"I cannot imagine how simulating a psychotic episode would ever be useful. I can see how it might be useful to induce one in someone else, but I don't think I'd want to do that."
--M. J. Young
"I cannot imagine how simulating a psychotic episode would ever be useful. I can see how it might be useful to induce one in someone else, but I don't think I'd want to do that."
"Well, they say there's no such thing as bad knowledge. Besides, you just don't see the potential. Let's say you get arrested and put on trial. Being able to fake that you were insane could get a lesser penalty. Or, who knows what else could happen? If nothing else, maybe it could be used as a distraction. You're just not using your imagination."
Does Lauren know how to fight with knives, and/or throw them?
Having read Behind the Screens about the true nature of associate versers, I'm going to forget that notion. (I'm just going to assume that The Architect explained that to my character at some point) So, just spend 10 minutes praying each night about landing in an Old-West frontier town.
In the gun store, have I seen anything resembling a Derringer laser pistol? Something of incredibly small size, that is easy to conceal? I might look into getting one. Small enough to hide, but probably puts out more punch per shot than my 357.
(Doing Therapy)
Lauren does not use knives as weapons. She does have a psionic blade that she has used, on one occasion decapitating a vampire with it. She was rather upset that it did not kill the thing, but it was rather gratifying to hear it yelling to its lackeys to get it out of there, and watching them carry the head under one arm and the body under the other while they fled the scene--except of course that she was so focused on trying to get one more attack on that opponent that she was blindsided by the other, and versed out of there.
The do have small lasers, but they probably do not put out more punch per shot nor more shots than your .357. There is the power supply problem involved.
--M. J. Young
Where are we? I was thinking that if we are close by my work, I bet they have the tools to cut a piece of silver or gold into a perfect cylinder .357 inches in diameter. I'm certain of it. That would be metal machinist work on our world. They probably use cutting lasers here or something, but at any rate, it would probably be a new use on my metalworking skill.
Or perhaps the tools to roll 6 ounces of silver into a (say 1.5 foot) long wire .357 inches in diameter, then just cut it at lengths that would be the correct bullet weight. I could do that too.
I keep forgetting, I'm in a metalworker's candy store. Do they have some kind of device which would separate the bullet from the casing without spilling the powder or using any human force? Spilling the powder would be the most likely botch if I did this by hand. In reloading, we use a special hammer. The completed bullet gets screwed into one end of the hammer, then you smack the hammer on the ground. This separates the bullet from the casing, and lets you recycle the powder (most of the time). Anything like that?
I know they have the ability to weigh it out to 148 grains (or whatever I said) (My character would know how to convert it from grains to grams if he had to.) Then I would simply pull out the original bullet and replace it with the silver bullet. I'd need a lightweight hammer or equivalent, a vice, and perhaps some other tools for this.
I could give Lauren the general idea at least.
And right now, I know you're thinking about me botching and the bullet exploding. That would be a really bad GE roll botch. I've only seen that happen once in my life, and I've reloaded probably tens of thousands of rounds. Botches would be crushing the case, denting it, spilling the powder, things like that.
(Doing Therapy)
Multiple Postings
Does the sport of Boxing exist ANYWHERE in this universe? You said it wasn't available at TerraNova, but is it available ANYWHERE that I could get to? How would I know? Because I would check the computer.
Perhaps a change of scenery might be nice.
Multiple Postings
I know there's no way you could or would tell me, but I'm wondering how much of that Leatherman tool came, and what else might have come from Mr. Smith's shop. I know that errant scriff sense is driving him nuts. I think I'm going to see if I can go after it. How does one hire a private ship for a few hours? Someone to take me to retrieve that stuff. It could be floating out in space for all I know.
You wouldn't have a tool specifically designed to reload bullets, but you would have most of the tools you could use for the job, and you might be able to design and build the kind of tool you want.
Given a few hours, you manage to make 6 ounces of silver bullets. (How many bullets is that?) What are you doing with the steel slugs you removed from the casings?
