The Streetwalker's Guide to the Hierarchy
- Thread starter Birdsie
- Start date
[X] Plan Sherlock
Screentime has been massively updated. And the plans are basically the same in essence. Only, Screentime starts out stronger because of the three times a day usage. Which we can also circumvent using the Artificer's face generation as a battery should we need be. And solving Artificer's little issue. Birdsie did stress that Thinking cap starts out very limited because it overreaches. We might not be able to use it optimally in the direction we're hoping.. And by the designer's own words it's meant to be a one time use mask with the sole purpose to get the viscerality grafts. TV mask looks further into the future. It also has thematic materials to draw from, where as Thinking cap just proposed the power set.
You guys would vote for a mask where even its own writer isn't interested in using it?
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan Sherlock
Lets examine out paths to power. I will go over things we can do to gain value in this world, and things I find relevant in general.
1) Basic
Before we go into magic and such, there are a number of things we can gain that are more mundane in nature. As I outlined earlier a "good enough" outcome would be mean getting healing, crafting a few basic masks and getting some supplies before continuing down the Street. Given our start, just stabilizing is a victory enough. Even so, there are ways to push this furtherer - for example, this world is noted to have an extremely advanced medicine so getting such medicine is likely to be useful going onwards. Not only that healing for ourselves is useful, especially a non-magic one as a final fallback card, but this allows us to also offer a different kind of healing to others.
We could also use this medicine to trade in next worlds; imagine if we end up in magic mediaeval world, a futuristic super medicine is bona fide artifact. Indeed going forward we should consider that we can take mostly standard stuff from one world and then trade it in another where such things don't really exists. This goes beyond physical items, as we can also learn technology, economy, art or even cooking and use them to our advantage in future worlds. Having a recipe for gunpowder is a standard one, or more realistically making a scammer mask and then running huge pyramid scheme to get rich and boost that mask a ton. Both IC and OOC this is something we need to realize and work towards.
Back to items, we will likely want to bring a weapon along. AK-47 might be a meme, but it is still likely to be best thing we have until we get some enhanced magic weapon. We should really try to understand what is the maximum amount of stuff we can bring along; a cart? A bag? Who knows. In all likelihood we can craft storage mask, at which point there is a decent amount of modern items we can bring along.
The ultimate gain would be some kind of permanent modification. A procedure that would enhance our eyesight, strengthen our skeleton or enhance our immune system would be neat. At some point this will become irrelevant, but depending on degree of buff this would be useful for next handful of worlds. Likewise, some kind of skill graft that would also be of great use.
2) Masks
When it comes to masks, there are two things to consider: crafting and Facetime. Crafting is a function of time, and with enough time we can produce just about any effect within low tier of power. Facetime is function of effort, and by either obtaining rare resource or putting in work to generate recognition, we can increase power of our masks. This means that making masks is relatively easy, while making powerful abilities is relatively hard.
Regarding crafting, we want to make bunch of masks that serve different uses. Storage masks, basic necessities mask, we have Thinking Cap for info gathering masks etc. We can preempt some of these and others can be created as they are needed. Time spent on crafting will at first be very efficient, as we make up very useful abilities we need right now, and then at some point it will turn less efficient, at point where we already have most of stuff we want and we would much rather spend time doing something else.
Facetime is much more important, as it is our main avenue of actually increasing our power. As I mentioned earlier, there are two ways to go about it. Generating resources to make masks start stronger will allows us to trade some of our resources to save on effort, and this will be a great tread. On the other hand making mask stronger means that we need to make it famous. We will need to dive into mechanics to see exactly how this works, but thus far it seems that Facetime is based on fame. This means that if we use Glass as our person while healing the Virus all the Facetime from this historic event would go to glass, even if we might have had used some other mask to create a cure. Overall this make it somewhat simple to power up masks, although it also means that certain contexts make it easier to do so than others. As such we need to be on outlook for situations where we can get a lot of good or bad PR quickly.
There are many ways we can use masks to cheat, especially with Glass. Forcing people to Fixate is an easy way to generate power, or we could create "bomb" masks that are one use only, but in return have very powerful effect i.e. emergency teleport mask. With Glass there is a number of ways you could abuse effects, especially other meta effects to generate positive feedback loops.
