Maxximum Reality: Maxx Starts Play · Page 15

divorce your spirit from your body permanently.

That is not the intention at all. It is because you said:

If there is some other way to get two bodies, I don't know what it is.

That is why I try to guess what that way is.

The spirit is the equipment of the body because scriff is in the body, and the body recognizes its own spirit. That's the sum of it.

Does the scriff choose which part of the body is the main body?
If this is the case, does the scriff have a mind of its own?

This discussion is derailing your game for esoterica that has no significance to play.

Which is why I said to have this discussion with the magic jar question but the thread is not created yet so I just put the questions here for future reference.

*****

1) The calendar time at which you attempted this skill

I am not sure but I think it is about 17 or 18 months after birth. This is because there was no calender in Morach world so I can only give a rough estimate.
The 17th month after birth post.
Since I have been too busy experimenting on various things I did not ask about the current day before MJ pass the baton to you but I did mention about Month 18 on page 11. I did not mention it again as it would look like I am rushing things. Since MJ have not advance the month yet, I think it is probably at the end of Month 17.

2) Your total elapsed time in this universe so far (including time in gestation) in days,

The time in gestation is about 38 weeks from this post.
The gestation time post.
Total time in universe = 38*7 + 17*30 = 776
Considering it is dawn when the skill is attempted, you could probably add one more day which would make it a new month which will make the total time in the universe to be equal to 777. This would also make it easier to remember.

3) Which post in this thread I would go to if I wanted to go back about a month.

If this skill is done on the first day of Month 18, then you just have to go to "The 17th month after birth post." That post also contains the link to "16th month after birth post" so if you go there you could find the post one month back. If you decide this will be Month 18 then you might want to write it in bold so it is easier to search for later even if it will be "undone".

Does the scriff choose which part of the body is the main body?
If this is the case, does the scriff have a mind of its own?

Whichever part of the body is "alive" is the main body. Separating body parts other than by a user skill which allows the body to separate and remain in contact with itself (in which case the unity of the body is still present despite the physical division), even surgically, reasonably constitutes damage. Either the body will verse out and be reunited, or the body will heal and assume a new stable form without the missing body part, which is no longer part of the body once full healing is achieved.

Since one spirit cannot inhabit two bodies (even if it can control them), if there is any question which is the original body the one body the spirit primarily inhabits would be that one body. If the question is which of two indistinguishable bodies is the correct one if the verser is disembodied when he verses out, the question is moot--if there is some way to distinguish them, we can distinguish them, and if there isn't, the disorientation of versing out will mean that the spirit of the verser won't know anyway, so whichever one the referee says is the right one is the right one.

If you create two bodies, either one is dead, or a second spirit becomes involved. It is not impossible to animate a dead body and prevent it from decaying, but that should not be taken as the same thing as a living body.

--M. J. Young

________

The skill was successfully learned. I'm polling opinions.

The skill description and SAL?

Later? I'm not sure if I'm allowed to withhold that, but I would like to.

Okay. Take your time.

*****

Separating body parts other than by a user skill which allows the body to separate and remain in contact with itself (in which case the unity of the body is still present despite the physical division), even surgically, reasonably constitutes damage.

This sentence could also provide some answer. I wonder if Morach spirit have subconscious connection with the current body or the body in the future when Morach time travel to the past. I also wonder if this connection is present even before the rift is created if somehow Morach arrive in Oo-hii's past world.

That sentence also makes me wonder how damage of multiple connected bodies are calculated. If there are two connected bodies, I wonder what would happen to the body if the other body is killed. I wonder if the remaining body would receive half damage of the other body or would the remaining body DV remain the same considering that the total DV of both bodies is actually twice normal body DV. If it is calculated using total DV then probably the injury to one body would only cause half normal damage and one of the body will expire when enough damage have been done to one of the body.

