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Brockton's Celestial Forge (Worm/Jumpchain)

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Fortunately, Strong Spark is a 600pt perk in a domain that has 19 available perk slots, so it isn't too likely anytime soon. (unfortunately, a perk I really do want to see is in the same boat). By the time he gets it, he's likely to have other methods of dealing with it. Like a squad of Kerbals with clone-popping tech on guard. Or robot unicorns. Or an Avid Glove to pinch them. Or some other item, with a new AI specifically designed for such things. All of which can be done with perks costing less than 600pt from domains with far less than 19 slots.
 
AntaeusTheGiant said:
Fortunately, Strong Spark is a 600pt perk in a domain that has 19 available perk slots, so it isn't too likely anytime soon. (unfortunately, a perk I really do want to see is in the same boat). By the time he gets it, he's likely to have other methods of dealing with it. Like a squad of Kerbals with clone-popping tech on guard. Or robot unicorns. Or an Avid Glove to pinch them. Or some other item, with a new AI specifically designed for such things. All of which can be done with perks costing less than 600pt from domains with far less than 19 slots.
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Hopefully that will be the case, yeah, but it's all pretty much RNG. It's really one of those perks that cause more trouble than what it is worth, especially since in comparison Maddest Science Yet! has all of its benefits and none of the disadvantages for just 200 more cost (which unfortunately makes it much less likely to get).
 
AntaeusTheGiant said:
Fortunately, Strong Spark is a 600pt perk in a domain that has 19 available perk slots, so it isn't too likely anytime soon. (unfortunately, a perk I really do want to see is in the same boat). By the time he gets it, he's likely to have other methods of dealing with it. Like a squad of Kerbals with clone-popping tech on guard. Or robot unicorns. Or an Avid Glove to pinch them. Or some other item, with a new AI specifically designed for such things. All of which can be done with perks costing less than 600pt from domains with far less than 19 slots.
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It also says it's incompatible with weak spark, so if he got that one first...
 
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readerdreamer said:
The weaker Spark is not on the list, I believe.
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Yeah, the only other Girl Genius perk that was on the list was Scientist-Machinery which was obtained waaaay back in chapter 3. It also claimed to come with a Doctorate in Science!, but there was never a mention of a Diploma like with the Anaheim Degree perk. Too bad, yet another missed opportunity to impress(?) his family...
 
Darkchespin said:
Wog says that Contessa didn't path keeping the triumvirate alive. I like your explanation better though.
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Would you be willing to point where? Because I can't find it in Wildbow's.

readerdreamer said:
Same. I feel that this Perk is more trouble than what its worth, since Joe's greatest advantage is the fact that he's actually not a Tinker in any way that matters, and most of all, that he's not a mad Tinker like so many people in-universe theorize him to be.
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I mean he can give out equipment, improve his work in response to changing circumstances, build equipment, hack with the best, requires lab time (if very short), etc. In all of those important ways he is standard tinker. I mean yes EMPs won't work on most of the stuff he brings out, but they won't work on quite a few tinkers and that does not make them less tinkers.
 
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Sterlyn said:
That's actually a really cool interpretation of Joe's costume. I'd love if you can make a much more serious fanart like some edgy DC/Marvel comics cover stuff.
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The author has mentioned that Apeiron's earlier costumes look something like the GI Joe character Snake Eyes, a ninja with a metal visor.

Unfortunately I won't be able to make a more serious drawing because I am too busy trying to turn that drawing into a gif where Apeiron's booty wiggles.
 
Ya'll are way too afraid of Strong Spark. I'm sure if Lord had any similar reservations about it ruining the story and needing to be mitigated immediately for the narrative's sake, he would just take it off the list. Embrace the chaos for a bit, and not in the sanitized crack-ish way where the "chaos" is only ever at the inconsequential expense of others on the joking whim of the main character. I think some of the best parts of this story are the way Joe creates his own problems, and how despite misunderstanding him in many ways people are ultimately correct to treat him as a dangerous and unpredictable force. At the moment that's more so reflected in how his inexperienced, make-it-up-as-you-go-along use of power has created ripples which have turned Brockton Bay into a worse war zone than canon at this time. Later on, it may be the case that Joe becomes a direct danger to those around him as his perks overwrite more and more of who he is. I mean, with that as an established plot point already, it's in a sense accurate to call him a mad scientist tinker. It'd be a shame to set all that up and go no further with it than Joe occasionally pausing for a paragraph to mentally collect how he has been made uncomfortable.
deadlyham said:
I tried my best. Drawing hair is hard.

