Old OOC thread was getting full, the game warned me, so here's a new one.

The heroes' counter-attack against the octorats is starting off well... I'm waiting for Goodwill and Scraps before letting Jules help...

In reply to The Grandmaster (msg # 1):

I think you might have been in OOC 1, not OOC 2. It's nowhere near full.

Mmmmmmm can't explain it.

Oh well, let's use this one from now on I guess?

Anyway: Scraps? You ready?

Not to rush you...

If you want you may say "pass" here, and I'll skip you this time, if you don't have time today to do a post of your usual thoughtfulness...
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:07, Wed 13 Jan 2021.

Sorry.   Real Life is a bitch.

I'll do a quick read now, and make a post.

ADVISORY...

Starting today, my schedule changes. I will have less time Mondays-through-Thursdays, but-- kind of like the latter part of last year-- more time Sats and Suns. (Usual amount of time Fridays.)

Just a heads' up.

On that thread, I'm gonna generally have more time weekends, tuesdays, and thursdays.

Sorry for the delay on my end. This Sat and Sun thing feels like it's going to work out pretty okay for me, but not so much on the weekday part of things...

Waiting until at least one more person posts before going on...

I am so sorry, I am really struggling with life right now, and RPoL is paying the price. You might need to skip me, or pose for me. I am in no state to really be doing things here at the moment.

Cosmic Girl, I have caused your character to fall asleep in the narrative... If you're able to come back, she'll wake up right away. If you don't, she'll wake up after the chapter is over...

You-in-real-life comes first. We care about you and hope you're able to cope. We're here if you need to vent or get sympathy.

Thank you, I really appreciate the consideration!

"What's wrong with you TODAY, GM?"

Internet went out in my neighborhood... for like SEVEN HOURS

Bark


            Bark, Bark

Wow, I must have really pissed off the RNG.

Hmmm... White Lynx? You got anything...?

Ah! Sorry. Was moving out of quarantine and then had to help with a friend's medical emergency. I can go ahead and put together a post now.

Well, that didn't go great. I can roll Forceful now too, if necessary, or on a subsequent turn for better pacing? Or not at all, if Lynx gets interrupted or just isn't good at removing web from dog.

Haven't forgotten about you, but I'm just... having an off day. Maybe tomorrow I can get it together..

Basically this ultra-winter weather (makes the brain want to hibernate) and power outages (disrupts work schedule, also family needs extra-entertaining) has disrupted my schedule... I'll do my best, but this weekend I won't have 5 spare hours per day to play like I usually do lately...

*Scraps licks the Grandmaster's hand, comfortingly, and attempts to crawl into the Grandmaster's lap for a cuddle*

I’d follow your lead, Scraps, but I don’t have my shapeshifting abilities anymore, so I don’t think a human would be a good choice for those actions.

Sorry for the delay, but this is the first day in days where I've woken up feeling fine.

Sounds weak in this era of a global pandemic which I don't have, but feeling bad is feeling bad and feeling fine is feeling fine, so heck with it, I felt bad and now I don't.

Makes sense to me.


Why did Goodwill take more stress?

The ripping-the-webbing-off. On a 10 or higher, there'd be nothing. With the result of 7-to-9, it seemed appropriate.

Okay.

Oh no! Not the tile! Mabel and Norwood will have to find a contractor for that, you know!

Hi all!

I have just returned home after ten days in hospital, and it will take me a few days to get back onmy feet properly. Thanks for being so patient!

Whoa! What happened?

Massive pain in the abdomen. Took days to find the source. Two different infections, blocked gall bladder, and sundry horrors. Going to take a few days to properly convalesce. And when I got home I fell over and possibly broke a finger, so even typing is tricky. Not being my year so far.

Geez. I'm glad you're (somewhat?) feeling better, and are on the mend.

Thank you. I do not plan to over do things.

Scraps whines sadly, and licks Cosmo's hand*.
Climbs into her lap for a snuggle.


* not the one with the sore finger

Darn, that sounds like a bad string of luck. Here's hoping things turn around for you in the near future. Here, have an e-hug!

Cosmic Girl can awaken whenever you're ready to play her again.

Me, I'm having one of my busy weeks... but, as (lately) usual, I'll have a lot of time this weekend...

Somehow I never noticed (or just plain forgot) that the GM posted here. What's everyone else been doing?

I've been going through some sleep issues and debating with myself what my next move here should be. Probably gonna go with It's Cobblering Time now. Not Clobbering, of course.

I suppose, at the very least, it is nice to know that that action would have failed, no matter which stat I was using.

My life is undergoing turbulence.

It looks like I will be on RPol less often, especially when it comes to the long posts I like making.

I am currently trying to figure out exactly what this means for the future...

My sympathies.

(I assume if this was GOOD turbulence, you'd have said so.)

Hugs! I hope this is all very positive developments!

Understandable! Hope things turn out alright, at least. Good luck!

It indeed is not.

I am able to check in quick today here and there but am distracted.

We'll see what happens...

Good luck, friend.

Sending every possible iota of good thoughts your way, GM! I am sorry I am still inactive. A broken hand does not make typing easy, sadly...

Thank you.

I'm still working on things on my end. I am considering getting a co-GM or other GM i trust very much to come in... That's not at all a done deal, though...

Hmm. Would Hold Them Off (with Confident) count as an action that requires Forceful? I'm assuming that it does since it's one of the traditionally Forceful actions, but I just want to make sure. Either way, it seems Lynx's priorities are gonna shift a little!

Says right there on your character sheet:



So you're cool to use it-- JUST be sure that what you're Holding Them Off with is your electrical powers, specifically.

I GOT MY HAND BACK!!!

It's sore, and need sphysio to work again properly, but I can use it now. Could you give me a quick update on the precise battle position, and I will try to get a pose in!

Scraps: freed from the webbing (by Jules), still a little wobbly on his feet. But he could get it together again at any second.

Goodwill: Having trouble fighting the giant spider because the dice hate him. But he could get it together again soon...ish.

