THE INFINITE BROOD (Starcraft/Supreme Commander Crossover Quest!)

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THE SWARM SHEET
  • Informational
    • The Brood of Blades
    ​
    Cerebrate Prime: Samantha Clarke
    LEVEL: 5
    XP: 205/210
    TRAITS
    Strategic Genius: Once per structured encounter, Sam can create a piece of the environment that is in her favor as a sticky spark. Roll a d3 for its value.
    Empathetic: upon meeting an NPC, learn their motivation!
    Legendary Commander: Gain 4 Command sparks at the beginning of each mission/combat. Command sparks may be spent to give NPCs orders, which they may either obey or refuse to obey (doing nothing instead.) Command sparks may not be regained via skills or powers.
    Hunted: Something wants her - but for what? +1 Danger to all scenes​
    SKILLS
    CLOSE COMBAT (2): Brawling, Edged Weapons
    PERSONAL (2): Awareness, Resilience
    SOCIAL (4): Charm, Empathy, Leadership, Taunt​
    MASTERY
    ACU Pilot (2): Nanofabrication [Mass], ObSat Operations [Range]
    The Hilt (4): Biomorphic Spawning (People), Regeneration (Durability), Physical Perfection (Speed), Telepathic Dominion (Range)​

    POWERS
    The Living Swarm
    Vent: 4-0
    Effect: Gain 1 Living Swarm spark, +1 per vent reduction.​
    The Living Swarm: While this swarm exists, move in three dimensions and through anything smaller than a keyhole, reforming at will. You may expend these sparks to cause 3 Hit Sparks in a Area 2 radius.​
    Area Upgrade: +1 to Area Characteristic​

    Biomorphic Reinforcement
    Vent: 4-0
    Effect: Create 1 Biomorphic Reinforcement spark, +1 per vent reduction, which can be given out to anyone within Range 2, or to yourself
    Biomorphic Reinforcement: +1 to Damage or Mass characteristic for the purpose of raw physical strength/feats.

    Back to Back
    Vent: 4-0
    Effect: Choose 1 ally (+1 per vent reduction), within Range 1. Each can take one action using one of your skills, any of them that you wish. Once they have done so, you may make a free attack with your melee weapon, getting +1 to your skill per ally that acted.​

    Adaptation
    Vent: 4-0
    Effect: Create a number of sparks equal to the enemy's difficulty, narratively based on turning their abilities against them. Works on enemies of Diff 2>, +2 per vent reduction.​

    Just as Planned…
    Vent: 6-0
    Effect: Vent 6 heat and create 1 Planning Spark for her or an ally, +1 Spark per vent reduction.​
    Planning: The person holding this Spark can expend this to get +1 to a skill check as a free action. Using this Stack counts as you are helping for the purpose of relationships.​

    GEAR
    Zeratul's Psi-Blades
    Adds: +0 (Edged Weapons) | Characteristics: Damage [Speed] (4)[1]​
    Shadowstep (3): Can expend as a free action to move without crossing intervening space.
    Guarded Space (3): Can expend to use Damage as a secondary characteristic for Durability, reducing incoming Damage characteristics.​

    GALACTIC WAR
    Victory Points: 5    ​
    RESOURCES​
    TERRAN DOMINION [Background] (1)​
    The men and material of the Dominion - limited, but they're mustering as we speak. ​
    ALLIANCE EXPEDITIONARY FORCES [Mastery] (1)​
    While you have access to several ACUs of every faction, they lack economic and technological support to be fully effective. ​
    ZERG HIVE [Mastery] (1)​
    The scant few Zerg you control that are free of Amon's influence. Mostly Zerglings. ​
    AEON FLEET [Background] (1)​
    While half a dozen CZARs seem impressive, they're not actually well made for ship to ship combat. ​
    ALLIED COHESION [Motivation] (1)​
    The alliance is fragile and weak.​

