Ending a Decade Behind the Screens · Page 21

Kyler, that hardly seems like an appropriate comment for Behind the Screens. This is for mechanics questions, remember?

It's entirely the correct section, as it lets MJ know that Kyler's thread is going to be further in the past than expected. I'm sorry if you were waiting that long to snipe at Kyler, but it was appropriate.

I agree, rope skipping is not appropriate here Kyler! ;)

There seems to still be some confusion as to the appropriate use for this thread. I thought MJ outlined it fairly well the last time we discussed it, but the gist was any easy mechanics questions, questions comments and concerns about a game thread that are easy enough to answer they don't need their own thread, and a very small amount of chat that it doesn't make sense to make a whole new thread for, or to link to, such as Nikolaj's comment above. I may have forgotten some things, but it doesn't matter, because MJ already outlined all of what I am saying. This is just a reminder.

Yes, John's comment appears to have been sniping. I know he feels like we all pick on him (and that we all feel like he approaches intolerable at times). I'm not certain how I missed Kyler's thread last time, but it seems that I did, and it puts him first this time.

Kyler has said some things to Kat that will bring predictable reactions.

Adam has challenged the worldview of his captured thief, and it's going to lead to some conversation on the subject.

The question for Harry is whether they actually built that tanker truck. Part of the problem is whether the money was there, part of it was whether they put the time into it, and part of it is simply whether it's been maintained in the interim. But a GE roll of 15 favors him slightly. I'll have to design it quickly.

Ahmetia has wisely been avoiding a relationship with Flavius; but passion does not always listen to wisdom, and it looks like their relationship is going to move in potentially interesting directions anyway.

I'm thinking that Nikolaj wants the woman to be able to sit up and turn so he can lay hands on her back and pray. Since she is in pain, we can resolve this with a sitting skill check. The standard human body package says 2@3 SAL for sitting, she'll have a 1@5 standard BRA and 2x5@ bod bias, which means under adverse conditions she has a 48% chance to sit. 70 is not that, so she doesn't sit. I'll have to get clarity on his intended next action.

John 1 his playing mind games with a dangerous adversary, but that might be the best way to win a friend.

--M. J. Young

I opened all the active threads, then shut down the computer so it could cool while I did something else (it's been running for about an hour and then crashing unless I let it cool for a long time), and then I came back, gave an answer to one I thought shouldn't wait, and turned my attention to the others--and discovered I had not opened this one. Well, it's open now, and I'm going to start answering threads--but if I don't finish them all in about an hour, I'll probably walk away, and let the computer cool while I do something like, I don't know, maybe wash dishes and make dinner. Michael is first in line.

Michael has introduced the concept of technology, and I think maybe Molly will explore that a bit--and see if Michael can identify more technology that exists in her world.

Nikolaj needs another skill check to use the skill for identifying the problem again. That skill is 1@1 Diagnose Cause of Infirmity M+7@6 pray for fifteen minutes with appropriate words, both hands on the infirm subject, having removed everyone from the room other than the subject and the skilled user and a small team of other ministers, +36SM, he has a 7@ bias, 1@10 religion, 1@9 intuition, and +10 affiliation bonus. He rolls 68. 11+36+(2*7)+(20/2)+19+10=easily enough, a strong success. He has visions sometimes, a 1@2 SAL skill that usually happens when the referee finds it useful, so I'll roll for it, 02 is a weak success but enough that I'll give him a mark for a new use with this diagnosis skill, raising it to 1@3 Dreams and Visions M7@6 usually as guidance or answers to prayers.

Adam rolls 23 against his 2@10 persuasion, so it's not going to matter what the thief rolls as a will power check except mostly for color: 28 is far and away outside any will power he might have. He's got his recruit.

Kyler is still looking at supers cards.

Harry has an 18 GE roll. I want a simple strength check for forcing a locked door, 13+11=24, and he has a 1@5 strength which I am going to increase to 1@7 because hey, he's been a fireman for a while now and even though he was only a navigator before that (and he never climbed the rigging or swung on the ropes) he was aboard ship for a couple years. He still doesn't make it through the door.

I think that's the last player today. Sorry for the delay on it--the computer crashed just as I had noted his 1@5 strength and decided to raise it (at least I remembered to do that), so I got dishes washed and dinner started and came back. Hopefully it's cool enough now for it to get through the rest of the posts.

--M. J. Young

All right, let's see if I can get through this tonight without another computer crash.

John 1 needs to persuade Ishara of something that is really not Ishara's field, but we'll give him the rolls: his difficult persuasion against Ishara's difficult will power, 32 to 16, John loses.

It strikes me that Adam is in a lose-lose situation at the moment--if he puts the new guy in the common room with the others, he risks the possibility that this thief will rifle their packs (or indeed, that they will suspect him of having done so) and slip out the back. If he puts him in one of the few special rooms, the risk is that the others will feel slighted. But we'll get it clear either way.

Kyler continues to converse with Kat--and I like the alliteration of that, so I'll leave it.

Harry is going to need a skill check on using the fire ax against the door: 93 is problematic, not a botch but far from a success. Just to double-check, he's got a 2@2 BRA+1@8 SAL (Use Standard Hand Tools) and the bias of this world isn't higher than maybe 7, so that's 54% chance. We'll speed things along by giving him an alternative.

Hmmm--Nikolaj has more actual experience with visions than I, but I hesitate to give him all of that, so I'm going to have to think it through. His success roll of 02 on the vision means it will be brief and weak. We don't have to worry about most of the questions, because he'll have to tell me what he's going to do this having failed.

Michael rolls a solid 18--not too low, not to high--on his multiple object TK for the wine glasses.

I think that's everyone.

--M. J. Young

It looks like the first post goes to Adam's game. I had to look back to remind myself what it was Geneice was supposed to do, but I found it. Let's get a GE roll for her successes in that: 11. Of course, she has to transport to Camelot, find people willing to work at the castle, and travel the distance from Camelot to the castle, this last probably without using magic. So it's going to be two to three days at the best, and this is not quite the best, but it's good. She'll contact him telepathically--or maybe not, with a 99 rolled. Let's check that, as she's undoubtedly got some familiarity built up by now: I'm showing +5 to Adam, 1@5 SAL Telepathy to Humans, 2x11@ bias, and a 2@4 BRA, 66% chance is certainly going to mean a botch. The question is how, if at all, that botch will impact Adam. There's no particular reason for me to do a botch list; a GE roll will suffice: 22 is not as bad as anticipated, if memory serves. I think on a 30 she'd be gone and taken him with her, on a 29 she'd be gone and he wouldn't know it yet, probably a 28 would mean she would be gone and he would be aware of it. We've got some space for botches in which she connects and one or both of them are injured or impacted by it, and that means on a 22 she's probably been temporarily disabled/delayed but he won't know why.

