Question 18

[Edgedancer he/him]

Or they could play in the Wastelands or Salem. 

Rock-paper-scisors-Nighthound?

(Nighthound loses against everything and additionally anyone who plays it gets kicked in the shins)

That's an option as well, I figure.

 

Good thing that most of you don't really know how to do a Nighthound.

[Blackhoof]

I love your writing style Cog

[Edgedancer he/him]

I'm sorry, Kobold. I should been more thoughtful in how I put it. 

 

In other news, my second RP post is up!   I hope you all enjoy this nostalgic walkthrough of ancient Portland history.   

 

Please tell me any comments or critiques!

It was delightful.   Always nice to have some continuity callbacks as well.

 

By the way, how would you feel about adopting a character?

[Edgedancer he/him]

Thank you both! I really appreciate it.

I would love to adopt a character, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get their posts up quickly enough to do them justice. If you're okay with some delays, then certainly.

Which characters were you thinking of, anyways?

edit : With Maillw gone, Chimera will be lacking a writer. I'll gladly take him, if no one objects.

With you just having read through everything just recently I actually figured you'd know better who's open and maybe needs the attention than I.

 

Well, Mailliw is still going to stick around for a while but yeah, Chimera or even more so Altermind seems like someone that would require someone to pick them up.

[Quiver he/him]

Um.

Yeah. Sorry for absaloute non-sequitar Salem post.

[Elithanathile he/him]

Not to be in the way or anything guys, but I'm still waiting for confirmation on my character, if that's not too much trouble...

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Not to be in the way or anything guys, but I'm still waiting for confirmation on my character, if that's not too much trouble...

Would you mind posting his completed bio, changes and tweaks included, here so we can comment on the final version?

[Edgedancer he/him]

Um.

Yeah. Sorry for absaloute non-sequitar Salem post.

Hey, something happened, that's already a pretty big plus.

[Elithanathile he/him]

Would you mind posting his completed bio, changes and tweaks included, here so we can comment on the final version?

Not at all.

 

Epic Name: Falchion

 

Real Name: Dirk Alder

 

Age: 19 yo.

 

Appearance: 5' 7," with black hair and pure white eyes. They still work just fine, and nobody knows why they are white. He has been working out and using swords since he was three, so he has plenty of muscle to use them, and it shows. He usually wears light clothing, a t-shirt and jeans that don't inhibit his movement, as he has no need for armor. The t-shirt is usually bright red with a single black spot at the center. His jeans usually have holes in the knees, but whether that's intentional or purely happenstance is unknown.

 

Primary Power: Can create 10 sets of portals, and an extra unlinked one. To create a portal, he just wishes that it exists, where, what size, (size is limited to be about his size, but can be bigger) shape, facing, and what portal it connects to. He can travel through his portals, as well as his portals transporting matter and energy. His portals don't affect other epics, acting as a forcefield instead. A smaller portal can connect to a larger portal, but if the small one is too small, he wouldn't be able to go through. but light and sound still go through. He has to see somewhere to create a portal there, and he can dismiss them at will, without having to see them. He is able to use these portals in multiple other ways not stated here, but those are the basic abilities of using them. One portal can only link to one other portal. (Think invertible function.)

 

Passive Defensive Power: when he would be hit by something, a portal appears automatically, the perfect size to absorb it. This is not constrained in size, but he cannot activate it consciously. There is no limit to how many of these portals can be summoned at a time. These portals are permanently linked to an alternate "Void" dimension, so anything that would hit him ends up in there. The portals are only open as long as something is going through them, and shuts as soon as there isn't. They react to epics the same way as his standard portals. These only activate to damage that would be inflicted, even indirectly, or accidentally, by something sentient besides himself. (So him stubbing his toe in the morning still happens.)

 

Minor Passive Power: Has the ability to know when, the general direction, and the range when somebody is talking bad about his swords.

 

Weakness: Not having a sword/knife within 10 meters of him. Luckily, this isn't too much of a problem, because...

 

Weapons: He has about 6 weapons on his person at virtually all times that vary depending on which he is carrying, but he has many more in his collection, including a Spatha, a Claymore, a Rapier, a Cutlass, a Dirk, a sgian-dubh, a Sabre, a Pistol Sword, a Kaskara, a Jian, a pair of Butterfly Swords, a Miaodao, a Hook Sword, a Shinken, a Katana, a Pata, a Balisword, a Kalis, a Kampilan, a Dahong Palay, a Shaska, an Estoc, a Khopesh, a Longsword, a Shamshir, a Khanda, a Panabas, a Kujang, a Flambard and Flamberge, a Karambit, an Aruval, a Bolok, a Yatagan, a Broadsword, a Cavalry Sword, a Falchion, (He usually has this one on him) as well as various daggers, such as a Baselard, a Rondel, a Trident Dagger, a pair of crescent moon knives, a Facon, (weird accent above the "c") a Corvo, an Emeici, a switchblade or two, a Balisong, (A.K.A. Butterfly knife. A Balisword is a large version of this.) a Kaiken, a Katar, a Kukri, a Phurba, a Tanto, a Fairbairn Knife, a Push Dagger, a Bowie Knife, multiple copies, of ballistic knives, throwing knives, chakram, shuriken, kunai, not to mention a few versions of polearms and spears. There are also other weapons not specifically named in his collection. He also has copies of famous historical swords, mythological swords, and fictional swords. They don't possess any of the powers of their legends, but are still high quality replicas, and are fully capable of being used in combat. (I spent about two hours researching these. That was one of the best two hours of my life. I was almost giddy.) He also has a custom sword made that he carries that's about 1.5 meter long, with a straight blade about 3 inches thick, double-bladed, with a simple quillon guard, leather wrapped grip, and a type I pommel, that made it perfectly balanced to his hand. It was painted all black, except for runes painted on the blade. (Purely for show.) He has multiple copies of these in storage as well. He also has copies of a custom-made shortsword in storage that has three prongs.