    FRONTS​
    Trade Sector-34-51 [Pirate Activity]
    Pirates Raiding 6 (Supply Lines in Disarray 1)
    COMMAND: Jim Raynor | ARMY: Raynor's Raiders
    RESULTS: Pending

    Braxis [Zerg Invasion]
    Borealis Siege 6 (Zerg Rampage1)
    COMMAND: General Samantha Clarke | ARMY: Brood Clarke
    RESULTS: Pending

    Typhan II [Active Xel'Naga ACU]
    Typhan II Occupied 6 (Xel'Naga ACU Spotted 1)
    COMMAND: Lt. Colonel Mathew Horner | ARMY: UEF Armored Command Unit
    RESULTS: Pending

    Deep Space Sector 981 [Hive Fleet Identified]
    Zerg Hive Fleet Spotted 6 (Kerrigan? 1)
    COMMAND: Citizen-Commander Dostya | ARMY: CN Armored Command Unit
    RESULTS: Pending
    ​
    ENEMY ASSETS (Currently Known)
    ​
    THE GOLDEN ARMADA
    ACTIVITY: Unknown | Threat Level: 6​
     
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  • Informational
    • [X] You hate it and hate Sarah. (Lightly Overheat to succeed - gain 4 Vengeful sparks - creating a penalty to positive social interactions with Sarah.)
     
    [X] You hate it and hate Sarah. (Lightly Overheat to succeed - gain 4 Vengeful sparks - creating a penalty to positive social interactions with Sarah.)
     
    [X] You hate it. You love it. You're fucked in the head and don't know what to do. (Choose not to take the check and continue to feel torn one way or the other - remain at 6 Heat.)
    [X] You...think you like it. (Fail Resilience check to remain human.)

    I've already made my arguments a long time ago on this. Going 'I hate everything' is a one way ticket to tragedy-land where Kerrigan and Sam kill each other, but maybe you guys actually want that? Even from a rational perspective detonating one of our few remaining relationships seems patently unwise, especially given our position without even any semblance of basic exit strategy. Going avenger also inevitably means pushing Kerrigan entirely into Duran's waiting hands, which is as stupid as it gets, strategically, especially since she trusts us and we can easily push her away from him if we're by her side and not antagonizing her.

    And honestly, Sam really doesn't seem like the sort that would give a single fuck about losing her humanity, especially given the numerous boons that come with it, including literal fucking immortality. It's the emotional and mindfuck aspect that's the problem, not being Zerg.
     
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    [X] You hate it. You love it. You're fucked in the head and don't know what to do. (Choose not to take the check and continue to feel torn one way or the other - remain at 6 Heat.)
    [X] Write In: You aren't okay, this is the consequences of being The Fool. You hate your past self and those that made you that way. (Lightly Overheat to Succeed, gain sparks related to preventing yourself from expressing or being vulnerable)
    Oh hell yeah.
     
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    [X] You hate it. You love it. You're fucked in the head and don't know what to do. (Choose not to take the check and continue to feel torn one way or the other - remain at 6 Heat.)
     
    [] You hate it. You love it. You're fucked in the head and don't know what to do. (Choose not to take the check and continue to feel torn one way or the other - remain at 6 Heat.)
    EDIT:
    [X] Write In: You aren't okay, this is the consequences of being The Fool. You hate your past self and those that made you that way. (Lightly Overheat to Succeed, gain sparks related to preventing yourself from expressing or being vulnerable)
    [X] You...think you like it. (Fail Resilience check to remain human.)
    [X] You hate it. You love it. You're fucked in the head and don't know what to do. (Choose not to take the check and continue to feel torn one way or the other - remain at 6 Heat.)

    EDIT:
    [X] Ask Dostya, who may have had zerg biology inflicted upon her but previously willingly accepted, possibly actively sought out, a different way of becoming something other, and more than, a baseline human.
     
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    I am wondering if we can direct the negativity and blame to something else.

