Maxximum Reality: Maxx Starts Play · Page 5

O.K., given that you do not care what color eyes or hair Morach has, I think I need to know what color eyes and hair you, the human being going by the name of Maxx here, have. That will give me a base against which to do an interpretation.

Thanks for the tables, but I htink you've missed quite a few potential hair colors. Even "Red" is not given, and I can think of several shades that are called "red" which I would not consider so.

The padding is not living material, and cannot be contacted telepathically. It has no mind.

I don't know how the padding could be installed so as not to touch anything; it lies on the floor, as far as you know. Of course, you did not see it installed, and if you attempted to dig through it your parents would tell you to stop.

Would it be hard to get a toy that have fell deep into the grass and leaves?

I'm not sure I understand this question.

Does catching nuts or other seeds that are thrown in mid air suitable for intuition practice?

I don't see how this gives you an unexpected situation.

Can spitting a saliva on a grass (that is situated the same height) and catching the saliva when it fall be an alternative for intuition practice?

You have no way to test this, so I should not answer it.

Yes, if the massage is not part of the skill, the skill is as originally stated.

...then clap (dot) or drum on anything (dash) a Morse code that spells out "BYE"

Without looking it up, can you tell me the Morse code for "BYE"?

That is, it does not mean that you already know how to do it, but that you already have some notion of how you might learn to do it.

Does this mean I get an example bonus if I try to do it?

No, it means that your bias went up to level 6, so your chance of learning any skill is improved, because you've gained an understanding of level six healings.

However, it still involves contacting an unknown mind that you cannot see by direct line of sight, so it's still 3@9 Remote Mind Reading.

I thought that my mind reading can be initiated be line of sight or knowing the target relative position.
Does this mean every time I cannot see the target it becomes remote mind reading?

We seem to be talking in circles.

Your "tagging" is an application of your mind reading skill that gives you just enough information to create familiarity with a previously unknown mind. By definition, then, you only use it to contact previously unknown minds, and the question of whether you knew this mind before is irrelevant.

Once you have tagged a mind, you can contact it by mind reading or telepathy, because tagging gives you the frequency for that individual mind.

If you do not have the frequency, you must make an initial contact, which requires line of sight from you to the target in order to "tag" the new mind.

It is entirely possible for you to develop a tagging skill that does not require line of sight. This would be a remote mind reading variant, whether it worked by letting you target someone you saw through the eyes of some other creature or by letting you identify the position of someone you cannot see directly.

You were able to contact Lelach when you were in utero because of the consistent proximity you had to her.

You are not a blind person; you and I do not have any basis for answering the question of how a blind person would target a mind. The same applies to your other hypotheticals at this point: they are hypotheses you cannot test, and you do not have the ability to ask questions except in those cases in which you can test the answers. Your answers are derived as conclusions from your own experiments in practice, so if you cannot practice something you cannot know the answer.

Your parents think your pretend writing on the wall is cute. Lelach says (to Morani) you're going to be a great scholar.

Your efforts to manipulate the grass are good practice for your hand/eye. You are not always able to accomplish your objective, but as frustrating as that is, you realize that you are gaining more motor control function through the effort.

What skill do you have in knots? That being a technological skill, you will be able to retain it as a sprite, once your body is able to manipulate objects sufficiently.

Lelach says that the pad is the door that protects you from the cold during the winter.

Your wings flap, but they don't have much impact on your movement through the air. Sometimes it causes your body to turn some, as if you were squirming, but Morani manages to catch you anyway.

You find that you favor your left hand, and can use it more easily than your right.

I have never given anyone a bonus for exhaustion from psionic concentration, but that does not mean it can't be given. Normally I divide skills into high-concentration and low-concentration, pretty much on the fly; high-concentration skills are such that once they are activated there is a -10 penalty on the simultaneous use of any other psionic skill (and if the high-concentration skill is activated while another skill is in use, it suffers a -10 penalty for activation). A good example of a high concentration skill would be a force weapon, that is, creating a force object and manipulating it as a weapon, because you have to be concentrated both on the maintenance of the force and the rapid movement in combat.

That being the case, my inclination for something that is exhausting is that it would create a limit on subsequent skill use by imposing a sit-mod against such. Note that this would include all psionic skills, including speech, heightened awareness, and others which are usually taken for granted.

If a skill with such a limitation were chained, it would incur the same penalty on the second use that any other skill would, and with each additional chaining the penalty would increase a like amount.

I have no fixed limit in mind for such a skill, but the bonus and the penalty ought to be equal.

The deer you tagged is foraging for food against significant shortages. It is usually hungry.

You learn all the significant details about living inside the tree. Less food is consumed by your parents, but this is in part because they do less work.

You've noticed before that you and your parents glow. This enables you to see things within what is really only a couple inches but seems like about a foot from yourself, and similarly around them. The rest of the interior is too dark to see.

I don't really mind long posts, as long as I can make the time without taking it from the other players. You are welcome.

--M. J. Young

If you really wanted to know, mine is black/black.
Is black/black even possible for a child of brown/brown and blonde/violet?
I choose it as the best result for hair/eye table that I provide though.

The table for hair I just made in a hurry. I am not sure where to put red but I think it should be more rare than light brown.

The padding is not living material, and cannot be contacted telepathically. It has no mind.

I thought so too but just wanted to make sure. I wonder where the mind of a plant is. Would a plant seed that have not been cooked (thus can be planted) be categorized as living material?
Would a part of plant that can be put to grow again at separate place be considered a different or the same plant?
Do I still have contact with the part of plant that are regrown at different place?

This question:

Would it be hard to get a toy that have fell deep into the grass and leaves?

have been answered by this:

if you attempted to dig through it your parents would tell you to stop.

So you have already answered it.

Can spitting a saliva on a grass (that is situated the same height) and catching the saliva when it fall be an alternative for intuition practice?

You have no way to test this, so I should not answer it.

The grass will be put to an opening in the wall of winter tree which is the same height when I stand (so it will stick there). There must be some crack, hole or opening of that sort and if it is too big that it would not hold the grass I will put more than one grass so that the grass will stay in one place.
I will then spit on it the grass so that it will slowly drip to the end of the grass.
I will then sit down and will try to catch my own saliva when it drips.
Would the above setup qualify for a way to test it?

Without looking it up, can you tell me the Morse code for "BYE"?

I cannot remember what each code stands for (without looking at the chart) but for E it is a dot (because it is the most used vowel). I just hope that my enhance memory recollection remembers the rest. When I check the chart, B is dash, dot, dot, dot and Y is dash, dot, dash, dash.
If I cannot remember what the code are then I will make a code of my own by making a binary table or a chart (that represents dot and dash) and assigning number, alphabet, and symbol to them just like ASCII character encoding scheme.

I will remember to do the things below much later to test my hypothesis.
1. Sound to sight sense alteration then mind reading when I close my eyes.
2. Telescopic view mind reading.
3. X-ray or infrared vision mind reading.
4. Target a really large tree from far away for mind reading.
This will give me more knowledge on the limitation of initial contact mind reading.
I will try remote mind reading after the winter.

I will thank Lelach for the compliment. Pretend to pretend writing when actually writing something is really something else. I like to say the previous sentence quickly for some reason. I will try to write 2 easily distinguishable symbol (for dot and dash) so that it can remind me of the code I made up earlier if I cannot remember the Morse code even with enhance memory recollection (that I have done in practice) and if I remember (the Morse code) then I will write it in alphabetical order for future reference.

The knot that I use a lot is the Square knot and its variant that is used for tying shoelaces and such. For other type of knot I either saw it only in book/Internet or attempt it for a few times so I cannot be said to be that good in them. I will try the Square knot because it is simple and can be done by kids to tie their own shoe.
If I manage that I will try more complicated knot such as a knot to bind two ropes securely if I can remember how to do it.
If I succeed on that, I will try making longer ropes with it.
If I succeed on making longer ropes, I will try to make a net using it.

I wonder what the pad or door is made from.

I will learn to control the turn of my body when I flap my wings so that it can go to the direction that I desire.

You find that you favor your left hand, and can use it more easily than your right.

Well, that is expected because my mind probably gives the example for my body to do things that way. I will practice with my right hand more so that both hands will be more balanced later on.

I will go around the inner wall of the tree to inspect any interesting things that I may have missed because of darkness. I wonder if I can make something to focus the light of my body towards one direction. If I can control my own body with the power of mind I probably can focus my body light towards one direction using it.

I will lay down and try to gather my mental power for about 2 to 3 hours then I will get up and try to focus my body light in one direction which is the direction pointed by my right hand. The duration of the skill will be from 1 to 10 minutes. After the skill is done I will need to rest for about 4 to 5 hours to restore my mental energy due to exhaustion trying to make sure the skill success.
I use my right hand because the left hand supports the body while standing.

You have violet eyes and silver hair--not grey, but shiny similar to a platinum blonde.

Yes, your set-up with the grass would be a way to test your idea for practicing intuition by catching saliva drops.

As a passing note, your character can nearly always remember things you manage to remember, particularly if it's still close to your original verse-out; if you want him to remember something you can't remember immediately, usually an education level check is adequate to determine whether he learned/remembers something you think you once learned. Your enhanced memory skill is then a "second shot" at remembering such things.

You manage to remember enough Morse code to put together your BYE. (Make note of those letters; you need not check them again, now that you have incorporated them into a practiced skill.)

