The Powers That Be (
powersthatbe) wrote in
synodiporia_ooc2017-05-11 01:57 pm
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MAY STATE OF THE GAME
I. Jaunt Vote Results/Walkabout Voting
Our next jaunt will be Showtime, by a considerable margin. The other two proposed jaunts made strong enough showings to come back up in the voting pool at a later date; keep an eye out for them the next time we feel in need of a game-wide vacation.
Walkabout options for June/July are the following, all on a 1:1 OOC time ratio:
Ivory Tower: Field Trip: Postapocalyptic scholars attending a conference near an irradiated city find there's more to worry about than academic politics when local warlords make trouble. It may be time to test how much mightier than the sword the pen can be…
Escape from Junkworld: Shopping Trip: The motley inter-species band of Gehenna survivors keeping up their outpost on a distant moon are doing fairly well for themselves overall, but in need of a supply run to a nearby planet. Between hastily and poorly repaired outriders and the constant threat of officials from any number of civilised worlds bearing down on them, the mission isn’t without its risks.
Lightside/Darkside: November: As the elves of January gradually ease up the quarantine that’s kept their population segregated for so long, they also begin repairing the overland roads to the rest of the Federation of Hel - and their relations with their neighboring cities. A delegation from the nearby city of November is here to find out just what January’s been up to, these last centuries, and whether they’re ready to rejoin the Federation’s governing council.
Walkabout voting will close Thursday, May 18th, at 11:59PM CST, to give us a chance to put it together. As usual, votes are weighted so that first choices count for two votes and second choices count for one.
II. Jaunt Disconnect
Discussion of jaunt disconnect problems reared its head again during this jaunt, and we’d really like to organize that discussion in a central place, the better to get as much input as possible and see if we can figure out how best to help prevent the problem, especially on jaunts that don’t also feature a walkabout.
Suggestions have included making better use of diverse setting locations, or making it clear that some locations are only available for characters to Be From and will not be used as active parts of the jaunt setting. In this regard, the mods feel Code of Dishonor was perhaps the biggest success (three distinct regions, each with its own agendas and plots still woven into the greater whole), though no jaunt has been without its issues somewhere along the line.
We’re open to feedback of all sorts, both about problems players are having engaging with jaunts and potential solutions to those problems.
III. OOC Tensions and Character Bleed
As noted the other day, this jaunt has seen quite a bit of IC and OOC tension, as well as an unusually high number of player complaints. (The high number of complaints in no way makes these complaints less valid; every complaint brought to us merited and got an immediate mod response. Please, absolutely let us know when you see a problem.) We’d like to take a moment to remind you all that you’re perfectly allowed to take a step back for a day or two if you need to, even on a jaunt with as high of stakes as this one.
We’ve also learned a few lessons regarding the presentation of high-stakes jaunts, and will do our best to help prevent the tension from ratcheting up so quickly for the next one. If there’s anything else we as mods can do to help defuse these situations in the future, please let us know.
IV. Liminal Energy Skills
Recently, Riddick & Matthew, through some clever combinations of skills, have uncovered a portion of the Liminal Skill tree lost since before Moebius - Liminal Energy skills. Four new skills are presented here, and more can be developed - we strongly encourage characters to find clever, subversive ways to explore the possibilities of the network, Liminal Space, & the Travelers’ own pasts, & are always eager to consult any curious player looking to develop something like this.
LIMINAL ENERGY
By breaking down the matter of Liminal Space, create enough energy to power or recharge any one battery-operated device, appliance which would use a standard wall socket, or comparable machine. Usable once per day.
Prerequisites: Liminal Manipulation II.
LIMINAL GENERATOR
In any created room, create functional electrical wiring and active electrical power systems which can power or charge any devices in that space, up to 2kW/hour per level of Room Creation you possess (an average American home uses roughly 1.5kW/h on average). Without this skill, lights and appliances in Created Rooms are powered, but are powered by being part of the room - i.e., a lamp that is unplugged in a created room cannot be replaced with a different appliance, as it is powered by the creator’s understanding of how the room ought to be, not by measurable electric current.
