MJ, you're always talking about how your life would be better if your dream of becoming a rock musician had been fulfilled. And to a point, I see where you're coming from. Here's the other side of the coin. What have you learned because you did NOT become a rock star? Patience, perseverance, faith, humility, to just name the tip of the iceberg. Did your divergent who did become a rock star learn any of this? Can you be positive that he is not an arrogant, self-centered jerk? (Hint, since you never lived it, the answer is NO!!!) Really, which of you is better off? Just something to think about.
Besides, if the theory of the Multiverse is true, your divergent is out there, you'll meet him in Heaven, and I'm sure he will tell you all about it. In Heaven, that would be way better than having lived it.
(Doing Therapy)
Jhiaxus,
No, its not assumed you have 'all the advantages'. Its easily proven that Lex Luthor, although weaker in at least a dozen ways, than Superman, can still on occasion defeat Superman. And yes, that can in part be because Supes is a good guy, and has a hand tied behind his back, while Lex is evil scum who'd happily kill millions of people to gain an objective.
On the danger sense issue, I've admitted I made a mistake. What more do you want? I could send you a pinkie finger in the mail? :) Please forgive me?
There is one guy in the universe with a psi damping device that I can name right now. Mechanoman.
Yes, they have numbers on you. Its partly the nature of the world. Its also partly the nature of 'being the most powerful character'. I could send you one on one against most of the villains in the game. You'd have a hard time, have to think a bit, and then you'd win (at least most of the time.)
The 'no plans' bit may be just me. Do I plan ahead? Not so much. So my characters aren't going to either. But I thought Blackjack's plan was good. And you haven't contacted some of the other heroes. So far you've only met Mechanoman and Blackjack. You've seen Blue Ace in the distance.
Plans that go no where...
Hey hold up there, cowboy. You started a gang war as you wanted to do. You've imprisoned two superthugs, and driven one demon out of its body. You've captured one of the major players in the Council of Crime (Mr. K) who was then killed to keep him from spilling the beans. I suspect you didn't realize Mr. K was a CoC guy.
And you had a traditional to this type of world superhero vs superhero fight in which you clocked one of the most powerful supers on the planet. Yeah, Mechanoman is generally regarded as a serious player by heroes and villains alike.
You've also recruited the Fight Brothers as newbie superheroes (of granted a low power level, but still).
Despite the charm of Blue Ace and the devotion of Mechanoman your girl still loves you, but she has a plan she doesn't want to drop just cause you showed up. Granted it turns out it was a plan that did not work, but that happens.
In Champions, the superhero game, you have dnpc's, dependent non player characters. They're like Lois Lane who somehow always manages to be the pretty girl the thug grabs from the crowd to use as a hostage. They get to dangle over pits of vile chemicals while kicking their cute legs as the villain laughs maniacally 'save the pretty girl or save the city, Mr. Hero, your choice.' In case its not completly obvious, I see Tessa as a dnpc.
You've captured w/ Blackjack's help, Mr. Little, and deprived Dr. Brain of his powers. These are the two main supporting characters for Mr. Big. His hatchetman and his internal security guy (hard for a thug to plot to take out Mr. Big when Big has one of the very, very few psis on the planet).
You are now in a deathtrap which is again traditional for comic books, and Mr. Big has escaped in his rocket throne. But notably, he has escaped, and not stood to fight you.
In three weeks, you've started a business, learned a number of new skills, and nearly taken over the preeminent (except for the Tong on the other side of the world) crime group in the world. You're likely going to succeed, but Mr. Big is still out there, and he's going to try somethings to stop you.
Meta-game: With Tessa, I've been aware in watching other games, and in my gaming, that once a relationship is finalized aka 'I love you', that it tends to stop there in gaming. Then the relationship becomes more dutiful. No, not going to go there. I'm trying to experiment out on the cutting edge of gamemastery of ways to keep the relationship a vital and interesting part of the game.
I messed up in the Thirty Verser world with some things, at least to a degree. I really wanted to have a triumphant, but massively complicated wedding where you'd be tearing out your hair as you wondered what insane disaster could happen next to keep you from marching down the aisle (including having Tessa kidnapped.)
