Abrogation (Steampunk)
- Location
- Australia
[1] Skybreaker
[2] Undergrowth
[3] Insubordinator
Skybreaker sounds amazing.
[2] Undergrowth
[3] Insubordinator
Skybreaker sounds amazing.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
[1] Insubordinator
- Location
- Reno Nv
[1] Skybreaker
(Clockwork, Electric, ?, Crystal, Artillery, Accurate?, Wielded, Adjustable)
[2] Undergrowth
(Clockwork, Self-Powering, Automated, Limited Self-Expansion?, Modular)
[3] Insubordinator
(Clockwork, Automaton, Series, Versatile)
(Clockwork, Electric, ?, Crystal, Artillery, Accurate?, Wielded, Adjustable)
[2] Undergrowth
(Clockwork, Self-Powering, Automated, Limited Self-Expansion?, Modular)
[3] Insubordinator
(Clockwork, Automaton, Series, Versatile)
Nixeu
Lord of Madness, Harbinger of Llamas
- Location
- Your nightmares.
Not that busy, in my case. You could have asked. (If you did, and I somehow missed it, apologies.)Happy New Year, everyone! My usual beta reader(s) are busy ATM, so there may be more mistakes than usual.
[1] Skybreaker
[2] Insubordinator
[3] Undergrowth
[4] Biggest Voice
[5] Bigger Gun
I like thinking with portals.
- Location
- Bowling Green
[1] Skybreaker
(Clockwork, Electric, ?, Crystal, Artillery, Accurate?, Wielded, Adjustable)
A staff capable of opening tears in the fabric of reality. Temporary ones, true, but that wouldn't stop them from being exceptionally useful. Rifts could be created in linked pairs, allowing for rapid travel between them, or as independent portals to the all-devouring void. The larger an independent portal is, the easier it will be for the void to drag loose matter toward itself.
Speaking of which, doesn't that mean even a small one would eat all mosquitoes nearby? It does, doesn't it? Excellent.
Rifts are stationary once opened. They cannot be opened inside solid matter; if a tear tries to travel through such an object, it will either go around or expand further in the opposite direction instead. You're yet not sure which.
You'll need to figure out a good control system for it, but you think the Skybreaker should have a maximum range of one or two kilometers. You don't think it'll have a limit on rift size aside from range and the power needed to open one. You're not sure about duration, but they shouldn't last for more than a few minutes at the very most.
[2] Insubordinator
(Clockwork, Automaton, Series, Versatile)
A set of small Clockwork intended to be thrown into the exposed machinery of a significantly larger automated Clockwork. Once inside, an Insubordinator will adjust the controls of its target, forcing it to target and attack any Clockwork not built by its mistress.
Insubordinators will return to you once they've suborned their target. They have a difficult time affecting manually-controlled clockwork devices; when thrown at one, they'll usually just disable it before returning.
[3] Bigger Gun
(Clockwork, Steam, Accurate, Self-Arming, Wielded, Modular)
It's closer to a miniature cannon than an actual gun, really. Although it has room for improvements, this relatively simple weapon is intended to simply propel explosive shells at speeds fast enough to make the very air scream. Or that might just be from the way the ammunition is shaped. You're not sure which.
It shouldn't be too hard to install a fabricator capable of making bullets from whatever materials you have on hand. You can't promise shells made from certain materials will be especially explosive, though.
[4] Undergrowth
(Clockwork, Self-Powering, Automated, Limited Self-Expansion?, Modular)
A burrowing clockwork seed capable of rapidly building metal tendrils and extending them into the surrounding area. Once it's expanded far enough, it will reach aboveground and wrap around anything that's recently moved. Hopefully, you'll have enough time to improve the design and prevent it from targeting you.
You don't believe it'll actually need metal to function. Tendrils will go inert when the central seed is reclaimed, but reattaching it should reactivate them without any problems.
