Peanut Gallery (OOC)

[Dalcassius]

It's definitely the motherboard and the parts will be in tomorrow. Now no more excuses for being lamesauce.
No dispute here. I'm all about the lamesauce.

[Chris Chandler]

Okay, guys. I'm going to try and start updating nightly (it's going to have to be nightly for a bit, and the work-week, not weekends, duh), but I'd like it if everyone can check in and post, as well. We all know that this game has gone from fast-paced and dynamic to, honestly, grinding. I'd really like to turn that around and make this last leg of the campaign something we can all be proud of. I'll be working to try and put more content, as well.

I see two more stages from where we stand right now, and neither should be to drawn out. I'll do my best to keep things going.

[LightBringer]

Sounds like a good plan to me. I'll be here.

[Gamebird]

I'll keep reading. With the number of new jobs being posted everyday, I have plenty of time. :(

[Dalcassius]

Count me in. Except for last night. Friends birthday. I was out of contact with any computer for the last 24 hours. It was heart breaking.

[LightBringer]

Speaking of which, I will be away Thursday and Friday. If I can get to a computer I'll check in, otherwise..... I won't. ;)

[Chris Chandler]

Checking in, but I really can't move on before Kirfah's response.

[Chris Chandler]

I'd like to hear what Brit has to say before Kenizk speaks up.

[LadyGlutter]

I think we've officially lost Ojox. He last logged in 2/5.

[Dalcassius]

I'll keep an eye out for him on IM.

[Chris Chandler]

Excellent play, the both of you. I'd like to hear more of this discussion.

[Chris Chandler]

Pins and needles, baby. Pins and needles.

[Chris Chandler]

I am very interested in how this plan is going to develop.

Any word on Ojox? I've seemed to have misplaced his email.:S

[Dalcassius]

I messaged him one night and he never responded. I haven't seen much of him online.

[Chris Chandler]

I know that last year his job was becoming more demanding of his time. Ah well, I do hope that he's doing well.

[Chris Chandler]

I'll hold until after Kirfah speaks.

[Dalcassius]

Sorry for the hold up. The last couple of days I've been studying for a hardware test tomorrow and a visual basic project for next week.

[Chris Chandler]

No problem. I just didn't want to run off without you.

[Chris Chandler]

I'm liking the direction of this plan - very "fight smart, not hard".

[Dalcassius]

Just like my mammy always used to say.

[Chris Chandler]

Just checking on a few extra things before moving forward.

[Chris Chandler]

I'll hold off until I get the nod from our Ozan. After all, he's the one getting his feet put in the fire.

[Dalcassius]

Just a heads up that I am incommunicado after tonight until Monday. I'm out of town with Rave for our anniversary. You lot have a great weekend and I'll hit you up with a post on Monday.

[Chris Chandler]

Sounds good - Have a great time, Dal!

[Dalcassius]

Thanks.

[LightBringer]

I was out of town myself since last week.

Happy Anniversary!! (belated)

[Chris Chandler]

The whole plan hedging on a Sense Motive after that slip of the tongue. You may thank LG for not allowing me to let electrons decide the fate of our Ozan, but rather chose the worst mojo d20 I own (it even has some sort of fugly bass-boat glitter in it).

Now, let's see you guys topple this challenge.

[Dalcassius]

What slip of the tongue? I thought that the last time the group was here, we spoke with three river gen?

[LadyGlutter]

No, you're following the plan. The roll was to see if that comment about surprising her sisters tipped her off to what was going on. It's cool, though. I'm all about the d20 mojo. :) (3d6, not as much. ;))

[Chris Chandler]

'Net's been down at the house. We'll post when we can. Lo siento.

[Chris Chandler]

Holding on Dal's post, but I'll check back later this evening.

[Chris Chandler]

I think this first part of the attack is going well. Now... if you can only keep it up.

[LadyGlutter]

That's what she said! :)

[Dalcassius]

Zing!

[LightBringer]

Well, that was clearer in my head then it reads in post. I didn't want Brit to kill the hag, because it would alert the others to our plan. Oh well, I suppose it's do or die time!

[Chris Chandler]

I'll hold off until I get Dal's intent.

[LadyGlutter]

So this:


Zora speaks words of praise to Enbarra, and a hedge of spiky growth crops up immediately behind Kirfah and the three, blocking exit or entrance.