After three minutes, you feel ready. You mentally seize as much of the volatile material around you as you can and tap into its potential energy, hurling yourself past-ward with in an attempt to drain off as much power from the future explosion as you can.

It works.

You know you weren't able to use all of the explosive material as fuel for your trip, but it's difficult to say how much you left behind since, once you make the conversion, you are immediately and abruptly elsewhen:

The rift is gone. The noon-day sun shines from all around you now, instead of only from one side. You're in the jungle, with sunlight gleaming from the black-barked trees all around you. That repetitive insectoid drone surrounds you, and the hot, humid air smells of ozone and rust.

There is no evidence of your previous - now future? - accidental explosion; the foliage is intact, and no corpses litter the forest floor.

__

I know the skill learning roll and SAL (1@1), I just want to conceal the length of time you traveled backward until you have some in-game clues. I flipped a coin to see which side of the rift you were on when you made the attempt; Graham kindly called it for me (tails for Gamma World), and it came up tails.

This is interesting. Before I take any significant action, I would like to remember this exact place and wait for any unique movement in the environment to tell me the exact time such as the roar of specific animal which scare off the others, a specific insect is eaten, or any event that I can distinguish from the others.

After that, I will try to compare the place before the explosion occurs and the place I am currently in to see if it differs a lot or only a little bit. I will also try to see at the position of the black tree that I examined before to see if I have a clue on how much it have grown in the future.

I few questions that came to my mind.
Where is Oo-hii now?
Where is Oo-hii nest?
Where is the nearest *bad place*?
Is Oo-hii brother still alive now?

I wonder if meeting Oo-hii or saving his brother would change history significantly.
Changing something that have already happen would be bad if it is not disguised by an illusion or something. An illusion would probably not work too well considering that Oo-hii have some sort of mental defense. I also have to worry about Oo-hii superb detection that can even detect a spirit.

I will probably try my "Time Stop" skill next to give me more time to think.

*****

I flipped a coin to see which side of the rift you were on when you made the attempt; Graham kindly called it for me (tails for Gamma World), and it came up tails.

Interesting. I wonder if that would make Gamma World bias to support psionic time travel.

Nothing particularly memorable occurs in the environment over the next minute. Something skitters along a vine overhead, too quickly to see (perhaps one of the purple lizards?), and a drop of water that had been gathering at the tip of a small shrub's leaf drips to the ground. Other such things occur - there is a yellow-and-black striped centipede crawling on a nearby tree, for example - but there is nothing exceptional or unusual to mark the time. Are these things good enough?

There is not a great deal of difference in this area - the trees are the same size, for instance. Other than the presence of a particular bush which you are not certain was there before (that is, in the future), your surroundings do not seem much changed.

I few questions that came to my mind.
Where is Oo-hii now?
Where is Oo-hii nest?
Where is the nearest *bad place*?
Is Oo-hii brother still alive now?

Do you expect to know or be able to easily discover the answers to these questions now, or have you merely listed them as a note of what you're thinking about?

I will probably try my "Time Stop" skill next to give me more time to think.

If the above concerns have been resolved to your satisfaction, you begin concentrating. It takes eight minutes, as I recall.
___

Interesting. I wonder if that would make Gamma World bias to support psionic time travel.

Of course. If the bias at the time (potentially different from the bias now, of course, but most likely the same) did not support time travel, then the skill would have failed automatically, with no chance of success or botch.

A GE roll on whether this moment has a distinct temporal landmark comes up 18, "not favorable," only one point off from Neutral Result or No Effect. It'll be about as I expect with perhaps a slight negative spin.

I'm not narrating the time stop until I'm sure he's doing it now - there is ample opportunity for Maxx to be dissatisfied with the results I've given him and specify further action - but the roll is 93, which will succeed in light of his 1@10 BRA, 1@1 SAL, and +40 sit-mod built into the skill. That's 71% before bias, so any world bias of at least level 11 would make that roll succeed, and Gamma World's bias is higher.