White Lynx: Ripped off the giant spider's voice-box because she's fired up because of seeing something in the lab that reminds her of a very important moment in her past.

Jules: His natural instincts have gotten him this far, but he's a support guy, not a combat leader as such, and he's starting to feel just a little overwhelmed by the situation. Not entirely unlike White Lynx, he associates this place with some bad memories.

All right then! Is it ok for me to just wake up and act, or will I need a round or so to get functional? And am I in a position to attack?

No, I knocked you out only because you were gone. Feel free to wake up, glance around, and act.

Sure, I'm gonna say attack if you want.

Er... why is it x2 for a result of 4...?

...I would expect "hit hard" to result in 3...?

As I understood it, a hit does 2 stun as base. Then you add in the 2 x hit hard. I am willing to be completely wrong about this, though. I'm rusty in the game mechanics, and not entirely focussed whie on painkillers. :D

Um no,

Where was that roll three rounds ago??

Yeah. My bad. The take away from this, friends, is do not attempt to remember game rules while whacked out on morphine.:P

That is a good moral.

And yeah, that was an odd sequence of rolls!

Anyone else want to do a reaction post before I move on...?

I'm good.

lets Rock this boat

As long as I get a quick chance at the laboratory alone (unless someone stops me, which is possibly likely), I'm good!

Ah, phewf! That could've been bad!

I do feel a little bad about semi-working against the group here (and also for saying frail, sorry). I don't think I could honestly play a jerky character for very long if I keep second-guessing these objectively poor decisions!

This is all good! Your character does what they would do, it is better than forcing them to play against their nature. :D

Thank ya. :)

In any case, I hope that was a respectable amount of stuff to do. If it's too many things, I can tone it down a notch.

Hmmm... yeah tone it down a notch, or else I'll make you roll...

So she's hidden papers and documents in her costume...? Or...?

Roger roger! I cut out the taking of documents.

But yes, she's hidden scrap pieces of the trident in her costume, specifically the overcoat. It's doubtful that there're any large pieces in there, but she wanted to take something, especially integral-looking stuff or expensive-looking stuff. That way, it would become more difficult to rebuild the device.

Her plan's to look them over when all is said and done. If she can figure out what they were used for (doubtful), then great! She'll maybe know more about the device. If not (more likely), she can either sell, trash, or further destroy them as far away from the lab as possible.

V.bad turbulence day for me. Took all day for turbulence to calm. Tomorrow busy though. Sat-Sun should be normal (well the new normal? Maybe?)

My bad life turbulence started yesterday, continued today. Perhaps tomorrow afternoon will be better... perhaps not...

Hi everybody. Copying this to all the games I am in, to save a little time. I am afraid my father died on Friday of last week. I am understandably a little shaken. I also have a huge amount to do in the aftermath, and hope people will understand if I take a day or two to get back on my feet and catch up!

We all (I’m sure) wish you the very best.   Take care of you, your loved ones, and life.

*Scraps climbs into Cosmo’s lap, and licks some tears from her cheek*

Hey kids

Traveled to visit family out of fears getting our shots might kinda knock us out

It did a bit

But also I left my computer glasses at home

Will be reunited with them and my home computer tomorrow tho

Sorry for the delay

(reads more)

oh no that's terrible, my condolences.

of course we understand, take care of you and yours

Someone else give me a reaction to Scraps' behavior...

Goodwill is out at front, I am bringing up the rear. I shall let him go first!

Yeah, leaving it to Goodwill makes sense. But if he shouldn’t be reacting or doesn’t want to, I could do that as well.

Nah. I'm on it.

I am home once more, having attended the funeral of my father, and worked on sorting out his home, and his estate. I am exhausted, physically, and emotionally. Will turn attention to posts - but probably not until after a very good night's sleep!

Understood. Take your time. Know that we're thinking about you (and not in a 'hurry up' sort of way.)

Um, so, yeah, hi-- tomorrow I go to visit family, and then the day after I get my second shot.

The last one knocked me out (made me sleepy, lots of naps for days) and I've been fighting to get energy back on and off since then.

No telling what the SECOND shot will do.

Also I've heard a lot of places are running out of Pfizer (which I had) and just giving Moderna. If that happens, who knows what THAT will do (although I've also heard it actually might give one better protection).

Just a heads-up

Best of luck. Shot one of Pfizer left me sick as hell a few days, but shot two was not so bad. OK, my arm hurt like a beast for a day, but my insides behaved themselves. I hope yours do too!

The second shot caused me full-body pain for a day and a half. Fortunately, I'm used to that.

I got lucky with shot number two. Arm hurt for a few days and I felt darn tired, but I was otherwise fine! Good luck with yours!

I think that between Lynx and Cos we've got enough for the GM to respond to, without me adding to it. If you were waiting for me, I pass.

Back... locationally.

Day after getting second shot started with 100.5 fever, but soon it went away and was replaced with bad headache.

Then that went away... came back... went away. Doing okay now except for being a little queasy on and off. Just a little tho.

No energy now, but should post soon...nish?

And yeah, I've got enough to respond to for the moment...

You make sure you get well from this, though. We're not going to fly away.

(How can we. we're underground!)

Heck, Lynx can't even fly at all! Here's hoping that queasy feeling passes too.

Who wants to give the charming roll a try? I'm at +1 and have a couple of ideas of things to say but happy to let someone else take a shot at it, given the horrendous way my dice have been behaving!

I don't think that it should be me. I ALWAYS fail those rolls.

I'm also a +1, but if you don't want to go for it, Cosmos, I can give it a go!

Aha, looks like Lynx took the chance... I doubt I could have rolled any better with my track record. :P

I'm just glad I didn't roll any lower. Phew! Still not exactly a perfect success, but it's something.

I would probably have enraged them. :P

I have zero idea what to say at this point. Ladies...?

I am sorry, I am REALLY struggling at the moment. I have no energy, and my creativity has turned to sludge. I am giving serious thought to pulling out of RPoL completely for the duration. Until I get back on my feet, which will be some time I think, it would not be fair for me to expect people to wait on me.

