As a player you can interpret that roll to mean that something has changed; as a character, you can have a similar response, that you thought this would work again but it didn't and you're not sure why.
From a mechanical standpoint, what it suggests is that conditions have changed somehow. For a psionic skill, for example, it could mean that you've stepped into an area where someone or something is actively inhibiting psionic skill use--but I don't think your character has ever considered that possibility, so it wouldn't occur to him. You do know that it has gotten easier to contact your mother than to contact your father, because you contact her more, and that would at least give you the basis for the believe that different circumstances can make some skills easier or harder--that it depends on more than just your own ability, but also on the situation you're addressing.
Also, if you succeeded in apparently learning a skill on the first roll and could not duplicate with the same roll the second time, that could be mechanically because skill learning and skill use have different calculations, and so "beginner's luck" might apply making it easier to do the first time than the second. The character would have a lot less information about the difficulty of performing a skill in that case, because the first time is different from every later time.
--M. J. Young
You begin traveling in the direction you predicted you would detect if you searched for Oo-hii. You move slowly, making sure to check your surroundings for the small, winged primate. The jungle remains unfamiliar and subtly bizarre. (Sometimes unsubtly, as well.)
When you find Oo-hii, he is curled up in a messily constructed nest high in the crotch of an ebony tree. He appears to be sleeping.
Subjectively, it's been twenty or thirty minutes since you started searching. Are you ending the hyperacceleration effect prior to attempting to contact him telepathically? Also, what exactly do you intend to say once you establish a connection?
I will attempt to contact him telepathically while in hyper-acceleration and if that fails then I will try my "Retrocognitive Scrying" instead to search for his brother whereabouts.
If that fails then I will deactivate my hyper-acceleration and try thought projection instead. I will let Oo-hii know my presence by calling out his "name" and try to ask whether his brother is still alive and where is his brother last known current location.
You achieve telepathic contact, and ask your questions. You receive no immediate response.
___
Maxx's Multiverser sheet has listings for both telepathy to humans and telepathy to humanoids, which is good enough for me. In Gamma World, he has Telepathy. No roll is required here.
Wow! The telepathy succeeded. That is easier than I thought.
Considering that it even works in hyper-acceleration, I would like try to read Oo-hii mind about his brother last known location and whether his brother is still alive.
If I fail to read those information and I still have time left for my hyper-acceleration then I will try my "History of Person" skill to check for those information.
*****
No roll is required here.
Auto success. Does this mean that telepathy is not treated as an attack in this world that can be blocked by Oo-hii mental defense?
Oo-hii's present thought concerns gauging the distance for a leap. Because he is thinking so slowly, you are unable to obtain any more context for his thought than that, and he is unlikely to be thinking anything different anytime soon.
If I fail to read those information and I still have time left for my hyper-acceleration then I will try my "History of Person" skill to check for those information.
How do you decide if you "have time left?" Are you just guessing, or using a skill, or employing some other method?
__
A word about psionic skill durations:
To my mind, initiating a psionic skill with a duration of RS=minutes should be less like setting a timer to a particular number and more like beginning to jog. A jogger will not be able to keep jogging forever. After a certain amount of time - how much time will vary from instance to instance - he will reach a point where he needs to decide how badly he wants to keeps jogging (and the answer is usually "not badly enough," and he stops).
Strictly in terms of game mechanics, it's like setting a timer. How soon the jogger reaches that decision point is decided by a roll of the dice, and we know what the dice say ahead of time. However, in the game, the results of that roll cannot be known until the time comes, because the roll represents a great many things (the skill of the jogger, the condition of the track, the jogger's mental focus over the course of the jog, etc.), many of which have not yet been decided or have not yet happened or interact with things which have not yet happened or been decided at the time of the roll.
For the referee, the roll is a simple way to decide how long the character will be able to carry on. But, for the character, he is constantly carrying on - the effort is continuous; he does his best, but eventually has to stop.
