# Turing Point PbP OoC Thread



## johndaw16 (Nov 4, 2005)

Ok Rachel and Darcy, this will be the out of character thread for Turing Point.  This will be the place for you to post any questions you have for me about rules, the world, timeline/history, etc. etc.  I'll be posting a lot of general information for you two at first, mostly background and common knowledge as well as rules.  I'll expect you to be fairly current with this thread so I suggest you subscribe to it.  

Turing Point will be using the D20 Modern ruleset, with additions at my discretion from other sources.  Expect a ruleset similar to what you two have experianced in Zombies, with a few additions.  The most notable additions to the rules will encompass the magic system and Net interaction rules.  The magic system as you've most likely guessed is the same as the Zombies system, I won't post those rules unless they become relavant to your characters.  The Net interaction rules will likewise be cooked up by myself, they'll be posted immediately after I finish drafting them up.  No worries though your PC's won't need those rules for awhile yet.  

In the IC thread please use sea green font for any dialogue. (PLEASE NOTE THIS IS CHANGED FROM THE ORIGINAL COLOR SILVER)  For IC actions that  use med. turquoise  font (stuff like: my character sits down and whacks off for a half hour while they wait for the doctor).  I'd like to keep a post rate of once a day going, with weekends being adjusted according to our computer access.  If at all possible I'd like posts to come more frequently than that though.  Before you start posting/playing you might find it useful to take a look at the FAQ thread on the Playing the Game forum, it has some good basic info that you might want.  Other than that bear with me as I figure all this out.  

For game play I'll will likely use diagrams and maps of scenes for combat.  For dice rolls I am open to letting you guys roll yourself or I can do all the rolling.  Put up a post here telling me your preference.  

Anyways, thats all for now.  A short bare-bones timeline will be posted next.  And remember to keep a lookout for the other two Turing Point threads. 

John


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## johndaw16 (Nov 10, 2005)

Ok so I talked with Rachel some about dice rolls, and she suggested we tried out a combination of me rolling some things you two rolling some stuff on your own.  And well I don't think that will work out too well considering that it'd be pretty tough to narrow down everything into two catagories of what you can or can't roll yourself.  There's just too many types of rolls.  So I'm going to stick to me making all the rolls myself.  It'll speed my posts up and will eliminate a lot of questions.  As we play I'll probably work up a list of specific rolls I'll let you guys make and then implement that along the way.  

Anyways next point of business, the timeline.  What I have so far is pretty vague and only hits some MAJOR points but it gives you an idea of whats happened.  It'll be updated more as time goes on and I get the oppurtunity to finalize things.  If you have any questions regarding an event or something like just ask.  

2006 
The Mexican cartel crisis and "Drug War" 
- rival Mexican drug cartels in the course of a decade old turf war finally drive the US into action; gang violence spills across the Texan border at record rates; while simultaneously thousands of refugees stream across the border; the Fox administration falters as it tries to cope with the elite military trained Zeta gang; Mexican state authority is literally meaningless in the regions bordering the US; a coordinated attack on an FBI post in Brownsville along with 3 Texan police stations drives Texans to take matters into their own hands; rioting, murders, and lynchings flare up in anger at the Zeta gang attacks.  

July 2006 
The Laredo Massacre
- in the summer heat a band of angry Texans attack and murder nearly 300 Mexican refugees outside of Laredo Texas.  A general cry for revenge comes from many Mexicans across the US, reprisal attacks kill at least 7 Americans in other states.  The National Guard is called up to put down the rioting, establish order, combat the drug lords, ensure the sovereign borders of the US, and to punish the individuals involved in the massacre 

Feb 2007 
The Flagstaff Accords
- after what amounts to a small war along the Mexico-US border, a joint national convention is called at Flagstaff, AZ.  Canada and Switzerland agree to arbitrate the meeting.  The Flagstaff Accords grant the US limited powers of policing in an easement zone stretching across the US-Mexico border.  Additionally Federal officers are given universal permission to enter Mexican territory to apprehend suspects involved in any drug related case.  In return the US gives monetary aid to Mexico and favorable immigration concessions to Mexican refugees. 

