Question 12

[Fatebreaker he/him]

And I've got another Mad Ballooner post up!

Apologies once again Edge, I'm not rascist I swear. 

For all of the newer readers who haven't met this guy yet, don't take the Mad Ballooner seriously. Not sure if I mentioned it before, but he probably watched Hogan's Heroes as a serious drama.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Fatebreaker

[Blackhoof]

ooh who is fighting him?

[Fatebreaker he/him]

Whoever wants to feel better about themselves.

[Edgedancer he/him]

Savannah: Shapeshifter who can transform into a cheetah and draw any nearby water to him, including groundwater and even some water from within peoples bodies, prolonged use can kill people by dehydration.

As for Brighthead and Fundemented I have no idea, just thought of their names as I was typing.

Interesting and rather original. Props for that one.

 

I just hope I'll never confuse the names Brightdeath and Brighthead.

 

So taking the chance to solve that whole is gifting an all or nothing deal I just asked the question at the AMA, together with a bit about powers tied to emotion like the steelification. Maybe we'll get some nice answers.

[Voidus]

Interesting and rather original. Props for that one.

 

I just hope I'll never confuse the names Brightdeath and Brighthead.

 

So taking the chance to solve that whole is gifting an all or nothing deal I just asked the question at the AMA, together with a bit about powers tied to emotion like the steelification. Maybe we'll get some nice answers.

Thanks, it's not like I was looking through an old geography textbook and named about 20 Epics after random words in the glossary or anything. 

[Blackhoof]

Likely the whole thing is used for government and administration purposes. Tracking supplies, logistics, epics in the city and their powers, power, sewage, the lot.

Running a city must be a lot of work when you are centrally controlling and planning the entire distribution and exchange system.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Blackhoof

[Blaze1616 he/him]

There's an existing powerplant here, right near the river.  Rainmaker would have other smaller power generating areas (Specifically for wind) elsewhere in the fields around the city, but for convenience let's say this is the main hub for conventional (no reason Cornucopia can't plant fossil fuels, unless she has a moral objection) and solar power.

 

Comatose, out of curiosity, do the sections of Albany and Tangent, as well as Philomath, all have different power stations/sources, or were you thinking they'd all be linked?

 

With IcyHot and Resistor, yeah, that will be an issue, because if they are there Icon has no reason not to rip their heads off   haha but if you like, he can always only wound them in his haste? Or think he has killed them?

 

With IcyHot and Resistor, yeah, that will be an issue, because if they are there Icon has no reason not to rip their heads off   haha but if you like, he can always only wound them in his haste? Or think he has killed them?

 

Oh, no. I'm the kind of guy who likes when RolePlays blindside me or don't go the way I necessarily want them to, because it helps develop me as a writer to be more creative. That was actually the reason for making the Powerpuffs relatively weak to most other PCs. I'm also a stickler for remaining in character. If Buttercup is given the choice, IcyHot and Resistor will be left as guards. If Converter's rescuers would kill them, then so be it. Gotta roll with the punches 

What parts of Oregon University is Rainmaker using?

 

I was under the impression the whole school was being used, so I'll let Comatose answer that one. I would like to quickly offer a friendly correction, though, that Corvallis has Oregon State University, or OSU for short. The University of Oregon is in Eugene.  This correction is mostly due to the potential for confusion later on if/when Eugene becomes a thread.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Blaze1616

[Glamdring804]

Thanks all for your imput. I'm not going to bother quoting all the relevant posts. The would be too long.

Until further light is shed on this, I changed Blinks to a general gifter.

[Blackhoof]

Comatose, out of curiosity, do the sections of Albany and Tangent, as well as Philomath, all have different power stations/sources, or were you thinking they'd all be linked?

Oh, no. I'm the kind of guy who likes when RolePlays blindside me or don't go the way I necessarily want them to, because it helps develop me as a writer to be more creative. That was actually the reason for making the Powerpuffs relatively weak to most other PCs. I'm also a stickler for remaining in character. If Buttercup is given the choice, IcyHot and Resistor will be left as guards. If Converter's rescuers would kill them, then so be it. Gotta roll with the punches

Fair enough good philosophy to have.

I like the idea of roleplaying with a relatively weak Epic- which is something i obviously haven't done so far maybe later.

[Kobold King he/him]

Fair enough good philosophy to have.

