All games have one.

Hello all,

I will be running Anders McNamara, the crew's Teamster (well, at least one of them -- I suppose that there could be more, depending upon how the team shakes out). My gaming experience is mostly D&D-ish, so I may need a little help with technical sci-fi stuff now and then.

I'm looking forward to gaming and writing with everyone. :)

Nice to meet you! Still hammering details of character out at this time, but I hope I can be your very helpful and utterly creepy artificial person!

Cool! Nice to meet you, Creepy Android! :)

Beep boop, activate weird behaviour protocol! :P

In reply to Android (msg # 5):

So, do you have a sister who looks like C-3PO? JK! :)

Well, if you're interested in that sort of thing...

Errrgh . . . ummmm . . . see you later, Creepy Android Person! :)

Seed,

What does the "Rimwise" skill relate to, in-game? Thanks.

Rimwise is knowledge of the outer rim colonies and seedy parts of the galaxy. In-Universe would be knowledge of places very far from Earth, un-registered colonies, pirate havens, etc..
You don't need to be necessarily a criminal for this skill, it's knowledge that you can have gathered also by boarding many ships around the rim or talking to lots of people coming from it.

There we go! Character page is now up for your enlightenment and entertainment!

In reply to Zen (msg # 11):

Very nice! You obviously spent a lot of time with the details of your character (lots more so than me!) -- thanks for the fun read! :)

Welcome to the new folks in the Cast (Crew): Franz, Hazel, and TBD.

Zen (OOC) has already schooled me on some of the nuances of Human-AI interaction; I look forward to writing and gaming with you, as well! :)
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 16:38, Mon 27 Apr 2020.

Yes, welcome to everyone! Please introduce yourselves here, if you'd like.
The team is now complete, so as soon as we have all the character sheets up we can start!

In reply to The Seed (msg # 14):

Speaking of Character Sheets, I don't know whether anyone else's is locked, but Anders' is. Can you help?

Also, how would you like for us to address you, Oh Exalted One? Seed, TS, GM, and Warden (which I believe is "Mothership's" version of a GM) come to mind, but what is your preference?

Ah, I accidentally locked it. It's now fixed.
I am still getting my bearings around RPoL interface, so you'll have to forgive the odd oversight.

Any of those names will work. Seed is just a reference to the aleatory nature of your characters' destinies :)

Well, then. Introductions! And I'll get to my sheet shortly.

Zen is a new member of the crew. She came on board with the current cargo, and is on hire from Vis-Ion. Not an altogether unusual arrangement, as large corporations usually try to have their own representative on board vessels with important cargo. Zen, however, is not so much an agent as a useful appliance. Her specialist areas are linguistic - she speaks the common galactic language, of course, but also the local tongue, which is different, and her presence will make things easier in that regard. She's a well-programmed pilot, and also has medical software. This means she can fly the ship when everyone else is in cryo-sleep, and also tend to their medical needs while they are asleep, to ensure their safety. She's completely conversant with all ship computer systems. So, left on her own, she could fly the ship to the drop off point in a crisis.

Like all androids, she looks human. But her body language and small signals that are entirely subliminal mean she does not FEEL human. Across a crowded room, you couldn't tell the difference. A few minutes conversation is enough to reveal the truth, though. And, again like all androids, her not-human-enough non-verbal signals make people get seriously creeped out.

As an example, think of the way Wednesday Addams behaves, and you've got a good handle on it. A smile that is not a smile. A gesture that is just a mite too slow, or too precise. Language that is perfecly acceptable - but also, just a little too cold and clinical.

Robophobia is a phenomenon that exists in both the works of Asimov, and in Doctor Who. I fully expect that it is a problem in some people who spend a lot of time locked up with androids.

You know. Just like you are, on this ship...

https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Grimwade%27s_Syndrome

An old American rock song named "Dust in the Wind" also comes to mind. :)

Hiya, folks! I'm Hazel Winters of New Jerusalem. I'm a Teamster and a mechanic. My people are asteroid miners, so I've been around spaceships since before I could walk; that's why I was hired. We're a highly religious and isolated colony; that protects us from the ungodly, dont'cha know. But I couldn't just stay there when there's so much to see in this great big galaxy! That's why I'm so enthusiastic. I'm friendly and maybe a bit naïve; back home, everyone was kinda like one big family, y'know? But I know space, and I can't wait to see more of its wonders!

And not in the character voice, is anyone else getting periodic 404 errors on RPOL today? Is that just me?

It is agreeable to meet you, Hazel.

I have been getting 404s, yes. All yesterday and today. it is proving VERY vexing indeed!!!

Welcome to the team! And yes, the 404 stuff has been going on periodically since yesterday for me too.

Ha!! I see what you did there, Zen. :)

And yes, welcome, Hazel. I look forward to gaming and writing with you. :)

Just to give you a bit more information about how this universe works, I've update the In-Game Universe notice:

Even with hyper-jump, it often takes weeks or years to travel from one system to another. Crew sleeps in cryochambers during the years of travel, while the ship AIs and the androids take care of astrogation.

Sending information between systems is limited by the speed of light, which makes it impractical (systems are at the very least few decades, if not more, apart). Because of that, the only reliable way of sending messages from one system to another is to load it on a ship bounded to the desired destination via hyper-jumps. Hyper-jumps (and ship) are expensive. As a consequence, news of distant systems arrive very sporadically and can be months to years old, and not always useful.

Because of this the Universe is quite fragmented ad any attempt at creating any sort of cohesive political unity has failed. Each system tends to have their own laws, customs and morals.

Your characters should all have this information.

I do love the sound of this. So many sci-fi settings have these huge universes, where people can zoom about with impunity. And they are great! Star Trek did a pretty good version of the "it takes forever to go anywhere" model with Enterprise, with the freighters hitting warp two, at best, and taking months and months to go even short distances compared to the ships of the future. Andromeda also had a fairly good take on the "multiple radically different cultures always clashing" model, too. Obviously, Alien is probably the peak example of the cryosleep gone wrong model, as it leaves you so isolated and far from hope or help. But there are many similar examples. Asimov's Robot novels show how isolated cultures that start from the same place can become so radically different, with Spacer worlds being so different from Earth, and even from one another. The peak of that is the wonderful notion that "human" is defined as "people who speak with our accent" and nobody else. Which means that robots, who are sworn to never hurt humans, can cause severe harm to anybody not from our society...

On the subject of Alien, I was very young when I first saw it, and it utterly terrified me. It still does, even though I can see the rather dated effects compared to how it looked when I was a kid. It's not the effects, it is the concepts, that are so dreadfully scary. I know my mother was shocked when she watched it... not from the gore. She was horrified that such classical actors as Ian Holm and John Hurt could lower themselves to appearing in such a gory space slasher flick. She was a bit of a film snob, really...

In reply to Zen (msg # 24):

"Alien" was *very* spooky! Just sayin' -- not to give our GM any ideas, or anything . . . :)

I prefer spooky to gore, myself. For example, I found the original movie versions of both The Fly and The Thing utterly terrifying as a kid. The modern gorefest remakes? Nah. Not interested. I know John Carpenter's Thing is an utter classic of the gore horror genre, and I can absolutely see the artistic merit behind all the extreme body horror. But it just nauseates me, not frightens me. A really good psychological horror, where things are left to the imagination, is a million times scarier.

For example, on the subject of John Hurt, his performance as Caligula in I Claudius. At the close of one episode, he disembowels his sister, and consumes the unborn child he fathered on her. And you see precisely NONE of the gore. At all. Just a little blood on his chin afterwards. You just hear the horrifying screams. That is way scarier than seeing a load of fake blood being sprayed everywhere!

I've done a lot of stage work - I trained as an actor professionally. I know a fair bit about things like the work of Artaud and his kind. The philosophy of grotesque gore as a means of social catharsis, and so forth. I get it, I really do.

But I'd much rather watch some superb suspense laden film noir, any day!

I'm glad you enjoy it! I'm taking a few artistic licenses with the settings. I'm a big fan of hard sci-fi. From cinematography to literature, I really think that in general interesting ideas flourish from practical constraints and limitations, rather than from complete freedom. I think one of the best examples of this is the first Silent Hill game. The original Playstation was not able to render fully the 3d town, so the game makers introduced the now-famous oppressing white fog, in order to allow themselves to render only a few meters ahead of the character. To this day I still get shivers thinking about moving the character around the town in that asphyxiating mist.

I really like Alastair Reynolds novels (no faster-than-light travel and no portals!) and The Expanse universe, so I was going for something in that style. Cryochambers are cool, and I didn't want to leave them out of the picture, so I looked for something in between. Faster-than-light travel, but not too fast though. I also really enjoyed Asimov's novels. I've actually never read the Robot cycle, but I've gone through all the Foundation's books, and they were really amazing.

I also loved the first Alien. That's another nice example of limitation, where, since CGI was nowhere near the level needed for the movie, they had to rely on the atmosphere and the tone.

The Expanse is pretty awesome, I agree. Also a big fan of Killjoys - I guess anyone who has looked at my character page could work that out, though the photos are not actually from Killjoys, they're from Ant Man and the Wasp.

