You are welcome to welcomes, and I am encouraged to know that my theological debate is not boring you to tears.
Let's see what I can do today for Michael, Maxx, Kurt, Harry (for whom I posted briefly earlier but promised to post again), John 3, Nikolaj, John 2, and Kyler.
Michael is engaged in what amounts to a combat game. It is designed to let the user think about ways to fight, so that when he has opportunities to use them he can have examples. Of course, it's also designed for a kraal, but it still might be useful.
I'm going to have to figure out how far Maxx' tree is from the devastation at the clearing, so I can work out the penalty. I would guess the clearing to be about fifteen feet across, the tree to be off-center within it, so he's probably ten feet from the edge. He himself is less than six inches tall, so his arm is about two inches long. Doubling, we are not going to hit an even number of feet at any point, so we'll have to go from 2" to 4", 8", 1'4", 2'8", 5'4", and we're looking at 90% of another doubling, so that's -69 on his chance of success. He's got +58SM in the skill, 2x11@ bias, 1@9 BRA, and 1@2 SAL=111-69=100-70+12=42%. He rolls 74.
Kurt needs to make a driving skill check; since it's a pretty straightforward attempt we won't penalize it, but his SAL is 1@5, bias 2x9@, and BRA 2@2, so he has a 55% chance to pull this off. He rolls 80, not a botch but not a success.
I can't imagine that there aren't something like cabs in a city like Durnmist, so my roll is only whether he can hail one from where Harry is, and I think already that it's likely there would be some near a fine restaurant, so a 13 Barely Good Enough is more than adequate. But he gets a 28 GE on finding anyone.
John 3 is assuming that Friar Tuck will already know his objections when those objections have not yet been raised by anyone in this time and place. What teachings about Mary and the saints are in doubt?
It seems as if Nikolaj's latest prayer is very like one of his other recent ones, and I'm going to see if I can save some work by using the other in a new application.
I put quite a bit of work into the character sheet I posted for John 2 and particularly since it's Monday and that means I'm overburdened already I'm going to bounce the task of finding discrepancies between his version and mine to him.
Kyler has expressed a preference concerning how he wants the schools to divide their grades, so I can use a GE roll to determine whether he gets what he hopes: 29 means it's about as bad as it can be. I'm giving him a fresh roll for finding a girl, since he's figured out his parameters, and 10 is pretty good.
--M. J. Young
I put quite a bit of work into the character sheet I posted for John 2 and particularly since it's Monday and that means I'm overburdened already I'm going to bounce the task of finding discrepancies between his version and mine to him.
And now that you have officially asked me to and I have actual motivation, I'll do just that. It's just one of those things you kind of have to be in the mood to do, ya know?
(Doing Therapy)
from Oak:
I consider his questions thoughtfully, knowing that theological expertise was not a given in this day and age, and wondering what his state of knowledge is.
Also to be considered is that certain of the dogmas concerning Mary which you undoubtedly want to adres, have only been approved quite recent.
from http://www.religion-cults.com/mary/
The Catholic Church has proclaimed five Dogmas about Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ:
1- Mary Mother of God, 431.
2- Mary always Virgin, before the birth of Jesus, during the birth, and after the birth of Jesus, 649.
3- Mary Immaculate: On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX issued the bull Ineffabilis Deus, which proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, "preserved free from all guilt of original sin".
4- The Assumption of Mary, on November 1, 1950, when Pope Pius XII stated that Mary was "taken up body and soul into heaven," and "exalted as Queen of the Universe."
5- A fifth dogma is "Mother of the Church", proclaimed by Paul VI, Second Vatican Council, Nov. 21, 19646- Lately, the Pope is being urged to proclaim Mary with another three titles, with three dogmas:
- The Co-redeemer or Co-redemptrix,
- The Mediatrix, or Mediator of all graces,
- The Advocate for the people of God, Intercessor, Helper, Benefactress.
Sometimes I wonder if the Catholic church doesn't just make things up on the spot because they sound good or fit with their own agendas.
