In the D&D world, the gods are real. There is proof that they exist, they grant Clerics and other divine classes powers like a pez dispenser.
How would this affect the religions associated with these gods? Such a large part of religion in the real world is about faith- faith that [insert deity] exists and that they do and act the way that [insert corresponding holy book]. But what happens when we know that these deities in fact exist and that the do indeed act according to what their holy book says.
I think that they faith aspect is still relevant to a certain respect. The followers still need to have faith that when they ask for their god's aid, that they will grant it. The cleric still needs to have faith that his [insert divine spell] will work, otherwise he probably wouldn't go out adventuring if he feared his god granted powers would suddenly be gone. There is still faith involved, that their god will not change his mind about his morality and one day decide to turn evil or something. The faith becomes more similar to the faith people have when they are in a relationship rather than a faith that the god exists or not.
Other than faith, what would be different? I think that there would be a number of people against religions because they don't like the idea of worshiping and bowing down to another being, even if that being is by any measure far superior to them (think stargate SG 1)
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Labyrinth Lord (aka D&D 1st ed) review
I started playing table top RPGs only a few years ago, near the end of the 3.5 D&D era. And I hadn't played anything earlier. I've long heard of those die-hard old-school D&Ders who insist AD&D is the better than the new-schoolers. Where dwarf is a class, and there's this weird THACO thing. I was skeptical, but I wanted to try it before I could properly form an opinion. It's been something I wanted to try for a while, but until now, I haven't found a group until now.
Yesterday, I attended my first real dungeon crawl. Overall, I enjoyed it, however, like any system there are things I didn't like. In conclusion, it's a game I am certainly willing to play given the opportunity, but I am not likely to go out of my way to get my old-school D&D fix. 7 out of 10 stars.
Things I liked:
Yesterday, I attended my first real dungeon crawl. Overall, I enjoyed it, however, like any system there are things I didn't like. In conclusion, it's a game I am certainly willing to play given the opportunity, but I am not likely to go out of my way to get my old-school D&D fix. 7 out of 10 stars.
Things I liked:
- Character creation was easy. Roll some dice, pick from a nice small list of classes (not like 4th ed where there are a million choices to make, even after you pick a race/class)
- A lack of magic items. I feel that newer editions of D&D make magic items so common that they are no longer special. Most 4e characters above first level have at least 2 magic items. It kills pretty much any "item related quest" which is often done is fantasy stories (ie, you need special sword X to kill your sworn enemy)
- Short combat. Enemies as well as players have so few hitpoints (my character had 9 hit points, and she had the most of the party), so it's quick to kill the monsters, as well as the players
- Rules-light for the player. A player does not have much that he needs to keep track of, character sheets are simple, and laid out in a logical manner
- Almost no math. This isn't important for most people, but I am one of those arithmetic incompetent people who will count their attack bonus on their fingers. This edition gives you a nice little chart, you roll this number, this is what AC you can hit.
- Rules heavy for the DM. The DM has tons of different charts and stats he needs to keep track of, how many turns until the lantern oil runs out, exactly how many feet is that hallway, etc. The DM slows down gameplay, even if he is an expert on the rules
- Slow exploration. While combat is over quickly, the constant "I search for traps, I search for secret doors, I listen at the door, I poke the box with my 10' pole, etc" gets tedious and repetitive. Because first level players are so fragile, they tend to be annoyingly cautious. Now, I know if I were actually in a creepy dungeon full of traps, I'd be listening at every door, but that isn't much fun. And fun is my top priority when it comes to gaming.
- Stereo-typed character personalities. Because characters die so easily, people have a tendency to not come up with original personalities for their characters. And while playing a Scottish ale loving dwarf can be fun, it gets old after a while.
- Is higher better or lower? This is where my OCD kicks in, I want consistency. I like knowing that universally rolling high or low is good and the other is bad. Which is not done, when hitting things, higher is better, when doing some kind of ability check lower is better. It gets confusing for a new player
- Wizards. Poor first level wizards can't do a damn thing. They've got their one spell, and if their creative they can light some lantern oil and throw it at something. It makes being a low level wizard boring and boring does not equal fun.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Improvized gaming 2.0
I have been thinking about the past free for all experiment, and people's input that has been given to me. And I think I'm ready to do this again. This time, the game parameters will be much more defined, and questions will be specific to what is going on in the game.
