Actaeon

Let's retcon in the translator. And, in future, let's avoid any transformations that fundamentally alter the plot. The fact that they're taking place is a plot point, but the specifics should not be.

I move we (by which I guess I mean you) disable Comic Sans.

Because I like serifs, and I don't really have any other way of standing out. I thought I had a gimmick once, but you beat me to the copywrite.

wait, "same characters"? who gets to make the characters? i'm not saying it can't work or even that it'd be unprecedented, but most people in the community would rather make and play their own characters i'd think

Everyone would make their own, as part of a sort of ensemble cast. There might be a dozen characters drawn up for the setting, of which only a third to half would appear in any given campaign. The point is more that you'd get to recycle them in different settings and with different DMs. Think of a ship full of adventurers, only some of which go ashore at a given port (or, you know, Star Trek). Alternatively, think of an inn full of rugged souls where people come to round up a posse.

any more information on how this works in practice?

Well, based on the brief conversation I had, you'd express your ability with something as "good" "fair" "exemplary", what have you. The DM would take them into consideration when deciding the outcome of a roll. It would leave a great deal of judgement to the DM- something I'm a little loathe to do. In fact, one of the upsides I considered for the automatic option was that players could keep total track of their own stats without ever involving the DM.

...they generally require a corresponding system to make all failed attempts at actions consequential in some way...

I had originally only planned to award abilities based on success- with a built in exponential decay for the law of diminishing returns. Neb was quick to observe that you learn as much from failure as success. Nalyd reminded me how imbalanced things could become if your progress was based on luck. On the other hand, I had been counting on higher DCs to keep a cap on progress with more difficult maneuvers. I'd like to find a way to make this work, as it seems a simple and intuitive way of putting mechanics in the passenger seat, but it is definitely fraught with difficulty. I'll have to look into Burning Wheel.

Where are the pun police when you need them?

At least you know what you're doing, Lillith. The sort of ideas I've been fielding lately have mostly elicited eye rolls from the CalRef crew:

• Same setting, same characters, rotating DMs and players.

Draw from a pool of potential players/ DMs in a sandbox setting or episodic plotline. Think Westmarches, or most TV shows.

• Levelless

First, I tried to accomplish this by having XP buy abilities directly- letting you level up a little each session, or even in the middle of combat.

• Automatic ability improvement

I played with the idea of having actions convert directly to bonuses, but Nalyd, Neb, and Slarty taught me the error my ways.

• Under the table mechanics

I thought about having the DM take care of all the stats and rolling, and making the experience feel more like an RP.

• Qualitative stats

Slarty's idea, actually, and probably more innovative than all of mine combined.

I'm not sure all this has actually made me more unpopular at CalRef, but it hasn't stirred up much enthusiasm, either. In general, I'd like to find a way of de-emphasizing mechanics while encouraging input, as well as engaging a large and varied community despite major scheduling issues. There are wonderful aspects of both RPs and RPGs, and it would be lovely to find a way of combining their best elements into one system.

May and September are clearly the perfect match. That's not based off a pun- it's just my opinion.

It's an annual thing, though it's usually October.

Spiderweb Software, in a spasm of depression caused by the typically miserable Seattle autumn weather, has decided to cheer itself up by having a sale. The prospect of the next six months of unrelenting darkness, gloom, and Pacific northwest moisture has driven this small, independent game company to offer 10% off on all of its products for the month of October.

Because November is often a bleak and melancholy month. This year was an exception to that rule, though, at least around here.

Spiderweb. Where the thread you make to avoid the derailing of an intellectual discussion gets derailed... into an intellectual discussion.

Harehunter accidentally cloned himself, ADoS. He's the one person that actually CAN be in two places at once.

We can either accept that the RP energy that's surging around is creating all sorts of strangeness and paradoxes and continue as a unit, or call it quits. I would not like to see Spiderbus turn into something that makes people less likely to join Iffy's new RP in December.

Well, that rules you out, Pip.

