The legend continues...  :)

For those who hadn't yet finished the (rudely interrupted) previous discussion...  :)

With all these 25K milestones and PT vacations and new OOC threads upon us, I'm feeling a bit reflective.

And so, my Questions of the Day... :)

What has/have been...

(1) Your favorite Worldwalker game world(s)?
(2) Your favorite Worldwalker character(s) (NPCs)?
(3) Your favorite Worldwalker game scene(s)/event(s)/quotable quote(s)?
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:09, Wed 29 Apr 2009.

Memories?  I made my first post with Avahur 3 years ago.. if I read your post correctly..  Anyway..  In that case..

1.  Game worlds? I've been through soo many awesome ones.  I think my favorite would have to be the academy one I was at.  Look up The Academy of the Arts, that was probably my favorite world.

2. Favorite charcter?  Myself of course.  But as far as NPCs go.. hmm  I'd say this verser I ran into..  His name is Brian..  he's not that bad of a person..  after him would be Avahur's son, Andrew.  Following that, Ajax.  actually..  put that in reverse order..  and jumble it a bit.  Those 3 are about even..  <3 all of them.

3. Game scene?  Well in this one greek myth world I was in..    I got to come up with battle plans and such, lead people into battle, etc.  It was a blast.  I loved that world soo much.. its only slightly below the academy world, i loved being in both of them.  The war that was in was soo much fun.

Second favorite scene would be leveling a city a world or two back.  That was cool.

(1) I've only been to 2 worlds on my own: Laramie, a world with pyramids and a spaceship, and to the 'Eye-lands' archipelago. I didn't really get deeply involved in either world, but on Laramie I met some interesting people.

(2) I've only ever had 1 NPC with whom I shared more than one conversation. The medical officer of the ship on Laramie. He looked up to versers, and that stayed with me for that thread. Other than that, I've talked to Q, who was rather entertaining.

(3) I'm try to be funny in every other post I make, but I'd rather not bore you with all my failed attempts. Other than that my biggest moments were an encounter with trekkies and trying out my new genetic engineering in the 'Temple o/t Dying Sun Gather.

(1) Your favorite Worldwalker game world(s)?  Day's Doors, Day's De
(2) Your favorite Worldwalker character(s) (NPCs)? Captain Cool, the Lady Morrigan, Arroyo, The Duke, Rickard, The Walking Man (in that order)
(3) Your favorite Worldwalker game scene(s)/event(s)/quotable quote(s)?

Waking up in Lady Morrigan's area after dying, Dying in the explosion that took out the pursuing soldiers in Harmony, Shooting the jerk who insulted the waiter and then taking his computer to unlock the criminal conspiracy, Shooting the Nazi asshole, Forming the Republic of Tomistan, Learning Power Word Nuke, Getting Through the Test of Ice and Snow.

I haven't been here for too long, and I've only been in 3 worlds in total, but I still had my moments. :)

(1) My favorite world was definitely the gather world Harmony Helpless. Many cool moments in there.

(2) My favorites would have to be Julius, Jeremy, Rachel and Leviathan from Harmony Helpless. Oh, and Samantha from Extrasolar.

(3) My favorite scenes would be the brawl in the first third of Harmony Helpless, my battle with Leviathan in the second third (along with Lucas), and the little trip in Samantha's aircar in Extrasolar. So many CMoAs (Crowning Moments of Awesome).
This message was last edited by the player at 12:22, Wed 29 Apr 2009.

I'll use one of my non-current players...Misty.

When she carried the child in her arms down the long corridor of the Presidential Palace out to the balcony, shot out the balcony railing to make it weaker, dove off the balcony, bounced on the diving board, and landed in the Olympic sized swimming pool with child...right before the bomb blew up the Presidential Palace....well that strikes me as a scene from a Major Motion Picture with a 20 Million dollar action movie star or something like that.

When I was a player and MJ my GM, and I along with Kelly Tessena convinced a terrorist that we were aliens, and that he should talk or I'd have to experiment on my torture techniques.

1) My favorite world...wow...  I liked a lot of them, including Krillis and the Killerbots, Heartwar (my first verse!), Kreeps, and Menlo Park seems promising.  Of those, I have to say I had most fun in either Heartwar or Killerbots, though.

2) My favorite player character so far is probably Oak.  I like how he gets things done.  But between NPCs...  I suppose I liked Merlin and the Animator.

3) My favorite scene was definately the fight with Devlin.  I had proceeded to make a fist out of my broken hand and continued pounding him.  He got up and started limping away, and I believe my words were "Hey, I'm not through with you yet!" or something along those lines, even through the broken arm, hand, and generally broken body.

1) I am torn between the Tower of Rhodes and Gothica, both of which I loved. I don't know if my opinion is biased due to the fact that these were my two first worlds - it might be that I see them in a much fonder light because they were my entrance into the world of multiverser. Gothica's dark industrial setting intrigued me, and I very much fell in love with Elizabeth, the strong-willed lady of the night, whom I'd love to have spent a lot more time with.

On the other hand the dusty bookshelves of the ancient and magical Tower of Rhodes I could have immersed myself completely and never become bored. In fact I think I would have enjoyed myself just as much now if I had never left as I did in the beginning.

On a side note, I never quite figured out where I was on my third verse, if I had somehow doubled back into Gothica, or if I had landed in a new but similar place altogether. It proved a mind-boggling conundrum which I'd still like to solve IC just as soon as I learn how to willfully verse to specific locations...

2) Without a doubt, Elizabeth from Gothica. I found her to be so believable and human that I became completely infatuated with her. I loved her as truly as it is possible to love a fictional character whose physical appearance exists solely in ones mind. A lot of credit to PT for her. She was a masterpiece character in my opinion: strong and resilient despite having an entire prejudiced and cruel world against her. Thriving, physically and mentally, while being at odds with everything around her. Willing to gamble everything on the tiniest light of hope if it could mean a way out of the uncertainty of her existance. In other words: what a broad!

3) Well, trying to climb onto an airship tied to a crystal bridge, and subsequently going splat on said bridge was quite a scene in my opinion. Other than that I enjoyed it when Hadrian was forced to look at the devil, and becoming so maddened by the sight that he versed immediately. I also liked mentally tackling GM Krillis by drawing the summoning circle he had granted me only a few posts previous inverted on a window, thus threatening to summon the fat demon bad guy on the other side of the window, two storeys up.

Also, for an honorable mention, I really enjoyed working in Henry's bicycle workshop in Gothica, learning the trade the good old and hard way.

...

Also, to answer PT's question: yes, I would be very interested in GM'ing a player or two, or maybe even a gather. I actually have half a dozen world concepts written down - ideas that came to me at random that I had the good sense to write down. The only downside is that I'd have to buy the books and learn the rules, which might take some time, but if what Oak says is true then I have at least a year to do so.

Oak and Day are testing the theory as to whether their can be a minor nuclear war with magic as a certain desperate Scholar decides that its time to break out the Forbidden Spells.

And yes, beings of considerable power up and down the continent are waking up very fast...like Terracuyl the Red, but time is very short....

========

Lucas,
I think you were trying to heal Magnus. Can I have some more details on that? I skipped on past your action there.

===========

As to favorite NPC's, well Lilandra, Paladin of the Eye of Truth, was really a cool character when I created her.  And then when Krillis reworked her, and then I rationalized the reworking, I think she got a lot more complicated and in-depth, and a lot better. She became more human, and scarier, and one of the best, perhaps the best, character I've ever worked on. Thanks for the collaboration.

PT

Favorite world? I've only been to maybe three or four of them (he means at least seven, the lying cheater). I could have gotten quite a bit of mileage out of any one of them. Two I versed myself out of being stupid (reentry mech fight and messing up a Sacrifical Heal Spell, and I most I leave rather violently and mid-combat. I don't have a favorite yet, because I've enjoyed them all.

Favorite NPC? Carmine has been the only character Mentat has been travelling with for some time, so she'd probably qualify as a favorite. He'd certainly get downright homicidal on her behalf.

Crowning Moment of Awesome...this one will take some work without me getting to much into the I Am Made of Win train of thinking. Usually happens right before I die (death via slot machine comes to mind), and is less related to what I did and more along the lines of what I was trying to do (kill a physical incarnation of Sin with a knife and sheer fury).

Ok, now I'm confused. I'm apparently gone, got a new thread and must have been killed by something. I think I need to be given a more obvious clue as when I kick the bucket then an unresisted attack, because this is the second time I missed it.

If I did kick the bucket, I'll leave the shield for Magnus. He's going to need it a lot more than I do.

Uhm, I did use Psi-healing ball on Magnus in my last post. I learned that from Oak I think, before the encounter with Radian.

Yep, you versed.  It has been awhile since I read it, but I think Krillis hugged you with a fireball.

Krillis was the one who taught you the psi-healing ball as well.  A bit of irony there somewhere...  :/

Krillis did fireball you after the Kobolds got you with two arrows. Hey, you shielded Magnus from the fireball with your body...very brave of you.  :)

I think you were trying to heal Magnus?

PT

The Kobolds (per Krillis' instructions) had their shortbows at near maximum pull. And these are good quality hunting or combat arrows which you're trying to stop with a Large Wok.  Now, if you had hidden behind your shield it would be different, but you bravely lent that to Magnus...No good deed goes unpunished.  :)

I think a two inch metal arrowhead with a fifty pound pull at relatively short range is going to punch right through a Wok.  At least the Wok's I've used...mine might have been a cheap thing.

However, if it makes you more cheerful, I'll be glad to stipulate that that the arrows had been magicked.

OK?

PT

Meh, I thought it was the fireballs. Serves me right for relying on give-aways. I just needed to let the obituary sink in. Mind you though, Uranium-tipped armor-piercing arrow isn't a half-bad idea. Or at maybe Uranium crossbow bolts. I donno, so long as you don't pack too many in a quiver it should work.
Still, I met some interesting peoples and learned some neat skills. Looking forward to our next big adventure.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:24, Sun 03 May 2009.

Hadrian, I'd like to note that I recall outlining a number of my skills and items.  I'm sure that you in the situation would probably recall that, if trying to help me out of my evil ways.

The post was in the gather world we're currently in.

I'm going to take a pass on today's game. Hopefully see ya'll tommorrow.

PT

Worldwalker waiting tip # 42

While waiting for PT to post, bake a strawberry tarte. If PT fails to post, eat said strawberry tarte and NOT be disappointed that you have to wait another full day before finding out what happens next. If PT posts, eat said strawberry tarte while pondering what to reply.

It's worked out very well for me so far :)

Worldwalker waiting tip # 43

Find a book, to read.  If you can't decide, figure out all the possible ones that might be similar to you're current situation.  Choose a book with similarity, read said book.

If you can decide on a book, read said book, check back every 3 chapters.

I find it works out well regardless of your GM.

Mmmmm, Strawberry Tarte...

