Autumn Seminars
In the gap between AIMing to Misbehave: Chapter 8 and the sequel Wyldfire adventure, one month of in-game time passes -- we go from November 10, 2009, through Thanksgiving, to around Monday, December 14th, 2009.
In international news
of interest to
of the
- Two news sources-- The Inquirer and the Wall Street Journal --report that
Tomorrow, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to address a faltering U.N. pact on the topic of climate change and global warming.
-
The Watchmen continue this past weekend's work on multiple urgent concerns in the Philippines, according to President Gloria Arroyo.
- Anonymous tipsters publish claims on social news aggregator Reddit that Xe Services LLC is the latest cover identity of disbanded pseudomilitary villain group "Cobra".Alleged source:
Brass Cobra 2010 will have "Mardi Gras" two days after "Valentine's Day" this coming year. The competing advertisements for tour booking services that focus on Atlantic City, Fantasy Island, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, or Vibora Bay are starting to get a little odd in their intensity.
In the meantime, Gironde School staff and adult family members have their day jobs to do. In fact, Wyldfire Agents have day job duties, supersuit duties, and holiday family stuff to deal with. The free time available for personal improvement is limited. Fortunately, some resources are available to help manage certain particular kinds of Character Advancement!
Show the Editor's Notes on current permitted character growth options
The following classes are available as optional Character Advancement opportunities, pre-approved by both GMs as suiting the stories for all characters involved.
Each individual will need to supply their own
Hero Points
. No gifting some out to teammates via Leadership Advantage.Each individual may choose up to two Autumn Seminars from the list below. Post in the group Discord chat which seminar(s) were chosen by the eligible character. Revise character sheet. Remember to click "Save"!
Each individual has the option to do their own advancement work instead. First check your independent plan with GM Jarissa via Discord. She will need to read what Power, Skill, Advantage, or Drawback; if it is new to the individual or an improvement on existing abilities; any Bonuses, Limitations, or Special Effects (including "only such-and-such Subskill" with skills) that will apply; and finally, how this contributes to the story arc. Once she has cleared all the hurdles behind her GM screen, she will pass you (and her notes, if any) to GM C. B. Ash.
Attribute increases are not possible in this time frame -- you need the kind of free time that would happen "between adventure arcs", when a different Supergroup is doing the adventuring.
Additionally, because an increase of a single AP qualifies as "doubling one's previous total capacity", no Power or Skill that was already at 6 APs may be raised. At 6 APs of Skill, the character qualifies as a "renowned expert" already. The need to keep up day job duties preclude raising from "renowned expert" to "cinematic expert" or higher in the short period of time since this whole "AIM hostage plot" became a Wyldfire Adventure on October 15th.
Yes, Feral, this means you cannot add a missing Subskill to your Thief skillset. It's only a month! You have holiday arrangements to make for your supporting NPCs! You are busy!
Autumn Seminars
As the weather grows icier in central Pennsylvania, the Gironde School arranges a few short class series for their adult staff and campus residents -- often with guest instructors. Anyone can sign up for any two of these courses without making trouble in other parts of their lives!
You Should See the Other Guy: Self-Defense 201
Diamond X teaches a morning seminar class for adult staff/adult residents only during the period from Sunday Nov 15th through Wednesday Nov 25th. Meet in the 500 level gymnasium, wearing comfortable clothes for heavy aerobic exercise.
Claire will focus on a hand-to-hand style called Doasorma which emphasizes causing damage to the other combatant, and blocking incoming hand-to-hand attacks to oneself.
This is not a full Martial Arts course, so students who already know some well-rounded fighting styles will benefit more than new students. But it does serve as a starting point for basic combat survival.
As noted in the Course Description, this seminar will be of more use to characters who already have the Martial Artist skillset. Neophyte students may attend, but won't get anywhere near as much benefit from it.
Math!
It really does give you superpowers!