Molly will call Michael's attention to the point that the banshee is not essential to the plan.

Nikolaj previously wrote:

"I break this curse in Jesus' name! By His authority and might invested in me I break this curse." This has theological backing with verses about authority in Christ and invested authority Christ gave about power etc. In the vision I stretch out my arm.

Now he's taking the same actions in reality, which means he is going to say those words and stretch out his arm toward the woman. Let's crunch some numbers. It's a remove curse, M1@8. He does not want the limitation that he be in the presence of any particular individual, so I'm going to ignore range (which otherwise might bonus him). He has +5 appropriate words, +3 for loud/forceful (I'm presuming), the sound is not vital, -2 because he can use either arm. That makes the internal sit-mod +6. He also has an example, I think, in Paul as recorded in Acts, which I would accept as a mid level expert, 3@6. BRA 1@9, Bias 7@9, world bias 7@, it looks like an automatic success on the first attempt, more difficult later, 83 rolled which makes it 1@3 Remove Curse M+1@8 raise either arm toward someone involved (the one cursed or cursing) and forcefully say "I break this curse in Jesus' name! By His authority and might invested in me I break this curse." (sound not vital), 1:00 TF +6 SM.

I wonder whether Kyler intended the conversation to take the turn it just took.

I have glanced at John 1's sheet and found that he is a low to mid level professional at Back Alley Fighting, Gazuntite, and Chow En Lai, plus a high-level amateur at Wrestling and Mitzu Frenzy, with quite a few maneuvers and martial weapons in the professional range. Ishara is not going to be able to teach him anything.

Whenever a player relies on a non-player character outside his direct oversight, unless there's good reason to run skill checks a general effects roll usually determines the outcome. Harry just got a 21 on his, which is Bad Enough--but not worse than that, so let's give some thought to this. I'm actually thinking I'll go for the slapstick here--Harry said it's not hard to be more nimble than he is, so we'll have a bit of lack of agility here.

I think that's the full game stuff.

--M. J. Young

Hmmmm--well, today has been interesting times, as they say; but let me tackle what I can before I surrender to tonight.

I think Michael needs a GE roll, so let's go for it: 19 is just over on the negative side.

We'll pull up a few names for our conversation between Kat and Kyler.

Harry is going to roll against his firefighting skills, 46 a solid roll. We'll give him a description and let him attack the fire with the water he's getting.

I'm intrigued by Nikolaj's statement that there are "requirements" to receiving God's power, but I'll agree that there is something like that and I can't really think of a better word right now. It just sounds a bit legalistic to me, but then, if I can't think of a better way to say it off the top of my tired head, I certainly can't fault Nikolaj for not knowing a better English word for it.

Which is not the point. The question is whether some of the crowd is still present, and that's a question of how much time has elapsed, which could be ten minutes or over an hour. With a GE roll of 9, we're in good shape.

I think that's everyone.

--M. J. Young

I'm doing several things at once, one of which is cooking dinner outside, but one of them is answering forum posts including game threads, so bear with me.

It occurs to me that Mariska is not every mother's idea of a good mother, or older sister guardian. I'm thinking that Kyler will need for her to roll a simple charisma check for whether the mother likes her--although she doesn't have to like her, just not be really bothered by her. Mariska has a 1@8 charisma, and the roll is 05+15=20. They're not likely to be friends, but Kat's mom isn't going to object to her daughter visiting Kyler. A GE roll seems appropriate for dinner--I'm aware that Kyler has some food intolerances (although I'm not entirely certain which ones his character shares), but a 17 comes across neutral, nothing special either way.

Nikolaj speaks to the crowd, and I think we'll organize the next meeting somewhat spontaneously.

Michael is attempting something different with his read minds ability. It's a referee's call in situations like this as to whether what the character is doing is a new use or a new skill, but I note that he already has two distinct read minds skills--one, Hear Conscious Thoughts, based on what the witches and warlocks here do all the time, the other, Observe Psionic Skill Pattern, a very narrow application. So I'm going to treat this as a new skill, rolling 86 so he may be fortunate that I did so--he's got his 10@7 bias plus +1 for familiarity with Durer plus his 2@1 BRA and the +15 world bias against a 1@1 skill, easily over 100% chance to learn, and so 1@3 Read Recent Memories P1@1 gets added to his sheet. The question is whether he's going to read what he wants to read, and how long it will take him to find it--he's got a link that will last through breakfast and then some, if he maintains it. 17 is his GE roll, so he will find it soon enough.

I recall that my GE roll for Geneice' botch told me she was temporarily delayed/disabled but that Adam would not know why. (O.K., I remembered that there was a reason she could not contact him due to a botch; that exact wording came from looking back in the notes.) I know what I'm thinking, but I'm going to keep the thought in my own mind and tell him only that he is unable to contact her. I would like to be able to tell him that everything else runs smoothly, but I really ought to have a GE roll to justify that statement--and a 10 more than justifies it.

I'm also not entirely certain whether it would be impossible for him to contact his wife telepathically given what I believe her condition to be, but I think that it makes sense that he would be unable to do so, and that if he attempts something less casual I will roll for it.

John 1 is actually in the middle of an adventure, he just doesn't realize it because his part is pretty small at the moment.

Oh, dear--is that everyone? I should have posted this.

--M. J. Young

I forgot to open this thread, because no one had replied to it. That's fine--it's not really a discussion thread except when there are questions about mechanics in active games. I think I see four players, whom I make to be Kyler, Adam, Nikolaj, and Michael, which should not be too burdensome for this difficult week.

I find Kyler's statement about the city understandable but still funny. I think Kat would, too.

I find myself wondering how smart Adam's bird Horus is. I think he and Snowbeard must both have 0@10 intellects (capable of understanding what intellect is and using language concepts to a limited degree)--and indeed find that I have already put that on Horus' sheet (though not on Snowbeard's, which I correct now). I mention it because the obvious-to-me way to find Geneice might not be obvious to the bird. So let's roll a simple intellect check for that: 4+1=5, well within the target.