This time, questions will be asked openly, for everyone to hear (as opposed to last time when they were answered independently), and as we gather information, new questions will probably arise. And the map creation will be a group effort.
Introduction
Theme: Apocalypse!
Genre: Modern (The world as we know it today)
Location: College town (campus with a small downtown area, surrounded by farms)
You are all ROTC students at the local community college. The college owns a large forested area, where you and some of your fellow cadets have been camping this weekend without any communication with anyone from the outside. As you start hiking back to campus you notice that something is amiss...
Questions for the players
What is the apocalyptic event? (zombies? nuclear winter? SARS? etc)
How did it start?
Is there a way to fix it?
Draw a map of the area (the woods, campus, downtown)
How many other survivors are there?
What utilities are still functioning? (electricity, phone, internet, etc)
For each character:
Do you have a specialization?
Who, if anyone do you really want to find to make sure they are alive?
A secret
This time, questions will be asked openly, for everyone to hear (as opposed to last time when they were answered independently), and as we gather information, new questions will probably arise. And the map creation will be a group effort.
Introduction
Theme: Apocalypse!
Genre: Modern (The world as we know it today)
Location: College town (campus with a small downtown area, surrounded by farms)
You are all ROTC students at the local community college. The college owns a large forested area, where you and some of your fellow cadets have been camping this weekend without any communication with anyone from the outside. As you start hiking back to campus you notice that something is amiss...
Questions for the players
What is the apocalyptic event? (zombies? nuclear winter? SARS? etc)
How did it start?
Is there a way to fix it?
Draw a map of the area (the woods, campus, downtown)
How many other survivors are there?
What utilities are still functioning? (electricity, phone, internet, etc)
For each character:
Do you have a specialization?
Who, if anyone do you really want to find to make sure they are alive?
A secret
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Perception
Had a productive conversation with Tim Jensen. I mentioned that the one skill that seems to be used more often than any other is perception, and he came up with the simple solution of scraping the perception skill all together. It makes a lot of sense to me, it's more interesting when the the character does pick up on all those details that you may have carefully written.
Now, I'm not saying that all the characters will automatically see everything in front of them, if the character isn't looking carefully he won't find it; but if the character is meticulously searching a room for evidence, he'll find it. However, I may ask for a Intelligence/Logic check for the character to understand the importance of what he has found.
For example:
GM: You are now in the living room of the Count, the furniture is lavish and there are large family portraits on the wall.
Bob: I examine the walls closely for any hidden panels
GM: You find what you think is a secret door. Roll Intelligence/Mechanics to figure out how to open it
Bob: (rolls a total of 7)
GM: This door seems very sophisticated, you can't figure out how to open it without breaking it
Bob: I take out my axe and hit the panel
GM: The noise of cracking open the panel alerts the guard upstairs, he rushes down the main set of stairs, sees you and attacks Combat start.
Another advantage is that since I want an equal number of skills in each category in the core rules anyway, it frees up a space in the mental category so that we can have a medicine skill instead of lumping medicine in with the already large science skill.
So, Thank you Tim, I appreciate your help!
Now, I'm not saying that all the characters will automatically see everything in front of them, if the character isn't looking carefully he won't find it; but if the character is meticulously searching a room for evidence, he'll find it. However, I may ask for a Intelligence/Logic check for the character to understand the importance of what he has found.
For example:
GM: You are now in the living room of the Count, the furniture is lavish and there are large family portraits on the wall.
Bob: I examine the walls closely for any hidden panels
GM: You find what you think is a secret door. Roll Intelligence/Mechanics to figure out how to open it
Bob: (rolls a total of 7)
GM: This door seems very sophisticated, you can't figure out how to open it without breaking it
Bob: I take out my axe and hit the panel
GM: The noise of cracking open the panel alerts the guard upstairs, he rushes down the main set of stairs, sees you and attacks Combat start.
Another advantage is that since I want an equal number of skills in each category in the core rules anyway, it frees up a space in the mental category so that we can have a medicine skill instead of lumping medicine in with the already large science skill.