Was a mistake, reading the spell exactly. I realize now what I did wrong there, but I think we've still got a hedge up anyway. I've always pictured the growth that Prince Phillip has to hack his way through in Sleeping Beauty. Whoops.

[Chris Chandler]

Don't sweat it - your opponents didn't see it, or else they would have avoided it.

[Chris Chandler]

I'll hold off on the action until our Ozan states his intent.

Really good job so far, guys.

[LadyGlutter]

Do we get a gold star? Because it's been a while since I had one of those. I'll put it on my forehead.

[Gamebird]

Lol

[Dalcassius]

Sorry for the wait. I've not been well and I haven't even turned on my computer in two days. I'm starting to feel a bit better and will keep tabs on the game better.

[LightBringer]

No big deal dude, take care of yourself first and foremost.

[Chris Chandler]

When I make these posts, I don't mean to sound like I'm prodding. I said that I would check up during the week, and posts like that are me "checking in" when I can't quite post.

I hope you get to feeling better, Dal.

[Dalcassius]

Don't take anything I said in as complaining or being negative. I was just letting you guys know why I've been slow the last several days. I should be 100% by the start of next week.

[Chris Chandler]

Dalcassius & LB:

I've taken off the Kuralia source materials off the site, because I'm starting up my own site with the campaign world in mind (www.kuralia.com, still just a face page currently). Please go take a look and sign up in the forum (http://kuralia.com/Forum/)and participate in the blog (http://kuralia.com/Blog/), if you please. Basically, I'm putting the conversion of Kuralia into GURPS/Savage World online, so your input will be appreciated, if you are willing and able. The Forum hasn't really started up yet, and the blog is starting off with my current F2F Kuralia game, but I will be discussing this game, as well.

Thanks!

[Dalcassius]

Sounds cool. I've got them all bookmarked.

[Chris Chandler]

We should be able to resume starting tomorrow.

[Chris Chandler]

I've got Zora's action pretty well established, but I'll hold off until our errant and Ozan make their actions known.

[Chris Chandler]

I'll wait until I see how this decidedly one-sided battle is going to end up. Good job, guys!

[Chris Chandler]

Oh, I forgot to note here, I made another post to my Kuralia blog. The intent is to discuss Kuralia as a whole there, so everyone feel free to join in on the conversation, even if the particular campaign may not be familiar.

http://kuralia.com/Blog/2009/06/primary-sources/

[Chris Chandler]

Only holding off until we hear from Dal.

[Chris Chandler]

RL family emergency trumped me even thinking about games. I just realized I hadn't checking in with folks until I was checking email. I apologize. Explanation below:

Ladyglutter's brother killed himself earlier in the week. She's in northern VA cleaning up the pieces with her dad right now, and I'm holding down the fort here. It's a terrible situation and we're both pretty angry and sad right now. I'll likely be back on top of things Monday.

[Gamebird]

Whoa. I am *so* sorry. LG - my deepest condolences. I'm very sorry for your loss.

Chris - good luck holding down the fort. Being there for your family is a tough job.

I'd been planning to tell LG that I'd read Clockwork Orange based on one of her posts on her blog. It was an interesting book. Hard to read, but interesting.

[LadyGlutter]

Um... wow, Chris told me he told folks, but for some reason I didn't really expect an announcement like this. But that's okay. I'm back now. There's just a few more things to tie up, and then life should resume it's normal schedule. I think that would be good.

Thank you for the thoughts, GB. And I'm glad my blog got you to read the book. That's cool.

[Chris Chandler]

I'll hold off until Dal checks back in, or Friday.

[Dalcassius]

First things first, I am really sorry about your brother LadyGlutter. My thoughts are with you and yours.

Secondly, I'm sorry for being so absent. I started a new security job on Monday and I've been working 7am-3pm at one site, then 5pm - 9pm at a second. I guess I'll sleep when I am dead. I'm going to post something now and my next chances will be Sunday night, then Monday, Thursday and Friday afternoons.

[Chris Chandler]

I'll hold off until I hear from other folks.

[Chris Chandler]

I am interested in seeing how this pans out. Keep it up folks.

[Chris Chandler]

Keep on keepin' on, guys.

[Chris Chandler]

New post up -

http://kuralia.com/Blog/2009/07/continuing-in-the-same-vein/

[Chris Chandler]

I'll wait for the Cross sisters to contribute.

[Dalcassius]

I'm in and out, but Kirfah is still a little too excited about the "specimen" in front of him. Plus the sisters are doing great without him interrupting. I'll start putting in posts about Kirfah keeping quiet to keep everyone up to date.

