Lazlo Society: Horrifying, challenging, subtle, and unknown

[Cybermancer]

Just a quick update.

As of today, I had to add a second person to the ignore list pre-emptively, again for IC reasons.

I hope this doesn't become a trend.

[Jefffar]

Nocturnes are a faction in the Nightbane game, composed mainly of Wampyrs, renegade Secondary Vampires, Nightbane and diverse other nominally sinister supernatural creatures who have united agaisnt evil.

[Sir Neil]

Ah. I should read Nightbane one of these days, thanks.

**
I don't think that chiang-ku dragons are literally immortal, but they live for thousands of years. Then there is Wei Chen Something and Kid Shang Li.

[glitterboy2098]

yeah.

i tried to get involved, but with an investigative character (parapsychologist) i just couldn't actually post much before losing interest, since no one was taking my stuff seriously. which was funny, because i tried as hard as i could to make it jive with both real world and BTS.. my character had to pass speculation and the minor gleanings from research on as info, but people would come in with "greater knowledge" and start spouting off some nonsense, derailing my threads.

thus when real life came calling and took up my time, i wasn't particulalry interested in finding time ot keep posting.

i tried to make a comeback, but that was a poorly written (purely my fault there) warstory, though i had some good plot and ideas in mind at the time. never did manage to finish that one before real life interviened. but what i read there while trying ot get going again was pretty out of hand.

i found i miss the days when the worst you could expect to appear in your threads where the knowitalls or the negapsychic. now your more likely to have a demon show up...

[Sir Neil]

Lazlo's turning into this boarding house for nonhumans and the uberpowerful.

Ridiculous, isn't it? There are a number of characters whose sheets I would fold up and throw away if they were brought to my table.

[glitterboy2098]

Dang. And I actually enjoyed Mr. E and his stuff.

(You were Mr. E, right?)

yes. Edward Davion, Consulting Parapsychologist.

eventually i'll try to show back up, make an attempt to get going again. only next time, i hope to have stuff already to post, so i'm not making up half of it on the fly. i need to write out the full "the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime" warstory (i kinda lost steam half way through, my writing got worse and worse. i'll need to rewrite everying from part #3 on. never did get to the interesting part. figure out the monster killing the tourists, meet up with Ron (unexpectadly) to finish it off.)


if i can do that, and maybe have another warstory to explain part of what Mr. E has been up to during his absence, i should be able to keep people interested long enough to figure out what the heck is going on on those boards..

maybe i can work out the kinks with my men in black conspiracy in the process. (where the "MiB" are a government agency doing much the same stuff as the Lazlo agency, only with the aim of keeping it all "myths and legends" while trying ot find ways to apply psionics and the supernatural to intellegence and national defense...basically the BPRD as badguys...i'm sort of drawing from MiB mythos, but also from things like that gargoyle adventure from BTS1.)

Lazlo's turning into this boarding house for nonhumans and the uberpowerful.

Ridiculous, isn't it? There are a number of characters whose sheets I would fold up and throw away if they were brought to my table.

yeah. plus there have been some plots that i'd have just told the GM "there is no way you'd be able to do that". remember the thread wayback with the group who fuel-air-bombed a haunted house?

not only a major unreality issue (a FAE is the closest thing to a nuke you can get without using an uke), but destroying the house is very much a failure of imagination. especially since they didn't say why the government felt the need to flatten an old mansion (and most of the suburbs around it, technically)

[Cybermancer]

Sir Neil wrote:

Ridiculous, isn't it? There are a number of characters whose sheets I would fold up and throw away if they were brought to my table.

That's part of the problem though, right? It's not anyone's table. The conflict arises because everyone has a different view of what is acceptable or what the game should be about. And when they run their own games, their viewpoint wins out. But when incompatible viewpoints mix, someone loses fun.

For example, there are apparently people playing Chaing Ku dragons on the boards. While this would seem like a more Heroes Unlimited themed character, the fact that Lazlo himself had a Chaing Ku friend means they canonocally exist in the BTS world. They might be more suitable as NPC's, but someone has to play the NPC's.

Glitterboy2098 wrote:

i tried to get involved, but with an investigative character (parapsychologist) i just couldn't actually post much before losing interest, since no one was taking my stuff seriously. which was funny, because i tried as hard as i could to make it jive with both real world and BTS.. my character had to pass speculation and the minor gleanings from research on as info, but people would come in with "greater knowledge" and start spouting off some nonsense, derailing my threads.