Prerequisites: Room Creation I, Liminal Energy.
LIMINAL SHOCK
Once per day, produce a contact-based electrical shock less than or equal to two milli-amps per Liminal Skill. A ten milli-amp shock is extremely painful; between ten and twenty causes paralysis from contact, seventy-five causes unconsciousness and temporary cessation of breathing, and between one hundred and two hundred is fatal (a Traveler with every Liminal skill on every tree could only produce a shock this severe by using Liminal Power to double the effect of the skill).
Prerequisites: Liminal Energy, Liminal Bubble, Liminal Power.
EXTRALIMINAL TAP
Access the liminal energy you have access to to power systems or devices outside Liminal Space. Effectively, you can now plug devices into one or more outlet-portals to power them remotely.
Prerequisites: Liminal Energy, Intraliminal Skills, Object Portal.
V. New Business/Questions & Concerns
If you have something to discuss which doesn’t fall under the above headers, let us know here!
Our next jaunt will be Showtime, by a considerable margin. The other two proposed jaunts made strong enough showings to come back up in the voting pool at a later date; keep an eye out for them the next time we feel in need of a game-wide vacation.
Walkabout options for June/July are the following, all on a 1:1 OOC time ratio:
Ivory Tower: Field Trip: Postapocalyptic scholars attending a conference near an irradiated city find there's more to worry about than academic politics when local warlords make trouble. It may be time to test how much mightier than the sword the pen can be…
Escape from Junkworld: Shopping Trip: The motley inter-species band of Gehenna survivors keeping up their outpost on a distant moon are doing fairly well for themselves overall, but in need of a supply run to a nearby planet. Between hastily and poorly repaired outriders and the constant threat of officials from any number of civilised worlds bearing down on them, the mission isn’t without its risks.
Lightside/Darkside: November: As the elves of January gradually ease up the quarantine that’s kept their population segregated for so long, they also begin repairing the overland roads to the rest of the Federation of Hel - and their relations with their neighboring cities. A delegation from the nearby city of November is here to find out just what January’s been up to, these last centuries, and whether they’re ready to rejoin the Federation’s governing council.
Walkabout voting will close Thursday, May 18th, at 11:59PM CST, to give us a chance to put it together. As usual, votes are weighted so that first choices count for two votes and second choices count for one.
Poll #18353 June/July Walkabot
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 26
What is your first choice Walkabout for June/July?
View Answers
Ivory Tower: Field Trip
5 (19.2%)
Escape from Junkworld: Shopping Trip
15 (57.7%)
Lightside/Darkside: November
6 (23.1%)
What is your second choice Walkabout for June/July?
View Answers
Ivory Tower: Field Trip
8 (30.8%)
Escape from Junkworld: Shopping Trip
7 (26.9%)
Lightside/Darkside: November
11 (42.3%)
II. Jaunt Disconnect
Discussion of jaunt disconnect problems reared its head again during this jaunt, and we’d really like to organize that discussion in a central place, the better to get as much input as possible and see if we can figure out how best to help prevent the problem, especially on jaunts that don’t also feature a walkabout.
Suggestions have included making better use of diverse setting locations, or making it clear that some locations are only available for characters to Be From and will not be used as active parts of the jaunt setting. In this regard, the mods feel Code of Dishonor was perhaps the biggest success (three distinct regions, each with its own agendas and plots still woven into the greater whole), though no jaunt has been without its issues somewhere along the line.
We’re open to feedback of all sorts, both about problems players are having engaging with jaunts and potential solutions to those problems.
III. OOC Tensions and Character Bleed
As noted the other day, this jaunt has seen quite a bit of IC and OOC tension, as well as an unusually high number of player complaints. (The high number of complaints in no way makes these complaints less valid; every complaint brought to us merited and got an immediate mod response. Please, absolutely let us know when you see a problem.) We’d like to take a moment to remind you all that you’re perfectly allowed to take a step back for a day or two if you need to, even on a jaunt with as high of stakes as this one.