That's if the skill is ever completed, of course. I'll hold off on the GE roll for those eight minutes until it's time.

Are these things good enough?

The combination of those events are probably enough to mark the time because it is unique to that exact time. Unless the same lizard or centipede will travel using the same route and the same drop of water can be recycled yet again and drop again in the same fashion at that specific time interval it is probably safe to say that the event is unique although this type of marker would have to be remembered in detail for it to work.

Other than the presence of a particular bush which you are not certain was there before

I wonder if this bush can move like an animal or have been eaten in the future because I am not sure I have seen it before.

have you merely listed them as a note of what you're thinking about?

Yes. It is important to note a time traveler thoughts.

If the above concerns have been resolved to your satisfaction, you begin concentrating. It takes eight minutes, as I recall.

And so I begin to concentrate on my "Time Stop" skill.

No major changes in your environment occur during your preparatory concentration (and you wouldn't notice minor ones - you're concentrating). Everything seems to freeze as your personal subjective time slows to a crawl. You've gotten a much better handle on the technique, it seems; you feel as though you'll be able to maintain this for a good long while.

Now what?

__

GE on events during concentration: 17, "neutral result or no effect." Skill roll made in advance (see previous post).

I wonder why I land on this world instead of my own past world.
Maybe there is something to do here but I wonder what that is.
I wonder if I should locate Oo-hii or save his brother if his brother is still alive.

While thinking about that, I suddenly thought of an idea. I will concentrate for 8 apparent minutes then try to predict the probable future if I try to locate or contact Oo-hii.

Which are you trying to predict - what happens if you attempt to find him (and how would you be trying to find him?), or what happens if you attempt to contact him (and I'm assuming you mean "contact him telepathically, which I can do because I have contacted him 'before'")?

what happens if you attempt to find him (and how would you be trying to find him?)

This is what I am trying to predict first. I will attempt to find him using Locate Telepathically Known Person.

what happens if you attempt to contact him

If I manage to locate him by using that skill then I will try to predict what will happen if I attempt to contact him using telepathy when I meet him.

After eight apparent minutes, you work out that if you attempt to locate him with that skill, you will succeed, discovering that he is currently "that way".

Are you now attempting to use the location skill, predict what will happen if you attempt to contact him, attempt to contact him, predict what will happen if you travel in the direction that you predicted you would detect if you used the Locate skill, actually travel in that direction, or what? Your phrasing has left me somewhat confused about your plan.

__

A skill learning roll of 75 gains Maxx the following skill:

1@2 Choice Assessment P12@3 requires 0:08:00 high concentration, yields limited information concerning the future likely to result from a single and particular choice not yet made, +30 SM W1b

I will use my new skill to predict what will happen if I try to go "that way" and contact Oo-hii using telepathy. If I need to concentrate for 8 minutes again to activate my skill then I will do so.

The skill you have predicts one thing; predicting the outcome of multiple sequential choices is more complex. Keeping in mind that you could attempt to contact Oo-hii from where you are (although you've never contacted someone telepathically while hyperaccelerated before, so there's no way to know for certain if that would work), which prediction would you like to make - what will happen if you travel in that direction, or what will happen if you attempt to contact him?

And yes, you would need to concentrate again to make this work.

predicting the outcome of multiple sequential choices is more complex.

I will concentrate for 8 apparent minutes and try to predict the outcome of multiple sequential choices.
First choice, travel in that direction to see if I meet Oo-hii or not.
Second choice, if I meet him I will try to contact him using telepathy if at that time my hyper-acceleration skill is over and if it is not then I will attempt to read his mind.
Third choice, I will try to find out if his brother is alive or not and where is his brother last known location through the telepathy or by reading Oo-hii's mind.

If you travel in that direction, you will encounter Oo-hii while your hyperacceleration is still in effect, but you will fail to read his thoughts.