Av, let me again reccomend that book series 'The General' by Drake and Stirling. I've read a lot of SF, and a fair chunk of military SF, and it gets an A+ for military SF. And it was the basis for one world you visited very shortly.

PT

How, hmmm, I don't know what what the word is to describe my situation, but you know that strange kind of relief you feel when you screw something up royally, like keeping up with posting, only realise that it doesn't matter because something else is causing congestion in the process.

Better me go grab a book and make some Strawberry Tarte then.
...
So, uhm, how do you actually make Strawberry Tarte?

Edit: Bingo!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:43, Wed 06 May 2009.

Worldwalker waiting Tip #44: In the event that posting is delayed through no fault other then your own, be aware that you are likely online while reading this, and that the Internet is a big place full of pipes and tubes. Down one of those pipes is something entertaining. I recomment tvtropes.org as a fantastic timewaster.

I'll look into it, PT.  I've actually been looking for something new to read.  I ended up picking up ORCS, by Stan Nicholls.  The opening of it was at the back of the end of a series I finished reading a while back, and it is pretty decent so far (I've only read the first 4 chapters...) But really.. its cool so far...  vivid combat, and quite nice..

I think Orcs is a good book for you Avahur. I've read it, and I must say it gave me a whole new perspective of Orcs as a race. There's a lot of very brutal scenes in it, like a small party of Orcs blind rushing an entire army, which I think you will enjoy.

I just checked out some books from the library I plan on reading over the next couple of weeks.

Homer's Iliad (I already knew the story orally, but I've never actually read it.)
Euripides' Medea
Dante (all three parts)

I picked these up, because the library was too small to have what I was looking for:

1. Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here
2. Russell Kirk's The Conservative Mind

It's a bit of a shame that Tom and Oak have made such swift progress, while the rest of us drag on much more slowly, when in terms of actual time the duration it takes Hadrian, Krillis and Magnus (if he survives) to get out could be much shorter than the time Tom and Oak used to gather and train the army...

What I mean is that by the time the rest of us get back to civilization Tom and Oak will already have gone through the door at this pace, due to the differences in progress speed.

It's unavoidable I suppose, and the good news is that the rest of us will most likely have a chance to stay and learn lots of magic as a result, so in the end all is good.

Somewhere around May 20th, Oak will be taking over. In fact, I do need a Takeover Day from the honorable future GM. That will limit your chances to learn magic/get in trouble/date pretty girls/get eaten by kobolds/start magic wars that lead to the inundation and destruction of whole countries.

Hopefully we can wind up a few things like escaping the Pattern Room, and playing out the magic duel in Krillis' mind.

I hope so too...

On a side note, you may or may not have heard of the zombie swine flu hoax, where someone made a fake BBC site featuring an article about the H1Z1, which could supposedly in some cases restart the heart of dead victims and 'bring them back', albeit in a violent zombi-like form.

Pure nonsense, obviously, but my not so bright brother who apparently has been reading too much zombie fiction and playing too much left 4 dead.

He rang me up the other day and started talking heatedly about the zombie apocalypse. Gave me quite the scare.

There's no point to this, by the way. I just think it's mildly hilarious.

What do you mean 'no point to this.'? It means I was right all along! They laughed when dug that bunker underneath my yard and stashed it cola, Twinkies and pretzels. They laughed when I elevated my entire house by 6 feet, just out of zombie-claw range. They laughed when I installed an emergency 'in case of zombie apocalypse break glass'-shotgun container in the office. Well who's laughing now 'zombie-dinner'? AHahahaha!
...
Sorry, I didn't get enough giggles this week.

Excellent suggestions for everyone's upcoming universe, Hadrian and Lucas!  Keep those good ideas coming!  :p

Hadrian,
I'm going to have to tell the Ladyfaire that one. Too good.

Krillis,
Have you heard of how ants will scramble up over the top of each other, even letting themselves be drowned in a stream in order to provide a bridge so that their kindred can get across and ravage the lands beyond? What if zombies learn how to climb on each others backs? Or what if they don't learn, but they just keep on stepping, and then crush the weaker zombies underfoot, and create a bridge up to your house? Are you really prepared?

Oak,
Are you prepared for May 20th? Da-da-dum! Or do you prefer another date?

======

I'm not much on Zombie movies. I did enjoy Shaun of the Dead. Also, 28 Weeks was quite good. Any favorites of yours?

I think that as long as I had pants, a shirt, socks, and shoes on, that I could mentally handle a zombie apocalypse.

If I were missing any of those, I'd be unable to handle the situation at all.  I can't fight a zombie if it can see my...ya know... ...feet.

It will be nice to finish up the world, though.  I look forward to slamming a big boot in Hadrian's face for thinking that he knows my true name (haha, not angry, btw).  I never did specify one to PT (because I've never learned it-don't need to know), but I doubt an online handle is my true name.  Still, we'll see what happens.

I'm not afraid of any Zombie Apocalpse Swine Flu. I bought the Zombie Survival Guide and I'm not afraid to use it. Now how many of those preparations have...I...actually made.

Crud.

I honestly don't know what is worse: that I have the Zombie Survival Guide, or that I know what inside of it would be practical and what would not (I can actually second guess it).

I have the Zombie survival guide too. I have read it through thoroughly, and I believe that in the event of a widespread Zombie pandemic I would be able to handle myself better than the Average Joe.

My brother, on the other hand (not so much hilarious as a bit sad by the way), has a room full of canned goods (which he regularly helps himself to - it's not like he has a dedicated zombie shelter, just that he has made preparations that could also benefit him greatly in a zombie outbreak, as well as any other kind of crisis), as well as a shotgun and a ton of ammunation locked away in a secure locker in his basement. He has a permit to carry it and a permit to hunt big and small game with it. He has never, to this date, fired it at any living thing, and I don't think he plans to. A cookie to whoever guesses why he keeps it around ;)

And while we're already discussing Zombies: one of my more academic friends, who loves to discuss abstract theory such as time travel and how to scientifically explain magic, contacted me on Live messenger and wanted to discuss this whole Zombie Swine Flu thing. He often uses me to test the validity of his far fetched theories, because apparently I'm so terribly clever. We talked for a good long while on wether or not swine flu could mutate and produce the results outlined in the fake article, and whether or not people could be brought back permanently from death and behave similarly to the zombies in 28 Days Later. We quickly ruled out the old fashion dead-and-rotting zombies as downright impossible and improbable, and moved over to the Rage infected variety. I'll spare you the boring details, but what we arrived at, which I actually have to agree with, is that the entire concept is not, medically and scientifically, impossible. In other words, it won't do us any harm to keep an open mind and prepare, because if suddenly in these swine flu-hysteria times your neighbour suddenly rushes you, seemingly crazed and red-eyed, you don't want to hesitate in bringing that shovel down on his zombie head!

@ Krillis.

I would have agreed with you on that Hadrian didn't know your true name if I didn't have that otherwise sound belief handed to me with a firm slap across the face in Radix.

Hadrian isn't Hadrian's true name, but it didn't stop Lust from commanding Hadrian with it anyway. It turns out there's more to true naming then just knowing a name and using it. Sometimes the names people give themselves ring truer than the names that other people give them - at least this was the case with Hadrian.

The dice will decide, as always, and until that time I think we'll both hang on in suspense at wether this trick works or not.

That seems like a reasonable target...  :)

Hadrian,

Interesting.  I was unaware of your showdown with Lust in Radix (that was when I got somewhat busy with schoolwork at the University).  It makes a lot of sense, and I'm interested to see how it turns out in our mental duel.

(psst, I'm totally rooting for you)

Boom. 25000 posts reached. Man, that's a lot. :D
This message was last edited by the player at 03:51, Tue 12 May 2009.

Argh!  I go offline for only ninety minutes, and look what happens...  ;)

Congratulations to everyone, and most especially PT!!!!!!!!!!  :D

25000, eh?  >.> Just over 1/10th of that are my posts.. Yeah.. thats a lot of posts..

In other news..  how're yall's worlds going?

Though.. it'll be just under 1/10 in a few days >.>

My world's proceeding smoothly, I think. I'm enjoying it. It's a nice change of pace from the action I saw in my past two worlds. The characters rock, too.

Mine has been summarized as Batman in Space. Since I'm not that crazy prepared (friggin' Bat Shark Repellent?!), I'm not sure how close to that I'm going to come.

'Batman in space'! That's hilarious! Why didn't I think of that?

Half of being crazy prepared is knowing preparing for what would be crazy, and what would be normal. Being in space, bringing a space-suit would be wise, but a diving-suit would be crazy. So buy a batanium diving-suit; you'll look crazy, but whom will be laughing last when that thing holds its own in the cold vacuum of space.

I may try to speed things up here a bit at the end. See if I can get everyone to a conclusion, or kill them off anyways. :)

PT

Speed things up?  Oooo!  As in, like, a few dozen posts per thread per day???  :p

Don't worry, though.  If things don't get finished in time, I'll be more than happy to graciously delay the handover...  :D
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:59, Wed 13 May 2009.

I would like to fight Mam Mal before we verse. I even have a crazy plan to go with the crazy idea of fighting something that can tank an entire party. But first, Lets get out of The Pattern Room.

I think that this room is too weird to understand.

I wouldn't be able to figure it out, unless I already knew it from my kobold friends.

PT did give a pretty strong hint in the latest post, though...  :)

Hey Krillis, does your latest post mean that you'll need to change your photo again?  :)

First, it needs to be GMed by PT to see if it worked or not.

If so, I'll try to find some new, hopeful picture out there to represent the young verser.

I just didn't want to assume that it worked, though I hope it does :).

It works. Nice writing for both of you. Me like.

PT

Thanks a lot, PT.  That really means a lot, coming from you.

Magnus,

I like your style in-game.  Nice...the chi and all is very interesting.  If my character notices it, he'll probably end up asking you about it (and assuming you're a very experienced verser, probably).

Hadrian,

Nice rping with you in the mind-scene.  I wanted to do more stuff involving travelling through memories, but we were a little crunched for time.  I still like how things turned out.

Oak,

You're a professor, right?  That's cool.

Guilty as charged...  :p

That would be funny because Magnus thinks you two high level Magi

How do you like the names I came up for the attacks?

You two might want to ask Magnus "what can you do?" IC. (He is going to ask you two the same thing)

My Crazy Plan requiers Magnus to know more about Mam Mal and why your there.

:
This message was last edited by the player at 02:36, Fri 15 May 2009.

Shouldn't we technically wait until PT posts for us to talk to Magnus about versing and stuff?

Hadrian covered himself with a contingent statement.  Also, 'tis true that Kobolds can be somewhat dangerous in a group,once that group gets broken up, they're a lot less dangerous.

My father's a programmer, and he's mentioned how helpful mathematics was in his work. I took some programming from a technician's pov (it didn't take that well.) Its from this data that I come up with my description of Shane's learning programming.....but it occurs to me that we have a professor of computer science here (HI Oak), and he might have a useful thing or two to say about a 27th century course of instruction in computer programming.