What do we want? I think we will naturally create masks we want to I won't go over that. On the other hand, with Facetime we would first like to get +3 potential on Glass for Master Shaper; it's just good high value upgrade that would make our social that much more deadly. Getting some Facetime on CL or TC would be neat. Ideally, we do whole Virus cure thing and Glass goes to ~50(60) which would massively increase its powers.
3) Viscerality
We don't know about how this works in practice, but if there is one thing that would make Mask broken, it is another system to play with. Needless to say, there's just so much you can do once you have two magic systems, and even more when one of them allows for meta abilities. Honestly, where to start? Make learning masks to learn magic faster, casting mask to cast better. Need meat? Meat mask because why not. And so on, literally every single step of Viscerality can be exalted by using mask that makes you straight up better at that step. This is exactly why we got masks, the ability to just seamlessly fit into basically every power system thanks to its infinite versatility.
Viscerality focuses on bodily enhancements and mook creation, both of which work absolutely great with Masks. For example, combine two to generate thrall, a superhuman warrior that is completely loyal to us. Get resources to craft Potential 20 mask, then put it on thrall so it instantly Fixates. Instant Potential 40 superhuman bodyguard, just add some water. Of course not only this would give us bodies, but also enables us to use multiples masks and even acts as a way to generate Facetime. And with Glass, we get stronger abilities to copy.
I'm not sure if we can get it, but we do have some points to spend, and even if we come up short just getting some upgrades would be decent enough. If we do get it, we would be off to a great start.
Finally, success levels:
Basic: Fully healed, 5-7 masks crafted, relevant resource obtained
Good: Above plus three of Master Shaper, better resources(Storage mask?), modern knowledge, minor Viscerality or Viscerality implant
Great: Either major Viscerality or major Facetime(Glass 50, CR 35)
God: Both
What are you thoughts on our power progression? What are the things you would label as success, abilities or resources you would find crucial?
1) Basic
Before we go into magic and such, there are a number of things we can gain that are more mundane in nature. As I outlined earlier a "good enough" outcome would be mean getting healing, crafting a few basic masks and getting some supplies before continuing down the Street. Given our start, just stabilizing is a victory enough. Even so, there are ways to push this furtherer - for example, this world is noted to have an extremely advanced medicine so getting such medicine is likely to be useful going onwards. Not only that healing for ourselves is useful, especially a non-magic one as a final fallback card, but this allows us to also offer a different kind of healing to others.
We could also use this medicine to trade in next worlds; imagine if we end up in magic mediaeval world, a futuristic super medicine is bona fide artifact. Indeed going forward we should consider that we can take mostly standard stuff from one world and then trade it in another where such things don't really exists. This goes beyond physical items, as we can also learn technology, economy, art or even cooking and use them to our advantage in future worlds. Having a recipe for gunpowder is a standard one, or more realistically making a scammer mask and then running huge pyramid scheme to get rich and boost that mask a ton. Both IC and OOC this is something we need to realize and work towards.
Back to items, we will likely want to bring a weapon along. AK-47 might be a meme, but it is still likely to be best thing we have until we get some enhanced magic weapon. We should really try to understand what is the maximum amount of stuff we can bring along; a cart? A bag? Who knows. In all likelihood we can craft storage mask, at which point there is a decent amount of modern items we can bring along.
The ultimate gain would be some kind of permanent modification. A procedure that would enhance our eyesight, strengthen our skeleton or enhance our immune system would be neat. At some point this will become irrelevant, but depending on degree of buff this would be useful for next handful of worlds. Likewise, some kind of skill graft that would also be of great use.
2) Masks
When it comes to masks, there are two things to consider: crafting and Facetime. Crafting is a function of time, and with enough time we can produce just about any effect within low tier of power. Facetime is function of effort, and by either obtaining rare resource or putting in work to generate recognition, we can increase power of our masks. This means that making masks is relatively easy, while making powerful abilities is relatively hard.