You prove unable to tie any knots at present; the task is beyond what you can do with a couple of fingers, no matter how determined you are.

Concerning this effort to manipulate light, are you attempting to

• manipulate your body's production of light by psionically altering your body's natural chemistry or whatever it is that produces this light, such that the light is concentrated in a different area?
• manipulate the light itself after it emanates from your body such that it shines in the direction you desire?
• manipulate your body's production of light as a learned body skill, as you might manipulate the sound your voice makes or with great practice your heart rate or body temperature?
• do something else?

Finally, I've pulled this from a previous post:

...go into a position where it is easier to put my hand on the place of pain for 30 minutes such as laying down position. I will touch the pain area and make a gesture that the pain will fly away once every minute. I think an infant could manage to do that. I will call this "Pain fly away gesture".

I will touch the area of pain in laying down position. I will do the "Pain fly away gesture" then clap (dot) or drum on anything (dash) a Morse code that spells out "BYE" and try to say "Bye" in words if possible (then back to touching the area of pain) once every minute for about 30 minutes. I will pray repeatedly during the interval of the "Pain fly away gesture" so that the pain for the area that I touch will be more bearable. The duration of this skill is until the pain event is over.

This was a magical pain reduction skill you were going to create

If massage cannot last that long

which meant if you could not maintain a thirty minute effort to massage your gums with your hands in connection with efforts to stop the pain of teething. This was going on concurrently with the development of this skill,

1@1 Reduce Pain P6@1 by self-hypnosis to induce happy thoughts creating a hormone that intercepts the pain signals RS minutes

I'm not certain whether you are still intending to attempt the more elaborate magical approach.

--M. J. Young

You have violet eyes and silver hair--not grey, but shiny similar to a platinum blonde.

Well, similar to Lelach then. I remember a saying (which the validity are probably not verified yet) that goes something like "A son mostly takes the look of the mother and vice versa". I wonder if my situation is an example of that.

Yes, your set-up with the grass would be a way to test your idea for practicing intuition by catching saliva drops.

Does the setup work?
Can it provide enough challenge to improve my intuition through regular practice?
If it can then I will practice it in my ESP package slot.

I will use the Morse code that I remember to attempt the magical pain reduction approach which is:

I will touch the area of pain in laying down position. I will do the "Pain fly away gesture" then clap (dot) or drum on anything (dash) a Morse code that spells out "BYE" and try to say "Bye" in words if possible (then back to touching the area of pain) once every minute for about 30 minutes. I will pray repeatedly during the interval of the "Pain fly away gesture" so that the pain for the area that I touch will be more bearable. The duration of this skill is until the pain event is over.

You prove unable to tie any knots at present; the task is beyond what you can do with a couple of fingers, no matter how determined you are.

This reminds me of trying to manipulate objects such as to tie a knot by either magically or psionically but lets wait for the result for light manipulation first.

If manipulating my body light production by psionically altering my body natural chemistry or whatever it is that produces this light, such that the light is concentrated in a different area can be an example to learn to do it as a body skill (by following what the mind did earlier) then I will try to alter whatever that produced this light.
If it cannot be an example to learn a body skill then I will manipulate the light itself after it emanates from my body such that it shines in the direction I desire.
When I make up this skill, I thought of doing the former if it can be an example to learn how to control my body better but in the event that it does not gives any example to learn the body skill then I thought that manipulating light itself would be more useful. Thank you for elaborating the variant that I have in mind.
In the event that I do not know if the former (manipulating my body light production by psionically altering my body natural chemistry or whatever it is that produces this light) can give an example for the body to learn it or not (using my understanding in body control or healing) then I will try the latter (manipulate the light itself after it emanates from my body such that it shines in the direction I desire) first.
I will quote the skill again below so you do not have to search for it.

I will lay down and try to gather my mental power for about 2 to 3 hours then I will get up and try to focus my body light in one direction which is the direction pointed by my right hand. The duration of the skill will be from 1 to 10 minutes. After the skill is done I will need to rest for about 4 to 5 hours to restore my mental energy due to exhaustion trying to make sure the skill success.
I use my right hand because the left hand supports the body while standing.

If it works I will go around the winter tree to see anything that I may have miss due to darkness and after the duration is over I will rest with restful sleep (that have about 8 hours duration).

I will also have to research more about plant parts, seeds, living things vs non-living things, mind identity, molecular living things, pseudo living things, the aspect of mind reading/telepathy with said things and much more.
Are vine that is freshly picked up a living thing?
Does the vine still have a mind during that state?
When is a vine categorized as non-living things?
Is seed a living thing?
I wonder if I have any info of the above from my various sense and skills.

What are creatures that I have tagged (such as butterfly, bird, deer and others) doing?
Can the creature differentiate night or day in the winter?
I wonder if a month have pass by or anything have change during this time period.

The setup with the grass and the saliva is not sufficiently challenging to improve your remarkable intuition further.

I will touch the area of pain in laying down position. I will do the "Pain fly away gesture" then clap (dot) or drum on anything (dash) a Morse code that spells out "BYE" and try to say "Bye" in words if possible (then back to touching the area of pain) once every minute for about 30 minutes. I will pray repeatedly during the interval of the "Pain fly away gesture" so that the pain for the area that I touch will be more bearable. The duration of this skill is until the pain event is over.

Is lying down a specific requirement/limitation on the skill, or is it simply the default position, since you have trouble remaining upright for an extended length of time?

By "until the pain event is over" do you mean until the current pain attack subsides, or until the tooth has finished cutting, is fully grown, and no longer hurts?

When you use psionics to control body functions, there is something of a feeling that this is being done from "outside" the body. Thus the psionic control of the release or balancing of chemicals or any similar body function does not show you how to accomplish the same objective directly by body skills. (I know it's a fine distinction, but it's an important one.)

I take it that you then intend to manipulate the light directly, and not manipulate the illumination that comes from your body.

Seeds are alive but usually sleeping. Plants that have been severed from the soil are slowly dying, but would perceive themselves as ill and hungry; such mind as they have would grow fainter and more difficult to find until they were completely dead. Leaves are dead when the tree releases them, usually before they are released unless there is a very strong wind or other force that disconnects them early, in which case they die upon disconnection.

Most of the creatures you have tagged are dead or dormant. The birds are unaware of winter. The deer continues to struggle to find food in the cold and the snow.

--M. J. Young

The setup with the grass and the saliva is not sufficiently challenging to improve your remarkable intuition further.

Does this mean that I know when and where the saliva will drip even I close my eyes?

Lying down is the default position of the skill because I have trouble remaining upright for an extended length of time in the body of an infant. The targeted person or the person who prays must be in the position that is categorized as a relax position so that the pain soothing process can go smoothly. If the situation limits the movement of the person so that the person can only sit, then the prayer can be done when sitting as long as the person does not strain self when trying to sit.

By "until the pain event is over" do you mean until the current pain attack subsides, or until the tooth has finished cutting, is fully grown, and no longer hurts?

That would mean until the current pain attack subsides.

In the event that my prayer loses its effect and I could not renew it then I will try to fight the pain with my willpower.
Would this be a self control skill that uses willpower check to prolong it?
Can this skill be use to practice willpower?

I take it that you then intend to manipulate the light directly, and not manipulate the illumination that comes from your body.

It can be said that I intend to manipulate light directly.
I think it is a kind of psionic lensing.
I also have thought of other variation such as gravitational lensing or binding a charged particle to the light (or changing light into charged particle) then bending it with magnetism but I wonder if that is even possible in this world.

I will lay down and try to gather my mental power for about 2 to 3 hours then I will get up and try to focus my body light in one direction which is the direction pointed by my right hand. The duration of the skill will be from 1 to 10 minutes. After the skill is done I will need to rest for about 4 to 5 hours to restore my mental energy due to exhaustion trying to make sure the skill success.
I use my right hand because the left hand supports the body while standing.

Are we good to go with the skill above that manipulates light directly or do you have other questions about it?

In the event that the above skill does not work, I will try the variant that manipulates my body light production by psionically altering my body natural chemistry or whatever it is that produces this light after resting.

I wonder if I can (create a skill that) observe my own mental process during the skill that control bodily functions, trace it to related body parts and check for a possible way the body part can be manipulated the same way as the psionic skill.
Is it possible to create a skill that teaches your body to do the same function as the psionic counterpart by doing the above?

Very interesting info on the plant.
I wonder if sleeping plants such as seeds can be used as a conductive material for telepathy chain connect considering it is a living creature.

So it is snowing now. I wonder if I can do anything to help the deer to survive the winter. I wonder if I can pray for the deer safety.
If I can then I will pray (in my mind) for the deer safety so that the deer can found the food that it needs and place of shelter from the cold weather. I will pray for the deer in laying down position for an hour.

The birds is probably migratory birds that goes to warmer place during the winter.
I wonder if they have arrived at their destination or still on the way to get there.
I also wonder if they see anything interesting along the way such as houses, human or other creatures.

Does this mean that I know when and where the saliva will drip even I close my eyes?

No, it means that practicing this way is not helping your intuition.

Your pain prayer is effective, eliminating teething pain for about eight hours.

After resting for two hours, you are able to focus your light in a beam from your hand, gathering the light from around your body and sending it outward where you point. On this first attempt the beam lasts eight minutes, after which you collapse and rest. Lelach and Morani are worried about you, because you are too weak to sit and eat during that time.