So, Thank you Tim, I appreciate your help!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Draft #8?
Tim is currently looking through the rules book, and says he wants to update and clarify a few things. 'Tis a rare occasion that he volunteers to add to the project :)
Monday, February 14, 2011
Free for all experiment game summary (part 4)
Analysis
Pros
People seemed to have fun
The players were invested in the world
Players made characters that fit well in the world and were interesting
The game mechanics went smoothly and did not interfere with gameplay
I was able to create a mystery without any planning
The players interacted well with each other and often did not need my guidance
A lot of stuff happened (just look at how long that summary is)
Making each character have a secret worked out.
Cons
The party was split up almost the entire time
The players had no real reason to associate with each other
Not all answers that were given to me were used
Some world building answers were unrelated to everything else
The story was schizophrenic
Conclusion
Overall, I felt that this was a success. The most important factor for me was, did the players have fun. And I'm pretty confident that they did. I felt that the 2d6 system worked well, we didn't have any combat but the skills and abilities seemed to work. Much of how the system works is by having the GM make a decision, 'ok you're trying to do this, and I think that should be attribute X and skill Y' I'm not sure how well that mechanic would work if it were someone else running the show. But the way it was, I felt that the rules didn't get in the way of the game and the story. Even though half of the players were new to the system, after character creation, we did not once need to stop to explain how something worked. I think that also the reason that this worked well is because I had really great and creative players that made the world and the characters an interesting game.
I want to try this again, but there are things that will change. During the world building stage, I think I will have people answering the questions round robin style, so that players can integrate other people's answers with theirs and make the world more connected. I am also going to be more specific with how to start, giving the world bit more definition than 'anything goes' And coming up with a way to give the characters a reason to work together (ie, a military squad, they are all related, they are all trapped in a given building, they know each other beforehand, etc). I also want to make some questions more specific to the game. If I for example decide that all the characters are students and the story starts at the school, I would say something like : "You all are students at a school, what is this school like? What kinds of things do they study?" Or if I want the story to have something to do with an evil overlord I would ask what is this evil overlord like?
Pros
People seemed to have fun
The players were invested in the world
Players made characters that fit well in the world and were interesting
The game mechanics went smoothly and did not interfere with gameplay
I was able to create a mystery without any planning
The players interacted well with each other and often did not need my guidance
A lot of stuff happened (just look at how long that summary is)
Making each character have a secret worked out.
Cons
The party was split up almost the entire time
The players had no real reason to associate with each other
Not all answers that were given to me were used
Some world building answers were unrelated to everything else
The story was schizophrenic
Conclusion
Overall, I felt that this was a success. The most important factor for me was, did the players have fun. And I'm pretty confident that they did. I felt that the 2d6 system worked well, we didn't have any combat but the skills and abilities seemed to work. Much of how the system works is by having the GM make a decision, 'ok you're trying to do this, and I think that should be attribute X and skill Y' I'm not sure how well that mechanic would work if it were someone else running the show. But the way it was, I felt that the rules didn't get in the way of the game and the story. Even though half of the players were new to the system, after character creation, we did not once need to stop to explain how something worked. I think that also the reason that this worked well is because I had really great and creative players that made the world and the characters an interesting game.
I want to try this again, but there are things that will change. During the world building stage, I think I will have people answering the questions round robin style, so that players can integrate other people's answers with theirs and make the world more connected. I am also going to be more specific with how to start, giving the world bit more definition than 'anything goes' And coming up with a way to give the characters a reason to work together (ie, a military squad, they are all related, they are all trapped in a given building, they know each other beforehand, etc). I also want to make some questions more specific to the game. If I for example decide that all the characters are students and the story starts at the school, I would say something like : "You all are students at a school, what is this school like? What kinds of things do they study?" Or if I want the story to have something to do with an evil overlord I would ask what is this evil overlord like?
