Alchemical Solutions [Worm/Exalted] Thread 6: Fatal Fires Flagrantly Fry Frantic Friends, Family

[BobTheNinja]

What do you think of my post right above yours Bob?

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It looks good, but I can't help but think that we need to take additional measures to defend our remaining Thinkers as well, probably by keeping a teleporter escort on them at all times.

EDIT: We might also want to have teleporters play a constant role in combat, moving them in to attack all at once from a new angle and bringing them out when the fire from Behemoth gets too heavy.

DOUBLE EDIT: Looks like you've got that handled, but what about the Kill Aura? It seems like Behemoth is the worse opponent to go after in close combat because it's so easy to be killed if you're not someone like Alexandria.

 

[.IronSun.]

[X] We could hear Behemoth tearing through the city, but we were too disorganized and reeling to do anything. Weaver was there, though, and within only a few minutes we had rallied and teleported to that High School for a last stand.
-[X] Stunt: Analyze downed and recovered capes for compatibility with Exaltation and their health condition as they are evacuated to the high school. Prioritize those likely to die without intervention and those with higher degree of personal familiarity.
-[X] Stunt: Allocate all available Tinkers and Shakers to fortify the high school before Behemoth arrives. Have any remaining teleporters bodyguard the Thinkers assisting in coordinating the battle, ready to teleport them to a safer location should Behemoth begin showing hostile intent towards them. Tecton will set up first to prevent, detect and counter any tunneling attacks.

XP Spending
[X] Athletics (4 XP)
[X] Dodge (4 XP)
[X] War (Swarms ●●●) (2XP)

and pray to GOD in the name of all that is holy and most of what isn't that the second monster is OUR monster and not another endbringer.

And if it's an Abyssal or some shit then I am flat out DONE with this thread since we're all going to die anyway.

EDIT: changed second stunt since we can't actually communicate with Iris right now.

 

[landcollector]

It looks good, but I can't help but think that we need to take additional measures to defend our remaining Thinkers as well, probably by keeping a teleporter escort on them at all times.

EDIT: We might also want to have teleporters play a constant role in combat, moving them in to attack all at once from a new angle and bringing them out when the fire from Behemoth gets too heavy.

Click to shrink...

Look at it, once more. Is it any better?

 

[Skelm]

[x] "We could hear Behemoth tearing through the city, but we were too disorganized and reeling to do anything. Weaver was there, though, and within only a few minutes we had rallied and teleported to that High School for a last stand."
-[x] Pass IEU to Lung to let him fight Behemoth better, possibly being able to to use his melee and control his pyrokinetics simultaneously more effectively. Hopefully with six mindstreams at once Lung can limit friendly fire.
-[X] Stunt: Allocate all available Tinkers and Shakers to fortify the high school before Behemoth arrives. Have any remaining teleporters bodyguard the Thinkers assisting in coordinating the battle, ready to teleport them to a safer location should Behemoth begin showing hostile intent towards them. Tecton will set up first to prevent, detect and counter any tunneling attacks.

[x] 4xp - Dodge
[x] 4xp - Athletics
[x] 2xp - War (Swarms ●●●)
[x] 2xp - Awareness (Swarms ●●●)

 

[BobTheNinja]

Look at it, once more. Is it any better?

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Yeah, that looks pretty good. I'm just worried that sending Brutes in may be a death sentence given how utterly lethal Behemoth is close-up.

 

[landcollector]

Yeah, that looks pretty good. I'm just worried that sending Brutes in may be a death sentence given how utterly lethal Behemoth is close-up.

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Which is why the Blasters and Movers harass him to distract. Behemoth (hopefully) can't spare enough attention to generate the death aura while he's busy flinging Lightning Bolts around.

 

[CatOnTheWeb]

-snip-

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I will note that you were the one who chose what happened during the weeklong timeskip, iirc, and that you never gave us an option to interact with him save for update 2.1, in which we were given free reign to come up with a plan.

Not that I'm saying Danny isn't justified or anything.

 

[FunkyEntropy]

Hmm. I have an idea for the third response.

[X] "Even though we were barely organized, we still needed to stop the monster from tearing through the city like it was his playground. After only a few seconds of rest, everyone standing was teleported back into the fray. We didn't expect to see two monsters, though..."

