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[BoM minor spoilers] Ranette tech


Senor Feesh

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So, the new grapple devices are pretty cool, but there's obvious room for improvement.

My immediate thought is to include a spring-driven winch inside the ball. It would be primed every time Wax Pushes the ball while holding the line, and could be attached to the same switch mechanism as the hooks, so when the hooks are deployed the winch is locked.

What improvements would you make? Or what entirely new tech to support Metalborn can you think of?

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So some rudementary reflex sights for pisols. Some scopes for rifles, ect.

While those are useful, they also seem generically useful. Any thoughts on metalborn specific tech? I'm drawing a blank myself, but I'm not really an ideas person, I'm better at iterating on existing concepts.

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In order for that to happen, we'd have to know what problems there are to solve.  Coin shots would have trouble getting up things that steadily go inward while going up.  Like steps, since they can only push.

 

What problems would a lurcher have to deal with?  Same with the other metal borne folks.

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Can't wait for bubblegum teen lurcher on roller skates, skating up buildings.

 

Honestly, one of those Wingsuits would be great for either External Physical.  Push yourself in a direction, then use wind resistance to divert you from your center-of-gravity-derived line.  A Lurcher could use one to redirect the pull from the top of a tower to keep parallel to it while rising, for example.  

 

Kinda disappointed in myself.  I can usually think up ideas like this all day.

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Ha! The original post reminds me of Batman's grappling gun. Come to think of it, Wax kind of is Batman...

He's rich, his parents are dead, he has a sidekick, and he definitely has some issues. Wax has a butler too; although, I must have missed the comic where Alfred tried to suicide-bomb Bruce.

As for other allomancer tech ideas, couldn't you make an allomantically powered generator to power personal electronic devices way ahead of schedule (kind of like a hand crank on a weather radio)?

Moving forward you could use this to make allomantically powered rail guns.

As for personal transportation, couldn't an a coinshot power a set of helicopter blades (I'm thinking of an inspector gadget style device) to get around?

Edited by KidWayne
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While those are useful, they also seem generically useful. Any thoughts on metalborn specific tech? I'm drawing a blank myself, but I'm not really an ideas person, I'm better at iterating on existing concepts.

I have the very same problem.

Yeah been sitting here trying to think of anything, and my mind just keeps trying to find different uses for those metal spheres. Too bad you can't make objects you store mass into heavier, because then one of those little spheres could become a terrifying baby wreckingball. Oh wait... What if Wax can make one of those balls from copying the designs of the cubes? If it could work, baby wreckingball are a reality!

Let me know if I'm mistaken about how we think those cubes work. Don't know if he could push on them after storing weight.

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Maybe it's better to think in terms of opportunity than problems to solve for metal born? The problems you're solving are generally things we would take for granted as the default situation, like "Anyone else who gets my gun could use it against me," or "I need to get to that rooftop and my superhuman flying powers aren't quite maneuverable enough, woe is me."

With that in mind, let's consider.... Um. Well. I don't know. Guns that shoot... Really large, heavy bullets, to... stop pewter arms. Um.

This is harder than it sounds like it should be.

The only idea I have is really tangential because it's the other way around, with allomancers supporting technology- why doesn't every passenger train and ship hire pulsers, to reduce the perceived time of the trip for passengers, or to make perishable items easier to transport long distance?

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As for personal transportation, couldn't an a coinshot power a set of helicopter blades (I'm thinking of an inspector gadget style device) to get around?

 

This is driving me insane.  This is possible.  All of my mental designs are absurd and convoluted, but it should be possible.  I'm imagining like, steamboat wheels and stuff.  Maybe the blades are like corkscrews and you're staring down a turbine that yanks you around.

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Ok, here's my idea for a super fast, super rad Allomantic cannon. For this, you'll need:

1 Allomantic Grenade(optional)

1 Slider(optional)

at least 5 Coinshots

at least 3 Lurchers.

 

There are two chambers for this design, the Spinny and the Barrel(If you have better names please suggest)

 

The Spinny is circular, with a round wall on the inside and a round wall on the outside. There is a panel inside where Coinshots can push it to open, where it leads into the Barrel. The Spinny is similar to a particle accelerator, except, instead of magnets, we got metalborn. There will be a round(preferably iron or lead) ball inside, and will act as the particle.

 

The Lurchers stand at equal distances away from each other, all around the Spinny. An equal amount of Coinshots will also stand equal distances away from each other as well. Heres the trick part; the Lurchers have to Pull on the ball, but stop Pulling when it gets close. The Coinshots have to Push it away, then stop Pushing when it gets too far.

 

The Slider, if you should choose to have one, will throw the AG into  the middle of the Spinny, causing the ball to accelerate faster. Once the AG wears off, the ball should have reached a pretty high speed.

 

Now, the extra 2 Coinshots will release the ball. One will Push on the panel, and the other on the ball. The panel will curve into the barrle, so the ball doesn't lose as much speed. Once in the straight part of the Barrel, the Coinshots should push on the ball as hard as they can, so as to regain some of the lost speed.