PT

Computer Science is still quite young, and programming is constantly changing.

Asking what it would be like in the 27th century is a bit like asking what technology will be like in the 27th century.

You could wildly speculate in a multitude of different directions, and still be plausible.

I'd say PT's description passes muster...  ;)

I overestimated our kobold threat, hahaha.

Awesome that we took the remaining ones down so easy.  Apologies for interfering in the game.

Not interfering. Helpful pointer.

PT

Hey, I'm going out of town tomorrow (Monday), if everything goes according to plan.

If weather is bad, I won't leave until Tuesday.

I should be out of town for the entirety of a week, and I don't plan on bringing my computer with me.  I might be able to get online, but I wouldn't count on it-I'll be hanging out with my friends who I haven't seen in a while.

And I'm trying to end things with a bang...where I can.

PT

And speaking of that, Shane and Amanda are on the way...both got caught on the sharp point...one of a knife, and the other of a legal entanglement.  So, if Oak is ready, and the players are ready, Oak can start these characters as he wishes.

PT

Alright. That was great, PT. I'm surprised that you gave me the option to bring Samantha along with me. Well, sorta. I'll talk to Oak. :)

The Mound is now the Pit. It will probably collect water, and then evil fish people will build a colony in it, and drag in unwary travellers to 'do lunch'. But thats a significant step down from being the site of a ghaelbrazeu demon/'god' and a personal representative incarnate of another god.  And the village will now be able to live in peace.

Now all that is left is Mentat, and Oak/Day's game. EDIT: And Lucas's...

I've had a lot of fun, and learned a lot. Once upon a time, I'd occasionally write moving little tributes to my players, but the skill seems to have departed for now as part of the whole burnout thing.  Regardless, I've been blessed to have such intelligent and fun players.  I hardly know where to begin, or what to say, so I won't except to say thanks.

And soon, if I can figure it out, I'll give myself a new alias, and join Master Oak's game as Tadeusz...

Now I just need to come up with a tagline...

"I'm all out of bubblegum." might do.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:30, Tue 19 May 2009.

I have been roleplaying for more than thirty years, and I have never had a game that I have enjoyed more than yours, PT.

Thank you for such an amazing run!!!!!!!!!!  :D

I will never be able to fill your shoes.  If I end up worthy of serving as caretaker for Worldwalker, that will already be amazing for me.

I fervently hope that your sabbatical will refresh and rejuvenate you, and that we will see you again for Worldwalker 2.0...   :D

I suspect that tomorrow, May 20th, will be a more realistic handover start date than today will be.  But I suppose you never know for sure...  ;)

Good luck, PT..  Been much fun.. (If you're ever looking for excitement, try doing what avahur did in that one city a world or two back.. its plenty exciting ^_-)  But really..

Its been a lot of fun, good luck in your ventures, and Oak, I'm sure you'll do quite well.

Good luck, PT. Best of luck in all things in your not-GMing time.

I will miss you PT it has been amazing and I enjoyed it alot, we will be here when you come back.
Oak my dear you will do fine just run from the heart.

Good luck PT. The little bit that I played was excellent and the archives are even better!
Oak, I'm sure that you will make PT and everyone else proud.

Farewell, PT. I've been having a blast ever since I joined, and I'll keep enjoying it. You should pat yourself on the back for starting this whole thing, 'cause really, this is probably the best RP I've taken part in yet, and it'll probably be one of the best for a very long time.

And I have utmost confidence in you, Oak. I'm sure you'll do just fine! :)

Blush. T'anks. I'm still here, just as a player.

Magnus,
I'm to blame for that bit of pun-ishment.

Mentat,
Yah, I hope to get some stuff out the door to press, and get some other stuff done.

Oak,
The character sheet, and some clarifying comments on what the skills mean and so on are available to you. If you have any questions, or objections, let me know, boss.

Tadeusz the Player :)

Oh yeah. :P

Tadeusz the Player... TP instead of PT? >.>

Twenty-five thousand, one hundred and forty posts, give or take, before the beginning of The Last Verse.

Behold the Dawn of a New Error! Era!  :o

Each of you now owns your very own "The Last Verse" thread.

These threads are only readable by you and me.  Even PT (now known as Tadeusz) and Krillis have been temporarily un-GMed, so that no one can peek at what is happening elsewhere in The Last Verse.

At least... not yet...  :D
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:30, Wed 20 May 2009.

BTW, for those folks who haven't yet versed out from your previous world... you aren't there any more.

You are now in The Last Verse.

How did you get there?  You haven't the slightest idea...  :o

Will we be returning to our previous world if we haven't versed yet?

Good question...  :p

Although, with a title like "The Last Verse"...  :o

Looking good...:)

Tadeusz

Titles can be misleading.

Heh heh heh...  :D

And there it is, the beginning of the end; if we are to believe the name Oak has given this next adventure.

Let's all hope for the best! And best of luck to you Oak. If your first sentences as head GM are any indication you'll perform just as admirably as PT.

And PT, I'd say something fitting to you too, like everyone else has, but that'd just make me feel like you are leaving, which you aren't, so I'll settle with saying that I look forward to meeting you in character for the first time.

Welcome down here with us grunts, Tadeusz. Been a while, and look forward to hearing about your exploits.

Anyway... This verse is gonna be interesting.

Heh... heh... heh...  :D

Wow, forty-two posts in the past twelve hours...  :o

Woah. :P

Some folks are progressing faster than others in gathering knowledge of their current circumstances.

Please refrain from posting any spoilers.

Heh heh heh...  :D

I would like to thank Oak for giving me the Positramatix A-9000 Portacannon which does Obliterative damage with a rider of Annihilating damage at Line of Sight distance. You can shoot down a Star Destroyer with it, and it folds up to fit in your pocket.

Oops.

Was I not supposed to be giving away spoilers?

:)

Actually, I suspect I'm one of the slowboaters. Avahur is probably racing ahead and is in the next county by now. However, I have faith that the Tortoise shall beat the Hair by at least the width of a Hare.

Tadeusz

I wouldn't want that thing in my pocket if/when it accidentally goes off... :p

Lucas,
You might have survived. For the soldiers, they had 50% chance of misfire on a rifle. Low amateur rifle skill. Low physical skills.  The officers were slightly more impressive, and their pistols were pretty much not likely to misfire.

Lets just say that the soldiers you were facing were about as unimpressive physical, morale, and trained specimens as you're likely to find.  Ten Kobolds armed with swords would have possibly cleaned their clocks.

And the current Tortoise/Hare "The Last Verse" thread reply standings:

Shane	13	
Hadrian	10	
Magnus	8	
Jeff	6	
Tadeusz	6	
Amanda	6	
Mentat	4	
Lucas	2	
Krillis	0	
Day	0

And Shane would be zooming ahead even faster if I wasn't pacing things a bit...  ;)
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:18, Thu 21 May 2009.

With PT ("TP"? :) sending out many of the folks with a bang, and Mentat and Lucas thoughtfully sending themselves out with a bang, most loose ends have been tied up nicely...  :)

I have a spoiler for you.

We'll all soon discover that we are on an unknown, unfindable island with a bunch of people that have crash landed there. And on this island there's a mysterious button that they have to press every once in a while to prevent the end of the world. And then there's the others, who for some reason or other are running around with no shoes on! It's horrible.

No wait, that was the initial concept of Lost. I'm confused. Never mind then. Carry on.

See Krillis, I am NOT zooming ahead.

I have other things that keep me occupied.. and usually just check on here before I go to bed, and when I wake up..

Back, has some rl issues to get resolved have no idea where or when I'm at.

Welcome back, Jhiaxus!  :D

PT (now known as Tadeusz here) has just started his GM sabbatical, and I am holding the fort for now.

Give me a few minutes, and I'll have your brand new thread up...  :)

OK, you are ready for takeoff, Jhiaxus!  :)

And don't worry, no one else has any idea where or when they are at either...  ;)

Well, I'll take that back.  Some do already have an idea, and just wish they didn't...  :o

I hope I am not where I think I am.lol.

I hope not as well. X3 My character's so gonna freak. :P

Heh heh heh...  :D

Right now, I'm going with Tad's consensus. Personally, I seem to be stuck in a Metallica video, specifically Hold My Breath, about the guy stuck in terminal for the rest of his life. That's what I get for being so attached to living I guess. XP

Well, life happens. Let's see where this little trip is taking me. Unlike the aforementioned video, I maintain options.

I'm going to be back in town tomorrow.  Interesting introduction, and I actually rather being a player in this situation, Oak, so that I'm not tempted to look at others' threads.

Well, it is still early yet for you.  We'll see if you still enjoy it after your thread has a few more posts.

Heh heh heh...  :D

Frightening, Oak.

You're a mad genius.

I like the "Airbender" quote.

Heh heh heh...  :D
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:00, Mon 25 May 2009.

"Airbender" quote?

I don't understand.

If you were an "Avatar: The Last Airbender" fan, you'd recognize the "mad genius" quote...  :p

Are you talking about Boomy, the awesome earthbender guy?

Yup.  *snort*  ;)

I watched it a while back.

I have to say that I didn't take you as the type that would be an Avatar fan, but I can't really be accurate.

Nonetheless, I think it's really cool what you're doing in the game right now and I'm on the edge of my seat.  You're doing great, bud.

My kids watched it, and got me into it.  ;)

You've had a bit of fast tracking for your thread, since you started so late.

Think how much fun it would have been to have to wait a day between each post...  :o
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:20, Tue 26 May 2009.

Boomy was made of Crazy and Awesome. An excellent role model for any verser.

And not just for Versers, he's an excellent role model for anyone, everything even. I wish my pencil was more like him. Sure, it draws lines fine, but I want it too envision something that could be... grand!!!

I have an attempt to make a Choose Your Own Adventure type novel entitled 'Many Paths' on RPOL. I've gotten a little help from some players, and so I'm posting due notice.  In a week's time, unless I receive objections, I'll delete it.

It needs reconceiving, and much of the writing is awkward. I hope to some time this year revive it on Gaming Outpost with better stuff.

Playtester

Sorry folks -- two update rounds yesterday, but none today.  :(

However, tomorrow's prospects are definitely more promising...  :)

Ah. Second guessing your own work, eh? Well, each person is their own judge, even if usually either think too little or too much of ourselves. I'm going to presume, however, when you say your own work is subpar, that you can be taken at face value. Normally artists are too attached to their work, and a desire to alter it or, failing that, regard it as an old shame is a bad sign. Do what you must.

FYI, I haven't read it, so I can't tell you if it is So Bad It's Good (the Street Fighter Movie), or So Okay It's Average (Cloverfield), or So Bad It's Horrible (Jaws: The Revenge).

Sadly, I think Jaws.  And I'll be glad to inflict some of my work on you if you promise to be truthful, and tell me its wonderful. :)

Tadeusz

And I did think the project we worked on was better than many I've seen published, save for the lack of a map.