(This, by the way, is one of the reasons I'm so insistent that Maxx's Detect Personal Psi Skill Remaining Durations skills only give estimates of the "remaining duration" - to my mind, there is no "remaining duration" to detect. In the analogy, these skills work like pointing a Star Trek tricorder at the jogger; they give enough information that the timing of the decision point can be loosely estimated.)
How do you decide if you "have time left?"
I mean that if I am still in hyper-acceleration mode then I will start the concentration phase. If the hyper-acceleration expire during that time then I will talk with Oo-hii using telepathy.
Perhaps surprisingly considering how long you've maintained it already, you do manage to execute your History of Person on Oo-hii while maintaining your hyper-acceleration.
* He is a subsistence hunter who owes his success and survival more to his patience and caution than to his relentlessness and ferocity, though he possesses all of those qualities.
* On many occasions his near-immunity to psychic assault has granted him victory over prey; he seeks out those whose primary defense mechanisms are psionic.
* When his parents died, he was ejected from his former home ground by his siblings, but he has since come to know his new territory very well.
* He is not very intelligent, but he is proud of himself and of his ability to stay alive. He perceives himself as become better over time - at everything - and he envisions himself one day expanding his territory to include everywhere, and living forever.
Nothing that you learn about who he is and what he as done indicates to you whether his brother has or has not yet died, nor is any of the information you receive directional. (If there's anything you think you would have learned that I didn't mention, feel free to say so now.)
You probably won't be able to maintain your hyper-acceleration for much longer, but you could try.
____
I would treat the History of Person skill as the kind of mutation with a percentage chance of success and base that percentage off of his Multiverser skill success chance, but since that chance in this world (if it were a Mulitverser world) would be greater than 100%, it's effectively a no-fail ability either way. I'm fine with that; it requires 300 melee turns of concentration with sustained contact, so it's not unbalanced within the game system. No roll made or necessary.
No GE roll for what he discovers because I don't feel like it (and no relative success because it's Gamma World). The answers he wants wouldn't be revealed by this method, anyway.
After my hyper-acceleration mode expire, I will greet him and try to ask the whereabout of his sibling via telepathy.
You can end the hyper-acceleration at any time; since you have nothing planned until it ends, I'll assume you do so.
Oo-hii is asleep. He does not respond to your greeting, except to kick a little - if, indeed, that is a response to you.
__
Again, no roll for the Telepathy. Talking to the unconscious is unlikely to have much effect - perhaps fortunately for our hero - but perhaps he has something up his sleeve.
I will try to read Oo-hii deeper thoughts or memory via mind reading.
If that fails I will try to talk with Oo-hii in his dreams by combining telepathy and hypnosis.
Oo-hii dreams that the jungle has died, and he is starving; your mind reading reaches no deeper, and you uncover no memories.
I'm not sure what you mean by combining telepathy with hypnosis; the only hypnosis I see on your sheet is self-hypnosis, which "causes character to feel positive."
If you succeed in communicating with Oo-hii while he is dreaming, what do you expect his experience of this to be? Do you want to appear in the dream, or will he think the thoughts you send him without being aware that they are not his own thoughts, or will he "hear" your thoughts within the context of the dream, or what?
Oo-hii dreams that the jungle has died, and he is starving
I will try my suggestion skill so that Oo-hii will be able to go back in time where he will meet his brother. I will make Oo-hii brother (Ee-bai) ask Oo-hii if Ee-bai is still alive. I will also suggest that the last location that Oo-hii met his brother is the key (or solution to the dying jungle and starvation problem) and ask if Oo-hii remembers that place.
*****
the only hypnosis I see on your sheet is self-hypnosis, which "causes character to feel positive."
How about suggestion skill that Morach have tried before?
I think it is a type of hypnotism but we left the description to proceed on with the game so I am not sure about it. Suggestion is closely related to hypnotism.
Suggestion and hypnosis relation.
will he think the thoughts you send him without being aware that they are not his own thoughts
I think this is the closest to what I envision the skill effect would be. Morach thought would be some sort of guide to what Oo-hii will dream just like how a hypnotist would make a patient simulate the past or any other situation.
