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It was inevitable

14 (41.2%)

Winners don't do drugs

6 (17.6%)

I'll be back

2 (5.9%)

Drink the Kool Aid

6 (17.6%)

Groovy

3 (8.8%)

Insane in the membrane

3 (8.8%)

Total Members Voted: 34

[ATHATH]

Is this the place where we put character sheets if we want to join?

[Toaster]

((That or PM them to Paris, since you might want to consider concealing some/all of your tricks.  Some missions are PVP.))

[Toaster]

((Oh, Alan.))

John, on the Maximus

"Whoever's making progress, good job.  I'm going to try to get inside now, because I came up empty stopping it out here."

Okay, what about summoning a small magnetic light, just something to mark a path?  And making a copy of it?  Is that too painful?  If it's not crippling, make a few copies and start leaving a trail behind myself.  I need to find a way in.

It stings and makes your interface beep, but you can do it no problem.

You could walk around and use your remote senses to find a maintenance access port to make your way under the ship's armour and into some sort of maintenance area, sure, but I'm starting to feel bad because you never use the damn thing, so let me give you a quick and simple way to solve this situation: Use the spear. Make a hole. You have this thing that can stab through almost every armour and you've only used it once.

((I had considered it, but I've been operating under the impression that putting more holes in the Maximus is a Bad Thing.  I take it one or two more small ones is okay, then.))

"Everyone, I'm going to try to cut a hole inward.  Screwing around outside is going to get us killed.  I've dropped some lights; if you see them, come that way."

Make sure my "work area" has several of those lights.

Sense an area where I'm probably not going to cut through anything important and also not hitting a support beam or extra-thick spot.  Lengthen the spear to around a meter, then use that to start poking through the armor.  Lengthen it if I'm not getting all the way through.  Just start poking a hole until I've opened it enough for any of us to get in.

[FallacyofUrist]

Is this the place where we put character sheets if we want to join?

