If you got complaints, see Igor... the ogre at the end of the hall with the rocket launcher!

Seriously, this thread is for complaints, suggestions, and discussions. Someone said it was a good idea (you know who you are!).

So chat away!
This message was last updated by the GM at 16:18, Wed 25 Sept 2013.

Good day all! I'm hoping this game is still in the works...?  Thanks

I am ready and willing, thanks for having me.

Very cool ideas and characters thus far...

Hey, you ain't seen nothing yet! I've got a doozy character in the pipeline, and two more players after that.


We're still steamin' along. I was busy and not home most of Tuesday, and then I had 18 players jump onto my first game, so I was a bit overwhelmed. Got it under control now.

Plus, I'm still new to this site, so I'm still learning the ropes. The good thing for you guys is that my first game is the guinea pigs!

If not later tonight, I'll have posts up tomorrow.

I enjoy playing for first time GMs. Thanks for your efforts.

As-salam alaykum. Hello everyone! I look forwards to posting with you all. I will be your resident Pirate and minority. :P

Now now...  I think I have your minority beat :)

I am female, of Japanese & Chinese decent who grew up in Korea. :)

Heh, not that we are competing on such things :P I also would love to point out that our characters personalities mesh so well. We both are contradictions :D

alykum salam Remi, and Konichiwa Miko. Enjoyed reading your bios.

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen.

Still getting used to this Group designation. I've figured out one other tweak on them. Just got done changing everyone so they have access to Group 1. I have settings for personal threads, too, if it becomes necessary, but with Group 1, everyone can read and post in that group. (Forgot to update everything last night.)

I wrote out Remi's history, I felt like I was missing something. :P

Okay, all characters are posted to the board now, and everyone should have the ability to edit his or hers.

There are a few things missing from some that I'd like you to fill in.

APPEARANCE: a descriptive line or two would be helpful, plus height, weight, hair color, eye color, and skin color.

BACKGROUND/HISTORY: Just a sentence or two would be nice.

Also, I have 3-4 more players in the pipeline, so we're doing good.

Hello everyone :)

Looking forward to playing with you.

I just want to take this opportunity to offer a disclaimer: Anastasia will probably never wear practical clothing, because apparently there is no such thing as practical women's steampunk attire. So if she descends to the bottom of the ocean in a brass corset and ruffle skirt, don't blame me.

Welcome, Miss Anastasia!

Your comment on impractical clothing reminds me of this:

"Female Armor Sucks" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTGh0EMmMC8

That's actually quite an interesting video, I tutor gender for sociology undergraduates and might run it by them. You know you've got it bad when you start seeing sociological themes in YouTube videos.

Hey Bossman, I'm going to be gone this weekend until Sunday afternoon.

Just a heads up!~

Maybe the Gas Lamp looks like this...



or this...

I suppose it could, especially like the second one, but without the stairs. I sort of had this idea of looking more cluttered with decor and less elegant. It's essentially a working man's club.

I like the idea of waiters on bicycles

Thanks. I got the idea from the TV show Castle that featured a steampunk club. The manager was riding a penny-farthing around inside. It just seemed rather neat.

Am I doing the wrong thing by posting in the main club thread?  Should I still be posting in the personal thread instead?

Hullo! I am back! I am also a bit confused as to where to post. I know that Victor is trying to interact with me, but should I post in his thead or the Gas lamp thread?

Miko, you're posting in the right place. The individual threads were meant for me to get a feel for how everyone posted, and to get them to the club. Once at the club, it kind of fell to how the story went. Everybody should slowly (?) be shifting to the Club thread, though.

I've been using Miko and Anastasia to 'set the scene', so to speak, and then blending everyone else into it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:29, Sun 29 Sept 2013.

good to know, I will start to move toward the club thread.

Welcome to the party, Denholm and Steve!

Ditto :)

Also...

http://tinyurl.com/qxsu2u4

Forgive, please, the following.  I suffer from terminal smart-ass; one day my mouth WILL get me killed ^_^

Hey, Steve!  I was looking over your character sheet -- great stuff, by the way -- and I noticed a particular "item" you had listed in your GEAR section...

You keep a "beard" in with your gear? ^_^  What, you own a beard other than the one on your face?  D'you swap'em out, occassionaly?  One beard for day wear, the other for evening wear? What?

Again, I'm sorry for that -- I just couldn't help myself.  Like I said, I'm a smart-ass.

And, for all I know, you MIGHT have another beard in your gear. Your description makes you sound like a fellow who might wear a disguise... ^_^
This message was last edited by the player at 07:07, Tue 08 Oct 2013.

In reply to Denholm (msg # 30):

I would note that Grimsby has a notation to the effect that he may grow a beard when "in the field" though he only has a moustache in London.

There's a picture of the electric gun under Game Map. I don't have any way to host an image online, so this will have to do.

...back from my week of interviewing college students for jobs.

Glad you are back. I see by the way that Miko spent part of her life in Korea.  In real life I taught English for 2 years in Korea in the 1980s. A very interesting culture, though 1899 was not a very good period for Korea, being caught between Czarist Russia and Imperial Japan.

Where has everyone gone?


If real life issues are keeping you way, that's understandable.

If, however, you aren't 'excited' by the direction of the game, I can't very well adjust it unless you give me some feedback.

Do you want to take an airship to Mars?
Do you want to journey to the center of the earth?
Do you want a war of the worlds?
Do you want giant mechs trampling London?
Do you want faeries controlling the crown?
Do you want more magic?

I'm enjoying myself! Thanks for all the effort you putting in to the game. Off to post right now.

Thanks. It just seems as if we're down to 4 players, so was wondering if I should recruit more.

Anyway, there's a picture of Mercy in the Game Map tab, Group 2.

Well...Mercy is a lot more attractive than I had pictured her to date...hmmmmm

Yes, she is a bit of a tomboy, works with machinery and isn't afraid of getting dirty, but she does clean up nicely!

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 37):

Personally, I am enjoying the game.  I think 4 players is all right, but if we fell below that it might be a problem.  I can understand if you want to try recruiting more as a precaution.

Hullo! Sorry, I've been bogged down with studies.

In reply to Remi (msg # 41):

As a teacher in RL, I understand that. I hope you can continue playing nonetheless.

Yes yes, It is a juggling act.

I'm travelling to visit someone today, and will actually be less than an hours drive away from Rannoch. Small world, guys :)

I envy the chance to travel in Scotland.  I had a day in Edinburgh once many years ago, but that is all.

I take it the "Flying Scotsman" party will be joining us in due course.  I look forward to meeting them.

Yeah, that's the idea. Forgot to give them access here, so they will probably say hello at some point.

This message was deleted by the player at 04:55, Thu 21 Nov 2013.

Hi there!

This message was deleted by the player at 04:55, Thu 21 Nov 2013.

This message was deleted by the player at 04:55, Thu 21 Nov 2013.

I will be AFK for the next day or so due to moving.

I'm back. Unpacking but back.

In reply to Xander (msg # 53):

Glad you are back.

I must say I'm impressed with the (assumed) ruthlessness of Denholm's post about the South Carolina barbeque etc. I hope the villains are equally impressed.
It reminded me of Tommy Hambledon putting the wind up the Soviet agents in "Handcuffs Can't Hold Ghosts" -- "Hostages can't save you. They can't hold the roof up when the mines explode. Hostages indeed! Hostages, ho, ho!" He said afterwards he hadn't enjoyed himself so much since he played the Demon King in a village pantomime.

I second that! Denholm's words had me feeling we have the upper hand here. It certainly convinced me, lets see what Fritz has by way of a counter argument.
Well worded and well spoken sir! Like a chap!

Denholm wouldn't hurt a fly -- but he used to sit around a campfire listening to heavy-handed Teddy Roosevelt talk about "teaching The Spaniard his place"! ^_^

Hopefully Dash won't have to do more than put a couple shots into a mound of dirt -- although he doesn't plan on letting any of the miners actually get hurt...

And yeah, at this time, the BBQ Grill hasn't been invented.  And South Carolina has a long barbeque tradition which goes back to the carribean isles.  In a manner almost identical to a Hawaiian Luau, they start a fire in a pit -- get the reference? ^_^ -- then lay a grill of either metal (used in the Carolinas) or green branches (used in the Carribean), then they lay out the meats, cover with either damp burlap (the Carolinas) or wetted palm/banana leaves, then lay more coals down on top of that. At a Luau they would then bury this, leaving a hole just large enough to admit enough air to let the coals smolder.  In the Carolinas & Carribean they skip the burrying.  Let all this slow roast for several hours, then carefully remove the layers, and take up the meats and "pull" it; that is, shred it with either your fingers or a pair of forks.  Once it's all "pulled", you dish it out and either chow down, or slather a good tomato, vinegar and brown sugar based sauce all over it...and go to culinary heaven ^_^

Now.  Anyone for a little "long pork"? ^_^

Thank you for the recipe, but Grimsby prefers his pork "short" if that is the correct term for the non-human variety.

Been under the weather lately. Will read through before bed, dream and post when awake. Promise:)

Hello, all, Stella Mulberry here.

Greeting Stella, from Grimsby Baskerville, a hardbitten Colonial agent now on detached duty in Scotland. I look forward to gaming with you.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:15, Sun 09 Feb 2014.

Is it possible for everyone's last names to be added to their characters? Given the period, Stella will not feel comfortable always using given names for these relative strangers (except you, Mercy dear), but her Player's memory isn't that reliable. Character descriptions would also be very helpful.

I have re-written the posts formerly by Vanessa on page two of 'Clouds over Scotland' to reflect Stella's character, should anyone be interested.

Mercy, you and I should probably work out our prior connection in Private Messages.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:21, Sun 09 Feb 2014.