There's no need to link to Wikipedia; I'm quite familiar with the terms. My question dealt strictly with your character sheet. Behind the screens, you are by now almost certainly aware that your character cannot invent psionic skills here, so if there were hypnosis (distinct, in game terms, from suggestion) already on your sheet, that would certainly be relevant to my adjudication of your attempt.
So far, you have only attempted to directly influence another's thoughts once: when you tried to get Oo-hii to listen to you with forceful telepathy (page 16 of the game thread). You learned the technique, but on that occasion Oo-hii resisted the commanding force of your thoughts. I will assume it is your intent to take advantage of your telepathic connection to use that same technique - I'll call it Commanding Telepathy - to influence Oo-hii's dreams in the hopes that Oo-hii's dreamed actions will yield the information you seek. Correct me if I'm mistaken.
I'm off to eat a late lunch. I'll post again soon even if there's no response to this post.
You send the thought that Oo-hii is going back in time to meet his brother, and with it you send a mental push designed to cause him to believe it. Although your telepathy is completely unhindered, the mental force accompanying the thought strikes Oo-hii's mental barrier and utterly fails to penetrate.
Oo-hii instantly awakens and rolls up into a crouch, swiveling his head to gaze in your direction. For the moment, he's still mentally off-balance, and his surface thoughts are confused and unclear.
___
(Continued from my previous post.)
Attempting to force a change in Oo-hii by an exercise of psychic power is necessarily a mental attack, so we'll roll a d20 for Maxx's attack roll: 03. Referring to the Mental Attack Matrix in the back of the 1st Edition Gamma World manual, I see that I am spared the trouble of deciding what Maxx's Mental Strength score is - the scale does not allow a MStr score high enough that an attack roll of 03 would succeed against Oo-hii's mental defense. We established earlier that Oo-hii is a light sleeper, so in light of this abysmal failure, we'll have the winged lemur-mutant awaken.
I'm looking forward to seeing just how much deeper Maxx can dig himself.
Oo-hii instantly awakens and rolls up into a crouch, swiveling his head to gaze in your direction. For the moment, he's still mentally off-balance, and his surface thoughts are confused and unclear.
I will greet him and give him time to clear his thoughts before proceeding to ask him about his brother via telepathy. During the time Oo-hii tries to clear his thoughts I will examine him closely (which will make him detect me around him because he could not pinpoint my location) so I can also detect him (or his kind) physically in the future.
*****
Gamma World mechanics. This is getting interesting.
I'm looking forward to seeing just how much deeper Maxx can dig himself.
... into trouble? (Grins.)
You can detect materials, not entire organisms; organisms are made of quite a variety of materials, and I doubt you have time to examine all of them before Oo-hii gets his bearings. Please specify which materials you are examining.
How do you greet him? (Well, obviously by telepathy; I mean, what do you say?) What do you ask, and in what order?
Just as with your "first" conversation with Oo-hii, I'll need dialogue-level detail for this conversation; your world-views are alien enough to each other that what each of you thinks he is saying and what the other understands to have been said may vary greatly, and the best way I know of to run that is to require you to specify your phrasing so that I will be at liberty to misinterpret it appropriately.
Never mind the fact that with time travel involved, even the most minute detail has the potential to be important . . .
Please specify which materials you are examining.
I will examine Oo-hii fur or hair. If Oo-hii does not have those then I will examine Oo-hii skin.
"Greetings, Oo-hii. Sorry for disturbing your sleep but do you mind me asking a few questions about your brother?"
If he replies positively then I will ask, "Do you know where is your brother now and can you guide me there?"
If he replies negatively then I will say, "Oh well, I just hope that your siblings is still alive right now."
Then, I will wait for his reaction.
At this point, I need you to rate yourself on two of your attributes: Charisma and An-Mag. Do you know enough about the distinctions between the social attributes in Multiverser to score yourself, or do we need to go over them?
Edit: Also, how close are you to Oo-hii when you greet him? You had to be "touching" him for the History of Person, but it occurs to me you may have backed off since then. Are you at, above, or below his altitude?