Nikolaj is interacting on at least two fronts at the moment, but we can run them parallel to save time.

My mind is tracing plausible event scenarios arising from Michael's stated action based on two distinct interpretations of the statement, so I'd better know which he means before I start running one of them.

And that appears to be everyone.

--M. J. Young

I think this needs a bump

Thanks.

Oddly, Adam, I don't see my response to your thread appearing on the main index page, but I do see it when I open the thread. Let me know if there's a problem.

--M. J. Young

It appears to be a quiet night--Kyler, Nikolaj, Adam, and Michael playing, and two other active threads that require my attention. (There are quite a few other active game threads, but I've given up trying to follow them all at this point, barring questions.)

I'm wrapping up Kyler's visit to Kat's; I've got a denoument to deliver at school, but we're not there yet.

We'll continue Nikolaj's involvement with the local church leaders.

Given that Adam has not made any suggestion to Horus as to which way to go, and scriff sense does not give distance without some triangulation (beyond the intellectual abilities of the bird, I would say--if I made it a difficult intellect check, the 1@10 would always fail), it falls to a GE roll as to which way the bird will fly. 24 is not good, he's picked the wrong target first. He will be gone for a few days, and then he will follow the other. (I considered having him return, but it is natural for an associate to be able to distinguish the principle from other versers, so he would at that point know where he was going.)

Michael is going to create quite a stir; he needs a GE roll to see how things play out. Just to cover what's involved:

• Durer will attempt to eliminate the evidence by dropping the cup.
• The poison might have been in a container, but it might have been a dissolving tablet, which would mean there was no trace remaining.
• The Duke Loguire might defend his councilor or might threaten him.
• The few other nobles present might attack Loguire or on the direction of their councilors defend Durer.
• The queen might be believe or disbelieve the claim.

The roll is 13, barely good enough. The cup will drop, but we'll give Brom a hand/eye check to catch it. I haven't given him any agility-related scores yet, but I know him to be an expert fighter with a 2@8 strength and a high intuition, so that means the GE roll for is hand/eye will be interpreted fairly high: 19 is a bit to the negative, so we'll make it a 2@10 intuition and a 2@3 hand/eye. I'll also give him a 2@10 agility, because he does some really remarkable bod tricks. Two checks for Brom, the intuition check not to be surprised when Durer drops it, and the hand/eye check to grab it before it spills. 7+anything is inside the 2@10; 7+7=14 is a decent catch. He also should make a skill check to detect the poison. This is more difficult to cover--it's a bod skill, an enhanced gustation. Human gustational skill runs 1@3 to 1@8 (actually, it's an inverted curve for some reason--most people are at the low end, some people are at the high end, but few are in the middle). Brom is not quite human, and is also notable at being able to taste poison. His Bod bias is 7@, his BRA is 2@10, and if I give him a 2@10 gustation that's 74% chance to taste the poison. Let's do that. The roll is 14, so we're good.

That's an extensive post, but I think we've covered him pretty well.

--M. J. Young

I posted in my game thread four days ago and haven't seen an update since.

I posted in my game thread four days ago and haven't seen an update since.

They've been having mucho problemos with the site lately. You might want to bump the thread.

(Doing Therapy)

Harry, I apologize. Your thread kept showing me as last poster, and I wondered that you had gotten so busy you weren't able to post--but it does happen. (Odd--the last post from you on that thread says it was posted this afternoon. Did my reply not show up for you?)

If I miss you, post it here or somewhere that I will see, and I will catch it up.

I'm not sure I'm going to get through everyone tonight, given the complications here, but let's start with Kyler, and see if we can get through Adam, Michael, Harry, and Nikolaj before I have to quit--which maybe is almost already, but I'm pushing hard.

I rolled a die roll earlier that's stuck in my head for a while that told me that Kat's mother was not going to connect with Kyler's sister. It wasn't that bad, but it was bad enough to bring a comment into play.

Adam is organizing his training program.

Michael is going to attempt to read the mind of the councilor who just rose, and the roll is 18, a success. I don't think that an armored knight needs to roll to persuade an elderly hunched councilor to step aside, so we won't roll that.

Harry is sending a someone to draft some volunteers from the crowd to help fight the fire. Since he is not attempting to do the deed himself, we use a GE roll for circumstances outside his control in which he has an interest--and the roll is 11, which favors him significant. He also rolls 05 on his fire extinguishing skill, which means he is slowly winning this battle.

Nikolaj continues interacting with Simon.

I think that's the crew for tonight. Does anyone know if Ahmetia is planning to play at Ubercon?

--M. J. Young

I see active threads with Kyler, Harry, and Nikolaj; I know that Adam and Mike are preparing for Ubercon, so I'll have to print parts of their thread (I have their character sheets and Mike's world notes already), and I will also want to get material for Ahmetia, as I would hate not to be prepared for her if she's prepared for me. I think she's probably a bit better live than on the forum, in terms of her involvement and enjoyment.

Note that I will not be posting again on any thread until Sunday night at the earliest, possibly Tuesday, depending on how things go Sunday and Monday.

Before I zip through the week I'd better do a GE roll for Kyler: 16 is a completely ordinary uneventful week.

I'm putting some of the picture together in my own mind from my recollections of images and events so far, hopefully giving Harry something similar to what he already perceives and honing the details.

We'll wrap up the present situation for Nikolaj and move toward tomorrow's meeting.

I believe that's everyone.

--M. J. Young

I believe that tomorrow I will be replacing this computer. Given how much work goes into reinstalling and reconfiguring software with such a move, it may set me back a few hours. After all, as I understand it, even if I move the hard drives from this computer to that one, Windows XP will have to be reinstalled in order to work with the new mother board and processor, and then it won't recognize any of the previously installed software, all of which will have to be installed again. Windows 98 was a better operating system. But then, you've probably all read my comment that when I said yes, the computer should load to its last stable configuration, it booted to DOS 3.1.

In any event, I'm going to tackle the game threads from Kyler and Harry, hopefully at least (instability still plagues), and perhaps continue with the Uberconners Michael, Adam, Ahmetia, Katarina and Eric, and I have heard rumors that there's a new player posting character information on the character generation thread who hopefully also will hear from me tonight.

