Alchemical Solutions [Worm/Exalted] Thread 18: Ravaging Rapscallions Rapidly Regret Regular Rampages

[uju32]

On the Second Day of Slaughter: (Effectively 5 write-in votes, with ONE Stunt allowed for each!)

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I suspect we're going to be overloaded by choice.
That said, I want to make several points:

1)We want either Maestro or Gallant when we meet Crawler.
Preferably Maestro.
IEU + Bodyjacking might come in useful.
Put him on Suzy with Aisha, and he should remain outside Siberian's reach.

2)Mannequin is sneaky as fuck, and probably can get around Dragon's detection systems.
On the other hand, he will have more problems against Bitch/Feral's dogs; better senses, and Bitch is in power armor.

3)We need someone in reserve, a fast mover who can be committed where there is a need.
I suggest Legend, because the ability to break the sound barrier in a city + ranged firepower gives a certain flexibility.
And is a beatstick for when Hatchet Face shows up.

4)Who/Suzy are packing most of our new bugs, and no one else can command them.
That's a good reason to keep her nearby, plus said synergy with Alec.
Keep her away from any zone with drones.

5)Gallant's sensory abilities are likely to be very good at detecting zombies in the middle of real people.
That means he's probably best deployed in areas where zombies meet civilians ie Hospital or Boulder Builder Mountain.

6)Do not send Kid Win against Jack Slash; Shatterbird could destroy the Dimensional Anchor.

7)Weld v Bonesaw.
Make it happen.

8)Why is Chevalier not on the list of heroes?

9)Miss Militia would probably be wasted at the hospital; no clear lines of fire.

 

[Jinnt]

MM isn't tanky enough to go up against Shatterbird without extra protection.

 

[Ridtom]

FTFY

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I understand what you mean, but aren't we trying to save them?

MM isn't tanky enough to go up against Shatterbird without extra protection.

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Weld or Narwhal would be perfect against her.

I suspect we're going to be overloaded by choice.
That said, I want to make several points:

1)We want either Maestro or Gallant when we meet Crawler.
Preferably Maestro.
IEU + Bodyjacking might come in useful.
Put him on Suzy with Aisha, and he should remain outside Siberian's reach.

2)Mannequin is sneaky as fuck, and probably can get around Dragon's detection systems.
On the other hand, he will have more problems against Bitch/Feral's dogs; better senses, and Bitch is in power armor.

3)We need someone in reserve, a fast mover who can be committed where there is a need.
I suggest Legend, because the ability to break the sound barrier in a city + ranged firepower gives a certain flexibility.
And is a beatstick for when Hatchet Face shows up.

4)Who/Suzy are packing most of our new bugs, and no one else can command them.
That's a good reason to keep her nearby, plus said synergy with Alec.
Keep her away from any zone with drones.

5)Gallant's sensory abilities are likely to be very good at detecting zombies in the middle of real people.
That means he's probably best deployed in areas where zombies meet civilians ie Hospital or Boulder Builder Mountain.

6)Do not send Kid Win against Jack Slash; Shatterbird could destroy the Dimensional Anchor.

7)Weld v Bonesaw.
Make it happen.

8)Why is Chevalier not on the list of heroes?

9)Miss Militia would probably be wasted at the hospital; no clear lines of fire.

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Send Alexandria, Gallant, and maybe Kidwin to the Hospital.

Alexandria can provide Medical Care while Gallant and Kidwin fend off the mooks. If anything big comes by, Alexandria can just cut in real quick.

 

[Tsotate]

I understand what you mean, but aren't we trying to save them?

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There does seem to be an unfortunate trend that way from the voters.

 

[Ridtom]

There does seem to be an unfortunate trend that way from the voters.

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I mean, I totally get mercy killing. Alexandria and Legend have probably done it many times with Bonesaw's creations.

But we have Amy Dallon right here. We can at least try to save them.

 

[uju32]

Send Alexandria, Gallant, and maybe Kidwin to the Hospital.
Alexandria can provide Medical Care while Gallant and Kidwin fend off the mooks. If anything big comes by, Alexandria can just cut in real quick.

