Question 19

[Edgedancer he/him]

On 6.7.2016 at 2:48 PM, Blaze1616 said:

So...hi guys.

I'm very sorry about my absence. I wish I could say it was due to amazing things happening in my life, but if I'm honest that's not the case, unfortunately. 

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So, my mom got out of the hospital all right, no worries there thankfully. Then my job got completely revamped as a coworker left the company. This revamp brought the very likely possibility of a promising promotion. So I spent a ton of time trying to get that. This included a business trip for a week to beautiful Colorado Springs, specifically Garden of the Gods Resort.

I didn't get the promotion.

To top that off, I had surgery and have been recovering from that as well. Luckily, all is good, and hopefully I'm back.

So yeah, I'm going to do my best to get caught up quickly (as in, today), and hopefully I can just jump right back in. Let me know if anything super important happened I need to be aware of.

 

On 7.7.2016 at 6:09 AM, Mashadar Mistborn said:

I'm sorry that I have not posted much recently. I'll try to get back into posting here. AP season and a month of camps just threw me off of my schedule. 

Good to have you two back again. If you need any help with getting caught up again, just say the word.

[Citadel16 he/him]

On 7/6/2016 at 8:39 AM, antgrgmn said:

How about I meet up with Antimatter shortly after he reincarnates? @Edgedancer That would be fun.

sorry for the unexplained absence I've been showing. Summer is a very busy time for me.

On a first note, I'm listening to mitosis for the first time as we speak.

MELT LITTLE EPIC!! MELT! HAHA!

And prof sounds like master chief.

On a second:

I would be fine with that collab, antgrgmn.

[Edgedancer he/him]

4 minutes ago, WarriorMark16 said:

sorry for the unexplained absence I've been showing. Summer is a very busy time for me.

On a first note, I'm listening to mitosis for the first time as we speak.

MELT LITTLE EPIC!! MELT! HAHA!

And prof sounds like master chief.

On a second:

I would be fine with that collab, antgrgmn.

I do say that I like the imaginery of him melting.

Also, as someone that never listened to the audiobooks, I find that comparision highly amusing.

[Mestiv he/him]

@EdgedancerI'm very impressed with your razor idea this is indeed a nice way to check for impenetrable skin and Argon won't notice that there was a razor involved

[Edgedancer he/him]

10 minutes ago, Mestiv said:

@EdgedancerI'm very impressed with your razor idea this is indeed a nice way to check for impenetrable skin and Argon won't notice that there was a razor involved

Why thank you, always nice when a plan works.
To be fair, you pointing out that Argon would still notice the preasure from a tack did help jog my mind to find something more subtle, so thanks for that pointer.

[Mashadar Mistborn he/him]

On July 8, 2016 at 2:40 AM, Edgedancer said:

 

Good to have you two back again. If you need any help with getting caught up again, just say the word.

That might be good.

[Edgedancer he/him]

12 minutes ago, Mashadar Mistborn said:

That might be good.

Alright, from where on do you need the recap?

[Mashadar Mistborn he/him]

From the end of the ghoul attack in Corvallis.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Mashadar Mistborn

[Edgedancer he/him]

9 hours ago, Mashadar Mistborn said:

From the end of the ghoul attack in Corvallis.

Let's see, Iconoclast and Slaughterine retreated for the day, two new High Epics arrived in town. One of them Thunderspear, who first caused a bit of trouble by breaking into Drainer's house and stealing something from him and later was more or less recruited by Rainmaker. The second one Chasmfiend also had a run in with ghouls and is now in a conversation with Rainmaker about following the city's rules and all that. Meanwhile, security has finally reached Argon to test if he's actually a High Epic.

[Blackhoof]

I've gotten a bit slack with the RP lately....

anyone know what i need to do, and where?

[Edgedancer he/him]

8 minutes ago, Blackhoof said:

I've gotten a bit slack with the RP lately....

anyone know what i need to do, and where?

I don't think either needs to happen right now but you probably could write something for either Corpsemaker or the alliance over in Astoria.

[Blackhoof]

hmmm yeah, I might write something for Astoria. I'd like more in-game time to pass before I write for Corpsemaker again

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Oh, I've been meaning to ask: do you guys want me to do the Quota post now, or give the other characters some time to react first? 

[Edgedancer he/him]

1 minute ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Oh, I've been meaning to ask: do you guys want me to do the Quota post now, or give the other characters some time to react first? 

We always had continuity and passage of time a bit wobbly between posts, so I don't think you need to hold back.

7 minutes ago, Blackhoof said:

hmmm yeah, I might write something for Astoria. I'd like more in-game time to pass before I write for Corpsemaker again

Wonderful.