Kyler is attempting to teach Kat a new martial arts style, Chow En Lai, along with the bo stick because it's weapon-dependent; that's two skill learning rolls, the first 61, the second also 61, so that's 1@2 Chow En Lai B7@1 and 1@2 Bo Stick B7@1. I don't have Kat's character sheet readily available at the moment so I'm not going to put them on the paper today. (Making all of that information readily available would take half an hour or so of reconfiguration of the programs, all of which will have to be redone when the new computer arrives anyway, so I'll just have to try to remember these things.)

I'm wondering whether this will be the fire that takes Harry out of this world, but for the moment he's handling it well so I'll continue to describe it.

Michael has dutifully wrapped up his time in Warlock in Spite of Himself and started a new thread, Michael from Planet Dirt. (I love that gag. So sue me.) He indeed did get a 3 GE roll, so things will be going well.

Adam has posted his summary and is ready to resume play.

Ahmetia also gives me a good summary of her game. It was, I think, an exciting conclusion to the adventure, and she is one of the few who has managed to rescue the monarch and leave the country alive. (Chris rescued the king but was killed in a fight with Rupert; Shawn rescued the king and never having assumed the king's identity was able to settle in Ruritania as a cousin of the King and the new lord of Zenda.) Now I have to work out what happens to her from here--but she has to tell me where she is going, and I have to find the adventures ahead.

I've started a thread for Katerina, because she posted to the character generation thread and I didn't see her there. We still need to fill in the blanks on what brought her to the present point, but I think between her, Mike, and me we should have something to tell.

Our newest player, who goes by Ric, is going to be Eric 2. He's also going to prepare for a landing party in the near future.

--M. J. Young

This Ric is, I believe, the same Ric I abortively attempted to run a game for ages ago. He's more "starting over" than genuinely new. Welcome back, sir.

You're correct Harry, he mentioned that at the convention.

On a couple of side notes I'm really glad both Ric and Kat have joined the forums, they were both really cool at the convention. Welcome guys.

As to the Planet Dirt gag, I'm so glad you used it. I sometimes tell my one friend about my adventures in the multiverse and that was one of the things I absolutely loved and had to tell her about.

As another side note, I was wondering whether you had noticed that Nikolaj were in the middle of character generation, so you were dropping him. I had let him know that playing at my table may mean an exclusion from yours, so before I began a thread I certainly wanted you to give him absolute clarification on that subject.

Yes, Ric and Kat both started last year, and without judgment on your efforts to start Ric last year, neither of them had their character papers and neither of them had posted the information to continue play in my game here, so both started by recreating themselves afresh with this year's identities.

The computer has been giving me a great deal of trouble. The new one has been ordered but will take two to three days to arrive. That's business days, so if it's not here Friday it won't be until Monday, but it would have cost twenty dollars more to guarantee the Friday that was already pretty probable and forty dollars more to guarantee tomorrow when I might not have adequate transportation. So I make no promises concerning how far I will get--I am surprised that it has remained stable as long as it already has, given its performance earlier today.

Concerning Nikolaj, if you are not picking up his current character/thread from me then I'm not thinking that you're picking up his game at this point. It's probably just one of my peccadilloes, but to my mind taking over the game means taking over from where the character last was, complete with current character sheet and history to this point.

So with some trepidation I begin to examine posts from Nikolaj, Kyler, Adam, Eric 2, Michael, Ahmetia, Harry, and Katerina, along with all the threads that aren't gameplay.

Sorry I missed Nikolaj on my return; apparently I overlooked his thread. In any case, we'll get me re-oriented to what's happening there.

Kyler is exploring his relationship with and attitude toward Kat, and I think I'll give some thoughts on that.

Adam is building up his school, but he's got a problem with the men, which is that they're all men.

Eric wants a warm jacket. He reminds me that the supplies aboard this ship are ample, and he's welcome to them.

Michael asks an appropriate but probably unanswerable question.

Ahmetia gets her passport and leaves the country in which she is the unknown heroine.

I've had a couple of crashes, and dealt with some out-of-play threads, so it's getting late; but I'm still plugging.

Harry needs another fire fighting skill check, 71 not likely to work for him even with this equipment.

Katerina is being interviewed by someone who hopes to figure out how she fits into their world.

I think that's the end of the game threads. Hopefully the computer will hold together well enough tomorrow for me to get here earlier.

--M. J. Young

It looks like I have a few players--if I've done my search aright, it's Ahmetia, Michael, Kyler, Adam, Katerina, and Eric 2, and we'll probably be starting a new game thread tonight for Edgar somewhere in the middle of all that, assuming I can clear the cold from my head well enough to think of a good starting point for him.

Ahmetia has reached France and decided to go into France. I'm not sure where that means she's going to go, but we'll get her started if we can.

It looks like I got to Edgar sooner than anticipated. Yeah, I'm tired--what a lame name for a thread.

Michael needs a GE roll on where exactly that stuff of his landed. He has no way of knowing how far away from him it was, because he botched a teleportation skill and might have wound up on another planet. 12, though, is good enough, so it's going to be somewhere accessible to him.

Kyler is interacting further with Kat, and we're going to see how often she can manage to drop by.

Adam has thought of a potential source of women for his domain, but I'm skeptical and making some exploratory suggestions before I make any rolls.

Katerina has given enough information to her questioner for the man to fill in the rest with what he finds to be a plausible story. It is of course laced with his own prejudices, but perhaps she can make it stick.

Eric 2 is going on an away mission, except that they don't call them that.

--M. J. Young

Thread names can be edited. You corrected my spelling of a Floridian city, once.

Seriously, MJ, drop a ceiling on me or something. I'm begging you. I'm seriously contemplating quitting this site and giving up playing the game over this.

I do not want to be stranded in this flatlined Verse any longer. It also occurred to me today that with another Ubercon passed, I've been playing for three years. In-Verse, it's been... three years. I can't play out the life of an immortal in real-time. This also is a significant concern for me.

What referee worth his salt can't kill a player? From what I've seen, keeping them alive is much, much more difficult.

That depends on several factors, including but not limited to the resourcefulness of the player. Graeme comes to mind.

Not really a discussion for this thread, though.

I can take the game over until you verse out and pass you off to Adam at that time, if it's alright with you and your referee, Harry.

