Non HPU: Beacon Of Hope OOC

[Deske]

Ah for the record, Ulrich is smarter than that. But he's pretty sure Jenny has a plan and Kolts been immobilized unless he can phase through, what is effectively, solid matter. He's being a team player and following the groups de facto leader.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Well, she is making up the attack plan on the fly. She's not Batman. She doesn't have detailed files on how to take down every member of her own team (See 'JLA -Tower of Babel)

[CyberDragon]

I apologize in advance, but I'm likely not going to be able to have a new BoH update tomorrow. I've got a major writing project I'm working on for a friend's birthday in just a couple of days. Given how little time is left before his birthday and how much writing I still have to do on it, it's likely that writing for other projects will be postponed until it is done.

I will have something up by or on Thanksgiving, though.

[Hlaoroo]

No worries, Cyber. Do what you have to do!

By the way, for us non-Americans, when exactly IS Thanksgiving?

[Welsh Halfwit]

28th, I believe.

[CyberDragon]

28th, I believe.

This is correct. My friend's birthday lies on Thanksgiving this year.

Thanksgiving is always on the fourth Thursday of November.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Well, f you ever want to test what you're writing for humour and American spelling, we're right here...

[Hlaoroo]

28th, I believe.

This is correct. My friend's birthday lies on Thanksgiving this year.

Thanksgiving is always on the fourth Thursday of November.

Good to know. Thanks, Cyber. ^^

[CyberDragon]

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything yet. I didn't finish that writing project until past 6:00 PM last night.

I'll either have the next post up tonight or tomorrow, depending on whether I can bring myself to start writing some more later today.

[Legotron123]

So, now that you’ve taken Ko Sah’s portal generator, he’s going to start fighting you guys for real. Before he was just having fun with you, now he’s actually going to try to take you out. As such, I think now would be a good time to share the music I’ve selected for this fight, and with how long I’ve been planning this, I’ve gotten a lot of good tunes selected. I’ve chosen to split them up into three categories.
Music For Fighting An Arrogant Jerk
Mega Man X8: Lumine Phase 1- Remix by Overclocked.
Mega Man X8: Lumine Phase 2- Remix by Overclocked.
Sonic Forces: Infinite Theme- Cover by Nate Wants To Battle. Not going to lie, if Ko Sah took part in that karaoke thing I mentioned a page or two ago, this is absolutely what he would sing. He’s just that arrogant.
Music For Being Forced To Fight Your Friend, Which Just Wound Up Being A Bunch Of Kingdom Hearts Boss Themes.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days: Vector To The Heavens- Remix by Hyuman.
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance: Rinzler Recompiled.
Kingdom Hearts 3: Anti Aqua Theme.
Music That I Just Think Sounds Cool.
Chroma Squad: A Threat To Us All.
Final Fantasy 10: Fight With Seymour- Remix by theultimateonejpsx.
Little Town Hero: Monster Battle 10.
As always, feel free to tell me which ones you like the most or feel the most fitting.

[Welsh Halfwit]

I'll do the other guys tomorrow, when on my home PC.

[Neon Icy Wings]

I was rereading the OOC for a bit of nostalgia and procrastination, and when I got to the character sheets I discovered something.

Tatiana technically has invisibility and I have no idea how I seemed to have forgotten that basically at that beginning of the RP. I now don't know what to do with this long lost information.

[Buster]

*decides to poke the already angry bear*

[CyberDragon]

There's a mechanic I want to try out during this fight.

I think you guys might find it interesting.

[CyberDragon]

So... I feel I should mention what's been going on the past few days.

Last Saturday, my family and I got a call that my Grandma had fallen, and that she was in the hospital.
Sunday morning, Grandma was non-responsive for most of the morning. My dad and I booked a flight out to California to visit her.
Later that day, Grandma woke up. We called her, and told her we were coming to see her. She was in really bad condition.

She started to improve, and her spirits were raised. She seems like she's getting better, but I'm going to be spending a lot of time helping my Grandpa and visiting Grandma at the hospital possibly for the next couple of weeks.


So... yeah. Please be a bit patient with me. Updates for this game can take anywhere between 2-4 hours to write, and I'm not going to have quite as much time as normal to work on them. I'll still try to update the game weekly, but if I miss an update or take a bit longer working on it, you now know why that is.