- [X] Stunt: Use swarm clones and teleporters to coordinate capes as you harry Behemoth. Focus on keeping Behemoth off-balance so that he never has time to attack. Devote a mental thread towards retaining full awareness of your surroundings and looking out for trouble - you've been caught off-guard too many times tonight and you're determined to make sure that doesn't happen again. Use Conviction channels to boost important War rolls to save lives and avoid harm. Use Compassion channels for motivational purposes or to get people to back down if necessary.

- [X] Stunt: Acquire a long-ranged weapon and integrate its use into your coordination of the response. Devote a mental thread to monitoring Behemoth and taking shots at him when he's distracted or to pull his attention away from someone who won't survive it. Use Valor channels to boost DDVs in extreme circumstances.

XP purchases

[X] Dodge
[x] Awareness (Swarms)
[x] War (Swarms)
[x] Presence (Intimidation)

 

[BobTheNinja]

Alright, changing my vote

[X] "We could hear Behemoth tearing through the city, but we were too disorganized and reeling to do anything. Weaver was there, though, and within only a few minutes we had rallied and teleported to that High School for a last stand."
-[X] Stunt: Allocate all available Blasters, Movers and Brutes to harass and distract Behemoth. Using Shard of Perfect Administration and bug clones, have the Blasters and Movers coordinate their efforts to minimize cape casualties. When Behemoth is off balance or focusing on attacking the Blasters and Movers, plan to have the Brutes strike at Behemoth to topple him. Give orders to a number of the remaining teleporters to keep watch over the Brutes and Behemoth, 'porting out any brutes that he turns his attention towards.
-[X] Stunt: Allocate all available Tinkers and Shakers to assist Iris with any requests for fortification while requesting that Iris make use of these additional resources for his defense efforts. Have any remaining teleporters bodyguard the Thinkers assisting in coordinating the battle, ready to teleport them to a safer location should Behemoth begin showing hostile intent towards them.

XP Spending

[X] Athletics (4 XP)
[X] Dodge (4 XP)
[X] War (Swarms ●●●) (2XP)

 

[Gromweld]

I will note that you were the one who chose what happened during the weeklong timeskip, iirc, and that you never gave us an option to interact with him save for update 2.1, in which we were given free reign to come up with a plan.

Not that I'm saying Danny isn't justified or anything.

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I'm not talking about the time-skip, as you had a few conversations with Danny during the Time-Skip but they were just awkward and only really revolved around legalese for your Ward membership.

I'm talking about the entire week you guys spent going to school and doing stuff after school - Arc 2 is the whole week that you guys neglected Danny.

 

[BobTheNinja]

Can someone get us a vote tally?

 

[CatOnTheWeb]

I'm not talking about the time-skip, as you had a few conversations with Danny during the Time-Skip but they were just awkward and only really revolved around legalese for your Ward membership.

I'm talking about the entire week you guys spent going to school and doing stuff after school - Arc 2 is the whole week that you guys neglected Danny.

Click to shrink...

Guess I wasn't clear enough, then. A look at the options at the end of ever arc 2 update, Danny was never an option that you gave us. You listed a bunch of other stuff, and they all had the air of important and character develop-y. Yet interacting with Danny was never even brought up. And Taylor and Danny did have an estranged relationship even before the Exaltation.

 

[landcollector]

Can someone get us a vote tally?

Click to shrink...

Vote tally:
##### 3.12
[X] We could hear Behemoth tearing through the city, but we were too disorganized and reeling to do anything. Weaver was there, though, and within only a few minutes we had rallied and teleported to that High School for a last stand.
No. of votes: 15
Lost Star, veekie, Deathwings, ticktrick, Harish, assana73, Zen, EnderofWorlds, A Nation's Virtue, CrawlingChaos74, landcollector, .IronSun., Skelm, wingnut2292, BobTheNinja

-[X] Iris, recover Armsmaster body, attempt conversion.
No. of votes: 1
Lost Star

-[X] Stunt: Analyze downed and recovered capes for compatibility with Exaltation and their health condition as they are evacuated to the high school. Prioritize those likely to die without intervention and those with higher degree of personal familiarity.
No. of votes: 8
veekie, Deathwings, ticktrick, Harish, assana73, Zen, EnderofWorlds, A Nation's Virtue