One of my pleasant moments as a GM was when the hero finally got his lady to agree to marry him. She wanted to marry him in a temple to her god. So, he built one of wood. And then he tells me that 'I stay awake to guard the temple the night before because I just figure you'd have it catch fire'. Heh, I hadn't even thought of it, but what a great idea. I was pleased at my player's paranoia.
I find training to be a bit boring. Plus you're in a super world which tends to heighten the problem of training as its very action oriented. Plus, Jhiaxus, how powerful do you need to be? You're massively powerful already. Granted, Superman would clean your clock, but really?
Second post...
The last para....think about it this way.
For me, it would be pretty rough, and not that fun to run the Alchemist. That's Mark's five thousand year old supercharacter. I'd propose a problem, he'd ask a couple clarifying questions, and then he's solve the problem without rattling the tea cups.
"Oh, Mr. Alchemist, a thousand starships of a fanatic death cult are advancng on the planet." Says the Prime Minister.
"Tell me about the cult, sir."
"Highly disciplined, willing to die for the order of their High Master..."
Alchemist then reaches up with his mighty brain, and takes over the mind of the Admiral of the Armada from two lightyears away and orders them to go back home.
Next week...
"....a thousand starships..."
"Tell...."
"Random chaotic nihilists sir. They live for blood and chaos."
The Alchemist has to work a tiny bit harder. He plants hallucinations in the brains of a half dozen ship commanders that the other ship commanders have gotten bored and are opening fire on him.
What few tattered remnants of the Chaos fleet that survive limp home.
At this point, the Alchemist has totally petrified everyone for a hundred lightyears in any direction who has an armada that I, the GM could justifiably use.
So I'm forced to shift to Assassins and Ninja Clans...which he also handles without rattling the china on the table.
I will condense it like this, you provided the motivation, by having someone look down at him like an ant. So in essence, it wasn't the difference in power, but the condescending way it was done. To answer your question, he needs to be powerful enough so that person, and others never make that mistake again. To trash someone's efforts, trashes their spirit. It isn't about having power to use it, it's to have the power not to use it.
As far as this world, I think you misunderstand why I am doing what I do. I don't care to control anything, I don't particular want to fight anyone. I certainty don't want to be the crime lord. I just want them all to mistrust each other enough to not try something like this again.
Your method is all well and good, but it all falls apart when you separate the verser from the one he wants time and time again. It is not fun but frustrating, I don't want things to be easy, but on the other hand I feel like I am following the carrot on the stick and never catching up to it.
Elizabeth from the Thirty Versers World was based on the character in Julian May's books, the Many Colored Land series. Mark has been there once (when he met Fluffy and killed an 'elf' alien trying to enslave him. And yes, the elf was condescending. mark was human, and human were slaves in the elf's view.)
She is godlike and condescending and actually a nice person, but still well aware she's so much more than anyone around her.
She has a hundred elf psis try to get her to commit suicide all the time in the book. These are what ordinary people might thing of as powerful...say Dr. Brain. She regards them as annoying mosquitoes who's constant buzz irritates her.
One reason I put her there was the idea of 'What about someone truly powerful becoming a verser?' We always have relatively low powered people that verse, but sometime, somewhere some demigoddess has to verse. So she's new to versing, but more powerful than anyone but say Di Vars. She had multiple 3@8 psi powers (like five or so of them). In a universe with 300 billion human psi's, she was in the Top Five, a 'Living Treasure of the Galaxy' was her title (from May's book).
If you meet Darth Vader, he's going to be condescending. And he'll have far less reason than Elizabeth. If you travel to Northgate, you might meet Dr. Zhorbhakian, the 'smartest man in the world (and yes, that's copyrighted)'. He is condescending to everyone (and he's based on a 'superhero' character a friend played.)
Mark's been to Northgate, and he smiled when a supervillain lady told him 'being super means you don't have to say you're sorry' and then she broke his chair to demonstrate her power. He then cleaned her clock shortly thereafter. That to my mind is a better response than being so godlike no one would condescend to you.
