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So I have to say that I'm a little proud of the last post. I wrote that on two levels: Kenji's experience and then at the end you get why Julian was constantly asking open ended questions. So Kenji looked competent, but he was being guided towards helping himself. So when you look back and figure out what Julian was trying to do, he's actually leading Kenji around while Kenji is convinced he's winning. It feels complicated without being so complicated that it's hard to understand, and that's what I was going for. Hope it works.Deadmeat5150 posted:Edit: just noticed page 100! Woo!  CourValant posted:Good Grief this thread moves fast when Ice decides to post. Yep. Been on a writing kick for a while now. Feels good to create. quote:1) Ice, the others have already stated it already, and, great awakening scene with Kenny and Dog. Hopefully, this lets him come to grips with his mentor spirit, as I would hate to see the ramifications of being with Dog as having uncontrollable rage whenever the Pack is threatened. Dog isn't about rage. Dog is about Kenji protecting his pack. It's just that the feelings are so strong along with Kenji's already strong feelings about his friends that Kenji has a hard time getting everything under control. Julian is going to help him gain control. Kenji will always feel compelled to protect his pack, but with enough time he'll be able to do so intelligently instead of impulsively. This isn't in the book. I just figure that there's a transition period is all. quote:2) Julie is all kinds of awesome given her skillset and disposition. Yep. She's becoming a competent healer, and I like that she did so well. I feel like with a friend in danger she could have panicked, but no. She kept it together. quote:4) I'm feeling the Canto love, and its great! I enjoy talking about culture. It's not going to be 100% Cantonese culture all the time, but I like food as a substitute for travel. In a big city like Seattle, you can pretty much travel to anywhere through food. quote:5) The Jayvon vote wasn't clear to me, beyond we're planning a run against HN; I would like to have Kenny arrange a private introduction to Fuzzy, stating that not only does he have a job offer for you, you (Fuzzy) also owe him a favor because he saved you and Sasha from being jumped. That's how these things work unfortunately, you don't even have to be aware of the favor being performed to have it accounted against you on the ledger. I agree in part. I imagine that Kenji would let the relationship form first and then tell her later so obligation doesn't taint the relationship out of the gate. He may tell her in a month or two, or when Jayvon needs something. quote:All in all, great updates Ice, and glad you’re doing better. Thank you.  Dr Subterfuge posted:Julie, Fuzzy, Sasha, and Min Yun all seem like they should be pack. Octo could be too if the story went that direction. Or Marco, if he comes back. Hilariously, Clever isn't, and I could see Min Yun being the only one of the two with that honor pissing him off. I've also been trying to think of ways to tip Min Yun, and probably the most meaningful thing Kenji can offer is a heavily discounted Tattoo Focus, which I could also see pissing Clever off. He was paranoid that Min Yun will leave him for Kenji even before he had a reason to be, after all. I like getting a sense of who's in and who's not in the pack. I don't think I'll hold a vote on it now, but I may ask later. I'm also curious if the thread has any thoughts on how Kenji lets someone know that they're pack, if he does at all. And how he tries to communicate what that means. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Jun 12, 2018 |
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Jun 12, 2018 18:05
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Crazycryodude posted:Grudging respect, and keep in mind that Julian is WAY better at this than he is for now, I'd say. Kenji's not particularly prideful, he can realize when he's beat and respect the skills of his adversary without having a meltdown. He knows Julian's a good person at heart, and is just trying to help. If he'd lost a social battle with someone trying to gently caress him over he'd be pissed, but he lost against someone trying to help so it's all good. He's gonna be a whole lot more on his toes when trying to play mind games with Julian in the future, though. I agree, but it also gives kenji a long term goal, beat Julian in a real negotiation, I’m sure getting rules jammed into his head along with her language training, iirc that’s the thing the thread was wanting to do, make him much smoother socially. E: I forgot to specify her her is, I’m thinking of the owner of 88 tastes numerrik fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Jun 12, 2018 |
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Jun 12, 2018 18:37
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Yeah Kenji is going to act with respect and a degree of caution at being completely defeated - but Julian is not hostile, so there’s a major opportunity for Kenji to learn here.
