My other question was- Can K 9 both figure out how to use the control console and use it in one round?
And I am not sure I quite got across what I was trying to do. Please look at the map and where K 9 and the Master are. I assume the control panel is like a desk with instruments on controls on it, sticking out above the floor. If that is so I can't see how I can't be able to get cover by moving slightly toward it to K 9's left. The only way I can't do that I can see if the control panel is flat on the floor, which is very weird indeed.
I must be able to just poke K 9's eyes above the panel to see the top and study it, presenting a much smaller target.
That is why I want to know if I need one round to study it and a second to enter commands. To enter the commands K 9 is going to have to reach the appropriate gizmo on the panel. Unless I am lucky and the appropriate gizmo or gizmos are conveniently located near where K 9 is now, I am going to have to be shot at w/o cover for one round.
But if I need 2 rounds I will have to be w/o any cover for the second round [unless I am lucky] but not the first.
Sorry to be so particular, but I have a dangerous enemy shooting at me and i am nearly disabled.
You're trying to read too much into the map. It's just a crude indication of relative positions, not a precise account of where everything is and how big everything is. I'm assuming the controls are meant to be operated by humans so to get a good view of them, K-9 will have to hover so he can see them. At that point, he's going to lose whatever cover he might contrive to gain, so he can see and manipulate the controls. A human would more or less have to do the same and while a human might hide significant parts of his body behind the console case, the important bits in the head and torso are still exposed.
Besides, do you really want to use the thing you need to work to disable the power core serving as a buffer for damage from a powerful ray gun? In any case, the RP system is not meant to be so detailed that it covers things like the effect of cover on combat like Pathfinder does. The system at no point mentions armor, for example. If something seems it would give someone a defensive advantage, I'll either add points to one side of the fighting contest or subtract from the other to represent the advantage.
Edit: My first search was using the American spelling of armor rather than the British spelling of armour. Anything that protects one generally from damage subtracts a certain number of points from any damage done (see the Trait called 'toughness'). If I think there is something in the environment that functions that way, I'll assign some points for that purpose, although it may also limit one in other ways. Daleks have an armor toughness of 10 but their coordination is severely limited thereby.
Here I don't think there's anything worthwhile that can shield K-9 or anyone else from the Master or the Tendrils (of which there is only one left at the moment in reach of the vital area).
As for figuring out the controls versus using them, once the right switch, dial, or lever is determined to adjust, it won't take a roll or much time to do it (K-9 can use his close range sonic device to make that happen).
It's going to take teamwork to deal with this situation. The danger is part of the drama. WWTDD?
My work schedule has shifted back to working days. The times I generally will not be able to post are from around 6 AM (American EST) to around 2 PM, Monday through Thursday. I suspect this will be my schedule for at least 4 months.
Is there anything else on the platform with the Master? Pipes or something similar to the coolant K-9 used on our level to mess with his sightlines that could be shot at and distract him?
At this point, the coolant venting is obscuring your view of that. In general, there are lots of pipes, cables, wires, etc all around, but whether they can be counted on to create a distraction or perhaps disable something K-9 needs to effect the shutdown of the axionite is unknown.
There is another obvious (to me) possibility, but I don't want to do your work for you, although for a story point, I can suggest it.
FWIW, in the TV shows K-9 often "accessed" consoles and such by extending his "probe" (a wire with a suction cup on it), and just touched the console on the underside. Presumably, he was accessing the controls by some kind of electronic wizardry (injecting electronic signals directly into the circuits or some such).
I will spend a story point for a hint.
There are two fluorescent lights illuminating the room, one above the console and one on the other side of the room. A well placed shot (Target = 12) would dim the lighting and make it harder for the Master to see his target. IT should not affect K-9's ability to study the console and change control settings, as the console has lights illuminating each dial and switch.
Yep, that's pretty obvious. I was way overthinking it. Shooting out the light above the console will be Ted's intention, then. I'll spend an additional 3 story points on my turn to add 3d6 to my roll, which combined with the story point spent now will take me down to 8!
I'm working on the events of the round, but I'm out of time and I don't want to post until I'm finished with working out the rolls made by the NPCs and by Kyle, so I'll get the results after work, late afternoon. I can say it's going to be exciting.
I did a check on Kyle's player (Meetch) and none of his/her aliases have posted since Jan. 30. I found no posts explaining a reason for delayed posts except one which indicated he/she had been out of town and without Internet but was back (that was on Jan. 30). Back in 2018 there was a post saying he/she was going to have to stop being a GM for online games due to a lack of time due to work.
If we haven't heard back by the time we start the next episode, Kyle will drop out as a player with the option to rejoin if the player resurfaces later. I've got an interesting way to link Kyle to events that will happen later on, so I might bring Kyle back as an NPC if the player does not come back, just to provide that element.
I found a number of PC aliases which simply stopped posting with no explanation in the game or discussion threads, so the player is apparently not one to give other players any warning if he/she stops being able to post. Not polite, but not knowing the player's situation, I'm reluctant to make any judgments.