Regarding crafting, we want to make bunch of masks that serve different uses. Storage masks, basic necessities mask, we have Thinking Cap for info gathering masks etc. We can preempt some of these and others can be created as they are needed. Time spent on crafting will at first be very efficient, as we make up very useful abilities we need right now, and then at some point it will turn less efficient, at point where we already have most of stuff we want and we would much rather spend time doing something else.
Facetime is much more important, as it is our main avenue of actually increasing our power. As I mentioned earlier, there are two ways to go about it. Generating resources to make masks start stronger will allows us to trade some of our resources to save on effort, and this will be a great tread. On the other hand making mask stronger means that we need to make it famous. We will need to dive into mechanics to see exactly how this works, but thus far it seems that Facetime is based on fame. This means that if we use Glass as our person while healing the Virus all the Facetime from this historic event would go to glass, even if we might have had used some other mask to create a cure. Overall this make it somewhat simple to power up masks, although it also means that certain contexts make it easier to do so than others. As such we need to be on outlook for situations where we can get a lot of good or bad PR quickly.
There are many ways we can use masks to cheat, especially with Glass. Forcing people to Fixate is an easy way to generate power, or we could create "bomb" masks that are one use only, but in return have very powerful effect i.e. emergency teleport mask. With Glass there is a number of ways you could abuse effects, especially other meta effects to generate positive feedback loops.
What do we want? I think we will naturally create masks we want to I won't go over that. On the other hand, with Facetime we would first like to get +3 potential on Glass for Master Shaper; it's just good high value upgrade that would make our social that much more deadly. Getting some Facetime on CL or TC would be neat. Ideally, we do whole Virus cure thing and Glass goes to ~50(60) which would massively increase its powers.
3) Viscerality
We don't know about how this works in practice, but if there is one thing that would make Mask broken, it is another system to play with. Needless to say, there's just so much you can do once you have two magic systems, and even more when one of them allows for meta abilities. Honestly, where to start? Make learning masks to learn magic faster, casting mask to cast better. Need meat? Meat mask because why not. And so on, literally every single step of Viscerality can be exalted by using mask that makes you straight up better at that step. This is exactly why we got masks, the ability to just seamlessly fit into basically every power system thanks to its infinite versatility.
Viscerality focuses on bodily enhancements and mook creation, both of which work absolutely great with Masks. For example, combine two to generate thrall, a superhuman warrior that is completely loyal to us. Get resources to craft Potential 20 mask, then put it on thrall so it instantly Fixates. Instant Potential 40 superhuman bodyguard, just add some water. Of course not only this would give us bodies, but also enables us to use multiples masks and even acts as a way to generate Facetime. And with Glass, we get stronger abilities to copy.
I'm not sure if we can get it, but we do have some points to spend, and even if we come up short just getting some upgrades would be decent enough. If we do get it, we would be off to a great start.
Finally, success levels:
Basic: Fully healed, 5-7 masks crafted, relevant resource obtained
Good: Above plus three of Master Shaper, better resources(Storage mask?), modern knowledge, minor Viscerality or Viscerality implant
Great: Either major Viscerality or major Facetime(Glass 50, CR 35)
God: Both
What are you thoughts on our power progression? What are the things you would label as success, abilities or resources you would find crucial?
- Location
- Louisiana
I think this is not necessarily the case. I've discussed with Birdsie on discord regarding this. Fame is not as critical as an actual narrative is. Having critical events, even if they are not publicly known, while wearing the mask is sufficient for this. For example, if you were wearing a Spy mask, infiltrating and investigating an organization successfully is sufficient to develop Facetime even if no one else knows about it.
Masks are all about playing a role. Do things that are noteworthy and impressive within the theme of the mask and it will grow in power. This oftentimes ends up being something that shines a spotlight on you by nature, but notoriety is not in itself a requirement.
My point is that you can probably still level up mask by doing thing outside of its expertise(although I would expect certain inefficiency) and some events are much easier to accomplish than others. So in case of this world the most major thing we could do is finding a cure for Virus, and then we just make sure that Glass is one that receives Facetime from this, that kind of thing. As such we can force masks we want to level to level rather than being beholden to whims of circumstances at hand.
- Location
- Louisiana
Wasn't arguing against or for any particular course of action, mainly just doing an info post regarding specific mechanics of how masks progress. It's better to chase thematically relevant notable events over notoriety. Glass actually would likely benefit the most from infiltrating or interacting with the vamp hierarchy I think.
