Tag name：rpg

Cyberpunk Session 3a and 3b

First published 2nd November 2023 (Last Modified 8th April 2025)

(Played on 24th September and 30th October 2023)

Tremen's log

A single storey warehouse surrounded by a fence and showing a driveway into parking adjacent to the warehouse

A view of a similar warehouse (admittedly located in the UK) taken by Thomas Nugent

Team Members: Spooky Witch (tech), Tharbinsan (medtech), Wakiya Kiku (Sniper/Paranoid), Ricky (Lawman), Tremen (Lawman)

Following on from the leads generated from the investigation of the victim's apartment we decided to pay a visit to Sato Imports. This is based on its own small island (not that unusual). The island has a number of connections but the main point of interest is a warehouse operated by Sato Imports. This has fairly standard looking security with no signs of additional security. There is a security camera with a view of the entrance to the warehouse's compound1:

Map of the warehouse surroundings

Map of the warehouse surroundings

A map of the warehouse showing a road on the right hand side of map (going up and down the map). Adjacent to the road is a parking lot with three cars at the bottom of the lot and a truck in the centre. The main entrance to the warehouse is to the left of the truck and there are several rooms off of a central loading dock.

Actual map of the warehouse as used in our fantasy grounds session

We (myself, Ricky and Tharbinsan) approach the building (Spooky staying with our van and Wakiya covering us from nearby). However as we annouce ourselves the night security basically respond with "oh shit" and a fight ensues. Spooky screeches into the compound (happily ignoring the tire spikes) and she joins the fight as does Wakiya.

The fight itself goes surprisingly smoothly if you ignore our minor injuries (several on Tharbinsan as it happens) and the poor quality of gun work (several gun jams) and the discovery that Ricky may not be the most persuasive one of us. However we do overcome the security team (two relatively junior night watchmen overseen by more highly skilled solo) and arrest all three of them and get them shipped off to the local police via their paddy wagon.

There is, however, the question of why there's been no interference from the management and/or legal department of Sato Imports - at the least you would have expected someone to turn up!

We then proceeded to search the building. In the main it is what it appears to be: a warehouse for the import of alcoholic spirits albeit with the occasional (illegal) additives including High Noon2. There's a weapons rack holding 4 assault rifles in one of the lockers (which was locked).

Finally there is, hidden in the floor of the warehouse's only shower cubicle, a secret entrance to a spiral staircase leading down....

Screenshot of my Fantasy Grounds Unity screen at the end of the third (fourth?) session of Neil's cyberpunk game

Footnotes

  1. The left hand image is from my notes, the right hand version is the actual map ↩
  2. One dose gives a high, multiple doses do increase the duration of the high, but also increase the user's paranoia. ↩

Cyberpunk Session 2

First published 28th August 2023 (Last Modified 8th April 2025)

(Played on 27th August 2023)

Tremen's log

Crime Scene Tape and a camera

Something we did in the background of our crime scene investiagation

Team Members: Spooky Witch (tech), Tharbinsan (medtech), Wakiya Kiku (Sniper/Paranoid), Ricky (Lawman), Tremen (Lawman)

As our investigations continued I was distracted by a faint buzzing sound comming from next to where I was standing - this turned out to be a burnt out listening bug planted between the (very) large screen TV and the light bar above it. The bug had burned out before we arrived in the apartment and had probably burnt out shortly after it had been placed.

Closer examination of the body by both Spooky and Ricky showed (after some initial contamination of the scene by Ricky) that the body had been shot from some range, most likely from about the bathroom door. Ricky also confirmed that the body was that of Hayato Kita. Kita was employed by Sato Imports, a import/export business dealing in alcoholic drinks1. Kita was wearing ordinary street clothes with no sign of any robbery (other than that of his brain) as his rings and other items were still present.

Current theory is that the Victim let the perpetrator into the apartment who then shot Kita as he returned to the lounge. The perpetrator then removed Kita's brain without finesse and left.

Tharbinson reported that in addition to the cash2 and cards, there was a little black book of contacts and dates. While almost all the dates are in the past there is an entry for tomorrow: Maria, 12:30 tomorrow, Shinchuko station, pink carnation

Spooky examined the brain case found earlier by Wakiya in the bedroom3. This was battery powered whose battery was capable of running the brain case for seven days (and had about four days of juice remaining). She reports that this brain case was made in america (as opposed to the cybertech of the victim which was manufactured in Japan).

Examining the lobby CCTV and the apartment building's records shows that Kita had lived there for about six years. He returned to the apartment at around noon and was murdered at about 1pm. Her returned wearing a business suit. Close exmination of the CCTV showed that the front door closed a fraction of a second later that it does normally after an inhabitant of an apartment on the fourth floor returned from getting some supplies from the local store4. With the help of Wakiya cameras watching the street were identified and their footage checked - these do not show anybody unexpected arriving (and in particular then disappearing behind any form of stealth technology). This suggests that the individual who presumably entered the apartment block was both stealthed and competant.

After some discussion a through search of the apartment for more survelliance devices leads to a well hidden and still operating bug. Spooky tracks the signal it is sending to the Jonanjima Port District which, as it happens, Sato Imports has a building. She believes her tracking was not detected.

Tremen's current theory5

Hayato Kita was involved in Sato Imports illicit business but had betrayed Sato Import (either by defecting to another gang or selling some of the illicit goods on the side). He had betrayed Sato Imports because he was being blackmailed by someone relatively imcompetant who got their blackmail from the first, now burnt out, bug. However Sato Imports are much more competant and had placed the second functional bug, possibly when they recruited Kita, They discovered Kita's betrayal and took him out in a way that demostrated to others working for Sato Imports that you don't betray them. They took the brain to find Kita's other contacts. However by making a noisy demonstration they did not leave themselves enough time for a search of the apartment.

