From: [f--h--e] at [amd.com] Reply-To: [f--h--e] at [amd.com] Errors-To: [flashlife control] at [amd.com] Subject: Flashlife V2 #3 To: [f--h--e] at [amd.com] From: Carl Rigney (moderator) <[flashlife control] at [amd.com]> Flashlife Mon, 8 Apr, 1991 Volume 2 : Issue 3 Today's topics: Re: Questions about Flashlife Itself (Carl Rigney) Enemy Way Ceremony (Kicking Bird) Spirits and Ghosts (Kent Jenkins) ShadowRun places and cyberpunk mixes... (Lakota Oyate) character skills (ananda) Mentalists (Lester Ward) Badger Shaman (Kicking Bird) Archetype: Urban Gator Shaman (T9AA) Archetype: Orc Wolf Shaman (T9AA) Archetype: Elf Eagle Shaman (T9AA) Archetype: Dwarf Racoon Shaman (T9AA) Archetype: Orc Bear Shamanic Adept (T9AA) Archetype: Orc Decker (T9AA) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Mar 91 15:12:27 PST From: cdr (Carl Rigney) Subject: Re: Questions about Flashlife Itself Thanks for asking. And this will go into the digest, since I suspect many others may be wondering the same things you did. A simple rule of thumb - nothing involving amd.com uses underlines; flashlife-control has a hyphen. Volume 1 was all the individual mail; not in digest form. It totalled about 500 messages totaling 1.4 megabytes. Its archived but not available at the moment, I may try to make it available via mail server or FTP someday. The first digest was Volume 2 Issue 1. Questions work like this: If you've got a question that would generate interesting discussion, send it to flashlife so everyone has a chance to answer, and people should answer to the list. If you've got a question that has one answer (what powers do spirits have; how does combat work) send it to flashlife-control (or flashlife-request, same thing) and I'll either answer it or pass it along to someone who can so the entire list doesn't have to read 20 answers all describing how to do combat. An advantage to the digest form is that I look at all the mail before queuing it to the digestifier (I suppose the proper term is intestine) so if you get it wrong it's not as bad as when the list was a direct reflector; I'll probably catch it. But its a good idea to send things to the right place. Also, keep in mind that the list is primarily intended as a forum for Shadowrun gamemasters to talk to their peers, trade ideas and solve each other's problems. Actually, I have a boatload of questions for the Screamsheet readers, so do you want "one topic per letter" or "whatever comes to mind at the time"? It takes less room in the digest if you put them all together, but its much easier to find them in the archives if you give each area of questioning its own subject. The latter also allows people to use meaningful subjects when replying, so one can follow discussion threads. I prefer it, but don't insist on it. It's greatly appreciated if people make a second pass over messages before submitting them to tighten them up, fix typos, and delete leading whitespace except where used to indicate quoted text. That last point is important - please don't indent every line of your message with whitespace, its just wasted bytes. Indenting the first line of a paragraph is OK, although I don't do it. And it helps a LOT if everyone uses meaningful subjects on their follow-ups, instead of just "Re: Flashlife Vol 2 #1." It saves me a lot of time -- Carl Rigney, Moderator [flashlife control] at [amd.com] -------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 91 17:05:54 CST From: Kicking Bird Subject: Enemy Way Ceremony I feel pretty stupid in my post about skinwalkers I forgot to describe the Enemy Way ceremony. The Enemy Way is used to cure corps sickness. The ceremony is nine nights of songs and sacred dances. The pc is told to sit on a sand painting, the patern changes every night. Because of the length of the Enemy Way and the large numbers of dancers that are involved the ceremony, today, will cost several thousand dollars, or a large number of sheep or cattle. Livestock is the preferred method of payment. The pc's are also responsible for the food needed during the Enemy Way. I'm sure that a good GM will come up with a just price. Once the pc's body or essence is at 0 they die. The Enemy Way is the only cure. Corps sickness is caused by the magic of the Navajo. No one but a Navajo shaman can cure or even detect the nature of the sickness. Kicking Bird [e 9 ab] at [sdsumus.bitnet] -------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 91 13:41:50 EST From: Kent Jenkins <[j--k--s] at [magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu]> Subject: Spirits and Ghosts Every once and a while, I hear about people doing such things as "conjuring ghosts," or talking to people who are dead. The Grimoire, however, doesn't talk about dead people going to the Metaplanes wich, according to the book, is where conjured spirits and elementals come from. (Either Paul Hume just didn't think of covering it or he realized what a sticky mess it would be to make a certain statement on the spirits of mankind.) So, although this is a rather vague question, what are Ghosts in Shadowrun and how do you handle them? I would imagine conjuring one specific spirit out of many would take a lot of effort. Then again, are Ghosts strictly spirits, because if they are Mages can't conjure them. I hope to get a lot of opinions on this one. It's been nagging at the back of my head for a while. -Kent Jenkins ("Thenomain") -------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 91 16:54:50 CST From: Lakota Oyate <[E 9 AB] at [SDSUMUS.BITNET]> Subject: ShadowRun places and cyberpunk mixes... Since I run the MinneApple part of the adventure, here is the stuff about that: 1) The Treaty of Denver did not satisfy anyone. The border for the eastern edge of indian lands didn't either. The Indians wanted the border for The minneApple to be on the west side of the town, circling around and rejoining the river at Fort Snelling. The UACS people wanted the border to be on the east side of St. Paul, rejoining the river at Fort Snelling. Neither side really wanted it. They finally decided that the river made a good border. That means that both sides got stuck. 2) Minneapolis is a reservation for Wasichu (haulis), and is policed moderately by indian peoples. Remember, the last time the indians created a city, it was Kahokia(sp?) mounds in Illinois. No one lived on it by the time Columbus came. The more the NAN cops try to deal with Minneapolis, the more they think that the Kahokia people had the right idea by abandoning city life. In Minneapolis, you have Orcs, Trolls, dealers, rockers, and people with dumb haircuts and chemical addictions. You have rampant chemical and technical dependancies and big tall ugly buildings. You have a statue honoring Prince. You have air pollution, but the winds blow it over to the UACS. St. Paul is a San Diego for Minneapolis's Tijuana. Straighter people, cleaner streets, and hotels that are rented by the night, not by the hour. Due to a general lack of food (Face it, the best farmland on the continent is in NAN territory, growing buffalo) the poorer sections have occasional food riots. No problem with housing, considering that the population dropped due to disease during the last 40 years. The UACS has had a 'guns for butter' slant for these riots: You want butter, we'll give you guns (or at least, the active ingredient, heh) 3) The eastern border for indian lands is this: Lake of the Woods to Lake Itasca. follow the Mississippi down to Davenport, Iowa. A diagnal line from there to Texarcana, where it meets the New Texas border and becomes the southern border. 4) A pow-wow takes place each summer at Lake Itasca, near the mouth of the Mississippi. It is the Father of Waters Pow-wow, and is a very spiritual event. This could be the place of a very interesting campaign, especially if someone starts rumors about a PCs former activities to the normally violently law-abiding shamans there. Hint Hint BD. (Think about what kind of curse 17 shamans and a big papa drum could do at such a holy place, and they don't have to know the WHOLE truth) -Lakota here- I'm doing this for the good of the sacred hoop. 5) Lakota Oyate and I discussed a lot of this and this is why our worlds overlap so much. Of course, there is still much I can spring on him to make his life miserable. And it is the highest praise for a GM to hear groans of anguish coming from his players... Ya dave just wait whatever comes around goes around all life is a hoop. Just wait till I get you in Unnight you little sh*t Dave another generous and sadistic GM [t 9 aa] at [sdsumus.bitnet] "it is such a shame that whole families have to be killed by something as little as a pack of rabid wolves." -Leanna -------------------------- Date: Thu, 28 Mar 1991 