Darn, that sounds not good. I hope you'll find your way back onto your feet! Take your time and take care of yourself!

As for the Norbots situation, despite being our speedster, I don't think I'm in the right position to head after them. I was planning on waiting until someone else went on after them before continuing, just so that opportunity didn't fly by. Sorry for the silence on my end.

Given what one Norwood can do, an army of angry, possibly malfunctional Norwoods does NOT sound good AT ALL. I would very strongly suggest that we let them go, get our current Norwood to trust us, as it may well be controlling the others, or at least able to persuade them to stand down. If they wanted us dead, they would have attacked, they're probably more than capable of rendering us dead - albeit temporarily in the case of someone...

I have my CT scan tomorrow, which will go some way towards identifying what is happening. I know Goodwill's player has been following my journey through cancer on Facebook, and been very supportive when it was needed. If for any reason I do end up being whisked into hospital, I should be able to pass on messages from there via Facebook, so hopefully you will know!

I am dropping out of a few games where the post rate is very rapid, as I simply cannot keep up. I am trying to keep my favourites, and this game is amongst them. (Actually, it is right up at the top, the quality of posting and storytelling has been wonderful. And I really DO want to know the ending!)

I am cross posting this into all my games, for the sake of convenience. I know it will out who I play across RPoL, but I do not really mind!

Tomorrow morning, I will be going in for major surgery, removing my gall bladder and part of my liver, as drastic treatment for cancer. I am going to be pretty out of touch as a result. I should be in hospital a week or more, and cannot guarantee quality of internet, nor my capacity to actually post.

If anybody is waiting for me to post, I suggest it might not be a bad idea to fade those scenes to black, just so nobody is waiting around for me to post, when I am unlikely to be in a position where I can do so easily.

I'll keep people updated on how it all goes, as best I can. Keep fingers crossed, please!

I have now had my surgery. It appears to have been a success so far, although biopsies are now needed to determine to what degree cancer has returned to ravage my organs.

I am being tended to by some of the most wonderful medical professionals I have ever met, and I have met a fair few down the years. They are supportive, kind, and very generous. And, amazingly for the NHS, the hospital food hasn't been at all bad so far!

I will keep everybody up to date as news breaks. I should be sent home on Monday, barring any complications. This also means my epidural will be removed, so I will be exposed to the full levels of pain. But so far, so good - it has all gone well up to this point, and I hope it will continue to do so from hereon in!

Congrats on the surgery (and especially the hospital food)! Here's hoping the post-epidural pain won't be too bad.

Okay guys, I think that wraps it up for Chapter Ten: THIS ISSUE: ONE DR. NORWOOD WILL DIE!


I think this was a rough chapter (IRL) for all of us...

...So... can we all continue...? If it's slow?

I mean Scraps DID look in a couple of days ago, so...

I can continue.

I should be able to keep going. I'm gonna be starting one of the ol' 9-5s soon, so that'll cut into my time a tad, but I should be poifectly alright!

Let us continue!!! Truth and Justice shall never rest until Nefarious Norwood is Nailed!!!

Which in hindsight is ruder than I first intended...

Another copy/paste update, as I have not the energy to type things afresh everywhere!

I am now home. I am exhausted. I have had major surgery before, but nothing even comes close to how hard this has hit me this time. Even standing upright for two minutes leaves me shaking, and needing to sit down to catch my breath. I am also in enormous amounts of pain. I have a variety of painkillers, and use them wisely, but this means I am frequently doped up and unable to do much more than stare at the TV, or sleep.

It may yet be a while before I reach RPoL capable leveles of functionality.

But all that can be done, has been done. Now I must ride the pain and fatigue, and let my body heal. In due course, I shall find out what the histology lab discovers on testing my removed meaty things. From what the surgeon has told me, even if I did not have cancer of the gall bladder - and it is likely I did - then something else was seriously wrong, as the thing they removed from me was in a terrible state of inflamation, mixed with dead spots and puckered wizening, and other horrible things. Whatever else may be happening to my body, getting that thing out of me was an urgent issue, and I am very relieved they have done so, even if I do feel like utter crud right now.

I am going to rest, and heal. And hopefully, I can return to posting soon. I get better every day, I am sure!

Sooooo I kept wondering if Scraps would speak up...

...I realize now that when I said that Scraps "checked in a few days ago," I said that on the 17th and that Scraps checked in on the 15th...

...What I didn't realize until now was that Scraps last checked in on JULY 15th.

Oh dear.

...But it's hard to imagine Goodwill without Scraps... Goodwill, you wanna play Scraps, too, going forward?

Or shall I NPC-play Scraps?

...WHATEVER the answer... Should I seek another player?

--Or should we just continue with 3?

...Or should we close the run of this comic on issue 10, considering the problematic... problems involved in continuing...?

Regardless of the other answers, I wouldn't want to end this game. Certainly not now, with Norwood still on the loose, anyway. But maybe not even after that, since I've been enjoying it immensely.

I would suggest playing Scraps as a GM-controlled NPC. And maybe getting a 4th player, too.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:49, Sat 02 Oct 2021.

I'm fine with everything you just said.




This, I want at least one other player's opinion on first, before I act...

I love this game. The slow pace is not a problem for me. I am very much out of my groove with the recovery ongoing as it is, but I am healing, albeit slowly. I would be supportive of someone else coming into the mix.

Advertisement placed...

I've got absolutely no issue with looking for a fourth person as well! I am really enjoying this game and want to see it continue. Sorry for the day-late response.

Ummmm... in the meantime...

I am CONSTANTLY writing new games... I can't help it.

But this one, I'm dying to show people and get feedback on...

link to another game

I saw, and it looks like a lot of fun! I am really in a spoonless state, and just not able to take anything else on, but the whole concept is fun!

Anything missing, as far as rules-explanation...?

It looks pretty interesting! Do the more magic-focused kids not have as many stat changes because of their, well, magic?

In terms of the rules themselves, is it the case where rolling two dice lets you put those results together, or is it just taking the highest roll? From the example of play, it sounds like the latter, but the rules themselves almost make it seem like the former.

