Question 19

[Lord in Rags]

So, what show I replace his second power with, seeing as how his main powers are absorbing and expelling energy?

[Edgedancer]

2 hours ago, Lord in Rags said:

So, what show I replace his second power with, seeing as how his main powers are absorbing and expelling energy?

Well, the kind of cop out answer would be asking what kind of power do you find interesting?
In an actual attempt to help, some musings: His primary power is already very versatile, so we likely don't want anything flashy and he did loose a great deal of his defensive capabilities. Thus it would make sense to take something similair to his original power that allows him to minimize a threat. To tie in with the energy theme, maybe something that turns a person into something akint to a sieve for energy, meaning they would for example find it hard to extremely move because the kinetic energy in their body just disipates.

[Clockwork]

So Lich, the King in Rag's servant, should also probably be introduced now... (I collaborated with @Lord in Rags on this):

Epic Name: Lich
Real Name: Sceit (Pronounced Syeet- Last Name Unknown)
Age: Unknown

Primary Power:
He can create ice with the water in the air, or any water he has nearby. He can create it in about a 10 ft. radius, and control it as long as he can see it. His ice is usually some -300^o Fahrenheit, making it very hard to melt, and its temperature constantly lowers to that point. He actually carries several bottles of water in case there isn’t any other source.

Secondary Power:
He can animate extremely cold objects (<-200^o). He has to understand how such a thing would move in its shape, so he usually just makes statues of ice. He can’t cause, say, a wall to move because, well, how does it move? So he usually sticks to humans. They have low intelligence, and can only travel within a 2.5 mile radius of Lich, or they melt after a while.

Tertiary Power:
He can drain a person health. After being touched, a person’s immune system is practically nulled, and they don’t heal at all for a week or so. After 2 or so minutes, they die. When they die, his healing has increased by about to about 1.5x what it is normally, for about 3 days. If he kills another person during this this time, it increases by another 1.5x. So draining multiple people stacks a bit (so 2 people would be 2.25x, 3 would be 3.325, etc.).

Prime Invincibility:
When in danger, thick walls of unnatural ice surround him. This ice melts at command, but is harder than almost all metals and can support several tons of pressure.

Appearance:
Usually shrouded in a large black cloak, underneath he is very pale, with blue eyes and black hair. His cloak is almost as resistant to bullets and blades as an inch of Kevlar, due to meeting Chasmfiend once. Originally it was practically impossible to damage.

Modus Operandi:
Does whatever The King in Rags tells him to do. He doesn’t resist because The King in Rags knows and can cause his weakness. Often acts as his 'champion'.

[Edgedancer]

@Ookla the Endless Okay, seems like we got quite the nightmare creature here. I think you're Chasmfied?  In that case not a first Epic but seeing how your other character is one, the high council of GMs would still have to decide if a High Epic is allowed. Either way, the territary power does come close to a double PI. (Might depend on the location, maybe. Will have to ask the others)
Talking of the matters of PIs, seeing how the King had to be dowgraded, that might put a chink in the MO, seeing how backstabbing is a pretty realistic option now.

I'm also going to assume that your character has some kind of cold resistance, seeing how ridiculously and dangerously cold -300° is (I think, not exactly used to Fahrenheit)
On that note, while this isn't a problem of any kind for the game itself, I do feel the need to point out that Lich and the King in Rags pretty much have anti-synergy, seeing how an ice Epic of those temperatures would just suck out any kind of thermic energy out of the surrounding.

So, is there a limit to how many ice constructs he can control?
Similair note, why give a power that kills within two minutes and yet have the victims heal from it in a week. That seems a bit odd.

[Voidus]

6 minutes ago, Edgedancer said:

@Ookla the Endless Okay, seems like we got quite the nightmare creature here. I think you're Chasmfied?  In that case not a first Epic but seeing how your other character is one, the high council of GMs would still have to decide if a High Epic is allowed. Either way, the territary power does come close to a double PI. (Might depend on the location, maybe. Will have to ask the others)
Talking of the matters of PIs, seeing how the King had to be dowgraded, that might put a chink in the MO, seeing how backstabbing is a pretty realistic option now.

