Yeah. Man, I love Taylor and Luffy's interactions. Taylor really needs someone reliable that she can trust, and she has the crew, but Luffy is a bit different. He's her captain, and as much as she may hate figures of authority, I think it's her previous experiences that make Luffy such a good fit for her. He's just so chill, and- not innocent, but simple? In the best way? She can pull out whatever crazy thing she's learnt, and he'll take it in stride.
This is why I would love to get at last some social interactions with Luffy, but we get another vote that doesn't involve it. The votes that have it aren't winning this time around from the looks of it.
Man, I love seeing Taylor make such good friends. Like the fights are great, and numbers going up make my brain go brr, but friendship, man. That's where it's at.
Also the great thing about it that Straw Hats are highly empathetic people. Even Luffy, understands people not logically (he is kind of dumb-dumb, but again, it depends), but on an emotional level (just see the scene of let's say him rescuing Nami from Arlong). Pretty much they are perfect friends for Taylor, because even if she may struggle expressing some of her feelings, they will be able to read her pretty well anyway.
Ok so I definitely want to interact with Luffy more so a good plan should involve that as an action. Also training fishman karate and abilities is the next best thing with DF users as enemies. And finally getting the Kachi to lvl 5.
<Scratching head.> I would write a different Luffy plan, but with the incoming combat, it's hard to not involve mostly combat skills to train.
So if we first transform into a bear (later maybe a defeated elephant) first for the mass and THEN use mystiques power we can work around it right?
If it wasn't straight-up animal abuse, I wouldn't mind a trip to some exotic place on Earth, to provoke and defeat some animals, that may provide some nice utility. Elephants or Hippos are some of those.
On Mayim, it's kind of more acceptable, as in overall their animals tend to be more intelligent, and we know some species can act straight-up maliciously, which makes me far less bad about it.
All this talk about different continents reminded me of something we should test - yeah, we use Giant Albatross form a lot, but we... know nothing about it. How fast it flies? How far it can fly? How high it can fly (this one is important to avoid potential detection)? Can we use it for example for casual visits (like it takes at most a few hours of flight) to other places like Africa or Asia?
But it would be safer to use on Mahon than Bet.
Heck, this may be a way to introduce ourselves, in one form, to Dragon. Giant ass bird would surely catch the attention of Dragon, who monitors things around on Earth. Just an option for later.
Forgive me if I hesitate in confirming this assertion.
I would be hesitant as well, for now at least.
Another scenario where possibly I can see Contessa's confrontation is when we by accident walk into one of her paths, and maybe if Taylor would try 'infiltrate Cauldron' mission, by most likely pretending to be one of Cauldron's Vial's buyers.
Because this plot hook in the future most likely will show up.
Could you please tell me what you hope to get from training martial arts instead of, say, Doctor or Ninjutsu or Musashi Style? Against just about any regular person us coming within punching range is an instant loss as we fold their clothes while they are wearing them. I don't mind picking up a few extra styles showing off to the PRT how quickly we learn them, but I think we've hit the point where we just kinda...don't really need to worry about mundane martial arts at the moment.
A doctor is a good alternative to training as well, so I have nothing to counter this. Although we know that training other skills of similar type makes learning other skills easier. Also with how many martial arts, standard ones, we know, those are simply easier to learn. I agree that let's call it in 'peace time' I would prefer doing stuff like Musashi style, but at least I think the best way to do it before this big combat scenario is to learn as much as possible and improve our 'basics' to the top tier, as we know skills combine.
Maybe there are some real oddball styles like Drunken Fist or Capoeria that open up options we'd likely not see, but is that a better use of our time than learning how to punch tidal waves in half or turning into a giant octopus?
Yeah, this is why I aim for those almost certain 2 levels on Capoeira with just 1 training action. It's just one training slot, and I'm almost confident it will combine really well with Acrobatics skills to show us something that normal humans are incapable of. Also, there is a slim chance for Martial Art Mastery to also improve.
On any potential normal martial arts that may help out give us something that other martial arts don't?
