And here we go again

In reply to Narrator (msg # 1):

Happy as can be...

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 2):

All good friends...

In reply to Kirpich Rockson (msg # 3):

And Jolly Good company...

4 is a good number.

In reply to Airis Moonshadow (msg # 5):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODJ-AAmCM-A xD

In reply to Iskander (msg # 6):

I may not be posting until tomorrow ;  I  will try.

I've seen this movie... I don't like how ends...

Just checking in... anything new?  Other than the fire about to start over in the Palace thread...

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 8):

Ah... But I have not... ;-)

Nah, that fire didn't last long.  You've got an elementalist with you, remember?

Would have been more efficient to use Extinguish Fire, but Chou-Zhen seems to have neglected to learn that one.

In standard horror movie layout: you get Absolute Power, which of course corrupts.  You summon your new demon hordes, lay waste to the countryside, and eventually some group of stereotypical heroes have to use their violence to stop you.

Of course the speedbumps that were with you in the beginning become either mewling yesmen/chumps, or Captains of your forces to be mowed down by afore mentioned heroes, or newly risen undead to supplement your Demon Horde.


Happens every time.  ;)

Hmmm She might enjoy absolute power... that is scary! She'd be picking out Boy Toys from the groups encountered, including the one she is in...

In reply to Jocelyn Lemru (msg # 13):

Fire? Where! And without inviting me! How rude...

I don't believe I mentioned fire anywhere, honey ...

You didn't. She was responding to Chou's post.

Sorry ... I read the "In reply to Jocelyn Lemru, Msg #13" and assumed it was to me...

In reply to Jocelyn Lemru (msg # 17):

It was a general comment to any potential arsonists!

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 18):

Be back tomorrow ,  I had overtime

In reply to Narrator (msg # 19):

Be back tomorrow. And I   may be scarce for a few days. Packing and cleaning the house for exterminator visit.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 20):

extoiminate!

helping a female friend make a new charactor, new intro to gurps. cool?

In reply to Iskander (msg # 22):

Oh, yeah. Very cool. Have a sci-fi game running if they would prefer that...

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 23):

we already have her elf conceived for NP, but thanks! I on the other hand am interested in a sci-fi game...
This message was last edited by the player at 02:23, Sun 19 June 2016.

In reply to Iskander (msg # 24):

We use GURPs Traveller. I have 2 threads running, due to differences two player had with each other, but one seems to have disappeared. Have a look around if interested.

link to another game

love it. i was actually running a travelor campaign, 6 years ago with 3 other people. the group fell apart because one of my players purchased an obsolete scout ship at a depo, found a bargain, and the ship was great for it's purpose. anyways, he meets the onboard AI, who introduces himself as ORION, to his new master/owner. ORION is a male personality, and the ship is pushing 50 yrs or so, so he's pretty developed in his persona. well, my player immediately says he wants ORION to change his gender to a feminine persona. this caused me to make a reaction roll for ORION and it was bad. XD so, his new ship didn't like him, and would make remarks, etc. he threw a fit and it was like a last straw sort of thing, i guess and we lost him, a key player. I'll build my charactor around the one i was using at the time

In reply to Iskander (msg # 26):

ROFL, seriously funny. I can just imaging a player asking another character to change sex for him, then throwing a hissy fit when they object! Yeah, some players are funny about what sets them off. Some GM's too, but fortunately not here, and not me (I think!).

haha yeah, big babies. xD anyways, i was looking over the house rules, and i can't find anywhere stating how many points we are allocated for charactor development.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:24, Sun 19 June 2016.

In reply to Iskander (msg # 26):

Was ORION making comments every time the pilot touched the
stickshift or was the player really hoping to hear things
like "Oh Captain !  It feels so good to have you back inside of me!"?

I'd wager the latter. lol "oh captain, i love it when you hook up my power coupling, and charge up my loading ramp!" i thought it was the perfect time to roll the dice!

ORION actually started to go against his programing, and one of the other party members had a cybernetic head computer with a female AI  *SYNERGY* that essentially gave him two minds. well, they began to conspire mutiny. lol it was kinda more than just the petty begnining, after things snow-balled.

In reply to Iskander (msg # 31):

Something   similar  happened in Futurama

the bawl-baby's player was actually a cool charactor. he was a bounty hunter/robo mechanic. he started with a junked ship, (that he owed money on still!), wound up getting involved with a scout pilot attached to the navy, who was called in for a special scouting mission to see what happened to a frontier science colony that they lost contact with. turned out a zombie virus outbreak coupled with pirate troubles was the case.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 32):

yeah, i remember that episode. there was a romance between bender and the planet express ship's AI. xD

Banzaiiiiiiiiiii!!

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 35):

Lol, food for thought! Have answered game questions in game. No AI's for you to worry about at this point...just strange Aliens! Some of the players have already expressed an interest in Zombie virus type scenarios...

an excellent crossover

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 36):

Eeeuuuwww ... From another player ...

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 36):

Sorry, that should have read a lack of interest...

That describes me... no interest in that stuff...

In reply to Brodak (msg # 40):

Zombies or Sci-Fi?

we also did an auto duel/zombie cross over in 1996, before the whole zombie craze.
before that, was a teaser, where me made ourselves as high school kids in our neighborhood after a zombie outbreak at the hospitals and funeral homes, nearby.

In reply to Iskander (msg # 42):

Any zeds you meet here are going to be fairly standard necros
Although the hungry dead are a divine curse...
I want your non fodder enemies to employ tactics.

Also, the new player, once she rtjs will enter Hitomis thread with Astra and Quint

In reply to Narrator (msg # 43):

Sounds cool. Though sometimes it is nice just to wade through walls of cannon fodder...

In reply to Narrator (msg # 43):

cool!

In reply to Iskander (msg # 45):

I am a big zombie fan; i have Dead Reign, Zombies!
Zombietown, Afmbe, and have worked up scenarios in GURPS
Horror  l8nt before  GURPS Zombies came out; I have been writing a novella for a few years, but cozy apocalypse and survival horror aren't everyone's cup of tea.

Yes there may be liches with undead armies, but they aren't
the same as basement lurkers or mindless hordes thumping on
 the glass.  They are tools and extensions of their master's
Will.

yup, differance in how the undead are being used. horror vs fantasy. i've always used them to bring a sense of dread mixed with pity, and it's always fun to put a few zombies/skeletons down in a spike-pit trap, or other death trap. >:D

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 41):

Zombies in general... and yes, I am quite aware this game has them and other things I don't care for much (Demons et al) ... I try to overlook it , as the rest of the game is good, with lots of background.

In reply to Brodak (msg # 48):

If they are being overused or just make you uncomfortable, let me know,

more for me!

또한 내가 !
ttohan naega !

In reply to Narrator (msg # 49):

It's just a me thing ... Stuff I don't care for ... I knew they were here when I signed up and chose to go along with it ... I am glad I did, as the background is rich and you keep the game(s) moving. Now if you could adjust the political party candidates, I'd take you up on it...