I see I wrote my own name wrong in my previous post. I have corrected it now   --Grimsby Baskerville. As far as I can tell, I do not have the access to edit my character's name as it appears in the game posts. That would be up to the GM.

Okay, updated everyone's name.

This was my first RPoL game and in the beginning with just a few players, first names seemed more friendly. It didn't occur to me (then) that if I added players down the line it would be helpful to have full names.

Remi doesn't have a last name.

Sure he does.  It's Remi. ^_^

Mercy, concerning your post in "Clouds over Scotland", msg #187 on Mon 10 Feb 2014 at 18:20.....

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-*gasp!*-bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha..thud.




you forgot the "L" in "clock"....

Looking in, though so far I don't see an opening to say more.

I'm getting there. For some reason, Explorer and RPoL are having communication problems. It's been working fine, but all of a sudden, the Explorer tab crashes, reboots and whatever I was posting is gone.

I'm trying to use Chrome, but I hate it.

Sorry for the technical issues. I will await my opportunity as your conditions may permit.

Oh!  Oh, I say, nice recovery, there, Mercy.  Very nice! Brava! Bravisima!

You actually are taking the "L" out of the clock. Can we assume that it will still be an Alarm...Rooster...among other things? ^_^

Still having some difficulty getting on-line.  I'm not gone, I just can't always get access to a compuiter that can get me on-line -- but I'm still around ^_^

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 71):

Glad you are around.  You are one of our livelier characters.

True that, he's just so.... Dashing! :)

I was away for the International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, but now I'm back.
In theory I had internet access in Kalamazoo, but I had to use all my computer time teaching an online class for my university.

They have a "French overlay"??

What, they're wearing blue-and-white horizontal stripped shirts and black berets? ^_^

I will be away from Friday evening to Saturday evening at the AEthelmearc War Practice (SCA). I might miss one or two days posting depending on how things go.

Oh!  Oh!  Take me!  Take me!

Crap.  There's a frigging ocean in the way...

As it turned out, I think you would have been glad not to go. The weather was wildly mixed --there were moments of sunshine, times of bitter cold winds, pelting rains and even a couple of bursts of hail. I did manage to get in some archery and axe-throwing and marshaled the ten-man melee team tourney (with hail rattling on my helm), but even at the royal court we could hardly make ourselves heard from rain and hail on the roof. Ironically, today is beautifully sunny and clear --just the day we needed yesterday.

So, in other words, it really was authentic!

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 79):

Well, it was authentic for northern Europe.  I wish it had been authentic for, say, Andalusia.

Hello all, I'm new to the game here, and I figured I'd say hi.

Welcome. I look forward to gaming with you. Will you be joining us in Marseilles?

Indeed, from what the kind GM has told me, he/she's still working on just how I'm to join the story.

Hello! This is rather late, but since I've posted I figured I ought to say something here. Looking forward to the story!

Welcome, strangers.

In reply to Connor Holmes (msg # 83):

It looks as if GM has come up with quite an exciting way for you to join in. I hope Grimsby manages to get involved, though he has a couple of would-be assassins to get past first.

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 84):

Welcome. It is nice to see we have several new players.

Okay Folks, time to kick the elephant in the room...

...steps up on a soapbox...

While this may be "Steampunk", it is also "Victoriana", and that means that -- at least peripherally -- we might touch on such subjects as Racism, Colonialism, Nationalism, Religion, and the concepts of "Superior" forms of each.

At least I plan to... ^_^

Spoiler Alert: At the moment, Dash is having a small crisis of both Religion and Race.  Because Connor doesn't LOOK Human, in the Victorian Eye it is easy to jump to the conclusion that he ISN'T Human.  If he ISN'T Human, then he has no Soul, and is only an Animal, not a Person.

In the Victorian Era, and most of the Age of Colonialism, this was a dominant thought pattern among Euopeans, and those of European Stock (that would be us Americans) -- if a People didn't look and act like Europeans, if they didn't have the advancements of Europeans (in other words, if the Europeans could push them around), then they were (somehow) "Inferior Races".  And many zealous bigots took that even further, saying that since these "Inferior Races" didn't act or Believe the same as their so-called "Betters", then they weren't even People, they were "Sub-Human", and could be oppressed, dispossessed, and even exterminated, all for the betterment of the Great Powers and the Glory of God.

Hey, I ain't saying I believe that crap, but back then, a lot of people did, and a lot of the people that didn't, just had too much on their plates at home to do much about it; they just didn't give it any thought.  It took several more generations, and a couple of World Wars, before such thoughts became less dominant.  They still exist -- and many of the Halls of Power around the world still reverberate with their rhetoric -- but more of the rest of us are looking up from our plates at home, and wondering "What the Hell?"

So, anyways, as a good Roleplayer, I intend to play Dash as historically accurate as I can.  Not to worry, though.  While he may be a good (i.e., intollerant) New England Methodist, he's also from that Massachusettes blue-blood Liberal society that was so hot to Free The Slaves back in the Sixties.  So, he'll get over his predjudices fairly quickly ^_^

Tha-a-a-at's right, I said back in the Sixties...as in the Eighteen-Sixties, that whole War Between the States and Free the Slaves thing in America.

What? You thought Social Change was exclusive to the Flower Power generation?  History repeats itself, my friends.  Over-and-over, round-and-round.  Go check your history for the Seventeen-Sixties, and you'll find the seeds of the American Revolution being sown.  And France.  Lots of blood spilled in France over Social Change (*shudder* how not to run a Revolution...)

All through History "The Sixties" have always been "Interesting Times".

Well now that you've given the elephant the bum's rush out of the room(with apologies to the ASPCA of course), I would just like to say that was a pretty decent summation of Victorian attitudes, and I'll say for the record I'm not offended by your accurate portrayal. After all, I'm playing Connor as an oppressed but intelligent minority in the same era, and I am trying to keep him accurate too, as accurate as can be with a cat-man anyway.

I'm a big history buff, so all of the "manifest destiny" mentality is familiar to me already, surprises me that bits of it keep cropping up in our time still. But yes, time has a funny way of repeating itself, what's old is new and much more besides, and yet some things go on almost forever (steam locomotives for one, a real passion of mine).

Anyway, there's my two cents on that....
This message was last edited by the player at 09:47, Thu 29 May 2014.

Stella has wandered far and wide in her life -- Europe, America, Australia, China. She has seen (and experienced) a share of injustice and inhumanity. She's seen slavery visited on those who were as intelligent and moral as their oppressors. It doesn't set well with her.

Grimsby has seen enough of the back side of Asia to be well aware that non-Europeans can be quite as intelligent and moral as Europeans, if not more so.  On the other hand, he is a dedicated loyal servant of the British Empire and quite willing to do whatever is necessary to see that the Indians and other subordinate members of the empire remain subordinate.  As G.K. Chesterton said of  another agent of the Raj in "The Oracle of the Dog", "Every imperial police is more like a Russian secret police than we like to think." However, as Connor is no threat to the British Empire (we are, I just learned, assuming an alternate history in which Ireland is already independent) Grimsby would have no reason not to treat him fairly.

Well to tell you the truth I just winged the idea that Ireland had already separated from the British Empire, the state of the world in-game is so different than what was in our own 18th-19th centuries and with several other nations that didn't exist in our time-frame either that I figured why not a unified and up-and-coming Ireland? I haven't been contradicted on it yet by the powers that be, so I suppose we can assume this is the case.

I don't think the English would've let the nation go out of the goodness of their hearts, mind, they either let the Emerald Isle go because it had become redundant with global trade and the other parts of the Empire were much more profitable, or since the island is unified as one the Irish either lobbied hard for or made some trouble and fought for their independence from the Crown.


Anyway, I don't think Connor would be much threat to any nation really, unless the nations that funded the research that made him want to start it up again, although they did pull their funding for the project at the last minute and we can assume they either destroyed or highly-classified anything linking them to the project. I intentionally left the identity of these nations secret to put down a foundation for a possible future storyline about the whole thing, but for right now, our resident catman's past will remain in the realm of mystery, and he can't or won't talk much about it.

So let me ask ya, there, Connor-darlin -- would ya be speaking The Kings English, now, or would ya be liltin the sweet celtic tones of Éire, itself, laddie?

In reply to Connor Holmes (msg # 92):

So Connor's the original Celtic Tiger, eh?

Well, the fact his creator named him Connor might suggest that he speaks English with a slight accent, perhaps  bit more since he's been living in Eire for a while now, although he can speak Gaelic as well. I did say in his description that he is a linguist, so it's conceivable he can speak many, if not all, human tongues.

As for being the original Celtic tiger? Well that might just be an unintended side-effect of him being adopted into the country, although I think he'd get a kick out of the idea!

In reply to Connor Holmes (msg # 92):

Actually, by the time of our story, the Liberal Party under Gladstone had endorsed Home Rule for Ireland in alliance with Parnell's Irish Home Rule Party and had actually passed Home Rule bills through the House of Commons, though not the Lords. One could assume a few possible changes --that Parnell's sex scandal had not spilt his party, that Joseph Chamberlain had remained a Liberal, that Queen Victoria had remained a Liberal and been willing to threaten to create enough peers to overcome the House of Lords opposition...Various options quite possibly could have peaceably produced at least an autonomous Ireland. (I lately slogged through Morley's life of Gladstone. He seems to suggest that if it had not been for the Phoenix Park murders, the Conservatives might actually have endorsed Home Rule before Gladstone did, and it might have gone through without a serious fight.)
This message was last edited by the player at 03:27, Sun 01 June 2014.

Huh, I honestly didn't know that. Quite informative, really... I do confess my knowledge of politics of the era is a bit scant, the most I knew about Home Rule is that Lord Pierre, the chairman of Harland and Wolff (the shipyard that built the Titanic), got into some trouble over it with the local Unionists in Belfast, especially the Orange Order, when he abruptly turned over to being a Nationalist and supporting Home Rule after being a lifelong Unionist thusfar in his life.