Olympics Wrestling. It grants a unique amount of grappling and throwing options that other martial arts don't tend to use. Also, it has an option of fighting on the ground, including the situation where both combatants are rolling on the ground, and grapples specialized for this kind of scenario. I trained in Olympic Wrestling in the past, freestyle one (which allows the user to catch an opponent under the stomach). So pretty this martial art focuses harder on grappling, and ground fighting than most other styles.
Greek Pankration is an alternative, that has almost no restrictions and may work out in real combat even better, which focuses even more on the grappling part of the combat, although this one involves heavy elements of boxing.
And those would synergize really well with Taylor's natural strength. And it's worth consideration because many people don't really fight well while being grounded.
Some options here are pretty interesting like Bataireacht.
But realistically I would say Olympics Wrestling would nicely complete what we already own from normal martial arts we own, because of how heavily it focuses on grappling/ground fighting, and from standard ones I would say we don't need anything else.
I don't think it would be easy, and I don't think it would be wise to attempt their redemption at the cost of innocent lives, but I also think Taylor will be strong enough to put herself at risk if it means bringing them in alive by the time she faces them.
The problem is that even if she captures them, Bet authorities will straight up execute them with their kill orders, so she can't give them to authorities. And with how much suffering they caused, I also can't blame them. So in this case Taylor must become a warden of them herself.
But if at this point Taylor will find a way to transport people to other dimensions, there may be other options. But I have a feeling someone like Nick Fury would be REALLY UNHAPPY seeing unhinged serial killers pushed to them to take care of.
Lassoo already has a person though. Do you want to steal someone's gun dog?
...I mean I get it, I'm a lot more 'dog person' than 'cat person' but still, low blow
I understand this, but if Lassoo's owner isn't that good of an owner for him, there may be an opening to take care of him.
But if we would end up defeating Mr. 4, and Lassoo clearly doesn't want to leave his owner, I wouldn't do it. Come on, I'm not an asshole.
I doubt Uber's power helps with Tinkering (except maybe in a very ancillary way, a sort of 'I use an improved technique to get the nuts and bolts aligned correctly the first time' sort of way)
Pretty much what I mean. It doesn't sound like much, but it's always there.
Unless he showed up in XME (which he might, it's been years since I watched that show) I wouldn't suggest holding our breath on meeting him.
From what I remember he doesn't show up, so it may not happen, true. But something that may be worth investigating later on.
Locksmith for sure, Slight of Hand probably, general athletic skills (Acrobatics, Fitness, Weightlifting etc), assorted Unarmed skills...I don't know if 'turning into animals' would defeat Ziggurat or Null, but I suspect their (Null's) power is only good for Shard-based abilities instead of Headway abilities.
Running as well. But yes, this more or less sounds right. We may try to unlock Escape Artist if possible.
Still, if we could pick up a power-enhancing ability like Two's and a tactical Thinker ability like Shen Yu then we could be a very valuable contributor in S-class fights.
There is also that simulation tinker, that could allow us to create our own Danger Room X-Men style. Although in this case, it would be easier to simply ask Xavier for potential permission to use/recreate it once we are able to.
So as I understand it he can't reach the heights that someone like Dragon or Armsmaster or Kid Win can, but he can do the whole 'in a cave with a box of scraps' thing?
We never see his true potential (Shatterbird killed him in S9 encounter), but yes, this is what he is. 'In a cave with a box of scraps' tinker. VERY useful specialty.
Wasn't he a hero? I don't think we can poach those.
I don't remember if he was a villain or hero, but he does hate Phir Se, that is a heavily vigilante-focused hero, as he admired Skitter at one point in canon, for her ruthless pragmatism.
I don't think I do but I'm not confident enough in my answer to give a hands-down 'no, that isn't right'. IIRC he works out of NYC anyway, doesn't he?
He moves around if requires. Uppecrust is the guy who upgraded some Protectorate bases in canon. For example Brockton Bay's Oil Rig base. Those forcefields it has? It's his job. Yes, in this case, Protectorate cooperates with a villain organization.
I feel sorry for Burnscar too. On a strategic level it makes sense to prioritize turning the Tinker who can effectively heal people over someone who needs to cause a lot of property damage to be an effective combatant, but that's pragmtism speaking instead of idealism.