 

Abilities: He has trained exclusively in bladed weapons since he was a young child, and has achieved almost perfect mastery in them. His particular style involves destroying the enemies opportunities to attack, (take out their arms, weapon, etc.) and then deal the final blow. But when attacking epics, he always goes for the kill first, and then tries to keep distance while dealing damage with hit-and-run maneuvers, trying to figure out the enemies capabilities. He is also extremely capable with his portals, and uses them while fighting to great extent, making it possible to attack from any angle.

 

Backstory: His father grew up as part of a group that promoted sword mastery above all else, and learned the forms, but due to an injury at an early age, he was not able to use them all. So when he had a son, he began planning the training regime to bring up his son to participate in world tournaments and win, showing their style of swords to be the best. This continued until the boy was about 17, and had mastered virtually all of the weapon types, when he became an epic. He had always silently grumbled that he never had a choice in his life, (he loved swords, and would have followed them anyway, but hey, the kid wants to at least have the opportunity to make that decision,) and when he became an epic, he killed his father first. After his spree, he settled down for a while to train further with swords and with his new powers. Now he feels that he is ready, and has set his sights upon (Insert city name here.)

 

Personality: Quite easy-going as epics go, and has no problem making light (Think feather, but lighter. This guys conversations flit around like a hummingbird on caffeine.) conversation with other people he deems his "equal." His epicness emerges when someone mentions his swords in a bad light, or talks bad about them, etc. In that case, he will immediately turn "dark," and attempt to kill them, unless he is sure that he cannot beat them, in which case he barely restrains himself, and asks them to remove their comment. If they continue, he will attack them regardless of strength. Doesn't seek after money or power, but does pursue great swords with a vengeance, doing almost anything to add them to his collection.

 

Did I miss anything?

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Hey, Cog, I'm still here till summer. But I am a bit behind on which threads need my attention. Anyone want to remind me?

[Edgedancer he/him]

Hey, Cog, I'm still here till summer. But I am a bit behind on which threads need my attention. Anyone want to remind me?

You're still up with Electro. The situation in Altermind's office requires either a response for Sam or we have that off screen and cut to maybe have Funtimes interrupt them? Anyway, no Altermind action necessary. Chimera is still aiting on Lightwards arriving, I think. Not sure how you're handling the whole bus chase/Quicksilver fight thing but from an outsiders perspective there's no reason for Edgerunner not to do something.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Not at all.

Epic Name: Falchion

Real Name: Dirk Alder

Age: 19 yo.

Appearance: 5' 7," with black hair and pure white eyes. They still work just fine, and nobody knows why they are white. He has been working out and using swords since he was three, so he has plenty of muscle to use them, and it shows. He usually wears light clothing, a t-shirt and jeans that don't inhibit his movement, as he has no need for armor. The t-shirt is usually bright red with a single black spot at the center. His jeans usually have holes in the knees, but whether that's intentional or purely happenstance is unknown.

Primary Power: Can create 10 sets of portals, and an extra unlinked one. To create a portal, he just wishes that it exists, where, what size, (size is limited to be about his size, but can be bigger) shape, facing, and what portal it connects to. He can travel through his portals, as well as his portals transporting matter and energy. His portals don't affect other epics, acting as a forcefield instead. A smaller portal can connect to a larger portal, but if the small one is too small, he wouldn't be able to go through. but light and sound still go through. He has to see somewhere to create a portal there, and he can dismiss them at will, without having to see them. He is able to use these portals in multiple other ways not stated here, but those are the basic abilities of using them. One portal can only link to one other portal. (Think invertible function.)

Passive Defensive Power: when he would be hit by something, a portal appears automatically, the perfect size to absorb it. This is not constrained in size, but he cannot activate it consciously. There is no limit to how many of these portals can be summoned at a time. These portals are permanently linked to an alternate "Void" dimension, so anything that would hit him ends up in there. The portals are only open as long as something is going through them, and shuts as soon as there isn't. They react to epics the same way as his standard portals. These only activate to damage that would be inflicted, even indirectly, or accidentally, by something sentient besides himself. (So him stubbing his toe in the morning still happens.)

Minor Passive Power: Has the ability to know when, the general direction, and the range when somebody is talking bad about his swords.

Weakness: Not having a sword/knife within 10 meters of him. Luckily, this isn't too much of a problem, because...