 

Finally, watch as your super rad Allomantic cannon destroys virtually everything. The ball could be explosive, or filled with jelly beans. It's up to you.

 

Have fun!

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Can't wait for bubblegum teen lurcher on roller skates, skating up buildings.

I love this. Assuming I ever role-play a Lurcher in Alloy era, I am totally getting roller skates made.

Adding to that, I did have an idea for something useful - custom Lurcher grappling-bullets. It's easy for a Coinshot to get air, they just drop anything metal and take off - a Lurcher needs a solid anchor ABOVE them to use. How about a round that embeds deeply into a surface then mushrooms out (or has actual teeny grapples, if it could be built strongly enough not to be deformed by firing and impact). Ok, you still need a tall enough surface to target and a steady aim, but viola - instant anchor.

Edited by Senor Feesh
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As for personal transportation, couldn't an a coinshot power a set of helicopter blades (I'm thinking of an inspector gadget style device) to get around?

 

There would need to be two blades.  In a typical helicopter, the primary blade provides propulsion and lift, while the smaller blade at the rear makes sure that the body of the chopper doesn't provide the "equal and opposite reaction" to the main blade by spinning in the opposite direction.

 

Guns that shoot... Really large, heavy bullets, to... stop pewter arms. Um.

 

Actually, BoM sort of had one of these.  The shotgun that Ranette provides Wax in BoM has an increased kick (as Steris belatedly discovers).  The idea behind it is that Wax will use his allomantic power to push against the shotgun and cancel the much heavier kick, allowing him to stay on his feet when he fires it.

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With that in mind, let's consider.... Um. Well. I don't know. Guns that shoot... Really large, heavy bullets, to... stop pewter arms. Um.

 

 

Actually, BoM sort of had one of these.  The shotgun that Ranette provides Wax in BoM has an increased kick (as Steris belatedly discovers).  The idea behind it is that Wax will use his allomantic power to push against the shotgun and cancel the much heavier kick, allowing him to stay on his feet when he fires it.

 

AoL also had these - the first batch of Hazekiller rounds included heavy loads to use against Pewterarms. I assumed CopperKeep knew that when posting and was being ironic.

Edited by Senor Feesh
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Wooden dueling canes with aluminum cores, possibly able to keep up with Pewterarm strength.

Boomerangs for Lurchers (how is that not a thing already...)

High-friction shoes for Steelrunners

Handheld crossbows with the draw of full crossbows, for pewterarms.

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Pardon, I already knew those were out there, and were pretty basic and obvious haze killer technology. It was a poor attempt at humor on my part.

Though you know, when fighting an opponent who's stronger than you, "find a way to hit them even harder" feels like a really inelegant and inefficient answer to me. Not that I have an immediate alternative.

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Pardon, I already knew those were out there, and were pretty basic and obvious haze killer technology. It was a poor attempt at humor on my part.

Though you know, when fighting an opponent who's stronger than you, "find a way to hit them even harder" feels like a really inelegant and inefficient answer to me. Not that I have an immediate alternative.

 

The problem isn't that a Thug is stronger than you. I mean yes, that's an issue. the issue is he's a tank. He can shrug off wounds that would knock down normal men, AND he's stronger than you. Vin actually shows us a lot that the problem with fighting against someone using pewter isn't the damage they can do, it's that it takes a hell of a lot of damage to actually put them out of the fight.

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The fact that thugs sometimes die from wounds they forgot about when they stop burning also tells us that they are fully capable of taking injuries that is completely lethal under normal circumstances and still be able to fight. That is an inhuman level of endurance.

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I come up with a lot of fun Lurcher ideas (because I'm one of few people who would enjoy playing an Iron Twinborn without being suicidal, perhaps!)

 

The boomerang was already mentioned.

Lurchers would benefit more with regular bows where a lot of people use crossbows. Compound bow with way more draw than most people can manage + metal arrow, Pull that thing to your center of gravity as hard as you can and then let go. Possibly get the shot off faster than most people (other than a Coinshot with the bubble going) can affect it. And the Coinshot bubble that Wax pulls off regularly is a Stunt in the MAG, which makes me thing that not every Coinshot knows how to do it.

 

Lurchers would be more likely to make advancements in bulletproof armor, since they'd likely rather have bullets come at them and be stopped than get to their friends (My original timeline Lurcher concept before Twinborn were a thing was kind of a big-shield-bearing defender in this way. Also at the end of the day you make money by pulling spent clips and boxings out of your shield.)

 

A lurcher plus a pulley is a good way to get people up a building without an elevator. 

 

I've barely had my coffee so I can't think of all the others and can't find my notebook.

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Oooh, what about a repeating crossbow made for use by Lurchers? Some sort of mechanism where you're constantly Pulling a steel-cord bowstring back, which pops another bolt in from the magazine, and you just stop Pulling to make the thing fire, then immediately Pull on it again, popping another bolt into place, etc. etc. etc.

 

Could even have wooden "hazekiler" bolts to get through defenses. A lot cheaper than aluminum.

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