Ending a Decade Behind the Screens · Page 6

Yeah, that is kind of cool that you would still have the same initials. Are your initials on any of your equipment? That would be freaky.

Let me attend to threads from Michael, Maxx, Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2.

Michael needs a success roll on his telekinetic device skill to activate the disintegrator, and a success roll on his force generative device skill to activate the blaster. For the first he rolls 05, an immediate success; the disintegrator is base annihilating, so that's only five intensities of damage, and plastic steel has a 2@10 density which gives it a 2@10 damage value for thirty-six cubic inches of material. A fist-sized lump is about 3.5x3x2.5=26.5 cubic inches, so we'll figure that it would take twenty-seven intensities to destroy it, and that as a 2@ damage value it divides by two and discards fractions, 2 intensities, less than a tenth of the total volume.

Now for the blaster: 58, wait, I'm going to need some numbers--he's at point blank range with this, which gives him +20 within 10'. I don't have an RSV for him because I don't have an hand/eye. The TV of the lump is 1/3 its density, and thus 0@7; but there's also a size penalty for shooting at something that small, even at close range. So let's get a hand/eye from him and we'll figure out what the situation is.

Maxx and I are mostly discussing some points of application of rules in play. Maybe that should be here, but it wouldn't leave me much to say there.

Harry is moving from wedding to reception.

I don't know that I've entirely resolved Nikolaj's meeting. I was attempting to open questions and issues for him to address, but also to be as complete as possible in expressing what was established, and it might sound as if the conversation is closed. Hopefully Nikolaj will not see it so, and will give some good feedback for Mr. Kucher.

John 2 was last marked at the week twenty-four of his gestation; we'll push him forward about a month to week 28. We'll need another GE roll for what he learns from listening, and the roll is 8, so I guess the beans are fully spilled. I hope what I give him satisfies him, because I'm not sure what else he could actually learn this way.

--M. J. Young

Yeah, that is kind of cool that you would still have the same initials. Are your initials on any of your equipment? That would be freaky.

I don't think so. However, my wallet with (to Sarah) what would appear to be a very futuristic looking driver's license is.

I hope what I give him satisfies him, because I'm not sure what else he could actually learn this way.

Sarah is making the tapes, and yes MJ, I am QUITE satisfied!!!

(Doing Therapy)

Two

What I was saying about the driver's license. John Cross could be an expected alias of John Connor. Yeah, I'm 8 years older than John Connor would be, but isn't that the whole point of a fake ID? She might think the driver's license photo is her son. And she would be (sort of) right.

The Resistance sending back a wallet with a bunch of fake ID that John could use in 20 years. That would probably be my assumption.

(Doing Therapy)

I'm looking at posts from Michael, Ahmetia, Maxx, Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2. Welcome back, Ahmetia; I was worried about you. That's probably very chauvinistic of me. So shoot me.

Michael surprises me with his hand/eye credentials, and has me wondering whether we overlooked an important strength at chargen.

Ahmetia returns into the cozy carriage with the gorgeous hunk she dare not touch, who is willing to give her all the space or rope she requests.

Maxx is getting brave, planning to teach himself a psionic skill that does not include a huge preparatory concentration bonus. It should not be difficult for him to learn, because it's only a 3@10 bias skill against his 11@5 bias. However, there is a penalty for a psi detect skill that can distinguish what kind of psionic skill is being detected, and that's an essential element of this one, so -10 for that; and there is also the fact that he is attempting to detect the duration of such a skill, for which I mark another -10; but since this is limited to skills he himself is generating, I'll give him +5 for that limitation, making the inherent Sit-mod -15. He rolls 77,and the numbers are 115-40+1@10 BRA-15=80%, so he's got a 1@2 Detect Personal Psi Skill Remaining Durations P3@10 will allow the user to know which of his skills are currently operational and roughly how long they have until they fail if not renewed.

I personally think that Harry's announcement that he bought them a house and started renovating it would be just the thing that would thrill his bride; but then, I'm not a bride, and I'm quite aware that the things can be very unpredictable, so I'm going to give him a GE roll--2d10+1 to put it in his favor, but still somewhat random. He rolls 8+6+1=15, Not Unfavorable.

Nikolaj continues his discussion with Mr. Kucher. He hasn't yet addressed the practical problem, though, which is standing in the way of the spiritual one.

I'm going to help John 2 come to grips with his scriff vectors.

--M. J. Young

Welcome back, Ahmetia; I was worried about you. That's probably very chauvinistic of me. So shoot me.

It would only be chauvinistic if the reason you're worried is because she's female. Since I know you would be worried about a male player just the same, it isn't chauvinism.

Ah, but I said it was chauvinistic precisely because I worry more about losing the girls than I do about losing the guys. Girls are still rarer in the role playing game world, and we don't want to lose them. Although you're right--I worry about guys who go absent for a while, too. I just don't worry quite the same.

With that, let me worry about what I'm posting for Ahmetia, Maxx, Harry, Nikolaj, and John 2.

Ahmetia gets a bit more than just conversation, but I don't know if she'll pick up the really vague hint of trouble.

Maxx is working on another detection skill.

Harry is doing pretty well with his first touch of marital discord; but it will blow over, I'm sure.

Nikolaj seems to be ignoring the critical issue, and maybe it's not his problem to solve--but it is a problem that has to be solved, and if he can help bring about the solution he won't be dependent on general effects rolls for how things happen.