Concerning the probability of an exploding bullet botch, note first that I am letting you do a "reasonable sized batch" on a single roll, not roll for each bullet, and if you were to botch there would still be a botch list. So probably you have a chance of an explosion somewhere between one in seven hundred and one in fifteen hundred, depending on things like how many items are on the botch list and exactly what your chance of success is in this universe.
This is not actually the Internet. This is an internal computer system designed to enhance communication and business and personal needs of those aboard TerraNova. You can find information about other places--that's under the category of traveler information, mostly stuff about destinations to which you might be headed.
As you search for information on boxing, you find
- Boxing, also known as pugilism, a form of supposed sport in which opponents attempt to kill each other with fists while others bet on the outcome, outlawed by interstellar law along with several other inhumanly cruel practices. See also cockfighting, dogfights.
--M. J. Young
Given a few hours, you manage to make 6 ounces of silver bullets. (How many bullets is that?) What are you doing with the steel slugs you removed from the casings?
Are the projectiles steel? Usually it's copper coated lead. If they're steel, then they would have limited armor piercing capabilities. Just thought I would add that.
Six ounces of gold and six ounces of silver. Makes 18 gold and 18 silver bullets. That's why I said order 6 more speed loaders. Back to the gun store and ask if I can order some speed loaders. I'll pay a small amount extra if they can be in on the shipment that has my holsters.
If the slugs are steel, I would probably put them in my Verser's Survival Pack. I could imagine steel and stainless steel being precious metals in some worlds.
Concerning the probability of an exploding bullet botch, note first that I am letting you do a "reasonable sized batch" on a single roll, not roll for each bullet, and if you were to botch there would still be a botch list. So probably you have a chance of an explosion somewhere between one in seven hundred and one in fifteen hundred, depending on things like how many items are on the botch list and exactly what your chance of success is in this universe.
OK, no offense intended. I just know guns aren't one of your strong suits, and I just wanted to make sure you didn't think it was as likely as TV and movies would make it seem.
Boxing, also known as pugilism, a form of supposed sport in which opponents attempt to kill each other with fists while others bet on the outcome, outlawed by interstellar law along with several other inhumanly cruel practices. See also cockfighting, dogfights.
(Thinking to self)
"OK, that doesn't sound TOO threatening. If they're going to arrest me for looking up information, then they are fascists indeed. Nothing to worry about. Kind of quashes my hopes for opening a Boxing school though."
Since I now have (OOC) reason to believe that authorities may come for me, I just wanted to tell you how I would be around the apartment. Around the apartment, the 357 and the 9mm would not be in the Verser's Survival Pack. I would likely sleep with the 9mm, loaded, in the holster with a single spare magazine, next to my pillow. Somewhere else in the apartment, probably in a drawer or something by the front door would be the 357 magnum. Also, it would not be uncommon for me to have one or both of them on my person around the apartment. The 9mm in the holster and the 357 next to me on the couch. It's just something I do sometimes.
So, they're obviously on the top inside the Verser's Survival Pack when I'm wearing it.
(Doing Therapy)
It was my understanding that they stopped making lead bullets because of the desire to eliminate lead from as many products as possible, and so reduce the amount of lead in the environment. I could be mistaken, but I thought they replaced lead with steel in most bullets. Check on it, let me know.
The rest of the day passes uneventfully.
--M. J. Young
It was my understanding that they stopped making lead bullets because of the desire to eliminate lead from as many products as possible, and so reduce the amount of lead in the environment. I could be mistaken, but I thought they replaced lead with steel in most bullets. Check on it, let me know.
Nope, bullets are copper jacketed lead. Of course, that's on our world, which means nothing in TerraNova. If they're steel, then they would have armor piercing capability.
What's the next day? What's happening?
Multiple Posts
Did I ever order my 6 speed loaders for my 357? My hope would be that they are coming in on the shipment with the 2 holsters. How many days until those come in? I would have 3 speed loaders of standard bullets, 3 of silver and 3 of gold bullets. If lead will kill it, silver and gold will too, but some things aren't killed by lead. Better to be prepared.
