Lex Sedet In Vertice: A Supervillain in the DCU CK2 quest

[drake_azathoth]

[X] [DEO] Meet with the DEO alone
[X] [Vic] Offer to hire Lady Vic on permanently
[X] [Vic] Tell Lady Vic that refusing to take on LexCorp assassinations is a good thing

[X] [Weapons] Tracking missiles
[X] [Weapons] Laser cannons
[X] [Weapons] Laser rifles

[X] Skin contact poison
[X] Rapid plant growth formula

 

[Trondason]

It kind of reads that's the 'hire her on permanently' option. Very expensive, enough to make people wonder what we're paying a socialite so much for, but not enough that Luthor can't afford it. It might link Lex to a known criminal though.

I would assume the issue is that the mansion is collateral on loans worth more than the mansion is worth - you could buy another mansion for less than the debt.

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Thing is, if that is the "hire her on permanently" option, then there shouldn't BE a "pay her more" that our enemies could do. Her debts are paid off, her reason for being a mercenary done, with the exception of working for us which we'd probably put in the contract.

You would have to force the treatment on him since Ivo refuses to believe in magic so strongly that he will reject any cure from that avenue out of hand. If you did do it and you got over the initial problem of forcing a cure on him without his consent he would be willing to do magitech.

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Why is Ivo so anti-magic? I mean, it's one thing to not by into the mysticism and all that can trip, but that lady is shooting fire from her finger tips. That, at least, is scientifically proveable.

It's not that she isn't being paid well but poor money management and expensive tastes cause her to not effectively pay off what she owes. On top of that the mansion is old so she constantly has to pay money to restore artifacts from the 1800s to mint condition. Her debts total out to about $25,000,000 directly but indirectly the price is closer to something like $75,000,000 and that isn't including that she is constantly paying for her staff, her expensive hobbies (fox hunting isn't cheap) and her other purchases (spends a lot on expensive tea). Furthermore if she doesn't pay back everything at once the debt will grow.

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For someone of her supposed prestige (Martial Arts to fight Batman, hired to take out superheroes, etc), 75 mill doesn't seem taht hard. Hitting a drug dealing ring at the right time and place could net her that.

So could we just buy out her debts? Make it so that she doesn't have to be a mercenary, with the exception of working for us to pay of said debt?

 

[VoidZero]

A crazy idea but, what if we call sups for a face to face when he starts heroing a few month to rant at him for removing possibility of humanity and guilt tripping him for making all the efforts of regular folks laughable compared to God among humans.

 

[grubleafeater]

Ivo is incredibly against working with anyone who he sees as less intelligent than himself (which is everyone else).

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Is this set in stone, or can we convince him to take on a smart intern? Also, does that mean that if we took the time to work with him personally, it would actually backfire on cooperation score? I mean, we do already have .5 score....and numerically speaking we are his equal...

If you did do it and you got over the initial problem of forcing a cure on him without his consent he would be willing to do magitech.

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I feel like the easiest way to solve that is to conceal that the cure was in fact magical in nature (say, a potion passed off as actual medicine.)

Why is Ivo so anti-magic? I mean, it's one thing to not by into the mysticism and all that can trip, but that lady is shooting fire from her finger tips. That, at least, is scientifically proveable.

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We could probably commiserate with him that 'of course it isn't really magic but obviously they're doing something and until we figure out what it is we lose nothing by going along with them and calling it magic like they do'...

 

[tri2]

A crazy idea but, what if we call sups for a face to face when he starts heroing a few month to rant at him for removing possibility of humanity and guilt tripping him for making all the efforts of regular folks laughable compared to God among humans.

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or we just go the legal route and take him to court, illegal vigilante superman?

 

[Gavinfoxx]

@King crimson, were my analyses from my last two posts mostly on point? Like the secondary or add on effects of some of the techs? IE, laser guns aren't that interesting; the things you need to have to make them are, and the weirdness of what a super plant growth serum implies? If you want extra data on laser guns, try reading this, for example:

Energy Weapon Sidearms - Atomic Rockets

www.projectrho.com

 

[VoidZero]

or we just go the legal route and take him to court, illegal vigilante superman?

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Sic our legion of lawyers to lobby government to ban superpower vigilantism? Someone call Amanda Waller.

 

[King crimson]

Why is Ivo so anti-magic? I mean, it's one thing to not by into the mysticism and all that can trip, but that lady is shooting fire from her finger tips. That, at least, is scientifically proveable

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It's partially an ego thing. Ivo has denied looking into magic as a viable option so he refuses to consider that he could have found a cure on his own if only he were smarter. Basically Ivo admitting that magic could solve his problem is equivalent on his mind to conceding that he isn't smart enough and Ivo has too much pride to ever concede that much. He'll jump through as many mental hoops as possible so that he can keep living in a world where he knows best.