I recognize you don't want to be the crime lord. I expect you'dlike to severely limit the activity of criminals and supervillains so as to protect the ordinary people. I doubt you plan on eliminating the criminals as you think such is impossible.
As to your last para...I remember reading a Louis L'Amour book (unusually set in the 12th Century) with the hero wanting the whole book to rescue his father. Finally, he does. And then its like 'well nice to see ya' kid, and hey thanks for rescuing me from the impregnable fortress of the Assasins, but see ya' around.'
It fell very flat.
I'll work on it. Keep in mind that I'm experimenting here. I have not done much romance in my games. I know some things I want to avoid, but that's going to lead me into new problems by overreacting to avoidng the old problems.
I will try to have your next world have some training opportunities and more Tessa time.
I as the player can appreciate that, but as the character, I play him as he sees the world. I or my character will never be Mark or his character. I and my character aren't as nice of a person as they are. I know for a fact I am much more chaotic with my responses, and even in the same situation, depending on how it is presented, I might do completely different things. I have no problem with any ruling or what is happening, the only time I do is when I feel something has been misrepresented or misunderstood. I guess it boils down to, I don't have as much faith in my fellow man as others here, so my play style means relying on yourself to get things done. I have no problem working with others, but I have no faith that they won't let me down.
Good point.
As a side note, Oak is now getting to be a butcher for some meat-hungry kittens. Put that on your resume....Extraterrestial Butcher, experienced with sonic knives and laser saws.
Second post...
John,
You know how Pearl Harbor and Mark saying he wanted to find out what sort of player you were (please, please don't go back into all that)....well, I'm doing something similar with Jhiaxus right now.
He can rescue himself and his girlfriend, and probably be safe. Or he can take an additional risk and rescue a good man who is also a jerk to Jhiaxus, and thus put the life of himself and his girlfriend on the line for a jerk.
So...Moral dilemna time....heh, heh...
Wow, a lot happened over one day, and I'm short on time as it is--but let's see what we can cover.
Eric:
Mark is not talking about that either. He's talking about a meta-game issue, I think. You're now opening up the can that says in teh future I can send you to Marvel World and have Rogue steal all your powers....
Yeah, I don't know if it's exactly a metagame issue, but I do generally gauge the power of my situations against the power of the player character, and also to some degree the "fairness". If the player thinks it is perfectly reasonable for him to use nuclear weapons against a primitive enemy, I think it's perfectly reasonable to use Q-bombs against him. If he prefers to run things on a near-equal basis--using swords against swords and proving his superiority with the sword rather than drawing a gun to end the conflict, for example--then I will rarely overmatch him. I don't like to overmatch the player character, because I want him to feel like he has a chance; but I don't like the player character to turn everything into a walk-through, either, and if he does, he can bet that his encounters will get tougher, if I can reasonably make them so.
In short, if the player tells me by his skill learning that this kind of thing is legitimate, I'll include this kind of thing against him. It won't have to be identical--stealing life a la D&D undead is covered in the rules (sucks away stamina), and is reasonably comparable to stealing abilities psionically, so learning the latter mean I'll allow the former.
Eli:
I'm not sure if I'm remembering Marvel correctly but,Not sure, but it's not quite the point. I know that sometimes her touch is fatal, and obviously she doesn't keep those powers permanently, but she is the best known example of an idea which expresses itself in other characters as well.
Doesn't Rouge only steal the powers temporally?
Eric:
I find training to be a bit boring.
So sorry for you. I'm reminded of the recent episode of Royal Pains in which the teenaged patient says to Dr. Hank, "I don't like needles" and he responds, "Really? Because most people love them." Yes, extended training is a bit boring. At the table, it has the advantage that you can run a lot of other more interesting worlds for other players and return to this one for a minute or two from time to time, and the player knows that he chose this "boring" activity because it's going to improve him for the next encounter. I am reminded always of when Chris Jones (not playing Whisp, whom he played in Ed's game) attended seminary for about two years to boost his ed lev and his holy magic abilities. I was running two or three other players, and spending most of my time on them, maybe every ten minutes or so turning toward him and saying, "Do you want to do anything else this month? Roll a GE roll." Sometimes something interesting happened. Usually I just checked off another month and told him how it went. But that's fine, because 1) there were other interesting games happening at the table, and 2) he knew he'd bought this down time at the price of a boring session, and could think between those "monthly" checks about what else he might do in that time.