This thing with the experts with greater knowledge can be a real problem. It can sour the experience real fast. I personally don't see a solution to it but I'd love to have one.

So with that thought in mind, what are peoples suggested solutions to these problems? Perhaps a little brainstorming is in order. We may be able to come up with some self-policing solutions. The trick will be accepting that not everyone will be happy with any solution as well as knowing that so long as it's self-policing and voluntary, not everyone is going to go along with it. You can suggest speed limits but unless they're enforced, they won't be adhered to.

I'll start with some suggestions.

First, limit characters to BTS characters only. No vampires, werewolves, Chaing Ku or imports from other systems. Just characters that can be created by the BTS rules, as written. Some allowances may have to be made for the Arcanist since for some reason they never made it into the new system. This would mean that I would have to dump or significantly alter the two persona's I'm currently playing. If we can get a general consensus on this, I'd be willing to do that.

Second, limit characters to BTS characters and similarily themed characters. So werewolves, vampires, Chaing Ku and some characters from other games can be allowed. A wizard from Heroes Unlimited for example or many of the non-Nightbane characters from Nightbane. An immigrant from Palladium fantasy might be permissible with a background that made sense. My persona's may or may not need to be changed.

Third, it's called a megaverse for a reason. If it's allowed in any Palladium Contemporary setting, then it should at least be considered for the Lazlo Society. Some things, like mutants with flashy powers, Cyborgs and Exosuit pilots are prolly over the top but a Hunter/Vigilante or similar skilled character from Heroes Unlimited would be fine as would most Ninja's and Superspies characters.

Forth, anything goes. 'Nuff said.

That covers a few options for chargen.

Threads and plots, now.

Anyone wanting to start an RP has to get permission first to ensure it is consistant with the spirit of the Lazlo Society. Then everyone who wants to participate must apply or otherwise ask before posting on the originating thread. That should take care of unwanted experts as well as characters too powerful for the RP. Everything should be well scripted in advance.

Anyone can start an RP but they should try and keep it within the spirit of the boards themselves. Anyone can add to the RP but should PM the originator to make sure that what they want to do is okay. In this case, the originator of the RP should have control of the RP. So if you have knowledge or something that could instantly end the RP, contact the originator first and see if that's okay. In a similar vein, if you're a skeptic, ask if you can dump your characters disbeleif all over the thread. Being a skeptic doesn't give you the right to derail everyone elses thread by being obnoxious (sorry, a personal beef-not all skeptics do this!)

Anyone can start an RP and it shouldn't matter what it's about. If it's interesting, others will join in. If it's not, others will simply ignore it or not participate.

Anything goes. 'Nuff said.

Other things to consider.

If we start using these rules, what happens to characters already in play that break them? Are they 'grandfathered'? Are they retconned? Not every character that doesn't 'fit the mold' is a bad one and there are those who are attached to the characters they've been playing for, in some cases, years. Is allowing these characters to stay on fair to new players who only just discovered the site?

How do we determine exceptions? Who has final say (I would imagine the person running the site)?

Who runs NPC's?

Do we need RP moderators? Character generation moderators?

These are just a few suggestions to get people thinking and adding their own. Let a whole bunch of suggestions accumulate before we start shooting them down (that's why I suggest numerous ideas for each problem).

The alternative to trying to find solutions is to do nothing except complain. While complaining has it's place, alone it does not cause change. If things don't change, I can see the Lazlo Society withering and dieing. That would change. That would suck, since I've always thought it had a great deal of potential. It would be worth making a few changes or sacrifices for to see continued.

And one of the sacrifices I'm willing to make is changing my persona's to fit the new rules. The other sacrifice I'm willing to make is listen to a few ***** or have a few leave so the majority are happy.

The trick of course, is determining what changes to make (if any) that pleases the most people and upsets the least. A worthy challenge. Whose interested?

[Cybermancer]

Petite Elfgirl,

Some very good thoughts. And it's got me thinking, maybe what the board needs is some good old fashioned paranoia?

These experts, why do we beleive them? What are their credentials? What PROOF do they provide to support their claims? We shouldn't all be acting like nega-psychics but we should be taking anything anyone says with a grain of salt. After all, anyone can log on and make any claims they want, that doesn't make them true and people should be a little less disbelieving.