In the end, he got run out of Belfast, as well as his company, after staging a rally in Belfast where Winston Churchill (then First Lord of the Admiralty, and another Unionist turned advocate of Home Rule, and like Pierre, seen as a traitor and despised by Unionist Ulstermen) was to be the guest of honor in early 1912, which sparked an ugly riot....

Sorry to have had to be so quiet over the past few days, but I appreciate the exchange. Belly is an educated and relatively worldly New Yorker, so he's crossed the path of many races and classes. In other words, he is probably a bit more open minded than many others.

That said, our Irish friend is not only of a race other than Caucasoid, but he does not seem to be human. This may cause him some problems depending upon Conner himself and their interactions. (So far, Conner seems rather civilized and even sophisticated, which suggests that this won't be too difficult.)

By the way, I've enjoyed the historical conversation. I think I've got a fairly good handle on the general political and social history of this era, but not the specifics in some cases.

In reply to Connor Holmes (msg # 97):

I had not known that story about Pierre and Churchill, but I knew Churchill was very controversial in those days. I should say Morley was on the left wing of the Liberal Party himself (he is best known for resigning in protest at the declaration of World War I) and his views may have been optimistic.
As your story indicates, there was some passionate opposition to Home Rule. In 1914, when the Liberals had actually passed Home Rule, even people like Kipling were seriously talking of civil war to stop it. The outbreak of world war may have prevented it, though by postponing Home Rule it led in time to the Easter Rising and all that has followed.

Well, at least with what I know  about what  was going on in Belfast and other northern cities in Ireland at the time, the Home Rule issue wasn't entirely a political issue, religion played a good part of it too. A good majority of the Unionists were Protestant and a good bit of the Nationalists were Catholic, and in those days there was quite a bit of anti-Catholicism sentiment floating around, and it ended up as one more excuse for violence when the riots kicked off.

I know after Piere got run out, several men at Harland and Wolff got beat up within an inch of their lives when the foremen weren't around,  all good men who generally got along with everybody and didn't cause trouble or anything, the only reason they were attacked was that they were Catholic. One father and son who worked there got beat so bad the mother barely recognized them when they limped home...

I keep going back to Harland and Wolff and so on because I have a documentary in my collection about building the RMS Olympic and the RMS Titanic, which tells the story of the people who built them, not just the ships themselves, and it goes in depth about how things were in Belfast at the time. It's called Titanic:Building a Legend...

Anyway, the world in general at the turn of the 20th century was a bit of a powder keg, with a rate of invention and social change which even today is difficult to surpass, as well an explosion of wealth and immigration. The late Victorian and early Edwardian period has often been called the "gilded era", not just because of the likes of the elite getting rich, but also the virtually boundless sense of enthusiasm towards all the progress. In that time, technology and progress were only going to bring good things, we were going to be able to bind the planet in iron and steel with impunity, and with the right technology and enough men to make it happen,Nature itself might be mastered.

Then a ship met an iceberg, and reality got shocked into everybody (some historians suggest that the sinking of the Titanic might've been the beginning of the slow decline of the British Empire). It certainly seems to be a pivotal moment in history, afterwards there were the horrors of a world war, the first total war, and so much of the lovely things of " the gilded era", or the "age of innocence" as it's also been called, got swept away.

Here's a heads up. I am preparing for my annual trip to Columbus, Ohio for the Origins Game Fair. I'll be away from Tuesday 6/10 through Sunday 6/15 with little opportunity to get on line. Between now and then, I'm polishing up and printing off all the materials for the Call of Cthulhu games I'll be running.

TL:DR I'll be a bit out of touch until 6/16.

I'll be on vacation myself during that period in the beautiful Berkshire mountains. The wifi there is a bit unreliable, so while I'll have plenty of time to post I'm uncertain that I'll be able to do so with regularity.

Thanks for the update. I'm sure we'll be able to flounder along without you for a few days.

I doubt it. ;p

Well, I hope that you both have good vacations. I envy you both, especially Origins.  It is only about four hours from here, but I am too busy to go. I shall be off teaching for a while starting June 22, but I expect to be right here writing up scholarly work that was due years ago.

I too wish you all well in your vacations, have fun! I don't think I'll be going anywhere soon, so I guess I'll just wait until everyone else has returned.

That will likely be my last IC post until I return.

In reply to Connor Holmes (msg # 106):

Since I will still be here. and some others may be, we may be able to continue, especially if the absent players are willing to let the GM run their players (within reason) during their absence --that is a usual custom in other RPOL games I have played in.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 108):

It is to be expected, of course.

I don't know if this has much to do with the story, but I'm curious if Charles Babbage got to build any of his mechanical computers in the game's timeframe? Although powered by steam and being mechanical in nature rather than electronic, his "Analytical Engine"  design has the same  architecture as a modern computer, with memory, a central calculating apparatus (cpu), and printed it's results out on a printer  and much like a modern computer, how it would be used would be decided on by the user, the mechanism being flexible enough to be programmable.

I believe the Science Museum in London built a scale model of the Analytical Engine from Babbage's designs and notes (while a model, the machine is still huge), and it's worked as a demonstration piece. Far from being a fancy toy, it can crunch really complicated math in just a few turns of the handle,  so it's not hard to imagine what sorts of impact it might've had it been built ba k in the day.

Just curious, mind...

I shall be at SCA Pennsic War until next Friday. My posting my be irregular.  The GM is welcome to post for Grimsby if needed.

Go forth and conquer, etc., Grimsby!

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 112):

Thank you for the good wishes.  I am too old to do much conquering personally, though I hope to get in some archery and axe-throwing. So far internet access is not bad, though there have been thunderstorms.

My daughter arrives today for about a two-week visit. Saturday we go to the beach until Tuesday. My posting may not be real consistent while she's here and probably not possible while we're at the shore.

Please puppet Stella as needed.

I am happy to say I have returned from the war and should be posting regularly again. For me the highlight of the war was a class on throwing objects other than
axes, knives, and spears --it began conventionally with shuriken etc.and progressed to rubber chickens with Chinese bayonets thrust through them.  I actually scored a hit with the rubber chicken.

Star*Master has asked me to pass along word that he's having some temporary internet trouble -- something about lightningbolts and living in the Lightning Capital of South Florida and flux capacitors and exploding routers. I dunno, the text message he sent was was a little confusing ^_^

Anyway, he hopes to get it cleared up in the next day or so, and that he'll try to "do lunch" at a nearby Burger King that has free wi-fi, as often as he can, if he can.

My sympathies on lightening.  In WV where I am, we are predicted to get thunderstorms every day this coming week, so I may have my own problems.

I'm baaaaaack!

If you haven't heard...

A thunderstorm swept through the area Thursday night and a lightning strike took out the router so that I didn't have any internet connection. Due to the vagaries of schedules and errands and whatnot, I wasn't able to replace it till today!

Barring any other problems, I should get caught up on my posts this evening.

Very glad you are back. My office computer was out yesterday, but fortunately my home one --which I game on --was still functional.

I too have returned and ought to be able to post with more regularity.

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 120):

Very good.

I'm sure Dash, as a man of the world, would be familiar with the game of 21, sometimes called Blackjack in the States.

Simply put, each player makes a wager, then the dealer deals two face-down cards to each player, the same to herself. Each player shows his two cards and can then request additional cards. Once all players have stopped requesting cards or have gone bust, the dealer reveals her cards and can take additional cards, as wanted. The object is to reach 21 without going over or to have the highest total once all play has ended. Face cards count 10 and aces can be 1 or 11 at each player's option. Ties go to the dealer. A black ace plus either black jack is called 'blackjack; if a player holds a blackjack, he assumes dealership.

In reply to Stella Mulberry (msg # 122):

Oh, yeah, sure, I know what the game is.

But Dash, even though he is a man of the world, he is also a Methodist from Massachusettes. Dash knows how to play the kinds of card games that would be played in a "Gentlemans Club", but has very little experience with actual gambling on cards. He's rarely ever visited a "gaming house", and those were mostly in San Francisco where the hotels all have gambling parlors. He has rarely played any card game that has a "Dealer for the House". Dash probably knows how to play Poker, but it would be "cowboy style"; where all the players take turns being the Dealer.

'Cuz, y'know, to Methodists of 1899, Gambling for Money was "immoral"; but playing cards for points, or "tricks", was allowed; frowned upon, but allowed.

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 123):

Not even 'penny a trick' whist? Poor fellow.

In reply to Stella Mulberry (msg # 124):

Exactly. A "Good" Methodist would NEVER Gamble, or do anything that might be considered gambling. No cards for them!

More "Moderate" Methodists would allow for the playing of the "simpler" card games, those that only kept a score, which "taught math skills", y'see ^_^

But, while Dash does come from a wealthy, "Good" Methodist Family...he's also a sailor. So Deal away ^_^

I recall my father telling me that in rural Maine about 100 years ago, some of my father's cousins were Methodists who frowned on my father's branch of the family for playing card games on the level of "Old Maid." On the other hand, the cousins were horse dealers and none to ethical about it, so my father's side of the family regarded them as hypocrites.

I need to do the dealing here, Dash. I have your card all ready for you.

In reply to Stella Mulberry (msg # 127):

Oop! Sorry!  I thought you were waiting on me to "roll" a card.

Got it now.

Hope everyone had a happy holiday and didn't get too drunk last night!

Everyone ready to get back to gaming?

I only had cocoa last night -- and half a winecooler today. I am quite ready to game
on.

A 'winecooler'? Sorry.  I'm  being unkind. ('Wine Cooler' ?)

Here's to 2015, y'all!

Slept like a baby until midnight, got woke up by all the commotion, downed two root-beers for auld lang syne, then I went back to bed, guess I'm an old geezer before my time...

