Regarding Omake/Art:
As I've mentioned before, the entire reason I provide XP incentives for Omake and Art is to give people a reason to flex their own creative muscles; Omake and Art are not necessary to succeed in this quest, as we could have 'won' this quest with just the starting XP we had in Chapter 1.1! The XP we have accrued thus far has simply increased our options and changed the angle at which we approach various problems - not always a good thing, but never a bad thing. Anyway, on to the Omakes!
Omake -- Coming Clean to the Wards
Fun + Feels = Awesome. I may use parts of this when we finally do give the rest of the Wards 'The Talk', which will be coming after we get (Mega)Marrow back from the Cradle. +1 XP!
Omake - Building A Better Gun
This is great, but sadly non-essence crafting materials don't
remember their stories. A shard of glass from Shatterbird's mask is functionally identical to a piece of glass right off an assembly line. It's better to think of essence-based objects as simply
shaped essence, and the history of that essence is what shapes it even further; this is not the case for Nowhereverse physics, which is both good and bad for various reasons. +1 XP!
Damn you, my friend. You got me to write something more than about fifty words long for the first time in a very long time, and now of course I have to make an account here and post the damn thing.
This was absolutely fantastic, and I laughed out loud at Aisha at the end. The point about the sights and sounds of Earth being so very alien to Autochthonians was also a nice touch. And yes, Iris would be oh-so-very
smug. +1 XP!
How to smuggle approval of a high output energy weapon past Tech Oversight.
Because I find it hard to believe that an oversight board would catch most of the off-label applications of technology they don't understand.....
OMAKE: VIVA
While very humorous, we aren't the first Tinker - let alone first Ward Tinker - to try sneaking high-powered weaponry through the PR and Tech Reviews. Even systems that are
ostensibly used for propulsion would get nixxed if they could just as (or even more ) easily be used as lethal weaponry. Worse, Tech Review keeps things until they CAN figure them out... which means we'd never get wonky essence-powered gear through them.
That isn't to say that we can't make super-awesome lethal weapons for use in Endbringer fights, they just need to be completely separate from normal gear and be explicitly delivered to the PRT for lock-down until situations arise that mandates their use (like Kid Win's giant floating cannons in canon). Constantly building only-lethal weaponry, however, is frowned upon; PR wants to promote the Wards, and building an unending supply of death machines is not very PR-worthy. +1 XP!
Fun stuff to think about if we had Personality Override Spike! I'm honestly not sure of what would happen if we POS'd an Endbringer, as the charm itself doesn't talk about what happens if you try to use it on a non-human intelligence. Also, consider that the body of an Endbringer isn't actually
them - it's just a quasi-organic suit they're wearing around their core. Spacewhale Warstriders, gooooo! +1 XP!
Since I'm not debating at the moment, I've amused myself by writing cheerful, happy fiction!
We're talking about the Sun, so it must be happy! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY, DOOM DOOM DOOM! Sadly, the Unconquered Sun got ganked well before Creation got devoured by Oblivion (at least, that's the way I have it in my head right now... which could change when it becomes relevant...), but this is fun to think about. Well done! +1 XP!
This break is to present an alternate take on the Sun, standing alone in the Void, because the image of it may be too good to be fully contained in any single piece...
More fun times with the Sun! This one is a neat take, as well, and I do occasionally ponder what would happen if some of the other celestial exaltations got loose (it'd be bad for everyone). This isn't quite long enough to net us a full point, but keep up the good work! +.5 XP!
OMAKE
DEAR DIARY: A WEEK IN THE LIFE
Oh, wouldn't it be nice if everything our way? But then it'd be so BORING! We need danger! Excitement! Terror! Trauma! On the bright side, we never have to do laundry again thanks to TIE's repair sub-module! Everything comes out as fresh as it was when it was made! +1 XP!
Omake - Strength of the People
Autochthonia is all about how Humanity manages to survive - even triumph - in the face of adversity. Should we succeed, we will likely have a nigh-unlimited amount of resources due to the multiverse and/or way we go about making more essence for Autochthon to munch on. What will happen to two societies that have known nothing but suffering for as long as most can remember? At least Magic: the Gathering will be properly seen for the deleterious contraband it truly is! +1 XP!
