5:00:00 casting is +80 to reach 4:16:00, and 0:44:00 is roughly 17% of that, so +2 more, -10 for the break in the casting, +10 for active holy ground, +10 because the holy ground is destroyed, +10 for the skill check on the sword swish (roll of 25 says he makes it successfully), +5 appropriateness, +5 for the inclusion of the Latin trigger word, +15 for complete body involvement, +30 for six uncut emeralds, +30 for sacrificing them, +2 for sacrificing a flower, and we're looking at +189 SM. Now I have to write it up: 1@1 Remove Impurities--delayed M+3@1 5:00:00TF plus trigger action, pace circle around holy ground, sword in hand, successful (skill check) sword swish, other hand upraised, left eye covered, sacrifice six emeralds and one flower, invoking Odin, Thor, and Frey. After any length of time, another individual may touch the holy ground and speak the Latin word "Novitas", causing all food products within the holy ground to be restored to freshness, +189SM.
This is not quite a conversion for Nikolaj, but I think we've got a miracle coming. I'm not going to roll for it right this moment, in part because I'm not sure I know how to handle it all (it is not a combined persons prayer, but more Nikolaj praying for something and Qormlach also praying for something, so I'll have to figure out exactly what that all means), and in any case the miracle won't happen instantly, I think. That gives me a day to think about it.
John 2 teaches some blacksmithing techniques, and the next installment is the lunchtime lessons.
I received a note not too long ago giving me some greatly appreciated help. The relevant portion reads:
If I’m reading right, the last spells Merlin taught Adam and Geneice before they left for London were Group Flight and Delayed Teleport, both M12@8. (Adam learned some more since then, but I don’t think any had a higher bias.) Adam had wanted to learn Create Pain, Feign Death, and Create Water, but Merlin won’t Create Pain and is only an amateur at Feign Death, so he decided to build his students’ magic skills by teaching them movement spells first.Again, I extend my thanks for that assistance.That means that unless Adam has new ideas by now or Merlin decides to narrow the bias gap further, the next magic skill would be this one:
Feign Death M13@6
Arcane spell, mimic something in magic going wrong, and dies from it. Baseline effect, RSx3 minute duration, 0:06 casting time, 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.
The most recent psionic skill was History of Object P11@2; after that the schedule went as follows: Danger Sense P12@1; Predict Major Event P12@6; Precognitive Scrying P12@9; Perceive Futures P12@10. Just before the London trip, Merlin seemed concerned that Adam needed to spend more time on retrocognition before moving on to precognition, so he may have planned to fill in another skill. Then again, page 18 of Behind the Screens 2008 says “there is good reason not to learn two ‘can you feel the vibrations’ skills too close together”, so Merlin may have wanted Adam to focus on other things for a while.
Adam had also planned to use the super-soldier serum he designed in Why Spy as a component of a spell which would produce the same effect magically. This, though, probably has to wait until well after Create Food.
If you want to review this information yourself, I’m getting it from pages 9 and 10 of Adam’s thread.
The question then is outer or inner powers, and I think that the outer powers are more advanced, so more benefit can be gained from raising the inner powers. As to whether Merlin will jump from an 11@2 History of Object to a 12@1 Danger Sense is less clear. I am inclined to think that there would be an 11@3 History of Place (because it can be useful, certainly an 11@5 Read Person (which is a good way to know whether the "person" might or might not be human), maybe an 11@6 Perceive Cause or 11@7 Perceive Chain, which would give the wizard a clear history of how things came to be as they are. In any case, I can't imagine not including the Read Person, and the History of Place seems to be at least as useful as the History of Object.
--M. J. Young
Wow, look at all the posts. I've already hit those that do not involve me in gameplay, and now I come to Kurt again starting us, Harry, the return of John 3, Nikolaj, John 2, and Graeme. It's a big game today.
We'll bring Kurt's conversation to a dramatic movement.
Harry's proposed plan raises several questions. How soon can he get passage, and how direct is the trip? What will it cost, and will they let him work off part of the passage? Can he find the best option? Some considerations include that the prevailing current of the known route runs the opposite direction, but there must be ships that go the other way. That suggests that they loop out to sea some distance; but it makes more sense for them to run a long stretch from Sardic to Durnmist and then hit the other ports coming back in the current. Ships are unlikely to hire someone for part of the voyage, as it means having to replace them. On the other hand, I can see the Sardic Shipping Company running passenger lines and giving discounts to retiring crewmen. So with all that to consider, let's drop a GE roll: 16 falls right in the middle.