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Kid Win has the Dimensional Anchor.
That means we need to deploy him against one of the Twins.
And Alexandria there is a waste for something PRT officers can do if they have someone to spot drones/zombies for them.

 

[Ridtom]

Kid Win has the Dimensional Anchor.
That means we need to deploy him against one of the Twins.
And Alexandria there is a waste for something PRT officers can do if they have someone to spot drones/zombies for them.

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Hmm...

Well we can use her against Burnscar for sure then. I dont know if they want Shatterbird alive here like in canon, but let's keep her away from Jack anyways.

Meh, I'll think about it in the morning.

 

[Gromweld]

@Gromweld did Legend inform Alexandria about Siberian's nature?

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Yes.

It doesn't matter if he knows the projector is Manton, only that there IS a projector that makes the Siberian. Maybe we should have Lisa help him find the projector with a tinkertech visor or something? A camera that Legend wears that she can see through? Putting her on the throne is sounding like a good idea, as it can both fly and has a shield.

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The Hover Throne is out of power. We didn't get it a full charge before we handed it off, and the Tinker crew used up all the reactor last night.

I suspect we're going to be overloaded by choice.

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Yeah, it's a possibility this vote is too complicated. Don't sweat it too much, I have plenty of ideas how to fill in gaps if you folk just want to just focus on the core combos.

1)We want either Maestro or Gallant when we meet Crawler.
Preferably Maestro.
IEU + Bodyjacking might come in useful.
Put him on Suzy with Aisha, and he should remain outside Siberian's reach.

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Crawler is too inhuman for Maestro to bodyjack without DAYS of work, even with IEU.

8)Why is Chevalier not on the list of heroes?

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Whoops! Knew I forgot someone. Added him to list.

 

[GilliamYaeger]

Another combo:

Kid Win + Slate = Fuck Jack Slash

Slate covers Kid Win, both protecting the both of them from Slash's mindreading and Shatterbird's scream. As a bonus it works without metaknowledge, since keeping the anti-twin device safe against Shatterbird is a priority.

Crawler is too inhuman for Maestro to bodyjack without DAYS of work, even with IEU.

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Y'know, if it was anyone else I'd call it impractical to keep them still for days at a time, but Crawler might just willingly do it if we hit him with enough Social Charms to play his motivation enough counteract any sense of responsibility he has.

"We've totally got something that'll work on you - just watch!"

Even if it doesn't work because he develops an immunity during the bodyjack process, that'd keep him out of the game for a while...

 

[veekie]

Wyld - Boulder Builder Mountain, counter to plagues.
Slate - Street King Castle, counter for Shatterbird
Maestro - Street King Castle, support for Wyld Hunt in sector.
Feral - Street King castle, support for Wyld Hunt in sector
Skein - Boulder Builder Mountain, psych support for Wyld. Remote control puppet immune to plague
Inquisition - Boulder Builder Mountain, psych support for Wyld.
Narwhal - PRT Downtown HQ, possibly the best option for stopping a Bakuda Custom bomb.
Bulldozer (Juggernaut and Hulk from Marvel) - Philadelphia General Hospital, counter for drones and zombies, as powers do not help at Docks, is vulnerable to plague and limited effectiveness against the tinker combo.
Weld - Boulder Builder Mountain, immunity to plagues
Willow (teleports through plants, can sense pain, touch-based painkiller/knockout) - Docks Shelter, ability can be used to capture Manton once located, MIGHT work on Crawler if her Case 53 physiology can survive his acid/poison. Case 53 physiology provides resistance to stinkbomb
Gully (Earthbender from Avatar: Last Airbender/Legend of Korra) - Boulder Builder Mountain. Ranged combat option allows her to provide a counter to zombies and drones without exposure to plague, provided she's near Wyld.
Legend - PRT Downtown HQ, exotic physics blasts effective at neutralizing bombs at range, not especially effective against preferred targets of Crawler and Siberian.
Alexandria - Docks Shelter, immune to stinkbombs, able to fight Crawler.
Clockblocker - PRT Downtown HQ, timestop is known counter for Bakuda Bombs, able to perform live capture of Bakuda if he can reach her.
Gallant - PRT Downtown HQ, Bakuda and Mannequin somewhat sensitive to emotional manipulation
Kid Win - Street King Castle, combined with Slate, he's immune to Shatterbird's scream, and can jam Tatsu to capture Jack.
Who/Suzy - Street King Castle, Slate and Shatterbird means that drones are useless, allowing her full stealth.
Miss Milita - Philadelphia General Hospital, ranged firepower.
Bladedancer - Philadelphia General Hospital, ranged firepower.
Gust - Docks Shelter. Aerokinesis allows him to disperse the stinkbomb, and drones, as well as POSSIBLY applying forced movement to Crawler while being way up in the sky and unreachable to Siberian.
Marrow - Docks Shelter, with Siberian out there nobody else can counter that
Weaver - Docks Shelter, Manton-seeker.
PRT Officers (automatic weapons, containment foam) - Street King Castle, as the best counter to Jack Slash, IF they can keep Shatterbird from roasting their gear