Omake -- Out of Character
I'm reminded of the Looney Toons episodes with Wile E. Coyote and the Sheepdog, where they punch in and out of 'work'. On the job they are at each others' throats, but the instant the day is over they're friends again. Classic stuff. Also, Aberrant!Worm would be endlessly amusing. +1 XP!
If Iris' macro-level shaping capabilities were able to effect the essence-less Earth-Bet freely, things would be vurrrry different in the quest right now. Though... plopping him into an area filled with essence (when such a place exists in Earth-Bet) will have some Interesting results... +1 XP!
Omake: Six Hundred, Nine, And Ninety
And then Sarah Nicholls spent all her essence pool and discovered that there was no essence on Earth-Bet to respire. Sad times. On the flip side, if she had exalted as an Abyssal, she could easily just suck Taylor's blood to get what she needs (preferably while Taylor has IAT active). Problem solved! Om nom nom nom. Also, another line for Iris to say/think/feel: "Well, there goes the neighborhood. Again." +1 XP!
Omake - All War is Deception
Bike stunts? Check. Awesome Tinker name that I am totally stealing for the quest? Check. Taylor getting captured by Bonesaw? Check. It's like you read my mind! GET OUT OF MY TEETH! +1 XP!
I've already espoused how much I love this omake, especially the ending, because it's given me so many Ideas - for both the Slaughterhouse 9 and for events past it. You write a really good Bonesaw! +1 XP!
Omake - Dragon of Forthright Action
I'll admit, this one confused me for most of it. While I get what happened, I'm still a bit foggy on why - with the power they have at their disposal, they could just clone, and then raise, a new person/kid with Richter's power (if that's what they wanted access to) and not have to deal with his terrible past life choices. Also, Richter was so thoroughly obliterated that any attempt to 'resurrect' him would be just as good (read: not at all good) as what Bonesaw did with the Slaughterhouse 9000, so... again, why bother? Still, the writing otherwise is top-notch so good work there! +1 XP!
RESPONSES TO OTHER POSTS/DISCUSSIONS:
I appreciate that some people may be irritated by the discussion, but it's actually germane to the Quest, and entirely on-topic; insect-controlled antigravity drones were an in-Quest option back in Turn 3.3.
And while it may be good manners to drop it when requested by other Questers, it's not actually against forum rules except if ruled off-limits by the QM.
That said, since other people asked nicely, I will drop it.
I'm just picking this message to quote to comment on the Argument About Drones that was had a while back, but here's my thoughts:
- Even in the relatively peaceful Philadelphia, there are still far more weapon-carrying individuals and casual violence is significantly higher than in our world. Superpowered Gangs have no compunction against shooting down random drones that happen to piss them off at the moment, and plenty of capes capable of flight means that people are more likely to 'look up' these days than usual.
- Bezalel gets away with his city-wide drone usage mainly due to the fact that the drones look and behave like real birds until you get up close. The one we absorbed was a copy so we're still missing pieces of how he makes originals, but there is a complex Artificial Intelligence housed in them that is unlike anything else we've seen. This will be brought up in Arc 7, but is worth thinking about.
- Drones are a possibility, but would require lots of time and dedicated tinkering. This means ignoring many of the other issues that are pressing at the moment, so... choices!
Step one: Clockblocker freezes Crawler.
Step two: a metric buttload of containment foam is sprayed all over him in liberal amounts. If the question is "think that's enough foam?" the answer is "no, best keep spraying it on"
Step three: while containment foam is being applied, Boulder Builders apply dense shell of rock/crystal/whatever around Crawler, making sure to include below him so he can't tunnel out.
Step four: keep nesting more and more containment measures on him until he slips into a dormant state.
Step five: spread urban legend that within this shell lies a beast so powerful the Ancients were unable to destroy it, leaving the task to the Chosen One. Come back in 2000 years to see if anyone buys it, and if so make sure there's some village idiot with a magic sword.
This has been attempted before. Crawler has a terrifying capacity for digging when he so desires, and will usually just kill any cape that needs to get close in order to construct the barriers. He's also very sneaky when he wants to be - just look at how he managed to get to Coil's base in canon without anyone noticing before he was INSIDE.
I imagine that a lot of that can be handled with taking existing charms and reskinning them to work on Manipulaiton or Intelligence. But, if we're talking custom charms, let's talk custom charms.