___

Skill roll is a 68, Maxx learns the skill at SAL 1@2; I made a mock mind-reading roll to determine the predicted outcome.

I think the mental defenses probably made the reading mind attempt to fail although this is just a guess.
Can I add more sequential choices to the skill or do I have to concentrate yet again if I want to add more choices to it?

Either way, I will predict what will happen if I try my "History of Person" skill with Oo-hii as a target to check whether Oo-hii's brother is still alive and where is his last known location. If I must concentrate again for 8 minutes then the first choice would be traveling to Oo-hii location first then trying the "History of Person" skill on Oo-hii.

My thinking is that if the precognitive skill requires a period of dedicated concentration, you need to have your entire question in mind before you start concentrating. (In part, what you're concentrating on is what you're trying to predict.) That doesn't mean that you couldn't try to predict the answer to a longer sequence of choices all in one go (although I would penalize for more than three choices), but it does mean that you would need to decide on that entire sequence before using the skill.

So yes, you'll need to use the skill again to make this new prediction.

This next attempt, your results are a little more vague; you didn't get as clear a read on the future as you would have liked.

At this juncture I notice that your History of Person skill requires "contact with person" while concentrating (for thirty minutes). This seems to imply physical contact. Have you ever attempted this while in spirit form? I am attempting to decide whether this is possible without penalty, possible with a very large penalty, or impossible. This decision will of course influence your prediction of the future.

__

12@7 Sequential Choice Assessment roll is 11, weak but successful. That weakness will be expressed once I know enough to relay the prediction.

What result did I get from reading the future?
Did it have any information regarding Oo-hii's brother?

*****

Have you ever attempted this while in spirit form?

Yes, actually Morach learn this skill while in spirit form.

All you manage to predict is that you will likely find him and proceed to learn something about his history. What you might learn is not quite clear.

__

I left out the part of the prediction which concerned the History of Person because I needed the answer you just provided before I could determine what the probable future was. Otherwise, I might have told you that you predicted success for an impossible skill.

Twenty-four apparent minutes have elapsed.

I will concentrate for 8 minutes again with the same two choices but this time I will add a third choice in which I will go to the direction of Oo-hii's brother if I learn something about him then try to predict if I will meet Oo-hii's brother and if I do not learn anything about Oo-hii's brother then I will try telepathy when my hyper-acceleration expire.

*****

Edit: Can I have this new skill description or do I have to wait until later?

This time you determine that you will find Oo-hii, but you fail to discover anything about his history; when you wait for your hyper-acceleration to expire, your attempt at telepathy will catch his attention and curiosity, but you will not succeed at establishing a connection.
__
I was just being lazy; here's the skill:

1@2 Sequential Choice Assessment P12@7 requires 0:08:00 high concentration, yields limited information concerning the future likely to result from a sequence of choices not yet made, -10SM for each choice over three, +30 SM W1b

The roll is 48, successful even though the adjusted sit-mod is only +10 (+20 BRA +12 SAL already equals 42, bias level of at least 3@ ensures success). This is a good success, but not a great one like the first two.

GE roll for the circumstances in Oo-hii's area once the hyper-acceleration expires comes up cherry lance fans. Mock History of Person and the mock attack roll for telepathy both fail.

All you manage to predict is that you will likely find him and proceed to learn something about his history.

The above event which is checked the second time with the same choices while in "Time Stop" produce:

This time you determine that you will find Oo-hii, but you fail to discover anything about his history

I wonder what makes the previous choice to succeed and the next one would fail. If that is the case I wonder if I can check for future skill probability by using this skill repeatedly.

What Morach would do next would probably change depending on the ruling of "History of Person" skill.

*****

Mock History of Person and the mock attack roll for telepathy both fail.

That statement confuses me a bit.
Does the skill roll of "History of Person" result in failure or does the skill counted as an attack and result in failure due to Oo-hii mental defenses?
Is "History of Person" skill a mental attack that can be defended by such mental defenses?
Could you enlighten me (if this is not against the rule) on how the mock roll for "History of Person" is calculated?