And Mighty Oak, RLTP. Its going good, and thought-provoking.

Tadeusz

Thanks, TP!  :)

What was your inspiration for the name Tadeusz, by the way?

It was my SCA name. I wanted something distinctive, but not too difficult.  And I'd read The Chronicles of Conrad Starguard about a time-travelling socialist engineer from Poland who went back to 11th century Poland, and industrialized his nation to defend against eleven million Mongols.  One of the supporting characters is an archer named Tadeusz.

So it was floating in the back of my mind, and when I reached for something it came up.  I liked that it had 'Deus' in it, as well.

Tadeusz

If your work is so bad it's horrible, please spare me. Offering to inflict a work like that makes me wonder if we are friends. That would be like me offering the Garbage Pail Kids movie up as quality cinema. The Nostagia Critic's snark wasn't enough to stop the movie from being painful to sit through, even in clip highlights. If you think your work is that bad, full stop, I'll take your word for it, and just huddle myself in a corner saying "I'm not afraid" to myself over and over agin.

The strength of my works varies, sometimes even in the same piece.  The first chapter of Rod of Rulership is excellent. The second, ah, not so much.

And isn't there a saying along the lines of "Friends help you move furniture. Real friends help you move bodies." ?

Tadeusz

I'm stealing that phrase...

I hidden enough bodies for y...our loving friends in games of hide-in-seek, you clever rogue you! By bodies, of course, I mean my and others bodies, ha ha ha ha! Ever into fun games and happy thoughts I am.

They're on to me.

This message was deleted by the player at 04:56, Sat 30 May 2009.

Darn. I wanted to make that joke. Looks like I'll have to call over a few 'good friends' again.

Lucas,
Mentat's got some spare bodies your friends can practise on. I of course, know nothing about where they came from, and the fact that they were last seen in public, loudly arguing with me is totally irrelevant to any current or future investigation.  :)

Krillis,
Steal away. I already stole it from someone else.  AKA--it's been around for a while. I've seen it on gamer's bumperstickers at cons along with others like 'When the GM smiles, its already too late.' and 'Do not mess with dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.'

Heh heh heh...  :D

Crap...

Friends help you move furniture, real friends help you move bodies, best friends let you rez them as undead minions.

Unannounced third clause.

>.>

I was up till 4 in the morning playing a human/half drow necromancer/frost mage.

Yeah.. Summoning 2 Young Red Dragon Skeletons, a Storm Giant Skeleton, a Vampire Spawn, along with 10 medium skeletons, 3 drow zombies, with an undead lieutenant, a ghast, leading them into battle, as their general is in the process of dropping the temperature by 50 degrees Fahrenheit, only to be followed by a hailstorm of ice and unholy power.

That was a good synopsis of what I did last night.

'When the GM smiles, its already too late.'  Unless you've got a score of undead canon fodder to set off any traps or spells aimed in your direction.

Oh, and while we're at it, let's one shot a beholder by making it take 45 con damage. Oh wait.. we forgot to roll secondary damage 1 round later..  meh, it was dead by then.

Yeah. I went there.

Oh, it's so cute when they're oblivious. Now where did I put my chainsaw... >:-)

45 CON? Not shabby at all. Guess he had his front eye closed or removed. Stupid Antimagic fields. The rest of the eyes up to and including the infamous Disintegrate shot I can usually manage.

Rule to remember: in a direct fight, the GM always wins. He's effectively God in terms of raw physical power. The undead could be wiped out in a deluge of Radiant damage and turning.

It wasn't magical damage that did the con damage.  It failed 3 fort saves.  Truestrike + many shot.  Each arrow had black lotus extract on it.  3d6 con per arrow, the first arrow was 12 con damage, second was 18, and third was 15.  The player that did this.. could've hit up to an ac of 60 with his attack. The entire party is 12th level characters, mostly half-drow.

Watch those nat ones. Unless the party is largely evil aligned and has the prestige classes to back it (or you have plenty of antivenins taken in advance), it is very possible for poison-users to be killed with their own attacks. High reflexes might stop it, depending on the cruelty of the GM.

Still, taking on a beholder. Not bad.

The party.. minus 1, is all evil.  I myself am an either Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil.. haven't really decided.. most likely chaotic evil.. wizard/frost mage. there is one chaotic good cleric.. which is really odd..  but the dm told the player that if he objected even once to anything the party did, he'd die on the spot.  There's a rogue/scout/avenging executioner/assassin in the group, among other things.  He's the one with the poison...

Overall its an awesome group.

This is a very interesting game we're in right now, and I can see how it could last an entire year, haha.

Likewise, Krillis. From here in, I'll try and keep my big trap shut. Apparently, I have a hard time seeing the obvious. Like all of us are in PMs.

Killed on the spot for disagreeing with an evil party? I'm actually shocked. Part of the fun of rolling with an evil party, is when, not if, the party implodes. If the CG character was anything like the one I'm presently running (4E D&D, the GM has two characters who are Evil and Chaotic Evil, two are Unaligned and I'm one of two Good characters), I don't have to disagree with them. Squishy characters with training in Bluff, Stealth and constant Concealment do not 'disagree' with anyone.

Orbital bombardments (aka Dire Radiance) in the sleep of such offending characters, however, is not unheard of when I'm in the vacinity. And combative "accidents" also tend to increase. Barring those methods, encouraging said evil characters to act more in character and fueling personal ambitions are other fantastic methods for wiping out a evil party from within. ^_^
This message was last edited by the player at 16:15, Sun 31 May 2009.

I don't claim to know anything about 4th Edition, nor to I plan to.  In my, and many of my friends' opinions, it sucks. 3.5 is much better IMO.

*smacks head*

Haha, nice.

I'm first drafting a comedic novel on Darwinism so I need some jokes to make fun of the idea.

Piltsdown Cricket Club--Piltsdown Man with his cricket bat...with a Teillard de Chardin Drive (some people say he's the major hoaxer).
Selfish Genes a la Dawkins--Blue Jeans that make their owner's thighs seem slimmer so the owner buys more, or jeans that attack other pants in the closet?


I have a lot of things already, but I need some more snippets, little jokes I can stick in here and there in passing.

...Moving fast, we turned left on Teillard de Chardin Drive, sighing heavily at the waste of time we took the ferry across the river because the regular spring flood had again washed out all bridges in the Missisippi River Valley. Engineers claimed that thousands of missing links would be soon repaired, but more skeptical sorts thought 'never' and were already investing in greater air travel in order to jump from one branch to another in the vast tree of life that was the network of life-giving waters upon which tens of millions in the great valley depended.
 On the other bank of the vast water-filled chasm, we passed the Piltsdown Cricket Club where Anglo emigres' indulged in their love of the game and enjoyed making up tales of past prowess in the club after a few glasses of port. Going left again, we parted from de Chardin for Nebraska Road which took us out of the city, past a pig farm which stank something fierce run by a Mr. Clarence Darrow...

Two rounds of updates today, but no promises for tomorrow.  We'll see what is left after dealing with the work crunch...  :o

Thus far, we've been averaging around twenty-eight posts per day.  Wow...  :)


Heh heh heh...  :D
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:04, Tue 02 June 2009.

I don't think I can help you out when it comes to specific jokes like that, PT.  You'd be best talking to people who have to work in those fields-they seem to have the most jokes about that kind of stuff.

OK, I managed to sneak in a few more updates after all today...  :p

Only reason I'm as active as I've been is because school doesn't start up till next Tuesday for me, and I'm still unemployed. (T.T)

Ah, well. Keep up the hunt.

Yeah, I strongly suspect I won't be able to keep this pace up once the fall semester approaches...  :o

What do you teach, Oak?

Computers?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:14, Tue 02 June 2009.

That's the rumor...  :p

I don't think I could really ever get into that.

You're couragous-don't you have to learn new programing like every other year or something, to keep up with stuff and all?

More like every other day...  :o

My father's spent the last thirty years with Cobol and mainframes. Now they want him to shift over to Oracle and I think distributed desktops??  He's keeping a stiff upper lip mostly, but he's not that enthused.  He's considered retiring rather than dealing with it....in Multiverser terms, you got a 3@3 Expert Mainframe Programmer being told to shift to something that you'd probably be closer to 2@3 Professional Desktop Programmer.

Wow, two update rounds today after all...  :)

I am starting to hate the PM system at Rpol...

Wow, three update rounds today after all...  :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:31, Wed 03 June 2009.

Don't wear yourself out Oak :)

OK, I only did one round today.  How's that?  :p

So...  in other news, this gather is rather interesting...  so by other news I mean similar news..

I can't believe that Gonzalez is letting Soderling catch up!

I mean, he fought back, got four games in a row, and then he DROPPED FIVE GAMES to the man!

Greakjakagh!!

I wanted to watch Gonzalez take on Fererer!!!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

But the Lakers won, so all is well...  :p

Solly 'bout all that, guys. Been forgetting this post is a little more interactive than I'm used to. Blasted gathers...back in my day, blah blah blah, things were so much better and so much harder, morals were pure (the lies were more efficent) and work made you into a man (or killed you because of lousy safety regulations).

I drifted off. What did any of that have to do with this game or the Lakers game?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:02, Sun 07 June 2009.

I'm not certain.  NBA safety regulations depend upon the referees.  But since the Lakers won again, I won't complain...  :p

Meanwhile, are we all having fun yet?  It is very interesting seeing the different angles you all are using to explore the current puzzle before you...  :D

EDIT: Oops, almost forgot...  "Heh heh heh...  :p"
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:45, Tue 09 June 2009.

M.J. Young ran Graeme, David Marcoe, and moi, and some others through The Postman.  Each of us had a differing strategy.  Graeme joined the bad guy's army, and subverted it from the inside. Marcoe went cross-country looking for help, and raising the countryside.  I slipped in to the bad guy's hq, after some moral pondering, and executed the bad guy in his sleep.

*does the plot train choo choo*

Plot train? Only one thing that can stop it. Sideways motion!

*rocks the plot train*

With enough effort, ALL plots can be derailed. Without exception.

Well, this is a multi-player, yearlong scenario... so if you were counting on initial conditions that aren't challenging, you might be disappointed...  :p

I can see where some folks, given their current perspectives, might feel like they are workin' on the railroad... but courage!  Already, some have found there is definitely more than meets even the initial suspicious eye...  :)

Heh heh heh...  :D

I wish I had a railroad to work on! From my point of view it's more like the tycoons are arguing in the head office 600 miles away about how they can blame either each other for the ordering of tracks made of papermache.

Well, if the train is a pinata, then it's only logical that the tracks be made out of papermache.

...did I just wander into CloudCookoolander territory? I'm never a good judge of these sorts of things.

The plot moves at the pace we post at. No faster, I'm guessing.

Or... it moves at the pace Oak replies at..

... which has usually been at least once a day...  :)

...with the words: no that doesn't work either. Well he posts that to me anyway.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:00, Fri 12 June 2009.