-[X] Stunt: Allocate all available Tinkers and Shakers to assist Iris with any requests for fortification while requesting that Iris make use of these additional resources for his defense efforts.
No. of votes: 8
veekie, Deathwings, ticktrick, Harish, assana73, Zen, EnderofWorlds, Skelm

[X] 4xp - Occult
No. of votes: 5
veekie, ticktrick, Harish, Quantumboost, Jack Folstam

[X] 4xp - Dodge
No. of votes: 12
veekie, Deathwings, ticktrick, Harish, assana73, Zen, Quantumboost, Bozwevial, Jack Folstam, Azure, Skelm, Jinnt

[X] 4xp - Athletics
No. of votes: 7
Deathwings, assana73, Zen, Quantumboost, Azure, Skelm, Jinnt

[X] 2xp - Awareness (Swarms ●●●)
No. of votes: 3
Zen, Skelm, Jinnt

[X] 2xp - War (Swarms ●●●)
No. of votes: 2
Zen, Skelm

[X] The son of a bitch was hurt, but Weaver saw how badly we were hurt too. Without even a word, she was off to chase down the Endbringer with the Triumvirate quick on her heels.
No. of votes: 3
Overmind, scope, hunter09

-[X] Stunt: Allocate all available Tinkers and Shakers to assist Iris with any requests for fortification while requesting that Iris make use of these additional resources for his defense
No. of votes: 1
A Nation's Virtue

[X] Dodge - 4xp
No. of votes: 12
sun tzu, 1986ctcel, DeAnno, Elero, protoss16, bobnik, 42hitchhiker, landcollector, sainen, .IronSun., wingnut2292, BobTheNinja

[X] Athletics (Power Armor ●●○○○) - 2xp
No. of votes: 1
sun tzu

[X] Awareness (Swarms ●●●) - 2xp
No. of votes: 2
sun tzu, DeAnno

[X] Even though we were barely organized, we still needed to stop the monster from tearing through the city like it was his playground. After only a few seconds of rest, everyone standing was teleported back into the fray. We didn't expect to see two monsters, though...
No. of votes: 13
NotAlwaysFanfic, 1986ctcel, DeAnno, Elero, protoss16, Jack Folstam, bobnik, 42hitchhiker, spudman, Daemir Silverstreak, sainen, Jinnt, FunkyEntropy

--[X] Stunt: Get the capes into groups which provide synergy and improve effectiveness.
No. of votes: 1
CrawlingChaos74

--[X] Stunt: Prioritize the safety of the Cradle at all costs.
No. of votes: 1
CrawlingChaos74

-[X] Pass IEU to Lung to let him fight Behemoth better, possibly being able to to use his melee and control his pyrokinetics simultaneously more effectively. Hopefully with six mindstreams at once Lung can limit friendly fire.
No. of votes: 8
1986ctcel, DeAnno, Elero, protoss16, Jack Folstam, bobnik, 42hitchhiker, Skelm

-[X] Flare your anima at Behemoth, trying to focus the full brunt of the fear on him specifically somehow.
No. of votes: 6
1986ctcel, DeAnno, Elero, protoss16, bobnik, 42hitchhiker

[X] Occult (4 XP)
No. of votes: 8
1986ctcel, DeAnno, Elero, protoss16, bobnik, 42hitchhiker, sainen, wingnut2292

[x] War (Swarms)
No. of votes: 4
1986ctcel, DragonBard, 42hitchhiker, FunkyEntropy

[x] Attack Behemoth from as far away as we can, with any ranged weapons we can find. Hopefully ones more effective than carrots.
No. of votes: 1
Jack Folstam

-[X] Send a bug clone to Panacea. This beast has tried to dim the Glory of this world. Do not weep, but take vengeance; become the Panacea to those who can hurt him. Thus shall Glory never leave your heart.
No. of votes: 1
bobnik

[x] Dodge
No. of votes: 2
DragonBard, FunkyEntropy

[x] Athletics
No. of votes: 1
DragonBard

[x] Occult
No. of votes: 2
DragonBard, scope

[x] Awareness (Swarms)
No. of votes: 2
DragonBard, FunkyEntropy

-[X] Stunt: Get a Tinker gun, harass Behemoth - preferably, something with good range and rate of fire. Better yet, get multiple guns, use swarms to fire on Behemoth from multiple angles.
No. of votes: 3
spudman, Daemir Silverstreak, sainen

