Dice Doctor Who: The Clockwise Prolixity - OOC

[basicallyaMarshWiggle]

Apologies for the lack of posts! I didn't realize that other people had posted, as I've been relying on the emailed notifications (which apparently are not reliable).

I'll try and sort something out on Saturday.

 

[Esbilon]

My advise for not missing post is to always have a tab open with this page: https://www.rpnation.com/watched/threads/all

Notifications are a bit iffy, particularly if you check notifications, but don't actually read the thread to the end.

 

[basicallyaMarshWiggle]

Esbilon Thanks, I'll do that and see how it goes

 

[Silanon]

First of all, thanks for your understanding - after a rather hectical week, I finally have some time to catch up with the various rp's I'm in. This one is probably next on the list - so hopefully, I'll have a decent post up either today or tomorrow. Gotta read through the new posts first - already saw that a few things happened...

Aside from that, stay safe over there!

 

[Silanon]

Finally managed to get a post up - hope I've covered most of the happenings in one way or another.

Esbilon Epiphany I'm not intending to resist the psychic powers, at least as long as you don't want to see more than just the meaning of the words. Shall I get a post up with a few more related thoughts, or is the short description I gave all that she can see? Or doesn't she get to see anything at all, because dramatic things happen beforehand?

 

[Esbilon]

More details are always good, but this is fine too.

 

[Silanon]

Since you can't understand the language, you'll probably see some kind of mental pictures, right? Like the ones Ahassunu sent earlier, just with a bit more futuristic technology in them... think that'd be a good opportunity to show a few more insights as well, even though not everything might be understandable... the roll is probably good enough to see basically everything she'd want to see.

 

[Esbilon]

Images, feelings, whatever you think your species has that's closest to humanity

 

[Purr]

Heya folks!

Kaerri and I have power (and A/C) back, just no Internet yet. I am tired from all of the actvity and lack of A/C, but there is still work to be done around here. Unlike many, we are nearly back on our feet and thank God for that!

Honor and fun,
Dann =)

 

[purplepanda288]

Is this closed, it looks incredibly interesting

 

[Purr]

I think we're full (we recently received a player that I think put us to our limit), but thanks for the interest! Epiphany What do you say, oh friendly GM-person?

 

[Purr]

Heya folks!

Update: We still have power (some of our neighbors have lost power but they regained it later). We do not have Internet. Still, we are quite fortunate. Little by little, Real Life is returning to normal not only for us but friends, family, neighbors, church, and work, too.

I have been driving a great deal, lending a helping hand where I can, and never have I been so attached to this smartphone. When it sounds, I find myself reaching for it, ready to jump into action again.

I will post when able; I'm just not entirely certain when able will be. Hurricane Irma may be gone from Florida, but she still has a hold over me.

Honor and fun,
Dann =)

 

[Epiphany]

Thanks for your patience, everyone. It's been a busy week (and eventful for at least some of our player base). I've enjoyed watching you guys work out communication between each other. Didn't know exactly how it was going to go (which was part of the design) so I've had great fun watching the interaction develop organically.

If this isn't moving fast enough for you, or if it's not interactive enough, let me know. My intent was to start this with "What's going on here?" being very much a question in player hands to solve for. As you progress and encounter other interactive elements, those elements will start pushing on the plot themselves but for the moment the pace and direction is up to you guys. If you're feeling a bit of a loss and would like me to more actively direct the opening part of play, let me know and I'll revise the plot accordingly.

Is this closed, it looks incredibly interesting

Sorry for not replying to you sooner. I'm close to full but I'd offered to let one more person in...and they appear to have vanished from two weeks ago. So if you're interested in submitting a pitch, PM me and let's see what we can come up with together.

 

[Kaerri]

I'd like to thank everyone for their patience too! Dannigan and I just got internet back today, so I've dropped a post in-character. I love reading what everyone else has been up to! The back-and-forth between different languages (and telepathy) is great.

 

[Purr]

Woo! What Kaerri said and it's awfully strange to be without Internet for a week during a hurricane and then have it back.

Makes you appreciate the little things in life all the more. =)

 

[Silanon]

Glad to see you're back - not only for the selfish reason that I can enjoy your posts now, but also because it means that things are slowly going back to normal over there; haven't followed the news too much lately, but some of the pictures were quite disturbing.

