- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
You don't f*ck with Kirima Harisami!
Panopticon: A Game of Posthumans, Perniciousness, Paranoia, Politics, and Plasmaguns
Are you seriously going to trust that a Donaldhallucination Seeking has non-Donaldified spoiler information?
Really?
Well obviously it's Donald's perspective at work but we know he is the most reliable and stable of the amalgam so it should be true in broad strokes.
Quantumboost
Now with 50% more dots in Dimensional Science
- Location
- Ensemble Space
Where "true in broad strokes" can potentially mean "she lets 'lets' Siyon camp out under her desk sometimes".
Gaze into the pewter pot, to see the world as the world is not.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
This is a solvable problem.
Donald and Rose's Adventures In A Fucking Hell Dimension XP Vote:
So, Donald and Rose have survived nearly a month in a hell dimension. That tends to give you a shit ton of XP. This is where you spend it on not so mundane things. I have some ideas of what they've gained in relation to non-magical things.
And remember! The previous update's vote is still open and people should discuss and debate that. XP doesn't matter if it turns out that Rose and Donald are dead.
Well okay it sort of does because you can probably bring them back with the proper connections but that's complicated.
Donald Magical XP Vote:
Choose two. You may only master a single sphere. Not even being thrown against a God-Machine can make you exceed your limitations that quickly.
[ ] Entropy 1->4 (Narrative Inevitability)
[ ] Forces 0->3, Mind 0->1
[ ] Correspondence 3->4 (Multitasking), Mind 0->1, Life 0->2
[ ] Time 4->5
[ ] Primal Utility 4->5
[ ] Spirit 4->5
Rose Magical XP Vote:
Choose three. She may master a single sphere at the cost of two choices.
[ ] Correspondence 0->2
[ ] Entropy 0->2
[ ] Matter 0->2
[ ] Time 1->3
[ ] Forces 2->3
[ ] Mind 3->4 (Do You Like The New Me?)
[ ] Dimensional Science 3->4 (If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It)
[ ] Life 4->5
So, Donald and Rose have survived nearly a month in a hell dimension. That tends to give you a shit ton of XP. This is where you spend it on not so mundane things. I have some ideas of what they've gained in relation to non-magical things.
And remember! The previous update's vote is still open and people should discuss and debate that. XP doesn't matter if it turns out that Rose and Donald are dead.
Well okay it sort of does because you can probably bring them back with the proper connections but that's complicated.
Donald Magical XP Vote:
Choose two. You may only master a single sphere. Not even being thrown against a God-Machine can make you exceed your limitations that quickly.
[ ] Entropy 1->4 (Narrative Inevitability)
[ ] Forces 0->3, Mind 0->1
[ ] Correspondence 3->4 (Multitasking), Mind 0->1, Life 0->2
[ ] Time 4->5
[ ] Primal Utility 4->5
[ ] Spirit 4->5
Rose Magical XP Vote:
Choose three. She may master a single sphere at the cost of two choices.
[ ] Correspondence 0->2
[ ] Entropy 0->2
[ ] Matter 0->2
[ ] Time 1->3
[ ] Forces 2->3
[ ] Mind 3->4 (Do You Like The New Me?)
[ ] Dimensional Science 3->4 (If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It)
[ ] Life 4->5
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Doesn't seem to be working. It got funnier, but still can't understand it.
[X] Spirit 4->5
[X] Correspondence 3->4 (Multitasking), Mind 0->1, Life 0->2
[X] Entropy 0->2
[X] Mind 3->4 (Do You Like The New Me?)
[X] Dimensional Science 3->4 (If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It)
Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
Anyways since MJ pointed out that challenging the Glass Walker CEO via Kessler is potentially valid and not a trap option, I think maybe a combination of that and 'we have nukes' might be viable for swaying them.
Also on the subject of the Jamelia/Kessler talk, despite farming likes with my write-in, I'm pretty shit at actually capturing Jamelia's character, so if anyone has some good ideas about how to make the write-in better, I'd love to hear them rather than everyone just hugboxing
Also on the subject of the Jamelia/Kessler talk, despite farming likes with my write-in, I'm pretty shit at actually capturing Jamelia's character, so if anyone has some good ideas about how to make the write-in better, I'd love to hear them rather than everyone just hugboxing
[X] Spirit 4->5
[X] Correspondence 3->4 (Multitasking), Mind 0->1, Life 0->2
[X] Entropy 0->2
[X] Mind 3->4 (Do You Like The New Me?)