You ordered the speedloaders on Day 5; this is the end of Day 5.
After work on Day 6, Lauren and Derek arrive. You give them blacksmithing lessons.
Lauren says, "I think I'm going to have to make a bit of a jump here. I hope you're good for it. I ought to teach you a couple of skills I found particularly useful, but I don't know how you would use them here on the space station. One is, I discovered that the telepathy I use to contact people doesn't quite work with, well, people who are not strictly speaking people. When I work with the werewolves, I sometimes communicate telepathically with them, but it's a slightly different kind of skill, and a bit more difficult. But I've not seen anyone here who is not human, so I don't know how you'd use it.
"The other is problematic for similar reasons. It's a sort of telepathic summoning: I can send out a mental call that is attuned to a particular kind of creature, like a werewolf, and it will compel one to come to me. The one called usually doesn't know it was called, it just suddenly feels like it has to go to where I am. But I don't know quite how to teach you that. After all, if you called for a human, Derek and I are both already here, and to call for something not human you would have to already have some sort of mental pattern of the kind of mind you wanted. If I called for a werewolf, I don't expect any would come, because I don't think there are any here.
"So I think I'm going to have to skip those--unless you can think of a way to try them. That means my blank mind defense would be next. That's a bit of a jump in difficulty, but you're both doing pretty well, so I think you can manage it. Thoughts?"
--M. J. Young
After work on Day 6, Lauren and Derek arrive. You give them blacksmithing lessons.
Since you seem to be telling me what I'm doing, it would seem that you ARE forcing me now.... Bad joke, I know. I probably would do that.
The other is problematic for similar reasons. It's a sort of telepathic summoning: I can send out a mental call that is attuned to a particular kind of creature, like a werewolf, and it will compel one to come to me.
"Actually, I think I would like to learn this. I mean, I can learn it without using it, right? This could be useful in hunting. Get a mental image of a deer, then when I got hungry, just 'compel' a deer to come into crossbow range. I bet you never thought of doing that, did you? Show me that mental defense tomorrow. I'm willing to bet we're the only users of psionics in this station. No need to learn the defense just yet. Unless I need defense from you two...."
Which reminds me. Panoramic Awareness and that mental defense are skills that are "always on" right? So, aren't you constantly practicing them? Shouldn't your skill at that raise automatically every so often? After a few decades of being "always on" wouldn't you have 3@10 ability just from constantly practicing it?
My holsters come on day 10 right? I ordered 2 holsters, one a shoulder holster for the 9mm, one a back holster for the 357, 6 speed loaders, and a pouch to hold 2 speed loaders on my belt.
Have I seen anything resembling a double barrel 12 gauge shotgun? If so, buy or order one. It would have dual triggers, one for each of the 2 barrels, or both can be fired simultaneously. I'd saw it off on both ends. Makes a great up-close-and-personal defensive weapon.
Do they have any explosive tipped arrowheads?
I'm not telling you what you're doing. I am extrapolating what I anticipate you doing so as to save on posting time. I could have asked you, and that would have delayed the progress of the game unnecessarily. On the other hand, you would have been perfectly within your rights to say no, you weren't going to do that because something else had to happen that day.
In fact, that's why I did not say simply that she teaches you the next skill, because I did not know whether you would want to learn these.
"Actually, I think I would like to learn this. I mean, I can learn it without using it, right? This could be useful in hunting. Get a mental image of a deer, then when I got hungry, just 'compel' a deer to come into crossbow range. I bet you never thought of doing that, did you?..."
She laughs.
"No, I never did. I bought food at first, and then I conjured food when I learned to do that. But you're right--it would work for that. Of course, just to be clear, you need a mental image not of the deer but of the mind of the deer. You'll have to have read a deer's thoughts or emotions at some point to have that sense, to be able to sort out what it is that makes it a deer instead of, say, a bear. But sure, you could do that."
She shows you the pattern, and you go over it and feel you have a pretty good sense of how it's done.