I doubt even a chiropractor could adjust this election...

I think it's already been adjusted... just not as I'd like it.

there is no democracy. only zion.

Boooooo!  Hiss!

we've been an oligarchy since F.D.R. and the new deal. federal reserve isn't part of the government, but a global banking cartel. of course you can't just go tell the people that...no, you have to wait a few generations after you've made them sufficiently dumbed down, with vapid media and weakened by poor lifestyles, then before they know it, democracy, or the illusion of it, is a moot point.

as if the dismantling of christendom in this country wasn't bad enough, they have to go attack nationalism too. our own, red white, and blue is being banned from being flown/worn.
doesn't bode well....
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 23:52, Mon 20 June 2016.

In other words, the US is going to Hell in a handbasket, eh?

If you want to be a nationalist you should learn the Flag Code. It is a violation to use the American Flag in clothing.

Everyone you see wearing a US flag shirt or hat is disrespecting the flag.

Basically any form of the US Flag other than "a flag" is prohibited.

Flag lapel pins and patches for "military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations" are specifically given a pass, but pretty much everything else is disrespect.

So if you see someone using the flag in advertisements or clothing, they are being unpatriotic.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:26, Tue 21 June 2016.

In reply to Oren (msg # 60):

Our election not much better either. (Down Under) Too much political correctness to see that we are at risk of handing the country over to unions and radicals...media should be held to account!

In reply to Oren (msg # 60):

'murica. *spits tobacco juice*

Any chance we can just put the politics away here?

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 63):

Yeah, OK.

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 64):

There is a reason  made the beaurocracy here theocratic. I
try to avoid  politics in-game; this is an escape, but some
of my opinuons seep through, even if they are my opinons of
14th century Europe.

I have no problem with ingame politics.  But, for me, this is an escape from the 24/7 politics of the real world (and the everything elses of the real world).

fair enough. and ingame political intrigue is a good thing

fair enough. and ingame political intrigue is a good thing

In reply to Iskander (msg # 68):

Got my house back (still packed up for the next few weeks) so I   should be able to catch up oday.

Is Against the Cult waiting on someone?

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 70):

Just on me to get to it. It has been a long day.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 71):

Copy.

It occasionally amazes me the number of things for which GURPS doesn't seem to have a specific spell -- especially considering the plethora of specific spells there are.

leaves room to innovate!

What seems to be missing?

That ought to get things moving in the Abbey.

Y'all can thank Jednesa later.

10/10

10/10

I've read the other threads now... so, I may have an answer to my question.


If you're looking for a way through the wooden floor of the tunnel?  There are several ways:

Quiet and Sneaksy:
Blink can move you to any unoccupied hex within 3 yards... but many GM insist you be able to see where you are going first.
Body of Air, Lightning, Shadow, or Water you can slip through the thinnest of cracks (in theory, but only Body of Shadow actually stipulates this).
Move Terrain could make the floor shrink, then once you've dropped down, you put it back.
Reshape would let you mold the planks like clay.
Shrink Object and Transform Object would Shrink or Transform the planks... you might be able to put them back when your done.
Transform Body and Transform Other you can become Pixies and maybe get through a crack or large knot-hole.


Quiet but not Sneaksy:
Alter Terrain can turn the wood into 'natural' earth or stone and then shape them.
Disintegrate reduces the planks to a fine dust.
Hide Object puts a plank into Hammer Space.
Rive would eat a hole through the planks, up to 2 foot wide.
Ruin ages the planks 5 years per minute.

Neither Quiet nor Sneaksy:
Apportation could rip the planks free.
Explode will... well... Explode the planks!
Shatter would Shatter them.



And tht doesn't even touch the direct damage spells or Summons.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:06, Fri 24 June 2016.

Pathfinder literally tells you which way to go to get somewhere.

Of course, there's always the limitation on how many character points one had left to buy spells when building the character, but what I was specifically after was a spell that would reveal a way we're pretty sure is here, but don't see.  Pathfinder is almost right, but rather than a place, it's an object we're chasing.  Seeker seems to do the same thing for objects, but it's like trying to use a compass to get out of a maze...

Actually Seeker will do exactly what you want:

isn't there like a "see secrets" spell?

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 83):

That works for secret doors and the like, less so for stuff behind a curtain.

ah.

Seeker is the exact spell we're using.  Seems like "leads you" may be open to some interpretation.

In reply to Chou-Zhen Mou (msg # 86):

Remember your image was of the set being carried down a ladder

In reply to Narrator (msg # 87):

Then order over the internet! That might send the message home...

sorry, i've reconsidered about the other game. i just can't play a pre existing charactor. :\

In reply to Iskander (msg # 89):

Chye you are up.
[Private to Chye Isuel: make sure you speak both Sahudese (native) and Aralaise (accented) and have a point inguild membership]

This message was deleted by the player at 16:04, Sat 25 June 2016.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 90):

[Private to GM: yeah his languages are sahudese 0/0 and aralaise 2/3 for 5 pts. that's correctly done, right? 2 points for accented speech, but he can read/write script perfectly, for the 3 points? Is courtney's player joining this thread as well?]
This message was last edited by the player at 16:31, Sat 25 June 2016.

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 92):

Yes and Rigo's  office

In reply to Iskander (msg # 89):

Ah, OK then. There is places for new characters, but that particular thread is kind of at the tail end of a long survival mission...throwing new character in there would not make much sense!

yeah, i understand. perhaps when the story permits it, i can join up.

Don't forget your healing potions, Ales.

In reply to Iskander (msg # 96):

There is of course the other thread...

ivestigating the labrysians? that seems to be the prevailing thread lately, anyhow

In reply to Iskander (msg # 98):

Yes, it is. It has not had one of the key members dissapear...

"Where's the earth-shattering 'kaboom'?"

Maybe it's not a Boombrat?  It's might a "Spread the Zombie Plague Brat".

I would just like to mention to the other Players of the Abbey thread, who have have characters that are both likely more intelligent and fiscally minded than Jednesa, that a living Doomchild* might be of value to sell to the Sage's Guild or others...  before Jednesa smacks it really hard on the ground and it explodes all over us.

Of course if no one has demonology or such...  I'm okay with that too.  ;)


PS:  Did we lose Stenet somewhere?




* If this is a Doomchild.  They can survive a a few low damage hits before exploding, but so far most have just popped immediately, exploding with happiness over all the attention they receive.

Utterly lacking in any Expert Skills or Hidden Lores related to demons, sorry.

Just smack it around or whatever.

I'll give the others (and Stennet?  Stennet?) a few more hours before I post another action (tonight or maybe tomorrow).


As a Player I'm mildly conflicted.  While I'd love to get more money and less damage on Jednesa, I'd also really be happy if she rolls out of this broke (money wise) and really banged up from some over-the-top demon fighting.  Luckily she isn't smart enough to not smack the insides out of the little demon, so we have a winner.

