That's the part I'm not seeing. 99 stealth vehicles are better than 101 stealth vehicles because the malus that kicks in from 100 counts from 50, but they recover from that weirdness quickly and 300 stealth vehicles is slightly more than twice as good as 99 if I'm reading the math right.
Huh. That's a weird math thing and I might need to tweak the numbers a bit. This was not intentional.
I'll need to include higher decays with each 50 units over 200, doubling the decay for every fifty units over 200 (over 250 give you a malus of -20, for number of units over 250, 300 gives -40 etc.).
That should prevent things from getting infinitely better at hiding. Thank you for pointing out the issue.
Part of the issue is that not all Intrigue actions are created equal.
It sounds like "hide from detection" and "sneak into specific location and do a thing" are both Intrigue checks. But while having more forces will almost inevitably make it harder to hide, having more forces can definitely make it easier to sneak into a place and do a thing because you can do stuff like create distractions.
You might want separate rules for "does the enemy detect you" and "does the enemy detecting SOME of your forces actually stop you from carrying out your mission though."
That's the part I'm not seeing. 99 stealth vehicles are better than 101 stealth vehicles because the malus that kicks in from 100 counts from 50, but they recover from that weirdness quickly and 300 stealth vehicles is slightly more than twice as good as 99 if I'm reading the math right.
As King points out, when you have 300 stealth vehicles in the general area, you have options you didn't have with 99. The enemy may be so goddamn jumpy from all the trollarious shit you pull with vehicles revealing themselves and then disappearing and reappearing and in general THEY'RE OUT THERE WATCHING US OH GOD that you actually have a much better chance of doing whatever you wanted to do unremarked on.
The costumes are designed according to the characters' preference, so if she wants to have it, design it for her, but that shouldn't be some... executive-mandated decision. It's not a standard LexCorp uniform, after all.
As King points out, when you have 300 stealth vehicles in the general area, you have options you didn't have with 99. The enemy may be so goddamn jumpy from all the trollarious shit you pull with vehicles revealing themselves and then disappearing and reappearing and in general THEY'RE OUT THERE WATCHING US OH GOD that you actually have a much better chance of doing whatever you wanted to do unremarked on.
Sure, and with the new proposed rule at the top of this page that remains intact. The problem was that it never stopped. The ideal infiltration strategy would be to cover Metropolis in a solid coating of stealth vehicles.
Sure, and with the new proposed rule at the top of this page that remains intact. The problem was that it never stopped. The ideal infiltration strategy would be to cover Metropolis in a solid coating of stealth vehicles.
Depending on exactly what the "infiltration strategy" is intended to accomplish, that might actually work out rather well if you had the vehicles available. If only because the enemy would be so busy realizing just how many invisible cars with machine guns you'd deployed in their general vicinity, they'd be too antsy and leave too many openings and the specific group that's actually doing whatever you had in mind wins by default.
Huh. That's a weird math thing and I might need to tweak the numbers a bit. This was not intentional.
I'll need to include higher decays with each 50 units over 200, doubling the decay for every fifty units over 200 (over 250 give you a malus of -20, for number of units over 250, 300 gives -40 etc.).
That should prevent things from getting infinitely better at hiding. Thank you for pointing out the issue.
All that said though not mixing up unit types can be dangerous because if an enemy has an ability or trait to let them find a specific kind of unit more effectively (which Intergang notably did) then you can end up finding yourself blindsided and brutalized.
It's called With Cat-Like Tread. It also functions based off of enemy composition so the forces you send to fight this hero unit affect how effective the trait is.
Part of the issue is that not all Intrigue actions are created equal.
It sounds like "hide from detection" and "sneak into specific location and do a thing" are both Intrigue checks. But while having more forces will almost inevitably make it harder to hide, having more forces can definitely make it easier to sneak into a place and do a thing because you can do stuff like create distractions.
You might want separate rules for "does the enemy detect you" and "does the enemy detecting SOME of your forces actually stop you from carrying out your mission though."
