Question 13

[Edgedancer he/him]

Concurrent fights can happen if you wanted to write it sooner.

Did you want to write both sides or were you looking for someone to adopt Hollowman?

That might actually turn out to be a slight problem with continuity given Cypher's insistence of being special for being a commentor.

 

There definitely needs to be balance, to ensure insta-kill characters aren't OP as well. Epics like Steelheart and Obliteration are unique for a reason, after all. That said, there is a rule against killing another player's character without obtaining their express permission first, so if a character has an insta-kill power, there should be space in which to work around an ending where they kill every player character in sight. Give them a mastermind sort of personality where they'd rather take on allies than create corpses, or make them squishy so they can't afford to make too many enemies, or make sure there's some sort of caveat so other characters can escape. On the flip side, if your character goes up against an insta-kill character, get creative. Think of a way your character might fight or talk their way out of that situation. Part of the fun of the Reckoners books, after all, was seeing how David, whose only power is terrible similes, holds his own against evil beings with godlike powers.

It comes down to balance really. One Epic that has been mentioned for example is Smasher and while the whole "sportsmanship" bit is barely more than a handwave it gets balanced by being in Astoria, where squashing people isn't really enough to kill most of the cast. Another example mentioned in all of this is Frostfire, who, while pretty much being the Epic that started the Dalles power scale fluxuating on the upper scale, is still balanced ith a couple of limitations... at least in theory given that the whooc post did pretty much violate all of them except the can only drain energy from what he's touching bit.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

That might actually turn out to be a slight problem with continuity given Cypher's insistence of being special for being a commentor.

It comes down to balance really. One Epic that has been mentioned for example is Smasher and while the whole "sportsmanship" bit is barely more than a handwave it gets balanced by being in Astoria, where squashing people isn't really enough to kill most of the cast. Another example mentioned in all of this is Frostfire, who, while pretty much being the Epic that started the Dalles power scale fluxuating on the upper scale, is still balanced ith a couple of limitations... at least in theory given that the whooc post did pretty much violate all of them except the can only drain energy from what he's touching bit.

Though it could be argued that the WHOOC thread is a magical wonderland where the sleaziest of murderous sleazeballs can be redeemed by drinking a Coke. On a more serious note, so long as there are limitations of some sort on insta-kill characters, I don't see a problem with their existence.

[Blaze1616 he/him]

Comatose, I was not sure what you had in mind for this Public Announcement Blossom is writing. I am perfectly comfortable with writing it myself, but I figured I'd give you the opportunity to write it if that's what you wanted. Just let me know.

[Kobold King he/him]

My dad just walked into the house and asked "Do you know who Taylor Swift is?"

 

He was surprised that, for once, I knew who a pop singer was.

 

He proceeded to tell some story about her, starting with "I always considered her kind of an idiot..."

 

I wanted to respond "She considers you a corpse."

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

My dad just walked into the house and asked "Do you know who Taylor Swift is?"

He was surprised that, for once, I knew who a pop singer was.

He proceeded to tell some story about her, starting with "I always considered her kind of an idiot..."

I wanted to respond "She considers you a corpse."

Has he ever seen the music video for "Blank Space"? Not only is it some pretty biting satire about how the media perceives her, but it's also pretty clearly a retelling of The Great Gatsby from Daisy's perspective. Which takes not only an understanding of the characters and source material, but also creativity to reinterpret a classic in a way that is entertaining and accessible to the average viewer.

In other words, you're not an idiot Taylor please don't kill me.

[Edgedancer he/him]

My dad just walked into the house and asked "Do you know who Taylor Swift is?"

 

He was surprised that, for once, I knew who a pop singer was.

 

He proceeded to tell some story about her, starting with "I always considered her kind of an idiot..."

 

I wanted to respond "She considers you a corpse."

At least you didn't answer your father with, "Yes I know her, she's the delusional flesh warper running around in the town under my military dictatorship."

[Aonar he/him]

Frostfire sort of bugs me because he apparently has an Insta-Kill, too. I thought he would just be able to throw fireballs or whatever but that WHOOC has me worried.  Whatever, though, I guess. He's already well-established and shipped off to Neverland (courtesy of Twilyght, I assume.) 

I prefer to think that it's really not that strong of an ability, it's more that the human body is really storming fragile. Throwing fireballs though has never been a part of his powerset. Far too mainstream.

 

More serously though: I dropped a good chunk of his harder limits for that post, largely for shock value. A more realistic scenario would have involved much more time, as Frostfire had to stop and absorb more heat, as well as some not insubstantial internal trauma (+/- a few bullet holes) from holding very large amounts of energy. (Assuming some of the other Guards/Epics reacted well enough to attack.) If Elsa and/or MV got their acts together fast enough, there's even a good chance he would've died then and there. Either way, he would've been down for the count, and likely would've have kept living for very long. He is powerful, he does have an instant kill ability and he is hard to kill himself, but he's also extremely limited, and using his power at it's full potential is pretty self-destructive. (This is why I still maintain that Shiny is far more OP'd than Frostfire. )

[Edgedancer he/him]

I'm bad at making not strong Epics. (Or at least caring enough about them to make them a PoV character. )

 

While on the topic of the Dalles there'll probably be a dog.