When in doubt roleplay what's interesting over what's in the character's best interest.

What do my hidden lore skills tell me about the items we're looking for?

In particular, would those skills make me familiar enough with any of the items to use Seeker?

In reply to Malga'Mar (msg # 106):

Demons? They burn, right? Is there anything else we need to know?

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 107):

Not all demons burn, but plenty do.

Hidden lore magic items needs to be rolled for each item on the list separately.

We might just have that 'boom' you were waiting for...

In reply to Jednesa (msg # 109):

So did my fireball miss? Rolled well enough to hit.

Maybe you hit Jednesa. Firing into a melee is dangerous business.

I'm with you on this.  There's always the tactically ideal thing to do and then there's what your character will do.  They don't always line up.  IF this is a doomchild, Dareos, your healer, shouldn't be standing next to you staring at it.  If it pops, we'll all be educated by experience.

And now for some exposition!

Dareos has some interesting conflicts, in case anyone wants to trigger them.  As a Dark One, he has Bloodlust racially (and I opted to not buy it off), but as a (not evil) priest, he's Charitable and Selfless.  So if he's in a fight, he'll likely try to kill the foe, but if the foe surrenders or is fighting out of obligation or duress, he'll likely spare them and help them.  In the past, he's healed and then given money to a surrendered thug he was, just a few seconds earlier, trying to chop the head off of.

Assuming you pass your self-control roll, that is.

so far Jin has made all those rolls. lol

Most of us can control our baser instincts most of the time.  It's the conflict, and those times when we fail that control or choose to let our demons out to play that make role-playing interesting (among other things).  Mario usually doesn't try to control his Bloodlust; it's one of the reasons he hated working as a guard: he was pretty strongly expected not to kill (not to mention he really, really dislikes crowds).

Jin has passed the rolls he's attempted. He doesn't attempt many.

never suspected Mario had blood lust!

some instances are lame, some aren't. If it makes sense, that he would feel that way, after hostile exchange....what's left to respond to? everybody knows they hate eachother. that was hardly a "snipe", as snipes go.

No, "what my character DOESN'T say..." is pretty lame.

lame, lame.. know your name. ^_^

If we were all sitting around the table together, the inner monologue would still be spoken, as  I perform my actions, in accordance to what has transpired. *gabble comes down*

I'm done with this crap.

Please refrain from sniping at my character in a way that I have to read but cannot respond to. That's all I'm asking, Iskander.

why provoke hostility IC, if you have a glass jaw for "relevant thought"? land sakes...

I've asked you to stop, and that's all I have to say on the matter.

None of us, barring someone reading your mind, will know what your character is thinking, so stop posting it.

Yeah, unless you're telepathically broadcasting your thoughts, maybe don't telepathically broadcast your thoughts.

You've heard "Show don't tell?" Show us what Iskander feels through his dialog, actions, and expressions, don't tell us by literally telling us.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:02, Mon 27 June 2016.

there. happy? happy? good.

That's the spirit!

In reply to Jin (msg # 127):
i'll keep that in mind.

lol ok. fun returning... sorry y'all.

In reply to Iskander (msg # 128):

Please, seriously this needs to stop. Jin does what he does well, and he is a bit talky about it in a way that  can rub people wrong at times.. As there are no telepaths, and your character is not "easy to read" do not post thoughts, it is baiting and we don't need it. I believe Ulo, with her racial bad temper, and an actual designation of being a troll, is less of one.

We are not physically in each others company, or some of our n8n verbal cues would have tipped everyone off about who is comfortable with what, and those digging at eachother would have been asked to lay off if they hadn't picked up on it. All we have is the words we type, and just because someone is playing their Disadvantages  in character does not make them that way or devoid of feeling as a person ooc. We get it. One character has a class based 10pt disad that makes him judgemental and pushy. The other has a quirk  that dislikes abuses of power, but it has been playing  like an oph. Both of you have multiple characyers in different threads, so this tone does not have to exist except in the threads where those things are being directly exchanged.
Please, lets be civil.

no problem. no grudges, here.

Yet!  Someday, yes, someday...

In reply to Iskander (msg # 133):

Ok, then Iskander can deal with whatever consequences there
are for his action, just as Jin can deal with the
consequences of his rude and bullying language.

If the two of you as players have no issues between you, and
 these are only behaviors mechanically generated by conflict
of disads chosen independently during chargen, then let's
apologize in ooc and recognize that we all know that the
characters dislike eachother and spend less time Roleplaying
  that and more time playing the game.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 134):

Yes, if your wierdness can start spending some points.

hear hear! :D

Gotta finish an adventure first...  or maybe two or three.

Sounds like a plan.

It's actually pretty central to the build -- he's a character who can kill quickly and fairly quietly at considerable range (his eye socket shots are good out to at least twenty yards if he can take a couple seconds to aim and nobody's distracting him to prevent AoA), though before his leg injury he was just as capable of drubbing someone into a coma, (probably) without killing them, with a staff.  The big thing is, he's currently in a situation where he doesn't have to think about whether he should kill.  The only shot he's taken down there that wasn't intended to kill was the hand shot to prevent a cultist suicide, and that was showing off as much as anything.

He's not much of a tough talker, though.  He'd rather put an arrow in your eye than argue over who's in charge.

yes, i recall that shot. good form! D _- >-->

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFUG8_zeLGw
have a seat!

In reply to Iskander (msg # 142):

Be back on tomorrow, I've  been working on a thing for 75pt DF, to bundle with an S&W version.

i was reading about that on gwythaint word press. sounds cool.

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 144):

I wrote 9 pages on it today (after locating all of the legalese. Got a comparative "how GURPS works" and buildable 75pt Fighter and cleric sorted out, need to type up my notes on mu, thief, elf, dwarf and then type up a quickie dungeon... may take weeks

In the abby thread, what are people wearing?

...more specifically, what color of shirts are being worn?

In reply to Malga'Mar (msg # 146):

Dark blue cloak with Natural (Dark brown) leather armour underneath. Leggins and boots to match armour, of course.

Earth tones. Dark brown or tan, probably. Whatever poor commoners wear. Leather armor over it.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:55, Thu 30 June 2016.

The ruined remains of a burlap tunic that is completely inadequate at covering anything under a heavy leather carrying harness, which proudly displays the Adventurers Guild tin badge riveted in the center.

Dareos Madrigar: 6'0" 183 lb Black Eyes with vertically slit pupils.  Greasy slicked back black hair.  Tentacles for fingers.  Scruff of hair on his chin.
Wearing well maintained leather armor, a royal purple cloak and mantle.  A beige or white tunic is worn under the armor.  The sigil of Sethygg, The snake god of Healing, is clearly visible on the breast of the armor and on the surface of the heater shield.

In reply to Dareos Madrigar (msg # 150):

Soiled brown rags under leather armor, with a patched leather
covered steel cuirass, wide brimmed pot helm with reinforced leather coif, batteredshield and rusty sword, Adventurer’s  guild badges on belt.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:50, Thu 30 June 2016.