[5] Biggest Voice
(Clockwork, Crystal, ?, Precise, Personal, Worn, Adjustable)
A device intended to wrap around most of your throat and shoulders, 'Biggest Voice' should let you speak at volumes and pitches humanity was not designed for. And sound types, for that matter; you'll be perfectly capable of producing shouts capable of damaging steel in a wide cone in front of you.
You'll need to change modes and volume manually; it won't automatically "know" when you want to speak normally and when you want to shout.
Biggest Voice will only work for you. If other people try to use it, the resulting dissonance will be heavily damaging or even outright fatal. Assuming they can even fit it around their necks, that is.
(Clockwork, Electric, ?, Crystal, Artillery, Accurate?, Wielded, Adjustable)
A staff capable of opening tears in the fabric of reality. Temporary ones, true, but that wouldn't stop them from being exceptionally useful. Rifts could be created in linked pairs, allowing for rapid travel between them, or as independent portals to the all-devouring void. The larger an independent portal is, the easier it will be for the void to drag loose matter toward itself.
Speaking of which, doesn't that mean even a small one would eat all mosquitoes nearby? It does, doesn't it? Excellent.
Rifts are stationary once opened. They cannot be opened inside solid matter; if a tear tries to travel through such an object, it will either go around or expand further in the opposite direction instead. You're yet not sure which.
You'll need to figure out a good control system for it, but you think the Skybreaker should have a maximum range of one or two kilometers. You don't think it'll have a limit on rift size aside from range and the power needed to open one. You're not sure about duration, but they shouldn't last for more than a few minutes at the very most.
[2] Insubordinator
(Clockwork, Automaton, Series, Versatile)
A set of small Clockwork intended to be thrown into the exposed machinery of a significantly larger automated Clockwork. Once inside, an Insubordinator will adjust the controls of its target, forcing it to target and attack any Clockwork not built by its mistress.
Insubordinators will return to you once they've suborned their target. They have a difficult time affecting manually-controlled clockwork devices; when thrown at one, they'll usually just disable it before returning.
[3] Bigger Gun
(Clockwork, Steam, Accurate, Self-Arming, Wielded, Modular)
It's closer to a miniature cannon than an actual gun, really. Although it has room for improvements, this relatively simple weapon is intended to simply propel explosive shells at speeds fast enough to make the very air scream. Or that might just be from the way the ammunition is shaped. You're not sure which.
It shouldn't be too hard to install a fabricator capable of making bullets from whatever materials you have on hand. You can't promise shells made from certain materials will be especially explosive, though.
[4] Undergrowth
(Clockwork, Self-Powering, Automated, Limited Self-Expansion?, Modular)
A burrowing clockwork seed capable of rapidly building metal tendrils and extending them into the surrounding area. Once it's expanded far enough, it will reach aboveground and wrap around anything that's recently moved. Hopefully, you'll have enough time to improve the design and prevent it from targeting you.
You don't believe it'll actually need metal to function. Tendrils will go inert when the central seed is reclaimed, but reattaching it should reactivate them without any problems.
[5] Biggest Voice
(Clockwork, Crystal, ?, Precise, Personal, Worn, Adjustable)
A device intended to wrap around most of your throat and shoulders, 'Biggest Voice' should let you speak at volumes and pitches humanity was not designed for. And sound types, for that matter; you'll be perfectly capable of producing shouts capable of damaging steel in a wide cone in front of you.
You'll need to change modes and volume manually; it won't automatically "know" when you want to speak normally and when you want to shout.
Biggest Voice will only work for you. If other people try to use it, the resulting dissonance will be heavily damaging or even outright fatal. Assuming they can even fit it around their necks, that is.
FelOnyx
Love and Peace!
- Location
- Gunsmoke
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[1] Undergrowth
[2] Skybreaker
These two are easily the coolest. No better way to announce your presence than by crushing all who oppose you with tendrils erupting from the ground. It should also leave a mess and announce we've been there afterwards. Not great for subtlety but perfect for intimidation, we're a mad scientist not some sneak-thief. As for the staff, rifts in the fabric of reality explain themselves.