I like the idea of roleplaying with a relatively weak Epic- which is something i obviously haven't done so far maybe later.

 

Take it from someone's whose every Epic is either weak or being abused by even more powerful Epics--it's a blast.

 

 

Also: Salem thread up! Somehow this still didn't feel real until it was actually happening.

[Blackhoof]

I would love to see Buttercup and Iconoclast get in a fight at one stage. She is probably stronger than he could alter his body to be (he can only add and strengthen muscle to a certain point after all), and she is tough, but he has his healing and other modifications. Would be an interesting duel, I think.

[Voidus]

Take it from someone's whose every Epic is either weak or being abused by even more powerful Epics--it's a blast.

 

 

Also: Salem thread up! Somehow this still didn't feel real until it was actually happening.

As someone whose killed off more weak Epics than he has still living characters I concur.

Thought I'd jump right it, it's just an intro for now, the action should start up once Portland and the Dalles reach morning but for some reason I really felt like writing an old drunk guy.

[Edgedancer he/him]

Fair enough good philosophy to have.

I like the idea of roleplaying with a relatively weak Epic- which is something i obviously haven't done so far maybe later.

I'll be honest, I'm bad at making Epics that aren't strong. Even with someone like Nighthound I had to actively tweak him to be weaker.

[Voidus]

I'll be honest, I'm bad at making Epics that aren't strong. Even with someone like Nighthound I had to actively tweak him to be weaker.

Would you like some Epics that aren't strong? I have plenty, especially since that AMA on useless powers

[Kobold King he/him]

I'll be honest, I'm bad at making Epics that aren't strong. Even with someone like Nighthound I had to actively tweak him to be weaker.

 

And I'm bad at making Epics that are strong enough to hold their own in Oregon. The two that I have--Möbius and Slaughterhouse--I purposefully left out of the RP because I felt they were overpowered.

 

Now, Slaughterhouse in particular would have a hard time dealing with the flux of Epics in Corvallis and The Dalles, let alone Astoria.

[Voidus]

And I'm bad at making Epics that are strong enough to hold their own in Oregon. The two that I have--Möbius and Slaughterhouse--I purposefully left out of the RP because I felt they were overpowered.

 

Now, Slaughterhouse in particular would have a hard time dealing with the flux of Epics in Corvallis and The Dalles, let alone Astoria.

Well I don't know about that, Bioterror is essentially just a more limited version of Slaughterhouse and aside from the Metal he could hold his own with most Astorian Epics.

[Blaze1616 he/him]

I'll be honest, I'm bad at making Epics that aren't strong. Even with someone like Nighthound I had to actively tweak him to be weaker.

I think it's something a lot of people struggle with, due to the innate desire to control a badchull character. Not that that is necessarily what's happening with you, but I see it all the time, particularly in tabletop RPGs. I feel that people innately want their characters to be strong due to the affection they feel towards them, as well as the feelings gained when doing super cool things with their strong powers. Who wants to play a measly Copper misting, when they can be a Mistborn? Who wants to play as Tia when they could play as David or Megan? Who wants to play as generic Ravenclaw member #206 when they can play as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna... You get it. In tabletops, mostly with long campaigns, players get the end goal idea of a character, and want to jump to when all their powers have been gained and they can do badchull things all the time, and I've even met some who get disappointed when they realize they have to "earn" those powers by playing.

 

Again, not that that's necessarily what's happened to you, or anyone else on here, but it is a trend I've noticed.

[Comatose he/him]

I don't know, but by this logic we could do whatever we like because we have limited examples and things we "knew" about Epics have already been changed massively by Firefight. We could just break canon left and right and say "well we only have X number of examples, I see no reason it couldn't be different". 

It just seems to me that the way gifting is talked about "X Epic is a gifter" not, "X Epic possessed giftable powers" that an Epic is either a gifter or not. And heck maybe in Calamity or in an AMA it will be confirmed for sure that gifters can only have all their powers giftable or none, and then his character will be canon-breaking although to be fair that wouldn't be the first time haha

 

Well Euphoria already has one power she can gift and one she can't, so I think we've already crossed that bridge, haha.  

 

For the rest, I'll piggy-back off of Edge's point and just say I agree.  

 

 

Comatose, out of curiosity, do the sections of Albany and Tangent, as well as Philomath, all have different power stations/sources, or were you thinking they'd all be linked?

