[d20 Future] 22nd Century: Solar Odyssey to Hell. [FULL]

[John Tobermory]

Actually,

I am still here. Just had a shake up at the office and lost my computer to my wife's children over the weekend. Add to this that I'm still trying to switch from working the graveyard shift to working the day shift and I hope you can understand why I've been a bit preoccupied.

On a different note, Tobermory is the mission's Military commander. Currently we're in investigation mode which means I take a back seat to our SIA operative.

Turanil if you need to progress the story and I'm not posting then please feel free to assume that Tobermory will follow the consensus.

On yet another note. Regarding my previous equipment request, I finally got my Transhuman Space book back from the friend I borrowed it from. What I was looking for was the D20 equivelant of the Implant Communicator and the Virtual Interface Implant as per pg. 64 (of the hardcover anyway).

Maj. John Tobermory

 

[Vincent Collins]

Actually I’ve been enjoying the game so far, but we should pick up the pace a little bit. I’ve been a little preoccupied with a rather important recent election, and I apologize for my scarce posts. I was sort of waiting on Tobermorry for the final say on how to go about talking to the AI, but I am happy to take over. Like I said before the only thing I’m routinely unclear on is everyone’s general location around the ship (which is where I understand we all are at this point). Anyway, didn’t seem like a disaster so much as slow, but we can fix that…

 

[Turanil]

Well, I tend to forget about Real Life problems, and also about elections...

I don't want to have a NPC captain now, and don't think it would be a so good idea. Wouldn't that be railroading?

Okay, lets proceed.

(Right now, everyone is onboard of the Telarion spaceship orbiting Earth.)

 

[Jay Purr]

I concur with the analysis of some of our difficulties:

1) Hard to tell where characters are.
2) Difficult to proceed if we are dependent on the actions of one player who may be having access difficulty or subject to the vagaries of the real world.

Both the result of using a forum thread on a very busy forum site. Easier to access for Turanil and I since we are in Europe and can more reasonably access the site during the quiet hours in NorAm (I am assuming that ENWorld is physcially located in NorAm due to the fact that it becomes MUCH slower after about 15:00 here in Paris, which is 09:00 EST).

Turanil, we are experimenting with the format, so it is really too soon to give up. We are going to proceed slowly, it seems, since it can take a day or two for everyone to catch up on the posts. My preference is to continue with the current command structure rather than an NPC leader, but I am willing to accept whatever the group and more-experienced forum users recommend.

Possibly Turanil can set a date/time limit for a required roll or decision, and force the issue if that deadline is not met by the players? That is one way to keep things rolling, so to speak.

As an aside, I picture Jay Purr's personality as being a bit obnoxious in typical fighterjock fashion. So he is going to assume that he is smarter, faster, better-looking and generally more competent than most other folks, and he will continue to offer to do things that might seem outside of character. This is probably also a good indication that he is not a very old fighterjock, since such an attitude does not enhance longevity. Bluffing is not outside of character, however.

Leads to another question that I asked, possibly I missed the response from Turanil. Can Bluff checks be enhanced by the "aid another' action? I.e., can Jay Purr assist Vincent Collins a "+2" assistance bonus by himself succeeding at a Bluff check DC 10?

 

[Caine Freerover]

I think the game is going fine. PbP and PbM games always have an inconsistent pace--sometimes a problem catches everyone's interest and there's a flurry of posting, and at other times there's nothing for days at a time. At such times it's the DM's job to clear the blockage, either by assuming a consensus and advancing the action, or by getting on someone's case to roll the dice if that's what he's waiting for.

If you are willing, the game can be sped up further by letting Turanil roll all the dice. Then all you have to do is post, you don't have to also go to the dice server. Turanil doesn't even need the server, he can just roll a real d20.

It also helps tremendously to have one player be the clear designated leader in any given situation. This doesn't always have to be the same person; in my current PBM game my character is the leader on site-based exploration (i.e. dungeons and the like), and another character is the leader for social occasions and party negotiations. I think the military leader/investigation leader division makes perfect sense in this mission.

Let's keep going! There's a mystery here to solve!

--Ben

 

[Turanil]

Leads to another question that I asked, possibly I missed the response from Turanil. Can Bluff checks be enhanced by the "aid another' action? I.e., can Jay Purr assist Vincent Collins a "+2" assistance bonus by himself succeeding at a Bluff check DC 10?

Yes.

 

[Christopher Lambert]

I know I'm one of the slow-posting culprits Although I've got an excuse from Tuesday this week (I paid someone $69 to resurrect my computer today).

And I've still got to pick out those skill points

 

[Turanil]

PBP Game Rules : Roll Playing

Please: anytime you say your character is going to do something involving a skill-check, roll the die immediately (using the Online dice Roller). You can then update your post for others to see the result.

Doing so will speed up my answer.

Even if you don't know about a DC, it's not really that important. In fact, in many cases I will give more info with a greater roll. Example: suppose the DC required is 15 to learn something: with a 13-14 check you don't learn it, but learn of a person who might help (requiring then a Diplomacy check or what not); with a 16-19 check you learn it, but nothing more; with a 20 or more check you learn it, PLUS other related and interesting info. So always the higher is the better.

Otherwise: if I ask for a skill check (like Spot for example), and nobody replies within two days, I will do as if the check was made and failed, and will go on with the consequences.

Thanks.

 

[Turanil]

Since our adventure currently involves Artificial Intelligence and bioshells, I suggest to read this article.

 

[Caine Freerover]

Since our adventure currently involves Artificial Intelligence and bioshells, I suggest to read this article.

That is some freaky science, but not altogether unsurprising. I've worked with software neural networks in the past, and their learning process is really highly analogous to human learning. I find it entirely believable that we will be able to reproduce human minds in software in the not-too-distant future.

Good job on the science background for the campaign so far Turanil. Keep it coming!

--Ben