Items taken by us from the crime scene

A set of investigative tools on a workbench

Getting ready to investigate our finds back at the lab

  • Fake ids
  • Money found at the scene
  • Bugs (both the broken one and the second one6
  • Brain case found in the bedroom
  • Black Book found in the bathroom
  • Blood samples
  • Brain Dances
  • Copy of the lobby security footage
  • The body
  • Photographs of the apartment

Follow up actions

  • Meet and/or follow and/or surveil Maria at the train station
  • Keep ear to the ground/street for any rumours swirling about Kita and/or Sato Imports

Footnotes

  1. after bypassing some additional security on the departmental files, rumoured to be dealing with adultertated drinks laced with narcotics amongst other things - however, even with a raid on their premises, there's no solid evidence of this. ↩
  2. Which are currency notes in general circulation ↩
  3. i.e., not on the body, which had its own brain case from which Kita's brain had been ripped ↩
  4. This individual was interviewed later and didn't report anything unusual. ↩
  5. Note: there are holes in this theory, just like any other theory, but it's the best theory I have at the moment ↩
  6. Disabled by Section 9's security as we return. ↩

Cyberpunk Session 1

First published 31st July 2023 (Last Modified 8th April 2025)

(Played on 30th July 2023)

Tremen's log

Hooded Man standing with his back to us in a graffitied and neon lit alley way

Could this be our victim?

Team Members: Spooky Witch (tech), Tharbinsan (medtech), Wakiya Kiku (Sniper/Paranoid), Ricky (Lawman), Tremen (Lawman)

My team called to assist in the investigation of a murder at apartment block. Traffic to get to the scene of the crime terrible (so terrible that Spooky Witch (who lives nearby) was able to easily beat the rest of the team to the scene. Local attending police numbers six (and three squad cars and Crime Scene Investigation Van).

Inhabitants called in the Police after an altercation on the tenth floor. When the Police attended there was no reply from the relevant apartment but there was a blood and cyberfluid trail (of droplets) leading to (or from) the apartment to the lifts. Given the lack of response a drone was deployed through the mail slot to scan the inside of the apartment. My team called when the drone spotted the body of a male with both a gun shot wound and a head split open to reveal an empty brain case

Entered the apartment building and checked out the entryway and the lifts to assess risks and whether the perpetrator was still present at that level. No sign of either the perpetrator or of any additional blood/cyberfluid.

Proceeded up the stairs to the tenth floor, checking as we went for more signs (none found)

Entered the victim's apartment and conducted a search. Victim was Hayato Kita. Outward signs of just being a low level corporate drone but Tharbinsan discovered (hidden in the bathroom) a considerable quantity of cash and credit cards which suggests that the victim's could be something much more important. Investigations continued in the next session.

Screen shot of FGU as at the end of the session

Note: This is a compressed view - to see the image at full size click on the image (and then on the subsequent page click again (and, depending on your browser, an additional time!))

Character Back Histories

First published 18th November 2024 (Last Modified 8th April 2025)

Timeline of character histories

YearChase StormburgCyndarielEarl DumarestFioranaJunebugMasuyo RyujinTharbin
1059Born
1061
1063Born
1065
1067Born
1069
1071BornBorn
1073
1075Born
1077Entered Naval Academy
1079BornJoined a clique
1081Joined NavyBecame a Dilettante Noble
1083Notable Military engagement
1085Attended UniversityBecame a Merchant as a brokerAppointed as an adminstrator
1087Joined a cliqueStruck a good dealFamily Scandal
1089Became a scoutEntered Naval AcademyJoined the MarinesPromoted
1091Exemplary serviceJoined a cliqueStruck another good deal
1093Joined the ScoutsJoined NavyAbandoned Post
1095Discovered a new planetShip ambushed by enemy agentsRomantic RelationshipTook part in a planetary assault
1097Joined the ScoutsPromoted to SublieutenantPromotedReappointed to role as adminstrator as a Manager
1099Discovered new planetRomantic RelationshipTravelling in the service of the scoutsCommanding Officer took an interest in careerRomantic RelationshipStruck yet another good dealGained an inheritance
1101Promoted to LieutenantPromoted (and retained by the marines for another term)Promoted to Manager
1103Caused a conflictCaused a conflictExplemary service for scoutsTook part in a naval engagementPromoted to SergeantAdvanced TrainingInvolved in Politics
1105Entered CampaignEntered CampaignEntered CampaignEntered CampaignEntered CampaignEntered CampaignEntered Campaign

Events in the most recent term

During 1102 Chase and Cyndariel were, as part of their scout duties, assigned to a mission to a systems just beyond the edge of the Third Imperium. One of worlds visited was Gollere (Egyrn 0505), a regressed settlement which was well on its way to recovering space travel (it is at TL 7). During the visit some starships from a nearby system, Belgard. arrived to trade for agricultural supplies. The Belgardians are xenophobic, particularly when it comes to other starfarers and Chase and Cyndariel managed to raise the hackles of the Belgardian (mainly by boasting about their past discoveries in the Egryn subsector).

The Belgardians responded by launching a full scale invasion of Gollere and kidnapping both Chase and Cyndariel.

The Imperial Scout Service doesn't take kindly to this (particularly as both Chase and Cyndariel are serving members of the Scout Service with excellent service records) and organises a counter invasion to both return the inhabitants of Gollere to their previous government (a collaboration between specialised clans) and to free Chase and Cyndariel.