[X] Dimensional Science 3->4 (If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It)
This seems like it will provide our characters with a good selection of expanded capabilities. I am particularly happy with the way that this will expand the ability of our construct to deal with Spirits / EDEs.
[X] Correspondence 3->4 (Multitasking), Mind 0->1, Life 0->2
[X] Entropy 0->2
[X] Mind 3->4 (Do You Like The New Me?)
[X] Dimensional Science 3->4 (If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It)
This seems like it will provide our characters with a good selection of expanded capabilities. I am particularly happy with the way that this will expand the ability of our construct to deal with Spirits / EDEs.
Okaaaaaaaaay, before people start voting...
... how about people actually talk about what they want the characters to be able to do, what they see their capabilities being, and what they think are the useful ones to have? Rather than just putting up justification-less votes just 'cuz.
For Donald... hmm. I do hear the lure of "I'm a pentuple Adept". But on the other hand, both Primal Utility 5 and Spirit 5 have some very neat things in them (of course, you can only get one, and with the DSci 3 people around it's not like its spirit Perma-killing is so distinctive). Either way, Donald's things should take account of the fact that he's primarily a support mage and the tactical and strategic utility it brings the team.
For Rose? Time 3 is, I think, vital because Rose is a fightain' mage and that means gotta go fast gotta have all the actions. But as for the rest, hmm. Interesting choice. Again, this may well say things about her future character development as well.
... how about people actually talk about what they want the characters to be able to do, what they see their capabilities being, and what they think are the useful ones to have? Rather than just putting up justification-less votes just 'cuz.
For Donald... hmm. I do hear the lure of "I'm a pentuple Adept". But on the other hand, both Primal Utility 5 and Spirit 5 have some very neat things in them (of course, you can only get one, and with the DSci 3 people around it's not like its spirit Perma-killing is so distinctive). Either way, Donald's things should take account of the fact that he's primarily a support mage and the tactical and strategic utility it brings the team.
For Rose? Time 3 is, I think, vital because Rose is a fightain' mage and that means gotta go fast gotta have all the actions. But as for the rest, hmm. Interesting choice. Again, this may well say things about her future character development as well.
Ginger Maniac
Subject to Gravity
- Location
- Old Blighty
I kind of like the idea of DSci 4, just for the speciality. That said, I don't have a clue how it differs from DSci 3, so it would be a purely rule-of-cool choice rather than anything properly informed.
Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
I agree that I think Time 3 is essential for Rose. Beyond that, though, I'm definitely looking at options that speak to future character development- and while Mind 4 is powerful, the specialty on it is very worrying so I'm a bit of a mind (ha!) to avoid it.
Life 5 would let her, among other things, stop caring about little things like conservation of mass when she shapeshifts. Yes, that means she could use it to TURN INTO A DRAGON. A VAMPIRE DRAGON. A VAMPRAGON.
For Donald, Primal Utility 5 shares a lot in common with Prime 5- such as being able to turn living, hostile enemies into primal energy via disintegrator rays, or turning their heads in to collect a bounty or whatever. It also allows stupidly large monetary investitures and would put Donald up there with the top brass of the Syndicate.
However for a support mage, Time 5 is also potentially amazing- it lets you step out of time, step into the future, become immune to timeline changes, remember different timelines, and travel through time. Time travel as we well know is horrendously vulgar, but the ability for Donald to save-scum with it is potentially invaluable.
But that's just the mechanics. These two choices, I feel, represent the fork in the path for Donald. Primal Utility represents Donald the Syndic, while Time represents Donald the Traditionalist. Spirit serves as a sort of middle path- blurring the lines between the two.
Narratively, the choice is important because I think it will serve to resolve Donald's conflict between who he was, who he joined the Technocracy to be- and who he is now.