For someone of her supposed prestige (Martial Arts to fight Batman, hired to take out superheroes, etc), 75 mill doesn't seem taht hard. Hitting a drug dealing ring at the right time and place could net her that.

So could we just buy out her debts? Make it so that she doesn't have to be a mercenary, with the exception of working for us to pay of said debt?

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The issue is she has terrible money management. Even if you paid off all of her debts in one go because of her expensive tastes and lack of skills/qualifications for a legitimate job she would most likely promptly land herself right back into debt. She can't be bought off while you are paying everything for her but if you want to pay absolutely everything for her know that you are sinking in millions of dollars for 50+ years to keep her on your side. The flip side of her terrible money managent is that with a good enough relationship with her you can get her in debt to you in perpetuity (you do have a banking service).

Is this set in stone, or can we convince him to take on a smart intern? Also, does that mean that if we took the time to work with him personally, it would actually backfire on cooperation score? I mean, we do already have .5 score....and numerically speaking we are his equal...

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Ivo doesn't really play well with others. That much is pretty much set in stone. Certain situations can cause him to work with others but Ivo doesn't appreciate having to deal with other people.

I feel like the easiest way to solve that is to conceal that the cure was in fact magical in nature (say, a potion passed off as actual medicine.)

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The issue is that Ivo would simply continue to deny that it is magic and instead attempt to research medicine to assuage himself that he is still the smartest person in the room and he could have done it himself.

@King crimson, were my analyses from my last two posts mostly on point? Like the secondary or add on effects of some of the techs? IE, laser guns aren't that interesting; the things you need to have to make them are, and the weirdness of what a super plant growth serum implies? If you want extra data on laser guns, try reading this, for example:

Energy Weapon Sidearms - Atomic Rockets

www.projectrho.com

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The research is helpful for expanding some things but sometimes I've just got to throw my hands up in the air and just admit that it's comic book science. I have no intention of breaking down everything into exact scientific details (that way lies madness when dealing with things like Ivy creating sentient plants, T.O. Morrow making superpowered Androids in the sixties, the nonsense that is Superman's powerset etc.). The research is helpful but it won't be used for absolutely everything.

 

[RookDeSuit]

[X] [DEO] Meet with the DEO alone

[X] [Vic] Offer double the price she was paid to hunt down Miranda Tate to do nothing
[X] [Vic] Tell Lady Vic that refusing to take on LexCorp assassinations is a good thing

[X] [Weapons] Laser rifles
[X] [Weapons] Fragmenting bullets
[X] [Weapons] Homing Torpedoes

[X] Carnivorous plant
[X] Rapid plant growth formula

 

[Trondason]

The issue is she has terrible money management. Even if you paid off all of her debts in one go because of her expensive tastes and lack of skills/qualifications for a legitimate job she would most likely promptly land herself right back into debt.

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Considering how dedicated she is to making the money to keep her place, seems like she'd be a bit more money conscious. She went through so much work to NOT lose her family estate, and then she goes on a spending spree and now is at risk of losing it again? Maybe we could saddle her with a Financial Advisor. There IS an industry of people whose job is to help rich people with poor spending habits (normally the newly rich, like from a game-show, but the already-rich can also be helped)

 

[Mister Phantom]

[X] [DEO] Meet with the DEO alone
[X] [Vic] Offer to hire Lady Vic on permanently
[X] [Vic] Tell Lady Vic that refusing to take on LexCorp assassinations is a good thing

[X] [Weapons] Tracking missiles
[X] [Weapons] Laser cannons
[X] [Weapons] Laser rifles

[X] Skin contact poison
[X] Rapid plant growth formula

Putting her on LexCorp payroll and getting her a financial manager seems like the best of a bad situation.

In the next weapon development phase, Cluster missiles and stealth ICBMs are a no brainer.

 

[tri2]

[X] [DEO] Meet with the DEO alone
[X] [Vic] Offer to hire Lady Vic on permanently
[X] [Vic] Tell Lady Vic that refusing to take on LexCorp assassinations is a good thing

[X] [Weapons] Stealth ICBM
[X] [Weapons] Laser cannons
[X] [Weapons] Laser rifles

[X] Skin contact poison
[X] Rapid plant growth formula

I want to missile Ra's

 

[Kkutlord]

@King crimson: Is offering to improve News Access on our L-Phones a thing? I was wondering if we had the Daily Planet try it first, we could get more rep with them. Thinking we should cultivate a positive relationship at least with them.

 

[King crimson]

@King crimson: Is offering to improve News Access on our L-Phones a thing? I was wondering if we had the Daily Planet try it first, we could get more rep with them. Thinking we should cultivate a positive relationship at least with them.