Since the scout don't have significant military forces of their own, a significant military operation is required, partially organised by Tharbin (safely back in the Spinward Marches). The naval assets included the hiring of the Leviathan Class Merchant Cruiser Nicholas de Nicolay who crew complement included Masuyi who was able to earn the cruiser significant additional funds as it travelled to Gollere.

Since this is a military operation several naval and marine personnel was seconded to crew of the Nicholas de Nicolay including Earl Dumarest (of the scouts and acting as the main liaison between the scouts, the navy and the marines), Fiorana of the Navy and assigned as the lieutenant in charge of the Armament of the Nicolas de Nicolay and Junebug as a corporal in the Marine section assigned to the rescue operation.

The rescue operation was a great success with Fiorana in particular gaining the Navy Lifesaving Medal for rescuing the gunners under her command when the Nicolas de Nicolay was rammed by a Belgardian escort vessel (its pilot having lost control during an attempt to deliver a close range broadside to the Nicolas de Nicolay).

On the ground Junebug took over leading the rescue operation when her sergeant was incapacited during the assault. Her actions resulted in her promotion to Sergeant.

Earl's success in managing to keep the tensions between the merchant owners of the Nicolas de Nicolay, the naval officers in charge of the naval personnel, the marine commander and his superiors in the Scout Service (who were funding the operation) was recognised by the Scout Service after the completion of the mission.

At the end of the term it is 'suggested' to Chase and Cyndariel that maybe they could better progress their lifes outside of the Scout Service!

Change History
19th November 2024
Add events in the most recent term and even out the columns in the table

Mongoose Traveller V2 Character Creator Plugin Details

First published 6th October 2024 (Last Modified 25th December 2024)

Description

This plugin adds a shortcode to add a sandpit for character creation experimentation. This allows for a new character to be created. The characters are saved locally in the browser (only) and can be exported in a format importable into Fantasy Grounds Unity.
[mongooseTravellerV2CharacterCreator /]

The following (minor) rules interpretations, clarifications and modifications have been made by this plugin:

  • Three of the initial stat rolls are made with a boon (i.e., roll 3D6 and take the best two).
  • Mishap 2 is always severely injured.
  • Skill specialisations are chosen at the end of character creation (rather than as you acquire level one in the base skill). This was to avoid overwhelming the player with options. However that does mean where you should be awarded a specialisation in a skill you, initially, get a level in the base skill instead. Also those skills which can be specialised are allowed to go above four until you reach that specialisation step.
  • In a few places where the official rules allow you to choose a skill in the skill tables these has been replaced by providing an entry for each skill in that table (making it have seven rows and a 1D7 roll).
  • The 'Any talent' entry in the Psion service skill table has been omitted (making that table have five rows and hence a 1D5 roll).
  • Connections do not allow the choice of any psionic talent (unless the character is Zhodani).
  • Version: 3.328.0
  • Author: David Vines
  • Last Updated: 2025-11-27T10:34:06Z
  • Requires WordPress Version: 4.0 or higher
  • Tested up to: 6.8.3
  • License: Contains materials from Mongoose which are used by following the Mongoose fair use policy. The code elements were written solely by myself.

    The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Mongoose Publishing. Copyright 1977 - 2024 Mongoose Publishing. Traveller is a registered trademark of Mongoose Publishing. Mongoose Publishing permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Mongoose Publishing is notified, and subject to a withdrawal of permission on 90 days notice. The contents of this site are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of Mongoose Publishing’s copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any program/articles/files on this site cannot be republished or distributed without the consent of the author who contributed it.

    The images were generated using Microsoft's copilot AI Image generator. As such Microsoft, its affiliated companies and third-party partners are granted permission to use the Prompts, Creations, customisations (including GPTs) and related content in connection with the operation of its businesses (including, without limitation, all Microsoft Services), including, without limitation, the licence rights to: copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, translate and reformat the Prompts, Creations and other content that were provided to create the image; and the right to sublicense such rights to any supplier of the Online Services.

    In particular note that this page explicitly does not grant consent to republish or distribute this plugin.

Change Log

3.328.0 - 27 November 2025

Cope with members of a psionic community who don't gain any psionic talents

3.327.0 - 01 November 2025

Bug fix: Being forced to leave a career lingers to all following career. Also stop forcing drifters to leave their career (you should always be able to become a drifter)

3.326.0 - 29 October 2025

Hide the text saying that you didn't get a psionic talent during training as well as elsewhere

3.325.0 - 11 October 2025

Fix link to the version history in the copyright notice

3.324.0 - 11 October 2025

Refactor: Common up some code between my plugins

3.323.0 - 06 October 2025

Bug Fix: Correct lookup for prisoner event 3

3.322.0 - 02 October 2025

Bug fix: drifter event 9 rejected text missing

3.321.0 - 01 October 2025

Sigh - Bug fix, correct the broken text for prisoner. Also fix skipping the psionic test (life event 12.1)

3.320.0 - 01 October 2025

Prevent exception on bad character load, Improve text for prisoners

3.319.0 - 13 September 2025

Bug fix: citizen mishap 4 missing text

3.314.0 - 10 September 2025

Add retrieve button to homeworld page

3.311.0 - 07 September 2025

Fix regular expression used to validate UWP

3.310.0 - 01 September 2025

Bug fixes:

  • Exception after choosing connections if you have psionic skills
  • Exception gaining fourth level of a psionic skill
  • Dice roll for psionic community hidden
  • GM Mode always ticked after page reload

3.309.0 - 31 August 2025

(Hopefully) fix generated PDF so that it is readable in Adobe Acrobat

3.308.0 - 30 August 2025

Bug fix: Exception 'no active control' when winning the duel in noble event 3

3.307.0 - 30 August 2025

Bug fix: Exception when processing end of term for characters who have the School of Hard Knocks precareer. Correct spelling of 'Streeetwise'