Oh well, Happy New Year everybody!

I am scheduled to be in London March 8 through March 24. My B&B does not have a computer for guests.  In theory, my IPhone can access RPOL --it works from here, anyway. But if I fall silent, the GM can do what seems best with my character till I return.

Salutations! The GM has kindly allowed me to join you. Sorry if I bumble around a bit before I get my footing. It looks like a great game and I look forward to playing with everyone :)

A head's up, I tend to be less active during the weekends but weekdays I'm pretty dang reliable.

In reply to Marian Holroy (msg # 134):

Welcome! Given that we face the Vril, a secret society served by countless minions, we are always glad of more support.

Welcome, Marian!

Thanks everyone! :D

It's hard to find an avatar that I like. This is more what Marian is supposed to look like in case you're really bored and actually are curious, which I don't anticipate you are...;P You'd think out of the hundreds of avatar pictures on RPOL they would have something that fit better, sheesh.

In reply to Marian Holroy (msg # 138):

I have often spent a long time sifting through the RPOL pictures to find something suitable myself. A lot of them are simply silly unless one is playing anime.
This lady looks lively.

Thanks! I always end up making my own stuff for my characters because it irritates me to have to go off the crap they have on here. Everything is either anime or famous people and as nice as some of them look, I don't want people thinking my character is Reese Witherspoon or something. It is just a game so it doesn't really matter but it gives me something to draw when I can't think of anything. I'd be happy to take a crack at anyone's characters if they wish but no biggie.

A delayed but nonetheless hearty welcome from me as well, Marian, I hope you enjoy the game.

Apologies for the infrequent posts, all, real life's been  busy for me, now I've got my time back, so yay!

In reply to Connor Holmes (msg # 141):

Very glad you will be more active. The game seems to have taken a technological turn, so you and Mercy will be needed.

I see the Baedeker report on Bourbony says it has developed ubermenschen.  I have a feeling this may be what attracted the Vril.

I will try to post tomorrow. Currently on the midst of a kidney stone :(

Sorry to hear that. I know they can be very painful sometimes. Pass it and get well!

Very sorry for the kidney stone. I do hope you recover soon.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. It took forever but I'm finally starting to improve, thanks for your patience!

In reply to Marian Holroy (msg # 147):

Very glad you are improving. I hope you can be playing more soon.

As it turns out, the picture of the ship Remi had inserted into one of his posts is no longer available from wherever was hosting it. I haven't been able to find the picture out on the web, though.

I did find a picture that I thought would fit the bill, however. I've now uploaded it to this board. You can view it under Map F.

Apologies for getting the rescuer wrong. I was writing in a hurry.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 150):

No Problemo! Dash actually was gonna go over the side, but Bellgrove beat me to actually saying it ^_^

I shall be at the international congress on medieval studies in Kalamazoo until Sunday May 17. I know I should have computer access, but I don't now how often I will be able to post.

Have fun in Kalamazoo. I never got to go that conference when I was studying, but always wanted to. If you run into a Professor named Phyllis Jestice, please tell her Paul Harrington sends his regards!

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 153):

I am back now. I did enjoy Kalamazoo. It is well worth attending for anyone with a serious interest in medieval or renaissance history. I did not have time to do RPOL while I was there --such computer time as I had was spent on teaching my online class. I regret I did not see your post about Phyllis Justice until my return, but she was not in the program, so she may not have attended this year. Since there are usually over 3000 people there, my only hope of finding her would have been to find a session she was presenting in and attend it, which I would have been willing to do if I had found one.

Welcome back! Glad you enjoyed it.

I'm in the middle of BookExpo America and will be until Friday. Hopefully I'll be able to reengage with the rest of my life by Saturday.

Enjoy it.

Hey, hey everyone!
Looks like I'm joining your party of adventurers. I hope I get to know everyone better and hopefully we can all get along! So I look forward to roleplaying with you guys.
Anyone know how to put pics on a post?
This message was last edited by the player at 16:39, Mon 01 June 2015.

To include a pic in your post, you have to have a host server that stores the pic for you. The site frowns on you linking to a site that's proprietary (like Wikipedia, for instance).

If you set up an account in a host (usually free, but have to subscribe), you upload the image to the host, and then you can download it from there into your post using the href command, I think.

More convoluted than I ever wanted to deal with.

Oh wow that's complicated. So does everyone have a different time zone than me because no one seems to be active around this time.

Well, I'm in the EDT (GST-5). Retired, so have lots of time to do frivolous things like game on-line. Also a nightowl, so stay up late and wake up late. This is around breakfast time for me.

Oh. I live in Europe so it's night now

Pacific Northwest for me :D Gotta love the pine trees!

Ah man... I used to live in the US. East coast. New Jersey. Out was nice. Now I live in Spain. It's nice and warm here.

I've always wanted to go to the East Coast. They have beautiful forests there I hear, big difference from the West coast. East coast has picturesque trees you can see into with pretty leaves and all that (or so I'm told) and out here the trees are so thick you don't know what the crap is hiding inside them! On the plus side, we never have to worry about a drought over here, it rains all the time. Poor California :(

Spain!? Cool! Well as much as I love the states, Spain is not too shabby! I bet the food is amazing.

That's one of the difficulties of a gobal-wide game... there's a delay from crossing so many time zones.

So, Paul, you need to get used to the fact that you'll be the first to post, and then you'll have to wait overnight for the rest of us to catch up to you!

I live in West Virginia. I am about 15 minutes walk from a forest, or at least a wooded trail. The serious forests are further away.

EDT(-5 GMT) for me in flat Indiana.  I'll try to post early so Paul Smith will have some time to respond.

In reply to Charles Harris (msg # 168):

I grew up in flat Northwest Ohio, about 30 miles or so from Indiana. There was a story that Indiana farmers used to come over and vote in close elections in my county in the 19th century.

I note that you've got me going shopping. I was joining Grimsby.

Glad to have you along.

No problem, Bellgrove. I either misread your post, or more likely, just misremembered it.

I'm kind of trapped in the elephant thread until Paul Smith posts.

In reply to Charles Harris (msg # 173):

I'm sorry. I haven't been able to go on the site. I've been studying lately for an exam.

I thought I had better jump in to explain that my post in Loose in Lugaash is not meant to be critical of the player of Paul Smith but more that my character is somewhat trapped in etiquette and would not normally insert himself into a conversation.  His thoughts ( in italics)  is trying to convey the easy in which Americans can meet people by ignoring the etiquette that is self-enforced on British gentlemen.  I realize that it may come off as rebuke of Paul Smith which is not what is intended.

I shall be traveling to Maine and back Friday through Sunday. I can access RPOL by my IPhone (I have done it before) but I am not sure how much time I will have for it.

Work has kept me very busy so my postings are down.  I'll try improve my turnaround time.

My computer just gave up the ghost today. The screen stopped displaying anything, though it's lit up, so I'm figuring it's either the  monitor that somehow burnt out or else the videocard went out. Or maybe the hamster died.

Anyway, I can use my friend's computer on a more sporadic basis until I can get mine fixed or replaced.

Anyway, I'm still around; I just may not be able to stay on top of things all that quickly.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 178):

Sorry to hear of the computer failure. I will be patient. Grimsby was not in the middle of anything urgent anyway. Glad it did not happen in the midst of combat with the Vril.

I was away at the Pennsic War for about a week, but at least I am back now. My apologies for the absence.

I wanted to ask how deep into steampunk is this role play, I mean how advanced I the technology. Is it just airships or is it things like steam based weapons and stuff like that. Like deep steampunk or just a few things here and there based on steampunk tech.

The GM can best answer that. My personal observation is that the general tech level seems mostly standard Victorian, but certain inventors are developing more advanced items and our adversaries the Vril seem intent on collecting such items.

It's loosely based on Space: 1889 but without the exploration of the planets.

Based on some of the steampunk RPGs and books I've read, I'd say this game is supposed to be somewhere in the middle. While airships, steam-powered carriages and electric lights are fairly commonplace in the cities, it hasn't permeated them yet. So no great clouds of smog and noise, but there are bits of it visible in everyday life.

The further away you get from the Great Powers, though, the less steampunk technology has reached it. Graustark, for instance, still has a medieval mindset, while the Ottoman Empire has been slow to accept and develop technology... which includes telegraph and railroads and steampower.

So, it's there, pretty much all around, just not blatant or always out in the open, particularly in the so-called Third World countries.

Just thought I'd mention that the Game Maps have pictures of interest.

Main map is the Tesla electric gun that Mercy has.
Map 2 is the Vril symbol.
Map 3 is kind of how I picture Mercy, except with red hair.

Map F is the Falcon--your airship. This is different that the one Remi had posted but that link is gone, and I haven't been able to find a picture of it anywhere else. So this is the best I could come up with.

Thanks for the pictures. I like the "Mercy" one.

If he did he would have taken up a safety line :-)

In reply to Charles Harris (msg # 186):

If he was an Airman, maybe.

But Dash is making that comment based on his experience aboard Clipper Ships. And sailors of the 18th and 19th weren't too big on the use of safety lines. In rough weather, later in the 19th century, their use started to become more common, but nothing like their use aboard sailing ships today.

Hey, Star*Master!

You keep calling the approaching devices "flyers", are they actually flying, that is, are they powered or are the wings actually flapping (an ornithopter), or are the wings stiff, like a glider?
This message was last edited by the player at 11:33, Sat 17 Oct 2015.

It's a bit of both. The wings are flapping, but the actual flapping doesn't appear to have a direct correlation with their forward motion. It looks like the wings are used for stability and direction.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 188):

I'm sorry, I'm confused, regarding the "Flight To Bourbony" thread -- Paul, are you off the ship? In your last post you talk about getting "back to the ship". Did you leave the ship during the gunfight?