Life 5 would let her, among other things, stop caring about little things like conservation of mass when she shapeshifts. Yes, that means she could use it to TURN INTO A DRAGON. A VAMPIRE DRAGON. A VAMPRAGON.
For Donald, Primal Utility 5 shares a lot in common with Prime 5- such as being able to turn living, hostile enemies into primal energy via disintegrator rays, or turning their heads in to collect a bounty or whatever. It also allows stupidly large monetary investitures and would put Donald up there with the top brass of the Syndicate.
However for a support mage, Time 5 is also potentially amazing- it lets you step out of time, step into the future, become immune to timeline changes, remember different timelines, and travel through time. Time travel as we well know is horrendously vulgar, but the ability for Donald to save-scum with it is potentially invaluable.
But that's just the mechanics. These two choices, I feel, represent the fork in the path for Donald. Primal Utility represents Donald the Syndic, while Time represents Donald the Traditionalist. Spirit serves as a sort of middle path- blurring the lines between the two.
Narratively, the choice is important because I think it will serve to resolve Donald's conflict between who he was, who he joined the Technocracy to be- and who he is now.
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I should note here that the DSci and Mind specialties Rose can get line up very well with her new Virtue and Vice, respectively. In that sense, I think the Mind upgrade should be avoided, as it would exacerbate the issues she already has with her deconditioning. On the other hand, the Dsci upgrade emphasizes both her newfound Reinaness (killing invaders from beyond) and her new Virtue (killing things she shouldn't be able to.)
That Entropy specialty for Donald also worries me, but more in the sense that I'm not exactly sure what it implies. That specialty in multitasking, on the other hand, seems more or less vanilla.
As for the actual Spheres, I'll leave discussion of that to the people who know Mage.
That Entropy specialty for Donald also worries me, but more in the sense that I'm not exactly sure what it implies. That specialty in multitasking, on the other hand, seems more or less vanilla.
As for the actual Spheres, I'll leave discussion of that to the people who know Mage.
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- Location
- The end of all things
Does Donald have a lot more magical XP to spend than Rose? His total sphere gain from this will be substantially greater than hers.
NonSequtur
a body
Donald
[-] Correspondence 3->4 (Multitasking), Mind 0->1, Life 0->2
I figure if we're going to push the Machine Man angle in the Seeking, we might as well get the spheres that enable it. Mind to focus himself, Life to keep himself from falling apart physically, and Correspondence (Multitasking) to make any roll where he's doing too many things at once more effective if it has a Corr component (and as a support mage, it probably will). Corr 4 allows for pocket dimensions, curled up spaces, colocation and portals.
So yeah, this one's got my vote.
[ ] Entropy 1->4 (Narrative Inevitability)
Moar Entropy. Given Jamelia's druthers I don't think I need to explain this, and it's doubly useful if Jamelia is being stupid and going in as a field agent so Donald can support the people no longer covered by her Entropy procedures. Also that specialty is... intriguing, for a realist Syndic. I'm really tempted by this one, but could be swayed to vote for...
[ ] Forces 0->3, Mind 0->1
Not sure if this would give him Mind 2 if paired with the Corr vote, but if so, Mind 2 and Forces 3 ain't bad? Friction Kniiiife
I guess I'm not too good at selling this lol.
[ ] Time 4->5
Za Warudo, Freezing Others in Time and Back to the Future, basically.
[ ] Primal Utility 4->5
If this were Prime, it'd be permanent enchantments on basically anything, including turning living things into matrices, rip Primal energy out of anything, easy prime regen, and Paradox mitigation. Make Nodes, if you're a daredevil.
But this is PU so take it with a grain of salt.
[ ] Spirit 4->5
Fucking with the Deep Universe/Far Umbra in (relative) safety. Killing Spirits. Create Spirits. Alter Spirits. Create Realms. Maybe a Pseudo-Format Space thing at higher Corr? Maybe Gilgul at higher Mind? ???
Rose
[ ] Correspondence 0->2
You want to do anything at a distance? You want to scry or have 360 spacial perception? This is your sphere. Also if you want to stop people from looking at you using Corr. Unfortunately, Bans require 3.