I'm always a blind advocate of persistence. If at first you don't succeed, do it two hundred more times. You can destroy a brick wall with your forehead if you hit it enough times.

Of course, sometimes you have more success if you figure out how to walk around the brick wall instead of through it...  :)

I'm back too late for posts tonight, so it looks like I'll need to try for a make up round tomorrow night instead.

And for those folks who have been feeling bored and/or frustrated and/or railroaded...  we'll see if we can make your character's lives yet a little more interesting after the next couple of posts or so.  Be careful what you wish for.   Heh heh heh...  :D

Whats wrong with getting home late?  I just got home.. and its 10 after 4 (roughly) in the morning..  Then again.  If you are tired at that hour.. that's another thing entirely.  I just finished eating dinner.. well.. 2nd dinner..  had some chicken 'round 6 and more chicken about 10 minutes ago on my way home.   Gaming into the wee hours of the mornin is always fun.  Especially when you are one of the couple sober people at the place.  Since there are shenanigans occurring all over the place.

Words of advice..  Always try to wear something that gives you the evasion feat, if ya don't already have it.  Ya never know when you'll be making a lot of reflex saves... and if its cus of your own party member's spells.

I made the main tank roll like 7 or 8 reflex saves this evening..  it was pretty decent..  He was in the way and there was no way to not hit him and still hit the Shadowslain Undead Fang Dragon.. Soo... yeah...

With a wife and kids, one needs to keep a more regular bedtime schedule than otherwise...  :)

Pending updates successfully processed...  :)

On my end, I'm offically running one game, constructing another one, unoffically running a different game, playing in this one, and unoffically dropping myself from another game. Total: Two that I'm running and one I'm actually playing in. The others went dead or are under construction. ):

Woo hoo!  Not only the make up round of updates, but another bonus round today!  :D

Our motto: Satisfaction Guaranteed, or you get back double the amount you are currently paying me...  :p

Interesting Oak.. very interesting..

Heh heh heh...  :D

I came... I saw... I posted...  :p

veni vidi scribivi?

Anyways, I'm back from my little vacation.  What's up, everyone?

I'm 3/4ths the way through my first draft of 'Darwin's World', and I've got a lot of plot to stuff in that small space.

I also started a romance novel based on the idea of a verser actually getting back to his home timeline a few days later than his leaving. I disagreed with someone about whether that could be a good story. I think it could be. I'm going for a bit of The Taming of the Shrew, and toss in some Men In Black harassing the verser. I'm writing it from the viewpoint of the non-verser wife who is ticked at her husband for leaving her.

At first he plans on telling her what happened, but then he decides that she won't believe him so he's going to have to draw her to the conclusion slowly.  Meanwhile, he's trying to fix his marriage, and demonstrating the cool skills he learned in the hundred fifty years he was gone.  Of course as that scheme goes forward....he's going to draw the attention of the MIB's, and thats going to end up with kidnapping of kids and ultimately his wife is going to have to decide if she trusts her man or not because he's going to ask her to do a few seemingly crazy things (they're not of course, but he can't explain to her that he has mental powers...).

Ultimate ending: He verses out, and his family goes with him, and they arrive in a new universe with (Traditional SF cliche' for this situation) two moons in the sky.

"Back to his home timeline"?

Nah, couldn't happen.  You'd never catch me using anything even remotely like that as a plot element...  :p

Wow, that didn't take long.  I just posted last night, and there were seven threads to update this morning.  Mission accomplished.  :)

I've gotta say...I wish I handled things differently, but the fun parts about games like this is that you have to live with the mistakes that you've made.

There's no Ctrl Z and I like it.

Yeah.. I'm friends with Apathy.. he's a good ally.

Another morning, another seven threads updated.  Things are getting even more interesting for quite a number of you...  :)

Hey guys, I sort of have a question for y'all.

Hadrian and PT both, you've written and been semi-successful I assume.  I find that really interesting and stuff.

I have a fascination with paper and pens, and I really do enjoy being creative and stuff.  When I was younger, I remember writing every day, trying to even write a book (only getting to chapter 3 every time, then running out of juice).  I recall writing a story one time, for class.  My sister (older than I am) found it a few years later and read it.  She complimented me on it, and I didn't believe that she was being genuine at all.

At that point in time, I lost some inspiration and lost all faith in my ability to write.  I haven't written anything creative in at least four years, other than a two-page choose your own adventure story, with paragraph scenarios and only about 20 paragraphs total.  It's been misplaced.

I do want to write, but for some reason I can't anymore.  I have a notebook in front of me, and a pencil in my hand, but nothing happens anymore.  Does anyone have any advice on this issue?  ...maybe I should take a writing seminar or join a club at the university...

If you have something to write about, it will occur to you. If not, don't rush the process. Somehow that seems to make it worse. The only reason I feel in a position to speak up is because I'm presently writing what is known in the fiction community as a Crack Fic. The few people I've shown the Beta to said that I am out of my friggin' mind and that it is also well written. (yay me)

Anyhow, a goal is the most important part of any book. Make sure you know what to write about.

You've done a pretty decent job writing here in Worldwalker, Krillis...  :)

Wow, ten threads to update today (not counting this one).  That took awhile.  But at last, mission accomplished...  :D

Update em again :P

Right now, I'm struggling with that romance novel. I sorta know what the next scene or two needs to accommplish, but I'm not sure how these characters would do that.  Which is maybe the story telling me that my next scene doesn't need to be a Big Fight Scene, but an I'm Steaming on the Inside and Gathering Data on the Outside for the eventual WARRRE Scene.

That's one problem, but more basically there's something an English teacher told me....'Tadeusz, you can't revise what you don't write. You gotta get something on the paper.' Or words along those lines.  Just throw something at the paper, and see what happens.  Don't aim for literary greatness or even literary adequacy, just throw mud, and see what happens.

And Oak's right.

Well, like PT (I wonder if any of us will ever be able to stop calling him that) I have a book project going on. The title I've landed on is 'The Utopia Syndrome', which my missus thought was very fitting to the plot. I'm well into chapter 12, and I'm pleased with the progress I've made. But there has been setbacks. No man is a machine, and the creative juices rarely act on command. For me the trick to writing is to be at my computer when inspiration comes, or have a notepad nearby if something comes to mind. And usually when I get one sentence down on paper, or one paragraph snippet, the rest just flows naturally.

That does not always work though, and sometimes you just get stuck, sure and simple. My experience is that creativity is a bit like a child. Give it too much consideration and it becomes spoiled. If that happens just ignore it completely, and eventually it'll come tugging at your leg soon enough when it wants attention. For me this means stepping away from my computer and doing something completely different, like watching an episode of Star Trek, playing a video game for two hours, or, if I'm really stuck, going for a walk.

Basically it cannot be rushed. Try to procrastinate, and if that doesn't work, go do something that let's you use your body, but not your brain. Exercise, walking or manual labour are all excellent ways of getting your brain to work without being disturbed by other influences.

The easiest way is the one PT mentioned. Just get something, anything, down on paper, and move from there, even if what you write is terrible. Writing about something you are really interested in is also a key point to being able to write something as long as a book about the subject.

Good luck!

Acting Captain's Log, Stardate 090620.2040

One month after the dawn of The New Error Era...

Six hundred eighty-four posts in the first thirty-one days, averaging slightly over twenty-two posts per day...

Intelligence reports indicate PT/TP/Tadeusz is actually getting a chance to focus more on his writing projects, and that the other natives have still, by a narrow margin, refrained from burning me in effigy thus far...

So... are we having fun yet?

Stay tuned...  :p
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:41, Sun 21 June 2009.

Burn in effigy...hmm. Yesh, I wasn't going to do anything like that. Mine was more along the lines of grumble and get over it.

Still, a good idea is a good idea. Time for the greatest rallying cry of all time, something everyone of every culture can get behind.

BURN THE HERETIC!

I prefer SLAY THE INFIDEL! But BURN THE HERETIC works too I suppose..

Thanks for the help, guys.

I can picture myself carrying a notebook around to my classes next semester and writing paragraphs and character descriptions at random.

It's like I have been blessed with a muse's inspiration, but no focus on it.  I'm sure something will happen in time.  I'm going to be a Business major (and the best at it, by the way), so writing will probably just be for fun...but still.  It's been bugging me recently for some reason.

Well, thank again for the help, y'all.

Krillis, you'd be naive if you thought your writing would be anything more than something you do for fun. Only a tiny fraction of writers can actually write for a living, and that is the kind of writer who produces bestsellers like on an assemblyline.

I'm moving from Norway to England this September to pursue a dream I have of studying creative writing. I'm going to live there and write for three years, and when I'm done I'll move back to Norway and do something completely different to make money to pay down my loan; all the while writing in my spare time.

It's the way it is with most writers, and part of becoming a writer is realizing it'll almost never be anything more than a very time consuming hobby. But we do it because we love it, and that's really all that matters in the end.

I used to think that it was because I had a God complex or something-the reason that I enjoy it so much.

But I've come to realize that isn't it at all...it's more like a way to express yourself.  That's why I was so self-conscious back when I wrote before.  I thought that people would see me more intimately and think that it was stupid, and therefore look down on me.

Hm...

Well anyways, I'm awesome, so I don't have to worry about that anymore.

Nine threads to update today (not counting this one), and many of them are getting... a bit more involved.  ;)

But at last, mission accomplished once again...  :D

And Hadrian,
I answer to PT, TP, Tadeusz, and Hey, You. Its all good.

Hey, You

I update, go to bed, come back at breakfast nine hours later, and find eight threads awaiting me!  :o

Mission accomplished...  :D

Eh...

I finally found some work that I'll be able to do in the city, all free-lance yard stuff.

But heck, it's better than nothing all summer long, huh?

The threads are going great, Oak.  You've really put a lot of thought into this game, it seems.  I'm interested in what comes in the next stages of it.

* blush *  Aw, shucks, twern't nothin'...  :p

Having awesome players, and having a pre-existing awesome game, and having an awesome previous GM to sub for, all help out quite a lot...  :)

And as far as stages are concerned, you haven't seen as many stages as most folks thus far (since you have gone more in depth on previous stages), but you (and Hadrian) each have a new stage coming quite soon.

Heh heh heh...  :D

Very interesting, so there are deviations that you've already thought through.

I just watched this movie, Memento.  I thought it was really good.  Anyone else out there heard of it?

Heard about it. The climax is in the middle of the film, not the end. Definately a head gaming movie.

Tomorrow will be busy for me, and I'm not 100% certain I'll be able to post.

And so, I came, I saw six threads... and I bonus posted...  :D

Hooray, I managed to post today after all...  :)

And everyone has already entered the next stage now.

Seven threads awaiting me, and seven threads updated.  Mission accomplished...  :D

That took awhile, but seven threads have now been updated...  :D

I had to update in two shifts tonight, but the seven waiting threads have finally been updated now...  :)

My romance novel rapidly petered out. I had a fun start, but keeping it up was hard.  I may come back to it later.