Thanks, Nikolaj. I knew that the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception were both late doctrines, and sempir virgine (always a virgin) is debatable enough that some Reformation era denominations hold it (I do not, but for me it's pretty close to adiaphora--something that doesn't really matter to the faith). But they don't just "make things up", John. They make these statements because they genuinely believe that some significant aspect of the logic behind the faith requires them. For example, Mary is indeed the mother of Jesus, and Jesus is God, and so Mary must be the mother of God; to deny that is to deny that Jesus is God. Thus those who argue that Mary is not the mother of God are on some level arguing that Jesus is not God. I can't disagree with that conclusion. I can disagree with conclusions based on that--being God's mother does not mean a lot of other things that are claimed for her. For example, the concept of the Immaculate Conception is that she was born without sin. This is necessary under a string of logic that comes to us through Augustine (a church father whom the Western churches largely adore and the Eastern churches largely despise), because Augustine suggested a biological transmission of "original sin" by the parents to the children, and thus if Jesus were biologically the offspring of a sinful human He would have inherited it. Pelagiaus (who was anathematized) rejected this by stating that there was no such transmission of sin or guilt, but only the possibility of sinfulness. Augustine countered by making "sin" hereditary; but that meant that there had to be a way to eliminate it from Jesus' bloodline, and that was accomplished by combining the fact that Mary was a virgin (Augustine had a lot of trouble with sex, and that has hurt the Western church significantly) with the assumption that somehow she did not inherit the "sinfulness" from her parents. It seems to me to be putting the miracle in the wrong place. C. S. Lewis has suggested that Mary was not a biological mother but a surrogate--but there's no way to determine that, and it undermines Jesus' claim to the throne of David (which he appears to inherit through patriarchy according to the genealogy of Joseph in Matthew's gospel and through matriarchy according to the genealogy of Mary in Luke's gospel, and the matriarchal connection seems to matter because it is biological, where the patriarchal one is legal).
Continuing the logic, though, we are told that the church is Christ's body, exalted in heaven; and thus if we follow out the logic that Mary is the mother of Christ, she must be the mother of His body, and so the mother of the church which is His body. They question then becomes which of these statements are literal and which are metaphorical, and for the Catholic Church they are all literal, and thus the conclusion is inescapable. (That's too strongly stated. One can believe that Mary is literally the mother of Christ and that the church is literally the body of Christ, but conclude that there is a division between the earthly body and the exalted body such that the church is connected only to the latter. However, there is a strain in Catholic thought that connects the earthly body and the exalted body much more closely than I think it is in Protestant thought, such that it is not merely a physical body analogous to a human body, but it is an actual human body which at the same time is the church. I think at some point we have to accept that something here is a metaphor, but I won't swear I know which point.)
All of which is more than most of you wanted to read before I turned by attention to game threads--and yes, I poked my nose in a few hours ago when I had a few spare minutes, but since I left and returned I have thread postings from a few more players, making the list Michael, Maxx, Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, John 2, and Kyler.
However, I fear that I am fighting a losing battle against a really nasty head and chest cold, and I don't think I can focus on this tonight. So forgive my absence, and Lord willing I will be back tomorrow.
--M. J. Young
Thank you for the interesting comments all, and get well soon MJ! :)
And thus one of the few resident heathens pipes in:
6- Lately, the Pope is being urged to proclaim Mary with another three titles, with three dogmas:
- The Co-redeemer or Co-redemptrix,
- The Mediatrix, or Mediator of all graces,
- The Advocate for the people of God, Intercessor, Helper, Benefactress.
Goddess cult, much? I mean, seriously, Co-redeemer? Just call it like it is. Stop pretending the whole sodding thing isn't boosted lock stock and lugnut from Irish Pagan tradition to begin with and call it what it is.
And to MJ himself, get well soon and return to us in better health and good spirits.
Like I said MJ, I wonder how much of that was made up on the spot to fit with their own agendas.
On a more personal note, I had a cold like that a couple weeks ago. Good luck.
(Doing Therapy)
Goddess cult, much? I mean, seriously, Co-redeemer? Just call it like it is. Stop pretending the whole sodding thing isn't boosted lock stock and lugnut from Irish Pagan tradition to begin with and call it what it is.
It tends that way indeed. Especially in those who put a lot of emphasis on Mary, as the previous pope (John) did. He was nicknamed the Marian Pope or something.
Not only Irish, but in a lot of 'pagan' cultures the worship of a mother is found. I think it has/had to do with how important fertility is, and the woman is the one who brings forth the children. Hence the choice/emphasis. (this is, assuming those godesses are not real and trying to determine where the idea behind it comes from. I don't want to step on your toes over this)
Nikolaj - I assume people here are not going to seriously get on my case about being Pagan or try to convert me. MJ himself has had plenty of opportunities and been kind enough not to do so, and I find debating with him often encourages me to research further and thereby strengthens my ability to debate him. Until proven otherwise, I assume you're doing the same thing: approaching the whole issue intellectually and not trying to get on my case or step on my toes.
