Dotting in (man that was a pain making all the sheets for this one, they are in a shared folder GM, trying to transfer all the different data to a profile would be insanely difficult and confusing).
I'll get my crap in order asap.
Trying to figure out the default look for C'deth around Infinity.
Thoughts from the peanut gallery? C'deth's race, being able to shift genders by simply loading up DNA from another member of their species, tend to have fairly open gender standards (they only really use gender in a medical sense, they don't really have the concept of him vs her). However, C'deth has found that humans tend to find attractive females somehow less threatening. Given it's species, it's been using female forms mostly as a way to keep humans from feeling threatened by it.
LOL, the mask is the permanent icon for the character. I thought it was a good match, and I'm glad you like it.
For the default, I had a hard time deciding, they are all good. I'll probably keep all 4 in reserve, C (See) will probably get bored eventually, but for now, it's been keeping to one form to avoid questions from those who are not in the know.
For now though, I'm good with Option 2. :P Chinese extract (that should be interesting) Alpha. I think she'll have extensive tattoo's under the full body outfit, because C'Deth took the appearance from an old movie about the Triads, and the female lead was a heavily tattoo'd Triad Assassin femme fatal.
My concept for the good Sir Humphrey is to be ready for everything (except actually perceiving danger). My goal was to make an individual who can function in TL2 through TL8 and possibly TL9, in both jungles, deserts and towns. While a bit spread thin (unlike the man himself), I think I bring a decent set of talents. And an interesting set of disadvantages.
EDIT: About Languages:
I picked German, then I realised it was kind of pointless in Humphrey's alternate universe. Hindi, Chinese or Spanish (or even kZulu) would be a more reasonable match, so let me know which one you think we're lacking.
It's a lot harder to operate at TL2 than it is at TL9, starting at TL8.
Indeed. It was mostly the 'function', rather than operating at decent capacity.
@GM - I imagine there are rules regarding personal items and trinkets, and that's why I waited to see how the game was unfolding before asking. Do we get to take any stuff we want (TL permitting, of course), or do we simply get requisitioned items?
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You can carry personal items if they fit the time period, but no weapons other than those supplied by Infinity. Standard loadout includes:
- Leather pack and boots
- Neutral-color dark cloak and cap
- Leather waterskin (with microfiltration and decontamination in inner surface)
- Firebox (flint and steel, supplemented with safety matches)
- Palmlight
- 20 yards of manila rope with braided aramid cable inside (supports 1 ton)
- Steel knife or survival tool
- Compass
- Silver ingots, 1 oz.
- TL9 first aid kit in TL4 disguise
- Hideout radio
- Palmtop with digital camera setting
- Mini-binoculars with night vision setting
- Nanobugs (keyed to hideout radio and palmtop screen)
- 10mm pistol and spare magazine
- 30 ampoules of Eraser and a spray hypo injector
This is per individual. In the rear of the conveyor, you can expect to find:
- One M-23 or electrolaser rifle for each Patrolman
- One machete, broadsword, or axe for each Patrolman
- Shotgun
- One psi shield for each Patrolman
- Camping and climbing gear, including grapnel
- 1,000 yards of rope
- Binoculars with night vision enhancement
- Digital camcorder
- Handcuffs
- Disguise kit
- Laptop
- Sidereal chronolog
- Maps
- Mixed gold and silver coins from many eras littering the floor
- Horseshoes
- Crash kit
- Small searchlight
- Grenades (2-4 flash-bang or tear gas per Patrolman)
- Tent or tents (enough for crew)
- Basic toolkit including bolt-cutters and sledgehammer
- Extra trail rations and meal packs
- Jerrycans of water
- Bottle of bourbon or brandy
- Flares, thermite, and other “sudden heat” devices, including spare self-destruct tabs
- Fire extinguisher
C needs :
TL9 Surgery Kit (Disguised as TL 4)
TL9 Drug Kit (Disguised as TL 4)
Pack of Preserved Blood Vials (various species) for changing species.
Amos would love to possess a TL9 sniper rifle with varied ammo types and spotter's scope, even if they aren't available to him on every mission.
Based in the load-out I am going to replace being a poor shot with a SMG to being a poor shot with a rifle.
Or just request an SMG that fires 9mm rounds, so you use the same ammo as everyone else. MP5 has a version that fires 9mm.
NOTE: Above assumes that the equipment description above has a typo of 10mm instead of 9mm. None of the guns in High-Tech use 10mm rounds. 10mm rounds aren't even in the book.
I was feeling both the Gun Skills came from IU "Basic Training" If the default load out is Pistol, will Rifle backup that is what he would have learned. I missed the Shotgun on the first pass, I am taking Shotgun.