11:01 CST From: ananda%[bsu decnet] at [msus1.msus.edu] Subject: character skills Two topics: 1. Music & composition skills 2. Multiple concentrations or specializations question The campaign I start next weekend includes a rocker and a theatre-type. Due to the dearth of related skills in the skill listings, I worked on creating my own. I'd appreciate your comments and suggestions, especially where things are vague and where there are ?? in the listings. Formats: general skill concentrations continuance specializations continuance general skill concentration (specializations) Instrumental music instrument family--e.g. saxaphone, clarinet, flute, guitar, synth, etc. specific instrument--e.g., atlo sax, bass guitar, etc. Vocal music choral, barbershop, rock, etc. specialization is some aspect of the specific concentration Musical composition vocal (choral, barbershop, ??), instrumental (chamber music, symphonic, ??) Artisitic composition two-dimensional (painting, drawing, ??), three-dimensional (sculpture, ??) Written composition fiction genre--e.g. mystery, romance, poetry, western, science fiction, fantasy, suspense, `popular fiction', etc. novels, novellas/novellettes, short stories non-fiction genre--news, science (either general or a specific field), self-help, diet/nutrition, etc. books/texts, articles (e.g., magazine, journals, newspaper, etc., as appropriate), etc. {Note: the reason that the genres are concentrations and the lengths are specializations is that a person can easier write different lengths of works within a different genre than write works of similar length accross different genres.} **Where should I put play writing and screenplay writing?** These are the ones I really need some help with... Acting (genre) comedy, drama, western, horror, ?? Acting (medium) stage, movie, television, simsense, ?? {in my world, non-sim movies and tv series are still being made in some areas} If I keep these as two skills, what would the specializations be? If I made it one skill, Acting, what would the concentrations be: the media, or the genres? *Why?* Would the others then be the specializations? {Is the transition from drama to comedy harder than the transition from stage to television? What about television to simsense vs. western to horror?} Performance (stage presence, working with the audience, etc.;) actor, singer, comedian, musician specialization is a specific style of the concentration The problem appears when you have someone who does lead vocals and plays a synth, but doesn't act or do comedy routines. Hmmm. This gets into additional skills questions... If someone wants two concentrations in a skill or two specializations in a concentration, but doesn't want the rest of the concentrations or specializations, how many points would that cost? How much karma would be needed to increase the skill level? [I think you're getting into too much detail - Music is a skill, vocal or instrumental is a concentration, guitar is a specialization. Likewise writing. TV writing in 2050 is a cross between computer skill and Etiquette(Media). Other tastes may differ. You can buy a second concentration for the same price as the first, although its more cost effective just to buy the general skill instead. --CDR] -- Ananda ananda%[bsu decnet] at [msus1.msus.edu] /ananda%[b--u] at [msus1.msus.edu] \__if the .decnet ananda%[bsu decnet] at [msus1.bitnet] \ananda%[b--u] at [msus1.bitnet] / causes problems "Yes, a stealthy troll. Gimme a break. Can *I* help it if my last name happens to be the same as a semi-legendary fictional thief? And can you imagine the grief I'd get if I was a klutz??" --Liralen Slovotsky aka Tess Blammor, bouncer aka Huntress, targeteer -------------------------- Date: Sun, 31 Mar 91 20:56:21 -0500 From: [ward 1] at [husc9.harvard.edu] (Lester Ward) Subject: Mentalists [Please note that I strenuously disagree with this whole approach; psychic powers are just thinly disguised magic. But in case anyone else finds this interesting, I'm letting it through. --CDR] Mentalists I'll try to keep this vision of what Mentalists (e.g. telepaths, telekenetics, etc.) are in Shadowrun short and sweet. Mentalists are those individuals with advanced mental abilities. Note that while I don't feel that mental powers are magical, I will use the magic system from Shadowrun for convenience and playability. It really doesn't