I don't think we have any shot of getting a cure for the virus in the short period of time we have. If we could, that Facetime would be significantly more efficient on a dedicated healing mask imo. Performing a major act of healing with Glass would focus Glass more on that aspect, since the things you do with the mask impact what kind of powers you develop. That's how you guide them down specific paths of development.
It depends on how you spin it though. Think of it as "who created cure" vs "who provided cure". We would spin it as mysterious Webguy using magic to create a cure and then give it away. That we used some other mask to create the cure specifically is largely immaterial to that story.
But yes, I would agree that curing the Virus is a tall order, especially given time constraints.
Zearth - Reality TV
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Reality TV
A soldier understood that fleeing was cowardice; an aristocrat understood that timidity was a mislaying of opportunity. A road not taken was a road abandoned forever, its potential cut off at parturition, as no road was the same once untrod for a time. Sloth was not, at its deep core, a desire to lounge and waste away time meaninglessly; it was a pathological fear of taking action, an incapability within one's limbs to actualize that which the mind could already chart.
Acclimatization was synonymous with an egregious waste of time. If one could act, to achieve some benefit or merit, one should - anything else was cowardice.
And Dorian Croft was not raised to be a coward.
Therefore, Dorian Croft chose to hurl a cinderblock through an electronics store window, to access the interior. The sound of shattering glass carried on through the empty streets, full of abandoned car wrecks and other miscellaneous destruction, but a momentary scan indicated that it didn't attract any of the Undead.
"No alarm," Scott said, with a breath of relief. "It would've drawn zombies from miles around for sure."
As soon as midnight fell, and once the survivors were fast asleep with only a minimal force standing watch, Scott and Dorian found a staff door at the back and made their way out of the hospital under the cover of darkness; avoiding functional streetlamps to aid their obfuscation. It seemed they were unnoticed, and therefore, had proceeded apace to break into an electronics store a couple of blocks down from the hospital; the hordes were thinner out here, on the northern side of town. It seemed there was a controller at least within the general area, giving standing orders for the zombies to congregate; a basic human-catching strategy, or so Scott had claimed.
Convincing Scott to cooperate hadn't been difficult; a simple demonstration of hemokinesis and disguise sufficed to assure him of Dorian's supernatural mask-based prowess. From there on, the young man was solidly and enthusiastically onboard with Dorian, finding the news of Daria's nature alarming.
After a private discussion, Dorian was disappointed to hear Scott's opinion that it was unlikely Daria was a Visceralist. A vampire Visceralist was a rare sight, as vampires didn't often trade the ability; acquiring it often had absurdly high costs associated with it, and it didn't seem as if Daria was either escaping a loan shark or serving a master. Even if she was, the odds of defeating her were slim. Even minor and inexperienced Visceralists would receive a strong burst of power if threatened, and if Daria felt as safe as Dorian postulated, it was likely she possessed some Visceral paranoia-based mutation or acute danger sense - Scott had opined, borrowing the Webweaver for strategizing.
"Your interests are strange," Scott stated, standing near the entrance, a greataxe made of black crust over one shoulder. He wore a simple dark hoodie, stained with zombie blood, as well as the Crimson Lost. "Why the obsession with Viscerality?"
"Who doesn't want free healing?" asked Dorian, raising and admiring a shard of television material: a liquid crystal display.
"The mask I'm wearing already does that," he answered blandly.
"Correction: who doesn't want free superpowers?"
"You're more driven than most, is what I'm saying."
"I am not a coward," answered Dorian softly, projecting Facelessness over the assembly. "I see an opportunity, so I take it."
"You're a bit reckless." For a moment, Scott was hesitant, as if fearing that a statement he's about to make could be misperceived. Dorian's attention was sharply on him, as Scott restarted with a slow shake of the head. "Where did you even come from, man? You refuse to say what country you're from, and every time I ask you about the masks, you find an excuse to talk about something else. You ask lots of questions out of the left field, too. It's fair enough to keep secrets, but you sure are a weird guy."
"You have superpowers, so don't complain," Dorian grouched.