So sometimes you've got to let things get boring. After all, most of life is boring and we mostly remember the interesting times.
Eric:
Jhiaxus, how powerful do you need to be? You're massively powerful already. Granted, Superman would clean your clock, but really?
This is how Adam plays, Eric; and you've seen it in every game in which he has been involved, and I certainly don't blame him. I think that the moment that really caught his attention was when Kyler, playing his nine-year-old body in the tower scenario of Why Spy, was challenged by the big bruiser to a single battle and killed him before he could land a blow. Adam is perhaps the most successful Hackmaster player. The point is to be as powerful as you can manage, so that 1) nothing with any intelligence will want to give you trouble and 2) anything that tries will regret it.
That's a valid way to play, and I admire it. He does it well. You're only going to frustrate him if you don't let him do that. Then you can face him against Bizarro and Atlas and Tiamat and Mister Mxyptlk, and he'll be challenged and will win some and lose some, and know that he's playing at that level.
Adam:
I think what has me riled up about all this, is that it is assumed that since I am "the most powerful", that I have all the advantages. Facts are, I have a hand tied behind my back at all times, to not kill anyone. On top of that,...
My ellipsis omitted a number of similar complaints about the unfair treatment his character has gotten. I sympathize--I often found Eric's play to active, as if it were not possible for a person to get a breather or to have an easy day.
On the other hand, his worlds are all very different from each other, and sometimes with smart play you get the upper hand, or at least can start working toward it. I encountered that elf-alien, and knew she was out of my league, but I also found the dwarf-like creatures who were willing to help me learn what I needed.
Adam:
I don't want things to be easy, but on the other hand I feel like I am following the carrot on the stick and never catching up to it.
Yeah, thanks for getting the "carrot and stick approach" right; so many people get that wrong.
Eric, if he feels like that, you're doing something wrong. I seem to remember one of the Game Ideas Unlimited articles making the suggestion that there needs to be intermediate payoffs--it can't just be that if you keep going you might win in the end, or you might not, but rather that as you keep going you feel like you've actually succeeded at something along the way. It's a tough balance, but it has to be there.
MJ, you're always talking about how your life would be better if your dream of becoming a rock musician had been fulfilled. And to a point, I see where you're coming from. Here's the other side of the coin. What have you learned because you did NOT become a rock star? Patience, perseverance, faith, humility, to just name the tip of the iceberg. Did your divergent who did become a rock star learn any of this? Can you be positive that he is not an arrogant, self-centered jerk? (Hint, since you never lived it, the answer is NO!!!) Really, which of you is better off? Just something to think about.
I've decided that this needs its own post.
--M. J. Young
John wrote:
MJ, you're always talking about how your life would be better if your dream of becoming a rock musician had been fulfilled. And to a point, I see where you're coming from. Here's the other side of the coin. What have you learned because you did NOT become a rock star? Patience, perseverance, faith, humility, to just name the tip of the iceberg. Did your divergent who did become a rock star learn any of this? Can you be positive that he is not an arrogant, self-centered jerk? (Hint, since you never lived it, the answer is NO!!!) Really, which of you is better off? Just something to think about.
First, I don't think I ever said that my life would be better. I am quite aware that there were a lot of potential negatives to that. I can be pretty sure that my success in Contemporary Christian/Rock Music would not have resulted in me being an arrogant self-centered jerk--it's a bit difficult to be successful in that field with that attitude. Also, I've always been rather patient. My father is the most patient man I've known, and in emulating him I have come pretty close.