"Oh," she adds, "you might need to look at the minds of several different kinds of animals. When I figured out how to do this, I had already had telepathic contact with humans, vampires, and werewolves, and so it was sort of a comparitive sorting out what it was that made werewolves distinct from the others. Once you do that, you'll have a pretty good idea of how to make it work."
--M. J. Young
You must be whipped, you missed this completely.
Which reminds me. Panoramic Awareness and that mental defense are skills that are "always on" right? So, aren't you constantly practicing them? Shouldn't your skill at that raise automatically every so often? After a few decades of being "always on" wouldn't you have 3@10 ability just from constantly practicing it?
My holsters come on day 10 right? I ordered 2 holsters, one a shoulder holster for the 9mm, one a back holster for the 357, 6 speed loaders, and a pouch to hold 2 speed loaders on my belt.
Have I seen anything resembling a double barrel 12 gauge shotgun? If so, buy or order one. It would have dual triggers, one for each of the 2 barrels, or both can be fired simultaneously. I'd saw it off on both ends. Makes a great up-close-and-personal defensive weapon.
Do they have any explosive tipped arrowheads?
MJ Wrote:
I'm not telling you what you're doing. I am extrapolating what I anticipate you doing so as to save on posting time.
Like I said, it was a bad joke.
"No, I never did. I bought food at first, and then I conjured food when I learned to do that.
"Lauren, you've obviously never been in a flatline world. Something I found out the EXTREMELY hard way was that psionics and probably magic are not always things you can count on being able to use. You say you have trouble deciding what weapon to use. Well, get good with simple stuff. A lot of the time, I think it's all you will have."
My character found out what a flatline world was in the Pearl Harbor hospital, I think him saying "flatline" (AKA dead) is completely reasonable.
Sorry.
No. We call them "always on" skills because you do not have to declare that you are using them in advance of the need. To clarify, Spiderman and The Shadow both have precognitive danger sense of some sort. The Shadow has it if he stops and attempts to feel the future; he has to declare it. Spiderman has it in that it comes to him when something is wrong. In both cases we have to roll for it to see whether the character senses the danger. However, the player for The Shadow would have to say, "I'm going to pause to sense whether there is danger lurking ahead," and a roll if successful would say yes or no. With Spiderman, the trap would spring and then the player would say, "Wait a minute, he has always-on precognitive danger sense," and then we would roll, and if it registered as successful he was aware of the danger a moment before and can rewrite play for that short time.
In the same way, your "always on" skills do not have to be "turned on" in advance to be operating. Rather, if you are in a situation in which something happens which should not have happened if that skill worked, you declare that you have that skill, and the roll tells us whether it was at that moment working.
And Blank Mind is not always on. It's on when you turn it on. Lauren turns it on whenever she is in a situation where there might be psionics attempting to read her. It's a bit of her own paranoia.
I did not check the dates on your orders.
I did forget to roll for the double-barreled shotgun. I'll fix that now. Your regular supplier has never seen such a weapon for sale, although he thinks he may have seen one in a museum once. How serious are you about finding one? It might be very expensive.
His shop is not licensed for handling exploding missiles; he doesn't know whether anyone on TerraNova is allowed to carry these.
--M. J. Young
I did not check the dates on your orders.
Well, I think it was day 10 when my stuff comes in. If that's cool with you, then I have 4 more days until I'm carrying the guns on me.
I did forget to roll for the double-barreled shotgun. I'll fix that now. Your regular supplier has never seen such a weapon for sale, although he thinks he may have seen one in a museum once. How serious are you about finding one? It might be very expensive.
"OK, that means YOU don't have one. Could you check and see if ANYONE has a gun like that? Can you check and see if it could perhaps be ordered?"
MJ, I know it's customary to associate double barrel shotguns with the side-by-side guns you see in Western movies. However, we've established some time ago that the store sells pump shotguns. Double barrel guns aren't always side-by-side. A lot of them are called Over Under guns. (Two barrels stacked on top of each other) These are made for precision and balance, for people who are really serious about sport target shooting. They are (in our world) quite a bit more expensive than a pump or side-by-side. They're far from the primitive double barrel gun that John Wayne carried. I know you were probably unaware of this. An over under gun would be acceptable, and in fact, preferable for my purposes. Perhaps that roll was for the side-by-side version. Could I perhaps get a different roll for an over under gun? If not, it's cool. I just wanted to clarify things for you.
