Remove ads

Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)

Reader mode
[X] Coil – You may have been hurt by Coil's dirty trick, but there are rules for capes, and you won't stoop to his level. Bring him to his knees and pretend to be surprised about who he really is.

Going after him as Calvert is so far beyond insane no words exist for how insane it is. Go after a trusted PRT consultant. In his own home. Without warning.

I'm sorry, but since when have we wanted to become an official Enemy of the State?

Meanwhile, the only argument I can see for going after Bakuda? Requires meta knowledge. In character, Taylor has no idea how bad it could get if Bakuda goes off the reservation entirely, so going after her based off of that is inherently null and void as a choice, in my opinion. Any arguments about bomb implantation, or indiscriminate bombing of Chicago? We have no reason to suspect those in character.

Not to mention it feels like we're woefully understaffed for an assault on a Tinker's lab...​
 
MaskedCritic said:
Meanwhile, the only argument I can see for going after Bakuda? Requires meta knowledge. In character, Taylor has no idea how bad it could get if Bakuda goes off the reservation entirely, so going after her based off of that is inherently null and void as a choice, in my opinion. Any arguments about bomb implantation, or indiscriminate bombing of Chicago? We have no reason to suspect those in character.

Not to mention it feels like we're woefully understaffed for an assault on a Tinker's lab...​
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Hmm... I think I can justify it.

Calvert we don't know what his power is, but he's PROBABLY not a tinker. We might even have intel that he's probably a thinker. Thinkers seem like the type to cut and run instead of hold their ground when confronted. Even if he does, we know his civ ID and can chase him down.

Tinkers like Bakuda? They KNOW they're strongest in their workshops. So she will absolutely hole up and trap the hell out of her base if she knows we're after them. It's a matter of whether we want to deal with her defenses as they are, or that PLUS whatever she throws together as a desperation play.
 
Last edited:
Dalxein said:
Tinkers like Bakuda? They KNOW they're strongest in their workshops. So she will absolutely hole up and trap the hell out of her base if she knows we're after them. It's a matter of whether we want to deal with her defenses as they are, or that PLUS whatever she throws together as a desperation play.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Except we only know that because Chevalier just taught us that right before the end of the chapter. It's still in short-term memory, we haven't fully internalized that yet. Until he said something? We didn't think Tinkers would be worse in their labs, as evidenced by us trying to split the party.

Although having said that, that's a stronger argument FOR going after Bakuda, as we haven't internalized the (very sensible) fear of assaulting a Tinker in their Lab.
 
MaskedCritic said:
Except we only know that because Chevalier just taught us that right before the end of the chapter. Until he said something? We didn't think Tinkers would be worse in their labs
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Uhh.... what? Putting aside for a moment that we know Tim and have likely seen some of the projects he keeps around, and the possibility we'd visited Dragon's lair at least once (when seeing where Tim moved in or doing the Unity transfer) ....

There is still PHO. And public-relations talk. And probably some cartoons about the more famous ones.

"Tinkers are Bullshit" seemed like it was pretty common culture for Worm, and not just an unusual insight of long experience fighting them? Crafter-types are generally considered one of the strongest sources of power by anyone who's played any kind of creative game, and "villains are strong in lairs" tends to show up in most all fiction? (Not least any with wizards or mad scientists).

Besides, this is not the first time we've met a Tinker. Even if you don't want to count the Simurgh cobbling together an anti-cape-field from scrap metal (because Endbringers don't count), we've had direct experience with Squealer and seen the unholy contraption she called a Tank (built on a slum-gangsters budget). Even tore into it by layers somewhat. Lair or not it pretty well reinforces "Tinkers are Bullshit" combined with, you know....having any idea what a Tinker even IS.

But enough about just one complaint.... I'm wondering just how much strategizing one can really do in a quest if you go too far with "in-character only". Not tracking down Calvert the moment he entered Philly, instead waiting until after our house was bombed and we saw mooks in familiar uniforms? Thats in-character. Deciding which enemies to attack in a particular scene, or which plotline and NPCs we want to go with for our vote... what would decisions even be based on without player knowledge? How would the initial Purity questline have worked (let alone the redemption offer in the Breakout) if players weren't familiar with some of the truth beyond this Nazi Warrior actually being salvageable and on the outs already?

Besides, we DO know some things about Bakuda and their threat level. We saw what they did to our entire building (clearly not getting caught either, and not needing to place it by hand since we saw mooks do it). We've heard some from Dragon in the past about Bakuda's initial triggering and rampage, even. AND, the way voting is in this quest..... its pretty obvious that if the PLAYERS are panicked over Bakuda going pzycho and focus on them over Coil, then when the scene actually starts we'd likely get some kind of update from Dragon (who was already looking into them, again) on their threat level and make the discussion and decision on-screen as well.