You're not work but I won't have reasonable rules up in time for this event. The more distinctions and complications I introduce into the system the harder it will be for me to write updates and for the thread to generate plans. I'm hesitant to start making the combat system even more complicated when I'm still getting a grasp on how the numerical values all function and fine tuning things.
As such complicating the intrigue system to account for different types of intrigue actions won't happen until after the event ends and I get a better grasp of how everything works out.
OK everyone, I definitely, DEFINITELY, want to fix the hostage rescue plan, but my brain keeps trying to write it and bouncing off right now.
@King crimson , I have at least until tonight to do it, right?
Anyone, including especially @Torgamous , who has specific suggestions for the overall strategy I should include, go for it. Maybe we should just hold off on dispatching a force to rescue Lois and the others until Turn 3...
It's called With Cat-Like Tread. It also functions based off of enemy composition so the forces you send to fight this hero unit affect how effective the trait is.
--[] Rose Wilson is to fly off to take command of the hospital defenses in case the crab mecha makes it that far.
--[] Leonard Snart is to pick a platoon of 30 Serial Peacemakers to act as a 'flying column.' As soon as we have credible information on the whereabouts of Lois Lane and/or the other hostages, the flying column is to move out and attempt rescue operations.
Switch Leonard and Rose, and add as many stealth vehicles as you're comfortable drawing from other tasks (as long as that's not between 100 and 125). We're safe until we crack 400, which thanks to Catman we no longer can.
---[] Have some of the HQ troops in Mk III armor rotated out to guard any prisoners in Centennial Park that we lack the transportation to move quickly, freeing up more Peacekeepers to fight.
This was also rendered obsolete by the combat engine. Guarding the armor shipment might still be a good idea, though, since trouble can happen at the destination.
A Stranger I Remain will be coming out soon hopefully today. Then depending on how well the process of writing goes the Lion of Luthor interlude (the omake starring Lionel) will come out either today or tomorrow. Thursday and Friday I will not be getting any new updates as I have papers to finish. Part 3 of the combat event should come out on Saturday. Following that any other purchased interludes will come out on Saturday or Monday if people buy them now.
Everything in the coming weeks after this is in flux because finals are coming up and I need to turn in papers on time.
Having thought about it some more, since the mech had been attacking our tower for a bit before she started doing her thing, it's possible that only our and Intergang's forces were still close enough to get a good look at her. If we slap some robot looking stuff on her before sending her running across the city to kill the crab, we might be able to pass her off as a combat robot super prototype. I'd think that would delay her and risk the crab getting wherever it's going, but with the combat engine as it is I don't know how or if that would be modeled.
sexualisation of minors, clones and sexual slavery
Being a villain does not mean being a pimp
Yes Supergirl did not yet appear in the canon of this quest, and yet some people continue to salivate and joke about cloning her, and then sexualise her further.
Considering her identity as a minor while Galatea is someone who is physically an adult but neither emotionally nor free enough from her own programming for most of it to give informed choices I am displeased by the saliva left by some people thinking about that.
This is not a ban of of the topic of Galatea and her eventual creation. @King crimson in their commentary about the Matrix/Lex Luthor II Storyline highlighted the problematic aspect of it and so far that seems to mean that they would deal maturely with it.
Yes it is possible to have a clone who is not in controll of themself without dealing with issues that would lead to the [Mature] tag.
And even if it is a element of horror for Kara what Galatea could get up to , that does not mean that things done to Galatea should be salviated over , instead of taking a nuanced aproach.
Admittedly I do like the explanation its a Bullet Trap, since you really don't want bullets flying off wildly and accidentally killing people. Though I ultimately have to go with no, unless we're including the Boob Window out of sheer pettiness.
Lex Luthor: "She is your perfect clone, and thus... everyone knows what your chest looks like."
As for bigger... Personally I have to go with no, even though admittedly back pain & other assorted problems would be a non-issue for her. I'm frankly just annoyed by people's obsession with it, especially since I know they're blatantly ignoring the real purpose.