This extends to people with suitcase nukes. As soon as anyone offers any amount of heavy ordinance, warning bells should be going off in everyone's heads. Who are they and who do they work for? If they're carrying around suit case nukes or Fuel Air weapons, then they must work for a government. MUST! Assuming the action takes place in America, why is the American government bombing its own territory and possibly people? Even more ominus (sp), if they work for another nations government, why isn't war being declared?

Some other thoughts on high ordinance. If someone just pops up on a thread and bombs it without discussing it with the people active in the RP, then I would suggest they have broken with the concept of consentual RP. Therefore it is fair to post something along the lines of "No bomb went off in that location! Nothing was in the news. I was there and nothing happened. Clearly you're a nutjob." Few things will irritate these people more than being told they've had no effect. After all, anyone can post anything, that doesn't make it true. More people should be called out on this. I think it will be more effective then simply ignoring them. Actively showing that they have no effect will frustrate them.

I wonder though, how many people have tried talking to such annoying players by PM? Asking them to back off or else do more to conform to what is wanted by the originating poster. I know that there really are people out there who are completely unreasonable but sometimes a person who seems like twink is merely a noob. The difference between twink and noob is that a noob can learn (and will try to learn) while a twink is set in their ways. Some communication might improve things. But I will say that I haven't been active enough yet to have someone twink all over something I was trying to do so I don't know if anyone has been talking to these trouble makers or not. That is why I ask.

As for noobs, I'll offer myself up as an example. When I created the Cybermancer persona, I used an existing Heroes Unlimited character. In retrospect, not the best decision I could have made. I will point out that in my defense, based on what was going on and being discussed on the boards at the time (and still) I didn't feel the character was over powering in the least. And since I only wanted interaction over the boards, it was easy to build in a mechanism to prevent direct interaction. However, having seen the iritation imported characters cause to some since then, I would make more BTS themed characters now. Or at least characters that can be created using BTS.

As for skepticism in action, I will again offer up myself as an example. When Cybermancer gets back from his trip, relates his tale and issues his warning, virtually no one should beleive him. He hasn't had much of a presence on the boards, so no one knows him or can vouch for him. He offers absolutely nothing so far a physical proof. Heck, he doesn't even have collaborating evidence. He'll come off as some random nutbar who at best is a misguided loon and at worst is mocking the whole society. Only someone who has a psychic flash suggesting this might be happening or someone who starts noticing the increased activity he was warning about would beleive him. So for a while, the plot will definitely seem to die. I would be very surprised if anyone logged on to say, "That was an interesting and enlightening story. Thanks for the warning! We'll be on our guard!"

Maybe what we need is a few plot threads where these types of characters are spoofed by one of us and then subsequently discredited? Or a series of threads that raise everyone's paranoia levels?

In any case, some good thoughts. Keep them coming.

[filo_clarke]

Forgive my continued interruption into this debate, but I feel that there should be some defined boundaries with respect to what the Lazlo Society IS and IS NOT. Sort of a What Would Victor Lazlo Do (WWVLD?). For instance, I have found compelling evidence in the BTS2 book that suggests if a character finds him/herself possessed of psychic powers, the best course of action is to hide them from society, and try not to draw attention to yourself. I find it hard to believe that the Lazlo Society would allow werebeasts and sorcerers free reign when it comes to pursuing the supernatural.

In fact I find it difficult to believe that such beings could simply flaunt their nature in public without some sort of reprisal from various shadowy organizations/individuals. Surely other mages in the world would be a little put off by someone providing definitive proof of spell casting to the general public (to a paranormal investigation agency nonetheless!). The same might be said for tribes of werecreatures, or vampires. Doing this kind of thing would be like painting a huge red cosmic bulls-eye on your head.

This is why I always envisioned sorcerers, demons, monsters and the like to be secretive and hidden. Their continued survival hinges upon the world at large continuing to think that they are make-believe. Their avoidance of the Lazlo Society seems to me to be paramount in this endeavor.

The paranormal characters aren’t the only problem, in my mind either. There are more than a few in the Society who seem to possess hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions?) of dollars worth of military equipment, weapons, armor, vehicles etc. What is their motivation for working with the Lazlo Society? They seem to be well equipped, trained, and educated so why waste time with a pedantic and bookish organization? Further with this line of thought, does the Society condone their murderous behaviour? Do they actively support it? If there are Lazlo Agency Elimination Teams as DungeonCrawler suggests, then Lazlo is indeed a paramilitary organization, and as such must be pretty careful not to gain the attention of the US Government. On a side note: could someone please point me to a reference to the Lazlo Agency’s Elimination Teams? I have been pouring over the book and I can’t seem to find mention of them.