Tools of Melee Combat in Teams: Weapons 401
Retired adventurer Vigilante teaches an afternoon seminar for adult staff/adult residents only during the period from Sunday Nov 15th through Wednesday Nov 25th. Bring your own melee weapons and your armor to the 500 level gymnasium!
Drawing from entry-level lessons in Wuvastou, an Andean melee style derived from several parent pre-Columbian cultures, Paul will customize his lessons to suit the melee weapons that attending students already own and use, with an emphasis on adapting one's style to work best with one's allies.
This class offers three possible options for Character Advancement to any qualified student.
Not all of the three require banked Hero Points to spend, but all three do require that the character have trained up on at least some Weaponry skill with a melee weapon of some sort before the class begins.
How Not to be Seen: stealth 437
Campus Chief of Security Jack Monroe teaches a dawn or dusk seminar class for adult staff/adult residents only, run every other day (depending on whether you picked "dawn" or "dusk") from Sunday Nov 15th through Tuesday Nov 24th. Some sessions will meet at various locations off-campus, including a few spots in Metropolis for "urban stealth" and one session in Lackawanna State Park.
The seminar final will be on Wednesday Nov 25th with assistance from Young Justice: Each class student must be on campus at both midnights, but the hours between are up to them.
Young Justice will try to find the adults.
If they find you, you have to write their December literature assignment for them -- and do a good enough job to get at least an A- on it.
Will there be explosions? Jack has watched Monty Python several times, so, maybe!
This class could be taken by neophytes. It could be taken by someone with prior training in some or all of the Thief skillset.
It might also result in a Scholar in some obscure portion of metahuman-related literature.
Clean Workshop, Clear Mind: Tech Workshop 336
Available first to students age 16 and up, adult staff/adult residents can pick up any slots not claimed by students. The 72 hour period from Sunday Nov 15th through Tuesday Nov 17 has been divided into two hour shifts, two per person per day, for maintaining every nook, cranny, internal component, tool, and written supply logbook in the dedicated workshop, under supervision of the school staff member officially responsible for it. Every item will be measured, cleaned, polished, and calibrated. Consumables will be restocked.
For the post-cleanup weeks from Thursday Nov 19 through Saturday Dec 5 -- excepting Thursday Nov 26 and Friday Nov 27 -- workbenches are available for personal projects.
Workshops and labs, all in Building 12 on the easternmost edge of the campus:
- Chemistry laboratory. Supervised by Jerry Clasby.
- Computer and Electronics Workshop. Supervised by Tina Grewal and Thomas Jordan. Note that Thomas will mostly be unavailable due to preparing his upcoming "Things Other Teachers Wish I Would Not Do (Often Leading To Explosions)" special class session.
- Biological laboratory. Supervised by Dr. Tafey Anne Sinjin-Gironde.
- The machine shop (Building 6) is not available this month. Martin Prinz may offer a similar clean-for-access arrangement in the spring 2010 semester, depending on his schedule.
Croziflette: Metahumanities 280
On three separate occasions during the latter half of November, Monsieur Paxton will teach the bravest of adventurers to make a wonderful wintertime dish of special buckwheat pasta, special cheese, heavy cream, butter, bacon, onion, and deep affection.
Adults only.
Blackjack by C.B. Ash
Anyone caught during this course within 70 feet of the main building kitchen who makes
- sharp noises,
- loud noises,
and/or
- dramatic noises
will be teleported to High Knob in the Moosic Mountain range, where they will be abandoned to make their own way to safety.
A character who selects this course is probably not going to be adding anything to a skill at this time. Skill improvements are not the only Character Advancement option available, however.
The first, most important option is simply to add another entertaining layer to your character's story.
After that, we have time for Skills or Subskills, absolutely.
Or Advantages. Or Subplots.
Or buying down (or off) a Drawback. Or the character may choose to try out a new experience in life without any of those pesky life-risking stresses involved.
Or Advantages. Or Subplots.
Or buying down (or off) a Drawback. Or the character may choose to try out a new experience in life without any of those pesky life-risking stresses involved.
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