"I'm not, am I?" His voice was full of mirth. Scott's slight smile could be detected, even with a mask covering up the face. "Just pointing out the oddity of the entire situation. Feels like I'm the victim in a scam, or some grand cosmic joke."
Actually, that seems to be me. Dorian didn't voice the thought.
After some half an hour of casual work, the mask was done: amateurish, but almost on purpose, meant to appear crude and unfinished, to better allow the potential of vision to seep in. The material of this miraculous television technology, repurposed solely towards divination with a single opaque lens that covered the entire face. The identity matrix was malformed for attempting to force the mask's spirit into conformity with the goal but sufficient to perform its role: he donned the mask and made himself see.
The Screentime displayed a cold ice-blue and magenta divide, then flickered into static, as Dorian viewed the road to Viscerality.
In a moment of supernal clarity, an overcharge caused by lingering Facelessness within the mask, Dorian observed the visage of a rotten and inhuman figure on a throne of stacked metal; a six-armed man dressed in a business suit, with a dessicated face showing skeletal teeth and empty eye sockets, skin stubbornly adhering to fleshless bone like dried parchment left unscraped from a desk. The vision carried lingering sentiments of action; a strict path through which to conduct the needed negotiations.
For a brief moment, Dorian stood rooted to the spot, astonished the Screentime held sufficient power to offer precise information of such invaluable utility; as a young mask, that was a rather impressive level of insight.
Still, the data itself was concerning.
He needed to converse with an Undead Warlord to earn Viscerality? Those often surrounded themselves with automated hordes and roving patrols of monsters; mutants beyond the standard template of a 'zombie' one commonly encountered anywhere around the world. Approaching the Warlord itself was surely an epic task, if he correctly understood the power of the average specimen. The odds of surviving an ordeal of that scope, or even successfully approaching the Undead without becoming a feast for its horde, were even worse than successfully coercing Daria to cooperate; since, it seemed, she indeed wasn't a Visceralist.
"Let's leave," said Dorian, crestfallen and returning the Webweaver to his face.
---
This vote's winner was [X] Plan Scavenger, involving the creation of a TV-based mask, recruiting Scott, and some revelations.
Activities with The Crimson Lost earned it an extra one (1) Potential:
[ ] Battle Tendency - Increase the masked's combat-relevant skills and attributes, as if they'd trained for an additional month.
[ ] Hemokinesis - Increase the range of hemokinesis by a tenth; can currently affect blood in arm's reach at full power, diminishing power by half for each further extent of the same. Increase the power of hemokinetic weapon creation by a twentieth; currently sufficient to condense and force blood into a sharp material form equivalent to steel.
Activities with The Artificer's Face earned it an extra one (1) Potential:
[ ] Craftsman - Adds a starting half-Potential to each crafted mask while Artificer's Face is worn.
[ ] Exposure - Increase Facelessness effect, accelerating how fast victims are made Faceless, or the enhancing / shattering effect on masks.
You've crafted Screentime, a mask with 12 Potential. Its chief ability is [Teleview], which allows for remote viewing of something related to a stated goal or target.
The Street calls; you have a single day left on this world.
[ ] Find Warlord - Follow Screentime's vision by attempting to contact the Undead Warlord operating out in the countryside of Brockport, without being consumed by the zombies under his control. It's said he's amassing a horde to invade the nearby city of Belltree.
*Won't take more than a full day; somehow, you can feel this as an instinct, guided by Screentime.
*Moderate odds of injury or death.
*If you contact the Warlord, it's rather likely he'll trade a mask for a live Visceral graft. You're very confident he'll make the trade in good faith; the Undead are known for doing this often with small nomadic human communities and independent vampires when it suits their needs; showing honesty incentivizes more of such dealings.
*This won't allow you to instantly become a Visceralist, but it's the first of several needed steps, and arguably the most important one.
[ ] Gather Information - The route of caution. Find out what Daria's diet is before taking action; you can do this by sneaking around. If you wish to go the extra mile, you can also craft a mask for spying, or recruit Scott as an informant. Tactics advised.
*Depending on tactics, this can occupy anywhere from a couple of minutes to a full day.