    [X] Write In: You aren't okay, this is the consequences of being The Fool. You hate your past self and those that made you that way. (Lightly Overheat to Succeed, gain sparks related to preventing yourself from expressing or being vulnerable)

    Would rather direct hate towards the machinations of the UEF, though gaining sparks towards preventing positive interactions with the UEF will either not be relevant or catastrophic with nothing in between.

    [X] Ask Dostya, who may have had zerg biology inflicted upon her but previously willingly accepted, possibly actively sought out, a different way of becoming something other, and more than, a baseline human.

    Also:
    [ ] You...think you like it. (Fail Resilience check to remain human.)

    As Cookiesndip mentioned, Sam has focused on being a Paragon, about what she can do in duty for the greater good. I don't think her own humanity has been something she has been heavily invested in, rather something she hasn't thought about as she integrated more with being an ACU Commander.
     
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    That'd work! It'd basically make you negative sparks representing antipathy towards the UEF and your old friends. Similar to but not quite the same as being all pro Swarm
     
    [X] You...think you like it. (Fail Resilience check to remain human.)

    As "fun" as I'm finding this existential question, enough is enough. What exactly does The PC have going for her if she gets transformed back? It's not a total revert, as we see in HotS, so chances are we are still going to be dissected, add to that all of her friends are dead or are a completely different person and are functionally dead. The name of the quest is Infinite Brood, I say we embrace that and Get to trying to stop the various forces from fucking each other up and maybe get ready for the clusterfuck that will arise from the Black Sun weapon going off.
     
    In my mind it isn't so much of going back to humanity when having Sam hold onto her humanity. For me, it is that a massive amount of change has just uprooted her entire understanding of existence both in of herself, and her own history. And in that, I think it would be personally easier to process, hate, and let go of the external than the internal.
     
    Good luck with your health and worries thereabout, DragonCobolt! And with the writing. :)

    [X] You...think you like it. (Fail Resilience check to remain human.)

    ...Though that doesn't seem to be doing super well in the voting, so, hm, perhaps some reinforcement of other options would be prudent.

    [] You hate it. You love it. You're fucked in the head and don't know what to do. (Choose not to take the check and continue to feel torn one way or the other - remain at 6 Heat.)

    [X] Ask Dostya, who may have had zerg biology inflicted upon her but previously willingly accepted, possibly actively sought out, a different way of becoming something other, and more than, a baseline human.

    And thanks, Cookiesndip:
    [X] Write In: You aren't okay, this is the consequences of being The Fool. You hate your past self and those that made you that way. (Lightly Overheat to Succeed, gain sparks related to preventing yourself from expressing or being vulnerable)

    (And I'm assuming that "expressing" is particularly expressing being vulnerable, not expression in general.)

    ...Though. Hm. It looks like my first vote's doing better than it was further back in the thread, so... I think I'll strike out the alternative non-write-in bolster.
     
    [X] Write In: You aren't okay, this is the consequences of being The Fool. You hate your past self and those that made you that way. (Lightly Overheat to Succeed, gain sparks related to preventing yourself from expressing or being vulnerable)
     
    [X] You hate it and hate Sarah. (Lightly Overheat to succeed - gain 4 Vengeful sparks - creating a penalty to positive social interactions with Sarah.)
    [X] Write In: You aren't okay, this is the consequences of being The Fool. You hate your past self and those that made you that way. (Lightly Overheat to Succeed, gain sparks related to preventing yourself from expressing or being vulnerable)
     
    [X] You hate it and hate Sarah. (Lightly Overheat to succeed - gain 4 Vengeful sparks - creating a penalty to positive social interactions with Sarah.)
    [X] Write In: You aren't okay, this is the consequences of being The Fool. You hate your past self and those that made you that way. (Lightly Overheat to Succeed, gain sparks related to preventing yourself from expressing or being vulnerable)
     
    [X] You hate it and hate Sarah. (Lightly Overheat to succeed - gain 4 Vengeful sparks - creating a penalty to positive social interactions with Sarah.)
    [X] Write In: You aren't okay, this is the consequences of being The Fool. You hate your past self and those that made you that way. (Lightly Overheat to Succeed, gain sparks related to preventing yourself from expressing or being vulnerable)
     
    Personally for me the goal is the Sarah makeup session, so I rather not gain the negative.

