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MikeCrotch posted:You seem to be allergic to good things I jest- it's just become something of a played-out meme amongst my friends. Actually, how was it actually used in the field? Because to me it seems more like something that looks awesome than something that could really be fought with safely. And I personally like the way the LT is set up with regards murdering- dropping someone to the ground is easy, but for the majority of the player base actually killing someone will require either friends or resources/skills that are pretty expensive or difficult to acquire. I've been playing that system more than nine years and only this year have I managed to acquire a way to kill someone without backup. Sure, you do get occasional murdering pricks (coughdrowcough), but it certainly doesn't seem as common or random as it was when I started. Also I may be weird but I rather like having to tool up if I want to go out alone in the dark. The safe main IC area is one of the things about Empire that really puts me off.
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Oct 27, 2015 15:48
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I guess I should balance this out a bit, from horror stories to how it can go well. I went this weekend to a game with pretty high costuming requirements, relatively simple rules, and any skill you wanted your character to learn you had to learn in game. The focus was very much trying to build a sandbox style game, where every NPC was playing their own single character for the majority of the weekend, even if they were just a bad guy. They only run 3-4 events this year, and were really trying to bring a bit of the european model back here to the states. Basically it ended with the GM's stepping down as they don't want to burn out, and they got a standing ovation at closing ceremonies. We had some perma-deaths, and one was voluntary. A character basically sacrificed their character to kill a bad guy. That was the cost. Everyone that was secretly working with the bad guy and getting powers from him basically lost all their character progression. If you know New England style laps you know this is rather rare. Most people came left stoked, but the guys that run it don't want to run it without keeping this level of quality. There wasn't really any drama that was out of game, everyone had a good time. I think a big element is that they don't allow any in game internet forums, everything that happens has to happen in game. As far as no positive elements, I do know some people that got a lot of the larps the played, including gaining level of self-confidence, getting used to public speaking, conflict resolution, learning to deal with stressful situations and anxiety in a safe space, where nothing really matters on monday morning, etc... That said, you need a non-toxic environment for that to happen, and a lot of laps are completely insular communities that don't really do that, and the more often the game is is often an indicator of how bad it is. It takes so much work & planning to run a decent game, that if your game runs once per month, it's essentially a full time job for the staff.
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Oct 27, 2015 17:12
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Which game and system?
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Oct 27, 2015 19:55
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It's a game called Arcane, and they basically wrote their own system, but heavily borrowed from european style larps. Every power requires some sort of physical representation, so, if you're a healer, you have 'waters of life' that you can only replenish every twelve hours and you have a small water of vial the town healer will give you when you learn it. Basically every 'power' and 'class' in the game is essentially similar. You have to roleplay a ceremony or ritual. There are about 7-8 calls in the game total. If you don't have a healer, there are 'first aid' and 'surgery' skills that require having bandages (for first aid) and needle and thread (for surgery). And most of the same rules apply or the NPC's. NPC's play recurring characters that resurrect upon death, so you really get the 'shadows of mordor' orc vibe when you kill that ratkin a few times, and they remember you, single you out next time you fight them, remember if you ambushed them, etc...
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Oct 27, 2015 20:53
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Alright, cool. Was just wondering if it was an Accelerant LARP.
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Oct 27, 2015 21:15
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so i'm watching my LARP friends try to come up with names for their new IC team i've told them good stuff for names and to maybe come up with the name last once they've come up with everything else and maybe try to think of a simple word because all team names, no matter how long or awesome, get reduced to one word because that's just how people talk they have 22 names they voting on, all some kind of warhammer-esque combination of multi-syllable latin word and tough word my folly in helping them was thinking they wanted something smart and snappy and easy to remember, not something that only appeals to grimdark children. it kind of encapsulates my experience with LARP.
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Oct 30, 2015 08:24
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While I respect the Nordic/European LARP style, I want to say that the focus on 'immersion' at the expense of everything can be really unhealthy and intimidating as well. Like, most of my friends are pretty nerdy but not LARPers partly because there's this expectation that's grown out of the immersion culture that everything's got to be super serious all the time and you have to spend 1000 hours on costuming and poo poo. It feeds into the 'LIFER' mentality of people whose whole lives revolve around the next Larp, because they expected to LIVE that world. People on the outside see that level of commitment and want nothing to do with it, because they have jobs and other hobbies and poo poo. Regarding the SCA/Boffer larps, they can be just as messed up as Vampire larps. I mean, the SCA was literally named by a child molester (Marion Zimmer Bradley) and multiple people I know involved with them reported creepy swingers hitting on everyone. In fairness I know some cool people involved with SCA but its not exactly clean either. In terrible larp experiences, I will have to write up a story about the Larp I attended at a larp convention near me that I have dubbed the "Guantanamo Bay Larp"
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Oct 30, 2015 08:41
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Milky Moor posted:so i'm watching my LARP friends try to come up with names for their new IC team Can we see the list? I want to weight your suggestions against theirs!