Free for all experiment game summary (part 3)
The Game
Dr. Stevens' lecture was packed. His recent discovery of the immaculately preserved city in the Himalayas earned him recognition worldwide. That and the leisure class has nothing better to do on a Thursday afternoon. He talks of how exciting it was to discover the city and goes on to some of his theories. He says that there was absolutely no evidence of magic, or of science. There were no plans, no mathematical equations, no schools, not even a hospital. Dr. Steven's concludes that the city was built by a race of people for a different race of people and then left. Perhaps they were slaves, or maybe a city was a gift to those too incompetent to use magic or build a city of their own. He goes on to talk about specific buildings, and their architecture, the condition of the stone that was used.
Before Dr. Stevens can finish his lecture, there is a scream of pain from backstage. Dr. Stevens stops his speech and rushed to the man. James Jackson, who is seated in one of the prized boxes is able to see what is going on. A man who appears to be middle aged is laying naked in a fetal position on the floor backstage. He is clearly in great pain and is shaking.
Dr. Stevens carried the man away, before Dr. Arcturus and John Johnson were able to gather much information. But the good doctor Arcturus witnessed that the man was extremely pale and that he had purple lines that looked like veins all over his body. He had heard of something similar before, in accidental time travelling; although most of that was just speculation and hearsay.
JJ felt uncomfortable, something was clearly amiss, and his weapons had been checked by university security. He went into the lobby to retrieve his weapons. All but one guard had left their post to help deal with the chaos inside. JJ spoke with the guard and convinced him to let him help stand guard in the lobby, but not to enter the theater with his weapons (the alarm would have sounded, and caused more confusion than there already was). He also learned that the guardsmen were privately employed by Dr. Stevens, and the regular guard was relieved for the afternoon. He took his post in a corner that overlooked both the entrance into the building and into the theater.
The audience in the theater grew restless, some were afraid that the announced "medical emergency" was something contagious, while others got bored and then feared for their lives that they might be stuck there a long time and die on eunni (death of idleness, the most common cause of death in the leisure class). But after several minutes, Stevens' security men let everyone leave, and told them there was nothing to worry about. Frank was disappointed, it had been his first date in a while, and it was clear that it wasn't going to go anywhere. A few rows infront of him, Epiphany was also having a bad date. She wasn't really interested in archeology, but she had met George (an archeology major at the University) and had been pretending to be interested. She seemed to be relieved that the lecture had ended early. As they were leaving, the young dance student heard a small popping sound, and then a very pale nude man appeared by her feet. He was doubled over in pain, and shaking uncontrollably. Epiphany shrieked, causing a crowd to form around her and the strange naked dude. James heard the scream and went to investigate. Frank, not being all that smart picked up the poor man, because he thought it might help, he found the man to be lighter than he expected, he then saw Epiphany was instantly more interested in her than in the sick man in his arms. JJ pulled out a package of the ever so useful putty foam and quickly crafted a body warmer blanket for the man and draped it over him. JJ tried talking to the man, but all he could manage was a stuttering mumble that no one could understand.
Soon, three guards pushed their way through the crowd and took the man with them. Being somewhat understaffed, they could not really stop the people that decided to follow them. JJ wanted his bodywarmer back, JJ (the other one) claimed that this was a national security issue and they could not force him to go away, Dr. Arcturus kept scanning things with his loud machines in the background that if someone told him to leave he wasn't paying attention. One guard said that they had a few questions for Frank and Epiphany, and they reluctantly agreed.
In the back of the University building, there was a large paved area with basket ball hoops. Two big black vans with the Stevens' logo on the side were parked there (which is odd because everyone just takes the Trolley unless they have a huge amount of stuff they are bringing with them) where the guards quickly placed the two injured men into. JJ got his body warmer back, John Johnson stealthily placed a GPS tracker on the undercarriage of one van. Dr. Arcturus tried to use his counterBot to see what was going on in the van but to no avail, to which he concluded that the van must be heavily shielded, both magically and mechanically. Eventually Dr. Stevens himself came out of the van to talk to Frank and Epiphany, he asked what they had seen, and when he heard that they had physically touched the man they found, they were referred to a mage doctor in the Pierceson building, he added not so subtly that if they did not go, they very well could die and spread a deadly disease, and that he would be forced to track them down. Not wanting to cause trouble Frank and Epiphany decided it was a good idea to go.