As for the idea of fertility, well, yes, that's pretty much true. And while Goddess-worship in general isn't limited to Irish tradition, the Catholic church does have a strong Irish influence. Traditions that don't include a Goddess figure are very much the exception, overall.
Thank you for your kind wishes; I am not much better, but I'm trying to get through today's load and still making progress (although at some point relatively soon I'm going to have to stop making progress and start making dinner). In my absence my list of players has grown to include Michael, add Brock, Maxx, add Kurt, Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, John 2, Kyler, and add Ryan, so I'm going to be busy.
For Michael to successfully combat the computer-generated opponent, he has to make a successful skill check at using the computer--the psionic computer, his 1@3 SAL skill with a 2@1 BRA 0@ bias world, so that's 40%; he rolls 61, so he's going to lose this round.
I was wondering whether Brock would be able to catch Captain Alexander for a talk, and so I rolled a GE roll--7, which is very good.
Maxx is full of questions. Let's see what kind of answers I can find. Among other things, he is attempting to teach himself a retrocognitive event awareness skill, using a 30:00 preparatory concentration, and a roll of 06 means it will work. The question, though, is what does he detect? Presumably the destruction of all those plants would leave enough of a residue that he could still sense it so soon after; but there might have been anything here over the centuries. He rolls 15 on a GE roll, so that's not much better than neutral. It's 1@1 Retrocognitive Event Awareness P11@1 30:00 preparatory concentration +59SM.
Oops--Kurt calls my attention to the fact that his storming of the gate is all a showpiece so that Mariska can sneak in over or through the fence somewhere else. That means he needs to notice the tire shredders himself, which requires a successful intuition check, 7+17=24, I know I don't have any players with an intuition that high at the moment. A 14 GE roll is a not desired but generally favorable result, and since the objective is for Mariska to get inside, I think she will but he will not.
Harry has responded to the circumstances I left for him, but not moved beyond them, so I'll seek his next action.
Most Protestants don't really grasp Catholic theology related to the veneration of the Saints, and I think that John 3 is probably making it more than it is while Tuck might make it at least a bit less. It might be interesting to see where this goes from here.
Nikolaj decides to use his already learned prayer for a new application, rolls 68 on a skill for which he has a 1@2 SAL and +45 SM not to mention bias, religion, and alliance, so that's a strong success and a new use for 1@3. Oh, but it requires a successful use of prayer tongues, 43 rolled is going to be successful for that, so we're good.
Kyler has overlooked a detail that will impact his plans somewhat.
I'm not sure I remember exactly what Mitzu has to roll to learn clairvoyance from Ryan, but I'm pretty sure that 87 isn't it. Still, Ryan is doing this daily, so he'll get a result one way or the other eventually. A look back tells me the chance of success is 35% and that means the chance to botch is 6%, 95 or higher. We'll roll a couple more days, 52, 68, 62, 90, 93, 49, 15, it was close a couple times but he got it.
I think that's enough.
--M. J. Young
I think that's enough.
You didn't mention me here at all.
Nikolaj - I assume people here are not going to seriously get on my case about being Pagan or try to convert me. MJ himself has had plenty of opportunities and been kind enough not to do so, and I find debating with him often encourages me to research further and thereby strengthens my ability to debate him. Until proven otherwise, I assume you're doing the same thing: approaching the whole issue intellectually and not trying to get on my case or step on my toes.
I'm not. I was just trying to put myself in your place. That means that an intellectual approach to my religion without regards to the spiritual or super-natural, would be unsatisfying for me. And thus I was apologizing on beforehand of not having a spiritual aspect in the intellectual approach. I don't want you to think that I see the Mother-Goddess as a mere human invention (there is more to it). That's all.
O7,
I'd be happy to lead you to conversion, but in a verrry laid back way.
And a while back you made the comment that Christians seemed to like you that met you online. I thought about it a bit and came up with a theory that seems appropiate to share now.
I'm used to receiving some degree of 'you ignorant, reactionary, god-bothering twit Christian fundy' from people who disagree with my position. And sometimes it gets nastier than that. Then along comes a guy who says 'well, I disagree with you, but its a respectable position, and I'll be glad to trade viewpoints with you.' And suddenly the guy who's got all his hatches battened down to withstand the gale is considering taking a picnic out on the deck of the ship of life.
That's why I only witness to Atheists and other Christians. If you've got a faith, who am I to tell you you're wrong? Atheists get on my nerves though, and other Christians need to be lifted up once in a while.
(Doing Therapy)
Atheists amuse me in a small way, John. Yes, that's condescending. What can I say, I have 2@5 at Condescension.
I have 2@5 at Condescension.