Weapons: He has about 6 weapons on his person at virtually all times that vary depending on which he is carrying, but he has many more in his collection, including a Spatha, a Claymore, a Rapier, a Cutlass, a Dirk, a sgian-dubh, a Sabre, a Pistol Sword, a Kaskara, a Jian, a pair of Butterfly Swords, a Miaodao, a Hook Sword, a Shinken, a Katana, a Pata, a Balisword, a Kalis, a Kampilan, a Dahong Palay, a Shaska, an Estoc, a Khopesh, a Longsword, a Shamshir, a Khanda, a Panabas, a Kujang, a Flambard and Flamberge, a Karambit, an Aruval, a Bolok, a Yatagan, a Broadsword, a Cavalry Sword, a Falchion, (He usually has this one on him) as well as various daggers, such as a Baselard, a Rondel, a Trident Dagger, a pair of crescent moon knives, a Facon, (weird accent above the "c") a Corvo, an Emeici, a switchblade or two, a Balisong, (A.K.A. Butterfly knife. A Balisword is a large version of this.) a Kaiken, a Katar, a Kukri, a Phurba, a Tanto, a Fairbairn Knife, a Push Dagger, a Bowie Knife, multiple copies, of ballistic knives, throwing knives, chakram, shuriken, kunai, not to mention a few versions of polearms and spears. There are also other weapons not specifically named in his collection. He also has copies of famous historical swords, mythological swords, and fictional swords. They don't possess any of the powers of their legends, but are still high quality replicas, and are fully capable of being used in combat. (I spent about two hours researching these. That was one of the best two hours of my life. I was almost giddy.) He also has a custom sword made that he carries that's about 1.5 meter long, with a straight blade about 3 inches thick, double-bladed, with a simple quillon guard, leather wrapped grip, and a type I pommel, that made it perfectly balanced to his hand. It was painted all black, except for runes painted on the blade. (Purely for show.) He has multiple copies of these in storage as well. He also has copies of a custom-made shortsword in storage that has three prongs.

Abilities: He has trained exclusively in bladed weapons since he was a young child, and has achieved almost perfect mastery in them. His particular style involves destroying the enemies opportunities to attack, (take out their arms, weapon, etc.) and then deal the final blow. But when attacking epics, he always goes for the kill first, and then tries to keep distance while dealing damage with hit-and-run maneuvers, trying to figure out the enemies capabilities. He is also extremely capable with his portals, and uses them while fighting to great extent, making it possible to attack from any angle.

Backstory: His father grew up as part of a group that promoted sword mastery above all else, and learned the forms, but due to an injury at an early age, he was not able to use them all. So when he had a son, he began planning the training regime to bring up his son to participate in world tournaments and win, showing their style of swords to be the best. This continued until the boy was about 17, and had mastered virtually all of the weapon types, when he became an epic. He had always silently grumbled that he never had a choice in his life, (he loved swords, and would have followed them anyway, but hey, the kid wants to at least have the opportunity to make that decision,) and when he became an epic, he killed his father first. After his spree, he settled down for a while to train further with swords and with his new powers. Now he feels that he is ready, and has set his sights upon (Insert city name here.)

Personality: Quite easy-going as epics go, and has no problem making light (Think feather, but lighter. This guys conversations flit around like a hummingbird on caffeine.) conversation with other people he deems his "equal." His epicness emerges when someone mentions his swords in a bad light, or talks bad about them, etc. In that case, he will immediately turn "dark," and attempt to kill them, unless he is sure that he cannot beat them, in which case he barely restrains himself, and asks them to remove their comment. If they continue, he will attack them regardless of strength. Doesn't seek after money or power, but does pursue great swords with a vengeance, doing almost anything to add them to his collection.

Did I miss anything?

If he got his powers when he was 17, there's no way he could be a master of virtually every weapon type. True weapons masters train for their entire lives (30+ years) to master one or two weapons, so a 17-year-old who has mastered virtually all weapons isn't believable. Make him proficient, but not a master, at one, maybe two weapons and it'll be a lot more believable.

[Edgedancer he/him]

Not at all.

Epic Name: Falchion

 

Real Name: Dirk Alder

 

Age: 19 yo.

 

Appearance: 5' 7," with black hair and pure white eyes. They still work just fine, and nobody knows why they are white. He has been working out and using swords since he was three, so he has plenty of muscle to use them, and it shows. He usually wears light clothing, a t-shirt and jeans that don't inhibit his movement, as he has no need for armor. The t-shirt is usually bright red with a single black spot at the center. His jeans usually have holes in the knees, but whether that's intentional or purely happenstance is unknown.

 

Primary Power: Can create 10 sets of portals, and an extra unlinked one. To create a portal, he just wishes that it exists, where, what size, (size is limited to be about his size, but can be bigger) shape, facing, and what portal it connects to. He can travel through his portals, as well as his portals transporting matter and energy. His portals don't affect other epics, acting as a forcefield instead. A smaller portal can connect to a larger portal, but if the small one is too small, he wouldn't be able to go through. but light and sound still go through. He has to see somewhere to create a portal there, and he can dismiss them at will, without having to see them. He is able to use these portals in multiple other ways not stated here, but those are the basic abilities of using them. One portal can only link to one other portal. (Think invertible function.)

 

Passive Defensive Power: when he would be hit by something, a portal appears automatically, the perfect size to absorb it. This is not constrained in size, but he cannot activate it consciously. There is no limit to how many of these portals can be summoned at a time. These portals are permanently linked to an alternate "Void" dimension, so anything that would hit him ends up in there. The portals are only open as long as something is going through them, and shuts as soon as there isn't. They react to epics the same way as his standard portals. These only activate to damage that would be inflicted, even indirectly, or accidentally, by something sentient besides himself. (So him stubbing his toe in the morning still happens.)

 

Minor Passive Power: Has the ability to know when, the general direction, and the range when somebody is talking bad about his swords.

 

Weakness: Not having a sword/knife within 10 meters of him. Luckily, this isn't too much of a problem, because...