[Chris Chandler]

Okay, but I think that folks would like to hear what our Ozan might have to say on the matter. I should have included Kirfah in my last OOC post, anyways.

[LadyGlutter]

Okay, well, the reason I've not posted is apparently we know about this hiding in another colony thing, but I don't remember it at all. I also don't know where to look in the thread for it. Does anyone else have any clue?

[LightBringer]

No clue. It took me by surprise too. I thought the last time it was discussed we found out she was living in the lap of luxury, in some big city, that we couldn't get to even if we knew which one it was. That's why Brit made the comment about bringing her to us.

[Dalcassius]

Yeah, I'm at a loss of memories on the topic as well.

As for your PM Chris, I thought I'd drop the reply here.

I'm doing well. I'm counting down the days to Sept 8th when I start my second and final year of school. I'm excited to be back in school. I'll be working as lab maintenance in the hardware lab for my favourite teacher, so that should be fun and educational.

I'm working security at the moment, and while its not the glory job (I stood guard for 10 mins over a dead seagull today) I am having a good time (worked security for three days at a music festival over the weekend). I'm getting more hours than I had wanted or expected so my paychecks are nicer than I thought I would be getting, even if I don't have much free time. I can see friends and family in Sept.

I gotta say, if a guy wants to feel good about himself, strap on a bulletproof vest and guide foot traffic for a festival where crap loads of girls are drinking. I was hit on and flirted with more in those three days than I have been in the last 13 years of my dating life. All 14 guys working had stories about girls, one guy got flashed and given the girls shirt. Of course he also got kicked in the head by a crowd surfer.

All in all, things are good. I'm tired, but things are really good.


How's everyone else fairing at the moment?

[LightBringer]

Things are going good, even though work drives me crazy sometimes. It seems as if there are never enough hours in the day to do everything, everyone swears is an emergency. So I try to just let it go and focus on the family.

We were supposed to go to a waterpark this weekend, but that got whacked. So we're going to Chucky Cheese to compensate. I think we'll have a good time and things will smooth over though. Worse case I'll get the little one to help me wash the car. She loves get the hose and totally soak me. It always cracks her up, and makes her day.

[Gamebird]

Still unemployed and still desperate about it. The watermelons are coming ripe though and that's pretty cool. The garden's doing well. I'm getting over the flu. Obviously, I still read your stuff. I don't recall knowing where the bad gal was either, if that helps.

[LightBringer]

Sorry to hear things aren't straightening out yet. The melons are pretty much done down here, but they were real good. I hope you get to feeling better.

[LadyGlutter]

I'm okay -- mostly just working through stuff and getting on with life. Obviously it's hard. Right now I'm focused getting the kids ready to go to school. I was planning on returning to school myself, but that got delayed a bit, so I don't know what I'm going to do. We need more scratch, though, so I may get some kind of job, or do something else to earn some income.

It's good to hear updates from you all.

Don't know what to do about the whereabouts of our enemy, though, based on none of us knowing exactly where it is. Not sure where we're meant to be flanking her.

[Chris Chandler]

Alright - found it. The group was questioning the invisible air-creature and it divulged the location of the mistress. The conversation proper begins here (http://online-roleplaying.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8233&highlight=colony&page=46http://online-roleplaying.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8233&highlight=colony&page=46). This was only a year ago, so not so bad, right?

Researching the info caught me reading posts from the whole group again. It's nice to hear from you GB, even if things could be going better for you. Has anyone heard hide nor hair from Ojox? I mean, I know it's been since February, but it's just... disappointing that he just fell off like that.

[Dalcassius]

GB, I'm sorry to hear things are tough. I've got my fingers crossed for you. Best wishes.

I haven't been able to get a response out of Ojox over IM.

[Chris Chandler]

I'll hold off on any comments from Hoylur, Gunther, or Sharad until the rest of the group can contribute.

[Chris Chandler]

Anything to add to the plan, Kirfah?

[LadyGlutter]

LOL... so I'm dying to see Kirfah's rig to get down in the well. Pretty sure it's more complex than Zora's idea, which was a rope.

[Gamebird]

I was imagining a block and tackle with a harness for a human to sit in and a braking mechanism for safety. It's a technology that should be readily available and easy to set up using local materials.

Might weave a slender pole through the harness (horizontally) so it sticks out to either side a bit and hang a lantern from each end.

