The Streetwalker's Guide to the Hierarchy
- Thread starter Birdsie
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HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
Even spending the Distortion slot? Huh. Same deal for werewolf shenanigans?
Pardon, what's this actually entail? ...Nevermind, it's Rihaku doublevoting Refine Eyes and add Distortion, presumably turning our x-ray vision into Healer's Sight from any fantasy novel where healers can see people's insides by default.
Sure, I'll add that to my docket.
[X] Cerebrospinal Refinement [Takes 2 Refinements]
-[X] Distortion; 7 Import
[X] Organ Refinement - Choose a specific organ to enhance in a more focused manner:
-[X] Face
[X] Organ Refinement - Choose a specific organ to enhance in a more focused manner:
-[X] All organs related to singing
[X] Organ Refinement - Choose a specific organ to enhance in a more focused manner:
-[X] Eyes
-[X] Eyes Again
-[X] Distortion; 7 Import
[X] Muscular and Osseous Refinement
[X] Hardness of Iron
-[X] Distortion; 3.5 Import
-[X] Craft and wear The Taurean first, with the goal of replacing our lost power armor
[X] Vulcan (2 Refinements): Advanced version of Hardness of Iron. You can imbue enough of worldly materials to render a targeted limb or an organ unto "biomechanical artifact". This in turn allows you to use Hammer to fuse items with such parts of your body as per Hammer's own rules
[X] Plan To Boldly Go
PTBG isn't something I'm willing to miss out on (one way or another it'll make the quest more interesting, and it can hardly go as badly as Am Not), but prudence still seems wise.
PTBG isn't something I'm willing to miss out on (one way or another it'll make the quest more interesting, and it can hardly go as badly as Am Not), but prudence still seems wise.
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HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
I think we should Hammer the Icarelian into the Streetwalker, actually - they're apparently connected in a deep way. We should make a more specific Gamaliel mask if we're improving the Crimson King therewith.
Rihaku
The Internet
@Birdsie For some reason the tally includes this latest addendum as if all Boldly Go voters were voting for it, similar to if I had modified my original vote (I did not); in case it becomes relevant we may have to do a manual count.
@ApotheosisJuice Given this 'feature' Perhaps you can approval vote for both Boldly Go and a secondary fork of the plan under a different name?
@ApotheosisJuice Given this 'feature' Perhaps you can approval vote for both Boldly Go and a secondary fork of the plan under a different name?
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Ah, I see. Well, it is what it is.
I still don't find Cerebral upgrade exciting. I don't think thread does either. People are not really going "damn we are going to be somewhat more competent? I can't wait!". It seems like thread is just taking the risk because risk taking is exciting and not because reward itself is interesting, which both right now and going forward is a voting strategy that I don't particularly agree with.
I don't really mind it that much because skill stuff is something I wanted in the first place, but I do question our voting pattern.
I don't really mind it that much because skill stuff is something I wanted in the first place, but I do question our voting pattern.
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
Honestly, I want to do a bunch of experimenting with Masks and stuff.
That's for sure, these options are well beyond my expectations. 2/3 picks turn into +14 and +70% Might and +6 +30% Agi(minus Agi equivalent from Iron Body) which is a substantial increase. Even if we don't pick them now we will probably want to nab those upgrades at some point since it's just very good value per action.
...that's odd.
[X] Plan to Boldly Go
ye.
[X] Plan to Prudently Go
[X] Cerebrospinal Refinement
[X] Distort Cerebrospinal Refinement. Spend 7 Import, focusing on mitigation of the outcomes Dorian would personally consider worst.
[X] Muscular and Osseus Refinement
[X] Hammer the Streetwalker into the Icarelian.
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HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
About that Gamaliel mask.
The Hollow Foundation
A mask representing the Qlippothic Tower of Gamaliel. Its runes are faithful replicas of the original, and between the mouth-gates is a representation of the stairs and lake within.
As Above (X) - Increases attunement between the wearer's conscious and subconscious mind, raising their effective sophistication with Gamaliel.
So Below (Y) - Generates and projects Gamaliel distortion. May be dangerous to wearers who have not Chosen Gamaliel.
If we're going to be making a dedicated, Gamaliel-Only mask, we should craft it using as much Contaminated material as possible.
Maybe see if we can somehow incorporate some pure Gamaliel distortion directly into the mask itself.
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
Oh, it's delightful to be listened to! That said, I think making the Hollow Foundation and Hammering a copy of it into the Crimson King is more relevant - other mask-experimentation should probably be a different vote?