 

Weapons: He has about 6 weapons on his person at virtually all times that vary depending on which he is carrying, but he has many more in his collection, including a Spatha, a Claymore, a Rapier, a Cutlass, a Dirk, a sgian-dubh, a Sabre, a Pistol Sword, a Kaskara, a Jian, a pair of Butterfly Swords, a Miaodao, a Hook Sword, a Shinken, a Katana, a Pata, a Balisword, a Kalis, a Kampilan, a Dahong Palay, a Shaska, an Estoc, a Khopesh, a Longsword, a Shamshir, a Khanda, a Panabas, a Kujang, a Flambard and Flamberge, a Karambit, an Aruval, a Bolok, a Yatagan, a Broadsword, a Cavalry Sword, a Falchion, (He usually has this one on him) as well as various daggers, such as a Baselard, a Rondel, a Trident Dagger, a pair of crescent moon knives, a Facon, (weird accent above the "c") a Corvo, an Emeici, a switchblade or two, a Balisong, (A.K.A. Butterfly knife. A Balisword is a large version of this.) a Kaiken, a Katar, a Kukri, a Phurba, a Tanto, a Fairbairn Knife, a Push Dagger, a Bowie Knife, multiple copies, of ballistic knives, throwing knives, chakram, shuriken, kunai, not to mention a few versions of polearms and spears. There are also other weapons not specifically named in his collection. He also has copies of famous historical swords, mythological swords, and fictional swords. They don't possess any of the powers of their legends, but are still high quality replicas, and are fully capable of being used in combat. (I spent about two hours researching these. That was one of the best two hours of my life. I was almost giddy.) He also has a custom sword made that he carries that's about 1.5 meter long, with a straight blade about 3 inches thick, double-bladed, with a simple quillon guard, leather wrapped grip, and a type I pommel, that made it perfectly balanced to his hand. It was painted all black, except for runes painted on the blade. (Purely for show.) He has multiple copies of these in storage as well. He also has copies of a custom-made shortsword in storage that has three prongs.

 

Abilities: He has trained exclusively in bladed weapons since he was a young child, and has achieved almost perfect mastery in them. His particular style involves destroying the enemies opportunities to attack, (take out their arms, weapon, etc.) and then deal the final blow. But when attacking epics, he always goes for the kill first, and then tries to keep distance while dealing damage with hit-and-run maneuvers, trying to figure out the enemies capabilities. He is also extremely capable with his portals, and uses them while fighting to great extent, making it possible to attack from any angle.

 

Backstory: His father grew up as part of a group that promoted sword mastery above all else, and learned the forms, but due to an injury at an early age, he was not able to use them all. So when he had a son, he began planning the training regime to bring up his son to participate in world tournaments and win, showing their style of swords to be the best. This continued until the boy was about 17, and had mastered virtually all of the weapon types, when he became an epic. He had always silently grumbled that he never had a choice in his life, (he loved swords, and would have followed them anyway, but hey, the kid wants to at least have the opportunity to make that decision,) and when he became an epic, he killed his father first. After his spree, he settled down for a while to train further with swords and with his new powers. Now he feels that he is ready, and has set his sights upon (Insert city name here.)

 

Personality: Quite easy-going as epics go, and has no problem making light (Think feather, but lighter. This guys conversations flit around like a hummingbird on caffeine.) conversation with other people he deems his "equal." His epicness emerges when someone mentions his swords in a bad light, or talks bad about them, etc. In that case, he will immediately turn "dark," and attempt to kill them, unless he is sure that he cannot beat them, in which case he barely restrains himself, and asks them to remove their comment. If they continue, he will attack them regardless of strength. Doesn't seek after money or power, but does pursue great swords with a vengeance, doing almost anything to add them to his collection.

 

Did I miss anything?

First let there please be a moment of silence in honor of a profile with this much detail.

 

Anyway, one question I'd have is if his portals come in sets then does he have to creat the linked ones at the same time or can he create them appart from each other? I'd also agree with Twi that a blanket statement like mastering all the weapon types is a bit extreme, especially given that he's fairly young.

 

Apart from that I think that this guy and Kenshin may turn out to be great friends.

 

We also made it an habit to ask for a piece demonstrating at least basic power usage to make sure there aren't any misunderstandings. After that I think that would be everything.

[Elithanathile he/him]

If he got his powers when he was 17, there's no way he could be a master of virtually every weapon type. True weapons masters train for their entire lives (30+ years) to master one or two weapons, so a 17-year-old who has mastered virtually all weapons isn't believable. Make him proficient, but not a master, at one, maybe two weapons and it'll be a lot more believable.

Fair point, fair point, but they really are all the same general type of weapon, so he doesn't have to change his entire style whenever he switches weapons. It's basically just swords and daggers, and all he would have to do is make minor alterations in his style whenever he swapped. I think it's fair that he could use 30 or more different weapons in 14 years of nonstop training. That's about 6 months per weapon, which is fine, because after the basics, that's plenty of spare time. And by master, I don't mean "best in the world." I mean, can use them with a great amount of skill. I heard of another epic who's powers are to summon swords and to use them amazingly. My guy's swordsmanship wouldn't be able to keep up with that guy's, but he could certainly battle it out for a while. (This is assuming no portals or sword creating are used.) Also assume that he's a prodigy. That should fix everything up.

 

Anyway, one question I'd have is if his portals come in sets then does he have to creat the linked ones at the same time or can he create them apart from each other?

 

We also made it an habit to ask for a piece demonstrating at least basic power usage to make sure there aren't any misunderstandings. After that I think that would be everything.