 

And another thing about the Dalles, Kobold how about another Vondra post?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

And another thing about the Dalles, Kobold how about another Vondra post?

Can his glare melt Epics like Shiny Sparkle? The world must know!

[Edgedancer he/him]

Can his glare melt Epics like Shiny Sparkle? The world must know!

"Runes might not make up stories about me like she does about Springfield but that's only because i don't need them to deal with troublemakers like you."

[Kobold King he/him]

"Runes might not make up stories about me like she does about Springfield but that's only because i don't need them to deal with troublemakers like you."

 

"The day I can't kill a weak Epic like you with a stapler and a rug is the day I deserve to die and stop draining this city's resources."

 

 

Seriously though, I'll try to get that done soon.

[Edgedancer he/him]

"The day I can't kill a weak Epic like you with a stapler and a rug is the day I deserve to die and stop draining this city's resources."

 

 

Seriously though, I'll try to get that done soon.

Why am I afraid that Shiny Sparkle's response to that would be accusing him of being kinky?

[Comatose he/him]

I know, it's because that breed looks like a pug I tell you.

 

Does she know any fairies?

 

She seems fun but on that Kiss power, how old does that linege have to be, because on a pure technicality Nighthound fits the description of "a handsome man of royal lineage."

 

I'm open to suggestions.  I'd be fine limiting it to people who actually have a royal title, or opening it up so people like Nighthound fit.  My original intention was to have this as a kind of throw away power as a joke about the power of true love's kiss, and then have it be very difficult or impossible to use.  If we want, I'm fine with making it a little more usable, but I would prefer if it would take more than just kissing any average Joe.

 

Perhaps, it can be anyone in the line of succession?  That way, someone who has royal blood somewhere could technically help her utilize the kiss, but only if enough people in the actual line of succession die first.  What do people think?

 

Love it, somehow despite the fact that I do watch disney movies relatively frequently I haven't got a disney themed Epic yet.   

Though I do have portions of the powers in other Epics, like the ability to make people sing.

 

I was going to point out that technically almost everyone is of royal lineage pretty much, go back enough generations and there's probably some royal blood in most families.

 

While this is true to some extent, my understanding is that the bloodlines of the European royalty, until the last few generations, were kept quite narrow through mostly just breeding with each other.  Yes, there are randoms out there with royal blood, but I don't think 'everyone' would be accurate.  For example, my roots are Mennonite (German/Ukranian/Russian) as far back as I can tell.  Since Mennonites were always isolated farmers, the chances of me having any royal blood at all is incredibly low.  The royal families were a similarly isolated community, and while some genes escaped, they are not necessarily common.  

 

I suppose it would depend on who is all included as 'royalty'.  I mean, if we go back to Cynewulf or Charlemagne, then the chances are much higher.  

 

How about this: the person in question must have a blood connection to a royal bloodline in existence at the time of Calamity, meaning only modern royal families would count.  This would allow some randoms to pop up if we want this to happen for story purposes, but it still makes the kiss difficult to set off.  

 

Edge, would this include Nighthound?  I was unaware (or forgot) his royal heritage.  

 

Princess Good seems interesting. Rainmaker would probably want her nearby at all time to beautify her haha. Would even have been on the stage in the prologue most likely.

the beautification is more of a perception thing, is it? So whoever looks at something ir someone who is being beautified would see them as they are normally, but consider it more beautiful?

Or actual physical changes?

 

The passive aura is a combination of physical changes and perception, but more on the perception end of things, whereas the active use of the power is all physical changes.  

 

Rainmaker doesn't believe she needs that sort of beautification, haha.  

 

Comatose, I was not sure what you had in mind for this Public Announcement Blossom is writing. I am perfectly comfortable with writing it myself, but I figured I'd give you the opportunity to write it if that's what you wanted. Just let me know.

 

I'm fine with you writing it, or if we just leave things vague.  "The press release went well," with a few specifics sprinkled in should be sufficient. 

 

My dad just walked into the house and asked "Do you know who Taylor Swift is?"

 

He was surprised that, for once, I knew who a pop singer was.

 

He proceeded to tell some story about her, starting with "I always considered her kind of an idiot..."

 

I wanted to respond "She considers you a corpse."

 

Your father is lucky Taylor is in the Dalles right now...

 

Has he ever seen the music video for "Blank Space"? Not only is it some pretty biting satire about how the media perceives her, but it's also pretty clearly a retelling of The Great Gatsby from Daisy's perspective. Which takes not only an understanding of the characters and source material, but also creativity to reinterpret a classic in a way that is entertaining and accessible to the average viewer.