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Jun 12, 2018 18:43
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I have to say, the sort of social sparring like that last post is some of my favorite stuff with the CYOA. The social combat in shadowrun has always been super cool to me and I feel like you hit it perfectly
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Jun 12, 2018 18:50
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Grudging respect definitely. Even with Kenji's abundance of charisma he was completely outgunned. He would dearly like to be able to do that some day. If Julian asks point blank about Edward, Kenji going to have to tell him. He would really prefer not to, as it honestly does expose both of them to danger, but if Julien insists he'll do it if they can't be spied on. Everything will be worse if he gets caught being evasive. Kenji actually has a fair amount that he can talk about, otherwise. All the art stuff and tattoo stuff is totally above board. E: Actually, I'm pretty sure the money Kenji used to sponsor Oli wasn't above board. Kenji is pretty hosed, actually, isn't he? He's completely at the mercy of Julien's questions. Living with a Octo and doing whatever it was he did over the summer (still not really clear on what it was, only that involved lots of first impressions and questionable legality) isn't something he can really talk about, either. The tattoo stuff, though, Julien will actually like. E2: It's really nice that Kenji gets to just help out his friends without getting hosed over by any programming :3 And whatever happened to Sasha working with a teacher to optimize her Pulse Plus spell? That really seems like what she should be doing instead of combat magic. I mean it would be great for her character if she could make it through this crucible, but she's just going to get absolutely dunked on in there 
Dr Subterfuge fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Jun 12, 2018 |
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Jun 12, 2018 19:11
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I’d expect Kenji is a bit humbled and takes advantage of the situation to learn given that Julian seems open to answering questions right now and has clearly shown he knows more about the situation than Kenji. Old Pack: Clever, Min Yun, Octo New Pack: Julie, Fuzzy, Sasha, Marco Pack Prospects: Gentoo, Oli, Julian? Clever is always fronting so he doesn’t show much emotion, but he’s the closest thing Kenji has to a parent or older brother, and Kenji owes Clever his life. Octo might actually be his closest friend and the one he’s gone to the greatest lengths to help both in arranging the ritual healing and through months of daily physical therapy. Marco took a bullet for the pack and has helped Kenji directly while asking for nothing. Gentoo he'd trust to watch his back, but so far their relationship has been transactional. Oli is a pup in need of help, but so far Kenji has only been helping Oli on behalf of Julie. Julian is hard to read and connect with but he protects both Kenji and Kenji's packmates. malbogio fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Jun 12, 2018 |
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Jun 12, 2018 20:31
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Kenji went to the greatest lengths for Octo until he risked his existence for Sasha and Fuzzy. I think Octo has potential, but Kenji has kind of forced his friendship on her and it has mostly stayed in that space. Not that she isn't nice to him, but Kenji is definitely closer to the Blake Island group. And Kenji is probably be better off getting to know our new antifa dwarf acquaintance rather than trying to befriend another Shadowrunner like Gentoo. Julian? I dunno. He'd be even harder to crack than Kenji was.
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Jun 12, 2018 20:59
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Respect, watch and learn. No grudge. Thinking in canine analogue - no shame in being the smaller dog, and something there's a "fight" to establish dominance. No reason to resent when you can improve.
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Jun 12, 2018 21:09
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Octo tried to push Kenji away not because she disliked him (she's established as being possessive of him since before the books started), but rather because she didn't want anyone she cared about to see her at her worst or to watch her die. I think their relationship happens more off-screen than the Blake group, but Kenji acts like he's considered Octo to be pack since before the books even started. I don't think Kenji is actively trying to recruit packmates. Pack isn't logical, it's emotional. I think that Julian and Gentoo might inadvertently become pack through their own choices and actions by taking risks for Kenji or his friends, and that Kenji might accidentally find himself taking Oli under his wing to the point where a bond forms just because of how much she will need his help and how much he's already invested in her success. Jayvon appears to be cool and good, but Kenji doesn't know him yet.
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Jun 12, 2018 21:21
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Gun Jam posted:Respect, watch and learn. No grudge. Thinking in canine analogue - no shame in being the smaller dog, and something there's a "fight" to establish dominance. No reason to resent when you can improve. Agree with this - Kenji's mature enough to not hold a grudge against someone better than him; on the contrary, he's just realised that almost everything he knows about Julian is a carefully constructed facade to make it easier for him to deal with people who think that they're smarter than a goofy teacher. Now whether this is going to just put him at 'respectfully distant' or encourage him to develop a closer relationship is another matter entirely; either way he will now see Julian as a valuable source of knowledge and as someone who demands respect in his own right.
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Jun 12, 2018 23:01
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Ice Phisherman posted:CYOA Time Since Kenny’s on a ‘Canto’ trip this Story Day, Imma toss this into the mix: 天外有天, 人外有人 Literal: There are skies beyond (this) sky, and people beyond (this) person. Meaning: No matter how good you think you are, there is always someone out there that is better. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%BA%BA%E5%A4%96%E6%9C%89%E4%BA%BA%EF%BC%8C%E5%A4%A9%E5%A4%96%E6%9C%89%E5%A4%A9 Today marks the first day of the rest of your life, Kenny my boy; today, you begin to transcend the ACHE. Hopefully with this realization, we’re going to pull the Boy out of the Slums, even if the Slums will always be within the Boy. Ice Phisherman posted:Hope it works. You're getting better at these 'play within a play', and it shows. Not that your earlier attempts weren't good, they just felt clunkier and less subtle. I stand by my previous assessment; Julian is a great 'Dad', and doesn't deserve the ire the thread threw at him in Y1 with the Fuzzy arc.
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Jun 12, 2018 23:36
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Gun Jam posted:Respect, watch and learn. No grudge. Thinking in canine analogue - no shame in being the smaller dog, and something there's a "fight" to establish dominance. No reason to resent when you can improve. I agree with the bolded text but I do want to point out that small dogs can be pretty drat yippy and insecure when there's a bigger dog around.
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Jun 13, 2018 00:12
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Xarbala posted:I agree with the bolded text but I do want to point out that small dogs can be pretty drat yippy and insecure when there's a bigger dog around. That's before the pecking order is sorted out. I agree with the "No grudge, Julian is best foster dad."
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Jun 13, 2018 00:56
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Wouldn't most of the gang already know that Julian is probably a badass from last year, when he went in to negotiate alone against a megacorp and won *hard*? I would imagine that seeing it in person is still drat impressive, but they've gotta know something is up with this nerd.