matter if this talent is magical or not. In game terms, Mentalists are Adepts (Magic Priority = 3). They are a bit like a magical adepts. The bonuses and restriction for Mentalists: o The only magical skill they can take is sorcery. Alternately, a new skill could be developed called Mentalism. I favor sorcery, for it allows combat on astral plane. Any either case, they get a Magic/Mental Pool equal to that rating, but the pool may only be used to resist drain or assist in application of a power. No spell defence dice allowed (but perhaps mental defencedice). o They follow _neither_ the shamanic nor hermetic tradition. o They have full access to Astral Space. Some GMUs may wish to make any damage taken by them on the Astral plane always physical, but I discourage it. o They can become Initiates, but only may only use Centering, Masking, and Quickening. Alternately, they may not become initiates. I discourage this because it gives them no chance to use powers permanently without getting distraction increases to TMUs o They can only choose from a limited selection of mental powers. For game purposes, treat powers like spells (for drain, karma cost, use, et. al.). See the list below. Additionally, most of these spells may only be cast on the Mentalist himself. Those which can be RcastS on others of marked with an asterisk (*). o They have a Magic attribute of 6. This only limits their powersU force, but it my be decreased by normal means (deadly wounds, etc.) o They may not use foci of any kind. The main difference between normal Sorcery adepts and mentalists are access to Astral Space, use of foci, and spell use limitations. I feel that the benefits (Astral connection) are outweighed by the limitations, and thus are game balancing. SPELLS USEABLE Chaos* Chaotic World* (?) Clout* Confusion Control Actions* Control Emotions* Control Thoughts* Death Touch* (?) Detect (Life Form) Detect (Object) Detect Individual Detect Life Entertainment* (and other like spells, mana only) (?) Healthy Glow Hibernate Ignite (Pyrokinesis) Increase Attribute (?) Influence* Levitate Item Levitate Person Magic Fingers Mana Dart* (?) Mana Missile* (?) (Mind blast type thing) Mask Mob Mind* Mob Mood* Oxygenate Personal Analyze Truth Personal Clairvoyance Personal Combat Sense Personal Detect Enemies (both ranges) Poltergeist Resist Pain Stun spells (all)* (?) Use (Skill) There are some problems with this presentation, so I would like to here from you. The spell list will probably need revision. Also, what do the mental powers look/function like in Astral Space? IUm also not sure about the Initiate thing, since it is more magically based. The main problem is this: Is there, in the sixth world, a difference between mental powers and the ability to do magic? I feel there is. Perhaps it would be better to, instead of allowing initiation, create some alternate method of making powers run constantly. I am reluctant to say that powers should not be run constantly. Rather, I would like a high cost way of making them so. Please respond, LLWardIII [ward 1] at [husc9.harvard.edu] -------------------------- Date: Tue, 02 Apr 91 16:57:24 CST From: Kicking Bird Subject: Badger Shaman Last night my friend Dav and I were playing Shadow Run. After several hours he asked me what the most powerful animal on the prairie was. I immediately answered badger. So I got ta thinkn' an came up with this. Badger Shaman CHARACTERISTICS: Badger is warrior first then hunter. He is very surly and aggressive. Badger enjoys working alone and is quite antisocial. The badger will attack anything that annoys him and he will fight untill his opponent runs or lies dead at his feet. ENVIROMENT: Prairie ADVANTAGES: +2 dice for combat; +2 dice conjuring Prairie Spirits DISADVANTAGES: A Badger shaman is a loner. He is almost apathetic about the world until something challenges him or invades his privacy. If someone annoys Badger, he must take a willpower success test with a target of 4. He will attack for 4 turns minus 1 turn for every success. A pissed Badger will attack the source of his annoyance with his most powerfull weapon or spell. If the shaman kills or runs his opponent off or when the time is up he snaps out of it. -1 die for all health spells. -- Kicking Bird -------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 91 16:47:32 CST From: T9AA%[S D SUMUS BITNET] at [VM1.NoDak.EDU] Subject: Archetype: Urban Gator Shaman SO, I decided to build a prototype: the Urban Shaman. He doesn't do all that much by way of offensive stuff, but is built legal in the Archetype generation part of the book. (Add Grimoire) Lee Cortez Urban Shaman Gator Totem Bod 3 4 Magic Quick 3 3 Attributes 24 Str 3 2 Tech 20,000/20 Cha 5 1 Skills 20 Int 5 0 Race Will 5 React 4 Ess 6 Magic 6 Skills: Gear: Etiquette (Street) 2 M Conjuring 5 R Sorcery 5 C Theory 5 Psychology 3 Spells: +2 Combat and Detection, +2 City Spirits Mind Probe 4 M1 Mana Sustained Personal Analyze Truth 4 L1 Mana Sustained Influence 4 L3 Mana Permanent (10) Mana Bolt 8 S1 Mana Instantaneous Lee is a social worker dealing with the remains of the Seminole tribe after the Ghost Dance and the Treaty of Denver. They retain some of their lands in southern Florida, but due to renewed racism after the ReEducation camps and the Treaty, as well as being separated from support from the NAN, the tribe is going downhill. He tends to be cold and analytical, but will not think twice about doing things beneficial to the tribe. Gear and position in tribe are the decisions of the GM, but lets get real: The Seminoles are one of the few tribes that are still in the Wasicu (white people) part of North America. Economic development is still lousy and they are probably still under the BIA. -------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 91 16:47:57 CST From: T9AA%[S D SUMUS BITNET] at [VM1.NoDak.EDU] Subject: Archetype: Orc Wolf Shaman This is another shaman. You can either make an orc an orc or you can make him a shaman, but it is impossible to make him both. GREEN FIRE Knut Skull-Crusher Orc Shaman Wolf Totem Bod 5 4 Race Quick 3 3 Magic Str 5 2 Attributes Cha 4 1 Skills Int 1 0 Technology Will 3 React 3 Allergy: Silver, Moderate Ess 6 Magic 6 Racial Bonus: Low-light Vision Skills: Gear: Etiquette (Tribal) 1 Medicine Lodge (3) Conjuring 5 Real Leathers Sorcery 3 HK277(2 clips) Theory 1 Reusable Detection fetishes Firearms 2 Warpaints (Black & Green) Military Theory(conc in Tactics)2 Stealth 2 Unarmed combat 4 Spells: +2 Detection & Combat, +2 Forest Spirits 5 Personal Combat Sense 1(reusable fetish, cum. of 4) Personal Detect Enemy 1(reusable fetish, cum. of 4) Ram Touch 3 (cum. of 5) Knut is the war chief of the Wood-River tribe where northern Minnesota should be (We rewrote the map of the NAN. Eastern is Lake of the Woods; straight line to Lake Itasca; down the Mississippi to Davenport, Iowa; straight line to Texarcana). He holds a position in the tribe higher than would be guessed by his tribal etiquette. This position was gained in the active defense of the tribe from corporate goons, a neighboring elf tribe, and rigger vehicle that drove past carrying weapons to anti-spear- fishing rednecks. He has a decent sense of humor but is more the type for the Super Bowl than Saturday Night Live, as if there was any wonder. He gives as good as he gets by way of insults and slams, and often time by way of physical combat (he always wins because he always cheats. He's good at it. He's a war chief). He considers his brother and fellow shaman, Norm, to be a gutless wimp since he won't cast combat spells. (More on Norm later, but I have to say that he has a charisma of 5 and Knut is jealous) -------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 91 16:48:13 CST From: T9AA%[S D SUMUS BITNET] at [VM1.NoDak.EDU] Subject: Archetype: Elf Eagle Shaman Ever tried to make a magic-using metahuman? Hellish, isn't it? This is one of the few I've tried. I also have an orc, a dwarf, and a troll named Ted (NO, not a bunny shaman B) ) DARKEAGLE Mari'iana Ti'ilania Whitebow Elf Shaman Eagle Totem Bod 1 4 Race Quick 4 3 Magic Str 1 2 Tech 20,000/20 Cha 4 1 Skills 20 Int 4 0 Attributes 15 Will 4 React 4 Allergy: Sunlight, Moderate Ess 6 Magic 6 Racial Bonus: Low-light Vision Skills: Gear: Etiquette (Tribal) 2 Medicine Lodge (9) Conjuring 4 Ruger Super Warhawk(2 clips) Sorcery 4 HK277(3 clips) Theory 1 Real Leathers Firearms 3 Military Theory(conc in Tactics)3 Stealth 3 Spells: +2 Detection, +2 Wind Spirits 20 Personal Combat Sense 3 L2 Physical Sustained Personal Analyze Truth 3 L1 Mana Sustained Mana Bolt 6 S1 Mana Instantaneous Urban Renewal 4 M2 Physical Instantaneous Armor 4 S2 Mana Permanent (15) Mari'iana is the war chief of the Kili tribe in where northern Minnesota