In reply to Haskell the crafty (msg # 151):

Aoife, Stenet and Fenric   just reverted to npcs, their player left.

I'd be happy to pick up Stennet in the Abbey thread until the Player comes back or the adventure wraps.

It'd allow you to meaningfully partake in group discussions without having to do it ooc.

That too.  I forgot how... tedious playing a very low IQ character can be.  Now I remember why I stopped doing it.

13 is my go to statistic.

For what?

usually, IQ.

Sometimes you don't want to play a super smart guy though, you know? Or at least, I don't. Having to actually play someone so smart can be exhausting.

It does take a lot a thought.  Unless said high IQ person is loaded down with mental disads like Impulsive, Curious, Impatient, etc.  Those can really take the load off.

My preferences for IQ are 10 or 14+.

In reply to Azrael (msg # 159):

Yeah, I second that. My characters IQ is 15, and mine about 10, so how do I do that?

I can pick up Aoife again...I still have her pets. It would mean I have 2 characters in that thread, which is not ideal, but takes some of the burden of the GM :)

I can probably take Fenric too, though I know nothing about him. I make a habit of not reading threads that are not mine in case they meet...make RPing easier with said 10 player IQ!

yeah, i hear ya. Chye isn't super smart, but he's no dummy. (12) musical ability and charisma, attractive give his secondary skills the boost i wanted. A little more combat heavy, than usual, but i like the balance of strength/agility.

i'd like to see him be trained by a master, before he's 30 ;)

That's why I like the DF templates. Reduce your choices and leave you with a fairly optimal template that is, most importantly, balanced for group activity with the other templates.

Niche protection at its finest.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:53, Fri 01 July 2016.

13 is spot on for me, so it's easy for me to play

yeah, niche protection... lol still, i like DF. it's sort of grown on me.

yeah, i have a host of mental disadvantages to accompany my IQ. no such thing as a free lunch! :D*

My own preference is for a more open form of GURPS Fantasy (only priests can heal?!), but DF is quite okay.  It's GURPS, it has magic, and (in this case) it's a well-run game.

yeah, i agree... i like the whole "white magic" concept, rather than it being purely divine...

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 169):

I have an issue with that as well, and have a few witches walking about (I am Wiccan myself, but profess no abilities, that is not how my crazy works) and they have magery and power investiture, kind of like the Bishop class from Bard's   tale.

yeah, or the wizard, in wizardry, who could also identify. i'm playing excelsior lysandia phase one on dos box. now that's old school ('93)

DF is kinda "classy", for gurps. xD like it though.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:42, Fri 01 July 2016.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 170):

Stenet and Aoufe redistributed, Fenric is good as a narrative   npc (among the trolls, he speaks the most Aralaise).

i had a witch npc. "the witch Hetilda", or "hetty" as they called her in the hamlet nearby. sort of a legendary figure/hedge wizard. was rumored to be ugly, but was actually, quite amazing looking, kept by life-sustaining necromacy-touched magic. herbalist, alchemist, healer, food, and, plant spells, with some elemental magic for defense. one of my favorite crafted npcs.

she kept a stockpile of skull spirit, imbued skulls around her hut, and always carried at least one with her, though. multiple skull spirits can spell doom, quick. for the average, hack 'n slash
This message was last edited by the player at 13:04, Fri 01 July 2016.

Wouldn't a practicing witch be a cleric? Or perhaps a shaman from summoners. They work through spirits/gods/etc.

there's a good bit about witches and their magic in gurps horror, actually. i like how they use natural crystals as power stones, and the different colors and types of crystals govern the magic it can be used for.

This message was deleted by the player at 13:27, Fri 01 July 2016.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfA49i3SnyI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vlAdMeZSfw
for all the magic users out there today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT7jM1K2V7A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzlK0OGpIRs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyQUCYl-ocs
This message was last edited by the player at 13:20, Fri 01 July 2016.

Chye could you like put everything you want to say in one post and just edit new things in if nobody has responded since you last posted?

that's what i'm doing

No, you post two or three times in a row.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 170):

That's interesting as a concept... might be a useful character in Northport.


[Private to GM: In fact, that might be fun...doubt that's Jocelyn, but something like her might work well.]

I'm going to resist the incredible urge to edit the hell out of the character sheet...  I'll have to make a copy for myself so I can figure out what everything Stennet can do is.

certain player personalities, just shine right through ;D*

It's not like it's messy or incomplete or anything inherently wrong or incorrect...  but... it's... you know.  Not done right.


/twitch, twitch

lol

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 186):

Maybe you'll discover something better in it that you didn't see before... I find playing other peoples characters to be difficult, but they sometimes grow on you... and now and again you see something you wouldn't have done/chosen that works better than you'd have guessed.

My min max senses are tingling.

that's be difficult for me. couldn't do it... playing somebody's elses charator would be like the red headed stepchild

I absolutely suck at min/max optimization, but then I prefer to play characters with, well, character, rather than ones that are so optimized they look just like the next optimized character in the same niche.

precisely. even if i do put 4 points or so into useless background skills...i don't suck at it, i usually have something up my sleeve when i create charactors. even if they're just a one-trick pony.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:34, Fri 01 July 2016.

Thankfully DF uses templates that take most of the guesswork out and give you a perfectly capable character optimized to function well with other DF template characters.

yeah, i like to look at them...templates, that is. modify!

I have an idea for a martial arts thread, tournament theme :)

Well, somewhat so.  If you try to "multi-class" at our point level you can wind up significantly sub-optimal.  Ardenas gave up a fair amount on the martial arts side to get one-college magery and a few spells -- but his base skill is so low those spells are barely useful.  Levitation and Lockmaster are pretty good, but he practically has to sing and dance to cast them with reasonable chance of success.  Slow Fall isn't much good when you've only got a little better than 50% chance of actually casting -- better cast before you jump, not after you fall off.

If I were doing this build again, I'd probably go more toward a wizard with some martial arts skills (unarmed combat instead of quarterstaff or light weapons), than a martial artist with a little magic -- but dilution can be a problem with mages, too.  Drop 25 points on a lens, and you've given up 25 spells, give or take.

And that's with 250 points.  I used to be able to make a pretty decent wizard in 3rd Ed. with 100 points, even with Magery limited to 3.  I could built a "Tim the Enchanter" (stand on a hilltop and cast fireballs all day) with 75 points, though there wasn't much there besides fire magic.  Yes, the increased cost for ST and DX accounts for a good chunk of that difference, but not all of it...

That sort of concept isn't easy to pull off in a 250 point game, no. But that's sort of the point; niche protection makes it more effective to figure out one thing to do and do well, rather than doing a lot of things poorly.

Because it's not you having to do everything. You have fellow party members. If anyone can handle locks or levitation, chances are they'll be better at it than you could possibly be.