I do apologise for the lack of posts, please do not mistake this as diminished interest! I've had an extraordinarily busy week, and I find myself with precious little time to post.
However, I've kept up on reading the discussion, so I'm up to date, if quiet. The good Sir Humphrey is mostly ready, as imperfect as he is, and I'm looking forward to the game!
Sorry I'm late to the party. I'm all set now. Does the standard toolkit include everything needed for TL8 (and possibly 9) electronics repair? If not I'd like to try to requisition one of those.
As far as weapons go, my military training was as a pilot so I'm proficient with pistols and mounted weapons (like the guns on an aircraft), but not rifles. So, I'll probably just use the pistol.
I'm sorry if these were answered somewhere and I missed it, but OOC I have questions... some of which might become IC questions depending on the answers...
1) I gather from context that Centrum is a rival parachronic organization whose moitves are nefarious (because they're different then our own organization's), but how much do we know about them in game?
2) Have we worked with each other before? How well do we know each other? Have we received files on each other with like a list of strengths/skills/etc? What about each other's personalities/backgrounds/etc?
3) Is there any kind of rank or chain of command within the unit? Some of us seem to have picked out specific roles (C'Deth is the medic, I'm the field technician...); does everyone have an assigned role or are some of us just generic agents? Is someone assigned the role of team leader?
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I'm sorry if these were answered somewhere and I missed it, but OOC I have questions... some of which might become IC questions depending on the answers...
1) I gather from context that Centrum is a rival parachronic organization whose motives are nefarious (because they're different than our own organization's), but how much do we know about them in the game?
You would know that Centrum is from an alternate parallel and that where Infinity works to preserve the way of things, Centrum is a bit more aggressive (but no less protective of the Secret) in their efforts to bring parallels under their control.
I should explain that each parallel exists in a specific Quantum. Homeline is Quantum 5. Infinity can reach Q4 and Q6 fairly easily, and Q3 and Q7 with difficulty. Q2 or below and Q8 and above are inaccessible. Centrum is located on Q8. They can reach Q7 and Q9 fairly easily, Q6 and Q10 with difficulty. They cannot reach Q5 or below, nor can they reach Q11 or above.
Close parallels to our own Earth at an earlier point in their history are called "echoes." Echoes always exist on Quantum 6, but may be "Quantum shifted" by creating a divergence from their "known" history. Usually (but not always), such a shift requires a powerful deviation from the established course of events as it happened on Homeline. When an echo shifts, it becomes a parallel.
All of this would have been covered in your basic training with Infinity, so it is common knowledge.
2) Have we worked with each other before? How well do we know each other? Have we received files on each other with like a list of strengths/skills/etc? What about each other's personalities/backgrounds/etc?
It is almost certain that you know one another and have trained together to a degree. You might not know intricacies about one another, but you would be aware of one another's skill sets.
3) Is there any kind of rank or chain of command within the unit? Some of us seem to have picked out specific roles (C'Deth is the medic, I'm the field technician...); does everyone have an assigned role or are some of us just generic agents? Is someone assigned the role of team leader?
The only assigned role is that of team leader. He or she is responsible for making sure that the Secret is kept and that no one is left behind (and no one gets left behind or your next assignment will be to go and fetch them). I suggest that you come to an agreement among yourselves as to who will be designated team leader.
C'Deth is not a good selection of team leader. And I doubt they would assign it as team leader. Given it's coming from a quantum that's totally alien to both Infinity and Centrum, it would be unlikely it would be put in charge of any team. And C'Deth doesn't really think like a human being.
Question to the GM : If I understand correctly, basically an Echo is a parallel time stream on the same quantum. Hitler caught measels and died creates a new parallel world, with signficant changes. Time can be faster or slower in each echo, and is not constant (that is, time in Echo 123 may be passing 1 day for every 2 days in Homeline this week, and next week it may be passing 20 days for every 1 day in Homeline. Usually not that big a swing, but it means that time dilation is not a constant across echos. I'm assuming, however, that the echos rarely get more than a short distance away from Homeline temporally, otherwise we'd have TL20 echos where time is going forward at a super fast rate right next to cetacious age echos. So should we assume that all the echo's have a rubber band effect? That is, the further they get ahead or behind Homeline, the harder they 'snap back' to let Homeline catch up/catch up with Homeline?
Also, from the description, there's dangers in accidentally creating new Echos. I was unclear though if by 'let nobody find out Jack the Ripper's identity' if you were referring to 'nobody in that echo' or 'nobody in that echo or on the team itself'? I could kind of see where confirming JtR's identity, even by the team itself, could cause some sort of paradox effect on Homeline since it's unknown on it. If you did mean nobody on the team or in the Echo, would that include C'Deth, since he's not from any of the quanta or echo's close to Homeline (and thus has no reference framework to cause a paradox with)?