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Oct 30, 2015 09:17
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JcDent posted:Can we see the list? I want to weight your suggestions against theirs! some examples: wrathborn dominion tuscana dominio tenebris dominion dominion of light oscuro dominion they're all like that. it's some kind of italian or latin term that relates to light or darkness or there's some ones that are italian geography. no one in the group is italian and the world isn't a real world setting. my suggestion is literally 'the dominion' since that's the word they seem to keep using
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Oct 30, 2015 09:28
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Milky Moor posted:some examples: Wow, they're literally taking the name last, because most of those dominions seem very different in character. They're hard set on name that would imply that they're "dominating," aren't they? The Dominion is kind of sparse and bland by itself. Also, DS9.
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Oct 30, 2015 10:27
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JcDent posted:Wow, they're literally taking the name last, because most of those dominions seem very different in character. They're hard set on name that would imply that they're "dominating," aren't they? i always remember something i was told when i was doing amateur voice-acting: when you're an amateur, a bland performance is better than a melodramatic one.
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Oct 30, 2015 10:43
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Maybe Domino, and have everyone dress all in sharp edges and black and white with dots. 
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Oct 30, 2015 13:40
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huh nice thread you got here.. When I was in the army i did some vampire playing and stuff until one of my friends and his wife suggested this big org out (i forget where) in north carolina. Well it was a pretty big who dee doo at least 100 something people on a college campus, supposed to be mages vampires and werewolves. I was supposed to be some (insert generic ventrue guy here) but i powergamed some trait the gm let me play so i had this paragon finance ability, so basically i was tony stark rich because no one read the text that well. I ended up privately funding a war and becoming whatever the herald is of the court before geting creeped out by some super touchy follower girl before never ever thinking about going back. apparently according to my friend there were super aftershocks in roleplaying land from my actions and they were majorly pissed, but that poo poo was just creepy.. no offense. thats my larpy story, it sucks, but i enjoy reading all of yours
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Oct 30, 2015 13:43
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SneakyFrog posted:huh nice thread you got here.. That was probably my old troupe in one incarnation or another. I loved it when guest characters came in and hosed everything up. MONTHS of planning gone in an instant, all on a lark. I bet I know the girl you're talking about, too. God I'm glad I'm out of that mess.
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Oct 30, 2015 22:30
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Anoia posted:That was probably my old troupe in one incarnation or another. I loved it when guest characters came in and hosed everything up. I just remember the prince badgering me about my ventrue bloodline papers and and me (knowing jack poo poo in the face of true nerdidumb) saying something to the effect of leaving them on the jet at my other castle and oh.. this is like the vacation cottage right because.. ugh.. and everyone being really super serious and not seeming to have much fun
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Oct 30, 2015 22:37
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Armagnac posted:It's a game called Arcane, and they basically wrote their own system, but heavily borrowed from european style larps. Oh man, I know one of the guys who came up with that. I took a serious look at it after seeing some of the props and such, but I will never have enough disposable income for really good costuming. Also the archery rules page seemed like it was going to be a little hard core since there's archery. It did seem really cool though.
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Dec 11, 2015 17:08
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Archery was badass. And in the rules automatically pierced any non-plate armor, so if you can sneak around and get a shot off... it's huge. Basically you had to complete an in-game safety thing to explain the archery rules, to be able to fire arrows during the day, and only rangers could learn to fire arrows at night, and that would mean that it was basically your only skill.
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Dec 11, 2015 17:49
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betaraywil posted:Oh man, I know one of the guys who came up with that. I took a serious look at it after seeing some of the props and such, but I will never have enough disposable income for really good costuming. Also the archery rules page seemed like it was going to be a little hard core since there's archery. Is archery unusual in a US LARP context? Every single game I've played at over here that involved combat had bows and crossbows as weapon options, even if frankly they felt inappropriate for the setting. My first ever character was a crossbowman, which was perhaps not the wisest of choices. One event I spent the same amount on lost or broken bolts as I did my ticket for the event.
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Dec 11, 2015 18:20
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Some boffer larps in the US use packets, for both spells and arrows. Looks really goofy. Modern settings use nerf guns for gunning at least.
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Dec 11, 2015 18:22
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Wow. See, using beanbags or whatever for spells makes some sense, though not as much as just calls. But for arrows? drat. Nerf guns of course are pretty awesome, especially considering the effort some people go to modding them for games, but the lack of range and power is always a frustration. I believe there's a new 'nerf for grownups' line just been launched though, which has the potential for tenser gunplay if it's safe.