I would have guessed a lot higher.... (laughing)
(Doing Therapy)
Of Harry it was said,
And a while back you made the comment that Christians seemed to like you that met you online.I don't recall him saying that, but if it's true I would like to observe that to the best of my recollection, we met live at Ubercon, and then he joined me here online.
I've said it before, Harry: we Christians have our munchkins, power gamers, and rules lawyers, too. We'd like to disown them, but we have to admit that the really are among us. We'd rather not be judged by them. I'm sure you understand. In fact, when a religion or a hobby or any group, really, decides that it's going to be accepting of people who are not so easy to tolerate, it tends to attract a disproportionate number of such people. I don't think I'd thought of that before, but it explains a lot.
It appears that I forgot to mention anything I did for John 2 last time. I'll blame it on this persistent cold, noting that at the moment I don't remember what I did on his thread last time, and shall endeavor to make additional comments today to cover yesterday. I'm sure I can find something about John about which I can comment....
And with that tossed in the ring, let me turn my attention to Michael, Maxx, Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, John 2, Graeme, and Kyler.
Again Michael has to roll a successful skill check to beat the psionic computer. He rolls 05, a weak success. It might thwart him, though--he rather cleverly planned to lose, figuring that he was playing the octopus and the computer was playing the human, and by watching the human he could learn more about how he should fight than he could by operating the octopus. Since it's not a strong success we'll let the fight go a few minutes, which means I need his response.
I guess I have to figure out the details of two weddings, because apart from Harry's upcoming Durnmist nuptials I have Maxx questioning Lelach about her wedding to his sprite father. I'm going to give that a day to simmer.
In addition to fresh comments on the wedding creation thread, Harry needs a couple GE rolls--one to figure out the short-term for what happens while he is home (including whether a potential boarder appears), the other for the longer term consideration of what significant event follows next. The rolls are 17, 10.
I don't know whether John 3 has taken on more than he expected, but I think I know the argument against his position pretty well. I'm really interested in his response to this one.
Nikolaj asked about the time, so I'm checking it--it's later than he thinks.
What I should have posted yesterday for John 2 is that there were still questions about his equipment. Today we're going to get closer to the answers, with a GE roll of telling us 9+8+6=23 that nothing on the extras list came. (Yes, it could have been worse--he could have a mare's leg shotgun, a crate of special ammo, and a pack of det cord with detonators floating in space for the next dozen worlds, confusing his direction sense no end. He doesn't.)
And I managed once more to post the second half of his post first, and had to go back and pick up the first from the text editor and post it in edit mode. Hopefully he won't miss the opening part.
O.K., Graeme has given me an intriguing spell. It incorporates a 4@1 Manipulate Light skill, because one of his two material components absorbs light which the other radiates, as a way of informing him that the skill is working; -10 for the incorporated skill. This usually has a 0:24 TF with a 24:00 duration, but that's not going to be relevant I think.
The base skill is tougher to define. It might be an enchantment/control such as a M10@8 Physical Effects or a M10@9 Obedience/Enslavement. It might be taken to combine a M11@2 Attract Local Non-sentient Servant with a M11@1 Dispel Local Non-sentient. It could be a M13@5 Control Growth, but that the baseline for that skill expects accelerated growth at a rate doubling or halving the target mass every minute. On reflection, I most like the notion that he is dispelling the plants from one location and attracting them to the other. That makes it technically a M11@2 Attract Local Non-sentient Servant, which has a base :30 TF.
I'm going to have to ask him some questions. I've put to him the question of range. I was going to ask him about time factor, but it occurs to me that the movement of the wands over the course of ten minutes is part of the casting, because it directly the attract and dispel functions, and thus I'll give it a 10:00 TF. That's +43 for time. He has +5 appropriate words, +3 loud, +5 for his Latin, +3 for a second arm and we'll say another +3 because he might have to walk around. The wands are unique, but I'm going to have to ask a few more questions about them, I think.
Kyler is going to begin training his protege in martial arts. I'm not certain where this will lead, but I'm going to get a clearer picture of where it will start.
--M. J. Young
I really don't want to skip another game, but my cold is giving me a headache, and it's been compounded by frustrations because something has gone wrong with my web site (MJYoung.Net, not Multiverser.org, which is odd because they share just about everything). I couldn't access my e-mail which I should be answering, and if it's a problem I might not be able to get help until Monday, because I didn't find it until late.
The really odd part is that I was working on an article late this afternoon and accessed a page on the site, and then mere minutes later I attempted to access another page on the site from that page and was told that my ISP could not find my domain.
