Too cool. I enjoyed the reading, as a former real-world Special Agent I found myself really enjoying the character of Douglas Baker.

Thanks for the great story.

Dude!

Pictures I send you.

Put here.

I.

OK, cool recap. Cool session too.

1) The system does not inherently eliminate fight-scenes, it is you who pushes it that way. In a huge way. With all your conflict-resolution crap. Down at the plant you forced fed the victory down our throats so fast we had no time to swallow!

It is only natural to get one-move-checkmates from players if you let them – we are being true to character. There is no need, sayz character, for more than one move. It wurx. But player knows better – there is great need for more complicated sets. It is an important and interesting part of the game. For this the audience pays.

Recent experience tells me that party (that’s us, not you) is pretty good with sacrificing character interests on behalf of game, so if you don’t want to handle this I guess the player’s council will have to: instead of always describing how we win the entire battle we will describe one mook at a time. Still, would be nice to have your cooperation on this.

And why not, really? Why are you letting the fight scenes die? Maybe you are embarrassed again. Maybe there is a part of you that thinks this is beneath you. Like sex scenes this is: you see the PCs eying the monster, they reach closer, fade to black… Then it’s cut to Slade not having a cigarette. Or maybe you really think it is better to have fight-moves instead of fight-scenes. Maybe it IS better and I just haven’t seen the light yet, but I assure you, I haven’t. And you should do martial arts, also.

2) I think you play Dominique OK. I think she is guilty, and worried for herself and not for her husband (white-alien-trash bitch), and I think that the way she reacted made us suspect her more – which is a completely good thing.

3) I did *not* taunt the valet. It was in bloopers, not in film.

4) I think it was mainly Baker who kept going on about mickey-dees being alien tavern.

5) The Greens are detectors, but it was much discussed that they do this through technology. This players said, mostly, so I am looking for some kind of reassurance from you, but I know what you will say: we are monkeys in a recording studio, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic and the dreams of yesterday are the hopes of today and the reality of tomorrow. Yes yes. We heard about you.

6) I think “essentially, what you’re talking about is less bureaucracy and more room service” is actually Genkin playing the bureaucrat, but it did strike Slade as recipe for a better world.

7) We did not agree that Douglas tag along. We welcomed him. We are good guys and we are pretty sure that Douglas is a good guy too, plus he has that I-have-a-player aura. When he asked if he could come I said: “I thought you’d never ask”.

8) Yes, make fun of me and my weirding ways. In psychedelic RPG teaser you put me? Good enough for me.

9) Remember that we were very conscious about “not investigating or anything”. The first thing we did upon arriving at Borekitas is discuss this and decide that we are going to play pool while waiting for Dominique to finish her business and meet us. We did NOT try to follow her because it is not gentlemen-like. Because she may be a lady in a tight spot and she deserves the benefit of the doubt. We are good guys.

That is why we do not become authority.

Yet.

10) We said 1600. I know we said 1600. Even you, in prev. paragraph, write: “She says she’s busy, but can meet them for Lunch at four”. And best of all, the bureaucrat came to assist (in a show of player’s camaraderie, which to your horror we are developing) with a PDA of CIA (pronounced KEEAAH, with HIRIK and PATACH) power that said that yes we set at four and you knew we were in a hurry to meet you and you should also be hurried and not eating a steak since he is your husband you cold blooded alien harlot.

But I guess what’s important here is that you got your artsy contrast.

11) Problem with secret rolls here is that after the roll DM divulges the result by giving the player his dice back (if he failed) or by not (if he succeeded). The solution we found at the end was that secret rolls are possible but you can’t gamble on them.

Sucky solution, but don’t worry, this problem is totally solvable in the new & improved version of the Pool that I just came up with. Seriously, I think I have a good system for us. Tweaked specifically for our unique dynamics – although it is possible that by formalizing it into a set of rules and putting it on the Internet we can, by induction, force our dynamics over other players thus redrawing the Pattern, recreating the multiverse and becoming Gods – but more of this later.

Suffice in the mean-time to say that Chi-Ripples is indeed a great name for a breakfast cereal. Breakfast of kung-fu champions.

12) We go to balcony, for railing, not to patio (which is usually thought of as an inner yard and therefore is rarely “out back”, but I guess you just meant rich-people balcony so it is OK). This is not very interesting, but is good to write down so we can remember to say it when they make us do commentary for the DVD.

