Fragmentation (Original Superhero Setting)

[WorldSlayer]

You cannot create copies of yourself, other sentient beings, bring sentient beings in here, create things which would become sentient, and a few other safeguards/variables in that category. Nor can you create something with the intent of having it directly provide you with information on the reality you're currently occupying.

So, no civilization.

The exploit mentioned earlier lies in the fact that Sentinel was already here and you've learned all the things you need to find an optimal power. Thus, you can give it a body.

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Good to know, let's give it the body of small animal so we can have a cute magical familiar and become a magical girl.

Spoiler: irrelevant thoughts

Hmm fairly expected but we know we can at least make things that can act as if they are sentient (our Sister creating animals) so we can hypothetically create a fairly convincing simulation (at the very least of animals if not humans) even if we can't make the real thing.

Also this is a good chance to play robo-puppy civilization, well a good chance for Evelyn anyway. I'd practically be surprised if we didn't see an epilogue of this prologue that mentioned that having chosen her power but before locking it in she decided to mess around with god-mode for a few subjective days.

 

[Alivaril]

Good to know, let's give it the body of small animal so we can have a cute magical familiar and become a magical girl.

Spoiler: irrelevant thoughts

Hmm fairly expected but we know we can at least make things that can act as if they are sentient (our Sister creating animals) so we can hypothetically create a fairly convincing simulation (at the very least of animals if not humans) even if we can't make the real thing.

Also this is a good chance to play robo-puppy civilization, well a good chance for Evelyn anyway. I'd practically be surprised if we didn't see an epilogue of this prologue that mentioned that having chosen her power but before locking it in she decided to mess around with god-mode for a few subjective days.

Click to shrink...

...God damn it. I've apparently had sapient and sentient mixed up for quite a while and have been using the latter as just a synonym of the former. Sorry... This explains a lot... Gods, this is embarrassing.

Spoiler: Related (Contains swearing & Samuel L. Jackson)

 

[Anaja]

I wonder how our currently existing twin sister would react to us bringing home another one. Would she feel hurt, like we were trying to replace her? Would she be extremely excited?
How will our parents react? Treat her as another daughter? Reject her as some sort of impostor? Treat her as some object, a thing that belongs to us?

As for powers, I think this looking at it that we're voting on right now, and one more would be good enough. I'm mostly interested in seeing some powers that are something other than conceptually focused. Hope+Black, Song+Red, Tragedy+Orange, Monocle+Blue

 

[wertsir]

...God damn it. I've apparently had sapient and sentient mixed up for quite a while and have been using the latter as just a synonym of the former. Sorry... This explains a lot...

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Just remember: Sentient means able to feel/sense, to experience the world, whereas sapient is being capable of abstract thought, the ability to use logic and think rationally.

to differentiate the two, just remember that humanity is homo sapiens, and as far as we are aware we are the only sapient species on earth. (Sapien just means wise, but Sapient is used to refer to anything of at least human-level intelligence) whereas every living creature is sentient.

If it makes you feel better, for a long time I had those definitions backwards.

 

[Sereg]

==> Add numbers above powers indicating the number of times Progenitor thinks we would use them within the next week assuming that we took that power

==> Add numbers above powers indicating a rating between 1 and 100 based on how useful Progenitor thinks we would find them within the next week assuming that we took that power

==> Place red rings around any power which is harmful to the user

==> Place numbers above powers indicating the likelihood of my sister choosing that power or its equivalent from her own room

[x]Look for ...
-[X] Accomplishment
--[X]White
---[x]Brown, Blue
--[x]Sentient
-[x]Manifestation
--[x]Red
---[x]Green, Gold
--[x]Sentient
-[x]Copy
--[x]Brown
---[x]Blue, White
--[x]Sentient

 

[Dr. Bob Doom]

Okay, it was fun while it lasted, but I would like to do something now.

[X] Give it a body, that of...
-[X] A twin... brother!

[X] Assimilation

 

[wertsir]

I wonder how our currently existing twin sister would react to us bringing home another one. Would she feel hurt, like we were trying to replace her? Would she be extremely excited?
How will our parents react? Treat her as another daughter? Reject her as some sort of impostor? Treat her as some object, a thing that belongs to us?

Click to shrink...