[Chris Chandler]

Man, if this game were horseshoes, GB...

[Dalcassius]

Picture the rig used in Ghostbusters II to lower Winston into the sewer. Only wooden, larger and mule powered instead of electric. I considered asking for details on the well, diameter inside and out, height extending above ground, depth to water, depth to bottom, how much rope Kirfah has available, what sort of block and tackle is available. That sort of thing, but then I realized, it doesn't really matter and I sort of have a life I need to give a shit about. Suffice to say, it is more complex than "a rope." You'll just have to use your imaginations. The only question I have is if any of our spell casters can cast something to allow Kirfah to breath underwater, but I will deal with that IC.

[Dalcassius]

Man, if this game were horseshoes, GB...

Right... I forgot about the PM I sent you.

[LadyGlutter]

:) That's awesome, Dal. I got in trouble the other day for bringing physics into one of our games. I usually play the (over)thinker, so it's fun to see it from the other angle.

[Dalcassius]

I know what you mean about getting in trouble for bringing in physics. I play in a Vampire: The Masquerade game and the DM had an NPC shoot a bus's gas tank to blow it up. I had to bite my lip because I know that doesn't actually work unless you know where the level of the gas is and you shoot above it with a phosphorous round from greater than 50 feet away. And even then it's still a little iffy. But because I'm always the guy with the "that won't work because" (which irritates the DM and some players) I sat there rocking, biting my lip and avoiding eye contact with the DM. When he asked me what was wrong, my girlfriend started laughing and told him what she knew I was thinking. Nevermind that later I was playing in a D&D game and my ninja character did a backflip covering 25 feet from a dead stand.

Reminds me of this.
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/sci_fi_writer_attributes

And oddly, really makes me want to run a Cadillac's and Dinosaurs game.

[Chris Chandler]

Okay, that was funny -

Just as an FYI. We'll be out of town to Dragon*Con possibly until Monday (don't know yet), so if the postings a bit slow, where, there you have it.

[Dalcassius]

I was out of town from Saturday morning until Monday night. Had a great time, but I'm glad to be home too. How was Dragon*Con?

[Chris Chandler]

Dragon*Con was an experience. It was enormous. It was probably the 2nd largest event I've ever been part of, second only to the Boy Scout Jamboree for the 75th anniversary back when I was a fourth grader. It took up all the convention space in the four largest hotels in Atlanta. There were 4 floors in the Hilton just for gaming. There were 3 merchant/dealers rooms. In short, there was a sea of humanity and too much to do, especially with little ones. There were some really fun points, and overall I'd like to go again next year, but we definitely learned some things, and far as preparation and expectations are concerned.

[Dalcassius]

That sounds amazing. Glad to hear you had a good time. Good luck with next year.

[Chris Chandler]

Just waiting to see if there is anything that needs to be stated before I through you to the wol... er, I mean begin the next encounter.

[LightBringer]

I'm good.

[LadyGlutter]

Yeah, me too. :)

[Chris Chandler]

Hey guys! I put up a new post in Kuralia:

http://kuralia.com/Blog/2009/09/something-is-not-right/

[Chris Chandler]

Just need to know what Kirfah's next step is.

[Chris Chandler]

Just waiting on LB to weigh in so that we can move, but you've got time, LB. We'll be out of town 'til Sunday afternoon. Have a good weekend everyone.

[LadyGlutter]

Just FYI, we're back around to American Thanksgiving again. Chris, LightBringer, and I are all doing various amounts of travelling starting, oh, last Saturday and ending this Saturday, I think. Probably we should have logged in and said something about that, and I did indeed try one day to coordinate a little posting when we were all in the same ZIP code, but that day the server was down. So, we'll be up and running, or crawling rather, ;), next week.

[Dalcassius]

Cool. No worries. Thanks for the update LG. Happy TG guys.

[Chris Chandler]

And you have fun doing whatever... you... Canadians... do the last Thursday of November.

[Gamebird]

Happy Thanksgiving, all.

[Dalcassius]

The same thing we do the last Thursday of every other month. Wish it was the last Friday.

[Gamebird]

I'm wishing it was Monday, myself. I am seriously hooked on the current Heroes plotline.

[LadyGlutter]

Hmmm. Monday was a disappointment to me. I wish someone would step up and out think Sylar for more than one episode in a row. Or just keep up with him. That'd be refreshing.