32 apparent minutes have elapsed.

I wonder what makes the previous choice to succeed and the next one would fail.

The two obvious possibilities are

1) You were wrong, on one prediction or the other; or,
2) Something changed between the earlier and later prediction, which changed the likely outcome. Possibly the knowledge that you had predicted success could constitute such a change.

But, see below.

___

I apologize for the confusion; I was in a hurry. There were two rolls made. The first was a skill check for History of Person, which failed (I forget the roll). The second was an attack roll for Telepathy, which failed to penetrate Oo-hii's Mental Defense Shield.

Although, looking back, it's unfortunate that I do not remember the roll for History of Person, as I'm not certain that it is actually possible for the skill to fail in this universe. I'm actually not even certain that I rolled at all; the post was written in fragments between spurts of unrelated activity. It's possible that I rolled very high and used the numbers for a different skill to evaluate it, but with that +58 sit-mod and the knowledge that the contact stipulation apparently does not penalize you for non-physical "contact," I have to conclude that I was in error when I stated that you will learn nothing about his history. Please instead take my statement to mean that you will learn something, but that none of what you learn will concern his brother's status.

Possibly the knowledge that you had predicted success could constitute such a change.

This would mean the prediction itself is not stable because it does not take the act of prediction itself as a factor of the prediction. This would also mean even if I follow exactly what I predict, I could end up with different result.

I wonder if I can predict the prediction that would lead me to the result that I want. The result that I want is the current status and location of Oo-hii's brother.
I will concentrate for 8 minutes then focus on the result that I want then see the most probable future branch that will lead to it.

*****

cherry lance fans

I wonder why do I get the number 9 when I see that.

Please instead take my statement to mean that you will learn something, but that none of what you learn will concern his brother's status.

Then what do Morach learn instead?
Oo-hii's brother name perhaps (which would help because the character have become a recurring theme)?

Possibly the knowledge that you had predicted success could constitute such a change.

This would mean the prediction itself is not stable because it does not take the act of prediction itself as a factor of the prediction. This would also mean even if I follow exactly what I predict, I could end up with different result.

True. It would mean that.

I will concentrate for 8 minutes then focus on the result that I want then see the most probable future branch that will lead to it.

After eight minutes of trying, it is apparent that this is something that you cannot do. It's like trying to wiggle your eleventh toe - no matter how hard you try, it won't happen. You simply aren't capable of it.

__

After realizing an error I committed, I decided to adopt the approach which MJ recommends here. Everything that has happened in-game stands, but the two precognitive choice assessment skills (the P12@3 and the P12@7) have been removed from my copy of your character sheet.

I wonder why do I get the number 9 when I see that.

I wonder, as well. I'm also wondering why I chose "lance" to stand for the number that I know it stands for. "Cherry" and "fans" still make sense to me, but "lance?"

I don't suppose it matters as long as I know the numbers, though.

Your character, of course, has no knowledge of the distinction between Multiverser worlds and Game worlds, but now that the cat's out of the bag (idiomatic expression) in that other thread, I'll make sure to post any mechanical peculiarities resulting from your presence in Gamma World (such as your Gamma World statistics, once they matter - if you stay here long enough, we may have a full sheet for you by the time you leave).

You simply aren't capable of it.

Interesting situation. I wonder what changed.

I will concentrate for 8 minutes and try to teleport back to Sprite World.

*****

Everything that has happened in-game stands, but the two precognitive choice assessment skills (the P12@3 and the P12@7) have been removed from my copy of your character sheet.

That raises the question of what help Morach do those in the first place while Morach is in hyper-acceleration. Maybe an always active device that coincidentally synchronize with Morach's mind when Morach attempted those skill?
Can Morach do those skills again if Morach synchronize his mind with those things or do Morach have to try those skills again to know whether he can or cannot do those skills again?