JJ recognized Dr. Arcturus as a great scientist (at least that is what he said to Dr. Arcturus) and offered the body warmer to him, suggesting that it might have picked some DNA samples and other residual evidence. He tried scanning it, but it became clear that he needed more powerful machines like ones that he kept in his lab. And with that, he took the next trolley to his science cave. What he found was that the DNA was not in the national databank, and from JJ's suggestion he started looking through the Himalayan DNA database.
At the mage doctor, Frank and Epiphany found the walls to be covered in all sorts of grasses and piles of plants and a weird pile of goo in the corner. It was not long before the 'doctor' appeared, his hair looking uncannily similar to the grass on the walls. The mage light some weird incense that made them cough, then blew some dust in their eyes while chanting, and with that he said "Ok, you're good. Go now." And shuffled off to another room.
Frank asked if Epiphany wanted to get a drink, and to his surprise she agreed. It had been a weird day for her, and she could use a drink. They went to a nearby bar, where they started to get to know each other a bit better. The TV was playing the news, and the reporter said that there a homeless alchemy addict was found naked infront of the university steps. Frank said aloud that he was no alchemy addict and he appeared out of nowhere. The reporter paused for a moment, then enthusiastically announced that there were two eyewitnesses of this addict here in Piper's Pitt bar. Suddenly lights shone brightly out of nowhere and Frank and Epiphany saw that they were now on television. People in the bar looked and someone in the background waved hello to his mother. The two sat awkwardly stunned for a second then quickly tried to retell what they had seen. When the reporter realized they were not talking about what she wanted them to, the lights cut out and the screen went back to her. "Live eyewitnesses from Piper's Pitt, everyone. I just received a report that the addict was transferred to the downtown hospital where he is going into rehab."
Dr. Arcturus, JJand the other JJ all saw the interview, and decided they wanted to talk to the eyewitnesses. John Johnson accidentally introduced himself as Robert Robertson, which made Frank suspect that he was in fact a French robot. Dr. Arcturus, got plastered. And John had some Kahn-Yak.
JJ left after hearing their story and went to investigate the Pierson building. He spoke with a group of Tolkeinists who were trying to keep people from entering the anti-Tolkienist building. JJ gave them his card, saying that he suspected Dr. Stevens was also an Anti-Tolkienist and to call him if they saw him. They wished him a "Blessed Baggins" and JJ went on his way. It wasn't long until he found the delivery entrance in the back of the large office building, and with little difficulty he was able to dismantle the locks. Inside he found the two vans he saw earlier, and what appeared to be stretcher wheel marks leading to the one other door. Beyond that door was an elevator, that had only one button. JJ readied his rifle, and discovered the the elevator did not go up the 3o or 40 stories of the building, but down, and remarkably fast. The elevator doors opened and revealed a long corridor. The place was extremely well lit and clean, it reminded JJ of a hospital. He decided it was a bad idea to go any further alone, he felt himself lucky that he hadn't run into anyone yet, and he did not wish to test his luck any further. So, he went back up the elevator and made a few phone calls.
He first called Kathy Kathison, a well known Elitist who always knows all the gossip, JJ asked if there was any connection between Stevens and Pierceson. She had seen them at a Christmas party once, they were known rivals, but when she saw them together they were acting almost playful, bickering like an old married couple about their archeological theories. Kathy felt that they were friends that loved to hate each other. He then called the others, and told them to meet him outside the Pierson building, he had found the vans, and suspected that the two men from earlier were being kept in the basement.
JJ, John Johnson, and Dr. Arcturus went to the top floor, and found Dr. Pierceson's office. There wasn't much there, it seemed he didn't use this office much. They hacked his computer and found that everything was in French. They found tons of plans and schematics for buildings of the Himalayan city that was uncovered, a number of correspondences between Stevens and himself, mostly debated on various archeological topics, and also a number of files on time paradoxes.