So yeah. Pick one thing. Maybe two, if a template covers it.

i know my concepts are good, when i can keep my primary skills at 15-16, and my secondary skills at 13, nothing below 12. and furthermore, those 12's better be boosted by advantages, etc. that's how i do it

And yet most of us real people can do a couple of things well....

Most real people are 50 point characters with at most a 12 in one stat and most skills at 11.

I'd be surprised if you had a single default that low, Oly. ;)

Point is, you can rely on the other PCs so the game doesn't have to be balanced to let you be an expert at everything. Needing the other PCs to do stuff for you fosters cooperation and better group dynamics.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:08, Fri 01 July 2016.

iskander isnt sub optimal. he's nothing special in the way of skill, or latent powers, though he has that utter minimal spark of magery. iskander is simply prodigious.

in high school, we did a teaser zombie session, where it was us, as ourselves then, and we were all 75-80 pt players.

I mean, I have my issues with GURPS spells in general... and I say this as a spellcasting character... but the best use for combat spells in GURPS is to buff the fighters and get out of the way.

A Great Haste cast on Gorgath is probably the most potent combat spell in the game.

In reply to Azrael (msg # 200):

You are correct, but then Oly isn't an average character ... an "average" character is an all 10's character. Granted he/she may have an 11, but likely a 9 or other flaw to offset that.
One of my most obnoxious characters is Mudde... he has all 10s... but has a max on hard to kill and a feature that says IF he is killed, his next immediate relative (so, daughter, wife.... it doesn't much matter) shows up with the identical character sheet, but a new name.  Mudde was the sort of character that shook stray boxes, stomped on trap doors etc. he was actually fun for me to play, but he met a variety of evil ends, including being stabbed in the butt as he looked down into a well hat was very deep... obviously by a fellow player.
Average Characters are aggravating to the better ones.

haha cos they feel like dependants they didnt get points for

Average attributes, but hardly average.

I'd call a character "average" at 25-50 points without stepping beyond the mean.

No... he was a Min-Max in an odd way... basically goosed Hard to Kill to absurd levels.
The rest was pretty mundane.

one-trick pony :D

In reply to Oly (msg # 207):

Ever see the character Minmax in the webcomic Goblins?

I have been trying to coax function out of low point totals, and I have seen that multiclassing works better using a 125point  template and a 125point  lens instead of trimming a 250 pointer to paste on a 50pt  lens.

Agreed. If you want to multi, Henchmen offers a better way to do it.

Why?  I'm talking about the character sheet layout.

"Specialization is for insects."  -- Lazarus Long

So, we have one specialized person who can open locks very well, and because we expect to have such, no one else has any skill at all.  Then, in the first fight, the locksmith has a series of bad rolls and dies.

Sure, anyone can use a default to try to pick a lock.  Quick, what's the default -- DX-4?  Now, instead of a 95%+ chance of opening a lock on the first try, you get the fighter trying (because his DX is the highest left in the group), taking minutes for each attempt and failing on the first try close to half the time.

Build your parties around the idea that each function is to be covered only once, and you're asking for a single major injury to abort a mission.  A character who hopes to come home, no matter what happens, might reasonably wish to be able to have at least a minimum of ability in the most essential things.  Of course, in DF, if your priest bites it, everyone's out of healing -- but (to trot out a LOTR reference) losing the burglar shouldn't send the dwarves back to wherever they'd been hiding before they met Gandalf.

i like a bit more versatility.

"Specialization of labor enabled civilization." - real world history

You can rail against it all you want, but "teams of highly optimized specialists" is what DF does best, and the devs have been explicit that niche protection is built into its base assumptions.

But if you want to do it anyway, GURPS Henchmen offers a far better way to do it. Apprentice/Monk is the best way to balance it out, but having to split your cp between two sets of special abilities is a trade off of effectiveness for versatility.

I would still argue that since the game is balanced for 250 pt characters, having a set of abilities at the 250 pt level rather than two sets at 125 is the way to go.

At start, yes.  But after a few sessions?  Most templates can pick a few OoT skills to "cover" other roles.  Also, "that's what the Wizard is for" is what my group says.  With very little trouble the Wizard can do everything except shine in melee (they do that by buffing Knights and Barbarians) and heal (by RAW).

With few exceptions every Template can easily pick up some skills they don't cover without losing any of their primary focus.

We're not likely to see that much in these games because of the slow nature of gaining exp.

Besides, trust the GM. He's not going to make the game boring and disappointing just because a PC died. There are always more than one solution to any obstacle.

Eh... this GM perhaps.

But a hardcore old school GM isn't going to change the dungeon because the Thief bought it 5 minutes past the first door.

This means most doors and chest must be bashed (noise often means fights, which makes more noise...), and you no longer have a Trap springer.

Losing the Wizard means a slight (or major depending on how the group rolls) decrease in combat strength and a marked decrease in Information skills.

If the Cleric drops, it's bug-out time.




The group I was running seriously contemplated rolling as 2 Clerics, a Barbarian, and a Wizard (magical Thief) at first.  This changed to Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, and Wizard when I said "Yes, I'll add Healing spells to the Druid list".

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 217):

There are ways to deal once the thief is gone, and taking
prisoners  is a way to deal with traps...Peter Dell'Orto's
group relies on a wizard with create  servant to deal with
traps, and lockmaster for the l8cks. Failing that, the group's  tank with  20st deals with doors.
I am a big fan of Jaquaying the map, it only becomes a choke point when you choose   not to go a certain way.

I don't get that reference at all.

i didn't either. reminded me of some turn of the century bad-muzak, like jamiroquai virtual insanity

In reply to Iskander (msg # 220):

A blogger reference to a multi-route mapping style accredited  to game designer Janelle Jaquays.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=...HTI763l7y3rtTLlLOMJA

He cites Janelle using her old name. She wrote Caverns of Thracia and The Bard's Tale.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:58, Sat 02 July 2016.

Copy.  You were referring to map design philosophy...  my first thoguht was "Jaquay" was some sort of method of parkouring a dungeon.  Or something.

I didn't recognize the name Janelle Jaquays -- but I did recognize her old name.  I don't know that I've played any of her designs, but I've seen that name on various things (most likely Judges Guild stuff from the early 1980s).

I also remember that section in Vol. 3 of OD&D, and using many of those "tricks" in my earliest dungeon designs.  The idea of designing a dungeon strategically, tactically, and logistically hadn't really settled yet back then, at least among the players and GMs I knew -- but we did occasionally approach it, with questions about how certain denizens managed to make a living (or just survive) right next to certain others.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 223):

Back tomorrow

Most of us 'Mericans will likely be celebrating.

And some of us will be trying to figure out how to get to sleep at eight-something while the neighbors are out enjoying their fireworks.  Four o'clock comes the same time on Tuesday morning regardless of Monday's celebrations.

My opinion: just as we moved half the holidays on the calender to Monday, Independence Day should always fall on Friday.  Day off work, check.  Stay up as late as you like watching fireworks and sitting in traffic jams afterward, check.  Get as drunk as you like, check.  Make it to work the next business day without a hangover and on more than three hours of sleep, BIG OL' CHECK!!!