[Hlaoroo]

No worries at all, Cyber. You do what you need to do.

We'll all be thinking of you and your family and wishing you all the best!

[CyberDragon]

So in addition to everything else, my computer decided to pick now to start randomly crashing.

I'm working on dealing with it. In the meantime, it's going to make writing even more difficult.

That said, I was about to get writing to at least start when I noticed that there seems a few of people haven't posted yet. Who still has to move?

[CyberDragon]

I. Have. No. Idea. What. To. Write. *repeatedly bangs head on computer*

Seriously. I have nothing. Absolutely nothing for this fight. Not even with Lego telling me how Ko Sah would act. I have no idea how to put it all together. I have no idea what should go first, or how to organize things, or what needs addressing and at what times. NOTHING!

[Buster]

im guessing that's why you threw an unblockable OHKO at a character built to tank hits rather than dodge them?

Kol's gonna be visiting the infirmary, again...

[CyberDragon]

for the love of...

Yes, in a way. Tatiana's shot was supposed to dissipate Ko Sah's attack. But I was in such a rush and so frustrated, I forgot to include the cloud dissipating.

That said, the cloud had time to reach and chase MT, who was furthest away, so it would have reached Kol before dissipating anyway.

As for the OHKO, you were the one who decided to poke the Hornets' nest. Ko Sah was going easy on you earlier because he wanted to keep you guys alive to be hosts later. Now that you've made him desperate, he's going to be much more dangerous.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Added Sana, Corp and Jaken to my last post.

[Legotron123]

I’m a little surprised there were actually people in that food truck, since I was under the impression that the city was mostly abandoned after the invasion yesterday, and that most of the inhabitants were either dead or huddled up in their homes. Plus, our fighting has been kinda loud, so it feels like anyone in the area would’ve taken the hint and bolted by now.

[Welsh Halfwit]

I’m a little surprised there were actually people in that food truck, since I was under the impression that the city was mostly abandoned after the invasion yesterday, and that most of the inhabitants were either dead or huddled up in their homes. Plus, our fighting has been kinda loud, so it feels like anyone in the area would’ve taken the hint and bolted by now.

This is in the woodland motel.

[Legotron123]

Wait, then why is the food truck coming here for their morning route? If we’re out in the middle of the woods, then we’d likely be too far away from the rest of their route for it to be worth coming out here, especially since the hotel probably already has food for its guests anyways.

[CyberDragon]

Lego, remember the previous day? Hivemind dropped a food truck in to deliver dinner for the Champions. The truck was still there, ready to serve breakfast in the morning.

[Legotron123]

Lego, remember the previous day? Hivemind dropped a food truck in to deliver dinner for the Champions. The truck was still there, ready to serve breakfast in the morning.

1. If it is the truck from yesterday, why does the text describe them going on their “morning breakfast run,” like it’s part of their routine? It makes them sound more like a local business than something Hivemind brought in.
2. That doesn’t answer the question of why they stuck around once the fighting started. If they were close enough that Jenny could use them as cover, they would’ve been close enough to notice the fighting beforehand, and I don’t think serving breakfast is important enough to stick around in what has just become an active war zone.

[Welsh Halfwit]

This is all happening in the period of about 3 minutes atm.

[Legotron123]

I don’t think that’s longer than it takes to start a truck and drive away.

[CyberDragon]

The "breakfast run" or "breakfast rush" is when a bunch of people rush to get breakfast, not when a food truck goes on a morning route.

And as Welsh said, the fight's only been going on for about 3 to 5 minutes. It may be enough time to start a truck and drive away, but not if they're going to try to secure everything first so that they don't get 3rd degree burns from hot grease flinging out of the fryer, or receive blunt force trauma from falling pots and pans.

[Legotron123]

Okay, that makes sense.