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Jun 13, 2018 01:18
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For most of the gang the dealings of megacorps are weird and alien, they don't have a baseline. Sasha's probably the only one who'd understanding what Julian pulled off, but she'd need Julie to clue her in on how favorable her deal was first. I don't recall Julie broadcasting just how much she got out of Horizon, any chance she had to sign some NDAs? Sasha would have heard what Fuzzy got out of it, but Fuzzy's egg and teeth deal was modest compared to overhauling two of Horizon's shows.
malbogio fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Jun 13, 2018 |
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Jun 13, 2018 01:30
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The one thing I like to see more than Kenji running people in circles with his social maneuvering is watching him get flustered when it doesn't work. Respect, watch and learn. No grudge. Maybe a short lived grudge as Kenny boy shakes off the blow to his ego, but no more than that. Ken is the practical and calculating sort, his pride is more than acceptable collateral to all that Julian is doing (and will continue to do) for him and his pack. Who knows, maybe in a few years they'll laugh together about today.
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Jun 13, 2018 01:48
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I would argue that Julian wasn't a great Dad when the series started, but he is learning.
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Jun 13, 2018 02:07
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Respect and awe for being so thoroughly outmaneuvered. Desire to be as skilled at social manipulation. And, big important thing, Kenji just got one hell of a wake up call to just how outmatched he is against Julian. As such Kenji's desire to secure a legal source of income skyrocket. Not that he'll completely abandon the shady stuff mind, but he'll keep it to what he's confident he can keep secret.
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Jun 13, 2018 02:25
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Ice Phisherman posted:"Yes, I have a class devoted to helping those with spirit mentors," explained Julian, "It can be a rough transition as you've seen. Without guidance you may lose yourself or find yourself on the wrong end of a power dynamic where Dog is the one in charge. My class is to assist you in understanding what is normal and what is not, how to control the compulsions that come with spirit mentors and how to properly set boundaries. Let me say that this is a good thing. It's rare for awakened such yourself to be chosen. You really must have shown some extreme feat of loyalty to earn Dog's attention." Mechanically, how does this work? We saw how Firebringer dominated Julian earlier in this story, it’s probably one of the reasons he’s the one that teaches this class. He’s helping by showing young shaman how to avoid his mistakes. If there’s not any crunch behind this, how are you handling it storywise? Social combat between mentor and mentee?
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Jun 13, 2018 04:59
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JUST MAKING CHILI posted:Mechanically, how does this work? We saw how Firebringer dominated Julian earlier in this story, it’s probably one of the reasons he’s the one that teaches this class. He’s helping by showing young shaman how to avoid his mistakes. Spirit mentors require a composure test when something that challenges their compulsion comes along. Here's from the book. "A Dog magician is stubbornly loyal. You can never leave someone behind, betray your comrades, or let another sacrifice themselves in your place without making a successful Charisma + Willpower (3) Test." Kenji can resist this, but Dog won't be happy and may penalize him. However, if he goes above and beyond for loyalty, Dog may reward him. Penalties and rewards, if any, will depend on the level of fulfillment or violation of Dog's compulsion of loyalty. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 09:30 on Jun 13, 2018 |
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Jun 13, 2018 05:27
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Mother Bear and Fuzzy - Monday, July 22, 2075 - Morning - Blake Island Fuzzy stared down at her empty teacup as it sat on its old warming plate. Her lips were pressed together in a firm, angry line as she sat in her chair. Mother Bear shuffled around her office as she poured water for Fuzzy from a glass carafe. Her back was slightly stooped, but either she didn't need to, or didn't want to use a cane. Her skin was leathery, wrinkled and brown. The area around her lips were especially creased from a near permanent scowl. Mother Bear certainly could smile, but she reserved that for rare occasions. Time had added a few more inches to her grey, tightly braided hair, which hung down to the small of her back like a piece of tightly wound hemp rope. Today she wore an old but well kept lightly purple dress with a white pattern down the front that nearly brushed the floor and a simple necklace of hemp strung with beads and a few bright white claws of new namesake. She poured some for for herself and put the cup on a battered looking hot plate to warm up. Bags of tea were laid into the tea to steep. She simply didn't have the patience for any sort of tea save for those in bags. The old spellcasting teacher and healer grunted as she sat down. "It's not the ditch water tea," said Mother Bear, gruffly, "That's for study only. We're having mint today." Mother Bear was infamous for her ditch water tea that she'd give to her students while they learned spells. If drank in sufficient quantities, it went from horrible to simply tongue numbing. So it was right for anyone to be dubious of her tea. Where it actually came from and what it was made of was the source of much speculation and complaining among the student population. "So I'm stuck at school?" asked Fuzzy, "Why can't I leave?" "Not safe," grunted Mother Bear. If Fuzzy talked to Julian, Mother Bear figured he'd explain the situation, go over the why of it for minutes and attempt to coax Fuzzy into accepting his decision. Mother Bear was direct, to the point and would not change her mind. Unlike Julian's inspirational poster covered office, Mother Bear's office showed its age. There were pictures of a younger Mother Bear with students and faculty. One in particular was of Marco, Fuzzy's friend. In the picture he was sitting down, and even then he was still far taller than Mother Bear, who stooped. The big troll had graduated last year though, and from what she heard, he'd went to yet