I'd go with the same for New Year's, but that one really is tied to a particular date, and the celebration is generally the night before instead of the night after, so everyone gets the actual holiday to recover.  The actual date of Independence isn't the 4th, anyway; the Declaration was signed on the 2nd, but we celebrate on the 4th because the signing was really, really late, and then it took another day to get it printed up for distribution, even though one of the signers owned the print shop.  In the end, it took until August for the word to reach all the colonies, er, states and the Articles of Confederation (the first governing document of the new United States) to be hashed out.

Speak for yourself.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 226):

Umm the 4th of July seems to be tied to a specific date too ... and it's not normally a big drinking holiday, unlike New Years. As for trying to sleep through other peoples noise making, I sympathize... I have a couple of those T-shirts.

Fourth of July is a specific date, yes -- but it's not the actual date of signing of the Declaration, or the date of ratification of the Articles; in fact, the actual date is just the day they managed to start getting the printed copies of the Declaration "in the mail", as it were.  What we celebrate isn't "Fourth of July", it's "Independence Day."  And since that didn't actually happen on July 4, 1776, I don't know why it has to be tied to July 4 every year.  The only other American holidays that haven't been moved (to Monday) are Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving (traditionally on Thursday since the first one was declared by executive order) and, oddly, Veterans' Day (November 11?  Really?).

Yeah, okay, Independence Day isn't a big drinking holiday, but that doesn't stop the State Patrols from treating it like one.  There isn't a traffic cop in North Carolina with today off.

The "Fourth of July" branding is more prevalent than the correct "Independence Day" branding. This means that "correct" is irrelevant, as is almost always the case.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:45, Mon 04 July 2016.

Yes, the Police in Arizona are busy too...  unfortunately with good cause.  Thre are some that require little to feel like it's an occasion to get drunk. Hey, The sun came up! Let's get drunk!   Hey, I can see my wife clearly! Let's get Drunk!  ...  I was raised to see drinking in moderation as acceptable and getting drunk as a sin and a waste of good money (for paying good money to get yourself sick).

In reply to Oly (msg # 231):

We got our independence with a vote, but then, we just got a hung parliament the same way, so that take all the excitement out of that...

I sometimes think we would be better off getting rid of all the politicians and going back to a monarchy...until I remember Prince Charles in in line for the throne!

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 232):

I am going to be scarce for a few days; have to pack up the house tonight for round two of the exterminator tomorrow, and the next 3 days unpacking.

I'd say "Have fun!"... but that's sounds like the exact opposite of fun.  So... hope it goes easily.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 234):

Lol, yep. Hope it gets all the bugs out...So, giant cockroach demons for the next few weeks?

my friend had roaches so bad in his parent's trailor, they were living inside his computer, and we called it the "roachtrix"

In reply to Iskander (msg # 236):

worse; bedbugs. you can expect size SM-6 vampires with unkillable3.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 237):

btw Jednesa, that suggestion came after rolling a 17 for traps...

For all Jednesa knows traps do have a smell and poking them with sticks is the proper method of dealing with them.


Keep in mind, her general method of dealing with a trap is ye olde "Barbarian Method Of Dealing With Things #1".


Also known as "soak the damage".
This message was last updated by the player at 19:52, Wed 06 July 2016.

In reply to Jednesa (msg # 239):

Had a heavy day unpacking, looks to be something that might
take the week; the accumulated possessions of four people
take a lot of sorting! (And culling and donating...) Thank
goddess we look to be pest free, but this living out of boxes
 has been a bear coming and going. Almost all of the closets
are still in boxes in the hall...

Far better than if we were burned out, flooded, or tornado
struck, but he endless packing, repacking, rewashing and the cost of boxing it all in plastic, and literally washing everything the family own two or three times in a row has cost us around $1500. At least that end of it is done.

what a rigamarole

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 241):

Agreed. There must be an easier way...

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 242):

Gaah. I just finished getting the curtains back up, and art on the walls in my bedroom, and we finally got our closet
together and clothes all sorted-bags and bags of ill sized
items going to charity. My altar and drawing table are
finally in order, just in time for another 5 part commission for B&T.  (I swear, that book is going to be a portfolio of
about 30 or so pieces of mine.) All of my books and hardcopy
gaming supplies are still bagged and boxed, and I'm expecting
 to purge some paperbacks.

On top of the commissions, I am still writing my GURPS to S&W conversion adventure...

really enjoy jednesa's dialouges xD

Thanks. She isn't easy to write for, I keep having to remember to use the small words... and that she doesn't understand things the way anyone with any sort of education does.

yeah, i can imagine! great job, though. :D

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 246):

Catching  up  tomorrow. Sorry. More unpacking/shelving and trips to goodwill.

Goodie!  I'm on pins and needles wondering what the chamber really is for...

Scanning my map I've made of the "Juniors/Against the Cult" absolutely failed (black ink on a black lined notebook paper).  So I remade it in MSPaint with all the errors intact...  though the writing is much, much, much neater.

http://i420.photobucket.com/al...0Map_zpsbthm8jtx.png


Not quite up to my "master" mapmaker skills, but nowhere near as useless as my famed "Kender Maps" (my Kender mapmaker was illiterate, so she drew little happy or frowny faces connected by lines... lines which may or may not have gone in the correct cardinal directions - there was no "North" on those maps).

Looks good to my perfect direction sense and imperfect memory.

In reply to Mario Crowfoot (msg # 250):

Be back up tomorrow your flowchart map is pretty close to true.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:32, Wed 20 July 2016.

I'm outside of the Abby.  Can we get a quick summary of who is where and where the demon noises are coming from?

In reply to Walter Goldman (msg # 252):

In the kitchen: Haskell ,  Crispy
At the kitchen door: Jednesa ,  Christine
Inside the refrectory, towards the outer door: Azrael

Possibly outside the door, Malga'Mar, Stenet  and Walter

If right outside, the two doomchildren are 3 yards out
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:27, Wed 20 July 2016.

Slight correction:  Jednesa squeezed into the kitchen (after Christine ordered everyone out of it) to poke around the broken crockery (she's inspecting the "trap").

Also, Christine backed away from the kitchen when the shelves gave way.



Stenet was with Azrael (inside or out, either way, but I thought Azrael, Walter, and Malga'mar were all outside), but has moved to the door to repel the Boombrats.

@ work

Will post later

How big are the doors?

quint, might wanna fix your post identifying as oren.

I should be outside the door as well.  I stepped out when Christine said to.

In reply to Dareos Madrigar (msg # 257):

That helps. I was wondering what was going on!

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 258):

Also fwiw, Dareos has a (quirk level) issue with women.  So he tries to keep a coldness between himself and women.  Even though he likes and respects Christine.

In reply to Dareos Madrigar (msg # 259):

Christine dislike all men. Well, not quite accurate, she dislike a small part of all men...so she would get along much better with men who keep their distance!