[Legotron123]

So, while we’re waiting for a few more people to post, let me ask you ask you guys and gals a festive question. How do your characters celebrate the holidays? Be it Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever the equivalent is in their culture, how do they celebrate the season of giving?
Liz and Lewis would usually celebrate by having a quiet morning with each other (and Corp, if he decided to accept their invitation), before hosting a massive potluck for all the people on the Steelhaven. They’re not sure what they’re going to do this year, though admittedly they’ve been too busy to think about it much.
The closest analogue in Concertian culture is actually the spring solstice. What started as a simple celebration of surviving another harsh winter evolved into a holiday about friendship and the bonds that bring us together. While gift giving is involved, it’s considered more of a way of showing how well you know the person you’re getting a gift by either giving them something they’ve always wanted, or by giving something that symbolizes the bond you have with them. Kolt usually gets a gift for all his teammates and his immediate family, though Quint has presented something of a challenge in recent years, as his inability to experience almost anything outside of someone else’s body makes it hard to get him something he’ll enjoy.

[Hlaoroo]

Christmas has never been as big in Scotland as Hogmanay (New Year's Eve).

They'd still decorate the house though and exchange presents on Christmas Day. Breakfast is probably a traditional porridge or something like that. Lunch is a massive feast with a roast ham, roast turkey and roast chicken. All washed down with the finest Scotch whiskey, of course. For the afternoon they'd be too stuffed to move much. They'd probably have a nap before watching the Queen's Christmas speech on TV at 3PM sharp.

Obviously things are going to be a bit different on the Beacon but they'll still do something.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Corp doesn't really do Christmas as it tends to be when they most need a Security Officer to maintain some order due to family disagreements, light intoxication, people needing to 'get out' for a while...

Cherry and Keeva don't - or didn't - have many people to share it with. That's changed now, of course.

Jenny would tend to spend the day with the Agent who rescued her. He's not really like a father to her but he's family.

Jaken wears green for Sanctamas. Sana wears the whole get up, including the yellow 'elf' hat and blue&white tights. It's not that comfortable but she copes.

Hannabelle spends it with Jenevive and the Grandcubs. Oh, and Jenevive's mate, of course.

[Neon Icy Wings]

Just making it up off the top of my head, but, there would probably be some sort of party at the "HQ" of the Mercs on the City planet in the Outer Rim, a melting pot of various winter holidays from the different mercs from over the ages. It wouldn't be all that sentimental, they'd give gifts of weapons and equipment, with the few who did get sentimental taking good care of the weapon or equipment to either back up the giver or use against them if the mission called for it as some form of respect. There would probably be an honor thing to not sabotage the gifts, and if other Mercs found out someone did, nine out of ten of them would team up to turn in whatever outstanding bounty on their head, under the table or not, and use the money to get the affected party a better gift.

Now I must come up with strange bits and bobs of equipment Tatiana would have gotten and that managed to survive her trip to Beacon in her little luggage bag. As with most things Tatiana owns, most of the gifts were probably used in wonderful combat before being promptly destroyed. I would believe Tatiana hasn't thought much about the holiday season in relation to Beacon, but would probably miss the atmosphere of the HQ when the holidays roll around. Ramble, ramble.

[CyberDragon]

Being from Earth, Specifically North America, most of the founders celebrate Christmas as is normal in the United States. This likely includes Legionnaire, who isn't from the USA, but lived there for a few centuries.

On another note, I thought up of a potentially interesting power idea for potential enemies. I'm thinking the glitch would be known as "Stability" and would be like the dark matter of glitches. The power is that it negates any glitch in it's immediate vicinity, much like that kid from the third X-Men movie. It's only detectable by observing it's effects on other glitch-based powers.

Because of how it negates powers, it would have no effect on any power that doesn't require or rely on glitches. For example, Kolt's powers would be negated temporarily, but Kol's powers wouldn't be. Tempest's powers would be negated, but The Lycan's powers wouldn't be. The only exceptions to Negation would likely be Ghosts, Titan, and Legionnaire. Ghosts because souls can't be negated, Titan because her glitch is simply too powerful to negate, and Legionnaire for unknown reasons, likely relating to the fact that his powers are a punishment and curse from an unknown higher power.

Oh, and Aspects/Avatars would be immune because Aspects make the rules in the first place.

[Legotron123]

I’m confused, what exactly is a “glitch based power?”

[CyberDragon]

I’m confused, what exactly is a “glitch based power?”