John 2 is worrying me about all the things that could go wrong with his scenario. I'm going to attempt to defuse that with some assurance that none of it is going wrong--there are enough complications in the Terminator time travel stories without adding stupid additional ones.

--M. J. Young

John 2 is worrying me about all the things that could go wrong with his scenario. I'm going to attempt to defuse that with some assurance that none of it is going wrong--there are enough complications in the Terminator time travel stories without adding stupid additional ones.

Yeah MJ, I completely forgot about the KISS principle. Odd that I did, as I live my life by it. I'm just excited about this for a lot of reasons. Also, you never really answered me. Did you consider every scenario I offered? I just thought it might be interesting to consider such things. You said you've only run The Zygote Experience 4 or so times in your life. Perhaps more details like these would increase its popularity.

(Doing Therapy)

John, I'm not really interested in increasing the popularity of the Zygote Experience. It's a challenging world to run and can very easily get bogged down either by too much referee detail or by too much player detail. I want the player character to grow from unborn to adult, but I don't want to be running the game for twenty years to get there.

I have started a new thread for a new player, Eli, and will continue with Michael, Ahmetia, Maxx, Harry, Nikolaj, John 2, and Graeme.

I am considering putting Eli in the same world as Michael, that is, making it a bit of a gather to introduce a new player through an old one. It helps that I happen to have Michael in the world in which I prefer to start new players in campaign games, and that both Michael and Eli seem to be relatively consistent posters at present. But for the moment I need to get Eli started on his own, and see whether he finds his way to Michael.

Speaking of Michael, the stats on his bowling and beer pong abilities are helpful but not entirely determinative, as both are skills which rely on targeting, which itself is dependent in part on intuition. However, it is strong enough that I'm willing to give him a 2@3 Hand/Eye, which makes his ranged strike value (RSV) 1@10 (his Intuition is 1@6, sum is 39 divided by 2 is 19.5, rounds up to 20, which converts back to 1@10). I needed this because he was shooting a blaster at a lump of plastic steel and rolled 58. There's a +20 point blank sit-mod, 1@10 RSV, 1@2 SAL, and 2@1 BRA=73, minus a 07 TV and a size penalty, which for a "fist-sized lump" means a ball somewhere less than five but more than three inches in diameter, so we'll say about the same as a four inch diameter circle, -46. That gives him a 20% chance to hit the target. The roll will work the device but miss the target, and I'll give him new use for force generative devices.

Ahmetia has finished chapter one--or perhaps it's chapter three or four by now, but in any event, she has gotten from meeting the queen to impersonating the queen for the coronation, and now is in the phase where she attempts to withdraw quietly and get the queen back to her throne.

I've addressed some of Maxx' questions in a separate thread on chaining skills that have preparatory concentration, and remembered that there's a special rule for chaining bod skills which I think can be fairly applied to chaining psi skills with preparatory concentration, so I'm going to see where the dust settles in all this before proceeding.

Harry has married a reasonable woman--a characteristic I must keep in mind in future posts. So hopefully we have a reasonable resolution, and it's time for the reception.

Nikolaj hasn't really made a suggestion that will resolve Mr. Kucher's problem, but as I've said before, he doesn't have to do that, as it's not Nikolaj's problem.

I am jumping John 2 forward to week 32; we're going almost month by month now, and in two more bursts we should hit his birthday.

I have some concern about this point in Graeme's thread:

Once I create the room I'll pause to use my magical hand tool to cut a door before continuing with building my shelter.

My concern is that once he completes the room he's sealed in an airtight wooden dark containment, which isn't going to give him a very long time to cut an airway. However, I'll give him a simple intellect check to recognize this (he's an intelligent guy), for which the roll is 08+17=25, he's not that intelligent, bad roll there. Well, he's got one minute. I'm wondering, too, what happens to the light emitted from the diamond wand when there's no light to be absorbed by the ruby wand; but I suppose they feed to each other in such a circumstance, so that's not a problem. He rolls 73 on the cutter, which adds a +36 SM to his 1@3 SAL+2@2 BRA+2x13@ bias, a 97% chance of success, so it's working quite well.

Let's call this a night. It's a night.

--M. J. Young

I am jumping John 2 forward to week 32; we're going almost month by month now, and in two more bursts we should hit his birthday.

My birthday is on Saturday. (March 13. I'll be 33) Too bad that you won't be posting that day. It would have been cool to be born on my birthday....

(Doing Therapy)

Technically speaking, you will be born on your birthday.

Happy birthday John. If I get held up on Friday night, you might get your wish; but I'm not planning it that way, and I don't know if we'll get there. Besides, it will probably take several days' worth of posts for you to get from the first contraction to the outlet of the birth canal.

I am formally handing Maxx to the care of Scott "William T. Wodium" Horton, who I think will do at least as well with his game as I would. This is good timing, too, because I have just added Eli to the front of my list, to be followed by Michael, Ahmetia, Harry, and John 2.

Eli gets his first introduction to his new world.

Michael wants actually to hit the target. His chance to hit it at point blank range was calculated at 20%, which means I have to watch for an 8% chance to botch, 93 or higher. He rolls 43, 99, that's going to hurt. Let's round up the usual suspects, and I've a few more that we can credit to Maxx for forcing me to consider in an earlier thread on a related subject:

1. Brain Burn
2. Render device inert
3. Shoot foot
4. Psionic Shock Wave
5. Device Explodes
6. Neural Breakdown
7. Shoot Annie
8. Shoot Paul
9. Damage structure
10. Device breaks
11. Wrong function--force field
12. Wrong function--disintegration

That's a twelve-item scale, which is actually easier to roll with the d12 in the bag here rather than with the stopwatch, so I'm going to risk opening the dice bag and rolling: 2 is rolled, and I seal it up.