 

[Esbilon]

OK, so I'm willing to bet that the coins are exactly the coins are pretty much exactly the kind of universal translator Ivy was wishing for moments earlier. They glittered when Akkadian was assimilated, presumably updating their internal library. However, the only person who had a chance to see this is Chauncy, and I can only guess as to how they're supposed to be used.

Resting on the tongue perhaps? Merely carried? They don't seem to have a shape that would suit an ear. Epiphany they're not anything like contact lenses, are they?

Unrelated to the game, I'm glad to hear you're both doing OK, Purr and Kaerri , and impressed to hear you've been helping others. I somehow find it harder to imagine what it's like to live in hurricane-country than to be a 4000 years old priestess of a long dead religion, but such are the vaugeries of the roleplaying mind.

 

[Purr]

Thanks for the warm wishes, everyone! Frankly, they feel good. =)

Pips? My only recommendation concerns die roll results. I may have missed something, but I remember Chauncey examining the coins and making a roll (result 15 if memory serves), but I don't recall getting any GM feedback from that roll?

Otherwise, I am really enjoying the game itself. I like the roleplaying, the layout, and the atmosphere. We really have a good thing going here! =)

 

[Epiphany]

Thanks for the warm wishes, everyone! Frankly, they feel good. =)

Pips? My only recommendation concerns die roll results. I may have missed something, but I remember Chauncey examining the coins and making a roll (result 15 if memory serves), but I don't recall getting any GM feedback from that roll?

Otherwise, I am really enjoying the game itself. I like the roleplaying, the layout, and the atmosphere. We really have a good thing going here! =)

It's always nice to be reminded that there are people who do what they can when they can.

As for the coin examination made by Chauncey, apologies for not explicitly calling you out with an @ tag. The first paragraph (and its following sentence) were the results of that roll. Technologically, they're obviously a product of purpose and manufacturing beyond Chauncey's context. Generally, the Technology skill is used when you're trying to do something, whereas the Knowledge skill is used when you're trying to understand something...I think. New rules engine for me too. I've spent 10 actual minutes now rereading the skill descriptions, thinking about how to adjudicate this roll and that's way more time than something like this should take. So I'll ask you what your expectations are on this roll. A 15 puts you in the 'Success' result, which is a "Yes, but it's not all good" result. What kind of a result do you think is reasonable given that?

 

[Purr]

Heya Pips!

Re: Doing vs. understanding. Uh, that is not at all the way I interpreted the Knowledge skill at all. If the Knowledge skill is required to understand something, then every one of us had better take points in it, otherwise we don't know what we are doing.

I swear I'm not trying to be a rules lawyer or anything; I just have a completely different understanding of the Knowledge skill than you have explained (and I want to get it right for the sake of accuracy).

Spoiler: Knowledge skill

From page 61, Core Book, 2nd paragraph.
"This is a broad and almost all-encompassing skill that covers most areas of knowledge. The exceptions are those covered specifically by other skills such as Medicine, Technology or Science. Knowledge typically covers academic and humanities fields, such as law, sociology, psychology, archaeology, history, literature, or languages."

Now, if you are changing this, may we be allowed to reallocate our skill points so that we can understand things beyond our knowledge?

As for the coin examination made by Chauncey, apologies for not explicitly calling you out with an @ tag. A 15 puts you in the 'Success' result, which is a "Yes, but it's not all good" result. What kind of a result do you think is reasonable given that?

2. Re: "Yes, but it's not all good" result. Oh! Was that response directed at Chauncey? Sorry! I missed that entirely somehow... =/

3. What kind of result? Okies. Going by the skill result table on page 74, Core Book, I recommend that Chauncey be given a bare, but successful understanding of what the coins do, (and here comes the) but, either something unexpected happens or some secondary complication arises like (and I'm just tossing ideas out here)...

3a. Chauncey has triggered or activated something on the machine that held the coins and he has no idea what it's doing or what he's done. =)
3b. Chauncey drops one of the coins (or all of them) and one or more of them lead him on a merry chase to God-knows-where. Or even somewhere between the machine and the wall.
3c. Or... ever been stopped at a toll booth, paying the coin toll, and watch your last quarter fall down under the car seat and now you have to frantically look for it while you're blocking everyone else behind you? Me neither, but I think it's a "good, but" result. =)

Does that help?

