Thanks for the welcoming. That(s okay Eric, I don't want to lay a lot of work on you.
I am concerned as to whether I'm going to be able to address all the posts from Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Brock, Kurt, Harry, John 2, and Adam--I have been put on notice that someone in the house is feeling ill and might have to go to the hospital, which means I will be driving and waiting--but it's not happening yet, so I'm going to make a frantic rush at as many threads as I can cover.
Eli will be in hiding for a moment.
Michael is going to wait a few minutes, clear his head, and try to view the skill pattern again; since Molly rolled a strong roll (as I recall) he's got time to do that. The roll is 14, so he manages to observe. That gives him the example bonus, and now we roll for learning the skill, 77 requires number crunching. 4@10 bias+2@1 BRA+2@5 example+1/2 2@7 instructor BRA+15@ world bias-4@7 target skill (TK multiple objects) seems to be 78, but that's close enough that I'd better double check with the calculator, yes that's confirmed, he's got a 1@2 Telekinesis of Multiple Objects P4@7.
Ahmetia rolls 52 on riding the horse. She has a 2@1 agility plus 2x7@ bias plus 1@1 skill ability level is 47% chance of success on this, so that's trouble. She'll be taught the rifle by Sapt, who is expert and a trainer in this, so the roll of 92 is going to give her a 1@3 Use Large Hand-Carried Explosive-Driven Slug Thrower T6@1 (Winchester). 24 on the pistol means 1@1 Use Small Hand-Carried Explosive-Driven Slug Thrower T6@1 (Colt Revolver). She rolls 24 on using the shotgun, which we'll include in the large hand-carried category, raise her to 1@4 for new use, and add Shotgun to the list. I'm adding a 1@1 Use Bow T2@1 to the sheet based on her comments on the subject. I'm pushing her through this, partly because I don't want to waste too much of her time, and I want to accelerate events until we're moving back into something happening but have her benefit from the training in the interim and be able to put some of her own ideas into it.
I'm not saying much to Harry, but I'm sure he'll have something to say in response on some point, even if it's only that he's going to want a bath and is going to try to figure out how to make baths easier.
Hmmm--my computer is doing hinky things. I put these windows in sequence, and they've jumped out of it more than once. Well, as long as I get to everyone the fact that I did Harry too soon shouldn't be a problem.
Brock gets a roll of 18, which is just slightly unfavorable, and fits with the mission I was considering. We'll give him the chance to discuss this a bit.
I'm going to be brief with Kurt but get past the rain and back to the routine.
John 2 is trying to get an angel to lie for him. Good luck with that.
I had most of Adam's numbers crunched, and we've agreed on an added +10 for him taking 5 intensities of damage from the casting, which makes the internal sit-mod +20, and he's got some strong bonuses otherwise, so let me roll first and crunch the rest of the numbers if necessary: 58 is certain to be a success (he's got a high mag bias, strong BRA, and religion on this), so 1@2 Create Undead Energy Attractive Force M+9@10 draws undead toward each other, with the most powerful as the centerpoint, force extends 60 yards from any undead energy source, area of effect sixty yard radius, must be able to see that centerpoint by some means, TF 1:00, 10:00 duration, say in Latin "Odin, Hel grant me the power over energy itself", (in Latin: Odin, Hel tribuo mihi vox super navitas ipsum), loudly, sound necessary, while walking in a circle, waving holy symbol with both arms, can only use it once per day, take 5 intensities of damage from the casting, +20SM. I'm thinking that they have to make a successful strength check, RS=S/D/N, which means difficult in the present circumstance; but then, I've got a lot of work to do on these for that to play out. I'll figure they've got 15 ghouls present with three vampires hidden and dormant; I think I'd said 18 ghouls before, which is good, because it means three are scouting. I'll roll 15 strength checks on an assumed 2@3 strength, 26, 38, 18, 18, 31; 15, 36, 18, 39, 39; 26, 24, 16, 11, 26. That's six successes, nine failures.