I prefered the Robot books to the Foundation series, although they are tied in together. A certain character appears in both. I shall say no more... spoilers. :D

I agree, I also prefer spooky to gore, and now that you described it I absolutely have to watch I, Claudius (I read the book and really enjoyed it, did not even know there was a television series).

Ahah, yes, that character was absolutely one of my favourites.

The I Claudius TV series is a true masterwork of BBC TV from the 1970s. It was a massive success, and the cast list is truly stellar. John Hurt, as mentioned, along with Derek Jacobi, George Baker, Brian Blessed, John Rhys-Davies, Sian Phillips, Patrick Stewart, Patricia Quinn, and a truly skin-crawling performance from Christopher Biggins as the future Emperor Nero. And these are only a few of the names involved. Point at any of them, and you'll be pointing right at someone who has been involved in the great TV and movies of the past thirty years.

I actually saw Sian Phillips and David McCallum (of the Man from Uncle, no less) performing in The Lion in Winter at a theatre many years ago. She played Eleanor of Aquitaine in an almost identical way to how she performed as Livia in I Claudius. There's a lot to be said about the similarities. Except I don't think Eleanor of Aquitaine was a mass murdering fruitbat...

Is the typical hyperjump closer to weeks or years?

In reply to Zen (msg # 28):

The Foundation trilogy was one of my favorite series ("The game's over, and I'd like to tell you a story"), but after the trilogy there's a bunch of clumsy retcons and I found the later books disappointing.

This is an extract from the introduction [ spoiler :) ]:

On the subject of hyper-space travel. Harnessing quantum fluctuations to locally alter the vacuum expectation value makes possible the use of jump-drives, but canonically conjugate variables such as distance and elapsed time still cannot be simultaneously well defined, since they form a symplectic basis. As a consequence, ships going through hyper-space can either know with an acceptable level of precision where they will arrive or when they will arrive, but not both. Generally captains tend to be happier with some uncertainty on their time of arrival rather than the non-negligible risk of appearing near the gravity well of a gas giant.

In short, you cannot really know. It depends on the distance between the two systems, the quality of the jump-drive, and on how precisely you want to get there. Risky captains with state-of-the-art jump-drive could get to the other side of the galaxy in days. Until one day they end up in Andromeda and they're never heard of again.

When systems are arranged in a cluster they can be few days / couple weeks apart from each other. Earth is not too far away from where you are now. 15-40 days.
Jumping to another cluster could take more time, weeks to months.

This particularly trip you are taking should take, worst case scenario, at 2-sigma confidence level, less than a couple of months. If you're lucky only two weeks.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:17, Tue 28 Apr 2020.

I am still waiting for the stat rolls from the two other players. In the meantime I will start the game (there's not much dice rolling at the beginning and you can introduce yourselves to each other).
Boarding the ship should take a couple of rounds of posting, so hopefully by then we will have all the character sheets.

P.S.:  I'm not a native speaker. I'll try my best to write clear and clean text and proofread it, but you will still have to forgive the occasional misspell or the odd turn of phrase.

In reply to The Seed (msg # 35):

Kudos to you for how well you write and express yourself in English. I wish that I could do so well in . . . well, any non-English language, really,

I used to be able to write reasonably well in Latin, but since I didn't opt for a job in the Catholic church, that kinda fell by the wayside. :)

I speak a few languages myself, but could never produce anything like the quality of writing that is shown here. So, yes. Much respect.

I can read and write Ancient Egyptian though! I studied it at university many moons ago.

In reply to Anders McNamara (msg # 36):

Thanks! I lived for a while in the UK, which helped, although at a certain point it feels like your level of fluency just reaches a plateau and doesn't improve anymore, no matter how much time you spend in that country.



Ooooh, I am so glad you said that!
...but I won't reveal anything yet.

That and your stage work must make for quite an interesting CV!

Your english is superior to most of the native born English, if you ask me. :P

My CV is unique, yes. I have studied at several different universities. If I get interested in something, I just chase it down! I was studying my MA in Victorian Studies in 2017, until I got very seriously ill. I plan to pick it up again, if I get well enough.

I am really sorry to hear that! I hope you'll get well very soon!


I can understand that very well! I'm a particle physicist by profession, spent so much time around universities. I wish students were more like you, that much driven and interested.
Every year we have so many students who enrol at the university but are not interested at all in the taught courses.

Yes, I wish that too! I've been in classes with students who did no work and did not care. Trying to have an interesting discussion with that is pretty pointless.

I tried to learn Spanish, but only remember a few sentences, and Latin, but I only remember a few words and rules (C is always a hard K sound in Latin)

Also, ships usually have artificial gravity in this setting? (At least inside the ship?)

In reply to Hazel Winters (msg # 43):

I like Spanish, although it is basically cheating learning it if your native language is Italian, since the two languages are extremely similar. It really requires very little effort. Although now that I moved to Portugal I cannot speak Spanish anymore, I keep mixing Portuguese words and pronunciation all the time, so Spanish people look at me weird.

Since I went to Italian school I HAD to learn Latin (for like 5 years). If my teacher would see the title of the game, she would probably kill me since I haven't bothered to check if gender and case agree (I'm pretty sure they don't). In any case in this universe Latin has evolved linguistically, and cases tends to get messed up over time in any language, so that's that :)

Incidentally, I found Latin useful when I moved to Poland and had to learn Polish. All the other people in the class who had never heard of noun cases before had a hard time wrapping their heads around that.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:28, Tue 28 Apr 2020.

Yes! Although I really like the realism of shows like the Expanse (mag boots + pseudo-gravity from acceleration) I'll have ships in this universe using artificial gravity.
The physicist in me gets all itchy over that (if ranked in order of implausibility, artificial gravity in sci-fi possibly goes on top of the list for me), but it's just much easier mechanically for the purpose of running the game.

I have seen things where ships act like a gigantic centrifuge to generate gravity. It's a nice idea, though am not sure people could actually live inside a giant centrifuge for other reasons...

Ancient Egyptian has some similarities to several modern languages. But it also has some truly mind boggling elements that make using it very tricky. For example, this is truth:

Present Tense Negative is written, and pronounced, identically to Paste Tense Positive. So, you read:

djed.n.i

Which means either I am not saying, or, I said. And the only way you can work out which is to read more of the paragraph it is in, and work out which it is from context. Another example: wn.n.i means I am not, or, I was.

It also has an entirely seperate case for plurals. Most languages have singular and plural, which can often influence word endings. My car/our cars. My arm/My arms. His cat/Her cats. We grow up knowing this.

But in Ancient Egyptian, if you have specifically TWO of a thing, you have an entirely different approach. You must specifiy there are two. You would say, for example, My Arm/My Two Arms/Our Arms. "I saw him with my own two eyes!"

Nobody knows why.

And to add the cherry on top of a linguistic cake of oddities, in Ancient Egyptian, there is no word for "No."

There is a word for YES - tiu.

But no word for No.

I have seen several movies where this is clearly not understood. One excellent example is towards the end of The Mummy Returns, where Ankhsunamun cries out "No!"

We had to watch it and translate parts during my course. And when that happened, everyone in the class went "NOPE!!! That ain't right! Subtitle fail!"

In reply to Zen (msg # 47):

Oh, dual tense? I think that appears in the Iliad before it vanishes from Ancient Greek.

Howdy, just jumped on and saw that I got accepted in. I'll have to make this a daily visit, I suppose!

I'll be playing the scientist Franz Bethon. I'm excited to be involved in this.

(Also nice to see a fellow student of ancient languages here! I studied Latin and Greek primarily, but have studied some Biblical Hebrew, Sanskrit, and Avestan. Egyptian is one I couldn't do through my university, though.)

In reply to Hazel Winters (msg # 49):

It doesn't so much vanish as become relegated to largely poetic usage. It still shows up in, e.g., Euripides, regularly.

It's so nice to have some conversation on subjects like these here. Very different to the usual RPoL fare!

Nice to meet you, Franz! Welcome to the game... OF DOOOOM!!!!

Welcome, Franz!

When a skill points to an expert skill on the chart (e.g. Zero-G to Asteroid mining) do you need all the skills pointing to it to get it, or just some of them?

Also, did anyone pick piloting?

I have piloting and first aid, as well as the standard android set. Thus!

Skills:
Computer
First Aid
Linguistics
Mathematics
Piloting

I can keep us going on course, at least.

Welcome, Fanz. It's good that we'll have an egg-head, IC, since Anders ain't gonna be one!

Also, anyone who is so inclined is welcome to stroll up and join Zen's and Ander's IC conversation, insofar as I am concerned.

I'm debating whether intellect or speed should be my strongest stat.

That's your call. IMO. I don't think that there is a right or a wrong choice -- it just depends on how you want to play your character.

And if Hazel (IC) is like Anders, there isn't a *huge* difference between her various Stats, any way.

Intellect is my strongest stat, and speed second, but this is no surprise, as that is where my bonuses end up. :D

In reply to Hazel Winters (msg # 53):

I think that you need the prerequisite skills, but other than that it's just a matter of buying that skill.

Only one pre-requisite skill is needed, not all.