[Dalcassius]

The Sylar story arc is really getting old. The problem is, the show jumped the shark with their first season. After you save the world, everything else pales in comparison. And yeah, the writers are beating a dead horse with the Sylar character.

[LightBringer]

I love Sylar, mostly for the same reasons LG was disappointed. He seems to be the only character who can plan something out, and then think on his feet if something goes wrong. If Peter would grow a pair, and start using his abilities to their potential, he would be an awesome character.

[LadyGlutter]

Oh, I love Sylar. I just hate the good guys. :D

I agree, they kinda seemed to peak in Season 1. They probably did put out too much, too soon, but I still keep kinda hoping for what was hinted at.... For a perfect example, I keep waiting on seeing awesome Hiro, but I think the new writers never even watched the first season to know he existed.

[Gamebird]

Gosh, I wish we'd see awesome Hiro too, but I'm seriously beginning to see the progression into Future-Peter and Waffle-Sylar. I've been writing fanfiction. :D

[Dalcassius]

Each season they drastically alter the time line. I really don't think the characters are ever going to progress into the future versions that keep getting depicted.

Sorry for the wait on my post. We are coming down to the end of the semester and I've had a crap load of presentations, exams and projects going on.

On the up side, I put my resignation into the security company I've been working for since June and I was talking with the General Manager. He wants to contract me out to rebuild the offices network. It's only 1 server (a desktop machine with 2k3) and 8 client machines, but its a great portfolio buff. w00t!


GB - Your sig line reminded me. Do you watch Castle? The opening scene for the Halloween ep just killed me.

[Gamebird]

I haven't watched Castle, no. I don't get a very broad mix of TV. Once I see something cool, I Netflick it until I've watched all the shows. Let's me avoid commercials and have the ability to hit Pause when the kids go bonkers.

I don't think the characters are going to turn into their future versions on screen, but I can see how the two can be linked. Does that make sense? The future versions are too "cool" and "awesome" which makes for fine drop-in characters, but not so good to follow with the plot because they're too infallible. Initially it was difficult to imagine the circumstances that would have to happen to turn Sylar into Waffle!Sylar, or Peter into Future Peter. Especially with Nathan's death, I can see the arc that could drive Peter into that scarred, angry person. Oddly, I can also see how absorbing Nathan would soften Sylar.

My wish list for the show includes:
Peter to get his powers and the writers to handle the plot thereafter where he's not an idiot. It *is* possible to write well for high powered characters, it's just harder.
Sylar to quit being such a boogyman and be a little more realistic, as a character.
Hiro to either die already or get his head fixed.
Charlie to be found.
Caitlin to be found (or at least resolved/mentioned).
Nathan's family (Heidi, Monty, Simon) to get some mention that might indicate they haven't dropped off the face of the earth.
Someone who was actually guilty of the Sythan debacle having to pay for it (Angela, Noah or Matt).
To see more of Micah. He's maturing into a great actor.

[Dalcassius]

I have to agree with all but one point of your wish list. I like Peter the way he is. I think his original power was cool, but short story arc (movie style) cool. For a (hopefully) long running series, I believe his current power is better. I like it that he has to handle the decisions of when is good to trade up for another power. Unfortunately, he's been pretty willy-nilly with his decisions, but I hope in the future we might see a Sophie's choice of powers.

The Castle/Reynolds clip --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVZnakJJEUU&feature=related

[LadyGlutter]

I don't watch Castle either, but that's hilarious. :)

[Gamebird]

A Sophie's choice would be cool, yes. So far he's had choices, but they didn't write much in on his thought process/decision making. Like when Nathan/Sylar was about to strand him in the desert and Peter gave up the very-valuable-to-him power of Healing to get Flight and stay with his brother until he figured out what the hell was going on. I thought it was a great example of his priorities, but it happened so fast on-screen that it was like he didn't think about it at all. I like to think he thought about it, at least afterwards.

[Chris Chandler]

Is there anything more to the immediate situation? I'll move forward with Zora and Gunther, and everyone else, once I know things are ready to be resolved. Anything to add, Dal?

[Dalcassius]

Sorry. Been busy. Trying to get all my holiday chores done. I'm a few days behind. Today and yesterday were total washes. Yesterday I drank and today I recovered. Spent over 12 hours in bed sleeping it all off. Then I took Raven out to see Avatar. It was AWESOME! And I don't mean just cool, but completely AWESOME. Both in the traditional and modern sense of the word. It is the best reason I can have for moving to blu-ray and getting a plasma.