My comedy SF novel, Darwin's World had about 53,000 words of its projected 60,000, and its largely done.  I'll have to go back, fill in some major holes, add in some jokes in the last five thousand or so words because the last bit has shifted from being a comedy to being an action story, and so it needs comedy.  Also, I'll have to go back over the whole thing and add more place descriptors as I'm fairly bad at that.

Got to root your story in a specific place.

The last couple days I've shifted over to reworking a previous attempt at a novel...Annoniblogger.  By merging various attempts at it, I've gotten close to the mid-point from a start of 14k+.  Its where the threads and weaving and blanket comes in.

Some stories are a single solid piece, a blanket of one material like felt. Other stories are woven out of many threads.  Anoniblogger is woven.  And I'm having to pluck threads from Version C to add to Version A3, and I know some of these threads are going to have to be redone as they're weak or lame, well some anyways.  And some have events happening too quickly....the hero should perhaps have something happen to him between the first Aargh event which hits him, and him going nuts in teh classroom and going berserk on an idiot classmate.

And I want one of the villains, a Hamas terrorist, to have something happen between him launching a missile at a school and jumping on a cargo boat to cross the Med.  I figure him as the funeral 'victim' at a Pallywood 'funeral'.  That I'll play for laughs with the bearers dropping him, and him jumping back on the old door used to support his 'corpse', and having some reporters see this, but being threatened to not show it.  Thing is, I do have a pair of reporters in the area, but I'm not sure when they arrived in the story.  The intro for them has to happen before they go off and see this.

Weaving. Aargh.

Anyways, if this seems like pointless babbling, then think how much better my novels will be. :)

That's horrible, playing funeral foul-ups for laughs. Of course, not that my own ideas have been any worse. I'm attempting a deconstruction of the Mario setting. I still don't know what on earth inspired this madness, but I've already made it up to a few short chapters. Still working the bugs out, as there are some parts of the story I don't like. Just because it was my first thought doesn't mean that it's a good one.

I know others have done what I'm doing, but I don't think anyone has ever stopped to consider how genuinely terrifying it would be to end up in Video Game Land. It sounds cool, until you figure out certain rules reality possesses no longer apply or are altered radically. In addition, how many of the game rules apply to the person in question, and how many don't? Does the character become part of the world, or are they an outsider who doesn't belong? And how would one go about finding this sort of thing out?

All in all, I look forward to this project. I've been told by a test reader that I am completely out of my mind, and that it will probably get a million hits on FanFiction. Hopefully it won't be for snarking, but I'll take my fame anyway I can.

My Pallywood, or Palestinian propaganda 'funeral' is based on reality. There really have been at least one case of a 'corpse' falling off the board he was being paraded on, and then getting up, and climbing back on the board.

And yes, this is a horrible person. He just hit an elementary school with a missile.

========

In my B movie verse, inspired by somethings MJ said, and by the Schwarzaneggar movie there are LOTs of weird rules which I only got a few.  98.something percent of the time its the red wire. If a man insults a woman's strength, she is able to have a sudden burst of strength (its a skill).

In it, the Red Wire Rule would affect you all the time whether or not you were an outsider.  The Woman is Just as Strong as a Man Rule is a learned skill which the female verser would have to learn like other skills Its Only a Flesh Wound.

McCallister is in this world.

Red wire...hmm...if it is based in the Governor's universe (I'm still waiting for the showdown between California and Minnisota, oh wait *Running Man, the movie not based on the book*) than it is critical to recognize who the lead of the story is, and if it turns out to be yourself, to act in the most stereotypically over-the-top manliest way possible.

Examples: You slap knives in between two loaves of bread and you EAT that Manwich. And love every bite. Ask for seconds. You pull hand grenade pins with your teeth, swallow the pin, and duel-wield magnetic powered rail guns. And cover against gunfire? That's not manly. You stand in the open and open up with the Chaingun of Infinate Dakka with the Belt of Unending Ammo. Target gas tanks. Make the pyrotechnics man work for his budget. All of these add multipliers to the manliness of the shooter, enabling them to subdue their foes with sheer testasterone poisoning and slaying foes not with bullets, but with the aura of awesome being radiated.

Not quite sure how these movies interact with women. Clearly the one described is the Action Girl. Hopefully she is not the Faux Action Girl who is subdued simply by grabbing her upper arm.

Man, this post is long. Just the thought of an action movie has me pumped. To the YouTubes!

Whew!  Nine threads waiting, and nine threads processed...  :D

It took two shifts, but eight pending threads have now been processed...  :D

Why do you always end your OOC posts with the happy face? :P

It beats ending his posts with an angry face. >(

"Mission Accomplished" posts are happy for me (since I successfully completed my appointed rounds), and happy for those folks awaiting them, so they get a happy face.  :D

Other times, like tonight after being out unexpectedly until very late, I have to break the sad news that I won't be able to complete my appointed rounds today.  :(

Quite a few of the threads have gotten more involved, and require some research to ensure I've got the various details right...  :o

On the bright side, things certainly are going strong as we head into July.  About twenty-four hours after finishing my last round, we've got all ten individual threads waiting, so somebody out there must enjoy coming back for more...  :)

I'll try extra hard to make it tomorrow...

Whew!  That took quite a little while... but ten waiting threads have now been processed successfully...  :D

Whooooooooo!

Eight pending threads processed!  :D

Happy two days after the Fourth of July...  :)

Nine pending threads processed!  :D

You guys went easy on me tonight.  Five pending threads processed!  :D

Once again, five pending threads processed...  :D

I'm heading out for another couple of weeks.

Myrtle Beach this weekend, then it'll go straight into a road trip up to and around Ohio.

I won't be bringing my computer, because there'll be nowhere to charge it and I'll have no time to check stuff out anyways.  If I happen to be around a computer during the time, I'll check up, but it's highly unlikely.

Have a good trip, Krillis!  :)

Five pending threads updated...  :D

Four pending threads updated...  :D

And now, for my newest trick! A weapon that can literally destroy nothing, the only supposedly indestructible substance in existence! Well, it sort-of exists by not existing, but never mind that confusion. Visited Warhammer 40K, the most horrible Sci-Fi setting in all of Fiction-Land. Ah, fun time.

Public note to Oak: if you decide to have a verser visit this moral black hole of a fictional setting, I would recommend treating it like a highly detailed placeholder world. Yes, it is that bad, even by my standards.

IF anybody ends up there. I wouldn't recommend using any psionics or magic, unless you want a daemon to explode out of your head.

Other than that and a million other reasons, It’s A Super Happy Fun setting.

What?  People don't think that you are currently in the most horrible Sci-Fi setting in all of Fiction-Land?

Such unbridled optimism...  :o

BTW, six pending threads updated...  :D

Oops, it looks like my previous observation frightened everyone away.  :o

Three pending threads updated...  :D

I'm not skeered. I probably should be. :)

TP

Heh heh heh...  ;)

Six pending threads updated...  :D

'Darwin's World', a comedic SF novel, is set to have the Ladyfaire read it.  Meanwhile, I've been working on merging the many versions of 'Codeworld: Anonniblogger' into one document, and trashing the excess (this is to keep things simpler and use all the parts available for the stew.).  This gives me a current 33,000 words, and about 27k to go.  C:A is about anonyminity in the internet age and supposedly about the uses and abuses it can be used for, although I don't know how well that gets out.  Its a terrorist thriller novel with no SF.

I like the concept of anonymity on the internet. I feel like I am above averegely concerned with it, so I have no facebook, I rarely leave my real name on the sites I visit, and I often use proxy protection when I browse on pages with dubious content - and no I do not mean THAT kind of dubious, more like websites about how to build bombs and stuff like that (I was curious, and I didn't want to become flagged as a potential terrorist).

I also note with interest that you use your Ladyfaire as a testreader. I do the same with mine. What do we have our better halves for if not to read our attempts at fictional writing and tell us that it makes no sense, and that it's the kind of book that only ourselves would want to read.

...

PS: I'm going away on a sort of twilight zone-esque vacation. I'm going to a place called 'hardangervidda' which is the Norwegian equivalent to the Nevada dessert, and go camping with my family. There's no mobile service, no semblance of civilization for miles, and I have been forbidden to bring any kinds of technology, which means I have to leave my Nintendo DS at home. I'll be gone for a week. Wish me luck.

You will be missed...  :)

Five pending threads updated...  :D

I wanted to deal with dissidents and terrorists, examine both sides of anonymity.  I haven't really got that done that well so far, but maybe I can stick a bit into my story.

I'm glad you are finally having a chance to focus and dig in on the writing, TP!  :)

Six pending threads updated...  :D

Five pending threads updated...  :D

Three pending threads updated...  :D

I have no idea where you intend to make this go Oak..seriously.

Heh heh heh...  :D

I figure we're going to go left, right, all around, up, down, and inside.

I just got back from a trip to Chicago with my best friend, and my girlfriend's staying at my house for the next couple days, until she and I will be leaving to go on another weekend trip to Michigan.

Man, the end of my summer has been busy.  I'm looking foreward to having work and a solid routine at college this fall.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:33, Wed 22 July 2009.

At least it isn't left right left right straight right left....

That, would be how you exit a certain maze in a certain game...

You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out,
You put your right foot in, and you shake it all about...  ;)

Three pending threads updated...  :D

The few, the proud...  :o

Two pending threads updated...  :D

You sure you aren't thinking left, up, left, down, left? That's the most infamous maze I remember. *Lost Forest*
This message was last edited by the player at 21:47, Fri 24 July 2009.

it was the other maze..

I wonder how many threads are being updated this time around...

Five pending threads updated...  :D

I'm glad that so many folks are finding the current game so... (wait for it!...) a-maze-ing!  :D

* rim shot *

* silence, except for the soothing sound of crickets chirping... *

* quietly tiptoes off stage right... *

Awww, what happened to PT?

I obviously missed much in my last (several month... again... <_< >_>) bout of missing-ness.

:P

Edit: Well... okay, then... nevermind, I clicked a random topic and found out...

*tips hat to PT*
This message was last edited by the player at 05:38, Mon 27 July 2009.

Hi Malachai!  Good to see you back!!!  :)

Do you want to join the current adventure?  :D

Eh... yeah, why not?  I've got nothing better to do (save four jobs and school once it starts again, but I still manage to have tons of free time nowadays o_O no, seriously... I have so much free time right now it's not even funny).

Save PT taking a (much needed... dude is hard-worked, haha) break, what else have I missed in the past... erm... why don't we just stick to 2009?  Haha.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:36, Mon 27 July 2009.

All right!  Another victim player!  ;)

Skim this thread, and you'll have a pretty decent idea what has been happening lately...

And your thread is up now, ready and waiting for you.

Heh heh heh...  :D

Hmm... Oak is chuckling... I don't remember Oak chuckling before...

Hmmm...