In reply to The Seed (msg # 60):

Yes, sorry, I can see that my post implies otherwise, which I didn't intend!

First of all my compliments to all. I really like all your characters and it is a pleasure to read your posts.
It looks like we got a really nice team here!

I will ask you soon to make a stat roll, the way this works is the following:
- Roll 1d100
- Below your (stat + bonus from skill or tool): success
- Above your (stat + bonus from skill or tool): failure
- Double digits (e.g. 22, 55, 66): critical (critical failure if above, critical success if below)

Each time I will tell you if a particular skill or tool applies.

It would of great help, if you would roll in the die roller and afterwards send me a NEW private message with the subject "Roll Results for XXX" (XXX is the name of your character). It's important you create the private message from your character (and not your RPoL user), that way it gets much easier for me to remember who rolled what.
After you create the new private message you can copy/paste all rolls there.

It would also be helpful if when you send me the result of the roll, you also include the (stat + bonus from skill or tool) value you're trying to beat and whether it is a succ/fail/crit. That way it saves me to go check all the sheets each time :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:00, Wed 29 Apr 2020.

Just a thought, as you may be new to RPoL and not realise this, but you can put private mesages in a post for the GM's eyes only. Would it be easier for us to put things there, so the roll is directly there in the thread where the action is, and you do not have to jump to your messages to see them? This tends to be how most games handle it. For example:

GM POST:

<IC text stuff>

<PM to a player saying "makes this roll!">

PLAYER POST:

<IC text of them attempting something>

<private message to GM posting roll results>

GM POST:

<IC post of roll outcome>




Just a suggestion, still happy to do things your way if you prefer!

That is not a bad idea actually, which works for action based rolls, although many other rolls will have me providing you with extra-information on which you can act.
E.g. the way I imagined:

GM POST:
<IC text stuff>
<PM to a player saying "makes this roll!">

PLAYER PRIVATE MESSAGE:
<private message to GM posting roll results>

GM PRIVATE MESSAGE:
<useful extra-information that can change the way the character perceives a situation>

PLAYER POST:
<IC text of them attempting something based on what they've learned>

This is a bit slower style (as in, it requires one extra-step for action to occur) but I think it is important you base your actions on the information you have at disposal.
It would be easier for me to provide you with this information in PM rather than clatter the post, and it's easier if I can answer directly to that.
For action posts your suggestion is actually better, but having two different methods would be even more confusing, so I'd prefer we stick to the PM for all rolls
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:30, Wed 29 Apr 2020.

OK, boss! :D There are many approaches to take to this element of a game, and RPoL is pretty versatile! I've run a fair few freeform games without dice, and my version works for that, but with needing to report rolls, it might make a thread disjointed to keep breaking it up, so I am happy to use your way. :D

Also, I hate my dice.

Ahah, one more thing, you'll have noticed you roll a 1d100, but your stats are usually at the 30-70 level.
This is not like DnD, success is rarer, but on the other side try not to worry too much if you fail your rolls, as long as you behave smartly you can get out of anything, good rolls are there to give you a little push :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:01, Wed 29 Apr 2020.

D&D dice hate me too, for the record. :P

Hello all, I’m Gunnery Sgt. Elizabeth “Liz” Ingram and I’ll be your Marine. Feel free to call me Gunny or Liz.

Welcome to the team, Liz!

Can we call you Gunny Bear?

Welcome! :D

In reply to Zen (msg # 70):

Hmmm... no and thank you. ;)

How about gyrene or jarhead? :)

Any way, delighted to have you join us, Gunny. I look forward to writing and gaming with you. :)

Very cool, I suppose we've got a more or less full team now. :)

In reply to TBD W (msg # 68):

Welcome!

GM,

You wrote of Captain Scapula:



When you speak of a "standard-issue" jumpsuit, does that mean a standard military (armed services) issue, or (perhaps more likely) a Vault-Ion issue? And I assume that the trouser-stripe marks his status as an officer (or specifically, a ship's Captain -- in which case I assume that the  stripe on Aper's uniform would be a different color).

Would these things be common IC knowledge, or is this what the original Intelligence roll was about? :)

Thanks!

I think everyone should enjoy knowing that despite having a 55 Int I failed both of those rolls by a significant margin!

As Zen has already observed, the RPoL Dice-Roller generally sucks. (Sorry, Hazel!) :)

Does seem fond of giving the opposite roll to the one you wanted :)

In reply to Anders McNamara (msg # 75):

Good question, I should have been more specific. It is a Vis-Ion uniform.
Although they act tough, they are not really carrying any military insignia or any other symbol that would make you think they are military.
Interestingly enough they have identical stripes, the only difference you can spot is Aper's turtleneck and Scapula's coat.

Don't worry if you feel you don't know much about Aper and Scapula and anything surrounding them, your characters are supposed to feel exactly the same way :)

I fear that this bodes ill when we have to fight beasties that have decided that we look like a tasty meal. Unless, of course, the Dice-Roller screws over the monsters with the same elan as it routinely does to us.

In which case, it seems like fights would resemble two sides throwing cream-puffs at each other.

But from the little hints that I have been seeing, I'm thinking that the game will shape up to be much more deadly than that! :)
This message was last edited by the player at 20:15, Wed 29 Apr 2020.

12:23, Today: Hazel Winters rolled 85 using 1d100.  Int and piloting.

12:23, Today: Hazel Winters rolled 77 using 1d100.  Int.

Goodness, I am not too knowledgeable. Which makes a certain amount of sense, really.

My Int is also very spiffy. And I also made a right bog up of those rolls, too!

@Ingram: I love that response, please feel take Franz down a peg or three--he deserves it, and I enjoy it.

I loved your post! I see good RP opportunities between us.

Let the games begin!

<Stepping out to grab some popcorn.>

Sorry, Franz -- no offense, but my money's on Gunny Ingram. :)

Not gonna lie...me too. :)

Some of you with lower INT might feel penalised now, but that's only because this is a calm intro-situation.

There will be plenty of occasions later on to use the other skills to get out of tricky situations.

P.S.: A high INT score is useful only if you are still alive ;)

I... I'm screwed, aren't I?

An INT roll now, please. If you have any of the following you can add 10%: Scavenging, Piloting, Zero-G, Mechanical Repair, Military Training

If our PC has more than one of the above Skills, I'm guessing that still won't add up to more than a +10% bonus. :)

In reply to Anders McNamara (msg # 90):

I knew I had to write it explicitly, but good effort trying :)

Just don't get too far from your marine ;)
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 14:37, Fri 01 May 2020.

Wheras the marines doesn't want to be anywhere near the android due to the fear save penalty... This is going to be awkward. :P

I wish I could play Hicks instead of Hudson and stay cool and collected no matter how deep in the muck she finds herself.

In reply to Elizabeth Ingram (msg # 94):

For better or worse, I think that the dice will have a say in how cool and collected we all are. :)

"Game over man, game over!"

Zen decides that the in-flight movie will be Westworld. Followed by Blade Runner.

No reason.

I'm really enjoying the scene in the galley and I'm happy with character development, so please continue as much as you want :)

Just remember to add some OOC line at the end of your action when your character is ready to move on to the next day.

By the way, if it can help immersion, I'm thinking about the galley as a slightly larger version of the Rocinante's kitchen (from The Expanse) :)

In reply to The Seed (msg # 99):

funny, i was thinking of it as a smaller version of the kitchen from the Rocinante.

I just want the five of you to be able to sit at the same time on a table.
The Rocinante's galley might be fancy, but that table's shape, and how it's positioned, looks uncomfortable as hell.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:39, Tue 05 May 2020.

I love the Roci! Great ship for one made by inyalowda. Packs a big punch in a small frame.

Zen's offer to prepare food for the crew put me in mind of Tinker Tom's warning in Fallout 4 that the Institute has planted microscopic "bugs" (listening and tracking devices) in food [the remedy being to drink a concoction that he devised (containing battery acid) to "kill" the bugs].

Eh, I'm sure that Vis-Ion isn't as nefarious as the Institute . . . nah, couldn't be! :)

I am ready to move on, as soon as everyone feels that their PC has wrapped up their contribution to the conversation in the galley.

In reply to Anders McNamara (msg # 104):

I'm fine with that as well.

Is everyone ok with moving on to the next day?

I'll open the thread for the next day but you can still post a closing action in the previous one

Anders reminded me, if you have athletics you can apply it to the ST/SP roll

I had been meaning to ask, GM. I assume that Scapula does not speak Latin because he fancies himself to be a reincarnation of Julius Caesar (or Scipio Africanus, or any of the other great Roman generals). Is Latin commonly spoken by others in this campaign setting?

Great question!


Nope. That is quite unusual, as far as Anders knows.

You figure since Vitruvia and Decimo understand each other, it might be a Vis-Ion thing, or maybe it's connected to something else.
You start to wonder if there's anyone else on the ship with some insight into the Vis-Ion world that you might ask to...

Elizabeth, I miss your roll

Some of you might have had to increase stress as a result of their rolls. A couple of words about it.

Every time you fail a save roll, or under some other circumstances (like this one), you have to increase your stress level. You always want to keep it down.
You can reduce stress by resting for at least 6 hours and making a Fear save to relieve stress. You can use therapy (psychology) or praying (theology) to help another character relieve stress, if they believe in your method. More examples in the manual).