He does not. He can, if both portals are in his line of sight, but he can create one portal that's unlinked, create another portal later, and link them up. He has a sense of what portals he has and where they are and what they are linked to in his mind as part of his ability.

 

I didn't give an example in the bio because I plan to basically copy/paste this in the "Epics of Oregon" thread afterwards, and don't want to give away any of his surprise moves in battle.

 

He can make a portal ahead of him that links to behind the enemies back, while stabbing his sword forward, and impale them from a surprise direction. Same thing for slicing, but only part of the sword would go through, so it's hard to see coming.

 

He can also have a portal linked to the ground, and then create a portal linked to that hanging in the air, ground side up, step on it, and then start running, and make the portal he was on disappear, then reappear where he was going to step. So he could run in the air. Or just create an infinite loop in midair, and then move the top portal to facing the side. (When I use move, I mean disappear+reappear very fast.) This shoots him off in a direction very fast. The difficulty is landing.

 

He can also use his portals to consciously redirect his enemies weapons/projectiles back at themselves. (This might mean that this could even kill steelheart!)

 

So lets say there's a reckoner ambush. They shoot, the defense portal activates, bullet absorbed. Falchion whips around for the sniper, let's assume he doesn't see it, they activate the weakness, it fails, he spots one close enough, portals right next to 'em and takes them out with his sword, sees a barrel flash, and creates a portal link that sends the bullet back at the reckoner, takin' 'em out. Reckoners begin the retreat, he creates a portal high up, a portal on the ground, jumps in, shoots down, portal below him and to the side, he goes through, lands on roof, and throws a kunai at one, taking that one out, and then simply chases down and kills the last one using his sword only, while the bullets are absorbed.

 

That good enough?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Fair point, fair point, but they really are all the same general type of weapon, so he doesn't have to change his entire style whenever he switches weapons. It's basically just swords and daggers, and all he would have to do is make minor alterations in his style whenever he swapped. I think it's fair that he could use 30 or more different weapons in 14 years of nonstop training. That's about 6 months per weapon, which is fine, because after the basics, that's plenty of spare time. And by master, I don't mean "best in the world." I mean, can use them with a great amount of skill. I heard of another epic who's powers are to summon swords and to use them amazingly. My guy's swordsmanship wouldn't be able to keep up with that guy's, but he could certainly battle it out for a while. (This is assuming no portals or sword creating are used.) Also assume that he's a prodigy. That should fix everything up.

 

Here's what bothers me about the "master of virtually every bladed weapon" thing. 

 

In Steelheart, we're introduced to the Epics by way of Deathpoint and Steelheart. They're gods in human form, capable of turning a human being to dust or commanding the winds on a whim. They don't care about collateral damage or how many bodies they leave in their wake. They're terrifying. Inhuman. If not for their weaknesses, some would be all but invincible. 

 

And then in Firefight, we learn more about the weaknesses. They're not random; they're connected to an Epic's past. A weakness is more than a handy on/off switch for an Epic's powers; it's a reminder of what they fear the most. It's their own personal PTSD trigger—and when we learn the reasons for those triggers, we see that the Epics….aren't all that different from us. Megan had her house burn down as a child. Fortuity was probably left at the altar. Newton was abused by her parents. Sourcefield's grandparents tried to kill her. We see that Epics aren't inhuman monsters; they're human beings, driven insane by fear. Their powers make them special, but their weaknesses make them ordinary. 

 

By making Falchion a master of virtually every bladed weapon in the world at the age of 17, I feel like you're removing that element of ordinariness. He's not a normal kid with an abnormally scarring upbringing; he's an amazing swordsman who excels at every weapon he tries. I feel as if by making him too special, you've made him less human. And it's fine to give a few special qualities to your pre-Calamity character—Funtimes learned to fly planes as a teen, Lightwards was his university's youngest tenured professor, Altermind was exceptionally brilliant. But I feel like with Falchion, you've gone overboard. 

[Mailliw73 he/him]

You're still up with Electro. The situation in Altermind's office requires either a response for Sam or we have that off screen and cut to maybe have Funtimes interrupt them? Anyway, no Altermind action necessary. Chimera is still aiting on Lightwards arriving, I think. Not sure how you're handling the whole bus chase/Quicksilver fight thing but from an outsiders perspective there's no reason for Edgerunner not to do something.

Aonar told me he was planning a Frostfire post next, so I was waiting there. I'll do Electro's part in the doc in a moment.

[Aonar he/him]

Aonar told me he was planning a Frostfire post next, so I was waiting there. I'll do Electro's part in the doc in a moment.

 

Eh, yeah, that... I was going to try to post a Mirrorveil section with that, but that hasn't really be coming together, so one short Frostfire post is coming right up. 

[Mailliw73 he/him]

My apologies, Mailliw. 

'Tis all good. I am perfectly fine with you taking Chi when I leave though.

 

Edit: does anyone have a physical description of Neverthere? I always forget what she's supposed to look like.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Mailliw73

[Voidus]

Already sent through PM but for the record:

Epic name: Neverthere

Powers: Astral Projection (T1)- can project an illusion of herself anywhere within a 50km radius, the illusion is capable of speech but cannot otherwise interact with physical objects, will blur into mist if touched. Neverthere receives all sensory information as she would if she were actually in her illusions position.