40 apparent minutes have elapsed.

You're stumped. You don't know how to teleport, and you can't think of any way it could be done.

___

As a Gamma World character, Maxx has no means by which to invent new psionic skills from scratch. No roll, no chance of success or botch.

Can Morach do those skills again if Morach synchronize his mind with those things or do Morach have to try those skills again to know whether he can or cannot do those skills again?

At this point, Morach doesn't have any reason to suspect he didn't learn these skills, much less have any knowledge of why they worked despite that lack of learning.

That raises the question of what help Morach do those in the first place while Morach is in hyper-acceleration. Maybe an always active device that coincidentally synchronize with Morach's mind when Morach attempted those skill?

I actually haven't even decided why the skills worked, and I don't intend to until it becomes relevant. (But don't worry about me; just do what you would normally do with the knowledge you have.)

48 min.

you can't think of any way it could be done.

Interesting. Somehow, my learning capabilities have suddenly dropped. I wonder if this is a renormalization process that just taken effect because I have been in this world for a certain period of time.

I will try my choice assessment skill again to see if I really have learn it or something have help me to do it.
I will predict what would happen if I try to "Locate Telepathically Known Person" but this time the known person is replaced with the signal I get with this skill so I can detect where the signal come from.
If I fail to predict anything and feel the same when I try to learn anything, I will try "Locate Telepathically Known Person" skill for real and see if I can detect anything that have helped me to try the prediction skills before.

*****

Maxx has no means by which to invent new psionic skills from scratch.

I wonder if it is possible to learn new skills if the spirit could not mutate like Oo-hii's brother. Before I forget, did Morach know Oo-hii's brother name by any chance?
I also wonder if the spirit have to "level up" or search for related artifacts to learn a new skill. That would be interesting.

But don't worry about me; just do what you would normally do with the knowledge you have.

Thank you for the heads up.

Interesting. Somehow, my learning capabilities have suddenly dropped.

Or, perhaps, teleportation is harder than anything else you've done, and you have no foundation upon which to build your proficiency. It's hard to tell.

I will try my choice assessment skill again to see if I really have learn it or something have help me to do it.
I will predict what would happen if I try to "Locate Telepathically Known Person" but this time the known person is replaced with the signal I get with this skill so I can detect where the signal come from.

What signal? I don't know what signal you might be talking about.

Furthermore, you need to have contacted a mind yourself in order for that mind to be a valid target for your Locate Telepathically Known Person ability (if I'm wrong, please provide a link to the appropriate post); even if you were to receive some kind of "signal," I'm almost certain that this would not allow you to trace its source unless (1) the source was another mind and (2) you had previously contacted that mind.

__

No, you do not know Oo-hii's brother's name. If the brother had a name, you did not learn it from the mind-meld.

Oo-hii does not even really think of "Oo-hii" as being his name; members of his species communicate in a limited way using vocal calls, and you noticed in his memories that he would respond to this call as though the call had been an attempt to get his attention. In that respect, it may very well be his name. It's also possible that "Oo-hii" is merely the equivalent of "hey, you!". I've been using it as though it were his name for the sake of convenience.

teleportation is harder than anything else you've done, and you have no foundation upon which to build your proficiency.

I would think that time travel or hyper-acceleration would be harder than teleportation but I could be wrong. The way something is learned in various worlds could be different if it is not then I probably would have learn a very difficult feat back in my original universe.

I'm almost certain that this would not allow you to trace its source unless (1) the source was another mind and (2) you had previously contacted that mind.

So, a new use perhaps or is that a new skill?
If that is a new skill, could Morach attempt to learn it using "Locate Telepathically Known Person" as a foundation?

*****

It's also possible that "Oo-hii" is merely the equivalent of "hey, you!". I've been using it as though it were his name for the sake of convenience.