I readily and frequently admit, though, that I learned something very important in not becoming a successful musician. You see, when I was in college I had no idea that I was smarter than the average primate. I was good at taking tests and had decent reading comprehension and writing skills, but I got average grades, sometimes better, sometimes worse. My mother always told me that I was intelligent, but she also told me I was handsome, so I knew she was lying. If you had asked me, seriously, why my entire vision of the future after college focused on being in Christian music, I'd have told you that it was because I had no talent or ability to do anything else.
I have learned otherwise. I have been a radio announcer/disk jockey, a college level professor, a game designer, an author, and a convention panelist (not to mention a few minor things like microfilm technician and drywall installer, although I did not do terribly well at the latter). I have aced Mensa's qualifying exams and a couple of graduate school pre-admission tests and the military aptitude test, gotten a doctorate with honors, and written articles published on web sites around the world and translated into French and German. I am respected by some inestimable number of people in fantasy and science fiction fandom.
I doubt I would have ever suspected I could do any of that had I succeeded in music.
On the other hand, I do not believe I have ever broken ten thousand dollars of income in any year, and would wager to say that I never had an hourly wage as high as the current minimum. On good days I break a dollar. Had I been successful as a musician I would probably think that I might have made more money if I'd had a different talent, but I probably would have been making a lot more money than I am. Also, although my wife would probably have thought that I ought to get a real job that made more money, she would have had some respect for what I did--as it is, she thinks that everything I do is a meaningless waste of my time that contributes nothing of value to anyone, and least of all to us.
Sometimes I think that this is the life I was given simply to prove that the other might have been better; that is, I remember my wife complaining that I did not make enough money working at the radio station, and I have not made as much as that since. I might not have made as much as that in music, but had I been even modestly successful I would have made more than this.
--M. J. Young
I can be pretty sure that my success in Contemporary Christian/Rock Music would not have resulted in me being an arrogant self-centered jerk--it's a bit difficult to be successful in that field with that attitude.
The Christian rap group DC Talk broke up over money. One of their biggest hits was a song called "Things Of This World" where they proclaim that the things of this world are passing away and should not be trifled with. Just saying, it can happen to anyone.
On the other hand, I do not believe I have ever broken ten thousand dollars of income in any year, and would wager to say that I never had an hourly wage as high as the current minimum.
I make more than that on disability.....
Poor Eric is suffering for what is probably at least partially my fault. The one or two times he tried to put me into a training scenario, I was so bored that he was probably traumatized for life... :p
His style is definitely action oriented. And while there are times I could be happy just focusing on roleplaying and relationship building for sufficiently interesting worlds (non-modern, non-human-exclusive, non-normal-bias), I have thoroughly enjoyed the wild ride he has taken me on these past five years. His creative talents are amazing.
In this conversation, I am reminded of my own RL challenges as a professor. It is challenging enough to be an effective teacher for anyone. It is still more challenging to be so for the wide range of students, preferences, and learning styles out there. It is very hard indeed to please everyone... :o
Intermediate challenges. I'll work on it.
And thanks Oak, bunches.
For what it is worth, I enjoy playing with you, those being the only two issues I really have. It is different than MJ, different style and pace. I appreciate that you take the time out of your day to play.
Thanks, and likewise. I'm trying to stretch my skills, and you thus get experimented on. :)
Ya know something? I think God is using my psychosis to guide my life. A psychotic fit is a memory of something that happened. Imagine a home movie of all of your life's most humiliating moments playing on an endless loop, and you can't shut it off, coupled with the blades of a blender spinning inside your head. Any wonder I scream obscenities? Here's the strange part. I think God told me to perform the action which caused the worst psychotic fit I've ever had. The whole week before I did it, I had the thought of it repeating over and over in my brain. It was also the catalyst for the two best things that ever happened to me. The psychotic fit made sure that I never forgot about it. I've spent the rest of my life analyzing it. A lot of the memory episodes were the catalysts for life-changing events, now that I think about it. Wow, God told me that I would understand the reasons for the psychosis one day. And just think of all the fun I'm having getting rid of them.....
Now THAT'S random chat, buddy.
(Doing Therapy)
My mother always told me that I was intelligent, but she also told me I was handsome, so I knew she was lying.
Hey! I have seen your photo! Don't let the compliments of others be perceived as false when they are not.