Losing players, either temporarily or permanently, is something that just happens in PbP. And it is not for the impatient, it's pace can be glacial.
Just a question, does K 9 heal or does he need repair? I would think we had opportunity to repair him now, so it isn't relevant just now. I would of thought a robot needed repair.
We can assume Bryce and the Doctor can make repairs during the interim between adventures.
When I said everybody gets a build point, I had in mind something like gaining experience points to improve your character in some way. The system is not built with this in mind. The core rulebook recommends the GM give increases in a skill if it was used in a particularly resourceful way or perhaps award a gadget.
Go back to the way points were used in creating the character. You spent points on attributes, traits, and skills.
I'd say if you want to increase a skill by one point, as long as you utilized the skill in a successful way, you could add one point to a skill, as long as it doesn't take you over 6.
Alternately, you could save it and when you've accumulated 3 build points, you can convert it into an increase in an attribute or to buy a trait. If you are adding to an attribute, there should be some reasonable explanation of why it would increase.
Likewise the trait should be something that would reasonably develop in response to events. It might be possible to add a bad trait to increase the points available to add a good trait, but again, that should be something that would be an outgrown of events.
Let me know if you have an idea and get my approval before considering it final.
I have just got internet access back after a 13 day break. This explains the recent silence of everyone's favourite cybernetic canine. Sorry, but not a lot I could do about it.
It happens. Not a problem as we were in transition to a new adventure.
As you can probably tell, this adventure seems to owe a lot to Douglas Adams. There will be action and danger galore, but the setting is a bit on the whimsical side. I hope it's fun.
As you can probably tell, this adventure seems to owe a lot to Douglas Adams. There will be action and danger galore, but the setting is a bit on the whimsical side. I hope it's fun.
Just a follow up on this, the plot in this adventure is fairly open-ended. It is more sand-box than railroad. While your options are constrained at first, things will open up and I'll try to roll with what you want to do and add plot complications as appropriate.
One of the play by post players in another campaign shared a link for something called Paizo Campaign Tools- Chrome. If you're using a Chrome browser, you can download an extension which will allow a number of cool options for your PBP experience.
The most appealing thing it offers (IMHO) is the ability to modify character avatars to anything you like. The limit is that the avatars are only visible to you. But if you don't like an avatar for your character or for any other character, it's a simple matter to upload something else.
If all the players of a campaign have the same download, players and GM could share their preferred image of the PC and so get around the limited set of avatar images provided by Paizo.
I just used it to change the Doctor GM avatar to a Doctor Who logo, for example. I also have used an image of K-9 which eliminates the Rin-tin-tin image. There are a few other nice features, so if you don't mind using Chrome, I recommend you download it and start using it.
How accessible are the stairs on the south side?
Sitting in the lobby, the stairs are inaccessible. You have to be admitted into the dining room to even see the stairs directly. You have to be admitted to the dining room through a set of double doors that only opens to allow guests to go into the dining room.
I'm so sorry for the delay, work has been getting really busy the last few days with tax time approaching and it just slipped my mind. Again, very sorry for holding the game up.
A lot of my games are going slow this week. Spring break and other issues. Don't worry about it.
I have been rather slow posting because I am having sleep issues. Which is innovative if nothing else. :(
I've had a few extra responsibilities lately at work, so I'll get a post up this evening. Thanks for your patience.
I've waited for the end of the week to give me time to review the adventure text. It's a complex set of moving parts that is generally open-ended so no matter what the PCs do, there will be challenges to deal with; but that means I must get familiar with all those possibilities so I set things up properly.
I'd encourage players to post descriptive role playing vignettes to flesh out the characters and add depth to the adventure while waiting for the GM. The rolls are there at key points to help determine certain vital outcomes, but in between is a lot of leeway that can be creatively filled with role play.
I'd encourage every post to include some descriptive detail, not just what is said and done. How is it said? Include something that allows other PCs and the GM to see what you imagine your character to look like, his mannerisms, nervous gestures, etc. Sounds also help. Maybe even a little peak into the thoughts of the PC. Within reason, you can also feel free to add details about the environment that seem reasonable, even NPCs (so long as they are not really capable of changing the course of events).
Anyway, on with the show.
We seem to be on the same page The Doctor GM, metaphorically as well as literally as I just made a post where K 9 moved around to point with his nose and managed to sound smug. Then I read your last post in discussion.
It is actually harder to role play a canine than a human and a robot than a person, but I am getting there.
I appreciate the effort and the challenges. A suggestion I might make is when K-9 makes a knowledge roll and then reports to the group, consider rephrasing that information into shorter sentences. I'm not very familiar with K-9's dialogue from his Doctor Who adventures with the 4th Doctor, but my sense is he does not speak in long sentences with lots of dependent clauses (which is how I tend to write as an academic).
You are probably correct.
It is more than 40 years since I did most of my watching of K 9, which makes me feel kind of ancient.