So I ask is there any way to moderate what kind of character is made for the boards? I am not advocating the strict adherence to the BTS2 system, as one of my favourite characters is a Transcendental PCC from Rifter #1, and I think that a Private Eye from N&SS, or an Egghead from System Failure, or even a Vagabond (modified) from Rifts should be perfectly normal examples of people who post to the web-site. What I guess I am asking is a set of principles, posted on the site, that establish what the Lazlo Agency is/does. I understand that it combats the supernatural, but does it advise its members to carry firearms (does it provide concealed-carry permits). Does the agency provide weapons, equipment, vehicles etc. For instance when a person like me decides to make a character for the boards, there could be a sort of guideline page for the hiring process of the Agency, establishing what is and is not acceptable to the game.

This could cover things like OCC/PCC/RCC options, and contain guidelines for what the Agency’s legal position is for its agents; like what sort of legal defense does the agency provide for a character who has been caught with a .50 Caliber Sniper rifle in a public place, or even worse, a briefcase nuke. What are the agent’s responsibilities, and the Agency’s responsibilities? How does it spin the news story about a neighbourhood being destroyed by a fuel-air explosive, launched by an agent? Any basic internet search by the FBI or CNN would show that the attack was orchestrated by a poster to the boards, and thus an employee of the Lazlo Society, and the ectoplasm would hit the fan.

These guidelines would have an in-built set of consequences for any new-poster who wants to make a Nightbane ex-assassin Sorcerer, armed with a DENEL 20 mm anti-materials rifle, and a Harrier jet, out to rid the world of evil by any means necessary. The boards could effectively police themselves, by getting fictional “police” involved.

[glitterboy2098]

i think part of the problem with the spread of higher powered characters has been the "me too!" attitude.

initially we only had a few higher powered characters, and most of those did very good roleplay and were generally very good at making their plots seem plausible within the BTS world. (or they posted for a bit, got annoyed when people ignored their antics, and left)

but then you had some new members, who played BTS in a lenient group, haven't played BTS but have played Nightbane/HU/N&SS, or haven't played much of any palladium games but have played things like WhiteWolf's World of Darkness... who see that some of the more prominant and entertaining posters are somewhat strong, and think "me too!" and go on to make higher powered characters. some go on to be good roleplayers, others just don't.

once you hit a certain point in terms of board population, there became enough of the "me too!" players that they could sustain poor efforts at roleplay using munchkin plots, characters, and equipment, merely because everytime they nuked a haunted house, machinegunned down a crowd of zombies on mainstreet, or stole some top secret military UFO*, there would be other players of similar mindset there to post figurative pats on the back and say "good job".

if that was all that occurs, we could ignore those threads and not worry. but that kind of "roll-play" tends to spread around, impinging on other threads of different mindset. because those characters want ot roleplay too, and be part of this larger story the serious roleplayers over at LS have been slowly weaving. so they post, in their own style, and offer help, and so on.


*hopefully such things haven't been involved, AFAIK i think i'm just making up potential extreme examples...

[Cybermancer]

CommanderT1 wrote:

Several attempts were made by myself and other players to both talk to the person in question, and to curtail their actions, none worked. Shockingly enough, this person had other habits that were just as if not more annoying then dropping a nuke on everything. I cant be much more specific without it becoming clear who I am talking about (for anyone who was around at that time anyway). They were impossible to ignore, and it was impossible to mitigate the damage they could cause to a thread.

PMing the person resulted in them accusing everyone who didn't like their playing style of flaming them, and they threatened admin retribution if we continued to not play along. Asking the forum admins to look into curbing their thread wrecking only got replies of : They are not technically breaking any of the forum rules, therefore they are free to do whatever they want. Which is why I say you need a pseudo GM admin to manage the occasional out of control player, topic, or trend.

Well, I don't think I was active during this time since it doesn't ring any bells, so I can't really comment too much. Is there some board rule that prevents you from blatantly revealing who this disruptive character is? I may have missed it, it's been known to happen.

In any case, is this individual disruption still present or have they gotten bored and moved on?

I think most online RP's have moderators or admins of some type regulating RP and character generation. Lazlo Society is fairly unique in that respect.