Appearance: A young woman of 22 years of age, Neverthere commonly wears a t-shirt and skirt with no shoes, preferring bright colours such as pink (Somewhat less extreme than Funtimes) she continues to wear glasses even after becoming an Epic due to her former shortsightedness, her illusion is always an exact copy and so wears the same clothes as she does. She has a round face framed by black ringlets.

MO: Bubbly and annoying Neverthere acts in an extremely irritating manner to both Vanillas and Epics, she has little to no fear of any confrontations as she uses her projection for most interactions with others.


Also: YAY! Salem post! Can I make a statue in your honor Quiver?

[Elithanathile he/him]

Here's what bothers me about the "master of virtually every bladed weapon" thing. 

 

In Steelheart, we're introduced to the Epics by way of Deathpoint and Steelheart. They're gods in human form, capable of turning a human being to dust or commanding the winds on a whim. They don't care about collateral damage or how many bodies they leave in their wake. They're terrifying. Inhuman. If not for their weaknesses, some would be all but invincible. 

 

And then in Firefight, we learn more about the weaknesses. They're not random; they're connected to an Epic's past. A weakness is more than a handy on/off switch for an Epic's powers; it's a reminder of what they fear the most. It's their own personal PTSD trigger—and when we learn the reasons for those triggers, we see that the Epics….aren't all that different from us. Megan had her house burn down as a child. Fortuity was probably left at the altar. Newton was abused by her parents. Sourcefield's grandparents tried to kill her. We see that Epics aren't inhuman monsters; they're human beings, driven insane by fear. Their powers make them special, but their weaknesses make them ordinary. 

 

By making Falchion a master of virtually every bladed weapon in the world at the age of 17, I feel like you're removing that element of ordinariness. He's not a normal kid with an abnormally scarring upbringing; he's an amazing swordsman who excels at every weapon he tries. I feel as if by making him too special, you've made him less human. And it's fine to give a few special qualities to your pre-Calamity character—Funtimes learned to fly planes as a teen, Lightwards was his university's youngest tenured professor, Altermind was exceptionally brilliant. But I feel like with Falchion, you've gone overboard. 

That's a very good point. Of course, we don't know how we see them after Calamity, so maybe.....

 

But as for the knowledge as we know it, it might be a bit much. I wanted him to have a large variety of weapons to use, (originally 12,) but hey, two hours of research later, I had 25-30, not including replicas of famous historical fictional and mythological swords. And that's just fun. I also wanted his main damage dealing to come from his own ability, not from any epic power, so I had to make him strong enough to battle other epics. And win. That kinda removes the sense of normality there, and I'm not sure that he'd ever be "normal," especially with the backstory he has right now. I can probably remove quite a few of the more... exotic... weapons from his arsenal though, giving him more copies of the ones he does use though. Right now, besides copies of the throwing weapons and his basic swords, he doesn't have more than one copy of each other weapon on hand, which I figured could mean if a weapon got destroyed or something, you wouldn't know which one he would pull out next.

 

Here's the current weapon list: "a Spatha, a Claymore, a Rapier, a Cutlass, a Dirk, a sgian-dubh, a Sabre, a Pistol Sword, a Kaskara, a Jian, a pair of Butterfly Swords, a Miaodao, a Hook Sword, a Shinken, a Katana, a Pata, a Balisword, a Kalis, a Kampilan, a Dahong Palay, a Shaska, an Estoc, a Khopesh, a Longsword, a Shamshir, a Khanda, a Panabas, a Kujang, a Flambard and Flamberge, a Karambit, an Aruval, a Bolok, a Yatagan, a Broadsword, a Cavalry Sword, a Falchion, (He usually has this one on him) as well as various daggers, such as a Baselard, a Rondel, a Trident Dagger, a pair of crescent moon knives, a Facon, (weird accent above the "c") a Corvo, an Emeici, a switchblade or two, a Balisong, (A.K.A. Butterfly knife. A Balisword is a large version of this.) a Kaiken, a Katar, a Kukri, a Phurba, a Tanto, a Fairbairn Knife, a Push Dagger, a Bowie Knife, multiple copies, of ballistic knives, throwing knives, chakram, shuriken, kunai, not to mention a few versions of polearms and spears. There are also other weapons not specifically named in his collection. He also has copies of famous historical swords, mythological swords, and fictional swords. They don't possess any of the powers of their legends, but are still high quality replicas, and are fully capable of being used in combat. (I spent about two hours researching these. That was one of the best two hours of my life. I was almost giddy.) He also has a custom sword made that he carries that's about 1.5 meter long, with a straight blade about 3 inches thick, double-bladed, with a simple quillon guard, leather wrapped grip, and a type I pommel, that made it perfectly balanced to his hand. It was painted all black, except for runes painted on the blade. (Purely for show.) He has multiple copies of these in storage as well. He also has copies of a custom-made shortsword in storage that has three prongs."

 

Updated List: "a Claymore, a Rapier, a Cutlass, a Dirk, a Jian, a pair of Butterfly Swords, a Katana, a Shaska, an Estoc, a Khopesh, a Longsword, a Flamberge, a Broadsword, a Falchion, (He usually has this one on him) as well as various daggers, such as a Trident Dagger, a sgian-dubh, a Pistol Sword, a Kukri, a Tanto, a Karambit, a KM2000, and multiple copies of throwing knives.