His shop is not licensed for handling exploding missiles; he doesn't know whether anyone on TerraNova is allowed to carry these.
So they carry grenades but not exploding arrowheads. That I find kind of strange, but I'm not going to argue.
I am aware of the over/under shotgun design. The roll was for double barreled shotguns.
The original concept of double barreled shotguns was to make repeat firing possible--by having two barrels, both could be loaded, and you could fire once and then fire again. Pump action made that less important, and the double barrel's value was that it was slightly faster for the second shot and could if desired deliver both at once. It was considerably slower for the third shot, though, so the speed at which a second shot could be delivered had less value.
"Sorry. I wouldn't know where to check. My suppliers don't seem to have them. Might find something like that on one of the primitive worlds, but they'd have to be rather primitive to want such a thing."
--M. J. Young
I didn't realize that roll was for both versions. What I had intended was to take a hacksaw to the shotgun. Start with a gun that's about 4 feet long, cut the barrel down to about 12 inches and cut the stock into a pistol grip. What I would end up with would be a double barrel "pistol" with an overall length of about 20 inches. At more than about 30 feet, it would just do annoying damage, but at point-blank range, it would seriously mess up someone's day. Too bad they don't have it. An over under would recoil a little better than a side by side, hence why it would be preferred.
I know that other scriff sense is driving my character nuts, so let's see what we can do about it. Reach out with my mind and see if I can locate the alternate scriff sense. If I can find it, try to use out of sight TK to bring it closer to the station. Does Lauren know how to do that? Would she be willing to assist?
When you say that you want to "reach out with" your "mind and see if" you "can locate" it, what exactly are you attempting to do? That is, what information would you gain, and how would you gain that information?
My recollection is that this is whatever gear you left at the blacksmith shop before you made a journey of a couple days to reach the capital; that being the case, triangulation by scriff sense is not going to be that helpful. It is certainly possible to do what you are suggesting--but there are several ways it might be done, and they are all a bit different.
--M. J. Young
Your recollection would be correct. It's my shoes, unfinished Leatherman tool, and (perhaps) any equipment of Mr. Smith's that I might have considered mine, and he would have allowed me to take. What I was thinking was using the scriff sense kind of like a line of sight thread. A mental thread running from one point to where I am, following it back to the gear. Following the scriff sense. I would want some manner of sight or mental picture. Perhaps like watching my mind fly to the gear, following along the scriff sense. Does that make sense? When I find it, see what all is there, and see if I can bring it back to the station. If I can at least know what all is there and have it close by, I can retrieve it on my next verse. I just know that other sense is driving my character crazy.
I would do this in my hotel room, black out all of the lights, and try to create a relaxed atmosphere. Perhaps put on some classical music or something. Try to get my mind into a relaxed and calm state. Also, if I'm in my room (hopefully) I'll be the only one hurt if I botch.
My hope would be that the gear is out in the middle of outer space where it would be undisturbed and easily moved by out of sight TK. A weightless object HAS to be easier to move than one which has any weight at all.
Which, now that I think of it, raises an excellent question. How is 200 pounds of gear calculated? Suppose you were on a world who's gravity was 50% of earth's. Could you take twice as much gear? What if you versed out by getting blown out into space with all of your gear, and a bunch of other stuff. Then you and everything else is weightless. Could you then take an infinite amount of gear? Or what if the planet's gravity was 2X earth's? Would you only be able to get half of your gear?
Two Posts
Just curious, you were expecting me to go after high-tech weapons, weren't you? Instead, I just augmented my supply of "primitive" weapons.
I had no expectations.
As a matter of fact, "weightless" objects are not easier to move than those in a gravity well--just ask any astronaut who has pushed against a space station. What matters is the mass of the object. Also, the rule book specifies that although pounds are used (units of force) they are to be interpreted as units of mass, equivalent not to Newtons but to Grams, and thus the definition is really equipment having a mass that would have the weight of so many pounds at one gravity.