The excitement is really just getting started for Ahmetia. I wonder whether she sees what's coming next.

Let's make the reception memorable for Harry and Arabella, if we can.

John 2 is approaching his birth. We'll jump forward to week 36, and next time things will start really happening, I expect.

--M. J. Young

Things are happening for Eli, Michael, Ahemtia, Kurt, Nikolaj, and John 2. Let's see what kinds of things.

Eli gets a better look around his location as he gathers his gear. He has yet to look up, but that's not that important.

Michael uses the psi rifle at point blank range at a man-sized target, and his first roll is 49. He gets +20 for point blank, no size penalty, 2@1 BRA, 1@10 RSV, 1@3 SAL, and the targets are designed to have a relatively small TV, 0@7, so he's going to hit on the first try. That will also give him another increase in SAL, for using another force generative device, 1@4 Operate Force Generative Psionic Device P1@8 (capture rod, psi drill, psi blaster, psi rifle).

Ahmetia has a ride ahead of her.

The condition of Harry the Cat was dictated by a GE roll of 27 back on February 15th; but there remains the questions of whether the guard knows anything about the cat and whether anyone is caring for him. For this, we'll give another GE roll, and with a 28 it's still bad. No one has seen Kurt's cat. Hopefully that lack of information won't prevent him from having dinner.

It has been a pleasure having Nikolaj back on the boards for a time, and my closing post on his thread will very cleverly ask him to recap the subject of the past few posts so that when he returns we'll both be brought back up to speed.

John 2 is about to be born. It will take another day, though.

--M. J. Young

... I got skipped. ...

Aww, poor baby, shame on you MJ for skipping Osevens!!

(Doing Therapy)

I apologize sincerely, Harry. I am confused. I am not certain whether you got skipped because you actually were not there until after I opened the forum, or whether in trying to find all the posts I didn't see yours. Since I can't recall seeing you yesterday but you must have been there before I left, I extend my apologies.

And John, for some reason all my posts are showing a day off on the calendar--the post I just made shows that it was made at 2:34 tomorrow morning--so it might be that you're going to get your wish and have the post read the same as your birthday. Of course, it might be that it's a goof in my profile, that I've been shifted to Greenwich Mean Time, and that it won't show that way on your view. It makes me wonder at exactly what time something would have to be posted to show as the same day everywhere in the world; but at least from one perspective, it's already your birthday, so happy birthday. Now let's see whether you can be born today.

But first, let's see what we can do with Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Harry, and then John 2.

Eli asks good questions which give him more information than he's going to be able to digest quickly.

Michael has a lot of simply answered questions, and then is going to attempt telepathically to contact the memorial statue. His roll is 62, so that's not going to work on the first try, even with his now 1@3 SAL and +5 SM for closing his eyes when using telepathic devices.

Ahmetia has to get back on another horse; she'll need a roll for that, but we'll not force her into this.

Harry is dancing.

I got an e-mail from someone this past week, saying that the composer of the Hokey Pokey died. Apparently there was some trouble at the funeral home, which began at the casket when they put his left leg in....

John 2 can thank Ryan and his wife and Adam and his lady and my wife for dragging me away until after midnight; it looks like it's Saturday even where he is. Happy birthday; I'll try to be thorough. He has stated that he is not resisting anything that happens to him, so I'll just describe it. I'm also going to give him that 2@1 Time Travel Theory T15@0 skill, although as Scott says, he hasn't learned anything about time travel since he started this world, so I probably won't roll against it. We'll also give him a chance to scream on his own initiative before they slap him to get him to do so.

Happy birthday, John?

--M. J. Young

Yeah, it's after midnight MJ. Thanks. As of 3:30 tomorrow afternoon, I am 33 years old. It's also my mother's birthday. Yeah, I was born on her birthday. My grandfather's was yesterday, March 12. Three generations born within 2 days of each other.

2@1 Time Travel Theory T15@0 skill

That's a 15@ tech skill. Does that affect my tech bias at all?

(Doing Therapy)

Two

Now that I think about it, I think Osevens posted just minutes too late yesterday. I think you legitimately missed him MJ.

(Doing Therapy)

Happy Birthday (John)^2.

A1Nut - It's an @0 skill. As far as I know, @0 skills don't give you bias. You need a 15@1 Scriff Containment or Analyze Time Field skill for that. So learn how to aim a time machine and you'll be golden.

And yes, happy birthday.

Thanks for the well-wishes.

That's very clever, Maxx. John, Harry is right--@0 skills give you understanding of a field, but not bias, because you can't actually do anything with it. Mostly you would get to roll to see whether you can answer a question. As Scott previously mentioned, you probably won't because probably you can answer all the questions that would be covered by the roll. (The exception he missed, which I admit I didn't recall until now, is the time factor exception: if you've got ten minutes to come up with an answer but your character has ten days, a roll might be allowed to determine whether he thinks of it in that time. However, the converse is also true: if you take ten days to answer a question when your character had only ten minutes, I might require a roll to see whether he was able to think of it that quickly.)

Now let's take a look at Eli, then Michael, Ahmetia, Harry, and John 2.

