The Book of Masks Homepage

May 7, 2025 at 10:46am
In response to "Photofinish"

I should clarify a bit on the "one more GP vote."

The way the math works in the GP voting, you can get some counter-intuitive results. For instance, one voter sent in some last-minute GPs to support "Great idea," but because he sent so few, it actually had the effect of decreasing lead that "Great idea" had. That's because "Great idea" had a strong Free Vote lead, and this lead was bolstered by the value accorded each Free Vote by the GPs voted for it. That small GP vote had the effect of knocking down the value of the Free Votes, which had the effect of diminishing the value of the lead that "Great idea" in the Free Vote, and this diminution was greater than the value of the GPs voted for it. Hence, dropping a small GP donation onto "Great idea" diminished rather than enhanced its overall lead.

There was something similar with the "one more vote" anomaly. I thought (at first) that adding one more GP to "Weird" would push it over the top because it was so close. In fact, adding one more GP would work because it would have knocked the value of "Great idea's" Free Vote below the 50% threshold. Moreover, to affect the value of the Free Vote, that one extra GP would have had to come from a new voter. If one of the other GP voters for "Weird" had voted one more GP vote, that wouldn't have affected the outcome significantly.

I know that this makes the GP vote sound weird, and it is. But (1) the weirdness is under the hood and invisible to the voters. The only thing they should be worried about is trying to support their favored choices. And (2) the only outcome that matters is the final outcome, not the changes that occur as votes come in. The weirdness that I note above is visible and makes a difference only if you watch the dynamic vote process unfold, and the actual process of percentages adjusting as votes are added is irrelevant to the final outcome. Had the votes been sent in a different chronological order, the observed weirdnesses might not have happened.

May 6, 2025 at 12:21pm
In response to "Photofinish"

Ok folks. you need to up your bidding.

Mar 13, 2025 at 8:22pm
In response to "Another Upset"

Understand. Would really like to see Blackwell torment/play with Will some more. Let me see if there's somewhere else it could happen or an option added.

Mar 13, 2025 at 5:57pm
In response to "Another Upset"

No, the quick ending stays. Every interactive needs an instant ending somewhere near the start, as a prank on the reader.

1 Like

Mar 13, 2025 at 3:54pm
In response to "Another Upset"

I would like to suggest that Slippery Sale Option Three be treated as a blank and get replaced with a new chapter that eventually finds Will being affected by the book. It was too early for a dead end in my opinion. Also it allows for anyone who is looking to start a new line early in the story.

And, no, it wasn't me this time that dropped the GPs.

Mar 11, 2025 at 12:54pm
In response to "Let's Have Some More Polls"

I keep forgetting to reply to the suggestion above.

I add new choices to old chapters on an ad hoc basis: usually when I am working in that branch, and I see a nearby chapter, or an earlier chapter, where I would have wanted more choices originally. I don't go looking for places to increase the number of choices.

But if someone knows of a chapter that could use more choices, and would like to see them added, just drop me a line.

Mar 9, 2025 at 9:55pm
In response to "Let's Have Some More Polls"

Wait! And in this poll I will be posting the entire chapter ... Doesn't everyone always go back and read the previous chapters to refresh their memories?

Question RE: "Invalid Item"

- What's your (Seuzz or anyone) opinion of adding more options to some chapters especially the very old ones that were limited before it was raised to five options? Not every chapter would work to get more, but there are some that another option may have been (still could be) possible.

I haven't gone to look for examples, but I may if I have some time.

Feb 12, 2025 at 3:43pm
In response to ""Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue!""

This is starting to feel like something to put in the forum. So: "Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: The Official Off-Topic Thread"

Nostrum

Feb 12, 2025 at 1:19pm
In response to ""Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue!""

From what I've heard from a CC at YouTube, not very good. It's basically forcing you to restart again, except you get a few advantages from your earlier progression. A change for the sake of it, not because it was necessary.

You tell me if that's the case, though. I recall "1MT'ing" with Civ1 on a SNES emulator during college almost through 4 AM, so I know the allure.

Feb 12, 2025 at 12:49pm
In response to ""Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue!""

I 1MT-ed yesterday for, like, 7 hours into the dead of night. I was so mad at myself.

In my defense, I was trying to get through the "Age of Antiquity" to the "Age of Exploration" because I wanted to see what this new "Age of" mechanic is like.

November 30, 2022 at 12:30pm

#1041169

Back to Abnormal 2

I had a dental appointment yesterday, and then some other stuff that had doing, so I missed publishing. I'm making up for it today with two chapters. And something actually happens in one of them!