Winter 2012 
Palestine-Israeli War 
-following tenative efforts to form a lasting peace in Israel the second decade of the millenium opens early with renewed hostilities.  Radical elements in the Israeli government gain control under suspicious circumstances, just as a bad harvest forces many poor Palestinians to flood Israels borders looking for food and assistance
-tensions rise as the Israeli govt. takes a harsh reactionary response to the influx of Palestinians; thousands starve as winter ends, angry Palestinians lodge formal condemnations against Israel, Israel begins to act against the most outspoken Palestinian elements covertly. 
- as the Israeli govts. covert operations begin to become common knowledge, a new campaign of bombings hit Israel hard.  by 2013 Israel has invaded much of Palestine and is constantly fighting the Plalestinian Peoples Army (PPA).  
by the end of 2013 the PPA is ousted from Palestine and is forced to seek refuge in countries across the Middle East.  International pressures finally force Israel to seek a cease-fire.  All hopes for a peaceful outcome end as a PPA led military coup takes control of much of Eqypt.  
- nearly a third of the Egyptian army joins Syrian and Libyan forces in a joint invasion of Israel on Palestines behalf.  General revolt spreads throughout occupied Palestine and Israel is rocked as its over-taxed military begins to falter without Western (mostly US) support.  
-following its first major defeat ever to an Islamic military force in the Sinai, the Israeli govt. panics and launches three small tactical nukes striking Cairo, Damascus, and Tripoli.  
-In a panic the US/Europe Union/Russia all field a massive military response to end the fighting.  A settlement is "negotiated" according to the whims of the intervening powers.  

2019
The Dragon of China
-newly ascended Chinese dictator, Hui Huang, quietly begins to stir up the long dormant nationalism of China. With a flair for Western style marketing and a political cunning unrivaled in China Hui Huang is able to gain absolute power over China by the end of 2019.  
-2020, the year following Hui Huang's ascent China formally declares its intention to annex Taiwan to the world.  Coinciding with this announcement comes a flashy display of Chinese military power, which attempts to overshadow a few more covert operations ordered by Huang.  
-in the fall of 2020 China makes its attack, with blitzkrieg like speed, and almost over-runs the entrenched Taiwanese defenses.  Tenacity and a good bit of luck helps keep Taiwan in the struggle and the year ends with a long bitter fight for the island coming.  Western powers are extremely reluctant to risk further nuclear confrontation over Taiwan. Huang possess a number of functional nukes and will not hesitate to use them in the worlds estimation.  
-by the winter of 2021 Taiwan is in a desperate position.  With surrender rapidly approaching Taiwan makes appeals to Korea and Japan seeking intervention.  These appeals are accompanied by healthy offers of wealth and substantial stakes in the commercial and economic prosperity of Taiwan.  These offers and entreaties bring two strange bed-fellows together for one of the most celebrated covert strikes of the modern era.  The Japanese yakuza ally with a crack corp of the S. Korean army supplemented by a "rouge" US Seal team and strike at Hui Huang directly.  
-the allies meet with spectacular success, kidnap Hui Huang, and in a pell-mell chase across the sea bring him finally to Taiwan itself.  In short order the Dragon of China is brought to a screeching halt and a new power in Asian is born.  
-in the vacuum left with Huang's kidnapping a devasting power struggle begins between the leaders of China's military.  The govt. collapses wholesale in 2024, leaving behind a fractured country.  Manchuria formally succedes and becomes a nation under the rule of a wealthy well-connected criminal elite formed from the allies who ended the Taiwan War.  
-China reorganizes, and loses the province of Manchuria and largely abandons much of its far flung border territories. This marks a growing trend of the world, as humanity compresses itself into larger denser city centers, leaving vast swaths of remote country uninhabited and uncontrolled.  Large portions of "China" lay unclaimed by any nation and become essentially badlands and wilderness.    

-2025 marks a new high point in American car manufacturing as the ailing GM Corporation finally splits up.  One of its progeny the Patriot Motor Company comes out swinging with the first completely fuel-cell powered vehicle for public consumption.  Parterned with Shell Corporation and their gas stations as refueling stations, Patriot Motors rockets to a bright future in the world economy.  