I'm also going to assume that your character has some kind of cold resistance, seeing how ridiculously and dangerously cold -300° is (I think, not exactly used to Fahrenheit)
On that note, while this isn't a problem of any kind for the game itself, I do feel the need to point out that Lich and the King in Rags pretty much have anti-synergy, seeing how an ice Epic of those temperatures would just suck out any kind of thermic energy out of the surrounding.

So, is there a limit to how many ice constructs he can control?
Similair note, why give a power that kills within two minutes and yet have the victims heal from it in a week. That seems a bit odd.

Bout -200 C, so around the temperature of liquid nitrogen, which will cause its own kinds of problems.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

20 minutes ago, Voidus said:

Bout -200 C, so around the temperature of liquid nitrogen, which will cause its own kinds of problems.

For reference purposes, the temperature of Mars is only about -195 F (-125 C) in winter. 

And as part of the High Council of GMs, even if adding another Epic with a PI into the mix wouldn't cause its own problems, I think that giving a significantly downgraded character a servant with a PI would be an odd move. 

[Clockwork]

Okay, slight changes:

-Ice is -210 degrees now

-They heal after a week because otherwise he could touch an epic once and they would die no matter what

-He has a max of about 10 statues

-Is immune to cold

-Can only drain people consciously

-(Pretty Sure) That the King in Rags can absorb energy no matter how small. Hitting him with a block of super cold ice would just cause a little dust on the ground. Literally.

-And why backstabbing isn't an option for him: Lich's powers don't work on the King in Rags. At all. He is at his mercy.

 

As for getting K.I.R. Downgraded, I'll talk to @Lord in Rags about it this afternoon.

[Edgedancer]

5 minutes ago, Ookla the Endless said:

Okay, slight changes:

-They heal after a week because otherwise he could touch an epic once and they would die no matter what

-(Pretty Sure) That the King in Rags can absorb energy no matter how small. Hitting him with a block of super cold ice would just cause a little dust on the ground. Literally.

-And why backstabbing isn't an option for him: Lich's powers don't work on the King in Rags. At all. He is at his mercy.

 

As for getting K.I.R. Downgraded, I'll talk to @Lord in Rags about it this afternoon.

But they'll be dead before the week is up anyway, so what's the point?

Cold stuff is dangerous because it sucks energy out of you absorbing energy from a block of ice does nothing to protect you, because the lack of energy within it is the problem. Plus, it still doesn't help the fact that it just destroys energy he could have used otherwise. (Plus, absolute zero is pretty ridiculous)

Gun, knives, big solid object. Plenty of options to kill a not High Epic that doesn't involve super powers.

Edited December 3, 2016 by Edgedancer

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Questions…..

-Why does the ice need to be that cold? Water freezes at 32 F, and 0 F is pretty cold anyway. 

-In a game that can take months to move forward a few hours, the ability to drain other characters of health for a week makes him pretty storming OP. 

-I'd say that's fine. 

-Makes sense with his powerset. 

-Refer to point about the pace of this game. 

-Wouldn't being at KIR's mercy make Lich pretty bitter? If Lich's powers are this strong, and KIR isn't Steelheart-powerful, then being at the mercy of someone significantly who is less powerful yet still immune to his powers would cause a lot of bitterness. Epics being how they are, I think that would cause Lich to seek out other means of backstabbing KIR. Looking for an Epic who could take him in a fight, trying to find his weakness, that sort of thing. 