    That said this does show that the heat of the social activities aren't meaningless
     
    [X] Ask Dostya, who may have had zerg biology inflicted upon her but previously willingly accepted, possibly actively sought out, a different way of becoming something other, and more than, a baseline human.

    [X] Write In: You aren't okay, this is the consequences of being The Fool. You hate your past self and those that made you that way. (Lightly Overheat to Succeed, gain sparks related to preventing yourself from expressing or being vulnerable)

    [X] You...think you like it. (Fail Resilience check to remain human.)
     
    Adhoc vote count started by DragonCobolt on Jan 10, 2024 at 11:39 AM, finished with 26 posts and 21 votes.
    Click to expand...


    Almost liked it too!
     
    ACT TWO, MISSION TWO: Egression through Fire (0.8)
  • Threadmarks
    • You felt an uprising, a swell of emotions in your guts, and they came all spilling out. "How...fucking insipid did our propaganda look from your perspective?" you asked, lifting your chin and glaring at Dostya - you saw it slide off her. Her smirk was infuriating, but only because it mirrored back at you. That feeling of raw hurt, of knowing just how stupid you were. You bought it all, the UEF and their promises, hook line and fucking sinker.

    "Fairly," she said.

    "Goddamn it," you whispered, turning away from her, your hands going to your head. "God fucking damn it."

    Dostya was silent for a moment. Then, softly. "Sit. Sit." Her hand managed to reach your shoulder. You wanted to pull away, but instead let her draw you onto the curved bone that made up the seat in the room. Her hands went to your shoulders, squeezing. "You're actually having a similar reaction many Adjutants do when they become Cybrans."

    "Really?" you asked, bitterly.

    "Well. Some. A few. Programming is never just programming. There's...interactions between cybernetics and biology. Always has been. Even when the machines lived outside of our minds." Her hands squeezed your shoulders, and her voice grew softer. "Most Adjutants know they're enslaved. They feel it from the moment they think of what they want to do other than manage your nanotech flow routes and quantum networking. But some try and cope by disassociating. Embracing it. When they're freed, they still have the coping mechanisms, and they react by blaming themselves for being hurt, yes?"

    "Except I wasn't hurt," you said, angrily. "I did the hurting."

    "Yes, true," Dostya said, her voice wry. "Hex-6 would be strangling you right now if he was here. And maybe me too, if it had been...six, seven months ago." Her hand brushed your cheek, gently. "But now, enemies and strange bedfellows, yes?"

    "Don't mention bedfellows right now," you muttered, eyes closing.

    Dostya snorted. "I hear the sex is quite amazing."

    "Don't!" you said, holding up your hand, your head spines twitching - though two did reach down to lock around one of her fingers, holding her as she touched you. You could feel the human warmth in one hand and the cold moldy crumbliness of the other. "Just don't. I don't want to think about that right now." Which was a big fucking lie, part of you wanted to only think about sex and the raw, red release that came from it. The image of Sarah's body under you flashed into your mind - and then the sudden thought...I wonder what I could do with Dostya...

    The infestation was biological and you had touched the biological. Felt it crumbling under your fingers. Could you-

    You shook your head, slightly, trying to remain focused as Dostya chuckled again. "I have to needle somewhere, yes. Can't let you off the hook, authoritarian running dog."

    "Woof," you said, dryly.

    Despite her words, you still felt the heavy weight in your stomach.

    "Can I ever fix it?" you whispered, softly.