[Chris Chandler]

Yeah, the holidays are pretty busy for us, too. I'm glad that you're having a goo time of it, though. The folks in my F2F game said that Avatar was excellent, so that's two votes. Likely won't get to see it until it hits the dollar theater, though. Ah well.

[LadyGlutter]

But, the dollar theatre doesn't do 3D!! That's okay, I'm holding out for Johnny Depp/Alice in Wonderland action anyway. If I only I were allowed to have a 5.... *sigh*

[Gamebird]

I agree that Avatar is AWESOME, so there's three votes. Although I haven't seen it in "normal" vision, I saw it in 3-D and it was great. Well worth it.

Merry Christmas all.

[LadyGlutter]

I hope everyone's Christmas was great. :)

Ours was overwhelming and the kids made out like bandits. Now I must clean!

[Gamebird]

Our kids got loads of toys from our relatives. I got shoes! And a tackle box. We gave out all of two gifts, if you don't count home made candy. I feel sorry for it being so lop-sided, but we can barely make the mortgage payment next month (we *can* make it, though some of my husband's medications are going on the credit card now).

On good news, I have a temp job that starts next week and I have an excellent chance of getting a permanent job that would start in the next month and will be at my previous salary. I'm not so wild about the workplace and the obvious office politics (it's bad when you can tell that stuff in the interview), but it will pay the bills.

[LightBringer]

Yeah office politics are crappy. When that all starts up I just go to work, keep my mouth shut, and go home. It makes work a little mind numbing, but I find it helps me keep my foot out of my mouth. LOL

[Dalcassius]

In the office I used to work in I was the mail room guy. Office politics and gossip mills always seemed to come round to me. It was a little extra work to maintain a neutral distance from it and keep up on office relationships. Everyone knows it pays to have a good friendship with the copy room people, the mail room person(s) and the files/supplies manager.

[Chris Chandler]

Yeah, office politics are killer. If I had my druthers I'd avoid it altogether. We'll see how it goes, though.

Really good news on the job prospect, GB. I've been really worried about you and yours. I'm glad to hear that you're turning a corner!

[LadyGlutter]

Lol, I'm on the verge of venturing back into the world of regular old work environments. Y'all are just warming me up to the prospect, lemmetellya.

[Gamebird]

I still haven't started the temp job and likely won't until next week. The drug test lab lost my pee sample, so I had to go back yesterday and provide another one. Then I didn't drink enough beforehand so I had to chug water and wait an hour to try again. Very annoying.

On the plus side, I'm glad I never took up my friend's offer to smoke weed. I have no doubts the test results will be good.

[Dalcassius]

That reminds me of a movie with Christian Bale. Ex-military, he tries to get on with the local police. His first day of tests goes so well, he celebrates and smokes a joint. Someone points out that he has a second day of tests and that he'll have to take a pee test. He freaks out and in the confusion, finishes the joint, then freaks out again. Oddly enough, he fails to make the police force but is offered a DEA job. I can't recall what the movie was called. It really wasn't all that good.

I realize it's not just like your situation, but your post brought it to mind.

[Chris Chandler]

That is just wacky hijinks, there Dal. It doesn't ring a bell, though.

I personally hate the pee test. They are really demeaning.

[LadyGlutter]

I remember when I took my first pee test. I had just watched the Seinfeld episode where someone fails a drug test because of a poppy seed muffin. And I had made poppy seed chicken (just a casserole, no big deal) that week, and I freaked out. I even called up my pot-smokingest friend and asked her all about goldenseal and everything. For a teensy moment she thought I was cool, and then I told her why and she thought (rightly) I was a huge dork. LOL

Also, Gunther just threw a lot of stuff at Zora. It may take a while to construct this post.

[Gamebird]

Pee test results are in and they are good. My first day should be Monday. I don't have any problems with the demeaningness of the test, but I do have issues with being forced to testify and self-incriminate in order to be employed. Also, I have issues with the relevance of the data. For example, if I am unemployed and participate in an illegal activity, then have an interview and stop said activity forevermore, then how is it the company's business what I did while I was not employed by them? Why are drug offenses any different than other illegal activities? That's what bothers me about it.

[Chris Chandler]

Right - the demeaningness. That's what I said. ;)

[LightBringer]

Yay, glad to hear it went well.