--M. J. Young
You missed me, but that's no problem. You have bigger things to worry about. I hope everything goes well at the hospital.
I'm not sure whether I missed Nikolaj or Nikolaj missed me (once I open the board, if you post after that it's too late, and it can take me hours to get through all the posts on the board particularly if I'm interrupted after I begin), but we won't miss him today. We'll tackle Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Kurt, Nikolaj, John 2, and Adam.
The ninja raider who is in charge of this raid has a 56% chance of success at hiding everyone, and on a roll of 14 succeeds, so Eli is hidden.
I'm faced with a bit of a problem with Molly. Michael has taught her a psionic skill that did not exist in this world, but which is reasonably like psionic skills that do exist, so I let her learn it. However, the psionics of this world are partly learned and partly genetically linked, and it is noted that there are gender differences in what can be learned. As long as she is in this world, at least, Molly cannot learn to do what a witch cannot do. There is a possibility, though, that she will leave this world, and I want to leave open the possibility that she can learn such skills then; so the best answer is that she won't try them now.
I should also consider what skill would be next. The next one anyone knows appears to be a P5@9 Morph, but only two people are known to use it in the story--Gwendylon and the werewolf. However, Gwendylon is the only one to do several things in the story, and we know that at least one of the things she does is commonly done by others but never seen in the story. Thus it is possible that someone else at the castle might be able to morph into animal forms but simply never did it. A GE roll is appropriate for that: 25 is not going to make that happen.
I note as Ahmetia muses on her problems with Michelle that the former has a 2@2 intuition, so I'm going to give her a difficult intuition check and if it's successful I'm going to drop ideas her direction. She rolls 2, which means (d30+10) 12, well within her range for success.
Kurt turns his attention to Friar Tuck, and to the written language of the day.
Nikolaj is moving through the complications, but still making progress.
It appears that I am handing John 2 over to Eric, without resolving his present situation.
Adam is going to use his bonus nature-based magic skill, he rolls 61 on an alliance skill 1@4 SAL+5SM+6 for religion+10 for affiliation+2@6 BRA=61, well it looks like he did it, which gives him 61:00 of +(RS/5=)13 on spells like the lightning strike. I'm not sure which lightning strike spell he means, though.
--M. J. Young
I'll just reiterate that I want out of this world. This is becoming an increasingly unsatisfying gaming experience, to be stranded in a low-everything-biased world as my first and so far only Verse. My MULTI-verser experience is so far one relatively backwater Verse, prohibitively low in everything I play RPGs to experience, and I'm feeling increasingly abandoned in it - especially when, every time I beg to be set free, I see that I am a slave to a GE roll to see whether or not I will ever be allowed to be, as though my storyteller has no control over his own world. It's not even exciting any more - I hope to lose now, and am disappointed when I live through each encounter. So I am denied death and take no joy in victory. I think if this continues I will sooner than later wind up leaving the Verse behind.
Harry if you would like someone else to take over and run you, I would have no problem doing so. My schedule does allow me for more free time (and even more when I move to 2nd shift), expect the rolls and whatnot to be handled a lot like Eric's games. I do all rolling on an app on my android phone so I don't need to carry dice with me like before. Just an option.
Adam
Another option you have is to have your character explore concepts that as a player you know are dangerous.
For example, magic botches can be particularly deadly, and trying to learn magic without a mentor or a previously established bias would be incredibly dangerous.
If your character knows magic exists it's not unheard of for someone to try and teach them self magic. Even if your character hasn't seen magic, he may wonder if it's possible due to the strange circumstance of versing out his first time.
While as a character you would be exploring the option out of curiosity it would also satisfy the gamer by accelerating his exit from the current world.
He's a firefighter, isn't he? And you can't think of a way to verse him out......
A1Nut and Glantri - I've done just about all the suicidal nonsense I can think of. I have, in fact, taught myself magic. My very first attempt at magic had something like a 30% chance to botch. I've since taken two pirate ships at swordpoint, leading from the front, and taken up firefighting. Short of going dragon-hunting I think I've done all I reasonably can to give MJ every chance to kill me, but apparently GE dice rule all.
