Jump to content

Deus Ex Biotica

Members
  • Posts

    402
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    3

Deus Ex Biotica last won the day on December 16 2011

Deus Ex Biotica had the most liked content!

Deus Ex Biotica's Achievements

113

Reputation

  1. Close down his bank account? Needing more gold for a given amount of Compound, and then also needing silver to complete the cycle, is even more restricting than Miles' situation (and he did think to himself about how he's only immortal as long as he can essentially eat gold). Also, depending on how strictly yo interpret the "Compounding makes you sick, like Burning a bad alloy" idea, they might have periods of vulnerability while they re-filled their Metalminds, like the Lord Ruler. Bur, yeah, Gold abuse is always impressive. -- Deus Ex Biotica
  2. I agree that if a normal Ferring were to store a charge in a Metalmind, then alloy it, the charge would be there but unreachable. If a full Ferruchemist did the same, they'd be able to get the charge back out, but it would still be the thing they stored the first time (so, if you store Mental Speed in a Zincmind, then alloy that into the proper mix of brass, you still retrieve Mental Speed, not Warmth). The question emerges when you have a Twinborn who can Burn an alloy of the metal they Store with, like the Brass/Zinc example mentioned above. After all, if you Burn your own Metalminds, you gain back what you stored in them tenfold. Would the same apply here? Would you gain back the same amount of Mental Speed you stored, and also nine times that much Warmth? It's an interesting question. Here is my theory: you still get back what you stored, but that's all. Your spiritual DNA has the code to be given extra power when it Burns brass, but the brass in no way interacts with the stored Mental Speed - it just wound up holding it by a fluke. Since it your Ferruchemical storage, you can retrieve it, but not compound it. However, as much sense as that makes, it seems a little boring. So, here's an alternative which I freely admit I would use in an RPG or the like where this question came up: when burning an alloyed Metalmind, you can "push" the charge further into the metal, thereby gaining back a weakened Compounding effect (maybe two or three times the original charge). However, this makes the Burning resonate poorly with your spiritual DNA, so you get sick, much as if you had burned a bad alloy. However, even then, I would only allow that when the metals were a linked pair. For example, if you stored Hearing in a Tinmind, then alloyed it into pewter and burned it, this effect might occur. If you instead could Burn bronze, then no pseudo-Compounding could happen - physically, Allomantic Bronze is one-quarter Tin, but spiritually, the two are not connected. You could get your initial storage back, but that's all. -- Deus Ex Biotica P.S. Hurm. I wonder what combination I would most like to exploit this way. Pewter/Tin is one I've considered before, and it's worth noting that a Crasher like Wax would be able to multiply Weight if this works - keep an eye out on Shadows of Self to see in Brandon Sanderson weighs in on the debate - but I think the coolest option might well be Zinc/Brass itself. A Soother who can (given time, metalworking facilities, and a bit of sickness) rack up a ton a Mental Speed for rainy days is not to be underestimated as a manipulator.
  3. On the surface, the idea makes sense. However, when Vin and Kelsier stormed Kredik Shaw, they were both burning Copper, and the Inquisitors knew anyway. So, I would assume this trick doesn't work. If I had to speculate on why, I'd guess it to be related to the reason why you cannot burn Bronze and Copper at the same time. Something about that pairing just seems to be oddly exclusive. -- Deus Ex Biotica
  4. Maybe. But since you would (1) be crippled both physically and spiritually, and (2) it's very possible that, even if you lived, you would have lost your ability to Burn metals completely, I'm not sure how plausible this is. If nothing else, I am certain this could never work if the spike stole your Allomancy.
  5. I just got my Mistborn RPG book today. Huzzah! That reminded me of this thread which I started, and then totally vanished from. Here's why: my next project was to make a prison capable of holding Allomancers, since what's a good heist story in any setting without a daring jailbreak? Only, I hit a few logistical problems quickly: there just aren't ever that many Allomancers who need to be imprisoned, and if there were, you can deny them all the metals you want, but the crucial part is the first couple of days, when you... erm... allow any metals they already have to leave them. That lead me to a pretty dark place. I spent a week working on it, but I still felt like it didn't really hang together the way I wanted. When I had started reading up on internment methods used by third-world militias, I shelved the project, and it left a bad enough taste in my mouth that I lost track of this in favor of other RPG things I was doing at the same time. Still, I did make it, so here's what I had so far back then... and I present it with every intention of posting something a little more fun in the next week or so. Grey Face Prison. Note: I am writing this description with a mind towards being useful in games set in either Empire or Alloy era games, so some details of history and geography will be presented in terms of generalities, rather than specifics. Overview: Grey Face Prison is (as the more astute among you have already guessed) a prison. Specifically, it is a very secure prison for Allomancers. It consists of a small series of rooms (Grey Face never needs to hold many at once) carved into a cliff face. There is absolutely no metal of any kind ever allowed in the prison, and the only access is by way of a rope bridge over a deep ravine, which leads to a small fort guarded by Allomancers - the bridge can be cut from either side. Grey Face is designed to be as nasty and inescapable as I could make it, and you are encouraged to think of ways for it to be even tougher - if PCs go here, there should be some real tension about how they will escape, and if they are trying to break someone out, it should be an undertaking absolutely on par with the most incredible heists. Geography And Logistics: Grey Face is located somewhere remote, with