(I think I'm gonna apply for it, in any case! Just gotta come up with a character)

Yep.




It's the latter.





It's adapted from rules like we have here, so please point out to me if I missed any spots that still make it sound like one just adds the dice together.





Great, I'll go unlock it for new players to apply!

I suppose it's not really a case of the rules leading me to that idea, but rather the rules being vague on that point. I'd assume it being added together would be used. Making that clear under Fight should be enough for clarity's sake.

That being said, "Do It Anyway!" still uses the 10+ and 7-9 structure for rolls, which would be impossible to achieve under that roll system.

BAH, that's just the sort of thing I suspected I might have missed. I'll go fix it now.


...Goodwill? Any interest...?

I am definitely interested. But I haven't played a D&D style fantasy-based game in 35 years or more.

I was thinking about a half-orc or similar hybrid species, being raised to be a warrior,  but dreaming of being a celebrity chef.

I once played a comedic D&D style game. Barbara the Barbarian who actually wanted to be an accountant. Barbarians get loads of loot, but accountants make all the cash when they retire.

And then the group got body swapped, and she got the healer's stats. And this meant she passed out every time she raged...

Fun game. GM was a genius of genre flipping comedy. I miss tabletop.

Hmmmm. Orcs (and therefore half-orcs) are reeeeallly sort of contentious right now in rpg circles, but... I'd let you play, say, a kid lizardman or a kid gnoll...?

Contentious? How so?

And what's a gnoll?

https://comicbook.com/gaming/n...dragons-orcs-racist/

https://globalnews.ca/news/710...il-race-stereotypes/





The short answer: 7-to-7-and-a-half-foot-tall hyena-people. ...But I figure a 9-year-old equivalent would be hardly 5 foot.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:05, Mon 04 Oct 2021.

Funny how these 'evil' races are controversial but those aren't.

I think I'll pass on the gnoll. Honestly, it sounds like it ought to be a cross between a gnome and a troll... except I'm not sure how that would ever work.

Maybe I'll flip the script on my character idea. Instead of a member of a traditionally warlike race wanting to be a peaceful profession, maybe something equally silly, like a hobbit who thinks he can grow up to be a master assassin or some such.

JUST a troll could work... Having their well-known-in-D&D regenerative ability wouldn't work very well in my game mechanically, but a kid troll might not yet have developed that yet.




Also perfectly doable.

Playing an eight year old troll sounds pretty funny. But I'm kinda caught up on this hobbit idea now. It sounds very kid-like, wanting to be something you think is cool when you grow up, and play acting at it now.

I'm torn, frankly.

But I find thoughts of certain D&D tropes amusing under this paradigm. Instead of 'Five adventurers walk into a tavern,' you've got 'Five adventurers get dropped off at the Community Center after-school program.'

Except that these kids skip school whenever possible, yeah, and usually get away with it because most adults are stressed about The War.

But I can see them attending such a program for a day or two if there was a special reason, like
--some adult recently caught them and made them attend (at least for a day)
--it's actually part of some sort of (rescue?) mission they're trying to pull
--they were told there would be cake

I can certainly see the cake one working.

WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT.

I could SWEAR that I placed an ad for a new player for this game 2 days ago.

Now I don't see it.

WHAT THE HECK.

Did any of youse guys see me actually put an ad in Players Wanted for this game?!?!?!?

Did I just not hit the POST button? WHAT THE HECK?

I'll go do it again, but first-- did any of you see it?

I remember specifically mentioning I wanted someone to play a hero from the Scrapper playbook...

I never actually saw the ad, come to think of it.

Figured it out-- when I hit POST, the screen changed and basically said (I'm paraphrasing slightly): "you have to turn on the Accepting New Players thing first, GM."

But I didn't actually read that-- I just presumed it said "okay, posted, thanks GM! You're so smart!" and I went about the rest of my day, la la la.

It's actually posted this time. (I checked.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:57, Mon 04 Oct 2021.

I'm still very torn between the troll and the hobbit. Troll feels more useful to me, while the hobbit would probably be more fun.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

...Between those two choices, I lean toward suggesting doing what seems more fun.

Would a kid who thinks of himself as a master-assassin-in-training be more like a Scrappy kid or a Sneaky kid? I could see either as being appropriate.

SNEAKY!

It's just sense. A kid is going to be much better and sneaking about and that sort of thing, than they are going to be in combat, I reckon.

Although I can see it both ways, I lean toward agreeing with Cosmic Girl here.

Okay... so a Sneaky Halfling with a general tendency towards violence.

...Shall I add you...?

Sure!

Hi, I've been added as a Scrapper. Looking forward to playing with you all.

Welcome, new Scrapper! Here's hoping you add whole new dynamix to the team! (Sorry, too good of an opportunity to pass up. Looking forward to playing with you as well!)

Welcome!

::twirls and other such things::

Welcome! It's just Cosmic to have you aboard!

Welcome to new Scrapper character, Kid Dynamix!

Kid Dynamix, describe your costume in your description section, if you haven't already...

Also, do you wear a mask when fighting evil? Or not so much?

Also, what exactly is your character's age?

Description has been filled out, portrait has been chosen! Kid Dynamix's costume is an obvious throwback to the golden age hero Dynamix, though modified to be in line with contemporary youth sensibilities. He does wear a half-mask that covers the lower half of his face.

Age-wise, let's go with 15.

Mokay!

I'll try to get y'all started on Chapter 11 soon...

I have decided we need a bit more wrap-up on Chapter 10 so I can better add Kid Dynamix in...

Works for me; I'm not in a huge hurry. Take your time.

If Lynx isn't going to come with us to the next location, maybe she could run Scraps?

Just a thought.

True, if she needs to heal up and the group in general needs to go after Norwood, I'd be up for running someone else. Might feel a tad weird running Scraps on the off chance that he comes back from the farm. I'd be fine with just a generic agent person as well or something like that, if running someone else's PC is too much.

I was just pointing out that White Lynx will need about a week of rest to get fully-healed-up again.