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Is that fucking Pepe in that gas mask?!

Beautiful.
 
Flufferton said:
Incorrect. Alchemy DID revive the dead, but the price that must be paid for it is the Gate of Truth itself. That is how Ed brought Al back at the end of the series.
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Al wasn't dead though, his body had been sacrificed but it was still alive if malnourished. Ed never brought Al back, he just gave him back his body.

I'm also kinda iffy on the Strong Spark perk, but I do want to see the Inventor perk from Futurama. 600 points and it has the best description. "You are a brilliant (if eccentric) Inventor. You can (within reason) create nearly anything you can imagine if you put in the time. You have a cabinet full of doomsday devices and would be more than capable of slapping together Reverse Scuba Suits for fish or Death Clocks." In the show the professor made some truly incredible things, and Joe having access to that would be potential comedy gold.
 
Mojave Courier said:
Also, he might not get it either like with the Light of Terra.
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Parting gift has been confirmed by Lord to come with Prismatic Laboratory
zerak said:
I could be wrong. But I don't think that it's on the list of approved jumpchains.

Though a similar effect can be achieved through the mincraft perk and a healing perk.

Plus once he has all available perk that are approved he will be able to extend his like for thousands of years easy. The perk that gives spiral energy would let him live to 1000. Life fibre would make that x2 to x5 if not longer. Being a servant makes all parameters x10 peak human and other perks from Fate would allow you to extend your life by a lot. The mincraft perk equivalent exchange would allow him to not take any damage as long as he sacrifices materials if I understand it right.
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It's already been said but item construction is available for Joe.
Slentoru said:
Basically - Aisha now have a chance to become Magical Girl with animal ears/tail.
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zerak said:
What if garment got a striker (and it worked) how would that work. An inner animal overlaps the person sort of. But she doesn't have a body, so would her body be formed by the inner animal?
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No, the ears and tail come from the magic system not the striker. Only Joe gets the magic system
 
Slentoru said:
It appears ABB will not be dealt with completely in this fight
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Dead Gods I really hope RNGesus blesses Joe with either the Worm perk or the Banjo Kazooie one. It doesn't matter how good your timing is, 8 Joe's with extended duration, boosted durability and perk sharing are too much for almost anyone to handle, and that exception doesn't include March.
 
Nimeroni said:
Women have a limited supply of ovum which is created before they are even born. That's why women can no longer bear children after 45 to 50 year old (menopause).
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That's actually been under dispute since the 2000's. We used to think that mammals couldn't develop more ovum after gestation but case studies have shown that the numbers replenish in at least some species.

From a scientific standpoint you might be correct or there might be some biochemical cue that pregnancy is no longer a reasonable risk to the mother that prevents more being made and the onset of menopause.
 
Just a quick note before I go to bed: a comparison on Joe's attitudes in just a few days:

LordRoustabout said:
Brian considered before speaking. "The job is planned for this Thursday."

"Thursday." My voice was flat. "Thursday as in the day after tomorrow?"

"Yes?"

I clenched my jaw, then forced myself to relax it. "And I suppose it's too much to hope that you're looking for delivery at eleven at night?"

"Well need everything by that morning." He glanced at Lisa.

"8 am should do it, later will cut into our schedule."

"So that's..." I checked my watch. "just over forty one hours from now. And you want it made in that time?"

Brian cleared his throat. "We were kind of hoping you had some old stuff you'd be willing to part with, or something you could finish in time."

I thought back to my early projects and the grand total of what I'd been able to build so far. "Yeah, no luck on any old projects."

"Is this going to be a problem?"

"Well it definitely takes power armor off the table." I let my frustration bleed through every word.

(cut scene where he gains a Forge power)

I glanced up and found I had the attention of the entire group. Taylor had shed some of her nervousness and Alec dropped his veil of indifference to press me on the topic.

"Wait, power armor's an option?" I swear his eyes were shining.

"Not in forty one hours it isn't."

"But in more than forty one hours it's a possibility?" Even Taylor looked eager for my response, which was probably the most engagement I'd seen from the reserved girl.

"I'd need to fabricate power sources, most of the mechanics, the materials for the plating, any weapons you'd want attached, program the interfaces, and then design a training process to make sure you know how to not tear apart your arms the first time you use the strength assist. So yeah, longer than forty one hours. Substantially longer than forty one hours"
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a few days later...

LordRoustabout said:
"Not for a while." Her face dropped at my news.

"Really?" She asked in a disappointed tone.