[3] Insubordinator
Functional in our current situation. Taking over other people's stuff is always good fun.
[4] Biggest Voice
Pretty neat, but we can do better.
[5] Bigger Gun
It's a big gun.
[2] Skybreaker
These two are easily the coolest. No better way to announce your presence than by crushing all who oppose you with tendrils erupting from the ground. It should also leave a mess and announce we've been there afterwards. Not great for subtlety but perfect for intimidation, we're a mad scientist not some sneak-thief. As for the staff, rifts in the fabric of reality explain themselves.
[3] Insubordinator
Functional in our current situation. Taking over other people's stuff is always good fun.
[4] Biggest Voice
Pretty neat, but we can do better.
[5] Bigger Gun
It's a big gun.
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
[1] Skybreaker
[2] Biggest Voice
[3] Undergrowth
[4] Insubordinator
[5] Bigger Gun
Wow, I'd be happy with any of these. Even the Bigger Gun promises more than the name provides:
The Skybreaker has spectacular utility as a force-multiplier, depending on how fast it is. Depending on speed and endurance it also gives excellent strategic mobility. However, it isn't a weapon. At best it lets us redirect weapons fire, and if it's too slow it may not even be able to do that. I think that it's my first choice, but we must follow it up with a real dedicated weapon.
Given that our Inspiration apparently wants song and an audience, Biggest Voice is essentially our "infrastructure" project. As such it goes second on my list.
Undergrowth feels most in-tune with our "themes" of redundancy and stubbornness. It's also fun. Downside is that, depending on speed and stealth, it may be a much more defensive option, and we're going to need an offensive option. It's also not very useful outside a fight.
Insubordinator I expect to be essentially useless about half the time, but it really depends on our expectations for enemy force composition.
@Alivaril How fast will the Skybreaker open rifts? What are the minimum and maximum sizes? Does it need charging, or is it spammable?
@Alivaril Would the Bigger Voice just make the voice bigger, or would it do things like ventriloquism or voice-changing?
@Alivaril Would Undergrowth have any requirements for terrain? How stealthy would it be during the growing phase? Would "wrap around anything that's recently moved" be "kill" or "capture"? How hard would it be for an enemy to dig out a position that it's prepared? How long would it take for it to reassume control of a position?
@Alivaril How often would we expect the Insubordinator to be useful? That is, how often do we expect our enemy's control tech to be Clockwork instead of something the Insubordinator would be totally confused by? How long would it take for it to assume control?
@Alivaril Does the bigger gun come with ideas for any specialty munitions?
[2] Biggest Voice
[3] Undergrowth
[4] Insubordinator
[5] Bigger Gun
Wow, I'd be happy with any of these. Even the Bigger Gun promises more than the name provides:
The Skybreaker has spectacular utility as a force-multiplier, depending on how fast it is. Depending on speed and endurance it also gives excellent strategic mobility. However, it isn't a weapon. At best it lets us redirect weapons fire, and if it's too slow it may not even be able to do that. I think that it's my first choice, but we must follow it up with a real dedicated weapon.
Given that our Inspiration apparently wants song and an audience, Biggest Voice is essentially our "infrastructure" project. As such it goes second on my list.
Undergrowth feels most in-tune with our "themes" of redundancy and stubbornness. It's also fun. Downside is that, depending on speed and stealth, it may be a much more defensive option, and we're going to need an offensive option. It's also not very useful outside a fight.
Insubordinator I expect to be essentially useless about half the time, but it really depends on our expectations for enemy force composition.
@Alivaril How fast will the Skybreaker open rifts? What are the minimum and maximum sizes? Does it need charging, or is it spammable?
@Alivaril Would the Bigger Voice just make the voice bigger, or would it do things like ventriloquism or voice-changing?
@Alivaril Would Undergrowth have any requirements for terrain? How stealthy would it be during the growing phase? Would "wrap around anything that's recently moved" be "kill" or "capture"? How hard would it be for an enemy to dig out a position that it's prepared? How long would it take for it to reassume control of a position?