Ah, Harry, what will I do with you? It's too bad you missed the convention--Mike versed out, although come to think that's the only dramatic one. (Kat and Ric also versed out, but from their starter worlds, and Ahmetia managed to complete the critical part of her scenario.)

Yesterday we installed a new computer and a new oven, and neither of them are quite yet working as expected. I spent the past several hours attempting to reinstall and reconfigure Thunderbird, and it's having trouble and freezing so much I think I must have done something wrong. Anyway, I've given up on that and turned my attention here to try to finish what I ought to have done last night. That means Kyler, Katerina, Eric 2, Adam, Ahmetia, Harry, Edgar, and Michael hopefully will all get to play.

Ending Kyler's play time with the invitation for more.

Katerina might have happened to have the wrong name for her situation.

We'll put a bit of color into Eric 2's rendezvous.

Adam has made a good argument in favor of streetwalkers predating brothels, so I'll take that into account as I roll the GE roll: 16, he gets his streetwalkers but the transportation issue stands. Next problem: he's taking his bandit horde into the city. I see an immediate hazard in that, so I'm going to roll the dice again: 13 is barely good enough.

We'll put Ahmetia on the road comfortably.

O.K., let's hope Harry gets the bad GE roll he wants: 16 is only in the middle. Still, it's certainly reasonable for the wall between the rooms to collapse in the ordinary course of events, and that's going to require an intuition check to recognize and an agility check to avoid--and a 20+anything is beyond his 1@7 intuition, and the second die is 19, so I'd say we've got our scenario. The wall will be a lethal impact plus a lethal flame attack rider, and will pin him in any case, but let's roll, 95 is 19 intensities of damage, and he's done. Ah, I guess it's true that the dice are always right. Scott reminds me that it is a difficult flexibility check, and a roll of 33 against a flexibility of 1@3 is definitely a failure, he stays at stage 2.

Edgar starts his visit to the island.

Michael is looking for his equipment, and hit a 22 GE roll.

I do believe that's everyone.

--M. J. Young

I thought I was taking Harry over.

Yes, I had forgotten, and it just popped back into my head a few minutes ago.

Arabella goes with him; she's probably something between three and seven miles away (she's at home, he's at work).

He's at stage 2 and failed the flexibility check so he stays there.

I'll try to remember to post his sheet as I have it later today (what to me is officially tomorrow).

Thanks much.

--M. J. Young

I'm busybusy, no time/motivation for this site lately. I wil return (hopefully)

Got to go!

I'm busybusy, no time/motivation for this site lately. I wil return (hopefully)

Got to go!

As they say in Australia, no worries, mate.

Before I get started on the game, let me not delay Harry and Adam, but get those character papers posted.

Name Harry Smith
a.k.a. Lucianos Northfire - A numerologically agreeable name, used only by witches and gods.
John O'Sevens, Minister of Information - Used only online.
John Caldwell Sevenwind, in Mary Piper Alpha
Commander, his rank in the fire brigade in Durnmist, Mary Piper Alpha

Attributes
Persuasion 1@10
Charisma 1@10
Animal Magnetism 1@6
Strength 1@7
Stamina 1@9
Resistance 1@6
Density 1@1
Flexibility 1@3
Agility 2@2
Hand/Eye 1@9
Intellect 2@3
Intuition 1@7
Education Level 2@2
Will Power 1@9

Averaged Attributes
Ranged Strike Value 1@8
Martial Strike Value 1@7
Target Value 1@7
Damage Value 1@6

Best Relevant Attributes
Tech 2@3
Psi 1@9
Mag 2@3
Bod 2@2

Bias
Tech
Psi 5@1
Mag 3@1
Bod 7@7

Weaknesses
Thin blood, caffeine addiction, Phobias for heights and bees/wasps
Description
6'1", 260#, Current Hair Style: Short, Facial Hair: Rogue's Goatee, Markings: Left earring
Brown eyes
Skills

Tech
2@1 Contain Fire T1@1
2@1 Extinguish Fire T1@1 +1
1@5 Ignite Fire from Spark T1@2
2@5 Knots T2@1
1@1 Wash Clothes with Washboard T2@1
1@6 Peg and Nail Carpentry T2@2
1@8 Use Standard Hand Tools T3@X
1@5 Operate Small Boat T3@1
1@4 Pilot Ship T3@1
1@2 Operate Sails T3@1
1@3 Mortar/Cement Stonework T3@3
1@6 Operate Sextant/Astrolabe T6@1
1@8 Use Drafting Tools T6@1
1@5 Use Magnetic Compass T6@1
1@10 Use Telescope T6@2 +2
1@8 Medical Diagnosis T7@0
1@10 First Aid/CPR T7@1
1@5 Robotics (Function Machine) Tech 12@4

Psi
Familiarity: some random pirate
2@5 English Writing Psi 0@0
1@5 Make/Use Maps P0@0
1@1 Durnmist Security Whistle M0@0
1@5 Preaching P0@1
1@8 Teaching P0@1
1@2 Empathy P1@1
1@2 Read Intended Combat Movement P1@1 +RS/10 SM on all combat attacks and defenses
1@1 Read Surface Thoughts P1@1
1@1 Reliable Read Surface Thoughts P1@1 one minute of concentration with closed eyes gives +32SM to read minds attempt
1@10 Heightened Awareness of Surroundings P3@1 enables user to know general layout of buildings or other structures, locations of entrances and exits, and other information, without searching.
1@5 Heightened Awareness (Accuracy) P 3@1
1@9 TK Pulse P4@1
1@7 Telescopic Vision P5@1
1@6 Night Vision P5@1 used to penetrate smoke
1@1 Bloodhound Olfaction P5@1 (reduces other senses)
1@1 Extended Night Vision P5@1 one minute of concentration with closed eyes gives clear vision in anything better than absolute darkness for RSx10 minutes
1@1 Reliable Bloodhound Olfaction P5@1 (reduces other senses) one minute of concentration with eyes closed and deep rhythmic breathing +32SM
1@5 Kiai P8@0 posturing shout intended to intimidate opponent, RS/10 penalty on opponent's next action or defense, will power save RS=S/D/N