It's a catch 22. If you think you're good looking, you're vain. If you think you're ugly, you're insecure.
(Doing Therapy)
I'm good looking, and yes, I'm vain, but its my burden to carry being so perfect.
You're also a terrible liar..... :)
Good looking? It is hard for me to look very good because of my nearsightedness, since things get blurry. However, my new glasses enable me to look very good. Everything is so crisp and crystal clear!
Vein? Yea, I have to admit that I am pretty vein. Couldn't get along without 'em! I'm also rather capillary... :p
I've spent an annoyingly long period of time feeling sick without actually being detectably sick, which manages to be more irritating than being actually sick and not being sick at all.
On a largely unrelated note, since Scott is apparently very busy this year, I'm thinking of starting up a new game with someone else.
I am sure someone will jump at the chance to be run. Good Luck.
My mother always told me that I was intelligent, but she also told me I was handsome, so I knew she was lying.Hey! I have seen your photo! Don't let the compliments of others be perceived as false when they are not.
Ah, yes, you've seen good photos of a forty-something to fifty-something year old man, who has carefully selected two good photos to release to the world.
I see photos of myself up to thirty-something and cringe. I cringed when I saw them then, too.
I'm so accustomed to not looking at myself that I don't know that my hair is loose until it gets in my face.
Now, my wife thinks I'm good looking, and has since long before I was happy with my looks, so there's no accounting for tastes I suppose, and anyway maybe I grew into her expectations. On the other hand, she's always complaining that I don't fix my hair, and I'm always oblivious to it.
Adam--I think James was hoping someone would run him.
James--I don't think you've ever been in my game and I wouldn't object to running you, and in fact I don't think I'd object to taking over your character from Scott (he is extremely good at the game system mechanics); but I'd need the paper from Scott and I'd need you to write a very long and detailed summary of everywhere you've been and everything you've done (not as long as reading all the threads, but long enough that I've seen all the important details, names of people, what influenced you to learn the skills you know, your philosophy of the verse and how it formed, pretty much everything). Or you could start a new character, but I'm not really one for starting new characters for players who already have characters. I did it for a couple people mainly because I couldn't get the information to continue their old ones.
I haven't been very good at keeping up on posts the past few months, though, so you might do better if you can get Adam or Eric to do it.
--M. J. Young
JTM,
I've been struggling a bit with keeping up with mine. I would like to take you on, but it might be better if Jhiaxus did so. In any case, its up to you.
JTM: I admit I thought he was running Scott, and not the other way around. If he wants to be run, I have no problem doing so. MJ is a more structured GM, and I'm more of a hip shooter.
Eric: I have been thinking of your DNPC concept. I have been rolling it around in my mind, and it works for many NPC's but I think your concept is a bit off. a DNPC, is dependent, and often it is because of lack of ability or desire to take action. When a DNPC lacks one, but not the other, yes they are a DNPC, but they will either develop the skills, or increase their desire to do things for themselves, to not rely on others for everything. I think Tessa, lacks the skills, but is building them up, and she certainty doesn't lack the desire. I think the situations where a DNPC with one or the other who is not wanting to be dependent, it will become less and less that they rely on the main character to rescue them. It will always be a possibility, but in their minds, they want to be stronger to, to not be a burden. Just my thoughts on the DNPC.
I think you might like Champions 4th Ed. which is OOP. It was very mathematical.
One of the Character Disadvantages was DNPC: But then it had modifiers.
Frequency on 3d6 of being in an adventure: 14-, 11-, and 8-.
It also had a powerful differential that I remember less well...
Greatly weaker than PC, Weaker than PC, SLP Slightly Weaker than PC with of course, each level being a different amount of disad pts.
And then there is ...the modifier upon a modifier 'have useful skills'....
So...Tessa is not Greatly Weaker than you, but I have to think she's Weaker than (even though I've given her some skills you don't know of...), but still....
In Champions terms: Tessa (girlfriend) DNPC 11- Weaker than PC With Some Useful Skills
So ...