"Unfortunately." I replied. "It'll take at least a day before I have your hard suit ready, not to mention other equipment. Then I need to make sure you can handle it, because even with A.I. support there's going to be a lot of power behind it."

"A… day?" She said. "Right, power armor in a day."

"It's the best I can do." I replied. "Maybe sooner if I dropped everything, but there are too many projects…"

"No, a day is fine." She was holding back a smile. "I can wait out a day."
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I wonder how long it will be before he starts talking about an hour instead of a day...
 
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AntaeusTheGiant said:
Just a quick note before I go to bed: a comparison on Joe's attitudes in just a few days:



a few days later...



I wonder how long it will be before he starts talking about an hour instead of a day...
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Isn't he already there? Can't he fabricate matter with the omnitool and do transmutation with his arrays and the new divine nanite thingies?

He not only did a field repair of Leet's tech, he was able to do on-the-fly crafting on his way to save the Undersiders before that. He's only gotten better since.

It's not that he can't do it for throwaway tech for other people. He just has high standards for his own tech and his Master Craftsman requires direct crafting and Elven Enchantment requires a non-trivial energy source so he's bottlenecked there.

Joe could probably dump some crazy tech in a few hours. But there would be no point in doing that for himself since it wouldn't be an upgrade and he doesn't want to give the Undersiders or especially Aisha (who he feels more responsible for) lesser tech since they're less durable than he is.
 
Joe could throw together enough power armor to outfit a large army in a couple of hours, more specifically he could do that if he was literally just throwing random junk around, but that random junk power armor would probably be enough to warrant a Brute 4 rating. Joe himself would consider it literal garbage, everyone else would wonder how he made so many high quality suits and how they're going to keep tinker tech maintained, not realizing that junk armor would probably outlast civilization.

What Joe himself would consider good power armor though, that takes time... for now.
 
Would Garment help Joe's Clones play dress-up?

I just imagined them playing the ZZ Top "Sharp Dressed Man"

Perhaps playing "Legs" when Taylor/ Khepri or Aisha/ Imp in High Heel Tac Armor walk by?

I just imagined Joe's key attached to the ZZ Top symbol and a matching ZZ top coupe.
 
March(Internally panicking): You may have gotten into our base sooner than expected Apeiron, but unfortunately for you our bombs delayed you long enough for my power to account for all your actions.
Joe(Just got Weapon Crafting-DMC): You're ugly. You're disgusting. I'm gonna kill you. Give me $200.
 
theflyingbiscuit said:
In all of those important ways he is standard tinker.
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There is all the ways he isn't one though? For one, he can make reproducible tech. His tech lasts. He is also unaffected by resource limits. He doesn't have specialties, he has perks. And most of all, he does not have that niggling urge in his head to create at the cost of himself and his surroundings, he doesn't suffer from Tinker fugues, and he isn't predisposed to conflict.

In all of those important ways, he isn't a Tinker. Joe points this out as early as after the first fight against Bakuda. The only similarities is that they create high tech stuff. In that case, it's like saying Iron Man is also a Tinker.
 
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On a different note, all of the watches Joe gave the Undersiders and Aisha have a copy of Survey right?

I'm curious about whether or not Survey is using the data gained from those watches to improve her social interaction programs as she now has multiple data points about how people interact with one another. Granted, all of her data points are teenage parahumans who aren't all right in the head, but I imagine that it'd be better than nothing.

Also, I forgot but did Joe make himself a watch designed to do similar things as everyone else's watches? I know that he doesn't exactly need a force field to protect himself, but could he use one to scan his surroundings when out of costume?

EDIT: I just recalled that Joe's duplicates made him a watch that served as a smaller omnitool, but I don't recall if he only wears it in costume or if he wears it all the time but disguised when out of costume.
 
readerdreamer said:
he isn't predisposed to conflict.
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There are a few exceptions to the rule, but typically shards choose people who are already predisposed to seek out conflict. At most they use Pavlovian techniques to encourage those preexistent tendencies by making a power subtly stronger or weaker in certain situations. Shards that directly fuck with your brain to make you more aggressive in general are rare.

Since Joe was initially going to be a regular parahuman, one would assume he's more predisposed to conflict than his withdrawn personality would seem to indicate. Let's not forget that he rushed into a fight with Oni Lee with barely any perks on his first night out. You'd expect the average untrained nobody to just freeze up in fear or run away, no matter if they have a brute factor or not, because they just aren't used to actual danger. But Joe just went for it. You can see why he would have made an appealing host.
 
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