In reply to Pro-Consul (msg # 25):

This is probably a dumb question, but how do skill ranks work?

Very few dumb questions (I once was asked if a staircase went up or down...)

Skill ranks in Specialty skills add to the base in the Broad Skill, increasing your target number.  If you have 11 in WIL, Awareness Broad skill is 11.  With 1 rank in the Perception Specialty skill you have 12 in Perception.

Those levels give in three ways:  first, it raises the score making it easier to roll under and succeed.  Second, the base situation die now comes down, again making it easier to succeed.  And third, the degree of success is 1/2 for Good and 1/4 for Amazing, rounded down.  So if you go from 11 to 12 for example, your target scores go from 11/5/2 for Ordinary/Good/Amazing, to 12/6/3.  So your chance of succeeding well also increases.

I tend to largely guesstimate the difficulty for simple checks that don't have serious consequences for failure (like this first Perception check).  In combat or when the skill check really matters we can factor in more minutia of modifiers.

Okay, Otho withdrew from the game, we can proceed with the you three.

Rurik, still with us?

Still here. Just had a rough week.

In reply to Rurik Vel (msg # 30):

I'm glad you made it through the week!

In reply to Pro-Consul (msg # 31):

Sorry for the delay -- I wasn't sure who was going first.

I may not have written that clearly, the force field is shrinking the room forcing everyone through the other door opposite.

It's been a week, everyone still out there?  I know Europa is out of pocket for a while, I will NPC her until she returns.

In reply to Pro-Consul (msg # 34):

Sorry, I was ambushed by a cold

I tend to not post until 2/3 of the other players have posted since my last post.  In smaller games with missing people that can be slower.

I don't have a map of the room, but here is a description:

Picture an airplane cabin but wider and shorter.  There are 60 seats, 30 on either side of an aisle, 6 rows of 5 seats on each side.  There is am aisle on either side and at the back of the room in the corners are the restrooms, in the center of the aisle in the back is the door from which everyone entered.  The food station is in front on the right, in front on the left is a trash receptacle that is free-standing and apparently won't be emptied until the end of the trip.

In reply to Argot (msg # 36):

This custom may have to be suspended for this game, it's just you, Marcia and Rurik right now; Europa will be back.  If everyone waits for everyone else to post we won't get anywhere.

Argot can interact with Strego or Europa (NPC'd) or he can approach any of the other prisoners and conspire to escape.  The same goes for Rurik.

Please remember:  "I expect from the players and their characters a certain level of interested involvement.  That means not simply reacting to events as they unfold, but actively investigating leads, clues, and hints: your character should be motivated to act, and to act as part of a group.  Discussion in-character of such leads, of possible options, and plans of action are important for character development and to move the story along. ... I expect from the players and their characters a certain level of interested involvement.  That means not simply reacting to events as they unfold, but actively investigating leads, clues, and hints: your character should be motivated to act, and to act as part of a group.  Discussion in-character of such leads, of possible options, and plans of action are important for character development and to move the story along"

That was posted up front so everyone would understand.

Sure.  Knowing that someone is inactive, which we do now, changes how to calculate the number of posting people, but we really should try to get more players too.

If there are clues you want us to react to you might want to make a list of those, so far the only clue we have is "don't rock the boat until the next scene happens".

I am recruiting, might have another alien character join.  It is under discussion.  I appreciate it.

In a similar way I prefer to have actions , questions or such from a majority of players before I advance the action or timeline, to give everyone time to do something.  Because of the Agency rule I will not assume your characters are doing anything specific unless I have to NPC them in a fight scene.  Generally, I abhor NPCing or otherwise controlling a PC without their consent.

Head's up that I start a one week business trip this afternoon. I will read from hotel and airport wifi and post as I am able. Crossing nine time zones today arriving Tuesday, then have to turn around again on Friday.

I am back.  Argot, Rurik addressed you directly.  Any response?

Response to what exactly?

Is Argot going to just ignore him?  It is a valid response, but I won't assume.

I generally wait for more than one reply before I do anything, but if nobody else is doing anything I suppose I can think something up.

Considering the two week silence, I think that I will shutter this game.  I may revive it in a different system.  I like Alternity but the player pool is limited.

Not getting replacement players is not a good sign at all.  Rpol is generally over full of those.

Several recruiting attempts failed to get any takers.  There really aren't that many Alternity players left and since this is a non-traditional (not Star Drive) setting, that many fewer.

I developed this setting for the Alternity game back in 1998 and adpated it for d20 Modern in the early 2000's, even writing and publishing a d20 Modern supplement on DriveThruRPG (it didn't do well.  Meh)  So I can run it in that system pretty easy.  We'll see.

Thank you.

There are some good D20 modern rebuilds for 5e D&D.  No matter how weird the setting or story the system is popular enough that you will have plenty of players.

Alternity was interesting when it came out, but it wound up being overly complicated when the trend was to 'simplify' things. D&D 3.0/3.5 and Pathfinder have over-complicated things again. 5e was supposed to simplify it again, but it's getting complicated real fast.

One of the 'problems' I had with most of the sci-fi games that came out was that I didn't particularly like the settings. They were never my idea of scifi adventuring.

While Jim Butcher successful combined the Roman Empire with Pokemon in his Codex Alera series, I'm kind of lost with your setting.