another school called a college. There were a dozen other pictures of other people, the rest of which Fuzzy didn't know. There were also her framed diplomas and framed medals from her time in the military. Her desk wasn't cluttered, but it wasn't clear either. Upon it stood several jars with faded labels, most of them full of the spell components known as reagents. Fuzzy's face shifted from shock, to indignation, to anger, to resigned and then settled on thoughtful. All the while she fidgeted nervously with her hands, though it slowed near the end. Mother Bear was patient, and so she waited for Fuzzy to speak. "I need to make money," said Fuzzy, "If I stay here all of the time I can't make money. I was making good money hunting." Mother Bear's scowl lessened by a few degrees. For her, that was almost a smile. Fuzzy Smith didn't complain about how it was unfair or rage against her entrapment. The old teacher figured she probably wasn't even thinking about how to sneak off the island. No, the tiny young woman was all about her goal. Mother Bear appreciated people who stuck to their mission and didn't complain. "Didn't you run out of pigs?" asked Mother Bear. Fuzzy's eyes flicked to the side in thought before she met Mother Bear's again. Fuzzy's summer job had been collecting bounties on pigs that had been rampaging through factory farms in Snohomish. She was able to keep the bodies and so she sent them to her old home where her adoptive father lived with his other adoptive children in Puyallup. They butchered the pigs and sent them to Touristville. Mother Bear heard from Julian that she'd been quite the busy bee over the summer. "No," said Fuzzy, "They're getting harder to find though." "Are they still worth your time?" she asked. Fuzzy pursed her lips and thought about it. "Puppy and Fluffy enjoyed the hunts," said Fuzzy, thoughtfully, "I did too. It's still worth it, but not as much." Puppy was Fuzzy's dog, and Mother Bear would watch him on the weekends while Fuzzy was away. The tiny puppy had grown into a big, brown beast that weighed almost as Fuzzy, though the old teacher still enjoyed having the dog over the weekend. Fluffy, her gloaming owl, a magical variant of a horned owl, was her second animal. The black feathered, red eyed, magical owl could fly silently and project terror to flush prey, even if that prey was far larger than it. As an awakened with powers over animals, Fuzzy was allowed to keep them at school so long as she kept them under control. "I have some ideas," said Mother Bear, "About money that is. Yeah, you're stuck here and yeah, that's no fun. It's just until things calm down in the city. Maybe a month or two." "That's a long time though," said Fuzzy. Mother Bear almost quipped about getting deployed, but stopped. Fuzzy and Sasha were on a time limit to make the necessary money for Sasha to come to school next semester and they only had a year. Fuzzy was paid up for all four years through a grant. Sasha was not. She'd have to ask Julian about how they were doing on that end. So she held her tongue and tried to stay constructive. "So you hunted feral boar, huh? Big tusks and everything?" asked Mother Bear. Fuzzy beamed, nodded and puffed out her chest. "Yeah," she said, proud, "Boars would fight until they died, even after taking wounds that wouldn't immediately kill them, but the sows would usually run away. I bought new armor too but I never had to test it. I'm fast, I'm sneaky, I can turn invisible, I can make illusions, I can sense danger, I'm a good shot with my bow and I have my spearknife as a backup. It has a crossguard if I really concentrate on it, which I didn't even know I could do until summer, but I haven't needed to use it. Plus I have that bracer that can turn into a shield that can also blind anything with eyes. I used to hunt with a bow and a spear made of trash with no magic. All of this gear and magic feels like cheating. Killing them isn't easy, but I killed most of them with a single shot to the heart. If they spotted me, the boar would just run straight at me, and I wouldn't even bother shooting them at that point. I'd just stun them or disappear. If I didn't kill them with the first shot I would blind them and turn invisible, then follow them for another shot at the heart when they ran away." Fuzzy's talk grew excited, and her blue eyes grew distant as she remembered her hunts. "I wasn't working alone either. Puppy sniffs out prey, alerts me to trouble before my danger sense goes off and distracts prey while just about everything runs away from Fluffy once he flies at them. None of the pigs stood a chance," she said, happily. Then eyes slid back into focus and she smiled self-consciously. "I tried summoning a spirit but I'm not that good at summoning. It would just make me tired and the ones I'd get didn't follow orders that well. That hardest thing wasn't hunting them, it was moving them. Eventually I broke down and asked Rat Man to help me out with his truck. He was happy to and I got to spend time with him, so that was nice. I remember going to my kyujitsu class, that's bow martial arts, and there are a bunch of bow hunters in there. They thought I was crazy for hunting wild boar on foot, but I showed them what I could do. Then they just...Thought I was...Umm...Slightly less crazy," she finished, self-consciously. Mother Bear didn't know anything about hunting. She'd given up firearms when she left the army. "Maybe you can hunt here," said Mother Bear, "On the weekends anyway. I'll talk to Julian about giving you your weapons when the student body is away so long as you use them responsibly and away from the school grounds. The deer just finished having their fawns last month. We don't have any large natural predators on the island so now and again we have to hire someone to kill a few so they don't don't starve to death from overpopulation. We like keeping the herd around seventy . That's about all we've got room for, but that number has doubled and then some. I'll talk it over with the staff, but so long as you're not near any students and keep your shots low it probably won't be a problem. We'll talk later about how you can transport them since you have a hard time with that, talk about where you can clean them and store them so you're not bringing deer carcasses back to your cabin. Though a part of me almost wishes you would just once to see the looks on everyone's faces." Mother Bear winked at Fuzzy and Fuzzy giggled. She imagined the faces of the other students, almost all of them children of the rich and powerful, as Fuzzy hung a deer from a nearby tree to skin and butcher it. The thought of offending their sensibilities warmed her leathery old heart. These kids were supposed to be shamans, but too many of them had been