I would prefer if the blue box was NOT used. I'm not opposed to the campaign taking a random direction, but one thing at a time might be an order.

Edit: Just saw ADoS's cleanup post. Gotta look at the implications and get back to y'all.

I'm afraid I have to agree with ADoS on this. The Dr. Who element has me complete flummoxed.

After firing several shots through the window of the bus, Actaeon stows his bow, pulls out a cutlass, and prepares to enter the fray. As he descends the steps, however, he encounters the floating blue speck going the other way. As it touches him, he finds himself transformed into a large, reddish stag.

Actaeon: « Damn. Well, I suppose this was inevitable. »

He plunges ahead, head lowered and prepared to gore the next raptor to come his way. He finds, however, that the raptors are already in full retreat. The sole remaining dinosaur approaches cautiously, and appears to be miming something.

Actaeon: « What in the world? »

The raptor continues forward and, with Actaeon too flummoxed to respond, embraces the stag.

Actaeon: « Jewels? »

So be it.

It is, perhaps, possible to wipe the existing votes and start it over without deleting the thread and making it from scratch?

(Apparently, post-apocalyptic modern fantasy is where it's at, though.)

I can't help but feel nervous at some of these questions. I understand the intent, but it's the tech equivalent of: "Do you lock your doors at night?" "Where do you sleep?" "Do you keep a weapon by your bedside?"

Nalyd has it right. Most people prefer their own settings, I think. However, it's nice to occasionally get away from knights and the like, and play with stone tools or cannons.

You're also right that I should have made choices public. I forgot about that option. Can it be done retroactively?

Actaeon: "Of course it has something to do with it, Harehunter! We've obviously either travelled back to the Cretaceous, or somewhere else that looks a hell of a lot like it. In any case, if everyone would kindly find a weapon and help me see to the defense of the bus!"

So saying, he pulls a bow from under his long coat and begins to string it.

Actaeon: "Still alive out there, Diki?"

Since Iffy put together a poll on RPs, I thought I'd go ahead with something a bit more in my comfort zone: RPGs.

For those unclear on the distinction, online tabletop RPGs are distinct from RPs by being conducted in real time and having a set of specific mechanics to govern success or failure, as well as a game mater. The most common commercial system is D20, while nearly all campaigns on Spidweb have been conducted with AIMhack.

Anyway, I haven't seen any new announcements lately, and would be curious to see what the level and type of interest is.

How much direction are people willing to take? Obviously chaos isn't working, but acting out a plot that's already be aired publicly is hardly better. Y'all seem to be experts on this sort of thing.

How would this work: those of us inclined to move the plot forward (that is, be in the know to some extent) can meet on CalRef or AIM at a predetermined time and work out the kinks from start to finish. The rest of those participating will just be along for the ride- free enough to keep things interesting but not so wild as to confuse things further.

Our other options include letter things continue as is, locking the thread, abandoning it, or starting from scratch.

In the mean time, SoT, I think you should take advantage of the fact that you can apparently see dead people.

Who runs the show - is it Actaeon or Diki ?

Jewels. Then Sylae and Diki keep Jewels in check, and I keep them in check- which really just consists of keeping the dinosaurs and ponies to a minimum. Really, though, I do think collaboration is essential. The key is to get a sense of where everyone's headed, and trying to avoid clashing or interrupting the flow. Some posts seem, to me, superfluous, while others provide interest and inspiration (Jewels and SoT's opening posts are good examples of the latter).

OOC: Y'all are aware that the ruin of the forum and the bus are kinda... separate at the moment, right?

It remains eerily quiet in the wood as Sylae flies along. She has a sense of being watched.

Dikiyoba, meanwhile, discovers species of Betula, Cercocarpus, Fraxinus, Aster, Rhododendron, and a dozen other plants native to most of North America. Finally, a great hulking shape looms into view.

Dikiyoba (whispers): "Sequoia."

From the distance, the Spiderwebbers hear a shout.

Dikiyoba: "I know where we are!"