Yes, from a pragmatic perspective I understand it, but most of the time I see morality reason also applied in those scenarios, which smells of hypocrisy, when you spare one person, but not the other one, which needs as much help. Which yes, slightly annoys me.
Even the most seemingly useless parahuman powers (Dovetail if she were a villain, Mirrormask) would at least be useful for making other parahuman powers marginally easier to train.
I wonder how biotinker/power creations (like Nillbog or Blasto's monsters) count for this scenario. Each monster would give a unique powerset, or you would 'group them' into one skill to train, like 'Nilbog's Monster Skill'?
I don't know if Sentinels would have been *my* response to potential superhuman threats, but I think a certain level of paranoia is understandable from a government losing its monopoly on force. Especially in this universe, where the masquerade is emphasized and the real movers and shakers in the government likely know a good deal more about what superhumans are capable of than the public.
I just imagine combining Pacifista and Sentinels into a fighting force. Well, that would be one hell of a flex on Taylor's part.
Powers that negatively impact others, like Tritium's low-level radiation emitting Alexandria package ability (she's a hero, a Ward character, but a good example, she killed a lot of people around her before she realized her power's weakness) or that one kid from Ultimate X-Men whose power was to disintegrate those around him from the inside without even realizing (he killed most of his town before Ultimate!Logan mercy killed him), would likely have Headway give the host a warning first, and Taylor would then either train them in private or not use them at all. Whether the weakness of harming others would linger at level 10 depends on the power.
So I suspect Oni Lee would fall into the 'warning' category. But I may be wrong.
I know this is probably a joke, but Taylor, in general, takes combat too seriously to do that. I can see her making very light jokes or gently egging on her friends in sparring matches, but the last thing an E88 guy would see is Factota's fist, and then she would call the PRT/BBPD, depending on whether they were a cape or not.
This means we need to create and level up the skill [Combat Banter] (Joke). Although I think [Taunt] would be more accurate here.
Theoretically, yes, Acting would let her project emotions through her costume. Taylor was impressed last update by Dauntless' ability to 'smile with his eyes', but she can absolutely do something similar, she just hasn't had cause to try yet.
Hatake Kakashi is the true master of 'eye smile' technique
.
Ompa60 put it well. Taylor's also likely to struggle a bit with Mayim's tendency for battlefield forgiveness. Saying more gives spoilers.
You saying this reminds me of how much she would struggle in universes like Dragon Ball or Naruto, as sometimes their forgiveness can get ridiculous. Like Naruto calling Obito 'cool', the same guy who killed his parents in the past, or Goku forgiving Vegeta, so he could fight him later on, just after Vegeta almost destroyed their planet. Shounen forgiveness, Taylor's true Kryptonite, lol.
Something Taylor will be agonizing over when the time comes.
<Dramatic Music.>
Maybe, but I bet she assumes it's not actually real on Mahon.
Fair enough, makes sense.
Animal Handling. With regard to especially exotic and unnatural animals, I might have the players do a project requiring knowledge of skills like Doctor (Veterinarian gets folded into that) and Naturalism and others to tame certain animals. Would depend on the animal, and that's a long-distance hypothetical I don't think is worth getting heavily into now.
In Marvel verses in theory Dragons exist. Not sure if X-Evo will be on the list, but well, it would be amazing to own the dragon. Why? It's the dragon, why even ask this in the first place
. Although many of them may be waaay too smart to be 'tamed' in the first place. But a man can dream.
It's possible 'Tattletale' and Taylor will never even speak to one another. Anything beyond that is spoilers.
Yeah, I mentioned the scenario where Taylor may simply go for a quick takedown, like with Merchants. I just talk that if that talk happens in the first place, which isn't completely impossible.
Mush's power could sync well with Circus' hammerspace, depending on how much you can store in there, now that I think on it.
This as well. Once we get Circus's power, something worth testing.
Kaiser cares about appearing racist in front of his followers. If he acts too respectful towards nonwhites, his subordinates will lose respect for him. Kaiser not caring about racist philosophy in his own mind is basically irrelevant since he has to be racist to keep his position.