 

 

Oh, no. I'm the kind of guy who likes when RolePlays blindside me or don't go the way I necessarily want them to, because it helps develop me as a writer to be more creative. That was actually the reason for making the Powerpuffs relatively weak to most other PCs. I'm also a stickler for remaining in character. If Buttercup is given the choice, IcyHot and Resistor will be left as guards. If Converter's rescuers would kill them, then so be it. Gotta roll with the punches 

 

I was under the impression the whole school was being used, so I'll let Comatose answer that one. I would like to quickly offer a friendly correction, though, that Corvallis has Oregon State University, or OSU for short. The University of Oregon is in Eugene.  This correction is mostly due to the potential for confusion later on if/when Eugene becomes a thread.

 

While the bubble includes sections of those towns, I'd say they are abandoned, and the population is focused in Corvallis itself.  I think Rainmaker would prefer to keep her population centralized, and use the rest for fields.  

 

If Insight rescues Converter, then the guards would not have to die, since he could get in and out without being seen.  

 

The whole Campus does not have to be in use.  It's a fairly big campus.  While most of it would likely be used, I'm sure there are sections that are not anymore.  I'm prepping for interviews so I don't have time for specifics, but I could take a closer look later.  

[Kobold King he/him]

Well I don't know about that, Bioterror is essentially just a more limited version of Slaughterhouse and aside from the Metal he could hold his own with most Astorian Epics.

 

True. But the Panda actually has an expanded powerset when compared to Slaughterhouse, and he was still repulsed from The Dalles. By vanillas with machine guns, no less.

 

I do intend to eventually roleplay an upper-tier Epic. But it's hard guessing at what power levels will be standard in the future, and weaklings are fun to write anyway.

[Glamdring804]

So, could someone summarize what's currently going on in The Dalles, please?

[Kobold King he/him]

So, could someone summarize what's currently going on in The Dalles, please?

 

Here's a general setting summary, but it leaves out some of the most recent events.

 

Two years before the action of the RP, an Epic named Koschei the Deathless attacked The Dalles. Koschei was a healer, capable of healing others from any wound. However, once he'd healed a wound he could cause the same injury to reappear at any time. Koschei gathered a gang of Epics and began brutally murdering countless people, using his power to practically raise them from the dead and demand their loyalty.

 

Koschei managed to completely gain control of The Dalles, wresting control from the National Guard unit stationed there. He began rule as a ruthless dictator, plotting to take over the whole of Oregon. Before his plans could be fully realized, however, a normal man named Remington Springfield discovered his weakness. Springfield shot and killed Koschei in a stand-off that has become legendary in part because of its significance, and in part because no one knows for sure what happened during their battle.

 

Remington Springfield became a folk hero, but he quietly left the city to live with his in-laws in Portland. With Koschei dead, the National Guard moved back into town, and the commander of the unit declared martial law over the city.

 

This commander was named Stephen Vondra. Vondra had no powers himself, but he and his soldiers managed to gain secure control over The Dalles. This control is maintained in part by the small team of Epics employed by the Guard, who are prohibited from using their powers while not on active duty. The corruption still manifests in these Epics, but as of yet all members of this team have remained loyal.

 

There are other factions afoot in The Dalles, however. The Epic Quicksilver is a former hitman with the ability to manipulate metal, which he has used to devastating effect countless times. Fortunately Quicksilver has little desire to rule, and instead reigns as the king of the city's criminal underground. His gang is known as the Slivers, who are widely feared and hated in the city.

 

For two years an uneasy peace has existed in The Dalles, but at the current time a chaotic and unpredictable element has been inserted. The city has been invaded by the Panda, an Epic with the power to control any organic matter. He is also afflicted with the delusional belief that he's been tasked by "The Radiant Panda" to create a utopia for panda bears--which he intends to accomplish by eradicating human settlements and filling them with his creations. He leads armies of once-ordinary men who have been mutated into horrendous panda-human hybrids, which wield wooden weapons created by their dark master.

 

The Panda's armies run rampant through The Dalles as we speak, opposed by Vondra's Epic teams and a handful of newcomers to the city's political scene. The city stands at an important crossroads of its history--will Vondra succeed in creating a utopia for normal humans, freed from the widespread tyranny of Epics? Will the Panda take the city as his own, ruling not just the lives but the very flesh and blood of its inhabitants? Or will the city be torn asunder by the conflict?