Basically trying to get an idea for how careful we have to be, and if people from specific quanta might have advantages in other quanta regarding echos and paradox. It could explain why both organizations recruit from other quanta, to give themselves as broad a base of paradox defense as possible.
Also, does time ever run backwards on any Echo's? If so, that would allow time travel within Homeline, which could be very dangerous. I'd assume those echo's are watched very very very closely.
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C'Deth is not a good selection of team leader. And I doubt they would assign it as team leader. Given it's coming from a quantum that's totally alien to both Infinity and Centrum, it would be unlikely it would be put in charge of any team. And C'Deth doesn't really think like a human being.
Question to the GM : If I understand correctly, basically an Echo is a parallel time stream on the same quantum. Hitler caught measels and died creates a new parallel world, with signficant changes. Time can be faster or slower in each echo, and is not constant (that is, time in Echo 123 may be passing 1 day for every 2 days in Homeline this week, and next week it may be passing 20 days for every 1 day in Homeline. Usually not that big a swing, but it means that time dilation is not a constant across echos. I'm assuming, however, that the echos rarely get more than a short distance away from Homeline temporally, otherwise we'd have TL20 echos where time is going forward at a super fast rate right next to cetacious age echos. So should we assume that all the echo's have a rubber band effect? That is, the further they get ahead or behind Homeline, the harder they 'snap back' to let Homeline catch up/catch up with Homeline?
For our purposes, time passes at a constant rate on all parallels, but very few parallels seem to be ahead of Homeline or Centrum (or they can't be reached). It is entirely possible to visit a Cretaceous parallel one day and a TL8 parallel the next.
Also, from the description, there's dangers in accidentally creating new Echos. I was unclear though if by 'let nobody find out Jack the Ripper's identity' if you were referring to 'nobody in that echo' or 'nobody in that echo or on the team itself'? I could kind of see where confirming JtR's identity, even by the team itself, could cause some sort of paradox effect on Homeline since it's unknown on it. If you did mean nobody on the team or in the Echo, would that include C'Deth, since he's not from any of the quanta or echo's close to Homeline (and thus has no reference framework to cause a paradox with)?
Primarily, neither the denizens of the echo nor the party should be able to confirm the Ripper's identity. If the ID were known by the echo, it would change their history (though probably not to an extreme enough to cause a shift, but you never know). If known to the party, the result could cause a massive paradox on Homeline (or maybe not; again, you never know). C'Deth is a paradox in and of himself, so his knowing probably wouldn't affect things on Homeline, though you would have to keep the secret from your companions.
Basically trying to get an idea for how careful we have to be, and if people from specific quanta might have advantages in other quanta regarding echos and paradox. It could...
Indeed it could, and there is no way of knowing what might happen until it does. <evil GM grin>
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Also, does time ever run backwards on any Echo's? If so, that would allow time travel within Homeline, which could be very dangerous. I'd assume those echo's are watched very very very closely.
Not so far as are known...yet. Yes, if such an echo were found it would be a very, very closely-guarded secret.
Good, that means my 'ethics demo' still works. And I doubt if people would notice they had visited a reverse time echo/quanta, until they got back. Inside it, it would seem like time was passing normally, but when you got back, you'd find out you arrived before you left. Which will be fun, since you'd need to hide from Infinity until after you left, to avoid a paradox. :)
I hadn’t really planned on Thom being a big leader, but I suppose that as the only one from Homeline, and a former Air Force officer, it would make some sense for me to take the team leader spot... I don’t want to just lay claim to that without some group consensus...
I guess I’m nominating myself? If you vote for me I promise to do my best to defer to each of you in your own area of expertise, and to try to suggest tactically sound plans that let you use your skills...
With respect to the vintage clothing, is C being given a western bustle dress, a western panel skirt & blouse, or a period correct cheongsaem?
She may need to adjust her appearance depending on the answer.
Thom seems to be the best in-character choice for all the reasons that you suggested.
On a side note, if I read Morph correctly, C could alter her appearance to look slashed up and dead, so if it comes to it, C could 'fill in' for a corpse as long as she got access to the 'victim' early enough to capture DNA, or if she performed first aid and saved her if they found her still alive. The important thing seems to be the victim being found dead with specific types of wounds, not that the victim is buried. So a body vanishing would not change much if anything, the finding and recognizing the types of wounds is the important part.
Apologies! I must've dotted the thread and then accidentally pressed the x. I didn't realise we had started Gameplay...
Will rectify immediately.