-[X] Stunt:
No. of votes: 1
spudman

-[X] Stunt: Cover yourself with Bugs to disguise yourself as a clone and avoid using your charms and activating your anima. Keep moving and confuse Behemoth on which clone is really you.
No. of votes: 1
Daemir Silverstreak

[X] Awareness (Swarms ●●●)
No. of votes: 1
scope

[X] Survival (Training Swarms ●○○)
No. of votes: 1
scope

[X] War (Swarms ●●●)
No. of votes: 1
scope

-[X] Stunt: Allocate all available Blasters, Movers and Brutes to harass and distract Behemoth. Using Shard of Perfect Administration and bug clones, have the Blasters and Movers coordinate their efforts to minimize cape casualties. When Behemoth is off balance or focusing on attacking the Blasters and Movers, plan to have the Brutes strike at Behemoth to topple him. Give orders to a number of the remaining teleporters to keep watch over the Brutes and Behemoth, 'porting out any brutes that he turns his attention towards.
No. of votes: 3
landcollector, .IronSun., BobTheNinja

-[X] Stunt: Allocate all available Tinkers and Shakers to assist Iris with any requests for fortification while requesting that Iris make use of these additional resources for his defense efforts. Have any remaining teleporters bodyguard the Thinkers assisting in coordinating the battle, ready to teleport them to a safer location should Behemoth begin showing hostile intent towards them.
No. of votes: 3
landcollector, .IronSun., BobTheNinja

[X] Athletics (4 XP)
No. of votes: 3
landcollector, .IronSun., BobTheNinja

[X] War (Swarms ●●●) (2XP)
No. of votes: 5
landcollector, sainen, .IronSun., wingnut2292, BobTheNinja

-[X] Stunt: Allocate all available Blasters, Movers and Brutes to harass and distract Behemoth. Using Shard of Perfect Administration and bug clones, have the Blasters and Movers coordinate their efforts to minimize cape casualties. When Behemoth is off balance or focusing on attacking the Blasters and Movers, plan to have the Brutes strike at Behemoth to topple him. Give orders to any remaining teleporters to keep watch over the Brutes and Behemoth, 'porting out any brutes that he turns his attention towards.
No. of votes: 1
Jinnt

-[x] Fill the battlefield with swarm clones and keep supporting effective capes with IEU while you analyze the second monster and try to communicate with it.
No. of votes: 1
Jinnt

[X] Stunt: Use swarm clones and teleporters to coordinate capes as you harry Behemoth. Focus on keeping Behemoth off-balance so that he never has time to attack. Devote a mental thread towards retaining full awareness of your surroundings and looking out for trouble - you've been caught off-guard too many times tonight and you're determined to make sure that doesn't happen again. Use Conviction channels to boost important War rolls to save lives and avoid harm. Use Compassion channels for motivational purposes or to get people to back down if necessary.
No. of votes: 1
FunkyEntropy

[X] Stunt: Acquire a long-ranged weapon and integrate its use into your coordination of the response. Devote a mental thread to monitoring Behemoth and taking shots at him when he's distracted or to pull his attention away from someone who won't survive it. Use Valor channels to boost DDVs in extreme circumstances.
No. of votes: 1
FunkyEntropy

[x] Presence (Intimidation)
No. of votes: 2
FunkyEntropy, Ryune

-[X] Weaver gave Tattletale a silent severe look that promised nothing good, before the focusing the more important matters of rousing Eidolon and Panacea out from their respective shocks, retuning our greatest hero and our greatest healer back to the battlefield.
No. of votes: 1
wingnut2292

-[X] Weaver came up with a plan of counter-attack that targeted the Herokiller's weaknesses: Gravity, the one energy-nee-atomic force that does affect Behemoth, seeing as the beast walks the land. By making use of every cape that could, Weaver coordinated every space or gravity manipulating cape and suspended the great beast in midair, where he hung helpless. Clockblocker teamed up with Kaiser to weave a time frozen cage around the beast. We were actually holding the line vs. the fucking Behemoth!
No. of votes: 1
wingnut2292

 

[Gromweld]

Oh hey. Grom, how does this look for a pre-exalt Taylor?