Mag
1@8 Renaissance Music M0@0
1@7 Irish Bamboo Flute M0@0
1@2 History (Sardic) M 0@0,
2@1 Philosophy Mag 0@0
2@5 Storytelling M0@1
1@1 Galva Native Dance M0@2
2@6 Witchcraft Mag 1@0
1@8 Consecrate Holy Ground M+1@1 creates consecrated circle 8 feet in diameter, 2:00:00 TF, lengthy appropriate words calling the four corners, calling upon Njordr, god of the sea, to bless the space, Odin, in his capacity as god of wisdom, to guide the casting, and Freya, goddess of magic and patron of sorcerers, to lend strength and valor, with my sword Soulmourn in right hand, sound matters, in English, concentration not interrupted during casting, and limited so that if I permanently leave the place the circle will be rendered useless; add that five minute calling the corners and invoking the gods must be said inside the space before it can be used for casting, +32SM
1@10 Activate (Existing) Holy Ground M+1@1 5:00TF calling four corners by element and position, declaring purpose to work magic, say "Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the east. Keepers of water, the rolling ocean, I call to you. Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the south. Keepers of air, the rushing gales, I call to you. Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the west. Keepers of earth, the eternal mountains, I call to you. Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the north. Keepers of fire, the glory of dawn, I call to you. It is my purpose in this space to work magic. I humbly ask that I be allowed to use this gift, given me by the gods and shaped by my will and theirs. Odin, my patron, grant me wisdom, that I be rightly guided in this space. Freya, queen of all sorcerers, grant me power, your will and mine be one. Njordr, lord of the sea, keep steady this holy space, and look favorably on us as we go." Turn to each corner in turn, stand or sit with hands hip-height, palms open while declaring purpose, then with arms open while invoking the gods, skills which do not require holy ground to cast are bonused RS/20 if cast on activated holy ground, +28SM +2
1@8 Consecrate Holy Ground M+1@1 creates consecrated area of 300 square feet, 2:00:00 TF, lengthy appropriate words calling the four corners, calling upon Njordr, god of the sea, to bless the space, Odin, in his capacity as god of wisdom, to guide the casting, and Freya, goddess of magic and patron of sorcerers, to lend strength and valor, with my sword Soulmourn in right hand, sound matters, in English, concentration not interrupted during casting, and limited so that if I am dismissed from the Mary Piper the circle will be rendered useless; add that five minute calling the corners and invoking the gods must be said inside the space before it can be used for casting, -3SM
1@1 Sanctify large area of ground M+1@1 walk, kneel at four corners, singing praises and giving thanks to the gods, invoking them (Heimdall the Guardian, Thor who protects travelers, Odin who sees all, and Freya who guides sorcerers), and pacing the entire perimeter of the area. Appropriate words spoken aloud in English so the sound matters, 8 hours casting time, my named-unique sword in hand, walking and kneeling, sacrifice six uncut emeralds, casting the husks of the spent emeralds away ground must be activated to use +95SM
1@2 Bonus Strike M1@2 0:06 whispered prayer "Thor guide me. Put strength in my hands and rage in my heart, to defend my friends and break my enemies" while holding intended weapon in weapon hand RS/10 minute duration RS/10 bonus to attacks with weapon +6SM
1@2 Defensive Bonus M+1@2 penalize all incoming attacks by RS/10 for one minute, TF 0:06, say "Thor protect me", -5SM, +10 if prayed before/while engaging in a risky action in honorable combat (for +5SM total)
1@3 Reduce Attack Success M+1@2 say "Thor Protect Me" sword in hand during battle, RF1 Duration RS/4 penalizes incoming attacks RS/10 +0SM
1@1 Double Battle Blessing Mass Combat Bonuses M+1@2 16:01:00 casting time plus maintenance time, sacrificing 30 uncut emeralds, speaking words invoking Thor, god of Rage; Sif the Golden Haired, goddess of tactical combat; Njordr, god of the sea; and Heimdall who guards the gates inside an activated holy ground, pacing the area, named unique sword in hand, with five armed men on deck for the casting, may be broken after sixteen hours leaving a one minute completion, after which everyone in the affected area who fights to defend the holy ground RSx2 SM on all attacks and defenses, for as long as the caster continues to pray, sing songs of battle, and otherwise maintain the spell, +32 SM
1@2 Triple Battle Blessing Mass Combat Bonuses M+1@2 0:30:00 casting time speaking words invoking Thor, god of Rage; Sif the Golden Haired, goddess of tactical combat; kneeling; must sacrifice one gold coin per person to be affected; must conclude with two sword flourishes (skill checks) and the spilling of a drop of the caster's blood sacrificed to Freya god of healing; everyone in the affected area who fights with caster RSx2 SM on all attacks and defenses, for as long as the caster continues to pray, sing songs of battle, and otherwise maintain the spell, and will feel no pain from injuries, stamina checks appropriate to maintain spell while fighting, +20SM
1@10 Influence Luck M1@5
1@2 Limited Damage Repair M+2@1 TF 20 minutes, must be lying in his own bed, it must be night, must have his hands folded, appropriate words which, base fatal, +83 SM
1@1 "Lay on Hands" - Limited Damage Repair M 2@1 TF 10 minutes, laying hands on a person injured without malice, kneeling, counts as whole-body involvement, appropriate words spoken including invoking Freya to heal him. Requires sacrifice of an appropriate amount of local currency to pay a medic for similar treatment. +57SM
1@5 Remove Fatigue M+2@1 must be lying supine in bed within an activated casting circle (holy ground) appropriate words spoken quietly but sound matters, invoking Tyr god of duty and valor, Thor god of strength, and Hugin and Munin symbols of vigilance, removing fatigue, 1:00:00TF reinvigorates such that caster will function normally for forty-seven hours after casting before feeling the fatigue of a normal day's work, +91SM.
1@1 Remove Fatigue M+2@1 must be kneeling or sitting with both hands folded on my specific named-unique sword within an activated casting circle (holy ground) appropriate words spoken quietly but sound matters, invoking Tyr god of duty and valor, Thor god of strength, and Hugin and Munin symbols of vigilance, removing fatigue, ending with a flourish that requires a successful check of smallsword fencing skill to execute, specifically cutting a Jera rune in the air with a flick of the wrist, requires one uncut emerald sacrificed for each person other than the caster affected by the spell, 1:00:00TF reinvigorates such that all within holy ground will function normally for forty-seven hours after casting before feeling the fatigue of a normal day's work, +90SM.
1@1 Cure Wounds M+2@1 limited damge repair lethal base, must touch victim, TF 20:00, invokes Freya, sacrifices any flower (destroyed in the casting), keeps his left eye closed while invoking Odin, plus Hel and Baldur, kneeling beside the victim, sound matters, must be spoken forcefully (as a stage actor) while looking into a manufactured portable polished reflective surface such as a mirror or sword blade, rest required immediately after use, +90 SM
1@2 Induce Alertness M+2@1 remove fatigue variant 30:00 TF removes fatigue from all within 30', speak appropriate words sotto voce, one eye closed for Odin, left hand on sword for Thor, right hand on heart for Baldur, and single gold piece in right palm for Loki, destroyed in the process, only works when vigilance is significant and caster is aware of that significance, must be night or local equivalent thereof, +30SM
1@1 Remove Fatigue M+2@1 pray under breath, sound does not matter, 2:00 TF, one eye closed for Odin, gold piece in left hand for Loki, rested on sword for Thor, right hand over heart for Tyr, pray to give my people vigilance, fill their lungs with pure air, and let them work like men possessed to save those who count on us, promising the value in local currency or fungible goods of a single night's local lodging in a private room or the equivalent for each person so affected, to be given anonymously as a charitable contribution. Any number of persons within a ten foot radius of the caster may be affected. Once the promise of sacrifice has been made, whether or not the prayer is granted, the worshiper suffers a cumulative -1 per prayer attempt until the promise is fulfilled, +15SM.
1@4 Freshen M+3@1, will purify food and drink or restore other materials to a desired previous state of freshness or purity, sit in activated holy ground for 1:00:00 TF while invoking Hel, Baldur, and Heimdall, saying "Restore what was, for the good of all, that what once passed may all the sooner come again," +74SM
1@1 Remove Impurities--delayed M+3@1 5:00:00TF plus trigger action, pace circle around holy ground, sword in hand, successful (skill check) sword swish, other hand upraised, left eye covered, sacrifice six emeralds and one flower, invoking Odin, Thor, and Frey. After any length of time, another individual may touch the holy ground and speak the Latin word "Novitas", causing all food products within the holy ground to be restored to freshness, +189SM
1@2 Purify Minerals M+3@1, 1:00:00 TF, affects all objects of defined class (gems, mineral ore) in the the area of the holy ground, vital sound as caster speaks appropriate words invoking each of Odin, Thor, and Loki, and asking them to remove the impurities from this stone, reducing it to a more useful form, kneeling in the circle, swishing an othala rune with sword (requiring a skill check), one eye closed in honor of Odin, sword in hand in honor of Thor, +99SM