If there was an approved character generation process, how would it go? An OOC screen where you can log on as a 'guest' and where you're told that you're assumed to be an ordinary person with no powers, no contacts and no resources? This could be for ordinary people logging on looking for help from the experts. The other option would be Society members, I guess. Where you submit a character concept (or even written out character) and wait for approval before you can post. Or character ideas could be posted here, I suppose. Then, when you see the character, you can decide if you wanna play with them or not? Actually, I sort of like that last idea.

filo_clarke,

I don't see your post as an interuption, personally, but rather as a valuable contribution. You raise many good points which is what I (and I think others) would like to see.

I think there should definitely be someplace where the Lazlo Society is detailed. It is explained to some extent in BTS2. But an OOC page or something similar here would also be helpful. And it should detail what the Lazlo Agency is, as they are related but seperate orginizations. Everyone should discuss what they think both agencies are, expand on what is already written before we try to come to some sort of consensus.

I happen to agree that there is some fudge factor as to what makes an acceptable character on the boards but it has to be handled carefully. Not everyone is going to agree with everyone else about what is and is not acceptable.

I would also agree that there needs to be in game consequences for actions.

Ideally, I think what we need is some moderators, selected by Mr. Deific NMI to help maintain a certain level of control over things. There is a reason that RPG's have GM's/DM's/Referees/Etc. Maybe it's time we accepted that those reasons apply to the Lazlo Society too?

*Pokes Mr. Deific NMI* What are your thoughts on all this? You're the man, after all. We can try to police ourselves all we want but if there isn't some control from on high, so to speak, then it becomes a case of us (those who police ourselves) and them (those who don't).

Ah, glitterboy2098 posted while I was previewing my message.

Yes, the "Me too!" attitude can be seen on the Lazlo boards. It happens in most free form RP's if there isn't strict controls. It happens in actual RPG's, both at private tables and even in publications (power creep).

So how do we combat it?

By saying we want to police ourselves and hope others say, "Me too?"

Stricter moderation as has been suggested?

Other ideas?

[Cybermancer]

CommanderT1,

It's a shame that you lost all interest in the site. I would suggest that, for whatever reason, this person has moved on. At least I haven't seen anything that is quite that obnoxious going on lately. It certainly seems that there is movement by the player base to make things better again.

Hopefully we can learn from the mistakes of the past so that the gaming experience will be enjoyed more by everybody.

[glitterboy2098]

i'm not sure what kind of solution would work. a total reboot will just have us back at this stage after a few months of confusion as half of us start over, and half just ignore the change and continue their stuff. plus, a total reboot would wipe out a lot of the really good RP that has been done.

we need more moderation, but we need moderators able to keep up with the board and willing ot give leeway where it's needed, and be strict when it's needed.

perhaps we should create a new class of moderator for the LS boards, other than the person who runs the place? basically a "Gamemaster" moderator who's job is to deal with the more outlandish characters and plots, so NMI and the rest don't have to? we can give them "ingame roles" as the lazlo Agency Systems administrators or something..

that would help, but we need something a tad more drastic along with it.

the board should be taken offline for a month or two, with a notice that "the lazlo Society has decided to upgrade their forum servers" or something. include a link to a topic here on these boards explaining it was time for some thread pruning and minor reorganization.

go through and prune back most of the posts, leaving the more interesting or pertinent parts of each section. seperate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

send PM's to all members explaining the BTS setting, what the lazlo society is in the setting, and the preffered way the characters fit into the setting. examples of BTS like movies and shows (like my list above) would help here. likewise explain that they as players are expected to police themselves. explain that if another member posts something that seems to unbeleivable or just completely outlandish (like FAEing a house or being an enlightened immortal), it is perfectly fine to say "i don't beleive you, your making that up", and ignore it.

and then start over from there. have the "gamemaster" moderators ride herd on the boards to prevent things from getting out of hand. perhaps limit the number of accounts per user to a set # (say, 3 or 4), to prevent the aformentioned "10 mouths but only one brain" type problem. people currently over that number should get a PM offering thme a choice of which to keep. failure to respond means the moderators get to choose. (make sure they know that)


and on the registry process, add the same "explain BTS and lazlo society" message to the "what is lazlo society" part.


between the clearer statement of what lazlosociety is, the increased moderation, and being offline for a time, the worst offenders will likely either leave or shape up. and we get to keep the good parts of lazlo society.

[Cybermancer]

Some good points, glitterboy2098.

There seems to be a growing call for increased moderation.

That means there will have to be some people who are willing to step forward to do that moderation. I would suggest people who have been around for awhile such as Jeffar or Petite Elfgirl. I have no idea if they're interested or have the spare time, I'm just naming them because I think they could do a decent job of it.