Summer of 2027 The Big Three
-Mother Nature once more decides to bring disaster to the world in 2027 with the three biggest hurricanes to strike the N. American continent in history.  Hurricanes Brea, Kristen, and Lee strike within a two month period between mid-July and early-September.  All three were category 5 hurricanes as they made land-fall with devastating results.  Hurricane Brea struck first sweeping up the Florida Peninsula and not stopping until it had reached the outskirts of Savannah.  Hurricane Kristen came next in August, battering its way across S. Florida before turn north and sweeping across the "Hurricane-Proof Gulf Coast" of the Bush adminstration.  Last, came Lee straight up the Chesapeake Bay devasting the Hampton Roads region of VA and reaching the headwaters of the Potomac as a cheeky category 3 raining disaster on the President's head.  
-Winter 2027 the US is struggling to get to its feet following the 'canes.  While the loss of life is not record breaking, the extent of economic damage IS.  Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of damage are dumped upon the weak economies of the S. states.  Federal aid falls vastly short, and the US government finds itself facing tough fiscal decisions as it tries to juggle stewardship of US oil interests in the Middle East and domestic needs at home.  

Oil Crisis of '29 and the Decay of the US 
-2029 sees the US settling into a decline that the rest of the world does not experiance.  The global market is large enough to handle a depression in the US economy, a first in modern history.  The US's problems stem largely from a decaying economy, careless and bumbling govt. and unscrupulous deregulated private corporations.  US oil interests in the ME are slowly gobbled up by other world powers as the US finds itself unable to pay and support the massive military investment needed to maintain a hold in the destabilized region.  Asian interests soak up the oil that used to go to the US further fueling their growing economy.  The US feels the pinch and is hit hard by a nationwide fuel crisis that paralyzes the economy for nearly a decade.  

The AEU 
-following the fall of the Dragon of China Hui Huang, and the rise of the Manchurian state, the Asian region begins to take leaps towards becoming the next BIG world player.  Reminiscent of early booms in the 1990s Japan, Taiwan, S. Korea, and Hong Kong all enjoy economic growth at an exponential rate.  But this time is different, the biggest players in Asian unite under an economic front...the Asian Economic Union (AEU).  This union is amazingly effective in large part because of its hands off policy towards politics.  The AEU is largely about making money for Asian, and it does its job well.  The member nations of the AEU all come out very well in the late 2020's and early '30s, with the second largest world economy, close behind the ailing US economy.  

Space For Real this Time
-2031 the AEU launches an ambitious series of missions into space.  These missions have the unique goal of being purely commercial endevours designed to make money, exploration has been left by the wayside in favor of wealth.  The two grandest schemes are the construction of two human inhabited space stations, on the Moon the second in deep orbit.  The moon station is designed to extract any raw materials and ores that can be discovered.  While the deep orbit station will handle the "destruction" of nuclear waste, firing it of into the vastness of deep space...somewhere in the vicinity of Jupiter.  

Mork and Mindy ? 
-2033 a boutique clinic in a chic neighborhood of Buenos Aires announces that it has perfected the "art" of cloning.  The cloning business comes out in full force and is the years biggest controversy.  Mork and Mindy are the first two public displayed healthy clones.  The twins were clones created from the DNA of a wealthy Argentinians toddlers lost in a car accident.  


Ok so thats a lot longer than I really stand to all do, soooo that will be all for now.  I think I'll need to go at it again in a series of posts.  Anyways later. 

John


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## johndaw16 (Dec 5, 2005)

Ok the actual game thread is now up, finally much too long a wait for me to get started.  Sorry for the delay.  

Just a random thing that you guys might need. 

http://www.enworld.org/misc.php?do=bbcode

Thats this websites page that explains a bunch of the commands that do nifty things to your posts.  I think it will be useful for all.  Anyways more updates coming soon.  Another point I need to mention is that I expect your posts to be in the first person.  Tell me "I do x, and don't do y."  etc. etc.  Likewise make you dialogue just like what your character would be saying if we were sitting down at a real table.  That is all.    

Later


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## IceHatchling (Dec 6, 2005)

johndaw16 said:
			
		

> And remember to keep a lookout for the other two Turing Point threads.
> 
> John




confused.  there's the IC one, this one, and what other one?

am reading through your history.  i still have not picked up the gibson book i'm supposed to be reading from.  i need to go to a library.


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## jessica walker (Dec 7, 2005)

Oh mighty GM...

This is kind of nitpicky of me, but I don't want to post IC that I did something, and then find out I couldn't have done it.  Does Eddie's have modern coffee maker?  Like, can I pause the coffee maker and pour whatever meagre amount has already collected in the pot, or am I making coffee in some old-fashioned way that I, Rachel, know nothing about because I don't drink or make coffee and my Dad and Darcy have always had a coffee maker?