¬_¬

Well, he's GM now, so he'll have a lot of our foolishness to chuckle about.

Well, Oak was one of the (many) GMs a while back... he appears to have become mad with power in their abscence!

Fireball you good! ptew!  :p

Yup.

Completely bonkers.

*"taps" Oak over the back of the head with a blackjack*

*carries him into a shopping cart*

*kicks it into a ravine*

*walks away whistling innocently*

I went up north to Cedar Point this last weekend.  The drive was nice, considering I didn't have to, and the park was pretty awesome, too.

My girlfriend was there, and she was sick the whole time, but that didn't stop me from sharing drinks with her and stuff.  So, I took her in to the doc's today, when we got back, and they ran a blood test.  Turns out she has mono, and I'm developing a headache.

Not looking foreward to the next few weeks...  :(

Hello Malachai!
I'm glad your back.

Look on the bright side Krillis, at least it wasn't Zombie Swine Flu!

Sorry about your health, Krillis!  :(

But I've got just the thing to make you feel better...

Seven pending threads updated!  :D

Without Zombie Swine Flu, my anti-zombie investments are meaningless. *sigh* Oh, well. Can't win them all I guess.

I think this disease is going to be fun...

You know, trying to focus on not feeling like crap.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to bust a gameboy out in a couple days, though, and probably buy a new book or two.

Just look on the bright side, Krillis: at least it wasn't herpes.

See?  Don't you feel better now?

But without Herpes, mentat's Durex-investments are meaningless. *sigh* Oh, well. Can't win them all he guesses.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:58, Tue 28 July 2009.

Actually, I might not have mono at all.

I went to get the mono spot test today, and it came up negative.  I'd spent all week with her, and was just developing some signs yesterday, so it might be a different disease altogether.  I might just have a stuffy nose or something.

Or...it could just be too soon for it to come up on the test...

Five pending threads updated, plus a bonus post for late-comer Malachai... :D

^_^

I feel so special.

They thought I had mono once.  Turned out it was strep throat.

¬_¬

Yeah... talented doc that one was.

An interesting comment, considering where your character is now...  :o

Yeah, they offered to do a strap swab when I came up negative on the mono, but I told them I didn't need it.

If it isn't mono, it's just me being paranoid.

So, Mal, how have you been lately?

Oh, of course, Oak, of course. ;)

Haha, pretty good.  Been busy and such, obviously.  Working four jobs now (o_O).  I do respite work with foster kids for two different families as well as working at two different group homes for fosteres kids (one for boys, one for girls, both ages 8-12).  Kinda milling around university trying to get my GPA up but I'm now extremely annoyed because of how stupid difficult it apparently is to get into the faculty of social work.  Thinking about getting a bachelor's in human ecology focusing on child development instead and then going for a master's in social work (or even just moving up the ladder in the company I currently work for; I already have enough experience/qualification to get a job nearly anywhere in it, a degree just means I'll get paid much more).

You?

:D

I'm going to be starting my sophomore year in college this August.  I'm leaning towards business right now, but haven't decided what I want to do, yet.  I know that I'll be able to excel in whatever I choose, so I'm going to look in a big book of jobs and go to a bunch of career fairs to decide what I want to do with my life.

Well, that's not entirely honest.  I am going to go to the career fairs and such to decide how I want to fund my life.  My aspirations when it comes to living are all about family-I want to get married, raise children, and be able to support my family.

I hope I don't have mono...that'd blow...  I think I might've (somehow) avoided it, but I should probably have it..  I still have a fairly constant headache, but we'll just see what happens on that end.

This last summer, I've been getting around a lot.  Myrtle Beach, Cedar Point, Chicago.  I'm looking forward to a couple weeks of rest before the fall semester begins.

Three pending threads updated, plus another bonus post for our late-comer... :D
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:09, Thu 30 July 2009.

sorry gang, i burned my fingers an hour ago, and even with the ice they still are painful.

mousepad and keyboard aren't much fun.

i think i'll need to take a rest tonight...  8/

Rest up, matey.

Hope your fingers improve quickly.

You do that Oak.

You don´t want ewey skin bits from your fingers sticking to the keys on your computer, that´s nasty.

Seven pending threads updated, with slightly painful but happily non-blistered fingers...  :D

How're the hands, Oak?

Unless it hurts too much to tell me...which I just considered.

My poor crispy fingers are much better, thanks!

Six pending threads updated...  :D

Glad to hear it.

I've got a physical today.  Looks like I'm in the clear for mono, but I'm getting another spot test just in case.

Two pending threads updated...  :D

Four pending threads updated...  :D

Bit of advice for others: if your boss ever asks if you want to do 72 hours over 7 days... say no.  Just... no.

>_<

Wow...but at least you got OT, right?

Let's hope you're in a world where mindlessly slaughtering orcs is possible.  After a week like that, that might be all I was good for. That or a date with a pillow for about twenty hours.

Six pending threads updated...  :D
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:08, Fri 07 Aug 2009.

Sounds almost as fun as working three eight-hour shifts in a row. Pain...

Three pending threads updated...  :D

Seeing as there hasn't been much senseless chatter in the ooc lately, with the exception of recent the mono-or-no-mono-discussion, I thought I'd liven things up with a little round of a game I like to call: 'getting to know each other better'.

First we tell something about ourselves that the others don't know, and that isn't included or properly portrayed or revealed through our characters.

Then, we reveal something that everyone knows about our characters, which happens to be true for the player behind the character as well. This could be an ability, a bad habit, or a particular way of speaking, et cetera.

I'll begin, seeing as this was my idea :)

First, something about me that you don't know. I am ambidextrous. I wasn't born with the ability to use both hands equally well, it just happened naturally as I grew up. I believe the correct term for it is penwald ambidextrous. For the most part I don't think about it, but it is an extremely useful skill for doing all kinds of small things: cutting, painting, hammering, writing, playing the piano. I'm also a mean badminton player, as I simply swap hands in mid-play to effectively double my reach.

Second, something that you know about Hadrian, or something that I've at least mentioned once or twice, that happens to be true about me too. I do in fact have a Darth Vader Pez dispenser that I usually carry around with me and take a 'hit' from when I need to think. In addition to me having a sweet-tooth there is a practical reason for this. When I find that I can't concentrate, or I simply can't get my head around a problem, be it a crossword puzzle or something a bit more complex, I take a pez or two to help me out. When I chew and suck on the sugary pez - chewing first then sucking is essential - the enzymes in my saliva simplifies the carbohydrates and causes them to easily pass through the cell walls in my mouth. This, in turn, transports the sugar in the form of simple carbohydrates directly to my brain, giving me a much-needed boost of energy. It might just be me being optimistic, but I find that this works extremely well.

Anyone else feel like picking up the ball and sharing? It doesn't have to be big. Just a little factoid to keep us going through the late hours of the night.

I'm a news junkie that gets most of my information from blogs, however, I'm so far back in the hollows of the backwoods that I have to use dial-up unless I want to spring for satellite linking.  Thus no video, and I wish everyone who put out some video of a discussion would put out a transcript at the same time.

What's known, well, my tagline is partially inspired by Douglas Adams "Hitchhiker's Guide" with its advice to carry a towel as you universe travel.  My counter advice is to carry a long crowbar.  I have the crowbar in question, its about three feet long, painted red, but with most of the paint flecked or worn off.

Its uses would be many. And its probably listed in one of my character creation lists on Gaming Outpost.

Well, one thing you couldn't tell from any of my posts here is that I've actually had to stop wearing hoodies IRL because my hair was falling out. I miss them already and I will make a point of wearing them more actively in-game to compensate.

You might be able to tell from my posts here, that I'm not very confident of my decisions both IRL, but especially here. This may have something to do with some of the 'horror'-stories I've read about RPG in various web-comics, like in the various 'tomb-of-horror'-parodies, but also due to the stereotyping of players, with whom I continuously manage to identify myself in the worst possible way.

1. I'm 6'2, a size 10 shoe, and I pace when I talk on the phone or think too hard.  I don't know why I pace, but it makes things easier for me.  Quite a few times, my best friend and girl friend have both made comments about me pacing, and one time I actually knocked something over because I was so deep in thought.  The pacing is absolutely involuntary, but I can sit down if I really try to.

2. Krillis has to be the best and suffers from a great deal of pride, which has, at times, led him to want to join the dark side (more than once).  An example of his pride is in the Killerbots world, when he tried to beat a cyborg at "wall-dancing."  Some examples of how he's been tempted to evil can mostly be found in the Kreeps world.  My plan, when doing the political stuff, was to eventually become king of the world.  Earlier, though, Krillis was also tempted (before meeting Blackstaff) to summon demons and use them for power.  The most recent one wasn't really a temptation toward evil, but the only time he became evil-the Temple of the Rising Sun.

Hmm..  I agree krillis on your number 1..  I do the same thing.  Pacing when talking or thinking..  but even to the point of, if I'm thinking or talking, and playing a game, I will be running my character around in circles, or a square or anything really as I talk.. or listen, waiting for a chance to respond.... 5'10.5, shoe size: 13. 128 lbs.  Contrary to Avahur who weighs much more due to muscle mass and such.

The love of strategy and planning is quite inherent in both my characters, and also would be true for myself. If any of you get a chance to be around Avahur when he's planning a war... its definitely a bit different than when you would see him otherwise.  For example... Actually.. I can't think of the world's name, I've been to too many, the names kind of blend together, but there was this one world where Av had to defend troy from invasion, and it was a lot of fun..

A side note to those that encountered me in the gather..  IRL I have been called General quite a few times for several month periods...and have had much to do..  and its evident in my character if you ever meet him...

To make Lucas feel better...

1. Tomb of Horrors are in my limited experience, ToH scenarios are remarkable for their fame and for their absence.

2. We could add to Hadrian's list a request for the most absolute stupid decision that you made in a rpg game.

I had an undead slaying samurai elf by the name of Stor (dumb name, I guess).  He carried a pair of mithril katanas with a +2 vs. undead on each.  The +2 was not insane, but when all his bonuses were added up, well, he was a horrendous killing machine, and my first really effective AD&D character (more about THAT later).

I wanted to get into a mausoleum at night where I thought a vampire might be. The door to it was chained with a thick chain. I thought about it, and decided that using one of my katanas as a crowbar to break the chain was a good plan.

My gm questioned me on this, repeatedly.

He then rolled breakage and since it was mithril and masterwork...only a '1' on a d20 would break it....'1'. I think he may have rerolled it. '1'. And this particular gm had 'brownie points' which were redeemable for certain things like rerolls (my brownie points were not.)....'1'.

As he said, trying to restrain his laughter, some things are meant to be.

There's a reason I say I'm a better gamemaster than player.

First D&D game I ever was in, I had a wood elf Ranger.  20 Strength, he didn't carry melee weapons.. (already a stupid decision), he wanted to see what was in a room in a crypt.  Pushed past the dwarf, and entered the room.  The door shut behind the two of us, and insects started spilling out.  I only have arrows and a ranged weapon..