Any other suggestions?

[Cybermancer]

Oh yes, I just remembered.

How many players are there, anyway? Not characters, but different, seperate players.

[Cybermancer]

It's true. Nobody put me up to making those nominations.

I hate to say it, but as is, the Lazlo Society is anything but a GM's dream. In fact, I am loathe to tell my players about it in case the worst elements of the site give them bad ideas.

You know, though, someone who goes around acting sinsiter really isn't. You can point to them and say, "Bad guy, stay away or neutralize."

It's the one who acts like they're your friend that is cause for concern. Or poses as a victim. "Oh golly, my parents are away and my big brother went down to the basement and hasn't come up. Could someone, anyone come save little ole, vulnerable me?" I wonder how many Lazlo Society members would go into that basement, one after another...

Hmmm...

You know, maybe it's time for the Lazlo Agency to (re)take control of the Lazlo Society and clean house? Could be a good IC reason for the shut down and pruning that glitterboy2098 suggested.

[glitterboy2098]

One of the things that keep coming back to me is the A Gamemaster's Dream section. Specifically, the "A more sinister use . . ." it mentions "villains" can use it, even a supernatural predator (if intelligent . . . and yes, it says that exactly . . . IF INTELLIGENT . . .) it also says "the enigmatic online personality could be a government agent, a scientist, a member of a professional or amateur psychic investigation agency, freelance investigator/researcher, professional psychic, enthusiast or victim who is sincere, reliable, honest, and helpful, someone who has his own agenda, a liar, jerk, quack, lunatic, or worse."

key word there is "enigmatic". any cultist, demon, man in black, or other opponent is never going to say what he really is. he/she/it will pretend to be a perfectly normal human being, a normal member of the forum. their warstories will be based on real events, but instead of encounters they had with the supernatural, cults, what ever, it will be based on encounters they had with investigators out for him/her/it, cleverly written to make it seem like they are the hero, not the target. a cult leader might write about how investgators and cops disrupted a summoning ceremony. they'll imply they were part of the investigators or cops, or just a third party witness, when instead they were the guy in the robe drawing pentagrams in blood, who managed to escape by leaving his followers to be caught.

discovering that "poster X" isn't what he seems should be the culmination of a long roleplay campaign, with the poster making minor cultural or detail mistakes that imply he is not as familiar as he seems. lots of co-operation with other players, so you start to get "suspicions" about the truthfulness of what the poster is saying. leading up to the other poster being able to bring everyine into the virtual accusing chamber for the big reveal. where the villian in hero's clothing gets to do a "curses, foiled again", before retiring that account and creating a new one (with moderator permission and assistance perhaps), either as an ew character or as the same one with a new disguise.

playing a cultist or a demon or other opponent on the boards should be a more challenging affair than just playing an investigator or normal person.

[Cybermancer]

It definitely seems to me that the villian aspect has been over used and abused on the boards. This might be something to cut back on.

Shadow Organizations! How many of them are there out there? Who do they all answer to? Even the USA only has so much budget for alphabet soup agencies. It almost seems sometimes that every new player brings in new agencies.

They should really be listed, examined and perhaps pruned. And then afterwards controlled.

[glitterboy2098]

BTS is as ripe a ground for secret societies, agencies, and cults as HU or N&SS, but your right.

for government agencies there is likely to be one secret one (like the one i've been trying to work out), equivilent to or part of the FBI/CIA/NSA.
many of the ones hinted at on the LS boards are probably just different facets of the same organization. any informtion you get from their agents is likely false, a sham invented on the spot to keep people confused. information from the government is likely to be just a layer of "not quite all the truth" used to keep people from digging deeper.


non-government groups are likely to be more common. why not bring in the hunter organization "Eclipse" from Rifter #5? even without the children of the moon Eclipse would fit in well in BTS. just instead of being werewolf specific, make them general supernatural, with a preferance for going after were's and vamps.

the real world has plenty of paranormal investigating groups. most states have an organization of such for their area, and there are plenty of TV shows and stuff you could parody/homage in game.

[Cybermancer]

I do beleive the name 'Eclipse' has been bandied about the boards lately.

[Jefffar]

I do beleive the name 'Eclipse' has been bandied about the boards lately.

Yes they have.

I've also introduced a character inspired by the Children article.

In a few weeks or months I shall do something with him.

I've also used successfully Rifts and Nightbane (The latter contributing a few notable characters and encounters) and have a plan for using some creepies from Chaos Earth in the coming months.