Show hidden stats in GM Mode

3.306.0 - 29 August 2025

Bug fix: exception on a failed aging roll

3.305.0 - 29 August 2025

Accept UWP copy/pasted from travellermap.com, fix handling of anagathics when aging

3.304.0 - 29 August 2025

Add a stats reroll if in GM mode

3.303.0 - 29 August 2025

Add GM (aka Cheat) Mode, save initial decisions in session storage (so it persists over a page reload)

Add Chronor as the default homeworld for Zhodani characters and Saurus as the default for Saurian characters

3.302.0 - 29 August 2025

Correct enlistment criteria for university and militray academies (too generous by one and two points respectively)

Also fix survival and advancement rolls that are based on END (this characteristic was being ignored)

3.301.0 - 28 August 2025

Reenable and fix the 'no active control' check

3.300.0 - 28 August 2025

Change the 'no active control' check from an exception into a console.log

3.299.0 - 28 August 2025

Add precareer options from Traveller Companion

3.298.0 - 28 August 2025

Bug fix: Sigh - fix awarding of TAS Membership (and fix description of Vargr stat changes)

3.297.0 - 28 August 2025

Bug fixes: Unknown Benefit Award: END +1, exception when generating PDF and character is a member of TAS.

3.296.0 - 28 August 2025

Bug fix: Exception if only one choice of specialisation

3.295.0 - 27 August 2025

Bug fix: scout event 10 failing with no element with id

3.294.0 - 26 August 2025

Bug fix: prevent negative total of benefit rolls, correct prisoner event handling

3.293.0 - 22 August 2025

Add additional races

3.292.0 - 21 August 2025

Fix unable to proceed after choosing the skill for scholar event 8

3.291.0 - 15 August 2025

Fix some promotion bonuses

3.290.0 - 15 August 2025

Bug fix - javascript error when you get promoted with a bonus!

3.289.0 - 15 August 2025

Add benefit roll on promotion even if you don't get any other bonus

3.288.0 - 03 August 2025

Bug fix - javascript error for citizen mishap 4

3.285.0 - 19 May 2025

Bug fix - javascript error when gaining advanced training

3.283.0 - 16 May 2025

Bug fix - javascript error for some agent events

3.282.0 - 12 May 2025

Add ability to choose how many characterestics are rolled with boon

3.279.0 - 25 December 2024

Fix to FGU export xml file (cosmetic fix)

3.278.0 - 18 November 2024

Bug fix - Adjust scout mishap3's contact and enemy counts. Provide enemy text on Scout event 3, Fix Typo's, Stop several events overwriting career event

3.277.0 - 18 November 2024

Fix typo. Add full life event list to the Notes of the FGU export

3.276.0 - 15 November 2024

Lock skills in the FGU file, Wording fixes, Bug fixes (citizen mishap4 and event3)

3.275.0 - 10 November 2024

Typo and small bug fixes. Rework the display of advancement options

3.274.0 - 08 November 2024

Added ability to embed text in the initial page (between the notes and the copyright notice)

3.273.0 - 08 November 2024

PDF Generation added

3.272.0 - 03 November 2024

Add Psionics

3.271.0 - 30 October 2024

Bug fixes

3.270.0 - 28 October 2024

Reword mishaps and events so that mishaps caused by events do not imply you leave the career is almost all cases. Add Anagathics

3.269.0 - 25 October 2024

Allow medical bills for injuries

3.268.0 - 25 October 2024

Add save and view options, add a free format field

3.267.0 - 24 October 2024

Fix multiple specialisations!

3.266.0 - 21 October 2024

Allow for multiple specialisations

3.265.0 - 18 October 2024

Added the remaining careers (apart from Psion) and the draft

3.264.0 - 12 October 2024

Add the army career

3.263.0 - 06 October 2024

Bug fixes

3.262.0 - 06 October 2024

Add more careers

3.261.0 - 27 September 2024

Add mustering out, export of characters, bug fixes

3.259.0 - 23 September 2024

Initial Version - pre-alpha (no mustering out, connections, end of character or export. Only pre-careers and rogues implements so far

The information on this page was retrieved by Plugin Information Version 3.282.0.

Setup for joining us on Fantasy Grounds

First published 3rd September 2024

We use a couple of bits of software to allow us to play roleplaying via a virtual tabletop:

Discord

A partial screen capture of the main discord app with the icon for User Settingshighlighted

The location of the settings icon

To allow voice communication we use discord. The desktop version can be downloaded for free from here. You do not need to pay anything to download, setup and use discord1. Once installed and you've registered yourself as a user contact myself or Neil to get an invite to what Discord calls our "server" (a collection of text, voice and even video channels).
There are a few settings we require and/or recommend. You can get to the settings page via the cog icon at the bottom left hand corner of discord's window:

A view of the discord voice & video settings

My Voice & video settings

Once there select Voice & Video and check (and if necessary change) the following settings (note you can click on the image to see at full size):

INPUT DEVICE
Which microphone do you want to use. If you have only one microphone you can probably leave this at the default2.
OUTPUT DEVICE
Which speakers do you want to use. If you have only one of set of speakers you can probably leave this at the default. If, however, you have both a set of speakers AND a headset you need to either change the default in Windows to send sound to your headset or choose which one discord should use here3.
INPUT VOLUME
Leave at the default of 100% unless everyone complains you're too loud. If you find someone else is too loud you can adjust just their volume as explained below.
OUTPUT VOLUME
If you're finding everyone else is too loud or too quiet you can change the global volume here.
INPUT MODE
Select Push-to-talk4.
SHORTCUT
Choose which key to press when you want to speak. I use the left control button on the keyboard5 but Neil uses one of his mouse buttons, You can choose almost any key for this.
PUSH-TO-TALK RELEASE DELAY
Move the slider to increase the time between when you release the push-to-talk key and the time your microphone becomes muted. Note that the default is 0 milliseconds and typically your fingers are ahead of your mouth and hence your final word gets either cut in half or muted completely. Mine is set to around 500ms which seems to work.