Frank and Epiphany decided to explore the basement together. The first room they went into was full of mist, and the far wall had an > arrow painted on it. Frank decided it would be a good idea to examine the wall, he walked forward and forward, farther than he had expected, and then the mist cleared and they found themselves outside in the noon sun. Once their eyes adjusted, they recognized the buildings, this was the Himalayan city. But it was populated. Many people were walking the streets, mostly in groups of two or three, many of them carrying shopping bags. In the windows there were many things for sale. Glass fish that swum in the air like a mobile, books, and clothes, and baubles of all kind. When Frank mentioned the word magic to one of the natives, she looked at him as if he deserved to be put away in an mental institution. "There is no such thing as magic, only those crazy cultists still believe in that garbage." She said. "Then how do those fish work?" Frank asked, "Anti-grav pods, duh."
The two decided to look in a bookstore and find a history book. There was little of it they could understand, as the book made certain assumptions that they did not know. But what they did glean was that it was 2040, and that this was in fact the Himalayan city and that it had been colonized 20 years ago. Frank thought it was a good idea to steal the book, and they made a run for it. Clay golems that were similar, but looked more human chased them, and they barely made their way back to wall from which they came, and back to the room where they started from. They both thought their adventure was hysterical, and they were glad to have stolen the book, if it really was from the future, they could be rich!
They remembered that there were supposed to be looking for the time travelers and went on to the next room. This one was the same as the last room except that on the far wall there was a large square painted on it. Now, if they knew anything about time travel, they would have known that trying to travel to the time in which they were already in is always a bad idea and often has bad side effects, but they didn't and went on anyway. When the mist cleared, they found themselves completely naked and on the stage of the university lecture hall. Frank called his mother, and told her to bring him and Epiphany some clothes, she was delighted to hear she got a woman naked and wanted to know if he had taken pictures. Mother came, and Epiphany gave Frank her phone number telling her to call him, that this was the best date ever.
After the men had completely hacked Pierceson's computer they gave Frank a call, but he didn't answer (because his clothes and phone, and future history books were left behind in the 'square room'). The group explored the basement, found their friend's clothes and the answer to the mystery. Stevens and Pierson had gone back in time, and built the Himalayan city in secret and hidden it. Then went to the present and 'discovered' the ancient city. And then realized that in the future, the city would be populated, and the two of them could live like Kings in their ancient city.
Dr. Stevens' lecture was packed. His recent discovery of the immaculately preserved city in the Himalayas earned him recognition worldwide. That and the leisure class has nothing better to do on a Thursday afternoon. He talks of how exciting it was to discover the city and goes on to some of his theories. He says that there was absolutely no evidence of magic, or of science. There were no plans, no mathematical equations, no schools, not even a hospital. Dr. Steven's concludes that the city was built by a race of people for a different race of people and then left. Perhaps they were slaves, or maybe a city was a gift to those too incompetent to use magic or build a city of their own. He goes on to talk about specific buildings, and their architecture, the condition of the stone that was used.
Before Dr. Stevens can finish his lecture, there is a scream of pain from backstage. Dr. Stevens stops his speech and rushed to the man. James Jackson, who is seated in one of the prized boxes is able to see what is going on. A man who appears to be middle aged is laying naked in a fetal position on the floor backstage. He is clearly in great pain and is shaking.
Dr. Stevens carried the man away, before Dr. Arcturus and John Johnson were able to gather much information. But the good doctor Arcturus witnessed that the man was extremely pale and that he had purple lines that looked like veins all over his body. He had heard of something similar before, in accidental time travelling; although most of that was just speculation and hearsay.
JJ felt uncomfortable, something was clearly amiss, and his weapons had been checked by university security. He went into the lobby to retrieve his weapons. All but one guard had left their post to help deal with the chaos inside. JJ spoke with the guard and convinced him to let him help stand guard in the lobby, but not to enter the theater with his weapons (the alarm would have sounded, and caused more confusion than there already was). He also learned that the guardsmen were privately employed by Dr. Stevens, and the regular guard was relieved for the afternoon. He took his post in a corner that overlooked both the entrance into the building and into the theater.