I know for a fact that Palladum Fantasy has been worked in successfully by others.

I've also pulled from outside of what is strictly in any of the books and that is going to figure in a major story arc over the next while. Another story arc I'm using is inspired by what may be preview art for Tome Grotesque.

I was really happy when Doc Boggs latched on to my posts about the (very real) sevred feet appearing in Canada. That's why I put some of that stuff out there.

Limiting ourselves to BTS only stifles our creative resources.

[Cybermancer]

Well Jeffar,

Limiting chargen to BTS characters has only been one suggestion made. It's an easy default since once you open the door to other games, then you start getting the "Me Too" attitude that was mentioned earlier.

So, if you don't want to close down your options (and there's no reason why you should), how would you suggest working things so that characters don't get out of hand while keeping the most options open?

[Jefffar]

Well that's the thing.

I'm not sure we can without some heavy handed moderating.

The thing we have to remember is that Lazlo is both an in-character message board and a communal interactive story telling site. In short it is the sum of it's members and their posts and slicing away at posts that don't conform to any but the absolute broadest guidelines ultimately serves to undermine it.

That being said, posters need to respect other posters boundaries and their stories and not make posts that disrupt threads in a way the principal author(s) feel undermines their efforts at story telling.

About the only enforcement option I can really think of is that the moderators only respond to the most grevious incidents (ie being personally offensive and breaches of character or board ettiquette) or when a thread starter has specifically requested so.

If someone has a story thread that culminates with the detonation of an FAE, let them . . . but it it has to stay on their thread which can easily be ignored by the others.

We've had some pretty cool stuff pulled off on the board that was also way over the top. One I'm thinking of (and which I had been able to participate in) was a group of board members actually travelling to the PFRPG world and shooting up a jungle full of werebeasts. I agree this isn't for everyone's campaign, but it worked for them, so let them go for it.

Let the storytellers tell their stories and let the characters be characters.

[Natasha]

I has to be at least BtS-themed, I'd agree with that.

Natasha Krilova, my character, is a diabolist (one of the myriad arcanist types ).

My friend Sasha made Rifts ecto-hunter character. That worked out well, since it's almost a prototype for BtS Demon Hunter.

lather made a mutant bear, in a BtS-ly sort of fashion, but Kolya is now an ordinary person for the purposes of LS.org but with advanced hearing and olfactory senses - thanks to Jefffar

My other friends have characters, too. Lyosha made skeptic, a skeptical parapsychologist. Vika has made Katja a physical psychic and retired her and now is writing stories (with some inputs from me ) for cab312, which is a Diviner.

[Cybermancer]

So I take it then, Jeffar, that you favor self-policing with some moderation for extreme cases.

What do you suppose could work as guidelines then?

And it should be noted that there are those who believe that it is the lack of moderation that is currently undermining the Lazlo Society. Just to play Devils Advocate.

[Cybermancer]

Do tell?

[Natasha]

Yea, it's time to look back.

We'll throw a fatted calf on the bbq for ya!

[Natasha]

My socks were never lost, so you're OK.

[Jefffar]

Elric was a great character and like most good Lazlo characters you can sense there is a great story with the character invlving thse two questions.

1) Why is this person involved with the Supernatural?

2) What affect has being involved with the Supernatural had on this person?

Even if they are not answered on the board, these things need to be answered in author's mind.

Elric's eccentricities gave room for all sorts of possibilities on 1 and 2.

As for Kolya, I pointed out to him that a signature stating he was a mutant bear probably wasn't a good one for Lazlo. I've also made as many reasonable bear jokes about him in character as I thought I could get away with without being corny.

[Natasha]

I've also made as many reasonable bear jokes about him in character as I thought I could get away with without being corny.

That's been more fun anyway.

Good job Jefffar.

[Sir Neil]

On a side note: could someone please point me to a reference to the Lazlo Agency’s Elimination Teams? I have been pouring over the book and I can’t seem to find mention of them.

Hmm. I gave my copy to my sister, and never bothered to replace it.

As I recall it was near the back of the book, on the left hand page, inner column. It almost has to be in the section about the website, after the breakdown of the Society and Agency by ... PCC percentages? It was phrased something like, "... sometimes the Agency will send a team to eliminate supernatural threats...."

*******
*******
I wrote a globetrotting story. Does everyone think it's subtle enough, even though it's ...

Spoiler:

about a Chiang-ku dragon, a true Atlantean, and a Genius/Natural using the Elixer of Power and Deceit to fight a rift-tossed Sowki from the city of Splynn, the psychic crooks from Boxed Nightmares, a mummified Kittani, and a Splugorth cult?