Exactly like we /just saw/ the results of our choices about who to invite come from Samantha, not Taylor, in this scene... and the Chevalier vote resulting in him appearing without an invitation from either.
 
Time to bring this one to a close. And you decided to go after the Tinker in her own base. The bomb Tinker.

Good thing you have the element of surprise on your side, isn't it?
Adhoc vote count started by Silently Watches on May 31, 2018 at 7:06 PM, finished with 15803 posts and 51 votes.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Silently Watches said:
Time to bring this one to a close. And you decided to go after the Tinker in her own base. The bomb Tinker.

Good thing you have the element of surprise on your side, isn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It isn't what _I_ voted for, but then again, I voted for Gary Johnson and look who we have as President.
Why do I get the feeling that this is in the forecast, and we get to see what happens when Calamity Witch is killed?
 
SlickRCBD said:
It isn't what _I_ voted for, but then again, I voted for Gary Johnson and look who we have as President.
Why do I get the feeling that this is in the forecast, and we get to see what happens when Calamity Witch is killed?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I'm pretty sure that should be our goal. I honestly can see no way that everyone makes it out of Bakuda's Lab alive if we don't just Nuke It From Orbit.

I will say this, though: that potential sensory fuckup from a pain bomb (like in canon) is kinda tempting...
 
So you're suggesting something along the lines of this plan?
[sarcasm]
[X] Plan "Only way to be sure"
  1. Have Samantha teleport us near but still below the Armstrong Limit over the base in Chicago.
  2. Scan for and lock onto Bakuda's position.
  3. Charge and fire Ragnarok! with Bakuda at ground zero.
  4. Have Samantha teleport us home and put Calamity Witch to bed.
  5. Samantha teleports the rest of the party minus Calamity Witch to search the ruined base for survivors.
[/sarcasm]
This is not a real vote, consider it a mini-omake
 
Last edited:
SlickRCBD said:
So you're suggesting something along the lines of this plan?
[sarcasm]
[X] Plan "Only way to be sure"
  1. Have Samantha teleport us near but still below the Armstrong Limit over the base in Chicago.
  2. Scan for and lock onto Bakuda's position.
  3. Charge and fire Ragnarok! with Bakuda at ground zero.
  4. Have Samantha teleport us home and put Calamity Witch to bed.
  5. Samantha teleports the rest of the party minus Calamity Witch to search the ruined base for survivors.
[/sarcasm]
This is not a real vote, consider it a mini-omake
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Can YOU think of a safer way to take out a fortified facility with an unknown layout that is booby trapped with enough explosives that they could replace the load-bearing structures and leave the building intact? Because I can't.

There is no such thing as overkill; there is only "Open fire!" and "I need to reload!"
 
MaskedCritic said:
Can YOU think of a safer way to take out a fortified facility with an unknown layout that is booby trapped with enough explosives that they could replace the load-bearing structures and leave the building intact? Because I can't.

There is no such thing as overkill; there is only "Open fire!" and "I need to reload!"
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Okay strategic genius, now explain how we're going to explain reducing multiple blocks of Chicago to melted rubble from orbit to, well, anyone who gets to see it. Which is going to be everybody, 'cos I'm pretty sure Recursion Field ain't got that kind of range and I don't think Bakuda qualifies for entry anyway.

Look, going after Bakuda is dangerous yeah, but removing her from play keeps Coil from using her as leverage in the endgame. And we do have the element of surprise (so long as Silently isn't a total asshole and doesn't pull some kind of lolCoil keikaku bullshit) which is better than leaving her for last and letting her prepare the field for us. And hell, maybe I'm wrong and Bakuda would get RF'd in which case RF-then-nuke becomes a viable option.
 
Concerning bring Bakuda, a Tinker into the Recursion Field.
Specifically highlighted in Bold.
The FAQ said:
Capes with these kinds of powers ARE brought into Recursion Field: altered elemental composition, energy-based states, shapeshifters, touch-based and area-based exotic effects, telekinesis or pyrokinesis or any other -kinesis, energy blasts, projected forcefields, power nullifiers or enhancers or manipulators, telepathic control of other organisms, regenerators, teleporters, pre-cogs.

Capes with these kinds of powers ARE NOT brought into Recursion Field: advanced technology, passive thought or emotion manipulation, superstrength, superdurability, analytical superthinking, enhanced senses, flight, superspeed.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I don't think using RF is going to work here.
Can we just Ring Bind and then blast her?
 
SlickRCBD said:
[sarcasm]
[X] Plan "Only way to be sure"
  1. Have Samantha teleport us near but still below the Armstrong Limit over the base in Chicago.
  2. Scan for and lock onto Bakuda's position.
  3. Charge and fire Ragnarok! with Bakuda at ground zero.
  4. Have Samantha teleport us home and put Calamity Witch to bed.
  5. Samantha teleports the rest of the party minus Calamity Witch to search the ruined base for survivors.
[/sarcasm]
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Ragnarok is surely overkill, but if you change it to Solar Wrath, it would be a good plan.
Of course, secondary explosions and Bakuda bombs' weird effects will destroy all the neighborhood, and we won't get Bakuda herself or her bombs for Tim, but it's still better than Vista cheekily stating that our friendship cost her an arm and a leg or PS searching a new body for Taylor.
 