Supposedly I hadn't gone on the ship, I think, so I meant going back by that... That's just what I thought had happened.

In reply to Paul Smith (msg # 190):

Paul, we haven't left the ship. The attacking airship is distant from us. We climbed up onto the balloon from the deck of our ship and many of us are returning now that two of the attackers have boarded.

Maybe this is the confusion?

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 191):

Yeah, especially since the ship is a few thousand feet in the air over the Indian Ocean, and a couple of hundred miles south of the Saudi Peninsula -- "leaving" the ship would be a problem ^_^

Ah, well, then let's ignore the fact that I said that I was off the ship, I'll see if I can fix it

In reply to Paul Smith (msg # 193):

Maybe say instead get "to the back" of the ship, rather than "back to the" -- the back of the ship is where Remi is, anyway.

Seems like a good idea, thanks!

Not sure how much time I'll have to post between now and Saturday. I'll have some, I think, but suddenly have a lot of stuff on my schedule. Expected some, but it just seems to be that time of year! Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday.

Things should be back to normal for me on Saturday.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 196):

I just turned in my grades, so my life is just getting less busy. I am supposed to be on campus tomorrow, but I am free Thursday -- when I shall see Star Wars.
Then Merry Christmas!

I'm around...

Have a fabulous Christmas, if you like that sort of thing, and a wonderful couple of days regardless.

Yes indeed! Happy Holidays to all those who celebrate! I shall be available too.

Weather reports predict a heavy blizzard in West Virginia (where I am) Friday and Saturday, which may bring down power lines, so if I don't post for a few days, I'm probably freezing in the dark.

Good luck this weekend, Grimsby. NYC is also supposed to be hit, but I'll be Upstate in Woodstock and ought to miss most of it.

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 201):

Thank you for the good wishes. So far, snow has been falling for about 12 hours, but the power is still  on. It seems my area may get only about one foot of snow, while Washington, DC and other places in the center of the storm will get two feet, so I suppose I am comparatively lucky.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:11, Sat 23 Jan 2016.

Apologies for my lack of posting, but I've been sick this past week. It was bad enough Monday that I should have gone to the ER, according to my doctor, but by the time I saw my doctor, it had mostly passed. However, it did take its toll on me. My brain's been a brick and my body feels like it got run over by a herd of elephants.

I honestly didn't expect it to last the whole week, but then my car broke down on the highway on Friday on the way back from the doctor, dragging it out further.

My brain finally came back on-line yesterday, but body is still sore. I should start getting caught up on my posting later today.

When it rains, it pours, eh?

Sorry to hear of your travails, GM, but am glad to hear that you have managed to make it through them.

Take care of yourself and come back to us when you may!

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 203):

Vey sorry for your illness. I look forward to your posting wen you feel up to it.

Sorry for my poky posting! I had to cover for my old job and between that and playing catch up with my normal routines it put me at a disadvantage this week. Pair that with my anniversary celebrations from today through Tuesday, I won't be available a ton until Wednesday but hopefully that won't be a problem. I was married on leap day so when it rolls around we always have extra special celebrations. This time it is five days of eating at decadent restaurants. Yay!

Happy Anniversary! We'll still be here when you are done celebrating!

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 207):

Sounds like a great way to celebrate.

Congrats!

Thanks all! I agree! It was lovely for the most part. Good food, video games and lots of napping. Unfortunately my cat saw fit to end it with a UTI but meh, what you gonna do? At least it was easily remedied. Going back to real responsibilities sucks though, lol.

I shall be traveling to London Saturday. After I arrive Sunday I expect from past experience to be able to resume gaming for the duration of my stay (until March 26) but my gaming time may be more limited.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 211):

Well, I am, now safely back in West Virginia, though tired.

Apologies for being inactive for several days. I am at the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo. I have computer access but I find I have no free time. I will be back Monday May 16.

I shall be away from tomorrow (Monday June 20) possibly until Monday June 27 attending the SCA 50th Anniversary, ad I may not have access to RPOL while I am away. The GM has my permission to puppet Grimsby as needed until I return.

I shall be away Friday (tomorrow) evening (Aug.5) until the next Thursday (Aug.11) at the Pennsic War. I may or may not be able to post during that time. If not, the GM may do whatever is needed with my character.
Due to late packing, I am still here Friday night but expect to leave in the morning.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:55, Sat 06 Aug 2016.

Interesting point of fact. Returning an electrical discharge through the air by following the ion trails the original charge created has been seen to occur both in nature http://stormhighway.com/does_l...ward_or_downward.php as well as in lab settings. The affects and possible uses of this were published in a paper by the US Navy, high energy research labs(before they got hooked on only working with lasers). That said, I don't think they ever considered using it to return fire back at a lightning gun.

My wife is till sick, so it looks as if I may not get to Pennsic at all.

Sorry to hear that the wife is unwell. Take care of yours and yoourself

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 217):

Hey Grimsby, did you mean to have a line running through your dialogue in that last post, or does that a way to represent some quality of voice that I just don't know? You growling at me, or sounding angry, or something? ^_^

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 219):
I believe that line means that dialogue has been deleted. I did not intend to delete it. Either I deleted it by mistake, or else it did not fit into the scenario properly somehow  and the GM has deleted it. I will wait for a comment from him before trying to fix it. For the time being, I suggest you do not reply to it until we know whether it has been deleted  officially.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:01, Sat 20 Aug 2016.

Nope, it wasn't a strike-through on my part, so you must have accidentally done it. If I was deleting something, the whole post would be gone!

I'll fix your post anyway.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:58, Mon 22 Aug 2016.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 221):

Thank you for correcting my error. Since my speech was indeed made. Dash can reply as he chooses.

Apologies, everyone, I've been away from the game rather unexpectedly due to issues with my ISP and work. I was wondering if and how I could jump back into playing?

Again, very sorry!

In reply to Connor Holmes (msg # 223):

Glad to have you back. As far as I know, you have not missed much that would prevent Connor from jumping right back in. If he is aboard our airship, he might disembark and look over our new captives. Jut the sight of a tigerman might be very helpful in persuading them to talk.
We know he doesn't eat people (at least I think he doesn't) but our Vril prisoners don't.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:21, Thu 25 Aug 2016.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 224):

Wasn't he 'oot an a'boot at the Expo, but separate from the others over there? Heck, he could either just walk up and re-join them, or just walk in the door at the hangar. Your choice, buddy.

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 225):

Yes, it is certainly Connor's choice what he has been doing. I don't claim to decide where he has been or what he has been doing. I just thought the reaction of 2 Vril agents to a tigerman might be amusing.

Yes, Welcome back! We missed you.


Yes, when last we saw Connor, he'd gone in search of lunch at the Exposition.

Mercy, Marian, and Bellgrove have been joined by Count Kingston and have gone looking around the fairgrounds even though most of it isn't open to the public until the morrow.

So Connor was at loose ends and can go anywhere he wants.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:35, Fri 26 Aug 2016.

10/10 players agree, Verdun is a better ww1 game than anything sold by EA.

In reply to Stefan Popovic (msg # 228):

I like Cakebread and Walton One Dice World War 1, but that is an rpg not a wargame,

Real life is evil. It takes just too much of my gaming time.

In reply to Stefan Popovic (msg # 230):

I totally agree. That is one of several reasons I am contemplating retirement. (Rationally, it should be one of the more minor reasons, but who's rational?)

Divorce sucks. My advice, never get married. I'll be back to regular posting soon. That goes for the traveller game too oh mighty gm.

I'm so sorry to hear that! I hope things go as smoothly as they possibly can and I'm sorry such a sucky thing is happening :(

I shall be going in for CATscans tomorrow because my legs have been causing trouble. Depending on what they show, I might find myself spending time in the hospital. I don't know yet  whether I shall be away from the game, but I thought I should report this in case I am away.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 234):

Best wishes, buddy! Going thru something similar with my elderly Mother and developing Neuro issues - but a good Neurologist does wonders.

Good Luck!

Take care of yourself, Grimsby!

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 236):

The bad news is that I have avascular necrosis in my left hip, i.e. my left hip bone is dead.
The good news is that I will have a total hip replacement Dec.21 and meantime life and RPG will go on.

Perspective is everything. Sorry to hear you're going to have to undergo something so extreme, but pleased it's something medical science has a handle on!

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 238):

Well good news, there, buddy! Well, not that you're losing a hip...but that my Mom has had both hips replaced, and both surgeries were smooth and successful, and recovery time was short.

As her orthopedic surgeon put it, "It's a couple of hours of wham-bam-thank you ma'am".  If I remember correctly, they started giving her physical therapy on day 2, and she was walking on her own by day 5.

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 239):

Thank you for sharing your mother's very encouraging experience. I hope mine is as good.

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 238):

Thank you for your comment. I think nowadays hip replacement has become a much less stressful procedure than it was when my mother went through it many years ago.

Yes, medicine has improved considerably, particularly in the ability to get patients to recover.

I had double by-pass heart surgery a few years ago. Went in Thursday morning, got drugged, woke up on Saturday morning, and was walking around by that afternoon.

They've learned that the hospital isn't the best place to promote recovery--there's all these sick people there!

My mobility was limited for awhile--couldn't drive for 2 weeks and couldn't play golf for 6 months... which really bothered me since I didn't play golf anyway! It took that long for the bone to heal. But I could still do most normal things.

Hope you've got someone at home to help you for a bit.

P.S. It could have been worse--you could have needed a brain replacement!

Hi everyone! Found something interesting today I thought you all might like to see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4RIBmM2ZF0

I think I've found my new favorite sport!

Good one! That was pretty awesome!