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It is not a thing right now (print media is still big) I will make it an option to try and convince them of though is have 100 exp for the idea

 

[Trondason]

@King crimson: Is offering to improve News Access on our L-Phones a thing? I was wondering if we had the Daily Planet try it first, we could get more rep with them. Thinking we should cultivate a positive relationship at least with them.

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There is a question of how much stuff like that we have to do personally, and how much we can just expect our workers to do on their own. Letting people access the News on their Smart Phone seems like an obvious thing to do after all.

 

[King crimson]

There is a question of how much stuff like that we have to do personally, and how much we can just expect our workers to do on their own. Letting people access the News on their Smart Phone seems like an obvious thing to do after all.

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Obviously if it is online people can access it but not many news companies have built dedicated apps to it and only a few have online sites (the Gotham Gazette for example is print only). This write in would basically be convincing the Daily Planet to partner on an app for the Lex Phone to give access to their news. You could also always just create or buy your own media company and then cut out the middle man for this app.

 

[Kkutlord]

@King crimson: Since I have 600 XP, I would like to spend it on Lex's Learning stat. Though, once Lex has higher Learning than Ives, would that affect things between them?

Oh, and regarding traits like Cellphone King & Flying Ferris: Could Minimum DC be reduced into the negatives? If so, does that have any special effect, since success is guaranteed barring interference?

 

[Wolfy098]

@King crimson: Since I have 600 XP, I would like to spend it on Lex's Learning stat. Though, once Lex has higher Learning than Ives, would that affect things between them?

Oh, and regarding traits like Cellphone King & Flying Ferris: Could Minimum DC be reduced into the negatives? If so, does that have any special effect, since success is guaranteed barring interference?

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Usually it just makes getting higher ranked successes easier.

 

[King crimson]

@King crimson: Since I have 600 XP, I would like to spend it on Lex's Learning stat. Though, once Lex has higher Learning than Ives, would that affect things between them?

Oh, and regarding traits like Cellphone King & Flying Ferris: Could Minimum DC be reduced into the negatives? If so, does that have any special effect, since success is guaranteed barring interference?

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Sure I'll donate the exp in a bit.

It could affect things between them but will not immediately.

Minimum DC can go into negatives. The main benefit is increasing the degree of success since that is calculated based on difference between the DC and the total roll. Like a planetary success (of which you've only had one but it is still giving you dividends) requires a difference of 100+ to occur. With a DC of -7 for example a roll of 93 and up would be enough to trigger it.

 

[MysteryCPU]

Adventures in R&D​

What in the world was she doing here?

Roxanne Sutton thought to herself as she sat in a meeting room in LexCorp headquarters surrounded by a bunch of people in labcoats looking at her expectantly. When she got the offer to join LuthorCorp, she was excited: the entire stunt career thing was getting boring (what with the excessive safety precautions) and she was considering doing other things when she got the offer to join a company currently under attack by ninja-assassins. She quickly signed up with the hopes of punching a ninja in the face while on top of a moving car.

Instead, here she was in a meeting room as the head of a Research and Development department for the next 3 months surrounded by people in Labcoats she thought of as Thing 1-5. First: why her? It wasn't like she had any major schooling in the sciences and most of her knowledge involved explosives and safe amounts to use and safety precautions. Second: why was the project only 3 months? That was just weird- but it was explained to her that some of Lex's "special projects" had a similar timeline of 3 months.

She sighed. Well, at least it was research into weapons. Maybe there'd be fun stuff to test.

"So.." she started," what projects're you guys up to? Anything hot like a rocket motorcycle?"

Guy in glasses and labcoat one (who she thought of as Thing 1) looked up from his notes and stammered.

"Uh...n-no. No rocket motorcycle. It'd be d-dangerous anyways. B-better to make a rocket that could be r-ridden if you want to do that."

Huh. So, no jokes here. Wait..

"Did you say you could make a rideable rocket?"

Thing 1 shook his head.

"N-no. Of course not! I j-just said that-"

"No, I think you said that you could make a rideable rocket. Do that. That's your three month project." she said, images of going all Doctor Strangelove on a rocket floating through her mind.

Thing 1 shut up and so Roxxane pointed at Thing 2.

"What are you doing for research?"

"Well, we are working on a slight improvement into bullet design-"

"BORING! Common! This is LexCorp! Where's the space laser or the shark missile? What have you guys been working on that's cool or fun!?!"

Thing 3 coughed.

"Well, lots of "cool" ideas aren't feasible or profitable. As we are tasked with researching profitable-"

Roxanne stopped Thing 3 by making the noise of a buzzer.

"Nope! While I'm in charge of this group, profit isn't something I care about. I just want cool things. You! What's a cool thing you've always wanted to work on but couldn't because you think it'd be unprofitable."

Thing 4 looked around as he was pointed out by Roxanne. But, then answered.