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Dec 11, 2015 18:45
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Couldn't you just use paintball guns?
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Dec 11, 2015 20:51
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tuyop posted:Couldn't you just use paintball guns? With paint in them? These are, like, high fantasy modern games, with boffer swords, no, you're not using paintball guns. Plus, insurance kinda goes way up when said guns are used.
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Dec 11, 2015 20:55
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silvergoose posted:With paint in them? These are, like, high fantasy modern games, with boffer swords, no, you're not using paintball guns. Plus, insurance kinda goes way up when said guns are used. Why is that such a bad idea? Seems like a good way to model a crossbow, plus you're guaranteed no jackass trying to fake like he didn't get hit. And, paintballs are really easy to wash off, it's not like you'd be ruining expensive costumes forever. Just rule single-shot guns only, so they've gotta reload after each shot.
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Dec 12, 2015 01:17
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Captain Bravo posted:Why is that such a bad idea? Seems like a good way to model a crossbow, plus you're guaranteed no jackass trying to fake like he didn't get hit. And, paintballs are really easy to wash off, it's not like you'd be ruining expensive costumes forever. Just rule single-shot guns only, so they've gotta reload after each shot. I assume getting hit in the eyeball would be a bad thing, and not just for your character sheet.
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Dec 12, 2015 03:27
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tuyop posted:I assume getting hit in the eyeball would be a bad thing, and not just for your character sheet. According to this dude: Camrath posted:My first ever character was a crossbowman, which was perhaps not the wisest of choices. One event I spent the same amount on lost or broken bolts as I did my ticket for the event. They're using actual bolts (I assume with very, very weak crossbows at least) at some events. I'd much rather get hit in the eye with a paintball than with a crossbow bolt!
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Dec 12, 2015 04:13
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I played a couple games where they had archery using foam on the ends of wooden dowels. No idea what the safety details were. My impression is that a lot of people don't consider it worth the effort because the balance of the arrows is weird.
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Dec 12, 2015 04:24
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Puppy Time posted:I played a couple games where they had archery using foam on the ends of wooden dowels. No idea what the safety details were. My impression is that a lot of people don't consider it worth the effort because the balance of the arrows is weird.  At the games I attended, the archers (and yes, there were very few of them) used fiberglass arrows with very soft tips - several layers of foam and a layer of leather to stop the shaft from penetrating the tip. Aiming is definitely different because the arrows fly in much more of an arc due to the additional weight. As for safety: An archer player once told me that the diameter of the tip has to be a certain dimension - I can't remember how large exactly - but a size that is greater than the bones around an average adult's eye socket, so that if you do get hit in the eye by accident, the arrow glances off the bone, giving you a black eye at worst rather than cornea damage.
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Dec 12, 2015 09:12
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That reminds me of this: 
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Dec 12, 2015 10:19
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Captain Bravo posted:According to this dude: Dave Syndrome posted:
This ^ Though the bolts are made from wooden dowel rather than fibreglass. They fly weird, in an arc as described- though you can be pretty accurate out to about 50' with a 28lb draw crossbow (30lb is the draw limit for most systems over here, so bows are built to 28 for the safety margin.) And paintball guns and LARP is just not a winning combo. There are some modern/sci-fi games that use airsoft, but there are still safety and insurance implications from that.
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Dec 12, 2015 10:38
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Yeah the larps I'm talking about basically are all about combat with boffer weapons, packet arrows or spells, or if you're super cool a point-and-click spell or an AOE. Basically impossible to get hurt. Unless you leap over a table like a stupid face and break your arm. No, that wasn't me, but seriously.
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Dec 13, 2015 00:54
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Dave Syndrome posted:
Have seen the last happen, in fact. A gate breached, arrow comes flying in and smacks the lead bad dude straight in the eye and bounces straight back out. We never found out who shot that arrow either. Not even a black eye.
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Dec 13, 2015 08:23
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  Archery!