There's also a section of settings for Notifications that includes a PTT Activate and a PTT Deactivate notification sounds. Note, however, that the notification sounds are NOT sent to the output device you chose in Voice & Video but just sent as audio to windows. So if your default windows output device are your speakers you'll need to go to your windows settings6, select System then Sound followed by App volume and device preferences and then, With the discord app running, manually choose the devices to be used for sound for the Discord application7.

If you find that one person's voice is too loud or too quiet you can manually how loud they are by right-clicking their name in the voice chat channel and then moving the slider to increase or decrease their individual volume.

Discord will check if it needs updates as part of its startup process and will do an update if necessary

There are also mobile versions of the application for both Android and Apple available in their respective app stores. I do not recommend using a mobile for voice8 but I do recommend it as a way of seeing (and getting notifications about) the text channels.

I strongly recommend going through the setup for discord well before the first game session since, inevitably, it takes a while to get the setup working exactly the way you want it to9

Fantasy Grounds Unity main page screenshot

Fantasy Grounds Unity main page

Fantasy Grounds Unity

You'll be glad to learn that there's less setup needed for Fantasy Grounds Unity. You can download it from their home page. You only need the Free Demo vesrion since both myself and Neil have Ultimate Licenses which allow us to host games for those with the free demo versiom. If you ever wanted to run a game you'd need to get the ultimate version since we have players with only the free demo version.

The free demo version has, for players, all the features of the core license or ultimate versions.

When the time comes we will lead you through how to join a game10. I do recommend that before every game session you fire up Fantasy Grounds Unity and look to see if it needs any updates. Our game sessions are widely enough spread out that there's usually some updates that have been made between our game sessions.

Footnotes

  1. Discord does have a premium currency called Nitro to allow the purchase of additional features. We've not found the need to purchase anything. ↩
  2. I do have two microphones potentially connected so I do set the device here. ↩
  3. Similarly I do have both speakers and a headset so have to set the output device. ↩
  4. This keeps the channel quiet except when someone wants to talk and hence avoids unneccessary distractions. ↩
  5. Note that when I press the left control key to push-to-talk it still acts as a control key so I do have to be aware of that should I try to use any other key (for example to do something in Fantasy Grounds Unity). ↩
  6. These instructions assume you're using Windows 10. ↩
  7. Note that this is a real pain since whenever discord updates its main application the windows settings treats it as a new application and you'll have to go in and change these settings again - I haven't found a better way to do this so far. ↩
  8. It does work but getting push-to-talk to work is not as straightforward. ↩
  9. Don't get me wrong, it is good software but as seen above it can require a fair bit of setting up to get everything the way you want it to be. ↩
  10. Assuming, of course, you have successfully set up Discord and joined the voice chat channel. ↩

En Garde! Plugin Details

First published 13th October 2017 (Last Modified 12th January 2023)

Description

This plugin adds support for my En Garde! game by:
  • adding a shortcode, enGardeCharacter, to allow a character table to be generated. Examples of use: [enGardeCharacter id="C"] [str is="9" initial="9"] [rapier is="12" initial="12"] [sabre is="12" initial="12"] [cutlass is="12" initial="12"] [con is="15" initial="15"] [end is="135 of 135" initial="135"] [ma is="1" initial="1"] [cash is="32" initial="44"] [allowance is="12" initial="0"] [regiment is="Royal Foot Guards, Private"] [club is="Hunter's"] [mentions is="1"] [stable has="1 horse"] [appointment is="Trooper, King's Escort"] [mistress is="Catherine de Borgonne"] [level is="11" initial="12"] [location is="In Paris"] [/enGardeCharacter]
  • adding a shortcode to display a form to allow the submission of orders for a character. Examples of use: [enGardeOrderTemplate id="C"]

    The id used must match one of those from a character on the same page (the javascript used for validation needs to look up information from the table).

Change Log

3.226.0 - 12 January 2023

Remove exception from typeof check for unit testing. Remove a line break from the form template

3.168.0 - 04 January 2022

Update to add '!' to En Garde! where possible

3.167.0 - 03 January 2022

Add a break before the horizontal rule after the order template

3.161.0 - 09 September 2021

Fix update detection logic!

3.157.0 - 21 July 2021

Fix updating logic!

3.153.0 - 21 July 2021

Common up updating logic

3.108.0 - 29 March 2021

Update URL of the details page

3.90.0 - 07 February 2021

  • Don't provide a target url for order form if orders aren't being accepted

3.80.0 - 28 January 2021

  • Restore the insertion of the game month in the order form

3.76.0 - 28 January 2021

  • Add support for self-hosted update notification

3.36.0 - 22 December 2018

  • Disable the submit button if submissions are disabled

3.26.0 - 01 January 2018

  • Save last order submit details

3.24.0 - 20 December 2017

  • Fix leaving/joining club

3.13.0 - 05 December 2017

  • Fix investments

3.12.0 - 05 December 2017

  • Add support for investments

3.11.0 - 05 December 2017

  • Fix location @charset directive in stylesheets

3.10.0

  • Remove migration code (for weapon expertise)