If my rather dim memory serves me well, K 9 didn't talk all that much. But he tended to show up at really vital times. Which means before that he had to get separated, which is normally a bad thin in RPGs.
On use of language, I am not an academic but did spend a long time at university. I remember at one time trying to get my sentence length and complexity down. I was successful but before my sentences were too long and it a reader could easily be confused or have to read them twice.
You are probably correct.
It is more than 40 years since I did most of my watching of K 9, which makes me feel kind of ancient.
If my rather dim memory serves me well, K 9 didn't talk all that much. But he tended to show up at really vital times. Which means before that he had to get separated, which is normally a bad thin in RPGs.
On use of language, I am not an academic but did spend a long time at university. I remember at one time trying to get my sentence length and complexity down. I was successful but before my sentences were too long and it a reader could easily be confused or have to read them twice.
I worked for a financial organization in their operations department and I was told by my supervisor I was using too many big words when explaining things to the associates.
As for K-9, I have very limited exposure, but I'd encourage you to deviate in any way you like from the series depiction of K-9 for the sake of playability. We are assuming K-9 has had some upgrades. I always found it odd that advanced technologies would make a relatively clunky and simplistic robot such as K-9. I figure the character was there to appeal to children who were part of the target audience.
One of my less brilliant moments was using the word 'counter-intuitive" to a group of children I was coaching in chess. I was decent at it otherwise. :)
Ok, I'm stuck. We can't get upstairs where the trace appears to be coming from without getting a private dining room or excelsior service. I'm not very good with "figure out what to do scenarios", anyone have any ideas?
You've got options. Mingle, order and see what happens when the snails come, try to talk your way upstairs or back to the kitchens.
I'm going to slammed with work and a special work project, so I may not post until later tonight.
Looks like Ted has an idea. :)
My posting is going to slow to a trickle the next couple of days, as I have extra project work with deadlines of Friday and Monday, the end of the term in my classes, and an in-law visiting from out of town.
I hope to have a post up on Saturday morning. It's going to be a working weekend, but I should have time to advance the game a bit. Thanks for your patience.
I like your in game idea Ted.
It isn't really the type of thing a mechanical dog is suited to.
My schedule is going to be so packed with extra duties and regular duties that are going to take more time than usual for the next four weeks, that I can't promise I'll post much during the week. I'll try to get in quick posts when I won't need to check the reference books or generate maps or NPCs, but some things will have to wait for the end of the week. I recommend you RP conversation that advances what your characters are like and allow the PCs to get to know each other better. This should not become the regular state of things, just a short-term necessity. Thanks for your patience.
I really thought I'd get some posts in this past weekend, but I'm having to work a lot on the weekend and when I had time, I felt too burned out to make good posts. I'll continue to try to post as I can, but it might be best to consider the game on temporary hiatus until my schedule settles down. Sorry.
We understand, or at least I do. It makes sense you have to put RPGs on hold while up to your eyes in work. Even if the reference to snails in the last in game post seems apt. :(
Sorry to hear work is so overwhelming. I check Gameplay and Discussion every day, so I'm ready to jump back in as soon as you are. But if you're going to be away for more than a week, it might be a good idea to PM each of us once you start posting again.
Yes, it's completely understandable. I check in almost every day too, so I'll be here when we're ready.
Well, I'm back. Thanks so much for your patience. These past few weeks have been stressful and I just didn't have the will to work on these posts when I didn't have much time and was burned out from many long days.
My schedule is back to teaching days, with a slight change. I'm teaching on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. But I'll be working on other projects on Monday and Wednesday. I should have time to post regularly again, although don't be surprised if I miss posting a day or two during the middle to end of the week.
Monday night I came down with something that has had me sick for a few days and not posting. I hope to be back on track Thursday evening. Sorry for the delay.
Sorry to hear that. Get well. Go to see the Doctor. Wait....
Sorry for taking so long to resume. I was affected by some kind of intestinal flu or perhaps mild food poisoning.
The post I just made in the Gameplay thread took a few hours to compose, in part because this point in the adventure is complicated and I had to decide on which of a number of ways things could go. The adventure text is organized in such a way that it takes some time to hunt for information. I did not have the energy to do that after my usual work routine. I hope things will get back to normal this coming week.
I just recently heard of the "two day rule" - if in the middle of "combat", a player doesn't post within 2 days of the last post, the DM should 'bot them (or, in this case, since we're not actually fighting, move on).
Sorry about my outrageously long delay posting. I had to look up a rule, and it wasn't urgent because the GM was ill. Then I forgot about it. That would make being 2 or 3 days late with a post more or less excusable, but it was 2 to 3 weeks which is grossly excessive.
Welcome back. I'm working on the next step. The adventure text is pretty wide open so the GM has to fill in a lot of the details of how to get from A to B. You all might want to check the time tracker now that you're closer to where it said you should be the last time you checked.
I see what you mean. Will do as you ask in future.