Under extremely stressful circumstances you'll have to roll a Panic check. For that you roll 2d10 and if you go under your stress level, you'll get a random panic effect from the panic table (hence why you want to keep stress low).

Once you get panic, you roll randomly a 2d10 from the panic table and you add your stress and subtract your resolve (keep stress low and resolve high!). The panic table is pretty nasty, a low score can merely get you anxious or give you a nervous twitch, while higher scores can render you catatonic, turn you insane or have you collapse from a heart attack (insta-death).

Do I get any kind of bonus to this roll since it’s based on PT, something Liz does daily and, being an operator in Special Ops, at a higher intensity?

Yes, you should. I'll confer triple advantage to Marines (which means you roll three dice and pick the best score)

By the way, I think I've already told this to some of you, but you can download the game manual here for free:
https://tuesdayknightgames.itc...ayers-survival-guide

It's a "name your own price model" so it's nice if you contribute something to the authors, but you don't have to.

It would be nice if at least you would get familiar with the weapons and items you are carrying, so you would remember what to use under certain circumstances.

Show of hands. Who has been able to see the translation from latin after Scapula?

I've been using the "secret to <char>" RPoL option for that, although now I'm not sure if it means "keep it secret from <char>". Meaning the character that was supposed to see the translation was the only one that didn't. ::facepalm::

In reply to The Seed (msg # 115):

I have not been able to see the translation. However, I think that it adds to the immersion not to have a translation readily available to the player, unless the PC would understand Latin. Anders does not. :)

If we are *really* curious, OOC, it's quite easy to find a translation on the internet. I'll admit to looking up a few things along and along, although not everything that Scapula has said [sadly, I (OOC) have forgotten almost all the Latin that I learned, once upon a time]. :)

I do no see the translations.

I can't see the translations, but I can also just read the Latin, and I assume Franz probably would understand it.

Ah, then it's fine!

Yes, the aim was to provide the translation only to the "latin"-speaking characters. To be fair, IC, they're not really speaking latin, but something inspired by it, hence why I haven't provided direct translation for Franz. This also provides an IC excuse for why it's so poorly written (in reality is just coming straight out of Google Translate, and even I understand that sometimes the translation is quite off the mark).

It's still fine if you google it cause you're curious, it's only for immersion really. What I wrote in latin is what I assume you could still understand from context, more or less, if I would really want you not to understand something I'll write made-up gibberish.

I got confused because RPoL gives you two options for secret messages (private to / secret to), but I just found out what's the difference:

Private makes it obvious that the line is private, by putting it up in bright orange text in the usual brackets. A Secret line just blends right in with everything else written, so that it isn't obvious to the reader that the information is only being given to them.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:13, Thu 07 May 2020.

I see some of the translations, but it isn't too big a deal, as I can read latin well enough anyway. But Zen would udnerstand what was being said, as she actually has the skills for it!

To muddy the waters, I seem to recall from the distant past that there is actually language code here. I may be wrong about that, but I think i played a game where code existed for someone to speak a certain language. When the GM wrote in that language, those who could read it saw the message, others saw a stream of random characters.

I may have to hunt this down now, as I could be wrong, but it is ringing a LOT of bells now...

OK, I got it sussed, I think. This is how it works. It was hard to find as I do not think a FAQ exists for it, but the feature was added almost ten years ago!

GM, go to GM Menu.

Selct: Edit Private Groups

Select one of the Private Line/Language Groups. Let's say, for simplicity, PLG 01

Name it something like SPACELATIN

In the character list below, put a check next to the names of all characters who can speak SPACELATIN, using GROUP 01

In a post, type [Language unknown: outyinstr] instead of using private or secret message options.

If this works the way I think, everyone who is checked as speaking SPACELATIN can now read what was written. Everyone else, will see a lot of scrambled text


As far as I know, that should do the job! You may not want to use it, of course, but it conveniently ensures that we can only read what our characters can speak, not what the player can understand. That is to say, we can't hard skill languages to get around a deficiency in our character stats.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:44, Thu 07 May 2020.

That's a cool feature, let's give it a test:

[Language unknown: Nela anteil ard ai es k ore ainnc. Ati llss ureee enckan thuratons loho usrell.]

Although I think I will still keep to the previous method, it's nice that the characters that cannot speak the language can still read something with the "flavour" of the language, rather than complete gibberish.

Yep, I could read that just fine!

It's your call, boss. I'm just happy I managed to figure out how to use it without an actual guide by RPoL on how it works. :P

Where are the showers on the ship?

In the galley, toilets are also there.

Given that The Thing (greatest horror movie ever) is one of the influences on Mothership I just want it known that if I get assimilated, the first person I'm eating/assimilating is Franz.

I'm assuming that's because you like his character so much you never want to be apart from him :)

I am just glad we don't have a doggy!

We'll manage to eventually find a K-9 Zen can take out on a spacewalk.

I want a daggit!!!

Yes, that's it exactly.

And now for a little flavor text, ladies and gentlemen -- a little background behind Gunny Ingram's shout of "Oorah!" This is one of the things that Anders would have learned through several years of working beside an ex-Marine on the Tunstigan Colony.

"OORAH comes from the place in our hearts that only Marines understand. It is conceived in sweat, nurtured with drill. It is raw determination and gut-wrenching courage in the face of adversity. It is a concern for fellow Marines embodied by selfless acts of heroism. It cannot be administrated. It is not planned and put into action. It cannot be manufactured. OORAH must be purchased. OORAH is Marine." -- Gunnery Sergeant Glenn Holloway, U. S. M. C.

The above quote, by the way, is real (well, if the internet can be believed). :)

Are the repair skills going to work mostly off INT and not the physical stats?

In reply to Hazel Winters (msg # 133):

Good question. If that is the case, maybe we should just defer to Doctor Bethon and Zen for all the repairs/maintenance. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:27, Sat 09 May 2020.

In reply to Hazel Winters (msg # 133):

I'll assume that in the future repairing a cryo-chamber is more about knowing what to touch and where rather slam things into place. Technology should be sufficiently sophisticated that the only physical effort required of you is twisting your elbow to unscrew a panel. Unless you have a mechanical screwdriver, in which case you don't need to do that either :)

A couple of words for all of you with the excavation loadout. I will generally assume you're carrying everything on your person, with the exception of the laser cutter.

The laser cutter are really, really bulky. They basically have a backpack battery that sits on your back and a gun the size and weight of a jackhammer. Think Ghostbusters. But bulkier.
They are really powerful. A laser cutter makes 1d100 damage, while a standard Marine SMG makes 1d40.

However there's three things to notice:
- They are really bulky, it's tiring to carry them around.
- They need to reload after you fire (you waste one action reloading)
- Most importantly. They are designed to PIERCE HULLS. Think about that if you plan on using them on a ship. (I'm not saying you can't, just you have to be smart about it).

So, SMG are still your preferred choice if you want a being-at-the-ready deadly weapon that still doesn't depressurize the room you're in.
You still have a Hand Welder (close range) and crowbar (close range) that you can use as improvised weapons. Both are made of special extra-light alloy, so you can carry them with no issue all the time.

Unless you specify IC where your laser cutter is, I will assume it is in the barracks with the rest of your private properties.

Hi gang, might not get a post up today, as I am in much pain and stuff. Chronic illness sucks. I promise a good post as soon as I am able to use laptop without wincing!

So sorry to hear that! Hope you get back to health soon!

In reply to Zen (msg # 137):

Very sorry to hear it. Hope that you feel lots better, soon.

In reply to Zen (msg # 137):

Having chronic pain from illness myself, I am very able to empathise.

Hope you feel great soon!

Thank you, everyone. Alas, I have some long-term health issues that are not ever going to go away, so I am always pretty unwell. SOme days are worse than others, however.

Today's IC post brought to you care of fresh fruit juice and opioid medication!

Sounds like the two of us are in the same boat. Funny thing is I don’t recall buying tickets for the trip.

Apparently, I won a prize, or lottery, or something. It's not that I even remember entering...

Oh, bugger. We broke the secret sneaky suspicious guy.

If I fail the dice roll, and he dies, that might bring our story to a very sudden end. :P

Better put a lot of effort into the next roll :)

If you decide to help him I'll need an INT + First Aid. You decide that what's needed right now is a standard Heimlich maneuver to get the liquid out of the lungs which shouldn't be too difficult for Zen, so I'll grant advantage :)

In reply to The Seed (msg # 146):

Can we assist? Usually that grants advantage, I don't know what that would do with a roll where they already have advantage.

Trust me, on this roll, assistance is appreciated - but not required. :D

A speed roll Hazel, please :)

In reply to The Seed (msg # 149):

Does athletics apply, or any other skill?

Mechanical repair applies (remember it's 15%). You're trying to by-pass the hard-wired controls manually to open the cryopod (it won't open yet, because there is still fluid inside and it has to empty first).

14:45, Today: Hazel Winters rolled 8 using 1d100.  Speed+Repair.