removed from the cycle of nature, and that distance was artificial. It made for weak magic and soft children. Sure there were other paths to wisdom, and she didn't begrudge those, but it was hard to beat the harsh lessons of mother nature as a teacher of shamanic magic. It'd be good for them to see what it was like. Mother Bear stroked her chin with her hand. However, as she contemplated, she noticed Fuzzy's face had grown anxious. "What?" asked Mother Bear. "If I can't leave, can someone visit?" asked Fuzzy. "Maybe. It's a lot of red tape. Who is it?" asked Mother Bear. Fuzzy looked down nervously at the cup of water on the hot plate as it began to steam. "Marco helped get someone from my old home adopted," said Fuzzy, "I trained him how to hunt. He's ten now, or at least I think he is. I didn't ask him if he'd found out when his birthday was yet. I got to spend a lot of time with him at martial arts class, but that's over for the summer. His name is Manny. I like spending time with him." Mother Bear didn't smile indulgently, but she did scowl a lot less. "No promises, but I'll see what I can do," she said. Fuzzy nodded and managed a weak smile. There was silence for a time after this and Mother Bear thought about it in peace. In time the tea in their teacups began steam and their bags had steeped for long enough. Mother Bear dropped in a sugar cube into hers and stirred with a nearby spoon. Fuzzy did the same. The sipped in silence for a while, and Fuzzy seemed to be more at peace with her situation. "Okay, hunting I can do. What else?" asked Fuzzy. "What else?" echoed Mother Bear, incredulously. "Yeah," said Fuzzy, "I was bagging up to five pigs a night in Snohomish. I didn't have to clean them for the most part since they got sent to The Club to get cleaned. I just drained their blood. I figure I'll have to do that here, so I won't be able to do more than one a day." "The Club?" asked Mother Bear. "It's where I lived before I came here," said Fuzzy, "It used to be a golf course clubhouse before it got abandoned. Anyway, they send out hunters, butcher the kills and make food and clothing from them." Fuzzy's life was deeply rooted in the poverty, deprivation and violence of her upbringing. Unlike many people, this didn't evoke pity in Mother Bear. She'd spent time in Afghanistan where conditions in the countryside were often primitive. This was back when she was a combat medic in the army. Hard living conditions raised tough people. Fuzzy was barely five feet tall, but she was a tough little thing and Mother Bear figured that had to do with her upbringing. Her magic only made her more formidable, but she'd come here that way already. Fuzzy wasn't dependent on her magic and Mother Bear respected that. Many awakened leaned too much on their magic and not enough on their mundane skills. Take the magic from some ivory tower wizard and they wouldn't be worth much. Magic didn't solve every problem and it didn't make its users all powerful. She'd seen people learn that lesson over and over, and it was almost always a hard lesson. What made her sad wasn't Fuzzy's upbringing. No, it was the fact that she'd been born in the UCAS, her country, and that the conditions had deteriorated so badly that the distinction between a place like rural Afghanistan and an abandoned area of the Seattle metroplex were startlingly similar. In fact, most of Afghanistan's environment was probably in better shape. Mother Bear's eyes were drawn over to one of her clay jars. Upon it, was an old label with faded script. She'd replaced that label over and over, but the contents of the jar had remained the same. The label read "Afghanistan dirt". It had been taken from the third and final tour of her three tours some forty years ago. She, the dirt and the conflict she'd fought in were old, but the memories were still fresh. "Mother Bear?" asked Fuzzy, tentatively. "I'm thinking," she grumped, "I'm old. It takes me a while to think. Don't rush me." Briefly chastened, Fuzzy averted her eyes and pretended to sip her tea. Mother Bear waited for a few seconds before she got back on topic. "Anyway, money, right?" she asked, gruffly. Fuzzy nodded eagerly and she took a small slurp of her tea. Neither said anything for a while and Fuzzy didn't rush her this time, which was good. Before long, they'd drained their cups of tea completely. "Talk to Julian," said Mother Bear," Or Mr. Peters. Julian knows about your money situation. Mr. Peters will probably have you harvesting reagents and picking up trash. It's not glamorous, but it's solid work." "I asked Mr. Peters about that since Julie did it," said Fuzzy, "I need to be able to see the astral to make sure that what I pick up is magical or not. I can't do that. I have to put everything back where it was which is a big pain. I'd rather not pick it up in the first place if that's the case. I don't have time for that." "Then talk to Julian," said Mother Bear. Fuzzy averted her eyes and fidgeted nervously with her free hand. Mother Bear sighed. "Are you fighting with him again?" she asked, her tone irked. Fuzzy's nervous fidgeting only intensified which answer her question. She put down her empty teacup. "He won't let me into history class with Sasha," said Fuzzy, sadly, "I worked really hard to catch up, but he wouldn't let me." Mother Bear folded her thin arms. She'd been a teacher for long enough that reading Fuzzy was easy. "And your other classes?" she asked, "Are you caught up on all of them? I know you're getting ready to join normal classes this year. Are you ready for all of them?" Fuzzy said nothing and Mother Bear shook her head. "That's what I thought. You could take an elective with her," offered Mother Bear, "I know she's a year ahead of you, but electives are open to everyone." "I'm already doing that," said Fuzzy, nervously. There were a few beats of silence before Mother Bear asked the obvious question. "So what's the problem?" she asked. Fuzzy's gaze and voice both dropped. "Worried she'll get picked on," mumbled Fuzzy, sadly, "I want to be there for her." Mother Bear nodded and patted Fuzzy on the shoulder with her bony hand. "We're taking a different stance on that this year," said Mother Bear, "We had to get permission from hundreds of parents and over two dozen corporations for what we have planned. All of them. It was like herding cats, but we got it done since there was a push to get something done after the disaster with Minuet shooting one of my favorite pupils. The fact that he was wearing armor clothing and is built like a brick doesn't matter. That was a wake-up call. Even then it was long, grueling and stupid process which is why we had such a hard time responding after those problems. We're on top of it this year. I don't agree with it because I