Click to shrink...

While a pleasant picture, it's not really Taylor Hebert.

Beyond the whole 'anime sameface', Taylor's got a much wider mouth, smaller, more deadened eyes, and a longer facial structure. Taylor's hair is darker and curly. Taylor's eyes are brown, not the almost-orange here. And, most importantly, Taylor never smiles or looks even remotely happy - it's been, quite literally, beaten out of her.

 

[FunkyEntropy]

I can get behind that Funky.

[x] FunkyEntropy

Click to shrink...

My reasoning is as follows: Presence (Intimidation) is important because it's one of the few flavors of social interaction that isn't harmed by high Clarity. Right now we're riding on us being more than a little terrifying because of our fear aura (whenever it kicks in) and our being a total badass determinator, which means that anything colored by how intimidating we are makes it more likely that we save lives. For example, we can use this to get people to immediately comply as we bark out orders.

As for the plan of action - going the "two monsters" route gives us a couple options that the other actions wouldn't. If the second one is hostile, we learn of it now and can thus formulate a strategy to deal with it before things get out of hand. If the second one is neutral/friendly, we're there to react to its presence and thus have the possibility of getting it on our side without any accidental teamkilling. Showing up means that we have some influence over the outcome of this unknown situation.

 

[Gromweld]

Guess I wasn't clear enough, then. A look at the options at the end of ever arc 2 update, Danny was never an option that you gave us. You listed a bunch of other stuff, and they all had the air of important and character develop-y. Yet interacting with Danny was never even brought up.

Click to shrink...

It was brought up many times in the threads, but discarded. See my earlier post:

Unfortunately, this would be a valid argument if I didn't allow write-ins. Case-in-point: write-ins for visiting Danny were proposed EVERY VOTE for that week, but were consistently ignored by the thread. Other write-ins have won the popular vote at other times, so I feel justified in holding the thread responsible for losing one dot of the Intimacy for a week.

As well, no Stunts or Votes have ever been dedicated towards trying to strengthen the Intimacy on your own through reflection - taking a quiet moment to remember the good times you had with him, for example - when I KNOW there are people in this thread that are aware of that possible course of action, since it's in the book. Heck, this is still something you can still do!

Well, not RIGHT NOW, because Clarity and Behemoth, but you get what I mean.

Click to shrink...

Also...

And Taylor and Danny did have an estranged relationship even before the Exaltation.

Click to shrink...

So... you're saying that she shouldn't have an Intimacy with him that is Familial Love to begin with. Even more reason for it to erode and then be re-established as something else later on when Taylor and Danny stop being 'estranged'.

 

[landcollector]

Could I interest anyone in switching their votes to this?

[] "We could hear Behemoth tearing through the city, but we were too disorganized and reeling to do anything. Weaver was there, though, and within only a few minutes we had rallied and teleported to that High School for a last stand."
-[] Stunt: Allocate all available Blasters, Movers and Brutes to harass and distract Behemoth. Using Shard of Perfect Administration and bug clones, have the Blasters and Movers coordinate their efforts to minimize cape casualties. When Behemoth is off balance or focusing on attacking the Blasters and Movers, plan to have the Brutes strike at Behemoth to topple him. Give orders to a number of the remaining teleporters to keep watch over the Brutes and Behemoth, 'porting out any brutes that he turns his attention towards.
-[] Stunt: Allocate all available Tinkers and Shakers to assist Iris with any requests for fortification while requesting that Iris make use of these additional resources for his defense efforts. Have any remaining teleporters bodyguard the Thinkers assisting in coordinating the battle, ready to teleport them to a safer location should Behemoth begin showing hostile intent towards them.


[]Insert XP Votes here

 

[CatOnTheWeb]

It was brought up many times in the threads, but discarded. See my earlier post:

Click to shrink...

ok, did not ever see those, my bad.

Also...
So... you're saying that she shouldn't have an Intimacy with him that is Familial Love to begin with. Even more reason for it to erode and then be re-established as something else later on when Taylor and Danny stop being 'estranged'.