 

 

Well, that's the Question, isn't it?

[Voidus]

Here's a general setting summary, but it leaves out some of the most recent events.

 

Two years before the action of the RP, an Epic named Koschei the Deathless attacked The Dalles. Koschei was a healer, capable of healing others from any wound. However, once he'd healed a wound he could cause the same injury to reappear at any time. Koschei gathered a gang of Epics and began brutally murdering countless people, using his power to practically raise them from the dead and demand their loyalty.

 

Koschei managed to completely gain control of The Dalles, wresting control from the National Guard unit stationed there. He began rule as a ruthless dictator, plotting to take over the whole of Oregon. Before his plans could be fully realized, however, a normal man named Remington Springfield discovered his weakness. Springfield shot and killed Koschei in a stand-off that has become legendary in part because of its significance, and in part because no one knows for sure what happened during their battle.

 

Remington Springfield became a folk hero, but he quietly left the city to live with his in-laws in Portland. With Koschei dead, the National Guard moved back into town, and the commander of the unit declared martial law over the city.

 

This commander was named Stephen Vondra. Vondra had no powers himself, but he and his soldiers managed to gain secure control over The Dalles. This control is maintained in part by the small team of Epics employed by the Guard, who are prohibited from using their powers while not on active duty. The corruption still manifests in these Epics, but as of yet all members of this team have remained loyal.

 

There are other factions afoot in The Dalles, however. The Epic Quicksilver is a former hitman with the ability to manipulate metal, which he has used to devastating effect countless times. Fortunately Quicksilver has little desire to rule, and instead reigns as the king of the city's criminal underground. His gang is known as the Slivers, who are widely feared and hated in the city.

 

For two years an uneasy peace has existed in The Dalles, but at the current time a chaotic and unpredictable element has been inserted. The city has been invaded by the Panda, an Epic with the power to control any organic matter. He is also afflicted with the delusional belief that he's been tasked by "The Radiant Panda" to create a utopia for panda bears--which he intends to accomplish by eradicating human settlements and filling them with his creations. He leads armies of once-ordinary men who have been mutated into horrendous panda-human hybrids, which wield wooden weapons created by their dark master.

 

The Panda's armies run rampant through The Dalles as we speak, opposed by Vondra's Epic teams and a handful of newcomers to the city's political scene. The city stands at an important crossroads of its history--will Vondra succeed in creating a utopia for normal humans, freed from the widespread tyranny of Epics? Will the Panda take the city as his own, ruling not just the lives but the very flesh and blood of its inhabitants? Or will the city be torn asunder by the conflict?

 

 

Well, that's the Question, isn't it?

I felt an odd compulsion to add: 'Find out next time on Dragon-ball-Z'

Anyway yeah that^ but it's pretty late so most of the days story is winding down, it should be easier to pick it up once morning comes along and you see the beginning of new plots rather than the ends.

[the Gleeman he/him]

Ok I have a character to fight in Salem

 

Name: Photon

 

Powers: She can manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum-- all of it-- from radio waves to gamma rays. She only has one issue: she herself is not immune to any harm. For example, if she were to burn someone with ultraviolet rays, she would have a nasty sunburn. Using gamma rays would probably kill her or at the very least give her cancer. Rays with no side effects, such as the visible light or lower frequencies, are free for her to use however she wishes. She can also turn herself briefly into pure light though doing this prevents her from using any other powers. Photon also often uses dual daggers made of a very shiny metal that reflects the light. She is very proficient with these weapons.  

 

Personality: Photon is very vain and uses light to regularly make her appearance more beautiful. She is a clever fighter who tricks the eyes of her opponents with the visible spectrum or radio noises just as often as she attacks with physical prowess. 

 

Weakness: Her illusions are always too clear; they are not as detailed as they should be. A skilled observer should be able to tell when an illusion is being used for this reason. Also while in light form, she is weak to fire being placed through the left side of her face. As a teen, she was badly scarred there by a house fire. She normally hides these scars using her illusory abilities. 

[Voidus]

Photon sounds good, any ideas for her first opponent? We can see if someone else wants a matchup with her, use one of my Epics, use something other than Epics like lions or Vanillas with with machine guns, or if you already have an opponent in mind I'm happy to RP them.

[Blaze1616 he/him]

What happens when Epics lose? They just lose what they bet, or are there physical ramifications?