think it sends the wrong message, but there's only so much that can motivate the worst offenders. We're going for a different route with the shame pole this year. We're offering rewards too. You know, carrots and sticks." "Carrots and sticks?" asked Fuzzy, dubiously. Mother Bear didn't realize that Fuzzy took that literally. She had a problem with euphemisms. Instead the old teacher nodded sagely. "You'll learn about it at the assembly tomorrow," she said, "By the way, what class are you taking with Sasha?" Fuzzy's pale cheeks turned a bright shade of pink and she looked away. "She picked the first semester and I pick the next one," said Fuzzy, a little too quickly, "I chose an acting class, but that's next semester. Sasha said that she needs to work on her skills and so..." Fuzzy took a breath and the blush spread to her ears. "This semester," she said, slowly, "I'm taking computer programming." It took an effort of will for the old teacher not to burst out laughing. That would have been cruel. Though her near constant scowl softened so much that she almost smirked. Mother Bear decided that a little ribbing wouldn't hurt her. "The things we do for love, huh?" teased Mother Bear. As if on cue, her eyes cast down and she fidgeted wildly with her hands. Her face, ears and neck were completely flushed from embarrassment. Hesitantly, Fuzzy nodded in agreement. --- Fuzzy uses etiquette. She gets 6 hits (wow) and Mother Bear gets 3. The conversation goes well and Mother Bear gives Fuzzy a line on a job. However, it's weekends only. Fuzzy is able to keep her cool about being confined to the island. She isn't told why she's stuck though. This semester, Fuzzy is going to suffer through computer programming. It'll also allow me to get her into an acting class when it's her turn for her book whenever that happens. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 05:26 on Jan 11, 2019 |
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Jun 14, 2018 01:45
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lol oh Fuzzy
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Jun 14, 2018 02:09
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6 hits! And here I was just thinking that this wouldn't have gone nearly so well if she still had that 2 in etiquette. Which is still true, but drat.
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Jun 14, 2018 02:12
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Dr Subterfuge posted:6 hits! And here I was just thinking that this wouldn't have gone nearly so well if she still had that 2 in etiquette. Which is still true, but drat. Yeah, she's got a total of 9 dice to talk to Mother Bear (charisma 4 + etiquette 3 + street cred 4 - notoriety 2). She just got a great roll, so she stayed composed and Mother Bear decided to let her hunt on the island. If Mother Bear had scored higher, it wouldn't have went as well. MB would've reduced the number she could take. Also, unlike during year one where I was dumb, criticals outside of combat happen when one party gets 4 hits or more than the other. And these just add small narrative bonuses or penalties. Nothing too overwhelming. I've wanted to do a scene from Mother Bear's perspective for a while now. She's a bit cranky, she's old, she respects toughness, she has one foot solidly set in the past, but she doesn't tolerate whiners or disrespect. She was able to tell Fuzzy that she was staying on the island and Fuzzy didn't butt heads with her or complain or even spend much time sulking. She's a lot more polished than last year. She's still got her heart on her sleeve though due to having no dice in con. Not only can't she tell a lie at this point, but she's easy to read as well. I also gave a fairly solid reason to why Fuzzy is a little terror despite her size. She has the right tools, the right skills and the right plan for the right job. On top of that, she's also drat tough due to where she comes from and how little she had. So it's a mix of the environment she grew up in, a mix of good tools, tactics, her magic and support from both Rat Man in his pickup truck and her animal buddies. I tried making this point with Kenji as well. Kenji was formidable before he came into his magic, and he actually doesn't use it all that much. He use his voice to tell people what to do. He can change his face, skin color and hair color. Now he can smell things he couldn't before and read body language. I think it's these last two that he'll use more than anything. And she's going to take computer programming to spend time with Sasha. She knows how to use a commlink and a computer, but knowing how to use a computer and being computer savvy are two very different things. edit: If it seems like I'm taking my time with this first day, it's because I'm reintroducing the setting and people in year two. It's been a while. What they're up to, how they've changed, what they look like, etc. The end of book four was a wind down. This is the wind back up. After this I expect to start moving again, and not spend 50k words on a single morning. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 06:02 on Jun 14, 2018 |
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Jun 14, 2018 04:28
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You mentioned the water carafe twice in the opener. Feels clumsy. I really want to find a moment where Mother Bear can just unload her magical abilities. I expect it will be something like out of Bleach, when the old captain suddenly rips off his shirt and is a ripped badass with incredible power.
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Jun 14, 2018 06:16
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Deadmeat5150 posted:You mentioned the water carafe twice in the opener. Feels clumsy. Fixed it, thanks. As I've written her, Mother Bear doesn't actually have that much in the way of combat spells. Her spells were to keep people from getting shot to death either by armoring them up, detecting enemies or making people invisible. The rest of her spells are for healing. She was a rifleman. All that magic power was reserved for patching people up. She doesn't actually know any combat spells besides stun bolt. Why use combat spells when you have a rifle? And since she left the army, she hasn't messed around with firearms since then. Too busy doing the healer and then teacher thing. She is pretty good at summoning, binding and banishing spirits though. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 06:38 on Jun 14, 2018 |
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Jun 14, 2018 06:35
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If you think a healer can't be a badass watch Naruto. I bet she's got a bucketload of support spells that she can self-buff with.