Eli gets a thorough look at the inside of Michael's Foxhole.

Michael has it on his agenda to try to activate the memorial twice a day until he succeeds. Since his chance of success is 1@3 SAL+5 SM (for closing his eyes)+2@1 BRA=39% it shouldn't take more than a couple days to hit a success, so the rolls are 96, which is a botch, isn't it? Yes, there is a 61% chance to fail, a 6% chance to botch, 95 or higher, the psionic devices are not favoring him of late. I had a really good psi device botch list the other day--let's start by considering what of that is good for this.

1. Brain Burn
2. Render device inert
3. Shoot foot
4. Psionic Shock Wave
5. Device Explodes
6. Neural Breakdown
7. Shoot Annie
8. Shoot Paul
9. Damage structure
10. Device breaks
11. Wrong function--force field
12. Wrong function--disintegration

Well, Shoot foot has to go; this is not a weapon. The same has to be said of Shoot Annie, Shoot Paul, and Damage structure. Wrong function would still work, but not as either force field or disintegration. That leaves us a somewhat shorter list--

1. Brain Burn
2. Render device inert
3. Psionic Shock Wave
4. Device Explodes
5. Neural Breakdown
6. Device breaks
7. Wrong function--??

That strikes me as too high a percentage of damage to the device, and no "good" botch results. Oh, I forgot--all telepathic botches on NagaWorld include the possibility of

Contact Nash Far Kraal

O.K., with a bit of tweaking I get a list of ten items, although several of them are really scary:

1. Brain Burn
2. Render device inert
3. Psionic Shock Wave
4. Device Explodes
5. Neural Breakdown
6. Device breaks
7. Wrong function--Swap Minds
8. Contact Nash Far Kraal
9. Contact Computer
10. Contact Psionic Vacation

Let's roll, holding our collective breath: 9. The evening roll is 08, so that finishes that, and gives him an increase in SAL for new use,

1@4 Operate Telepathic Device P1@3 with eyes closed (Computer, Psi Vacation, Kraal Memorial) +5SM

He will also learn something from the contact.

Ahmetia has that 1@1 horseback riding skill, but a mount is easy enough that I'm going to give her +10 to it, along with 2@1 BRA (agility) and 2x7@ bias (sport fencing), 56% chance she can do this. 74 is not that roll. Sapt will intervene, +10 for his assistance, and that makes 66%, and new circumstances, so the roll of 49 now works. I don't know whether I've given her much to which to respond, but I've moved the story forward significantly, and there are a lot of spots where she might want at least to say something.

We're having a lot of playful banter at Harry and Arabella's wedding reception.

John 2 is attempting to leap over several years of development. Don't worry, John, your rate of development will be greatly in excess of any normal kid; but you're still not going to be able to talk or walk or manipulate objects with any ability for quite some time.

--M. J. Young

That's very clever, Maxx. John, Harry is right--@0 skills give you understanding of a field, but not bias, because you can't actually do anything with it. Mostly you would get to roll to see whether you can answer a question. As Scott previously mentioned, you probably won't because probably you can answer all the questions that would be covered by the roll. (The exception he missed, which I admit I didn't recall until now, is the time factor exception: if you've got ten minutes to come up with an answer but your character has ten days, a roll might be allowed to determine whether he thinks of it in that time. However, the converse is also true: if you take ten days to answer a question when your character had only ten minutes, I might require a roll to see whether he was able to think of it that quickly.)

Now let's take a look at Eli, then Michael, Ahmetia, Harry, and John 2.

Eli gets a thorough look at the inside of Michael's Foxhole.

Michael has it on his agenda to try to activate the memorial twice a day until he succeeds. Since his chance of success is 1@3 SAL+5 SM (for closing his eyes)+2@1 BRA=39% it shouldn't take more than a couple days to hit a success, so the rolls are 96, which is a botch, isn't it? Yes, there is a 61% chance to fail, a 6% chance to botch, 95 or higher, the psionic devices are not favoring him of late. I had a really good psi device botch list the other day--let's start by considering what of that is good for this.

1. Brain Burn
2. Render device inert
3. Shoot foot
4. Psionic Shock Wave
5. Device Explodes
6. Neural Breakdown
7. Shoot Annie
8. Shoot Paul
9. Damage structure
10. Device breaks
11. Wrong function--force field
12. Wrong function--disintegration

Well, Shoot foot has to go; this is not a weapon. The same has to be said of Shoot Annie, Shoot Paul, and Damage structure. Wrong function would still work, but not as either force field or disintegration. That leaves us a somewhat shorter list--

1. Brain Burn
2. Render device inert
3. Psionic Shock Wave
4. Device Explodes
5. Neural Breakdown
6. Device breaks
7. Wrong function--??

That strikes me as too high a percentage of damage to the device, and no "good" botch results. Oh, I forgot--all telepathic botches on NagaWorld include the possibility of

Contact Nash Far Kraal

O.K., with a bit of tweaking I get a list of ten items, although several of them are really scary:

1. Brain Burn
2. Render device inert
3. Psionic Shock Wave
4. Device Explodes
5. Neural Breakdown
6. Device breaks
7. Wrong function--Swap Minds
8. Contact Nash Far Kraal
9. Contact Computer
10. Contact Psionic Vacation

Let's roll, holding our collective breath: 9. The evening roll is 08, so that finishes that, and gives him an increase in SAL for new use,

1@4 Operate Telepathic Device P1@3 with eyes closed (Computer, Psi Vacation, Kraal Memorial) +5SM

He will also learn something from the contact.