* Docks Shelter
-- Targets: Large civilian population, Marrow, Weaver
-- Enemies: Crawler, Siberian, Drones, Stinkbomb
-- Assigned: Marrow, Weaver, Alexandria, Willow, Gust

* Street King Castle
-- Targets: Overleague members, Street King members
-- Enemies: Jack Slash, Shatterbird, Drones, Bombs, Controlled!Tatsu
-- Assigned: Slate, Maestro, Feral, Kid Win, Who/Suzy, PRT Officers

* Boulder Builder Mountain
-- Targets: Boulder Builders members, Geode, Xylophone
-- Enemies: Burnscar, Bonesaw, Zombies, Plagues, Drones, Controlled!Uzu, Controlled!Philharmonic
-- Assigned: Wyld, Skein, Inquisition, Weld, Gully

* PRT Downtown HQ
-- Targets: Director Uriel, PRT leadership, Armsmaster, Dragonsuit
-- Enemies: Mannequin, Bakuda, Drones, Bombs, Controlled!Philanthropic
-- Assigned: Gallant, Narwhal, Clockblocker, Legend

* Philadelphia General Hospital
-- Targets: ~2,000 civilians
-- Enemies: Drones, Bombs, Zombies
-- Assigned: Miss Militia, Bladedancer, Bulldozer

Note: This is a tentative plan, catching up on discussion now to adjust.

EDIT: Made a few tweaks to fix mistakes

 

[sainen]

Another combo:

Kid Win + Slate = Fuck Jack Slash

Slate covers Kid Win, both protecting the both of them from Slash's mindreading and Shatterbird's scream. As a bonus it works without metaknowledge, since keeping the anti-twin device safe against Shatterbird is a priority.


Y'know, if it was anyone else I'd call it impractical to keep them still for days at a time, but Crawler might just willingly do it if we hit him with enough Social Charms.

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I think you're vastly overestimating the power of Slates's darkness here as it doesn't nullify powers, and Sight or hearing aren't needed for Jack's thinker power.

 

[uju32]

Crawler is too inhuman for Maestro to bodyjack without DAYS of work, even with IEU.

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Drats.
There goes that plan.

QUESTION
-Has Narwhal ever fought Crawler?
Because IEU could do nasty things here.
It's either Crawler or Jack Slash for her.

-Does Bulldozer count as inhuman anatomy for Hatchet Face's power?

-How does Slate interact withh Hatchet Face?
They're both power dampeners, if of varying power.

 

[GilliamYaeger]

I think you're vastly overestimating the power of Slates's darkness here as it doesn't nullify powers, and Sight or hearing aren't needed for Jack's thinker power.

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Oh, nuts. The Shatterbird nullifying thing made me forget what his powerset was...derp.

Just swap Kid Win with a PRT agent, then. The best choice to carry the weapon is someone that the Slaughterhouse Nine would ignore after all.

 

[spudman]

Kid Win must go with the Bonesaw team as she is significantly more dangerous than Jack and cannot be allowed to escape, particularly if we're sending in the Wyld + Willow trap. Bonesaw cannot be allowed to capture Wyld


Clockblocker's power is, effectively, a delayer. It takes someone out of commission while you look for the proper counter. You also cannot predict when they'll unfreeze, which makes things even more complicated.

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You think that Jack doesn't have switches to Bakuda's bombs or Bonesaw's fail safes in case of their capture? Jack is just as dangerous.