[sasha]

MGilliam,

I really enjoyed the story you did with Natasha. It had everything you've just mentioned.

- It was one location within DK's area of operations.
- It was isolated. This is essential to BtS stories, in my opinion.
- It didn't have to be combat based, but the combat worked.

I'm liking the stories but I don't really have any characters that comment on that kind of thing.

LazNat's attention is probably caught by a few but she's always so busy translating arcane scripts and the like to be a board socialite.

[sasha]

Sasha,

Just PM you over on Lazlo Society with a possible idea for you to assist DK even from afar. I am moving forward with my first idea for Caleb's Point. I am hoping it will be similar to that very plotline.

Are you sure it was me? The PM inbox is clear.

But yea happy to help.

[Jefffar]

There are reasons I left the city where Ron was operating in a secret for so long. There's also a reason why The Blight is known by that, instead of as a specific neighbourhood or region within the city. It gives me a lot more creative control without letting pesky real life get in the way.

Of course the DC District Attorney played into my hands by setting up check points throught the city's worst neighbourhoods

[sasha]

There's some other folks trying that. Stick with it; it'll catch on it.

[sasha]

Sasha,

Just PM you over on Lazlo Society with a possible idea for you to assist DK even from afar. I am moving forward with my first idea for Caleb's Point. I am hoping it will be similar to that very plotline.

Are you sure it was me? The PM inbox is clear.

But yea happy to help.

Oops, wrong person which is why I sent it over there. Hard to keep who is who over here straight.

PM message sent.

Well then just so you're informed: I'm just Sasha and Scotty over at LS.org.

[sasha]

I don't care about power levels. Unless you're participating in my story.

I also think that P.P.E. levels should be related to adrenaline levels and that magic should hurt humans as much as it hurts anything else.

[sasha]

I don't care about power levels. Unless you're participating in my story.

I also think that P.P.E. levels should be related to adrenaline levels and that magic should hurt humans as much as it hurts anything else.

That makes sense I guess, but it gives magic users an unfair advantage over psychics, as their powers do not harm humans as much as the supernatural.

I think psioncs should harm humans like they harm supernasties, too.

[sasha]

I don't care about power levels. Unless you're participating in my story.

I also think that P.P.E. levels should be related to adrenaline levels and that magic should hurt humans as much as it hurts anything else.

The problem is that there is a stated mechanic for how P.P.E. levels work (low levels, affected by proximity & ley lines, and ineffectual against non-supernatural) that are official because it is published within the rulebook. It boils down to whether the lazlosociety.org is going to enforce those published rules or allow anyone to do whatever they wish.

I think that the real problem is that the mechanic gives the human monster too much power. Suddenly everybody has to resort to clubs and guns instead of spells and psionics to take down evil men.

I can't help but feel that Kevin Siembieda put those glimpses of his intent just because there would be people wanting to import magic users. What we are left without is how much P.P.E. a mage's base level is and the scale at which that level climbs.

I know where you're coming from.

I disagree with the rules at a fundamental level.

I wouldn't have any problem with the overpowered mages except it sets a bad example when we have mages basically acting as gods among mortals in one half of posts. It tends to promote the Dragonball Z effect where everyone ramps up their power levels to compete with the big dogs.

I'm of the opinion elfy has mentioned.

Do your own thing. If it's cool, it'll catch on and people will want to participate.

If it's obnoxious then there's perhaps a need for moderation.

[sasha]

I think we just have to go back to the old standby of "Post on those you like, ignore those that you don't."

Though even that's faulty, as some people play characters that don't post in that fashion . . .

PM them and let them know their tramping on your flowers. If there's a problem, then do what's necessary.

[Sir Neil]

(I'm guessing we have to ask Willie Long/Sir Neil for any "Agency intervention" on Lazlo).

I wouldn't go that far! RJM-84, Lo Fung the Dragon, Contact 21, and A. Pendragon are all Agency posters that could be called on for help.

Of course, Willie is the only one who posts much anymore....

[Sir Neil]

. . . well . . . Pendragon might.

Contact 21 hasn't posted in a long time, and the first two are Palladium accounts.

[Cybermancer]

It would be nice to see some participation from Lazlo Agency characters, though. Some could be known as such, others, maybe not.

I thought I saw A. Pendragon post recently?