mountains and water (somewhere like the mountains around Micondwel in the Alloy era, or the far North and South edges of the Eastern Dominance in the Empire era). More specifically, it is carved into an overhanging (sticks further out the further up you go) cliff face, opposite a waterfall, with a deep rift between. More generally, it calls for a location ruled by a brutally arrogant but pragmatic Noble. Grey Face is, by definition, a place to keep people you know to be dangerous alive, while making them resent you. Anyone you want to kill, you would kill quickly before putting them here, and anyone you ever expect to be on good terms with again, you would send somewhere at least slightly more pleasant. Grey Face is for a class of hostage too important to get rid of, too dangerous to keep close, and certain enough to be an enemy you don't care about the consequences - the sort of category Straff Venture might put virtually every captive noble into, but someone like Cett would almost never think of. Layout And Defenses: Strictly speaking, Grey Face consists of two buildings - the prison and the gatehouse. The prison itself is the natural caves in the cliff face, which were expanded further through years of work. They now include about a half-dozen cells (simple rooms, unadorned save for a heavy stone bucket and three vaguely cot-like piles of straw and thin blankets each), two "shafts" (just what they sound like, ten-foot-deep shafts maybe three feet wide, totally unadorned), a common guard area and barracks, which is fairly large, and boasts four nicer cots, as well as a fire which is always kept burning (if it were to go out, the gatehouse would investigate immediately - they can see through a hole in the side of the guard room, which also vents the smoke), and a larder (which enough supplies for four people to survive for two months), as well as the tunnels used to move among these rooms. There is absolutely no metal of any kind in the prison proper. The cells are all located along one passageway. The have doors which are simply slabs of wood without hinges, held in place by crossbars which are, in turn, set into grooves in the stone. Each door has a slit at eye level, which is covered by a piece of cloth on the outside, and a larger (though still too small to squeeze through) hole at the bottom, covered with a wooden plug. The final room of the prison is a landing from which the rope bridge begins (it is overlooked by the "window" in the guard room). From there, the rope bridge spans some twenty paces, until it reaches its anchor on the opposite side - a pair of rocks jutting up out of the river, just above the crashing waterfall. This is a dead end, unless there is a raft braced against those rocks - and even if there is, it would probably take five or six people (or one especially strong and skilled Pewterarm) to move the raft upstream, otherwise the current would send it over the side to a long, long fall onto sharp rocks (and moving water, which would make it hard for even a Mistborn to set an anchor for Steelpushing on, if they wanted to slow their fall). When guards or prisoners are being transferred, just such a raft is sent out from the gatehouse, on a tether so that the men inside the Gatehouse can pull it back safely or cut it loose at their will. If they do cut it loose, they will also fire flaming arrows at the bridge, destroying it. The gatehouse itself is a modestly-sized watchtower. It can hold about a dozen men at a time, and might squeeze in a few more in a pinch. On its roof is a signal fire (which is always kept burning), its top floor houses the Warden's rooms and office, below that are the barracks, then the large and squat ground floor (this has a kitchen, a woodworking area, a common dining room, and the winch room for pulling back the rafts mentioned above), and below that is the cellar, which holds provisions (the gatehouse could last two or three months on stored food, and gets new provisions once per month). Personnel: In the Empire Era, Grey Face’s guards are the poorest of the poor nobles. They serve here hoping to get better assignments protecting a House Keep, or maybe even be accepted into Hazekiller training. In Alloy era, they’re just tough guys lacking better prospects, but the desire to get re-assigned to better guard duty remains. In theory, the Lieutenant (the only person on staff other than the Warden who never has to serve shifts in the Prison) should always be a Tineye, who keeps watch on the Prison during shift changes and other such events. Failing that, a Thug is preferred for added security. In practice, getting actual Allomancers to stay here for long is tough, and often the Lieutenant is just someone with a strong stomach for unpleasant work who the Warden gets along with. The Warden (his name is Jezcar Ircolo, but he is called “Warden” to his face, and “Warden Scar” behind his back) is a dour man. An undistinguished military career left him with few friends, only one arm, and and scarring across his face which only sealed the deal massive birthmarks had been working on all his life - few people find it pleasant to look him in the face. Still, he has a tidy mind, a willingness for cruelty (coupled with some skill at torturing picked up during his army days), and he’s a Seeker. A scouting force he lead found the caves which would become Greyface Prison some years ago, and when he retired from the army, he proposed the idea of an Allomancer prison to some of the strongest local Houses. One of them agreed, and Grey Face was born. He personally “interviews” every new arrival (with only one arm, he mostly has to give his current Lieutenant instructions on how to get the more guarded answers, unless he has been specifically instructed that a given prisoner is not to be touched). This is partly for information, and partly to cause enough stress that any Allomancer who still has metals will subconsciously begin burning - even at a low level, he will sense it. Protocols: * There is no metal of any kind in the Prison, ever. Not even ones like silver and aluminum. In the Gatehouse, there is very little, but the Warden has vials of bronze in his office, and the reinforced outer door has iron bands and hinges (it faces away from the Prison, and there are no internal doors - cloth curtain are used instead). * The signal fires are used to communicate between the