That reminds me, for future edification. When dotting the gameplay thread, you can, after posting your 'dot' immediately delete the message and the dot still works.
This does not apply to the first message in the thread, that one (the GM's) has to remain.
That's why you don't see my dot in the thread, I dotted in first and deleted it. :)
I think Thom will make a fine leader
Oh, neither C nor I care. :) So all good here. If you screw up, I'll cut your legs out from under you. No hard feelings on that.
I just couldn't resist having Ezekiel comment at the mention of souls. Are the Sathara religious or is she speaking purely metaphorically?
Hm, regarding leading, while Sir Humphrey would have done so in the past, he is fully aware he lacks some of the qualities that leader requires. Patience being one of them.
So, Thom as a leader? If we're all agreed, then great.
Though, looking at the characters, it sounds a lot like herding cats.
Neither, and both.
It's more of a spiritual belief than a religion. Those who can think, who have sapience, have a soul. That soul can be lost by losing worth as a sapient being. No one can take your soul, trade your soul, or barter your soul, only you can destroy your soul.
A soul can be rebuilt though, if it's destroyed. By dint of hard work and effort, and much effort indeed. Sathara live by Ethics, not Good and Evil. Different Sathara have different ethics. As long as you live by your ethics, your soul is intact. Those who betray their ethics lose it, and are usually exiled from their home quanta.
Being a healer, C's ethics revolve around being a healer. Healers preserve life, they only take life when it's required. This only applies to Sapient life in a fixed way. That is, C can eat other living things that are not sapient, it isn't a violation of it's ethics. But it would not condone torturing small animals for fun either. Animal testing is just fine within it's ethics structure, as it's inflicting pain for the cause of healing sapient life. Now, C might inflict harm on a sapient to save it's life and be completely ethically fine. C could even do permanent damage to a sapient to save it's life or another's life (C could, for example, shatter a serial killer's spine and leave them a paraplegic to keep them from killing again and have no ethical issues with that). C can kill to protect another life and be ethically fine, if the protected life is a Sapient (killing someone who's about to kill someone else, for example). C could even combine them. For example, saving Hitler's life and then severing his spine and removing his vocal cords to prevent him from becoming a mass murderer again. That would be ethical for C.
Remember, C is not a human, and doesn't think remotely like a human. C can act in ways that would be considered horrendous by a human, or even simplistically stupid, or brilliantly out of the box. I just hope to be able to play that effectively. It's difficult to think outside the box like that.
That's very interesting. I feel like there could be some fun discussions between C'Deth and Ezekiel on this topic since Ezekiel believes he has traded away his own soul, which is impossible according to Satharan beliefs.
I see - it's the way one would prune and shape a tree so it can grow better that it would've by itself.
Sir Humphrey isn't as much posturing as being his natural, apparently overly energetic self when talking about a subject he's interested in. Which sometimes includes posturing.
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One thing I should mention, though some of you are already aware:
My wife is 90% blind due to glaucoma and I am her eyes. I can usually check in once a day, but there are days when I can't find time to log in (mostly weekends). If I go dark for a short time (and I will try to give warning if it will be for more than two days), then it's probably nothing to worry over; I'm just swamped with other concerns. As a result, this game will move at a slightly slower pace, but I think that everyone is interested enough to keep it going.
Hey Thom, What's your actual rank?
Squad Leader?
I didn’t buy any of the rank advantage on this version of Thom. I would most likely have been a captain or maybe a major when I left the Air Force.
I was going to have Anders address you by rank, so... choose one? :)
Totally your call.
Squad Leader would be more accurate but Captain might be more comfortable for a born and bred military man like yourself... either's fine with me.
How does XP work in GURPS? Thom's off hand comment made me realize I should have put all of those points I sunk into Psy attacks into Mind Control. But after play starts seems a little late to make a change.
You get XP whenever the GM hands it out, usually between 3 and 10 per story (depending on how long/involved the story was). You spend them just like character points.
There's no functional difference between a character who was 150/45/5 with 50 experience, and a character who was 200/45/5 and 0 experience.
Note to Mei : You probably want to either (A) buy the limitation off your magery, or (B) buy your illusions up to 15 first.
Buying a spell up to 15- reduces the fatigue cost of casting and maintaining it, meaning you can cast and maintain more spells without FP cost. Reducing the limitation on the magery lets it add to more spells. You can buy it off the magery by level (IE: buying it off level 1 and leaving it on level 2 and 3) resulting in 1 level applying to all spells and 2 and 3 to illusion, etc. Alternately, you could buy your magery up more, with the limitations, to up all your spells that are illusions. More expensive than raising a single spell, but it raises multiple spells.