Ahmetia has that 1@1 horseback riding skill, but a mount is easy enough that I'm going to give her +10 to it, along with 2@1 BRA (agility) and 2x7@ bias (sport fencing), 56% chance she can do this. 74 is not that roll. Sapt will intervene, +10 for his assistance, and that makes 66%, and new circumstances, so the roll of 49 now works. I don't know whether I've given her much to which to respond, but I've moved the story forward significantly, and there are a lot of spots where she might want at least to say something.

We're having a lot of playful banter at Harry and Arabella's wedding reception.

John 2 is attempting to leap over several years of development. Don't worry, John, your rate of development will be greatly in excess of any normal kid; but you're still not going to be able to talk or walk or manipulate objects with any ability for quite some time.

--M. J. Young

That's why I wanted the magnetic letter blocks. Once I can communicate to Sarah that I can communicate to Sarah, put those letter blocks on a metal tray and spell words. It's kind of like the Metallica One video. "My body is my holding cell."

(Doing Therapy)

I'm really really torn, because I've had a rather delayed and disrupted daylight day and have been trying to wade through a lot of stuff by night, and at quarter after eleven have not even looked at the game threads. I do not like to skip a day of posts for so flimsy a reason as that I will be up too late, but there are a lot of "behind the scenes" reasons why I should wrap up sooner rather than later (and the words "too late" are echoing in my brain), so I'm going to do so.

I apologize and hope Lord willing that I will be able to address all the game threads tomorrow.

And John, I am aware of your character's interest in letters. At the moment you can put your thumb in your mouth and suck on it, but you can't get anything to stick to your hands no matter what you do, so the best you could do with letters is knock them around the room--if you're lucky enough that you happen to hit one with your something like 0@7 hand/eye and 0@7 strength. At the moment your 0@10 flexibility is making it nearly impossible for you to un-crunch your body from the cramped shape it took the last few months--straightening your arms and legs completely does not seem to be on the agenda yet.

--M. J. Young

I do not like to skip a day of posts for so flimsy a reason as that I will be up too late, but there are a lot of "behind the scenes" reasons why I should wrap up sooner rather than later (and the words "too late" are echoing in my brain), so I'm going to do so.

That's hardly a flimsy reason MJ. I'd rather have you not post because you're tired than not post because you're dead from exhaustion.

(Doing Therapy)

Again I apologize for missing last night. I seem to have a bit of time tonight to attempt to catch up (despite already having given rather long answers to two threads), so let's leap into the fray with Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Harry, John 2, and Graeme.

I did not realize just how large Eli is until he commented that the six foot by two foot beds were probably too small. No matter; what matters is that he is going to sleep and awaken, in the dim space of the foxhole, without an alarm clock, and see what time it is when he awakens. First, he's gathering food, and he gets an 11 GE roll so something positive might happen.

Michael is going to teach himself some skills in clothing production. I'll give him the operation of the lawnmower free; that makes his first skill a T2@1 Create Thread, which should be easy for a modern boy to learn, particularly with a 2@2 ed lev and a 10@3 bias which together give him better than 100% chance that he can learn to do this. The 92 roll is beginner's luck, giving him 1@3 Create Thread T2@1. With a bit more, I am at a point that I need to know what he's doing to continue.

Ahmetia doesn't say much sometimes, but we'll prompt a bit and head back to Strelsau.

One of the things the bride gets to do at the reception is be a tease--that is, get the groom anticipating what awaits after the reception. But the reception must hold them there for a while, so we'll try to do the teasing and the holding for Harry.

I will kick John 2's psionic intensified senses from 1@3 to 1@5 Intensify Senses P5@1 by shifting sensory resources in the brain, but have to give him a GE roll for hearing stuff now. After all, he's in a sound-insulated nursery with a batch of other babies, and either they are playing music quietly, or they are playing a muffling white noise, or they are keeping it silent enough that really all there is to hear most of the time is heartbeats and breathing. But he gets a 12, so he's going to get something.

Graeme has finally devised a cooking spell that is not an attempt to use magic to create a tool to support the technological skill of cooking, but is a direct effort to prepare food. I'm going to call it a M3@6 Manipulate Materials NOS, incorporate the M3@1 Remove Impurities as part of the manipulation, and draw some numbers from the M3@5 Pseudotransmute for very limited skills (this one only prepares food, changing it from its raw form to its prepared form). First, he has to make the platter; 1@3 SAL+36SM+2x13@ bias+2@2 BRA=97%, the roll is 93, a very strong success.

So now for the food preparation spell: he places the food in a closed container intended for food, which means that it's a produced object, something for which +3 seems appropriate (not more, because he could use anything that fits the definition--crock pot, dutch oven, canister, roaster, toaster oven, Tupperware). His 10:00 TF is several times the 0:90 suggested, two and two thirds doublings for +26. I love the use of the nursery rhyme, and will give him appropriate words +5. This is certainly an automatic success (bias alone will carry it); the roll of 62 makes it 1@2 Transform Raw Food into Meals M3@6 10:00 TF place raw food in any container intended for food that can be closed, close it, recite "Sing a song of sixpence, pocket full of rye, four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie", food emerges in prepared meal form with waste materials removed, nothing added that is not included originally, +34SM.