Jhiaxus - MJ only likes to give players away between worlds. If I could get between worlds, I wouldn't be quite so eager to jump ship. If you can convince him to transfer me, I'd gladly take you up on it.
Jhiaxus,
When I ran one superhero campaign, I had my own character in it. But 'Remote' was probably the weakest of all the characters in the game, and he definitely was not the smartest. MJ has Michael Di Vars as the guide on Dessert Island, but Michael has such an odd way and viewpoint on the verse that the character knows he's not neccessarily to be trusted.
Just some friendly advice.
. . .
I trusted Di Vars
.
.
.
Osevens, I got the way for you to beat the GE roll. It's all a matter of defining your hopes and fears. Your hope currently is to verse out, your fear is to stay alive. Redefine that. Your hope is to die quickly and painlessly, your fear is to die writhing in agony. The result is the same though, you verse out. Just a thought.
I've opened threads from Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Kurt, and am pleased to welcome back John 4 before getting to Nikolaj and Adam. I was up at an incredibly early hour this morning--the nine-five equivalent of two in the morning--to take the car to a mechanic to fix an off-track window, and so even though it's only the nine-five equivalent of eight thirty in the morning now, I'm already running out of steam. Also, I've got to drop off and pick up people over the next couple hours, so that's going to disrupt play here, but not derail it entirely, I trust.
My thoughts on the herbalist's cottage are that it will be watched, and the ninja will anticipate this. I could be wrong on either count, so a GE roll is in order: 22. My thinking is that a very good roll would be that the house is not watched and he knows it, a fairly good roll would be that it is not watched but he doesn't know it, a very bad roll that it is watched but he does not know it, and that means that the moderately bad roll is that it is watched and he knows it.
My interruption was a bit longer than anticipated, but I'm back to look at Michael, who is wondering about Gwendylon, which will open discussion of the older witches.
Ahmetia is moving forward a bit.
Kurt is interested in purchasing one of the great expensive luxury items of his current world: a book.
It's good to have John 4 back in business. Another post or two and he'll be playing in a speakeasy in New Orleans, and between the bootleggers and the revenours and the jazz world I expect things will become even more interesting.
I need to clarify for myself which third party revelation prayer Nikolaj is using.
I'm going to guess that Adam is attacking from about a hundred yards out, which puts him at medium range, -10 to hit. That's not a serious penalty on a skill with a +34 SM, but the first roll is critical, as it tells whether the skill works. After that, it's just whether he manages to hit a designated target with a bolt of lightning. The opening roll is 74, so let's double-check this. Ghouls have target values around 1@10, so the numbers to this point come to +4, and we add 1@2 SAL+6 for religion+10 for affiliation+30 for bias+26 for BRA+29 for RSV plus that bonus for his nature-based magic gives me over 100% chance to hit, fatal +DC=annihilating inside a 5' central circle, -DC per 2.5' beyond that, and he's got them bunched up with that spell, so it's 74, 37, 15, 8, 4, 1, and that's to a radius of 15'. It also means he has this working for 8 minutes, and since he's got a 2@ RSV he gets 8 strikes per minute. Let's hit them seven more times, 08, 33, 77, 96, 52, 71, 58. We'll mop of the rest. I'm noting that there are three ghouls who were scouting, and there are three vampires in that dirt cave, mostly so it's clear I'm not making up additional stuff later.
--M. J. Young
Seems I'm overlooked entirely for today...
No, he had already opened everything. He never even saw your post, and I doubt he saw anything written here prior to his game post. MJ, you missed about a dozen posts before yesterday's game post.
John is correct; I particularly looked for your post when I was opening all the windows, and it was not here, and nor was the extensive discussion that preceded my Behind the Screens post.