[ ] Ambush Daria - Vampire or not, she also sleeps; if not always at night. Use the Crimson Lost's enhanced attributes to sneak up on her and slit her throat, or you can try to use the Webweaver to suppress any enhanced senses she might possess to ensure you're not caught. Tactics advised.
*Shouldn't take more than half an hour.
[ ] Accuse Daria - Accuse Daria of being a vampire to her face. This might result in a bloodbath if you aren't careful.
-[ ] Public - Do so in front of a bunch of survivors; distribute some masks if you feel it prudent to ensure she can be taken down if need be.
-[ ] Private - Do so away from the survivors, to ensure she can't take hostages if she feels cornered.
*Shouldn't take more than half an hour.
[ ] Make Mask - You could craft a new mask as well.
*Depending on material and intended result, anywhere from half an hour to a day to craft a proper mask.
[ ] Socialize: Scott - Get Scott even more firmly on your side. You're erstwhile partners; perhaps it's time to exchange some basic facts about yourself to build trust?
[ ] Go Downstreet - Leave this accursed world. See if you can return home, or at least go elsewhere from here.
[ ] Stay Here - You can ignore the Street as well. Should you really, though?
[ ] Write-in
A soldier understood that fleeing was cowardice; an aristocrat understood that timidity was a mislaying of opportunity. A road not taken was a road abandoned forever, its potential cut off at parturition, as no road was the same once untrod for a time. Sloth was not, at its deep core, a desire to lounge and waste away time meaninglessly; it was a pathological fear of taking action, an incapability within one's limbs to actualize that which the mind could already chart.
Acclimatization was synonymous with an egregious waste of time. If one could act, to achieve some benefit or merit, one should - anything else was cowardice.
And Dorian Croft was not raised to be a coward.
Therefore, Dorian Croft chose to hurl a cinderblock through an electronics store window, to access the interior. The sound of shattering glass carried on through the empty streets, full of abandoned car wrecks and other miscellaneous destruction, but a momentary scan indicated that it didn't attract any of the Undead.
"No alarm," Scott said, with a breath of relief. "It would've drawn zombies from miles around for sure."
As soon as midnight fell, and once the survivors were fast asleep with only a minimal force standing watch, Scott and Dorian found a staff door at the back and made their way out of the hospital under the cover of darkness; avoiding functional streetlamps to aid their obfuscation. It seemed they were unnoticed, and therefore, had proceeded apace to break into an electronics store a couple of blocks down from the hospital; the hordes were thinner out here, on the northern side of town. It seemed there was a controller at least within the general area, giving standing orders for the zombies to congregate; a basic human-catching strategy, or so Scott had claimed.
Convincing Scott to cooperate hadn't been difficult; a simple demonstration of hemokinesis and disguise sufficed to assure him of Dorian's supernatural mask-based prowess. From there on, the young man was solidly and enthusiastically onboard with Dorian, finding the news of Daria's nature alarming.
After a private discussion, Dorian was disappointed to hear Scott's opinion that it was unlikely Daria was a Visceralist. A vampire Visceralist was a rare sight, as vampires didn't often trade the ability; acquiring it often had absurdly high costs associated with it, and it didn't seem as if Daria was either escaping a loan shark or serving a master. Even if she was, the odds of defeating her were slim. Even minor and inexperienced Visceralists would receive a strong burst of power if threatened, and if Daria felt as safe as Dorian postulated, it was likely she possessed some Visceral paranoia-based mutation or acute danger sense - Scott had opined, borrowing the Webweaver for strategizing.
"Your interests are strange," Scott stated, standing near the entrance, a greataxe made of black crust over one shoulder. He wore a simple dark hoodie, stained with zombie blood, as well as the Crimson Lost. "Why the obsession with Viscerality?"
"Who doesn't want free healing?" asked Dorian, raising and admiring a shard of television material: a liquid crystal display.
"The mask I'm wearing already does that," he answered blandly.
"Correction: who doesn't want free superpowers?"
"You're more driven than most, is what I'm saying."
"I am not a coward," answered Dorian softly, projecting Facelessness over the assembly. "I see an opportunity, so I take it."