@Alivaril How often would we expect the Insubordinator to be useful? That is, how often do we expect our enemy's control tech to be Clockwork instead of something the Insubordinator would be totally confused by? How long would it take for it to assume control?
@Alivaril Does the bigger gun come with ideas for any specialty munitions?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[1] Skybreaker
[2] Undergrowth
[3] Biggest Voice
[4] Bigger Gun
[5] Insubordinator
[2] Undergrowth
[3] Biggest Voice
[4] Bigger Gun
[5] Insubordinator
Sole Purpose
Clueless
- Location
- Spread Across Several Miles
[1] Skybreaker
[2] Undergrowth
[3] Insubordinator
[2] Undergrowth
[3] Insubordinator
Nixeu
Lord of Madness, Harbinger of Llamas
- Location
- Your nightmares.
You still need to get the hang of thinking with portals. Put one portal directly in front of a tank, another about fifty feet above a knot of soldiers, or another tank. If the tank is already moving, it should plow through the portal. Also, the portals to the void sound pretty good, offensively.
That said, we'll likely be able to make more use of the staff with a less indirect weapon complimenting it. So I don't really disagree with your priorities.
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Rifts should fully open within a few seconds of activation; learning how to aim it properly will likely be the hard part. You haven't yet gone into enough detail to determine how it will be powered, but "spammable" is likely an adequate descriptor.
You imagine it could accomplish both if you tuned it right.
No requirements that you know of. It'll either have more or less trouble with processed metal; you're not sure which.
It would be exceptionally stealthy, capture, near-impossible if it's active and significantly more difficult if inert, almost instantaneous upon being reinserted into the central node.
If it's capable of semi-independent action, odds are it will be lowercase-c clockwork. Biological creations tend to be rather more, ah, rebellious than clockwork ones are, so the vast majority of successful Inspired will have at least a few of them.
It shouldn't take more than a handful of seconds to assume
Not at this time. Maybe if you choose to go ahead with that particular project.
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- Location
- Canada
[1] Skybreaker
[2] Bigger Gun
[3] Undergrowth
[4] Insubordinator
[5] Biggest Voice
[2] Bigger Gun
[3] Undergrowth
[4] Insubordinator
[5] Biggest Voice
globalwarmth
ruining the weather.
- Location
- Polar ice caps
[1] Skybreaker
[5] Bigger Gun
[3] Undergrowth
[4] Insubordinator
[2] Biggest Voice
[5] Bigger Gun
[3] Undergrowth
[4] Insubordinator
[2] Biggest Voice
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
Yep, I'd be happy with any outcome of this vote. ^__^
[2] Undergrowth
[3] Biggest Voice
[5] Bigger Gun
[1] Skybreaker
[4] Insubordinator
[3] Biggest Voice
[5] Bigger Gun
[1] Skybreaker
[4] Insubordinator
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
That's why I condition its contribution to our offense on its speed. If it takes ten seconds to open a rift, even the slowest tank crew could brake to a halt with ease before we can get it to crash into allies.
That said, if the slowest part is aiming it, it'll be more than usable for catching and redirecting attacks on top of dodging and throwing things at people and throwing people at things. And teleporting them a thousand feet into the air or underground or more. So if aiming is the only issue, that's 100% my first choice.
schpariel
Verified Gebler
[1] Skybreaker
[2] Biggest Voice
[3] Undergrowth
[4] Insubordinator
[5] Bigger Gun
Because what is SCIENCE without portals?
Skybreaker is immediately useful for transportation, offense, defense, and utility roles. Also, if we gain Biggest Voice later, Skybreaker can extend the range and flexibility dramatically.
[2] Biggest Voice
[3] Undergrowth
[4] Insubordinator
[5] Bigger Gun
Because what is SCIENCE without portals?
Skybreaker is immediately useful for transportation, offense, defense, and utility roles. Also, if we gain Biggest Voice later, Skybreaker can extend the range and flexibility dramatically.