should be (We rewrote the map of the NAN. Eastern is Lake of the Woods; straight line to Lake Itasca; down the Mississippi to Davenport, Iowa; straight line to Texarcana). She holds a position in the tribe higher than would be guessed by her tribal etiquette. This position was gained in the active defense of the tribe from poachers, a neighboring orc tribe, and a newboar driven mad by a poisoned poacher arrow. She follows the Eagle shaman tradition of not having a sense of humor. She will cause severe mental trauma if not structural damage if ever called "Keeb". She has a slight weakness for Dandelion wine, however. "All I know about elves is that they make good cookies" -Lakota Oyate -------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 91 16:48:24 CST From: T9AA%[S D SUMUS BITNET] at [VM1.NoDak.EDU] Subject: Archetype: Dwarf Racoon Shaman Yet another one for the file of metahuman sha-people. Dwarves this time. They tell us how orcs and elves and trolls (Oh MY) live, but only give us the Dwarf techie. Great. I will not reverse this trend (I want to stick him in the Black Hills, but if I keep the dwarven Mining tradition, Lakota Oyate will kill me) GreyBeard (Yes, I know It's used) Martin Pennyman Dwarf Shaman Raccoon Totem Bod 3 4 Race Quick 2 3 Magic Str 3 2 Tech 20,000/20 Cha 3 1 Skills 20 Int 3 0 Attributes 15 Will 4 React 3 Allergy: Sunlight, Mild Ess 6 Magic 6 Racial Bonus: Thermograph Eyes Resistance to Disease Skills: Gear: Etiquette (Tribal) 1 Medicine Lodge (9) Conjuring 5 Armor Jacket Sorcery 5 Combat Axe Theory 2 Armed Combat 3 Stealth 4 Spells: +2 Manipulation +2 City Spirits Racoon is a curious creature, and so is GreyBeard. He lives in the Wasicu reservation in Rapid City, (where whence was South Dakota) and keeps his living by hiring out to the various families to cause mischief among the other tribal families. Needless to say, the Tribal Defence Force does not like this activity. He doesn't do much of what he does for monetary reasons (If it did, he'd dress a lot better than he does, and move out of that one-room pit he lives in). The dictionary has his picture next to the word mischievious. When he was a kid, it was next to precocious, but they changed it. He never did. Imagine Calvin with a beard. B) "I talked to a friend today, and said 'what's the good word?' "He said there are no good words. "So I went to another friend and said 'what's the good word?' "He said, 'Rejoice, for the end of the world is at hand.' "I have to get new friends." -------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 91 16:49:32 CST From: T9AA%[S D SUMUS BITNET] at [VM1.NoDak.EDU] Subject: Archetype: Orc Bear Shamanic Adept Norman Sucks-Marrow Bear Totem Orc Shamanic Adept Priorities: Bod 5 4 Race Quick 4 3 Attributes Str 5 2 Magic Cha 5 1 Tech Int 3 0 Skills Will 5 Ess 6 React 3 Magic 6 Skills: Gear: Etiquette (Tribal) 2 Medicine Lodge (6) Conjuring 3 Real Leathers Sorcery 5 Combat Axe Theory 1 Armed Combat 3 Special Skills: Dancing 3 (Centering skill) Spells: Healing Spells and Forest Spirits 20 points -------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 91 16:53:38 CST From: T9AA%[S D SUMUS BITNET] at [VM1.NoDak.EDU]> Subject: Archetype: Orc Decker Yes, you read it right. The ORC DECKER. Archetype "Let's cut the crap. You need someone with a hole in their head to run nets for your bulletheads. I can handle that. You get a Keeb or a Breeder, sure thay can look good barhoppin' with ya, but can they do the job? "Besides, their flashy clothes and dumb haircust can give you away when runnin' the shadows. "I know you got the juice, buddy, so tell me sumthin': We dealt or just wasted time?" Commentary The Orc Decker is looking for a way up and out to the good things in life (as defined by Conan?). He has learned skills in what remains of the education system and in the streets, and learned from screamsheets and the heard word that riding the stream of conscienceness pays mucho dinero. Bod 3 4 Race Quick 4 3 Tech Str 3 2 Skills Cha 1 1 Attributes Int 5 0 Magic Will 4 React 4 Racial Bonus: Lowlight vision Ess 6 Roll for Allergy Skills: Gear: Etiquette (Street) 2 Fuchi Cyber-4 with Response Bike 3 Increase:2 Computer 6 Yamaha Rapier Theory 3 Ruger Super Warhawk Firearms 4 Stealth 4 Headgear: Unarmed Combat 3 Datajack Headware Mem. (30mp) -------------------------- End of Flashlife **************************