So I think I'm going to go see about supper, maybe attempt to begin work on The Last Mimzy, and try to get more sleep tonight.
--M. J. Young
So I think I'm going to go see about supper, maybe attempt to begin work on The Last Mimzy, and try to get more sleep tonight.
What are you doing with Mimzy? I can help. I did help, actually. Do you still have my notes on that? I don't have them anymore, but I can watch the movie again and redo them.
(Doing Therapy)
O7 said something about how Christians he met online just seemed to like him, and he was not sure why. My explanation was that a lot of Christians are used to getting beat up by non-Christians, and then along comes a friendly guy who's pagan, and they can't help but like him. Its the tale of the North Wind and the Sun and the bet over who can get a guy to remove his coat first.
Edit: As to MJ, my theory doesn't cover all situations.
MJ, if it's Saturday, and you're here about to do games, I order you to go back to sleep. I don't want to see you posting again until Sunday at the earliest. I just got over one of those head and chest colds, and I know how you feel. Whatever time you're not here is time you can be resting. Make the most of it.
(Doing Therapy)
Concerning Mimzy, I do not have your notes, and I wound up not watching it Friday because it took too long to find it, and between that and making dinner it was too late to do much of anything else by the time I could. I did watch it Saturday, and took some notes which might be sufficient for me to tackle the film. It's not going to be as involved as the massive Terminator recapitulation and expansion currently posting, but it will be significant.
Incidentally, there is a major problem with the MJYoung.net domain at the moment, with the result that I am not getting any e-mail and the site is down. As it happens, you can access any MJYoung.net page by replacing the domain name with multiverser.org (because of the shared hosting server) so if you're looking for anything over the next few days that's the way to find it. It will not always be so, and I anticipate restoring the MJYoung.net domain fairly quickly. I am otherwise incommunicado but for this site, in the main, for the intervening interval.
I'm still not fully recuperated, but the longer I delay the more there is to do, so I'm going to tackle posts from Michael, Maxx, Kurt, Harry, John 3, Scott, Nikolaj, John 2, Graeme, Kyler, and Ryan, which should keep me busy.
I think that Michael didn't provide an offensive response to his attacker, but I'll see what he does next.
It did not really take me this long to finish a post for Maxx; there were multiple interruptions in there. However, I did not cover the last part of his post. I'm not yet ready to move forward to tonight.
Kurt is checking the status of his cat Harry. There are three possibilities. The good one is that Harry is fine. The bad one is that Harry is seriously injured. He also includes that Harry is dead, but if that's the case he won't find Harry, because Harry is already a verser, and will have versed out. I'm not sure, though, how to handle that on a GE roll--he doesn't want Harry to be gone. I'm inclined to think that Harry, being a cat, will have managed to care for himself; so a really bad roll will be a badly injured cat, but a moderately bad roll will be a versed out cat, and a neutral to moderately good roll a dazed and moderately injured cat, while a better roll will give us an uninjured cat. 27 is a very bad roll.
It also occurs to me that he's got bullet proof glass in this car. That means we're going to roll for whether he operates the gun in his present condition, and then throw another GE roll for what happens with the bullet. He rolls 46, with a 1@1 SAL+2x9@ bias+2@2 BRA=51%, one of the best shots he could have made, but it's going to deflect off the glass inside. On that, he rolls a 12 GE.
I had to check back to get a name for Harry, but it's probably inconsequential. He wasn't an inspector for long before he became a firefighter.
I'm noting that John 3 has made an excellent argument against asking the saints to intercede; but his argument against the continuous life of the believer is not so strong, and is a distraction to his more important claim. That's the spot Tuck will attack, even though if he sees it it's not the part that matters. John also seems to be praying, but I'm going to want more data on the prayer.
Scott is going to shift away from short order chef to magical masseuse over the next few weeks, I expect. That, anyway, seems to be the direction his thread is taking. It will be interesting to see how the psicops feel about whatever it is he is doing that they can't comprehend.
I read Nikolaj's post a couple days ago, and when I walked away from it I found myself wondering at the fact that we always assume that meetings ought to be weekly. New Testament meetings were, it appears, daily, probably over meals. But the question here is whether it's feasible with the ranch schedule to hold regular weekly meetings, and the GE is 16, very neutral.
I'm hoping that some of what I'm giving John 2 will intrigue him.