You could always choose to not let her heal up fully, but what I expected was that White Lynx would heal up first and then y'all'd go.

And as long as I'm opining: Yeah, I, too, see how it would feel weird for White Lynx to run Scraps' character...

I'd personally rather Lynx take the week to heal, but I also don't want to make the party lose this in-story inertia on the hunt for Red October Dr. Norwood. I'd be fine with running some sort of temporary replacement if there's no way to reconcile the two events. I could have her only heal up a little, but that's probably the least emotionally healthy direction for Ch'rava to take at this point.

Still, I'll be fine with whatever's necessary to move the story forward. Don't want to dig my feet into the ground here.

...You could MAKE another Controller PC to play...?

...Maybe get 'em killed off at the end of the chapter, tragically...? (You could move any XP over to White Lynx afterward...)

...Or is that too dark...?

Depends on how silver age we want to get! Which brings up a question I had - what's the in-game year, roundabout?

I believe it's 1963.

Cool. Semi-related, I've been doing a readthrough of Marvel's silver age. Not all the comics, because I only have, you know, decades left to live, but the major issues. Man, there were a lot of red scare issues.

Not sure whether death should happen or not, but some tragedy would definitely work. But maybe, instead of a "new" Controller, we could rework an existing character from Lynx's backstory to fit the role?

I'll put the idea in spoiler text here, since most relevant information is in private stuff. Read at yer own risk, other players!

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
We rework Lewis S. Lewis into something of a powered individual himself. There was another surviving guard of his company in the incident that gave the original Lynx her powers. Maybe that guard could've been Lewis himself and he gained similar Controller-y powers, but has kept them mostly secret (maybe some of the company's big clients know?). He comes in now to take over from who he thinks is his surrogate daughter to help take down this villain. We could even theme him on ghost stuff, since the company's called Specter Security. He could be Specter or maybe Revenant or just Ghost or something. Just raise all the death flags.

---

Woo, almost time for Doctor Who to exist!

(Sad about Aldous Huxley though.)

I've not read many Silver Age comics, but the Skrull and Secret Invasion seem like a perfect fit for that from what little I've read and seen in adaptations, particularly in regards to the Red Scare. It's probably plainly obvious, but that was why I decided to go with my little Skrull semi-knock-off here with Ch'rava. Twisting old tropes like that is interesting.

(GM waves vaguely) Just let me know what you want to do and how you want to do it... I do not have a huge problem with this as-yet secret concept if that's how you wanna do it...

Then I'll go ahead and do this secret concept then. Just gotta go and build em up with a character sheet and all. I'll try to get that done soon. (I am at work though, so that could take a bit).

Are there any other specific questions that I need to address (either here or in a private message for story reasons)?

Mm, just work up what you want to work up and show it to me and I'll let you know if I have any follow-up questions--

Kids, if I ever go like 3 or 4 days without posting, it almost certainly means that I have accidentally made this game stop "lighting up," and that you should nudge me.

I'll do my best to remember that.

Music for Cosmic Girl's toaster air-chase provided by Shonen Knife, namely their PowerPuff Girls song "I'm a Super Girl":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7ZFeViTl4g   (also good played at 1.25 speed)

Kicking out the bad guy
Beating up a monster
Fighting against evil
I rescue the peace now

Over the buildings
Over the mountains
Over the blue sky
Over the rainbow

You know I'm a super girl
Yes I'm a punky girl
I never say die
No one can stop me

Flying at the high speed
Having over courage
Getting over crisis
I rescue the people

Over the buildings
Over the mountains
Over the blue sky
Over the rainbow

You know I'm a super girl
Yes I'm a punky girl
I never say die
No one can stop me
'Cause I like to fight crime!

(guitar solo)

Kicking out the bad guy
Beating up a monster
Fighting against evil
I rescue the peace now

Flying at the high speed
Having over courage
Getting over crisis
I rescue the people

You know I'm a super girl
Yes I'm a punky girl
I never say die
No one can stop me
'Cause I like to FIGHT
FIGHT!

Would we be able to see this toaster fight from our position? Well, not me, but Goodwill, Kid Dynamix, and Spectre. And Delancey as well, if he's still there, I suppose.

Cosmic Girl has flared her aura, and is pewpewpew everywhere. I think you would need to be blind NOT to see it...

I agree.

BTW am taking day off today... I'm overclocked at the brain bank. Probably back tomorrow... even more prob Tues

Roger roger! Sorry, I was just worried about whether it would be too far away or something like that. But who knows, Spectre is wearing a full face mask!

And here's hoping you're able to relax on your day (or two days) off, GM!

Okay, I'm back.

Y'all's turn.

Oh hey is Jules the alligator with us?

Or did we leave him at home?

Or did we just forget to mention him when we did introductions?

Or did I just miss something?

I think we just forgot he was there....

Poor Jules.

You know what I just realized? I was supposed to level up before this chapter.

I thought Jules was coming with us. Well, he's probably safer elsewhere!

I am deeply surprised that Goodwill passed his roll.

Let's face it, we're the muscle, not the brains when it comes to dice rolls. :P

I think Lynx is the only one of the PCs left with a positive Insightful modifier. (Might've been a good idea to make Spectre good at thinking... But characters are who they are, right?)

Yeah I was specifically going for "impulsive teen hero" so putting points into Insight wasn't a goal.

1. Maybe we wanted Jules to stay home? Maybe we thought this would be too traumatic for him emotionally?

2. Is SCRAPS here (as NPCanine)? And am I to be playing him? Or will Goodwill's player do that?  I forget...

3. Ugh, bad headache today never got much better. Back tomorrow...

In reply to The Grandmaster (msg # 179):

1. My vote would be for Jules to still be with us. He's got a right to see this through to the end.

3. Hope your headache goes away soon! Those are not fun.

Goodwill? Cosmic Girl? Got an Alligator Vote, please?

Also see above re: reminding me about who's running Scraps?