Though again, if it out of sheer pettiness, I could see it- though I'm also opposed to us deliberately creating Galatea as a sex symbol, regardless of how embarrassing it would be for Superman & Supergirl.
KKuthlord meanwhile is more nuanced as while the argument is on a whole against it, the _joke_ inside of it is somewhat to tasteless as it is adressed at a minor and so it is only a note.
I really think we migh want to avoid even having Galatea in this quest, SV is pretty progresive forum and as you can see with Shield Hero thread and this here, it really does make people uncomfortable to be handling those topics and i really dont think we should risk it. so @King crimson Im in favor of just not including Galathea at all since its more trouble than its worth.
I really think we migh want to avoid even having Galatea in this quest, SV is pretty progresive forum and as you can see with Shield Hero thread and this here, it really does make people uncomfortable to be handling those topics and i really dont think we should risk it. so @King crimson Im in favor of just not including Galathea at all since its more trouble than its worth.
There's always the option of not being a creep. I can tell you from experience that it's possible to talk about Supergirl and clones thereof without focusing on her boobs.
I wasn't trying to be tasteless, I just figured a boob window barely showed anything and thus proved how petty it would be. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset anyone.
Hmm, though I guess this means we're legally not allowed to give Galatea such a design choice. I'm honestly glad for that, especially since it would of gotten people in-universe either suspicious of Lex or moral guardians complaining.
There's always the option of not being a creep. I can tell you from experience that it's possible to talk about Supergirl and clones thereof without focusing on her boobs.
I think Torg meant we could have Galatea and not be weirdos about her at the same time. Like seriously, the problem seemed to have been purely been being weird about teenage!Supergirl and controlled!Galatea.
I think things would be fine with Galatea so long as we make sure she has proper freedom of choice and an adult mindset.
When you allow yourself to get attached to anyone you become vulnerable. You become weak and your emotions are no longer yours to control. You are shackled and tied down by this bond and your weakness will only get worse in the face of death. Many would consider love then to be something beautiful. Much like the break of a wave or a falling leaf the beauty lies not in the fact that something will always exist the way it does, but rather the impermanence itself makes it all the more beautiful. For humans to know that love is hopeless and foolish and risky and still do it anyways, is beautiful for what they manage to achieve in spite of all the odds stacked against them.
And yet love and attachment are not a path she can take, never were something she could have. She was born wrong, twisted and malformed and broken. In many ways even before she abandoned the trappings of society to dedicate herself solely to battle she was less than human? What kind of person wanted to murder their own sister because they loved them? What kind of person sought to kill something just because they loved it? Love was a weakness and it was not a path that could be taken. Her urges would overwhelm her and eventually she'd give in and kill them.
It was better for her to be honest with herself. It was better for her to abandon weakness and embrace her calling. It was better for her to abandon pretense and purge herself of all notions of having been human and thus being able to indulge in the beauty of human things. It was better for her to become Lady Shiva.
A Stranger I Remain
The girl who would become Lady Shiva was one half of a set of twins. The pair completed each other, each of them being halves of the same whole. They learned martial arts under the guidance of their father, himself an accomplished martial artist. They mastered all they were taught and honed their skills to perfection. They'd constantly defeat challengers who faced them and hone their skills. They were yin and yang, push and pull, hard and soft. Together they formed an incredible pair supposedly unmatched in the martial arts world. The girl who would become Lady Shiva loved the thrill of battle and combat and enjoyed the rush of proving her opponents inferior. Her sister held her back, giving her things outside of battle and combat to care about and nurture. The girl who would become Lady Shiva loved her sister. And because of that she wanted to kill her.
She didn't know why she did but her whole life she struggled with the urge to end her and only held back because she truly did love her sister. The urge to kill her and end her life constantly bubbled and simmered beneath the surface as the girl who would become Lady Shiva contemplated how much farther she could go without love holding her back. She'd never do it because she loved her sister but it wasn't something that was natural for her. It was natural for her to want to kill and fight and strive to be better, to be a human weapon not to love and hold back for the sake of others. But her sister's kindness and love and trust always made her feel ill about the fantasy's she had of caving in her sisters skull and watching red dribble out. The girl who would become Lady Shiva was ashamed of her true nature and so did her best to bury it and be content with living her sister's dream. It seemed good enough at that time.