The audience in the theater grew restless, some were afraid that the announced "medical emergency" was something contagious, while others got bored and then feared for their lives that they might be stuck there a long time and die on eunni (death of idleness, the most common cause of death in the leisure class). But after several minutes, Stevens' security men let everyone leave, and told them there was nothing to worry about. Frank was disappointed, it had been his first date in a while, and it was clear that it wasn't going to go anywhere. A few rows infront of him, Epiphany was also having a bad date. She wasn't really interested in archeology, but she had met George (an archeology major at the University) and had been pretending to be interested. She seemed to be relieved that the lecture had ended early. As they were leaving, the young dance student heard a small popping sound, and then a very pale nude man appeared by her feet. He was doubled over in pain, and shaking uncontrollably. Epiphany shrieked, causing a crowd to form around her and the strange naked dude. James heard the scream and went to investigate. Frank, not being all that smart picked up the poor man, because he thought it might help, he found the man to be lighter than he expected, he then saw Epiphany was instantly more interested in her than in the sick man in his arms. JJ pulled out a package of the ever so useful putty foam and quickly crafted a body warmer blanket for the man and draped it over him. JJ tried talking to the man, but all he could manage was a stuttering mumble that no one could understand.
Soon, three guards pushed their way through the crowd and took the man with them. Being somewhat understaffed, they could not really stop the people that decided to follow them. JJ wanted his bodywarmer back, JJ (the other one) claimed that this was a national security issue and they could not force him to go away, Dr. Arcturus kept scanning things with his loud machines in the background that if someone told him to leave he wasn't paying attention. One guard said that they had a few questions for Frank and Epiphany, and they reluctantly agreed.
In the back of the University building, there was a large paved area with basket ball hoops. Two big black vans with the Stevens' logo on the side were parked there (which is odd because everyone just takes the Trolley unless they have a huge amount of stuff they are bringing with them) where the guards quickly placed the two injured men into. JJ got his body warmer back, John Johnson stealthily placed a GPS tracker on the undercarriage of one van. Dr. Arcturus tried to use his counterBot to see what was going on in the van but to no avail, to which he concluded that the van must be heavily shielded, both magically and mechanically. Eventually Dr. Stevens himself came out of the van to talk to Frank and Epiphany, he asked what they had seen, and when he heard that they had physically touched the man they found, they were referred to a mage doctor in the Pierceson building, he added not so subtly that if they did not go, they very well could die and spread a deadly disease, and that he would be forced to track them down. Not wanting to cause trouble Frank and Epiphany decided it was a good idea to go.
JJ recognized Dr. Arcturus as a great scientist (at least that is what he said to Dr. Arcturus) and offered the body warmer to him, suggesting that it might have picked some DNA samples and other residual evidence. He tried scanning it, but it became clear that he needed more powerful machines like ones that he kept in his lab. And with that, he took the next trolley to his science cave. What he found was that the DNA was not in the national databank, and from JJ's suggestion he started looking through the Himalayan DNA database.
At the mage doctor, Frank and Epiphany found the walls to be covered in all sorts of grasses and piles of plants and a weird pile of goo in the corner. It was not long before the 'doctor' appeared, his hair looking uncannily similar to the grass on the walls. The mage light some weird incense that made them cough, then blew some dust in their eyes while chanting, and with that he said "Ok, you're good. Go now." And shuffled off to another room.
Frank asked if Epiphany wanted to get a drink, and to his surprise she agreed. It had been a weird day for her, and she could use a drink. They went to a nearby bar, where they started to get to know each other a bit better. The TV was playing the news, and the reporter said that there a homeless alchemy addict was found naked infront of the university steps. Frank said aloud that he was no alchemy addict and he appeared out of nowhere. The reporter paused for a moment, then enthusiastically announced that there were two eyewitnesses of this addict here in Piper's Pitt bar. Suddenly lights shone brightly out of nowhere and Frank and Epiphany saw that they were now on television. People in the bar looked and someone in the background waved hello to his mother. The two sat awkwardly stunned for a second then quickly tried to retell what they had seen. When the reporter realized they were not talking about what she wanted them to, the lights cut out and the screen went back to her. "Live eyewitnesses from Piper's Pitt, everyone. I just received a report that the addict was transferred to the downtown hospital where he is going into rehab."
Dr. Arcturus, JJand the other JJ all saw the interview, and decided they wanted to talk to the eyewitnesses. John Johnson accidentally introduced himself as Robert Robertson, which made Frank suspect that he was in fact a French robot. Dr. Arcturus, got plastered. And John had some Kahn-Yak.
