Nixeu
Lord of Madness, Harbinger of Llamas
- Location
- Your nightmares.
I dunno about hunkering down, persay. But yeah, this place is dangerous and not very welcoming.
Abrogation (Steampunk)
Why?
I'm not necessarily against it, but I don't really see a reason to do it either. I mean, they seem to generally have their shit together, so I don't really see a reason to fuck them over.
Um... no? The attacker would be caught in their own blast.
It's better to build something like a flying house first. Then it can extend into the void. This way they would be less likely to look for our actual void castle and we would have a defendable territory in realspace.
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Burning aether is closer to sky blue than cobalt blue, but you suppose it might fit.
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
hheheheeheheheh. HAahahaahahaheheheeeeheheeeheehe. HAAHAHAAH! Yes. We're totally doing this.
Basically, this place is:
- Going to snowball hard unless someone shuts it down, making it dangerous enough to us in the long term that I'd prefer to nuke it before it becomes our Final Boss.
- A wonderful place for us to set up shop if we can knock off the Empowered. Unlike every other place on the continent, there are no Inspired here to ravage the place. The population is happy, the economy is doing fine, nobody's wailing about their dead parents that some Inspired wasted on a useless test. Lorelei knows how to keep a population happy and productive, but being able to start with a happy and productive population is a major bonus.
Hmm. I wonder. If Prometheus' Gift comes out with that built-in weapon we want to give it, I bet it's going to boil down to "eject core plasma at the target". Which I imagine would perfectly fit that blue fire thing, especially if increased density (possibly from reactor confinement?) darkens it from sky blue.
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1. Just because it can become larger doesn't mean it's an issue, again, they seem decent enough people, and perfectly fine with non-asshole Inspired. I can see your point, but I don't think that's really a good reason to screw them over on its own.
2. Again, I see where you're coming from, but you could argue just the same that this means this is a bad place, because the people like the status quo, and have seen that there's a solid alternative to rule by Inspired. So we'd start with an unhappy and united population.
Just to clarify, do you mean flight in general, or long range, high altitude flight like a zeppelin? Cause I really doubt the first. I'm pretty sure a flying assassination drone was mentioned in the Blackburn origin story. Really, it just seems too simple to say nobody has done it before.
And even then, they have Inspired on their side too. Building a big cannon isn't that difficult.
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
Vincent describes three threats.
- The army. "Inspired are still human; a bullet to the brain kills 'em same as anyone else."
- The Empowered. "If they're prepared for an army, a few Kingslayers will go over and stab 'em."
- Other Inspired. "If they try to get ready for both, one of their rivals stabs 'em in the back while they're distracted."
We can be ready for all three. In fact, more than "can be": We're already closing in on it. We've just proven that armies are trivial. We can take them with literally a pocket full of clockwork and a few hours prep. Inspired on the level of these two fools can be dealt with with using Skybreaker, a PG-powered defensive module, and a pocketful of scrap. The remaining threats are basically "stronger Inspired" and "Empowered". Stronger Inspired will need something really special to get through the defensive module, especially as we start attaching more and more exotic effectors to it. The biggest danger would be if one of them has an audience-powered artifact-tier weapon, and I think that we'd have heard if one of the Inspired here was that strong. I think that we already almost no-sell Empowered in open combat, and a lesser-Aten or lesser-Lightener or lesser-Wraithfield would solve most roues for assassination.
General wisdom, according to Lorelei, is that current state of the art is fragile airships. There are rumors of a guy that tried to build something like Lightener and ended up drifting into space, blowing up, and scattering rubble over several square miles of terrain. I can believe that low-level flying clanks have been done before, but my impression is that most Inspired can barely manage personal flight, and they certainly can't manage anything that'd stay in the air with someone shooting at it the way Aten or Lightener+GlassCannon could.
Defense module + Skybreaker should no-sell effectively any projectile weapon.
Mmmm. Maybe? I'll note that we'll start off well ahead of these two Inspired simply because we're not killing people by the hundred. If anything, we'll probably win bonus points for scaring them straight.
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Uhhhhhhhhhhhh.
I would very much like to see what a high-end Empowered group is capable of. Please go ahead and keep thinking this.