I want something that lets us train for Endbringer fights beforehand. Preferred-Enemy Analisys Subroutines; if given [amount] of first hand knowledge of an enemy or type of enemy (such as practicioners of a certain martial arts style) allows a unit to be trained to counter the designated foe's strengths, represented as a dot of specialty. With storyteller permission, particularly vivid secondhand accounts (such as video-recording, a scrying pool into the past, or tales from a greybeard backed up with potent magics) may be substituted in leiu of first hand experience.
Crucible of Rightious Foe-Hate: if a character with an antagonistic Intimacy (Storyteller retains veto) towards a person, group, or idealology their attacks gain (bonus). Furthermore, if a unit shares the same intimacy they are considered to be of one Might higher. This is especially popular for Lectors leading a crusade against Apostates and Void-cultists, though it is not unheard of for regulators in particularly rigorously patrolled or troubled cities to have a similar training against various subversive elements.
These are cool. They'd need to be fleshed-out more to be allowed, but they're along the right paths.
His gauntlets are generally considered part of his armor. I'm not sure if Chevalier is the kind of person who would make sure to have gauntlets on his armor that are designed for fighting in case he can't use his cannon-blade. That's a level contingency we rarely see from anyone but Skitter.
Chevalier's armor is 100% designed for fighting, as he can't exactly use his canonblade on normal-durability humans. Remember how we vacuumed up a massive block of tungsten from his gauntlet in Brockton Bay? Think about getting hit by that.
Yep, Optical Shroud is not just a one-off thing. We can do it for as long as we're able to stunt.
Hit & Run & Repeat is very much a viable attrition strategy.
Unfortunately, 'Hit & Run & Repeat' isn't in the cards if we trigger our Anima enough. We'd first need to drop IAT for long enough to get our 3 motes of Personal Essence back, then we'd have to make sure we don't spend any more Peripheral Essence while sneaking about.
TL;DR Edition: We don't need a gun when we could use a bow and make the PR people happy while maintaining ping damage and ranged capabilities. The range loss is minimal, the flexibility and PR gains great.
Using this quote to discuss the large Bow vs. Gun debate that was had. My thoughts:
- Bows are Cool, allow for fun stunts.
- Guns are Cool, allow for fun stunts.
- Bows are much more likely to pass PR Review, and have a much more distinctive flare.
- Guns have the potential for much more damage, at much longer ranges.
- Bows have the potential for specialized arrowheads, as seen in plenty of superhero comics.
- Guns can be made to use bullets or energy systems, but that's about it.
- Bows require far more investment of time if we're going to customize arrowheads, and ammo is a concern.
Ultimately, Bows would be easier to get but would be a much larger drain on our time than any gun would be. Time is our scarcest commodity these days. Choose wisely.
Question - hypothetically, would Iron Man's repulsor attacks count as Archery/Firearms or something else? (Thrown? MA?)
If the main problem with getting an actual gun/rifle/grenade launcher is the PR, that might be the way to go. Having it built into the suit means that as long as PR doesn't draw attention to its offensive capabilities, it's not likely to be in the public mind at all.
Iron Man-style repulsor blasts have seen use in the Wormverse, so they aren't a new idea. Not only will PR be looking for them, but the public will know
just how deadly they can be.
You do know, that as far as our boss knew it (which might be changed by the discussion) our job is:
1. Training our powers
2. Not look like a child soldier
3. Don't get into superpowered fights
4. Stay in school
Echoing this again. This is important to remember.
Huh. So, for example, would we be using Fame instead of Reputation? In certain social situations we'd have TN 2 instead of TN 7, which, in conjunction with our ability to stunt and channel Virtues is...kinda ridiculously broken.
Actually, the description of Fame from VtM20:
Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition pg.114 said:
Fame
You enjoy widespread recognition in mortal society, perhaps as an entertainer, writer, or athlete. People may enjoy just being seen with you. This gives you all manner of privileges when moving in mortal society, but can also attract an unwanted amount of attention now that you're no longer alive. The greatest weapon fame has to offer is the ability to sway public opinion — as modern media constantly proves. Fame isn't always tied to entertainment: A heinous criminal in a high-profile trial probably has a certain amount of fame, as do a lawmaker and a scientist who has made a popularized discovery.