It took me a bit of study to get back to where we left John 3, but I think I've got it now. (I also made a trip through a blizzard to get some things from the grocery store before it closed, so it did not take me as long as the timestamps suggest.)
O.K., I'm piecing together what's happening with Nikolaj and Qormlach, and it seems to me that 1) Nikolaj is instructing Qormlach and providing him with an example, and 2) Nikolaj is praying that Qormlach's chance of success would be bonused, very specifically in connection with asking God to prove Himself. We have to tackle that second part first, to know how it impacts the first part.
It's a M+1@4 Bonus Skill Check by other for Getting God to Reveal Himself, and I am thinking that such a skill for a faith that is highly proselytizing would itself be at +10 (one of those nature of the faith bonuses). It requires contact, +20. The TF looks to me to be about 2:00, including overlap time with the other prayer. The usual TF is 1:00 so that's +10. Also, the duration is usually RS minutes, and this prayer effects others for let's say 5:00, so we'll give him +10 for that. We have appropriate words, +5, and the use of tongues which is itself a separate skill check +10 and means that part of the prayer is quite literally in a magical language, +5, but this means that the tongues roll must be successful. We have total body involvement for +15, no materials.
Nikolaj rolls 86 on the use of tongues, which is pretty unlikely even with his 1@8 religion--although it occurs to me that his grasp of the connections between Gaia and God, and of the place of the non-humans in this universe, represent an increase in his understanding of his faith, so I'm bumping it to 1@10, +10 to his chance of success, +10 for alliance world, +20 for a 1@10 SAL in tongues, +18 BRA, and 2x7@ bias equals 72% chance of success on the tongues. Failure on the tongues takes that skill off the table.
Qormlach still gets the benefits of being taught this skill. His bias is 0, and his BRA is probably 1@5. Nikolaj is giving him an example which is hard to categorize (I don't actually have a listing for a "God, prove you're there" skill), but I'll let him use his 1@10 religion for that. His BRA in magic is 1@8, but Qormlach only gets half of that, +9. Nikolaj does have 1@7 teaching skill, and it specifies an emphasis on children so I will let Nikolaj roll that skill for a possible bonus here, the roll is 27 so that will give another +5 (I'm using a straight value). The world bias adds another +7, and this is alliance holy magic for +10, all of which is set against the bias of the target skill, a M+7@7 Communicate Off-world (talking to God). Those bonuses come to 83.
We should check the spell against the baseline, but it's not a straightforward baseline. Communicating off-world can mean all kinds of things, but the simplest is usually 3:00 and even if we stretch Qormlach's prayer to 0:45 that's -20. We have +5 for appropriate words, +15 for kneeling, and that's really all, so we're at the baseline on those modifiers. Thus we are looking at 83 minus 77 leaves 6% chance that this will work as Nikolaj hopes. 39 is not a success here.
Nikolaj says that in this case he will pray another prayer. We'll allow that it is a 0:45TF attempt to do what he just suggested that Qormlach do, that God reveal Himself to Qormlach. This is much simpler for Nikolaj, except that we just assumed that he had a similar skill. I'm going to fudge on that a bit: Nikolaj clearly has a skill of talking to God, which he was trying to teach Qormlach. This is a skill of getting God to reveal Himself, a variant of the same 7@7 communicate off-world skill. We've got the same mods here (kneeling plus appropriate words against a shortened TF), but he starts with a 7@9 bias, 1@8 BRA, 1@10 religion, +10 for alliance, 40% chance that he will learn this skill on one attempt, and he rolls 85, the dice are just running very cold tonight--but then, Nikolaj is trying to convert a member of the only race not already devoted to an alliance deity, and we can easily explain the problem there.
John 2 apparently wants me to dig through his thread for information that he doesn't want to look for himself. Not doing that tonight; I've enough to do.
We'll get some initial interaction going between Graeme's three people, and see where that takes us.
--M. J. Young
John 2 apparently wants me to dig through his thread for information that he doesn't want to look for himself. Not doing that tonight; I've enough to do.
Oh, I assumed you kept notes on things like that. I'll look for it then.
wow, I sure made you work on the numbers it seems.