As far as versing you out, Harry, well, I had you in a burning building trying to rescue a child, and you managed to escape without injury despite your fear of heights. I've a feeling that if you were ambushed by four burly brigands in a dark alley, you'd kill three and drag the fourth to the local watch office under arrest. I am indeed thinking about ways to get you out of there, but I want them to seem reasonable and fair. You've managed to teach yourself quite a bit of magic, but always taking such great care that your chance of success is high. You've also done what the cautious verser does: recognized that your magic and psionics are unreliable, and instead relied on your body and tech skills. It also doesn't help that you left the intermittent dangers of the shipping trade for the safety of shore. But we're working on it. We'll get you out of here.
Let's look at Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Kurt, Harry, Nikolaj, and Adam.
Eli's mentor will begin with an examination, which is use of his diagnosis skill. 05 would be a success for just about anyone, and he's very good at his bias level, so he's got it. He's faced with a lack of supplies and equipment, though, so there will be a penalty against treatment, we'll make it -15. He rolls 05 again, so that's going to help a little.
Michael asks a question and gets an answer. It's not exactly the right answer, because Molly doesn't really understand the right answer, but it contains the clues to the right answer within it.
Ahmetia gets a look at the castle that is Zenda. I'm using the version from the book, more or less. She'll need a plan.
Kurt might have to choose between Sherwood and Nottingham.
Harry gets a 15 GE roll for "what happens next", so things are going to move in a slightly favorable ordinary way. I wonder what he'll tell his bride about his past now that they're settling in to regular married life.
Nikolaj is going to pray for three distinct people (I'll treat Bredd's parents as one), forty minutes each, which means he's got two hours of walking and praying ahead. The rolls are 99, that's either bad news or good news and might we don't roll the other two, but let's check the numbers: 1@2 SAL, +38 SM, +10 religion, +10 affiliation, +1@9 BRA=89%, which means only 1% chance to botch, the prayer fails but does not botch. He prays for the other two, 96, 02. That's one weak success.
I appreciate Adam's defenses, but he's done such a thorough job that he got most of the ghouls already. However, the vampires can be dangerous as long as they are not in daylight. Merlin will have to disperse his gathered clouds to get the best benefit, and a 61 is going to work for him. He's got a team, but he's got to tell them what to do.
--M. J. Young
*smiles at them*
"Well if we can't bring them out into the sunlight easily, let's bring the sunlight to them. Stay at the mouth of the cave, I am going to go above, and do a dig spell. If they run out that way you have the team, if they are stupid enough to come at me, let the sun handle them."
*climbs on top of a cave, and picks a suitable spot and begins to cast the dig spell as per his character sheet, intending to make a sunroof in this earthen cave*
Adam
At this point it doesn't have to be fair. A fire in a warehouse that turns out to be full of gunpowder. Shot by an angry family member of someone I've arrested. Something like that.
There's always the 'Superpowered Verser Arrives'....
"Why are you killing me, man?" O7 gasps to the smirking verser who just stands and watches as the robotic and nigh indestructible constrictive autonomous attack coils tighten the breath out of 07, and crack his ribs.
"Its not because of what you've done. Its because of what you will do." And the boa-bots crack 07's ribs as the enemy verser begins to laugh maniacally.
Edit: And Krillis, your trusting Di Vars is no doubt proof of your trustworthy nature :).
Osevens, there's always "suicide by police officer." It's a less ballsy way of committing suicide. Run up on a police officer with an unloaded gun in your hand and force him to open fire on you. No difficult willpower check, as you're not actually pulling the trigger yourself.
I wouldn't say di Vars isn't trustworthy. He doesn't lie to people. He's pretty careful not to promise anything he can't deliver. He usually distinguishes between what he thinks he knows and what he only believes, and he'll tell you what others think who disagree with him. And if you want proof of something and he can prove it, he'll use the easiest method available to him. What's not to trust?
And it looks like I'm going to have to kick up the juice for Harry. But let's start at the end, as usual, with our most recent new players first, which means Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Kurt, John 4, Harry, Nikolaj, and Adam.
We're transitioning Eli to a new phase, in which he'll be introduced to the ninja and separated from the herbalist.