1. If Jules would be okay getting settled at Goodwill's loft by himself, then he can certainly stay 'home'.

2. I thought he was going to be run as a GM NPC.

1. Okay Cosmic Girl give me one more Alligator Vote please

2. Okay okay cool cool just making sure

I think if we have Scraps with us, Jules could probably be fine doing his own thing away from the danger.

I hereby announce that it was decided that hunting down his creator might be too emotionally-traumatic for Jules, and that he is staying home at Goodwill's place happily re-reading Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses.


And I'll try to do Scraps as needed.

It's nice that he gets to re-read a good book in peace. I wonder if he finds Goodwill's loft more or less comfortable than his old home?

Studying your environment for something useful or anything else you hope to find would be an Insightful roll...

poke....

(I'm... guessing... you're poking your teammates...?)

I'm waiting for people to explain why my plan is both excellent and utterly deranged, at the same time!

Uh, Kid Dynamix is... leaving.

I'll do something about this tomorrow...

Was it something we said? =O.O=

Ah dang. Sorry to see him go! Here's hoping his player finds another game to play and enjoy.

Just got too busy IRL as far as I can tell.

For now, just keep playing. I'll NPC Kid Dynamix for the moment (but he'll be really taking a back seat and letting you guys lead)

Uh, it's y'all's turn? Right?

Um... I kinda thought we were waiting on a GM post.

Well, that's why I check on these things... (though I've been a bit busy lately)

So uh I'd prefer y'all go now... that was what "For now, just keep playing" was meant to indicate in my earlier post in message #195 in this thread...

If y'all insist on not doing that so much, I'll have Kid Dynamix do something, but...

Let's wait and see if anyone has anything to say/do in response to my last post, now that you've poked the beehive. Otherwise I can double-post and get us moving again.

Sorry I am quiet, have some complications after my surgery, and it is rather dragging down my energy and creativity.

Sorry on my end too. I forgot that you'd posted already, Goodwill!

Okay, so clearly we've stalled. How do we get un-stalled?

Well I'm Kid Dynamix now, so I went last, so one of you three post?

I think if Spectre goes next, he'd just push Kid Dynamix into doing the whole scouting situation, and while that's what the character is going to want to do, I don't feel right just making that decision for the group. Besides, I don't want this to just be a Spectre+Kid Dynamix back-and-forth. I feel weird posting again without letting an alternative plan or idea come in. (Sorry for being a hold-up in that regard. If this isn't actually a problem and I'm just getting worried for no reason, I can make a post.)

Ah, well, nevermind! I take too long with these OOC posts.

So uh incidentally-- asking in connection to another game, nothing to do with this one-- has anyone here ever played any of the FALLOUT series of video games

Yup! I've played the first one, New Vegas, 4, Shelter, and a liiiiiiiiittle bit of 3.

Ack, sorry I have been so quiet. Still struggling to get on top of this whole post surgery recovery nonsense. But I am definitely mending properly this time. Hopefully I shall be back on my feet very soon!

Slammed with work, stretched too thin, and not great health lately, but trying to catch up some now...

Our Grandmaster might be getting sick of hearing this, but I just wanna let y'all know that I'm feeling a bit under the weather after some shots yesterday, plus some bloodwork. I might be a bit slow for a little bit. (Though that's not new in my case, I suppose!)

And speaking of things going slowly: So yeah, BEFORE now, I've just been tired from (gestures at all of 2021). But in the next few weeks I'm gonna be doing family stuff which will mess with my time even more, because Christmas. So... keep that in mind. I won't be gone, but I will very likely be absent//in-and-out.

Anyway, someone reply to this to make the game "light up" for me again...

I'll make sure to poke you in January.

RPoL always slows over Christmas and New Year. So worry not, we'll be here when it is done!

I don't really have much to add myself, but I'll still be here too. Have some nice ends of December and starts of January!

Unsurprisingly doing family stuff.

However MERRY CHRISTMAS-- EVERYONE GETS 1 FREE XP POINT!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

And a very merry festive time to one and all! Thank you very much Grand Master. :D

Thank you very much! Merry Holidays!

Okay so might be back and ready to post again in as little as two days.

So, reply to this to "light the game up" for me again...

Gonna assume you mean now, so let's light it up!

PING!!!

I'm letting Cosmic Girl respond before I do, given that she was the one who was attacked.

Sorry, bit wiped out today. Might be tomorrow before I get to do this, am severelt lacking any spoons!

Ugh. Having a busy week... and now, not feeling great (but not covid).

Wanted you to know I was thinking of you though...

So, reply to this to "light the game up" for me again...

It sucks that you're not feeling well. Here's hoping you see some improvement soon!

Oh, uh, also, here's me lighting the game up. :)

BOOM!

The light shineth!

And hope you feel better very soon!

I'm sorry to say that my schedule has become terrible.

I'm not giving up yet, but I think I may have a lot of trouble finding free time for a while...

We'll see how this week goes...

We are patient. I hope it improves for you!

Free time comes and free time goes! We've no problem waiting, I suppose!

*poke*

Yeah, sorry... been that busy/low energy...

Goodwill is not going to have trouble getting out of the ectoplasm, but he'll have a -2 penalty on his next roll...

Ouch. :P

Joy.

In reply to Goodwill (msg # 233):

Sorry about that, Goodwill.

Struggling to come back and catch up. Maybe tomorrow, maybe Thursday, certainly/surely Friday or Sat.

Take your time, boss! We aren't going anywhere!

Annnnd, I was wrong. Maybe this week... maybe not until next weekend...

I'll echo Cosmic Girl in saying that you having the ability to take your time still very much stands! We'll still be here when life calms down. :)

Golly, I was just thinking about how this chapter was winding down, and how slow I've had to let this game get lately...

...and then suddenly...

...I got an idea for a new chapter...

Hurrah for excellent ideas!

I like the look of your undead game, too, though not sure I have time or spoons to play it. Great concept though!

(GM smiles benevolently)   :)

Well, I've done it yet again...

this time it isn't EXACTLY a role-playing game, though (though it is (highly) related).

link to another game

See what you think. Have I left anything out that would be good?