"You're a bit reckless." For a moment, Scott was hesitant, as if fearing that a statement he's about to make could be misperceived. Dorian's attention was sharply on him, as Scott restarted with a slow shake of the head. "Where did you even come from, man? You refuse to say what country you're from, and every time I ask you about the masks, you find an excuse to talk about something else. You ask lots of questions out of the left field, too. It's fair enough to keep secrets, but you sure are a weird guy."
"You have superpowers, so don't complain," Dorian grouched.
"I'm not, am I?" His voice was full of mirth. Scott's slight smile could be detected, even with a mask covering up the face. "Just pointing out the oddity of the entire situation. Feels like I'm the victim in a scam, or some grand cosmic joke."
Actually, that seems to be me. Dorian didn't voice the thought.
After some half an hour of casual work, the mask was done: amateurish, but almost on purpose, meant to appear crude and unfinished, to better allow the potential of vision to seep in. The material of this miraculous television technology, repurposed solely towards divination with a single opaque lens that covered the entire face. The identity matrix was malformed for attempting to force the mask's spirit into conformity with the goal but sufficient to perform its role: he donned the mask and made himself see.
The Screentime displayed a cold ice-blue and magenta divide, then flickered into static, as Dorian viewed the road to Viscerality.
In a moment of supernal clarity, an overcharge caused by lingering Facelessness within the mask, Dorian observed the visage of a rotten and inhuman figure on a throne of stacked metal; a six-armed man dressed in a business suit, with a dessicated face showing skeletal teeth and empty eye sockets, skin stubbornly adhering to fleshless bone like dried parchment left unscraped from a desk. The vision carried lingering sentiments of action; a strict path through which to conduct the needed negotiations.
For a brief moment, Dorian stood rooted to the spot, astonished the Screentime held sufficient power to offer precise information of such invaluable utility; as a young mask, that was a rather impressive level of insight.
Still, the data itself was concerning.
He needed to converse with an Undead Warlord to earn Viscerality? Those often surrounded themselves with automated hordes and roving patrols of monsters; mutants beyond the standard template of a 'zombie' one commonly encountered anywhere around the world. Approaching the Warlord itself was surely an epic task, if he correctly understood the power of the average specimen. The odds of surviving an ordeal of that scope, or even successfully approaching the Undead without becoming a feast for its horde, were even worse than successfully coercing Daria to cooperate; since, it seemed, she indeed wasn't a Visceralist.
"Let's leave," said Dorian, crestfallen and returning the Webweaver to his face.
---
This vote's winner was [X] Plan Scavenger, involving the creation of a TV-based mask, recruiting Scott, and some revelations.
Activities with The Crimson Lost earned it an extra one (1) Potential:
[ ] Battle Tendency - Increase the masked's combat-relevant skills and attributes, as if they'd trained for an additional month.
[ ] Hemokinesis - Increase the range of hemokinesis by a tenth; can currently affect blood in arm's reach at full power, diminishing power by half for each further extent of the same. Increase the power of hemokinetic weapon creation by a twentieth; currently sufficient to condense and force blood into a sharp material form equivalent to steel.
Activities with The Artificer's Face earned it an extra one (1) Potential:
[ ] Craftsman - Adds a starting half-Potential to each crafted mask while Artificer's Face is worn.
[ ] Exposure - Increase Facelessness effect, accelerating how fast victims are made Faceless, or the enhancing / shattering effect on masks.
You've crafted Screentime, a mask with 12 Potential. Its chief ability is [Teleview], which allows for remote viewing of something related to a stated goal or target.
The Street calls; you have a single day left on this world.
[ ] Find Warlord - Follow Screentime's vision by attempting to contact the Undead Warlord operating out in the countryside of Brockport, without being consumed by the zombies under his control. It's said he's amassing a horde to invade the nearby city of Belltree.
*Won't take more than a full day; somehow, you can feel this as an instinct, guided by Screentime.
*Moderate odds of injury or death.
*If you contact the Warlord, it's rather likely he'll trade a mask for a live Visceral graft. You're very confident he'll make the trade in good faith; the Undead are known for doing this often with small nomadic human communities and independent vampires when it suits their needs; showing honesty incentivizes more of such dealings.