Mom will be proud that we have started acquiring minions, (and a useful one to scapegoat at that!). dad may be to alien to realize that bringing home a twin that didn't exist before is at all strange.

 

[greatoz]

==>Find out if any powers will allow you to retain memory of what happened in this place

 

[kildar]

==>Find out if any powers will allow you to retain memory of what happened in this place

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Good idea, we also need to see if we can give the AI a power as well.
It would suck if they didn't have any powers.... Oh and make sure they want to come with us.

Lastly, does assimilate peak at the top strength of an object that it is absorbing ?
Because other wise we will never be able to get stronger than that diamond mentioned (example, I know there are tougher things)
Secondly upgrade should let us upgrade other people, assimilate does not.

 

[Xyzarach]

assimilate does not.

Click to shrink...

not so sure about that. the info we got was only for the primary power, not for any of the secondary or tertiary ones.

And one of Assimilation's secondary's is Collaborate.

and also the Red+Gold assemble...

 

[sainen]

Good idea, we also need to see if we can give the AI a power as well.
It would suck if they didn't have any powers.... Oh and make sure they want to come with us.

Lastly, does assimilate peak at the top strength of an object that it is absorbing ?
Because other wise we will never be able to get stronger than that diamond mentioned (example, I know there are tougher things)
Secondly upgrade should let us upgrade other people, assimilate does not.

Click to shrink...

our mother is an Enchanter, we won't peak out at diamond

 

[Dr. Bob Doom]

Lastly, does assimilate peak at the top strength of an object that it is absorbing ?

Click to shrink...

Alivaril has already said that any further information about the previously expanded upon powers will have to be discovered by the PC. Our free lunch is over.

 

[jaiveer00]

for powers do we get all the secondary and tertiary powers connected to it or do we have to choose a secondary and tertiary from that list?

 

[Alivaril]

Within the massive number of capes capable of performing strange and exotic feats, there exist those who can create permanent objects to perform said feats for them. Researchers, Experts, and Enchanters make up the vast majority of such capes, but they are by no means the only ones.


Researchers are devoted to running strange and exotic experiments to see what happens and further their understanding of the universe. Their creations often aren't nearly as advanced as those Experts make, but they'll actually remember how to make the same device later on. Additionally, norms have a much easier time trying to replicate what they've made.

They are a great boon to mundane researchers and scientists, but not as much of one as they could be. Oftentimes, their vocabulary proves to be a barrier to telling others what they have learned. Any explanation they know how to give would be flawed and incomplete, and that's just unacceptable. Better for norms to continue floundering around and experimenting on their own; seeing the results for themselves would provide a better explanation than trying to describe what norms can't seem to understand. Fortunately, the concrete nature of mathematics has proven to be a great boon to many, many Researchers when it comes to communicating their knowledge to others.


Experts, or "Mad Scientists", usually can't use their powers as often, but are much more powerful and varied. After being inspired by something, an Expert will start to draw upon a wellspring of ideas and knowledge to make things that they won't understand later. These surges of knowledge can end before an invention is finished, so many Experts have taken to carrying around a backpack full of various useful parts and/or cannibalizing any nearby objects for the materials they need. The latter habit, combined with the elated cackling and confusing explanations many Experts partake in during a surge, has resulted in the nickname of "Mad Scientists."


Enchanters basically flip off capes from both other categories. Their creations are usually powered by their abilities rather than any sort of technology. While most of these capes need to recharge enchanted objects after enough uses and thus can't have a large number at once, not all of them do.

There is a smaller subset of Enchanters, usually the ones who require specific reagents to make a given object, who continually insist that their creations do make sense, thank you very much. Your mother falls into this category.

If what your mother says is true, she isn't merely imbuing an object with power, not like the vast majority of other enchanters. She's overriding the laws of reality within a given space with those of a universe operating under rules completely different from your own, and then using technology from said universe to produce various effects. By all rights, she and capes with similar abilities should not be lumped in most other Enchanters, but she sees no reason to enlighten potential enemies as to the exact nature of her powers.

Her creations do need to be recharged, but she uses mundane materials as fuel rather than having them be powered by her ability.​

 

[wertsir]

Given this information, I feel like SCIENCE! is looking like a really good option (though I still wait for the next round of PowerQuery™ before voting) we would be able to dissect, understand, and replicate all of our mothers tech and more besides.

