Hi, and welcome to all participants in this micro-game.  If you did not participate in Topic 2000, subtopic: 2006 - Experiment Six:  One Character, Multiple Players... and wish to contribute here, please go and read that first.

We're not going to bother with any rules here, and just go free-form.  The purpose of this micro-game is to see how using multiple characters with the same name can work to allow all players in the game to act for and thus simulate the play of a single character so named.

Dabbler, who proposed the experiment, also proposed the following scenario:



If this experiment, by chance, turns into something actually fun to play, I will commit to fielding it as a separate game.

To get things started, I'll create several mercenary privates with varying names, assigning "clones" of them to all participants, and creating a common character sheet for each, as Skald has suggested, in a separate topic.

Since this topic is 2600, the topic for each of these mercenaries will follow in sequence as 2610, 2620, 2630, on out to 262F if need arises.  (Yes, I'm compulsive when it comes to organizing topics and subtopics...)

I will also produce a jump table somewhere with links to the various subtopics, but at a later time.  I worked an odd shift yesterday, and am re-adjusting to my normally nocturnal routine today, so I'm going back to bed for a little while as soon as I post this.

I will remind all participants and onlookers that, even though some content for this annex to Experiment Six is in groups other than zero, mature and adult content is not permitted in this game.

Until I get all that I've committed to done, feel free to chat among yourselves and get further acquainted.

With that out of the way, I'll turn this part of the experiment over to Dabbler for any further fleshing out of the scenario that may be needed.

Take it away, Dabbler!

A communal character sheet. Of course! <smacks self side of head>. Why didn't I think of that?

Going by the original, there was a small A-team-like group of mercenaries (are we looking at 3 PCs here? I think I had 4 in the original game) and a similar number of redshirts. The PCs were rounded characters whereas the redshirts were more one-dimensional - the knife man, the escapologist, the driver, etc.

I didn't want someone in the team to decide 'oh, we need the knife guy to take the guard out' and then have to wait two days for the player who controlled the knife guy to come online and ask the first PC what he wanted the knife guy to do... etc.

Much easier if the first PC can operate the knife guy himself.

M'kay... I've had a nap and some Chinese food at the local buffet with the family, so time to get crackin' here.

Participants thus far:

Dabbler
Skald
Chief Tinker

I've also sent an rMail to baxtheslayer (who already has access here), inviting him to join us if so inclined.

It looks like, for now, we need three different secondary player characters (SPCs) created in triplicate?

Since it's a mercenary scenario, let's go with Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico, privates all.  (Yes, they are all names from Madagascar Penguins..., but what's in a name?)

Do we want all players to have access to all SPCs?  I think that's what I'll set up at first, and we can create more if we need more.

Let me nip out at get that much done.

UPDATE:  SPCs are created.

So, Sergeant Dabbler, what's the mission?
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:01, Mon 29 Oct 2018.

This Jump Table allows the reader to quickly navigate to topics relevant to 2600 - Micro-Game for Experiment Six, which see, above.

2006 - One Character, Multiple Players...  Topic 2000, message no. 22.

2610 - Pvt. Skipper  Group S Character Sheet for the Private.

2620 - Pvt. Kowalski  Group K Character Sheet for the Private.

2630 - Pvt. Rico  Group R Character Sheet for the Private.

2690 - OOC Traffic:  Notes, Chit-chat, etc. for 2600 Thread for notes on conclusions, suggestions for improvement, feedback, etc. for the 2600 range.

All links checked:  the link to Topic 2000, msg. no. 22 may require the reader to scroll up a bit to find the beginning of the message, depending on the browser used.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:42, Mon 29 Oct 2018.

Sgt. Dabbler briefed his men.
"OK, guys, listen up. Mrs Johnson is the wife of some Senator, or somethin' - the details aren't important. Anyhow, her son has been kidnapped and shipped out to Ramonia, over in eastern Europe. You know what that place is like - all fur hats and jackboots.

"The Senator can't get involved - too politically sensitive - but if we take regular flights to Free Europe, Mrs Johnson will arrange for our gear to be waiting in a chopper to take us over the border.

"The mission is a straightforward extraction. Go in, get the boy, RV with the chopper, bring him home. Intel is he's being held in a castle in the mountains.

"Get your spit together and let's go."
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:09, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

In reply to Dabbler (msg # 5):

Chief Tinker was the only Seabee on the mission.  It figures he'd have some questions going in.

"Sarge, do we have reliable info about the target, the layout, etc., or do we have to do our own recon?" he asked calmly.

"Also, I take it we need to do this with minimum fuss and bother - no fireworks, no needless bloodshed?

He was new at this.  Go figure.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:09, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

Rico looked a little confused, then, asked with an edge in his voice, "Then what's the point of my going, Sarge?  Don't ya think I should bring along some goodies, you know, just in case things need an extra kick in the pants?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:10, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

"I've got us some public domain architectural plans for the castle, public domain maps and satellite images of the surrounding domain - we may or may not get some military grade images, but they won't be real-time - and we have recent photos of the kid - he's sixteen, fresh into college.

"Apart from that, we're on our own, Tinker, and yeah, softly softly is our best chance of success. If we get the kid out and the bad guys don't even know he's gone until we get him home, we've done a really good job.

"We need you, Rico, in case it don't go that smoothly. If the spit hits the fan, I wanna take out the fan, the table it sits on, and the generator that powers it. That up your alley, Rico?"

