Quote of the Day

[telerib]

The AP reports that American white pelicans have mysteriously abandoned their nesting ground in North Dakota. Says one official:

"It's like they packed up and left in the middle of the night — except they didn't pack up, they just left."
--- Ken Torkelson, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Bismarck.

<cawfee-tawk>
Discuss.
</cawfee-tawk>

Comments

[edg.livejournal.com]

That's... odd. Maybe the pelicans know something we don't.

Does USFWS know where they went? Maybe they were actually all eaten by something very large and hungry.

And, thoroughly off-topic, do you happen to remember what Moe intended to play in 7th Sea? My mind says a Vendel warrior, but I'm not sure I can trust it; it's been looking a little shifty-eyed lately.

[telerib.livejournal.com]

Should've provided a link (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1894&ncid=1894&e=10&u=/ap/20040610/ap_on_re_us/pelican_mystery) right off.

Right now, the 7th Sea party consists of:

Magnus Svenson, the son of a Vendel arms manufacturer. Fancies himself very footloose and fancy-free, and he is - for a Vendel. So he's not hopelessly stuffy and starched, but not nearly the free spirit he thinks he is.

Steve's PC, an ex-Musketeer with a big mouth (Overzealous Hubris).

Moe's sheet shows good combat skills and a fair assortment of Civil skills; Steve is a Cheese Monkey and proud of it. I haven't seen his sheet yet, but I'm sure he's very good in combat and probably good with a few useful Civil knacks.

[edg.livejournal.com]

Ah. Explanatory goodness. Thank you!

As regards the 7th Sea party... hm. I think I can make a "pirate" work with those concepts; I've been thinking of either Vodacce or Eisen as a starting point. Any thoughts on that, or on what sorts of skills and knacks you think I ought to have?

[telerib.livejournal.com]

Take three dots in Footwork.

Be proficient in at *least* one skill that's useful in a fight. I don't recommend Firearms, because once you shoot, you spend the rest of the fight reloading. Once you have bought the Skill, it is worth it to buy 2 or 3 dots of Attack(Weapon). Parry(Weapon) is less useful than one would think, but a dot or two isn't a bad idea.

The time-honored Swashbuckly technique of smashing beer mugs over people's heads is Dirty Fighting-Improvised Weapon. Imp. Weapon is an Advanced knack, so you might buy the Dirty Fighting skill now (while it's cheap) and pick up the knack later (when *it's* cheap). Unless you see your character as someone who wouldn't be into Dirty Fighting, but... pirate. I'm assuming you want this.

Sailor, obviously.

There is much goodness under the Athletics skill. With Steve's Overzealous, you may find it prudent to invest a point or two in Sprinting.

As the other two PCs strike me as fairly upstanding, you may want some Criminal knacks. I don't know that they *don't* have it, but you're the "scurvy dog" of the group so far.

If you can, buy a Background. They're fun, give me plothooks, and give you extra XP.

Eisen and Vodacce both will feature prominently in the game, so you can pick either with confidence that the GM will find some way of turning one of the characters in your background into an NPC you'll dread meeting. :-) Go with whichever appeals to you more.

I'll be giving a bonus language to everyone (so the party can communicate) - I haven't decided which yet. If it ends up being one you've already paid for, you can have those points back to spend on other stuff.

[edg.livejournal.com]

Sounds good to me. Since one of the major schticks of the character is going to be improvising weapons, I suspect that I'll be taking that Knack anyway. :)

I can't find the answer to this in the PG - can I use a Skill or Knack that I don't have? Frex, if I don't take Courtier, can I still make rolls that use the Dancing Knack? (I assume that I can, and just don't add any dice to the Trait - essentially, I'm rolling the Trait by itself. But I figured I'd ask, since that's going to influence some of my choices.)

[telerib.livejournal.com]

The short answer: Yes. You can always roll your Trait.

The longer answer: There is a penalty which I can't precisely remember. I know your 10's won't explode, and I think the TN may increase by 5 (i.e., you have to make a Raise to succeed).

[edg.livejournal.com]

See, I post that, and then immediately find the section talking about it. You're exactly right about the penalty. :)

Re: Zepplins return!

[telerib.livejournal.com]

If you had to guess, a company that would be purchasing a zepplin would be from which nation?

If you said Japan (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1894&e=2&u=/ap/20040612/ap_on_hi_te/germany_zeppelin), you were right.

There are apparently 3 zepplins already in flight, made by the same company in Germany, but this is the first one they've sold rather than operated themselves.