Normal researchers aren't mentioned as being able to replicate magical items (even ones like our mothers) so I assume that SCIENCE is a super-powered version of that, the fact that we are easily able to reverse engineer tech means that we wouldn't really have a downgrade like normal researchers do, which gives us the benefit of both Researchers, Mad-Scientists, and enchanters.

The fact that it falls under Blue (intelligence enhancement), Silver (Minion Creation), and Gold (reality breaking) gives us ridiculous potential versatility. (and the tinkers exponential growth).

 

[Sereg]

I think we should avoid overlap with our immediate family. Diversity is better than redundancy.

 

[Xyzarach]

Given this information, I feel like SCIENCE! is looking like a really good option (though I still wait for the next round of PowerQuery™ before voting) we would be able to dissect, understand, and replicate all of our mothers tech and more besides.

Normal researchers aren't mentioned as being able to replicate magical items (even ones like our mothers) so I assume that SCIENCE is a super-powered version of that, the fact that we are easily able to reverse engineer tech means that we wouldn't really have a downgrade like normal researchers do, which gives us the benefit of both Researchers, Mad-Scientists, and enchanters.

Click to shrink...

given that Assimilation includes this cluster:

- Blue: Analysis

- Blue: Comprehension

- Blue: Record
- Blue: Learn

​

I'm fairly certain it would provide (at least personally) the full benefits of that as well.

 

[wertsir]

I think we should avoid overlap with our immediate family. Diversity is better than redundancy.

Click to shrink...

Tech powers don't really have that problem.

Take armsmaster for example, his power CAN be used to create halberds and motorcycles, however it ALSO could be used to create tanks and mini-guns, that's the beauty of technology, infinite diversity with only a few simple rules.

That goes double for us, since we wouldn't be limited to mothers tools, we would simply use them as a baseline with which to get more. (plus you could get some synergistic effects, by just having us help mother with research (or vice versa))

given that Assimilation includes this cluster:

- Blue: Analysis

- Blue: Comprehension

- Blue: Record
- Blue: Learn

​

I'm fairly certain it would provide (at least personally) the full benefits of that as well.

Click to shrink...

Potentially, however there is a difference.

With assimilation we can gain the USE of an item, (say an invisibility cloak) however that does not get us understanding of the mechanics behind it. (despite the cluster, the description leads to that conclusion) whereas science supercharges our ability to understand and replicate technology, which in time will allow us to access a greater range of abilities through research, (and will give us greater CONTROL of which areas we want to focus on).

My point is that if we need tech, we can ask Mom for it. It's better to get a non-tech related power so we can do what she can't.

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This is a false equivalency, Science does allow us to do what mother does, but it also allows us to do things she cannot, for one what she does is still 'magic' and cannot be replicated for use by normal people.

Our mother cannot build a computer, for instance.

And what we have is a similarity of theme, not capability. (Does Reed Richards make Iron Man irrelevant? or even better, does he make Doctor Strange irrelevant? No, because they are a different type of genius/power).

@Alivaril Would you mind listing the one-word descriptions of SCIENCE!'s subpowers? (This is directly relevant to our decision)

 

[Sereg]

Tech powers don't really have that problem.

Take armsmaster for example, his power CAN be used to create halberds and motorcycles, however it ALSO could be used to create tanks and mini-guns, that's the beauty of technology, infinite diversity with only a few simple rules.

That goes double for us, since we wouldn't be limited to mothers tools, we would simply use them as a baseline with which to get more.

Click to shrink...

My point is that if we need tech, we can ask Mom for it. It's better to get a non-tech related power so we can do what she can't.

 

[Nightfallen]

Normal researchers aren't mentioned as being able to replicate magical items (even ones like our mothers) so I assume that SCIENCE is a super-powered version of that, the fact that we are easily able to reverse engineer tech means that we wouldn't really have a downgrade like normal researchers do, which gives us the benefit of both Researchers, Mad-Scientists, and enchanters.

Click to shrink...

And hopefully the potential synergies of combining these different fields together.

I'm fairly certain it would provide (at least personally) the full benefits of that as well.

Click to shrink...

Assimilation allows us to absorb tech from all fields, but we likely can't combine them as we don't understand how they work.
The effects could possibly be combined though (e.g. want a teleporting magic grenade? Use a science teleporter to port the magic grenade)
It does runs the risk of unexpected side effects however. And we won't be building any magitech stuff.