*This won't allow you to instantly become a Visceralist, but it's the first of several needed steps, and arguably the most important one.
[ ] Gather Information - The route of caution. Find out what Daria's diet is before taking action; you can do this by sneaking around. If you wish to go the extra mile, you can also craft a mask for spying, or recruit Scott as an informant. Tactics advised.
*Depending on tactics, this can occupy anywhere from a couple of minutes to a full day.
[ ] Ambush Daria - Vampire or not, she also sleeps; if not always at night. Use the Crimson Lost's enhanced attributes to sneak up on her and slit her throat, or you can try to use the Webweaver to suppress any enhanced senses she might possess to ensure you're not caught. Tactics advised.
*Shouldn't take more than half an hour.
[ ] Accuse Daria - Accuse Daria of being a vampire to her face. This might result in a bloodbath if you aren't careful.
-[ ] Public - Do so in front of a bunch of survivors; distribute some masks if you feel it prudent to ensure she can be taken down if need be.
-[ ] Private - Do so away from the survivors, to ensure she can't take hostages if she feels cornered.
*Shouldn't take more than half an hour.
[ ] Make Mask - You could craft a new mask as well.
*Depending on material and intended result, anywhere from half an hour to a day to craft a proper mask.
[ ] Socialize: Scott - Get Scott even more firmly on your side. You're erstwhile partners; perhaps it's time to exchange some basic facts about yourself to build trust?
[ ] Go Downstreet - Leave this accursed world. See if you can return home, or at least go elsewhere from here.
[ ] Stay Here - You can ignore the Street as well. Should you really, though?
[ ] Write-in
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[X] Get what we can and go.
-[X] Hemokinesis
-[X] Craftsman
-[X] Find Warlord
--[X] Sell him the Crimson mask, get the shit and go.
-[X] Go Downstreet
-[X] Hemokinesis
-[X] Craftsman
-[X] Find Warlord
--[X] Sell him the Crimson mask, get the shit and go.
-[X] Go Downstreet
- Location
- 1
[X] Plan Low Risk Moderate Reward
-[X] Hemokinesis
-[X] Craftsman
-[X] Craft Mask
--[X] Mask to trade to the Warlord
-[X] Craft Mask
--[X] Mask to project an illusory body strong enough to carry a graft or mask with range limitations similar to earlier-proposed Scorn mask.
-[X] Find Warlord
--[X] using the illusory body mask.
-[X] Craft Mask
--[X] If and only if you have enough spare time after all of that is over but before going downstreet, make a mask that gathers Facelessness and contains it, to clean up after yourself.
-[X] Go Downstreet
(I don't care much between hemo/battle, but craftsman seems obviously better since it doesn't make the mask explode more. Plus if we want more Facelessness, we can just craft a bunch of blank (faceless, if you will) masks and one to gather their production.)
-[X] Hemokinesis
-[X] Craftsman
-[X] Craft Mask
--[X] Mask to trade to the Warlord
-[X] Craft Mask
--[X] Mask to project an illusory body strong enough to carry a graft or mask with range limitations similar to earlier-proposed Scorn mask.
-[X] Find Warlord
--[X] using the illusory body mask.
-[X] Craft Mask
--[X] If and only if you have enough spare time after all of that is over but before going downstreet, make a mask that gathers Facelessness and contains it, to clean up after yourself.
-[X] Go Downstreet
(I don't care much between hemo/battle, but craftsman seems obviously better since it doesn't make the mask explode more. Plus if we want more Facelessness, we can just craft a bunch of blank (faceless, if you will) masks and one to gather their production.)
- Location
- Louisiana
[X] Get what we can and go.
Works for me, I'm no coward.
Works for me, I'm no coward.
- Location
- [REDACTED]
[X] Get what we can and go.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Get what we can and go.
Good enough.
Good enough.
We got Screentime, I can now die happy 
🥰
Soloing the horde is such l4d energy - I love it.
I'm down with assassinating Daria too.
Or tell the survivors about Daria, ruin her day, grab the supplies and skaddle..
🥰Soloing the horde is such l4d energy - I love it.
I'm down with assassinating Daria too.
Or tell the survivors about Daria, ruin her day, grab the supplies and skaddle..