You attempt to focus your mind into viewing beyond yourself, but it does not happen.
If you are ready, we will advance to Day 7 (or have I missed a beat in keeping my records?).
--M. J. Young
I think it's day 7. My holsters come on day 10.
Try that again when I wake up in the morning. Maybe I'm just too tired right now.
Doesn't having the lights off, a relaxed atmosphere, and relaxing music playing count as a bonus at all?
I would allow those things to be a change in circumstance allowing another attempt, but it's much more difficult to adjudicate such things on a first attempt.
I wrote
If you are ready, we will advance to Day 7 (or have I missed a beat in keeping my records?).
You wrote
I think it's day 7
My records read:Lauren arrives
Day 1
Lauren teaches Tap Language Center
Order holster, about ten days?
Day 2
Lauren teaches search memories
Day 3
Lauren teaches project psionic skill pattern
Day 4
Martial arts class after work.
Lauren teaches telepathy to humans
Day 5
Order 6 speedloaders for .357
Lauren teaches Compel Candor P1@4
Day 6
Lauren teaches Blank Mind P2@4
Did you mean that I forgot to write down what you learned on Day 7, or were you agreeing with me that when you got up for the next day it would be day 7?
--M. J. Young
Agreeing that when I woke up, it was day 7.
I apologize for the confusion. You awaken on Day 7.
This morning you again reach out with your mind, closing your eyes and seeing the world outside the spaceship.
For most of half an hour you search the skies.
This is difficult. You can tell, to some degree, the distance and direction to the point you are observing; you can also tell the direction, but not the distance, to your equipment. What you cannot do is get a scriff sense between your visual point and the equipment. That makes it a bit like playing Battleship; the two senses are not integrated, and a single degree of difference can mean a very long distance over which you are attempting to spot some very small objects in a rather dark world.
Over the course of the half hour, you manage to figure out more how to move your visual reference point. You can move it smoothly at about a walking speed. You can probably also jump it to another point, in essence restarting it somewhere else.
You do not find your equipment in that time; whether you've not gone far enough or you've passed it somehow is more than you know.
In any case, you have to get to work, and then after work meet Lauren and Derek.
--M. J. Young
I'm not certain that you completely understood what I was trying to do. The scriff sense is a line-of-sight to the target. I would follow that line-of-sight to the equipment. I feel that the equipment is going off up and to the left at a 45 degree angle, so I would send my mind up to the left at a 45 degree angle. Like following a thread made out of scriff. Well, I'll ask Lauren what she thinks.
After work, meet up with Lauren and Derek.
"Hey guys, do either of you know boxing? I learned it from a guy I was living with. The computer says it's illegal, but what we do in our apartments is kind of our concern. My last sparring partner was an 11 year old boy (Mr. Smith's apprentice, William) I'd kind of like to have an adult sparring partner. No offense, Derek. Lauren, would you like to learn it? Perhaps you could help me improve."
Also, give her a synopsis of the clairvoyance that I did, and see what she says about it.
I grew up with 2 younger sisters who just loved to antagonize me. I have no qualms whatsoever about hitting a woman. Therefore, if Lauren is up for it, she gets no mercy for her gender. But of course, I wouldn't be trying to kill her either.
Two Posts
I have a feeling this is a 3 GE roll, but I'm going to ask anyway. They don't have any double barrel shotguns, but do they have any double rifles which would accept a 12 gauge shotgun shell? Double rifles are used in cases where you need to put a HUGE round in. Elephant guns and whatnot. A rifle and shotgun taking the same size shell does actually exist. There is a 16 gauge rifle. It's a rifle, but the bullets are the same size as a 16 gauge shotgun shell. You can shoot 16 gauge shotgun shells through them. Don't know if it works the other way though. So, a double barreled rifle with an inside case diameter of 3/4 of an inch. It's a 3 roll, I know, but humor me and make the roll.