Nobody? No one? Nobody?

Sorry, I have just been buried in reality, trying to keep my head above water!

Same here, sorry. It looks like an interesting concept, but I don't usually go for games like that.

Not trying to make you play it! Just wondering if anyone would say "hey, it seems like you're missing an opportunity-- why not also add ___________________"

:)

Hmmmmmm...

Maybe there could be something where every gets to put something in, regardless of voting? Might be a bit dangerous, but it could help make sure everyone has something of their own in there in case their ideas get overshadowed and consistently not voted on.

Hmm... I like the nice part, but it seems to go against the basic meritocracy principle of the thing...

(Another problem is that one wouldn't know if there was anyone who got nothing into canon until the end, and by that point any additions might not feel as organic as I'd hope...)

I'll keep thinking about it...

I've done it AGAIN

I don't plan to start playing it real soon because I know I'm already stretched too thin but here it is anyway

Don't bother reading if you don't remember the MTV show DARIA:

link to another game

Sounds hilarious.

Sounds quite interesting! (Oh, also, in Part 2, it mentions that, once you reach 4 Respect, you can spend two points, bringing it down to 4? I think you meant 2!)

Yes i did, will fix

I think I might have a character idea over there, but I haven't really ever watched Daria. Is that okie dokie? (Also my idea is a little derivative of a, ah, certain infamous fanfiction about wizards and goths (or goffs, if you know what I'm saying).)

Also also! Sorry to keep finding things, but Part Three ends with telling us to go to Part Three instead of Part Four.

1. I... do not know what you're saying.

As long as it has nothing whatsoever to do with That Young Wizard School. I hate That Young Wizard School.

2. Again-- I do not (sadly) have time to start playing the Daria game now, nor very soon, I think. I just can't help making games in my spare time.




Nope, I was afraid of that exact sort of thing. Will fix.

And yes, point out all the things like that that you want please and thank you

That's alright! But yeah, it does have to do with that. I get why you might not be a fan of the school in question, so consider the idea dropped!



Roger roger!



I don't think I saw anything else of the sort in my little readthrough, so you're probably good!

Well... I never even heard of the show before today, but MTV wasn't a big thing in the UK. And when it started, I had just left university, and was struggling to survive in a low wage job in London. I couldn't even afford a TV to watch it on...

Here's another one...

link to another game

This one is a cozy fantasy, not meant to be big on combat, more about exploring...

No comments on the above...?

---

Anyway, I'm open for at least one more chapter/issue of this game, IF you guys don't mind my now-usual slow pace...?

I am good with it! Bring it on!!!

I'm happy to continue.

Also happy to keep going!

And sorry for not saying much about the game. I looked at it, but I didn't really have any ideas or notice anything off.

Okay so no one has anything else they wanna say in this chapter...?

I think we are done, yes! :D

Same here! I've got nothing specific I feel I need to say. Or rather... nothing I feel Spectre still needs to say.

Me neither.

(GM goes to start chapter twelve--)

--WAIT!

Before we do that... I think I should advertise for a new player.

Right? Right?

Orrrr... have we had such a hard time with actually keeping new players that we're tempted to give up and just play with three?

You tell me...

If you want a fourth, go for it.

Someone gimmee one more opinion please

Go for it! I think the team can handle it, and fresh blood is always fun!

Ad for one new player placed...

Hopefully the new person will stick! Or at least have fun for a time with us.

I had best spend my XP too...

I am thinking of taking Durable. The past few battles have proven to me that it would be wise...

I should spend mine, too...

Would now be a good time to fold Spectre's XP into Lynx? I could do some leveling up in that case too!

Sure. Just keep track of how many powers you take from someone else's playbook... you can only do that twice



Sure

Alright, I've taken a page out of Cosmic Girl's book (and Goodwill's playbook) and gone with Durable! Lynx will hopefully not have to go back to the hospital this time!

Durable added to sheet!

As I recall it, the limits for XP are:

- Increase each stat by one.

- Buy two powers from your playbook.

- buy two powers from other playbooks.

So far I have bought Aura, and Durable.

Considering we have had one character death (ok, ok, he came back, sheesh... still not over that!) and one character rendered almost dead, reduction of damage seems a good idea.

And let's face it, my dice suck generally, and adding +1 to a stat at this point is not going to save my cursed luck...

We have a new Scrapper, whose superhero name is Twist.

Twist, I've added you to the game and unlocked your character sheet-- pick a portrait...

...Also, with Swingline, you get a little gadget. The examples the game offers/suggests are Tracers (cough cough spider-tracer cough) or Smoke Bombs, but I'm open to other suggestions you might have...?

Done.


Will give that some thought, even though that swingline is my own stretchy self.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:02, Sun 29 May 2022.

Yeah, I'm allowing it anyway.

OK, just that post, that portrait, and that bio? I like this swinger already. :D

Since Twist is all stretchy, a stretchy themed gadget might be appropriate. Not sure what that might be. Or maybe something like bolas. They don't do damage themselves, but entangle the target (like, 1 round with a basic success, 2 with an excellent success) giving either the inability to take an action, or Hold Them Off effect.

Or perhaps a grappler on a stretchy line, that can be used to disarm enemies.

Or a really sticky elastic polymer glue spray, that can slow enemies and/or reduce their Stun while all gunked up. Or have an effect like the D&D Grease spell.

1963 being something of a milestone for the Civil Rights Movement (Martin Luther King Jr. gives his "I Have A Dream" speech at the end of August), I thought an African-American superhero might be interesting to play. I apologize in advance for any shortcomings in my portrayal. I know mine is a privileged life, as a middle-class, college-educated, suburban Jewish-American woman. The below is an approximation of Twist's costume. Her gloves would actually be opera-length, and her face would be fully concealed by a mask.

An idea I had for Twist's small gadget is a pocket or pouch full of steel ball bearings. She can toss a handful down to make bad guys' footing treacherous, or she can use her stretchy self to fire them at range like slingshot pellets. Alas for my other thought... paintball ammo and/or rubber training ammo for paintball guns... as research revealed that the first paintball guns were not commercially available until the late 1960s and early 1970s. (Paintball as a sporting pastime would not appear for another decade, in the early 1980s.)