That suddenly awakes my naming sense. Oh, hi. Eh, bye.
Would you object if I call Oo-hii's brother name Ee-bai for convenience?

You attempt to make the prediction, but you gain no insight into the future. You feel like you did everything right, just like the first time, but nothing happened.

If I fail to predict anything and feel the same when I try to learn anything, I will try "Locate Telepathically Known Person" skill for real and see if I can detect anything that have helped me to try the prediction skills before.

Aside from your own suspicions, you have no evidence that anything has helped you or hindered you. You certainly don't have any means by which to target an unknown and unseen mind, even if such a helper/hinderer were to exist.

_____

Maxx is of course correct that teleportation is simpler than time manipulation in general, but (1) Morach cannot know this for certain, and (2) in this specific case (attempting to teleport to an unrelated universe) the teleportation skill in question would in actually be much more difficult than any skill he currently knows. Of course, he can't know that for certain, either . . .

Would you object if I call Oo-hii's brother name Ee-bai for convenience?

I have no objection. Call him whatever you like, so long as I know to whom you are referring. If you ever say it out loud, it would be nice if you told me how to pronounce it. (I know the International Phonetic Alphabet, for what that's worth.)

Before inquiring further about what Maxx is attempting to predict, I went ahead and rolled a GE for what, exactly, has led to the curious phenomenon of successful choice assessments in the absence of real skill learning:

Goose, devil, mental

Ah. Well, in that case: "skill roll" for the choice assessment comes up 60, which is (meaningless because Maxx does not know the skill) failure, saving me the trouble of asking questions about the prediction itself.

I'm tempted to suspect that Maxx is using out of character knowledge when he assumes that he must have received help from an outside agency (instead of a myriad of other feasible assumptions that don't resemble MJ's example scenario from the other thread), but even giving him the benefit of the doubt, the name of the skill is Locate Telepathically Known Mind. There has been no telepathy, and he knows of no mind; the lack of a valid target precludes the attempt.

I will go to Oo-hii location next and try to contact him with telepathy.
If I fail to do so then I will try thought projection.

*****

I'm tempted to suspect that Maxx is using out of character knowledge when he assumes that he must have received help from an outside agency

Morach think that something must have help him try to learn/use the first two skills. Morach does not know whether he have learned the skill or not.

"skill roll" for the choice assessment comes up 60, which is (meaningless because Maxx does not know the skill) failure

Actually, that succeeds if you add the sit mod for the skill but it will fail if Morach does not actually learn that skill.

You predicted that you would discover the direction to his location if you used your Locate TKM ability ("that way"); you subsequently predicted that if you traveled in that direction you would encounter him. I'm assuming that this is the direction in which you intend to travel, despite the fact that you have no evidence aside from precognition that it is the direction you want. Am I correct?

You don't have any direct knowledge of the distance. Are you taking any precautions against overshooting the mark - that is, against traveling past Oo-hii without noticing that you have done so?

Also, the terrain, flora, and fauna here are all strange, and you've only seen a small sample of this world. What sort of things that you might potentially encounter - frozen in time though they may be - would induce you to stop traveling toward your destination and take some action or make some investigation before continuing?

____

Actually, that succeeds if you add the sit mod for the skill but it will fail if Morach does not actually learn that skill.

Of course. The first roll was a 75, which succeeded. That doesn't change the fact that this time, you failed; 01 would have been a failure. If the math had mattered, I would have checked it and posted it.

I only rolled the dice because at the table, I would have asked you to roll. If you failed with a 93, you would have less reason to be suspicious than if you failed with a 10. I used the "skill roll" (not really a skill roll, because there was no learning or performance occurring) to guide my description of your inability to perform the task: "You feel like you did everything right, just like the first time, but nothing happened." Had the roll been different, I might have used a different description which would have been more or less informative to your character.

All of this, of course, is referee's discretion. Delicate issues of this kind are quite likely to be handled very differently at another referee's table.