As a reminder since I think I only covered this in the actual game when Keeva and Dan went to the museum:

Powers can be separated into two categories: Pseudopowers and true powers.

Pseudopowers:
Pseudopowers are abilities that are completely natural and are typically a trait of a species that they naturally evolved. Pseudopowers do often set members of the species ahead of most others in some way, and they can be counted as powers on paper and are considered powers by many people, but they don't function the same as true powers. Being natural, they are nearly undetectable by things that are looking for powers. There's a limit on how powerful they can get, but they typically require little to no training to learn how to use as they are typically instinctive and are not affected by things like power limiters, nor are they detectable by things looking for powers. This includes other powers. Pseudopowers include The Lycan's transformation ability (because lycans have malleable skeletons they manipulate with muscles), Kol's four arms and cold resistance, Varanian strength and durability, and a Corytophian's speed.

True Powers:
True Powers are abilities that are much more like magic in nature. They are the result of Glitches in the laws of reality, and allow a person to follow a different set of rules tan everyone else. These are powers like telekinesis, telepathy, spellcasting, technopathy, teleportation, clairvoyance, speedster-level super speed, and more. These can be a part of a species' genetics, or only for an individual. True powers tend to be, but are not always, more powerful than pseudopowers because the person using the power doesn't always have to adhere to basic physical laws such as the square-cube law, relativity, conservation of mass, or whatever natural law has been effected by the glitch. Instead, each true power has it's own set of rules that they function by. True powers are affected by power limiters and are treated as powers by things that look for them.

There's a third category, but it's very rare.

Aspect powers:
Powers derived from an aspect are typically some of the most powerful of all. Normally these powers are granted to avatars, but can be granted to followers as well. Aspect powers can be inconsistent, as their strength and nature tends to change depending on what the aspect granting the power wants. For example, if Diligitis granted a person powers and they went out to save people from earthquakes and feed the hungry, their power would be as much as it needs to be to get the job done. However, if they start using the power selfishly, they will loose it. Typically aspect powers are attached to some sort of artifact that is either given to a follower, or has been touched or manipulated by the aspect. These include Kolt's tail, Tatiana's shell, possibly Mr. C's cane, and the Warlord's soul gem. Aspect powers can be detected by things designed to detect powers, but they cannot be limited, copied, or manipulated by anyone other than the aspect who granted the power in the first place.

The reason I'm bringing this up is because Saffy's power is a power mimic. It specifically seeks out and copies powers of people she touches, which means that she would only be able to copy "True Powers." Otherwise she'd just be copying unique traits from anyone she touched.

The technical term for them that I layed out above is "True Powers" because they are actually supernatural in nature. Telekinesis, sonic hands, true speedsters, true bricks, and the like are all "True Powers" because they rely on a breach in the laws of physics, or otherwise require reality to function differently for a specific person or group.

Pseudopowers are talents that are natural in nature. Varanian scales, Kol's strength, the Lycan's shapeshifting, all of this is purely because of their own evolved anatomy. They don't count as powers to anything that targets or neutralizes powers, but they also don't tend to get as powerful as True Powers.

[Legotron123]

I kinda forgot that you described True Powers as “glitches in reality.” Thanks for clearing things up.

[CyberDragon]

It also bears mentioning that just because a power is inherent to a species doesn't mean it's a Pseudopower. True powers can be inherited or "naturally" occurring in the population of a species. For example, Varanians all have the "Universal Predator" True Power as a trait of their species. The power is passed down genetically, but it's still a glitch. There's no physical way they would be able to have that trait without being able to ignore some basic laws of biology. Likewise, Saints (Archangel's species) have a number of True Powers. This includes their strength, which goes way beyond what could be achieved naturally, and their durability which, despite the density of their skin affording them a natural durability, goes far beyond what could be considered natural.


Also, unrelated, but one of the things that makes humanity notable in this universe is that they have one of the highest rates of True Powers in their population of any species in the galactic community that doesn't have a species-wide power. They dropped to second place when taking Concertia into account.

Conversely, Varanians have the single least variety of powers in their population of all species. All Varanians have the "Universal Predator" power and their natural strength, but that's it. No Varanian has any True Power beyond that.

[Legotron123]

Would Quints boosting count as a Psuedo Power or a True Power?