And when it's a bad roll, do you complain that the police arrest you for seeking to purchase illegal weapons? I think that the roll for the double barreled shotgun was bad enough to cover this....but humor me and make the roll.
Neither of your companions have any knowledge of or experience in boxing. Lauren has been trained in martial arts, but much of it involves weapon use. If you want to spar with her, she'll try not to kill you.
I understood what you were doing with the Clairvoyance. Let me try to put it in perspective. You were searching along a straight line that ran a couple hundred miles. At any given instant you could clearly see objects of that size along about thirty to fifty feet of it. You had less than half an hour to look at ((5280x200)/30=)35200 such units of distance. I allow you to move along the line at about 4mph, which means you could check out about two miles of the total, one percent of the entire area in which the objects might be. The skill worked; you just couldn't search long enough to find them.
Lauren says that's how she would do it, although she might try to find a way to narrow down the location, perhaps getting a better estimate of the distance.
She fails to project the skill pattern for the Blank Mind to you; she's not certain why. She still explains how to do it, and says you can attempt to learn it without the mental pattern, or she can try to communicate it again tomorrow.
--M. J. Young
And when it's a bad roll, do you complain that the police arrest you for seeking to purchase illegal weapons? I think that the roll for the double barreled shotgun was bad enough to cover this.
Understood. I'm still trying to get to know how to do this. And no, I wouldn't complain that I got arrested, I'd complain that you made me waste perfectly good bullets on a bunch of cops.
Neither of your companions have any knowledge of or experience in boxing. Lauren has been trained in martial arts, but much of it involves weapon use. If you want to spar with her, she'll try not to kill you.
"No Lauren, we are all trying to teach each other skills, I thought perhaps adding another martial art skill might be something you would want to do. I'd like to improve myself. Would you like to? Meet me back at my apartment and we can do this."
Lauren says that's how she would do it, although she might try to find a way to narrow down the location, perhaps getting a better estimate of the distance.
"Well, we spent 2 days traveling, I was riding my bike, the other guy was riding a horse. It could be up to 200 or more miles away. (20 hours at 10 MPH) I think I'll try again later."
She fails to project the skill pattern for the Blank Mind to you; she's not certain why. She still explains how to do it, and says you can attempt to learn it without the mental pattern, or she can try to communicate it again tomorrow.
"Try again tomorrow. Man, when I was still psychotic, I would have LOVED to have some idiot try to read my mind. That would have been interesting."
"So, what now? You want to try boxing, or do you want to try more metalworking?"
In either case, when they're gone, try again on the clairvoyance. This time, try it for a couple of hours. This sound like it would be a poor man's DXM trip.
That sounds like it would be the whole day, so we should be at day 8 shortly.
I should be getting new uses on my metalworking out the ying yang. Have I gotten any skill increases in that area?
Two Posts
Just an aside, I'm really glad that Lauren came into the scenario. Otherwise, I have a feeling this would have gotten boring quickly.
Your metalworking is in practice mode, not new use mode. It will increase gradually, if you continue.
Lauren says she'd be interested in learning what you know in that area. You find her very agile and quite quick, but not so good with her hands particularly. Still, it is difficult for you to lay a blow on her.
You fail to get your clairvoyant viewpoint up after she leaves, but take a break for dinner and try again. Although you are a bit better focused, you fail again. Some time later, you try again, and again fail.
--M. J. Young
Is sparring with Lauren a new use on boxing? She sounds like she would be more difficult to handle than anyone I've previously faced.
I just know I would eventually try to land a kiss on her as well as a punch....
"Good match Lauren. How long has it been since you were in a relationship kind of relationship? The Architect told me that versers would spread the scriff to non-infected people, but I guess that's a problem you and I wouldn't have. Hey, I said I wasn't interested in sex, but I enjoy the company of a beautiful woman as much as anyone else. Would you like to have this on a more personal level? I guess I'm trying to ask you out on a date."
Depending on what she says there, I guess we're in the next day.