Michael is going to learn another skill, the dousing of torches, or at least that's the general hope. He has to watch Tobias' mind to get the example bonus, and his roll for that is 37, which is a good success. I'm giving Tobias a 2@8 intuition because he is the eldest of those at the castle, 3@1 SAL because this is flashy and I think he likes to show off, and I'll note he has skill at morphing witch moss into a creature, which gives him a 14@ bias. That gives him a 73% chance of success. He rolls 83. He rolls 49 on the second attempt, after taking a break. Michael rolls 43 on the skill learning roll, which requires some number crunching. His bias is 4@10, BRA 2@1, 3@1 example, 14 for half the instructor's BRA, +15 for the world area bias, minus the 7@2 Douse Fires/Torches. I get 59% on a quick sketch (4@10+2@1 is 71, take the 1 from the 3@1 and that leaves 30+14+15, which is one less than twice thirty), and even if I goofed somewhere that looks like a successful 1@1 Douse Fires/Torches P7@2.
Ahmetia wisely decides not to spend too much time standing outside the castle where the person she is impersonating is imprisoned. I'm wondering if she's thinking about options yet, though. I wonder if she has any swimming or boating skills.
Kurt is looking for books, and asking Robin. Books are pretty rare in the pre-printing-press world, and that makes them valuable, so it occurs to me that Robin might have picked up one or two by way of his profession. However, a GE of 24 does not play well for that.
John 4 rolls a 14 GE on his hopes to spend the night in the building. That gives us the opportunity to set up some tensions.
Harry gets a 20 GE roll, and I've been thinking all this time (well, not all of it, but quite a bit) about possible ways of giving him more trouble than he can handle. I need an intuition check for Harry, 16+2=18, just outside his 1@7 intuition. Let's see if he can manage not to survive this one.
I actually don't have a post from Nikolaj; or more precisely, I don't have a game post, just a mention that he's going to be away for the weekend.
Adam has used this dig spell before to move earth elsewhere. I've found it; it's pretty potent. He gets to move four thousand cubic feet of dirt, and since he said "skylight" I'm assuming that it's going to be about five by five and deep, at least to start. 32 is rolled, a formality since the +93 sit-mod makes it nearly infallible. The only remaining question is whether the light shines in a good place, and since dirt caves aren't deep like limestone ones I'll use a 2d10+1 GE roll for that: 11 is pretty good.
Thank you and good night; I'll be back, Lord willing, on Sunday.
--M. J. Young
Oak and Jhiaxus are each providing me with separate and somewhat difficult problems. And I might be heading out soon, so see ya' tommorrow.
Who, us? :p
And if you want proof of something and he can prove it, he'll use the easiest method available to him. What's not to trust?
Um, maybe the fact that the 'easiest method available' to prove you're a verser is that he kills you?
Yes, exactly, what's not to trust? You know precisely what he will do. You can expect it. He is predictable. You can trust him, in that he will do what you think he will do.
Well, if you don't know that prior to meeting him and ask him to prove you're a verser, it's kind of a system shock. You're right though, now that you mention it. I wonder if DiVars has a bunch of pissed off versers out to get him for taking them out of a world like that.
We've got something of an illusion going on with Michael di Vars. As far as I am concerned, Michael di Vars has only been to that island once, where he met a few new versers whose names weren't important to him, might or might not have shot one of them to prove a point when they got annoying, and braved the eruption of the volcano. The fact that I've probably known a hundred players who were among those few versers is immaterial. Most of them will never meet each other, and in that sense they're not even really in the same multiverse. It's kind of like when I run Mary Piper Beta. I run it a lot, and I've had a lot of players meet Captain Johnson and First Officer Jamison. But when you arrive, those men have never heard of a verser and never had this situation happen before, and I don't really think that there are hundreds of parallel universes in which the same people are doing exactly the same things with different versers. It has only ever happened once that a verser appeared on the Mary Piper as it traveled through space. It just happens that there are a lot of players who were the only verser who ever did so.