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 242):

Thank you for sharing your experience. I am glad you came through so wel, and I hope I do too.
Some of my students probably think I do need a brain replacement. Between being unable to sleep and being heavy on painkillers, I have been embarrassed by moments when I realize my brain wanders during lectures. I was discussing foreign policy in the 1930s and suddenly realized I was babbling about the papal Swiss Guards. Fortunately, I have to get through only 4 more live lectures.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 245):

You can't fool me! Anything having to do with Papal military forces is a foreign policy discussion! ^_^

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 246):

Yes, but not usually a 1930s one.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 247):

Marian, you're right. I/Dash am kinda blending two events together in my mind. Marian did, sorta, make plans to (possibly) seek out the Women of Vril (WoV) "tomorrow".

But (and I completely admit I may be mis-remembering this) I thought that the Exposition was opening "tonight" with some kind of Gala Event. And, if the Exposition is opening tonight, I thought (and could still be mis-remembering) you had offered to help Mercy at the Hugo display - and, as the WoV are nearby Hugo's spot, I also assumed you might be "interacting" with them, not so much as formally "meeting" with them.

And, I admit, that is an awful lot of assumptions on my part ^_^

Sorry about this Gala confusion. Somebody said there was a gala and I just went along with it without checking.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 249):



There is no gala this evening. Presumably it was thought that everyone would be busy setting up their booths.


Dammit! Not only did I, somehow, get that list of events reversed in my head, but I also apparently interpreted that last line about dances and parties all week to mean that things were starting off "tonight".

I really gotta stop drinking that turpentine...

Okay, then, fine - everybody saddle-up and let's all hit the Vril "tonight"! This world hasn't seen anything like the Hindenburg fire.

Yet ^_^

OOC: So at this point my recent agreement to go to the (non-existent) gala becomes inoperative, and my previous agreement to join Connor in the attack on the Vril becomes valid?

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 251):

Yup. I was confused, and thus confused the rest of y'all.
I now back jumping on the bandwagon - let's go blow something up!

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 252):
Very good. On with the attack

Lol! It's hard to keep track of everything isn't it? No worries on my part! It's kind of miraculous that I remembered the Vril thing correctly. Considering the fact that we only post on here every week or so it's really easy to get mixed up. Thank goodness the GM is on top of things!

So the way I understand it is tonight we help Connor and the next morning Mercy and myself go meet with the Vril? Thanks a million!

Yes. Or Connor can help you. Or whichever way you want to phrase it.

And there is a Grand Parade in the morning at the Exposition.

I am going away tomorrow and will have a total left hip replacement the morning of Dec.21. I am told I will be in the hospital about 2 to 3 days after that,but I do not know how soon I will be able to resume gaming. If necessary the GM may run my character.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 256):

best wishes, buddy!

Here's to your recovery, sir!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Santa brought you all lots of toys and goodies! I see Grimsby got a new hip for Christmas! And he was home in time for Christmas! I guess that's better than Santa leaving it under the tree for you and you having to put it in yourself. Of course, he could have also left one of his surgical elves to do it...

Alas, Santa didn't stop at my house this year... probably because there aren't any children living here. Apparently being immature doesn't count.


Also, we had to send mom to the ER in an ambulance Tuesday morning at 6:30am. She had pneumonia and fluid in her lung. She's better now, but is still in the hospital. She'll probably get discharged tomorrow and go to rehab for a week.


So the past week has been a bit... messed up. Nothing was going to plan... Plan? There was a plan? No one told ME there was a Plan! Ah, well... Plan A never works anyway.

I had just finished typing this once, and was about to hit the Post Message button, when the power went out! Temporarily knocked out he modem, so that when I hit Post, it all vanished. Fortunately, it wasn't too serious a post. This second try may have even come out better!

Here I was pitying myself because I got a cold for Christmas...

Sorry to hear about your mother, but glad to hear that she is due to be released sooner rather than later!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Happy New year too! I hope this year is better than the last! The last one was the worst I've ever had!

There is something to be said about looking forward to a year that 'couldn't' be worse!

Here's to it!

Well, I am finally back. Very sorry for the delay. I was in rehabilitation longer than I expected, and for technical reasons too tiresome to describe I could not access RPOL while I was there. A new hip wasn't exactly what I wanted for Christmas, especially with about 2 weeks of rehabilitation in the hospital, but here I am.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 264):

ATTENTION GAMERS!

GM StarMaster is a buddy of mine, and he wanted me to pass on some info. He is currently in the hospital with a bad gallbladder. He has surgery scheduled to get it removed on Wednesday Feb. 1st.

Not to worry! His doctor promises that, short of very serious complications (which the Doc does not believe will happen), GM StarMaster will be home, and back at his computer, in time for the Super Bowl (that would be this Sunday, Feb. 5th, if ya didn't know).

So he says to keep playing, and he'll catch y'all up after the weekend.

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 265):

Thank you for the notice. Considering that I am still in rehab from my operation, I certainly will wait for him to be ready to go on. I must offer best wishes for the success of his operation and look forward to gaming as soon as he is ready.

That sucks! My mom had her gallbladder out years ago and said it was a pretty painful experience. Luckily it's pretty routine and hopefully low risk. Boy, too many operations in this group eh? Poor guys!

I agree it's a pity we have had these medical interruptions, especially since we are on the verge of what may prove a major encounter. I have also heard that gall bladders can be very painful, so I trust this operation will solve the problem.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:31, Wed 08 Feb 2017.

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

For those who may not have heard, eight days ago on Sunday night just after dinner, I suddenly developed a severe stomach pain--level 7. While I struggled with it for half an hour, figured it was probably food poisoning. It wasn't like any other stomach pain I'd ever experienced before. Then I wound up throwing up 4-5 times, though afterwards the pain level was only 5. An hour later, I threw up 2-3 more times and the pain level dropped to 3. And there it stayed. No more throwing up, and it didn't go away. I couldn't find any position where the pain was lesser, and it was too high to let me sleep. Finally called the EMTs about 1 a.m. and off to the ER I went.

A dose of femital (or something) dropped the pain to 1, and eventually it went completely away. However, the hospital continued to run its test to try and determine the cause. I'm not convinced that they ever did. One doctor concurred that it might have been food poisoning, but the other doctor concluded that it was a problem with my gallbladder and recommended I have it removed. He scheduled laposcopy surgery for Wednesday. If it went well, I'd be hope by Friday. Turned out it was in bad shape and required full abdominal surgery to remove it.

Let me tell you... in all those movies/shows when they talk about a painful wound to you abdomen, they aren't kidding! Every muscle in your chest and abdomen, and a few in your arms and legs, are all tied in together. So every deep breath, every burp, every hiccup, every yawn, every laugh, every cough causes excruciating pain! This is on top of the pain meds!

Every movement... sitting up, standing up, sitting down, laying down, stretching, reaching, bending... causes pain. One such movement at a time is usually okay, but then requires an hour of sitting still and getting over it.

Alas, the hospital's discharge procedure was rather inept on Sunday, and I wound up having to make a dozen such movements so that I could get my meds from the pharmacy before it closed. So after I got home and settled in, it took around 8 hours for the pain to subside.

It's slowly getting better, but will probably take 5-6 weeks for the surgery to completely heal and the pain to completely go away.

But, I'm back! Not sure how much I'll get to in the next two days... have to reorganize the house a bit as I'm mostly fending for myself.

Anyway, I apologize for the absence and lack of word.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 269):

Very, very sorry you have had such a miserable time. I do hope your recovery goes well. I will look forward to continuing the game whenever you feel able to post.

That really sucks!! I'm so sorry! Aren't you glad it was one of those expendable organs though? Still, in my opinion bodies are rather stupid things. Some of the dumb stuff they do is maddening! I just read about a guy who had an ingrown hair on his stomach turn into a 130 pound tumor that he was plagued with for 15 years! That's like having a friggin person inside you to drag around! What the crap!? And then organs just randomly blowing out like that, pssssh! No thank you! I myself am prone to kidney stones, so I know what pain is like for sure but anytime you have to have surgery... major suckage. Especially such dramatic surgery as abdominal like that!

I'm sorry you're on your own for this. Take it easy and rest up!

On March 18 I will be going to London for two weeks of intensive research in the British National Archives. From past experience at my B&B, I should be able to access RPOL from there, but my opportunities will be limited, so I maybe posting irregularly. I return April 2.

Alas, things have been discombobulated. Still recovering, mostly just lack of energy. Had a cold for the past two weeks on top of that. Computer got a virus last week.

We had to send mom to long-term care. They finally had to send her to the hospital. She's now been tentatively diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. Treatment is normally fairly successful, but at mom's age and current health condition, the prognosis isn't good.

Anyway, chores, errands, stress, and even posting tires me out quickly, so it's hard to get caught up on all my games. I think I've finally got it under control again. Knock on wood.

Take care of you and yours. We'll be here!

Deep sympathy for all the troubles you have been going through. I hope your life improves to the point that you can enjoy gaming again.

Cpnnor's remark reminded me of Kipling's poem about the Irish Guards. "Where there is Ireland there's loving and fighting, when there's no more of either 'tis Ireland no more."

I am now back home in the US, so I should be able to post more regularly.

Sorry about my own lack of posting. I've been covering for my old work a lot these days. I'm done for the time being though!

And sorry to hear about your mom. I lost my uncle to cancer a few months ago and it still sucks. My sympathies :(

In reply to Marian Holroy (msg # 278):

I am glad you will be able to post more.

I sympathize with your loss of your uncle.

Thanks so much! I appreciate it :)

I will be away May 10 through 14 at the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo. I should have computer access but I may not have time or energy to post.

I am back; as I feared, I was not up to posting while at the medieval congress, but I hope to be active now.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:24, Tue 16 May 2017.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 282):

Looking ahead, I will have cataract operations on both eyes, the left eye June 7 and the right eye June 21. I understand that it may be some days after each operation before I will be able to use the computer, though I am not sure jut how long.
In between, I plan to be traveling June 16-18, so I may also be inactive at that time, though I will be staying in a modern hotel which probably has Internet connections.