On consideration, it appears that Graeme's spell has no range but an area of effect with a ten foot radius, with him standing on the edge of it. I'll give him +10 for no range (since +20 would be the bonus for martial strike needed, and that's not the case). I'm going to make the wands worth 5 each, so that's +10 for the materials, and if I can track down the other details above, I get +72 inherent sit-mod, and this is going to work very easily for him. He rolls 21 on learning it, 1@1 Attract/Dispel Non-Sentient (Plant Growth) M11@2 caster loudly declares "Flora Imperium!", and for 10:00 uses specially prepared carved sticks with naturally inset gems, holding one in each hand, and pointing them at the targeted planet; as light (M4@1 manipulate light incorporated) transfers from the ruby gem to the diamond gem, plants are induced to grow (at their current rate) away from the area marked by the ruby wand and toward the area marked by the diamond wand +72SM.
I already gave some thought to what happens when one gem absorbs all the light around it and sends it to the other. I think the ruby side is way cool, as they say.
Kyler suggests that his new girl Kat might have some acrobatics background. Cartwheels are actually a tumbling skill, not an acrobatics. But I agree that there's a good chance an athletic fifth grade girl would have had some sort of acrobatics at some point, even if it's only balance beam. A GE roll of 21 says no, though, so we'll assume a 5@4 Multiple Hurdles as her defining bias. He's trying to teach her 7@1 Gazuntite martial arts style, and I'm creating space for her numbers, for which I'm giving her 1@7 Strength and 1@8 Agility and Will Power, which makes her BRA for Bod 1@8. So we're looking at 5@4+1@8+his 2@7 SAL example+half his 2@3 Bod BRA as instructor+his 1@8 martial arts training SAL+15@ world bias level-7@1 target skill=73% chance she'll learn it, and she rolls 05, for a 1@1 SAL in the skill.
Ryan is teaching Mitzu Clairaudience. The routine begins with Mitzu attempting to read the pattern in Ryan's mind. Ryan rolls 55 on doing the skill, which is a 1@2 SAL in a 2x7@ world with a 1@7 BRA=43% chance of success, not sufficient. He's going to do it daily, though, so the next day 86, and the next 02. Mitzu rolls 52, which is too high for his mind reading. The fallback is for Ryan to make the telepathic link and use that, 24 works for him, so the pattern is introduced. Mitzu now has a chance to learn based on a bunch of numbers, but his roll of 11 is so obviously successful I'm just going to note the 1@2 Clairaudience P3@5.
--M. J. Young
I'm hoping that some of what I'm giving John 2 will intrigue him.
To say the least.
(Doing Therapy)
It will be interesting to see how the psicops feel about whatever it is he is doing that they can't comprehend.
I'm hoping it never comes to that; I'm one retrocog away from umpteen counts of tax evasion as it stands.
Concerning Oak opening yet another can of worms. Follow this link for info on purgatory: http://pontifications.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/clarifying-purgatory/. I'm not sure when they are playing, but apparently, the dogma of purgatory was officially recognized by Rome in the 15th century. This of course does not mean the idea wasn't already around. But not officially taught by Rome up until then.
Thanks, Nikolaj; you're one step ahead of me on that. For the record, Robin Hood is a legendary character from the reign of King Richard I, the Lionhearted, who was off fighting the Crusades and leaving his younger brother Prince John, c.1192. I might mention that Westminster Abbey was built by the Normans in 1050, although it was demolished in 1245 and replaced with a new structure of the same name; the original Canterbury Cathedral burned down in 1067 but replaced by the Normans, and only twenty years ago or so, in 1170, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket was murdered and buried there. That church was damaged by fire in 1174 and rebuilt by William of Sens, the French master mason. The huge sanctuary and Trinity Chapel still standing today were built then, but without the Bell Harry and the stained glass. The Nave, the entrance, was simpler than the present one. It is the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Pope's designated head of the church in England. There are some fights looming between the monarchy and the papacy, but we're still more than a decade out from these.
I am considering ways to lighten the burden of the forum game. Top of the list is for players who have been in games for a while to pick up other players I roll off to their care. Alternatives include limiting the number of game posts to which I will respond in a day, and so rotating who gets screen time based on whose thread has been waiting longest. I'm looking for other options, since the first has not worked in the past and the second doesn't feel right to me. For the moment, though, I will today address threads from Michael, Maxx, Kurt, Harry, John 3, Nikolaj, John 2, and Kyler.
I think it's time for Michael's fight to end. We already established that he won, and he's picked up a few tricks since then.
I hadn't mentioned yet to Maxx that sprite marriages are arranged by the parents. I'm not sure how he'll take that, but there's more information about it if he wants it. Meanwhile, he's moving to that effort to generate a psionic OBE. I'm not sure how to do that, but I've got a few options to explore. Ah, my explorations have uncovered a little-used listing, P5@10 Non-corporeality, which covers both the ability to make the body non-material and the ability to separate the spirit from the body. It is this latter he is attempting.