[ ] Entropy 0->2
Given Jamelia, I don't think I need to explain this. Basic luck manipulation and sensing, but perhaps more importantly, Entropy defences.
[ ] Matter 0->2
Basic transmutation. Make stuff weaker, stronger, sense chemical composition and gross structure. Turn water into wine (if you're a deviant Chorister).
[ ] Time 1->3
Slowing time, speeding time, time wards, time rewind (risky). Very useful for combat, and gives counterpredictive measures to boot.
[ ] Forces 2->3
Transmute forces. Turn speed into heat, or vice versa. Turn electricity into a sonic boom or sound into electricity. Friction knife.
[ ] Mind 3->4 (Do You Like The New Me?)
Memory wipes, possession, astral projection.
[ ] Dimensional Science 3->4 (If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It)
Not sure. Maybe some Gauntlet stuff. Raise it, lower it, that kind of thing. I think Format Space is at this level of DSci, but needs more Corr. Maybe some stuff to do with Umbral travel, I don't know.
[ ] Life 4->5
Perfect transmutation of... basically anything living.
[-] Correspondence 3->4 (Multitasking), Mind 0->1, Life 0->2
I figure if we're going to push the Machine Man angle in the Seeking, we might as well get the spheres that enable it. Mind to focus himself, Life to keep himself from falling apart physically, and Correspondence (Multitasking) to make any roll where he's doing too many things at once more effective if it has a Corr component (and as a support mage, it probably will). Corr 4 allows for pocket dimensions, curled up spaces, colocation and portals.
So yeah, this one's got my vote.
[ ] Entropy 1->4 (Narrative Inevitability)
Moar Entropy. Given Jamelia's druthers I don't think I need to explain this, and it's doubly useful if Jamelia is being stupid and going in as a field agent so Donald can support the people no longer covered by her Entropy procedures. Also that specialty is... intriguing, for a realist Syndic. I'm really tempted by this one, but could be swayed to vote for...
[ ] Forces 0->3, Mind 0->1
Not sure if this would give him Mind 2 if paired with the Corr vote, but if so, Mind 2 and Forces 3 ain't bad? Friction Kniiiife
I guess I'm not too good at selling this lol.
[ ] Time 4->5
Za Warudo, Freezing Others in Time and Back to the Future, basically.
[ ] Primal Utility 4->5
If this were Prime, it'd be permanent enchantments on basically anything, including turning living things into matrices, rip Primal energy out of anything, easy prime regen, and Paradox mitigation. Make Nodes, if you're a daredevil.
But this is PU so take it with a grain of salt.
[ ] Spirit 4->5
Fucking with the Deep Universe/Far Umbra in (relative) safety. Killing Spirits. Create Spirits. Alter Spirits. Create Realms. Maybe a Pseudo-Format Space thing at higher Corr? Maybe Gilgul at higher Mind? ???
Rose
[ ] Correspondence 0->2
You want to do anything at a distance? You want to scry or have 360 spacial perception? This is your sphere. Also if you want to stop people from looking at you using Corr. Unfortunately, Bans require 3.
[ ] Entropy 0->2
Given Jamelia, I don't think I need to explain this. Basic luck manipulation and sensing, but perhaps more importantly, Entropy defences.
[ ] Matter 0->2
Basic transmutation. Make stuff weaker, stronger, sense chemical composition and gross structure. Turn water into wine (if you're a deviant Chorister).
[ ] Time 1->3
Slowing time, speeding time, time wards, time rewind (risky). Very useful for combat, and gives counterpredictive measures to boot.
[ ] Forces 2->3
Transmute forces. Turn speed into heat, or vice versa. Turn electricity into a sonic boom or sound into electricity. Friction knife.
[ ] Mind 3->4 (Do You Like The New Me?)
Memory wipes, possession, astral projection.
[ ] Dimensional Science 3->4 (If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It)
Not sure. Maybe some Gauntlet stuff. Raise it, lower it, that kind of thing. I think Format Space is at this level of DSci, but needs more Corr. Maybe some stuff to do with Umbral travel, I don't know.
[ ] Life 4->5
Perfect transmutation of... basically anything living.