This Background is obviously a mixed blessing. You can certainly enjoy the privileges of your prestige — getting the best seats, being invited to events you'd otherwise miss, getting appointments with the elite — but you're sometimes recognized when you'd rather not be. However, your enemies can't just make you disappear without causing an undue stir, and you find it much easier to hunt in populated areas as people flock to you (reduce the difficulties of hunting rolls by one for each dot in Fame). Additionally, your Storyteller might permit you to reduce difficulties of certain Social rolls against particularly star-struck or impressionable people.
• You're known to a select subculture — local club-goers, industry bloggers, or the Park Avenue set, for instance.
•• Random people start to recognize your face; you're a minor celebrity such as a small-time criminal or a
local news anchor.
••• You have greater renown; perhaps you're a senator or an entertainer who regularly gets hundreds of thousands of YouTube hits.
•••• A full-blown celebrity; your name is often recognized by the average person on the street.
••••• You're a household word. People name their children after you.
As you can tell, Fame in the new system is much more generalized than Reputation. Were we to start over, I'd opt for Fame to streamline things, but Reputation is working reasonably well for us now that I think it's safe to keep for the time being. I'm still going through the other Backgrounds to compare them against VtM20 (Resources, specifically), so it's on the To Do list.
More like
STRENGTH OF FEET!
Really?
Huh.
But it's not their sidearm, at least not in the United States.
Hell, cops don't even carry flashbangs or CS grenades as a matter of course, both non-lethals.
When you see policemen humping automatic rifles and grenades, things have generally escalated to the point where you see armored police vehicles on the street, and ROEs are....relaxed.
Note that there is no Ward program in Camden.
I doubt that is coincidental.
Yes, most police cars in the US have at least a shotgun in their car, if not more. In the Wormverse, the proliferation of small arms is even more thorough than it is in real life; it IS the Apocalypse, after all.
Transfusion and Mjolnir originally lived in Camden. They have only been Wards in Philadelphia.
How would the Beneficence Programming submodule of Body Reweaving Matrix interact with Alexandria's damaged eye?
Alexandria is a weird case of a constant Shaping effect to prevent any changes to her form. What's more important about the injury is that Alexandria's power didn't just fix her back; this is who she is now. Since Alexandria doesn't have a soul or essence to tell the tale of how she originally looked, the Charm would look at Alexandria and say, "she's fine, what are you talking about?"
I'm currently around update 5.2. Is the Taylor robot voice gonna go away any time soon? Its just really annoying at this point, and the Behemoth fight arc dragged on a really damn long time too.
The Behemoth fight was big, but I'm surprised you feel that it 'dragged' - was it just not engaging enough to warrant the length? Do you have any feedback on what might have been added or removed?
Also, I'm still sad that most people apparently didn't like Clarity Mode. It was really fun to write.
If you want to skip to the end of the previewed sections, ctrl+f "failure is not an option."
I'd actually appreciate it if you removed this, as I changed a decent amount in the parts I previewed earlier in the thread. Not fully rewritten, mind you, but there are some larger changes that might be missed that are going to be relevant down the road.
Ugh fuck exalting Accord. Did you guys not read the part about the hundreds of murders his gang is responsible for.
To be fair, most of those people totally deserved getting brutally murdered. I mean, who wears
socks with
sandals? DEAD PEOPLE, THAT'S WHO.
So... Given that Accord approves of the design of Alchemical bodies, I'm guessing that once Marrow gets spat out as proof that this works, he'll be going up and lying down in the Cradle himself to try to get converted.
Hmmmmmmmm...
@Gromweld - could we get clarification as to what
*-Dodge (Overwhelming Opponents ●○○
) and
*-Bureaucracy (Materiel Invoices ●○○) entail?
Certainly!
- Overwhelming Opponents: When facing an enemy that can wipe the floor with us if we hold still. Good against: Endbringers, Crawler, and others that have no 'go easy' mode. This would also work against Bladedancer if she were going at us full-bore, but would not apply in her normal training exercises (or friendly spars in general). Basically, this is to avoid 1-Shot situations, since we have found ourselves in these situations more than anything else.
- Materiel Invoices: Asking for stuff for use in the construction of other stuff. Good for: getting more Darwin Bark Spiders, rare materials for Tinkering, Tinkertech samples, or research documents. Would not apply: petitioning for lessened restrictions, directing personnel changes, or requesting time off.