Hope the surgeries go well and bon voyage, otherwise!

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 284):

Thank you very much.

Well, I had my operation yesterday and it went very well. My sight in my left eye is now at 25/20 and I am told it may improve further as it finishes healing. So I am back on RPOL sooner than I expected.

A bit late for the best wishes, but I'm sure we weren't going to tell you anything more positive than the doctors would have.

Glad to hear the first one is so much better, Mr. Jones.

Sounds like things should go just as smoothly for the second eye... so you won't have to wear an eyepatch and talk like a pirate!

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 287):
I am a Mr. Jones in another game. Or is this a cultural reference I am missing? Regardless, thank you for your kind words.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:21, Sun 11 June 2017.

Exactly. I'm playing Hurian Voltine in that other game.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 289):

AAAAHH! I got sushi on my laptop! I thought I was better with chopsticks than I really am! WAAAAAAAH!!

What? A fella can't eat? Hmm, evidence now suggests maybe not. You know how hard it's gonna be to get soy sauce outta my keyboard?  ^_^

Oh no! That's terrible! How could wonderful wonderful sushi betray you like that!?
Sushi is probably my favorite food, nice to see another fan.

My favorite restaurant is a sushi place the next town over. They are supposedly the world's first sustainable sushi restaurant so that's pretty cool.

That totally sucks about your keyboard. If it's sticky that would drive me nuts.

In reply to Marian Holroy (msg # 291):

My wife and I are very fond of kimbap, which is basically Korean sushi. Although we are both Americans, we met in Korea and most of our early dates involved Korean food.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:52, Tue 20 June 2017.

Oh I love kimbap! My brother in law lived in korea for 2 years so my sister learned how to make it. It's friggin addicting! Korean food in general is pretty awesome, especially bulgogi.

In reply to Marian Holroy (msg # 293):

Bulgogi is indeed very good, though when I was in Korea I regarded it as a luxury.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 294):

Grimsby, old shoe, I don't think those 3 unconscious folks you're looking at are us. Both Marion and Dash are conscious and moving, Connor may be just waking up or still unconscious - we can't tell, yet.

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 295):

Thank you for the comment. I will edit my post.

Welcome back, Connor!

I've been playing on-line games for too many years now to get worried about absent players. RL always has a way of creeping up on us. One Traveller game I took over running had a player that disappeared, and we found out later that he'd died. That's just the way it goes, sometimes.

I keep characters around for a good six months before I delete them, unless they are interesting enough to keep around as NPCs.

Anyway, hope I didn't butcher Connor too much with my NPCing him.

You did fine, boss, as I said I'm dreadfully sorry to have dropped the ball on playing my character. RL's been busy for me, and I've also taken up GMing a game here on Rpol as well, so for a while I was getting a bit overwhelmed.

In reply to Connor Holmes (msg # 298):

Very sorry I was not posting for a few days. I had an unexpected appendectomy. I was only in the hospital two days, so I am back now and able to post.

Glad to hear you've recovered from your unexpected adventure, Grimsby! (Yipes!)

Wow! That really sucks! Isn't it amazing how easy it is for them to deal with something that would have killed you not that long ago? Before I was born my dad had his appendix start to go. He went to the hospital, they misdiagnosed it and sent him home with laxatives of all things. It ruptured partially and he was rushed back, luckily surviving but geesh! Of course that was around forty years ago so luckily they have their crap mostly figured out now...

In reply to Marian Holroy (msg # 301):

Yes, it is true that appendectomies are much better than they used to be. Of course a bit earlier than that, appendix trouble was normally fatal.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:06, Tue 18 July 2017.

Holy friggin mackeral! Have I really been in this game for two YEARS?!!! That's nuts I tell you! Nuts!

In honor of such a lovely game that I'm pleased is still going, if anyone is interested I'd be happy to draw their character for them in my free time? I always run out of things to draw and it's strangely fun for me to have that challenge of trying to get it right. No biggie either way, just thought it would be cool. I've actually drawn a half tiger, half man before so Connor wouldn't be toooooooooo far off....hopefully...

I plan to be at SCA Pennsic War Friday Aug.4 to the following Thursday. I might be able to post, but it is not likely.

Definitely hard to believe this game has been going on that long. Probably even for a year before that. Had a lot of players come and go, some good, some not so much.

I suppose it's a good time to thank all the players that are all still here for sticking with it.


Because this is a freeform game, there's not any built-in 'rules' for improving characters. So I'm tossing this out for everyone to consider:

Is there anything you can think of to reward the characters for good gaming or just duration?

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 304):

My departure has been delayed by rain, so I am home one more evening, anyway.

Welcome back and congrats!

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 307):

Since the Pennsic War is over. I am back and ready to resume play. I look forward to catching up with the game.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 308):

Yo, StarMaster, I've kinda lost track of time, here. Dash was off "searching" for an indeterminate period of time, while at the same time Bellgrove and Connor were also off "searching" for an indeterminate period of time, while outside Marian and Grimsby were "tending the wounded" and performing an interrogation, for an indeterminate period of time...

Each of those things could have taken a variety of time-lengths, so, while Dash, Bellgrove, and Connor have kinda gotten themselves back together, after an indeterminate period of time, I'm thinking we should wait for you to indicate when we can/should come tumbling out of the zeppelin with Cavor...

Pretty please?

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 309):

It is the GM's call, but I suspect the interrogation has gone on long enough that your part of the party could return to the rest of us very soon.

Yes, the timelines have pretty much meshed now... Dash and Connor and Bellgrove exited the ship just about the time the interrogation ended.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 311):

Thank you for the ruling on the timelines. That should work well.

Still alive!

As bad as Irma was, it wasn't all that bad. Almost no building damage has been reported, not even broken windows, but signs and lots and lots of trees have been uprooted.

15 million people without power. It's starting to come back online now, but probably won't have it at the house for another 2-3 days. Posting from a friend's workplace, which never actually lost power because it was part of the evacuation route.

All we had were a few roof leaks, and the backyard fence got blown down.

I didn't realize you were in FL. Glad to hear you're well!!!

Very glad all went (comparatively) well.

10.5 days without power!

 Lost power on the 9th just around noon as the hurricane passed by.

 No power, no AC, no lights, no stove/microwave/toaster oven, no hot water, no TV, no computer, no modem, no internet.

 Florida. Summer. Hot. Humid. Sat around in the dark and sweated. Didn't sleep well, didn't eat much.

 Couldn't go anywhere since most places were also without power.

 For a few days, gas was scarce, because most gas stations didn't have power, and so couldn't pump gas. The few that either had power or emergency generators had long lines and then ran out of gas. Tried getting by on ice, but so was everyone else, and ice quickly sold out.

 Finally got power back about 8:30 last night.

 So now we're cleaning up the mess.

 It'll probably be another day or two before I get caught up on all my games.

Just ran across this while I was getting caught up...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDRHx4cPgbE

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 316):

Under the circumstances "another day or two to get caught up" sounds like an extraordinary achievement. I am sure we can be patient until your life is restored to something more like normality.

Quite so, Grimsby. Take your time and take care of you and yours GM!

I gather we have a new character --welcome to Rowan! I hope you will enjoy the game as I have.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 320):

Dammit! Why am I the one who always seems to be bitching about this crap! I really don't want to be "that guy", but...

Twice now I've had to rethink my posts, because I, apparently, screwed up by not making Dash's dialogue clear.

Initially it was Dash's plan to get Cavor back to the Raven and aboard her, to provide medical attention there. I've double checked, and it does, indeed seem that I never actually had Dash say the words "aboard the Raven" prior to Cavor waking up.

In Message #577 it is written that Dash and Connor, carrying Cavor, with Belgrove leading "enter the rear door of their hangar".

In Message #580 this group is mentioned as being "back at the Falcon's hangar". Now, I'm sorry, but while this statement can simply imply that the group is just in the hanger and no place else, it could also be taken to mean that we are aboard aboard the ship inside the hangar - especially if that is where I thought we were going.

Admittedly, in that same Message #580, the statement "Connor, Bellgrove and Dash wait to see what the others have to report." could be taken to mean that we are waiting "out in the hangar" for everyone else, but it could just as easily mean "waiting where they took Cavor"; either inside the ship, or out in the hanger. The statement could mean either location with equal ease.

The only people whose location is specifically pinpointed in Message #580 is Remi & Matthew "Remi and Matthew are at the front door of the hangar, observing what is going on..." Those two are out at the open front door.

In Message #583, the DM does make the statement that "Cavor is still in the Falcon's hangar." but again, I would point out that that statement could equally mean either aboard the ship in the hangar, or out and about on the floor of the hangar.

In Message #586, Cavor is waking, and during Dash's explaination of the situation, he says to Cavor "You are currently aboard...". Well, I guess I was wrong about that, but, as long as we're dealing with implied facts, here...

In Message #571, I believe that it is clearly implied in Dash's plan to get Cavor across the aerodrome that we want to keep OUT OF SIGHT of the Gendarmes. And at NO time has any of the three of us said anything to the contrary of that. We are keeping Cavor out of sight - in the hangar, aboard the airship, 90-degrees out of phase, backside of the friggin Moon, whatever! We are out of sight.

This is, apparently, my fault for not clearly saying "lets get Cavor onto the ship and into a cabin", and I apologize for that.

But why would we take a man in need of medical attention, put him on the ground in the back of the hangar, then climb aboard the airship to retrieve medical supplies, then climb back down to the ground, and treat him in the darkness of the hangar?

I may have received an American Public Education - making me legally a moron in most of the world - but that doesn't even make sense to me.

The fact that something wasn't clearly stated doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Why is the 'dark hangar' different than the 'dark ship'? Any light that the ship has could just easily be on the ground in the hangar.