I was about to roll a GE or an An-Mag check to help me determine how Oo-hii reacted to this, but then I remembered that Gamma World has a mechanic for this: the Reaction Roll. To adjudicate this properly, I'll need Maxx's Gamma World Charisma, which I will need his Multiverser Charisma and An-Mag to determine. (I already have his Persuasion: 1@7.)
Charisma and An-Mag. Do you know enough about the distinctions between the social attributes in Multiverser to score yourself, or do we need to go over them?
Finally, the Charisma and An-Mag attributes. I would prefer if we go over them because the rating is a bit subjective. I was usually elected as the leader of the group but I usually decline the position if I think another person would fit that position better. This is because I like to have equal position with my peers rather than exerting my authority over them. I probably attract animals such as cat or dog whether I give them food or not. I wonder if Lelach's An-Mag is passed on or something. I also wonder if the telepathy or mind reading practice with the creature of the forest somehow affects this.
Also, how close are you to Oo-hii when you greet him?
I think I would overlap Oo-hii's eye which means that I would be at Oo-hii eye-level when I greet him.
*****
I already have his Persuasion: 1@7
That would be Maxx's Persuasion. Morach's Persuasion would be 1@8. I wonder which Persuasion score would be used if the body is not present. I also wonder if the higher score will be used if a check is needed.
I'd forgotten that you had two attribute listings. If "Morach's" Persuasion is different on the sheet, that means it's changed since you entered the verse, which means "Maxx's" Persuasion is also 1@8. The only time the old scores will matter is if there is a question of your physical form reverting to what it once was.
There is some discussion of the social attributes here.
"Animal magnetism" is a bit of an idiomatic expression; it has less to do with actual furry animals than you might think. Magnetism was once a mysterious force of attraction, and animals are thought of as being base creatures of instinct, so "animal magnetism" is that force which draws people to you without their conscious comprehension of what it is exactly that draws them. It includes sex appeal, but it is generally considered a non-physical attribute.
An-Mag checks are used most often in first meetings and seduction attempts. It's usually obvious when to use Persuasion checks. On the other hand, Charisma is used least often for first meetings, but it's used almost exclusively when a social attribute is needed for a long-term situation. Charisma is what keeps friends, however they were acquired, and maintains loyalty, no matter its initial basis. Leaders who are successful because they are well-liked may be relying on Charisma; leaders who are successful because they are unquestioningly obeyed may be relying on Persuasion.
Is that enough, or would we like more clarification?
It includes sex appeal, but it is generally considered a non-physical attribute.
That makes me wonder about the sex appeal of a spirit.
Would that depend on how another being perceive the spirit?
Since the spirit is invisible, that would probably be like how I communicate with you via forum although telepathy that conveys intonation might be different.
If that is the case, how would you rate my An-Mag and Charisma?
Is that enough, or would we like more clarification?
How would any person rate these attributes themselves?
How would that person know that the score for these attribute is low, average or high?
That makes me wonder about the sex appeal of a spirit.
"Includes" sex appeal, not "is defined by." Until you make a seduction attempt while in spirit form, I'm not going to worry about it. (It's kind of like asking what happens to your Strength attribute if you lose your thumbs - it's not even a relevant question until you're thumb-wrestling.)
How would any person rate these attributes themselves?
How would that person know that the score for these attribute is low, average or high?
Yeah, I know it's hard. I had the same problem in my own game.
Maybe ask people who know you well? Barring that, perhaps simply reflect on how people relate to you in contrast to how they relate to other people. There should be some observable effect of these attributes, and someone should be able to observe it. All I know for certain is, your guess is far better than mine.
Sorry for taking so long to post this - I realize it's not terribly helpful.
"Includes" sex appeal, not "is defined by." Until you make a seduction attempt while in spirit form, I'm not going to worry about it.
That crack me up. I have to try that one of these days.
All I know for certain is, your guess is far better than mine.
I think my An-Mag and Charisma might be high but that might just be me thinking positively. I do not mind if you put both of those attributes on low or average though because it depends on other people reaction and your reaction is good as any.