Ok, I'm seriously lame. 

Pretty please let me get me and Daniel fed before horrible things start happening?  Heh.


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## johndaw16 (Dec 7, 2005)

You have a "modern" coffee maker as in whatever common coffee maker you might find in an office today.  That is all.  And in the future for the sake of moving things along, don't postpone a post for something that trivial, it really isn't a big deal.  Better to get multiple posts out there ok.


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## IceHatchling (Dec 9, 2005)

Can we get physical descriptions or maybe even pictures of everyone?  (I'm particularly interested in this self-described "hot chick" who just strolled in.)  Daniel looks pretty much like the photo, only with different clothes (ignore the collar).  Keep the smile; he usually comes off as friendly.


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## Meekohi (Dec 11, 2005)

Are we using Med. Turquoise for OOC stuff like I've been doing, or for IC actions like Rachel and Darcy have been doing?


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## johndaw16 (Dec 11, 2005)

Here's how its gonna pan out, go on and use the med. turquoise color for IC actions, and just keep the OOC stuff to the OOC thread.  Sorry I realize that what I put up originally isn't all that clear.  You can ask me questions in the game thread but just keep that to a minimum.


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## johndaw16 (Dec 11, 2005)

And one more thing that Rachel just pointed out to me, mostly when I said I wanted first person I meant first person dialogue, for the rest of the stuff its up to you how you describe it.  Personally, I think first person for everything is best but if you have a better time describing what your character does in the 3rd person, go ahead and do that.


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## IceHatchling (Dec 12, 2005)

_Fish would be better with a beer._

he's so much cuter that way!!


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## IceHatchling (Dec 12, 2005)

john, do i have any idea about this chick getting murdered, whom riko mentioned?  how much do i know?


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## Sushi (Dec 12, 2005)

I hope I am not to much of a bother but I had to ask something. It nags me every time I see the title of this thread. 

What is a _Turing_ Point? 

Or did you mean to say _Turning_ Point.


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## johndaw16 (Dec 12, 2005)

Well Sushi it has to do with AI, just look up what a Turing Test is and you'll get an idea. 

Darcy you wouldn't have much of a clue that the girl got murdered.  Not much more than she was killed and you know shes a really huge media superstar.


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## jessica walker (Dec 12, 2005)

It seems like everybody else has kicked med. turquoise to the curb and is just using black for everything but dialogue (which is sea green.  Is that ok?  I find it completely readable and don't mind, but when we're in combat it could get to be a problem.


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## johndaw16 (Dec 12, 2005)

It seems to me much of the stuff written, is written mostly as pretty trivial description of a characters action.  It's not like wolfing down a flapjack in 3 seconds is an action you'd really need to announce in a real game either.  I'd still like to see you guys all use the med. turquoise for actions, that will be important....like say I pull out my gun OR I jump onto the passing truck.   These sorts of things are important and more than just flavor and description (i.e. they might get you or someone else killed) so they need to be treated differently.  Hope that makes some sense.


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## IceHatchling (Dec 13, 2005)

Are you saying we should avoid describing trivial actions?  Or, that we should continue describing any actions we want to but reserve medium turquoise for combat-type actions?


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## johndaw16 (Dec 14, 2005)

The level of detail is just fine for me.  But yeah you should use that med. turquoise for actions that do matter beyond just a descriptive role.  Maybe once I start posting an NPC this will become more clear, right now its all knida vague.


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## johndaw16 (Dec 14, 2005)

BTW guys youre gonna have to bear with me.  I'm a bit slow right now cause of drugs and my leg.  I should pick up nicely in the next couple of days though.


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## johndaw16 (Dec 16, 2005)

Ok guys I've rolled the first dice in the game.  That seems like some sort of landmark to me.  No worries though I haven't killed you yet and theres no craziness about to happen.  These were both just skill checks that I made for you.  I'm not letting you roll them for the sake of making it more believable letting you know to make the roll would probably let you infer things, and we just can't have that happening.  Let me know what you think about it, oh and btw it was a Spot roll if you can't figure it out.