While Connor could reasonably though not easily carried Cavor up the ladder to the Falcon, he wouldn't have been any more out of sight there than he is in the hangar. The hangar doors aren't open, only the personnel door.

After the explosion, it would have been reasonable for Remi and Matthew to have brought down any medical supplies since they didn't know who might have been injured.

And Cavor was being held prisoner on the Vril ship, so now you want to keep him a prisoner on the Falcon? Where does that make sense?

In any case, the hangar does have a single electric light in it, so it isn't completely dark.

Additionally, the scene has moved on. Mercy, Marian and Grimsby are at the door now, with Rowan. Remi and Matthew have probably moved farther inside. Connor, Bellgrove and Dash are inside somewhere, but visible from the door. Since Mercy didn't introduce (or even mention) Cavor, he's clearly NOT visible. And so, neither are Remi and Matthew.

Go with the flow, and stop trying to be so nitpicky.

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 321)

It is my experience that what one player visualizes going on is often not exactly what another player (or GM) visualizes. Sometimes this is human error, sometimes it is lack of specific statements. Either way, I think it is one of the natural hazards of roleplaying and one we must all accept and simply work our way through with a reasonable amount of patience.

I was corrected recently and revised my post. I accept this is one of the inevitable hazards of the game. We must try to minimize the trouble by clear posts and courteous responses, but errors or misunderstandings will occur.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 323):

Hey, y'all,

I'd like to apologize for my lack of posting these past couple of weeks.

Truth be told, I've been out of my head for a while. I think the Doctor's drug cocktail is finally correct, so I'll be taking up occupancy in my own skull again.

Now I just gotta work on getting my focus back - so my typing doesn't look like "klsdhbouweygifbhehf" all the time ^_^

So I got some reading and catching up to do - my comprehension skills may be a little lower than usual, so be critical. Really. I'm probably gonna miss stuff, so point it out when I do.

Thanks in advance.

V

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 324):

I am glad you feel your doctor is helping you. I look forward to your posting when you have caught up.

Here's to ya, Dash! Welcome 'back' -- looking forward to carrying on with you.

Same goes for me, good to see you back Dash.

For sure! Always happy when people come back.

Just fyi, often on weekends I don't have as much availability to post since my husband uses the computer for school work, but I should be able to monday :)

I just got asked to teach an online introductory writing class for the next month, starting Monday. I may have a lot less time than I expected for the next four weeks,but I will try to stay in touch.

So sorry but I cover for my boss at my old job all week. I can probably post tomorrow or the next day though

In reply to Marian Holroy (msg # 330):

Hope to hear from Marian when you have time.

Thanks! I should be much more available now. Yesterday was nuts!

I have been notified to report for surgery 5 a.m. Monday Nov.20, so I may be out for a few days, depending on whether I can access RPOL from my tablet in the hospital.

Erm... I raise my glass of Malbec in your general direction. Keep us posted, comrade!

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 333):

Well wishes, old chum

Thanks for the good wishes.

Looks like we've got another new player, though appear to have lost the last new player we added. Honest, Grimsby, she's not here to replace you!

Good luck, and get well soon. We'll still be here when you return.

I've had two surgeries now... one I knew was coming, one attacked me without warning. I'm not sure which way I prefer it.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 337):

Greetings!

I am Dr. Tinker-Plumist, clockwork engineer extraordinaire. If you see me about (not often) you will know me by the clockwork dragon that rides on my shoulder. His name is Thorn. He may bite. You have been warned.

Welcome! Looking forward to playing with you! :)

Just a reminder that there are images under the Game Map.

Main Game Map is a picture of what Mercy's lightning gun looks like.

Map 1 is the Vril symbol.

Map 2 is kind of what Mercy looks like.

Map F is a picture of the Falcon.

Map Q is a picture of the Black Ship that was in the hangar.


Except for maybe the lightning gun, Rosabelle could conceivably have seen any of these things.

I'll take a look. I'm also working my way through the game threads to catch up on the story. Little bit of slow going since I'm writing like mad for Nanowrimo. :)

Ah, yes... NaNoWriMo... I did it two years ago. It's amazing how much time you DON'T have when you think you should. Just remember, it's about writing quantity, not about writing anything necessarily coherent! When the month is over, THEN you can go back and edit the hell out of it!

Oh! More writers I see! How awesome! I'm putting the finishing touches on my novel and sending it to my sister this weekend to start editing since she's an English teacher and can tell me all my grammar mistakes. Then it's off to find an agent hopefully.

I've heavily edited and tweaked my novel ten times now so it's exactly as our GM says. Get the words out and worry about making them awesome later. Cuz if you're like most people, the first draft is mostly utter crap! ;P

In reply to Marian Holroy (msg # 343):

This is my third go around. My first novel is being edited by a number of people. I'm hoping to self-publish at some point. I actually just finished my story, which is a sequel to the last one, a little short of word count. But I'm a total pantser, so I just followed the story until it came to an end. I was surprised a few times. :)

When I started the first one, I didn't intend to show it to anybody, but when I sent the first paragraph to a friend for help in reworking it, she wanted to see the rest.

One of these days I'd like to write a novel, as I enjoy telling stories, but it's sort of empty for me to sit and write alone. Part of why I like Rpol is that it's basically storytelling in its best tradition, you write something, your audience/fellow storyteller responds back, you work of that response and craft another, and on it goes, I like the interactivity of it all.

Another thing I think that's stopped me writing "in anger" is I'm a bit worried nobody will be interested in what I've got to write, or that I'd make what I was writing sound more like a technical description than an entertaining story.

On the upshot though, I do have the typewriters for it (one of my side hobbies, nothing beats writing on a manual typewriter), and everyone keeps telling me I ought to write a novel every time I sit down to write letters on them...

In reply to Connor Holmes (msg # 345):

Not thinking anyone would be interested is what stopped me before, so I wrote for me. Even though the few people who have read it so far have enjoyed it, I have no doubt that a traditional publisher would toss it out. So I'll self-publish it on Amazon so those who are interested can read it, but I don't expect to make money off of it. I literally wrote the story that I wanted to read and I don't care if anyone else likes it.

Cool! I wrote one story that was a monster of a thing. It needed so much editing that I gave up temporarily and just wrote an entirely new book because it was easier than dealing with it. I'll be tackling that project again soon though now that my current one is nearly done, at least I hope. Sigh. That's the problem with edits, you think you're good and then people point out all your glaring mistakes. It's a great and important process but it can be discouraging.

As for self-publishing, I've known a lot of people who have gone that route and are very happy. There are definitely pros to it you won't find in traditional publishing, so that can be a good thing. I highly recommend Jenna Moreci on youtube if you want writing tips, particularly for self publishing. She's found great success and gives wonderful advice. To top it off, she's really funny too.

I agree Connor, rpol is sooooooooo awesome for storytelling! You always end up in places you'd never expect, gm or not. And I love the collaboration of it all. As for writing, I'm sure you'd find plenty of people interested in it. There's always an audience for everything! :)

I've been reading through the threads, and I'm actually a little intimidated now! Everyone is such an amazing writer and storyteller and so knowledgeable, and I don't know if I can meet that level. :)

Just read through Connor's intro to the group and I LOVE it! I've played a felinoid character in a Star Trek RPG and I wrote a backstory for a moreau character that I haven't been able to play in a game yet. I really don't know if any GM would let me actually use her because she's a snow leopard/snowy owl cross--winged and white and spotted all over. :D

One of the good things about role-playing... and particularly online gaming... you tend to write better when you have others writing with you. If you are doing NaNoWriMo, you are already a decent writer, so you should be right at home in this game.

I'm sure we'll be equally impressed with your writing!


I can't quite think of any game where your Moreau owl-leopard would fit. I'm running a lot of games, but I can't see it fitting in any of them. Possibly my Stargate game, depending on how you define the character's background.


Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to those of you celebrating the holiday. For those that aren't, just have a bountiful foodfest and lots of parades and football!

Thanks for the Thanksgiving wishes. I am back from my surgery,which went well but did keep me in the hospital a little longer than expected. I expect to be able to carry on gaming.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 349):

I've finished reading all the treads and believe I am ready to join at your convenience! Perhaps Rosabelle has a booth at the exhibition of her clockwork designs?

That works, too, as Mercy had gotten a booth for her mechanical man bartender.

You just need to be strolling through the park in the predawn hours so that you can meet everyone else.

In reply to Rosabelle Descant Tinker-Plumist (msg # 351):

Looking forward to meeting you, Rosabelle.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 353):



Uhhhh....Hello Rosabelle...?


Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha *hick-up*

Okay, definitely one too many Happy Pills...

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 354):

hahaha!

Hey guys, sorry if I'm not able to post as much as I'd like this week. I'll try to post tomorrow if nothing else, but I'm having a family emergency and I don't know how bad it is quite yet. My apologies.

In reply to Marian Holroy (msg # 356):

Sorry for the emergency, but real life always has priority over gaming.

In reply to Marian Holroy (msg # 356):

I hope things get better!

I think by now we've all had those sorts of incidents. I myself went to the hospital unexpectedly back in February, and was mostly incommunicado for a week.

Sometimes, though, a family or personal crisis just pushes gaming to the back of your mind as  you deal with the problem. The last thing you are thinking about is playing games.

I think we've all been there at some point.

If you can find your way back to gaming, Marian, we'll still be here. Family comes first.

Thanks so very much everyone! I really really appreciate it! I think the situation has stabilized for now. Luckily it's not as bad as I had thought, at least in the way that I thought, but it's still a huge mess and I'm really worried about my aunt's state of mind... I am at a stable point now though and I'm pretty sure I'll be back like I was before come tomorrow. If and when it rears up again I'll let you know but for now consider Marian once again in action! Phew!

Very glad the situation is better for now.

Me too! Thanks again :)