I do the same thing in real life, Dareos. xD I love women, don't get me wrong. but I hate how women expect men to fawn all over them, especially when they are attractive. This causes a bad reaction from me (-2). and I'll deliberately be cold, because I won't let them have the satisfaction of using any wiles on me. There's plenty of fools to go around! I need to find me a nice woman from russia, or south america.

In reply to Iskander (msg # 261):

Lol, I can tell you from having lived in Russia that they have more expectations there than in the west. Along more traditional lines, mind you, so that suits me. My wife is Russian, and I would not have it any other way, but they do expect romance from their men, and I have had to learn more than I ever needed in Australia!

And that's what suits me. Traditional. I'm at a hard age, to be. I can't stand the younger generation (anyone born in the 90's), but women my own age already have kids, and I don't want that either... there's nice traditonal women within the latin communities here in the USA, but they are very hard for a white boy to breach. The women are very gaurded.. they mix more freely with whites down in texas, and california..but then, those women are no longer traditional.

In reply to Iskander (msg # 263):

Try New York. My wife is Latina and we mix pretty well.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 264):

Not everything you meet is on the way to your destination

 Alot of of culture out there. I particularly like the puertorican ladies on the east coast. I feel another move coming on within the next 5 yrs, not sure where, but somewhere else. I'm definitely not going to turn 40 in this crap-town.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:12, Fri 22 July 2016.

In reply to Iskander (msg # 266):

Fond of them too, as my wife and daughters are among  them.

right on, you sound blessed. happy for you, bro! :D

That's probably why he likes her.  She keeps her distance, he keeps his distance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La9Me7alNqA xD

In reply to Iskander (msg # 263):

Many of the Latino/Mexican woman here in Arizona are quite traditional ... but be prepared to attend every family function... everything from hangnail removals to marriages and graduations ... My neighbors travel all over the southwest almost every weekend to attend something or other. A quiet weekend at home becomes a treasure!

viva familia! ai ai aiiiii!

Si !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MyYVHwve0I xD

Women are just people, and people are easy to get along with unless you have weird attitudes and funny expectations about them.

;D* I'm a real piece 'o work. Oh, but you knew that.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step to overcoming it.

What can I say, I'm an aquired taste. Like anchovies...

No, but that does not mean we should not kill it!

... complicated, messy, and tend towards being greedy.

Or so my experience has shown me.

I'm just really picky, and hyper-aware. I respond best to plain speech and directness. Few women display that. They play more "head games" than foreigner. Besides, I'm my mother's son... They've lost before those games have even begun....xD

Humans display human nature. That's operation according to design specification, and includes a tendency towards cognitive bias: you will notice data that confirms your preconceived notions more often than you will notice data that contradicts them.

So if you think people are complicated, messy, and greedy, then you will notice complication, mess, and greed more often than simplicity, order, and altruism.

You cannot change that, you can only be aware of it, and use it to temper your reactions.

Likewise, if you think that women are somehow different from men, those differences will be more apparent to you when they manifest, and you will take less note of their similarities.

Folks is folks. They are vast. They contain multitudes. And infinite variation.

TL;DR: Your human brain is inefficient and is building a faulty construct of reality.

It's not cognitive bias.  It's experience.  When I was younger (teens-30's) I thought most people were basically good and decent folks, with a few 'bad apples'.  Experience has shown otherwise.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 283):

10-15% are bad apples, 15-20% are good folk... and everyone in between are just opportunists, who grab what they can and look for the easiest way.

Those numbers sound about right.  Though, honestly most people are "good and decent" to those within their own Monkey Sphere.  To outsiders?  Well, those are outsiders.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 285):

So 15% of people have selfish, greed, and bully, and a fairly
 equal number have charitable, Honesty and selfless? I think
 the range is broader.

That's all the people in the middle.. the opportunists who do good stuff so others will see them and think more highly of them... who snitch stuff because no one will notice. Who go to Church in an ostentatious display, they go home and do things the church wouldn't approve of... That's the large majority.

certain events have a way of reminding people again.

Lol, so true...

some D&D forgotten realms, Kara-Tur adventures sounds mighty interesting

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 290):

Lets all just try and be decent

shoot, i like everybody in here.

Yes, women are different from men.  And vive la difference!

Okay, possibly not the way you mean.  Multiple marriages and relationships, and my current partnership with a trans man (physically female, but identifies as a man) suggest to me that there are fewer psychological differences than I had been raised to believe.  Many times, the same desires are morphed by societal norms to manifest in different behaviors.

I generally agree with your premise, in any case; you tend to see what you expect to see.  I could probably make a case that much of what we call "intelligence" is an enhanced ability to overcome that tendency -- but one could easily cite many-many counter examples, too.

The way you process your experiences into memory and "truth" is what is colored by cognitive bias. You remember that which conforms to your preconceived ideas, and filter out the ideas that threaten your conception of reality.

Pessimists do live in a worse world.

Optimists do live in a better world.

Neither interacts directly with objective reality. Nobody does. A "realist" is usually a pessimist or cynic with less self-awareness.

But we react to threats to our perceptual schema the same way we react to threats to our self-image: poorly, often violently. This is why the hero's journey is centered around the death (or sacrifice) of self before a rebirth; accepting change is a heroic act.

In reply to Jin (msg # 294):

Nicely said, the both of you.

Which describes me.

I used to self describe as an optimist living in a shitty world, but that's not accurate anymore.  While I still expect and hope for good behavior from people, I now (emotionally and occasionaly physically) prepare for the worst of behaviors from people and hope to be wrong.  I frequently find I"ve over-prepared... but better to be ready for the emergency and not need to be than to be completely unprepared in the face of calamity.


I don't react to threats to self image.  At all.

o0( 'ole Hetty's favorite..)

In reply to Iskander (msg # 297):

I now have two players stating they have issue with undead,
so I will lower their representations. Folks in Shevnia and
The Abbey, I   am afraid there is a bit in those threads, but
 I will limit presentation for others.

If anyone else has a topic that is a trigger for them personally, let me know by pm so it doesn't  become a
discussion  topic.

Similarly, out of respect for some personal descriptors mentioned in Stat yourself, a few planned posts will be edited down from a degree of explicit content that does not need to be there.

If there are other issues that need to be addressedfor comfort level, pm me,

In my case, don't.  Reading about undead doesn't bother me.  When I said "thinking to much about zombies can be panic inducing"... I meant just that.  Thinking too much, as in if I begin to consider the spiritual implications in relation to my unovercomeable superstition (I have a dread that the 'soul' is bound to the body until it's completely destroyed - don;t ask where this comes from, I'm not sure).  But talking about say, the implications of zombies on the modern genre of movies, I have no issue.

And having Jed wade through a hip deep room of zombies as though they were a lake of undead hungering for her brains... I can handle it.  I just won't think too deeply about it (or give it any space in my mind's eye)...