True, but the overall disdain toward Merchants was pretty much universal. I just don't expect as much backlash from Merchant's takedown as with any other gang. But I can see at least E88 trying to see if she is 'white' and go for recruitment as a 'promising parahuman' angle, which could be as problematic. But at least it wouldn't be outright hostility, and this would give Taylor a chance to react.
Ogun wouldn't count as a Tinker for the purposes of this quest. See how he doesn't really have any conscious control over what he makes, and how no one at all can use his tinkertech. That, to me, suggests it's more of a Shaker ability. Still potentially very useful if leveled, but I would not call what he does Tinkering, even if it's superficially similar with the advanced technology.
Makes sense.
I'm tempted to say yes, but the thing is, I'm not sure what that skill would look like in practice. I suspect you would be better off leveling the umbrella of mundane skills that applies to that general talent.
Pretty much anything that spy may do I would say? Kind of complicated anyway, true. On higher levels any over-the-top spy skill, like we see in the movies being possible?
There's canonically one gang with confirmed moles in the PRT. The cops are more likely to have informants in them, but they probably won't know any more than the public. (Maybe one or two caught a glimpse of Factota, but it was from a distance, and they don't have superhuman perception.
Also a reminder that in canon Coil at one point ordered Undersiders to attack PRT Headquarters to gain access to information inside of it, so fanon also has tendency to exaggerate how deep Coil's infiltration in PRT really is.
Yes, to an extent. The greater the mass of the form you shapeshift from, the more you'll be able to pull mass in. But the opposite is true as well, so you'd better have good control over a wide range of forms. (If you transform into a bear and shapeshift, your lower mass limit might be something like a small human, not a raven, and you'd have to abandon that base bear state and change back to human to go for something smaller. This will go in the Mahon information post when I make it.)
So getting access to something massive would make a difference. Ah yes, defeating a Sea King would do the trick for sure. But at this point, Elephant would do the trick in many cases.
Unlikely to work well. A big trope on One Piece, that has metaphysical reasons for continuing in Mahon, is understanding someone better by fighting them, often gaining a deeper, spiritual comprehension of them through crossing blades or fists. Rokushiki, by its nature, is trained through combat, and the people qualified to instruct it tend to be especially good at understanding their students through this pseudo-Kenbunshoku Haki. (Think along the lines of bursts of intuition, etc., not necessarily Dogtooth-style 'I predict everything you do'.)
This applies to many shounen settings as well
You help try to kill a country, you lose your pet. Fair's fair.
Ah, the good old tradition of the 'spoils of war'. To be fair Taylor would care take of this doggo well, but I also wouldn't force it if Lassoo wouldn't be happy about it.
You never know. I've got loads of plans for canon imports. No confirmation on Iron Fist himself, but you never know.
Hope. Some Marvel entries, even obscure ones, are useful or entertaining.
Non-X-men Marvel characters were thin on the ground in XME. Cap, Agatha (more of an Avengers character, IMO) and Fury are basically the only notable ones.
True, but also many never showed up, so I can see why it's better to not assume something exists for sure.
I've got plans for Cauldron.
"Open Up that Portal to Prehistoric Earth! I want those Smilodon and Mammoths transformations, Doormaker! Numberman, set up a vacation spot somewhere! Contessa, Tea, pronto!"
A bit of a joke.
Why would Cauldron dislike us putting parahumans into the birdcage?
It's where they intend to store them anyway.
Unless we go "kill them all" they won't care about us arresting parahumans.
If we ever manage to kill or seriously threaten an Endbringer they also won't kill us for it, but they will definitely try to get leverage/control over us.
Pretty much how I see this. Taylor would be perfect, as she mostly wouldn't kill people (S9 most likely will end up with kills for example), so the potential 'stronger assets' can still be useful, so Taylor in their eyes would fall into the 'useful' category.
) and a wolf at varying points in the cartoon. Animal transformations beneath her mass level will probably be allowed, but heavier ones will likely be lighter, weaker. I suspect that her power involves some level of dimensional shifting, same way as her son, but it's not quite as obvious as bamfing.