I actually succeeded by a good margin on a roll! Pop the champagne! *Waves pom-poms*
This message was last edited by the player at 21:48, Sat 09 May 2020.

Pop the cryo-pod too!

Except, don't drink that stuff.

Woot! Well done, Sunshine! :)

I shall allow Franz and Elizabeth time to post funky posts before I come and do anything to slaughter help the poor pod person.

In reply to Zen (msg # 153):

I will endeavor not to.

Thank you, Anders!

Clearly, Zen has everything under control. No more rolls are needed . . .

I had a BADASS success roll. :D

In reply to Zen (msg # 158):

Cool! All hail Zen! All hail the All-Powerful Dice-Roller, which has bestowed its boon upon us! :)

By the way, I just want to say that I love this game!

Thank you, GM, for running it for us, and thanks to all of my fellow-players for doing such a wonderful job of breathing life into their PCs. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 00:43, Sun 10 May 2020.

In reply to Anders McNamara (msg # 160):

Aww, thanks

I agree, we are in a great game, really enjoying it. Now I want to run this system!

I agree with all of the above. :)

This system is incredibly cool. I just bought the Pound of Flesh module for it, which is really wild and interesting.

Thanks so much everyone! It really means a lot that everyone is enjoying the game!

In reply to The Seed (msg # 165):

I'm having a lot of fun with this game, I'm glad I decided to take the plunge. :)

A formative and educational video: Link
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:15, Sun 10 May 2020.

In reply to The Seed (msg # 167):

That was . . . disconcerting. :)

If any of you wants to prevent him from leaving the room and running around the ship, or do anything else before he leaves the room, I'll need a speed + athletics check.


If Hazel and Anders are both attempting to restrain the fellow, do we get Advantage on our die-rolls?

Thanks!

PS. In looking at Hazel's die-roll, I'm thinking that this question is moot. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 15:31, Sun 10 May 2020.

All that's required is one person to succeed :)

Bah! Missed the roll by one.

Methinks the plot has suddenly thickened. :)

I shall not roll, because my dice have been superb, and on this roll, which would be pretty extraneous to requirements, I WOULD botch and slip on the gunk, ram my head into a live instrument bank, and electrocute my brain, causing major surges throughout the ship, incapacitating everyone, and utterly slaying us all.

So, yeah. Thanks for succeeding on that roll. :D

In reply to Zen (msg # 173):

I refrained from rolling also. It is my considered opinion that the Dice Gods are angered by unnecessary rolls, so I avoid making any die-rolls that are not required. :)

By the way, any Doctor Who fan out there? 1 extra XP for who gets the (rather obscure) reference :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:00, Mon 11 May 2020.

For those of you who rolled only once, remember Zen's reactions to stressful situations are freaking you out.
Fear rolls in presence of an android are always made at disadvantage. Even if you failed already give me a second one, there's still the chance you might critically fail :)

One more thing, if you fail a fear save you don't need to freak out in IC. Standard fear saves only increase your stress (if you succeed, you get a hold of the situation and it doesn't affect you).
What I mean is, if you fail the roll, don't feel forced to describe your character as freaking out (unless you want to, or you think that that would be the reaction of that character). Even if you fail the fear roll, you can always play your character getting more stressed subtextually (e.g., gritting teeth, or chewing something nervously) while on the outside they still try to keep their cool.

If you fail a Panic roll it's a different matter, but we might get to that later :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:15, Mon 11 May 2020.

I’m at a loss but I have tossed out some book and movie references in my posts people might catch (including my first IC post).

Suddenly I feel like a submariner whose boat is under attack:

Sound man: "DE's screws overhead, Captain!"

"Depth charges in the water, Captain!"

GM,

How are the cryopods activated? Can this be done from inside the pod, or does someone outside the pod need to do it?

Thanks!

PS. Also, how about exiting the pods -- is that accomplished via the Novensiles' Auto-Piloting system (or DII)?
This message was last edited by the player at 15:37, Mon 11 May 2020.

Cryopods can be manipulated from the inside. That is, even if you're piloting a ship all by yourself, you can enter a pod, manually close it and manually start it. You don't need any external help.
Once cryosleep starts you're out of commission (asleep) and you'll awake only if:
- DII wakes you up. Which you can program. You can set up the conditions for being waken up. Ship AI's default settings are generally to get people out of cryosleep when they reach destination, or if there is damage to ship, or other malfunctions. There are generally different protocols in place for how many people get awaken in an emergency and who gets awaken first (usually the captain).
- You can put a timer from the inside without need for DII to control the cryopod (e.g., you enter and you program cryosleep for 3 hours).
- Somebody manually stops the cryosleep program and wakes you up. This is usually done by androids, since its considered to be safer than trusting the ship AI. (Ship AI's intelligence is usually restricted on purpose)

If you wake up, and you're inside the cryopod, generally you should be able to manually open it, drain the liquid, and get out. This is standard procedure on all ships.

HOWEVER.

The fact that Iocondo couldn't get out of his cryopod makes you wonder if Scapula didn't override cryopod zero so it couldn't be open from the inside.
Now that you think about it, you don't actually know if he could have done the same to the other cryopods.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:20, Mon 11 May 2020.

Are you talking about the Peri-standard reference here, or some other Doctor Who reference?

Tangent: The Middleman tv show used a lot of pop culture references as names of things in their organisation. They had a treaty with extra terrestrials called the treaty of Peri Perpugilliam. (Each episode had a different pop culture reference theme. That was Dr Who week!)

I picked Capaldi's photo completely randomly. Then was looking for a roman sounding name to give him.
Then remembered an interesting factoid about Doctor Who. Apparently Peter Capaldi appeared twice (!) in Doctor Who, as two different characters, before playing the titular character. In one of those instances he was playing an ancient roman banker, in some Pompeii episode. The name of the character was Lucius Iucundus. :)

In reply to Elizabeth Ingram (msg # 178):


Oh, pity, I missed them! Would you help us with some of those? (I love picking up references)

I hate to correct you, but...

Peter Capaldi's character was a sculptor. And he was called Lobus Caecilius...

Ah, completely forgot about that! I mixed them up.

You''re indeed right, Iucundus was the actual historical character Caecilius was supposed to be based on!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...s_Caecilius_Iucundus


You'll of course figure out Lucio Iocondo is his fake name, and Lobo Cecilio is the real one :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:05, Mon 11 May 2020.

I was going to say it was the Fires of Pompeii connection, but since the character did not have the right name, I didn't! :P

That was my bad, but you still get the extra XP point :D

In reply to The Seed (msg # 176):

The "Androids grant disadvantage on fear checks" is one of the reasons that, while I love our group of characters, I'm kind of skeptical about the system. It's an idea that's cool in theory, but in practice that seems like it creates a character that all the other characters want to avoid being in the same scene as. That doesn't seem like it would be much fun to play.

I kind of have to agree with that. And the rules should be there only to make the game more enjoyable, not hinder it, so if you all agree on this, we can replace this mechanic with something of the same effect but not that drastic :)

True, Hazel, but this system is designed to force people into inescapable locations with claustrophobic terror. You have no choice. You're trapped inside with an Android... you can't escape their creepiness!

It sounds silly, but also don't stress too much about getting stress.
It's a natural mechanic of the game and it is supposed to go up as the game progresses.

You can relieve stress when you rest. And when you level up there's an option to completely reset it to zero.

I think Marines are unduly encumbered by the Fear/Panic thing. If anyone would be cool under pressure it would be a Marine. It’s like they based the character class off of Hudson from Aliens and forgot Hicks, Apone, Drake, or Valdez: all characters who didn’t come close to panic, even in the face of imminent death (Valdez).

True, but is also a balance issue. Marines have the best body+armor combined score. If you make them also immune to fear, what's the point of playing other characters?
Also failing fear is not exactly "giving in to fear", but more like "feeling stress mounting up". The true freaking out stuff happens whenever you fail a panic roll, and it kind of makes sense that when a Marine panics, they panic big.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:58, Mon 11 May 2020.

That makes sense. I’ll grant you that one.

Can you take things (Hazel's tools, in this case) into a cryopod with you, or will they be destroyed?

You shouldn't, they might mess up with your health even. Standard procedure is just human bodies inside the cryopods and the minimum amount of clothing necessary.
That doesn't mean you can't try. But cryopods are already delicate instruments per se, so people try to comply as much as they can with regulations.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:59, Mon 11 May 2020.

For your information, if you intend to take any antagonistic action, please let me know first in PM, because you might need to roll first to get it done.
Same for any hostile action, combat has different mechanics in Mothership (e.g., you need to roll Initiative to see who actually acts first), so if you take any action that might be intended as combat, I'll need to initiate that and get the order sorted out.
If your character is just going to talk or do actions that you don't expect would trigger an immediate reaction you can post directly.

Please don't forget to roll the second fear save if you have not done so. Once you have both please send me the results so I can update your sheets.

Love the GM, the Players, and the wonderfully-written PCs (and NPCs).

I am not so sure about the system. Failure is not guaranteed, but things certainly seem to be tilted in that direction. I want to play a hero, not a fumble-fingered coward.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:39, Mon 11 May 2020.