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## jessica walker (Dec 16, 2005)

John:

Speaking of dice rolls, if we have any bonuses, could you let us know what they are?  It would make sense that if we had a high spot bonus, as characters we would know, "I don't miss much."  And if we had a really high sense motive, we would be more inclined to trust our gut feelings about someone, because in character we would know that we'd usually been right about people in the past.  Just for example.

Then again, we might not have bonuses at all, knowing you.


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## jessica walker (Dec 16, 2005)

As requested, Darcy and all:

Grandbanks Taulbee is a solid sort of guy, little bit of muscle, little bit of fat, and well under six foot.  He's quite the white guy, with sun-streaked light brown hair, hazel eyes, and freckled skin that seems to host a perpetual sunburn on the cheeks.  He wouldn't turn heads, and there's a shortage of women who would ask him out on a whim... but if, say, you woke up in bed with him after a night of black-out drinking, your first reaction might be, "Oh good. This one isn't embarrassing."  

He's usually smiling.  

You'll never see him in anything other than jeans, at Tshirt in the heat and a flannel shirt in the cold, and boots, because that's all he owns.

His movements, while dexterious, reflect the confidence and coordination of a construction worker or chef, rather than the grace of a dancer.

I haven't been able to find a picture, because photos of ordinary-looking males are pretty sparse on Deviantart.  I'll try google.


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## IceHatchling (Dec 16, 2005)

if we ever want to do a spot or listen or sense motive check, should we just be like "i look carefully/listen carefully/try to judge whether he's being honest" and assume you'll do an appropriate roll?


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## johndaw16 (Dec 17, 2005)

Yeah that about sums it up I think.  I'd say its pretty easy for me to determine when a check of some sort is needed.  Remember Darcy I'm sorta learning how to run this whole thing, so I'll be experimenting with different things.    

Rachel as for the bonuses you'll eventually have your whole character sheet available to you just as soon as I get off my butt and write them up.  But seeing as that is such a tedious process I'll probably need some sort of motivation.  *hint hint* (and all of you keep your minds out of the gutter I'm not talking about anything like that)


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## IceHatchling (Dec 20, 2005)

testing:  pussy cat

that seems sexist.   gets bleeped but not pussy?


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## jessica walker (Dec 20, 2005)

Spolier blocks are fun!  I feel like there's mysteries aboundin'.  Wheee!


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## johndaw16 (Dec 21, 2005)

Just wait till we start to use spoiler blocks to plot one anothers gruesome murders, deaths and betrayals...won't that be fun.


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## IceHatchling (Dec 22, 2005)

johndaw16 said:
			
		

> Just wait till we start to use spoiler blocks to plot one anothers gruesome murders, deaths and betrayals...won't that be fun.




if things get that rich, i am NOT going to be able to stop myself from clicking on other people's spoilers.  just, no.  plot to murder me and then email it to john or something.


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## jessica walker (Dec 22, 2005)

Darcy makes a good point.  Are we allowed to read spoiler blocks as long as we don't metagame, or are they off limits?  I'm not going to read them regardless, because I prefer to be surprised.


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## johndaw16 (Dec 22, 2005)

Yes Darcy does bring up a good point, and I'm inclined to say no.  I don't like the idea of letting people read spoiler blocks that are meant to be private.  They're meant to be semi-secure and hidden from anyone else so I want to keep it that way.  Metagaming is hard to prevent, when you know whats happening, even if you don't want to metagame.  So since the email notification is doing this I think I'm going to say that you should just use the email as a notification and then delete it after you've gotten it preferably without even looking in the body of the email.  That way all temptation is avoided.  Feel free to archive it in your trash bin on gmail or whatever, outta site outta mind right.  Spoiler text is being used just like a note to the GM would be so lets keep its confidential as best we can.


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## IceHatchling (Dec 22, 2005)

Riko: "I unceremoniously scoot down to sit in the stranger's barstool"

Riko: "Way to go Daniel, you could at least keep in your seat."

Doofus.


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## IceHatchling (Dec 22, 2005)

Also, Michael, when you say you pull the "notepad" out, is that referring to the "ragged collection of notes" or am I missing something?


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## Meekohi (Dec 23, 2005)

Picky picky Darcy  I was refering to the fact that you are standing up over my shoulder as opposed to sitting next to me. And yeah I meant "the notes" not "the notepad"


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## IceHatchling (Dec 23, 2005)

F-ck Tha Po-lice!  F-ck Tha Po-lice!


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