You pray for the deer; you feel it may have helped, for a while.

--M. J. Young

I wonder if I can remember the rest of the Morse code.
If I could not remember any letter, number or symbol (that the Morse code represents) then I will include this as one of the things to try remember in my enhance memory recollection practice.

I will convey my gratitude for my successful prayers with a silent prayer of thankfulness.
I wonder if the above is an example for practicing religion.
I will practice the eliminate pain prayer in Slot 10 with my psionic reduce pain in case that my psionic reduce pain does not work.

Did I have found anything interesting that I have not seen before (due to darkness) during the time 8 minutes that I focused my body light?
During the time of resting, can I sleep (or pretend to sleep if I cannot sleep) so that my parents would not be worried about me?
Would the skill bonus be the same if I say that I only rested an hour before the light redirection and two hours after it?

You pray for the deer; you feel it may have helped, for a while.

I wonder how long my prayer would be effective.
I wonder if I can prolong or replenish the effect of the prayer by praying 30 minutes daily of the same prayer.
If I can then I will do it.

Do I have enough time to practice with tying the knots to improve my object manipulation skills?
If I have enough time, I will practice it in the new slot.
If not, I will practice it in my exercise package.

Did I ate seed mush during the winter too?
If not, what food did I ate?

I wonder if I can mark the leaves with different markings by tearing the edge a little bit to represent the alphabet using Morse code (long and short tear). I will then put the leaves together and throw it in mid air and by only glancing it once in mid air (for hint) then closing my eyes I will try to determine where each letter will go to. I will crawl to this location and try to feel the mark at the edge to see if I am right. If I have pick the wrong leaf, I will probably stumble into more clue thus getting me closer to the letter of my intention.
Is the above a suitable practice to increase my intuition?

Is there any changes in the new month?
Do I get any new info from my various skills?

I wonder how to respond when you open a statement with "I wonder". I assume that it means that if this is something you actually know or would know in the circumstances, that I should tell you what you know, but otherwise that all you are doing is recognizing it as something you do not know.

Yes, a prayer of thanksgiving would be practicing your religion. It's a small thing in itself, but fits in a larger package.

The hollow of the tree looks much as you might expect, only bigger.

Yes, you manage to take a nap.

Since you are cutting teeth, Lelach gives you something like a carrot sometimes, which mostly massages your gums and helps your teeth cut, but you are also swallowing bits of it. You also eat foods similar to those you ate before, which included vegetable mush as well as seed mush.

You add knot tying to your practice efforts.

Your prayer to help the deer was a 60 minute prayer; if you would like to create a thirty minute version that lasts for a single day, that would be a separate skill.

You want to mark several leaves so that they can be distinguished by the markings, throw them in the air all at once, and then try to know which one lands where. This would be akin to tossing several cards in the air and trying to find where the Ace of Spades lands by watching them in the air. Is that correct?

I can see that this might be good training for intuition. I'm a bit unclear as to exactly how you intend to mark these dry brown leaves, and how you intend to stack and throw them without damaging them, but it could be done in theory, anyway. You did not specify how many leaves; I'm assuming it's not twenty-six, but the actual number might be significant. Two would not do much to help you, but twenty is probably too many to distinguish.

--M. J. Young

I wonder how to respond when you open a statement with "I wonder". I assume that it means that if this is something you actually know or would know in the circumstances, that I should tell you what you know, but otherwise that all you are doing is recognizing it as something you do not know.

It can be assumed that way. This is because I did not know what the character know fully so that is why I wonder.

So did my character remember the rest of the Morse code or just BYE?
It would be easier if I said "I wonder" though because I can say it in character.

Would the skill bonus be the same if I say that I only rested an hour before the light redirection and two hours of rest after it?
Does resting longer produces the same or different effect on the skill bonus?
Can the skill be practiced without the rest included?

Your prayer to help the deer was a 60 minute prayer; if you would like to create a thirty minute version that lasts for a single day, that would be a separate skill.

Lets try that. During meal, when I am feed something, pray that the deer can feel satiated by the food that the deer find as I eat mine. The effect of this is probably a little bit of the food that I consume will be sacrificed to help the deer to find the food that the deer need. I will also pray repeatedly during the meal. After the meal, I will take a leave, wipe my mouth, tear the leave apart and spread the leave mid air as a gesture so the food are plenty all around the deer to find. Then I will clap my hand two times (like how some Japanese show they thankful to the food) and have a silent prayer of thankfulness. The time I take to pray is as long as meal time plus after meal time which would be around 30 minutes.

This would be akin to tossing several cards in the air and trying to find where the Ace of Spades lands by watching them in the air. Is that correct?

Yes, that would be correct.

The marking would represent any Morse code that I remember and if I do not remember them I will simply just put the code in but will try to remember what the code represent later or I could make it up.
The number of leaves would be 26 for alphabet, 10 for numbers, and 12 for symbols and others. Which would bring us to 48. A little more and we have a full deck.

The leave could be marked by tearing the edge (1/8 for dot and 1/4 for dash) or by folding the leave in two then tearing the center according to which suit the situation better.
The stacking method option:
1. Leave teared edge facing away from me (I hold it at the edge facing me)
2. Leave teared edge facing away from me, then to me and the order is repeated (I hold the end of the leaves)
3. Leave just stacked randomly as long as it is possible to hold together (only for center teared leave)

I would like to try the center teared leave with stacking option 3 first.
If that does not work then I will try teared edge with stacking option 1, failing that then I will go for option 2.
I think I would like to try 5 to 10 leaves first and try to see how many leaves are efficient to throw and to distinguish.
If I can keep up with what I throw then I will throw more leaves.
I can also throw the leaves in batch of 5 to 10 until all of the leaves are thrown then search for them after finish with the throwing.
If nothing of the above works then I will try to reevaluate why it does not work.

I do have something in mind to "help" the leave throwing if you know what I mean.

Is there any changes in the new month?
Do I get any new info from my various skills?

So did my character remember the rest of the Morse code or just BYE?

You manage to recall it by working with it for a few days, picking up a couple letters here and there from your memory, remembering specific mnemonics and recognizing when individual letters must be wrong because that's the code for something else. You compile the entire alphabet, gradually.

[blockquote]Would the skill bonus be the same if I say that I only rested an hour before the light redirection and two hours of rest after it?
Does resting longer produces the same or different effect on the skill bonus?[/blockquote]
I specifically ignored this question last time because quite frankly I don't remember what my reasoning was on the amount of bonus I gave. I can say that you defined a skill which included as essential elements prior and subsequent rest, so unless in the reasoning I specifically said that there was a bonus for X amount of rest and you exceeded that but got no additional bonus, then creating a skill which required a different amount of rest would be a different skill. The amount of rest required by a skill should be a factor, and it would be wrong to say that there is a ceiling on the benefit (if you designed a skill which left you comatose for a week, that would have more benefit than one which left you weak with penalties on actions for fifteen minutes), but that's all very tightly defined for magic skills and very loosely applied for psionics, which generally assume that you think it and it happens and that's the whole ball of wax. Adding costs to a skill increases the power of the skill, within the reasonable limitation that there must be some connection between the cost and the skill. (Pinching yourself before shooting a gun does not improve your aim, because in technology there's no connection between your ability to fire the gun and the pain you feel. Pinching yourself before using a magic wand could give a bonus because it was part of the ritual and resulted in a detriment to you. Pinching yourself before using a psionic device would probably result in a penalty, since the pinch is more likely to distract than to enhance your concentration.)

So I don't know whether a different amount of rest would result in a different chance of success in this specific instance, and I won't until I calculate it, which I won't do unless you choose to attempt to create a different skill. As to your character, he probably won't know whether his "chance of success" changes--all he can know is whether it works or not when he uses it.

Can the skill be practiced without the rest included?

That's very unusual for psionic skills. I suppose you can trace in your mind how you would control the light without actually doing so, in something of the same way that a musician can review in his mind the notes of a piece he intends to sing or play without actually doing so; but the benefit is severely attenuated. It might work as part of a practice in which you rested, traced the pattern several times in your mind, performed the skill, traced the pattern a few more times, and then rested again (thus enabling you to increase the practice time for the skill without having to rest as often), but if you're not actually attempting the skill at some point, I don't think you can say it was practice.

I'll note that this is distinct from Scott's approach to practicing magic skills, by which he breaks down the ritual into constituent parts and practices the parts individually so as not to complete the spell.

During meal, when I am feed something, pray that the deer can feel satiated by the food that the deer find as I eat mine. The effect of this is probably a little bit of the food that I consume will be sacrificed to help the deer to find the food that the deer need. I will also pray repeatedly during the meal. After the meal, I will take a leave, wipe my mouth, tear the leave apart and spread the leave mid air as a gesture so the food are plenty all around the deer to find. Then I will clap my hand two times (like how some Japanese show they thankful to the food) and have a silent prayer of thankfulness. The time I take to pray is as long as meal time plus after meal time which would be around 30 minutes.

You are making eating the meal a component of the prayer, and you are sacrificing some of your own nutrition by having part of the food "destroyed" in a way that does not benefit you. You also require a leaf which you will use as a napkin and then shred and scatter. You are praying for the deer in this, but not actually speaking any words aloud. Are those details correct?