"Me? Uh...I always thought we could do a stealth ICBM. That would be really cool, but market was limited because there aren't many good-"

"Say no more! Work on that! You, your cool project?" Roxanne pointed at Thing 5.

"Laser weapons?"

"There you go. That's your project. Just work on things you think would be cool. And, I'll get to test them. So...we good?"

Everyone looked around. And shrugged. Lex must have put her here for a good reason. If she said just work on what they thought would be "cool"...they would.

"Okay then, Things! Go forth and make cool, fun things for me to test!" Roxanne Sutton said with a bright smile.

 

[King crimson]

Adventures in R&D​

What in the world was she doing here?

Roxanne Sutton thought to herself as she sat in a meeting room in LexCorp headquarters surrounded by a bunch of people in labcoats looking at her expectantly. When she got the offer to join LuthorCorp, she was excited: the entire stunt career thing was getting boring (what with the excessive safety precautions) and she was considering doing other things when she got the offer to join a company currently under attack by ninja-assassins. She quickly signed up with the hopes of punching a ninja in the face while on top of a moving car.

Instead, here she was in a meeting room as the head of a Research and Development department for the next 3 months surrounded by people in Labcoats she thought of as Thing 1-5. First: why her? It wasn't like she had any major schooling in the sciences and most of her knowledge involved explosives and safe amounts to use and safety precautions. Second: why was the project only 3 months? That was just weird- but it was explained to her that some of Lex's "special projects" had a similar timeline of 3 months.

She sighed. Well, at least it was research into weapons. Maybe there'd be fun stuff to test.

"So.." she started," what projects're you guys up to? Anything hot like a rocket motorcycle?"

Guy in glasses and labcoat one (who she thought of as Thing 1) looked up from his notes and stammered.

"Uh...n-no. No rocket motorcycle. It'd be d-dangerous anyways. B-better to make a rocket that could be r-ridden if you want to do that."

Huh. So, no jokes here. Wait..

"Did you say you could make a rideable rocket?"

Thing 1 shook his head.

"N-no. Of course not! I j-just said that-"

"No, I think you said that you could make a rideable rocket. Do that. That's your three month project." she said, images of going all Doctor Strangelove on a rocket floating through her mind.

Thing 1 shut up and so Roxxane pointed at Thing 2.

"What are you doing for research?"

"Well, we are working on a slight improvement into bullet design-"

"BORING! Common! This is LexCorp! Where's the space laser or the shark missile? What have you guys been working on that's cool or fun!?!"

Thing 3 coughed.

"Well, lots of "cool" ideas aren't feasible or profitable. As we are tasked with researching profitable-"

Roxanne stopped Thing 3 by making the noise of a buzzer.

"Nope! While I'm in charge of this group, profit isn't something I care about. I just want cool things. You! What's a cool thing you've always wanted to work on but couldn't because you think it'd be unprofitable."

Thing 4 looked around as he was pointed out by Roxanne. But, then answered.

"Me? Uh...I always thought we could do a stealth ICBM. That would be really cool, but market was limited because there aren't many good-"

"Say no more! Work on that! You, your cool project?" Roxanne pointed at Thing 5.

"Laser weapons?"

"There you go. That's your project. Just work on things you think would be cool. And, I'll get to test them. So...we good?"

Everyone looked around. And shrugged. Lex must have put her here for a good reason. If she said just work on what they thought would be "cool"...they would.

"Okay then, Things! Go forth and make cool, fun things for me to test!" Roxanne Sutton said with a bright smile.

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I like it and found it funny. It did get a bit meta. Every turn is not exactly three months (it's about three months) but minor nitpick aside it was a fun read. Have 500 exp for the canon omake

 

[Erumpet]

Hey King Crimson I was looking at the character sheet and under the Lex's resource's it's still says that we only have 4 hero units.

 

[King crimson]

Hey King Crimson I was looking at the character sheet and under the Lex's resource's it's still says that we only have 4 hero units.

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Welp that's no longer accurate. Thanks for pointing that out.

Edit: I've updated the character information to include the new hero units and the automated combat craft. Later today I will add both Nyssa Al Ghul and Lady Vic to the list of encountered characters.

 

[Kkutlord]

@King crimson: Oh right, there's actually a lot of XP saved up... Hmm, what about reminding people at the start of each turn? There's nearly enough for 4 Stat Points, which is a pretty major investment.

 

[King crimson]

@King crimson: Oh right, there's actually a lot of XP saved up... Hmm, what about reminding people at the start of each turn? There's nearly enough for 4 Stat Points, which is a pretty major investment.

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Reminding people at the start of the turn will add up fast and will contribute to more delays as I try to get stuff in order. Spending your exp is on you guys. If you want to try and get people to spend their exp you can try and convince them to do so. I don't care if people choose to sit on an absolute ton of exp at all since it is the users prerogative to spend it.