d100 - does it even have to make sense?

I understand that the rolling system is kinda squinky with the d100 - but from what I have seen it goes like this:
Player: I am going to sneak up to the caravan and look at stuff!
DM: Ok, roll it.
Player: Um..okay what do I need to get?
DM: Just roll and we'll see.
Player: Ok, here goes! *rolls percentiles* I got...um...base 47, what do I add to that?
DM: What's your bonus?
Player: looks like a 15%.
DM: ok so it's a better chance.
Player: Does this involve Math?
DM: Deal with it.
Player: Did I pass the sneak check?
DM: Yes, you sneak successfully past the caravan guard and attempt to, uh, look at stuff?
Player: How do I know I made the save?
DM: Oh, ho ho, that's for me to know and you to wonder about.
Player: So I rolled for some vague reason that only you understand?
DM: Yes.
Player: What if we get into a fight? How will I know what's good or bad?
Other Player: Roll low! Low!!!!
DM: Yes, low.
Player: Compared to what? How do I know? Lower than say...50?
DM: Well if it's a 50/50 chance of hitting it.
Player: I'm so confused.
DM: Just the way we like it. Muahar!

gaming, d100, round 2

I just have to say...wow. (!!) Tonight I laughed more than I think I've laughed in quite some time. I had it worked out with Kori that I would be showing the party to the town, then to the temples in the town. Of course, as a guide I would be making stuff up as I went along. Then, I would tell the group that they had to act within certain social mores in order to be accepted within the town. The best of this was that the other woman of the party would have to be the Mistress, in charge of the men, and keeping them in line by smacking them "about the head and shoulders." Man it was SO hard to keep a straight face! I actually got her to smack another party member and tell him "On Slave!" really loudly so that others in town would hear. It was generally just fucking with them on a lot of different levels.
When we got to the first temple I said it was the temple of the Leaf God, dedicated to darkness and shadow. I said that if they wanted the temples to think of them with good will they had to donate money and get a trinket with the temple's symbol on it. The temple basically just had a picture of a leaf on it, dedicated to Nature. I said that there would be injury done to them if they didn't donate, that there would be a person waiting in an alley to smack their feet and cause bruising if they did not comply. They didn't seem overly concerned with this, and asked if that was all...so I said, oh, well that's after the boiling in oil...hehehe- well anyway they were totally up for paying all kinds of cash to the temple. Of course nothing really happened, and they got testy and beat me in an alley...but it was funny, dammit~!! =D
Actually, one of the other players got all grabby on me and tried to take my arm...well the way they play...(hehe)"I will grab her arm as we go in."
Me: Oh no you won't! Dex Check! Can I get a dex check and opposed grapple??!! (no way these goons are going to get physical with me!)
DM: She's got a point. Dex check?
Ok, at that point it was just getting silly, but I do have an 18 dex so I got out of it. The other players were getting squirrely at that point and I think they were close to just killing my character. Hehehe. I eventually talked them into untying me and not wounding me further- and one of the party is totally onto my plan to trick them. He even referred to the party as being full of buffoons. I of course said I had never said that to their faces!! ....and then they ended up finding out that my God is dedicated to Trickery and Mischief. Whoops. I gave them information about a cult they are trying to locate- but again...it's not what it seems- I won't explain here in case anyone is reading it from the gaming group, but we'll see how pleased my God, Sabrahabra, will be with me after next week!! I'm looking forward to it. *evil grin*
...signing off....-li'l nut brown sarojini, at your service for a fee =)