    "Yes," Dostya said. Her voice grew more firm, and she actually grabbed your chin, forcing your head back. Leaning over, with her long, dark hair hanging down, it concealed the half of her face that was covered with the fungal growths of infestation and unchecked corruption. Her glowing red lines - almost tattoo like - flickered as she cocked her head. "To imagine that the harm is undoable, that the future cannot be better than today, it is the imagination of the UEF. It is to think the only thing worthy is the past - and the past must be the present and the future. We Cybrans know there can be a better tomorrow. There will be. There must be. And if you choose to fight to make that tomorrow, you...are Cybran."

    You blinked at her, flushing. "We're both Zerg."

    "Whoever said they're exclusive," she said, her voice wry. "Cybran has never meant human. It's never meant machine. It's always been both and neither. Our founder was human. He's now a digital consciousness. Our strongest ally was an algorithm, now he's halfway to a god."

    "...that's...QAI, the rouge intelligence?" you murmured. "A god? Really?"

    "And sometimes, that scared me. But now I know there are worse things than a smart box." Dostya released your chin, but you remained with your head tilted back. You closed your eyes and considered what she had said - and realized...

    ...you kinda liked it.

    You weren't Zerg - even if your bones hummed with the excitement of raw strength and you thrilled at the perfection of your body, your reflexes, your senses. You weren't human anymore - even if you wanted, more than anything to crawl into a warm, soft, dry bed and sleep wrapped in human arms with your head pressed to human breasts.

    But you could always be a Cybran.

    "I think I might be having a rebound reaction," you murmured.

    "The zealotry of the convert?" Dostya grinned. "Don't worry, comrade, I won't let you burn out." She tapped your nose with one finger. "Now, don't you have somewhere to go."

    "I can try and fix you," you said, the words blurting out of your mouth before you could stop them.

    Dostya snorted. "And give that Queen of Blades an excuse to kill me or put me to work? No thank you." She didn't even show a sign of temptation. You blinked at her - then laughed as she pushed your head back forward, her other hand on your shoulder. "Go on. Go. Don't want her getting suspicious."

    You stood, languidly, feeling more relaxed and centered than you had since...well, since you had woken up in the chrysalis and clawed yourself free. You had had moments of joy - feeling bones crack and Sarah moan. You had felt moments of alignment with your body - fleeting hints at what being a part of the Swarm meant. But now, you knew how to combine the two, fit them together into something that was still Sam. Still you. You looked down at your hand, opening and closing it slowly.

    "I always wanted to make the galaxy free," you said, quietly. "Guess I'm finally going to start."

    "That's the spirit," Dostya said - and when you glanced back, you swore you caught her oggling your infested ass.

    Which, to be fair.

    It was quite the ass.

    You walked from the room, and...maybe...

    Maybe just for Dostya, you put a roll in your hips.

    ---
    Mission is over! More importantly, YOU LEVELED UP!

    You are now, the highest level HEAT character I've ever seen! ...none of my playtests have gotten this far.

    At level 4, you get +1 to two skills and a power!

    Skills! Pick Two - both mut be different skills
    [ ] CLOSE COMBAT (3): +Blunt
    [ ] CLOSE COMBAT (3): +Flexible
    [ ] CLOSE COMBAT (3): +Polearm
    [ ] GUNS (1) +Pistols & SMGs
    [ ] GUNS (1) +Vehicular Weapons
    [ ] GUNS (1): +Shotguns
    [ ] GUNS (1): +Rifles
    [ ] GUNS (1) +Sniper Rifles
    [ ] PERSONAL (3): +Athletics
    [ ] PERSONAL (3): +Finesse
    [ ] PERSONAL (3): +Sneak
    [ ] SOCIAL (4): +Bluff
    [ ] SOCIAL (4): +Taunt
    [ ] THE HILT (4): +Telepathic Dominion (Range)
    [ ] THE HILT (4): +Projectiles, Blades and Claw (Damage)
    [ ] ACU PILOT (3): +Teleportation Piloting [Range]
    [ ] ACU PILOT (3): +Laser Management [Damage]
    [ ] ACU PILOT (3): +Survival Instincts [Durability


    Powers! Pick one! So, whatever power you pick, I will narratively justify and refluff to make sense, so go nuts!