 

I removed the custom weapons, the historical, mythological, and fictional weapons, balisong, balisword, switchblade, the ballistic knives, the chakram, shuriken, kunai, spears/polearms, switched out the fairnbairn for a KM2000, (Modern combat knife used by the military,) removed the crescent moon knives, the push dagger, the bowie knife, the phurba, the katar, the kaiken, the emeici, the corvo, the facon, the rondel, the Baselard, the cavalry sword, the yatagan, the bolok, the aruval, correctly categorized the karambit as a dagger-type, removed the flambard in favor of the flamberge, removed the kujang, (almost cried at this one. Wikipedia it. It looks seriously awesome, and I had this mental image of him using it.  ) the panabas, (judged it to not be close enough to a sword for him to use it with his sword training.) the khanda, the shamshir, the sabre, (in lieu of shashka,) moved pistol sword to dagger-type, removed spatha, once again moved sgian-dubh to dagger-type, removed kaskara, the miaodao, the hook sword, (difference in style too great, although it would be great for a change of pace during the fight.) the shinken, the pata, (slightly odd, and not exactly a sword, per say.) the kalis, the kampilan, and finally, the dahong palay. I figure this should be enough to limit his options, but still give him some variety. But now that he has less options, he has more of said fewer options, so that's happening. So while he still isn't "normal," this should improve it quite a bit.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

That's a very good point. Of course, we don't know how we see them after Calamity, so maybe.....

But as for the knowledge as we know it, it might be a bit much. I wanted him to have a large variety of weapons to use, (originally 12,) but hey, two hours of research later, I had 25-30, not including replicas of famous historical fictional and mythological swords. And that's just fun. I also wanted his main damage dealing to come from his own ability, not from any epic power, so I had to make him strong enough to battle other epics. And win. That kinda removes the sense of normality there, and I'm not sure that he'd ever be "normal," especially with the backstory he has right now. I can probably remove quite a few of the more... exotic... weapons from his arsenal though, giving him more copies of the ones he does use though. Right now, besides copies of the throwing weapons and his basic swords, he doesn't have more than one copy of each other weapon on hand, which I figured could mean if a weapon got destroyed or something, you wouldn't know which one he would pull out next.

Here's the current weapon list: "a Spatha, a Claymore, a Rapier, a Cutlass, a Dirk, a sgian-dubh, a Sabre, a Pistol Sword, a Kaskara, a Jian, a pair of Butterfly Swords, a Miaodao, a Hook Sword, a Shinken, a Katana, a Pata, a Balisword, a Kalis, a Kampilan, a Dahong Palay, a Shaska, an Estoc, a Khopesh, a Longsword, a Shamshir, a Khanda, a Panabas, a Kujang, a Flambard and Flamberge, a Karambit, an Aruval, a Bolok, a Yatagan, a Broadsword, a Cavalry Sword, a Falchion, (He usually has this one on him) as well as various daggers, such as a Baselard, a Rondel, a Trident Dagger, a pair of crescent moon knives, a Facon, (weird accent above the "c") a Corvo, an Emeici, a switchblade or two, a Balisong, (A.K.A. Butterfly knife. A Balisword is a large version of this.) a Kaiken, a Katar, a Kukri, a Phurba, a Tanto, a Fairbairn Knife, a Push Dagger, a Bowie Knife, multiple copies, of ballistic knives, throwing knives, chakram, shuriken, kunai, not to mention a few versions of polearms and spears. There are also other weapons not specifically named in his collection. He also has copies of famous historical swords, mythological swords, and fictional swords. They don't possess any of the powers of their legends, but are still high quality replicas, and are fully capable of being used in combat. (I spent about two hours researching these. That was one of the best two hours of my life. I was almost giddy.) He also has a custom sword made that he carries that's about 1.5 meter long, with a straight blade about 3 inches thick, double-bladed, with a simple quillon guard, leather wrapped grip, and a type I pommel, that made it perfectly balanced to his hand. It was painted all black, except for runes painted on the blade. (Purely for show.) He has multiple copies of these in storage as well. He also has copies of a custom-made shortsword in storage that has three prongs."

Updated List: "a Claymore, a Rapier, a Cutlass, a Dirk, a Jian, a pair of Butterfly Swords, a Katana, a Shaska, an Estoc, a Khopesh, a Longsword, a Flamberge, a Broadsword, a Falchion, (He usually has this one on him) as well as various daggers, such as a Trident Dagger, a sgian-dubh, a Pistol Sword, a Kukri, a Tanto, a Karambit, a KM2000, and multiple copies of throwing knives.

I removed the custom weapons, the historical, mythological, and fictional weapons, balisong, balisword, switchblade, the ballistic knives, the chakram, shuriken, kunai, spears/polearms, switched out the fairnbairn for a KM2000, (Modern combat knife used by the military,) removed the crescent moon knives, the push dagger, the bowie knife, the phurba, the katar, the kaiken, the emeici, the corvo, the facon, the rondel, the Baselard, the cavalry sword, the yatagan, the bolok, the aruval, correctly categorized the karambit as a dagger-type, removed the flambard in favor of the flamberge, removed the kujang, (almost cried at this one. Wikipedia it. It looks seriously awesome, and I had this mental image of him using it. ) the panabas, (judged it to not be close enough to a sword for him to use it with his sword training.) the khanda, the shamshir, the sabre, (in lieu of shashka,) moved pistol sword to dagger-type, removed spatha, once again moved sgian-dubh to dagger-type, removed kaskara, the miaodao, the hook sword, (difference in style too great, although it would be great for a change of pace during the fight.) the shinken, the pata, (slightly odd, and not exactly a sword, per say.) the kalis, the kampilan, and finally, the dahong palay. I figure this should be enough to limit his options, but still give him some variety. But now that he has less options, he has more of said fewer options, so that's happening. So while he still isn't "normal," this should improve it quite a bit.