[Blackhoof]

yeah. I'd go with a Quota post.

[Mashadar Mistborn he/him]

10 hours ago, Edgedancer said:

Let's see, Iconoclast and Slaughterine retreated for the day, two new High Epics arrived in town. One of them Thunderspear, who first caused a bit of trouble by breaking into Drainer's house and stealing something from him and later was more or less recruited by Rainmaker. The second one Chasmfiend also had a run in with ghouls and is now in a conversation with Rainmaker about following the city's rules and all that. Meanwhile, security has finally reached Argon to test if he's actually a High Epic.

Thank you. If anyone wants to interact with Gelliton, Alan me. I'm not quite sure what she'll do unless something stirs her up.

[Comatose he/him]

Hello all!

Sorry I was MIA this week.  It's been gorgeous out and it's been hard to justify spending my free hours on a computer.  I'll try to check more diligently. 

 

Im caught up, and don't think I owe any posts.  Does anyone care to correct me on that?

 

Edit: Also, welcome back Blaze!   Glad you can have more time now, and I'm sorry the job thing did not work out. I hope you and your mom are doing okay!!

[Kobold King he/him]

Quota's effects should be covering the entirety of the Portland thread right now, right? Because I just felt a sudden hollowing sensation of overwhelming guilt, shame, and desperation putting a boot on my soul and crushing part of the life out of me and felt compelled to put up a post.

Hope it's okay. I'm, uh... out of practice.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Want me to wait until after the confrontation to do Quota's post? 

[Kobold King he/him]

9 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Want me to wait until after the confrontation to do Quota's post? 

I'm fine either way. Backtrack at regular terror mode or Backtrack at HOLY SPARKS I AM SERIOUSLY GONNA DIE BECAUSE I AM A MISERABLE FAILURE AND THE WHOLE WORLD HATES ME OH CALAMITY WHY WHY WHY AKDLFJ WERLKERLAFD mode should be equally fun to write.

[RippleGylf she/her]

So... haven't been super active lately. I'm a bit unsure of where to go next with all of my characters (Lightwood in Astoria, Heartsleeve in Salem, and Candyflame in Portland). Any ideas?

[Comatose he/him]

So, I was thinking about Night's Sorrow (again), and a new brain bubble occurred to me.  This is just an idea I thought might be fun, so I won't at all be offended if it gets shot down with prejudice.  

What if Night's Sorrow is more than one epic?  I know (and love) that there's already plans for Bloody Mary to assume the mantle of Night's Sorrow at one point down the road (or possible plans, I wasn't sure how certain those were), and this idea would work in addition to the plot line, not instead of it.  The gist is this: what if part of the reason that Night's Sorrow is so mysterious is because no one really knows what her powers are, because she (or he) is really more than one epic, using their powers in concert while pretending to be one epic.  This could work a couple of ways, either by: (a) choosing a figure head to act as the avatar of Night's Sorrow, while others with distance-based powers use their abilities and make it seem like it is Night's Sorrow using them, (b) using some sort of common costume scheme (if they are similar enough physically) and each taking turns being Night's Sorrow (for the bronies and pegasisters on the forums, think Mare-Do-Well), or (c) through the creative application of an epic power (perhaps illusions or shape-shifting).  If you guys like this idea, and have other ways to put it into action, feel free to comment.  

As I was contemplating option (c), I started thinking about a new meta power.  I'm not sure if I'd want to play an epic with this power, or if adding it to the RP would even be a good idea generally, but my head started working it out and balancing it, so I figured I would share it here.  I know we are trying to limit epics who don't serve a purpose, and that we should probably keep meta powers to a minimum as well, so I totally understand if people don't go for this.  Anyways, here we go:

The power I have in mind allows the user to 'link' two or more epics or humans together.  When linked, the individuals share some sort of limited collective consciousness, and share skills, abilities, and (in the case of epics) powers.  The epic using the power would not be able to link him or her self, and would thus only be a catalyst for creating groups of super epics.  While linked, epics would have access to the full extent of each others powers, but other than what instincts could be sensed through the mental component of the link, they would not gain the same expertise as the original holder of the power had.  The link has to work both ways, so it can't make one epic more powerful at the expense of others.  If used on three epics, then you get three epics with access to all of the powers, and nothing in between.   This epic could also only create one link at once, so he or she would not be able to make several pairs of linked epics.  The link is also limited by consent - all epics must consent to the link at its creation, and if one of the linked epics decides to leave and take their powers back, the link is automatically destroyed.  