I definitely want to hammer the Oracle of Midnight into the Streetwalker too. The earbuds have too much of an identity to combine them with a persona of Andrei. And it would probably be good to hammer another copy of the Hollow Foundation in, but not certainly.
Quite possibly. Certainly, we should try Distorting material to make it take as much Potential from Facelessness as possible during the crafting process. And it'd be on-theme for Gamaliel to be somewhat broken.
Given the whole "identity" focus of maskmaking, I'm unsure if making extra copies of a mask will be as efficacious as the original.
How about this:
The Greater Icarelian
A mask representing the myriad Choices of Icarel: composed of the Icarelian, Streetwalker, Midnight Oracle and a large variety of Contaminated materials hammered together. Its design shows every facet of the sky from sunset to sunrise, but towards its outer edges chips and cracks in runic patterns.
As Above (X) - Streamlines the control and usage of the user's Choice: a Midnight could switch off or focus more deeply on certain aspects of their senses, or conserve their reserves of mental stamina for later, a Zenith could lower their resistance to alcohol or exert their full power with two fingers whilst cradling an egg in the other.
So Below (Y) - Empowers the user's Choice with raw power: for the above examples, the Midnight would gain even sharper senses or become totally immune to mental fatigure, or the Zenith could exert and endure vastly greater force.
How about this:
The Greater Icarelian
A mask representing the myriad Choices of Icarel: composed of the Icarelian, Streetwalker, Midnight Oracle and a large variety of Contaminated materials hammered together. Its design shows every facet of the sky from sunset to sunrise, but towards its outer edges chips and cracks in runic patterns.
As Above (X) - Streamlines the control and usage of the user's Choice: a Midnight could switch off or focus more deeply on certain aspects of their senses, or conserve their reserves of mental stamina for later, a Zenith could lower their resistance to alcohol or exert their full power with two fingers whilst cradling an egg in the other.
So Below (Y) - Empowers the user's Choice with raw power: for the above examples, the Midnight would gain even sharper senses or become totally immune to mental fatigure, or the Zenith could exert and endure vastly greater force.
Rihaku, consider swapping out stat boost for the following:
Mask Chamber(1 Refinement): Creates an organ that uses Contamination to transmute biological matter into requisite Mask materials and then uses its array of tactile manipulators to assemble those materials into a Mask. Requires Cerebral upgrade to multitask properly
This would basically just passively generate Mask for sale and Hammer Potential upgrades. We would have to wear Artificer(internally?) for this process to work and I expect low potential given how impersonal this spam would be and the rate of creation wouldn't be as high as it is when we actually do it manually, but just having passive source of Mask creation would give us a ton of utility anyway.
Also, man, seeing how truly powerful Viscerality is - just how fucked were we in the first world? That Warlord was likely just a flat out 70~100 Potential fighter. Sheesh.
On another note, we can also augment our guys, which can some useful applications i.e. electricity resistance and generation for Musurov, enhanced vocal cords and lungs for lions and so on. Just something to keep in mind for future.
e tactical manipulators
Mask Chamber(1 Refinement): Creates an organ that uses Contamination to transmute biological matter into requisite Mask materials and then uses its array of tactile manipulators to assemble those materials into a Mask. Requires Cerebral upgrade to multitask properly
This would basically just passively generate Mask for sale and Hammer Potential upgrades. We would have to wear Artificer(internally?) for this process to work and I expect low potential given how impersonal this spam would be and the rate of creation wouldn't be as high as it is when we actually do it manually, but just having passive source of Mask creation would give us a ton of utility anyway.
Also, man, seeing how truly powerful Viscerality is - just how fucked were we in the first world? That Warlord was likely just a flat out 70~100 Potential fighter. Sheesh.
On another note, we can also augment our guys, which can some useful applications i.e. electricity resistance and generation for Musurov, enhanced vocal cords and lungs for lions and so on. Just something to keep in mind for future.
e tactical manipulators
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Seems like we went with muscle buff anyway. It is not that good since I don't expect us to fight much in next half a dozen updates, but I guess it doesn't matter that much all things considered.
I really wonder what will Distorted cerebral upgrade look like. We went with "reduce negative outcomes" which, in hindsight, feels like a wrong approach since Contamination tends to respond well to taking risks. Still, perhaps we could develop a secondary alien-like mindset we could tap into to circumvent our lack of creativity? Maybe we could develop some kind of telepathy or ESP? I hope that this sort of levels up our Contamination in similar way healing Deathknight plague did, being able to mess with brains might be useful in future, even for fixing potential mistakes here.