So there might be one, and might not be one, verser out there somewhere with a grudge against di Vars for the one time di Vars shot someone for asking that stupid question.
It's different with NagaWorld. Paul and Annie know all the versers who ever visited them over the hundreds of years that they've been there, and since the only things that ever change in NagaWorld are the things that the players change the world continues for them all. But Paul and Annie have never left NagaWorld, and so there's no confusion over them repeating the same world over and over again, any more than there would be with you having guests over several weekends during the year.
So "every" time Michael di Vars meets new versers on the tropical island, it is for him the only time.
I'm late and it's tired, or something like that. (Note to Nikolaj: no, that's not an accepted English expression, it's a quirking inverted phrase I created to express what it attempts to express.) Still, I see Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Nikolaj, and Adam, and I notice specifically that Harry, Brock, Kurt, and John 4 have not posted, and if I've missed anyone else I should have seen, I apologize in advance as I attempt to address the five games of those I do see.
As I had Edge explaining things to Eli, I was first thinking of Robin Hood, but I must admit that I was soon minded of Nathan Ford, who is at least as good an example of the same principle. Of course, the situation is more complicated than the ninja realize, but that doesn't really change the world in which they live except in terms of placing the blame.
Michael has introduced an interesting challenge for me. Creating fire psionically is a much more difficult skill than dousing it, which is really just a matter of dissipating the heat to the point that the flame cannot be sustained. However, it ought to be possible to manipulate energy such that a torch might spontaneously combust, not quite as the exact reverse of what he did but as a pyrogenesis variant. So we'll roll for it, 43 demanding number crunching. He does not have an example, because no one has ever done it. He does have his now 7@2 bias targeting a 7@4 skill, plus his 2@1 BRA and the world's 15@ bias, which means he has a 34% chance of success if I didn't miss some factor in his favor, which I didn't.
Ahmetia is facing an interesting challenge; I don't know whether this is something she can manage or not, but I'll look to her first for ideas.
Nikolaj had a weak success in his prayer for Maggie in the kitchen, and that means that whatever revelation Maggie received was also weak, so it falls to Nikolaj to make it work.
When Adam mentioned his "Super Jump" I immediately recalled his 1@1 Jump M15@1 temporarily enables the target individual to jump 30' forward or 10' backward, 0:06 TF can repeatedly jump for 0:18 if desired, must break a grasshopper leg using any means available while saying "EGO can jump amo grasshopper", which as I recall was what versed him out of Sherwood Forest. But then I realized that he almost certainly means his 3@10 Great Jump B5@6, which with a 3@1 BRA and 2x10@ bias has a 91% chance of success, and I'm only rolling because it's a potentially dangerous situation: 27 is a good enough success. He had an 11 GE on the efficacy of his plan last time, so we're good. I'll write a denoument and let Adam say anything he wants about what else should happen or what should happen next.
--M. J. Young
Most of them will never meet each other, and in that sense they're not even really in the same multiverse.
So it's a Multiverse of Multiverses? Now that's a concept that's difficult to wrap your head around.
O7,
You should read my latest post in Jhiaxus's game. I think you'll find it amusing or gratifying.
Interesting, indeed.
So it's a Multiverse of Multiverses? Now that's a concept that's difficult to wrap your head around.
Not harder than a necessary history which no longer ever has existed.
Moment ago the clock struck two, and although the rest of us escaped with only minor injuries, at this point it is just a matter of time.
More seriously, I have all day been struggling to pull the room temperature below eighty degrees to stabilize the computer, and it's still not below eighty as I type this. I missed yesterday for similar but more complicated reasons, but as much as I hate doing so I think I'm going to have to miss today as well--I don't see how I can get to Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Kurt, Harry, Nikolaj, and Adam and do them all justice, and still get to bed and be up again tomorrow.
So with my apologies I wish all a good night.
--M. J. Young
no problem at all, my rate might be slowing anyway, school started again (and so does my job) and I've got an extra 6 hours a week that I am given to teach children (about God, yay!).