Bod
1@8 Limb-assisted Swimming B1@2
1@7 Belly Crawl B1@2
1@1 Climb (Rigging) B1@3
2@1 Smallsword Duelling Bod 7@1 fast aggressive weapon-dependent +15 att SM -5 def SM att x2 +1
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.
2@1 Use Smallsword B7@1 +1
1@3 Pistol Gunslinging B7@1
1@8 Feint B7@2 tactical untargeted skill check, success adds +RS to next attack, failure bonuses next opponent attack +RF
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.
1@10 Double Lunge B7@3 leveraged attack base dangerous, two hops on the left foot driving the momentum into a sword thrust from at least six but not more than twelve feet, limited to two one other attack in the minute. +1
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
1@6 Kick to the Groin B7@7 incapacitation, base dangerous damage plus target save vs stamina or collapse for RS/5 minutes, +15 to next opponent attack(s)
1@1 Divert Attack B7@8 cause auto-injury, character parries such that the attacker's blow is diverted to attack another opponent, -10 if the attackers blow is diverted against himself, skill is rolled as attack against weapon (TV=[user's SAL+MSV+weapon's density]/3), if successful opponent's attack is rolled normally against chosen adjacent character, uses two attacks at least one of those of the sword used.

Equipment
Brown Tunic
Black Jeans and Sneakers
Green Plaid Boxers
Wallet - Three forms of ID, $20 US cash, photos, credit card
20 Dice, various sizes
Irish bamboo flute, in D
Red-Bladed smallsword, meteoric iron, nicknamed "SoulMourn", dangerous
Swordbelt and Scabbard
Jedi-style black cloak, cotton twill, heavily waterproofed
Wide-brimmed black hat
Red and black metal-framed hiking backpack
Hatchet, Rope, and 10 locking carabiners
Three five-subject notebooks, 2 boxes of pens, book on Native American crafts, Army Survival Handbook
Extra clothes (three sets)
$50 in gold dollar coins
2 4-packs of Amp
Cutlass of Quality RF1 damaging +DC+1
Pistol, flintlock, base damaging, 3':6':12':24':+25/6' with new holster, cherry grip, longer and narrower than standard pirate weapons.

Stage 2

World List Tropical Island
Mary Piper Alpha

*****

Name Arabella
a.k.a. Mrs. John Caldwell Sevenwind--her married name

Attributes
Persuasion
Charisma 1@10
Animal Magnetism 1@10
Strength
Stamina
Resistance
Density
Flexibility
Agility
Hand/Eye
Intellect
Intuition
Education Level
Will Power

Averaged Attributes
Ranged Strike Value
Martial Strike Value
Target Value
Damage Value

Best Relevant Attributes
Tech
Psi
Mag
Bod

Bias
Tech
Psi
Mag
Bod

Weaknesses

Description
19 years old, demure, clearly shy, auburn hair, a few faint freckles on pale skin, green eyes stand out brightly against quiet expression; small nose and mouth, dark lips (whether by nature or by art), slender with natural curves, hands are thin with somewhat longer fingers.
Younger daughter of the owner of the Fabri textile company, grandfather is Fabri, father Jacob, his eldest and now head of the business. She has no brothers, but her older sister is married to someone who has some understanding of the textile business and is being groomed to run it in the future.
Skills

Tech
1@8 Cook T1@3
1@10 Stitch & Sew T2@1

Psi

Mag

Bod
Equipment
Hand-made dress, well made from fine fabrics in pleasant subdued colors, hides her figure significantly,
Dress Gloves

Stage 1

World List

I should make a few notes on Arabella, because it's obvious that I have more in my head that I have on paper.