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
We build an Aten-like flyer. They can't attack us except by throwing shit, which Skybreaker and a PG-powered defense module stop dead. We laser them until they're done. What are they going to do, grow wings? Glare us to death?
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What if they do grow wings? Or find some other way to fly with their superpowers?
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- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Do we know what happens when people are surging at the same time? Is there a Surge-Off?
Lots and lots of yelling, usually. If they're trying to work on the same project and don't particularly care for one another, it's likely to end with at least one corpse. If they were working on separate projects, you usually get more than one corpse as projects go rogue/explode and kill any survivors.
Motile Mollusc
Bitten by a radioactive were-tilde
- Location
- Here
As a part of a good Surge is telling Reality to shut up and let them make awesome stuff, it comes down to who can communicate most effectively. As such, the winner is the Inspired who's design works best with interpretive dance.Do we know what happens when people are surging at the same time? Is there a Surge-Off?
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
If their wings are less durable than Skybreaker, we laser them and they fall out of the sky. If we laser them and they fail to fall out of the sky, we suck them into the void with Skybreaker.
Also, unrelated thought: We can mitigate Skybreaker's tendency to leave behind open portals by opening successive portals front-to-back, walling off the openings of portals we've just used with the back sides of portals we're about to use.
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
As a part of a good Surge is telling Reality to shut up and let them make awesome stuff, it comes down to who can communicate most effectively. As such, the winner is the Inspired who's design works best with interpretive dance.
If you define "good Surge" as an audience-fueled one, then sure? But you don't believe normal Surges create inventions reality would object to.
Locking the vote and rolling. As usual, I won't be updating this late.
(Winner: Promethesus's Gift)
EDIT: Gummed up the layout there, should be +2 or in a different format completely.
EDIT 2: *rubs forehead* I made a mistake from the 93 "AC" roll onward and the results were to your detriment. I treated the 93 as the end of a sequence instead of the ongoing one it was, but that very same sequence should've made it all the way to TAI and beyond. Rolls will be on hold for a bit; ignore what they're supposedly rolled for while I make additional bonus objectives and figure it out from there. (Translation: DCs should've been 25-30-70-80-68-80-... vs. 94-52-72-93-71-85-73-16. Instead, the sequence ended at 93 and treated the 71 as the start of a new sequence, which is wrong.)
EDIT 2.5:
Okay, got it sorted out.
DC: 25-30-70-AI80-ImW68-80TAI-70Sh-50AC
Roll: 94-52-72-93-71-85-73-16. (6)
C-C-65-70-63-70-65-50
54 (5)
70-66 (4)
C-C-60-65-63-70-65-50
9 (3)
2 (2)
98-92-21 (1)
C-C-40-55-63-70-65-50
EDIT 2.75: 93-93-19. Overall completed secondary objectives: L, W, IFF, S, AI, ImW, TAI, Sh
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Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
I'm hoping that that 6 was for "number of times we ran out of parts and had to spend time convincing reality to give us more". >_>
edit: holy shit that's a lot of dice.
Well, I guess one way to make sure we don't have more Agneyastras or Calypsos is to roll enough dice for the central limit theorem to ensure that crits don't happen.
edit: holy shit that's a lot of dice.
Well, I guess one way to make sure we don't have more Agneyastras or Calypsos is to roll enough dice for the central limit theorem to ensure that crits don't happen.
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- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
At a guess those numbers are the dc for three major components, looks like we completed two of those three? With our context it's difficult to pi3ce together what it all means.
If say that x is the dice roll, and the first roll is from stubborn and redundant. Are the initials from the invention list traits perhaps?
If say that x is the dice roll, and the first roll is from stubborn and redundant. Are the initials from the invention list traits perhaps?
Nixeu
Lord of Madness, Harbinger of Llamas
- Location
- Your nightmares.
Looks the first one was Redundant and Stubborn Base total? I can't make heads or tails of the rest of it.
Edit: We might be able to understand more if we look at prior invention rolls, and the results, plus the WoG about them.
Nope. No "I" in the invention traits. And too many letters, even with the optional traits. There are four base traits, and three optional ones.
Edit: We might be able to understand more if we look at prior invention rolls, and the results, plus the WoG about them.
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Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
I'm going to guess this is "infinite fuel - " something something.
"Inspiration interest(ed?)"?