On stacking leaves, it occurs to me that a pinochle deck (which contains forty-eight cards) is probably greater than three quarters of an inch thick (though not, I think, a full inch). Let's call it 3/4 inches. For a standard adult sprite, that would be 3/4x6=18/4=4 1/2 inches thick in equivalent size. That's larger than the span of a baby's hand--and dry leaves are thicker than playing cards and do not lie as flat.

You are going to have to rethink this aspect, I think.

--M. J. Young

Considering the prior resting time is 6 times RS/5 (which at max is 20 minutes), and subsequent resting time is 12 times RS/5, can I shorten the duration of skill for one second (or less) blink and make a 6 second rest before the skill and 6 second rest after then repeating the cycle where the the interval between it will become 12 seconds rest?
Can the above qualify for a practice for light redirection skill or is it a different skill altogether?

Would trying to imprint psionic pattern to self be considered a practice for the skill?
Can someone practice psionic in a simulation such as a dream?

You are making eating the meal a component of the prayer, and you are sacrificing some of your own nutrition by having part of the food "destroyed" in a way that does not benefit you. You also require a leaf which you will use as a napkin and then shred and scatter.

The details above are correct.
Considering I already remember all of the alphabet for Morse code, I might as well replace "clapping my hand two times" in my new prayer with "TQ FOR FOOD" by clapping (dot) and drumming (dash), and the space represented with a longer pause. I would also say "koo" (for Thank You) if possible.

You are going to have to rethink this aspect, I think.

I have thought of that. That is why I say that I will throw the leaves in batches of 5 to 10 but if that would not work because the leave thrown are too little then I will ask for Lelach help. If Lelach would not help then I will try to use my knot tying skill to tie the deck up first then launch them into air then releasing the knot at that time. Failing that I will come up with a new skill.

I wonder if I can detect dynamic or movement pattern using my skills such as heighten awareness, detect material, alter sense, focus sense or others.

Speaking of enhancing concentration, I wonder if closing your eyes and focusing on the mental image of what you want the skill to actually do for X minutes will effect the success of the skill. For this lets create new skills that have different concentration times.
Lets try 1 minute of concentration time (with eyes close then opening eyes after that) then try to tell what Morani is thinking by looking at his behavior. Sort of analyze behavior skill that is close to empathy.
Try 2 minutes of concentration time and then use the analyze behavior skill (to Morani) a day after succeeding the above.
Try 4 minutes of concentration time and then use the analyze behavior skill (to Morani) a day after succeeding the above.
If I succeed with the above skills then I will practice them and calculate the success rate of each skill. These practice will be temporary until I have finish collecting data of each skill.
I will probably try the resting time experiment next but that will have to wait.

Is there any changes in the new month or is it still the same month?

Ah, the advancement to the next month.

Generally I try to finish covering everything you are doing in one month before I jump to the next, unless I'm pushed to tracking by the advance of individual days.  You pack so much into a month that I don't get through it all, and so the next month waits--if for no other reason, because I've got so much to answer in everything else you're doing that I can shorten the time spent on your posts by not adding to it the developmental information for the next month.

So, no new month until I've managed to get you to a point where there's nothing new I have to figure out about this one.

A shorter version of a skill is a different skill, with only very rare exceptions. Apart from that, twelve seconds does not constitute a period of rest. It is inherent in instant use psionic skills that the amateur user cannot do them faster than once per minute, so you would have to make the use observably slower than that for any "rest" benefit to accrue.

I'm not certain I understand what you mean by trying to print a psionic pattern to yourself as practice of the skill. Part of my confusion is that printing a psionic pattern might be describing a skill (the ability to give someone else a mental image of how a mental skill is performed, such that they can copy it), but you do not have such a skill; practicing printing patterns would be the way to practice that skill, so you might be asking whether printing patterns to yourself is a way to practice printing patterns (probably). On the other hand, you might not mean psionically printing a pattern (in which case I don't know what you do mean), and that your interest is in whether this constitutes practice of the imprinted skill, for which I'm inclined to say no but since I don't know for certain what you mean by the first part I don't want to be hasty.

In analyzing your prayer for the deer, I have two questions about the specifics.

1. You specify in the description that this is "the deer"; my natural inclination is that this is a generalized prayer that could be prayed for any other specifically identified creature--you could later use it to pray that your father finds food on his hunting trip, for example--but if you intend it to be very narrowly for this specific animal alone, that would make a difference.
2. You specify the use of a leaf as a napkin. It suddenly occurred to me that you are using the leaf because it is available, and that this does not necessarily mean that you don't want the skill to work if you don't happen to have a leaf but you do have a napkin. Does the skill demand a leaf, or should that be stated such that it covers any object which can be used as a napkin, from leaves to face cloths to curtains?

Lelach will not throw the leaves into the air the hundreds of times every day that it would take for you to benefit from this intuition training program, and your manipuate object skills are not sufficient for knot tying adequate to that kind of repetition. Something like this might work when you are older, but not now.

Concerning the skill you call "analyze behavior", I need to analyze what it is you are doing.

Most of what you say about it sounds like it is a P1@0 Understanding skill, because it does not at all involve mental contact with the target but is based entirely on external observation; in that case, though, I am not certain where the psionic energy is operating (the skill does not involve the use of any extraordinary power, but observation and understanding of complex body language or social patterns). Thus I cannot be certain how or whether time concentrating on "what you want the skill to do" will affect how well it does this. I suppose I don't really fully grasp what you want the skill to do, or if I do, I don't think it's a good candidate for the technique you've chosen to use to enhance it. For example, using a scope will increase your chance of success with a rifle, but not with a bicycle.

--M. J. Young

Well, you feel the time moves slowly in winter. (^_^)

How about 6 minutes of prior rest, 1 minute (or less) with the light redirection, 6 minutes subsequent rest then repeat the cycle?
How long is needed for it to be considered a rest?

whether this constitutes practice of the imprinted skill, for which I'm inclined to say no

Imprinting skill X to self so that you can practice with skill X is what I mean.
If the answer is no, then does this mean skill X would not increase if I try to teach it to another person?
What if I try to study skill X by imprinting it to self then finding out the weakness of the pattern then try to attenuate the pattern for skill X so it will become better?
Can running the simulation for the psionic skill in mind but not actually doing it be considered as practice for the skill?

You specify in the description that this is "the deer"; my natural inclination is that this is a generalized prayer that could be prayed for any other specifically identified creature--you could later use it to pray that your father finds food on his hunting trip, for example--but if you intend it to be very narrowly for this specific animal alone, that would make a difference.

This would be a generalized prayer that could be prayed for any other specifically identified creature.

You specify the use of a leaf as a napkin. It suddenly occurred to me that you are using the leaf because it is available, and that this does not necessarily mean that you don't want the skill to work if you don't happen to have a leaf but you do have a napkin. Does the skill demand a leaf, or should that be stated such that it covers any object which can be used as a napkin, from leaves to face cloths to curtains?

As long as the napkin is tear-able such as paper napkin (or if it could be cut with other tools provided that I have the tools to cut it and I can cut it), then the skill would work.

Lelach will not throw the leaves into the air the hundreds of times every day that it would take for you to benefit from this intuition training program, and your manipulate object skills are not sufficient for knot tying adequate to that kind of repetition. Something like this might work when you are older, but not now.

Does this mean that I have to throw all of the 48 leaves in mid-air to train my intuition?
I thought that even 26 is a bit too much for my level right now.
Does throwing the leave in batches does not work at all?
Can I put the deck of leaves onto a platform like object such as bigger leaf or cloth then throw it in mid air?
I did think of a sticky spell but that would have to wait.

Most of what you say about it sounds like it is a P1@0 Understanding skill, because it does not at all involve mental contact with the target but is based entirely on external observation

So lets change the variable to how much time the subject is observed before coming to conclusion.
The first variant will be 1 minute of observation.
The second variant will be 2 minutes of observation.
The third variant will be 4 minutes of observation.
The target of observation is Morani.
If all the above succeed then I will practice it temporarily until I have gather the success rate for each skill.

Speaking of the right candidate for concentrating on "what I want the skill to do", does read visual information suit this criteria?
If it does then I will create a second experiment where:
The first variant will be 1 minute of concentration (on visualizing the mind pattern and visual pathway of the target with my eyes closed) then initiating the read visual information skill.
The second variant will be 2 minutes of concentration then initiating the read visual information skill.
The third variant will be 4 minutes of concentration then initiating the read visual information skill.
The target of this skill is Morani.
If all the above succeed then I will practice it temporarily until I have gather the success rate for each skill.

Well, what an eventful month.
I wonder when does the sprite consider it to be a new year.
It would probably be after the winter.
So I guess the next post would still be the same month then.

The concept of rest enhancing a skill is to some degree looking at it backwards. The skill is enhanced based on the assumption that performance is exhausting and thus rest is compulsory--if you design a skill that says "must rest X time after use", it means that when you complete the skill you are too tired to do anything else, any effort to do anything else will be heavily penalized, any so you collapse without a significant force of will and/or stamina to keep you going.

Saying you must rest is comparable to saying you must meditate, as a way of preparing yourself in advance for the use of the skill. In a magic skill with such a limitation, the skill simply would not work absent the rest, which would be deemed a necessary part of the ritual. With a psionic skill, rest in advance is more difficult to quantify. There is no inherent reason why you could not attempt the skill without advance rest, and the only mechanical recourse would be a penalty against performance of the skill.