Edited December 3, 2016 by Ookla the Pug-whisperer

[Edgedancer]

9 minutes ago, Ookla the Pug-whisperer said:

-Wouldn't being at KIR's mercy make Lich pretty bitter? If Lich's powers are this strong, and KIR isn't Steelheart-powerful, then being at the mercy of someone significantly who is less powerful yet still immune to his powers would cause a lot of bitterness. Epics being how they are, I think that would cause Lich to seek out other means of backstabbing KIR. Looking for an Epic who could take him in a fight, trying to find his weakness, that sort of thing. 

To be fair, even if KIR still had his PI, he's not immune to suffucation and hypotermia, so killing him would be as easy as waiting until he's asleep and then freezing the room he's in solid, sooner or later he's either going to suffocate or freeze to death and the lack of energy from the ice would make his powers uselsss for an escape.

Edited December 3, 2016 by Edgedancer

[Voidus]

Or just not follow the person who knows his weakness around? I mean Epics are arrogant and prideful but they're not opposed to running when they're in an obviously disadvantageous situation.

[Edgedancer]

2 minutes ago, Voidus said:

Or just not follow the person who knows his weakness around? I mean Epics are arrogant and prideful but they're not opposed to running when they're in an obviously disadvantageous situation.

If you want to leave loose ends. Tracking down the movement of a powerful Epics is entirely possible, so chances are high KIR would find him eventually. Still better than living in slavery of course (unless arguably they take over a city and Lich gets treated relatively well) but worse than just outright killing him.

[Clockwork]

-While we never hear of epic powers that turn against them, does that mean I can’t I add a power that causes him to follow K.I.R?

-Okay, the Ice is ~-50 degrees. He can animate any ice.

-Drain effect lasts about an hour.

-If I can’t add the first bullet point, then he follows him so he doesn’t tell anyone else

 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

-I can't speak for the other GMs, but I'd really prefer you didn't. Adding a power, even if it's one that turns him into another Epic's servant somehow, is still adding a power. Giving him a pragmatic reason, or a personal reason, for following KIR would accomplish the same purpose. 

-I think that sounds okay. Other GMs, what do you think? 

-That's still quite a while, in this game. (Remember when it took us several months to get through a single Empire-Thoughttown meeting?) 

-Still doesn't explain why he doesn't just kill KIR in his sleep, using the method Edgedancer described. 

[Edgedancer]

@Ookla the Endless

-Can you be a bit more presice with what you had in mind?

-Fine by me.

-Okay so maybe I'm understanding you wrong somehow but when describing the power you say that victims die after two minutes, so again how do they even survive an hour?

[Clockwork]

-No new power

-I'll send you why he doesn't kill him in his sleep.

-Drain lasts only minutes

-Drain causes loss of health if he doesn't fully kill them.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

@Ookla the Endless, the draining thing is sounding a bit….well, a bit like a cheat. It won't matter if the drain lasts "only minutes" because they'll be drained of health, leaving them defenseless so Lich can simply kill them more easily. As it's written, it sounds like a PI that isn't technically a PI. 

[ShadowLord_Lith]

@Ookla the Endless, what if draining someone's health, even slightly, makes them increasingly immune to his other powers? Taking their health would, if you take my suggestion, replace it with cold immunity and an aura that negates Liches abilities: Ice automotons turn to rubble, ice created by Lich melts after coming too close, etc... That would help cancel out his ability to drain them to death, though they would die a few minutes after he stopped if he drained them to that point so their survival would be a toss-up, and he would also be unable to kill them in their weakened state, making it a last ditch escape tactic instead of a finishing move. 

I also second Cogs request, though mostly because I'd love to see how you finished up with Chasmfiend. He's a pretty cool character and I'd love to see him continue on.

Edited December 4, 2016 by ShadowLord_Lith

[Clockwork]

I'm okay with what your idea, @ShadowLord_Lith, In fact, I love it.

 

And I'm writing another Chasmfiend post now, but... I write slowly. With the time between other posts to know what happens in other places, it takes a long time for me.

[breakingamber]

OK. I'm going to write something. I should rename myself to Ookla the Procrastinator.