Two Posts
Is there anything here resembling a coin and collectible currency store? Jewelery stores, but I don't know of any stores that deal in collectible currency. Perhaps it is common, inexpensive, and will pass for something on some other world. Besides, it's practically weightless, and if worse comes to worse, I can start a fire with it.
(Doing Therapy)
Three Posts
Can a museum trade for an over-under shotgun? Can the gun dealer check? Perhaps a museum would be interested in a trade for 3 sets of medieval manacles. I could imagine a museum trying a trade like that. "Trade" in the most literal legal sense that this world has, that is. I couldn't imagine a double barrel being illegal, and a pump or an auto-loader legal.
A 3 roll would be the museum needed someone who could restore some of these guns. Perhaps I could get a really good arsenal in the deal.
(Doing Therapy)
Multiple Posts, and no more. (Hey, they're 14 hours apart!!!!!)
Get some cloth bedsheets and a cloth, drawstring bag to put in the Verser's Survival Pack. Bandages, concealment, all manner of uses, no weight, take up little space.
(Doing Therapy)
Multiple Postings, more than 72 hours later.
MJ, I'm assuming that I would have made metal animal traps as a blacksmith. What about improvised snares and whatnot? If I have 2@1 metalworking, then I have 2@1 make metal animal traps right? So, that means 1@10 make animals traps out of something other than metal, right? I mean I would understand the basic concept and principle of the operation of a metal trap, so couldn't I use that knowledge to build one out of something other than metal?
(Doing Therapy)
Sparring is definitively practice. You needed different ways to practice, and this will count toward that. If you get in a real fight with, oh, a flying lizard, and you box it, I'll consider new use for that.
If you're going to attempt to land a kiss on Lauren, we're going to have to fight this fight and do the rolls. We'll put that at the end of the post.
You do know how to make the jaws and springs, and do the assembly to construct a metal jaw trap. You don't have any skill at using these, as you've never used them, but you could teach yourself easily enough, since you have the tech bias to reflect conceptual understanding of how such things work.
As for building a trap from other materials, that would depend on your ability to work with those materials, and whether the materials themselves are suitable for the kind of traps you have in mind. For an obvious example, leather does not make for solid jaws or for good springs, even though there are ways to design traps made of leather. You don't have skill in designing traps; you have skill in making the pieces and assembling them, if they are made of metal.
Your dealer does not deal with museums and is not interested in doing so. The museums aboard TerraNova, such as they are, are all private establishments, so you would have to investigate each individually to determine whether any had such exhibits and were willing to work with you.
Now, for your sparring with Lauren, it will be assumed that both sides are pulling their punches, but that there is a risk of getting hurt. She removes her armor, which she usually wears.
You meet at the gym. You move to get into stance, and like something out of a kung fu movie she comes in with a tap by her foot that causes you real pain. She taps you again with the opposite hand, and you swing, catching nothing but air, before she lands two more blows on you, both of them hurting.
"Sorry," she says. "I thought you were ready."
You are genuinely injured.
--M. J. Young
MJ, check Behind the Screens before you do anything else here. I think you may have to reroll that fight.
I'm going to assume that I still get my butt whupped.
"Whoa, that's not quite what I had in mind Lauren. I wanted to teach you boxing, but perhaps you should be teaching me whatever in the hell that was."
MJ, I'm going to have to ask you to roll a bonused willpower check for me. I'll explain below.
I know I am pissed off, but I just got creamed. Therefore, I know this is a bad idea. I know I would be thinking about doing it regardless though, so that's why I'm asking for the bonused willpower check. (Difficult is -10, bonused is +10, right?) If I make the check, I don't do it.
Anyway, I'm assuming I'm on the ground. Ask Lauren to help me up. When I get to my knees, give her a hard sucker punch in the thigh. Punching right handed, going for the inside of her right thigh. Ever had a Charlie Horse before? This is the effect I am hoping for. Put her down to the ground as well. It should catch her off guard, and give me the advantage to land this hit.
If I make the bonused willpower check, I don't do that.
So, if I don't make the check, do that. If I do, let her help me up and have a really pissed off look on my face.
(Doing Therapy)