In any case, with the light redirection skill the primary question is how long you can maintain the skill. The second question is whether doing so is exhausting, which would mean you are concentrating on it so strongly that it tires you physically and mentally; the necessity of rest then becomes a question of how exhausting it is. Then the question of advance rest might best be quantified in terms of whether resting before the skill use would reduce the need to rest after it, because you go into the skill rested. It seems to me that rest before is less of a detriment than rest after, so rest after is worth more.

Changing the duration of the skill itself makes it a different skill. The way it is currently designed, the die roll gives you RS/5 minutes, which probably maxes out around eight or nine minutes for your current level of ability--but sometimes it's only one minute, if the roll is 5 or less.

You can remove the relative time factor and state that the skill works for a specific length of time; that would include a penalty for taking control of an aspect normally not within your control (you can terminate the effect early, but you can't guarantee the duration), but if the duration were short enough the bonus might offset it. In any case, if you're changing the duration, you're creating a new skill.

I allow teaching a skill to someone else to be a new use once. Repeatedly teaching it to others is only one new use. It's not practice in itself, although you could create a class where you were working to improve someone else's skill ability level and so working with the skill enough yourself to count as practice. And yes, I would allow in most cases that you can practice a psionic skill by going through the motions in your mind without actually completing the skill.

You pray for the deer while eating; it seems to help.

Is it your intention to do this every day, or to practice it every day?

My meaning is that your plan to train your intuition by throwing marked leaves in the air is not going to work at the present time, because you would have to do this too frequently; your own ability to manipulate objects is not sufficient for you to stack and throw them quickly enough to do it enough times in the day to benefit you, and although Lelach does play with you every day, she does not have the time to throw them as much as you would need to provide sufficient training. In short, the idea does not work because you have no way to achieve the repetitions needed to provide any real benefit.

I'm sorry--you've just run me out. There's too much in these posts for me to handle in less than an hour, and I don't have an hour every day for your game. I'll have to deal with the rest next time.

--M. J. Young

if the duration were short enough the bonus might offset it. In any case, if you're changing the duration, you're creating a new skill.

I will keep this in mind when creating a new skill.

Is it your intention to do this every day, or to practice it every day?

I will practice this every day. My reason for this is the deer would be able to survive even if the skill fails and if it succeed the deer would be able to forage enough food to last it for a couple of days.

In short, the idea does not work because you have no way to achieve the repetitions needed to provide any real benefit.

Alert me then if I have enough skill to manipulate object quickly to achieve the repetitions needed for the intuition practice.

I'm sorry--you've just run me out. There's too much in these posts for me to handle in less than an hour, and I don't have an hour every day for your game. I'll have to deal with the rest next time.

Do not worry. You can deal with my post in parts. That is what I suggested earlier on, remember?

*****

I think I should bring the below to the new month.

So lets change the variable to how much time the subject is observed before coming to conclusion.
The first variant will be 1 minute of observation.
The second variant will be 2 minutes of observation.
The third variant will be 4 minutes of observation.
The target of observation is Morani.
If all the above succeed then I will practice it temporarily until I have gather the success rate for each skill.

Speaking of the right candidate for concentrating on "what I want the skill to do", does read visual information suit this criteria?
If it does then I will create a second experiment where:
The first variant will be 1 minute of concentration (on visualizing the mind pattern and visual pathway of the target with my eyes closed) then initiating the read visual information skill.
The second variant will be 2 minutes of concentration then initiating the read visual information skill.
The third variant will be 4 minutes of concentration then initiating the read visual information skill.
The target of this skill is Morani.
If all the above succeed then I will practice it temporarily until I have gather the success rate for each skill.

Let's tackle the analyze behavior skill. Your objective is to know "what Morani is thinking" based on observing his actions. You want to test this by observing his actions for different periods of time, and seeing whether it "works" or "works better" at different durations of observation.

Question: how will you know whether it worked? That is, how will you know whether what you think Morani is thinking is what he is actually thinking? Or is this supposed to be more like mind reading, that you will after looking at him connect to his mind and hear his thoughts (in which case, how is it different from mind reading, which you already have)?

If I understand the next aright, using your skill at reading information in the visual cortex of a target you want to define three new skills all of which do the same thing, except that one requires a minute of concentration on the technique before connecting, one requires two minutes, and one requires four minutes. Once you have learned them, you want to perform each of them multiple times to determine a success rate for each.

With the understanding that in order to determine a success rate you will have to "do" (not "practice") the skills multiple times (which means rolling them individually), how many times do you wish to attempt each skill once you have learned it?

--M. J. Young

Or is this supposed to be more like mind reading, that you will after looking at him connect to his mind and hear his thoughts

I will not connect to the target's mind thus will not hear the target's thoughts. I will only conclude what the target mind is thinking through observation.

how will you know whether it worked?

A good question. I can probably mind read him after the analyze behavior skill to see if I am right (but I think I will keep this option as last resort) or I can ask Lelach to ask Morani himself about what I think he was thinking. A situation where I think the skill would be easier to test out is when Morani is looking for something and I will try to understand what it is that he was looking for. If he finds what he was looking for then I can confirm what he was thinking and if he could not then I will ask Lelach to ask him what he was looking for.

Familiarity that was gained from the analyze behavior skill, is it the same or different from the mind reading skill familiarity?

With the understanding that in order to determine a success rate you will have to "do" (not "practice") the skills multiple times (which means rolling them individually), how many times do you wish to attempt each skill once you have learned it?

Could I practice the skill for longer period of time and then calculate the success rate of the skill just like what I have done before?
I am in no hurry to know the success rate of the skill and it would be better to know the result after practicing it for some time and noting the success rate of each skill.

What have change in this new month (Month 10)?
I did say that I was going to do the above in the new month right?

If you manage to do the above and still want some more action then I have planned to create a new skill:
First, draw a spiral symbol using saliva to each of the leaf that will be use for intuition training.
Second, mark an area of training (using grass that have my saliva on) by making spiral symbol where the center of the symbol will be me. The area of training should be really familiar with me and I have stayed there for more than a week thus probably gather some psionic residue of my own pattern. The effective training area will be as small as possible but still efficient for the training.
Third, scatter the training leaves all around the raining area.
Fourth, sit and put both of my hand to the center spiral of training area.
Fifth, flap my wings that the effect will be like a helicopter that is close to ground and will float the object around it.
Sixth, transfer the energy of the wings by channeling it to the leaves (using the the hands that is connected to the ground) so that the leaves will spiral upwards.
Seventh, if the leaves have started to spiral upwards then the hand will sync with their movement until they will reach a point just above my head where I will clap both of my hands together and the leaves will scatter randomly inside the training area.

All of the above items are specifics and if any new item have to be used then a new skill have to be created. I wonder if this skill is do-able.
Do you have any question regarding the skill above?

A situation where I think the skill would be easier to test out is when Morani is looking for something and I will try to understand what it is that he was looking for.

Hmmm...my immediate reaction is, how many different things are there for which Morani could be looking? Food and water, which he would seek on schedule; clothes, which would not be changed that often; materials to repair leaks in the door, but I don't really envision there being leaks in the door and if there were you would probably know it; chamber pot, that aspect of life in the tree which we're sort of ignoring. But then, perhaps the limited range of possibilities makes this a skill you could learn in this situation and practice after you're out again (when Morani might be looking for weapons, tools, food, firewood, rocks, and a lot of other things). You learn the skill. The baseline assumes you are using it on someone you know, but it will work with others.

Telepathic familiarity is different.

Could I practice the skill for longer period of time and then calculate the success rate of the skill just like what I have done before?
I am in no hurry to know the success rate of the skill and it would be better to know the result after practicing it for some time and noting the success rate of each skill.

This is getting complicated. Let's take a step back and tackle the skills one at a time; my recollection is that at the moment you don't know any of the skills you're talking about practicing, so pick one, outline exactly what is entailed, and we'll see whether you can learn it.

In the last reference I can find to what month it is, it was stated to be the eighth month on September 20. Unless you can point me to a post in which I say it is the ninth month, it is still the eighth.

--M. J. Young

You learn the skill.

I guess this would be the instant observation variant.
Lets see if I can practice it with my read visual information skill so that I can understand what other creatures (that I do not have mind connection) are thinking.

Telepathic familiarity is different.

What would I put in the character sheet if I have familiarity understanding a specific group type or specific individual?
Do I put +10 understanding of Morani or something?
If the target options to act are limited, would the skill be bonus for it?

*****

This is getting complicated.

Oops... Sorry about that. For some reason, I really like complicated things.

Now that I have learn the root skill, I will experiment with its variant.
Lets try the first variant, a minute of observation of the target before concluding what the target is thinking.
If the skill I learned before is the skill above then I would move on to the next skill.

Next, try the second variant, 2 minutes of observation of the target before concluding what the target is thinking.

The chosen target for this skill is Morani and if that would not do (because the effect of the previous skill still persists for an example) then any creature will do as target.

*****

Unless you can point me to a post in which I say it is the ninth month, it is still the eighth.

Transition from month 8 to month 9 on September 24.
Either way is fine with me but I did say that the above action will be done in the new month.

If this is a new month, is there any changes that I feel such as easier articulating words, walking (without support) for a few steps, tumbling, or something?

chamber pot, that aspect of life in the tree which we're sort of ignoring

I wonder if I have learned to use it by now.