Jack needs to be dealt with ASAP. To do so we should have Kid Win's device to disable Tatsu and then TAKE HIM OUT.

Though if we're willing to risk civilians...we could just have Weaver use optical shroud, get to Jack, and blow his head off with no warning. That should definitely work.

Put Willow on capturing Bakuda. Clockblocker on capturing Bonesaw. Willow's power may well work against Bonesaw as she hasn't encountered it before...but Bonesaw may have a way to stay awake no matter what (Bakuda on the other hand has not been modified yet). We can't be sure. With Clockblocker's time freeze Bonesaw's modifications mean diddly.

So long as he keeps touching Bonesaw/Uzu his power can be reapplied as needed. In such a case it should be effectively continuous, right? Use Feral (and a dog) to transport them all out at that point.

What do we have in the way of (actual, not cape) artillery? One airburst shell above him, no more Jack or troublingly-compromised twin.

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Not acceptable to me when we have multiple options in actually saving the twins. I don't consider them a lost cause.

 

[veekie]

Edited my analysis a bit to fix errors. Opinions?

 

[Cassiemouse]

Edited my analysis a bit to fix errors. Opinions?

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The Wyld Hunt will work together more effectively if we don't split them up. They can probably take on an entire area by themselves if we let them.

 

[sainen]

Edited my analysis a bit to fix errors. Opinions?

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Willow has power synergy with Wyld and Maestro, and Alexandria still needs to needs to breathe so she won't be immune the the stink bomb.

 

[uju32]

Edited my analysis a bit to fix errors. Opinions?

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The things that jump out at me:
-You have no operational reserve.
When the S9 have enough tactical acumen to keep a tactical reserve(Hatchet Face) and you don't, you're doing something wrong.

-You put two ranged capes (MM,Bladedancer) in an area with limited sightlines(General Hospital).
Worse, you gave them no way to set up fortifications, or a sensor to detect zombies among the 2000 civilians in that area of operations.

-Narwhal is absofuckinglutely wasted on bomb disposal.
There is a Dragonsuit in the area, with scanners and guns to simply shoot the fcking bomb.

-Your personnel placing has a tendency to put teenagers unsupported.
No combat veterans to back them up, or to get the locals to listen to them.
That's...bad; combat is more than a rockpaperscissors game of powers.
I mean, you put teens up against Jack Slash, including a girl with problematic social skills, and their only backup are villains and rogues.
That's asking for a TPK.

 

[veekie]

The Wyld Hunt will work together more effectively if we don't split them up. They can probably take on an entire area by themselves if we let them.

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Slate is the only counter to Shatterbird that we have.
At the same time Tattletale and Wyld together are the best counters to Bonesaw

Willow has power synergy with Wyld and Maestro, and Alexandria still needs to needs to breathe so she won't be immune the the stink bomb.

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Excellent points, adjusting. Maestro's body-jacking is too slow to use in combat time though, even with IEU. The S9 member most vulnerable to him in the heat of battle are Jack Slash(mostly human nervous system, relies on limbs to fight) and Bonesaw(relies on limbs to fight). If they are neutralized long enough for him to take control we can do it out of combat.

Putting Willow with Wyld now, though Alexandria is still one of the better options for Crawler(I don't think anyone else except weld is immune to the acid-poison), so she's not going anywhere else.

 

[veekie]

The things that jump out at me:
-You have no operational reserve.
When the S9 have enough tactical acumen to keep a tactical reserve(Hatchet Face) and you don't, you're doing something wrong.

-You put two ranged capes (MM,Bladedancer) in an area with limited sightlines(General Hospital).
Worse, you gave them no way to set up fortifications, or a sensor to detect zombies among the 2000 civilians in that area of operations.

-Narwhal is absofuckinglutely wasted on bomb disposal.
There is a Dragonsuit in the area, with scanners and guns to simply shoot the fcking bomb.

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Adjusting, I'll pull the less dedicated ones out as a reserve.

-Your personnel placing has a tendency to put teenagers unsupported.
No combat veterans to back them up, or to get the locals to listen to them.
That's...bad; combat is more than a rockpaperscissors game of powers.
I mean, you put teens up against Jack Slash, including a girl with problematic social skills, and their only backup are villains and rogues.
That's asking for a TPK.