LostDeviljho
Flame Dragon Princess
- Location
- The glorious Pacific Northwest
- Pronouns
- Any
Nixeu
Lord of Madness, Harbinger of Llamas
- Location
- Your nightmares.
"FP" has previously referred to "Failure Points".
The explanation of the rolls for Skybreaker:
2.1: Helping Hand
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Winner: Prometheus's Gift
"All this, just for me?
I'm flattered.
I really am.
"But you've lost the Light's attention,
And your gifts were never weaker.
So please, fuel my ascension.
Let your fates turn ever bleaker.
"But alas, they can't, can they?
You're letting Light be eaten.
Your entire country lost its way.
You all deserve to be beaten!"
A moment is wasted thinking about what you're actually saying. After determining that you're still able to tell reality it's wrong despite the lack of precise audience cooperation, you mentally shrug and go back to what you were doing. You think the Light might be venting and it's even angrier than you are.
"We don't need to do a thing.
You'll go down in history.
Your problem is self-correcting.
You'll make a nice mystery.
"Your League might as well be cursed.
I bet you will be fun to watch.
Did you believe you were the first?
That you're more than just a notch?"
You try to avoid letting your own impatience be reflected by your work, but it just keeps exploding. At this rate, you won't be able to give it proper defenses. You suppose you could always build them later, but additions aren't nearly as appealing as inserting them into the original design.
"You're much dumber than expected.
But is that sad or impressive?
Maybe the second if we squinted.
As it is, awe seems excessive."
You giggle as yet another incendiary bomb harmlessly detonates nearby. An exploding aether generator is much more destructive than that, but can it harm you? Of course not. Their continued attempts only serve to waste supplies.
"You've tried all that already,
No credits for holding steady.
Just let me finish this, okay?
My shield won't simply decay."
A fraction of a second is spent evaluating the last verse. It doesn't quite fit, but you suppose that doesn't really matter. It accomplished what it was meant for.
"You should consider taking notes.
The Light won't impress itself.
Why not try something that floats?
Disrupt a continental shelf?
"You could do better if you tried.
In theory, that is. You're dumb.
You're both filled with unearned pride,
When you're little more than scum."
You spend a moment on estimating your remaining Surge time and wince. You've gotten a working generator model, but only the primary part; you simply didn't have enough time for everything you wanted to do with it. You completed the reactor itself, yes, but it wouldn't have any defenses to call its own. You should've had enough time for both, time enough to make it into a respectable Warclank. You simply made too many mistakes.
Access Renewed.
...Excuse me, but what?
Human Behavior.
You force down your numerous questions and try to focus on the task at hand. It's even more difficult with the addition of something new and unfamiliar guiding your actions. You know it's technically been years since you first became an Inspired, but the new construction philosophy is still a surprise.
(Trait Acquired: Methodical(?))
Surges do not automatically end when a project is "completed." Because of this, you are able to make a satisfactory design, continue trying to refine it anyway, and return to said design if you can't improve it before your Surge ends. This change in methodology may somewhat slow your working speed during Surges.
You idly stretch, grab the fabric of a nearby tent, and begin converting it into modified bronze. Nearby screams are filtered away from your consciousness and ignored.
"You thought we were done, didn't you?
I must confess I did as well.
But it seems Light enjoys the view,
So I welcome you back to Hell."
You start to move forward more cautiously than you normally do. Within seconds, the peanut gallery tosses in its own opinion of that.
Inspired Trait: Stubborn.
Onward and upward?
Satisfaction not your own pushes against the side of your mind. You mentally shrug and reach for the sky. What's the worst thing that could happen?
Inspired History.
You suppose an ever-burning aetheric fire that burns everything outside significant human settlements could be rather problematic, yes.
Unlike practically every design you've ever made in the past, you try to stick with incremental improvements. After the first few failures without any major progress, you're glad you decided to be cautious.
"I'd meant to make an engine,
A burning furnace fueling all.
It finished with little margin,
One that was simply much too small."
Spider-like legs come first and are easy enough to implement, as is the generator's "weapon." You figure storing some extra energy to vent at foes should be more than enough to deal with nearly all enemies. Unfortunately, the range does leave something to be desired.
"But the Light likes me more than you,
My gender barely matters.