We’ve also learned a few lessons regarding the presentation of high-stakes jaunts, and will do our best to help prevent the tension from ratcheting up so quickly for the next one. If there’s anything else we as mods can do to help defuse these situations in the future, please let us know.
IV. Liminal Energy Skills
Recently, Riddick & Matthew, through some clever combinations of skills, have uncovered a portion of the Liminal Skill tree lost since before Moebius - Liminal Energy skills. Four new skills are presented here, and more can be developed - we strongly encourage characters to find clever, subversive ways to explore the possibilities of the network, Liminal Space, & the Travelers’ own pasts, & are always eager to consult any curious player looking to develop something like this.
LIMINAL ENERGY
By breaking down the matter of Liminal Space, create enough energy to power or recharge any one battery-operated device, appliance which would use a standard wall socket, or comparable machine. Usable once per day.
Prerequisites: Liminal Manipulation II.
LIMINAL GENERATOR
In any created room, create functional electrical wiring and active electrical power systems which can power or charge any devices in that space, up to 2kW/hour per level of Room Creation you possess (an average American home uses roughly 1.5kW/h on average). Without this skill, lights and appliances in Created Rooms are powered, but are powered by being part of the room - i.e., a lamp that is unplugged in a created room cannot be replaced with a different appliance, as it is powered by the creator’s understanding of how the room ought to be, not by measurable electric current.
Prerequisites: Room Creation I, Liminal Energy.
LIMINAL SHOCK
Once per day, produce a contact-based electrical shock less than or equal to two milli-amps per Liminal Skill. A ten milli-amp shock is extremely painful; between ten and twenty causes paralysis from contact, seventy-five causes unconsciousness and temporary cessation of breathing, and between one hundred and two hundred is fatal (a Traveler with every Liminal skill on every tree could only produce a shock this severe by using Liminal Power to double the effect of the skill).
Prerequisites: Liminal Energy, Liminal Bubble, Liminal Power.
EXTRALIMINAL TAP
Access the liminal energy you have access to to power systems or devices outside Liminal Space. Effectively, you can now plug devices into one or more outlet-portals to power them remotely.
Prerequisites: Liminal Energy, Intraliminal Skills, Object Portal.
V. New Business/Questions & Concerns
If you have something to discuss which doesn’t fall under the above headers, let us know here!
no subject
Might be good to have a heads up which arcana would be in which jaunt on voting so that people can request walkabouts to just avoid the situation entirely, or even have a secondary "So knowing which arcana are involved, who needs a walkabout now?" option. (Since that is sort of the whole point of walkabouts, isn't it? Avoiding putting your character in a messy situation...)
no subject
...Also I'm not saying having a heads up about Arcana would be bad, because sometimes it's way less obvious and we don't know for sure until they show up, just that that wouldn't be a complete fix on its own.
no subject
I mean: "Classical Myth & Fantasy, set in a Trojan War-era Greece full of gods, monsters, & titans, the Olympians and their chosen heroes must deal with the machinations of fate when their powers and domains begin to ebb and flow, faltering or in some cases transferring to others. Whether a curse, a trick, or the inevitable twilight of the gods, before the last oracle is cast and the mystery revealed, the foundations of the world will shake."
vs "World's ending and everything's on fire" that this very quickly fell into. I likely would have put in for a walkabout as well if I had had any idea what this jaunt actually was.
no subject
ETA: Maybe that's something that could be worked on to improve connection to Jaunts. Making sure the descriptions actually give a clear picture of the sort of things the Jaunt is going to bring to avoid people ending up in a situation where they realize they would have opted for a walkabout if they knew this was what they were going to be dealing with on the main Jaunt.
no subject
no subject
So maybe there could be a little side-note kind of thing added to the previews? Something to give the feel or genre? Continuing the book analogy, perhaps something to do the equivalent of pointing out that even though the back of the book sounds like an action-adventure story it's actually in the horror section so you should probably expect some horror in there somewhere. It would also be a good place to add other important bits of information too, like how knowing whether the next Jaunt options were on an accelerated schedule or not is a huge factor for some players?
no subject