[LadyGlutter]

Waiting on Our Fearless Leader to direct me. :)

I gots a new job, too! I start Monday, and am super nervous.

[Dalcassius]

Congrats. Happy first day.

[Gamebird]

I have a permanent job now, offer signed and faxed and all. I start on 2/15. My last day at the temp job will be 2/10. The permanent job is not quite up to the pay I was getting at Hilti, but it's close. I'll be supervising 4 people, so I'll be able to add management to my resume. I hope it goes well!

[Dalcassius]

Congrats. I hope you enjoy the new job.

[Chris Chandler]

Good job GB!

[LadyGlutter]

Congrats!

[LightBringer]

4 more days to go. Good luck.

[LadyGlutter]

LB asked me to let everyone know it might be next week before he can properly get on here and post. His work is exploding, but should be repaired by then. ;)

[Dalcassius]

In working on my post, I stumbled upon an option that left me with the following question;

The rules for the bardic special ability Suggestion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/bard.htm#suggestion) say that the bard must first Fascinate the target. It refers heavily to the bardic special ability to fascinate, but does that mean that one can't cast Hypnotism (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/hypnotism.htm) to fascinate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/conditionSummary.htm#fascinated) a target, then use the Suggestion ability?

The reason I ask is, the Fascinate ability can not be used in combat, while the Hypnotism spell (although at an advantage to the opponent) can be cast in combat. Even though the Suggestion spell can be cast in combat like the Hypnotism spell, the Suggestion ability can not be used in combat, but only because the Fascinate ability can not, and not because of any issues with the Suggestion ability itself.

So does this work around, if possible to begin with, unbalance the ability? Was the combat drawback put in purposely to not over power the ability?

[LightBringer]

Wow! lol

[Chris Chandler]

That is correct. If you successfully use the Hypnotism spell, you may use the Suggestion ability.

[Gamebird]

For what it's worth, I don't think it overpowers the ability. On the other hand, I don't have a good sense for the power of the Fascinate or Suggestion bardic abilities, because they are so rarely used in the games I play in. The errata or Sage Advice said that targets know when they have succeeded on a Will save and they have a general idea of what caused them to make the save, though no special insight on what the save was for.

So a bard who tries to use this ability in the context of a group will see at least some of the targets make their save, who will then be alarmed or at least annoyed that the bard tried to use an unknown magical effect on them. I suppose some elaborate ruses could be used, like bluffing the people first to convince them you're going to use a magical song to make them [insert good effect here, like Bless] and then pull a switcheroo, but you still have the issue that if enough dice rolls are made, then one or more of them will beat you.

Anyway, our groups haven't been able to work out a good way to use this except in a private setting and even then, if you wait to see if the target made their save or not, and they did, then you've given up the element of surprise. And usually if you can get your target alone, then you've won already and there's no need to do the song and dance routine.

Anything that makes the bardic abilities of Fascinate and Suggestion useful in a game is something I'd buy.

[Dalcassius]

Awesome, thanks guys. I'll finish up that post now.

[Chris Chandler]

Dal, the werebat will be able to automatically resist the spell because your suggestion is to do a harmful act - it doesn't specify against one's self, just a harmful act. Feel free to change your action, please.

[Dalcassius]

Damn.
Yeah, I parsed that as harmful to ones self for some reason.

[Gamebird]

Flaming nightmare pegasus = cool image!

[Chris Chandler]

Yeah, I've been jonesing for the group to find him for quite some time

[Chris Chandler]

LG pointed out something very important that I am sorry that I missed. I did not see a specific word that Kirfah had said - "Juren" - that changes the scope of what would happen. I'm going to remove my last post. I'll keep the names together for ease of use later, but forget about the post - it isn't what would happen if Juren is in the picture. It's no big deal. Let's get back on track. Sorry!

[LightBringer]

To be honest Brit was not intending to take her anywhere but wait for someone more neutral than everyone in Last Breath. I'll go ahead and make a post.

[Chris Chandler]

Logistically speaking, it may be appropriate for Zora to send a messenger to Juren, and then have a third party be transported up (via tree stride or something similar). You certainly have enough contacts.

I understand that a court made up here might be a bit kangaroo-y. ;)

[Gamebird]

Yeah, I was thinking of what Breena would say. "Kill her" came to mind.

[Dalcassius]

Kirfah builds a machine to fling the Mistress to Juren. Case solved.