 

[Epiphany]

Oh, huh. For some reason, I missed that whole "The exceptions are those covered specifically by other skills such as Medicine, Technology or Science". Well, I feel sheepish.

I also admit to struggling a bit on how a man from the 19th century is able to pick up something his species won't be able to make for thousands of years and go "Oh, obviously it works like this and this".

Which now that I reread the rules on Technology Levels (pgs. 66 and 110), I see that's why there's a -2 cumulative penalty for dealing with things outside of your usual scope. Chauncy's Tech Level 4 and universal translation technology like this is...let's say Tech Level 7 (Tech Level 6 has it but it's built into ships, not micronized for personal use). That's a -6 which puts you from 3 over to 3 under, which is a 'Failure' i.e. "You don't succeed but it's not all bad".

That said, spending a Story Point can nudge it right back to Success anyway...which doesn't exactly help with my suspension of disbelief but hey, this is Doctor Who the RPG, not Carl Sagan the RPG...

Preference?

 

[Purr]

Well, might Chauncey's traits of Major Time Traveler, Technically Adept, Boffin, and his Special Trait, Once and Future Chauncey be of help?

Spoiler: Per our conversation

As far as Home Technology goes, I think for the time period he'd be native to Tech Level 4. But taking Time Traveler as a Major Good Trait pretty much means it doesn't matter, Chauncey is able to operate without much difficulty in most any time period. I assume the 8 point extras will cover the upgrade.

While he has followed the directions to build a time machine with the help of his 22nd century astronaut ("John") and the 54th century temporal engineer you added, I think Chauncey is probably at less of a disadvantage than the average 19th century Boffin? While he has some experience with future technology, he's no native for sure. Should I use his special Trait along with a Story Point to add dice to the roll? What works best here?

 

[Purr]

For some reason, I'm not getting alerts for the Roleplay section, and so I'm following Esbilon's advice of checking "Watched Threads" (thank you, Esbilon!). As a result, I've just now read the most recent two entries (by Kaerri and Pips).

The plot thickens! OoooOOOoooh! 8D

 

[Purr]

Oh, huh. For some reason, I missed that whole "The exceptions are those covered specifically by other skills such as Medicine, Technology or Science". Well, I feel sheepish.

Spoiler: Hyperactive gaming rant! Woooo!

=)

Spoiler: Instrumental gaming rant mood music!

"River" by Enya. Why? Because I like it and that's reason enough for me. Hope you do too! =)

(I meant to address this earlier.) No worries, Pips! Remember that you are as new to this game as we are! You're supposed to goof; it's part of gaming. Being the Gamemaster doesn't make that any less true. =)

When I have a new Dungeon Master/Gamemaster/Storyteller/SupremeFunkadelicAtDaFrontOfDaTable, I make a point of offering this advice - You will goof up; it's all in what you do when it happens. =)

Do you play "point the finger" and blame someone else? Do you hide and act like it didn't happen? Do you pretend to be perfect (thereby instantly proving that theory totally wrong as hell)?

Nope to all!

But many people do. When they make a habit out of it, I choose not to game with them.

Pips, one of the big reasons I accepted your invitation into this game include you being at the helm here. Here's more. You have always had those special qualities I look for in a fellow dice-roller. You genuinely care about your fellow human being, you care about their fun as well as yours, you let your inner adult do the talking first (as opposed to the gamer whose child or parent is most often in control), and you have integrity (meaning, when you say something, I've seen you do your best to do what you said; not everyone is like that, I'm sure you know).

Sure, you're creative and you take your writing seriously, and those are also cherishable qualities, but you seem to have chosen to be one of those people in life who give a damn and that makes all the difference to a gamer like me. =)

So, if by chance you're feeling more than sheepish for making a goof, I say don't worry about it! =) Communicate, learn, and game on. It's all you can do (and it's what you seem to have been doing). I goof regularly in my own games - you've been there with us - but I'm with the kind of people who are willing to be adults about it. =)

So again, just in case you need to hear this, remember a really good Southern saying - it ain't no thing but a chicken wing! Heh! =)

Honor and fun(kadelic!!),
Dann =)

 

[Epiphany]

Thanks for the pep talk.

I hoped to have time today to actually respond to the prior posts but I didn't. I'll try to do it in the morning. Cheers!