All of that changed when a young man came to visit their father hoping to learn their secrets. He observed the two sisters and realized how much the girl who would become Lady Shiva was holding back. How she was restraining herself for the sake of her sister and holding back for the sake of the love between the two sisters. Seeing a kindred spirit in the girl who would become Lady Shiva, the young man killed her sister and left after having learned all that he could from her father.
When the girl who would become Lady Shiva saw the dead body she didn't feel sadness or anger or despair. She knew she should've and desperately tried to when she saw her sister's body but in the end she couldn't. All she felt was disappointment and regret that she hadn't killed her sister herself. The girl was horrified. What kind of monster was she that she couldn't feel a thing and that the murder of the one person who truly loved her for all she was only made her regret that it hadn't been her? The girl retreated inwards focusing only on becoming a human weapon, the greatest martial artist who ever lived. It would block the pain and prevent her from dwelling on her issues. Becoming something both more and less than human would let her escape all the doubts and questions that lingered at the back of her mind. When her father died, the girl left to go and train with her grandfather, an even more legendary martial arts master. As she burned down her childhood home the girl took on the name Lady Shiva in the hopes that like the deity she could carve of the imperfections and impurities that made her wrong. She hadn't become Lady Shiva in full but the journey had begun.
At her grandfather's place she met Richard Dragon and Ben Turner, her grandfathers disciples. Lady Shiva sparred against them and was disappointed in their skills. Her grandfather told her not to underestimate them and so she tolerated them. The trio trained harder and harder before setting out into the world to right wrongs and fight the good fight. The young woman who called herself Lady Shiva grew to care for her companions and with that care came the desire to kill them all in combat. She knew that it was wrong and so held herself back and let their morality guide her actions. She was not yet ready to truly commit to her path and abandon the trappings of humanity.
Eventually like all things the journey would come to an end. The young woman who called herself Lady Shiva had one last spar against Richard Dragon before they separated. As they fought, Lady Shiva found herself mulling over her feelings and when she realized that like with her sister she wanted nothing more than to kill Dragon and prove her superiority she hesitated. As such Dragon won their last bought something that had never been done before. He asked her why she held back against him and the young woman who called herself Lady Shiva didn't answer. He didn't need to know just how badly she wanted to see him dead simply because he was close to her. He wouldn't understand.
They all left to go their separate ways. She went and toured the world, fighting the best and honing her skills further and further in the art of killing. She learned how to read bodies down to the micro-expressions and as she no longer had any reason to hold back when fighting she began killing her opponents savoring their blood and their despair as she ended their lives. It felt right. However she hadn't yet abandoned her humanity. She was still tied down by her past.
She eventually caught wind of the young man who might have murdered her sister and so she tracked him down. She felt obligated to avenge her sister. After all wasn't that what you did for people you loved? She wouldn't have known. She just wanted to kill them. Eventually she confronted him.
He brought assassins with him and she let loose and fought. She killed everyone who got close striking them down, shattering bones, rupturing organs and dealing out death. The glory of combat sang to her. The man who killed her sister then introduced himself as David Cain and they fought. Their fight was a beautiful thing, a dance between two skilled masters and yet she felt dissatisfied by it. She felt nothing towards the man who killed her sister. When she defeated him and he lay on the ground he let her know why.
"I set you free" He whispered intimately "You're so beautiful now"
She laughed hysterically as she realized he was right. She could kill anyone without remorse and hone her craft to perfection. A man in a green cape stepped out of the shadows and congratulated her on defeating David and offered her a place in his organization. Seeing this as the path forward she accepted. She understood her path forward. She had to abandon her humanity and abandon the trap of love in order to become who she was always meant to be. In that moment she truly became Lady Shiva, carving away and destroying the broken parts of herself in order to become whole.