Am I correct?

Yes.

Are you taking any precautions against overshooting the mark - that is, against traveling past Oo-hii without noticing that you have done so?

I will look at my surrounding as I go forward in "that direction" so that I would not miss Oo-hii.

What sort of things that you might potentially encounter - frozen in time though they may be - would induce you to stop traveling toward your destination and take some action or make some investigation before continuing?

I will note the place with interesting feature so that I can go there later.
For now, my priority is to meet Oo-hii but if I meet Ee-bai (which I could recognize from Oo-hii memory) along the way then probably I will stop and talk to him instead.

*****

Goose, devil, mental

17?

Of course. The first roll was a 75, which succeeded. That doesn't change the fact that this time, you failed; 01 would have been a failure.

If the player knows something is wrong by rolling the dice, would the character have that knowledge too?
How is the knowledge from player translate to the action of the character and vice versa?

Delicate issues of this kind are quite likely to be handled very differently at another referee's table.

I know that it is a delicate issue which is why I worry about asking about it in the first place.

56 apparent minutes have elapsed.

Goose, devil, mental

17?

Let me suggest that it is inappropriate for you to attempt to crack that code, at least openly. I know that it is tempting to attempt to figure out what the roll is, but when he codes it, it's obviously a hidden roll which of he expects the player to be unaware. He uses those notes so that he will be able to remember the roll later when it matters. If you crack the code, you make his job harder--he must either save the rolls somewhere else for reference or invent a harder code.

Since the code is not part of the game, please accept that when he posts coded reminders for himself they're not for you to decode.

Of course. The first roll was a 75, which succeeded. That doesn't change the fact that this time, you failed; 01 would have been a failure.

If the player knows something is wrong by rolling the dice, would the character have that knowledge too?
How is the knowledge from player translate to the action of the character and vice versa?

The assumption is that whether you succeed of fail at any skill, you're going to have some sense of whether it was or was not difficult. That is, sometimes you will roll a low number that fails and your player sense will be, "that should have worked." In the same context, your character sense would be very similar, "I did that right, why didn't it work?" You might feel that the world was biased against you--in the literal, not the mechanical, sense, that this was a world in which psionics were tougher. Similarly, you might roll a high roll and have it succeed, and your feeling then might be, "that was easy; things work well here." If the low roll succeeded, it would tell you less; if the high roll failed, it would also tell you less. The successful low roll would tell you that the skill is possible in this world at least sometimes; the failed high roll would tell you that the skill doesn't work every time.

We let players know the rolls because it conveys more information than the more difficult effort of communicating the feeling. That is, if you roll a successful 40 I'm going to tell you that you got a good strong result, and if you rolled a failed 40 I'm going to tell you that it didn't work but you thought it ought to have, but the first description does not tell you that the bias really isn't that strong and, say, a 50 would have failed, and the second does not tell you that a 30 might have worked. Knowledge of the 40 gives you as a player a mathematical handle on what does or does not work numerically, and you as a character a sense for how strong the bias "feels".

And Scott's inclusion of a die roll when the chance of success is non-existent is exactly how I would do it at the table. I don't do it in my forum games because if you want to see the die rolls you have to look behind the screens where I also post the chance of success, so you'll know the roll was irrelevant when you look for it.

--M. J. Young

please accept that when he posts coded reminders for himself they're not for you to decode.

I know. That was just my guess for my own reference because I just like guessing.

That is, if you roll a successful 40 I'm going to tell you that you got a good strong result, and if you rolled a failed 40 I'm going to tell you that it didn't work but you thought it ought to have, but the first description does not tell you that the bias really isn't that strong and, say, a 50 would have failed, and the second does not tell you that a 30 might have worked.

So if I roll a successful 40 then I get a failure 40 with the same skill and in the same world, how should my character interpret that roll?
Could my character interpret it as a sudden drop in "learning bias" or something?