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Jack Slash also has a full team of PRT officers, who are combat veterans to suppress him.

 

[RCa]

Shatterbird uses her Silicate control to create a resonance that propagates through glass and causes it to explode. even if Slate's Darkness counters the scream it wont fully counter her short range control as the darkness only dampens sound and her range is huge.

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Her silicakinesis is completely sonic base: Cricket, in canon, crippled her (she couldn't even fly IIRC) through use of her own sonics.

So Shatterbird shot her.

I can't remember if Grue ever directly went up against Shatterbird in canon. I think it did counter Cricket's power until Stormtiger blew it away? Should probably check anyway. The bigger risk is that she sees it coming and just flies up and dodges it.

 

[charysa]

So what is the priority for the S9 anyway? The previous list pretty much had over half of them as top priority for kill/capture, which kinda defeats the point of prioritization.

This is my opinion:

1. Jack Slash - Yes, I put him here as top priority ahead of Bonesaw and Bakuda. That's because he is the equivalent of Weaver to the S9. His presence coordinates them and turns them from a bunch of really dangerous capes to a city/world-threatening event. Without Jack, the S9 can be much more easily picked off one by one and we would have a much easier time bringing forth much larger forces against each one, and thus have a better chance of accomplishing our goals of capture or kill. In the long term, Jack is also the one behind the whole poisoning the world against Auto-kun thing; I doubt any of the other S9 cares about that at all. The more time we leave him alive, the more chances he has of making our long term goal much harder. Thirdly, he's not that hard to kill as long as can justify our metagaming. So yeah, there's an argument that can be made to sacrifice the civilians at the dock and have Weaver go with the team to take out Jack Slash and just kill him then and there.

2. Bonesaw - The other potentially global threat that needs to be neutralized, as well as potentially turnable intel source of where our captured allies are located. Capture thus preferred. Wyld is the obvious choice here to neutralize Bonesaw's inventions, though shouldn't get into direct confrontation. The big concern is that Bonesaw is a trap for Wyld, so whoever else get sent needs to be able to defend Wyld (a strong mover like Legend and Gust might be a good choice to play keep-away with Wyld). Maestro might be a good choice to neutralize her without setting things off (including triggers that go off if they don't get a signal for x amount of time, which Clockblocker's power wouldn't neutralize).

3. Shatterbird - Chance to go berserk if we kill Jack, since she was in love with him or whatever. So she might repeat her opening song if driven far enough. Definitely needs to be killed if we kill Jack for that chance alone.

4. Bakuda - Third most dangerous normally. On the other hand, without Jack pulling her strings and feeding her targets, it might be okay to let her escape this first round and get her the next time with overwhelming force tailored for her. Maestro would also be a good choice there to prevent her from tripping any triggers, for the same reason as above with Bonesaw.

5. Siberian + Crawler - Putting these two together since they're hitting the same spot and it's really hard to see any way they we can kill them this first fight. Might be better to gear for distraction and denial than to actual go for trying to kill them. If Weaver goes after Jack, then it might be better to have Marrow challenge Siberian and lead her off, while other capes who can survive Crawler stall & try to distract him while the docks are evacuated. Then again, round two can be tailored against them on our schedule later.

6. Everyone else - Targets of opportunity. If we can kill/capture them with the remaining capes, that's great. If not, at least we have WOG that things won't go too badly as long as we allocate someone to the location.

 

[uju32]

I can't remember if Grue ever directly went up against Shatterbird in canon. I think it did counter Cricket's power until Stormtiger blew it away? Should probably check anyway. The bigger risk is that she sees it coming and just flies up and dodges it.

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This.
Anyone hoping to neutralize Shatterbird by using a guy who can't fly is dreaming.
And setting up for mass casualties when she simply kites her way out, and bombards the entire cloud with glass shrapnel.

The only person I would trust to coordinate something like that is Weaver, and she is occupied.

Jack Slash also has a full team of PRT officers, who are combat veterans to suppress him.