Ha! Sic 'em, Sunshine! (Buuut . . . I don't think that you are in Kansas any more). :)

In reply to Anders McNamara (msg # 200):

Maybe, with time, we will become heroes. I think a major helping hand is getting the additional points for having master skills--for me, personally, I think that's a 75% on skills under Intelligence, which is a crazy high chance of success. The key, probably, is avoiding the death spiral long enough to get there!

I also think part of this depends on the module--the Pound of Flesh module certainly gives the opportunity for PCs to become much more dangerous, and it is almost tailor built for a team of grizzled marines, teamsters, and androids with bad moods and big sticks.

I think house rules for rolling initial stats would also bump up the uh, power level significantly--e.g., substituting the CoC or Pulp Cthulhu methods for rolling attributes, which I think I might do if I run this.

The mechanics are supposed to bring you in a cold, unforgiving world that cares little for your lives. You can do that with words and descriptions, but I think nothing beats the actual genuine dread you personally feel (and not your character) before rolling. If success is a given, it just becomes DnD in space. When you manage to survive something it should feel like you've earned it (and a bit like the universe let you) rather than something granted that comes at the end of the adventure.

Regarding the high-chance of failures, I think it comes down a lot to interpretation. In my opinion in these kind of games, failure at times is just success but with some complications on the side, while success is a good success. E.g., if you're a mechanic and you are supposed to patch the hull it doesn't make sense you have a 60% chance to fail at your actual job. If there's a failure, what I would do is to say, yes, you managed (it's your job after all) but it doesn't feel very sturdy and you have the feeling it might give up later if under a lot of stress. Also read the description of your tools, some tools give bonuses when you used performing certain actions. You can still be a hero even if nothing goes according to plan.

About level progression. When you get an expert or master skill, it brings all the skills that depend on it to the same level. (e.g. if you get your Master Surgery skill (20%) it brings also your first aid skill to 20%). Death is likely, so it's hard to reach higher levels, but if your character dies it's not the end of the game, I will let you create another character with the same level as the deceased one and let you join the crew at a point which makes sense in the story.

Having said that, I don't want to impose a system that nobody enjoys (it's our game, not mine, I'm just hosting it), so if you have suggestions on how to modify the mechanics and everybody is on board, let's just do that :)

For example, if you think failure is too likely we might consider a 5 or 10% "difficulty level bonus" to apply to all rolls.

Re: the in-game situation -- should we all roll for Initiative now, GM?

Thanks.

P.S. Never mind. I read Gunny Ingram's post too fast, and thought that she had shot Aper. Upon second reading, I found the situation to be quite different! My bad. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 16:09, Tue 12 May 2020.

Just awaiting GM response to a question before posting!

By the way, everything is going completely differently from what I expected and I LOVE IT :)
I really like how all your characters are very different and are approaching this very differently, I couldn't have asked for a more fun group to GM

@Hazel are you attacking (or attempting attacking) Aper? Or thinking about killing her eventually? I was not sure from context. If you want to attack it's fine, we just need to roll initiative.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:30, Tue 12 May 2020.

In reply to The Seed (msg # 207):

I'm waiting on Ingram's answer. If it isn't convincing (and nothing else changes) we'll roll for initiative and I'll attack Aper with my welder.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:31, Tue 12 May 2020.

I feel the same! I was rather surprised at Elizabeth shooting the guy. That was pretty epic. :D

And potentially very clever!

Ok, since the heat is going up we should be a bit more careful with the turns probably to give a chance for everyone to react.
I'll wait for Franz, then post Aper, then Ingram and then you can all post. Just to make sure there is no problem with continuity

So:

Franz -> Aper -> Ingram -> Everyone else (I would suggest first Hazel, then Anders/Zen/Franz)

In reply to The Seed (msg # 210):

Roger that. Thanks for the clarification! :)

In reply to Zen (msg # 209):

Potentially very not-clever as well, since it took out the only combatant Aper couldn't afford to shoot (in fact, Hazel was going to point out that whatever way the combat went, Aper loses, since she either kills her bounty or is killed herself)

Oh, absolutely! We're all screwed one way or the other at this point. Now it just has to play out to see which way we all jump!

I assume it's a combat roll to tackle someone?

Wow, yes, did also not see that coming :)
Ok, let me take a look at combat rules between characters.

Yes, it's an opposed check. I'll make this a Combat vs. Speed opposed roll.

In opposed checks, to win you have to roll below your stat to succeed, as usual. However, if you both succeed, the highest roll wins. So you are aiming for rolling just below your stat (e.g., you want to roll 54 if your stat is 55, so it's a success, but the score is as high as it can be. 2 is still a success, but not as good since it's very likely the opponent will go above it.)

- Franz, roll combat and paste result here.
- Hazel, roll speed + Athletics and paste result here.

Then we'll see what happens.

"12:04, Today: Franz Bethon rolled 71 using 1d100.  combat check."

Oh no! that's a very high roll, and a fail.

I just want to add that, according to the manual:


and underline the fact that you're basically wrestling on top of a layer of thick, slimy, cryopod goo :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:11, Tue 12 May 2020.

Oh no!

I'm also assuming that Hazel is fighting for not having the hand-welder taken away from her. @Hazel, if you decide not to fight back you don't need to roll.

In reply to Zen (msg # 221):

I think this gif speaks for all :)

In reply to The Seed (msg # 220):

I'd have to get tackled then, right?

@Franz, are you tackling Hazel or just taking away the weapon from her?

In reply to The Seed (msg # 224):

Attempting to tackle, but taking the weapon is the higher priority by far.

In reply to Hazel Winters (msg # 223):

You can choose between being tackled and fighting Franz back. If you don't fight back Franz tackles you and gets your weapon (auto-success)

@Elizabeth, please let me resolve the Hazel/Franz situation first and post as Aper. Could you remove your post for the moment being?

Hold that thought, though! :)

Sure. Sorry about that.

I'm on the edge of my seat right now.

If Hazel does not attempt to resist and allows Franz to wrest the hand-wielder away from her, would he still tackle her?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:12, Tue 12 May 2020.

If he had time to think about it, probably not, but he expects resistance.

In reply to Elizabeth Ingram (msg # 229):

No problem! It's just very delicate situation, want to make sure there's no misstep :)

Let's wait for Hazel. If she doesn't oppose resistance Franz can describe the action of tackling her as he wants (no need to roll there). Then Aper -> Elizabeth -> Hazel -> everyone else

How did Iconodo react to being shot? Is he bleeding to death? Is he unconscious? Did he shrug it off?

Iocondo's reaction will be part of Aper's post. He's screaming and he's definitely not happy about it but he's in good condition. Liz aimed well.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:42, Tue 12 May 2020.

I'm going to be AFK and unavailable for posting for a bit. I'll have Anders (IC) react to the situation as he finds it when I have a chance to post.

I posted a bit quickly, so I had to delete the post, wait for a minute before posting, so I can resolve the situation.

Ok, sorted out! You can post. Preferably in the order: Liz -> Hazel -> everyone else

... Wow. I thought Ingram had some kind of stratagem, but color me genuinely surprised that it turns out that torturing 170 innocent people to death is fine with her, and actually better than a slave killing 17 slaveholders to be free. That was legitimately unexpected.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:37, Wed 13 May 2020.

As a player my sympathies are entirely with Iocondo, but Franz would probably not participate in a plan he considered dangerous (!!)

On our list of references we have Mark 8:36 by Hazel and

which is either another biblical reference from Daniel 5:27 or... Count Adhemar from "A Knight's Tale"??
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:51, Wed 13 May 2020.

In reply to Franz Bethon (msg # 241):

Chicken! Bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk! *Hazel flaps her arms like a Chicken*

In reply to Hazel Winters (msg # 243):

Wait. Is that a... McFly reference? :D

In reply to The Seed (msg # 244):

Think, McFly, think!

She does have a stratagem and she's thinking moves ahead right now.

In reply to Hazel Winters (msg # 245):


Crispin Glover is a really good actor by the way. I have seen him recently in American Gods and I couldn't imagine anyone else getting the creepiness of Mr. World right like that. We knew he was creepy alright from his Charlie's Angels "Creepy Thin Man", but in American Gods he really ups the ante.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:23, Wed 13 May 2020.

I dropped in a Bible quotation a little while back, which I botched in citing (should have read as "First Samuel 17:44"), but I'm still holding onto a certain Pseudo-Philo quotation about that story.

In reply to Franz Bethon (msg # 248):

Your David to my Goliath?

Yes. :)

But there's more to that story which I hope to have a chance to reference in time! I'll know the right time if I see it...

He’s also a really odd man in real life. Watch any of his interviews and it’s obvious he’s an odd bloke.

Oh ye of little faith.

A little info about recovering from health. Whenever you have a chance to recover for at least six hours, you can make a Body save to recover health points.
- If you roll under, you re-gain the amount of HP you rolled (e.g., if you rolled 26 and it's under your body stat, you recover 26). Failure is not healing, crit. failure is health complication and you lose some HP.
- There some items that confer bonus, check your stuff and description e.g. automed gives you +10% to your body save when resting.
- Pain pills and stimpak immediately heal you (and reduce stress). Using too much too often can lead to addiction, with some nasty consequences.