Joe Baxter aka The Mighty Ray fights crime and terrorists in Central City. Once in a while, Cupid Cat, who has some basic kung fu, and a bow that shoots love darts, helps him out. But she's so cute that most of the villains in the area want to capture her to get a date, and so at least half the time (11-) The Mighty Ray has to go and rescue her.
I like the DNPC topic, and want to start it as a new thread in the new forum, under General Roleplaying Discussion. I'll post the link later when I've started the thread.
--M. J. Young
I cross posted that with Eric--that kind of day--but the link is Dependent Non-player Characters, and Eric, you should have received an invite to join that that General Roleplaying Discussions forum (as should several others, and if you got an invite and are already in or didn't get an invite and should have, I apologize).
--M. J. Young
Oh one last thing to Eric, gotta get her to a 14 then, I will put it on my to-do list :P
Mark,
You were interested in Oak's previous world. I'm not sure I mentioned this.
Jim Butcher wrote the series 'The Dresden Files', and it became a short-lived SciFi channel show by that name. Oak took the role of the doppleganger of detective wizard hero 'Dresden' who in that universe was 'Oak'.
It kind of blows my mind to see people calling MJ "Mark". I guess to me, it would be like calling a respected high school teacher by their first name. Just my two cents.
(Doing Therapy)
I think he likes it better.
What do you like to be called MJ?
(Doing Therapy)
It's been bugging me ever since I read Oak's last world, so I'm going to take the opportunity to complain that at one point you had a Red Court member fully vamped-out in a dream sequence and misidentified it as a White Court vampire. I dunno that it ended up actually mattering, but it was pretty clear from later context that you hadn't deliberately swapped them, and White Court super-mode has them turn pale and get silvery eyes.
I think it might have gone over better with Oak if you'd sent him up against the Denarians, since that seems right up his alley.
Incidentally, I find the choice of theme for the Raith party rather clever.
White Court vampires have a black demon slug inside them (not sure if thats physical or spiritual)...and Black Courts...I think they look kind of black and dead and shrivelled up a bit.
Now, in the opening I did have Black Court vamps running wild over the Windy City because that was one of the Doom Endstates....total collapse of any restraint, and Black Court vamps hunting at will and in the open.
I've only read about half the books so I'm not totally familiar with all them. The Denarians are the ones with the coins and the fallen angel attached to the coin, right?
Fully vamped out...
White...silver eyes and impossibly beautiful
Black--walking corpse?
Red...not sure
Reds turn into humanoid demon-bats.
You're right about the denarians.
What do you like to be called MJ?
"M'lord" is good, but I can't seem to get anyone to use it.
As Merlin says to Lauren, it doesn't really matter what you call me as long as I know you mean me--but it will help our relationship if it's something respectful (or at least not insulting).
The story, since it has to do with Gaming Outpost:
- My name is Mark Joseph Young, and I was always Mark J. Young on paper. That was my signature, and still is on my checking account. My parents called me Mark, my teachers called me Mark, my peers called me--well, they called me a lot of things that fit into that category of not respectful, but those that managed to show respect called me Mark. At Luther College the girls (probably not all the girls, but since there were only maybe sixty of them at the school altogether the fact that fifteen to twenty did this is a big deal) would create "Mark J." names for me, ranging from "Mark J. Composer" to "Mark J. Creep", depending on their present attitude toward me.
I was Mark Young on WNNN-FM, and pretty well known particularly among the Charismatic/Pentecostal communities of extreme southwestern New Jersey and northern Delaware for that. We started a newsletter, and I did much of the writing and worked with the printer, who happened to be the assistant editor of a local newspaper, The Elmer Times. (Elmer is one of the small towns around here, technically in Salem County but far from everything in that county and much closer to things in Cumberland County--as if you needed to know that.) I wrote a couple pieces of political satire which they carried in their paper, but to avoid the connection between "Mark Young" the Christian radio announcer and the guy who wrote those pieces, we agreed that they would be published under the name "M. Joseph Young".
I liked the name, and by the time we were working on Multiverser I'd decided that anything I published would be under that name. Call it a nom de plume if you like; it really was my name, but in a form that I could use that sounded sophisticated or something.