I would expect that what you call the "instant" observation variant requires about a minute of observation; higher rolls give more accurate/detailed information more quickly. There is a problem with doing the same thing based on someone else's visual information: when you see through someone else's eyes, you see what they choose to observe, and have no control over what they observe.

I would say that indicating bonuses for particular individuals or groups is acceptable; at present you are only about +2 on Morani and Lelach--but yes, the limited possibilities increases your chance of success somewhat.

The longer you observe someone the better your chance of understanding what he is doing, with two caveats. First, there is a rule of diminishing return--two minutes is better than one minute, but the same increase is not repeated until four minutes, and then eight minutes; that is, doubling the time you observe has a noticeable increase in your chance of success. Second, if you go too long there is a significant chance that your target will change what he is doing, at which point you can conclude what he was doing or start over to determine what he is doing now.

Indeed, it appears that it is the ninth month, December. I apologize that I could not find that. (I should remember to bold those calendar references to make them easier to spot.) I believe we have resolved most of the issues with the Perceive Purpose skill (which I am treating as a single skill with increased probabilities of success for increased duration of observation, as indicated), so we will call it January, and you are now turning ten months old.

You now can manage to move from prone to seated, and also to move from standing to sitting, although this latter is accomplished by a controlled fall. You've occasionally managed to take one step without support, but not yet two. Your mother now plays a game not unlike pat-a-cake with you, working daily on your hand/eye coordination, which is above average. You also are able to help some with your own clothes and with feeding yourself, although not nearly so well as you would like.

--M. J. Young

Wow, the previous page is really long and takes a while to load on slow connections.

There is a problem with doing the same thing based on someone else's visual information: when you see through someone else's eyes, you see what they choose to observe, and have no control over what they observe.

Can I still perceive what the other creature (Creature X) is thinking if the creature that I read visual information from (Creature Y) observes Creature X for a period longer than a minute (or adds to over a minute provided that Creature X is still doing the same thing)?

the limited possibilities increases your chance of success somewhat.

How do you plan to calculate the freedom of action bonus?
If only two actions can be done for an example, the bonus would probably be up to +50 right?
So the bonus calculation would be 100/x where x is freedom of action, right?

*****

January have arrived, humans probably celebrate New Year during this time of the year.
I wonder if sprite celebrate New Year too or did they celebrate it at the beginning of spring?

Your mother now plays a game not unlike pat-a-cake with you

Aha, a clapping game. I wonder if I can modify the game a little bit to include Morse code so that I can communicate effectively with Lelach (if she wants to communicate this way) or just practicing the alphabets of Morse code with it.
How about "Create a word game" (using Morse code and clapping) which probably can teach Lelach a bit of spelling in English?
To aid her to spell the first time, the phrase "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" might help.

I wonder if there are any changes to my clothes in the winter.

The next experiment is where I actually use psionic power.

Speaking of the right candidate for concentrating on "what I want the skill to do", does read visual information suit this criteria?
If it does then I will create a second experiment where:
The first variant will be 1 minute of concentration (on visualizing the mind pattern and visual pathway of the target with my eyes closed) then initiating the read visual information skill.
The second variant will be 2 minutes of concentration then initiating the read visual information skill.
The third variant will be 4 minutes of concentration then initiating the read visual information skill.
The target of this skill is Morani.

Do you have any question regarding the above experiment?
If it works then practice the above skill with Perceive Purpose skill together in General mind reading package (Slot 8).

I would like to try more skills but I think it is better to process one skill per month unless a situation arise where it is needed.

*****

If we get to the new month...
I wonder if there are any changes in new month?

There would be a penalty against your chance of success.

When you study what someone is doing to try to figure out what they are thinking, your eyes stray purposefully to specific cues--their hands, their eyes, their stance, the way they move their heads. You specifically look at these things. When you are seeing through someone else's eyes, you cannot specifically look at anything--it's not quite as if you have a movie screen on which their visual information is displayed for you to observe, but rather that you can see whatever it is at which they are looking. For example, if you were to tap the visual cortext of some beach bum staring at a girl, you might well have a very clear image of her breasts and her bottom and her legs, but only a fleeting glimpse of her face, because he wasn't looking at her face. If you tapped the eyes of a hungry homeless man at the dining table of a shelter, you might never see the faces of the people feeding him or the people eating with him--only of the food that is placed before him. In that sense, you could probably develop a skill which enabled you to learn much about the interests and mental conditions of a target based on an analysis of the visual information it gathers--what is it that the rabbit considers important to see in its world.

I think your calculation of freedom of action is a bit extreme all the way around. +50 is about as big a bonus as I ever give for any single factor. If what you mean is that the target could only be doing A or B, so you've got a really good chance of knowing which, that already assumes that you know that it can only be A or B--that you know with certainty that there is not some possibility C outside your knowledge.

As to how I am going to calculate it, that's a mechanics question and not properly something to discuss in the game thread. That may seem like nit-picking, but from my perspective it would be inappropriate for me to inform a player of the odds of success in a way that would give him knowledge of his probability of success directly. I would discuss that with someone trying to learn to be a referee. Since in this thread I am talking to Maxx the player, probabilities and how they are calculated is not part of that discussion; if Maxx the referee has questions about such things, they will be asked and answered in other threads or behind the screens.

I'm also not certain whether I've made a decision about that yet, and am extremely limited on time so I'm not going to look through my notes--it only matters when you actually use the skill (and not when you practice it).

The development of the holiday celebrating the new year is tied to astronomical observations which correspond with the changing of seasons--in this case, originally the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, and thus the day on which days start getting longer. Modern calendars have shifted it almost two weeks. I have not said that the sprites call this month January, but have been using our months to help you and me track the seasons and conditions against the passing of time. In any event, since sprites are universally enclosed inside their winter homes at this time of year, they are unlikely to have observed the winter solstice and thus unlikely to have celebrated it. Whether they celebrate a new year at some other time is not established.

Are you going to use telepathy to explain this idea to Lelach? This will, of course, involve explaining the concept of Morse code and teaching her the alphabetic representations of all the letters. I would also suggest that a sentence which includes all the letters of the alphabet is a bad choice for teaching someone the code--you want to start with the smallest number of the most important letters possible and build the others into the knowledge base over time. In English I believe the frequency of vowels is e, a, i, o, u, y, and the most common consonants are t and s, but it's been a long time since I studied that stuff and I've already told you more than I know.

The clothes are the same in winter. You use blankets and the interior of the tree for warmth. Occasionally your parents will rise into the air flapping their wings, which among other things might be trying to warm and circulate the air. Lelach hovers quite well, Morani not so.

You learn all three of those skills; the two-minute variant comes most easily the first time, and surprisingly the four-minute variant is the weakest on this first attempt.

--M. J. Young

There would be a penalty against your chance of success.

I know that it would be penalized but at least it is do-able.

If what you mean is that the target could only be doing A or B, so you've got a really good chance of knowing which, that already assumes that you know that it can only be A or B--that you know with certainty that there is not some possibility C outside your knowledge.

That is what I mean but probably it can be multiplied by certainty percentage too.

As to how I am going to calculate it, that's a mechanics question and not properly something to discuss in the game thread.

Oops, sorry. Maxx thinks in statistical manner and that probably translates in Morach's thinking too.

I have not said that the sprites call this month January

I have guessed that January is an estimation of what Maxx thinks what month it is.
Thanks for the educational info on New Year holiday.

a sentence which includes all the letters of the alphabet

That sentence is only use for reference considering it is easy to remember and this is only used to teach Lelach on spelling in English and not used to teach Morse code of course. This is provided that Lelach knows how to speak English but did not know how to spell what she speaks.
Teaching Morse code would be hard if she does not know how to spell so spelling have to come first.
I wonder if Lelach know the alphabet song but since she could not spell I think she would not. I wonder if that is a good place to start.
Let start from words Lelach know first. When Lelach say the word that she know I will spell it out in Morse code. With enough words probably she could figure out what letter the code represents.
I will try to present this idea in my telepathy practice but I may also try it without using telepathy if I see Lelach can catch on what I was doing when she try to speak something.
This will be a test to see if Lelach can notice what I was doing without me explaining anything to her.
I wonder if you need to know if I have teach anyone before or get paid for teaching?
(The answer for that question is yes.)

Lelach hovers quite well, Morani not so.

Did I notice any difference from the way they hover that makes one of them better than the other or is it the flexible wings make hovering much easier?
Looks like I have to have to observe them carefully so that I can learn the optimal flying pattern for various situation.

You learn all three of those skills; the two-minute variant comes most easily the first time, and surprisingly the four-minute variant is the weakest on this first attempt.

Well, that is random. (Sometime you hit the bulls-eye sometime you don't.) Look like I have to practice these variants (in Slot 8) so that I can know more about it. I will note the success rate of these 3 variants.

*****

The next month (Month 11):

develop a skill which enabled you to learn much about the interests and mental conditions of a target based on an analysis of the visual information

Would this be the same as my Perceive Purpose skill (a new use) or would it be a new skill?
If it is a new skill then I will develop it in Month 11.

Is there any new changes in this month?

Yes, Lelach and Morani speak English. Girls are not talk to read and write. Boys are. She does not know the alphabet, although she can recognize that some symbols are either letters or numbers, either English or Old Spritish. She has heard names of some of the letters, but does not know anything about them.