((I have so many ideas I can PM you...))
~~~
Kosak Durar:

"Everyone, I'm going to try to cut a hole inward.  Screwing around outside is going to get us killed.  I've dropped some lights; if you see them, come that way."

"Excellent!"

Report to this guy's position.

[ATHATH]

I have two concepts; tell me which one you'd like to see me play.

Name: Secundus
Ability: Always second-best (or so his own slang for his power goes). To explain, Secundus can do anything that his allies (that let him use/apply his power on/to them) can do, but worse. In effect, whenever Secundus would need to roll for something, he gets to use the modifier of whatever teammate is best suited for/would have the best modifier for the task he's doing. In exchange for this power, Secundus takes a -1 (or a -2, if you feel like this ability is overpowered) penalty to all of his rolls, so if all of his teammates have only an average or sub-average skill with cooking, Secundus is gonna have a hard time taking care of himself (and if he has no allies, he's probably screwed). Note that anyone can deny or allow Secundus the ability to use his power on them/cause him to stop/start using his power on them at-will, and Secundus can't turn his power off.
Appearance: A generic humanoid with lessened versions of the distinguishing features of his allies (that let him use his power on them, of course). Theoretically, this ability could be used to be notified when one of Secundus's allies has died (since his power stops working on destroyed allies).
Bio/Personality info: An amalgamation of less dramatic versions of his allies' (that let him use his power on them) backstories. Should Secundus have no (not-destroyed) allies, his backstory becomes "doesn't remember his backstory". Secundus's personality is likewise an amalgamation of his allies' (that let him use his power on them) personalities, with "bland/generic" as his default personality. Better hope that some drug-addict doesn't start to consider Secundus his "friend"...
Other: Ideally, Secundus would eventually branch out to forcing enemies to let him use his power on them or denying others the ability to let him use his power on them.

Name: (Slightly Above) Average Joe
Ability: Is slightly above average in every field/ability/stat compared to other humans, so he technically qualifies for the competition.
Appearance: Imagine an average person. Joe probably looks slightly better than that.
Bio/Personality info: Joe was born in a slightly above average neighborhood, went to a slightly above average school, got a slightly above average job, and eventually married a slightly above average wife. Then he ended up here, surrounded by superhumans(?) who are completely out of his league.
Other: Due to the pity that they take on him, the cosmic powers will only charge 2 (or 1, if you feel like this character is too underpowered) points for every random given power instead of 3. For some reason, this ability/predisposition will still stick around after Joe inevitably becomes a being of near-godlike power (maybe receiving pity is a hidden power of his or something?). Oh, and yeah, italicizing every instance of the word "slightly" will be a thing with this character, because I feel like it.

Also, can someone give me a summary of what's going on right now?

[Lenglon]

Summary of which mission? Campaign is kinda beyond what you can impact due to how extremely far into the mission we are, and the ship mission frankly I'm only vaguely skimming at most, and can't really tell you what's happening there very well. However generally new players are added at the Staging Area, which generally doesn't have a lot of activity during missions though it sometimes has some interesting moments in the aftermath of missions. Odds on as a new character you'll end up having some one-on-one time with your sponsor entity, during which your introductions to what is going on will be handled in-character.

As for the two characters proposed:

1) Pick the one YOU prefer, not us. You're probably going to be playing the character for a long time, you should make sure it's a character you like to play.

2) keeping your character's capabilities hidden from us is a tactically good idea, this game has PvP.

3) If you still want the input of others, then, well, frankly Secundus seems more interesting to me, though there could be some BAD repercussions if used on certain people. And the backstory thing just plain is not compatible because he'd have to rewrite reality around himself to include himself in other people's already occurred histories. unless you mean he just THINKS he's got their background (memory clone, not reality warp)? that STILL would be a BAD IDEA for certain characters, but it's less absurd.

[ATHATH]

unless you mean he just THINKS he's got their background (memory clone, not reality warp)? that STILL would be a BAD IDEA for certain characters, but it's less absurd.

Yeah, I'm going with the "thinks he has a different backstory" version.

What characters, exactly, would Secundus's power(s) have a "BAD" interaction with?

Also, there's a main thread for this? Shoot, I should have posted my sheet there (see, this is why I asked if I should post my sheet here before posting it).

[Tiruin]

San and River were able to explain why she was there though, about how Irine was waiting and guarding a group injured refugees.

((Is it silly that I thought River tried to explain first by stuff like: "Woof. Bark, bark! Woof!" ))

Theri was quite happy to afford some rest after straining herself in the heat, and promised to buy a nice hat that afforded shade (with some customization to help her ears, knowing how straining the little things were, too). She was also quite happy that everyone was okay after getting the details of what she could understand through the stress and strain, but curiosity nudged her as she counted the people around her, again.

"Wait where did that one person go? Alan! Yes, him." she said, standing near Irine while giving River a pat.

[Lenglon]

((no main thread, don't worry. you posted in the right place. however all missions and events are run simultaniously in this thread, along with our OOC chat. so it can be a little confusing. look at the last posted update by Paris to get an example of this, there's stuff from both missions and from the stating area all in the same post.