MaskedCritic said:
I'm pretty sure that should be our goal. I honestly can see no way that everyone makes it out of Bakuda's Lab alive if we don't just Nuke It From Orbit.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Oh, there are ways. You just have to be smart enough to see them.
SlickRCBD said:
So you're suggesting something along the lines of this plan?
[sarcasm]
[X] Plan "Only way to be sure"
  1. Have Samantha teleport us near but still below the Armstrong Limit over the base in Chicago.
  2. Scan for and lock onto Bakuda's position.
  3. Charge and fire Ragnarok! with Bakuda at ground zero.
  4. Have Samantha teleport us home and put Calamity Witch to bed.
  5. Samantha teleports the rest of the party minus Calamity Witch to search the ruined base for survivors.
[/sarcasm]
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
:o:rolleyes: Yeah, no, let's not do that. That's a Bad Idea™ if I've ever heard one.
Mal-3 said:
so long as Silently isn't a total asshole and doesn't pull some kind of lolCoil keikaku bullshit
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I've been an asshole before, but rarely, and I'm never this much of an asshole.
Mal-3 said:
Okay strategic genius, now explain how we're going to explain reducing multiple blocks of Chicago to melted rubble from orbit to, well, anyone who gets to see it. Which is going to be everybody, 'cos I'm pretty sure Recursion Field ain't got that kind of range and I don't think Bakuda qualifies for entry anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
RADIOACTIVE melted rubble at that.
landcollector said:
Somehow, unleashing a nuclear detonation-grade blast in a major city outside of Recursion Field seems... ill-advised, to understate the matter.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Listen to this guy. He knows what he's talking about.
Shaseyu said:
but it's still better than Vista cheekily stating that our friendship cost her an arm and a leg
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
...Is it? Is it really?
veekie said:
Rust Shooter is your friend on a Tinker. General Rust pummelling
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
If only you had the Barrage upgrade for Rust Shooter...
 
Silently Watches said:
RADIOACTIVE melted rubble at that.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Hey, I never said it was a GOOD idea. Just a SAFE one. For us, anyways.

Trying to take out Bakuda immediately, without all the backup we could EASILY get if we went after her AFTER taking down Coil, is an immensely BAD IDEA to begin with. It's up there with starting a plan by asking "What's the worst that could happen?" or looking at the dust cloud left after blasting the shit out of somebody and saying "There's no way ANYONE could have survived that!" Seriously.
 
landcollector said:
You think attacking an alert and angered Tinker after Coil will fare any better? Chances of that are very very slim.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I'm pretty sure that attacking Bakuda period is a huge risk, no matter how much backup we have, when we attack or whether we deal with Coil or not. Attacking her while she's unaware of us just lessens the risk by about 0.1%.
 
MaskedCritic said:
Trying to take out Bakuda immediately, without all the backup we could EASILY get if we went after her AFTER taking down Coil, is an immensely BAD IDEA to begin with. It's up there with starting a plan by asking "What's the worst that could happen?" or looking at the dust cloud left after blasting the shit out of somebody and saying "There's no way ANYONE could have survived that!" Seriously.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Do you know what the greatest weapon is when fighting Tinkers? The element of surprise.

I'll go ahead and spoil part of the AAR. Attacking Bakuda last carried the highest risk of character death. Like, by a long shot.
 
Oruzhiye said:
Concerning bring Bakuda, a Tinker into the Recursion Field.
Specifically highlighted in Bold.

I don't think using RF is going to work here.
Can we just Ring Bind and then blast her?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
at the risk of bringing up The Gamer haters, this would actually be a bonus for allowing us to crash our way through the base and into her workshop without setting off anything. If course, if she's not in the workshop, that's a problem, but hey...
 
Actually, using recursion field when there are no known people in the base that would be affected by it would still be a good idea. Would the normal people even know we used it in that scenario?
It would be great for reconnaissance, we go through, find all the traps and defenses, figure out the optimal way to disable the security, and drop the field at a location of our choice, allowing us to bypass some defenses since we don't have to break down the front door.
They probably have a plan for somebody teleporting into their base, which is what we would be doing, but it still would be better than having to fight our way in from the front door blindly.
Even if we don't, the chance for recon is extremely useful.

P.S. I can't believe anybody took "Plan Only Way to be Sure" seriously.
Although I do believe it would have worked. The only problem is the collateral damage. If we could have limited the AoE to the base, it would be another matter, but setting off a nuke in Chicago complete with radiation is a bad plan.
 
Last edited:
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top