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Combat veterans? No.
Philly has been pretty peaceful for a long time due to precog shenanigans, and their last S-class was at least ten years ago.
This ain't Brockton Bay.

All of the adult capes(besides Gust) OTOH have recent S-class experience, and have repeatedly survived everything from normal S-classes to Endbringer assaults.
Some of them have fought the Nine multiple times.
So yeah, difference.

 

[sainen]

Her silicakinesis is completely sonic base: Cricket, in canon, crippled her (she couldn't even fly IIRC) through use of her own sonics.

So Shatterbird shot her.

I can't remember if Grue ever directly went up against Shatterbird in canon. I think it did counter Cricket's power until Stormtiger blew it away? Should probably check anyway. The bigger risk is that she sees it coming and just flies up and dodges it.

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you're right I looked it up Shatterbird uses sound to control her glass, but Slate's Darkness only dampens sound not completely removes it( or generates a counter frequency like Cricket did)

 

[Tsotate]

So what is the priority for the S9 anyway? The previous list pretty much had over half of them as top priority for kill/capture, which kinda defeats the point of prioritization.

This is my opinion:

1. Jack Slash - Yes, I put him here as top priority ahead of Bonesaw and Bakuda. That's because he is the equivalent of Weaver to the S9. His presence coordinates them and turns them from a bunch of really dangerous capes to a city/world-threatening event. Without Jack, the S9 can be much more easily picked off one by one and we would have a much easier time bringing forth much larger forces against each one, and thus have a better chance of accomplishing our goals of capture or kill. In the long term, Jack is also the one behind the whole poisoning the world against Auto-kun thing; I doubt any of the other S9 cares about that at all. The more time we leave him alive, the more chances he has of making our long term goal much harder. Thirdly, he's not that hard to kill as long as can justify our metagaming. So yeah, there's an argument that can be made to sacrifice the civilians at the dock and have Weaver go with the team to take out Jack Slash and just kill him then and there.

2. Bonesaw - The other potentially global threat that needs to be neutralized, as well as potentially turnable intel source of where our captured allies are located. Capture thus preferred. Wyld is the obvious choice here to neutralize Bonesaw's inventions, though shouldn't get into direct confrontation. The big concern is that Bonesaw is a trap for Wyld, so whoever else get sent needs to be able to defend Wyld (a strong mover like Legend and Gust might be a good choice to play keep-away with Wyld). Maestro might be a good choice to neutralize her without setting things off (including triggers that go off if they don't get a signal for x amount of time, which Clockblocker's power wouldn't neutralize).

3. Shatterbird - Chance to go berserk if we kill Jack, since she was in love with him or whatever. So she might repeat her opening song if driven far enough. Definitely needs to be killed if we kill Jack for that chance alone.

4. Bakuda - Third most dangerous normally. On the other hand, without Jack pulling her strings and feeding her targets, it might be okay to let her escape this first round and get her the next time with overwhelming force tailored for her. Maestro would also be a good choice there to prevent her from tripping any triggers, for the same reason as above with Bonesaw.

5. Siberian + Crawler - Putting these two together since they're hitting the same spot and it's really hard to see any way they we can kill them this first fight. Might be better to gear for distraction and denial than to actual go for trying to kill them. If Weaver goes after Jack, then it might be better to have Marrow challenge Siberian and lead her off, while other capes who can survive Crawler stall & try to distract him while the docks are evacuated. Then again, round two can be tailored against them on our schedule later.

6. Everyone else - Targets of opportunity. If we can kill/capture them with the remaining capes, that's great. If not, at least we have WOG that things won't go too badly as long as we allocate someone to the location.

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I would say:

1. Siberian: We know about Manton, and without Siberian's physics canceling, the rest of the 9 except Crawler can be gotten rid of with one bomb large enough to sterilize Bonesaw's plagues. (Not in Philly, but prioritizing based on worst case scenario of only getting one, and the rest escaping)
2. Jack: He's the glue that holds the 9 together.
3. Bonesaw
4. Shatterbird: Jack is actually a restraining influence on her. We really don't want to get Jack and have her now willing to sing all the time, everywhere.
5. Bakuda
6. Other: The rest aren't really large-scale dangers. They're bad, and should eventually be hunted down and killed, but they aren't walking WMDs