I'm going to kill Micro. Anyone mind?

[breakingamber]

11 hours ago, ShadowLord_Lith said:

@Ookla the Endless, what if draining someone's health, even slightly, makes them increasingly immune to his other powers? Taking their health would, if you take my suggestion, replace it with cold immunity and an aura that negates Liches abilities: Ice automotons turn to rubble, ice created by Lich melts after coming too close, etc... That would help cancel out his ability to drain them to death, though they would die a few minutes after he stopped if he drained them to that point so their survival would be a toss-up, and he would also be unable to kill them in their weakened state, making it a last ditch escape tactic instead of a finishing move. 

I also second Cogs request, though mostly because I'd love to see how you finished up with Chasmfiend. He's a pretty cool character and I'd love to see him continue on.

Just checked: This was the 3000th post! Lucky you ShadowLord!

Sorry for doubleposting. Twi, are you opening a new Question thread?

[Lord in Rags]

HELLO, ME HAVE new epic, I am making this one first, K.I.R second alright? here's both, with edits.

 

Epic name: Slip Stream

Real name: Johnathan Blorkavisk

Age: 18

Primary: He can ignore the laws of friction of any surface he touches.

 

Secondary: He can run at 200 miles an hour (400 without friction)

 

Appearance: He’s about 5’ 6”, Caucasian, has red hair, blue eyes, and wears a tie-dye tee, denim jeans, and tennis shoes. He has a neon yellow pack he always has on.

 

Mode of Operations: He just looks for adventure, going where ever the path leads him. He searches for something he lost, his humanity, he doesn’t consider himself as a human, only as a monster. He travels to see if can fill the void in his soul, to feel human again.

 

Personality/ History: He’s a major optimist, always looking at the bright side of life. Though he is truly depressed and sad inside, he is good at hiding it and covering it up with bad jokes and happy-go-lucky attitude. He started off like any other teen, had a family, A mother, a father, two sisters, he had a well-built life. But, that wouldn’t last forever. In the middle of the night, his neighborhood was raided by a local gang. His family was slaughtered by a man with a jagged edged claymore, and he had barely survived. Ever since, he’s been running his whole life, from his problems and the world.

 

Weakness: romantic relationships AND blades, anything with a sharp edge, but must resemble a sword.

 

Epic name: King in Rags

Real name: Johnathan Lewiston

Age: 45

 

Primary: Uses absorbed energy- turns it into various other forms of energy, and releases it in those forms (i.e. lightning, fire, balls of energy, etc.). Energy is constantly released from his skin, causing everything nearby to slowly entropy. Extreme amount of energy allow him even more powers (Gravity manipulation, weather control, etc.). His limit to how much energy he can contain: he at most, can contain 5 nuclear power plants worth, beyond that, he may die. Also, the way he conducts this energy, think of it like the Green Lantern ring.

 

Secondary: He can transfer energy, he has absorbed, into anything he touches, or within 10 feet

 

Tertiary: Absorbs energy from anything he touches, or within 10 feet

 

Prime Invincibility: Invisible barrier, about 3 inches from his skin, absorbs all energy from anything that would harm him.

 

 

Appearance: A tall figure wrapped and covered in various pieces of cloth and tattered cloaks. His face and left hand are wrapped in bandage, with a black scarf around his neck. Has a four-pointed star metallic badge on his cloak. There is a dark shroud around him, he also sucks the light out of the air.

 

Mode of Operations: mostly wanders, with his servant Lich following him. He has no true goal, only to be there eating popcorn when the world goes to heck.