I'm among its chosen few,
Until its attention scatters."
An identification and command system is added next. You'd hate for someone else to be able to use something you made.
"Yet I'm not at all worried,
I know all that we were made for.
Light's desires are quite varied,
But rather simple at their core."
Since Gift is beginning to approach a rather large dog in size, you elect to add a stealth system. It's closer to natural camouflage than true invisibility, but considering it was glowing before, you aren't going to try aiming for the latter.
"You don't know what they are, right?
You aren't allowed to learn.
You don't truly serve the Light,
And so its knowledge you must earn."
Rudimentary automaton comes next. Identifying you is one thing, but you'd like it to be able to attack foes of its own accord. Not true intelligence, not yet, but making an information warfare suite to let it hijack the personalized creations of other Inspired took less time than you'd expected.
Speaking of true intelligence, you're pretty sure you could manage even a full-fledged mind if you so desire. The resulting mind likely wouldn't be smarter than a rather clever dog, but even that would forever prevent you from simply discarding Inspiration's Gift when it was outdated. You imagine it'd be like having a pet.
Or you could go for a simple sensor upgrade instead of even making it as smart as a dog. You suppose that could work too.
[] Give Gift approximately clever-dog-level intelligence. It's not anywhere near as messy as a biological pet would be.
[] Just improve its sensors and leave it as a series of contingent programs with no actual mind to speak of. You'd rather not have to worry about taking care of yet another sentient being, especially since it might just up and leave you. That would be rather inconvenient.
[] Write-in (Subject to approval)
Actually, they still can for a few categories. But for perhaps the first time for important rolls, dice didn't really like youWell, I guess one way to make sure we don't have more Agneyastras or Calypsos is to roll enough dice for the central limit theorem to ensure that crits don't happen.
- R&S B T ((x/16)+32): Redundant and Stubborn Bonus Tiers, but minor mistake here. It should've been X+32 or (x/16)+2. This would've added 32 tiers as-is, which would've just been silly.
- APO: (Classified)
- ISEDNLS (X/10=T & DC+): I Say, Explosives Do Not Look Safe! (Extra tiers, extra DC, but the roll was too low to affect either...)
- IP-FP (DC-70/70/70): Initial Project Failure Points, DC was affected by passes and close failures and slowly went down over time. Failing and passing, including crit successes/fails, would only affect how long the project took to complete. However, the generator ultimately took a while, which meant the next part was failed:
- IDIATFMASI: If Done In A Timely Fashion, May Allow Secondary Ideas.
- I Int: (DC-Y = 100-X): Inspiration Intervention, or whether it would take pity on you. Two rolls, one (X) subtracted from 100 to determine the DC for roll two (Y). OOC functionally the same as 2d100 vs a DC of 100, but IC differences exist.
- R&S B T CS (2+(x/16)): Same as last time, but correctly formatted. The roll was 4 which rounds down to zero, so only two bonus tiers for the second phase, except...
- YANATGUN! >:3 ((x/20)=FBT m.2): You Are Not Allowed To Give Up Now! (Further Bonus Tiers, minimum 2; added to result of Redundant and Stubborn Bonus Tiers Roll.)
- SP-OFP (L70, W30, IFF70, S80): Secondary Project Failure Points. Legs, Weapons, Identification Friend/Foe, Stealth. See "Methodical" for why the formatting is different.
- BO. (L25, WC, IFF30, S70)7: Bonus Objectives; there wasn't enough room for...
- AC (...AI80, ABIFF)6: Above Continued (Artificial Intelligence DC-80, Affected By Identification Friend/Foe.) I accidentally ended the sequence here instead of properly continuing it, which led to some moderate difficulties as I sorted things out (see original post for details).
- ImW = Improved Weaponry, TAI = True Artificial Intelligence, Sh = Shields, AC = (Redacted).
- AC (...AI80, ABIFF)6: Above Continued (Artificial Intelligence DC-80, Affected By Identification Friend/Foe.) I accidentally ended the sequence here instead of properly continuing it, which led to some moderate difficulties as I sorted things out (see original post for details).
- BO. (L25, WC, IFF30, S70)7: Bonus Objectives; there wasn't enough room for...
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We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
Honestly, I'd prefer not to make the uber-reactor sapient.