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Jun 14, 2018 07:16
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more like "she shield the students in actually a very impressive display of power, antagonist complements that. Then a huge earth elemental behind the assholes drops a rock on them. Mother bear does not do banter."
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Jun 14, 2018 07:43
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So I have a statement and an announcement. First, the statement. So I'm running into a sort of problem, and it's been raised in the discord. I'm used to writing books, not web serials. And I see that I'm repeating myself. When one writes books, there's a sort of reintroduction period because the writer assumes that the books aren't going to be near universally binge read. First, while binge reading isn't anything new, it happens more often now as that's just how people consume media nowadays. Second, because I write in real time, books can take irl months for me to pump out a rough draft. So I don't expect everyone to remember what everyone else looks like, their nuances, goals, motivations, etc. However, I am writing in real time. And I sort of stepped into it. I'd held off the reintroduction of characters, themes, setting, etc until year two, but I'm not sure if I should trim that down or nix it altogether. I've never written a web serial before this one and there are going to be differences between someone who writes several thousands words a week in real time and someone who releases a book on a timeline of years. I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts. I am coming to the end of reintroduction though, so it shouldn't be a problem for much longer. I just made the mistake because I made the mistake of thinking in novel format, not web serial format, because I've never written a web serial before and as I'm learning its written in subtly different but important ways. -- Second, the announcement. My vertigo is chilling out for the first time in a long while. So walking/talking for extended periods of times isn't making me dizzy. I've had people show interest in me running a pen and paper game over discord and I think I can do it. That said, I don't want to burn out on Shadowrun. I'm already spending several hours a day writing within the SR world. I may run a one shot or two of shadowrun for fun, but a shadowrun campaign is something that I'm wary about. That said, I'd be interested in running a campaign of Red Markets, which is a sort of near future economic horror. Here's the quick and dirty explanation of the setting from the quick start guide: "When the tired joke of the zombie apocalypse clawed its way out of our subconscious and into terrifying reality, our cultural obsession killed as many as it saved. After the chaos finally subsided, the apocalypse ended up unevenly distributed...Just like everything else. Humanity survived by leaving part of itself behind. The world is not divided: Haves and have-nots, living an the dead, The Recession and The Loss. In Red Markets, the players play Takers: Mercenary entrepreneurs unwilling to accept their abandonment and forced to risk their lives trading between the quarantined zones and the remains of civilization. The game uses traditional zombie narrative as a tool to tell an all-too-real story of life on the wrong end of capitalism." So it's get rich or die trying the game, but also while trying not to get eaten by both slow and fast zombies, shot to death, run out of money or go insane. So while it contains zombies, genre doesn't really matter a ton to me. Good story telling does, and I've got a road trip style campaign ready to go which would last for about three to four months if we played once weekly. As a teaser, because I'm self aware and think it'll be amusing, the campaign is going to be named "Death of the Author". The market on zombie fiction is pretty tapped, and I'm aware of that, but they're not really the focus of the game. The Z's are more like the weather. They're an environmental hazard. So you might get a little "rain", you could get caught in a "storm" or there could be a sudden "flash flood". If you're smart you'll find a way through or around it, and I'd consider your characters competent enough to handle the slow ones most of the time. There's also a point to killing them as well. Drivers licenses are worth money, called bounty. And I'll explain that at some point if you decided to join up. And yes, the slow ones. Fresh infected people sprint like John Romero fast Z's from 28 Days Later. And since their nervous system gets hijacked before their brains, they'll still be aware and screaming apologies, or to run, or for help while they're attempting to eat you. They'll tackle you like linebackers and try to chow down. The purpose of the game is to escape poverty with you and your dependents as the collapse was partial, not total. As it's set in the USA, on one side of the Mississippi there's been a total collapse save for tiny enclaves of a dozen or a hundred or maybe several hundred people dotted here and there, and on the other it's bad if you're poor, but it represents safety. And unlike pretty much all other zombie horror I've ever read, there's a goal beyond merely surviving. There's an end goal. It's to smuggle you and your dependents across the river to the safety of the still (mostly) functioning USA or say gently caress all of that nonsense and set up your own enclave that you run. To do that, you need to do jobs to earn money. The game is broken up into three parts in one session. The first part is interaction with your dependents (we'd skip this the first game). Said dependents are actually played by other players for the space of a minute or two as quick interactions. These are short vignettes that help you flesh out your character and the enclave in which you live. Maybe your depends need something, maybe they don't, but they're why you get up in the morning. Mechanically, they also restore your sanity. The second part is negotiating the job. If you've ever watched Oceans Eleven you'll understand how this works, as time is played in a non-linear fashion. One person negotiates for the group over one to five rounds depending on a roll while other players can run scams. Everyone gets a roll and they can either find out who is offering a job, what it's about and find out what it's paying. You send your negotiator (one of you) to talk to the client. Then you start negotiating while your other players run scams. So you can find out about the client to better manipulate them and therefore the price, you can take out the competition or you can manipulate the price. So say that there client needs electronic parts to fix some drones. So for instance, you can go to the bar and chat up how great things are going to be when those drones are here and drive up demand, you could try to spread lies and say that the drone parts are actually more scarce than they really are, or you could just burn down the shed where the drone parts are kept to create a shortage if you're a real jerk. Basically you'd just be creative with your skills. Lastly, you've got to get to the job site. You do legs, between one and five depending on the job you pick (there is always more than one) and how far away you are from it. These would be small encounters before the actual job where you can potentially scrounge up extra money, gear or maybe bad things happen and it's not worth it. After all of that