3.9.0 - 25 November 2017

  • Add support for automatically updating expertise

3.6.0 - 21 November 2017

  • Fix wealthy companions

3.5.0 - 21 November 2017

  • Version number scheme changes
  • Add support for battle outcomes

20171115-1410 - 15 November 2017

  • email address fixes

20171114-1440 - 14 November 2017

  • Bug fixes

2.0.0.20171111-1313 - 11 November 2017

  • Better admin

2.0.0.20171105-1511 - 05 November 2017

  • Bug fixes

2.0.0.20171105-1148 - 05 November 2017

  • Improved hints and checks

2.0.0.20171105-0917 - 05 November 2017

  • Sort out last_orders (move into own db table)

2.0.0.20171104-1050 - 04 November 2017

  • Add playhouses and admin support

2.0.0.20171030-1717 - 30 October 2017

  • Refactoring of the javascript

2.0.0.20171024-1626 - 24 October 2017

  • Various bug fixes

2.0.0.20171013-1012 - 13 October 2017

  • Initial Version

The information on this page was retrieved by Plugin Information Version 3.282.0.

Character Sheet Plugin details

First published 17th January 2015 (Last Modified 12th January 2023)

Description

This plugin adds a new post type for linrodeth characters (called 'Characters' in the user interface). In support of this, the plugin provides:

  • The new post type (note, revisions of the character sheet are preserved, so old versions can be viewed (though not in that friendly a format))
  • Two options (accessed either from the 'Settings' link on the plugin itself, or from the 'Settings' admin menu). The two options allow the preamble text shown when a character sheet is viewed and the preamble text shown when a character is editted. You can also change the default genre and the default date (game date) used by the character sheets.
  • A widget that will list the recently added character sheets - this is managed from the 'Widgets submenu of the 'Appearance' admin menu. You can change the title shown by the widget and how many recent characters it will display.
  • It adds a new shortcode that allows links to characters to be added to posts and pages. It can also be used to generate tables of characters. Examples of use:
    [linchar /]
    Show a link to the first character sheet found in the database
    [linchar type="table" /]
    Show a table listing all the character sheets found in the database
    [linchar name="Dermot Foulkes" /]
    Show a link to a specific character sheet. Note that the name is that used on the character sheet NOT the title of the character sheet
    [linchar player="David" type="table" /]
    Show a table listing all the character sheets with the given player name (NOT the author of the character sheet)
    [linchar genre="Linrodeth" type="table" /]
    Show a table listing all the characters for the specified genre
    [linchar author="djvines" type="table" /]
    Show a table listing all the characters authored by a specified author
    [linchar type="table" orderby="name" /]
    Show a table of all characters ordered by the character name
    [linchar genre="Linrodeth" type="table" orderby="date" /]
    Show a table of all characters for a specific genre ordered by the last modification time of the character sheet
    [linchar name="Dermot Foulkes" type="link" text="Dermot" /]

    All the tables include a button and tick boxes that allows the generation of a single PDF that includes the attribute and skill table pages of the selected characters

    Show a link to a specific character sheet with the text of the link specified.
    [linchar name="Dermot Foulkes" type="link"]Embedded Dermot[/linchar]
    Show a link to a specific character sheet with the text of the link specified by enclosing the text with the shortcode

  • In addition there's a shortcode to add a sandpit for character creation experimentation. This allows for a new character to edited but not saved. The characters can be loaded/saved from the browser via the import and export buttons, but cannot be saved onto the website directly.
    [lincharSandpit /]
  • It also adds a shortcode to display the night sky. Examples of use:
    [linsky time="now" showbuttons="true"]
    Show the night sky as it is "now" and include the buttons to allow the time to be changed
    [linsky time="gamedate"]
    Show the night sky as it is at 11pm on the game date chosen on the settings page

Change Log

3.244.0 - 23 February 2023

Use the browser's small viewport units

3.243.0 - 13 February 2023

Adjust margins for headers in the skill sidebar when editing characters

3.238.0 - 22 January 2023

Improve (slightly) the appearance when viewing the character. Check if the edit button are there before trying to set their 'onclick' functions.

3.226.0 - 12 January 2023

Fix minor error in the php for the character sandpit

3.215.0 - 30 August 2022

  • Tekumel Bows are Short Bows not Long Bows
  • Add a smidgen of extra guttering to the skill table
  • On the character listing table add option to select characters and create a single pdf with all their skill tables

3.214.0 - 24 July 2022

Increase the size of the margin used on the left and top of each page in the PDF. This should (I hope) address the clipping issues

3.200.0 - 22 May 2022

  • Adjust width of genre button
  • Improve Handling of Tekumel Languages and Religions
  • Add a 'Copy Previous Skills' button
  • Support (completely optional) gender field
  • Link the post title with the name of the character (typing in one updates the other as well)

Note: This version does not address the reported issue of clipping when printing. I'm not sure how to proceed on that one since it should be the job of the PDF viewer to correctly scale the document for the printer.

3.198.0 - 11 May 2022

Get the buttons on the view character to inherit style rather than getting the theme's default

3.182.0 - 10 March 2022

  • Add a gutter for Performance Difference heading so that the table looks better
  • Limit stats to a maximum of 20 (it was possible to get a stat as high as 20.9)
  • Add Traveller as a genre
  • Moved some skills between categories

3.165.0 - 11 September 2021

  • Add a shortcode for a sandpit character sheet
  • Bump up the vertical size of the character sheet pane to 75% (from 68%) of the available vertical size
  • When changing genres ensure the character has a minimum age by changing the birthday if necessary

3.164.0 - 10 September 2021

Rename files using accented characters - sadly 7zip (and hence my build process) ends up mangling these 🙁

3.163.0 - 10 September 2021

  • Add more Tekumel skills
  • Restore added skills and fix the skill addition (which got renamed to 'Other Skills' 🙂
  • Split languages and religions in their own skill section

3.161.0 - 09 September 2021

Fix update detection logic

3.159.0 - 09 September 2021

  • Add Tekumel genre
  • Make the skill sections into expandable sections (they are now initially collapsed)

3.157.0 - 21 July 2021

Fix updating logic!