[Gamebird]

::snorting and chortling up my sleeve::

[LadyGlutter]

I totally forgot Hannigan was in Juren. Ah well.

[LadyGlutter]

Have we lost Kirfah too?

[Chris Chandler]

Oh, I hope not!

[LightBringer]

I don't know about anyone else, but that looks like a perfect ending point.

Chris can have many options on where to take that if/when we pick this back up.

???

[LadyGlutter]

Yeah... I sure don't know what to post next anyway. I mean, I've turned it around and around. Courtroom, execution... not a lot to do or say at this point.

[Dalcassius]

I had prep'd the following months ago when I saw the end coming up, but Chris put such a nice end to it I didn't want to post in the in game thread. Still I couldn't let it go to waste so I'm tossing it up here to share.


Into the late hours of the night, Kirfah sits alone in the study of the Sajid manor, his quill scratching ink onto the last remaining blank page of his tome. With a flourished signature, a bit of sand to quickly dry the ink and a gentle huff of breath, Kirfah closes the book, binds it in a leather cord and seals the knot in wax pressed with the family signet. He gently holds the thick, well worn volume in hand as he crosses to a trunk that sits ready and waiting, it's lid open wide. Placing the book atop the contents, to sit safe until the spring when it can be taken to his Master at the Turmish Academy, Kirfah closes and locks the lid without a word.

[Chris Chandler]

I like that! It's an excellent closer, in fact.


Here are a few things that I've thought about, in terms of after the story with the PCs and the colony, though I'm sure that things might be different.

I anticipte Kirfah to leave the colony come spring to strike out on his own, with his mother travelling with him only as far as The Midnight, but Sharad helping to rebuild the colony proper, likely with the help of the nearby Zuihou (complete with a local marriage). In fact, it's a good bet that the colony as a solely Theshian venture is dead, but will be successful with combined effort from other nations.

Many of the other colonists will likely stay. Wybert will be another one of the new leaders, and he and Breena will start a family. Leif would be another part of the new leadership, and the Kingdom of Oermig (his home) would send envoys based on his mother's letter. The Northmen would be a strong positive presence in the new colony. The young cooper and his wife would prefer to leave, but Agatha would convince the wife to help form an orphanage, with Annabelle deciding to join the order of Valasia The oldest of the orphans, too, would be instrumental in keeping the colony afloat. Mathilde would stay, securing the backing of the dwarves. Lassi and Orvokki would help guide things, and would be key in bringing new colonists in.

It's also likely that Olaf will secure a local presence within the colony, and a number of his troop opting to live the pastoral life rather than in Juren.

Hoylur would of course secure the next passage back to The Empire, and his report would likely restore his noble claim, which, in turn would likely have his mysterious mistress warm to him. His report would also provide the Conclave with enough evidence to establish an outpost as part of the colony, which, on the one hand will mean easier meddling, but on the other hand mean easier assistance in an emergency.

Gunther would be key in rebuilding the trade connections with the gen and zuihou, but might or might not stay within the colony proper. It really depends on just what The Cross sisters choose to do, and how his fledgling relationship with Zora would naturally unfold.

I imagine that Brit and Zora will strike out to search for Sir Nathanial and the rest of the family as soon as they feel right in doing so. That might mean staying 'til spring, or it might be staying for long enough to establish proper leadership within the colony. Agatha would be the most likely candidate (aside from Brit herself), but Gunther certainly has the experience.

So, all that to say, I agree, I think that the campaign, which has spanned 5 1/2 years, is at an excellent stopping point. I think that there is potential for these PCs to continue in other adventures, though I don't see them doing so together, at least in the near future. This is also the last of my Kuralia games to use the D20 ruleset. I'm working toward putting it into GURPS, and this campaign has given me myriad ideas about how to go about doing that.

[Dalcassius]

That all sounds great Chris. I'm glad you're taking it into GURPS, it's a great system that's highly adaptable and flexible. I don't think it gets the play it deserves. Although I do have a friend who plays it exclusively.

[Gamebird]

Glad it's wrapped up. Way to go with the longevity. I know it's really tough to keep a campaign going for so long - it's a testament to your skills.

[LadyGlutter]

Oh yeah, Chris has skills, that's for sure. He's really awesome in pen and paper, too. You've no idea.

I'm relieved and happy we got to a good stopping place that seems to wrap everything up nice and tidily. I really like Dal's closer, too. Even though I see why you didn't post it, it seems like a great fade to the end type of scene in a movie.