gatehouse and the prison - they check in every hour, and whenever anything happens (such as immediately before and after feeding the prisoners each day). * There are four guards at a time in the prison, and another ten in the gatehouse (plus the Warden and his Lieutenant). They rotate every two weeks, and they hate their shifts in the prison itself - it's cramped and they have to empty out waste buckets. This frustration is frequently taken out on prisoners. * In the prison, one of the guards tends the signal fire at all times. At any unusual sound, he sends a message to the gatehouse, at which point the archers in the gatehouse prepare flaming arrows and aim at the bridge. If anyone tries to cross the bridge without the all-clear being given, they will fire, probably hitting the person and definitely setting the bridge aflame. * The cells each hold 2-3 prisoners. They are fed once a day, and may relieve themselves in the large stone buckets, which are emptied once every week. * New prisoners are usually kept in the gatehouse for a few days as any metals work through their systems (the manacles there are wooden), but if they are deemed especially dangerous, they will be kept in one of the two shafts in the prison itself. during that time, they will be fed nothing, and hardly be able to move from a standing position as filth accrues at their feet - a cold welcome to set the tone of their confinement at Grey Face. Misbehaving prisoners may be sent back to the shafts for a day or two - a threat which is plenty to keep almost anyone in line. * More mundane offences (like sticking your hand out the eye slit in one of the doors) are punished by refusing food to all the residents of the cell for two days. This tends to result in inmates using violent means if needed to keep their cellmates from showing even small degrees of defiance. * Cell arrangements are shuffled around occasionally. People are never put in the same cell as known associates of theirs. Trying to communicate with other cells is forbidden. * When it is time for prisoners to be fed, this is announced by two guard walking up outside of the door and shouting “clear!” - roughly one minute later, one will look through the eye slit. If all the cell’s residents are not pressed up against the far wall, there is no food that day. If they are, the plug at the bottom of the door is removed, and food is pushed through. * When it is time to empty the waste bucket, this is announced, and the prisoners drag it to sit next to the door, then go to the far wall. The guards then unbar the door, and kick it down, to fall into the cell (smashing into anyone who stands too close). The prisoners drag the door clear, then (accompanied by the guards, of course) drag the bucket to the bridge, and dump it out into the canyon. The prisoners are then escorted back. This is the only occasion on which prisoners are usually allowed out of their cells, and the guards are not above refusing to allow the waste buckets to be dumped (usually until the next change of guards, which will allow seven guards to be on hand, rather than three) if they suspect trouble. * Retrieving prisoners for interrogation, or to switch cellmates around follows the same door-kicking approach: it’s the only way to open them, since they have no hinges. This is always done during shift changes. Game Mechanics: * Using Steel or Iron to set a coin (or similar object) as an anchor in all that moving water (whether at the top of the cliff, the bottom, or in the waterfall itself) requires a Nudge on the roll. Any roll which fails to garner one results in anchor and Allomancer both shooting off in unfortunate directions. * Working at Grey Face pays well (and the guards know that any deserters will be sent to Grey Face as prisoners if caught), but it’s miserable work. Attempts to subvert guards by offering them better posts elsewhere get a +1 bonus for favorable circumstances, so long as the offerer can somehow provide assurances (whether counterfeit or genuine) against lost money, social standing, and the need to be a fugitive. If they cannot, however, they suffer -1 instead... working at Grey Face gives you a grim idea of what happens to those who cross its masters. * The guards hate their jobs. Discipline is strict, so neglecting the rules is rare, but it does inevitably happen sometimes. Having some minor breach of duty occur is a valid use for Nudges... once. It is unlikely that the PCs will get a second such chance! * It takes twenty steps to cross the bridge, and there’s no cover. That’s suicide, if archers are ready. Even if they aren’t, there’s always two guards with bows (though probably not holding them) up there, tending the signal fire. The round they spot trouble, one picks up his bow, while the other sounds the alarm. The next round, the first one ignites arrows, while the second one grabs his bow. On the third round, both open fire Five rounds later than that (the eighth round after trouble was spotted), three more guards with bows join them. All five are ready if the alarm was sounded before anyone tried to cross the bridge. * Somehow crossing the bottom of the bridge counts as a Tool giving +1 to rolls to stay hidden, but you have to make Physique rolls (difficulty 3) to not fall. Stats: The Guards use statistics for House Guards. Remember: even in the Gatehouse, they carry no metal. Design the Lieutenant to suit your needs: if you are totally confident in your PCs’ ability to plan around anything, go all-out and make it a Tineye. If they’re just going to storm the Gatehouse by force from the outside, make it a Thug. If Grey Face is bad enough already, Hazekiller or Bodyguard stats should work. The Warden is a Seeker with Charm 2, Wits 5, the One-Armed and Cold-Blooded Traits, and Bronze 6 (with the Stunts of Subconscious Seeking, Slow Burning, and Increased Range). Grimly, Deus Ex Biotica
  6. In the RPG, as in the books, the default Hazekiller is a non-Allomancer member of a minor Noble house. However, there's nothing to stop a Thug or Lurcher from grabbing a shield and dueling cane and fighting in a unit of Hazekillers - indeed, that would make it far more dangerous. Of course, Allomancers work for a lot of money, and they are less likely to take the near-suicidal risks associated with Hazekilling, in a pinch. -- Deus Ex Biotica
  7. Two weeks, really? Man, I need to add another RPG thing.