3.153.0 - 21 July 2021

  • Common up the plugin logic with my other plugins

3.102.0 - 21 March 2021

  • Fix saving of edited characters on WordPress 5.7
  • Allow use of the block editor

    Note that despite allowing use of the Gutenberg block editor, the editor of the character sheet actually replaces the entire post text with the character sheet, so any other blocks will be discarded!

3.76.0 - 28 January 2021

  • Add support for self-hosted update notification

3.75.0 - 27 January 2021

  • Goodgulf's telescope now uses the correct game date and for the "11pm game date" button.

3.73.0 - 07 January 2021

  • Minor adjustment to the widget (added a space between the character name and the timestamp - also made the timestamp actually the update date!)

3.39.0 - 27 January 2020

  • Add option to unlock birthday and attributes

3.38.0 - 19 July 2019

  • Support Torchwood as a genre.

3.35.0 - 22 December 2018

  • Change the now version of Goodgulf's telescope to use the browser's time rather than the server's time. This allows the page not to change when using static site generation.

3.26.0 - 01 January 2018

  • Support a game date per genre rather than a single game date for a site
  • Indicate that the plugin will not support the Project Gutenberg style of post editing - at least not at this time

3.11.0 - 05 December 2017

  • Change to version numbering structure (the major version number indicates the numbering scheme in operation)
  • Correct the placement of @charset declarations in the stylesheet

2.0.0.20170728-0830 - 28 July 2017

  • Make the movement table vary based on Agility (rather than being fixed)
  • Add note for area and multiple hit weapons if used by the character.

2.0.0.20170717-1729 - 17 July 2017

  • Default language for new character is now that of the character's genre rather than Athionic.
  • Allow unlisted Intrigue skills

2.0.0.20160808-1454 - 08 August 2016

  • The plugin modifies searches so that all post types are included. This is now fixed so that it only affects the search, tag and category pages and not every query (including those on widgets on those pages)
  • A zero width space is used after the '/' character in the buttons for skills to improve word wrapping on the buttons

2.0.0.20160219-1028 - 19 February 2016

  • Character export on linrodeth characters is exporting the entire character array, not just the current character
  • Update compatible wordpress version to 4.4.2

2.0.0.20160105-1700 - 05 January 2016

  • Correct inheritance used for construction of the widget to the current (PHP7 supporting) idiom
  • Change the size of the box used for viewing and editing to 67% of the height of the viewport - this is much friendly for various display sizes and seems to help chrome on mobile devices to render the box correctly

2.0.0.20151103-1328 - 03 November 2015

  • Add modifier for extra opponents

2.0.0.20151017-1159 - 17 October 2015

  • Add documentation for the shortcodes (no functional changes)

2.0.0.20150906-0822 - 22 August 2015

  • Get the PDF to show the correct value for will

2.0.0.20150720-1423 - 20 July 2015

  • Skill plus/minus buttons now work
  • Skill list now appears in the correct place (rather than being underlaid beneath the rest of the page text

2.0.0.20150426-1426 - 26 April 2015

  • Performance issues on waylands resolved (conflict with the Infinite SEO plugin resolved)
  • Multiple character sheets can be added to a single page (e.g. search or tag results)
  • Excerpts now generated if not overridden by a manual excerpt.
  • Summary pages added to PDF
  • Player name added to slug at the bottom of each PDF page

2.0.0.20150119-1114 - 19 January 2015

  • Update metadata

2.0.0.20150116-1034 - 16 January 2015

  • Added support to display the night sky

1.9.0.20150107-1800 - 07 January 2015

  • Stopped the newSkills growing on each edit

0.9.9 - 23 September 2014

  • Fix date display (particularly for Luna Romana).

0.9.8.1 - 08 July 2014

  • Minor bug fix to the performance tables (there was a long tail to the left of the table, now removed).

0.9.8 - 02 July 2014

  • Changing the birthdate moves all periods along (shrinking the last period).
  • Added (simple, combat-related) Equipment page.
  • Added printing.

Version - 0.9.7 - 08 June 2014

  • Refactoring the javascript code.
  • Only increment the version number/edit date of the character on save or upload.

0.9.6 - 07 June 2014

  • Fix game date display when changing genres (or loading old characters with a non-Linrodeth genre).
  • Hide the JSON panel by default.
  • Allow editing of the attributes (disabled by default).
  • Allow the addition of unknown skills.

0.9.5 - 06 June 2014

  • Upload button added - note this POSTs to process.php to the host that delivered the page.
  • Fixed bug when the last period becomes shorter than 13 months (tried to disable buttons that didn't exist!).

0.9.4 - 05 June 2014

  • Correctly disable ip adjust buttons.
  • Birthday locked once the stats are locked.
  • Genre locked once the stats are locked.
  • Added a stats reroll button (rather than forcing the user to page reload!). Obviously this disappears when the stats are locked.
  • Played with the layout a little - Still can't get the button to vertically fill their cell - this seems to be a CSS rendering limitation.
  • Locking the character would break adding a period.
  • Trying to change dates with a period with more than one interest caused a break.
  • Set the value of the name to that in the JSON.
  • Added Herbalism.
  • Fixed bug: When the title was updated, the next change would cause the Stats tab to reappear.
  • Disabled the -date buttons for a period when the period is already too short to allow the period to shrink by that much.