She looks great from where I am! And do not worry about the vagaries in portrayal from your lived epxerience. Silver Age of Superheroes was very much an era of cliché in many ways. I don't think any of us are aiming for absolute naturalism in our portrayals. My own owes a lot to 60s and 70s TV shows.

Pam Grier from her blaxploitation days is one of my inspirations for Twist. The main one is actress and musician Alyson Palmer of the band BETTY.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:23, Mon 30 May 2022.

Ooh, nice design! I am a fan of stripes and I love both how the wrist bands kinda mirror the legs and how the leg straps blend in so nicely! (Can ya tell I used to review clothing in fiction?)

The ball bearings idea sounds quite fun, though that might just be because I'm playing a rogue in another campaign who has finally found a good chance to throw her own ball bearings around and cause some mischief. :)

I'm gonna second what Cosmic Girl says as well, though in my case, I am actually a space alien in real life, so my characterization is incredibly accurate. (How do I turn on the just kidding tone again?)

Also, hello! It's nice to meet you. Sorry for just throwing a couple of small paragraphs at ya. I'm a bit of a chatterbox at times.

Nice to meet you too, one and all. I play in shapeshade's Dark Shadows game, going on now for a couple years. Am looking forward to stretching my roleplaying chops here! Pun very much intentional. ^_^

Nice to meet you, Twist.

A fellow punster! I enjoy wordplay like that. Why, I daresay puns are out of this world.

I used to be a horrible punster, but over the years my wife broke me of the habit.

Terrible puns are my foreplay, usually...

Mmmm, puns as foreplay. My wife and I are kindred spirits in that regard.

I'm okay with this.


Everyone ready to start the new chapter?

Sure!

I'm game.

Oh! I haven't leveled up yet!

I think that I will raise Insightful to a zero.

I'm alright to move on as well!

Just to double-check: Lynx should be at 0 stress after her little break now, right?

Agree.

Hooray! I'm not dead!

Someone needs insightful, we have been bad at it so far - except for Scraps, of course!

Do we all heal up? And so good to have Lynx back with us!

All I've got is a +1, which is nice, but could certainly be improved.

And hey, it's great to be back! (in this character anyways.) I'm gonna speed into danger and probably be accidentally revealed to be an alien to our new friend, Twist. Oops! :)

I have +1 Insightful as well.

Ah, that's a good question.

The answer depends on "who is the most hurt, and how much time do they need to pass before they're all healed up?"

I had 5 stress.

Okay, so all that's needed is a good night's rest for you to be back in action. That suits my narrative needs fine.

So, everyone all leveled up? Anyone need to talk to me about that process?

I had 5 stress too, so yay, back on my feet. Or off them, flying about! Woosh!

I'm all levelled, sheet updated. :D yay for -1 Stun!

I'd been hovering around "needs medical attention" and "few nights in hospital" I believe, but thankfully that was the chapter before last!

And yup, all leveleleded up!

UGH I MADE ANOTHER GAME

link to another game

You have to understand, thinking about making new games is just part of how I relax. Sometimes, as with this example, it's halfway just me finding a new game or setting I like and adapting it how I would want...

I don't actually have the time to play this one right now, probably not anytime soon...

What time of year is it in the game?

Heck. I don't recall.

Uh... does April sound right? Right-ish?

Must be. That was what popped to mind when I thought of it in the first place. I just couldn't be certain.

I relax by making new characters that I know I won't play. I get the whole game design as relaxation thing.

I am not sure time of year has had any real impact on the game so far, so what the hell. April. I can live with that!

But what do you thiiiiiiiiiink of the new game I posted

I like the setting a lot. It is unusual, and gives me pause for thought. I have an interest in the Ice Age, and paleontology generally. I find the demise of Denisovans and Neandertals, and the eventual rise of Homo sapiens from that era, incredibly interesting. :D I have not looked in huge detail and the mechanics, but let's face it, PbtA is VERY hard to mod badly, it is such a reliable system to work from, and you clearly know your stuff!

April's always fine by me! Nice and pretty while still usually keeping some of that Winter chill.

As for the game, I don't have much to say, sadly. I'm not terribly interested in the Ice Age as it is and there being a lot of information channels is honestly a little intimidating. (I'm sure it is good and, if I didn't have other fun games going on and it was actually going to be starting soonish, I would give it a closer look, possibly even giving it a shot.)

Welp, I'd listen to Twist's show if the music is that good!

In reply to Cosmic Girl (msg # 316):

WKCR-FM was the second of Columbia University's two student radio stations, and the first commercial FM radio station in New York City.

 ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKCR-FM

I love stuff like this. History ftw!

Just a quick comment... Cosmic Girl is not in school. Since she was a child, she's been a government project. She is currently in a government facility, where her education is with a private tutor. The post for her really does not make a lot of sense, I am afraid.

Darn! That's right... I had an idea about how to do it, and then I read your post, and then I forgot and did it the way I was gonna do it. Sorry! I'll revise real quick--

In reply to Cosmic Girl (msg # 318):

1963 is a very interesting year. In August at the Great March On Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his historic 'I Have A Dream' speech. In November, President John F. Kennedy is assassinated.

 ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...for_Jobs_and_Freedom
 ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...n_of_John_F._Kennedy
 ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963

Quite a lot happened in other countries too!

In other news, I've done it again:

link to another game

The ruleset's about like my earlier cozy game WANDER, but, clearly... different.

That is a very interesting setting, indeed! It is a lot more my kind of thing. And has potential to be both very cute, or very creepy. Dolls are always fun to play around with, as people perceive them so very differently.

As for Blue Dragon and the Impersonator being less dangerous as they are Cosmic Girl's age... hehehehehehehehe... She packs a hell of a lot of damage, for all her age. Never underestimate a teenager with powers!

Didn't say they're less dangerous-- just that they seem less dangerous.

Important distinction. :D

Reply to this so the game lights up again, please...