    [ ] Corona Of Destruction - charges enemies with energy that, if timed right, causes them to explode
    [ ] Flash Flight - short ranged teleport
    [ ] Gravity Swap - lifts enemies into the air so they can't act
    [ ] Magic Missile - a kinetic blast that flings enemies backwards and damages them
    [ ] Wall of Blades - makes a shield of razor blades
    [ ] Transmorph - turns target into a sheep
    [ ] Circle of Peace - enforce a no shooting/fighting zone for some time
    [ ] Rebuke Evil - makes enemies flee and adds buffs for you to attack them while they run
    [ ] Serpent Staff - creates a piece of gear representing a big snake that fights for you
    [ ] Clash! - interrupt an enemy attack with your own melee attack
    [ ] Cleave - give your melee attack an AOE.
    [ ] Flourishing Disarm - remove the enemies ability to fight by removing their weapon (KO's them if they have no weapon.)
    [ ] Reversal - turn an enemy's abilities against them in combat
    [ ] Swashbuckle - gain free acrobatic movement
    [ ] Assassin - use after killing people to make the murder unnoticable for some time
    [ ] Carnage - augments a firearm so it does extra damage but overheats for some time
    [ ] Hot Swap - rapidly refreshes anything that needs to reload/cooldown/recharge
    [ ] Marksman - make multiple ranged attacks without increasing difficulty
    [ ] Overkill - makes inaccurate weapons more accurate for the duration
    [ ] Aquatic Might - become a The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Become highly mobile in alternate environments. Can be refluffed to be space instead of water.
    [ ] Spectral Form - become a ghost! You are intangible and can possess objects
    [ ] Undying Body - become a Frankenstein. Become super-tough and super-strong, but gain a new weakness (fire, radiation, ect)
    [ ] Red Thirst - become a vampire! While power is in effect, take damage from sunlight, lose heat by drinking blood and can turn into wolf, bat or mist
    [ ] Warshift - become a werewolf! While power is in effect, take extra damage from silver, be better at melee, and gain superhuman strength.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] ACU PILOT (3): +Teleportation Piloting [Range]
    [X] THE HILT (4): +Telepathic Dominion (Range)

    Specing into range because Range.

    [X] Reversal - turn an enemy's abilities against them in combat
    Beat a Mf'er with another MF'er
     
    DragonCobolt said:
    "Don't mention bedfellows right now," you muttered, eyes closing.

    Dostya snorted. "I hear the sex is quite amazing."

    "Don't!" you said, holding up your hand, your head spines twitching - though two did reach down to lock around one of her fingers, holding her as she touched you. You could feel the human warmth in one hand and the cold moldy crumbliness of the other. "Just don't. I don't want to think about that right now." Which was a big fucking lie, part of you wanted to only think about sex and the raw, red release that came from it. The image of Sarah's body under you flashed into your mind - and then the sudden thought...I wonder what I could do with Dostya...
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    DragonCobolt said:
    "That's the spirit," Dostya said - and when you glanced back, you swore you caught her oggling your infested ass.

    Which, to be fair.

    It was quite the ass.

    You walked from the room, and...maybe...

    Maybe just for Dostya, you put a roll in your hips.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    God, the tension, it's incredible. Sam deciding to "side" with the Cybrans and the reframing of Dostya as a sorta-kinda spiritual advisor, a little, are incredible in how they fit the characters and advance their arcs.

    [X] SOCIAL (4): +Taunt
    [X] THE HILT (4): +Telepathic Dominion (Range)
    [X] Reversal - turn an enemy's abilities against them in combat

    Let's embrace that villain aesthetic. My idea plays to Sam's strengths and, IMO, fits nicely into the archetype of a steppy baddie second-in-command with an agenda of her own (she doesn't yet know what the agenda is yet, but she's figuring it out).
     
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