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notanautomaton
I've got 99 quests, I've finished one
For Donald, I think we should get PU 5, as that allows FUN THINGS. Like creating nodes, so we will never ever run low on Quintessence again. Or spending Quintessence to reduce Paradox. Want Kessler to go wild with the plasma cannon? Want Rose to turn herself into a dragon and Jamelia into a Tiger, so they can FIGHT CRIME? Now you don't need to worry about pesky things like reality breaking down when you do so! You can even set this up ahead of time with a simple PU 5/Time 4/Corr 2/Entropy 1 effect.
For his other upgrade, I'm leaning towards either the Corr or the Entropy, as Donald should probably never be in the front lines, making the Forces suboptimal. The Corr is nice because it lets him do the work of ten men and be in multiple places at once, which is amazing. The Entropy is good because... well it's Entropy. The sphere is freakin' amazing
For Rose... I'm going to say Life, because Master level spheres are 3op4me. Paticularly Life, which lets us swarm our enemies with constructs. I'm torn between Dsci 4 and Time 3, because both are really good. However, we have a lot of Dsci mages, and Time is really really good on a front-line combatant, so I'm going to have to go with Time 3.
So my vote comes out to:
[x] Primal Utility 4->5
[x] Entropy 1->4 (Narrative Inevitability)
[x] Life 4->5
[x] Time 1->3
For his other upgrade, I'm leaning towards either the Corr or the Entropy, as Donald should probably never be in the front lines, making the Forces suboptimal. The Corr is nice because it lets him do the work of ten men and be in multiple places at once, which is amazing. The Entropy is good because... well it's Entropy. The sphere is freakin' amazing
Narrative inevitability is a Syndic concept. Since the Syndicate controls the mass media, they can subconciously influence people into acting according to narrative roles. This can often strain believability, but no one cares because the Syndicate are basically Hermetics that do money magic. It's not reality deviancy.
I'd say that PU is Technocratic, Time is middle, and Spirit is Traditionalist. Because, you know, Spirit is a proscribed sphere and all that.
For Rose... I'm going to say Life, because Master level spheres are 3op4me. Paticularly Life, which lets us swarm our enemies with constructs. I'm torn between Dsci 4 and Time 3, because both are really good. However, we have a lot of Dsci mages, and Time is really really good on a front-line combatant, so I'm going to have to go with Time 3.
So my vote comes out to:
[x] Primal Utility 4->5
[x] Entropy 1->4 (Narrative Inevitability)
[x] Life 4->5
[x] Time 1->3
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...Also, regarding Rose's character development...
When Serafina removed Rose's memories of finding out about Threat Null for the Tribunal, did she actually remove them, or just suppress them? (And when it comes to Mind rotes, is there a difference?) I'm asking this because with her recent emotional turmoil regarding Serafina, having those memories restored would be a big deal, and if they were extracted and stored externally, the recordings were almost certainly lost in the construct assault.
(On the other hand, maybe Harlan could restore them anyway, because blah blah psychic blah.)
When Serafina removed Rose's memories of finding out about Threat Null for the Tribunal, did she actually remove them, or just suppress them? (And when it comes to Mind rotes, is there a difference?) I'm asking this because with her recent emotional turmoil regarding Serafina, having those memories restored would be a big deal, and if they were extracted and stored externally, the recordings were almost certainly lost in the construct assault.
(On the other hand, maybe Harlan could restore them anyway, because blah blah psychic blah.)
Sirrocco
Pedantic
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Random thought... As far as keeping the Spy's Demise from becoming too literal goes, that "turn your enemies into cold, hard cash" (say, by stripping their bodies of all of their conceptual technical doodads, and turning them into something worthwhile) sounds *awfully* useful.
Rose probably spent a bunch of xp at the beginning to buy off Conditioning and to make Thorn friendlier. Also, Reina stole all the xp from the pre-Demise bit of the adventure.
Remember the bit in Serafina's story where we burned the PE that the Resident dropped? Same thing applies here - sure we can use the spirits as fuel, but the prime energy they give is will have nasty Autopolitan resonance.
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- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Donald:
[X] Correspondence 3->4 (Multitasking), Mind 0->1, Life 0->2
[X] Primal Utility 4->5
Rose: Choose three. She may master a single sphere at the cost of two choices.