I note that I did not include any movement bonuses, largely because nothing he said indicated that there was any ritual movement. He does have to move, of course--sort of. As far as I can tell, he could perform the skill using a robot controlled by mind-machine interface which placed the food into the container and held it closed, as he did not specify how those steps had to be accomplished but that he had to do it.

So I guess this is finished.

--M. J. Young

Perhaps my takeover of Maxx's game will save you more time once he and I return to actual play.

Edit: Also, without the somatic component, doesn't Graeme's first material take a -2 for being "required" (that is, required to avoid the -10 for only having type of component)?

Yes, Scott, I knew there was something I was missing. If you are relying on a material component as one of the necessary two, it has to be worth two points to satisfy that requirement. I should have opened my cheat sheet, but I was trying to get through it quickly.

I notice that I missed Kurt last time, and I am very upset about that because I remember even having looked at that post at some point and trying to catch everyone and everything in one fell swoop. Hopefully, though, if tonight I remember to treat with Eli, Michael, Ahemtia, Kurt, Harry, John 2, and Graeme, I will not have the same embarrassment and upset tomorrow in discovering that I missed someone else.

Eli is meeting a naga. These can be a lot of fun, because no one knows quite what to make of them at first, or maybe not ever.

Michael has managed to make thread; now he needs to twist cord and weave cloth. Those are separate T2@2 skills, so we'll roll for each of them: 05, 49, 1@1 Twist Yarn T2@2 (from nagagrassthread), 1@1 weave cloth T2@2 (from nagagrassthread). Harder will be applying the new skill in weaving to use the new yarn, because he loses his "beginners luck" from his bias, having only his 2@2 BRA+1@1 SAL and +5 for the use of the loom, 38%, and his 95 is not a good roll; but let's give him good news first. Now let's think about the bad news:

1. Tangled mass must be cut from the loom
2. catches self in warp for injury
3. Hit by shuttlecock
4. crushed by shifting warp racks
5. Catch Nerfy in warp
6. Static buildup

That's a d6, and the roll is 2. How bad an injury? Let's use the bod botch table: 12, damaging level of injury and winded three minutes, we can't be winded but we can be stuck and in pain. The damaging damage roll is 02, so it's not going to be serious. We'll let him decide what to do before sending help.

Ahemetia is posting short statements and overlooking things like telling me she's following Sapt; I'm assuming that she is, and I'll use this time to feed her some background. We'll get around to planning the rescue soon.

I catch up on Kurt, who has taken an odd turn in his approach.

Harry might find something of value in the fact that his father-in-law is a fabric and clothing producer.

John 2 has been waiting to breastfeed. Breastfeeding is not always a simple immediate process, so we're going to roll a GE roll: 20, which is just bad enough, so she's going to try but it's not going to work yet. And if he gives me more details, I'm going to start thinking this was a mistake. In any event, I know this John Conner's birthday, and I know when things did or did not happen in the future, and I know that Sarah never had another child, so we're not going to worry about his errors about the world. Actually, probably better that I let him think he knows those things, because it will add to the uncertainty.

Graeme's spell worked, but we needed to know what he used to know what he made. I'm also reducing the sit-mod to +32 in accordance with Scott's reminder.

I'm out of time; it's good that I'm out of players, too.

--M. J. Young

And if he gives me more details, I'm going to start thinking this was a mistake.

What details am I not supposed to give you?

I don't know how you do this every bleeding night. I have Ahmetia's game that I actually keep up with running, I halfass my way through anything that involve game mechanics, and still I'm pressed to answer her responses in a timely manner. You've either been doing this for a thousand years, or you have the patience of a saint, or both. Either way, wow. Just wow.

In any event, I know this John Conner's birthday, and I know when things did or did not happen in the future, and I know that Sarah never had another child, so we're not going to worry about his errors about the world. Actually, probably better that I let him think he knows those things, because it will add to the uncertainty.

MJ, I am not disputing the game, just your knowledge of the movie. If you say this is the date, then this is the date. I'm not in the movie. I don't expect what I know to match up to this. For one thing, in the movie, it's ConnOr, not ConnEr. I'm not in the movie, so in this scenario, my name is John ConnEr, and I don't have a problem with that at all. I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm not disputing the game, just your knowledge of the films. I'll throw out details from time to time. This is what I know from having seen the movies, read the comic books, read website information, read the novelizations. To me, those are a fictionalized account of what's about to happen in this world. And, in all works of fiction based on truth, things get changed around, added, left out, or made up entirely. For my character the game is the truth, the knowledge I have is the fiction. Take the fiction I give you and make it your version of my reality. The game is the truth, your knowledge of the fictional accounts of the truth is what's mistaken.

(Doing Therapy)

Two

MJ, the T-1000 doesn't have to come back in time. It really doesn't HAVE to get invented at all. If the time travel trips are nothing like the movies, all the better. If a half-dozen T-800s and a bunch of future soldiers come back, that would be cool. I wouldn't mind having a reprogrammed Terminator bodyguard, but if all that comes back are soldiers, I'll just deal with it. If the world gets nuked in 1997, it gets nuked in 1997. If not, well, time travel is such an unpredictable thing.... I don't expect, need, or really want this to match up to what I know, just as long as it is reasonably similar enough to pass as non-cannon Terminator fan-fiction. The game is right. My knowledge is fiction. Your knowledge of the fiction is mistaken, but the game is still right.

What I said about Derek Reese. That was Kyle's brother in the books and TV show. That doesn't mean Kyle had a brother in this scenario. That means you have an idea for a character to use if you choose to. If not, well, no problem, however, you've got the idea there if you want to use it.