For instance one of my favorite books series in the last decade was Newsflesh by Mira Grant.


Just to restate:  I have no 'triggers'.  Exposure to things I don't like/enjoy/cause discomfort can only make me stronger.

I like undead... used well, they can really be a special effect in a story. like anything else that gets hackneyed, you don't want that to happen anyways...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakan_the_Forever_Man has to be one of my favorite undead protagonists
This message was last edited by the player at 14:52, Mon 25 July 2016.

I vaguely remember having the Chakan game for the Sega Genesis.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 299):

Cool. I have a thing about them myself and have been working through it by writing a novel.

Reading the opinions of others when it comes to humanity and social complexities makes me suspect how alien my way of thinking must be when compared to what defines "human."

Don't take any of us too seriously. Self-analysis is the hardest skill. Most of us, myself included, are probably entirely wrong when it comes to who we are and how we think.

I don't take it too seriously.   It does seem to be an area where I don't understand the views of the world around me.

I've had a professional tell me they didn't know how to read me.

Most people don't understand their own views, let alone other people's.

But here are two articles that may help:

http://bigthink.com/think-tank...s-dont-win-arguments

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...2%80%93Kruger_effect

What you need to keep in mind is that people almost always think of their views as stemming from logical and rational points unbiased by their emotions, but they're almost always wrong. We are at the mercy of our psychological filters, and that includes the analytical part that would tell us that we're at the mercy of our psychological filters.

All of the data we receive, internally and externally, is tainted. And we're better at doing this than we are at realizing that we're doing it.

I remember reading about a medical study where people were genuinely cut off from their own emotions, the way a lot of people like to think that they're objective and rational. The end result was that they did nothing. Ever. Not even eat. Even simple motivations stem from emotional need, and deprived of that need, there is no reason to act.

So pure reason is inactivity. The core behind all action, all behavior, is emotional response.

I used to run a lot of "stat yourself up" games. It was kinda funny to see how much everybody overestimated or underestimated themselves. Eventually I ran these games in a more sort of "stat up a character based on yourself" to avoid arguments as to how capable/incapable all of my special snowflake players actually were.

For the stats I posed, I probably don't have Less Sleep. I'm probably just sleep deprived and used to operating at a certain level of impairment.

Also I should have taken some form of depression, and Fanaticism (My interpretation of GURPS is the best!). Probably some delusions.

I either still have on the edge (-15), or at the least bad temper. (-10) intolerance (secret) -10, could also be justified..., either way, i'll probably save this version of myself and use it for an NPC if i ever do another zombie apacolypse game again. xD

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 308):

So happy gor all the "mitigated" mods on mine. I used to suffer from migraines,and I guess I bought it off(change in meds) reminds me, I   have to add a skill and more quirks...

yeah, I've been constantly reducing mine, making changes.

Yup.  Stat Yourself games always have issues.



By the way GURPS rules work, either I take Less Sleep 2 or I'd have fallen into a coma years ago.  I only sleep 6 hours a night.  Though for the last year it's been 4 hours a night (if that) and I've been a mental zombie.

No issues here... would love to burn a bunch of zombies with a nice explosive fireball.

But I understand if others have issues...

In reply to Ales Konstantin (msg # 312):

At some point in time, I would like to do something post apoc or survival horror.

i'm definately on board for that

Post apoc is my jam.  I've run Fallout several times in GURPS.

Just your typical day, in little shevnia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEaOGNGQGXk

The main thing I've noticed is that I seem to either not have some emotions as they're defined by other people or -as best as I can tell- my reactions to things seem to be outside the norm.

I don't view myself as psychotic or anything like that.  I'm not typically upset or bothered by it either.  (I only say "typically" because it's lead to some frustrating interactions with shrinks in which they insist upon the idea that I'm depressed.)  I've just come to accept that my way of thinking tends to be viewed as outside of the box in a lot of cases.  My best guess is that my natural state was already different than the norm, and then I had the military layer their programming over top of that.

low empathy? -15

Or possibly undiagnosed high-functioning autism.  It's pretty common among gamers; I have Asperger's and my partner has something on the autistic spectrum as well.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 319):

I am  always surprised  by the volume of people in the industry who have mood disorder. Krom, Finch and a few others we know in the forums. It is good company.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI4bi6E95HM

"And I'd rather play here
With all the madmen
For I'm quite content they're all as sane as me"

xD

Ditto, hence my write up including Callous* and OPH: Dissocial Personality Disorder.  But then I was diagnosed with sociopathy when I was a wee lad.

The emotions I don't feel are shame or remorse.  Which are powerful motivating emotions in people.


* Which isn't exactly true, but it's a 'best fit' sort of thing.  Same with the OPH.  GURPS doesn't work well to model adjusted 'high functioning' sociopaths.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 322):

Be back tomorrow

We waitin on anyone in the Abandoned Abbey?

In reply to Jednesa (msg # 324):

Getting to it

Ludlow has Clueless doesn't he?  Or something very similar...

/facepalm

This message was deleted by the player at 03:46, Fri 29 July 2016.

Sounds about right.  Don't forget, this guy uses chaos magic...

Yeah.  Some level of Carelessness.  Not sure how to model that in GURPS.

Hmmm... OPH (Careless)?  Or go the heavy-handed method of Absent-Minded (6) [-7], Honesty (6) [-5], Impulsive (6) [-5], Short Attention Span (6) [-5], and Truthfulness (6) [-2].  And then when one triggers, the action isn't because of "disad's reason" but because the character is being careless.


Though, honestly, I prefer the OPH method.  Or just grab one of the above and rebrand it slightly.

I'm not sure what (if any) bonus the shield I picked up gives me vs the explosion.

I'm going to try a retreating dodge; stepping back away from the explosion.

what's (deceptive) in an attack, anyways? is that like a feint? these new rules for combat, i don't fully grasp. I'm a 3e man, cutting my teeth on 4e rules
This message was lightly edited by the player at 22:06, Fri 29 July 2016.

It can mean a few different things, but generally means using skill to get past an opponents defenses. Your attack is trickier in some way. More of a twist, or it comes from an unexpected angle, or whatever. Every -2 you take to hit gives them a -1 to their defenses.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:21, Fri 29 July 2016.

i see. i'm trying to educate myself as we speak, from scattered sources, so i can be the most tactful i can be in coming combats.

Seems easy enough to create a new disadvantage: Careless.  The character sometimes (frequently) forgets to take reasonable precautions or think his actions through.  Once per play session (per hour, per ten minutes) the GM can apply an unintended consequence on one of the character's actions.  Making a control roll doesn't prevent this, but may render the consequence harmless to the character.  Even with a successful control roll, the action may wind up harming others, even friends, Allies, or Dependents.

Should be worth -10 with control roll of 12-, and standard progression for harder control rolls.

Personally I'd just call it quirk-level Absent Minded and roleplay it.

sounds like impulsive.. also -10

i can see the diff though, i like it.

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 337):

I like it. Will be back tomorrow.