[X] Time 1->3
[X] Mind 3->4 (Do You Like The New Me?)
[X] Dimensional Science 3->4 (If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It)
Life 5 is tempting, but Time 3, Mind 4, and DSci 4 feel like a better road for Rose.
[X] Correspondence 3->4 (Multitasking), Mind 0->1, Life 0->2
[X] Primal Utility 4->5
Rose: Choose three. She may master a single sphere at the cost of two choices.
[X] Time 1->3
[X] Mind 3->4 (Do You Like The New Me?)
[X] Dimensional Science 3->4 (If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It)
Life 5 is tempting, but Time 3, Mind 4, and DSci 4 feel like a better road for Rose.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/They
Donald Magical XP Vote:
[-] Entropy 1->4 (Narrative Inevitability)
[-] Correspondence 3->4 (Multitasking), Mind 0->1, Life 0->2
[x] Primal Utility 4->5
I could go for either Entropy 4 or Corr+Mind+Life.
For Entropy, "narrative inevitability" is a bit of a weird focus (I assume it works something along the lines of "Donald perceives himself/the team to fit a fictional archetype of some sort and therefore this happens because it fits the archetype", but it would still greatly increase his ability to act in support with things like hypereconomics or persuading other people if we need Jamelia in the field. Plus Entropy 4 means he can affect living things, so it might actually make him be able to cast effects like forcing A-Team Firing on our opponents ("Obviously we're the protagonists so they're not going to be able to hit you!").
OTOH others have already made the case for Corr+Mind+Life pretty well
Primal Utility 5 is something we definitely want to get. We can create nodes so we basically don't need to worry about Quintessence ever again (Donald has a pretty high Resources score so he can create high-level Nodes), and can spend Quintessance to nullify Paradox and create permanent Devices, which is just sweet as hell. Also, from a group standpoint Donald is the only guy we have who can even get close to Primal Utility 5, so if we pass this up we're probably never getting a chance to get it again. OTOH we have several people with some amount of DSci expertise, which is just as useful in fighting the Threat Null. It's not like we need to gilgul a Nephandi or have Donald create a spirit anytime soon (Creating a soul for an AI might be useful but I don't think Donald would have the right paradigm and focus for that)
Rose Magical XP Vote:
[x] Time 1->3
[x] Entropy 0->2
[x] Dimensional Science 3->4 (If It Bleeds, We Can Kill I)
Rose is a field combat character, no doubt about it, so these spheres that enhance her ability to kill things in general and Threat Null things in specific are probably best. Life 5 is tempting but given that Rose isn't a lab character and Life 5 is almost entirely centered around creating Life I'm not sure how useful it is (plus if we get Serafina back there's no point in Rose having it). The other effect Life 5 gives you is being able to change into any living form as opposed to just ones that would be reasonable for your size and what not, but I don't think Rose's paradigm supports her, say, transforming into a fly.
[-] Entropy 1->4 (Narrative Inevitability)
[-] Correspondence 3->4 (Multitasking), Mind 0->1, Life 0->2
[x] Primal Utility 4->5
I could go for either Entropy 4 or Corr+Mind+Life.
For Entropy, "narrative inevitability" is a bit of a weird focus (I assume it works something along the lines of "Donald perceives himself/the team to fit a fictional archetype of some sort and therefore this happens because it fits the archetype", but it would still greatly increase his ability to act in support with things like hypereconomics or persuading other people if we need Jamelia in the field. Plus Entropy 4 means he can affect living things, so it might actually make him be able to cast effects like forcing A-Team Firing on our opponents ("Obviously we're the protagonists so they're not going to be able to hit you!").
