The Eye of Anubis: OOC Thread

[Rock of the Fraternity]

I've never really sat down and talked to a ghoul about its preferred meals. Anyway, does anyone get a cookie yet?

[Kaitou Kage]

I get the feeling that Neo's just asking us this question so he can get ideas to use against us. I doubt he really has a plan for the cooper's shop.

I can see it now. Him hunched over his computer, grinning maniacally and rubbing his hands together.

"Now, let's see how I can get the players to kill themselves this time."

[NeoTiamat]

It's working, isn't it?

And no, I have a plan. DocBeard can tell you that I've had a plan since the start of Book One.

That doesn't mean I won't ruthlessly poach ideas. Cookies for all!

[DocBeard]

Man, I feel like crap, now. I thought everyone had gotten into the temple or the inn.

If I had known there were still townspeople around, I'd have jumped Viktor. Ah well.

[NeoTiamat]

There were about 20-30 people who ignored the orders. How many are still around is anyone's guess.

[The Whistler]

Just a heads-up: my parents are up visiting, so I may be a little late in posting today (like a little after 9-ish ET, if I can't swing it earlier.) Sorry!

[NeoTiamat]

Note on individual combats:

As some of you may know, I have an AIM adress rather prominently located in my profile.

If you're in an individual combat, i.e., just yourself, it would be *far* better for you to AIM me and we can roll the dice quickly an easily, rather then spending god knows how long doing it on the thread.

In fact! If you;ve a combat with other AIM-ers, it might also be faster for the 3-4 of us to get together and do it there, rather then spend the time in the main thread.

This is just a suggestion, no one *has* to do it, but it'd save time and let you get on with doing more stuff.

As a side note, I strongly encourage people to have AIM so I can contact you if I need a quick spot check or something.

[NeoTiamat]

Decided to put my money where my mouth is. There are four non AIM-ers right now; Lostboy, Nathan, Rock, and Whistler. So if you four decide to get AIM and send me a message, and actually stay online for a reasonable time a day, I'll award 500 XP.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

That sounds like a wonderful idea, but I live in Europe. And I have a day job. -_- All in all, not a situation that invites lengthy aim online presence, I feel ... Better to arrange a time, or pm things out when we both happen to be on. Or maybe you'd like to commission some artwork for bonus xp, instead?
Pity you don't have messenger ...

[NeoTiamat]

*shrug* I'm a night owl, so I seem to catch you around a reasonable amount of time.

As for art, eh? Didn't realize I was to commission it. Just draw up anyone you feel like, or if you want I'm sure I can find some NPC who hasn't had much love.

[Kaitou Kage]

Neo's right, he's online most of the day and well into the night.

I know this because I see him online most of the day and well into the night >-> Pretty much the only times neither of us is on AIM is when we have class, things to do, or places to be.

I have a better excuse than he does, though. I'm a web developer, so it's expected of me to be online all day. He's just a big slacker

[The Whistler]

Yay tactical situations!

Is there a skill check I can make to see if Otto recognizes those casks as the kind that usually hold something specific (gunpowder, oil, or whatever)? Won't change my actions too much, probably, but who knows.

[NeoTiamat]

Not really, not till Viktor starts pouring them, but you can make a reasonable guess that they hold liquids.

[NeoTiamat]

The Erl-Stones

Okay, someone has asked me how the whole Boon, Bet, Bargain thing works, so here's the OOC mechanics for it. (Probably more than you need, but so be it.)

-The Prize. This is what you get. The current prize being asked for is the survival of Ravnika and the removal of the horde of ravening undead.

As a rule of thumb, the Old Laws and the Erl-Stones are somewhat Druidic in outlook, so doing something natural, such as the removal of unnatural undead or starting a forest-fire, is far easier then doing something unnatural, such as killing someone or creating a technological item.

-The Price This is what you have to give up. The prize being asked for is fairly hefty, (destroying fifty undead is never easy), so the Price is pretty expensive as well. Three ways of paying the price:

• -Boon: This is a service to the Old Laws, basically a long-term installment plan for paying the Price. This is what Khalil is planning to do.
  
  You get a service, you have to do it. For plot reasons, the service won't interfere too much with being a part of the Expedition, but neither is it going to be a cake-walk. Otto's requirement of protecting wolves is a decent sample service. If you welch on the boon, you the Erl-Stones demand payment another way, which probably means you get hit with the equivalent of a Dangerous curse. Same if you fail it.
  
  -Bargain: This is a straightforward give something up and get something back. Old Marilena prefers to bargain with the Old Laws.
  
  Basically, you pay a price, which is equivalent to a Troublesome curse for power, and in exchange you get the boon. Very simple, but at the same time, no getting out of it.
  
  -Bet: This is the trickiest one, and the only one that offers a chance of not actually having to pay. Charles is planning this.
  
  In the bet, you compete with an entity of some sort, which will either end up as a mock-combat or a some kind of skill-contest. For their part, they offer a share of the Prize. For your part, you offer something such as your sight or your wits, the equivalent of a Dangerous Curse, if you lose. (So Sight would be Blindness, or Wits would be -6 Int). You decide what to offer.
  
  The entity proposes a contest, although you might be able to convince it to do something else instead, with some good RP and some good bluff/diplomacy checks. Sample contests might be the Archery Contest from Complete Warrior, or a drinking contest (Con saves until one of you gets alcohol poisoning).
  
  You win, you pay nothing, you get the prize. You lose, you pay the price, and may or may not get the prize depending on how good a sport you were and how slick a talker you are.

-Refusal. At any point until you actually say "Yes, I agree," to the service or the contest, you can back out. If that happens, and you can't convince the entity to do something else (service or contest), then you can go back, none the better or none the worse.

For each person who fails to complete their part of the bargain, there's a 33% chance that nothing whatsoever happens and you've all wasted your time, and a 3% chance that something horrible happens instead (say, instead of getting rid of the undead, all the dead in Ravnika rise up).


As a side note, the alternative is fifty undead.

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Does this sound fair to all involved?

[Rock of the Fraternity]

I may not be directly involved, but it seems pretty fair to me.