If you're a ranged character don't push past the tank to get into a small room in a crypt.

Probably the worst decision I've ever made.

Tad, if they were adamantine, then your plan probably would've worked..even on a 1, it takes a lot to break adamantine weapons.. especially magically strengthened ones to be at a +2...  You'd probably break something in your hand before breaking the weapon...

Over at GO, they were talking a bit about violence between tribes which got to me to pull out my 'not yet a theory' of violence and the response to violence.

So for Avahur and anyone else interested...

The Shintoist militarists of Japan were extremely warlike, but with sufficient persuasion they became extremely peaceful. Part of this was persuasion, part was cultural change, and part was the most warlike types got themselves killed off.

Violence and the response to it is not a simple thing. Level one violence tends to breed an equal amount back. Level two, much more back as the responder tries to overwhelm the attacker. Level three, often brings no response back as the attacker instantly overwhelms the defender who then becomes passive. Level Four, and the defender may flee, but counterattack if given no choice ('even a rat will fight if cornered'). Level Five, and most people will fight back because this is the point where its die or fight. Level Six, and a lot of people will simply give up. The Maccabees held out against the Romans until the Romans built a ramp. The Maccabees probably knew that crucifixtion was the likely end,a nd so they took poison.

The response to violence is like a twisting snake. First its one thing, then another.

The sparrow people lost many of their best fighters to an unknown force. How do they know the enemy can't summon them again? In a few years, they might start probing and pushing, and if the parakeet people reveal weakness the whole cycle might start again.

(Background: The sparrows were sacrificing parakeets to their gods. Several versers took exception to this with the result that a lot of sparrows got killed, their priest got killed, and a giant snake 'god' got killed.  One player was arguing that this could result in a Hatfield and McCoy kind of situation. I largely disagree.)

This is one reason why appeasement is a bad idea. It reveals weakness, and weakness is enticing to thugs whether they are on your street or at the United Nations.

Appeasement however, is an excellent idea in some scenario's.  Such as when needed to buy time.  Also, appeasement doesn't always show weakness, but in fact can cause a weakness to appear where it isn't.

The sparrows were used to sacrificing parakeets, and thus were largely unprepared for a response by versers.  They could have never known that versers would react in such a way, but, if this tradition was a recent thing, surely they would have been more prepared for a reaction.

A bully bullies the neighborhood kids, and the kids do nothing.  Given time, the bully will go about his usual routine and expect similar results, with minor variations. A new kid moves in, gets bullied, and hates it to the point where he goes along with it, only to send the bully to the hospital a few weeks later.

The new kid may not have been weak, but by appeasing the bully, he bought time and showed an apparent weakness, which could be used to his advantage.

If you suddenly have to do something completely different than normal, like lifting fairly heavy objects for long hours, when for years you were used to carrying nothing more than 5lbs.  At the start, you will be sore, as you are using muscles you haven't used in a long time, if at all.  Given time, you'll feel little to no soreness, but try going back to something that requires muscles you used to use, but haven't used in your current setting.. You most likely won't be in the best of shape to use them.

The bully suddenly having to use muscles he didn't need for bullying, became his weakness, which could be exploited.

Appeasement to buy time, to launch a counter attack, or appeasement to show an apparent weakness where there isn't one, can be two positive outcomes.

Look at things from a different angle and you might find something that can work.

At least, that is my perspective on appeasement..

And on that note, I tried sifting through my notes to find my GO user name and password..  failed in that and went and made a new one..  I believe I found the thread in which you were referring to, and when you mentioned me earlier, I must say...  There is nothing wrong with a failed attempt to kill versers.  The point got across, they can beat me by teaming up, but they all know, that if they ran into me one on one, or maybe even 2 on one, there is a good chance they wouldn't survive the encounter.  I managed to gain a bit of respect or fear, or both.  As well as teach them a lesson, about other versers, and about other things I'm sure.  But my main goal was sort of achieved, in hind sight.  I got to verse a verser and scare a few more.

If you're talking about the Canadian Frat Boys pretending to be the Greek pantheon, then yeah, you scared them a bit.  I enjoyed that world.

Wow, using the rpol.hyphenit.com.au is a lot faster than the www.rpol.com.  I wander why that is...

Monday was my son's thirteenth birthday, and we took a family day trip from LA to San Diego's Wild Animal Park and back.

Lots of fun, and lots of driving, and a rather late bedtime as it is.  So I'm afraid I'll have to pass on updating the threads until tomorrow.

I'll see what I can do about a bonus post this week to make up for it...  :o

Yeah, that was an interesting world.. It'd be interesting to run into them again some time.. after Av gets a chance to get better at Teleportation..  facing super speed is annoying when he can do it at will...

Tadeusz, your attempts to cheer me up are nice, but you need to try harder at being stupid. Although most of my questionable actions are more of the 'rude like a 4chan troll'-type, I can easily best your worst decision ever. Case in point, you had some serious bad luck to get 2 '1' in a single roll, but my story involves not a single one. Admitting, it was my first actual game with dice, but even I should have known better than this:

I was playing a 'not very lovable rogue' and we were tasked by a priest to take an 'Evil Stone' to a forge to be destroyed with their 'holy hammer'. Sure enough, our first step was to get lost in the one and only woodland between us and our destination. This was partly on purpose, because we were expecting trouble if we just followed the road, but still not a big plus for our resume. We had to spend a night in the forest, but nothing big.
Next morging, my task was to scout ahead of the main party, and make sure we weren't amused. So when I see a group of knights riding down the road, my first mistake was to forget I had done nothing wrong yet and hide in the foliage. Not a big mistake, if these 'holy templar' had not been send to see what was taking us so long, and enforce our team if we were in trouble. They ride on ahead, and I just relay it to the team. When we finally do arrive at the forge, we find it to be suspiciously quiet for an iron-mill. So I get sent out to scout around the place and sure enough, just outside the main door, I find that group of knights, dead.
Now, rather than think about this being a hint of danger, my inner munchkin kicks in and I loot these guys from penny to underwear and report back to my party, loaded with 6 sets or armor: "Hey guys, there's some dead dudes over there. I think they got mugged, cause they don't even have a penny on them."
At this point our GM suggested a redo, because defiling a crime-scene is one thing, but selling your alibi, of "it was like that when I got there" to your own team of 4, who know you're playing a greedy thief, WHILST CARRYING THE OVER-ENCUMBERING EVIDENCE ON YOUR BACK, is just a little too much to expect.

I'll try to post my answers to this thread's questions soon, but I'm out of posting time right just now...  :o

Seven pending threads updated...  :D

Same song, next day's verse...

Seven pending threads updated...  :D

Sorry folks, but my summer is over, and I've been back in the office this week preparing the classes I am lecturing for this coming semester.

Twelve units is a full time course load, and I'll be teaching seventeen...  :o

I've been working a bit late the past couple of nights, and I'm dead tired.

I will still try to post several times per week, but I don't think I'll be able to keep up the almost-guaranteed one-posting-round-per-weekday pace I've done thus far.

I'll post again ASAP, but it won't be tonight...  :/

Understandable, good luck with the work..

Don't worry about it, mate, just do whatever ya can.

;)

At last... seven pending threads updated...  :D

Man, I am REALLY looking forward to these classes.

Five pending threads updated...  :D

I'm totally not looking forward to my classes anymore...

Oh? Why is that?

Way more boring than I expected this semester.

Whew!  What a week.  Classes start Monday, and it is Crunch Time preparation-wise.  :o

However, at long last, we have six pending threads updated!  :D

I'm a French Major now.

You joined the Foreign Legion???  :p

lol...

I'm pursuing a Major in French.

Hey everyone! Sorry for the slight absence. In any case it was probably a good thing that I was away, so that Oak had one less post to worry about ;)

Eh.. I start classes monday as well..  I'm sort of looking forward to them..  Well.. looking forward to one of them, not so much for some of the others.. like Calculus.. I don't like math.

Though, being a Computer Science Major... I suppose math comes with it, though I fail to see how math has anything to do with CS... Meh, the CS class should be interesting at least...

Fricking calculus... I don't know a single person (myself included) who didn't have to repeat the course in order to get a high enough grade for their program or even pass the stupid course.

In other news, my internets are now awesome.  No more messages about using up my bandwidth!

¬_¬

Eh.. This would be my second time taking Calc.. although, I do know a couple people that passed it first time through... got A's too..  though, the A's went down to B's when they took Calc 3 and 4..

But, putting them aside, basically the rest of the people I know, didn't do too well the first time through Calculus..

Not only are my lectures starting today, but this *huge* LA fire is a bit close for comfort.

Sometimes we are in the thickest smoke cloud I've ever been in.

Other times, when the breeze shifts the smoke the other way, we can see huge flames from our home's windows just a couple of miles away.

If the flames keep going and growing, my workplace could start getting a bit too close to the flames as well...  :o

Av,

My father has a bachelor's in CS, and a master's in math. He would say that the math helped a lot, mainly I think with the logic.  I, however, have quite primitive computer skills so I couldn't say. However, let me add that my father has been Senior Systems Programmer for a mainframe for a utility for a 250K city for a long time, and he's written an article for a magazine. In Multiverser terms, he's about 3@2 Mainframe Computer Programming. Of course, he also types with the 'hunt and peck' method.

In other news, you can now go to Lulu.com and buy 'Darwin's World: A Comedy of Religion' and 'Beach With Dinosaur: A Travel Novel.'  Those of you who have read some of Nikolaj's adventures may recognize the world 'Beach' is set in. Its a Multiverser novel.

Oak, make sure the car is gassed up, and the shotgun loaded. Take care.

Eh.. I've heard the math isn't really necessary, from other computer programmers, such as my mother.  I can understand a math course, and I can understand logic classes, having taken both, and I still fail to see the reason for CS majors to take 5 or 6 different math courses...  Logic is one thing... but.. meh.. mayhaps I'm starting to ramble a bit.. I simply do not like math or taking math courses...

My father is a mainframe guy, and you're almost certainly not. That might be the difference. They're about to transition over at his workplace which did not enthuse him. I think mainframes are on their way out.  Of course, he's also was for some time the 'what do I do now?' guy when other programmers got in a pickle.

As to mainframes being on the way out, I hear now the coming thing is 'cloud computing', and y'know, that sounds an awful lot like a new iteration of mainframes.

Well, we are still alive, and our house didn't burn down, thanks be to the LORD.

The air quality has been terrible from the smoke, but slowly improving.  When smoke from LA is visible from Denver, you know that is one big campfire...  :o

BTW, eight pending threads updated...  :D

o_O

Epic fire... wow.

Good to hear everyone's okay.

You said it, Oak.

And now you've given me a new descriptor to use in a story sometime.

Tadeusz

Welcome back, Nikolaj!  :)

I'll try to update the other threads ASAP, but work crunch is *very* crunchy...  :o