The T-1000 was the prototype and only one of its kind. It was designed exclusively for the time travel mission. Without an endo-skeletal chassis, SkyNet could not maintain direct control over the unit and feared it could go rouge. Thus, it was sent back in time where, if it went rouge, the worst thing it would do is not kill John Connor. This problem was solved by the T-X, which had an endo-skeletal chassis, as well as the mimetic poly-alloy skin. SkyNet could maintain control over the unit, and it still retained limited morphing ability. Like the T-1000, the T-X was not a battlefield unit. It required too many resources to mass-produce. It was specialized for assassinations and time travel. The T-800 was the workhorse on the battlefield.

You know what all of this means in my scenario? Precisely SQUAT!!!!!!! It's just ideas for you to work from.

(Doing Therapy)

Well said, johnosevens! MJ does a spectacular job here with the game. His dedication and attention to detail and the game are second to none. Bravo, MJ, and thanks!

For one thing, in the movie, it's ConnOr, not ConnEr.

Interestingly, I think my spell checker usually chokes on Connor, but not on Conner. Hmmm--the one in the browser doesn't care. More on point, perhaps, no one in the movies ever says "Connor", which has a distinctly different vowel in the unaccented syllable (Connor McCloud of the Clan McCloud says it right, if memory serves). So if Sarah spells her name "Connor" and says it "Conner", and your eyes can't focus on the paperwork she's not going to show you anyway, you're not going to know, are you?

Harry--well, I don't always make it, do I? But it's a priority, so here I am, once again addressing thread posts from Eli, Michael, Ahmetia, Kurt, Harry, and John 2.

Eli is dancing with the naga, as it were. We'll follow it through.

It's usually not permitted for another roll of the same skill to overcome a botch; however, in Michael's present circumstance the question really is whether he can operate the loom to unpin his arm, so another roll of the skill seems the best choice. The roll is 77, so that's not going to work.

We'll get Ahmetia back to the palace and give her the difficult choices of whether to eat or sleep.

It's time for the villain to say too much, so that Kurt gets his plot exposition and knows the plot--that is, the villain's plot.

I thought Harry might bring up the questions of fire-resistant clothing with Jacob son of Fabri, and now maybe that's something that might make a change in the world. After all, if Harry knows anything at all that might help Jacob produce cloth that resists flame, that will make his father-in-law's enterprise considerably more profitable.

John 2 is going to be in the hospital for a couple days--three to five days was the normal stay for healthy babies and mothers in the mid eighties (I was there), and we're not having any complications with this birth, so soon he'll be on the road again.

--M. J. Young

I think I'm ready to play. Eli is toying with a naga, Michael with a loom, Harry with a lady, John with his thumb, and Graeme with food. Well, everyone's game is a bit different.

Nagas are said to be "smart as rocks", so there's no real knowing what one would do if you held out a blade of grass toward it. I figure on a good roll it hops over to eat it, on a mediocre roll it stares at it, and on a poor roll it panics and flees. The roll is 19, very close to the middle.

Michael wishes his pack were near, but on a roll of 18 it's not quite as he desires.

Harry is almost finished with his conversation about fire-resistant clothing.

John 2 is going through the next stage of frustration: how to communicate when you can't even control your own mouth sufficiently to say anything.

Having established a good base, Graeme is going to explore the area; he just has to give some definitions of what he is exploring.

--M. J. Young

Thank you for the kudos. I do enjoy the creativity some of you invest in the game, and learn much from play which helps me run games thereafter. Indeed, though, I started my role playing experience as the Dungeon Master in 1980, started playing (as a character player) Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World, Star Frontiers, and Traveler in the few years after that, became a Verser in 1993 and started running Multiverser in 1995, so I've had a bit of practice at this part. As far as running games, the D&D game that introduced our art director Jim Denaxas and ultimately introduced me to Ed Jones had as many as forty-some people crowded in my living room/dining room many weeks. From the player perspective, I ran a party in which my lawful good character was the leader of twenty-some characters representing every alignment but chaotic evil, and people marveled that I held them together--until they learned that in my first play experience I was an ordinary girl with complete amnesia related to who I was or where I was a minute before the game began, and my first two party members were a robot that could not accept that animals were intelligent and so could not hear them speak, and an intelligent bird with a complete mental block that prevented it from recognizing the existence or presence of robots. Getting another human in the party was genuinely helpful, to say the least, but I will admit that my in-game challenges have been a bit different from those most players have faced....I learned.

Speaking of players facing challenges, Eli, Hichael, Kurt, Scott, and John 2 are all doing so in their respective threads.

I guess I need another GE roll to determine what happens in Eli's naga encounter. 12 is good enough.

Michael is probably wise not to attempt, say, to lift his pack telekinetically; so he calls for help. It would have to be a pretty bad situation for Paul and Annie both to be unavailable, but they could have gone clam hunting, so we'll give him a GE roll: 8 is quite favorable for him.

Kurt offers to withdraw from the mission to save his friends. Interesting choice; we'll see where it leads.

I won't say that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons have pan-universal validity, but I will note that Scott and I seem to share some influences in our thoughts on the subject of psionics. As it happens, Blank Mind is not the simplest of Multiverser psionic defenses, but it is otherwise very much as he describes it. He rolls 02, which saves me from having to crunch any numbers as I know that will be successful, 1@1 Blank Mind P2@4 activated by statement of the player, must be rolled when implicated (e.g., in response to psionic attacks or skill use against the character), absolute defense against all mind reading skills and attacks on the upper levels of the mind, RS=SM against all other attacks against or effects on the mind, including detections.