• It says 19 years old; by now she would be 20 but not quite 21.
• I see her having significantly above average attributes in Persuasion, Intellect, and Intuition, less strong but still above average in Flexibility, Agility, Hand/Eye, Education Level, and Will Power. Strength, Stamina, and Resistance are all close to average, and Density 1@1.
• Obviously she has more skills than are listed, and most of them are probably obvious, but it should be noted that she has high amateur or low professional skills in areas related to textile and textile manufacture, including some low amateur skills in the design and operation of the machinery of a water-powered textile mill (thus gears, power transfers, dams and waterwheels, and other mechanical skills). That world does not have steam or pressure systems. She would not have acrobatics, but would have been taught some dance, none of which would be like acrobatics. She would also have some training in voice, possibly in some musical instrument. If the latter is the case, she would have brought it with her.
• Which brings up the equipment issue. She obviously has more clothes and does not wear that dress most of the time--certainly is wearing something less fancy around the house while she does housework. She will also have bed clothes and clothes for occasions of varying levels of formality--her father is a textile magnate, she will have whatever clothes are appropriate. Include in that something warm and something for swimming, although I never explored what people wore when swimming in this world.
• The entire world is oblivious to religion and therefore to magic above the first level. She probably is neither atheist nor agnostic, but simply never thought about it.
• She will take kitchenware--cookware, plates and bowls and tableware, cloth napkins, maybe a tablecloth.
• She probably has something like a steamer trunk in which she brought her possessions to the new home. It's not the best suitcase, but it will hold everything and has handles.

I think beyond that you're on your own.

I've enjoyed it, Harry.

-M. J. Young

Oh--footnote: Harry has money on account with the Sardic Shipping Company; that's not going to go with him. However, he will have some quantity of gold diktar on him and more at home, and Arabella will also have some for shopping and such.

--M. J. Young

Having seen to Harry's departure to Adam's game world, let me turn my attention to Kyler, Ahmetia, Edgar, Michael, Katerina, Adam, and Eric 2. Let me also apologize for my recent erratic presence and assure the new players that this is unusual--I'm usually more reliable than this, but there have been a lot of problems since Ubercon XIII.

Kyler said something about the face of an eleven year old girl; she's going to recognize that it could be taken wrong, and is going to fish for a compliment from it.

I'm surprised that Ahmetia did not ask for a bow and arrows, given that she showed significant propensity in those weapons; but I will include a couple boxes of ammo for the weapons in the saddlebags. She'll need to figure out where she's sleeping the first night on her own.

We'll point Edgar in the direction of someone potentially helpful--or not.

Michael has taken a quite reasonable direction in his game which is unexpected and not previously explored, so I'm creating as I go. It's a passenger liner, so hopefully it won't be simply a repeat of the Mary Piper.

I can't tell Katerina what's wrong with her name, but I can let her know that there is a problem.

I don't know that Adam catches the full significance of the fact that he's recruited a batch of murderous brigands and now wants to take them to civilization, so we'll clarify it just a bit without prejudicing the case.

Eric 2 reasonably suspects things are not so secure as they might be, and is being nervous about it.

I do believe that's everyone.

--M. J. Young

The reason why I didn't ask...I didn't think of it XD

That's all right, Ahmetia. Bows and arrows are easy to get, and in eighteen ninety something not commonly carried except by hunters, so you're probably better without it.

I am here incredibly early--it's the nine-five equivalent of six thirty in the morning, and I've already been up for hours. Seems that I got up before seven (the 9-5E of one in the morning) to drive someone to work, had him there by eight, and was halfway home when I got a call saying his plans changed and he needed me to come back for him. It was nine (the 9-5E of three in the morning) by the time we were home, and I had someone else in need of transportation to work by ten (not as far away) so I crashed for a half hour's nap and then drove him, but have been busy since then.

Despite my early arrival, I still have several players waiting, so let's see what I can do for Ahmetia, Eric 2, Kyler, Adam, and Michael.

I gave Ahmetia options without rolling dice, so now it's time for dice: 20 on a GE roll is just bad enough.

Eric 2 is preparing for trouble, so we should see if he gets any--a 19 GE is a not thwarting but generally unfavorable result. Let's give an intuition check to our team, 1+5=well within anyone's intuition, this guy is not very well hidden.

Girls are indeed so confusing, and Kyler notes in relation to the present situation. That's a fascinating way to respond--not complimenting her exactly but attempting to defuse any suggestion of an insult. Mariska will probably come to his aid, although she's not exactly a people person herself. I think Kyler's charisma is the number I need, and the 13+2=15 against his 2@1 charisma is solid.

Speaking of rolls, Adam gets a 16 GE on the availability of robes. He didn't ask, but it ought to have been mentioned.

I'm not sure whether Michael gets his orange juice or not. I've got three hands here--one is that this is a space station, so almost all food is imported; the second is that it's a rather successful business venture and a passenger liner is probably a high-end business, so they'll have good foods; the third is that there's no "Earth" in this universe, so it's possible that certain foods do not exist despite the fact that others do. So the GE roll of 7 gets rid of the doubts and provides orange juice.

--M. J. Young

I'm having a terrible time trying to get Thunderbird to work, to the point that I may be seeking another e-mail client (I might return to Netscape Messenger despite the minor problems I had with it), but after having wasted some unreasonable amount of time trying to make it work I am now here. I find Ahmetia, Kyler, Adam, Eric 2, Katerina, Michael, and Edgar waiting.

It strikes me that in Ruritania everyone spoke English. That's not the case in France, but my French is not that good so I might need to stretch myself technologically. I don't recall French being on Ahmetia's skills sheet, but perhaps she knows as much of it as I.

Kyler is wrapping up an active day; we'll see what happens next.

Adam gets a 12 GE roll on the trip to the port.

Eric 2 has suggested alternatives based on what Ishara and Tom do; but he's pulled a 24 GE roll, which fits my feeling that Ishara is not going to do either of the things that Eric suggests, and the situation is not going to stay simple.

Katerina has thrown me a curve: she's using her knowledge of Japanese culture in a world in which there obviously are elements of Japanese culture but which is not Japan nor completely consistent with Japan. I personally do not know whether Kit-Kat is a "lucky candy" in Japan, nor whether that carries over to this; nor do I know whether that would make the Soryo feel less or more concerned. But I have a tool for that: a GE roll of 18 is only nominally negative (16-17 are neutral, higher is worse).

I'll give Michael a tour of the ship; I hope I got everything.

I'm asking Edgar for clarification on his intended direction.

And that finishes the game threads.

--M. J. Young