Calamity Spoilers

Spoiler

Another effect of the link is that it creates an effect similar to what is experienced by identical twins, or epics who have motivators made out of them.  The main difference is that the pain felt is intensified by the number of epics in the link.  Judging by Obliteration and Prof's reactions, the pain seems fairly intense, so I'm going to say that in the 5 - 10 range all but the most pain-tolerant epics would automatically drop out and terminate the link on instinct, and that no-one could stand a link above and beyond 10 (keep in mind that the consent of everyone is needed, so to even get up to ten epics in the link, you would need 10 epics with similarly impressive pain tolerances).  

For the non-Calamity readers still left in the group, basically this epic would generally be limited to linking five or less epics together, with a hard limit of ten in the case of epics with mutually high pain tolerances.  

Another effect of the link is that the people linked would feel each other's pain, and if one is killed, everyone who is linked dies.  The deadly part of this effect is negated, of course, if you add one epic with a PI to the mix, since then everyone in the link would share the PI.  Linked, epics would, of course, be incapable of killing each other without killing themselves, and would generally not want to do that (better to unlink, and then take their chances, lest the opponent dissolve the link first at an opportune moment).

A chain of physical touch would be necessary to create the link, but once the link is created it will be maintained as long as mutual consent lasts, regardless of range or distance.  Killing the epic who created the link (or activating his or her weakness) would also dissolve the link.  The epic who creates the link can terminate it at will as well.  

One of the reasons I like this power profile is that it creates an interesting character dilemma for epics.  As we have discussed with other meta-type characters, most epics would be extremely reluctant to surrender their powers to another, but what if you lost nothing by letting another epic use your power, and you could gain greater powers as well.  Epics could be forced into uneasy alliances in the the interests of maintaining their maximum power-sets, while also tolerating the pain.  Of course, the Lucentias of the world would not be linking with the Backtracks of the world, since the trade wouldn't really be worth it, but what could Mary accomplish if Corpsemaker, the Metal, Dr. Funtimes, or Rainmaker agreed to link with her?  You might also see epics with different powersets linking to cover up weaknesses, like an epic with great destructive powers, but no PI, linking with an Epic with a PI who can't do anything else.  It could also lead to some interesting power combinations (like if Backtrack linked with Reader? Or Edgerunner with Frostfire?  Or the Financier and Funtimes?).  These power combinations would, in turn, lead to interesting personalities colliding, as both epics would gain access to both powers.  It could also be used to interesting effects with Vanillas.  

So, for Night's Sorrow, my idea was that Mary (if Edge still likes that plan) could get together with this epic, and some others, and collectively become Night's Sorrow.   They could take turns appearing as Night Sorrow, or let part of her (if Mary is the base) mythos be a power that allows limited duplication/projection.  They could collectively destroy Oregon, and then slowly turn on one another.  We know that Night's Sorrow is still around during the time of the books, but only one of them would need to survive and to keep the mantle of Night's Sorrow in order for that to be true.  

For the 'link' epic, I think it would be fun to experiment with him or her linking different epics in the RP, and seeing different combinations, and then let her or him be discovered when it comes time for the rise of Night's Sorrow.

What do you guys think about either idea (A - Night's Sorrow as a group of epics, and/or B- Linker Epic).  Keep in mind they could exist without one another, or could both exist independently.  

[Blackhoof]

I thinks its a super interesting idea, but it would create a whole team of Epics that are absurdly op. The Astorian Epics are already powerful enough on their own, but together? Why wouldn't they have already conquered the earth?

[Comatose he/him]

I agree, which is why this would be end game type stuff.  

I would also note that the epics would be limited by their own fear and personalities.   The Astorian epics, for example, could work together long enough to do some serious damage, but how long before the pain starts to get to them and they start to wonder who will turn against them?

Then there's the link epic him or herself.  Who will his or her loyalty lie with, and how will their personality play into things?

I definitely see the potential for this to be game breaky, but if we are smart about how we plot things, I'm sure we could make it work.   

[Edgedancer he/him]

14 hours ago, RippleGylf said:

So... haven't been super active lately. I'm a bit unsure of where to go next with all of my characters (Lightwood in Astoria, Heartsleeve in Salem, and Candyflame in Portland). Any ideas?

As for Lightwood, we're still waiting on Honor Spren and Mistrunner, who at this point haven't reacted for multiple months, inculding pm messages, despite being reasonably active on the site, so seeing how their characters haven't actually entered the scene yet, I've been considering that we play events so that Lightwood just cuts of the Financier and the Metal before they meet up with the girls and if they ever want to they can just have their characters join in the scene again.

@Comatose  Personally, I think the linker Epic idea would be too much power concentrated into too many people for there to remain any tension. At that point any conflict would essentially be reduced to between the linked Epics, while others only have the option of giving up or being slaughtered. Multiple Epics working together might work though, especially seeing how Mary's power to create portals would lend itself to that kind of trickery.