13) Jack orders steak by using his secret superpower. Twice. Wouldn’t do it when I asked him to. No, secretive fellow is Jack. With the eyes he does to me: “not in front of this Baker dude who can maybe see my power!”. And now, in front of same Baker. Twice. What he thinks, my character does not have feelings? Can’t be hurt?

14) “My steak is getting cold”? Where do you come up with these things? Next thing you will say that her name is Kamikaze. No, it was a small blunt and scared “this is stupid” that escaped her lips before she turned. This was not only saying “I’m guilty and I’m scared you will catch me and foil my plans and punish me as I deserve”, it was also saying “I’m a cold blooded alien and am not well accustomed to what you Terrans refer to as emotions”.

Burn her.

15) Evils of cattle farming? NASA? Where were you? Making coffee or something, no? Ah, sure, that is why we went to the “balcony” in the first place. Winston told Dom that he will set an appointment with hubby ASAP, but also gave her the insulted look for not playing along. This is stressed with saying that once the boys are done with their steaks we will be off. “There is nothing more for us here” sort of thing. When Jack said that we can go now and he will have another steak elsewhere I merely said: “you already ordered the cow executed, have the decency to eat it”.

And there was the howl of a timber-cow in the background (my superpower, I will use it as I like).

16) “Very tall men in ornate black armor” – I am sending you an image for you to paste somewhere here. Dressed for the hunt.

17) Jack bends knight’s arm, breaks it so that it hangs limp and uses it as the handle of his scythe (still connected limply to knight) to fuck this guy up. A part of this up-fucking is tearing/slicing/disassembling the arm off and prying out the sword. Something of a tour de force, but sure is a cool move.

18) Yes, Slade was hiding in shadows, hoping that Jack will get the hell out of there so that he can see how the knights operate the book, but not being overly optimistic in that regard having just witnessed a surprising new side of Jack’s intellect. Or lack thereof.

19) Jack kills all mooks in single move, Winston steps over bodies and checks the book. Is there, in his nonchalant approach, a touch of the tired old man? Why, there is. Is it Jack’s brave new definition of stealth that tires him? Nay, for the Jack is young and gung-ho, he saw a guy falling of the balcony and was alarmed, it flows with the spirit that flows through all things. It is outwards that his disappointed gaze wanders, at the players and the DM that left no fight-scene for him. And *he* never even said anything about non-violence.

20) If ever the system worked it was when Genkin bothced all them dice. Four shadows, and we have four characters, how more explicit can it get? Besides, if you really wanted us inside you would have not let us roll, but it was getting late, and it was right to hold this for Ging as it will be hell to try and weave him into the book through another entrance..

Besides, I did talk to him earlier that day. I did set up with him that Alex and Slade met in a dream, made sure all is cool and set up an appointment which Slade forgot about when he awoke. I am thinking to retcon it to somewhere nearer. “I completely forgot, I set a meeting with Alex at Fort Lauderdale in half an hour – we should bring the book” is just cooler. But we need to find out what to do till Gingi comes.

21) NEW SYSTEM. Yes yes. My own anti pool variation, and it’s quite obvious really. A player can’t gamble on his own move.

When a player does a thing he first describes. Then he gets Dice from you (can be more than one if you consider it easy). The other players are then called to judge the coolness of the move and add dice from their own pools. Player collects the dice, calls a number and rolls (we can default to 1, but I like the calling – it reminds me of craps or something). If called number appears the player gets to describe (employing careful judgment as to the extent of the mover and not hogging all the mooks to himself). If called number does not appear the player gets a chance to describe his failure or else the DM will do it for him, painfully.

This way, for example, you can be as lax as you want when demanding descriptions from Bo. I mean, come-on, the man does not only know exactly what we like, he is a goddamn writer: it’s easy for him. I have no moral qualms regarding leaving Bo to face a 83% of failure if he is too lazy to do his job – and I think it goes both ways.

Also, this will give people who gamble an anchor of interest in the actions of other characters and a moral obligation to buff (you paid for it, you might as well use it).

Simple, cool and we will see how it works tonight.

Pictures are cool, even though your skills of casting are beyond me. I almost never see actors I know playing in our movie, at least not until you people tell me about it. The Bernice is great. I will re-render accordingly. Oh, and tan, sure as hell. Sexy bitch.

I.

Cool recap.
Recently I watched The Aristocrates where said Ms. Silverman had a cool bit. There are not many comely female comedians for some odd reason.
I’m picturing Dominique very petite and hot, like say, Belucci in Dobermann or Lara Flynn Boyle with a tan. Deep european tan fer sure.