Click to shrink...

I wasn't really trying to argue it or anything, just pointing something out. Not sure why I felt the need to put that in. Anyway, lets move on.

 

[Gromweld]

though there isn't a chance for improving that intimacy right now, is there Gromweld?

Click to shrink...

Is there absolutely nothing that can be done to improve the intimacy right now, Gromweld?

Click to shrink...

Nope. Clarity rules from the book:

EFFECTS OF CLARITY
5–7: The Alchemical's movements and speech become clipped and laconic for greater efficiency. She no longer pities mortals for their imperfections, correctly recognizing pity as a waste of cognitive function. In short, she is notably inhuman. Emotional needs are taken into account only for motivational purposes. Mistakes meet with prompt chastisement and punishment if possible, or the prompt filing of disciplinary reports with the defective mortal's superiors otherwise. The thrum and boom of distant gears sometimes impresses itself on the Alchemical in her dreams. All bonuses and penalties from the previous stage double at this level. The Alchemical may no longer sustain emotional Intimacies to broad social groups at all. Such Intimacies may remain only if they are valued for strategic import alone. Antagonistic Intimacies at this level of Clarity may be sustained only if the subject of the Intimacy is a serious, ongoing threat to the Alchemical or her goals. Emotional Intimacies of friendship may be retained only if this friendship is of material benefit to the Alchemical.

Click to shrink...

 

[Mishie]

So is there a reason why people are assuming Alabaster died when WoG on his power is that he's basically immortal and that he only "died" in canon because he was hit by one of Bakuda's time bombs?

 

[landcollector]

You know with all the talk of searching out the dead and dying for potential Exaltations and Taylor's current high Clarity state it would be amusing to see her select people she would never chose if she was in her normal state, like Moonsilver!Sophia. Man I would love to see the reaction to that.

May have to make an omake...

Anyway on with the votes.

[X] "We could hear Behemoth tearing through the city, but we were too disorganized and reeling to do anything. Weaver was there, though, and within only a few minutes we had rallied and teleported to that High School for a last stand."

[X] Stunt: Analyze downed and recovered capes for compatibility with Exaltation and their health condition as they are evacuated to the high school. Prioritize those likely to die without intervention and those with higher degree of personal familiarity.

[X] Stunt: Allocate all available Tinkers and Shakers to assist Iris with any requests for fortification while requesting that Iris make use of these additional resources for his defense efforts.

Click to shrink...

Why not this?

[] "We could hear Behemoth tearing through the city, but we were too disorganized and reeling to do anything. Weaver was there, though, and within only a few minutes we had rallied and teleported to that High School for a last stand."
-[] Stunt: Allocate all available Blasters, Movers and Brutes to harass and distract Behemoth. Using Shard of Perfect Administration and bug clones, have the Blasters and Movers coordinate their efforts to minimize cape casualties. When Behemoth is off balance or focusing on attacking the Blasters and Movers, plan to have the Brutes strike at Behemoth to topple him. Give orders to a number of the remaining teleporters to keep watch over the Brutes and Behemoth, 'porting out any brutes that he turns his attention towards.
-[] Stunt: Allocate all available Tinkers and Shakers to assist Iris with any requests for fortification while requesting that Iris make use of these additional resources for his defense efforts. Have any remaining teleporters bodyguard the Thinkers assisting in coordinating the battle, ready to teleport them to a safer location should Behemoth begin showing hostile intent towards them.

 

[Zefferen]

Danny will probably stop being dumb if we ever get Lisa on our side. Her social fu would expose the obvious flaws in believing a person like Coil about anything, especially if she's exalted with social charms.

The key is for Danny to stay alive that long for that to occur, but that's looking unlikely.

 

[Scope]

It was his daughter, a great spider looming over her head as she danced through that monsters attacks. She was leading it. Aiming it to destroy the docks and the people who lived there with a smile on her face.

Click to shrink...

Is this a metaphor or something? The helmet has full coverage of her head.

 

[.IronSun.]

again, let's talk about slapping the stupid out of Danny and possible exalts AFTER we deal with the damn coked out Juggernaut trashing our city. We need a consensus on our actions for the next update.

 

[.IronSun.]

You do that DragonBard, and make sure it's extra painful.