as for examples of BAD characters, mine is potentially one, the benefit of him getting powers off her is Irine has been around since game-start, and as a result is one of the stronger characters in the game. on top of that she's actually currently overshot-prone, so his drawback of putting minuses on the ability rolls actually won't do much. he'll probably actually be stronger than her if he can manage to avoid or compensate for some of her more crippling weaknesses, which he probably can if he can copy off of literally anyone else at the same time... if copying off of her doesn't just lock him into a coma. You see, Irine has locked away inside her mind are Things Beyond Mortal Comprehension. She herself isn't actually able to handle what's in there properly, and the inital insertion of said Things into her mind, which was specially engineered to handle it, still forced her into a sleeping/comatose state for an hour when it happened. I'd give Secondus about a 2/6 chance of being put in a coma and never waking up, 1/6 chance of being put into a coma for a couple days or weeks, 2/6 chance of being put into a coma for a couple hours, and only a 1/6 chance of actually getting to USE any of her abilities from copying off of her.

Another example of a strong character with mental problems is Zechariah, the character of DarkArtemisFowl. he's another been-around-since-game-start character, but he has *fun* halucinations of people from his past all the time, and his own powers are directly incompatible with each other, making him self-harm-prone.

there's also less powerful characters that still could be bad ideas to copy
for example the character of one of our inactive and I'm expecting to never come back players mydjet, who I actually know a bit more about than anyone other than Paris and mydjet himself because I know the player IRL, was an engineer who's entire basis was the more drunk he got, the better he was, and that he's useless sober. This does not actually protect him from the effects of being drunk itself however. so he's prone to doing things like, say, getting absurdly drunk, making a nuclear ballista, and then proceeding to do what an extremely drunk person would DO with a nuclear ballista. Now what happens when you're doing the same stuff... with penalties? wana try a roll with a -8 penalty? the result will be *FUN* I'll tell ya that.

There's also several characters floating around with *berserk modes*. if said character is already in a berzerk mode when you copy off them, and you end up trying to do the same stuff but with penalties... well, your skin probably isn't bulletproof. You *might* end up uncontrollably self-destructing. Oh, and I'm pretty sure at least one person has some kind of charge-up ability that kinda blows themselves up? I think that happened in the seven of diamonds mission? Wasn't watching the details, but yeah, that's a thing. And don't even get me started on Alan, though it looks like he might have just permadied this last turn, so that's a thing.))

and then we get into problems caused by combining highly incompatible characters. for example one of the characters floating around at one point or another (might still be active actually, I'm really not sure, I've been in the Campaign mission for a very long time and I'm not up to date on stuff outside of it) was a dulahan. Now without going into detail about what made this particular undead floating empty set of armor special, lets try making your character patially said dulahan, and partly any normal-ish human. Now we've got a problem, are you alive, undead, or is the mixture result in someone that's just plain old dead? how about the fact that one of the two has a body, and the other has everything BUT a body? the contradictions of combining said dulahan with literally anyone else might just up and kill your character on the spot. what about mixing a fire elemental and an ice elemental? what about a robot and a biological? you see the issues here I trust.))

[Sir Elventide]

Keep an ablative shield of dolls in front of you while you retreat. That will work, certainly. There's nothing wrong with that plan.

You slowly walk back, keeping your eyes to the top of the stairs until you reach the point where the stairs turn around. It's at that moment that the blurry white thing jumps into the light again. Its way of moving is disturbing, it doesn't move like a normal human, it alternates between pausing for a few seconds and then suddenly 'changing' into another stance. In this case into a white blur facing you and then jumping straight at you.

You order your dolls to get between you and it as quickly as they can while you retreat further down the stairs. It smashes into one, making the doll land on its back and then grabs the other by its neck and lifts it off the air.

It flickers like an image on an old TV, one moment facing the doll, the next facing you. It's hard to make out, but you somehow know that this is the doll you left in the room with the display cases. It's not unscathed from its attack on your doll, one of its arms having been broken and hanging limply on its side. For a moment you find it strange that you can't feel it. The next you immediately regret those thoughts, as you sense it reconnecting to your hive mind, but as something more than mere sights and sounds. It flickers and turns its attention back to the struggling doll in its grip. You feel its cold alien presence spreading through your network, reaching towards you like whispers in the back of your mind. The doll in its grip stops struggling, no longer responding to your commands. It serves a new master now.

Looks like this is one problem you can't beat merely by throwing dolls at it and hoping they eventually bury it.
It's at the middle of the stairs with your two dolls. You're at the bottom with your other doll. What do you do?

(I chose the 'Insane in the membrane' vote for Alan first! Need I explain? Also, @ ATHATH: Unless Secundus is comfortable with moving more than a handful of dolls via a hive mind, usually simultaneously, he would find the experience disconcerting. Not that the haughty Napoleon would object to having a second baser around...)