@Franz and @Zen. Using first aid skill to administer first aid confers advantage to body save rolls.

“While there’s life, there’s hope.”

- Marcus Tullius Cicero

I thought it was a reference to Advance Wars Days of Ruin. I have to admit, I never guessed the quote was older than that!

In reply to Hazel Winters (msg # 255):

I kinda thought that it was from John Carter of Mars, myself. :)

In reply to Anders McNamara (msg # 256):

Great book, great movie.

Hazel approval +10
This message was last edited by the player at 18:22, Wed 13 May 2020.

In reply to Hazel Winters (msg # 257):

:D.

Now "Carthago delenda est", *that* one I would have recognized. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Wed 13 May 2020.

Much bolder. Cicero lived from 106 BCE to 43 BCE. He wrote that line around 65 BCE.

I'll have to work in some classical allusions now, geez.

I'm reeeeeally sorry Franz. I didn't expect the first damage a PC takes would be because of me.

In reply to Hazel Winters (msg # 261):

I knew the risk! :) I suppose Franz probably did, too. Let's just be thankful it wasn't the laser cutter?

I will introduce some house rules and allow stress points to be recovered for actions that you character consider stress-relieving. This happens exclusively on a case-by-case basis.

E.g., if one of your character is a surgeon and they save someone else's life, they can recover one stress point.
If one of your characters thinks that their best friend is dead, but they then discover that the friend is alive, one stress point recovered.
If one of your characters successfully repairs the ship's hull and save the lives of the whole team, one stress point recovered.
If your character is a heavy smoker that quit long ago, and they scavenge a pack of cigarette that they then proceed to smoke, one stress point recovered. Although be careful, you might get back into your addiction and I will start to add more stress points than you removed if you are prevented from smoking again :)
You get the gist...

If you think a particular action classifies as stress-relieving for your particular character, write me in PM and ask me. I am very parsimonious with this, so don't get disappointed if I say no.
Also, please, don't start chasing stress-relieving actions left and right because of that :)

Yay us for surviving the intro and chapter one! We’re just that good!

We're just plain lucky. :P

We’re just that good! **everyone dies a horrible death in the next chapter**

The leveling process is pretty generous. I like it.

Some guidelines for levelling up. Different locations have different locations of MINIMUM stress.

As a rule of thumb, minimum stress:

0 - In spaceports, colonies and civilised planets
2 - In unfamiliar spaceships with some on-going problem
4/5 - In alien planets, weird places, hostile locations.

If you end up in a place with minimum stress 4, and you have less than 4 stress, you automatically jump to 4.
It's normal to have stress even up to 10-12 at the end of intense encounters in strange places.

You're currently in a minimum 2 stress situation. Even if you heal all stress after level up, you still have to get to 2.

Well-played (and well-writ), one and all! Thanks for a very enjoyable First Chapter. :)

In reply to Anders McNamara (msg # 268):

Agreed! Some great writing and character development in Chapter the First.

I will send my level details and do posts tomorrow. Sorry - hideous migraine is trying to melt my brain!

Don't worry, take your time and get better!! :)

In reply to Zen (msg # 270):

Migraines are *very* debilitating. Hope that you feel better soon!

I fear that I rank at the bottom of the class, science-wise. What would account for the fact that the crew is experiencing Zero-G conditions inside the ship?

Thanks.

I hope that you feel much better before long, and I look forward to your triumphant return!

The game uses the sci-fi chestnut of artificial gravity vs. rotational or linear acceleration gravity so it means that the system that supplies the gravity is offline for reasons unknown.

Thanks. That's kinda what I figured. My first thought was a pressure-hull breach, but then the crew would have been suffering from much more serious effects. Most likely, we'd all be dead . . . well, except for Zen, maybe.:)

Correct! And generally the artificial-gravity system sits in the Engine room of a ship.

If you don't have the Zero-G skill don't worry, you can still move around. Just you are not proficient.
Depending on what goes on you might get disadvantage on certain rolls in zero-g.
 - Typing on a computer in zero-g? No worries
 - Fixing a ship component? Depends on what you are doing exactly
 - Shooting at bugs? Disadvantage (unless you have zero-g skill)

I will remind you that some of you should have mag-boots as part of their equipments, together with a vac-suit. With them you don't have any more zero-g disadvantage for certain actions, but you have disadvantage on speed checks (the boots stick "too much" too metallic surfaces).

R’lyeh?! EEP!!

Are we having fhragn yet?
This message was last edited by the player at 11:42, Fri 15 May 2020.

I'm happy someone picked that up :D

Eh, so much nonsense in DII's rambling, who knows what's supposed to have meaning... ;)
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:45, Fri 15 May 2020.

Very cool post for DII, GM. Nicely done! :)

My mobile just ate my bloody post. :(

I’ll redo it when I get home tonight.

Thanks Anders!

@Non-Teamsters, although I wouldn't advice to try to fix the ship personally, for many actions is possible for your character to help the person making the rolls (e.g., even though you don't have surgery, your character can stand next to the surgeon and pass them the tools, same for repairs). Depending on the situation this can confer to the person making the actual roll a bonus to their skill, give advantage or remove disadvantage (depends on situation). So even if there's no bugs to shoot, people to stitch up or alien ruins to study you can still lend a hand :)

A lot of repair rolls! I'm regretting the decision to prioritize speed over INT now. (although it's only a 7 point difference in rolls.)

You might not be so sorry later on. In order to survive the horrible hungry unspeakable thing, you don't need to outrun it, you just need to outrun the slowest one in your group :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:28, Fri 15 May 2020.

I'm pretty sure I am not the slowest, and I am also probably not delicious. So I'm not worried!

You might not be delicious, but your manufacturers went at great lengths to make you look like you're as delicious as anyone else.
Someone might suddenly wish they weren't just made of metal :)

OH MY GODS I WOULD MAKE A GOOD TOOTHPICK!

We seem to have lost all of the weaponry the CO and XO had in their quarters. :(

And the medical facilities might be no better off... Best hope I'm on my game... I got a scalpel and a microchip. You'll be fine...

I’m a Marine. Sew me up or bandage my wounds and I’m good to go!

Hopefully the medbay was hit by micro-debris and just has a small breach that, once repaired, can make the medbay functional again.

I hadn't thought about that. Depending upon how the Chapter plays out, it could be a good news/bad news kinda deal. :)

Bad news. Definitely bad news.

We could pop over and pilfer everything from the other ship. Or do a hulk raid.

Because there has NEVER been ANY precedent for running into horrible xenomorph-like alien hordes while boarding ancient abandoned space vessels, has there?

::shoves copy of Space Hulk under bed while whistling nonchalantly::

Ship graveyards are nothing to worry about! Nothing at all.

From Msg. #84 in the previous thread:

"Scapula arrives. He's wearing full tactical equipment and heavy weaponry."

GM, I assume that means body armor, a sidearm, and perhaps an assault rifle? If so, Anders will hand whatever the "heavy weaponry" is to Gunny Ingram and will keep the body armor and sidearm.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:32, Mon 18 May 2020.

Now, *this* should prove interesting! :)

In reply to Anders McNamara (msg # 296):

Sorry to disappoint, Anders


Scapula went up to his private rooms to leave all the weaponry and equipment before getting into the pod. However, Aper's pistol (autopistol, 2d10, 5/20/100) and bullet-proof vest (+5% armor) were left in the cryobay since she decided not to go upstairs. How do you want to divide the pistol and vest?

In reply to The Seed (msg # 298):

OK, we can cut up the vest so everyone gets a bit... that works, right?

The real question is, once you get your 30cm x 30cm piece, which part of your body do you want to cover with it first? :)

Not my head, none of my vital circuitry is up there!

Um... gang? Iocondo has been the recipient now of TWO failed medical rolls on my part. Are you sure we HAVE to keep him alive? Because I am not sure I can... Even after buying up the expert medical skill...

Dice, you failed me! AAARRGGHHH!!!

In reply to Zen (msg # 301):

Oh no! Sounds like Mr. Iocondo might be on the outs.

I feel like all of your posts are just getting better, I'm loving this.

I am a bit verbose with this character... apologies. But Zen has to cover every permutation in her answers!

I've updated your sheets with weapon information.
CQC means close quarters combat only (melee weapons). The ranges in meters, in the format S/M/L indicate the short, medium and long range of the weapon.

Firing <S: All good
Firing between S and M range: -10% penalty to combat
Firing between M and L range: Disadvantage on attack rolls
Firing >L range: Automatic failure

Take a careful look because some weapons have some really small weapon range.

One more comment I have been reading on Mothership forums:



So, to pick up an old thread here in OOC, please don't feel that your characters are underpowered or clumsy. On my side, I will also lower a bit the difficulty maybe, by giving you advantage if there's no immediate threat or rush.

Also, there is a lot of teamwork that can be done to increase those stats. Using the environment to your advantage, your tools, or flanking an enemy with an ally, and generally think tactically can give you advantage. Rolls with advantage have actually higher probability to succeed than in DnD.