Nikolaj, I don't really mind working on the numbers, even when it's time consuming. When players throw mechanics problems at me (and particularly when they do it merely by having their characters do what they would do) I face the challenge of figuring out how the game can make that work. It's not always easy, but I usually manage.
Kurt, Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, and John 2 are my players.
Kurt makes a bold move, hugging Mariska; but I'm going to give it to him--he is, after all, the spy here, and a hug is not a major offense. He guessed wrong about Ziggy, but Mariska will put him right.
Harry and I are getting his finances in order.
John 3 requests information about the patient, and also wants his character sheet--not unreasonable, given how long it's been since he played. I've got a 17 GE on the patient's condition, which is right smack in the middle. His skill check is 33, which is a decent success for a healing.
Nikolaj is pushing the battle into the spiritual dimension. I need to pay close attention to detail here to resolve it.
John 2 has some questions, and Lauren has some answers. Lauren rolls 75 on projecting a skill pattern, but adding things up I get a chance of success of 74, unless there's a familiarity bonus that I've missed--and since there might be, and it's only 1% difference, I'll give it to him. He then rolls 51, an easy 1@2 Search Memories P1@1 success.
--M. J. Young
Isn't Lauren's roll of 75 a bonus on me learning it? Or does that only count if I roll the high number?
Lauren's roll of 75 is a success to project the pattern, giving you of an example. The value of the example is equal to her skill ability level in the skill projected. You get that same value whether she rolls 1 or 75, as long as the skill pattern is successfully projected. But you made the skill learning roll anyway--what am I not understanding about your question?
Kurt, Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, John 2, and Adam are playing.
I suddenly remember a detail of Kurt's gear that I may have overlooked. It's not too late; I don't think he'd have used it yet.
Harry has a couple days to kill in the big city, but he's in good shape for it.
John 3 rolls an 18 GE on the condition of the next patient. That makes him a bit worse than the last neutral result. Pick a problem--I'm good.
I am going to crunch numbers on Nikolaj's prayers now. Based on his suggestion that he would pray for from fifteen minutes to an hour, I'm going to make the protection portion 15:00 and the information portion 45:00. I'm listing the latter as a skill he already has, a M+7@7 Seek Knowledge for which I'm giving him the highest amateur SAL I can, 1@10. I'm also stating that the answer comes through a M+7@6 Dreams and Visions, which is a separately rolled skill which means that he gets +10 to this one. He also gets +5 for appropriate words, and since he is asking one question in 15:00 instead of 3:00 that's +23 more. That makes this 1@10 Seek Knowledge M+7@7 pray for 15:00 for the answer to a question; the answer usually comes in the form of a M7@6 dreams and visions success. +38 SM, and in forty-five minutes he can pray it thrice.
First, though, he is going to pray for protection for 15:00. The question is, how long will it last? I'm looking at a baseline of 1:00 TF and 10:00 duration, but thinking that he doesn't need the protection until the attack comes. I'll increase the duration to 80:00 at -30, and then increase the TF to 15:00, 3 7/8 doublings, +39. He gets appropriate words, +5, and +5 because alliance powers favor protections. I'm also building in a delay at -10, such that this protection is triggered by an attack. That also means that normally I would not roll it until the attack is launched, but in this case it will be rolled now to see if he learns it (he will, I'm sure, but we need to know how well). The defensive value with be RS=SM against all incoming attacks. He rolls 48, 1@1 Protection against Spirit Powers M+1@6 pray 15:00 for protection, gives RS=SM against attacks by spirits for 80:00, duration tolls from first such attack, +9SM. He then rolls thrice for the information, 77, 75, 58; his chance of success is 1@10 SAL+38SM+10 religion SAL+10 alliance+14 bias+18 BRA=110%, but he still has to get the vision rolls successful actually to receive the information, so those rolls are against a 1@2 SAL with the same BRA, Religion, Alliance, and Bias making 64%, and the rolls are 66, 44, 01.
It happens that I have a villain in the spirit world here who would very much not want orcs turning to God, so he's become my choice. Nikolaj has made a powerful enemy, but he knew that was a possibility.
John 2 gets a 15 GE roll on the other holster.
Merlin rolls 60 and 29 on his skill projection skill, so Adam and Geneice both have solid examples of how to do a P11@3 History of Place.
--M. J. Young