0.9.3 - 04 June 2014

  • Added a schema version to the JSON to allow smooth upgrading of old characters for program updates.
  • Added a rules version to the JSON to hopefully allow upgrading of old characters when there are rules changes.
  • Added a character version and last edit date.
  • Changing interest points changed to <, > buttons instead of pull-down.
  • Periods now show the age range rather than the dates (the dates are available as tooltips on those ages).
  • Added a character description field.
  • Added a game date to the Stats panel, which anchors the end date of the last period.
  • Added the ability to lock the stats - once locked the only way to unlock it is via the JSON.

0.9.2 - unreleased

  • Changing the genre now updates the childhood fluency fields.
  • Added contemporary fluencies and literacies - no other contemporary skills at this time.
  • Added Math.floor to the morale calculation AND fixed the logic for the wound points (previously treated as having a con in the range 0-4!)).

0.9.1 - 03 June 2014

  • textarea (except for the JSON update) no longer need (or have) submit buttons.
  • A stat of 21.0 is now impossible (20.9 is still possible, if unlikely at 1 in 10,000).
  • Used Math.floor instead of Math.round(x-0.5).
  • Added Save and Load JSON buttons (These are local to the browser).
  • Added a Genre pull down.
  • Added a statement on the rule set used.

The information on this page was retrieved by Plugin Information Version 3.282.0.

Planets

First published 22nd May 2000 (Last Modified 12th January 2023)

There are many things which can be seen in the sky, clouds, birds, and of course the sun, the two moons, and the stars.

This article discuss these latter objects. The last, the stars can be divided into two groups. The first of these groups, the fixed stars, are, on the whole, uninteresting. The exception is Polaris, the pole star. This is the navigator's friend, known to sailors and guides alike as it always occupies the same location in the sky. It is easily recognised as it is part of a group of three brights stars which are grouped closely together and in a straight line. The direction of this group of stars can usually be safely taken as the direction of north.

The second class of stars is the planets or 'wandering stars'. These can be further subdivided into two groups :- those which always stay near the sun, and those which can wander across all the sky.

The first, Psykomena (the observer of folly) is the fastest moving, but is always close to the sun, thus committing the ultimate folly of assuming that folly only occurs during the day!

The second planet is Alderoth (observer of recovery and health) can be seen further from the sun than Psykomena and shows that for good health, a regular regimen of sleep is required.

The third planet, Panurgio (observer of Vitality and Wit), can be seen still further from the sun, but still shows that a quick mind also requires a regular regimen of sleep.

The next planet, Erosina (observer of love and enjoyment), can be seen yet further from the sun, and can often be seen in the late evenings.

Genhelia (observer of birth and growth) is never far behind Erosina, often reaching the same position in the sky in a matter of days. Genhelia can be distinguished from Erosina by its distinctive blue-green colour.

The second group of planets begins with Psykelia (observer of luck and fortune). Psykelia is the quickest of those planets which do not stay near the sun, thus visibly demonstrating that luck is fickle and cannot be relied upon.

The next is Letophoro (observer of malady and death) is difficult to observe, but also wanders across the entire sky watching death occur at any time.

Adamasto (observer of conflict and war) is next. It too wanders far from the sun, and suffers from a striking orange-red colour as befits its nature. Adamasto shows that the causes of war can occur at any time, but also take time to build, as Adamasto only wanders slowly.

The slowest and last wanderer is Celeno (observer of slowness and dullness). Celeno only moves slowly relative to the fixed stars, but is able travel all around the sky in time, thus showing slow and careful will get you there! (The fastest moving planet, Psykomena, never moves far from the sun, whereas Celeno, the slowest, is the planet most often further from the sun in the sky)

The two most obvious features in the night sky, however, are the two moons, Sisamora and Senemora (These can, of course, be seen during the day, but are not the most obvious daytime features!). Sisamora (observer of good) is the larger of the two. Sisamora changes Phase in a thirty and seven-sixteenths of a day cycle. When Sisamora is full (Around the beginning/end of each month and, of course, during festival days), it can be seen brightly shining. However, it is recorded that it is occasionally suffers during these occasions from strange redness and indeed blackening.

The second moon, Senemora (observer of evil) is harder to describe. Senemora also follows a sequence of phases, but follows its cycle in a matter of hours, (21 hours and 13 minutes to be precise!). However its movement across the sky is most fickle. Whereas all the other moons, planets and even the sun, rise in the west and set in the east (within 18 hours indeed), Senemora usually rises in the east and sets in the west 3 or 4 days later! In addition, senemora is both eager to rise (often rising in the east several hours early then being forced to set in the east within a few hours) and relucant to set (often rising again in the west, and then setting again within a matter of a few hours)!

The last object in the sky is, of course, the sun. It too, dislikes the winter and is in the sky for less than eight hours on Midwinter Day, while on Midsummer Day it is in the sky for over sixteen hours.

Last updated: January 12, 2023 at 9:13 am

Goodgulf's telescope (now)

First published 11th April 2016 (Last Modified 12th January 2023)

Through Goodgulf's telescope:





Notes

This is the "now" version, also available is the "game date" version

The output of the javascript largely matches that of my BBC BASIC program and that of my java program.

Given the restructuring and the change of language, I feel this is pretty good. It's worth noting that the planet positions do not correct for either perturbations or the speed of light!

However the algorithm for the moons is a indirect copy of the BBC BASIC code and must be wrong. I KNOW the algorithm is rubbish because, for example, it does not correct for parallax between the centre of the planet and the surface. This is quite a significant factor given Senemora's orbit at 24,137 miles and the surface of the planet is probably at 8,000 miles or so.

The drawback with rewriting the algorithm to be more accurate is that it will, of necessity, change the behaviour!

Last updated: January 12, 2023 at 9:07 am