I really wonder what will Distorted cerebral upgrade look like. We went with "reduce negative outcomes" which, in hindsight, feels like a wrong approach since Contamination tends to respond well to taking risks. Still, perhaps we could develop a secondary alien-like mindset we could tap into to circumvent our lack of creativity? Maybe we could develop some kind of telepathy or ESP? I hope that this sort of levels up our Contamination in similar way healing Deathknight plague did, being able to mess with brains might be useful in future, even for fixing potential mistakes here.
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
Yeah, that's why I was unsure if it was a good idea. Your alternate mask is pretty cool, though my purpose in hammering as many Tower masks into the Streetwalker as possible is to access the Song better. (I'm guessing it's some kind of divine programming language or something? No idea if it's what the Litanies are based on, but I bet the runes found on the Towers are the written form.)
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
Oh, incidentally? I went and looked up Qlippoth on Wikipedia - looks like Orm was specifically referencing the Rigardie-Crowley variation - and it sure seems plausible that the six standard Towers are based on the sides of the Sephirot.
Zenith (might) for Geburah (Strength, Qlippothic form Ghogiel is plausibly just the tower of Eclipse) is obvious, and Dawn (singing) seems to map well to Hod (Majesty, Qlippothic form Samael), but admittedly it starts to get confusing after that. Day (memory) seems like it best fits Netzach (Eternity, Qlippothic form Gharab Tzerek), which is on the other base of the Tree, opposite Hod.
Chesed (Love-between-god-and-man, Qlippothic form Angshekeloh) seems like an excellent match for Dusk (good fortune), but its Tree location is opposite Geburah (Strength), so ???
Chokmah (Wisdom, Qlippothic form Ghogiel) and Binah (Understanding, Qlippothic form Satariel) are probably, if this analysis is at all correct, Night (dreams) and Midnight (senses) respectively.
The center line of the Tree is Keter (Crown, Qlippothic form Thaumiel), Tipharet (something-I'll-approximate-as-Jewels, Qlippothic form Tagiriron), Yesod (Foundation, Qlippothic form Gamaliel), and Malkuth (Kingdom, Qlippothic form Lilith). None of them have an obvious counterpart in the standard Towers.
@Birdsie, are more than twenty types of Tower known?
Zenith (might) for Geburah (Strength, Qlippothic form Ghogiel is plausibly just the tower of Eclipse) is obvious, and Dawn (singing) seems to map well to Hod (Majesty, Qlippothic form Samael), but admittedly it starts to get confusing after that. Day (memory) seems like it best fits Netzach (Eternity, Qlippothic form Gharab Tzerek), which is on the other base of the Tree, opposite Hod.
Chesed (Love-between-god-and-man, Qlippothic form Angshekeloh) seems like an excellent match for Dusk (good fortune), but its Tree location is opposite Geburah (Strength), so ???
Chokmah (Wisdom, Qlippothic form Ghogiel) and Binah (Understanding, Qlippothic form Satariel) are probably, if this analysis is at all correct, Night (dreams) and Midnight (senses) respectively.
The center line of the Tree is Keter (Crown, Qlippothic form Thaumiel), Tipharet (something-I'll-approximate-as-Jewels, Qlippothic form Tagiriron), Yesod (Foundation, Qlippothic form Gamaliel), and Malkuth (Kingdom, Qlippothic form Lilith). None of them have an obvious counterpart in the standard Towers.
@Birdsie, are more than twenty types of Tower known?
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
There are as many Towers as astrological phenomena: comets, supermoons, eclipses, other events of that nature - and then some. However, the Towers corresponding to them might be undiscovered. Day, Zenith, Dawn, Night, Midnight, and Dusk are simply extremely common, scattered by the thousands across the planet. There are many one-of-a-kind Towers, or Towers whose associated event hasn't happened in millennia, etc. There are stories of Dusks singing the restless dead back to sleep, of strange aquatic beings of cold genius and ruthlessness, and more in that vein. Infamous, naturally, are the Comet Kings.
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
What are the Comet Kings, anyway? Fliers?
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
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It varies. I'd ask Orm for details, but I understand that abilities such as flight, photokinesis, thermokinesis, and gravitokinesis were common among them; often relatively powerful in scale (especially relative to other Choices available on Icarel) and often several of those at the same time, with various side perks.