He's using that 30:00 preparatory concentration, but he hasn't defined a few parameters.
Kurt has not recognized the full extent of his problem. His car shut down. Everything is fully computerized. It's not certain whether he can either start the car or open the windows in the present circumstance. We'll give him a GE roll, though: 11 is good but below expectations.
We're moving forward on Harry's wedding, and at this point everything is pushing forward in the jaws of what my bride called the Great Wedding Bells Machine.
If John 3 alludes to a doctrine that is just an idea at the time he's visiting, then the people with whom he is speaking aren't necessarily going to know what he means. I think there's an immediate answer, though, which Tuck can give without prejudicing the case either way.
Nikolaj finds something I couldn't find before (and I was thinking it was a six-day cycle, but an eight-day cycle actually makes a bit more sense), so he can schedule his meeting accordingly.
John 2 is going through a slow process, but I want him to experience it, so I'm not going to rush it.
Kyler wants me to continue, but I'm not certain in which direction.
--M. J. Young
I am considering ways to lighten the burden of the forum game. Top of the list is for players who have been in games for a while to pick up other players I roll off to their care.
MJ, I've said before that I would love to run a player. I would prefer it though if that player were themselves a seasoned referee that could kind of talk me through what to do if I needed it. I think that leaves Kyler from the current list, and I'm willing to bet that you'd rather run your son yourself.
I am on a steady schedule now - I work full-time, but I don't bring my work home with me and I have few responsibilities otherwise - so I imagine that once I were to work a new player into that schedule, I could be relied upon to post for him with regularity.
I mention this because my track record for steady posting on this board has so far been spotty (with the exceptions of my initial gather and most of my cameo in Brock's game) and all of my current players' threads are stalled and have been for months, which, taken together, would suggest that I would not be a good choice for auxiliary ref. However, my current players are all stalled because no one involved in any of those games (myself included) has actually completed a summary recently*; I wouldn't be playing live with one of your players, so the problem wouldn't arise.
Short version: I'm not exactly asking for a player, but if you want to shed one, I'm offering to take one while rescinding the caveats I've expressed in the past concerning my potential unreliability.
__
*though I am impressed with James for taking the initiative recently and doing his half of one...
Scott, MJ was talking about you running me. You know the rules to this better than most folks here. Perhaps you could run my game and I could run you? You would certainly qualify as a seasoned referee, and I know you and I get along fairly well. Just a thought.
(Doing Therapy)
John - If I take anyone, I'll take whoever ends up being most convenient for MJ, based on a great variety of factors. That might turn out to be you, but I suspect he'll want to keep you for at least this world; he seemed excited about the idea for it.
I am considering ways to lighten the burden of the forum game. Top of the list is for players who have been in games for a while to pick up other players I roll off to their care. Alternatives include limiting the number of game posts to which I will respond in a day, and so rotating who gets screen time based on whose thread has been waiting longest. I'm looking for other options, since the first has not worked in the past and the second doesn't feel right to me.
I've been filling in for Eric by GMing his game at RPoL.net since mid-May.
I was able to keep up a near-daily schedule through the summer, with as many as nine players (out of twelve) active on any given day, but I had a lot more trouble once my teaching began again in the fall.
I (and the game) ultimately survived by my decreasing the posting frequency to something I could keep up with, which has been averaging about once a week.
Instead of posting as I complete a response, I compose my responses off line as and when I am able, and then update the threads all at once when ready, so that everyone is waiting around for the same amount of time.
A few folks have faded away, whether or not due to the decreased frequency of updates, but we still have a half-dozen active players that respond quickly when a GM update does happen.
I would like to post more frequently, and do so when I can, but sometimes Real Life gets too squeezy. Sometimes, something has to give. And as my players have pointed out, they prefer to have a decreased frequency than a discontinued game.
Part of the reason I took a break from being a player here was that I could tell that the load was too much for you MJ, and I didn't want to add to it.
Eric GMed at RPoL.net for many a year, but finally hit a burn-out point, and needed to step away for an extended period of time.
For the health of the overall game and the enjoyability of that game for all concerned, a sustainable GM pace is essential.
And slowing down to a sustainable pace can also serve to catalyze your other option. If people realize that sticking with the main GM (MJ) means a slower game, then they might be more motivated to try (either being or posting under) an assistant GM with a faster posting frequency... :)
Mark, I was thinking (I think yesterday), that I would not mind having to wait for a day or two/three to fit in some sort of turning schedule that you have proposed.