She learned how to truly kill in that organization and after a year of work David Cain approached her with his plans to create the ultimate fighter and killer. Lady Shiva intrigued by this deal agreed to help him make this individual. After all they would be the ultimate challenge for Shiva to overcome and if she failed then she'll have succeeded in creating something truly beautiful regardless. Together the two of them conceived a child to match the genetic standards Cain was looking for.
Time passed and Lady Shiva gave birth to a daughter. The pallid little thing didn't seem like much but it was hers and one day it would either surpass her or give her the greatest fight of her life. She held the squirmy little bundle of flesh and then it looked at her. Cassandra had her sisters eyes.
They stared at her accusing, knowing, mocking her for what she was. Why didn't she save them? Why was she working for her sister's killers? Why was she a monster? Lady Shiva wanted to smash her daughter against the floor, to sunder and snap her little bones and get those eyes to stop looking at her. She wouldn't be tied down to anyone, couldn't love anyone. She made the mistake of thinking that just because she felt nothing for the father, she'd feel nothing for the daughter and now as she saw those eyes staring at her and she felt the familiar feeling of love coupled with a desire to kill, Lady Shiva broke down. She couldn't take it. She didn't ask to be born the way she was, a cruel monster with a desire only for death, so why did her daughter have to keep looking at her like that? Why did gazing upon Cassandra's face make her feel both guilty and murderous and a dozen other terrible mixed up jumbled emotions inside. She was supposed to be over this, to be better than this. She gave away her daughter to David and told him to never let her know who her mother really was. It was the right choice to make. An attachment to Cassandra would just result in Lady Shiva losing purpose and eventually giving in to her darkest desires and murdering her only child. It was better this way.
Lady Shiva spent the next few years carving out her heart, killing the weakness that left her conflicted and unable to progress. She fully abandoned her humanity and became a killing machine. She fought and defeated Turner, confining him to a fate worse than death. She killed all who fought her and the name Lady Shiva was whispered with fear throughout the martial arts world. She had no masters, no restrictions, no limits. She was free to truly be herself.
When Ra's informed her of what had happened to her daughter, Lady Shiva felt nothing but amusement. Of course David Cain had to be incompetent enough to lose his masterpiece. And besides it was better to have her daughter end up as some billionaire's adopted daughter. If she had stayed on the path of an assassin and a combatant, Lady Shiva would have killed her or died trying. Lady Shiva brought death to those she loved and keeping her daughter away from her and as uninteresting to her as possible would ensure that she stayed alive longer.
Still the prospect of the ultimate fight that David Cain had promised her so long ago was awfully tempting. The challenge of not just killing what was bred to be the world's greatest martial artist but also her own daughter made Lady Shiva's heart leap with anticipation. If she could carve away that weakness and contradiction then she would truly be the greatest of all time. What martial artist could strike down their own progeny in cold blood? What brilliant fights could be accomplished when Lady Shiva met a monster like herself? She wanted that fight now. Years ago she would have balked at thinking of killing her daughter, knowing it was wrong but now with her heart carved away and her purpose truly discovered such a thought almost seemed to exhilarate her. She was already being asked to head to the United States to test one of Kirigi's students so checking in on her daughter would be easy enough.
If Cassandra had remained on the path Cain envisioned for her then Lady Shiva would have her final duel. Then either her daughter would achieve the freedom and the perfection free of attachment Lady Shiva had striven for all her life or Lady Shiva would finally get to see the life drain from her sister's eyes and find peace. Lady Shiva was born wrong, twisted, malformed and broken. She dedicated her life to battle and was both less and more than human. And that was how she'd always remain.
I think Torg meant we could have Galatea and not be weirdos about her at the same time. Like seriously, the problem seemed to have been purely been being weird about teenage!Supergirl and controlled!Galatea.
I think things would be fine with Galatea so long as we make sure she has proper freedom of choice and an adult mindset.
And thats the problem i have, not the the b**bs thing but the fact that we are artifically prevented from certain actions, Like is this ban on brainwashing as whole or ban on brainwashing for Galathea specifically ? And if its for Galathea specifically why is that specifically banned for her ?