When Multiverser hit the market, I got a running start on its release with the establishment of several "feeder" web sites; but I used different names on them. Sometimes I was "Mark J. Young", on the song lyrics and the Dungeons & Dragons(R) materials; but I was "M. Joseph Young" on the Multiverser site and the temporal anomalies site. (I might also have been "Mark Young" somewhere, but I don't know for certain.)
Then Gary Gygax encouraged me (and maybe fifty other people) to write something for this new web site, Gaming Outpost. I produced Morality and Consequences: Overlooked Gaming Essentials, under the name M. Joseph Young, and so joined a growing list of game authors who had articles published here. But to find out what people said about it and to interact with them, I had to create a screen name for the forum. I don't know whether "Mark Joseph Young" would have been too long, but I thought it probably would, and I also thought that it would be confusing to be "Mark Young" or even "Mark J. Young" given that the Multiverser material was all as "M. Joseph Young", but equally confusing to be "M. Joseph Young" given that the D&D material was all as "Mark J. Young". So I thought "M. J. Young" would solve the matter, and set up the account that way.
No one had ever called me "Emjay" before that, but now they did. The name stuck, and became how I was known on gamer forums everywhere, and at gaming conventions. It is the way I sign ninety-nine percent of my e-mail. There are people who know me fairly well who don't know my first name, and sometimes I get called "Mike" by people who forget; but there are also people who have made a point of learning it and remembering it and using it.
Now, there are at least dozens of late teen/early twenty-somethings around here who call me "Dad", "Daddy", "Papa", or "Padre", but that's a local thing. There are also some who work closely with me and call me "Mr. Young" because that's what think they should call me. Some of them just don't use any name at all, because they don't know what name to use.
My friends and family call me Mark, and with many of them I will sign "Mark" either alone (mostly family) or above the fuller "M. J. Young". I have grown accustomed to "MJ"; it has the advantage that it is comparatively rare--I've only once encountered someone else on a forum who went by "MJ" and that was a girl, and to some degree she threw everyone off because they so associated "MJ" with me even when they were talking with her. They call me that at Ubercon, and it's usually what's on my badges, so I suppose it's become my "professional name".
Interestingly, I have three signatures (in three different handwriting styles)--the aforementioned "Mark J. Young", the autograph "M. Joseph Young", and an artistically stylized version in which the letters of "MarkJ" are also the letters of "Young" (can be seen here), but no signature that corresponds to the familiar "MJ".
John, you don't call me "Mark" because you objected to my attempt to sign my e-mail that way. That's fine. Call me M.J., or Professor, or whatever makes you feel comfortable. Adam calls me MJ because he met me at a convention; Eric calls me Mark because we've corresponded as peers and friends. Kyler calls me "Dad", but he comes by that honestly.
I still feel funny when people write to me as "Joseph", but I guess I set them up for that, so I accept it.
--M. J. Young
the girls (probably not all the girls, but since there were only maybe sixty of them at the school altogether the fact that fifteen to twenty did this is a big deal) would create "Mark J." names for me, ranging from "Mark J. Composer" to "Mark J. Creep", depending on their present attitude toward me.
Homer J. Simpson
Bartholomew J. Simpson.
I've been told that Bart's middle name is never revealed, but Homer's middle name really is Jay. Homer Jay Simpson.
There are also some who work closely with me and call me "Mr. Young" because that's what think they should call me. Some of them just don't use any name at all, because they don't know what name to use.
I used to call you that in email. For as often as I address you by name on the forum, it became much easier to just go with the shorter MJ. That's probably what I would call you in person.
John, you don't call me "Mark" because you objected to my attempt to sign my e-mail that way.
I don't recall that. Seriously, to me, it would be like calling a respected high school teacher by name. To me, that's what you were. Teaching the time travel theory.
(Doing Therapy)
Two
I'm watching The Incredible Hulk TV show. Ever notice that people attack The Hulk with just their bare hands or some club weapon? Forgetting the fact that The Hulk has superhuman strength, who in their right mind would try to attack Lou Ferrigno?
(Doing Therapy)