I am concerned that all day I've been fighting to keep the computer stable. When the room temperature hit 86F, I was working in five to ten minute segments before the next crash. I'm down to 84F, but won't really be happy until I see 79. However, I don't think we got that low at all last night, so there's no sense waiting for what might never happen. Instead, let me tackle the long-neglected game posts from Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Kurt, Harry, Nikolaj, and Adam, and see how many I can get to stick.
I ought to give Eli a GE roll for the night's events, although it's difficult to imagine what exceptionally good thing might happen. The roll is 24, As Bad As Anticipated, so I don't have to worry about that.
Michael asks about foxfire. That's fine; I encountered it in the book and had to look it up myself. It's a vernacular term for the phosphorescence of some plants. I'll have to explain it without using that word, though.
Sapt will start talking about plans to Ahmetia, which might get her thinking, too.
Kurt gets a 14 GE on the reactions of Robin and crew. He may have created an adventure for himself.
I will roll for Harry to get into style, 18 low enough that I need not crunch any numbers.
I think Nikolaj needs a persuasion check against Maggie's will power check, so we'll roll those, Nikolaj first: 37, 37, we're pretty much at a stalemate here, and although his 1@8 persuasion is better than her probably 1@5 will power rolls as bad as this mean no one is anywhere.
Adam proposes a really good idea to the packmother, with the one caveat that she does not trust humans and does not think that wizards ought to count. But I'm hoping he'll pursue this and start finding humans and working to prepare them to work with the wolves against the vampires--it's a great idea.
--M. J. Young
I don't envy your temeratures over there, MJ. I have trouble tolerating 70 degrees fahrenheit; that's why I live in Washington. Usually doesn't get too hot up here.
I do proffer sympathies, though.
I gave up complaining about the temperature years ago. In the summer people wish it was winter, in the winter, people wish it was summer.
Oh, I'm not complaining about the temperatures for myself; but I am noticing that the thermometer on my desk says 81.0 degrees F despite our cloudy just-missed-by-the-hurricane day, and that it becomes more and more unstable as the temperature rises and is already in the danger zone. Yesterday it was so unstable in the early evening I gave up and went swimming, but when I finally got back to work I was too tired to think and pushed myself to get to bed instead. Sorry about that, but I don't think I could have done much here.
So it's earlier today, and I'm going to attempt to do something with Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Harry, Nikolaj, Scott, and Adam. I'm guessing that Scott feels he has adequately run the games he is running that he's allowed to play again....that's a joke.
I'm adding a B0@6 Stealth with a 1@5 SAL to Eli's sheet, and rolling for his chance of success: 74 is not at all stealthy, but it's not a botch. It means that the seekers get an intuition check, but given that this is done in the dark they're at a penalty. Their roll is 20+18, so they are clueless.
There's another jump in the bias of skills for Michael, but a GE of 8 says that one skill that shortens the gap which is only demonstrated by elves in the book is also known to at least a few witches--a 10@ force digger. He'll have to find someone who knows it, though--it's not that common.
Ahmetia doesn't look like she's going to try to save the queen herself, which is probably good for the moment since she's only just learning her combat skills (but we'll keep working on them); but perhaps she'll make a good suggestion about how to find someone who can.
I have a stack of skills to cover for Harry, so let's see if I can do them in an orderly fashion.
- He is going to use an object in his environment tactically to gain an advantage, a B7@2 Tactical Movement application which will cost one attack and I think give RS=SM against the opponent's initiative and first attack. That's not quite as strong as a steal initiative on giving Harry the first shot, but it does what he wants because it also reduces the chance of attack success by the attacker. I roll 20, so that gives him 1@1 Tactical Delaying B7@2 uses thrown object from immediate environment to delay and confuse an attacker, creating a -20 SM on the attacker's initiative and first attack, used as an instant activation defense. It also means that the attacker has -20 on initiative and first attack.