OTOH others have already made the case for Corr+Mind+Life pretty well
Primal Utility 5 is something we definitely want to get. We can create nodes so we basically don't need to worry about Quintessence ever again (Donald has a pretty high Resources score so he can create high-level Nodes), and can spend Quintessance to nullify Paradox and create permanent Devices, which is just sweet as hell. Also, from a group standpoint Donald is the only guy we have who can even get close to Primal Utility 5, so if we pass this up we're probably never getting a chance to get it again. OTOH we have several people with some amount of DSci expertise, which is just as useful in fighting the Threat Null. It's not like we need to gilgul a Nephandi or have Donald create a spirit anytime soon (Creating a soul for an AI might be useful but I don't think Donald would have the right paradigm and focus for that)
Rose Magical XP Vote:
[x] Time 1->3
[x] Entropy 0->2
[x] Dimensional Science 3->4 (If It Bleeds, We Can Kill I)
Rose is a field combat character, no doubt about it, so these spheres that enhance her ability to kill things in general and Threat Null things in specific are probably best. Life 5 is tempting but given that Rose isn't a lab character and Life 5 is almost entirely centered around creating Life I'm not sure how useful it is (plus if we get Serafina back there's no point in Rose having it). The other effect Life 5 gives you is being able to change into any living form as opposed to just ones that would be reasonable for your size and what not, but I don't think Rose's paradigm supports her, say, transforming into a fly.
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FunkyEntropy
Occasionally insightful, possibly grumpy
- Location
- Los Angeles
Rose is rather easy for me: Time 3 and either (a) Life 5 or (b) Entropy 2 and (c1) Forces 3 or (c2) Dimensional Science 4. I'm wary of the sort of character development Rose would have to undergo to rationalize Life 5; OTOH the other stuff is basically turning her into an even more efficient killing machine. DS 4 would be quite handy given all the evil space ghosts we're going to have to deal with in the endgame.
Donald I'm not so sure about. Entropy 4 would be fabulous on a support mage. PU 5 sounds like it could do amazing things for us. I can kind of see that narrative utility of him having picked up PU 5 to help keep the Spy's Demise and Rose running while she grabbed DS 4 to better murder machine spirits or AIs or whatever the fuck they're dealing with.
Donald I'm not so sure about. Entropy 4 would be fabulous on a support mage. PU 5 sounds like it could do amazing things for us. I can kind of see that narrative utility of him having picked up PU 5 to help keep the Spy's Demise and Rose running while she grabbed DS 4 to better murder machine spirits or AIs or whatever the fuck they're dealing with.
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Quantumboost
Now with 50% more dots in Dimensional Science
- Location
- Ensemble Space
Okay, so, in terms of what the Sphere levels mean for the particular Mages, starting with Rose:
Rose's paradigm is a combination of Progenitor doctor and vampire, the latter of which opens up a lot of options for her that isn't typical for the Convention. For instance, she could leave her body behind to astrally project with Mind 4 (or Astral Sojourn to the Middle Umbra with Mind 4/DSci 3) despite Progenitors generally thinking that the mind is innately a part of the body, because she can use vampire powers and that's a thing Auspex does. That lets her act as a field agent in alternate dimensions more effectively due to not taking HORRIBLE STORM DAMAGE, while still being a terrifying moepire murder machine (which is not a niche Harlan fills, being a psychic commando who doesn't usually heal from damage super quickly).
Correspondence lets her act as support, which we already have lots of people to do. Time lets her Celerity into bullshit speed (and adds her to the list of people who can cast "implant synaptic booster"). Entropy would let her see if people are lying (she's a good judge of character, this amplifies that). Matter lets her doctor at cyborgs effectively, which might be useful if she's in the field with Elsa or Henriette. It also plays off one of the few things she has that are hers, i.e. "being a really really good doctor". Entropy, well, it might help her counteract Roseluck.
Life would let her Vicissitude other people into drastically nonhuman forms (which is not a thing I want to see Rose doing) and Protean herself into an animal without losing herself (which Mind 4 can also plausibly do; since I favor Mind for her, this is consequently not that useful).
Similarly, Dimensional Science 4 doesn't do much for her. It lets her vortex people into other dimensions, make herself shift in paradigms (as an Exemplar-series, she's built to go into alt-paradigm spaces and survive), and stay herself at a cost of 1PE/day extra in the Otherworlds, which starts at three months. I see no reason to choose this when we already have two Scientists with Spirit 4.
So for Rose I'm going to go:
[X] Matter 0->2
[X] Time 1->3
[X] Mind 3->4 (Do You Like The New Me?)