 

[Xyzarach]

(despite the cluster, the description leads to that conclusion)

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actually, the QM said that he hasn't described the effects of the sub-powers at all, the only info we have is on the main power.

What the core power of each cluster does can be found below. Many of the secondary powers will complement these and add more capabilities, but I want to keep some surprises.

Click to shrink...

Assimilation allows us to absorb tech from all fields, but we likely can't combine them as we don't understand how they work.
The effects could possibly be combined though (e.g. want a teleporting magic grenade? Use a science teleporter to port the magic grenade)
It does runs the risk of unexpected side effects however. And we won't be building any magitech stuff.

Click to shrink...

Take look at the sub-cluster I re-posted above, Assimalation allows us to use powers that Analyse, Comprehend, Record, and Learn on everything we absorb. if we didn't learn how to combine the tech we absorbed with it, I would be surprised.

 

[wertsir]

Take look at the sub-cluster I re-posted above, Assimalation allows us to use Analyse, Comprehend, Record, and Learn on everything we absorb. if we didn't learn how to combine the tech we absorbed with it, I would be surprised.

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Wrong, as you pointed out we do not know what the sub-clusters do, they may do that, or they may just allow you to understand what the parts of your own body are doing. (being unable to comprehend your own body wouldn't be very good).

Record and learn are probably just functions of the adapting superpower that allow it to remember the things you have absorbed before and use them to adapt/grow.

And no, it is not reasonable to assume that assimilation does everything that science does, otherwise why would they both have been listed, (an optimized science power in that situation would be assimilation) I think that it is fair to assume that powers will not stray to far from there unique concepts. (especially white ones) a concept of 'assimilation' will probably have subpowers related to that concept, and if it was capable of creating tech on it's own/combining it then it wouldn't have much need to assimilate anymore. I am willing to entertain the idea of a borg-like assimilation process where it adapts to new challenges and uses things it has absorbed to the fullest of it's abilities, but assigning it a level of power that simply out-competes other powers wholesale (especially given what we know about how progenitor limited powers) is a bit ridiculous.

That said, it does have 'innovate' as a sub power, so it's not completely unreasonable to expect it to have something like that. (although it could just as easily refer to innovation of the self through assimilating the properties of others).

As I see it right now, comprehension gives the ability to perfectly remember the things you have absorbed, learn from previous mistakes/attacks, and then adapt yourself to the new challenges by using what you already posses in new and innovative ways. (As well as allowing you to recreate tech you absorbed on your body. (like turning both your hands into a gun you absorbed a week ago from memory))

What's more interesting than that however, is the white/purple effect of preserve.

 

[Nightfallen]

Take look at the sub-cluster I re-posted above, Assimalation allows us to use powers that Analyse, Comprehend, Record, and Learn on everything we absorb. if we didn't learn how to combine the tech we absorbed with it, I would be surprised.

Click to shrink...

Assimilation could likely allow us to understand a bit more about the device itself, (i.e. what it's made of) but probably not the concepts behind it. So we could replicate the tech, but we can't progress it. Much like how we absorb a diamonds hardness, but we don't know what exactly gives it that hardness.

This is all pure speculation since we don't know exactly what the subclusters do, but I'm inclined that it would make Science somewhat redundant, if the only downside of Assimilation is that we must eat it vs Science! where we study it :lol

 

[Xyzarach]

ooh, just realize I missed a part of that cluster...


it's a Blue+silver power called Innovate. now, what does that sound like? could it involve improving what you've analysed, Comprehended, Recorded, and Learned about? Nah, that would be too far off concept. and it's not like assimilate is a concept that's all about combining different things.

Also, I'd like to point out that Assimilation itself is a silver/gold power, and as such includes creating things as part of its powerset.

 

[Alivaril]

@Xyzarach
I'll repeat: you're in the top tier of shinies. Powers here aren't going to be inherently better than one another. If you're counting on one ability to be able to imitate the effects of another within this tier, you're going to be disappointed.

All of the ones listed so far have been different even when taking sub-powers into account. I suggest you don't try to pick based on some interpretation of a power level; go for what sounds fun.


I'm going to go sleep now. G'night all.