- I recall that the style was adequately activated, so I need only insert the numbers. I like the look of 1@6 Military Hand-to-Hand Combat (specialty in disarming maneuvers) Bod 7@1 fast aggressive weapon-utilizing poke style, Attx2, +20 att damage mod, +20 SM for disarming maneuvers.
- I also have to add
- 1@6 Front Martial Weapon Disarm B7@5 TV of weapon=(MSV+SAL+Density)/3, knocks weapon free, RS>50 user controls weapon
- 1@6 Rear Martial Weapon Disarm B7@5 TV of weapon=(MSV+SAL+Density)/3, knocks weapon free, RS>50 user controls weapon
- 1@6 Front Ranged Weapon Disarm B7@5 TV of weapon=(MSV+SAL+Density)/3, knocks weapon free, RS>50 user controls weapon
- 1@6 Rear Ranged Weapon Disarm B7@5 TV of weapon=(MSV+SAL+Density)/3, knocks weapon free, RS>50 user controls weapon
- I have to roll for the prayer. He rolls a 03. The good news is that works. The bad news is, it gives him +1 for 1 minute with a weapon, and he doesn't have a weapon.
- We get to roll initiative, his first, 31, 38, pirates have a 1@4 SAL+1@6 BRA+2x6@ bias+1@9 MSV is 61% -20 for the new skill and -1@7 for Harry's TV is 24% chance to hit, so he lost the initiative to Harry, who has 1@7 MSV+2@2 BRA+2x7@ bias+1@6 SAL=69 -the 1@7 TV of the pirate is 52%. He used one of his attacks for the skill, but gets to make the other, 05, annoying +DC for style is damaging+DC for MSV is dangerous, and he gets that +20 damage points which makes the roll effectively 25, so it's 3 intensities to the pirate, who has a 1@8 DV. The pirate responds with a roll of 19, good for one intensity with the dagger against Harry's 1@6 DV.
Nikolaj and I are both curious concerning what Bredd's parents said, so we'll do the GE roll to see what happens: 15.
Scott is asking Alice about what might bring her to the state of mind she had when she was in the mountains. I've given that some thought myself.
Adam is going to start a unified organization against vampires. I'm interested in seeing how he recruits.
--M. J. Young
I am embarrassed to realize that I missed Kurt, and since I saw that I missed him before I left (and I'm sure I did not open the board twelve hours ago) I'm going to correct my oversight now.
He's got a very clever idea, and I don't want to throw too wet a blanket over it, but I'm reminded that Normans preferred speaking in French even at this time, and all their legal work was French for a couple hundred years yet after this, so unless I missed Kurt's linguistic legerdemain he might be at a disadvantage on this plan.
--M. J. Young
....that's a joke.
Yet remarkably accurate, all the same. I also had the problem that I would rather be crafting the posts for what I want to do second and third, but I have to do the first things first, which meant that I sometimes used the scraps of leisure reserved for my own game for sleeping instead.
I think I'll stay active for a week or two, at least. We'll see.
Hey, curious, in handguns, would a 44 magnum or a 45 Long Colt (Cowboy gun) be base lethal? If a 44 magnum is then the 45 LC would be also. Thanks.
(Doing Therapy)
Hey, curious, in handguns, would a 44 magnum or a 45 Long Colt (Cowboy gun) be base lethal? If a 44 magnum is then the 45 LC would be also. Thanks.
- If it's not a gun being used in one of my games, I don't actually have to decide that.
- Since it occurs to me that you're running a game in which there are characters using a lot of guns, it further occurs to me that this question might not be mere curiosity, so I'll attempt to address it.
"Lethal" is the highest damage category you can get from a single bullet or shell from any explosive driven slug thrower of any size. I personally tend to reserve it for high-powered large-caliber rifles and .50 caliber revolvers. But if you're the referee and you want this gun to be lethal, that's within your prerogative--as long as you don't then regret having classed it so high because you don't have a higher class for more powerful pistols and rifles. (Of course, you can also use range to distinguish the rifles, which are quite reasonably longer in every category.)
--M. J. Young