Rose's paradigm is a combination of Progenitor doctor and vampire, the latter of which opens up a lot of options for her that isn't typical for the Convention. For instance, she could leave her body behind to astrally project with Mind 4 (or Astral Sojourn to the Middle Umbra with Mind 4/DSci 3) despite Progenitors generally thinking that the mind is innately a part of the body, because she can use vampire powers and that's a thing Auspex does. That lets her act as a field agent in alternate dimensions more effectively due to not taking HORRIBLE STORM DAMAGE, while still being a terrifying moepire murder machine (which is not a niche Harlan fills, being a psychic commando who doesn't usually heal from damage super quickly).
Correspondence lets her act as support, which we already have lots of people to do. Time lets her Celerity into bullshit speed (and adds her to the list of people who can cast "implant synaptic booster"). Entropy would let her see if people are lying (she's a good judge of character, this amplifies that). Matter lets her doctor at cyborgs effectively, which might be useful if she's in the field with Elsa or Henriette. It also plays off one of the few things she has that are hers, i.e. "being a really really good doctor". Entropy, well, it might help her counteract Roseluck.
Life would let her Vicissitude other people into drastically nonhuman forms (which is not a thing I want to see Rose doing) and Protean herself into an animal without losing herself (which Mind 4 can also plausibly do; since I favor Mind for her, this is consequently not that useful).
Similarly, Dimensional Science 4 doesn't do much for her. It lets her vortex people into other dimensions, make herself shift in paradigms (as an Exemplar-series, she's built to go into alt-paradigm spaces and survive), and stay herself at a cost of 1PE/day extra in the Otherworlds, which starts at three months. I see no reason to choose this when we already have two Scientists with Spirit 4.
So for Rose I'm going to go:
[X] Matter 0->2
[X] Time 1->3
[X] Mind 3->4 (Do You Like The New Me?)
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Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
Don't think of corr for Rose as a support character sphere. Corr 2 would mainly see use as a conjunctional effect. I mean at corr 1 she'd have perfect 360 degree blindsense, which is very solid, but at 2 she'd be able to use life or matter to pull things out of her pocket on demand, not to mention using corr to countermagick or other neat things.
Quantumboost
Now with 50% more dots in Dimensional Science
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Hm. Point taken. I can see it in that case, though not above Time 3 and certainly not above Matter. I suspect the apporting limitations mean Rose would be better off in most cases just spawning whatever Basic Life from her flesh.
For Donald, I want Spirit. It's a remnant of his CoX days, and stands a good chance of letting him synthesize those with his current paradigm. I think it's the most effective way to break the Enlightenment 6 ceiling. Spirit 5 lets you forge spirits outright, with whatever qualities you like. It also lets you perceive Avatars, which may aid that whole E6 thing, and is probably here because of the "perceiving Janice as Amy" thing. It lets you go to and survive in the Deep Universe, which we may need to do again at some point for reasons, or use it to get favors from the Void Engineers by retrofitting things with Deep Universe capability.
Primal Utility 5 is a close second, because it lets him create permanent 'blessings' on living things, like cyberware or other persistent things. It also allows counteracting Paradox, which would give him a definite niche as a support dude since he can just go 'pour all the Primal Energy to make Paradox ignore us' while giggling.
I can see how Time 5 would be useful sometimes, but it just... isn't really that much. He can time travel, or ZA WARUDO, or possibly scry all of time forward and backward in a moment of perfect comprehension. Which is rad to experience but not really... useful. He can already freeze people and go into superslowtime, that's not new, and time travel is almost always a terrible idea.
Mind 1 is a must in my opinion, especially given all the mind-control that's been thrown around. Donald can already laserblast Matter patterns, Forces is kinda meh for me, so I'm gonna go with Corr 4 and Life 2 here (for commisioning mat-trans and Voidcasts, effectively being in multiple places at once especially in the Web, self-healing, and being super fit).
Entropy... loses to the combination of "Mastery in a Sphere" and "Jamelia already Entropies everywhere", in my mind. It would be a solid third choice, we just don't have three choices here.
[X] Correspondence 3->4 (Multitasking), Mind 0->1, Life 0->2
[X] Spirit 4->5