Never in his entire life had Napoleon felt so hopeless. He was so confident that his superior intellect would win the day, that no one was a match for him. Now he was confronted with a terrifying enemy that he cannot hope to defeat, at least as easily as he'd hoped, and the cruel irony of it involved one of his dolls not only changing into such a being but stealing control of one of the other dolls. Whatever horrible being that can use his own power against him must have a twisted sense of poetic justice. No doubt that it seeks to punish him for taking the sword by twisting his doll into an abomination and could still be within this museum. However, the former doll's broken arm and the sword he still held reminded Napoleon that the fight wasn't over yet and he composed himself slightly.

"Ah... look h-h-how much you g-g-grown..." Napoleon muttered, his voice faltering. Clearing his throat, he continued as steadily as he can. "As God as my witness, I truly didn't expect this... turn of events. I expected myself to enjoy a peaceful evening with a bottle of Pinot Noir and steak, not being chased throughout a haunted museum or whatnot by my own twisted creation."

As Napoleon stealthily took steps backward toward the door he thought of the twisted doll's alien presence in his hive mind. He can still hear the whispers in his psyche. However, this presents a possibility: if it can reconnect itself into his hive mind, perhaps he can reestablish control? It was a slim possibility but a possibility nevertheless. So many variables are arranged around him and Napoleon have not deemed them to be wasted.

"Of course, as I would say," Napoleon continued with a flesh-eating smile. "Even when chipped, a sword can still kill."

Before the twisted doll could figure out what he's up to, Napoleon will control the doll lying on its back to get up and cut it to pieces, starting with its legs. While it's distracted, Napoleon will use all of his willpower to reassume direct control over the twisted doll long enough to banish it. If all else fails, Napoleon and the doll at his side will open the door behind them and enter the room. They will quickly close the door and attempt to barricade it. Throughout the execution of his plan, Napoleon will defend himself with his sword and the candle he is still holding if necessary, using the doll as a last resort.

[Xantalos]

((AHAHAHAHAHA! Man, if I end up permadying from this it's gonna have to be enshrined on the front page or something, because 'elemental dissolution during an out-of-body experience caused by injecting a mixture of magic water and kool-aid into his eyes' would be by far the most out there death I've put a character through.

However, don't count me out just yet! Alan's in a situation where he's totally out of his element.

This means he's completely in his element!))

Alan, Ocean Man (_{take me by the hand})

Alan's no stranger to trippy experiences. When a disembodied voice that is the embodiment of everything and also himself starts speaking to him about going with the flow, his instinctual response is merely to grin (as much as one can while being spread out throughout the elemental plane of water, which this looks to be) and put on a particular music track in his head (again, metaphorically).

"Sorry, Miss Me, can't do that right now," he merrily exclaims. "I've got an alien and a Pepto Bismol plant to go check up on! Surf's up, dude!"

Summon surfboard (or make the attempt, at least). Use my oddball's intuition to ride the wave through to reality!

In a metaphorical sense, that is. My course of action doesn't make any sense for the reason that being sensible wasn't how I got here in the first place, so I won't get out by being sensible and grounded.

((My vote goes to Groovy, by the by.))

[NAV]

"A have an idea for something that might help us find Alan."

First thing first, modify my crossbow a bit. Give it some sort of makeshift bipod so I can actually use it like a ballista when tsared. Also give it a strap so I can wear it when not in use.

Second thing second, boring inventory management.

Spoiler: Equip (click to show/hide)

-Monster hunter light armour
-Water armour
-Bandana
-A backpack
-Quiver of normal bolts
-Bandolier of special bolts
-Ice sword, short curved knife, 2 signallers in protective sheaths, and cranequin on my belt
-Wear 2 slings as additional belts
-Tie commwire around left ankle
-Protective case of war crime bolts, Methuselah's Marbled Montage, the magitowel, a pair of scissors, 1 general purpose healing potion, and a few high quality slinging rocks in pockets/backpack.
-Strap shield to back
-Wield crossbow

Spoiler: Leave in carts (click to show/hide)

-Spear
-Short rogue sword
-Kitchen knife
-Glass shiv
-Bottles of water and red bull
-Most of my slinging rocks
-Rope
-Book and writing supplies

If that's still too heavy then leave the shield as well.

[DreamerGhost]

<Svajoklis, Maximus, next to the turret>

"If only all the potential lackeys hadn't been scattered all over"

Swim up to the sensors and shoot them.

[Harry Baldman]

Campaign, Ike!

"Are you seriously telling me that Alan of all people has left no trace from his passing whatsoever from wherever it was that we originally left him? I'm sorry, but that's just not something my rational mind is prepared to accept."

There have to be some clues, surely? Search until we find some, because Alan definitely isn't responsible enough to be left alone for longer than maybe a day.

[Xantalos]

((You might find more success following the people trail - if I recall correctly, I pissed off/attracted the notice of a lot of people in the last few days, from that mob of people who were chasing Brad and I for some shenanigans we did, to everyone who saw my firehose-propelled cart flight over the settlement walls, to the various conspicuous distractions I enacted when we snuck into the temple, to the guy I pizza-bluffed my way past, to Brad himself if he ever pops up again. There’s plenty of room there for y’all to find some sort of connection.))