mess, you get to the job site and actually do the job, come back and hopefully you get paid. It actually has a lot of the same components of Shadowrun: Doing jobs for people for money while talking about poverty. No magic and while there are some cybernetics they aren't so developed you'd want to lose a piece of yourself on purpose. There's also the bonus that when you earn a set amount of money, called bounty, you can exit the game by escaping to safety. So unlike most games, and almost all zombie fiction, there is a built in win condition. It's escape. Anyway, if you're interested, let me know. Since it's a road trip style campaign and I can't pick everyone, I'd like to have three to four regular players for Saturday afternoons EST, when exactly I can be flexible with, but I have a strong preference for a time between 3 and 5 EST and playing for about three to four hours. And if someone can't show up for a game, since the campaign is a road trip, I can invite someone in to fill a spot for a pickup game to explore the "local flavor" of the enclave they're currently in and rotate people in and out. The quick start guide is here: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/239850/Red-Markets-Quickstart-Guide and it's pay what you want. It's a bit long, but honestly, I can explain most of the rules and we'll do a tutorial mission or two. I have the quick start guide and the source book both, but all you need is the QS guide. It gives the bare bones about setting, rules, character creation and it has a number of pregens as well. It's still a little long, but a lot of that is peripheral stuff to print out. Plus I'll be helping out with rules. And if you don't want to create a character and just use a pregen, it gets even shorter. If you're interested, let me know in the thread. I'd like to start either this Saturday or next depending on everyone's availability. Strong preference for VOIP. We'll be playing in the discord. That said, I can't pick everybody, and if I don't pick you it's not a sleight. So if someone else wants to try GM'ing a Shadowrun game, even some pickup games, you may find a pool of eager players here. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 14:57 on Jun 14, 2018 |
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Jun 14, 2018 14:53
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I am hella down to play 'shoot zombies to escape capitalism: the game'
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Jun 14, 2018 15:33
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Well I did GM the longest running Shadowrun game on these here forums. But I don't have time to do it again. Glad your vertigo is getting under control. That hits my wife occasionally and I know how bad it can suck.
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Jun 14, 2018 15:34
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I’m so down to clown, and I can make it weekly.
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Jun 14, 2018 15:55
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I think the reintroduction is good, honestly. It doesn't take up a huge amount of space, and I think the only place you've been this concise about their descriptions is outside the narrative in your "supplemental" posts. Plus, it was fun to hear an assessment of Fuzzy from Fuzzy herself. I haven't read a ton of web serials, but I know you've mentioned Wildbow before. I think both Worm and Twig (I skipped Pact) would benefit from a bit of that slowdown between arcs.
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Jun 14, 2018 15:58
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would be down for a game
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Jun 14, 2018 19:00
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Your reintroductions are fine, it's not like you spend multiple paragraphs reminding us minutiae of the characters. They're obviously reintroductions and aren't subtle about it, but they're fairly harmless. I've noticed you do them nearly every book (consciously or otherwise) and they're basically not a problem already so they shouldn't be a problem in the future. I personally dislike being told the same thing multiple times but I've also forgotten details about physical descriptions and nuggets of characterization before so I'm clearly the target audience for the reintroductions and nobody should listen to me.  I would advise to be careful with regards to taking advantage that you're feeling better to start a new thing like running a game. I hate to be the voice of negativity, but if you do start getting dizzy again then it'll be a lot harder to do both things and if it does get too hard then it'll just feel terrible. Yes, I'm a bummer to be around, why do you ask?
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Jun 14, 2018 19:16
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I like the year two reintroductions, It helps me remember how everyone looks like. I didn't know or didn't remember Julian wears funny ties, for example.
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Jun 14, 2018 19:38
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 I'm forgetful and don't mind the broad reintroductions as long as they're seeded through some interesting perspectives that themselves blend in some new/interesting info
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Jun 14, 2018 19:46
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Kanthulhu posted:I like the year two reintroductions, It helps me remember how everyone looks like. I didn't know or didn't remember Julian wears funny ties, for example. Despite knowing how Julian looks, in my head he looks like Tuvok. Descriptions of him just morph into a black elf with a serious face, every time.
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Jun 14, 2018 19:49
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The mentor character in Diog's thread keeps morphing in my head into Morgan Freeman even though I know he's basically supposed to look like Sean Connery.
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Jun 14, 2018 20:08
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Ice Phisherman posted:And I see that I'm repeating myself. I’ve actually noticed you doing this for awhile now, both here and in Joy. While it doesn’t bother me, because I know why you’re doing it (to give people reminders and context for folks joining ‘mid reel’), it does get repetitive at times, although it is a specific case here at the start of Book 2. Figured you would just edit it all out for the ‘Book Version’; you can’t please everyone all the time Ice, if you feel it’s appropriate, then leave it in, do what’s best to make your work as accessible and successful as possible, given your future plans. Ice Phisherman posted:. . . three to four regular players for Saturday afternoons EST, when exactly I can be flexible with, but I have a strong preference for a time between 3 and 5 EST and playing for about three to four hours. Drat. Unfortunately I can’t make this commitment for the long term, although if there are opportunities for ‘one-offs’ or 'pick-ups', I’d like to volunteer as tribute as either a character or even villain? Any change of recording this as an actual play podcast? I’ve been addicted to RPPR since your initial introduction, and would love to hear your games in similar format.
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Jun 14, 2018 22:07
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