John 2 wants to test some skills, beginning with his old favorite the TK Pulse. He's got a 2@2 SAL (+2 marks) with that, but this is the first time he's attempting to use it in this particular world, which has a flatlined psi bias (I have no reason to think otherwise, based on the Terminator films). That means together with his 2@2 BRA he has a 44% chance of success with this. He really needs a target, though, and I'm inclined to think that an ankle bracelet would be too far away for him to see. He rolls 24, well within his chance of success; 14 is the GE roll for a target object.

Next he wants to heal himself. I didn't roll for the chance that he would be injured. It would have been possible for him to break his collarbone (large first babies often do), and he's been out for hours now so most of the little stuff is better. 13 is barely good enough, so I'll assume he's still got some of those zero-damage scrapes and such that accompany childbirth and let him roll against them: 27 is within his 1@1 SAL+2@2 BRA, and I'll give him new use for it mostly because of the low SAL and the flatlined world. That makes it 1@2 Heal Damage to Self P6@1. He's also got a 1@1 SAL on the force field, but he wants to create it in an unusual shape that covers multiple directions, so I'll have to penalize success -10 leaving him a 23% chance of success, and his roll is 52.

Hey, I think I'm done.

--M. J. Young

Thank you for the kudos.

Who gave you kudos?

(Doing Therapy)

Graeme added his to Harry's a few days back, and I had sort of acknowledged Harry's without saying thank you and had cross-posted against Graeme's and didn't see them until yesterday, so I was catching up on my thanks. While I'm posting asides, let me mention that I am serious about the e-mail I sent earlier today, to the effect that if you, John, send me another e-mail claiming that you were "forced to be involved" in the Pearl Harbor scenario because an MP saw you and spoke to you (which I repeat merely makes you an observer, not a participant), I will stop running your games until I am suitably recovered from the anger you create by sending several letters per day on the same subject which I have answered and dismissed several times already. You were forced to be present and to observe; you were not forced to participate or "become involved". Confuse those two points again, and I will consider you beyond rational discussion and will suspend your game.

I get angry just thinking about it.

Consider the subject dropped. And don't tell me that it's worse for you. There are things that are worse for me; I don't send you weekly e-mails telling you about them and trying to get you to agree with me.

Thank you.

Now, let's see what's happening with Eli, Michael, Kurt, Harry, Scott, John 2, and Graeme.

Eli is meeting more nagas. We'll have a bit of fun with them.

I should roll Annie's first aid skill, but NagaJuice is a potent curative so the bonus for having it available is quite significant and her medical skills are by now easily professional level. She rolls 80, which I'll take as a strong success. And I expect Michael will learn something useful from that.

Kurt has definitely put me off balance. Even I don't know whether this is a ruse or a genuine defection--nor do I have any idea what he's thinking about Mariska, who actually is hiding somewhere on the grounds and thinks they're working together in some way. But we'll play it one step at a time.

It may be time to bring the wedding festivities to an end, and let Harry and Arabella go on their honeymoon.

Scott has decided to practice his supernatural massage on Iggy, the iguana, but I'm not sure how you get an iguana to play its part in the ritual (small though it may be), so I'm going to ask before I tinker with the outcome.

I would like simply to tell John 2 that he does not remember what it was like when he collided with Lauren's shield, but I owe him a simple intellect check. The rolls are 15+10=25, which is better than his intellect. He wants to try a flat shield (certainly a better choice), and rolls 99, definitely a botch, let's see what kinds of botches we have:

1. Explosion
2. Brain Burn
3. Psionic Shock Wave
4. Neural Breakdown
5. Random Force Object Attack
6. Force Ojbect attack on self
7. Topple bed
8. Earthquake

and the roll is 5. Let's get a GE roll for what is hit and another for how badly, the second a 2d10+10 roll: 7+7+4=18, 8+10+10=28, we're looking at a fatal level attack, but on equipment. The damage roll itself is 05, three intensities.

Graeme is starting a new spell; I'm asking questions about it.

--M. J. Young

You were forced to be present and to observe;

By which I was forced to become more involved than I ever would have chosen to become. Which is, I think, the point you're missing.

And don't tell me that it's worse for you. There are things that are worse for me; I don't send you weekly e-mails telling you about them and trying to get you to agree with me.

Yeah, but I didn't create for you the worse situation that won't get out of your head.

I think I'll just save you the trouble of suspending my game. I'm on hiatus. My April Fool's Day joke will be returning to the board to once again wreak havoc on your life.

(Doing Therapy)

John 2 has chosen to argue about what happened over a year ago instead of playing the game now, so that shifts my attention away from his game thread to his arguments--but at least I'm not putting time into both. That gives me active games from Eli, Kurt, and Harry, and maybe I'll get something else done tonight.

Eli is going to sing. Nagas do enjoy singing.

Kurt's dinner with Steranko is winding down, and the next question is when Ilsa appears and what her initial attitude toward Kurt is going to be. The GE roll for this is 23, so it's not going to be today.

Harry's honeymoon is none of your business, and very little of mine, so we'll gloss through it with a minimum of comment and move to the part where he takes his bride home.

I think that's everything; if I missed something maybe I'll post again.

--M. J. Young