It appears that the MJYoung.net site and all its mailboxes will be down for about a week while restoration proceeds apace. Meanwhile, I am watching the traveler@multiverser.org box--but I get enough Spam there already and do not wish to make that a regular contact box for people on this site. The other boxes should be restored by next week, and although it distresses me that e-mail is being lost, it is on another level a relief to know that it is not backing up waiting for me.
Scott, I hope you'll drop me a note at that address to discuss this further; Oak, if you're saying that you could pick up a player, that might also help. I prefer to transfer players to new referees at verse-outs, because that way you don't have to learn what the other guy was doing, but it might be possible to do the shift sooner, which is what I'll want to explore. John C., I'd like to get you refereeing, but I don't know that I have anyone who fits your profile. I am going to give it more thought, though, and if I give you someone who does not know the game well you can still bring your questions and complications to me (and Scott and Oak and Graeme and Eric and all the other experienced people here) via the forum. Also, let me know what worlds/worldbooks you have, as that will help.
My errand was scuttled into tomorrow, so now it is tomorrow that my presence here is in doubt (although today I seem to be late because the non-errand still required a lot of attention and other errands arose). So today let's do what we can with Maxx, Harry, Nikolaj, John 2, and Graeme.
Maxx is still working on the out-of-body skill.
Harry is hurtling toward that wedding, so if you haven't contributed to the Planning a Durnmist (Alpha) Wedding thread, please do.
Nikolaj has finished the baptismal service, and is moving forward from there.
I have avoided actually confirming that John 2 is being Zygoted, but really, that's not the best part. But then, I shouldn't even confirm the Zygote aspect were it not that somewhere I have to track it. On Day 14 he transitions from blastocyst to embryo, and so for the first time he looks like a human child. The next day his mother misses her period--maybe, as spotting frequently occurs and many mothers particularly with irregular periods conclude that they are not pregnant at this point. However, none of this is known to John, given his situation. I don't want to rush him, but I don't want it to drag, either, and since he is well persuaded that he can do nothing, we'll move to Day 24, on which he gets an intuition check. John retains his 2@2 intuition, so a simple check has a decent chance of working (roughly 50/50), but 17+9=26, so he doesn't notice anything.
Graeme has a fascinating concept up next. He casts the spell to cause a seed or sapling of a potentially large tree to grow quickly. The first question really, though, is whether there are such seeds or whether he can easily identify such a sapling. Seeds tend to be seasonal, even in jungles. 9 on a GE roll gives him pretty solid options. He rolls 27 on the growth skill, which given its +31 sit-mod is going to work. He rolls 87 on the attract/dispel trick, but given the +72 sit-mod in that I don't think number crunching is needed. He's going to have to repeat the process multiple times, but that's allowed. 81 is the next roll for the growth skill, which will require me to find out what his numbers are: 1@1 SAL+31SM+2x13@ bias+2@2 BRA=90%. I'm inclined to raise the SAL one intensity for new use (he didn't do this with a seed before, I think), but I'd better confirm the SAL before I confuse myself by changing it. He rolls 40 on the formation spell. That will bring us to maybe discus size, and another pair of rolls, 68, 12, to manhole cover size, 56, 93 to tractor tire size, and at this point we'll get more direction.
--M. J. Young
I don't want to rush him, but I don't want it to drag, either, and since he is well persuaded that he can do nothing
Well, what CAN I do? No body, no tech devices, and flatlined psionics and magic. You tell me what I could do here. Psionic healing might speed things up, but that could cause serious problems, I can't throw a TK pulse since I can't see, and raising a psionic force field would probably cut the umbilical cord. You tell me what I could do here.
Wing it. Use some of that fighting spirit, put all your luck into an action, and try it! You can pull it off, for sure!
When in doubt, do something stupid.
Yeah, all I need is a psionic botch while I'm still in the uterus.
Oak, if you're saying that you could pick up a player, that might also help.
I already have Kurt and Nikolaj and Ed from GO (and Eric and Adam, albeit inactive right just now), though that doesn't help when they are running separate copies of themselves at GO and RPoL... :p
My GMing plate is full with the MV game at RPoL, so I would have difficulty doing anything separate here.
However, if anyone here wishes to join the game I am running there (which, as Kurt and Nikolaj and Eric can tell you, is a rather unique Gather), I am not closed to taking a few more folks aboard. :)
You might try using some psionic or magical healing on your mother. At the very least it might make her mood better once she realizes you're in there if she's not sick and in pain all the time.