You try clapping your hands while she's talking, and she laughs and says, "You sure do like to clap your hands."

If you have skill at teaching and are planning to try to teach Lelach something, now would be a good time to tell me how good you are at it. I am assuming you are not a professional teacher, because you did not mention having professional skill in teaching at character creation.

It is the flexibility of Lelach's wings that give her the ability to hover; she can move them much more precisely in strange patterns to hold herself steady. Morani has much more power in his wings, but less control.

All right, it turns to February and you are in month 11. You are now able to move around rather quickly on your feet as long as you can use an object for support, such as a wall or an object that is at least chest-high. You can also grip a stick as if it were a writing utensil, and Morani comments about your interest in writing, saying you are going to be a great scholar one day. Lelach notes that he would have preferred to be the father of a great hunter, but he shrugs and says that a father should not make his son what his son is not.

I'm inclined to say that understanding the interests and "mental conditions" of an observed target is a different application of the same skill of perceiving the purpose of a character's actions, but 1) interests are more long-term and harder to perceive and 2) I'm not certain what "mental conditions" are. If by "interests" you mean only what the target's interests are in the present moment, that does not seem significantly different to me than "purpose" in terms of what the skill can tell you, so maybe I need a better understanding of what you're attempting to discern.

--M. J. Young

At least she laughs when I clap my hands. I like it when people laugh especially people close to me.
I knew that would be a good way to test Lelach's intuition.

Looks like I need to balance flexibility and power so that the wing growth will be optimal.

*****

you did not mention having professional skill in teaching at character creation.

Well, I did not mention anything about myself in character creation, did I?
I did tell you that I will inform you anything related when the time has come.

how good you are at it

Good enough to get paid, likes to give puzzle (or analogy) to the student so that the student will think more about the related problem and its solution (and evaluating the student capability or limitation with it), can sense mistake in the work of the student and can point out to the student what is wrong about it (indirectly at first but if that does not work then I will point it out directly), searching for a way that will make the student understand better (such as discussion with peer, read certain topic or practice the basic) and other techniques.

I wonder if I can perceive response of intended action by analyzing behavior of the target.
Would the above be a new use for Perceive Purpose or a new skill?
The target this time is Lelach and the intended action would be teaching her spelling. There might be a good time to teach her where she would accept the teaching willingly and there might be a time where she is busy or simply feels reluctant to do so.
This will make me more aware of her situation before I teach her anything.

*****

develop a skill which enabled you to learn much about the interests and mental conditions of a target based on an analysis of the visual information it gathers--what is it that the rabbit considers important to see in its world.

Looks like I have to quote you fully so that you do not misunderstood what I mean.
Would the skill above be the same as my Perceive Purpose skill (a new use) or would it be a new skill?
I will try the skill above when I manage to read visual information of any target in practice.

*****

preferred to be the father of a great hunter

I have learned archery back in the university but using composite bow of course.
There is no reason not to be both a good scholar and a good hunter, is there?
Unless there are rules preventing scholar to be a hunter and vice versa.
To me, a good scholar must have knowledge in various fields and hunting is included in my list of things to learn.

You can also grip a stick as if it were a writing utensil

Does this mean that I have enough object manipulation skill needed for the repetition of intuition practice?
If not, can I estimate how long will it take me to have enough body skill (with constant practice) to do the above?

Well, I did not mention anything about myself in character creation, did I?
I did tell you that I will inform you anything related when the time has come.

True--and I in turn argued that I would be reluctant to add professional or expert level skills to your character sheet at some future moment when they were relevant.

It's a problem of incentives: when you tell me your skills at character creation, your motivation is to create a character that is as much like you as possible, so that your strengths will be realized within the game. You might exaggerate some of your strengths, but the game is flexible enough to handle that. You are unlikely in that circumstance to give yourself professional level skills in areas where you are quite evidently amateur, except in those skills where a "professional" level of ability is not sufficient to get a paycheck (swimming, playing bridge, starting fires) and so wouldn't be thought professional. When the game is in progress, you have an incentive to exaggerate your skill ability level on skills which are needed for the present circumstance--in this case, to claim that you are a superior teacher, because you want to use that to reach an in-game objective. The system's defense against that is to forbid the addition of professional or expert level skills once the character generation process is completed, except in two case, the one when the skill is simply remembered as an overlooked point (not being relevant presently, but the player suddenly realized that he had forgotten something he should have included), the other when the skill is of the sort previously mentioned, a skill at which "professional" level of ability would not be caught by the usual test.

Thus your reticence at character creation has put me in a quandary: even without impugning your motives (even if I believe that you, someone whose identity has been kept completely secret from me, would not intentionally lie about your abilities), I must account for the possibility that you are unintentionally exaggerating your abilities in the hope that you will get a higher score and so have a better chance of success in the current circumstance.

To compensate, I am lowballing your skill ability level--you'll get the professional 2@1, but not the average professional, even though the description you give would have impressed me if I got it at character generation.

Emhpasis mine:

I wonder if I can perceive response of intended action by analyzing behavior of the target.

Do you mean predict? If so, I would say that was a reasonable application of the skill; I'm not completely convinced that it's a "new use" in the technical sense, but I'll allow it if you want to roll to use it as such.

Concerning the skill that allows you to understand "much about the interests and mental conditions of a target based on an analysis of the visual information it gathers", I'm content either way. If you'd like to make it another application of the same skill, I'll certainly give you a new use the first time you roll for it; if you want it to be a new skill, I'll allow that, too.

Just to be clear on the advantages/disadvantages: if you have two skills, you can try each of them separately, and thus if one fails the other might provide information; if you have one skill, it might increase in ability level slightly faster, and so have a lower chance to fail.

So on this one I'll let you call it.

I did not say that you could not be both a great scholar and a great hunter; it is Lelach's response, her perception that people generally excel at one or the other. Morani seems to agree that that is the norm, but I think even among people you'll recognize that most people who excel do so in narrow areas, with only a very few breaking the bounds to be great in multiple areas. That was more true earlier times--da Vinci is remarkable for excelling in both art and science/technology, but I never heard anyone say he was a champion bocce player.

Your ability with the stick is about comparable to that of a child who can scribble on paper. Control will still require more development: you would have great difficulty coloring within the lines, if there were colors and lines.

--M. J. Young

True--and I in turn argued that I would be reluctant to add professional or expert level skills to your character sheet at some future moment when they were relevant.

Fair enough. I would even be happy to be given amateur level skill to the skill that I have. That would give me more challenge and can act like an ability seal for any ability that I have.

Do you mean predict?

I really wanted to put 'predict' at first but then thought that it would be confused with a new skill so I intentionally put 'perceive' there.

So on this one I'll let you call it.

The skill I wanted to try is predict response and visual info analysis.
The target for predict response is Lelach and the intended action is teaching her spelling.
The target for visual info analysis is any creature that I read visual information from practice.
Let fate decide, so first roll for new use and if that fails then create a new skill.
The complication would be what variant of the perceive purpose skill would you calculate right?
That depends on the time I observe the target right?
Lets say the time would be the average time the target could stay on the same task in the target current situation.

excelling in both art and science/technology

That would be needed in virtual or augmented reality field.

I never heard anyone say he was a champion bocce player

A hidden talent perhaps?
Well, if he can calculate the angle and velocity plus a bit of training to match the calculation perhaps he can do it but I think he would rather do something else.

Control will still require more development

I will give myself until Month 18 to learn how to control my body properly enough to practice intuition and if I still have problem with my body control then I will develop a new skill (which is Spiral Leaves).

After I know the result whether Lelach wanted to learn spelling from me, I will act accordingly.
If she wanted to then I will teach her during telepathy practice and if she does not want to then I will do my usual routine and wait for the next month to see if she changed her mind (because she is interested in what I do or some other reason).

You believe that Lelach perceives herself as too busy to learn reading or writing, which are subjects taught to boys, not to their mothers, and for which boys, who have access to books, would have some use.

That's a new use.

--M. J. Young

Lelach perceives herself as too busy to learn reading or writing, which are subjects taught to boys, not to their mothers, and for which boys, who have access to books, would have some use.

Well, I thought so. That is why I will teach Lelach spelling in game form only. This will probably peak her interest to learn more about it. As long both of us are having fun playing the game, whether Lelach learns spelling when playing the game will come second.

Concerning the skill that allows me to understand "much about the interests and mental conditions of a target based on an analysis of the visual information it gathers", did I learn this skill?
Is it a new use for Perceive Purpose (if I succeed) or a new separate skill (if I fail the new use)?
The target for the above skill is any creature that I read visual information from practice.

*****

Well, onto Month 12 then.
Are there any changes that have happen during the new month?
I think it would probably be spring outside the winter tree.
I wonder what skill or attribute have increase since Month 6.

The interpretation of the interests and mental condition of a creature by analyzing its own visual data (what it sees) is a new skill which you manage to learn. The deer is constantly alert for predators, and so keeps aware of its surroundings even while foraging.

In March you find that you can stand momentarily without any support at all, but not yet walk unassisted. You can walk while holding Lelach's hand.

Morani decides that it's warm enough to start removing the insulation from the door and take days outside, but to return to the tree in the evenings. The curtain is returned to keep the warmth inside at night, and some cleaning is done to make the tree more habitable. You begin having cooked meals again.