  8. I just wanted to thank you for your fantastic contributions to the Mistbron thread. It's really been helpful.

  9. I feel trite, but being a Crasher, with that near-flight arguably even greater than a Mistborn's, is deeply tempting. Alternately, a Zinc Compounder.
  10. Some combination of flamethrowers, trap doors, composite armor, and specializes weapons for immobilization and distraction.
  11. The context of that quote lead me to assume that Atium and Lerasium have more than one alloy per metal. I don't think there will be more than 16 non-God metals, since 16 is such an important number to Brandon Sanderson's cosmology.
  12. I'm not convinced, Thought. If a Coinshot can stop bullets, they can think fast enough to catch a fall.
  13. There is no official answer, but since it would be trivially easy for Wayne to shoot out of the bubbles if he could just throw a bunch of bullets, let them deflect, then pick the right one to Push, I have been forced to assume that you cannot Push/Pull through a time bubble.
  14. Unless you have an aluminum plane, I think the Lurcher will be fine. Still, I would ultimately go with Coinshot, on the basis that while you're practicing, if something goes wrong, you're less likely to get impaled. -- Deus Ex Biotica
  15. ... I kinda hate to ask, mate, but do you often find yourself having to deal death to people? Miles did, but since neither the paranoid Wax nor the also-a-Bloodmaker Mayne mentioned having implanted Metalminds, I assume there's nothing generally known which is safe for even a very hardy individual. -- Deus Ex Biotica P.S. I can see the use of Bendalloy, but literally eating enough food for a month seems like it would get really, amazingly boring.
×
×
  • Create New...