Whiny Rant - Beware

I'd like to know why I get to be embarrassed in front of an entire line of people (2 lines if you want to know) because my credit card is declined, then when I check my account, it doesn't show anything wrong and I have plenty of cash? I have to think that it's the store's error, but this happens frequently enough that I have to think that my credit union is out to get me. Ok, alarmist there. Still! Does this mean I can't go out and feel like I can buy dinner, cat food, gas, whatever...without stopping to get actual cash and pay a fee if I don't want to be snickered at by people around me? I was going to buy a bike today- I guess I'll have to shop around, make sure I get actual greenbacks, and then go buy it. Nothing is easy today. My coffeemaker flubbed my cup of coffee and I had to remake it...my webpages won't load...my hair looks like a rat's nest because I couldn't get the curling iron to work this morning...I've got a headache, the same one I've had for days, no idea why or how to get rid of it...and I'm crabby to boot. My nails are too long, even though I keep trimming them, so it's hard to type and I make tons of errors...
Bah. I am sick of myself. What's that song..."It's bad when you annoy yourself,"? That's what I'm doing. I need to kill something. Must play Civ. Now. Grrr.

me, gaming, and d100...as in, huh?

Music selection: Garden State soundtrack
Mood: Kinda tired, not in the mood to work today

Bill's roommate runs a Runequest (sorta) group, and I was invited to join them on Thursday nights. For a long time they had been playing on Tuesdays, but that conflicted with Drinking Liberally, so that was no good. Finally things got changed, and now I can play. Kori runs the group and there are probably about 6 people total. I'm embarrassed to say that I still don't know people's names even after months of Geek Lunch, but I guess as long as I get the characters right I won't be in bad shape.
I went over to observe one night a couple of weeks ago, and to also get a feel for the game. I wasn't able to figure out much since hardly anyone came, but I did meet some of the people who don't normally come to Lunch. I was trying to make a character based on d100 Runequest, and I just ended up confused. Man, hand me a D&D players handbook and some sheets and I can have an awesome character set up and playable in no time. This d100 is really different though.
My character is (for Raymond Feist fans) sort of like Nakor from the Saga books. She's eastern indian looking, small, brown, and nothing really stands out about her. She's in a religious cult dedicated to playing pranks which embarrass people publicly to bring them down a notch or two, but not harm them physically. She has rogue skills basically- but with being in the cult to Sarahabra she will gain points and get magical spells like "Embarrass" and there's another that invokes Murphy's Law, which I can only imagine would be totally hilarious and help make great diversions in a fight. Sarojini (Saro) also is a covert operative for her cult leader, getting information from all parts of the land.
I was almost dismayed at the level of detail Kori gave me for my character's background, but that's from an experienced gamer's view. I can definitely appreciate the effort and see how it would totally help a gamer who isn't really used to coming up with background, and who might be new to all of the character creation minutia. I discovered though, by talking with Kori, that she's totally open to whatever direction I want to go with Saro. I was worried that as DM she might want to run the threads as well. I'm happy to see that's not the case, and I am very optimistic about all the opportunities I've got with this character! It's an open page, pretty much...exciting! The snag comes in with the numbers end of things. I have no idea about base scores in d100. I'll have to get that worked out before next session.

"Flatness" by John Kovalic...wow that girl looks familiar!  

Can I just say...omg?

So there I was...hanging out in a very innocent wings restaurant/bar playing trivia...when the subject of topless bars comes up. "When's the last time you went, Shelley?" Uh...never? So Dory and Kovalic said they were going to de-virginate me with regard to the nudie-bar phenomenon. Here I thought they were kidding! Sadly, no. Ok, first of all, I lost at bar trivia...but it wasn't all bad, we had some fun trying to guess answers and Dory's pretty good, so I came in second that last round. Then, we finished our beers (kind of) and headed down to Visions, Madison's version of the topless bar. There were naked wimmin everywhere. I was flashing bills, and having them scooped up by naked breasts. I saw I don't know how many nekked chicks, it seems the topless has gone the way of the open prairie, and full-on nekked is the latest thing. Well hell. We sat through some dancing, tipped some dancers, and got to see some really sad men with no lives be tortured by women they'll never have. Most people there probably thought the three of us were going to go home and have lots of sex...HAHAHA - Kovalic was joking about his "ladies..." and it was pretty fun all round. I can't wait to see a strip that includes tonight. =)