Sorry for taking so long to post this - I realize it's not terribly helpful.
Do not worry about it. It is an amusing post and very helpful.
Then unless you object, we'll peg your Charisma and An-Mag at 1@7, the same as your original Persuasion - above average, but not by much. That also makes it easy to calculate your GWCharisma, which is 12 (on a scale of 3 to 18).
I've rolled the Reaction Roll already, but we'll get into that tomorrow/next post.
That also makes it easy to calculate your GWCharisma, which is 12 (on a scale of 3 to 18).
Good decision.
I've rolled the Reaction Roll already, but we'll get into that tomorrow/next post.
Carry on then.
"Greetings, Oo-hii. Sorry for disturbing your sleep but do you mind me asking a few questions about your brother?"
::Who are you? And, why do you want to know?::
While he thinks this, Oo-hii leans once to the left and once to the right, keeping his eyes on you all the while.
_____
2d6 rolled yields 7, minus 1 because Maxx is classified as a Humaniod Mutant attempting to interact with an Animal Mutant; a Charisma of 12 give no reaction adjustment, so we're left with 6, which the table tells us is Uncertain (just above 3-5 Hostile, Distrustful, May Attack). That's subject to change, of course, depending on Maxx's further actions, but it gives us a baseline.
::I am Morach. I felt that something will happen or have happen to your brother which is why I ask for his location. You are not against helping him, are you?
Do you not feel curious about what happened to him?::
If Oo-hii agrees to search for his brother then I will try to track Oo-hii's brother with his help.
If not, I will to track Oo-hii's brother myself using Detect Material and see if I can detect other fur/hair/skin that is similar to Oo-hii.
Post for the sake of testing.
If the question being tested is, "was my post invisible for the last three days?" I believe the answer is "yes." I'll try to respond soon (after work).
I am Morach. I felt that something will happen or have happen to your brother which is why I ask for his location. You are not against helping him, are you?
::What do I care what happens to him? I've got my own territory now.::
Something about his posture tells you he's not being entirely forthright with you about this.
Do you not feel curious about what happened to him?
:: . . . maybe. But, how do I know you're not tricking me? Why do want to help my brother?::
What do I care what happens to him?
Sounds like his brother is still alive. This feels like self-fulfilling prophecy or something.
But, how do I know you're not tricking me?
::You don't. Whatever reasons that I will give will only make me look bad. So my advice is keep your guard up and sense your surroundings well.::
Why do want to help my brother?
::Because I wanted to. Is that wrong?::
::I got to continue my search now. His time might be running out. You are welcome to come with me if you wanted to.::
I will then leave (with or without Oo-hii) and try to use Detect Material and see if I can detect other fur/hair/skin that is similar to Oo-hii.
::Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming. We'll have to go into his territory to look for him, though. If he gets mad at me, I'll him it's your fault.::
I will then leave (with or without Oo-hii) and try to use Detect Material and see if I can detect other fur/hair/skin that is similar to Oo-hii.
Which one - fur, hair, or skin? And, how different could a particular sample of fur/hair/skin be without this detection attempt ignoring it?
::I will tell him it is my fault if it comes to that.::
Which one - fur, hair, or skin?
It depends on how Oo-hii really looks. If he outermost part of Oo-hii body is fur then I will go for that. I will also take the part which is the most abundance into my consideration so if the skin coverage if more than fur then I will go for that.
how different could a particular sample of fur/hair/skin be
I think Morach have use this to detect particular hair type before so I think he could possibly use it to detect similar fur or skin.
I think Morach have use this to detect particular hair type before so I think he could possibly use it to detect similar fur or skin.
Oo-hii's fur covers most of his body, so we'll assume you're detecting fur. He's like a lemur, but with wings and sharper nails. There is a physical description here. A Google image search for 'ring-tailed lemur' would be a good guide, save for the coloration and the lack of large, bat-like wings.
I think Morach have use this to detect particular hair type before so I think he could possibly use it to detect similar fur or skin.