--M. J. Young

Good to hear some news from the deer.

Happy birth month (or season) anniversary I guess?
Refresh my memory, how does sprite count their age again?
They have to know basic counting and know the year cycle to do that right?
Does sprite celebrate any event according to the year cycle?
The answer to above question may come from observation or discussion with Lelach.

Can trying to stand longer (without support) be a practice of willpower or something?

There are probably plenty creature going out to search for things to eat right after winter. I wonder if I have tagged any of these creatures.
Cooked meals, yummy.

I wonder if I can help with the cleaning.

As far as you can tell, Sprites count years as humans do, but they don't seem to have so rigorous a calendar. You are a year old "sometime around now". They don't have holidays or holy days of that sort, because they don't track them that way. The decision to enter the tree and to exit it is based on clues in the climate, not on calendar days.

The only thing standing longer will practice is balance, which is a skill that is gradually improving anyway, because all kids try to stand longer.

You can't walk well enough to be much help with the cleaning. You can get around by crawling, or by following the walls, or by holding someone's hand. If you crawl, you don't have your hands free. If you support yourself by the wall you only have one hand free and are limited in where you can go. If you hold someone's hand, you've only got one hand free and you're using one of theirs. But they do let you help some, more because it's cute than because it is helpful, and Lelach says it will help teach you responsibility.

Most of the insects you contacted last year are gone, although there are a few still around. The larger creatures such as squirrels and mice are mostly returning.

--M. J. Young

If you support yourself by the wall you only have one hand free and are limited in where you can go.

I will help cleaning the area near the wall, then stack the things needed to throw out near the exit so my parents can throw it out later.

I just hope you get the skills level updated every 6 months so that you will be less confused later on. Some of the skill level probably increase by now and my journal can point out some of the skill milestone for reference.

*****

In the next month (April):

I did say that I was thinking of a new skill after the winter.
Considering that it is spring, that would be out-of-sight mind tagging using knowledge of relative position or other creature visual information.
Both of my hands will be the aid to focus in this skill.
My left hand will act as a pen and my right hand will act as a paper.
The area of my right hand will represent my line of sight range or an area enclosed within a circle with a radius of 10 steps (normal adult sprite steps).
If my right hand is perpendicular to my chest then it represents the horizontal axis and if parallel to my chest then it represents vertical axis.
By tracing a line from the center of my right hand to where the target is I can tag the target mind.
For an example, a creature that is 25 steps ahead and 5 steps above:
1) I will lay my right hand perpendicular to my chest.
2) I will trace the line from center to the direction of the target (ahead) until the end of my palm two and a half times.
3) I will turn my hand parallel to my chest.
4) I will trace the line form center to the direction of the target (upward) ending halfway from the end of my palm.
5) I will then close my right hand and put it close to my head for concentration.
6) The concentration time will be about a minute plus (distance covered by skill divided by 10 steps which would be) 3 minutes.
I could tilt my hand at a certain angle and go less distance but my body skills are probably not accurate enough yet to represent such angle.

The target for the skill above is any creature that I have not tagged but I know their position base on the information I got from my other skills, calculation or others.

For the creature (Creature A) that I did not know the relative position to me but I know their existence through the visual information of other creature (Creature B), I will try and tag it by tracing the information (from Creature B) back to me that acts like a beacon.

Is there any new changes in the month?

I'm a bit unclear on this new skill, but I recognize that you are combining two distinct concepts.

First, you propose that you could know the exact position of a creature that you cannot see. It seems to me that there could be three possible explanations for this, one that something obstructs your view, two that the distance is too great, and three that the target is invisible. For the third, I think that were you able to stare directly at an invisible creature, knowing exactly where it was (distance and direction) such that you were looking at the seemingly empty space where it physically existed, that would count as looking at it. For the other two, my concern is how you would know the exact position. That is, supposing that you are looking directly at an ant on a tree across the clearing, which is too small for you to see at that distance. How do you know the position of the ant precisely enough to target it? So that's my problem here: how do you propose to know the exact position of a creature. You've indicated that you would use other skills to determine this, but I'm not seeing any skills on your sheet that would give you the location of an object whose position was not obvious to your senses.

Second, you want to target a creature whose position is known to you relative to another creature whose sensory information you are tapping, such that if you are seeing through the eyes of the deer and the deer sees a fox, you could tag the fox. I'm not uncomfortable with such a skill; I'm uncomfortable with the notion that you could know the relative position of the fox to you based on the relative position of the fox to the deer. Nothing in your telepathic connection to the deer tells you where the deer is relative to you. It could be in Afganistan, if such a place exists in this world, and except for what it perceives around it you would not know that it was not just beyond the next tree. So the hand signals in this case are not possible, because you can't know the direction of the target relative to you based on its position relative to some other target whose position you do not know relative to you.

So for the first problem I need to understand how you propose to know the position of an unseen target, and for the second we need to redesign the skill to eliminate the hand involvement that would be inherently incorrect, unless (I suppose this could be the case) you are trying to use the hands to point in the direction the target is from the creature through whom you are seeing it--which might be tricky itself, since you might not know the position of the head relative to the body at any given moment. (How can you tell if the deer is looking straight ahead?)

--M. J. Young

This is the new month (April) right?
Sorry for not being too clear. It is really two distinct skills but both skills result will be tagging the creature.

The rules of the first skill:
1) I know the relative position of the animal to me but the animal is not in my line of sight. (This might be possible through heighten awareness, shadow of the creature, sound of the creature, info from other creature and others.)
An animal that lives in a cave or hole that I could not see inside probably is an example of this.
2) This skill uses hand signals to focus on the relative position of the target.
3) The targeted creature must remain stationary during the skill execution or end up at the targeted position at the end of the concentration period.
If I intend to tag Creature A but Creature B replaces Creature A position after the concentration period then I will tag Creature B instead.

The rules of the second skill:
1) I see the target creature through the visual information of other creature.
2) I do not necessarily know the relative position of these creatures relative to me.
3) This skill does not use any hand signal.

I hope the above clears it up.

Does Morach let me play with the bow (not the arrow) or make a miniature size one for me if I looked interested in playing with it?
Are there any changes in the new month?

Don't rush me! All right, then, it's April, and you are now thirteen months old.

You are now walking unsupported--not quickly, not for long distances, but quite independently. Lelach is keeping a much tighter eye on you so you don't wander away.

The first skill, then, would target creatures at whom you are not looking or for whom your view is impeded by some intervening obstacle. (This would not include someone you could not see because of darkness but whose position you knew well enough to stare directly at him with both eyes, except in the case that you were not looking at his position.)

Your efforts to learn that skill do not come together on the first day that you're working on it.

--M. J. Young

Don't rush me!

Sorry for rushing things (or doing similar action that might be interpreted as one). I thought that in March Morach was busy with spring cleaning so probably he did not have enough time to develop a new skill then which is why he develop the new skill in April. If you have any new event happening during March for example, you can stall the month advancement. I am just telling you what Morach would do in the following month and you can advance the month according to your pace.

I will walk inside the clearing perimeter to exercise my legs so that it can get used to walking. I will also (sometime) try to flap my wings when I walk to see if I can make a small hop (or make the walking faster) with it.

The first skill, then, would target creatures at whom you are not looking or for whom your view is impeded by some intervening obstacle.

I will try the above skill again once per day for a week until I succeed or until something else happens.

I will also try the second skill (tag a creature using other creature visual information) once per day for a week until I succeed or until something else happens.

Speaking of rushing things, I wonder if I can haste myself to do things mentally. I will think of a fast beat song and will try to match the song beat with my actions.

You find the visual cortex of your deer. It has panoramic vision, so you can see the bird which comes into view--but you fail to get the tag, whether because it passed through too quickly or because the unfocused nature of the deer's panoramic vision does not lend itself to focusing on objects it sees is more than you can say.

The next day you try the first again, and connect to a creature hiding behind a tree.

You also connect with the mind of one of your animal friends, this time a bird, and using its visual information tag the mind of a beetle, shortly before the bird eats it.

Lelach is pleased to see you playing with your wings as you walk.

How much haste are you anticipating getting from this effort?

--M. J. Young

The next day you try the first again, and connect to a creature hiding behind a tree.

Do I know or have a clue to what this creature really is?
This reminds me that I should put clairvoyant as the next skill to develop.

tag the mind of a beetle, shortly before the bird eats it.

Well, that is the circle of life.

I will practice both of my new skills in the mind reading package slot if there is enough time for it.

I really have to work on the wings so that it have enough force to counter my weight or control the air surrounding me significantly.

How much haste are you anticipating getting from this effort?

Lets try double (the speed of my normal action) or at least the amount (of speed) needed to repeat my intuition practice effectively.
If it works to speed up my action then I will practice it with my intuition practice (if the intuition practice will be effective by repetition done by the haste skill).

If I still have time to develop a new skill then I will try to develop clairvoyant next. Considering that I can tag creature with my new skills (especially the first one), I could probably device a skill that see the location that I choose rather than tag a creature in that current location.
The skill would go as follow:
First, close my eyes and remember the location that have been seen before (either through my eyes or other creature).
Second, concentrate on picturing that location for about 4 minutes until it become vivid.
Third, feel the visual information of that location flowing into the mind.
Fourth, control the 'vision' with hand movements by pointing where I wanted the 'vision' to go.