JJ left after hearing their story and went to investigate the Pierson building. He spoke with a group of Tolkeinists who were trying to keep people from entering the anti-Tolkienist building. JJ gave them his card, saying that he suspected Dr. Stevens was also an Anti-Tolkienist and to call him if they saw him. They wished him a "Blessed Baggins" and JJ went on his way. It wasn't long until he found the delivery entrance in the back of the large office building, and with little difficulty he was able to dismantle the locks. Inside he found the two vans he saw earlier, and what appeared to be stretcher wheel marks leading to the one other door. Beyond that door was an elevator, that had only one button. JJ readied his rifle, and discovered the the elevator did not go up the 3o or 40 stories of the building, but down, and remarkably fast. The elevator doors opened and revealed a long corridor. The place was extremely well lit and clean, it reminded JJ of a hospital. He decided it was a bad idea to go any further alone, he felt himself lucky that he hadn't run into anyone yet, and he did not wish to test his luck any further. So, he went back up the elevator and made a few phone calls.
He first called Kathy Kathison, a well known Elitist who always knows all the gossip, JJ asked if there was any connection between Stevens and Pierceson. She had seen them at a Christmas party once, they were known rivals, but when she saw them together they were acting almost playful, bickering like an old married couple about their archeological theories. Kathy felt that they were friends that loved to hate each other. He then called the others, and told them to meet him outside the Pierson building, he had found the vans, and suspected that the two men from earlier were being kept in the basement.
JJ, John Johnson, and Dr. Arcturus went to the top floor, and found Dr. Pierceson's office. There wasn't much there, it seemed he didn't use this office much. They hacked his computer and found that everything was in French. They found tons of plans and schematics for buildings of the Himalayan city that was uncovered, a number of correspondences between Stevens and himself, mostly debated on various archeological topics, and also a number of files on time paradoxes.
Frank and Epiphany decided to explore the basement together. The first room they went into was full of mist, and the far wall had an > arrow painted on it. Frank decided it would be a good idea to examine the wall, he walked forward and forward, farther than he had expected, and then the mist cleared and they found themselves outside in the noon sun. Once their eyes adjusted, they recognized the buildings, this was the Himalayan city. But it was populated. Many people were walking the streets, mostly in groups of two or three, many of them carrying shopping bags. In the windows there were many things for sale. Glass fish that swum in the air like a mobile, books, and clothes, and baubles of all kind. When Frank mentioned the word magic to one of the natives, she looked at him as if he deserved to be put away in an mental institution. "There is no such thing as magic, only those crazy cultists still believe in that garbage." She said. "Then how do those fish work?" Frank asked, "Anti-grav pods, duh."
The two decided to look in a bookstore and find a history book. There was little of it they could understand, as the book made certain assumptions that they did not know. But what they did glean was that it was 2040, and that this was in fact the Himalayan city and that it had been colonized 20 years ago. Frank thought it was a good idea to steal the book, and they made a run for it. Clay golems that were similar, but looked more human chased them, and they barely made their way back to wall from which they came, and back to the room where they started from. They both thought their adventure was hysterical, and they were glad to have stolen the book, if it really was from the future, they could be rich!
They remembered that there were supposed to be looking for the time travelers and went on to the next room. This one was the same as the last room except that on the far wall there was a large square painted on it. Now, if they knew anything about time travel, they would have known that trying to travel to the time in which they were already in is always a bad idea and often has bad side effects, but they didn't and went on anyway. When the mist cleared, they found themselves completely naked and on the stage of the university lecture hall. Frank called his mother, and told her to bring him and Epiphany some clothes, she was delighted to hear she got a woman naked and wanted to know if he had taken pictures. Mother came, and Epiphany gave Frank her phone number telling her to call him, that this was the best date ever.
After the men had completely hacked Pierceson's computer they gave Frank a call, but he didn't answer (because his clothes and phone, and future history books were left behind in the 'square room'). The group explored the basement, found their friend's clothes and the answer to the mystery. Stevens and Pierson had gone back in time, and built the Himalayan city in secret and hidden it. Then went to the present and 'discovered' the ancient city. And then realized that in the future, the city would be populated, and the two of them could live like Kings in their ancient city.
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