But the goal here isn't to win every fight. The goal is to tell a good story. And good stories aren't told about characters who always (or very nearly always) win. They're told about characters who have believable strengths and weaknesses, and in this game, those characters will interact with other characters in ways that should be interesting. What makes those interactions interesting is the fact that some have strong powers with limitations that can be utilized by weaker characters; others have weaker powers that are used creatively. But in every case, it's who the characters are, not what they can do, that takes center stage.

If you want an idea of the limitations that are allowed, check out some character bios, read some scenes in the RP threads--and then, for the sake of making him more interesting, tone it down with Falchion.

[Blackhoof]

Increase the age he manifested at, to make it more realistic that he is proficient at weapons. So, instead of 17 maybe hr manifested at 27. Remember Epics age more slowly, so even though he is 35 or so now, he has the physique of an even younger man.

 

and to be fair, considering he can make a portal and shank someone in the neck or the heart instantly, with little warning, and with almost no way to dodge or block it, it is almost irrelevant HOW skilled he is with his weapons. He can beat any Epic without some sort of PI or defensive power easily.

 

So he doesn't need to be a master to defend himself if he gets into fights, even with Epics.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Blackhoof

[Edgedancer he/him]

Fair point, fair point, but they really are all the same general type of weapon, so he doesn't have to change his entire style whenever he switches weapons. It's basically just swords and daggers, and all he would have to do is make minor alterations in his style whenever he swapped. I think it's fair that he could use 30 or more different weapons in 14 years of nonstop training. That's about 6 months per weapon, which is fine, because after the basics, that's plenty of spare time. And by master, I don't mean "best in the world." I mean, can use them with a great amount of skill. I heard of another epic who's powers are to summon swords and to use them amazingly. My guy's swordsmanship wouldn't be able to keep up with that guy's, but he could certainly battle it out for a while. (This is assuming no portals or sword creating are used.) Also assume that he's a prodigy. That should fix everything up.

Okay, so I mainly agree with Blackhoof's approach on the topic, making this less relevant, but I'd still like to point out that saying there's only minor alterations necessary between using a rapier, a claymore and a khopesh to name a few is not exactly accurate and that a major part of training in martial arts is getting the movements into muscle memory, so you can recall them in an actual fight. Having spend 6 months or more with a weapon is pretty meaningless if there's any significant amount of time without that dedicated training, because your muscle memory will simply forget how to use that weapon again.

 

Already sent through PM but for the record:

Epic name: Neverthere

Powers: Astral Projection (T1)- can project an illusion of herself anywhere within a 50km radius, the illusion is capable of speech but cannot otherwise interact with physical objects, will blur into mist if touched. Neverthere receives all sensory information as she would if she were actually in her illusions position.

Appearance: A young woman of 22 years of age, Neverthere commonly wears a t-shirt and skirt with no shoes, preferring bright colours such as pink (Somewhat less extreme than Funtimes) she continues to wear glasses even after becoming an Epic due to her former shortsightedness, her illusion is always an exact copy and so wears the same clothes as she does. She has a round face framed by black ringlets.

MO: Bubbly and annoying Neverthere acts in an extremely irritating manner to both Vanillas and Epics, she has little to no fear of any confrontations as she uses her projection for most interactions with others.

Also: YAY! Salem post! Can I make a statue in your honor Quiver?

So given that we have her power profile here, did you ever actually include that mental link element to her powers?

 

Also, I'd like to take this moment to mention that when trying to imagin how an Epic is supposed to look, I always get thrown off by how old they actually look like.

Increase the age he manifested at, to make it more realistic that he is proficient at weapons. So, instead of 17 maybe hr manifested at 27. Remember Epics age more slowly, so even though he is 35 or so now, he has the physique of an even younger man.

 

and to be fair, considering he can make a portal and shank someone in the neck or the heart instantly, with little warning, and with almost no way to dodge or block it, it is almost irrelevant HOW skilled he is with his weapons. He can beat any Epic without some sort of PI or defensive power easily.

 

So he doesn't need to be a master to defend himself if he gets into fights, even with Epics.

And that's te major point. Him letting enemies close enough to actually use normal sword play on them would be fairly... not smart.

[Voidus]

Okay, so I mainly agree with Blackhoof's approach on the topic, making this less relevant, but I'd still like to point out that saying there's only minor alterations necessary between using a rapier, a claymore and a khopesh to name a few is not exactly accurate and that a major part of training in martial arts is getting the movements into muscle memory, so you can recall them in an actual fight. Having spend 6 months or more with a weapon is pretty meaningless if there's any significant amount of time without that dedicated training, because your muscle memory will simply forget how to use that weapon again.

 

So given that we have her power profile here, did you ever actually include that mental link element to her powers?

 

Also, I'd like to take this moment to mention that when trying to imagin how an Epic is supposed to look, I always get thrown off by how old they actually look like.

And that's te major point. Him letting enemies close enough to actually use normal sword play on them would be fairly... not smart.

Mental link element?

[Edgedancer he/him]

Mental link element?

I'll take that as a no then. I don't remember the details myself but I think back in Question 16 we played around with the idea of her being able to project herself specifically into the mind of one person, with the drawback of them also being able to get a look into her mind or something like that.