In other words, you're not an idiot Taylor please don't kill me.

 

I didn't catch the Gatsby reference, despite watching the video too many times to count.  Now that I see it, it can't be unseen.  

 

I'll put in a good word with T-Swift for you.  No promises.  

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Why am I afraid that Shiny Sparkle's response to that would be accusing him of being kinky?

Because it totally would be?

....which might actually be hilarious, in the five seconds before he tried to kill her.

[Kobold King he/him]

Because it totally would be?

....which might actually be hilarious, in the five seconds before he tried to kill her.

 

 You mistake him for Arsenal.

 

He would chuckle, tell her "You're not my type," and then have Redlight freeze her still while he outlines the fact that if she doesn't consent to live by the terms he sets for her, she will not be able to take one step in The Dalles without fear of being gunned down in the street.

[Edgedancer he/him]

I'm open to suggestions.  I'd be fine limiting it to people who actually have a royal title, or opening it up so people like Nighthound fit.  My original intention was to have this as a kind of throw away power as a joke about the power of true love's kiss, and then have it be very difficult or impossible to use.  If we want, I'm fine with making it a little more usable, but I would prefer if it would take more than just kissing any average Joe.

 

Perhaps, it can be anyone in the line of succession?  That way, someone who has royal blood somewhere could technically help her utilize the kiss, but only if enough people in the actual line of succession die first.  What do people think?

 

 

While this is true to some extent, my understanding is that the bloodlines of the European royalty, until the last few generations, were kept quite narrow through mostly just breeding with each other.  Yes, there are randoms out there with royal blood, but I don't think 'everyone' would be accurate.  For example, my roots are Mennonite (German/Ukranian/Russian) as far back as I can tell.  Since Mennonites were always isolated farmers, the chances of me having any royal blood at all is incredibly low.  The royal families were a similarly isolated community, and while some genes escaped, they are not necessarily common.  

 

I suppose it would depend on who is all included as 'royalty'.  I mean, if we go back to Cynewulf or Charlemagne, then the chances are much higher.  

 

How about this: the person in question must have a blood connection to a royal bloodline in existence at the time of Calamity, meaning only modern royal families would count.  This would allow some randoms to pop up if we want this to happen for story purposes, but it still makes the kiss difficult to set off.  

 

Edge, would this include Nighthound?  I was unaware (or forgot) his royal heritage. 

His claims to royality would come from Lucentia, as I said it's a tecnicallity but you can't really get more recent than first generation. (that and in my head canon they have a semi-close relative that also declared himself a king over in europe but that doesn't exactly matter to the game at hand) So your call if you would count that.

 

 You mistake him for Arsenal.

 

He would chuckle, tell her "You're not my type," and then have Redlight freeze her still while he outlines the fact that if she doesn't consent to live by the terms he sets for her, she will not be able to take one step in The Dalles without fear of being gunned down in the street.

"What do these terms say about flirting with people?"

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

"What do these terms say about flirting with people?"

"See Section 8, Clause 4, the Deathwish Clause."

[Edgedancer he/him]

"See Section 8, Clause 4, the Deathwish Clause."

"'You are not allowed to give members of the opposite sex unwanted attention that even resembles being sexual'.  Alright I can live with that, kind of sad for the hot guys but cute girls rule supreme anyway."

[RandomRevival he/him]

So...this comments section went from talking about arena fights and epics...to this?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

So...this comments section went from talking about arena fights and epics...to this?

Eeyup.

(Happens pretty often around here.)

[Kobold King he/him]

"'You are not allowed to give members of the opposite sex unwanted attention that even resembles being sexual'.  Alright I can live with that, kind of sad for the hot guys but cute girls rule supreme anyway."

 

* takes Dalles charter *

 

* slowly tears it up *

 

"Let me put this in simple terms. If you're looking for sex, this isn't the town for you."

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

* takes Dalles charter *

* slowly tears it up *

"Let me put this in simple terms. If you're looking for sex, this isn't the town for you."

Are you sure tearing up the town charter is the smartest move with Arsenal around?

[mail-mi he/him]

Firefight spoilers:

What does everyone think about a "Reader gets redeemed" storyline?

[Kobold King he/him]

Are you sure tearing up the town charter is the smartest move with Arsenal around?

 

There are other copies. It's the symbolism that counts.

 

 

Firefight spoilers:

What does everyone think about a "Reader gets redeemed" storyline? 

 

Anyone can be redeemed. The question is "Will it be more enjoyable to see him redeemed or thrown under a bus?"

 

How were you thinking of doing it?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Firefight spoilers:

What does everyone think about a "Reader gets redeemed" storyline?

I could go for it. I'm not sure how likely it is, though, since he seems to enjoy his corruption quite a bit.