Do we still have codpieces this far in the future? :)

You know fashion, it goes away only to be back, there must be certain corners of the galaxy where they are extremely fashionable.
If not, you can definitely help bring them back. Nothing screams "space pirate" more than obsolete items of clothing from forgotten eras.

P.S.: That brought to mind this nice SMBC comic.

In reply to The Seed (msg # 307):

Hilarious, GM. :)

Ahem . . . back to business . . . re: the repairs. Does it matter whether both Teamsters are working on the same repair job, or can a non-Teamster provide the same amount of support/assistance when it comes to die-rolling?

Thanks!

PS. Will Anders need anything more than his Mag-Boots when it comes to specialized equipment needed to effectively work in Zero-G conditions?
This message was last edited by the player at 15:31, Mon 18 May 2020.

It depends on the job. If you want to just patch up the ship's hull, teamster + help will give you the same result regardless of whether the help is also a teamster or not. So, it doesn't matter, Franz can help you as much as Hazel.

Please note, since you're not in a shipyard, the relevant skill for patching up the hull is Jury Rigging, not Mechanical Repairs.


I would hope so. The Novensiles is a small ship and it doesn't have double compartmentalisation. That means that the damaged rooms are sealed, and there's no way to enter them without spacing the corridors connecting to them (and losing things + the small amount of air remaining on the ship).

Your best hope to access those rooms is going out for a space walk and patch the holes from the outside. So better take out the vac-suit :)
Aside from vac-suits, extra-hull plates that I will assume you can take from the cargo hold, and your hand welder you shouldn't need anything else.
The hull plates are heavy (although you're in zero-g, it's still hard to move heavy objects around without hurting yourself!), so you will actually need help to perform the works outside.
The real question now is, how many vac-suits do you have? (they tend to be personal, Aper and Scapula kept theirs in their room).

Going back to my OOC discussion. Patching up stuff is your job after all, so success or failure determines only how quickly you can perform the task (remember, there's limited oxygen in the ship). I'll assume the job gets eventually done whichever the results of the roll. A critical failure is another matter, but let's discuss that only if it happens :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:47, Mon 18 May 2020.

In reply to Zen (msg # 301):

Never suggest ways things can go wrong for the party! That's asking for trouble

Small correction which I’ll make IC when I can: Liz has her own tactical gear so she doesn’t need the vest. Given the vest belongs to Aper it will probably fit Hazel so Liz will give it to her and show her how to put it on.

In reply to Elizabeth Ingram (msg # 311):

Thank you!

In reply to Hazel Winters (msg # 312):

Anything for you, Sunshine.

In reply to The Seed (msg # 309):

Hmmmm . . . I hadn't thought about needing to venture outside the ship's hull in order to effectuate repairs. I was just thinking about strolling over to the Life Support Chamber and Engine Room (to name some damaged areas) and getting started. :)

I know that both Hazel and Anders have Vac-Suits as part of their original gear. So it could be that all outside-the-hull work will fall to the two of them, unless Zen wants to pitch in as well -- and her duties might well keep her busy inside the hull.

Let's resolve this through IC. Plotting out what we're going to do in OOC seems to take a little of the fun out of the tension. :D

Franz actually has a vac-suit as well, bringing the total to three. If he wants he can also help you or lend his suit to somebody else

Is the anti-gravity part of the engine?

Correct

What I meant by two to four hours was that Zen's calculations were (presumably) based on four people breathing the air, but if two to three are in vac suits with their own air supply only one or two people are actually breathing the air, so the CO2 won't build up as fast

Ah.... tis a good point.

Is there anything like the astronaut maneuvering unit on this ship, or is it strictly get out and walk?

In reply to Elizabeth Ingram (msg # 320):

Although now I realize I'm not counting Iocondo, who is still breathing.

You want me dead!! **cries**

In reply to Elizabeth Ingram (msg # 323):

On the contrary, you got me my new vest! You're the best.

Well, hey -- Anders got you the rest of your clothes. He oughtta be at least second best! :)

In reply to Anders McNamara (msg # 325):

True, true. Group hug!

I will run the campaign with some nice Mothership house rules that I found in the blog of one of the people behind Motership, so I made some modifications to your sheets. You shouldn't notice the difference (it's mostly internal stuff, the biggest difference is, your characters now have "hits" on top of HP, and you have to be a bit more careful about what you can carry on your person). If you're curious, the blog entry about house rules is here: Link
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:54, Tue 19 May 2020.

The hits thing looks like we'll be a lot less squishy, but we'll be dealing with a lot more debilitating conditions. I reckon that is more fun than being one-shotted to death repeatedly, so I am up for that!

Yes, I really like that bit, more opportunities for roleplay and less "well, you're dead now" sound great!

There are a couple of systems that have the ruling that damage can seriously screw you up, but you are only dead when the GM says you are dead. I like that!

That will come in handy if I get the chance to run Mothership for some folks in the future.

Yeah, better to lose a limb than roll a new character.

Good thing Zen brought spare parts for everyone! The vast majority of tools in the medbay may be gone, but I think there should be needle and thread in the galley :)

The non-Euclidean nature of R’lyeh could be caused by gravitational lensing such as might occur when viewing the city through a wormhole. No one ever said it needed to be on Earth...

Well, that's fun! I do not disagree, though!

Is this a good time to mention that androids suck at sanity saves? No? Oh.

Forget I mentioned it. Nothing to see here...

Hits? We're playing baseball!

More seriously, I think Hits could help. Horror is a tough genre to do in an RPG, because players have to believe death lurks around every corner or they won't be scared (lots of monsters in D&D are horror-type creatures, but players expect to and are usually able to beat them), but if death actually does lurk around every corner they just won't get attached to their characters and no real horror can occur. I remember a Call of Cthulu game where my character died, I rolled up a new one, and that new character died as well. I put effort into designing the first character; I don't even remember who the second one was. Maintaining the balance of fear and risk is tough.

I'm a little skeptical of the encumbrance rule, because we already has a pre-set inventory, but it could be interesting depending on what we find in the future!

13:16, Today: Hazel Winters rolled 13 using 1d100.  Sanity with advantage.

I remain sane! For the moment.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:17, Tue 19 May 2020.

I want to say that I think Hazel is just absolutely adorable!

In reply to Zen (msg # 336):

Thank you!

Apologies for my being quiet the past few days. Work has been insane. We’ve had a spike in COVID cases in the NHS Lothian area and since I’m the one acting as liaison to the Board for my hospital I’ve been running around like mad.

Don't you ever dare apologise for doing vital work that saves lives! I have so much respect for people doing what you are doing! Cannot give enough thanks!

Yes, exactly! Don't you worry at all and thanks so much for your work!

Thanks for staying in touch, and for all that you do. Folks like you are the true heroes of this pandemic.

In reply to Elizabeth Ingram (msg # 338):

Thanks for your important work, and I hope these troubling times still find you well!!!

Hello everyone! I've a small favour to ask.
Although I marked the game as M (mature) in RPoL, and this is effectively a horror-in-space game, so you can expect things to get grim at a certain point, I realised that the M-rating is a bit vague. People can be ok with many things rated M, but there can be many other themes that not all players might be comfortable with.

I really want this to be a pleasant experience for everyone and I'd hate to make anyone uncomfortable with some of the content included in this game. I've realised there's a thing called "RPG Consent Form" which lets you express which themes you are comfortable with and which you are not.

Just for the record, I have not prepared this form (it is a default one) and I definitely do not intend to touch on many of the themes shown there, but it's good to know if there can be something that is better to steer away from. The form is completely anonymous, you just click on the link and give a score (green, yellow, red) to each of the themes.

Please don't forget to fill it up, because I would like to have five completed forms before continuing. Also don't PM me writing you have filled it, otherwise it's not that anonymous :)

Thanks so much for your collaboration!

LINK: Digital RPG Consent Checklist

Thank you all. I appreciate the kind words. I'm spending today recovering from this work week which was exhausting since I'm only a few weeks out from my out bout with COVID. Takes a while to recover from this bug.

In reply to The Seed (msg # 343):

So . . . we just click on "Submit" when we have filled out the form? Admittedly I skimmed it rather quickly, but I did not see any links or references to our game. How is it that the completed forms are forwarded to you, as the GM of our specific game?

Thanks.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:42, Sun 24 May 2020.

Ah, yes, good question. I copied the form into my Drive folder, so the link you have received is specifically for the file sitting in my drive folder.

In reply to The Seed (msg # 346):

Got it. Thanks!

Howdy, just filled that out!

GM,

Per your Msg. # 44 of the IC thread, it seems that there were originally three ship-board systems that still needed internal work to become functional: Engine Room, Life Support, and Computers. Internal Life Support repairs have been effectuated.

Am I correct in thinking that internal Engine Room repairs would restore within-the-hull gravity (as alluded to by Franz in Msg. # 55 in the IC thread)?

I figure that Anders (IC) would know all about this, so I'm not having him raise the question IC. :)

Thanks!
This message was last edited by the player at 15:43, Mon 25 May 2020.

Yes, feel free to ask OOC. Worst case scenario I will tell you I can't answer that question :)

And to answer your question, yes, artificial gravity is maintained by the Engine Room. That is actually common space knowledge, so all characters know this IC.