Personality/ History: Honestly, he is a jerk. He sees people as nothing more than something to insult and mock, the only reason lich sticks around him, well…he needed a “friend” more or less. Without Lich, He probably wouldn’t have ever actually cared for anyone. He used to be a miner, such a lonely life, never had much of a family. He saw the world as something to be gathered and used. Since he became an epic, he never truly saw the world as it was, only as a thing he constantly destroys. So, he abandoned society and traveled the world

Weakness: Nitroglycerin

 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

@Lord in Rags, Okay, first off, for your first character, you'll need to choose either KIR or Slip Stream. New players get one Epic apiece, and more can be added once they've been playing and developing that Epic for a while. (There's not really a hard limit there, but the idea is to ensure that the Epic won't be abandoned.) So choose whichever one you like more and play with that one first. 

Slip Stream's powers look okay, though his personality doesn't seem to fit that of most Epics. We're trying to keep the number of redeemed or partially redeemed Epics to a minimum, so for an Epic of that power level, he'll need to be worse. 

KIR's prime invincibility has to go. We already have a lot of Epics with PI's, and new players aren't allowed Epics with PI's as first characters. So if you want to make KIR your first player character, you need to get rid of his PI. 

[Quiver]

...so, Lyla post should hopefully be up tomorrow.

I say hopefully because I kind of just realised that the underlying psychology ofthe post is pretty damnation depressing, to the point I'm considering changing it.

My thought was that Lyla would react poorly to hearing that Shiny is leaving; I don't think it's been explicitly stated to her face that Shiny is just a temporary visitor, and not a full time Dalles occupant.

The reason I say this suddenly got extra depressing is because... well, I'm trying to imply in posts that Lyla is a little bit broken. She has the psychological baggage you might expect of someone in a nightmare land like Post-Calamity America, even if she doesn't realise it. She's latched on to epics as authority and alternative parental figures, since her parents are dead and she can't really reconcile epics killing them with them telling her to just do what Koschei says.

So...she might not be able to articulate it.She probably isn't even aware of it. But Lyla has abandonment usages, and her reaction to Shiny hightailing it out of there might be along the lines of "Everyone I love leaves me."

On the one hand, I do like it. I've been playing her about as comic relief, but like I say, this insane fixation on epics is...well, insane. It might be good to remind people, in canon, that she isn't silly and quirky; she's got problems, and a terrible coping mechanism.

But I'm worried it might be too downright dark for the Reckoners, and for Oregon in general. Thoughts?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

5 minutes ago, Quiver said:

...so, Lyla post should hopefully be up tomorrow.

I say hopefully because I kind of just realised that the underlying psychology ofthe post is pretty damnation depressing, to the point I'm considering changing it.

 

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My thought was that Lyla would react poorly to hearing that Shiny is leaving; I don't think it's been explicitly stated to her face that Shiny is just a temporary visitor, and not a full time Dalles occupant.

The reason I say this suddenly got extra depressing is because... well, I'm trying to imply in posts that Lyla is a little bit broken. She has the psychological baggage you might expect of someone in a nightmare land like Post-Calamity America, even if she doesn't realise it. She's latched on to epics as authority and alternative parental figures, since her parents are dead and she can't really reconcile epics killing them with them telling her to just do what Koschei says.

So...she might not be able to articulate it.She probably isn't even aware of it. But Lyla has abandonment usages, and her reaction to Shiny hightailing it out of there might be along the lines of "Everyone I love leaves me."

On the one hand, I do like it. I've been playing her about as comic relief, but like I say, this insane fixation on epics is...well, insane. It might be good to remind people, in canon, that she isn't silly and quirky; she's got problems, and a terrible coping mechanism.

But I'm worried it might be too downright dark for the Reckoners, and for Oregon in general. Thoughts?

 

You heard about Timeport and Quota's atrocity contest, right? 

Or Lightwards' public murder of an innocent old man to cement his rule? 

Or everything Nighthound ever did? 

Heck, you read Koschei's posts. "Too dark for the Reckoners and Oregon" is kind of an oxymoron at this point. 

Your Lyla post sounds great. Sad, and definitely dark, but in a way that deepens her character and adds a new dimension to her to-this-point comical craziness. Go for it.