OOC: It would be good if we could discreetly label the NPCs so we know whose hand is up their sock. Maybe add to the Tags - SPC Dab, SPC Tin, SPC Ska, SPC Bax.
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:10, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

{I'm on it.  Can't sleep.  Used the tags SPC-CT, SPC-Dab, and SPC-Sk.  baxtheslayer has yet to join us, so those SPCs are not yet created.}
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:10, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

"Sure, Sarge," Rico replied, calming down a bit, "Did someone give Mrs. J. access to my demo kit?  Can't carry that by commercial transport, y'know."

"Besides, there are a few goodies in my kit that don't make that much noise but still get the job done - incendiaries and very small shaped charges for popping doors and such, stuff like that.  Sometimes it's not about making the big bang, it's about achieving the objective." he smiled in a self-satisfied way as he said it.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:11, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

"So it looks like recon as we go," the Chief replied, then, speaking to everyone, "Look fellas, I'm not in the line of command despite my rank - I'm an expert resource on stoneworks, construction and architecture."

Seeing the looks on most faces as he spoke, the Chief adjusted, "But I'm a Seabee, and I'll fight and take orders just like the rest of ya.  I can hit what I'm aiming at," he tapped a Navy expert rifleman's badge as he said it, "and I've been a few places I can't talk about and come back alive, so I'll do my part, don't worry."
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:11, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

"Great. Just great," Skipper piped up with a thousand-yard stare on his face, "We got a squid in the pile.  Whatcha gonna do there, Chief, build an addition onto the castle?"
This message was last updated by the player at 17:12, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

Rico grinned. "Maybe he can remove parts of the castle we don't want, instead - and a bit more quietly than me.
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:12, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

In reply to Rico (msg # 13):

"I'll go you one better, guys," the Chief said evenly, "I can tell from the blues we have in front of us that getting in this place undetected will be a challenge, but it can be done.  I can also tell you these don't show any additions since about 1960, because of the change in political climate in Ramonia and the secrecy which their Communist regime enforced on everything.  Oh, and I speak German, Russian, and Ramoni with enough fluency to pass for a native.  That help you out any?"
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:12, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

"That'll help nicely, Tinker. Now, let's get this show on the road."

After making arrangements with their sponsor for the movement of certain items of equipment via diplomatic bags and military transport, the team found themselves two days later standing on a rainy European airfield at dusk, watching a knot of mechanics performing pre-flight checks on a black Puma.

At a thumbs-up from the pilot, Dabbler turned to his men.
"OK guys, this is it. We've run over the plans often enough. The chopper will drop us just over the other side of the mountains. We can't get any further in by air because of their radar. After that, we're on foot or whatever transport we can acquire, for the next eighty clicks to the castle. Any last questions?"
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:13, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

"My kit in there, Sarge?" asked Rico, for the umpteenth time.
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:13, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

"It's all there, Rico. You checked it yourself before it was loaded."
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:13, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

Dabbler pulled Kowalski aside.
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:14, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

In reply to Dabbler (msg # 18):

Chief Tinker overheard the private conversation starting between Sgt. Dabbler and Pvt. Kowalski, but didn't interrupt or indicate in any way.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:33, Tue 30 Oct 2018.

In reply to Chief Tinker (msg # 19):

Dabbler had no reason to suspect the air crew of incompetence, it was more a matter of something to say, really, so he didn't press the issue.

OOC: I can read the msg#19 message to Dabbler and the msg#19 message to Rico, but I can't see Rico's reply in msg#20. So what's that indicate?

As GM, you'll be able to read them all anyway.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:04, Wed 31 Oct 2018.

In reply to Dabbler (msg # 21):

{OOC:  Rico's reply was a private line to Chief Tinker.  Just game play.

It looks as though any private line addressed to one of the SPC clones goes to all of them.  That's interesting, and would have implications that the character name does need to be exactly the same for all clones for this to work well.  That could be useful in the right set of circumstances.

I just realized I've not used the secret line feature before, so below is a secret line from Chief Tinker to Skipper.}

OOC: I can read that. So, a private or secret line addressed to one clone by anyone, goes to all of them, but if a clone assigned to another player makes a private or secret line to a non-clone, the other clones can't read it. Interesting.

I think you're right, that Private Messages would go to one individual clone, but as you say, it might be difficult to determine from the menu which clone you were addressing.

In reply to Dabbler (msg # 23):

D'accord! I gotta run to work, so I'll pick up with you later.  Yeah, I expected messages from one SPC private to a player character might not be seen by all clones.

Am I correct in thinking that players can only access the clones assigned to them?  As GM, I see and can post from three Skippers, three Kowalskis, and three Ricos, oh, and four Joes (I created an extra one for a player who could not join due to time constraints).

Yes, I believe so. I can see all the clones on the cast list, but when I make a reply, I'm only offered one of each in the 'select a character' box.

If you can see several of each in your reply options, how do you know which one to choose?

In reply to Dabbler (msg # 25):

Because the list is sorted by player or GM.  All my clones appear under my primary character, Chief Tinker.  Beneath that, I see a list of Other Characters

The only way I can see to tell what I'm doing there is to preview a post by the character.  If I've got the one I wanted, keep going; if not, cancel and choose the other one.  Rinse, repeat.

We should probably move this stuff to the OOC thread, no?
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:02, Thu 01 Nov 2018.

GM's Note:  Messages No. 22 through 26 inclusive copied and cross-posed to the OOC thread for reference.  Original messages left here for completeness of the record.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:24, Fri 02 Nov 2018.

Testing Joe-Sk

Testing Kowalski-Sk

Testing Rico-Sk

Testing Skipper-Sk