Complications from Unexpected Directions

November 24, 2022 at 12:12pm

#1040988

Back to Abnormal

Today's chapter—

* Interactive: "An Overwhelming Question"

* Public: "An Overwhelming Question"

—brings the current branch to a climax, and boy that's a cliffhanger if ever I saw one. And that's where it's going to have to stay for awhile, until I return to writing BoM instead of just publishing from the backlog. But for now, suffice it to say this has encompassed part of a commission, and in order to fulfill that commission I'm going to have to continue it at some point, so you won't be left hanging forever.

Commentary continues here: "Commentary: "The Mystery Box""

Tomorrow brings the start of a different commission, one that picks up with "A Clash of Values"

. Will has taken the book in to the school to deposit it inside the time capsule, but some of the other students at school have gotten a look at it and seem to be interested in buying it. He also ran into a couple of guys—Marc Garner, Spencer Osbourne, and Steven Buckner—who've given him the idea of trading the book for a couple of joints, and he could put those in the time capsule instead. That's what he's decided to do. But now he has to find someone to make a trade with.

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November 22, 2022 at 12:47pm

#1040929

Catch-Up

Yesterday and the day before were a little weird, so there weren't two chapters. I'm making up a little for the shortfall by publishing two chapters today.

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November 15, 2022 at 12:34pm

#1040690

Today's chapter—

* Interactive: "Adding a Third"

* Public: "Adding a Third"

—wraps up a branch just as it's about to get complicated. I've got an idea for how it's going to continue, though, and it's going to veer into an unexpected direction when I return to it. Commentary thread: "Commentary: "Scheming Big""

Next up, a continuation of something more recent: "The Games That Some Girls Play"

. Will has lost the book and all his gear, and has no idea how it vanished. He has suspicions but no evidence about how it all was stolen, and maybe he doesn't care, for he has lately been distracted by friendly attention from an unexpected direction: Stephanie Wyatt. The last chapter ended with her even inviting him out to a party, which isn't the kind of thing she has ever done before.

November 9, 2022 at 12:27pm

#1040439

Chelsea the Good

Today's chapter—

* Interactive: "Home Sweet Hollywood"

* Public: "Home Sweet Hollywood"

—finally gets Will and Sydney to Hollywood, where they are laying plans for adding another industry person to their burgeoning coven. A commentary post is in the forums here:

What's next? The exit of Chelsea Cooper "... And the Entrance of a Better One"

Will and Caleb have been playing around with masks. Will was using a mask of Caleb to flirt with Eva Garner, to try setting the two of them up, but then got crossways with Chelsea. She sent Gordon to beat up Will, and when all was said and done, Gordon was trapped in a mask of Will, Dane Matthias was trapped in a mask of Gordon, and Chelsea was trapped in a mask of Dane. And where was Will? He was now pretending to be Chelsea Cooper! And he had just decided to turn her into a better person!

But there are still a lot of dicks at the school, so it's not like being a "better" Chelsea will make much of a difference. So Will is wondering if maybe he should make some other substitutions.

This was the first branch I wrote when I came back from my mega-hiatus, and it dives into the kind of story that later (though published earlier) got a much longer exploration in the Doppelganger Conspiracy, so what comes next will be like a premature return to and reset of that, just in another branch.

Lastly, I need to catch up on the "Gratuities and Gratitudes." Easy seemed to like the Hollywood branch, because he sent me a bunch of GPs, and I thank him for them.

November 1, 2022 at 2:30pm

#1040123

Hooray for Hollyweird

After a two-week interruption in the middle, the line of chapter that started with "A Reunion of Fakes"

concludes:

* Interactive: "Den of the Body Thief"

* Public: "Den of the Body Thief"

Whatever I have to say about it is in the Commentary thread: "Commentary: "A Reunion of Fakes""

Next up: We've seen quite a bit of Chelsea Cooper lately. Is anybody up for seeing more of Sydney McGlynn? Starting tomorrow I'll pick up where "The Actors' Studio"

left off.

Sydney and Will are planning to form a cult by turning people into golems. In most of the branches in this area, that means victimizing people in Saratoga Falls. But in this branch they've gotten ambitious and have decided to take the act to Hollywood. Will has already got himself a body that's already there: that of a thirty-something washed-up TV actor who has returned to Saratoga Falls to meet a daughter he never knew he had by his old drama teacher. But how is Sydney going to get out to Los Angeles? And are they going to take anyone else out there with them?