I meant, how discriminating is the search? For example: Would you be satisfied with detecting body hair of any primate, or would you expect not to detect monkey hair while still detecting lemur hair? Or are you expecting more specific (e.g., Oo-hii's relatives, but not other winged lemurs)? Or less specific (e.g. primate hair but not bat hair)?
This will affect the difficulty of the search.
Also, when you've used this skill in the past (i.e., in the sprite world), what sort of range did the detection have? Or was range not really an issue in the past?
Or are you expecting more specific (e.g., Oo-hii's relatives, but not other winged lemurs)? Or less specific (e.g. primate hair but not bat hair)?
I guess I would try to detect any winged lemurs type fur which may include other than Oo-hii's relatives.
Or was range not really an issue in the past?
If I am not mistaken, I think it just gives direction of detected material so the range is not an issue in the past which probably is similar to scriff sense.
At present, you detect only Oo-hii's fur. Be sure to let me know if you check again later (or if you intend to check regularly, let me know how often).
Oo-hii has begun to travel through the jungle canopy, presumably in the direction of his brother's territory.
__
I think baseline specificity for a detection of this kind would be "fur," so "fur of this species" is going to incur a penalty despite being on the list of known materials. This ability does not appear in the Gamma World list of mutations, so I'll allow it to function at its Multiverser percentage chance of success within a reasonable range. That's 64% minus sitmods (2x15@ = 30, + 1@10 BRA + 1@4 SAL), but a roll of 06 means I don't need to worry about the exact size of the penalty. It's certainly no greater than -50, so the detection works. Its range will not be great enough to pick up the next-nearest member of Oo-hii's race, but at least Maxx knows it functions.
I will follow Oo-hii until he stops or asks for my help. When he stops, I will probably try to the skill again to see if I can detect anything.
Oo-hii travels slowly and cautiously through the canopy, keeping to the black-barked trees when he can and avoiding decent to ground level whenever possible. The sounds of the jungle continue around you, and every few decameters some new oddity presents itself to your senses (an eight-petaled flower with seven petals the colors of the rainbow and the eighth an eye-numbing black whose reproductive parts are, on closer inspection, actually tiny teeth; a fallen tree whose insides teem with bioluminescent grubs, with multi-winged dragonflies circling over them like pelicans over a school of fish and occasionally diving down to snatch one away; a porcupine-spiked bush which seems to be shuffling ever-so-slowly to the left).
At one point Oo-hii goes to ground to avoid a well-established patch of vehemently orange vines infesting the canopy; it would be thirty or forty meters out of your way to go around, and he appears to have chosen to shortcut underneath. After a minute of cautious scurrying, he suddenly freezes in the middle of a nearly bare patch of ground between three trees - a human voice sounds to your left:
"Are you sure we'll even find one, Aran? I heard they're really . . . "
Rustling/tromping sounds and the movement of the several broad-leafed shrubs to the left reveal the position of the speaker (and, presumably, his intended listener); you have an instant's notice before they emerge from the undergrowth. You and Oo-hii are in plain sight, or will be once they emerge. (Of course, you personally are presumably invisible.)
___
Rolled d6s for surprise in a situation where one or both parties encountering each other might be caught unawares: Maxx & party roll 6, mystery speaker & party roll 1. As a 1 or 2 indicates surprise, Maxx's side has first strike (or the option of doing something other than initiating combat). Ordinarily I would have the entities come into view before asking about intended actions, but I figure Maxx might want to try something instantaneous before that. I'll allow that he can delay until seeing the entities before deciding his action without losing first strike, if he so chooses.
Also, this way I save on the length of the post. I'm on vacation, you know.
::Oo-hii, you better hide or something. I will try to talk to them.::
I will then try to open a telepathy channel with the humans (by using mass telepathy) or contacting one of them (if mass telepathy failed).
If I succeed, I will greet them by saying, "Greetings. Nice to meet you. I overheard that you are looking for something. Care to fill me in with what you are looking for? If we are looking for the same thing we could search for it together."
*****
Happy Vacation.