how much Exp did we get from all the omake ?
14.5 XP, I think.
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!
Drats.
Ah well, guess that means we get to build that S-class suit when we get Iris back.
With ALL the bling.
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!
POSing Crawler would have been fun though.
Or all of the S9, after they invaded a quarantined BB; dissipate into a swarm and coalesce on top of them.
Might be worth an omake, after I finally get the idea currently nagging me committed to paper.
RESPONSES TO OTHER POSTS/DISCUSSIONS:
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!
- Good to have confirmation.
-Huh.
So we really want to prioritize getting ahold of original samples of his drones.
We probably won't have the time to tinker, but just increased knowledge of AI coding might be applicable to dealing with our Saint problem.
Maybe trade him IEU for a couple hours.
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.
We don't actually have to choose.
We can take both, and switch as necessary; Archery/Firearms means we don't have to train specially for either.
Just use the bow for indirect fire with specialty munitions.
And the merchandising department will be pleased at the prospect of selling models with different equipment loadouts.
Echoing this again. This is important to remember.
Will keep that in mind until the shit hits the fan.
Good thing we can administrate; our deadliest weapon is our mind and voice, after all.
Even grounding by the Youth Guard doesn't take that away.
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.
Will keep this in mind as well.
I wonder how common infantry heavy weapons are these days.
Transfusion and Mjolnir originally lived in Camden. They have only been Wards in Philadelphia.
*nods head*
Thought so.
Camden's circumstances seem like they would predispose to Trigger events; it's relative lack of capes suggests that the first thing any parahuman with a marketable power does is move out.
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?"
Huh.
Probably need something else.
Maybe a custom charm.
Probably not worth it for us though.
A custom charm for fixing Case 53s?
That is something that our Jade might want to investigate though, when we get him/her.
Also, I'm still sad that most people apparently didn't like Clarity Mode. It was really fun to write.
I liked reading it.
No accounting for other people's taste, I guess.
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.
To be fair, most of those people totally deserved getting brutally murdered. I mean, who wears socks with sandals? DEAD PEOPLE, THAT'S WHO.
Wonder if he needs Temperance or Compassion.
Maybe both.