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Dec 16, 2015 12:24
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I used to do WoD LARPs. It was silly and stupid but it was also kind of fun specifically because it was silly and stupid. The crew I used to play with are still running games in the North East of England but have changed up how they give out XP. They originally did the dumb as gently caress Membership Clearance thing (the thing that gives you boatloads of XP for giving people rides places, bringing poo poo to games) but now instead of MC (at MC 1 you get 50 XP - which is essentially a year's worth of play) they now do things flat and on a non-transferable basis. If you give people a ride to the event then you get 2 XP. If you get good feedback from other players on the Happy Sheets at the end of events (sheets with 'How likely are you to recommend X to Y?' type things) then you get XP for that. You get XP for showing up and good roleplaying, sure. They've also taken to giving XP to people that do socially responsible poo poo like contributing to food drives, charity work and helping new players. That's not to say that they haven't had their difficult moments. This group started out a decade ago and was made up of some of the worst excesses of this kinda poo poo. Breaking into locked buildings to play a game, some astonishing idiots not breaking character in front of armed police (these two stories are linked) and one guy straight up assaulting another player 'in character' while in an elevator with a non-player. Thankfully pretty much everyone that was okay with that is gone. The events they run (the theater LARPs) are set up on a floor of a university building with lecture halls, teaching rooms and a few other spaces that they use. They put signs on the stairways and main entrance ways to the playspaces explaining what's going on should anyone walk by and get weirded out and they have a really super loving strict rule about how when you're not in the rooms that are specifically marked as playspaces, you are no longer in character. If you wanna play in those spaces, you're not going to be in character and you're going to be talking something through with a GM/ST. The golden rule is that when you're outside the playspace, stop playing. This rule became the golden rule after the elevator assault thing, unsurprisingly. File it away under 'poo poo we can't believe we had to tell people.' The person that did it had been banned from another game in the area and had used up their two warnings (three strike system, innit) and when he was told he'd been banned he sat in the stairwell crying his little eyes out until some of us went out to tell him that he'd had his warnings, he knew the rules and then when he complained he just got laughed at. There was (and probably still is?) an appeals system. He tried and it did not work. Good times. Good, stupid, times. It's almost like this poo poo can be kind of fun when you have mostly well adjusted people in charge. Sion fucked around with this message at 13:26 on Dec 16, 2015 |
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Dec 16, 2015 13:23
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You really have to elaborate about the cop incident and what led to the elevator assault.
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Dec 16, 2015 16:07
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Re. Paintball Guns in larp instead of padded crossbow bolts/arrows, a lot of the poo poo you wear is handmade, fragile, expensive, impossible to wash or most likely some combination of all the above. For example my current armour setup involves brigandine, which is small steel plates sewn in between two padded cloth layers. There is no easy way for me to wash that, and there are plenty of people wearing more expensive poo poo than that to battle like velvet doublets under their armour. There was a big problem at the main system I do with archery, as bow and crossbows were considerably better in this system than any other large system previously. It also had a looser tolerance on what arrows you could use - a lot of UK LARPs require you to use 2-layer foam heads, while Empire allowe to use re-enactment arrows that are harder, smaller and rubber tipped. This, combined with a lot of inexperienced people taking up archery because it was mechanically good meant a lot of accidents in the first year and a bit, with someone losing sight in one eye, and 2 people I know personally getting black eyes and a scratched cornea respectively. A lot of that came from people picking arrows up off the ground which would be covered in dirt, sand and splinters, and that getting into people's eyes when it was shot at them. There were also people full drawing and aiming at people's faces from point blank range, which suuuuuuuck. They've since cracked down on people being assholes with bows and banned reenactment arrows which has made things a lot better thankfully! Also talk about the cop incident, we need more horror stories here
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Dec 16, 2015 16:34
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Anoia posted:You really have to elaborate about the cop incident and what led to the elevator assault. Well, you arrange to be in a place to do a mini-larp about a summoning ritual that you break up and that place is locked, that's no reason to not just break into the joint and just play it anyway. So the cops show up because of course they loving do and it's usually at this point you assume that people would stop what they were doing, realise that it was positively insane and everyone talks their way down and hopefully not end out in front of a county court. Or, alternative answer, you could stay in character with the cop, get pissy when they tell you to get down on your knees and lock your fingers behind your head, demand to speak with the Prince and then get you and your buddies arrested. The elevator assault? That was just... yeah. That wasn't anything that special leading up to. Just one character being lippy with another.
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Dec 16, 2015 16:44
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Sion posted:Well, you arrange to be in a place to do a mini-larp about a summoning ritual that you break up and that place is locked, that's no reason to not just break into the joint and just play it anyway. So the cops show up because of course they loving do and it's usually at this point you assume that people would stop what they were doing, realise that it was positively insane and everyone talks their way down and hopefully not end out in front of a county court. Or, alternative answer, you could stay in character with the cop, get pissy when they tell you to get down on your knees and lock your fingers behind your head, demand to speak with the Prince and then get you and your buddies arrested. Okay that's probably the sign of some sort of serious mental disorder if the dude asked for the Prince in the face of the cops.
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Dec 16, 2015 17:00
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Anoia posted:Okay that's probably the sign of some sort of serious mental disorder if the dude asked for the Prince in the face of the cops. Yup.
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Dec 16, 2015 17:21
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Actually I'm kinda surprised he didn't try to use Dominate and get shot. 
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Dec 16, 2015 17:23
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Anoia posted:Actually I'm kinda surprised he didn't try to use Dominate and get shot. I think he only had dots in Auspex.
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Dec 16, 2015 17:30
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